SHIVAMOGGA l sunday l may 12, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l CITY EDITION Solar storm hits earth, creating light shows in North Hemisphere The Sun emitted two strong solar flares on May 10-11 at 9.23 pm and 7.44 am, US EDT, according to NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory Britain skies witnessed Northern Lights Starlink satellites under pressure The greenish hues, also known as the Northern Lights were prominently on display in Britain on Friday night. The Northern Lights are expected to continue into the weekend and possibly next week. People posted pictures of the Northern Lights on social media captured on their cellphones. The Hanle Dark Sky Reserve in Himalayas reported a crimson glow in Ladakh ■ The US NOAA alerted operators of power plants and spacecraft in orbit to take precautions. The flares could damage high-voltage transmission lines of power grids and satellites, disrupting navigation and communication services ■ Xinhua reported that communications and navigations in most of China will be impacted in the weekend, adding the country has issued a red alert 11-yr cycle Heightened activity in sun is witnessed as it approaches its peak 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 Modi to stay PM till 2029: Shah sexual assault Devaraje Gowda sent to 14 days’ judicial custody E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Hyderabad Express News Service @ Holenarasipur/Bengaluru The Holenarasipur JMFC court on Saturday remanded BJP leader and advocate Devaraje Gowda in judicial custody for 14 days. Gowda was detained by Hiriyur police in Chitradurga district on Friday night. Holenarasipur town police led by Hallimysuru circle inspector and Banavara sub-inspector took Gowda into custody in Hiriyur and brought him to Holenarasipur on Saturday around 4.30 am. Two mobile phones, some documents and a Toyota Innova SUV in which Gowda allegedly tried to escape were seized. Holenarasipur town police have invoked rape and sexual assault charges against Gowda based on fresh statements by the 36-year-old victim. The sexual harassment complaint against Gowda was filed by the victim on April 1. Sections 376, 354a, 354c, 448, 504 and 506 have been invoked against Gowda. The police started tracking his cell phones after his audio recordings with former MLA LR Shivarame Gowda came to light. In connection with the case registered against him on April 1, Gowda filed an application for anticipatory bail on May 8. The petition has been posted for hearing on May 15. Hassan superintendent of police MS Mohammad Sujeetha quizzed Gowda for almost four hours. His statements were recorded at the circle police inspector’s office in the presence of additional SP Venkatesh Naidu and DSP Ashok. CONTINUED ON: P4 Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal during a roadshow at Mehrauli in New Delhi on Saturday | Shekhar Yadav Modi playing the game of 1 nation, 1 leader: Kejriwal Claims Mamata, Uddhav, Stalin, Tejashwi could end up in jail as well Offers prayers at Hanuman mandir A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi Out on a 21-day interim bail ordered by the Supreme Court, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday was scathing in his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, accusing them of orchestrating a perilous game of ‘one nation, one leader.’ Kejriwal also sought to stir the leadership pot within the BJP speculating on Mo, di’s successor as the prime minister. The chief minister alleged that his incarceration was a “Modi move to quell opposition voices as AAP was a potential threat to the BJP”. “Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Tejashwi Yadav could face similar suppression if Modi secures victory in the Kejriwal along with his wife Sunita and his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann on Saturday offered prayers at the Hanuman temple in Connaught Place Lok Sabha polls,” he said. In his first press conference after coming out of Tihar jail, the AAP chief cited instances of what he said was the diminishing stature of veteran BJP leaders like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Mahajan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar. “Ours is a very small party it , has governments in just two states; it is a 10-year-old party . The prime minister left no stone unturned in crushing it,” Accused in Kodagu murder case nabbed P r a j n a G R @ Madikeri The man, who had allegedly murdered a Class 10 girl and fled with her severed head at Surlabbi village in Kodagu on Thursday night, was arrested at Garvale on Saturday morning. He was carrying a loaded gun when he was arrested. The severed head was recovered nearly 100 metres away from the crime spot. The accused had hidden it inside a shrub. The accused, Prakash Onkarappa, 34, of Hammiyala village in Madikeri taluk, was produced before a local court, which remanded him in judicial custody. He has been booked under Sections 320, 307, POCSO Act and the Arms Act. Addressing reporters here, SP K Ramarajan said the accused was desperate to marry the victim. The engagement ceremony was held after the announcement of SSLC results on May 9. While the girl celebrated after securing 50.24% marks in the SSLC examination, her parents fixed her engagement with Prakash the same day. “The ceremony took place between 11 am and 1 pm. However, after a villager alerted the child helpline, officials from the social welfare department visited the girl’s house the same day.” he said. The officials counselled the girl’s parents and the accused’s family to arrange the wedding only after the girl turned 18. The officials returned after both families agreed. Within a couple of hours, Prakash returned to the girl’s house and forced her parents to get her married to him. “When the victim’s mother opposed, Prakash assaulted her. Later, he dragged the girl out and severed her head with a machete,” Ramarajan said. Prakash took the machete from the victim’s house. After killing her, Prakash fled with the victim’s head. However, he was arrested at Garvale near Surlabbi and a loaded gun was seized from him. “After killing the girl, Prakash went to his house and escaped with the gun. He had planned to murder the girl’s elder sister, who he thought had informed the child helpline,” the SP said. he claimed. “Our top leaders have been jailed. If top leaders of big parties go to jail, the party is seen as finished,” said Kejriwal. “He (PM) thought that AAP would be finished, but this is not a party but a thought, the more they (BJP) try to finish it, the more would it grow.” The AAP leader also alleged a ‘war of succession’ involving UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Modi. “It is Yogi’s turn. If Modi wins the election, he will change the UP CM within two months,” he claimed. “Many people ask me: ‘Who is the PM candidate of the INDIA bloc’? I ask the BJP: who will be your PM? Modi ji turns 75 in September next year. Modi ji made a rule that whoever is aged 75 years will retire. So, I want to ask the BJP, who is your PM candidate after next year?” said Kejriwal. Asserting that Narendra Modi will be the prime minister till 2029, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday clarified that there was no confusion in the party in this regard. He was responding to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s barb on the informal 75-year age cap in the BJP to hold electoral office. Speaking at a press conference here, Shah asserted, “I want to tell this to Arvind Kejriwal and company and the INDIA bloc that you have nothing to be happy about Modiji turning 75. There is no such provision in the BJP’s constitution. Modi will complete this tenure and continue to lead the country in the future. There is no confusion in the BJP .” He alleged that the INDIA bloc leaders knew the NDA would cross 400 seats and had resorted to spreading misconceptions. Shah rubbished allegations that the BJP would scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs. Despite full majority in Parliament in the last two terms, the BJP never initiated any steps as alleged by the Congress, Shah said. He added that the BJP priorities were the construction of the Ram Mandir, abrogation of Article 370, reservations for women, and continuing SC, ST and OBC quotas. Responding to recent comments by Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shah asserted that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir belongs to India. Begusarai, once known as the Leningrad of Bihar, dramatically took a right turn in the past two Lok Sabha elections, riding on the back of the Modi wave. This time, however, the Communist Party of India (CPI) is working overtime to wrest its stronghold from the BJP. Unlike 2019, it’s going to be a direct contest between the BJP and the Opposition bloc. The BJP has fielded Union minister and its fire brand leader Giriraj Singh (71) as its candidate again. He is locked in a tough fight with CPI’s Awadhesh Kumar Rai (72), twotime MLA from Bachhwada assembly constituency in Begusarai district. Rai is the joint candidate of the Opposition INDIA bloc comprising the RJD, the Congress, and three Left parties. The candidature of Rai, a Yadav by caste (OBC), shows the Left party’s intent to tap the RJD’s solid MY (Muslim-Yadav) support base. In the 2019 election, Giriraj had won the seat by defeating CPI candidate Kanhaiya Kumar (now with the Congress) by a margin of over 4 lakh votes. This time, the CPI’s optimism stems from two factors -- anti-incumbency against Giriraj and the Opposition’s joint fight against the BJP In . 2019, the RJD, a major regional party, had also fielded its candidate, Tanveer Hasan, who polled 2 lakh votes, splitting the anti-BJP votes. “Giriraj is facing the ire of P r e e t ha Nai r @ New Delhi The war of words between Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and the Election Commission (EC) continued on Saturday as the former shot off another letter in response to the poll body’s strong rebuttal on voter turnout data. In a post on X, Kharge said it was surprising how the EC responded to his “open letter” 7 kidnap, torture 3 in K’buragi, held E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kalaburagi An incident of torturing three people by giving electric shocks to their private parts after kidnapping them has been reported in Kalaburagi city . Seven people have been arrested in this connection. Kalaburagi police commissioner Chetan R told TNSE on Saturday that Arjun, a second-hand car dealer from Devanoor village in Sedam taluk, and his friends Sameeroddin and Abdul Reheman came to Kalaburagi on May 5 to show a car to one Ramesh. After a test drive, Ramesh agreed to buy the car. He took Arjun and his two friends to Hagarga road in Kalaburagi city, stating that he had to collect money from a man there. After reaching Hagarga road, Ramesh and his associates, who were waiting there, attacked Arjun and his friends and took them to a house in a remote place. P5 voters. He has done nothing for the welfare of the people in the past five years. All he did was to raise the banner of ‘Hindutva’ without missing any opportunity to hurl abuses on Muslims. Will the people of Begusarai vote for him for this?” asks Randhir Kumar Singh, a resident of Rosera. Randhir, who owns a departmental store in the sub-divisional Awadhesh Kumar Rai and Giriraj Singh (R) Illustration: Mandar Pardikar shah says no change in quota policy Union home minister and BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah alleges that Congress wants to snatch away SC/ST and OBC quotas and give them to Muslims, as they did in K’taka | P7 An Infinity of Promise WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 PAGES Kharge’s turn to write to poll body BJP sees red as Left tries to wrest Begusarai, de-saffronise it R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna Interview town, says that even those belonging to Giriraj Singh’s caste (Bhumihars) are not happy with him. Randhir’s anger against the BJP nominee is corroborated by Vijay Kumar Singh, a retired government employee of Begusarai town. “Giriraj mainly is relying on ‘Modi magic’ to win the election this time again,” he remarks. The ground situation is different from that of 2019 because there is a united Opposition candidate. However, this in itself may not be enough to defeat Giriraj. The CPI candidate’s chances will greatly dependent on how well he is able to woo the MuslimYadav vote base of the RJD. On the other hand, BJP supporters believe Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s blitzkrieg will overshadow all other issues and Giriraj will win. while ignoring other complaints. “The open letter is addressed to our alliance partners and not to the Commission. Surprisingly the EC wanted to re, spond to this letter while ignoring several other complaints given directly to it,” Kharge wrote. The poll panel responded to Kharge’s open letter with a strongly-worded missive. It accused him of “attempting to push a biased narrative under the guise of seeking clarifications”. The letter alleged that the “delay in the release of voter turnout data was an attempt to doctor the final results”. In response, the EC termed the allegations baseless and “reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion”. In his letter, Kharge expressed his misgivings about the language of the letter by the EC.
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