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Delhi Lieutenant-GovernorAnil Baijal on Wednesday

submitted his resignation toPresident Ram Nath Kovind,citing personal reasons. Baijal,a 1969-batch IAS officer, wasappointed as the 21stLieutenant Governor of Delhion December 31, 2016 after thesudden resignation of his pre-decessor Najeeb Jung.

Baijal had often been atloggerheads with Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal overseveral issues. In 2018, thestrife between Baijal and theDelhi Government escalatedinto an ugly confrontation afterKejriwal and his Ministersstaged a dharna at Baijal’s officealleging that IAS officers post-ed with the State Governmentwere not cooperating withelected representatives. Therewas acrimony over the non-approval of the doorstep deliv-ery of ration scheme by Baijal.

The tense relationsbetween the LG and the AAPdispensation became less fre-quent after the Supreme Courtruling in July 2018 that statesthe LG of Delhi is bound by the“aid and advice” of the DelhiGovernment.

In July 2021 also, the LG

and the APP Government wereat loggerheads when Baijaloverturned the Delhi Cabinet’sdecision to appoint a panel oflawyers of its choice to arguecases related to the farmers’ agi-tation, triggering sharp reac-tions from Deputy ChiefMinister Manish Sisodia.

There is no clarity aboutBaijal’s replacement but sourcesindicated that the Centre mayappoint a person with a polit-ical background as Delhi's new

LG as against a bureaucrat asper a long-standing practice.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday ordered the

release of AG Perarivalan, whohas served over 30 years in jailin the Rajiv Gandhi assassina-tion case. Congress slammedthe Centre for creating “a situ-ation” in the court to get thekiller of a former PrimeMinister released for their“petty and cheap politics”, butthe DMK, the AIADMK andthe CPI wholeheartedly wel-comed the verdict.

The SC bench headed byJustice L Nageswara Rao saidthe Tamil Nadu State Cabinet’sadvice recommending the pre-mature release of all sevenconvicts in the case was bind-ing on the Governor. The apexcourt also discarded theCentre’s argument that the

President exclusively has thepower to grant pardon in a caseunder Section 302 of the IndianPenal Code, saying this wouldrender Article 161 (power ofGovernor to grant pardon)functionless.

The bench, also compris-ing Justice BR Gavai, held thatStates have the power to adviseand aid the Governor in case ofpleas of pardon under Article

161 made by convicts in mur-der cases. Article 142 of theConstitution deals with theSupreme Court’s power to exer-cise its jurisdiction and passorder for doing complete jus-tice in any cause or matterpending before it.

The Centre had earlierdefended the Tamil NaduGovernor’s decision to send themercy plea of Perarivalan to thePresident.

Additional SolicitorGeneral KM Nataraj had saidthat only the President candecide the plea regardingremission, commutation andmercy plea of an individualconvicted under the Centrallaw.

On March 9, the top courthad granted bail to Perarivalanwhile taking note of his longincarceration and no history ofcomplaints when out on parole.

SC has been hearing pleas,including the one in whichPerarivalan sought suspensionof his life sentence in the casetill the Multi DisciplanaryMonitoring Agency (MDMA)probe is completed.

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Aday after ordering CBIinvestigation against junior

Bengal Education MinisterParesh Adhikari, the CalcuttaHigh Court on Wednesdayordered veteran TrinamoolCongress leader and CabinetMinister Partha Chatterjee toappear before the Centralinvestigating agency in casesrelated to the “illegal” appoint-ments in Group D posts inBengal schools.

Chatterjee, who is present-ly the Parliamentary AffairsMinister, was the EducationMinister when large-scaleirregular appointments toGroups D, C and teachers’posts took place. A close con-fidant of Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee, Chatterjeeon Wednesday eveningappeared before the CBI.

Continued on Page 2

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Issues including economicsituation post-corona pan-

demic will figure prominentlyat BRICS foreign ministerssummit in Beijing on Thursday.External Affairs Minister SJaishankar will take part in itthrough video conference. Thehigh-profile meet takes placeagainst the backdrop of theongoing Ukraine conflict.Brazil, China, India, Russiaand South Africa are membersof the BRICS.

Besides Jaishankar, SouthAfrican Minister ofInternational Relations andCooperation Naledi Pandor,Brazilian Foreign MinisterCarlos Franca and RussianForeign Minister Sergey Lavrovwill attend the meeting chairedby China’s State Councillorand Foreign Minister Wang Yi.

Yi had visited India in lateMarch and held bilateral dia-logue with Jaishankar on thestand-offs for the last two yearsat the Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Eastern Ladakh. Itwas the first visit by a Chineseminister to India since theface-off erupted at the border.

Giving details of theupcoming BRICS conclave,Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Wang Wenbinsaid in Beijing that the minis-ter will have a “BRICS+” dia-logue with their counterparts

from emergingmarkets and devel-oping countries.He, however, didnot disclose thenames of the coun-tries taking part inthe BRICS+ dia-logue. China holdsthe chair of theBRICS this year.

About China’s expecta-tions of the BRICS foreignministers meeting, WangWenbin said the meeting willsend a “clear message” of unityand make preparations for theannual summit of the five-member bloc.

“We will send a clear mes-sage of BRICS countries work-ing together in solidarity,upholding true multilateral-ism, staying united in fightingCovid-19, and promotingpeaceful development,” he said.

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Gujarat Congress workingpresident Hardik Patel on

Wednesday resigned from allparty posts and took to Twitterto share the letter to party pres-ident Sonia Gandhi in which hemade scathing remarks againstthe party leadership, includingRahul Gandhi.

In his resignation lettermonths ahead of the GujaratAssembly elections, the youngPatidar leader accused theCongress of “working againstthe interest of the country andsociety”. Patel, who joined theCongress in 2019 promising todie as a Congressman, said inhis letter that whenever heraised issues of the people ofGujarat, senior Congress lead-ers were busy checking mes-sages on their mobile phones,and some leaders were “enjoy-ing abroad” when the party andthe country needed them.

“Today, after musteringcourage, I am resigning frommy party post and primarymembership of the Congress. Ihope my followers and peopleof Gujarat will welcome mystep. I believe that I will be ableto serve the State better afterthis step,” Patel said in a tweet.

Patel claimed that despiteseveral attempts to steer theCongress in the right direction,the party has constantly beenworking “against the interestsof my country and our society”.

Continued on Page 2

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The Supreme Court onWednesday granted bail to

Indrani Mukerjea, the primeaccused in the murder of herdaughter Sheena Bora, sayingsix-and-a-half years in prisonis too long a term and that thetrial will not be completedanytime soon.

A three-judge bench head-ed by Justice L Nageswara Raonoted that Indrani has been injail since 2015. He said the trialcould not be over soon as outof 237 witnesses cited by pros-ecution only 68 have beenexamined till date.

“We do not intend to makecomments on the merits of thecase as it might be detrimentalto the interests of the parties.Taking into account that peti-tioner has been in custody forsix-and-a-half-years and evenif 50 per cent witnesses aregiven by prosecution, the trialwould not be over soon, we areof the considered view that thepetitioner is entitled to bereleased on bail.

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Pollution claimed 90 lakhlives in 2019 — equivalent

to one in six deaths worldwide— with India topping the list byregistering over 23 lakh mor-talities, according to a studypublished on Wednesday inThe Lancet Planetary Health.Globally, air pollution alonecontributed to 66.7 lakh deaths.

In India, out of 16.7 lakhair pollution-related deaths,9.8 lakh were caused by PM2.5pollution, and another 6.1 lakhby household air pollution.

Although the number ofdeaths from pollution sourcesassociated with extreme pover-ty (such as indoor air pollutionand water pollution) hasdecreased, these reductions areoffset by increased deathsattributable to industrial pol-lution (such as ambient air pol-lution and chemical pollution),the report noted.

Overall, global ambient air

pollution was responsible for 45lakh deaths, and hazardouschemical pollutants for 17 lakh,with 9 lakh deaths attributableto lead pollution.

Nearly 93 per cent of Indialives in areas where air qualityis below WHO’s standards,says the study. In an update ofa 2015 estimate on prematuredeaths caused by pollution,the study said data from theGlobal Burden of Diseases,Injuries and Risk Factors Study

2019 (GBD) showed that pol-lution “remains responsible forapproximately nine milliondeaths per year.”

According to the report, airpollution is most severe in theIndo-Gangetic Plain whichcovers New Delhi and many ofthe most polluted cities.Burning of biomass in house-holds was the single largestcause of air pollution deaths inIndia, followed by coal com-bustion and crop burning.

Between 2000 and 2019,economic losses caused bymodern forms of pollution —ambient, chemical and leadpollution — have increasedand are now “conservativelyestimated to amount to approx-imately 1 per cent of GDP” inIndia.

The study noted thatdespite India’s considerableefforts against household airpollution, including throughthe Pradhan Mantri UjjwalaYojana programme, the num-ber of deaths remained high.

It pointed out that Indiahas developed a National CleanAir Programme, and in 2019launched a Commission for AirQuality Management in theNational Capital Region.

However, India does nothave a strong centralisedadministrative system to driveits air pollution control effortsand consequently improve-ments in overall air quality havebeen limited and uneven.

Continued on Page 2

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China is constructing abridge on its side at the

Pangong Tso (lake) there toenable its troops to rush to thefront in the shortest possibletime. This even as talks are onto defuse tension at the borderin Ladakh. The first stand-offbetween the two Armies tookplace in May in 2020 snow-balling into a major crisis.

The latest developmentcame to light after satelliteimages captured the scene ofChina constructing the secondbridge at the lake, sources saidhere on Wednesday. It willenable China to rapidly deploytanks and armoured columns.The first bridge built was fortroops and later used as a ser-vice bridge for construction ofthe second bridge. It is just 15km from the Line of ActualControl (LAC).

The construction of thefirst bridge finished last monthin about a year, sources said.China is building the second

bridge simultaneously fromboth sides for speedy con-struction. It is broader andstronger to enable the tanks tocross over from one side toanother, they said.

The first bridge has cutdown travelling time at the180-km loop from Khurnak tothe southern banks throughRudok. Now, the route is just50 km, thereby giving China anedge in logistical terms.

Damien Symon, a geospa-tial intelligence researcher, whokeeps track of Chinese activi-ties along the LAC, postedsatellite images of the new

construction on Twitter.Symon, who uses the han-

dle @detresfa_ said a “largerbridge” is being developed par-allel to the first one, adding thelikely aim of the constructionis to “support larger/heaviermovement” (of the military)over the lake.

China is rapidly strength-ening its military infrastructureafter Indian troops capturedseveral strategic peaks on thesouthern bank of the Pangonglake in August 2020 after theChinese PLA attempted tointimidate them in the area.

India too has been con-

structing bridges, roads andtunnels in the border regions aspart of overall efforts toenhance military prepared-ness.

The latest developmentcomes at a time when ChinaForeign Minister Wang Yi cameto India in March to hold talkson the LAC issue with hiscounterpart S Jaishankar. It wasthe first visit by a ChineseMinister to India since thestand-offs erupted at the LACin 2020.

India and China have held15 rounds of military talks sofar to resolve the easternLadakh row. As a result of thetalks, the two sides completedthe disengagement process lastyear on the north and southbanks of the Pangong lake andin the Gogra area.

India has been consistent-ly maintaining that peace andtranquillity along the LAC arekey to the overall develop-ment of the bilateral ties. Atpresent, more than 50,000troops each from both sideshave been deployed there forthe last two years.

In fact, the two sides main-tained the troop strength evenduring the harsh wintermonths at the LAC. Prior to2020, the two Armies used towithdraw to their bases duringthe winter months where thetemperature dips minus 20degrees.

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New Delhi: The three munic-ipal corporations of Delhiwill be formally merged onMay 22, the CentralGovernment announced onWednesday. P3

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The National Capital RegionTransport Corporation

(NCRTC) implementing theRegional Rapid Transit Systemon the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut corridor, has invitedleading mobility players toprovide various feeder modesat stations with a view to ensurelast-mile connectivity to com-muters.

According to a statement,since the 17-km long prioritysection between Sahibabad andDuhai that has five stations willbecome operational by 2023,the process of exploring vari-ous options for last-mile con-nectivity for commuters hasbeen set in motion.

The NCRTC has takeninto consideration the globalparameters of the distance oflast-mile connectivity travelledby commuters and the modesof transport used by them, itsaid. It said the distance up to500 metres area is often walk-able and the distance up to onekm falls in cycling zone.

However, the distance upto 3 km requires the services ofe-rickshaw, bike taxis or scoot-er rentals while distance ofmore than 3 km is consideredas the zone of auto-rikshaw,taxi/cab and shuttle bus, itsaid.

"The NCRTC after delib-eration has extended an inviteto the mass providers of thesevarious modes of transporta-tion. It will also take the helpof other agencies, where nec-essary to push it into action,”the statement read.“This ini-tiative will ensure fast, organ-ised, green and affordable vari-ety of commute options anddoor to door connectivity. 0Itwill also create varied oppor-tunities for mobility providersat RRTS stations in Delhi,Sahibabad, Ghaziabad, MuradNagar, Modinagar andMeerut," the statement read. Itsaid people often hesitate to usepublic transport because ofthe unavailability of last-mileconnectivity.

Also, the congestionaround the stations due to thelack of any organised systemfor autos and e-rickshaws notonly creates chaos and trafficjams but also leads to anincrease in commute time, itadded.

"In line with its aim toencourage people to switch topublic transport from theirprivate vehicles and to providea solution for traffic problem,NCRTC came up with plan tofacilitate last-mile connectivi-ty for commuters through var-ious feeder modes at stations,"the statement said.

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A48-year-old man was shotdead allegedly by uniden-

tified persons in central Delhi'sDaryaganj area.

The deceased has beenidentified as MoinuddinQureshi. According to ShwetaChauhan, the DeputyCommissioner of Police(DCP), Central district, onTuesday, Daryaganj police sta-tion received information froma man named Kamal Ahmadabout the firing on Qureshi.

“The injured was shifted tothe Lok Nayak Hospital wherethe doctors declared him dead,”said the DCP. Qureshi receivedtwo gunshot wounds.“Police

have registered a case of mur-der under section 302 of theIndian Penal Code (IPC) andother relevant section of ArmsAct based on the statement ofRukumuddin, the deceased'sbrother,” said a senior policeofficial.

The police said the footageof CCTV cameras are beingscanned to ascertain the peo-ple involved in the incident.

“Police teams are scanningthrough CCTV camera footageto identify the culprit andascertain the sequence ofevents. Teams have beenformed and an investigation isunderway to know the motivebehind the murder,” said thesenior police official.

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The Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA) has

issued provisional notice for theformation of a Consortium forthree sectors, sectors 10-A inZone N and sectors 2, and 3 inZone P-II, in the national cap-ital under Land Policy 2018.

According to a senior DDAofficial, the validity of thenotice shall be 90 days from thedate of issuance.

The authority is also issu-ing a public notice to all landowners for filing any objectionswith respect to the list of landowners who have pooled theirland under policy. If there areany objections on the list, the

land owners may express theirrepresentations on portal toCommissioner (Land Pooling)within 45 days of the issue ofthis Public Notice. “The list ofland owners who have comeforward under the policy canbe viewed on DDA’s Websiteunder Land Pooling NoticesTab,’” he informed.

“The Sectors are Sector10-A in Zone N and Sector 2,3 in Zone P-II. Provisionalnotice for consortium forma-tion is issued with a conditionthat remaining un-pooled landowners have to come togetherand form contiguous land as asingle entity with an imple-mentation plan, for which theywill get 90 days period.

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India is ready to partner withJamaica and share its techni-

cal skills, knowledge and exper-tise which could transform theCaribbean country's educationand businesses, President RamNath Kovind has said, express-ing confidence that conver-gences and complementaritiesbetween the two nations will bemutually beneficial.

Addressing the joint sittingof both Houses of Parliamentof Jamaica on Tuesday, Kovindsaid: "Fifteen thousand kilo-metres away from India, I feelvery much at home beforeyou. And why should I not,when this House has many dis-tinguished members withIndian lineage." He saidJamaica has welcomed Indians

with open arms and giventhem dignity and respect. As aresult, not just politics; butbusiness, music, sports, dress,and food have all witnessed arich Indian presence.

The President saidJamaica's strategic position inthe vicinity of some of thelargest global economies, andits talented pool of English-speaking youth, provide it withan excellent opportunity tobecome a 'knowledge high-way' and benefit from theFourth Industrial Revolution."India shares Jamaica's ‘Vision2030' goals of empowering itspeople and ensuring a secure,cohesive, and just society whilebecoming a prosperous andsustainable economy," he said.

"India is ready to partnerwith Jamaica and share itstechnical skills, knowledge and

expertise which could trans-form Jamaica's education andbusinesses."Top Jamaican busi-nesses already source softwareand take backroom technicalsupport from technology com-panies based in India," thepresident said, adding India ispoised to become a knowledgeeconomy that creates, dissem-inates and utilises knowledge topromote growth and develop-ment.

"With ample naturalresources, strategic location,young population and dynam-ic leadership, Jamaica is poisedfor even greater economic suc-cess.," the President said.

He said Jamaica's leader-ship in the CaribbeanCommunity and CommonMarket (CARICOM) region,international rules-basedbehaviour and the desire toshoulder greater responsibilitymake it a partner of choice forother countries.

He said India and Indiansare taking the lead in researchand development on cutting-edge technologies like ArtificialIntelligence, Machine Learningand Meta-verse that form thebasis of the Fourth IndustrialRevolution.

India is also the hub ofstart-ups and innovative tech-nologies and is among the topthree countries having thelargest number of Unicorns.

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The Delhi Police has registereda First Information Report

(FIR) against an associate pro-fessor of Delhi University’sHindu College for his objec-tionable social media post.

The FIR was lodged againstRatan Lal on Tuesday nightbased on the complaint filed bya Delhi-based lawyer referring toLal’s social media post claimsabout ‘Shivling’ found insidethe Gyanvapi mosque complex.In his complaint, advocate VineetJindal said Lal shared “deroga-tory, inciting and provokingtweets on the Shivling”.

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From Page 1“BRICS enjoys global influ-

ence as a cooperation mecha-nism of emerging markets anddeveloping countries. In theface of a once in a century pan-demic and changes, the BRICSmechanism has special signif-icance for deepening coopera-tion on emerging markets anddeveloping countries and pro-moting post-Covid world eco-nomic recovery," the foreignministry spokesperson said.

The Foreign Ministersmeeting was proposed byChinese President Xi Jinpingduring China's chairmanship ofthe five-member bloc in 2017,he said. As the BRICS Chair for2022, China looks forward toenhancing communication and

coordination with fellowBRICS partners on the newchallenges in the internation-al situation and major interna-tional and regional issues, hesaid. "On sidelines of this year'sforeign ministers meeting wewill also hold BRICS plus dia-logue where BRICS foreignministers will exchange viewswith Foreign Ministers of someemerging markets and devel-oping countries on global gov-ernance," he said. It is believedthat this dialogue will furtherenhance solidarity, politicalconsensus and provide emerg-ing markets and developingcountries a bigger say in glob-al governance so as to bettersafeguard common interests,Wang Wenbin added.

From Page 1He dis so hours after a divi-

sion bench turned down hisappeal seeking modificationof the single bench judgment.

Earlier, the single Bench ofJustice Abhijit Gangopadhyaydirected Chatterjee to appearbefore the CBI on Wednesday,failing which, the agency wasasked to take him into custodyfor interrogation if it so wished.

The single bench orderwas challenged by the BengalMinister in the Division Benchof Justice Subrata Talukdar,which, after hearing the case,preserved the earlier order onWednesday.

Subsequently, Chatterjeemoved the Division Bench ofJustice Harish Tandon seekingmodification in the singleBench order — to the extent ofrestraining the CBI from arrest-ing him.

The Bench of JusticeTandon, however, dismissed

his plea on technical groundsleaving the Central agency freenot only to interrogate butalso arrest him if itso wished.

Hundreds of candidateswho had appeared for selectiontests failed to get jobs even aftertheir names appeared in thepanel whereas others whohad not even appeared for theSchool Service Commissionexaminations managed tosecure employment.

This led to lawsuits frommultiple quarters from GroupD and C aspirants to those whohad appeared for the posts ofteachers at Primary, Secondaryand Higher Secondary (plus II)sections.

Chatterjee is accused ofappointing a five-memberpanel that had allegedly pre-pared recommendation lettersfor giving appointments tohundreds of fake candidatestriggering suspicion whetherjobs were provided for cash.

From Page 1The CBI, in its affidavit of

November 20, 2020, had toldthe apex court that the TamilNadu Governor has to take acall on grant of remission toPerarivalan. Later, theGovernor referred the mercyplea to the President of Indiasaying he lacked the power todecide it.

The mercy plea has beenpending since then and theapex court said till the time thelegal issue over the power togrant remission is decided, itwould grant the bail to the con-vict.

In its May 1999 order, thetop court had upheld the deathsentence of four convicts --Perarivalan, Murugan, Santhanand Nalini. In April 2000, theTamil Nadu Governor hadcommuted the death sentenceof Nalini on the basis of theState Government's recom-mendation and an appeal byformer Congress president andRajiv Gandhi's widow SoniaGandhi. On February 18,2014, Supreme Court had com-muted the death sentence ofPerarivalan to life imprison-ment, along with that of twoother prisoners -- Santhan andMurugan -- on the grounds ofan 11-year delay in deciding

their mercy pleas by the Centre.Meanwhile, Congressexpressed pain and disap-pointment over the release ofPararivalan and slammed theGovernment for creating "asituation" in the court to get thekiller of a former PrimeMinister released for their"petty and cheap politics".Congress chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said thereis a sorrow and fury not onlyin every Congress worker overthe development, but in everycitizen who believes in Indiaand Indianness.

"A terrorist is a terroristand should be treated as one.Today, we are deeply painedand disappointed at decision ofSupreme Court orderingrelease of Rajiv Gandhi's assas-sin," he said. Tamil NaduCongress President K S Alagirisaid while "we don't want tocriticise" the SC judgement, wewant to affirm that they (theseven convicts) are murderersand not innocent."

Welcoming the judgement,Chief Minister M K Stalin saidit could find a place in the "jus-tice-law-political-administra-tive history". He recalled thatthe State had placed firm argu-ments in court on Perarivalan'splea before the SC.

From Page 1"Hence, I wish to draw

your attention to certain veryimportant issues...Over the lastthree years, I have found thatthe Congress and its leadership,both at the Central and Statelevels, have been merelyreduced to opposing every-thing. Be it the Ram Mandir inAyodhya, revocation of Article370 from Jammu & Kashmir,the implementation of GST,India wanted a solution tothese issues for a long time andthe Congress only played therole of a roadblock," he said inthe letter.

When it came to issuesrelated to India, Gujarat and thePatidar community, theCongress's only stand was tooppose whatever the CentralGovernment led by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi did,he said. "Congress today has

been rejected in almost everyState of India, because theparty and its leadership havenot been able to present abasic road map to the people,"Patel said.

Hardik claimed that when-ever he approached seniorCongress leaders on seriousissues of the people, they werebusy scrolling messages ontheir mobile phones. "Thelack of seriousness about allissues is a major problem withthe party's senior leadership.Whenever I met senior leaders,I always felt that they were notreally interested in hearingabout problems concerningthe people of Gujarat, but wereengrossed in what messagesthey had received on mobilephones and other such trivialthings," he said in the letter.

Apparently targetingCongress leader Rahul Gandhiover his foreign visits, Patelsaid, "Whenever our countryfaced challenges and when the

Congress needed leadership,party leaders were enjoyingabroad."He said it is unfortu-nate that big leaders of theGujarat Congress are "far away"from issues of the State, and aremore focused on ensuring that"chicken sandwiches for lead-ers coming from Delhi aredelivered on time".Hardik Patelhad gained prominence in 2015after he led the agitation seek-ing reservation for the Patidarcommunity in the State. Hewas made the Gujarat Congressworking president in July 2020.

Targeting him over themove, senior Congress leaderfrom Gujarat and party'snational spokespersonShaktisinh Gohil accused Patelof betraying his Patidar com-munity for personal gains,while State Congress in-chargeRaghu Sharma accused him ofindulging in "back door deal-ings" with other parties andalso claimed that he lacked dis-cipline.

From Page 1The Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi

(Amendment) Act, 2021, which gave primacy to the L-G overthe elected Government, had come into effect in April last yearafter the notification of the Act by the Union Home Ministry.

In March, speculation about Baijal’s exit was rife after a cryp-tic tweet by Kejriwal.“Is Mr Praful Patel, Administrator ofLakshadweep, being made the next LG of Delhi?” Kejriwal hadtweeted.

In his long-standing career, Baijal was appointed the HomeSecretary in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government. Later, whenthe Congress-led UPA Government came to power, he was trans-ferred to the Urban Development Ministry. During his tenurein the Urban Development Ministry, he oversaw the planningand implementation of the Jawaharlal Nehru National UrbanRenewal Mission (JNNURM). He retired from service in 2006as Secretary of the Urban Development Ministry. After retire-ment, he was actively associated with JNNURM launched by theManmohan Singh Government.

At one time he also served as the Vice-Chairperson of theDelhi Development Authority and was also the Chairman andManaging Director of Indian Airlines. During his service, he wasalso appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the Prasar BharatiCorporation, the Development Commissioner of Goa andCounsellor in-charge of the Indian Aid Programme in Nepal.

He has served on the executive council of the VivekanandaInternational Foundation think-tank and multiple corporateboards including IDFC bank. He has also served as an advisoron the National e-Governance Advisory Group (NAG), AdvisoryGroup for Integrated Development of Power, Coal, andRenewable Energy. He was on the committee on implementa-tion of Corporate Social Responsibility in Central Government.

From Page 1"Petitioner is directed to be released on bail subject to sat-

isfaction of the trial court and the same conditions imposedearlier (on Peter Mukerjea )," the bench also comprising JusticesB R Gavai and A S Bopanna said. Former media baron Peter'smarriage to Indrani ended during her period of incarcerationin 2019. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi appeared for Indrani,who is currently lodged at the Byculla women's prison inMumbai following her arrest in August 2015. The senior lawyersaid Indrani has been in jail for over six years and she is a ladyentitled to special dispensation under section 437. Peter, co-accused in the case, has already been granted bail in 2020.

From Page 1"India has developed

instruments and regulatorypowers to mitigate pollutionsources but there is no cen-tralised system to drive pollu-tion control efforts and achievesubstantial improvements," thestudy said adding that in 93 percent of the country, the amountof pollution remains well abovethe World Health Organization(WHO) guidelines.

Professor KalpanaBalakrishnan, Dean (Research),Sri Ramachandra Institute ofHigher Education andResearch (Deemed to beUniversity), Chennai, and oneof the authors of the report,stressed the need for a radicalshift in the approach to pollu-tion management efforts.

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A13-year-old girl was alleged-ly gangraped in the national

Capital by more than five people,including a juvenile. Police saidthat they have apprehendedMohit (20), Aakash (19),Shahrukh (20) and one juvenile.

According to Bentia MaryJaiker, the Deputy Commissionerof Police (DCP), South district,on April 24, a girl at around 5 pmwent to the market to purchasevegetables and she had taken anauto rickshaw.

The auto rickshaw was dri-ven by accused Shahrukh and heinstead of dropping her at Shanibaazar, called his friends Akashand one juvenile and took her toOkhla where they gave her intox-icated cold drink and physicallyabused her in the Auto.

Thereafter, they accused tookthe girl to JJ Camp, Tigri whereSalman Chessy along with fourother boys raped her. On April 25morning Chessy along with oth-ers took the victim to a smalltown Kosi Kalan in Mathura dis-trict of Uttar Pradesh. They kepther there for one day and on April26, they brought her back to Tigriwhere she was kept till April 30.The DCP said that a missingcomplaint was regarding the girlwas also recieved by the police onApril 26 and subsequently a casewas registered. On May 2, the girlwas found by the police at SaketMetro police station.

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The Delhi Jal Board (DJB)Vice-Chairman, Saurabh

Bhardwaj, on Wednesdayalleged that Haryana ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattaris deliberately troubling thepeople of the national Capitalby obstructing the release ofwater in the Yamuna.

Addressing a press confer-ence, Bhardwaj said that Delhiis still short of 65 million gal-lons per day (MGD) of waterand this has impacted supply innorth, northwest, south andcentral Delhi, besides areasunder the New DelhiMunicipal Council.

“We have been talking tothe officials of the HaryanaGovernment, but I think ChiefMinister Manohar Lal Khattaris deliberately creating such asituation. This shows what hisintentions are,” Bhardwaj said.

“Haryana has been releas-ing less water in the Yamunaand the river has dried up.Khattar would have triedresolving the issue if he had theright intentions. It shows thathe is deliberately troubling thepeople of Delhi,” he added.

Bhardwaj said Khattar willhave to bear the repercussionsas a large number of peoplefrom Haryana living and work-ing in Delhi are grappling with

a shortage of water. Khattar had on Tuesday

accused the AAP Governmentin Delhi of politicising thematter and presenting falsedata.

“It is unfortunate that theyare telling lies, doing politics onthe issue and presenting falsefigures. The fact is that they arebeing given water as per theirshare. They are being given1,050 cusecs of water,” theHaryana CM had said.

Delhi Water MinisterSatyendar Jain had on Tuesdaysaid water supply in the city hasreduced by six-seven per centwith the Haryana Governmentfailing to provide Delhi itsshare of raw water despite theSupreme Court’s order.

“Adequate supply of wateris a fundamental right of thepeople of Delhi and theHaryana Government isdepriving the people of theirrights by obstructing watersupply,” he had said.

The DJB on Tuesday shotoff another letter to the

Haryana IrrigationDepartment, asking it to

urgently release 150 cusecs ofadditional water in the “almost

dry” Yamuna.This was the fourth time in

less than three weeks that theDJB has written to the HaryanaIrrigation Department.

The water level in theWazirabad pond has fallen toa critical low of 669 feet, thelowest so far this year, againstthe required level of 674.50 feet,it said.

“The (Yamuna) river hasturned almost dry at theWazirabad pond. This hasreduced water production by65 MGD at our vital watertreatment plants at Wazirabadand Chandrawal, which caterto the requirement of the entirecentral Delhi, parts of westDelhi, north Delhi,” the letterread.

The curtailment of waterproduction has severely affect-ed water supply in the admin-istratively sensitive areas ofsouth Delhi and New Delhi,including diplomatic areas,President’s House, Supreme

Court, High Court, embassies,other institutional buildingsand establishments of nation-al and international impor-tance, it said.

“Against Delhi’s potablewater requirement of 1,260MGD, only 819 MGD wasproduced against the desiredproduction of 875 MGD onMay 16... As adequate rawwater was not available throughthe river Yamuna,” the DJBsaid.

Haryana supplies a total of610 MGD to Delhi throughtwo canals, CLC (368 MGD)and DSB (177), and theYamuna (65 MGD).

CLC and the DSB are sup-plied water from Hathni Kundvia the Munak canal and theBhakra Beas ManagementBoard. Besides, Delhi receives253 MGD from Uttar Pradeshthrough the Upper GangaCanal, and 90 MGD is drawnfrom ranney wells and tubewells installed across the city.

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The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) on Wednesday

blamed Delhi BJP presidentAdesh Gupta and his prede-cessors Manoj Tiwari andSatish Upadhyaya for thedeaths of 27 people in theMundka fire tragedy.

The AAP demanded a caseof unintentional murder lodgedagainst them and a probe toascertain who took the bribes.

Saurabh Bhardwaj, theAAP’s spokesperson said thatwith the suspension of threeMCD officials, it has beenproved that BJP presidentAdesh Gupta, his predeces-sors Manoj Tiwari and SatishUpadhyaya are responsible forthe deaths of the 27 people.

He said the North DelhiMunicipal Corporation (NMC)let “unauthorised” industrialactivity continue in the build-ing where the fire broke out,even though a Supreme Court-appointed committee hadsealed it.

“The unauthorised indus-trial activity continued therebecause the building owner

Manish Lakra, who has beenarrested in connection with thecase, was a BJP man and hadclose links with the leaders ofthe saffron party, includingMaster Azad Singh, the uncleof West Delhi MP ParveshVerma,” Bharadwaj charged.

Upadhyaya, Tiwari andGupta have been the successiveDelhi BJP presidents during thetime the building was beingconstructed, when unautho-rised commercial activitiesbegan on its premises andwhen the fire tragedy occurred,he pointed out.

“Whenever we talkedabout corruption in the MCDand its building department,they came out to defend it dur-ing their respective terms. Whywas Gupta giving a twist to thefire incident? Did he take abribe?” Bhardwaj asked.

“They are responsible for

the deaths of the 27 people....We demand that an FIR belodged against them for unin-tentional murder and a probeconducted to ascertain if thebribe went only into theirhands or did they share it withtop BJP leaders also,” he said.

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The Delhi Congress hasdemanded a probe by a

retired High Court judge intothe Mundka fire tragedy thatclaimed 27 lives on May 13.

Blaming the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) Government inthe city for alleged negligence,Delhi Congress president AnilKumar claimed on Wednesdaythat the building at Mundkawhere the fire broke out did not

have a fire clearance certificate,“yet it was functioning as ashopping complex.”

He also alleged that “highcorruption” in the DelhiGovernment was responsiblefor the operation of the “illegal”building.

The Delhi Government’sdecision to conduct a probeinto the incident by a DistrictMagistrate was intended tocover up its lapses as the ques-tion arises that how such a ille-

gal building, without fire safe-ty clearance, was allowed tooperate in a crowded area,Kumar said in a statement.

He alleged that the termsand conditions given to theDistrict Magistrate for holdingthe probe were intended to“save the BJP and AAP politi-cians, the Mayor, Councillorsand Ministers from any blameas there was high corruptionbehind the functioning of thisillegal building.”

“A retired High Courtjudge will hold an impartialenquiry, covering angles suchas how a liquor vend wasallowed to operate in this ille-gal building, how this liquorvend, which was sealed, was de-sealed by the North DelhiMunicipal Corporation,”Kumar said.

The Delhi Congress alsoraised a question over “howpower and water connectionswere given to this illegal build-ing.”

“Why did the CentralGovernment’s NationalDisaster Response Force reachthe fire accident site hourslate?” Kumar asked.

The NMC has suspendedthree officials in the Narelazone for alleged laxity in dutyfollowing the massive fire atMundka.

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The DelhiD e v e l o p m e n t

Authority (DDA) onWednesday wrote a let-ter to the Delhi ChiefSecretary, urging him toreview restrictionsimposed by the ForestDepartment on devel-opmental work in the“morphological ridge” area.

According to documents,the DDA has challenged theForest Department’s decision toimpose curbs on several pro-jects in the morphological ridgearea, saying the term “mor-phological ridge” neither has“legal sanctity nor any scientificbackground to it”.

“It is pertinent to mentionthat the issues related to suchan morphological ridge haveresulted in major economicimplications for the DDA andservice providing agencies andhampered developmental activ-ities within the area,” the lettersaid.

The letter further stated,“The DDA has already spentcrores (of rupees) on the acqui-sition of land parcels which

have subsequently been allot-ted to various Governmentagencies such as NationalInvestigation Agency, CentralBureau of Investigation, DelhiPolice, IGNOU, Urban Instituteof India, Indian Institute ofForeign Trade and South AsianUniversity.”

A senior ForestDepartment official said certainareas in the Capital have beenclassified as “morphologicalridge” based on the data pro-vided by the Geological Surveyof India.

“We have briefed the ChiefSecretary about it... Soon, we’llput up all the documents onour website. If the DDA wantsto challenge it they shouldapproach the Supreme Court,”he said.

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After the national Capitalreported several incidents

of buses catching fire this sea-son, Delhi BJP chief AdeshGupta wrote a letter to UnionHome Minister Amit Shahurging him to order a CentralBureau of Investigation (CBI)probe into the maintenance ofold Delhi TransportCorporation (DTC) buses. Healso claimed that the buses run-ning in the Capital city werecatching fire because they wereold and had reached end of life.

According to the DelhiBJP chief ’s letter, “A �50 lakhtender has been awarded forthe maintenance of the oldDTC buses for three years andthis smells of corruption.”

Gupta wrote, “There was aprovision for phasing out thesebuses after running for 7.5lakh kms or completing 12years. But the KejriwalGovernment wrongly changedthe provision, making it 15

years.”“The lives of Delhiites are

in danger due to the negligenceof the Delhi Government. A bigaccident might occur any day,”the Delhi BJP chief said, urg-ing Shah to order a CBI probeinto the matter.

Gupta further alleged thatno new bus has been boughtfor the DTC since ArvindKejriwal became ChiefMinister of Delhi. The num-ber of DTC buses has comedown from 6,200 to 3,700, heclaimed.

According to a DTC offi-cial, “At present city has onlytwo electric buses but by thenext week 100 more e-buseswill arrive for the public ser-vice. The buses will be officiallyinaugurated by the chief min-ister or the transport minister.”

Last month, the DelhiGovernment formed a six-member committee to find theroot cause of DTC buses catch-ing fire. The committee’s reportis awaited.

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The Delhi DevelopmentAuthority (DDA) on

Wednesday conducted a demo-lition drive in Kalyanpuri’sKhichripur area, to removeillegal structures from publicland, during which almost twobigha land was cleared. TheAam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLAKuldeep Kumar was detainedfor allegedly obstructing thedrive.

According to a seniorpolice officer, the AAP MLAfrom Kondli (East) reachedthe spot at the time of thedemolition and started toprotest against the drive.

A senior DDA official saidthe encroachment removalexercise on DDA land ofVillage Khichripur was sched-uled for execution.

“A court case titled HariRam Vs DDA is pending in theHigh Court. The encroachershave filed multiple applica-tions seeking a stay orderagainst the demolition of theencroachment, but the HighCourt has rejected the stayapplication of the encroachers.In a recent order dated06/05/2022, the court ques-tioned DDA for not taking pos-session of the land since 2019and directed the authority totake over the possession of landforthwith,” he informed.

“The demolition pro-gramme on the land under ref-erence was earlier scheduledthrice, but could not be carriedout due to the non-availabilityof sufficient police force. Thedemolition programme on theland under reference was againfixed for today in accordancewith the above facts, which hasbeen only partially carried outdue to protests by the locals,around two bigha land hasbeen cleared,” he added.

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Gurugram: A team of the District Town andCountry Planning (DTCP) on Wednesday car-ried out a demolition drive in the villages ofBhondsi and Sohna in which commercial farm-houses, shops and under-construction structureswere demolished. RS Bhath, District TownPlanner (Enforcement), said that the colonieswere being developed in violation of rules, with-out necessary permissions from the competentauthority.

“We conducted the drive after a complaintwas received on the CM’s window. We will con-duct such drives in future to build people’s trustin the CM’s window. The department will soonrecommend filing of FIRs against those whowere involved in developing illegal colonies.Notices were also issued to plot owners earlieras well,” Bhath said.

During the drive, six unauthorised coloniesin approximately 35 acres located in the areawere demolished with the help of three earth-movers. 100 policemen were present at the spotto deal with any untoward incident.

Three earthmoving machines were pressed

into service to demolish illegal constructions.“All six colonies were in initial stages and

demarcation of plots by way of DPCs, bound-ary walls was being done. Commercial farmhouses spread in over 2.5 acres and under con-struction shops and road network was demol-ished,” Bhath added.

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The national Capital onWednesday witnessed a

maximum temperature of 40.6degrees Celsius, which wasnormal for this time of the year.

The minimum tempera-ture recorded at the SafdarjungObservatory was 29.3 degreesCelsius, which was three notch-es above the normal for thisseason.

The relative humidity onWednesday morning at 8:30was recorded at 36 per cent and30 per cent in the evening at5:30. The weather stations atRidge, Ayanagar, Mungeshpur,Najafgarh, Pitampura, Palam,and Lodhi Road recorded max-imum temperatures of 41degrees Celsius, 41.2 degreesCelsius, 41 degrees Celsius,42.1 degrees Celsius, 41.2degrees Celsius, 42 degreesCelsius and 40.6 degreesCelsius respectively, accord-ing to India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD).

The IMD said that thefresh spell of heatwave condi-tions is likely over Northwestand Central India from 19thMay 2022.

“Southwest Monsoon fur-ther advanced into some moreparts of South Bay of Bengal,entire the Andaman Sea andAndaman and Nicobar Islandsand some more parts of East-central Bay of Bengal,” pre-dicted the IMD.

“Heavy to very heavy rain-fall spell over Kerala andCoastal and South InteriorKarnataka during next twodays,” said IMD.

On Sunday, Delhi saw atormenting heatwave pushingthe mercury to 49.2 degreesCelsius at Mungeshpur innorthwest Delhi and 49.1degrees Celsius at Najafgarh inthe southwest parts of the city.

Meanwhile, the peakpower demand in the nation-al capital on Wednesdaycloaked 6665 MW at 3:16 in theafternoon.

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��$�������������%�����������%�44New Delhi: The three munic-ipal corporations of Delhi willbe formally merged on May 22,the Central Governmentannounced on Wednesday.

According to a notificationissued by the Union HomeMinistry, the MunicipalCorporation (Amendment)Act, 2022 will come into effectfrom May 22.

The legislation wasapproved by Lok Sabha onMarch 30 and by the RajyaSabha on April 5. PresidentRam Nath Kovind had givenhis assent on April 18.

“In exercise of the powersconferred by Sub-Section (1) ofSection 3 of the DelhiMunicipal Corporation(Amendment) Act, 2022 (10 of2022), the Central Governmenthereby appoints the 22nd dayof May 2022 on which theMunicipal Corporation ofDelhi shall be constituted,”another notification said.

The MunicipalCorporation of Delhi was tri-furcated in 2011 when SheilaDikshit was the Chief Ministerof Delhi and the Congress-ledUPA was in power at the

Centre. According to the leg-islation, the unification of themunicipal corporations inDelhi will ensure synergisedand strategic planning andoptimal utilisation of resources.

Several Opposition par-ties, including the AAP, hadopposed the legislation toreunify the MCDs inParliament.

Replying to the debates,Union Home Minister AmitShah had said the move wasnecessitated due to the “step-motherly treatment” meted outto the civic bodies by the Aam

Aadmi Party (AAP)Government in Delhi.

“This Bill is in accor-dance with the Constitution.The Centre has the power toenact laws in the UnionTerritory of Delhi... This Bill,from no angle, is an attack onthe federal structure,” Shahhad said, allaying the concernsraised by some Oppositionmembers.

Delhi is only a UnionTerritory and not a full state, hehad said, adding thatParliament has the competenceto frame laws for Delhi. PTI

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Post-day-long searches inthe cash-for-visa scam

allegedly masterminded by LokSabha MP Karti Chidambaram,the CBI on Wednesday arrest-ed his Chartered Accountantand close associate/front manS Bhaskararaman.

Karti, son of former UnionHome and Finance Minister PChidambaram, along withBhaskararaman and others areaccused in a Rs 50-lakh briberycase for clearing visas of 263Chinese nationals working atTalwandi Sabo Power Ltd(TSPL) in Punjab.

The bribery incidentallegedly took place in 2011when Karti’s father PChidambaram was the UnionHome Minister.

Officials said the CBI tookBhaskararaman for questioninglate on Tuesday night and hewas arrested in the early hoursof Wednesday.

In its FIR, the agency hasalleged that Bhaskararamanwas approached by VikasMakharia, the then AssociateVice President of TSPL, for thereissuance of project visas for263 Chinese workers workingat the Mansa-based powerplant which was in the process

of being established.The CBI FIR, which con-

tains the findings of the inves-tigating officer of thePreliminary Enquiry (PE), hasalleged that Makhariaapproached Karti through his"close associate/front man"Bhaskararaman.

"They (accused persons inthe case) devised a backdoorway to defeat the purpose ofceiling (maximum number ofproject visas permissible tothe company's plant) by grant-ing permission to reuse 263project visas allotted to the saidChinese company's officials,"officials said.

Project visas were a specialtype of travel document intro-duced in 2010 for the powerand steel sectors for whichdetailed guidelines were issued

during senior Chidambaram'stenure as the Home Ministerbut there was no provision ofreissuance of project visas, theFIR alleged.

"As per prevalent guide-lines, deviation in rare andexceptional cases could be con-sidered and granted only withthe approval of the HomeSecretary. However, in view ofthe above circumstances, thedeviation in terms of reuse ofproject visas is likely to beapproved by the then HomeMinister...," the FIR furtheralleged.

Makharia allegedly sub-mitted a letter to the HomeMinistry on July 30, 2011,seeking approval to reuse theproject visas allotted to hiscompany, which was approvedwithin a month and permission

was issued, officials had said onTuesday when the agency con-ducted coordinated searches at10 locations, including Karti’sresidence in Chennai andDelhi. “On August 17, 2011,Makharia, on being directed byBhaskararaman, sent a copy ofthe above letter dated July 30,2011 to him through e-mailwhich was forwarded to Karti...Bhaskararaman after discus-sion with P Chidambaram, thethen Home Minister, demand-ed an illegal gratification of Rs50 lakh for ensuring theapproval," the FIR furtheralleged.

The payment of the saidbribe was routed from TSPL toKarti and Bhaskararamanthrough Mumbai-based BellTools Ltd with payments cam-ouflaged under two invoicesraised for consultancy and outof pocket expenses for Chinesevisas related works. However,the Mumbai-based firm wasnever engaged in any kind ofwork relating to visas, rather itwas in an entirely differentbusiness of industrial knives,the agency has alleged.

Makharia had laterthanked Karti andBhaskararaman in an emailfor the visa reuse permission,it added.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday appointed a

three- member Committee ofAdministrators (CoA) headedby former top court judge ARDave to manage the affairs ofthe All India FootballFederation (AIFF) and adop-tion of its constitution in linewith the National Sports Codeand model guidelines. A benchof Justices DY Chandrachud,Surya Kant and PS Narasimhasaid the COA will comprisetwo earlier members--Dr SYQureshi, former ChiefElection Commissioner andBhaskar Ganguly, former cap-tain of the Indian FootballTeam besides Justice (retd)Dave. The apex court said thecurrent state of affairs is not inthe interest of proper gover-nance of the federation. Itdirected the CoA to forthwithtake charge of the AIFF andassist the court by providinginputs to the court in facili-tating the adoption of theconstitution by the AIFF inaccordance with the NationalSports Code and model guide-

lines. The bench said the COAwill prepare electoral rolls forthe purpose of conductingelections to the executive com-mittee of AIFF as per theconstitution to be submittedby the two-member commit-tee (ombudsman) of Qureshiand Ganguly.

“The committee of admin-istrators shall carry out day-to-day governance of the AllIndia Football Federation”, thebench said, adding the COAwill be at a liberty to take theassistance of the erstwhilecommittee of the federation inholding of tournaments andselection of players and otheraffairs. The bench said thenewly constituted committeeof administrators shall sit inFootball House at Dwarka orany other place of conve-nience.

The top court clarifiedthat this is pro-tem arrange-ment in order to facilitate theholding of elections and hand-ing over the affairs to thedemocratically elected body inaccordance with the constitu-tion. It added that it is antic-ipated the elections are held atthe expeditious date.

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The Supreme CourtWednesday permitted

reservation for the OtherBackward Classes (OBCs) inthe local body elections inMadhya Pradesh.

The apex court, which hadpassed an order on May 10 andnoted that no reservation forOBCs can be provisioned untilthe triple test formality is com-pleted “in all respects” by thestate government, permittedthe state to notify the reserva-tion pattern local body wise asdelineated in the reports of thededicated commission.

A bench headed by JusticeA M Khanwilkar passed theorder on an application filed bythe state seeking modificationof the May 10 order and per-mitting the conduct of electionsbased on recently notifieddelimitation.

In the application, the stategovernment had also urgedthe court to permit it to noti-fy reservation for OBCs basedon the recommendation of theOBC Commission in the sec-ond report of May 12 and forthe ScheduledCastes/Scheduled Tribes with-

in four weeks.“We also permit the state of

Madhya Pradesh to notify thereservation pattern local body-wise as delineated in the reportsof the dedicated commission,to be adhered to by the StateElection Commission. That bedone within one week fromtoday. The State ElectionCommission shall issue elec-tion programme in respect ofconcerned local bodies there-after within one week,” thebench, also comprising JusticesA S Oka and C T Ravikumar,said in its order.

“For the time being, wepermit the Madhya PradeshState Election Commission tonotify the election programmefor the respective local bodieskeeping in mind the delimita-tion notifications already issuedby the state government as onthis date, i.E., till today; andalso the reports submitted bythe dedicated Commission,referred to above,” it said.

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Giving a boost to self-reliance in nichemissile technology, the Indian Navy in

association with the Defence Research andDevelopment (DRDO) on Wednesdaysuccessfully conducted the maiden test ofan anti-ship missile. It was fired from aSeaking helicopter.

The indigenously developed airlaunched naval anti-ship missile test tookplace at the Integrated Test Range,Chandipur off the coast of Odisha. Themission met all its objectives. The missilefollowed the desired sea skimming tra-jectory and reached the designated targetwith high degree of accuracy, validating thecontrol, guidance and mission algorithms,officials later said. All sub-systems per-formed satisfactorily and the sensorsdeployed across the test range and nearimpact point tracked the missile trajecto-ry and captured all events.

The missile employed many new tech-nologies, including an indigenously devel-oped launcher for the helicopter. The mis-sile guidance system includes state-of-the-art navigation system and integratedavionics. The flight test was witnessed bysenior officers of the DRDO and the IndianNavy.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh con-gratulated the DRDO, Navy and associat-ed teams for the maiden developmentalflight test. He said India has attained a highlevel of capability in indigenous design anddevelopment of missile systems.

Chief of DRDO Satheesh Reddy saidthe system will strengthen offensive capa-bility of Indian Navy. The Navy has beensteadily enhancing its overall combatcapability to effectively protect India's mar-itime security interests, particularly in theIndian Ocean region.

The test-firing of the new missile cameover a month after an anti-ship version ofthe BrahMos supersonic cruise missile wassuccessfully test-fired jointly by the IndianNavy and the Andaman and NicobarCommand.

The Navy is strengthening its opera-tional capabilities and Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Tuesday launched twofrontline warships of the Indian Navy.

The ships — INS Surat and INSUdaygiri — were launched at the MazagonDocks Limited (MDL) in Mumbai. INSSurat is the fourth guided-missile destroy-er of the P15B class, while INS Udaygiriis the second stealth frigate of the P17Aclass.

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Defence Minister Rajnath Singh under-took a sortie on the Indian Navy P8-I

Long Range Maritime ReconnaissanceAnti-Submarine Warfare aircraft during hisvisit to Mumbai.

During the mission, long range sur-veillance, electronic warfare, imagery intel-ligence, anti submarine warfare(ASW) mis-sions and search and rescue capabilitiesemploying the state-of-the-art mission suiteand sensors were demonstrated, officials saidhere on Wednesday.

The flight crew for this sortie comprisedtwo Pilots and seven Naval Air OperationsOfficers including three women officers.

"I undertook a sortie on board theNavy's maritime patrol aircraft. I witnessedtheir combat capability closely. I can confi-dently say that my trust in the Indian Navyhas grown even stronger. The Navy is fullycapable of protecting our nation," Singh saidlater.The induction of P8I aircraft com-mencing 2013, have significantly enhancedIndian Navy's persistent surveillance oper-ations in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR).

At present, India has 12 such aircraftmanufactured by Boeing with the first air-craft inducted into service in the IndianNavy in 2013. While the Indian Navy usesit for maritime operations, the aircraft wasalso used in eastern Ladakh in 2020 and2021, when the standoff with China was at

its peak, to keep an eye on Chinese troopsand their manoeuvres.The first order for theplanes was given by India in 2009 for eightaircraft. The order had a clause allowing thepurchase of four more aircraft later and Indiaplaced an order for four more aircraft in2016.

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The Congress’ repeatedattacks on the Modi

Government on issues of pricerise, inflation, unemploymentand several other social andpolitical issues may not haveyielded the desired results butits opposition to the sale ofsome profit-making PublicSector Units (PSU) did forcethe ruling regime to hold thedecisions.

Barring the sale of nation-al carrier Air India, the “sell-off ” of other profit-makingPSUs Concor, CentralElectronics Limited (CEL) andState-owned Pawan HansHelicopters could not materi-alize due to the pressuremounted by the Congresswhich made the researches byits national spokesman Prof

Gaurav Vallabh the basis for itsopposition .

The latest in the line ofCongress stalling a sale by theGovernment is that of thePawan Hans Limited to Star9Mobility Private Limited. OnApril 29, an empowered cabi-net group had given the greensignal for Star9 Mobility to buythe Government’s 51 percentstake in the loss-making PawanHans.

However, Vallabh, a pro-fessor at the prestigious XLRI,Jamshedpur, raised questions

over the majority stakeholderAlmas Global OpportunityFund and the background ofthe winning bidder Star9Mobility.

After concerns were raised,the Government then put thedecision on hold. Vallabh saidit took much effort andresearch to come up with “fool-proof documents” and thechain of “loopholes”.

Prior to this, Vallabh’sresearch-based attack even pre-vented the sale of CEL to a lit-tle-known firm on grounds ofgross undervaluation. TheCongress alleged the Rs 210-crore highest bid made by thecity-based Nandal Finance &Leasing was grossly underval-ued. It claimed that the valua-tion of the CEL, using differentmethods, was between Rs 957crore and Rs 1,600 crore.

The government later

examined it through theDepartment of Investment andPublic Asset Management(DIPAM).

In September last year, thestrategic sale of ContainerCorporation of India (Concor),a unit of Indian Railways, wasput on hold due to doubtsraised by Vallabh in the saleprocess. He had questionedhow the government couldhand over railway landacquired from farmers of ourcountry at a concessional rateor free of cost to a private partyfor commercial use in a “back-door arrangement”.

Vallabh had come intolimelight after he took on thethen Jharkhand chief ministerRaghubar Das in the 2019Assembly elections in a trian-gular contest wherein Saryu Raiemerged winner as an inde-pendent candidate.

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Former Congress chiefRahul Gandhi on

Wednesday hit out at theCentral Government over ris-ing inflation and unemploy-ment in the country, sayingIndia looks a "lot like SriLanka" and the UnionGovernment should not dis-tract people.

"Distracting people won'tchange the facts. India looks alot like Sri Lanka," he said onTwitter.

Rahul shared graphs ofunemployment, petrol priceand communal violence show-ing similar images of India andSri Lanka citing varioussources including armed con-flict location and event dataproject, Lok Sabha unstarred

question, CMIE, PetroleumPlanning and Analysis Celland Central Bank of Sri Lanka.

The graphs showed unem-

ployment rising from 2017 inboth countries, peakingaround 2020- the year Indiaimposed a lockdown to fight

the coronavirus- and dippingslightly the next year.

The second pair of graphscompares petrol prices in Indiaand Sri Lanka, on the rise since2017 and soaring around 2021.The third set of graphs showscommunal violence risingsharply in 2020-21 in bothcountries. The Congress hasbeen accusing the govern-ment of distracting peoplewith other issues to hide itsfailures and issues of price riseand unemployment.

The party has been attack-ing the Government over theissue of price and inflation andrising unemployment and hassaid that the situation in Indiais going the Sri Lanka way,where the prime minister hadto resign in view of the dete-riorating situation.

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From rising oceans to thelevels of heat-trapping

emissions in the atmosphere—the critical global indicators ofthe climate crisis broke recordsin 2021, a UN report said onWednesday even as it painteda bleak future for the worldwhich is witnessing erraticweather conditions at a fasterpace.

The World MeteorologicalOrganisation (WMO) State ofthe Global Climate in 2021report said, "It (climate change)wreaked a heavy toll on humanlives and well-being and trig-gered shocks for food and

water security and displace-ment that have accentuated in2022.

Global annual mean tem-perature difference is consid-ered from pre-industrial con-ditions (1850-1900) for sixglobal temperature data sets(1850-2021).

The report confirmed thatthe past seven years have beenthe warmest seven years onrecord and that year 2021 was"only" one of the sevenwarmest because of a La Ninaevent (ocean phenomenon inthe Pacifics) at the start andend of the year. "This had atemporary cooling effect, butdid not reverse the overalltrend of rising temperatures.

The average global tempera-ture in 2021 was about 1.11(plus/minus 0.13) degreesCelsius above the pre-indus-

trial level."It is just a matter of time

before we see another warmestyear on record," said WMO

Secretary-General ProfessorPetteri Taalas. "The heattrapped by human-inducedgreenhouse gases will warm

the planet for many genera-tions to come. Sea level rise,ocean heat and acidificationwill continue for hundreds ofyears unless means to removecarbon from the atmosphereare invented.

Similarly, the WMOreport's key findings includerecord high ocean heat --much of the ocean experi-enced at least one 'strong'marine heatwave at some pointin 2021; ocean acidificationfindings reiterated theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change (IPCC) con-clusions that open ocean sur-face pH is now the lowest it hasbeen for at least 26,000 yearsand current rates of pH change

are unprecedented.Global mean sea level

reached a new record high in2021, after increasing at anaverage 4.5 mm per year overthe period 2013 -2021, whichis more than double the ratebetween 1993 and 2002 and ismainly due to the acceleratedloss of ice mass from the icesheets and in case of cryos-phere, the glaciological year2020-2021 saw less meltingthan in recent years, but thereis a clear trend towards anacceleration of mass loss onmulti-decadal timescales.

"Extreme weather has themost immediate impact onour daily lives. Years of invest-ment in disaster preparedness

means that we are better at sav-ing lives, though economiclosses are soaring. But muchmore needs to be done, as weare seeing with the droughtemergency unfolding in theHorn of Africa, the recentdeadly flooding in SouthAfrica and the extreme heat inIndia and Pakistan," Taalassaid."Early Warning Systemsare critically required for cli-mate adaptation, and yet theseare only available in less thanhalf of WMO's members. Weare committed to making earlywarnings reach everyone in thenext five years, as requested bythe United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres,"he said.

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The Supreme Court orderreleasing A G Perarivalan,

one of the accused in the 1991assassination of former PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi, hasbeen welcomed by the DMKand its trusted allies in TamilNadu. The Dravidian majorand a number of fringe ele-ments like VCK, MDMK, theCommunists and variousfrontal organisations of theLTTE operating in the Statewere demanding from rooftopsfor the release of all the accusedheld in connection with thecase.

It was on May 21, 1991Rajiv Gandhi who was cam-paigning for the party candi-date at Sriperumbudur LokSabha constituency was assas-sinated by the Liberation Tigersof Tamil Eeelam terroristsoperating in Tamil Nadu withimpunity. The DMK wasextending full support to theLTTE which had made thesouthern districts of the Statetheir base camp. Even as thismatter is on its way to the Press,the Congress leaders in TamilNadu have not reacted publiclyto the decision.

The Supreme Court orderto release Perarivalan (50) fromimprisonment comes threedays prior to the 31st anniver-sary of the martyrdom of Rajiv

Gandhi. All the accused in theassassination case were sen-tenced to death by the trialcourt and was upheld by theSupreme Court. But the delayin taking a decision over theirclemency petitions to thePresident of India saved themfrom the gallows. Nalini, one ofthe prime accused was par-doned by the then Governor ofTamil Nadu at the instance ofthe then chief minister MKarunanidhi and her deathsentence was commuted to lifeimprisonment. Efforts are on toget the six other assassins tooreleased and the mission hasfull political patronage of ChiefMinister M K Stalin.

It is a strange paradox thatthe Congress (of which RajivGandhi was the president at thetime of his murder) is findingitself in a no-man’s land in thiscrucial hour. No senior leadersof the party in the State, includ-ing P Chidambaram, the mainparty ideologist, has dared totell anything against the moveby the DMK to get the assassinsreleased. Chidambaram is at

the mercy of Stalin as the deci-sion on the former’s RajyaSabha dreams depend on themoods of the DMK president.

For the Congress in TamilNadu, Rajiv Gandhi is just asymbol to observe May 21 andAugust 20 anniversaries and toforget him. Rajiv Gandhi’sbiggest contribution to India,the Jawahar NavodayaVidyalayas, a NewGen publicschool concept has no place inDravida Nadu. Tamil Nadu isthe only State in India whichdoes not permit the opening ofNavodaya Vidyalayas offeringfree public school education tostudents from rural areas anda cosmopolitan atmospheresimilar to the elite Doon Schoolwhere Rajiv Gandhi was for-tunate to get admission.

The new education policylaunched by Rajiv GandhiGovernment in 1987 remain anon-starter in Tamil Nadu.Congress has not opened itsmouth to demand the settingup of the poor man’s publicschools in the State.

While the Congress con-tinues condemning the SanghParivar for its soft corner forNathuram Godse, the assassinof the Father of the Nation, theparty is silent over DMK andother Dravidian outfits offeringpoojas to the slain LTTE chiefV Prabhakaran, the masterbrain behind the assassinationof Rajiv Gandhi.

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Unrelenting Kashmirimigrant employees,

employed under PrimeMinisters package, Wednesdayevening took out protestmarches outside different tran-sit camps in support of theirone point demand of safe evac-uation from Kashmir Valley.

After the merciless killingof Rahul Bhat these migrantemployees have not attendedtheir duties in their respectiveoffices. Though senior officersincluding DivisionalCommissioner Kashmir PKPole and Inspector General ofPolice, Kashmir range, VijayKumar have personally visitedseveral of these transit campsand interacted with the migrantemployees to convince them tostay put in Kashmir valley butit appears the migrant employ-ees are in no mood to payattention to their appeals andsuggestions.

Wearing black bandanasand holding placards theprotesting employees wereheard shouting slogans againstthe UT administration headedby Lieutenant Governor ManojSinha.

Referring to the assurancesgiven by the senior officers, akashmir migrant employeeclaimed that when IGP himself

is telling us to avoid protest inthe open and advising us to stayinside the camps, how can wetrust him to provide us bettersecurity at the workplace. "Weare not ready to become sittingducks for terrorists, We areready to die for our motherlandbut with dignity not as scape-goats", claimed migrantemployees. Earlier in the day,

the divisional administration inKashmir directed all the headsof departments to ensure thatthe Kashmiri Pandit employeesserving in the valley are post-ed only in less vulnerable areassuch as towns and districtheadquarters to ensure theirsafety and security.

“We had a meeting with allheads of departments and chief

engineers. I have told them toensure that the Kashmiri Panditemployees are posted in less vul-nerable areas like towns and dis-trict headquarters,” DivisionalCommissioner, Kashmir P KPole told reporters here.

Pole evaded a direct replywhen asked if the governmentis willing to consider thedemands of the protestingemployees such as shiftingthem to Jammu.He said theadministration will resolve theservice-related matters con-cerning the Kashmiri Panditemployees within a week.

“Eventually, all govern-ment employees have to followa code of conduct. We arelooking into it…. They will notbe posted in remote or vulner-able areas, the issue of couplesbeing posted in different areaswill also be addressed. Theywill be posted closer to theircolonies so that their com-muting time is also less,” Polesaid.

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The Congress on Wednesdayexpressed pain and disap-

pointment over the release offormer Prime Minister lateRajiv Gandhi assassination caseconvict A G Perarivalan, andslammed the Government forcreating "a situation" in thecourt to get the killer of a for-mer prime minister released fortheir "petty and cheap politics".

Congress' chief spokesper-son Randeep Surjewala saidthere is a sorrow and fury notonly in every Congress work-er over the development, but inevery citizen who believes inIndia and Indianness. "A ter-rorist is a terrorist and shouldbe treated as one. Today, we aredeeply pained and disappoint-ed at the decision of theSupreme Court ordering therelease of Rajiv Gandhi's assas-sin," he said.

It is condemnable and veryunfortunate that the assassin ofa former prime minister hasbeen released, he said. "Todayis a sad day for the country.There is sorrow and fury notonly in every Congress work-er, but in every Indian whobelieves in India andIndianness, who believes infighting against extremism andevery force that challenges thesovereignty and integrity ofIndia," he told reporters.

He also wondered if thelakhs of convicts facing lifeterms should be freed. This isnot a question about RajivGandhi, but about a primeminister who was killed, hesaid, adding the soul of everyperson fighting against terror-ism has been hurt.

"Rajiv ji had sacrificed hislife for the country, not for theCongress. And if today's gov-ernment creates a situation in

the court to get his killersreleased for their petty andcheap politics, then it is veryunfortunate and it is con-demnable.

"We condemn this in thestrongest possible way. AllIndians must see what kind ofgovernments are in powertoday and what are their atti-tude towards extremism is," hesaid. Invoking its extraordinarypower under Article 142 of theConstitution, the SupremeCourt Wednesday ordered therelease of A G Perarivalan,who has served over 30 yearsin jail in the Rajiv Gandhiassassination case.

A bench headed by JusticeL Nageswara Rao said theTamil Nadu state cabinet'sadvice recommending the pre-mature release of all sevenconvicts in the case was bind-ing on the governor.

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The mortal remains of RanjitSingh, the latest victim of

targeted killing in Kashmirvalley, were consigned toflames by his minor son at hisnative village of Sunderbani inRajouri district on Wednesday.

Singh was killed in agrenade attack on a newlyopened wine shop in DewanBagh area of Baramulla lateTuesday evening.

He is survived by his wife,four daughters and a minorson. According to family mem-bers, Singh left home only twoweeks ago to earn his liveli-hood. He along with threeother employees receivedinjuries in the grenade attack.Singh,later, succumbed to hisinjuries in the hospital.

One of the daughters, hold-ing her minor brother in herlap, appealed to the UT admin-istration to do justice with thefamily.

"We need justice. Ourfather was earning his liveli-hood when he was targeted andkilled. He was innocent. Howcan we survive, who will lookafter our family and feed usafter his untimely death in aterror attack? Before the cre-mation ceremony was per-formed the local administra-tion had to persuade the agi-

tating family members to liftthe dharna in the middle of theroad. BJP leader RavinderRaina and Surinder Choudharyalso attended the cremationceremony.

Soon after the mortalremains of Ranjit Singhreached his native Bakra villagein Sunderbani area of Rajouria large number of local resi-dents along with family mem-bers blocked traffic on theJam mu - R aj ou r i - Po on c hNational Highway.

The angry residentsdemanded severest punish-ment for the perpetrators ofterrorist violence while shout-ing slogans.

The protesters weredemanding an ex-gratia of Rs25 lakh for the family of thedeceased and employment toone of the family members.According to official sources,the district administration ledby Deputy CommissionerRajouri visited the spot topacify the aggrieved familymembers.

The district administra-tion immediately handed overa cheque of Rs 1 lakh to thefamily of Ranjit Singh while anassurance was given to employone of the family members inthe government job and anamount of 4 lakhs would bereleased soon.

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Bahujan Samaj Party supre-mo and former chief min-

ister of Uttar Pradesh,Mayawati, alleged that theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and its allies were distractingpeople by targeting religiousplaces to divert attention fromkey issues like inflation, pover-ty and unemployment.

The BSP chief also warnedthat such an attempt couldworsen the situation anytime.

The BSP chief, in her state-ment issued on Wednesday,said, "In order to divide theattention of the people suffer-ing from the ever-increasingpoverty, unemployment andskyrocketing inflation in thecountry, the BJP and its alliedorganisations are selectivelytargeting religious issues. It isnot hidden and it can worsenthe situation at any time.”

The BSP chief said thatthere was a conspiracy to pro-voke people on religiousgrounds and added, "Yearsafter independence, the man-ner in which religious senti-ments of people are being insti-gated as part of a conspiracy,under the pretext of Gyanvapi,Mathura, Taj Mahal and otherplaces, will not strengthen thecountry. The BJP needs to take

note of it."Addressing a press confer-

ence in Lucknow, Mayawatisaid, "The way they (BJP) arechanging the names of placesbelonging to a particular com-munity, it will make a dent tothe spirit of brotherhood andaffect communal harmony inthe country. It will increasehatred. This is alarming. Peoplebelonging to all communitiesmust be on alert. This will nei-ther do good to India nor to thecommon people of the coun-try."

On Tuesday, SamajwadiParty chief Akhilesh Yadavhad slammed the BharatiyaJanata Party-led Centre, sayingthat Gyanvapi-like incidentswere a part of the party`s "hatecalendar", and were a deliber-ate attempt to avoid addressingissues of inflation and unem-ployment.

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In an apparent bid to give anew twist to the row over the

Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi,Maulana Tauqeer Raza, thehead of Ittehad-e-MillatCouncil, has claimed that alarge number of Hindus con-verted their places of worshipto mosques when theyembraced Islam and suchmosques “should not betouched”.

Maulana Tauqeer Raza is aprominent leader of the SunniBarlevi sect of Islam.

“There are many mosquesin the country where therewere temples before. Thosetemples were not razed, justconverted into mosques whenpeople adopted Islam. Mosquesshould not be touched, and if

anything is done forcefully,Muslims will oppose the gov-ernment,” Maulana Raza said.

Issuing a threat of vio-lence, Maulana Raza said, “Theday Muslim youths becomeangry, the day I lose controlover them, the day these youthstake law in their hands, you will have no place-to hide.”

Justifying the plunder andviolence during the Mughalrule, Maulana Raza said, “TheMughal rulers did not attackthe temples.”

Tauqeer Raza is thefounder of the political partyIttehad-e-Millat Council in UPRaza claimed that calling whatwas found in the Gyanvapimosque a Shivling was actual-ly making a mockery ofHinduism.

He claimed that Muslimsdid not need any legal fight asthey had seen the judgement inthe “Babri Mosque” case.

“This time, we will notappeal in any court. Hate mon-gers will find a ‘Shivling’ atevery mosque in the countrywith a fountain. If they havetheir way, they will encroach allof them. I would like to seewhere these people will stop.Muslims have remained quietto ensure peace in the country,”he added.

Millat Council’s TauqeerRaza Khan is known for mak-ing incendiary remarks on reli-gious issues and has issuedprovocative statements in thepast.

In January this year, whilespeaking at a public rally inBareilly, he had said “I see the

anger within my Muslimyouths and I am afraid that theday this anger bursts out, theday I lose control over them…Iwant to warn my Hindu broth-ers that I’m scared that the daymy Muslim youths are forcedto take the law into their hands,you will not find a place to hideanywhere in India.”

In April this year, whilespeaking against the demolition of encroachmentsin Bareilly, Raza had said, “Theday Muslims come to thestreets, one must understandthat they will be uncontrollable.Therefore I warn the government and PrimeMinister Narendra Modi inparticular of consequences if hefails to correct this way of tak-ing action with immediateeffect.”

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Amurder case has been reg-istered against two police-

men and a magisterial inquiryhas been ordered into thealleged custodial death of a 52-year-old businessman inHathras. While the accusedpolicemen have been also sus-pended along with two othersincluding the station houseofficer, no one has been arrest-ed so far.

According to reports, RajKumar alias Raju, a local busi-nessman at Bisana village, wasdetained following a clashbetween two groups onMonday and brought toChandpa police station alongwith another accused Akash.

While Akash had sustainedinjuries on his head during theclash, Raj Kumar had injurieson his leg.

“In the wee hours onTuesday, Kumar complained ofuneasiness and was shifted toa hospital. After medical treat-ment, the police team broughthim back to the police station.Around 6:30 am, he againcomplained of uneasiness andwas taken to hospital where hedied during treatment,” said a police officer.

A police officer said thatduring preliminary inquiry, itwas found that the doctors hadadvised the police team toadmit Kumar to the hospitalbut the cops took him back tothe police station.

In a video, Kumar's sonManendra Thakur said, “Policetook my father on the pretextof a medical examination. Theythrashed him at the police sta-tion after which he died.”

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The Uttar Pradeshgovernment is set

to develop an onlineIntegrated TempleInformation Systemconsisting of descrip-tion, details and historyof all the temples of thestate as well as theirroute maps for the convenienceof tourists.

The Religious Affairsdepartment has already com-municated to the managingdirector of the UP ElectronicsCorporation regarding sanc-tioning of Rs 1 crore for thepurpose. The fund would bereleased by the Finance depart-ment soon. The corporation islikely to develop the softwareand upload the above men-

tioned details about the templesin the next six months, a pressrelease said. It is worth men-tioning here that the ReligiousAffairs department has pro-posed a whopping Rs 1,000crore budget for the financialyear 2022-23, against Rs 32.52crore spent in 2017-18 and Rs614.88 crore in 2021-22.

In the next 100 days, theUP government proposes towork on the Kashi Vishwanath

Corridor project. The depart-ment also plans to operate theKailash Mansarovar Bhawan inGhaziabad and work on con-struction of the second phaseof Vedic Science Centre at acost of Rs 934.46 lakh.

Furthermore, the govern-ment plans to form a board inthe next couple of years forimplementation of welfareschemes for elderly saints andpriests.

The Yogi Adityanath gov-ernment 2.0 also has an elab-orate infrastructural plan forAyodhya in the next five years.The government will be build-ing main roads of Ayodhya,including Bhakti Path, at acost of Rs 63.46 crore andRam Janmabhoomi Path toSugreev Fort Road) at a cost ofRs 35.07 crore.

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The Varanasi court, onWednesday, posted May 19

as the date to hear an applica-tion filed by the advocates ofthe plaintiffs to demolish thewall beneath the ‘wazu khana’of Gyanvapi mosque where‘Shivling’ is claimed to havebeen found during the survey.

The court will also hear onthe same day the applicationfiled by the government lawyerto shift the fishes from thesealed wazu khana to saferplace.

The lawyers of the plain-tiffs in the Gyanvapi-ShringarGauri case had submitted anapplication in the court ofCivil Judge (Senior Division)Ravi Kumar Diwakar,demanding demolition of thewall beneath the ‘wazu khana’in Gyanvapi mosque complex

where a‘Shivling’ isclaimed tohave beenfound dur-ing the sur-vey of theG y a nv a p ipremises.

T h egovernmentlawyer alsofi led anapplicationin the samec o u r tdemandingshifting ofthe f ishesfrom thesealed wazu khana as theirlives were at stake.

Both the applications wereto be taken up for hearing onWednesday but the court pro-ceedings could not begin as

the lawyerswere onstrike. Sothe courtposted thedate for thenext hearingon May 19.

T h ecivil judge(senior divi-sion) hadordered thesurvey andvideographyof theG y a n v a p ip r e m i s e s .The lawyersof the plain-

tiff have claimed that a‘Shivling’ was found in thewazu khana of the Gyanvapimosque during the videogra-phy and survey conducted forthree days from May 14 to 16

under the leadership of CourtCommissioner Ajay KumarMishra and two commission-ers Vishal Singh and AjayPratap Singh in the presence ofadvocates of both plaintiffsand defendant and represen-tatives of the government, dis-trict administration and ShriKashi Vishwanath Temple.

However, the advocates ofthe defendant claim that it isa fountain and not a ‘Shivling’.

After the claims and coun-terclaims, the court hadordered the district adminis-tration to seal the place wherethe ‘Shivling ‘was claimed tobe found during the survey.The court also prohibited theentry of any person in thisarea. However, the SupremeCourt has allowed Muslims tooffer namaz and perform reli-gious observance without anyimpediment.

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belonged to the Zionist tribe ofAnza Ben Wael. Islam is notthe original religion of SaudiArab rulers. Najdi, also belong-ing to Zionist ancestry, got hisdaughter married to Ibn Saud’sson Abd-al-Aziz.

The Quran states:“Prophet Mohammad was sentto the world as a mercy tomankind (21:107).… Allahabhors any disturbance ofpeace (2:205).” WhereasWahabi ideology is enshrinedin their book Kitab-al- Twahid,which prescribes the forcefulconversion of Muslims andothers to his Salafi/ Wahabiideology; wherein, he mani-festly says, “Follow my ideol-ogy, else get ready to be killed.”

In 1766, Muhammad-ibn-Saud was killed and his sonAbd-al-Aziz took over as Emir(temporal leader). He intro-duced firearms replacing con-ventional weaponry in the so-called holy war (jihad). Heaccelerated attacks in a spec-tacular bid to extend his terri-tory and as British historianCharles Allen writes in hisbook, ‘God’s Terrorists — TheWahabi Cult and the HiddenRoots of Modern Jihad’: “Abd-al-Aziz issued every (so-called)holy warrior a firman (writtenorder) addressed to the gate-keeper of Heaven, requiringhim to be admitted forthwithshould he die in battle.” Sincethen, it has been the commonschismatic, fraudulent practice

of terror operators to misguideand exploit the youth forrecruitment with the promiseof Paradise. The history ofWahabism has been writtenwith blood of innocent people.On June 2, 1792, Sheikh Najdi,the founder of Wahabism died,leaving behind 24 wives and 18children. His son-in-law Abd-al-Aziz speeded up his violentactions and conversions.

In 1802, he attacked theholiest shrine of Hazrat ImamHusain in Karbala (Iraq), des-ecrating the shrine. LieutenantFrancis Warden wrote: “Theypillaged the whole of it andplundered the tomb of HazratImam Husain, slaying in thecourse of the day, with circum-stances of peculiar cruelty,above 5,000 of the inhabitants.A huge amount of booty was seized.”

In 1803, Abd-al-Aziz-ibn-Saud obtained a visit permitfrom the Shareef of Mecca onthe pretext of performing Hajj;wherein, his Wahabi fighterslaid waste in Islam’s holiestshrine (Ka’aba), like theaccursed Yazid-ibn-Muawiyadesecrated Ka’aba in 682 AD.According to TE Ravenshaw,author of ‘A memorandum onthe sect of Wahhabis’: “Theyrobbed the splendid tombs ofthe Mahomedan saints, whowere interred there; and theirfanatical zeal did not evenspare the Prophet’s Mosque(Masjid ul Nabavi) in Medina,

which they robbed of theimmense treasures and costlyfurniture to which eachMahomedan Prince of Europe,Asia and Africa had con-tributed his share.”

In 1804, a Wahabi gang ofterrorists again crossed thegreat desert in the Hijaz anddestroyed tombs of theProphet’s family members atJannat-ul-Baqi, the ancientcemetery of Medina, and evendespoiled the grave of ProphetMohammad. Again in 1925(On 8th Shawwal 1344 Hijri),Wahabi terrorists demolishedthe holy shrines of HazratFatima Zehra, daughter ofHoly Prophet, and his grand-sons, Hazrat Imam Hasan,Hazrat Imam Zain ulAbedeen, Hazrat ImamMohammad Baqar.

On December 6, everyyear marking the anniversaryof the demolition of BabriMasjid, Muslims organiseprotests, file petitions in court.Whereas, on 8th Shawwal,1344 Hijri (1925 AD), SaudiArab rulers had razed theholy tombs of ProphetMohammad’s family, but sur-prisingly no Muslim of anysect reacts or protests againstthe pseudo-Muslim Saudirulers. Is it because those perpetrators are not non-Muslims?

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

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���������������� ������� �Sir — The decision of the BJP Governmentin Karnataka regarding the removal of alesson on martyr Bhagat Singh from aschool textbook is an insult to the sacri-fices made by the iconic freedom fighter.The country will not tolerate such insultto its martyrs. The unfortunate mattercame to light when some organisations,including the All India DemocraticStudents Organisation (AIDSO) and theAll India Save Education Committee(AISEC), claimed that the BJP-ledKarnataka Government has taken a deci-sion to omit a lesson on freedom fighterand martyr Bhagat Singh, a revolutionaryfrom the State of undivided Punjab, in arevised Kannada textbook for students of Class X.

A wave of patriotism runs through thebody even today when one reads about theunbridled courage of Shaheed BhagatSingh in the face of fierce odds. With theaim of instilling deep values and the spir-it of patriotism among today’s youth, it ishigh time the Karnataka Governmentrolled back its decision and immediatelyreinstated the lesson on Bhagat Singh. Tobe fair to the State Government, howev-er, the Karnataka Textbook Society in alate-night statement has clarified that thechapter has not been removed, and thatthe Kannada textbook of Class 10 is cur-rently in the printing stage.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

������������ ������������ �Sir — The nation is watching how thebuildings that came up illegally on theGovernment’s land are these days beingdemolished across the country. UttarPradesh and Madhya Pradesh have alreadymoved amendments in their respectiveAssemblies and, after this judgment of theSupreme Court, all States can adopt thesame measures as the UP and MPGovernments. This way, massive funds canbe raised by State Governments and thesefunds can then be utilised for developmentpurposes and thus increasing the GDP of

the each State, which would ultimately leadto an enhanced national GDP.

Since the illegal occupants of theselands are influential people, they will trytheir utmost that the Supreme Court ver-dict is not implemented expeditiously. Inthis regard, someone has to show courageas is being shown by the two States.However, the Governments must alsoensure that that proper rules and proce-dures are followed and there should be noover-enthusiasm, as had happened inJahangirpuri in Delhi where even the apexcourt’s stay order was not implemented fornearly 90 minutes.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

��������� ����������Sir — It is highly condemnable that SGurumurthy, an RSS ideologue, part-timeDirector of the Reserve Bank of India andEditor of a Tamil political magazineThuglaq, has referred to public sector bankemployees as ‘Kazhishadaikal’, meaningtoilet material or useless scum bugs,while addressing the anniversary meet of

his magazine. What is more shocking isthat he used this unparliamentary, dirtyand derogative diatribe in the presence ofFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman,who is also in charge of PSBs. It is alsounfortunate that, later in her address, shedidn’t utter even a single word of dissentagainst such foul language by Gurumurthy.

The derogatory comment would haveshocked Gurumurthy’s diehard followerswho attend the annual meeting of theweekly without fail because most of themare either retired or serving members ofPSBs. However, they too have preferred tokeep mum. Now the bank unions andassociations have raised the issue with theFinance Minister and the Government,demanding Gurumurthy’s removal fromthe RBI Board and an unqualified apol-ogy from him. This is not the first timeGurumurthy is facing the heat for his foul-mouthed deliveries.

Tharcius S Fernando | Chennai

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Every year, April 18 marksthe World Heritage Day.The origin of this specialday can be traced back to

1982 when the InternationalCouncil for Monuments andSites (ICOMOS) established it asthe International Day forMonuments and Sites. Later,during its 22nd general confer-ence, Unesco adopted it as theWorld Heritage Day. The digni-ty of a society is reflected in thevalue it attaches to its culturalheritage. The sum total of cultur-al heritage is a nation, commu-nity or group’s language, books,literature, rituals, knowledge,traditions, performing arts, crafts,festive events, monuments andsites of historical relevance. It’s,therefore, our moral and civicduty to preserve, conserve andprotect our cultural heritage.

In India, the 500-years-oldBabri Masjid in Ayodhya wasdemolished on December 6,1992, by a radical Hindu mob ledby Sangh Parivar leaders.Intellectuals across the globe,irrespective of caste, creed, reli-gion or region, condemned thedemolition. Muslims across theworld protested. Several liveswere lost. In its landmark judg-ment of 2019, the Supreme Courtheld that the demolition was ille-gal and directed the authoritiesto allot an alternative plot for amosque as compensation.

On the other hand, the moreheinous crime of multiple demo-litions of holy shrines, relics andheritage sites together with mas-sacres took place in Saudi Arabia.This was done at the behest ofSaudi Arab’s Wahabi/Salafi rulersof Zionist ancestry who, wearingthe cloak of Islam, in the middleof the 18th century introduced anew distorted version of Islampurely based on terrorism. Thisnew cult was named ‘Wahabism’in the name of its founder,Sheikh Muhammad Najdi-ibn-Abd-al-Wahab, who was born inthe desert of Najd of ArabianPeninsula.

In 1744, sidelining thepreachings of ProphetMohammad, Najdi created‘Wahabism’ cult. To gain man-power, he shrewdly found a pat-tern in Muhammad-ibn-Saud, aBedouin tribal chief. Ibn Saud

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tal and physical well-being; provid-ing space for recreation, enhancingcommunity cohesion; generatingemployment in tree planting, care,and maintenance; providing cleandrinking water, nutrition, wood fuel,and other benefits to vulnerable andlow-income residents.

Thus, greening urban space canprove to be a panacea if properlyplanned and executed. Yet, they areoften disregarded because theirecosystem services are neither wellunderstood nor quantified by thedecision-makers. Aarey Colony insuburban Mumbai is an example ofinfrastructure projects taking prece-dence over ecology.

In June 2020, the Governmentannounced ‘Nagar Van’ scheme witha goal to establish 200 urban forestsacross country in the next five years.A similar initiative called the ‘UrbanForestry Scheme’ had also beenlaunched in 2016. Unfortunately,there are no official details and fig-ures available which outline progressof the project and what goals wereachieved on planting “200 cityforests” between 2016 and 2020.

A comprehensive plan for care-ful installation and long-term main-tenance is necessary for all greeninfrastructure. Often, these well-intended initiatives fail to produce thedesired benefits because city govern-ments lack the skills, expertise andfunds necessary for urban forestrymanagement. It also fails due towrong selection of species, improp-er placement of trees and inadequatecare and ownership.

Therefore, plantation projectsmust take into account - native veg-etation, urban forest dynamics, bio-diversity, species composition, spa-tial variation of soil-water dynamics,costs associated with planting andmanaging designed spaces, sincethese factors play a significant role inthe outcome. Selection of species arealso important for urban forestry

because trees in urban areas facemore stress in comparison to ruralareas such as restrictive soil volumeand crown space, soil pollution, airpollution, etc. Low species diversity,poor site condition and plantingpalettes that aren’t conducive tochanging climates are further threatsto urban tree population. It is alsoessential to consider spatial andtemporal dynamics in defining plant-ing strategies and management goalsbecause these factors greatly influ-ence the environment.

Multifarious dimensions of treesrequire location-based managementfor maintenance and periodic treat-ments. It is also necessary to devel-op new skills to deal with the chal-lenging issues for which we lack insti-tutional memory and working plan.This necessitates intensive and exten-sive research and development par-ticularly in the areas of architectureand engineering.

Hence, to ensure more sustain-able urban forests, local policymak-ers have to identify and design localstrategies that fit into their region’sspecific circumstances. Organizingand coordinating between variousstakeholders can also be challenging,particularly when urban forests arespread across multiple jurisdictions.Further, political support for passingan ordinance remains elusive, evenin places where public support forurban tree management is strong.Providing sustainable funding fortree care and management is anoth-er obstacle. In some cases, the main-tenance responsibility of trees andforests remains obscure due to lim-ited details of land ownership ortenure. Many times, the costs asso-ciated with training professionals andestablishing a network for monitor-ing and assessing the health of theurban forest exceeds the budget oflocal Government.

However, proper maintenance iscritical for a thriving urban forest, but

it demands time, resources andcoordination between various stake-holders. Data on the current state ofurban forests are vital, for assessingthe impact of tree planting cam-paigns, maintenance need, treereplacement strategies, new planti-ng opportunities and a comprehen-sive understanding of how toimprove the quality of planningand forests construction in the future.

Many cities are entering intopartnership with organized citizengroups, non-profit organizationsand private landowners in order toeffectively manage urban ecosystemand to deal with their budgeting andresource problem. There areinstances where citizens have alsoparticipated in advisory commissionsand provided inputs to local officialson urban forest policy and regula-tions. A partnership of this kind cancontribute to innovative greeningstrategies that complement and aug-ment existing programs, improveurban forest health, strengthen com-munity social ties, increase environ-mental awareness and assist inaddressing national and local issuesmore effectively. Furthermore, imple-menting advanced technologies suchas remote sensing and geospatial arti-ficial intelligence will help to moni-tor, assess and analyze the naturalresources like, individual trees, vegetation changes, forest composition, etc.

Thus, modern technology com-bined with the desire for a greenercity could lead to the incorporationof urban forestry and urban green-ing into smart city planning andoperation. In addition, to address theproblem of urban forestry holistical-ly, a constitution of a ‘TreeCommission’ with mandate to rad-ically change the planning, manage-ment and execution of urban greenspaces with a multidisciplinary teammust be created.

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On course to be the firstleader in China to havemore than two presi-

dential terms, President Xi Jinping would have likedmost of 2022 to be uneventful.At least till the 20th PartyCongress slated for later thisyear. But suddenly too manyevents are now happening inChina. Unfortunately for XiJinping, none are harbingers ofgood times. The crippling lock-downs and the gloomy eco-nomic scenario come just sixmonths prior to the all-impor-tant meeting of top communistparty leaders where Xi Jinpingis expecting to be anointed asleader for life.

At this point, there areabout 345 million Chinese cit-izens in 46 cities who are livingunder strict Covid controls.Since authorities are struggling

to keep the Omicron outbreakunder control in Beijing, itseems the capital could also wit-ness stricter measures in com-ing days. This would aggravatethe simmering anger of com-mon citizens against the CCP’sheavy-handed approachtowards tackling the new out-break. Shanghai, which has 26million residents, has beenlocked up for over five weeks.It is unclear when the dracon-ian restrictions will be lifted.

Though there are no clearindications of any leadershipchallenge to Xi Jinping, grow-ing public anger could becomea catalyst for a larger move-ment. Any such possibilityposes a major threat to his thirdpresidential term.

In the last two years, Xi’spropaganda machinery hasmade comparisons between

China’s handling of the pan-demic and that of America. Infact, this is now one of the pri-mary arguments to justifythePresident’s impending thirdtermmade possible by constitu-tional amendments. Spirallingcovid cases, draconian con-trols and outrage over lack ofessential goods could becomefertile ground for citizens toquestion both the communistparty and its top-most leader.This could result in more than

just social media resentment,which is already visible onChina’s popular site, Weibo.

Besides the dire economic,social and psychological conse-quences on individuals andfamilies, repeated lockdownsdue to rising cases will punctureholes into the carefully createdcult of Xi Jinping. Last year asChina celebrated its success incurbing Covid, giant cut-outs ofXi were put up all over the cityof Wuhan. Coronavirus pan-demic originated in the city ofWuhan in November 2019.After taking all the credit ofovercoming earlier variants ofcoronavirus, China’s most pow-erful leader will not be able toescape closerscrutiny if thevirus spreads or if lockdownsare mishandled.

The devastating economiccosts of repeated and prolonged

lockdowns are also now begin-ning to show on the world’s sec-ond largest economy. The non-manufacturing PurchasingManagers’ Index (PMI) for themonth of April dropped to41.9 from 48.4 in February. Thiswas the second consecutivemonth of fall in the PMI. Areading below 50 indicates acontraction in the economy,pointing towards lower ordersand lesser demand.Manufacturing PMI clocked47.4, highlighting that theworld’s factory was hit by bothdemand and supply shocks dueto Xi’s zero-Covid policy. Thereare now concerns that the sup-ply chain disruptions inChinese economy may notimprove soon.

The political impact ofsuch a situation would be toxic,made worse since the Chinese

President has neither acknowl-edged the futility of his zero-Covid policy nor its disastroussocial and economic conse-quences. Neither has Xi publiclycalled for any measure to alle-viate the pain of ordinary citi-zens. Hechose to meetChina’swinter Olympians as Shanghairesidents scrambled forfood,and hapless citizens weretold to eat one meal a daydueto the grossly inadequate sup-plies.Instead, the CCP swunginto action to ban hashtags onWeibo where all posts related tofood shortages were censoreddrawing widespread criticism.

This tone-deaf approach, abi-product of the cult of tri-umphalism of Xi Jinping, com-plicates matters for thePresident. At some pointChina’s elites and influentialbusinessmen will start asking

“should Xi be given a thirdterm?”. If economic activitycontinues to get hit, Chinesebusinesses will be forced toevaluate the consequences ofXi Jinping ruling China indef-initely.

Of course, none of thiswill be out in the open, butShanghai’s lockdown will hitChina’s GDP by 2 percent. IfBeijing comes under similarconditions, China’s GDP will befurther hit by 1 percent. Thiscould become a catalyst to seekaccountability from Xi and hiscoterie.

Unlike any other country,there are fewer uncertainties inChina’s controlled politicallandscape. But it seems prema-ture to predict the headwindsthat could impact the outcomeof China’s most important eventof the decade.

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(The writer is a senior journalist and author of“Blinkers Off, How Will

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��9�� ��8��; Today, over half of the world’s pop-ulation lives in urban areas and thisproportion is estimated to increaseto 66 percent by 2050. It is also esti-

mated that India, China, and Nigeria willexperience significant urban growth in thecoming years, and by 2050, India is project-ed to add nearly 404 million urban dwellers.

A major factor behind this rise is aninflux of millions of workers, students, andfamilies seeking jobs, education, and a bet-ter quality of life. As a consequence, citiestoday are overcrowded, urban space isbecoming more concrete, and urban infra-structure is under tremendous pressure.Further, urban sprawl and massive humanintervention have depleted the urban ecosys-tems and increased urban vulnerability to climate change.

Urban management like ensuring ade-quate food supplies, clean water, clean air,energy, housing, education and green spacehas become this century’s greatest develop-ment challenge for urban planners and cityadministrators. In many cities, the air qual-ity index is also worrisome and air toxicityis compounding health problems such as res-piratory diseases. Similarly, extreme temper-atures and more frequent heatwaves are con-tributing to heat-related mortality andaggravating urban heat island effects. Today,many cities are fast running out of spaceneeded for trees, forests, and animals, whichare essential to make any city a liveable andhealthy place.

Considering the current situation, urbanforestry is the only plausible and most effec-tive nature-based solution for buildinggreen, sustainable and resilient cities. Urbanforestry is the “sustained planning, planting,protection, maintenance, and care of trees,forests, greenspace and related resources inand around cities and communities for theecological, sociological, economic, aesthet-ic and public health benefits”.

Urban greening can have a substantialimpact on the lives of city dwellers. It canimprove air quality by cooling and purify-ing the air, ground-level ozone and green-house effect; mitigates the heat island effect,thereby reducing air-conditioning needs,which in turn reduces the amount of fossilfuels required to generate electricity. The abil-ity of urban forests to sequester atmospher-ic carbon dioxide and act as a long-term car-bon sink is a crucial factor in addressing theeffects of global warming. However, theamount of carbon sequestered by treesdepends upon the density of the wood, size,health and tree species. Trees canopies canalso break rain velocity, reduce runoff flowrates and their roots stabilize soils against ero-sion, hence, reduce flooding and sedimen-tation in streams.

Similarly, urban forests provides habitatto animals; decrease wildfire risk; contributeto community economic stability by attract-ing businesses and tourists and provide a wayfor children to learn about nature and nat-ural processes in an otherwise artificial envi-ronment. They also help in preserving andaugmenting biodiversity; promoting men-

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Sri Lankan Prime MinisterRanil Wickremesinghe on

Wednesday said the countryhas missed a payment to theAsian Development Bank,blocking fresh funds amidwarnings that the currencycrisis-hit country could belocked out of multilateral fund-ing in a new blow.

The ADB as well as theWorld Bank had just promisedaround 160 million each to SriLanka, Wickremesinghe said,but the loan from the Manila-based lender was blocked.

"Because we could notrepay three million US dollarslast month it is stuck,"Economy Next news servicewebsite quotedWickremesinghe as saying. ThePrime Minister said his cabinetwas "finding money forthat".The ADB and the WorldBank also continued to fund Sri

Lanka by repurposing loansafter the country was cut offfrom capital markets when itwas downgraded to CCC.

Sri Lanka now faces theprospect of being locked out ofmultilaterals, if their repay-ments are not maintained, thereport said. Former financeminister Ali Sabry said inParliament that new fundingwould not come until the coun-try paid the International

Monetary Fund (IMF), as wellas, the World Bank. Sabry saidthe failure to pay the interna-tional institutions such as theIMF and the World Bank wasa "problem"."As the PrimeMinister said there are somepayments due to ADB. It is avery big problem." Sri Lankahas already suspended repay-ments for international sover-eign bonds, commercial bankloans, Exim bank loans, and

bilateral loans. However, mul-tilateral lenders and seniorcreditors were excluded.

He added that the countryhad on April 12 decided not topay ISBs (InternationalSovereign Bond) and everyoneelse except multilateralsbecause the country had nooption.

Sabry added that the coun-try had to pay USD 78 millionby April 18 to the ADB andUSD 105 million to anotherChinese bank. "We announcedand defaulted."

Sri Lanka is now negotiat-ing a loan with the IMF. Thecountry had to pay USD 106.34million this year but only man-aged to pay USD 12.4 millionby April. The Prime Ministerthen said the debt-riddencountry could not even pay amillion dollars. "Whether thepayment is a billion or 10 bil-lion we do not have a millionto pay," Wickremesinghe said,

promising to provide statisticsto the parliament soon.Opposition legislator Harsha deSilva said the country was dueto pay about USD 5.5 billion in12 months, of which USD 2.5billion was suspended, leavingabout USD 3 billion to berepaid. The country's centralbank is also deep in debt owingmoney to the IMF as well as theReserve Bank of India andswap counterparties.

Sri Lanka was hit by chron-ic monetary instability between2015 and 2022 as money wasprinted to keep interest ratesdown under "flexible inflationtargeting" and "output gap tar-geting", triggering three cur-rency crises, excessive foreignborrowing, and eventualdefault. Wickremesinghe onWednesday also toldParliament that five membersof his Cabinet will soon meetto approve the appointment offinancial and legal advisors to

carry out discussions on debtrestructuring. "The financeminister and I can go throughthe names nominated by thecentral bank and others for thefinancial and legal committeesand the five members of thecabinet will approve thenames," the Prime Ministertold Parliament.

The Daily Mirror websitecited the prime minister mak-ing the statement in a responseto remarks by Sabry who saidthe appointment of financialand legal advisors had come toa standstill because the islandnation did not have a full cab-inet at the time when the eco-nomic crisis hit the countryand went into hard default ofloans.

When asked by de Silvaabout the cross default pay-ments, the prime minister saidthat it was hard to come outwith an exact amount. Dr deSilva said: "Sri Lanka is said to

have gone into hard default sta-tus today... It is said that thereare cross-default clauses worthmore than USD 11 million.Also, Sri Lanka has failed toappoint financial and legalexperts to get on with debtrestructuring."

"Some statistics which areavailable are wrong. Statisticshave gone haywire," the primeminister replied. Sri Lanka isgoing through the worst eco-nomic crisis since indepen-dence in 1948. A cripplingshortage of foreign reserves hasled to long queues for fuel,cooking gas, and other essen-tials while power cuts andsoaring food prices heapedmisery on the people.

Earlier in the day, thenewly appointed prime minis-ter told the parliament that SriLanka has received USD 160Million from the World Bankand that the country is lookingat the possibility of using some

of the amounts to buy fuel.Angry protesters have blockedseveral roads here againstongoing fuel and gas shortagescaused by the economic crisis.Miles-long queues were seenaround every fuel station.

The economic crisis alsotriggered a political crisis in SriLanka and a demand for theresignation of the powerfulRajapaksas. President GotabayaRajapaksa sacked his Cabinetand appointed a youngerCabinet as a response to thedemand for his resignation.

A continuous protestopposite his secretariat hasnow gone on for well over amonth. On May 9, GotabayaRajapaksa's elder brotherMahinda Rajapaksa resigned asthe prime minister to makeway for the president to appointan interim all political partygovernment. Wickremesinghewas appointed country's newprime minister last Thursday.

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For the first time, hundredsof anti-government pro-

testers from Sri Lanka's major-ity Sinhala community in thecountry's south on Wednesdaymourned the Tamil civilians,rebels and government sol-diers killed in the final stagesof the three-decade long bru-tal civil war that ended 13 yearsago.

On May 18, 2009, the threedecade-long bloody separatistcampaign led by the LiberationTigers of Tamil Eelam to estab-lish a separate Tamil homelandin the northern and easternprovince of the island nationcame to an end with the killingof the LTTE supremo VelupillaiPrabakaran by the Sri LankanArmy in Mullaithviu'sVellamulivaikkal.

Every year on May 18,while the armed forces cele-brate the war victory, theTamils mourn their dead dur-ing the final phase of the con-flict. The anti-government pro-testers who are on the 40th dayof their protest demanding theresignation of PresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa gatheredoutside his office and prayedfor all those who died in thecivil war, including Tamils

civilians, Tamil rebels and gov-ernment soldiers."On May 18we gather to remember andmourn all those who died,were killed and were disap-peared in the war," said a state-ment from the organisers.

It added that May 18 is "toremember the thousands ofTamils elderly men womenand children who were caughtin a thin strip of land inMullaivaikkal during the laststages of war and underwentuntold suffering".

The Tamils allege thatthousands were massacred dur-ing the final stages of the warthat ended in 2009, a charge theSri Lankan Army denies. Atleast 40,000 Tamil civiliansmay have been killed in just thefinal months of the civil war,according to a UN report.TheBuddhist, Hindu and Catholicpriests participated in thememorial.

The participants sharedporridge which they said wasthe life saving food for theTamils as they struggled in themidst of shelling and bombing.Dharmalingam Siddhathan, aTamil legislator from the north,said that today was the firstoccasion when Tamil victimswere publicly commemoratedin the capital.

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House investigators areunlikely to call former

President Donald Trump totestify about his role in theJanuary 6, 2021 insurrection,relying instead on interviewswith aides, family and otherswho were close to him at thetime.

Mississippi Rep BennieThompson, the Democraticchairman of the nine-memberpanel investigating the attack,said Tuesday that it's "not ourexpectations" to call Trump,whose supporters broke intothe US Capitol that day andinterrupted the certificationof President Joe Biden's victo-ry.

Thompson said the panelhasn't made any final deci-sions, "but there's no feelingamong the committee to callhim as a witness at this point."

"We're not sure that theevidence that we receive can beany more validated with hispresence," Thompson said. "Ithink the concern is whetheror not he would add any morevalue with his testimony."

The comments come aspanel prepares to hold a seriesof hearings and as membersmake final decisions aboutwho to call for testimony.

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Charles Booker has won theDemocratic primary elec-

tion for the US Senate in his bidto stop a decadeslong winningstreak by KentuckyRepublicans.

Booker defeated threeopponents in the Democraticprimary. He will challengeRepublican US Senator RandPaul in the November election.

The fall campaign will fea-ture sharply contrasting agen-das. Paul promotes limitedgovernment while Booker sup-ports sweeping health care and

anti-poverty programmes. TheBluegrass State hasn't elected aDemocrat to the Senate sinceWendell Ford in 1992.

Booker is back with his"hood to the holler" campaignagenda after narrowly losingthe Democratic Senate prima-ry two years ago.

He promotes social pro-grammes such as Medicare forAll and a basic universalincome. Booker says such pro-posals would uplift peopleacross Bluegrass State, includ-ing poor urban neighbour-hoods and strugglingAppalachian towns.

Canberra: Australia's PrimeMinister Scott Morrison onWednesday would not say whomight represent nation at asummit with US, Indian andJapanese leaders in Tokyo justthree days after Australianelections on Saturday.

Prime Minister ScottMorrison said there were "con-ventions in place" to deal withelection but did not elaborateon how those conventionswould work if the result wereclose. "I'm sure depending onoutcome of this Saturday's elec-tion that they'll be put in place,"Morrison said. Oppositionleader Anthony Albanese hassaid he would have himself

sworn in as prime minister assoon as Sunday or Monday inorder to attend summit of theIndo-Pacific strategic allianceknown as Quad on Tuesday.

"I will visit the Quad andrenew my acquaintance withPresident (Joe) Biden but alsomeet, very importantly, with(Japanese) Prime Minister(Fumio) Kishida and (IndianPrime Minister) NarendraModi who are importantfriends of Australia," Albanesetold The Australian newspaper.

Sydney University consti-tutional law expert AnneTwomey said Morrison wouldhave to resign as prime minis-ter before Governor General

David Hurley could swear inAlbanese. Caretaker conven-tions have constrained what thegovernment can do since April10 when Morrison called theelection. But conventions arenot binding.

"If result is unclear, thenprime minister is still primeminister. He continues to beprime minister and has allpowers of prime minister untilsuch time as he resigns,"Twomey said. "The caretakerconventions in those circum-stances would normally dictatethat you can't go around doingsignificant things, making pol-icy announcements and thatsort of stuff," she added. PTI

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Four European Union coun-tries plan to build North Sea

wind farms capable of produc-ing at least 150 gigawatts ofenergy by 2050 to help cut car-bon emissions that cause cli-mate change, Danish mediareported Wednesday.

Under the plan, wind tur-bines would be raised off thecoasts of Belgium, theNetherlands, Germany andDenmark, daily Danish news-paper Jyllands-Posten said.

The project would mean atenfold increase in the EU'scurrent offshore wind capaci-ty.

"The North Sea can do alot," Danish Prime MinisterFrederiksen told the newspa-per, adding the close coopera-tion between the four EUnations "must start now."

European CommissionPresident Ursula von derLeyen, German ChancellorOlaf Scholz, Dutch PrimeMinister Mark Rutte andBelgian Prime MinisterAlexander De Croo are sched-uled to attend a North SeaSummit on Wednesday inEsbjerg, 260 kilometers (162miles) west of Copenhagen.

In Brussels, theCommission movedWednesday to jump-start plansfor the whole 27-nation bloc toabandon Russian energy amidKremlin's war in Ukraine,proposing a nearly 300 billion-euro ($315 billion) packagethat includes more efficientuse of fuels and faster rollout ofrenewable power. The invest-ment initiative by EU's execu-tive arm is meant to help blocstart weaning themselves offRussian fossil fuels this year.

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Talks between Pakistan andthe International Monetary

Fund began on Wednesday toresurrect an enhanced bailoutpackage to support saggingeconomy of cash-strappedcountry.

Pakistan has repeatedlybeen seeking international aidto support its failing economy.The talks are being held inQatari capital Doha, the financeministry tweeted. The negoti-ations are expected to contin-ue into next week, it said.

Finance Minister MiftahIsmail, Minister of State AishaGhous Pasha, Finance SecretaryHamed Yaqoob Shaikh, StateBank of Pakistan (SBP) ActingGovernor Murtaza Syed,Federal Board of Revenue(FBR) Chairman Asim Ahmadand other senior officials fromfinance division are participat-ing in talks taking place virtu-ally.

Ismail who travelled toWashington last month andmet with Fund officials had saidthat effort was not just to reviveUSD 6 billion IMF bailoutpackage signed by former PMImran Khan in 2019 but also toadd another USD 2 billion to it.

London: A UK Conservativelawmaker was released on bailWednesday while police inves-tigate allegations of rape andsexual assault against him, thelatest in a series of sexual mis-conduct allegations that haveled some to label Britain'sParliament a toxic workplace.

The legislator was arrestedTuesday on suspicion of inde-cent assault, sexual assault,rape, abuse of position of trustand misconduct in publicoffice.

Police, who identified thesuspect only as a man in his50s, said the arrest followed areport of alleged offenses thattook place in London between

2002 and 2009. House ofCommons Speaker LindsayHoyle told lawmakers that "amember has been arrested inconnection with an investiga-tion into an allegation of veryserious criminal offenses."

He said the lawmakerwould stay away fromParliament while police wereinvestigating.

"I, the House of CommonsCommission and the Houseservice take the safety of ourstaff and parliamentary com-munity as a whole very seri-ously and are ensuring any nec-essary measures are taken inrespect of MPs, employees andstaff," Hoyle said. (AP)

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Indians are driving a rise inforeign nurses coming in to

boost the workforce of theUK's National Health Service,according to official figuresreleased in London onWednesday.

The Nursing andMidwifery Council (NMC)data for 2021-22 shows 37,815Indian nurses on the council'sregister of those qualified towork in the UK, up from28,192 the previous year and ajump from 17,730 four yearsago. The Philippines remainsthe top-most source countrywith 41,090 nurses and Nigeriais third with 7,256 nurses onthe register.

"Our register is at the high-est level ever. This is good newsconsidering all the pressures ofthe last two years. But a closerlook at our data reveals somewarning signs," said Andrea

Sutcliffe, Chief Executive andRegistrar at the NMC. "Thetotal number of people leavingthe register has risen, after asteady and welcome fall overthe previous four years. Thosewho left shared troubling sto-ries about the pressure they'vehad to bear during the pan-demic.

A focus on retention as wellas attracting new recruits needsto be part of a sustainableworkforce plan to meet risingdemands for health and careservices," she said.

In total there were 48,436joiners, up from 34,517 the pre-vious year and 38,317 in 2019-2020, which was seen as a wel-come sign for the health servicecoping with nursing staff short-ages.

The NMC found that of allthe joiners almost half (48 percent) had trained overseas andof those, 66 percent had trainedin India or the Philippines.

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Russia said Wednesday thatnearly 1,000 Ukrainian

troops at a giant steelworks inMariupol have surrendered,abandoning their doggeddefense of a site that became asymbol of their country's resis-tance, as the battle in the strate-gic port city appeared all butover.

Ukraine ordered the fight-ers to save their lives - and saidtheir mission to tie up Russianforces is now complete - but hasnot called the column of sol-diers walking out of the planta surrender. The fighters facean uncertain fate, with Ukrainesaying they hope for a prison-er swap but Russia vowing totry at least some of them forwar crimes.

It's not clear how manyfighters remain inside thestronghold, Ukraine's last in acity now largely reduced to rub-ble. Both sides are trying toshape the narrative and extractpropaganda victories fromwhat has been one of the mostimportant battles of the war.

Russian Defence Ministryspokesman Maj Gen IgorKonashenkov said Wednesdaythat 959 Ukrainian troops havenow abandoned the Avozstal

plant since they started comingout Monday. At one point,officials put the number offighters holed up in the mill'ssprawling network of tunnelsand bunkers at 2,000.

The figures, if confirmed,suggest that Moscow might bewithin touching distance ofbeing able to claim that all ofMariupol has fallen. Thatwould be a boost for RussianPresident Vladimir Putin in awar where many of his planshave gone awry.

But already another set-back loomed: Sweden andFinland both officially appliedto join the NATO militaryalliance on Wednesday, a movedriven by security concernsover the Russian invasion.Putin launched

the invasion on Feb 24 inwhat he said was an effort tocheck NATO's expansion buthas seen that strategy backfire.

NATO Secretary-GeneralJens Stoltenberg said he wel-comed the applications, whichnow have to be weighed by 30member countries.

Beyond its symbolic value,gaining full control of Mariupolwould also allow Russia todeploy forces elsewhere in theDonbas, the eastern industrialheartland that the Kremlin is

now bent on capturing. Itwould also give Russia anunbroken land bridge to theCrimean Peninsula, which itseized from Ukraine in 2014,while depriving Ukraine of avital port.

For months, the soldiershave they defended the plantagainst the odds, but onTuesday Ukraine's defenceminister said he had issued anew order to the fighters to"save their lives".

"Ukraine needs them. Thisis the main thing," OleksiyReznikov said.

What will now happen tothe fighters isn't clear. At leastsome have been taken to a for-mer penal colony in territorycontrolled by Russian-backedseparatists. Ukraine says ithopes they can be exchangedfor Russian prisoners of warand that negotiations are deli-cate and time-consuming.

But in Moscow, there aremounting calls for Ukrainiantroops to be put on trial.Russia's main federal inves-tigative body said it intends tointerrogate the troops to "iden-tify the nationalists" and deter-

mine whether they wereinvolved in crimes against civil-ians. Also, Russia's top prose-cutor asked the country'sSupreme Court to designateUkraine's Azov Regiment aterrorist organization. The reg-iment has roots in the far right.

The Russian parliamentplanned to take up a resolutionWednesday to prevent theexchange of Azov Regimentfighters, Russian news agenciessaid.

Ukraine's deputy defenceminister, Hanna Maliar, saidnegotiations for the fighters'

release were ongoing, as wereplans to pull out others stillinside the mill. UkrainianPresident VolodymyrZelenskyy said "the most influ-ential international mediatorsare involved" in the evacuation.

Mariupol was targeted byRussia from the outset of theinvasion. The city was largelyflattened in steady bombard-ments, and Ukraine says over20,000 civilians have beenkilled. But the fighters in thesteel plant held out, as the restof the city fell to Russian occu-pation.

Britain's Defence Ministrysaid in its daily intelligencereport Wednesday thatUkraine's defence of Mariupol"inflicted costly personnel loss-es amongst Russian forces".

More than 260 Ukrainianfighters - some of them seri-ously wounded and taken outon stretchers - left the ruins ofthe Azovstal plant on Mondayand turned themselves over totroops on the Russian sidewho patted them down andtook them away on buses.

Others were taken way onTuesday. Seven buses carryingan unknown number ofUkrainian soldiers were seenarriving at a former penalcolony in the town of Olenivka,

about 88 km (55 miles) northof Mariupol.

It was impossible to con-firm the total number of fight-ers brought to Olenivka ortheir legal status. While bothMariupol and Olenivka areofficially part of Ukraine's east-ern Donetsk region, Olenivkahas been controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014and forms part of the unrecog-nised "Donetsk People'sRepublic". Prior to the rebel

takeover, penal colony No. 120had been a high-security facil-ity designed to hold prisonerssentenced for serious crimes.

Footage shot by TheAssociated Press showed thatthe convoy was escorted bymilitary vehicles bearing thepro-Kremlin "Z" sign, as Sovietflags fluttered from poles alongthe road. About two dozenUkrainian fighters were seen inone of the buses.

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Ukrainian fighters extract-ed from the last bastion

of resistance in Mariupolwere taken to a former penalcolony in enemy-controlledterritory, and a top militaryofficial hoped they could beexchanged for Russian pris-oners of war.

But a Moscow lawmakersaid they should be brought to"justice".The Russian parlia-ment planned to take up aresolution on Wednesday toprevent the exchange of AzovRegiment fighters, who held

out for months inside theAzovstal steelworks plantwhile Mariupol was undersiege, according to Russiannews agencies.

Ukraine's deputy defenceminister Hanna Maliar saidnegotiations for the fighters'release were ongoing, as wereplans to rescue fighters whoare still inside the sprawlingsteel mill.

Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy said"the most influential interna-tional mediators are involved"in the plans. Officials have notsaid how many remain inside.

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ARussian soldier facing thefirst war crimes trial since

the start of the war has plead-ed guilty to charges of killinga Ukrainian civilian.

Sgt Vadim Shyshimarinpleaded guilty to the chargesduring his trial in Kyiv onWednesday. The 21-year-oldsoldier could get life in prisonif convicted of shooting aUkrainian man in the headthrough an open car window ina village in the northeasternSumy region on Feb 28, fourdays into the invasion.

Ukraine's ProsecutorGeneral Iryna Venediktova haspreviously said her office wasreadying war crimes casesagainst 41 Russian soldiers foroffenses including bombingcivilian infrastructure, killingcivilians, rape and looting.

It was not immediatelyclear how many of the suspectsare in Ukrainian hands andhow many could be tried inabsentia.

Russia says it is expelling 27Spanish diplomats afterannouncing the expulsion of

dozens of diplomats fromFrance and Italy. Moscow saidon Wednesday the move is inresponse to the expulsion ofRussian diplomats last monthfrom Spain.

Earlier, the Russian ForeignMinistry said the country wasexpelling 34 French and 24Italian diplomats. MultipleEuropean countries expelledRussian diplomats last monthafter accusing Russian forces ofkilling civilians in Bucha andother towns outside Kyiv, accu-sations the Kremlin has fierce-ly denied. The EuropeanCommission is proposing anine-billion euro ($9.5 billion)loan to Ukraine to help thewar-torn country.

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NATO Secretary-GeneralJens Stoltenberg said

Wednesday that the militaryalliance stands ready to seize ahistoric moment and movequickly on allowing Finlandand Sweden to join its ranks,after the two countries sub-mitted their membershiprequests.

The official applications,handed over by Finland andSweden's ambassadors toNATO, set a security clock tick-ing. Russia, whose war onUkraine spurred them to jointhe military organisation, haswarned that it wouldn't wel-come such a move, and couldrespond.

"I warmly welcome therequests by Finland andSweden to join NATO. You areour closest partners,"Stoltenberg said. "All alliesagree on the importance ofNATO enlargement. We allagree that we must standtogether, and we all agree thatthis is an historic momentwhich we must seize."

"This is a good day at a crit-ical moment for our security,"

a beaming Stoltenberg said, ashe stood alongside the twoenvoys, with NATO, Finnishand Swedish flags at theirbacks.

Russian President VladimirPutin has demanded that thealliance stop expanding towardRussia's borders, and severalNATO allies, led by the UnitedStates and Britain, have sig-naled that they stand ready toprovide security support toFinland and Sweden should hetry to provoke or destabilisethem during the time it takesto become full members.

The countries will onlybenefit from NATO's Article 5security guarantee - the part ofthe alliance's founding treatythat pledges that any attack onone member would be consid-ered an attack of them all - oncethe membership ratificationprocess is concluded, probably

in a few months.For now though, the appli-

cation must now be weighed bythe 30 member countries. Thatprocess is expected to takeabout two weeks, althoughTurkish President Recep TayyipErdogan has expressed reser-vations about Finland andSweden joining.If his objectionsare overcome, and accessiontalks go as well as expected, thetwo could become memberswithin a few months. Theprocess usually takes eight to 12months, but NATO wants tomove quickly given the threatfrom Russia hanging over theNordic countries' heads.

Canada, for example, saysthat it expects to ratify theiraccession protocol in just a fewdays.Stoltenberg said thatNATO allies "are determined towork through all issues andreach rapid conclusions."

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The 75th Cannes Film Festival kickedoff Tuesday with an eye turned to

Russia's war in Ukraine and a live satel-lite video address from UkrainianPresident Volodymyr Zelenskyy, whocalled on a new generation of film-makers to confront dictators as CharlieChaplin satirised Adolf Hitler.

After tributes and musical numbers,Zelenskyy was streamed live for the for-mally attired audience who had gath-ered for the premiere of MichelHazanavicius' zombie comedy "FinalCut."

Zelenskyy, dressed in his signatureolive green shirt, drew a thunderous

standing ovation and spoke at lengthabout the connection between cinemaand reality. He referenced films likeFrancis Ford Coppola's "ApocalypseNow" and Charlie Chaplin's "The GreatDictator" as not unlike Ukraine's pre-sent circumstances.

Zelenskyy quoted Chaplin's finalspeech in "The Great Dictator," whichwas released in 1940, in the early daysof World War II: "The hate of men willpass, and dictators die, and the powerthey took from the people will returnto the people."

"We need a new Chaplin who willdemonstrate that the cinema of our timeis not silent," implored Zelenskyy.

The Ukrainian president pushed

filmmakers not to "stay silent" whilehundreds continue to die in Ukraine,the largest war in Europe since WWII,and show that cinema "is always on theside of freedom."

The war is to be a regular presencein Cannes, where the festival has barredRussians with ties to the governmentfrom attending this year.

Set to screen are several films fromprominent Ukrainian filmmakers,including Sergei Loznitsa's documen-tary "The Natural History ofDestruction." Footage shot byLithuanian filmmaker MantasKvedaravicius before he was killed inMariupol in April will also be shown byhis fiancée, Hanna Bilobrova.

Even "Final Cut," the latest filmfrom "The Artist" filmmakerHazanavicius, was renamed from itsoriginal title, "Z," after Ukrainian pro-testers noted that the letter Z to somesymbolizes support for Russia's war inUkraine.

Formally attired stars includingEva Longoria, Julianne Moore, BéréniceBejo and "No Time to Die" star LashanaLynch were among those who streameddown Cannes' famous red carpetTuesday.

More star-studded premieres - "TopGun: Maverick!" "Elvis!" - await over thenext 12 days, during which 21 films willvie for the festival's prestigious topaward, the Palme d'Or.

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There is a cost to war - to thecountries that wage it, to

the soldiers who fight it, to thecivilians who endure it. Fornations, territory is gained andlost, and sometimes regainedand lost again. But some loss-es are permanent. Lives lost cannever be regained. Nor canlimbs.

And so it is in Ukraine.The stories of the people

who undergo amputations dur-ing conflict are as varied astheir wounds, as are their jour-neys of reconciliation withtheir injuries. For some, losinga part of their body can be akinto a death of sorts; coming toterms with it, a type of rebirth.

For soldiers woundedwhile defending their country,their sense of purpose andbelief in the cause they werefighting for can sometimeshelp them cope psychological-ly with amputation. For somecivilians, maimed while goingabout their lives in a war thatalready terrified them, the

struggle can be much harder.For the men, women and

children who have lost limbs inthe war in Ukraine, now in itsthird month, that journey isjust beginning.The explosionthat took Olena Viter's left legalso took her son, 14-year-oldIvan, a budding musician. Herhusband Volodymyr buriedhim, along with another boykilled in the same blast, undera guelder rose bush in their gar-den. Amid the fighting, theycouldn't get to the cemetery.

"How am I going to livewithout Ivan? He will remain inmy heart forever, like the frag-ment that hit him," she said.When she's alone, Olena cries.

Bombs rained down onOlena's village of Rozvazhiv, inthe Kyiv region, on March 14.Ivan and four others died;Olena was one of about 20 whowere wounded.

At first, "I was thinking,Why did God leave me alive?'"said Olena, 45, her soft voicebreaking. Hearing Ivan wasdead, she begged a neighbor toget his rifle and shoot her.

But Volodymyr pleadedwith her, saying he couldn't livewithout her.

Now, she endures the dev-astation of the loss of her child,and the physical pain of the lossof her leg, cut below the knee.

"Every day I get used tosome new type of pain. I amthinking what kind of newpain will I see in the future," shesaid. She has yet to accepteither of her losses.

"I am still not acceptingmyself as I am now," Olenasaid. "I really liked to dance. Iwas doing sports. I don't know,I need to learn."

She can't yet imagine whatit will be like to walk again.Perhaps, Olena said, her lifewas spared because she wasmeant to do something, tohelp others, perhaps as a vol-unteer or by donations to amusic school in Ivan's memo-ry.

"At the moment, I don'tknow what I would want to do.I should keep searching. ... Imust learn how to live. How?I do not know yet."

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Mumbai: Several globalstorms hitting togetherprompted the Reserve Bank tohike the key interest rate in anoff-cycle review by theMonetary Policy Committee(MPC), said the minutes of therate-setting panel that werereleased on Wednesday.

RBI Governor ShaktikantaDas, as per the minutes, saidthe off-cycle monetary policyactions were aimed at loweringinflation and anchoring infla-tion expectations with a view tostrengthening the medium-term growth prospects of theeconomy and protecting thepurchasing power of the weak-er sections of society.

The MPC after its meetingon May 2 and 4 had recom-mended raising the key inter-est rate (repo) by 40 basispoints. The rate was hikedwith immediate effect. It wasthe first hike since August2018.

“As several storms hittogether, our monetary policyresponse should be seen as animportant step to steady theship. The Indian as well asglobal evidence clearly shows

that high inflation persistencehurts savings, investment, com-petitiveness and growth,” thegovernor had said as per theminutes.

RBI Deputy Governor andMPC member MichaelDebabrata Patra said at themeeting that in this milieu, ameasured approach and a coolhead is warranted.

“Recent incoming data

suggest that India’s macro-fun-damentals, barring importedfood and fuel inflation, are stillintact and in sync with therecovery that has been tena-ciously making its way throughwaves of the pandemic,” hesaid. All the six members of thepanel had voted to raise therepo rate or short-term lendingrate by 40 basis points to 4.4 percent. PTI

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Mumbai: Equity benchmarkssurrendered early gains to closewith modest losses onWednesday, snapping theirtwo-day winning streak asinvestors pared exposure topower, IT and bank stocksamid a mixed trend in globalmarkets.

The rupee plunged to itsfresh lifetime low against thedollar, weighed by persistentforeign fund outflows and aspurt in crude oil prices, whichalso dampened sentiment,traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexsoared in opening trade, beforesuccumbing to bouts of volatil-ity in the afternoon session. Itfinally settled 109.94 points or0.20 per cent lower at54,208.53. On similar lines,the broader NSE Nifty dipped19 points or 0.12 per cent tofinish at 16,240.30.

PowerGrid was the biggestlaggard in the Sensex pack,slumping 4.55 per cent, fol-lowed by Tech Mahindra, SBI,L&T, Bajaj Finserv, BhartiAirtel, NTPC and Wipro.

In contrast, HUL,UltraTech Cement, AsianPaints, Sun Pharma, ITC and

Axis Bank were among thegainers, advancing up to 2.02per cent.

“With the support fromPharma and FMCG stocks,the domestic market had asteady run until the weak open-ing of the European market.UK’s soaring retail inflationnumber along with Fed Chair’sreassurance on bringing downthe inflation, disturbed thesentiment, risking sharper ratehikes,” said Vinod Nair, Headof Research at Geojit FinancialServices.

Retail inflation in the UKsurged to a 40-year high of 9per cent in April, official datashowed. “The sharp rally in theprevious session failed to addfizz in today’s trade, as the mar-ket did not capitalise on thefirm start and rather turnedrange-bound to end marginal-ly lower. PTI

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New Delhi:B a b aRamdev-ledP a t a n j a l iAyurved Ltdwill sell itsfood retail business to groupfirm Ruchi Soya Industries Ltdfor Rs 690 crore as part of itsstrategy to focus on non-food,traditional medicine and well-ness business.

Patanjali Ayurved Ltd hadacquired Ruchi Soya throughan insolvency process.

In a regulatory filing, RuchiSoya informed that it hasentered into a “BusinessTransfer Agreement” withPatanjali Ayurved Ltd toacquire the food retail businessof the latter as a going concernon a slump sale basis.

The food retail businessconsists of manufacturing,packaging labelling and retailtrading of certain food prod-ucts along with manufacturingplants located at Padartha,Haridwar, and Newasa,Maharashtra. PTI

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Mumbai: The average headlineinflation is set to accelerate toa nine-year high at 6.9 per centin FY23, and the Reserve Bankmay go for more rate hikes dur-ing the fiscal, a domestic ratingsagency said on Wednesday.

The RBI will hike rates byanother 75 basis points andpossibly up to 125 basis points(1.25 percentage point) as wellif the turn of events and dataare very adverse, India Ratingsand Research said in a note.

“The first rate increase bythe RBI could be of the orderof 0.50 per cent in the June2022 policy and another 0.25per cent in the October 2022policy,” the agency said, addingthat the cash reserve ratiocould also be hiked by anoth-er 0.50 per cent to 5 per cent bythe end of the fiscal.

In a surprise move, theRBI on May 4 hiked the reporate at which it lends to the sys-tem by 0.40 percentage point,and also the CRR or the per-centage of deposits banks haveto park with the central bank

by 0.50 percentage point in anoff-schedule meeting as it sawthreats to the inflation target.

The Consumer PriceInflation (CPI) came at 7.8 percent for April, making it anoth-er month where the RBI’supper tolerance band of 6 percent was missed. All the ana-lysts are sure about more suchhikes being in the offing andsome dent to growth has aresult of the same.

Retail inflation willincrease till September 2022and start declining graduallythereafter, it said, adding thatit is expected to remain inexcess of 6 per cent for fourconsecutive quarters startingfourth quarter of FY22 tillthird quarter of FY23.

It can be noted that underits pact with the government,the RBI is mandated to containinflation inside 6 per cent andthe number breaching for threeconsecutive quarters will leadthe central bank to formallyexplain the reasons for thesame. PTI

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New Delhi: The panel ofMinisters tasked to review theGST levy on casinos, racecourses and online gaming hasfinalised its report, which willbe taken up in the upcomingGST Council meeting.

The Group of Ministers,chaired by Meghalaya ChiefMinister Conrad Sangma, hadin its previous meeting earlierthis month unanimously decid-ed on hiking the tax rate onthese services to 28 per cent.

The GoM met again onWednesday and finalised themethod of valuing these ser-vices for the purpose of levyingthis tax.

“The Group of Ministers(GoM) on casinos, race cours-es & online gaming has cometo a consensus. The report ofour submissions will be hand-ed over to Hon’ble FM, Smti.@nsitharaman Ji in a day ortwo & the matter will be pre-sented in the next@GST_Council Meeting,”Sangma tweeted.

At present, services of casi-nos, horse racing and onlinegaming attract 18 per cent

GST.The government had in

May last year set up a panel ofstate ministers for better valu-ation of services of casinos,online gaming portal and racecourses for levying Goods andServices Tax (GST).

The report of the GoM islikely to be taken up in the nextmeeting of the GST Councilexpected later this month.

Other state ministers in theeight-member GoM includeMaharashtra deputy chief min-ister Ajit Pawar, Gujarat financeminister Kanubhai Patel, Goapanchayati raj minister MauvinGodinho, Tamil Nadu financeminister P Thiaga Rajan, UttarPradesh finance ministerSuresh Khanna and Telanganafinance minister T Harish Rao. PTI

Mumbai: The rupee onWednesday declined by 16paise to close at its fresh life-time low of 77.60 against theUS dollar amid unabated for-eign fund outflows and astronger greenback in overseasmarkets.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeeopened lower at 77.57 andlater hit the day’s low of 77.61as the dollar rebounded inglobal markets following hawk-ish comments from US FederalReserve chief Jerome Powell.

Crude oil prices alsosurged over 1 per cent, whichweighed on the rupee.

The local unit finallyended at its all-time low of77.60, showing a loss of 16paise over its previous close of77.44.

“The dollar index tooksupport near 103.50 and thecapital market witnessed prof-it booking from higher levels,sending rupee into weakness,”said Jateen Trivedi, VPResearch Analyst at LKPSecurities.

The US Fed chief asserted

that the central bank wouldincrease interest rates as high asneeded to contain a spike ininflation which threatens thefoundation of the economy.

The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback’s strengthagainst a basket of six curren-cies, was trading 0.3 per centhigher at 103.59.

Global oil benchmarkBrent crude futures rose 1 percent to USD 113 per barrel.

Meanwhile, the 30-share

BSE Sensex settled 109.94points or 0.20 per cent lower at54,208.53. During the day, it hita high of 54,786 and a low of54,130.89.

The broader NSE Niftydipped 19 points or 0.12 percent to finish at 16,240.30.

Foreign institutionalinvestors remained net sellersin the capital market onTuesday as they offloadedshares worth Rs 2,192.44 crore,as per stock exchange data. PTI

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New Delhi: Oilmeals exportincreased by 10 per cent inApril to nearly 3.34 lakh tonneson higher shipments of rape-seed meal, according to indus-try data.

In a statement, SolventExtractors’ Association of India(SEA) said the export ofoilmeals in April 2022 is pro-visionally reported at 3,33,972tonnes compared to 3,03,705tonnes in the same month lastyear.

Rapeseed meal exportsincreased to 2,29,207 tonnesduring April from 93,984tonnes in March 2022.

SEA pointed out that theexports of oilmeals fell to 23.8lakh tonnes last fiscal yearfrom 36.8 lakh tonnes in pre-vious year. In term of value,

exports declined to Rs 5,600crore from Rs 8,900 crore in2020-21.

In the current year (2022-23), the exports of oilmeals arelikely to be lower.

India is totally out priced inthe international market in thecase of soyabean meal due tohigh price of soybean in thedomestic market.

South Korea, Vietnam,Thailand, Bangladesh andTaiwan are the major importersof Indian oilmeals. PTI

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New Delhi: The Union Cabineton Wednesday approvedadvancing the target of blend-ing 20 per cent ethanol inpetrol by 5 years to 2025-26 aswell as allowing more feed-stocks for the production ofbiofuels in a bid to cut relianceon imported oil for meeting thecountry’s energy needs.

The Cabinet, headed byPrime Minister NarendraModi, at its meeting onWednesday approved theamendments to the NationalPolicy on Biofuels, an officialstatement said.

The main amendment isfor advancing the target ofblending 20 per cent ethanol inpetrol (20 per cent ethanol, 80per cent petrol) to 2025-26from 2030.Currently, about 10per cent of ethanol is blendedin petrol. Also, more feed-stocks have been allowed for theproduction of biofuels whichcan be doped with auto fuels.

It also provides for pro-moting the production of bio-fuels in the country, under theMake in India programme, by

units located in SpecialEconomic Zones (SEZ)/ ExportOriented Units (EoUs).

These decisions will helpIndia, which depends onimports for meeting 85 per centof its oil needs, to cut relianceon overseas shipments.

The Cabinet also approvedgranting “permission for exportof biofuels in specific cases,” thestatement said.

The amendments will alsoattract and foster developmentsof indigenous technologieswhich will pave the way for theMake in India drive and there-by generate more employment.

The existing NationalPolicy on Biofuels came up in2018. “This amendment pro-posal will pave the way for theMake in India drive. “Sincemany more feedstocks arebeing allowed for the produc-tion of biofuels, this will pro-mote the Atmanirbhar Bharatand give an impetus to PrimeMinister’s vision of Indiabecoming ‘energy indepen-dent’ by 2047,” the statementadded. PTI

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New Delhi: SanjivaniParanteral Ltd’s promoterAshwani AnamisharanKhemka has settled a case per-taining to alleged violation ofdisclosure norms with Sebiafter paying �4.95 lakh.

The market regulator in anorder passed on Tuesday saidthat the applicant (AshwaniAnamisharan Khemka) hadfiled the settlement applicationthrough its authorized repre-sentative to settle the proceed-ings without admitting ordenying the findings of fact andconclusions of law.

As per the order, the appli-cant who is a promoter of

Sanjivani Paranteral Ltd (SPL)acquired 1,27,161 shares that is2.15 per cent of the entity(SPL) from the market inOctober 2012.

Subsequent to the acquisi-tion, the shareholding of theapplicant increased from 7.95per cent to 10.10 per cent. Thistriggered the disclosurerequirement under SAST(Substantial Acquisition ofShares and Takeovers) regula-tions.

Thereafter, in 2016, theapplicant disposed of 6,50,000shares of SPL. Pursuant to this,the shareholding of the appli-cant reduced from 13.51 percent to 2.49 per cent. This

transaction triggered the dis-closure requirement underSAST norms.

The discrepancies wereaddressed by applicant andcommunicated to Sebi onFebruary 2022.

Therefore, a high-poweredadvisory committee (HPAC) ofSebi considered the settlementterms proposed by the appli-cant and recommended thecase for settlement upon pay-ment of settlement charges ofRs 4.95 lakh.

The market watchdogapproved the recommenda-tion and the settlement wasremitted on May 2022, theregulator noted. PTI

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Mumbai: TVS Motor on Wednesdayexpanded its electric scooter portfo-lio with the launch of a new iQubemodel in three variants with a host offeatures, including multiple chargingoptions.

The iQube (base version) andiQube S come with a price range start-ing from Rs 98.56 lakh (on-road inDelhi) and Rs 1.11 lakh (on-road inBengaluru), respectively, ManuSaxena, senior vice president forfuture mobility at TVS MotorCompany, announced at the virtuallaunch event.

The company did not announcethe prices for the top-of-the line vari-ant iQube ST, which offers “the best-in-class on-road range of 140 km”. Thecompany said that the e-scooter can

be booked at an initial amount of Rs999. Bookings for iQube and iQube Svariants are also open on the compa-ny’s website from Wednesday withtheir deliveries available with imme-diate effect.

Both the scooters are available atthe company’s outlets in 33 cities, itsaid, adding that TVS will be adding52 additional cities in its retail networksoon. “The launch of the new TVSiQube is a testament to our commit-ment of offering world class EV tech-nology with never-before intelligentand personalised connected experi-ence. The company has been invest-ing in electric technologies for morethan ten years now” said SudarshanVenu, managing director, TVS MotorCompany. PTI

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New Delhi: EV charging firmMagenta ChargeGrid onWednesday said it has joinedhands with the leading electrictwo-wheeler maker AtherEnergy to install charging sta-tions.

The companies have inkeda Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MOU) in thisregard.The charging stationswill be managed by Magentaunder the ChargeGrid plat-form.

Under the partnership,integrated charging across two-three-four-wheelers will beprovided at a single location,Magenta ChargeGrid said in astatement. PTI

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New Delhi: Shares of Indian Overseas Bank onWednesday gained over 4 per cent after the com-pany reported a nearly 58 per cent jump in its netprofit in the quarter ended March 2022.

The stock jumped 4.12 per cent to settle at Rs17.70 on the BSE. During the day, it zoomed 5 percent to Rs 17.85. At the NSE, it went up by 4.11per cent and ended at Rs 17.70.

Public sector lender Indian Overseas Bank onWednesday reported a nearly 58 per cent jump innet profit at Rs 552 crore in the fourth quarter ofFY22, mainly due to lower provisioning for badloans.The bank had posted a net profit of Rs 350crore in the year-ago period.

However, the total income of the bank dur-ing the latest March quarter fell to Rs 5,719 croreas against Rs 6,074 crore in the same period a yearago, according to a regulatory filing. The bank’sinterest income rose by 4 per cent in the fourthquarter ended March to Rs 4,215 crore. PTI

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Kattankulathur: SRM Instituteof Science and Technology(SRMIST) is proud toannounce that one of our finalyear students Puranjay Mohanhas been given an offer fromAmazon Germany for Softwaredevelopment role (Embeddedsystems- Linux kernel devel-oper) with a whopping CTC ofOne crore per annum (1 Lac +emoluments in Euros).

This was announced byFounder Chancellor ofSRMIST Dr. T. R. Paarivendhar

at a press meet held at RamadaPlaza Chennai, Guindy. Forpress meet were also presentChancellor (Academics) P.Sathyanarayanan, ViceChancellor C.Muthamizhchelvan,RegistrarS. Ponnusamy and Director(Career Centre) Venkata Sastry.

Honouring the studentwith the Illustrious StudentAward, T. R. Paarivendharsaid, “Success of Puranjaywillbe a role model for others.” PNS

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Three-day long SATTE(South Asia’s Travel &

Tourism Exchange) 2022 expoat India Expo Mart, GreaterNoida, inaugurated onWednesday by Shripad YessoNaik, Union Minister of Statefor Tourism, has attracted over36,000 industry buyers andtrade visitors across multipleindustry verticals like travel,wedding planning, and corpo-rate travel.

Besides scores of foreigncountries known for attracting

global tourists, many IndianStates are taking part in theexpo.

“SATTE is a hub of ideaand knowledge sharing,” Naiksaid in his inaugural speech.Onbeing asked by the Pioneerwhether the industry is lobby-ing to ease luxury tourism byreducing taxes, etc, so as toattract high-value foreigntourists, Yogesh Mudras, MDof Informa Markets which isorganising SATTE 2022, said,“This is an ongoing process.Industry bodies are in touchthe Government functionarieson the issue.”

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Mumbai: A decline in bets onstartups led to a 27 per centdrop in investments by privateequity and venture capitalfunds in April 2022 at USD 5.5billion, as per a report releasedon Wednesday.

However, the overallinvestment was 11 per centhigher than the USD 5 billionwitnessed in the precedingmonth of March 2022, thereport by industry groupingIVCA and EY, a consultancy,said.

Investments into startupsby venture capital funds halvedto USD 1.6 billion across 82deals during April, whichresulted in pulling down of theoverall number.

The consultancy’s partnerVivek Soni acknowledged thatrate tightening by the US Fedwill reduce liquidity. PTI

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Runaway leaders Gujarat Titans would lookto continue their winning momentum

ahead of the play-offs while Royal ChallengersBangalore need a big victory to keep their last-four stage hopes alive when the two teams faceeach other in their final IPL league match hereon Thursday.

Newcomers GT have so far had a dreamopening season as they are already assured of atop spot in the standings with 20 points from13 games.

RCB, on the other hand, have had a mixedbag this season, registering seven wins and sixlosses to occupy the fifth spot with 14 pointsfrom 13 matches.

But what could hurt RCB is their net runrate of -0.323. A win against GT would movethem to 16 points but that might not beenough as they also need a few favourable resultsgoing their way.

Delhi Capitals, who are currently at fourthspot, can also secure 16 points if they beatMumbai Indians in their last match and theyhave a much better net run rate than RCB at+0.255.

With back-to-back wins, RCB had themomentum going their way but that fizzled outafter a big 54-run loss to Punjab Kings in theirlast match.

Virat Kohli's woeful run continued as hemanaged just 20 in the last match but the stageis set for the former India captain to play animpact knock to make a turnaround in his formand the fortunes of RCB.

Skipper Faf du Plessis, Mahipal Lomror andDinesh Karthik would also be looking to playa big knock after their bats remained silent inthe last few games.

Glenn Maxwell and Rajat Patidar have beengetting starts but failed to convert them into bigscores.

On the bowling front, Harshal Patel and

Wanindu Hasaranga have been brilliant for RCB.In fact, when all other bowlers were taken to taskby Punjab batters in their last match, the duobowled decent spells and in the process pickedup four and two wickets respectively.

RCB, however, would be concerned over theform of Josh Hazzlewood and Mohammed Sirajas they leaked runs against Punjab.

But du Plessis would be hoping for one com-plete performance from his side to keep RCB inthe hunt.

GT, on the other hand, are the side to beatin this IPL. Even if they lose on Thursday, theHardik Pandya-led side will finish at the top,which means it will get two chances to reach thefinal.

For GT, the key to success in their inaugur-al season has been the team effort.

GT's batting department has witnessedsome inspirational performances from the likesof Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, DavidMiller, skipper Pandya and Rahul Tewatia.

The batting unit has been complementedsuperbly by a lethal bowling attack led by expe-rienced Mohammed Shami and has the likes ofyoung Yash Dayal, Lockie Fergusson andAlzarri Joseph.

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Former Sri Lankan pacer Chaminda Vaasreckons rookie speedster Umran Malik,

who has thrilled everyone with his pace in theIPL, will become a "great bowler" for India.

Playing for the Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL-15, the fast bowler from Jammu has been impres-sive with his pace and consistently clocked above150 kmph in the speed gun.

He has so far taken 21 wickets, with best fig-ures of 5/25 and is the fourth highest wicket-taker in the tournament.

"I think he (Umran) is getting better day byday and I saw him playing in the last IPL as well.He is bowling consistently and accuracy isimportant when it comes to T20. And he will

be a great bowler for India. He will be there with(Jasprit) Bumrah, I guess if India gives him achance. He will go a long way," Vaas toldreporters here.

The ex-left-arm seamer, who has 355 wick-ets in 111 Tests, is in the city to coach childrenof the 'Mumbai Cricket Club' led by coach JwalaSingh.

This IPL has also seen the emergence ofyoung pacers like Mukesh Choudhary, ArshdeepSingh, Umran, Avesh Khan, Mohsin Khan andthe 48-year-old attributed it to good first-classstructure in India.

The IPL has seen Sri Lankan players likeWanindu Hasaranga, Bhanuka Rajapaksa,Dushmantha Chameera among others performwell and Vaas feels it will pave the way for theyounger cricketers in the island nation.

"Well, I am so glad that in this IPL, most ofthe Sri Lankan got opportunities and they believein themselves that they can (play) a bigger rolein the IPL. And the best example is Wanindu(Hasaranga). "Wanindu is a star and he hasalways performed well in the Sri Lanka team buthere (in the IPL) he is doing amazing. Not onlyhim but others are doing (playing) their part(well) and it is good for the future players of SriLanka to come and play in the IPL. It is a morale-booster for the youngsters," said Vaas.

"Dushmantha has come a long way. I wasworking with the national set-up for eightmonths and he has improved a lot. I am alreadypleased with his performance and he will be afuture star," he added.

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Matthew Mott wasWednesday named as

head coach of England's men'swhite-ball teams on a four-yearcontract.

The 48-year-old has been incharge of Australia's all-conquer-ing women's team for the pastseven years, winning back-to-back T20 World Cups in 2018and 2020 and the 50-over equiv-alent earlier this year.

He also guided Australia'swomen to a record 26 successiveODI wins and their recent vic-tory over England in the multi-format Ashes series.

Mott takes over a side, whoare the reigning 50-over worldchampions, after beating candi-dates including former England

batsman Paul Collingwood tothe job.

England now have separatehead coaches in red and white-ball cricket for the first timesince 2014, with former NewZealand captain BrendonMcCullum announced last weekas their Test match chief.

Mott, who has previouslyworked in the English game withcounty side Glamorgan, isexpected to begin his reign withthree ODIs away to theNetherlands next month.

“I genuinely believe thatthe time is right to play a role inhelping the England men's ODI(one-day international) and T20group continue to evolve asone of the best teams in theworld,” Mott said in an ECBstatement.

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Ishan Kishan has failed to live up to themost expensive player tag in this IPL but

the Mumbai Indians wicketkeeper batter isnot unduly worried about his form, say-ing even the best of cricketers "strug-gle" at some point.

The 23-year-old was bought byMI for a whopping Rs 15.25 croreat the IPL auction earlier this year.He scored 370 runs from 13 match-es at an average of 30.83, with the helpof three half-centuries.

He is, though, MI's second-highest run-getter in this IPL, afact which showed the woefulform of most batters of the side.

MI were out of the play-offsreckoning long time back afterlosing eight matches on thetrot.

"Even the biggest of players(can struggle), I have seen the likesof Chris Gayle taking time (to starthitting)," Kishan said at the post-match conference after MI lost bythree runs to Sunrisers Hyderabadon Tuesday night.

"Every day is a new day,every match is new. Some day,you get a good start, some day,opposition bowlers come pre-pared and they bowl the balls atgood areas.

"The planning inside the dress-ing room may be different from what

the outside people want."He said his role was not about hitting

straightaway without analysing the situ-ation of the game.

"In cricket, it can never be sure thatyou have just one role and I will

just go out and hit theball. If you think

about the team, itis more impor-tant tounderstandabout your

role," Kishan,who scored 43

off 34 balls, said."If the opposi-

tion bowlers arebowling well you need

to give respect to themand if you can save wick-et it makes easier for thebatters coming later.

"There cannot bejust one situation.Some day, you need togo all out when youare chasing a bigtotal, some day, youneed to analyse the

strength ofo p p o s i t i o nteam whetherthey havegood bowlersto bowl at the

death or not, or

whether we have to save wicketsor not."

Kishan also said that MIcould have won the match had

Tim David, who had smashed 46off just 18 balls with the help of three

fours and four sixes down the order, wasthere till the end.

"Unfortunately, Tim David was run out.If he was till the end, he could have finishedthe game."

SRH head coach Tom Moody said hadDavid's incredible innings not taken thegame down to the wire, his side's chancesof making the play-offs would haveincreased on net run rate.

SRH currently sit at eighth spot in IPLstandings with 12 points, the same asKolkata Knight Riders and Punjab Kings, butplaced below the two on inferior net run rate.

"At the end of the day, you've got to winthe game first and that was our priority. Wemanaged to get enough runs ... But (if notfor) an extraordinary innings from TimDavid, we may have made a bigger impres-sion on our net run rate," Moody said.

Asked whether tearaway pacer UmranMalik is ready for international cricket,Moody said, "Umran is still in a learningcurve, he has bowled exceptionally well inthis IPL. He had his moments.

"Like any young player who burst on thescene...You need to be measured in yourapproach. It's a big step up when you are ininternational cricket. There is no doubt thathe will take that path in time, whether thattime is in months or more.

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South Africa opening batterQuinton de Kock's scintillatingcentury powered Lucknow

Super Giants (LSG) to a memorablewin over Shreyas Iyer-led KolkataKnight Riders (KKR) in Match No 66of the Indian Premier League (IPL)2022 at the Dr DY Patil SportsAcademy in Navi Mumbai onWednesday.

Two-time champions Kolkatawere fighting for survival when Iyer& Co squared off against third-placed Lucknow on matchday 66 ofthe cash-rich league.

Winning the toss and opting tobat first against Kolkata, LSG skipperRahul joined forces with veteranopener De Kock as the Lucknow bat-ters tormented the potent bowlingattack of the KKR side.

After reaching a score of 44without losing a single wicket in thePowerplay, Rahul and De Kockremained keen on cashing on theirrespective starts against Kolkata.

The established opening pair ofthe LSG franchise ended up smash-ing multiple records by turning thetie into a high-scoring contest.

De Kock and Rahul scored thehighest opening partnership in thehistory of IPL as LSG smashed 210-0 in the 20 over-contest.

While Rahul scored 68 off 51balls, his partner-in-crime De Kockwas a star-turnout for the Lucknowfranchise.

De Kock's second IPL ton (140off 70 balls) helped him in register-

ing the third-highest individual scorein the celebrated T20 tournament.

In reply, KKR were reduced to65-3 in 7.1 overs as Mohsin Khan got

the better of Venkatesh Iyer (0) andAbhijeet Tomar (4) during Kolkata'ssteep run chase of the 207-run tar-get.

Lifting KKR in the high-scoring clash,Nitish Rana (42) and captain Iyer (50)played scintillating knocks as Kolkata man-aged to bounce back after the powerplay.

After Sam Billings' fighting 36-runknock, Rinku Singh and Sunil Narineshowed their batting pyrotechnics to putKKR in the driving seat.

At a time when KKR were on the cuspof a famous win, LSG's Even Lewis pluckeda one-handed stunner to remove free-scoring Rinku (40 off 15 balls) in the finalover.

In the end, Marcus Stoinis defendedthree runs on the final ball to script LSG'sthrilling 2-run win over KKR at the Dr DYPatil Sports Academy.

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National Cricket Academy chiefVVS Laxman is likely to coach the

Indian team during the two-matchseries in Ireland next month as it coin-cides with the Test squad's preparationin England.

Head coach Rahul Dravid will bewith the Test squad in England aheadof the series beginning with the one-off Test from July 1.

The four-day practice gameagainst Leicester ahead of the Test willbe played from June 24-27 and thatcoincides with the two T20s in Irelandon June 26 and June 28.

"In all likelihood, Laxman will bewith the T20 squad in Ireland asDravid will be busy in England with

the Test team," a BCCI source told PTI.A similar situation arose last year

when then head coach Ravi Shastriwas with the Test team in England andDravid, who was NCA head at thattime, travelled with the limited overs

squad to Sri Lanka.Laxman, who succeeded Dravid at

NCA, had travelled with the tri-umphant India Under-19 side to theWorld Cup in the Caribbean earlierthis year.

There is also a possibility thatselectors pick different squads forEngland and Ireland series.

A full-strength team is expected tobe picked for the England tour com-prising one Test, three T20s and asmany ODIs.

A week after the IPL final, Indiahost South Africa for five T20Internationals beginning June 9. Thesquad is expected to be picked on May22 and all-format senior players likeVirat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and JaspritBumrah are likely to be rested.

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England on Thursdayrecalled James Anderson

and Stuart Broad, their twomost successful Test wicket-takers of all time, for the open-ing two fixtures of a three-match series against NewZealand.

The pair were controver-sially left out of the squad

from the recent tour ofCaribbean, with England's 1-0loss in a three-game campaignleaving them bottom of theWorld Test Championshiptable.

But they have now beennamed in a 13-man squad, withthe first Test against NewZealand at Lord's starting onJune 2 marking Ben Stokes'sfirst match since he was

appointed as full-time Englandcaptain, replacing Joe Root.

Star batsman Root hasretained his place in the squad.

England have called upYorkshire batsman HarryBrook and Durham pacemanMatthew Potts for the firsttime.

Brook gets his chance fol-lowing a series of repeatedfailures by England's top order.

He has been in fine formfor Yorkshire this season, scor-ing 758 runs at an average of151.60 in the first division ofthe County Championship.

Potts has been given achance after an injury crisisamong England's quick bowlersruled out Saqib Mahmood,Matthew Fisher, Jofra Archer,Mark Wood, Olly Stone andOllie Robinson.

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Even biggest of players can struggle: Ishan

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Sunrisers Hyderabad skipperKane Williamson is return-

ing to New Zealand to be withhis wife for the impending birthof their child, the franchiseannounced on Wednesday.

"Official update: Our skip-per Kane Williamson is flyingback to New Zealand, to usherin the latest addition to his fam-ily," Sunrisers Hyderabad wroteon its official Twitter handle.

"Here's everyone at the#Riser camp wishing KaneWilliamson and his wife a safe

delivery and a lot of happiness!,"SRH said.

Williamson struggled bigtime this IPL season, scoringjust 216 runs from 13 matches.Sunrisers Hyderabad have kepttheir slim play-offs hopes aliveafter registering a narrow three-run win over Mumbai Indiansat the Wankhede stadium onTuesday.

SRH take on Punjab Kingsin their last league game here onSunday in a must-win game.However, even a win may not beenough for them to make it tothe play-offs.

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Liverpool ensured the PremierLeague title race will go to thefinal day of the season as theunder-strength quadruple

chasers survived a scare to beatSouthampton 2-1 on Tuesday.

After Liverpool defeated Chelseaon penalties in a gruelling FA Cupfinal just three days earlier, JurgenKlopp took a gamble with ninechanges at St Mary's.

Despite effectively fielding areserve team and trailing to NathanRedmond's early strike, Liverpool hitback through goals from TakumiMinamino and Joel Matip.

The Reds are just one point

behind leaders Manchester City, withboth teams having one game left. Atitle race for the ages will go City's wayif they win against Aston Villa at theEtihad Stadium on Sunday.

Klopp insisted at the weekendthat he does not expect City to droppoints against Villa.

But Liverpool would be crownedchampions for the second time inthree seasons if they beat Wolves atAnfield and City fail to win.

Klopp's side will be expected todo their part of the equation againstWolves, especially now their refreshedkey players can return to the team.

Sadio Mane, Luis Diaz, AndrewRobertson, Thiago Alcantara andTrent Alexander-Arnold were among

those left out against Southampton,while Mohamed Salah and Virgil vanDijk were sidelined with injuries suf-fered at Wembley.

City boss Pep Guardiola said heplanned to watch the game on tele-vision and if he tuned in, it wouldhave made for frustrating viewing asSouthampton squandered the lead.

But it was Riyad Mahrez's missedpenalty in the final minutes of City's2-2 draw at West Ham on Sundaywhich had given Liverpool renewedhope of catching the leaders.

And the Reds, hoping to becomethe first English club to win all fourmajor trophies in one season, will set-tle their history bid in the last twogames of their incredible, marathon

campaign. First, Liverpool will try toavoid a repeat of 2019, when they beatWolves on the last day but were stillpipped to the title by City.

Then they head to Paris to faceReal Madrid in the ChampionsLeague final on May 28.

������������������Southampton had lost seven of

their previous 10 league matches, giv-ing Klopp belief that his bold selec-tion could pay off.

He might have had secondthoughts when Armando Brojaweaved unchecked into the area, forc-ing Alisson Becker to save with hisout-stretched leg.

It was a warning Liverpool failed

to heed and Ralph Hasenhuttl's sidetook the lead after 13 minutes.

Redmond sprinted away downthe left flank, cutting inside to theedge of the area and unleashed afierce strike that took a deflection offJames Milner as it flashed into the farcorner.

With their title hopes in jeopardy,Liverpool showed the desire andcharacter that inspired Klopp tolabel them "mentality monsters".

Minamino has struggled to breakinto the Liverpool team on a regularbasis and was sent on loan toSouthampton last season.

The Japan forward made themost of a rare Premier League startwith a brilliant equaliser in the 27th

minute. Joe Gomez fizzed a pass intoJota and his perfectly weighted lay-off reached Minamino, who beat AlexMcCarthy at the near post with a fero-cious rising drive.

Liverpool turned the screw andMilner's long-range effort was pushedaway by McCarthy before RobertoFirmino fired over.

Klopp's men monopolised over

70 percent of the possession in thefirst half and it was the same storyafter the break.

Liverpool's relentless pressurewas rewarded in the 67th minute.

Matip and Kyle Walker-Peterschallenged for Tsimikas's corner andthe ball looped in over McCarthy,forcing City to keep the champagneon ice for now.

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Nottingham Forest are onegame away from returning to

the Premier League for the firsttime since 1999 after edging outSheffield United on penalties in adramatic Championship playoffsemi-final.

Forest led 2-1 from the first legand looked set for Wembley whenBrennan Johnson blasted into thetop corner on 19 minutes.

However, the Blades foughtback after the break as goals fromMorgan Gibbs-White and JohnFleck sent the tie to extra-time.

The visitors were only denieda remarkable fightback by a bril-liant save from Brice Samba fiveminutes from time as he spread

himself to block Iliman Ndiaye'seffort.

And Samba was the Foresthero in the shootout as he savedfrom Oliver Norwood, ConorHourihane and Gibbs-White.

Johnson, Cafu and Steve Cookscored from the spot for SteveCooper's men to continue anincredible turnaround in fortunesat the City Ground.

Forest were bottom of thetable when Chris Hughton wassacked in September.

They narrowly missed out onautomatic promotion behindFulham and Bournemouth, butwill have another shot in the rich-est game in world football whenthey face Huddersfield at Wembleyon May 29.

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Nikhat Zareen (52kg) wasthe lone Indian to enter

the final, while two otherssigned off with Bronze medalsin the Women's World BoxingChampionships in Istanbul onWednesday.

Nikhat made short work ofBrazil's Caroline De Almeida to

notch up a dominant 5-0 win.However, Manisha Moun

(57kg) and debutant ParveenHooda (63kg) settled forBronze medals.

While Manisha lost toTokyo Olympics Bronzemedallist Irma Testa of Italy by0-5 unanimous decision,Parveen went down by a 1-4split verdict to European cham-

pionship Bronze medallist AmyBroadhurst.

Zareen, who is a formerjunior world champion, stayedcalm and completely dominat-ed her rival for a 5-0 win byunanimous decision in thelast-four bout of the 52kg com-petition.

The 2019 AsianChampionships Bronze medal-list Manisha, competing in hersecond world championship,tried hard to outdo her techni-cally superior opponent withher power punches but Testadefended superbly.

Six-time champion MCMary Kom, Sarita Devi, JennyRL and Lekha C are the onlyIndian women boxers whohave won the world title andnow Hyderabad-based Zareenhas the opportunity to join theelite list.

India's best performance inthe event came in 2006 whenthe country snared eightmedals, including four Gold,one Silver and three Bronze.

In the last edition, fourIndian boxers returned homewith medals — Manju Raniclinched the Silver, while MaryKom bagged an unparalleledeighth world medal in theform of a Bronze.

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Formula One has decidedagainst replacing the Russian

Grand Prix, which had earlierbeen canceled following Russia'sinvasion of Ukraine.

The announcement onWednesday reduced the currentseason from a record 23 races to22, the same total as last year.

The Sochi race, originallyscheduled for September 25,had been pulled from the calen-dar a day after Russia invadedUkraine.

"There will be no addition-al Grand Prix added to the cal-endar to fill the gap, meaningthe 2022 calendar will run to 22races," F1 said in a statement.

Several cities had offered tohost the race but freight rules,logistical and travel costs dur-ing a season when teams havetight budgets made it too difficult.

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Two-time Olympic medallistP V Sindhu huffed and

puffed her way to the women'ssingles second round whileKidambi Srikanth and HSPrannoy, the protagonists ofIndia's historic Thomas Cup tri-umph, suffered contrasting fatesin the opening round ofThailand Open here onWednesday.

Sindhu, seeded sixth andranked seventh in the world,staved off a spirited challenge

from world number 62, USA'sLauren Lam 21-19, 19-21, 21-18to set up a clash with Sim Yu Jin,who had played a pivotal role inKorea's Uber Cup win.

Fresh from playing a majorrole in the Thomas Cup victo-ry, Srikanth, seeded eighth, pro-duced a gritty show to get thebetter of Brice Leverdez ofFrance 18-21, 21-10, 21-16 in 49minutes.

The World number 11Indian will next face Ireland'sNhat Nguyen, who defeatedHans-Kristian Solberg

Vittinghus of Denmark 21-12,23-21 in the first round.

Prannoy, who won the deci-sive third singles during thequarterfinals and semifinals ofThomas Cup, went down fight-ing 17-21, 21-15, 15-21 to DarenLiew of Malaysia.

Among other Indians in thefray, Ashwini Bhat K and ShikhaGautam beat Thailand's KittipakDubthuk and PrindaPattanawaritthipan 21-12, 21-17to enter the second round.

Ishaan Bhatnagar andTanisha Crasto got a walkover

from USA's Mathew Fogartyand Isabel Zhong to alsoadvance to the second round.

London Olympic Bronzemedallist Saina Nehwal battledhard for 50 minutes before los-ing 21-11, 15-21, 17-21 toKorean Kim Ga Eun in thewomen's singles first round.

Indian qualifier AshmitaChaliha lost to seventh seededRatchanok Intanon of Thaliand10-21, 15-21 in a first roundmatch that lasted 29 minutes.

Compatriot and anotherqualifier, Aakarshi Kashyap lostto Michelle Li of Canada 13-21,18-21 to bow out of the tourna-ment in the first round.

Malvika Bansod battled herway into the second round witha fighting 17-21, 21-15, 21-11win over Ukraine's MariaUltina. She will next face LineChristopherson of Denmark.

The mixed doubles pair ofB Sumeeth Reddy and AshwiniPonnappa also suffered a firstround exit, losing to the eighth-seeded Japanese duo of YukiKaneko and Misaki Matsutomo17-21, 17-21 in 34 minutes.

It was also curtains for B SaiPreneeth and Sourabh Verma inthe men's singles openinground. While Praneeth lost 12-21, 13-21 to KantaphonWangcharoen of Thailand,Sourabh was shown the door byToma Junior Popov of France20-22, 12-21.

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The Asian Hockey Federation (AHF) onWednesday said it will conduct the Olympic

qualifiers independently if the postponedHangzhou Asian Games is not held bySeptember next year.

The Asian Games, originally scheduled tobe held from September 10 to 25 this year, hasbeen postponed indefinitely earlier this monthdue to the worsening pandemic situation in

China. The new dates will be decided in future.But AHF's chief executive officer Tayyab

Ikram said the Asian hockey body is closelymonitoring the situation and is in regular con-sultation with Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

"The Asian Games is an Olympic qualifi-er for the continent, but we still have enoughtime in hand. If the Asian Games Games arepostponed to September 2023, we will be in thesame position to conduct the qualifiers.

"We are closely monitoring the develop-

ments," he said during a virtual press con-ference ahead of the men's Asia Cup, tobe held in Jakarta.

"We do have a plan B, an indepen-dent Olympic qualifier tournament forAsia if the Asian Games are postponedbeyond September 2023. We want toprovide fair opportunity and even plat-form to our players. But we have to see thefeasibility. We are very positive at this stage.

"The pandemic in China is much more ina precautionary level now... We are closely mon-itoring the situation there. We will implementplan B if required."

Asked if there is any time frame to fall backon plan B, Ikram said: "For us it is very clearif the decision is that Asian Games will be heldin September 2023 or before, obviously theOCA has to make that decision, if that hap-pens it's fine or else we will have to implementplan B. I'm not too concerned about the firsthalf of 2023." The Hangzhou Asian Games isof high value for the hockey teams of the con-tinent as Olympic berths are at stake in bothmen's and women's events. The winners willearn direct right to compete at the 2024 ParisOlympics.

Meanwhile, the Asia Cup in Jakarta fromMay 23 to June 1 is a World Cup qualifier.

Being the hosts, India have secured a directentry in next year's World Cup but theOlympic Bronze medallists would look todefend their title in the Asia Cup. India willopen their campaign against arch-rivalsPakistan on the opening day of the tournament.

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World number two Daniil Medvedev lost at theGeneva Open on Tuesday in his first match

after a hernia operation, leaving him short of prac-tice ahead of next week's French Open.

The US Open champion, back on the tour aftersurgery, was beaten 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) by French veter-an Richard Gasquet in the round of 16.

Medvedev underwent surgery last month afterlosing in the quarter-finals in Miami, missing theearly clay-court season.

Geneva is a warm-up event ahead of Roland-Garros but Medvedev will have to go into the sec-ond Grand Slam of the year short of match time onclay.

It was the first time 35-year-old Gasquet haddefeated a top two player since beating Roger Federerin 2005 — his only other victory over a top-two oppo-nent in 38 attempts.

World number 75 Gasquet faces either Italianqualifier Marco Cecchinato or Poland's KamilMajchrzak in the quarter-finals.

Last year's Geneva winner Casper Ruud, runner-up Denis Shapovalov and Reilly Opelka are the othertop 20 players still in the Geneva draw.

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Mushfiqur Rahim hit a cen-tury on Wednesday while

becoming the first Bangladeshbatter to reach 5,000 Test runs,and his team then reduced SriLanka to 39-2 in its secondinnings on Day 4 of the series-

opening Test.Mushfiqur's eighth cen-

tury, and first since 2020,helped Bangladesh take a68-run lead after the homeside was bowled out for 465.

He was finally out for 105when trying to sweep left-armspinner Lasith Embuldeniya.

Sri Lanka, which was dis-missed for 397, still needs 29runs to erase the deficit.

Tamim Iqbal top-scoredfor Bangladesh with 133. LitonDas made 88 and openerMahmudul Hasan added 58.

After the day's play wasdelayed by 30 minutes becauseof rain, Bangladesh, whichresumed on 318-3, moved slow-ly in the morning session.Mushfiqur was 15 runs short ofthe 5,000-run milestone whenplay resumed and he hit themark, in his 81st Test match,with two runs to fine leg offpace bowler Asitha Fernando.

Mushfiqur helpedBangladesh then earn the leadand completed his eighth Testcentury off 270 balls, glancingAsitha Fernando for a bound-ary through fine-leg. It was,however, the slowest century forhim in terms of facing balls.

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