KOZHIKODE l friday l may 03, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Supreme Court orders 33% quota for women in SC Bar Association The court said the order must be implemented from the 2024 election to the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) set to be held on May 16 Five seats in the executive committee At least 1 office bearer should be woman Apart from six office bearers, the SCBA has six senior executive members and nine executive members. As per the court order, at least two senior executive members and three executive members should be women. The order was passed by a bench comprising justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan while hearing a case involving SCBA against its former Secretary B D Kaushik ■ ■ One post of the office bearers of the SCBA should be reserved for women by turn and on rotation bases, the bench said in its order For the upcoming elections, the post of Treasurer shall be reserved for women, it said. However, this will not preclude eligible women members of SCBA from contesting for other office-bearer positions May 19 when results of the Supreme Court bar association election will be out 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 feeling the heat IMD issues heatwave alerts in Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur and Kozhikode for Friday Warm night warning issued in Alappuzha. 40.4˚C recorded in Palakkad on Thursday, the warmest district in state Holiday for educational institutions, including professional colleges, till May 6 Unable to bear the heat, Senobi, 80, of Nedumthoppu near Chirayinkeezhu in Thiruvananthapuram, covers her head with a cloth as she dries fish | B P Deepu Two die of heatstroke; Kerala gears up to meet the challenge E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram/Kozhikode On a day two suspected heatstroke deaths were reported in Malappuram and Kozhikode, the state government swung into action on Thursday rolling out a series of measures to cope with the p r ev a i l i n g h e a t w ave conditions. A high-level meeting of the Kerala State Disaster Management Authority chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan decided to declare holiday for educational insti- tutions, including professional colleges, till May 6. Meanwhile, a high level meeting attended by power minister K Krishnankutty and KSEB management decided not to go for load shedding in spite of the power crisis. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued heatwave alerts in Alappuzha, Palakkad, Thrissur and Kozhikode for Friday. It also issued a warm night warning in Alappuzha. Palakkad is likely to Police ignore bus driver’s complaint against mayor CCTV cameras installed on the bus went missing the other Giving yet another twist to day adding a new dimension to the road rage controversy the the entire episode. The loss , Thiruvanannthapuram city was detected by KSRTC offipolice on Thursday refused to cials. Following a complaint initiate action on the com- by the Transport Officer, plaint lodged by the KSRTC Thampanoor police have driver against Mayor Arya Ra- launched a probe and started jendran and her huscollecting details of the band K M Sachin Dev, KSRTC officials who Case MLA, for allegedly ob- registered had access to the bus afstructing his duty re, ter the incident. The Kerala sulting in the cancelThe memory card State Human lation of the trip. possibly had visuals Rights However, the Kerala captured by three camCommission State Human Rights eras installed on the Commission (KSHRC) has registered bus - one each on the a case based has registered a case dashboard, rear side on the based on the comand behind the driver’s complaint by plaint by driver B L cabin facing the pasdriver B L Yadhu. sengers. The camera Yadhu. M e a n wh i l e, Ko footage could have revalam MLA and vealed whether there Transport Democratwas a race between the ic Federation president M Vin- bus and the car and if anyone cent warned that he would had forcefully evicted the pasmove the court of law if the sengers, as Yadhu alleged. state government shied away However, the cameras were from initiating action against not positioned to record the those police officials who re- lewd gesture allegedly made fused to act on Yadhu’s by the driver, which Arya complaint. claimed was the main cause of ● More on P4 The memory card of the the incident. E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram record a maximum temperature of 40 degree Celsius, T h r i s s u r, K o l l a m a n d Kozhikode 39, Alappuzha, Kottayam, Pathanamthitta and Kannur 38, Thiruvananthapuram, Er nakulam, Malappuram and Kasaragod 37, on Friday . Palakkad remained the warmest district with a maximum temperature of 40.4 degree Celsius on Thursday. Kozhikode city reported 39, which is 4.6 degree Celsius above the normal. ‘Prajwal flew to Germany on diplomatic passport’ Muhammad Haneefa, 63, a resident of Padinhattummuri in Malappuram, passed away while undergoing treatment for heatstroke at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital on Thursday . He collapsed while working in a field near Tamarakuzhi on Wednesday. Preliminary assessment indicates dehydration to be the cause of hisdeath. Bijesh, a 41-year-old painter from Chakkumkadavu in Panniyankara, Kozhikode died of suspected heatstroke at his work site on ● More on P4 Thursday . Suspended JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is in the eye of a storm over his alleged sexual harassment, travelled to Germany without political clearance, the MEA said. No word, but party prepares in Amethi Nomination deadline for Amethi, Rae Bareli seats in UP ends today BJP drops tainted Brij Bhushan, fields his son Karan in Kaiserganj P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi N AMITA B AJPAI @ Lucknow With barely hours left for filing of nomination papers for the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats, the Congress is continuing to keep the suspense on whether Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka will contest from the prestigious seats. Though there was no official word, sources said that Rahul is likely to enter the fray from Amethi. That decision was taken after much deliberations within the party leadership. However, the call on Priyanka contesting from Rae Bareli is yet to be taken, said sources. On Wednesday, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said the decision would be announced by Thursday evening. Yet, there was no official announcement till going to the press. Sources said the local leadership is gearing up for the filing of nomination papers by Rahul from Amethi since Thursday evening. “We received a message from the high command in Rae Bareli the evening to make preparafactor tions for Friday’s nomination. The party will also hold a rally Though it was speculated today said a leader. ,” that Rahul According to sources, ConGandhi may gress chief Mallikarjun Kharge has conveyed to the Gandhis contest from that not contesting from Uttar the Rae Bareli Pradesh would not augur well constituency, he decided for the party’s prospects in the against it at Hindi heartland. Rahul reprethe last sented Amethi for three straight moment terms from 2004 to 2019 before he was defeated by Union minister Smriti Irani by over 50,000 votes in 2019. Smriti Irani, who is seeking a second term from Amethi, has challenged Rahul to contest from the seat. A section of the leaders believe that if Rahul does not take up the challenge, it will only vindicate the BJP’s charges of him running away from the seat. The BJP on Thursday dropped Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faces criminal charges of sexually harassing women wrestlers during his stint as the president of Wrestling Federation of India (WFI), and instead fielded his younger son Karan Bhushan Singh from Uttar Pradesh’s Kaiserganj Lok Sabha constituency . The saffron party also named Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli, a Gandhi family bastion that elected Congress leader Sonia Gandhi five consecutive times. Dinesh Pratap Singh, currently serving as a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet, was the BJP’s candidate from the Rae Bareli parliamentary seat in 2019 as well. Even though he lost to Sonia Gandhi last time, he managed to bring her victory margin down to 1.67 lakh votes from 3.52 lakh in 2014. He was earlier with the Congress and he joined the BJP in 2018. Rajput Brij Bhushan, the sitting MP card in Kaiserganj, was forced to reBy fielding sign as WFI president over the Dinesh Singh sexual harassment scandal after and Karan the wrestlers launched a protest. Bhushan(pic), By denying ticket to Brij BhushBJP hopes to an, the BJP has sought to send placate out a message of distancing itRajput self from tainted leaders. community With Brij Bhushan, the total voters, who number of MPs benched by the were upset BJP in UP in the ensuing elecwith the party tion has touched 15. A six-time MP, Brij Bhushan has won not only from Kaiserganj but also neighbouring constituencies like Gonda and Balrampur. An influential regional leader, he has sway over half-a-dozen LS seats in and around Gonda in central UP. Brij Bhushan has formidable clout in Kaiserganj and adjoining districts as he owns over 50 educational institutions in the region. Cracks in Akkulam glass bridge spark adventure tourism safety concerns S h a i n u M o h a n @T’Puram Barely two months after the Varkala floating bridge accident, the glass bridge ready to be opened at Akkulam Tourist Village has developed cracks, raising serious concern over the quality and safety standards of the adventure tourism infrastructure in the state. The inauguration of the glass bridge, slated for March, was postponed following the floating bridge accident at on March 9. Fifteen people fell into the sea after the 100-metre-long floating bridge collapsed in rough waves. Now, cracks have appeared on the 52-metre glass bridge at Akkulam, which is touted by The glass bridge at Akkulam Tourist Village the tourism department as a key adventure infrastructure. The bridge -- longest in the state -- is constructed at a height of 75ft. The adventure tourism activities at the Akkulam Tourist Village are jointly implemented by Vattiyoorkavu Youth Brigade Entrepreneurs Cooperative Society (VYBeCOS) and the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC). VYBeCOS alleged that the cracks in the glass bridge occurred due to suspected vandalism and has filed a complaint with the Sreekaryam police. Following the incident, various agencies and departments involved in the project are scrambling for answers and indirectly blaming each another. Officials of VYBeCOS claimed that the glass bridge is intact and not broken as claimed by reports. “The glass panels used for the construction of the bridge are of the highest quality and they meet the global standards,” said Ratheesh C S, president of VY● More on P4 BECoS. first-of-its-kind initiative in state Now, book a private tourist train from Kerala E x p r ess N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kochi In a first, private trains will be available for tourists from Kerala to destinations such as Goa, Mumbai and Ayodhya. To begin with, the private train journey from the state to Goa will begin next month. The facility is being launched by SRMPR Global Railways, a Chennai-based tour operator, in partnership with the Kochibased Princy World Travel Limited. An individual or a group of 600 passengers can book a private train journey to the three prominent destinations from Kerala, said officials. The inaugural journey is set to depart from Thiruvananthapuram on June 4 to Madgaon in Goa. The four-day tour package is available in three categories: 2-tier AC at `16,400 per person, 3-tier AC at `15,150 per person and non-AC sleeper at `13,999. The package includes stay food and sightseeing. Serv, ices like off-board travel and excursions by buses, stay at hotels, tour guides, meals and travel insurance are provided along with these train journeys and allied onboard services. Though the Indian Railways introduced the concept of private players operating tourist trains on theme-based circuits under the Bharat Gaurav Tourist Trains around a couple of years back, this is the first time that a private company is getting into this segment from Kerala. Earlier, such private train tours were launched from states such as Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. For instance, the government of Karnataka in association with IRCTC operates private trains to Kashi Prayag, Gaya and Ayodhya. Similarly private trains are op, erated between Coimbatore and Shirdi. According to officials of Princy Tours, the trains are purchased by SRMPR from the Indian Railways to operate exclusively for tourism purposes. “From Kerala, there are main- ly three tour packages -- Thiruvananthapuram to Mumbai and Thiruvananthapuram to Goa (four-day package) and Thiruvananthapuram to Ayodhya (eight-day package),” said Devika Menon, director of Princy World Travel Ltd. “Plans are on to operate around 12 trains from Kerala. Once the initial three routes gain maximum traction, new routes will be i n t r o duced,” she said. “This train is being introduced on a trial basis. The SRMPR group will import special trains from Germany to run them privately Hopefully, . the trains will arrive by this year end,” she added. ● More on P4 BJP scramble to save Sikri fort from Kargil war veteran’s Hand N a m i ta B a j pa i @ Lucknow Known for being the seat of the famous Sufi saint Salim Chishti and the fort of Mughal Emperor Akbar, Fatehpur Sikri is the youngest parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh. It was carved out of Agra in 2008. BJP’s Rajkumar Chahar had won it in 2019 with a thumping five lakh-plus vote margin. But this time around, the contest seems to be evenly poised between the BJP and the Congress. Sikri goes to polls on May 7. Congress candidate Ram Nath Sikarwar — popularly known as Fauji Baba — is giving a tough fight to Chahar, who is reeling under anti-incumbency besides intra-party rebellion. In 2019, Chahar was a giant killer, having defeated Raj Babbar, the then state president of the Congress. But now Chahar, the national chairman of the BJP’s Kisan Morcha, is caught in a double whammy . Apart from Sikarwar, Chahar is also facing a tough challenge from Rameshwar Chaudhury, son of sitting BJP MLA Babulal Chaudhury. Rameshwar has raised the flag of revolt and is contesting as an independent. He is beRajkumar Chahar lieved to have better clout than Chahar among the Jat voters. The BJP recently expelled Rameshwar after all efforts to pacify him failed. Chahar also has to deal with grumpy Kashtriyas because of a perceived slight against the community by the BJP’s candidate in Gujarat’s Rajkot, Parshottam Rupala. Since Sikarwar is a Kshatriya, he is getting resonance from the community . To save the seat, senior BJP leaders like Rajnath Singh, a prominent Thakur face, and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are holding multiple rallies in Sikri and Agra to placate the Kshatriyas. As for the Congress, its leadership is trying to put in more effort to wrest the seat. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to hold a roadshow in Fatehpur Sikri on Friday . Besides, Sikarwar has his own following. He resides in the Kheragarh village, often stays in a village temple and travels in a four-wheeler. A Kargil war hero, he retired from the Ar my in 2004. His popularity, especially among the de prived sections, is giving Chahar more worries. Ram Nath Sikarwar Illustration: Mandar Pardikar
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