SATURDAY
com
16 APRIL
2022
Pages 12 |` 5.00|LC
KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR
WEATHER
MAINLY CLEAR SKY. THE MAXIMUM AND
MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WOULD BE
AROUND 40 AND 24 DEGREES CELSIUS
RESPECTIVELY.
RAINFALL: Nil
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Max: 55% Min: 23%
TEMPERATURE
Max: 38.7°C (+2) Min: 23.7°C (+3)
SUN RISES
05:54 hrs
MOON RISES
18:27 hrs
SUN SETS
18:47 hrs
MOON SETS
06:14 hrs
THUMBNAILS
KKR lose to Sunrisers: Half-centuries from Rahul
Tripathi and Aiden Markram took Sunrisers
Hyderabad to a comfortable seven-wicket win
over Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in an IPL 2022
match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai.
Tripathi (71 off 37) and Markram (68 not out)
added 94 runs for the third wicket as SRH cha-
sed down the total with 13 balls to spare. Earli-
er, Nitish Rana scored 54 while Andre Russell
hammered an unbeaten 49 for KKR to post a
total of 175 for eight. (Earlier report on Pg 12)
Russia starts delivery
of S-400 missiles’ 2nd
consignment to India
INDO ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Amid the Ukraine war and
sanctions, Russia has begun
delivering the second
squadron of S-400 advanced
surface-to-air missile defence
system to India, ahead of
schedule, officials said.
By end of this month, the
delivery of the critical system
will be completed and there-
after it will be deployed.
The first squadron of the
S-400 system arrived in India
in December 2021 and has
been deployed on the Pun-
jab border to thwart any air
strikes from both Pakistan and
China.
India has procured five
S-400 systems from Russia
through a $5-billion deal
signed in October 2018.
All the five units of the S-
400 system, which can take
down a hostile aircraft or
missile at a range between
40km and 400km, are expect-
ed to be operational by 2022.
The S-400 system is capa-
ble of tracking, engaging and
addressing the threat of Chi-
nese or Pakistani fighters the
moment they take off from air
bases. The system can track
multiple targets at multiple
‘Over 900 civilian bodies
found in Kyiv region’
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 15 APRIL
More than 900 civilian bod-
ies have been discovered in
the region surrounding the
Ukrainian capital following the
withdrawal of Russian forces
~ most of them fatally shot,
police said Friday, an indi-
cation that people were “sim-
ply executed.”
Andriy Nebytov, the head
of Kyiv’s regional police force,
said the bodies were aban-
doned in the streets or given
temporary burials. He cited
police data indicating that 95%
died from gunshot wounds.
“Consequently, we under-
stand that under the (Russ-
ian) occupation, people were
simply executed in the streets,”
Nebytov said.
More bodies are being
found every day, under rub-
ble and in mass graves, he
added. “The most victims
were found in Bucha, where
there are more than 350
corpses,” he said.
Meanwhile, Russia’s
Defense Ministry promised
to ramp up missile attacks on
the Ukrainian capital in res-
ponse to Ukraine’s alleged
aggression on Russian terri-
tory, a warning that followed
Moscow’s stinging loss of its
flagship in the Black Sea.
The threat of intensified
attacks on Kyiv came after
Russian authorities accused
Ukraine of wounding seven
people and damaging about
100 residential buildings with
airstrikes in Bryansk, a region
bordering Ukraine. Author-
ities in another border region
of Russia also reported Ukrain-
ian shelling Thursday.
www.thestatesman.
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twitter.com/TheStatesmanLtd
facebook.com/thestatesman1875
Let’s focus on preventive
Contractor death row: approach to health: Modi
K’taka minister resigns STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Eshwarappa says he is sure of coming out clean in the “Agni Pariksha”
ASIAN NEWS and leaders across the has expressed confidence Prime Minister Narendra
INTERNATIONAL state are calling and sup- that he will come out clear Modi today underlined the
BENGALURU , 15 APRIL porting me. from all allegations and need to focus on a preven-
They expressed confi- return as a minister soon. tive approach to health and
arnataka Rural dence that no BJP worker Contractor Santhosh called upon the people to
K Development
Minister KS Esh-
warappa on Fri-
day tendered his resigna-
tion from Ministership to Karnataka minister KS Esh-
can commit such a mis-
take," Eshwarappa said
while adding that he is
sure of coming out clean
in the “Agni Pariksha”.
Patil, who died on Tuesday,
accused Eashwarappa,
who handles the Rural
Development and Pan-
chayat Raj portfolio, and has
lay emphasis on cleanliness,
exercise and Yoga. He also
stressed the importance of
a good diet, clean water and
nutrition while dedicating
Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks at the dedication of
the K.K. Patel Super Speciality Hospital, Bhuj, Gujarat,
chief minister Basavaraj warappa meets Chief Min- Earlier today, Bharatiya named the minister in his to the nation the K. K. Patel through video conferencing, in New Delhi on Friday. � ANI
Bommai amid the row over ister Basavaraj S Bommai in Janata Party (BJP) Gener- last phone messages, say- Super Speciality Hospital in
the alleged suicide of con- Bengaluru on Friday. � ANI al Secretary Dushyant Gau- ing he was "solely respon- Bhuj. The hospital has been in this area. In this series, informed. Modi elaborat-
tractor Santosh Patil. tam said the minister needs sible" for his death. built by Shree Kutchi Leva Bhuj is getting a modern, ed that better health facil-
State ministers Bairati Before leaving for Ben- to step down only if he is Santosh Patil had report- Patel Samaj, Bhuj. super speciality hospital ities were not limited only
Basavaraj, MTB Nagaraj, galuru, Eshwarappa said guilty in the contractor edly been given an oral Speaking on the occa- today,” he said. to the treatment of disease,
Araga Jnanendra and MLA the reason for his resigna- death case. instruction by the minis- sion, the PM appreciated This hospital was the they also encouraged social
Ramesh Jharkiholi were tion is to set a benchmark Bommai, earlier on Fri- ter for a Rs 4-crore project that leaving the devastation first charitable super spe- justice.
also present at the chief for the workers of the day, confirmed that Esh- in the rural parts of the state. caused by the 2001 earth- ciality hospital of the region The “Ayushman Bharat”
minister's residence while Bharatiya Janata Party, warappa will tender his But even after 18 months, quake behind, the people that would act as a guarantee scheme has been instru-
Eshwarappa tendered his who "should feel that they resignation from his min- he had not received any of Bhuj and Kutch were of quality medical treat- mental in saving crores of
resignation. will not get power until they isterial post today. payment for the job, to now writing a new destiny ment for the people of rupees every year in the
Notably, Eshwarappa come out clean and inno- Karnataka BJP strong- complete which, he had to for this region with their hard Kutch along with lakhs of treatment of poor and mid-
represents the Shivamog- cent". man BS Yediyurappa, borrow money and even sell work. “Today many mod- soldiers, paramilitary per- dle-class families along
ga Assembly seat. “All the workers, MLAs, standing by his old friend, his wife's jewellery. ern medical services exist sonnel and traders, the PM with the JanaushadhiYojana.
ranges and neutralise them
simultaneously.
India decided to upgrade
its military infrastructure
when the country was locked
in a major faceoff with China
along the Line of Actual Con-
trol in July 2020. The threat
of two-front war - from China
and Pakistan - made India go
for large scale arms deals
and Russia is still one of
India's largest arms suppli-
ers.
There were apprehension
on delay in delivery of criti-
cal weapon system after Rus-
sia's war with Ukraine. How-
ever, with delivery of the sec-
ond squadron of S-400 sys-
tem, India is hopeful of get-
ting other military capabili-
ties.
Earlier this month, Russ-
ian Foreign Minister Sergey
Lavrov visited India and had
met Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Foreign Minister S.
Jaishankar and apprised them
about the ongoing crisis in
Ukraine while discussing
bilateral ties.
Lavrov and Jaishankar
held discussions over Russia's
crude oil offer, rupee-ruble
payment, ongoing arms deals,
Ukraine crisis, and the situ-
ation in Afghanistan and Iran.
The threat of intensi-
fied attacks on Kyiv
came after Russian
authorities accused
Ukraine of wounding
seven people and
damaging about 100
residential buildings
with airstrikes on
Bryansk, a region bor-
dering Ukraine.
Russia issued the warning
while it continues to prepare
for a renewed offensive in east-
ern Ukraine. Meanwhile,
locals in the pummeled south-
eastern city of Mariupol
reported seeing Russian troops
digging up bodies.
Ukrainian officials have not
confirmed striking targets in
Russia, and the reports could
not be independently verified.
However, Ukrainian offi-
cials said their forces did
strike a key Russian warship
with missiles. If true, the
reported Wednesday attack on
the guided-missile cruiser
Moskva, named for the Russ-
ian capital, would represent
an important victory for
Ukraine and a symbolic defeat
for Russia. The warship sank
while being towed to port
Thursday after suffering heavy
damage under circumstances
that remained in dispute.
Moscow acknowledged a fire
on board but not any attack.
US and other Western officials
could not confirm what caused
the blaze. If Ukrainian forces
took out the vessel, it was like-
ly the largest warship to be
sunk in combat since 1982.
(See Page 10)
02 NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022

Closely watching Covid School Management Committees strong

pillar of Delhi education model: Sisodia
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

cases in Delhi: Kejriwal

turned this statement upside
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL down with its work and has
become one of the most suc-
Deputy Chief Minister Manish cessful community involve-
Sisodia has said there are four ment programmes in the edu-
pillars of Delhi’s education rev- cation sector globally.
olution -- honesty, clear vision She said it is all a result of
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE last two days. on education, education bud- SMC members’ continuous
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL The Delhi government, in Delhi records 366 get and a successful School Man- efforts and their commitment

hief Minister Arvind

an advisory issued on Thurs-
day evening amid reports of
fresh Covid cases agement Committees (SMC)
model.
The Deputy Chief Minister
said that there is no SMC which
to education.
Shailendra Sharma, Principal

C Kejriwal has said that

the Delhi government
is keeping a close eye
on rising cases of Covid-19 in
the national capital adding
Covid infections in schools, said
that the wing concerned of the
school or even the entire school
must be closed down for time
being in such cases.
STATESMAN NEWS
SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL

A total of 366 fresh Covid-19

that nothing to worry about as
of now.
Addressing the situation,
Kejriwal said, “We are keeping
a close eye on rising cases of
Corona. Hospital admissions
are not increasing, so there is
no need to panic. Nothing to
worry about as of now.”
Delhi Health Minister
Satyendar Jain appealed to
the people to get vaccinated
at the earliest and said, "Pre-
vention is better than cure. All
those who have not yet taken
the vaccine or have taken only
the first dose, should be taken
to their nearest health facili-
ty as soon as possible for com-
plete vaccination."
He added, "Wearing a mask
while leaving the house can pre-
vent most cases. Even though
cases of corona have increased
in Delhi, the number of patients
admitted to hospitals is still nor-
mal. Apart from this, the XE vari-
ant has not been included in
the list of 'Variants of Concern'
by the World Health Organi-
zation. So there is no need to
panic."
He said the Delhi Disaster
Management Authority
(DDMA) will meet on April 20
to discuss the rise in Corona
cases and measures to contain
the spread of the virus. In this
future strategies will be dis-
cussed, the Delhi Health Min-
ister said.
COVID-19 cases have wit-
nessed a surge in Delhi in the
"If any Covid case is noticed
or reported to the school
authority, the same must be
intimidated to the Directorate
of Education immediately and
the concerned wing of the
school or the school as a whole
as the case may be, must be
closed down for time being,"
said the advisory issued by the
Directorate of Education.
It asked all the schools of
Delhi to follow all the precau-
tionary measures to prevent any
spread of Covid infection,
including wearing of masks by
students, teachers and other
staff and to maintain social dis-
tancing to the extent possible.
The advisory has also
emphasised creating awareness
cases were recorded in Delhi
on Friday out of 9275 tests
conducted during the past
24 hours across the nation-
al capital.
The cumulative number
of COVID-19 cases in the city
now stands at 1867572.
According to the latest
Delhi government's health
bulletin, the infection pos-
itivity rate stood at 3.95 per
cent. Delhi registered zero
deaths due to the coron-
avirus infection during the
past 24 hours.
on prevention of Covid infec-
tion among students, teach-
ers, staff and the parents vis-
iting the schools.
To encourage the mem-
bers of the SMC and improve
their working, the Delhi Deputy
Chief Minister held a meeting
with district and constituency
level members of the com-
mittee. Along with the Deputy
Chief Minister, MLA Ms Atishi,
who is the Chairperson of the
Education Standing Commit-
tee, Delhi Legislative Assembly,
and Shailendra Sharma, Prin-
cipal Advisor, Directorate of Edu-
cation were also present in the
meeting.
Sisodia said SMC’s com-
mitment and dedication have
made Delhi’s education model
a success and that is why the
Delhi’s education model is
now being discussed both
nationally and globally.
He said he’s worked with the
SMC since 2015 with the vision
of improving the education
system of Delhi.
isassuccessfulastheoneinDelhi
and that it now needs to be
improved further. For this to hap-
pen, it is necessary to strength-
en the working of the committee
aswellasincludemoreandmore
parents with the schools to
make them a participant in the
learning of their children.
In the meeting, Ms Atishi,
Chairperson, Education Stand-
ing Committee, Delhi Legisla-
tive Assembly said that while
every state has a provision of
SMC, it is just on paper. How-
ever in Delhi, it's not the case
as Delhi’s SMC has worked on
the ground to improve the
education system of Delhi.
She said a well-known research
institute had in 2015 said in one
of its global research reports that
community involvement in
education is very difficult and
that they are not successful.
However, Delhi’s SMC has
Advisor,DirectorateofEducation
said that Delhi’s SMC is known
for its work. He said just like the
Mission Buniyaad initiative by
Delhi government to bridge the
learning gap of students, SMC
will bridge the gap between the
schools and the parents. He also
calledSMC’sworkintakingalong
the parents for Delhi’s educa-
tion revolution commendable
but also said it now needs to
be strengthened further. He said
there is a need to motivate
parents and involve them more
for the benefit of their children.
The SMCs for the Delhi
government schools have been
strengthened structurally and
it has increased the role and par-
ticipation of parents in the
school’s administration. Today
Delhi’s 1000+ government
schools have over 16,000 active
members and over 18,000
active Mitras.

NDMC to develop special tracks at 3 parks
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
New Delhi Municipal Coun-
cil (NDMC) will develop
"Synthetic EPDM Track" at
Sanjay Jheel – Laxmibai
Nagar & Lodhi Garden and
"Special Running Synthetic
EPDM Track" at Nehru Park.
It was informed by NDMC
vice-chairman Satish Upad-
hyay, here today.
Giving the details of the
project of the Synthetic
EPDM Track, Sanjay Jheel,
Laxmibai Nagar, Upadhyay
said that the Synthetic EPDM
Track, jogging track will be
provided at the existing walk-
way after removing the dam-
aged Red sandstone flooring
and the fancy Kerb Stones on
both sides. He further said
that the length of the walk-
way is approximately 1750 m
and 1.5m wide.
While giving the details of
the Synthetic EPDM jogging
track, Lodhi Garden, Upad-
hyay said that the Synthet-
ic EPDM jogging track will
be provided at the existing
bituminous concrete walk-
way without disturbing the
existing Red sandstone floor-
ing walkway.
The existing "Kachha"
walkway will be used for
diversions from the Red
sandstone track which is
parallel to the Red sand-
stone walkway. He said that
the length of the walkway will
be about 2750m and the
width would be 2m to 3m as
per the space available at the
site.
Upadhyay informed that
running Track Synthetic
(Exclusively for running),
Nehru Park - after success-
ful implementation of Syn-
thetic EPDM jogging track at
Nehru Park, the footfall have
been increased tremendously
including the athletes/stu-
dents/runners those used
the spikes shoes and dam-
aged the Synthetic EPDM jog-
ging track.
Besides intensive securi-
ty guards and signboards
are provided but the tracks
are being damaged by such
users. Therefore, an exclusive
Running Track (15mm thick)
made of EPDM Synthetic
track in full PU as the top layer
(6mm thick) will be con-
structed at Nehru Park for
running in the length of
about 160m with 4 lanes for
the first time in a public
place for public use.
This will be a synthetic
running track as good as an
athletic track in a proper
stadium for the general pub-
lic to be used by 4 runners
simultaneously.
Upadhyay informed that
these tracks will be envi-
ronmentally friendly jog-
ging tracks for a comfortable
walk and dust-free track in
terracotta colour. He also
informed that no existing tree
will be disturbed and prop-
er breathing space will be left
around the existing trees.
He further informed that
the total estimated cost of the
project at Lodhi Garden is
approximately Rs 2.50 crore,
at Sanjay Jheel-Laxmibai
Nagar, it is Rs 1.60 crore and
at the Nehru Park it is Rs 60
lakh.
Hindu Sena puts up saffron flags outside JNU, cops remove it
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
The members of Hindu Sena
-- a right wing organisation
-- on Friday morning put up
saffron flags outside the Jawa-
harlal Nehru University (JNU)
campus in the national cap-
ital forcing the police to ini-
tiate legal action and remove
the said flags from there.
"Today morning it has
come to notice that few flags
and banners have been put
on the road and adjoining
areas near JNU. In view of
recent incidents, these were
promptly removed and suit-
able legal action is being
taken," Deputy Commis-
sioner of Police (southwest)
Manoj C said.
Hindu Sena national vice-
president, Surjit Yadav said the
saffron has been insulted all
along by the anti-saffron peo-
ple at Jawaharlal Nehru Uni-
versity. "The Hindu Sena
warns them. We respect you,
respect each and every reli-
gion and every thought
process. But the way the saf-
fron is being insulted at JNU,
the Hindu Sena will not tol-
erate it and can take stringent
steps against it," Yadav said.
Apart from the saffron
flags, tied all across the main
road outside JNU, some ban-
ners were also installed that
read - 'Bhagwa JNU'.
Expressing similar senti-
ments, Hindu Sena president
Vishnu Gupta, confirmed to
IANS about putting up the saf-
fron flags and banners by his
organisation's vice presi-
dent."It is very wrong that saf-
fron is being constantly insult-
ed at JNU. Saffron is in India's
culture. None should oppose
it," Gupta said.
Notably, the university has
again become a hotbed of pol-
itics after the April 10 violence
in the campus. As many as 16
students were injured during
a scuffle that allegedly start-
ed over consumption of non
vegetarian food on the occa-
sion of Ram Nawami.
‘Why is police in hurry to remove
banners, saffron not symbol of terror’
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Hours after the Delhi Police
removed the saffron flags and
hoardings of 'Bhagwa JNU'
from outside the Jawaharlal
Nehru University (JNU) cam-
pus in the national capital on
Friday, Hindu Sena president
Vishnu Gupta said the Delhi
Police should not be in such
a hurry to take down them as
the 'saffron' is not a symbol
of terror.
"The police should not be
in such a hurry to take down
the saffron flag. Saffron is not
a symbol of terror that the police
is showing haste, it is the right
of the law to protect saffron and
Hindutva," Gupta told IANS.
The members of Hindu
Sena -- a right wing organisation
-- had put up saffron flags out-
side JNU forcing the police to
initiate legal action and remove
the said flags from there.
The Hindu Sena chief said
the Saffron and Hindutva are
constantly being insulted in
the JNU campus, which is
very wrong. "Hindutva is our
culture and saffron is the sym-
bol of our culture. The people
of any country should not
have any objection to saf-
fron," he said.
Gupta further said that
Saffron and Hindutva can
only trouble an anti-nation-
al person. "If someone has a
problem with India's culture,
then he can leave the coun-
try," he quipped.
Notably, the JNU has again
become a hotbed of politics
after the April 10 violence in
the campus in which as many
as 16 students were injured dur-
ing a scuffle that allegedly
started over consumption of
non vegetarian food on the
occasion of Ram Navami.

Heroin valued at Rs 1.5 cr
seized in Delhi, 2 held
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Delhi Police has seized 500
grams heroin valued at Rs 1.5
crore in the international
market and arrested two drug
traffickers, including a woman,
in this connection, an official
said here on Friday.
The accused were identi-
fied as Aamna (26) and Ravi
(22), both residents of Narela,
Delhi.
Furnishing details, DCP
(outer north district) BKYadav
said a tip-off was received
regarding the presence of the
accused duo in the outer
north area after which the
police conducted a raid and
arrested both Aamna and
Ravi with half Kg of heroin.
"During house search of
accused Aamna, packing
material (electronic weighing
machine, different size poly-
thene pouches) have also
been recovered.
Aamna is the main traf-
ficker of Narela and the co-
accused, Ravi used to assist
her as her carrier," DCP Yadav
said.
Accordingly, the police
registered a case under sec-
tions 21 and 29 of the NDPS
Act.
The senior police officer
informed that Ajmera alias
Kabri, elder sister of Aamna,
was previously arrested by the
Narcotics Cell of outer north
district in 2020 in an NDPS
case. She is still in judicial cus-
tody.
It was officially learnt that
the accused Amma used to
procure heroin from Pramod
Yadav alias Moola, resident of
Saroop Nagar, who was also
arrested by Special staff in
November 2021, during an
encounter.
Delhi govt passes budget of Rs 476 cr
for development of mandis
ASIAN NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
The Delhi government on
Thursday passed a budget of
Rs 476.89 crore for the devel-
opment of various mandis in
the national capital, including
over Rs 175 crore for the Aazad-
pur market.
In a joint meeting chaired
by Development Minister
Gopal Rai with the officials of
Delhi Agricultural Marketing
Board (DAMB) and Agricultural
Produce Market Committee
(APMC) today, regarding the
development of Delhi's man-
dis, the board passed a bud-
get of Rs 476 crores 89 lakhs
for the development of man-
dis for the financial year 2022-
23 at the meeting. The board
has allocated approximately
Rs 178.73 crore to APMC Azad-
pur, Rs 13.34 crore to the fruit
and vegetable market in
Ghazipur, Rs 13.96 crore to FP
and EMC in Ghazipur, Rs 8
crore to the flower market, Rs
18.91 crore to APMC Keshop-
ur, Rs 45.03 crore to APMC
Narela, Rs 5.32 crore to APMC
Najafgarh and Rs 193.57 crore
to the Delhi Agricultural Mar-
keting Board.
Divulging more details on
the same, Rai said, ''Along
with the development of Tikri
Khampur Wholesale Mandi,
the development of Ghazipur's
Fruit and Vegetable Mandi
and Poultry Market, as well as
the renovation of Ghazipur
Flower Market, will be carried
out, with a budget allocation
of Rs 303 crores. The Kejriw-
al Government is committed
to the development, expansion,
and creation of better infra-
structure in the Mandis.''
He further said that the gov-
ernment has issued orders
for the renovation of Kisan
Bhawan in order to protect
farmers from similar difficul-
ties and to provide better
amenities.'
''In today's meeting with
the Delhi Agricultural Mar-
keting Board, instructions
have also been given for the
renovation of Kisan Bhawan
of Azadpur Mandi. Farmers
come to Azadpur Mandi to sell
their vegetables and fruits
and sometimes they have to
stay in hotels around the
Mandi for 1 to 2 days which
costs them a lot. Our govern-
ment has issued orders for the
renovation of Kisan Bhawan
in order to protect farmers from
similar difficulties and to pro-
vide better amenities,' he
added.
Orders were also issued
for the installation of CCTV
cameras at all mandis in the
national capital.
Fake call centre busted; 23
held for duping job aspirants
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
GURUGRAM, 15 APRIL
A fake call centre has been
busted while 22 people includ-
ing the owner have been arrest-
ed here for allegedly duping peo-
ple on the pretext of providing
them jobs in MNCs, the police
said on Friday.
The owner who was running
thefakecallcentrehasbeeniden-
tified as Sonu. The arrested
individuals include 13 men
and 9 women. Sonu is a resi-
dent of Hans Enclave of Guru-
gram. His brother Sanjay and
co-partners Anil, Deepak, Raj
and Ajit are yet to be arrested.
The brothers started the
call centre in Udyog Vihar
Phase-5 of Gurugram in Sep-
tember which was registered in
the name of a 'Premium Eru-
tidion'. They had also pur-
chased a domain '@place-
mentmnc.com' for sending e-
mails to job aspirants, the police
said.
The police raided the spot
on Thursday afternoon after a
tip-off and recovered Rs 38,000
cash, 27 mobile phones, 1 lap-
top and fake appointment let-
ters from there.
Subhash Boken, spokesper-
son of the Gurugram police said
SonuandSanjayhadestablished
this fake call centre in Sep-
tember 2021, and earned Rs 1.25
crore while duping people on
the pretext of providing them
jobs.
"The accused used to col-
lect data of job aspirants from
the prominent job websites
and used to develop commu-
nication with them through
different e-mail IDs and charged
Rs 6,500, Rs 28,000, and Rs
89,000onadifferentpretext.They
had even charged Rs 10 lakh as
commission per person," Boken
said.
"They also targeted people
already by luring them lucra-
tive packages and used to charge
money from them through
fake website payment gate-
way or different payment links
in their bank accounts. The
accused used to provide fake
appointment letters," he added.
Police said the accused had
also provided a fake Press iden-
tity card to mislead police.
"To lure job aspirants, the
accused had also claimed
through his website that he
has provided jobs to 18,500
people after seeing such adver-
tisements the victims used to
attract and lost their money,"
he said. "Four cases of similar
nature were already registered
against the duo brothers in
Gurugram, Hyderabad, Gujarat
and West Bengal.”

World Theatre Day comes alive through the

performance of Bengali theatre groups
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
World Theatre Day was organised
by Bengal Association Delhi, at
Muktadhara Auditorium in the
Capital on 10th April 2022.
The festival succeeded in
bringing together theatre groups
of Delhi-NCR and depicted the
traditional richness of Bengal’s lit-
erature, art and culture that came
to the fore in a brief time slot of
20 minutes for each of the 14
Micro-plays.
The celebration of World The-
atre Day is once again alive in the
capital. Fourteen theatre groups
participated at the Muktadhara
to celebrate the amazing works
of some of the brilliantly-talent-
ed playwrights.
The festival succeeded in
bringing together all these the-
atre groups of Delhi-NCR and it
depicted the traditional richness
of Bengal’s literature, art and cul-
ture came to the fore in a very brief
time slot of 20 minutes for each
of the 14 Micro-plays.
On the occasion, Prarambh,
a noted theatre group in Delhi,
staged a Non Verbal play, “Pur-
suit of Pleasure” directed by
Rabishankar Kar. He also did the
light design and Mask prepara-
tion.
The music execution was done
by Soma Kar.
The play is about four old-aged
persons living in an old home
named The Nest. The play explores
human complexities as well as love
treasured by mankind.
The play provided interesting
viewing for the audience, espe-
cially for children, who were
spellbound by the enactment, visu-
al effects of mask and lighting
effects, and use of beautiful props.
Rabishankar Kar, a renowned
theatre artist and director of the
capital, who has been trying to
reinvent the stage as an art space
since 1998, told The Statesman
about the significance of World
Theatre Day.
He said “This year world the-
atre day has a special signifi-
cance as in the last two years world
theatre has suffered a lot due to
pandemic. This year all theatre
artists are determined to stand
together and promise to do their
best for the sake of society. Art of
theatre cannot be destroyed as this
wonderful art is inherent in the
life of all theatre artists around
the world”.
Navapalli Natya Sanstha (NNS),
a leading amateur Bengali the-
atre group in the capital, brought
to stage “Swarnamrinalini”, anoth-
er play worth mentioning. Every
dramatic piece of NNS reveals
social orientation and aesthetic
sensibility in theatre. ‘Swranam-
rilani’ is one such production.
 03
Many such incidents are coming to light now. Rape
and Trinamul Congress have become synonymous
STATE CONGRESS CHIEF ADHIR RANJAN CHOWDHURY
AFTER THE RAPE INCIDENT IN SANTINIKETAN NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022

PM greets Himachal on its AAP terms Jai Ram's announcements

as copy of Kejriwal model
75th establishment day
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SHIMLA, 15 APRIL
The Himachal Pradesh unit
of AAP on Friday termed the
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE need to work hard for unlock- announcements of Chief
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL ing the full potential of Minister Jai Ram Thakur as
Himachal Pradesh. He said a copy of Delhi CM Arvind
rime Minister Naren- that during the ''Amrit Kaal'', Kejriwal model and too lit-
State AAP spokesperson
Gaurav Sharma said the
BJP government seemed to
be afraid of the Kejriwal
effect in the state after the
Mandi roadshow but the
CM is too late to provide
relief to the people of the
state as people will vote
“The BJP which was ear-
lier making fun of free facil-
ities being provided to peo-
ple by AAP governments
and was cursing Kejriwal,
was now offering free facil-
ities on Himachal Day. It is
only the fear of the Kejriw-
al model of governance

P dra Modi has greeted

the people
Himachal Pradesh on
the 75th establishment day of
the hilly state and noted the
of
there was a need to take for-
ward the work in the fields of
tourism, higher education,
research, IT, biotechnology,
food processing and natural
tle too late in view of assem-
bly polls in the state.
the party out in upcoming
elections.
from which Jai Ram seems
to be afraid of” he added.

happy coincidence that it farming.

comes in the 75th Year of the
country's Independence.
In a message on the occa-
sion, Modi reiterated his com-
mitment to take the nectar of
development to every inhab-
itant of the state during the
''Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav''.
Striking a personal note,
the PM quoted a poem by Atal
Bihari Vajpayee and remem-
bered his own long associa-
tion with the beautiful state
and its diligent and determined
people.
Recalling the challenges of
the hilly state at the time of
its formation in 1948, the PM
complimented the people
for converting the challenges
into opportunities. He praised
the state’s achievements in hor-
ticulture, power surplus, lit-
eracy rate, rural road con-
nectivity, tap water and elec-
tricity to every household.
He underlined the efforts
to build on these achievements
in the last 7-8 years. “Under
the young leadership of Jai
Ram ji, the ‘double engine gov-
ernment’ has taken the ini-
tiative of expanding rural
roads, highway widening,
railway network, its results are
now visible. As connectivity
is getting better, Himachal's
tourism is entering new areas,
new regions,” the PM said.
He highlighted the new
strides in tourism and new
avenues of opportunities and
employment for the local
people and especially noted
the progress in the health
sector by talking about the effi-
cient and fast vaccination
during the pandemic.
The PM emphasised the
He said the Vibrant Village
scheme, announced in this
year’s budget will give
immense benefit to Himachal
Pradesh. He also touched
upon increasing connectiv-
ity, enriching forests, 'swach-
hta' and people’s participa-
tion in these initiatives.
The PM commented on the
expansion of central welfare
schemes by the chief minis-
ter and his team, especially
in the field of social security.
“Honest leadership, peace-lov-
ing environment, blessings of
Gods and Goddesses and
people of Himachal who work
hard, all these are incompa-
rable. Himachal has everything
needed for rapid develop-
ment”, Modi concluded.

Himachal inks pact with

NHPC for green hydrogen

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE area of approximately 200 acre

SHIMLA, 15 APRIL
The Himachal Pradesh gov-
ernment on Friday signed a
memorandum of under-
standing with NHPC for exe-
cution of a green hydrogen
mobility station in Chamba on
pilot project basis.
The MoU was signed in the
presence of Chief Minister Jai
Ram Thakur between the Dis-
trict Administration Chamba
and NHPC Ltd.
After the signing of MoU,
theChief Minister said Prime
Minister Narendra Modi had
announced that India will go
Carbon neutral by 2070 and by
2030 India will generate 500 GW
from non-fossil fuel sources
which will be 50 per cent of total
installed capacity. This initia-
tive of the state government with
cooperation of NHPC will be
a big milestone in this regard.
The Green Hydrogen pro-
ject at Chamba has been taken
up by NHPC as an initiative and
an MOU is being signed
between HP Government and
NHPC Ltd for execution of a
pilot hydrogen project in the
area of mobility, the CM said.
Thakur stated that a grid
connected Ground Mounted
Solar PV plant of 300 KW in the
would be installed and power
of the same would be used in
the electrolyser to produce
hydrogen. About 20 kg Hydro-
gen per day would be gener-
ated through the electrolysis
process and would be con-
sidered as green hydrogen
and would be stored in pres-
surizing form.Water nine to 12
liters would be utilized to pro-
duce one kilogram of hydro-
gen fuel.
NHPC Group General Man-
ager S K Sandhu said that this
was an initiative of Chairman
A K Singh and under this ini-
tiative the produced hydrogen
would be stored in the fuel tank
having capacity 20kg of a
mobility such as bus, car etc
and from fuel tank this hydro-
gen would go to the hydrogen
fuel cells installed in the bus
as a part of main engine.
These fuel cells would be
capable to generate electric
power and this power would
be used to run engine of the
bus up to 8 hrs continuously
or 200 km in the local area of
Chamba. NHPC would also
provide one 32 +1 seater bus
under this pilot project which
would improve the trans-
portation of areas with zero
emission of carbon.

SAD seeks withdrawal of

BSF's jurisdiction extension
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, 15 APRIL
The Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) on Friday said the
dual jurisdiction of Punjab
Police and Border Security
Force (BSF) was coming in
the way of proceeding against
drugs and weapon smug-
glers in the border belt of Pun-
jab.Senior SAD leader Dr
Daljit Singh Cheema said
the extension in jurisdiction
given to the BSF should be
withdrawn. The SAD asked
the Chief Minister Bhagwant
Singh Mann to immediate-
ly apprise the Union home
minister about the problem
created by the dual juris-
diction of Punjab Police and
Border Security Force (BSF).
“It is now clear that dual
jurisdiction is coming in the
way of policing in the border
areas. Earlier when the juris-
diction of the BSF had been
increased from 15 kilometres
(km) along the internation-
al border to 50 km it was stat-
ed that it was a technical issue
and that the BSF would com-
plement the efforts of the State
police," he said.
"From the Faridkot inci-
dent and numerous others
it is becoming clear that the
BSF wants to work inde-
pendently and is openly hos-
tile to pleas of cooperation
from the Punjab Police. This
is striking at the very essence
of the federal structure," Dr
Cheema added.
He said the CM should
approach the Union home
minister Amit Shah imme-
diately without fail and
request that the jurisdiction
of BSF be reverted to the
earlier 15 km radius.
“Smugglers and narco-ter-
rorists should not be allowed
to take the benefit of dual
jurisdiction to get off the
hook. In fact even closer
cooperation is required to
ensure Pakistan does not
succeed in its efforts to
foment trouble in the border
state,” he said.
The SAD leader also
requested the CM to apprise
the Union home minister
about state Governor Ban-
warilal Purohit’s recent tours
to the border districts which
had also created confusion
vis a vis the chain of command
in Punjab.
“As per norms the Cen-
tre only intervenes in a state
in case there is a constitutional
breakdown. Otherwise the
elected state government is
allowed to tackle all issues of
law and order. This sentiment
should be conveyed to the
centre by the chief minister
to ensure the federal struc-
ture of the country is not
tweaked in any manner what-
soever”, Dr Cheema added.
04
Akhand Bharat will be made when each person from all
castes starts living with brotherhood and love
RAJASTHAN CHIEF MINISTER ASHOK GEHLOT
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 RESPONDING TO RSS CHIEF MOHAN BHAGWAT’S CLAIM ABOUT INDIA BECOMING AKHAND BHARAT

THUMBNAILS
Spiritual renaissance: Stalin’s appeal on Sri Lankan crisis: With the Indian government enabling shipping of food and
essential items to Sri Lanka, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin has urged the Centre to allow his
state too to send such items to areas where Tamils reside there. Stalin, in a letter to External
Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, said: "It has now been reported that the Union Government has

Naidu on Ram temple

Vice President, wife visit Ram Janmabhoomi Sthal, perform puja
enabled the shipping of food and other essential commodities to Sri Lanka. At this juncture, I
would like to reiterate the commitment of my Government to ship the essential supplies including
food grain, vegetables and medicines etc., from Thoothukudi port to the Sri Lankan Tamils living in
Northern and Eastern Parts of Sri Lanka and Colombo, as well as those working in the plantations
who are reeling under severe food crisis. I request that this may be facilitated at the earliest." IANS

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE also herald a new phase in the

NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL

ice President MVenka-

economy and development of
the ancient city of Ayodhya and
nearby areas.
Central envoy to
visit Nagaland
Covid lockdown and

Christian devotees during

a procession on the occa-
sion of Good Friday, at
Sacred Heart Cathedral,
in the capital on Friday.
� SUBRATA DUTTA
PM visit: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi will visit
Assam on April 28 to give
a new momentum to
peace and development
in the Karbi Anglong
Autonomous Council
region, Assam Chief Min-
ister Himanta Biswa Sar-
ma said on Friday. Sarma
distributed financial
assistance to surrende-
red militants who came
overground under the
terms of the Karbi Ang-
long Peace Accord. ANI
V iah Naidu, along with
his wife Usha Naidu,
today visited the his-
toric city of Ayodhya in Uttar
Pradesh where he performed
puja at Ram Janmabhoomi
Sthal and the Hanuman Garhi
temple.
Naidu arrived in the city by
a special train in the morning
and was welcomed by Gov-
ernor Anandiben Patel and
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav
Prasad Maurya at the Ayod-
hya Railway Station.
Soon after, the Vice Presi-
dent visited Ram Janmab-
hoomi Sthal where members
of the Ram Janmabhoomi
Teerth Trust made a detailed
presentation through a short
film showcasing the 3-D model
of the upcoming Ram temple.
Subsequently, Naidu per-
formed puja at the Garbha
Griha site of the under con-
struction RamTemple, and also
offered prayers to the Ram Lalla.
In the visitors book at Ram Jan-
mabhoomi, he wrote: “Blessed
to have visited Ram Janmab-
hoomi today. Lord Rama is a
symbol of our culture, our
values and our glorious history.
The life of Maryada Purushot-
tam has always inspired the
people of India and shown them
the righteous path.”
He wrote, “The recon-
struction of the grand Ram tem-
ple in Ayodhya is a moment
of spiritual renaissance in
India. I am sure that this Tem-
ple will continue to inspire the
coming generations to respect
our rich cultural heritage and
show them the path of truth,
justice and brotherhood.”
Later, he and his spouse
offered prayers at the Hanu-
man Garhi temple in the city.
They later proceeded to the
holy Sarayu river and offered
prayers to the ancient river
which is closely associated
with Lord Rama's life.
The Vice President said
that reconstruction of the
Ram Janmabhoomi temple is
not simply a high point in
India's cultural history, it will
“Spiritual tourism is a major
employment generator in
India and Ayodhya, one of the
most ancient cities of the
world, which is fast emerging
as a preferred destination for
national as well as international
devotees," Naidu further said.
“I am pleased to note that
to meet the increasing require-
ments of surging tourist inflows,
the Central and State gov-
ernments have started many
infrastructural works.”
A new International Airport
is being constructed and rede-
velopment of Ayodhya Railway
Station is also underway, said
the Vice President. “The pri-
vate sector is also investing in
hotels, medical sector and
food chains. All in all, this
sacred region is witnessing
an unprecedented scale of
development and Ram Nagari
is on course to regain its ancient
glory." (With ANI inputs)
for peace talks
resumption
KOHIMA, 15 APRIL
Central government repre-
sentative A.K. Mishra, who
held the first round of talks with
the major Naga groups includ-
ing the NSCN-IM and other
stakeholders in September
last year in Nagaland, will visit
the northeastern state on
Monday to take forward the
peace talks, officials said on Fri-
day.
A senior Nagaland gov-
ernment official said that
Mishra, a former Special Direc-
tor of the Intelligence Bureau
(IB), during his week-long
stay in Nagaland, would meet
Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio,
other Naga leaders and the
leaders of Isak-Muivah faction
of the National Socialist Coun-
cil of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) and
Naga National Political Groups
obesity in kids: Medical
bodies plan study
ASIAN NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
With obesity turning into an
emerging health crisis across the
nation, the ICMR-National
Institute of Nutrition (NIN)
will be conducting another
study on such an issue in all the
age groups to collect data from
several parts of the country
and monitor the rise in the
number of obese people before
and after the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The idea of the study is
under the process of approval
from ICMR. Once it approves,
the study will be taken up. It
is a collaborative study and we
are also partnering with other
leading institutes to complete
it," Dr Avula Laxmaiah, Scientist
food and processed foods. In
that process, we will put our
ultra-processed samplings
and everything will come," he
said.
Dr Laxmaiah said, "We
have also published one paper
on obesity research. In that
paper, we analysed the con-
tribution of junk food which
is causing the overweight. We
have also done a principal com-
ponent analysis which revealed
that almost 53 per cent of
overweight obesity is caused
by unhealthy food con-
sumption."
The ICMR-NIN scientist
informed that the scientists
have done research on the sub-
ject in 2004, 2008, 2012 and
2018.
“All studies show obesity is

Amid Cong infighting India will become ‘Akhand (NNPG).

Mishra was entrusted with
the Naga peace talks by the Cen-
G, ICMR- NIN told ANI.
He said that scientists have
already done some studies
caused by the obesogenic
environment due to sedentary
activities and junk food con-

rumours, AAP extends Bharat’ in 10-15 yrs: Bhagwat tral government after it trans-
ferred Nagaland Governor
Ravindra Narayan Ravi toTamil
on dietary consumption.
“We will compare the pre-
vious years' data also. We
sumption. High intake of junk
food can also affect mental
health and other organs of the

invite to Hardik Patel INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

HARIDWAR, 15 APRIL
Nadu. Ravi was the Centre's
interlocutor in the Naga peace
talks for many years.
have already done some stud-
ies on dietary consumption
and will see what is the dif-
body. Junk food majorly gives
only energy, but not minerals
and vitamins which required
ASIAN NEWS Rashtriya Swayamsevak During his last visit in Naga- ference in the number of for brain development and
INTERNATIONAL Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat land in September last year, obese people before Covid growth," he added.
AHMEDABAD, 15 APRIL has claimed that India will Mishra also discussed the and after Covid," Dr Laxma- He affirmed that the study
become 'Akhand Bharat' in Naga peace talk issue with iah stated. will focus on the social dynam-
Amidst rumours of Gujarat 10-15 years. Assam Chief Minister Himan- The scientist further ics of childhood obesity. "For
Congress Working President As per the predictions of ta Biswa Sarma, who is also the explained the role of junk now, we are planning to con-
Hardik Patel quitting the party saints and astrologers, India Convener of the North East food in increasing childhood duct dietary consumption
over infighting, Aam Aadmi will become 'Akhand Bharat' Democratic Alliance (NEDA). obesity in India. "It is a series data in all 36 states and union
Party Gujarat chief Gopal Italia “I have given my 100 per cent in 20-25 years but if we all Meanwhile, Chief Minister of studies on childhood obe- territories shortly. The study
on Friday invited to Congress till now, and will give collectively work towards it, Rio, accompanied by Deputy sity and its determinants. One will be conducted from 5 to
him to join a "like-minded the same in the coming days. the target will be achieved in Chief Minister Yanthungo Pat- of the determined is the con- 65 year age group," the scientist
party" like his and said that Con- We will do better development 10-15 years, he claimed. ton, United Democratic sumption of processed junk said.
gress would not have a place for in Gujarat. There will be small “India will talk about non- Alliance (UDA) Chairman T.R.
the dedicated people like Patel. fights and blame games with- violence but will also carry Zeliang and newly elected
Speaking to ANI, the AAP
state chief said, “If Hardik Patel
in the party, but we have to work
together to make Gujarat a
a stick in our hand as the
world only understands
Rajya Sabha Member S.
Phangnon Konyak met Prime CBSE may restore pre-pandemic
is not liking in Congress, he
should join a like-minded party
better place," Patel said.
Patel added, “If speaking
power... We will have no ill
will, no enmity. But the world
Minister Narendra Modi, and
Home Minister Amit Shah on format for board exams
like AAP. Instead of complain- truth is a crime, consider only understands power," Wednesday in New Delhi and
ing to Congress, wasting his time, me guilty.The people of Gujarat he opined. make efforts but if the saints the evil tendencies of every discussed the Naga peace talk NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL cal pattern will be available for
he should contribute here... A have expectations from us, we He was in Haridwar for will join in, then Swami type of person end, he added. issue. the students.
party like Congress would not have to stand up to them.” inaugurating the statue of Vivekanand, Maharishi "Many people protest However, the Nagaland The Central Board of Secondary According to a senior official
have a place for dedicated peo- Hardik Patel emerged as 1008 Swami Divyanand Giri Arvind's dream of Akhand against sanatan dharma. If leaders remained tight-lipped Education (CBSE) has bifur- in the Education Ministry, the
ple like him.” the leader of the Patidar agita- at Shri Krishna Niwas and Bharat will be realised soon. they would not have opposed, about the crucial discussions. cated the board exams (Class 10 single term board exams for Class
However, Patel has refuted tion demanding reservation Poornanand Giri Ashram in Dharma and Bharat are syn- Hindus would not have During the Assembly ses- and Class 12) into two different 10 and Class 12 may return
the rumours of him leaving the for the community in Gujarat Kankhal. onymous, the RSS chief said. awoken," the RSS chief sion last month, all member, phases for the academic session from the 2022-23 academic
party stating that he will give in 2015 and later joined the Con- India is on the path of "Our nationality is flow- claimed. cutting across party lines, of 2021-22, but the Ministry of session. For the present acad-
100 per cent for Congress. gress party. progress and those who will ing like the flow of the Ganga. Mahamandaleshwar strongly demanded to settle Education wants only one phase emic session, the first phase of
come in between will be If dharma will be promoted, Swami Girdhar, Swami the Naga peace process at the of exams, like it was in the pre- board exams was completed in
wiped out, Bhagwat said on the country will rise," he Vivekanand Bharti, Swami earliest. Rio had urged the oandemic era. December last year. According
NIA conducts searches in Mizoram: The National Investigation Wednesday. added. Vivekanand, Akhil Bharatiya negotiating parties to settle the Following instructions from to the CBSE, the second phase
Agency (NIA) on Friday said it conducted search operations in Lord Krishna lifted the "For 1,000 years, efforts Akhara Parishad secretary issue, and that if a settlement the ministry, CBSE may restore of exams will start from April 26
two different places in Mizoram in a terror-related case per- Goverdhan mountain on his were made to end sanatan Ravindrapuri and cannot be reached, there the pre-pandemic format of in offline mode.
taining to seizure of over 2,000 kg of explosives including little finger, but fellow dharma, they failed, but we Mahamandaleshwar should be fresh mandate by board exams from next year. In 2020 and 2021, the board
1,000 detonators from a vehicle in Siaha. The search operations cowherds thought it was and the dharma are still Harichetanand among oth- the people as to how to pur- Once the CBSE restores the old exams could not be conduct-
led to the recovery of incriminating documents, digital devices due to the support of their intact," he added. ers were present on the occa- sue the Naga political issue. pattern of board exams, neither ed owing to the Covid-19 pan-
and other crucial evidence. IANS sticks. Similarly, we all will After coming to India, sion. IANS two phases nor flexible practi- demic. IANS

The rise and fall of Eshwarappa, ‘Power crisis likely

LEGAL NOTICES
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the
Code of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Sh. Rajneesh Kumar Gupta
District Judge
(Commercial Court)-02
Central, Room No. 120
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi
CS (Comm) No. 2544/2019
M/s. Krishna Polymers
Versus
M/s. Sant Plastic and Anr.
To,
M/s. Sant Plastic, Plot No. 9,
1st Floor, DLF Industrial Area,
Delhi-110015.
— Def. No. 1
KOLKATA
Statesman House,
4, Chowringhee Square
Kolkata-700 001
M- 9830139593,9831528760
Email:
Delhistatesman@gmailcom
statesmandisplay@gmail.com
thestatesmanclassified@gmail.com
DELHI
Statesman House,
148, Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110 001
Tel: (011) 2331 5911, 43043793
Delhistatesman@gmailcom
Hiten Rathore
hiten.statesman@gmail.com
Mob: 9212192123
BHUBANESWAR
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A,
Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
Bhubaneswar-751 010.
M-09438838880
statesmanbbsr@gmail.com
Delhistatesman@gmailcom
AIR-SURCHARGE; Kathmandu - Re. 2, Eastern Region - Re. 1
due to coal shortage’
Mr. Pavneet Singh Chawla,
Partner of M/s. Sant Plastic,
IN THE COURT OF
SH. PUNEET PAHWA
Hon'ble Court under Section
372 of the Indian Succession
the 'Rocky bhai' of K'taka politics AGENCIES India could face shortage of
Plot No. 9, 1st Floor, DLF Indus- Administrative Civil Judge- Act, 1925 in respect of the INDO-ASIAN NEWS NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL power as there is no system
trial Area, Delhi-110015. Additional Rent Controller/ debt and securities etc. to
— Def. No. 2 Commercial Civil Judge be standing in the name of SERVICE of coal supply due to the
The Defendants above- (North-East) Late Kesho Kumar Bhateja BENGALURU, 15 APRIL The country is likely to face problem of railway rakes.
named. Court No. 76, VIth Floor, (deceased), r/o C-2/193, Yamu-
Whereas You are inten- Karkardooma Courts, Delhi. na Vihar, Delhi-110053. a power crisis due to the As per the Central Elec-
tionally evading service of Petition No. : SC-63/2022 Whereas the 2nd May 2022 KS Eshwarappa, a front- shortage of coal, the Congress tricity Authority (CEA) data
summons it is hereby noti- Vandana Sethi, d/o Late at 10 O'Clock in the forenoon
Kesho Kumar Bhateja, w/o has been fixed for hearing of
line BJP leader in Karnata- said on Friday. released on April 11, there is
fied that if yuou shall not
defend the case on the 05-
Shri Anil Sethi, r/o 70-D, DDA the application, notice is here- ka who tendered his resig- Congress spokesperson a shortage of coal stock in the
Flats, Gulabi Bagh, Delhi- by given to all concerned. nation on Friday follow- Gourav Vallabh said, "The thermal power plants in the
05-2022 the day fixed for the 110007. Given under my hand and
final disposal, it will be heard ing charges of abetment country has 173 thermal country.
Versus the Seal of the Court on this
and determined ex-parte. State & Others day of 12-04-2022.
Given under my hand and
of suicide of a civil contractor power plants of which 96 As per the report, as of now,
FOR SUCCESSION CERTIFI- Administrative Civil
the Seal of the Court on this CATE UNDER INDIAN SUC- Judge-Additional who had accused him have critical coal reserve, 50 of the 73 thermal power
03-03-2022. CESSION ACT, 1925 Rent Controller/ demanding bribe, has a which means about 60 per plants identified as critical
District Judge Publication Notice to : Commercial Civil Judge
(Commercial Court)-02 All concerned. (North-East)
similar story to that 'Rocky cent power plants are facing have less than 10 per cent of
Central, Whereas in the abovenoted Karkardooma Courts, Bhai' from the film 'KGF coal shortage." stock, having power genera-
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi petition, the applicant/peti- Delhi.
Chapter 2'. from Shivamogga. post of the Deputy Chief The Congress leader said tion capacity for less than 10
Seal of the Court tioner has applied for Suc- Seal of the Court
A-1110 cession Certificate to the A-1103 In the film, 'Rocky Bhai', From being a student Minister to film actor Aish- that in the next two months, days.
played by actor Yash, does leader of the ABVP, he warya Rai, by saying: "There
everything to become the became the city unit chief is no politician who is not
richest man on earth to
fulfil the wish of his moth-
of the BJP in Shivamogga
and went to establish him-
interested (in becoming
Dy CM). Youth, once they
TENDER
er. self as a mass leader by come of age, can seek Aish-
Likewise, Eshwarappa, defeating political heavy- warya Rao as their wife.
SILIGURI CHENNAI whose parents were daily weight and then minister But, there is only one of her."
Spencer Plaza, 18/19, 1st Fagun Mansion (4th floor), 26, wage labourers, was moti- K.H. Srinivas in 1989 Assem- Earlier in 2015, he had
Floor Ethiraj Road, Chennai-600 008, vated by his mother's wish bly elections. landed in trouble when he
Burdwan Road Tel: (044) 28278037, 28224800 and went on to become Till date, he has lost only told a lady journalist while
Above Vishal Mega Mart M-9212192123 one of the prominent politi- once from the Shivamog- commenting on incidents
Siliguri-734005, West Bengal delhistatesman@gmail.com cians of the state. ga Assembly segment. He of rape, "You are a woman,
Ph.: 9832082429 chennai@thestatesmangroup.com Born in Bellary district, became the Deputy Chief you are here now... If some-
sil_statesman@yahoo.co.in
MUMBAI Eshwarappa's father Sha- Minister in the Jagadish one drags you and rapes you,
Delhistatesman@gmailcom
5, Kasturi Buildings, Jamshedji ranappa and mother Shettar cabinet in 2012. He we opposition people will
HYDERABAD Basamma moved to Shiv- was presently serving as be somewhere else. What
Tata Road, Mumbai-400 020
The Statesman Limited, 2nd M-9212192123 amogga in the early 1950s. the Rural Development and can we do? You tell me what
Floor, UNI Building, Tel: (022) 2202 1045, His parents worked as Panchayat Raj Minister in we need to do, we will do
A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-500004, Email: daily wage labourers in the the Basavaraj Bommai gov- it."
delhistatesman@gmail.com Bhoopalam Areca mandi. ernment. A staunch supporter of
Mob: 9866323009,9212192123
mumbai@thestatesmangroup.com Eshwarappa wanted to join Eshwarappa has always Hindutva politics, his com-
Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com LUCKNOW his parents at work but his been identified with BJP ments on religious funda-
2/2, Butler Palace (Near Jopling mother opposed the idea strongman B.S. Yediyurap- mentalism drew national
hyderabad@thestatesmangroup.com
Road), Lucknow-226 001, and asked him to get edu- pa with whom he worked attention. Even BJP Presi-
BANGALORE M-9212192123 Email: cated and earn a good name shoulder to shoulder to dent J.P. Nadda had advised
No. 68, First Floor, Gold Tower, in the society. build the party in the state. him to slow down after his
delhistatesman@gmail.com
50 Residency Road, Bangalore- RANCHI She also wanted her son He also served as the state comment on hoisting the
560025. to become someone big in party chief twice. Howev- saffron flag on the Red Fort
11/C, Road#1, Ashoknagar,
the society, said family er, Eshwarappa was also recently.
Tel.; 080-22229129, 9212192123 Ranchi - 834 002
sources. known for his poignant Eshwarappa's resigna-
Email: M-9212192123 Email:
delhistatesman@gmail.com delhistatesman@gmail.com Eshwarappa was intro- and reckless comments tion is the second jolt to the
bangalore@thestatesmangroup.com ranchi@thestatesmangroup.com duced to the Rashtriya throughout his political party as he is the second
Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) career. mass leader from the cab-
All other stations in India - Re. 1 by Narasimha Murthy Iyen- In 2019, he had stoked inet to step down from his
gar, a prominent VHP leader a controversy by likening the post.

THUMBNAILS
Ladies shelter under an
umbrella on a hot summer
afternoon, in the capital
on Friday. � SUBRATA DUTTA
Gujarat demolition: In the
aftermath of violence in
the Khambhat area of
Anand district during the
Ram Navami procession,
the district administration
on Friday demolished
encroached properties
belonging to the accused
in the case. Gujarat Police
on Wednesday said that
the violence that broke out
in Khambat during the Ram
Navami procession was a
pre-planned conspiracy.
PM discusses SCS, Ukraine
with top Vietnamese leader
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Against the backdrop of aggres-
sive posturing by China against
its neighbours on maritime
and territorial issues, Prime
Minister Narendra Modi today
had a telephonic conversation
with General Secretary of the
Communist Party of Vietnam
Nguyen Phu Trong.
The two leaders exchanged
views on regional and glob-
al issues of shared interest,
including the ongoing crisis
in Ukraine and the situation
in South China Sea, an offi-
cial statement said.
The phone call comes at
a time when India is locked
in a tense military stand-off
with China in eastern Ladakh.
Vietnam has also been upset
with China over its aggressive
behaviour in matters per-
taining to the South China Sea.
Modi and the Vietnamese
leader complimented each
other on the 50th anniversary
RJD uses ‘IPL’ posters
to slam PM, Nitish
over fuel price hike
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
PATNA, 15 APRIL
With the petroleum prices
now hitting the roof, the main
opposition Rashtriya Janata
Dal (RJD) has resorted to a
unique poster war in Bihar to
take potshots at the ruling
regime. The prices of petrol
have touched Rs120 a litre
while the diesel price has
crossed Rs100 in majority of
the districts, dealing a blow
to the common men at this
critical time when the pop-
ulation is still to recover from
the shock of Covid-induced
lockdown.
In the posters pasted on the
streets of Patna, both the
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and Bihar chief minis-
ter Nitish Kumar have been
portrayed as engaged in play-
ing the Indian Petroleum
League (IPL), a burlesque of
the Indian Premier League
(IPL) involving so many crick-
et teams.
The poster shows the Prime
Minister carrying a fuel tank
nozzle in his hand like a crick-
et bat and hitting sixes to
bring the petrol price to Rs116!
The poster compares the
Prime Minister with petrol and
the chief minister with diesel.
“Gusty innings by the Dou-
ble Engine government…Diesel
not out on 101 and petrol not
out on 116!” say the posters,
ridiculing the role of the rul-
ing NDA regime in Bihar and
in New Delhi.
“Today, everyone is aware
Sarpanch shot in
J&K’s Baramulla
Terrorists continue targeted killings of civilians
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
JAMMU, 15 APRIL
Continuing their civilian tar-
getting spree, terrorists on
Friday evening shot dead an
Independent sarpanch in an
orchard at Goush-Bugh village
of Pattan in north Kashmir’s
Baramulla district.
The sarpanch has been
identified as Manzoor Ahmad
Bangroo of Goush-Bugh.
Security forces have cor-
doned the area and launched
search for terrorists.
Confirming the killing,
police tweeted; "Terrorists
fired upon & killed one Man-
zoor Ahmad Bangroo (an
Independent Sarpanch) at
Goshbugh area of Pattan,
Baramulla. Area has been cor-
doned off & search to track the
involved terrorists is in progress.
Further details shall follow".
of the establishment of diplo-
matic relations between India
and Vietnam being celebrat-
ed this year. They expressed
satisfaction over the rapid
pace of wide-ranging coop-
eration under the India-Viet-
nam Comprehensive Strate-
gic Partnership which was
established during the Indi-
an leader's visit to Vietnam in
2016.
Modi reiterated Vietnam’s
importance as an important
pillar of India’s Act East Pol-
icy and its Indo-Pacific Vision
and sought to enhance the
about the IPL (Indian Premier
League) matches. So, the
poster has been linked with
the IPL to criticize the gov-
ernment’s failure to keep the
prices of petroleum prod-
ucts under control,” RJD
spokesperson Mrintunjay
Tiwari said. He said although
the NDA government had
been dancing to the tunes of
the industrialists and corpo-
rate houses yet the RJD being
the responsible opposition was
trying hard to alert the gov-
ernment.
The shooting prices of
petroleum products have
become a matter of grave
concern for the common
men as increase in their prices
has fuelled severe inflation.
In Bihar, the prices of petrol
have now touched Rs118 a litre
while in at least 25 districts,
it is being sold for Rs117.
Similarly, the diesel prices
have crossed Rs103.
The BJP, however, blames
the Russia and Ukraine war for
the rise in fuel prices. A BJP
minister in Bihar has even gone
to the extent of saying that the
common men won’t get affect-
ed by the fuel price hike since
the majority of them use pub-
lic transport. “Common peo-
ple mostly use buses. Only a
few use private transportation,”
was how Bihar tourism min-
ister Narayan Prasad told the
media recently adding that only
politicians were raising a hue
about the surge. He further
went on to say that “people will
get used to it” in due course.
I enjoyed reading those tweets. I am accused of minority appeasement
and caste politics. The NCP's policies are not based on such things.
AFTER BEING BOMBARDED WITH A SERIES OF STINGING TWEETS BY BJP’S DEVENDRA FADNAVIS
Terrorists had on
Wednesday shot dead
Satish Singh, a Rajput
whose ancestors were
residing in south Kash-
mir's Kulgam since
past 150 years.
National Conference leader
and former Chief Minister
Omar Abdullah while con-
demning the killing tweeted;
"Another targeted killing,
another family in mourning
this evening. This unending
cycle of violence is heart-
breaking. My condolences to
the family of Manzoor Bangroo.
May he find place in Jannat".
Peoples Conference leader
Sajad Lone said; "Our sincer-
est condolences with the fam-
ily of a Sarpanch Manzoor
Ahmad who fell to the bullets
scope of the bilateral rela-
tionship, besides working for
expeditious progress on exist-
ing initiatives.
The PM also sought greater
market access for India’s phar-
ma and agri-products in Viet-
nam. He highlighted the his-
torical and civilisational links
between the two countries and
expressed his happiness over
India’s involvement in the
restoration of Cham monu-
ments in Vietnam. The two
leaders agreed to enhance
defence partnership between
the two countries.
WELCOMING 1429
Bhasa o Chetana Samiti members take out prabhat pheri from Park St to Rabindra Sadan on Fri-
day. �SNS
Darjeeling MLA writes to Madhya Pradesh
CM to probe PhD student’s death in state
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
DARJEELING, 15 APRIL
West Bengal BJP MLA Neer-
aj Tamang Zimba wrote to
Madhya Pradesh chief min-
ister Shivraj Singh Chouhan
seeking his intervention to
investigate the death of Dar-
jeeling PhD scholar
Priyadarshini Chhetri.
Deceased Priyadarshini
was doing her research on for-
est genetics at the Tropical For-
est Research Institute in
Special puja held at Kamarpukur RK math on Bengali New Year
HEMANT JACOB
HOOGHLY, 15 APRIL
On the occasion of Bengali
New year, Poila Boishakh,
thousands of devotees today
visited Kamarpukur Ramakr-
ishna math and mission and
Trakeswar Shiva temple.
After the Pandamic, this
is the first time that devotees
in large number were allowed
to enter the Kamarpukur
Ramakrishna math and mis-
sion and Trakeswar Shiva
temple. The shop owners,
hawkers and vendors were
happy to find business return
to its actual rhythm after
more than two years.
The maharaj of Ramakr-
ishna math and mission
Swami Lokattaranada, said,
for the first time after near-
ly two years on this occasion
in Pattan this evening. The
killings of innocent civilians,
public representative is alarm-
ing. We condemn this barbaric
killing. Prayers for peace to the
departed soul".
Terrorists had on Wednes-
day shot dead Satish Singh, a
Rajput whose ancestors were
residing in south Kashmir's Kul-
gam since past 150 years.
Meanwhile, Union Home
Secretary Ajay Kumar Bhalla
and Intelligence Bureau Direc-
tor Arvind Kumar, who arrived
in Srinagar on Thursday for a
2-day visit, reviewed the secu-
rity situation and prepara-
tions for the Amarnath pil-
grimage that will start on 30
June after a gap of two years.
Bhalla held a meeting with DGP
Dilbag Singh and other offi-
cials of the J&K administration
to see that all necessary
arrangements are in place.
SDPI activist
murdered
in Kerala
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,
15 APRIL
In a suspected case of revenge
killing, a 43-year-old activist
of the Social Democratic Party
of India (SDPI) was brutally
murdered by a group of men
alleged to be RSS activists at
Ellapully in Palakkad district
on Friday afternoon.
Subair and his aged father
Basheer were returning on a
bike after attending Friday
prayers at a mosque when a
car hit the bike and both of
them fell down. Basheer said
that four men came in two cars
and hacked his son to death,
after which they escaped in
one car, leaving the other
behind. The local SDPI activists
alleged that it was a planned
attack by RSS/BJP combine.
Doubts are being raised as
to whether it was a revenge
killing, as in the same area (Ella-
pully), a 26-year-old RSS work-
er, Sanjith, was murdered in
November last year, alleged-
ly by SDPI activists. IANS
Jabalpur. "Today, I have writ-
ten to the CM of Madhya
Pradesh,@ChouhanShivraj Ji
seeking his intervention to con-
duct an investigation into
the death of PhD Scholar, Ms
Priyadarshini Chhetri from
Darjeeling who was doing
her research at the Tropical For-
est Research Institute at
Jabalpur", tweeted Zimba
According to the letter,
deceased Priyadarshini
Chhetri's family approached
Zimba for his intervention in
of Bengali New year special
puja was performed, which
included chandi path, hom
(havan), yagna, mangal arati,
chanting of vedic mantras and
slokas and bhajan. Bhog and
prasad were later distrib-
uted among the devotees
and visitors.
The almighty is always
with everyone. One step
taken by a devotee towards
god, the almighty in response
takes 10 step towards the
devotee to hold his hand
and take him or her under his
care and love. Hence we all
need to live a disciplined life
with full dedication and devo-
tion towards the almighty.
Thousand of devotees also
visited the Tarakeswar Shiva
temple to offer prayers and
seek the blessings of lord
Shiva.
NCP LEADER SHARAD PAWAR
7 kids dead of ‘mystery illness’ in Rajasthan
INDO-ASIAN NEWS
SERVICE
JAIPUR, 15 APRIL
Seven children aged between
2 and 14 years have died in
Rajasthan's Sirohi district of
some 'mysterious illness'
with symptoms varying from
fever to seizures.
After Hanskhali, now tribal girl alleges gang-rape
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 15 APRIL
A tribal girl was allegedly gang-
raped in Santiniketan where the
accused persons dragged her
out from a fairground and
raped her by the riverside. The
victim is undergoing treat-
ment in Bolpur sub-division-
al hospital.
The incident has caused
ripples in the state with oppo-
sition parties alleging that rape
and Trinamul Congress have
become synonymous.
Police said the victim visit-
ed a fair at Shantiniketan yes-
terday evening with another
friend. She was sitting with
her friend, when four to five per-
sons allegedly abducted her and
took her to a riverside and
raped her. Her friend was
allegedly assaulted by the
accused persons. It is learnt that
locals reached the spot after
being informed by her friend.
The girl was admitted to Bolpur
Hanshkhali rape case: CBI gets name of
3rd accused, recovers mobile, clothes
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
HANSHKHALI, 15 APRIL
The Central Bureau of Investigation
(CBI) officials and Central Forensic Sci-
ence Laboratory (CFSL) team today
once again visited the house of the
prime accused, Brojo Gayali and con-
ducted a thorough investigation into the
minor rape and murder case.
During the raid, the central agency team
recovered a mobile phone from the
backyard of the house. They also seized
a few clothes from the house of the
accused. The forensic team also tried to
collect fingerprints from there. Later, the
CBI officials sealed the house.
an impartial investigation.
"The family is unable to rec-
oncile or accept the fact that
Priyadarshini could have com-
mitted suicide, as reported by
the police," read the letter.
Zimba also described
Priyadarshini as a talented,
cheerful, caring, motivating
girl.
Priyadarshini's family sus-
pect that she has been mur-
dered and "there could be
attempts to cover-up the case
by reporting it as suicide."
Devotees line up at Dakshineswar Kali Temple on the occasion of Poila Boishakh in Kolkata on Friday. SNS
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022
All residents from Fula-
bai Kheda and Fulaber vil-
lages in Sirohi, these children
breathed their last between
April 9 and 13.
Joint Director (Health),
Jageshwar Prasad, said the
cause of the deaths is yet to
be ascertained. "While they
seem to be cases of some
sub-divisional hospital.
The Birbhum district police
superintendent Nagendranath
Tripathi visited the victim's
residence today morning. He
told the media that the police
have gathered that the accused
persons abducted the girl from
an agricultural field where she
was sitting and chatting with
her friend. He said that the police
have not received any reports
about her friend being assault-
ed.
However, neither the victim
nor her friend has been able to
As it was alleged that the 14-year-old
girl was gang-raped at the birthday party
Fraudsters fake Bankura DM’s
number, send confusing messages
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
BANKURA, 15 APRIL
Miscreants with ulterior
motive have been using the
name and official designation
of the district magistrate of
Bankura purposefully to send
'misleading'WhatsApp mes-
sages to different persons,
which has come to light on
the day of Poila Boishakh,
today.
A district administration
official said: "A fakeWhatsApp
id of DM, Bankura, has been
created by some clandes-
tine persons. The number is
being used for circulating
misleading messages."
On behalf of the Banku-
ra district administration,
TN farmers shed tears as wild boars feast on crops
CHENNAI, 15 APRIL
The farmers in Coimbatore,
Krishnagiri and Salem areas
of Tamil Nadu are upset as
most of their crops are being
devoured by the wild boars that
attack the fields in a group and
05
acute viral disease, nothing her son woke up at 5 am and
can be said with certainty till
all their reports are received,"
he added.
Prasad also said that the
asked for water before hav-
ing seizures. The boy vomit-
ed and then died at around
8 am. “Three of the seven
deaths were reported with- deceased children had con-
in a day of showing symp- sumed local flavoured ice,"
toms. Prasad said, though he ruled
A mother who lost her out a case of acute food poi-
five-year-old child said that soning.
an immense embarrassment
for the Mamata Banerjee gov-
ernment which is already fac-
ing criticism for the recent
incident of alleged gang rape
and murder of a minor girl in
Hanskhali. The state Congress
chief Adhir Ranjan Chowd-
hury alleged that at the rate at
which such incidents are com-
ing to light, rape and Trinamul
Congress have become syn-
onymous. "Several of such
give a proper description of the cases go unreported in Bengal."
accused persons, as yet. The CPM leader Sujan Chakraborty
police assured that action is too condemned the incident
being taken to identify the and said that the matter should
offenders. Sketches are being be thoroughly investigated and
made based on the testimony perpetrators brought to book.
of the victim and her friend.
Tripathi added that it is sus-
pected that the accused are not
The TMC spokesperson
Kunal Ghosh, however, said that
it is a conspiracy by the BJP that
local people and were out- all of a sudden one after anoth-
siders.
"All police stations have
er such incidents are occurring
in the state. He alleged the
been alerted and we are track- Bharatiya Janata Party is trying
ing all possible avenues to to foment trouble with the aim
catch the culprits," he said. to overthrow the state
The incident has come as government.
of the prime accused, the CBI officials
today collected the name of the third
accused after interrogating the arrested
youths. Accordingly, the CBI officials
raided the house of one Ranjit, but the
house was locked from outside.
Earlier, the police arrested Brojo alias
Sohail, son of the Trinamul Congress Gajna
panchayat member Samar Gayali and his
friend Prabhakar Poddar.
Meanwhile, a four-member woman
team of the Bharatiya Janata Party vis-
ited the house of the victim and they spoke
to the parents and family members of the
victim. They also visited the crematori-
um where the minor was allegedly cre-
mated.
sApp groups today.
The BSNL number used
for circulating the purport-
ed messages, as the district
officials urged, needs to be
blocked immediately. The
fake WhatsApp ID inciden-
tally is bearing one photograph
of the DM, Bankura, K Rad-
hika Aiyar sitting in her office
chamber. Aiyar however
reserved any further comment
on the issue for the day.
The matter has been for-
warded to the police for fur-
ther investigation. SP, Banku-
ra, Dhritiman Sarkar told
reporters that a general dairy
the district information and has been registered on the
culture department officials issue today with the Cyber
posted such a caution for the Police Station and an inves-
Bankura residents in What- tigation has been ordered.
finish off the crops within an the menace.
hour. The Forest Department
The farmers are of the officials admitted that there
opinion that the Forest Depart- is a wild boar menace in the
ment is turning a blind eye to Coimbatore forest division
their pleas and that unless the but they are not able to kill the
wild boars are culled, there wild boar as the law wont allow
would not be any respite to it. IANS
06 NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022
Incorporating and directly descended
from THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Genocide semantics
P resident Joe Biden has caused a mild flutter in
the roost. On Tuesday, he accused Russian
forces of committing “genocide” in Ukraine,
the first time his administration has used the term
for Moscow’s invasion. “Yes, I called it genocide be-
cause it has become clearer and clearer that Putin is
just trying to wipe out the idea of being able to be
Ukrainian and the evidence is mounting.” Mr Biden
said it would ultimately be up to courts to deter-
mine whether Russia’s actions against its pro-West-
ern neighbour constitute genocide.
The Russian President has dismissed as
“fake” the accusations that his army committed war
crimes in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, where mass
graves were found after Russian troops withdrew.
Moscow has accused Ukraine of staging the alleged
atrocities.
The crime of genocide has a strict legal conno-
tation and has rarely been proven in court since it
was cemented in international law after the Holo-
caust was carried out against Jewish people and
other groups by Nazi Germany during World War II.
The 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention
defines the term as crimes committed “with intent to
destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical,
racial or religious group”.
Genocide is harder to prove than other viola-
tions of international humanitarian law, such as war
crimes and crimes against humanity, because it
requires evidence of specific intent. Moscow has cat-
egorically disagreed with the US President’s “geno-
cide” comment, and has swiftly accused Washington
of hypocrisy over its own crimes.
Three cases have met that threshold ~ the Cam-
bodian Khmer Rouge’s slaughter of minority Cham
and Vietnamese people in the 1970s, and were
among an estimated 1.7 million who died under
the regime; the 1994 mass killing of Tutsis in Rwanda
that left 800,000 dead; and the 1995 Srebrenica
massacre of some 8,000 Muslim men and boys
in Bosnia.
Acts comprising the crime of genocide, along-
side killing members of a specific group, include
causing serious bodily or mental harm, creating
conditions calculated to destroy them, preventing
births, or forcibly transferring their children to
other groups.
Mr Biden’s “genocide” remark drew praise from
the Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who
has encouraged Western leaders to use the term to
describe Russia’s invasion of his country. Zelenskyy
has already done so various times. “Calling things
by their names is essential to stand up to evil. We
are grateful for US assistance provided so far and
we urgently need more heavy weapons to prevent
further Russian atrocities,” Zelenskyy said. President
Biden had previously called Mr Putin a “war crimi-
nal”, a comment Moscow angrily rejected and said
had brought relations with the US to the brink of
collapse.
Developments in Ukraine must transcend
semantic quibbling. The International Criminal
Court had opened an investigation into alleged
war crimes and crimes against humanity in Ukraine
in February.
Malignity in NY
I
t is hard not to wonder whether the mayhem in
New York’s Brooklyn subway actually stemmed
from racism and violence. Suffice it to register
that the man accused of shooting 10 people on the
subway train has been arrested and charged with a
federal terrorism offence after a daylong manhunt
and a tipster’s call led police to him on a Manhattan
street. Frank R. James, 62, was taken into custody
about 30 hours after the carnage on a rush-hour
train, which left five victims in critical condition and
people around the city on edge.
“My fellow New Yorkers, we got him,” Mayor
Eric Adams said. James was awaiting arraignment
on a charge that pertains to terrorist or other violent
attacks against mass transit systems and carries a
sentence of up to life in prison, US Attorney Breon
Peace said. In recent months, James railed in online
videos about racism and violence in the United
States of America and about his experiences with
mental health care in New York City. He had criti-
cised Mr. Adams’ policies on mental health and sub-
way safety.
But the motive for the subway attack remains
unclear, and there is no indication that James had
links with terror organisations, international or oth-
erwise. It wasn’t immediately clear whether James,
who is from New York but has lived recently in
Philadelphia and Milwaukee, has an attorney or any-
one else who can speak for him. A sign taped to the
door of James’ Milwaukee apartment asks that all
mail be delivered to a post office box.
As terrified riders fled the attack, James appar-
ently hopped on to another train. He got out at the
next station, disappearing into America’s most pop-
ulous city. Police launched a massive effort to find
him, releasing his name and issuing cellphone alerts.
They got a tip on April 13 that he was in a McDon-
ald’s restaurant in Manhattan’s East Village neigh-
bourhood.
James was gone when officers arrived, but they
soon spotted him on a busy corner nearby. Four
police cars zoomed around a corner, officers leaped
out and soon, a compliant James was in handcuffs as
a crowd of people looked on.
James had set off smoke grenades in a com-
muter-packed subway car and then fired at least 33
shots with a 9 mm handgun, police said. At least a
dozen people who escaped gunshot wounds were
treated for smoke inhalation and other injuries. The
motive behind the outrage, an extreme form of men-
tal aberration, remains fogbound. But the conse-
quences of America’s malignant gun culture, and the
propensity of its citizens to violence, have, once
again, been confirmed.
The IAS saga
Probably, the country, the bureaucracy and IAS itself would be better-served if the
Government leaves the IAS to its own devices and the IAS sees the non-IAS bureaucracy
as colleagues, not as competitors or subordinates. Abolition of outdated rules like giving
the IAS an edge of two years over other services, and of having an IAS officer as the
top boss in all departments would help other services as also the IAS to realise their full
potential and dispel the image of the IAS as the big banyan tree under whose shadow
no plants can thrive
L
ately, there had been a
debate in the columns of
a leading newspaper on
the role of the IAS in the
development and progress of the
country. D Subbarao, a former
member of IAS, who led the RBI
successfully during the global
meltdown of 2008-09, had a
decidedly negative perception
about the contribution of the IAS,
while another distinguished ex-
member pulled out all stops to
defend its performance.
The truth may, however, lie
somewhere between these two
extreme views. Supporters of the
first view point out that district
administration, the so-called
forte of the IAS, is in shambles at
many places. Also, the urban rot
in metropolises, which are most-
ly managed by IAS officers, keeps
getting worse. On the other hand,
die-hard supporters of the ser-
vice list out the achievements of
sundry distinguished alumni
who have excelled in roles as
important and diverse as Chief
Election Commissioners and
Governors of troubled states.
Sadly, in current public percep-
tion, bad eggs outnumber shin-
ing stars in the IAS.
Probably, for better under-
standing, we have to segregate
the history of the IAS in two time
periods; the first thirty years after
independence, and the period
thereafter. The ICS and its suc-
cessor, the IAS, managed things
really well in the first thirty years
of Independence and the nation
owes a debt of gratitude to those
capable and upright men (there
were hardly any women) who
kept the nation together and
firmly on the path of progress in
those difficult times. The contri-
bution of the Civil Service in
nation building was acknowl-
edged by no less a person than
Sardar Patel, who declared in the
Constituent Assembly: “I wish
this to be recorded in this house
that during the last two or three
years if most of the members of
the services had not been serv-
ing the country efficiently, practi-
cally the Union would have col-
lapsed.”
But the recipients of the Sar-
dar’s accolades were an earlier
generation of civil servants. In
those days, sending an IAS offi-
cer to a trouble spot invariably
restored public confidence and
quietened trouble-mongers.
Sadly, it has taken little time to
lose this hard-earned reputation.
Nirmal Kumar Mukarji, the last
member of the ICS, famously
said, after his retirement “… A
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Ugly America and the world
SIR, Thanks for the in-depth
and courageous analysis of
the current conflict between
Russia and Ukraine by Kurt
Jacobsen and Sayeed Hasan
Khan in ‘Whose hubris are
we talking about?’ (The Stat-
esman, 9 April). Hubris real-
ly means ‘arrogant self-con-
fidence’ in the case of the
great, self-anointed USA.
The sole right to dictate to
the world what they may or
may not do has been appro-
priated by it.
It can impose sanctions
on any recalcitrant, upcom-
ing power. From nuclear
bombings of unsuspecting
cities to interventions in the
affairs of sovereign states on
fabricated justifications, the
great US has been there,
Vol. CXXXXXVI 89
A MEMBER
OF THE
ASIAN VOICES
Unhappy
countries of
South Asia
T
he opening line of Leo Tol-
stoy's novel Anna Karenina
makes every unhappy family
believe that they are unhappy
in their own ways while all happy fam-
ilies must be alike. The power of liter-
ary flourish has made the idea of sin-
gularity so compelling that few dare to
question its universality. The com-
monality of unhappy countries, how-
ever, is as clearly recognisable as that
of the happy ones.
According to the World Happiness
Index, Afghanistan was the most
unhappy country in the world even
before the unceremonious departure
of the occupation forces and subse-
quent Taliban takeover. The sanctity
of sovereignty, territorial integrity and
political independence of Afghanistan
has once again been restored.
A separate homeland for Muslims
of undivided India was the raisons
d'être of Pakistan. Barbarism and bru-
suitable way needs to be found tional Director Generals and ond waves of Covid-19. tality from both sides severely bruised
to close the IAS shop.” Probably, Director Generals of Police. … too India has some of the world’s the promise of partition. Security
older members of the Civil Ser- many top level positions in the finest doctors, hospitals and me- forces inevitably come to dominate
vice felt disappointed to see the IAS create problems of cadre dical staff. India is also the government when vendetta and vio-
path the service and its members management. … world’s largest producer of vac- lence become the defining feature of a
had taken. All the shortcomings men- cines and an exporter of medical nation. Among the triumvirate ("Allah,
A number of scholars, gov- tioned above are curable; most of grade oxygen. So, theoretically, Army and America") that has con-
ernment appointed committees them by policy correction and we had adequate resources to trolled Pakistan since its founding,
and even some world bodies the rest by better management fight the second wave of the pan-
have studied the Civil Services in and supervision. Sadly, so far, demic. However, in a cruel irony,
details but the reports of the two there has been no curative action India faced huge shortages of
Administrative Reforms Com- ~ which would have made the both vaccine shots and oxygen Allah is the "Oft-Forgiving and Most
missions, and the Committee on IAS a future-ready service. leading to heartrending stories of Merciful". America swaggers around
Civil Service Reforms (2004) are The first reform that could patients dying for lack of oxygen, the globe as its "indispensable
acknowledged to be the most benefit the IAS and the adminis- doctors themselves succumbing nation". But with the general head-
comprehensive. Significantly, the tration as a whole would be to to Covid-19 infections, over-full quarters in Rawalpindi being self-
Committee on Civil Service correct centralisation of all power hospitals turning away seriously declared guardians, Pakistan has
Reforms headed by PC Hota, with the IAS and stop putting ill patients, endless queues of remained wedded to the ideology of
himself an eminent IAS officer, them in positions for which they ambulances waiting outside hos- national security.
lists out 42 significant shortfalls are not qualified. For example, till pitals and devastating fire acci- After the independence of
of the IAS. The Committee ob- appointment of the Chief of dents in ICUs. Thus, due to poor Bangladesh, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto was
served, inter-alia: Defence Staff, the Defence Secre- management, the rampaging Co- the first civilian to hold the post of
1) By and large the civil ser- tary was the senior-most officer ronavirus pandemic fully over- Martial Law Administrator (1971-73)
vice in India has lost its neutral in the Defence Ministry. Even whelmed our healthcare system. of truncated Pakistan.
and anonymous character; today, the CDS is only one of the Even otherwise, things are Defeated and debased due to its
2) Increasingly, five secretaries in not as rosy, as apologists for the excesses during the struggle for Ben-
corrupt practices the Defence Min- IAS would have us believe. The gali rights, the General Headquarters
have become istry. The revenue lack of performance of the burea- was on the back foot. Bhutto could
prevalent in the departments (CBDT ucracy has drawn adverse com- have brought the military under civil-
higher civil service; and CBIC) between ments from PM Modi in Parlia- ian control with some effort. Rage and
3) A majority of them collect the ment. The Alapan Bandyopad- revenge turned him into an instru-
civil servants are entire tax revenues hyay controversy and the tussle ment of the defence establishment
arrogant … and by of the Central Gov- between the Centre and States instead.
and large they have ernment, Rs 27 lakh about the proposed changes in The Pakistan Army is in the eye of
lost touch with crore in the current the All-India Service Rules has the storm for the first time as support-
ground realities; year, but both tax put the entire IAS under an un- ers of ousted premier Imran Khan
4) Some civil departments func- flattering spotlight. In a sobering chant the slogan of "Chowkidar chor
servants develop an DEVENDRA tion under the Rev- reality lesson for a civil service hai" implying that the electoral man-
unhealthy nexus SAKSENA enue Secretary, who which credits itself for having run date of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
with power brokers The writer is a retired is invariably an IAS the country competently right (PTI) has been stolen. The charges
and do not hesitate Principal Chief Commissioner
of Income-Tax
officer. At the cost of from its inception in 1858, the against the military are sure to prove
to resort to ques- some simplification, Government has launched Mis- meaningless as long as Pakistanis
tionable means to one may say that sion Karmayogi, which will kick- remain obsessed with their collective
get good postings in India or generalist administrators often off by the Government hiring a insecurity. It seems that ordinary Pak-
abroad; find themselves out of their depth
5) After 15 years of service, a in today’s complex world and the
private consultant to reform the
bureaucracy.
istanis will remain content with just
being ahead of India in something as
rigorous review should be made only way they can administer an Probably, the country, the innocuous as the happiness index.
of performance of higher civil unfamiliar technical department bureaucracy and IAS itself would The economic crisis in Sri Lanka
servants to weed out the corrupt is by setting quantitative targets be better-served if the Govern- is competing with the regime change
and the inefficient; for their subordinates, who juggle ment leaves the IAS to its own in Pakistan for headlines in the inter-
6) Article 311 of the Consti- figures to show that targets have devices and the IAS sees the non- national media that continues to be
tution should be amended to been met, sacrificing quality in IAS bureaucracy as colleagues, fully occupied with the Russian inva-
remove corrupt officials from ser- the process. not as competitors or subordi- sion of Ukraine.
vice and give them an opportuni- There are numerous instances nates. Abolition of outdated rules Meanwhile, the excesses of the
ty to defend themselves in a post where the hunger for power of the like giving the IAS an edge of two military junta in Myanmar have been
decisional hearing only after IAS, without adequate domain years over other services, and of pushed into the background. The
their removal from service; knowledge, led to disastrous con- having an IAS officer as the top degeneration of what was once the
7) The Indian Administrative sequences. Nowhere was it so boss in all departments would largest democracy in the world into
Service should not monopolize manifest as during the second help other services as also the IAS an ethnocracy needs the attention of
all key posts in the Government wave of the Covid-19 pandemic. To to realise their full potential and the world.
of India. There are a large num- recollect, Empowered Groups, con- dispel the image of the IAS as the Sinhalese were identified as the
ber of talented officers in other stituted as apex bodies under the big banyan tree under whose "majority with a minority complex"
two All-India Services and the National Disaster Management shadow no plants can thrive. Co- way back in the 1980s. That has also
Central Services who deserve to Authority, were put in charge of operation with rather than domi- been more or less the case with Bamar
hold key posts in Government of Covid management. At the time the nance over other services should ethnonationals of Myanmar and the
India under the Central Staffing second wave of Covid-19 infections be the mantra of the IAS. Khas-Arya supremacists of Nepal.
Scheme or other key posts in the struck, out of six Empowered Cynically, one may say that Dormant in the Indian mainland since
States, and, Groups, four were headed by the moral calibre of members of the killing of Mahatma Gandhi in
8) Far too many officers of departmental secretaries and two the IAS reflects the good and bad 1948, the proto-fascistic disease with
different services are promoted by NITI Aayog members. Despite of Indian society, but the self- political jingoism, cultural chauvin-
too quickly… there are a large having all resources at their com- generated ethos, procedures and ism, ethnonational xenophobia and
number of officers of the grade mand, the Empowered Groups did traditions of IAS do require religious extremism as its symptoms
of Commissioners, Principal Sec- little to ramp up medical infra- improvement to make it a service have begun to engulf the second most
retaries to Government, Addi- structure between the first and sec- fit for the future. populous country of the world.
editor@thestatesman.com
count. Find a country with a
sizeable disgruntled popula-
backyard was part of a wily
strategy. All the world loves
unwittingly provided a per-
manent war zone. As for the
tion and voila the next tar- and feels for an underdog; non- aligned nations, most
get is ready. The only one to they also love the great can be browbeaten to toe
benefit in the end is the defender! Besides, all those the American line, courtesy
USA. If things go awry there arms, missiles and war the might of the dollar!
is always the option of a planes must be sold before Yours, etc., Saroj
graceful exit e.g. Afgha- recession sets in. Kulshreshtha,
nistan. It is noteworthy that Nato countries have New Delhi, 10 April.
the scene of activity is al-
ways at a safe distance from
America. Entrance must be JNU TO BLAME
made at the right time. Keep SIR, When students become hooligans, the ambience of
in the background making an educational institution suffers most. How can a pre-
all the right noises; body- mier university like JNU be allowed to nurture students
bags do not go well with the who indulge in creating a ruckus inside the University
done it all with impunity. was already an alter ego of electorate. premises at the drop of a hat? The pertinent question
They have never felt the the USA but that apparently Cut to Putin. If Russia arises as to why Ram Navami and Hawan was allowed in
need to apologise. They’ve was not enough. Uncom- cannot be inducted into the hostel? Did not the Dean of Students anticipate the
done no wrong ~ only exer- fortable truth is never told, Nato why should Ukraine? disturbing outcome of religious activities inside the cam-
cised their rights! it just spills out. The USA knew if they used pus? Educational institutions are not the appropriate
There would have been The USA has destroyed the latter as a pawn they places for such activities.
no need of Nato if the Unit- country after country and would ultimately nettle Rus- I think the JNU authorities are responsible for viti-
ed Nations Organisation had scuttled off when things got sia into invading Ukraine. ating the academic atmosphere of the university.
not been turned into a beyond its control or the An invader is always a villain Yours, etc., Arun Gupta, Kolkata, 12 April.
toothless tiger. The UNO body-bags too many to even if the fire ignited in his
 NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 07
SATURDAY INTERVIEW 100 YEARS AGO

‘There is no fear among minorities’

OCCASIONAL NOTE
Whatever may eventually befall Ireland, Easter
Sunday, 1922, promises to be a red letter day in
the history of Sligo. Mr. Griffith, the President of
Dail Eirean, has announced his intention of
rier of region, religion, caste and com- they made to the people of the state. Muslims, are a part of India’s commit- addressing a pro-Treaty meeting at that centre

M
ukhtar Abbas Naqvi is the
Minister for Minority Affairs
in the Narendra Modi gov-
ernment. A post-graduate
in mass communication, he has retained
his interest in writing on socio-political-
cultural issues to this day drawing upon
his vast experience and grassroots activ-
ities in movements for democratic and
social issues concerning the common
man. Lately, he has been propagating
the rights, welfare and uplift of artisans
and craftsmen.
A senior and influential member of
the BJP, Naqvi served as Minister of State
for Information and Broadcasting and
Parliamentary Affairs in 1998 in the Atal
Bihari Vajpayee government. In the first
term of the Modi-led government in
2014, he served as Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs and Minority
Affairs (Independent Charge) and is now
a Cabinet Minister. In an interview with
Ashok Tuteja, Naqvi spoke about the
BJP's prospects in the coming Assembly
polls in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh
and the recent hijab and Halal-Jhatka
meat controversies in Karnataka, among
other issues.
Excerpts:
Q. What does the BJP's victory in the
Assembly elections in four states,
including Uttar Pradesh, suggest?
A: The landslide victory of the BJP in
Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and
other states has proved that the people
have accepted the Modi Model of Good
Governance. The thumping victory of
the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and other states
is the people’s stamp on Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s commitment to inclu-
sive empowerment of all. The people
have voted for “Jugalbandi of Vikas and
Sushasan”. The Modi and Yogi Era has
demolished the “Legacy of Cut, Com-
mission, Corruption" and the “Politics
of Danga and Dabang”. Prime Minister
Modi has replaced “Parikrama Politics”
(Politics of Circumambulation) with the
“Commitment to Performance”. The
results of these Assembly elections are a
crystal clear reflection of this positive
change in the political culture.
Q. Muslim women are also believed to
have voted in favour of the BJP in Uttar
Pradesh? What does it indicate?
A: See, the historic comeback of the
BJP in Uttar Pradesh with 255 seats,
clearly demonstrates that the BJP has
become the most acceptable and pre-
ferred political party in each and every
section of society. Cutting across the bar-
munity, every section has voted in favour
of the BJP in the recent Assembly polls.
Along with all the needy sections of soci-
ety, the Muslim women have also
immensely benefitted from the welfare
schemes of the Modi Government at the
Centre and the Yogi government in the
state. Be it Ujjwala Yojana, Mudra Yojana,
construction of toilets, Beti Bachao, Beti
Padhao, financial assistance to mar-
riageable girls, all these welfare schemes
have equally benefitted the women from
every section of the society. The Modi
Government abolished the social evil of
Triple Talaq. It has ensured gender equal-
ity for Muslim women. Our Government
has lifted the restriction on Muslim
women performing Haj with “Mehram”
(male companion) only. More than 3,500
Muslim women have performed Haj
without “Mehram” since 2018. These his-
toric measures have created a positive
atmosphere among Muslim women.
Q. Do you think the victory in Uttar
Pradesh for the BJP is a trend-setter for
the Lok Sabha elections in 2024?
A: For us, every election is signifi-
cant. The victory of the BJP in Uttar
Pradesh is a victory of good governance
and commitment to “Development with
Dignity” and “Empowerment without
Appeasement”. Prime Minister Modi and
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi
Adityanath have led the fight against
Corona from the front. Both the Central
and State Governments worked tireless-
ly for the health and well-being of the
people. More than 80 crore people are
being given free ration. Along with other
states of the country, Uttar Pradesh has
also tremendously benefited from this
step. While other political parties went
to the polls with a false, fabricated and
negative agenda, the BJP went before the
people with the achievements of the
Modi Government and the Yogi Govern-
ment. Better law and order is the hall-
mark of the Yogi Government. The BJP
will contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections
on the glorious achievements of the
Modi Government at the Centre and the
BJP Governments in the states.
Q.Why did the BJP perform so badly in
Punjab?
A: I'll tell you. The Assembly elec-
tion in Punjab was a fresh start for the
BJP in the state. Prior to this, the BJP was
in alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD). While in an alliance with the SAD,
the BJP had contested only 23 seats in
2017 and had won three with a vote
share of 5.39 per cent. In 2022, the BJP
contested 73 seats and won two seats
but our vote share increased to 6.60 per
cent. While Congress’s vote share fell by
15.52 per cent, the SAD’s individual vote
share fell by 6.86 per cent. The BJP is the
only party whose vote share increased
by 1.21 per cent, so we are optimistic of a
better performance next time.
Q. Do you think the Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) will be able to provide a stable
government to Punjab, a border state,
where separatism seems to be raising
its ugly head again?
A: First of all, I congratulate the AAP
for their victory in Punjab. But, they must
understand that governing Punjab will
be different altogether from Delhi. The
AAP has become a “Dream Merchant
without Delivery”. Their so-called “Delhi
Model” is a “Hollow Model”. Their
“Mohalla Clinic” concept, which is being
publicised by the AAP on every platform,
badly failed during the Corona period in
providing even basic health facilities. The
AAP Government has adopted the path
of “confrontation politics” on each and
every issue. They are in the habit of
blaming the Centre for AAP’s failures and
taking credit for the steps taken by the
Centre for the welfare of the people of
Delhi. The AAP had contested all seats
in the UP Assembly polls but failed to
win even a single seat and lost deposits
on 349 seats. In Uttarakhand, they con-
tested all 70 seats but failed to win a sin-
gle seat and lost deposits on 68 seats. In
Goa they contested 39 seats; lost
deposits on 35 seats and won just 2 seats.
The AAP only creates a fake atmosphere.
They have failed to govern Delhi. They
must realise that Punjab is a sensitive
border state. They must refrain from
“Gimmick Politics”. Their “Freebie Poli-
tics” of Delhi will not be able to sustain
them in a state like Punjab. They must
have to work with utmost sensitivity and
sincerity in Punjab to fulfil the promises
Q. How are the BJP's preparations for
the Assembly elections in Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh?
A: The BJP takes every election with
equal seriousness. We contest elections
to win. The BJP, its leadership and its
crores of dedicated Karykartas are on
mission mode 365 days, 24/7. The BJP
Governments have performed spectac-
ularly in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh.
The BJP will again win the Assembly
election in both states.
Q.Who is the BJP's main challenger in
these two states: Congress or AAP?
A: See, as I said earlier, the BJP Gov-
ernments have worked for inclusive
empowerment of every section in both
Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. The wel-
fare schemes of the Modi Government
and the state governments in Gujarat
and Himachal Pradesh have brought
“happiness in the eyes and prosperity in
the life” of every needy. Be it youth, farm-
ers, women, girls, labourers, traders or
any other section, the BJP has worked
for the welfare of all. The AAP is trying to
sell “free dreams without reality”.
Q. The graph of Congress has been
steadily declining.The Grand Old Party
has conceded much of the Opposition's
space to smaller parties like the AAP.Is it
good for Indian democracy?
A: The BJP believes in democracy.
There must be a constructive and posi-
tive opposition, it's good for a vibrant
democracy like India. For the Congress,
which is “fixed in feudal family frame”, I
can only say that when in power, the
Congress used to get “hit wicket” every
day, and now in Opposition, it is “bowl-
ing no-balls''. Over the decades, the
Congress has been vanishing in several
states, and the trend has been accelerat-
ing election after election. The Congress
has become a “non-performing asset”
which has no value. The Congress has
become a "champion of confusion and
contradiction".
Q. The recent hijab row and the Halal-
Jhatka meat controversy in Karnataka
are being seen as attempts to polarise
the people of the state ahead of the
Assembly elections.Your comment?
A: Some people are giving “Com-
munal Colour” to decisions on dress
code, discipline and decorum of institu-
tions as a part of their conspiracy to
defame India’s inclusive culture and
commitment. Equal rights, dignity and
prosperity of the minorities, including
ment to tolerance, harmony and inclu-
sivity. "Bharat Bashing Brigade" has
unfortunately once again received the
support of Pakistan and even terrorist
organisations on "Hijab Horror Hunga-
ma”. This ruckus has been created by
those who are misinformed on uniform.
Both the seen and unseen hands have
been exposed. There is no ban on wear-
ing hijab in India, it is clear. Of course,
some institutions have their discipline,
dress code and uniform. When we talk of
the rights provided in the Constitution,
we have to understand the importance
of Constitutional duties also. The “Hijab
Horror Hungama” is a well-planned con-
spiracy with the purpose of stopping the
education of Muslim girls.
Q. The minorities, especially the
Muslims, appear to be feeling unsafe
and living under constant fear ever
since the BJP formed government at the
Centre in 2014.How do you look at their
condition?
A: For the last several decades, the
so-called champions of Pseudo-Secular-
ism had created a negative atmosphere
among the minorities, especially Muslims
against the BJP. They treated secularism
as their political proprietorship to deceive
the Constitutional essence of secularism.
Those who have tainted records of betray-
ing voters through “Professional Political
Cocktail” of “Secular Tomato” in “Com-
munal Tiffin” have been exposed now.
Secularism is a Constitutional and a moral
commitment for the BJP, but the pseudo-
secular syndicate have misused secular-
ism as a vote-catching tool. Their false and
fabricated agenda has been exposed now.
The Modi Government has demolished
“Duping Appeasement” by “Determina-
tion to Development with Dignity”. The
overwhelming support of all the sections
for the BJP in the recent Assembly polls is a
crystal clear reflection of the growing
minorities’ trust in the leadership of the
Prime Minister and the policies of the BJP.
Q.What are the measures taken by your
Ministry to instil a sense of security
among minorities?
A: There is no fear among the
minorities in India. The religious, social,
educational and constitutional rights of
minorities are absolutely safe in India.
In India, minorities have an equal share
in the development of the country and
in the empowerment that is taking place.
Economically and educationally all com-
munities have equal opportunities and
also have an equal share in progress and
prosperity in India.
today. The local "commandant" of the Irish
Republican Army has put both feet down and
has (1) forbidden the holding of any meeting,
(2) arranged to hold Mr. Griffith responsible if
the meeting is held. The idea that anybody can
possibly be held responsible for anything that
happens in Ireland appears to strike a new
note - but that by the way. Being Irish, and
being forbidden to speak in Sligo, Mr. Griffith
naturally feels that Sligo is of all possible places
the most desirable for the exercise of his elo-
quence, and has reiterated his intention of
going there, with "all the emphasis at his com-
mand." In the result the Sligo people have a
fair prospect of witnessing today a demonstra-
tion of what happens when an irresistible force
impinges upon an immovable obstacle. These
who remain to assist at this interesting experi-
ment will have need of stout hearts and iron
nerves - unless of course the appropriately
named Mr. Rory O'Connor, the Republican
leader, suddenly goes back upon the declara-
tion he has just made at Dublin, namely, that
he and his friends require a Republic, and are
prepared to fight England to obtain it.
NEWS ITEMS
NEW OFFER TO EGYPT
Nothing will be officially disclosed regarding
the terms of the Egyptian agreement until after
Lord Allenby, who is returning to Egypt early
this coming week, has communicated the
arrangements to the Sultan. Nevertheless,
some papers publish particulars, which corre-
spond in many respects to the effect that the
Protectorate will be abolished, Martial Law
ended as soon as possible and a responsible
Government established in the fullest sense,
with a Foreign Ministry. Certain reservations
are attached regarding the safeguarding of
Imperial communications, adequate measures
for protection for foreigners and assurances
against foreign intervention. It is generally
assumed that the Egyptian Government will
be asked to agree to the appointment of advis-
ers on Finance and Justice. British forces will
remain in Egypt pending the conclusion of
negotiations.
ESTABLISHING MEDICAL
SCHOOLS IN BENGAL
The District Board Conference to be held at
Government House, Calcutta, will discuss a
number of important proposals, the chief of
which are connected with public health. The
establishment of medical schools in Bengal
will, no doubt, receive considerable attention.
A committee is at present sitting to advise the
Government on this question, and it is under-
stood that proposals may be made to estab-
lish schools at an early date at Mymensingh,
Berhampore, Chittagong and Jalpaiguri. The
cost of each school is estimated roughly at

Many shades of the Sri Lankan struggle

ERANDIKA DE SILVA struggle. A problem with this dichoto-
my is that it serves to constrict people’s
This diversity of our expressions of dis-
sent is a result of the diverse subject posi-
The question is how a revolution is pos-
sible when we draw on such slurs with
about Rs 5 lakhs. Among other questions to be
considered are taxation on carts, motors, hors-
es and carriages in rural areas; vaccination;
anti-malarial measures; and the amendment
of the Local Self-Government Act.
ruption, the unquestioning use of certain
rhetoric imply the deep-seated and latent

I
use the hashtag #GoHomeGota to
mark this watershed moment in Sri
Lanka’s postcolonial history. It is in
honour of the people who have
stormed the streets to demolish the
Bastille of a dynastic and nepotistic polit-
ical regime that has left Sri Lanka in an
economic meltdown. People of every
class and creed have united against a
“common enemy”; the Rajapaksas. Vari-
ous kinds of rhetoric seep through “the
struggle” to fight the Rajapaksas, and
they require close scrutiny and unpack-
ing for a more inclusive, pluralistic and
egalitarian struggle.
When I use the term “the struggle”,
I use it to refer to the #GoHomeGota
struggle, yet, with the awareness that
this is not one homogenous struggle
that can be captured with the term:
Each of us engaging in this struggle
come from diverse places and subject
positions.
A main concern people seem to
have about the protest waves in Sri
Lanka is how “protest-y” they are. Youth
who join the #GoHomeGota protest
movement use various forms of express-
ing dissent, and some social media
users criticize them for their supposed
lack of seriousness and depth. This has
created a divide among the dissenters.
Social media narratives against these
“not-so-serious” protesters undermine
their contribution to the #GoHomeGota
CROSSWORD
forms of expressing dissent. A social
media post that is in wide circulation
says, “aragalaya aathal ekak kara nogan-
na” [do not make the struggle an
aathal/farce—although “farce” barely
captures the nuances of aathal].
The problem is that we cannot
expect the same reaction or response
from all these groups as their needs,
aims, feelings, struggles, reasons and
reactions are diverse. Although this crisis
has united people from all walks of life,
we cannot view this as a crisis that affects
every citizen alike: It affects people dif-
ferently depending on factors such as
class, gender, religion, ethnicity and caste
that are very much active as we speak.
The struggles in Mirihana and Tan-
galle (but not limited to those) have
been the climax of the pent-up anger
and frustration of the working classes,
(perhaps) especially the underclass,
underprivileged and multiply margin-
alized persons and communities. Awak-
ened by their struggle to make needs
met, protesters representing various
backgrounds took to the streets as a
show of support. Therefore, it is simplis-
tic to view this struggle as a monolithic
or homogenous struggle – we should
not expect it to be so. Every dissenter is
an asset to this struggle. There is no tem-
plate or format for struggles. Struggles
and revolutions are diverse, and this
diversity should be embraced.
tions we occupy, our privilege, and the cre-
ativity of our expression. The attempt to
uniformize this struggle, in a way, waters
down its strength and effect. Uniformity in
struggles also runs the risk of quick elimi-
nation in the face of counter-resistance,
retaliation, and crackdown on the part of
the government – diversity and inclusion
increase protest strength. What is the point
in uniformizing struggles? Will such prede-
termined models enable us to dismantle
oppressive social structures and hierarchies
that are always in the making? Kudos to the
pressure we have put on the government
through the #GoHomeGota movement.
Yet, it is important to take a moment for
introspection and reflection. Certain plac-
ards reek of sexism. For instance, Gotage
ammata enna kiyapiya [ask Gota’s mother
to come], and Gotage….Gnanakkage katey
[Gota’s…are in Gnanakka’s mouth]. Calling
for Gota’s mother is a form of threat insinu-
ating physical and sexual assault on Gota’s
mother, and the second is a graphic sexual
metaphor connoting that Gota is under the
sway of his astrologer, Gnanakka.
Another text/catchphrase that
reads Adoh naattami adu kuley upan ….
invokes sexism, casteism, classism and
snobbery. Although incoherent and
fragmented, a loose translation of it
would be; Yo, porter! Low-caste born…
These words of a protester at the Miri-
hana protest site soon permeated social
media as a catchy insult targeting Gota.
their basis in the very social structures
and hierarchies that have oppressed us
for centuries. When we have fought the
oppressive clutch of casteism for gen-
erations, why do we now revive casteism
in a fight against another era of oppres-
sion? If we perpetuate these slurs
unquestioningly, it will only further mar-
ginalize the peripheries and exclude the
downtrodden groups from this struggle
for a corruption-free egalitarian society.
Talking about egalitarianism, let us
also ask whose struggle this is, and who
has access to this struggle. “The strug-
gle” as manifested on the streets of the
metropolis and centres may not be
accessible to those who struggle on the
peripheries of the peripheries who are
multiply marginalised; minorities who
do not speak Sinhala; and perhaps peo-
ple who are excluded due to the digital
divide. Furthermore, the Sinhala Bud-
dhist hegemonic discourse feeds this
struggle predominantly and obliterates
the Tamil narratives and rhetoric. Liv-
ing in Jaffna these past two years has
given me a new perspective on how
people view protests here. In Jaffna, peo-
ple have been protesting for decades,
but their suffering has gone unnoticed –
does this #GoHomeGota protest wave
recognize their suffering enough?
Although the #GoHomeGota move-
ment is driven by the call for ending dynas-
ticism, nepotism, totalitarianism and cor-
ideologies that subvert that cause by show-
ing an underlying fetish for kings and
despots. For instance, Katin Putin waeda
Tin Tin, implying that Gota speaks like
Putin but works like Tin Tin, is unaccept-
able on several levels: Tin Tin is a righteous,
law-abiding honourable man whereas
Putin is a megalomaniac who drove Russia
to launch missiles and bombs on Ukraini-
ans. The slogan implies a latent desire for a
megalomaniac like Putin as opposed to
the honourable Tin Tin. Is Putin the ruler
we want? It is time for us to rethink the
dangers of these catchphrases.
The creativity of placards, slogans
and hashtags has taken the #GoHome-
Gota struggle to a whole new level. They
are one of the driving forces behind this
struggle and their contribution to
#GoHomeGota shall not be under-
mined. Yet, let us not forget to reflect on
the problems that spring up here and
there. It is understandable that not
everyone is capable of understanding
the subtle implications or nuances of
these texts and speeches that go viral on
social media. It is the pent-up anger and
the frustrations of the citizens that come
out through these texts and speeches –
(and perhaps these too have a purpose
to serve?). To be both involved in this
struggle yet distant enough to be self-
critical is a great privilege not many can
afford. It is one privilege education
bestows on us.
NO 29240
ALLEGED FORGERY OF
TELEGRAMS
At the resumption of the Peel turf case the Post
Office detective repeated the questions which
he had put to Captain and Mrs. Peel and their
answers during his inquiries. He declared that
Mrs. Peel had told him that the bets were a little
heavier than usual, but she denied that she
received the result of the race by telephone.
Both denied that they knew the winner of the
race, or that telegrams had been handed in at
the time suggested. The detective stated that
Peel had told him confidentially that some of
the bets were on behalf of the trainer, Gilpin,
who did not wish the owner to know that he
was backing Paragon. Gilpin in his evidence
denied the assertion.
BRITAIN'S SUBSIDY TO
KING OF HEDJAZ
In the House of Lords, Lord Crawford stated
that the subsidy paid to the King of Hedjaz,
which was pound 200,000 monthly in Febru-
ary, 1919, was reduced to pound 25,000
monthly in December, 1919, and ceased alto-
gether in February, 1920. The total amount
paid during that period was pound 1,200,000
sterling. The sole payment made to the King
since then was an advance of about pound
5,000 in August, 1921, which was to be repaid
in cash or deducted from any eventual sub-
sidy. The total amount paid to the Sultan of
Nejd since February, 1919, was pound 233,000
sterling. It was incorrect, however, to reperesnt
that the subsidy was merely an inducement to
refrain from attacking the King of Hedjaz.

ACROSS create parts for

musical? (11)
religious celebration
(8)
minor punishment by
guards (10)
PALESTINE BOUNDARY
DIFFICULTIES
1 Investing round
21 Pressure beginning 2 Scaremongering 15 What I fed to angry
figure in boring club
SOLUTION FOR is a punt? (8)
to tell on son aboard member divides elite social worker? (9)
YESTERDAY'S SOLUTION 09 APRIL 5 Tense opening of
ship (6) group (8) 16 Suspicious inscription In the House of Lords Lord Raglan drew atten-
22 Deny record demand 3 Family bathroom on unknown soldier’s
play about plan of
following merger (8) designed primarily to tomb? (8) tion to the delimitation of the northern
action? (6)
24 Celebrate hosting accommodate toilet 17 Deranged Prince boundary of Palestine, which, he said appeared
9 Fish recognise husky
by the sound of it (8)
penultimate part of (5) subdued following to be drawn in such a manner that a consider-
10 Losing pawn in this
chat show (6) 4 American behind the Queen’s able number of persons found that they
25 Injury restricts position supporting intervention (8)
game would be
footballer backing international aid (10) 19 University rector resided in the French sphere and possessed
fortunate (6)
transfer immediately 6 Plot many intended inspired by person land in Palestine. It was also a disadvantage to
11 Shameless married
types having sex
(8) to be overheard (9) who employs one such persons crossing the frontier to be com-
outside (8)
26 Half-hearted teller 7 Heart shown by taking excessive pelled to possess a permit with both French
ordered checks for benevolent interest (6)
12 What would be
each recount (6) examiner? (6) 20 Conclusion of and British authorities' visas. Lord Sutherland
narrower if it
27 Went upstairs 8 Howler by athletics modernist in reply said that the Boundary Commission
weren’t tree-lined?
(6)
perhaps when clubs supremo about game composer’s tour (6) established under the Anglo-French Conven-
14 As a voice it’s
closed (8) making a comeback 23 Coat of cashmere tion, 1920, found it necessary to recommend
(6) lined with one
possibly helping to DOWN 13 State demonstrating material or another minor rectifications in the interests of both
form union (11)
1 Five last works for prompt dispatch of (5) Syria and Palestine in which the British and
18 Cast three actors to
French Governments were considered. The
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required. (By arrangement with The Independent, London) question of permits and visas would doubt-
less be considered simultaneously.
08
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022
THUMBNAILS
Power supply issues hit
Goa industries: The Con-
federation of Indian Indus-
try (CII) Goa chapter has
said power shortages, out-
ages and unplanned shut-
downs are affecting indus-
tries in the state though
the government has main-
tained there were no elec-
tricity supply constraints.
On Wednesday, power
minister Sudin Dhavalikar
had claimed Goa does not
face any power supply
issues like in states such
as Andhra Pradesh. In
Andhra Pradesh, industries
are not running even for
five hours a day some-
times due to load-shed-
ding. We are far better,
Dhavalikar had said after
attending a meeting of
the power department. In
a Press note, the CII Goa
chapter has recommend-
ed to Dhavalikar several
measures that are needed
to ensure industries do
not suffer due to any
power supply-related
issues. AGENCIES
Cotton import duty: The
government has decided
to exempt all customs
duty on the import of cot-
ton in order to provide
relief to the textiles indus-
try, the ministry of tex-
tiles has said. "This exemp-
tion would benefit the
textile chain-yarn, fabric,
garments and made-ups
and provide relief to the
textile industry and con-
sumers," the ministry said
in a statement. The Cen-
tral Board of Indirect
Taxes and Customs (CBIC)
has notified the exemp-
tion from customs duty
and agriculture infrastruc-
ture development cess for
import of cotton. This
notification shall come
into effect from 14 April
2022 and will remain in
force up to and inclusive
of 30 September 2022. ANI
Maruti unveils new Ertiga:
Maruti Suzuki on Friday
said it has launched a new
version of its multi-pur-
pose vehicle Ertiga. The
vehicle is priced in the
range of Rs 8.35 to Rs
12.79 lakh, ex-showroom.
"The Next-Gen Ertiga with
advanced technology fea-
tures will also come with a
new engine and an all-new
transmission," Hisashi
Takeuchi, MD & CEO, Maru-
ti Suzuki India Limited, said
in a statement. ANI
Star Air: On 16 April 2022,
Star Air, the aviation arm
of Sanjay Ghodawat
Group, will operate the
first direct flight between
Belagavi and Nagpur under
the regional connectivity
scheme UDAN. With no
prior direct flights
between the two cities,
Star Air will become the
first airline to achieve this
remarkable feat. ANI
Fund raising via debt placement hits 6-yr low in FY’22
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Fund raising by listed com-
panies through private place-
ment of corporate bonds
plunged to a six-year low in
financial year 2021-22 to Rs 5.88
trillion owing to good per-
formance of the equities and
aggressive fund disbursal by
banks at lower interest rate.
This was 24 per cent lower
from a record Rs 7.72 trillion
mobilised in fiscal 2020-21, data
with the Securities and
Exchange Board of India (Sebi)
showed.
Unless the high government
borrowings and adverse inter-
est rate cycle play spoilsport,
the ongoing financial year is
expected to be robust in terms
of fund raising activities
Major reshuffle in AI's
top management
Alliance Air is no longer Air India subsidiary; to be run as govt business unit
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
ir India chairman N
A
Chandrasekaran
today effected a major
reshuffle in the top
management of recently-
acquired airline, with Nipun
Aggarwal appointed as chief
commercial officer and Suresh
Dutt Tripathi as chief human
resources officer.
Aggarwal, who is also senior
vice-president at Tata Sons,
replaces Air India veteran
Meenakshi Malik, while Tri-
pathi, who was vice-presi-
dent of human resources at
Tata Steel from 2012 to 2021,
succeeds AI's Amrita Sha-
ran.
The order was issued by
Chandrasekaran, who is also
the chairman of Tata Sons.
Malik and Sharan were on
Friday appointed as advisors
to the chief executive officer
of Air India, according to a
company communication.
As the Tata Group is yet to
appoint the CEO of Air India,
Malik and Sharan will cur-
rently be advisors to Chan-
drasekaran, the communi-
HDFC Bank may post
strong profit growth
ASIAN NEWS INTERNATIONAL
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL
India's largest private sector
lender HDFC Bank is expect-
ed to announce strong growth
in profit and earnings for the
fourth quarter of 2021-22.
The bank is scheduled to
announce its Q4 results on Sat-
urday.
As per various analysts
and reports, HDFC Bank is
expected to announce 18 to
40 per cent growth in net
profit. According to brokerage
firm Edelweiss, HDFC Bank's
net profit is expected to
increase by 24 per cent to Rs
10,183 crore in January-March
2022 quarter.
During January-March 2021
quarter HDFC Bank had
reported Rs 8,186.5 crore net
profit.
As per Prabhudas Lillad-
her's estimates, HDFC Bank
Egypt approves India as wheat
supplier, says Piyush Goyal
AGENCIES
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Union commerce and indus-
try minister Piyush Goyal
today said Egypt, which is one
of the largest importers of
wheat from Ukraine and Rus-
sia, has approved India as a
wheat supplier.
There is a sharp decline in
availability of wheat in the
global markets due to the
ongoing conflict between
Russia and Ukraine. Both the
nations are major producers
and exporters of wheat.
Egypt imported wheat
worth about $1.8 billion from
Russia and $610.8 million
from Ukraine in 2020.
The African nation is look-
ing to import 1 million tons
of wheat from India and
would need 2,40,000 tons in
April.
through the debt route on
account of higher demand
for credit from corporates in
light of the improving eco-
nomic outlook, experts said.
"During FY’23, there should
be some increase in raising of
debt through bonds as cor-
porate India presses the pedal
on the next major phase of the
capex cycle. Also, with a poten-
tially rising interest rate sce-
nario, these bond issuances
should evince good interest
from risk seeking investors,"
Ricky Kirpalani, lead sponsor,
First Water Capital Fund (AIF),
said.
Vibhor Mittal, chief busi-
ness officer, CredAvenue,
believes issuance volumes in
the private debt market are
improving on account of high-
er demand for credit from
PROMINENT CHANGES
� Nipun
Aggarwal
appoint-
ed as chief
commer-
cial offi-
cer and
Suresh
Dutt Tri-
pathi as chief human
resources officer.
� Aggarwal, who is also
senior vice-president at
Tata Sons, replaces Air
India veteran Meenakshi
Malik, while Tripathi, who
was vice-president of
cation mentioned.
Satya Ramaswamy, who
has worked at Tata Consul-
tancy Services before, was
on Friday appointed as chief
digital and technology officer
at Air India, the order stated.
Rajesh Dogra was appoint-
ed as the head of customer
experience and ground han-
dling at Air India, it men-
tioned. Air India veteran R S
Sandhu will continue to hold
the charge of chief of opera-
net profit is expected to surge
by 40.5 per cent to Rs 11,503.6
crore. Axis Securities expect
26.8 per cent increase while
Kotak Securities has project-
ed 19 per cent increase in
HDFC Bank's profit.
HDFC Bank's financial
result is keenly watched as it
is to be announced just around
two weeks after the announce-
ment of merger deals with
Housing Development Finance
Corporation (HDFC).
The board of directors of
HDFC Ltd and HDFC Bank at
a meeting held on 3 April
approved a proposal of the
merger of the two leading
financial institutions. As per
the terms of the deal, share-
holders of HDFC Ltd will
receive 42 shares of HDFC Bank
for 25 shares held. Existing
shareholders of HDFC Ltd
will own 41 per cent of HDFC
Bank.
“Indian farmers are feed-
ing the world. Egypt approves
India as a wheat supplier.
Modi Govt. steps in as the
world looks for reliable alter-
nate sources for steady food
supply. Our farmers have
ensured our granaries over-
flow and we are ready to
serve the world,” Goyal said
in a tweet.
India's wheat exports
increased to $1.74 billion in
April-January period of finan-
issuers in light of the improv-
ing economic outlook.
However, dampeners to
the cause could be high gov-
ernment borrowings that may
crowd out private placements
and adverse interest rate
cycles. In FY’22, fund raising
through the private place-
ment of corporate bonds was
subdued at Rs 5.88 lakh crore.
This was the lowest level
since 2015-16, when listed
companies had raised Rs 4.58
trillion, the data showed.
In terms of issuance, 1,405
issues were witnessed in the
just concluded fiscal year as
compared to 1,995 issues in
2020-21. The debt markets
are mostly tapped by the
financial sector companies
who use funds for onward
lending (as the economic
Our farmers have ensured our granaries overflow
and we are ready to serve the world.
human resources at Tata
Steel from 2012 to 2021,
succeeds AI's Amrita Sha-
ran.
�Malik and Sharan were
appointed as advisors to
the chief executive officer
of Air India
tions at Air India, it noted.
Another Air India veteran
Vinod Hejmadi will continue
to hold the charge as chief
financial officer, it men-
tioned.
"The new appointees will
exercise the powers of func-
tional/departmental heads
as per the delegation of
authority. We wish them all the
very best in their new role,"
Chandrasekaran stated in
the order.
FDI inflow likely to touch Senco Gold files DRHP
$100 billion this fiscal for `525-crore IPO
ASIAN NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Foreign direct investment
(FDI) inflow to India is
expected to reach $100 bil-
lion in the current financial
year supported by various
ground touching economic
reforms and significant ease
of doing business in the
recent years, PHD Cham-
ber of Commerce and
Industry (PHDCCI) said in a
report.
In the report titled “Econ-
omy to Resume Normal
Growth Curve in 2022-23”,
PHDCCI said India's eco-
nomic growth in the cur-
rent financial year would be
the highest among the lead-
ing economies across the
world.
PHD Chamber of Com-
cial year 2021-22 as against
$340.17 million in the same
period last year.
In 2019-20, wheat exports
were worth $61.84 million,
which rose to $549.67 million
in fiscal 2020-21.
India's wheat exports are
mainly to neighbouring coun-
tries with Bangladesh having
the largest share of more
than 54 per cent in both vol-
ume and value terms in 2020-
21. It has entered new wheat
COS MOP UP `5.88 TRILLION
� Fund raising by
listed companies
through private
placement of cor-
porate bonds
plunged to a six-
year low in finan-
cial year 2021-22 to
Rs 5.88 trillion.
� This was the
lowest level since
2015-16, when list-
ed companies had raised Rs
4.58 trillion.
� Compared with fiscal
cycle gathers pace) and boost
capital buffers.
The non-financial bunch
deploys the funds mainly for
PIYUSH GOYAL
UNION COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY MINISTER
After a competitive bidding
process, the government had
on 8 October last year sold Air
India to Talace Private Lim-
ited ~ a subsidiary of the Tata
group's holding company ~
for Rs 18,000 crore.
Alliance Air: Alliance Air is no
longer a subsidiary of Air
India and it will be run as an
independent business unit
under the Government of
India, the companies
announced on Friday.
"Alliance Air, from 15 April
2022 will no longer be part of
Air India after its disinvestment
and will be run as an inde-
pendent business unit under
Government of India," accord-
ing to an official statement
released by Alliance Air. In a
statement, Vineet Sood, CEO,
Alliance Air, said: "Going for-
ward with absolute efficien-
cy, Alliance Air will now sell
its tickets under Alliance Air
banner."
Air India also posted an
announcement on Twitter,
"For the kind attention of
our esteemed passengers:
Alliance Air is no longer a sub-
sidiary of Air India."
merce and Industry presi-
dent Pradeep Multani said
various dynamic reforms
undertaken by the govern-
ment during the last two
years would support the
GDP growth.
Though GDP growth con-
solidated at around 9 per
cent in financial year 2021-
22 which is the highest
among the leading
economies; the current
financial year 2022-23 is
markets such as Yemen,
Afghanistan, Qatar and
Indonesia.
The top ten countries
importing Indian wheat in
2020-21 were Bangladesh,
Nepal, the United Arab Emi-
rates, Sri Lanka, Yemen,
Afghanistan, Qatar, Indone-
sia, Oman and Malaysia.
India accounts for less
than one per cent in the
world's wheat export. How-
ever, its share has increased
from 0.14 per cent in 2016 to
0.54 per cent in 2020. India
is the second largest pro-
ducer of wheat with a share
of around 14.14 per cent in
the world's total production
in 2020.
India produces around
107.59 million tons of wheat
annually while a major chunk
of it goes towards domestic
consumption.
2020-21, this was 24 per cent
lower from a record Rs
7.72 trillion mobilised in the
fiscal.
general corporate expenses,
capital expenditure and for
inorganic growth opportuni-
ties apart from refinancing
Twitter weighs ‘poison pill’
strategy to fight back Musk
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
SAN FRANCISCO/NEW DELHI, 15
APRIL
Treating Elon Musk's $43 bil-
lion offer to buy Twitter as an
"unwelcome" step, the board
of the company is reported-
ly considering a "poison pill"
strategy to make it more dif-
ficult for Musk to acquire a
larger stake in the micro-
blogging platform and avoid
a hostile takeover.
According to The Infor-
mation, Twitter's board of
directors view Musk's hostile
takeover offer as "unwel-
come", and are ready to "fight
the bid".
The "poison pill" strategy
is used by a firm to prevent or
discourage a potential hostile
takeover. It allows existing
shareholders the right to pur-
chase additional shares at a
discount, effectively diluting
the ownership interest of a new
and hostile party.
"One person close to the
situation said that the board
wanted to support CEO Parag
Agrawal, who only assumed
the role in November. Mean-
while, Musk hasn't provided
details of his plans for Twit-
ter or his financing for the
deal," the report mentioned.
With 9.2 per cent stake,
expected to attain a GDP
growth of more than 8 per
cent, which is again the
highest among the top ten
economies, Multani said.
However, according to
the PHDCCI president,
geopolitical conflicts, high
inflation and possibilities of
new Covid variants are the
major worrying factors dur-
ing the current financial
year.
The PHDCCI report envis-
ages that the nominal GDP
will grow at 12-12.5 per cent
(8 per cent real GDP and 4-
4.5 per cent inflation) in the
current financial year and
the economy will attain a
size of $3350-3400 billion in
2022-23.
The size of the economy
is expected to touch $5 tril-
lion by 2026-27, the report
noted.
Bike taxi platform Rapido raises
$180 million led by Swiggy, TVS
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Bike taxi aggregator platform
Rapido today said it has raised
$180 million led by online
food delivery service compa-
ny Swiggy.
Rapido said the funds would
be used to bolster technolo-
gy, strengthen its teams and
reach a larger audience in
metros, tier 1, 2 and 3 cities to
ensure last-mile connectivi-
ty.
The Series D round also saw
investment from TVS Motor
Company, along with existing
investors Westbridge, Shell
Ventures and Nexus Ventures.
"We look forward to learn-
ing from Swiggy's experience
to scale up throughout the
country and enhance our cap-
tains/customers' experience,
who are the backbone of our
business. TVS Motor will help
existing debt.
The lower fund raising
through private placement
route in FY’22 compared to the
preceding fiscal could be
attributed to good perfor-
mance of the equities in the
stock market last year, Kam-
lesh Shah - MD Share India
Securities, said.
Explaining the reasons for
highest-ever fund-raise
through the route in 2020-21,
Shah said low interest rates and
measures by the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI), boosting liq-
uidity, helped the cause
despite the pandemic.
According to CredAvenue's
Mittal, bond issuances have
seen a steep decline in FY’22
principally due to the lack of
any explicit support from the
government or RBI, unlike
READY TO FIGHT THE BID
� According to
The Information,
Twitter's board
of directors view
Musk's hostile
takeover offer as
"unwelcome",
and are ready to
"fight the bid".
� The "poison pill" strat-
egy is used by a firm to pre-
vent or discourage a poten-
tial hostile takeover.
Musk is one of the largest
shareholders in Twitter.
Asset management firm
Vanguard Group disclosed
last week that its funds now
own a 10.3 per cent stake in
Twitter which makes it the
largest shareholder.
Twitter has had some "poi-
son pill" provisions in its
bylaws, including the board's
ability to issue "blank check"
preferred stock without prior
approval, reports The Verge.
Musk said during a Ted Talk
session late on Thursday that
he has a “Plan B” ready if he
fails to acquire 100 per cent
of Twitter, without divulging
any further details.
"I am not sure that I will
actually be able to acquire it,"
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, 15 APRIL
Jewellery retail player Senco
Gold Limited has filed a draft
red herring prospectus (DRHP)
with the Securities and
Exchange Board of India to
raise Rs 525 crore through an
initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO of Senco Gold
comprises of fresh issue of equi-
ty shares aggregating up to Rs
325 crore and an offer for sale
of equity shares aggregating
up to Rs 200 crore by selling
shareholder ~ SAIF Partners
India IV Limited.
The company proposes to
utilise Rs 240 crore of net pro-
ceeds from the fresh issue
towards funding working cap-
ital requirements and rest
towards general corporate
purposes, said a Press state-
ment issued by the company.
Besides, the company may
us in further expansion," said
Aravind Sanka, co-founder,
Rapido.
Rapido will invest funds in
all its three categories ~ bike-
taxi, auto and delivery ~ in more
than 100 cities it currently
operates in.
It will also provide additional
earnings for both Swiggy's
delivery executives and Rapi-
do's captains.
"Swiggy and Rapido share
last year, when programmes
such as LTRO (long-term repo
operation) and various cred-
it guarantee schemes led to an
overall boost in the market.
"Banks and NBFCs have
been aggressive in disbursing
funds through the loan route
at lower rates due to abundant
systemic liquidity; this has
made it difficult for capital mar-
ket investors to compete with
the loan market on yield offer-
ing," he added.
Another factor for the
decline could be subdued
working capital requirements
/utilisations of the companies
in spite of growth in the top
line, Abhijit Shrivastava, man-
aging partner at Azalea Cap-
ital Partners, said.
"There has been ample
liquidity available with banks
� It allows existing share-
holders the right to pur-
chase additional shares at
a discount, effectively dilut-
ing the ownership interest
of a new and hostile party.
the billionaire added.
In his offer letter to Twit-
ter's board, the Tesla chief exec-
utive officer had said that he
would "need to reconsider (his)
position as a shareholder" if
the company refuses his offer.
Musk has also started a
new poll with his nearly 82 mil-
lion followers on Twitter, with
the subject line "Taking Twit-
ter private at $54.20 should be
up to shareholders, not the
board". "Will endeavour to
keep as many shareholders in
privatised Twitter as allowed
by law," he posted.
Meanwhile, Agrawal has
tried to convince employees that
Twitter would follow a "rigor-
ous process" on Musk's "unso-
licited, non-binding" offer.
consider a pre-IPO place-
ment of equity shares aggre-
gating up to Rs 65 crore. If the
pre-IPO placement is under-
taken, the amount raised from
the pre-IPO placement will be
reduced from the fresh issue,
the statement said.
According to a Crisil report,
Kolkata-headquartered Senco
Gold Limited, which oper-
ates under the tradename
“Senco Gold & Diamonds”, is
the largest organised jew-
ellery retail player in the east-
ern region of India based on
number of stores. Also among
eastern India based jewellery
retailers, it has the widest
geographical footprint in non-
eastern states.
The company primarily
sells gold and diamond jew-
ellery and also sells jewellery
made of silver, platinum and
precious and semi-precious
stones and other metals.
a vision to build a logistics plat-
form that empowers riders
through more opportunities
and higher earnings," said
Sriharsha Majety, co-founder
and chief executive officer of
Swiggy.
Rapido has raised $130
million in the past from var-
ious investors, and serves over
25 million customers with 1.5
million captains (driver-part-
ners).
At present, the company has
grown more than 2.5x to pre-
pandemic levels by main-
taining market leadership in
its core category.
"TVS Motor has always
been at the forefront of driving
the mobility transformation
and we are glad to partner with
Rapido, an emerging leader in
the ride sharing segment
across India," said Sudarshan
Venu, joint managing direc-
tor, TVS Motor.
and undrawn limits with var-
ious corporate borrowers. So,
it didn't make sense for a lot
of corporates to tap the high-
er cost bond debt," Kirpalani
said.
Apart from the capital
raised via private placement
of corporate debt, a total of Rs
11,589 crore came from pub-
lic issuance of corporate debt
in the past fiscal year.
Higher to constant liquid-
ity in the system and overall
lower credit offtake, would
still keep the dependence low
on public issuance of corpo-
rate debt. However, the first
half of FY’23 could see an
uptick through this route of
fund raising, Shalibhadra
Shah, chief financial officer,
Motilal Oswal Financial Ser-
vices, said.
 Sea fishing
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 09
99% of Swabiman Anchala 12 yr-old dies NHRC orders States,
ban enforced
in a fight over including Odisha,to address in Odisha
turns Naxal-free belt mobile phone the plight of LGBTQ
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE done precious little for their
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:

To ensure the safe breeding

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI , 15 APRIL: NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL: well-being and survival, of sea fish, the marine fish-
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL: Tripathy mentioned. eries authorities on Friday
A fight among three friends over The NHRC has directed the The Full Commission, enforced a two-month-long
round 99 percent of playing games on a mobile Centre, all the States includ- all members and the Chair- prohibition on marine fish-

A hitherto impregnable
Maoists’ epicenters
in Swabhiman Ancha-
la of Odisha’s Malkangiri dis-
trict are freed of Naxal activ-
ities with the steady weaken-
ing of left wing extremism in
the region, said chief secretary
Suresh Mahapatra on Friday.
“With the Left Wing
Extremism (LWE) activities
fizzling out, the areas are on
the path of development. Fear
of gun-toting Maoists unleash-
ing terror no longer lingers on
in about 151 villages coming
under 9 gram panchayats of
Swabhimam Anchala”, he
claimed while visiting the
region today.
The establishment of as
many as 9 company operat-
ing bases (COBs) by the Bor-
der Security Force (BSF) at the
Maoists’ heartland has instilled
tremendous confidence
among people of Swabhiman
Anchala.
While seven mobile tow-
ers are operating in the area,
all the households in 9 GPs
of Swabhiman Anchal have
been distributed mobile
handsets.
The erstwhile Naxal hotbed
is witnessing boom in horti-
culture, fishery, alternative
livelihood for the inhabitants,
enhancing of income of the
farmers, improvement of
quality health care in med-
ical, functioning of education
and hostel complex , growth
of eco-tourism, irrigation,
electrification, road connec-
tivity to all villages, and tele-
com connectivity, he said.
There has been a percep-
tible turnaround in the erst-
while cutoff areas with the
deployment of BSF and con-
struction of Gurupriya River
Bridge connecting the area
with the mainland.
Swabhiman Anchal had
voted for the first time in 15
years during the fifth and last
phase of the recently con-
cluded panchayat election
and there was impressive
voter turnout in the elections
in the Naxal affected region.
This refreshing turn of
events bear testimony to the
fact the Naxals have retreat-
ed and their operation base
has disintegrated due to the
increased vigil by the securi-
ty forces and the develop-
ment initiative of the State gov-
ernment, said a senior police
official.
phone led to the death of a 12-
year- old.
Lulu Bhoi a student of
STD.VII from Masiput near Kora-
put was playing a video game
on the mobile phone borrowed
from another boy of his age .But
as he was reluctant to give back
the mobile phone even after
playing one game.
The owner of the mobile
phone and another young boy
of 18 years tried to snatch it back
resulting in a fight during which
one of them hit Lulu with a sharp
stone which proved fatal, said
U K Das, additional superin-
tendent of police, Koraput on
Friday. According to the primary
investigation, the two friends
had dragged the dead body of
Lulu to the bank of the reser-
voir in the evening and had
returned home .
The father of Lulu and oth-
ers found the body and informed
the police.
Investigations are on and the
two friends of Lulu have been
detained.
ing Odisha and the Union
Territories to address the
pressing issues pertaining
to the Lesbian, gay, bisex-
ual, and transgender
person of the NHRC in its
latest order took cognizance
of the issues raised by Tri-
pathy and directed the Min-
istry of Social Justice and
ing operations.
The prohibitory orders
clamped today would remain
effective till 14 June. Any devi-
ation on part of fishermen com-
(LGBTQ) community. Empowerment, Govt. of munities would be dealt with
T h e Su p re m e Co u r t India and the Chief Secre- stringent legal provisions with
lawyer and activist Rad- taries/Administrators of all the confiscation of the fishing
hakanta Tripathy initially has the States/UTs to take appro- crafts, said officials adding
raised the issue concerning priate steps to ensure that that the 60-day fishing ban is
the plight of transgenders the members of the LGBTQ being enforced simultane-
of Bhadrak and subsequently community are not deprived ously along the 480 km coastal
in other petitions high- of their basic necessities of Odisha, said officials. The
lighted the trauma of the of life and to follow the annual fishing ban is being
entire LGBTQ community Advisory for protection of enforced for the larger inter-
covering the entire country the Rights of LGBTQ com- est of those living on fishing
during the pandemic health munity issued by this Com- activity. The restriction on
crisis. mission in its letter and fishing is imposed every year
Adjudicating Tripathy’s spirit. to allow breeding and multi-
batch of petitions filed since The NHRC in its earlier plication of fish population.
29 July, 2020, the NHRC order had suggested the Prohibition on sea fishing
passed the order recently. setting up of a separate was promulgated under
With the outbreak of 24x7 toll free helpline num- Odisha marine fishing regu-
pandemic, the LGBTQ com- ber for the LGBTQ com- lation act besides the direc-
munity in general and trans- munity to provide support tions from the union gov-
gender community in par- in different regional lan- ernment. It’s an admitted fact
ticular across the country are guages for dealing with that fishermen and stake-
badly hit economically and cases of violence, abuse, holders of sea-fishing would
have become victims of dis- health and mental health be on the losing side due to
crimination. The State has issues. the ban.

Abandoned new born sent to
Sishu Bhawan, Cuttack
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
The Jajpur district adminis-
tration has decided to refer the
newborn baby who was aban-
doned by family members in
a hospital here to the Sishu
Bhawan in Cuttack for gen-
der determination and further
treatment .
The newborn baby and
the mother were abandoned
by family members in a pri-
vate hospital in Jajpur district
after the doctor who carried
out the delivery informed
them about the baby’s under-
developed genitalia.
“I have studied the matter
very carefully and directed the
Jajpur Chief District Medical
Officer to send the baby to the
Sishu Bhawan in Cuttack for
the gender determination of
the newborn and further treat-
ment relating to the diseases
as there is no such facilities
here to conduct the exami-
nations,” said Jajpur collector
Chakravarti Singh Rathore.
“I have asked the protec-
tion officer to resolve the mis-
understanding between the
couple (baby’s parents)
through counseling and he has
started initiating the matter,”
he said.
Notably, one Snehalata
Baral was admitted at a pri-
vate hospital in Jajpur town
for delivery on Sunday and she
delivered to the hermaphro-
dite (a rare form of intersex
anomaly where both male
and female gonads are present)
Cocaine peddlers eyeing Two killed, Tremors felt in four
2023 Hockey World Cup mishap
market: STF
baby the same night. After
delivery, the doctor told the
mother and her family that the
newborn is neither a male nor
female. The baby’s father
Tapan Kumar Baral and fam-
ily members who were present
at the hospital asked the
woman to handover the new-
born to an orphanage.
When she did not agree to
the proposal, her husband
and in-laws left the hospital
leaving behind the mother and
her baby in the hospital.
The incident came to fore
after a delegation of Jajpur dis-
trict transgender association
led by its president Kajal
Nayak visited the hospital
and enquired about the health
of baby and the mother on
Wednesday evening.
4 hurt in road
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
Two days after the first ever
seizure of cocaine and arrest
of two persons in
Bhubaneswar , the Special
Task Force of state crime
branch on Friday said the
drug peddlers were explor-
ing the market to create a
clientele during the 2023
Hockey Men’s World Cup
to be hosted by the state.
They were doing the
ground work for peddling
cocaine during the inter-
national event as they
expected a large number
of foreign nationals to visit
Bhubaneswar and Rourkela,
the two venues for the World
districts of Odisha
Cup, said STF officials .
The agenda included
finding ways to peddle the
expensive drug in hotels
where the teams, officials
and foreign nationals were
likely to stay, said the offi-
cial sources.
It may be noted that April
13, two persons Ravi and
Sunny Kumar–were arrest-
ed on charges of possession
of cocaine weighing 202
grams. Ravi belongs to
Rajasthan and had procured
the drug from his ‘boss’
operating in Turkman gate
area of Delhi.
The STF had also seized
foreign currency from the
two and the mobile had
several foreign contacts.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
There was also no report
of any loss of life or damage
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL: to property, a district official
An earthquake of moderate said.
Two persons were killed and intensity hit Odisha’s four dis- Last month, a moderate
four injured when a paddy tricts on Friday with the Spe- earthquake of 3.5 magni-
loaded mini truck over turned cial Relief Commissioner tude hit Kalahandi and
in the Hatikhomba and (SRC) office informed the Nabarangpur districts of
Penakam stretch of Nation- quake was 3.5 magnitude Odisha.
al Highway 326. Richter scale. “I was watching TV. Sud-
Mukundpur police rushed The tremors were expe- denly the chair shook. I was
to the spot and started res- rienced in Ganjam, Nayagarh, terrified”, remarked Mahen-
cue operations sending the Phulbani and Boudh at 11.19 dra Sahu, a local in Daspalla.
victims to Ramanguda Com- am today, informed the IMD “We were in the house.
munity health care centre. regional centre Bhubaneswar, We were jolted as we felt
The deceased were iden- adding that the epicenter trembling. The door and
tified as Gopinath Kumbrika of the ear thquake was windows, cots in the house
and Teja Mandangi. between Ganjam and Naya- all shook. We were all ter-
Outpost In-Charge garh. rified”, said Rajalaxmi Swain,
Mukundpur Harsha Chandra The National Centre of a homemaker from Das-
Pani said heavy traffic, rash Seismology said the epi- palla.
driving on the NH 326 the center of the 3.5 magnitude People had resorted to
Ranchi -Vijayawada corri- quake was at a depth of 10 text short message service
dor has led to increasing kilometres in Ganjam district (SMS) and phone calls to
number of accidents. and was felt at 11.19 am. alert friends and relatives.

Almost half of Odisha
turns Covid-free
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
As many as 13 districts in
Odisha on Friday turned
Covid-free with no active
cases even as 24 of the 30 dis-
tricts did not report fresh
cases in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the state today
logged 17 new COVID-19
cases while the death toll
rose to 9,123 with a fresh
fatality.
The test positivity rate
stayed at 0.09 percent with
18,723 samples tested in the
past 24 hours.
The state now has 121
active cases while as many as
13 districts- Nabarangpur,
Nuapada, Kandhamal,
Dhenkanal, Rayagada, Jhar-
suguda, Jagatsinghpur, Puri,
Kalahandi, Koraput, Keon-
jhar, Mayurbhanj and Naya-
garh- have turned Coron-
avirus-free with no active
case, said health officials.
A total of 9,76,976 have so
far received booster or pre-
caution dose so far. Around
95 percent of the eligible pop-
ulation has so far received both
the doses of vaccine.
Students protest over road, study in paddy field Maoist posters at Turjung
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI , 15 APRIL:
More than 20 students of
Rahadinga village are on a
novel protest over a row that
had led to stoppage of road
construction work.
The road work has stopped
since last year following a
land related dispute.
The narrow road linked to
Rahadinga revenue village of
Chapada panchayat of Raghu-
nathpur block.
During monsoon the road
turns into a muddy stretch with
pools of water making it dif-
ficult to students to go to the
Rahadinga Primary School.
Villagers Pramod Samal ,
Ajaya Samal and others had
sought the intervention of
collector, Jagatsinghpur, BDO
, Raghunathpur and other
officials for renovation of this
road for safety of the school
going children. Funds were
provided from MGNREGS
and 22 job card holders were
engaged to construct the road
on last 1 April 2020.
But a few villagers stopped
the road work after three days
claiming that the land belongs
to a private person and a tem-
ple.
Villager naib sarpanch
Niranjan Moharana, Manoran-
jan Jena, Harihar Jena, Pravakar
Mohanty and Ranjan Kumar
Das claimed rights over the
land and stopped the road
work.
At least 250 people includ-
ing 25 SC and ST communi-
ties are staying in this ward no
in Kalahandi district
11 of the revenue village. Near- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
ly 20 children are going to NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
local primary school for study.
These people have decid- Maoist poster affixed to road
ed to protest by not sending side trees was found in Tur-
their children to school and jung village on the outskirts
are conducting classes in a of M Rampur in Kalahandi dis-
paddy field with a polythene trict alleged that girl stu-
sheet overhead to protect dents of a private school in
them from summer heat. the area were being subject-
They have engaged a pri- ed to sexual harassment.
vate teacher to run the open The posters put up on red
air classes. cloth said if appropriate
Block Education Officer, action is not taken by the gov-
Raghunathpur Bijay Kumar ernment against the culprits
Swain said ‘neither villagers within ten days, the
nor the school headmaster has CPI(Maoist) will do so .
informed about the incident. Kalahandi district SP , Sar-
I will look into it and seek inter- vana Vivek , said it is being
vention f the BDO and Tehsil- ascertained whether the
dar, he added. poster is that of Maoists or some other miscreants.

LEISURE
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RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson SUDOKU

ACROSS DOWN
1 Strong coffee (5) 1 Edible mollusc (6)
4 Transgressions (4) 2 Drink mat (7)
8 Flies high (5) 3 Church passageway (5)
9 Apparent (7) 4 Adept (7)
10 Immoderate (7) 5 Female relative (5)
11 Demon (5) 6 Steady (5-6)
12 Biker's head protection 7 Scrutinise (5)
(5,6) 13 Infer (7)
17 Skinflint (5) 14 Version (7)
19 Greed (7)
21 Learned (7)
15 Traffic light colour (5)
16 Interrupt (a speaker) DADDY DAZE/John Kovaleski
22 Dense (5) (6)
23 Renown (4) 18 Steam bath (5)
24 Light narrow boat (5) 20 Garret (5)
Directions Make a 2 to
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAY’S CROSSWORD 7 letter word from the
letters in each row.
ACROSS 13 Yonder, DOWN 12 Puerile, Add points of each
15 Double 1 Roar, 14 Nullify, word, using scoring
1 Rote, directions at right, 7-
3 Aryan fault, 2 Tankard, 16 Baton, letter words get 50- Sudoku is a number-placing
19 Setting, 3 Amenity, 17 Alga, point bonus. "Blanks"
(Rotarian), used as any letter puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
7 Earn, 20 Idle, 4 Yacht, 18 Flex. have no point value. several given numbers. The
21 Lance, 5 Nitrogen, All Judd's words are
8 Crew cut, in The Official object is to place the numbers 1
9 Valediction, 22 Lynx. 6 Acme, Scrabble Players
Dictionary(Merriam-
to 9 in the empty squares so
11 Hard up, 10 Carousel, Webster) and OSW that no row, no column and no
Official Scrabble answer to 3x3 box contains the same
Scrabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks.
By arrangement with The Independent All rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro
Words(Chambers).
Judd's solution previous number. The difficulty level
Figures in parentheses denote Inc., in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by tomorrow. puzzle increases through the week.
J.W. Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
the number of letters in the words required 10-25-12
10 NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022
WEATHER
CITY
SINGAPORE
MAX(°C)
31
MIN(°C)
26 R
HONG KONG 15 13 R
TOKYO 15 6 H
LONDON 9 -1 R
DUBAI 33 21 S
SAN FRANCISCO 20 9 S
NEW YORK 14 7 S
MOSCOW 2 -2 R
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
A cemetery worker takes a
rest from working on the
graves of civilians killed in
Bucha during the war with
Russia, in the outskirts of
Kyiv. � AP
Cuba sees no Covid deaths
for 3rd straight day: Cuba
has reported no deaths
from Covid-19 for a third
consecutive day, keeping
the death toll at 8,519,
according to the Public
Health Ministry. In its daily
pandemic report on Thurs-
day, the Ministry said
tests detected 449 new
cases of Covid-19 infection
in the past 24 hours,
bringing the total caseload
to 1,098,563. The country
currently had 2,062 active
cases. IANS
Global Covid caseload tops
502.8 million: The global
coronavirus caseload has
topped 502.8 million, while
the deaths have surged to
more than 6.19 million and
vaccinations to over 11.15
billion, according to Johns
Hopkins University. In its
latest update on Friday
morning, the University's
Center for Systems Sci-
ence and Engineering
(CSSE) revealed that the
current global caseload
and the death toll stood
at 502,847,462 and
6,193,239. IANS
Abortion restriction bill Family seeks charges, officer’s ID in Patrick Lyoya’s death
signed by Florida Gov DeSantis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE, 15 APRIL
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
signed a 15-week abortion ban
into law Thursday as the state
joined a growing conservative
push to restrict access ahead
of a U.S. Supreme Court deci-
sion that could limit the pro-
cedure nationwide.
The new law marks a sig-
nificant blow to abortion
access in the South, where
Florida has provided wider
access to the procedure than
its regional neighbors.
The new law, which takes
effect July 1, contains excep-
tions if the abortion is neces-
sary to save a mother’s life, pre-
vent serious injury or if the fetus
has a fatal abnormality. It does
In France’s election, a meaty issue unites Jews and Muslims
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS, 15 APRIL
As she cooks lunch and talks
politics, Jewish voter Sarah Gut-
mann has a nasty feeling —
of would-be French presi-
dent Marine Le Pen invading
the privacy of her home, reach-
ing directly into her life and
the plates of chicken and
kosher sausages that she is fry-
ing for her husband and their
eldest son.
That’s because the far-right
candidate wants to outlaw
ritual slaughter if elected next
Sunday. And that could direct-
ly impact how Gutmann feeds
her family and exercises her
religious freedom. She and her
husband, Benjamin, say they
would have to think about leav-
ing France if a far-right gov-
ernment interfered with obser-
vant Jews’ kosher diets. Their
fear is that under Le Pen, tar-
geting ritually slaughtered
meats could be just the start
of steps to make French Jews
and Muslims feel unwelcome.
“Attacking the way we eat
impinges on our privacy and
Ukraine’s port of Mariupol
holds out against all odds
Ukrainian troops are continuing to fight the vastly superior Russian forces in ferocious battles
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 15 APRIL
nbroken by a Russ-
U ian blockade and
relentless bom-
bardment, the key
port of Mariupol is still hold-
ing out, a symbol of staunch
Ukrainian resistance that has
thwarted the Kremlin’s inva-
sion plans.
More than six weeks after
the Russian siege began,
Ukrainian troops are contin-
uing to fight the vastly supe-
rior Russian forces in ferocious
battles amid the ruins of what
once was a bustling city on the
Sea of Azov coast.
The city’s mayor says that
an estimated 120,000 people
remain in the city, of Mariupol’s
pre-war population of about
450,000.
The Ukrainians’ fight
against all odds has scuttled
Moscow’s designs, tying up sig-
nificant Russian forces and
delaying the start of a planned
Russian offensive in eastern
Brooklyn subway attack US and Russia clash over cause of food price rises
suspect jailed without bail
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK, 15 APRIL
The man charged with open-
ing fire in a Brooklyn subway
car full of people was jailed
without bail Thursday as
prosecutors told a judge he
terrified all of New York City.
Brought into a Brooklyn
federal court without hand-
cuffs, a subdued Frank James,
62, softly answered stan-
dard questions about whether
he understood the charges
and the purpose of the brief
hearing. His lawyer later
asked the public not to pre-
judge him.
James was arrested in
Manhattan after calling a
police tip line to say where
he was Wednesday, a day
after the nightmarish rush-
hour attack left 10 people with
gunshot wounds and count-
less others fearing for their
safety on the nation’s busiest
not allow for exemptions in
cases where pregnancies were
caused by rape, incest or
human trafficking. Under cur-
rent law, Florida allows abor-
tions up to 24 weeks.“This
will represent the most sig-
nificant protections for life
that have been enacted in this
state in a generation,” DeSan-
tis said as he signed the bill at
the “Nación de Fe” (“Nation of
Faith”), an evangelical church
in the city of Kissimmee that
serves members of the Latino
population.
DeSantis, a Republican
rising star and potential 2024
presidential candidate, signed
the measure after several
women delivered speeches
about how they chose not to
have abortions or, in the case
that is very serious,” Gut-
mann said as she busied her-
self in the kitchen of their
Paris home.
“The intention is to target
minority populations that
bother her and send a mes-
sage to voters who are against
these minorities: ’Vote for
me, because I will attack them
and perhaps, with time, make
them leave.’”
Muslim shopper Hayat
Ettabet said her family might
be forced to illegally slaugh-
ter at home to stay within
their religious rules, bleeding
out animals “in the bathroom,
back to the way it was.”
Le Pen says all animals
should be stunned before
slaughter, and frames the
issue as one of animal welfare.
That’s unacceptable to obser-
vant Jews and Muslims who
believe stunning causes unnec-
essary animal suffering and that
their ritual slaughters for
kosher and halal meats are
more humane.
With the largest populations
of Muslims and Jews in west-
ern Europe, the issue has
Ukraine’s industrial heart-
land, Donbas. The Kremlin
hopes that an attack in the east
could reverse the battlefield
fortunes for Russia after a
humiliating failure of its
attempt to quickly storm the
Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Mariupol has been a key
objective for Russia since the
start of its invasion on Feb. 24.
Capturing the city would allow
Moscow to establish a land cor-
ridor to Ukraine’s Crimean
Peninsula that Russia annexed
subway system. Authorities
say he unleashed smoke
bombs and dozens of bullets
in a train full of morning com-
muters.
He’s charged with a fed-
eral terrorism offense that
applies to attacks on mass
transit systems — authori-
ties say there’s currently no
evidence linking him to ter-
ror organizations and are
still trying to derive a motive.
“The defendant terrify-
ingly opened fire on pas-
sengers on a crowded sub-
of one, regretted having done
so. Some of the people in
attendance, including young
children, stood behind the
speakers holding signs saying
“Choose life,” while those
who spoke stood at a podium
to which was affixed a sign dis-
playing an infant’s feet and a
heartbeat reading, “Protect
Life.”Debate over the pro-
posal grew deeply personal and
revealing inside the Florida leg-
islature, with lawmakers recall-
ing their own abortions and
experiences with sexual assault
in often tearful speeches on
the House and Senate floors.
Republicans have said they
want the state to be well
placed to limit access to abor-
tions if the SC upholds Mis-
sissippi’s law.
major potential repercussions
for France and could hit com-
munities elsewhere that buy
French meat exports. The
issue is one of the many fault
lines between Le Pen and
incumbent President
Emmanuel Macron and the
starkly different visions of
France they are presenting
for next Sunday’s election
runoff vote. It is expected to
be far closer than in 2017,
when the centrist Macron
beat Le Pen by a landslide.
“We have never been so
This will represent the most significant protections for
life that have been enacted in this state in a generation.
in 2014 and deprive Ukraine
of a major port and prized
industrial assets. The giant
Azovstal steel mill and other
industrial plants have been
heavily damaged by the fero-
cious Russian bombardment
that has flattened much of Mar-
iupol, indiscriminately hit-
ting homes, hospitals and
other public buildings and
killing thousands.
The victims include about
300 people killed in last month’s
Russian airstrike on the Mar-
way train, interrupting their
morning commute in a way
the city hasn’t seen in more
than 20 years,” Assistant U.S.
Attorney Sara K. Winik said,
apparently referring to the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“The defendant’s attack
was premeditated, was care-
fully planned and it caused
terror among the victims
and our entire city,” she said.
While James was in court,
Hourari Benkada was in a
hospital bed with a bullet
wound in his leg.
Benkada said he was just
feet away from the gunman
on the train and has strug-
gled to sleep since. Tues-
day’s horrific scene keeps
replaying in his mind.
Investigators were exam-
ining many hours of videos
that James posted on social
media, in which he delivered
profanity-laced diatribes
about racism and violence.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MICHIGAN, 15 APRIL
Peter Lyoya took his six chil-
dren from Congo in 2014 to
escape violence. Now he fears
he brought them to the U.S.
to die.
A Michigan police officer
fatally shot his eldest son,
26-year-old Patrick, in the
head this month following a
traffic stop in Grand Rapids.
Video released Wednesday
shows a brief foot chase and
struggle over the white offi-
cer’s Taser before he shoots
Patrick Lyoya in the head as
the Black man is face down
on the ground.
Peter Lyoya said Thurs-
day that he came to the U.S.
to get away from prolonged
civil unrest in which several
rebel groups have vied for con-
trol of territories in mineral-
close to having an extreme-
right regime,” Gutmann said.
“The alarm bell is ringing.”
Le Pen’s France would be
more inwardly focused, with
far fewer immigrants and
fewer rights for those already
here, less tolerance for non-
Christian traditions, and less
tightly bound to the Euro-
pean Union and the outside
world.
Macron is largely promis-
ing the opposite as he seeks
a second five-year term.
Macron zeroed in on Le Pen’s
FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS
SIGNING ABORTION RESTRICTION BILL
iupol Drama Theater that was
being used as a shelter and had
the word “CHILDREN” print-
ed in Russian in huge white
letters on the pavement out-
side to ward off aerial attack.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym
Boychenko told The Associ-
ated Press that at least 21,000
people were killed in Mariupol
with bodies “carpeted through
the streets.” He said that the
Russians deployed mobile
cremation equipment to Mar-
iupol to methodically dis-
pose of the victims’ bodies in
order to hide the evidence of
the massacre and prevent
international organizations
from documenting “the hor-
ror the Russian army is respon-
sible for.”
The discovery of hundreds
of bodies of civilians appar-
ently executed by Russian
forces in Kyiv’s suburbs after
the Russian retreat from the
area has fueled global outrage
and accusations from Ukraini-
ans and the West that Russia
is committing war crimes in
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNTED NATIONS, 15 APRIL
The U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations accused Rus-
sia on Thursday of making the
precarious food situation in
Yemen and elsewhere even
worse by invading Ukraine,
calling it “just another grim
example of the ripple effect
Russia’s unprovoked, unjust,
unconscionable war is having
on the world’s most vulnera-
ble.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
told a U.N. Security Council
meeting on war-torn Yemen
that the World Food Program
identified the Arab world’s
poorest nation as one of the
countries most affected by
wheat price increases and
lack of imports from Ukraine.
Russia’s deputy U.N.
ambassador Dmitry Polyan-
sky shot back saying: “The
main factor for instability
and the source of the prob-
lem today is not the Russian
special military operation in
rich eastern Congo. Patrick,
who had two young children
of his own, lived in Grand
Rapids and visited Lansing on
weekends and would spend
money on his siblings, his
father said.
“Patrick never had a prob-
lem with anybody,” his dad told
The Associated Press through
an interpreter during an inter-
view at his Lansing apart-
ment. He and his wife later
spoke at an emotional news
conference in Grand Rapids,
a city of about 200,000 peo-
proposals for ending slaugh-
ter without stunning to empha-
size their political differences.
He said he doesn’t want “a
France that prevents Mus-
lims or Jews from eating as their
religion prescribes.”
Le Pen says she doesn’t
want that either. But alarmed
Jews and Muslims find her hard
to believe. Le Pen is not
opposed to other practices
deemed cruel by animal wel-
fare campaigners, such as
bullfighting or — most notably
— hunting, a tradition deeply
Ukraine.
Moscow has deployed fight-
ers from Chechnya, known for
their ferocity, to wage street
battles in Mariupol. Chech-
nya’s Moscow-backed leader,
Ramzan Kadyrov, has repeat-
edly boasted on his messag-
ing app channel about defeat-
ing Ukrainians in Mariupol,
but the fight has continued.
Boychenko said that sev-
eral Ukrainian units are still
fighting the Russians in Mar-
iupol, including the 36th
Marine Brigade, the Azov Reg-
iment, some Interior Min-
istry troops and border guards.
The Azov Regiment, a sea-
soned volunteer force that is
widely considered one of the
country’s most capable units,
is defending the mammoth
Azovstal steel plant that cov-
ers an area of nearly 11 square
kilometers (over 4.2 square
miles). It has taken advantage
of the plant’s sprawling net-
work of concrete buildings and
underground facilities to repel
continuous Russian attacks.
Ukraine, but sanctions mea-
sures imposed on our coun-
try seeking to cut off any sup-
plies from Russia and the
supply chain, apart from those
supplies that those countries
in theWest need, in other words
energy.”
“If you really want to help
the world avoid a food crisis
you should lift the sanctions
that you yourselves imposed,
your sanctions of choice
indeed, and poor countries will
immediately feel the differ-
ence,” he said. “And if you’re
not prepared to do that, then
ple that’s about 150 miles
(240 kilometers) northwest of
Detroit.In the April 4
encounter, the officer repeat-
edly ordered Patrick Lyoya to
let go of the Taser.
Grand Rapids Police Chief
Eric Winstrom cited a need for
transparency when releas-
ing video collected from a pas-
senger in the car Lyoya was
driving, the officer’s body
camera, the officer’s patrol car
and a doorbell camera. Win-
strom did not identify the
officer, a seven-year veteran
who is on paid leave while state
police investigate the shoot-
ing.Lawyers for the Lyoya
family said the officer should
be prosecuted and fired.
“The video shows us that
this is as his mother and
father have said — an exe-
cution. And there is no way
to try to spin it or justify,”
anchored in rural France
where she is trawling for votes.
So her focus on kosher and
halal meats smacks of
hypocrisy to Jews and Muslims
who see an attack disguised
as animal welfare.
Le Pen says the meats could
instead be imported. But that
also makes no sense to crit-
ics, because it seems to run
counter to Le Pen’s general
France-first rule that the coun-
try should produce more
things itself and import less.
Her camp has also flip-
flopped. Jordan Bardella, Le
Pen’s No. 2 who is heading their
National Rally party while she
seeks the presidency, said in
March that they want an out-
right ban on kosher and halal
meats, both imported and
from domestically slaugh-
tered animals.
Jewish leaders responded
in a statement that the
“detestable” proposition would
force large numbers of Jews
and Muslims to leave.
But Le Pen and Macron are
both now modulating their
positions on issues impor-
Pressure on US to give Ukraine
more intelligence on Russia
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 15 APRIL
President Joe Biden has called
Russia’s war on Ukraine a
genocide and accused
Vladimir Putin of committing
war crimes. But his admin-
istration has struggled with
how much intelligence it is
willing to give the Ukrainian
forces that are trying to stop
the Russian leader.
Since the war began in
late February, the Biden
administration has made
multiple changes to a classi-
fied directive that governs
what U.S. agencies are sup-
posed to share with Ukraine.
Much of what the United
States collects is shared; some
is not. Where the line is drawn
depends on protecting the
sources and methods of the
intelligence, but also trying
to limit the risk of escalation
with a nuclear-armed Russia.
The latest changes occurred
last week when U.S. intelli-
gence officials lifted some
geographic limits on the
transfer of actionable infor-
mation — the kind of infor-
mation used in minute-by-
minute decisions on the bat-
tlefield. According to sever-
don’t get involved in dema-
goguery, and don’t mislead
everybody.”
The sharp exchange took
place a day after a U.N. task
force warned that the war
threatens to devastate the
economies of many devel-
oping countries that are now
facing even higher food and
energy costs and increasing-
ly difficult financial conditions.
U.N. Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres launched
their report saying, “As many
as 1.7 billion people -- one-
third of whom are already
prominent civil rights attor-
ney Ben Crump said as
Patrick’s parents cried. “It is
an unjustifiable use of dead-
ly force because the police
escalated a traffic stop into an
execution.”The Lyoyas also
asked for police to release the
officer’s name. Patrick’s broth-
ers and sisters want to know
who killed him and would like
to see his picture so they can
know “this is the person that
took our beloved one,” Peter
Lyoya said.
Prosecutor Chris Becker,
who will decide whether any
charges are warranted, said
the public should not expect
a quick decision.Video shows
Patrick Lyoya running from
the officer who stopped him
for driving with a license
plate that did not belong to
the vehicle. They struggled in
front of several homes.
tant to voters who didn’t sup-
port them in round one of the
election, seeking to amass
the votes they will need to win
round two. Macron, most
notably, has softened his plan
to increase the retirement age
to 65. Le Pen is trying to
appear more inclusive.
“I’m not at all going to get
rid of halal and kosher butch-
er shops,” she said this week.
She said meat from animals
that have been knocked out
electrically might prove to be
an acceptable halal alterna-
tive to some Muslims. But if
not, “importing this meat
would be authorized, obvi-
ously.”“What we want is to truly
stop this animal suffering,
very intense, that is the con-
sequence of slaughter with-
out stunning,” Le Pen said.
Slovenia, Denmark and
Sweden, as well as non-EU
members Switzerland, Ice-
land and Norway, have done
away with religious exemp-
tions, meaning kosher and
halal meat must be imported.
So, too, have the Flanders
and Wallonia regions of Bel-
al people familiar with the
issue who spoke on condition
of anonymity to discuss clas-
sified matters, officials
removed language that had
limited the specific locations
of potential targets in parts
of eastern Ukraine.
The shifts in the intelligence
rules reflect the administra-
tion’s changing calculations
of what Putin might consid-
er escalatory. The U.S. is also
trying to step up support to
Ukrainian forces that have sur-
prised much of the world in
how they have held back Rus-
sia but remain undermanned
and outgunned. The Penta-
gon this week also announced
$800 million in new military
assistance that could include
more powerful weapons and
defensive equipment.
Some people familiar with
the directive say there is
ambiguity about the new
limits. One question is whether
the U.S. would delay or limit
information about a possible
Russian target in areas inter-
nationally recognized as
Ukrainian territory but that
Moscow or its proxies con-
trolled before the war, includ-
ing the Crimean Peninsula and
parts of the Donbas.
living in poverty -- are now
highly exposed to disruptions
in food, energy and finance
systems that are triggering
increases in poverty and
hunger.”
Thirty-six countries rely
on Russia and Ukraine for
more than half their wheat
imports, including some of the
world’s poorest countries, he
said, and wheat and corn
prices have risen 30% just
since the start of the year.
Rebeca Grynspan, secre-
tary-general of the U.N. agency
promoting trade and devel-
opment who coordinated the
task force, said the 1.7 billion
people live in 107 countries
that have “severe exposure” to
at least one dimension of the
crisis -- rising food prices,
increasing energy prices and
tightening financial condi-
tions. U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric was asked
about Polyansky’s comments
and whether Guterres is con-
cerned that sanctions are dri-
ving up food prices.
New Mexico
wildfire kills 2,
destroyes homes
NEW MEXICO, 15 APRIL
A wildfire that has burned
more than 200 homes on the
edge of a mountain com-
munity in the southern part
of New Mexico and killed
two people was caused when
a power line was toppled by
strong winds, according to
state authorities.
Crews worked to restore
power to parts of the village.
The lack of electricity also has
affected the school district’s
servers, email system and
website. Firefighters used a
break in what had been a
steady stream of relentless
gusts to make headway against
the deadly blaze. The fire had
moved into Ruidoso, prompt-
ing more evacuations. AP
gium. The bans there are being
challenged in the European
Court of Human Rights by
Yohan Benizri, a vice president
of the European Jewish Con-
gress.
He says outlawing reli-
gious slaughter makes Jews feel
“we’re not part of European cul-
ture” and “portrays us as some
form of savages.”
Because France exports
kosher meats, banning its
production “will have a dev-
astating effect” on Jewish
communities elsewhere, he
said.“It’s going to be a devas-
tating signal as well because
— again — we would be seen
as not welcome in the Euro-
pean Union,” Benizri said.
As her son finished lunch,
Sarah Gutmann said the most
worrying aspect of a Le Pen-
pushed law on the issue would
be if it was met by general indif-
ference.
“Then, really, I will be very,
very scared,” she said. “If I see
an unjust law go through and
no one reacts, then we’ll say
to ourselves that we really are
in danger.”
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 11

DIP/Shabdarth/D/0015/22-23
 NEHWAL SLAMS BAI
Olympic medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal has come down hard on the
Badminton Association of India on selection trial dates for Common-
NEW DELHI
SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 12
wealth Games and Asian Games which kicked off on Friday at Delhi's
Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. "Surprised to see all the articles stating
that I don't want to defend my CWG title and my Asiad medal. I'm just
not participating in the trials because I just got back from 3 weeks
of Europe events and according to the schedule there's Asian
Championships @BAI_Media @ianuragthakur," Saina Nehw-
al tweeted. The BAI had announced selection trials from April
15 to April 20 for the Commonwealth and Asian Games.

For more updates www.thestatesman.com Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2018/-19-20

Will IPL have an impact on India's squad selection for T20 World Cup?
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Last year when India entered
the ICC T20 World Cup, ques-
tions were raised over the
selection of the players who
were either unfit or out of form,
and the poor result in the tour-
nament later led to the criti-
cism of the team management
as well as the selectors.
The team for the T20 World
Cup last year was announced
before the 2021 Indian Premier
League, and the way some of
the selected players per-
formed in the league had
exposed how prepared India
was for the ICC event.
At that time, several former
cricketers had suggested
changes in the squad. But
the selection committee went
ahead with the same team and
India were shown the door in
the early stages.
With the IPL 2022 under-
way, netizens have again start-
ed sharing their views and
some of them even went on
to add that "a new team for
the T20 format" should be
made.
Some said that the selec-
tion committee "should pick
the team considering the per-
formance of the players and
not the big names".
"T20 is fast, and we need
a younger lot for theWorld Cup.
BCCI please pick from IPL as
stars are failing and new guys
are on a roll. Give them a
chance for international events
ahead of WC," wrote one on
Twitter.
Another wrote, "IPL can
guide the BCCI well. 2022WC."
The T20 World Cup is
scheduled to begin in Octo-
ber this year in Australia and
India have time to pick the best
team for the tournament.
India will be playing 10
T20Is (5 with South Africa, 2
with Ireland and 3 with Eng-
land) before theWorld Cup and
it is believed that a number
of youngsters will be shortlisted
and given a chance during the
period. For the records, the Asia
Cup is also scheduled in
between.
In the ongoing IPL, many
big stars are underperform-
ing. Virat Kohli (in photo)
and Rohit Sharma are both
struggling with form so far. The
duo has played five matches
respectively and yet to score
a fifty.
The fans are waiting for
some big hitting from the
batters but so far Virat and
Rohit's bats have failed to
fire like it used to.
It is also a cause for con-
cern ahead of the World Cup,
because it is a fast sport and
the way young talent per-
form, then ignoring talent
over big names would be
challenging for the selectors.
Also, Ravindra Jadeja is
facing the heat of captaincy
and is unable to deliver his all-
rounder class. Hardik Pandya's
comeback as a genuine all-
rounder will also be discussed
in the coming months. But as
a batter, in his last match
against Rajasthan Royals on
Friday, he displayed some
brilliant cricketing shots, scor-
ing 87 off 52 balls.
Some veterans still have it!
Dinesh Karthik's role as a
finisher for Royal Challengers
Bangalore (RCB) could pitch-
fork the 36-year-old wicket-
keeper-batter into India reck-
oning as the team looks to
rebuild for the ICC T20 World
Cup in Australia later this
year. In IPL 2022, Karthik has
been a critical finisher for
RCB, making 131 runs and
averaging the same number
with a strike-rate of 218.33.
On the other hand, Shikhar
Dhawan (36) playing for Pun-
jab Kings is also in fine form.
He has scored 197 in match-
es he played so far. The left-
hander was ignored last year,
but this time he has a chance
to make it into the squad.
The 36-year-old Robin
Uthappa (Chennai Super
Kings) is also a strong con-
tender as he has scored 194
runs in five matches so far and
looks in great touch.
However, there are still
many matches left in the 2022
IPL and it is believed that
the discussion on the per-
formances of the players will
be done once the league is over.

Nitish Rana, Andre Russell MI face a Brabourne challenge against LSG

propel KKR to 175/8 vs SRH
AGENCIES going to make it really big,"Yadav
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL said during a pre-match virtual
press conference on Friday.
Struggling to put up their first Mumbai Indians have been
points on the board after los- through this sort of start before,
ASIAN NEWS Shreyas Iyer for 28 as KKR lost ing five matches in IPL 2022 so in 2014.That year, they still qual-
INTERNATIONAL their fourth wicket at 70. far, Mumbai Indians return to ified for the playoffs.That is one
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL Sheldon Jackson joined Rana the Brabourne Stadium for a reason why the team does not
and the duo batted sensibly clash with Lucknow Super seem short on motivation.
itish Rana's knock of to take the team's total beyond Giants after playing three con- "This has happened before

N 54 and unbeaten 49
by Andre Russell (in
ani photo) helped
Kolkata Knight Riders post
175/8 in 20 overs against Sun-
risers Hyderabad in their IPL
2022 match at the Brabourne
Stadium here on Friday.
Nitish Rana and Andre
Russell guided Kolkata Knight
Riders to a challenging target.
For SRH, T Natarajan bagged
three wickets while Umran
Malik scalped two wickets. Put
to bat first, Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers openers Aaron Finch and
Venkatesh Iyer took the crease
against SRH bowlers. Sunrisers
Hyderabad needed some
early wickets and Marco
Jansen did exactly that dis-
missing opener Aaron Finch
in the second over.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer
walked into bat withVenkatesh
Iyer and kept the scoreboard
moving. KKR batters struggled
to score runs against SRH
bowlers in the powerplay. In
the 5th, over T Natarajan dis-
missed KKR opener Venkatesh
Iyer for 4 runs. In the same over
T Natarajan struck again as
he dismissed Sunil Narine
caught by Shashank Singh.
Narine had scored six runs and
Kolkata were tottering at 31
for 3.
Nitish Rana came to the
crease and tried to anchor the
innings with the skipper and
they hammered SRH bowlers
all around the ground. KKR
desperately needed a part-
nership and Nitish Rana and
Shreyas Iyer did exactly that
to take the team's total beyond
the 50-run mark in the eighth
over.
Umran Malik broke the 39-
run partnership dismissing
the triple-figure mark in the
13th over.
Umran Malik was brought
back into the attack and the
pacer gave a blow to KKR
dismissing Jackson for 7 and
Kolkata were five down at
103. Jackson's wicket led
Andre Russell to the crease
who hammered SRH bowlers
all around the ground.
In the 15th over of the
innings, Nitish Rana notched
up a half-century made in 32
balls. T Natarajan dismissed
Rana for 54 caught by Nicholas
Pooran as KKR lost their sixth
wicket for 144. Russell along
with Umesh Yadav took the
team's total to 175/8 as they
gathered 17 runs in the last
over.
Brief score: Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers 175/8 (Nitish Rana 54,
Andre Russell 49*; T Natara-
jan 3-37) vs Sunrisers Hyder-
abad.
secutive matches in Pune.
The five-time champions
had launched their IPL 2022
campaign at Brabourne Stadium
with a four-wicket defeat to Delhi
Capitals and after losing to
Rajasthan Royals at the D.Y
Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai,
suffered successive debacles
against Kolkata Knight Riders,
Royal Challengers Bangalore and
Punjab Kings at the Maha-
rashtra Cricket Association Sta-
dium in Pune.
Back at the same venue
where they started their cam-
paign, Mumbai can't afford to
lose many more matches as their
chances of qualifying for the
playoffs, already looking slim,
will become even more diffi-
cult.
Though their batters have
come good in patches, their
bowling has failed to make an
impression as Jasprit Bumrah
has struggled for support from
other pacers and the team has
failed to stitch together a win-
ning combination. They have
not had good starts as open-
ers Ishan Kishan and Rohit
Sharma have not clicked togeth-
er as skipper Rohit Sharma
has not been his prolific self and
is due for a big one soon.
Youngster Tilak Varma has
impressed so far with 157 runs
from five innings and Suryaku-
mar Yadav, who missed the
first couple of matches, has
scored 163 runs in three innings,
but these are individual efforts
and the team as a unit seems
to be missing something.
Despite these struggles,
Mumbai Indians' senior batter
SuryakumarYadavonFridaysaid
if they stick together and work
hard, the results are bound to
come.
Yadav said the morale in the
team is good as they know it is
just a matter of time before things
will improve and therefore
there are no dropping shoul-
ders or having a pessimistic out-
look.
Asked what Mumbai Indi-
ans needed to do to become a
champion side again, he said,
"It is still a champion team. It's
not 'used to be'. It is still a cham-
pion team and it will always be
a champion team.
"It's just a matter of a few
games. The people who have
joined in are going really, real-
ly well. I feel very happy for them,
Dewald,Tilak. I feel the way they
have taken responsibility since
the first game, they've been real-
ly good. And I'm sure they're
also, a long time back," Yadav
pointed out. "It's nothing new,
so we're just taking things very,
very positively.Win or lose, it's
all part of the game.”
While Mumbai Indians are
hoping for the spark to ignite,
their opponent Lucknow Super
Giants are sitting pretty in the
fifth position in the 10-team table
with six points from five match-
es. After starting with a defeat
to Gujarat Titans, LSG have
won three successive match-
es before Rajasthan Royals
halted their victory march
thanks to Shimron Hetmyer's
stupendous unbeaten 59 off 36
deliveries andYuzvendra Cha-
hal's 4/41.
Facing a struggling Mum-
bai Indians in their next match,
KL Rahul's Lucknow Super
Giants will definitely fancy
their chances of claiming all two
points and remain in striking
distance of the top-four spot.

Root steps down as England Test captain
after Ashes, West Indies reverses
AGENCIES
LONDON, 15 APRIL
Following debacles in the Ashes
and the three-match series
against theWest Indies, Joe Root
stepped down as captain of the
EnglandTest side on Friday after
leading the team for five years.
One of England's most suc-
cessfulTest captains, Root's side
had recently endured a 0-4
thrashing in the five-match
Ashes and lost the away three-
Test series against the West
Indies 0-1.
Root led England in 64
matches, winning 27 of those.
The record meant he had the
most number of matches and
wins as England Men'sTest cap-
tain. During his tenure, Root
made headlines for memo-
rable victories that included the
4-1 win against India at home
in 2018, 3-1 triumph away to
South Africa in 2020 and win-
ning a Test series twice in Sri
Lanka.
"After returning from the
Caribbean tour and having
time to reflect, I have decided
to step down as England Men's
Test Captain. It has been the
most challenging decision I have
had to make in my career but
having discussed this with my
family and those closest to
me; I know the timing is right,"
said Root, who had been blamed
by former England players for
the string of losses, despite
the 31-year-old player's personal
form remaining intact.
"I am immensely proud to
have captained my country and
will look back on the past five
years with enormous pride. It
has been an honour to have
done the job and to have been
a custodian of what is the pin-
nacle of English cricket," said
Root.
In recent times, Root has
shown excellent form with the
bat, earning him the ICC Men's
Test Cricketer of theYear Award
in 2021.
During his reign, Root
amassed 5,295Test runs includ-
ing 14 centuries to become Eng-
land's most prolific run-scor-
er as captain. However, the
leadership had started to take
a toll on Root, impacting him
during his time away from the
game.
"I have loved leading my
country, but recently it's hit
home how much of a toll it has
taken on me and the impact it
has had on me away from the
game,” he added.
Delhi Capitals physio
tests positive for Covid-19
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL
Delhi Capitals physio Patrick
Farhart has tested positive for
Covid-19 and is being close-
ly monitored by the medical
team of the franchise, the IPL
confirmed on Friday.
This is the first confirmed
positive Covid-19 case in the
ongoing IPL 2022 season.
"Delhi Capitals physio
Patrick Farhart has been test-
ed positive for COVID-19. He
is being closely monitored by
the DC Medical Team at the
moment," the league said in
a statement.
It's not for the first time
that the cash-rich league
has been affected by the
coronavirus.Two years back,
the IPL had to be postponed
due to the first wave of the
pandemic.The season was
played later in the year in the
UAE.
In 2021, the IPL season had
to be stopped mid-way after
several players tested posi-
tive inside the bio-bubbles.
The tournament was com-
pleted later that year again
in the UAE.
However, with cases
declining before the start of
IPL 2022, the organisers decid-
ed to hold it again in India and
more precisely in four stadi-
ums of Maharashtra.
While the 25 per cent
capacity of crowds are allowed
in the stadiums, the teams are
still in strict bio-bubbles.
Delhi Capitals have so far
played 4 matches, winning
two and losing two. They
are currently at the 7th spot
on the points table. The
Rishabh Pant led side will next
take on Royal Challengers
Bangalore on Saturday at
the Wankhede in Mumbai.
Faiaz double takes Mohammedan SC
past 9-man Real Kashmir in I-League
AGENCIES
KALYANI, 15 APRIL
Mohammedan Sporting Club
returned to winning ways and
also moved to the top of the
table after a comfortable 3-1
victory against Real Kashmir,
here at the Kalyani Stadium.
A goal from Andelo Rudovic
and a brace from SK Faiaz
ensured Mohammedan fin-
ished the game with three
crucial points. Real Kashmir
were reduced to 9 men as
Pratesh Shirodkar and goalscor-
er Lalchawnkima were sent off
in the second half. In the first
half, Nikola Stojanovic ensured
his side started on the front foot
by playing a delightful long ball
from midfield straight into
the box towards the strikers.
However, the players were
unable to apply the finishing
touch to it.
The moment was forgotten
shortly after that as Andelo
Rudovic opened the scoring
for Mohammedan in the
twelfth minute. Marcus Joseph
played a brilliant defence-
splitting pass while Rudovic
kept his run in check to stay
onside, after which the Bosn-
ian carefully placed the ball past
the keeper.
Mohammedan were dealt
a blow when Milan Singh went
down and had to be stretchered
off in the eighteenth minute
and was replaced by Phrang-
ki Buam.
After going a goal down, Real
Kashmir were on the attack and
desperate for an equaliser.
Mason Robertson tried his
luck from distance but could
not challenge keeper Mithun
Samanta with his strike.
Moments later, Shimray
Thomyo found himself with
the ball just outside the box but
the forward's tame effort was
easily collected by the keep-
er.
Bernard Kouassi kept wrig-
gling through the
Mohammedan defence but
saw his efforts get blocked.
Another opportunity fell to
Thomyo again but this time
WayneVaz stopped the forward
with a well-timed challenge in
the box.
Towards the end of the
first half, Mohammedan came
very close to doubling their lead
as they broke on the counter
and Joseph slid the ball in
towards Rudovic. The ball was
intercepted by Ponif Vaz, who
almost put the ball into the back
of his own goal.
A controversial moment
arose in the second half when
Real Kashmir players sur-
rounded the referee asking
for a penalty. The ball had
come off the thigh of Wayne
Vaz and hit his arm but the ref-
eree did not point to the spot
leaving Real Kashmir players
fuming over the decision.

Bajrang, Sodhi criticise decision to keep wrestling,
shooting out of Commonwealth Games 2026
ASIAN NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
A big blow for India as sporting
disciplines like archery, shoot-
ing and wrestling have been
dropped from its initial sports
programme list for Common-
wealth Games 2026 which will
be played inVictoria in Australia.
In Commonwealth Games,
2018 India bagged 16 medals in
shooting including seven gold,
four silver and five bronze while
in wrestling India won 12 medals
which includes five gold, three
silver and four bronze. India's
Olympic medallist Bajrang
Punia who won a gold medal
in Commonwealth Games 2018
in Gold Coast believes that this
decision of the Commonwealth
Games Federation is not right
as wrestling is the oldest sport.
"The Federation of Com-
monwealth Games will decide
but the decision is which has
been taken is wrong to keep
wrestling, shooting and archery
out. Wrestling is our oldest
sport in the Games and keep-
ing it out is not right. But it is
not in the hands of ourWrestling
Federation but yes they can
request and as players, we can
also request saying that it is
wrong. It is only in the hands
of CWG Federation," said Punia
while speaking to ANI.
Khel Ratna award-winning
double trap shooter Ronjan
Singh Sodhi who has won two
silver medals in Common-
wealth Games and has won gold
medals at World Cups and
Asian Games came down hard
on European countries.
"European countries don't
stand a chance with India. I think
it is done on purpose because
we win each and every medal
in Commonwealth. Mostly
gold, sometimes gold, silver is
also being us so this is a very
wrong move within the sport
of shooting that if it is in
Olympics then why not in
Commonwealth Games," Sodhi
said.
The Birmingham Com-
monwealth Games 2022 which
is supposed to start in July also
does not have shooting as a part
of their sporting discipline.
"The Brits said that could not
make a range because they say
it is too expensive. A country like
England can't make a range is
that what we have come today,"
said Ronjan Singh Sodhi.
Haryana Cabinet Minister
AnilVij has also called this deci-
sion as unfortunate as Haryana
has a rich legacy of producing
the country's top wrestlers.
"It is unfortunate that
Haryana's pride wrestling and
archery are not a part of Com-
monwealth Games 2026. Com-
Eintracht Frankfurt stun Barca in Europa League
monwealth Games Organiz-
ing Committee should rethink
their decision," tweeted Vij.
The disciplines that the
Commonwealth Games organ-
ising committee has included
in the initial list are aquatics, ath-
letics, badminton, boxing,
beach volleyball, T20 cricket,
cycling, gymnastics, hockey,
lawn bowls, netball, rugby sev-
ens, squash, table tennis,
triathlon and weightlifting.
However, the organisers
have clarified that they will add
a few more disciplines later
this year which means India's
archery, shooting and wrestling
Federations can request them
to include them in the Games.
AGENCIES
MADRID, 15 APRIL
FC Barcelona crashed out of
the Europa League after a 3-
2 home defeat to Eintracht
Frankfurt.
Barcelona had drawn 1-1
in Germany a week ago and
were favourites to qualify for
the semifinals, but cheered on
by an estimated 20,000 of
their fans in the stands of the
Camp Nou Stadium on Thurs-
day night, Eintracht stunned
Xavi Hernandez and his side.
Gavi and Pedri were back
in the Barca starting 11, but
it was never Barca's night
with Eintracht opening the
scoring thanks to Filip Kos-
tic's fourth-minute penalty
after a careless foul from Eric
Garcia.
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang missed a good
chance to head Barca level
before Rafael Borre doubled
Eintracht's lead with a thun-
derbolt. The Colombian was
set free down the left by Kos-
tic, cut inside and smashed
the ball past Marc Andre Ter
Stegen, Xinhua reports. Things
got worse for Barca when the
influential Pedri failed to
appear for the second half and
was replaced by Frenkie de
Jong, although Aubameyang
missed another good chance
to drag Barca back into the tie.
The Frenchman needed
treatment for a thigh injury
soon after and in the 67th
minute Kostic's first-time
effort made it 3-0 for the vis-
itors after a quick move fol-
lowing a throw-in.
Luuk de Jong came on for
Garcia to try and turn things
around, and although he
again made his presence felt
with a hand in two late goals,
this time there was to be no
late miracle for Barca.
Sergio Busquets had the
ball in the net with 10 min-
utes left to play, his neat back-
heel was ruled out for offside,
although he then gave Barca
a lifeline in the 91st minute
when he scored after Luuk de
Jong's shot was blocked.
The big striker then won
a penalty in the 10th minute
of injury time, but it was too
late for a Barca miracle and
Eintracht progress to the last
four.

Printed and published by VINEET GUPTA for THE STATESMAN LTD, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi ��Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR ��Managing Editor: ARYA RUDRA ��Printed at Vibha Publication Pvt Ltd, D-160 B, Sector 7, NOIDA 201301 (UP). ��The Statesman Ltd. RNB REG. No. M-8905,RNI No. 507/57
 Sea fishing
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 09
99% of Swabiman Anchala 12 yr-old dies NHRC orders States,
ban enforced
in a fight over including Odisha,to address in Odisha
turns Naxal-free belt mobile phone the plight of LGBTQ
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE done precious little for their
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:

To ensure the safe breeding

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE NEW DELHI , 15 APRIL: NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL: well-being and survival, of sea fish, the marine fish-
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL: Tripathy mentioned. eries authorities on Friday
A fight among three friends over The NHRC has directed the The Full Commission, enforced a two-month-long
round 99 percent of playing games on a mobile Centre, all the States includ- all members and the Chair- prohibition on marine fish-

A hitherto impregnable
Maoists’ epicenters
in Swabhiman Ancha-
la of Odisha’s Malkangiri dis-
trict are freed of Naxal activ-
ities with the steady weaken-
ing of left wing extremism in
the region, said chief secretary
Suresh Mahapatra on Friday.
“With the Left Wing
Extremism (LWE) activities
fizzling out, the areas are on
the path of development. Fear
of gun-toting Maoists unleash-
ing terror no longer lingers on
in about 151 villages coming
under 9 gram panchayats of
Swabhimam Anchala”, he
claimed while visiting the
region today.
The establishment of as
many as 9 company operat-
ing bases (COBs) by the Bor-
der Security Force (BSF) at the
Maoists’ heartland has instilled
tremendous confidence
among people of Swabhiman
Anchala.
While seven mobile tow-
ers are operating in the area,
all the households in 9 GPs
of Swabhiman Anchal have
been distributed mobile
handsets.
The erstwhile Naxal hotbed
is witnessing boom in horti-
culture, fishery, alternative
livelihood for the inhabitants,
enhancing of income of the
farmers, improvement of
quality health care in med-
ical, functioning of education
and hostel complex , growth
of eco-tourism, irrigation,
electrification, road connec-
tivity to all villages, and tele-
com connectivity, he said.
There has been a percep-
tible turnaround in the erst-
while cutoff areas with the
deployment of BSF and con-
struction of Gurupriya River
Bridge connecting the area
with the mainland.
Swabhiman Anchal had
voted for the first time in 15
years during the fifth and last
phase of the recently con-
cluded panchayat election
and there was impressive
voter turnout in the elections
in the Naxal affected region.
This refreshing turn of
events bear testimony to the
fact the Naxals have retreat-
ed and their operation base
has disintegrated due to the
increased vigil by the securi-
ty forces and the develop-
ment initiative of the State gov-
ernment, said a senior police
official.
phone led to the death of a 12-
year- old.
Lulu Bhoi a student of
STD.VII from Masiput near Kora-
put was playing a video game
on the mobile phone borrowed
from another boy of his age .But
as he was reluctant to give back
the mobile phone even after
playing one game.
The owner of the mobile
phone and another young boy
of 18 years tried to snatch it back
resulting in a fight during which
one of them hit Lulu with a sharp
stone which proved fatal, said
U K Das, additional superin-
tendent of police, Koraput on
Friday. According to the primary
investigation, the two friends
had dragged the dead body of
Lulu to the bank of the reser-
voir in the evening and had
returned home .
The father of Lulu and oth-
ers found the body and informed
the police.
Investigations are on and the
two friends of Lulu have been
detained.
ing Odisha and the Union
Territories to address the
pressing issues pertaining
to the Lesbian, gay, bisex-
ual, and transgender
person of the NHRC in its
latest order took cognizance
of the issues raised by Tri-
pathy and directed the Min-
istry of Social Justice and
ing operations.
The prohibitory orders
clamped today would remain
effective till 14 June. Any devi-
ation on part of fishermen com-
(LGBTQ) community. Empowerment, Govt. of munities would be dealt with
T h e Su p re m e Co u r t India and the Chief Secre- stringent legal provisions with
lawyer and activist Rad- taries/Administrators of all the confiscation of the fishing
hakanta Tripathy initially has the States/UTs to take appro- crafts, said officials adding
raised the issue concerning priate steps to ensure that that the 60-day fishing ban is
the plight of transgenders the members of the LGBTQ being enforced simultane-
of Bhadrak and subsequently community are not deprived ously along the 480 km coastal
in other petitions high- of their basic necessities of Odisha, said officials. The
lighted the trauma of the of life and to follow the annual fishing ban is being
entire LGBTQ community Advisory for protection of enforced for the larger inter-
covering the entire country the Rights of LGBTQ com- est of those living on fishing
during the pandemic health munity issued by this Com- activity. The restriction on
crisis. mission in its letter and fishing is imposed every year
Adjudicating Tripathy’s spirit. to allow breeding and multi-
batch of petitions filed since The NHRC in its earlier plication of fish population.
29 July, 2020, the NHRC order had suggested the Prohibition on sea fishing
passed the order recently. setting up of a separate was promulgated under
With the outbreak of 24x7 toll free helpline num- Odisha marine fishing regu-
pandemic, the LGBTQ com- ber for the LGBTQ com- lation act besides the direc-
munity in general and trans- munity to provide support tions from the union gov-
gender community in par- in different regional lan- ernment. It’s an admitted fact
ticular across the country are guages for dealing with that fishermen and stake-
badly hit economically and cases of violence, abuse, holders of sea-fishing would
have become victims of dis- health and mental health be on the losing side due to
crimination. The State has issues. the ban.

Abandoned new born sent to
Sishu Bhawan, Cuttack
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
The Jajpur district adminis-
tration has decided to refer the
newborn baby who was aban-
doned by family members in
a hospital here to the Sishu
Bhawan in Cuttack for gen-
der determination and further
treatment .
The newborn baby and
the mother were abandoned
by family members in a pri-
vate hospital in Jajpur district
after the doctor who carried
out the delivery informed
them about the baby’s under-
developed genitalia.
“I have studied the matter
very carefully and directed the
Jajpur Chief District Medical
Officer to send the baby to the
Sishu Bhawan in Cuttack for
the gender determination of
the newborn and further treat-
ment relating to the diseases
as there is no such facilities
here to conduct the exami-
nations,” said Jajpur collector
Chakravarti Singh Rathore.
“I have asked the protec-
tion officer to resolve the mis-
understanding between the
couple (baby’s parents)
through counseling and he has
started initiating the matter,”
he said.
Notably, one Snehalata
Baral was admitted at a pri-
vate hospital in Jajpur town
for delivery on Sunday and she
delivered to the hermaphro-
dite (a rare form of intersex
anomaly where both male
and female gonads are present)
Cocaine peddlers eyeing Two killed, Tremors felt in four
2023 Hockey World Cup mishap
market: STF
baby the same night. After
delivery, the doctor told the
mother and her family that the
newborn is neither a male nor
female. The baby’s father
Tapan Kumar Baral and fam-
ily members who were present
at the hospital asked the
woman to handover the new-
born to an orphanage.
When she did not agree to
the proposal, her husband
and in-laws left the hospital
leaving behind the mother and
her baby in the hospital.
The incident came to fore
after a delegation of Jajpur dis-
trict transgender association
led by its president Kajal
Nayak visited the hospital
and enquired about the health
of baby and the mother on
Wednesday evening.
4 hurt in road
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
Two days after the first ever
seizure of cocaine and arrest
of two persons in
Bhubaneswar , the Special
Task Force of state crime
branch on Friday said the
drug peddlers were explor-
ing the market to create a
clientele during the 2023
Hockey Men’s World Cup
to be hosted by the state.
They were doing the
ground work for peddling
cocaine during the inter-
national event as they
expected a large number
of foreign nationals to visit
Bhubaneswar and Rourkela,
the two venues for the World
districts of Odisha
Cup, said STF officials .
The agenda included
finding ways to peddle the
expensive drug in hotels
where the teams, officials
and foreign nationals were
likely to stay, said the offi-
cial sources.
It may be noted that April
13, two persons Ravi and
Sunny Kumar–were arrest-
ed on charges of possession
of cocaine weighing 202
grams. Ravi belongs to
Rajasthan and had procured
the drug from his ‘boss’
operating in Turkman gate
area of Delhi.
The STF had also seized
foreign currency from the
two and the mobile had
several foreign contacts.
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
There was also no report
of any loss of life or damage
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL: to property, a district official
An earthquake of moderate said.
Two persons were killed and intensity hit Odisha’s four dis- Last month, a moderate
four injured when a paddy tricts on Friday with the Spe- earthquake of 3.5 magni-
loaded mini truck over turned cial Relief Commissioner tude hit Kalahandi and
in the Hatikhomba and (SRC) office informed the Nabarangpur districts of
Penakam stretch of Nation- quake was 3.5 magnitude Odisha.
al Highway 326. Richter scale. “I was watching TV. Sud-
Mukundpur police rushed The tremors were expe- denly the chair shook. I was
to the spot and started res- rienced in Ganjam, Nayagarh, terrified”, remarked Mahen-
cue operations sending the Phulbani and Boudh at 11.19 dra Sahu, a local in Daspalla.
victims to Ramanguda Com- am today, informed the IMD “We were in the house.
munity health care centre. regional centre Bhubaneswar, We were jolted as we felt
The deceased were iden- adding that the epicenter trembling. The door and
tified as Gopinath Kumbrika of the ear thquake was windows, cots in the house
and Teja Mandangi. between Ganjam and Naya- all shook. We were all ter-
Outpost In-Charge garh. rified”, said Rajalaxmi Swain,
Mukundpur Harsha Chandra The National Centre of a homemaker from Das-
Pani said heavy traffic, rash Seismology said the epi- palla.
driving on the NH 326 the center of the 3.5 magnitude People had resorted to
Ranchi -Vijayawada corri- quake was at a depth of 10 text short message service
dor has led to increasing kilometres in Ganjam district (SMS) and phone calls to
number of accidents. and was felt at 11.19 am. alert friends and relatives.

Almost half of Odisha
turns Covid-free
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
As many as 13 districts in
Odisha on Friday turned
Covid-free with no active
cases even as 24 of the 30 dis-
tricts did not report fresh
cases in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, the state today
logged 17 new COVID-19
cases while the death toll
rose to 9,123 with a fresh
fatality.
The test positivity rate
stayed at 0.09 percent with
18,723 samples tested in the
past 24 hours.
The state now has 121
active cases while as many as
13 districts- Nabarangpur,
Nuapada, Kandhamal,
Dhenkanal, Rayagada, Jhar-
suguda, Jagatsinghpur, Puri,
Kalahandi, Koraput, Keon-
jhar, Mayurbhanj and Naya-
garh- have turned Coron-
avirus-free with no active
case, said health officials.
A total of 9,76,976 have so
far received booster or pre-
caution dose so far. Around
95 percent of the eligible pop-
ulation has so far received both
the doses of vaccine.
Students protest over road, study in paddy field Maoist posters at Turjung
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI , 15 APRIL:
More than 20 students of
Rahadinga village are on a
novel protest over a row that
had led to stoppage of road
construction work.
The road work has stopped
since last year following a
land related dispute.
The narrow road linked to
Rahadinga revenue village of
Chapada panchayat of Raghu-
nathpur block.
During monsoon the road
turns into a muddy stretch with
pools of water making it dif-
ficult to students to go to the
Rahadinga Primary School.
Villagers Pramod Samal ,
Ajaya Samal and others had
sought the intervention of
collector, Jagatsinghpur, BDO
, Raghunathpur and other
officials for renovation of this
road for safety of the school
going children. Funds were
provided from MGNREGS
and 22 job card holders were
engaged to construct the road
on last 1 April 2020.
But a few villagers stopped
the road work after three days
claiming that the land belongs
to a private person and a tem-
ple.
Villager naib sarpanch
Niranjan Moharana, Manoran-
jan Jena, Harihar Jena, Pravakar
Mohanty and Ranjan Kumar
Das claimed rights over the
land and stopped the road
work.
At least 250 people includ-
ing 25 SC and ST communi-
ties are staying in this ward no
in Kalahandi district
11 of the revenue village. Near- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
ly 20 children are going to NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL:
local primary school for study.
These people have decid- Maoist poster affixed to road
ed to protest by not sending side trees was found in Tur-
their children to school and jung village on the outskirts
are conducting classes in a of M Rampur in Kalahandi dis-
paddy field with a polythene trict alleged that girl stu-
sheet overhead to protect dents of a private school in
them from summer heat. the area were being subject-
They have engaged a pri- ed to sexual harassment.
vate teacher to run the open The posters put up on red
air classes. cloth said if appropriate
Block Education Officer, action is not taken by the gov-
Raghunathpur Bijay Kumar ernment against the culprits
Swain said ‘neither villagers within ten days, the
nor the school headmaster has CPI(Maoist) will do so .
informed about the incident. Kalahandi district SP , Sar-
I will look into it and seek inter- vana Vivek , said it is being
vention f the BDO and Tehsil- ascertained whether the
dar, he added. poster is that of Maoists or some other miscreants.

LEISURE
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RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson SUDOKU

ACROSS DOWN
1 Strong coffee (5) 1 Edible mollusc (6)
4 Transgressions (4) 2 Drink mat (7)
8 Flies high (5) 3 Church passageway (5)
9 Apparent (7) 4 Adept (7)
10 Immoderate (7) 5 Female relative (5)
11 Demon (5) 6 Steady (5-6)
12 Biker's head protection 7 Scrutinise (5)
(5,6) 13 Infer (7)
17 Skinflint (5) 14 Version (7)
19 Greed (7)
21 Learned (7)
15 Traffic light colour (5)
16 Interrupt (a speaker) DADDY DAZE/John Kovaleski
22 Dense (5) (6)
23 Renown (4) 18 Steam bath (5)
24 Light narrow boat (5) 20 Garret (5)
Directions Make a 2 to
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAY’S CROSSWORD 7 letter word from the
letters in each row.
ACROSS 13 Yonder, DOWN 12 Puerile, Add points of each
15 Double 1 Roar, 14 Nullify, word, using scoring
1 Rote, directions at right, 7-
3 Aryan fault, 2 Tankard, 16 Baton, letter words get 50- Sudoku is a number-placing
19 Setting, 3 Amenity, 17 Alga, point bonus. "Blanks"
(Rotarian), used as any letter puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
7 Earn, 20 Idle, 4 Yacht, 18 Flex. have no point value. several given numbers. The
21 Lance, 5 Nitrogen, All Judd's words are
8 Crew cut, in The Official object is to place the numbers 1
9 Valediction, 22 Lynx. 6 Acme, Scrabble Players
Dictionary(Merriam-
to 9 in the empty squares so
11 Hard up, 10 Carousel, Webster) and OSW that no row, no column and no
Official Scrabble answer to 3x3 box contains the same
Scrabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks.
By arrangement with The Independent All rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro
Words(Chambers).
Judd's solution previous number. The difficulty level
Figures in parentheses denote Inc., in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by tomorrow. puzzle increases through the week.
J.W. Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
the number of letters in the words required 10-25-12
10 NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022
WEATHER
CITY
SINGAPORE
MAX(°C)
31
MIN(°C)
26 R
HONG KONG 15 13 R
TOKYO 15 6 H
LONDON 9 -1 R
DUBAI 33 21 S
SAN FRANCISCO 20 9 S
NEW YORK 14 7 S
MOSCOW 2 -2 R
S= sunny, CL= clear,
H=hazy, R= rainy...
THUMBNAILS
A cemetery worker takes a
rest from working on the
graves of civilians killed in
Bucha during the war with
Russia, in the outskirts of
Kyiv. � AP
Cuba sees no Covid deaths
for 3rd straight day: Cuba
has reported no deaths
from Covid-19 for a third
consecutive day, keeping
the death toll at 8,519,
according to the Public
Health Ministry. In its daily
pandemic report on Thurs-
day, the Ministry said
tests detected 449 new
cases of Covid-19 infection
in the past 24 hours,
bringing the total caseload
to 1,098,563. The country
currently had 2,062 active
cases. IANS
Global Covid caseload tops
502.8 million: The global
coronavirus caseload has
topped 502.8 million, while
the deaths have surged to
more than 6.19 million and
vaccinations to over 11.15
billion, according to Johns
Hopkins University. In its
latest update on Friday
morning, the University's
Center for Systems Sci-
ence and Engineering
(CSSE) revealed that the
current global caseload
and the death toll stood
at 502,847,462 and
6,193,239. IANS
Abortion restriction bill Family seeks charges, officer’s ID in Patrick Lyoya’s death
signed by Florida Gov DeSantis
ASSOCIATED PRESS
TALLAHASSEE, 15 APRIL
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis
signed a 15-week abortion ban
into law Thursday as the state
joined a growing conservative
push to restrict access ahead
of a U.S. Supreme Court deci-
sion that could limit the pro-
cedure nationwide.
The new law marks a sig-
nificant blow to abortion
access in the South, where
Florida has provided wider
access to the procedure than
its regional neighbors.
The new law, which takes
effect July 1, contains excep-
tions if the abortion is neces-
sary to save a mother’s life, pre-
vent serious injury or if the fetus
has a fatal abnormality. It does
In France’s election, a meaty issue unites Jews and Muslims
ASSOCIATED PRESS
PARIS, 15 APRIL
As she cooks lunch and talks
politics, Jewish voter Sarah Gut-
mann has a nasty feeling —
of would-be French presi-
dent Marine Le Pen invading
the privacy of her home, reach-
ing directly into her life and
the plates of chicken and
kosher sausages that she is fry-
ing for her husband and their
eldest son.
That’s because the far-right
candidate wants to outlaw
ritual slaughter if elected next
Sunday. And that could direct-
ly impact how Gutmann feeds
her family and exercises her
religious freedom. She and her
husband, Benjamin, say they
would have to think about leav-
ing France if a far-right gov-
ernment interfered with obser-
vant Jews’ kosher diets. Their
fear is that under Le Pen, tar-
geting ritually slaughtered
meats could be just the start
of steps to make French Jews
and Muslims feel unwelcome.
“Attacking the way we eat
impinges on our privacy and
Ukraine’s port of Mariupol
holds out against all odds
Ukrainian troops are continuing to fight the vastly superior Russian forces in ferocious battles
ASSOCIATED PRESS
KYIV, 15 APRIL
nbroken by a Russ-
U ian blockade and
relentless bom-
bardment, the key
port of Mariupol is still hold-
ing out, a symbol of staunch
Ukrainian resistance that has
thwarted the Kremlin’s inva-
sion plans.
More than six weeks after
the Russian siege began,
Ukrainian troops are contin-
uing to fight the vastly supe-
rior Russian forces in ferocious
battles amid the ruins of what
once was a bustling city on the
Sea of Azov coast.
The city’s mayor says that
an estimated 120,000 people
remain in the city, of Mariupol’s
pre-war population of about
450,000.
The Ukrainians’ fight
against all odds has scuttled
Moscow’s designs, tying up sig-
nificant Russian forces and
delaying the start of a planned
Russian offensive in eastern
Brooklyn subway attack US and Russia clash over cause of food price rises
suspect jailed without bail
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK, 15 APRIL
The man charged with open-
ing fire in a Brooklyn subway
car full of people was jailed
without bail Thursday as
prosecutors told a judge he
terrified all of New York City.
Brought into a Brooklyn
federal court without hand-
cuffs, a subdued Frank James,
62, softly answered stan-
dard questions about whether
he understood the charges
and the purpose of the brief
hearing. His lawyer later
asked the public not to pre-
judge him.
James was arrested in
Manhattan after calling a
police tip line to say where
he was Wednesday, a day
after the nightmarish rush-
hour attack left 10 people with
gunshot wounds and count-
less others fearing for their
safety on the nation’s busiest
not allow for exemptions in
cases where pregnancies were
caused by rape, incest or
human trafficking. Under cur-
rent law, Florida allows abor-
tions up to 24 weeks.“This
will represent the most sig-
nificant protections for life
that have been enacted in this
state in a generation,” DeSan-
tis said as he signed the bill at
the “Nación de Fe” (“Nation of
Faith”), an evangelical church
in the city of Kissimmee that
serves members of the Latino
population.
DeSantis, a Republican
rising star and potential 2024
presidential candidate, signed
the measure after several
women delivered speeches
about how they chose not to
have abortions or, in the case
that is very serious,” Gut-
mann said as she busied her-
self in the kitchen of their
Paris home.
“The intention is to target
minority populations that
bother her and send a mes-
sage to voters who are against
these minorities: ’Vote for
me, because I will attack them
and perhaps, with time, make
them leave.’”
Muslim shopper Hayat
Ettabet said her family might
be forced to illegally slaugh-
ter at home to stay within
their religious rules, bleeding
out animals “in the bathroom,
back to the way it was.”
Le Pen says all animals
should be stunned before
slaughter, and frames the
issue as one of animal welfare.
That’s unacceptable to obser-
vant Jews and Muslims who
believe stunning causes unnec-
essary animal suffering and that
their ritual slaughters for
kosher and halal meats are
more humane.
With the largest populations
of Muslims and Jews in west-
ern Europe, the issue has
Ukraine’s industrial heart-
land, Donbas. The Kremlin
hopes that an attack in the east
could reverse the battlefield
fortunes for Russia after a
humiliating failure of its
attempt to quickly storm the
Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Mariupol has been a key
objective for Russia since the
start of its invasion on Feb. 24.
Capturing the city would allow
Moscow to establish a land cor-
ridor to Ukraine’s Crimean
Peninsula that Russia annexed
subway system. Authorities
say he unleashed smoke
bombs and dozens of bullets
in a train full of morning com-
muters.
He’s charged with a fed-
eral terrorism offense that
applies to attacks on mass
transit systems — authori-
ties say there’s currently no
evidence linking him to ter-
ror organizations and are
still trying to derive a motive.
“The defendant terrify-
ingly opened fire on pas-
sengers on a crowded sub-
of one, regretted having done
so. Some of the people in
attendance, including young
children, stood behind the
speakers holding signs saying
“Choose life,” while those
who spoke stood at a podium
to which was affixed a sign dis-
playing an infant’s feet and a
heartbeat reading, “Protect
Life.”Debate over the pro-
posal grew deeply personal and
revealing inside the Florida leg-
islature, with lawmakers recall-
ing their own abortions and
experiences with sexual assault
in often tearful speeches on
the House and Senate floors.
Republicans have said they
want the state to be well
placed to limit access to abor-
tions if the SC upholds Mis-
sissippi’s law.
major potential repercussions
for France and could hit com-
munities elsewhere that buy
French meat exports. The
issue is one of the many fault
lines between Le Pen and
incumbent President
Emmanuel Macron and the
starkly different visions of
France they are presenting
for next Sunday’s election
runoff vote. It is expected to
be far closer than in 2017,
when the centrist Macron
beat Le Pen by a landslide.
“We have never been so
This will represent the most significant protections for
life that have been enacted in this state in a generation.
in 2014 and deprive Ukraine
of a major port and prized
industrial assets. The giant
Azovstal steel mill and other
industrial plants have been
heavily damaged by the fero-
cious Russian bombardment
that has flattened much of Mar-
iupol, indiscriminately hit-
ting homes, hospitals and
other public buildings and
killing thousands.
The victims include about
300 people killed in last month’s
Russian airstrike on the Mar-
way train, interrupting their
morning commute in a way
the city hasn’t seen in more
than 20 years,” Assistant U.S.
Attorney Sara K. Winik said,
apparently referring to the
Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
“The defendant’s attack
was premeditated, was care-
fully planned and it caused
terror among the victims
and our entire city,” she said.
While James was in court,
Hourari Benkada was in a
hospital bed with a bullet
wound in his leg.
Benkada said he was just
feet away from the gunman
on the train and has strug-
gled to sleep since. Tues-
day’s horrific scene keeps
replaying in his mind.
Investigators were exam-
ining many hours of videos
that James posted on social
media, in which he delivered
profanity-laced diatribes
about racism and violence.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
MICHIGAN, 15 APRIL
Peter Lyoya took his six chil-
dren from Congo in 2014 to
escape violence. Now he fears
he brought them to the U.S.
to die.
A Michigan police officer
fatally shot his eldest son,
26-year-old Patrick, in the
head this month following a
traffic stop in Grand Rapids.
Video released Wednesday
shows a brief foot chase and
struggle over the white offi-
cer’s Taser before he shoots
Patrick Lyoya in the head as
the Black man is face down
on the ground.
Peter Lyoya said Thurs-
day that he came to the U.S.
to get away from prolonged
civil unrest in which several
rebel groups have vied for con-
trol of territories in mineral-
close to having an extreme-
right regime,” Gutmann said.
“The alarm bell is ringing.”
Le Pen’s France would be
more inwardly focused, with
far fewer immigrants and
fewer rights for those already
here, less tolerance for non-
Christian traditions, and less
tightly bound to the Euro-
pean Union and the outside
world.
Macron is largely promis-
ing the opposite as he seeks
a second five-year term.
Macron zeroed in on Le Pen’s
FLORIDA GOVERNOR RON DESANTIS
SIGNING ABORTION RESTRICTION BILL
iupol Drama Theater that was
being used as a shelter and had
the word “CHILDREN” print-
ed in Russian in huge white
letters on the pavement out-
side to ward off aerial attack.
Mariupol Mayor Vadym
Boychenko told The Associ-
ated Press that at least 21,000
people were killed in Mariupol
with bodies “carpeted through
the streets.” He said that the
Russians deployed mobile
cremation equipment to Mar-
iupol to methodically dis-
pose of the victims’ bodies in
order to hide the evidence of
the massacre and prevent
international organizations
from documenting “the hor-
ror the Russian army is respon-
sible for.”
The discovery of hundreds
of bodies of civilians appar-
ently executed by Russian
forces in Kyiv’s suburbs after
the Russian retreat from the
area has fueled global outrage
and accusations from Ukraini-
ans and the West that Russia
is committing war crimes in
ASSOCIATED PRESS
UNTED NATIONS, 15 APRIL
The U.S. ambassador to the
United Nations accused Rus-
sia on Thursday of making the
precarious food situation in
Yemen and elsewhere even
worse by invading Ukraine,
calling it “just another grim
example of the ripple effect
Russia’s unprovoked, unjust,
unconscionable war is having
on the world’s most vulnera-
ble.”
Linda Thomas-Greenfield
told a U.N. Security Council
meeting on war-torn Yemen
that the World Food Program
identified the Arab world’s
poorest nation as one of the
countries most affected by
wheat price increases and
lack of imports from Ukraine.
Russia’s deputy U.N.
ambassador Dmitry Polyan-
sky shot back saying: “The
main factor for instability
and the source of the prob-
lem today is not the Russian
special military operation in
rich eastern Congo. Patrick,
who had two young children
of his own, lived in Grand
Rapids and visited Lansing on
weekends and would spend
money on his siblings, his
father said.
“Patrick never had a prob-
lem with anybody,” his dad told
The Associated Press through
an interpreter during an inter-
view at his Lansing apart-
ment. He and his wife later
spoke at an emotional news
conference in Grand Rapids,
a city of about 200,000 peo-
proposals for ending slaugh-
ter without stunning to empha-
size their political differences.
He said he doesn’t want “a
France that prevents Mus-
lims or Jews from eating as their
religion prescribes.”
Le Pen says she doesn’t
want that either. But alarmed
Jews and Muslims find her hard
to believe. Le Pen is not
opposed to other practices
deemed cruel by animal wel-
fare campaigners, such as
bullfighting or — most notably
— hunting, a tradition deeply
Ukraine.
Moscow has deployed fight-
ers from Chechnya, known for
their ferocity, to wage street
battles in Mariupol. Chech-
nya’s Moscow-backed leader,
Ramzan Kadyrov, has repeat-
edly boasted on his messag-
ing app channel about defeat-
ing Ukrainians in Mariupol,
but the fight has continued.
Boychenko said that sev-
eral Ukrainian units are still
fighting the Russians in Mar-
iupol, including the 36th
Marine Brigade, the Azov Reg-
iment, some Interior Min-
istry troops and border guards.
The Azov Regiment, a sea-
soned volunteer force that is
widely considered one of the
country’s most capable units,
is defending the mammoth
Azovstal steel plant that cov-
ers an area of nearly 11 square
kilometers (over 4.2 square
miles). It has taken advantage
of the plant’s sprawling net-
work of concrete buildings and
underground facilities to repel
continuous Russian attacks.
Ukraine, but sanctions mea-
sures imposed on our coun-
try seeking to cut off any sup-
plies from Russia and the
supply chain, apart from those
supplies that those countries
in theWest need, in other words
energy.”
“If you really want to help
the world avoid a food crisis
you should lift the sanctions
that you yourselves imposed,
your sanctions of choice
indeed, and poor countries will
immediately feel the differ-
ence,” he said. “And if you’re
not prepared to do that, then
ple that’s about 150 miles
(240 kilometers) northwest of
Detroit.In the April 4
encounter, the officer repeat-
edly ordered Patrick Lyoya to
let go of the Taser.
Grand Rapids Police Chief
Eric Winstrom cited a need for
transparency when releas-
ing video collected from a pas-
senger in the car Lyoya was
driving, the officer’s body
camera, the officer’s patrol car
and a doorbell camera. Win-
strom did not identify the
officer, a seven-year veteran
who is on paid leave while state
police investigate the shoot-
ing.Lawyers for the Lyoya
family said the officer should
be prosecuted and fired.
“The video shows us that
this is as his mother and
father have said — an exe-
cution. And there is no way
to try to spin it or justify,”
anchored in rural France
where she is trawling for votes.
So her focus on kosher and
halal meats smacks of
hypocrisy to Jews and Muslims
who see an attack disguised
as animal welfare.
Le Pen says the meats could
instead be imported. But that
also makes no sense to crit-
ics, because it seems to run
counter to Le Pen’s general
France-first rule that the coun-
try should produce more
things itself and import less.
Her camp has also flip-
flopped. Jordan Bardella, Le
Pen’s No. 2 who is heading their
National Rally party while she
seeks the presidency, said in
March that they want an out-
right ban on kosher and halal
meats, both imported and
from domestically slaugh-
tered animals.
Jewish leaders responded
in a statement that the
“detestable” proposition would
force large numbers of Jews
and Muslims to leave.
But Le Pen and Macron are
both now modulating their
positions on issues impor-
Pressure on US to give Ukraine
more intelligence on Russia
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, 15 APRIL
President Joe Biden has called
Russia’s war on Ukraine a
genocide and accused
Vladimir Putin of committing
war crimes. But his admin-
istration has struggled with
how much intelligence it is
willing to give the Ukrainian
forces that are trying to stop
the Russian leader.
Since the war began in
late February, the Biden
administration has made
multiple changes to a classi-
fied directive that governs
what U.S. agencies are sup-
posed to share with Ukraine.
Much of what the United
States collects is shared; some
is not. Where the line is drawn
depends on protecting the
sources and methods of the
intelligence, but also trying
to limit the risk of escalation
with a nuclear-armed Russia.
The latest changes occurred
last week when U.S. intelli-
gence officials lifted some
geographic limits on the
transfer of actionable infor-
mation — the kind of infor-
mation used in minute-by-
minute decisions on the bat-
tlefield. According to sever-
don’t get involved in dema-
goguery, and don’t mislead
everybody.”
The sharp exchange took
place a day after a U.N. task
force warned that the war
threatens to devastate the
economies of many devel-
oping countries that are now
facing even higher food and
energy costs and increasing-
ly difficult financial conditions.
U.N. Secretary-General
Antonio Guterres launched
their report saying, “As many
as 1.7 billion people -- one-
third of whom are already
prominent civil rights attor-
ney Ben Crump said as
Patrick’s parents cried. “It is
an unjustifiable use of dead-
ly force because the police
escalated a traffic stop into an
execution.”The Lyoyas also
asked for police to release the
officer’s name. Patrick’s broth-
ers and sisters want to know
who killed him and would like
to see his picture so they can
know “this is the person that
took our beloved one,” Peter
Lyoya said.
Prosecutor Chris Becker,
who will decide whether any
charges are warranted, said
the public should not expect
a quick decision.Video shows
Patrick Lyoya running from
the officer who stopped him
for driving with a license
plate that did not belong to
the vehicle. They struggled in
front of several homes.
tant to voters who didn’t sup-
port them in round one of the
election, seeking to amass
the votes they will need to win
round two. Macron, most
notably, has softened his plan
to increase the retirement age
to 65. Le Pen is trying to
appear more inclusive.
“I’m not at all going to get
rid of halal and kosher butch-
er shops,” she said this week.
She said meat from animals
that have been knocked out
electrically might prove to be
an acceptable halal alterna-
tive to some Muslims. But if
not, “importing this meat
would be authorized, obvi-
ously.”“What we want is to truly
stop this animal suffering,
very intense, that is the con-
sequence of slaughter with-
out stunning,” Le Pen said.
Slovenia, Denmark and
Sweden, as well as non-EU
members Switzerland, Ice-
land and Norway, have done
away with religious exemp-
tions, meaning kosher and
halal meat must be imported.
So, too, have the Flanders
and Wallonia regions of Bel-
al people familiar with the
issue who spoke on condition
of anonymity to discuss clas-
sified matters, officials
removed language that had
limited the specific locations
of potential targets in parts
of eastern Ukraine.
The shifts in the intelligence
rules reflect the administra-
tion’s changing calculations
of what Putin might consid-
er escalatory. The U.S. is also
trying to step up support to
Ukrainian forces that have sur-
prised much of the world in
how they have held back Rus-
sia but remain undermanned
and outgunned. The Penta-
gon this week also announced
$800 million in new military
assistance that could include
more powerful weapons and
defensive equipment.
Some people familiar with
the directive say there is
ambiguity about the new
limits. One question is whether
the U.S. would delay or limit
information about a possible
Russian target in areas inter-
nationally recognized as
Ukrainian territory but that
Moscow or its proxies con-
trolled before the war, includ-
ing the Crimean Peninsula and
parts of the Donbas.
living in poverty -- are now
highly exposed to disruptions
in food, energy and finance
systems that are triggering
increases in poverty and
hunger.”
Thirty-six countries rely
on Russia and Ukraine for
more than half their wheat
imports, including some of the
world’s poorest countries, he
said, and wheat and corn
prices have risen 30% just
since the start of the year.
Rebeca Grynspan, secre-
tary-general of the U.N. agency
promoting trade and devel-
opment who coordinated the
task force, said the 1.7 billion
people live in 107 countries
that have “severe exposure” to
at least one dimension of the
crisis -- rising food prices,
increasing energy prices and
tightening financial condi-
tions. U.N. spokesman
Stephane Dujarric was asked
about Polyansky’s comments
and whether Guterres is con-
cerned that sanctions are dri-
ving up food prices.
New Mexico
wildfire kills 2,
destroyes homes
NEW MEXICO, 15 APRIL
A wildfire that has burned
more than 200 homes on the
edge of a mountain com-
munity in the southern part
of New Mexico and killed
two people was caused when
a power line was toppled by
strong winds, according to
state authorities.
Crews worked to restore
power to parts of the village.
The lack of electricity also has
affected the school district’s
servers, email system and
website. Firefighters used a
break in what had been a
steady stream of relentless
gusts to make headway against
the deadly blaze. The fire had
moved into Ruidoso, prompt-
ing more evacuations. AP
gium. The bans there are being
challenged in the European
Court of Human Rights by
Yohan Benizri, a vice president
of the European Jewish Con-
gress.
He says outlawing reli-
gious slaughter makes Jews feel
“we’re not part of European cul-
ture” and “portrays us as some
form of savages.”
Because France exports
kosher meats, banning its
production “will have a dev-
astating effect” on Jewish
communities elsewhere, he
said.“It’s going to be a devas-
tating signal as well because
— again — we would be seen
as not welcome in the Euro-
pean Union,” Benizri said.
As her son finished lunch,
Sarah Gutmann said the most
worrying aspect of a Le Pen-
pushed law on the issue would
be if it was met by general indif-
ference.
“Then, really, I will be very,
very scared,” she said. “If I see
an unjust law go through and
no one reacts, then we’ll say
to ourselves that we really are
in danger.”
NEW DELHI, SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 11

DIP/Shabdarth/D/0015/22-23
 NEHWAL SLAMS BAI
Olympic medallist shuttler Saina Nehwal has come down hard on the
Badminton Association of India on selection trial dates for Common-
NEW DELHI
SATURDAY 16 APRIL 2022 12
wealth Games and Asian Games which kicked off on Friday at Delhi's
Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium. "Surprised to see all the articles stating
that I don't want to defend my CWG title and my Asiad medal. I'm just
not participating in the trials because I just got back from 3 weeks
of Europe events and according to the schedule there's Asian
Championships @BAI_Media @ianuragthakur," Saina Nehw-
al tweeted. The BAI had announced selection trials from April
15 to April 20 for the Commonwealth and Asian Games.

For more updates www.thestatesman.com Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2018/-19-20

Will IPL have an impact on India's squad selection for T20 World Cup?
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
Last year when India entered
the ICC T20 World Cup, ques-
tions were raised over the
selection of the players who
were either unfit or out of form,
and the poor result in the tour-
nament later led to the criti-
cism of the team management
as well as the selectors.
The team for the T20 World
Cup last year was announced
before the 2021 Indian Premier
League, and the way some of
the selected players per-
formed in the league had
exposed how prepared India
was for the ICC event.
At that time, several former
cricketers had suggested
changes in the squad. But
the selection committee went
ahead with the same team and
India were shown the door in
the early stages.
With the IPL 2022 under-
way, netizens have again start-
ed sharing their views and
some of them even went on
to add that "a new team for
the T20 format" should be
made.
Some said that the selec-
tion committee "should pick
the team considering the per-
formance of the players and
not the big names".
"T20 is fast, and we need
a younger lot for theWorld Cup.
BCCI please pick from IPL as
stars are failing and new guys
are on a roll. Give them a
chance for international events
ahead of WC," wrote one on
Twitter.
Another wrote, "IPL can
guide the BCCI well. 2022WC."
The T20 World Cup is
scheduled to begin in Octo-
ber this year in Australia and
India have time to pick the best
team for the tournament.
India will be playing 10
T20Is (5 with South Africa, 2
with Ireland and 3 with Eng-
land) before theWorld Cup and
it is believed that a number
of youngsters will be shortlisted
and given a chance during the
period. For the records, the Asia
Cup is also scheduled in
between.
In the ongoing IPL, many
big stars are underperform-
ing. Virat Kohli (in photo)
and Rohit Sharma are both
struggling with form so far. The
duo has played five matches
respectively and yet to score
a fifty.
The fans are waiting for
some big hitting from the
batters but so far Virat and
Rohit's bats have failed to
fire like it used to.
It is also a cause for con-
cern ahead of the World Cup,
because it is a fast sport and
the way young talent per-
form, then ignoring talent
over big names would be
challenging for the selectors.
Also, Ravindra Jadeja is
facing the heat of captaincy
and is unable to deliver his all-
rounder class. Hardik Pandya's
comeback as a genuine all-
rounder will also be discussed
in the coming months. But as
a batter, in his last match
against Rajasthan Royals on
Friday, he displayed some
brilliant cricketing shots, scor-
ing 87 off 52 balls.
Some veterans still have it!
Dinesh Karthik's role as a
finisher for Royal Challengers
Bangalore (RCB) could pitch-
fork the 36-year-old wicket-
keeper-batter into India reck-
oning as the team looks to
rebuild for the ICC T20 World
Cup in Australia later this
year. In IPL 2022, Karthik has
been a critical finisher for
RCB, making 131 runs and
averaging the same number
with a strike-rate of 218.33.
On the other hand, Shikhar
Dhawan (36) playing for Pun-
jab Kings is also in fine form.
He has scored 197 in match-
es he played so far. The left-
hander was ignored last year,
but this time he has a chance
to make it into the squad.
The 36-year-old Robin
Uthappa (Chennai Super
Kings) is also a strong con-
tender as he has scored 194
runs in five matches so far and
looks in great touch.
However, there are still
many matches left in the 2022
IPL and it is believed that
the discussion on the per-
formances of the players will
be done once the league is over.

Nitish Rana, Andre Russell MI face a Brabourne challenge against LSG

propel KKR to 175/8 vs SRH
AGENCIES going to make it really big,"Yadav
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL said during a pre-match virtual
press conference on Friday.
Struggling to put up their first Mumbai Indians have been
points on the board after los- through this sort of start before,
ASIAN NEWS Shreyas Iyer for 28 as KKR lost ing five matches in IPL 2022 so in 2014.That year, they still qual-
INTERNATIONAL their fourth wicket at 70. far, Mumbai Indians return to ified for the playoffs.That is one
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL Sheldon Jackson joined Rana the Brabourne Stadium for a reason why the team does not
and the duo batted sensibly clash with Lucknow Super seem short on motivation.
itish Rana's knock of to take the team's total beyond Giants after playing three con- "This has happened before

N 54 and unbeaten 49
by Andre Russell (in
ani photo) helped
Kolkata Knight Riders post
175/8 in 20 overs against Sun-
risers Hyderabad in their IPL
2022 match at the Brabourne
Stadium here on Friday.
Nitish Rana and Andre
Russell guided Kolkata Knight
Riders to a challenging target.
For SRH, T Natarajan bagged
three wickets while Umran
Malik scalped two wickets. Put
to bat first, Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers openers Aaron Finch and
Venkatesh Iyer took the crease
against SRH bowlers. Sunrisers
Hyderabad needed some
early wickets and Marco
Jansen did exactly that dis-
missing opener Aaron Finch
in the second over.
KKR skipper Shreyas Iyer
walked into bat withVenkatesh
Iyer and kept the scoreboard
moving. KKR batters struggled
to score runs against SRH
bowlers in the powerplay. In
the 5th, over T Natarajan dis-
missed KKR opener Venkatesh
Iyer for 4 runs. In the same over
T Natarajan struck again as
he dismissed Sunil Narine
caught by Shashank Singh.
Narine had scored six runs and
Kolkata were tottering at 31
for 3.
Nitish Rana came to the
crease and tried to anchor the
innings with the skipper and
they hammered SRH bowlers
all around the ground. KKR
desperately needed a part-
nership and Nitish Rana and
Shreyas Iyer did exactly that
to take the team's total beyond
the 50-run mark in the eighth
over.
Umran Malik broke the 39-
run partnership dismissing
the triple-figure mark in the
13th over.
Umran Malik was brought
back into the attack and the
pacer gave a blow to KKR
dismissing Jackson for 7 and
Kolkata were five down at
103. Jackson's wicket led
Andre Russell to the crease
who hammered SRH bowlers
all around the ground.
In the 15th over of the
innings, Nitish Rana notched
up a half-century made in 32
balls. T Natarajan dismissed
Rana for 54 caught by Nicholas
Pooran as KKR lost their sixth
wicket for 144. Russell along
with Umesh Yadav took the
team's total to 175/8 as they
gathered 17 runs in the last
over.
Brief score: Kolkata Knight Rid-
ers 175/8 (Nitish Rana 54,
Andre Russell 49*; T Natara-
jan 3-37) vs Sunrisers Hyder-
abad.
secutive matches in Pune.
The five-time champions
had launched their IPL 2022
campaign at Brabourne Stadium
with a four-wicket defeat to Delhi
Capitals and after losing to
Rajasthan Royals at the D.Y
Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai,
suffered successive debacles
against Kolkata Knight Riders,
Royal Challengers Bangalore and
Punjab Kings at the Maha-
rashtra Cricket Association Sta-
dium in Pune.
Back at the same venue
where they started their cam-
paign, Mumbai can't afford to
lose many more matches as their
chances of qualifying for the
playoffs, already looking slim,
will become even more diffi-
cult.
Though their batters have
come good in patches, their
bowling has failed to make an
impression as Jasprit Bumrah
has struggled for support from
other pacers and the team has
failed to stitch together a win-
ning combination. They have
not had good starts as open-
ers Ishan Kishan and Rohit
Sharma have not clicked togeth-
er as skipper Rohit Sharma
has not been his prolific self and
is due for a big one soon.
Youngster Tilak Varma has
impressed so far with 157 runs
from five innings and Suryaku-
mar Yadav, who missed the
first couple of matches, has
scored 163 runs in three innings,
but these are individual efforts
and the team as a unit seems
to be missing something.
Despite these struggles,
Mumbai Indians' senior batter
SuryakumarYadavonFridaysaid
if they stick together and work
hard, the results are bound to
come.
Yadav said the morale in the
team is good as they know it is
just a matter of time before things
will improve and therefore
there are no dropping shoul-
ders or having a pessimistic out-
look.
Asked what Mumbai Indi-
ans needed to do to become a
champion side again, he said,
"It is still a champion team. It's
not 'used to be'. It is still a cham-
pion team and it will always be
a champion team.
"It's just a matter of a few
games. The people who have
joined in are going really, real-
ly well. I feel very happy for them,
Dewald,Tilak. I feel the way they
have taken responsibility since
the first game, they've been real-
ly good. And I'm sure they're
also, a long time back," Yadav
pointed out. "It's nothing new,
so we're just taking things very,
very positively.Win or lose, it's
all part of the game.”
While Mumbai Indians are
hoping for the spark to ignite,
their opponent Lucknow Super
Giants are sitting pretty in the
fifth position in the 10-team table
with six points from five match-
es. After starting with a defeat
to Gujarat Titans, LSG have
won three successive match-
es before Rajasthan Royals
halted their victory march
thanks to Shimron Hetmyer's
stupendous unbeaten 59 off 36
deliveries andYuzvendra Cha-
hal's 4/41.
Facing a struggling Mum-
bai Indians in their next match,
KL Rahul's Lucknow Super
Giants will definitely fancy
their chances of claiming all two
points and remain in striking
distance of the top-four spot.

Root steps down as England Test captain
after Ashes, West Indies reverses
AGENCIES
LONDON, 15 APRIL
Following debacles in the Ashes
and the three-match series
against theWest Indies, Joe Root
stepped down as captain of the
EnglandTest side on Friday after
leading the team for five years.
One of England's most suc-
cessfulTest captains, Root's side
had recently endured a 0-4
thrashing in the five-match
Ashes and lost the away three-
Test series against the West
Indies 0-1.
Root led England in 64
matches, winning 27 of those.
The record meant he had the
most number of matches and
wins as England Men'sTest cap-
tain. During his tenure, Root
made headlines for memo-
rable victories that included the
4-1 win against India at home
in 2018, 3-1 triumph away to
South Africa in 2020 and win-
ning a Test series twice in Sri
Lanka.
"After returning from the
Caribbean tour and having
time to reflect, I have decided
to step down as England Men's
Test Captain. It has been the
most challenging decision I have
had to make in my career but
having discussed this with my
family and those closest to
me; I know the timing is right,"
said Root, who had been blamed
by former England players for
the string of losses, despite
the 31-year-old player's personal
form remaining intact.
"I am immensely proud to
have captained my country and
will look back on the past five
years with enormous pride. It
has been an honour to have
done the job and to have been
a custodian of what is the pin-
nacle of English cricket," said
Root.
In recent times, Root has
shown excellent form with the
bat, earning him the ICC Men's
Test Cricketer of theYear Award
in 2021.
During his reign, Root
amassed 5,295Test runs includ-
ing 14 centuries to become Eng-
land's most prolific run-scor-
er as captain. However, the
leadership had started to take
a toll on Root, impacting him
during his time away from the
game.
"I have loved leading my
country, but recently it's hit
home how much of a toll it has
taken on me and the impact it
has had on me away from the
game,” he added.
Delhi Capitals physio
tests positive for Covid-19
INDO-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, 15 APRIL
Delhi Capitals physio Patrick
Farhart has tested positive for
Covid-19 and is being close-
ly monitored by the medical
team of the franchise, the IPL
confirmed on Friday.
This is the first confirmed
positive Covid-19 case in the
ongoing IPL 2022 season.
"Delhi Capitals physio
Patrick Farhart has been test-
ed positive for COVID-19. He
is being closely monitored by
the DC Medical Team at the
moment," the league said in
a statement.
It's not for the first time
that the cash-rich league
has been affected by the
coronavirus.Two years back,
the IPL had to be postponed
due to the first wave of the
pandemic.The season was
played later in the year in the
UAE.
In 2021, the IPL season had
to be stopped mid-way after
several players tested posi-
tive inside the bio-bubbles.
The tournament was com-
pleted later that year again
in the UAE.
However, with cases
declining before the start of
IPL 2022, the organisers decid-
ed to hold it again in India and
more precisely in four stadi-
ums of Maharashtra.
While the 25 per cent
capacity of crowds are allowed
in the stadiums, the teams are
still in strict bio-bubbles.
Delhi Capitals have so far
played 4 matches, winning
two and losing two. They
are currently at the 7th spot
on the points table. The
Rishabh Pant led side will next
take on Royal Challengers
Bangalore on Saturday at
the Wankhede in Mumbai.
Faiaz double takes Mohammedan SC
past 9-man Real Kashmir in I-League
AGENCIES
KALYANI, 15 APRIL
Mohammedan Sporting Club
returned to winning ways and
also moved to the top of the
table after a comfortable 3-1
victory against Real Kashmir,
here at the Kalyani Stadium.
A goal from Andelo Rudovic
and a brace from SK Faiaz
ensured Mohammedan fin-
ished the game with three
crucial points. Real Kashmir
were reduced to 9 men as
Pratesh Shirodkar and goalscor-
er Lalchawnkima were sent off
in the second half. In the first
half, Nikola Stojanovic ensured
his side started on the front foot
by playing a delightful long ball
from midfield straight into
the box towards the strikers.
However, the players were
unable to apply the finishing
touch to it.
The moment was forgotten
shortly after that as Andelo
Rudovic opened the scoring
for Mohammedan in the
twelfth minute. Marcus Joseph
played a brilliant defence-
splitting pass while Rudovic
kept his run in check to stay
onside, after which the Bosn-
ian carefully placed the ball past
the keeper.
Mohammedan were dealt
a blow when Milan Singh went
down and had to be stretchered
off in the eighteenth minute
and was replaced by Phrang-
ki Buam.
After going a goal down, Real
Kashmir were on the attack and
desperate for an equaliser.
Mason Robertson tried his
luck from distance but could
not challenge keeper Mithun
Samanta with his strike.
Moments later, Shimray
Thomyo found himself with
the ball just outside the box but
the forward's tame effort was
easily collected by the keep-
er.
Bernard Kouassi kept wrig-
gling through the
Mohammedan defence but
saw his efforts get blocked.
Another opportunity fell to
Thomyo again but this time
WayneVaz stopped the forward
with a well-timed challenge in
the box.
Towards the end of the
first half, Mohammedan came
very close to doubling their lead
as they broke on the counter
and Joseph slid the ball in
towards Rudovic. The ball was
intercepted by Ponif Vaz, who
almost put the ball into the back
of his own goal.
A controversial moment
arose in the second half when
Real Kashmir players sur-
rounded the referee asking
for a penalty. The ball had
come off the thigh of Wayne
Vaz and hit his arm but the ref-
eree did not point to the spot
leaving Real Kashmir players
fuming over the decision.

Bajrang, Sodhi criticise decision to keep wrestling,
shooting out of Commonwealth Games 2026
ASIAN NEWS
INTERNATIONAL
NEW DELHI, 15 APRIL
A big blow for India as sporting
disciplines like archery, shoot-
ing and wrestling have been
dropped from its initial sports
programme list for Common-
wealth Games 2026 which will
be played inVictoria in Australia.
In Commonwealth Games,
2018 India bagged 16 medals in
shooting including seven gold,
four silver and five bronze while
in wrestling India won 12 medals
which includes five gold, three
silver and four bronze. India's
Olympic medallist Bajrang
Punia who won a gold medal
in Commonwealth Games 2018
in Gold Coast believes that this
decision of the Commonwealth
Games Federation is not right
as wrestling is the oldest sport.
"The Federation of Com-
monwealth Games will decide
but the decision is which has
been taken is wrong to keep
wrestling, shooting and archery
out. Wrestling is our oldest
sport in the Games and keep-
ing it out is not right. But it is
not in the hands of ourWrestling
Federation but yes they can
request and as players, we can
also request saying that it is
wrong. It is only in the hands
of CWG Federation," said Punia
while speaking to ANI.
Khel Ratna award-winning
double trap shooter Ronjan
Singh Sodhi who has won two
silver medals in Common-
wealth Games and has won gold
medals at World Cups and
Asian Games came down hard
on European countries.
"European countries don't
stand a chance with India. I think
it is done on purpose because
we win each and every medal
in Commonwealth. Mostly
gold, sometimes gold, silver is
also being us so this is a very
wrong move within the sport
of shooting that if it is in
Olympics then why not in
Commonwealth Games," Sodhi
said.
The Birmingham Com-
monwealth Games 2022 which
is supposed to start in July also
does not have shooting as a part
of their sporting discipline.
"The Brits said that could not
make a range because they say
it is too expensive. A country like
England can't make a range is
that what we have come today,"
said Ronjan Singh Sodhi.
Haryana Cabinet Minister
AnilVij has also called this deci-
sion as unfortunate as Haryana
has a rich legacy of producing
the country's top wrestlers.
"It is unfortunate that
Haryana's pride wrestling and
archery are not a part of Com-
monwealth Games 2026. Com-
Eintracht Frankfurt stun Barca in Europa League
monwealth Games Organiz-
ing Committee should rethink
their decision," tweeted Vij.
The disciplines that the
Commonwealth Games organ-
ising committee has included
in the initial list are aquatics, ath-
letics, badminton, boxing,
beach volleyball, T20 cricket,
cycling, gymnastics, hockey,
lawn bowls, netball, rugby sev-
ens, squash, table tennis,
triathlon and weightlifting.
However, the organisers
have clarified that they will add
a few more disciplines later
this year which means India's
archery, shooting and wrestling
Federations can request them
to include them in the Games.
AGENCIES
MADRID, 15 APRIL
FC Barcelona crashed out of
the Europa League after a 3-
2 home defeat to Eintracht
Frankfurt.
Barcelona had drawn 1-1
in Germany a week ago and
were favourites to qualify for
the semifinals, but cheered on
by an estimated 20,000 of
their fans in the stands of the
Camp Nou Stadium on Thurs-
day night, Eintracht stunned
Xavi Hernandez and his side.
Gavi and Pedri were back
in the Barca starting 11, but
it was never Barca's night
with Eintracht opening the
scoring thanks to Filip Kos-
tic's fourth-minute penalty
after a careless foul from Eric
Garcia.
Pierre-Emerick
Aubameyang missed a good
chance to head Barca level
before Rafael Borre doubled
Eintracht's lead with a thun-
derbolt. The Colombian was
set free down the left by Kos-
tic, cut inside and smashed
the ball past Marc Andre Ter
Stegen, Xinhua reports. Things
got worse for Barca when the
influential Pedri failed to
appear for the second half and
was replaced by Frenkie de
Jong, although Aubameyang
missed another good chance
to drag Barca back into the tie.
The Frenchman needed
treatment for a thigh injury
soon after and in the 67th
minute Kostic's first-time
effort made it 3-0 for the vis-
itors after a quick move fol-
lowing a throw-in.
Luuk de Jong came on for
Garcia to try and turn things
around, and although he
again made his presence felt
with a hand in two late goals,
this time there was to be no
late miracle for Barca.
Sergio Busquets had the
ball in the net with 10 min-
utes left to play, his neat back-
heel was ruled out for offside,
although he then gave Barca
a lifeline in the 91st minute
when he scored after Luuk de
Jong's shot was blocked.
The big striker then won
a penalty in the 10th minute
of injury time, but it was too
late for a Barca miracle and
Eintracht progress to the last
four.

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