chennai l sunday l may 05, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l vellore EDITION air india cuts cabin baggage allowance for domestic flights No change for business class fliers The airline offers three price slabs in the economy class — Comfort, Comfort Plus and Flex. For Comfort and Comfort Plus, the free baggage allowance has been cut to 15 kg from 20 kg and 25 kg. But Flex passengers can have 25 kg baggage. Business class fliers can continue to carry 25-35 kg baggage depending on the route. New baggage rules kicked in on Thursday For the lowest economy fare ticket, only 15 kg of free baggage will be allowed henceforth by the airline, down from the earlier 20 kg upper limit Flex fare comes with a lot of benefits ■ Last year, the company introduced a menu-based pricing model. The price difference between Comfort Plus and Flex fares would typically be around `1,000 in a domestic sector like Delhi-Mumbai, the airline said ■ Explaining the new rules, the spokesperson said the Flex fares would provide 10 kg extra baggage, zero fees for cancellation and more loyalty points May 16th Air India to resume flights between Delhi-tel aviv with five weekly flights 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 No bail, Revanna in SIT custody u.p. Diaries The City That is No Longer Allahabad Arrested after a court rejects JDS leader’s anticipatory bail petition in an abduction case P r a v e e n k u m a r @ Bengaluru Beleaguered JD(S) lawmaker H D Revanna was on Saturday arrested by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) in a kidnap case after a court rejected his anticipatory bail petition. The SIT picked up Revanna from his father and former prime minister H D Deve Gowda’s house here. He was whisked away in a SUV and brought to the SIT’s office in Palace Road. The arrest happened after Judge Santhosh Gajanan Bhat refused to grant him interim anticipatory bail after hearing arguments by senior counsel Murthy D Naik representing Revanna and Special Public Prosecutor has appeal in a constituency that has 4.5 lakh savarna voters — majority Brahmin Santwana Bhattacharya at that. That’s why the contest beEditor tween two dynasts for the Allahabad seat — Neeraj Tripathi (BJP), son of late PRAYAGRAJ: The city that Keshari Nath Tripathi, has been renamed Prayagraj former Governor of West lives in nostalgia and denial. Bengal, and Ujjwal Raman Denial about its lost signifi- Singh (Congress), son of Kunwar Reoti Raman Singh cance on the political map of Uttar Pradesh and, by that — could well be settled by stretch, of India. As if it’s go- the Modi factor. No irony there. No one ing through a slow unravelling — a crisis of identity A raises the issue of dynastic . century ago, it was a melting politics in a city whose claim pot of nationalistic ferment, to fame is its association the nursery of future prime with the Nehru-Gandhi fam. ministers. Indeed, the first ily Their old homes, Swaraj Bhawan and Anand Bhasocial-political-cultural wan, are now given hub of modern UP The . over to a trust. That slide from that was legacy has no politilong but irreversible. cal pull left, though. But it’s evident in “They’ve no connect the changed crowd with Allahabad or its at the coffee house, people any more. in the inarticulate second of A anger of the youth. Four-part series Even when Rahul or Priyanka Gandhi The nature of discourse too reflects grey con- come here, they drive , straight to Anand Bhawan temporary realities. Witness that mutation in and simply disappear,” says , the political vocabulary, M P Dubey former professor from overarching tropes to of Political Science, Alla. a more caste-based analysis habad University A contrasting anecdote is of elections, even as metaphor. Not surprising that recounted about Lal Bahadur someone in this city — re- Shastri and how he used to duced to basics amidst reach out to people and even brash, hypermodern shop- opponents at streetcorners. The Nehru family’s conping arcades — explains complexities thus: “Naren- nect with the city broke with dra Modi may be from an Indira Gandhi’s passing. OBC community, but comes Their political hold was over across as a savarna, where- when Rajiv Gandhi’s apolitias Mamata, a Banerjee cal friend famously entered Brahmin, does her politics and exited politics through . like a subaltern.” This is by this city Continued on: P7 way of explaining why Modi Janata Dal (S) MLA H D Revanna (left) in SIT custody in an abduction case in Bengaluru on Saturday | pti B N Jagadeesha. Two FIRs have been registered against Revanna. The first is based on a complaint of sexual harassment filed by one of the victims in Hassan dis- from the house and was taken into custody . The entire drama outside Deve Gowda’s house was videographed by the SIT. The operation was supervised by Superintendent of Police Suman D Pennekar, one of the two women IPS officers who are part of the SIT formed to probe the rape, kidnap, sexual harassment cases against Revanna and Prajwal. Revanna was charged under Section 364(a) (kidnapping for ransom), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person) and 34 (the acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code. India waiting for Canada info on Charred body of arrests in Nijjar case: Jaishankar missing Cong man found after 2 days B i j o y P r a d h a n @ Bhubaneswar A day after Canada police claimed to have arrested three Indian nationals over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar last year, Exter nal Af fairs Minister S Jaishankar on Saturday said India is waiting for details from Canadian government or the police on the development. In an interaction with the media during his two-day visit to state, Jaishankar said the three arrested persons were apparently Indians having some kind of gang background. But he was yet to get any details. “We have never been given any proof by the Canada government. In fact, we have re- From left: Karan Brar, Karanpreet Singh and Kamalpreet Singh arrested in Canada in the Nijjar murder case | PTI peatedly told them if they have something, share with us. I am waiting for the Canada police to tell us more (about the persons they have arrested),” he said and added that they must produce proof if they do not have any political agenda. Jaishankar said, “One of our major concerns is that they (Canada) have allowed organ- State police portal hacked; FIR, personal info up for sale ised crime from their soil. They have given political legitimacy to Khalistani elements and underground gangsters for vote bank politics.” “We have been telling them if you give political legitimacy to such elements it will be a problem for you and us. But Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is doing vote bank politics to save his government,” the minister said. Jaishankar said India has taken up issues on Khalistanis in Canada in great detail. The Canada government has a lot of knowledge about the Khalistanis living there but has chosen not to do anything. “Even our extradition requests are pending with them for a long time,” he said. express read ‘Savukku’ Shankar held for comments on cops Coimbatore: Coimbatore City Police on Saturday arrested YouTuber ‘Savukku’ Shankar for allegedly making derogatory remarks against police officers, including women personnel, in an interview. Shankar was arrested under Prohibition of Harassment of Woman Act and IT Act | P4 NIRU PAMA VISWANATHAN @ Chennai The Tamil Nadu police’s Facial Recognition Portal (frs. tnpolice.gov.in), a software used by the state police to track criminals and missing persons using facial recognition, has been compromised. The data samples have been made available for sale on the dark web and an analysis of the leaked samples indicate that 1.2 million lines of data including names of police officers, phone numbers, and FIR details have been accessed illegally . The issue was brought to light by threat intelligence platform FalconFeeds.io. A group named ‘Valerie’, has claimed responsibility for the breach. A file comprising 55,000 lines of data regarding details of police officials, including IPS officers, a second file with 8.9 lakh lines of FIR data and another with 2,700 lines of data on police stations have been compromised. Nandakishore Harikumar, founder of Technisanct who also owns FalconFeeds.io, told TNIE that the data can be used for making scam phone calls and other illegal activities. “Since details from FIRs including personal identification details (of accused and suspects) have been stolen, there is a possibility of scamming family members into making payments. Calls claiming to be from police station, along with personal details, may make family members believe in the caller and may lead to transfer of payments to scamsters,” Nandakishore said. P5 trict on April 28. The second FIR was filed following a kidnap complaint lodged on May 2 by another victim’s 20-year-old son in Mysuru district. Revanna has been arrested in the Mysuru case. Revanna’s confidant Satish Babanna is already under custody . SIT officers were trailing Revanna for four days. They had kept a hawk’s eye on him to ensure he did not escape anywhere considering that his son and party MP Prajwal scooted to Germany using a diplomatic passport this week. Officials had to wait for 45 minutes outside Deva Gowda’s residence before arresting Revanna as the doors were shut. Finally Revanna emerged , Heavy rain likely in nine districts on May 7 and 8 Hand-in-hand West Bengal Chief Minister and TMC chief Mamata Banerjee with Rajya Sabha MP Mamata Bala Thakur and party candidate Mukut Mani Adhikari during a public meeting for Lok Sabha elections, at Birnagar in Nadia district on Saturday | PTI Chennai: On May 7, heavy rain is likely in Theni, Dindigul, Tiruppur, Erode, Coimbatore, Nilgiris, Salem, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri. On May 8, Theni, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Tiruppur, Nilgiris, and hilly areas of Tirunelveli and Tenkasi districts may get heavy showers | P4 E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Thoothukudi/Tirunelveli Two days after Tirunelveli East District Congress president KPK Jeyakumar Dhanasingh went missing, his charred body was found at his own farm at Karaisuthu Pudur near Thisayanvilai in Tirunelveli on Saturday A purported handwritten note of Jaya. kumar retrieved from his house, which makes serious allegations against Nanguneri Congress MLA Rubi Manoharan, former TNCC chief K V Thangkabalu and a few others, has evoked strong reactions from opposition parties including the BJP and the AIADMK. “The charred body indicates self-immolation. It has been shifted to Tirunelveli government medical college hospital for postmortem. The reason for the death can be conclusively established only after a detailed investigation,” Tirunelveli SP Silambarasan told TNIE. Sources said Karuthaiah Jafrin (28), son of Jeyakumar, lodged a complaint at the Uvari police station on Friday, saying that his father has been missing since May 2. Jeyakumar was last seen at his house at 7.45pm on Thursday, the complaint said. Along with the missing complaint, Jayakumar’s ‘dying declaration’, found in the house, was also handed over to the Tirunelveli SP by his son on Friday night. According to note, dated April 30 and addressed to Tirunelveli SP Jeyakumar had sought crim, inal action against people who allegedly cheated him financially and snatched his properties. Jeyakumar had also appealed to the police to retrieve the money and properties and give them back to his family P4 . note blames MLA, ex-chief KPK Jeyakumar Dhanasingh Jeyakumar’s ‘dying declaration’ claimed he had received death threats from some individuals when he asked them to return the money and property that they had snatched illegally from him The declaration, which also made allegations against ex-TNCC chief K V Thangkabalu, said Nanguneri MLA Ruby Manoharan had failed to get Jeyakumar contracts as promised for spending `70 lakh for poll campaign Truth Be Retold WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 PAGES Union minister, two MLAs from same party in rare tricornered contest S w e t h a v i m a l a M @ Hyderabad In the narrow lanes and bylanes of Secunderabad, there are striking black-and-gold engravings that read: “Foundation stone laid by T Padma Rao Goud; Guest of Honour: G Kishan Reddy”. While the latter is the sitting BJP MP from Secunderabad, the for mer is a BRS MLA from the Assembly se gment bearing the same name. In the Lok Sabha elections in Secunderabad, Goud, Reddy and BRS MLA Danam Nagender are locked in a tricornered contest. Nagender, who won on a BRS ticket from Khairatabad Assembly segment in the December 2023 Assembly polls, jumped ship — but hasn’t yet resigned as a legislator — and is now contesting on a Congress ticket. All the three candidates have years of political experience. Kishan Reddy is the state BJP president and a Union minister; Padma Rao is a four-time MLA and former state minister; and Nagender is a sixtime MLA. Internal surveys of the parties currently place Kishan slightly ahead of Nagender, with the BRS candidate a close third. In the Secunderabad and Musheerabad assembly segments, there is support for the BRS with some voters even calling it a fight between the BJP and the pink party . “Danam has been switching parties every now and then. He was in Congress, then TDP, then Congress again, then BRS, now back in Congress,” said Satyanarayana, a 70-year-old resident of Khairatabad. For his part, Nagender told this newspaper, “My career started in the Congress. People recognise my service and will give a befitting reply to the BJP De.” spite his party-hopping, Nagender, appears to enjoy the support of the minorities. For instance, a Muslim voter in Nampally said his vote would go to Nagender. “I’ll vote either for patang (kite) or Congress. The constituency is home to over 20 lakh voters, Illustration: Mandar Pardikar From left, T Padma Rao Goud, Danam Nagender and G Kishan Reddy 27.4% of whom are Muslims. Another voter, Rajesh (40), a juice vendor in Musheerabad, said, “There is anti-incumbency against the BJP and Danam might benefit from it.” Former captain of the Indian cricket team Mohammed Azharuddin, who has been campaigning along with Nagender, said that he was confident the Congress will wrest Secunderabad. Azhar, who was the party candidate from the Jubilee Hills Assembly segment in the 2023 elections, told this newspaper, “Kishan Reddy has not done anything. I don’t think he spent his MP funds properly .” Speaking to this newspaper during the Hyderabad Dialogues recently Kishan , said, “The Modi government has done a lot for the state. The Centre spent about `10 lakh crore in Telangana.” However, there are also voters who said Kishan is not accessible whereas the BRS candidate is a grassroots leader. “Padma Rao walks around our road, waves at me and asks how I’m doing; but we cannot expect that from Kishan Reddy a vot,” er in Secunderabad said. At KBR National Park in Jubilee Hills, a brisk morning walker said, “In this part of the city, we mostly know Kishan Reddy and Danam’s work. In the other part, they would probably support Padma Rao. Whoever comes to power, just make sure you take care of the traffic, roads and other civic issues,” he sighed.
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