Protecting girl child must be core Priority of digital governance: CJI B R Gavai on Saturday flagged the heightened vulnerability of the girl child in the digital age and said that protecting her must be the core priority ‘Today’s challenges more sophisticated’ kottayam l sunday l October 12, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l city EDITION “From online harassment, cyberbullying, and digital stalking to the misuse of personal data and deepfake imagery, the challenges have grown both in scale and sophistication,” Gavai said. Despite constitutional and legal guarantees, many girls across India continue to be denied fundamental rights and even basic necessities, he 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 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ K35,440 crore push to boost farm production, achieve self-reliance PM Modi launches two key agriculture schemes, urges farmers to tap global markets M U K E SH RAN J AN @ New Delhi PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday launched two major agricultural schemes with a cumulative outlay of `35,440 crore, including a mission for self-reliance in pulses. Launching the schemes at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute campus here, Modi urged farmers to increase production to meet domestic and global demand. “On one hand, we have to be self-reliant. On the other, we also have to produce for the global market. Friends, we must knock on the doors of the world,” Modi said, asking farmers to focus on crops that have global demand. The two schemes—`24,000 crore Pradhan Mantri Dhan Dhaanya Krishi Yojana (PMDDKY) and a `11,440 crore Mission for Aatmanirbharta in Pulses—are aimed at “changing the fate of millions of farmers”, he said. Prime Minister Narendra Modi during an interaction with farmers at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Pusa, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI PM-DDKY aims to transform 100 low-performing agricultural districts based on the Aspirational Districts Programme model. The scheme will focus on enhancing crop productivity and diversification, improving irrigation and storage facilities, and ensuring credit access in the selected districts. express read WIT H T H IS ISS U E Life in the Time of Solitude PLUS 12 P AGES Modi urged farmers to increase cultivation acreage by 35 lakh hectares by 2030 to boost production and achieve self-reliance, as it targets raising production from the current 252.38 lakh tonnes to 350 lakh tonnes by 2030-31, thereby reducing import dependency . The PM also inaugurated projects valued at over `5,450 crore in agriculture, animal husbandry, fisheries and food processing sectors, while laying the foundation stone for additional projects worth around `815 crore. These included Artificial Insemination Training Center at Bengaluru and in Jammu & Kashmir; Centre of Excellence at Amreli and Banas; Establishment of IVF Lab in Assam under Rashtriya Gokul Mission; Milk Powder Plants at Mehsana, Indore and Bhilwara; Fish Feed Plant under Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana at Tezpur, Assam; Infrastructure for Agro-processing Clusters, Inte g rated Cold Chain, and Value Addition Infrastructure, among others. Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh and Minister of State for Agriculture Bhagirath Choudhary were present during the event. Munambam: CM calls meeting on Monday CU shut indefinitely following clashes Gaza residents return to ruins as ceasefire holds Kochi: CM Pinarayi Vijayan has convened a meeting on Monday to discuss further proceedings on the Munambam Waqf land issue. The move follows the HC upholding the decision to appoint an inquiry panel to resolve the dispute. P4 Malappuram: Calicut University has been shut down indefinitely following violent clashes on campus during departmental student union elections on Friday. students have been instructed to vacate the hostels. P4 Gaza City: Tens of thousands of displaced Palestinians managed to reach Gaza neighbourhoods on Saturday, weaving through dustshrouded streets and damaged apartments, as the US-brokered ceasefire appears to hold. P11 caste identity row Thiyyas and Ezhavas are different: Study STs and Backward Classes O R Kelu had told the assembly Amid calls for a separate that Ezhavas and Thiyyas caste identity for Thiyyas, a are recorded as single entry study by Kerala Institute for ever since the formation of Research, Training and De- Kerala State Service Rule in velopment Studies of Sched- 1958. uled Castes and Scheduled In a reply to MLA N A NelTribes (KIRTADS) has con- likkunnu, the minister said cluded that Thiyyas in Mala- Thiyyas are not considered bar and Ezhavas in South as a sub caste of any other Kerala are two different caste. However, the minister communities culturally did not give a direct answer and anthropologically . to the question as to The institute unwhether a separate dertook the study identity will be givfollowing a direcen to Thiyyas. tion from the Kerala Thiyya Kshema State Commission Sabha said the minfor Backward ister’s reply has Classes. only complicated Thiyya Kshema the issue. Sabha had ap“ T h e g ove r n proached the com- If Thiyyas are not ment says Thiyyas mission with the a sub caste of any are not a sub caste other caste, what request that Thiyof any other castes, prevents the yas should be conbut is silent on our government sidered as a sepademand for sepafrom giving a r a t e c a s t e a n d separate status to rate consideration. them should not be brackIf Thiyyas are not eted with Ezhavas a sub caste, what Vinodan Thiruthi, and Billavas. prevents the govgeneral secretary of It is learnt that ernment from givThiyya Kshema KIRTADS found out ing a separate staSabha that Thiyyas are tus to them,” asked different from EzhaVinodan Thiruthi, vas though toddy-tapping general secretary of Kshewas the principal vocation ma Sabha. of both communities. The Meanwhile, the SNDP Yoinstitute is likely to submit gam has come out strongly its report to the commission against separating the two soon. communities, saying it is a In a related development, move to weaken the Ezhava ● More on P7 Minister for Welfare of SC/ community  . M P P r a s h a n t h @Kozhikode Sabarimala: Two FIRs filed, Potti named main accused E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram The state crime branch has registered two FIRs in connection with the alleged misappropriation of gold in Sabarimala temple. Unnikrishnan Potti, a priest-turned-businessman, has been listed as the main accused in the FIRs. According to police sources, the FIRs also reportedly include staff of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) as accused. The FIRs will be handed over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the charges. The crime branch filed the cases based on the recent findings of the devaswom vigilance. While one FIR pertains to the irregularities in the gold-cladded panels of the dwarapalaka idols, the other is connected with the alleged misappropriation of gold from the side frames and lintel of the Sabarimala sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum). The probe will examine allegations of unauthorised extraction of gold, its illegal transportation and fraudulent transactions. On Friday, the Kerala High Court observed that the misappropriation of gold in the side frames and lintel of the Sabarimala sreekovil appeared similar to the earlier fraud detected in the gold plating of the dwarapalaka idols.