WEDNESDAY 29 MAY, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard SRI LANKA ‘POSTPONE ALL POLLS FOR 2 YRS’ Digital competition law needs rethink: USIBC Prez Ranil Wickremesinghe’s party suggests referendum to postpone presidential and general elections for two years to pursue economic reforms A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS PAGE 09 PM to meditate at Vivekananda Rock Memorial EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Kanniyakumari / Chennai AFTER an intense and prolonged campaign for the Lok Sabha elections and ahead of the results, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will delve deep into meditation at the ‘dhyana mandapam’ of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial located on a rock around 400 metres off the Kanniyakumari coast for over 45 hours from Thursday evening. The rock is surrounded by the Laccadive Sea where the Bay of Bengal, the Indian Ocean, and the Arabian Sea meet. Sources said that PM will meditate day and night at the same spot where Swami Vivekananda is believed to have meditated over a century ago. The prime minister is expected to start his meditation on the evening of May 30 and conclude it on June 1 evening. The PM is known to go on spiritual retreats at the end of his poll campaigns. In 2019, he had went to Kedarnath and in 2014, he had visited Pratapgarh, where a battle was fought between Maratha forces led by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and Bijapur troops led by Afzal Khan. In view of the PM’s visit, security has been beefed up in Kanniyakumari. According to his tentative tour programme, the PM would leave from Thiruvananthapuram airport on May 30 (Thursday) at 3.55 pm in a helicopter and arrive at Kanniyakumari helipad at 4.35 pm. NEW DELHI Cyclone Remal wreaks havoc, kills 31 in N-E Multiple landslides take Mizoram toll to 27 P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati CYCLONE Remal wreaked havoc in parts of the Northeast on Tuesday, killing at least 31 people in Mizoram, Meghalaya and Assam. The rains, which were accompanied by gusty winds, uprooted trees, electric poles, triggered landslides and disrupted power and inter net services. There is no power in parts Assam and Mizoram since Monday midnight. With 27 confirmed deaths in four landslides, Mizoram was the worst affected. Locals said there had been a series of incidents of landslides and the toll could go up further. Fourteen people were killed when a stone quarry collapsed at a place between Melthum and Hlimen on the outskirts of the state capital Aizawl. Five locals and 2-3 non-locals were reported missing after the collaspse. Landslides elsewhere killed 13 people — Hlimen (4), Salem (3), Falkawn (2), Lungsei (1), Kelsih (1) and Aibawk (2). The state gover nment said it would be difficult to say how many people were missing after the incidents. Aizawl and its surrounding areas are vulnerable to land- A car damaged after a shed fell on it following Cyclone Remal’s landfall in Guwahati on Tuesday | PTI slides, primarily because of “loose” soil, the locals said. Chief Minister Lalduhoma announced ex-gratia of `4 lakh each for the next of kin of those who died. The state government had ordered the closure of all government offices on Tuesday except those rendering essential services. Three persons were killed in Assam and one in Meghalaya. A wall collapsed in East Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya, killing one person. Four others were injured in a landslide in the district. In Assam, the deaths occurred in Kamrup, Kamrup (Metro) and Morigaon districts. ‘Bomb@5.30’ on board, 176 passengers evacuated as panic descends into chaos UJ WA L JA L A L I @ New Delhi DRAMATIC scenes were witnessed on Tuesday as passengers onboard an IndiGo flight bound for Varanasi in UP were evacuated following a bomb threat at Delhi airport. However, the threat was declared a hoax by the police. In a purported video on social media, the plane was seen being taken to the remote bay area. The passengers could be seen getting out of the emergency exit door of the aircraft and later using an evacuation slide to come down. DCP (IGI Airport) Usha Rangnani said around 5 am, information was received about a paper being found in the lavatory of an Indigo flight scheduled to depart for Varanasi, with the word ‘Bomb@5.30’ written on it. “Following the standard security protocols, a thorough inspection was conducted, and no suspicious item was found,” the DCP said. An IndiGo airline official stated the flight 6E2211 operating from Delhi to Varanasi had PRESSINTAKE J8.00 A city court on Tuesday denied bail to Umar Khalid, a former JNU student leader, accused in the 2020 northeast Delhi riots “larger conspiracy” case. Khalid, charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, argued before additional sessions judge Sameer Bajpai that the other accused facing more serious allegations PAGES 12 SC refuses early hearing of CM’s plea for bail extension S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Tuesday refused an early hearing of a petition filed by CM Arvind Kejriwal seeking extension of his interim bail for seven days on health grounds in the liquor scam case. A two-judge vacation bench of the top court comprising Justices J K Maheshwari and K V Viswanathan asked Kejriwal’s lawyer Abhishek Manu Singhvi as to why the CM’s application was not mentioned before a vacation bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta, who was heading the vacation bench till Friday . Singhvi sought an urgent hearing in the plea, saying that the CM needed a medical check-up. Since the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, which granted interim bail till June 1 to Kejriwal, reserved the verdict on his main plea on May 17, it would be appropriate to place his plea for extension of bail application before the CJI for appropri- Court summons Atishi A city court has summoned AAP leader and minister Atishi to appear before it on June 29 in connection with a defamation case filed by a BJP leader. The case stems from Atishi’s accusations that the BJP tried to bribe and poach AAP legislators. P4 ate orders, the court observed. “The CJI will take appropriate decision on listing of CM Kejriwal’s plea for extension of interim bail as verdict is reserved in the main case,” the judges said, and refused to grant urgent hearing to the plea. On Monday, Kejriwal moved Supreme Court seeking extension of his interim bail by seven days to undergo PET-CT scan and other tests. He was granted an interim bail by the top court in the Delhi liquor scam case on May 10, for a period of three weeks, till June 1. It directed him to surrender on June 2. In his plea, Kejriwal claimed that since his arrest he has lost seven kgs. He said his Ketone level has increased which could be indicative of a serious disease. EC suspends special secretary of Odisha CMO for poll interference B I J AY C H A K I @ Bhubaneswar THE Election Commission on Tuesday ordered suspension of DS Kutey special secretary to the chief , minister’s office (CMO), on charges of unduly interfering in the conduct of election. The EC fixed Kutey’s headquarters at office of the resident commissioner in New Delhi. The 1997-batch IPS officer in the ADG rank has been asked to report by 3 pm on May 29, a letter by EC secretary Rakesh Kumar to Odisha chief electoral officer (CEO) said. Similarly the poll panel asked IG , (CM security) Ashish Singh to present himself for detailed medical exam by a special board formed by the director of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar not later than May 30. Singh has been on medical leave since May 4. The CEO has been directed to coordinate to ensure that the AIIMS, Bhubaneswar director constitutes the special medical board to ascertain illness and treatment being undergone by Singh. The report on Singh by the CEO will have to reach the EC by May 31. The EC letter said action on the two IPS officers was taken basing on a communication from the CEO on May 27 in which he had made certain averments indicating undue influence being exercised by the two officers directly connected with conduct of election work. EXPRESS READ Chief secy gets 3-month extension The Central government has extended the service of Delhi chief secretary Naresh Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer, for a period of three more months, officials said on Tuesday. Kumar, who was at loggerheads with the AAP government in Delhi, was given his first extension for six months on November 30, 2023, following a Supreme Court order. Kumar’s tenure was set to expire on May 31. P4 T20 World Cup ticket for India-Pak match available S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Chennai THE International Cricket Council (ICC) may have a new problem in their hands. There are only three days to go for the opening night of the T20 World Cup—one of the governing body’s flagship white-ball properties —but a lot of tickets are still up for grabs. While the ICC, in a statement in March, said that “more than three million ticket applications were received during the ballot”, tickets for all games are still available on the official website. This includes the India vs Pakistan match, scheduled to be played at the Nassau County International Cricket Stadium in New York on Sunday . While the cheapest tickets for that match have been sold out ($300 if you are wondering), packages worth an eye-popping $10,000 (`8.3 lakh) have not found many takers. The perks for this ticket includes free parking, pitch report 15 minutes before the start of the game as well as a private champagne with lunch while taking part in an analysis of the game by a cricketing legend. Most of the tickets for other ties, too, are yet to find takers. Not just India’s, even tickets for the Australia P11 versus England match are available. ‘Killer’ hosp flouted govt norms on O2 storage UJ WA L JA L A L I @ New Delhi A pilot exits from the flight that received bomb threat at IGIA on Tuesday | PTI Flight to Varanasi A threat call was received around 5.40 am. The aircraft was taken to a remote bay. All passengers were safely evacuated, airline officials said. They said an alternative aircraft was arranged and passengers were given refreshments. The flight left for Varanasi at 11:10 am. 176 passengers onboard. “The threat call was received around 5.40 am after which all necessary protocols were followed Dera Sacha Sauda chief acquitted in former manager’s murder case | P7 and the aircraft was taken to a remote bay as per guidelines by airport security agencies. All passengers were safely evacuated via emergency exits,” the airline official said. An evacuation slide is an inflatable contraption for quick evacuation. An escape slide is needed on all commercial aircraft. In a similar incident on May 16, a tissue paper, with the word ‘bomb’ written on it, was found in an AI flight lavatory at IGIA, prompting an inspection, but it turned out to be a hoax. THE investigation into the Baby Care New Born Child Hospital fire in which seven newborns died has revealed that the hospital had flouted the guidelines of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on the storage of Oxygen cylinders. As per an MHA circular dated April 23, 2021, on the guidelines on Safe Storage, Transportation and Handling of Liquid Oxygen for Medical Use, Gen Z of J&K politics sweat it out to hold family flags high | P8 it has been stated that the Oxygen must be separated from flammables and combustibles by at least 20 feet or a halfhour fire wall, post “No Smoking” and “No Open Flames” signs. Officials told this newspaper that the cylinders were kept less than 20 feet away from the area where babies were kept. “The probe revealed that the hospital also defied the directions under the Nursing Act. 3 MORE COUNTRIES RECOGNISE PALESTINIAN STATE The coordinated effort by Spain, Norway and Ireland was aimed at putting global pressure on Israel | P9 Court turns down Khalid’s bail plea in 2020 riots case P R A B H AT S H U K L A @ New Delhi The US-India Business Council (USIBC), which has Google, Amazon and Apple as members, has asked the Indian government to rethink its plan to have a EU-like competition law. In its letter to the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, USIBC said India’s draft Digital Competition Bill is “much further in scope” than the European Union’s stringent Digital Markets Act 2022 | P10 had already been granted bail. Besides, some individuals allegedly involved in similar activities were not even named by the police. Taking note of the submissions of the special public prosecutor Amit Prasad, the court said there was “no delay in framing of charg e and commencement of the trial by Delhi Police.” “Thus when the delay in the proceedings is not on the part of the prosecution and, in fact, is on the part of the accused, the applicant cannot take benefit of the same,” it said Prasad contended that the bail judgments for Asif Iqbal Tanha, Devangana Kalita, and Natasha Narwal should not set a precedent. “Every other accused cannot be entitled to parity,” he said. “People on bail are stalling the trial so that people in custody can take benefits of delay he added. ,” Khalid’s advocate, Trideep Pais, argued that no witness statements cited by the prosecution justified a terrorism charge against Khalid. “The accused has not committed any terrorist act… There is not a single seizure from him.” Pais said. which says the number of nurses and beds should be in the ratio of 1:1 for neonatal intensive care units,” sources said. It has been revealed the Delhi Fire Service received the call about the incident 35 minutes after the fire had broken out. Some Oxygen cylinders had by that time already exploded. “We received the first call at 11.32 pm in which the caller stated that a fire had broken o u t at t h e h o s p i t a l a n d cylinders were exploding,” said Atul Garg, director of Delhi Fire Service. The police reportedly found that the fire had broken out around 10.55 pm, as seen in CCTV footage, but the department was informed about it 35 minutes later at 11.32 pm. “Oxygen cylinders are robust and do not easily catch fire. Had the hospital intimated us on time, we could have doused the flames,” Garg said. External and internal challenges keep Chandigarh candidates on their toes H A R P R E E T B A J WA @ Chandigarh FOR voters of Chandigarh constituency Lok Sabha polls , mean a familiar face or two on the ballot. But it is an entirely different scenario this time as there are no repeat candidates. Congress leader and former Union minister Manish Tewari, who is contesting from Chandigarh for the first time, is pitted against the BJP’s Sanjay Tandon, who is eyeing his Parliament debut from this seat. To field Tewari, the Congress has benched former Union minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, who was the party’s Chandigarh candidate in the past four elections. The BJP, too, has dropped sitting MP Kirron Kher, who has represented the seat twice. Tewari, 58, hopes to spoil the BJP’s chances with the support of the AAP whereas Tandon, 60, believes his ‘local Manish Tewari (L), Sanjay Tandon ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR man’ status will help him. Tandon is the former chief of BJP’s Chandigarh unit. As the fight gets fiercer, both have a common problem to deal with — bickering in their respective camps. Denying ticket to Bansal caused a mini revolt in the Congress with many local leaders resigning. They were triggered after Congress’s Chandigarh unit chief H S Lucky allegedly mocked Bansal on the ticket issue. For the record, Bansal maintains he is a Congress loyalist but is hardly seen campaigning for Tewari. All is not well with the BJP either as former MP Satya Pal Jain, who was keen to contest again from Chandigarh, is hardly campaigning for Tandon. CONTINUED ON P5
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