kannur l Wednesday l march 26, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION U.S. embarrassed as secret plan to attack Yemen leaked to media A journalist was accidentally included in a group chat where top US officials were discussing upcoming strikes against Yemen’s Houthi rebels ‘Highly damaging’ situation barely avoided Why was signal, a commercial app, used? The plan was leaked to The Atlantic magazine’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg, who was inadvertently added to a Signal app chat with top officials like VP J D Vance, Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and CIA Director John Ratcliffe. The leak could have been highly damaging if the enemy somehow accessed to the plan ■ ■ Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a post on X on Tuesday that “no ‘war plans’ were discussed” and “no classified material was sent” But top Democrats condemned the breach, saying it was illegal and calling for an investigation to find out why officials were using a commercially available app for sensitive discussions | P9 2 days before the actual airstrike was when Goldberg was added CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ED clean chit to BJP in Kodakara hawala case Frosty ties Intent, ability in India to interfere with polls: Canada J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India has the ‘intent and capability’ to interfere in Canadian communities and democratic processes, a media report said quoting Vanessa Lloyd, the deputy director of operations at the Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Lloyd claimed that China, Russia and Pakistan too could interfere in the federal election campaign. She was addressing a media briefing on Monday on efforts to protect the integrity of the general election, voting for which takes place on April 28. Lloyd added that “hostile state actors” were increasingly leveraging AI to meddle in the polls announced by Prime Minister Mark Carney on Sunday . Under a federal protocol int ro d u c e d i n 2019, the news channel CTV News said, a panel of bureaucrats had the power to warn the public if it decided one or more incidents threaten Canada’s ability to hold a free and fair vote. Most threat actors ‘likely have adapted their tradecraft to conceal foreign interference activity, making it even more challenging to detect’, Lloyd mentioned, adding that it was ‘highly likely’ China would use social media to promote narratives favourable to its interests and target Chinese ethnic, cultural and religious communities in Canada using “clandestine and deceptive” means. The ministry of external affairs has so far not responded to these charges. But in January the nation rejected “insinu, ations” levelled by a Canadian commission report of interference in the 2022 election of Pierre Poilievre, the Conservative Party leader. E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @Kochi Himachal Pradesh HC Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia, a member of the panel set up by the SC, arrives at Justice Yashwant Varma’s residence in New Delhi on Tuesday | pti SC panel begins ‘currency stash’ probe, visits site Committee inspects Justice Varma’s house where burnt cash was allegedly discovered allegations of corruption following the discovery of cash at his home following a fire incithe Supreme Court-appointed dent on the night of March 14. committee on Tuesday began Justice Varma, who has since its probe into the discovery of been de-rostered by the Delhi cash from the residence of Del- High Court, has denied the alhi High Court judge Yashwant legations against him terming Varma, even as the Allahabad the whole affair a conspiracy . High Court Bar Association The SC Collegium on Monstarted an indefinite strike in day confirmed that it had recprotest against the proposed ommended Justice Varma’s transfer of the tainted judge to transfer to the Allahabad HC, the Allahabad HC. triggering fiery proT he probe panel tests from the bar assomembers—Justice ciation, which urged Sheel Nagu, Chief Jus- There have been the Central gover ntice of the High Court ment not to clear the attempts to of Punjab and Harya- cover up... Until a Collegium’s decision. na; Justice G S SandhaBar association chief resolution is walia, Chief Justice of reached, we Anil Tiwari said the won’t resume the High Cour t of protest is not against Himachal Pradesh; and work, no matter any court but against consequences Anu Sivaraman, Judge those who betrayed the of the High Court of judicial system. Allahabad HC Karnataka—reached Meanwhile, Rajya Bar Association Justice Varma’s official Sabha Chairman Jagresidence at 30, Tughlak Cres- deep Dhankhar on Tuesday cent, in Delhi at 1 pm. They held a meeting of floor leaders spent around 45 minutes there to discuss judicial accountabiland examined the room where ity in the wake of the developthe stash of cash was allegedly ments. The meeting came a day found, sources said. after Dhankhar interacted with It was not immediately Leader of the House J P Nadda known whether Justice Varma and Leader of Opposition Malwas at his residence when the likarjun Kharge, and referred inquiry panel visited. to the mechanism for judicial The panel’s findings will be appointments after the passage crucial in deciding the fate of of the NJAC Act in 2014, which Justice Varma, who is facing the SC later struck down. S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y & N a m i ta B a jpa i @ New Delhi / Lucknow The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has filed the chargesheet in the Kodakara hawala case, naming 23 people as accused. The chargesheet, submitted before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court in Kochi, contradicts the Kerala Police, which had concluded that the money looted in the highway robbery was intended for the BJP’s campaign during the 2021 Kerala assembly elections. None of the 23 accused named in the ED’s chargesheet have direct links to the BJP ef, E xp r ess Ne w s S e r v i ce @T’Puram Giving in to Opposition’s prodding in the assembly Wa, ter Resources and Irrigation Minister Roshy Augustine on Tuesday said the government will cancel its order issued last year imposing restrictions on construction activities within 20m of dams in the state. Responding to a notice for adjournment motion moved by UDF MLA Mons Joseph, Roshy said the order will be nixed as there are concerns among the public on the curbs imposed. press Intake CPM set for major churning of top brass | P5 First batch of cyber commandos completes training | P5 IB officer’s death: Megha’s family demands probe | P4 S u d h i r S u r yawa n s h i @ Mumbai ordained to lead 90% complete State’s first floating home is no longer up in the air B I J U E PAU L @Alappuzha One of country’s lowest-lying regions, Kuttanad has more than 2 lakh people living below sea level. Every year, floods force residents to leave their homes. The 2018 deluge was particularly severe, with nearly 90% of the population evacuated as floodwaters rose 8-10 ft. The calamity forced people of the region to explore alternative ways of constructing houses, including on raised pillars, to escape future deluges. Among the other building methods devised was the floating house. Varun Ramakrishnan of Cheriyamadathil, Mankombu, was the first to adopt the idea. Now, his 1,120 sqft house, having two attached bedrooms and other facilities, is nearly 90% complete. And the technology has been patented by M R Narayanan, owner of Transbuild Dwelling. According to Varun, residents of Kuttanad leave their homes during floods. “As a solution to this displacement, I decided to construct a floating house. Narayanan is helping me achieve my dream. It has been a success so far,” he said. This is the first floating house in the state, said Narayanan, who is also from Mankombu. “We have constructed floating villas for resorts and floating platforms for a solar project in Banasurasagar, Wayanad. We promise long durability for houses built using this ● More on P4 method,” he said.  chargesheet, filed before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court in Irinjalakuda in July 2021, stated that the looted money was indeed intended for the BJP’s campaign, citing multiple statements and gathered evidence. According to the ED, `3.5 crore, which Dharmaraj — the key figure in the case — entrusted to his driver Shamjeer for a property purchase in Alappuzha, was stolen at Kodakara flyover. Dharmaraj provided documents substantiating the source of the money . In addition to the stolen Govt to lift building curbs near dams Kamra defies summons, refuses to apologise Aboon Mor Baselios Joseph I, the newly ordained Catholicos of the Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, after the installation ceremony at St Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Cathedral in Beirut on Tuesday | read on: P4 fectively giving the party a clean chit in the case. The case revolves around allegations that hawala funds from Karnataka, purportedly meant for the BJP’s election campaign, were looted near the Kodakara flyover on April 3, 2021, three days before Kerala went to the polls. Former BJP office secretary Thiroor Satheesh had previously claimed that illicit funds had been delivered to the party office, prompting the Kerala Police to conduct further investigation. The police’s The Mumbai Police on Monday summoned stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra for questioning the next day over a case registered against him for lampooning Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde during a recent performance in Mumbai. However, Kamra refused to appear immediately, citing death threats and concerns for his safety. He reportedly requested a week’s time to comply. Kamra also took to social media and said he had no reason to apologise since he had only repeated what deputy chief minister and NCP leader Ajit Pawar had already said. The police, investigating whether Kamra was compensated to mock Shinde, have registered a case under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and are examining his phone and call records. The controversy erupted after Kamra’s performance, in which he parodied the song Bholi Si Surat to call Shinde a gaddar (traitor), referencing his 2022 rebellion against Uddhav Thackeray. Following the video’s release, Shiv Sena workers vandalised a comedy club and demanded its closure. He said discussions will be held with the legislators who represent the affected constituencies, if required. Roshy had on various occasions informed the assembly that the order will be tweaked to ensure no inconvenience is caused to the public when it comes to construction activities. However, not content with his promise of amending the order, the UDF MLAs on Tuesday demanded the order be struck down in its entirety Fi. nally, Roshy agreed to cancel the order. The order had deemed the land falling within 20m of the reservoirs as buffer zone, where construction activities are banned. It said beyond the buffer zone, construction activities would be regulated for another 100m. Kaduthuruthy MLA Mons Joseph said the order had led to issues across the state. After it came into effect, about 7,732 acres of land was deemed as buffer zone. Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan said though the dams have been there for decades, there were no such restrictions on construction. amount identified by the police, the ED seized `3 lakh in cash and assets worth `8 lakh belonging to him. The agency emphasised that its probe was limited to money laundering transactions following the heist. Despite Opposition allegations against former BJP state president K Surendran, neither the police nor the ED found evidence implicating him in the case so far. The ED’s findings have reignited political debates in Kerala, with Opposition parties criticising the agency’s conclusions. EXPRESS READ BJP to take up state unit rejig soon T’Puram: Having picked a new state president, the BJP is set to begin deliberations on the reorganisation of the party unit in Kerala. Though former minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar presided over a core committee meeting after taking charge as the new head, the issue of reorganisation did not come up. Once he has settled into the post, the new president is expected to call another meeting of the core committee in the coming week, sources said | P4