'Peace talks with Naxals only if trust in Constitution' - Central Chronicle

Installed KKaatthhmmaanndduu:: A team ofexperts from the NationalGeographic Society hasinstalled the “world’shighest weather station”on Mt. Everest at an alti-tude of 8,830 metres toautomatically measurevarious meteorologicalphenomena, the Nepalesemedia reported onThursday. Nepal’sDepartment of Hydrologyand Meteorology (DHM)said the automatic weath-er station was installed afew metres below thesummit point (8,848.86metres) last week as thesnow and ice on the sum-mit are not suitable forfixing equipment.

Slab collapse MMuummbbaaii:: A 31-year-oldman died after a slab froman under-construction resi-dential building fell on himin the western suburb ofMalad here on Thursday,police said. The incidenttook place at Zakaria roadin Malad (west) in theafternoon, when the vic-tim, Raj Kumar Soni,stepped out to answernature’s call and a slabfrom the building fell onhim, an official said.

Spl trains CCooiimmbbaattoorree:: To cater totourists visiting NilgirisDistrict, Southern Railwaywill operate summer spe-cial trains in NilgirisMountain Railway (NMR)from May 21. The specialtrains will be operated asfully reserved trains and weekly trains will beoperated betweenMettupalayam andUdhagamandalam.

MisconductLLuucckknnooww:: A day after aLucknow University pro-fessor was assaulted by astudent on the campus, agroup of students gave awritten complaint of “mis-conduct” against the pro-fessor to the universityadministration onThursday. Around 50 stu-dents met Vice ChancellorAlok Kumar Rai and hand-ed him the complaint.

MishapJJaaiippuurr:: Five people werekilled and five injured in ahead-on collision of carsin Rajasthan’s Bharatpurdistrict, police said onThursday. The deceasedwere identified as Arbaz(16), Wasim (16), Parvez(17), Alam (21) and Aasif, all of the samefamily, they said.

WOMAN POWER

Women prepare for a Path Sanchalan programme under the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, in Lucknow, Thursday.

CC

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PAGE 11

Sukma May 19:

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelon Thursday said peacetalks with Naxals can takeplace only if they expressfaith in the Constitution,days after the outlawedCommunist Party of India(Maoists) showed willing-ness to hold a conditionaldialogue with the stategovernment.

Baghel was talking toreporters in Sukma dis-trict of Bastar region dur-ing his visit as a part ofthe public interactiondrive ‘Bhent Mulaqat’.

When some reporterspointed out that Maoistshave set conditions fortalks with the govern-ment, Baghel said no placecan be better than this inBastar (for talks). “Sukmais the area where

Naxalism started (in thestate). Now, they havebeen pushed to the backfoot here and their influ-ence has declined. If they(Naxals) want talks, thenour doors are always openbut only on one conditionthat they should express

faith in the Constitution,the CM said.

On what basis will I talkto them? India is a federalrepublic, and being thechief minister of a state, ifI talk to anyone face-to-face, then the most impor-tant thing is that the otherperson should expressfaith in the Constitution.If you don’t believe theIndian Constitution then Icannot talk to you,” hesaid.

Baghel said he willcome to Sukma or any-where for talks, but onlyon one condition thatNaxals express faith in theConstitution.

Earlier this month,Maoists in a statementsaid they are ready fortalks, but also set severalconditions, including re-lease of their jailed lead-ers and withdrawal of se-

curity forces from strife-torn areas. Reacting to theconditions set by the ul-tras, state Home MinisterTamradwaj Sahu had saidthat talks would be heldunconditionally.

As a part of the secondphase of his constituency-wise public interactiondrive, Baghel onWednesday reachedSukma to seek a directfeedback from peopleabout the functioning ofhis government and im-plementation of welfareschemes.

From Sukma, he wentto neighbouring Bijapurdistrict on Thursday after-noon.

Sukma is among sevendistricts of the state’sBastar region which hasbeen struggling with theNaxal menace for overthree decades.

‘Peace talks with Naxalsonly if trust in Constitution’

New Delhi, May 19 (PTI):

The Supreme CourtThursday imposed a sen-tence of one-year rigorousimprisonment on crick-eter-tur ned-politicianNavjot Singh Sidhu in a1988 road rage case, sayingany undue sympathy toimpose an inadequate sen-tence would do more harmto the justice system andundermine the public con-fidence in the efficacy oflaw. The apex court said inthe given circumstances,tempers may have beenlost but then the conse-quences of the loss of tem-per must be borne.

The top court, while al-lowing the review pleafiled by the complainanton the issue of the sen- tence, said it is a case

where some germane factsfor sentencing appear tohave been lost sight ofwhile imposing only a fineon the Congress leader.

Though the apex courthad in May 2018 heldSidhu guilty of the offenceof “voluntarily causinghurt” to a 65-year-old man,it spared him a jail termand imposed a fine of Rs1,000. Noting that the handcan also be a weapon by it-self where a boxer,wrestler, cricketer, or anextremely physically fitperson inflicts a blow, theapex court said it does be-lieve that indulgence wasnot required to be shownat the stage of sentence byonly imposing fine and let-ting Sidhu go without anyimposition of sentence.


Former PunjabCongress president SunilJakhar joined the BJP onThursday, days after hequit the grand old party,and thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toaccept him into the partyfold. Jakhar, a prominentHindu leader in Punjab,

joined the BJP in the pres-ence of party president J PNadda. The 68-year-oldleader had quit theCongress last week with a“good luck and good bye”message. Welcoming himto the BJP, Nadda saidJakhar enjoyed a specialstature in Punjab that wasindependent of the partyand will help the BJP

strengthen nationalistforces in the border state.“BJP is emerging as thenumber one nationalistforce in Punjab. Hence it isnecessary for all leadershaving nationalist ideologyto join the BJP to strength-en the party and for astronger Punjab,” Naddasaid. Belonging to the Jatcommunity, Sunil, son of aCongress stalwart and apopular farmers’ leaderBalram Jakhar, is a three-term MLA and a formerLok Sabha member fromGurdaspur. Addressing themedia after joining theBJP, he lashed out at theCongress, accusing it of in-sulting the spirit of broth-erhood in Punjab by tryingto divide the state in termsof percentages of castes,communities and religion.

Varanasi (UP), May19 (PTI): A Varanasicourt hearing theGyanvapi-ShringarGauri case onThursday posted thematter to May 23 for

the next hearing.Both the parties filed

their objections and count-er-objections on Thursday.In view of the SupremeCourt’s order to the lowercourt not to proceed withthe matter till Friday, itfixed May 23 for the nexthearing, Madan MohanYadav, the lawyer repre-senting the Hindu side,said. Abhay Yadav, thelawyer appearing for theMuslim side, said theplaintiff had demandedthe court-appointed teamto carry on with its pro-ceedings by demolishingcertain walls, “to whichwe have objected”. “Also, a

government counsel haddemanded the removal offish from a man-madepond located on the prem-ises of the mosque. Thesefish are ours and we haveraised our objection to thispetition as well,” he said.

The two petitions filedin the Gyanvapi case wereto be heard on Wednesday,but due to a lawyers’ strikeover the remarks of a spe-cial secretary-level offi-cial, the hearings couldnot be held.

The strike call was givenby the Banaras BarAssociation and theCentral Bar Associationand the hearing wasscheduled on the same onThursday. On Tuesday,Rekha Pathak, ManjuVyas and Sita Sahu hadfiled an application in thecourt, stating that there isa basement to the east of

the spot where a“Shivling” was claimed tohave been found. The base-ment has been sealed withbrick, stone and cement,they said.

Besides, there is also awall and a basement infront of an idol of Nandiin the Kashi Vishwanathtemple, and this basementhas also been blocked withbrick, stone, sand andother items, they said.

They had also asked fororders to the court-ap-pointed team to report thelength, width and height ofthe “Shivling”, besides toopen the door of the westwall, which is coveredwith debris inside the bar-ricading, and to carry outits work there.

Accepting the applica-tion, the court had said itwould hear the matter onWednesday.


The ED has launchedan anti-money-launder-ing investigation into analleged pornographicfilms case in which busi-nessman Raj Kundra andothers were arrested bythe Mumbai Police crimebranch in 2021, officialssaid on Thursday.

The federal agency hasfiled a complaint underthe criminal sections ofthe Prevention of Money

Laundering Act (PMLA)after studying at leasttwo police first informa-tion reports (FIRs) andsubsequent charge sheetsbefore a court.

Kundra, husband ofBollywood actor ShilpaShetty, and his associateRyan Thorpe were ar-rested and later grantedbail in the case. A fewothers were arrested too.

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) willspecifically look into thetrail of funds and allegedproceeds of crime thatcould have been generat-ed by the accused andothers in the case relatedto the creation and sale ofthese films, officials said.

Kundra,46, was arrest-ed by the Mumbai police

crime branch last yearafter being booked undervarious sections of theIndian Penal Code, theInformation TechnologyAct and the IndecentRepresentation ofWomen (Prohibition)Act.

The businessman hadtold a local Mumbaicourt last year that therewas not even an iota ofevidence with the prose-cution that would con-nect the app ‘Hotshots’,used in the alleged pornfilms racket, with an of-fence under the law.

According to the probeagency, the ‘Hotshots’app was being used bythe accused for upload-ing and streaming ob-scene content.

Guwahati, May 19 (PTI):

The Assam Police has is-sued an advisory to OilIndia Ltd (OIL) and ONGCregarding probable sub-versive activities bybanned ULFA(I) militantson their installations inthe state as well as theiremployees, officials saidon Thursday.

The two PSU energy ma-jors have taken the securi-ty input “seriously” andalready issued a series of“dos and don’ts” for theirstaff after meetings withvarious agencies such asCISF and AISF.

A senior official at theAssam Police told PTI thata telephonic advisory wasissued to the officials ofOil India on possible

strikes, including kidnap-ping of officials, on its in-stallations by the ULFA(I).

“During the monsoon,many places where the oilrigs are located become in-accessible. So, we alert thecompanies about the secu-rity aspect. This is a peri-odic and routine thing,” hesaid, without elaboratingfurther.

When contacted, OILspokesperson TridivHazarika told PTI from itsfield headquarters inDuliajan that the companyreceived “some intelli-gence input” from the po-lice earlier this week.

“Immediately an inter-nal meeting was calledand chaired by ResidentChief Executive In-Charge. It was attended by

senior officials of CISF,AISF OIL Security andother departments,” hesaid. The meeting decidedto sensitise the employeesand officers on various is-sues of security and ac-cordingly, certain stepswere taken, Hazarika said.

“Steps were taken in re-sponse to the advice of theAssam Police on the move-ment of OIL personneland the company opera-tions. People have been ad-vised to be cautious re-garding their movementsfor official and personalpurposes,” he said.

A source at ONGC con-firmed receipt of an alertfrom the security agenciesregarding possible activi-ties by the ULFA(I) againstthe company and its staff.

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199 ((PPTTII))::A Delhi ourt on Thursdayhanded over SBhaskararaman, theChartered Accountant ofLok Sabha MP KartiChidambaram, to the CBIfor four day’s custodialinterrogation in connec-tion with a Rs 50 lakh

alleged bribery case for clearingvisas of 263 Chinese nationalsworking at Talwandi Sabo PowerLtd in Punjab. Special CBI JudgePrashant Kumar passed theorder noting that the investiga-tion was at its initial stage, andthe accused was required to bequizzed. The bribery incident isreported to have taken place in2011 when Karti Chidambaram’sfather P Chidambaram was theUnion home minister. It isreflected from the submissionsof CBI that investigation hasstarted in this case which is at its

inception and investigation offi-cer requires some time to collectall the relevant informationwhich may be necessary in thiscase, therefore, in my consid-ered opinion, it would be appro-priate that 4 days police remandcustody is granted to the CBI,the judge said. He noted that theaccused was admittedly CA ofKartik Chidambaram and he hadbeen wanted in another casewherein he was been enlargedon bail. The FIR is dated May 14,2022. It is further reflected thatthough the accused has beeninquired during this period, how-ever, a detailed inquiry as wellas the recording of his statementis yet to be done. It is also stat-ed by and on behalf of CBI thatthere are other accused personsinvolved in this case for whichrelevant information is requiredto proceed ahead in this case,the court noted.

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199 ((PPTTII)):: A Delhicourt on Thursday convictedKashmiri separatist leader YasinMalik, who had earlier pleadedguilty to all charges, includingthose under the stringentUnlawful Activities PreventionAct (UAPA), in a terror fundingcase. Special Judge PraveenSingh directed the NIA authori-ties to assess Malik’s financialsituation to determine theamount of fine to be imposedand posted the matter for argu-ments on the quantum of sen-tence on May 25. Malik had toldthe court that he was not con-testing the charges levelledagainst him including section 16(terrorist act), 17 (raising fundsfor the terrorist act), 18 (con-spiracy to commit terrorist act),and 20 (being a member of ter-rorist gang or organisation) ofthe UAPA and sections 120-B(criminal conspiracy) and 124-A

(sedition) of the IPC. The courthad earlier also formally framedthe charges against Kashmiriseparatist leaders includingFarooq Ahmed Dar alias BittaKarate, Shabbir Shah, MasaratAlam, Md Yusuf Shah, AftabAhmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah,Nayeem Khan, Md AkbarKhanday, Raja MehrajuddinKalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat,Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali,Shabir Ahmad Shah, AbdulRashid Sheikh, and NavalKishore Kapoor.

TERROR FUNDING CASE

Court convicts Yasin Malik ED initiates money laundering

probe against Raj Kundra

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Assam Police alerts Oil India,ONGC of possible militant attack

34-Year-Old Road Rage Case

Sidhu gets 1 yr in jail

Congress leader NavjotSingh Sidhu outside his residence afterSupreme Courts

verdict, in Patiala,Thursday.

Gurnam Singh’s family thanks Almighty

After the Supreme Courtimposed a one-year jail termon cricketer-turned-politi-cian Navjot Singh Sidhu in a1988 road rage case onThursday, the family of thevictim, Gurnam Singh,thanked the Almighty.

‘Will submit to themajesty of law’

Soon after the SupremeCourt imposed a one-yearjail term on him in a 1988road rage case, formerPunjab Congress chiefNavjot Singh Sidhu said onThursday he “will submit tothe majesty of law.”

Next hearing in Varanasi court on May 23

Bhupesh Baghel

Sunil Jakhar joins BJP

Former Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar beingwelcomed by BJP President J P Nadda as he joined theparty at the BJP headquarters, in New Delhi, Thursday.

Accuses Cong of trying to dividePunjab on basis of caste, religion

CENTRAL CHRONICLE, RAIPUR, FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022

VYT PG College organises Workshop onAntiplagiarism Software & E-Information Sources

Central Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 19: Under theauspices of governmentVYT PG college's CentralLibrary and Research Cell,a one-day workshop on theuse/access to antiplagia-rism software and e-infor-mation sources was organ-ized for research scholars,research directors and pro-fessors to improve thequality of research workand research publications.

The outline of the pro-gram was presented byVinod Kumar Ahirwar,Librarian. The concept of

plagiarism was presentedby the convener of the re-search cell, Dr Anil Kumar.

Principal of the collegeDr RN Singh encouragedthe participants to makemaximum use of the an-tiplagiarism software andinformation sources avail-able in J-Gate in the col-lege. Dr RN Singh empha-sized on developing theavailable infrastructurefor quality research workand said that it would beeasy to stop research pira-cy with software.

In the workshop,Mahendra Sarkar,

Convenor of J-Gate, pre-sented detailed informa-tion regarding the searchand download of e-infor-mation sources available inJ-Gate database. In theworkshop, all the informa-tion related to antiplagia-rism software was given byAbhyansh Singh, convenerof Drillbit.

Giving informationabout accessing the infor-mation sources available inthe N-List, Vinod KumarAhirwar said that in thismore than 6000 researchjournals and more than 32lakh e-books can be easily

accessed and downloaded.This workshop will helpthe researchers to avoid du-plication in their research.

In order to get the re-search scholar's researchpublished in a journal orto submit PhD research,information about howmuch research part hasbeen taken from other re-search in that researchwork, that is, researchtheft can be avoided. Today,the lesser the duplicationof research, the better theresearch is considered.

The theft of researchwill be prevented with

such software. Adequateinformation was providedto the researchers and di-rectors of research in thisregard. Not only the re-searchers of the collegewill be benefited by thesoftware available in thecollege, researchers fromother districts of the divi-sion can also take advan-tage of it.

A large number of re-searchers, research direc-tors, professors and li-brary staff AnuragPandey and SantoshChandrakar were presentin the workshop. DrSrinivas Deshmukh andProfessor of Library andInformation Science,Rajlakshmi Pandey madea special contribution inrunning the program.Students of theDepartment of Libraryand Information Sciencewere also present in theprogram.


Bhilai, May 19: Durg(Rural) MLA and Home andPublic Works DepartmentMinister Tamradhwaj Sahuvisited the Nidan-40 camporganized in Newai onThursday. In the camp, theproblem of a vision im-paired person - RamkumarYadav was resolved in thepresence of the Minister.Even after many years,Aadhar card was not beinggenerated due to lack ofdocuments. On the fourthday, 246 people reached thecamp out of which 69 appli-cations were resolved.

When the Home Ministerwas inspecting the camp, hecame across RamkumarYadav, a vision impairedperson of Ward 33 NewaiBasti, who was requesting

to make his Aadhar card.Due to lack of documents,he was unable to get theAadhar Card. RisaliCorporation CommissionerAshish Dewangan took thematter into cognizance andsent a Corporation officialto Durg to collect the voterID card of Ram KumarYadav.

Other documents werecollected from his family

and thereafter the photog-raphy was done for theAadhar card. Anotherwoman was also providedvoter ID card in the camp.Mayor Shashi Sinha,Speaker Keshav Banchor,MiC membersParmeshwar, GovindChaturveda, ChandrabhanThakur, Anoop Dey,Ishwari Sahu, SoniaDewangan, Corporator

Doman Lal Barle, ZaheerAbbas, Jamuna Thakur,Vinay Netam and otherswere present in the camp.

Home MinisterTamradhwaj Sahu andState Congress GeneralSecretary Jitendra Sahuhanded over the marriagecertificate to HealthDepartment in-chargeGovind Chaturvedi at thecamp on Thursday.

MIC member got marriedrecently. After marriage, hesubmitted an applicationfor registration and certifi-cate. Sahu presentedGumasta license to VimalSao of Ward 34, death cer-tificate of late Poona RamThakur, and BPL certificateto Thanwari Bai andDhannu Yadav at the camp.

Taking prompt action onthe application of Hemlata

Nirmalkar of HealthCenter Newai, the officialsof the Corporation immedi-ately got a power pump in-stalled. The district healthdepartment employee hadcomplained that the con-tractor had kept the powerpump in the house of VijaySingh, who lives in theneighborhood. There is aproblem of water due tolack of power pump in thebore well.

Public GrievanceRedressal Camp "Nidan-40"will be held at Shivpara,Station Maroda, Ward 17 onMay 20. Residents of BRPColony, Shivpara StationMaroda and HSCL ColonyWard can visit this camp totake advantage of thescheme of the governmentand solve the problem relat-ed to the local civic body.

Inter Alumni Tennis Ball Cricket Tournament

from todayCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 19: Officers'Association, Bhilai SteelPlant (OA-BSP) is organiz-ing Inter Alumni TennisBall Cricket Tournamentfor the prestigiousDirector In-Charge Trophyfor the Year 2022 in associa-tion with Sports, Cultural& Civic AmenitiesDepartment, BSP.The tournament will becommencing from May 20,2022 with an OpeningCeremony at CricketGround, Sector-1. DirectorI/c BSP AnirbanDasgupta will be inaugu-

rating the tournament at19:00 hrs in the presence ofall top BSP officials andBSP-OA President SEFIChairman NK Banchore,General Secretary parvin-der Singh and other officebearers.

All the Alumni(College/Institute/University) Cricket Teams inBhilai Steel Plant arehereby invited to take partin this tournament andmake it a grand success. Atotal of 17 teams are par-ticipating in the tourna-ment and 35 matches willbe played during the tournament.

Six ‘Munna Bhai’ arrested in CISF RecruitmentCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 19: With thearrest of six ruffians, po-lice claimed to have busteda gang which was involvedin impersonating candi-dates in the CISF personnelrecruitments. The accusedappeared in place of the ac-tual candidates in differentstages of recruitment.They used fake domicilecertificates and Aadharcards for proving them-selves to be residents ofChhattisgarh.

While addressing mediapersons here on Thursday,SP Dr Abhishek Pallava in-formed that Utai PoliceStation received a com-plaint on May 18 from CISFInspector Lokesh KumarKurre who is positioned inCISF 3rd Battalion. He com-plained that the PST/PETtest for Constable / GDRecruitment in CISF wasunderway in Utai wherethe recruitment teamfound that the Biometric

Fingerprints andPhotographs of some can-didates were not matchingfrom the records providedby the RRC, CISF, Bhopal.Kurre complained thatsome impersonators wereappearing in place of theactual candidates in the re-cruitment process.

Newai Police Station im-mediately informed SPAbhishek Pallava,Additional Superintendentof Police (Rural) AnantSahu and SDOP (Patan)Devansh Singh Rathoreabout the matter. Takingthe matter into serious cog-nizance, the top cops ofDurg Police gave necessaryinstructions and guidanceto Newai Police Stationafter which an offence waslodged under Sections 419,420, 467, 468, 120B of IPC.

Police team conductedinvestigations and six im-personators were taken incustody. During interroga-tion, they confessed to havecommitted the crime. The

accused are identified as Chandrashekhar (20) son

of Bhavar Singh a residentof Ganesh Colony, Agra(UP); Shyam Veer SinghNishad (20) son of BansiLal a resident ofUmraypura, District Agra(UP); Mahendra Singh (19)son of Late Bhajan Lal aresident of Rampur,District Agra (UP); AjitSingh (19) Maharaj Singh aresident of AetmapurAjnera, District Agra (UP);Durgesh Singh Tomar (31)

son of Ramsiya Tomar aresident of Khand Kapra,District Morena (MP); andHariom (25) son of RamDutt a resident of Ramnari,District Agra (UP).

During sustained inter-rogation, the prime ac-cused Durgesh SinghTomar alias Brijesh aliasJhadi and Hariom revealedthat they had taken Rs 5each from some candidatesfor getting them recruitedin CISF. They cheated thegovernment departments

by preparing fake docu-ments and impersonatingcandidates at differentstages of the examination.The accused had broughtthe candidates to Bhilai ina rented Bolero car. Theyhad made fake documentsincluding domicile andaadhar cards for pretend-ing to be permanent resi-dents of Chhattisgarh. Thefake documents were recov-ered from the possession ofthe accused. The accusedwere produced before thecourt and have been sent tojail on judicial remand.

SDOP (Patan) DevanshSingh Rathore, InspectorNavi Monika Pandey (SHO,Utai), Sub-Inspector KLGaur, ASI RajkumarDeshmukh, ASIChandrashekhar Soni,Constable Surendra SinghChauhan, Akash Tiwari,Mahesh Dewangan,Dushyant Lahere, MukeshYadav, Amar Nayak andVijay Kurre played vitalrole in busting the gang.

Durg Police busts gang of ‘candidate impersonators’Ph D-RDC meeting to begin at Durg University from May 28


Bhilai, May 19:Hemchand YadavUniversity, Durg isabout to begin the PhDRDC meeting informedDr PrashantShrivastava, Dean,Student Welfare. Themeeting is to be heldfrom May 28 to June 24,2022.

Dr PrashantSrivastava who is alsothe incharge of thePhD cell further re-vealed that RDC will beheld for a total of 16subjects including mi-crobiology, biotechnolo-gy, zoology, botany,Hindi, education,chemistry, physics,home science, mathe-matics, psychology, po-litical science, sociolo-gy, history, economicsand commerce.

The RDC of thesesubjects as per thetimetable be held everyday at 11:00 hrs inTagore Hall located inthe university campus.The meeting will be at-tended by the Dean ofthat subject and thePresident of the Boardof Studies and an exter-nal expert.

The guide of the re-searcher can also bepresent at the RDC, butthe presence of re-search directors is notmandatory. It will bemandatory for the re-search scholars to sub-mit the application forthe RDC meeting latestby May 28 duly signedby the DRC membersand principal of the re-search center.

In accordance to theinformation issued bythe university, the re-

searchers have tobring all the necessarydocuments and 03copies of synopsis anda CD. The dates of thesubject wise meetingof RDC are as follows-Microbiology- May 25,Biotechnology- May 28,Zoology- May 30,Botany- May 30, Hindiin two batches on June03, and June 04 respec-tively, Education- in 4batches June 04, June05, June 11, June 12 re-spectively, Chemistry-June 07, Physics- June09, Home Science-June 10, Mathematics -June 18, Psychology-June 18, PoliticalScience- June 21,Sociology- June 21,History- June 22,Economics- June 22,commerce in twobatches on June 23.

Officials assist vision impaired person to get Aadhar Card

Seminar conducted on Bio-organicpreparations for sustainable agriculture


Bhilai, May 19: The PGDepartment of Microbiologyand Biotechnology of StThomas College organized aseminar on "Bio-organicpreparations development infarmer's field for sustainableagriculture in associationwith MoU Partner Farmlabs,Pune. The objective of thiswebinar was to provide stu-dents knowledge of organicfarming and preparation ofBiofertilizer.

Dr Santosh Chavan,Director, FarmlabLaboratory, Pune delivered aseminar on Bio-organic

preparations. He told in hisseminar that chemical fertil-izers are toxic to environ-ment and health. In his talkhe gave a good knowledgeabout different methods forproduction of Bio-organicpreparations. He also dis-cussed the journey of farmerfield from last 3 years. Hetold his experiences regard-ing preparation of biofertil-izers from starting till date.In the seminar Dr Santoshextended thanks to govern-ment for providing financialassistance and support forBio-organic preparations.The principal Dr MGRoymon congratulated all

staff members and said thatthe St Thomas College regu-larly organized this type ofprogramme for benefits ofthe students. This event wassupervised by Dr V Shanthi,Dr Ujjwala Supe, Dr ShubhaDiwan and Ekta Saxena,Faculties of Department ofMicrobiology andBiotechnology. ThisProgramme was conductedby Dr Anubhuti Jha,Assistant professor,Department ofBiotechnology, St ThomasCollege and vote of thankswas proposed by KathaSanyal, Post graduate stu-dent of the Department.

Volunteer based programme to be introducedfor improving standard of education


BBhhiillaaii,, MMaayy 1199:: Before the com-mencement of the new educationsession, the Education Departmentorganized a meeting of thePrincipals of Government HighSchool and Higher SecondarySchools, Development BlockEducation Officers, AssistantDevelopment Block EducationOfficers and Development BlockResource Coordinators at KhalsaPublic School in Durg in Thursday.

Collector Dr SarveshwarNarendra Bhure chaired the meet-ing. He congratulated the Principalsof 06 High Schools and 10 HigherSecondary Schools which achieved100% results in board examinationsand also appreciated the Principals

of schools having more than 90% re-sults. The Collector conducted indepth discussion on measures to im-prove the level of education and ad-vised the teachers to prepare thenecessary strategy for the new ses-sion. He advised the teachers to re-vise the previous class at the begin-ning of the session. He suggestedpreparing small modules so that thestudent can coordinate with thestudies as soon as possible. Duringthe meeting, the Collector informedthat the volunteer based pro-gramme will be launched soon in allthe schools of the district. Subjectexperts, tutors, people associatedwith coaching institutes, people as-

sociated with the field of educationand talented youth can also volun-teer in this programme. The objec-tive of this volunteer based pro-gramme is to further improve thelevel of education in the district. Itmust be the priority to re-establishcoordination between educationand children. Due to the Corona pe-riod, the last two years were not fa-vorable from the point of view of ed-ucation for the students. TheCollector said that efforts weremade to fill this gap of educationthrough online platforms. But theenvironment that can be created forchildren through schools cannot beachieved through online mediums.

Therefore, in the coming session,establishing the association of chil-dren with education should be thepriority. This session is also very im-portant for the teachers from thepoint of view of coordinating withthe students. On this occasion,District Education Officer AbhayJaiswal congratulated the principalsfor excellent results. He said that 33children who have secured positionsamong the top 10 will be honored.Before the commencement of thenew academic session, he gave in-structions for cleaning of theschools, necessary repair of toiletsand repair of the rain water harvest-ing system. He urged the principals

to add more and more children tothe Aarohan classes and ensure reg-ular attendance of teachers and stu-dents in the upcoming academicsession. He instructed the Principalsto conduct study - teaching system-atically. He informed that a newroadmap has been prepared by thedepartment for the new session ofeducation. In this system, monitor-ing of children, training and moni-toring of teachers will also be done.

Teachers must be proficient atthe level of linguistic skills so thatthe children can understand the re-lated subject in a better way.Teachers will increase coordinationwith children by answering oralquestions every day. Children will beassessed on the basis of concept.After identifying the master train-ers, training will be done as per therequirement of the teachers. Apartfrom this, he advised the publicityand cluster in-charges to be associ-ated with the teaching work so thatthe students can get better knowl-edge from their experience.

EducationDepartment chalksout roadmap for newacademic session

With abundance of well, no water crisis ever in this ward of BMC


BBhhiillaaii,, MMaayy 1199:: There is an areawithin Bhilai Municipal limits wherethere is no water crisis even duringsummer days. The reason is that al-most every house has a well. Thereare wells in the public places of theward too. As is known, well is theone of the biggest means of artifi-cial source of water recharge.Therefore, the area does not facewater crisis or there is never a needto supply water with the help oftankers.

The area is Shaheed VeerNarayan Singh Nagar, Ward 51 ofKhursipar zone area. The quantityof water in these wells is plentifuleven during summer. Many peopleof Shaheed Veer Narayan SinghNagar have been using this waterfor disposal and daily use sinceyears. Most of the wells have mud-room at the bottom, from which thewater gets purified.

It is noteworthy that MayorNeeraj Pal is very serious aboutdrinking water and is taking dailyfeedback regarding water supply in

all the wards of the corporation.Corporation Commissioner PrakashSurve who came to see the drinkingwater system, inspected theShaheed Veer Narayan Singh ward.He directed the officers to takewhatever steps are necessary forthe protection of such watersources.

The Municipal Commissionerhimself took out the water from thewell for testing the quality of thewater which was found pure andcool. The wells inside the houses ofsome people were also inspectedduring this period. The residentsthere told that most of the peoplehave a well in which water is avail-able according to the requirementand use this water for daily activi-ties. Giving information to the com-

missioner, Sanjay Bagde, ExecutiveEngineer of Khursipar zone of thecorporation, said that there wasnever a need for a tanker in thisward, the reason being that a largemedium of artificial water source ispresent in this ward area. Peopletold that 15 to 20 wells are built inthis ward, Although most people usedrinking water here only from thetap connection given by the corpo-ration, despite being such a bigward, the problem of water did notarise here. The people of this wardare supplied water from theKhursipar water tank. During the in-spection, Zone CommissionerAmitabh Sharma, AssistantEngineer Akhilesh Chandrakar,Deputy Engineers Nitesh Meshramand Basant Sahu were present.


LITCHI ON DEMAND

With mercury soaring high, the supply of Litchi, favourite of children and for all age-group is high on demand these days.


Sukma, May 19: ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelwhile addressing the pressconference held in Sukmasaid that The State govern-ment is constantly tryingto give Water, Forest, andland rights to tribals. Hefurther said that oneshould have faith in theConstitution of India andany tribal is welcome todiscuss his/her griev-ances.

CM Baghel said that alot has changed in Sukmaover the years. From beinga severely Naxal-hit re-

gion, Sukma has beentransformed and isequipped with public wel-fare facilities targeted atthe holistic developmentof the region in terms oftransportation, education,health, and nutrition. Theincome of the tribals is in-creasing through the pur-chase of minor forest pro-duce and other income-generating alternatives.The quantity of forest pro-duce procured is constant-ly increasing in the area.Ration shops are beingopened in the interiorareas, schools which wereclosed are being re-operat-ed. Sukma, from where

Naxalism had once start-ed, development has leftNaxalism far behind.

The villagers who wereearlier opposing securitycamps, today are demand-ing security camps.Cordial relations havebeen established betweenthe villagers and the secu-rity forces. Baghel saidthat genuine beneficiariesare receiving ForestRights Recognition letter,and on that land, theypractice income-generat-ing activities like farm-ing, animal husbandry,fisheries, poultry, etc. Theself-confidence of womenhas increased due to em-

ployment-oriented activi-ties in Gauthans which ismaking women financial-ly self-reliant.

Appreciating the initia-tive taken by the Sukmadistrict administrationfor organizing conven-ience camps, the ChiefMinister said that withthis unique initiative, theresidents of interior vil-lages are also gettingtheir Aadhaar, caste, andresidence certificates,and Ayushman cards.Caste certificates havebeen delivered to thehomes of more than 31thousand children in thedistrict.

State govt is constantly trying to passon benefits to tribals: Baghel

By providing water,forest and landrights

Residents of interi-or villages are alsoreceiving Aadhaar,caste, residencecertificates, andAyushman cards


Raipur, May 19: Thevoting for the post ofPresident in NagarPanchayat Chuikhadanwas held on Thursdayand in this the Congresscandidate TriptiMahobia won the post ofPresident with 9-6. In ad-dition to this in theGandai Nagar Panchayatalso held on Wednesday,the Congress candidatewon with 11 votes to 4. Soin both these places BJPhas to face defeat.

PCC state general sec-retary Amarjeet Chawlaexpressing happiness onthis victory said that it isunder leadership of PCC

Chief Mohan Markamthat we have been suc-ceeded in gettingCongress president inboth the Chuikhadanand Gandai NagarPanchayat.

It is notable here thaton arrival of observerShahid Khan inChuikhadan, he made aprediction that with twosuspended corporators ofBJP joining Congressfold, the party’sPresident from Congressis for sure and it gotproved as well.

In-Charge Rajnandgondistrict Arun Sisodiasaid that in the lastmonth’s VS by-poll, thepeople of Chuikhadanshowed confidence to-wards Congress.

He said that the town’sdevelopment works havecome a standstill overthe last two years andwith winning of

Congress candidate, itwill be speeded up.

It is worthwhile tomention here that CMBaghel had granted sanc-tion of Rs 3 cr for devel-opment works of NagarPanchayat.

It is worth mentioningthat in the no-confidencemotion moved last onMarch 7, the BJPPresident despite havingmajority got only 3 votesand after which thepolling was held here onThursday.

PCC spokesmanDhananjay Vermaopined that with victoryof Congress candidate inNagar Panchayat Gandaiand Chuikhadan it isaptly clear that the peo-ple are not only havingfull faith and confidenceCM Bhupesh Baghel’sleadership, but it is in-creasing with passing ofevery day.

Cong President wins postof President in

Chuikhadan, Gandaip Tripti Mahobia wins

with 3 votes fromChuikhadan NagarPanchayat

Raipur, May 19: The indef-inite strike-demonstrationof the employees union inPt Ravi Shankar ShuklaUniversity regarding the 10-point demands continuedfor the second consecutiveday on Thursday. Hundredsof employees raised slo-gans in the university cam-pus in support of their de-mands. Considering impactof the demonstration onuniversity functioningthroughout the day themanagement met the em-ployees’ delegation in theevening.

Assuring to fulfill theirdemands the managementasked them to end theirstrike. However, aggrievedover non-fulfillment of as-surances given by the man-agement earlier, the em-

ployees decided to end theirstrike this time only aftertheir demands are fulfilled.The employees have ac-cused the management ofpressurizing them to endthe strike. EmployeesUnion President ShravanSingh Thakur andSecretary Pradeep Mishrasaid employees would con-tinue to sit on dharna tilltheir demands are fulfilled.

As many as 50 employeeswho have been demoted inthe university have writtena letter to Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel. In this,they told that the universitymanagement demoted 50employees arbitrarily. Insuch a situation, the em-ployees have demanded ap-propriate action from theChief Minister.

Demonstration of university employeescontinues for 2nd day in a row


Raipur, May 19: On thedeath anniversary of ex-Prime Minister BharatRatna Late Shri RajivGandhi i.e. on May 21,2022, State Government’sPublic RelationsDepartment will organizea state-level photo exhibi-tion based on the develop-ment and achievements ofChhattisgarh in pastthree and a half years.This month-long exhibi-tion to be held in Raipurwill be focused on the pri-ority schemes ofC h h a t t i s g a r hGovernment.

Three and a half yearsback, ChhattisgarhGovernment had com-menced its work underthe leadership of Chief

Minister Mr. BhupeshBaghel with the resolve tobuild ‘NavaC h h a t t i s g a r h ’ .Meanwhile, the govern-ment formulated and im-plemented schemes keep-ing the interests of farm-ers, tribals, laborers andvillagers in its top priori-ty. Suraaji Gaon Yojana isbeing implemented totransform the villages ofChhattisgarh as perMahatma Gandhi’s visionof ‘Gram Swaraj’. Thisscheme has significantlystrengthened the ruraleconomy of the state.Rajiv Gandhi Kisan NyayYojana has been started toprovide farmers the fairvalue for their produceand hard work. The num-ber of minor forest pro-duce procured on supportprice has also been in-creased from 07 to 65,thereby providing a newsource of income to thetribals. Gauthans arebeing developed as therural industrial parks.

New avenues of employ-ment and income havebeen opened throughvalue addition of agricul-tural products inGauthans itself.

The photographs relat-ed to various schemes ofthe government depart-ments will be displayed inthe different segments ofthe state level exhibitionto be held at DeendayalUpadhyay Auditorium onFriday. The exhibitionwill be particularly basedon the priority schemessuch as Rajiv GandhiKisaan Nyay Yojana,Godhan Nyay Yojana,Chief Minister UrbanSlum Health Scheme, Dai-Didi Clinic Scheme, ChiefMinister Haat BazarClinic Scheme,Mukhyamantri SuposhanAbhiyan, SwamiAtmanand EnglishMedium School Scheme,Narva, Garva, Ghuruaand Bari, implementationof Forest Rights Act andothers.

State-level photo exhb onRajiv’s death anniv todayShowcasingachievements of Ch’garh in last 3.5 yrs

Raipur, May 19: Theschedule of entrance ex-aminations for admissionin nursing colleges ofChhattisgarh has been an-nounced. The examina-tion for admission to BScNursing will be held onJune 19 and the entranceexamination for admis-sion to MSc Nursing andPost Basic BSc Nursingwill be held on July 3.

Online applications arebeing accepted for theseexams. Following the deci-sion of Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, this timeno examination fee will becharged from domicilesfor these examinations.All the domicile studentsappearing in these exami-nations will be exemptedfrom paying the examina-tion fees. According to theinformation received fromthe ProfessionalExamination Board, the

last date to apply onlinefor BSc Nursing is 26 May.

The online applicationsfor the entrance exam inMSc and Post Basic BScNursing courses will beaccepted till May 29.Error-correction in the ap-plication forms for BScNursing entrance examcan be done from May 27to 29. Error-correction inthe application forms forMSc and Post BasicNursing entrance exami-nations can be done onlyfrom May 30 to June 1.Separate admit cards willbe issued for BSc Nursing,MSc and Post BasicNursing entrance exams.Detailed information onhow to apply online for en-trance examinations, en-trance examination rules,syllabus etc. has been up-loaded on website ofProfessional ExaminationBoard.

Process of admission innursing colleges begins

Raipur, May 19 :Chhattisgarh ProfessionalExamination Board(CGVYAPAM) is going toconduct Pre EngineeringTest (PET) between 9 amand 12:15 pm on May 22.Chhattisgarh PrePharmacy Test (CG PPHT)will be held on same day

between 2 pm and 5:15 pm.Both the examinationswill be conducted in 14centres in Raipur district.The Collector has appoint-ed Mukesh KumarKothari, Deputy Collectoras the nodal officer for thesmooth conduct of the ex-aminations.

Raipur, May 19: The fly-ing squad of town plan-ning department ofRaipur MunicipalC o r p o r a t i o nHeadquarters continuedits action against adver-tisement firms which havenot paid dues, for the sec-ond consecutive day onWednesday. The team toredown a large flex put up bythe defaulting advertisingfirm in front ofTelibandha Marine Drive.Two illegal mobile hoard-ings were also seized in ac-tion.

Acting on the instruc-tions of MunicipalCommissioner Prabhat

Malik and Town PlannerBR Agrawal, the team iscontinuously taking strictaction to recover the duesfrom the defaulting adver-tising firms. The townplanning flying squad toredown the large flex of 30 x30 size put up by M/sC o m p r e h e n s i v eAdvertising, located oppo-site Telibandha TalabMarine Drive in presenceof Vikas Sahu, DeputyEngineer, Town PlanningDepartment and told thefirm to clear dues as soonas possible. The flyingsquad also took strict ac-tion to seize two illegal mo-bile hoardings.

PET, PPhT on 22nd Mayin 14 centres

RMC tears large flex infront of Marine Drive

Raipur, May 19: TheExcise Department tookaction against those deliv-ering alcohol from hotels,dhabas and bars till latenight in the capital.Surprise inspection wascarried out in hotels anddhabas under the directionof Animesh Netam, ExciseDistrict Raipur. Actionwas taken under theExcise Act with arrest offour hotel operators onVIP Road for servingliquor without license.

On checking FL-3 bar,Royal Orchid in Pandri,Monu Bar Pandri,Shalimar Bar Hirapur,Gagan Bar Tatibandh,Madhuban Bar Raipurawere caught selling parcelliquor. Action was takenunder the Excise Act whenthe bar at SheetalInternational Hotel locatedon VIP Road was foundopen ever after specifiedtime in the night.Assistant District ExciseOfficer Neelam KiranSingh, Anil Mittal, GRAade, Excise Sub InspectorPankaj Kujur, NetramRajput were present.

Excise departmentraids six liquor barsp Alcohol delivery

in night

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Contractorsacross the state are united. Theconstruction material hasbecome so expensive that thereis huge difference in SOR andmarket value as a result contrac-tors are facing severe financialcrisis and going completely intodebt. In such a situation, they areneither in a position to completethe construction works nor willthey take part in any tenderprocess. Due to the steep hike inthe prices of construction materi-als about 50 to 60 percentincrease, they have taken such adecision, said Viresh Shukla,President, ChhattisgarhContractor’s Association whilespeaking to the scribes here.Viresh said that there has been adifference of about 60 percent in

the Schedule of Rate (SOR) of allthe construction departments ofChhattisgarh Government andthe market value of the material.He said that the guidelines,norms and SOR rates should besimilar in all the governmentdepartment dealing with con-struction sector. The associationhas demanded the difference inSOR and market value of con-struction materials should beminimised and to rethink on deci-sion of third party checking inPWD department and appoint-ment of Engineer for this pur-pose. He alleged that government

is not trusting the engineersworking in PWD. The online EMDand MPS deposit should be rolledback and security amount shouldbe deposited as FDR as prevailedearlier, as EMD and MPS refundamount are delayed by four tofive years. Association hasdemanded to implement GSTfrom July 2017 and release pend-ing payment. They also demandedto make certain construction itemroyalty free. The performanceguarantee of 10 years in WaterResources Department should bereduced to 5 years. In addition tothis the association has demanded

to roll back the 2010 SOR andimplement new SOR in WRD. Thetender should be invited includingGST tax.

He said that we have talks withgovernment officials next week.Along with this, time has also beensought to meet Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, so that the situa-tion which has arisen regardingthe construction works can beresolved. Due to costly construc-tion material, the pace of con-struction works in the state hascome to a complete halt. Alongwith this, now the contractor is notin a position to take tender, so theassociation has urged the govern-ment to solve the formidable prob-lem. The association has alreadyannounced to boycott the tenderprocess. With this, now no con-tractor in the state will fill the ten-der form online, nor will they willallow anyone to fill it. This decisionwas taken in the meetings of allthe district presidents of the asso-ciation.

CCA demands hike in SOR rates: Viresh Shuklap Announces to

boycott the tender ofall the constructiondepartments

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: ChhattisgarhRanji Trophy team managed toscore just 162 runs against thetotal of 320 scored by Punjab inthe practice match ahead of theofficial tournament.

After resuming the inningsfrom 242 for 6 wickets, thePunjab scored 320 runs in firstinnings. Rohan Taunk claimedmaximum 3 wickets forChhattisgarh whereas DeepakSingh Baghel and Mayank Yadavalso claimed two wickets eachfor the team. In reply, the visit-

ing Chhattisgarh could managejust 162 runs in first innings.Shubham Singh scored maxi-mum 45 runs for the teamwhereas Prateek Yadav alsoscored crucial 41 runs from just52 balls with the help of 7 foursand a six. Vinay Chaudhary wasthe most successful bowler forPunjab as he claimed four wick-ets whereas Preerit Dutta andAryan Dhaliwal also claimed twowickets each for the team torestrict the opposition for just162 runs.

Ch’garh concedes lead of158 runs against Punjab

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Shourya Manikfrom Chhattisgarh paired withDhruv Hirpra from Gujarat towin the All India Men’s 1 Lakh

prize money tournament beingorganized under the aegis ofAll India Tennis Association inLucknow.

They defeated the pair ofAbhinanshu Borathakur fromWest Bengal and Fradeen Mdwith the score of 6-4, 7-5 in thefinal match. Both of them hadearlier won the tournamentheld in Gujarat. ChhattisgarhState Tennis Association(CSTA) Office-bearers havecongratulated the players andextended best wishes for themin future.

Shourya pairs with Dhruv to winAll India Tennis tournament


Self and wife look after the cowdung every night: Manturam

Bijapur: Watchingover cow dung - whilethe idea of watchingover cow dung mightsound quite unusualand weird, it is true.Manturam, a residentfarmer of the districtBijapur’s Kutru,watches over cowdung. He told this tothe Chief Ministerduring the Bhent Mulaqat program held in Kutru vil-lage in the district Bijapur.

Manturam told the Chief Minister that he watchesover cow dung at night with the help of a torch andhis wife also assists him in this job. He said that hesells cow dung under the Godhan Nyay Scheme ofChhattisgarh. Manturam said that till now, he hassold about 14 thousand Kg. of cow dung at Rs. 28 thou-sand. According to him, earlier, people were not inter-ested in cow dung. However, now everyone has theireyes on it. A few days ago, some people had takenaway the cow dung that he had collected. After thisincident, he had decided that he would look after thecow dung every night along with his wife.

Devanti’s long-pending case of demarcation resolved

Bijapur: Taking immediate action on the instruc-tions of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Balrampur-Ramanujganj District administration ensured de-marcation of Devanti Yadav’s land in village Belasar.Devanti had requested CM Bhupesh Baghel to helpher with the demarcation of her land, during his visitto village Aragahi on May 5 under Bhent-MulaqatAbhiyan. Devanti Yadav had told that she bought thisland in year 2010, but demarcation of this land hasnot been done till date. In response, Chief Ministerhad directed district administration officials to en-sure the demarcation of Devanti Yadav’s land at theearliest.

The Administrative officials have acted upon theinstructions of Chief Minister and completed the de-marcation of the land owned by Devanti Yadav. She ishappy with the prompt action of the administrationand grateful to the Chief Minister for resolving herproblem.

CM Baghel dedicates 100 Devgudiya’sSukma: OnWednesday ChiefMinister BhupeshBaghel reachedChhindgarh inSukma district dur-ing ‘Bhent-MulaqatAbhiyan’. Chief

Minister Bhupesh Baghel prayed for the happinessand prosperity of the state’s people after having thedarshan of ‘Musariya Mata’ and offered prayer in thetraditional way. The Chief Minister dedicated 100Devgudiya’s of Sukma district in a programme or-ganized on the temple premises. The work of renova-tion and beautification of these Devgudiya’s, the epi-centres of tribal’s faith, has been done by theChhattisgarh government recently at a cost of Rs 5 crin compliance with the announcement of CMBhupesh Baghel.

The Chief Minister also performed ‘Bhoomipujan’of renovation and beautification work of twoDevgudiya’s on this occasion. The repair and paint-ing of both these Devgudiya’s will be done at a cost ofRs 10 lakh. The Chief Minister met with priests ofDevgudiya and gave them ‘dhoti’, ‘kurta’ and ‘pagdi’as a gift. The Chief Minister also planted a banyanplant on the premises of Musariya Mata Temple.

CM met with relatives of the Asst constables Sukma: On Wednesdayin Sukma, the relatives ofassistant constables metwith CM BhupeshBaghel. The relatives ofthe assistant constablesexpressed their gratitudeto the Chief Minister forannouncing the increase in their salary allowancesand the benefit of promotion.

It is worth mentioning that Chief Minister took adecision to form a District Security Force. It will givethe benefit of an increase in salary, allowances andpromotion to Assistant constables. A decision hasbeen taken to form a District Security Force in the in-terest of assistant constables who are making a sig-nificant contribution to the anti-Naxal campaign.

Provision has been made for the formation of theDistrict Security Force in this year’s budget. The chil-dren lovingly presented rose flowers to the ChiefMinister, then he blessed the children by giving themchocolates.

CM unveils the statue of Father of the Nation Sukma: OnWednesday, ChiefMinister BhupeshBaghel inaugurat-ed the ShaheedPark at Sukma dis-trict headquarters.On this occasion,he unveiled thestatue of Father ofthe NationMahatma Gandhi.

He inauguratedvarious develop-

mental works in Shaheed Park for Sukma MunicipalCouncil including Pauni Pasari Yojna worth Rs 25.53lakh for Ward No. 13 and Ward No. 15 each, ShaheedPark Upgradation work worth Rs 25 lakh, andMuktidham construction worth Rs 117.86 lakh inWard No. 13.

BHENT-MULAQAT NEWS IN BRIEF


Sukma, May 19: ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelmade several announce-ments in the public inter-est at the meet and greetprogramme organizedtoday at Chhindgarh inSukma district. The pro-gramme was held in themango orchard, where theChief Minister directly in-teracted with thousands ofvillagers in his humbleand simple style. Apartfrom taking informationfrom the people about thebenefits of governmentschemes and pro-

grammes, the ChiefMinister also heard theirgrievances. “I have comehere to meet you all. Thestate government is work-ing with utmost sensitivi-ty for the development ofremote inaccessible forestareas and for the welfareof people. Efforts arebeing made to bringchange in the lives of peo-ple living in remote areasthrough the developmentof basic facilities like edu-cation, health, transporta-tion, electricity, the cre-ation of employment op-portunities and self-re-

liance.During Jan Chaupal, on

people’s demand, Tongpalwill be upgraded as atehsil soon, Talnar andKikirpal High School willbe upgraded to HigherSecondary School, elec-tricity sub-station will bebuilt in Kukanar, approvalof high school inKanjipani, Ganjenar andGumma. An announce-ment has been made for a50-bed hospital inChhindgarh and also hassanctioned Rs.20 lakh forthe renovation ofMusariya Mata temple.

On this occasionIndustries MinisterKawasi Lakhma, MPDeepak Baij, DistrictPanchayat PresidentHarish Lakhma, ChiefSecretary Amitabh Jain,Secretary to ChiefMinister SiddharthKomal Singh Pardeshi, of-ficers of all departments,public representatives andvillagers were present.Baghel distributed theforestland rights recogni-tion certificates to benefi-ciaries and also congratu-late them.

The Chief Minister fur-

ther said that SwamiAtmanand EnglishMedium Schools have nowbeen started in DistrictHeadquarters as well as inBlocks and Tehsils so thatchildren belonging to vil-lages can get free educa-tion in English mediumtoo. It is really a pleasantfeeling to hear students ofSwami Atmanand Schooltalking in English. He saidthat daughters of theSukma district are takinga place in merit. Last yeara daughter fromDantewada was selectedfor IAS, now more chil-dren are getting selected.

He added that employ-ment opportunities havebeen created in the vil-lages with the integrationof Gauthan and GodhanNyay Yojana.

Villagers are now grad-ually becoming financial-ly self-sufficient. He saidthat the villagers will gen-erate electricity inGauthans and sell it, this

is a sign of rapid develop-ment in Chhattisgarh. Hesaid that we have given anamount of Rs 12290 croreto the farmers of the statein the last two years underthe Rajiv Gandhi KisanNyay Yojana. This year,the amount of Rs 1700crores of the first install-ment of Rajiv GandhiNyay Yojana will be dis-tributed again to the farm-ers on May 21.

In the meet and greetprogramme, the villagersthanked Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel for start-ing the Suraji GaonYojana Narva, Garuwa,Ghuruwa, Bari develop-ment programme sayingthat positive changes havebeen witnessed in therural areas due to theirprotection and promotion.On this occasion, theChief Minister directedthe officers to get the eyetreatment of the visuallyimpaired MadiyamMukka done in Raipur.

CM announces tehsil status to TongpalTalnar and KikirpalHigh School will beupgraded to HigherSecondary School

CM makes severalannouncements forChhindgarh

Raipur, May 19: Underthe chairmanship of ChiefSecretary, Amitabh Jain,the works of Panchayatand Rural DevelopmentDepartment were re-viewed in detail atMantralaya MahanadiBhawan here. In the meet-ing, the Chief Secretarygave instructions to in-crease the average man-day in Mahatma GandhiEmployment GuaranteeScheme. In the meeting, hethoroughly reviewed theprogress of works beingdone under convergencewith the schemes of fish-eries, agriculture, irriga-tion, horticulture, villageindustries and forest de-partments. The ChiefSecretary directed the offi-cers to include maximumworks of MNREGA andconvergence of schemes ofvarious departments. Inthe meeting, the worksdone under NarvaDevelopment Programme,Rural Livelihood Missionand Sanitation Mission in-cluding Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana and otherschemes of Rural

Development Departmentwere reviewed. AdditionalChief Secretary to ChiefMinister Mr. Subrat Sahooand Additional ChiefSecretary, Panchayat andRural DevelopmentDepartment Mrs. RenuPillay attended the meet-ing. The Chief Secretarydirected the officers thatwomen self-help groupshave been added under theRural Livelihood Missionand regularly monitor thesuccess of their works. Hetalked about encouragingwomen self-help groupsworking in Gauthans andmaking them financiallycapable by providing fi-nancial support. It wastold in the meeting that atotal of 28,248 drains havebeen selected for treat-ment after conducting asurvey in the state underNarva Development,Mahatma Gandhi MNRE-GA. Approval has beengiven for the treatment of9541 541 Narva and thetreatment works are beingdone expeditiously.Officials said that afterNarva treatment, the

ground water level hasincreased in variousareas of the state. Duringthe review of the cleanli-ness mission, the ChiefSecretary also directedthe officers to monitorthe utilization of com-munity and individualtoilets constructed underthe mission. He directedto ensure regular check-ing of the quality ofroads under construc-tion under PradhanMantri Gramin SadakYojna andMukhyamantri GraminSadak Yojna and com-plete the incompleteworks at the earliest.

In the meeting, thework being done by vari-ous departments underPradhan Mantri AwasYojana and MahatmaGandhi EmploymentGuarantee was reviewedin detail. In the meeting,Secretary, Panchayat andRural DevelopmentDepartment, PrasannaR. including nodal offi-cers of various schemesunder rural developmentschemes were present.

More and more works should beapproved through convergence: CSp CS reviewed the

works of Panchayatand RuralDevelopmentDepartment

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: A 21-daytraining camp ‘Aakar’ will beorganised by the CultureDepartment from May 23 onthe traditional crafts and artsof Chhattisgarh. This trainingcamp will continue till June 13.The training program is beingdone in two shifts from 07 to09 in the morning and from 05to 07 in the evening at MahantGhasidas Memorial MuseumComplex Civil Line, Raipur. Itis worth mentioning that theState Government is organis-ing Aakar program every yearfor the purpose of preservingand promoting the traditionalart and various dimensions ofChhattisgarh and for wide

publicity and to awaken inter-est among the people.Officials of the Department ofCulture informed here thattrainees desirous of takingtraining in traditional arts canget training by depositing theregistration fee of Rs 100 inthe office.

Disabled and orphanagetrainees will be exemptedfrom training fee. Trainees willbe given training inMadhubani Art, Painting,Rajwar Murti, Natak, JapanPaper Cutting, Clay Art, ParaArt, Glass Painting, Dry FlowerMaking, Paddy JeweleryMaking, Jute Shillya, FolkDance and Bonsai etc. An exhi-

bition of musical instrumentswill be organized in the camp.

For detailed informationrelated to the training camp,Culture and Archaeology,Mahant Ghasidas MemorialMuseum Complex, Raipur canbe obtained from CultureBranch during office hours orDepartmental E-mail :[email protected] andcan also view website-www.cgculture.in. After thetraining, the art made by thetrainees will be displayed inthe campus on the concludingday and a certificate will alsobe given. The guidelines ofCovid-19 will be taken care ofin the said event.

21-day training camp organised on traditional crafts from May 23


Raipur, May 19: The ViceChancellor of IndiraGandhi AgriculturalUniversity, Dr. GirishChandel has called uponthe agricultural scientiststo do research keeping inmind the needs and de-mands of national and in-ternational markets ac-cording to the changingglobal environment. Hesaid that such varieties ofdifferent crops should bedeveloped which are inhigh demand among thefarmers. Along with this,emphasis should be givento reduce the cost of culti-vation and increase the in-come of the farmer. Dr.Chandel was addressingthe scientists involved invarious agricultural re-search projects in themeeting hall of the Collegeof Agriculture, Raipur,here. Dr. Chandel stressedon getting the benefits ofcentral and state spon-sored schemes in agricul-tural research. Vice-

Chancellor Dr. Chandelalso inaugurated the reno-vated meeting room ofAgriculture College,Raipur on this occasion.Addressing the agricultur-al scientists, ViceChancellor Dr. Chandelsaid that today there aremany challenges in thefield of agriculture in thecountry, which mainly in-clude changing weatherpatterns, increasing costof farming, low productiv-ity and high risk. He saidthat agricultural scien-tists should tackle thesechallenges and do re-search work to increaseagricultural productionand productivity and in-crease the income offarmers. He said thatsuch varieties of cropsshould be developedwhich are capable ofwithstanding the dispari-

ties of weather and capa-ble of giving more pro-duction. He said thatyoung scientists shouldbe encouraged to patenttheir research and prod-ucts. Dr. Chandel said thatthe seeds produced by theuniversity would be soldto the farmers and in theopen market under thename “Indira Beej”. Inthe beginning of themeeting, DirectorResearch Dr. VivekTripathi, while giving in-formation about the re-search works conductedin the AgriculturalUniversity, said that 5 in-ternational research proj-ects and 42 all India coor-dinated research projectsare being conductedthrough 18 research cen-ters located in the univer-sity. Along with this, 176projects are being imple-

mented at the universitylevel. About 150 species of36 different crops havebeen developed by theUniversity so far. Morethan 100 innovative farm-ing techniques have beendeveloped by the universi-ty for the farmers.Director ExtensionServices Dr. P.K.Chandrakar informedabout the extension activi-ties conducted by the uni-versity. The Dean ofAgriculture College,Raipur, Dr. M.P. Thakurgave welcome address andvote of thanks. On this oc-casion the Dean ofAgricultural EngineeringCollege, Dr. Vinay Pandey,the Dean of FoodTechnology College, Dr.M.P. Tripathi, heads of de-partments, professors andscientists of various de-partments were present.

Do research keeping in mind the int’nlmarket demands: Dr Chandel

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Samsung, onThursday inaugurated its flag-ship global citizenship programSamsung Smart School atJawahar NavodayaVidyalaya(JNV) school in Raipur, provid-ing digital learning opportuni-ties to students and helpingimprove their learning abilities.Samsung is also training teach-ers of the school to enhancetheir interactive teaching methods.

The Samsung Smart Schoolprogram aims to create youngleaders of tomorrow by givingless-privileged students in Indiaaccess to the benefits of digitaleducation and its own transfor-mative innovations underSamsung’s vision of ‘Togetherfor Tomorrow! EnablingPeople’. As part of the pro-gram, students of JNV Raipurwill experience the latest digitallearning infrastructure at thetwo smart classrooms thatSamsung has set up in the

school. In the classrooms, an85-inch Samsung Flip interac-tive digital board replaces thetraditional blackboard, makingit a more exciting and fun learn-ing environment for students.Students can use the secondSamsung Flip (55-inch) to par-ticipate in lectures, quizzes,classwork and project work andthe 40 Samsung Galaxy Tabs ineach classroom for self-study.In addition, the classrooms alsohave a printer, a server PC, atablet charging station, andpower backup. At an event heldwith the students of JNV Raipur,the new Samsung Smart Schoolwas inaugurated by SourabhKumar, District Collector andVMC Chairman, Raipur, BCSahu, Additional DistrictMagistrate, Raipur, Ms.ShailajaPathania, ChiefManager, CSR, Samsung Indiaand Subhash Mahobia,Principal, JawaharNavodayaVidyalaya, Raipur.

AgricultureUniversity ViceChancellor callsupon agriculturalscientists

JNV strengthens digital learningfor students and teachers

BBiijjaappuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Meet thisbrave-heart tribal woman RitaMandavi, who is dischargingher duties as Sarpanch ofAddavali gram Panchayat ofBijapur district, defying Maoistthreat. Her husbandGhanshyam Mandavi was killedby Maoists a few months ago.He gave an active contributionin making people aware oftheir rights and promoting theschemes of state governmentin the tribal community.

The Maoists killedGhanshyam to keep the vil-lagers cut off from the main-stream of the society. Themove aimed to discourage vil-

lagers, tribal community andGhanshyam’s family frombringing a positive change intheir area. However, Rita didnot give into the stronghold ofMaoist fear and instead ofbeing discouraged after thedeath of her husband; she grewmore confident and stronger.

Rita, along with her 4-year-

old son and 2-year-old daugh-ter indulged in the same workthat she used to do with herdeceased husband, makingpeople aware and publicizevarious welfare schemes of thestate government. This is notit! Rita, belonging toParticularly Vulnerable TribalGroup (PVTG) Muria, spendsthe honorarium received asSarpanch for the welfare ofpeople of her village.

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has provided financialassistance of Rs 5 lakh to RitaMandavi, a victim of Naxal-vio-lence, during his visit to Kutruarea.

Rita spends honorarium received asSarpanch for welfare of villagers


Dhamtrai, May 19: Withincreasing need of powersupply there are also re-ports of increase in powerthefts, which has in turnincreased the challengesbefore the electricity de-partment and installmentof smart meters is beingconsidered the best of op-tion to handle the situa-tion, by both the alert citi-zens and the Department.

Smart meters, trackpower theft and keep avigil on meter readings tooand manual alteration ofthe reading is not possiblein the smart meters, whichhave found its place inmost of the two and threetier cities of the country.

The district has a powerconsumption of 10 lakhmegawatts, with con-sumers near to 2 lakhs anas per information, many

consumers are vary ofpaying the electricity bills,mounting to the chal-lenges of the departmentin both extracting the billsand stop power theft beingdone by meter obstruc-tions.


DCCB Medha branchoffice inaugurated


Medha, May 19: ThePresident of District Co-opCentral Bank (DCCB)Rajnandgaon Navaz Bhaiinaugurated the newbranch of DCCB in GramMedha here on Wednesdayas the chief guest. It waschaired by DistrictPanchayat memberPrabha Sahu and special

guests on the occasionwere Janpad V-PNarendra Verma, CEODCCB Sunil Verma,NABARD officers and offi-cers and employees ofDCCB Lal Bahadur Nagar,sarpanch Rohit Mandavi,noted citizens of the vil-lage and farmer and socie-ty managers from around18 villages nearby andMudhpar KolihapuriRankathre SocietyPresident and farmers ofnearby areas. On this occa-sion all the Congress party

workers, villagers, ruralfarmers viz. AshwiniKhare, President GauthanSamiti Medha, OmkarPrasad Yadav Gram Patel,Nand Kishore Sahu,Janak Sinha, Dev LalSahu, Komal Dewangan,Shiv Lal Sinha, JeewanNirmalkar, ShankarDewangan, Shabir Ali,Sada Ram Kanwar, RamKripal Kanwar, ManojMarkam, SunderMandavi, BhupendraSahu, Umesh Jain and oth-ers were present.

BEO felicitates Humeshwari visiting her residenceCentral Chronicle News

Dongargarh, May 19:Having passed the Class10th Board exam ofCGBSE 2022 with flyingcolours, the Class 10th stu-dent Humeshwari Verma,D/o Ram Verma was felici-tated at the hands of BEOby visiting her residence.The girl had secured95.66% marks in the Class10th Board exam and isstudying in Govt HighSchool in forest area ofGram Bagrekasa ofDongargarh block.

Lecturer of the SchoolManish Pashine informedthat student Humeshwariis talented student rightsince beginning and be-longs to a common family.Her father Salik RamVerma works as mason. Inthe Class 10th, she secured95.66% marks and toppedin the Dongargarh blockand secured 10th place inthe District. So on the suc-cess of this girl, BEOFatelal Kosaria, Principal

of School BagrekasaBedram Oti, NareshVerma and RajendraThakur went to the houseof Humeshwari inPitepani and felicitatedher by applying 'gulal' andoffering her sweets andpresenting her a flowerbouquet and a pen. They

also felicitated her motherand father and extendedgreetings to both of them.

Humeshwari passed onthe credit of her achieve-ment to all her teachers,parents and elder brotherfor their valuable guid-ance, based upon whichshe was able to prepare for

her exams. PrincipalBedram Oti and senior lec-turer Manish Pashine,Naresh Verma assured ofof provided due guidanceand support for furtherstudies as well.

Humeshwari informedthat she wants to becomean administrative officer

and wants to serve the so-ciety and the country. Sheinformed that she studiesapart from doing all house-hold jobs and studies bymaking a fixed time-table.She also said that it hashurt a lot to have failed tosecure berth in the top tenwith just 7 marks.

And to make-up thesame and achieve betterresult, she has startedpreparing for the Class12th from now itself. Onthis occasion all the vil-lagers, viz. teacherYogendra Netam, BaratuRawat, Anil Sharma, SNisha, Amina Tirki, NituPatel, LikheshwariMithilesh, GurucharanSahu, RikhiChandravanshi, SunderChandravanshi, RupendraKorram, Kusum LataChandravanshi, SarojChakradhari, NeelkanthRajankar, Anand Verma,Sanjay Katlam and othersextended greetings andbest wishes to her in allher future endeavours.

p At the hands ofPresident DCCB R’gaon

Has topped in Class 10th in the block and district with 95.66% marks


Jagdalpur, May 19: Inthe inspection of sanc-tioned 'Aawarti CharaiVikas Yojana' in GramPanchayat Jaibal underKarpawad Forest circleof District in 2020-21,DFO Bastar found thatRanger Ramdutt Nagarhas not work as per thestandards laid. Not onlythis, he also showedcarelessness in his work.

So it is for derelictionof his duties, DFOBastar circle taking dis-

ciplinary action againsthim suspendedRamdutt Nagar, RangerCircle officerKarapawand (general)and guilty of violationof rule NO. 3 ofChhattisgarh CivilServices (Conduct) Act1965.

During the suspen-sion period, Ramduttwill be attached to SDO'sHead office in Jagdalpurcircle and would contin-ue to get 'jeewan nirvah'allowance as per therules.

Ranger suspended for dereliction of duties

Installment of smartmeter on cards

What officer says"Many from the general

public have opined that, theinstallation of smart metercan further decrease powertheft and also keep a trackon meter reading and moni-toring. Alike metro cities,pre paid smart meter in-stallment is under consider-ation. But the scheme is yetto get permission from theGovernment."

-- VViivveekk SShhaarrmmaa EE Electricity Department.

Power and crusherplant of AmberPower sealed

Jagdalpur, May 19: Themines allocations given onlease in Pipalawand area ofBastar Tehsil were examinedand in this the mine by lease-holder Amber Pawar wasfound to be operated in viola-tion of 'Chhattisgarh GaunKhanij Niyamavali' and sealedhis crusher unit and powerunit. In addition to this theowners of other four crusherplants in Pipalawand areawere issued show-cause noticeon charges of violation oflease-terms & conditions.

YOGA COUNTDOWN PROGRAM

Women employees perform yoga during a countdown program for International Day of Yoga 2022, in New Delhi, Thursday

Priyanka Chaturvedi: India’s Majoritarian Turn Hurts Its DemocracyBlog Post by ManjariChatterjee Miller andZoe Jordan

This interview withPriyanka Chaturvedi

is part of the Asia pro-gram’s Women YouShould Know in IndiaProject, produced bySenior Fellow ManjariChatterjee Miller andResearch Associate ZoeJordan, featuring influen-tial women in India’s po-litical, economic, techno-logical, and social fieldswhose work matters forthe U.S.-India bilateral re-lationship and India’s re-lationship with the world.

Priyanka Chaturvedi isa politician and the RajyaSabha Member ofParliament from the ShivSena party in the Indianstate of Maharashtra. Sheis also the Deputy Leaderand NationalSpokesperson of the ShivSena. She currentlyserves on the StandingCommittee on Transport,Tourism and Culture, theConsultative Committeeon External Affairs, andthe Committee on WomenEmpowerment. She is aregular contributor onIndian television chan-nels on Indian politics.She also serves on the ad-visory board of FemmeFirst Foundation, awomen’s advocacy group,and the Kautilya School ofPublic Policy, inHyderabad.

Ms. Chaturvedi, whobegan her political careerin the Congress Party andswitched to the Shiv Senain 2019, has significant so-cial media presence, anduses her clout to both,criticize the rulingBharatiya Janata Partyand push her opinions onpolitical issues including,most recently, the status ofIndian students in

Ukraine.What do audiences in

the United States com-monly misunderstandabout India’s politicalsystem?

The Indian political sys-tem is an amalgamationof socio-cultural charac-teristics representing thediversity of our country.There are states with mul-tiple languages and di-alects, their own culture,and norms. Karnataka,for example, is very differ-ent from my stateMaharashtra which againis different from UttarPradesh. So what thismeans is regional identityis very strong and diversein India, and the aspira-tions and priorities of thestates are equally differ-ent. I see India, which hasmany states that are equalin size to countries inEurope, as similar to theEuropean Union, wheremultiple diverse statescome together.

Instead of a two-partysystem, India has multi-ple parties reflecting thediversity of the union ofstates—just as we havemultiple gods we pray to,we have multiple partiesfor voters to choose from!Americans need to under-stand that identity plays acrucial role in India’s poli-tics and not everything isgoverned by the party sit-ting at the center. When avoter comes out to vote,they could very well votefor one political party atthe center and a differentregional party at the statelevel.

However, there aresome challenges todemocracy in India—there is a huge and grow-ing disconnect betweenthe central government inNew Delhi, and state gov-ernments. On one hand,

increasingly, many statesare being run by regionalparties that are strong intheir political spaces. But,on the other, at the centerthey are unable to holdthe central governmentaccountable. So yes, theseare turbulent times. Theonly way forward forIndia is to have an inclu-sive mindset becausewhile we are united by theidea of India, we are alsoextremely diverse in howwe practice identity,whether it’s our language,religion, or culture.

What are the mostconsequential factors innational or local poli-tics that you think willplay a role in India’s re-lationship with theUnited States or worldin the next 3-5 years?

India and the UnitedStates share the most fun-damental principle ofgovernance: democraticvalues. One is looked asthe biggest democracy inthe world while the otheris the oldest democracy inthe world. India’s diversi-ty means there is no otherway it can progress if itdoes not have a democra-cy which holds politicalparties to account.Democratic norms pro-tect women, the youth,and minorities. The gov-ernment today is, howev-

er, tilting toward majori-tarianism, and undermin-ing constitutional safe-guards and democraticprinciples. But Indiancivil society is pushingback. India has to contin-ue to look within to im-prove, and that can hap-pen through a strong op-position [party].

Given the turbulenttimes we live in, it is im-portant for India and theUnited States to form analliance to promote theidea of democracy global-ly. This does not mean in-terfering in sovereign in-ternal affairs but workingto ensure democraticstandards are met. I feelstrongly about this be-cause I see strong benefitsthat emerge from democ-racy—equity, inclusivityand freedoms.

I think conversationand collaboration be-tween us on core issues—such as climate change,emerging technologies,defense and opportunitiesfor the youth—should bethe focus in the next 3-5years. There are a lot ofgrowing synergies be-tween the United Statesand India, and historicalhesitations should notstop us from taking a leapof faith and bettering ourrelationship with theUnited States.

What inspired you topursue your careerpath? How does yourpersonal backgroundinform your work?

I was born and broughtup in Mumbai, where Ihad a diverse set of neigh-b o r s — G u a j a r a t i ,Marwari, Marathi, andothers—and this con-tributed to my conceptionof what India is and howinclusive its story can be.We celebrate different fes-tivals, call them by differ-ent names, but that diver-sity was central to my up-bringing and outlook.

My political turningpoint was the November2008 terror attack inMumbai. I could not stopthinking about those wholost their lives, the oneswho were the sole bread-winners of the house. Iwitnessed the entire citystunned, silenced, andshocked, with families los-ing their loved ones. Thatis when a group of womenbloggers came together tohelp affected families. Iused to actively blog and Ijoined a group effort tohelp thirteen families.

During my initial yearsin politics, my family wasworried about putting asignificant amount of theproductive years of mylife into something so un-predictable. Starting thiscareer path with youngchildren was also a chal-lenge. However, I persist-ed and with the support ofmy family, I continued onmy political journey.

Can you speak to thestatus of women in thework that you do?

I believe that politics isa space that empowerswomen and makes themcontribute towards nationbuilding through theirideas for strengtheningtheir nation. I think we

have forgotten that whenthe Constitution was writ-ten, women were madeequal citizens. Despitemany barriers, I wouldsay that there is no bettertime than now for womento enter the political sys-tem. Yes, I do face atremendous amount oftrolling, hate, sometimesthreats doled out to me[on social media] on a reg-ular basis. But that is al-right. I always tell womenthat to be heard and tohave a political voice is ex-tremely important. Youdon’t just make your votecount, you have to makeyour opinion count.Women need to speak upas a collective voice tomake substantial changeson the ground.

My firm belief in ad-vancing the political rep-resentation of women ledme to start an initiativecalled Project Pratham Ti,which aims to enable andempower young women tounderstand the nuancesof Indian polity and poli-cy.

When you look at therole of India in theworld today what con-cerns you most orbrings you hope? Whatare the most pressingpriorities for you andyour colleagues on theConsultative Committeeon External Affairs?

As a member of a re-gional party, I see an in-creasingly majoritarianidea that everything inIndia should be thesame—for example, weshould be speaking thesame language, or eatingthe same food, or the ideaof one tax[1]—which isfast becoming a source ofcontention between cen-ter and the state and Ithink, this is not howIndia truly is. When

Prime Minister Moditalks of VasudhaivaKutumbakan—a Sanskritphrase meaning theworld is one large fami-ly—this concept is notnew to India, it is embed-ded in our very culture.But one family, a singlefamily, could have fivemembers with five differ-ent personalities and as-pirations. Respectingthose personalities ratherthan trying to tell themthe only way to live as afamily unit is our way,and the rest can take thehighway, is not right.

India also has some na-tional security chal-lenges. India faces a prob-lem with China andPakistan. These twocountries converging to-gether to challenge Indiafrom the east and west issomething that Indiaworries about. India isalso trying to avoid thekind of conflict we areseeing in Ukraine. As acountry which talksabout inclusiveness,peace, and nonviolence,India needs to remindglobal leaders with toomuch authority that theirconcerns need to be re-solved through dialogue.This is a chance for Indiato take a stance.

On many criticaltransnational issues,India has been walkingthe talk. Despite being adeveloping country, wehave been setting targetsand creating models forother countries to pursuegreener policies. I believenow more than ever, dia-logues rather than denialon global issues such asclimate change is para-mount. Today, nationsworldwide are intercon-nected, and thus anychange in the status quoaffects all.

Heavy rains continue in Kerala,Orange alert in 12 districts

Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 (PTI):

The IndiaM e t e o r o l o g i c a lDepartment (IMD) onThursday issued anOrange alert in 12 districtsof Kerala for the day as thestate continued to receiveheavy rainfall.

The IMD issued anOrange alert in all the dis-tricts of Kerala except forThiruvananthapuram andKollam for Thursday.

The Kerala StateDisaster ManagementAuthority said cycloniccirculation over northernTamil Nadu and adjoiningareas would lead to isolat-ed very heavy rainfall inseveral parts of the south-ern state. The CentralM e t e o r o l o g i c a lDepartment, onWednesday, had predicted

isolated heavy and veryheavy rainfall in the statefor the next 2 days andheavy rainfall for the twodays after that.

Kerala has been experi-encing heavy rainfall forthe past few days and ithas disrupted normal lifein certain places of thestate.

Considering the heavyrains and to be better pre-pared for the early onset ofmonsoon in the state,Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan had aday ago issued a slew of di-rections to ensure that theauthorities were preparedto handle problems likelandslides and flooding.

Some of the instruc-tions issued by the CMwere — local bodies to pre-pare a list of disaster-prone areas in their juris-

dictions and provide thesame to the authoritiesconcerned like police andfire services, ensure reliefcamps with adequate facil-ities are in place for evacu-ating people and desiltingof gutters and rivers.

The National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF)has already deployed fiveteams to Kerala.

A red alert indicatesheavy to extremely heavyrains of over 20 cm in 24hours, while orange alertmeans very heavy rainsfrom 6 cm to 20 cm of rain.A yellow alert meansheavy rainfall between 6 to11 cm.

The State DisasterManagement Authority(SDMA) has asked peopleto stay away from riversand other water bodiesuntil the rains subside.


BRIEF

Minor girl gangrapedi New Delhi: Days

after a 13-year-old girlwas reported missingfrom her home inSouth Delhi, she wasfinally rescued fromoutside Saket Metrostation after she wasallegedly kidnapped,gangraped and laterabandoned in Tigriarea, police said onWednesday. Threemen were arrestedand a juvenile hasbeen apprehended inconnection with theincident, a senior po-lice official said. Thethree arrested ac-cused have been iden-tified as Mohit (20),Aakash (19),Shahrukh (20). All ofthem along with thejuvenile have beenbooked under sectionsof kidnapping, gan-grape of minor,wrongful confine-ment, criminal con-spiracy and under thePOCSO Act, policesaid.

Aluminium parki Bhubaneswar: The

Odisha governmentWednesday made abudgetary provisionof Rs 428.95 crore fordevelopment of amega aluminiumpark in Angul. The de-cision in this regardwas taken at a statecabinet meetingchaired by ChiefMinister NaveenPatnaik here. It alsoapproved a newscheme - FinancialAssistance forDevelopment of MegaAluminium Park atAngul, along with thebudgetary support forIDCO (OdishaIndustrialInfrastructureDevelopmentCorporation), the im-plementing agency.The project will be im-plemented during theperiod from 2021-22 to2023-24, ChiefSecretary S CMohapatra told re-porters here.

COVID-19 cases dip i New Delhi: India

added 2,364 new coron-avirus infections tak-ing the total tally ofCOVID-19 cases to4,31,29,563, while the ac-tive cases declined to15,419, according to theUnion Health Ministrydata updated onThursday. The deathtoll climbed to 5,24,303with 10 fresh fatalities,the data updated at 8am stated. The activecases comprise 0.04 percent of the total infec-tions, while the nation-al COVID-19 recoveryrate was recorded at98.75 per cent, the min-istry said. A decrease of228 cases has beenrecorded in the activeCOVID-19 caseload in aspan of 24 hours.

Temperature i New Delhi: The na-

tional capital wit-nessed a warmThursday morning asthe minimum temper-ature of the day wasrecorded at 27.5 de-grees Celsius, onenotch above normal.The weather officepredicted a clear sky.There will be mainlyclear sky on Thursdayand the maximumtemperature of theday will hover around42 degrees Celsius, anofficial of the IndiaMeteorologicalDepartment (IMD)said. The maximumtemperature onWednesday had set-tled at 40.6 degreesCelsius, normal forthis time of the sea-son. Delhi had record-ed a maximum tem-perature of 45.6 de-grees Celsius, thehighest this year sofar, on Sunday.

Guwahati/Itanagar/Agartala, May 18 (PTI): The floodsituation in Assam deterio-rated on Wednesday with thenumber of affected increas-ing to 6.62 lakh in 27 districtsand the toll rising to ninewith one more person losinghis life in Darrang district,an official bulletin said.Assam State DisasterManagement Authority saidthat at present 1413 villagesare under water and Nagaonis the worst hit districtwhere 2.88 lakh people arereeling under the calamity.In Cachar nearly 1.2 lakhpeople ands in Hojai more

than 1.07 lakh people were af-fected, it said.

The other affected dis-tricts are Bajali, Baksa,Barpeta, Biswanath,Bongaigaon, Charaideo,Darrang, Dhemaji,Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao,Goalpara, Hailakandi,Kamrup, KamrupMetropolitan, KarbiAnglong West, Karimganj,Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur,Majuli, Morigaon, Nalbari,Sonitpur, Tamulpur andUdalguri. ASDMA said46160.43 hectares of croparea have been inundated inthe current wave of flood

and massive erosion wasseen in Barpeta,Bongaigaon, Charaideo,Chirang, Darrang, Dhubri,Dibrugarh, KamrupMetropolitan, Nalbari,Sivasagar, Sonitpur,Tamulpur, Tinsukia andUdalguri districts.

Authorities are running248 relief camps and distri-bution centres in 14 districts,where 48,304 people, includ-ing 6,911 children, havetaken refuge. They have havedistributed 2,264.22 quintalsof rice, dal and salt, 5,977.48litres of mustard oil, 2,393.84quintals of cattle feed andother flood relief items. itsaid. .Till Tuesday over 4.03lakh people were affected inthe deluge across 26 districtsin the state. The bulletin stat-ed that the Army, paramili-tary force, NDRF, SDRF, civiladministration, trained vol-unteers, fire and emergencyservices and local peoplehave evacuated 8,066 personsfrom various flood-hit partsof the state by deployingboats and helicopters.

Flood condition worsens in Assam,landlsides in Arunachal

JJhhaarrggrraamm ((WWBB)),, MMaayy 1199((PPTTII)):: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeehas asserted that Jhargramdistrict was free of Maoists,and that some people weretrying to create panic in thearea by putting up handwrit-ten posters with mention ofthe ultras. Posters withnames of Maoists had recent-ly surfaced at several placesin Jangalmahal’, where left-wing extremists were once

active. Jhargram is part of theregion. “Some people havebeen putting up hand-writtenposters and claiming that itwas done by Maoists,”Banerjee said at an adminis-trative review meeting hereon Wednesday. “It is anattempt to create panic byposting pictures of theseposters on social media. Keepan eye on the internetbecause there are good aswell as bad people in it,” shetold the police.

The chief minister said shehas herself examined theauthenticity of the postersand found that there was notruth in the stickers.

“There has been a continu-ous campaign and I think itmust be investigated,Banerjee said.

Jhargram free of Maoists, recentposters handiwork of some to

create panic: Mamata Aurangabad, May 19 (PTI):

The ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI) hasshut Mughal emperorAurangzeb’s tomb here inMaharashtra for five daysafter a mosque committeein the area tried to lock theplace, an official said onThursday. Two days ago,MNS spokespersonGajanan Kale had in a tweetquestioned the need for themonument’s existence inthe state and said it shouldbe destroyed.

Later, a mosque commit-tee in Aurangabad’sKhultabad area, where thetomb is located, tried to lockthe monument, which isprotected by the ASI.

Subsequently, the ASIhad deployed additional se-curity guards at the monu-ment. When contacted ASI’s

Aurangabad circle superin-tendent Milan KumarChauley told PTI, “Earlier,the mosque committee triedto lock the place, but weopened it. On Wednesday,we took a decision to shutthe tomb for next five days.”“We will review the situa-tion and then decide to openit or to keep it closed for an-other five days,” the officialsaid. Notably, AIMIM leaderAkbaruddin Owaisi’s visitto the tomb earlier thismonth was criticised by theruling Shiv Sena in the stateas well as the RajThackeray-led MaharashtraNavnirman Sena (MNS).Days after Owaisi’s visit tothe tomb, NCP chief SharadPawar had wondered ifsuch an act was aimed atcreating a new controversyin Maharashtra which isfunctioning peacefully.

Maha: ASI closesAurangzeb’s tomb for 5 days


RESCUE WORK

Indonesian rescuers evacuate hundreds of passengers from the KM Sirimau ferry offthe coast of Lembata on Thursday. The KM Sirimau has been marooned for two dayswith 784 passengers and 55 crew members on board after it ran aground along a 184-kilometre (114-mile) route in East Nusa Tenggara province.

AERIAL VIEW OF MARIUPOL

An aerial view of the Central district of the port city of Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.

BRIEF

2 plead guilty Seattle: Two more de-fendants have pleadedguilty for their role ina multimillion-dollarscheme to manipulatethe AmazonMarketplace e-com-merce platform. Sixpeople have beencharged in the con-spiracy, which federalprosecutors say in-volved paying bribesto get Amazon em-ployees and contrac-tors to leak confiden-tial data and to usethat data to grant cer-tain sellers a competi-tive advantage onAmazon Marketplace.Joseph Nilsen, 32, andKristen Leccese, 33,both of New York, en-tered their pleasMonday in U.S.District Court inSeattle, acknowledg-ing they paid morethan 100,000 in bribesfrom 2016 to 2020.

BankruptcyLondon: Google saysits Russian subsidiaryis planning to file forbankruptcy because itcan’t pay staff andsuppliers. Russianstate media reportedWednesday that theU.S. tech company’sRussian subsidiary,Google LLC, submit-ted notice of its inten-tion to declare bank-ruptcy to a nationalregistry, Fedresurs.The company said in apress statement that itfiled for bankruptcybecause the Russianauthorities’ seizure ofGoogle Russia’s bankaccount has made ituntenable for ourRussia office to func-tion, including em-ploying and payingRussia-based employ-ees, paying suppliersand vendors, andmeeting other finan-cial obligations.

Sex abuse suitOklahoma City: Tencurrent and formerstudents of Mount StMary Catholic HighSchool in OklahomaCity and six parentsor guardians aresuing the privateschool, alleging it fos-tered a rape culturefor more than 10years. School officialshave known since 2011that female studentshave been victims ofrape and sexual as-sault by students,teachers and coachesand done nothing tostop the attacks, ac-cording to the lawsuitfiled Monday. MSMfosters a rape culturethat values the safety,bodily integrity, edu-cation, and future ofmen and boys, overthat of women andgirls, the lawsuit said..

Monkeypox New York:Massachusetts onWednesday reporteda rare case of mon-keypox in a man whorecently travelled toCanada, and healthofficials are lookinginto whether it isconnected to smalloutbreaks in Europe.Monkeypox is typi-cally limited toAfrica, and rarecases in the US andelsewhere are usual-ly linked to travelthere. A small num-ber of confirmed orsuspected cases havebeen reported thismonth in the UnitedKingdom, Portugal,and Spain. US healthofficials said they arein contact with offi-cials in the UK andCanada as part of theinvestigation. TheUS case poses no riskto the public, and theMassachusetts resi-dent is hospitalisedbut in good condi-tion, officials said.

United nations, May 19:

As the Ukraine conflictimpacts the global GDP,India is projected to growby 6.4 per cent in 2022,slower than the last year’s8.8 per cent but still thefastest-growing majoreconomy, with higher in-flationary pressures anduneven recovery of thelabour market curbing pri-vate consumption and in-vestment, according to aUN report.

The UN Department ofEconomic and SocialAffairs said in its WorldEconomic Situation andProspects (WESP) reportreleased on Wednesdaythat the war in Ukrainehas upended the fragileeconomic recovery from

the pandemic, triggering adevastating humanitariancrisis in Europe, increas-ing food and commodityprices and globally exacer-bating inflationary pres-sures.

The global economy isnow projected to grow byonly 3.1 per cent in 2022,down from the 4.0 per centgrowth forecast releasedin January 2022. Global in-flation is projected to in-crease to 6.7 per cent in2022, twice the average of2.9 per cent during20102020, with sharp risesin food and energy prices,it said.

The report said that theoutlook in South Asia hasdeteriorated in recentmonths, against the back-drop of the ongoing con-

flict in Ukraine, and high-er commodity prices andpotential negativespillover effects from mon-etary tightening in theUnited States. The region-al economic output is pro-jected to expand by 5.5 percent in 2022, which is 0.4percentage points lowerthan the forecast releasedin January.

India, the largest econo-my in the region, is expect-ed to grow by 6.4 per centin 2022, well below the 8.8per cent growth in 2021, ashigher inflationary pres-sures and uneven recoveryof the labour market willcurb private consumptionand investment, it said.For the fiscal year 2023,India’s growth is forecastto be 6 per cent.

United Nations, May 19 (PTI):

Calling out the West,India said that food grainsshould not go the way ofthe Covid-19 vaccines as itvoiced concern overhoarding and discrimina-tion amid the “unjustifiedincrease” in food prices.

It stressed that its deci-sion to restrict wheat ex-ports will ensure it cantruly respond to thosemost in need.

“A number of low in-come societies are todayconfronted with the twinchallenges of rising costsand difficulty in access tofood grains. Even thoselike India, who have ade-quate stocks, have seen anunjustified increase infood prices. It is clear thathoarding and speculationis at work. We cannotallow this to pass unchal-lenged,” Minister of Statefor External Affairs V

Muraleedharan said atUnited Nations onWednesday.

Muraleedharan wasspeaking at the ministeri-al meeting on ‘Global FoodSecurity Call to Action’chaired by US Secretary ofState Antony Blinkenunder the US Presidencyof the UN SecurityCouncil for the month ofMay.

The meeting came justdays after India’s lastFriday decision to banwheat exports in a bid tocheck high prices amidshortage of wheat due toscorching heat wave.

The decision is aimed atcontrolling the retailprices of wheat and wheatflour — which have risenby an average 14-20 percent in the last one year —and meet the foodgrain re-quirement of neighbour-ing and vulnerable coun-tries.

The Directorate Generalof Foreign Trade had inthe last week notificationsaid that wheat exportswill be allowed on thebasis of permission grant-ed by the central govern-ment.

At the high-level meet-ing, India spoke about theissue of the wheat exportban for the first time in theUN since its May 13 an-nouncement.

Muraleedharan said theIndian government hasrecognised the suddenspike in global prices ofwheat which put “our foodsecurity and those of ourneighbours and other vul-nerable countries at risk.”

“We are committed toensuring that such ad-verse impact on food secu-rity is effectively mitigat-ed and the vulnerablecushioned against suddenchanges in the global mar-ket.

“In order to manage ourown overall food securityand support the needs ofneighbouring and othervulnerable developingcountries, we have an-nounced some measuresregarding wheat exportson 13 May 2022, he said.

“Let me make it clearthat these measures allowfor export on the basis ofapprovals to those coun-tries which are required tomeet their food securitydemands. This will bedone on the request fromthe concerned govern-ments. Such a policy willensure that we will trulyrespond to those who aremost in need,” he said.

The minister empha-sised that India will playits due role in advancingglobal food security “andit will do so in a manner inwhich it upholds equity,display compassion, andpromotes social justice.”

India fastest-growingmajor economy: UN

At UN, India calls out West, defends wheat export ban

United Nations, May 19 (AP):

The U.N.’s top political of-ficial for Africa calledMali’s decision to withdrawfrom the Sahel regionalcounterterrorism force un-fortunate and regrettableWednesday, especially at atime of increasing terroristactivity and insecurity.

Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee toldthe U.N. Security Councilthat this week’s decision byMali’s ruling junta to leavethe force is most certainly astep back for the Sahel.

The G5 Sahel force wascreated in 2014 by Mali andthe neighboring WestAfrican states of Niger,Mauritania, Burkina Fasoand Chad to counter terror-ism in the Sahel, but fromthe start it was beset by fi-nancial and political prob-

lems and it didn’t deploytroops until 2017.

Nonetheless, Pobee saidthat since last Novemberthe force has carried outoperations in all three ofits sectors without the par-ticipation of Malian battal-ions.

How Mali’s decision toleave the G5 and its jointforce will further impactthe organisation and dy-namics in the region re-mains to be seen, she said.

Pobee noted that for thelast five years, the interna-tional community, donorsand partners have strug-gled to reach consensus onthe most effective supportmechanism for a collectivesecurity response in theSahel, which has proven tobe a significant obstacle foroperating the G5 force.

We need innovative ap-

proaches in the face of theconstantly evolving tacticsof terrorist groups, whoseinfluence keeps expanding,she said.

While all key players rec-ognize that the terrorist on-slaught in the Sahel consti-tutes a slow-burning mor-tal threat to internationalpeace and security, the lackof consensus persists,Pobee said.

U.N. Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres and thechair of the African Unionhave agreed to carry out ajoint strategic assessmentof security and governanceinitiatives in the Sahel, shesaid.

The objective is tostrengthen support to theG5 Sahel, its joint force andother security and gover-nance initiatives in the re-gion, she said.

UN: Mali pullout from counterterrorismforce unfortunate

Kyiv, May 19 (AP):

Nearly 1,000 last-ditchUkrainian fighters whohad held out insideMariupol’s pulverisedsteel plant have surren-dered, Russia saidWednesday, as the battlethat turned the city into aworldwide symbol of defi-ance and suffering drewtoward a close.

Meanwhile, the first cap-tured Russian soldier to beput on trial by Ukraine onwar-crimes charges plead-ed guilty to killing a civil-ian and could get life inprison. Finland andSweden applied to join

NATO, abandoning gen-erations of neutrality forfear that RussianPresident VladimirPutin will not stop withUkraine.

The Ukrainian fight-ers who emerged fromthe ruined Azovstal steel-works after being or-dered by their military toabandon the last strong-hold of resistance in thenow-flattened port cityface an uncertain fate.Some were taken by theRussians to a formerpenal colony in territorycontrolled by Moscow-backed separatists.

While Ukraine said it

hopes to get the soldiersback in a prisoner swap,Russia threatened to putsome of them on trial forwar crimes.

Amnesty Internationalsaid the Red Cross shouldbe given immediate accessto the fighters. DenisKrivosheev, Amnesty’sdeputy director for the re-gion, cited lawless execu-

tions allegedly carried outby Russian forces inUkraine and said theAzovstal defenders mustnot meet the same fate.

It was unclear howmany fighters remainedinside the plant’slabyrinth of tunnels andbunkers, where 2,000 werebelieved to be holed up atone point.

Interrogation, uncertainty forsurrendering Mariupol troops

Colombo, May 19 (AP):

Sri Lankan protesters litflames and offered prayersWednesday rememberingthousands including eth-nic Tamil civilians killedin the final stages of thecountry’s decadeslongcivil war, in the first-everevent where mostly major-ity ethnic Sinhalese open-ly memorialised the mi-nority group.

Protesters gathered out-side the president’s officefloated flowers in the near-by sea and prayed for all

those who died in the 26-year civil war, includingTamil civilians, Tamilrebels, and governmentsoldiers.

While grand state eventshave been held almostevery year since the warended in 2009 to rememberand celebrate the soldiers,this is the first time anevent that also remembersTamils is being held bymostly Sinhalese in thecountry’s capital,Colombo. I am a Sinhaleseby birth. Today we held amemorial for all those who

were killed 13 years ago,Sinhala, Muslim, Hinduand everybody as a resultof state terrorism and ter-rorism by non-stategroups, said SumeeraGunasekara, a socialmedia activist who partici-pated in the event.

There are still those whoare grieving because ofthese events and as aSinhalese I have a right toshare in their grief, be-cause I believe in the reli-gion of humanity morethan any other.

Actress KaushalyaFernando said she came toremember the victims of awar created and mishan-dled by politicians.

The significance of thisplace is that we are nothere as different ethnicgroups but as Sri Lankans.

The protesters alsoshared rice porridge, theonly food the people couldhave in the final stages ofthe fighting because ofheavy blockade ofsupplies.

Sri Lankan protesters includeTamil victims in war memorial

R estaurant menusacross the West Coast

of Canada will soon see an in-flux of squid and sardine dish-es, while the popular sockeyesalmon makes a slow exit. Asit turns out, climate changemay have something to dowith this.

Restaurants update theirmenus all the time and thisoften goes unnoticed by din-ers. These changes are drivenby culinary trends, consumerpreferences and many envi-ronmental and socio-economicfactors that affect the avail-ability of the ingredients.According to a recent studypublished by my researchteam, we can now add climatechange to this list.

We found that as the oceantemperature rises, many ma-rine fish and shellfish movefrom their traditional habitatstowards the North and SouthPoles in search of cooler wa-ters. This movement of fishstocks affects the availabilityof seafood catch, compellingchefs to rewrite the menus ofseafood restaurants on theWest Coast of Canada.Climate change affects our

ocean and fisheriesThe latest report from the

UN's Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change confirmedthat climate change is impact-ing the ocean, fish stocks andfisheries through ocean warm-ing, loss of sea ice, ocean acidi-fication, heatwaves, ocean de-oxygenation and other ex-treme weather events.

The impacts of warming-in-duced ecological shifts are alsoseen in our fisheries. Fishcatches around the world areincreasingly dominated byspecies that prefer warmerwater.

We applied an index calledmean temperature of catch tomeasure such changes inspecies of fish caught alongthe West Coast of Canada, andfound that the catch ofwarmer-water species in thisregion has increased from1961 to 2016.Relating seafood on menus

to climate changeBut how exactly do these

changes in fisheries catch dic-tate the food that appears inour plates? My co-authorJohn-Paul Ng and I decided totackle this question ourselvesby focusing our efforts on theWest Coast of Canada and theUS where many restaurantsserve seafood.

We looked at present-daymenus from restaurants inthese areas, along with menussome dating back to the 19thcentury taken from historicalarchives in city halls and localmuseums.

After looking at 362 menus,we used a similar approach tothe one we developed to studyfisheries catches and calculat-ed a mean temperature ofrestaurant seafood. This indexrepresents the average pre-ferred temperature across allseafood species that appeared

on the sampled menus fromrestaurants in a city for a spe-cific time period. This index isa tool to help us gaugewhether our restaurants areserving more or less warmand cold water seafood.

We found that the averagepreferred water temperatureof fish and shellfish appearedin our menu increased to 14 Cin recent times (2019-21) from 9C in 1961-90 period.

This increase in the pre-ferred water temperature offish on restaurant menus isconnected to changes in seawater temperature and thetemperature-related changesin the composition of fishspecies caught during thesame time period.

More squid and sardine dishes

Ocean warming is startingto change the variety ofseafood available.Driven bythe higher ocean temperaturein the northeast Pacific Ocean,the Humboldt squid a large,predatory squid species thatinhabits the eastern PacificOcean is now making morefrequent appearances on pres-ent-day restaurant menus inVancouver.

British Columbia once had acommercially importantPacific sardine fishery, whichwas a common restaurantseafood. After the fishery col-lapsed in the mid-1940s, thefish seldom appeared in oursampled restaurant menus.

According to research con-ducted by colleagues in fish-eries research and by ourteam at the Institute for theOceans and Fisheries, the sar-dines, which prefer warmerwater, will soon make a bigcomeback on the West Coast of

Canada. We expect that moresardine dishes will start ap-pearing on the menus ofrestaurants here.

Responding to changingseafood availability

Globalisation and the diver-sification of cuisines havebrought a wider array ofseafood options to coastalcities such as Vancouver andLos Angeles. Imported andfarmed seafood are increas-ingly common ingredients inmenus.

As climate change contin-ues to shuffle species' distribu-tion in ocean waters, we ex-pect that climate-inducedchanges to seafood menus atrestaurants will become evenmore pronounced.

Our study on restaurantmenus underscores the wide-ranging impacts of climatechange on our food system. Incases where alternativeseafood ingredients are avail-able and consumer prefer-ences are flexible, the impactson our social, economic andcultural well-being may belimited. However, substantialnegative consequences arelikely to be felt by many vul-nerable communities that donot have the capacity to adaptto such changes.

Global and local actions tosupport both climate changeadaptation and mitigation areessential if we want the oceanto continue to provide food forthe people around the worldwho rely on it for nutritionalsecurity.

- William WL CheungProfessor and Director,

Institute for the Oceans andFisheries, University of

British Columbia

ChronicleC E N T R A L

Established 1974 Volume 47 No. 225

Stagflation at doors of India

It will not be wrong if we saythat Stagflation is at the doors ofcountry and have to take numberof steps to improve the economyof the country. As at present boththe wholesale and retail inflationnumbers are crossing the tolera-ble limits and if the immediate re-medial measures are not takenthese numbers can touch the un-bearable limit. At present thewholesale inflation is around fif-teen percent and the retail infla-tion around eight percent whichreflects the prices of goods whichare very well across thetable.There may be numbers offactors which had impacted thepresent position and we can notdeny that due to Corona economyof entire world is shattered andour country cannot aloof fromthat.When economy started im-proving then Ukraine warImmediately adversely affectedthe supply line. Moreover unusualheat wave adversely impacted theproduction of wheat and thatcountry under such circumstancesto ban the export of wheat ascountry can not allow the deficit inPDS through which eighty croresIndians are taking the benefit. In2006 country had faced such a po-sition when for PDS distributioncountry had to import the wheatat higher cost so keeping in viewthe past experience govt had im-posed ban on export of wheat.With all the combination of theseabove factors had in tum causedthe prices of commodities fromfuel to perishable food items toskyrocket. Govt is trying its best tocontrol such unexpected situa-tions while taking the measures inthe interest of a common man andit is also expected from the gov-ernment to take the midterm re-view of economy and should cutthe taxes and give relief to enduser. In the last lest Stagflationand deepened penury would resultwith long standing illeffects.

YYaasshh PPaall RRaallhhaann JJaallaannddhhaarr

Need for revival of Congress

There is no doubt that the na-tion needs a pan-India Oppositionparty and as of now, for whateverits shortcomings, the Congresscontinues to be the most dominantOpposition party, with a vote-share of about 20%. For India's in-terest and for saving democracyand the nation, on revival ofCongress lies the future of liberaland secular Indian democracy.Also Read - India's declaration of'opening to export wheat to SouthAsian neighbours despite ban':Reflection of 'Neighbourhood FirstPolicy'? We are observing that re-gional parties like the Trinmool inWest Bengal, TRS in Telengana,AAP in Delhi (and now Punjab),YSR Congress in Andhra, DMK inTamil Nadu, etc., are rising andgiving stiff opposition to the pres-ent dispensation with their exag-gerated electoral promises.Apparently, many within the BJPstrongly want the Congress to re-vive, for its own continued sur-vival and electoral successes.Mostly, whenever the BJP facedstrong regional challenges, itended up being electoral losers. Astrong Congress party, with thetalent pool that it has, can defi-nitely contribute to help keep thenation together with its liberal andsecular values.

DD BBhhuuttiiaa,, GGuuwwaahhaattii..

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR✍

Central Chronicle welcomes, articles, write ups, comments on different issues foreditorial page (800-900 words), Letter to editor for this page. It can be sent by

e-mail at: [email protected] letters can be edited or rewritten for clarity of thoughts.

WHAT THEY TWEET!

MMeeeennaakksshhii JJoosshhii

@@IIMMiinnaakksshhiiJJoosshhii

Running commentary onthe faith of Hindu side is apiece of cake for many. Ihope you and people likeyou get well soon.

AAsshhookk GGeehhlloott@@aasshhookkggeehhlloott5511

It's a matter of happiness that Rajasthanisinger Mame Khan ji has become the firstfolk artist from India to walk the red car-pet at the Cannes Film Festival. It’sremarkable for Rajasthan’s rich traditionof folk music. My heartiest congratula-tions & best wishes to Mame Khan ji.

VViikkrraanntt@@LLoosstt__HHiissttoorryy11

People should know that Indian textshave dealt with technology issuesvery clearly. Technical themes likeMachines, Mathematics, etc havebeen thoroughly treated in writingslike Samarangana Sutradhara,Aryabhatiyam & so on.

RRaajjddeeeepp SSaarrddeessaaii@@ssaarrddeessaaiirraajjddeeeepp

So what’s real reason forHardik Patel exit from Cong?Has BJP promised to ensureall cases against him aredropped? Or was he just feel-ing marginalised in a factionridden Guj Cong?@GujaratTak with @gopima-nia . My Gujarati gets better

in election year!

SSoonnaall GGooeell IIAASS@@ssoonnaallggooeelliiaass

What a spectacular victory for India Many congratulations to Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh onwinning #Gold medal in @ISSF_Shooting Junior World Cup in 25m pistol final. Nation is Proud of our daughters.

RRaamm GGooppaall VVaarrmmaa@@RRGGVVzzoooommiinn

Wowwwww check out the trailer

of the Multi versatile @rajpaloffi-

cial ‘s #Arth https://youtu.be/q-

b8ywtjCl8 ..Seems like one of his

lifetime roles

T he Congress has yet again reiterated that communal polarisationis the gravest threat to India. While it disturbs social harmony, it

also affects the economy which requires peace to flourish. The ChintanShivir in Rajasthan’s Udaipur rightly stressed on the menace as we in-deed are compelled to face newer issues of discord almost every otherday. Communal tension has acquired serious dimensions and the silenceof the ruling BJP has given legitimacy to the Congress charge that it waspart of a sinister agenda to perpetually keep people in fear and anger.Sonia Gandhi led the charge by directly targeting the Prime Minister andthe Udaipur Declaration accepted this as the main challenge by an-nouncing a nationwide “Bharat Jodo” yatra from October 2. The ChintanShivir also highlighted the scourge of unemployment and growing finan-cial inequality, promising to reset economic policy so as to enablegreater focus on social sector spending and public welfare. The situa-tional logic supports this shift as millions of people have fallen belowpoverty line, livelihood options have diminished and the abnormal infla-tionary pressures have burdened the middle class. It is difficult to findfault with the Congress on these positions. The problem is that this is notthe first time the Congress has discovered that communal polarisation isa threat to constitutional rule in India. The Congress has been singingthis tune for long; its volume is becoming louder by the day. If communalpolarisation was the only reason for the BJP’s victory, the Congresswould have knocked it out by now. But there is more to BJP politics thanHindutva appeal. There is no match for its mobilisation skills, its capacityto communicate the message to the masses, and the personal charismaof Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Add to that the lure of welfareschemes, massive media support, and ceaseless canvassing by the pow-erful cadre-base of the RSS, making the BJP such an unbeatable electionmachine. The Congress keeps crying about the disconnect with themasses but does little about it. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have dwelt on theparty’s inability to connect with the masses and communicate effectivelyon countless occasions. The debate at Udaipur should have revolvedaround the causes of this disconnect and the leadership’s failure in cur-ing this disability. Though the plan for a yatra from Kashmir toKanyakumari sounds impressive, the success depends on the sincerity ofsenior leaders who will be assigned to execute the programme. If RahulGandhi himself takes this seriously and leads the padyatra, electoral divi-dends cannot be denied to the party. The Congress has often complainedabout media biases and institutional decay but failed to offer a credibleresponse. Acting as a crybaby is no solution. If they have correctly identi-fied the problem, they won’t be able to succeed till they find the rightremedy for the malaise. The proposals to strengthen the communicationsystem and the feedback mechanism may help. The plan to constitute anadvisory group for the Congress president, a task force for implementingthe organisation reforms and greater representation of the oppressedclasses are welcome. But the strange emphasis on age, reserving 50% ofpositions in organisational machinery for people below 50 years, is inex-plicable. Promoting talent and injecting fresh blood into the organisationrequires vision and fairness in the leadership, not a regressive quota sys-tem. While age does tell on the physical capacity of individuals, givingprimacy to those below 50 years in politics is a stupid idea. You are notcreating a sports team that requires physical agility to perform. In poli-tics, what matters is wisdom and knowledge. Packing the organisationwith people on the basis of age is a weird idea. If a young leader showspromise and commitment, encourage him or her by all means.

Congress needs wiserleaders, not younger ones

S ince early-2020, governments around the world have been in thethroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling to adapt to an evolv-

ing world order which is not of their making. India has emerged amongthe most resilient countries – a reality that is reflected in the IMF's latestgrowth projections that India will be the fastest-growing major economyin the world at 8.2% in 2022-23, compared to the global rate of 3.6% forthe calendar year 2022.India was able to turn the socio-economic difficul-ties posed by the pandemic into an opportunity thanks to the visionaryinitiatives of the Modi Government. Interventions such as the unprece-dented Rs 20-lakh-crore 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat package' have ensuredthat the nation plots a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery. TheIndian Government continues to provide free rations to 80 crore Indiancitizens; has administered 188 crore vaccines (at the time of writing), andhas committed to investing Rs 111 lakh crore in the NationalInfrastructure Pipeline (NIP) to reignite core sectors of the economy. Thatthis was done despite the curtailed revenues and significant assistanceprovided to state governments speaks volumes of the Modi Government'spriorities.The government's adherence to the ethos of responsible gover-nance and cooperative federalism is reflected in the levels of financialsupport provided to state governments despite a 500% increase in crudeprices since the pandemic low and the volatility due to military actions inUkraine. These factors put a considerable burden on India as it imports al-most 85% of its petroleum requirements. Even as India is rapidly enhanc-ing its renewable energy capabilities to offset foreign dependency, itmust be recognised that more than 6 crore citizens purchase petroleumproducts at retail outlets every day. As the country's economic growthgathers up pace and consumption continue to increase, per-capita de-mand for energy will be even higher in the medium-term until India tran-sitions to a green economy. It is against this backdrop that one needs toconsider whether governing entities are pulling in the same direction toensure that the burden passed on to the Indian consumer is minimized.The Modi Government has ensured that the price rise in petrol during itsstewardship has been the minimum possible. Between April 2021 andApril 2022, petrol price rise in India, at 16%, was the lowest among theUSA (50.6%), Canada (50.7%), Germany (50%), UK (58.9%), and France(33%). Similar differences in price rise are observed for diesel; Indiaagain has the lowest increase among all major nations. Historical analysisof domestic price rise suggests that the price rise of petrol during 2014-2022 of 36% (Rs 77/litre to Rs 105/litre) is the lowest among comparableperiods in the last 42 years: 60% during 2007-14 (Rs 48 to Rs 77); 70%during 2000-2007 (Rs 28 to Rs 48); 55% during 1993-2000 (Rs 18 to Rs 28);125% during 1986-1993 (Rs 8 to Rs 18); 122% during 1979-1986 (Rs 3.6 toRs 8); and 140% during 1973-79 (Rs 1.25 to Rs 3). It is also important to re-member that prices of petrol were deregulated in 2010 and of diesel in2014, with the implication that they have since become market-driven.Despite the revenue deficits induced by the pandemic, the ModiGovernment reduced excise duty by Rs 5/litre on petrol and Rs 10/litre ondiesel in November 2021. Even as most state governments followed suitto cut Value Added Tax (VAT), Congress-allied states such asMaharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand continued to levy excessive ex-cise duties. It is particularly amusing that the same Opposition which isprotesting against the price rise chooses to levy the highest rates of VATon fuel across India. This government is conscious of the challenges in theoil and gas sector and is taking informed decisions to build domestic ca-pabilities. We continue to take a holistic view on the subject and providethe citizens of India with clarity of vision, transparency of action, and wel-fare for all. The ever-increasing electoral mandate that the citizens ofIndia repose on our shoulders reflect their faith in our actions.

The hypocrisy of the Oppositionnarrative on fuel prices


A man pushes a bicycle along a flooded road after heavy rains in Nagaon, Assam, on Thursday. At least 10 people, including a four-year-old child have died in floods and landslides this week after unusually heavy rains pummelledseveral parts of India.

WILLIAM WL CHEUNG

Climate change is now on the menu at seafood restaurants

VV.. MMuurraalleeeeddhhaarraann@@MMOOSS__MMEEAA

Delighted to participate in MinisterialMeeting at UN, chaired by H.E.@SecBlinken on "Global Food Security-Call to Action".India will play its duerole in advancing global food security,in which it will uphold equity, displaycompassion & promote social justice.

FLOOD FURY


BRIEF

Emerging leader

New Delhi: India israpidly emerging as aleader in manufactur-ing as well as exports,and e-commerce andlogistics infrastruc-ture have a critical rolein cementing India’sposition as a trustedmanufacturing part-ner of the world,Union minister RajeevChandrasekhar said.India is becoming alarge exporter of mer-chandise and manu-factured products, theMinister of State forElectronics and IT saidwhile speaking at theopening session ofAmazon Smbhav 2022 event.

H-series processorsNew Delhi:

Taiwanese computermaker Acer onWednesday unveiledthree new laptops thatwill come with 12thGen Intel Core H-se-ries processors. Thecompany at its globalevent unveiled AcerSwift 3 OLED laptop atstarting price of USD899.99 apiece, AcerSpin 5 for USD 1,349.99and Acer Spin 3 forUSD 849.99. The ship-ment of new laptopswill begin from in theJuly-September quar-ter, the company said.

5G stack

New Delhi: India own5G stack will be readyaround September-October,CommunicationsMinister AshwiniVaishnaw said onWednesday as heurged nations to lookactively at these in-digenous telecomstacks for cost andquality advantage.Speaking at an eventorganised by theTelecom RegulatoryAuthority of India(TRAI), the ministersaid India’s indige-nous telecom stacksmark “big fundamen-tal technological ad-vancements”. TheMinister also notedthat bridging the digi-tal divide has becomeeven more crucial in aworld where technolo-gy is playing a keyrole in economic de-velopment, and addedthe Government is di-recting all its efforts toensure inclusivegrowth.

AppointmentNew Delhi: UCOBank said it has desig-nated Sujoy Dutta asthe new chief finan-cial officer with imme-diate effect. “SujoyDutta, deputy generalmanager of our bank,has been designated asnew Chief FinancialOfficer (CFO) of thebank with immediateeffect in place ofShashi Kant Kumar,general manager ofthe bank,” UCO Banksaid in a regulatory fil-ing. Dutta holds abachelor degree incommerce fromCalcutta Universityand he is a member ofthe Institute ofChartered Accountantof India (ICAI).

United Nations, May 19:

As the Ukraine conflictimpacts the global GDP,India is projected to growby 6.4 per cent in 2022,slower than the last year’s8.8 per cent but still thefastest-growing majoreconomy, with higher in-flationary pressures anduneven recovery of thelabour market curbing pri-vate consumption and in-vestment, according to aUN report. The UNDepartment of Economicand Social Affairs said inits World EconomicSituation and Prospects(WESP) report released onWednesday that the war inUkraine has upended thefragile economic recoveryfrom the pandemic, trig-gering a devastating hu-manitarian crisis inEurope, increasing foodand commodity prices andglobally exacerbating in-flationary pressures. Theglobal economy is nowprojected to grow by only

3.1 per cent in 2022, downfrom the 4.0 per centgrowth forecast releasedin January 2022. Global in-flation is projected to in-crease to 6.7 per cent in2022, twice the average of2.9 per cent during 20102020, with sharp rises infood and energy prices, itsaid.

The report said that theoutlook in South Asia hasdeteriorated in recentmonths, against the back-drop of the ongoing con-flict in Ukraine, and high-er commodity prices andpotential negativespillover effects from mon-etary tightening in theUnited States. The region-al economic output is pro-jected to expand by 5.5 percent in 2022, which is 0.4percentage points lowerthan the forecast releasedin January. India, thelargest economy in the re-gion, is expected to growby 6.4 per cent in 2022, wellbelow the 8.8 per centgrowth in 2021, as higher

inflationary pressures anduneven recovery of thelabour market will curbprivate consumption andinvestment, it said. For thefiscal year 2023, India’sgrowth is forecast to be 6per cent. Lead Author &Chief, Global EconomicMonitoring Branch,Economic Analysis andPolicy Division, UnitedNations Department ofEconomic and SocialAffairs Hamid Rashid toldreporters at the UNHeadquarters that almostall regions in the world areaffected by high inflationexcept for East Asia andSouth Asia. He said Indiain that sense is a little bitin a better position as itdid not have to aggressive-ly pursue monetary tight-ening compared to othercountries in LatinAmerica. Brazil has raisedinterest rates repeatedly.India’s projected growthfor 2022 is 6.4 per cent, adownward adjustment of0.3 per cent from January.

India, fastest-growing major economy,projected to grow 6.4% in 2022: UN

New Delhi, May 19:

Cooking gas LPG pricewas on Thursday hiked byRs 3.50 per cylinder, thesecond increase in ratethis month following thefirming of internationalenergy rates. Non-sub-sidised LPG now costs Rs1,003 per 14.2-kg cylinderin the national capital, upfrom Rs 999.50 previously,according to a price notifi-cation of state-owned fuelretailers. This is the sec-ond increase in LPG ratethis month and the thirdin less than two months.The price was hiked by Rs50 per cylinder on March22 and again by the samequantum on May 7. SinceApril 2021, prices haverisen by Rs 193.5 per cylin-der. Petrol and dieselprices however continueto be on freeze for the 43rdday in a row. The pause fol-lowed rates being hiked bya record Rs 10 per litre in a

matter of 16 days begin-ning March 22. Non-sub-sidised cooking gas is theone that consumers buyafter exhausting theirquota of 12 cylinders atsubsidised or below-mar-ket rates. However, thegovernment pays no sub-sidy on LPG in most cities

and the price of the refillthat consumers, includingthe poor women who gotfree connection under themuch-talked Ujjwalascheme, is the same as thatfor non-subsidised or mar-ket price LPG. Non-sub-sidised LPG costs Rs1,002.50 per 14.2-kg cylin-

der in Mumbai while it ispriced at Rs 1,018.50 a bot-tle in Chennai and Rs 1,029in Kolkata. Rates differfrom state to state depend-ing on the incidence oflocal taxes such as VAT.Prices are higher in stateswith higher taxes.Alongside, oil firms alsohiked the price of com-mercial LPG cylinders -the ones used by establish-ments like hotels andrestaurants - by Rs 8 percylinder to Rs 2,354 per 19-kg bottle. On May 1, theprice of a commercialLPG cylinder was in-creased by Rs 102.50 to Rs2,355.50 but on May 7 itwas reduced to Rs 2,346.International oil priceshave been on the rise thisyear. They jumped to a 13-year high of USD 140 perbarrel in March beforeshedding some of thegains. Brent was tradingat USD 110.13 per barrel onThursday.

LPG price hiked by Rs 3.5, crosses Rs 1,000 mark

Workers unload LPG cylinders, after a price hike, in Surat on Thursday.

Gurugram, May 19:

Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) on Thursday said itsnew manufacturing facili-ty in Haryana, the compa-ny’s third in the state,would reach peak produc-tion capacity of 10 lakhunits per annum in thenext eight years entailing atotal investment of Rs18,000 crore.

The new facility, whichwould come at a 800-acresite at IMT Kharkhoda inSonipat district, will entailtotal investment of Rs11,000 crore in the firstphase with a productioncapacity of 2.5 lakh unitsper annum. The first set ofvehicles are expected toroll out from the facility in2025. Speaking at an eventhere to mark the formal an-nouncement of land allot-ment to the auto major,MSI Chairman RCBhargava said the 10 lakhproduction capacity at theSonipat plant would helpin catering to the demand

in both domestic as well asexport markets. “We ex-pect, subject to market con-ditions in India beingfavourable we will be ableto reach our peak produc-tion capacity in the Sonipat

plant in eight years. Theplant will then become thelargest site in the countrywith production capacityof 10 lakh cars,” he noted.The success of Suzuki inIndia has actually led to the

strengthening of economicties between India andJapan, Bhargava said.

He noted that the successof MSI shows that there isno alternative but for gov-ernments and the privatesector to work togetherwith mutual trust.“Unfortunately there arestill people in the countrywho do not accept this isthe best way possible andthey don’t expect that hav-ing such kind of industrialgrowth and with state gov-ernment participating inthe success of industrialmanagement and in thecreation and of more com-petitive manufacturing,everybody benefits,”Bhargava noted. Poverty iseradicated and new jobsare created if both work to-gether, he added. Currently,MSI has a cumulative pro-duction capacity of around22 lakh units per annumacross its two manufactur-ing plants in Haryana andparent Suzuki Motor’s fa-cility at Gujarat.

Maruti to invest Rs 18k cr in Sonipat plant toroll out 10 lakh units per annum in 8 years

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, Dy CM DushyantChautala, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RC Bhargavaand Maruti Suzuki Executive Vice Chairman KenichiAyukawa at the signing of an agreement by MarutiSuzuki India Limited (MSIL), Suzuki Motorcycle IndiaPrivate Limited (SMIPL) and Haryana State Industrialand Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited(HSIIDC) for the allotment of 800 acres and 100 acres ofland at Industrial Model Township (IMT) Kharkhodanear Sonipat, in Gurugram on Thursday.

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199:: Two-wheeler market leader HeroMotoCorp on Thursdaylaunched a new edition of itspopular motorcycle Splendor,priced at Rs 72,900 (ex-show-room, Delhi). Named theSplendor+ XTEC, the new edi-tion comes with features suchas full digital meter with blue-tooth connectivity, call andSMS alert, real-time mileageindicator, low fuel indicator,LED high intensity positionlamp and exclusive graphics,the company said in a state-ment. Additionally, it alsocomes with an integrated USBcharger, side-stand engine cut-

off and Hero’s idle stop-startsystem, i3S technology, itadded. Hero MotoCorp head ofstrategy and global productplanning Malo Le Masson said,“Hero Splendor is the mostpopular and the best-sellingmotorcycle in India, a truecompanion to millions acrossIndia. It has been an icon foralmost three decades and willstill continue to inspire manywith the launch of theSplendor+ XTEC model, addingtechnologically advanced fea-tures and a smart moderndesign.” The new Splendor+XTEC comes with a five-yearwarranty, the company said.

Hero MotoCorp launches newedition of Splendor motorcycle

After cement,Adani to foray into

healthcareNNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199:: BillionaireGautam Adani’s group has cre-ated a new company for itsforay into healthcare servicesthrough the acquisition of largehospitals, diagnostic chains,and offline and digital pharma-cies. Adani Enterprises Ltd -the group’s business incubatorfirm - in a regulatory filing saida wholly-owned subsidiary,Adani Health Ventures Ltd(AHVL) was incorporated onMay 17, 2022.

AVHL will “carry on thebusiness of healthcare-relat-ed activities including, interalia, setting up, running,administrating medical anddiagnostic facilities, healthaids, health tech-based facili-ties, research centers and todo all other allied and inciden-tal activities in this regard,” itsaid. AHVL, it said, will com-mence its business operationsin due course. The group,which runs businesses fromseaports to airports and ener-gy, forayed into the cementsector through the acquisitionof Swiss cement makerHolcim’s India operations fora total of USD 10.5 billion.

Mumbai, May 19:

The rupee extended itslosses and slumped 10paise to close at a recordlow of 77.72 (provisional)against the US dollar onThursday, weighed downby a negative trend in do-mestic equities and un-abated foreign fund out-flows. At the interbank for-eign exchange market, therupee opened lower at77.72 against the green-back, and finally settledfor the day at 77.72, down10 paise over its previousclose. During the tradingsession, the rupee touchedan intra-day low of 77.76and a high of 77.63. OnWednesday, the rupee de-clined by 18 paise to closeat 77.6?2. “Rupee consoli-dated in a narrow rangedespite sharp sell-off in

domestic and global equi-ties. Dollar also retraced

from higher levels aftereconomic number re-

leased from the US camebelow estimates,” saidGaurang Somaiya, Forex& Bullion Analyst, MotilalOswal Financial Services.The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’sstrength against a basketof six currencies, wastrading 0.28 per cent lowerat 103.51. Global oil bench-mark Brent crude futuresfell 1.87 per cent to USD107.07 per barrel. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended1,416.30 points or 2.61 percent lower at 52,792.23,while the broader NSENifty fell 430.90 points or2.65 per cent to 15,809.40.Foreign institutional in-vestors were net sellers inthe capital market onWednesday, as they of-floaded shares worth Rs1,254.64 crore, as per stockexchange data.

Rupee slumps 10 paise to close at all-time low of 77.72/USD

Mumbai, May 19:

JK Lakshmi CementLtd., one of the leading ce-ment companies ofIndia,recorded a turnoverof Rs.1497.64 crore in Jan-Mar.22with an increase of13% over Rs.1321.99 crorein the corresponding quar-ter Jan-Mar 21. Despite un-abated increase in Petcokeand Diesel prices whichare hovering at all timehigh, JK Lakshmi Cementcould achieve healthy prof-itability by continuous im-provement in operationalefficiencies, energy cost,better product mix andhigher volume. JKLakshmi Cement’s EBID-TA before Other Incomemoved up to Rs.276.23 crorein Jan-Mar.22 from

Rs.267.88 crore in Jan-Mar.21. After providing forinterest, depreciation&Exceptional Item, PBTstood at Rs.197.93 crore inJan-Mar.22 as againstRs.186.53crore in Jan-Mar.21. After Providing forTaxes and OtherComprehensive Income,JK Lakshmi Cement’sProfit was up at Rs.161.26crore in Jan-Mar.22againstRs.138.27 crore logged inthe corresponding quarter.During the Twelve months

A p r i l 2 1 – M a r c h 2 2Company’s Salesincreasedby 15% toRs.5040.78 crore(Rs.4384.71 crore) andEBITDA was up atRs.868.52 crore (Rs.864.22crore). JKLakshmiCement’s profit at PATlevel during this periodmoved up by 14% to touchall time high at Rs.417.56crore against profit ofRs.366.24 crore in the sameperiod last year. During theQuarter, JK LakshmiCement has commissioned10 MW Waste HeatRecovery (WHR) Project atits Sirohi Plant, taking theCompany’s total WHRCapacity to 33 MW. TheBoard has recommended100% Dividend for theFinancial Year ended 31stMarch 2022.

JK Lakshmi Cement Posted Net Profitup at Rs 161.26 Cr. in Jan-Mar.22

Gurugram, May 19:

Ecom Express Limited,a new-age technology-driven end-to-end logisticssolutions provider to thee-commerce industry, an-nounced that it hascrossed 55,000 gig workersregistration on their dedi-cated app called ‘EcomSanjeev’ to onboard deliv-ery partners since itslaunch in September 2021.

The company’s deliverypartner program aims tocreate part-time work op-portunities for individu-als with the option of flex-ible timings to maximizetheir earnings by deliver-ing e-commerce ship-ments to customers.Delivery Partners work-

ing through EcomExpress’ gig model canearn anywhere betweenRs. 15,000 to Rs. 60,000 permonth.

Close to 60 per cent ofregistrations have beenfrom Tier 4 cities andtowns, indicating massiveaffinity for gig opportuni-ties in those areas. The top10 cities/towns with thehighest registrations in-clude from Delhi,Bengaluru, Mumbai,Hyderabad, Chennai,Kolkata, Pune, Lucknow,Gurugram and Patnaamong others.

In Chhattisgarh, over2000 gig-workers have reg-istered for part time en-gagement as delivery part-ners with Ecom Express.

Ecom Express announces55,000 registrations MMuummbbaaii,, MMaayy 1199:: Equity

benchmarks fell sharply onThursday, mirroring a sell-offin global markets, with theSensex and Nifty tumbling over2.60 per cent on across-the-board selling. Persistent for-eign fund outflows also contin-ue to dampen sentiment. The30-share BSE benchmarkSensex dived 1,416.30 points or2.61 per cent to settle at52,792.23. During the day, ittumbled 1,539.02 points or 2.83per cent to 52,669.51. Thebroader NSE Nifty tanked430.90 points or 2.65 per centto end at 15,809.40. From theSensex firms, HCLTechnologies, Wipro, Infosys,TCS, Tech Mahindra, TataSteel, IndusInd Bank and KotakMahindra Bank were the majorlaggards. ITC and Dr Reddy’semerged as the gainers.Barring Shanghai, other Asian

markets ended lower, withSeoul, Hong Kong and Tokyosettling in the red. Equityexchanges in Europe were alsotrading sharply lower in theafternoon session. Stock mar-kets in the US had ended deepin the red on Wednesday. “USmarkets saw the worst sell-offsince June 2020 as inflationfear looms,” said Mohit Nigam,Head - PMS, Hem Securities.Meanwhile, international oil

benchmark Brent crudedeclined 1.29 per cent to USD107.7 per barrel. Foreign insti-tutional investors offloadedshares worth a net Rs 1,254.64crore on Wednesday, as perstock exchange data.“Deteriorating macro senti-ments such as soaring infla-tion, recession fears, and theprospect of the FederalReserve getting even morehawkish will continue to keepbenchmarks on the edge.“Another main reason for thepessimism can be attributed torelentless selling from the FIIcamp,” said Prashanth Tapse,Vice President (Research),Mehta Equities Ltd. DevarshVakil, Deputy Head ofResearch, HDFC Securities,said, “Indian markets tumbledmore than 2.5 per cent onweekly derivative expiry dayon weak global cues.”

Sensex tanks over 1,400 pts amid global market rout

New Delhi, May 19:

NITI Aayog CEOAmitabh Kant onThursday said it is the pri-vate sector’s job to createwealth and the govern-ment should focus on lay-ing down public policyframework. Addressing‘GovTech Summit 2022’,Kant further said Indianeeds a very simple, effi-cient, and transparent gov-ernment. “The govern-ment’s job should be lay-ing down public policyframework, it is the pri-vate sector’s job to createwealth. The only otherareas where the govern-ment should be are health,education and nutrition,”he said. Talking about thedigital economy, Kant said

India is at the cusp of avery important transfor-mation and the wholeprocess of digitisation hasbeen a transformationaljourney. “If eastern partsof India digitises fully andmakes governance veryeasy, then eastern part ofIndia will actually becomea very responsive govern-ment,” he said, adding thatthese states are full ofmineral resources.

Govt should focus on public policy framework: Amitabh Kant

ACROSS

1. Symphonic finishes

6. “Not only that ...”

10. Blanchett of “Elizabeth”

14. Dodge successfully

15. Drying oven

16. Cathedral protuberance

17. ‘80s phrase

20. Kids clean it

21. Transitions

22. Pt. of CBS

23. It may be glossed over

25. Bench press unit

26. Boxing term

29. Ruined Edomite city

31. Union issue

33. It’s always a winning smash

35. Catcall

37. Fasten again

38. ‘80s phrase

41. Easily conned

42. It may be half or blue

43. Paris-to-Marseilles dir.

44. Pick of the crop

46. Word in a Hugo title

48. Place to get money

49. “Ich bin ___ Berliner”

51. One more than due

52. Sibilant silencer

55. Customary practices

58. Author Christie

60. ‘80s phrase

63. Tarn

64. “Jeopardy!” contestants, e.g.

65. ___ prosequi (court-record entry)

66. Clueless

67. Lith. and Ukr., once

68. Classic suit

DOWN

1. Enclosures

2. Endocrine gland

3. Painter of ballerinas

4. Weaponry

5. TV character Remington

6. Luau lunch

7. Rowers work them, briefly

8. Worker at plays

9. Presented, as a show

10. Cod or Town

11. They desert causes

12. Menu general

13. Poet’s sundown

18. Squirm

19. Sterling

24. Light refractor

27. Part of a place setting

28. Lyric poem

29. Irritate

30. ___ Martin (Bond’s wheels)

32. Attorney general for Reagan

33. Anticipate

34. Alvin and Theodore

36. Fire

39. Find another table for

40. Catch slyly

41. Org. with some big guns?

45. Circus wear

47. Sovereign’s stand-in

50. Gets warmer

52. Means of mounting a fence

53. Oil-bearing rock

54. Compelled

56. Proofreaders’ mark

57. Mix, in the kitchen

59. “Don’t have ___, man” (Bart

Simpson quote)

60. Under the weather

61. ___ Paulo

62. Smoke signal message, maybe


Chances are that there will be an emotional bite

to the day that might put something of a hostile

tone on anything you encounter, Aquarius. The

key is to not get so fixed in your ways that you

turn away from new experiences. You’ll find

that interaction with others is exactly what’s

needed in order to keep things in balance. The

masculine and feminine sides of your being are

coming together quite nicely.

Aquarius: Jan 21 – Feb 18

Your mood should be quite good today, Pisces,

and you’ll be well supported by the people

around you. The key is to bring intense feelings

directly to the table as you experience them.

You’ll find that other people share similar emo-

tions at this time. The combination of energies

between you and those close to you is simply

magical. Join together with others on elaborate

projects and special events.

Pisces: Feb 19 – Mar 20

Remember that it’s OK to have a little down-

time, Aries. Don’t feel like you have to

always be up and on stage. Take some time

to be mellow and quiet. Today is one of

those intense days in which you feel over-

powered by the energy around you. Don’t

resist this feeling. Sink into your emotions

and experience them for the power that

they can bring to your overall psyche.

Aries: Mar 21 – Apr 20

This is your day to shine, Taurus. Everyone

else may be squirming under the prevailing

energy of the day, but you should be per-

fectly equipped to deal with any events that

come your way. Despite the intense fluctua-

tions in your general mood, things are on the

upswing. You’ll find that matters will eventu-

ally come around your way. All the hard work

you’ve put in lately is starting to pay off.

Taurus: Apr 21 – May 21

Give thanks to the people who are mostprecious to you, Gemini. You’ll find thatwords cut to the core issues much moreeasily. Stabilize your strong emotionsand use them as fuel for you endeavors.The key today is to remember those whohave helped you along the way. Everyoneis a sensitive and loving individual, sotreat them as such. Have fun with thepeople all around you.

Gemini: May 22 – June 21

Your strong opinions might come into conflict

with strong emotions today, Leo. Be aware

that fountains of intensity are likely to spring

from you as if you were a bottomless well.

Realize that you might need pay less attention

to your logic today and concentrate on your

heart. It could be hard to reason with people.

If your heart doesn’t support what you say,

you might as well not say it.

Cancer: June 22 – July 22





Realize that you might need pay less atten-

tion to your logic today and concentrate on

your heart. It could be hard to reason with

people. If your heart doesn’t support what

you say, you might as well not say it.

Leo: July 23 – Aug 23

Consciously, realize that you’re someoneunique and special, Virgo. Remember thisthrough the day and let your actions reflectthis affirmation. There’s a rather distinctintensity to the day that might cause othersto be on edge. Don’t be disrupted if thereare people freaking out in your world. Thegood news is that you should be able to han-dle this intense blast of emotion easily.Emotions are your forte!

Virgo: Aug 24 – Sept 22

The intensity of the day could work for youin one of two ways, Libra. You can either bedepressed and weighed down by theintense emotionalism that’s likely to wellup, or you can take this incredible intensityand put it to good use. The choice is yours.Realize that any action you take is going tobe highly charged with feelings. Likewise,others will be extra sensitive about anymove you make.

Libra: Sept 23 – Oct 23

Combine today’s grounding force with a bit of

emotional intensity from your heart to create

a powerful combination of spirit that will

surely make an impact on whatever you con-

tact, Scorpio. The key is to not take yourself

too seriously. If you do, there might be inci-

dents that jump up to give you a thump on the

head, reminding you that you’re just as

human as the rest of us.

Scorpio: Oct 24 – Nov 22

Your lighthearted social demeanor couldfind a hard time fitting in with the gener-al mood of the crowd today, Sagittarius.You might find that you’re better off sim-ply locating a quiet place and retreatingfrom the group for a little while. Read agood book or magazine. Plan for the daysahead and let your mind prepare for thethings you have in store.

Sagittarius: Nov 23 – Dec 21

Your ego and physical vitality should expe-rience a boost today, Capricorn. Try to honein on the solid, grounding energy that’sencouraging you to come to terms withyour emotions. Be aware of the fact thatyour often gloomy attitude may be startingto weigh heavily on the ones you love. Becareful that you aren’t hurting someone justbecause you know that they’ll forgive you.

Capricorn: Dec 22 – Jan 20

C R O S S WO R D 305

SOLUTION 304

HOROSCOPE FRIDAY MAY 20

S ony Enter tainmentTelevision’s Yashomati

M a i y ya Ke N a n d l a l a t h atw i l l s h owc a s e a h e a r t f e l tbond between Yashoda andKanha (Lord Shri Krishna)w i l l n ow s e e we l l - k n ow nt e l ev i s i o n a c t o r S u m a nG u p t a p l ay t h e ro l e o fD eva k i wh o i s L o rdKrishna’s biological moth-e r. Ta l k i n g m o re o n h e rentry in the show, SumanGupta says, “I feel blessedto have received an oppor-tunity to play such an im-portant role in YashomatiM a i y ya Ke N a n d l a l a .

Devaki ji was the biologi-c a l m o t h e r o f L o rdK r i s h n a a n d t o p ay mypart right, I have alreadystarted preparing for rolea n d I w a n t t o b r i n g o u ther traits as seamlesslya s p o s s i bl e. I h o p e t h ev i ewe r s e n j oy t h e s h owthat will focus on the sto-rytelling from Yashoda’spoint of view.”

Stay tuned to watcht h e u n t o l d s t o r y o nYa s h o m at i M a i ya a keNandlala only on SonyE n t e r t a i n m e n tTelevision.

SS uperstar Mahesh Babu'scommercial entertainer

'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' has per-formed well on weekdays also.Despite mediocre talk post itsrelease, 'SVP' grew stronger interms of collections, making itthe fastest movie to collect Rs100 crore (worldwide) at theregional box office. 'SarkaruVaari Paata' surpassed the Rs100 crore-mark (100.44 crore)in just five days, making it thefastest purely Telugu film to doso, while also becomingMahesh Babu's fourth consec-utive Rs 100 crore-plus gross-ing film. The film has a five-day worldwide gross of Rs160.2 crore. On the other hand,other big-ticket Tollywoodmovies 'Radhe Shyam' and'Acharya' sank at the box

office despite the huge hypeprior to their theatricalrelease. 'Acharya' which wasreleased on April 29, had apoor start, with a disastrousfirst week at the box office.

'Acharya' had a first weekendcollection of Rs 41 crore, andthe film has a total box officecollection of Rs 45.2 crore onlydespite starring Chiranjeeviand his son Ram Charan.

Theatrical rights for Koratala'sdirectorial 'Acharya' are val-ued at Rs 133 crore, making itthe biggest disaster in Telugucinema, while Prabhas-starrer'Radhe Shyam' falls in the

same bracket. The theatricalrun of 'Radhe Shyam' was cutshort, making it a disaster inall languages it was released.The heavy-budget movie hadstruggled to generate signifi-cant box office revenue due topoor word of mouth. At theend of its theatrical run in alllanguages, 'Radhe Shyam'earned a total of Rs 83 crore,while the theatrical rightswere a whopping Rs 200.5crore, resulting in huge lossesas much as Rs 117 crore.'Sarkaru Vaari Paata,' directedby Parasuram Petla and star-ring Mahesh Babu andKeerthy Suresh, is the onlyfilm to hold its own at the boxoffice following the block-buster pan-India releases of'RRR' and 'Pushpa.'

Mahesh Babu’s ‘Sarkaru Vaari Paata’ is Tollywood’s fastest Rs 100 crore film

A ctress Urvashi Rautelahas made her red carpet

debut at the 75th annualCannes Film Festival and shelooked every inch a Disneyprincess dressed in a pristinewhite outfit.

Urvashi took to Instagram toshare a glimpse of her stun-ning gown by Tony WardCouture. The actress chose awhite off-shoulder ruffle gownwith a long trail.

Urvashi wrote alongside theimage, which currently hasover 30,000 likes on the photo-sharing website: "Cannes FilmFestival 2022. Dream Debut.Thank you Universe." Several

Indian personalities are at-tending the prestigious eventsuch as Deepika Padukone, RMadhavan, Kamal Haasan,A.R. Rahman, Pooja Hegde,Aditi Rao Hydari andNawazuddin Siddiqui amongmany others.

This time the Indian pavil-ion at the Cannes Film Marketwill present six films at thefestival 'Rocketry - The NambiEffect' (Hindi, English, Tamil),'Godavari' (Marathi), 'AlphaBeta Gamma' (Hindi), 'BoombaRidea (Mishing), 'Dhuin'(Maithili) and 'NirayeThathakalulla Maram'(Malayalam).

Urvashi Rautela turnsSnow White as she

makes Cannes debut

Sony SAB’s Ziddi Dil – Maane Na is keeping our heartspounding with its major plot twists and exciting turn ofevents. As we all know, Param Shergill (Siddhaanth Vir) isnot what he appears to be and is the mastermind behindmultiple terrorist insurgencies. It was no less than a strug-gle for Karan (Shaalien Malhotra) to wake up to the reali-ty of his brother, someone he has idolized for life, but heeventually chooses duty over emotions and decides to nabhim down. To delve deeper into Param’s truth, Karansneaks into the academy as Balli and starts following himfurther. Meanwhile, Monami (Kaveri Priyam) is on cloudnine with Karan’s return and feels elated when the latterproposes to her for marriage. On the other end, Param’swife Barkha who is also suspicious of his actions nowbecomes aware of Karan’s truth and helps him andMonami put a hidden mic and camera in Param’s room.However, this ticks Param off and he doubts that someoneis aware of his truth and is keeping a close watch on him.Amidst all this, Sanju (Diljot Chhabra) goes back to her vil-lage unannounced. Sad and dejected, Sid (Kunal KaranKapoor) tries to help her sort things out, but only seemsto mess it up further. Sid and Sanju breakup leavingeveryone around shocked.SSttaayy ttuunneedd ttoo ZZiiddddii DDiill –– MMaaaannee NNaa,, MMoonn –– SSaatt,, 88 PPMM oonnllyyoonn SSoonnyy SSAABB!!

Karan inches closerto catch Param

P ooja Hegde, who madeher Cannes Film Festival

debut at the 'Top Gun:Maverick' premiere onWednesday, was a sight tobehold in an elaborate strap-less ivory-hued feather gownthat had an embellishedbodice and a voluminousskirt.

She paired this dazzlingoutfit with diamond danglersand a no-fuss ponytail. The'Ala Vaikunthapuram Loo'actress used the hashtag'Crafted in India' when sheposted pictures of her new

look on Instagram, indicatingthat the look was created byan Indian designer. She thenexpressed gratitude toAnurag Thakur for making itpossible. She said, "I didn'tcome with a brand; instead, Icame with brand India. As anIndian actor, I've come to cel-ebrate Indian cinema."

Pooja Hedge talked abouthow walking the red carpet atCannes is a dream in a videosnippet. At the 75th CannesFilm Festival, India is the'Country of Honour,' led byInformation and Broadcasting

Minister Anurag SinghThakur. Pooja is among the 11film personalities along withA.R. Rahman, NawazuddinSiddiqui, R. Madhavan,Shekhar Kapoor, and PrasoonJoshi, who are members ofIndia's official delegation toCannes.

Deepika Padukone, who ispart of the jury of this filmfestival, joined the Indian del-egation for the inaugurationof the Indian Pavilion onWednesday, the second day ofworld cinema's most presti-gious showcase.

Pooja Hegdemakes a stunningdebut at Cannes

Suman Gupta roped in to play Devakiin ‘Yashomati Maiyya

ke Nandlala’


Mumbai, May 19 (PTI):

Having gone off the boilin the last few games, JosButtler would be eagerlywaiting to pounce on aninexperienced ChennaiSuper Kings attack inorder to clinch a play-offberth for Rajasthan Royalsin the IPL here on Friday.

A win will take SanjuSamson’s men to 18 pointsand help them steer clearof any permutations orcombinations for a top-four finish.

In fact a win will ensurea top-two finish for Royalsas they will then enjoy asuperior Net Run Rate(NRR) of +0.304 comparedto Lucknow Super Giants’+0.251. In this backdrop,Royals would like to turnthe heat on a lacklustreCSK, who can turn out tobe ‘party poopers’ in theirfinal game.

To prevent that, Buttler,who is currently leadingthe batters’ chart with 627runs, will need to do betterthan register scores of 22,30, 7, 2 — his contributionin the last four games.

The Royals’ success inthe tournament has got alot to do with brilliantstarts from Buttler, whohas three hundreds and asmany fifties — most of hisruns were scored duringthe first half of the tour-

nament — and YuzvendraChahal’s 24 wickets.

While Chahal has main-tained his consistency, inthe case of Buttler therehas been a slight dip inform but the last leaguegame is an ideal time to upthe ante before the play-offs. Rookies MukeshChoudhary, SimarjeetSingh and ‘Baby Malinga’

Matheesha Pathirana willlike to show their waresone last time but the CSKunit’s confidence hastaken a big dent because ofits poor batting efforts forthe better part of the tour-nament. While Buttler isat the top of the battingchart for Royals, RuturajGaikwad came to theparty late with 366 runs,

but none of the othershave crossed the 300-runmark. Devon Conway, whoplayed more matches inthe second half, has 236runs to his credit.

Most of CSK’s seniorplayers like MS Dhoni(206), Ambati Rayudu (271)and Robin Uthappa (230)haven’t had a great IPLand that has been the

biggest failure of the‘Yellow Brigade’. Thebowling suffered a lot be-cause of the absence of aninjured Deepak Chaharand the inability to retainJosh Hazlewood. It waswafer-thin in terms of ex-perience and they paid theprice. Pathirana, with aslinging action that is pret-ty similar to Malinga, hascaught Dhoni’s imagina-tion but he is a work inprogress. Similarly, thelikes of Mukesh (16 wick-ets), Simar (3 wickets) andspinner MaheshTheekshana (12) are goodbut not assured match-winners yet.

The Royals’ bowling at-tack, perhaps, is one of thebest in the tournamentwith the spin duo ofChahal (24 wickets and ERof 7.76) and RavichandranAshwin (10 wickets at 7.15)creating plenty of troublefor the batters.

Prasidh Krishna (15wickets) has been sharpon most days and whenTrent Boult (12 wickets)gets the ball to slant intothe right-handers first up,it will be difficult for anytop-order.

The Royals’ qualifica-tion is in their own handsand they would like tokeep it that way with a winagainst Chennai SuperKings.

Royals seek another Buttler showversus CSK to clinch play-off spot Wankhede, May19:

Royal ChallengersBangalore’s star batterVirat Kohli has not hadthe best of IPL seasons.However, that has not de-terred his spirit. The for-mer RCB captain openedup on his current formand how he maintains apositive frame of mind.

Speaking on the StarSports show ‘InsideRCB’, Kohli said:“My experiences aresacred to me.Whatever I haveexperienced in thisphase or in the pastas well, one thing Ican vouch for is that Ihave never valued my-self more as a person.Because I’m experienc-ing now that there is abig sense of the identi-ty that’s created by theworld for you, which isfar more different and sofar away from the realityof you as a human being.So, what I’m experienc-ing now is that I am valu-ing myself and I care formy own well-being waymore I would have in thepast.”

“I’m actually in thehappiest phase of mylife. I am not finding anyself-worth or value inwhat I do on the field.I’m way past that phase.This is a phase of evolu-tion for me. Not to say

that I don’t have thesame drive, my drivewill never die down. Theday my drive goes away,I’ll not be playing thisgame.”

“But to understandthat somethings are notcontrollable, the onlycontrollable you haveare things that you canwork towards, which isworking hard on thefield and in life as welland from that point ofview, I feel that I am inthe most balanced spacethat I have ever been and

I am happy with who Iam and how I am leadingmy life. I am not findingany source of encour-agement or disappoint-ment by what happenson the field. So, this hasnot been about myself,this is about the fact thatI have not contributed tomy team’s cause asmuch as I would havewanted to or I pride my-self to, and that is some-thing that always disap-points me, not what I doas an individual. It’s be-cause I don’t want to letmy team down,” headded.

Former Team Indiaskipper Kohli has beenout of form for quite awhile now. After beingretained by RCB aheadof mega auctions of IPL2022, Kohli has scoredonly 236 in 13 matches,with an average of 19.67and a strike rate of113.46.

Virat Kohli also talkedabout his transitionfrom a captain to a play-er, “To be honest, it’s dif-ferent. I won’t say it’shard because it’s some-thing that you’re in-volved in regularly.

So, the good thing isthat my relationshipwith Faf has alwaysbeen good. We also havea leadership group in theteam where we all shareour inputs.

This is a phase ofevolution for me: Kohli

Chattogram, May 19 (AP):

Sri Lanka recoveredfrom early trouble to holdout Bangladesh and drawthe series-opening test onthe fifth day Thursday.

Sri Lanka was 161-6 inits second innings abouthalfway through the mid-dle session, leading by 93runs, and saved by DineshChandimal, 39 not out, andNiroshan Dickwella, 61not out.

Sri Lanka was 260-6when play was mutuallyended 73 overs into thefinal day at Zahur AhmedChowdhury Stadium.

The visitors posted 397before Bangladesh repliedwith 465, taking a 68-runfirst-innings lead.

The second and last teststarts on Monday inDhaka.

Left-arm spinner TaijulIslam raised Bangladesh’shope of winning the testwith two quick wickets inthe first session. He took 4-82 and fashioned a run outbut Bangladesh’s attackmissed leading pacer

Shoriful Islam, whoseright hand was injuredwhile batting lateWednesday. He didn’t bowland has been ruled out forfour-five weeks.

Sri Lanka made a rapidstart after resuming theday at 39-2, with KusalMendis unleashing a pow-erful attack with twoboundaries in the first

over from Taijul. Mendisscored 48 from 43 deliver-ies, hitting eight bound-aries and a six, before hewas dismissed by Taijul toa ball that spun past himand clipped off stump.Taijul also tormentedAngelo Mathews, whoscored 199 in the first in-nings but was out for a 15-ball duck when he charged

the bowler and gave up areturn catch. Dhananjayade Silva joined captainDimuth Karunaratne toresist a pumped-upBangladeshi bowling at-tack, but Karunaratne’sserenity paid off as hereached his 28th test fiftyguiding a Shakib Al Hasandelivery for three runs inthe third man region.

Sri Lanka holds out for drawwith Bangladesh in 1st test

Bangkok, May 19 (PTI):

Kidambi Srikanth, oneof the main architects ofIndia’s historic ThomasCup triumph, exited fromthe Thailand Open afterhanding a walkover to hisopponent in the men’s sin-gles second round matchhere on Thursday.

Srikanth, seeded eighth,gave a walkover to hisIrish rival Nhat Nguyen.The reason for his with-drawal is not yet known.

The world no. 11 Indianhad earlier produced agritty show to get the bet-ter of Brice Leverdez ofFrance 18-21 21-10 21-16 inhis opening round match.

In the women’s singles,it was curtains forMalvika Bansod, who lost21-16 14-21 14-21 to LineChristopherson ofDenmark in the secondround.

The Indian mixed dou-bles pair of IshaanBhatnagar and TanishaCrasto also bowed out inthe second round, losing19-21 20-22 against sixthseeded Malaysia combina-

tion of Goh Soon Huat andLai Shevon Jemie.

Later, Ashwini Bhat Kand Shikha Gautam toocrashed out in thewomen’s doubles secondround, losing 19-21 6-21against fifth seeds MayuMatsumoto and WakanaNagahara.

Two-time Olympicmedallist PV Sindhu, seed-ed sixth and ranked sev-enth in the world, will faceSim Yu Jin, who hadplayed a pivotal role inKorea’s Uber Cup win.

Sindhu had staved off aspirited challenge fromworld number 62, USA’sLauren Lam, in the open-ing round.

Srikanth out ofThailand Open

London, May 19 (PTI):

England pace spearheadJofra Archer has beenruled out of the entire sea-son due to a stress fractureon his lower back, thecountry’s cricket boardsaid on Thursday, whichmeans he will miss theTest against India in July.

“After being diagnosedwith a stress fracture tothe lower back, Englandand Sussex seamer JofraArcher has been ruled outfor the rest of the season,”the England & WalesCricket Board (ECB) said

in a statement.The worst part is that he

is indefinitely out of com-petitive cricket as the ECBhas not set any specifictime-frame for his return.

“No time-frame hasbeen set for his return. Amanagement plan will bedetermined following fur-ther specialist opinionover the coming days.”

India are scheduled toplay a Test match (carryover from previous series)along with six white-ballgames in the month ofJuly. The 27-year-old Jofra,who last played interna-tional cricket in March2021 in an away seriesagainst India, had under-gone an elbow surgery andthen made a comeback tocounty cricket for Sussexbefore suffering a stressfracture.

The last competitivematch that he played was aT20 game against Kent atHove.

The Barbados-bornJofra has so far played 42international matches forEngland across three for-mats and has 86 wickets tohis credit.

Jofra Archer to miss Test match versus India

Kolkata, May 19 (PTI):

Riding high on theirsuccessive I-League tri-umph, Gokulam KeralaFC stunned ATK MohunBagan 4-2 in a six-goalthriller in their AFC Cupdebut at the Salt LakeStadium here onWednesday.

In a battle between thetwo heavyweights of thetop-tier ISL and the sec-ond-tier I-League,Gokulam Kerala dishedout a much more compactand technical display thanBagan.

Fresh from winning anunprecedented I-Leaguedouble at the same venuelast Saturday, GokulamKerala led the way withtheir Slovenian centre-for-ward Luka Majcen (50’,65’) striking a brace.

Rishad Puthanveettil(57’) and substitute JithinSubran (89’) slammed oneeach to seal three pointsand give a reality check tothe ISL giants and thelocal favourites.

Mohun Bagan showedsome spark with goals

from Pritam Kotal (53’)and Liston Colaco (80’),but their defence, in theabsence of SandeshJhingan and Tiri, who wasstretchered out after sus-taining an injury in the39th minute, crumbled inthe second-half.

“Injury to Tiri was a dif-ficult one, you had tochange the plan, the for-mation. We were not ready

for the transition,”ATKMB coach JuanFerrando said.

“When we had chances,we were unlucky. Ofcourse we need to learn,but this past. We don’twant to give any excuses,”the Spaniard added.

The win also gave theMalabarians an early ad-vantage in securing theonly available berth from

group D for the AFC CupInter-Zone semi-finals.

Playing in front of astrong home support, ATKMohun Bagan squanderedmany chances in a domi-nating first half.

Fijian star centre-for-ward Roy Krishna missedback-to-back opportuni-ties in the 18th minute —first a one-on-one fromListon Colaco’s cross and

then from Joni Kauko’s as-sist, when the ball came offthe inside of the post.

In the 29th minute,Kauko had a shot at thetarget from inside the boxbut the Finnish midfielderhit straight to RakshitDagar, as Gokulam Keralahad anxious few momentsto begin with.

The two-time reigning I-League champions werecautious to start with intheir maiden appearancein the continental show-piece, resulting in a goal-less first half.

For the Mariners, whomade an inter-zonal semi-final exit in the last edi-tion, those were the fewchances they had as the ta-bles turned after thebreak. The VincentoAlberto Annese-coachedside struck thrice in thespace of 11 minutes to vir-tually close out the game.

Gokulam’s in-formMajcen, who was theteam’s top-scorer (13 goals)in the I-League, led its sec-ond-half domination toforce Mohun Bagan de-fence into submission.

Gokulam Kerala stun Mohun Bagan 4-2 in AFC Cup debut

Luka Majcen of Gokulam Kerala FC celebrates with teammates after scoring a goalagainst ATK Mohun Bagan FC during the AFC Cup group stage football match, in Kolkata.Navi Mumbai, May 19 (PTI):

A bit of frustrationcame out in Quinton deKock’s uncharacteristiccelebration after his blaz-ing hundred againstKolkata Knight Riders inthe IPL here.

At the post-match pressconference onWednesday, LucknowSuper Giants assistantcoach Vijay Dahiya citedthe possible reason be-

hind the charged-up cele-bration by the SouthAfrican opener.

“I will speak aboutQuinton. Sometimes hegot runs, sometimes hedidn’t (in ongoing IPL).When we practiced, orwhen he was knocking ortaking throw-downs, hewas always saying henever felt so good andhow come it happenedthat he wasn’t able toscore,” Dahiya said.

“He also said the day hegot going, he would makeit count and he did thattoday (last night). Andthe way they batted for 20overs, without any wicketfalling, just fantastic,”added Dahiya.

Thanks to De Kock’sspectacular unbeaten 140,the highest individualscore this season, andskipper KL Rahul’s 68 notout, Lucknow posted animposing 210 for no lossand then defended it bytwo runs to book a berthin the play-offs.

De Kock knew he wouldmake it count the

day he got going: Dahiya

Quinton de Kock

KKR will invest inRinku in coming

years, says McCullum

NNaavvii MMuummbbaaii,, MMaayy 1199 ((PPTTII))::Kolkata Knight Riders headcoach Brendon McCullum saysyoung batter Rinku Singh hasbeen their find of the ongoingIPL season and the franchisewill invest in him in the comingyears. Rinku, who nearly pulledoff an epic win with his breath-taking batting against LucknowSuper Giants here onWednesday, earned high praisefrom McCullum. “Absolutely he(Rinku) sure has (been the findof the season). Rinku is a play-er who KKR will invest in, nodoubt, over the next few yearsand we will see him reallyprogress and may even chal-lenge for higher honours intime,” McCullum, who is set totake over as England’s nextTest head coach, said at thepost-match press conference.

Skyroot tests third-stage of Vikram-1 rocket


Space-sector start-upSkyroot Aerospace hassuccessfully conducted thefull-duration test-firing ofthe third stage of theVikram-1 rocket, India'sfirst privately built satel-lite launch vehicle.

Named 'Kalam-100' afterformer President late A PJ Abdul Kalam, the thirdstage of Vikram-1 pro-duces a peak vacuumthrust of 100 kN (or~10Tons) and has a burntime of 108 seconds.

"The test-firing was con-ducted on May 5 atNagpur," Pawan KumarChandana, co-founder andCEO of Skyroot

Aerospace, told PTI. Therocket stage is built withhigh-strength Carbonfiber structure, solid fuel,EPDM thermal protectionsystem, and carbon abla-tive nozzle.

"It is a highly reliablestage with no movingparts and high level of au-tomation in manufactur-ing," he said. Chandanasaid the full duration stagelevel testing is a majormilestone for the develop-ment of our flagship or-bital vehicle Vikram-1.

"The stage has deliveredexcellent performance andthis success gives greatconfidence for our otherrocket stages planned to betested soon," he said.

Skyroot co-founderNaga Bharath Daka saidKalam-100 was the best inclass rocket stage of itssize, with record propel-lant loading and firing du-ration. It uses all carboncomposite structure for de-livering best performance,he said.

"This is the largest rock-et stage ever designed,manufactured, and testedcompletely in the Indianprivate sector. We areproud to be a part of thisachievement by support-ing the propellant process-ing and static testing atour world class facilities inNagpur," said ManishNuwal, MD and CEO ofSolar Industries India Ltd.

Aizawl, May 19 (PTI):

Mizoram reported afresh outbreak of FallArmyWorm (FAW), a pestthat damaged maize culti-vations in several parts ofthe state, an official saidon Thursday. Director ofAgriculture DepartmentJames Lalsiamliana toldPTI that a report about theoutbreak was receivedfrom some parts of thestate on May 13.

Following that, agricul-ture officers in all districtswere alerted to take stepsto prevent the outbreak, hesaid. The outbreak has af-fected 89 villages in sevendistricts, Lalsiamlianasaid. FAW was detected in

more than 490 hectare ofland across the statewhere maize is cultivated,he said.

Mizoram has 11 districtsand detailed informationfrom Khawzawl and Siahadistricts is awaited.Negligible incidence ofFAW was also reportedfrom Serchhip andHnahthial districts, the of-ficial said. Lunglei andMamit districts are theworst hit, he said.

While FAW was detectedin 287 hectare of land in 22villages of Lunglei, it wasfound in 93.6 hectare ofland in 29 villages inMamit district, he said. InAizawl district, FAW wasfound in 38.4 hectares of

land, affecting 15 villages,he said. FAW outbreak wasfirst detected in the statein 2019, and a recurrencehas happened every yearsince then during the sum-mers, Lalsiamliana said.

The government is tak-ing steps to contain theoutbreak by providing pes-ticides and insecticides tofarmers, he said. Farmershave been instructed touse soap solutions, a con-coction of salt and red pep-per and also ash to kill thepest, he said.

Noting that FAW has ableak chance of survivalduring the monsoon,Lalsiamliana hoped thatthe outbreak would be con-tained soon.


A global survey of over30,000 people shows that 46per cent of Indians havesignificantly increasedtheir frequency of cleaninghouseholds, and 2 in 3 peo-ple clean 5-7 times a week,the most frequent fromSouth East Asia countriessurveyed.

The study by researchersat technology companyDyson shows that globally95 per cent of people arecleaning just as much, ifnot more, than they did lastyear due to concernsaround the COVID-19 pan-demic.

However, Indians are less"reactive" cleaners whencompared to the rest of theworld with just 1 in 3 peoplebeing motivated to cleanafter seeing dust on theirfloors, compared to theglobal average of 40 per

cent, they said."It is a cause for concern

if people only clean whenthey spot visible dust onthe floors as many dust par-ticles are microscopic insize," said Monika Stuczen,research scientist in micro-biology at Dyson.

"In fact, by the time peo-ple spot visible dust in thehome, it is highly likely thatthere are dust mites in yourhome," Stuczen said in astatement. The 'DysonGlobal Dust Study 2022' is a15-minute online survey un-dertaken by 32,282 respon-dents across 33 countries,including 1,019 from India.

Fieldwork was conduct-ed between November 15 to24, 2021 and February 14 toMarch 7, 2022. Data hasbeen weighted at a 'global'level to be representative ofdifferent population sizes.The study found that inIndia, 46 per cent of people

surveyed have significantlyincreased their frequencyof cleaning and 2 in 3 peo-ple clean their homes 5-7times a week, the most fre-quent in the South EastAsia region.

"In India, we clean fre-quently, but traditionalcleaning methods may stillnot be an answer for effi-cient cleaning," said Dr.Lancelot Pinto, consultantpulmonologist at P. D.Hinduja National Hospitaland Medical ResearchCentre in Mumbai.

"When we breathe inair containing fine dust,dust mites, skin flakesand other pollutants(present in householddust), we are vulnerableto a spectrum of respira-tory manifestations. "Oneof the key contributors tothese health issues is finedust, which may or maynot be seen with a naked

eye," said Pinto.The experts noted that in-

dividuals in certain agegroups and with health con-ditions are more vulnerableto dust allergies than oth-ers. "Young children, preg-nant women, senior citi-zens or people with respira-tory issues and disordersneed to do their best to pro-tect themselves from suchpollutants, Pinto added.

The survey also found 29per cent of Indians weresurprised that skin flakesare a component of house-hold dust and 22 per centwere unaware that house-hold dust can carry virusparticles. Nearly 21 per centwere unaware that pet al-lergens that trigger pet-re-lated allergies can be foundin household dust while 35per cent of Indians thoughtthat household dust wasmostly made up of soil andsand, the researchers said.

‘No decision yet on joining BJP or AAP’Ahmedabad, May 19 (PTI):

A day after resigningfrom the Congress, Patidarleader Hardik Patel onThursday said he "wasted"three years of his life in theparty, but maintained thathe has not taken a decisionyet on joining any other po-litical outfit, be it the rulingBJP in Gujarat or the newentrant AAP.

Addressing a press con-ference here, Patel (28)hailed the BJP for its ef-forts in the Ayodhya caseand also appreciated it forabrogating Article 370,while also accusing theleaders of the "visionless"Congress of being biasedagainst the Gujarati people.

Ahead of the GujaratAssembly polls due laterthis year, Patel onWednesday resigned fromthe Congress, claiming topleaders of the party weredistracted by their mobile

phones and that GujaratCongress leaders weremore interested in arrang-ing chicken sandwiches forthem. Asked if he wouldjoin the BJP or the ArvindKejriwal-led Aam AadmiParty (AAP), Patel onThursday said, "I have nottaken any decision as ofnow on joining any politi-cal party, be it the BJP orAAP. Whatever decision Iwill take, it will be in the in-terest of the people."

According to Patel, hismain contention was thathe was never given anymeaningful work despitebeing the working presi-dent of the state unit. Hewas appointed to the post inJuly 2020. "It is a fact thatCongress benefited im-mensely in the 2017Assembly polls due to thePatidar quota agitation (ledby him). However, I was notgiven any responsibilityeven after making me

working president. I wasnot even invited to the keymeetings of the party. Itnever arranged my pressconference during the lastthree years," he said.

In the 2017 polls, the BJPhad managed to retainpower but its seat tallycame down to 99 from 115 in2012, while the Congresshad won 77 seats, improv-ing its tally by 16 seats inthe 182-member House.

"Some 7-8 leaders havebeen running the show forthe last 25 years in Gujarat.

Second cadre leaders arenot given any importance.Party just believes in thetheory of use and throw.During the last 7 years,nearly 122 Congress leadershad left the party, including30 MLAs and nearly 40 for-mer MLAs," said Patel.

Hitting out at theCongress, he said the partynever speaks anything onthe issues concerningHindus, such as the CAA(Citizenship AmendmentAct) or on the issue of a'Shivling' (said to be) foundin a mosque in Varanasi.

"Ruling BJP's efforts inthe Ayodhya case wereworth appreciating. I hadwelcomed the SupremeCourt's verdict and my fam-ily even donated Rs 21,000for the construction of RamMandir. BJP also did a goodjob by scrapping Article 370.I will not hesitate to appreci-ate what is worth appreciat-ing," he said.


Hardik Patel

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Railways personnel during a joint mock drill, in Lucknow, Thursday.

MOCK DRILL

Students check their result on a laptop after Karnataka Education Board announced 10th SSLC results, inBengaluru, Thursday.

CHECKING RESULTS

Printed and Published by Sameer Maheshwari on behalf of Ramgopal Investments Pvt. Ltd. at Navbharat Press, Navbharat Bhawan, Press Complex, Raipur. Editor in Chief - Sameer Maheshwari. Editor: Sameer Shukla (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act.),Phone: (0771) 4257700 Fax : (0771) 4257703 , Postal Regn. No. C.G./RYPD.N./62/2019-21, Regd. No. 26172/74/RNI

2 in 3 Indians clean homes regularly,most frequent in SE Asia

SURVEY REPORT

Hardik hails saffron party over Ayodhya issue, Article 370

Court setsIndrani’s bail bond

at Rs 2 lakhMumbai, May 19 (PTI):A special CBI court in thecity on Thursday saidIndrani Mukerjea, theprime accused in the mur-der of her daughterSheena Bora, can walk outon bail after furnishing abond of Rs 2 lakh as it fi-nalised her bail condi-tions.

Mukerjea (50) wasgranted bail by theSupreme Court onWednesday, six-and-a-halfyears after she was arrest-ed in the murder case.

The CBI court said theformer media executivecan be released from theByculla women's prison inMumbai upon furnishinga cash bail bond of Rs 2lakh and a solvent suretyof the same amount.

‘CUET for PGadmissions from2022 academic

session’New Delhi, May 19 (PTI):The University GrantsCommission has decidedto introduce the commonuniversity entrance test(CUET) for post graduatecourses also from thisyear, its chairmanJagadesh Kumar said onThursday.

The decision comesweeks after the UGC chiefannounced that CUETscores, and not Class 12scores, will be mandatoryfor admission to 45 centraluniversities and that thecentral universities can fixtheir minimum eligibilitycriteria.

CUET for PG admis-sions will also be intro-duced from the 2022 aca-demic session.

Mizoram reports FAW outbreak,7 districts affected

BJP misusing central agencies, hasunleashed a ‘Tughlagi raj’

Jhargram (WB), May 19 (PTI):

Amid the row overirregularities in SSC

appointments, WestBengal Chief MinisterMamata BanerjeeThursday slammed theBJP-led government at theCentre for unleashing a"Tughlagi raj" in the coun-try and "misusing federalagencies to settle politicalscores".

Banerjee also claimedthat there were many dis-crepancies in governmentrecruitment during theerstwhile Left Frontregime in the state, detailsof which, she said, she will"reveal soon".

"The BJP is running a'Tughlaqi' regime (refer-ring to 14th-century Delhisultan Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq who was knownto be wilfull) in the coun-try and is trying to dividethe nation. It is control-ling central agencies andusing those to settle politi-cal scores," she said at apublic meeting here.

"A lot of things arebeing said about discrep-ancies in recruitment.The people are well awareof those who are involvedin corruption. They don'tlike such people neitherdo I. If someone has com-mitted any wrong, the lawwill take its own course.

"But this vilificationcampaign should stop.During the Left regime,transfers were made andjobs were given by writ-ing down names on paper.I will reveal the irregular-ities soon," she said.

West Bengal ministerand TMC secretary gener-al Partha Chatterjee wasquizzed for over threehours on Wednesdayevening by CBI in connec-tion with irregularities inappointments in govern-ment schools which hassnowballed into a majorcontroversy in the state.

Chatterjee appeared be-fore the sleuths of the in-vesting agency following

an order by the CalcuttaHigh Court, whichtermed as a "public scam"the irregularities made inthe recruitment process.

"If there is anythingwrong, it should be recti-fied through proper law.But if BJP thinks it cansilence us by brute force,it is wrong. It lost the as-sembly poll but have noshame. BJP now thinksthat it can gain someground before the 2024Lok Sabha polls," shesaid.

Keeping up her attack,the feisty TMC boss saidthe saffron party has de-stroyed all institutions inthe country.

"The BJP has systemati-cally planted its people inall institutions and de-stroyed them. They havedone the same with EDand CBI. They could notunseat me and are nowjealous of me," she said.

The saffron party hasunleashed a "misinforma-tion campaign" to malignthe state, she said refer-ring to allegations of vio-lence levelled by it.

"Whenever (violent) in-cidents take place, wetaken action. We don'twant any violent inci-dents in the state. But BJPhas unleashed a maliciouscampaign in the state,"she said.

Mam

ata

amid

SSC

row

CBI files FIR against Bengalminister, daughter


The CBI on Thursdayfiled an FIR against WestBengal minister PareshChandra Adhikari after hefailed to meet the deadlineset by the Calcutta HighCourt for appearance be-fore its sleuths in connec-tion with a case of allegedillegal appointment of hisdaughter as a teacher in astate government-aidedschool, an official said.

Adhikari, who is the min-ister of state for education,along with his daughter,was booked under IPC sec-tions 420 (cheating and dis-honesty) and 120B (crimi-

nal conspiracy), besidessections under Preventionof Corruption Act, the offi-cial of the agency said."The minister was sup-posed to appear before ourofficers by 3 pm as per theCalcutta High Court order,but he did not. We havelodged an FIR against himand his daughter," he said.The high court onThursday had initially di-rected Adhikari to appearbefore the CBI by 3 pm, buthis lawyer submitted thathe was in Coochbehar andwould travel to Kolkata byair in the evening. JusticeAbhijit Gangopadhyay thenasked the Bidhannagar po-

lice to take him to the CBIoffice as soon as he lands atthe NSC Bose Airport here.The court also said that ifAdhikari was found miss-ing on the flight, it would betreated as a hoax created byhim to escape the court andthe CBI and, in that case,the matter would be dealtwith accordingly. Accordingto the CBI official, Adhikarihad mailed to the agency,seeking more time to ap-pear before its sleuths. "Hehas written to us seekingmore time to appear beforethe officers in connectionwith the ongoing investiga-tion. We are ready to ques-tion him," he added.

APPOINTMENT SCAM

Installed KKaatthhmmaanndduu:: A team ofexperts from the NationalGeographic Society hasinstalled the “world’shighest weather station”on Mt. Everest at an alti-tude of 8,830 metres toautomatically measurevarious meteorologicalphenomena, the Nepalesemedia reported onThursday. Nepal’sDepartment of Hydrologyand Meteorology (DHM)said the automatic weath-er station was installed afew metres below thesummit point (8,848.86metres) last week as thesnow and ice on the sum-mit are not suitable forfixing equipment.

Slab collapse MMuummbbaaii:: A 31-year-oldman died after a slab froman under-construction resi-dential building fell on himin the western suburb ofMalad here on Thursday,police said. The incidenttook place at Zakaria roadin Malad (west) in theafternoon, when the vic-tim, Raj Kumar Soni,stepped out to answernature’s call and a slabfrom the building fell onhim, an official said.

Spl trains CCooiimmbbaattoorree:: To cater totourists visiting NilgirisDistrict, Southern Railwaywill operate summer spe-cial trains in NilgirisMountain Railway (NMR)from May 21. The specialtrains will be operated asfully reserved trains and weekly trains will beoperated betweenMettupalayam andUdhagamandalam.

MisconductLLuucckknnooww:: A day after aLucknow University pro-fessor was assaulted by astudent on the campus, agroup of students gave awritten complaint of “mis-conduct” against the pro-fessor to the universityadministration onThursday. Around 50 stu-dents met Vice ChancellorAlok Kumar Rai and hand-ed him the complaint.

MishapJJaaiippuurr:: Five people werekilled and five injured in ahead-on collision of carsin Rajasthan’s Bharatpurdistrict, police said onThursday. The deceasedwere identified as Arbaz(16), Wasim (16), Parvez(17), Alam (21) and Aasif, all of the samefamily, they said.

WOMAN POWER

Women prepare for a Path Sanchalan programme under the Rashtra Sevika Samiti, in Lucknow, Thursday.

CC

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PAGE 11

Sukma May 19:

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelon Thursday said peacetalks with Naxals can takeplace only if they expressfaith in the Constitution,days after the outlawedCommunist Party of India(Maoists) showed willing-ness to hold a conditionaldialogue with the stategovernment.

Baghel was talking toreporters in Sukma dis-trict of Bastar region dur-ing his visit as a part ofthe public interactiondrive ‘Bhent Mulaqat’.

When some reporterspointed out that Maoistshave set conditions fortalks with the govern-ment, Baghel said no placecan be better than this inBastar (for talks). “Sukmais the area where

Naxalism started (in thestate). Now, they havebeen pushed to the backfoot here and their influ-ence has declined. If they(Naxals) want talks, thenour doors are always openbut only on one conditionthat they should express

faith in the Constitution,the CM said.

On what basis will I talkto them? India is a federalrepublic, and being thechief minister of a state, ifI talk to anyone face-to-face, then the most impor-tant thing is that the otherperson should expressfaith in the Constitution.If you don’t believe theIndian Constitution then Icannot talk to you,” hesaid.

Baghel said he willcome to Sukma or any-where for talks, but onlyon one condition thatNaxals express faith in theConstitution.

Earlier this month,Maoists in a statementsaid they are ready fortalks, but also set severalconditions, including re-lease of their jailed lead-ers and withdrawal of se-

curity forces from strife-torn areas. Reacting to theconditions set by the ul-tras, state Home MinisterTamradwaj Sahu had saidthat talks would be heldunconditionally.

As a part of the secondphase of his constituency-wise public interactiondrive, Baghel onWednesday reachedSukma to seek a directfeedback from peopleabout the functioning ofhis government and im-plementation of welfareschemes.

From Sukma, he wentto neighbouring Bijapurdistrict on Thursday after-noon.

Sukma is among sevendistricts of the state’sBastar region which hasbeen struggling with theNaxal menace for overthree decades.

‘Peace talks with Naxalsonly if trust in Constitution’


The Supreme CourtThursday imposed a sen-tence of one-year rigorousimprisonment on crick-eter-tur ned-politicianNavjot Singh Sidhu in a1988 road rage case, sayingany undue sympathy toimpose an inadequate sen-tence would do more harmto the justice system andundermine the public con-fidence in the efficacy oflaw. The apex court said inthe given circumstances,tempers may have beenlost but then the conse-quences of the loss of tem-per must be borne.

The top court, while al-lowing the review pleafiled by the complainanton the issue of the sen- tence, said it is a case

where some germane factsfor sentencing appear tohave been lost sight ofwhile imposing only a fineon the Congress leader.

Though the apex courthad in May 2018 heldSidhu guilty of the offenceof “voluntarily causinghurt” to a 65-year-old man,it spared him a jail termand imposed a fine of Rs1,000. Noting that the handcan also be a weapon by it-self where a boxer,wrestler, cricketer, or anextremely physically fitperson inflicts a blow, theapex court said it does be-lieve that indulgence wasnot required to be shownat the stage of sentence byonly imposing fine and let-ting Sidhu go without anyimposition of sentence.


Former PunjabCongress president SunilJakhar joined the BJP onThursday, days after hequit the grand old party,and thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toaccept him into the partyfold. Jakhar, a prominentHindu leader in Punjab,

joined the BJP in the pres-ence of party president J PNadda. The 68-year-oldleader had quit theCongress last week with a“good luck and good bye”message. Welcoming himto the BJP, Nadda saidJakhar enjoyed a specialstature in Punjab that wasindependent of the partyand will help the BJP

strengthen nationalistforces in the border state.“BJP is emerging as thenumber one nationalistforce in Punjab. Hence it isnecessary for all leadershaving nationalist ideologyto join the BJP to strength-en the party and for astronger Punjab,” Naddasaid. Belonging to the Jatcommunity, Sunil, son of aCongress stalwart and apopular farmers’ leaderBalram Jakhar, is a three-term MLA and a formerLok Sabha member fromGurdaspur. Addressing themedia after joining theBJP, he lashed out at theCongress, accusing it of in-sulting the spirit of broth-erhood in Punjab by tryingto divide the state in termsof percentages of castes,communities and religion.

Varanasi (UP), May19 (PTI): A Varanasicourt hearing theGyanvapi-ShringarGauri case onThursday posted thematter to May 23 for

the next hearing.Both the parties filed

their objections and count-er-objections on Thursday.In view of the SupremeCourt’s order to the lowercourt not to proceed withthe matter till Friday, itfixed May 23 for the nexthearing, Madan MohanYadav, the lawyer repre-senting the Hindu side,said. Abhay Yadav, thelawyer appearing for theMuslim side, said theplaintiff had demandedthe court-appointed teamto carry on with its pro-ceedings by demolishingcertain walls, “to whichwe have objected”. “Also, a

government counsel haddemanded the removal offish from a man-madepond located on the prem-ises of the mosque. Thesefish are ours and we haveraised our objection to thispetition as well,” he said.

The two petitions filedin the Gyanvapi case wereto be heard on Wednesday,but due to a lawyers’ strikeover the remarks of a spe-cial secretary-level offi-cial, the hearings couldnot be held.

The strike call was givenby the Banaras BarAssociation and theCentral Bar Associationand the hearing wasscheduled on the same onThursday. On Tuesday,Rekha Pathak, ManjuVyas and Sita Sahu hadfiled an application in thecourt, stating that there isa basement to the east of

the spot where a“Shivling” was claimed tohave been found. The base-ment has been sealed withbrick, stone and cement,they said.

Besides, there is also awall and a basement infront of an idol of Nandiin the Kashi Vishwanathtemple, and this basementhas also been blocked withbrick, stone, sand andother items, they said.

They had also asked fororders to the court-ap-pointed team to report thelength, width and height ofthe “Shivling”, besides toopen the door of the westwall, which is coveredwith debris inside the bar-ricading, and to carry outits work there.

Accepting the applica-tion, the court had said itwould hear the matter onWednesday.


The ED has launchedan anti-money-launder-ing investigation into analleged pornographicfilms case in which busi-nessman Raj Kundra andothers were arrested bythe Mumbai Police crimebranch in 2021, officialssaid on Thursday.

The federal agency hasfiled a complaint underthe criminal sections ofthe Prevention of Money

Laundering Act (PMLA)after studying at leasttwo police first informa-tion reports (FIRs) andsubsequent charge sheetsbefore a court.

Kundra, husband ofBollywood actor ShilpaShetty, and his associateRyan Thorpe were ar-rested and later grantedbail in the case. A fewothers were arrested too.

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) willspecifically look into thetrail of funds and allegedproceeds of crime thatcould have been generat-ed by the accused andothers in the case relatedto the creation and sale ofthese films, officials said.

Kundra,46, was arrest-ed by the Mumbai police

crime branch last yearafter being booked undervarious sections of theIndian Penal Code, theInformation TechnologyAct and the IndecentRepresentation ofWomen (Prohibition)Act.

The businessman hadtold a local Mumbaicourt last year that therewas not even an iota ofevidence with the prose-cution that would con-nect the app ‘Hotshots’,used in the alleged pornfilms racket, with an of-fence under the law.

According to the probeagency, the ‘Hotshots’app was being used bythe accused for upload-ing and streaming ob-scene content.

Guwahati, May 19 (PTI):

The Assam Police has is-sued an advisory to OilIndia Ltd (OIL) and ONGCregarding probable sub-versive activities bybanned ULFA(I) militantson their installations inthe state as well as theiremployees, officials saidon Thursday.

The two PSU energy ma-jors have taken the securi-ty input “seriously” andalready issued a series of“dos and don’ts” for theirstaff after meetings withvarious agencies such asCISF and AISF.

A senior official at theAssam Police told PTI thata telephonic advisory wasissued to the officials ofOil India on possible

strikes, including kidnap-ping of officials, on its in-stallations by the ULFA(I).

“During the monsoon,many places where the oilrigs are located become in-accessible. So, we alert thecompanies about the secu-rity aspect. This is a peri-odic and routine thing,” hesaid, without elaboratingfurther.

When contacted, OILspokesperson TridivHazarika told PTI from itsfield headquarters inDuliajan that the companyreceived “some intelli-gence input” from the po-lice earlier this week.

“Immediately an inter-nal meeting was calledand chaired by ResidentChief Executive In-Charge. It was attended by

senior officials of CISF,AISF OIL Security andother departments,” hesaid. The meeting decidedto sensitise the employeesand officers on various is-sues of security and ac-cordingly, certain stepswere taken, Hazarika said.

“Steps were taken in re-sponse to the advice of theAssam Police on the move-ment of OIL personneland the company opera-tions. People have been ad-vised to be cautious re-garding their movementsfor official and personalpurposes,” he said.

A source at ONGC con-firmed receipt of an alertfrom the security agenciesregarding possible activi-ties by the ULFA(I) againstthe company and its staff.

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199 ((PPTTII))::A Delhi ourt on Thursdayhanded over SBhaskararaman, theChartered Accountant ofLok Sabha MP KartiChidambaram, to the CBIfor four day’s custodialinterrogation in connec-tion with a Rs 50 lakh

alleged bribery case for clearingvisas of 263 Chinese nationalsworking at Talwandi Sabo PowerLtd in Punjab. Special CBI JudgePrashant Kumar passed theorder noting that the investiga-tion was at its initial stage, andthe accused was required to bequizzed. The bribery incident isreported to have taken place in2011 when Karti Chidambaram’sfather P Chidambaram was theUnion home minister. It isreflected from the submissionsof CBI that investigation hasstarted in this case which is at its

inception and investigation offi-cer requires some time to collectall the relevant informationwhich may be necessary in thiscase, therefore, in my consid-ered opinion, it would be appro-priate that 4 days police remandcustody is granted to the CBI,the judge said. He noted that theaccused was admittedly CA ofKartik Chidambaram and he hadbeen wanted in another casewherein he was been enlargedon bail. The FIR is dated May 14,2022. It is further reflected thatthough the accused has beeninquired during this period, how-ever, a detailed inquiry as wellas the recording of his statementis yet to be done. It is also stat-ed by and on behalf of CBI thatthere are other accused personsinvolved in this case for whichrelevant information is requiredto proceed ahead in this case,the court noted.

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199 ((PPTTII)):: A Delhicourt on Thursday convictedKashmiri separatist leader YasinMalik, who had earlier pleadedguilty to all charges, includingthose under the stringentUnlawful Activities PreventionAct (UAPA), in a terror fundingcase. Special Judge PraveenSingh directed the NIA authori-ties to assess Malik’s financialsituation to determine theamount of fine to be imposedand posted the matter for argu-ments on the quantum of sen-tence on May 25. Malik had toldthe court that he was not con-testing the charges levelledagainst him including section 16(terrorist act), 17 (raising fundsfor the terrorist act), 18 (con-spiracy to commit terrorist act),and 20 (being a member of ter-rorist gang or organisation) ofthe UAPA and sections 120-B(criminal conspiracy) and 124-A

(sedition) of the IPC. The courthad earlier also formally framedthe charges against Kashmiriseparatist leaders includingFarooq Ahmed Dar alias BittaKarate, Shabbir Shah, MasaratAlam, Md Yusuf Shah, AftabAhmad Shah, Altaf Ahmad Shah,Nayeem Khan, Md AkbarKhanday, Raja MehrajuddinKalwal, Bashir Ahmad Bhat,Zahoor Ahmad Shah Watali,Shabir Ahmad Shah, AbdulRashid Sheikh, and NavalKishore Kapoor.

TERROR FUNDING CASE

Court convicts Yasin Malik ED initiates money laundering

probe against Raj Kundra

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Assam Police alerts Oil India,ONGC of possible militant attack

34-Year-Old Road Rage Case

Sidhu gets 1 yr in jail

Congress leader NavjotSingh Sidhu outside his residence afterSupreme Courts

verdict, in Patiala,Thursday.

Gurnam Singh’s family thanks Almighty

After the Supreme Courtimposed a one-year jail termon cricketer-turned-politi-cian Navjot Singh Sidhu in a1988 road rage case onThursday, the family of thevictim, Gurnam Singh,thanked the Almighty.

‘Will submit to themajesty of law’

Soon after the SupremeCourt imposed a one-yearjail term on him in a 1988road rage case, formerPunjab Congress chiefNavjot Singh Sidhu said onThursday he “will submit tothe majesty of law.”

Next hearing in Varanasi court on May 23

Bhupesh Baghel

Sunil Jakhar joins BJP

Former Punjab Congress President Sunil Jakhar beingwelcomed by BJP President J P Nadda as he joined theparty at the BJP headquarters, in New Delhi, Thursday.

Accuses Cong of trying to dividePunjab on basis of caste, religion

CENTRAL CHRONICLE, BILASPUR, FRIDAY, MAY 20, 2022

VYT PG College organises Workshop onAntiplagiarism Software & E-Information Sources


Bhilai, May 19: Under theauspices of governmentVYT PG college's CentralLibrary and Research Cell,a one-day workshop on theuse/access to antiplagia-rism software and e-infor-mation sources was organ-ized for research scholars,research directors and pro-fessors to improve thequality of research workand research publications.

The outline of the pro-gram was presented byVinod Kumar Ahirwar,Librarian. The concept of

plagiarism was presentedby the convener of the re-search cell, Dr Anil Kumar.

Principal of the collegeDr RN Singh encouragedthe participants to makemaximum use of the an-tiplagiarism software andinformation sources avail-able in J-Gate in the col-lege. Dr RN Singh empha-sized on developing theavailable infrastructurefor quality research workand said that it would beeasy to stop research pira-cy with software.

In the workshop,Mahendra Sarkar,

Convenor of J-Gate, pre-sented detailed informa-tion regarding the searchand download of e-infor-mation sources available inJ-Gate database. In theworkshop, all the informa-tion related to antiplagia-rism software was given byAbhyansh Singh, convenerof Drillbit.

Giving informationabout accessing the infor-mation sources available inthe N-List, Vinod KumarAhirwar said that in thismore than 6000 researchjournals and more than 32lakh e-books can be easily

accessed and downloaded.This workshop will helpthe researchers to avoid du-plication in their research.

In order to get the re-search scholar's researchpublished in a journal orto submit PhD research,information about howmuch research part hasbeen taken from other re-search in that researchwork, that is, researchtheft can be avoided. Today,the lesser the duplicationof research, the better theresearch is considered.

The theft of researchwill be prevented with

such software. Adequateinformation was providedto the researchers and di-rectors of research in thisregard. Not only the re-searchers of the collegewill be benefited by thesoftware available in thecollege, researchers fromother districts of the divi-sion can also take advan-tage of it.

A large number of re-searchers, research direc-tors, professors and li-brary staff AnuragPandey and SantoshChandrakar were presentin the workshop. DrSrinivas Deshmukh andProfessor of Library andInformation Science,Rajlakshmi Pandey madea special contribution inrunning the program.Students of theDepartment of Libraryand Information Sciencewere also present in theprogram.


Bhilai, May 19: Durg(Rural) MLA and Home andPublic Works DepartmentMinister Tamradhwaj Sahuvisited the Nidan-40 camporganized in Newai onThursday. In the camp, theproblem of a vision im-paired person - RamkumarYadav was resolved in thepresence of the Minister.Even after many years,Aadhar card was not beinggenerated due to lack ofdocuments. On the fourthday, 246 people reached thecamp out of which 69 appli-cations were resolved.

When the Home Ministerwas inspecting the camp, hecame across RamkumarYadav, a vision impairedperson of Ward 33 NewaiBasti, who was requesting

to make his Aadhar card.Due to lack of documents,he was unable to get theAadhar Card. RisaliCorporation CommissionerAshish Dewangan took thematter into cognizance andsent a Corporation officialto Durg to collect the voterID card of Ram KumarYadav.

Other documents werecollected from his family

and thereafter the photog-raphy was done for theAadhar card. Anotherwoman was also providedvoter ID card in the camp.Mayor Shashi Sinha,Speaker Keshav Banchor,MiC membersParmeshwar, GovindChaturveda, ChandrabhanThakur, Anoop Dey,Ishwari Sahu, SoniaDewangan, Corporator

Doman Lal Barle, ZaheerAbbas, Jamuna Thakur,Vinay Netam and otherswere present in the camp.

Home MinisterTamradhwaj Sahu andState Congress GeneralSecretary Jitendra Sahuhanded over the marriagecertificate to HealthDepartment in-chargeGovind Chaturvedi at thecamp on Thursday.

MIC member got marriedrecently. After marriage, hesubmitted an applicationfor registration and certifi-cate. Sahu presentedGumasta license to VimalSao of Ward 34, death cer-tificate of late Poona RamThakur, and BPL certificateto Thanwari Bai andDhannu Yadav at the camp.

Taking prompt action onthe application of Hemlata

Nirmalkar of HealthCenter Newai, the officialsof the Corporation immedi-ately got a power pump in-stalled. The district healthdepartment employee hadcomplained that the con-tractor had kept the powerpump in the house of VijaySingh, who lives in theneighborhood. There is aproblem of water due tolack of power pump in thebore well.

Public GrievanceRedressal Camp "Nidan-40"will be held at Shivpara,Station Maroda, Ward 17 onMay 20. Residents of BRPColony, Shivpara StationMaroda and HSCL ColonyWard can visit this camp totake advantage of thescheme of the governmentand solve the problem relat-ed to the local civic body.

Inter Alumni Tennis Ball Cricket Tournament

from todayCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 19: Officers'Association, Bhilai SteelPlant (OA-BSP) is organiz-ing Inter Alumni TennisBall Cricket Tournamentfor the prestigiousDirector In-Charge Trophyfor the Year 2022 in associa-tion with Sports, Cultural& Civic AmenitiesDepartment, BSP.The tournament will becommencing from May 20,2022 with an OpeningCeremony at CricketGround, Sector-1. DirectorI/c BSP AnirbanDasgupta will be inaugu-

rating the tournament at19:00 hrs in the presence ofall top BSP officials andBSP-OA President SEFIChairman NK Banchore,General Secretary parvin-der Singh and other officebearers.

All the Alumni(College/Institute/University) Cricket Teams inBhilai Steel Plant arehereby invited to take partin this tournament andmake it a grand success. Atotal of 17 teams are par-ticipating in the tourna-ment and 35 matches willbe played during the tournament.

Six ‘Munna Bhai’ arrested in CISF RecruitmentCentral Chronicle News

Bhilai, May 19: With thearrest of six ruffians, po-lice claimed to have busteda gang which was involvedin impersonating candi-dates in the CISF personnelrecruitments. The accusedappeared in place of the ac-tual candidates in differentstages of recruitment.They used fake domicilecertificates and Aadharcards for proving them-selves to be residents ofChhattisgarh.

While addressing mediapersons here on Thursday,SP Dr Abhishek Pallava in-formed that Utai PoliceStation received a com-plaint on May 18 from CISFInspector Lokesh KumarKurre who is positioned inCISF 3rd Battalion. He com-plained that the PST/PETtest for Constable / GDRecruitment in CISF wasunderway in Utai wherethe recruitment teamfound that the Biometric

Fingerprints andPhotographs of some can-didates were not matchingfrom the records providedby the RRC, CISF, Bhopal.Kurre complained thatsome impersonators wereappearing in place of theactual candidates in the re-cruitment process.

Newai Police Station im-mediately informed SPAbhishek Pallava,Additional Superintendentof Police (Rural) AnantSahu and SDOP (Patan)Devansh Singh Rathoreabout the matter. Takingthe matter into serious cog-nizance, the top cops ofDurg Police gave necessaryinstructions and guidanceto Newai Police Stationafter which an offence waslodged under Sections 419,420, 467, 468, 120B of IPC.

Police team conductedinvestigations and six im-personators were taken incustody. During interroga-tion, they confessed to havecommitted the crime. The

accused are identified as Chandrashekhar (20) son

of Bhavar Singh a residentof Ganesh Colony, Agra(UP); Shyam Veer SinghNishad (20) son of BansiLal a resident ofUmraypura, District Agra(UP); Mahendra Singh (19)son of Late Bhajan Lal aresident of Rampur,District Agra (UP); AjitSingh (19) Maharaj Singh aresident of AetmapurAjnera, District Agra (UP);Durgesh Singh Tomar (31)

son of Ramsiya Tomar aresident of Khand Kapra,District Morena (MP); andHariom (25) son of RamDutt a resident of Ramnari,District Agra (UP).

During sustained inter-rogation, the prime ac-cused Durgesh SinghTomar alias Brijesh aliasJhadi and Hariom revealedthat they had taken Rs 5each from some candidatesfor getting them recruitedin CISF. They cheated thegovernment departments

by preparing fake docu-ments and impersonatingcandidates at differentstages of the examination.The accused had broughtthe candidates to Bhilai ina rented Bolero car. Theyhad made fake documentsincluding domicile andaadhar cards for pretend-ing to be permanent resi-dents of Chhattisgarh. Thefake documents were recov-ered from the possession ofthe accused. The accusedwere produced before thecourt and have been sent tojail on judicial remand.

SDOP (Patan) DevanshSingh Rathore, InspectorNavi Monika Pandey (SHO,Utai), Sub-Inspector KLGaur, ASI RajkumarDeshmukh, ASIChandrashekhar Soni,Constable Surendra SinghChauhan, Akash Tiwari,Mahesh Dewangan,Dushyant Lahere, MukeshYadav, Amar Nayak andVijay Kurre played vitalrole in busting the gang.

Durg Police busts gang of ‘candidate impersonators’Ph D-RDC meeting to begin at Durg University from May 28


Bhilai, May 19:Hemchand YadavUniversity, Durg isabout to begin the PhDRDC meeting informedDr PrashantShrivastava, Dean,Student Welfare. Themeeting is to be heldfrom May 28 to June 24,2022.

Dr PrashantSrivastava who is alsothe incharge of thePhD cell further re-vealed that RDC will beheld for a total of 16subjects including mi-crobiology, biotechnolo-gy, zoology, botany,Hindi, education,chemistry, physics,home science, mathe-matics, psychology, po-litical science, sociolo-gy, history, economicsand commerce.

The RDC of thesesubjects as per thetimetable be held everyday at 11:00 hrs inTagore Hall located inthe university campus.The meeting will be at-tended by the Dean ofthat subject and thePresident of the Boardof Studies and an exter-nal expert.

The guide of the re-searcher can also bepresent at the RDC, butthe presence of re-search directors is notmandatory. It will bemandatory for the re-search scholars to sub-mit the application forthe RDC meeting latestby May 28 duly signedby the DRC membersand principal of the re-search center.

In accordance to theinformation issued bythe university, the re-

searchers have tobring all the necessarydocuments and 03copies of synopsis anda CD. The dates of thesubject wise meetingof RDC are as follows-Microbiology- May 25,Biotechnology- May 28,Zoology- May 30,Botany- May 30, Hindiin two batches on June03, and June 04 respec-tively, Education- in 4batches June 04, June05, June 11, June 12 re-spectively, Chemistry-June 07, Physics- June09, Home Science-June 10, Mathematics -June 18, Psychology-June 18, PoliticalScience- June 21,Sociology- June 21,History- June 22,Economics- June 22,commerce in twobatches on June 23.

Officials assist vision impaired person to get Aadhar Card

Seminar conducted on Bio-organicpreparations for sustainable agriculture


Bhilai, May 19: The PGDepartment of Microbiologyand Biotechnology of StThomas College organized aseminar on "Bio-organicpreparations development infarmer's field for sustainableagriculture in associationwith MoU Partner Farmlabs,Pune. The objective of thiswebinar was to provide stu-dents knowledge of organicfarming and preparation ofBiofertilizer.

Dr Santosh Chavan,Director, FarmlabLaboratory, Pune delivered aseminar on Bio-organic

preparations. He told in hisseminar that chemical fertil-izers are toxic to environ-ment and health. In his talkhe gave a good knowledgeabout different methods forproduction of Bio-organicpreparations. He also dis-cussed the journey of farmerfield from last 3 years. Hetold his experiences regard-ing preparation of biofertil-izers from starting till date.In the seminar Dr Santoshextended thanks to govern-ment for providing financialassistance and support forBio-organic preparations.The principal Dr MGRoymon congratulated all

staff members and said thatthe St Thomas College regu-larly organized this type ofprogramme for benefits ofthe students. This event wassupervised by Dr V Shanthi,Dr Ujjwala Supe, Dr ShubhaDiwan and Ekta Saxena,Faculties of Department ofMicrobiology andBiotechnology. ThisProgramme was conductedby Dr Anubhuti Jha,Assistant professor,Department ofBiotechnology, St ThomasCollege and vote of thankswas proposed by KathaSanyal, Post graduate stu-dent of the Department.

Volunteer based programme to be introducedfor improving standard of education


BBhhiillaaii,, MMaayy 1199:: Before the com-mencement of the new educationsession, the Education Departmentorganized a meeting of thePrincipals of Government HighSchool and Higher SecondarySchools, Development BlockEducation Officers, AssistantDevelopment Block EducationOfficers and Development BlockResource Coordinators at KhalsaPublic School in Durg in Thursday.

Collector Dr SarveshwarNarendra Bhure chaired the meet-ing. He congratulated the Principalsof 06 High Schools and 10 HigherSecondary Schools which achieved100% results in board examinationsand also appreciated the Principals

of schools having more than 90% re-sults. The Collector conducted indepth discussion on measures to im-prove the level of education and ad-vised the teachers to prepare thenecessary strategy for the new ses-sion. He advised the teachers to re-vise the previous class at the begin-ning of the session. He suggestedpreparing small modules so that thestudent can coordinate with thestudies as soon as possible. Duringthe meeting, the Collector informedthat the volunteer based pro-gramme will be launched soon in allthe schools of the district. Subjectexperts, tutors, people associatedwith coaching institutes, people as-

sociated with the field of educationand talented youth can also volun-teer in this programme. The objec-tive of this volunteer based pro-gramme is to further improve thelevel of education in the district. Itmust be the priority to re-establishcoordination between educationand children. Due to the Corona pe-riod, the last two years were not fa-vorable from the point of view of ed-ucation for the students. TheCollector said that efforts weremade to fill this gap of educationthrough online platforms. But theenvironment that can be created forchildren through schools cannot beachieved through online mediums.

Therefore, in the coming session,establishing the association of chil-dren with education should be thepriority. This session is also very im-portant for the teachers from thepoint of view of coordinating withthe students. On this occasion,District Education Officer AbhayJaiswal congratulated the principalsfor excellent results. He said that 33children who have secured positionsamong the top 10 will be honored.Before the commencement of thenew academic session, he gave in-structions for cleaning of theschools, necessary repair of toiletsand repair of the rain water harvest-ing system. He urged the principals

to add more and more children tothe Aarohan classes and ensure reg-ular attendance of teachers and stu-dents in the upcoming academicsession. He instructed the Principalsto conduct study - teaching system-atically. He informed that a newroadmap has been prepared by thedepartment for the new session ofeducation. In this system, monitor-ing of children, training and moni-toring of teachers will also be done.

Teachers must be proficient atthe level of linguistic skills so thatthe children can understand the re-lated subject in a better way.Teachers will increase coordinationwith children by answering oralquestions every day. Children will beassessed on the basis of concept.After identifying the master train-ers, training will be done as per therequirement of the teachers. Apartfrom this, he advised the publicityand cluster in-charges to be associ-ated with the teaching work so thatthe students can get better knowl-edge from their experience.

EducationDepartment chalksout roadmap for newacademic session

With abundance of well, no water crisis ever in this ward of BMC


BBhhiillaaii,, MMaayy 1199:: There is an areawithin Bhilai Municipal limits wherethere is no water crisis even duringsummer days. The reason is that al-most every house has a well. Thereare wells in the public places of theward too. As is known, well is theone of the biggest means of artifi-cial source of water recharge.Therefore, the area does not facewater crisis or there is never a needto supply water with the help oftankers.

The area is Shaheed VeerNarayan Singh Nagar, Ward 51 ofKhursipar zone area. The quantityof water in these wells is plentifuleven during summer. Many peopleof Shaheed Veer Narayan SinghNagar have been using this waterfor disposal and daily use sinceyears. Most of the wells have mud-room at the bottom, from which thewater gets purified.

It is noteworthy that MayorNeeraj Pal is very serious aboutdrinking water and is taking dailyfeedback regarding water supply in

all the wards of the corporation.Corporation Commissioner PrakashSurve who came to see the drinkingwater system, inspected theShaheed Veer Narayan Singh ward.He directed the officers to takewhatever steps are necessary forthe protection of such watersources.

The Municipal Commissionerhimself took out the water from thewell for testing the quality of thewater which was found pure andcool. The wells inside the houses ofsome people were also inspectedduring this period. The residentsthere told that most of the peoplehave a well in which water is avail-able according to the requirementand use this water for daily activi-ties. Giving information to the com-

missioner, Sanjay Bagde, ExecutiveEngineer of Khursipar zone of thecorporation, said that there wasnever a need for a tanker in thisward, the reason being that a largemedium of artificial water source ispresent in this ward area. Peopletold that 15 to 20 wells are built inthis ward, Although most people usedrinking water here only from thetap connection given by the corpo-ration, despite being such a bigward, the problem of water did notarise here. The people of this wardare supplied water from theKhursipar water tank. During the in-spection, Zone CommissionerAmitabh Sharma, AssistantEngineer Akhilesh Chandrakar,Deputy Engineers Nitesh Meshramand Basant Sahu were present.


LITCHI ON DEMAND

With mercury soaring high, the supply of Litchi, favourite of children and for all age-group is high on demand these days.


Sukma, May 19: ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelwhile addressing the pressconference held in Sukmasaid that The State govern-ment is constantly tryingto give Water, Forest, andland rights to tribals. Hefurther said that oneshould have faith in theConstitution of India andany tribal is welcome todiscuss his/her griev-ances.

CM Baghel said that alot has changed in Sukmaover the years. From beinga severely Naxal-hit re-

gion, Sukma has beentransformed and isequipped with public wel-fare facilities targeted atthe holistic developmentof the region in terms oftransportation, education,health, and nutrition. Theincome of the tribals is in-creasing through the pur-chase of minor forest pro-duce and other income-generating alternatives.The quantity of forest pro-duce procured is constant-ly increasing in the area.Ration shops are beingopened in the interiorareas, schools which wereclosed are being re-operat-ed. Sukma, from where

Naxalism had once start-ed, development has leftNaxalism far behind.

The villagers who wereearlier opposing securitycamps, today are demand-ing security camps.Cordial relations havebeen established betweenthe villagers and the secu-rity forces. Baghel saidthat genuine beneficiariesare receiving ForestRights Recognition letter,and on that land, theypractice income-generat-ing activities like farm-ing, animal husbandry,fisheries, poultry, etc. Theself-confidence of womenhas increased due to em-

ployment-oriented activi-ties in Gauthans which ismaking women financial-ly self-reliant.

Appreciating the initia-tive taken by the Sukmadistrict administrationfor organizing conven-ience camps, the ChiefMinister said that withthis unique initiative, theresidents of interior vil-lages are also gettingtheir Aadhaar, caste, andresidence certificates,and Ayushman cards.Caste certificates havebeen delivered to thehomes of more than 31thousand children in thedistrict.

State govt is constantly trying to passon benefits to tribals: Baghel

By providing water,forest and landrights

Residents of interi-or villages are alsoreceiving Aadhaar,caste, residencecertificates, andAyushman cards


Raipur, May 19: Thevoting for the post ofPresident in NagarPanchayat Chuikhadanwas held on Thursdayand in this the Congresscandidate TriptiMahobia won the post ofPresident with 9-6. In ad-dition to this in theGandai Nagar Panchayatalso held on Wednesday,the Congress candidatewon with 11 votes to 4. Soin both these places BJPhas to face defeat.

PCC state general sec-retary Amarjeet Chawlaexpressing happiness onthis victory said that it isunder leadership of PCC

Chief Mohan Markamthat we have been suc-ceeded in gettingCongress president inboth the Chuikhadanand Gandai NagarPanchayat.

It is notable here thaton arrival of observerShahid Khan inChuikhadan, he made aprediction that with twosuspended corporators ofBJP joining Congressfold, the party’sPresident from Congressis for sure and it gotproved as well.

In-Charge Rajnandgondistrict Arun Sisodiasaid that in the lastmonth’s VS by-poll, thepeople of Chuikhadanshowed confidence to-wards Congress.

He said that the town’sdevelopment works havecome a standstill overthe last two years andwith winning of

Congress candidate, itwill be speeded up.

It is worthwhile tomention here that CMBaghel had granted sanc-tion of Rs 3 cr for devel-opment works of NagarPanchayat.

It is worth mentioningthat in the no-confidencemotion moved last onMarch 7, the BJPPresident despite havingmajority got only 3 votesand after which thepolling was held here onThursday.

PCC spokesmanDhananjay Vermaopined that with victoryof Congress candidate inNagar Panchayat Gandaiand Chuikhadan it isaptly clear that the peo-ple are not only havingfull faith and confidenceCM Bhupesh Baghel’sleadership, but it is in-creasing with passing ofevery day.

Cong President wins postof President in

Chuikhadan, Gandaip Tripti Mahobia wins

with 3 votes fromChuikhadan NagarPanchayat

Raipur, May 19: The indef-inite strike-demonstrationof the employees union inPt Ravi Shankar ShuklaUniversity regarding the 10-point demands continuedfor the second consecutiveday on Thursday. Hundredsof employees raised slo-gans in the university cam-pus in support of their de-mands. Considering impactof the demonstration onuniversity functioningthroughout the day themanagement met the em-ployees’ delegation in theevening.

Assuring to fulfill theirdemands the managementasked them to end theirstrike. However, aggrievedover non-fulfillment of as-surances given by the man-agement earlier, the em-

ployees decided to end theirstrike this time only aftertheir demands are fulfilled.The employees have ac-cused the management ofpressurizing them to endthe strike. EmployeesUnion President ShravanSingh Thakur andSecretary Pradeep Mishrasaid employees would con-tinue to sit on dharna tilltheir demands are fulfilled.

As many as 50 employeeswho have been demoted inthe university have writtena letter to Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel. In this,they told that the universitymanagement demoted 50employees arbitrarily. Insuch a situation, the em-ployees have demanded ap-propriate action from theChief Minister.

Demonstration of university employeescontinues for 2nd day in a row


Raipur, May 19: On thedeath anniversary of ex-Prime Minister BharatRatna Late Shri RajivGandhi i.e. on May 21,2022, State Government’sPublic RelationsDepartment will organizea state-level photo exhibi-tion based on the develop-ment and achievements ofChhattisgarh in pastthree and a half years.This month-long exhibi-tion to be held in Raipurwill be focused on the pri-ority schemes ofC h h a t t i s g a r hGovernment.

Three and a half yearsback, ChhattisgarhGovernment had com-menced its work underthe leadership of Chief

Minister Mr. BhupeshBaghel with the resolve tobuild ‘NavaC h h a t t i s g a r h ’ .Meanwhile, the govern-ment formulated and im-plemented schemes keep-ing the interests of farm-ers, tribals, laborers andvillagers in its top priori-ty. Suraaji Gaon Yojana isbeing implemented totransform the villages ofChhattisgarh as perMahatma Gandhi’s visionof ‘Gram Swaraj’. Thisscheme has significantlystrengthened the ruraleconomy of the state.Rajiv Gandhi Kisan NyayYojana has been started toprovide farmers the fairvalue for their produceand hard work. The num-ber of minor forest pro-duce procured on supportprice has also been in-creased from 07 to 65,thereby providing a newsource of income to thetribals. Gauthans arebeing developed as therural industrial parks.

New avenues of employ-ment and income havebeen opened throughvalue addition of agricul-tural products inGauthans itself.

The photographs relat-ed to various schemes ofthe government depart-ments will be displayed inthe different segments ofthe state level exhibitionto be held at DeendayalUpadhyay Auditorium onFriday. The exhibitionwill be particularly basedon the priority schemessuch as Rajiv GandhiKisaan Nyay Yojana,Godhan Nyay Yojana,Chief Minister UrbanSlum Health Scheme, Dai-Didi Clinic Scheme, ChiefMinister Haat BazarClinic Scheme,Mukhyamantri SuposhanAbhiyan, SwamiAtmanand EnglishMedium School Scheme,Narva, Garva, Ghuruaand Bari, implementationof Forest Rights Act andothers.

State-level photo exhb onRajiv’s death anniv todayShowcasingachievements of Ch’garh in last 3.5 yrs

Raipur, May 19: Theschedule of entrance ex-aminations for admissionin nursing colleges ofChhattisgarh has been an-nounced. The examina-tion for admission to BScNursing will be held onJune 19 and the entranceexamination for admis-sion to MSc Nursing andPost Basic BSc Nursingwill be held on July 3.

Online applications arebeing accepted for theseexams. Following the deci-sion of Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, this timeno examination fee will becharged from domicilesfor these examinations.All the domicile studentsappearing in these exami-nations will be exemptedfrom paying the examina-tion fees. According to theinformation received fromthe ProfessionalExamination Board, the

last date to apply onlinefor BSc Nursing is 26 May.

The online applicationsfor the entrance exam inMSc and Post Basic BScNursing courses will beaccepted till May 29.Error-correction in the ap-plication forms for BScNursing entrance examcan be done from May 27to 29. Error-correction inthe application forms forMSc and Post BasicNursing entrance exami-nations can be done onlyfrom May 30 to June 1.Separate admit cards willbe issued for BSc Nursing,MSc and Post BasicNursing entrance exams.Detailed information onhow to apply online for en-trance examinations, en-trance examination rules,syllabus etc. has been up-loaded on website ofProfessional ExaminationBoard.

Process of admission innursing colleges begins

Raipur, May 19 :Chhattisgarh ProfessionalExamination Board(CGVYAPAM) is going toconduct Pre EngineeringTest (PET) between 9 amand 12:15 pm on May 22.Chhattisgarh PrePharmacy Test (CG PPHT)will be held on same day

between 2 pm and 5:15 pm.Both the examinationswill be conducted in 14centres in Raipur district.The Collector has appoint-ed Mukesh KumarKothari, Deputy Collectoras the nodal officer for thesmooth conduct of the ex-aminations.

Raipur, May 19: The fly-ing squad of town plan-ning department ofRaipur MunicipalC o r p o r a t i o nHeadquarters continuedits action against adver-tisement firms which havenot paid dues, for the sec-ond consecutive day onWednesday. The team toredown a large flex put up bythe defaulting advertisingfirm in front ofTelibandha Marine Drive.Two illegal mobile hoard-ings were also seized in ac-tion.

Acting on the instruc-tions of MunicipalCommissioner Prabhat

Malik and Town PlannerBR Agrawal, the team iscontinuously taking strictaction to recover the duesfrom the defaulting adver-tising firms. The townplanning flying squad toredown the large flex of 30 x30 size put up by M/sC o m p r e h e n s i v eAdvertising, located oppo-site Telibandha TalabMarine Drive in presenceof Vikas Sahu, DeputyEngineer, Town PlanningDepartment and told thefirm to clear dues as soonas possible. The flyingsquad also took strict ac-tion to seize two illegal mo-bile hoardings.

PET, PPhT on 22nd Mayin 14 centres

RMC tears large flex infront of Marine Drive

Raipur, May 19: TheExcise Department tookaction against those deliv-ering alcohol from hotels,dhabas and bars till latenight in the capital.Surprise inspection wascarried out in hotels anddhabas under the directionof Animesh Netam, ExciseDistrict Raipur. Actionwas taken under theExcise Act with arrest offour hotel operators onVIP Road for servingliquor without license.

On checking FL-3 bar,Royal Orchid in Pandri,Monu Bar Pandri,Shalimar Bar Hirapur,Gagan Bar Tatibandh,Madhuban Bar Raipurawere caught selling parcelliquor. Action was takenunder the Excise Act whenthe bar at SheetalInternational Hotel locatedon VIP Road was foundopen ever after specifiedtime in the night.Assistant District ExciseOfficer Neelam KiranSingh, Anil Mittal, GRAade, Excise Sub InspectorPankaj Kujur, NetramRajput were present.

Excise departmentraids six liquor barsp Alcohol delivery

in night

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Contractorsacross the state are united. Theconstruction material hasbecome so expensive that thereis huge difference in SOR andmarket value as a result contrac-tors are facing severe financialcrisis and going completely intodebt. In such a situation, they areneither in a position to completethe construction works nor willthey take part in any tenderprocess. Due to the steep hike inthe prices of construction materi-als about 50 to 60 percentincrease, they have taken such adecision, said Viresh Shukla,President, ChhattisgarhContractor’s Association whilespeaking to the scribes here.Viresh said that there has been adifference of about 60 percent in

the Schedule of Rate (SOR) of allthe construction departments ofChhattisgarh Government andthe market value of the material.He said that the guidelines,norms and SOR rates should besimilar in all the governmentdepartment dealing with con-struction sector. The associationhas demanded the difference inSOR and market value of con-struction materials should beminimised and to rethink on deci-sion of third party checking inPWD department and appoint-ment of Engineer for this pur-pose. He alleged that government

is not trusting the engineersworking in PWD. The online EMDand MPS deposit should be rolledback and security amount shouldbe deposited as FDR as prevailedearlier, as EMD and MPS refundamount are delayed by four tofive years. Association hasdemanded to implement GSTfrom July 2017 and release pend-ing payment. They also demandedto make certain construction itemroyalty free. The performanceguarantee of 10 years in WaterResources Department should bereduced to 5 years. In addition tothis the association has demanded

to roll back the 2010 SOR andimplement new SOR in WRD. Thetender should be invited includingGST tax.

He said that we have talks withgovernment officials next week.Along with this, time has also beensought to meet Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, so that the situa-tion which has arisen regardingthe construction works can beresolved. Due to costly construc-tion material, the pace of con-struction works in the state hascome to a complete halt. Alongwith this, now the contractor is notin a position to take tender, so theassociation has urged the govern-ment to solve the formidable prob-lem. The association has alreadyannounced to boycott the tenderprocess. With this, now no con-tractor in the state will fill the ten-der form online, nor will they willallow anyone to fill it. This decisionwas taken in the meetings of allthe district presidents of the asso-ciation.

CCA demands hike in SOR rates: Viresh Shuklap Announces to

boycott the tender ofall the constructiondepartments

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: ChhattisgarhRanji Trophy team managed toscore just 162 runs against thetotal of 320 scored by Punjab inthe practice match ahead of theofficial tournament.

After resuming the inningsfrom 242 for 6 wickets, thePunjab scored 320 runs in firstinnings. Rohan Taunk claimedmaximum 3 wickets forChhattisgarh whereas DeepakSingh Baghel and Mayank Yadavalso claimed two wickets eachfor the team. In reply, the visit-

ing Chhattisgarh could managejust 162 runs in first innings.Shubham Singh scored maxi-mum 45 runs for the teamwhereas Prateek Yadav alsoscored crucial 41 runs from just52 balls with the help of 7 foursand a six. Vinay Chaudhary wasthe most successful bowler forPunjab as he claimed four wick-ets whereas Preerit Dutta andAryan Dhaliwal also claimed twowickets each for the team torestrict the opposition for just162 runs.

Ch’garh concedes lead of158 runs against Punjab

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Shourya Manikfrom Chhattisgarh paired withDhruv Hirpra from Gujarat towin the All India Men’s 1 Lakh

prize money tournament beingorganized under the aegis ofAll India Tennis Association inLucknow.

They defeated the pair ofAbhinanshu Borathakur fromWest Bengal and Fradeen Mdwith the score of 6-4, 7-5 in thefinal match. Both of them hadearlier won the tournamentheld in Gujarat. ChhattisgarhState Tennis Association(CSTA) Office-bearers havecongratulated the players andextended best wishes for themin future.

Shourya pairs with Dhruv to winAll India Tennis tournament


Self and wife look after the cowdung every night: Manturam

Bijapur: Watchingover cow dung - whilethe idea of watchingover cow dung mightsound quite unusualand weird, it is true.Manturam, a residentfarmer of the districtBijapur’s Kutru,watches over cowdung. He told this tothe Chief Ministerduring the Bhent Mulaqat program held in Kutru vil-lage in the district Bijapur.

Manturam told the Chief Minister that he watchesover cow dung at night with the help of a torch andhis wife also assists him in this job. He said that hesells cow dung under the Godhan Nyay Scheme ofChhattisgarh. Manturam said that till now, he hassold about 14 thousand Kg. of cow dung at Rs. 28 thou-sand. According to him, earlier, people were not inter-ested in cow dung. However, now everyone has theireyes on it. A few days ago, some people had takenaway the cow dung that he had collected. After thisincident, he had decided that he would look after thecow dung every night along with his wife.

Devanti’s long-pending case of demarcation resolved

Bijapur: Taking immediate action on the instruc-tions of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Balrampur-Ramanujganj District administration ensured de-marcation of Devanti Yadav’s land in village Belasar.Devanti had requested CM Bhupesh Baghel to helpher with the demarcation of her land, during his visitto village Aragahi on May 5 under Bhent-MulaqatAbhiyan. Devanti Yadav had told that she bought thisland in year 2010, but demarcation of this land hasnot been done till date. In response, Chief Ministerhad directed district administration officials to en-sure the demarcation of Devanti Yadav’s land at theearliest.

The Administrative officials have acted upon theinstructions of Chief Minister and completed the de-marcation of the land owned by Devanti Yadav. She ishappy with the prompt action of the administrationand grateful to the Chief Minister for resolving herproblem.

CM Baghel dedicates 100 Devgudiya’sSukma: OnWednesday ChiefMinister BhupeshBaghel reachedChhindgarh inSukma district dur-ing ‘Bhent-MulaqatAbhiyan’. Chief

Minister Bhupesh Baghel prayed for the happinessand prosperity of the state’s people after having thedarshan of ‘Musariya Mata’ and offered prayer in thetraditional way. The Chief Minister dedicated 100Devgudiya’s of Sukma district in a programme or-ganized on the temple premises. The work of renova-tion and beautification of these Devgudiya’s, the epi-centres of tribal’s faith, has been done by theChhattisgarh government recently at a cost of Rs 5 crin compliance with the announcement of CMBhupesh Baghel.

The Chief Minister also performed ‘Bhoomipujan’of renovation and beautification work of twoDevgudiya’s on this occasion. The repair and paint-ing of both these Devgudiya’s will be done at a cost ofRs 10 lakh. The Chief Minister met with priests ofDevgudiya and gave them ‘dhoti’, ‘kurta’ and ‘pagdi’as a gift. The Chief Minister also planted a banyanplant on the premises of Musariya Mata Temple.

CM met with relatives of the Asst constables Sukma: On Wednesdayin Sukma, the relatives ofassistant constables metwith CM BhupeshBaghel. The relatives ofthe assistant constablesexpressed their gratitudeto the Chief Minister forannouncing the increase in their salary allowancesand the benefit of promotion.

It is worth mentioning that Chief Minister took adecision to form a District Security Force. It will givethe benefit of an increase in salary, allowances andpromotion to Assistant constables. A decision hasbeen taken to form a District Security Force in the in-terest of assistant constables who are making a sig-nificant contribution to the anti-Naxal campaign.

Provision has been made for the formation of theDistrict Security Force in this year’s budget. The chil-dren lovingly presented rose flowers to the ChiefMinister, then he blessed the children by giving themchocolates.

CM unveils the statue of Father of the Nation Sukma: OnWednesday, ChiefMinister BhupeshBaghel inaugurat-ed the ShaheedPark at Sukma dis-trict headquarters.On this occasion,he unveiled thestatue of Father ofthe NationMahatma Gandhi.

He inauguratedvarious develop-

mental works in Shaheed Park for Sukma MunicipalCouncil including Pauni Pasari Yojna worth Rs 25.53lakh for Ward No. 13 and Ward No. 15 each, ShaheedPark Upgradation work worth Rs 25 lakh, andMuktidham construction worth Rs 117.86 lakh inWard No. 13.

BHENT-MULAQAT NEWS IN BRIEF


Sukma, May 19: ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghelmade several announce-ments in the public inter-est at the meet and greetprogramme organizedtoday at Chhindgarh inSukma district. The pro-gramme was held in themango orchard, where theChief Minister directly in-teracted with thousands ofvillagers in his humbleand simple style. Apartfrom taking informationfrom the people about thebenefits of governmentschemes and pro-

grammes, the ChiefMinister also heard theirgrievances. “I have comehere to meet you all. Thestate government is work-ing with utmost sensitivi-ty for the development ofremote inaccessible forestareas and for the welfareof people. Efforts arebeing made to bringchange in the lives of peo-ple living in remote areasthrough the developmentof basic facilities like edu-cation, health, transporta-tion, electricity, the cre-ation of employment op-portunities and self-re-

liance.During Jan Chaupal, on

people’s demand, Tongpalwill be upgraded as atehsil soon, Talnar andKikirpal High School willbe upgraded to HigherSecondary School, elec-tricity sub-station will bebuilt in Kukanar, approvalof high school inKanjipani, Ganjenar andGumma. An announce-ment has been made for a50-bed hospital inChhindgarh and also hassanctioned Rs.20 lakh forthe renovation ofMusariya Mata temple.

On this occasionIndustries MinisterKawasi Lakhma, MPDeepak Baij, DistrictPanchayat PresidentHarish Lakhma, ChiefSecretary Amitabh Jain,Secretary to ChiefMinister SiddharthKomal Singh Pardeshi, of-ficers of all departments,public representatives andvillagers were present.Baghel distributed theforestland rights recogni-tion certificates to benefi-ciaries and also congratu-late them.

The Chief Minister fur-

ther said that SwamiAtmanand EnglishMedium Schools have nowbeen started in DistrictHeadquarters as well as inBlocks and Tehsils so thatchildren belonging to vil-lages can get free educa-tion in English mediumtoo. It is really a pleasantfeeling to hear students ofSwami Atmanand Schooltalking in English. He saidthat daughters of theSukma district are takinga place in merit. Last yeara daughter fromDantewada was selectedfor IAS, now more chil-dren are getting selected.

He added that employ-ment opportunities havebeen created in the vil-lages with the integrationof Gauthan and GodhanNyay Yojana.

Villagers are now grad-ually becoming financial-ly self-sufficient. He saidthat the villagers will gen-erate electricity inGauthans and sell it, this

is a sign of rapid develop-ment in Chhattisgarh. Hesaid that we have given anamount of Rs 12290 croreto the farmers of the statein the last two years underthe Rajiv Gandhi KisanNyay Yojana. This year,the amount of Rs 1700crores of the first install-ment of Rajiv GandhiNyay Yojana will be dis-tributed again to the farm-ers on May 21.

In the meet and greetprogramme, the villagersthanked Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel for start-ing the Suraji GaonYojana Narva, Garuwa,Ghuruwa, Bari develop-ment programme sayingthat positive changes havebeen witnessed in therural areas due to theirprotection and promotion.On this occasion, theChief Minister directedthe officers to get the eyetreatment of the visuallyimpaired MadiyamMukka done in Raipur.

CM announces tehsil status to TongpalTalnar and KikirpalHigh School will beupgraded to HigherSecondary School

CM makes severalannouncements forChhindgarh

Raipur, May 19: Underthe chairmanship of ChiefSecretary, Amitabh Jain,the works of Panchayatand Rural DevelopmentDepartment were re-viewed in detail atMantralaya MahanadiBhawan here. In the meet-ing, the Chief Secretarygave instructions to in-crease the average man-day in Mahatma GandhiEmployment GuaranteeScheme. In the meeting, hethoroughly reviewed theprogress of works beingdone under convergencewith the schemes of fish-eries, agriculture, irriga-tion, horticulture, villageindustries and forest de-partments. The ChiefSecretary directed the offi-cers to include maximumworks of MNREGA andconvergence of schemes ofvarious departments. Inthe meeting, the worksdone under NarvaDevelopment Programme,Rural Livelihood Missionand Sanitation Mission in-cluding Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana and otherschemes of Rural

Development Departmentwere reviewed. AdditionalChief Secretary to ChiefMinister Mr. Subrat Sahooand Additional ChiefSecretary, Panchayat andRural DevelopmentDepartment Mrs. RenuPillay attended the meet-ing. The Chief Secretarydirected the officers thatwomen self-help groupshave been added under theRural Livelihood Missionand regularly monitor thesuccess of their works. Hetalked about encouragingwomen self-help groupsworking in Gauthans andmaking them financiallycapable by providing fi-nancial support. It wastold in the meeting that atotal of 28,248 drains havebeen selected for treat-ment after conducting asurvey in the state underNarva Development,Mahatma Gandhi MNRE-GA. Approval has beengiven for the treatment of9541 541 Narva and thetreatment works are beingdone expeditiously.Officials said that afterNarva treatment, the

ground water level hasincreased in variousareas of the state. Duringthe review of the cleanli-ness mission, the ChiefSecretary also directedthe officers to monitorthe utilization of com-munity and individualtoilets constructed underthe mission. He directedto ensure regular check-ing of the quality ofroads under construc-tion under PradhanMantri Gramin SadakYojna andMukhyamantri GraminSadak Yojna and com-plete the incompleteworks at the earliest.

In the meeting, thework being done by vari-ous departments underPradhan Mantri AwasYojana and MahatmaGandhi EmploymentGuarantee was reviewedin detail. In the meeting,Secretary, Panchayat andRural DevelopmentDepartment, PrasannaR. including nodal offi-cers of various schemesunder rural developmentschemes were present.

More and more works should beapproved through convergence: CSp CS reviewed the

works of Panchayatand RuralDevelopmentDepartment

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: A 21-daytraining camp ‘Aakar’ will beorganised by the CultureDepartment from May 23 onthe traditional crafts and artsof Chhattisgarh. This trainingcamp will continue till June 13.The training program is beingdone in two shifts from 07 to09 in the morning and from 05to 07 in the evening at MahantGhasidas Memorial MuseumComplex Civil Line, Raipur. Itis worth mentioning that theState Government is organis-ing Aakar program every yearfor the purpose of preservingand promoting the traditionalart and various dimensions ofChhattisgarh and for wide

publicity and to awaken inter-est among the people.Officials of the Department ofCulture informed here thattrainees desirous of takingtraining in traditional arts canget training by depositing theregistration fee of Rs 100 inthe office.

Disabled and orphanagetrainees will be exemptedfrom training fee. Trainees willbe given training inMadhubani Art, Painting,Rajwar Murti, Natak, JapanPaper Cutting, Clay Art, ParaArt, Glass Painting, Dry FlowerMaking, Paddy JeweleryMaking, Jute Shillya, FolkDance and Bonsai etc. An exhi-

bition of musical instrumentswill be organized in the camp.

For detailed informationrelated to the training camp,Culture and Archaeology,Mahant Ghasidas MemorialMuseum Complex, Raipur canbe obtained from CultureBranch during office hours orDepartmental E-mail :[email protected] andcan also view website-www.cgculture.in. After thetraining, the art made by thetrainees will be displayed inthe campus on the concludingday and a certificate will alsobe given. The guidelines ofCovid-19 will be taken care ofin the said event.

21-day training camp organised on traditional crafts from May 23


Raipur, May 19: The ViceChancellor of IndiraGandhi AgriculturalUniversity, Dr. GirishChandel has called uponthe agricultural scientiststo do research keeping inmind the needs and de-mands of national and in-ternational markets ac-cording to the changingglobal environment. Hesaid that such varieties ofdifferent crops should bedeveloped which are inhigh demand among thefarmers. Along with this,emphasis should be givento reduce the cost of culti-vation and increase the in-come of the farmer. Dr.Chandel was addressingthe scientists involved invarious agricultural re-search projects in themeeting hall of the Collegeof Agriculture, Raipur,here. Dr. Chandel stressedon getting the benefits ofcentral and state spon-sored schemes in agricul-tural research. Vice-

Chancellor Dr. Chandelalso inaugurated the reno-vated meeting room ofAgriculture College,Raipur on this occasion.Addressing the agricultur-al scientists, ViceChancellor Dr. Chandelsaid that today there aremany challenges in thefield of agriculture in thecountry, which mainly in-clude changing weatherpatterns, increasing costof farming, low productiv-ity and high risk. He saidthat agricultural scien-tists should tackle thesechallenges and do re-search work to increaseagricultural productionand productivity and in-crease the income offarmers. He said thatsuch varieties of cropsshould be developedwhich are capable ofwithstanding the dispari-

ties of weather and capa-ble of giving more pro-duction. He said thatyoung scientists shouldbe encouraged to patenttheir research and prod-ucts. Dr. Chandel said thatthe seeds produced by theuniversity would be soldto the farmers and in theopen market under thename “Indira Beej”. Inthe beginning of themeeting, DirectorResearch Dr. VivekTripathi, while giving in-formation about the re-search works conductedin the AgriculturalUniversity, said that 5 in-ternational research proj-ects and 42 all India coor-dinated research projectsare being conductedthrough 18 research cen-ters located in the univer-sity. Along with this, 176projects are being imple-

mented at the universitylevel. About 150 species of36 different crops havebeen developed by theUniversity so far. Morethan 100 innovative farm-ing techniques have beendeveloped by the universi-ty for the farmers.Director ExtensionServices Dr. P.K.Chandrakar informedabout the extension activi-ties conducted by the uni-versity. The Dean ofAgriculture College,Raipur, Dr. M.P. Thakurgave welcome address andvote of thanks. On this oc-casion the Dean ofAgricultural EngineeringCollege, Dr. Vinay Pandey,the Dean of FoodTechnology College, Dr.M.P. Tripathi, heads of de-partments, professors andscientists of various de-partments were present.

Do research keeping in mind the int’nlmarket demands: Dr Chandel

RRaaiippuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Samsung, onThursday inaugurated its flag-ship global citizenship programSamsung Smart School atJawahar NavodayaVidyalaya(JNV) school in Raipur, provid-ing digital learning opportuni-ties to students and helpingimprove their learning abilities.Samsung is also training teach-ers of the school to enhancetheir interactive teaching methods.

The Samsung Smart Schoolprogram aims to create youngleaders of tomorrow by givingless-privileged students in Indiaaccess to the benefits of digitaleducation and its own transfor-mative innovations underSamsung’s vision of ‘Togetherfor Tomorrow! EnablingPeople’. As part of the pro-gram, students of JNV Raipurwill experience the latest digitallearning infrastructure at thetwo smart classrooms thatSamsung has set up in the

school. In the classrooms, an85-inch Samsung Flip interac-tive digital board replaces thetraditional blackboard, makingit a more exciting and fun learn-ing environment for students.Students can use the secondSamsung Flip (55-inch) to par-ticipate in lectures, quizzes,classwork and project work andthe 40 Samsung Galaxy Tabs ineach classroom for self-study.In addition, the classrooms alsohave a printer, a server PC, atablet charging station, andpower backup. At an event heldwith the students of JNV Raipur,the new Samsung Smart Schoolwas inaugurated by SourabhKumar, District Collector andVMC Chairman, Raipur, BCSahu, Additional DistrictMagistrate, Raipur, Ms.ShailajaPathania, ChiefManager, CSR, Samsung Indiaand Subhash Mahobia,Principal, JawaharNavodayaVidyalaya, Raipur.

AgricultureUniversity ViceChancellor callsupon agriculturalscientists

JNV strengthens digital learningfor students and teachers

BBiijjaappuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: Meet thisbrave-heart tribal woman RitaMandavi, who is dischargingher duties as Sarpanch ofAddavali gram Panchayat ofBijapur district, defying Maoistthreat. Her husbandGhanshyam Mandavi was killedby Maoists a few months ago.He gave an active contributionin making people aware oftheir rights and promoting theschemes of state governmentin the tribal community.

The Maoists killedGhanshyam to keep the vil-lagers cut off from the main-stream of the society. Themove aimed to discourage vil-

lagers, tribal community andGhanshyam’s family frombringing a positive change intheir area. However, Rita didnot give into the stronghold ofMaoist fear and instead ofbeing discouraged after thedeath of her husband; she grewmore confident and stronger.

Rita, along with her 4-year-

old son and 2-year-old daugh-ter indulged in the same workthat she used to do with herdeceased husband, makingpeople aware and publicizevarious welfare schemes of thestate government. This is notit! Rita, belonging toParticularly Vulnerable TribalGroup (PVTG) Muria, spendsthe honorarium received asSarpanch for the welfare ofpeople of her village.

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has provided financialassistance of Rs 5 lakh to RitaMandavi, a victim of Naxal-vio-lence, during his visit to Kutruarea.

Rita spends honorarium received asSarpanch for welfare of villagers

BJP workers stage protest and give arrestCentral Chronicle News

Mungeli, May 19:Bharatiya Janata Partystaged a road dharna infront of the collectorate of-fice in protest against the19-point order issued bythe state government tosuppress democraticprotests. After the dharna,about 3000 activists gavearrest in the temporaryjail of Karahi at the collec-torate gate.

Under the leadership offormer minister and MLAPunnulal Mohile and sen-ior leaders, they staged asit-in demonstration andjail-bharo movementacross the road in front ofthe petrol pump located atKarahi, district headquar-ters. Mohile said that by is-suing the 19 point black

order (law) by theBhupesh Baghel govern-ment, the people are vio-lating the fundamentalrights given in the consti-tution and with this order;an attempt has been madeto control the political op-ponents. State MinisterAnju Rajput said thatCongress has done thework of betraying the

dreams of Chhattisgarhand the government iskilling their democraticrights.

District BJP PresidentShailesh Pathak said thatthe Bhupesh governmenthas issued a Tughlaqiorder and imposed condi-tions of 19 points to pre-vent crowds coming on theevents proposed by all pri-

vate, public, religious, po-litical and other organiza-tions across the state. Onthis occasion, the MandalPresident and thePresident of Morcha Cellsof all the 9 divisions of thedistrict were present alongwith their office bearersand executive members.

In which MungeliMunicipal Board

President Rana PratapSingh, Mungeli RuralBoard President ShankarSingh, Setganga MandalPresident Som Vaishnav,Jarhagaon MandalPresident Naresh Patel,Lormi North MandalPresident Dinesh Sahu,Godkhamhi MandalPresident MahajanJaiswal, Deorhat MandalPresident PradeepMishra, Patharia MandalPresident HarishankarVerma, Sargaon MandalPresident Kailash SinghThakur, and KotumalDadwani, Sameer Ahire,Ashutosh Pandey, NiteshBhardwaj, UmashankarSahu, Ramsharan Yadav,Mukesh Rohra, YashGupta, Arvind Singh,Sunil Soni and otherswere present.


PPaannddaarriiaa,, MMaayy 1199:: The woodthieves in the region have ap-parently got a free hand tochop trees and smuggle firewood out of the Forest ReserveArea, as many such gatherersof fire wood are seen collectingand selling forest wood tohoteliers and others openly.

Allegedly the trees are driedby gaddling then cut andbrought as firewood. Everyday, from 5 o'clock in themorning, more than 50 cyclescome to the city to sell woodand 50 cycles means 50 treesare being sacrificed every dayfor their little profit. An em-

ployee said on the condition ofanonymity that after taking ac-tion, they are pressurized toleave the accused under pres-sure of local political leaders.

Recently a cache of smug-glers on cycle were let off witha penalty of Rs 300.Whencaught transporting wood, theofficers are forced to leave thecycle and wood of the smug-glers after a call from theirhigher officers, due to whichthe officers-employees get dis-couraged and the thieves areback to work. To get vote, thepoliticians are promoting ille-gal works and are destroyingthe forests and playing withthe lives of the people.


Dhamtrai, May 19:With increasing need ofpower supply there arealso reports of increasein power thefts, whichhas in turn increasedthe challenges before theelectricity departmentand installment ofsmart meters is beingconsidered the best ofoption to handle the situ-ation, by both the alertcitizens and theDepartment.

Smart meters, trackpower theft and keep avigil on meter readingstoo and manual alter-ation of the reading isnot possible in the smartmeters, which havefound its place in most ofthe two and three tiercities of the country.

The district has apower consumption of10 lakh megawatts, withconsumers near to 2lakhs an as per informa-

tion, many consumersare vary of paying theelectricity bills, mount-ing to the challenges ofthe department in bothextracting the bills andstop power theft beingdone by meter obstruc-tions.


Pandaria, May 19: Ameeting of BharatiyaJanta Yuwa Morcha(BJYM) DistrictKabirdhaam MandalPandaria was held atSaraswati Shishu Mandir(SSM) Pandaria on May 18in the presence of BJYMDistrict President PiyushTHakur, District generalsecretary in-Charge VickyAgrawal, BJYM MandalPresident Gajpal Sahu,BJYM Mandal PresidentNarottam Sahu.

In the meeting,Narrotam Sahu was onfasting in the workingcommittee meeting andafter which the meetingin-Charge Vicky Agrawalheld talks about the organ-isation and about the fu-ture work plan.

Mandal PresidentGajpal Sahu said thatBJYM is the backbone ofthe organisation andwhich is going to visiteach and every booth andresidence in the next VS

polls due next year. Theyare also going to commu-nicate and promote aboutthe achievements of thecentral government andfailures of the state gov-ernment going door-to-door and in this BJYMwill play an importantrole.

Piyush Thakur said thatall the party workersshould become active andbe on the alert as hardlyone year left for the elec-tion and in which all will

have to put in their centpercent. He informed thatgoing door-to-door, theywould speak about thepromises not fulfilled re-lated to youths viz. unem-ployment allowance andabout providing employ-ment to educated youthand it remains unfulfilledeven after three & halfyears of its governance.

Similarly they will alsohighlight about senior citi-zen pension scheme andother issues which re-

mains unfulfilled.The vote of thanks was

proposed by General Secy.J h a i k u m a rChandravanshi. Meetingwas attended by V-P GoldyYadav, Rajkumar Netam,Narendra Nirmalkar, Secy.Arvind Tiwari, SatishChandrakar, JagmohanSahu, Himanshu Jain,Sandeep Chandravanshi,Media in-charge Salikram,Shatruhan Singh, SunilSahu and others werepresent.


Konta/Sukma, May 19:Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel dedicated 22 devel-opment works at a cost of35 crore 66 lakh 38 thou-sand during his visit toSukma district Konta as-sembly. It include construc-tion of store building inDistrict Nagar SenaniNagar Sena Sukma at acost of 90 lakhs, workshedfor Self Help Groups con-structed at a cost of 38lakhs in Injaram andDubbatota, Sunnamguda -Dhondhara, Metaguda -Mulakisoli and Tumaripar- Manikonta at 118 lakhs. 3km CC road constructionwork, CC road constructionfrom Jagargunda BodrajMandir to Gandhi Chowkconstructed at a cost of 42lakhs, work at Dubbatota

Matsya hatchery at a cost of25 lakhs, Tribal Post MatricGirls Hostel Gadiras,Jagdalpur - Konta at a costof 152.97 lakhs Road con-struction work up toMetaguda, Mulakisholi at acost of 279.97 lakhs,Pondum-Arkatong at a costof 885 lakhs, Surbhiras to

Lathipara, Netanar toTumkpal via Kikirpal,Gudra-Pedapara toMekhawaya road.

Primary health centerChintalnar constructed ata cost of 90 lakhs, shelterand housing constructionin fish seed farm construct-ed at a cost of 74 lakhs, soil

testing laboratory atKrishi Vigyan KendraMuyapara Murtonda at acost of 191 lakhs, farmertraining, goth, mushroomunit, fish Construction ofhatchery, poultry, vermicompost and biti road andcompound at a cost ofRs.243 lakh.

High school construc-tion work in Jagargunda ata cost of 102 lakhs, residen-tial building and commu-nity health center con-struction work in DistrictHospital Sukma at a cost of502 lakhs, Oxygen genera-tor room installation andelectrification work inDedicated Kovid Hospitalat a cost of 17 lakhs, 216.82lakhs Building infrastruc-ture construction work atSwami AtmanandExcellent English MediumGovernment HigherSecondary School,Chhindgarh, implementa-tion of community healthcenter for delivery at a costof 9.59 lakh in tribal domi-nated areas, communityhealth center, Konta andlivelihood promotion ofwomen self-help group at acost of 58 lakh.


Jagdalpur, May 19: Inthe inspection of sanc-tioned 'Aawarti CharaiVikas Yojana' in GramPanchayat Jaibal underKarpawad Forest circle ofDistrict in 2020-21, DFOBastar found that RangerRamdutt Nagar has notwork as per the standardslaid. Not only this, he alsoshowed carelessness inhis work.

So it is for dereliction ofhis duties, DFO Bastarcircle taking disciplinaryaction against him sus-pended Ramdutt Nagar,Ranger Circle officerKarapawand (general)and guilty of violation of

rule NO. 3 ofChhattisgarh CivilServices (Conduct) Act1965. During the suspen-sion period, Ramdutt will

be attached to SDO's Headoffice in Jagdalpur circleand would continue to get'jeewan nirvah' allowanceas per the rules.

DCCB Medha branchoffice inaugurated


Medha, May 19: ThePresident of District Co-opCentral Bank (DCCB)Rajnandgaon Navaz Bhaiinaugurated the newbranch of DCCB in GramMedha here on Wednesdayas the chief guest. It waschaired by DistrictPanchayat memberPrabha Sahu and special

guests on the occasionwere Janpad V-PNarendra Verma, CEODCCB Sunil Verma,NABARD officers and offi-cers and employees ofDCCB Lal Bahadur Nagar,sarpanch Rohit Mandavi,noted citizens of the vil-lage and farmer and socie-ty managers from around18 villages nearby andMudhpar KolihapuriRankathre SocietyPresident and farmers ofnearby areas. On this occa-sion all the Congress party

workers, villagers, ruralfarmers viz. AshwiniKhare, President GauthanSamiti Medha, OmkarPrasad Yadav Gram Patel,Nand Kishore Sahu,Janak Sinha, Dev LalSahu, Komal Dewangan,Shiv Lal Sinha, JeewanNirmalkar, ShankarDewangan, Shabir Ali,Sada Ram Kanwar, RamKripal Kanwar, ManojMarkam, SunderMandavi, BhupendraSahu, Umesh Jain and oth-ers were present.

BEO felicitates Humeshwari visiting her residenceCentral Chronicle News

Dongargarh, May 19:Having passed the Class10th Board exam ofCGBSE 2022 with flyingcolours, the Class 10th stu-dent Humeshwari Verma,D/o Ram Verma was felici-tated at the hands of BEOby visiting her residence.The girl had secured95.66% marks in the Class10th Board exam and isstudying in Govt HighSchool in forest area ofGram Bagrekasa ofDongargarh block.

Lecturer of the SchoolManish Pashine informedthat student Humeshwariis talented student rightsince beginning and be-longs to a common family.Her father Salik RamVerma works as mason. Inthe Class 10th, she secured95.66% marks and toppedin the Dongargarh blockand secured 10th place inthe District. So on the suc-

cess of this girl, BEOFatelal Kosaria, Principalof School BagrekasaBedram Oti, NareshVerma and RajendraThakur went to the houseof Humeshwari inPitepani and felicitatedher by applying 'gulal' andoffering her sweets andpresenting her a flower

bouquet and a pen. Theyalso felicitated her motherand father and extendedgreetings to both of them.

Humeshwari passed onthe credit of her achieve-ment to all her teachers,parents and elder brotherfor their valuable guid-ance, based upon whichshe was able to prepare for

her exams. PrincipalBedram Oti and senior lec-turer Manish Pashine,Naresh Verma assured ofof provided due guidanceand support for furtherstudies as well.

Humeshwari informedthat she wants to becomean administrative officerand wants to serve the so-

ciety and the country. Sheinformed that she studiesapart from doing all house-hold jobs and studies bymaking a fixed time-table.She also said that it hashurt a lot to have failed tosecure berth in the top tenwith just 7 marks.

And to make-up the sameand achieve better result,she has started preparingfor the Class 12th from nowitself. On this occasion allthe villagers, viz. teacherYogendra Netam, BaratuRawat, Anil Sharma, SNisha, Amina Tirki, NituPatel, LikheshwariMithilesh, GurucharanSahu, RikhiChandravanshi, SunderChandravanshi, RupendraKorram, Kusum LataChandravanshi, SarojChakradhari, NeelkanthRajankar, Anand Verma,Sanjay Katlam and othersextended greetings andbest wishes to her in all herfuture endeavours.

p At the hands ofPresident DCCB R’gaon


Has topped in Class 10th in the block and district with 95.66% marks

Ranger suspended for dereliction of duties

CM inaugurates 22 works worth more than Rs 35.66 cr

BJYM is backbone of the organisation: Sahu Installment of smartmeter on cards

What officer says

"Many from the gen-eral public have opinedthat, the installation ofsmart meter can fur-ther decrease powertheft and also keep atrack on meter readingand monitoring.

Alike metro cities,pre paid smart meterinstallment is underconsideration. But thescheme is yet to getpermission from theGovernment."

- Vivek Sharma EE Electricity

Department.

Hundreds of treeschopped, no action taken

Power and crusherplant of AmberPower sealed

JJaaggddaallppuurr,, MMaayy 1199:: The minesallocations given on lease inPipalawand area of BastarTehsil were examined and inthis the mine by lease-holderAmber Pawar was found to beoperated in violation of'Chhattisgarh Gaun KhanijNiyamavali' and sealed hiscrusher unit and power unit. Inaddition to this the owners ofother four crusher plants inPipalawand area were issuedshow-cause notice on chargesof violation of lease-terms &conditions. At the same time inthe surprise checking by theMineral team in Bastar'sJagdalpur, Kodenar and Darbaarea, a total of 10 vehicles ille-gally transporting Lime Stoneand 'mitti' and bricks wereseized and taken into seizureand handed it over to ThanaBastar Kamnar, Kodenar, andCity Kotwali Jagdalpur.

YOGA COUNTDOWN PROGRAM

Women employees perform yoga during a countdown program for International Day of Yoga 2022, in New Delhi, Thursday

Priyanka Chaturvedi: India’s Majoritarian Turn Hurts Its DemocracyBlog Post by ManjariChatterjee Miller andZoe Jordan

This interview withPriyanka Chaturvedi

is part of the Asia pro-gram’s Women YouShould Know in IndiaProject, produced bySenior Fellow ManjariChatterjee Miller andResearch Associate ZoeJordan, featuring influen-tial women in India’s po-litical, economic, techno-logical, and social fieldswhose work matters forthe U.S.-India bilateral re-lationship and India’s re-lationship with the world.

Priyanka Chaturvedi isa politician and the RajyaSabha Member ofParliament from the ShivSena party in the Indianstate of Maharashtra. Sheis also the Deputy Leaderand NationalSpokesperson of the ShivSena. She currentlyserves on the StandingCommittee on Transport,Tourism and Culture, theConsultative Committeeon External Affairs, andthe Committee on WomenEmpowerment. She is aregular contributor onIndian television chan-nels on Indian politics.She also serves on the ad-visory board of FemmeFirst Foundation, awomen’s advocacy group,and the Kautilya School ofPublic Policy, inHyderabad.

Ms. Chaturvedi, whobegan her political careerin the Congress Party andswitched to the Shiv Senain 2019, has significant so-cial media presence, anduses her clout to both,criticize the rulingBharatiya Janata Partyand push her opinions onpolitical issues including,most recently, the status ofIndian students in

Ukraine.What do audiences in

the United States com-monly misunderstandabout India’s politicalsystem?

The Indian political sys-tem is an amalgamationof socio-cultural charac-teristics representing thediversity of our country.There are states with mul-tiple languages and di-alects, their own culture,and norms. Karnataka,for example, is very differ-ent from my stateMaharashtra which againis different from UttarPradesh. So what thismeans is regional identityis very strong and diversein India, and the aspira-tions and priorities of thestates are equally differ-ent. I see India, which hasmany states that are equalin size to countries inEurope, as similar to theEuropean Union, wheremultiple diverse statescome together.

Instead of a two-partysystem, India has multi-ple parties reflecting thediversity of the union ofstates—just as we havemultiple gods we pray to,we have multiple partiesfor voters to choose from!Americans need to under-stand that identity plays acrucial role in India’s poli-tics and not everything isgoverned by the party sit-ting at the center. When avoter comes out to vote,they could very well votefor one political party atthe center and a differentregional party at the statelevel.

However, there aresome challenges todemocracy in India—there is a huge and grow-ing disconnect betweenthe central government inNew Delhi, and state gov-ernments. On one hand,

increasingly, many statesare being run by regionalparties that are strong intheir political spaces. But,on the other, at the centerthey are unable to holdthe central governmentaccountable. So yes, theseare turbulent times. Theonly way forward forIndia is to have an inclu-sive mindset becausewhile we are united by theidea of India, we are alsoextremely diverse in howwe practice identity,whether it’s our language,religion, or culture.

What are the mostconsequential factors innational or local poli-tics that you think willplay a role in India’s re-lationship with theUnited States or worldin the next 3-5 years?

India and the UnitedStates share the most fun-damental principle ofgovernance: democraticvalues. One is looked asthe biggest democracy inthe world while the otheris the oldest democracy inthe world. India’s diversi-ty means there is no otherway it can progress if itdoes not have a democra-cy which holds politicalparties to account.Democratic norms pro-tect women, the youth,and minorities. The gov-ernment today is, howev-

er, tilting toward majori-tarianism, and undermin-ing constitutional safe-guards and democraticprinciples. But Indiancivil society is pushingback. India has to contin-ue to look within to im-prove, and that can hap-pen through a strong op-position [party].

Given the turbulenttimes we live in, it is im-portant for India and theUnited States to form analliance to promote theidea of democracy global-ly. This does not mean in-terfering in sovereign in-ternal affairs but workingto ensure democraticstandards are met. I feelstrongly about this be-cause I see strong benefitsthat emerge from democ-racy—equity, inclusivityand freedoms.

I think conversationand collaboration be-tween us on core issues—such as climate change,emerging technologies,defense and opportunitiesfor the youth—should bethe focus in the next 3-5years. There are a lot ofgrowing synergies be-tween the United Statesand India, and historicalhesitations should notstop us from taking a leapof faith and bettering ourrelationship with theUnited States.

What inspired you topursue your careerpath? How does yourpersonal backgroundinform your work?

I was born and broughtup in Mumbai, where Ihad a diverse set of neigh-b o r s — G u a j a r a t i ,Marwari, Marathi, andothers—and this con-tributed to my conceptionof what India is and howinclusive its story can be.We celebrate different fes-tivals, call them by differ-ent names, but that diver-sity was central to my up-bringing and outlook.

My political turningpoint was the November2008 terror attack inMumbai. I could not stopthinking about those wholost their lives, the oneswho were the sole bread-winners of the house. Iwitnessed the entire citystunned, silenced, andshocked, with families los-ing their loved ones. Thatis when a group of womenbloggers came together tohelp affected families. Iused to actively blog and Ijoined a group effort tohelp thirteen families.

During my initial yearsin politics, my family wasworried about putting asignificant amount of theproductive years of mylife into something so un-predictable. Starting thiscareer path with youngchildren was also a chal-lenge. However, I persist-ed and with the support ofmy family, I continued onmy political journey.

Can you speak to thestatus of women in thework that you do?

I believe that politics isa space that empowerswomen and makes themcontribute towards nationbuilding through theirideas for strengtheningtheir nation. I think we

have forgotten that whenthe Constitution was writ-ten, women were madeequal citizens. Despitemany barriers, I wouldsay that there is no bettertime than now for womento enter the political sys-tem. Yes, I do face atremendous amount oftrolling, hate, sometimesthreats doled out to me[on social media] on a reg-ular basis. But that is al-right. I always tell womenthat to be heard and tohave a political voice is ex-tremely important. Youdon’t just make your votecount, you have to makeyour opinion count.Women need to speak upas a collective voice tomake substantial changeson the ground.

My firm belief in ad-vancing the political rep-resentation of women ledme to start an initiativecalled Project Pratham Ti,which aims to enable andempower young women tounderstand the nuancesof Indian polity and poli-cy.

When you look at therole of India in theworld today what con-cerns you most orbrings you hope? Whatare the most pressingpriorities for you andyour colleagues on theConsultative Committeeon External Affairs?

As a member of a re-gional party, I see an in-creasingly majoritarianidea that everything inIndia should be thesame—for example, weshould be speaking thesame language, or eatingthe same food, or the ideaof one tax[1]—which isfast becoming a source ofcontention between cen-ter and the state and Ithink, this is not howIndia truly is. When

Prime Minister Moditalks of VasudhaivaKutumbakan—a Sanskritphrase meaning theworld is one large fami-ly—this concept is notnew to India, it is embed-ded in our very culture.But one family, a singlefamily, could have fivemembers with five differ-ent personalities and as-pirations. Respectingthose personalities ratherthan trying to tell themthe only way to live as afamily unit is our way,and the rest can take thehighway, is not right.

India also has some na-tional security chal-lenges. India faces a prob-lem with China andPakistan. These twocountries converging to-gether to challenge Indiafrom the east and west issomething that Indiaworries about. India isalso trying to avoid thekind of conflict we areseeing in Ukraine. As acountry which talksabout inclusiveness,peace, and nonviolence,India needs to remindglobal leaders with toomuch authority that theirconcerns need to be re-solved through dialogue.This is a chance for Indiato take a stance.

On many criticaltransnational issues,India has been walkingthe talk. Despite being adeveloping country, wehave been setting targetsand creating models forother countries to pursuegreener policies. I believenow more than ever, dia-logues rather than denialon global issues such asclimate change is para-mount. Today, nationsworldwide are intercon-nected, and thus anychange in the status quoaffects all.

Heavy rains continue in Kerala,Orange alert in 12 districts

Thiruvananthapuram, May 19 (PTI):

The IndiaM e t e o r o l o g i c a lDepartment (IMD) onThursday issued anOrange alert in 12 districtsof Kerala for the day as thestate continued to receiveheavy rainfall.

The IMD issued anOrange alert in all the dis-tricts of Kerala except forThiruvananthapuram andKollam for Thursday.

The Kerala StateDisaster ManagementAuthority said cycloniccirculation over northernTamil Nadu and adjoiningareas would lead to isolat-ed very heavy rainfall inseveral parts of the south-ern state. The CentralM e t e o r o l o g i c a lDepartment, onWednesday, had predicted

isolated heavy and veryheavy rainfall in the statefor the next 2 days andheavy rainfall for the twodays after that.

Kerala has been experi-encing heavy rainfall forthe past few days and ithas disrupted normal lifein certain places of thestate.

Considering the heavyrains and to be better pre-pared for the early onset ofmonsoon in the state,Kerala Chief MinisterPinarayi Vijayan had aday ago issued a slew of di-rections to ensure that theauthorities were preparedto handle problems likelandslides and flooding.

Some of the instruc-tions issued by the CMwere — local bodies to pre-pare a list of disaster-prone areas in their juris-

dictions and provide thesame to the authoritiesconcerned like police andfire services, ensure reliefcamps with adequate facil-ities are in place for evacu-ating people and desiltingof gutters and rivers.

The National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF)has already deployed fiveteams to Kerala.

A red alert indicatesheavy to extremely heavyrains of over 20 cm in 24hours, while orange alertmeans very heavy rainsfrom 6 cm to 20 cm of rain.A yellow alert meansheavy rainfall between 6 to11 cm.

The State DisasterManagement Authority(SDMA) has asked peopleto stay away from riversand other water bodiesuntil the rains subside.


BRIEF

Minor girl gangrapedi New Delhi: Days

after a 13-year-old girlwas reported missingfrom her home inSouth Delhi, she wasfinally rescued fromoutside Saket Metrostation after she wasallegedly kidnapped,gangraped and laterabandoned in Tigriarea, police said onWednesday. Threemen were arrestedand a juvenile hasbeen apprehended inconnection with theincident, a senior po-lice official said. Thethree arrested ac-cused have been iden-tified as Mohit (20),Aakash (19),Shahrukh (20). All ofthem along with thejuvenile have beenbooked under sectionsof kidnapping, gan-grape of minor,wrongful confine-ment, criminal con-spiracy and under thePOCSO Act, policesaid.

Aluminium parki Bhubaneswar: The

Odisha governmentWednesday made abudgetary provisionof Rs 428.95 crore fordevelopment of amega aluminiumpark in Angul. The de-cision in this regardwas taken at a statecabinet meetingchaired by ChiefMinister NaveenPatnaik here. It alsoapproved a newscheme - FinancialAssistance forDevelopment of MegaAluminium Park atAngul, along with thebudgetary support forIDCO (OdishaIndustrialInfrastructureDevelopmentCorporation), the im-plementing agency.The project will be im-plemented during theperiod from 2021-22 to2023-24, ChiefSecretary S CMohapatra told re-porters here.

COVID-19 cases dip i New Delhi: India

added 2,364 new coron-avirus infections tak-ing the total tally ofCOVID-19 cases to4,31,29,563, while the ac-tive cases declined to15,419, according to theUnion Health Ministrydata updated onThursday. The deathtoll climbed to 5,24,303with 10 fresh fatalities,the data updated at 8am stated. The activecases comprise 0.04 percent of the total infec-tions, while the nation-al COVID-19 recoveryrate was recorded at98.75 per cent, the min-istry said. A decrease of228 cases has beenrecorded in the activeCOVID-19 caseload in aspan of 24 hours.

Temperature i New Delhi: The na-

tional capital wit-nessed a warmThursday morning asthe minimum temper-ature of the day wasrecorded at 27.5 de-grees Celsius, onenotch above normal.The weather officepredicted a clear sky.There will be mainlyclear sky on Thursdayand the maximumtemperature of theday will hover around42 degrees Celsius, anofficial of the IndiaMeteorologicalDepartment (IMD)said. The maximumtemperature onWednesday had set-tled at 40.6 degreesCelsius, normal forthis time of the sea-son. Delhi had record-ed a maximum tem-perature of 45.6 de-grees Celsius, thehighest this year sofar, on Sunday.

Guwahati/Itanagar/Agartala, May 18 (PTI): The floodsituation in Assam deterio-rated on Wednesday with thenumber of affected increas-ing to 6.62 lakh in 27 districtsand the toll rising to ninewith one more person losinghis life in Darrang district,an official bulletin said.Assam State DisasterManagement Authority saidthat at present 1413 villagesare under water and Nagaonis the worst hit districtwhere 2.88 lakh people arereeling under the calamity.In Cachar nearly 1.2 lakhpeople ands in Hojai more

than 1.07 lakh people were af-fected, it said.

The other affected dis-tricts are Bajali, Baksa,Barpeta, Biswanath,Bongaigaon, Charaideo,Darrang, Dhemaji,Dibrugarh, Dima Hasao,Goalpara, Hailakandi,Kamrup, KamrupMetropolitan, KarbiAnglong West, Karimganj,Kokrajhar, Lakhimpur,Majuli, Morigaon, Nalbari,Sonitpur, Tamulpur andUdalguri. ASDMA said46160.43 hectares of croparea have been inundated inthe current wave of flood

and massive erosion wasseen in Barpeta,Bongaigaon, Charaideo,Chirang, Darrang, Dhubri,Dibrugarh, KamrupMetropolitan, Nalbari,Sivasagar, Sonitpur,Tamulpur, Tinsukia andUdalguri districts.

Authorities are running248 relief camps and distri-bution centres in 14 districts,where 48,304 people, includ-ing 6,911 children, havetaken refuge. They have havedistributed 2,264.22 quintalsof rice, dal and salt, 5,977.48litres of mustard oil, 2,393.84quintals of cattle feed andother flood relief items. itsaid. .Till Tuesday over 4.03lakh people were affected inthe deluge across 26 districtsin the state. The bulletin stat-ed that the Army, paramili-tary force, NDRF, SDRF, civiladministration, trained vol-unteers, fire and emergencyservices and local peoplehave evacuated 8,066 personsfrom various flood-hit partsof the state by deployingboats and helicopters.

Flood condition worsens in Assam,landlsides in Arunachal

JJhhaarrggrraamm ((WWBB)),, MMaayy 1199((PPTTII)):: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeehas asserted that Jhargramdistrict was free of Maoists,and that some people weretrying to create panic in thearea by putting up handwrit-ten posters with mention ofthe ultras. Posters withnames of Maoists had recent-ly surfaced at several placesin Jangalmahal’, where left-wing extremists were once

active. Jhargram is part of theregion. “Some people havebeen putting up hand-writtenposters and claiming that itwas done by Maoists,”Banerjee said at an adminis-trative review meeting hereon Wednesday. “It is anattempt to create panic byposting pictures of theseposters on social media. Keepan eye on the internetbecause there are good aswell as bad people in it,” shetold the police.

The chief minister said shehas herself examined theauthenticity of the postersand found that there was notruth in the stickers.

“There has been a continu-ous campaign and I think itmust be investigated,Banerjee said.

Jhargram free of Maoists, recentposters handiwork of some to

create panic: Mamata Aurangabad, May 19 (PTI):

The ArchaeologicalSurvey of India (ASI) hasshut Mughal emperorAurangzeb’s tomb here inMaharashtra for five daysafter a mosque committeein the area tried to lock theplace, an official said onThursday. Two days ago,MNS spokespersonGajanan Kale had in a tweetquestioned the need for themonument’s existence inthe state and said it shouldbe destroyed.

Later, a mosque commit-tee in Aurangabad’sKhultabad area, where thetomb is located, tried to lockthe monument, which isprotected by the ASI.

Subsequently, the ASIhad deployed additional se-curity guards at the monu-ment. When contacted ASI’s

Aurangabad circle superin-tendent Milan KumarChauley told PTI, “Earlier,the mosque committee triedto lock the place, but weopened it. On Wednesday,we took a decision to shutthe tomb for next five days.”“We will review the situa-tion and then decide to openit or to keep it closed for an-other five days,” the officialsaid. Notably, AIMIM leaderAkbaruddin Owaisi’s visitto the tomb earlier thismonth was criticised by theruling Shiv Sena in the stateas well as the RajThackeray-led MaharashtraNavnirman Sena (MNS).Days after Owaisi’s visit tothe tomb, NCP chief SharadPawar had wondered ifsuch an act was aimed atcreating a new controversyin Maharashtra which isfunctioning peacefully.

Maha: ASI closesAurangzeb’s tomb for 5 days


RESCUE WORK

Indonesian rescuers evacuate hundreds of passengers from the KM Sirimau ferry offthe coast of Lembata on Thursday. The KM Sirimau has been marooned for two dayswith 784 passengers and 55 crew members on board after it ran aground along a 184-kilometre (114-mile) route in East Nusa Tenggara province.

AERIAL VIEW OF MARIUPOL

An aerial view of the Central district of the port city of Mariupol, amid the ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine.

BRIEF

2 plead guilty Seattle: Two more de-fendants have pleadedguilty for their role ina multimillion-dollarscheme to manipulatethe AmazonMarketplace e-com-merce platform. Sixpeople have beencharged in the con-spiracy, which federalprosecutors say in-volved paying bribesto get Amazon em-ployees and contrac-tors to leak confiden-tial data and to usethat data to grant cer-tain sellers a competi-tive advantage onAmazon Marketplace.Joseph Nilsen, 32, andKristen Leccese, 33,both of New York, en-tered their pleasMonday in U.S.District Court inSeattle, acknowledg-ing they paid morethan 100,000 in bribesfrom 2016 to 2020.

BankruptcyLondon: Google saysits Russian subsidiaryis planning to file forbankruptcy because itcan’t pay staff andsuppliers. Russianstate media reportedWednesday that theU.S. tech company’sRussian subsidiary,Google LLC, submit-ted notice of its inten-tion to declare bank-ruptcy to a nationalregistry, Fedresurs.The company said in apress statement that itfiled for bankruptcybecause the Russianauthorities’ seizure ofGoogle Russia’s bankaccount has made ituntenable for ourRussia office to func-tion, including em-ploying and payingRussia-based employ-ees, paying suppliersand vendors, andmeeting other finan-cial obligations.

Sex abuse suitOklahoma City: Tencurrent and formerstudents of Mount StMary Catholic HighSchool in OklahomaCity and six parentsor guardians aresuing the privateschool, alleging it fos-tered a rape culturefor more than 10years. School officialshave known since 2011that female studentshave been victims ofrape and sexual as-sault by students,teachers and coachesand done nothing tostop the attacks, ac-cording to the lawsuitfiled Monday. MSMfosters a rape culturethat values the safety,bodily integrity, edu-cation, and future ofmen and boys, overthat of women andgirls, the lawsuit said..

Monkeypox New York:Massachusetts onWednesday reporteda rare case of mon-keypox in a man whorecently travelled toCanada, and healthofficials are lookinginto whether it isconnected to smalloutbreaks in Europe.Monkeypox is typi-cally limited toAfrica, and rarecases in the US andelsewhere are usual-ly linked to travelthere. A small num-ber of confirmed orsuspected cases havebeen reported thismonth in the UnitedKingdom, Portugal,and Spain. US healthofficials said they arein contact with offi-cials in the UK andCanada as part of theinvestigation. TheUS case poses no riskto the public, and theMassachusetts resi-dent is hospitalisedbut in good condi-tion, officials said.

United nations, May 19:

As the Ukraine conflictimpacts the global GDP,India is projected to growby 6.4 per cent in 2022,slower than the last year’s8.8 per cent but still thefastest-growing majoreconomy, with higher in-flationary pressures anduneven recovery of thelabour market curbing pri-vate consumption and in-vestment, according to aUN report.

The UN Department ofEconomic and SocialAffairs said in its WorldEconomic Situation andProspects (WESP) reportreleased on Wednesdaythat the war in Ukrainehas upended the fragileeconomic recovery from

the pandemic, triggering adevastating humanitariancrisis in Europe, increas-ing food and commodityprices and globally exacer-bating inflationary pres-sures.

The global economy isnow projected to grow byonly 3.1 per cent in 2022,down from the 4.0 per centgrowth forecast releasedin January 2022. Global in-flation is projected to in-crease to 6.7 per cent in2022, twice the average of2.9 per cent during20102020, with sharp risesin food and energy prices,it said.

The report said that theoutlook in South Asia hasdeteriorated in recentmonths, against the back-drop of the ongoing con-

flict in Ukraine, and high-er commodity prices andpotential negativespillover effects from mon-etary tightening in theUnited States. The region-al economic output is pro-jected to expand by 5.5 percent in 2022, which is 0.4percentage points lowerthan the forecast releasedin January.

India, the largest econo-my in the region, is expect-ed to grow by 6.4 per centin 2022, well below the 8.8per cent growth in 2021, ashigher inflationary pres-sures and uneven recoveryof the labour market willcurb private consumptionand investment, it said.For the fiscal year 2023,India’s growth is forecastto be 6 per cent.

United Nations, May 19 (PTI):

Calling out the West,India said that food grainsshould not go the way ofthe Covid-19 vaccines as itvoiced concern overhoarding and discrimina-tion amid the “unjustifiedincrease” in food prices.

It stressed that its deci-sion to restrict wheat ex-ports will ensure it cantruly respond to thosemost in need.

“A number of low in-come societies are todayconfronted with the twinchallenges of rising costsand difficulty in access tofood grains. Even thoselike India, who have ade-quate stocks, have seen anunjustified increase infood prices. It is clear thathoarding and speculationis at work. We cannotallow this to pass unchal-lenged,” Minister of Statefor External Affairs V

Muraleedharan said atUnited Nations onWednesday.

Muraleedharan wasspeaking at the ministeri-al meeting on ‘Global FoodSecurity Call to Action’chaired by US Secretary ofState Antony Blinkenunder the US Presidencyof the UN SecurityCouncil for the month ofMay.

The meeting came justdays after India’s lastFriday decision to banwheat exports in a bid tocheck high prices amidshortage of wheat due toscorching heat wave.

The decision is aimed atcontrolling the retailprices of wheat and wheatflour — which have risenby an average 14-20 percent in the last one year —and meet the foodgrain re-quirement of neighbour-ing and vulnerable coun-tries.

The Directorate Generalof Foreign Trade had inthe last week notificationsaid that wheat exportswill be allowed on thebasis of permission grant-ed by the central govern-ment.

At the high-level meet-ing, India spoke about theissue of the wheat exportban for the first time in theUN since its May 13 an-nouncement.

Muraleedharan said theIndian government hasrecognised the suddenspike in global prices ofwheat which put “our foodsecurity and those of ourneighbours and other vul-nerable countries at risk.”

“We are committed toensuring that such ad-verse impact on food secu-rity is effectively mitigat-ed and the vulnerablecushioned against suddenchanges in the global mar-ket.

“In order to manage ourown overall food securityand support the needs ofneighbouring and othervulnerable developingcountries, we have an-nounced some measuresregarding wheat exportson 13 May 2022, he said.

“Let me make it clearthat these measures allowfor export on the basis ofapprovals to those coun-tries which are required tomeet their food securitydemands. This will bedone on the request fromthe concerned govern-ments. Such a policy willensure that we will trulyrespond to those who aremost in need,” he said.

The minister empha-sised that India will playits due role in advancingglobal food security “andit will do so in a manner inwhich it upholds equity,display compassion, andpromotes social justice.”

India fastest-growingmajor economy: UN

At UN, India calls out West, defends wheat export ban

United Nations, May 19 (AP):

The U.N.’s top political of-ficial for Africa calledMali’s decision to withdrawfrom the Sahel regionalcounterterrorism force un-fortunate and regrettableWednesday, especially at atime of increasing terroristactivity and insecurity.

Assistant Secretary-General Martha Pobee toldthe U.N. Security Councilthat this week’s decision byMali’s ruling junta to leavethe force is most certainly astep back for the Sahel.

The G5 Sahel force wascreated in 2014 by Mali andthe neighboring WestAfrican states of Niger,Mauritania, Burkina Fasoand Chad to counter terror-ism in the Sahel, but fromthe start it was beset by fi-nancial and political prob-

lems and it didn’t deploytroops until 2017.

Nonetheless, Pobee saidthat since last Novemberthe force has carried outoperations in all three ofits sectors without the par-ticipation of Malian battal-ions.

How Mali’s decision toleave the G5 and its jointforce will further impactthe organisation and dy-namics in the region re-mains to be seen, she said.

Pobee noted that for thelast five years, the interna-tional community, donorsand partners have strug-gled to reach consensus onthe most effective supportmechanism for a collectivesecurity response in theSahel, which has proven tobe a significant obstacle foroperating the G5 force.

We need innovative ap-

proaches in the face of theconstantly evolving tacticsof terrorist groups, whoseinfluence keeps expanding,she said.

While all key players rec-ognize that the terrorist on-slaught in the Sahel consti-tutes a slow-burning mor-tal threat to internationalpeace and security, the lackof consensus persists,Pobee said.

U.N. Secretary-GeneralAntonio Guterres and thechair of the African Unionhave agreed to carry out ajoint strategic assessmentof security and governanceinitiatives in the Sahel, shesaid.

The objective is tostrengthen support to theG5 Sahel, its joint force andother security and gover-nance initiatives in the re-gion, she said.

UN: Mali pullout from counterterrorismforce unfortunate

Kyiv, May 19 (AP):

Nearly 1,000 last-ditchUkrainian fighters whohad held out insideMariupol’s pulverisedsteel plant have surren-dered, Russia saidWednesday, as the battlethat turned the city into aworldwide symbol of defi-ance and suffering drewtoward a close.

Meanwhile, the first cap-tured Russian soldier to beput on trial by Ukraine onwar-crimes charges plead-ed guilty to killing a civil-ian and could get life inprison. Finland andSweden applied to join

NATO, abandoning gen-erations of neutrality forfear that RussianPresident VladimirPutin will not stop withUkraine.

The Ukrainian fight-ers who emerged fromthe ruined Azovstal steel-works after being or-dered by their military toabandon the last strong-hold of resistance in thenow-flattened port cityface an uncertain fate.Some were taken by theRussians to a formerpenal colony in territorycontrolled by Moscow-backed separatists.

While Ukraine said it

hopes to get the soldiersback in a prisoner swap,Russia threatened to putsome of them on trial forwar crimes.

Amnesty Internationalsaid the Red Cross shouldbe given immediate accessto the fighters. DenisKrivosheev, Amnesty’sdeputy director for the re-gion, cited lawless execu-

tions allegedly carried outby Russian forces inUkraine and said theAzovstal defenders mustnot meet the same fate.

It was unclear howmany fighters remainedinside the plant’slabyrinth of tunnels andbunkers, where 2,000 werebelieved to be holed up atone point.

Interrogation, uncertainty forsurrendering Mariupol troops

Colombo, May 19 (AP):

Sri Lankan protesters litflames and offered prayersWednesday rememberingthousands including eth-nic Tamil civilians killedin the final stages of thecountry’s decadeslongcivil war, in the first-everevent where mostly major-ity ethnic Sinhalese open-ly memorialised the mi-nority group.

Protesters gathered out-side the president’s officefloated flowers in the near-by sea and prayed for all

those who died in the 26-year civil war, includingTamil civilians, Tamilrebels, and governmentsoldiers.

While grand state eventshave been held almostevery year since the warended in 2009 to rememberand celebrate the soldiers,this is the first time anevent that also remembersTamils is being held bymostly Sinhalese in thecountry’s capital,Colombo. I am a Sinhaleseby birth. Today we held amemorial for all those who

were killed 13 years ago,Sinhala, Muslim, Hinduand everybody as a resultof state terrorism and ter-rorism by non-stategroups, said SumeeraGunasekara, a socialmedia activist who partici-pated in the event.

There are still those whoare grieving because ofthese events and as aSinhalese I have a right toshare in their grief, be-cause I believe in the reli-gion of humanity morethan any other.

Actress KaushalyaFernando said she came toremember the victims of awar created and mishan-dled by politicians.

The significance of thisplace is that we are nothere as different ethnicgroups but as Sri Lankans.

The protesters alsoshared rice porridge, theonly food the people couldhave in the final stages ofthe fighting because ofheavy blockade ofsupplies.

Sri Lankan protesters includeTamil victims in war memorial

R estaurant menusacross the West Coast

of Canada will soon see an in-flux of squid and sardine dish-es, while the popular sockeyesalmon makes a slow exit. Asit turns out, climate changemay have something to dowith this.

Restaurants update theirmenus all the time and thisoften goes unnoticed by din-ers. These changes are drivenby culinary trends, consumerpreferences and many envi-ronmental and socio-economicfactors that affect the avail-ability of the ingredients.According to a recent studypublished by my researchteam, we can now add climatechange to this list.

We found that as the oceantemperature rises, many ma-rine fish and shellfish movefrom their traditional habitatstowards the North and SouthPoles in search of cooler wa-ters. This movement of fishstocks affects the availabilityof seafood catch, compellingchefs to rewrite the menus ofseafood restaurants on theWest Coast of Canada.Climate change affects our

ocean and fisheriesThe latest report from the

UN's Intergovernmental Panel

on Climate Change confirmedthat climate change is impact-ing the ocean, fish stocks andfisheries through ocean warm-ing, loss of sea ice, ocean acidi-fication, heatwaves, ocean de-oxygenation and other ex-treme weather events.

The impacts of warming-in-duced ecological shifts are alsoseen in our fisheries. Fishcatches around the world areincreasingly dominated byspecies that prefer warmerwater.

We applied an index calledmean temperature of catch tomeasure such changes inspecies of fish caught alongthe West Coast of Canada, andfound that the catch ofwarmer-water species in thisregion has increased from1961 to 2016.Relating seafood on menus

to climate changeBut how exactly do these

changes in fisheries catch dic-tate the food that appears inour plates? My co-authorJohn-Paul Ng and I decided totackle this question ourselvesby focusing our efforts on theWest Coast of Canada and theUS where many restaurantsserve seafood.

We looked at present-daymenus from restaurants inthese areas, along with menussome dating back to the 19thcentury taken from historicalarchives in city halls and localmuseums.

After looking at 362 menus,we used a similar approach tothe one we developed to studyfisheries catches and calculat-ed a mean temperature ofrestaurant seafood. This indexrepresents the average pre-ferred temperature across allseafood species that appeared

on the sampled menus fromrestaurants in a city for a spe-cific time period. This index isa tool to help us gaugewhether our restaurants areserving more or less warmand cold water seafood.

We found that the averagepreferred water temperatureof fish and shellfish appearedin our menu increased to 14 Cin recent times (2019-21) from 9C in 1961-90 period.

This increase in the pre-ferred water temperature offish on restaurant menus isconnected to changes in seawater temperature and thetemperature-related changesin the composition of fishspecies caught during thesame time period.

More squid and sardine dishes

Ocean warming is startingto change the variety ofseafood available.Driven bythe higher ocean temperaturein the northeast Pacific Ocean,the Humboldt squid a large,predatory squid species thatinhabits the eastern PacificOcean is now making morefrequent appearances on pres-ent-day restaurant menus inVancouver.

British Columbia once had acommercially importantPacific sardine fishery, whichwas a common restaurantseafood. After the fishery col-lapsed in the mid-1940s, thefish seldom appeared in oursampled restaurant menus.

According to research con-ducted by colleagues in fish-eries research and by ourteam at the Institute for theOceans and Fisheries, the sar-dines, which prefer warmerwater, will soon make a bigcomeback on the West Coast of

Canada. We expect that moresardine dishes will start ap-pearing on the menus ofrestaurants here.

Responding to changingseafood availability

Globalisation and the diver-sification of cuisines havebrought a wider array ofseafood options to coastalcities such as Vancouver andLos Angeles. Imported andfarmed seafood are increas-ingly common ingredients inmenus.

As climate change contin-ues to shuffle species' distribu-tion in ocean waters, we ex-pect that climate-inducedchanges to seafood menus atrestaurants will become evenmore pronounced.

Our study on restaurantmenus underscores the wide-ranging impacts of climatechange on our food system. Incases where alternativeseafood ingredients are avail-able and consumer prefer-ences are flexible, the impactson our social, economic andcultural well-being may belimited. However, substantialnegative consequences arelikely to be felt by many vul-nerable communities that donot have the capacity to adaptto such changes.

Global and local actions tosupport both climate changeadaptation and mitigation areessential if we want the oceanto continue to provide food forthe people around the worldwho rely on it for nutritionalsecurity.

- William WL CheungProfessor and Director,

Institute for the Oceans andFisheries, University of

British Columbia

ChronicleC E N T R A L

Since 1974 Volume 10 No. 50

Stagflation at doors of India

It will not be wrong if we saythat Stagflation is at the doors ofcountry and have to take numberof steps to improve the economyof the country. As at present boththe wholesale and retail inflationnumbers are crossing the tolera-ble limits and if the immediate re-medial measures are not takenthese numbers can touch the un-bearable limit. At present thewholesale inflation is around fif-teen percent and the retail infla-tion around eight percent whichreflects the prices of goods whichare very well across thetable.There may be numbers offactors which had impacted thepresent position and we can notdeny that due to Corona economyof entire world is shattered andour country cannot aloof fromthat.When economy started im-proving then Ukraine warImmediately adversely affectedthe supply line. Moreover unusualheat wave adversely impacted theproduction of wheat and thatcountry under such circumstancesto ban the export of wheat ascountry can not allow the deficit inPDS through which eighty croresIndians are taking the benefit. In2006 country had faced such a po-sition when for PDS distributioncountry had to import the wheatat higher cost so keeping in viewthe past experience govt had im-posed ban on export of wheat.With all the combination of theseabove factors had in tum causedthe prices of commodities fromfuel to perishable food items toskyrocket. Govt is trying its best tocontrol such unexpected situa-tions while taking the measures inthe interest of a common man andit is also expected from the gov-ernment to take the midterm re-view of economy and should cutthe taxes and give relief to enduser. In the last lest Stagflationand deepened penury would resultwith long standing illeffects.

YYaasshh PPaall RRaallhhaann JJaallaannddhhaarr

Need for revival of Congress

There is no doubt that the na-tion needs a pan-India Oppositionparty and as of now, for whateverits shortcomings, the Congresscontinues to be the most dominantOpposition party, with a vote-share of about 20%. For India's in-terest and for saving democracyand the nation, on revival ofCongress lies the future of liberaland secular Indian democracy.Also Read - India's declaration of'opening to export wheat to SouthAsian neighbours despite ban':Reflection of 'Neighbourhood FirstPolicy'? We are observing that re-gional parties like the Trinmool inWest Bengal, TRS in Telengana,AAP in Delhi (and now Punjab),YSR Congress in Andhra, DMK inTamil Nadu, etc., are rising andgiving stiff opposition to the pres-ent dispensation with their exag-gerated electoral promises.Apparently, many within the BJPstrongly want the Congress to re-vive, for its own continued sur-vival and electoral successes.Mostly, whenever the BJP facedstrong regional challenges, itended up being electoral losers. Astrong Congress party, with thetalent pool that it has, can defi-nitely contribute to help keep thenation together with its liberal andsecular values.

DD BBhhuuttiiaa,, GGuuwwaahhaattii..

LETTERSTO THE EDITOR✍

Central Chronicle welcomes, articles, write ups, comments on different issues foreditorial page (800-900 words), Letter to editor for this page. It can be sent by

e-mail at: [email protected] letters can be edited or rewritten for clarity of thoughts.

WHAT THEY TWEET!

MMeeeennaakksshhii JJoosshhii

@@IIMMiinnaakksshhiiJJoosshhii

Running commentary onthe faith of Hindu side is apiece of cake for many. Ihope you and people likeyou get well soon.

AAsshhookk GGeehhlloott@@aasshhookkggeehhlloott5511

It's a matter of happiness that Rajasthanisinger Mame Khan ji has become the firstfolk artist from India to walk the red car-pet at the Cannes Film Festival. It’sremarkable for Rajasthan’s rich traditionof folk music. My heartiest congratula-tions & best wishes to Mame Khan ji.

VViikkrraanntt@@LLoosstt__HHiissttoorryy11

People should know that Indian textshave dealt with technology issuesvery clearly. Technical themes likeMachines, Mathematics, etc havebeen thoroughly treated in writingslike Samarangana Sutradhara,Aryabhatiyam & so on.

RRaajjddeeeepp SSaarrddeessaaii@@ssaarrddeessaaiirraajjddeeeepp

So what’s real reason forHardik Patel exit from Cong?Has BJP promised to ensureall cases against him aredropped? Or was he just feel-ing marginalised in a factionridden Guj Cong?@GujaratTak with @gopima-nia . My Gujarati gets better

in election year!

SSoonnaall GGooeell IIAASS@@ssoonnaallggooeelliiaass

What a spectacular victory for India Many congratulations to Rhythm Sangwan, Manu Bhaker and Esha Singh onwinning #Gold medal in @ISSF_Shooting Junior World Cup in 25m pistol final. Nation is Proud of our daughters.

RRaamm GGooppaall VVaarrmmaa@@RRGGVVzzoooommiinn

Wowwwww check out the trailer

of the Multi versatile @rajpaloffi-

cial ‘s #Arth https://youtu.be/q-

b8ywtjCl8 ..Seems like one of his

lifetime roles

T he Congress has yet again reiterated that communal polarisationis the gravest threat to India. While it disturbs social harmony, it

also affects the economy which requires peace to flourish. The ChintanShivir in Rajasthan’s Udaipur rightly stressed on the menace as we in-deed are compelled to face newer issues of discord almost every otherday. Communal tension has acquired serious dimensions and the silenceof the ruling BJP has given legitimacy to the Congress charge that it waspart of a sinister agenda to perpetually keep people in fear and anger.Sonia Gandhi led the charge by directly targeting the Prime Minister andthe Udaipur Declaration accepted this as the main challenge by an-nouncing a nationwide “Bharat Jodo” yatra from October 2. The ChintanShivir also highlighted the scourge of unemployment and growing finan-cial inequality, promising to reset economic policy so as to enablegreater focus on social sector spending and public welfare. The situa-tional logic supports this shift as millions of people have fallen belowpoverty line, livelihood options have diminished and the abnormal infla-tionary pressures have burdened the middle class. It is difficult to findfault with the Congress on these positions. The problem is that this is notthe first time the Congress has discovered that communal polarisation isa threat to constitutional rule in India. The Congress has been singingthis tune for long; its volume is becoming louder by the day. If communalpolarisation was the only reason for the BJP’s victory, the Congresswould have knocked it out by now. But there is more to BJP politics thanHindutva appeal. There is no match for its mobilisation skills, its capacityto communicate the message to the masses, and the personal charismaof Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Add to that the lure of welfareschemes, massive media support, and ceaseless canvassing by the pow-erful cadre-base of the RSS, making the BJP such an unbeatable electionmachine. The Congress keeps crying about the disconnect with themasses but does little about it. Sonia and Rahul Gandhi have dwelt on theparty’s inability to connect with the masses and communicate effectivelyon countless occasions. The debate at Udaipur should have revolvedaround the causes of this disconnect and the leadership’s failure in cur-ing this disability. Though the plan for a yatra from Kashmir toKanyakumari sounds impressive, the success depends on the sincerity ofsenior leaders who will be assigned to execute the programme. If RahulGandhi himself takes this seriously and leads the padyatra, electoral divi-dends cannot be denied to the party. The Congress has often complainedabout media biases and institutional decay but failed to offer a credibleresponse. Acting as a crybaby is no solution. If they have correctly identi-fied the problem, they won’t be able to succeed till they find the rightremedy for the malaise. The proposals to strengthen the communicationsystem and the feedback mechanism may help. The plan to constitute anadvisory group for the Congress president, a task force for implementingthe organisation reforms and greater representation of the oppressedclasses are welcome. But the strange emphasis on age, reserving 50% ofpositions in organisational machinery for people below 50 years, is inex-plicable. Promoting talent and injecting fresh blood into the organisationrequires vision and fairness in the leadership, not a regressive quota sys-tem. While age does tell on the physical capacity of individuals, givingprimacy to those below 50 years in politics is a stupid idea. You are notcreating a sports team that requires physical agility to perform. In poli-tics, what matters is wisdom and knowledge. Packing the organisationwith people on the basis of age is a weird idea. If a young leader showspromise and commitment, encourage him or her by all means.

Congress needs wiserleaders, not younger ones

S ince early-2020, governments around the world have been in thethroes of the COVID-19 pandemic, struggling to adapt to an evolv-

ing world order which is not of their making. India has emerged amongthe most resilient countries – a reality that is reflected in the IMF's latestgrowth projections that India will be the fastest-growing major economyin the world at 8.2% in 2022-23, compared to the global rate of 3.6% forthe calendar year 2022.India was able to turn the socio-economic difficul-ties posed by the pandemic into an opportunity thanks to the visionaryinitiatives of the Modi Government. Interventions such as the unprece-dented Rs 20-lakh-crore 'Aatmanirbhar Bharat package' have ensuredthat the nation plots a sustainable and inclusive economic recovery. TheIndian Government continues to provide free rations to 80 crore Indiancitizens; has administered 188 crore vaccines (at the time of writing), andhas committed to investing Rs 111 lakh crore in the NationalInfrastructure Pipeline (NIP) to reignite core sectors of the economy. Thatthis was done despite the curtailed revenues and significant assistanceprovided to state governments speaks volumes of the Modi Government'spriorities.The government's adherence to the ethos of responsible gover-nance and cooperative federalism is reflected in the levels of financialsupport provided to state governments despite a 500% increase in crudeprices since the pandemic low and the volatility due to military actions inUkraine. These factors put a considerable burden on India as it imports al-most 85% of its petroleum requirements. Even as India is rapidly enhanc-ing its renewable energy capabilities to offset foreign dependency, itmust be recognised that more than 6 crore citizens purchase petroleumproducts at retail outlets every day. As the country's economic growthgathers up pace and consumption continue to increase, per-capita de-mand for energy will be even higher in the medium-term until India tran-sitions to a green economy. It is against this backdrop that one needs toconsider whether governing entities are pulling in the same direction toensure that the burden passed on to the Indian consumer is minimized.The Modi Government has ensured that the price rise in petrol during itsstewardship has been the minimum possible. Between April 2021 andApril 2022, petrol price rise in India, at 16%, was the lowest among theUSA (50.6%), Canada (50.7%), Germany (50%), UK (58.9%), and France(33%). Similar differences in price rise are observed for diesel; Indiaagain has the lowest increase among all major nations. Historical analysisof domestic price rise suggests that the price rise of petrol during 2014-2022 of 36% (Rs 77/litre to Rs 105/litre) is the lowest among comparableperiods in the last 42 years: 60% during 2007-14 (Rs 48 to Rs 77); 70%during 2000-2007 (Rs 28 to Rs 48); 55% during 1993-2000 (Rs 18 to Rs 28);125% during 1986-1993 (Rs 8 to Rs 18); 122% during 1979-1986 (Rs 3.6 toRs 8); and 140% during 1973-79 (Rs 1.25 to Rs 3). It is also important to re-member that prices of petrol were deregulated in 2010 and of diesel in2014, with the implication that they have since become market-driven.Despite the revenue deficits induced by the pandemic, the ModiGovernment reduced excise duty by Rs 5/litre on petrol and Rs 10/litre ondiesel in November 2021. Even as most state governments followed suitto cut Value Added Tax (VAT), Congress-allied states such asMaharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Jharkhand continued to levy excessive ex-cise duties. It is particularly amusing that the same Opposition which isprotesting against the price rise chooses to levy the highest rates of VATon fuel across India. This government is conscious of the challenges in theoil and gas sector and is taking informed decisions to build domestic ca-pabilities. We continue to take a holistic view on the subject and providethe citizens of India with clarity of vision, transparency of action, and wel-fare for all. The ever-increasing electoral mandate that the citizens ofIndia repose on our shoulders reflect their faith in our actions.

The hypocrisy of the Oppositionnarrative on fuel prices


A man pushes a bicycle along a flooded road after heavy rains in Nagaon, Assam, on Thursday. At least 10 people, including a four-year-old child have died in floods and landslides this week after unusually heavy rains pummelledseveral parts of India.

WILLIAM WL CHEUNG

Climate change is now on the menu at seafood restaurants

VV.. MMuurraalleeeeddhhaarraann@@MMOOSS__MMEEAA

Delighted to participate in MinisterialMeeting at UN, chaired by H.E.@SecBlinken on "Global Food Security-Call to Action".India will play its duerole in advancing global food security,in which it will uphold equity, displaycompassion & promote social justice.

FLOOD FURY


BRIEF

Emerging leader

New Delhi: India israpidly emerging as aleader in manufactur-ing as well as exports,and e-commerce andlogistics infrastruc-ture have a critical rolein cementing India’sposition as a trustedmanufacturing part-ner of the world,Union minister RajeevChandrasekhar said.India is becoming alarge exporter of mer-chandise and manu-factured products, theMinister of State forElectronics and IT saidwhile speaking at theopening session ofAmazon Smbhav 2022 event.

H-series processorsNew Delhi:

Taiwanese computermaker Acer onWednesday unveiledthree new laptops thatwill come with 12thGen Intel Core H-se-ries processors. Thecompany at its globalevent unveiled AcerSwift 3 OLED laptop atstarting price of USD899.99 apiece, AcerSpin 5 for USD 1,349.99and Acer Spin 3 forUSD 849.99. The ship-ment of new laptopswill begin from in theJuly-September quar-ter, the company said.

5G stack

New Delhi: India own5G stack will be readyaround September-October,CommunicationsMinister AshwiniVaishnaw said onWednesday as heurged nations to lookactively at these in-digenous telecomstacks for cost andquality advantage.Speaking at an eventorganised by theTelecom RegulatoryAuthority of India(TRAI), the ministersaid India’s indige-nous telecom stacksmark “big fundamen-tal technological ad-vancements”. TheMinister also notedthat bridging the digi-tal divide has becomeeven more crucial in aworld where technolo-gy is playing a keyrole in economic de-velopment, and addedthe Government is di-recting all its efforts toensure inclusivegrowth.

AppointmentNew Delhi: UCOBank said it has desig-nated Sujoy Dutta asthe new chief finan-cial officer with imme-diate effect. “SujoyDutta, deputy generalmanager of our bank,has been designated asnew Chief FinancialOfficer (CFO) of thebank with immediateeffect in place ofShashi Kant Kumar,general manager ofthe bank,” UCO Banksaid in a regulatory fil-ing. Dutta holds abachelor degree incommerce fromCalcutta Universityand he is a member ofthe Institute ofChartered Accountantof India (ICAI).

United Nations, May 19:

As the Ukraine conflictimpacts the global GDP,India is projected to growby 6.4 per cent in 2022,slower than the last year’s8.8 per cent but still thefastest-growing majoreconomy, with higher in-flationary pressures anduneven recovery of thelabour market curbing pri-vate consumption and in-vestment, according to aUN report. The UNDepartment of Economicand Social Affairs said inits World EconomicSituation and Prospects(WESP) report released onWednesday that the war inUkraine has upended thefragile economic recoveryfrom the pandemic, trig-gering a devastating hu-manitarian crisis inEurope, increasing foodand commodity prices andglobally exacerbating in-flationary pressures. Theglobal economy is nowprojected to grow by only

3.1 per cent in 2022, downfrom the 4.0 per centgrowth forecast releasedin January 2022. Global in-flation is projected to in-crease to 6.7 per cent in2022, twice the average of2.9 per cent during 20102020, with sharp rises infood and energy prices, itsaid.

The report said that theoutlook in South Asia hasdeteriorated in recentmonths, against the back-drop of the ongoing con-flict in Ukraine, and high-er commodity prices andpotential negativespillover effects from mon-etary tightening in theUnited States. The region-al economic output is pro-jected to expand by 5.5 percent in 2022, which is 0.4percentage points lowerthan the forecast releasedin January. India, thelargest economy in the re-gion, is expected to growby 6.4 per cent in 2022, wellbelow the 8.8 per centgrowth in 2021, as higher

inflationary pressures anduneven recovery of thelabour market will curbprivate consumption andinvestment, it said. For thefiscal year 2023, India’sgrowth is forecast to be 6per cent. Lead Author &Chief, Global EconomicMonitoring Branch,Economic Analysis andPolicy Division, UnitedNations Department ofEconomic and SocialAffairs Hamid Rashid toldreporters at the UNHeadquarters that almostall regions in the world areaffected by high inflationexcept for East Asia andSouth Asia. He said Indiain that sense is a little bitin a better position as itdid not have to aggressive-ly pursue monetary tight-ening compared to othercountries in LatinAmerica. Brazil has raisedinterest rates repeatedly.India’s projected growthfor 2022 is 6.4 per cent, adownward adjustment of0.3 per cent from January.

India, fastest-growing major economy,projected to grow 6.4% in 2022: UN

New Delhi, May 19:

Cooking gas LPG pricewas on Thursday hiked byRs 3.50 per cylinder, thesecond increase in ratethis month following thefirming of internationalenergy rates. Non-sub-sidised LPG now costs Rs1,003 per 14.2-kg cylinderin the national capital, upfrom Rs 999.50 previously,according to a price notifi-cation of state-owned fuelretailers. This is the sec-ond increase in LPG ratethis month and the thirdin less than two months.The price was hiked by Rs50 per cylinder on March22 and again by the samequantum on May 7. SinceApril 2021, prices haverisen by Rs 193.5 per cylin-der. Petrol and dieselprices however continueto be on freeze for the 43rdday in a row. The pause fol-lowed rates being hiked bya record Rs 10 per litre in a

matter of 16 days begin-ning March 22. Non-sub-sidised cooking gas is theone that consumers buyafter exhausting theirquota of 12 cylinders atsubsidised or below-mar-ket rates. However, thegovernment pays no sub-sidy on LPG in most cities

and the price of the refillthat consumers, includingthe poor women who gotfree connection under themuch-talked Ujjwalascheme, is the same as thatfor non-subsidised or mar-ket price LPG. Non-sub-sidised LPG costs Rs1,002.50 per 14.2-kg cylin-

der in Mumbai while it ispriced at Rs 1,018.50 a bot-tle in Chennai and Rs 1,029in Kolkata. Rates differfrom state to state depend-ing on the incidence oflocal taxes such as VAT.Prices are higher in stateswith higher taxes.Alongside, oil firms alsohiked the price of com-mercial LPG cylinders -the ones used by establish-ments like hotels andrestaurants - by Rs 8 percylinder to Rs 2,354 per 19-kg bottle. On May 1, theprice of a commercialLPG cylinder was in-creased by Rs 102.50 to Rs2,355.50 but on May 7 itwas reduced to Rs 2,346.International oil priceshave been on the rise thisyear. They jumped to a 13-year high of USD 140 perbarrel in March beforeshedding some of thegains. Brent was tradingat USD 110.13 per barrel onThursday.

LPG price hiked by Rs 3.5, crosses Rs 1,000 mark

Workers unload LPG cylinders, after a price hike, in Surat on Thursday.

Gurugram, May 19:

Maruti Suzuki India(MSI) on Thursday said itsnew manufacturing facili-ty in Haryana, the compa-ny’s third in the state,would reach peak produc-tion capacity of 10 lakhunits per annum in thenext eight years entailing atotal investment of Rs18,000 crore.

The new facility, whichwould come at a 800-acresite at IMT Kharkhoda inSonipat district, will entailtotal investment of Rs11,000 crore in the firstphase with a productioncapacity of 2.5 lakh unitsper annum. The first set ofvehicles are expected toroll out from the facility in2025. Speaking at an eventhere to mark the formal an-nouncement of land allot-ment to the auto major,MSI Chairman RCBhargava said the 10 lakhproduction capacity at theSonipat plant would helpin catering to the demand

in both domestic as well asexport markets. “We ex-pect, subject to market con-ditions in India beingfavourable we will be ableto reach our peak produc-tion capacity in the Sonipat

plant in eight years. Theplant will then become thelargest site in the countrywith production capacityof 10 lakh cars,” he noted.The success of Suzuki inIndia has actually led to the

strengthening of economicties between India andJapan, Bhargava said.

He noted that the successof MSI shows that there isno alternative but for gov-ernments and the privatesector to work togetherwith mutual trust.“Unfortunately there arestill people in the countrywho do not accept this isthe best way possible andthey don’t expect that hav-ing such kind of industrialgrowth and with state gov-ernment participating inthe success of industrialmanagement and in thecreation and of more com-petitive manufacturing,everybody benefits,”Bhargava noted. Poverty iseradicated and new jobsare created if both work to-gether, he added. Currently,MSI has a cumulative pro-duction capacity of around22 lakh units per annumacross its two manufactur-ing plants in Haryana andparent Suzuki Motor’s fa-cility at Gujarat.

Maruti to invest Rs 18k cr in Sonipat plant toroll out 10 lakh units per annum in 8 years

Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal, Dy CM DushyantChautala, Maruti Suzuki India Chairman RC Bhargavaand Maruti Suzuki Executive Vice Chairman KenichiAyukawa at the signing of an agreement by MarutiSuzuki India Limited (MSIL), Suzuki Motorcycle IndiaPrivate Limited (SMIPL) and Haryana State Industrialand Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited(HSIIDC) for the allotment of 800 acres and 100 acres ofland at Industrial Model Township (IMT) Kharkhodanear Sonipat, in Gurugram on Thursday.

NNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199:: Two-wheeler market leader HeroMotoCorp on Thursdaylaunched a new edition of itspopular motorcycle Splendor,priced at Rs 72,900 (ex-show-room, Delhi). Named theSplendor+ XTEC, the new edi-tion comes with features suchas full digital meter with blue-tooth connectivity, call andSMS alert, real-time mileageindicator, low fuel indicator,LED high intensity positionlamp and exclusive graphics,the company said in a state-ment. Additionally, it alsocomes with an integrated USBcharger, side-stand engine cut-

off and Hero’s idle stop-startsystem, i3S technology, itadded. Hero MotoCorp head ofstrategy and global productplanning Malo Le Masson said,“Hero Splendor is the mostpopular and the best-sellingmotorcycle in India, a truecompanion to millions acrossIndia. It has been an icon foralmost three decades and willstill continue to inspire manywith the launch of theSplendor+ XTEC model, addingtechnologically advanced fea-tures and a smart moderndesign.” The new Splendor+XTEC comes with a five-yearwarranty, the company said.

Hero MotoCorp launches newedition of Splendor motorcycle

After cement,Adani to foray into

healthcareNNeeww DDeellhhii,, MMaayy 1199:: BillionaireGautam Adani’s group has cre-ated a new company for itsforay into healthcare servicesthrough the acquisition of largehospitals, diagnostic chains,and offline and digital pharma-cies. Adani Enterprises Ltd -the group’s business incubatorfirm - in a regulatory filing saida wholly-owned subsidiary,Adani Health Ventures Ltd(AHVL) was incorporated onMay 17, 2022.

AVHL will “carry on thebusiness of healthcare-relat-ed activities including, interalia, setting up, running,administrating medical anddiagnostic facilities, healthaids, health tech-based facili-ties, research centers and todo all other allied and inciden-tal activities in this regard,” itsaid. AHVL, it said, will com-mence its business operationsin due course. The group,which runs businesses fromseaports to airports and ener-gy, forayed into the cementsector through the acquisitionof Swiss cement makerHolcim’s India operations fora total of USD 10.5 billion.

Mumbai, May 19:

The rupee extended itslosses and slumped 10paise to close at a recordlow of 77.72 (provisional)against the US dollar onThursday, weighed downby a negative trend in do-mestic equities and un-abated foreign fund out-flows. At the interbank for-eign exchange market, therupee opened lower at77.72 against the green-back, and finally settledfor the day at 77.72, down10 paise over its previousclose. During the tradingsession, the rupee touchedan intra-day low of 77.76and a high of 77.63. OnWednesday, the rupee de-clined by 18 paise to closeat 77.6?2. “Rupee consoli-dated in a narrow rangedespite sharp sell-off in

domestic and global equi-ties. Dollar also retraced

from higher levels aftereconomic number re-

leased from the US camebelow estimates,” saidGaurang Somaiya, Forex& Bullion Analyst, MotilalOswal Financial Services.The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’sstrength against a basketof six currencies, wastrading 0.28 per cent lowerat 103.51. Global oil bench-mark Brent crude futuresfell 1.87 per cent to USD107.07 per barrel. The 30-share BSE Sensex ended1,416.30 points or 2.61 percent lower at 52,792.23,while the broader NSENifty fell 430.90 points or2.65 per cent to 15,809.40.Foreign institutional in-vestors were net sellers inthe capital market onWednesday, as they of-floaded shares worth Rs1,254.64 crore, as per stockexchange data.

Rupee slumps 10 paise to close at all-time low of 77.72/USD

Mumbai, May 19:

JK Lakshmi CementLtd., one of the leading ce-ment companies ofIndia,recorded a turnoverof Rs.1497.64 crore in Jan-Mar.22with an increase of13% over Rs.1321.99 crorein the corresponding quar-ter Jan-Mar 21. Despite un-abated increase in Petcokeand Diesel prices whichare hovering at all timehigh, JK Lakshmi Cementcould achieve healthy prof-itability by continuous im-provement in operationalefficiencies, energy cost,better product mix andhigher volume. JKLakshmi Cement’s EBID-TA before Other Incomemoved up to Rs.276.23 crorein Jan-Mar.22 from

Rs.267.88 crore in Jan-Mar.21. After providing forinterest, depreciation&Exceptional Item, PBTstood at Rs.197.93 crore inJan-Mar.22 as againstRs.186.53crore in Jan-Mar.21. After Providing forTaxes and OtherComprehensive Income,JK Lakshmi Cement’sProfit was up at Rs.161.26crore in Jan-Mar.22againstRs.138.27 crore logged inthe corresponding quarter.During the Twelve months

A p r i l 2 1 – M a r c h 2 2Company’s Salesincreasedby 15% toRs.5040.78 crore(Rs.4384.71 crore) andEBITDA was up atRs.868.52 crore (Rs.864.22crore). JKLakshmiCement’s profit at PATlevel during this periodmoved up by 14% to touchall time high at Rs.417.56crore against profit ofRs.366.24 crore in the sameperiod last year. During theQuarter, JK LakshmiCement has commissioned10 MW Waste HeatRecovery (WHR) Project atits Sirohi Plant, taking theCompany’s total WHRCapacity to 33 MW. TheBoard has recommended100% Dividend for theFinancial Year ended 31stMarch 2022.

JK Lakshmi Cement Posted Net Profitup at Rs 161.26 Cr. in Jan-Mar.22

Gurugram, May 19:

Ecom Express Limited,a new-age technology-driven end-to-end logisticssolutions provider to thee-commerce industry, an-nounced that it hascrossed 55,000 gig workersregistration on their dedi-cated app called ‘EcomSanjeev’ to onboard deliv-ery partners since itslaunch in September 2021.

The company’s deliverypartner program aims tocreate part-time work op-portunities for individu-als with the option of flex-ible timings to maximizetheir earnings by deliver-ing e-commerce ship-ments to customers.Delivery Partners work-

ing through EcomExpress’ gig model canearn anywhere betweenRs. 15,000 to Rs. 60,000 permonth.

Close to 60 per cent ofregistrations have beenfrom Tier 4 cities andtowns, indicating massiveaffinity for gig opportuni-ties in those areas. The top10 cities/towns with thehighest registrations in-clude from Delhi,Bengaluru, Mumbai,Hyderabad, Chennai,Kolkata, Pune, Lucknow,Gurugram and Patnaamong others.

In Chhattisgarh, over2000 gig-workers have reg-istered for part time en-gagement as delivery part-ners with Ecom Express.

Ecom Express announces55,000 registrations MMuummbbaaii,, MMaayy 1199:: Equity

benchmarks fell sharply onThursday, mirroring a sell-offin global markets, with theSensex and Nifty tumbling over2.60 per cent on across-the-board selling. Persistent for-eign fund outflows also contin-ue to dampen sentiment. The30-share BSE benchmarkSensex dived 1,416.30 points or2.61 per cent to settle at52,792.23. During the day, ittumbled 1,539.02 points or 2.83per cent to 52,669.51. Thebroader NSE Nifty tanked430.90 points or 2.65 per centto end at 15,809.40. From theSensex firms, HCLTechnologies, Wipro, Infosys,TCS, Tech Mahindra, TataSteel, IndusInd Bank and KotakMahindra Bank were the majorlaggards. ITC and Dr Reddy’semerged as the gainers.Barring Shanghai, other Asian

markets ended lower, withSeoul, Hong Kong and Tokyosettling in the red. Equityexchanges in Europe were alsotrading sharply lower in theafternoon session. Stock mar-kets in the US had ended deepin the red on Wednesday. “USmarkets saw the worst sell-offsince June 2020 as inflationfear looms,” said Mohit Nigam,Head - PMS, Hem Securities.Meanwhile, international oil

benchmark Brent crudedeclined 1.29 per cent to USD107.7 per barrel. Foreign insti-tutional investors offloadedshares worth a net Rs 1,254.64crore on Wednesday, as perstock exchange data.“Deteriorating macro senti-ments such as soaring infla-tion, recession fears, and theprospect of the FederalReserve getting even morehawkish will continue to keepbenchmarks on the edge.“Another main reason for thepessimism can be attributed torelentless selling from the FIIcamp,” said Prashanth Tapse,Vice President (Research),Mehta Equities Ltd. DevarshVakil, Deputy Head ofResearch, HDFC Securities,said, “Indian markets tumbledmore than 2.5 per cent onweekly derivative expiry dayon weak global cues.”

Sensex tanks over 1,400 pts amid global market rout

New Delhi, May 19:

NITI Aayog CEOAmitabh Kant onThursday said it is the pri-vate sector’s job to createwealth and the govern-ment should focus on lay-ing down public policyframework. Addressing‘GovTech Summit 2022’,Kant further said Indianeeds a very simple, effi-cient, and transparent gov-ernment. “The govern-ment’s job should be lay-ing down public policyframework, it is the pri-vate sector’s job to createwealth. The only otherareas where the govern-ment should be are health,education and nutrition,”he said. Talking about thedigital economy, Kant said

India is at the cusp of avery important transfor-mation and the wholeprocess of digitisation hasbeen a transformationaljourney. “If eastern partsof India digitises fully andmakes governance veryeasy, then eastern part ofIndia will actually becomea very responsive govern-ment,” he said, adding thatthese states are full ofmineral resources.

Govt should focus on public policy framework: Amitabh Kant

ACROSS

1. Symphonic finishes

6. “Not only that ...”

10. Blanchett of “Elizabeth”

14. Dodge successfully

15. Drying oven

16. Cathedral protuberance

17. ‘80s phrase

20. Kids clean it

21. Transitions

22. Pt. of CBS

23. It may be glossed over

25. Bench press unit

26. Boxing term

29. Ruined Edomite city

31. Union issue

33. It’s always a winning smash

35. Catcall

37. Fasten again

38. ‘80s phrase

41. Easily conned

42. It may be half or blue

43. Paris-to-Marseilles dir.

44. Pick of the crop

46. Word in a Hugo title

48. Place to get money

49. “Ich bin ___ Berliner”

51. One more than due

52. Sibilant silencer

55. Customary practices

58. Author Christie

60. ‘80s phrase

63. Tarn

64. “Jeopardy!” contestants, e.g.

65. ___ prosequi (court-record entry)

66. Clueless

67. Lith. and Ukr., once

68. Classic suit

DOWN

1. Enclosures

2. Endocrine gland

3. Painter of ballerinas

4. Weaponry

5. TV character Remington

6. Luau lunch

7. Rowers work them, briefly

8. Worker at plays

9. Presented, as a show

10. Cod or Town

11. They desert causes

12. Menu general

13. Poet’s sundown

18. Squirm

19. Sterling

24. Light refractor

27. Part of a place setting

28. Lyric poem

29. Irritate

30. ___ Martin (Bond’s wheels)

32. Attorney general for Reagan

33. Anticipate

34. Alvin and Theodore

36. Fire

39. Find another table for

40. Catch slyly

41. Org. with some big guns?

45. Circus wear

47. Sovereign’s stand-in

50. Gets warmer

52. Means of mounting a fence

53. Oil-bearing rock

54. Compelled

56. Proofreaders’ mark

57. Mix, in the kitchen

59. “Don’t have ___, man” (Bart

Simpson quote)

60. Under the weather

61. ___ Paulo

62. Smoke signal message, maybe


Chances are that there will be an emotional bite

to the day that might put something of a hostile

tone on anything you encounter, Aquarius. The

key is to not get so fixed in your ways that you

turn away from new experiences. You’ll find

that interaction with others is exactly what’s

needed in order to keep things in balance. The

masculine and feminine sides of your being are

coming together quite nicely.

Aquarius: Jan 21 – Feb 18

Your mood should be quite good today, Pisces,

and you’ll be well supported by the people

around you. The key is to bring intense feelings

directly to the table as you experience them.

You’ll find that other people share similar emo-

tions at this time. The combination of energies

between you and those close to you is simply

magical. Join together with others on elaborate

projects and special events.

Pisces: Feb 19 – Mar 20

Remember that it’s OK to have a little down-

time, Aries. Don’t feel like you have to

always be up and on stage. Take some time

to be mellow and quiet. Today is one of

those intense days in which you feel over-

powered by the energy around you. Don’t

resist this feeling. Sink into your emotions

and experience them for the power that

they can bring to your overall psyche.

Aries: Mar 21 – Apr 20

This is your day to shine, Taurus. Everyone

else may be squirming under the prevailing

energy of the day, but you should be per-

fectly equipped to deal with any events that

come your way. Despite the intense fluctua-

tions in your general mood, things are on the

upswing. You’ll find that matters will eventu-

ally come around your way. All the hard work

you’ve put in lately is starting to pay off.

Taurus: Apr 21 – May 21

Give thanks to the people who are mostprecious to you, Gemini. You’ll find thatwords cut to the core issues much moreeasily. Stabilize your strong emotionsand use them as fuel for you endeavors.The key today is to remember those whohave helped you along the way. Everyoneis a sensitive and loving individual, sotreat them as such. Have fun with thepeople all around you.

Gemini: May 22 – June 21





Realize that you might need pay less attention

to your logic today and concentrate on your

heart. It could be hard to reason with people.

If your heart doesn’t support what you say,

you might as well not say it.

Cancer: June 22 – July 22





Realize that you might need pay less atten-

tion to your logic today and concentrate on

your heart. It could be hard to reason with

people. If your heart doesn’t support what

you say, you might as well not say it.

Leo: July 23 – Aug 23

Consciously, realize that you’re someoneunique and special, Virgo. Remember thisthrough the day and let your actions reflectthis affirmation. There’s a rather distinctintensity to the day that might cause othersto be on edge. Don’t be disrupted if thereare people freaking out in your world. Thegood news is that you should be able to han-dle this intense blast of emotion easily.Emotions are your forte!

Virgo: Aug 24 – Sept 22

The intensity of the day could work for youin one of two ways, Libra. You can either bedepressed and weighed down by theintense emotionalism that’s likely to wellup, or you can take this incredible intensityand put it to good use. The choice is yours.Realize that any action you take is going tobe highly charged with feelings. Likewise,others will be extra sensitive about anymove you make.

Libra: Sept 23 – Oct 23

Combine today’s grounding force with a bit of

emotional intensity from your heart to create

a powerful combination of spirit that will

surely make an impact on whatever you con-

tact, Scorpio. The key is to not take yourself

too seriously. If you do, there might be inci-

dents that jump up to give you a thump on the

head, reminding you that you’re just as

human as the rest of us.

Scorpio: Oct 24 – Nov 22

Your lighthearted social demeanor couldfind a hard time fitting in with the gener-al mood of the crowd today, Sagittarius.You might find that you’re better off sim-ply locating a quiet place and retreatingfrom the group for a little while. Read agood book or magazine. Plan for the daysahead and let your mind prepare for thethings you have in store.

Sagittarius: Nov 23 – Dec 21

Your ego and physical vitality should expe-rience a boost today, Capricorn. Try to honein on the solid, grounding energy that’sencouraging you to come to terms withyour emotions. Be aware of the fact thatyour often gloomy attitude may be startingto weigh heavily on the ones you love. Becareful that you aren’t hurting someone justbecause you know that they’ll forgive you.

Capricorn: Dec 22 – Jan 20

C R O S S WO R D 305

SOLUTION 304

HOROSCOPE FRIDAY MAY 20

S ony Enter tainmentTelevision’s Yashomati

M a i y ya Ke N a n d l a l a t h atw i l l s h owc a s e a h e a r t f e l tbond between Yashoda andKanha (Lord Shri Krishna)w i l l n ow s e e we l l - k n ow nt e l ev i s i o n a c t o r S u m a nG u p t a p l ay t h e ro l e o fD eva k i wh o i s L o rdKrishna’s biological moth-e r. Ta l k i n g m o re o n h e rentry in the show, SumanGupta says, “I feel blessedto have received an oppor-tunity to play such an im-portant role in YashomatiM a i y ya Ke N a n d l a l a .

Devaki ji was the biologi-c a l m o t h e r o f L o rdK r i s h n a a n d t o p ay mypart right, I have alreadystarted preparing for rolea n d I w a n t t o b r i n g o u ther traits as seamlesslya s p o s s i bl e. I h o p e t h ev i ewe r s e n j oy t h e s h owthat will focus on the sto-rytelling from Yashoda’spoint of view.”

Stay tuned to watcht h e u n t o l d s t o r y o nYa s h o m at i M a i ya a keNandlala only on SonyE n t e r t a i n m e n tTelevision.

SS uperstar Mahesh Babu'scommercial entertainer

'Sarkaru Vaari Paata' has per-formed well on weekdays also.Despite mediocre talk post itsrelease, 'SVP' grew stronger interms of collections, making itthe fastest movie to collect Rs100 crore (worldwide) at theregional box office. 'SarkaruVaari Paata' surpassed the Rs100 crore-mark (100.44 crore)in just five days, making it thefastest purely Telugu film to doso, while also becomingMahesh Babu's fourth consec-utive Rs 100 crore-plus gross-ing film. The film has a five-day worldwide gross of Rs160.2 crore. On the other hand,other big-ticket Tollywoodmovies 'Radhe Shyam' and'Acharya' sank at the box

office despite the huge hypeprior to their theatricalrelease. 'Acharya' which wasreleased on April 29, had apoor start, with a disastrousfirst week at the box office.

'Acharya' had a first weekendcollection of Rs 41 crore, andthe film has a total box officecollection of Rs 45.2 crore onlydespite starring Chiranjeeviand his son Ram Charan.

Theatrical rights for Koratala'sdirectorial 'Acharya' are val-ued at Rs 133 crore, making itthe biggest disaster in Telugucinema, while Prabhas-starrer'Radhe Shyam' falls in the

same bracket. The theatricalrun of 'Radhe Shyam' was cutshort, making it a disaster inall languages it was released.The heavy-budget movie hadstruggled to generate signifi-cant box office revenue due topoor word of mouth. At theend of its theatrical run in alllanguages, 'Radhe Shyam'earned a total of Rs 83 crore,while the theatrical rightswere a whopping Rs 200.5crore, resulting in huge lossesas much as Rs 117 crore.'Sarkaru Vaari Paata,' directedby Parasuram Petla and star-ring Mahesh Babu andKeerthy Suresh, is the onlyfilm to hold its own at the boxoffice following the block-buster pan-India releases of'RRR' and 'Pushpa.'

Mahesh Babu’s ‘Sarkaru Vaari Paata’ is Tollywood’s fastest Rs 100 crore film

A ctress Urvashi Rautelahas made her red carpet

debut at the 75th annualCannes Film Festival and shelooked every inch a Disneyprincess dressed in a pristinewhite outfit.

Urvashi took to Instagram toshare a glimpse of her stun-ning gown by Tony WardCouture. The actress chose awhite off-shoulder ruffle gownwith a long trail.

Urvashi wrote alongside theimage, which currently hasover 30,000 likes on the photo-sharing website: "Cannes FilmFestival 2022. Dream Debut.Thank you Universe." Several

Indian personalities are at-tending the prestigious eventsuch as Deepika Padukone, RMadhavan, Kamal Haasan,A.R. Rahman, Pooja Hegde,Aditi Rao Hydari andNawazuddin Siddiqui amongmany others.

This time the Indian pavil-ion at the Cannes Film Marketwill present six films at thefestival 'Rocketry - The NambiEffect' (Hindi, English, Tamil),'Godavari' (Marathi), 'AlphaBeta Gamma' (Hindi), 'BoombaRidea (Mishing), 'Dhuin'(Maithili) and 'NirayeThathakalulla Maram'(Malayalam).

Urvashi Rautela turnsSnow White as she

makes Cannes debut

Sony SAB’s Ziddi Dil – Maane Na is keeping our heartspounding with its major plot twists and exciting turn ofevents. As we all know, Param Shergill (Siddhaanth Vir) isnot what he appears to be and is the mastermind behindmultiple terrorist insurgencies. It was no less than a strug-gle for Karan (Shaalien Malhotra) to wake up to the reali-ty of his brother, someone he has idolized for life, but heeventually chooses duty over emotions and decides to nabhim down. To delve deeper into Param’s truth, Karansneaks into the academy as Balli and starts following himfurther. Meanwhile, Monami (Kaveri Priyam) is on cloudnine with Karan’s return and feels elated when the latterproposes to her for marriage. On the other end, Param’swife Barkha who is also suspicious of his actions nowbecomes aware of Karan’s truth and helps him andMonami put a hidden mic and camera in Param’s room.However, this ticks Param off and he doubts that someoneis aware of his truth and is keeping a close watch on him.Amidst all this, Sanju (Diljot Chhabra) goes back to her vil-lage unannounced. Sad and dejected, Sid (Kunal KaranKapoor) tries to help her sort things out, but only seemsto mess it up further. Sid and Sanju breakup leavingeveryone around shocked.SSttaayy ttuunneedd ttoo ZZiiddddii DDiill –– MMaaaannee NNaa,, MMoonn –– SSaatt,, 88 PPMM oonnllyyoonn SSoonnyy SSAABB!!

Karan inches closerto catch Param

P ooja Hegde, who madeher Cannes Film Festival

debut at the 'Top Gun:Maverick' premiere onWednesday, was a sight tobehold in an elaborate strap-less ivory-hued feather gownthat had an embellishedbodice and a voluminousskirt.

She paired this dazzlingoutfit with diamond danglersand a no-fuss ponytail. The'Ala Vaikunthapuram Loo'actress used the hashtag'Crafted in India' when sheposted pictures of her new

look on Instagram, indicatingthat the look was created byan Indian designer. She thenexpressed gratitude toAnurag Thakur for making itpossible. She said, "I didn'tcome with a brand; instead, Icame with brand India. As anIndian actor, I've come to cel-ebrate Indian cinema."

Pooja Hedge talked abouthow walking the red carpet atCannes is a dream in a videosnippet. At the 75th CannesFilm Festival, India is the'Country of Honour,' led byInformation and Broadcasting

Minister Anurag SinghThakur. Pooja is among the 11film personalities along withA.R. Rahman, NawazuddinSiddiqui, R. Madhavan,Shekhar Kapoor, and PrasoonJoshi, who are members ofIndia's official delegation toCannes.

Deepika Padukone, who ispart of the jury of this filmfestival, joined the Indian del-egation for the inaugurationof the Indian Pavilion onWednesday, the second day ofworld cinema's most presti-gious showcase.

Pooja Hegdemakes a stunningdebut at Cannes

Suman Gupta roped in to play Devakiin ‘Yashomati Maiyya

ke Nandlala’


Mumbai, May 19 (PTI):

Having gone off the boilin the last few games, JosButtler would be eagerlywaiting to pounce on aninexperienced ChennaiSuper Kings attack inorder to clinch a play-offberth for Rajasthan Royalsin the IPL here on Friday.

A win will take SanjuSamson’s men to 18 pointsand help them steer clearof any permutations orcombinations for a top-four finish.

In fact a win will ensurea top-two finish for Royalsas they will then enjoy asuperior Net Run Rate(NRR) of +0.304 comparedto Lucknow Super Giants’+0.251. In this backdrop,Royals would like to turnthe heat on a lacklustreCSK, who can turn out tobe ‘party poopers’ in theirfinal game.

To prevent that, Buttler,who is currently leadingthe batters’ chart with 627runs, will need to do betterthan register scores of 22,30, 7, 2 — his contributionin the last four games.

The Royals’ success inthe tournament has got alot to do with brilliantstarts from Buttler, whohas three hundreds and asmany fifties — most of hisruns were scored duringthe first half of the tour-

nament — and YuzvendraChahal’s 24 wickets.

While Chahal has main-tained his consistency, inthe case of Buttler therehas been a slight dip inform but the last leaguegame is an ideal time to upthe ante before the play-offs. Rookies MukeshChoudhary, SimarjeetSingh and ‘Baby Malinga’

Matheesha Pathirana willlike to show their waresone last time but the CSKunit’s confidence hastaken a big dent because ofits poor batting efforts forthe better part of the tour-nament. While Buttler isat the top of the battingchart for Royals, RuturajGaikwad came to theparty late with 366 runs,

but none of the othershave crossed the 300-runmark. Devon Conway, whoplayed more matches inthe second half, has 236runs to his credit.

Most of CSK’s seniorplayers like MS Dhoni(206), Ambati Rayudu (271)and Robin Uthappa (230)haven’t had a great IPLand that has been the

biggest failure of the‘Yellow Brigade’. Thebowling suffered a lot be-cause of the absence of aninjured Deepak Chaharand the inability to retainJosh Hazlewood. It waswafer-thin in terms of ex-perience and they paid theprice. Pathirana, with aslinging action that is pret-ty similar to Malinga, hascaught Dhoni’s imagina-tion but he is a work inprogress. Similarly, thelikes of Mukesh (16 wick-ets), Simar (3 wickets) andspinner MaheshTheekshana (12) are goodbut not assured match-winners yet.

The Royals’ bowling at-tack, perhaps, is one of thebest in the tournamentwith the spin duo ofChahal (24 wickets and ERof 7.76) and RavichandranAshwin (10 wickets at 7.15)creating plenty of troublefor the batters.

Prasidh Krishna (15wickets) has been sharpon most days and whenTrent Boult (12 wickets)gets the ball to slant intothe right-handers first up,it will be difficult for anytop-order.

The Royals’ qualifica-tion is in their own handsand they would like tokeep it that way with a winagainst Chennai SuperKings.

Royals seek another Buttler showversus CSK to clinch play-off spot Wankhede, May19:

Royal ChallengersBangalore’s star batterVirat Kohli has not hadthe best of IPL seasons.However, that has not de-terred his spirit. The for-mer RCB captain openedup on his current formand how he maintains apositive frame of mind.

Speaking on the StarSports show ‘InsideRCB’, Kohli said:“My experiences aresacred to me.Whatever I haveexperienced in thisphase or in the pastas well, one thing Ican vouch for is that Ihave never valued my-self more as a person.Because I’m experienc-ing now that there is abig sense of the identi-ty that’s created by theworld for you, which isfar more different and sofar away from the realityof you as a human being.So, what I’m experienc-ing now is that I am valu-ing myself and I care formy own well-being waymore I would have in thepast.”

“I’m actually in thehappiest phase of mylife. I am not finding anyself-worth or value inwhat I do on the field.I’m way past that phase.This is a phase of evolu-tion for me. Not to say

that I don’t have thesame drive, my drivewill never die down. Theday my drive goes away,I’ll not be playing thisgame.”

“But to understandthat somethings are notcontrollable, the onlycontrollable you haveare things that you canwork towards, which isworking hard on thefield and in life as welland from that point ofview, I feel that I am inthe most balanced spacethat I have ever been and

I am happy with who Iam and how I am leadingmy life. I am not findingany source of encour-agement or disappoint-ment by what happenson the field. So, this hasnot been about myself,this is about the fact thatI have not contributed tomy team’s cause asmuch as I would havewanted to or I pride my-self to, and that is some-thing that always disap-points me, not what I doas an individual. It’s be-cause I don’t want to letmy team down,” headded.

Former Team Indiaskipper Kohli has beenout of form for quite awhile now. After beingretained by RCB aheadof mega auctions of IPL2022, Kohli has scoredonly 236 in 13 matches,with an average of 19.67and a strike rate of113.46.

Virat Kohli also talkedabout his transitionfrom a captain to a play-er, “To be honest, it’s dif-ferent. I won’t say it’shard because it’s some-thing that you’re in-volved in regularly.

So, the good thing isthat my relationshipwith Faf has alwaysbeen good. We also havea leadership group in theteam where we all shareour inputs.

This is a phase ofevolution for me: Kohli

Chattogram, May 19 (AP):

Sri Lanka recoveredfrom early trouble to holdout Bangladesh and drawthe series-opening test onthe fifth day Thursday.

Sri Lanka was 161-6 inits second innings abouthalfway through the mid-dle session, leading by 93runs, and saved by DineshChandimal, 39 not out, andNiroshan Dickwella, 61not out.

Sri Lanka was 260-6when play was mutuallyended 73 overs into thefinal day at Zahur AhmedChowdhury Stadium.

The visitors posted 397before Bangladesh repliedwith 465, taking a 68-runfirst-innings lead.

The second and last teststarts on Monday inDhaka.

Left-arm spinner TaijulIslam raised Bangladesh’shope of winning the testwith two quick wickets inthe first session. He took 4-82 and fashioned a run outbut Bangladesh’s attackmissed leading pacer

Shoriful Islam, whoseright hand was injuredwhile batting lateWednesday. He didn’t bowland has been ruled out forfour-five weeks.

Sri Lanka made a rapidstart after resuming theday at 39-2, with KusalMendis unleashing a pow-erful attack with twoboundaries in the first

over from Taijul. Mendisscored 48 from 43 deliver-ies, hitting eight bound-aries and a six, before hewas dismissed by Taijul toa ball that spun past himand clipped off stump.Taijul also tormentedAngelo Mathews, whoscored 199 in the first in-nings but was out for a 15-ball duck when he charged

the bowler and gave up areturn catch. Dhananjayade Silva joined captainDimuth Karunaratne toresist a pumped-upBangladeshi bowling at-tack, but Karunaratne’sserenity paid off as hereached his 28th test fiftyguiding a Shakib Al Hasandelivery for three runs inthe third man region.

Sri Lanka holds out for drawwith Bangladesh in 1st test

Bangkok, May 19 (PTI):

Kidambi Srikanth, oneof the main architects ofIndia’s historic ThomasCup triumph, exited fromthe Thailand Open afterhanding a walkover to hisopponent in the men’s sin-gles second round matchhere on Thursday.

Srikanth, seeded eighth,gave a walkover to hisIrish rival Nhat Nguyen.The reason for his with-drawal is not yet known.

The world no. 11 Indianhad earlier produced agritty show to get the bet-ter of Brice Leverdez ofFrance 18-21 21-10 21-16 inhis opening round match.

In the women’s singles,it was curtains forMalvika Bansod, who lost21-16 14-21 14-21 to LineChristopherson ofDenmark in the secondround.

The Indian mixed dou-bles pair of IshaanBhatnagar and TanishaCrasto also bowed out inthe second round, losing19-21 20-22 against sixthseeded Malaysia combina-

tion of Goh Soon Huat andLai Shevon Jemie.

Later, Ashwini Bhat Kand Shikha Gautam toocrashed out in thewomen’s doubles secondround, losing 19-21 6-21against fifth seeds MayuMatsumoto and WakanaNagahara.

Two-time Olympicmedallist PV Sindhu, seed-ed sixth and ranked sev-enth in the world, will faceSim Yu Jin, who hadplayed a pivotal role inKorea’s Uber Cup win.

Sindhu had staved off aspirited challenge fromworld number 62, USA’sLauren Lam, in the open-ing round.

Srikanth out ofThailand Open

London, May 19 (PTI):

England pace spearheadJofra Archer has beenruled out of the entire sea-son due to a stress fractureon his lower back, thecountry’s cricket boardsaid on Thursday, whichmeans he will miss theTest against India in July.

“After being diagnosedwith a stress fracture tothe lower back, Englandand Sussex seamer JofraArcher has been ruled outfor the rest of the season,”the England & WalesCricket Board (ECB) said

in a statement.The worst part is that he

is indefinitely out of com-petitive cricket as the ECBhas not set any specifictime-frame for his return.

“No time-frame hasbeen set for his return. Amanagement plan will bedetermined following fur-ther specialist opinionover the coming days.”

India are scheduled toplay a Test match (carryover from previous series)along with six white-ballgames in the month ofJuly. The 27-year-old Jofra,who last played interna-tional cricket in March2021 in an away seriesagainst India, had under-gone an elbow surgery andthen made a comeback tocounty cricket for Sussexbefore suffering a stressfracture.

The last competitivematch that he played was aT20 game against Kent atHove.

The Barbados-bornJofra has so far played 42international matches forEngland across three for-mats and has 86 wickets tohis credit.

Jofra Archer to miss Test match versus India


Riding high on theirsuccessive I-League tri-umph, Gokulam KeralaFC stunned ATK MohunBagan 4-2 in a six-goalthriller in their AFC Cupdebut at the Salt LakeStadium here onWednesday.

In a battle between thetwo heavyweights of thetop-tier ISL and the sec-ond-tier I-League,Gokulam Kerala dishedout a much more compactand technical display thanBagan.

Fresh from winning anunprecedented I-Leaguedouble at the same venuelast Saturday, GokulamKerala led the way withtheir Slovenian centre-for-ward Luka Majcen (50’,65’) striking a brace.

Rishad Puthanveettil(57’) and substitute JithinSubran (89’) slammed oneeach to seal three pointsand give a reality check tothe ISL giants and thelocal favourites.

Mohun Bagan showedsome spark with goals

from Pritam Kotal (53’)and Liston Colaco (80’),but their defence, in theabsence of SandeshJhingan and Tiri, who wasstretchered out after sus-taining an injury in the39th minute, crumbled inthe second-half.

“Injury to Tiri was a dif-ficult one, you had tochange the plan, the for-mation. We were not ready

for the transition,”ATKMB coach JuanFerrando said.

“When we had chances,we were unlucky. Ofcourse we need to learn,but this past. We don’twant to give any excuses,”the Spaniard added.

The win also gave theMalabarians an early ad-vantage in securing theonly available berth from

group D for the AFC CupInter-Zone semi-finals.

Playing in front of astrong home support, ATKMohun Bagan squanderedmany chances in a domi-nating first half.

Fijian star centre-for-ward Roy Krishna missedback-to-back opportuni-ties in the 18th minute —first a one-on-one fromListon Colaco’s cross and

then from Joni Kauko’s as-sist, when the ball came offthe inside of the post.

In the 29th minute,Kauko had a shot at thetarget from inside the boxbut the Finnish midfielderhit straight to RakshitDagar, as Gokulam Keralahad anxious few momentsto begin with.

The two-time reigning I-League champions werecautious to start with intheir maiden appearancein the continental show-piece, resulting in a goal-less first half.

For the Mariners, whomade an inter-zonal semi-final exit in the last edi-tion, those were the fewchances they had as the ta-bles turned after thebreak. The VincentoAlberto Annese-coachedside struck thrice in thespace of 11 minutes to vir-tually close out the game.

Gokulam’s in-formMajcen, who was theteam’s top-scorer (13 goals)in the I-League, led its sec-ond-half domination toforce Mohun Bagan de-fence into submission.

Gokulam Kerala stun Mohun Bagan 4-2 in AFC Cup debut

Luka Majcen of Gokulam Kerala FC celebrates with teammates after scoring a goalagainst ATK Mohun Bagan FC during the AFC Cup group stage football match, in Kolkata.Navi Mumbai, May 19 (PTI):

A bit of frustrationcame out in Quinton deKock’s uncharacteristiccelebration after his blaz-ing hundred againstKolkata Knight Riders inthe IPL here.

At the post-match pressconference onWednesday, LucknowSuper Giants assistantcoach Vijay Dahiya citedthe possible reason be-

hind the charged-up cele-bration by the SouthAfrican opener.

“I will speak aboutQuinton. Sometimes hegot runs, sometimes hedidn’t (in ongoing IPL).When we practiced, orwhen he was knocking ortaking throw-downs, hewas always saying henever felt so good andhow come it happenedthat he wasn’t able toscore,” Dahiya said.

“He also said the day hegot going, he would makeit count and he did thattoday (last night). Andthe way they batted for 20overs, without any wicketfalling, just fantastic,”added Dahiya.

Thanks to De Kock’sspectacular unbeaten 140,the highest individualscore this season, andskipper KL Rahul’s 68 notout, Lucknow posted animposing 210 for no lossand then defended it bytwo runs to book a berthin the play-offs.

De Kock knew he wouldmake it count the

day he got going: Dahiya

Quinton de Kock

KKR will invest inRinku in coming

years, says McCullum

NNaavvii MMuummbbaaii,, MMaayy 1199 ((PPTTII))::Kolkata Knight Riders headcoach Brendon McCullum saysyoung batter Rinku Singh hasbeen their find of the ongoingIPL season and the franchisewill invest in him in the comingyears. Rinku, who nearly pulledoff an epic win with his breath-taking batting against LucknowSuper Giants here onWednesday, earned high praisefrom McCullum. “Absolutely he(Rinku) sure has (been the findof the season). Rinku is a play-er who KKR will invest in, nodoubt, over the next few yearsand we will see him reallyprogress and may even chal-lenge for higher honours intime,” McCullum, who is set totake over as England’s nextTest head coach, said at thepost-match press conference.

Skyroot tests third-stage of Vikram-1 rocket


Space-sector start-upSkyroot Aerospace hassuccessfully conducted thefull-duration test-firing ofthe third stage of theVikram-1 rocket, India'sfirst privately built satel-lite launch vehicle.

Named 'Kalam-100' afterformer President late A PJ Abdul Kalam, the thirdstage of Vikram-1 pro-duces a peak vacuumthrust of 100 kN (or~10Tons) and has a burntime of 108 seconds.

"The test-firing was con-ducted on May 5 atNagpur," Pawan KumarChandana, co-founder andCEO of Skyroot

Aerospace, told PTI. Therocket stage is built withhigh-strength Carbonfiber structure, solid fuel,EPDM thermal protectionsystem, and carbon abla-tive nozzle.

"It is a highly reliablestage with no movingparts and high level of au-tomation in manufactur-ing," he said. Chandanasaid the full duration stagelevel testing is a majormilestone for the develop-ment of our flagship or-bital vehicle Vikram-1.

"The stage has deliveredexcellent performance andthis success gives greatconfidence for our otherrocket stages planned to betested soon," he said.

Skyroot co-founderNaga Bharath Daka saidKalam-100 was the best inclass rocket stage of itssize, with record propel-lant loading and firing du-ration. It uses all carboncomposite structure for de-livering best performance,he said.

"This is the largest rock-et stage ever designed,manufactured, and testedcompletely in the Indianprivate sector. We areproud to be a part of thisachievement by support-ing the propellant process-ing and static testing atour world class facilities inNagpur," said ManishNuwal, MD and CEO ofSolar Industries India Ltd.

Aizawl, May 19 (PTI):

Mizoram reported afresh outbreak of FallArmyWorm (FAW), a pestthat damaged maize culti-vations in several parts ofthe state, an official saidon Thursday. Director ofAgriculture DepartmentJames Lalsiamliana toldPTI that a report about theoutbreak was receivedfrom some parts of thestate on May 13.

Following that, agricul-ture officers in all districtswere alerted to take stepsto prevent the outbreak, hesaid. The outbreak has af-fected 89 villages in sevendistricts, Lalsiamlianasaid. FAW was detected in

more than 490 hectare ofland across the statewhere maize is cultivated,he said.

Mizoram has 11 districtsand detailed informationfrom Khawzawl and Siahadistricts is awaited.Negligible incidence ofFAW was also reportedfrom Serchhip andHnahthial districts, the of-ficial said. Lunglei andMamit districts are theworst hit, he said.

While FAW was detectedin 287 hectare of land in 22villages of Lunglei, it wasfound in 93.6 hectare ofland in 29 villages inMamit district, he said. InAizawl district, FAW wasfound in 38.4 hectares of

land, affecting 15 villages,he said. FAW outbreak wasfirst detected in the statein 2019, and a recurrencehas happened every yearsince then during the sum-mers, Lalsiamliana said.

The government is tak-ing steps to contain theoutbreak by providing pes-ticides and insecticides tofarmers, he said. Farmershave been instructed touse soap solutions, a con-coction of salt and red pep-per and also ash to kill thepest, he said.

Noting that FAW has ableak chance of survivalduring the monsoon,Lalsiamliana hoped thatthe outbreak would be con-tained soon.


A global survey of over30,000 people shows that 46per cent of Indians havesignificantly increasedtheir frequency of cleaninghouseholds, and 2 in 3 peo-ple clean 5-7 times a week,the most frequent fromSouth East Asia countriessurveyed.

The study by researchersat technology companyDyson shows that globally95 per cent of people arecleaning just as much, ifnot more, than they did lastyear due to concernsaround the COVID-19 pan-demic.

However, Indians are less"reactive" cleaners whencompared to the rest of theworld with just 1 in 3 peoplebeing motivated to cleanafter seeing dust on theirfloors, compared to theglobal average of 40 per

cent, they said."It is a cause for concern

if people only clean whenthey spot visible dust onthe floors as many dust par-ticles are microscopic insize," said Monika Stuczen,research scientist in micro-biology at Dyson.

"In fact, by the time peo-ple spot visible dust in thehome, it is highly likely thatthere are dust mites in yourhome," Stuczen said in astatement. The 'DysonGlobal Dust Study 2022' is a15-minute online survey un-dertaken by 32,282 respon-dents across 33 countries,including 1,019 from India.

Fieldwork was conduct-ed between November 15 to24, 2021 and February 14 toMarch 7, 2022. Data hasbeen weighted at a 'global'level to be representative ofdifferent population sizes.The study found that inIndia, 46 per cent of people

surveyed have significantlyincreased their frequencyof cleaning and 2 in 3 peo-ple clean their homes 5-7times a week, the most fre-quent in the South EastAsia region.

"In India, we clean fre-quently, but traditionalcleaning methods may stillnot be an answer for effi-cient cleaning," said Dr.Lancelot Pinto, consultantpulmonologist at P. D.Hinduja National Hospitaland Medical ResearchCentre in Mumbai.

"When we breathe inair containing fine dust,dust mites, skin flakesand other pollutants(present in householddust), we are vulnerableto a spectrum of respira-tory manifestations. "Oneof the key contributors tothese health issues is finedust, which may or maynot be seen with a naked

eye," said Pinto.The experts noted that in-

dividuals in certain agegroups and with health con-ditions are more vulnerableto dust allergies than oth-ers. "Young children, preg-nant women, senior citi-zens or people with respira-tory issues and disordersneed to do their best to pro-tect themselves from suchpollutants, Pinto added.

The survey also found 29per cent of Indians weresurprised that skin flakesare a component of house-hold dust and 22 per centwere unaware that house-hold dust can carry virusparticles. Nearly 21 per centwere unaware that pet al-lergens that trigger pet-re-lated allergies can be foundin household dust while 35per cent of Indians thoughtthat household dust wasmostly made up of soil andsand, the researchers said.

‘No decision yet on joining BJP or AAP’Ahmedabad, May 19 (PTI):

A day after resigningfrom the Congress, Patidarleader Hardik Patel onThursday said he "wasted"three years of his life in theparty, but maintained thathe has not taken a decisionyet on joining any other po-litical outfit, be it the rulingBJP in Gujarat or the newentrant AAP.

Addressing a press con-ference here, Patel (28)hailed the BJP for its ef-forts in the Ayodhya caseand also appreciated it forabrogating Article 370,while also accusing theleaders of the "visionless"Congress of being biasedagainst the Gujarati people.

Ahead of the GujaratAssembly polls due laterthis year, Patel onWednesday resigned fromthe Congress, claiming topleaders of the party weredistracted by their mobile

phones and that GujaratCongress leaders weremore interested in arrang-ing chicken sandwiches forthem. Asked if he wouldjoin the BJP or the ArvindKejriwal-led Aam AadmiParty (AAP), Patel onThursday said, "I have nottaken any decision as ofnow on joining any politi-cal party, be it the BJP orAAP. Whatever decision Iwill take, it will be in the in-terest of the people."

According to Patel, hismain contention was thathe was never given anymeaningful work despitebeing the working presi-dent of the state unit. Hewas appointed to the post inJuly 2020. "It is a fact thatCongress benefited im-mensely in the 2017Assembly polls due to thePatidar quota agitation (ledby him). However, I was notgiven any responsibilityeven after making me

working president. I wasnot even invited to the keymeetings of the party. Itnever arranged my pressconference during the lastthree years," he said.

In the 2017 polls, the BJPhad managed to retainpower but its seat tallycame down to 99 from 115 in2012, while the Congresshad won 77 seats, improv-ing its tally by 16 seats inthe 182-member House.

"Some 7-8 leaders havebeen running the show forthe last 25 years in Gujarat.

Second cadre leaders arenot given any importance.Party just believes in thetheory of use and throw.During the last 7 years,nearly 122 Congress leadershad left the party, including30 MLAs and nearly 40 for-mer MLAs," said Patel.

Hitting out at theCongress, he said the partynever speaks anything onthe issues concerningHindus, such as the CAA(Citizenship AmendmentAct) or on the issue of a'Shivling' (said to be) foundin a mosque in Varanasi.

"Ruling BJP's efforts inthe Ayodhya case wereworth appreciating. I hadwelcomed the SupremeCourt's verdict and my fam-ily even donated Rs 21,000for the construction of RamMandir. BJP also did a goodjob by scrapping Article 370.I will not hesitate to appreci-ate what is worth appreciat-ing," he said.


Hardik Patel

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Railways personnel during a joint mock drill, in Lucknow, Thursday.

MOCK DRILL

Students check their result on a laptop after Karnataka Education Board announced 10th SSLC results, inBengaluru, Thursday.

CHECKING RESULTS

Printed by Sameer Maheshwari on behalf of Ramgopal Investments Pvt. Ltd. at Navbharat Press, G.E. Road, Press Complex, Raipur and Published at Navbharat Bhawan, Near Bus Stand, Bilaspur, Editor in Chief - Sameer Maheshwari.Editor: Sameer Shukla (Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act.) Phone: (07752) 224563, 230591 Fax : (07752) 405338, Raipur : (0771) 4257700 Fax : (0771) 4257703, Regd. No. CHHENG/2012/44065

2 in 3 Indians clean homes regularly,most frequent in SE Asia

SURVEY REPORT

Hardik hails saffron party over Ayodhya issue, Article 370

Court setsIndrani’s bail bond

at Rs 2 lakhMumbai, May 19 (PTI):A special CBI court in thecity on Thursday saidIndrani Mukerjea, theprime accused in the mur-der of her daughterSheena Bora, can walk outon bail after furnishing abond of Rs 2 lakh as it fi-nalised her bail condi-tions.

Mukerjea (50) wasgranted bail by theSupreme Court onWednesday, six-and-a-halfyears after she was arrest-ed in the murder case.

The CBI court said theformer media executivecan be released from theByculla women's prison inMumbai upon furnishinga cash bail bond of Rs 2lakh and a solvent suretyof the same amount.

‘CUET for PGadmissions from2022 academic

session’New Delhi, May 19 (PTI):The University GrantsCommission has decidedto introduce the commonuniversity entrance test(CUET) for post graduatecourses also from thisyear, its chairmanJagadesh Kumar said onThursday.

The decision comesweeks after the UGC chiefannounced that CUETscores, and not Class 12scores, will be mandatoryfor admission to 45 centraluniversities and that thecentral universities can fixtheir minimum eligibilitycriteria.

CUET for PG admis-sions will also be intro-duced from the 2022 aca-demic session.

Mizoram reports FAW outbreak,7 districts affected

BJP misusing central agencies, hasunleashed a ‘Tughlagi raj’

Jhargram (WB), May 19 (PTI):

Amid the row overirregularities in SSC

appointments, WestBengal Chief MinisterMamata BanerjeeThursday slammed theBJP-led government at theCentre for unleashing a"Tughlagi raj" in the coun-try and "misusing federalagencies to settle politicalscores".

Banerjee also claimedthat there were many dis-crepancies in governmentrecruitment during theerstwhile Left Frontregime in the state, detailsof which, she said, she will"reveal soon".

"The BJP is running a'Tughlaqi' regime (refer-ring to 14th-century Delhisultan Muhammad-bin-Tughlaq who was knownto be wilfull) in the coun-try and is trying to dividethe nation. It is control-ling central agencies andusing those to settle politi-cal scores," she said at apublic meeting here.

"A lot of things arebeing said about discrep-ancies in recruitment.The people are well awareof those who are involvedin corruption. They don'tlike such people neitherdo I. If someone has com-mitted any wrong, the lawwill take its own course.

"But this vilificationcampaign should stop.During the Left regime,transfers were made andjobs were given by writ-ing down names on paper.I will reveal the irregular-ities soon," she said.

West Bengal ministerand TMC secretary gener-al Partha Chatterjee wasquizzed for over threehours on Wednesdayevening by CBI in connec-tion with irregularities inappointments in govern-ment schools which hassnowballed into a majorcontroversy in the state.

Chatterjee appeared be-fore the sleuths of the in-vesting agency following

an order by the CalcuttaHigh Court, whichtermed as a "public scam"the irregularities made inthe recruitment process.

"If there is anythingwrong, it should be recti-fied through proper law.But if BJP thinks it cansilence us by brute force,it is wrong. It lost the as-sembly poll but have noshame. BJP now thinksthat it can gain someground before the 2024Lok Sabha polls," shesaid.

Keeping up her attack,the feisty TMC boss saidthe saffron party has de-stroyed all institutions inthe country.

"The BJP has systemati-cally planted its people inall institutions and de-stroyed them. They havedone the same with EDand CBI. They could notunseat me and are nowjealous of me," she said.

The saffron party hasunleashed a "misinforma-tion campaign" to malignthe state, she said refer-ring to allegations of vio-lence levelled by it.

"Whenever (violent) in-cidents take place, wetaken action. We don'twant any violent inci-dents in the state. But BJPhas unleashed a maliciouscampaign in the state,"she said.

Mam

ata

amid

SSC

row

CBI files FIR against Bengalminister, daughter


The CBI on Thursdayfiled an FIR against WestBengal minister PareshChandra Adhikari after hefailed to meet the deadlineset by the Calcutta HighCourt for appearance be-fore its sleuths in connec-tion with a case of allegedillegal appointment of hisdaughter as a teacher in astate government-aidedschool, an official said.

Adhikari, who is the min-ister of state for education,along with his daughter,was booked under IPC sec-tions 420 (cheating and dis-honesty) and 120B (crimi-

nal conspiracy), besidessections under Preventionof Corruption Act, the offi-cial of the agency said."The minister was sup-posed to appear before ourofficers by 3 pm as per theCalcutta High Court order,but he did not. We havelodged an FIR against himand his daughter," he said.The high court onThursday had initially di-rected Adhikari to appearbefore the CBI by 3 pm, buthis lawyer submitted thathe was in Coochbehar andwould travel to Kolkata byair in the evening. JusticeAbhijit Gangopadhyay thenasked the Bidhannagar po-

lice to take him to the CBIoffice as soon as he lands atthe NSC Bose Airport here.The court also said that ifAdhikari was found miss-ing on the flight, it would betreated as a hoax created byhim to escape the court andthe CBI and, in that case,the matter would be dealtwith accordingly. Accordingto the CBI official, Adhikarihad mailed to the agency,seeking more time to ap-pear before its sleuths. "Hehas written to us seekingmore time to appear beforethe officers in connectionwith the ongoing investiga-tion. We are ready to ques-tion him," he added.

APPOINTMENT SCAM

'Peace talks with Naxals only if trust in Constitution' - Central Chronicle

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