The New Indian Express Wishes its readers villupuram l Monday l march 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION At least 137 abducted School children freed in Nigeria abductions put pressure on president The Nigerian Army claimed the children were freed during a rescue operation on Saturday. President Bola Tinubu, under pressure to end abductions which has become common in the conflict-hit northern region of the country, had vowed to rescue them without paying ransom. Sources said the abductors were hiding in the region’s vast and ungoverned forests They were abducted over two weeks ago from their school in Nigeria’s northwestern state of Kaduna by a band of motorcycle-riding gunmen over 280 students were taken: teachers ■ ■ It is not clear how many students were kidnapped. Teachers have said over 280 pupils between the ages of eight and 15 were taken. The government had initially said all of them had been freed Bandit gangs routinely attack communities and carry out mass kidnappings for ransom in northwest and north-central Nigeria | P9 1,400 Students have been kidnapped from Nigerian schools since 2014 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 INDIA bloc to hold mega rally over Kejriwal arrest Oppn parties’ joint protest on March 31 in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan of Conduct being in place. Now the Congress’s accounts have UPPING the ante against the been frozen, so they won’t be arrest of Delhi Chief Minister able to run a campaign for the Arvind Kejriwal, the Opposi- polls,” Rai added. tion INDIA bloc said on Sunday Hitting out at the BJP, Delhi that it will hold a mega rally at Congress leader Arvinder Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Singh Lovely exhorted the pubMarch 31 to protest against the lic to join the proposed rally . BJP government’s alleged tarThe Opposition leaders also geting of political rivals using alleged Kejriwal was arrested federal agencies. after the State Bank of India Announcing the decision at a was forced to reveal the donajoint press conference in Delhi, tions the BJP received through Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader electoral bonds. One of the apand Delhi minister provers in the Delhi Gopal Rai said all INliquor policy case got DIA-bloc parties will bail after sending monhold the rally to safeey to the BJP, they Democracy and guard the country’s inalleged. terests and democracy the country are in . “There’s no levelTop leaders of several danger. All INDIA playing field for the opbloc parties will opposition parties inposition parties anytake part in this cluding the Congress, m o re. O u r l e a d e r ‘maha rally’ to TMC, CPI(M), Shiv Rahul Gandhi has safeguard the Sena (UBT), and Sama- country’s interests been trying to save the jwadi Party are expectdemocracy and we will and democracy ed to attend the rally . stand by the AAP to AAP leader Gopal Rai save the CM,” said “The Prime Minister has been acting like Lovely adding that a dictator and suppressing de- they are hopeful that the aumocracy to arrest Delhi CM thorities would allow them to Arvind Kejriwal. Whether it is hold the rally . Hemant Soren in Jharkhand or CPI(M) leader Rajiv Kunwar Tejashwi Yadav in Bihar or the said the fight is against the dicCM of West Bengal, all are be- tatorial rule of the Modi ing slapped with fraudulent government. cases to silence them ahead of Rallying behind Kejriwal, the Lok Sabha polls,” said Rai. several leaders including ConHe alleged AAP leaders are be- gress, TMC, and CPI(M) of the ing prevented from holding INDIA bloc had met the Elecprotests and Kejriwal’s family tion Commission on Friday and has been placed under house submitted a memorandum on arrest. “Our party office was the instances of central agensealed despite the Model Code cies targeting them. PREETHA NA I R @ New Delhi Delhi CM issues 1st order from custody: AAP A n u p v e r m a @ New Delhi The Aam Admi Party (AAP) on Sunday said Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal issued his first order from Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody, instructing Delhi water minister Atishi Marlena to solve water and sewer problems in some areas of Delhi. “I might be in jail, but people of Delhi shouldn’t be inconvenienced,” he wrote in the order as per Atishi. However, the issuing of the order has raised legal questions. The ED has taken cognisance of Atishi’s statement. The ED will probe if the directions were in line with the special Prevention of Money Laundering Act court’s order issued to the ED. Another question raised by Kejriwal’s order is whether he can continue as CM now that he is in custody Former Addition. al Solicitor General K C Kaushik said there is no bar on him continuing as CM for now as he has not been convicted yet. express read BJP slams DMK minister for comment against PM Chennai: The BJP on Sunday slammed TN Fisheries Minister Anitha R Radhakrishnan for allegedly publicly using an expletive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. K Annamalai, BJP state president, posted on X saying that DMK leaders have reached a new low in their “uncouth behaviour” by passing “vile comments and an unpardonable public discourse” against PM. “DMK MP Smt Kanimozhi was on the stage and she did not bother to stop her colleague,” Annamalai said | P4 Keen to resume trade ties with India, says Pak Indicating a potential shift in diplomatic stance towards India, Pakistan foreign minister Muhammad Ishaq Dar said that Islamabad will ‘seriously’ consider restoring trade ties with New Delhi, which have remained suspended since August 2019. Dar made these remarks during a press conference in London following his participation in the Nuclear Energy Summit in Brussels. He highlighted the eagerness of cash-strapped Pakistan’s business community to resume trade activities with India Bhojshala was a temple: KK Muhammed Gwalior: Noted archaeologist K K Muhammed on Sunday claimed the contentious Bhojshala/Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district was a Saraswati temple and later converted into an Islamic place of worship. He stressed that Hindus and Muslims should abide by the court’s decision and honour the Places of Worship Act, 1991, apart from sitting together to iron out differences over such places. Muslims should also respect the sentiments of Hindus over Mathura and Kashi, he said titan-ic victory Gujarat Titans skipper Shubman Gill (centre) kicked off his IPL captaincy chapter with a six-run victory against Mumbai Indians on Sunday | sportzpics Kangana Ranaut, Naveen Jindal in BJP’s 5th list rajesh kumar thakur @ Ex judge to contest New Delhi After a week-long discussion, the Bharatiya Janata Party on Sunday evening released its fifth list of candidates for 111 Lok Sabha seats in 17 states including Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and in the process springing surprises yet again. The BJP retained a majority of its sitting MPs and has given seats to newly inducted members for various high profile seats. Kerala BJP chief K Surendran will take on Congress sitting MP Rahul Gandhi and CPI’s Annie Raja in Wayanad candidate. Sandeshkhali’s Rekha Patra, who raised voice against suspended TMC mus- Kangana Ranaut will contest from the Mandi seat in Himachal Pradesh cle man Sheikh Shahjahan, is fielded as the BJP’s candidate from Basirhat. Industrialist and former Congress MP Naveen Jindal on Sunday joined the BJP and was immediately named the party’s candidate for Kurukshetra seat in Haryana. He represented the seat between 2004-14. As was reported first by this newspaper, Pilibhit sitting MP Varun Gan- dhi was dropped and UP minister Jitin Prasada was fielded from the seat. Varun’s mother and Sultanpur sitting MP Maneka Gandhi will contest from the same seat again. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan was field from Sambalpur LS seat while Sambit Patra from Puri in Odisha. Sita Soren, who joined recently from JMM, was named IIT-Guwahati student aspiring Erode MDMK MP to join Islamic State arrested Not given seat rushed to hospital; Durai Vaiko says condition critical E X PRESS NE W S SERV I C E @ Erode Erode sitting MP A Ganeshamurthi was admitted to a private hospital in Coimbatore after he fell ill at home early on Sunday He is critical. When asked about re. ports about the senior MDMK leader attempting suicide, hospital authorities refused to comment. It is alleged that Ganeshamurthi was depressed over the party’s refusal to give him ticket to contest from the Erode seat. The leader of the alliance, DMK, has fielded its own candidate in Erode and has instead given Tiruchy seat to the MDMK. Durai Vaiko, son of MDMK general secretary Vaiko, has been named the party’s Tiruchy candidate. Later on Sunday Du, rai Vaiko visited the private hospital on Avinashi Road where the MP is being treated. Speaking to reporters after meeting the family members of the MP, Durai Vaiko said the MP is critical and there will be clarity about his health condition only after 24 to 48 hours. “Doctors are treating him for heart-related ailments. He has been taken to the hospital at the right time. He is on ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) support,” Durai Vaiko said. Ganeshamurthi, a 77-year-old law graduate from the Kongu Velallar community , contested in 2019 on the DMK’s ‘Rising Sun’ symbol and won. His wife Balamani had passed away and he is living with his son Kapilan. He has a daughter. On Sunday morning, the MP allegedly took ill and his family members took him to a private hospital on Perundurai Road in Erode. MDMK and allied party workers gathered at the hospital. P5 TN plans to denotify vast tracts of land, Pulicat bird sanctuary area may shrink SV KR I SHNA C HA I TAN YA @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu government is planning to denotify a sizeable area of the Pulicat bird sanctuary Patta . land in 13 revenue villages located inside the biodiversity-rich area may be excluded from the sanctuary after completing the claim process under the Wildlife (Protection) Act of 1972, sources said. Just days before the Lok Sabha elections Model Code of Conduct (MCC) came into effect, the Tiruvallur district collector had issued a draft notification on February 29 regarding settlement of claims for patta lands that are to be denotified. People were asked to submit a written claim for the land in the prescribed form within two months. The timing of the move has raised concerns as it would clear major Former Calcutta HC judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay who gave several strong verdicts against the TMC govt will contest from West Bengal’s Tamluk seat. He resigned a few days ago, joined BJP for Dumka LS seat. In Andhra Pradesh, state BJP chief D Purandareshwari was field from Rajamundry LS seat while Varaparasad Rao, who joined on Sunday, was fielded from Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. Former Law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad was fielded from Patna Sahib in Bihar while union minister RK Singh was repeated from Arrah. Ramayana serial actor Arun Govil, who played Lord Rama, was fielded from Meerut in UP . The BJP dropped union minister Ashwini Kumar Choubey and VK Singh and ex-Union minister Anant Kumar Hegde from Uttara Kannada constituency Singh said he will not con. test the forth coming Lok Sabha elections. The sanctuary attracts thousands of migratory birds every year | Express hurdles for the controversial AdaniKattupalli port expansion whose northern boundary will fall outside the eco-sensitive zone (ESZ) when the Pulicat bird sanctuary area is reduced. It may exempt the project from needing clearance from the National Board for Wildlife (NBWL). Environmentalists and local fisher- men have been voicing concerns against the expansion of Kattupalli port because of its potential threat to the bird sanctuary and proposed acquisition of hundreds of acres of wetlands. Senior officials of the state forest department told TNIE, “In 1980, the state government brought the bird sanctuary under Section 18 of Wildlife (Protection) Act. But it was not a final notification. The sanctuary’s boundary was not demarcated till now. As per the Act, final notification must be issued under Section 26(A). It can be done only after the collector settles the claims of the affected people and that process is now on.” The forest official said private patta lands can’t be declared as sanctuary. Either the government should acquire those lands or they must be exempted. p5 P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati One more suspect Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said there is one more radicalised student in the IIT, Guwahati. “Not one but there are two students. We got one and hopefully, we will get the other by today,” the chief minister said A student of the Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati, who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State and had gone missing was detained by the police on Saturday reportedly as he was on his way to join the terrorist group. The fourth-year student, hailing from Okhla in Delhi, was nabbed by the Assam Police in Hajo, about 30 km from Guwahati. “Reference @IITGuwahati student pledging allegiance to ISIS—the said student has been detained while travelling and further lawful follow up would take place,” Director General of Police GP Singh wrote on X. Before disappearing from the IIT campus, the student had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State through his social me- dia posts. In an email sent to the police, he said he has plans to join the terror group. “We immediately contacted the IIT-Guwahati authorities but they said the student was missing since noon. His mobile phone was also switched off,” additional superintendent of police Kalyan Kumar Pathak who is a part of Assam Police’s Special Task Force said. A black flag, resembling that of the Islamic State, was recovered from the student’s hostel room and sent for verification. Pathak said the police were trying to find the motive behind sending the email. The incident comes days after the Special Task Force nabbed ISIS India head Haris Farooqi and his associate soon after the duo had crossed over into Assam’s Dhubri district rom Bangladesh.
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