Pak court awards 26/11 brains Hafiz 32 yrs jail - Daily Pioneer

GOVT OK’S FORTIFIED RICEDISTRIBUTION PROGNew Delhi: The Union Cabineton Friday approved a scheme todistribute fortified rice underGovernment programmes inthree phases, Information andBroadcasting Minister AnuragThakur said. Food Corporationof India and State agencies havealready procured 88.65 LMT offortified rice for supply anddistribution.

POLLING FOR 36 LCSEATS IN UP TODAYLucknow: Following aresounding victory in the UttarPradesh Assembly, the BJP hasset its eye on becoming thesingle-largest party in the stateLegislative Council as well bywinning a majority of the 36Upper House seats going topolls on Saturday.

INDIA SUCCESSFULLY TESTFIRES SFDR BOOSTERBalasore: Defence Researchand Development Organisation(DRDO) on Friday successfullyflight-tested a propulsionsystem that enables a missile tointercept aerial threats at verylong range at supersonicspeeds.

CAPSULE

PTI n LAHORE

An anti-terrorism court inPakistan on Friday sen-

tenced Mumbai terror attackmastermind and bannedJamat-ud-Dawa (JuD) chiefHafiz Saeed to 32 years in jailin two more terror financingcases.

Earlier in five such cases,the 71-year-old radical clerichad already been convictedfor 36 years imprisonment infive terror financing cases.

The total sentence of 68years imprisonment will runconcurrently. Saeed may haveto spend not many years in jailbecause his sentence will runconcurrently, a lawyer toldPTI.

On Friday, anti-terrorismcourt (ATC) judge Ejaz AhmadBhuttar handed down 32 yearsjail term to Saeed in two FIRs— 21/2019 and 90/2019 regis-tered by the Counter TerrorismDepartment of Punjab Police,a court official told PTI.

In the 21/2019 and 99/2021cases, he was sentenced for 15.5years and 16.5 years, respec-tively, the official added.

The court also imposed afine of PKR 340,000 on Saeed.

He was brought to thecourt from the Kot Lakhpat Jailin Lahore where he has beenimprisoned since 2019 understrict security, the official said.

Saeed, a UN-designatedterrorist on whom the US hasplaced a USD 10 million boun-

ty, was arrested in July 2019 inthe terror financing cases.

Saeed-led JuD is the frontorganisation for the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) which is responsi-ble for carrying out the 2008Mumbai attack that killed 166people, including sixAmericans.

The US Department of theTreasury has designated Saeedas a Specially DesignatedGlobal Terrorist.

The global terror financing

watchdog Financial ActionTask Force (FATF) is instru-mental in pushing Pakistan totake measures against terroristsroaming freely in Pakistan andusing its territory to carry outattacks in India.

Pakistan has been on the‘grey list’ of the Paris-basedFinancial Action Task Force(FATF) since June 2018 for fail-ing to check money laundering,leading to terror financing,and was given a plan of actionto complete it by October 2019.

Since then, the countrycontinues to be on that list dueto its failure to comply with theFATF mandates.

Pakistan has so far avoid-ed being on the black list withthe help of close allies likeChina, Turkey and Malaysia.

The FATF is an inter-gov-ernmental body established in1989 to combat money laun-dering, terrorist financing andother related threats to theintegrity of the internationalfinancial system.

PTI n ISLAMABAD

Hours before a no-confi-dence vote against him in

Parliament, Pakistan PrimeMinister Imran Khan on Fridayseemed to accept the writing onthe wall and urged his sup-porters to stage peacefulprotests across the countrywhen the “new imported gov-ernment” comes into power onSunday.

In an address to the nationahead of the no-trust motionon Saturday where he has lit-tle chances of surviving unlesssome miracle occurs, 69-year-old Khan also expressed dis-appointment over the SupremeCourt’s verdict on the NationalAssembly Deputy Speaker’scontroversial decision on therejection of no-trust motionagainst him.

“I will not accept thisimported government, I willtake to street….Only peoplecan bring me to power and Iwill come back with the help ofthe people,” he said, adding thathis supporters should come out

on Sunday evening after thenew government is expected tobe set up.

He taunted the Oppositionto announce new elections andface the nation with him. “Thatis why I dissolved the assemblybecause I want people to electthe new government,” he said.

“I am ready for the strug-gle…join me in peacefulprotest,” said Khan, who has

effectively lost the majority inthe 342-member house.

The Opposition partiesneed 172 members in the 342-member house to orchestratethe downfall of Prime MinisterKhan and already they showedthe support of more than theneeded strength. Now Khanfaces the possibility of beingthe first prime minister inPakistan’s history to be voted

out in a no-confidence motion. In a landmark 5-0 verdict,

a five-member bench headedby Chief Justice Umar AtaBandial on Thursday unani-mously struck down thedeputy speaker’s ruling on therejection of the no-confidencemotion against Khan andordered restoration of theNational Assembly, saying theprime minister’s move to dis-solve Parliament and call earlyelections was “unconstitu-tional”.

The court also orderedthe speaker of the lower houseto call the session of thenational assembly on April 9 at10 am (local time) to organisea no-confidence vote. Itordered the election of the newprime minister if the no-con-fidence motion succeeded.

“I respect the SupremeCourt and the judiciary, butthe apex court should havelooked at a threat letter beforeissuing its verdict,” Khan saidin his address – perhaps last tothe nation as the prime min-ister of the country.

‘Won’t accept imported govt’,Imran calls for street protests

PNS n NEW DELHI

Amid detection of a sus-pected case of Covid-19

variant XE in Mumbai recent-ly, the Centre on Fridayannounced that coronavirusbooster shots will be availableto all adults from Sunday at pri-vate vaccination centres.

The order means thatunlike the booster shotsannounced for healthcareworkers, frontline staff andthose above 60, the third jabwill be available to all adults ata cost.

The Union HealthMinistry, however, maintainedthat the ongoing free vaccina-tion programme throughGovernment vaccination cen-tres for first and second dosesas well as precaution doses tohealthcare workers, frontlineworkers and 60+ populationwould continue and would beaccelerated.

So far, about 96 per cent ofall 15+ population in the coun-try have received at least oneCovid-19 vaccine dose whileabout 83 per cent of 15+ pop-ulation have received bothdoses, said the Ministry.

“It has been decided thatprecaution dose of Covid vac-cines will be made available to

18+ population group throughprivate vaccination centresfrom 10th April (Sunday),2022. All those who are morethan 18 years of age and havecompleted 9 months after theadministration of the seconddose, would be eligible for pre-caution dose.

“This facility would beavailable in all private vacci-nation centres,” said theMinistry in a statement here.

Announcing the same,Health Minister MansukhMandaviya noted that it isabout “Adding an extra layerof safety.” Precaution dose isthe third dose of the samevaccine that one has beenadministered against theSARS-CoV-2 infection. The

necessity of a third dose wasfelt worldwide with theemergence of newer variantsof the virus, while the immu-nity produced by two dosesof the vaccine wanes gradu-ally.

However, health expertsfeel that ‘precaution dose’cannot replace other Covidappropriate behaviour.

“It is important to vacci-nate all adults with the thirddose or booster dose so thatwe see fewer hospitalisations.However, masks and socialdistancing remain major pre-cautionary measures to keepthe virus at bay,” said DrRahul Bhargava, head ofHaematology Department ofFortis Hospital in Gurgaon.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE nNEW DELHI

Concerned at the rising casesof Covid-19 again in some

States in the backdrop of theemergence of new variant ofcoronavirus, XE, and the threatof arrival of a fourth wave, theCentre has directed Haryana,Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi,and Mizoram to take necessaryactions to curb the spread ofthe infection.

Meanwhile, under thedirection of the SupremeCourt, the Centre has rushedteams to Maharashtra, Kerala,Gujarat, and Andhra Pradeshto carry out random scrutinyof discrepancies in the Covid-19 death toll and corre-sponding ex-gratia claimsmade by them.

Amid reports of new vari-ant spreading in many coun-tries, Union Health SecretaryRajesh Bhushan asked the

authorities in Haryana,Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi,and Mizoram to maintain astrict watch and take pre-emptive action if requiredowing to the rise in the num-ber of cases last week.

Bhushan is also likely tohold a meeting with the healthsecretaries and health officialsof all States/UTs regardingCovid-19 precaution doseadministration on Saturday.

Regarding the probe intodiscrepancies in the Covid-19death toll and correspondingex-gratia claims made by var-ious States, a senior UnionHealth Ministry official saidthis is in compliance with aSupreme Court order.

The Central teams havebeen rushed to Maharashtra,Kerala, Gujarat and AndhraPradesh for random scrutinyof 5 per cent claims filed forCovid-19 ex-gratia compen-sation in these States.”Submitting false ex-gratiaclaims is liable to be punished

Last month, a bench ofjustices MR Shah and BVNagarathna has observed thatthere was a mismatch betweenthe number of deaths report-ed by States and the ex-gratiaclaims made by them.

Teams sent to Maha, Guj,Kerala, AP to probe Covidtoll, ex gratia mismatch

‘Paid’ Covid booster for all in pvt clinics from April 10

States asked totake action amidfear of new Covidvariant, 4th wave

AP n CHERNIHIV (UKRAINE)

Ukrainian leaders predictedmore gruesome discover-

ies would be made in reclaimedcities and towns as Russian sol-diers retreat to focus on east-ern Ukraine, where officialssaid a Russian rocket attack ona packed train station used toevacuate civilians killed over 30people Friday.

Hours after warning thatUkraine’s forces already hadfound worse scenes of brutal-ity in a settlement north ofKyiv, President VolodymyrZelenskyy said that “thou-sands” of people were at thestation in Kramatorsk, a cityin the eastern Donetsk region,when it was hit by a missile.

Zelenskyy accompanieda social media post with pho-tos that showed a train carwith smashed windows, aban-doned luggage and bodieslying in what looked like anoutdoor waiting area.Authorities said the strikewounded more than 100 peo-

ple.“The inhuman Russians

are not changing their meth-ods. Without the strength orcourage to stand up to us onthe battlefield, they are cyni-

cally destroying the civilianpopulation,” the president said.

“This is an evil withoutlimits. And if it is not pun-ished, then it will never stop.”

In this photo published on Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Telegramchannel, bodies of people killed by Russian shelling lie on the platform of therailway station in Kramatorsk, Ukraine, on Friday AP

Russian missile kills 30‘evacuees’ in Ukraine


The Supreme Court onFriday upheld the validity

of certain amendments in theForeign Contribution(Regulation) Act, 2010, whichcame into effect in September2020, saying “the strict regimehad become essential becauseof the past experience of abuseand mis-utilisation of foreigncontribution.”

A bench headed by JusticeAM Khanwilkar also said thatreceiving foreign donationscannot be an “absolute or evena vested right” and by its veryexpression, it is a reflection onthe constitutional morality ofthe nation as a whole beingincapable of looking after itsown needs and problems.

The apex court said foreignaid can create the presence ofa foreign contributor and“influence” the policies of thecountry and may tend to influ-ence or impose a political ide-ology. “There is no dearth ofdonors within our country,”

said the bench also comprisingJustices Dinesh Maheshwariand CT Ravikumar.

The bench said it is open tothe State to have a regime thatmay completely prohibit receiptof foreign donations as noright inheres in the citizen toreceive foreign contributions.

Upholding the amend-ments meant to strictly regu-late the foreign funding of theNGOs, the top court notedmany recipients of foreigncontributions had not utilisedthe same for the purposes forwhich they were registered orgranted prior permissionunder the Act and that manyrecipients had also failed toadhere to and fulfill the statu-tory compliances.

“...The strict regime hadbecome essential because of thepast experience of abuse andmis-utilisation of the ‘foreigncontribution’ and cancellation

of certificates of as many as19,000 registered organisationson the ground of being gross-ly non-compliant,” the apexcourt said. The SC declaredthat the amended provisionsnamely, sections 7, 12(1A),12A, and 17 of the 2010 Act,are “intra vires” theConstitution and the principalAct.

However, it read downsection 12A and construed it aspermitting the key func-tionaries or office bearers of theassociations/NGOs, who areIndian nationals, to produceIndian passports for the pur-pose of their identification.Section 12A mandates a per-son, who seeks prior permis-sion or prior approval undersection 11 or makes an appli-cation for grant of certificateunder section 12 of the Act,including for renewal of a cer-tificate under section 16, toprovide the Aadhaar numberof all its office bearers or direc-tors or other key functionariesas an identification document.

“To sum up, we declarethat the amended provisionsvide the 2020 Act, namely,Sections 7, 12(1A), 12A, and 17of the 2010 Act are intra viresthe Constitution and thePrincipal Act, for the reasonsnoted hitherto,” said the bench.

Receiving foreign donationsnot absolute right, rules SC SC okays validity ofFCRA amendments,points to ‘abuse offoreign contribution’


Stepping up its effort to pro-mote the Indian private sec-

tor in Defence manufacturing,the Government on Fridayearmarked 25 per cent of the`84,597.89 crore allocated forthe entire domestic industry forthe current financial year.

The 25 per cent block forthe private sector amounts tomore than `21,000 crore andforms part of the overall 68percent capital budget ear-marked for the Indian indus-try.

Giving the details, DefenceMinistry officials said in con-tinuation with theGovernment’s efforts to pro-mote private industry, MSMEsand start-ups in Defence pro-duction ecosystem, theMinistry has decided that 25per cent of Domestic CapitalProcurement and AcquisitionBudget, amounting to`21,149.47 crore, will be ear-marked for Domestic PrivateIndustry in 2022-23.

Govt to acquire`21K cr Defenceequipment fromprivate sector

Pak court awards 26/11 brains Hafiz 32 yrs jail

People read copies of morning newspapers carrying headline news of the SupremeCourt decision against Prime Minister Imran Khan’s ruling, at a stall, in Peshawar,Pakistan on Friday AP

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on: instagram.com/dailypioneer/

Late City Vol.19 Issue 95*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published FromDELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARHDEHRADUN HYDERABAD VIJAYWADA

Established 1864RNI No. MPENG/2004/13703, REGD. No. D-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

BHOPAL, SATURDAY APRIL 9, 2022; PAGES 12 `1.50

MONEY 9SENSEX SNAPS 3-SESSION SLIDE AS RBI MAINTAINS STATUS QUO

}}WORLD 8

NATO EYES IN SKY, KEEPINGEUROPE OUT OF RUSSIA'S WAR

OPINION 6A COMMON MESSAGE OF

AFFECTION & PIETY

www.dailypioneer.com

MUMBAI TOFACE RCBIN IPL 202212 SPORT

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

It was supposedly a trivialissue that has turned seri-ous. Madhya Pradesh Chief

Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan, forever keen to pre-sent a sober, serious face of gov-ernance, is said to be upset themanner in which Sidhi policedealt with a seemingly minorissue and then tried to hush itup in a bizarre manner.

By the time two guiltypolice officers were suspended,the incident has caused severedamage to the Madhya Pradeshgovernment and Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan, as thenews was already circulatedinternationally.

The Sidhi incident, whereeight persons including a jour-nalist and theatre artists werestripped half naked in Kotwalipolice station, seems to furthertarnish the image of ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan.

These eight persons hadgone to the police stationopposing the arrest of theatre

artist Neeraj Kunder, who runsthe theatre group 'IndravatiNatya Sansthan', on April 03.On the initiative of BJP MLAKedarnath Shukla and his sonGurudutt, the police caughtthese people and forced themto strip naked.

As the photograph of theseeight persons half naked inthe police station went viralon social media on Thursday,the senior officials immedi-ately shifted the sub-inspec-tor and SHO of Kotwali policestation to the district policeline. It was publicised thatstern action has been takenagainst the erring police offi-cials.

However, factually, send-ing a police officer to line isno punishment. This actionis simply shifting of the copsfrom one place to another.

On Thursday night, onthe instructions of his seniorofficials, the SHO ManojSoni came before media per-sons and clarified that theseeight persons were stripped,so that they may not commit

suicide using their clothes. Itwas surprising that the offi-cer who has served thepolice more than 15 years,does not know the proce-dure of police custody. Thepolice manual does notmention that the detaineeshould be stripped or naked.

On Friday, Sidhi SP toldmedia persons that KotwaliSHO Manoj Soni andAmaliya SHO Abhishek Singhhave been suspended. But heseemed more concernedabout investigating whoclicked the photograph ofdetained persons and as howit became viral on socialmedia.

Besides, the investigationordered in the incident hasbeen handed over to SSPRadio Amit Singh.

Meanwhile, taking cog-nizance of the news pub-lished in the media, MadhyaPradesh Human RightsCommission issued notices tothe DGP and IG Rewa seek-ing a report on the incident,within a week.

Sidhi incident causes severedamage to Chief Minister

capital 02

Printed and published by Syed Naved Alam on behalf of CMYK Printech Limited and Printed at "SHRI BALAJI PRINTERS" Plot No.137,138,139 Sector I Special Industrial Area Govindpura Bhopal - 462023, (M.P.) and published at 152 Saif Complex - 2nd Floor, M.P. Nagar, Zone 1, Bhopal-462011 (M.P), Telephone: 0755-2550977, Mob.: 09893130364.Executive Editor: Navin Upadhyay, RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008, AIR SURCHARGE of Re. 1.00 East: Calcutta, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, North Leh West: Mumbai & Ahmedabad South: Bangalore & Chennai. Central : Khajuraho, Delhi Office: No. 6, Behind Gulab Bhawan, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110 002,Phone: 011-40110455, Communication Office: F-31, Sector 6, NOIDA, Gautam Budh Nagar-201301, U.P. Phone: 0120-4879800 & 4879900, Mumbai Office: Devendra Adhikari Mobile No.: 09867575933, 09892829259, Lucknow Office: 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow 226 016. Telephones: 0522-2346443, 2346444, 2346445.

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for anydamage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Bhopal only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before respondingto any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group’s will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

Muslim devotees offer prayers on the first Friday during the holy fasting of Ramadan at historical Taj-ul-Masajid in Bhopalon Friday. Pioneer photo


Dewas police raidedan illegal arms man-ufacturing factory

and busted an interstateillegal arms manufactur-ing and supplying gang;more than two dozen ille-gal pistols and 12 boresguns were recovered andgang leader was arrested.

Police received infor-mation that a person wastrying to sell illegal pistol atKarnavad Phata and tracedand nabbed a person. Oninterrogating the arrestedperson identified as JitendraVishwakarma of Barotha.

On search of the arrest-ed person, a country-madepistol and two live roundsin the magazine were foundfrom his possession. Oninterrogation of the accusedregarding illegal arms, Rajuwas found to have boughtillegal weapons and sup-plied them to other people.

The police team raidedthe house of Raju, wherethe entire factory of mak-ing illegal weapons wasoperational where theplants used in the con-struction, electronicgrinder machine, cuttermachine, hand fan, chisel

hammer, saw and 6 smalland big iron barrels, sword,big iron knife and otheriron items were confiscat-ed. During interrogation,the accused told to hideillegal firearms in an ironbox in the forest near thehouse.

A total of 24 illegalfirearms were seized fromthe accused and a crimewas registered against theaccused under the ArmsAct at Hatpipalya policestation and taken up forinvestigation. The accusedbought illegal firearms likecountry pistols by buyinggoods from the local mar-ket.

Dewas police bust an illegal armsfactory, seize a haul of firearms


Five matches were played onFriday under the 12thHockey India National

Senior Men's HockeyChampionship-2022.

It is organized under the jointaegis of Hockey India and Sportsand Youth Welfare Department.

The competition is beingplayed from April 6 to 17 atMajor Dhyan Chand HockeyStadium.

First match was playedbetween Hockey Punjab vs DelhiHockey. Delhi player Dheeraj Vatsscored the first goal for his teamfrom a penalty corner. In the samequarter, Punjab player LovepreetJainth scored a field goal to bringhis team to a 1-1 draw.

In the 60th minute of thefourth and final quarter of thematch, Delhi player Rohit scoreda field goal to give his team a 3-2victory.

Second match was betweenHockey Chandigarh vs HockeyJharkhand.

In the second quarter of thematch, Jharkhand captainAnuruddha Bhengra scored afield goal to bring his team to a 1-1 draw. In the fourth and finalquarter of the match, both theteams could not score any goal.And Jharkhand won the match by3-2.

Third match was playedbetween Hockey Jammu and

Kashmir and Dadra and NagarHaveli and Daman and DiuHockey.

In the 15th minute of the firstquarter of the third match playedtoday, Jammu and Kashmir play-er Sohil Azim scored from apenalty corner to make his team1-0.

In the 25th minute of thematch, Jammu and Kashmirplayer Manpreet Singh scored afield goal to give his team a 3-1lead. After this both the teams

could not score any goal and thematch was tied at 3-3.

Fourth match was betweenHockey Bengal vs LEPuducherry Hockey.

Both the teams could notscore any goal in the first quar-ter. Puducherry captainVinodhan scored a penaltystroke in the 20th minute of thesecond quarter of the match tomake his team 1-0. After thatboth the teams could not scoreany goal. Hockey Bengal won 3-2 in this match.

Fifth match was playedbetween Hockey Gujarat vsHockey Arunachal. In the 5thminute of the first quarter of thefifth match played today,Arunachal player Dheeraj Nainscored a field goal to make histeam 1-0. In the 7th minute ofthe match, Gujarat captainShubham Yadav scored from apenalty corner to level the score1-1.

Delhi Hockey defeats Hockey Punjab with 3-2

Congress party workers burn an effigy of bollywood actors Amitabh Bachchan and Akshay Kumar over their silence on the hike in the fuel prices in the BJP led UnionGovernment , in Bhopal on Friday. The activists alleged that both the actors tweeted over hike in the fuel prices during Congress UPA rule to raise the issue. Pioneer photo

BHOPAL | SATURDAY | APRIL 09, 2022


World Health Daywas observed joint-ly by the

Department of NursingSciences, Center of ScienceC o m m u n i c a t i o n ,Rabindranath TagoreUniversity and InstitutionInnovation Council ofRNTU.

The theme of the eventwas "Our Planet and OurHealth". Padmashree DrGyan Chaturvedi, SeniorCardiologist, Noble Hospitalwere present on the occasion.The program was inaugu-rated by lighting the lamp.

After that Dr ManishaGupta, Nursing Principaldelivered the welcomeaddress. After that Dr CPMishra, Dean, Departmentof Faculty of Medicine gavedetailed information aboutthe purpose of celebratingHealth Day.

Notably, World HealthDay is a global health aware-ness day celebrated everyyear on 7 April, under thesponsorship of the WorldHealth Organization, as wellas other related organiza-tions. In 1948, the WHOheld the First World HealthAssembly.

On this occasion theRegistrar of the University,Vijay Singh raised awarenessabout the importance ofhealth and marked theincomparable contributionof our doctors. He furthersaid that health is veryimportant for human happi-ness and well being. Havinga healthy life is very impor-tant for the progress of anynation. Healthy people con-tribute to economic growth.

Dr Gyan Chaturvedi toldthat the theme of WorldHealth Day 2022 is our plan-et, our health. This year'stheme focuses on Keeping

Humans and the PlanetHealthy.

He informed that accord-ing to WHO, more than 13billion deaths occur everyyear due to changes in theenvironment. This alsoincludes climate change,which is the biggest healthcrisis for humanity. We allknow that at present peopleare suffering from differenttypes of diseases, it is neces-sary to celebrate WorldHealth Day to spread aware-ness among people and togive information abouthealth.

Purvi Bhardwaj, Dean,Department of Science alsoexpressed his views.

At the end of the pro-gram, Prabal Rai, CenterHead, Science andCommunication Centerexpressed his gratitude to all.All the teachers and stu-dents of the university werepresent on this occasion.

World Health Day observed at RNTU

Sehreen Sofi bags a role in coming thrillerSTAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Actress Sehreen Sofi isall set to make a markin the Tv industry with

a unique and different role inupcoming suspense thrillerseries. “This is one of themost challenging roles I havecome across, but honestly, itis also interesting and I amvery excited to be a part of theseries. The actress has beenreportedly signed for a pivotalrole in a web show for lead-ing Ott platform.

The full information isstill in pipeline. As per the

sources, the series is based ona suspenseful crime. Theshow revolves around a crimeand how it unfolds. “This rolewill play an important part inmay career as it is differentfrom what I have been work-

ing on.” She further stated that

being a part of this series hasbeen a real learning experi-ence for her. The actress waslast seen in a popular come-dy show “Beechwale bapudekh raha hai” on Sony Sab.She has been applauded forher acting skills and comedytimings. This is her first webshow. The web shows are dif-ferent and demanding fromthe TV shows. It will beinteresting to watch how theactress will be able to manageher transition from tv to Ott.So, all fingers crossed, we are


The crime branch policeof Bhopal onThursday night arrest-

ed Vyapam scam whistle-blower Dr Anand Rai froma hotel in Delhi in connec-tion with a case registered byan officer posted in theChief Minister's Office.

Dr Rai was arrested hoursafter he was suspended fromhis post of medical officer atIndore's Hukumchand hos-pital for being absent fromduty and was shunned out toRewa.

This comes after a casewas registered against Dr Raiand Congress Statespokesman KK Mishra on acomplaint by Laxman SinghMarkam, Deputy Secretary atthe Chief Minister'sSecretariat, who in his com-plaint to police stated that theduo had dragged his nameinto the controversy con-cerning the paper leak of

MP's Teachers Eligibility Testthat was held on March 22.

Soon after his arrest, DrRai took to social media, say-ing: "I have been arrested bythe Crime Branch fromDelhi's Hotel Kabli. All work-ers and wellwishers arerequested to come to Bhopal."

DCP Crime Branch AmitKumar said, "Anand Rai hasbeen arrested and brought to

Bhopal in connection withthe FIR registered againsthim in the paper leak case.We are investigating the mat-ter."

The Teacher EligibilityTest was being conducted bythe Karmachari ChayanAayog (Staff SelectionBoard), which was earlierknown as VyavasaikParreksha Mandal (Vyapam)

before it was renamed asProfessional ExaminationBoard (PEB). But an allegedscreenshot of the questionpaper along with the answersheet had gone viral on thesocial media, which had thename of Laxman Singh visi-ble on it. Laxman SinghMarkam had alleged that afabricated screenshot wasmade viral.

Dr Rai had approachedthe Madhya Pradesh HighCourt for quashing the FIRagainst him. The MP HighCourt had last week put a stayon any coercive action againstthe whistleblower until April4, but his petition was dis-missed on Friday.

Dr Rai was in Delhi tomove the Supreme Court,seeking relief in the case reg-istered against him.

Meanwhile, CongressRajya Sabha MP VivekTankha termed Dr Rai's arrestfrom Delhi without an arrestwarrant as illegal.

Vyapam scam whistleblower arrested in Delhi Body found


The military film'Angels in Uniform'based on the doctors

and saviors of soldiers wasscreened here on Friday atShaurya Smarak.

The film was screenedunder the regular filmscreenings held at ShauryaSmarak every day. Themovies screened here arebased on the Indian Army,Navy and other armed forces.

A film on the servicesrendered by the personnel ofthe Armed Forces MedicalServices. The film also dealswith the recruitment andtraining of doctors and nurs-es and the medical assis-tants joining the ArmedForces Medical Services.

Armed Forces MedicalServices is the first tri-service(Army, Navy and Air Force)organization and one of thelargest organized medicalservices in the country. It hasstate-of-the-art tertiary carehospitals and specialty cen-ters of excellence. It providesmedical support to theArmed Forces during thewar as well as comprehensivehealth care to all servicepersonnel, ex-servicemen,and their dependents during

peace. Army Medical Corpsprovides medical aid duringnatural calamities both atnational and internationallevels.

The Army MedicalCorps promises both pro-fessional and personalgrowth at every stage of thecareer. In addition to theprofessional growth anddevelopment, the adventureand extra-curricular activi-ties in the service ensure anall-round developmentessential for today's world.The film is produced by theFilms Division of India andis directed by RameshGupta.

Military film ‘Angels in Uniform’screened at Shaurya Smarak


Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has said thatindustrial units investing in

the state should give priority tolocal youth in employment.Industrial units should work withsensitivity and promptness inproviding necessary training andskill upgradation to the youthresiding around the places whereindustries are being set up. ChiefMinister Chouhan was addressingthe bhoomi-pujan programme ofthe new industrial unit ofEndurafab being set up at a costof Rs.800 crore at Dotria nearBadnawar in Dhar district. ChiefMinister Chouhan participatedvirtually from the residence office.

Industrial Policy and

Investment Promotion MinisterRajvardhan Singh Dattigaon andMLA Smt. Neena Verma werepresent at the bhoomi-pujan sitein Dotria, Badnawar. PrincipalSecretary Industrial Policy andInvestment Promotion SanjayShukla attended from the ChiefMinister’s residence office.

Chief Minister Chouhan saidthat Madhya Pradesh is settingrecords in all fields. Remarkableachievements have been made inthe production of wheat and rice.Special attention is being paid tofood processing. Along with agri-culture, we are moving towardssetting a record in the industrialdevelopment of the state. Exportsworth Rs 10 thousand crore hasbeen made in the pharma sectorfrom the state. Employmentopportunities are also being cre-

ated in the state by investing inindustries. In the last threemonths, the state governmenthas connected 13 lakh 50 thou-sand youth with self-employ-ment. Chief Minister Chouhansaid that we are moving towardsrealizing the resolve of PrimeMinister Modi to make the stateproud, prosperous, glorious andempowered.

Chief Minister Chouhan saidthat Endurafab is going to set upa plastic waste recycling plant ata cost of Rs 800 crore for the pro-duction of technical items and forprotecting the environment.About 2 thousand youth will getemployment from this industryand about 4 thousand families willbe benefited directly and indi-rectly. About 36,000 tonnes ofplastic waste will be converted

into valuable items from thisplant. These items will also beexported and foreign exchange ofabout Rs 400 crore will be gener-ated annually.

Chief Minister Chouhan saidthat this unit coming up inBadnawar would prove to be amilestone in the industrial devel-opment of the area. With itsestablishment, activities will alsostart to connect Pithampur andRatlam industrially. ChiefMinister Chouhan said thatMadhya Pradesh is the best statein terms of industrial investment.Along with being an island ofpeace, it has ample forests, nat-ural resources like minerals andwater resources. MinisterDattigaon also addressed theprogramme at the bhoomi-pujansite.

Industrial units should give priorityto local youth in employment: CM


Sensation prevailed inthe area after a bodyof a man was found

inside a well nearChitransh Nursery underHabibganj police stationarea on Thursday.

After the body wasspotted locals informed thepolice and on the receipt apolice team reached thespot and started investiga-tion.

The deceased remainedunidentified in the investi-gation. One of the localsPradeep Parikh told policethat well is used for dump-ing offering at temples andhe was the one who spot-ted the body first after hepeeped inside well when itstarted to stink.

The body was fished bydivers after police wereinformed, nothing wasfound from the body whichcould establish identity.


To impart knowledgeamong the doctors on therecent advances in field of

Gastroenterology and to observeits seventh foundation day,Bhopal Institute ofGastroenterology in associationwith IMA Greater Bhopal organ-ised its seventh annual confer-ence, ‘BIG Updates-2022’ onFriday.

The two-day conference wasinaugurated at GastroCareHospital Bhopal with a lamplighting ceremony in the pres-ence of Course Director DrSanjay Kumar, DirectorGastroCare hospital Bhopal DrNeetu Kumar, and senior facul-ty members Dr Naresh Bhatt(Bengaluru), Dr SundeepLakhtakia (Hyderabad), DrVikas Singla (Delhi), Dr RajeshSainani (Mumbai) and Dr CCChaubal (Bhopal).

Taking the course further,Dr Sanjay Kumar welcomed allthe doctors and guests takingpart in the conference.

Following the lamp lightingand welcome ceremony, beganthe live endoscopy sessions per-formed by senior doctors whichwere telecasted live fromOperation Theater for the atten-dees at the conference hall.

Docs learn nuancesof trailblazingendoscopy

A total of 24illegal firearmswere seizedfrom theaccused and acrime wasregisteredagainst theaccused underthe Arms Act atHatpipalyapolice station

Fire personnel trying to douse flames after a major fire breaks at the office building of Centre for EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Madhya Pradesh, in Bhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

Vyapam whistleblower Dr Anand Rai being presented in a court by the cops inBhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

Bhopal: Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan onFriday remembered the mar-tyr Mangal Pandey by payinghomage to him on his mar-tyrdom day. Chief MinisterChouhan garlanded the por-trait of Shaheed MangalPandey in the auditorium atthe residence office. MLAfrom Kurwai Hari Sapre andsenior social worker BabulalJat were also present.

Amar Shaheed MangalPandey, who first blew thebugle of the freedom strug-gle in the country, wasborn on July 19, 1827 inBallia, Uttar Pradesh. Hewas a soldier of the 34thBengal Infantry of the EastIndia Company. He isrespected as a hero of thefreedom struggle.

CM pays tributeto martyr MangalPandey

BHOPAL | SATURDAY | APRIL 09, 2022 capital 03

Women cover themselves from the heat waves on a hot summer day in Bhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

Governor launches voluntaryconference for developmentSTAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Governor MangubhaiPatel has said that vol-untary organizations

should come forward as cata-lysts in their efforts to removepoverty by connecting the poorin various roles of develop-ment. He said that their rolecan be decisive in the efforts tomake people self-reliant bymobilizing financial resources.He congratulated the state gov-ernment for the rapid eco-nomic progress of the state.

Patel was addressing theinaugural session of theVoluntary Conference orga-nized for participation in devel-opment by Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Institute of Good Governanceand Policy Analysis atKushabhau ThakareInternational ConventionCenter. In the conference, rep-resentatives of voluntary orga-nizations, donor agencies, orga-nizations participating in devel-opment works and scholarsfrom 52 districts of the statewere present.

The Governor said that vol-untary organizations should tryto change the society by settingtheir own example. Expectingtheir cooperation in the controlof sickle cell, he said that a largepart of about 1.75 core tribalpopulation of the state is suf-fering from the genetic diseasesickle cell. He had first organized

a sickle cell check-up camp atthe Raj Bhavan. Out of 55, 12were found to be carriers of sick-le cell which shows the gravityof the situation. He informedthat fruitful efforts have beenmade by the central and stategovernments towards the con-trol of sickle cell anemia disease.

The work of disease identi-fication is being done on a largescale in Alirajpur and Jhabuadistricts. Giving informationabout the nature, form andcontrol of the disease, he toldthat in the year 2006, whenPrime Minister Narendra Modiwas the Chief Minister ofGujarat, at that time extensivework was done on sickle cellcontrol.


Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has congratu-lated the public represen-

tatives, officers, voluntary organ-isations and social organisationsof the district for adopting all theAnganwadi centres in Rewa dis-trict under the ‘Adopt anAnganwadi’ scheme.

Expressing his feelings onsocial media, Chief MinisterChouhan has tweeted - "This isunprecedented and commend-able. Only with such pious anddetermined efforts, the goal ofnew building of Madhya Pradeshalong with Rewa will be fulfilled."

Chouhan said that he wassure that soon other districts willalso give new base and speed tothe efforts for upliftment of thestate by achieving this goalthrough social involvement andpublic participation.

It is noteworthy that 3719registrations were made to takeresponsibility of 3434Anganwadis in Rewa district.Individuals and organisationshave shown a lot of enthusiasmto adopt Anganwadis.

For the adoption of 313Anganwadis of Mauganj project,372 registrations have beenreceived. Similarly, 323 applica-tions were received for 288anganwadis of Sirmour (one)project and 221 applicationswere received for 173 angan-wadis of Sirmour (two) project.447 applications have beenreceived for adopting 380anganwadis of the Tyonthar pro-ject.

All Anganwadis of Rewa district adopted

Karni Sena Chief Suraj Pal Singh (Ammu) being presented a sword by his supporters during Karni Sena State representativebody meeting in Bhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo


The Special Court,POCSO Act PadmaJatav sentenced life

imprisonment to rapeaccused and was fined Rs1000; accused raped a minorin the year 2019.

The case was registeredwith Gandhi Nagar policeunder sections 376 of theIPC and section 3 and 4 ofthe POCSO Act.

The accused Azad Natwas punished with lifeimprisonment and a fine ofRs 1000, under Section 376Bhadvi and 3 and 4 POCSOAct, for non-payment offine, one month additionalrigorous imprisonment tobe paid.

In the said case, the gov-ernment was represented byTP Gautam, Special PublicProsecutor and Sarla Kahar,Assistant Special PublicProsecutor.

The incident occurredJanuary 3, 2019 around 9 inthe night when the accusedAzad came to the victim'shouse, at that time hisyounger brother and sisterwere sleeping the accuseddragged her outside thehouse to the bathroom anddid wrong things with himand threatened to kill.

Meanwhile in anotherpunishment of 2 years rig-orous imprisonment andfine of Rs 8000 underSection 363 awarded toNarvesh Vasuniya for keep-ing minor victim captivewas sentenced by SpecialCourt, POCSO Act PadmaJatav.

The accused NarveshVasuniya, of Shukla Crusherslum, Ayodhya Nagar,Bhopal, was punished with 2years rigorous imprison-ment and fine of Rs 8000under Section 363 IPC.

The government was

represented by TP Gautam,Special Public Prosecutorand Sarla Kahar, AssistantSpecial Public Prosecutor.

Mother of the victimlodged a missing report ofher minor daughter byattending the police station,Ayodhya Nagar and basedon report accused NarveshVasuniya was found guiltywho lured her and held cap-tive.

Man gets lifer in three-year-old rape case


State capital recorded daytemperature near to 42degree Celsius on Friday

which the highest of season at41.7 degree Celsius.

State and state capital wit-nessed hot and humid conditionswhich gripped the state for lastone week and would continue toprevail till mid of month.

Heat wave conditions arelikely to persist over MadhyaPradesh during next 5 days whileno significant change is likely inthe maximum temperature in

most parts of the state during thenext 5 days. Madhya Pradeshalong with Rajasthan and Gujarathave been completely dry duringthis season so far. Across the bor-der, parts of Pakistan are wit-nessing scorching heat with tem-peratures exceeding 46 degreesCelsius.

Hot winds are blowing in theborder parts of Rajasthan andGujarat. Continuous heat isreaching the border states fromthe dry areas of Pakistan. As aresult, 44.5 degree Celsius wasrecorded in Rajgarh andHoshangabad.

Heat wave continues todayin two cities of Madhya Pradesh(Rajgarh and Hoshangabad) 45degree Celsius, in ten cities(Khandwa, Khargone, Naugaon,Guna, Dhar, Gwalior, Khajuraho,Sagar, Sidhi and Ratlam) around44 degree Celsius.

The maximum temperaturewas In 12 cities of MadhyaPradesh, it was around 44 to 45degree Celsius, 42 degree celciusin eight cities, 41 degree Celsiusin 6 cities. In view of the outbreakof heat, two cities of MadhyaPradesh remained relatively cold(around 40 degree Celsius).

Bhopal records 41.7 degree C day temperature

Bhopal: State capital witnessed fire at two different on Friday;at 6 in the morning, a big fire broke out in the Udyamita Bhawanlocated on Jail Hill and after some time fire broke out at a pri-vate building in MP Nagar. The fire tender vehicles were pressedinto service soon after the fire broke out at these two places whichtook over 3-4 hours to pacify the fire at these places.

Police and Municipal Corporation employees had to put hardefforts to control the fire at both the places. The fire that brokeout in the office of MPIDC at Udyamita Bhavan was broughtunder control in about three hours, but sparking continued tillnoon. The fire was brought under control with the help of morethan 30 fire tenders and over a dozen fire tender vehicles.

The office of MPIDC (MP Industrial DevelopmentCorporation Limited) is located in Udyamita Bhawan located atJail Hill which caught fire in the morning. Furniture, AC-cool-ers, fans, important documents etc. were burnt to ashes in thefire.The fire broke out at non-working hours due to which nodamage of life was reported and only material damage occurredin the fire. Fire officer Rameshwar Neel said, the cause of the fireis not known. The fire was brought under control with the helpof about 20 vehicles. Police fire brigade was also engaged in con-trolling the fire. The fire had engulfed the entire fourth floor ofthe building and required hard efforts for the firemen to extin-guish the fire which started at a height of about 80 feet.

Fire reported at two places

��

�� !�� "� ��#� �� $��%� ��+�� 0

�� :�� ; ��<��=>�?�Z[Z�#�� +��\+��#�� ]�^�� ?� ��:�� \�� = �=�� 0]�^�� _�� >��<��=`�� _�� %�� 0

�� <�� _�0��q��]��:��{�q]:|�+�� "��]��<�� _��_� ��_� ��}�]~+��"��`�� _��+��`��q]:"��<��_�"��`� � �� <�� $��0

�� _�� Z�=��=��#��+�� +�� ?� �� {�+�?|�� +�� ?� �Z�Z�0

��!��

�� ?�� :�`��^�� ;Z�� \��_��?��\� �� 0�:�`�� ]�^�� `��#�� #��=��_�� _��0

�� "#$##�� ?� �� _�� :�� `��\�Z�ZZ\�� ?��:�� `��#�� ?��^��\�� \�;�\ ��>�� #�� 0

�� ?��`<�� _�� :<�� 0

��

�� q%�+q��<

The first batch of IndianNavy’s aircrew of MH 60R

‘Romeo’ helicopter has suc-cessfully completed its trainingat Naval Air Station, NorthIsland, San Diego, US.

India signed aGovernment to Governmentdeal worth over 2.4 billion dol-lars in 2020 with the US for 24such multi-role advanced heli-copters. Lockheed Martin isthe manufacturer of these heli-copters.The first two heli-copters were handed over tothe Indian Navy in July lastyear in the US.

The contract is under theaegis of Foreign MilitarySale(FMS)route wherein theUS government stands guar-antee for all the clauses of thedeal.Giving details of the train-ing, navy officials said here onFriday, the 10-month longcourse which ended on Aprilone included conversion train-ing and other advanced qual-ifications on MH 60R heli-copter.

asaThe crew flew exten-sively from HelicopterMaritime Strike Squadron – 41(HSM 41) and achieved dayand night deck landing qual-

ification onboard a US NavyDestroyer. The crew would beresponsible for inducting theversatile ‘Romeo’ into IndianNavy. The MH 60R helicopterswill provide the Indian Navyenhanced offensive roleincluding Anti-submarineWarfare, Anti-ship Strike, spe-cialised maritime operations aswell as Search and Rescueoperations.

These helicopters can beloaded with torpedoes andmissiles. In addition to track-ing and engaging submarines,the MH-60Rs are also capableof logistics support, personneltransport, medical evacuationand surveillance. The MH-60Rdeal includes training ofIndian naval pilots and groundcrew, spare parts and air-to-ground weapons support.

The MH-60s will be mod-ified with sensors, equipment,and specialised weapon sys-tems unique to India, a pack-age that includes Hellfire air-to-surface missiles and Mark54 anti-submarine torpedoes.

The entire lot of 24 heli-copters will start arriving inIndia in phases this year.These helicopters will eventu-ally replace Navy’s fleet ofageing British-built Sea Kinghelicopters.

�� q%�+q��<

In an effort to increase thelethality and range of air to

air missiles to intercept targetsat long range, the DefenceResearch and DevelopmentOrganisation (DRDO)onFriday successfully flight test-ed Solid Fuel Ducted Ramjet(SFDR) booster. The test car-ried out at the Integrated TestRange (ITR), Chandipur offthe coast of Odisha success-

fully demonstrated the reliablefunctioning of all critical com-ponents involved in the com-plex missile system and met allthe mission objectives, officialssaid here.

The SFDR-based propul-sion enables the missile tointercept aerial threats at verylong range at supersonicspeeds. The performance ofthe system has been confirmedfrom data captured by a num-ber of range instruments like

Telemetry, Radar and ElectroOptical Tracking Systemsdeployed by ITR. The SFDRhas been developed by DefenceResearch and DevelopmentLaboratory, Hyderabad in col-laboration with other DRDOlaboratories such as ResearchCentre Imarat, Hyderabad andHigh Energy MaterialsResearch Laboratory, Pune.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh congratulated theDRDO for the successful trialof SFDR. He termed it as animportant milestone towardsdevelopment of critical missiletechnologies in the country.

Complimenting the teamsinvolved in design, develop-ment and testing, DRDO chiefG Satheesh Reddy said, withthe successful trial of SFDR,the range of air-to-air missilescan be enhanced. The first testof the SFDR system was con-ducted in May, 2018 followedby second test in February,2019 and third test in Marchlast year.

��

� �q%�+q��<

With an aim to ensureholistic healthcare, the

All India Institute ofAyur veda (AIIA) andSafdarjung Hospital, both inDelhi inked a pact to devel-op a model centre ofIntegrative Health Facilityfor tertiary care.

The AIIA and VardhmanMahavir Medical College andSafdarjung Hospital willjointly work to treat patientsusing the best of bothAyurveda and modern med-icine. The MoU was signedon March 25.

The focus areas for col-laboration include therapeu-tic, holistic, preventive, andpromotive medical servicesthrough integrative medicineunit, lifestyle counselling,yoga, diet advice, stress man-agement, and IEC activitiesfor creating awareness aboutintegrated medicine unitamong the public, said Dr(Prof.) Tanuja Nesari,

Director of AIIA.She added that "This

(pact) comes at a time whenon World Health Day, theglobal focus is on 'Our health,our planet. Indian heritageand use of natural treatmentformulas combined withmodern medicine canbecome future of patient carein India.”

The facility will helpstrengthen medical infra-structure and research whileincreasing affordability andaccessibility of treatments,Dr Nesari said.

Under agreement, theinfrastructural space andother requisites to run thecentre on a day-to-day basiswill be provided by VMMC-Safdarjung Hospital, where-as the technical support,including manpower, techni-cal infrastructure, and run-ning of the centre, will bemanaged by AIIA.

Covid-19 has highlightedrole of alternate medicinesystems in enhancing immu-nity of people.

��

�� !��

�� q%�+q��<

The BJP on Friday main-tained that barring

Opposition-ruled West Bengaland Chhattisgarh, all the stateshave been in step with the PMAwas Yojana and that over 3crore houses were constructedin the last eight years of theModi Government.

For his part, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi tweet-ed: “We have made an impor-tant step in our resolve to pro-vide pucca house to every poorof the country.”

The construction of morethan three crore houses hasbeen possible only with theparticipation of the people.These houses with basic facil-ities have also become a sym-bol of women’s empowermenttoday.” All houses are equippedwith basic necessities and havebecome the symbol of womenempowerment, he said.

Under the PM AwasYojana (rural), the constructionof 2.52 crore houses has beenfinished. An amount of Rs 1.95lakh crore was sanctioned forthis.As many as 58 lakh hous-es have been constructed underthe PM Awas Yojana (urban) sofar.

An amount of Rs 1.18 lakhcrore was sanctioned for it.Theparty has claimed that WestBengal has been sanctionedabout 37,99,000 houses and "weare still in communication withthe state about beneficiaries".

Addressing a press confer-ence here, Union Minister andBJP leader Giriraj Singh said,"West Bengal is a state thatwants to function outside thefederal structure". Singh saidChhattisgarh has also beensanctioned 8 lakh houses.

He said the Modi govern-ment constructed 2.5 crorehouses for the homeless ineight years as against 3.26 croreconstructed in the total periodof late Indira Gandhi's time.The Congress has disputed thegovernment's claim.

�� q%�+q��<

Smoking in women cancause infertility and pre-

mature baby birth, say doctorsas they called for stricter tobac-

co control policy to save over1.3 million lives which meetuntimely death due to con-sumption of the deadly prod-uct every year.

Dr. Uma Kumar, Professorand Head of the Department ofRheumatology, AIIMS NewDelhi said that smoking habitsamong women is on increasewhich is a matter of concern.It may result in infertility,cases of which are also risingthese days. Also, smoking maylead to premature birth, shewarned.

In fact, the doctor said,contrary to the general notion,tobacco consumption affectsnot only lungs but many majorparts of the body like teeth andbones are seriously damaged.Dr Kumar said that the firsthand smoke and second handsmoke both are equally harm-

ful for health. Kumar wassharing her views at a webinaron the “Prevention of deathscaused by tobacco” organisedby Tobacco Free India on theoccasion of World Health Dayobserved recently.

Blaming tobacco con-sumption to the rising cases oforal cancer in India, Dr. VishalRao, Country Director, Headand Neck Surgical Oncology,HCG Bangalore said that it issad to see that instead of par-ticipating in the progress of thecountry, our youth are gettinghospitalized due to tobaccoproducts.

This is really very pathet-ic and certainly not in theinterest of the country and theindividuals, Dr Rao saidadding that he hoped theCOTPA act which is all set foramendment will ensure a cut

down in tobacco consumptionin the country. Economist andBJP’s national spokespersonGopal Krishna Agarwal whileparticipating at the discussiontool called for stricter tobacco-control policy such as increas-ing the tax on such harmfulproducts which, he said, wouldnot only generate more rev-enue for the Government’swelfare schemes, but also provebeneficial to those who usethem by reducing the con-sumption of these products.

Along with this, the addi-tional revenue earned there-from could be utilised for thewelfare and alternative employ-ment of the poor and tribalswho are engaged in tobaccorelated business and are vic-tims of exploitation. With thisfund tobacco-cessation centerscould also be set up.

�� q%�+q��<

In a sudden political devel-opment, former Congress

chief Rahul Gandhi on Fridaycalled on former UnionMinister Sharad Yadav whorecently came back into the foldof the RJD, and described himas his "Guru".

Rahul, after meeting Yadav,stated that Opposition partiesshould come together againstPrime Minister Narendra Modiand the RSS and hence themeeting discussed the ongoingprocesses and what should beits framework. On his part,Yadav said Rahul should takeover as the Congress president.

The meeting ahead of thePresidential elections has raisedseveral political speculationsand equations when majorOpposition parties likeCongress and TMC itself arenot on the same page.

Rahul refused to commentwhen asked if the Oppositionwill field a united candidate inthe Presidential polls this year."Opposition parties that areagainst the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS) andNarendra Modi should cometogether. Discussions are ongo-ing on how they should cometogether, what should be frame-work of it, and that has to bedeveloped," Rahul said address-ing the media jointly withYadav at the latter’s residence.

Describing Yadav as his"guru", Rahul said Yadav wasunwell for a long time, and hewas happy to see him "fightingfit" now.

"He has taught me a lotabout politics," Rahul added.Yadav last month merged hisLoktantrik Janata Dal (LJD)with Lalu Prasad Yadav'sRashtriya Janata Dal (RJD).

On a query by media aswhy the electoral mandate wasnot with the Opposition, Rahulsaid it was due to the "100 percent total domination" of theinstruments of communica-tion of this country.

Media is 100 per cent con-trolled, the CBI and the EDsuppress conversations, whileother institutions "lock theconversations", he alleged. "Theloudspeaker is with the gov-ernment, earlier loudspeakerused to be with the govern-ment, with Opposition...Nowno party has the loudspeaker,it is only with the BJP and RSS.When truth will hit people'sstomach, then this loudspeak-er will fail," he said.

The former Congress chiefsaid he agreed with Yadav thatthe country is in a "very badstate" as "hatred" is being spreadand "country is being divided".On whether Rahul shouldbecome Congress president,Yadav said, "Why not? Rahulworks for the party 24X7 andI think he should become pres-ident of party.

�� q%�+q��<

In a welfare measure for theArmed Forces personnel,

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Friday approved aproposal to give House RentAllowance(HRA) to eventhose who do not have gov-ernment accommodations.Moreover, the governmenthas decided to dispense withfurnishing of NoAccommodation Certificate(NAC) to become eligible forHouse Rent Allowance(HRA).

Giving details of thescheme, officials said here thepersonnel, who have not beenallotted government accom-modation, will now be able to

draw the HRA without therequirement to produce NAC.

Under the existing policy,personnel had to apply sepa-rately for issuing of the NACfrom the concerned accom-modation off ices, whichresulted in delays in process-ing the claims for HRA andthe allowance was paid topersonnel after considerabletime. This, at times, causedavoidable financial hardshipto the personnel.

The revised policy is a sig-nificant step in line with thegovernment’s policy for sim-plification of the existing pro-cedures. The revised policywill result in reduction inpaper work and enable fasterdisbursement of the HRA tothe Armed Forces personnel.

"��#!��!�� $��% !� �� q%�+q��<

In a move to boost self helpgroups to sell their products

at airports, the AirportsAuthority of India (AAI), a 100to 200 square feet area has beenearmarked at airports run by itacross the country. In a state-ment, the AAI said that the stephas been taken under theAirports as Venue for SkilledArtisans of the Region(AVSAR) initiative. The AAIruns more than 100 airportsacross the country.

“The space is being allottedto the self- help groups, turn onturn basis, for a duration of 15days. Few outlets have alreadybeen commissioned atChennai, Agartala, Dehradun,Kushinagar, Udaipur &Amritsar Airport whereinSHGs operated by localwomen, are showcasing and

marketing their homemadelocal products like Puffed Rice,Packaged Papad, Pickles,Bamboo based LadiesBag/Bottle/Lamp Sets, localartefacts, traditional craft, nat-ural dyes, embroidery andindigenous weaves with con-temporary design to the airtravelers,” the AAI said in astatement.

"More AAI airports are inthe process of allotting space incoordination with state gov-ernments to such self-helpgroups in Ranchi, Kolkata,Varanasi, Indore, Bhopal,Vadodara, Ranchi, Belagavi,Madurai, Coimbatore, Calicut,Surat, Bhubaneswar, Raipur,Silchar, Dibrugarh and Jorhat,"the statement noted. It said theinterested self-help groupsmust apply through its websiteto get reserved space for theirwares, it mentioned.

��&��!��!� ��!��'��%��!��%� !��

��

� ��!��"��#�!"$��%��&��'��*��"��+�� /2��/� �

�� q%�+q��<

The Enforcement Directorate(ED) on Friday conducted

raids at multiple locations inconnection with its moneylaundering probe into thealleged irregularities in theNational Stock Exchange (NSE)co-location case.

The searches underPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) arebeing conducted at ninepremises in Delhi andGurugram, including at loca-tions of some brokers involvedin the case, officials said. TheED had registered a moneylaundering case to probe thealleged irregularities on thebasis of an FIR registered by the

CBI in 2018. The CBI hadrecently arrested former NSEManaging Director and ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO),Chitra Ramkrishna and GroupOperating Officer (GOO),Anand Subramanian in thiscase.

The duo is presently under-going judicial custody and wasearlier questioned by the CBI.The Income Tax Department isseparately investigating thematter.

The action by the centralagencies picked up momentumafter market regulator SecuritiesExchange Board of India (SEBIon February 11 chargedRamkrishna and others withgovernance lapses in appoint-ment of Subramanian as Chief

Strategic Adviser and his sub-sequent re-designation asGroup Operating Officer andAdviser to MD. Ramkrishnahad appointed Subramanianas her adviser who was later ele-vated as group operating offi-cer (GOO) at a fat pay packageof Rs 4.21 crore annually.

Subramanian's controver-sial appointment and subse-quent elevation, besides crucialdecisions, were guided by anunidentified person whoRamkrishna claimed was aformless mysterious 'yogi'dwelling in Himalayas, a probeinto her email exchangesrevealed following an auditordered by SEBI. The ED andother agencies have widenedambit of probe to include mys-

terious 'yogi' angle in theirinvestigation. The SEBI hadlaunched its probe into co-location matter in early 2015after it was brought to light bya 'whistle-blower' that somebrokers were allegedly gettingpreferential access through co-location facility, early login and'dark fiber' which can allow atrader a split-second fasteraccess to data feed of anexchange.

Through co-location facil-ity, the connected brokers couldplace their servers within stockexchange premises giving themfaster access to the markets.Some brokers allegedly in con-nivance with insiders abusedalgorithm and co-location facil-ity to make windfall profits.

��q%�+q��<

The Union Cabinet onFriday approved a scheme

to distribute fortified rice underGovernment programmes inthree phases. UnionInformation and BroadcastingMinister Anurag Thakurinformed that in the firstphase, fortified rice is being dis-tributed under Integrated ChildDevelopment Services (ICDS)and PM Poshan programmes.Food Corporation of India andstate agencies have alreadyprocured 88.65 LMT of forti-fied rice for supply and distri-

bution. Fortification is aprocess through which essen-tial micronutrients in food areadded to boost nutritionalquality that helps improve pub-lic health.

Thakur said the secondphase will cover targeted pub-lic distribution system (TPDS)and other welfare schemes inall aspirational and high-bur-den stunting districts by March2023. In the final phase, allremaining districts will be cov-ered by March 2024. Theentire cost of rice fortificationof about Rs 2,700 crore perannum and would be borne bythe central government.

During his IndependenceDay speech last year on August15, Prime Minister NarendraModi had announced a plan todistribute fortified rice to thepoor by 2024 under differentschemes, including throughPublic Distribution SystemsAccording to FSSAI norms, 1kg fortified rice will containiron (28 mg-42.5 mg), folic acid(75-125 microgram) andVitamin B-12 (0.75-1.25 micro-gram).

In addition, rice may alsobe fortified with micronutri-ents, singly or in combination,with zinc(10 mg-15 mg),Vitamin A (500-750 micro-gram RE), Vitamin B1 (1 mg-1.5 mg), Vitamin B2 (1.25 mg-1.75 mg), Vitamin B3 (12.5 mg-20 mg) and Vitamin B6 (1.5mg-2.5 mg) per kg. (PDS) andMid-Day Meals.

The government distrib-utes over 300 lakh tonnes ofrice under various schemescovered under the NationalFood Security Act, 2013. For2021-22, the Centre has allo-cated 328 lakh tonnes of rice

under NFSA for schemes suchas the Targeted PDS, MDMand Integrated ChildDevelopment Scheme (ICDS).

In 2019-20, the Ministry ofConsumer Affairs, Food andPublic Distribution launched acentrally sponsored pilotscheme on ‘Fortification ofRice and its Distribution underPDS’ for a period of threeyears with a total budget out-lay of Rs 174.64 crore.

The pilot scheme focuseson 15 districts in 15 states –Andhra Pradesh, Kerala,Karnataka, Maharashtra,Odisha, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh,Assam, Tamil Nadu, Telangana,Punjab, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand, Uttarakhand andMadhya Pradesh.

According to the ministry,six states, includingMaharashtra and Gujarat, havestarted distributing fortifiedrice as part of the pilot scheme,with approximately 2.03 LMTof fortified rice being distrib-uted till June 2021. Four morestates are expected to start bySeptember 2021.

��

�!�� !�!��(!�!)!�!��*�� !�� +�!� � ��!�� !��

3"��&�� *�3�� 4� ��

5��6�� 7�/8

��

� ��:q�"?�>]>

Asserting that Hindi is notIndia's national language,

former Karnataka chief minis-ter and senior Congress leaderSiddaramaiah on Fridayaccused the ruling BJP of try-ing to unleash its agenda of"cultural terrorism" againstnon-Hindi speaking states.

Taking offence to UnionHome Minister Amit Shah'scomment regarding the officiallanguage, the Leader ofOpposition in the Karnatakaassembly accused him ofbetraying the former's homestate Gujarat and mother-tongue Gujarati for Hindi, forhis political agenda.

Shah on Thursday saidHindi should be accepted as analternative to English and notto local languages.

Presiding over the 37thmeeting of the ParliamentaryOfficial Language Committee,Shah had said Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has decidedthat the medium of running thegovernment is the official lan-guage and this will definitelyincrease the importance ofHindi.

"As a Kannadiga, I takestrong offence to @HMOIndia@AmitShah's

comment on Official lan-guage & medium of commu-nication. Hindi is not ourNational Language & we willnever let it to be," Siddaramaiahtweeted with the tagline"#IndiaAgainstHindiImposition"

Stating that linguisticdiversity is the essence of ourcountry and we will respecteach other's sentiments, the for-mer chief minister said plural-ism is what has held our nationtogether and any attempt by theBJP to undo this will be metwith strong opposition andretaliation."Imposing Hindi isa sign of coercive federalismrather than cooperative feder-alism. Myopic view of BJPregarding our languages needsto be corrected and their opin-ions are derived from pseudo-nationalists like Savarkar,"Siddaramaiah added.

Pointing out that 70 percent of the agenda of theCabinet is prepared in Hindi,Shah at the committee meetinghad said the time has nowcome to make the official lan-guage Hindi an important partof the unity of the country.

He, however, had saidHindi should be accepted as analternative to English and notto local languages.

�� !��!?�?

After more than a decadeBengal’s Jangal Mahal dis-

tricts on Friday witnessed acomplete shutdown after theMaoist organizations calledfor a bandh in protest againstrising crime and corruption inthe State.

Already reeling under cor-ruption charges, frequentpolitical clashes and bloodshedand court-ordered CBI inves-tigations, the TrinamoolCongress Government onFriday had to suffer yet anoth-er embarrassment when largeparts of the State’s forested dis-tricts observed completebandh apparently burrowing ahole in Chief Minister MamataBanerjee’s oft repeated claimsof a “smiling Jangal Mahal.”

A number of blocksincluding Sarenga, Simlapal,Ranibandh, Raipur, Bandwan,Jhalda, Belpahari etc inBankura, Purulia andJhargram districts adjoining

Jharkhand witnessed completebandh days after Maoistposters were found at variousplaces warning those whowould

defy the bandh diktatswith dire consequences. This,even as the police recoveredlandmines at least in twoplaces in two consecutive days.

No buses except a few runby the State Government andother vehicles plied on roadsthat wore deserted look andshops and other businessestablishments were closed,sources said adding the

schools including the onesrun by the Government wit-nessed very thin attendance.

While the administrationwould not react to the Friday’sdevelopment, local politiciansmostly belonging to theOpposition Congress, Left andthe BJP said rampant corrup-tion and criminalization and“utter failure of the TMCGovernment to deliver on thepromises that brought

it to power has led tolarge-scale alienation in thevillage level … a support forthe Maoists is the obvious

result of that.”A school teacher from

Shilda near Jhargram said “theGovernment had promisedjobs, peace and quality life butit gave only Rs 500 or Rs 1000monthly allowance and fewkgs of rice that would not suf-fice … the people, especiallythe youth have aspirations …when these are not met theyare bound to turn towardssome other ideology … theyouth have seen how somepeople who would not evenget one square meal then havebecome millionaires in a mat-ter of years … they are resent-ing … and the Maoists arefinding it easier to strengthentheir organization in theseareas all over again.”

Jangal Mahal had becomethe hotbed of Maoist politicsduring the closing years of theLeft Front regime with hun-dreds of people includingmany mainstream Marxistcadres getting eliminated bythe Left ultras in the strife tornboondocks.

��

�� !��"#�$ �

�� >�!��%

Close on the heels ofresounding victory in the

Uttar Pradesh Assembly elec-tions, the Bharatiya JanataParty has set its eye on becom-ing the single largest party inthe state Upper House as wellby winning a majority of the36 seats of UP LegislativeCouncil from local bodiesconstituency going to polls onSaturday.

The Election Commissionof India has deployedobservers in each constituen-cy to ensure free and fairconduct of the polls. The BJPcandidates have been electedunopposed on nine seats. Forthe remaining 27 seats, theECI has set up 739 polling sta-tions for the 1,20,657 voters.

The 36 seats are spreadacross 35 local authority con-stituencies. The biennial pollwas earlier planned inFebruary in two phases butnow the polling will be held inone phase on April 9.

Counting of votes will betaken up on April 12.

It is an opportunity for theruling party to attain a clearmajority in both the Houses ofthe Uttar Pradesh Legislature.

In the 100-member UPLegislative Council, the BJPhas 34 MLCs, the SamajwadiParty 17 and the BahujanSamaj Party four. TheCongress, Apna Dal (Sonelal)and NISHAD Party have onemember each in the UpperHouse. The Teachers' grouphas two MLCs, while the inde-pendent group (NirdalSamooh) and independentshave one MLC each.

As many as 37 councilseats are vacant at present.

Addressing BJP workers aweek ago, Chief MinisterAdityanath said it was impor-tant for the party to win the 36seats to advance his govern-ment's growth agenda withoutany hurdle.

“If the party wins all the36 seats, you can assume thatit will have a two-thirds

majority in the Uttar PradeshLegislative Council and willhave no problem in taking for-ward the developmentschemes expeditiously," hesaid

Yogi Adityanath, an MLAfrom Gorakhpur, will cast hisvote in Gorakhpur onSaturday at the polling boothin the municipal corporation,official sources said. The vot-ers in this biennial election areelected members of three-tierpanchayat bodies and urbanlocal bodies like nagar nigams,nagar palika parishads andnagar panchayats. LocalMLAs and MPs in each urbanlocal body constituency arealso the voters in these elec-tions.The Congress and theBahujan Samaj Party have notfielded any candidate in thelegislative council polls, mak-ing it a straight fight betweenthe BJP and the SP, the prin-cipal opposition in the stateassembly. Some independentcandidates are also in thefray.

��%&��

-.*�!��!/��1*�1��

�� >�!��%

Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav has urged

the Election Commission ofIndia to make special arrange-ments for free and fair con-duct of elections to the UPLegislative Council seats fromlocal body constituencies.

He said special measuresby the ECI were necessary formaintaining the credibilityof the elections.

“Obvious questions arebeing raised on the credibil-ity of the elections and theintention of the ruling partyas the Bharatiya Janata Partyleaders are claiming to win all36 seats.

For transparency andcredibility of the polls it isimperative for the ElectionCommission of India to takespecial measures for free andfair conduct of the elections,”said Akhilesh Yadav.

�� %��

�� '�� 7��&��

�� #>#:?<

The Bombay High Court onFriday asked Maharashtra’s

former Home Minister AnilDeshmukh to give details of ail-ments to justify medical emer-gency to seek an early bail pleahearing.

As she adjournedDeshmukh’s bail plea hearingby two weeks, Justice AnujaPrabhudessai of the high courtexpressed her displeasure overthe manner in which lawyersthese days cited medical emer-gencies to seek early hearingson bail plea applications.

Doing some plain speak-ing, the Judge noted: “Not onlyin this case, but in a number ofcases the accused are lan-guishing in jail for years. Sokeeping them inside and takingup this matter (Deshmukh’splea) will not be right. Thecourt will take up those caseswherein there is a medicalemergency [or] there is deathin the family”

“However, now, every mat-ter comes citing medical emer-gencies and then lawyers argueon merits. That is not correct.You cannot take the court forgranted,” Justice AnujaPrabhudessai added.

The judge went on to saythat advocate Aniket Nikam,representing Deshmukh, hadnot given details of the medicalemergency cited for which anearly hearing of his petition wassought.

On his part, Nikam toldthe court that Deshmukh hadbeen hospitalised for threedays for shoulder dislocationand that he was currently inCBI custody.

Nikam urged the Judge tocall for Deshmukh’s medicalreport. She said she would doso only after the petitionerfurnished in writing the detailsof his medical issues.

Additional Solicitor-General Anil Singh, appearingfor the CBI, said that while hehad a “lot to say” aboutDeshmukh’s medical emer-gency, he would wait for theformer State Home Minister tofile a fresh application.

In an affidavit filed beforethe high court opposingDeshmukh’s bail plea, theEnforcement Directorate (ED)had alleged on Thursday thatDeshmukh was the "master-mind and brain" behind the

money laundering conspiracyand said that the former stateminister was unable to explainthe source of huge wealth andto explain the proceeds ofcrime amounting to Rs 1.71crore received betweenFebruary -March 2021 in thebank account of an education-al institution linked to him.

In its 56-page affidavit filedthrough Advocate ShreeramShirsat, the ED had alleged thatDeshmukh had “misused” hisofficial position to amasswealth.

It said that despite multipleopportunities given to him,the former Home MinisterDeshmukh had failed toexplain the source of hisincome, thus lending credenceand showing even otherwisethat the proceeds of crimeswere being laundered.

In its affidavit filed a dayafter a Special court remandedhim to CBI’s custody till April11, the ED stated: "The appli-cant (Deshmukh) is the mas-termind of the entire conspir-acy hatched with his sonHrishikesh Deshmukh, SachinWaze (dismissed police officer),Sanjeev Palande and KundanShinde (Deshmukh's formeraides)".

Among other things, theED had also told the court thatDeshmukh was non-co-oper-ative, evasive and did not attendthe interrogation when sum-moned five times, insteadchoosing to challenge the samein courts, that he amassed

huge wealth during public ser-vice, source of which is stillunexplained and that he wasan influential person havingdeep political roots and thereis every likelihood of himobfuscating the trail of pro-ceeds of crime.

Deshmukh was taken intocustody by the CBI onWednesday, five months afterhe was arrested by the ED inNovember last year.

On November 2, 2021, theED had arrested Deshmukhunder the provisions ofPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) oncharges of bribery, conspiracyand misuse of office.

Deshmukh had resignedfrom his post as the StateHome Minister on April 52021 within hours after theBombay High Court ordered a“Preliminary Enquiry” (PE)by the CBI into the seriouscharges of corruption madeagainst him by Mumbai’s for-mer Police CommissionerParam Bir Singh. He is beinginvestigated by the CBI andEnforcement Directorate (ED)over the allegations of corrup-tion made by Param Bir Singh.

It may be recalled that onMarch 20, the former com-missioner of police had allegedthat State Home MinisterDeshmukh had asked nowarrested and dismissed policeofficer Sachin Vaze to "collect"a staggering Rs 100 crore permonth from bars, restaurantsand other sources in Mumbai.

��6��"��&6�� 9��:&��&�� 6��;��

�� q%�+q��<

From the Himalayan high-lands of Leh-Ladakh to the

banks of River Ganges inVaranasi – the heritage handi-craft of Pashmina has got abrand new identity. The premi-um Pashmina products pre-pared by the highly skilledKhadi weavers of Varanasi waslaunched by Chairman KVIC,Vinai Kumar Saxena on Fridayin Varanasi. This is for the firsttime that Pashmina products arebeing produced outside theregion of Leh-Ladakh andJammu & Kashmir.

KVIC will be selling the“Made-in-Varanasi” Pashminaproducts through its show-rooms, outlets and through itsonline portal. Minister of Stateof Uttar Pradesh RavindraJaiswal, MLA from VaranasiCantt Saurabh Shrivastava,Jaiprakash Gupta, MemberKVIC were also present on theoccasion.

A KVIC official said thatwhile Pashmina is famed as anessential Kashmiri art form, itsproduction in Varanasi liberatesthis heritage art from the region-al confines and creates a fusionof diverse artistry from Leh-Ladakh, Delhi and Varanasi.

The first two Pashminashawls produced by the weavers

in Varanasi were presented toPrime Minister Narendra Modiby the Chairman KVIC on hMarch 4, before the formallaunch of Pashmina products inVaranasi.

The journey of Pashminaproduction in Varanasi beginswith the collection of rawPashmina wool from Ladakh,This is brought to Delhi for de-hairing, cleaning, and process-ing. The processed wool, in theform of roving, is brought backto Leh where it is handspun intoyarn by women Khadi artisanson modern Charkhas providedby KVIC. The finished yarn isthen sent to Varanasi where it iswoven by trained Khadi weaversinto final Pashmina products.

As a mark of authenticityand belongingness, the name ofthe weavers and the name of thecity Varanasi will also be subtlymarked on the Pashmina prod-ucts made by Varanasi’s weavers.

The KVIC Chairman laud-ed the highly skilled Pashminaspinners and weavers and thesheer amount of hard workinvolved in making this heritagecraft. “Just as the fragrance of aflower does not have any colour,a stream of water or the blow-ing wind does not have any des-tination and the rays of the ris-ing sun or the smile of an inno-cent child does not have any reli-

gion; a thread of Khadi too is aunique creation of the naturebecause the one making themdoes not belong to any region orreligion…He is just an Artisan,”Saxena said. He added thatPashmina production inVaranasi alone would add near-ly Rs 25 crore to Khadi’sturnover in Varanasi.

The main idea behind thisrediscovery of Pashmina inVaranasi is to generate sustain-able employment opportunitiesfor women in Ladakh and diver-sify the skills of traditionalweavers in Varanasi, as envis-aged by the Prime Minister, hesaid.

As a special case, thePashmina weavers in Varanasiare being paid over 50 percentextra wages which comes as a bigboost for these artisans. Ascompared to Rs 800 wages forweaving a normal woolen shawl.Pashmina weavers in Varanasiare paid wages of Rs 1300 forweaving a Pashmina shawl.Pashmina weaving in Varanasiwould ensure round-the-yearlivelihood to women artisans inLeh-Ladakh where spinningactivities are suspended fornearly half the year due to theextreme cold. To facilitate this,KVIC has also set up aPashmina wool processing unitin Leh.

��

�� q%�+q��<

Astudy of the IndianInstitute of Technology

(IIT) Bhubaneswar showedthat climate change-triggeredhigher frequency of duststorms in the West Asia andNorth Africa are likely toincrease rainfall in India dur-ing the monsoon season.

According to the study,dust emitted from the middleeastern deserts and transport-ed to Arabian Sea couldenhance rainfall over southAsia, especially during severedrought episodes over theIndian region.

A previous study showedthat desert dust aerosols emit-ted from the middle-easternand North African desertsincrease rainfall over India atshort time scales of about aweek or two. This is made pos-sible due to the warminginduced by this dust over the

Arabian Sea, which acts as asource of energy to speed upthe winds and moisturetowards the Indian region.

The researcher teamincluding Gopinath Nandiniand Satyendra Kumar Pandey,both from IIT Bhubaneswarnoted that it is well establishedthat anthropogenic or humancaused factors reduce rainfalland continue to do so fordecades.

The researchers said thisrelationship is now strongerduring drought years associat-ed with El-Nino. El Nino andLa Nina are climate patterns inthe Pacific Ocean that canaffect weather worldwide. Theteam also indicates that thisdust induced rainfall enhance-ment is widespread across thewhole south Asian monsoondomain, often occurring as apulse that triggers short termincreased rainfall in an other-wise dry situation.

"India has faced droughtsor large-scale deficits andchanges in the spatial patternof monsoon rainfall due toongoing climate change,” saidV Vinoj, Assistant Professor,School of Earth Ocean andClimate Sciences, IITBhubaneswar.

“However, with globalwarming in place and changingwind patterns, we can expect arise in dust storms acrossMiddle Eastern deserts in thecoming years. This dust mayget transported to the ArabianSea under favourable condi-tions and trigger short heavyrain spells over the Indianregion,” Vinoj said.

The silver lining is thatthere is a short period of respiteto this drying trend in the formof increased short-time scalesrainfall, they said. “With theincreasing potential of El-Ninolike conditions in the future,this dust induced effect will

become increasingly impor-tant in understanding changingcharacteristics of rainfall overIndia,” Vinoj explained.

The researchers want todraw attention to this criticalobservation and point to theneed for tracking dust stormsand their emissions to under-stand their effect on monsoonrainfall and even on air quali-ty which is another growingproblem for India.

“Normally, while ascer-taining the air pollution levelson regional scales, we look atPM 2.5, which comprises manydifferent species, with dustbeing the most dominantspecies over India,” Vinoj said.

“However, recent studieshave shown a decline in thedesert dust over India due toincreased pre-monsoon rainsover the North-western parts ofIndia, potentially due to region-al effect of climate change,” headded.

��

�� !��<

In a unique event, Congressmen inErnakulam observed the death 128th

anniversar y of Bankim ChandraChatterjee on Friday at the SabarmathiResearch and Study Centre attached tothe District Congress Committee.

The Study Centre reverberated withthe melodious rendering of VandeMaatharam by school and college stu-dents from the city suburbs. MK Saanu,the nonagenarian professor who inau-

gurated the event reminded all presentduring the meeting that VandeMaatharam was an eternal song that kin-dled Indian nationalism and no otherlyrics have succeeded in charging up thespirit of freedom among the people.“This is the song which popularised theIndian National Congress and we shouldrecite this as a Vedic mantra to keep thespirit of freedom burning in our hearts,”said Prof Saanu.

Mohammed Shiyas, the young pres-ident of the DCC, noted violinist Herald

Antony, music director Burnie, literaryfigure Dr M Thomas Mathew spoke onthe occasion about the significance ofVande Maatharam. “This was a newexperience to us. We have been taughtthat the song was a regular event in allmeetings convened by Mahatma Gandhito mobilise people towards freedomstruggle. But Prof Saanu took us to a newlevel of knowledge through his speechand this has made the song still morepowerful,” said the students who ren-dered the song.

��:�� _

�� #>#:?<

In a development that came asa rude shock to the MVA

government, some agitatingemployees of the MaharashtraState Road TransportCorporation (MSRTC) onFriday hurled chappals at NCPchief Sharad Pawar’s high-security residence “Silver Oak”in south Mumbai, when theystaged a flash protest ostensi-bly to vent their anger againsthim for his “failure” to resolvetheir demand.

A day after the BombayHigh Court extended the dead-line for the agitating MSRTCemployees till April 22 toresume duty without any fearof administrative action, near-ly “100 to 125” striking employ-ees caught the police personneloff guard as they landed atPawar’s residence at around 3pm and raised vociferous slo-gans against the NCP chief.Some of the demonstratorseven hurled footwear at Pawar’sresidence.

The MSRTC employeeshave been on an indefiniteagitation since October 28 lastyear to demand among otherthings their inclusion in the

state government’s pay rolls.The MSRTC employees hadintensified their agitation afterthe Maharashtra governmentannounced hefty hikes in theemployees’ basic salaries rang-ing from Rs 2,500 per month toRs 7,000 per month, pending adecision on inclusion of theMSRTC employees in its stategovernment's pay rolls.

The protestors, comprisingwomen on the front, went pastthe security barricades erect infront of Pawar’s residence andraised slogans against the NCPchief. Then a small group withseveral women at the lead, wasseen rushing towards the high-security Pawar residence inSilver Oaks bungalow, rushingpast the security barricades,shouting slogans including ‘JaiShri Ram’, and pelted stones,

hurled shoes, while some man-aged to reach to the doorsteps.

NCP MP and Pawar’sdaughter Supriya Sule rushedout of “Silver Oak” andappealed to the protesters toremain calm. “With foldedhands, I am pleading to you…Please keep calm, my parentsand my children are inside thehouse and I am concerned fortheir safety… Don’t indulge insuch behaviour,” Sule said, asshe offered to hold talks withthe protesters.\

Given that Pawar enjoys Z-Plus category security that theNCP’s Dilip Walse-Patil is theState Home Minister, theunprecedented storming of theNCP chief ’s residence by theMSRTC employees has come asa big jolt to the MVA govern-ment.

The police who arrived onthe scene immediately after-wards detained several of theprotesting demonstrators.

State Home Minister DilipWalse Patil, who was amongthe several MVA ministerswho visited Pawar’s residence,said that an inquiry would beheld to find out if there wereintelligence lapses leading tothe incident in front of Pawar’sresidence.

� ��

<�� 0�� 0

�'()*� ��

Hindu faith, during the daysof Navratri, with the view topleasing primordial divineMother Durga, devoteesobserve daylong fasts andpray for her blessings. Thisyear, Chaitra Navratri is beingobserved between April 2and April 11. It’s believedthat during the period ofNavratri, Goddess Durgacomes down on earth and ful-fils the wishes and desires ofher devotees. There are twomain Navratris celebrated bythe Hindu community in ayear: Chaitra Navratri (whichis ongoing, and takes place inthe summer months) andSharad Navratri (which, as thename suggests, occurs duringthe winter months. ChaitraNavratri is celebrated at thecusp of summer and spring(around March-April) whileSharad Navratri is celebratedin the autumn season (aroundOctober-November).

According to the Shastras,the devotees observing theNavratri fast must observebrahamcharya (celibacy) as ithelps decrease the badnessquotient and unworthy qual-ities in a person, such asanger, pride, deceit and greed.It also helps in keeping andhonouring different vows and

commitments in life. Thefasting devotees should alsoabstain from falsehood andstay away from using intoxi-cating items like gutka, tobac-co etc. In fact, the stricter fol-lowers of the practice abstainfrom using ginger, garlic andonions in their food prepara-tions for even that one meala day; having eggs or non-vegetarian dishes is absolute-ly out of the question.

Navratri also prescribesfasting rules for the devoteesof Goddess Durga. Thosewho decide to observe the fastin Chaitra Navratri have tofollow the prescribed guide-lines for the consumption offood. Devotees are advised toavoid grains like wheat andrice. Rice flour, all-purposeflour, corn flour, lentils,semolina are also consideredtaboo. They can replace thesefood items with buckwheatflour, water chestnut flourand amaranth flour. Rice canbe replaced with barnyardmillet, which can be used toprepare kheer, khichdi anddhoklas. Though salt is anacceptable ingredient in alldishes, the dishes prepared forthe fasting devotees shouldnot include table salt. It canbe replaced by sendha namak

or rock salt, which is preparedby boiling seawater and doesnot have sodium chloride.Spices like cardamom, cloves,cinnamon, black pepper,ajwain and tamarind can beused to enhance the taste ofthe dishes. Onions and garlic,despite being considered veg-etarian food, are not allowedin preparing food for thefasting devotees duringNavratris. Dishes for break-fast and lunch should not beprepared with seed-based oilsor refined oil. It can bereplaced by pure (desi) gheeor peanut oil. Not too manypeople observe fast on all thenine days; most of them keepfasting on the first two or lasttwo days.

Be it fasting for Ramzanor Navratri, the exercise hasnot been prescribed as a pun-ishment upon people or toinflict burdensome practices.It is simply moral and spiri-tual training, whose underly-ing idea is to teach modera-tion and spiritual discipline,so that the worldly tempta-tions do not surpass themoral discipline prescribed inour religious texts.

(The writer is a legal journalist and author. Theviews expressed are personal.)

�� Sir — This refers to the editorial ‘Sop Story’(April 8). In view of political parties vyingwith one another to offer freebies just toensure victory in elections, the freebies cul-ture is fast growing. What the voters needto understand is that the money neededto provide these freebies does not comefrom the coffers of the political parties butfrom the public exchequer. In other words,the political parties, without any exception,thump their chests over fulfilling promis-es but, in fact, they empty out the State rev-enues. Free power, free rides in buses, cashincentives, slashing milk prices etc woulddefinitely lure the public.

However, over a period of time, itbecomes necessary to hike the rates as thefinancial strain being felt by the respectiveunits becomes unmanageable. Acceptingfreebies/schemes announced during elec-tions and voting for the parties would infact amount to committing hara-kiri, forultimately the public will have to bear thebrunt. The parties that come to powerpromising various schemes would ulti-mately abdicate their responsibility overthe precarious financial position. The vot-ers, therefore, would do well to shun free-bies and vote only those parties whichpromise free/fair/transparent and, mostimportantly, corruption-free governance.In the upcoming elections, let us all say‘NO’ to freebies and ‘YES’ to corruption-free governance.

VS Jayaraman | Chennai

��Sir — Two years of the Corona crisis havepushed certain sectors on the brink of sur-vival while some startups like food deliv-ery platforms (Zomato, Swiggy etc) havecreated a huge market footprint, relegat-ing hotels to the background. Recently, theNational Restaurant Association of Indiabrought to light certain unfair and uneth-ical behaviour meted out to restaurants bythe food delivery platforms. At a timewhen online commercial activities aregrowing, a regulatory environment isneeded. Considering that there is a widen-ing information asymmetry between

business and consumers, the Governmentis drafting policies for e-commerce, con-sumer rights and data protection.

The judiciary has set the ball rollingand the onus now lies with the executiveto ensure an efficient market mechanismfor e-commerce. The restaurant associa-tion’s concerns like delayed paymentcycle, exorbitant and unviable commis-sions charged by such food delivery plat-forms to the tune of 20-30 per cent, notransparency in giving information aboutend consumers to whom the food is deliv-ered etc are genuine. Efficiency, equalopportunity and transparency must beaddressed by the competition commission.A thorough probe into the conduct ofZomato and Swiggy is urgently required.

Vijay Singh Adhikari | Nainital

��Sir —The write-up, ‘Plant your concepts;solutions will sprout’ (April 8), was veryuseful and made for an interesting read.‘Creativity’ offers one the ability to comeup with original ideas. If a person wants

to stand out and to be noticed in an indus-try, coming up with unique solutions tocommon problems is perhaps the only wayto achieve that difference. Creativity helpsyou stumble upon novel strategies that acompetitor hasn’t utilised to improvebusiness and profitability.

With a creative new approach to aproblem, one can turn ‘drawbacks’ into‘gains.’ Coming up with original ideas isalso a way to get closer to optimal solu-tions. Through creativity, one can gener-ate any number of ideas which will offera better chance at improving upon the“first instinct” approaches. Rather thangoing through monotonous and repetitivebrainstorming sessions, at times the mostimpressive creative breakthroughs tend tohappen spontaneously that are leastexpected. Finally, creative ideas certain-ly enable one with better results in any fieldhe/she works.

Ranganathan Sivakumar | Chennai

� � � % & � ' � ( ) � � � � � � * +

�� !��0�� +��`�� 0��

��

��

�� ;��6�� 7��((�*+()-�)/��*7<=>��?')=

��=��]��_� �� \��

:q�<��?��<�"��]�]?#�?��

�]��?$]?�]<\��q�q�q]�<�q�?��:qq�

`]q��]<:q+�?��?`>�<��#q��

>`��`q�`�q��]��<��<��:>]+q��#q

`]?��<�q�0�<��<��<#`��#�]?�?�+��`<]<�>?�

�]?<�<�"

�� !��"#��

"�#��$!�� !#"

��`�� ^�� = �� <��!��

�� 0�< �� `�� 0�� `�� \�� = �0�<��_�� \� ��:�� `�� 0�< �� `�� <��_�� ̀ �� ?�_� ��_�� ?�� =

��0�� ?�� ?�� =��_� �0

�� Z_� �� ;Z=�� <��\�� _�� 0� ��\`�� ?�� +�� _�� =�� <��^�� = �� \� �� ?�� 0�� _�� _�� `��^��\� �� `�� ZZ��_��<��_�� _� �� 0� `�� _�� _�� 0

��@J*>=>/�>=| ��

�� !�"

$�� !��!��2��

This year, Ramzan andChaitra Navratri arebeing observed togetherwith a common message

for devotees of the respective reli-gions, Muslim and Hindu, toachieve excellence in behaviourthrough introspection and self-restraint. Father of the NationMahatma Gandhi once said,“There are limits of self-indul-gence, none to self-restraint.”Truly, self-restraint plays quite animportant role in shaping humanbehaviour in different societaland cultural settings. The entiregamut of social control is basedon the type, range and depth ofrestraint shown in human behav-iour. More often than not, we seelaws being violated, manipulat-ed and disobeyed because theseare controlled by external agen-cies whereas, by practising self-restraint, we become the masterof our actions and, thus in turn,of our destiny.

In Islam, the Holy month ofRamzan was prescribed for theexercise of creating self-controland self-restraint through fastingwith the view to achieving excel-lence of behaviour and guardingagainst evil. According to theQuran (Verse 2 : 183), “O, youwho believe, fasting is prescribedto you as it was prescribed tothose before you. (So) that youmay become righteous.”

But fasting does not meanabstinence only from takingfood and water. It very necessar-ily includes keeping away fromall evil thoughts and wrongfulactions. You cannot lie, createmischief, steal or usurp some-one’s belongings, annoy any-body or use indecent, foul lan-guage while fasting. In a nut-shell, a fasting person mustexercise utmost and total con-trol to check even a semblanceof waywardness in his behaviourand demeanour. The observer ofsuch a fast must keep histhoughts and deeds pure, noble,decent and benevolent towardsothers, especially all the mem-bers of humankind. To this,Quran (79:40-41) says, “As forhim who fears to stand beforehis Lord and restrains himselffrom low desires, Paradise issurely the abode.”

Similarly, according to

�� !�� "��"�� #��

�� $�"��%��'��(��$��"��)��*��

�� +��"� ��$�"�� (��+��/�0��"��$�� "�� 1��23��4 ��1�� 22��"��"�� 5� �� $�� /�� "�� "��"�� 6�� $� ��

7�� "��$�� 5��"�� "� �� 8��"�� "�� 9��"�� "��"�� 5�� "�� :�6��"� �� $��5�� 5�� $��"�� ;��$��"� �� 5�� <�� 5��=�� "�� "�� $� �� 5�� 5�� 5�� $�5��$�� 5��>��$�� $�� $��5�� $�� 0��$�� $��$�� $�� 5��?

(� � ��4 ��$�� 5� ��$�� 7�5 �� 0��$�� 5��

��$��2%@%�� )%�� $�� 4 �� 5��$�� 0164��$��5�� 5�� 1��$��1 ��C��" �� D��5�� $�� $�� 4��$��$��"�� 1��$�� = ��7��6��>� 5��9<��:��+��7�� 8��9�� 1� ��+�"��5��$�� $��:$� �6��$�� <�� E ��/�� 4 ��"� �� ( �� '4(��*�� 4 �� F�� $�� )%%��"�� 4 �#�$��H�"� �� >�5�6$��))�!�� 4 �� I�� "�� J��1 ��"� �� "�� $�� F�� 7��=� ��"��$ �� 4 �: ��

�� 8��H��"�� 6 �� $�� 5� ��4 �C�� "��$��

4 �� 6��"�� $�� 7��5� ��$�� @%�� "� �� 7��

��$��$�� 5�� 4 �� $�� 6�� F�� 5�� $�� 4 ��6�� $�� 5� ��#��$�� "�� F��H�"� �� "�� "�� $�� 4�� "�� $�� "��E ��"�� 5� �� $�� "�� :��

-��

��$ ��&�� #"5�%�� !��!!�� ! ��!��

�#��$�

"�� 6�� :8��&&��!��<=<<��6&�� /2�

�!�� ! �!��!��! ��!�� )��!��!��!�& ��

��<��?�� \�� 0

�)==�*'��/�+(�*� `��"��

��_�� 0�� 0

�>/'��+(�*��(M=>/><�*� `��"��

SOUNDBITE

< �� <�� _�� ]�� 0

��Q�/'��'*�(>*M� ��?��

��<�� \�� 0

�*�=��/�+(�*� ��#��

isation for women), which is �1,400.While most female sterilisations

stem from entrenched patriarchalbeliefs that males would lose theirvirility and masculinity if theyopted for vasectomy, women’s lackof sexual and reproductive healthknowledge about appropriate andavailable contraceptive methodsand, their limited access to serviceshas increased their vulnerability.Women have been given little or noinformation and counselling oncontraception and that has prevent-ed them from knowing its benefitsand side effects. This could be whyone of three women had not giveninformed consent before undergo-ing sterilisation, according to aPopulation Research Institute study.

It is estimated that during 2015-2019, there were approximately121 million unintended pregnanciesin the world each year, according tothe recently released 2022 State ofWorld Population Report byUNFPA. Of all unintended preg-nancies, one in seven takes place inIndia, it further points out. Titled“Seeing the Unseen: The case foraction in the neglected crisis ofunintended pregnancy,” the UNFPAannual flagship publicationwarnsthat this human rights crisis hasdeep consequences for societies,women and girls and global health.“This report is a wake-up call. Thestaggering number of unintendedpregnancies represents a globalfailure to uphold women and girls’basic human rights,” says Dr. NataliaKanem, UNFPA Executive Director.

Globally, an estimated 257 mil-lion women who want to avoidpregnancy are not using safe, mod-ern methods of contraception, andwhere data is available, nearly aquarter of all women are not ableto say no to sex. In India too,women lack agency and control

over their bodies.Numerous studies have shown

how unintended pregnancies neg-atively impact the physical andmental health of mothers and causehigh, and often catastrophic, out-of-pocket expenditures for families.

Many women choose abortionto end this unintended pregnancy.Abortion being legal in the country,(Medical Termination of PregnancyAct, 1971), majority of rural andpoor women visit primary healthcentres (PHCs) to seek this serviceand access health care. But only afew PHCs provide abortion services.Only five percent of PHCs in Biharand four per cent in Uttar Pradeshprovide abortion services. Stigmaand discrimination coupled withpoor access to safe medical servicesforce women to resort to unsafe means.

About 67 per cent of abortionsare unsafe with eight women dyingfrom causes related to unsafe abor-tion every day. While the decline innational maternal mortality ratio(MMR) from113 maternal deathsper 100,000 live births in 2016-2018,to 103 maternal deaths per 100,000live births (2017-2019), is encour-aging, unsafe abortion remains thethird leading cause of maternal mor-tality in the country and con-tributes a significant share of allmaternal morbidity.This is a hugeworry for seven states (Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Odisha andAssam), where MMR is 130 or morematernal deaths per 100,000 livebirths (Registrar General of India,March 2022).

There has also been a rise in thenumber of cases seeking permis-sion from the Court to terminatepregnancy finds Pratigya, a net-work of over 110 individuals andorganisations working towards

protecting and advancing women’srights and their access to safeabortion care in India. During theirstudy of the role of the judiciary inwomen’saccess to safe abortion,they found that 243 abortion caseswere filed in various High Courtsfrom May 2019 to August2020.compared to 175 cases werefiled in three years. This indicatesaccess to safe and legal abortionservices in this country still leavesa lot to be desired, says AnubhaRastogi, Pratigya CampaignAdvisory Group Member andauthor of the report.

Attempts to bridge some ofthese gaps have been made. WhilePratigya has crowdsourced anauthentic database of MedicalTermination of Pregnancy (MTP)providers to help in locating thenearest MTP provider ( pratigya-campaign.org/mtp-providers/ ),the Asia Safe Abortion Partnershipalong with its NGO partners,MASUM and ISAY, have beenrunning a year-long campaign tohighlight the challenges faced bymany marginalized communitiesin accessing the MTP Act.UNFPAin India has been working in tan-dem with several NGOs and thegovernment to address stigma andnegative social norms,says AndreaWojnar, UNFPA IndiaRepresentative.

These efforts have providedsome succour. But, as long aswomen continue to lack agency andare subjected to sexual violence andreproductive coercion, the likeli-hood of unintended pregnancies ishigh. Gender inequality is a key fac-tor contributing to unintendedpregnancies.Unless significantprogress is made to ensure genderequality, the human rights crisis ofunintended pregnancies will con-tinue to kill women.

6��7�8! ��!�� '��

� !�� X�� ?� �� ?Z ��

��[��\�� ?� !��

�� ?Z ��

��

9��!��'��!��!�� &�� !��!)��!�� :�

#��6�"��:�� =�� 3�@�1��$�� (5��K%�%%%0�� 6�"��5� ��: �

=�� 5�� L��$��E 5 �� 0��0�� M5��:� � 5�� H�� 3�@�� I0��:�� $��"�� L� ��"�� H�� /� �� "�� "��$��J�9�� : �� =��"�� H�� $�� "�� E5� ��0�� "�� $��"�� $$��

� �� N�� 0�� 5��/��$�� 5��5� ��"��/O��/��"�� "�� "� �5��"�� $��/��0�� "��7�� "�� $��$�� "� �� 0�� "��"�� "�� $�� "��"��$�� Q�E5� � �� #��E5� ��"��"�� $�� 1�� 0�� E5� � ��>�� (�� D��M�� 5��5�� E5� � �<�� 1� ��Q�IE5� �� $�� $��$�� 4��$��7��$��L$��4�� I'+� ��*�$�� "�� '��*� � � �� 5�� 6��$�� $�� %��J��E5� ��Q��L$��4�� 5��: ��0��5��$�� (��0�� "�� E5� ��D��(�� $�� 5�$��"��5 ��$��"�� E5� �� =�� 3�@�� "�� $��6� ��$�� 04:�/�"�� L7��0��E5� �S��6��"��0�� "�� E5� �� 0��N �5�"�� 2%�� U �� I+� O�� "��$�� +��E5� � �O�� $��"��E5� � �� 5��J�6��"�� $��9�� "��E5� � �� D�5��N �5�"��0�� 6��"��"� �$��1�� E5� �� E5� ��0��

��5�� $��0�� 5�� E5� �� "� �� N��5 �� /:�F�$ �� E5� �� S

�� !�"

��

�%�� !�� 0�� +��`�� 0��

FIRSTCOLUMN.0&��+%4�()%��(

*5�()%��(&*��(�%�

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

#��%��&��"��

9�� /��5 �� $ �� E5� �� S

?��"�?�%�#q�

��<�>q��?�!�

?"q��?�+?]q��>:�q��q+

��q�>?�$<��q��q�?�+

]q`]�+>��<$q��q]�<��\��q�<!q�<��+��

>�<��q�+q+`]q"�?��<q��<�

�<"�0�"q�+q]<�q�>?�<��<��?

!q��?��]��]<:>�<�"

��>�<��q�+q+`]q"�?��<q�

(The writer is a seniorjournalist. The views

expressed are personal.)

As the Indian economytries to bounce back theeconomy after Covid-

19, and the Union Budget 2022-23 laid down the vision of“Amrit Kaal”, where the coun-try aims to be the third largesteconomy in the world, can weafford another lockdown froma new strain of virus?

In January 2022, post thedouble dose of vaccination sev-eral people got affected byCovid-19, although the fatalitywas lot less. This led to stateslike Delhi, Maharashtra andWest Bengal to announce locallockdown measures. The threatof the pandemic is real, and itcan come back in some form inthe future. The only way for-ward to achieving our growthtarget and reach “Amrit Kaal”may be to have a better pan-demic management. In this

regard, Indian home-growncompanies can play a key rolein coming up with innovativeproducts for virus attenuation.

The current strategy fortackling the virus is onenhanc-ing “personal safety” throughvaccination, masks, social dis-tancing andclosing of schools,colleges, malls, workplaces. Thisis leading to manifold losses.Travel and tourism came to ahalt. Malls and offices had toclose down. Students could notgo to schools and colleges. Forstudents, going to school helpsin enhancing social skills, jointproject participation, clearingdoubts and learning by doing inlaboratories. One cannot eat ina restaurant without openingthe mask. Therefore, there isneed for more holistic productdevelopment and policyapproach focusing on “Mass

Safety” in buildings andenclosed spaces.

A recent survey by ICRIERfound that a few Indian start-ups have come up with productsfor “Mass Safety”, which usesinnovative technologies for bio-defence and virus attenuation.Some of these products havegone through proper due dili-gence, laboratory testing andcertification and are now beingused in the domestic marketand are exported. For example,

Shycocan, a coronavirus andinfluenza virus attenuationdevice, is exported to UAE(Dubai), Oman, Kuwait,Australia, Singapore, Vietnam,Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia,Europe, South Africa, Botswana,Nigeria, and Ghana. It is beingused by companies such asJubilant Lifesciences, JubilantIngrevia, WallacePharmaceuticals, DRDO,Indian Army and by retail busi-nesses, restaurants and enter-tainment hubs. It has alsohelped schools and collegesreopen safely. However, for suchuse and to scale-up these” Makein India” products, there isneed for government approval,support and right policies.

During the consultations,respondents pointed out that togrow in a relative new area liketechnology for bio-attenuation,

companies can only becomesuccessful globally by becomingsuccessful in their home coun-try first.Support of the govern-ment will accelerate the scale-upand this support can be sub-ject to proper due diligence likeevaluation of the laboratorytest reports and certifications.Further, the consultation feltclarity on the right nodal agencyfor bio-defence and virus atten-uation products approval will beextremely beneficial for start-ups. During the consultations,stakeholders pointed out thatthey face three key issues: First,as this is a new category ofdevices, there is uncertainty onthe correct ministry/nodaldepartment who should beapproached; second, with noclear set of guidelines, even thedepartments approached areunable to support the start-ups

and third, they are unable to getthe processes and requirementsonline.

Unlike large firms, start-upshave limited bandwidth to dophysical visits to ministries anddepartments. Therefore, for easeof doing business there is a needto set up a streamlined processfor evaluation and support ofinnovative products. Indianstart-ups must compete global-ly, and policy support will helpthem to scale-up. Indian com-panies are coming up withinnovative technologies andIndia is the third largest technol-ogy start-up hub in the world.

One nodal agency likeDPIIT could fast-track theprocesses of approval by coor-dinating with other ministries/department, according to thestakeholders. India cannotafford to let go the multi-mil-

lion-dollar opportunities tocreate Unicorns in innovativetechnologies, through delays inapproval process. India is sign-ing trade agreements at a fastpace. The trade deal with theUAE was signed in a recordtime and negotiations with theUK and Australia, will close soon. Consultationsrevealedthat the trade deals area lucrative opportunity forinnovative firms provided thedomestic processes are in placeand the Government endorsesindigenous technologies bystart-ups. India needs to put inits domestic processes in placeand then seek mutual recogni-tion in standards and process-es in key export markets. TheGovernment can be an enablerto help Indian companiesemerge as leaders in this arealike Bio-Attenuation.

�� !&��;��!�!��#��!��)�� !��!��

The writer is a professor at ICRIER. The views

expressed are personal.)

�&%��$!��&��

'�(��)�"'�� In August last year, over a hundredwomen, majority of them tribal,underwent tubectomy surgeries in theSurguja district of Chhattisgarh.

Unbelievable as it may sound, all the 101sterilisation procedures were carried out byone surgeon within a span of eight hoursin a small community centre. Under thecentral Government’s National FamilyWelfare Programme guidelines, a doctorcan conduct a maximum of 30 sterilisationsin a day.

When issued a showcause notice by thestate health department asking why this wasdone, the concerned doctor contended hehad been pressurised to do so by the vil-lagers. He said the villagers told him thatthey had travelled long distances for theprocedure and it would be difficult for themtocome again. Hence, all the women hadto be operated the same day.

Fortunately, all the women survivedthis marathon mass sterilisationsession.They were lucky history didn’trepeat itself and they escaped the tragic fateof many of the women who were broughtto sterilisation camps in Bilaspur,Chhattisgarh, in November 2014. Of the140 women brought, 83 of them were oper-ated upon within four hours. Botched surg-eries led to the death of 13 women.

Investigations by Sama Resource Groupfor Women and Health, Jan SwasthyaAbhiyan, and National Alliance forMaternal Health and Human Rights foundwomen who died belonged to Adivasi andOBC communities.

Although Government sterilisationcamps were banned in 2016 by the SupremeCourt following the death of 363 womenduring or after sterilisation conducted insuch camps between 2010 and 2013, clear-ly these orders were not being followed asthe 2014 incident showed.

Nonetheless,that women are willingtoundergo the procedure even though itmeans waiting for hours and accept therisks involved,again brings to the fore theunending and unrelenting pressure onwomen to bear the burden of contracep-tion and planning their families.

With men shying away from takingresponsibility for family planning, womenopt for sterilisation as a permanent contra-ceptive method to prevent unintendedpregnancies. The latest National FamilyHealth Survey showed an increase infemale sterilisation in the last five years.More women in the rural areas went underthe knife than in urban areas.

Although the survey data forChhattisgarh has not been shared yet, it isunlikely that the state would have been ableto shed its dubious distinction of account-ing for a higher percentage of female ster-ilisation than the national average. It was46.2 per cent in 2015-16 (NFHS-4) com-pared to the national average of 36 per cent(NFHS-4). Male sterilisation was anabysmal 0.7 for the same period eventhough compensation is higher for vasec-tomy (�2,000) than for tubectomy (steril-

�� ()��*

�� >q+q#�{"q]#?��|

As Russia Militarybuildup near Ukraineaccelerated early this

year, military planners atNATO began preparing to dis-patch scores of fighter jets andsurveillance aircraft into theskies near Russia and Ukraine.It was a warning to Moscownot to make the mistake of tar-geting any member country.

Even in the weeks preced-ing the war, politicians and ana-lysts were divided over whetherPresident Vladimir Putinwould really order Russiantroops to invade. From a mil-itary point of view, though, theforces arrayed around Ukraineappeared designed to do justthat.

It became a matter ofurgency to put more eyes in thesky and to tightly link NATOaircraft, warships, ground-based missile systems and radarinstallations to protect thealliance's eastern flank.

"We are monitoring veryclosely," NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg saidthis week. "Information, bestpossible situation awareness, isof course extremely critical insuch a dangerous situation aswe see in Ukraine now."

In the lead-up to the Feb 24invasion, the alliance's

Combined Air OperationsCentre in Uedem, westernGermany, shifted gear. A fewdozen military personnel nowsimultaneously manage up to30 aircraft in skies from thenorthern tip of Norway downto Slovakia.

From an undergroundbunker in quiet farmland,patrolling aircraft are divertedto monitor suspicious Russianplanes. Jets on 15-minutestandby are routinely "AlphaScrambled" from aroundEurope to intercept unidenti-fied aircraft near NATO air-

space.More than 100 aircraft can

be working aloft on any givenday, mixed in among roughly30,000 civilian flights madedaily through European skies.

Six Boeing E-3A surveil-lance planes from NATO's age-ing fleet of early warning andcontrol aircraft help create an"air picture" to share withmember nations. These "eyes inthe sky" do not fly into Ukraineor Russia, but can see up to 400km (250 miles) across borders.

Fighter jets also provideinformation about what is

going on inside part of twocountries at war. These "assets"are sometimes sent from as faraway as western France, refu-elled mid-air, and can patrol forabout an hour in the borderarea before they must return.

The 30-nation militaryalliance is wary of being drawninto a wider war with Russia, soborders and airspace arescrupulously respected.

"There is always the fog ofwar, and we don't want tohave NATO assets close bybecause even unintentionallyyou might have some losses,"

said Major General HaroldVan Pee, commander of theNATO facility in Uedem.

The most sensitive zonesfor unidentified planes are theKola Peninsula at the highnorth borders of Russia andNorway - the Gulf of Finlandapproaching the Russian city ofSt Petersburg, and the skiesaround Russia's exclave ofKaliningrad, sandwichedbetween Lithuania and Poland.

From their computerscreens, NATO personnel canalso track cruise missiles, likethose that Russia used lastmonth to pound a militarytraining base in westernUkraine near NATO memberPoland, killing 35 people.

But shadowing them withaircraft is a high-risk endeav-our, particularly at night, inpoor weather or when the mis-siles hug the ground, flying solow that electrical pylons andcables become a danger. "Wehave to be convinced that thereis a credible threat" to go afterone, Van Pee said.

A less obvious challenge toNATO airspace is roguedrones. Military officers saidthat Russia is using powerfulelectromagnetic devices forcommunication jamming pur-poses which can disruptremotely controlled flights.

Last month, a military

drone drifted uncontrolled outof Ukraine through the air-space of three members -Romania, Hungary and Croatia- before crashing in theCroatian capital. Some parkedcars were damaged but no onewas hurt.

The drone weighed justover 6 tons. Both Russia andUkraine denied launching it.Military officers and NATOofficials refuse to comment onthe incident until an investiga-tion is completed.

"Even if you fly alongsideone of those drones, are yougoing to do something about it?You have to ask yourself,because if you shoot it downthen for sure you're going to dodamage on the ground. If youlet it fly, hopefully it will crashin the sea. I mean, you don'tknow," Van Pee said.

Whether it's a rogue droneor a missile threat, political andlegal experts are supposed to beinvolved in any decision toshoot something down. Despitethe war in its backyard, NATOis operating under strict peace-time rules and is determined tokeep it that way."Before youstart using force there has to bean imminent threat to eitherNATO forces or NATO popu-lations. That's a judgementcall, and that's always hard tomake," Van Pee said.

�� q��?">q

An international organiza-tion formed to identify the

dead and missing from the1990s Balkan conflicts ispreparing to send a team offorensics experts to Ukraine asthe death toll mounts morethan six weeks into the warcaused by Russia's invasion.

Authorities in Kyiv havereached out to the InternationalCommission on MissingPersons to help put names tobodies that might otherwiseremain anonymous amid thefog of war.

A team made up of a foren-sic pathologist, forensic arche-ologist and an expert on col-lecting DNA samples frombodies and from families tocross-match, is expected totravel to Ukraine early nextweek, Director-GeneralKathryne Bomberger told TheAssociated Press on Friday.

They will help identify thedead, but also document howthey died

information that can feedinto war crimes investigationsin the future. The organiza-tion's laboratory in an officeblock on a busy street in TheHague will build a central data-base cataloging evidence andthe identities of the missing.

"Having this centralizedcapability is absolutely criticalbecause you have to look at thisas an investigation into a gigan-tic crime scene that is takingplace across Ukraine,"Bomberger said.

The team will have plentyof work to do when it deploysto Bucha, where images ofbodies lying in the streets afterRussian forces withdrewshocked the world.

Bucha Mayor AnatoliyFedoruk said Thursday onUkrainian television that atleast three sites of mass shoot-ings of civilians during theRussian occupation have beenfound. Fedoruk said hundredshave been killed and investi-gators are finding bodies inyards, parks and city squares.

The commission, knownby its acronym ICMP, alreadyhas a working relationship withthe prosecution office of theInternational Criminal Courtand other crime-fighting agen-cies like Interpol and Europolto share evidence. ICCProsecutor Karim Khanalready has opened an investi-gation in Ukraine.

"We want to make sure thatwe work together with theUkrainian authorities to prop-erly excavate these crime scenesites to identify the mortalremains so that evidence can beprovided in the future for crim-inal trial purposes, not onlypotentially to the ICC, butalso potentially within domes-tic courts in Ukraine,"Bomberger said.

The organization is at theforefront of using new tech-nology in their painstakingwork to identify bodies fromeven the smallest samples.

"We have implemented anew extraction technique,which allows us to extractmore DNA from smaller ormore damaged fragments ofbone sample," said DNALaboratory manager KierenHill. "This is quite a uniquemethod in terms of its appli-cation into the missing person'scontext." On Friday, lab staff inwhite clothes covered withblue plastic overalls, hair netsand gloves were meticulouslyworking on other cases, grasp-ing small shards of bone in pli-ers and grinding away theirsurfaces in search of DNA.

The ICMP has an onlineportal where people in Ukrainecan anonymously report loca-tions of bodies, and will helpfamily members of the missingto provide DNA samples tohelp identify them.

The commission wasestablished to trace the deadfrom the Balkan wars of the1990s. Its sterile, high-techlaboratories are a world awayfrom the muddy mass graveswhere the organization'sexperts first rose to prominenceamong the decomposing deadof the 1995 Srebrenica mas-sacre of more than 8,000Bosnian Muslim men and boys.

They helped put names tobodies that in some cases weretorn apart and spread acrossmultiple mass graves asBosnian Serb forces buriedand then re-buried the dead inan effort to cover traces of theirgenocidal attempt to wipe outSrebrenica's Bosniaks.

The commission madesure they failed to cover theirtracks. Bosnian Serb militarychief Gen. Ratko Mladic andhis political master, RadovanKaradzic, are now serving lifesentences for crimes includinggenocide. Both men were con-victed in part thanks to evi-dence gathered by the ICMP

� �� :q<�<�"

Aday after voting against the reso-lution suspending Russia's mem-

bership of the UN Human RightsCouncil (UNHRC) at the UN GeneralAssembly over civilian killings inUkraine, China on Friday defended itsvote, saying such a "hasty move" willset a "dangerous precedent."

In a rare move, the 193-memberUN General Assembly voted to adopta draft resolution moved by the US tosuspend Russia from the world body'stop human rights organisation overallegations of Russian soldiers killingcivilians while retreating from townsnear the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.

The draft received 93 votes infavour, 24 against and 58 abstentions.India abstained from voting. China'sall-weather ally Pakistan too abstainedfrom voting.

Reacting to the developments,Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesmanZhao Lijian said: "It is like adding fuelto the fire which is not constructive tothe de-escalation of the conflict, evenless to advance peace talks."

"The relevant resolution willdeprive Russia of its membership of theUNHRC and sets a dangerous prece-dent," he said.

No permanent member of the UNSecurity Council has ever had itsmembership revoked from any organof the world body.

In 2011, Libya was suspendedfrom the Council because of violenceagainst protesters by forces loyal tothen-leader Muammar Gaddafi.

As a close ally of Moscow, China

has declined to condemn Russia's waron Ukraine even though it walked afine line calling for peaceful resolutionwhile highlighting Russia's securityconcerns relating to NATO expansion.

Observers say China, which facesserious human rights violation accu-sations against Uyghur Muslims inXinjiang, apprehends similar moves bythe US and the EU countries whoalready have criticised Beijing.

"We oppose politicising and instru-mentalising the issue of human rights,"

Zhao told a media briefing here whileelaborating on China's move to voteagainst the resolution moved by theUS.

"We oppose double standards,selective approach and confronta-tional moves on this issue and weoppose using this issue to pressureother countries," he said.

The relevant resolution willdeprive Russia of its membership of theUNHRC, he said.

"For such a matter of great impor-tance a lot of prudence is needed. Itshould be handled in a cool-headedand objective manner based on factsand truth," he said.

On April 6, China said that imagesof civilian deaths in Bucha in Ukrainewhere the retreating Russian soldierswere alleged to have killed civilians aredeeply disturbing.

"The relevant circumstances andspecific causes of the incident must beverified and ascertained. Humanitarianissues shouldn't be politicised.

Any accusations should be basedon facts," Zhao said at the time, whenasked about civilian killings in Bucha.

�� !�<$

The United Nations' human-itarian chief said Thursday

he's not optimistic about secur-ing a ceasefire to halt thefighting in Ukraine, followinghigh-level talks in Moscowand Kyiv that underscoredhow far apart the two sides are.

Undersecretary-GeneralMartin Griffiths gave the bleakassessment in an interviewwith The Associated Press inthe Ukrainian capital afterwrapping up talks with PrimeMinister Denys Shmyhal andother top officials. That fol-lowed discussions with RussianForeign Minister SergeyLavrov and officials in Moscowearlier in the week.

"I think it's not going to beeasy because the two sides, as

I know now ... Have very littletrust in each other," he said.

"I'm not optimistic," headded later.

U.N. Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres dispatchedGriffiths to the Russian andUkrainian capitals to explorethe possibility of establishing acease-fire that would allowdesperately needed aid intoUkraine and potentially lay thegroundwork for talks aimed atending the war.

Griffiths suggested thatgoal remained far in the dis-tance.

"Obviously, we all wantthat to happen. But as youknow - you're here - that's notgoing to happen immediately,"he said.

Short of a full ceasefire,Griffiths said he is seeking

ways to build confidence onboth sides and focus on small-er goals, such as establishinglocal ceasefires in parts of thecountry and creating human-itarian corridors that allowcivilians to escape the fighting.Relief supplies have begunflowing to some harder toreach parts of the country, henoted.

"This war is not stoppingtomorrow," he said. "Where weare a little bit closer is to get theunderstanding of both sides ...Of what a local ceasefire wouldaffect. There are many parts ofUkraine where we can achievetomorrow local ceasefires,which are defined in geogra-phy and time."

Russian troops have with-drawn from parts of Ukraine,particularly around Kyiv, ahead

of what many believe is anintensified push in the coun-try's east.

Local ceasefires could stillmean progress even in areaswithout ongoing fighting,Griffiths said, because theyrequire that forces don't moveand so therefore could notregroup elsewhere.Aid groupshave struggled to get suppliesto those in need.

Over the past week, mem-bers of a Red Cross convoywere prevented from reachingthe besieged city of Mariupolto help evacuate a convoy ofcivilians. They were detainedat one point during their mis-sion, and eventually ended upaccompanying around 1,000people who had found ways oftheir own out of Mariupol toa city further west.

� �� %?��<�"��

More than a month after its unjusti-fied invasion of Ukraine, the Russian

military is now a weakened one and hasbecome a pariah from a geopoliticalstandpoint, US DefenceSecretary LloydAustin said on Thursday.

"Ukraine maintains its sovereigntyand its ability to protect its country, defenditself. It maintains its government. Russiais weakened militarily. And Russia, froma geopolitical standpoint, is a pariah.Countries will not volunteer to alignthemselves with Russia," Austin toldmembers of the Senate Armed ServicesCommittee during a Congressional hear-ing. General Mark Milley, Chairman of theUS Joint Chiefs of Staff said the RussianAir Force has not even established airsuperiority, let alone air supremacy, whichis one of the reasons why they're havinggreat difficulty on the ground."

"So, the air superiority mission is notbeing achieved. Why is that? It's becauseof the survival of the air defence systems,

both the MANPADS that we've been pro-viding Stingers and like from otherNATO countries, plus the longer-rangeSams that have been provided that theyalready had. So that system has denied theeffective use of the airspace to the Russianmilitary," he said.

"Now that's not to say Russian air doesnot get through. They do on occasion butfor the most part they're not very effec-tive the Russian air force. And that's thereason," he said. The US has provided60,000 anti-tank weapons and about25,000 anti-aircraft weapon systems thathave been sent by the United States andits allies. "Those are the two weapon sys-tems that have proven most effective. Theone for the air, in particular, the best wayto deny the Russians the airspace isthrough the air defence systems, and that'swhat they're using," Milley said.

According to him, the Russians havebeen struggling with their logisticalresupply, fuel, ammunition and food.

"They've been having a very, very dif-ficult time. Part of that is because the lines

of communications that they have, theground lines of communications, are atrisk to dismounted and mountedUkrainian forces that are conductingambushes along those lines of commu-nication," he said.

Senator Reed said Russia hasunleashed its "illegal and unprovoked andindeed a barbaric attack on Ukraine,upending peace and stability in Europe".

"Putin's invasion has inflicted horrif-ic suffering upon innocent civilians inUkraine, threatened European securityand caused serious consequences for theglobal economy. The Ukrainian militaryhas performed heroically in the face of thisoverwhelming violence and the Ukrainianpeople have shown the world what truecourage looks like," he said. "If Putinthought his actions would drive a wedgebetween NATO and members and with-in the international community, he wasbadly mistaken. The conflict in Ukrainehas reinvigorated the NATO alliance andexposed the brutal nature of Putin'sregime," Reed said.

<:�� !)��1&�!��1&�!��'!�= ��!�

��_��_�� >�� :]?�<��?$?

Prime Minister Eduard Hegersays Slovakia has donated its

Soviet-era S-300 air defense systemto Ukraine.

The comments from Hegercame as he was visiting theUkrainian capital of Kyiv with topEU officials ahead of a plannedmeeting with Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday.

Zelenskyy mentioned S-300sby name when he spoke to U.S.Lawmakers by video last month,appealing for defense systems thatwould allow Ukraine to "close theskies" to Russian warplanes and mis-siles.

NATO members Bulgaria,Slovakia and Greece have the S-300s, which can fire missiles hun-dreds of kilometers (miles) andknock out cruise missiles as well aswarplanes.

Slovakia previously said it waswilling to give its S-300 to Ukraineon condition that it has a properreplacement.

&��*� ��+��!��!��,#�-�.�#�!��

>*��7��'&� �� &��; ��>6��

+�(*��$� �� $��%��&� ��7 �;��

��& �� '�� &�>*��

�� ()��+

� �� #:��

Sri Lanka's main Oppositionparty SJB on Friday announcedthat it will move a no-confi-dence motion against the gov-

ernment of President GotabayaRajapaksa if it fails to take steps toaddress the concerns of the public fac-ing hardships due to the worst eco-nomic crisis.

Opposition leader SajithPremadasa also called for theExecutive Presidency to be abolished,saying power should be dividedbetween the Executive, Legislatureand Judiciary.

"The government must pay heedto the public demand for theRajapaksas to quit, if not we will bringa no confidence motion," the leaderof the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB)told Parliament.

The SJB has begun to collect sig-natures from MPs for the no-confi-dence motion, according to mediareports.

Rajapaksa earlier proposed thecreation of a unity government, butthe main Opposition party SamagiJana Balawegaya (SJB) rejected theidea.

Premadasa said that he cannotagree to an interim Government withPresident Gotabaya Rajapaksaremaining as President. The SJB saidthat it is also prepared to impeach thePresident.

He also submitted a set of pro-posals to Parliament on behalf of theSJB to address the economic crisis inSri Lanka. The Opposition backs the

public protests happening all over theisland, demanding the resignation ofthe President and the entire Rajapaksafamily. Opposition JVP legislatorVijitha Herath said if Rajapaksa doesnot resign there needs to be a motionof impeachment for his removal asthe President. "If he is not responsiveto the problems of the people let's beready to impeach and remove him,"he said.

Thousands of people from allwalks of life have been demonstrat-ing, demanding a solution to the cri-sis and calling for Rajapaksa toresign over economic mismanage-ment. Rajapaksa has resisted thedemands to step down, even after

members of his own coalition joinedthe anti-government demonstrationsthis week, with governing party law-makers calling for the appointmentof an interim government to avoidpossible violence. Parliament hasfailed to reach a consensus in threedays of debate on how to deal withthe economic crisis.

The President and his olderbrother, Prime Minister MahindaRajapaksa, continue to hold power,despite their family being the focusof public ire. Five other family mem-bers are lawmakers, including BasilRajapaksa, Irrigation MinisterChamal Rajapaksa and a nephew,Sports Minister Namal Rajapaksa.

The Govt speakers defend theruling family, saying the Presidentneed not resign as protests weremeant to achieve "extra constitutionalaims". Rajapaksa last month said hisgovernment was in talks with theInternational Monetary Fund andhad turned to China and India forloans, and he appealed to people tolimit their use of fuel and electricity.

The Sri Lankan government hasappointed an advisory committeecomprising eminent economic andfiscal experts to provide guidance onaddressing the current debt crisis andengaging with the IMF and otherlenders as the island nation strugglesto combat the unprecedented short-

age of foreign reserves.Foreign Minister Peiris told the

foreign diplomats in the country onWednesday that the government isready to provide solutions to the exist-

ing problems in accordance with thecountry's Constitution.Briefing theDiplomatic corps on Wednesday atthe MFA , Minister Peiris said that theGovernment of Sri Lanka was fully

aware of the severe hardships of thepeople and its magnitude with themost pressing issues being powercuts, shortage of gas, fuel and essen-tial medicines.

� ��

Sri Lanka's newly-appointed Finance Minister AliSabry, who resigned from the post within 24 hours

of his appointment, returned to the position on Fridayand would head the government's negotiating teamat the IMF as the island nation struggles to combatthe unprecedented shortage of foreign reserves.

Former Justice Minister Sabry told Parliament onFriday that he had resigned from the post to give wayfor someone more suitable to accept the post.However, since no one came forward to accept thepost he decided to continue as the Finance Minister.

"I will remain as the Finance Minister to do theneedful to save the economy," Sabry told Parliament.

President Gotabaya Rajapaksa had appointedSabry as the Finance Minister on April 4 after sack-ing his younger brother Basil Rajapaksa, who was atthe centre of anger within the ruling Sri LankaPodujana Peramuna (SLPP) coalition.

However, he submitted his letter of resignationto the President within 24 hours amid mass protestsagainst the government over alleged economic mis-management. President Rajapaksa had not acceptedSabry's resignation.

The government issued a gazette with names ofthe 24 members of the Cabinet who had resigned last

week to facilitate the Rajapaksa's attempt to form aUnity cabinet with the Opposition. All Oppositionparties, however, rejected the offer.

The Opposition backs the public protests hap-pening all over the island, demanding the resigna-tion of thepresident and the entire Rajapaksa fami-ly. Sri Lanka is scheduled to start talks with the IMFon April 11. The talks would lead to a possible bailout,including assistance on restructuring foreign debt.

The European Union's Colombo office on Fridayin a statement underlined the importance of an IMFprogramme for the island's economy.

"We stress the extreme urgency of the situationwhich requires the authorities to start in depth dis-cussions with the International Monetary Fund onthe reforms needed to bring the Sri Lankan econo-my back to a sustainable path," it said.

Sri Lanka is facing its worst economic crisis sincegaining independence from the UK in 1948. AnIndian credit line in a special economic relief pack-age has only provided a temporary solution.

India had recently announced to extend a USD1 billion line of credit to Sri Lanka as part of its finan-cial assistance to the country to deal with the eco-nomic crisis following a previous USD 500 billion lineof credit in February to help it purchase petroleumproducts.

� �� <��?#?:?+�

Pakistan's Opposition has completed itsinitial talks for the formation of a new

government once Prime Minister ImranKhan is ousted on Saturday after the no-confidence motion and plans are afoot forthe removal of President Arif Alvi and thereturn of deposed premier Nawaz Shariffrom the UK, a media report said onFriday.

Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz(PML-N) President and Leader ofOpposition in National Assembly ShehbazSharif, 70, who is the Opposition's candi-date for the new prime minister, willannounce his possible government prior-ities after taking the oath, The ExpressTribune newspaper reported.

In a landmark 5-0 verdict on Thursday,a five-member bench of the SupremeCourt headed by Chief Justice Umar Ata

Bandial ruled that National Assemblydeputy speaker Qasim Suri's ruling reject-ing a no-confidence motion against Khanwas "contrary to the Constitution and thelaw, and of no legal effect". The apex courtalso declared the advice by the PrimeMinister to President Alvi to dissolve thenational assembly as "unconstitutional."

The court ordered the speaker of thelower house to call the session of thenational assembly on April 9 at 10 am

(local time) to organise a no-confidencevote. According to the 'Orders of the Day'issued by the National AssemblySecretariat on Friday, the NationalAssembly's session for voting on the no-confidence motion against Prime MinisterKhan will take place at 10:30 AM (localtime) on Saturday in line with the SupremeCourt's order.In the National Assembly's(NA) agenda, voting on the no-confidencemotion is at the fourth position in the six-point agenda.The Express Tribune quot-ed sources as saying that all Oppositionparties will be given proportional repre-sentation in the new possible federal gov-ernment.The new government's termshould be at least six months or a year aselectoral reforms and legislations relatedto accountability laws can be passed, theysaid. A constitutional route will be takento replace President Alvi and the governorsof the four provinces, the report said.

� �� <��?#?:?+�

The Pakistan government hasset up a commission led by

a retired Army officer to inves-tigate the alleged "foreign con-spiracy" behind the no-confi-dence motion against embattledPrime Minister Imran Khan, a senior minister said on Friday.

The decision to constitutethe commission was taken in thecabinet meeting chaired byPrime Minister Khan, Ministerfor Information FawadChaudhry said.

He said the commissionhas been formed to probe intothe issue of the 'threatening let-ter' and it will be headed byLieutenant General (retd) TariqKhan.

"The commission will inves-tigate where the conspiracy washatched and who were the localhandlers of the conspiracy totopple the government," he said.

"We have evidence of eightdissident provincial lawmakersbeing in contact with foreigndignitaries. The commissionwill look at a connectionbetween local handlers andregime change," he said.

The decision to form acommission was taken a dayafter the Supreme Court struck

down National AssemblyDeputy Speaker Qasim Suri'scontroversial move to dismiss ano-confidence motion againstPrime Minister Khan, citing anational security threat, in amajor blow to the cricketer-turned-politician who is nowlikely to face a no-trust vote onSaturday in Parliament after theruling.

In a landmark 5-0 verdict, afive-member bench headed byChief Justice Umar Ata Bandialruled that the deputy speaker'sruling was "contrary to theConstitution and the law and ofno legal effect, and the same arehereby set aside".

It is believed that the moveto form the commission couldbe another attempt by the gov-ernment to subvert the no-con-fidence motion on Saturday todetermine the fate of PrimeMinister Khan as directed by theapex court.

Chaudhry also criticisedthe court's verdict, saying thatthe top court should have seenthe material which convincedthe deputy speaker to reject theno-confidence motion.

"The decision is against thespirit of division of powersamong various institutions andit has weakened the supremacyof parliament," he said.

� ��%?��<�"��

Bound by shared values and a commonvision for a free and open Indo-Pacific

region, the United States and India will con-tinue to chart an ambitious course in thebilateral defence partnership, the Pentagonsaid Thursday.

The Pentagon made the remark aheadof the April 11, 2+2, fourth ministerial dia-logue in which Defence Secretary LloydAustin and Secretary of State AntonyBlinken will host Indian Defence MinisterRajnath Singh and External Affairs MinisterS Jaishankar. "Bound by shared values and

a common vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific region, the United States and Indiawill continue to chart an ambitious coursein the bilateral defence partnership," thePentagon said. Since its inception in 2018,the 2+2 Ministerial has allowed the UnitedStates and India to work toward building anadvanced, comprehensive defence part-nership that is poised to meet the challengesof the 21st century, the Pentagon said.

This year's 2+2 Ministerial Dialogue willspan the full breadth of the partnership -including defence, science and technologycooperation, climate, public health, and peo-ple-to-people ties, it said.

According to the State Department, thisyear's event will celebrate 75 years of diplo-matic relations and reaffirm the importanceof the US-India Comprehensive and GlobalStrategic Partnership in ensuring interna-tional peace and security. "It will reaffirm ourshared commitment to a free, open, andprosperous Indo-Pacific region," it said. The2+2 Ministerial is an important opportunityto advance the shared objectives across thebreadth of the US-India strategic partner-ship, including enhancing people-to-peopleties and education cooperation, buildingdiverse and resilient supply chains for crit-ical and emerging technology.

�� `?]<��

President Emmanuel Macronon Friday said he has no fear

of losing France's presidentialelection despite far-right rivalMarie Le Pen narrowing the gapin opinion polls ahead ofSunday's first-round vote.

"I have the spirit of con-quest rather than the spirit ofdefeat," Macron said in aninterview with RTL radio on thefinal day of campaigning.

However, he cautiouslyadded, "Nothing is ever agiven."

Le Pen, running in herthird presidential race, has con-sistently placed second behindfrontrunner Macron in polls.She appeared to close the gapeven further according to a

BVA poll published showingher just three per cent behindMacron's 26 per cent. Otherpolls have given a 5-6 point dif-ference between the two. If thepolls mirror election results,Macron and Le Pen wouldrepeat the 2017 scenario, squar-ing off in a second round April24. Macron won by a landslidefive years ago.

Le Pen has expended muchenergy to take the edge off herNational Rally party in order tomake it more appealing to vot-ers. She has softened her imageeven more and made purchas-ing power the centrepiece of hercampaign, but hasn't given upwhat she's best known for —stopping the "migratory sub-mersion" and fighting radicalIslamists.

� ��#��%�

The latest coronavirus variantdubbed Omicron XE is

more contagious than previousones, but it is unlikely to causea new wave of the pandemic, atop Russian expert has said.

The World HealthOrganisation (WHO) has issueda warning against XE, a newvariant of Omicron first detect-ed in the UK. It has suggestedthat it could be more transmis-sible than any Covid strain so far.

XE is a combination orrecombinant of both sub-vari-ants (BA.1 and BA.2) ofOmicron.

Kamil Khafizov, head of agroup working on new methodsto diagnose human diseases atthe sanitary watchdog's CentralScientific Research Institute of

Epidemiology, was quoted by theofficial TASS news agency assaying that the "new variant willbe a bit more transmissible thanall the previous strains".

Quoting experts, he said theXE variant is likely to causeabout a "10 per cent rise in con-tagiousness".

"However, the thing to noteis that a lot of people contract-ed the virus and recovered fromit between January and March,which created a very strongherd immunity," he stressed.

"More proof of that is thefact that four out of five newcases in the country are cur-rently being caused by the BA.2'stealth Omicron' variant, whichwas the most contagious," herevealed, adding that the num-ber of new patients, however,remained at a bare minimum.

�� :q<�<�"�

Seeking to put a positivespin on a relationship that

never quite produced thehoped-for benefits, Chineseleader Xi Jinping told outgo-ing Philippine PresidentRodrigo Duterte on Fridaythat the two nations have"properly" handled the sen-sitive issue of the disputedSouth China Sea.

Xi made his remarks ina phone conversation withDuterte, who nurtured clos-er ties with Beijing after tak-ing office in 2016.

Despite cozier relations,however, sporadic territorialspats have persisted and Beijinghas had limited success separat-ing the Philippines from itstreaty ally, the United States. Ximade no mention of disputes,saying the sides "have adhered tothe important consensusreached, adhered to good-neigh-bourly and friendly coopera-tion, insisted on properly han-dling differences, and insisted onworking together for commondevelopment."

<��7 ��*��=�� -��$��!�� ! ��8!�&!= ��!��

?��@&�� 6�� 7��9��

#�� =�� _��_� �

;��#1�� !��!�� 7�*��!��

/�6�� &&�� ;��:� �� ';�� &��

�� \�� +� � �

��& �� /�6�/��H�� *��H�� @�� &��

�� ,��-�.�

Mumbai: After three years ofattempting to push growth,the Reserve Bank is shifting itspolicy priorities to tackle therising inflationary pressures,Governor Shaktikanta Das saidon Friday.

He also made it clear thatwhile the policy stance remainsaccommodative, efforts will befocused on withdrawal of theeasy policies which were dom-inant in the two years of thecoronavirus pandemic.

With rising inflation, thecentral bank will be withdraw-ing from "ultra-accommoda-tion" or ultra loose monetarypolicy approach adopted amidthe pandemic headwinds.

Addressing the customarypress conference after main-taining status quo in rates at thebi-monthly policy review, Dassaid the inflation target hasbeen revised upwards sharplyto 5.7 per cent for the currentfiscal, primarily because of theimpact of Russian invasion ofUkraine.

He elaborated that the warhas pushed up the prices ofcrude oil, wheat and feed stock,which is creating inflationaryimpulses in the country, andstressed that the situation isvery dynamic.

"In the sequence of prior-ities, we have now put inflationbefore growth. First is inflation,then is growth. For the lastthree years, starting February2019, we have put growthahead of inflation in thesequence," Das said.

"This time, we have revisedthat (priorities) because wefound that the time is appro-priate and that is somethingwhich needs to be done," headded.

It can be noted thatReserve Bank of India (RBI)has been steadfast on aiding

growth since the beginning ofthe pandemic, which hasincluded measures like steeprate cuts and creating easy liq-uidity conditions. Even as infla-tion rose, it 'saw-through' thespikes to help the growthprocess, even though it is con-tract bound to get inflationbetween 2-6 per cent range.

After contracting by 6.6 percent in FY21, the economy hasgrown by 8.9 per cent in FY22to be marginally bigger in sizethan what it was before thepandemic struck. Earlier inthe day, RBI surprised all withits GDP growth estimate at 7.2per cent for FY23.

To a question on the pro-jections being close to breach-ing the upper end of the infla-tion band for three quarters ina row, and specifically if RBIwill seek a relaxation on theupper end of the band, Das saidthe central bank will take what-ever action that is necessary atthe appropriate time.

Das made it clear thatwhile the stance of the policycontinues to be accommoda-tory, efforts will be focused onwithdrawal of the easy policiesof the last two years.

"We had taken the policy

rate to an all time low, which is4 per cent. If you adjust it forthe target (4 per cent), then thereal policy rate was zero. Thatwas ultra accommodation.Now that the situation is chang-ing and inflation particularly isat risk, we want to withdraw theultra-accommodation," DeputyGovernor in charge of mone-tary policy, Michael Patra, said.

He was quick to add thatRBI still has scope to "remainaccommodative".

Patra also explained thatthe RBI chose to introduce theStanding Deposit Facility froma position of strength to helpabsorb additional liquidity cur-rently and also because it canaid RBI to sterlise the flowswhich may come to India if thewar ceases.

Das also made it clear thatnon-banks will not be able toaccess the SDF.

According to him, SDFgives it more flexibility inimplementing the monetarypolicy objectives because it isuncollateralised as the centralbank is not constrained by thestock of liquidity it does or doesnot have for liquidity manage-ment operations. PTI

�� >�� ;��&?�� ;��4�-��

Mumbai: Terming the RBI'smove to shift focus on inflationmanagement as "clearly hawk-ish compared to the previousreviews", economists and ana-lysts on Thursday said themonetary policy committeehas hinted the beginning of theend of the three-year regime ofeasy money.

The six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)voted to hold the benchmarkrepurchase or the repo rate at4 per cent and decided to stickto an accommodative stance,the Reserve Bank of India(RBI) said after the first reviewmeeting of the current fiscal.

Citing the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and its impact onprices and growth, the centralbank has slashed its growthforecast for FY23 by 60 bps to7.2 per cent and increased theinflation projection by a whop-ping 120 bps to 5.7 per cent.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas, while announcing the pol-icy decision, told reporters thatthe time is appropriate to shiftthe focus on to inflation man-agement and move away fromgrowth, citing the impact of theglobal geopolitical situation.

This is clearly a hawkishpolicy compared to theFebruary meeting of the MPC,justified by the inflationarypressures that have emergedover the past month. Theupward inflation forecast revi-sion seems sensible given thebroad-based nature of pricehikes, Abheek Barua, chiefeconomist at HDFC Bank, saidin a note. Barua fears thatdespite increase in limits in

HTM (Held-To-Maturity) cat-egory, bond yields are likely togo up given the sheer size of theborrowing programme inFY23, and he pencilled in that10-year yields to rise to 7-7.25per cent in the first half of thefiscal.

Aditi Nayar, chief econo-mist at Icra Ratings, while not-ing that the yield on 10-yeargovernment securities (G-sec)breached 7 per cent soon afterthe policy announcement,anticipated that the bench-mark yield to rise as much as7.4 per cent in H1.

She said the RBI governoralso hinted at utilising varioustools to manage governmentborrowings, but offering nocomments on the yield curve,which is a public good, in hismorning speech, suggest thatyields will be allowed to moveup gradually.

Sunil Kumar Sinha, prin-cipal economist at IndiaRatings, said the policy hasfinally brought about themuch-expected correction inthe LAF (Liquidity AdjustmentFacility) corridor, even thoughwith a twist, by introducing theStanding Deposit Facility (SDF)instead of reverse repo, and willfunction like the MarginalStanding Facility (MSF).

This means that at boththe ends of the LAF corridor,there will be standing facilities-- one to absorb and the otherto inject liquidity-- and accessto SDF and MSF will be at thediscretion of banks, unlike thecase of RBI-controlledrepo/reverse repo, OMO andCRR, he said. PTI

Mumbai: The Reserve Bankon Friday slashed economicgrowth projection to 7.2 percent for the current fiscal from7.8 per cent estimated earlieramid volatile crude oil pricesand supply chain disruptionsdue to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

However, the central bankasserted that it will use all avail-able tools to defend the Indianeconomy.

After referring to the pan-demic situation and effortstaken by the central bank, RBIGovernor Shaktikanta Das said,"now two years later, as we wereemerging out of the pandem-ic situation, the global econo-my has seen tectonic shiftsbeginning 24th February, withthe commencement of the warin Europe, followed by sanc-tions and escalating geopoliti-cal tensions".

"Once again, we in theRBI stand resolute and in readi-ness to defend the economyand navigate out of the currentstorm," he added.

Unveiling the first bi-monthly monetary policyreview of the current fiscal, theGovernor said external devel-opments during the past twomonths have led to the mate-rialisation of downside risks todomestic growth and upsiderisks to inflation.

"...Real GDP growth for2022-23 is now projected at 7.2per cent with Q1:2022-23 at16.2 per cent; Q2 at 6.2 percent; Q3 at 4.1 per cent; and Q4at 4 per cent, assuming crudeoil (Indian basket) at USD 100per barrel during 2022-23,"Das said, adding that theIndian economy is steadilyreviving from its pandemic-induced contraction.

Earlier this year, theEconomic Survey in Januaryhad projected a growth rate of8-8.5 per cent for the currentfiscal.

"We are confronted withnew but humungous challenges-- shortages in key commodi-ties; fractures in the interna-tional financial architecture;and fears of deglobalisation.Extreme volatility characteris-es commodity and financialmarkets. While the pandemicquickly morphed from a healthcrisis to one of life and liveli-hood, the conflict in Europehas the potential to derail theglobal economy," Das said inhis monetary policy statement.

Caught in the cross-currentof multiple headwinds, theRBI's approach needs to be cau-tious but proactive in mitigat-ing the adverse impact onIndia's growth, inflation andfinancial conditions.

The RBI Governor saidwith the easing of restrictions,domestic air passenger trafficrebounded in March.

"According to our surveys,consumer confidence isimproving and households'optimism in outlook for theyear ahead has strengthenedwith an uptick in sentiments."

He said the business con-fidence is in the optimisticterritory and supportive ofrevival in the economic activ-ity. Going forward, robust rabi(winter crop) output shouldsupport the recovery in ruraldemand, while a pick-up incontact-intensive servicesshould help in further strength-ening urban demand, headded.

The RBI on Friday kept thebenchmark interest rate, repo-- at which it lends short term

money to banks -- unchangedat 4 per cent.

After a deliberation duringApril 6-8, the six-memberMonetary Policy Committee(MPC) headed by Das alsodecided unanimously toremain with an accommodativestance.

Asserting that the RBI isnot hostage to any rule book,Das said it will use all availabletools to defend the Indianeconomy.

He said the RBI will focuson the withdrawal of accom-modation to ensure that infla-tion remains within the targetgoing forward while support-ing growth.

Retail inflation is hoveringabove the RBI's upper tolerancelevel for the past couple ofmonths. It was 6.07 per cent inFebruary and 6.01 per cent inJanuary, mainly due to anuptick in food prices.

"Overall, the externaldevelopments during the pasttwo months have led to thematerialisation of downsiderisks to the domestic growthoutlook and upside risks toinflation projections presentedin the February MPC resolu-tion. Inflation is now project-ed to be higher and growthlower than the assessment inFebruary," the RBI said.

Even as the economicactivity is recovering, it is bare-ly above its pre-pandemic level,Das noted.Noting that privateconsumption and fixed invest-ment -- the key drivers ofdomestic demand -- haveremained subdued, with theonly marginal rise from pre-pandemic levels, the RBI saidthat on the supply side, the con-tact-intensive services still trailthe levels of 2019-20. PTI

Mumbai: The Reserve Bank isworking with the governmentto thrash out a payment settle-ment solution for Indo-Russiantrade, which is hit by the eco-nomic sanctions imposed onMoscow after it invadedUkraine, but asserted that anysuch solution will be 'sensitive'to the prevailing economicblockade, the central bank said.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas was quick to add that it isa matter that the governmenthas to deal with first, and as faras the central bank is con-cerned, obviously, we will notdo anything which goes againstthe sanctions.

RBI Deputy Governor TRabi Sankar said since theUkraine war has disruptedtrade and payments, we are dis-cussing with all stakeholders,and at the same time, we aresensitive to the economic sanc-tions. If and when somethingis decided, we will announce it.

He also clarified that thereis no new payment platformavailable between New Delhiand Moscow since the warerupted in late February.

Any such payment mech-anism involving rupee androuble payments for importsand exports would help cir-

cumvent the sweeping eco-nomic sanctions imposed onRussia by the western nations,including freezing many keyKremlin officials' individualaccounts and snapping Russianbanks from the internationalpayment gateway SWIFT.

Also, last month, afterRussia, which used to supply 14per cent of global crudedemand and 17 per cent ofglobal natural gas before itinvaded Ukraine in lateFebruary, offered up to 25-27per cent discount on the pre-invasion price of USD 93 a bar-rel, Indian Oil had contracted3 million barrels from Rosneftwhile BPCL and HPCL havebooked 2 million barrels eachfrom the Russian state-ownedoil giant.

Sankar further clarifiedthat the central bank is notaware of any formal or informalrupee-rouble payment mecha-nism, saying industry groups,banks, and everyone concernedare trying to find out how bestpayments can be facilitatedunder these changed circum-stances. We are discussing alloptions."But, we also have to besensitive to the sanctions. Weare discussing all these alter-natives. PTI

Mumbai: Equity benchmarksposted smart gains on Fridayafter three days of losses as theRBI kept the policy rateunchanged at a record lowand maintained its accom-modative stance but flaggedinflationary pressures amid theRussia-Ukraine war.

The BSE Sensex climbed412.23 points or 0.70 per centto settle at 59,447.18. Similarly,the NSE Nifty gained 144.80points or 0.82 per cent to fin-ish at 17,784.35.

ITC was the top per-former in the Sensex pack,spurting 4.36 per cent, fol-lowed by M&M, Dr Reddy's,Titan, Reliance Industries,Asian Paints and Tata Steel.

In contrast, TechMahindra, Maruti, NTPC,HCL Technologies, SunPharma, HDFC twins andBharti Airtel were the lag-gards, slipping as much as 1.31per cent.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) on Friday kept borrow-ing costs unchanged at a recordlow for the 11th time in a rowin a bid to continue supportingeconomic growth despite infla-tion edging higher in the after-math of Russia's war inUkraine.

RBI's six-member

Monetary Policy Committeevoted to hold the benchmarkrepurchase or the repo rate at4 per cent, GovernorShaktikanta Das said.

The panel decided to stickto an accommodative stance"while focussing on withdraw-al of accommodation to ensurethat inflation remains withinthe target going forward whilesupporting growth".

The RBI raised the retailinflation projection for thecurrent financial year to 5.7 percent from earlier forecast of 4.5per cent, though it expectsmoderation in prices of cerealsand pulses on a likely record

harvest of winter season (rabi)crop.

"Market was cautious dur-ing the last 2-3 days ahead theRBI meet and its future policystance. Measures being in-linewith market expectations led toa relief rally. The focus hasshifted to the Q4 earnings sea-son, which will start next week,initiated by the IT and Bankingsector," said Vinod Nair, Headof Research at Geojit FinancialServices.

On a weekly basis, theSensex slipped 170.49 points or0.28 per cent, while the Niftyshed 113.90 points or 0.64 percent. PTI

Mumbai: The rupee appreci-ated 13 paise to settle at 75.90(provisional) against the USdollar on Friday, amid theReserve Bank of India main-taining status quo on thebenchmark lending rate.

Announcing the monetarypolicy, RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das said the Indianeconomy has large forexreserves and that it standsready and resolute to defendthe economy.

At the interbank forexmarket, the domestic unitopened at 75.99 against the USdollar and touched an intra-dayhigh of 75.70 and finally closedat 75.90, registering a rise of 13paise over its previous close.

On Thursday, the rupeehad declined 19 paise to closeat 76.03.Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back's strength against a basketof six currencies, was trading0.12 per cent up at 99.87.

This is the 11th time in arow that the Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) headed byDas has maintained status quoand left the benchmark lendingrate unchanged at 4 per cent. PTI

New Delhi: Equity mutualfunds attracted an all-timehigh net inflow of Rs 28,463crore in March, on continuedinterest by retail and HNIinvestors, who used marketcorrection as a good buyingopportunity.

The net infusion, whichalso marks the 13th straightmonth of net inflow, indicatesthe underlying bullishnessamong investors despite recordoutflow by foreign funds.

This was significantlyhigher than the net inflow of Rs19,705 crore in February, Rs14,888 crore in January and Rs25,077 crore in December2021, data from the Associationof Mutual Funds in India(AMFI) showed on Friday.

With this, during FY 2021-22, the equity-oriented cate-gories received a robust netinflow of Rs 164,399 crore,compared to the net outflow ofRs 25,966 crore during the FY2020-21.

Akhil Chaturvedi, ChiefBusiness Officer, Motilal OswalAMC attributed the latestmonthly inflow to the contin-ued interest by retail and HNIinvestors to make use of mar-

ket opportunities and enter incorrections for better valua-tions.

"On-going Russia-Ukrainecrisis has kept the marketvolatile, giving advantage toinvestors in making higherallocations or re-balance theirexisting allocations. All said,risk-appetite for equities is cer-tainly on rise which is veryhealthy for markets andinvestors for long-term wealthcreation," he added.

Himanshu Srivastava,Associate Director ManagerResearch, Morningstar India,said that geopolitical tensiondue to the raging war betweenRussia and Ukraine and con-cerns over the surging crudeprices triggered a sharp cor-rection in the market towardsthe end of February and earlyMarch. This provided investorsa good entry point into equi-ties.

Going ahead, Amfi CEON S Venkatesh said Sebi's banon launch of new fund offer(NFO) will not affect inflows inequity schemes. "We don't seeany tapering, because the econ-omy is doing well, the marketis doing well. PTI

New Delhi: Gold prices in thenational capital on Fridaydeclined marginally by Rs 35 toRs 51,697 per 10 grams amidrupee appreciation, accordingto HDFC Securities. In the previous trade, the yel-low metal finished at Rs 51,732per 10 grams. In contrast, sil-ver jumped Rs 295 to Rs 66,752per kg from Rs 66,457 per kgin the previous trade.The rupeeappreciated 13 paise to settle at75.90 (provisional) against theUS dollar on Friday, amid theRBI maintaining status quoon the benchmark lending rate.

In the international mar-ket, gold and silver were flat atUSD 1,931 per ounce and USD24.65 per ounce, respectively.

"Gold prices traded steadywith spot gold prices at COMEXtrading at USD 1,931 per ounceon Friday," Retail ResearchAnalyst at HDFC SecuritiesDilip Parmar said. PTI

New Delhi: India's gross taxcollections soared to a recordhigh of Rs 27.07 lakh crore inthe fiscal year ended March 31as mop-up from income, cor-porate taxes, customs and GSTjumped, taking the tax-to-GDPratio to the highest in 23 years,Revenue Secretary Tarun Bajajsaid on Friday.

The tax-to-GDP ratiojumped to 11.7 per cent -- thehighest since 1999. In 2020-21fiscal, the ratio stood at 10.3 percent.Bajaj said the overall taxbuoyancy showed a "healthy,robust figure". The tax buoy-ancy came in at about 2, whichmeans the increase in tax col-lection was around twice as fastas nominal GDP growth rate.

"A lot of technology isbeing used where GST figuresare now being matched withincome tax figures and compli-ances are being ensured. So allthese has resulted in bettercompliance and better revenuesboth in direct and indirecttaxes," he told reporters here.

Gross tax collection of Rs

27.07 lakh crore during April2021 to March 2022 hasexceeded the budget estimate ofRs 22.17 lakh crore by Rs 5 lakhcrore, he added.

The gross tax mop-upshowed a 34 per cent increaseover last year's (2020-21) col-lection of Rs 20.27 lakh crore.

Direct taxes, which com-prise income tax paid by indi-viduals and corporate tax, camein at Rs 14.10 lakh crore, agrowth of 49 per cent over lastfiscal, which Bajaj said was per-haps the highest growth rate ina "long time".

Corporate taxes grew 56.1per cent to Rs 8.58 lakh crore,while personal income tax col-lection jumped 43 per cent toabout Rs 7.49 lakh crore.

During the year, Rs 2.24lakh crore worth income taxrefunds were issued to 2.43crore entities.In indirect taxes,while customs collectionzoomed 48 per cent to over Rs1.99 lakh crore, CGST andcess mop-up soared 30 per centat Rs 6.95 lakh crore. PTI

New Delhi: Stock of RuchiSoya Industries on Fridayjumped nearly 15 per centafter listing of shares of thecompany pursuant to its Followon Public Offer (FPO).

The stock zoomed 12.94per cent to settle at Rs 924.85on During the day, it jumped14.79 per cent to Rs 940.

On NSE, it gained 14.71per cent to close at Rs 938.

According to a notice byBSE on Thursday, 6,61,53,846equity shares of Rs 2 each fullypaid up of Ruchi SoyaIndustries Limited are listedand admitted for trading on theexchange with effect fromFriday, April 08, 2022.

On Tuesday, the companyhad informed stock exchangesthat it has approved the allot-ment of 6,61,53,846 equityshares for an amount aggre-gating to Rs 4,300 crore pur-

suant to the FPO.The company had fixed

the FPO issue price at Rs 650per share.

The issue was open fromMarch 24 to 28.

However, in a rare move,Sebi, on March 28, had askedbankers of Ramdev-ledPatanjali group's Ruchi Soya togive an option to investors in itsFPO to withdraw their bidswhile also cautioning themabout the "circulation of unso-licited SMS" about the sharesale.

The FPO closed on March28, and the withdrawal windowwas open for two days tillMarch 30, as per Sebi direc-tives.

Nearly 97 lakh bids werewithdrawn by FPO investorsafter markets watchdog Sebidirected Ruchi Soya to giveinvestors the option to with-draw their bids, sources hadsaid on March 31. PTI

]:<�� \��

&/��3(45��.��!��6�47��!�� !��

�� _�� ]��\��=�� ]:<

]�� 0�� >�+��]:<��

)8��93��:�� .��.�4;+<=5�!�� 9��!

"��_�^��]��Z��

��/�1�((�1��56��1��)��7%8�%�(�9��1��:'77;��/<="��>��75�-��

&�!��#��>�� ?@7��.�� .�3%D�� q%�+q��<�

Union Cabinet on Fridayapproved a proposal to

provide a one-time window topublic sector undertakings tosurrender coal mines that arenot in operations without anypenalty. Briefing media,Information and BroadcastingMinister Anurag Thakur saidCabinet also approved contin-uation of the Atal InnovationMission (AIM) till March 2023.

The Cabinet Committeeon Economic Affairs (CCEA)chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi approved theproposal during its meeting onFriday, the Coal Ministry saidin a statement. The CCEA"has approved the Ministry ofCoal's proposal for providing aone-time window to theCentral and State PSUs to sur-render non-operational mineswithout penalty (forfeiture ofbank guarantee) and withoutciting any reason," the state-ment said.

This may release manycoal mines which the presentGovernment companies arenot in a position to develop orare disinterested and could beput for sale as per the presentauction policy of the govern-ment. Government companieswould be given three months tosurrender the coal mines fromthe date of publication of theapproved surrender policy.

After the cancellation ofcoal block allocations by theSupreme Court in 2014, toavoid immediate disruption ofcoal supplies to thermal powerplants, the government allottedmany cancelled coal mines toPSUs via allotment route.

The allocation route wasexpeditious and it was expect-ed that the coal requirement ofState Gencos would be metfrom those blocks. The rev-enue share payable bystate/central PSUs is fixed onper tonne basis unlike privatesector who have to bid.

Till December last year, 45

out of 73 coal mines allotted toGovernment companies,remained non-operational anddue date of commencement ofmining operations in case of 19coal mines is already over.Delays were on account of rea-sons beyond the control of thePSUs.

Government also said thatthe intended targets that will beachieved by Atal InnovationMission (AIM) include estab-lishing 10,000 Atal TinkeringLabs (ATLs) as well as 101 AtalIncubation Centers (AICs),and supporting 200 startups viathe Atal New India Challenges.

Total budgeted expenditureof Rs 2,000 crore plus shall beincurred in the process of theestablishment and supportingthe beneficiaries, said the state-ment.

The mission has been setup under the NITI Aayog, inaccordance with the FinanceMinister's declaration in the2015 Budget speech.

��;��@L�� 4��&�� /�>�� 4 �� &��

��9��N4�� O�&��Q X�� 6��

��..��

� �� >��q��

Top Indian shuttlers P VSindhu and KidambiSrikanth progressed tothe semifinals of the

Korea Open Super 500 bad-minton tournament with con-trasting wins here on Friday.

Third seed Sindhu, a two-time Olympic medallist,notched up her 17th win overfamiliar foe Thailand's BusananOngbamrungphan 21-10, 21-16in the women's singles quarter-finals.

She will next face secondseeded Korean An Seyoung, aopponent who has beaten hertwice last year.

In a battle between two for-mer world number ones, itwas World Championships sil-ver medallist Srikanth, whorode on his power and precisionto outwit local hope Son WanHo 21-12, 18-21, 21-12 in amen's singles quarterfinal

match that lasted just over anhour.

Srikanth had a 4-7 recordagainst the Korean, having lostto him on last three occasions.

However, the Indian playedbetter badminton on Friday tocome up trumps against an

opponent, who is coming backto international badmintonafter a two-year hiatus.

The Indian, seeded fifth,will next face third seed JonatanChristie of Indonesia, who hadclaimed the Swiss Open lastmonth.

Satwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shetty failed tomake it to the semifinal aftergoing down fighting 20-22, 21-18, 20-22 to Korean pairing ofKang Minhyuk and SeoSeungjae.

In women's singles, Sindhu

had no issues in disposing offBusanan, whom she had beat-en at Swiss Open final lastmonth. The Thai lead 5-2 in theopening game but after that itwas a Sindhu show as she keptthe match under her tight grip.

Leading 11-7, Sindhu pro-duced an eight-point burst topull away from the Thai andgrab the lead in the match.

Things were similar afterthe change of sides as Sindhuheld a 8-2 lead and kept mov-ing ahead as the Thai crumbled.

In men's singles, Srikanthshowed better control as hedominated the short rallies tomove to a comfortable 11-6 leadat the first interval and thoughSon Wan Ho made it 12-14, theIndian soon changed gears towalk away with the first game.

The Korean came backstrongly in the second game,opening up a 10-7 lead butSrikanth moved ahead to 13-11.An alert Son Wan Ho didn't letthe game slip away and sooncharged ahead to take it to thedecider.

Srikanth made a rollicking4-0 start in the decider butunforced errors allowed theKorean to make it 4-6. TheIndian changed the pace withsome quick attacking returnsand his precision earned himreturns. Srikanth managed a 11-7 lead at the interval.

A barrage of attacking shotskept Srikanth in the hunt as heextended his lead to 16-10. Aprecision return eventually gothim to eight match points andhe sealed it when Son Won Hohit the net.

� � � �q%�+q��<

Three Indian pugilists, includ-ing world championship

Silver medallist Amit Panghal,punched their way into thefinals of the Thailand Open box-ing tournament in Phuket onFriday.

Ananta Pralhad (54kg),Sumit (75kg) and Panghal(52kg) assured India of at leasta Silver as they advanced to thefinals. Manisha (57kg), Pooja(69kg) and Bhagyabati Kachari(75kg), on the other hand,signed off with Bronze medalsafter losing their respectivesemifinal bouts.

Seven Indian boxers willfight for Gold as Ashish Kumar(81kg), Monika (48kg), GovindSahani (48kg) and VarinderSingh (60kg) had entered thefinals of their respective eventson Wednesday. Competing inhis first international tourna-

ment since the Tokyo Olympics,Panghal (52 kg), the Silvermedallists at the 2019 worldchampionships, dominated thebout, landing a flurry of punch-es to beat Tran Van Thao ofVietnam by unanimous deci-sion. In another men's bout,Sumit stamped his authority toget the better of Kazakhstan'sAyatulla Takiz and confirm hisplace in the final.

In the women's 54kg semi-final, Ananta out-punchedVietnamese boxer Bui TronThai to register an authoritative5-0 win. However, Manisha,Pooja and Bhagyabati wereunable to advance to the finals.

While Manisha and Poojalost to Tokyo Olympics Bronzemedallist, Italy's Irma Testa andThailand's Baisin Manikon,respectively by an identical 1-4margin, Bhagyabati fell to a 0-5defeat at the hands of HergieBacyadan of Philippines.

� �� `��q��]��#

The Indian women's hockeyteam continued its unbeat-

en run and defeated SouthKorea 3-0 here on Friday toenter the semifinals of the FIHJunior World Cup for only thesecond time.

The Indians, who toppedthe pool stage with an all-winrecord, scored throughMumtaz Khan (11th minute),Lalrindiki (15th) and SangitaKumari (41st) to emerge win-ners in the quarterfinal match.

India's best result in thetournament remains theBronze medal finish at the2013 edition inMonchengladbach, Germany,where they defeated England 3-2 in shootout following a 1-1stalemate in regulation time.

Against Korea, India madea sedate start but found theirfooting 10 minutes into thegame.

The Indian players usedtheir speed and defence-split-ting runs to trouble the Koreanbackline, which resulted intwo penalty corners, the first ofwhich was capitalised byMumtaz. It was OlympianSharmila Devi's brilliant runand a resultant pass that creat-ed the short corner for Indiaand Mumtaz deflected homeskipper Salima Tete's slap forher sixth goal of the tourna-ment. Seconds from the end offirst quarter, Lalrindiki doubledIndia's lead by tapping in arebound after Deepika's reverseshot was saved by Korean goal-

keeper Eunji Kim.The second quarter was

more physical from both theteams but it was India whodominated possession.

The Indian defence wasimpressive in the first twoquarters as the Koreans hard-ly tested goalkepeer Bichu DeviKahribam, whose only involve-ment in the first 30 minuteswas when she comfortablykicked away Korean skipperSeona Kim's miscued shot justbefore half time.

South Africa earned theirfirst penalty corner of thematch after the change of ends,but Seona Kim's deflection

went just over the bar.Minutes later, India

extended their lead throughSangita, who pushed home inan open goal after Koreangoalkeeper Eunji Kim wasthrown off balance by BeautyDung Dung's miscued shot.

Despite enjoying a com-fortable three-goal advantage,the Indians never let themomentum slip out of theirhands and, instead, continuedto press hard.

India will next face thewinner of the other quarterfi-nal between three-time cham-pions Netherlands and SouthAfrica on Sunday.

�� ?]�q��q

American AmandaAnisimova rallied after

losing the opening set tobeat top-seeded ArynaSabalenka of Belarus 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 and reach the quarter-finals of the CharlestonOpen. In more surprises,Ekaterina Alexandrova ofRussia and CoCoVandeweghe of the UnitedStates both reached the finaleight with wins over seededopponents on Thursday.

Alexandrova defeated No3 seed Karolina Pliskova 6-3,6-1 while Vandeweghetopped countrywoman and

sixth-seeded Jessica Pegula 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Paula Badosa, the secondseed, dropped herfirst set beforefighting off ClaireLiu for a 3-6, 7-6,(8) 6-1 victory tomove into thequarters. No 10seed BelindaBencic, theOlympic Goldmedalist lastsummer, defeat-ed ninth-seededMadison Keys 6-4, 6-4. Fourth-seeded OnsJabeur did

double duty, winning twiceon Thursday to make thequarters. Jabeur's match withEmma Navarro was halted onWednesday because of severeweather with her leading 6-3, 5-2. The two returned on

Thursday where Jabeurwon four straight

points to closethings out. Later,Jabeur eliminatedIr i n a - C a m e l i aBegu of Romania6-3, 6-2. AnhelinaKalinina of

Ukraine toppedNo 12 seedAlize Cornet of

France 7-6 (5) 7-5.

�� #q�:�>]�q

Ferrari's Charles Leclerc onFriday said there was still

work to do despite goingquickest in second practice atthe Australian Grand Prixahead of Red Bull's Max

Verstappen, with LewisHamilton only managing13th.

Monaco's Leclerc, theearly season championshipleader, was outpaced by team-mate Carlos Sainz in the first60-minute run at a revamped

Albert Park.But Leclerc fired an omi-

nous warning in the secondsession with a leading time of1min 18.978 secs, with reign-ing world championVerstappen 0.245secs behindafter a late surge. Sainz went

third-fastest.It is early days in the sea-

son, with Melbourne only thethird race, but a title tusslebetween Leclerc andVerstappen is forming nicely.

"A bit of a harder Fridayfor me. FP1 was a bit tricky, Iimproved quite a bit in FP2,but there is still quite a bit ofwork to do," said Leclerc, 24,who won the season-openingrace in Bahrain.

"I don't think anybodyreally put the (perfect) laptogether today. We need tokeep focusing on ourself.Tomorrow is qualifying andhopefully we have a good day.We need to do another stepforward, and let's push."

�� #q�:�>]�q

Double world championFernando Alonso on

Friday said he planned tokeep racing for at least twoor three years more, deny-ing feeling pressure to stepaside for a younger driver.

The 40-year-oldSpaniard is in his secondterm with French teamAlpine alongside EstebanOcon, with highly ratedprospect Oscar Piastri theirreserve driver and knockingon the door.

Australian Piastri, 21, iswidely tipped for promo-tion next season, whetherwith Alpine or anotherteam. But Alonso insistedthat as long as he was per-forming well, he had noconcerns.

"I think obviously if I was25 there would obviouslynot be this talk, it's an agething," he said in Melbourneahead of Sunday's Australian

Grand Prix."But I think this is about

performance. Last year Ithink I did well. This year,let's see how it goes, but it isabout performance and notage."

Alonso made his F1debut in 2001 and won theworld championship in 2005and 2006.

After over 300 grandsprix, he took a hiatus fromFormula One, winning theWorld EnduranceChampionship and the LeMans 24 hours race in 2018and 2019.

Now back in the F1 pad-dock, he said he remainedhungry for more success.

"I think I still feel com-petitive and fast and I'menjoying my time in FormulaOne, so I will race I guess acouple more years, two orthree more years," he said.

"If it's with Alpine it willbe good, if it's with anotherteam it will be good as well.

�� ]�#q

Norwegians Bodo/Glimtgrabbed a late 2-1 win over

Roma in their EuropaConference League quarter-final first leg on Thursday,while Leicester were held to agoalless draw by PSVEindhoven.

Bodo/Glimt, who inflicteda stunning 6-1 defeat on JoseMourinho's Roma in the groupstage, battled back from a goaldown to beat the Italian giantsagain. Lorenzo Pellegrini gaveRoma the lead just before half-time as the visitors looked to

extend a nine-match unbeatenrun in all competitions.

But Ulrik Saltnes bundledin an equaliser for the home sidebefore the hour mark.

Pellegrini had an effortruled out for offside with 15minutes remaining and Romasuffered another setback in the89th minute.

Hugo Vetlesen got toAmahl Pellegrino's free-kickfirst and nodded a dramaticwinner past away goalkeeperRui Patricio. Roma substituteEldor Shomurodov had a latechance to level, but he headednarrowly over the crossbar.

��0�� <�� !��=�� %��%��

��:��?� \�� ?��

Leclerc outpaces Max to go fastest in Melbourne

?��_��

�� & ��+Y

/��G'��# &��+��

� �� `>�q

More than the individualbri l l iance, Mumbai

Indians need to fire as a unitif they have to effect a turn-around as they gear up toclash with Royal ChallengersBangalore in an IPL match

here on Saturday.Mumbai Indians are

enduring a poor beginning tothe season as they have losttheir first three games toremain pointless in the tour-nament so far.

MI lost by four wickets toDelhi Capitals before suffering

a 23-run and five-wicketdefeat at the hands ofRajasthan Royals and KolkataKnight Riders respectively.

It is imperative for

Mumbai that their skipperRohit gets some run under hisbelt. He has managed 41, 10and 3 in the first three games.

Despite their struggles, afew players have done wellindividually. With scores of81, 54, 14, Ishan Kishan hasbeen a revelation at the top for

MI, while young Tilak Varma(22, 61, 38) has made animpression in the middle-order. The inclusion ofDewald Brevis, known as'Baby AB', and fit-againSuryakumar Yadav, who made52 off 36 balls against KKR,has provided some solidity to

MI's batting line-up.Kieron Pollard, who made

a 5-ball unbeaten 22-runcameo in the last match, isalways a threat for rival bowl-ing attack. While MI's battinghas been sorted to someextent, it is the team's bowlingwhich needs to do better.

� �� ?$<�#>#:?<

Battling poor form, openerRuturaj Gaikwad will be

under the scanner when strug-glers Chennai Super Kings andSunrisers Hyderabad face off inthe IPL here on Saturday, look-ing to register their first win.

Three successive losses haveput new skipper Ravindra Jadejaunder immense pressure and hewould hope his teammates canscript a turnaround against theSunrisers, who too are smartingfrom two reverses.

One of the most decoratedteams in the history of the IPL,CSK have endured a tough sea-son so far, with the team strug-gling on multiple fronts, espe-cially batting.

Gaikwad, last edition's lead-ing scorer, has struggled with hisfootwork and his scores of 0, 1,1has put CSK under pressure atthe top. The Maharashtra bat-ter, who had scored 635 runsacross 16 matches in 2021, willlook to find his rhythm againstSunrisers. There is a lot of expe-rience in CSK's batting but itdidn't help them against PunjabKings as they could muster just126 while chasing 180.

While Robin Uthappa hadscored a fifty in one of the

games, the likes of Moeen Aliand Ambati Rayudu have failedto capitalise on their starts.

Skipper Jadeja, too, willneed to give a better account ofhimself, even as 'de facto' cap-tain Mahendra Singh Dhonilooks to keep guiding the team.

In CSK's last outing, ShivamDube's entertaining fifty was theonly bright spot for the 'yellowbrigade', and the team willexpect him to deliver again.

In bowling, all-rounderDwayne Bravo, IPL's leadingwicket-taker, has been the mostsuccessful bowler for CSK as hereturned with three wicketsagainst PBKS. Along withdeath-overs specialist ChrisJordan (2 for 23), Bravo hadsqueezed the run flow andpulled things back in the back10 against PBKS, but they needsupport from others.

The Sunrisers have failed tochase down targets on twooccasions, resulting in a 61-runloss against Rajasthan Royalsand a 12-run defeat at thehands of new entrants LucknowSuper Giants.

��

53��3��@>�?%��**@2�OO3�OO?�8�*��*"�[�">�?��3�3\��2'��??�@@+�>>�\�553�55�*�22@�32�3��553�??@�3�22@�32�3�\�22��2��8/?3��22��2�++@��883 ? ��!#� !��

/� �� 9��$��.��6�5H��#��(�&��*&(��"�+%('*&0�

�� "��$��.��5�5H��#��(�&��*&(��"�+%('*&0�

�!# �� .8 $$� ; � � � � �0��Z78 � = ; � � � � �0Z��58 �� Z � � ; �0Z��8 =� Z Z � � ; �0;��8 �@$ � Z � � ; �0Z��8 �@ � Z � � ; �0��%8 " � � Z � Z =�0��*8 $ � � � � � =�0Z��+8 �# � � � � � =�0��Z.�8 �! Z � Z � � =�0�Z�

��table

@ @B"J KBK

B��)��-meter

5�>��!��!��

� �� #>#:?<

England all-rounder LiamLivingstone, this IndianPremier League’s (IPL)

costliest foreign player, made fulluse of a lucky reprieve to smasha second consecutive half centu-ry and help Punjab Kings post189 for 9 against Gujarat Titansat the Brabourne Stadium onFriday.

Livingstone, who was boughtfor �11.5 crore, smashed 64 offjust 27 balls to score the bulk ofthe runs for Punjab Kings afterbeing asked to bat first.

He shared 52 runs for thethird wicket with opener ShikharDhawan (35) to revive the Punjabinnings after they were 43 for 2after the powerplay.

Livingstone, who had hit 60off 32 balls against Chennai SuperKings in the previous match,survived by the skin of his teethin the ninth over, when he was on14, as Titans captain HardikPandya's foot touched the bound-ary ropes while trying to take ahigh catch off spinner RashidKhan (3/22).

The Englishman took fulladvantage of the 'life' given to himas he reached to his fifty off 21balls. In the end, he struck sevenfours and four sixes in his quick-fire knock.

The potent Gujarat Titans

bowling attack made a briefcomeback with debutant DarshanNalkande (2/37) and the sea-soned Rashid claiming wickets inquick succession. Nalkanderemoved Jitesh Sharma (23) andOdean Smith (0) off consecutiveballs in the 14th over, while thewily Rashid dismissed Livingstoneand Shahrukh Khan (15) in the

space of three balls in the 16thover, besides claiming the wicket

of Dhawan earlier.From 153 for 5 in the 16th

over, Punjab were reduced to 162 for 9 butRahul Chahar and Arshdeep Singh stitcheda valuable 27-run partnership for theunconquered last wicket to take their sideto a stiff total.

Earleir, captain Mayank Agarwal (5) wasout cheaply for the third time while starEngland batter Jonny Bairstow's debutmatch for Punjab Kings lasted eight ballsfor as many runs as both fell inside the pow-erplay overs.

�;�� !��

��D��>��F��B��>��..8��1��F��,��)��G��7%�B�((��1��B�(9��G�B

$��>��B��>��9�)��B��

LIVINGSTONE LIFTS PBKS TO 189

Pak court awards 26/11 brains Hafiz 32 yrs jail - Daily Pioneer

Documents