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CHENNAI I SUNDAY I 18 FEBRUARY 2024
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WEATHER
Max: 31OC
Min: 24OC
Development, pro-poor Selvaperunthagai
is new TNCC prez;
CM offers sops
Rainfall: Nill

ASTROGUIDE work BJP’s agenda: PM Rajesh CLP chief

Sobakrithu: Masi 6
Tithi: Navami
Star: Rokini ■ ‘Lotus’ will be the candidate in all constituencies, says Modi
Rahukalam:
4.30 pm to 6 pm YOJNA GUSAI |DC
Yamagandam: NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
12 am to 1.30 pm Setting the tone for the
PRAYERS coming general elections,
Fajar: 5.20 am Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Saturday asked
Zuhar: 12.28 am the party cadre to seek
Asar: 3.44 pm votes for the party’s elec-
Maghrib: 6.15 pm tion symbol ‘lotus’ while
noting that the party’s tar-
Isha: 7.27 pm get of bagging 370 Lok
Jnanpith for Gulzar, Sabha seats will be a true
tribute to the party ideo-
Rambhadracharya logue
Mookerjee.
Syama Prasad
New Delhi: Renowned Addressing the gather-
Urdu poet Gulzar and Sanskrit ing of national office-bear-
ers of the BJP ahead of the
scholar Jagadguru
Rambhadracharya have been two-day-long national
council meeting, which
named the recipients of the
58th Jnanpith Award, the commenced later in the
Jnanpith selection committee day, Mr Modi asked the
announced on Saturday. Gulzar party cadre to build the
is known for his works in Hindi party's campaign around
cinema and is considered one
of the finest Urdu poets of this
era. He has earlier received
Sahitya Akademi Award for
its pro-poor work, the
country's development
and its enhanced global
standing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with senior leaders
J.P. Nadda and Amit Shah at the BJP’s national office-bear-
ers’ meeting in new Delhi on Saturday.
Parliament, declared the
BJP’s target of winning
370 seats in the coming
Lok Sabha polls and the
BJP-led NDA’s target of
“400 paar”.
Mr Modi will also be
Sunday. Chaired by BJP
president J.P. Nadda, the
office-bearers meeting was
also attended by Union
ministers Amit Shah and
Rajnath Singh, among oth-
ers. Abrogation of Article
this now-abrogated
Article, which gave a spe-
cial status to Jammu and
Kashmir, was Syama
Prasad Mookherjee.
“Article 370 is not merely
a number for the BJP... It
symbolises a profound
sentiment. Syama Prasad
Mookherjee made the ulti-
mate sacrifice for the abro-
gation of Article 370, pre-
serving our nation's unity
and integrity. As a tribute,
the BJP aims to secure vic-
tory in 370 seats, each rep-
resenting Mookherjee's
legacy. We strive to secure
370 additional votes at
every booth,” said BJP
national general secretary
Vinod Tawde while quot-
ing Mr Modi.
Mr Tawde, who was
briefing the media about
the office-bearers meeting,
said the Prime Minister
stressed that for the cadre
“lotus” will be the party
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
Amidst the tug of war
over seat sharing with
the DMK, the Congress
high command appoint-
ed K. Selvaperunthagai
as the new president for
the Tamil Nadu Congress
Committee relieving K.S.
Alagiri from the post.
The post of Congress
legislature party leader,
which was hitherto held
by Mr Selvaperunthagai,
has gone to R. Rajesh
Kumar, according to a
press release issued by
Congress general secre-
tary K.C. Venugopal on
Saturday.
The sudden decision by
the high command – for-
mer president Alagiri
had issued a statement
condemning the BJP a
few hours ahead of that –
came as a surprise to
many in the party as
talks with the DMK over
seat-sharing could soon
be held.
for minorities
G. BABU JAYAKUMAR,
D. SEKAR |DC
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
Chief Minister M.K.
Stalin on Saturday
announced a slew of bene-
fits for religious minori-
ties, particularly Muslims
which included raising
the upper limit of educa-
tion loans given by the
Tamil Nadu Minorities
Economic Development
Corporation to Rs 5 lakh.
He also promised to con-
sider providing reserva-
tion to people from the
Scheduled Castes,
Scheduled Tribes, Most
Backward and Backward
communities who con-
verted to Islam.
Speaking at a consulta-
tive meeting for minori-
ties’ welfare held in the
Secretariat on Saturday,
Mr Stalin said his govern-
ment had created a social
atmosphere for minorities
to live fearlessly in the
state and assured to look
into any demand placed
by them, as it had been
doing so long, besides
recalling the DMK’s long
association with the
Muslim community that
helped the ushering in of
the historic political
change in 1967.
Mr Stalin said that the
names of 11 more convicts
who had completed 20
years in prison had been
recommended for prema-
ture release to the
Governor as 10 convicts
were recently let off from
prisons and the present
glitches in getting
approval for places of wor-
ship and also their reno-
vation would be removed
by framing a standard
operating procedure
(SoP),
■ P7

Urdu in 2002, Dadasaheb
Phalke Award in 2013, Padma
Bhushan in 2004.
The Prime Minister had,
in the recently concluded
budget session of
delivering the valedictory
speech at the national
council meeting on
370 was one of the core
issues of the BJP and one
of the strongest critics of
candidate for whom they
will have to seek votes.
■ P7
KAMAL NATH
IN DELHI AMID
SPECULATION
DC CORRESPONDENTS
NEW DELHI/ BHOPAL, FEB. 17
In what could be another
major setback to the
Congress ahead of the Lok
Sabha polls, speculation is
rife that senior Congress
leader and former Madhya
Pradesh chief minister
Kamal Nath and his MP son
Nakul Nath are going to
quit the Congress and join
the BJP. Amid rumours
that Mr Nath could cross
over to the saffron party,
his son, a sitting MP from
Chhindwara, drops
Congress from his bio on
social media. ■ P7
PAK OFFICIAL SAYS
CJ, CEC INVOLVED
TN BANS SALE OF
COTTON CANDY
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
The state government on
Saturday banned the sale
of cotton candy after the
Food Safety and
Standard Authority of
India (FSSAI) found the
presence of a cancer-
causing chemical in the
samples collected from
the sellers in Chnenai.
Health minister Ma
Subramanian said the
study carried out by the
government food analy-
sis laboratory in Guindy
found that an artificial
colourant. ■ P7
TN FARMERS STOP TRAIN IN SUPPORT OF STIR
G. SRINIVASAN |DC
THANJAVUR FEB 17
The police arrested 55
farmers when they partici-
pated in a rail roko agita-
tion in support of farmers
agitating at Delhi here on
Saturday. The farmers, led
10 KILLED IN BLAST
IN CRACKER UNIT
M. ARULOLI | DC
VIRUDHUNAGAR, FEB 17
Ten persons including
four women workers were
killed in a massive explo-
sion at a private cracker
unit near Sattur in
Virudhunagar district on
Saturday. While eight
people died on the spot,
two critically injured suc-
cumbed to their injuries
at hospital. Ten workers
who sustained severe
burns were rushed to the
government hospitals at
Sattur and Sivakasi.
Some of them are in criti-
by P.R. Pandian, co-ordina-
tor of Thamizhaga Anaithu
Vivasaya Sangangalin
Orunginaippu Kuzhu,
entered the railway station
breaking the police barri-
cades and stopped the
Tirucby-Chennai Cholan
express for 15 minutes. The
cal condition, sources
said.
The sparks created by an
explosion occurred in the
afternoon at a work shed
of the private cracker
unit, Winner Fireworks at
Ramuthevanpatti in the
Sattur block in
Virudhunagar district,
spread to the nearby work
sheds, sources said. Five
of the work sheds were
completely razed down
and the bodies were
charred and mutilated
due to the massive explo-
sion.
■ P7
police had a tough time try-
ing to keep the farmers at
bay but in vain. The police
later arrested 55 of them.
Farmers demanded keep-
ing up the promise made by
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to farmers including
one on MSP.

IN POLL RIGGING
Islamabad, Feb. 17: A
senior Pakistani bureau-
crat on Saturday alleged
that the chief election com-
missioner and the chief jus-
tice were involved in poll-
rigging in the recent elec-
tion as he resigned from his
post, taking the “responsi-
bility for all this wrongdo-
ing”.
Former Rawalpindi com-
missioner Liaquat Ali
Chattha’s remarks came
amidst jailed former prime
minister Imran Khan’s
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
(PTI). ■ P7
■ ■ Related report: P9

ISRO’S GSLV ROCKET

PLACES WEATHER
SATELLITE IN ORBIT
Sriharikota, Feb. 17:
Moving ahead on its mis-
sion to study the earth and
ocean surfaces, Indian
Space Research
Organisation (Isro) on
Saturday successfully
launched its next genera-
tion weather observation
satellite INSAT-3DS
onboard a GSLV rocket into
a precise orbit.
The flawless mission
prompted the Isro to virtu-
ally heave a sigh of relief
over the challenging GSLV
rocket technology, as the
director of today’s mission
said the “naughty boy has
matured. ■ Full story, P8
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY| 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
SHORT TAKES
IIT-M hosts national
CSR summit
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
The Indian Institute of
Technology-Madras (IIT-M)
organised the IIT-M National
CSR Summit - ‘Building India
2047 – Technology for Better
Tomorrow’ on Saturday.
Attending the event, Dr.
Palanivel Thiaga Rajan, minis-
ter for information technology
and digital services, said
events like this are vital for
creating innovations. ''If we
are really looking for long-
term investments, then, the
CSR channels are extremely
important,'' he said.
The CSR Summit brought
together stalwarts from corpo-
rate India to address prevail-
ing societal challenges and
enable collaboration through
scalable and sustainable tech-
nological solutions towards
‘Viksit Bharat @2047.’
Representatives from indus-
try, PSUs, corporate firms and
business leaders from across
the country attended the event.
The inaugural IIT-M CSR
Awards-2023 were presented
during the summit.
Man incites friend to
throw petrol
bomb as house owner
demands rent
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
A man who hurled a bottle
filled with petrol on a house in
Kodungaiyur was arrested.
Inquiries showed that his
friend who is staying in the
house for rent incited him
since the owner frequently
asked him to pay the rent for
the last three months.
Abdul Rasheed (65), living in
Erukkanchery, lodged a com-
plaint stating that an unknown
person threw a petrol bomb at
his house and fled. A case was
registered and investigations
were carried out.
The police arrested Karnan
(24), belonging to MKB Nagar
in Vyasarpadi. Further inves-
tigations showed that his
friend Prakash is staying in
the house for rent. Prakash
had not paid the rent for the
last three months and the
house owner was demanding
the dues.
Prakash told his friend
Karan that the house owner
was torturing him by asking
for rent. Following this, Karan
set fire to a bottle filled with
petrol and threw it at the
house.
Appeal to use huge
number of engineers
coming out of TN
R. VALAYAPATHY | DC
TIRUCHY, FEB. 17
The Association of Engineers
and Assistant Engineers
Association – TN PWD-WRD
has requested the principal
chief engineers of water
resources department (WRD)
and public works department
(PWD) to fix the minimum
qualification as B.E. degree for
the posts of section-level engi-
neers, considering the techno-
logical advancements and high
number of engineering gradu-
ates coming out of more than
500 engineering colleges in
Tamil Nadu.
Briefing mediapersons on the
resolutions adopted at their
association general body meet-
ing held in Tiruchy on Saturday
under the leadership of the
association’s state president, S.
Gopalakrishnan,
Karthikeyan,
R.
secretary,
Assistant Engineers
Association (AEA) (WRD),
Tiruchy branch, and M.
Madhan, general secretary,
AEA, they made this appeal.
A resolution thanked the
Tamil Nadu government for
issuing appointment orders for
201 assistant engineers for
WRD and 302 assistant engi-
neers in the PWD, selected by
TNPSC for 2022-23.
They said the meeting
appealed to the Tamil Nadu gov-
ernment to sanction new pay
scales to engineers in the 7th
pay commission on a par with
the 6th pay commission, which
was recommended by the one-
man commission appointed by
the then Chief Minister M.
Karunanidhi.
They said the meeting
appealed to the principal chief
engineers and chief engineer
(general) of PWD and WRD to
make them permanent engi-
neers promoted on temporary
basis.
They wanted suitable changes
in the service rules (D-Code) to
ensure and maintain WRD.
CMDA to set up modern park Crucial bus link missing for
near Koyambedu flower market residents near Tambaram
N RAVIKUMAR I DC
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
Amid growing suspense
over the state govern-
ment's plans for the
Koyambedu bus terminus
area and demands to set
up a park, the Chennai
etropolitan Development
Authority (CMDA) has
started preparations to set
up a park in a nine acres
area outside the
Koyambedu flower mar-
ket.
While some political par-
ties have alleged that the
state government is plan-
ning to allot the
Koyambedu bus terminus
area to real estate develop-
ers, the CMDA officials
said that tenders, at an
estimate of Rs. 16.5 crore,
were floated for setting up
the park.
The park will have all
amenities including a
People no longer their fans
N. SAMPATH I DC
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
VCR Kandige village in
Tamil Nadu is facing a
huge challenge as the
market for handmade,
palm leaf fans is disap-
pearing. Making palm
leaf fans is the main
livelihood of the resi-
dents of this village.
However, as plastic and
cardboard fans flood the
market, they are finding
it hard to make ends
meet. Agriculture is not
an option in their area
because of water scarcity.
Kandige village is 90 km
from Chennai, near
Tiruttani in Tiruvallur
district. The village has
350 families. More than
half of these families
depend on fan-making for
a living. Most fans are
sold between February
and June. They have to
survive the rest of the
year on this income. Even
young children are
involved in making fans.
Tiger census: KMTR closed for tourists
M. ARULOLI | DC
TIRUNELVELI, FEB. 17
The Ambasamudram for-
est division in the
Kalakkad-Mundanthurai
Tiger Reserve (KMTR), in
Tirunelveli district, will
be closed for visitors for
eight days from February
20. According to a state-
ment issued by the office
of the deputy director of
Ambasamudram forest
G. Babu Jayakumar
Mass shootings have
become so commonplace
in the USA – 48 of them in
2024 alone – that they no
more trigger shockwaves.
But news of Wednesday’s
bloodbath at Kansas City
during a Super Bowl cele-
bration rally took my
thoughts back by exactly
20 years when singer Janet
Jackson suffered a watching
wardrobe malfunction.
Not only did I read about
‘Super Bowl’ for the first
time – sorry, I am no sports
buff – then, I, or rather the
entire universe, heard the
term, ‘wardrobe malfunc-
tion,’ too for the first time.
While the Super Bowl had
been happening for the
38th year (XXXVIII, as
The park area
covers only nine
acres in front of the
flower market but
the total area of the
Koyambedu
terminus is 36
acres.Demands for
setting up a bigger
park in 66 acres
have come up
walking and jogging path,
useful for people in the
heart of the city for physi-
cal exercises. It will pro-
vide the much-needed
lung space for city resi-
dents who suffer from
vehicular air pollution. It
will have a play area for
children and facilities for
differently-abled persons
and promotes eco-tourism
in the city. The area will be
covered by grass and other
A family can make any-
where from 2,000 to 3,000
fans a month.
Wholesalers give them
Rs. 10-12 for a fan that is
sold in the market for `50.
The raw materials,
including palm leaves, for
the fans cost around half
of what they get by sell-
ing the fans. Each family
gets a maximum of `.
15,000 a month. Rangan,
who has been making
fans for 50 years, says the
During these eight days, between February 20
and 27, the forest checkposts at Manimutharu,
Mundanthurai and Kadayam ranges in the divi-
sion would be closed for private vehicles, and
visitors to Agasthiyar falls, Papanasam dam,
Manimutharu falls and Manjolai would not be
permitted
division on Saturday, the
eight-day closure is in
view of the tiger census
for this year.
During these eight days,
A mass shooting evokes memories of 2004
Just spamming
they write it) in 2004, the
term wardrobe malfunc-
tion was coined then and
there by singer and enter-
tainer Justin Timberlake,
who was just 23 years old
when he pulled out a part
of Janet Jackson’s dress
that led to an exposure and
a scandal.
Those who remember
that first
‘wardrobe malfunction’
would recall the hulla-
baloo it created in the
media – of course, we did
not have social media then
– for it was watched live by
143 million television
viewers worldwide. If you
are wondering what it was,
let me explain. It was a
music and dance perform-
plants besides other enter-
tainment facilities like an
open cinema theatre.
Sufficient number of
chairs and benches, light-
ing facilities, modern toi-
lets and CCTVs will be
installed in the new
park.
However, schemes in the
rest of the area remain a
matter of speculation. The
park area covers only nine
acres in front of the flower
market but the total area
of the Koyambedu termi-
nus is 36 acres. Demands
for setting up a bigger
park in 66 acres have come
up from political
parties and environment
groups.
Koyambedu is the
biggest market in Asia
with separate complexes
for sale of flowers, fruits
and vegetables. Over thou-
sand shops are situated in
an area of 70 acres while
amount they earn in five
months is not enough for
them to survive on for the
whole year. The villagers
have been making fans
for many generations
now, for the last 100 years.
People who are 50 years
and older do not have any
skill other than making
fans. However, many have
started working as daily
wage labourers to eke out
a living. Housewives,
who used to get income
between February 20 and
27, the forest checkposts at
M a n i m u t h a r u ,
Mundanthurai and
Kadayam ranges in the
ance during the halftime
of the 2004 Super Bowl,
which is a championship
game of the National
Football League (NFL).
Perhaps the most popular
event in the USA, the
Super Bowl event invari-
ably draws a big crowd to
the American football
(please do not confuse it
with soccer that we call as
football in India) match.
To add to the attraction
of the event, the organizer,
the NFL, an equivalent of
our own IPL, started invit-
ing performers to enter-
tain the crowd during half-
time. In 2004 it was Janet
Jackson, a successful
recording artist and the
sister of Michael Jackson,
the King of Pop. When
NFL signed the 37-year-old
Janet Jackson for the half-
time show at the Super
Bowl she held the record
for the most consecutive
Top 10 hits and had even
won a Grammy in 2002.
But when Americans and
American Football lovers
the total area is 295 acres.
After the spread of Covid-
19 from the market, it was
planned to shift the mar-
ket to Thiumazhisai near
Poonamallee. But, the
plan was not executed fol-
lowing stiff opposition
from the traders.
As far as Koyambedu bus
terminus is concerned,
most of the operations
were already shifted to the
Kalaignar Centenary Bus
Terminus at
Kilambakkam. At the
moment only buses going
through the East Coast
Road to the southern dis-
tricts and those going to
the northern districts like
Vellore and Hosur are
operating from the
Koyambedu bus terminus.
Once the Kuthambakkam
bus terminus is complet-
ed, the entire Koyambedu
bus terminus is expected
to be free.
from fan-making, are the
most affected. Their only
source of income is fad-
ing away fast. In the past,
when electricity
was not common in
households, palm leaf
fans were in great
demand. Mohan, a resi-
dent of the village, says
fans from here used to be
sold even in north India.
These fans, which used to
be sold in great numbers
during temple festivals,
do not have many takers
now. To make the fans,
palm leaves are dried
first, then softened by
soaking them in water,
and finally cut to the
right shape, and
coloured. The fans are
also beautifully embroi-
dered with threads made
from palm leaves. Men
source the palm leaves
and cut them to the
correct shape. Women
and children do the
stitching and embroider-
ing.
division would be closed
for private vehicles, and
visitors to Agasthiyar
falls, Papanasam dam,
Manimutharu falls and
Manjolai would not be per-
mitted.
Bookings in tourist
homes inside the forest
areas in the
Ambasamudram division
have been cancelled,
according to a forest
department statement.
had that half a second
glimpse of Janet Jackson’s
breasts, they felt outraged.
The saga was termed
‘Nipplegate’ and Janet
Jackson was accused of
scandalizing and threaten-
ing the foundations of
society. It looked like it
was the end of her musical
career for the Federal Com
munications Commission
had got involved in the
issue. But Janet Jackson
rebuilt her life and career.
Her 2023 ‘Together Again’
concert tour of the US was
the highest grosser and
she is back again on the
road in 2024. Starting from
Palm Desert California in
June, the tour, marking
her 50the year in enter-
tainment, will conclude in
July at Phoenix, Arizona.
The point is that she
managed to move on from
the Nipplegate scandal,
which had initially
deprived her of an oppor-
tunity to perform at the
Grammys in 2004 because
she was blacklisted.
SAYED ALIYA S
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
Durga Nagar, near
Tambaram Sanatorium, a
vibrant neighbourhood
having a school and well-
known IT companies, faces
problems without proper
transport facilities.
Students, professionals
and workers struggle to
access the main road since
there are only two services
of government buses to the
area and they are depend-
ent on autos, which fleece
them.
The residents, especially
students and office-goers,
have to walk a long dis-
tance to reach their desti-
nation. They invariably get
delayed, leading to criti-
cism from the manage-
ment in the offices, and
teachers in the schools and
colleges.
The primary mode of
public transportation in
Durga Nagar, share auto
Stray dogs: Chennai corporation
to ramp up ABC programme
T. SUDHEESH I DC
CHENNAI, FEB. 17
The Greater Chennai
Corporation (GCC) is
poised to intensify the
Animal Birth Control
(ABC) programmes to
control the population of
stray dogs in the city. Dr. J.
Kamal Hussain, veteri-
nary officer of GCC, told
DC that the civic body
would increase the num-
ber of ABC surgeries to be
performed on stray dogs
by 25,000 every year. ''We
have five ABC centres and
four are now fully opera-
tional. By May, all five
centres will be made oper-
ational and there will be
an increase of at least
7,000 surgeries every year.
We had also tied up with
the NGO Blue Cross for
conducting ABC surger-
ies. They have temporari-
ly suspended service now.
However, the civic body is
setting up fully equipped
infrastructure to increase
the number of surgeries,''
he said.
Dr. Hussain also pointed
out that six old dog catch-
ing vehicles were replaced
with new ones. The mass
vaccination with
Ivermectin was carried
Members of several NGOs clean the beach at Pattinapakkam.
Appearing on ‘The Oprah
Winfrey Show’ in 2006,
Janet Jackson explained:
‘It was not planned. What
people didn’t understand
is that was to rip the piece
off that he did, but more
came off than what was
supposed. It was a very
embarrassing moment. It
was an accident.’
To a specific question by
the host, Oprah Winfrey, if
people were too hard on
her, Janet Jackson said, ‘I
think they were. I think
they did put all the empha-
sis on me.’ Timberlake,
who described the faux pas
as a wardrobe malfunction
and gave a new word to the
English language soon
after it happened, was
hounded by people
through social media even
in 2021 when he had to
apologize in his Instagram
page. But the NFL that
invited him to perform in
the Super Bowl in 2018
never called Janet Jackson
again, which many foot-
ball and music fans are
facility, is notably inade-
quate and people will bene-
fit if the government
operates buses to the
area, say the
commuters.
People now rely on 500D
bus route, operating only
twice a day between
Chengalpet and Durga
Nagar. The bus leaves once
in the morning and
returns once in the
evening. People have no
public transport if they
miss the bus.
The daily routine of the
people is affected since
even these do not come at a
fixed time. People then
have to walk to the nearby
bus stand near TB
Sanatorium, which is
about 2 km away.
While youngsters can
cover the distance in about
30 minutes, women and
senior citizens find it very
difficult to reach the bus
stand.
Residents say there is a
It is essential to
control the
population of strays
since one female
dog is able to give
birth to at least
3-4 puppies in
one delivery
out in 3,901 stray dogs in
Royapuram zone in
November and December
last year. The mass vacci-
nation programmes will
be conducted
other zones soon,'' he
to
said.
The GCC is running
ABC centres in areas
including Puliyanthoppu
in Thiru.Vi. Ka. Nagar
Zone, Lloyds Colony in
Teynampet Zone, T. Nagar
of Kodambakkam Zone,
Meenambakkam in
Alandur zone and
Sholinganallur in
Sholinganallur Zone.
On Saturday, the GCC in
association with Institute
of Mental Health,
Kilpauk, conducted a spe-
cial vaccination drive on
the IMH campus. The
GCC collected feedback
from the stakeholders,
NGOs and veterinary pro-
fessionals to create
a conducive environment
ruing now.
Perhaps it was triggered
by the halftime show in
the 2024 Super Bowl that
witnessed singer Usher
performing shirtless.
Jared Sholnick put out an
image of a scowling man
on X and said ‘Janet
Jackson watching Usher
take his shirt off.’ Another
viewer said ‘We saw two of
Usher’s nipples. Why was
it such a big deal when we
saw one of Janet
Jackson’s?’ Many others
were also criticizing the
double standard of Usher
getting praised for taking
off his shirt when Janet
Jackson was once con-
demned with one viewer
even saying ‘at some point
we need to talk about
patriarchy.’
Even a New York Times
d o c u m e n t a r y,
‘Malfunction: The
Dressing Down of Janet
Jackson,’ on the Super
Bowl scandal suggested
how sexism and racism
focused the criticism on
pg 2
pressing need for more
buses considering the trav-
el time and distance.
Esther, a final-year col-
lege student residing in
Durga Nagar, said she
faces a lot of difficulties
due to lack of transport
facilities. Many of the
parents do not send the
children, especially
girls, to higher studies due
to this reason, she
said.
Patients going to the
Sanatorium hospital and
National Siddha Centre
also want more buses to
their area since they could
not spend heavily on autos
every time.
Durga Nagar is not a
remote village as it is just a
few kilometres from
Tambaram railway station
and Kilambakkam
mofussil bus terminus.
Such a major location
needs regular buses to the
main road if not to
Tambaram or Chengalpet.
for peaceful co-existence
of man and the
animal.
According to the GCC
data, as many as 45,520
stray dogs were subjected
to ABC surgeries across
the city in the last three
years. This year till
February 15, the civic
body carried out 1,931 sur-
geries. While it conducted
14,233 surgeries
2021, the civic body per-
formed 1,651 surgeries in
2022. In 223, the number of
strays treated
in
with
ABC surgeries was
14,696.
A resident of Kamber
Colony of Anna Nagar
said people there were liv-
ing in constant fear due to
the increasing number of
stray dogs. ''It is essential
to control the population
of strays since one female
dog is able to give birth to
at least 3-4 puppies in one
delivery. The corporation
should increase the num-
ber of surgeries across
the city as there is no
proper population data of
strays in the city. The ani-
mal activists should not
stop the corporation team
deployed to catch the dogs
based on complaints,'' said
the resident.
–E.K.Sanjay
Janet Jackson, letting
Timberlake off the hook.
‘It did not just happen to
her... it rippled and
touched all of us.. I still
don’t understand how
hard they came for Janet,’
said Jenna Wortham, a
New York Times writer
who spoke about identify-
ing with Janet Jackson as
a Black woman. So now an
American writer, who
says, ‘Football is more
than a game to us. Even
those who don’t care about
the sport are affected by its
culture and influence,’
feels that they overreacted
in 2004 and to atone that
foolishness NPL should
invite Janet Jackson for
the 2025 Super Bowl.
Whatever, those like me,
living far away from all
that, should thank Janet
Jackson for providing the
exposure to the Super
Bowl. Otherwise we might
have heard about Super
Bowl only a few days ago
when the mass shooting
happened in Kansas City
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
pg 3

SHORT TAKES Tamil film industry production CM Stalin inaugurates projects

executive charge-sheeted in worth `10.60 crore in Tirunelveli
LTTE revival conspiracy case Navalpattu IT park gets additional building M. ARULOLI I DC
TIRUNELVELI, FEB. 17

New Delhi, Feb 17: The of hawala money obtained On June 15, 2023, the NIA Chief Minister M.K. Stalin R. VALAYAPATHY | DC deep Kumar said the Chief sanctioning Rs. 600 crore
NIA has filed a charge from the sale of narcotic had filed a charge sheet on Saturday inaugurated TIRUCHY, FEB. 17 Minister was very keen for for establishing a new
sheet in a special court in drugs that were being fur- before the special court completed projects worth speedy and further ind- Tidel park at suburban

Annamalai
releases 4th
audio tape
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, FEB 17
BJP State President K 2022 in which 16 people
Annamalai uploaded yet
another audio clip in his X
account on Saturday to drive
home the point that the investi-
gation into the 2G scam against
former Union Minister and
DMK leader A Raja was not
carried out in a fair manner.
The latest and fourth audio
released by Annamalai is a
recording of a conversation
between Raja and former head
of the State Intelligence, M S
Jaffar Sait, in which the politi-
cian and IPS officer are heard
discussing the details of a raid
that was to happen next.
Names of Congress leaders
are dropped in the conversa-
tion, which Annamalai refers
to as ‘involvement of Congress
to leader,’ in scuttling the
investigation. The name of
another former DMK MP, K C
Palanisamy also features in the
conversation.
Though these audio tapes are
not new and are reported to
have been put out in certain
public domains in the past,
Annamalai is trying to make a
point that Raja’s acquittal in
the 2G case was not fair
because the investigation itself
was compromised.
Tamil Nadu against one
more accused -- a produc-
tion executive in the local
film industry -- in a case
related to the revival of the
LTTE in Sri Lanka and
India.Lingam A alias
Adilingam is the 14th
accused to be charge-sheet-
ed in the case registered in
have been arraigned as
accused so far, the anti-ter-
ror federal agency said.
The National Investigati-
on Agency (NIA) said Adil-
ingam has been charged
with conspiring and acting
to revive the proscribed
terror organisation
through illegal trade in
narcotic drugs and arms.
Adilingam had also acted
as an agent for collection
ther distributed to pro-
mote Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam (LTTE) activ-
ities, it said.
In the supplementary
charge sheet filed before
the Special Court for NIA
Cases at Poonamallee in
Chennai, the NIA has elab-
orated on the role of
Adilingam in the entire
conspiracy.
The charge sheet reveals
that the accused was
employed as a production
executive in the Tamil film
industry while clandes-
tinely working as a key
operative of major LTTE
leaders and cadres and
drug traffickers, including
Gunasekaran and his son
Thilipan -- both citizens of
Sri Lanka.
against 13 accused, charg-
ing them with hatching
conspiracies in various
parts of Tamil Nadu to
carry out terror activities
and drug trafficking in the
territorial waters of the
Indian Ocean.
One such case was regis-
tered and investigated by
the NIA's Kochi branch fol-
lowing the seizure of a
huge consignment of
drugs and weapons by
Indian agencies in 2021.
The consignment con-
sisted of more than 300
kilogrammes of heroin,
five AK-47 rifles and 1,000
rounds of Pakistan-made
ammunition. Nine accus-
ed were also charge-sheet-
ed in that case and their
trial is underway. —PTI
`10.60 crore in Tirunelveli
through video conferencing
from Chennai.
Mr Stalin inaugurated the
new three-storey building
complex of the rural devel-
opment and panchayat ray
department and additional
class rooms, an auditorium
and an entrance arch con-
structed at the MDT Hindu
Higher Secondary School in
Tirunelveli city at a cost of
`1.10 crore. Assembly spea-
ker M.Appavu, Tirunelveli
collector P.Karthikeyan and
Tirunelveli MP Gnan-
athiraviyam participated in
the function organised at
the collectorate.
In a similar event at
Thoothukudi, Kanimozhi
Karunanidhi, the
Thoothukudi MP, inaugu-
rated projects completed at
a cost of Rs 55.50 lakh. The
projects include new pan-
chayat office buildings for
the Puthiamputhur and
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin ustrialisation of Panchappur, near Tiruchy,
declared open the ad- the state.He said former where an integrated bus
ditional building, spread Chief Minister terminal is coming up.
over 1.16 lakh square feet,
of the IT park, costing
M. Karunanidhi, who
established Tidel Parks,
Pradeep Kumar said the
Chief Minister declared
`59.57 crore, at
suburban Navalpattu, near
paved the way for indu-
strialisation of Tamil
open the additional build-
ing, consisting of 4 tiers,
Tiruchy, through video- Nadu. for the IT park at
conferencing, on Saturday. The Collector thanked Navalpattu.
Tiruchy Collector M.Pra- the Chief Minister for
Mr Stalin inaugurated the new three-storey
building complex of the rural development
and panchayat ray department and addition-
al class rooms, an auditorium and an
entrance arch constructed at the MDT Hindu
Higher Secondary School in Tirunelveli city at
a cost of `1.10 crore. ised at A.P.C.V.Mahala-
kshmi Women's College in
Valasamudram village pan- under the MLA Consti- Thoothukudi and handed
chayats, a community hall tuency Development over appointment orders to
at the Kulasekaranallur vil- Scheme (MLACDS) at the selected candidates.
lage under the Members of Puthiamputhur village in Around 10,000 young men
Parliament Local Area Ottapidaram constituency. and women got jobs at the
Development Scheme Later, the Thoothukudi fair, in which around 100
(MPLADS) and an overhead MP also participated in the companies participated,
water tank constructed mega private job fair organ- said Kanimozhi.

Mariamman Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Udayanidhi Stalin handing over porkizhi to
senior party functionaries in Sivagangai district on Saturday.
temple car fest Meanwhile, the DMK launched its election campaign for the Lok Sabha polls on
Saturday with Chief Minister M. K. Stalin putting out a message in X, announcing
draws big throng the commencement of electioneering to defeat fascism and make the INDIA coali-
tion wing and State Minister for Youth Affairs Udhayanidhi Stalin addressing a
B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC public meeting in Ramanathapuram. Propaganda meetings were also held in sev-
OOTY, FEB.17 eral other places with prominent leaders addressing the crowds as the campaign,
titled ‘Stalin’s Voice to Redeem the Rights, kicked off in earnest, ahead of the
The five-day-long annual car other parties. DC
festival at Sri Mariamman
temple, an ancient shrine at
Bokkapuram village amidst
the jungles of the Mudumalai
Tiger Reserve (MTR) buffer
EPS slams K’taka govt on Mekedatu
zone, continues to be a big
draw, bringing an ancient
touch and village mela mode to
issue; questions DMK’s ‘silence’
the vicinity. Chennai, Feb 17: That case was pending Karnataka, thus betray-
Devotees usually throng this AIADMK general secre- before the SC. ing the people of Tamil
temple for worship in the early tary Edappadi K, However, the Mekedatu Nadu," he said.
morning and night hours, with Palaniswami on Saturday issue again came up He charged Stalin with
the cool atmosphere and attacked the ruling before a CWMA meeting 'betraying' the people of
breeze from the foothills of the Congress in Karnataka earlier this month, but the state on the current
Sholur and Kalhatti slopes cre- for announcing its deci- TN did not walkout in issue.
ating a pleasant ambience. sion to go ahead with the protest against it, he said Cauvery serves as the
Devotees from across the Mekedatu reservoir and in a statement. source of drinking water
hills have begun to flock to this hit out at the DMK gov- In this background, the in Tamil Nadu's 20 dis-
temple from Friday, along with ernment's alleged silence Karnataka government tricts and if the
pilgrims from neighbouring over the issue. has announced going Mekedatu project is
districts and from neighbour- The Karnataka govern- ahead with the project, allowed, they will be
ing Kerala and Karnataka. ment envisages con- while presenting its affected. The delta dis-
Round the clock bus service structing a balancing budget on Friday, the LoP tricts will turn into a
for the festival, relaxation of reservoir across river said. 'desert,' he added.
jungle traffic norms, shops, Cauvery at Mekedatu in He recalled that the The former CM said
eateries, giant wheels and that state to meet neighbouring had that whenever the BJP or
other entertainment for chil- Bengaluru's drinking announced that a sepa- Congress governments in
dren and the adults, 24x7 puja, water needs, but Tamil rate project division and Karnataka acted against
and ‘annadhanam ‘ being Nadu has been opposing two sub-divisions have Tamil Nadu on the
organised by various organisa- it saying the project already been set up to Cauvery dispute, the
tions with different groups of would harm its interests. implement the ambitious "Amma government" of
devotees carrying “kumbam” Palaniswami, Leader of project, besides initiating the AIADMK had resis-
have brought a village festival Opposition in the state a survey to identify land ted and prevented them
atmosphere. This tradition Assembly alleged that that will be submerged politically and legally.
helps the present cyber era- DMK, along with its ally under this project. He demanded immedi-
generation get an insight to Congress, has been work- Besides, the counting of ate withdrawal of the
the ancient festival culture ing against Tamil Nadu's trees has also been taken plans to implement the
with all spiritual flavour. interests ever since it up. Mekedatu project.
Shivakumar, a long-time came to power in 2021. "This is against the He warned of a massive
devotee from Hubbathalai vil- He said he had already Supreme Court verdict protest, involving people
lage, said that usually this raised in the state and amounts to contempt and farmers, by his party
temple festival is organised in Assembly, the previous of court," he added. against the Congress gov-
the Tamil month of Maasi. AIADMK government fil- "People really don't ernment in Karnataka
The temple came into exis- ing a contempt plea in the know what the DMK gov- and the central and TN
tence about 400 years ago. Supreme Court against ernment is waiting for. governments "that are
Devotees have a strong belief the chief of the Cauvery (Former chief minister mute witnesses" to the
that their prayers will be ful- Water Management M) Karunanidhi did not former's betrayal of
filled when they visit this tem- Authority for taking up extend the agreement on Tamil Nadu if the project
ple for the annual car festival. the Mekedatu issue in the Cauvery and allowed was not shelved immedi-
CWMA agenda in 2018. dams across the river in ately. —PTI

Jayam Ravi stands out in a fairly engaging thriller

ANUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN
A
ntony Bhagyaraj, cele-
brated for scripting
blockbusters like
Viswasam, Irumbu Thirai,
and Hero, makes his directo-
rial debut with Siren. The
film embarks as an emotion-
al drama, morphs into a
gripping murder mystery,
and culminates as a com-
pelling revenge thriller.
Set against the backdrop of
Kanchipuram, Siren fasci-
nates from the outset, weav-
ing momentum and intrigue
seamlessly. The narrative
introduces us to Thilagavar-
man (Jayam Ravi), a former
ambulance driver turned
prisoner on parole after 14
years for a wrongful convic-
tion. His quest for vengeance
against those who wronged
him, and his yearning to rec-
oncile with his estranged
school going daughter Malar
(Yuvina) forms the crux of
the story. The plot thickens
with Inspector Nandhini
(Keerthy Suresh), reinstated
after a suspension for
alleged custodial miscon-
Movie review
SIREN
CAST: Jayam Ravi,
Keerthy Suresh, Yogi
Babu, Anupama
Parameswaran
Direction: Antony
Bhagyaraj
RATING: 3/5
duct, as she investigates a
series of politician murders,
leading her to suspect
Thilagan. With the looming
threat over DSP Nagalingam
(Samuthirakani), the story-
line deepens, questioning
Thilagan’s innocence and
the possibility of a political
conspiracy.
Jayam Ravi’s foray into a
middle-aged character is
nothing short of remark-
able. His nuanced portrayal,
characterized by subtle
expressions and voice modu-
lation, stands out. While
Keerthy Suresh’s portrayal
adds an intriguing layer to
the narrative, her charac-
ter’s depth leaves room for
exploration. Yogi Babu, as
Thilagan’s shadow police
Velankanni, delivers the
comedy elements with preci-
sion, though his character’s
professional lapses pose
questions about his role’s
believability. Anupama
Parameswaran, appearing in
flashbacks as Ravi’s wife,
and the antagonistic per-
formances by Samuthir-
akani and Azhagam
Perumal are adequate.
Antony Bhagyaraj’s Siren
navigates through a tapestry
of genres, blending emotion-
al father-daughter bonds
with the suspense of a mur-
der mystery and the intensi-
ty of a revenge thriller, all
while touching upon caste
dynamics. Despite its cohe-
sive non-linear storytelling,
the screenplay leans towards
predictability and conven-
ience. Nonetheless,
Bhagyaraj’s sharp dialogue
writing punctuates the film’s
narrative. GV Prakash’s
songs are okay, while the
BGM by Sam CS is a bit loud.
Despite its shortcomings,
Siren, which had all the pote-
ntial for a riveting thriller,
turns out to be only fairly
engaging.
 SOUTH
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
pg 4

SHORT

400 kg of ganja
TAKES
worth over `1 cr
seized; 8 arrested
Hyderabad, Feb 17: A total of
four quintals (400 kg) of ganja
was seized by police in Bhad-
radri Kothagudem district of
Telangana and eight persons
Protests erupt in Wayanad over Left govt using PFI activists in
protests against me: Kerala Guv
back-to-back deaths by jumbos Thiruvananthapuram,
Feb 17: Kerala Governor
Arif Mohammed Khan on
Saturday levelled serious
allegations against the Left
tect you."
The Governor further
charged the state govern-
ment with not only shelter-
ing but using the members
GILVESTER ASSARY I DC government in the state, of a banned organisation
FEB.1
Kerala CM directs conducting
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM,

With Wayanad on the boil

accusing it of using activi-
sts of the banned outfit
Popular Front of India
(PFI) to stage protests aga-
to create law and order
problems in Kerala.
He also said the state
authorities were doing

high-level meeting in Wayanad

from Haryana, who were
allegedly transporting the nar-
cotic substance were arrested,
police said on Saturday.
A police team during vehicle
checking at Bhadrachalam of
the district yesterday found the
ganja concealed in plastic trays
and doormats in a private bus
and was being transported to
Hyderabad from Odisha's
Malkangiri district by the eight
persons. The seized ganja worth
over `1 crore in the grey market
was bought by the accused from
Odisha and was being trans-
ported to Hyderabad for distri-
bution, Bhadradri Kothagudem
District Superintendent of
Police B Rohith Raju said.
A case was registered under
the Narcotic Drugs and Psycho-
tropic Substances Act and fur-
ther investigation is on. —PTI
Athawale contemplates
contesting LS polls
from Shirdi or Solapur
Bengaluru, Feb 17: Union
Minister Ramdas Athawale on
Saturday said he was
contemplating contesting from
either Shirdi or Solapur
seat in the upcoming Lok
Sabha elections and would
take a final
call only after discussing
over the back-to-back
deaths of two persons by
wild elephants, Congress
leader Rahul Gandhi who
is the local MP, has taken a
break from his Bharat
Jodo Nyaya Yatra to visit
his constituency.
The information was
shared by Jairam Ramesh
on his Twitter handle on
Saturday. "Rahul Gandhi’s
presence is required
urgently in Wayanad. He
is leaving this evening
from Varanasi at 5 PM.
The Bharat Jodo Nyay
Yatra will resume at 3 PM
tomorrow, February 18th,
at Prayagraj."
Rahul's sudden visit
comes in the wake of huge
protests being witnessed
in Wayanad for the past
two days. Thousands of
people including women
came out on the streets of
Pulpally on Saturday, to
protest against the forest
department's inaction in
reining in wild
elephants that are killing
the local people at will.
The joint action commit-
tee of local people had
called for a hartal
in Wayanad on Saturday.
The protestors blocked
Thiruvananthapuram,
Feb 17: Kerala Chief Mi-
nister Pinarayi Vijayan on
Saturday gave a direction
to convene a high-level
meeting under the aegis of
ministers to discuss issues
related to frequent
human-animal conflicts in
Wayanad district.
As per the directive,
Revenue, Forest and Local
Self Government Depart-
ment (LSGD) ministers
would jointly convene a
meeting in Wayanad dis-
Man-animal conflict
forces Rahul to take
a break from Nyaya
Yatra, rush to
Wayanad
the roads with the body of
Paul,52, who was trampled
to death by a wild elephant
on Friday. The protest
turned violent with
agitators pelting
stones at the police which
resorted to lathi charge.
After hours of protest,
trict on February 20.
All peoples' representa-
tives including civic body
councillors of Wayanad
besides higher officials
would participate in the
meeting, a statement from
the Chief Minister's Office
(CMO) here said.
The CM intervened in
the matter in the wake of
intense protests staged by
local people seeking solu-
tions to address frequent
attacks by stray wild ani-
mals in human settle-
Paul’s body was
brought to his native place
where the funeral rites
were held.
Earlier government
sanctioned an amount of
`10 lakh as compensation
to Paul's family. Of this
amount, `5 lakh will be
handed over to the family
members on Saturday.
Paul was a temporary
guide at Kuruva Island
Eco Tourism Centre. A
week ago, Ajeesh, hailing
from the same area, was
ments in the high range
district.
Later in the day, Vijayan
convened a high-level mee-
ting in the state capital to
take stock of the situation
prevailing in Wayanad fol-
lowing frequent wildlife
attacks.
A decision has been ta-
ken during the meeting to
install 250 additional cam-
eras in inhabited areas to
detect the movement of
wild animals. The Chief
Minister also directed to
trampled to death by a
wild elephant in his back-
yard.
Prohibitory orders:
Meanwhile, Wayanad col-
lector on Saturday clam-
ped prohibitory orders for
two days given the tense
situation prevailing in va-
rious parts of the district.
A high-level meeting will
be held in Kalpetta on
February 20 as directed by
chief minister Pinarayi
strengthen the presence of
police and wildlife person-
nel in necessary places.
Stating that an aware-
ness drive would be stren-
gthened among local peo-
ple, he said a campaign us-
ing a loud speaker and an-
other one via police stati-
ons were already in place
in the district. Chief Secr-
etary V Venu, DGP Sheikh
Darvesh Sahib and other
higher officials were amo-
ng those who participated
in the programme. —PTI
Vijayan.
Revenue Minister K
Rajan and Forest
Minister A K Saseendran
will preside over the
meeting which will be
attended by representa-
tives of political parties, a
joint action committee
and elected representa-
tives of the local bodies.
The meeting will chalk
out a detailed plan to deal
with the man-animal con-
flict in Wayanad
district.
inst him.He alleged that all
the protests being staged
against him in the south-
ern state were a "joint ven-
ture of SFI and PFI".
Khan, who reached the
state capital after a gap,
said seven of the 12 people,
who were arrested for
protesting against him in
Nilamel in Kollam recent-
ly, were PFI activists.
The Governor said he
had received a report in
this regard only on Friday
night and it was his duty to
share the information with
the people of the state.
"I have got the report that
out of 12 people, who had
been arrested in Nilamel,
seven are known PFI vol-
unteers. So, this is not just
SFI," he said.
There was no immediate
reaction from the state gov-
ernment or the CPI(M)
regarding the Governor's
allegations.
Pointing fingers at the
Pinarayi Vijayan govern-
ment, Khan said, "What
the government is doing...-
they are telling the mem-
bers of a banned organisa-
tion that you join these
protests. you do something
nasty and then we will pro-
these things to provoke
him to take some "drastic
action", but he was not
going to oblige them.
Asked about the dramat-
ic incidents at a senate
meeting held at the Kerala
University here which was
presided by Higher
Education Minister R
Bindhu in her capacity as
Pro-chancellor , Khan said
she had no authority to do
so without his permission.
"I have authorised the
Vice Chancellor to preside
over the meeting. She
(minister) has no authority
to enter the Senate Hall,"
he said.
Criticising the Higher
Education Minister, he
said that she seems to be
"totally ignorant" and has
no respect towards the cou-
rt and the law of the land.
Meanwhile, activists of
the SFI tried to show black
flags to Khan near AKG
Centre, the CPI (M) headq-
uarters here, today as well.
The SFI has been staging
protests against the
Governor for some time
now, accusing him of
attempting to "saffronise"
the universities in
the state. —PTI

Kerala schools to have ‘water CID files chargesheet in fibernet scam

with the BJP high command.
Speaking at a press confer-
ence here, the chief of
Republican Party of India (A)

breaks’ as temperature soars case naming Chandrababu Naidu as A1

said, "My party does not have a
single member in Lok Sabha. I
am thinking of contesting
from Shirdi or Solapur. I want
to come to the Lok Sabha.
I will discuss this with J P
Nadda, Amit Shah and Prime
Minister Narendra Modi and
decide."
Raking up the reservation
issue, the Union Minister of
State for Social Justice and
Empowerment said, "In the
beginning, 15 per cent reserva-
tion was given to the SC com-
munity because their popula-
tion was 15 per cent. ST was
given 7.5 per cent because trib-
al population was 7.5 per cent.
But now this population is
nearly 25 per cent.
Therefore, 2.5 per cent reser-
vation should be increased to
SC and ST that is the demand
of many people. And, it is also
my party's demand.". —PTI
Thiruvananthapuram,
Feb 17: With temperatures
soaring by the day in the
state, the Kerala govern-
ment is planning to imple-
ment "water-bell" system at
schools with an aim to
ensure that students drink
adequate water to keep the
body hydrated during sum-
mers. Kerala is the first
state to introduce this syst-
em in the country, state Ge-
neral Education Minister's
office said on Saturday.
"We implemented it for
the first time in 2019 in
schools in certain areas,
due to the high tempera-
ture levels there. Drawing
lessons from us, states like
Karnataka and Telangana
implemented it later. Now,
we are implementing it in
schools across the state
considering the rising mer-
cury levels," the office told
PTI.
Under the new initiative,
the bell would be rung
twice at 10.30 am and 2.30
pm in all schools to remind
children to drink water.
Climatic change is result-
ing in the unprecedented
increase in temperatures
in the state and so it is nec-
essary to make sure chil-
dren consume sufficient
water during school hours,
the education department
sources said.
“Under these circum-
stances, the water bell sys-
tem is being introduced in
schools. It will be imple-
mented in schools from
February 20," they said.
Students would get a
break lasting for five min-
utes each to drink water.
This would help avoid
dehydration and other sub-
sequent health issues
among children.
Meanwhile, the Kerala
State Disaster Managem-
ent Authority (KSDMA)
has issued an alert indicat-
ing above normal maxi-
mum temperature in four
districts-Kannur, Kottaya-
m, Kozhikode and Alappu-
zha- on Saturday.
The agency also advised
people against exposing
the body to direct
sunlight due to the risk of
sunstrokes. — PTI
Amaravati, Feb 17 The
Crime Investigation
Department of Andhra
Pradesh Police on Friday
filed the chargesheet in
the `114-crore AP Fiber-
net Scam case in the Vija-
yawada ACB Court, nam-
ing TDP supremo N Chan-
drababu Naidu as the
main accused person.
Besides Naidu, the CID
named V Hari Krishna
Prasad, managing direc-
tor, Net India, Hyderabad
and K Sambasiva Rao,
IRTS officer, as the other
accused persons, the CID
said in a statement.
“Naidu, the then chief
minister, was holding the
portfolio of the energy,
infrastructure and invest-
“Naidu personally recommended getting the fiber net project
executed,” said the CID in the statement
ment department. He per-
sonally recommended get-
ting the fiber net project
executed,” said the CID
in the statement on the
alleged tender manipula-
tion case which occurred
during the erstwhile TDP
government between 2014
and 2019.
It said the tender
process was manipulated
to allot work order of the
Phase 1 of the AP
Fibernet Project of Rs 330
crore to a favoured com-
pany.
According to the CID,
several alleged irregulari-
ties took place from allot-
ting of tender to comple-
tion of the total project,
resulting in a huge loss to
the exchequer.
As per the CID
chargesheet, Naidu had
approved the estimate of
the Fibernet project with-
out considering the fact
that no market survey
was done for the prices of
the items or the standards
to be followed.
Further, the CID noted
that the former CM
allegedly pressurised sen-
ior government officials
to include Hari Krishna
Prasad in various tender
evaluation committees,
revoke the blacklisting of
Terasoftware Pvt Ltd and
ultimately award the ten-
der to the same company,
among other irregulari-
ties.
Moreover, the CID high-
lighted that the accused
persons allegedly chan-
nelised the misappropri-
ated funds through a web
of companies allegedly
belonging to their associ-
ates using fake invoices.
The accused persons
were booked under
IPC Sections 166, 167, 418,
465, 468, 471, 409
and 506 read with 120 B
and others. — PTI

Isro holding discussions ‘internally’ on Chandrayaan-4 mission: Chairman

Sriharikota (Andhra Pra-
desh), Feb 17: Isro was holdi-
ng discussions 'internally' on
its plan for the launch of Cha-
ndrayaan-4 mission and was
involved in developing a 'no-
vel design' and 'high-end tech-
nology' in this connection, a
top official said on Saturday.
After successfully launch-
ing the Chandrayaan-3 rocket
on the south pole of the Moon
in August 2023, ISRO has
drawn up a more "complex"
mission of bringing back the
soil from the surface of the
Moon to the Earth.
On Saturday, after the suc-
cessful launch of GSLV-
F14/INSAT-3DS satellite, Isro
chairman S Somanath said
the Bengaluru-headquar-
tered space agency wanted to
send Chandrayaan 4, 5, 6 and
7 missions in future, follow-
ing the success of
Chandrayaan-3 mission.
"We are working on what
Chandrayaan-4 spacecraft
should contain. The first
question is what
Chandrayaan-4 should be
having (as the payload).; this
is the question we are ask-
ing," Somanath said.
Observing that the plan was
to do something different, he
said, "first thing we decided is
atleast Chandrayaan-4 should
have a sample of Moon's soil
which is to be brought back to
Earth. We want to do this in a
robotic way. So, this is the dis-
cussion going on internally."
"All of us are involved in
this discussion on how to do
this work with available rock-
ets. You know going to the
Moon, bringing back a sam-
ple is a very complex work.
Not landing there (like
Chandrayaan-3 mission).
Again another rocket has to
take off from the Moon, come
back to the Earth and land on
Earth which is double the
work of what we have done
last time," Somanath said.
"So, our rockets today are
not fully capable. So, because
of this we are trying a novel
design, which I will not tell
you now, it will be secret," he
said.
The secretary, department
of space said, the scientists
would develop a high-end
technology for the
Chandrayaan-4 mission.
"There is going to be high-
end technology which we are
developing to do this mission.
We will soon come back after
the government approvals.
We have to tell the govern-
ment that this is the way (to
do the mission), this is the
money required and then
they have to sanction. Only
then I can tell the outside
world. Until then please
wait," he said.
To a query on today's suc-
cessful launch of GSLV-F14
INSAT-3DS satellite, he said
gradually the scientists
would "decommission" Insat-
3D satellite launched in 2013
as its functions were 'deterio-
rating'.
"We will use it (INSAT-3D)
satellite for a different pur-
Isro chief S. Somanath interacts with the media after offering prayers at Sri
pose and we will inform you
later, " he said without divul- Chengalamma Parameshwari Temple ahead of the launch of INSAT- 3DS satellite
ging further details. —PTI aboard GSLV-F14, in Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh. — PTI

Court grants bail to three Tamil Nadu men who Cong govt not sincere in conducting caste survey: BRS MLC
Protest by railway ‘escaped’ to India on fishing boat from Kuwait Hyderabad, Feb 17: BRS
MLC in Telangana K
know that the survey
would not stand legal
for the Lok Sabha polls,
she said the matter is

workers against Centre

Mumbai, Feb 17: A court
here on Saturday granted
bail to three men arrested
DC their assistant gener- the demonstration by the city police earlier
CORRESPONDENT al secretary S. Veeras- was organised to urge this month for allegedly
TIRUCHY, FEB. 17 ekaran, staged a dem- the Union govern- entering India unlawfully
onstration in front of ment to reinstate the on a boat from Kuwait.As
Members of the Tiru- the armoury gate at old pension scheme, no incriminating "angle"
chirapalli division of Golden Rock – Tiruc- to withdraw anti-lab- was found in the case
the Southern Railway hy on Friday, to press our policies, and with- except that they allegedly
Mazdoor Union their charter of draw 4 labour codes fled with a fishing boat
(SRMU) and All India demands. created after nullify- without the permission of
Railwaymen Fed- Veerasekaran told ing the 44 labour wel- its owner, it would not be
eration (AIRF), led by mediapersons that fare Acts, etc. just to keep them behind
bars, said additional chief
metropolitan magistrate
(Esplanade court) Pravin
Modi.
Accused Nitso Ditto (31),
Vijay Vinay Anthony (29)
and J Sahayatta Anish
(29) contended that they
were fishermen from
Tamil Nadu who had gone
to Kuwait for jobs, but had
to escape as they were ill-
treated by their employer.
They were tortured,
assaulted with rods and
other weapons, and the
employer took away their
passports, said their bail
applications filed through
advocate Sunil Pandey.
Mumbai police arrested
them on February 7 for no
reason when they reached
the city's coast, they
claimed.
Water resources minister Durai Murugan browses through a book after Police opposed the bail
inaugurating a mega book fair in Vellore on Saturday. —K. Senthil Nathan
applications, stating that
information about their
actions while in Kuwait
was yet to be received
from the embassy of that
country.
"If they are enlarged on
bail, there is a possibility
that they may abscond,"
the police said in their
reply, adding that the
accused entered the
Indian waters in an unau-
thorized manner without
valid travel documents
and passports which
could be "dangerous to the
sovereignty, integrity and
national security of the
country."
The accused confessed
during investigation that
they crossed the borders
of six countries and had
good knowledge of GPS
trackers.
The investigation of the
offence is in progress, the
police said.
The judge, however,
noted that not just police
but multiple agencies car-
ried out a probe in the
case. The Kuwait-based
owner of the boat
`Abdullah' in which the
accused travelled told
Indian agencies that they
took out his boat on the
pretext of fishing. The
Indian Embassy also sent
a copy of the license of
the vessel to the investi-
gating agencies here.
Kavitha on Saturday scrutiny without statuto- beyond her understand-
"Therefore, it appears alleged that the Congress ry backing, Kavitha, ing or capacity and that
that during the course of government in the state is daughter of former CM K she does not have aware-
police custody remand, not sincere in conducting Chandrasekhar Rao, said ness about it.
the investigation of their the caste survey as it on X. The Telangana
act from various angles is passed only a resolution Questioning as to why Legislative Assembly here
done not only by the in Legislative Assembly the state government is on Friday passed a resolu-
Investigating Officer but without ensuring statuto- not taking into considera- tion to take up a compre-
also by other investigat- ry backing. tion the experiences of hensive door-to-door
ing agencies. The investi- The resolution passed by Bihar and Karnataka, she household caste survey in
gation agency is not alleg- the Legislative Assembly demanded that a legisla- the state so as to plan and
ing that there is any other on Friday to take up a tion be made on the caste implement various plans
angle to their act. They caste survey gives false survey immediately. for the progress of the
came to India with the hope to the backward Asked by reporters on backward classes, SC and
fishing vessel of the per- classes, she said. the buzz about an alliance ST citizens and other
son resident of Kuwait Doesn't the government between the BJP and BRS weaker sections. —PTI
without his permission,"
the court said.
From the documents
submitted by the accused,
they appear to be from
Tamil Nadu, having fami-
lies in India, it noted.
"The investigation will
take time. Therefore,
when the material part of
investigation is carried
out and there appears no
other angle to the offence,
it is not just and proper to
keep them behind the bar.
They are ready to abide
by any terms and condi-
tions," the court added,
granting bail on personal
bonds of Rs one lakh
each.
They can be provisional-
ly released on cash bail of
Rs 1 lakh each for one
month until they submit
the bonds, the judge said. Youngsters participating in the mega job mela organised by Young Indians and CII in
—PTI Madurai on Saturday. —K.Manikandan
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
SHORT TAKES
Bullets fired at med
store owner’s car
New Delhi: Bullet rounds
were fired on a car of a med-
ical store owner in Delhi’s
Dwarka area, an official said
on Saturday, adding that
they are investigating the
incident with all angles
including personal enmity
and extortion bid. According
to the police, on Saturday, a
police control room (PCR)
call was received in JP Kalan
police station that someone
had fired two rounds on the
caller’s car during the night
hours. Upon reaching the
spot, a Mahindra Scorpio
was found park road side at
Kajipur village at the back-
side of a primary school.
“The driver side glass pane
was broken. Two suspected
bullet impacts were on the
inside front door of the left
side,” said the deputy com-
missioner of police (Dwarka)
Ankit Singh. “The owner of
the vehicle, Jitender Yadav
(356) is running a medical
store at Paprawat road,
Najafgarh,” said the DCP,
adding that further police
proceedings are going on.
Man held for hoax
bomb call at airport
New Delhi: The Delhi police
has arrested a 38-year-old
man for allegedly making a
hoax call to blast the IGI air-
port last month, prompting
security agencies to activate
stringent security protocols,
an official said on Saturday.
The accused was identified
as Krishno Mahto, a resident
of west Champaran, Bihar
and the call was made by
him intentionally under the
influence of liquor, said the
official. According to the
police, on January 28, a PCR
call was received at IGI
Airport police station at 5:11
p.m. that “Main Airport par
blast kar dunga” (I will blast
the airport). The DCP Usha
Rangnani said that based on
the information received and
considering the gravity and
sensitivity of the call, the
Delhi Airport was put on
high alert. and a full emer-
gency was declared at the
Delhi airport. “The guide-
lines and protocols laid in
the SOP were properly fol-
lowed to ensure the safety
and security of the passen-
gers. After a thorough
search of the airport, the
bomb threat call was found
to be a hoax,” said the DCP.
During the probe, in lookout
of the accused, details of the
hoax caller’s number was
obtained and technical sur-
veillance was mounted upon
him but not enough clues
could be found about the
caller.
pg 5
■ Extra vigil in central part of city leading to Parliament
Farmers’ protest: Security
still high at Delhi borders
BHASKAR HARI SHARMA
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
As the stalemate between
the Centre and the protest-
ing farmers continues, the
security forces in the
national capital stood
guard at the three fortified
borders of Delhi in order
to tackle any untoward
Restoration work underway after a goods train derails near Zakhira in New Delhi on
incident.
In Delhi the situation Saturday. — G.N. JHA
remained calm even
though the police are on
high alert and security
remains tight. The two
border points between
Delhi and Haryana
Temporary structure falls
at Nehru Stadium, 29 hurt
remained closed for traffic
with heavy deployment of Vehicles move at slow pace on the Delhi-Gurgaon border near the Sirhaul toll plaza due
security personnel in anti- to security arrangements in view of farmers’ “Delhi Chalo” march on Saturday. — PTI
riot gear. Traffic move-
ment is however allowed by farmer leader Rakesh straight day, the Delhi 6.8 kg and 150 kg and can DC CORRESPONDENT rary tent when it col- down or repairing build-
at the Ghazipur border Tikait to launch a tractor police along with paramili- emit sounds of up to 152 NEW DELHI, FEB. 17 lapsed at 11 am, a police ings) and 337 (causing
with Uttar Pradesh. The march to Delhi in the last tary forces continued to decibels. The Delhi Police official said, adding 18 of hurt by act endangering
Delhi police is keeping an week of February if the man the borders by dig- has also brought one such At least 29 people were the injured have been life or personal safety of
extra vigil and has put up government does not ging big trenches along- machine to the Singhu bor- injured after a temporary admitted to AIIMS trauma others) has been regis-
barricades in the central accept farmers’ demands, side the road and deploy- der, installed atop a police structure erected at the c e n t r e tered against the contrac-
part of the city leading to the Delhi police has been ing Long Range Acoustic vehicle. The idea is to Jawaharlal Nehru and 11 at Safdarjung tor at the Lodhi Colony
the Parliament and other making contingency plans Devices (LRAD) to dis- make a person temporarily Stadium in south Delhi Hospital. One of the police station.
sensitive locations. and are in constant touch perse the protesters if in rattled, forcing him to collapsed here on Sunday injured admitted at AIIMS According to a Delhi
The security agencies with their counterparts in case they reach the nation- leave the place without the morning, officials said, had to undergo Fire Services official, two
are also keeping track of Punjab, Haryana and al capital. A long-range use of violence. adding that no death has surgery. people were initially res-
the dharnas and tractor Uttar Pradesh. acoustic device, commonly Apart from LRAD, the been reported so far. A police officer said a cued from under the
marches which are being Even as the farmers known as a sound cannon, Delhi Police has ordered All of the injured were case under IPC sections debris. Later, 27 more peo-
held in support of protest- struggled to breach the is a specialised loudspeak- more than 30,000 teargas labourers who were 288 (negligent conduct ple were pulled out, he
ing farmers in other barricades at the Shambhu er that produces a high- shells from the Border working under a tempo- with respect to pulling said.
states. border in Haryana’s pitch-unbearable sound. Security Force’s (BSF)
After the statement made Ambala for the fifth The device weighs between tear smoke unit.
Alipur fire: Huge quantity of inflammable
chemical found in factory, says police FIR
New Delhi, Feb. 17: A being used illegally for the identification on Friday. on Saturday,” a police offi-
huge quantity of inflamma- purpose of mixing chemi- Three more are identified cer said.
ble material was found in cal paint.
the premises of the factory The police said that
in Delhi’s Alipur - where 11 all the eleven deceased
people died in a fire - posing have been identified by
a risk to human life, accord- their family members.
ing to the FIR registered on “Eight dead bodies
the incident. The son of the were handed over to
factory owner was being their families after
questioned in the
case as the owner
was also killed in
Thursday’s fire,
it said.
The FIR said
the factory had
m u l t i p l e
machines and
iron drums,
which were later
found in a burnt
state.
The Municipal
Corpora-tion of
Delhi (MCD), in a
statement has
said the building
in which the fire
broke out was
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
pg 6

Subhani

18 FEBRUARY 2024

Ranjona Banerji
Off the beaten track

If only we knew that

we are all still slaves
T
he India in which I grew up was in a constant churn of democratic pro-
tests. Dharna, gherao, michil, juloos, chakka jam… these were everyday words
for us, across a spread of Indian languages. Cries of Inquilab Zindabad rent the
air regularly. People made demands of their governments — money, jobs, rights,
equality, justice.
And we also had the great Bharat Bandh. When someone tried to bring India to a
standstill. Those were tough times, if successful. Or, if you were a child, enormously
appreciated since school got cancelled for the day.
The curse of the apathetic middle classes was a slow poison into Indian society. Let
us not forget that our freedom movement — I’m going with accepted history right now,

Govts a continuum: Modi, LETTERS

not the Nagpur version — was full of people from all classes of Indian life and society.
On February 1 this year I visited Gandhi Smriti in New Delhi. This was the house of

TACKLING RECESSION
the industrialist G.D. Birla, where Nathuram Godse assassinated Mahatma Gandhi on
January 30, 1948. Gandhi stayed here for 144 days before he was killed by Godse. The
grounds still carried remnants of the prayer meeting held two days earlier, where
politicians who belong to the ideology which assassinated Gandhi attended Gandhi’s

Nehru face-off ill-advised

memorial. At least the place where the Father of the Nation — as named by Netaji Recession, which is
Subhas Chandra Bose — fell to Godse’s bullets has not been removed and replaced. I defined as a slow fall in
want to write “yet” because of the rate at which history is being replaced by right-wing
fantasy propaganda in India… aggregate demand for
Visitors to the Gandhi Smriti on that day RANJONA BANERJI two quarters, is a danger-
appeared to be mainly foreign tourists, but When Atalji became antee”, where the BJP is
soon Indians trickled in. Gandhiji was a the foreign minister, not even mentioned. Such ous phenomenon. It's
Pavan K. Varma
great believer in public street protests and a strong emphasis on one
the pioneer of civil disobedience. If you have he noticed that the leader thrives on absolute because enhancing con-
studied history in a non-Nagpur-run school, picture of Nehru had obeisance, and summari- sumption demand is not
you would know these, from the Dandi been removed from ly deals with those who
easy at all. If the govern-
March to Swadeshi to Quit India. The diora-
ma museum in Gandhi Smriti tells the story Chanakya’s View his office. He issued
instructions that it be
are even suspected of
falling short of it. The ments of Japan and the
of many of his protests. combined Opposition also
Somewhere, the other middle class, the one
reinstated. He alleges — not without United Kingdom do not
recounted this in an

S
that did not accompany Gandhi on his many ome days ago, I was that he saw India’s substance — that under take appropriate fiscal
protests or have some of their own, took was on a TV future largely through a unforgettable speech Mr Modi’s watch,
over. That middle class was very worried debate where Western prism. Nehru in Parliament in 1999. autonomous institutions and monetary policies on
about traffic jams, about loss of business and curiously the dis- was impatient to make have become handmaid- a war-footing, the
earnings. Some of this sounds reasonable. cussion’s focus India a modern and sci- ens of the government,
After all, if India is shut down, what happens was “Jawaharlal Nehru entifically-minded nat- first as a pracharak for relentlessly targeting the economies may slip into
to daily wage earners, to less privileged peo- versus Narendra Modi”. ion, and in doing so, he three decades, chief min- Oppositionand others depression, which will
ple who may suffer if they cannot make it to Such comparisons, I was often much too dis- ister for 10 years, and now who don’t fall in line,
work and so on? think, are both facile and missive of our ancient as PM for a further 10 while whitewashing affect the world economy
Or is it reasonable? To protest is a democ- unnecessary, because you past, conflating it largely years. He also has resolve, those very Opposition at large. Put differently,
ratic right. It is a way to make your voice don’t have to heap praise with ritualism, supersti- as Balakot shows, strong leaders when they defect
heard in a sea of indifference. It is a way to on one leader by demonis- tion and prejudice, there- decision-making abilities, to the BJP. nations which have been
make governments realise that they draw ing the other. Nor is there by ignoring our profound a tremendous capacity for Both Nehru and Modi
power from you, us, the people, not from sys- any need to view things in cultural and civilisation- hard work, unparalleled were exceptionally popu-
exporting goods and
tems which they can manipulate. It is a way
On February 1 this year I black and white polari- al wisdoms. His definition eloquence, and a vision lar leaders; Nehru was services to Japan and the
to put pressure, to get your demands heard. visited Gandhi Smriti in ties. All leaders have of secularism, as the com- for the future of India, a PM for three terms, and
Those days are seemingly gone. We just New Delhi. This was the strengths and weakness- plete separation of the viksit Bharat. Among his Mr Modi seems set to United Kingdom cannot
about vote and that’s it. The rest of the time house of the industrialist es. None is entirely good church and the state, was signal achievements are a become one too. Absolute do so now, impacting
we obey government and political instruc- G.D. Birla, where or entirely bad. But also extreme, as for successful foreign policy, comparisons in politics
their foreign exchange
tions. And call anyone who opposes the elect- Nathuram Godse debates of this kind seek instance when he protest- enhancing the stature of are both expedient and
ed “anti-national”, shout “go back to xyz”
assassinated Mahatma to compel you — if you ed against President India in the world, the simplistic. Atal Behari earnings. Subsidizing
and so on. fall into the trap — of Rajendra Prasad inaugu- revolutionary digitisa- Vajpayee, in paying trib-
The last big “people’s” movement was In- Gandhi on January 30, making forced choices. rating the renovated Som- tion of the economy, tar- ute to Nehru, realised consumer goods
dia Against Corruption and what a fraud 1948. Gandhi stayed here History should never be nath Temple. Perhaps, he geted welfarism, econom- that. When Atalji became (perishable, semi-durable
that turned out to be. Propped up by the tele- for 144 days before he judged only by the advan- was — for well-intention- ic reform in bringing in the foreign minister, he
vision media, its “leaders” pushed as sav- was killed by Godse. tage of hindsight. ed reasons — concerned key laws like RERA and noticed that the picture of and durable goods), for
iours, all it did was create one more political Leaders, in the context of about ensuring that mino- the Insolvency and Nehru had been removed instance, by the govern-
party. And the corruption turned out to be their own time, take deci- rities do not feel alienated Bankruptcy Code, and an from his office. He issued
not so much. And the answer provided to stop corruption? Well, that didn’t work out sions which they think in an overwhelmingly infrastructure push, instructions that it be ments can help them tide
either. are right, but posterity Hindu country, but to which have cumulatively reinstated. He recounted over the crisis. But still,
Over the years though I have started joining tiny little citizens’ protests. For the envi- has the right to evaluate many it seemed like min- contributed to making this incident in an unfor-
ronment, to save trees within cities, to stop governments from destroying whatever whether they were ority appeasement. An India the fastest growing gettable speech in the ball is in the court of
greenery we have left, to save public money. From Dehradun to Delhi to Secun- wrong. Certainly, Nehru example often cited is that economy in the world. Parliament in 1999, which consumers. All that
derabad. In all of them, older people are in big numbers, children and young people was not infallible. When a he brought in the refor- However, some of his should be read and heard
come next and that middle bit of decision-makers and movers and shakers absent. person is the first Prime matory Hindu Personal decisions, like demoneti- by every citizen. people need is confi-
It is still inspiring. People who want a save a park in their colony. People who read Minister for 17 years of a Code, but left untouched sation, were hugely dis- There is a very impor- dence which only the
the Preamble to our Constitution. People who form human chains to demand justice newly independent the retrogressive prac- ruptive of the economy. tant lesson in what
and equality and fair play. Marches where political parties put aside their difference nation, which faces huge tices in the personal laws Rampant unemployment, Vajpayee did and what he governments can
and join together to make these demands. challenges and infinite of other minorities. food inflation, and rising said. Governments are a
I cannot deny that these are tiny protests, not even pinpricks on the thick skin of the competing priorities, of However, it is only a inequalities taint his eco- continuum. Different pol-
provide.
behemoth. Nor can I pretend that the general public which drives by is remotely inter- which healing the highly ungrateful nation nomic record. His style of itical parties come and go. S.Ramakrishnasayee
ested. I can only hope that something trickles past them. But these are voices, our voic- wounds of Partition and that will forget the functioning is autocratic, But the contribution of Chennai
es, which speak out. It is not in my nature to be part of these, largely because my work tackling abject and perva- tremendous sacrifices he and his tolerance to dis- leaders of each plays a
meant I had to watch and observe, not participate. But I no longer have a job. I am free sive poverty are perhaps made during the freedom sent, limited. Moreover, role in the making and
therefore to feed myself. To stand on the edges while those who are braver, more vocal,
more involved hold the stage and set the pace.
the two most important,
he or she takes decisions
movement including
spending nine years in
in consolidating Hindu
vote, he has created
evolution of the modern
Indian nation. By attemp- ELECTORAL BONDS
I bow to their courage with my attendance. I try to hum along to their songs of hope according to that situa- jail, and the exemplary avoidable communal ting to erase history, or The SC has held that the electoral
and resistance, which I do not know. I learn about their diversity and their persis- tion. democratic inclusiveness disharmony, and alienat- negating iconic leaders of bonds system is totally unconstitution-
tence. Small steps of hope, for a democracy to awaken, so learn that voting is not Uniting a very diverse he laid as the foundation ed the minorities, espe- the past, you do not ele- al. It has also held that it violates the
enough. To learn that homogeneity is the path to disaster. To celebrate differences and multicultural and mul- of the Republic. To paint cially Muslims, which vate yourself but deni- right to information and right to free-
the strength we can get from that. Though yesterday someone shouted “Inquilab tireligious country him entirely with a black could lead to endemic grate this enrichening dom of speech and expression. Also
Zindabad” and almost no one knew how to respond… through the tapestry of brush — as some social instability. For the continuity. Ultimately, many corporate companies derive
I watch the world march and speak for Palestine, and I wonder at our own radio democracy and respect overzealous spokesmen of first time since 1947 we history will make its own advantage by bribing the politicians
silence. Us who once stood at the forefront of movements against colonial oppression for all faiths, and ensur- the BJP do — is a superfi- have a ruling party with judgement. In the case of by this system. Money is essential for
and Us that now frolic with the oppressors. ing that India remains a cial display of ignorance, an absolute majority Nehru, some people seem political parties to contest the elec-
Where are our marches for Palestine, for Gaza, for the thousands killed by Israel, just democratic nation when sycophancy and bias. which does not have a sin- to think they already tions. How the political parties will
because they exist as an inconvenience for a colonial power? all around so many decol- Narendra Modi, too, has gle representative of the have the right to absolute- now get funds for the elections is to be
I learn from these lines from American poet Sonia Sanchez’s Haiku and Tanka for onized nations had lapsed his strengths and weak- largest minority in the ly condemn him. They are seen. Public funding will add to cor-
Harriet Tubman, the great American abolitionist and social activist: into dictatorships or mili- nesses. His political country, either in the par- as wrong, as those who ruption and other malpractices. Will
“Imagine her saying: tary rule, was no mean tenacity is undoubted, ris- liamentary party or the think that Mr Modi is the system of state funding the elec-
I freed a thousand slaves, achievement, and credit ing from poverty to the Cabinet. flawless. Or that Mr Modi tions help? Already states and the
could have freed must be given to Nehru pinnacle of power, with- Mr Modi is also accused, is entirely blemished and Centre are reeling under debt.
a thousand more if they for this. In this process, it out any dynastic patron- like Indira Gandhi, of cre- Nehru was infallible. N. R. Ramachandran
only knew they were slaves????...???” is true too that he made age. He is also a leader ating a supra-party per- Chennai
I march mainly for us, if only we knew that we were slaves. mistakes. The fiasco of who knows the pulse of sonality cult, where the The writer is an author,
the 1962 war with China the people, and this is leader becomes bigger diplomat and former
The writer is a senior journalist who writes on media affairs, politics and social was certainly one such. based on his vast experi- than the party. Today, it member of Parliament Mail your letters to
trends. She tweets at @ranjona. Another of his failings ence in grass root politics, is all about “Modi ki guar- (Rajya Sabha) chennaidesk@deccanmail.com

I
ndira Gandhi began her parliamen-
tary career in the Rajya Sabha but
Anita Katyal
her daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, is
entering the Upper House towards
sider was picked instead of a local leader.
T
he BJP’s ruthless use of investiga-
tive agencies against Opposition
Janata Party, Dharmendra Pradhan will united fight against them. Congress office Party’s state unit to make the new chief
face the toughest challenge in contesting bearers Selja and Randeep Surjewala minister Mohan Yadav a household name
the coming Lok Sabha election from his along with former Haryana minister like his predecessor Mr Chouhan. These
home state Odisha. Though the BJP wish- Kiran Choudhary, popularly called SRK, days, the Madhya Pradesh countryside is

Political the end of her political career. Before it

was finally decided that Sonia Gandhi
Gup-Shup would file her nomination papers from
Rajasthan, there had been some chatter
that she could pick Himachal Pradesh
instead. But, it was felt it would be politi-
cally more prudent for Sonia Gandhi to
represent a big state from northern India
leaders is paying rich dividends.
While a host of leaders have been forced
to switch sides after being pursued by
them, the INDIA bloc is also unravelling.
It is no coincidence that, two days after
the Enforcement Directorate issued sum-
mons to him, National Conference leader
Farooq Abdullah announced that his
es to project Mr Pradhan as its chief min-
isterial face in the eastern state, the
party’s Odisha unit has been fighting
with its hands tied to the back as its
Central leadership has stopped short of
going all out against the ruling Biju
Janata Dal. The reason: Not only does
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik
who were not known to be too fond of
each other, have decided to sink their dif-
ferences to take on a common political
rival. The SRK trio has been holding pub-
lic meetings and rallies independent
of the state unit’s political programmes.
However, Mr Hooda appears
oblivious to the pressure he’s facing from
dotted with huge hoardings with Mr
Yadav’s photographs, who until last
month, was a little-known political figure
despite being a third term legislator. A
supporter has also come up with a special
song dedicated to Mohan Yadav in which
he extols his virtues, describing him as a
strong and powerful leader who is capa-

ED hand behind though Abhishek Singhvi would have

been a better fit for Rajasthan as he hails
from there. There was also a fear that the
party would go solo in the coming Lok
Sabha elections. Delhi CM Arvind Kejri-
wal has not been arrested even though he
share cordial relations with the BJP at
the Centre, he has also refrained from
joining hands with other opposition par-
within the party and from investigative
agencies. His annual lunch saw a huge
turnout of senior journalists and politi-
ble of bettering Uttar Pradesh
chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s record
in crushing indiscipline. Mr Yadav him-

INDIA collapse? Bharatiya Janata Party could create

problems for Sonia Gandhi, which is
what happened. Mr Singhvi’s nomination
from Himachal Pradesh and Ajay
For Mohan Yadav, Maken’s candidature from Karnataka
has angered the state units in both states.
Himachal Pradesh Congress leaders are
has not appeared before the ED des-
pite getting his sixth summons from the
agency. This laxity could well be connect-
ed to Mr Kejriwal’s recent announcement
that the AAP will not ally with the Cong-
ress in Punjab and give only one seat to it
in Delhi. He has also upped the ante in
ties. Mr Patnaik has always bailed out the
BJP in Parliament and supported it on
key issues. Last week, the BJD end-
orsed Union minister Ashwini Vaish-
naw’s candidature in the Rajya Sabha
election. Mr Pradhan will be hoping for
the same.
cians including former ministers P.
Chidambaram, Shashi Tharoor and
Karnataka’s deputy chief minister
self is also going all-out to be more
visible. He is seen at almost any event —
from pujas and bhandaras to inaugura-
D.K. Shiv Kumar along with tion of gyms, parks or even unveiling of
Shiv Sena’s Sanjay Raut and Priyanka
Chaturvedi.
lamp posts. In a bid to assert
himself, Mr Yadav’s office has issued
instructions to organisers of public

it is kissa kursi ka upset as it is the first time a non- Goa and Gujarat. The ED cases against

W
hile former Madhya Pradesh events that the chief minister be provided

T
Himachali has been nominated to the Mr Abdullah and Kejriwal could well be here is no end to the factional bat- chief minister Shivraj Singh a bigger chair than those of other guests
Upper House. Himachal Pradesh chief buried now. tles in Haryana’s Congress unit. Chouhan is no longer grabbing and it should be placed ahead of their
minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu had With former chief minister headlines, people are still adjusting to the chairs.

O
apparently proposed Anand Sharma’s f the seven Union ministers who Bhupinder Singh Hooda and his son, fact that their home state is now headed
name but to no avail. The party’s have been denied another term in Deepender Hooda, riding high, his detrac- by a new person. As a result, there is a Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based
Karnataka unit is furious that an out- the Rajya Sabha by the Bharatiya tors have banded together to put up a huge push by the Bharatiya Janata journalist

EDITOR: KAUSHIK MITTER, PRINTER & PUBLISHER: K. SUDHAKAR; R. MOHAN RESIDENT EDITOR DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254750, 222547451 Coimbatore: No. 2/22 Sengalipalayam Road, N.G.G.O. Colony Post, Kurudampalayam
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 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
pg 7

■ In separate meet, Blinken hold talks on Red Sea situation

SHORT
Child rights panel
visits WB district
TAKES
Kolkata: A six-member team
of the West Bengal Commi-
ssion for Protection of Child
Rights on Saturday visited
Sandeshk-hali in North 24
Parganas district to ascertain
complaints of child abuse in
the politically troubled area.
Villagers alleged that a
seven-month-old child was
snatched from her mother’s
lap and thrown away by mis-
creants in Sandeshkhali. The
child is now under treat-
ment. Tension started brew-
ing in Sandeshkhali after the
ED went to the area to
search the premises of local
TMC leader Sheikh Shajahan
more than a month ago. The
Trinamul Congress leader is
still at large. Earlier, repre-
sentatives National
Commission for Women and
the National Commission for
Scheduled Castes also visit-
ed the area. Sandeshkhali
has been witnessing protests
over alleged atrocities,
including sexual abuse, by
some TMC leaders against
villagers. — PTI
BSF jawan hurt in
Jaishankar & Canadian minister
discuss ‘state of ties’ in Munich
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
External affairs minister
S. Jaishankar on Saturday
said he had discussed the
“present state of bilateral
ties” with his Canadian
counterpart Melanie Joly
at a meeting on Friday in
the German city of Munich
on the sidelines of the
ongoing Munich Security
Conference. Meanwhile,
the United States on
Saturday said its secretary
of state Antony J. Blinken
had “discussed the need to
ensure freedom of naviga-
tion in the Red Sea” during
his separate meeting with
Mr Jaishankar on Friday
evening in Munich.
India’s ties with Canada
have been strained, espe-
cially since last year, when
Canada accused India of
involvement in the killing
of Canadian citizen and
10 killed in blast
in cracker unit
Our conversation understand- to address” Indian con- FROM PG1 spot said that human error of the dead and the injured
cerns in this regard. India was the cause of the fire workers, Chief
ably focused on the present also made it clear that it is Fire tenders from Sattur, accident. According to pre- Minister, M.K. Stalin
state of our bilateral ties. It
not its policy to interfere in Sivakasi and Vembakottai liminary information, the announced a solatium of
was also useful to exchange the “democratic processes” reached the spot and strug- explosion was caused due Rs 3 lakh each to the fami-
views on the global situation. of other nations. Mr gled for more than two to friction while handling lies of the persons who lost
Jaishankar told a TV chan- hours to douse the fires. chemicals, he said. their lives and Rs 1 lakh
— S. Jaishankar, nel earlier this month that According to “Storage of inflammable each to the injured work-
External affairs minister Canada has a “long record Vembakottai police, who chemicals beyond the per- ers..
of interfering in Indian registered the case and are missible limits and the The Chief Minister also
pro-Khalistani extremist tion understandably politics”. investigating, more than 30 keeping the finished prod- had sent his senior cabinet
Hardeep Singh Nijjar on focused on the present Meanwhile, the US said, workers were on the facto- ucts at the same rooms are colleagues revenue and
Canadian soil. The close state of our bilateral ties. “Secretary of state ry premises when the the reasons for the acci- disaster management min-
ties between India and the It was also useful to Antony J. Blinken met Mr explosion occurred. The dent of this magnitude," he ister K.K.S.S.R.
US also saw an irritant last exchange views on the Jaishankar in Munich on police are on the lookout said and added that a team Ramachandran, who
year after the US accused global situation.” the sidelines of the for the fireworks owner, headed by the district rev- is also the MLA of
two Indian nationals of Rejecting allegations of Munich Security Confer- Vignesh (45) of enue officer would inquire Aruppukottai in
involvement in a plot to kill interference in Canadian ence. Both discussed the Muthusamypuram, into the mishap and fur- Virudhunagar district and
another pro-Khalistan ext- elections from various need to ensure freedom of Virudhunagar district. ther action would be initi- labour welfare minister, C.
remist and American citi- quarters in that country, navigation in the Red Sea. Virudhunagar district ated by him based on the V. Ganesan to oversee the
zen Gurpatwant Pannun. India earlier this month Mr Blinken highlighted collector V.P. Jeyaseelan report.Conveying his deep rescue and rehabilitation
Soon after the meeting said that in fact, it is that the respective US and who inspected the accident condolences to the families works.
with the Canadian foreign Canada that has been inter- Indian approaches to mar-
minister, the EAM posted fering in India’s internal itime security in the Red
Pregnant lady
on X, “Met my Canadian
counterpart Melanie Joly
affairs. Stating that India
has been taking up the mat-
Sea are mutually reinforc-
ing and play important Haryana and Raj sign
on the sidelines of the
Munich Security
ter with that country, New
Delhi had called on Canada
roles in safeguarding eco-
nomic stability in the
pact on water sharing gangraped in
region.
MP, set on fire
Conference. Our conversa- to “take effective measures

Manipur gun attack Mitsotakis to New Delhi, Feb. 17:

Haryana and Rajasthan
preparation of the detailed
project report (DPR) joint- by 3 accused
be on 2-day
Imphal: A BSF jawan was have signed an agreement ly by the governments of
injured in a gun attack in to jointly prepare a Haryana and Rajasthan for RABINDRA NATH
Manipur's Kakching district detailed project report for transfer of water through CHOUDHURY
on Saturday, an official said.
Injured head constable Som visit to India the transfer of Rajasthan’s
share of Yamuna water
underground pipelines.
The state governments
BHOPAL, FEB. 17

Dutt, 45, is from Himachal
Pradesh, the official said.
Dutt suffered injuries on his
left shoulder when he was
hit by a bullet at Sugnu vil-
lage. He was admitted to a
private hospital, he said.
“There have been consistent
attacks by armed men for
the last three days at Sugnu.
On Friday night, they fired
from the hill slopes using
medium machine guns,” the
official added. On
Wednesday, armed men
attacked Sugnu village, trig-
gering a gunfight with vil-
lage volunteers stationed in
the area. Last May, Sugnu
witnessed severe violence,
resulting in the burning of
numerous houses. — PTI
from Feb. 21
1st visit by a Greek
PM after 15 yr gap
New Delhi, Feb. 17:
Greek PM Kyriakos
Mitsotakis will pay a two-
day state visit to India
from February 21 with an
aim to further deepen the
strategic partnership
between the two coun-
tries. It would be the first
visit to India by a head of
state of Greece to India
after a gap of 15 years.
India-Greece relations
were elevated to “strate-
gic partnership” during
from Hathnikund in
Haryana through under-
ground pipelines and its
subsequent utilisation in
areas such as Jhunjhunu
and Churu.
The memorandum of
understanding was signed
after a meeting between
Haryana CM Manohar Lal
Khattar and his Rajasthan
counterpart Bhajan Lal
Sharma on Saturday. The
meeting was chaired by
Union jal shakti minister
Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat.
Mr Shekhawat empha-
sised that the resolution of
Former cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, wife Anjali and daughter Sara visit a cricket bat
this long-standing issue
manufacturing unit at Charsoo in Pulwama district on Saturday. — PTI would pave the way for the
implementation of proj-
will prepare and finalise
the DPR for transfer of
water through under-
ground pipelines during
July-October up to 577
MCM for drinking water
supply and other require-
ments for Churu, Sikar,
Jhunjhunu and other dis-
tricts of Rajasthan after
utilisation of full capacity
(24,000 cusec) of the
Western Yamuna Canal by
Haryana including Delhi
share at Hathnikund
under Phase-1 of the proj-
ect. Both the states shall
extend full cooperation in
preparation and finalisa-
tion of the DPR within a
period of four months,
the memorandum said.
A 35-year-old pregnant
woman in a Madhya
Pradesh village was
allegedly gangraped and
then set ablaze by the
accused, police said on
Saturday. The woman
who suffered 80 per cent
burns is now battling for
her life in a Gwalior hos-
pital. The incident took
place in the village of
Chandpur under Ambah
police station on Friday,
police said. The victim
had gone to the village on
Friday to work out a com-
promise with a local
woman who accused her
husband of rape, Ambah
police station in-charge
Alok Parihar said. She

PAK OFFICIAL SAYS

Mr Modi’s visit to Greece
in August last year.
Mr Mitsotakis will be
the chief guest and
Eyeing tourism market, Cuba ects crucial for meeting
the drinking water needs
of Rajasthan, particularly
Churu, Sikar and
After construction of
three identified storages
in upper Yamuna basin,
namely Renukaji,
was allegedly gangraped
by three men and then set
on fire, police said. Her
husband recorded her
CJ, CEC INVOLVED
IN POLL RIGGING
keynote speaker at the
Raisina Dialogue in the
national capital, the
MEA said on Saturday,
launches drive to woo Indians Jhunjhunu districts.
After deliberations, a
consensus was arrived for
Lakhwar and Kishau, the
corresponding share of
Rajasthan. — PTI
video statement when she
was being taken to
Ambah government hos-
pital in an ambulance

FROM PG1
announcing his visit. The
Greek PM will be accom-
panied by senior officials
SRIDHAR KUMARASWAMI
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
◗ THE CUBAN delega-
tion also exchanged
and that the Cuban dele-
gation also included rep-
resentatives of several
Filmmaker Santoshi gets and shared the video with
the police. The victim had
taken names of the three

2-year jail in cheque case

party began nationwide and a high-powered busi-
protests against alleged rigging ness delegation. “PM
and stealing of its mandate in Mitsotakis’s visit is
the February 8 elections. expected to further
Speaking to reporters at the strengthen strategic part-
Rawalpindi cricket stadium, nership between India
Mr Chattha said the candidates and Greece,” MEA said.
who were “losing” the elections Mr Mitsotakis will also
“were made to win”. “I am tak- visit Mumbai before
ing the responsibility for all returning to Athens. “PM
this wrongdoing and telling you Modi and PM Mitsotakis
that the chief election commis- will hold bilateral discus-
sioner and the chief justice are sions and Mr Modi will
also completely involved in also host a lunch banquet
this,” he was quoted as saying in honour of the visiting
by the Dawn newspaper. Mr dignitary,” the MEA said
Chattha resigned from his in a statement. It said
office after “accepting responsi- India-Greece relations
bility” for manipulation of poll are based on shared cul-
results, it said. Mr Chattha said tural values, commit-
“stabbing the country in its ment to foster economic
back does not let” him sleep. “I growth, collaboration in
should be punished for the the fields of security and
injustice I have done and others defence, shipping, mar-
who were involved in this injus- itime and marked by con-
tice should also be punished,” vergence on regional and
he said. global issues. — PTI
With an eye on the vast and
lucrative Indian tourism
market, the Caribbean
island nation of Cuba,
with its exotic beaches, has
launched the “Cuba
Unica” (Unique Cuba)
campaign to provide an
alternative vacation get-
away full of “history, cul-
ture and traditions”. Not
surprisingly, therefore, the
island nation was selected
as the “Most Promising
New Destination” at a trav-
el fair held in Mumbai ear-
lier this month, Cuban
diplomats based in
New Delhi told this news-
paper.
A Cuban delegation
headed by its tourism
counsellor for the Asia-
Pacific region Elizabeth
Christina Vela Jaime vis-
ited India in this regard.
The Cuban delegation
notes with ‘Indian
tour operators, travel
agencies, advertising
agencies and airlines
for the marketing of
Cuba as a destination’
also exchanged notes with
“Indian tour operators,
travel agencies, advertis-
ing agencies and airlines
for the marketing of Cuba
as a destination”.
The event in Mumbai
was followed by a confer-
ence in New Delhi earlier
this week organised by
trade body PHD-CCI
Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, where both
Ms Jaime and the Cuban
embassy’s charge d’af-
faires Abel Aballe
Despaigne pointed out
that Cuba has identified a
huge potential in the
Indian tourism market
travel agencies and hotel
chains operating in
Cuba.
Cuba and India have
been close friends for the
past more than six
decades, especially after
the Cuban Revolution.
The bilateral relationship
has endured changing
geo-political equations.
India, though now a close
strategic partner of the
United States, which has
hostile relations with
Cuba, has continuously
opposed the American
sanctions on the island
nation, for which Cuba
has always expressed its
appreciation to New
Delhi. Both countries also
celebrated the 63rd
anniversary of the estab-
lishment of bilateral
diplomatic relations in
January last year.
Jamnagar, Feb. 17: A
court in Jamnagar in
Gujarat on Saturday sen-
tenced renowned film-
maker Rajkumar Santoshi
to two years in jail and
also directed him to
pay `2 crores to the com-
plainant in a cheque
return case. Santoshi, a
director, producer and
scriptwriter, is well
known for action block-
busters like Ghayal and
Ghatak, the court drama
Damini and the iconic
comedy film Andaz Apna
Apna.
Senior civil judge V.J.
Gadhvi sentenced
Santoshi to two years in
jail and asked him to pay
`2 crores to the com-
plainant, which is double
the amount he had taken
from the latter.
The court then allowed
Santoshi’s appeal for stay
on the order to allow him
to appeal in higher court.
Ashok Lal in his
complaint, said he had
lent `1 crore to Santoshi to
produce a film against
which the filmmaker gave
him 10 cheques of `10
lakhs each.
When the 10 cheques
returned due to lack of
funds, Mr Lal issued him
a legal notice under provi-
sions of Negotiable
Instruments Act and
approached court in 2017
after Mr Santoshi
failed to return the
money.
— PTI
accused in the video
recording, Mr Parihar
said. In her purported
video statement, she also
alleged that the woman
who levelled rape charges
against her husband and
her kin poured fuel on
her and set her on fire,
police said. The victim
was first admitted to the
Ambah hospital and then
shifted to the government
hospital in Gwalior when
her condition worsened,
police said. The victim
who was six months
pregnant lost her child
in her womb in the inci-
dent, doctors said. Her
condition was stated to
be critical. Her husband
was sent to jail in
January this year fol-
lowing rape charges
filed against him and
currently out on bail.

Development, pro-poor CM offers sops TN bans sale of cotton candy

work BJP’s agenda: PM for minorities FROM PG1

called Rhodamine-B was

Puducherry had
imposed a ban on cotton
also

candy earlier this month cit-

FROM PG1
“The lotus symbol represents
the BJP's candidate on all 543
seats in the forthcoming Lok
Sabha elections of 2024,” Mr
Modi asserted. He asked
party cadres to work with
utmost dedication in the next
100 days, ensuring that the
message of development
reaches voters and the gener-
al public directly, which was
also reiterated by the BJP
president. Mr Modi asked the
BJP cadres to reach out to
each and every booth across
the country with ‘Modi ki
guarantee’for the nation.
Later, in a post on X, Mr
Modi said, "Addressed the
@BJP4India national office
bearers. Complimented
every party karyakarta for
their exceptional efforts to
serve people. Discussed ways
to deepen our party's grass-
roots level connect across all
sections of society. Over the
last decade, the BJP has
made a mark as a party of
development and good gover-
nance. Our schemes, initia-
tives and reforms have trans-
formed several lives."
Addressing the office-bear-
ers, Mr Nadda noted that out
of the total 10.46-lakh booths
spread across the country,
the BJP’s presence is at near-
ly 8.5 lakhs.
The BJP president asserted
that the last decade under Mr
Modi's leadership has been
full of achievements for the
BJP and that the party, which
ruled in five states in 2014, is
now in power in 12 states and
the NDA in 17 states.
Around 11,500 BJP leaders,
including chief ministers,
MPs, several Union minis-
ters and state unit presi-
dents, will be in the national
capital to seek winning
mantras from the BJP top
brass, including the Prime
Minister.
Mr Tawde, while briefing
the media, said the Prime
Minister told the gathering
that the Opposition will raise
“unnecessary and emotional
issues” during the polls, but
party members should stick
to the issues of development,
pro-poor policies and the
country's rising global stand-
ing.
Mr Modi also asked the BJP
cadres to reach out to first-
time voters, telling them the
difference the country has
witnessed since 2014 while
comparing the situation
before the BJP-led NDA gov-
ernment came to power.
Women and youth should be
one of the focus areas of the
party leaders.
The BJP general secretary
said Mr Modi has been the
head of a government,
including more than 12 years
as Gujarat chief minister, for
nearly 23 years and there has
been no allegation of corrup-
tion.
“It's been an 'aarop mukt'
and a 'vikas yukt' period," he
said, quoting the PM, adding
that there has been no
instance of such a long
tenure of anyone holding
constitutional positions not
drawing any taint.
The BJP will be launching a
campaign to reach out to ben-
eficiaries of various central
government schemes on
February 25.
The BJP will also be start-
ing a ‘Sampark Abhiyan’ tar-
geting women's self-help
groups and NGOs in the
upcoming days, where work
done by the Modi govern-
ment for the welfare of the
underprivileged will be dis-
seminated.
The BJP president sounded
confident that out of the 161
Lok Sabha seats lost by the
party in 2019, it will win most
of them, as party leaders,
including Union ministers,
have visited these con-
stituencies, listened to peo-
ple, their queries and
resolved them. Central min-
isters visited these seats dur-
ing the “Lok Sabha Pravas
Yojana” 430 times.
human body. Routine con-
sumption of the chemical
will affect the functioning of
used to colour cotton candy. ing the same reason. internal organs including
FROM PG1 Food safety officials had Rhodamine-B is an indus- liver and kidney. It will also
carried out widespread raids trial dye predominantly used cause ulcers in the intestine.
Calling the statement by a Union Minister that in the cotton candy shops in for colouring leather and in The packaging, importing,
the Dravidian Model government was dividing the city on the order of com- multi-colour poster printing. selling, serving of food items
people as a joke, he said the government strove missioner of food safety to The consumption of the with Rhodamine-B is a pun-
to ensure that everyone got everything by foster- investigate the matter. same chemical will have a ishable offense under the
ing inclusive growth that enabled the Muslim It may be recalled that harmful impact on the law.
community to enjoy its legitimate rights and
progress socio-economically in the state.
Coming out with a long list of the actions
taken by the DMK governments, starting with
the creation of the directorate of minority wel-
fare in 2007 and the provision of 3.5 per cent
KAMAL NATH IN DELHI
exclusive reservation for Muslims during the
regime of M. Karunanidhi, he said their long
time demand for life time recognition for minor-
ity institutions would favourably looked into
AMID SPECULATION
and that a GO had been issued on February 2 to FROM PG1 and stood with the Nehru- Nath.
issue religious minority certificate with a life- Gandhi family when Indira Significantly, the develop-
time validity. Adding to the buzz, the former Gandhi was sent to jail by the ment comes amid recent invi-
Among the other announcements that the Madhya Pradesh chief minis- Janata Party, do you think tations extended to Mr Nath
Chief Minister made at the meeting were ter arrived in the national such a person will ever leave by senior BJP leaders such as
extending the eligibility for Pudhumai Pen capital on Saturday after- the Congress and the Gandhi former Lok Sabha Speaker
scheme, under which government school girls noon. When asked, Mr Nath family?" Sumitra Mahajan and state
enrolling in higher education courses would get said, "Why are you all getting Mr Nath is said to be unhap- party president Vishnu Dutt
Rs 1,000 a month as assistance, to Tamil medium excited? It is not about deny- py over not getting a Rajya Sharma to join the saffron
students of Muslim aided schools and the serv- ing. I will inform you all if Sabha berth. Also, senior outfit.
ing of free breakfast for children in classes one there is something like that..." Congress leader Rahul A post in X by BJP
to five in the Muslim aided schools. AICC in-charge of Madhya Gandhi has been opposed to spokesman Narendra Singh
Some other privileges enjoyed by government Pradesh Jitendra Singh, how- him since the party lost the Saluja, who was a close aide of
schools and colleges would be extended to ever, said that he did not think Assembly polls late last year. Mr Nath before switching
Muslim aided institutions like the raising of age that Mr Nath will leave the In a related development, over to the BJP, in which he
limit for recruitment of school teachers to 58 Congress. Earlier in the day, Sajjan Singh Verma, a posted a photo of Mr Nath and
years and the regularisation of services of col- senior Congress le-ader Congress MLA from Sonkatch his son with the caption "Jai
lege teachers. Digvijaya Singh said. in Madhya Pradesh, has also Shri Ram", has intensified the
The Wakf Board would get a new office and 27 in Jabalpur, "I spoke to Mr reportedly removed the speculation over the possibili-
staff, who would be recruited through the Nath at 10.30 pm yesterday party's logo from his profiles ty of Mr Nath snapping his
TNPSC, and district minority offices had been (Friday), he is in on social media. Mr Verma is decades-old ties with
opened in the five districts of Chennai, Vellore, Chhindwara... A person who considered to be among the Congress and jumping over to
Villupuram, Tirunelveli and Coimbatore that started his political journey staunchest supporters of Mr the BJP.
had a high population of Muslims, he said.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024 | CHENNAI
SHORT TAKES
Azad hints at not
contesting LS polls
Jammu: Senior political
leader Ghulam Nabi Azad
on Saturday indicated that
he would not be contesting
in the upcoming Lok Sabha
elections, as he would be
campaigning for the candi-
dates of his newly formed
Democratic Progressive
Azad Party (DPAP) candi-
dates. Mr Azad, who has
refrained from contesting
Lok Sabha elections after
his defeat in 2014 general
election, asked his party men
to gear up, as 2024 would
be the election year for
Jammu and Kashmir. Talking
to reporters on the sidelines
of a function in Nagrota,
Mr Azad, who resigned from
the Congress after decade-
long association, also
appealed to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to resolve the
issues of agitating farmers
“once for all”, as the protest
is neither good for
the government nor the
farmers. — PTI
Maha Cong to issue
notice to leaders
Mumbai: The Maharashtra
Congress will issue a show-
cause notice to the MLAs
and party office-bearers who
did not attend the two-day
training camp of the party at
Lonavala in Pune district.
More than a dozen MLAs,
including Zeeshan Siddique,
did not attend the camp.
Zeeshan is the son of Baba
Siddique, who recently left
the Congress and joined the
Ajit Pawar-led NCP. The
Maharashtra Congress on
Friday began the two-day
camp for the party office
bearers and legislators in the
presence of the party’s
Maharashtra in-charge
Ramesh Chennithala.
Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge also
addressed the convention.
The party passed three reso-
lutions in the camp against
the Modi government in con-
nection with inflation, unem-
ployment, atrocities against
the women and injustice to
the poor people. A party
insider said that more than a
dozen MLAs did not partici-
pate in the two-day camp.
MORE MEMBERS,
GREATER VOICE IN
UNSC, SAYS INDIA
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
In a direct criticism of the
five permanent members of
the United Nations Security
Council (UNSC) and their
individual veto power that is
used to scuttle any UN draft
resolution, India on Saturday
asked the UN how much
longer the will of the five
members would override the
will of the rest of the 188
member-nations of the UN.
In a debate on intergovern-
mental negotiations on
UNSC reform, New Delhi also
demanded the expansion of
both the permanent and
non-permanent membership
of the UNSC to give a
greater voice to the nations
of the Global South in Asia,
Africa and Latin America.
Currently, the UNSC has five
permanent members — the
United States, Russia,
Britain, France and China —
who are collectively called
the P-5. The UNSC also has
10 non-permanent member-
nations without the veto
power, whose tenure lasts
two years. India has long
been an aspirant to perma-
nent membership in the
UNSC, but the efforts seem
to have intensified in the
past few years. Except China
in the P-5, all the four mem-
bers have supported India’s
permanent candidature
in the UNSC. The direct criti-
cism of the P-5 is therefore
an indication of India’s angst
over the painfully slow
process of reform.India’s
permanent representative
and ambassador to the UN
in New York Ruchira Kamboj
said, “How much longer will
the will of five members
continue to override the col-
lective voice of 188 member
states? This must change.”
India also opposed any
move to expand only the
non-permanent membership
of the UNSC while not
expanding the permanent
membership, saying it would
further widen the divide and
differences between the two
categories. India pointed to
its G-20 presidency last year
and how the African Union
was given permanent mem-
bership in the G-20 group-
ing, adding that “bold lead-
ership can lead to change”
and that this is a “powerful
testament to the transforma-
tive power of political will”.
■ Party prez hails PM for country’s development, Ram temple consecration
Modi behind BJP’s rising stature: Nadda Delhi, upset over
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
Noting that the BJP, with
its “roots in the Bharatiya
Jan Sangh,” has “weath-
ered significant chal-
lenges over seven
decades,” BJP president
J.P. Nadda on Saturday
recalled the saffron
party’s journey from its
challenging origins to
becoming the world’s
largest political party.
Mr Nadda, in his inaugu-
ral address at the BJP
national council meeting,
hailed Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s leader-
ship for the party’s per-
formance in the past
decade and the various
achievements of the Modi
government, mainly for
Saxena orders removal
of pharma university V-C
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
Lieutenant-governor V.K.
Saxena on Saturday
ordered the removal of
Delhi Pharmaceutical
Sciences and Research
University (DPSRU) vice-
chancellor Ramesh Goyal
in connection with an
alleged scam involving the
recruitment of teaching
faculties in 2017-2019.
A Raj Niwas official said
that Mr Saxena has also
approved the removal of
professor Harvinder Popli,
the university’s registrar,
and written to the MHA for
Senior BJD
leader Samal
and son get
ED summons
AKSHAYA KUMAR SAHOO
BHUBANESWAR, FEB. 17
The Enforcement
Directorate (ED) has
issued summons to for-
mer Odisha minister
and Biju Janata Dal
leader Prafulla Samal
and his son Prayas Kanti
Samal, sources in the
investigation wing said
on Saturday .
The father-son duo was
summoned in the
alleged Bhadrak Insti-
tute of Engineering and
Technology land scam
case. They have been
asked to appear with all
the relevant documents.
Mr Samal, presently an
MLA from Bhandari-
pokhari in Bhadrak dis-
trict, was a Cabinet min-
ister in the Naveen
Patnaik government.
The summons were
sent after the ED con-
ducted simultaneous
raids at 10 places linked
to six places in Bhadrak
town and four places in
Bhubaneswar in connec-
tion with alleged finan-
cial irregularities com-
mitted at the Bhadrak
Institute of Engineering
and Technology.
It has been alleged that
the former minister and
his son are involved in a
multi-crore scam involv-
ing where the father-son
duo has allegedly swin-
dled crores of rupees
collected from students
as fee to buy lands.
‘Matured boy’ GSLV rocket injects 50 tonnes of ordnance dropped in 2 hours
Met satellite into orbit successfully drill close to border in Pokhran
Sriharikota (Andhra
Pradesh), Feb. 17:
Moving ahead on its mis-
sion to study the Earth
and ocean surfaces, Isro
on Saturday successfully
launched its next genera-
tion weather observation
satellite INSAT-3DS
onboard a GSLV rocket
into a precise orbit.
The flawless mission
prompted the Isro to virtu-
ally heave a sigh of relief
over the challenging GSLV
rocket technology, as the
director of today’s mis-
sion said the “naughty boy
has matured into an obedi-
ent, disciplined boy”
apparently referring to its
past unsuccessful mis-
sions.
Isro chairman S.
Somanath said the success
gave the space agency
“greater confidence”, as
the GSLV will be next
deployed in the Nisar mis-
sion — a collaborative
8 Cong MLAs fly to
and youth.J’khand portfolios
the poor, women, farmers
Lauding Mr Modi’s dedi-
cation to the party’s
growth, Mr Nadda listed
many achievements under
the Modi-led NDA govern-
ment, including the conse-
cration of Ram Mandir in
Ayodhya, thus leading to
the realisation of the
vision of “Ram Rajya”.
Mr Modi was given a
standing ovation at the
inaugural meet as Mr
Nadda thanked him for
the completion of the long-
awaited Ram Mandir in
Ayodhya amid chants of
“Jai Shri Ram” and “Modi
hai to mumkin hai”.
A political resolution,
“Viksit Bharat-Modi ki
guarantee,” was passed
later on the first day of the
a probe by an external
agency. The officials said
the action has taken place
based on the findings of an
enquiry committee that
found “glaring irregulari-
ties” in the recruitment
process. The L-G, the chan-
cellor of the DPSRU, also
gave his nod to filing an
FIR against Mr Goyal and
six other officers named in
a report by the three-mem-
ber enquiry committee for
their alleged involvement
in the “scam”, they said.
The enquiry report, dated
October 13, 2023, looked
into the matter based on
several complaints.
■ ‘Decision example before nation on how constitutional post is being misused’
Pawar slams Speaker’s ‘Ajit’s real NCP’ stand
SONU SHRIVASTAA
MUMBAI, FEB. 17
Two days after Rahul
Narvekar held the Ajit
Pawar-led group as the
real Nationalist Congress
Party (NCP), the NCP
founder Sharad Pawar on
Saturday said that it had
never happened before
that those who formed a
political party were
removed from the party
itself. Mr Pawar said the
verdict given by Mr
Narvekar is the best exam-
ple of misuse of the con-
stitutional post.
“The Assembly
Will go by SC verdicts on poll
by ballot, electoral bonds: EC
AKSHAYA KUMAR SAHOO
BHUBANESWAR, FEB. 17
The Election Commission
on Saturday said it would
go by the Supreme Court
verdict on publishing
details on electoral bonds
purchased since 2019.
Besides, it also said that
the poll panel would abide
by the verdict of the apex
court on the petitions
seeking to hold general
elections on ballot papers
instead of the much criti-
cised electronic voting
machines (EVMs).
“The EC will go by the
Supreme Court verdict on
publishing details of the
IAF displays firepower in mega
School children watch the launch of GSLV-F14 carrying
INSAT-3DS satellite from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in
Sriharikota on Saturday.
effort with the US Nasa.
The INSAT-3DS satellite,
weighing 2274 kg is a fol-
low-on mission of the
third generation meteoro-
logical satellite to be
placed in a geostationary
orbit and is funded by the
ministry of earth sci-
Union minister Amit Shah being welcomed by party presi-
dent J.P. Nadda at Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi on
Saturday.
two-day long meet as a
host of party leaders high-
lighted the government’s
development, cultural
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with supporters during “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra” in
Varanasi on Saturday.
Speaker’s decision is not
to give justice to our peo-
ple. But the decision is an
example before the coun-
try on how the office is
being misused,” Mr Pawar
said.
The Sharad Pawar group
has approached the
Supreme Court against
the Election Commission
order granting the party’s
name and election symbol
to the Ajit Pawar faction.
The NCP founder said
the decision of the poll
body is also unfair.
“The whole world knows
who has established the
NCP. Despite knowing
electoral bonds. This
apart, this body will also
abide by the apex court’s
verdict on the petitions
that have been filed
demanding the holding of
elections on ballot
papers,” chief election
commissioner (CEC)
Rajiv Kumar said on
Saturday while address-
ing a press conference
here.
On February 15, while
striking down the elec-
toral bond scheme as
unconstitutional, the
Supreme Court issued a
direction to the issuing
bank (State Bank of India)
to stop the issuance of
— PTI
ences.
The objective of the mis-
sion is to provide continu-
ity of services to existing
operational INSAT-3D
(launched in 2013) and
INSAT-3DR (September
2016) for enhanced meteo-
rological observations,
— PTI
measures and various ini-
tiatives for south India,
farmers and Sikhs. The
document mentioned the
Sharad Pawar
about it, the party was
given to someone else. It is
a kind of unjust decision.
So, we have no option but
electoral bonds. Besides,
it directed the bank to
submit the details of elec-
toral bonds purchased
since the interim order of
the court dated April 12,
2019 to date.
A team of high officials
from the poll panel was in
the state for two days to
assess the poll prepared-
ness of the state for the
forthcoming Lok Sabha
elections and Odisha
Assembly polls.
Mr Kumar said all
arrangements had been
made for putting in place
webcasting facilities in 50
per cent of the polling sta-
tions in the state.
monitoring of land and
ocean surfaces, weather
forecast and disaster
warning, as well as to pro-
vide satellite aided Search
and Rescue services (Sar)
among others.
At the end of the 27.5
hour countdown, the near-
ly 52 metre tall GSLV-F14
lifted-off majestically
from the second launch
pad at this spaceport here,
at a pre-fixed time of 5.35
pm.
The three stage rocket
with a cryogenic upper
stage, after a flight of
about 20 minutes, got sepa-
rated from the vehicle as
planned and placed the
satellite into a part, including Rafale,
Geosynchronous Transfer
Orbit.
Later, scientists at Isro
would undertake a series
of manoeuvres to place
the satellite into the Geo-
stationary orbit in the
coming days. — PTI
atrocities
against
committed
women
Sandeshkhali in Mamata
Banerjee-ruled
in
West
Bengal and severely criti-
cised Ms Banerjee and the
state government for
crimes against women.
The resolution also
accused the Opposition
bloc INDIA of engaging in
caste-based divisive poli-
tics.
Amid ongoing protests
by a section of farm
unions, defence minister
Rajnath Singh said in his
remarks while proposing
the resolution that no gov-
ernment has done as
much for farmers as the
one led by Mr Modi.
“Farmers are no less
than family for the Prime
Minister,” Mr Singh said.
to approach the Supreme
Court,” the NCP founder
elaborated.
Referring to the Ajit
Pawar-led faction’s past
statements about the
party’s name and the sym-
bol, Mr Pawar said they
had made a claim in public
meetings about obtaining
the party’s name and its
symbol in a stipulated
period. “After listening to
their statements, we had
anticipated all these deci-
sions,” the NCP founder
alleged.
The Sharad Pawar-led
group, now officially
named NCP (Sharad-
Fire fighters douse fire at Sujan Chemoplast company
in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.
■
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, FEB. 17
Pokhran range near
Jaisalmer, close to the
India-Pakistan border in
Rajasthan, reverberated
with thunderous explo-
sions and applause as the
Indian Air Force (IAF) on
Saturday displayed its
offensive lethality and
precision targeting capa-
bility through an
enthralling and formida-
ble display of its firepow-
er during mega exercise
Vayu-Shakti 2024, during
which 120 aircraft took
indigenous Tejas, Mirage-
2000 and Sukhoi.
During the exercise
Vayu-Shakti, 50 tonnes of
ordnance was dropped in
a short span of two hours
over an area of two square
km. The exercise began
Demand replacement of 4 ministers
Ranchi, Feb. 17: Amid
the strong resentment
brewing among a section
of Congress legislators in
Jharkhand over the
induction of four party
MLAs as ministers in the
Champai Soren-led JMM
government, eight of the
12 disgruntled legislators
took off for Delhi on
Saturday evening.
“We are travelling to
Delhi. Rest will be reach-
ing tomorrow. We will
hold discussions with
Congress leadership
there. We want replace-
ment of all the four. The
12 MLAs are together bar-
ring the four ministers
and MLA Pradeep Yadav,”
Congress legislator
Kumar Jaimangal, alias
Anup Singh, told PTI.
Unhappy with Cong-
ress’ decision to give min-
isterial berths to Alamgir
Alam, Ramesh-war
Oraon, Banna Gupta and
Badal Patralekh again,
the legislators went into a
huddle at a Ranchi hotel,
where JMM’s new minis-
ter Basant Soren, the
youngest son of party
supremo Shibu Soren,
reached to persuade them
to change their decision.
“There is no confusion.
We are all united,” Basant
Soren said after meeting
the MLAs.
Jharkhand chief minis-
ter Champai Soren and
state Congress president
Rajesh Thakur have
already reached Delhi
chandra Pawar), suffered
a jolt after Maharashtra
Assembly Speaker Rahul
Navekar recognised the
faction led by deputy chief
minister Ajit Pawar as the
“real” NCP, granting them
the party’s name and sym-
bol.
The Speaker also dis-
missed the disqualifica-
tion petitions, which were
filed by both factions of
the NCP.
Mr. Pawar said since
they knew that the deci-
sions would be “unjust
and unfair”, they were
ready for the next course
of action.
— PTI
with three Chetak heli-
copters trooping the
national flag and the IAF
ensign, flying past the
grandstand with the
national anthem playing
in the background. This
was followed by a perfect-
ly timed “sonic boom” cre-
ated by a Rafale aircraft.
Two Jaguar aircraft flying
at low levels followed the
Rafale, taking high fideli-
ty reconnaissance images
of the area.
In keeping with this
year’s theme of the exer-
cise, “Lightning Strike
from the Sky”, over 120
aircraft displayed the
lAF’s offensive capabili-
ties by day as well as by
night. Fighter aircraft of
the IAF, including the
Rafale, Su-30 MKI, MiG-29,
Mirage-2000, Tejas and
Hawk attacked and
destroyed simulated
pg 8
Jharkhand Congress MLA
Amba Prasad arrives at
Hotel Raso in Ranchi for a
meeting before leaving
for Jaipur. — PTI
where they will meet
Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge.
As many as 12 MLAs of
the grand old party have
threatened to boycott the
upcoming state Assembly
session from February 23
and head to Jaipur if the
ministers are not
replaced with new faces.
The JMM-led alliance in
the state has 47 MLAs
(JMM-29, Congress-17 and
one RJD) in the 81-mem-
ber Assembly.
Jharkhand Mukti
Morcha (JMM) MLA
Baidyanath Ram, who
was allegedly dropped
from the list of ministers
at the 11th hour, said he
would not tolerate “this
insult” and contest as an
Independent candidate in
the upcoming Assembly
polls if required. — PTI
Panel selects
Gulzar and
spiritual guru
for Jnanpith
New Delhi, Feb. 17:
Renowned Urdu poet
Gulzar and Sanskrit
scholar Jagadguru
Rambhadracharya have
been named the recipi-
ents of the
Jnanpith Award, the
58th
Jnanpith selection com-
mittee announced on
Saturday. Sampooran
Singh Kalra — popularly
known as Gulzar (89) —
is celebrated for his
works in Hindi cinema
and is considered one of
the finest Urdu poets of
this era.
Mr Rambhadracharya
(74) — the founder and
head of Tulsi Peeth in
Chitrakoot — is a
renowned Hindu spiritu-
al leader, educator and
writer of more than 240
books and texts, includ-
ing four epics.
In a statement, the
Jnanpith selection com-
mittee said, “It has been
decided to give the
award (for 2023) to emi-
nent writers from two
languages: Sanskrit lit-
terateur Jagadguru
Rambhadracharya and
well known Urdu littera-
teur Shri Gulzar.”
Gulzar received
Sahitya Akademi Award
for Urdu in 2002,
Dadasaheb Phalke
Award in 2013, Padma
Bhushan in 2004 and at
least five National Film
awards for his com-
mendable works in
Bollywood. — PTI
enemy targets on ground
and in the air.
These attacks were
delivered in multiple
modes, employing a vari-
ety of Precision Guided
Munitions as well as con-
ventional bombs and rock-
ets. Upholding the lAF’s
firm commitment to
“Atmanirbhar Bharat”,
the indigenously built
Tejas showcased its capa-
bility and destroyed an
aerial target with a mis-
sile, followed by the
engagement of a ground
target with bombs.
The IAF also displayed a
long-range unmanned dro
ne, which destroyed a sim-
ulated enemy radar site,
with pinpoint accuracy.
An IAF Rafale also suc-
cessfully engaged an aeri-
al target with a beyond
visual-range air-to-air
missile.
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024
pg 9

Pak CEC, CJ rigged poll, alleges Biden: Kyiv needs

SHORT TAKES
30-YR-OLD MAN
GUNS DOWN 12
RELATIVES IN IRAN
Tehran, Feb. 17: A 30-year-old
man killed 12 relatives, includ-
ing his father and brother in
Iran, official media reported on
Saturday, in a rare mass shoot-
ing in the country.
They said the man, who was
not identified, used a Kalashn-
ikov assault rifle and was later
shot and killed by security for-
ces in the province of Kerman.
They said the cause of the
shooting, in a remote rural vil-
lage, was a family dispute.
Mass killings are rare in Iran,
where hunting rifles are the
only weapons people are
allowed to possess.
FIRE IN U.S. HITS
INDIAN STUDENTS,
PROFESSIONALS
New York, Feb. 17: Some Ind-
ian students and professionals
were among dozens of people
displaced in a fire at a building
in New Jersey. There were no
reported injuries to occupants
or firefighters.
The fire started in the basem-
ent of a multi-family building
at 77 Nelson Avenue and spread
to the first and second floors
and then the roof on Thursday.
The fire also caused damage
to the roof of a neighbouring
building.
The Consulate General of
India in New York said it is
offering support to Indians
impacted by the fire.
PARIS POLICE
senior bureaucrat as he quits more US aid after
Prohibitory orders in Islamabad as PTI begins protests against rigging
Islamabad, Lahore, Feb.
17: A senior Pakistani bu-
reaucrat has stirred a hor-
net’s nest by alleging wide-
spread rigging aided by
the judiciary and top elec-
tion body in last week’s
poll against jailed ex-pri-
me minister Imran Khan’s
PTI party.
Authorities on Saturday
imposed prohibitory orde-
rs in Pakistan’s capital as
the PTI party began natio-
nwide protests against all-
eged rigging and stealing
of its mandate in the elec-
tions. The party has also
decided to sit in the Opp-
osition in Parliament.
Criticising the outcome
of the polls, which saw the
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf
party-backed independent
candidates emerging as
the largest group by winn-
ing over 90 National Asse-
mbly seats, the PTI anno-
unced holding country-
wide “peaceful protests”
against what it termed
“record-high rigging”.
“The PTI has called for
country-wide protests aga-
inst the unprecedented,
massive, brazen rigging in
general elections 2024,
where PTI’s win of 180
National Assembly seats
and a two-thirds majority
in the Parliament, was cut
down to half,” the party
said in a statement.
ARMY OFFERED PUNJAB CM POST TO MARYAM NAWAZ
PAK ARMY GAVE TWO
OPTIONS TO NAWAZ
Nawaz Sharif sacrificed
his ambition to become
Pakistan’s PM for a
record fourth term and
nominated his
younger
brother
Shehbaz for
the plum
post as the
powerful Army gave him
two options — either
choose premiership or
leave it to allow his
daughter Maryam to
become the chief minister
of Punjab.
NAWAZ SHARIF’S PML-N SLAMS IMRAN KHAN’S PARTY FOR SEEKING U.S. INTERVENTION
The PML-N has criticised ex-PM Imran Khan and his party PTI for seeking US intervention in the alleged
“rigging” of the Feb. 8 polls, saying “it goes against Pakistan’s sovereignty.” PML-N leader Marriyum Aurangzeb
also called out Khan and PTI for inviting the US despite accusing it in 2022 of bringing down his government.
As Rawalpindi commiss-
ioner Liaquat Ali Chattha
resigned from his post,
taking the “responsibility
for all this wrongdoing,”
Chief Justice of Pakistan
(CJP) Qazi Faez Isa term-
ed his allegations as “base-
less”. The Election Comm-
ission of Pakistan (ECP)
strongly rejected it and
Khan’s rival party, the
Supporters of former prime minister Imran Khan’s Pak-
istan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party protest against the
alleged skewing in Pakistan’s national election results,
in Peshawar on Saturday.
Pakistan Muslim League-
N (PML-N) called it a case
of “political allegiance”
dictating the bureaucrat’s
claims. Khan, however, cl-
aimed that the “incrimin-
ating” confession served
as “a stark revelation of
the countrywide systemat-
ic manipulation of poll
results where PTI’s signif-
icant leads were deceitful-
— AFP
ly tampered into losses.”
More than eight days
after voting took place,
there is still no clarity on
which party would form
the government.
Independent candidates
— a majority of them
backed by Khan’s Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) —
won 93 of the 265 National
Assembly seats and the pa-
Unclear where body taken
KEY TALIBAN
Navalny’s death
COMMANDER
Washington, Kharp,
Feb. 17: President Joe Bi-
REACTIONS FROM
AMONG SEVEN den said on Friday that ACROSS WORLD
ULTRAS ARRESTED the apparent death of Ru-
● China’s foreign min-
Counter Terrorism ssian anti-corruption act- istry declined to com-
Department of ivist Alexei Navalny brin-
gs new urgency to the ment on Saturday on the
Pakistan’s Punjab death of Russian opposi-
Police arrested need for Congress to okay
tens of billions of dollars tion leader Alexei
seven sus- for Ukraine to stave off Navalny, describing it as
pected
Moscow’s invasion. “Russia’s internal affair”.
terror- Navalny’s mother was
● G7 foreign ministers
ists, told on Saturday that Rus-
includ- sia’s most prominent opp- observed a minute’s
ing silence at the start of
osition leader had been
Husnain struck down by “sudden their meeting in Munich
death syndrome” and that on Saturday to pay their
Moaviya, a key com-
mander of Tehreek- his body would not be
handed over to the family
respects to Russian
opposition leader Alexei
e-Taliban Pakistan,
with weapons, explo-
until an investigation was
completed, his team said.
Navalny.
sives and other pro- Speaking at the White We will have the di-
hibited materials.
House, Biden said that no scussions with
matter the cause, he holds them. I am clear we will
Russian President Vladi- be taking action and I
mir Putin responsible for
would urge others
Navalny’s death. He said,
“I hope to God it helps to do the same.”
push US lawmakers to
send more aid to Kyiv.” — DAVID
rty, which has been alleg- Biden said that history CAMERON,
ing rigging right from the is watching lawmakers in UK FM
polling day, has embarked the House, which hasn’t
on a nationwide protest moved to take up a Sena-
against “stealing of its te-passed bill that would
mandate.” PTI’s two main
rivals, ex-PM Nawaz Shar-
send funds and armame-
nts to Ukraine, whose tro- 340 DETAINED
if ’s PML-N and Bilawal ops US officials say are
Bhutto-Zardari’s Pakistan
People's Party formed a
running out of munitions
on the battlefield.
AT EVENTS HELD
post-poll alliance earlier “The failure to support FOR NAVALNY
this week. — PTI Ukraine at this critical
moment will never be for- St Petersburg, Feb. 17:

SHOOT MAN WITH

gotten,” Biden said. “And At least 340 people have

Israel nabs 100 in Trump hit with $364 mn

the clock is ticking. This been detained at events

MEAT CLEAVER
Paris, Feb. 17: Paris police
shot dead a man who threate-
ned them early on Saturday
with a meat cleaver, prosecuto-
rs said, adding that they ope-
ned fire after using a Taser.
The man was born in 1984 in
Sudan and had no criminal rec-
ord. Two investigations had
been launched over the man’s
action and the police response.
He was wearing an Arab-style
robe and brandished a meat
cleaver and carried a notebook
with Arabic writing at a tram
stop. When police arrived on
the scene, the man refused to
drop the cleaver and proceeded
towards the police.
MIGRANT BOY, 5,
raids on hospital penalty in civil fraud case
Cairo, Jerusalem, Gen-
eva, Feb. 17: Israeli for-
ces carried out arrests in
Gaza’s largest functioni-
ng hospital, health offici-
als and the military said
on Saturday, as airstrikes
hit across the enclave and
rain battered Palestinia-
ns taking shelter in Rafah
even as head of the UN
agency for Palestinian re-
fugees said in an intervi-
ew published on Saturday
that Israel is waging a co-
ncerted campaign aimed
at destroying UNRWA.
IRAN UNVEILS
AIR DEFENCE
WEAPONRY
Tehran, Feb. 17: Iran
unveiled new weaponry
on Saturday including
what it said was the local-
ly made Arman anti-bal-
listic missile system and
the Azarakhsh low-alti-
tude air defence system,
the official IRNA news
New York, Feb. 17:
Donald Trump must pay
$354.9 million in penalties
for fraudulently overstat-
ing his net worth to dupe
lenders, a New York judge
ruled on Friday, handing
the former US president
another legal setback in a
civil case that imperils his
real estate empire.
Justice Arthur Engoron,
in a sharply worded deci-
sion issued after a conte-
ntious three-month trial
in Manhattan, also bann-
ed Trump, who is running
DONALD IN THE DOCK
THE FRAUD
$364 mn: Defendants fined
$370 mn: The amount the
attorney general’s office
asked for when they rested
their case in January.
BREAK-UP OF FINE
$168 mn: What Trump saved
on interest of several loans
by inflating value of his net
worth.
$126 mn: Profit made from
has to happen. We have to across 30 Russian cities
help now.” since the death of Alexei
Biden said the US had Navalny, President Vladi-
not confirmed Navalny’s mir Putin’s most formida-
death in a Russian prison
above the Arctic Circle,
but that he had no reason
to doubt it either.
ble domestic opponent,
according to rights group
OVD-Info.
It is the largest wave of
The President sharply arrests at political events
criticised House Republi- in Russia since Septe-
cans for letting the cham- mber 2022, when more
2 GIANT PENALTIES
FOR EX-PRESIDENT
ber enter a two-week rece-
ss without moving on the
than 1,300 were arrested
at demonstrations agai-
$83 mn for
defamation against
Ukraine funding.
“What are they thinking
nst a “partial mobilisa-
tion” of reservists for the
writer E. Jean my God,” Biden said. military campaign in
Carroll. “This is bizarre and it’s Ukraine. — Reuters
just reinforcing all of the
$354.9 mn for concern I won’t say panic
inflating the value
but real concern — about pushed for the Ukraine
of his assets on the US being an ally.” aid blamed the Republica-
government finan- Republican Speaker ns who have sided with
cial statements. Mike Johnson earlier this ex-president Donald Tru-
DON’S ASSETS
week said the House
won’t be rushed to pass
mp as he has urged its
defeat. Democratic leader

DIES FROM SEPSIS

AT U.S. SHELTER
Chicago, Feb. 17: The cause of
death for a 5-year-old Venezu-
elan boy who died in December
after becoming ill at a tempo-
rary shelter for migrants in
Chicago was sepsis and a bacte-
rial infection that causes strep
throat, an autopsy shows.
Jean Carlos Martinez died on
Dec. 17 as a result of sepsis due
to streptococcus pyogenes gro-
up A infection, which can cau-
se strep throat and other life-
threatening illnesses, the auto-
psy released showed.
Contributing factors in his
death were listed as Covid-19,
adenovirus and rhinovirus, the
Philippe Lazzarini said
calls for his resignation
were part of the Israeli
government’s push. “Rig-
ht now we are dealing
with an expanded, conce-
rted campaign by Israel
aimed at destroying UN-
RWA,” he told Swiss ne-
wspaper group Tamedia.
Israeli forces raided the
Nasser Hospital in Khan
Younis on Thursday as
they pressed their war on
Hamas, the Palestinian
Islamist group that rules
the enclave.
“Occupation forces deta-
ined a large number of
medical staff members
inside Nasser Medical
Complex, which they
(Israel) turned into a mil-
agency reported.
The announcement
came amid heightened
tensions in the region,
with Yemen’s Iran-backed
Houthi militants carry-
ing out a string of attacks
on vessels linked to the
US, UK and Israel in the
Red Sea in a show of soli-
darity with the Gaza
Strip. — Reuters
TARGETED OIL
TANKER POLLUX,
SAY HOUTHIS
Dubai, Feb. 17: Yemen’s
Iran-aligned Houthis clai-
to regain the presidency
this year, from serving as
an officer or director of
any New York corporation
for three years. Trump’s
lawyer Alina Habba vow-
ed to appeal.
Engoron cancelled his
prior ruling from Sept-
ember ordering the “diss-
olution” of companies
that control pillars of Tr-
ump’s real estate empire,
saying on Friday that this
was no longer necessary
because he is appointing
an independent monitor
and compliance director
to oversee Trump’s busi-
nesses. Trump and the
other defendants in the
case, Engoron wrote in
the ruling, “are incapable
sale of Washington’s Old
Post Office building.
● The judge also fined Don Jr
and Eric Trump about $4m
individually for the individual
profit distribution they
received from the sale of
the Old Post Office
building.
● The last $1m is a
fine for Allen
Weisselberg,
Trump’s former
finance chief, who
was paid $2m in a
separation
agreement with
the Trump
Organisation.
the aid, but on Friday he
$2.3 bn: Trump’s said Putin was a vicious
net worth in 2021,
dictator and the world kn-
according to ows he is likely directly
Bloomberg’s billion- responsible for the sudd-
aires’ list estimate. en death of his most pro-
minent political oppone-
2 rulings alone nt. “We must be clear that
could take out Putin will be met with un-
almost a fifth of ited opposition,” he said.
Trump’s net worth. “As Congress debates
$400 mn: More than the best path forward to
support Ukraine, the US,
that is what Trump and our partners, must be
has in cash.
$10 bn is what
using every means avail-
able to cut off Putin's
he was ability to fund his unpro-
worth voked war in Ukraine and
aggression against the
several
years
Baltic states.”
Lawmakers who have
ago.
Hakeem Jeffries said,
“Shame on the pro-Putin
MAGA extremists who
continue to block biparti-
san national security leg-
islation in the House,”
referencing Trump’s
Make American Great
Again slogan.
North Carolina Sen.
Thom Tillis who voted for
the Senate-passed aid
package, said that Naval-
ny laid down his life fight-
ing for a country he loved
and that Putin is a mur-
derous, paranoid dictator.
History will not be kind
to those in America who
make apologies for Putin.
— Agencies

autopsy showed. itary base,” said Gaza
health ministry spokesm-
an Ashraf al-Qidra.
1 DEAD, 11 HURT The Israeli military said
med responsibility on Sa-
turday for an attack on
the oil tanker M/T Pol-
lux, which US officials
of admitting the error of
their ways.”
“Their complete lack of
contrition and remorse
Taliban decrees
MEANWHILE: $37 mn: Paid by Trump’s Save America
political action committee (Pac) in legal fees.
$45.5 mn: Raised in the third quarter by

IN BLAST AT
VIRGINIA HOME
Sterling, Feb. 17: An explosi-
on possibly caused by a gas
leak levelled a home in Sterli-
ng, Virginia, on Friday night,
killing a firefighter and injur-
ing 11 other people.
Firefighters were called to the
home on Silver Ridge Drive by
a report of a gas smell shortly
after 7:30 pm and a fiery explo-
sion took place about 30 min-
utes later, fire officials said.
The blast and fire occurred
while firefighters were inside
the building, James Williams,
assistant chief of operations
for Loudon County Fire and
Rescue, said while speaking at
a news conference.
it was hunting for milita-
nts in Nasser and had so
far arrested 100 suspects
on the premises, killed
gunmen near the hospital
and found weapons inside
it. Hamas has denied alle-
gations that its fighters
use medical facilities for
cover. At least two releas-
ed Israeli hostages have
said that they were held
in Nasser.
The Israeli incursion
into the hospital has rais-
ed alarm about patients,
medical workers and dis-
placed Palestinians shel-
tering there. — Agencies
KEY | TEST Launch closely watched for Japan’s space development after H3 failed in ’23 debut flight
said the previous day had
been hit by a missile.
“The naval forces of the
Yemeni Armed Forces ca-
rried out a targeting oper-
ation against a British oil
ship (Pollux) in the Red
Sea with a large number
of appropriate naval mis-
siles,” Houthi military
spokesperson Yahya Sar-
ea said in a statement,
adding the strikes “were
accurate and direct”.
US Central Command
said that four anti-ship
ballistic missiles were la-
unched from Houthi-con-
trolled areas. — Reuters
borders on pathological.
Instead, they adopt a ‘See
no evil, hear no evil, speak
no evil’ posture that the
evidence belies.”
The lawsuit brought by
New York Attorney Gene-
ral Letitia James accused
Trump and his family bu-
sinesses of overstating his
net worth by as much $3.6
billion a year over a deca-
de to fool bankers into giv-
ing him better loan terms.
Trump, who faces crimin-
al charges in four other
cases, has called the laws-
uit a political vendetta by
James, a Democrat.
Republican candidate Trump who received the
most donations last fall.
In posts on his social
media platform, Trump
called Engoron “crooked,”
James “corrupt,” and the
case against him “ELEC-
TION INTERFERENCE”
and a “WITCH HUNT.”
“This ‘decision’ is a Co-
mplete and Total SHAM,”
Trump wrote. “We cannot
let injustice stand.”
Engoron, who decided
the case without a jury,
also barred Trump and
his companies named in
the suit from applying for
loans from any financial
institution chartered in
New York for three years,
which could curtail his
ability to obtain credit
from major US banks. The
judge said Trump and his
companies’ past run-ins
with the law were part of
the reason for the stiff
penalties. The Trump Or-
ganisation was found guil-
ty of criminal tax fraud in
2022. — Reuters
scare Af women
Islamabad, Feb. 17: Afg-
han women feel scared or
unsafe leaving their hom-
es alone because of Talib-
an decrees and enforce-
ment campaigns on cloth-
ing and male guardians,
said a report from the UN
mission in Afghanistan.
The report comes days
before a UN-convened me-
eting in the Qatari capital
is set to start, with mem-
ber states and special
envoys to Afghanistan to
discuss engagement with
the Taliban and the coun-
try’s crises, including the
human rights situation.
The Taliban which took
over Afghanistan in 2021
have barred women from
most areas of public life
and stopped girls from
going to school beyond
the sixth grade as part of
harsh measures they
imposed despite initial
promises of a more mod-
erate rule. — AP

PIO GETS LIFER IN

30-YEAR-OLD
LONDON MURDER
London, Feb. 17: An Indian-
origin man has been sentenced
to life imprisonment for murd-
ering a woman 30 years ago aft-
er he was connected to the bru-
tal killing through his strand of
hair found at the crime scene.
Sandip Patel, 51, was found
guilty of the murder of Marina
Koppel by stabbing her at least
140 times at her flat in London
in 1994.
The Metropolitan Police said
innovative work by its foren-
sics team on his hair found on a
ring worn by Koppel finally
brought Patel to justice all
these years later.
Japan’s flagship rocket achieves planned trajectory
Tokyo, Feb. 17: A Japan-
ese flagship H3 rocket lift-
ed off from a space station
in southwestern Japan on
Saturday, successfully ach-
ieving its planned trajecto-
ry and releasing two small
observation satellites in a
key second test, overcom-
ing its failed debut launch
a year ago and buoying
hope for the country to be
competitive in the global
space race.
The H3 rocket blasted off
from a launch pad at the
Tanegashima Space Cent-
re on time Saturday morn-
ing, two days after its orig-
inally scheduled liftoff
was delayed due to bad
weather. The rocket succe-
ssfully achieved the plann-
ed trajectory and released
the two satellites, the Jap-
an Aerospace Exploration
Agency, or JAXA, said.
“We feel so relieved to be
able to announce the good
results,” JAXA president
Hiroshi Yamakawa told a
news conference. H3’s
main missions are to secu-
re independent access to
space and to acquire glob-
al competitiveness amid
growing international de-
mand for satellite launch-
es. “We made a big first
step today toward achievi-
ng that goal,” Yamakawa
said. Saturday’s success is
I now feel a heavy load
taken off my shoulders.
But now is the real start for
H3, and we will work to
steadily improve it.
— MASASHI OKADA
JAXA H3 project manager
a boost for Japan’s space
programme following a
recent streak of successes,
including a historic preci-
sion touchdown on the
Moon of an unmanned
spacecraft last month.
Saturday’s launch was cl-
osely watched as a test for
Japan’s space developme-
nt after H3 failed in its
debut flight last March.
JAXA and its main contra-
ctor Mitsubishi Heavy Ind-
ustries have been develop-
ing H3 as a successor to its
current mainstay, H-2A,
which is set to retire after
two more flights.
As the rocket soared and
released its first payload
successfully, project mem-
bers at the JAXA comma-
nd centre cheered and hug-
ged each other.
NHK television said
some staff at a press cent-
re were seen crying with
relief and joy. JAXA H3
project manager Masashi
Okada called the result
“perfect,” saying H3 clear-
ed all missions set for Sat-
urday’s flight. “I now feel a
heavy load taken off my
shoulders. But now is the
real start for H3, and we
will work to steadily imp-
rove it.” The H3 No. 2 rock-
et was decorated with tho-
usands of stickers carry-
ing cheering messages
sent from well-wishers ar-
ound the country. In its
debut flight last March,
the rocket had to be destr-
oyed along with its paylo-
ad, the advanced land ob-
servation satellite, or
ALOS-3, triggering disapp-
ointment and uncertainty
about Japan’s space explo- An H3 rocket lifts off at Tanegashima Space Centre in
ration plans. — AP Kagoshima, southern Japan, on Saturday. — AP
 BOOKS
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thanks to this unforgettable
book by former ambassador
Bhaswati Mukherjee, The
Indentured and their Route: a
Relentless Quest for Identity,
which is a tribute to the 1.5 mil-
lion Indians shipped out
between 1834 and 1917 to
British plantations across the
globe. The writer, Amitav
Ghosh, first drew Indians’
attention to this history with
his immersive albeit fictional
Sea of Poppies, and Mukherjee
follows in his footsteps with a
well-researched account.
the boring, anodyne verbiage
that bureaucrats are infamous
for, Bisaria has a very engaging
style of writing — from the title
of the book to its content, it is
almost like a novel — which
makes the book not just a racy
read, but also regales the reader
with interesting anecdotes and
vignettes. But at its heart, it is
an academic work which is
panoramic in its scale and
scope.
Much of the media publicity
around the book centred around
revelations of what transpired
during one of the most tense
periods, when the two countries
were literally on the brink of a
conflict that could easily spiral
out of control — the crisis fol-
lowing the Pulwama suicide
bombing by Pakistani terrorists
and the Indian air strikes in
Balakot. Bisaria was then serv-
ing as high commissioner in
Islamabad and had a ring side
view of what happened and
what could have happened. But
there is a lot more to commend
the book, more so because earli-
er in his career, when Bisaria
was serving in the Vajpayee
PMO, he witnessed from up
close on the inside both the
Kargil conflict and the subse-
five siblings. It is dedicated to
his memory with the “aim of
honoring his legacy and shar-
ing the light he brought to the
world”. However, the book has
several contradictions and
omissions that detract from its
overall impact. Important
details such as Sushant’s role
in Shweta’s life, his mental
health and Shweta’s spiritual
guidance to him are conspicu-
ously missing. Apart from a
few childhood memories, the
book seems to be more about
the author’s journey of self-dis-
covery and healing than a sin-
cere tribute to Sushant.
Shweta, who was born in the
1980s in Patna as the daughter
of Usha Singh and Krishna
Kishore Singh, briefly men-
tions her Rajput family in the
book. However, she refrains
from discussing several social
realities such as the challenges
faced by a girl in Bihar, the
influence of caste and class.
When Shweta visited the
Dakshineswar Kali temple in
Inveigled by false promises
into a lifetime of near-slavery
in British plantation colonies
in Mauritius, Fiji, the Ca-
ribbeans, and elsewhere, these
indentured men, and even
more so women, nonetheless
managed, by sheer resilience
and hard work, to surmount
unimaginable adversities,
helping create the aptly named
“rainbow nations” of the
Indian diaspora.
The web of deception that
promoted indenture in India
had many facets, and many
facilitators. The British, forced
to abolish slavery in 1833 found
themselves without slaves to
cultivate the sugar planta-
tions. In India, they had creat-
ed a wasteland of hunger with
quent diplomacy between the
two countries.
Going through the book, it is
quite apparent that India’s poli-
cy towards Pakistan has oscil-
lated between realism and
romanticism, with some hoary
notion of nostalgia affecting
many policy makers of yore.
Until at least the first half of the
first term of Narendra Modi,
every Prime Minister of India
seemed to aspire to make a
breakthrough in relations with
Pakistan, only to realise that
pursuing normalisation is a
mug’s game. A big problem has
ANGER MANAGEMENT: THE
TROUBLED DIPLOMATIC
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN
INDIA AND PAKISTAN
By AJAY BISARIA
Aleph
pp. 527; `999
Kolkata as a teenager, she burst
into tears in front of the idol.
She later explained this as an
intense feeling of separation or
“viraha”. She also mentioned
her mother’s teaching that
“God always listens” which she
accepted as fact. The book is
full of such scattered confes-
sions that fail to question or dig
deep into why these feelings of
abandonment and unshakable
faith arose in the author’s life.
The chapter titled ‘My Spir-
itual Insights and Break-
throughs’ contains descrip-
tions of “Experiencing Krish-
na”, “Aparokshanubhtu —
PAIN: A PORTAL TO
ENLIGHTENMENT
By SHWETA SINGH KIRTI
Penguin
pp. 256, `399
Palestine. Published in 2017, Minor Detail has two parts, first recalling a true story
of a 1949 gang rape and murder of a young Arab Bedouin-Palestinian girl by
Israeli soldiers, and next telling of a fictional modern day account of life of a
Palestinian woman who tries to investigate this incident. It is Shibli’s third novel.
Shibli writes in Arabic. She speaks Arabic, English, Hebrew, French, Korean, and
German and splits her time between Berlin and Jerusalem with her children.
taxation levels of 50-60 per cent
ruthlessly enforced. Millions
of peasants were dispossessed
after the 1793 Permanent Set-
tlement reduced them from
small landholders to tenants at
the mercy of the zamindars.
Farmers and artisans ruined
by deliberate de-industrialisa-
tion aimed at promoting Bri-
tish exports to India faced des-
titution. They were perfect
candidates for indenture.
The book has chilling details
of the horrors of indenture.
Overcrowded former slave
ships were used to transport
the indentured, in wretched,
insanitary conditions with
inadequate food and drinking
water drawn from the cholera
infected stream of the Hooghly
River (the ship’s crew did not
drink that water!). Those who
contracted cholera were
thrown overboard even before
they died, their orphaned chil-
dren being looked after by the
surviving jahazbhais and
jahazbehens. This was the fate
that befell the great grandpar-
ents of former Mauritius Cab-
inet minister Mookhesswur
been that generally the points of
reference of India’s outreach to
Pakistan didn’t take into
account the objective realities of
a country that is unabashed in
its enmity towards India which
it frames in civilisational terms.
With a new generation coming
to the fore in both diplomacy
and politics, there appears to be
a discernible shift in favour of a
more cold, calculated, hard-
nosed approach and discarding
the rose tinted lens of nostalgia
and romanticised notions of
normal and friendly relations
with Pakistan.
The muddled approach
towards Pakistan was only part-
ly an affliction of politicians. It
was equally if not more a mala-
dy of diplomats who after hav-
ing served in Pakistan suffered
from a kind of Stockholm (or
should we call
Islamabad/Lahore syndrome).
The constant desire to give
Pakistan another chance has for
long been the bane of India’s
policy towards that country.
Worse is the Mother India com-
plex of trying to save Pakistan
from itself. Bisaria describes
how different diplomats have
given different prescriptions on
fixing ties with Pakistan. What
emerges quite clearly is that
most of these prescriptions on
engaging the Pakistanis have
erred on the side of taking a
very narrow and limited view of
what the craft of diplomacy
entails. For some strange rea-
son, Indian diplomats think that
remaining engaged is an end in
itself when quite clearly, a dia-
logue is at best a tool of diplo-
Contemplation, Realisation
and Oneness”, “Emptiness and
Light Experience” and “Exp-
eriencing Death Two-and-a-
Half Times”. It is full of fleet-
ing examples of religious delu-
sion and tidbits about reincar-
nation and depersonalisation.
For example, when Shweta lost
her mother in December 2002,
she had a strange open-eyed
nightmare. She saw Kali Maa,
described in the book as a
“dark Hindu goddess”, approa-
ching her and pulling some-
thing out of her body. Since the
author knew nothing about
“yogic meditation” or “dream
yoga” at the time, it seems logi-
cal that this was a confabula-
tion to make sense of her mo-
ther’s death. Confabulation is a
memory disorder in which peo-
ple produce false memories,
especially after trauma. What
is certainly missing from such
personalised confessions is the
author’s ability to critique her
own mind.
The book then delves into sci-
entific explanations of “pain”,
misidentification of physical
body, mind and character, the
path to enlightenment, stabilis-
ing and living enlightenment,
and finally rebirth as a spiritu-
al being. Towards the end, the
author poses a question to the
readers: “Who is the one who
knows God?” Her answer rev-
olves around the concept of “I
Choonee. There were also
many deaths in harsh quaran-
tine after landing.
The Aapravasi Ghat in Mau-
ritius, through which more
than half a million of these
unfortunates passed, either to
plantations there or farther
THE INDENTURED AND
THEIR ROUTE: A RELENTLESS
QUEST FOR IDENTITY
By BHASWATI
MUKHERJEE
Rupa, pp. 232, `595
pg 10
OFF THE SHELF
A
lthough it
macy, and certainly not the only
seems scarce-
ly imaginable
one. now, there was a
What most Indian policymak-
time, not very long
ers and diplomats haven’t got ago, when American
about Pakistan is that even the
talk of looking for an opportu-
Jews were free to
have no particular
nity to engage or making a thoughts or feelings
breakthrough with Pakistan is
seen by the other side as a sign
about Israel. This
was true not only of
of weakness of “Hindu Baniya” run-of-the-mill Jews
not having the staying power to but of intellectuals
confront Pakistan. After more THE NECESSITY OF and writers as well.
than seven decades one would EXILE: ESSAYS FROM And it wasn’t merely
imagine that India would have that assimilation—
A DISTANCE
the clarity that until objective
conditions change in Pakistan,
By SHAUL
an act at once ideal-
istic, pragmatic, and
efforts to have even a modicum mortifying—was
of normalcy is not only point- MAGID more pressing to a
less but even counterproduc- Ayin Press Philip Roth or a Saul
tive. Of course, this is not to pp. 313, `1,877 Bellow than one’s
advocate shutting down of com-
munication channels, only to
relationship,
way or another, to
one
point to the desultoriness of a the nascent Jewish state. It’s that Israel, and
political dialogue with an unre- Zionism, didn’t seem like relevant objects of
it formed, unreconstructed Pakis- concern. This is no longer a tenable position.
tan. And yet Indian diplomats Here is a timely, progressive collection of
persist what what they call out-
of-the-box prescriptions — peo-
essays on the Jewish relationship to Zionism
and exile. In a series of incisive essays, Magid
ple to people contacts, cultural challenges us to consider the price of diminish-
contacts, opening up trade, etc. ing or even erasing the exilic character of
— all of which have bombed. Jewish life. A thought-provoking work of polit-
The bottomline of India and ical imagination, The Necessity of Exile
Pakistan relationship is that reclaims exile as a positive stance for construc-
normalcy is not possible until
Pakistan reconciles to the reali-
ty and existence of India.
tive Jewish engagement with Israel-Palestine.
Bisaria’s tour-de-force which is
S
otherwise a superb book, miss- et in the early
es this critical point. At least he
doesn’t say it with the starkness
decades of the
Mughal Em-
and clarity it needs to be said pire, this first ever
and repeated over and over biography of Prin-
until it sinks in and is inter- cess Gulbadan, the
nalised. daughter of Emp-
eror Babur, offers
The writer is senior fellow, an enthralling por-
Observer Research Foundation trait of a charis-
matic adventurer
and the multicul-
tural society in
VAGABOND PRINCESS : which she lived.
THE GREAT ADVENTURES Following a migra-
tory childhood in
OF GULBADAN Kabul and north
By RUBY LAL India, Gulbadan
am”, defended by French phil- Juggernaut spent her middle
osopher René Descartes’ philo- years in a walled
sophical statement “cogito, pp. 280; `699 harem established
ergo sum” (I think, therefore I
am). Descartes would later pose
by her nephew
Akbar. Longing for the exuberant itinerant
the question, “in what form do lifestyle she had known, she led, with Akbar’s
I exist (?)”, but the author does- blessing, an extended pilgrimage by harem
n’t engage with this challenge.
Grief, trauma and confusion
women to Mecca and other parts of Arabia.
Amid increasing political tensions, the
persist. The reader remains an women’s “un-Islamic” behaviour forced their
outside observer, discouraged return, which was lengthened by a dramatic
by the book itself from engag- shipwreck in the Red Sea. Gulbadan wrote a
ing in any sustained internali- book upon her return, the only surviving work
sation of the scientific terms of prose by a woman of her times. A portion of
scattered sporadically. it is missing, either lost to history or redacted
Thus, the lingering question by officials who did not want the princess to
remains: Why was the book have her say. As she contemplates the story of
written? While Pain: A Portal the missing pages, Lal breathes new life into an
to Enlightenment is an ambi- extraordinary Mughal figure, and establishes
tious attempt written with her place in history.
good intentions, it does not ser-
ve the interests of trauma sur-
vivors but instead becomes a
H
victim of the trauma industry ailed as the
itself. As feminist Mary Beard Snakeman of
argued in a piece called ‘The India, Rom-
Public Voice of Women’, the an- ulus Whitaker has
guished woman is an archetype
bred of a history that values
had a lifelong love
affair with the
women’s voices only when they fierce creatures.
come from a personal place of This first volume of
pain. Lack of originality, along his fascinating
with the exaggerated person-
alised confessions, are largely
memoir brings the
India of the 1950s
packaged to conform to an age- and the US of the
old model of trauma and vic- 1960s to life.
timhood — one that sells. SNAKES, DRUGS AND When his mother
Dr Shubhda Chaudhary is
a scholar and think tank
ROCK ‘N’ ROLL : MY married
EARLY YEARS
and moved
to Mumbai, Whit-
aker was trans-
member By R.WHITAKER and planted from a con-
JANAKI LENIN ventional child-
HarperCollins
pp. 400; `699
hood in the US to
what was for him
the exciting world
of India. At board-
ing school in Kodai, he kept a pet python under
his bed and realised that all he really wanted to
do was work with snakes. This book tells the
story of a boy who would become one of the
greatest conservationists of his generation.
slowly put down roots wherev-
away, was for most a Gate of mayana and the Quran were
No Return. In 2006, Unesco in- treasured; Bhojpuri folk cul- er they were, becoming small
scribed it in the World He-
ritage List, thanks to the au-
ture was lovingly preserved.
The chapter on indentured
farmers and establishing set-
tlements with schools, temples
thor fighting off British at- women is both heartbreaking and mosques, and even the
tempts to falsely equate inden- and uplifting. Single women age-old panchayat system.
ture with modern voluntary were especially at risk from Unfortunately, despite this
migration. In 2014, the Inter-
national Indentured Labour
predators, even onboard ships.
British and Indian misogyny
remarkable success story, the
hostility between them and the
Route was included in the and patriarchal conservatism original inhabitants and/or
Unesco’s Memory of the World joined hands to routinely slan- freed slaves — deliberately cre-
Register. It was a twin of the der indentured women as ated by the British, including
infamous Slave Route. “immoral”. Hindu-Muslim by strictly enforcing ethnic se-
The ruthless exploitation of marriages were not legally paration — became a serious
the indentured by plantation recognised. Subjected to both source of conflict, especially in
owners is exposed, using ex- racism and sexism, working in Fiji, where it led to a massive
tensive, carefully tabulated da- the plantations and at home, Indian exodus.
ta. Mauritius, Reunion Island, bearing children with no Indenture eventually ended
and Fiji are analyzed as case maternity support and rearing in 1917, but the quest of the
studies. Despite hard labour, at them, paid less than the men, indentured for their identity
times for 18 hours a day, un- these incredible women none- remained. Identity is primari-
breakable contracts (agreem- theless helped create tradition- ly rooted in a sense of belong-
ents, pronounced as girmit) to al Indian family structures ing. Mother India has emb-
specific employers, travel be- and preserve Indian culture in raced these lost children of
ing prohibited, double wage their new homelands. They hers as cherished pravasis.
cuts for absence from work, even accessed education and The warmth of this accept-
corporal punishment, and formed Mahila Mandals to ance would surely have healed
breaking up of attempts at lab- fight oppression, often joining the fracture in their psyche.
our solidarity, the Girmitiyas together to beat up the abusive Bhaswati Mukherjee’s book
clung to their language, social overseers! Sadly, their voices, is a trailblazer.
and ethnic traditions and, their contributions and sacri-
above all, faith. Copies of the fices, were overlooked. The writer is a retired
Bhagavad Gita, Valmiki Ra- Over time, the indentured diplomat
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024
pg 11

SHORT TAKES
Jyothi rewrites
her own record
Tehran, Iran: Rising Indian
sprinter Jyothi Yarraji marginal-
ly bettered her own national
record by clocking 8.12 seconds
in the women’s 60m hurdles to
win gold medal at the Asian
Indoor Athletics Championships
here Saturday. The 2022 Asian
Games silver medallist in the
100m hurdles had the previous
best timing of 8:13s at the same
event last year which had
earned her a runner-up finish.
The 24-year-old athlete topped
her heat with a timing of 8:22s
and in the final she did better
to finish ahead of Japan’s
Asuka Tereda (8.21s).
Lui Lai Yiu of Hong Kong
(8:26s) took the third place on
the podium.
Jyothi is the reigning Asian
Outdoor champion in the 100m
hurdles, having won the title in
Bangkok last year.
She had returned with a silver
in the 100m hurdles from
Hangzhou Asian Games after
initially being disqualified.
— PTI
Indian men win in
World TT opener
Busan, Korea: The Indian men’s
team secured a comfortable 3-
0 victory over Chile to open its
World Table Tennis Team
Championships campaign on a
winning note here on Saturday.
Star Indian paddler Sharath
Kamal, ranked 95, started off
the proceedings in dominant
fashion, racing to a 11-5, 11-8, 11-
6 win over world number 53
Nicholas Burgos.
India’s top-ranked paddler and
reigning national champion
Harmeet Desai continued the
momentum, beating the lowly-
ranked Gustavo Gomez for a
facile 11-8, 11-7, 11-6 win.
G. Sathiyan was stretched in the
first game by Olivares Felipe
but the Indian paddler battled
it out to seal the tie with a 12-
10, 11-8, 11-8 victory.
The win has taken India (2
points) to third position in
Group 3 behind South Korea (4
points) and Chile (3 points),
who have played two ties each.
The Indian men’s team will take
on Poland on Sunday followed
by South Korea on Monday and
New Zealand on Tuesday.
The Indian women’s team will
also be in action on Sunday
against Hungry. — PTI
Sachin visits bat
factory in Kashmir
Srinagar: A cricket bat manu-
facturer in the Sangam area
here was in for a pleasant sur-
prise when Sachin Tendulkar
and his family visited his manu-
facturing unit on Saturday.
Tendulkar, accompanied by wife
Anjali and daughter Sara,
stopped by at a unit in Charsoo
on the Srinagar-Jammu high-
way and interacted with the
workers there.
“We were busy making bats
when a vehicle stopped at our
gate. We were pleasantly sur-
prised to find the Little Master
and his family,” Mohammad
Shaheen Parray, owner of MJ
Sports, said over phone.
Parray said Tendulkar checked
the quality of the bats made of
Kashmir willow.
“He stroked a few bats and was
quite pleased with the quality.
Tendulkar said he had come to
compare the Kashmir willow
bats with those made of
English willow.
“We requested him to lend his
voice in support of the local
bats,” Parray said, adding the
batting maestro promised to
support the Kashmir willow
bats.
Parray said Tendulkar spent an
hour at the manufacturing unit
and interacted with a small
bunch of fans. — PTI
JAZZWAL!
Yashasvi rocks England with ton as India in cruise control
Rajkot, Feb. 17:
Yashasvi Jaiswal’s
dream season just got
better as he singlehand-
edly seized the initiative
from England with a siz-
zling century, putting
India in complete con-
trol at the end of third
day’s play in the third
Test.
Jaiswal’s (104 retired
hurt off 133 balls) sec-
ond ton of the series was
beautifully complement-
ed by Shubman Gill (65
batting, 120 balls), who
curbed his natural
aggression as India
ended the day at 196 for 2
in 51 available overs.
The left-handed open-
er, who will be torch-
bearer of Indian batting
for the next decade,
scored his third Test
hundred in only seventh
Test appearance before
the blazing blade was
brought to a halt by back
spasms that forced him
to retire.
The Jaiswal-Gill pair
added 155 runs in quick
time with the former
giving the English team
a test of its own medi-
cine with nine fours and
five sixes, the best being
the imperious pull off
Jimmy Anderson.
The overall lead
swelled to 322 by stumps,
after Indian bowlers
made a splendid come-
back, getting last five
England wickets for only
29 runs with visitors
being bowled out for 319.
Mohammed Siraj (4/84
in 21.1 overs) was bril-
liant with his yorkers to
tail-enders while
Kuldeep Yadav (2/77 in
18 overs) compensated
brilliantly for
Ravichandran Ashwin’s
unfortunate withdrawal
with two quick wickets
in the morning session.
However it was Joe
Root’s indiscreet reverse
ramp off Jasprit
Bumrah which Jaiswal
pouched with less than a
second’s reaction time
that turned the tables.
“That shot was not on
and it became a turning
point,” Siraj said at post-
match press conference.
Rohit Sharma’s cap-
taincy was spot-on and
the manner in which he
tweaked Jasprit
Bumrah’s field position
at long-on to get Ben
Stokes dismissed off
Ravindra Jadeja (2/51)
spoke volumes about his
acumen. On Sunday,
India would be looking
to take a lead of at least
425 if not 450 and have at
least 125 overs to bowl
out England. With no
Ashwin available, India
would need a cushion of
more overs on a deck
that is still good for bat-
ting. Jaiswal’s onslaught
continued despite
England frenetically
changing their bowling
and fielding plans but
none worked enough to
stop the Indian opener.
Unfazed with
England’s deployments,
Jaiswal dealt in singles
once into his 90s and
brought up his third cen-
tury of fledgling career
with a four off Wood.
— PTI
Yashasvi Jaiswal celebrates his century on the third day of the third Test against
England in Rajkot on Saturday.
Jaiswal a superstar in making: Duckett
Rajkot, Feb. 17:
England’s Ben Duckett on
Saturday called India’s
Yashasvi Jaiswal a “super-
star in the making” but
said his side deserves
credit for inspiring play-
ers in the opposition camp
to bat aggressively in Test
cricket.
Jaiswal dished out his
own version of England’s
much talked-about
‘Bazball’ approach of run-
making in Test cricket,
cracking nine fours and
five sixes in his 133-ball
104 before retiring hurt
due to back spasms.
“When you see players
from the opposition play-
ing like that, it almost
feels like we should take
some credit that they’re
playing differently than
how other people play Test
When you see players from the opposition
playing like that, it almost feels like we
should take some credit that they’re playing
differently than how other people play Test
cricket.
cricket,” Duckett told the
media during a press con-
ference here.
“We saw it a bit in the
summer and it’s quite
exciting to see other play-
ers and other teams are
also playing that aggres-
sive style of cricket.”
“He looks like a super-
star in the making, unfor-
tunately he’s in some very
good form at the moment.
He’s due a couple of low
ones,” Duckett said while
making a tongue-in-cheek
— AP
BEN DUNKETT,
ENGLAND OPENER
remark. Duckett, however,
defended former England
captain and senior batter
Joe Root, whose reverse-
ramp shot off Jasprit
Bumrah resulted in his
dismissal, which also
sparked a collapse of sorts
in the visiting ranks.
“I’d be interested to
know if those people were
against it when he was
doing it to Pat Cummins
and hitting him for six in
the summer,” Duckett shot
back.
SCOREBOARD
India 1st Innings: 445
England 1st Innings
(overnight 207/2): Zak
Crawley c Patidar b
Ashwin 15, Ben Duckett c
Gill b Kuldeep 153, Ollie
Pope lbw Siraj 39, Joe
Root c Jaiswal b Bumrah
18, Jonny Bairstow lbw
Kuldeep 0, Ben Stokes c
Bumrah b Jadeja 41, Ben
Foakes c Rohit b Siraj 13,
Rehan Ahmed b Siraj 6,
Tom Hartley st Jurel b
Jadeja 9, Mark Wood not
out 4, James Anderson b
Siraj 1. Extras (b-6, lb-5,
nb-4, pen-5) 20. Total (all
out in 71.1 overs) 319.
FoW: 1-89, 2-182, 3-224, 4-
225, 5-260, 6-299, 7-299,
8-314, 9-314.
Bowling: Jasprit Bumrah
15-1-54-1, Mohammed Siraj
21.1-2-84-4, Kuldeep Yadav
18-2-77-2, Ravichandran
Ashwin 7-0-37-1, Ravindra
Jadeja 10-0-51-2.
India 2nd Innings: Yashasvi
Jaiswal retired hurt 104,
Rohit Sharma lbw Root 19,
Shubman Gill batting 65,
Rajat Patidar c Rehan
Ahmed b Hartley 0,
Kuldeep Yadav batting 3.
Extras (lb-5) 5. Total (For
2 wickets in 51 overs) 196.
FoW: 1-30, 1-185 (Jaiswal
retired hurt), 2-191.
Bowling: James Anderson
6-1-32-0, Joe Root 14-2-
48-1, Tom Hartley 15-2-42-
1, Mark Wood 8-0-38-0,
Rehan Ahmed 8-0-31-0.
INDIAN TEAM PAYS
TRIBUTE TO DATTAJI
Rajkot, Feb. 17: Indian
players wore black arm-
bands in the memory of
former captain
Dattajirao Gaekwad on
the third day of the
ongoing third Test
against England here on
Saturday.
Dattajirao, who played
11 Tests for India
between 1951 and 1962,
died on February 13
after remaining hospi-
talised for 12 days.
At 95, he was India’s
oldest living Test crick-
eter.
Dattajirao was the
father of former India
batter and coach
Aunshuman Gaekwad.
— PTI
“I’ve no words really for
it. It’s the same as me play-
ing a reverse sweep and
getting caught at point.
Options are practised and
that shot has been very
successful for him over
the past year, so next time
it may go over the slips,”
Duckett said.
Duckett said India had
better plans in place for
Day Three.
“It was one of those days
when I feel we have to give
credit to India. This morn-
ing they were very good
and they didn’t make it
easy to score,” he said.
“It felt like their plans
were a lot better than
maybe last night and
unfortunately we just kept
on losing wickets at the
wrong times,” he said.
— PTI
ASIAN TEAM | BADMINTON
Indian women
in maiden final
Shah Alam (Malaysia),
Feb. 17: India kept alive
hopes of winning a first-
ever gold in Badminton
Asia Team
Championships after the
women shuttlers pro-
gressed to their maiden
final with a 3-2 win over
two-time former champi-
ons Japan in a thrilling
semifinal here on
Saturday.
The world No. 23 pair of
Treesa Jolly and Gayatri
Gopichand, world No. 53
Ashmita Chaliha and 17-
year-old Anmol Kharb
registered stunning wins
in the first doubles and
second and deciding sin-
gles to take India through
to the summit clash.
India will face Thailand
in the final on Sunday.
India had won two
bronze medals in men’s
team event in the 2016 and
2020 editions.
Though Japan were
without their world No. 4
Akane Yamaguchi, the
world No. 7 pair of Yuki
Fukushima and Sayaka
Hirota and world No. 8
combination of Mayu
Matsumoto and Wakana
Nagahara, they were still
a formidable side, making
it tough for India.
Returning from a long
injury layoff, Sindhu had
enjoyed wins against
China’s Han Yue and
Hong Kong’s Lo Sin Yan
Happy but she couldn’t
produce her best against
the left-handed Aya
Ohori, going down 13-21,
20-22 in the first singles to
peg India back.
Treesa and Gayatri,
playing the first doubles,
Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah celebrates scoring against
Brentford during the Premier League match at the Gtech
Community Stadium in London on Saturday.
Leaders Reds
rout Brentford
London, Feb. 17:
Mohamed Salah returned
in style with a goal in
Liverpool’s 4-1 rout of
Brentford as the Premier
League leaders survived a
rash of injuries to step up
their title charge on
Saturday.
Salah came off the
● The world No. 23
pair of Treesa Jolly and
Gayatri Gopichand,
world No. 53 Ashmita
Chaliha and 17-year-
old Anmol Kharb
registered stunning
wins in the first
doubles and second
and deciding singles to
take India through to
the summit clash.
dished out a superlative
performance to outwit
world No. 6 Nami
Matsuyama and Chiharu
Shida 21-17, 16-21, 22-20 in
a 73-minute contest as
India drew level at 1-1.
Up against former world
champion Nozomi
Okuhara, who is current-
ly ranked 20, the left-
handed Ashmita pro-
duced an aggressive
game, using her overhead
cross drops and jump
smashes to good use, to
record a shocking 21-17,
21-14 win to hand India a
2-1 lead.
With Tanisha Crasto
suffering a niggle, Sindhu
then paired up with
Ashwini Ponnappa but
they couldn’t get across
the world No. 11 pair of
Rena Miyaura and Ayako
Sakuramoto, losing 14-21,
11-21 in 43 minutes.
With the five-match rub-
ber evenly poised at 2-2,
Anmol was handed the
responsibility of taming
world No. 29 Natsuki
Nidaira, and the Indian
once again lived up to the
expectation, claiming a
21-14, 21-18 win in 52 min-
utes. — PTI
— AP
RESULT
Brentford 1
(Toney 75)
Liverpool 4
(Nunez 35, Mac Allister
55, Salah 68, Gakpo 86)

TN take firm control against Punjab

Milan stretch
lead at the top
Milan, Italy: Inter Milan
stretched their lead at the top
of Serie A to 10 points on
Friday after cruising past sorry
Salernitana 4-0 ahead of their
Champions League clash with
Atletico Madrid.
Simone Inzaghi looks increas-
ingly likely to claim the first
league title of his coaching
career with a rampant Inter
team who made short work of
rock-bottom Salernitana.
Star strike partnership Marcus
Thuram and Lautaro Martinez
set Inter on their way with two
goals in the space of two first-
half minutes, before Denzel
Dumfries tapped home the
third five minutes before the
break and Marko Arnautovic
completed the scoring late on.
It was yet another show of
force from Inter who started
with a line-up close to Inzaghi’s
favoured starting XI and want
to beat AC Milan to 20 league
crowns. Juventus can cut the
deficit back to seven with a
game more played if they win
at Verona on Saturday. — AFP
Salem, Feb. 17: Tamil
Nadu took firm control of
their Ranji Trophy Group
‘C’ match by packing off
the Punjab top-order after
big hundreds by Baba
Indrajith and Vijay
Shankar powered the
hosts to 435 in their first
innings. Punjab were
141/4 at stumps on the sec-
ond day, trailing by 294
runs. Batting on 88
overnight, Shankar duly
reached his century with
the help of 12 fours and a
six, while Indrajith went
on to make 187 in 295 deliv-
eries after resuming the
day on 122.
Indrajith, who added 281
runs for the fourth wicket,
found the fence 10 times
and cleared it once.
MUMBAI THRASH
ASSAM
In Mumbai, All-rounder
Shardul Thakur’s match
haul of 10 wickets was
complemented by Shivam
Dube’s counter-attacking
bench to replace the the top. Second placed
injured Diogo Jota in his
first Liverpool appear-
Manchester City and
third placed Arsenal, who
ance since their win over
Newcastle on New Year’s
play later on Saturday
against Chelsea and
ping the issue inside two Day. Burnley respectively, can
RANJI TROPHY BRIEF SCORES days. Mumbai encoun- Having returned from reduce the gap to
tered a solitary loss — the hamstring injury he Liverpool, who are chas-
■ In Salem: Tamil Nadu 435 in 131.4 overs (Baba Basil Thampi 4/48) vs Kerala 258/3 in 81 overs against Uttar Pradesh — sustained on Egypt duty ing a first title since 2020.
Indrajith 187, Vijay Shankar 130; Sukhwinder Singh (Sachin Baby 87, Rohan Kunnummal 61, Akshay from seven matches this at the Africa Cup of While the victory was
4/99) vs Karnataka 141/4 in 46 overs (Anmolpreet Chandran 57, Krishna Prasad 43). season, while against Nations, Salah made up valuable for Klopp, it
Singh 41, Nehal Wadhera 43; Ajith Ram 2/34). ■ In Kolkata: Bihar 95 & 32/1 in 14 overs vs Bengal Chhattisgarh they bagged for lost time with his first came with a downside as
■ In Agartala: Tripura 149 &286/9 in 70 overs (Sudip 411/5 declared (Abhimanyu Easwaran 200 not out,
Chatterjee 95, Ganesh Satish 62; Yuvraj Singh 4/84, Abhishek Porel 56, Manoj Tiwary 30). three points with a first goal for the Reds since the first half injuries to Jota
Himanshu Sangwan 3/55) vs Railways 105 in 37.3 ■ In Lucknow: Chhattisgarh 414 in 145.5 overs innings lead. Newcastle game. and Curtis Jones added to
overs (Arindam Ghosh not out 62; Manisankar (Sanjeet Desai 202, Amandeep Khare 114; Saurabh Mumbai’s nearest rival The 31-year-old’s 19th Liverpool’s increasingly
Murasingh 5/28, Bikramjit Debnath 3/16). Kumar 5/95) vs Uttar Pradesh 110/3 in 27 overs Andhra have 25 points goal in all competitions packed treatment room.
■ In Hubballi: Chandigarh 267 in 106.4 overs (Karan (Saurabh Kumar 55 batting, Nitish Rana 38 batting).
Kaila 79; Hardik Raj 4/56, Vijaykumar Vyshak 4/77) ■ In New Delhi: Odisha 440 (Subhransu Senapati 111,
with their last league this term put Liverpool Nunez didn’t come back
vs Karnataka 268/3 in 63 overs (Manish Pandey bat- Biplab Samantray 110, Sumit Mathur 4/97) vs Delhi round fixture against on course for a sixth win out for the second half
ting 102, Mayank Agarwal 57). 187/2 (Gagan Vats 66, Yash Dhull 57). Kerala in progress. Dube, in their last seven league either, although whether
■ In Porvorim: Goa 317 in 84.2 overs (Darshan Misal ■ In Indore: MP 200 & 92/1 (Yash Dubey 57) vs J&K who had completed his games. that was tactical or due to
89, Mohit Redkar 80; Chintan Gaja 3/56) vs Gujarat 242 (Abdul Samad 103, Sahil Lotra 38). second century in four The much-maligned injury was unclear.
281/5 in 79 overs (Priyank Panchal batting 150). ■ In Puducherry: HP 463 (Nikhil Gangta 108, Mukul
■ In Mumbai: Assam 84 & 108 in 33 overs (Sumit Negi 55, Gaurav Yadav 2/123, Sidak Singh 4/155) vs innings on day one, ended Darwin Nunez had given With the League Cup
Ghadigaonkar 30 not out; Shardul Thakur 4/31, Puducherry 170/7 (Akash Kargave 98, Gurvinder his innings for 121 off 140 Jurgen Klopp’s side the final against Chelsea
Mohit Avasthi 2/10, Tushar Deshpande 2/37) lost to Singh 2/27). balls that included 11 lead with a sublime chip looming on February 25
Mumbai 272 in 64.4 overs (Shivam Dube 121 not out; ■ In Dehradun: Uttarakhand 382 (Jiwanjot Singh fours and five sixes. late in the first half at the and Liverpool also com-
Dibakar Johri 5/74). 139, Aditya Tare 81, Lukman Meriwala 5/64) and 2nd At Vizianagaram, visi- Gtech Community peting in the FA Cup and
■ In Vizianagaram: Andhra 272 in 96.4 overs (Ricky Innings 29/2 vs Baroda 180 (Shaswat Rawat 93,
Bhui 87 not out, Maheep Kumar 81, Karan Shinde 43; Deepak Dhapola 5/43). tors Kerala put up a strong Stadium. Europa League, the
fightback to post 258/3 in Alexis Mac Allister dou- injuries could derail
reply to Andhra’s 272 all- bled Liverpool’s advan- Klopp’s hopes of a trophy-
century as Mumbai fin- Mumbai have been at their and the final game was out. But despite being in tage after the interval filled farewell season.
the backfoot, Andhra are Conor Bradley, back
ished their Group ‘B’ ruthless best this season, more of a warm-up before with just his second goal
set to finish second to join from compassionate leave
Ranji Trophy league capping five wins, four of the semi-finals. this season.
engagements with a them with bonus points to Thakur claimed 8-1-31-4 Mumbai in the last-eight. Ivan Toney got one back after his father’s death,
resounding innings and 80 top the Group B standings to add to his 6/21 in the Skipper Sachin Baby was for Brentford, but Cody started at right-back for
run win against Assam with massive 37 points. first innings as Assam unbeaten on 87, in compa- Gakpo netted in the clos- Liverpool in place of the
inside two days. They had already quali- were folded for 108 in 33 ny of Akshay Chandran ing stages as Liverpool injured Trent Alexander-
The 41-times champions fied before the last match overs with Mumbai wrap- (57) at stumps on day two. moved five points clear at Arnold. — AFP
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 18 FEBRUARY 2024
TERRIFIC TEENS
SHORT TAKE
Chennai Blitz
post first win of
the season
Chennai: Chennai Blitz picked
Chetan, Abhay reign supreme in opening round
up a dominant 16-14, 15-11, 15-
7, win over the Hyderabad
Black Hawks at the
Jawaharlal Nehru Indoor Chennai, Feb. 17:
Stadium to get off the mark Bengaluru teenagers,
in the third season of the Chetan Surineni and
Prime Volleyball League on Abhay Mohan emerged
Saturday. Sameer was named triumphant in the MRF
the Player of the Match. Formula 2000 and MRF
Coming into the game after a Formula 1600 races,
big loss in their first match, respectively, to enjoy a
there was a change in winning start to their
Chennai Blitz' tactics, as the campaigns in the MRF
home side started involving MMSC FMSCI Indian
their middle blockers more in National Car Racing
the play. The pair of Akhin GS Championship 2024 which
and Leandro Jose started commenced at the Madras
posing a threat for International Circuit,
Hyderabad Black Hawks. here on Saturday.
Playing their first game of the Earlier, Mumbai’s Biren
season, Hyderabad show- Pithawalla (N1 Racing)
cased early nerves, and made pulled off a fine win in the
unforced errors, hurting their premium Indian Touring
cause. With skipper Ranjit Cars class while
Singh spreading his passing, Performance Racing’s
Hyderabad found an opening. Hatim Shabbir
But Blitz' new signing Sameer Jamnagarwalla from
proved his mettle and helped Chennai took the honours
his side take control once in the Indian Junior
again with powerful smashes. Touring Cars segment and
With Akhin controlling game Chandigarh’s Angad
for Chennai, Hyderabad tried Matharoo (Buzzing
to involve Stefan Kovacevic Hornet Motorsport)
more into the play. But topped the Super Stock
Chennai's aggressive play category.
from the service line puzzled Late in the evening,
the Hawks. As Chennai's mid- Pune’s Diana Pundole won
dles continued to dominate the MRF Saloons (Toyota
late into the game, Etios) race with ease in a
Hyderabad found not much race interrupted by a safe-
going their way. Being miles ty car period following a
ahead and having breathing three-car collision.
room to take risks, Douglas Meanwhile, Nellore’s
Bueno continued to serve Viswas Vijayaraj and Arya
aggressively, maintaining Singh from Kolkata took
pressure on the opposition. In the front row in that order
a last-ditch effort to cover the for their team, DTS
deficit, the Hawks called for a Racing, after a start-stop-
Super Point, but an overhit start qualifying session
spike proved to be expensive, interrupted by a red flag
and the Blitz earned a win in due an on-track incident.
straight sets. The eight-lap race in the
MRF Formula category
Regd. No. TNENG/2010/35692
witnessed some fine
action. Pole-sitter 17-year-
old Jaden Rahaman Pariat
Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on from Shillong looked
behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited poised to win in the F2000
and Printed at Deccan Chronicle Presses
situated at SP 3, Developed Plot, class going into the last
Industrial Estate, lap when disaster struck.
Guindy, Chennai - 600 032. “There was some issue
RNI Registration No: TN ENG/2005/14987
Ph Nos: 22254747, 22254748, 22254750, with my car and I had to
22254751 switch off and switch on
Editor: KAUSHIK MITTER eight times in the last lap.
Luckily, I had a sufficient
Biren Pithawalla en route to winning the Indian Touring Cars race.
lead and managed to fin-
ish second,” said a disap-
pointed Jaden after he vir-
tually gifted a win to
Surineni, 17, who was
trailing throughout the
race. Another
Bengalurean, Tarun
Muthaiah finished third.
In contrast, 15-year-old
Abhay Mohan comfort-
ably won in the Formula
1600 class ahead of the
Mumbai pair of Zahan
Commissariat and Raaj
Bakhru who was docked a
20-second penalty for a
jump start.
Biren, starting from
pole, was off to a good
start and held off Ritesh
Rai (Arka Motorsport)
with cousin Ananth
Pithawalla (N1 Racing)
running third. The posi-
tion remained unchanged
until the latter half of the
eight-lap race when
Ananth squeezed past Rai
at Turn-3 with a contact
between the two, and
moved into P2 behind his
cousin Biren. In the penul-
timate lap, Ananth retired
when the left front tyre,
that was on a slow punc-
ture, burst, and Rai
regained the second spot.
By then, Biren had pulled
off sufficient lead to win
handily, followed by Rai
and Deepak Ravikumar
(Performance Racing),
making his debut in this
class.
RESULTS
(Provisional, all 8 laps
unless mentioned)
MRF Formula 2000
(Race-1): 1. Chetan
Surineni (Bengaluru) (Chennai, Performance
(12:49.401); 2. Jaden Racing) (15:35.231); 2.
Rahman Pariat (Shillong) Srinivas Teja (Chennai,
(13:20.579); 3. Tarun Performance Racing)
Muthaiah (Bengaluru) (15:41.732); 3. Nikunj
(13:58.255). Vagh (Mumbai, Team N1
MRF Formula 1600 Racing) (15:53.915).
(Race-1): 1. Abhay Mohan Super Stock (Race-1): 1.
(Bengaluru) (13:49.827); Angad Matharoo
2. Zahan Commissariat (Chandigarh, Buzzing
(Mumbai) (14:00.386); 3. Hornet Motorsports)
Raaj Bakhru (Mumbai) (16:48.478);
(14:23.370). Balaprasath (Coimbatore,
Indian
(Race-1):
Touring
1.
Cars
Biren
Pithawala (Mumbai, Team
DTS Racing) (16:52.781);
3. Anirudha Arvind
(Chennai, Redline Racing
N1) (15:21.359); 2. Ritesh India) (16:54.402).
Rai (Chennai, Arka MRF Saloons (Toyota
Motorsports) (15:22.782); Etios) Race-1: 1. Diana
3. Deepak Ravikumar Pundole (Pune)
(Chennai, Performance (18:10.588); 2. Anirudha
Racing) (15:34.211). Arvind (Chennai)
Indian Junior Touring (18:15.446); 3. Jai
Cars (Race-1): 1. Hatim Prashanth (Coimbatore)
Shabbir Jamnagarwala (18:15.850).
pg 12
TAMIL NADU DIGEST
Devanesan bags five wickets
L. Devanesan bagged a five-
wicket haul as Phoenix CC
beat TVS CC in the third divi-
sion of the TNCA-Villupuram
DCA league.
Brief scores: I Division:
Evergreen CC 91 in 17.4 overs
(M. Rajkumar 31,
V.S.Tamildasan 4 for 30) lost
to Sunny Sachin CC 92 for 7
in 19.1 overs (M.Rajkumar 3
for 12). Valavanur CC 135 for 9 L. Devanesan
in 25 overs (M.K.Stalin 42,
S.Hemanand 3 for 11) beat United CC “A” 100 in
23.3 overs (S.Senthil Kumar 37, D.Sathish Kumar
4 for 14)
II Division: Ammu CC 267 for 6 in 25 overs (T.
Peryannasami 88, S. Sivaraj 57, P. Ramalingam 38,
S.Arunkumar 37n.o., M. Suresh 3 for 37) beat
Karna CC 88 in 15.3 overs.
III Division: Surya GOI 149 for 8 in 25 overs (G.
Mothish 33, P.Anish Kumar 31) beat Phoenix CC
106 in 19.4 overs (A.Suriya 42, S.Saravanan 4 for
26, G.Prethish Raj 3 for 20). Dream Boys CC 158
for 8 in 25 overs (R.Kalidass 65) beat Sky CC 117
in 24.2 overs (K. Elavarasan 37, Manivasagam 3
for 25, D.Pavadai Samy 3 for 26). Phoenix CC 241
for 6 in 25 overs (M.Ezhilmullai Arasu 82, T.Mano
Pandiyan 3 for 35) beat TVS CC 123 in 25 overs
(L.Devanesan 5 for 20).
Chengalpattu emerge champions
K. Yogyasri scored 74 and P. Suji scalped four wick-
ets as Chengalpattu beat Salem by 94 runs to
emerge champions of the TNCA inter-district tour-
nament in Salem on Saturday.
Brief scores (final): At Salem: Chengalpattu 208
for 4 in 40 overs (Kosuri Yogyasri 74,S Meenakshi
45, S.R. Srisuveedha 34) beat Salem 114 in 39.3
overs (Arunadevi 28, P.Suji 4 for 20, Gordon
Sharon Godwin 3 for 20).
Chengalpattu, winners of the TNCA inter-district
tournament for women.
2.
SUMIT GOES DOWN IN SEMIS
Bengaluru, Feb. 17: Sumit Nagal went down to Italy’s
Stefano Napolitano as the second seeded Indian bowed
out in the semifinal of the Bengaluru Open here on
Saturday. Napolitano, the seventh seed, overwhelmed
Nagal 7-6 (2), 6-4 after an intense 2 hour and 17 minutes
match. He will face ninth seed Seongchan Hong of
South Korea in the title clash on Sunday. In the first
semifinal match, Hong defeated eighth seed Spaniard
Oriol Batalla 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.