saturdAY 14 december, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Emmanuel macron Heavy rain lashes tn districts centrist ally Bayrou as PM The French President on Friday named centrist ally Francois Bayrou as prime minister in an effort to address the country’s deep political crisis. Page 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l Extremely heavy rain lashed various parts of Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts on Thursday night, with Oothu in the Manjolai Hills registering 54 cm of rainfall in 24 hours till Friday morning, the highest in Tamil Nadu. Across the two districts, many roads, including the Manimuthar-Manjolai and ShengottaiPuliyarai stretches, were cut off due to rain. Four houses in Tenkasi and a few more in Tirunelveli collapsed in the rains, but no injuries were reported. | P5 PAGES 12 Allu Arjun arrested, granted bail T G N a i d u @ Hyderabad actor Allu Arjun was on Friday arrested in connection with the death of a woman at Hyderabad’s Sandhya Theatre during the premiere of Pushpa-2 on December 4. He was produced before the Nampally court, which sent him to 14 days judicial custody Later in . the day, the Telangana High Court granted him interim bail for four weeks. The HC’s bail conditions included furnishing a personal bond of `50,000 and refraining from influencing witnesses. The actor was also asked to file a fresh petition for regular bail in the trial court. The next hearing is on December 21. However, Arjun would have to spend the night in Chanchalguda jail as the prison authorities did not receive the copy of the HC order till 10.30 pm. By the time the copy was uploaded online, Arjun’s advocates handed over a hard copy to the jail authorities. Director General (Prisons) Soumya Mishra verified the physical copy of the HC order, as the Chanchalguda jail superintendent was on leave. The jail authorities found there were mistakes in the order copy Arjun will be released . on Saturday once the rectified order copy is submitted. Also, the surety amount of `50,000 was not submitted on Friday . The case is related to the death of M Revathi in a stampede when the actor’s fans rushed to have his glimpse during the premier of the film. p5 Allu Arjun at the Gandhi Hosp. for checkup | pti Rajnath, Priyanka trade barbs Switzerland RETALIATION Coronation day D Gukesh receives the World Chess Championship trophy during a closing ceremony in Singapore on Friday. He won the match on Thursday | FIDE RG Kar ex-head, cop get bail in rape-murder case S u l a g n a S e n g u pta @ Kolkata A Sealdah court on Friday granted bail to Sandip Ghosh, former principal of state-run R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, and Abhijit Mondol, former officer in-charge of the Tala police station, in the horrific rape-murder case of a junior doctor four months ago. While Mondal was accused of delay in filing the FIR in the case, Ghosh was charged with tampering with evidence. The court granted them bail as the CBI failed to submit its chargesheet within the mandatory 90 days. For its part, the CBI said its probe against the accused is ongoing. express read letter to cec Voter list has names of infiltrators: BJP A Delhi BJP delegation met the Chief Election Commissioner on Friday and submitted a letter running into 5,000 pages. It alleged that the city’s voters’ list consisted of several infiltrators including Rohingyas and Bangladeshis, apart from voters with non-existent addresses and deceased persons. | P4 climate change 91 dists face high drought risk: Report India’s 91 districts face high risks of drought, 51 districts are at high flood risks, and 11 face ‘very high’ risks of both, a new report released by the Department of Science and Technology showed, emphasising the need for immediate interventions to address challenges posed by climate change. | P7 farm outreach The shocked parents of the RG Kar hospital victim waiting for justice said the system is failing them. “We thought the CBI would speed up the probe. But now, with the accused being granted bail, it feels like the system is failing us,” said the mother of the murdered doctor. Massive protests had erupted across the country after the rape-murder of the doctor in the hospital on August 9. The police arrested Sanjay Roy a civic volunteer, a day , later. The CBI has filed its chargesheet against Roy . While Mondal is expected to walk out of prison, Ghosh will remain in jail in another case of alleged financial irregularities at R G Kar. Fiery debate in the House of the People to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi The much-anticipated debate to commemorate the 75th year of the Constitution kicked off on Friday with the ruling BJPled NDA and Opposition INDIA bloc sparring over Constitutional values, its relevance and key political issues. Initiating the debate in the Lok Sabha, Union defence minister Rajnath Singh attacked the Congress saying a particular party always tried to ‘hijack and appropriate’ the framing of the Constitution. Rajnath said the Congress made 28 Constitutional amendments during Indira Gandhi’s tenure and 10 during Rajiv Gandhi’s rule. And the Manmohan Singh government made seven amendments. The BJP has never compromised the independence and autonomy of institutions and always adhered to the Constitution, Rajnath said. The Constitution talked about religious freedom and it had been specified that the state would not have a religion but be secular, he added. “Opposition leaders carry the Constitution in their pockets, they Rajnath Singh and Priyanka Gandhi participating in a debate in LS on Friday | PTI Prime minister expected to speak today The eight-hour long fiery debate saw heated exchanges on Constitutional values in the Lok Sabha. On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to speak in the Lower House have done this for generations, but the BJP holds it to its forehead,” Rajnath said. Deliberating on the democratic journey of the country, he said the ideas of Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya, Lala Lajpat Rai, Sardar Bhagat Singh and Veer Savarkar have strengthened the basis of the Constitution. This invited protests from the Opposition. Opening the debate for the Opposition, Congress MP Priy- anka Gandhi Vadra rebutted Rajnath’s criticisms. “Treasury bench members keep talking about the past and Nehru. Why don’t you talk about the present? Tell the country what you are doing. Is everything Nehru’s responsibility?” she asked in her first address in Parliament. Priyanka also hit out at the government over the Adani issue, which invited protests. “Farm laws have been changed 1.3L trees may face axe for 150-km-long Mann brainchild Malwa canal in Punjab threats 30 schools in city HAR P REE T B A J W A @ Chandigarh Approximately 1,30,000 trees and plants are expected to be cut down for the construction of the proposed 150-kilometre-long Malwa Canal project. The project, the brainchild of Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, marks the first canal to be built in the state since Independence. The land on the left bank of the Rajasthan feeder, where the proposed canal will be constructed, belongs to the Rajasthan government. To be built at an estimated cost of `2,300 crore, this 12-foot-deep Malwa canal will originate at the Harike headworks on the Sutlej in Ferozepur district. It will cater to the irrigational 2 L acres to be irrigated To be built at an estimated cost of `2,300 crore, 12-foot-deep Malwa canal will originate at the Harike headworks on the Sutlej in Ferozepur. It will cater to the irrigational needs of 2 lakh acres in the southern part of the state. needs of nearly 2 lakh acres in the southern part of the state. According to officials, the state forest department had received the application for an NOC for the proposed canal. The department has now sent back its observations to the state government, which will take a final decision. A joint inspection team of the forest department and water resources department offi- get bomb emails cials visited the alignment site. “As per the estimation, 1,30,494 trees in 407.078 hectares would be affected,” said sources. As the canal is to be built on the left bank of the Rajasthan feeder, the canal bank officially belongs to the Rajasthan government and is not covered by the 1958 notification of the Punjab government, which declared all sides of roads, rails and canals as protected forests, the department said. When contacted, Secretary of Forests and Wildlife, Punjab, Priyank Bharti, said, “Will get it checked.’’ Despite repeated attempts, Punjab Forest and Wildlife Preservation Minister Lal Chand Kataruchak and Principal Chief Conservator of Forests RK Mishra were not available for comments. for industrialists. Cold storages in Himachal Pradesh were given to Adani by the Centre. Ports, airports, factories, mines and public sector units are controlled by one person. The poor are getting poorer, while the rich are getting richer,” she alleged. Referring to Rajnath’s criticism of Emergency, Priyanka said, “Learn from what happened in 1975. Why don’t you go back to ballot paper?” Striking an emotional chord, Priyanka said she had met the rape victims in Unnao and the Sambhal violence victims. “They told me they will fight for justice till the end. They derive strength from the Constitution,” she said. “The prime minister is not bothered about Manipur or Sambhal. Maybe he hasn’t understood that this is the Constitution of India, not the Sangh’s,” she added. Responding to Rajnath’s barb on caste census, she said the Lok Sabha results forced the government to talk about Constitution. “They would have changed the Constitution, if the Lok Sabha results were in their favour. People want caste census,” she alleged. p7 The e-mails, sent around 12:54 am to 30 schools, warned of bomb blasts on Friday and Saturday, sending cops into tizzy | P3 Champions Trophy ICC is likely to announce Champions Trophy formula on Saturday after Pakistan and Indian cricket boards reportedly agree in principle to play at neutral venues. It is learnt that India could play in Dubai during the CT next year | File pic withdraws MFN status for India D I PAK M O N D A L @ New Delhi in a retaliatory action, Switzerland has withdrawn the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status granted to India, which will result in higher tax implications for Indian companies operating in the central European country The Swiss action came after . India’s Supreme Court rejected automatic applicability of MFN clause under the bilateral tax treaty in a case related to Swiss firm Nestle. In its order dated December 11, the Swiss government said the Supreme Court’s ruling shows Switzerland’s interpretation of MFN clause under the Double Taxation Avoidance Agreement is not shared by the Indian side. Therefore, it said it was waiving its unilateral application of MFN clause with effect from January 1, 2025. Accordingly, income accruing on or after January 1, 2025 may be taxed in Switzerland at higher rates. The applicable residual rates on dividend paid by Indian firms in Switzerland would now be 10% instead of the 5% under the MFN clause. The MFN clause provides for lowering of rate of taxation at source on dividends, interest, royalties, or fees for technical services similar to concessions given to other countries with similar tax treaties. “Switzerland’s decision marks a shift in bilateral treaty dynamics... This move underscores the growing emphasis on reciprocity and mutual agreement in the interpretation of treaty provisions,” said Sandeep Jhunjhunwala, M&A tax partner, Nangia Andersen. Amit Maheshwari, tax partner at AKM Global, said there is a concern that more countries may follow suit. “Switzerland is of the view that it is not receiving the same treatment India grants to other countries with more favourable tax treaties. The main reason is reciprocity, which ensures taxpayers in both countries are treated equally and fairly he said. ,” high court ‘Unjustifiable delay of over 150 yrs’: Sultana Begum’s Red Fort claim nixed Punjab must buy all crops at MSP: Saini S h e k h a r S i n g h @ New Delhi All the crops are being procured at minimum support price (MSP) in Haryana, said CM Nayab Singh Saini on Friday, urging the Punjab government to follow suit. “In Haryana, we are procuring all crops of farmers at MSP. The state government is taking every step to empower farmers,” Saini said. | P4 The Delhi High Court on Friday rejected Sultana Begum’s plea for possession of Red Fort, citing an unjustifiable delay of over 150 years. Sultana Begum, the widow of the great-grandson of last Mughal emperor Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, claimed ownership of the historic mon- ument as a legal heir. A bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela dismissed the appeal against a 2021 judgment, pointing out that the delay of two-and-a-half years in filing the plea could not be excused, particularly given the original petition was already decades late. “We find the said explanation inadequate, considering that the delay is of more than two-anda-half years. The petition was also dismissed for being inordinately delayed by several decades. The application for condonation of delay is dismissed. Consequently, the appeal is also dismissed. It is barred by limitation,” the HC said. The case dates back to Sultana Begum’s 2021 petition, in which she argued that Red Fort was seized unlawfully by the East India Company after the First War of Independence in 1857. She said that her ancestor, Bahadur Shah Zafar-II, was exiled, and the property was taken without consent. She claimed the government was occupying Red Fort illegally and demanded either possession or compensation for the property including arrears dat, ing back to 1857. In December 2021, a single judge had dismissed her plea, stating there was no plausible justification for approaching the court more than a century after the event. The HC upheld that decision, saying historical claims, even if valid, can’t bypass legal limitations. The ruling marks the end of Sultana Begum’s prolonged legal effort to reclaim the Red Fort or receive compensation, cementing the monument’s status as government property .