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THE ASIAN AGE

SPORT| 8
NEW DELHI SATURDAY 5 MARCH 2022

NATION | 4 DELHI AGE| 16

India 357/6 at stumps on Former Army Chief Gen. The love I have got from the
Day 1 of 1st Lanka Test as Sunith Francis Rodrigues South allows me to be choosy
Rishabh takes centre-stage passes away at 88 in Goa about Hindi movies: Pooja
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WINDOWS ■ Talks with Ukraine likely this weekend ■ Nato rejects no-fly zone
India calls for ‘local truce’,
Fears as Russians seize N-plant; to run 16 evac flights today
more airstrikes as tanks stalled Indian student shot at while fleeing safe in Kyiv hospital
Kyiv/Brussels, March 4:
Russian troops on Friday BBC halts all Russia SRIDHAR
KUMARASWAMI
seized the biggest nuclear
power plant in Europe
ops after new law NEW DELHI, MARCH 4

after a middle-of-the-night Moscow: The BBC says it India on Friday appealed

Shane Warne, 52,
dies after heart
attack in Thailand
Melbourne: Former
Australia spinner Shane
Warne, who redefined the
art of spin bowling to
become one of the great-
est in international cricket,
has died of a suspected
heart attack in Thailand,
attack that set it on fire
and briefly raised world-
wide fears of a catastro-
phe in the most chilling
turn in Moscow’s inva-
sion of Ukraine yet.
Firefighters put out the
blaze, and no radiation
was released, UN and
Ukrainian officials said,
as Russian forces pressed
on with their week-old
offensive on multiple
fronts and the number of
refugees fleeing the coun-
try topped 1.2 million.
is temporarily halting
the work of all its jour-
nalists in Russia after the
country’s legislators
approved legislation
criminalising reporting
of the war in Ukraine
that differs from the
government line. The
Russian Parliament
voted unanimously
Friday to approve a
draft law criminalising
Firefighters work to extinguish a fire at a damaged city the intentional spreading
centre after a Russian air raid in Chernigiv, Ukraine, on
of what Russia deems to
Thursday. — AP be “fake” reports.
to both Russia and
Ukraine to put in place a
“local ceasefire” in war-
torn eastern Ukraine so
that hundreds of Indian
students stuck in the
cities of Kharkhiv and
Sumy could be evacuated
to safety, which is a “pri-
mary focus”, even as New
Delhi announced that an
injured Indian student,
Harjot Singh, who is
reported to have been
shot at multiple times
while trying to flee

according to a statement
from his management. He
was 52. He is survived by
two daughters and a son.
Warne’s management
released a brief statement
to the Australian media,
saying that he passed
away in Koh Samui,
Thailand and the reason
could be a suspected
heart attack. “Shane was
found unresponsive in his
villa and despite the best
efforts of medical staff, he
could not be revived,” the
statement reported by
various media outlets here
said. “The family requests
privacy at this time and
will provide further details
in due course.” — PTI
Full report on Page 8
While the vast Russian
armoured column threat-
ening Kyiv appeared
stalled outside the capital,
President Vladimir
Putin’s forces have
ramped up their use of air
power, launching hun-
dreds of missiles and
artillery attacks on cities
and other sites, and made
significant gains on the
ground in the south in an
apparent bid to cut off
Ukraine’s access to the
sea.
Ukraine’s negotiators
plan to hold a third round
of talks this weekend with
Russian officials to try to
end the fighting triggered
by Moscow’s invasion,
one of the negotiators said
Friday. “The third leg
could take place tomor-
row or the day after, we
are in constant contact,”
Ukrainian presidential
adviser Mykhailo
Podolyak said, on the
eighth day of the war.
Mr Podolyak, speaking
in the western city of
Lviv, said Kyiv was just
waiting for a response
from President Vladimir
Putin’s team at the
Kremlin to confirm the
timing of the talks.
In Berlin, German
Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s
office said he had spoken
to Mr Putin and had been
assured that the negotia-
tions would resume over
the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Nato
countries refused on
Friday to police a no-fly
zone over Ukraine, warn-
ing that such a move could
provoke a wider war in
Europe with Russia.
Speaking after a meeting
with US secretary of state
Antony Blinken and his
European counterparts,
Nato secretary-general
Jens Stoltenberg said he
acknowledged the suffer-
ing of the Ukrainian peo-
ple, as Russia ramps up its
use of heavy firepower,
shelling cities and other
sites, forcing more than a
■ Turn to Page 4
Russian TV channel
staff quits live on air
Moscow: The entire staff
of a Russian TV channel
resigned live on air after
declaring “no to war” in
their final telecast. It is
learnt that the decision
was taken by the staff of
TV Rain (Dozhd) after
the auth-orities sus-
pended its operations
over its coverage of the
Ukraine war. The chan-
nel then played the
Swan Lake ballet video,
the same video shown
on state-run TV in
Russia after the Soviet
Union collapsed in 1991.
Ukraine’s capital Kyiv is
“safe and in hospital” in
Kyiv. The Indian govern-
ment will share the med-
ical costs of the injured A student, evacuated from war-torn Ukraine, arrives
student’s treatment, New with his pet dog at the Hindon Air Force Station in
Delhi added. Ghaziabad on Friday. — PTI
While the government
also announced that over
20,000 Indian nationals
However deep the PAGE 4
crisis, India’s
have left Ukraine and
attempts to tackle it ◗ As Ukraine-Russia
over 10,000 Indian nation-
are even bigger conflict rages on,
als, including students,
have been brought back DefExpo 2022 and
— Narendra IAF mega drill Vayu
to India in 48 evacuation
flights, the challenges Modi, PM Shakti postponed
remain, with estimates
that about 2,000-3,000 students are stuck in who managed to get to the
Indian nationals, mostly Kharkhiv, while over 700 relative safety of
students, still remaining are stuck in Sumy due to Pisochyn, near Kharkhiv,
in war-torn Ukraine. Of the raging conflict. About are being transported to
these, about 300 Indian 800-900 Indian students ■ Turn to Page 4

VIRAT KOHLI’S 100TH TEST Today: Manipur

Aman Lekhi quits as
Central govt’s lawyer
New Delhi: Senior advocate
Aman Lekhi on Friday quit
from the post of additional
solicitor general of India. In a
two-line letter addressed to
Union minister for law and
justice Kiren Rijiju, Mr Lekhi
said that he is tendering his
resignation from the post at
the Supreme Court with
immediate effect. He, how-
ever, did not specify any
reason for his resignation.
14 killed in blast at
Bihar cracker factory
Patna: At least 14 persons
lost their lives and nine oth-
ers were seriously injured in
an explosion at an illegal
cracker factory in Bihar’s
Bhagalpur late Thursday
night. Local residents who
witnessed the incident said
the explosion was so pow-
erful that it damaged other
buildings in the area.
going to vote, UP
campaign to end
for final phase
AGE CORRESPONDENTS
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI/GUWAHATI/
VARANASI, MARCH 4
Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi began his road-
show in Varanasi Friday
afternoon, drumming up
support for BJP candi-
dates ahead of the last
phase of the Uttar
Pradesh Assembly elec-
tions on March 7. Camp-
aigning for this phase
ends on Saturday after-
noon. Mr Modi began the
roadshow after garland-
Virat Kohli with wife Anushka after being honoured
by the Punjab Cricket Association at the IS Bindra ing a statue of Sardar
Vallabhbhai Patel at the
PCA Stadium in Mohali on Friday for becoming the
Maldahiya crossing. It is
13th Indian cricketer to play 100 Test matches.
due to close near the
■ Report on Page 8 — PTI Kashi Vishwanath com-
plex, where the PM will

SC to hear plea on Mishra

Full report on Page 4
COUNTERPOINT
bail cancellation March 11
PARMOD KUMAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
The Supreme Court
will on March 11 hear a
plea seeking the cancel-
lation of bail to Ashish
Mishra, son of Union
MoS for home Ajay
Mishra who is the main
accused in the mowing
down of four farmers in
Lakhimpur Kheri on
October 3, 2021.
A bench headed by
CJI N.V. Ramana
agreed to post the mat-
ter on March 11 for
hearing after lawyer
Prashant Bhushan
mentioned the matter
for an urgent hearing,
telling the court that the
high court has granted
bail to Ashish overlook-
ing the top court judg-
ment on the tampering
of evidence and protec-
tion of witnesses.
■ More on Page 3
offer prayers.
In the Northeast,
Manipur votes in the
second and final phase
Saturday for the 22
remaining seats, with
both the ruling BJP and
the Congress expressing
confidence of having an
edge on each other.
While BJP state chief A.
Sharda Devi claimed it
will get at least 15 of the
22 seats, the Congress
leaders claimed they are
in a better position in
the second phase. “We
will get a minimum of 17
seats,” said Congress’
Manipur in-charge
■ Turn to Page 4

WEATHER
Max: 28OC
Min: 15OC
RH: 44%
Rain: Nil
Forecast: Sunny
ASTROGUIDE
Plava: Uttarayana
Tithi: Magha Bahula
Chaturdasi till 1.01 am
Star: Dhanishta till 3.47 am
Varjyam: 9.03 am to 10.33 am
Durmuhurtam: 8.58 to 9.45
am; 11.14 pm to 12.03 am
Rahukalam: 3 pm to 4.30 pm
SUNSET TODAY 6.23 PM
SUNRISE TOMORROW 6.42 AM
MOONRISE TOMORROW 9.02 AM
MOONSET TODAY 8.22 PM
57 killed in suicide blast at
Shia mosque in Peshawar
Peshawar, March 4: A
powerful suicide blast
ripped through a crowd-
ed Shia mosque during
the Friday congregation
here in northwest
Pakistan, killing at least
57 people and wounding
nearly 200 others, in one
of the deadliest attacks
in the restive province,
bordering Afghanistan.
A rescue official said
the blast occurred at a
Jamia mosque in Qissa
Khwani bazaar area in
Peshawar when the wor-
shippers were offering
Friday prayers.
No group immediately
claimed responsibility
for the blast in Peshaw-
ar, the provincial capital
of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
which borders Afghanis-
tan. However, the
Islamic State and sectari-
an militant groups have
claimed responsibility
for the deadly attacks tar-
geting Shias in the past.
Mohammad Asim, a
spokesperson for Lady
Reading Hospital, con-
firmed that at least 57
people were killed while
194 were injured in the
blast.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
government spokesman
Barrister Mohammad
Ali Saif said the explo-
sion was a suicide bomb-
ing. He added that two
terrorists were involved
in the attack.
Talking to the media,
Peshawar SSP opera-
tions Haroon Rasheed
Khan said the explosion
was a suicide blast.
There were two attack-
ers but only one of them
was a suicide bomber, he
said.
An emergency has
been declared in the hos-
pital and doctors on
leave were summoned.
— PTI
 CITY
THE ASIAN AGE | SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
TAKES
SHORT
2 held for robbery
after exchange of
fire with police
New Delhi: Two men were
arrested on Friday following
an exchange of fire between
them and the police in north
Delhi’s Narela area, officials
said. They identified the
arrested persons as Sonu
(24) and Sunil (33). At
around 2.30 pm on
Wednesday, a person
approached the police
patrolling party in Sector 5,
Bawana Industrial Area,
alleging that he had been
robbed off his mobile phone
and pointed fingers at two
men on a scooter. Based on a
tip-off that the two men
were travelling towards
Shahpur Garhi village in
Narela from the UER-I and
UER-II intersection route, the
police laid a trap to arrest
them, but the two again
managed to give the police a
slip, Deputy Commissioner of
Police (outer north) Brijendra
Kumar Yadav said. Their
motorcycle slipped and they
fell down. However, they
recovered and fired three
rounds of bullets at the
police. In response, the
police fired five rounds, dur-
ing which a bullet hit Sonu
on his leg, the DCP said.
Delhi civil defence
volunteer held in
car robbery case
New Delhi: A 29-year-old civil
defence volunteer was arrest-
ed along with his associate in
a car robbery case in south-
west Delhi’s Vasant Kunj area,
police said on Friday.The
accused were identified as
Sachin and Mausam alias
Manoj (27), both residents of
Rangpuri, they said. Mausam
works as an event organiser,
while Sachin is a Delhi civil
defence volunteer and also
works as an event organizer,
police said. The two were
arrested on Wednesday on
the basis of a tip-off, they
said. The car was recovered
from their possession, police-
said. According to police, a
case was registered on
Sunday at Vasant Kunj North
police station on the com-
plaint of Dharmendar Kumar,
a driver. The accused hired his
cab for Munirka from
Rangpuri in Vasant Kunj. The
suspects, who posed as pas-
sengers, robbed him of his car
using a toy gun, and fled the
scene. — PTI
Traffic police sets
up new system for
towed vehicles
New Delhi: More than 39,000
vehicles were towed away by
the Delhi traffic police in the
last three months since it
introduced a new system of
sharing information about pit
locations with vehicle owners
via SMS, police said on
Friday. With effect from
December 1, 2021, Delhi
Traffic Police officials said, a
new system has started
wherein information is
shared with owners of towed
vehicles via SMS on their
registered mobile numbers
about the status of their
vehicles and pit locations.
According to the data, 39,155
vehicles were towed away by
the Delhi Traffic Police from
December 1,2021 to February
28, 2022. Soon, the Delhi
Traffic Police will also start
sending SMS alerts about the
chowks where the towed
vehicles are taken first
before being deposited at
the pits. — PTI
BJP launches ‘referendum’ against Army chief reviews operational plans of 1 Corps
AAP govt’s new excise policy in city
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
The Delhi BJP on Friday
launched its ‘referendum’ to
collect opinion of 10 lakh
city residents on the
Kejriwal government’s new
excise policy.
The party is collecting pub-
lic feedback at 1,120 places in
each of the 280 civic wards
by placing specially crafted
boxes, said Delhi BJP media
head Navin Kumar.
There could not be a bigger
issue in Delhi, as this excise
policy will affect the health
and future of Delhiites in a
negative manner, Delhi BJP
president Adesh Gupta said
while launching the
‘referendum’ at Connaught
Place.
The new excise policy is
making the youth direction-
less by promoting alcohol
with the opening of 850
liquor stores across the city,
Gupta, the councillor from
West Patel Nagar, alleged.
Indians evacuated from war-torn Ukraine upon their arrival at the Hindon airbase in Ghaziabad on Friday morning.
■ 242-metre long facility will also help in streamlining traffic flow
Skywalk to connect NDLS
with nearby Metro today
NDLS redevelopment: 9 firms
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
A dedicated skywalk for
providing seamless con-
nectivity between New
participate in RLDA meeting
Delhi Railway Station and New Delhi, March 4: The
the Metro station near it Rail Land Development
will be thrown open to Authority (RLDA) con-
public on Saturday, offi- ducted a stakeholder
cials said. The 242-metre engagement meeting on
long facility will also help Friday for the redevelop-
in streamlining the traffic ment of the New Delhi
flow on the Ajmeri Gate Railway Station.
side of the railway station, Nine qualified, global
they said on Friday. and national leading com-
“The dedicated skywalk, panies including Arabian
constructed by the DMRC Construction Company,
in collaboration with Adani Railways Transport
Northern Railway, for pro- Ltd, BIF IV India
viding seamless connectiv- Infrastructure Holding
ity between the Ajmeri (DIFC) Pvt. Ltd, ISQ Asia
Gate side and the adjacent
New Delhi Metro stations said in a statement.
on the Yellow Line and the This newly-constructed
Airport Express Line will skywalk is an extension of
be opened for passenger the foot over bridge (FOB)
use from 10 am onwards inside the railway station
tomorrow,” Delhi Metro and connects the Ajmeri
‘Strong rooms, counting centres
identified for MCD elections’
New Delhi, March 4: “In the last civic bypolls,
Preparations are under- each polling station’s
way on war footing for limit was 1,000 voters,
the upcoming civic elec- which for this poll was
tions in Delhi, with poll decided to be kept at 1,250.
authorities having identi- However, with the
fied strong rooms and
counting centres and
returning officers under-
improvement in Covid sit-
uation in Delhi, the limit
has been revised to 1,350,”
going training ahead of the official said.
the exercise, officials said When asked about Covid
on Friday. protocols to be followed
The municipal elections during the polls, he said,
are slated to be held in “Tenders have been float-
April. However, the dates ed to engage agencies for
are yet to be announced. Covid management as
Delhi has three munici- also for installing CCTV
pal corporations—North, cameras.”
South, and East Delhi Returning officers, assis-
municipal corporations— tant returning officers,
and the last civic polls and district election offi-
were held in April 2017. cers have been notified
“Preparations for the and the training of ROs
upcoming polls in Delhi and AROs is currently
are underway and being going on, the official said.
done on a war-scale. The State Election
Strong rooms and count- Commission (SEC) in
ing centres have been Delhi had recently
identified,” a senior offi- announced de-reservation
cial said. of existing wards and
He also said that about reservation of new wards
15,000-16,000 polling sta- on rotation for specified
tions are expected to be categories.
set up for the civic polls While the North Delhi
here. Municipal Corporation
◗ There could not be a bigger Four boxes are kept in each
issue in Delhi, as this excise of the 280 wards in the city
policy will affect the health in order to gather the opin-
ion of the people.
and future of Delhiites in a Gupta said that Delhi BJP’s
negative manner, Delhi BJP fears have proved correct as
president Adesh Gupta said even Kejriwal government
while launching the ‘referen- has accepted that law and
dum’ at Connaught Place. order was getting affected
due to crowd outside liquor
◗ The new excise policy is stores in Delhi.
making the youth direction- “Off course it’s duty of
less by promoting alcohol with police to maintain law and
the opening of 850 liquor order in the city but
stores across the city, Gupta, Kejriwal government is
the councillor from West Patel responsible for aggravating
Nagar, alleged. the situation through mind-
less opening of liquor stores
Women, too, feel unsafe due all over the city that have
to the crowd near these out- resorted to special schemes
lets, he said. to lure people buy more alco-
He also helped the people hol,” Gupta said.
in filling up a questionnaire Delhi government’s Excise
of the campaign. department this week
The questionnaire seeks banned retail licensees from
the people’s response about offering special discounts
the excise policy, slashing of and offers saying it was
dry days, the opening of causing crowding outside
shops near schools and tem- liquor stores. and law and
ples, and other aspects of it, order problems besides some
party leaders said. malpractices.
I n f r a s t r u c t u r e
Investments Pvt. Ltd par-
ticipated in the meeting,
the RLDA said in a state-
ment.
Other companies that
participated in the meet-
ing are Anchorage
I n f r a s t r u c t u r e
Investments Holdings
Limited, Kalpataru Power
Transmission Ltd, GMR
Highways Limited, Omaxe
Limited and Elpis
Ventures Pvt Ltd, the
statement said. — PTI
Gate side with the New
Delhi Metro station as well
as the multi-level parking
across Bhavbhuti Marg
through multiple entry
and exit points, it said.
and the South Delhi
Municipal Corporation
have 104 wards each, the
East Delhi Municipal
Corporation has 64 wards.
All three corporations
are currently ruled by the
BJP, the party which has
also been controlling all
the civic bodies since the
trifurcation of the erst-
while unified Municipal
Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) in 2012.
In the 2017 polls, the BJP
had bagged 181 of 270
wards in all three civic
bodies and had managed
to increase its vote share
by around five per cent.
The party’s vote share
was 32.2 per cent in the
2015 Assembly election.
While the AAP had fin-
ished on second spot, the
Congress was a distant
third in the election’s
result tally in 2017.
Both ruling BJP and
Opposition AAP in all the
three civic bodies have
claimed that they would
emerge victorious in the
high-stake 2022 civic polls.
— PTI
New Delhi, March 4: Army
Chief Gen M.M. Naravane
on Friday reviewed the key
operational plans of
Mathura-based 1 Corps for
the northern borders in
sync with the overall strat-
egy of re-balancing and re-
orienting the force to con-
front any challenge along
the 3,400-km frontier with
China. The 1 Corps, a
reserved strike force, has
been specifically focusing
on the northern sector in
view of the evolving chal-
lenges following the “uni-
lateral and provocative”
attempts by the Chinese
PLA to change the status
quo by force in various fric-
tion points in eastern
Ladakh over 20 months
ago.
The Army chief reviewed
various operational plans
of the Corps with a focus
on the northern borders,
official sources said.
They said the ongoing cri-
sis in Ukraine has in a way
reflected the various possi-
ble and dynamic security
challenges and that there
— PTI
The skywalk has been
provided with escalators
along with facilities such
as CCTV surveillance
cameras.
The construction of this
unique skywalk in a hub
witnessing significant
traffic was a major engi-
neering challenge, includ-
ing the disruptions posed
due to Covid-19 pandemic,
officials said.
“The structure had to be
built above a functional
underground Metro sta-
tion just three metres
below, with major traffic
movement on Bhavbhuti
Marg. Also, the bridge had
to be connected to two pre-
existing building struc-
tures at the far ends ensur-
ing minimum inconven-
ience to the people, infra-
structure and other build-
ings nearby,” the Delhi
Metro Rail Corporation
said.
Delhi records
302 Covid-19
cases, 4 deaths
in last 24 hours
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
Delhi on Friday report-
ed 302 Covid-19 cases
and four deaths, while
the positivity rate stood
at 0.63 per cent, accord-
ing to data shared by
the city health depart-
ment.
With this, the national
capital’s case count
increased to 18,61,189,
while the death toll
mounted to 26,134, the
latest health bulletin
stated.
The number of Covid-
19 tests conducted a day
ago stood at 47,738, it
said.
The number of daily
cases in Delhi has been
on the decline after
touching the record
high of 28,867 on
January 13. The city had
recorded a positivity
rate of 30.6 per cent on
January 14, the highest
during the ongoing wave
of the pandemic.
are lessons to be learnt
from each of such conflicts.
“The Ukraine situation
has to be seen in the con-
text of similar attempts
that could be made by the
PLA along our contested
Northern borders. At no
stage should people lose
focus on the northern bor-
ders,” a senior official at
the Army headquarters
said.
“In view of the threat
from our northern adver-
sary, the Indian Army con-
tinues to maintain its oper-
ational priorities with an
intent to develop capabili-
ties with a long-term per-
spective,” he added.
The official said the ongo-
ing situation along the
northern borders warrants
the Indian Army to re-align
the operational tasking of
its reserve formations
refine its warfighting capa-
bilities in high altitude
mountainous terrain.
“Various situations and
responses of the formation
were wargamed at
Mathura and suitable les-
Girl student attacked outside
Delhi school, FIR registered
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
The Delhi police has reg-
istered a case for alleged
attack on a Class 10 stu-
dent outside a school in
Burari area, officials
said on Friday.
According to police, the
incident took place on
Monday.
Complainant Rajesh,
the father of the student,
complained on behalf of
his daughter that she
was assaulted outside the
school by one Riya (18), a
juvenile (16) and others,
they said. A case under
relevant sections has
Sisodia inaugurates Delhi
Teachers University
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
Deputy chief minister
Manish Sisodia on Friday
inaugurated the Delhi
Teachers University
which would offer pro-
grammes such as BA-BEd
and BSc-BEd and focus on
fundamental and applied
research in education.
The campus is located in
Outram Lane
Mukherjee Nagar area of
in
the national capital.
It gives me great pleas-
ure to inaugurate the
‘Delhi Teachers
University.’ This is Delhi’s
first of its kind university
that aims to prepare well-
trained and highly quali-
fied teachers. Govt aims to
inspire today’s students to
become tomorrow’s teach-
ers,” Sisodia said in a
series of tweets.
“The university will
offer a new age, integrated
teacher education pro-
gramme after Class 12. It
will also emphasize on
fundamental and applied
research in education by
collaborating with nation-
al and international
organizations,” he added.
Sisodia, who is also the
education minister of
Delhi, further said: “A
teacher touches all 360
degree aspects of our life.
That’s why it was easier to
Juvenile among 4 held
for stabbing 2 brothers
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
Four people, including a
juvenile, were apprehend-
ed for allegedly stabbing
two brothers following an
argument in Delhi’s
Mangolpuri area, police
said on Friday. On
Thursday, information
was received at
Mangolpuri police station
regarding a stabbing inci-
dent at Y-Block auto mar-
ket in the area, they said.
Police rushed to the spot
and found that the
injured, Sunny and
Bharat, who are brothers
and residents of
Sultanpuri, had already
been taken to the Sanjay
Gandhi Hospital, a senior
police officer said.
It was found that both
the victims and the
accused — Danish, Kasif,
Fardeen and a juvenile —
worked in the auto mar-
Gen M.M. Naravane
sons were also being drawn
from various modern-day
conflicts across the globe,”
the official said.
The sources said the “uni-
lateral and provocative”
actions by PLA to change
the status quo by force
along the Line of Actual
Control (LAC) were ade-
quately responded to by the
Indian Army.
While both militaries are
engaged in dialogue to
resolve balance issues, the
Indian Army maintains
adequate force levels in
areas where dis-engage-
been registered
Thursday, deputy com-
on
missioner of police
(north) Sagar Singh
Kalsi said.
It was alleged that the
victim girl has wrote
something on the social
media against a girl. The
girl later complained his
brother about it, police
said. The girl, student of
same class of the victim,
and her brother Sujal (18)
brought Riya, one juve-
nile (16), Himanshu (21)
and Rahul (20) to con-
front the victim girl.
Further, Rahul, Sujal and
Himanshu also beat up a
co-student of the victim,
Manish Sisodia
establish IITs,
AIIMS but we couldn’t
IIMs,
establish a top level teach-
ers’ university till date.”
The Delhi Assembly in
January passed a bill for
17 lecturers felicitated in
city for ‘excellent’ work
New Delhi, March 4: The
Delhi government on
Friday honoured 17 lectur-
ers for their outstanding
work in colleges and state
universities funded by it.
Hailing their efforts,
deputy chief minister
Manish Sisodia said teach-
ers and lecturers are the
biggest contributors to
nation-building. The
“Award for College
Lecturers” scheme was
launched by the AAP dis-
pensation in 2019 to
acknowledge the contribu-
ket.
There was a heated
argument between the
two sides and when
Sunny and Bharat were
going home after closing
their shop, the accused
attacked them with a
knife and screwdrivers,
Deputy Commissioner of
Police (Outer) Sameer
Sharma said.
The victims sustained
stab injuries. A case
under sections 307
(attempt to murder) and
34 (common intention) of
the Indian Penal Code
was registered on the
basis of Bharat’s state-
ment and an investiga-
tion taken up, he said.
Danish, Kasif and
Fardeen have been arrest-
ed and the juvenile has
been apprehended.
Efforts are being made to
recover the weapons used
in the crime, the police
said.
ment is yet to take place,
they said.
The sources said that
based on the “threat per-
ception, re-balancing of
certain forces was carried
out recently in which re-
orientation of forces to
northern borders was car-
ried out while retaining
effective capability along
the Western front.”
They said this is the
result of regular threat
assessment and internal
deliberations to re-organ-
ise and re-align forces in
keeping with the Army’s
mandate of ensuring terri-
torial integrity and to cater
for the major augmenta-
tion of the PLA forces and
military infrastructure.
They said the role and
operational plans of 1
Corps, which has been re-
assigned to the northern
borders, was reviewed by
Gen Naravane on Friday.
The border standoff in
eastern Ladakh erupted on
May 5, 2020, following a vio-
lent clash in the Pangong
lake area. — PTI
pg 2
police said.
Himanshu, Sujal,
Rahul and Riya have
been bound down under
section 41(A) CrPC.
Counselling of the vic-
tim is being done by pro-
fessional counsellors.
School authorities are
making necessary inter-
ventions for minor stu-
dents involved in the
incident, they said.
The video of the inci-
dent went viral on social
media.
Four students, includ-
ing the victims, and four
outsiders were involved
in the incident, police
added.
setting up a world-class
teachers’ training univer-
sity. The university will
offer teacher education
programmes such as BA-
BEd and BSc-BEd to cre-
ate a new generation of
teachers. “Teachers play
an important role in the
overall building of any
nation. According to the
National Policy of
Education 1986, the teach-
ers have been defined as
nation builders and that is
what the teachers univer-
sity aims to produce,”
Sisodia said at the inaugu-
ration.
tion of lecturers. They are
selected on the basis of
student feedback, improve-
ment in results, research
work, extra-curricular
activities and other areas
of academics.
According to the guide-
lines, there is a provision
to award one lecturer each
from the 28 colleges under
the government-funded
university and two lectur-
ers each from the three
state universities. The
award comprises `1 lakh
and a citation. — PTI
9 cases of
celebratory
firing in 2 yrs
in Delhi: Cops
New Delhi, March 4: The
Delhi police arrested a
total of 17 people in nine
cases of celebratory gun-
fire in the national capi-
tal in 2020 and 2021, offi-
cials said on Friday.
Special Commissioner of
Police (Licensing and
Legal Division) Sanjay
Singh, who took to
Twitter to share the
details, also suggested
the people to use
firearms responsibly.
“Celebratory gunfire
so as to endanger human
life or personal safety of
others is an offence
under #ArmsAct. In the
past two years 9 cases
have been registered and
17 persons arrested. So
use your #arms respon-
sibly.#WeCare,” he
tweeted. — PTI
Major job fair
in Noida on
March 8, 24 &
31: Officials
Noida, March 4: A major
job and apprenticeship
fair would be organised
for youths in Gautam
Buddh Nagar on March
8, 24 and 31, officials said
on Friday. The fair
would be held at the gov-
ernment Industrial
Training Institute (ITI)
premises in Sector 31 of
Noida from 10 am to 5
pm on the three days,
District Information
Officer Rakesh Singh
Chauhan said.
“Candidates who have
completed ITI course, or
passed Class 10, Class 12,
hold a diploma or gradu-
ate degree can partici-
pate in the fair.
Interested candidates
are expected to bring
their original docu-
ments and certificates
along with their photo-
copies,” Chauhan said.
— PTI
 NATION
THE ASIAN AGE | SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT TAKES
‘Andhra Jal jeevan
mission’s pace slow’
Amaravati: Union minister
Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on
Friday came down heavily on
the Andhra Pradesh govern-
ment over the slow pace of
the implementation of ‘jal jee-
van’ mission (JJM). JJM is a
Centre-sponsored scheme
that is intended to provide
functional household water-
tap connection in every house
in the rural areas of the
State.Since the launch of the
scheme in 2019-20, only 19.84
lakh households (20.85 per
cent) were covered under the
JJM till date. The Jal Shakthi
minister is on a two-day tour
of the State during which he
addressed BJP activists at its
state headquarters here. He
said `7,000 crore was sanc-
tioned for the State, of which
the share of the Centre was
`3,800 crore. ‘Out of its share,
the State government spent
only `190 crore in the last
three years. This year, the
government did not draw any
Central fund under the JJM,”
the Union Minister said. — PTI
4 local BJP leaders
booked for cheating
Muzaffarnagar: Four local
BJP leaders have been
booked for allegedly falsify-
ing documents to get a lease
sanctioned from the govern-
ment for sand mining in
Shamli district, police said
on Friday. According to the
police, farmer Lilu Singh
alleged that the accused got
the lease to lift sand from his
field in Yusufpur Chotra vil-
lage under the Jhinjhana
police station using fake
documents. They were iden-
tified as district BJP secre-
tary Diwakar Kashyap, dis-
trict general secretary
Rajendra, BJP divisional
president Bhupendra Singh
and former divisional presi-
dent Birendra, they said.
Station House Officer (SHO)
Shyambir Singh said a case
has been registered under
sections 420, 467, 468, 471,
406 and 120b of the Indian
Penal Code (IPC) against the
four accused. — PTI
Odisha businessman
duped of over `2cr
Bhubaneswar: A business-
man from Odisha’s
Keonjhar has allegedly
been duped `2.35 crore by
cyber fraudsters who lured
him with a fake investment
plan. The victim was identi-
fied as Pramod Kumar Rout.
In 2019, Rout received a
call from a conman who
introduced himself as a top
officer in the Union finance
ministry. The cyber crook
lured Rout to invest in the
Rahat Kosh scheme, assur-
ing him of huge profits.
Rout believed the caller
and fell into the trap. He
reportedly deposited
money in different bank
accounts provided by the
fraudster. And, the fraud
came to light only after
Rout asked the conman to
transfer the profit to him.
RASHMI SHUKLA
GETS PROTECTION
FROM ARREST
SHAHAB ANSARI
MUMBAI, MARCH 4
The Bombay high court on
Friday granted protection
from arrest till March 25, to
IPS officer Rashmi Shukla in
connection with a case regis-
tered against her by Pune
police in connection with an
illegal phone tapping case.
The HC granted her relief
observing that
prima facie it
appeared that she
had been “singled
out” in the present
FIR registered
against her last
week by the Bund
Garden police station Rashmi
in Pune. Meanwhile, Shukla
the Colaba police station in
south Mumbai on Friday reg-
istered another FIR against
her in connection with the
alleged phone tapping case.
According to a police officer,
the fresh FIR has been regis-
tered at the Colaba police sta-
tion under the Indian
Telegraph Act and relevant
sections of the IPC. Apart
from these two FIRs, the
cyber cell of the Mumbai
crime branch at Bandra Kurla
Complex had also registered
an FIR against unidentified
persons earlier over the
alleged phone tapping and
leak of confidential docu-
ments about police transfers
during IPS Shukla’s tenure as
state intelligence department
chief, and even recorded her
statement. However, this FIR,
registered under the Official
Secrets Act in March 2021, did
not name her as the accused.
BJP supporters during a roadshow by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the
seventh and last phase of UP Assembly elections in Varanasi district on Friday.
PM: Entire world passing
through a delicate period
Mirzapur (UP), March 4:
Stating that the entire
world is passing through
a delicate period now,
Prime Minister
Narendra Modi Friday
asserted irrespective of
how deep the crisis is
India’s response is even
bigger.
Addressing an election
rally here, the PM also
said that thousands of
students have been
brought back from
Ukraine safely under the
ongoing Operation
Ganga, and those who
are still there are being
evacuated.
“The entire world now
is passing through a
‘najuk daur’ (delicate
period) of this century.
Many countries are
today affected by the pan-
demic, unrest and uncer-
tainty. But you must have
seen however deep the
crisis is India’s attempts
(to address them) are
even bigger and firm,”
he said.
Mentioning the war in
Ukraine, the PM said,
“We have brought back
thousands of students
from Ukraine under
Operation Ganga safely.”
He added that special
flights are being operat-
ed for those who are still
stuck there.
Maha govt
to emulate
MP to save
OBC quota
SONU SHRIVASTAVA
MUMBAI, MARCH 4
Maha Vikas Aghadi
(MVA) government on
Friday announced that
it will bring a bill on the
lines of the Madhya
Pradesh government for
safeguarding the politi-
cal quota of the OBC
community. The bill will
be finalised in a Cabinet
meeting on Friday and
will be tabled on
Monday in both the
houses of the state legis-
lature. Even the opposi-
tion has extended its
support to the bill.
The Apex Court on
Thursday rejected the
Maharashtra govern-
ment’s plea and refused
to allow reservation for
the Other Backward
Classes (OBC) in the
local body elections.
Both the Houses wit-
nessed pandemonium
over the issue of OBC
reservation in local bod-
ies.
The Opposition legisla-
tors wore a cap with the
slogan ‘OBC Bachao’
(save OBC). Amid the
pandemonium in the
Upper House, deputy
chief minister Ajit
Pawar said that the gov-
ernment is of the view
that without OBC reser-
vation, elections would
not be held. “Nobody
should play politics over
this issue,” he said.
Mr Pawar said that the
government will bring a
new bill on the line of
the Madhya Pradesh
government. As per the
Madhya Pradesh
Government Act, elec-
tion would be held by the
state election commis-
sion, but the state gov-
ernment has taken the
powers on the delimita-
tion of wards and relat-
ed matters. This will
enable the state govern-
ment to postpone elec-
tions till the delimita-
tion process is complet-
ed and it can also collate
empirical data on OBCs,
which is required to jus-
tify the reservations.
Akhilesh Yadav only cares for ‘1
community, 1 caste’, says Shah
Ghazipur (UP), March 4:
Union home minister
Amit Shah on Friday
said Samajwadi Party
president Akhilesh
Yadav only cares for “one
community and one
caste”. Addressing a
rally here, Shah said the
elections in Uttar
Pradesh is to secure the
future of lakhs of people
from the backward and
dalit communities of the
state, and asserted that
Any campaign associat-
ed with mother Ganga is
bound to succeed, he
added.
“During the coron-
avirus period, India
brought every single citi-
zen stuck abroad by run-
ning Operation Vande
Bharat. Operation Devi
Shakti was carried out in
Afghanistan. Now, India
is engaged in saving
every citizen and student
in Ukraine,” he added.
Targeting the
Opposition, the PM said
the voters of Uttar
Pradesh need to defeat
“‘pariwarwadi’ (dynasts)
and ‘Mafiawadi’ (those
who support the mafia
In Varanasi, Rahul says PM
seeks vote on basis of ‘lies’
Varanasi, March 4:
Senior Congress leader
Rahul Gandhi Friday
accused Prime Minister
Narendra Modi of seek-
ing votes on the basis of
“lies”, and said he now
does not talk about his
poll promises of doubling
farmers’ income and gen-
erating jobs.”Hindu reli-
gious books nowhere say
to speak lies,” Mr Gandhi
told an election rally here
after offering prayers at
the Kashi Vishwanath
temple here, during
which he was also joined
by his sister Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra.
Rahul Gandhi alleged
that Modi now doesn’t
speak on his earlier poll
promises of doubling
farmers’ income and gen-
erating jobs for youths,
whereas there is “no mis-
match” in the Congress’
words and deeds.
He cited the example of
fulfilling poll promises of
writing off farmers’
loans by the Congress
government in
Chhattisgarh and also
procurement of paddy at
the Minimum Support
Price of `2,500 a quintal.
■ Uproar in state Assembly, Speaker suspends Cong MLA
Haryana brings anti-conversion bill
Chandigarh, March 4: The
Haryana government on
Friday introduced a bill in
the state Assembly
against religious conver-
sion through force or
fraud, triggering an oppo-
sition uproar. Speaker
Gian Chand Gupta also
suspended Congress MLA
Raghuvir Singh Kadian
for the remaining part of
the budget session for
tearing a copy of the bill
in the House.
The Congress members
staged a walkout in
protest against Kadian’s
suspension.
Home Home minister
Anil Vij introduced the
Haryana Prevention of
Unlawful Conversion of
Religion Bill, 2022, on the
third day of the budget
session.
After the bill was pre-
— PTI
the BJP will form the
next government with
over 300 seats.
Shah said his party will
provide one free gas
cylinder on Holi and
Diwali if voted to power,
and added that the BJP
has worked for the devel-
opment of poor and pro-
vided them free ration,
medical facilities, hous-
ing as well as ensured
that their homes gets
electricity. — PTI
elements) and bring the
BJP government.”
“UP continuously needs
leadership which is hon-
est and can toil hard for
development. The history
of these dynasts
(Opposition) is written in
black. Their history is of
looting the state, freeing
terrorists, helping riot-
ers, patronising the mafia
and criminals. Such peo-
ple can do good neither to
the country nor UP,”
Modi said.
He said the Opposition
has only one work — to
break society, divide the
people, grab power and
loot UP. “Is this game
acceptable to you?” — PTI
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi with Priyanka Gandhi
offer prayers in Varanasi district.
“Not in the name of
dharma, rather he is win-
ning votes on the basis of
lies,” the
Congress chief
attacking PM Modi.
former
said,
On his arrival in
Varanasi, both Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka
Gandhi Vadra offered
prayers at the Kashi
Vishwanath temple, days
before the eight Assembly
seats in the district go to
the polls.
The brother-sister duo
reached the historic tem-
ple straight from the air-
port, temple and
Congress sources said.
Bill will create atmosphere of
harmony, peace if passed: VHP
New Delhi, March 4: The
Vishva Hindu Parishad
(VHP) on Friday wel-
comed the introduction
of a bill in the Haryana
legislative assembly that
seeks to prevent “unlaw-
ful” religious conver-
sions, saying chief minis-
ter Manohar Lal Khattar
has shown his determi-
nation towards curbing
such activities in the
state.In a statement, the
saffron outfit’s joint gen-
sented, Kadian alleged
that it reflects “divisive
policies”.
Chief minister Manohar
Lal Khattar said there was
no mention of any reli-
SC to hear March
11 plea against bail
to Ashish Mishra
PARMOD KUMAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
The Supreme Court will
hear, on March 11, a plea
seeking the cancellation of
bail to Ashish Mishra —
the son of Union minister
of state for home Ajay
Mishra—the main
accused in the mowing
down of four farmers in
Lakhimpur Kheri on
October 3, 2021.
A bench comprising
Chief Justice N.V.
Ramana, Justice A.S.
Bopanna, and Justice
Hima Kohli agreed to post
the matter on March 11 for
hearing after lawyer
Prashant Bhushan men-
tioned the matter for an
urgent hearing telling the
court that the high court
has granted bail to Ashish
Mishra overlooking the
top court judgment on the
tampering of evidence and
protection of witnesses.
Mr Bhushan also told the
court that the order grant-
ing bail to Ashish Mishra
was being cited by the
other accused for seeking
bail. While Mr Bhushan
urged the court to list the
matter for hearing on
March 7, CJI Ramana, cit-
ing certain difficulties on
the availability of the
same bench which had
heard the matter, said,
“March 11, we can list the
matter and hear.”
He told Mr Bhushan that
they can apprise the high
SP only party to raise issue of
unemployment in polls: Mulayam
Jaunpur (UP), March 4:
Samajwadi Party patron
Mulayam Singh Yadav
on Friday alleged dis-
crimination on caste
basis and atrocities on
poor as he hit the cam-
paign trail for party can-
didates in Jaunpur for
the Uttar Pradesh
Assembly elections. In
his second public
address for the seven-
phase UP polls, the 82-
— PTI
Hours later, PM also vis-
ited the shrine dedicated
to Lord Shiva. Varanasi is
also Modi’s Lok Sabha
constituency. Earlier in
the day, Union minister
Smriti Irani had visited
the temple.
After their temple visit,
Rahul Gandhi and
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra
left for the Pindara
assembly constituency on
the outskirts of Varanasi
where they addressed a
rally in favour of
Congress leader Ajay Rai
who is up against sitting
BJP MLA Awdhesh
Singh. — PTI
eral secretary Surendra
Jain said the bill, if
passed, will put a curb on
“illegal conversions, love
jihad and those who
hatch anti-national con-
spiracies through such
activities”.
It will also create an
atmosphere of “mutual
harmony and peace” in
Haryana, and take the
state on the path of devel-
opment “at a fast pace”,
he said. — PTI
gion in the bill and it only
talks about forcible con-
versions. Congress mem-
bers then rose from their
seats, objecting to some
remark by Khattar.
pg 3
Ashish Mishra
◗ THE FAMILY members
of the deceased farmers,
who were mowed down
by a car belonging to
Ashish Mishra, had
approached the top court
on February 21, challeng-
ing the bail granted to
Mishra by the Allahabad
high court
court that the Supreme
Court is seized of the mat-
ter.
The family members of
the deceased farmers, who
were mowed down by a car
belonging to Ashish
Mishra, had approached
the top court on February
21, challenging the bail
granted to Mishra by the
Allahabad high court.
The plea by the family
members of the deceased
farmers says that they
have been forced to
approach the top court
since the Uttar Pradesh
government has not chal-
lenged the high court
order granting bail to
Ashish Mishra.
year-old founder-patron
of the Samajwadi Party
said his party has always
worked for the poor, the
youth and the neglected
section of the society.
“The country is faced
with big challenges
today including those of
discrimination of the
basis of caste and injus-
tice, atrocities being
committed against the
poor,” he said. — PTI
Rane, son get
interim shield
from arrest
SHAHAB ANSARI
MUMBAI, MARCH 4
A Sessions Court in
Mumbai on Friday grant-
ed interim relief from
arrest to Union minister
Narayan Rane and his
son Nitesh till March 10
in connection with the
FIR registered against
them for allegedly mak-
ing defamatory and mis-
leading statements about
late Disha Salian, former
manager of Sushant
Singh Rajput. Salian was
found dead in mysteri-
ous circumstances a few
days before actor Rajput
committed suicide. The
FIR has been lodged on
the complaint of Salian’s
mother.
Following registration
of the FIR, Mr Rane and
his son Nitesh moved for
anticipatory bail before
the Dindoshi sessions
court. On Friday, senior
lawyer Satish
Maneshinde requested
Sessions judge S.U.
Baghele to allow him to
submit certain docu-
ments on behalf of
applicants. The judge
allowed this request.
Kadian tore the copy of
the bill, inviting the wrath
of the Speaker.
When Kadian said it was
a simple paper, Gupta
insisted that the bill was a
legal document and asked
the Congress member to
express regret over his
act, saying he will not
allow such behaviour in
the House.
Gupta then suspended
Kadian for the remaining
part of the budget session.
The Haryana Prevention
of Unlawful Conversion of
Religion Bill prohibits
religious conversions
which are effected
through misrepresenta-
tion, force, undue influ-
ence, coercion, allurement
or by any fraudulent
means or by marriage by
making it an offence.
— PTI
 NATION
THE ASIAN AGE | SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT
POLITICAL SATIRE
TAKES
COLUMN LANDS
SCRIBE IN JAIL
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
RAIPUR, MARCH 4
A political satire column
“Ghurwa ke Maati” (land of
dunghill) in his online news
portal has landed a journalist
here in jail. Nilesh Sharma,
editor of a web portal ’indi-
awriters.co.in’ and also
monthly publication ‘India
Writers’, was charged with
promoting enmity, hatred or
ill will between classes and
causing fear or alarm to the
public. He was arrested and
later sent to judicial custody
late on Thursday. His arrest
came in the wake of a com-
plaint filed by a local
‘Congress’ activist Khilawan
Nishad in the Civil Lines
police station here alleging
that the portal was publish-
ing fake news and driving a
wedge among the Congress
leaders. Raipur district super-
intendent of police Prashant
Agrawal told the media that
the scribe was booked for
spreading rumours and fake
news. The Raipur Press Club
on Friday slammed the state
government for taking action
against the journalist based
on his satire column. Raipur
Press Club vice-president
Prafulla Thakur described it
as an attack on freedom of
press. “The state government
has earlier assured to bring
legislation to provide securi-
ty to journalists in
Chhattisgarh. But, instead of
bringing the legislation, the
state government has arrest-
ed a scribe”, he said.
EMERGENCY USE
NOD TO COVOVAX
IN 12-17 GROUP
AGE CORRESPONDENT
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
An expert panel of the coun-
try's central drug authority
has recommended granting
emergency use authorisation
(EUA) to the Serum Institute
of India's Covid-19 vaccine
Covovax for the 12-17 age
group. The Drugs Controller
General of India (DCGI) had
approved Covovax for
restricted use in an emer-
gency situation in adults on
December 28. It has not yet
been included in the coun-
try's vaccination drive.
Covovax is manufactured by
technology transfer from
Novavax and is approved by
the European Medicines
Agency for conditional mar-
keting authorisation and also
granted emergency use list-
ing by WHO in December
2017, 2020. India has been
using Bharat Biotech's
Covaxin to vaccinate adoles-
cents between 15-18 years.
India logged 6,561 fresh
Covid-19 cases and 142
related deaths in the last 24
hours. The country’s daily
count of coronavirus cases
has been less than one lakh
for 25 consecutive days.
Ankit Raghav, an MBBS student evacuated from war-torn
Ukraine, with his family members at his home in Gurgaon on
Friday.
Manipur to vote today
■ Continued from Page 1
Bhakta Charan Das. The politi-
cal atmosphere in the north-
eastern state has got sur-
charged as former Union minis-
ter and Congress’ state observer
Jairam Ramesh accusing Rs
16.63 crores were paid to mili-
tant groups in Manipur in the
run-up to the polls.
Alleging this was done to
influence voters a day before
the polling, Mr Ramesh told
reporters in Imphal: “In a
shocking violation of the
model code of conduct, the
Union home ministry and the
BJP government in Manipur
released Rs 15.7 crores on
February 1 and a further Rs
92.7 lakhs on March 1 the
banned militant groups. This
has made a mockery of the
elections in four districts.”
In the second phase, 92 candi-
dates, including two women,
Explosion in illegal cracker Gen. Rodrigues, former
unit leaves 14 dead in Bihar Army Chief, passes away
CM Nitish orders chief secy, DGP to probe, PM Modi expresses grief
NAYEAR AZAD
PATNA, MARCH 4
At least 14 persons lost
their lives and nine others
were seriously injured in
an explosion at an illegal
cracker factory in Bihar’s
Bhagalpur late Thursday
night.
The incident occurred in
a three-storied building in
Kajbalichak locality
under Tatarpur police sta-
tion which is close to the
blast site, sources from
Bhagalpur said.
Local residents who wit-
nessed the incident said
the explosion was so pow-
erful that it damaged other
buildings in the area.
Reports suggest that three
houses were completely
damaged and reduced to
debris. Officials said that
the injured are admitted to
a local government hospi-
tal for treatment.
Bihar chief minister
India abstains in
UNHRC vote on
rights violations
Geneva/United Nations,
March 4: India on Friday
abstained in the UN
Human Rights Council on
a vote to urgently estab-
lish an independent inter-
national commission of
inquiry to investigate
alleged human rights vio-
lations and related crimes
following Russia’s mili-
tary operation in Ukraine.
The 47-member Council
voted on a draft resolution
on the “Situation of
human rights in Ukraine
stemming from the
Russian aggression”.
The resolution was
adopted with 32 votes in
favour, two against
(Russia and Eritrea) and
13 abstentions, including
India, China, Pakistan,
Sudan and Venezuela.
The countries voting in
favour included France,
Germany, Japan, Nepal,
UAE, UK and the US.
The resolution, which
strongly
Russia’s
condemned
aggression
against Ukraine, decides
to “urgently establish an
independent internation-
al commission of
inquiry” to “investigate
all alleged violations and
abuses of human rights
and violations of interna-
tional humanitarian law,
and related crimes, in the
context of the Russian
Federation’s aggression
against Ukraine, and to
establish the facts, cir-
cumstances, and root
causes of any such viola-
tions and abuses”.
— PTI
are in the fray across six dis-
tricts. The BJP has fielded can-
didates for all 22 seats while
the Congress is contesting 18
seats, the National People’s
Party 11, and the Naga People’s
Front and Janata Dal (U) 10
candidates each.
In Varanasi, the PM will
wind up his visit on Saturday
with a rally in Khajuria vil-
lage, under Rohaniya
Assembly seat, and will
address people from five other
Assembly segments under the
Varanasi Lok Sabha seats.
Besides Samajwadi Party
chief Akhilesh Yadav,
Congress leaders Rahul
Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi
Vadra landed in Varanasi on
Friday and headed to the
Phulpur middle school
grounds for a rally after pray-
ing at the Kashi Vishwanath
temple.
A policeman and volunteers near a damaged house
after a massive explosion ripped through a three-
storey building in Bhagalpur district on Friday. — PTI
Nitish Kumar expressed
concern over the explo-
sion in Bhagalpur and
directed chief secretary
and DGP to probe the mat-
ter and take appropriate
action.
Earlier on Friday, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
also expressed grief over
◗ THE RESOLUTION
decides to ‘urgently
establish an independent
international commission
of inquiry’ to ‘investigate
all alleged violations and
abuses of human rights
and violations of interna-
tional humanitarian law
A day before the resolu-
tion was adopted, India
said at the Urgent Debate
Thursday regarding the
human rights situation in
Ukraine at the 49th
Human Rights Council
Session in Geneva that it
is greatly concerned over
the steadily worsening
humanitarian situation
in Ukraine.
India urged for an
immediate cessation of
violence and an end to
hostilities. “No solution
can ever be arrived at the
cost of human lives.
Dialogue and diplomacy
are the only solution for
settling differences and
disputes,” India said.
India called for respect
and protection of human
rights of people in
Ukraine and safe humani-
tarian access to conflict
zones. “We are also deeply
concerned over the safety
and security of thou-
sands of Indian nation-
als, including young
Indian students, who are
still stranded in Ukraine.
We are working together
with neighboring States
for their evacuation,” it
said. — PTI
Fears as Russians seize Ukraine nuclear plant
■ Continued from Page 1
million people out of the
country. “What is taking
place now in Ukraine is
horrific. It’s painful and
we see human suffering,
we see destruction at a
scale we haven't seen in
Europe since the Second
World War,” he said. But he
added: “We are not going to
move into Ukraine, neither
on the ground, nor in the
Ukrainian airspace.”
Under a collective securi-
ty guarantee binding
Nato’s 30 member coun-
tries -- Article 5 of its
founding treaty -- all allies
must come to the defence
of an ally if it finds itself
under attack. Any shoot-
ing down of a Nato war-
plane by Russia could trig-
India calls for ‘local truce’, to run 16 evac flights today
■ Continued from Page 1
safety to either Lviv in
western Ukraine or to the
neighbouring nation of
Moldova. Prime Minister
Narendra Modi also
chaired a high-level meet
yet again in New Delhi on
the Ukraine crisis while
saying at an election rally
at Mirzapur in UP that
however deep a crisis is,
India’s attempts to tackle
it are “even bigger”.
As Indian students,
many of them girls stuck
in Sumy, sent desperate
pleas for help on the social
media, New Delhi said its
“primary focus” was to
the loss of lives in the
Bhagalpur blast incident
and discussed the issue
with Bihar Chief
Minister. “It’s painful to
hear about the loss of lives
due to blast in Bhagalpur.
Discussed the matter
related to the blast with
Chief Minister Nitish
7,000 Indians
still in Ukraine,
Centre tells SC
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
The Supreme Court on
Friday asked the Centre
to set up an “online
helpline” for the parents
and families of the
stranded students in
Ukraine as it was
informed that 17,000
stranded Indian nation-
als have been evacuated
and another 7,000
remains to be brought
back.
Heading a bench also
comprising Justices A.S.
Bopanna and Hima
Kohli, Chief Justice N.V.
Ramana told attorney-
general K.K.Venugopal,
“We are not saying any-
thing about the efforts
which you are taking. We
are also concerned about
the anxiety of the par-
ents and family members
of stranded students”
and suggested setting up
an online helpline to
access information about
stranded students.
At last min, India defers DefExpo, IAF drill
PAWAN BALI
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
As Ukraine and Russia
conflict rages on, two
mega defence events —
DefExpo 2022 and Indian
Air Force mega exercise
Vayu Shakti — scheduled
next week have been post-
poned.
The defence ministry
said on Friday that
DefExpo 2022, which was
pegged as Asia's largest
exhibition on land, naval
and homeland security sys-
ger that clause.
“The only way to imple-
ment a no-fly zone is to
send Nato fighter planes
into Ukrainian airspace,
and then impose that no-
fly zone by shooting down
Russian planes,” Mr
Stoltenberg said. “If we
did that, we would end up
with something that could
end in a full-fledged war in
Europe.”
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy had
appealed for the West to
enforce a no-fly zone over
his country, most recently
after the fire overnight at
one of Ukraine’s nuclear
plants, the largest in
Europe.
In the atttack on the
Zaporizhzhia nuclear
ensure the safety and secu-
rity of these students and
evacuate them. India said
it was proving “difficult”
to evacuate the stuck
Indian students due to the
raging conflict as there
would be considerable risk
to the students if any evac-
uation is attempted when
a battle is raging there.
Asked about a reported
Russian offer to arrange
over 100 buses to transport
Indian students to safety
on the Russian side of the
border across eastern
Ukraine, MEA spokesper-
son Arindam Bagchi said
those buses were about 50-
Kumar. The administra-
tion is engaged in relief
and rescue operations and
all possible assistance is
being provided to the vic-
tims,” Prime Minister
Narendra Modi said in a
tweet on Friday.
Reports suggest that the
house where the explosion
occurred was being used
as an illegal firecracker
factory. Sources said that
local residents on many
occasions earlier had
raised objections and
asked the owner of the fac-
tory to stop illegal opera-
tions but nothing hap-
pened. The matter was
also reported to the local
police but no action was
taken against the accused,
sources from Bhagalpur
said.
However, after the inci-
dent, senior officials on
Friday ordered the sus-
pension of the SHO
Tatarpur police station.
‘It’s 2nd life for me, want to
spend good time with family’
Kyiv, March 4: Harjot
Singh, an Indian student
who sustained multiple
bullet injuries while try-
ing to leave Kyiv in con-
flict-ridden Ukraine, has
said that God has given
him “a second life” and he
wants to “spend good
time” with his family in
Delhi.
Speaking from his hospi-
tal bed in Kyiv, Harjot
urged the Indian embassy
in Ukraine to evacuate
him and help him with
documentation. Harjot
told ANI that he sustained
multiple injuries due to
bullets fired at the car in
which he was travelling.
“This is February 27
incident. We were three
people in a cab on our way
to the third checkpoint
where we were told to
return due to security rea-
sons. While coming back,
multiple bullets were fired
at our car due to which I
sustained multiple bullet
injuries,” Harjot Singh
tems, has been postponed.
Indian Air Force mega
exercise Vayu Shakti to be
held in Pokharan firing
range on March 7 has also
been postponed, said
sources. However, there
was no official confirma-
tion regarding this. Some
150 aircraft are supposed
to participate in the exer-
cise with Prime Minister
Narendra Modi as the
chief guest.
"Due to logistics prob-
lems being experienced by
participants, the DefExpo
plant at Enerhodar, the
chief of the UN
International Atomic
Energy Agency, Rafael
Mariano Grossi, said a
Russian “projectile” hit a
training centre, not any of
its six reactors.
The attack evoked memo-
ries of the world’s worst
nuclear disaster, at
Ukraine’s Chernobyl. In
an emotional night-time
speech, Ukrainian
President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy said he feared
an explosion that would be
“the end for everyone. The
end for Europe. The evacu-
ation of Europe.”
But nuclear officials said
no radiation spikes had
been reported, as did Mr
Grossi. The authorities
60 km away from where
the students were and that
there was no way the
Indian students could be
taken to those buses
unless there was a “local
ceasefire” agreed to by
both the warring sides.
He said in case of a
ceasefire, the Indian stu-
dents in Kharkhiv and
Sumy can even be trans-
ported to safety in western
Ukraine so that they are
evacuated back to India
from the territory of one
of Ukraine’s western
neighbours. But the possi-
bility of using IL-76 IAF
aircraft to transport these
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
Former Indian Army's
Chief General Sunith
Francis Rodrigues (Retd),
who headed the Indian
Army between 1990 and
1993 and served as the gov-
ernor of Punjab between
2004 and 2010, passed away
at Panjim, Goa, on Friday.
He was 88.
Gen. Rodrigues was the
15th Chief of Army Staff.
He was also the 26th gov-
ernor of Punjab and the
13th administrator of
Chandigarh.
Gen. Rodrigues died
peacefully at a private
hospital near Panaji
around 1.30 pm, family
sources said. Known as a
thinker and strategist, he
leaves behind a legacy
of utmost dedication
and service to the nation.
"General M.M.
Naravane, Chief of Army
Staff (COAS), and all
ranks of the Indian Army
express heartfelt condo-
lences on the sad demise
Harjot Singh
said. The Indian student
said he regained con-
sciousness at 10 pm on
March 2 night.
“The doctors explained
to me everything that I
was shot and I was
brought to hospital from
the spot. They told me that
I kept lying on the road for
nearly four hours. I had
lost a lot of blood. Two
bullets hit my left leg and
a bullet entered my chest.
They extracted the bullet
from my chest and I con-
tinue to have pain. My leg
has been plastered but I
am much better than
2022 proposed to be held in
Gandhinagar, Gujarat
from March 10th till
March 14th is postponed,"
said a defence ministry
statement. It said that new
dates will be communicat-
ed in due course.
The postponement took
many by surprise as
detailed work had already
been done to organise the
mega event. Last month
defence ministry had
extended the duration of
Def Expo-2022 by a day
due to the improved
said that Russian troops
had taken control of the
overall site but the plant
staff continued to run it.
Only one reactor was oper-
ating, Mr Grossi said in the
aftermath of the attack.
The crisis at
Zaporizhzhia unfolded
after Mr Grossi earlier in
the week expressed grave
concern that the fighting
could cause accidental
damage to Ukraine's 15
nuclear reactors at four
plants around the country.
The UN Security
Council, meanwhile,
scheduled an emergency
meeting on Friday on the
nuclear plant attack.
The fire came as the
Russians pressed on with
their offensive in the
students back to India
from Russian territory in
case they can be evacuated
safely there also remains
on the table.
In the next 24 hours, 16
more evacuation flights,
including four by the IAF’s
modern C-17 transporters,
will also be undertaken to
Ukraine’s western neigh-
bours like Romania,
Slovakia and Poland. India
is also rushing tonnes of
humanitarian assistance
and relief materials to the
Ukrainian people on
onward evacuation flights
from India to Ukraine’s
western neighbours so
General S.F. Rodrigues
of General Sunith Francis
Rodrigues, who passed
away today," the Indian
Army said on Twitter.
Gen. Rodrigues a native
of Goa, born in Mumbai
and educated in St
Xavier’s High School, Fort
Mumbai, was commis-
sioned in the Indian Army
in the year 1952.
In an illustrious mili-
tary carrier, in the
Regiment of Artillery,
spanning over four
decades, he commanded a
Division, a Corps, and two
Army Commands.
He took part in Sino-
Indian War 1962, Indo-
Pakistan War 1965 and
Indo-Pak War 1971.
before,” he said.
“I first called up my
mother. The moment she
heard my voice, you can
understand how she
would have felt. I spoke to
my father and sister. I felt
much better. I got a new
life. I want to return to
India and spend a good
time with my family,” he
said.
Harjot, who is pursuing
studies in Information
Technology, said he had
not received support from
the Indian embassy yet.
“I have been trying to get
in touch with them, every
day they say we will do
something but no help
yet,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter if you
send a charter (plane)
after death…God has
given me a second life, I
want to live it. I request
the embassy to evacuate
me from here, provide me
facilities like a wheelchair,
help me with documenta-
tion,” he added. — ANI
Covid-19 situation.
Earlier, the ministry had
said that some 930
exhibitors had registered
for the event and the num-
bers were expected to rise
beyond 1,000 in the days
ahead.
The DefExpo-2022 was to
be held as a hybrid exhibi-
tion, with stalls in both
physical and virtual
realms. A DefExpo-2022
mobile app was also
launched by the defence
ministry for all issues
related to the event.
southern part of the coun-
try. Severing Ukraine's
‘access to the Black Sea
and the Sea of Azov in the
south would deal a severe
blow to Ukraine’s econo-
my and could worsen an
already dire humanitarian
situation.
In the latest show of
international opposition
to the invasion, the UN’s
top human rights body
voted 32-2 to set up a panel
of experts to monitor
human rights in Ukraine.
Only Russia and Eritrea
opposed it.
Frequent shelling could
be heard in the centre of
Kyiv Friday, although
more distant than in
recent days, with loud
thudding every 10 minutes
that these could be sent to
Ukrainian territory.
Asked about the injured
Indian student, Harjot
Singh, the spokesperson
said the Indian authorities
were trying to ascertain
the exact details of his
medical status, but added
he was safe and in hospi-
tal. Mr Bagchi said Indian
diplomats were in touch
with the injured Indian
student and that Indian
embassy officials are
examining whether it
would be possible for some
Indian diplomats to enter
Kyiv and meet him
although “it is not easy to
pg 4
General Rodrigues was
awarded Param Vishisht
Seva Medal and Vishisht
Seva Medal in recognition
of his dedication and
service beyond the call of
duty during his service of
41 years.
The General was also
instrumental in the induc-
tion of women in the serv-
ing area of the Army in
1991, marking an impor-
tant step towards empow-
ering women to serve
their country. Post super-
annuation, he also held
the appointment of
Member, National
Security Advisory Board
and was Director,
International Centre, Goa.
He is survived by his wife
Jean Rodrigues, his sons
Captain Neal Rodrigues
and Dr Mark Rodrigues
and daughter Dr Susan
Viswanathan.
The last rites of Gen
Rodrigues are scheduled
to be held at Moksha
Crematorium St Inez
Panaji, Goa on March 7 at
around 3.30 pm.
SC frowns over
HC order on
protection to
ex-Punjab DGP
PARMOD KUMAR
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
The Supreme Court on
Friday frowned over
Punjab & Haryana high
court order restraining
the Punjab government
from taking any coercive
steps against former
director-general of police
Sumedh Singh Saini in
the pending cases and
even in the cases that
may be registered
against him in the future.
Describing the order as
“unprecedented” and
“shocking” which they
have not come across as
judges, Chief Justice N.V.
Ramana heading a bench
also comprising Justices
A.S. Bopanna and Hima
Kohli asked the Chief
Justice of Punjab and
Haryana high court to
entrust the matter to a
bench other than the sin-
gle judge presently
seized of it, which will
hear and decide the mat-
ter in two weeks.
“This is unprecedented
order. How can a future
course of action be
stayed? It is shocking
and three of us (judges)
feel that it is unprece-
dented. This will require
a hearing,” the CJI said.
The court, in the mean-
while, kept pending the
petition by the Punjab
government challenging
the interim order by a
single judge protecting
Sumedh Singh Saini
from arrest the all the
pending cases and those
that may be registered in
the future.
resonating over the
rooftops. Ukrainian presi-
dential adviser Oleksiy
Arestovich said battles
involving airstrikes and
artillery continued north-
west of Kyiv, and the
northeastern cities of
Kharkiv and Okhtyrka
came under heavy strikes.
He said Ukrainian forces
were still holding the
northern city of
Chernihiv, and had pre-
vented Russian efforts to
take the important south-
ern city of Mykolaiv.
Ukrainian artillery
defended Odessa from
repeated attempts by
Russian ships to fire on
the major Black Sea port,
Mr Arestovic said.
— AP, AFP
re-enter the city (Kyiv)”
due to the conflict.
PTI reported from
Mirzapur in UP that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
asserted on Friday that no
matter how deep a crisis,
India’s response is “even
bigger”, adding that thou-
sands of students have
been brought back from
Ukraine safely under the
ongoing Operation Ganga,
and those still there are
being evacuated. “The
entire world now is pass-
ing through a ‘nazuk daur’
(delicate period) of this
century,” Mr Modi was
quoted as saying.
 EDIT
THE ASIAN AGE | SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
pg 5

Subhani

5 MARCH 2022

Unrealistic of US to expect
India to toe its Russia line
I
t was clear after the meeting of Parliament’s consultative committee on the
ministry of external affairs on Thursday that the government and the
Opposition, in spite of their flaming rows on practically every issue of signifi-
cance, displayed “a national consensus on the importance of dialogue and
diplomacy”— to quote external affairs minister S. Jaishankar — on the question of
the Russian invasion of Ukraine which has created the widespread impression
that India is internationally isolated since its stand is distinct from those of the US-
led Western bloc.
This week India abstained in the UN Security Council on both occasions that the
Council called a vote on the Russia’s “special military operation”. The Indian stand
of abstention was also maintained in the vote on the UN General Assembly.
Opposition parties have clearly endorsed the government position of not attacking
Russia politically in international forums but making its criticism oblique by reit-
erating the need to adhere to the UN Charter and the principle of respecting nation-
al sovereignties and territorial integrity.
India is in a bind on Ukraine. Russia is an important friend of decades and is cur-
rently supplying S-400 air defence system which is deemed crucial in a standoff
with China. New Delhi would be foolhardy to overlook this factor for sound strate-
gic considerations. On the other hand, there are roughly 20,000 Indian students in
Ukraine, trapped in the war. Ukraine’s goodwill is

Bigg Boss emerges in

In the Cold War era important to get them out safely. Our students are
and after, Moscow facing local trouble, and instances have come to light LETTERS
and Washington were of their being disallowed from boarding trains by
known to uphold the those in authority. New Delhi seems to have worked
cooperatively with Kyiv to facilitate our citizens leav-
PAST IS BEHIND US
fundamental laws of ing. Clearly, there is a difficult balancing game on.
international law only At such a juncture, the US and its European allies in
when it suited their Nato and outside of that military allowance are urg-
geopolitical interest, ing India to stand with them to flay Russia in the UN.
but others were This is convenient for them. For the US and Western
Europe, their security and strategic interests tie up
expected to uphold neatly with the principle of non-violability of nation-
Ukraine: Season One are like any RWA (resi-
This blame game played
by the Prime Minister must
end. He is finding the past
a handy tool to be held
the high precepts al sovereignty in the present instance, and this dic- Casualty reports on dents’ welfare association) responsible for all the
tates confronting Russia politically and ideologically. either side are never watching two neighbours problems of today. What if
This is not India’s reality. In fact, in the Cold War era and even after, Moscow and accurate, seldom fighting bitterly. But they
Washington were known to uphold the fundamental laws of international law only truthful and (often) daren’t discontinue water the Congress had blamed
when it suited their geopolitical interest, but other countries were expected to deliberately falsified. I and electricity supply of the Mughals and British for
Shobhaa’s Take
uphold the high precepts. In the Ukraine case, it is unrealistic of US to expect India those homes.” I have still to the poverty of India and
— or many other countries — to take the same stance as itself. In fact, South Asian wish our reporters come across a better per-
nations and many others also abstained. Notable among the abstentions in UNSC understand they are spective! done nothing to change it?
was UAE, one of America’s allies in the Gulf area. giving figures of some- Kaun jeetega or kaun He now blames the previ-

I
Just before the virtual meeting of the Quad on Thursday called by President Joe ndia’s chattering
Biden, the US Congress and the Biden administration took the extraordinary step classes are behaving
of calling on India to distance itself from Russia in various ways. The logic to them like they’ve just dis-
seemed simple enough — in recent years India has substantially raised the level of covered a country
its partnership with the US, including in the field of defence. Seeing New Delhi called Ukraine!
being firm in its stance, Washington had no choice but to rescind its telegram to Maybe they really have.
many of its embassies to blast India, saying India was now in the “Russian camp”. After all, Ukraine isn’t as
At the Quad, Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated India’s position clearly to say glam as France or Italy. It’s
that the forum should focus on stability and peace in the Indo-Pacific region. India, amusing to follow the emo-
wisely, stayed with the joint statement that the Quad stood for upholding the prin- tionally charged exchanges
ciple of free and open Indo-Pacific and for the territorial integrity of all countries between self-styled intellec-
of the region to avoid a repetition of Ukraine. This is firm ground. There is no tuals swapping “forwards”
opprobrium in it. plucked from WhatsApp
groups, as they take posi-
tions on a crisis threaten-
ing the world as much as
Kohli deserves the accolades Covid-19 did three years
ago. Instead of a tiny virus
that crept into unsuspect-
our airliners to bring back
our kids is easier, and
shows Ukraine in a very
poor light. If they can’t
ensure the safety of 18.000
Indian students studying
in their universities, they
must be really bad people,
who deserve to be pounded
by aggressive Russians out
to grab their country,
right? Desi students added
to the discourse by
recounting how rude the
Ukrainians were to them.
Stories of starvation and
scary escapes to the border
are making more news
today than the equally
thing very different harega in this dark, dismal
ous governments for the
from a profit and loss scenario is impossible to
predict, as the real war is students going abroad for
statement of an MNC... being fought slyly behind
the scenes between players
education. The govern-
whose identity isn’t known ment must define what it
entire villages taken over to the world. Stealth and means by a strong India.
by Ukrainians plying vari- secrecy have always deter-
ous nefarious trades as mined the outcome of bat- While it would be foolish
cops looked the other way. tles through time immemo- to take speeches at elec-
This has nothing to do rial. Russia doesn’t like to
with our sympathy for the lose wars, as history has tion rallies seriously, as the
country under siege. The established. Putin is way PM, he owes it to the high
very thought of Ukraine’s too alpha to back down reg- office to choose his words
President winning major ardless of sanctions and
dance contests and carving threats from other Euro- more judiciously. How can
out a successful career as a
stand-up comic is most
inspiring. Pappu can
pean nations, with leaders
calling him a “dictator”,
“criminal” and worse. The
he blame the Opposition
for the divisions in society

T
he only thing working on his mind when he went out to bat may have been ing lungs and killed a lot of
as to where his off stump was. Rid of all the controversies over the captaincy, people, we have a Russian
which he relinquished in controversial circumstances involving the BCCI strongman who wants to
president Sourav Ganguly, the batsman Virat Kohli was in focus as played his show pretenders who’s the
100th Test match. As irony would have it, he was bowled off stump when short of asli duniya ka boss!
another 50 in an illustrious career in which he holds the phenomenal and unique Clearly, it ain’t Joe Biden!
record of being the batsman who averages over 50 in all formats of the game — This is Vladimir Putin’s
Tests, ODIs and T20Is, and he has been that for all of five years now. Nothing more moment in history, and he
needs to be said of his outstanding abilities.
Making the occasion of his 100th Test appearance in which he joins 11 other
isn’t about to blow it.
Neither will he blow up
Indians even more special was the recognition given to his wife Anushka Sharma Ukraine, as people fear. He
who was present when the team presented a commemorative cap to him on the doesn’t have to. The mes-
field in Mohali. The difficulties of being Virat Kohli in cricket’s modern age while sage has gone out loud and
also fulfilling the call of family life can never be underestimated. The empathy clear: Putin has secured
shown by the game to a player’s whole life rather than just career has been a wel- his place in history books
come trend in the new millennium of greater stress and pressure of expectations. merely by flexing his mar-
Kohli, who has shouldered the responsibility of captaincy as well as being the lead- tial arts-toned biceps. And
ing batsman across formats for close to a decade, deserves such acknowledgment firing a few missiles, of
even more. course.
No Test captain in the new millennium may have shown such a fierce commit- Back in India, the sab-
ment to Test cricket as Kohli. In the age of instant gratification, including in enter- jantawalas are busy creat-
tainment and sport, such loyalty to a tradition is all too rare. In being a fierce com- ing their own narratives.
petitor who believed in wearing his heart on his sleeve, Kohli set an example for We talk like overnight
Indian cricketers to follow in terms of standing up to the best in world cricket. He experts on geopolitics.
carried India to the top Test ranking and sustained it for three years until the Bored, idle urbanites are
unexpected defeat at the hands of New Zealand in the championship final last year. obsessing on the crisis,
Indian cricket is blessed to have an athlete of his calibre who has just moved on to almost as if their own
being just a player in Team India’s XI, wedded to the cause as ever. future hangs on how many
missiles and tanks are
deployed in Ukraine before
a sensible “setting” is
achieved, and we go back
to worrying about rising
petrol prices and what hap-
pens in Uttar Pradesh if the
BJP loses. Memes and
jokes galore are doing the
rounds, even as our
THE ASIAN AGE dynamic ministerlog fly in
and out of Europe to ensure
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR that Indian students in
Editor Printer & Publisher
Ukraine get home safely.
THE ASIAN AGE office is located at: This is a timely move by
New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, New Delhi-110002. Phone: the government and shows
(011) 23211124. how proactive we are, even
Published and Printed on behalf of and for if we chose to remain non-
◗ Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, Jawaharlal Nehru National Youth Centre, 219 Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg,
New Delhi 110 002 at BFL Infotech Ltd., C-9, Sector-III, Noida -201301.
committal by abstaining
◗ London: Quickmarsh Ltd, 8th Floor, Block 2, Elizabeth House, 39 York Road, London, SE1 7NQ. during the critical anti-
RNI Registration number: 57290/94 Russia UN vote. Sending
poignant plight of thou-
sands of migrant workers
trudging back to their vil-
lages during the pandemic
ever did.
But our sense of humour
stays intact. A recent
meme offered an instant
solution: “Change the
spelling from Ukraine to
UKKKRENNE and the
problem will be solved,” it
read, in a dig at a popular
numerologist who minted
millions by advocating
spelling changes, involving
the letter “K”.
Most of us living in our
Mumbai-bubble have a siz-
zling story or two featuring
attractive Ukrainian
ladies. Quite a few high
society marriages took a
hit, a decade ago, with the
“other woman” being a
beauty from Kyiv. Special
charters from Ukrainian
cities with gorgeous young
girls on board would regu-
larly land in Mumbai and
be met by canny talent
scouts who’d herd the lot
for auditions with
Bollywood producers look-
ing for backup dancers in
elaborate “item songs”.
Some of the taller girls
would turn to ramp model-
ling, while others slightly
lower in the pecking order
would get jobs as scantily-
clad ushers in grand-scale
weddings. At one point, no
Ludhiana/Jalandhar shaa-
di was complete without
Ukrainian bar girls serv-
ing drinks to lusty shouts
of “Balle Balle”. Let’s not
go all the way to Goa, with
dance, saala! Russia’s for-
eign minister Sergei
Lavrov has generously and
disingenuously said his
country “recognises Volo-
dymyr Zelenskyy as Uk-
raine’s legitimate Presi-
dent”. Spasibo! But it’s
angry with the popular
President for “lying to his
people”. Russian leaders
never lie to their people,
okay? It’s the same
Zelenskyy who hasn’t ab-
andoned his citizens and
fled after being offered asy-
lum. He is there on the
streets, wearing a helmet
and promising to defend
his country till the last bul-
let. But hey… he also mes-
sed up evacuation plans.
Why didn’t he take Putin’s
threats seriously and put
out an advisory to citizens
to vacate homes well in
advance?
Talking to a top dog in the
Indian Army, who retired
recently and is considered
a good military strategist/-
tactician, I was interested
to read his comments on
the media coverage, pro-
viding detailed statistics
about the conflict. He says
such “accuracy” is totally
off, if not impossible. As he
put it: “Casualty reports on
either side are never accu-
rate, seldom truthful and
(often) deliberately falsi-
fied. I wish our reporters
understand they are giving
figures of something very
different than a profit and
loss statement of an MNC
after the AGM.” He went
on to scoff: “EU and Nato
hypocrisy and double stan-
dards are there for all to
judge. Who will ever forget
the blatantly racist cover-
age on TV channels, with
anchors talking in out-
raged terms about “white
people with blue eyes and
blond hair being killed by
other whites”! In this
White vs White war it's
only Vladimir Putin who
will make history and
change history. What he
launched against Ukraine
isn’t new. Americans can
be accused of this and
worse. Besides, for all his
belligerence and chest-
thumping, Joe Biden com-
es across as a wimp. And
why is Barack Obama’s
role being overlooked? Saat
khoon maaf? Like another
apt meme stated: “When
Russia sends tanks and sol-
diers into another country,
it’s called invasion. When
America does it, it’s called
liberation”.
Till peace is restored, let’s
seek comfort and inspira-
tion from poetry, as Ukra-
inian soldier Zhenya Peri-
pelitsa did, standing in a
field covered in snow, as he
recited a poignant poem by
Hamid Mosadegh: “What
are you thinking? Who
would believe your love
turned to ashes, the jungle
of my soul…”
As long as poetry can
soothe us and act as a salve,
there’s hope for peace!
Instagram handle:
@ShobhaaDe; Twitter:
@DeShobhaa
when the CM of the state
itself talks in terms of
80:20!
Anthony Henriques
Mumbai
STALIN’S INTERVENTION
HATS OFF to DMK chief and Tamil
Nadu chief minister M.K. Stalin for
picking 11 women out of 20 DMK
candidates for the mayor's post.
Thus he has taken the first step
towards the goal of women’s partic-
ipation in politics to meet which a
parliamentary bill is still pending
for over 26 years now. Moreover, it
is heartening to note that the CM
has chosen a mix of candidates,
right from a factory worker to an
auto driver and an IT specialist. He
has also been magnanimous in
allotting the chairman’s post to
alliance partners.
N. Mahadevan
Chennai
SAY NO TO PLASTICS
THIS WEEK, 175 countries adopted
a Resolution on Plastic Pollution at
the 5th United Nations Environ-
ment Assembly. It has taken us 150
years to wake up to the perils of
plastics, post its invention in 1862. It
may take 50 years more to fully stop
its usage. Yet man would continue
to be driven by curiosity as he now
pursues genetic interventions to
reap unknown consequences. With
artificial intelligence, he creates a
pervasive adversary. In his eager-
ness to create, he loses all sense of
equilibrium, even as future genera-
tions suffer consequences.
R. Narayanan
Navi Mumbai

Farrukh “Buddha has a curly hair style
Ganesh has an elephant’s head
Dhondy Krishna the flautist does beguile
And Yama the god of the dead
Has a frightening face, a terrible sight
Cabbages With an outstretched tongue, blood red
Though we — One-God-wallas — say God is light
& Kings And worship the abstract instead.”
— From Histry ki Isstry, by Bachchoo
“Sweet are the uses of absurdity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and self-righteous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
“absurdity” for the original “adversity”. And
whereas his toad was venomous, mine is self-
righteous. And so, with other phrases with which
I have taken this warranted liberty.
Which warrant was occasioned by the fact that
the Royal Shakespeare Company has appointed a
sort of czar to point out to schoolchildren the
racism, sexism, ageism, homophobia, misogyny,
anti-Semitism, sizeism in Willy’s works.
Jacqui O’Hanlon is the director of learning at
the RSC. She recently said: “There is language
that is racist, there is racism through the plays,
there is sexism through the plays. There is
Islands, which constitutes 13 research institutions
and colleges, has issued a “content warning” for
Ernest Hemingway’s classic novel The Old Man
and The Sea. The warning to students, which is
expected to put them off reading the books, says it
contains violent allusions to fishing. It’s not the
only book the university issues caveats about.
It has targeted several classics. The list includes
Homer’s The Iliad, written in the eighth century
BC, and Beowulf, an English poem from 1025 AD,
with warnings that they contain “scenes of violent
close combat”. Meanwhile, Mary Shelley’s
Frankenstein is said to contain “violent murder
lucky ones that I was one day approached, in the
staff room of the school where I taught in the 1970s,
by a young man in a grey suit.
At the door of the staff room, he asked: “Are you
Farrukh Dhondy?” I said “does he owe you
money”; and when he said “no”, I asked if he was
from the police.
He said his name was Martin Pick, and he was
from Macmillan’s publishing house. He contract-
ed me that very day to write a book of short stories
set in the Asian and black communities of Britain
about which I had written pieces in agitational
newssheets and pamphlets that he had read.

‘Racism warning’ And these critiques, exempt from common

sense,
Finds unexplored writers, prizes to give them,
ableism through the plays. The worst thing we can
do is deny that that exists.”
Now I really don’t want to do this worst thing
and cruelty” and Shakespeare’s classics Hamlet
and Romeo and Juliet allegedly contain scenes of
“stabbing, poison, and suicide”. A university
Now, decades later, there are departments of lit-
erature at universities who promote the writings
of women and the “minorities”. Some of them

for Shakespeare,
‘isms’ in books and offence in everything”! and deny that these attitudes may exist in the spokesman defended the warning notes, saying indulge the idiotic idea that dead white male writ-
plays. Ms O’Hanlon’s department has formulated that they “enable students to make informed ers should be shunned or banned. I suppose they

I
must confess that the above is a quote from a a curriculum for schools which intends to expose choices”. mean Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Karl Marx,
dead, white, male writer from a country these aspects of Willy’s works. As the modified Far be it from me to be listed, or thought of, as an Freud, Conrad, Proust, George Eliot (Idiot! That’s

Hemingway: Is it engaged in colonial adventures. He is best

known for writing tragedies, histories con-
fined to the annals of white, male kings, comedies
without jokes and sonnets to a boyfriend. Before
tip of the iceberg? his works are banned for sexism, racism, etc, I
urge you to get hold of his complete works and
keep it hidden from the thought police. His name
is, or was, William Shakespeare. (At the time of
writing, Amazon still sells copies!)
I admit that I’ve distorted his quote, substituting
quote at the top of this column says, there is a cer-
tain absurdity in this approach and yet I concede
it can boast a certain necessity and critical virtue
and acumen. The danger is that this emphasis will
turn the tried and applauded accuracy of the por-
trayals and drama in Shakespeare into a litany of
victimisation.
This RSC caper, as the passengers on the Titanic
would say, is only the tip of the iceberg.
The Scottish University of the Highlands and
anti-woke warrior, but in my critical understand-
ing there is woke, and there is what has to be
labelled “Jwoke”!
Why would I, who have spent my adult life in the
UK characterised as a British-Indian writer, some
of whose work is about the new communities of
Britain, not see the virtue in bringing black, Asian
and other minority ethnic writers to the reading
public and onto the literary prize lists?
Though I don’t believe in the stars, I thank my
a woman called Mary Ann Evans! — Ed. Oh dear,
sorry yaar, thought George was a man’s name —
except of course in a book I once read where it was
short for Georgina, by a writer called Enid some-
thing… — fd)!
I, for one, would hate to be in a list of women,
black and ethnic writers that excluded white
males. Though it’s unlikely, I’d much rather be
mixed in even at the very bottom, with
Shakespeare, Dickens, Faulkner, Eliot, Naipaul…
 WORLD
THE ASIAN AGE | SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT
19 KIDS INJURED
TAKES
AS SUV RAMS
INTO PRE-SCHOOL
Anderson, March 4: A car
smashed into a Northern
California preschool , sending
19 children and an employee to
the hospital but their injuries
that were not life-threatening,
police said.
A Suzuki sport utility vehicle
plowed through the wall of
Great Adventures Christian
Preschool around 2:30 p.m. in
Anderson, a Shasta County
community northwest of
Sacramento.
The SUV ended up completely
inside the main area of the
building, according to a Police
Department photo and
Facebook statement.
Fourteen children were taken
by ambulance to hospitals with
varying levels of injuries,
“with the majority of those
transported being for precau-
tionary reasons,” the state-
ment said. No fatalities have
been reported or are expected.”
UK GETS FIRST
SMART PRISON
WITH NO WINDOW
London, March 4: Britain’s first
smart prison designed with
smart technology and with no
bars on windows opened on
Friday, as a project expected to
drive down crime and more
offenders into jobs.
The cells at Her Majesty’s
Prison (HMP) Five Wells at We-
llingborough in Northam-
ptonshire, central England,
will be called “rooms” and in-
mates “residents” by prison
staff as part of the rehabilita-
tion process.
The 1,700-capacity prison will
also feature a gym, snooker
table, table tennis table and a
computer tablet to help prison-
ers gain new qualifications.
The UK’s Department of
Justice (DoJ) said it is the first
jail in the country to have been
designed with education, train-
ing and jobs for prisoners on
release as its main purposes
factors it says are proven to cut
crime and reduce reoffending.
HMP Five Wells is a flagship
example of this government's
plan to create secure and mod-
ern prisons that cut crime and
protect the public, said Dom-
inic Raab, UK Deputy Prime
Minister and Justice Secretary.
SL HIKES RATES,
URGES GOVT ON
ECONOMIC CRISIS
Colombo, March 4: Sri Lan-
ka’s central bank hiked inter-
est rates by one percentage
point on Friday and urged the
government to increase taxes
as the country skirts economic
collapse.
The troubled South Asian
island nation is in the grip of a
severe foreign exchange crisis
that has led to acute shortages
of food, fuel, medicines and
industrial raw materials, send-
ing inflation soaring.
Food inflation hit a record 25
percent in January while over-
all price increases reached 16.8
percent, a fourth consecutive
monthly record.
Public transport has been
crippled since Wednesday with
no diesel for buses and large
parts of the country of 21 mil-
lion people hit by lengthy
power cuts. On Thursday,
President Gotabaya Rajapaksa
sacked the energy and industry
ministers after they both criti-
cised the government’s efforts
to deal with the crisis.
S. KOREA EASES
DISTANCING
DESPITE SURGE
Seoul, March 4: South Korean
officials announced an easing
of social distancing restric-
tions even as the country saw
its deadliest day of the pan-
demic on Friday, reflecting
reduced political capacity to
deal with a fast-developing
omicron surge in the face of a
growing economic toll and a
presidential election next
week.
Jeon Hae-cheol, minister of
the interior and safety, said the
curfew at restaurants, bars,
movie theaters and other
indoor businesses will be
extended by an hour from 10
p.m. to 11 p.m. starting
Saturday. He cited people's
fatigue and frustration with
extended restrictions and the
damage to livelihoods.
Officials did maintain a six-
person limit on private social
gatherings, acknowledging
uncertainties posed by an
accelerating omicron spread
that has put the country on the
verge of a hospital surge.
The Korea Disease Control
and Prevention Agency report-
ed 186 deaths in the latest 24
hours, shattering the previous
one-day record of 128 set a day
earlier.
Putin says ready for Ukraine
dialogue if ‘all demands’ met
Ukraine plans third round of Russia talks this weekend to end fight
Moscow, March 4: Russian
President Vladimir Putin
in a phone call with
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz denied that Russian
troops were bombing
Ukrainian cities, dismiss-
ing such information as
fake, the Kremlin said on
Friday.
Putin said reports about
“the alleged ongoing air
strikes of Kyiv and other
large cities are gross prop-
aganda fakes,” the Kremlin
said.
He added that dialogue
on Ukraine would be possi-
ble only if Russian
demands are met.
Putin “confirmed that
Russia is open to dialogue
with the Ukrainian side, as
well as with everyone who
wants peace in Ukraine.
But under the condition
that all Russian
demands are met,” the
Kremlin said.
These include the neutral
and non-nuclear status of
Ukraine, its “denazifica-
tion”, recognition of
Crimea as part of Russia
and of the “sovereignty” of
separatist territories in
eastern Ukraine.
“Hope was expressed that
during the planned third
round of talks, the repre-
sentatives of Kyiv will take
a reasonable and construc-
tive position,” the Kremlin
added.
“The third leg could take
place tomorrow or the day
after, we are in constant
contact,” Ukrainian presi-
dential advisor Mykhailo
Podolyak said, on the
eighth day of the war.
Two previous meetings
held on the Belarus-Uk-
raine border failed to halt
the fighting, but the sides
have agreed in principle to
at least allow humanitari-
an corridors for civilians
to escape. — AFP
INDIA KEEPS OFF
UN VOTE FOR
UNHRC PROBE
Geneva/United Nations,
March 4: India on Friday
abstained in the UN
Human Rights Council
on a vote to urgently
establish an independ-
ent international com-
mission of inquiry to
investigate alleged
human rights violations
and related crimes fol-
lowing Russia’s military
operation in Ukraine.
The 47-member Coun-
cil voted on a draft reso-
lution on the 'Situation
of human rights in
Ukraine stemming from
the Russian aggression.
The resolution was
adopted with 32 votes in
favour, two against
(Russia and Eritrea) and
13 abstentions, includ-
ing India, China,
Pakistan, Sudan and
Venezuela. The coun-
tries voting in favour
included France, Germ-
any, Japan, Nepal, the
UAE, the UK and the US.
The resolution, which
strongly
Russia's
condemned
aggression
against Ukraine, decides
to “urgently establish an
independent interna-
tional commission of
inquiry to investigate all
alleged violations and
abuses of human rights
and violations of inter-
national humanitarian
law, and related crimes,
in the context of the
Russian Federation's ag-
gression against Ukr-
aine, and to establish the
facts, circumstances,
and root causes of any
such violations. — AP
DIPLOMATIC | TALKS
US should recognise ‘free’ Taiwan, says Pompeo
Taipei, March 4: The
United States should diplo-
matically recognise
Taiwan as “a free and sov-
ereign country”, former
US secretary of state Mike
Pompeo said on Friday
while visiting the island.
Pompeo, one of former
president Donald Trump’s
most hawkish advisers on
China, arrived Wednesday
for a visit at a time of ris-
ing tensions between
Washington and Beijing
over both the self-ruled
island and the crisis
sparked by Russia’s inva-
People fleeing from Ukraine queue to board on a bus at the border crossing in
Medyka, Poland, on Friday.
Biden hits Putin allies, press
secretary with new sanctions
Washington, March 4: The
White House has imposed
new sanctions on 50
Russian oligarchs, includ-
ing Kremlin press secre-
tary Dmitry Peskovt, and
their families in the latest
attempt to target
President Vladimir Putin
for ordering the invasion
of Ukraine.
President Joe Biden said
the sanctions will target
those who line their pock-
ets with the Russian peo-
ple’s money as the
Ukrainian people seek
shelter from airstrikes.
The new penalties will
cut members of the
Russian elite, their fami-
US Senator calls for Putin assassination China kicks off
UKRAINE MINISTER ACCUSES RUSSIAN Parl season ahead
Washington, March 4:
Senior US senator Lindsey
Graham called in a tele-
TROOPS OF RAPE, BACKS TRIBUNAL
vised interview for “some-
body in Russia” to assassi-
nate President Vladimir
Putin after Moscow’s inva-
sion of Ukraine.
“How does this end?
Somebody in Russia has to
step up to the plate... and
take this guy out,” the sen-
ator told conservative Fox
News TV host Sean
Hannity.
He repeated the call later
in a series of tweets, say-
ing “the only people who
can fix this are the
Russian people.””Is there
a Brutus in Russia?” as-
ked the senator, referring
to one of Roman ruler
Julius Caesar’s assassins.
The former presidential
candidate also wondered if
“a more successful
Colonel Stauffenberg”
existed in the Russian mil-
itary, alluding to the
German officer whose
bomb failed to kill Adolf
Nuclear deal ‘close’ but not certain
Vienna, March 4: A deal
on reviving the 2015
accord between Tehran
and world powers on
Iran’s nuclear programme
is “close”, Britain said on
Friday, at a crunch point
for negotiations in
Vienna.
“We are close. E3 nego-
tiators leaving Vienna
briefly to update ministers
on state of play,” British
diplomat Stephanie Al-
Qaq said on Twitter, refer-
ring to negotiators from
China considers a formal declaration of independence as something that would trigger war
sion of Ukraine.
Democratic Taiwan has
watched the Ukraine situa-
tion closely, as it lives
under constant threat by
Beijing, which claims sov-
ereignty over the island
and vows to seize it one day
— by force if necessary.
Pompeo told reporters
that a Chinese invasion
would depend on “the will-
ingness of the Western
world to demonstrate that
the costs for (Chinese
leader) Xi Jinping engag-
ing in that kind of activity
are just too high”.
lies and close associates,
from the US financial sys-
tem.
Today, I’m announcing
that we’re adding dozens
of names to the list,
including one of Russia's
wealthiest billionaires.
I’m banning travel to
America by more than 50
Russian oligarchs, their
families, and their close
associates, Biden told
reporters at the top of his
Cabinet meeting at the
White House.
The US, he said, contin-
ues to impose very severe
economic sanctions on
Russian President
Vladimir Putin and all
Hitler in 1944.
“You would be doing
your country — and the
world — a great service,”
he added.
The senator, who has
served in congress for of Xi’s 3rd term
over twenty years and has
at times been a close ally
to former president
Donald Trump, had earli-
er in the day introduced a
resolution condemning
the Russian president and
his military commanders
for committing “war
crimes” and “crimes
against humanity.”
Ukraine says at least 350
civilians have been killed
since Putin launched the
invasion last week and
more than 1.2 million have
fled the country.
Moscow says it does not
target civilians, despite
evidence from the ground
showing that Russian
forces bombing civilian
areas in cities as they seek
to push deeper into
Ukraine. — AFP
● ALSO ON Friday,
Iran’s Foreign Minister
Hossein Amir-Abdolla-
hian said he was pre-
pared to travel to Vienna
if a deal is reached to
revive the accord.
Britain, France and
Germany.
Along with counterparts
from China, Iran and
Russia they have been tak-
ing part in the latest
round of talks in the
During an earlier speech
to a think tank, he said
that while Washington
should continue to engage
with Beijing as a sovereign
government, offering
Taipei diplomatic recogni-
tion “can no longer be
ignored, avoided or treated
as secondary”.
“It is my view that the
United States government
should immediately take
necessary and long-over-
due steps to do the right
and obvious thing, that is
to offer the Republic of
China (Taiwan) America's
— AFP
those folks around him,
choking off access to tech-
nology as well as cutting
off access to the
global financial
system.
It's had a profound
impact already. And the
goal was to maximise the
impact on Putin and
Russia and to minimise
the harm on us and our
allies and friends around
the world. Our interest is
in maintaining the
strongest unified econom-
ic impact campaign on
Putin in all of history, and
I think we’re well on the
way to doing that, Biden
said. — AP
London, March 4: Ukr-
aine’s Foreign Minister
Dmytro Kuleba on Friday
accused Russian troops of
raping women and backed
a call for the creation of a
special tribunal to punish
Moscow's aggression.
“We have numerous
cases of, unfortunately,
when Russian soldiers
rape women in the
Ukrainian cities,” Kuleba
told a briefing at London's
Chatham House think-
tank.
He did not provide
details but supported an
appeal by former British
prime minister Gordon
Brown and a swathe of
international law
experts for a special tribu-
nal.
International law “is the
only tool of civilisation
Austrian capital since late
November.
The US has been partici-
pating indirectly.
Also on Friday, Iran’s
Foreign Minister Hossein
Amir-Abdollahian said he
was prepared to travel to
Vienna if a deal is
reached to revive the
accord.
Austrian Chancellor
Karl Nehammer told
reporters that “we have
received very positive sig-
nals that (Russian)
diplomatic recognition as a
free and sovereign coun-
try.” The Republic of China
is Taiwan’s official name.
When asked for a reac-
tion to Pompeo’s com-
ments, a State Department
spokesperson said: “As a
general practice, we do not
comment on the travel or
comments of a private cit-
izen.” Washington has
remained Taipei’s most
important ally and leading
arms supplier despite
switching diplomatic
recognition to Beijing in
1979.
NO TO WAR: ENTIRE
STAFF OF RUSSIAN
TV CHANNEL QUITS
Moscow, March 4: The
entire staff of a Russian
television channel
resigned live on-air after
declaring “no to war” in
the final telecast. The deci-
sion was taken by the staff
of TV Rain (Dozhd) after
Russian authorities sus-
pended its operations over
its coverage of Ukraine
war.
Natalia Sindeyeva, one
of the channel's founders,
said “No to war” in its last
telecast as the employees
staged a walkout from the
studio. The channel later
said in a statement that it
has suspended the opera-
tion “indefinitely”.
After the dramatic exit of
the staff, the channel
played the 'Swan Lake' bal-
let video, which was
shown on state-run TV
channels in Russia when
the Soviet Union collapsed
in 1991. The video has now
gone viral on social media.
Russian authorities have
prohibited media from
calling President
Vladimir Putin’s invasion
of Ukraine a “war”—
state-run media outlets
adopt the term “special
military operation.”
The Russian parliament
passed a law on Friday
that criminalises the dis-
tribution of “fake news”
about the Russian mili-
tary, with those convicted
facing up to 15 years in
prison. The channel
announced that it would
suspend operations indefi-
nitely under mounting
pressure from the
Kremlin. — Agencies
that is available to us to
make sure that in the end,
eventually, all those who
made this war possible
will be brought to justice,”
Kuleba said, as civilian
casualties mount in
Ukraine.
“We are fighting against
the enemy who is much
stronger than us,” Kuleba
said.
“But the international
law is on our side, and
hopefully... it will make its
own contribution to help
us prevail.”Dignitaries
including Brown, former
judges and law experts on
Wednesday called for the
creation of a special tribu-
nal, as the International
Criminal Court (ICC)
studies whether to prose-
cute alleged war crimes in
Ukraine. —AFP
Foreign Minister (Sergei)
Lavrov will take part” in
an expected meeting of
foreign ministers in the
event of an agreement
being reached.
The 2015 deal began
unravelling when former
US president Donald
Trump withdrew from it
in 2018 and re-imposed
sanctions, prompting Iran
to start disregarding the
limits on its nuclear activ-
ity laid down in the agree-
ment. — AFP
But Pompeo said the
move “isn’t about
Taiwan’s future independ-
ence, it’s about recogni-
tion of an unmistakable,
already existing reality”.
Beijing considers a for-
mal declaration of inde-
pendence as something
that would cross its “red
line” and has warned that
such a step could trigger
war. Taiwan’s current
leader, Tsai Ing-wen, who
has won elections twice,
hails from a party that his-
torically favours inde-
pendence. — AFP
pg 6
Trump deposition
in NY probe on hold,
ruiling appealed
New York, March 4:
Former President Donald
overturn Manhattan
Judge Arthur Engoron's
Trump and the New York Feb. 17 ruling that they
attorney general’s office
have reached an agree-
testify.
They argue that order-
ment that spares him
from answering questions
ing the Trumps to testify
violates their constitu-
under oath while he
appeals a ruling requir-
ing he testify in the
tional rights because
answers they give in
Attorney General Letitia
office’s civil investigation James’ civil investigation
into his business prac- could be used against
tices. them in a parallel crimi-
Under the agreement, nal investigation.
detailed in court papers In an eight-page ruling,
Thursday, Trump and his Engoron set a March 10
two eldest children must deadline for the Trumps
sit for depositions within to sit for depositions.
two weeks of a ruling Under the agreement
from the appeals court — reached Thursday, that
if it upholds the lower deadline is moot.
court decision requiring James, a Democrat, has
their testimony. said her investigation has
Lawyers for the Trumps uncovered evidence
and the attorney general's Trump's company, the
office also agreed to an Trump Organisation,
accelerated briefing
schedule to speed up the
used “fraudulent or mis-
leading” valuations of
appeals process, with
court papers due by
assets like golf courses
and skyscrapers to
March 31.
Lawyers for Trump and
get
benefits.
loans and tax
In a statement following
his two eldest children,
Ivanka and Donald Engoron's decision,
Trump Jr., filed papers on Trump called the ruling
Monday with the appel- “a continuation of the
late division of the state’s greatest Witch Hunt in
trial court, seeking to history.” — AP
French President Emmanuel Macron and Former US
President Donald Trump walk hand in hand under the
colonnades of the White House in Washington, DC.
Macron said will seek second term in French election
in April. — AFP FILE
Beijing, March 4: China
kicked off its annual
Parliament season on
Friday amid the global
turmoil over the Ukraine
crisis and the impending
leadership overhaul later
this year as President Xi
Jinping is set to begin an
unprecedented third term
at the end of his 10-year
tenure this year.
China’s annual
Parliament season com-
prising the national legis-
lature, the National Xi Jinping
People’s Congress (NPC)
and the advisory body tives to boost the econo-
Chinese People’s Political my which is on a slow-
Consultative Conference down mode.
(CPPCC) began on The significance of the
Friday. two sessions this year is
The CPPCC, which has that this is the final year
2,200 members mostly of the 2nd five-year
nominated by the ruling tenure of Chinese
Communist Party of President Xi.
China (CPC) commenced While all his predeces-
its session which was
attended by President Xi
and other leaders.
For over two weeks, the
sors retired after two five-
year tenures, Xi, 68, is
widely expected to contin-
ue in power perhaps for
NPC with over 2,800 mem- life.
bers often referred to as
the rubber-stamp parlia-
His unprecedented third
term was expected to be
ment for its routine
approval of policies of
formally conferred by the
once-in-a-five-year CPC
the CPC, will transact
annual legislative work
Congress to be held in the
next few months as a key
including approving the party Plenum meet last
work report to be submit- year had formally
ted by Premier Li endorsed his continua-
Keqiang in which China tion.
would outline its annual He is now equated with
economic performance the Party's founder Mao
and announce new Zedong who held reins of
defence outlay besides power until his death in
other economic initia- 1976. — PTI
Former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo (left) bumps
fists with former Taiwan foreign minister Mark Chen
before delivering a speech at a hotel during his visit to
Taipei on Friday. — AFP
 SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
quick House prices may see
BITES 5% increase this year
INDICATORS % SHRUTEE SARKAR &
Sensex 54,333.81 -1.40
Nifty 50 16,245.40 -1.53
S&P 500*
Dollar (`)
4,294.94 1.57
76.16 -0.31
Pound Sterling (`) 101.32 0.23
Euro (`) 83.89 0.23
Gold (10gm)* (`) 51,863▲75 0.14
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 114.37 3.54
IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.813 0.00
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 1.755 -0.089
* As of 8:30 PM IST
Gas prices soar
to record highs
on Ukraine crisis
Europe and UK gas prices hit
record highs and crude oil ral-
lied, as Ukraine's invasion by
key producer Russia continued
to stoke supply fears. Europe
reference Dutch TTF gas price
struck 213.895 euros per
megawatt hour in afternoon
deals and UK gas hit 508.80
pence per therm. Europe's
London Brent North Sea crude
shot 4.7 per cent higher to
$115.63, having surged to a
2012 peak of $120 a day before.
Sony and Honda
plan joint EV
company
Sony is teaming up with Honda
to start a new company that
will develop and sell electric
vehicles. Sony Group said the
two Japanese names hope to
establish their firm by the end
of this year with sales of their
first electric model expected to
begin in 2025. The announce-
ment comes on the heels of
Sony's January unveiling of a
new prototype, its Vision-S
electric vehicle, and floating of
subsidiary Sony Mobility.
Brics bank put
on hold all new
deals in Russia
The New Development Bank of
the Brics bloc has put all new
transactions in Russia on hold
citing the "unfolding uncertain-
ties and restrictions", amidst the
Ukraine crisis. The NDB's move
came a day after the Asian
Infrastructure Investment Bank
put on hold all its projects in
Russia and Belarus. "The New
Development Bank applies
sound banking principles in all
its operations, as stated in its
Articles of Agreement", it said.
BMW rolls out MICROSOFT WILL
100,000th SUSPEND SALES,
Made-in-India car SERVICES IN RUSSIA
BMW, India’s second biggest
Germany luxury car maker, said
it has produced its 1,00,000th
car at its plant near Chennai. A
BMW Individual 740Li M Sport
Edition marked the production
milestone. BMW achieved the
milestone after 15 years of
operation in India. “Every BMW
or Mini car locally produced
here in Chennai is of the same
international quality standards,”
Thomas Dose, MD, BMW Group
Plant Chennai, said.
Printed & Published by
K. Sudhakar on behalf of
Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited.
Printed at BFL Infotech Ltd, C-9 Sector
3, Noida-201301. Published at 219, N D
Tiwari Bhawan, Deen Dayal Upadhyay
Marg, New Delhi-110002.
Editor: Kaushik Mitter, RNI
Registration number 30074/09,
Air surcharge Re 1. © All rights
reserved. Reproduction in whole or
in part without written permission of
The Editor,
Financial Chronicle ® is prohibited.
„Property analysts predict 7% rise next year
MILOUNEE PUROHIT
BENGALURU, MARCH 4
Indian house prices will
rise this year and next at a
faster pace than predicted
just three months ago, sup-
ported by the economic
recovery from the pandem-
ic, according to a Reuters
poll of property analysts.
Once a bright spot in
India's economy, the hous-
ing sector was struggling
even before Covid-19. But
unlike most other major
world property markets it
has remained in the dol-
drums throughout the pan-
demic.
Average house prices
rose only 2.5 per cent last
year, according to Reuters
calculations based on the
Reserve Bank of India's
House Price Index. That
compares with double-
digit gains in nearly every
other property market.
But as the economy gets
back on track, the housing
market was expected to
pick up pace.
The February 9-28 poll of
Steel jumps by `5,000 a tonne on supply hitches
New Delhi, March 4:
Domestic steel makers
have hiked the prices of
hot-rolled coil (HRC) and
TMT bars by up to Rs 5,000
per tonne as supply chain
is being impacted amidst
the ongoing Russia-
Ukraine conflict.
According to industry
sources, the prices have
been increased in the past
few days and are expected
Gold’s surge in war time may Petrol price has to rise by `12 to break-even
be fleeting as past shows
RANJEETHA PAKIAM
MARCH 4
Gold's surge on the back of
Russia's invasion of
Ukraine may be short-
lived, if history is any-
thing to go by.
From the Falkland
Islands War in 1982 to the
September 11 attacks,
price spikes in gold result-
ing from crises that
include military action or
terrorist strikes tend to be
temporary, according to
Citigroup Inc. The tradi-
tional haven asset jumped
as much as 3.4 per cent on
February 24 when Russia
launched a full-scale
attack on its neighbour,
but prices have since con-
solidated, even as other
commodities such as oil,
wheat and aluminium
have accelerated.
While investors have
turned to bullion as a
store of value and infla-
tion hedge, rising rates
present a very real head-
wind to the non-interest
bearing metal.
"Geopolitically led highs
tend to be fleeting; on
average, gold prices tend
to firm in the immediate
MOLLY SCHUETZ
MARCH 4
Microsoft Corp said it is
suspending all new sales of
products and services in
Russia as it condemned
the country's "unjustified,
unprovoked and unlawful
invasion" of Ukraine.
The US tech giant also
said it's working closely
with governments of the
US, EU and UK and stop-
ping many aspects of its
business in Russia in com-
pliance with coordinated
sanctions rules.
Microsoft said its "single
most impactful area of
work almost certainly is
the protection of Ukraine's
cybersecurity."
The company said it will
help cybersecurity offi-
cials in Ukraine defend
against Russian attacks,
— Bloomberg
pg 7
RUPEE BREACHES
76-MARK AS
WAR ESCALATES
Market mood
turns bearish
FALAKNAAZ SYED
MUMBAI, MARCH 4
The rupee on Friday
breached the 76-mark
Analysts wonder if bull run is over
RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
for new homes as oil prices
against the dollar to touch
its lowest level since
MUMBAI, MARCH 4
were expected to rise fur-
FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN REALTY ther as the Russia-Ukraine
crisis worsens.
December as Russia con-
tinued to target Ukrainian
nuclear power plants, roil-
The market closed lower
for the fourth consecu-
tive week with the Nifty-
JUMPS 3-FOLD TO $23.9 BN IN 2017-21 "The third wave of the
pandemic has apparently
ing global markets.
Market participants said
50 down 2.48 per cent this
week. Latest Russian
New Delhi, March 4: parency, started invest- not dented business confi- the rupee also weakened attack on Ukraine's
Foreign capital flows into ing in the country with dence and investors as state-owned and private nuclear plant hurt the
the Indian real estate greater optimism from appear mostly unper- banks persistently pur- global market sentiments
jumped over three-fold to 2017," Colliers said. turbed this time. We expect chased the dollar on behalf badly with all markets
$23.9 billion during 2017- According to the data, a rise in prices over next of oil marketing compa- trading lower.
21 period compared to the foreign investment in two years provided no nies, noting a sharp rise in The Sensex lost 768.87 per cent at 19.45 hours.
previous five years, real estate stood at $23.9 major socio-economic dis- crude oil prices. points or 1.40 per cent on China's Shanghai
according to a Colliers- billion during the 2017-21 ruptions occur," said A slump in domestic equi- Friday at 54,333.81 and Composite was down -
Ficci report. period against $7.5 bil- Arvind Nandan, managing ty indices also prompted the Nifty-50 closed at 0.96 per cent.
The report says global lion during 2012-2016. director of research at some banks to buy dollars, 16,245.35, down by 252.7 The Indian market
investors have shown an Total investments in Savills India. Nearly three- likely over foreign fund points or 1.53 per cent. recovered after a sharp
increased inclination Indian real estate stood at quarters of respondents, outflows from the equities, The Nifty-50 is down fall in the morning ses-
towards investment in $49.4 billion during the or 8 of 11, to an additional which further weighed on 7.83 per cent year to date sion on the news of
Indian real estate buoyed 2012-2021 period, of question said the Indian the rupee. Crude oil prices while the Sensex is down Russian attack. The
housing market would Sensex fell over 1200
by regulatory reforms which 64 per cent came shot above $120 a barrel for 8.19 per cent, ringing the
introduced in 2016. from foreign investors. become a buyer's market the first time in nine years alarm bells of a likely points to 53887.82 and
"Foreign investors, who The share of foreign in 2022. on Thursday before retrea- bear market phase and Nifty fell over 350 points
had previously refrained
from investing in the
Indian real estate market
investments in Indian
real estate has grown to
82 per cent during 2017-
The Indian real estate
sector is expected to
account for 13 per cent of
ting to $111 on Friday.
Anindya Banerjee,
deputy vice-president cur-
analysts are wondering if
the bull run has ended.
"If markets have truly
to 16133.80 before recover-
ing.
"In the near term,
due to the lack of trans- 2021. —PTI India's GDP by 2025, rency derivatives and begun to fall after peak- weakness in the market
according to Niti Aayog. interest rate derivatives at ing, we may be in for a is likely to continue as
Construction, which has Kotak Securities, said, lengthy period of pain. the Russia-Ukraine con-
13 property analysts pre- December survey. traditionally been a major “The Russia-Ukraine con- This is because markets flict has resulted in a
dicted national house Average Indian house employment generator for flict is hurting Indian have historically global risk-off," Siddh-
prices to go up a median 5 prices were expected to the unskilled labour force rupee, Indian bonds, and reversed at least 40 per artha Khemka, head-
per cent this year, an rise 7 per cent next year in India, received a special Indian equities via three cent of their gains at the retail research, Motilal
upgrade from the 3.75 per and in 2024, partly driven allocation in the February channels: oil prices, US conclusion of bull cycles. Oswal Financial Services
cent expected in a by increasing input costs budget. —Reuters Dollar Index, and global For instance, when the said.
equity prices. The US massive bull runs of 1999- The Indian market saw
Dollar Index has rallied to 2000, 2003-2008 and 2016- another day of heavy sell-
the highest level since 2020 peaked, the market ing by the foreign portfo-
June 2020 and the Nifty is dropped by 53 per cent, 65 lio investors of equities
at the lowest level since per cent, and 40 per cent, worth over $1 billion or
August of last year. USD- respectively with correc- Rs 7,631.02 crore while
to go up further in the international level leading While Australia is the INR has inched closer tions lasting even up to 40 the domestic institutions
coming weeks with the to an increase in input main buying destination, towards the last December weeks," said Yesha Shah, were net buyers by Rs
crisis deepening between
the two countries.
cost. Coking coal is trad-
ing at $500 per tonne," an
part of requirement is met
from countries like South
highs. The extent of appre-
ciation has been muted
head of equity research,
Samco Securities.
4,738.99 crore.
All the sectors barring
After the price revision,
a tonne of HRC will cost
industry executive said
adding that it is a rise of
Africa, Canada and the US.
T. V. Narendran CEO &
due to RBI intervention.”
“Next week will be rela-
Asian market peers fell
even more on Friday, led
IT witnessed sharp fall
on Friday led by BSE
around Rs 66,000, while about 20 per cent com- MD, Tata Steel, said, "Both tively quiet on the data by Japan's Nikkei index (- Auto index (-3.40 per
the buyers will get TMT pared to the rates a few Russia and Ukraine are front. Therefore, it will be 2.23 per cent) and Hong cent), Metals (-3.35 per
bars for about Rs 65,000 weeks ago. manufacturers and expor- the trio: oil prices, equity, Kong's Hang Seng (-2.54 cent), Consumer Durable
per tonne, the sources said India meets 85 per cent of ters of steel in addition to and US Dollar Index which per cent). Major (3.20 per cent), Realty
on Friday. its coking coal, a key steel being suppliers of raw will drive USD-INR. Oil European markets were (-3.06 per cent) and
"The war is impacting making raw material, materials including coking prices are showing signs of down more than 2.75 to 3 Bankex (1.58 per cent).
the supply chain at the requirement from imports. coal and gas.” —PTI fatigue,” he said.
MARGINAL
PICK-UP IN
SERVICES IN FEB.
New Delhi, March 4: Petrol marked—spiking in the ket of crude oil at the time
and diesel prices, which last two months, state- of freezing of petrol and
have been on a freeze for owned fuel retailers "need diesel prices in early
the past four months in a massive price hike of Rs November last year. FC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MARCH 4
Fleeting gains
Gold has slipped after hitting a 17-month view of the state assembly 12.1 per litre on or before "With state elections get-
high last week ■ Spot gold elections, need to be March 16, just to breakeven ting over next week, we
US dollars an ounce
2000 increased by over Rs 12 per and a price hike of Rs 15.1 expect daily fuel price After declining for three
Falkland Islands war 1500 litre by March 16 for fuel is required" after including hikes to restart across both consecutive months,
Sept. 11 attacks retailers to break even. margins for oil firms, ICICI gasoline and diesel," JP India's services activity
1000 International crude oil Securities said in a report. Morgan said in a report. picked up marginally in
Source: Bloomberg
Russia’s invasion 500 prices shot above $120 a The basket of crude oil The seventh and final February from the lifting
of Ukraine barrel for the first time in India buys rose to $117.39 phase of polling for the of Covid restrictions , but
0
‘75-‘79 ‘80-‘84 ‘85-‘89 ‘90-‘94 ‘95-‘99 ‘00-‘04 ‘05-‘09 ‘10-‘14 ‘15-‘19 nine years on Thursday per barrel on March 3, the Uttar Pradesh assembly is job losses continued in
before retreating a little to highest since 2012, accord- on March 7. several firms despite the
aftermath of a risk event ticularly in Europe—gold $111 on Friday, but the gulf ing to information from "Auto fuel net marketing uptick in their business
and surrender these gains prices are likely to be between cost and retail the Petroleum Planning margin is minus Rs 4.92 confidence, a private sur-
within a month," said more supported with rates has only widened. and Analysis Cell of the oil per litre on March 3, and vey showed on Friday.
Suki Cooper, an analyst at higher risk premiums and With international oil ministry. This compares to Rs 1.61 in Q4 FY22-to-date," Data released by IHS
Standard Chartered more dovish central bank prices— on which domes- an average of $81.5 per bar- ICICI Securities said. Markit showed its Purch-
Bank. "As 2022 unfolds, we
expect gold to revert to
reaction," said Doshi.
Last month, Citigroup
tic fuel retails are bench- rel price of the Indian bas- —PTI asing Managers' Index for
services for February rose
taking its cue from real
yields."
raised its short-term bul-
lion forecast and reiterat-
to 51.8 from 51.5 in the pre-
ceding month. A print
Still, geopolitical events
that manifest into macro-
economic shocks—such
ed a 30 per cent bull case
probability that prices
would hit a fresh record of
Hero unveils new brand identity for EVs above 50 indicates expan-
sion while below 50 points
to contraction.
as the oil embargo in the $2,100 an ounce this year. MICHAEL GONSALVES form, products and servic- "There was also an
1970s, the Latin American Still, prices could drop to PUNE, MARCH 4 es to make the world a bet- uptick in business confi-
sovereign debt crisis in about $1,800 if the situa- ter place,” Munjal said. dence, but firms contin-
the early 1980s, and the tion in Ukraine de-esca- Hero MotoCorp, India’s The company will intro- ued to shed jobs. Mean-
global financial crisis in lates, the bank said. Spot biggest motorcycle maker, duce mobility solutions while, input costs increa-
the late 2000s—can pro- gold traded at $1,945.38 at on Friday unveiled Vida, under the Vida brand, sed at a softer rate as did
vide a more sustained bid 8:36 a.m on Friday in Powered by Hero, a brand- including its electric vehi- output prices. The servic-
for gold, said Aakash Singapore and is up about new identity for its emerg- cle that will be unveiled on es index, however, pointed
Doshi, Citigroup's head of 6 per cent in 2022. ing mobility solutions, July 1, to coincide with the to a moderate rate of
commodities research in Inflows into exchange- including upcoming elec- pose is to create a positive birth anni-versary of Hero expansion that was mar-
the Americas. traded funds on the back tric vehicles (EV). impact on the world and MotoCorp chairman emer- ginally quicker than in
"To the extent Russia- of the war in Europe and Pawan Munjal, chairman move all forward in mean- itus Brijmohan Lall. January. The upturn was
Ukraine exacerbates com- the economic fallout may and CEO also announced a ingful ways. The production of the attributed by panellists to
modities inflation, supply also provide a pillar of $100 million Global “This is truly the dawn of new Vida model will be greater bookings, better
chain bottlenecks, and support for bullion prices. Sustainability Fund. something special. In only undertaken at the compa- demand conditions and
slows global growth—par- — Bloomberg He said Vida means life, 17 weeks from today, we ny's Chittoor-based facility the retreat of the pandem-
and the brand's sole pur- will unveil our Vida plat- in Andhra Pradesh. ic," the survey showed.
Rosneft link may choke Nayara funding Geopolitical tensions posing
NIDHI VERMA & work as the majority of its Cyprus-based Russian
NUPUR ANAND
NEW DELHI/MUMBAI,
MARCH 3
outlets are owned and
operated by dealers.
"Some banks do provide
working capital financing
investment group United
Capital Partners.
Indian banks are await-
ing clarity from the gov-
dilemma to central banks: Das
Indian refiner Nayara facilities to some of our ernment and the central FALAKNAAZ SYED political disturbances.”
Energy, part-owned by dealers, which is governed bank on assets and pay- MUMBAI, MARCH 4 “Central banks are in a
Russian oil giant Rosneft, by the bilateral agreement ment settlements relating bind – if they act aggres-
could find it harder to raise between the bank and the to Russia, which has meant After two years of the sively to contain inflation
funds for expansion as a franchisee, without any putting loans to businesses Covid pandemic, the which may perhaps sub-
result of Western sanc- recourse to Nayara," it related to Nayara on hold, recent geo-political devel- side as normalcy returns,
tions in response to said in a statement on the sources said. opments have further they run the risk of set-
Russia's invasion of Thursday. Nayara operates the aggravated the challenges ting in recession; on the
Ukraine, sources with Nayara is in the process 400,000 barrels per day and dilemmas for the cen- other hand, if they act too
direct knowledge of the of rebranding its fleet of (bpd) Vadinar refinery in tral banks as they grapple little and too late, they
matter said. more than 6,000 retail fuel Gujarat and has plans to with multi-decadal high may be blamed for “falling
"We are cautious even if stations in its own name raise its petrochemical inflation and the need to Shaktikanta Das behind the curve” and
there is limited exposure from Essar Oil as it was capacity in phases. boost economic growth. may have to do a lot of
and in this case they have formerly known, and plans Last year, Nayara raised Amidst these uncertain- two years of living catching up later which
a majority Russian expo- another 3,000 outlets. Rs 4,000 crore for its ties, central banks have to through the pandemic, are will be detrimental to
sure via Rosneft and a Dealers who want to set planned $850 million find the optimal grounds now posing complex chal- growth.”
Cyprus-based fund, so it up Nayara's fuel stations polypropylene plant, with attendant communi- lenges for central bank He said that there is no
makes sense to put these and those rebranding their which is to be funded by a cation challenges, Shakti- communication. A num- last word yet on what con-
loan disbursals on hold facilities, are facing diffi- mix of debt and equity. kanta Das, governor, ber of economies, includ- stitutes the best practice
and to play safe," one culty in getting funds from The sources, who spoke Reserve Bank of India, ing the major ones, are of monetary policy.
banking source said. banks, the sources said. on condition of anonymity, said on Friday. facing multi-decadal high Monetary policy is an art
Nayara said in response Rosneft owns a 49.13 per said it could be difficulty Addressing the National inflation due to supply dis- of managing expectations,
to questions about its fund- cent stake in Nayara, for Nayara to raise funds in Defence College, referring ruptions, tighter labour central banks have to
ing plans that it did not while a similar-sized hold- the next round for expan- to the ongoing war, Das markets, fragility of the make continual efforts to
have any direct depend- ing is split between global sion if sanctions against said, “The current global just in time inventory shape and anchor market
ence on banks for the commodities trading Russia continue. conditions, after about management and geo- expectations, he said.
expansion of its retail net- house Trafigura and — Reuters
 GAMES
THE ASIAN AGE | SATURDAY | 5 MARCH 2022 | NEW DELHI
SHORT
Historic medal
TAKES
for Indian women
Muscat: The race walking trio of
Bhawna Jat, Ravina and Munita
Prajapati scripted history by
winning the country’s maiden
women’s 20km team medal, a
bronze, at the World Athletics
Race Walking Team
Championships here on Friday.
China and Greece won the gold
and silver respectively.
Ravina produced the best finish
by an Indian in the women’s
20km event at 14th spot with a
time of one hour 40 minutes 22
seconds. The experienced
Bhawna Jat, a Tokyo Olympian,
was 21st with a time of 1:43:08
and 20-year-old Munita
Prajapati finished 26th in
1:45:03. The team medals are
decided after taking into
account the overall perform-
ance of the competing athletes
of a country. “The hard work
that we put in at the national
camp has paid off,” Jat said
after winning the medal. This
was the Indian women’s team’s
first medal in the 61-year histo-
ry of the World Athletics Race
Walking Team Championships.
The men’s team had already
won a medal — also a bronze —
in 2012. — PTI
Indian paddlers
assured of silver
New Delhi: Indian mixed dou-
bles pair of Manav Thakkar and
Archana Kamath and women’s
doubles duo of Sutirtha
Mukherjee and Ayhika
Mukherjee entered the finals of
their respective table tennis
events, assuring the country of
at least two silver medals in the
ongoing WTT Contender
Muscat 2022. Manav and
Archana reached the mixed
doubles final on Thursday
night, beating Nandor Ecseki
and Leila Imre of Hungary 11-9,
11-7, 11-5.
In the all-Indian women’s dou-
bles semifinals, Sutirtha and
Ayhika did well to outwit Sreeja
Akuka and Selenadeepthi
Selvakumar 11-4, 11-6, 12-10.
In the summit clash on
Saturday, Sutirtha and Ayhika
will be up against China’s Qiyan
Tiani and Chen Xingtong while
Sreeja and Selenadeepthi fin-
ished their campaign with a
well-deserving bronze medal.
The fancied Indian mixed dou-
bles pair of G. Sathiyan and
Manika Batra, however, failed to
take advantage of the first-
round walkover and lost in their
quarterfinals to Ecseki and Imre
9-11, 10-12, 12-10, 3-11. — PTI
Yakshika, Vidhi
in medal rounds
New Delhi: Indian boxers
Yakshika (52kg) and Vidhi
(57kg) entered the junior girls’
semi-finals with comprehensive
victories at the Asian Youth &
Junior Boxing Championships in
Amman, Jordan on Friday.
While Yakshika outperformed
Nepal’s Swostika Tiruwa, Vidhi
blanked Uzbekistan’s
Odinakhon Ismoilova.
Assured of at least bronze
medals, Yakshika and Vidhi will
now take on Kazakhstan’s
Shakhnaz Tairzhan and
Hangoma Isoeva of Tajikistan
respectively in their semi-finals
on Tuesday.
However, it was curtains for
Tamanna, who gave her all dur-
ing an intense junior girls 66kg
last-eight contest against
Kazakhstan’s Aruzhan
Zhangabayeva but ended up
with a 1-4 loss. — PTI
Third season of
3BL from today
New Delhi: The third season of
the 3x3 Pro Basketball League
(3BL) will begin in Chandigarh
on Saturday. The 3BL is backed
by the Basketball Federation of
India (BFI) and International
Basketball Federation (FIBA)
and is scheduled to conclude
on March 21.
The dates of the league were
announced on Friday by 3BL
Commissioner Rohit Bakshi and
Director Prerna Sharma.
“We are happy to grant exclu-
sive rights to 3BL’s professional
league as an added avenue for
our star players to shine,” said
BFI secretary general Chander
Mukhi Sharma said.
“3BL will provide additional
income and exposure to many
Indian basketball athletes.”
A total of 12 men’s teams and
six women’s sides will be par-
ticipating across six rounds.
Winners will be announced at
the end of each round, and the
winner of the final round will be
crowned the overall champion.
Published by K. Sudhakar for and on
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India’s Rishabh Pant en route to his 96 against Sri Lanka on the first day of the first Test match at the IS Bindra
PCA Stadium in Mohali on Friday.
PERFECT PANT
Rishabh makes statement in Kohli’s landmark Test
Mohali, March 4: Indian
cricket’s rapidly-rising
box-office draw Rishabh
Pant owned the centre-
stage in Virat Kohli’s
landmark 100th Test,
hammering Sri Lankan
bowlers into submission
with an enthralling 96 as
the hosts reached a com-
manding 357 for 6 on the
opening day of the first
Test here.
The 5000 odd spectators,
who had come to watch
Kohli perform on a grand
stage, saw one of the
most flamboyant batters
in recent history make a
mockery of an average
Sri Lankan attack.
He was especially bru-
tal when it came to going
after left-arm spinner
Lasith Embuldeniya (28-
2-107-2), who was taken
for 22 in one over.
The deathly silence
after Kohli’s shock exit
for a well-made 45 was
there for barely a second
and half.
Because at that point
entered the stockily built
24-year-old from India’s
engineering city of
Rourkee and that was fol-
lowed by a deafening
roar which showed his
popularity.
On Kohli’s day, he had
completely
owed the legend.
over-shad-
And those who came for
Kohli, decided to stay
back and savour Pant’s
mayhem as he started
with a signature lofted
six off Embuldeniya over
mid-wicket fence.
Embuldeniya, who
must have felt embold-
ened when he got one to
turn a shade away and
tickle Kohli’s off-stump,
didn’t know what hit
him. In just over one-and-
a-half session, Pant near-
ly reached his fourth
Bawane, Kazi put
Maha in control
Sultanpur (Haryana),
March 4: Maharashtra
rode on skipper Ankit
Bawane’s elegant 140
and Azim Kazi’s 113 to
post a big total of 462
against Uttar Pradesh
on the second day of
their Ranji Trophy elite
group G game here on
Friday.
Bawane and Kazi
stitched a crucial 130-
run stand for the fifth
wicket as they frustrat-
ed the Uttar Pradesh
bowlers after
Maharashtra resumed
the day on their
overnight score of
298/4.
Bawane added 24 runs
to his overnight score
before becoming pacer
Ankit Rajpoot’s (2/76)
Ramkumar, Yuki keep India ahead
New Delhi, March 4: Yuki
Bhambri returned to
Davis Cup action with a
commanding win while
Ramkumar Ramanathan
did not even need his ‘A
game’ to emerge victori-
ous as India grabbed a 2-0
lead in the World Group I
Play-off tie against
Denmark, here on Friday.
Taking full advantage of
the Danish player’s dis-
comfort on the low
bounce grass court,
Ramkumar cruised to a 6-
3, 6-2 win over Christian
Siggsgaard, ranked as low
as 824, in the opening sin-
gles of the tie here.
Virat Kohli plays a shot against Sri Lanka in his land-
mark 100th Test on Friday.
SCORECARD
India: Mayank Agarwal lbw b Embuldeniya 33, Rohit Sharma c
Lakmal b Lahiru Kumara 29, Hanuma Vihari b Vishwa Fernando
58, Virat Kohli b Embuldeniya 45, Rishabh Pant b Lakmal 96,
Shreyas Iyer lbw b Dhananjaya de Silva 27, Ravindra Jadeja
(batting) 45, Ravichandran Ashwin (batting) 10. Extras (lb-5,
nb-9) 14.. Total (For 6 wkts, in 85 overs) 357.
FoW: 1-52, 2-80, 3-170, 4-175, 5-228, 6-332.
Bowling: Suranga Lakmal 16-1-63-1, Vishwa Fernando 16-1-69-1,
Lahiru Kumara 10.5-1-52-1, Lasith Embuldeniya 28-2-107-2,
Dhananjaya de Silva 11-1-47-1, Charith Asalanka 3.1-0.14-0.
hundred in Test cricket
before veteran Suranga
Lakmal (1/63), in his last
international series,
breached his defence.
There were nine fours
and four sixes in his 97-
ball knock and one could-
n’t but feel for the young
man who looked com-
second victim.
After Bawane fell, 28-
year-old Kazi, a left-
handed batter, took the
onus on himself and
kept playing shots at
will.
He too notched up his
100 and was the last
man to be dismissed.
KHARE, SINGH
HIT TONS
In Guwahati,
Amandeep Khare and
Shashank Singh struck
fine centuries to dash
Delhi’s slim quarterfi-
nal hopes as
Chhattisgarh posted a
mammoth 482/9
declared in their first
innings on the second
day of their elite group
H match. — PTI
There was hardly any
fight in the match, that
lasted just 59 minutes, as
Christian made it easy for
the 170th-ranked Indian
with his unending
unforced errors.
Yuki, playing Davis Cup
for the first time since
2017, doubled India’s lead
with a 6-4, 6-4 win in the
second singles against
Mikael Torpegaard, who,
though served and
stroked confidently to
keep the India on edge.
It was clear that India’s
strategy to host Denmark
on grass courts worked
well as tackling the low
— PTI
VIRAT FELT LIKE
DEBUTANT ON
HIS 100TH TEST
Mohali, March 4: Virat
Kohli felt like a “nervous
debutant” with “butter-
flies in his stomach” as he
stepped out for his 100th
Test but the public hyste-
ria surrounding his
“milestones and material-
istic achievements” does-
n’t bother the champion
batter at all.
It has now been more
than 27 months that Kohli
has been stuck on 27 Test
hundreds but the former
India skipper, despite
acceptance of disappoint-
ment for frittering away
another good start in the
opening Test against Sri
Lanka here, isn’t both-
ered about the quantum
of runs as long as he is
batting well.
“You obviously feel dis-
— PTI appointed as a batsman. I
need to be mindful and
convert the 30s and 40s
into big scores,” he said
during his interaction
with the media at the end
of day’s play after con-
tributing a classy 45 to the
team’s 357/6.
But does he feel the need
to change the process
since big scores aren’t
coming, the response was
pletely devastated after
a sharp one.
“I have been preparing
exactly the way I have
another near-miss, the prepared and as long as I
fifth time that he has got- am batting well, not both-
ten out in the 90s. ered at all. From a world-
The walk back to the
pavilion took an eternity
as it seemed that one
ly point, people look at
milestones and they talk
about a lot of things and
would need someone to they are just conversa-
drag him out. — PTI tions on the outside,” he
said. — PTI
BRIEF SCORES
■ Maharashtra 462 in 147.1 overs (Ankit Bawane 140, Azim Kazi
113; Jasmer Dhankhar 3/83, Ankit Rajpoot 2/76) versus Uttar
Pradesh 62/1 in 32 overs (Priyam Garg 29 not out; Vicky Ostwal
1/14).
■ Chhattisgarh 482/9 decl. in 145 overs (Amandeep Khare 156
not out, Shashank Singh 122, Ajay Mandal 63; Vikas Mishra 6/124)
vs Delhi 108/3 in 30 overs (Yash Dhull 29, Kshitiz Sharma 29;
Shubham Agarwal 1/9).
■ Tamil Nadu 285 & 14/2 in 9 overs (Rahul Shukla 2/4) vs
Jharkhand 226 in 74.3 overs (Saurabh Tiwary 58, Utkarsh Singh
52; Manimaran Siddharth 4/37).
■ Odisha 284 in 107.1 overs (Shantanu Mishra 89; Mohit Avasthi
3/66, D Kulkarni 2/42) vs Mumbai 259/3 in 70 overs (Sarfaraz 107
not out, Armaan Jaffer 77 not out, Prithvi Shaw 53; Rajesh
Mohanty 3/64).
■ Assam 316 in 92.1 overs (Sarupam Purkayastha 113, Riyan Parag
48; Rajneesh Gurbani 5/77, Aditya Sarvate 3/64) versus Vidarbha
266/9 in 82 overs (Faiz Fazal 86, Atharva Taide 42; Riyan Parag
5/68, Siddharth Sarmah 1/35).
■ Uttarakhand 194 in 69.1 overs (Kunal Chandela 52, Kamal Singh
42, Bandaru Ayyappa 4 for 37, Prithvi Raj 3 for 27) and 23/0 vs
Andhra 226 in 85 overs (C. R. Gnaneshwar 45, Shaik Rasheed 56,
Ricky Bhui 33, D Dhapola 4 for 80).
■ Rajasthan 92 in 45.2 overs (Ashok Menaria 31, Diwesh Pathania
3 for 24, Poonam Poonia 3 for 31) vs Services 301 in 113.2 overs
(Rajat Paliwal 91, Ravi Chauhan 47, Shamser Yadav 60, MJ Suthar
4 for 82).
■ Madhya Pradesh 474/5 in 180 overs (Yash Dubey 224 not out,
Rajat Patidar 142; Jalaj Saxena 2/83, Basil NP 1/71) versus Kerala.
■ Karnataka 453/8 decl. in 132.2 overs (Devdutt Padikkal 178,
Manish Pandey 107 not out, K. V. Siddharth 85, Ashith Rajiv 4 for
80) vs Pondicherry 52/2 in 18 overs.
bounce indeed troubled
the visitors.
Rohan Bopanna and
Divij Sharan will now
strive to seal the tie for
India on Saturday when
they take court for the
doubles match against
Frederik Nielsen and
Johannes Ingildsen. If
they win, India will keep
their place in the World
Group I and the reverse
singles will be rendered
inconsequential.
“In Davis Cup, it’s more
about fighting than play-
ing well. I fought well and
India’s Yuki Bhambri in hard today,” Yuki said
action on Friday. — UNI after his win. — PTI
pg 8
Warne: Most cerebral
bowler of them all
R. MOHAN
hane Warne was one of
S the brainiest crick-
eters to ever play the
game. As a student of crick-
et, he soaked up so much
knowledge that he was
what in lingo we would call
“cricketing dada”. A lot of
leg spinners have bowled
the fizzing leg break pitch-
ing beyond leg stump after
swirling inwards in the air
and turning across the bat
to hit the top off stump. But
Warne did it with such a
sense of drama that one
such leg break of his
bowled in his first over in
an Ashes Test in England
was to be tagged as the
“ball of the century”, the
one with which he bowled
Mike Gatting.
I once made the monu-
mental error of suggesting
that Warne was experi-
menting more in Tests than
in one-day cricket. Placing
the butt of a cigarette he
was smoking precisely on a
carpet in the Sharjah dress-
ing room, Warnie went on
to explain to me at length
why the opposite was true
and all the logic behind it.
A bowler should experi-
ment all he wants in limit-
ed-overs cricket where he
doesn’t want to be pre- took him to the cleaners in his wicket.
dictable while in Tests he his first Test in Sydney in One of the greatest sub-
bowled more steadily and 1992. In hardly a few years plots in a great Test match
brought in the variations he had become the genius at Chepauk in the 1990s was
subtly. leggie world cricket was Shane Warne bowling to
The extent of his cerebral raving about. Sachin Tendulkar. One
approach to cricket was If he didn’t lead Australia stroke almost brushed the
obvious in the way he more often than he did on fingers of the fielder as he
groomed Rajasthan Royals occasion as a stand-in, it leapt at midwicket but
to victory in the first IPL in was because Warnie was every other stroke in a blaz-
2008 at a time when every- not exactly the ing century was a batting
one else was wondering Establishment figure who masterclass. And Warne
what the T20 game was would bow down to author- acknowledged it as a stu-
really all about. The way he ity. In his heart he was a dent of the game that he
could talk to youngsters rebel, in his mind he was a always was. He may have
while teaching them the cricket grandee who had been thinking about the
brainy way to play the mastered the art of bowling magically cerebral game
game was thought to be leg breaks, top spinners, perhaps right up to the
phenomenal. But it is not zooters and sliders in a moment that eternity beck-
as if he was born a genius befuddling variety that oned and he is perhaps still
with the ball. Sachin and preyed on the minds of thinking about how best to
Shastri taught the green- batsmen and made him bowl the zooter in Elysian
horn many lessons as they look like a novice as he took fields.
Spin wizard Warne dies
of suspected heart attack
Melbourne, March 4:
Former Australia spinner
Shane Warne, who rede-
fined the art of spin bowl-
ing to become one of the
52 IS NOT THE AGE TO
greatest in international
cricket, has died of a sus-
pected heart attack in
LEAVE, SAYS MURALI
Thailand, according to a BIPIN DANI
statement from his man-
agement.He was 52. He is uthiah Muralitharan has lost his cricket-part-
survived by two daughters
and a son.
Warne’s management
M ner. Shane Warne, one of Australia’s greatest
Test cricketers, has died of a suspected heart
attack at the age of 52.
released a brief statement “It (the age of 52) is not the age for any cricketer to
to the Australian media, leave,” Muralitharan said.
saying that he passed away “It is very shocking news and very hard to digest. We
in Koh Samui, Thailand can’t believe it. He was a legendary cricketer. We both
and the reason could be a played in the same era. The world of cricket fraternity
suspected heart attack.
“Shane was found unre-
sponsive in his villa and
despite the best efforts of
will miss him. It is a big loss to the game. All his fans
will miss him,” Murali added.
Warne was the second highest Test wicket taker (708)
after Murali’s 800.
medical staff, he could not Warne’s manager James Ereskine, speaking from
be revived,” the statement Sydney, said, “Warne along with his four friends went
reported by various media to Thailand (from Melbourne) on Wednesday. He was
outlets here said. not on any cricketing assignment but on a holiday. One
“The family requests pri- among the four there is our office staff.
vacy at this time and will “The dead-body will be brought to Australia for his
provide further details in final rites. It may take a few more days as the High
due course.” Commissioner’s office is also involved in the process,”
An iconic name in inter- he added.
national cricket, Warne,
since making his debut in
1992, played 145 Tests for
Australia, picking up 708
on the leg stump and, as the
Englishman tried to
and only Sri Lanka off-
spinner Muttiah
wickets with his leg-spin. defend, turned viciously to Muralitharan has more
In his 194 ODI appearances, clip his off bail. wickets than him with 800.
Warne snared 293 scalps. Gatting was left in disbe- In 2007, Cricket Australia
He immortalised himself lief by the big leg break, a and Sri Lanka Cricket
with the ‘ball of the centu- craft that was dying before named the Test series
ry’ in 1993 when as a 24- Warne revived it with his between the two sides the
year-old, he deceived Mike guile. Wa r n e - M u r a l i t h a r a n
Gatting at Old Trafford He was the second highest Trophy in the duo’s honour.
with a delivery that landed wicket taker in Test history — PTI
AUSTRALIAN GREAT MARSH NO MORE
Sydney, March 4: Rodney Dennis Lillee.
Marsh was remembered as Nicknamed “Iron
“a colossal figure” in
Australian cricket on
Friday who gave close to 50
years’ service to the sport
Gloves”, he also played 92
ODIs and as a dashing left-
hander was the first
Australian wicketkeeper
as tributes poured in after to score a Test century
he died following a heart against Pakistan in 1982.
attack at a charity event After his playing career,
last week. he remained closely linked
The 74-year-old, who to the game as head of the
played 96 Tests and was Australian Cricket
later a long-time national Rodney Marsh Academy, helping nurture
selector, had been in an dozens of players includ-
induced coma and passed “It has given us strength ing Ricky Ponting, Adam
away peacefully in an in the most difficult week Gilchrist and Justin
Adelaide hospital on of our lives.” Langer, before becoming
Friday morning, his fami- Perth-born Marsh made chairman of selectors.
ly confirmed. his international debut in His former captain and
“We are so grateful for all 1970 against England long-time friend Ian
the love and support our before retiring in 1984 Chappell told Channel
family has received from with what was then a Nine that Marsh was
so many people over the world-record 355 Test dis- respected by all those he
last week,” they said in a missals, 95 off the bowling
played with and against.
statement. of legendary paceman — AFP