5ZUZ SRed W`c @aa f_Zej X]`Red `gVc 4`_X c`fe - Daily ...

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A fter BJP’s stupendous per- formance in the Assembly polls, a rattled Opposition is trying to put up a brave face and once again resurrected the idea of putting up a united face against the saffron outfit in the battle of 2024. Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chairperson Mamata Banerjee has made the first move in this direction. Reaching out to regional parties to push for an anti-BJP alliance a day after the saffron camp swept elections in four States, Mamata on Friday sought to edge the Congress out of any prospective Opposition formation, stating there was no point in waiting for the grand old party as its lacked “fire in the belly”. Mamata on Friday said that a grand alliance of all the parties could be stitched together for the 2024 general elections. But she added that Congress has lost its relevance to lead any coalition so to say. “All political polities that want to fight the BJP should walk together… we can all fight together if Congress wants,” she said. “But the Congress has lost its credibili- ty for its “repeated failures” to provide leadership in the bat- tle against the BJP. “There is no point depend- ing on the Congress (for lead- ership) which is not the party it used to be in the olden days … it has lost its historicity, credibility and everything, it is not dependable now … now it is time for all the regional par- ties to unite … all political par- ties that want to fight BJP must work together … a deci- sion on this can definitely be taken,” she said drawing an instant reaction from Congress Lok Sabha Leader Adhir Chowdhury who said that Banerjee was “acting like a BJP’s agent.” Chowdhury, who is also the Bengal Congress president, said, “Now she is saying that the Congress is losing its relevance but she has to answer why is she helping the BJP by raising alliance to cut the Congress votes … why did she go to Goa where the Congress could have won if the TMC did not cut votes … it is clear as to who is whose friend when both Narendra Modi and Mamata calls for a Congress-less India.” The Bengal Chief Minister also cast doubt on the Uttar Pradesh election results saying the Opposition Samajwadi Party was defeated in the elec- tions by deceit and advising its chief Akhilesh Yadav to orga- nize the masses in favour of forensic examinations of the electronic voting machines. Referring to the suspension of a top official for removing EVMs, she said, “When a DM (read ADM) is suspended for taking away EVM machines … then it becomes a significant issue … so I think Akhilesh has been defeated by deception … He was defeated by BJP’s elec- tion machinery, (tampered) EVMs and central agencies … So I think instead of getting upset or depressed Akhilesh should organize the masses and demand forensic exami- nation of the voting machines… to see if these were the same machines used by people to vote and then brought in for counting.” Continued on Page 2 T he BJP leadership is active- ly engaged in deciding the Chief Ministers in Uttarakhand and Goa where the saffron party is set to form a Government for the second and third time in a row respec- tively. To make the task difficult for the BJP leadership, Pushkar Dhami, who got the CM post barely a few months before the State poll and led it to the his- toric successive win, has lost his own election. Dhami on Friday resigned as Chief Minister and said he had been asked to continue till the formation of a new Government. According to sources, a final decision will only come from Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was instrumental in shifting two CMs in the State to preempt anti-incumbency in the Hill State. BJP General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya though gave subtle hints that Dhami may not be in the reckoning. Asked about Dhami, Vijayvargiya said, “We have internal democracy. MLAs will choose their leader. No one can comment on who will be the Chief Minister. Dhami is a national leader now.” However, another BJP leader Tejinder Bagga, who was also looking after elections in the State, tweeted, “Dhami once again”, fueling speculation of BJP going with Dhami’s face again. Sources said Satpal Maharaj, State Minister and one-time Congressman, and Dhan Singh Rawat, who has been a front-runner for CM post twice in the past, are in the race for the coveted chair in Uttarakhand. Union Ministers Piyush Goyal and Dharmendra Pradhan have been tasked with zeroing in on the CM face by the Central BJP leadership. Two senior BJP leaders Vijayvargiya and Prahlad Joshi are already camping and inter- acting with the newly-elected MLAs. Dhami, 46, is considered as the protégé of Maharashtra Governor and former Uttarakhand Chief Minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, whom he served as an Officer on Special Duty and an adviser. He was chosen as BJP wanted to perform better in the Kumaon region where Congress had fared better in the 2017 Assembly polls. Continued on Page 2 S teering the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to a historic victory, Punjab’s Chief Minister-elect Bhagwant Mann will take the oath of office and secrecy along with his Cabinet colleagues on March 16 at Khatkar Kalan, associated with martyr Bhagat Singh. Mann, who considers Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh his idol since the beginning of his political career in 2012, wears the freedom fighter’s trademark ‘basanti’ turban, and starts addressing his rallies with martyr’s ‘inquilab zind- abad’ slogan, had already declared to take oath in the vil- lage in Nawanshahr district. AAP’s national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, besides other senior leaders are expected to attend the oath-taking ceremony. Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit on Friday dissolved the present Vidhan Sabha, after the State Cabinet, led by the “caretaker” Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, made the formal rec- ommendation to him. The term of the next Vidhan Sabha will start from the first day of the session of the Assembly. Continued on Page 2 U nsettled by successive poll debacles, disgruntled Congress leaders, including those from the infamous G-23, met on Friday at the residence of former Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad. Among those present were party MPs Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, and Manish Tewari. Sources said they discussed the party’s poor performance and the need to evolve a strategy to resurrect the grand old party that has become a laughing stock across the coun- try over its “management” by the Gandhi siblings. The meeting also comes ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting to be con- vened by party chief Sonia Gandhi shortly to assess the Congress performance in these Assembly polls in five States. Group-23 leaders include Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, Kapil Sibal, Manish Tewari, Shashi Tharoor, Vivek Tankha, Mukul Wasnik, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, Prithviraj Chavan, Milind Deora, Sandeep Dixit, Raj Babbar, Kaul Singh Thakur and Akhilesh Prasad Singh. They are likely hold a series of meetings in the next few days. They have also sent a mis- sive to other Congress leaders, including Parliamentarians, State units, former Chief Ministers and others who have been feel- ing “suffocated” since time. “Punjab, Uttarakhand and Goa were given on platter to the BJP and no one can deny this fact except the Gandhi sib- lings,” said a senior leader, adding, few the Gandhi siblings rely on a set of youngsters who have no experience to deal with the emerging political challenge. Senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge termed the Assembly poll results unfortunate but said the party will win back the confidence of people soon. “In my political career spanning 50 years, I have seen many highs and lows of the Congress party. It is unfortunate to see the Assembly results, but one should remem- ber that we are the only ones who can fight fascist forces. We will regain the confidence of the people soon,” Kharge, the Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, said. While the party lost its Government in Punjab due to infighting and its decision to replace Amarinder Singh at the eleventh hour, it failed to take advantage of the anti-incum- bency in Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur. The Congress is now in power only in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Maharashtra. Last year Gandhis ignored sug- gestions in choosing alliance partners in West Bengal, which upset Mamata Banerjee to the extent that she played a big role in spoiling the Congress; chance in Goa by putting up TMC candidates, AICC member V Narayanan rued that the party, whose incumbent Government in Punjab lost to the AAP, fum- bled in the election with mis- management of the party. While hailing Rahul Gandhi for having all the right intentions, he said the former party chief has not delivered for the last 20 years and that the public has also not accepted him. “Moreover, his sister Priyanka, who led the party’s charge in the poll battle in Uttar Pradesh where the BJP retained power, could not make a mark. We have fumbled in the elec- tion badly with mismanage- ment of the party. We are fighting against the juggernaut of Modi sarkar and with their lies, money power and muscle power,” Narayanan, also a party spokesperson, said. Continued on Page 2 A day after Pakistan lodged a strong protest over an unarmed Indian supersonic missile crashing into its terri- tory, the Defence Ministry on Friday regretted the incident and said a technical malfunc- tion led to the accidental firing of the missile. The Indian Charge d’Affaires in Islamabad was summoned by Pakistan there on Friday to register its protest. In a statement, the Defence Ministry also said a court of inquiry was instituted to ascer- tain the cause of the accident and said the Indian Government has taken a very serious view. It is a matter of relief that there was no loss of life due to the accident, it said. “On 9 March 2022, in the course of routine maintenance, a technical malfunction led to the accidental firing of a mis- sile. The Government of India has taken a serious view and ordered a high-level Court of Enquiry. It is learnt that the missile landed in an area of Pakistan. While the incident is deeply regrettable, it is also a matter of relief that there has been no loss of life due to the accident,” the statement said. Pakistan on Thursday said an unarmed Indian superson- ic missile took off from Sirsa and landed at a place 124 km within Pakistani territory on Wednesday evening. The missile, it said, was cruising at an altitude of 40,000 feet and endangered passenger flights in both Indian and Pakistani airspace, and also civilians and property on the ground. Major General Babar Iftikhar, Director General, Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Pakistan Armed Forces, said at 1843 hours on March 9, “a high-speed flying object was picked up inside Indian flying territory by Air Defence Operations Centre of the Pakistani Air Force. From its initial course the object suddenly maneuvered towards Pakistani territory and violat- ed Pakistan’s airspace ulti- mately falling near Mia Channu”. There were no human casualties. While there were no sensitive installations in the area where it landed, a wall did fall, the Pakistan military said. “Whatever caused this incident to happen, it is for the Indians to explain,” he said. Continued on Page 2

Transcript of 5ZUZ SRed W`c @aa f_Zej X]`Red `gVc 4`_X c`fe - Daily ...

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After BJP’s stupendous per-formance in the Assembly

polls, a rattled Opposition istrying to put up a brave faceand once again resurrected theidea of putting up a united faceagainst the saffron outfit in thebattle of 2024. Bengal ChiefMinister and TrinamoolCongress chairperson MamataBanerjee has made the firstmove in this direction.

Reaching out to regionalparties to push for an anti-BJPalliance a day after the saffroncamp swept elections in fourStates, Mamata on Fridaysought to edge the Congressout of any prospectiveOpposition formation, statingthere was no point in waitingfor the grand old party as itslacked “fire in the belly”.

Mamata on Friday saidthat a grand alliance of all theparties could be stitchedtogether for the 2024 generalelections. But she added thatCongress has lost its relevanceto lead any coalition so to say.

“All political polities thatwant to fight the BJP shouldwalk together… we can allfight together if Congresswants,” she said. “But theCongress has lost its credibili-ty for its “repeated failures” toprovide leadership in the bat-tle against the BJP.

“There is no point depend-ing on the Congress (for lead-ership) which is not the partyit used to be in the olden days… it has lost its historicity,credibility and everything, it isnot dependable now … now it

is time for all the regional par-ties to unite … all political par-ties that want to fight BJPmust work together … a deci-sion on this can definitely betaken,” she said drawing aninstant reaction from CongressLok Sabha Leader AdhirChowdhury who said thatBanerjee was “acting like aBJP’s agent.”

Chowdhury, who is alsothe Bengal Congress president,said, “Now she is saying that theCongress is losing its relevancebut she has to answer why is

she helping the BJP by raisingalliance to cut the Congressvotes … why did she go to Goawhere the Congress could havewon if the TMC did not cutvotes … it is clear as to who iswhose friend when bothNarendra Modi and Mamatacalls for a Congress-less India.”

The Bengal Chief Ministeralso cast doubt on the UttarPradesh election results sayingthe Opposition SamajwadiParty was defeated in the elec-tions by deceit and advising itschief Akhilesh Yadav to orga-nize the masses in favour offorensic examinations of theelectronic voting machines.

Referring to the suspensionof a top official for removingEVMs, she said, “When a DM(read ADM) is suspended fortaking away EVM machines …then it becomes a significantissue … so I think Akhilesh hasbeen defeated by deception …He was defeated by BJP’s elec-tion machinery, (tampered)EVMs and central agencies …So I think instead of gettingupset or depressed Akhileshshould organize the massesand demand forensic exami-nation of the votingmachines… to see if thesewere the same machines usedby people to vote and thenbrought in for counting.”

Continued on Page 2

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The BJP leadership is active-ly engaged in deciding the

Chief Ministers in Uttarakhandand Goa where the saffronparty is set to form aGovernment for the secondand third time in a row respec-tively.

To make the task difficultfor the BJP leadership, PushkarDhami, who got the CM postbarely a few months before theState poll and led it to the his-toric successive win, has lost hisown election.

Dhami on Friday resignedas Chief Minister and said hehad been asked to continue tillthe formation of a newGovernment.

According to sources, afinal decision will only comefrom Prime Minister NarendraModi who was instrumental inshifting two CMs in the Stateto preempt anti-incumbency inthe Hill State.

BJP General SecretaryKailash Vijayvargiya thoughgave subtle hints that Dhamimay not be in the reckoning.Asked about Dhami,Vijayvargiya said, “We haveinternal democracy. MLAs willchoose their leader. No one cancomment on who will be theChief Minister. Dhami is a

national leader now.”However, another BJP

leader Tejinder Bagga, whowas also looking after electionsin the State, tweeted, “Dhamionce again”, fueling speculationof BJP going with Dhami’s faceagain.

Sources said SatpalMaharaj, State Minister andone-time Congressman, andDhan Singh Rawat, who hasbeen a front-runner for CMpost twice in the past, are in therace for the coveted chair inUttarakhand.

Union Ministers PiyushGoyal and DharmendraPradhan have been tasked withzeroing in on the CM face bythe Central BJP leadership.Two senior BJP leadersVijayvargiya and Prahlad Joshiare already camping and inter-acting with the newly-electedMLAs.

Dhami, 46, is considered asthe protégé of MaharashtraGovernor and formerUttarakhand Chief MinisterBhagat Singh Koshyari, whomhe served as an Officer onSpecial Duty and an adviser. Hewas chosen as BJP wanted toperform better in the Kumaonregion where Congress hadfared better in the 2017Assembly polls.

Continued on Page 2

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Steering the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) to a historic

victory, Punjab’s ChiefMinister-elect Bhagwant Mannwill take the oath of office andsecrecy along with his Cabinetcolleagues on March 16 atKhatkar Kalan, associated withmartyr Bhagat Singh.

Mann, who considersShaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singhhis idol since the beginning ofhis political career in 2012,wears the freedom fighter’strademark ‘basanti’ turban,and starts addressing his rallieswith martyr’s ‘inquilab zind-abad’ slogan, had already

declared to take oath in the vil-lage in Nawanshahr district.

AAP’s national convenerand Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, his deputy ManishSisodia, besides other seniorleaders are expected to attendthe oath-taking ceremony.

Punjab GovernorBanwarilal Purohit on Fridaydissolved the present VidhanSabha, after the State Cabinet,led by the “caretaker” ChiefMinister Charanjit SinghChanni, made the formal rec-ommendation to him. Theterm of the next Vidhan Sabhawill start from the first day ofthe session of the Assembly.

Continued on Page 2

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Unsettled by successive polldebacles, disgruntled

Congress leaders, includingthose from the infamous G-23,met on Friday at the residenceof former Leader ofOpposition in the Rajya SabhaGhulam Nabi Azad.

Among those present wereparty MPs Anand Sharma,Kapil Sibal, and Manish Tewari.

Sources said they discussedthe party’s poor performanceand the need to evolve a strategy to resurrect the grandold party that has become alaughing stock across the coun-try over its “management” bythe Gandhi siblings.

The meeting also comesahead of the Congress WorkingCommittee meeting to be con-vened by party chief SoniaGandhi shortly to assess theCongress performance in theseAssembly polls in five States.

Group-23 leaders includeGhulam Nabi Azad, Anand

Sharma, Kapil Sibal, ManishTewari, Shashi Tharoor, VivekTankha, Mukul Wasnik,Bhupinder Singh Hooda,Rajinder Kaur Bhattal,Prithviraj Chavan, MilindDeora, Sandeep Dixit, RajBabbar, Kaul Singh Thakurand Akhilesh Prasad Singh.They are likely hold a series ofmeetings in the next few days.

They have also sent a mis-sive to other Congress leaders,including Parliamentarians, Stateunits, former Chief Ministersand others who have been feel-ing “suffocated” since time.

“Punjab, Uttarakhand andGoa were given on platter tothe BJP and no one can denythis fact except the Gandhi sib-lings,” said a senior leader,adding, few the Gandhi siblingsrely on a set of youngsters whohave no experience to dealwith the emerging politicalchallenge.

Senior Congress leaderMallikarjun Kharge termedthe Assembly poll results

unfortunate but said the partywill win back the confidence ofpeople soon.

“In my political careerspanning 50 years, I have seenmany highs and lows of theCongress party. It is unfortunate to see the Assemblyresults, but one should remem-ber that we are the only oneswho can fight fascist forces. Wewill regain the confidence of thepeople soon,” Kharge, theLeader of Opposition in theRajya Sabha, said.

While the party lost itsGovernment in Punjab due toinfighting and its decision toreplace Amarinder Singh at theeleventh hour, it failed to takeadvantage of the anti-incum-bency in Goa, Uttarakhandand Manipur. The Congress isnow in power only inRajasthan, Chhattisgarh,Jharkhand and Maharashtra.Last year Gandhis ignored sug-gestions in choosing alliancepartners in West Bengal, whichupset Mamata Banerjee to the

extent that she played a big rolein spoiling the Congress;chance in Goa by putting upTMC candidates,

AICC member VNarayanan rued that the party,whose incumbent Governmentin Punjab lost to the AAP, fum-bled in the election with mis-management of the party.While hailing Rahul Gandhi forhaving all the right intentions,he said the former party chiefhas not delivered for the last 20years and that the public hasalso not accepted him.

“Moreover, his sisterPriyanka, who led the party’scharge in the poll battle in UttarPradesh where the BJP retainedpower, could not make a mark.We have fumbled in the elec-tion badly with mismanage-ment of the party. We arefighting against the juggernautof Modi sarkar and with theirlies, money power and musclepower,” Narayanan, also a partyspokesperson, said.

Continued on Page 2

����� '38�!3-"�

Aday after Pakistan lodged astrong protest over an

unarmed Indian supersonicmissile crashing into its terri-tory, the Defence Ministry onFriday regretted the incidentand said a technical malfunc-tion led to the accidental firingof the missile. The IndianCharge d’Affaires in Islamabadwas summoned by Pakistanthere on Friday to register itsprotest.

In a statement, the DefenceMinistry also said a court ofinquiry was instituted to ascer-tain the cause of the accidentand said the IndianGovernment has taken a veryserious view. It is a matter ofrelief that there was no loss oflife due to the accident, it said.

“On 9 March 2022, in thecourse of routine maintenance,a technical malfunction led tothe accidental firing of a mis-sile. The Government of Indiahas taken a serious view andordered a high-level Court ofEnquiry. It is learnt that themissile landed in an area of

Pakistan. While the incident isdeeply regrettable, it is also amatter of relief that there hasbeen no loss of life due to theaccident,” the statement said.

Pakistan on Thursday saidan unarmed Indian superson-ic missile took off from Sirsaand landed at a place 124 kmwithin Pakistani territory on

Wednesday evening. The missile, it said, was

cruising at an altitude of 40,000feet and endangered passengerflights in both Indian andPakistani airspace, and alsocivilians and property on theground.

Major General BabarIftikhar, Director General,Inter-Services Public Relations(ISPR) of Pakistan ArmedForces, said at 1843 hours onMarch 9, “a high-speed flyingobject was picked up insideIndian flying territory by AirDefence Operations Centre ofthe Pakistani Air Force. Fromits initial course the objectsuddenly maneuvered towardsPakistani territory and violat-ed Pakistan’s airspace ulti-mately falling near MiaChannu”.

There were no humancasualties. While there were nosensitive installations in thearea where it landed, a wall didfall, the Pakistan military said.

“Whatever caused thisincident to happen, it is for theIndians to explain,” he said.

Continued on Page 2

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RANCHI | SATURDAY | MARCH 12, 2022

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

Dhiraj Kumar is a writerand columnist based out ofMumbai and he is writing abiography book on a world-renowned icon. He writesarticles on climate change,politics, lifestyle, entertain-ment, business and econo-my. He can be reached at Insta-gram @dhi_kum and hiswebsite www.thedhirajku-mar.com

Don’t Hack Around: Work fromHome Tips- Posture

PNS RANCHI

M FAIYAZ AHMAD DALTONGANJ

Passengers to receivebedroll service in AC trains

NITYANAND DUBEY GARHWA

Congress to hold divisional meet in Daltonganj todayPNS RANCHI

PANKAJ KUMARDHANBAD

PNS BERMO

Railway competes RUB pushing for expansion of road

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

WFH has taken a tollon our health due toa sedentary lifestyleof sitting fixated ona chair before a dulllaptop or computerattending monoto-

nous meetingsthroughout the day

Functionaries of Congress overseeing prepara-tion for the Saturday divisional meet of the party-men of the Congress in Daltonganj. PNS

The Deputy Commissioner said that by running aspecial campaign from March 21 to 30, vaccina-

tion of children in the age group of 15 to 17should be ensured

DDC inspects EVM warehouse in Bokaro

MNPS promotes innovation among young minds

Blood Donation camp organized in CCL

Central Coalfields Limited organised a blood dona-tion camp in the central hospital Gandhinagar. Thecamp was inaugurated by CMD, CCL PM Prasad inpresence of Dir (P) PVKR. Mallikarjuna Rao, CMSCCL Chouhan. Similar Blood donation camps wereorganised in Barkasayal and Dhori area of the com-pany. Over 100 people donated blood in the campson the occasion. CMS, Gandhinagar Dr RatneshJain, Ch Manager (CSR) SS Lal and the team ofdoctors from CCL Gandhinagar hospital and em-ployees of CSR department played a vital role in thesuccess of the camp.

Inauguration of AcceptableMakes of CET, SAIL

Director (Technical, Project and Raw Materials),SAIL, H N Rai, in the presence of Atanu Bhowmick,Director In-charge (Rourkela Steel Plant) andJagdish Arora, Executive Director (CET) released“List of Acceptable Makes of equipment and sup-plies” on Thursday late evening on the occasion ofSAIL Annual Business Plan (ABP) meet at MTI,Ranchi. The Acceptable Makes List has been pre-pared by Centre for Engineering & Technology,Ranchi (CET), the in-house consultant of Steel Au-thority of India Limited (SAIL). It is an integral partof the projects tender documents and is meant toensure quality, standardization and uniformity ofmakes of equipment across SAIL Plants/ Units.

SBPS organises an ExperientialLearning TripSarala Birla Public School, Ranchi organized anExperiential Learning Trip for class XII on 10thMarch 2022. It was a fun-filled trip in which the stu-dents as well as the teachers participated with greatzeal and fervour. The teachers performed group

dance, sang beautiful songs and shared self-com-posed poems to make the day special for the out-going batch. Besides, the students also performedon various dance numbers and sang melodiously.They played games such as Hurdle Race andsolved riddles. They even entertained the audienceby presenting Ad Commercials showcasing theircreativity and business skills. The students enjoyedthe day and went back with memories to cherish alltheir lives.

Employees promoted as officers felicitatedin CCLA felicitation ceremony for the employees who havebeen promoted from non executive to executiveswas organized in the convention Centre, CCL HQ.As many as 67 employees from the company werepromoted to the officer’s rank. Dir (P) P.V.K.R.Mallikarjuna Rao along with CVO CCL S.K.Sinhagraced the occasion. Speaking on the occasion SKSinha congratulated the employees on their pro-motion. He motivated them to work with diligenceand integrity. Dir (P) Rao extended his warm wish-es to the promoted employees. He stated thatlearning is life long process. He expressed confi-dence that the promoted employees will continuecontributing to the success of the company. GM(HRD) SK Singh, GM Samadhan Rashmi Dayalalong with other General Managers also congratu-lated the employees and motivated the employeesto continue performing to the utmost of their poten-tial.

3 archers get funds for archerykits

Three archers of Dhanbad on Friday were givenaway Rs 2.5 lakh each by Deputy CommissionerSandeep Singh for purchase of achary kit here. Thethree include Jyoti and Madhu Kumari besides Mo-hammed Adil. The money was transferred in bankaccount of the archers. The money was given tothem on directive of chief minister Hemant Soren,said the deputy commissioner. He hopes that thesewould be able to continue the practice and performwell in state and national level championships.

ISM alumnus elected MLA in UP

An alumnus of ISM has been elected as MLA in UP.Rajeshwar Singh, who did his B.Tech- mining in1996, later was selected as IPS and had served ondifferent posts in UP for 10 years ahead of joiningED, where he served for 14 years. Well known forhis works as officer in the department he took vol-untary retirement ahead of UP elections and con-tested from Sarojini Nagar seat on BJP ticket. Hedefeated Abhishek Mishra of Samajwadi Party by amargin of 55,000 votes. While the institute authori-ties have extended greetings to Singh for hisachievement, Singh has thanks not only the partyleaders who reposed faith in him but to people ofthe Assembly segment too for supporting him.

Fit Bokaro active Bokaro Run

Fit Bokaro active Bokaro Run is being organized on13th March, 2022 for 2 Km, 5 Km, 7 Km and 10 Kmat St. Xavier’s School, Bokaro. Interested partici-pants may register online athttps://forms.gle/aFhuFpMViRHhVzQ59. For offlineregistration participants can do upto 6 AM at Venueof St. Xavier’s School playground. All finishers shallbe awarded with medal and certificate. The eventshas been organised by Bokaro Old Xaverian Asso-ciation (BOXA) in association with St. Xavier’sSchool, Bokaro supported by SAIL Bokaro SteelPlant, ONGC and BPSCL. For further details con-tact Krishan Chand- 8986872825 or Madhulika-8521854207.

RANCHI | SATURDAY | MARCH 12, 2022 S

ROSHAN KUMARRANCHI

PNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI

Saffron party celebrates victory of party in four states PNS RANCHI

Lalu to celebrate Holi in jailHigh Court defers hearing on bail till April 1

PNS RANCHI

Sudesh Mahto will lead the alliance in House

Women cattle rearers get lessons in 6-Day training programme

ACP achievement crosses target of Rs 44,388 Cr

����� '38�!3-"�

APMLA court in Haryana onFriday sent a software engi-

neer to ED custody for five daysafter the agency arrested him ina money laundering case linkedto Ponzi schemes through whichhe allegedly generated ‘proceedsof crime’ worth Rs 50 crore.

Pranjil Batra was taken intocustody by the EnforcementDirectorate late on Thursday aspart of its investigation againsta Hisar-based company styled asFuture Makers Life Care PrivateLimited, the agency said in astatement. Batra, who lookedafter the software of the com-

pany, "siphoned off " fundsworth over Rs 50 crore from theaccounts of Future MakersGroup by creating fake IDs andusing the bank accounts of hisfamily members, close associatesand shell companies, the EDalleged."He (Batra) used thesefunds, which are proceeds ofcrime, for purchase of proper-ties, jewellery and shares ofhigh net worth shell companies.He sold some of the immovableproperties acquired from theproceeds of crime to the entitiescontrolled by him," it said.Batrawas "non-cooperative andresorted to withholding relevantinformation and misleading the

investigation" during question-ing, it alleged.

A special Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act (PMLA)court sent him to five days of EDcustody after he was producedbefore it on Friday, it said. Themoney laundering case wasfiled by the ED on the basis ofmultiple FIRs filed against thegroup by Haryana andTelangana police.

"Ponzi schemes run by thegroup were based on pyramidalstructure where the persons atthe top of the pyramid gained atthe behest of the loss borne bythe persons at base of the pyra-mid," the agency added.

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����� '38�!3-"�

The Delhi High Court onFriday asked the Centre to

come with a clear stand as towhat objection it has in fully re-opening the NizamuddinMarkaz, where the TablighiJamaat congregation was heldin March 2020 amid theCOVID-19 pandemic and hasremained shut since then. Thecourt sought to know from theCentre why it was againstreopening it fully daily when itwas agreeable to open it duringfestivals.

Justice Manoj Kumar Ohriasked the counsel for theCentre to apprise the court asto what objection they have inre-opening all the floors of thebuilding when the authoritiesare agreeable to open the firstfloor of the masjid for devoteesto perform their prayers. Thecourt was hearing an applica-tion by the Delhi Waqf Boardseeking to open the mosque inview of Shab-e-Barat andRamzan in March and April.

“If the first floor can beused for 'namaz' then otherfloors can also be used for it.You (Centre's counsel) please

take instructions as to in casethere is no objection to theopening of the first floor, whatobjection may be there for theopening of the remaining por-tion, dehors your submissionthat you have no objection asfar as festivals are concerned.Why can't it be opened everyday,” the court said.

Last year, the court hadquestioned the Centre as tohow long it intended to keepthe Nizamuddin Markazlocked, saying it can't be “keptforever”. In its affidavit affirmedby the Deputy Commissionerof Police, Crime, the Centre has

told the court that it was “nec-essary and incumbent” to “pre-serve” the Markaz property asthe investigation in the caseregistered for violation of theCOVID19 protocols has “crossborders implications andinvolves nation's diplomaticrelationship with other coun-tries.”

On April 15, 2021, thecourt had allowed 50 people tooffer namaz five times a day atNizamuddin Markaz duringRamzan, saying there is nodirection in the DDMA notifi-cation to close down places ofworship.

����� '38�!3-"�

As India managed to evacu-ate most of its citizens

from war torn Ukraine,External Affairs Minister SJaishankar on Friday lauded‘Operation Ganga’ and thankedall those involved in the effort.He will make a statement inParliament in the sessionbeginning Monday regardingthe situation in Ukraine and‘Operation Ganga.’

Jaishankar’s appreciationcame on a day when the last biggroup of more than 650 Indianstudents stranded in Sumy ineastern Ukraine returned lateThursday and early Friday byspecial IAF and Air Indiaflights. In all, nearly 18,000Indian citizens were broughtout from Ukraine in 80 specialflights since February 22.

“Students from Sumy arereturning today to India. Theirevacuation was particularlychallenging. Operation Ganga,undertaken at the direction ofPrime Minister NarendraModi, has delivered due toboth leadership and commit-ment,” Jaishankar said in astatement on Twitter.

The minister also thankedeveryone who, he said, helpedthe mission meet its objectives.“Our particular gratitude to the

authorities in Ukraine andRussia as well as the Red Crossfor the evacuation assistance,”the note read.

He also expressed gratitudeto Ukraine's neighbouringcountries--Romania, Hungary,Poland, Slovakia and Moldova--for their ‘exceptional’ supportto India in evacuating its citi-zens from the eastern Europeannation.

Jaishankar also underlinedthe role played by Union min-isters Jyotiraditya Scindia,Kiren Rijiju, Hardeep SinghPuri and General VK Singh.

They were sent to coordinatethe evacuation efforts, andwhose presence, he noted,‘made a big difference.’

The minister appreciatedthe role of the Indian embassyin Ukraine and his colleaguesin the external affairs ministryfor their ‘dedicated efforts in adifficult conflict situation.’

India sent three flights toPoland for its students--600 inall--who were evacuated fromSumy on Tuesday. While twowere Air India flights, the thirdwas an Indian Air Force (IAF)flight. All three flights returned

on Friday; the first two arrivedin Delhi, while the third land-ed at the IAF’s Hindon air basein Ghaziabad in the neigh-bouring Uttar Pradesh.

"We are grateful to NGOs,individual volunteers, corpo-rates, our airlines, and theIndian Air Force who workedso tirelessly in this exercise," theminister said.

����� '38�!3-"�

The Central Board ofSecondary Education

(CBSE) on Friday announcedthat the term-II board examsfor Class 10 and 12 will com-mence from April 26, as itreleased the schedule for thepapers. The board said that ithas kept a considerable gapbetween any two papers in theterm-II exams owing to theprolonged school closure dueto the pandemic.

Last year, the CBSE had

announced that board exami-nations for 2022 will be con-ducted in two terms. I examshave already been held, whileterm-II exams commence fromApril 26 for both classes. Theterm-II exams for Class 10will end on May 24, while forClass 12 students, the paperswill end on June 15.

While releasing the datesheets for term-II exams, theBoard said that it has given aconsiderable gap between twopapers in almost all the subjectsin both the classes "as the

schools were closed due topandemic which has led tolearning losses". It also saidthat other competitive exami-nations including JEE-Mainhave been taken care of whilepreparing the date sheet.

"These date sheets havebeen prepared by avoidingnearly 35,000 subject combi-nations to ensure that no twosubject examinations of a stu-dent fall on the same date," itsaid. The Board also said thatthe exams will commence at10.30 AM.

����� '38�!3-�

Union Home Minister AmitShah on Friday asked all

the States to use the NationalCrime Records Bureau(NCRB) data for preparingtheir annual crime controlstrategy.

The NCRB data shouldhelp reduce the crime rate inthe country by 20 per cent innext five years if it is madeavailable to the right people atthe right time, is kept in prop-er format and if a system isadopted for its proper analysisand management, Shah said.

"The NCRB data should beused by all states for preparingtheir annual strategy for crimecontrol. It should be used in amulti-dimensional and multi-purpose way in crime control,"he said, addressing the 37thfoundation day of the NCRBhere.

The analysis of the NCRBdata should be made in allStates, at DGP headquarters,district SP offices, police sta-tions, the Home Minister said.

The data should not belimited only to the IPS officers.Unless, the NCRB data reachthe police station level, it is notgoing to help anyone, he said.

"Only data can have noresults. There should be aware-ness about the data, analysis ofthe data and its utilisation.The NCRB director shouldhave meetings with DGPs of allstates, analyse the data andwork on how to implementthem (the result of the analy-sis).

Then only there will be 100per cent usefulness of the data,"he said.

Shah, however, said theNCRB data is classified onlyunder various sections of the

Indian Penal Code and not onthe basis of social issues.

“Apart from lookingthrough the IPC sections, thereshould be social angles too.Why crimes increased indrought hit areas or why manyfarmers engaged in disputes,leading to injuries and evendeaths in some cases.

"If we see the data onlythrough the lens of IPC sec-tions, there can be no solutionsto the problems of crimes.There should be proper analy-sis of the data patterns by theNCRB and BPR&D (Bureau ofPolice Research andDevelopment) so that theseanalyses can be utilised by thestates by intervening on soci-etal issues," he said.

Shah said it is very impor-tant to have all crime datatogether, its proper analysisand dissemination to controlcrimes.

��� � '38�!3-"�

India and China have agreedto sustain the tempo of dia-

logue to find ways to ensurepeace at the Line of ActualControl(LAC)in EasternLadakh. Stand-offs are still onat some friction points for thelast two years and the CorpsCommanders of the armiesmet in Ladakh on Friday tofind ways to disengage troopsfrom these points.

The 15th round of militarylevel talks began on the Indianside in Chushul at 10 am. Thelast round of talks on January14 did not make any majorbreakthrough. Chief of Lehbased 14 Corps Lt GeneralAnindya Sengupta led theIndian delegation for the latestround.

The delegation includedmilitary and diplomatic offi-cials, sources said here onFriday. They said the two sides

agreed to continue the processof military and diplomatic levelparleys for early resolution ofthe issue at the LAC.

India has all along insistedthat status quo ante as prevail-ing prior to May 2020 has to berestored for normalising ofbilateral ties between the twocountries. Trouble erupted atthe LAC in May 2020 andsnowballed into a bloody drawlin June in the Galwan valley.

At present, more than50,000 troops each from boththe sides are facing each otherat the LAC at three frictionpoints leading to tension in theregion. Announcing the datefor the 15th round of talks,sources had said three daysback “India and China havemutually decided to hold the15th round of CorpsCommander level talks at theIndian side of Chushul MoldoMeeting Point on 11 March2022.

�� �������7�����!�����'38�!3-"��

The Supreme Court onFriday agreed to list for

hearing on March 15 a pleachallenging the grant of bail bythe Allahabad High Court toAshish Mishra, son of UnionMinister Ajay Mishra, in con-nection with the LakhimpurKheri violence. A bench head-ed by Chief Justice N VRamana was told by lawyerPrashant Bhushan that theplea, which was to be listedFriday, has not been in the listof business, and meanwhile,there was an attack on one ofthe prime witnesses of the caseon Thursday night.

“There has been a mistake.They (Registry officials) arelisting it on Tuesday. We willtake it up on next Tuesday,” saidthe bench which also com-prised Justices A S Bopannaand Hima Kohli. The matter

was mentioned for urgent list-ing by Bhushan on March 4and the court had agreed tohear it on March 11. Bhushanhad submitted that the otheraccused in the case were mov-ing courts for grant of bail cit-ing the relief granted to AshishMishra.

The bench had asked thelawyer to intimate the HighCourt that the top court ishearing the plea for cancella-tion of bail. A single-judgebench of the High Court, onFebruary 10, had granted bailto Mishra who had spent fourmonths in custody. Threefamily members of farmers,who were killed in the violence,have sought a stay on theFebruary 10 bail order of thehigh court, saying the verdictwas “unsustainable in the eyesof law as there has been nomeaningful and effective assis-tance by the state to the courtin the matter”.

�� ��*� ���� '38�!3-"�

Atemperature rise of 2degrees Celsius would

increase the burden on hospi-tals from hyponatremia – acondition when the body hascritically low sodium levels inthe blood — by almost 14 percent, according to a recentstudy that highlights how cli-mate change-induced extremewave conditions threaten thewell-being of the people.

“Heat stress would leavethem hospitalized due to crit-ically low sodium levels in theblood which causes nausea,dizziness, muscle cramps,seizures and even coma,”according to the findings pub-lished in The Journal of ClinicalEndocrinology andMetabolism.

The study comes close onthe heels of the IPCC reportwhich recently projected that

global warming will intensifythe health effects of heat waves.“Heat waves are periods ofunusually hot weather, typicallylasting for 2 or more days, out-side the historical averages fora given area. Heat waves havehappened in the past, but cli-mate change is making heatwaves longer, more extreme,and more frequent,” said thereport. It identifies India asamong the most vulnerable in

terms of agriculture, healthimpact with climate changemaking its presence felt every-where, be it in the form of heatwaves or floods.

In the current study, theresearchers linked data onSweden's entire adult popula-tion to information on 24-hour mean temperatures over anine-year period. In that time,more than 11,000 were hospi-talized with a principal diag-

nosis of hyponatremia, most ofwhom were women with amedian age of 76. Average dailytemperatures ranged from -10to 26 degrees Celsius. Whenpeople consume more waterduring heat waves to cool them-selves down, they subsequent-ly increase their odds of dilut-ing the sodium in their bodies,said the latest study. “The bodyneeds sodium to maintain nor-mal blood pressure, support thefunction of nerves and musclesand regulate the fluid balancein and around our cells,” saidthe study. The researchersfound an almost tenfoldincreased risk for hospitaliza-tion due to hyponatremia onthe hottest days compared withthe coolest periods. Womenand elderly carried the greatestrisk, with individuals 80 yearsor older 15 times more likely tobe hospitalized for hypona-tremia during heat waves. The

incidence of hyponatremia waslargely stable from -10 to 10degrees Celsius but increasedrapidly at temperatures above15.

When the researchersapplied the data to a prognos-tic model forecasting globalwarming of 1 or 2 degreesCelsius, in line with IPCC cli-mate projections for 2050, theyfound that hospital admissionsdue to hyponatremia could beexpected to increase by 6.3 per-cent and 13.9 percent, respec-tively.

"We believe these estimatesare quite conservative seeing aswe didn't account for sec-ondary diagnoses of hypona-tremia, extreme weather eventsor an aging population," saidJonatan Lindh, associate pro-fessor at the Department ofLaboratory Medicine,Karolinska Institutet, and co-last author of the study.

����� '38�!3-"�

The Centre on Friday dis-missed as "speculative and

misinformed" a new study pub-lished in The Lancet thatclaimed India's estimatedcumulative excess Covid deathsbetween January 2020 andDecember 2021 was aroundeight times higher than report-ed. The Lancet reported onThursday that although excessmortality rates due to Covidamong Indian states are not thehighest in the world, because ofIndia's large population, thecountry accounted for around22.3 per cent of global excessdeaths as of December 31,2021.

The documented deathsdue to COVID-19 in India overthat period was around

489,000, the Lancet said in itspaper entitled 'Estimatingexcess mortality due to theCOVID-19 pandemic: a sys-tematic analysis of Covid-19-related mortality, 2020-21'.

It said India's estimatedcumulative excess deaths due toCovid-19 between the periodwere the highest in the worldat 4.07 million.

The Union HealthMinistry reacted strongly to thestudy and termed it "specula-tive and misinformed".

In a statement, it said thestudy provided estimates of allcauses of excess mortality for anumber of countries based ona mathematical modelling exer-cise. The study concluded thatalthough reported Covid-19deaths between January 1,2020, and December 31, 2021,

totaled 5.94 million world-wide, an estimated 18.2 millionpeople died worldwide becauseof the Covid-19 pandemic (asmeasured by excess mortality)over that period, it said.

"This is yet another esti-mate on excess mortality due toCovid-19 by another set ofresearchers. Mathematicalmodelling techniques areessentially the process of cre-ating a mathematical repre-sentation of a real-world sce-nario to make a prediction.

"Such predictions arefounded on a certain set ofinputs either based on realworld scenarios, or approxi-mations of those (which mayvary in accuracy according tothe technique used) inputs thatare not available," the Ministrysaid.

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����� '38�!3-"�

Indian students studying inRussia were on Friday

assured there was no reason forthem to leave. In almost sim-ilar advisory by Russia and theIndian Embassy in Moscow,students were also informedthat many universities therehad switched over to the onlineteaching mode.

The advisory also said thebanking services in Russia wereaffected and the direct flightsbetween India and Russia werealso disrupted. Given this sit-uation, if any student wants toleave due to these disruptionsthey can do so.

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Airlines have increased theirdomestic services by 10.1

per cent to 25,309 flights perweek to/from 112 airports in theupcoming summer schedule ascompared to 22,980 last season.The summer schedule begins onMarch 27 and ends on October29. The Directorate General ofCivil Aviation (DGCA) saidthe summer schedule of Indiancarriers has been finalised aftera virtual meeting held lastmonth on airport slots. Of these112 airports, Gondia(Maharashtra), Ziro (ArunachalPradesh) and Pondicherry arenew airports proposed byscheduled airlines.

According to DGCA,IndiGo has increased itsdomestic flights by 10.4 percent to 11,130 weekly servicesfor summer 2022 as compared

to 10,084 weekly services in thecorresponding period last year.

The COVID-19-inducedtravel restrictions have badlyaffected the aviation sector inthe last 24 months. However,with COVID-19 infectionsdecreasing, air travel has beenpicking up in the last couple ofweeks.

The DGCA said, "It hasbeen observed that 25,309departures per week have beenfinalised to and from 112 air-ports. Out of these 112 airports,Gondia, Ziro and Puducherryare the new airports proposedby the scheduled airlines."

The Centre-ownedAlliance Air will be operating17.6 per cent more weeklydomestic flights (982 flights) insummer this year as comparedto 835 services in the corre-sponding period last year, theregulator noted.

The Tata Group-runAirAsia India will operate 1,601weekly domestic services -- a16 per cent jump -- in summer2022, it mentioned. It saidSpiceJet will be operating 14.2per cent more weekly domes-tic services in summer 2022 ascompared to the same periodin 2021, it mentioned.

Air India, which was soldlast year to the Tata Group, hasincreased its weekly domesticservices for summer this yearby 10 per cent to 2,456, it noted.

Vistara and Go First will beincreasing its weekly domesticservices by just 6.7 per cent and1.9 per cent in summer 2022 ascompared to summer 2021, itmentioned. Regional carrierFlyBig will operate 158 week-ly domestic flights in summer2022 as compared to 54 week-ly services in summer 2021, itnoted.

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The CBI has arrested anabsconding accused, Balya

Bawaria alias Ram ChanderBawaria, resident of Dausa(Rajasthan), for evading lawenforcement agencies since2008 in connection with twowildlife crime cases. The CBIhad registered two cases on June30, 2005 on the request ofRajasthan Government and fur-ther notification from the Centre.Subsequently, the CBI took overthe investigation of these cases,earlier registered by the ForestDepartment, Sariska (Rajasthan).

The first case was registered onthe allegations that in 2004, theaccused killed a tigress in the for-est of Kali Ghati near ‘KalaKund’ beat Ghanka, Sariska(Rajasthan) by using gun andiron traps. The accused alleged-ly took out the skin of tigress andsold it for Rs 50,000.

The second case was reg-istered on the allegations thatthe accused in 2003, killed amale panther at Kali Ka Dhaba,Jungle of Bighauta, Alwar(Rajasthan) by using firearm,iron trap and its skin was soldfor Rs. 1800. Two accused were

evading their presence beforethe Court of ACJM atJaipur.The accused were declaredas Proclaimed Offender andnon-bailable warrants (NBWs)were issued against them in2008. One of the accused wasarrested and convicted in 2019.The second accused was evadingarrest.

“Due to sustained & con-tinuous efforts, the said accusedwas traced and arrested,” theagency said. The arrestedaccused was produced beforethe Court of ACJM, Jaipurand sent to Judicial Custody.

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The gamble of fielding sittingMLAs by the BJP and its

allies paid dividends as over 81per cent of such candidatesromped home in the just con-cluded Assembly elections inUttar Pradesh, clocking a totalof 273 seats.

While the BJP won 250seats, its ally Apna Dal returned12 and Nishad Party won 11seats. In the last elections theBJP-led NDA alliance had won326 seats in the 403 memberUP Assembly.

Before the State electionsspeculations were rife that theruling coalition could carryout a massive reshuffle andchange anything between 150-170 candidates. But it actuallychanged 104 candidates.

"The BJP would have

changed more but after SwamyPrasad Maurya and two othersenior ministers left the BJP andjoined the SP there was fear ofan exodus of sitting MLAswhich could sully the image ofthe and this forced the partybrass to go slow on change ofcandidates," a senior BJP leadersaid.

"There were complaintsagainst several sitting legisla-tors that they had not workedas per the wishes of the partybrass. Some legislators' seatswere changed but 104 candi-dates were denied tickets," hesaid. Out of the 214 sittingMLAs who contested elections,170 were declared victorious.

Among the legislators wholost elections were nineMinisters and senior leaderslike Sangeet Som. In 104 seatswhere candidates were changed

and new faces contested theelection, 80 won with a strikerate of 70 per cent. Among theseats which the NDA lost in2017, the BJP repeated candi-dates in 16 seats and four ofthem won while in 69 of those

seats the party had fielded newcandidates of which 19 won.

Among its allies, Apna Dalfielded 17 candidates of which12 won while Nishad Partyfielded 15 candidates and 11 ofthem emerged winners.

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��� � -?#0'78

The ball has been set rollingfor the formation of a new

government as Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath met GovernorAnandiben Patel and tenderedhis resignation as ChiefMinister in Lucknow on Fridayevening. The Governor hasasked him to continue till thenew incumbent takes charge.

Though it is clear that YogiAdityanath will continue asChief Minister, it is a legal for-mality for a Chief Minister toresign once the tenure of hisgovernment comes to an end.

The BJP and its allies sweptthe elections by winning 273 ofthe 403-member Assembly.

"A BJP legislature meetingwill be held recently in whichthe leader of the party would beselected. This would be just aformality as it is clear that YogiAdityanath will be the leader ofBJP Legislature Party andwould be sworn in as nextChief Minister," State BJP vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathaksaid.

Before his meeting with theGovernor, Yogi held a meetingwith his Cabinet Ministerswhich was also attended by twoDeputy Chief Ministers,Keshav Prasad Maurya andDr Dinesh Sharma.

Incidentally, Maurya lostthe election from Sirathu toSP's Pallavi Patel but sourcesclaimed that the party wouldeither induct him in the UnionCabinet or give him a positionin the State Cabinet.

Sources also said that theswearing in ceremony of thenew Chief Minister is likely to

be held after Holi. The BJPbrass has to take a call on thisand after getting the nod a datewill be finalised. PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Union Home Minister AmitShah and Defence MinisterRajnath Singh are likely toattend the swearing-in functionin Lucknow. Yogi also thankedPrime Minister Narendra Modifor his leadership and guidance,the spokesperson said.

During the meeting, theCabinet passed a resolutionstressing that the people of thestate have not only expressedconfidence in the policies of theBJP but also paved the way forit to form the Governmentonce again by giving it a sweep-ing mandate, he said.

The Samajwadi Party won111 seats and its alliance part-ners Suheldev Bharatiya SamajParty and Rashtriya Lok Dalgot six and eight seats, respec-tively. The Congress and theJansatta Dal got two seats eachand the Bahujan Samaj Partybagged one.

Uttar Pradesh Cabinet

Ministers thanked the people ofthe State for their support thatled the Bharatiya Janata Partyto a resounding victory in thejust-concluded State polls.

In a resolution passed inthe meeting, Ministers saidpeople of the State have notonly expressed their faith in thepolicies of the BJP but have alsosent out the message to otherparties that the Governmentwhich delivers them couldreturn to power. "There is noplace for hollow slogans,casteism and dynastic politicsfor the party which comes topower as its only family is peo-ple," the resolution said.

"Yogi came to power onMarch 19, 2017. By adoptingthe basic mantra of 'SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas' in the lastfive years, the YogiGovernment provided a betterenvironment and extendedfacilities like electricity, drink-ing water, sanitation, housing,education, health and ration toall beneficiaries without anydiscrimination," Ministers saidin the resolution.

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Aday after the results of the2022 UP Assembly elec-

tions were announced andBahujan Samaj Party came upwith its worst-ever poll perfor-mance with a solitary seat,party chief Mayawati blamedthe ruling BJP and even themedia charging the two of mis-leading the public through neg-ative campaigning.

The BSP could muster onlyone seat out of the total 403seats that went to polls. The BSPchief alleged that the 'casteistmedia' drove away Muslimsfrom her party and that the fearof a 'jungle raj' in case theSamajwadi Party returned topower made the rest of the sup-porters shift to the BJP.

Addressing media personsin Lucknow on Friday morning,Mayawati stressed, "Negativecampaigns succeed in mislead-ing the party's core voters thatthe BSP was BJP's B-team,while the truth is opposite.The BJP vs BSP war was notonly political but principled andelectoral as well."

The BSP chief further said

that one of the primary reasonswhy the BJP won the electionwas because people were scaredthat 'jungle raj' would return ifthe Samajwadi Party came topower."BSP supporters, whoare primarily upper casteHindus and from several OBCcommunities, had a fear that ifthe SP came back to power, thestate would be thrown back to'jungle raj' and 'goonda raj' ofthe past. Hence, they voted forthe BJP," she said.

Claiming that Muslims vot-ers had also caused her party'sdownfall, Mayawati said that inorder to defeat the BJP, Muslimstrusted the SP. "We have learnta harsh lesson from trustingMuslims. If the votes of

Muslims and Dalits had com-bined, we could have repeatedwhat the TMC did in WestBengal last year, If there was atriangular fight in the state, theBSP would have performedmuch better. The result wasopposed to the BSP's expecta-tions," she opined.

Mayawati also urged partyworkers to not feel discouragedand promised a comeback infuture elections. She said thatthe party was going through atough phase, just like the BJPhad undergone earlier. "Weshould not be discouraged by it.Instead, we should learn fromit, introspect and carry forwardour party movement, and comeback to power strongly," shesaid.

"Before 2017, the BJP didnot have a good stake in UttarPradesh. Likewise, today, theCongress is also undergoing thesame phase as BJP. UP electionresult is a lesson for us to con-tinue putting in efforts,"Maywati added. In 2017, theBSP had a vote share of morethan 22 percent and 19 seatswhich has now dipped by 10percent with just one seat.

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Unhappy with the func-tioning of Uttar Pradesh

Congress Committee, partyworkers and dissident leadersfrom across the State willmarch to Congress headquar-ters in Delhi on Monday andmeet party president SoniaGandhi, former chief RahulGandhi and general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra.

The Congressmen want toapprise these leaders that theparty's poor poll show in UttarPradesh was due to the con-spiracy of 'betrayers who soldtickets and were busy sidelin-ing party loyalists'.

"We want to tell our leadersthat all was not lost and if theright people were asked to leadthe UP unit of Congress. Wehave hopes for the 2024 LokSabha elections. Priyankaji hasbeen misled by a coterie thatdoes not have the CongressDNA and has been there forvested interests," said expelledCongress leader Konark Dixit,who is leading the campaignagainst Priyanka's personal staff.

Dixit said that Congressworkers who are committed tothe ideology, are worried thatthe party has forfeited depositson 385 of the 403 seats in therecent state elections. "If wewant to resurrect the partybefore the 2024 general elec-tions, we need to change thesystem of working. We are notrising in revolt but we need todiscuss certain issues with theparty leadership," said Dixit,who has been running aWhatsApp group along withother Congress leaders to raisetheir voice against UP chiefAjay Kumar Lallu.

They feel that Lallu wasacting at the behest of one ofthe paid staff of PriyankaGandhi. The Congress workersare also demanding the resig-nation of Lallu, who was notonly defeated in the state pollsfrom Tumkahi Raj(Kushianagr) but also forfeitedhis deposit.

Another dissident in theparty tweeted on Friday onhow the 380 of 400 Congresscontestants had lost theirdeposits in this election.

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Instead of introspecting theparty's pathetic performance

of bagging two seats in theAssembly poll, UP Congress onFriday expelled a leader whohad blamed a 'paid' team ofgeneral secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra responsible.

On Friday, former MLA,Shyam Kishore Shukla, in-charge of the party'sDisciplinary Committee,expelled Zeeshan Haider for sixyears for his statement after thepoll defeat.

Shukla termed Haider'sstatement as 'derogatory' andagainst the party while issuingthe expulsion order. Even asHaider had resigned as mediaconvenor of Electronic andUrdu media of UP CongressMedia Team, Shukla strippedhim of his former responsibil-ity, again.

A day before, on Thursday,Haider blamed one of the staffof Priyanka Gandhi Vadra andtermed him as her 'servant' forbeing responsible for the poll

debacle. Though Haider did not

mention any one, party sourcesclaimed that he referred toPriyanka's personal secretary,Sandeep Singh who has beenmeddling in party affairs.

Earlier, in his resignationletter to UP Congress chiefAjay Kumar Lallu, Haider men-tioned that he was unable toperform hundred per cent,and he was hence resigningfrom his post.

Though he made personalground in his resignation,sources said that Haider feltneglected especially during theentire elections.

One condition of anonymi-ty, a Congress spokesmen dis-closed that Haider was con-vener of Electronic and UrduMedia but those heading theUPCC media team never dis-cussed representation of partyleaders in electronic media,orpoll advertisements in news-papers or to electronic media.

"It was better for Haider toquit than to face regular humil-iation at the hands of newbies,"he said.

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India's estimated cumulativeexcess deaths due to Covid-

19 between January 2020 andDecember 2021 were the high-est in the world at 4.07 million,around eight times higher thanreported, according to a newanalysis in the Lancet.

Responding to the find-ings, the Union Health min-istry on Friday termed theanalysis "speculative and mis-informed" and said the authorshad themselves admitted toseveral methodology flaws andinconsistencies. The study takesinto account different method-ologies for different countries,the ministry said in a state-ment. For India, for example,data sources used by the studyappear to have been takenfrom newspaper reports andnon-peer reviewed studies, itsaid.

"This model uses data of all

cause excess mortality (createdby another non-peer reviewedmodel) as an input and thisraises serious concerns aboutthe accuracy of the results ofthis statistical exercise," theministry said. The Lancetreported on Thursday thatexcess mortality rates due toCovid among Indian states arenot the highest in the world,because of India's large popu-lation, but the country account-ed for around 22·3 per cent ofglobal excess deaths as ofDecember 31, 2021.

The paper estimates excessmortality from the COVID-19pandemic in 191 countries andterritories from January 1,2020, to December 31, 2021.

Although reportedCOVID-19 deaths in that peri-od totalled 5·94 million world-wide, the Lancet paper esti-mates that 18·2 million peopledied worldwide because of theCOVID-19 pandemic, as mea-

sured by excess mortality, overthat period. This is aroundthree times higher than previ-ously estimated.

The documented deathsdue to Covid in India over thatperiod stood at around4,89,000, the journal says in thepaper "Estimating excess mor-tality due to the COVID-19pandemic: a systematic analy-sis of COVID-19-related mor-tality, 2020-21".

Excess mortality measuresthe additional deaths in a giventime period compared to thenumber usually expected and isnot dependent on howCOVID-19 deaths are record-ed. "For India, empirical assess-ment of excess mortality for 12states used data from the civilregistration system. For differ-ent months during the first andsecond waves of the COVID-19epidemic in the 12 states inIndia, total numbers of deathsfor those states during the cor-responding months were madeavailable," the peer-reviewedpaper reports.

"Using the mean reporteddeaths during the same periodsin years 2018 and 2019, wewere able to generate excess

mortality rates for those Indianstates after accounting forunder-registration of mortali-ty by the civil registration sys-tem at the state level," it notes.

"At the country level, thehighest numbers of cumulativeexcess deaths due to COVID-19 were estimated in India(4·07 million [3·71-4·36])," thepaper says. After India, thehighest numbers of cumulativeexcess deaths due to COVID-19 were estimated in the US(1·13 million), Russia (1·07million), Mexico (798,000),Brazil (792,000), Indonesia(736,000) and Pakistan(664,000). "These seven coun-tries accounted for more thanhalf of the global excess deathsdue to COVID-19 over the 24-month period," according to

the report."The full impact of the

pandemic has been muchgreater than what is indicatedby reported deaths due toCOVID-19 alone," the paper,part funded by the Bill andMelinda Gates Foundation,notes in its interpretation of thelatest findings.

"Strengthening death reg-istration systems around theworld, long understood to becrucial to global public healthstrategy, is necessary forimproved monitoring of thispandemic and future pan-demics. In addition, furtherresearch is warranted to helpdistinguish the proportion ofexcess mortality that wasdirectly caused by SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19] infection and

the changes in causes of deathas an indirect consequence ofthe pandemic," it states.

According to the HealthMinistry, the methodologyadopts data from newspapers atvaried intervals to extrapolate(without any scientific basis) forthe total period under study."The pandemic had multiplesurges during the period andvaried trajectories across differ-ent states (sub state level also) atany point of time. Hence themethodology used by this studyis less than robust," it said.

Quoting issues as sensitiveas death, that too during anongoing global public healthcrisis like pandemic COVID-19, should be dealt with factsand with required sensitivity,the ministry added.

"This type of speculativereporting has potential to cre-ate panic in the community,can misguide people andshould be avoided," it said. Lastmonth, too, India dismissedprevious reports of allegedunder-reporting of COVID-19deaths in the country, with theHealth Ministry asserting thatit has a robust mechanism inplace.

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Five Indian students are stillstuck in the south

Ukrainian city of Khersonand have urged the Centre toevacuate them, according toan activist based inRajasthan's Bundi.

Charmesh Sharmaclaimed that the students,who have taken refuge insidea building amid a fierceRussian military offensive,got in touch with him viaWhatsApp and narrated theirplight.

Sharma has written to theoffice of the president, primeminister and Union ministerof External Affairs, urgingthem immediately take stepsto airlift the five strandedIndian students.

The five Indian studentswho are trapped in theUkrainian city are Vadi Vivekand Milan Domadiya, bothfrom Jamnagar in Gujarat,Tannu and Simran Kaur fromHaryana's Rohtak and ArokiaRaj from Tamil Nadu.

During the call, the stu-dents said they were not in aposition to venture out oftheir building due to heavyshelling, Sharma claimed.

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The Government of Jammuand Kashmir will set up

palliative care and geriatriccare facilities in each of 10 dis-tricts of Jammu region, officialssaid here on Friday.

To this end, a three-dayprogramme was also launchedto train doctors and paramed-ical staff, they said. The addi-tional chief secretary healthand medical education VivekBhardwaj inaugurated thetraining programme, they said.

The programme is beingconducted in collaborationwith the Indian Association ofPalliative Care(IAPC), RohitLahori, the head of the pallia-tive care unit in Jammu region,told reporters here.

It is being conductedunder the supervision ofSushma Bhatnagar, the head ofdepartment of pain and pallia-tive care, AIIMS, New Delhi, hesaid.

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Aday after the results ofAssembly elections in five

states were announced, NCPpresident Sharad Pawar onFriday evening met his allyand Maharashtra ChiefMinister Uddhav Thackerayhere. The meeting, whichcame against the backdrop ofthe BJP's stellar performancein Uttar Pradesh and victoriesin Uttarakhand, Manipur andGoa, took place at `Varsha', theofficial residence of the chiefminister. The Thackeray-ledShiv Sena and Pawar'sNationalist Congress Partyhad contested the Goa assem-bly polls in alliance but couldnot win a single seat.

The Thackeray-Pawarmeeting also came after BJPleader Devendra Fadnavisalleged that the Sena-NCP-Congress government inMaharashtra was trying toframe up BJP leaders in falsecases.

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Tamil Nadu Chief MinisterMK Stalin on Friday

expressed concern over edu-cation continuing to remain inthe concurrent list and allegedthat the Central governmentexercised its powers to "push itsregressive views in syllabus."

Bringing education back tothe state list will serve as thebest solution for this, he saidwithout elaborating.

"It's a concern that theCentre is exercising its powers

to use education to thrust itsregressive views. Bringing edu-cation back to the state list willbe the best solution to stopthis," the Chief Minister saidaddressing the south zone vice-chancellors' meet at BharathiarUniversity, Coimbatore, virtu-ally from here.

The vice-chancellors, theChief Minister said, played acrucial role in shaping thefunctioning and quality of edu-cation. They should strive tofoster scientific temper amongthe students.

Reminding that the vice-chancellors have a big respon-sibility to impart education thatwill equip the students for jobs,Stalin emphasised on impartingskill-based education and train-ing in the curriculum. "This isthe reason why I had launchedthe Naan Mudhalvan (skilldevelopment scheme)," he said.

The Chief Minister tookpride in saying Tamil Nadu'sgross enrolment ratio in high-er education stood at 51.4 percent, which is far above thenational average of 27.1 per

cent. "This is Tamil Nadu's

unique achievement. The GERis almost double the nationalaverage and in the state, wehave a student-teacher ratio of17:1," he said.

The Chief Minister point-ed out that there were 1,553colleges spread across the state.About 52 government and pri-vate universities have beenranked among the top 100varsities in the NationalInstitutional RankingFramework 2020-21.

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Arunachal Pradesh womenand child development

minister Alo Libang on Fridaytold the Assembly on Fridaythat a decision on granting aone-day menstrual leave towomen would be taken in thestate after a discussion in thematter was held with stake-holders.

Responding to a privatemember resolution moved inthe Assembly by Congress leg-islator Ninong Ering, Libangsaid her department, in coor-

dination with the health andeducation officials, would dis-cuss the matter with theArunachal Pradesh StateCommission for Women(APSCW) and other organisa-tions.

He also said that womenlegislators would also be con-sulted before a decision wasarrived at.

Ering, on his part, pointedout that countries such as Italyand Japan and the Indian statesof Kerala and Bihar have madesuch provisions for women.

"It could be very annoying

for women to work and girlsduring menstruation, espe-cially on the first day. If they aregranted a one-day leave, theycan discharge their duties withmore dedication," Ering point-ed out.

Referring to the assemblypoll victory of the BJP in UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Goaand Manipur, Ering stated thatwomen empowerment initia-tives played a major role inensuring the party's win inthese states.

In response, the ministersaid that the Arunachal gov-

ernment too, provided variousfacilities to the womenfolk ofthe state.

"Views could be divergentamong women on the issue ofmenstruation.

Many may not want todisclose it. We will discuss theissue elaborately with the stake-holders," Libang said, furtherrequesting Ering to withdrawthe resolution.

The Congress MLA, inkeeping with the request, with-drew the resolution before theHouse was adjourned for theday.

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communities, but they shouldbe the leader ‘of ’ and ‘for’ allcommunities. The existingtrend is detrimental to thesurvival of a healthy democ-racy because politicians thinkonly for the next election,whereas statesmen think forthe next generation. Thus,there is an urgent need todemocratise the prevailingpractices of democracy.

The initiatives made bythe people of Mizoram, a tinyState in the North-east sand-wiched between Myanmarand Bangladesh, in this con-text are exemplary, laudableand of far-reaching conse-quences. The Mizo is a close-knit, casteless tribal societyhaving immense fellow-feelingand cooperation. Let us notwonder as to how a small Statewith nearly 14 lakh populationcan offer a solution to thiscause since our civilisationaldiscourse teaches us ‘Let wis-dom come from anywhere’. Infact, Mizoram was the firstState in the country to practicean even-and-odd number cabsystem in the 1990s, whichwas copied by the DelhiGovernment much later.

Worried about theunhealthy and corrupt prac-tices prevailing in the politicallandscape of the State duringelectioneering, the churches ofMizoram and NGOs, namelythe Young Mizo Association(YMA), Mizo HmeichhiaInsuihkhawm Pawl (MHIP,

an association of women) andMizo Upa Pawl (MUP, anassociation of senior citizens)entered into a dialogue in2005 and, after several roundsof threadbare discussions,resolved to reform and makeit more democratic. It gavebirth to the Mizoram People’sForum (MPF) in 2006 forconceptualising and imple-menting public-driven elec-toral reforms. The key featuresof these reforms are that theMPF members accompanycandidates and party workersdoor to door to prevent thepurchase of votes and distrib-ution of largesse. Only about4-10 people are allowed dur-ing the door-to-door cam-paign, and candidates andparties are not allowed toorganise feasts during electionsto lure voters. The MPF pro-vides a common platform in alllocalities to all candidates forsharing their manifesto, andthe local public listens to themand can even question themduring open sessions.Volunteers of the MPF fixposters and flexes of the can-didates and parties, about fourbig ones and 20 small ones, ineach locality to avoid excessiveuse of election material.

The MPF volunteers, andnot party workers, help votersto locate their rolls in the voterlist to avoid campaigns in theneighbourhood of pollingbooths and to ensure peace-ful elections by avoiding alter-

cations. The MPF volunteerstake rounds of the localities,especially at night duringelections, to ensure that can-didates and parties strictlyadhere to these norms. Thenames of candidates andpolitical parties found want-ing in respect of these normsare made public through thecommon announcement sys-tem owned by the YMA witha view to defaming them anddamaging their electoralprospects. Even written com-plaints are launched with theState Election Commissionagainst the defaulters.

These measures keep a tabon the expenditure and keepelections within the reach ofcommon man. This systemhas been religiously practisedsince 2006 during all parlia-mentary, Assembly and localbody elections. Kudos to MPFvolunteers for extending self-less service to strengthendemocratic practices in theState. Can this experiment bereplicated, scaled up andstrengthened by NGOs andsocial organisations in otherparts of the country for prac-tising healthy democraticnorms? After all, democracyis an organic system that canonly evolve and prosper byreinventing it time and again.

(The author is the Vice-Chancellor of the CentralUniversity of Punjab,Bathinda. The views expressedare personal.)

��������������� ����������Sir — Abraham Lincoln said that democ-racy means ‘Government of the people,by the people and for the people’. ThePunjab poll results proved this concepttrue when the AAP got a thumpingmajority. India is the biggest democra-cy and the US is the oldest, and there isno need for an Election Commission inthe US as people follow self- discipline.Moreover, the ingredients of a matureddemocracy include no place for caste,creed, religion, favouritism, nepotism,corruption, and so on. Here nationalissues such as employment, inflation,health care and education take the cen-tre-stage.

In Punjab and UP, the margins of vic-tory are substantial and both theGovernments can easily implement theirpolicies, which is a happy development ina democratic country. The results, how-ever, are cause of concern for the SP inUttar Pradesh and Akali Dal in Punjab.Finally, the common man is getting torealise the importance of his/her vote.These elections will have a direct impacton the parliamentary elections in 2024.It is in the interest of Opposition partiesto frame a strategy for putting up a toughfight against the BJP so that there is noTINA (there is no alternative) factor then.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

�����������������������������Sir — Thousands of Indian students, whowere stuck in Ukrainian cities followingthe Russian invasion there, have safelyreturned home. By March 8, almost allstranded Indians had been evacuatedfrom Ukraine. The last batch of theIndians stuck in Ukraine, from Sumy, hasalso been evacuated to safety in neigh-bouring Poland, Romania and Hungary.The return was made possible by thetimely support of the Russian andUkrainian Governments and we, as anation, are thankful to them. Morethan 18,000 Indians have been broughtback by special flights as of March 9.

The number of Indians airlifted by75 special flights totalled 15,521 whilewide-bodied IAF jets flew 12 missions

to bring back 2,467 passengers. TwoIndians, Naveen from Karnataka andChandran Jindal of Punjab, died in thecourse of the war. While Naveen was avictim of the shelling by the Russianmilitary, Jindal died due to physicalstrain after suffering a stroke. Now,however, the student returnees stare atan uncertain future regarding theircareer in India as the majority of themcannot afford the education fee whichruns into more than �1 crore comparedto the few lakhs in Ukraine.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

������������������������� ����Sir —After the dissolution of the erst-while Soviet Union, 15 new independentnations emerged after 1990. One of themwas Ukraine. All these 15 countries werenever traditionally part of Soviet Russia.Rather, after the Russian Revolutionbetween 1920 and 1945, they wereforcibly annexed to the Union’s territo-ry. That is, these countries were neverRussian by heart. The result was that as

soon as even a small wave of opennessstarted flowing across Russia, the so-called ‘perestroika’ and ‘glasnost’ policiesbecame immensely popular underMikhail Gorbachev. These 15 provincesthus became independent.

President Putin wants to see themback into the Russian fold; that is whyUkraine has been made the first target.If it succeeds, the next target will beMoldova. But Russia can never attackthree of these countries: Estonia, Latviaand Lithuania because all three took Natomembership in 2004 itself. Therefore,Nato should without delay grant thegroup’s membership to the rest of thecountries, except Belarus, so that theycan be saved from the evil eyes of Russiaand their freedom and democracy canbe protected. If that does not happen, thedictatorial Putin will take over all of themone by one.

Jang Bahadur Singh | Jamshedpur

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Perhaps the most influen-tial statement aboutdemocracy in moderntimes was made by for-

mer US President AbrahamLincoln on November 19, 1863,when he said democracy is a‘Government of the people, by thepeople and for the people’. Arobust, zero-error, all-encom-passing electoral mechanism ismandatory for electing aGovernment competent andcommitted to practising this veryessence of democracy in a truesense. Lincoln’s statement alsoimplies that any citizen from anysocio-economic spectrum, “hav-ing skills and mindset”, has theright to become a public repre-sentative. Unfortunately, this isunthinkable today. In fact, theexisting political ecosystemdemotivates and eventuallydebars a common man frombecoming people’s representa-tive. Two contributing factors tothis situation that retrogradedemocracy are the soaring cost ofelections and the yardsticks usedfor candidate selection.

These days, it is beyond thereach of common man to thinkof contesting even panchayat ormunicipal elections on ever-soaring cost considerations.Additionally, the selection ofcandidates is purely on the basisof caste and community consid-erations which demean anddevalue the essence of democra-cy. A very dangerous trend hasemerged where only a leaderfrom a particular community isbelieved to articulate and repre-sent the aspirations of that com-munity and is perceived bona fideto become the leader of thatcommunity. In contrast, democ-racy demands, especially in adiverse demographic setup likeours, that any sincere personskilled enough to represent peo-ple from across communities andfaiths can become their leader.The current situation, instead ofaggregating, is polarising com-munities and is contrary to thecivilisation traits of an enlight-ened society. Moreover, suchpractices create caste- and com-munity-based leadership (politi-cians) rather than statesmen.

Of course, democracy shouldfacilitate leadership from all

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tions, the voters were silent andless votes were also polled. In thefourth assembly election the votepercentage was 65.56 and in fifthelection it came down to 62.5. Thevoting percentage of women was68.72 but in fifth assembly electionit came down slightly to 67.2. Formen it was 61.11 per cent in 2017and in 2022 it increased to 62.6 percent. But it is also clear that thewomen voted in large number forBJP in the hills as most of the seatswent to the BJP. The win of BJP’sShaila Rani Rawat from Kedarnathwas also exceptional as she wonthis seat despite several odds.Most of the candidates of BJP inhills and plain areas could retaintheir seats second time due toModi magic. In Dehradun andPauri district BJP won all theassembly seats.

Contrary to the exit poll pre-dictions that it would be a tiebetween BJP and Congress andthe independents will have a rolein government- making, the moodof the voters proved them wrong.The Congress candidate HarishRawat lost with a big margin ofvotes and this defeat has put anend not only to his political ambi-tions and career but also on thefuture of Congress. However, hisdaughter Anupama Rawat wonfrom Haridwar seat.

The voting trend in 2022 isindicative of the fact that thoughthe BJP won the majority votes italso lost almost nine seats whichshows annoyance of the voters

towards the individual candidates.The failure of the BJP to maintainstability despite the huge mandateof fifty-seven seats reflected thatthe political culture of inductionof mid-terms chief ministers(three chief ministers in a span offour and half years) has notchanged which was not appreciat-ed and its margin of victory camedown from fifty-seven seats toforty-eight seats. The internalstrife, unrest and struggle forpower in the BJP which allowedleaders like Dr. Harak SinghRawat, Yashpal Arya and others tojoin Congress was also not cher-ished by the voters. As these andothers leaders have been changingtheir loyalties very frequentlytherefore, the voters not onlyrejected some of them but alsotheir manipulative tactics. In thiselection BJP captured almost allthe seats in Garhwal Hills and onlylimited seats were won byCongress. UKD associated withUttarakhand’s creation since the1970s could not open its account,the BSP just got only one seat andNirdalayee which included rebelsfrom BJP also got 2 seats. TheYamunotri seat went to the BJPrebel. BJP leaders like ChandanRam Das registered a win fromBageshwar for the fourth time.The rebel leaders of BJP whojoined Congress could not retaintheir seats or the seats of theirwards like Anukirti Gusian, thedaughter-in-law of the rebel leaderDr. Harak Singh Rawat, lost from

Lansdown seat. This clearly indi-cated that there was no anti-incumbency and people not onlyliked Modi’s style of governancebut also voted for Modi.

It was also a mandate forpolitical stability, implementingdevelopmental promises and per-formance without any pressure.Though the problems of unem-ployment, basic facilities, migra-tion, unproductive agriculturestill exist but the developmentplans like Chardham road project,railway projects, development ofKedarnath Puri and vision forfuture of Uttarakhand’s develop-ment as a perfect hill state madeall the difference.

Though there is no denyingthat with a majority Government,people’s hopes for long cherisheddreams of holistic development ofhill areas have again revived butthe loss of election by PushkarSingh Dhami has also raised theissue of chief minister and pres-sure politics. The challenge is towork in a time bound manner toachieve Modi’s developmentalagenda. But the big question iswhether the new Governmentwould be able to changeUttarakhand’s work culture byworking compassionately for hillareas development? Would therebe any shift or policy preferencesfor hill areas. Without proactiveministers and bureaucracy thesilent majority which voted forModi for another five years mayturn the tables again.

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(The writer is Vice-Chancellor, HNBGarhwal University,Srinagar, Garhwal,

Uttarakhand. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

The Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) has done a Delhiin Punjab. It swept the

Delhi Assembly elections in2015 winning 67 seats of the 70seats. Cut to 2022, it won morethan 90 of 117 seats in Punjab.In the process, it ended thetwo-party (SAD and Congress)dominance in the northernState by emerging as the thirdalternative. AAP convenor andDelhi CM Arvind Kejriwalannounced to go national,buoyed also by two seats with6.67 per cent vote share in Goa.It has made an entry intoGujarat and trying to get afoothold in Uttarakhand andUP. AAP’s big win in Punjab isalso an indication of India’schanging political landscape.

With Congress havingweakened significantly, it isthe regional parties like AAP,

TMC and DMK that are halt-ing the BJP juggernaut. Led byDelhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, the 10-year-old partyis already bringing significantchange, and later this year, itwould be interesting to keep aneye on itsvote share in Gujarat,the home state of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi. Themain challenger for the BJP isnow AAP.

Promise of better publicservices, good quality schoolsand hospitals, which got theAAP two consecutive terms inDelhi, remained the consistentcampaign theme for Kejriwal’sparty in Punjab. Caught in amulti-cornered contest alongwith Congress and theShiromani Akali Dal, Kejriwalhad unveiled a 10-point‘Punjab Model’, drawn from itsmodel of governance in Delhi,

and assured the voters of cre-ating a new-age, prosperous,and forward-looking Punjab.

The emergence of AAP inPunjab is an indication that thepeople there are fed up withthe binary of the Akali Dal andCongress that has dominatedits politics for decades, ever

since the state was formed. Itwants to give the AAP a chanceto tackle its many woes. It doesnot want the elderly, do-noth-ing, Captain Amarinder Singhin another configuration. Itrejects the noisy, Pakistan/Khalistan-loving Navjot Sidhu,and the sudden emergence ofChristian-Sikh CharanjitSingh Channi. It would notcountenance the corruptBadals yet again.

The AAP victory hasbrought it closer to attain thecoveted status of a ‘nationalparty’. The criteria to becomea national party includes bag-ging at least 6 per cent of validvote share in any four or morestates in Lok Sabha or stateassembly elections. Kejriwal’sparty got 54 per cent voteshare in the last Delhi assem-bly elections. It currently has

42.01 per cent vote share inPunjab and 6.677 per cent voteshare in Goa. In Uttarakhand,AAP so far has 3.32 percentvote share and just 0.34 per centin Uttar Pradesh. It did notcontest in Manipur. Apart fromBJP and Congress, TrinamoolCongress, CPI(M), CPI,Bahujan Samaj Party andNationalist Congress Party arethe other ‘recognised’ politicalparties in India.

AAP has had a roller coast-er ride with a meteoric rise inthe 2014 parliamentary pollsbut nosedived in the 2017assembly elections. It won 20seats with a vote share of 23.7per cent in the last assemblyelections, but didn’t announcea chief ministerial candidate.The silence sparked specula-tions that Arvind Kejriwalwanted to become the Punjab

chief minister. However, thistime around, the party did notrepeat the mistake. It declaredits Sangrur MP, BhagwantSingh Mann, a popular Sikhface in the Malwa region, as itschief ministerial candidate.

AAP learned from its pre-vious mistakes in Punjab whenit was hesitant to put faith inlocal leaders. In 2016, itremoved its State presidentSucha Singh Chhotepur overcorruption allegations. Theparty’s attempt to remote-con-trol the state from New Delhifailed in 2017, where it wasrestricted to 20 MLAs in the117-State assembly. AAP hascome a long way since.

The party’s splendid per-formance is going to create rip-ples that could lead to realign-ments at the national level too.Political observers see it as an

endorsement of Kejriwal as aprospective national leaderagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. The spectac-ular win in Punjab could makeKejriwal shift his focus toGujarat which is going forpolls later this year. AAP hasalready made considerablegains in the civic elections in Gandhi Nagar and Surat last year.

AAP, ruling in Delhi forthe past seven years, has comewith a model of governance(Delhi Model) that encom-passes its policies and pro-grammes including free powerand water supply, free bus trav-el for women and fighting cor-ruption. Political experts feelthat AAP will make its presencein some more states on freewater, free power and free bustravel in the coming elections.

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(The writer is a senior journalist with The Pioneer.

The views expressed are personal.)

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*1+�2�)1!�4��+��� Elections in Uttarakhand havealways been a subject of intensedebate, speculation and surpris-es. The defeat of the chief minis-

ter’s face of the two national partiesPushkar Singh Dhami of BJP and HarishRawat of Congress is not only shockingbut also indicates that besides their overconfidence and working style there wasa general rejection of the voters.

If one compares this election with thefourth assembly election the differencewas that the fifth election was not foughtby BJP on any face but Prime MinisterNarendra Modi was the only face thatallowed a landslide victory which no exitpoll could predict.

The 2017 election was unusual in thehistory of Uttarakhand’s elections as tillthen BJP or Congress could hardly man-age to form the government without thesupport of other parties because theylacked majority votes. Moreover, beforethe fourth election the margin of winningand losing between BJP and Congressalways used to be less than 2 per centwhich drastically increased as the BJPwith a vote share of 46.5 per cent meanta clear-cut edge over Congress whosevote share remained 33.5 per cent only.

Interestingly, in 2012 when Congresssecured 33.79 per cent vote it could cap-ture only 32 seats and formed the govern-ment with the help of PDF. In 2007 BJPformed the Government with a vote shareof 29.59 per cent and Congress was leftbehind at 26.91 per cent. It clearly showsthat up to 2012 the difference of 2 to 3 percent allowed BJP or Congress to form thegovernment and this left scope for polit-ical bargains with independents or othersmaller regional parties. But the fourthelection put an end to this instability bygiving a huge margin of votes for BJP. Thevoters were silent but they changed thepolitical scenario by voting for Modi’sdevelopmental agenda highlightedthrough Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas.

This time BJP’s impressive win inUttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand clearlyindicates that Modi’s magic has not van-ished and it still has great appeal to peo-ple throughout India. Sabka Saath SabkaVikas and Sabka Viswas and Sankalp SaySiddhi Tak acted as a magic pill for thevoters. In UP and Uttarakhand histori-cally, the governments always changedevery five years due to anti-incumben-cy factor but in 2022 the repetition of theBJP Governments in both the states isunprecedented. It indicates that there wasno anti-incumbency but pro-incum-bency. In UP the magic of Modi and Yogiboth have lured the voters. However,despite this,Puskar Singh Dhami failedto bloom.. Besides, Dhami did not gettime to prove his worth as he wasinducted very recently as chief ministerand his time and energy was wasted morein appeasing the rebels rather than con-verting promises into actions.

In Uttarakhand’s fifth assembly elec-

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Russia widened its militaryoffensive in Ukraine on

Friday, striking near airports inthe west of the country for thefirst time, as observers andsatellite photos indicated thatits troops, long stalled in a con-voy outside the capital Kyiv,were trying to maneuver toencircle the city.

With the invasion now inits third week, the U.S. And itsallies prepared to step up theirefforts to isolate and sanctionRussia by revoking its mostfavoured trading status. Themove comes amid mountingoutrage after a deadly airstrikehit a maternity hospital in thekey Ukrainian port city ofMariupol, under an increas-ingly constricting 10-day-oldsiege.

The new airstrikes in west-ern Ukraine were likely a mes-sage from Russia that no areawas safe, Western andUkrainian officials say Russianforces have struggled in the faceof heavier-than-expected resis-tance and supply and moraleproblems. So far, they havemade the most advances oncities in the south and eastwhile stalling in the north andaround Kyiv.

Strikes on the westernLutsk airfield killed twoUkrainian servicemen andwounded six people, accordingto the head of the surroundingVolyn region, YuriyPohulyayko. In Ivano-Frankivsk, residents wereordered to shelters after an airraid alert, Mayor RuslanMartsinkiv said.

Russian Defense Ministryspokesman Igor Konashenkov

said Russia used high-precisionlong-range weapons Friday toput military airfields in Lutskand Ivano-Frankivsk “out ofaction.” He did not providedetails.

New satellite photos,meanwhile, appeared to showa massive Russian convoy out-side the Ukrainian capital hadfanned out into towns andforests near Kyiv, with artillerypieces raised for firing inanother potentially ominousmovement.

The 40-mile (64-kilometer)line of vehicles, tanks andartillery had massed outside thecity early last week, but itsadvance appeared to stall asreports of food and fuel short-ages circulated. U.S. Officialssaid Ukrainian troops also tar-geted the convoy with anti-tankmissiles.

The satellite imagery, from

Maxar Technologies, showedthe 40-mile (64-kilometer) lineof vehicles, tanks and artilleryoutside Kyiv had been rede-ployed, the company said.Armored units were seen intowns near the AntonovAirport north of the city. Somevehicles moved into forests,Maxar reported, with towedhowitzers nearby in position toopen fire.

It appeared the convoyforces were moving westaround the city, trying to encir-cle it to the south, according toJack Watling, a research fellowat a British defense think-tank,the Royal United ServicesInstitute. “They're about half-way around now, to be able toclose off on the south,” he toldBBC radio.

He said they were likelypreparing for a “siege ratherthan assault” on Kyiv because

��� 23'3A*

The InternationalOrganization for Migration

says 2.5 million people havefled Ukraine since Russiainvaded more than two weeksago.

IOM spokesman PaulDillon said in a text messagethat the figures, taken fromnational governments, wereup to date through Fridaymorning.

He said that more than 1.5million refugees have gone toneighbouring Poland and thatsome 116,000 of the refugeesare “third-country nationals,”not Ukrainians.

The U.N. High commis-sioner for refugees, FilippoGrandi, also gave the 2.5 mil-lion total for refugees and saidhis agency estimates that abouttwo million people are dis-placed inside Ukraine aswell.Single

��� '38�@790

Russian President VladimirPutin has ordered that so-

called volunteer fighters shouldbe brought into Ukraine.

Defence Minister SergeiShoigu said Russia knew of“more than 16,000 applica-tions” from countries in theMiddle East, many of themfrom people who he saidhelped Russia against theIslamic State group, accordingto a Kremlin transcript.

They want “to take part inwhat they consider a liberationmovement,” Shoigu said, on theside of Russia-backed sepa-ratist regions in easternUkraine. Since 2015, Russianforces have backed SyrianPresident Bashar al-Assadagainst various groups opposedto his rule, including IslamicState.

Putin told Shoigu thatRussia should help would-bevolunteers to “move to thecombat zone” and contrastedthem with what he called for-eign “mercenaries” fighting forUkraine.

��� 8*,"�'2 7'

Republican US senators areimploring the Biden

administration to reversecourse and allow the transfer ofPoland's MiG fighter jets to theUkrainians to fight the Russianinvasion, a sign the DefenseDepartment's rejection of theoffer may be running intosteep resistance on CapitolHill.

Forty GOP senators signedonto a letter from Sens. JoniErnst of Iowa and Mitt Romneyof Utah urging President JoeBiden to answer the plea fromUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, whotold lawmakers over the week-end that if the US could nothelp with a no-fly zone over hisskies, it could at least send moreplanes for his people to defendagainst the attack from Russia.

Enough talk. People aredying,” Romney said at a pressconference on Capitol Hill.“Send them the planes theyneed.”

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of continuing low morale andlogistical problems.

The British Ministry ofDefense said that after making“limited progress” because oflogistical mishaps andUkrainian resistance, Russianforces were trying to “re-set andre-posture” their troops, gear-ing up for operations againstKyiv. Moscow also gave newindications that it plans tobring fighters from Syria intothe conflict.

Russian Defense MinisterSergei Shoigu said Russia knewof “more than 16,000 applica-tions” from countries in theMiddle East, many of themfrom people who he said hadhelped Russia against theIslamic State group, accordingto a Kremlin transcript.

Shoigu did not specify Syriaand his numbers could not beconfirmed. But since 2015,Russian forces have backedSyrian President Assad againstvarious groups opposed to hisrule, including Islamic State.

Responding to Shoigu,President Vladimir Putinapproved bringing in “volun-teer” fighters and told hisdefense minister to help them“move to the combat zone.”

Increasing the pressure onMoscow, the U.S. And othernations were poised later Fridayto announce the revocation ofRussia's “most favored nation”trade status, which would allowhigher tariffs to be imposed onsome Russian imports. Westernsanctions have already dealt asevere blow to Russia, causingthe ruble to plunge, foreignbusinesses to flee and prices torise sharply.

Russian airstrikes also tar-geted for the first time the east-ern city of Dnipro, a majorindustrial hub and Ukraine'sfourth-largest city in a strate-gic position on the DnieperRiver. Three strikes hit earlyFriday, killing at least one per-son, according to UkrainianInterior Ministry adviser AntonHeraschenko.

The head of the KyivRegion administration, OleksiyKuleba, said a missile hit thetown of Baryshivka, about 20kilometers east of Kyiv's maininternational Boryspil Airport.He reported significant damageto residences but no immedi-ate casualty toll.

In Syria, Russia backed thegovernment in imposing long,

��� +3���'2

China's premier on Fridaycalled the situation in

Ukraine “grave” and offeredBeijing's help in playing a “pos-itive role” for peace while con-tinuing to refuse to criticiseRussia.

Li Keqiang told reporters atan annual news conferencethat “we support and encour-age all efforts that are con-ducive to a peaceful settle-ment of the crisis.”

“The pressing task now isto prevent tension from esca-lating or even getting out of

control," Li said. China has largely sided

with Russia in the conflict,which it has refused to refer toas a war or invasion. The USaccuses Beijing of helpingspread false news and disin-formation coming out ofMoscow.

��� 9�@*!"

Adrone attack on an oilrefinery in Saudi Arabia's

capital, Riyadh, started a smallfire that did not cause injuriesor affect supplies, the king-dom's Energy Ministry saidearly Friday. The statementdid not specify where the dronestrike was launched from. LaterFriday, Yemen's rebel Houthiswho have been battling a Saudi-led coalition in their countrysince 2015 claimed responsi-bility for the drone strike. Ina video statement, the rebels'military spokesman, Brig. Gen.Yehia Sarie, said Houthi forceshad targeted an Aramco facil-ity in Riyadh in a multipledrone attack.

��� '38�@790

Amir Aman Kiyaro, a free-lance journalist accredited

to The Associated Press,marked 100 days in detentionwithout charge in Ethiopia thisweek, prompting the newsorganisation and press freedomadvocates to reiterate their callsto free him immediately.

“Kiyaro has not beencharged with any crime and isbeing held unjustly,” APExecutive Editor Julie Pacesaid in a statement Thursday.The video journalist wasdetained Nov. 28 in Ethiopia'scapital, Addis Ababa, under thecountry's war-related state ofemergency powers.

The state of emergencywas lifted last month, with thegovernment citing changingconditions in the deadly con-flict between Ethiopian forcesand those of the northern

Tigray region.“As we have said, Kiyaro is

an independent journalist whohas done important work inEthiopia on all sides of the con-flict. It is clear he is being tar-geted for his journalism,” Pacesaid.

Kiyaro's last court appear-ance was Monday, when ajudge denied him bail. Thejudge granted more time for thepolice to investigate his caseand set March 18 as the nextcourt date.

Officials with the EthiopianMedia Authority, the primeminister's office, the foreignministry and other govern-ment offices have not respond-ed to repeated requests fromthe AP for information aboutKiyaro.

State media, citing federalpolice, have said he is accusedof “serving the purposes” ofwhat they called a terrorist

group by interviewing its offi-cials. Local journalist ThomasEngida was arrested at thesame time and is facing simi-lar charges.

“They arrested my son fordoing his job, he hasn't com-mitted any crimes,” Amir'smother, Foziya Tewoldebirhan,said.

Federal police inspectorTesfaye Olani has told statemedia that the journalists vio-lated the state of emergency lawand Ethiopia's anti-terrorismlaw, and the violations couldlead to sentences of seven to 15years behind bars.

That alarms Kiyaro's wife,Sisay Tadele, who married himlast year and is eight monthspregnant.

“Because of Amir's arrest,both the family and Amir him-self are going through tremen-dous physical, emotional andpsychological pain,” she said.

“And as a pregnant woman,I myself am put through a hor-rible situation. I say and alsobelieve my husband shouldn'thave been in jail in the firstplace, let alone spend morethan 100 days away from hisfamily, and ask the Ethiopianprime minister and govern-ment for the immediate releaseof my husband.”

After three months ofarbitrary detention, “it cannotbe any clearer that authoritieshave no case against AmirAmar Kiyaro and ThomasEngida,” Muthoki Mumo, sub-Saharan Africa representativewith the Committee to ProtectJournalists, said.

Terara Network editorTemerat Negara also remainsbehind bars in Ethiopia'sOromia region and faces alle-gations that include incitementand defamation of officials,Mumo said.

��� ,37?-

North Korea has tested partsof its biggest interconti-

nental ballistic missile in tworecent launches, the US andSouth Korean militaries said, asuggestion it is likely to fire thatweapon soon to put a spysatellite into orbit in whatwould be its most significantprovocation in years.

North Korea's neighboursdetected two ballistic launcheslast week. North Korea latersaid it was testing cameras andother systems to be installed ona spy satellite but didn't disclosewhat missiles or rockets itused.

After analysing the launch-es, the US and South Koreanmilitaries said they concludedthey involved an ICBM systemunder development that NorthKorea first unveiled during a

military parade in October2020.

“The purpose of these tests,which did not demonstrateICBM range, was likely to eval-uate this new system before con-ducting a test at full range in thefuture, potentially disguised asa space launch,” Pentagon presssecretary John Kirby said in astatement Thursday. SouthKorea's Defense Ministryreleased a similar assessmentand said North Korea mustimmediately stop any act thatraises tensions and regionalsecurity concerns.

That ICBM cited in the USand the South Korean state-ments is the Hwasong-17,North Korea's biggest missile,which could potentially fly upto 15,000 kilometers, farenough to strike anywhere inthe US and beyond.

The 25-meter (82-foot)

missile, which was shown againat a defense exhibition in NorthKorea's capital, Pyongyang, lastyear, has yet to be test-launched.

North Korea has alreadydemonstrated the potential toreach the US mainland withflight tests of other ICBMs, theHwasong-14 and Hwasong-15, in 2017.

Some analysts say devel-oping a larger missile couldmean the country is trying toarm its long-range weaponswith multiple warheads toovercome missile defense sys-tems.

North Korea's two missilelaunches were the latest in astring of tests in recent months,an apparent attempt to mod-ernize its arsenal and applypressure on the Biden admin-istration as nuclear disarma-ment talks remain stalled.

��� 70@7

Japan on Friday paid tributeto the victims and renewed

searches for those still missingfrom a massive earthquakeand tsunami 11 years ago thatalso triggered a nuclear disas-ter in Fukushima where tens ofthousands still cannot returnhome. Some residents in thetsunami-hit northern prefec-tures of Iwate and Miyagiwalked down to the coast ortheir memorable places to prayfor their loved ones who werekilled or washed away.

At 2:46 p.M., the momenta magnitude 9.0 quake struckon March 11, 2011, triggeringa massive tsunami, the peopleobserved a moment of silence.

The earthquake and sub-sequent tsunami that slammedinto the coastal FukushimaDaiichi nuclear plant destroyedits power and cooling func-

tions, triggering meltdowns inthree of its six reactors.

At a ceremony held by theFukushima prefecture, PrimeMinister Fumio Kishida offeredhis prayer for the tsunami andquake victims and renewedhis pledge to support the ongo-ing reconstruction efforts inFukushima. “Recovery fromthe nuclear disaster requireslong-term response,” he said,pledging that the governmentwill provide support to improvethe living environment forreturning residents and to revi-talise local industries. Kishidatraveled to Fukushima despitethe government's discontinua-tion of the state ceremony afterthe 10th anniversary last year.

In Natori, in the Miyagiprefecture, residents releasedcolorful balloons carrying mes-sages for their lost loved onesafter the 2:46 p.M. Moment ofsilence.

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The New Hampshire Houseoverwhelmingly rejected a

proposal Thursday that calledfor the state to secede from theUnited States, although 13lawmakers supported it.

Under the secession pro-posal, voters would have beenasked to amend the state con-stitution to add that NewHampshire “peaceably declaresindependence from the UnitedStates and immediately pro-ceeds as a sovereign nation. Allother references to the UnitedStates in this constitution, statestatutes and regulations arenullified.”

Changing the NewHampshire constitutionrequires the support of three-fifths of the Legislature to putthe question to voters, whothen must approve amend-ments by at least a two-thirdsmajority.

More than 300 lawmakersvoted against secession. Butsupporters of the measure likeMatthew Santonastaso, aRepublican from Rindge,argued it was just a matter oftime before the union collaps-es.

“National divorce is goingto happen. It's inevitable, andwe have an opportunity to getahead of this,” he said.

Rep. Timothy Smith, D-Manchester, referred to thelarge portraits looming overlawmakers in the House cham-ber as he argued against the bill.Voting for it, he said, wouldamount to treason.

“We stand in the shadow,literally, of Abraham Lincolnand George Washington, andwe are considering legislationto take a star off of that flag,”he said. “We have legislationnow seeking to destroy the con-stitution of the United States.That is beyond shameful. It isbeyond disgraceful and it is astain on the proud history ofthis state that we even have toentertain this.”

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brutal sieges on opposition-held cities, wreaking heavydestruction on residential areaand causing widespread civil-ian casualties.

That history — along withthe ongoing siege of the AzovSea port of Mariupol — has

raised fears of similar blood-shed in Ukraine.

Russian Defense Ministryspokesman Igor Konashenkovsaid Russian-backed fightershave advanced up to 800meters of Mariupol from theeast, north and west, further

squeezing the city which hasthe Azov Sea to its south.Konashenkov said the advancewas being conducted by fight-ers from the separatist-heldDonetsk region, the standardRussian line for fighting in theeast.

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Rising for the fourth straightday, benchmark indices

Sensex and Nifty eked out mod-est gains after a choppy sessionon Friday amid a mixed trend inglobal equities and uncertaintieson the geopolitical front. Astrengthening rupee lent furthersupport, though persistent for-eign fund outflows capped thegains. Overcoming bouts ofvolatility, the 30-share BSESensex settled 85.91 points or0.15 per cent higher at 55,550.30.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty gained 35.55 points or0.21 per cent to close at16,630.45. Pharmacounters led the Sensex gainers'chart, with Sun Pharma spurt-ing 3.82 per cent and DrReddy's 2.07 per cent.

Other winners includedITC, PowerGrid, Titan, AsianPaints, Bajaj Finance and Bajaj

Finserv. In contrast, Nestle,Maruti Suzuki, NTPC, AxisBank, TCS and Tata Steel wereamong the laggards, sheddingas much as 1.56 per cent.

"After the strong recoveryduring the week, the domesticmarket trend turned cautious onFriday, as focus shifted to nextweek's upcoming issues likeinflation, BoE and US Fed pol-icy. US CPI inflation recordeda 40-year high due to highgasoline, food and housing cost,adding doubts to global trend.

"Inflation levels in Indiaand abroad are poised to riseeven higher in March, thoughon a temporary basis, consid-ering the impact of the Russia-Ukraine issue," said VinodNair, Head of Research atGeojit Financial Services.

On a weekly basis, theSensex jumped 1,216.49 pointsor 2.23 per cent, while theNifty advanced 385.10 or 2.37per cent. "Equity markets gavepositive returns this week eventhough uncertainties withrespect to the Russia-Ukraineconflict continues. Equitymarket gained despite FIIsremaining net sellers of Indianequities.

"Post correction in recent

times, market rally this weekwas broad based as large cap,mid-cap and small index post-ed gains," said ShrikantChouhan, Head of EquityResearch (Retail), KotakSecurities Ltd. In the broadermarket, the BSE smallcap indexgained 0.90 per cent and themidcap gauge went higher by0.45 per cent in Friday's ses-sion. Among BSE sectoralindices, healthcare emerged asthe biggest gainer, jumping2.07 per cent, followed by oil &gas, basic materials and metal.A total of 2,076 stocksadvanced, while 1,263 declinedand 119 remained unchanged.

On the global front, WallStreet retreated in the overnightsession after US consumerinflation soared to a 40-yearhigh of 7.9 per cent in February,raising prospects of moreaggressive monetary policytightening by the FederalReserve. Talks between theforeign ministers of Russia andUkraine failed to make head-way, which also affected mar-ket sentiment.

Elsewhere in Asia, bours-es in Hong Kong and Tokyosettled lower, while Shanghaiwas marginally higher.

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The rupee pared its initialgains and settled 18 paise

lower at 76.61 (provisional)against the US currency onFriday amid dollar demandfrom oil importers and state-run power companies.Persistent foreign fund out-flows and geopolitical worriessapped risk appetite in themarket, pushing investorstowards safe-haven assets.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeeopened weak at 76.34 againstthe American dollar and fell fur-ther during the session asinvestors moved away fromriskier assets. The domesticunit oscillated between a high of76.27 and a low of 76.72 duringthe session. The rupee finallysettled at 76.61 against the dol-lar, down 18 paise from the pre-vious close. On Thursday, therupee had appreciated by 19paise to close at 76.43.

"Rupee snapped gainsamid dollar demand from oilimporters and state-run powercompanies. Dollar strength-ening against major currenciesfollowing stronger US eco-nomic data also weighed onthe local unit," said DilipParmar.

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Industrial production expand-ed by 1.3 per cent in January

on an annual basis, mainly onaccount of improved perfor-mance of mining and manu-facturing sectors, official datashowed on Friday.

The Index of IndustrialProduction (IIP) had contract-ed by 0.6 per cent in January2021. As per the data releasedby the Ministry of Statistics andProgramme Implementation,the growth in the mining sec-tor was 2.8 per cent against acontraction of 2.4 per cent inJanuary 2021.

The manufacturing sectorexpanded by 1.1 per cent inJanuary, compared to a con-traction of 0.9 per cent in theyear-ago month.

However, growth in powergeneration decelerated to 0.9per cent as against an expansionof 5.5 per cent in January 2021.

In the April-January peri-od of the current fiscal, the IIP

growth stood at 13.7 per cent asagainst a contraction of 12 per

cent in the corresponding peri-od of 2020-21.

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Homeownership by workingwomen has gone up over

the last 2-3 years and their num-ber as primary loan applicantsare rising, even as the overallpercentage is still very low, a topKotak Mahindra Bank officialhas said. This trend willstrengthen their financial inde-pendence and decision making,the official added.

Women empowerment isone of the top priorities of thebank and it has been offering aunique savings account - KotakSilk - to cater to the specificneeds of the women accountholders, Shanti EkambaramPresident-Consumer Banking,Kotak Mahindra Bank (Kotak)said.

"Today working womenare buying houses. We are see-ing an increasing number ofworking women buying homes,and they can keep their hus-bands or father as co-applicants,as per their choice. I think thishas gone up significantly overthe last 2 to 3 years.

"They are the primaryapplicant for the loan. Overall,it is still a small percentage, but

it is not just happening inmetro cities, it is happeningacross the country,"Ekambaram said.

Working women wantingto own homes and rise in theapplication is a very welcomesign, she added.

Talking about Kotak Silk,the official said the bank initi-ated the programme in 2012.

"I think, women empow-erment at work has come along way. At organisations,diversity has become a very bigtheme. Silk is designed tokeep women in mind. Forexample, she does shoppingfor the family - for groceriesand other things as top of thelist items. So, we have ourwhole debit card and creditcard products around that,discounts, offers and otherbenefits," Ekambaram said.

She said the bank's wholetheme around Silk is financialliteracy, financial independenceand financial empowerment ofwomen. It is part of the bank'sESG goals, as more and morecompanies are adopting diver-sity under the ESG (environ-mental, social and governance)mandate.

"Lot more women are com-ing into the workstream andeven the women who work, allof them are not very comfortablewith finance. And we want tospread the message of financialliteracy, which comes with finan-cial independence. Women mustunderstand what to do with theirmoney, invest their money, savetheir money," the official noted.

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American retail giantWalmart is not keen on

opening direct-to-consumerphysical stores in India, but willfocus on growing its acquisitions- online marketplace Flipkartand payments major PhonePe,a top official said on Friday.

It can be noted that thecompany acquired Flipkart andPhonePe in a USD 16 billiondeal a few years back.

"We've got an omnichannelstrategy that includes both ofthose components.

And when you have bothcomponents, the customerexperience can be more seam-less, and there are advantages tobeing able to go to a store if youwanted to.

But, we're not focused onthat at the moment.

"What we're focused on issupporting Flipkart andPhonePe to be successful,"Walmart chief executive DougMcMillon said at the GlobalBusiness Summit.

The retailer is focused onensuring that it is seen as a"good partner" for the countryand has attempted to demon-strate its culture to the govern-ment.

Ultimately, the focus of theleaders is also to strengthen thecountry and his company wouldlike to contribute towards thesame goal, McMillon said.

He expressed satisfactionwith the way the Flipkart invest-ment has turned out forWalmart.

To a question on the com-

pany's plan to take Flipkartpublic, McMillion said an initialpublic offering (IPO) will be theultimate aim, but declined tospecify the timeline or otherdetails.

"from the beginning, havefelt like an IPO would be anappropriate step at some point.But, we want to build a reallystrong foundation.

And we want the team tomake that decision about whenthey're ready," he said.

Strategic decisions like anIPO will be taken by the localleadership of Flipkart andPhonePe, he said, adding thatWalmart feels its job is to pro-vide the financial resources forthe businesses.

Meanwhile, BrookfieldAsset Management chief exec-utive Bruce Flatt, who spoke atthe same event, said commer-cial real estate seems to belooking at better days ahead asstaff at corporates are returningto work.

He conceded that its Rs25,000-crore deal on the tele-com towers front took longerthan expected.

Flatt, however, added that isthe nature of large transactionsand made it clear that India isnot the only place where suchdelays happen.

He said events like theongoing Russian invasion ofUkraine cause uncertainty inthe markets and make peoplecautious, but expressed hopethat we will get through it.

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Sitting in a plush hotel’s20th floor, where one wallis partially made of glass,Nagraj Manjule has beenscripting a quiet success

story. It is reflected in the view out-side where JCBs and cranes are lay-ing to waste the old power centresto establish the foundation of theirversion of a shiny new India but thesound of the frenzied activity does-n't reach our perch. Manjule, in hisway, has been chipping away at thefilm industry’s established powercentres.

In an incongruous yellowchecked half-sleeved shirt, he looksmuch at ease; his salt and pepperbeard giving him an air of solem-nity befitting a National Award-winning director who is just outwith Jhund starring the legendaryactor Amitabh Bachchan. Thedirector is about to head out forlunch but prefers to settle down fora chat. He specifies that he prefersto answer the questions in Hindibefore settling in across the table.

“When the concept came to meand I researched it for two-threemonths, met people and, then,realised that I should do this film.Sometimes people approach youand ask, ‘whether you will do it’?And the other part is, ‘if I can doit’. I thought about it in both waysand realised that I should do it,” hesays. Manjule then approachedBachchan, narrated the story tohim, which he liked and agreedto do.

Jhund tells the story of 50-100people who stay in slums and playfootball. “When I was trying tounderstand why I should do it, Irealised that it was the first timethat someone from outside hadnarrated a story which was in myheart. It seemed to be my story and,so, I had to do it,” says Manjule.

This naturally makes one won-der as to how much inspirationdoes Manjule draw from his life forhis films which are often about themargins of society. “It is lived butnot exactly. I have not stayed in aslum for so long. I grew up in a vil-lage. But my relatives stayed in aslum so I have seen and understoodit. The villages and towns are dif-ferent. Despite that, wherever yougo the man-woman relationshipsare the same. Earlier, I thought thatpeople abroad, their relationshipsand their troubles would be differ-ent but later on, I came to knowthat while the approach might bedifferent but the relationships, thefeelings and even relationships arethe same.”

After deciding to do the filmcame the task of casting. For a storythat was based on real-life, there

were three layers. “The actual peo-ple on whom the characters arebased. Some real people playedthemselves; a girl, Bobby, did that.And then, some people were cast toplay real characters. Others are notreal but an amalgam drawing inspi-ration from several characters. Themain lead is Babu, who is a newcharacter,” says Manjule and adds,“When you make a film, it is basedon imagination. You are inspired byreal-life and, then, imaginationtakes flight. I was writing thesecharacters and understandingthem. We went to the jhopad pattito cast the children who stayedthere as their language, clothes andstyle of living reflected the place.The way you imagine a characterand then bring it to life is an inter-esting project.”

Manjule also drew upon thetalent that he had worked in thepast. Akash Thosar, the lead inSairat (2016), Somnath Avghadefrom Fandry (2013) were cast in it.Several were newcomers. Pittingnon-actors in a film with Bachchannaturally would have had its pitfalls.Manjule explains, “The challengesare different in each. You have toemploy different tactics. One sizedoes not fit all. There are all kindsof weapons that you have to have(laughs). If there is a small child,the manner would be different.With Bachchan sir, the way wouldbe different. In the end, you haveto get the work done.”

While his previous films werein Marathi, Jhund has been madein Hindi. Manjule feels, “I couldhave been asked the question abouta switch if I went from makingfilms to selling something. Only thelanguage has changed. A film is alanguage in itself.”

Film after film what has setManjule’s work apart is that ratherthan a glamourised version of life,these are about the neglected ‘oth-ers’. He uses metaphors to explain,“Often, when people are cominghome and there is garbage at homewe hide it in the corner. Anythingthat is broken or damaged, we don’tdisplay it. Whenever a politician ispassing through a way, that road iscleared. We are like that and so isthe society.” So, Manjule, an avidfilm watcher before he became adirector could not find any charac-ters that reflected him in any way,whether it was by name or appear-ance. “There was a villain calledNagraj at the most. Never a hero.Nor anyone who looked like me. Iwanted to say that I tooexist...When I started making films,I wondered what should be doneabout this. If I am standing andothers are sitting, what about me.

That holds for everyone. Whetherit is the backward, women... all ofthem are in the same situation butthey differentiate. A woman looksat other women differently. Dalitwomen are considered separate

from upper caste ones. We areexperts in creating divisions,” hesays quietly.

The best part, of course, wasthat while doing that Manjule hitthe jackpot with Sairat which was

made on a budget of �4 crore andearned a total of �110 crore tobecome the highest-grossingMarathi film to date. The film wasremade in several Indian languagesincluding Punjabi, Kannada, Odia,

Bengali and Hindi (Dhadak) noneof which matched the success of theoriginal. “Every film has an inten-tion. If that blurs, the film goes ona different tangent. Sairat was myfilm but the remake was not so Icannot speak about that. No onemakes a flop. If the intention is toensure that it is a hit, that would nothave been the doing of the maker.I wanted to tell a story, not ensurethat it was a hit. We should look atthe details of why it was a hit.Sometimes the original was notsuch a big but the remake is... thattoo might have happened and weshould look at that too,” saysManjule who has two Marathifilms lined up which he has pro-duced and acted in and one, which,he has written.

Another trend that has alsobeen noticed alongside is thatHindi cinema is no longer seen asa representative of Indian cinema.“This is happening slowly and ifthis is your reaction as well. Theworld is changing and things willtransform,” he says.

Partially the change is alsobeing witnessed in the stories beingtold. “New makers are coming in.When you do not have diversity inanything, it will die. This is whatnature also says. It is good that var-ied content, experiences, stories,characters, landscapes are comingup. If only people from town makefilms, the villages would disappearfrom view. If men make films, theywould not put forth the viewpointof women even if they are empa-thetic because they do not havefirst-hand experience.

OTT has given many people aplatform to put forth their voices.Manjule points out, “We can saythat there has been an improve-ment because a new platform givesyou a new option and a new com-fort zone. If you think that you donot have a budget or wonder if aparticular topic would have viabil-ity or not, it might work on OTT.It has given new options and newopportunities. It is a new world. Alot will happen and it will changethe big screen as well. However, thetheatres will remain. Questionshave always been raised if the bigscreen will remain even whencable TV appeared on the scene.but it did, even if it changed.Theatre has a different flavour.”

However, the coming of OTThas also led to a shift in the man-ner in which content is viewed.“OTT is like a shopping mall, youcan look for any kind. There arefilms from not just all over Indiabut all over the world,” Manjulesays and adds, “Post lockdown, wehave to tell people that Jhund has

been released in the theatre. Peopleare not going to the theatrebecause they are no longer used toit.” Despite the change, Manjule ishopeful. He says, “People willreturn to theatre as it has a differ-ent flavour. Even if you have a the-atre at home, watching a filmalone is a different experience ascompared with watching it as apart of a group. There are somefilms you can watch alone on thelaptop. But films are best enjoyedon the big screen, with a propersound system to experience it in itsentirety. It leaves a different kindof impact.”

While the films that he makesdo leave an impact, Manjule’s jour-ney too is worthy of making it tothe silver screen. “I came to theindustry accidentally. I had noplans of making films. I was won-dering what to do for a livelihood.I got admission into Mass Commaccidentally and made a shortfilm. Initially, no one liked it muchbut later it won the Best Directorand Best Child Actor at NationalAwards. I was heartened and peo-ple also became slightly more con-fident about my abilities.” Then, hewrote Fandry in 30-40 days in onedraft and narrated it. People likedit and this too got several nation-al and international awards. Thiscontinued for some time. After thishe made Sairat and the rest is his-tory. “Earlier, I wrote poetry andI found films to be a new mediumto express myself. I had never givenit a thought and things just hap-pened,” he says and narrates thathe had worked at several placesbefore. “I was admitted into thepolice force after X and workedthere for 13 days. I left it and wentback to studies,” says Manjule. Healso worked in an ironing shop,then as a watchman in a telephonebooth and a store but could notunderstand what he wanted to do.

However, he is thankful for thelessons that life taught him alongthe way. The problems that hefaced taught him a lot, he believes.“Nothing goes to waste. Everyproblem teaches you something. Itis not essential that only the posi-tive things teach you something. Onthe other hand, whatever I studiedin school, very little of it has provedto be of any use. The only thing thatis of use is the stories in literatureby Premchand, RabindranathTagore, Sarat ChandraChattopadhyay and others whichgave me a lot of hope and intelli-gence,” says Manjule, signing off.

And these aid in chippingaway bit by bit the establishedstructures of the industry one filmat a time.

Bollywood actor BhumiPednekar has transformedherself and become the char-

acter that she was entrusted within every film. She wants to contin-ue startling audiences and fanswith her choice of roles in her nextslate of films.

Bhumi’s mighty slate of filmsincludes Anubhav Sinha’s Bheed,Ajay Bahl’s The Ladykiller,Shashank Khaitan’s Govinda AalaRe, Akshay Kumar starrer RakshaBandhan, Sudhir Mishra’s Afwaaand Gauri Khan producedBhakshak and a couple of yetunannounced projects.

Bhumi says, “Every part thatI play comes with a varied set of

challenges. Most of the womenthat I have played have been veryaway from the person I am, thefamily that I am born into and theprivileges that I have as Bhumi. So,I feel for starters, just adapting tothe life that they have lived willalways be an eye-opening experi-ence for me. These characters havetaught me a lot and I want moresuch characters to constantly keepteaching me various life lessonsthrough the course of my career.”

Bhumi, who is currently on abig high after her recently releasedfilm Badhaai Do was appreciatedfor its subject that celebratedinclusivity of the LGBTQIA+community, adds, “Obviously, the

idea is to constantly reinventmyself in my upcoming slate offilms. This can be a very big chal-lenge and I try my level best to dothat to the best of my capabilitywith every role.”

She adds, “So, be it my firstfilm with DLKH where I was bat-tling my weight issues or until mylast release Badhaai Do where Iwas playing a queer Indian girl, Ifeel just the social biases that everyrole comes with, you understandhow privileged you are and theidea is to empower as many peo-ple as you can through theseparts. The challenges holisticallyare pretty much the same. It is allabout learning and unlearning.”

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Barcelona stumbled to agoalless draw with

Galatasaray in their EuropaLeague last-16 first leg at theCamp Nou on Thursday,while Rangers cruised into a3-0 lead in their tie againstRed Star Belgrade.

Xavi Hernandez's Barca,playing in Europe's second-tier competition for the firsttime since 2004, dominatedfor long periods.

But it was their Turkishvisitors who almost grabbed alead ahead of the return gamein Istanbul next week, withBafetimbi Gomis only denieda winner by a VAR review foroffside.

Memphis Depay, makinghis first start since December,forced Galatasaray goalkeep-er Inaki Pena into two goodfirst-half saves.

Jordi Alba, OusmaneDembele, and Frenkie de Jongall went close in the secondperiod for Barcelona, but thehosts could not find a break-through.

Xavi's side are still unbeat-en in 90 minutes since defeatby Bayern Munich in theirf inal Champions Leaguegroup game last year.

But the Catalan giantswill likely have to find a vic-tory next Thursday to extendtheir bid to win this competi-tion for the first time.

Rangers took a big steptowards reaching the quarter-finals for the first time sincelosing the 2008 UEFA Cupfinal to Zenit Saint Petersburg.

Giovanni vanBronckhorst's men backed uptheir stunning win overBorussia Dortmund in theplay-off round with anotherdominant first-leg perfor-

mance against Red Star atIbrox.

James Tavernier's penaltyand Alfredo Morelos' 28thcareer goal in the tourna-ment put the home side incommand.

Visiting midfielderAleksandar Katai, who hadearlier seen two goals disal-lowed, then had a penaltysaved by Rangers goalkeeperAllan McGregor.

The Scottish championstook full advantage, with LeonBalogun adding a third sixminutes after the break to putthe Glasgow giants in totalcontrol heading into the sec-ond leg.

Atalanta will take a lead toGermany next week after LuisMuriel scored twice in a 3-2win over Bayer Leverkusen inBergamo.

Leverkusen wingerMoussa Diaby's 63rd-minutestrike, his eighth goal in sevengames, kept the tie on a knife-edge.

Elsewhere, Abel Ruizscored in the first minute asBraga beat Monaco 2-0 inPortugal, while Munir El

Haddadi gave Sevilla a 1-0home win over West Ham inthe early kick-off.

There were goals galore inthe third-tier EuropaConference League, with PSVEindhoven and FCCopenhagen playing out aremarkable 4-4 draw.

The Danish visitors led 3-1 and 4-3 at the PhilipsStadion, but Eran Zahavigrabbed an equaliser with fiveminutes remaining for PSVafter Cody Gakpo had scoredtwice and missed a spot-kick.

Leicester saw off Frenchside Rennes 2-0 at the KingPower Stadium as KelechiIheanacho's injury-time effortadded to Marc Albrighton'sopener on the half-hour mark.

Jose Mourinho's Romaclaimed a 1-0 win at VitesseArnhem and Marseille con-ceded a late goal in a 2-1 suc-cess against FC Basel at theStade Velodrome.

Feyenoord romped to a 5-2 thrashing of PartizanBelgrade in Serbia in a badnight for the country's capitalclubs, and Slavia Prague sawoff LASK Linz 4-1.

��� -7'!7'

Chelsea showed they can cope amidthe Roman Abramovich turmoil as

they won 3-1 against Norwich justhours after their Russian owner wassanctioned by the British Government,while Leeds plunged deeper into rele-gation trouble on Thursday.

Thomas Tuchel's side arrived atCarrow Road rocked by the revelationthat Abramovich is one of seven oli-garchs hit by sanctions followingRussia's invasion of Ukraine.

All seven are described as part ofRussian President Vladimir Putin'sinner circle, with Abramovich's UKassets frozen and tough restrictionsplaced on Chelsea, who are currentlyunable to sign new players, renew con-tracts or sell match tickets.

But if Chelsea's future is clouded inuncertainty, they remain a formidableforce on the pitch and goals fromTrevoh Chalobah, Mason Mount andKai Havertz lifted the mood on the117th anniversary of the club's forma-tion.

Third placed Chelsea have wonnine of their last 10 games in all com-petitions and sit nine points clear of fifthplaced Manchester United in the raceto qualify for the Champions League viaa top four finish.

Chelsea's main shirt sponsor,mobile phone company Three, hadresponded to the sanctions by tem-porarily suspending their deal and

asking for their logo to be removed fromthe team's shirts.

But Chelsea took to the pitch stillwearing their blue home kit featuringthe Three branding.

Despite the damage caused by theirowner's alleged links to Putin, Chelsea'stravelling fans were quick to saluteAbramovich as they loudly chanted hisname before the Blues took a thirdminute lead.

Mount's corner reached Chalobahand the defender headed into the bot-tom corner. Chelsea could not havehand-picked a better opponent than

bottom of the table Norwich to provethey can still function regardless of thesanctions.

In the 14th minute, Havertz teed upMount in the Norwich area and themidfielder smashed a superb strike intothe top corner.

Norwich's Teemu Pukki scored a69th minute penalty after Chalobahblocked Pierre Lees-Melou's cross withhis arm, but Havertz bagged Chelsea'sthird with a side-foot finish in stoppage-time. Leeds remain in severe danger ofrelegation after a 3-0 defeat againstAston Villa at Elland Road.

Jesse Marsch's maiden home gamein charge was another letdown afterdefeat at Leicester last weekend in hisfirst game since replacing MarceloBielsa.

Leeds have lost six successive leaguegames and lie only two points above therelegation zone, having played twomore matches than third bottomBurnley.

Villa went ahead in the 22ndminute as Philippe Coutinho scored hisfourth goal since joining on loan fromBarcelona.

Matty Cash struck in the 65thminute and Calum Chambers wrappedup the points eight minutes later.

Newcastle moved another step clos-er to survival with a 2-1 win atSouthampton that extended theirunbeaten league run to nine games.

Southampton went in front throughStuart Armstrong in the 25th minute.

New Zealand striker Chris Woodheaded Newcastle's equaliser in the32nd minute with his first goal sincesigning from Burnley in January.

Newcastle midfielder BrunoGuimaraes marked his first start sincehis move from Lyon with a sumptuousback-heeled finish in the 52nd minute,lifting Eddie Howe's side eight pointsclear of the relegation zone.

Wolves crushed second bottomWatford 4-0 with goals from RaulJimenez, Daniel Podence and RubenNeves, as well as a Cucho Hernandezown goal.

Bruno Lage's side ended a run ofthree successive defeats to leave Watfordthree points from safety after a fifth lossin their last seven matches.

��� ;*9�,

French striker Kylian Mbappe insist-ed Paris Saint-Germain players

would "remain united and determineduntil the final match of the season"despite another disappointingChampions League elimination.

For the fourth time in six seasonsPSG crashed out in the last 16, self-destructing to 13-time European cham-pions Real Madrid on Wednesday inSpain.

PSG were cruising at 2-0 up onaggregate after Mbappe's 39th-minutestrike, the World Cup-winner havingalso scored the only goal in the first leg.

For an hour the Paris club lookedassured of a last-eight berth, but KarimBenzema turned the tie on its head withthree goals in 17 minutes as Real sweptto a 3-1 win and 3-2 aggregate triumph.

"Difficult time. The ChampionsLeague was a big goal for us, but wefailed," wrote the 23-year-old Mbappeon Instagram.

The Champions League has beenthe main objective coveted by theclub's Qatari owners since buying theclub in 2011.

And this season, yet another failurein the elite European competition fol-lows those in the Champions Trophyand the French Cup.

The club have now only Ligue 1 toplay for, and their 13-point lead on sec-ond-placed Nice makes them almostimpossible to catch.

"The season is not over and what-ever happens we will remain united anddetermined until the last match of theseason," added Mbappe.

"Thank you to the fans who supportus and who made the trip."

����� '38�!3-"�

India will field shot putterTajinderpal Singh Toor, long

jumper M Sreeshankar andsprinter Dutee Chand in theWorld Athletics IndoorChampionships to be held inBelgrade, Serbia from March18 to 20. Athletics Federationof India President AdilleSumariwalla said Toor andSreeshankar got entries onthe basis of their rankings,while Dutee was extended aninvitation by World Athleticsto run in the women's 60mevent.

"Sreeshankar is ranked14th and Tajinderpal SinghToor 18th on the Road toBelgrade 2022 lists," saidSumariwalla, who is also thejury member of the champi-onships. "We have seen themboth show good early seasonform in the National Open

Jumps and National OpenThrows Competitions respec-tively and are looking for-ward to them giving off theirbest in the World IndoorChampionships. Dutee Chandhas been invited by WorldAthletics to participate in the60m event," he said.

All the three Indian ath-

letes will be seen in action onMarch 18. Dutee will be thefirst one in action in 60mheats. Later that day,Sreeshankar will be amongthe competitors in the longjump final.

Toor will be in action inthe shot put final late onMarch 19 evening.

����� +"?+*'3,8*9

The Indian women's hockey teamwould look to return to winning ways

against a higher-ranked but out-of-touch Germany in the two-legged tie ofthe FIH Pro League, starting with the firstmatch here on Saturday.

Playing their debut season in the ProLeague, the Indian women made a finestart to their campaign, beating China 7-1 and 2-1 in their opening two games inMuscat.

The Indians, ranked ninth in theworld, then defeated world number 6Spain 2-1 at home before slumping to a3-4 defeat in the return leg last month.

But despite the loss, the Indianwomen are well placed in the FIH ProLeague standings as they are currently atthe third position with nine points fromfour games, which includes three winsand a loss. And come Saturday, Indiaskipper Savita, who is leading the side inplace of an injured Rani Rampal, wouldbe hoping for an improved show from herteam at the Kalinga Stadium.

Having registered three consecutive

wins, the Indian women were on courseto continue their unbeaten run beforethey conceded a late goal to lose to Spainin their last FIH Pro League match.

Going by momentum, India will havean edge over world number 5 Germanyon Saturday.

Savita said it's important to enter the

match against Germany with a positivemindset.

"Since we have started playing againststronger teams, we have learned theimportance of mental strength. It is a skillas important as your skills with a hock-ey stick. How we adapt to pressure situ-ations can determine the results," she said

in a virtual press conference."We are happy to be given opportu-

nities to face off against a strong teamsuch as Germany and we hope we canshowcase the strengths that we haveworked on in the training."

Savita conceded that India made afew mistakes in the second match againstSpain which the hosts lost 3-4.

"We have worked on those errors. Weknow Germany have a very strongdefence, so we have planned how we cancreate attacking opportunities. Ourstrength has always been attacking hock-ey -- so we worked a lot on taking penal-ty corners and defending penalty cor-ners," Savita said.

Vice-captain Deep Grace Ekka saidthe Indian players are as fit as any oppo-nent in the world.

The Germans will be a bit rusty com-ing into the tie against India after mak-ing a return to the FIH Pro League afterOctober last year.

Germany have played only twogames in the competition so far but lostboth the contests against Belgium 0-1 and1-3.

��� �'!�*'�83--,

Naomi Osaka made a win-ning return to the BNP

Paribas Open, rallying to beatSloane Stephens 3-6, 6-1, 6-2in a first-round meeting offormer major champions.

Trailing 2-0 in the thirdset, Osaka fought off threebreak points to hold and begina run of six straight games toclose out the match in justunder two hours. She brokeStephens three times in theset, including at love in thesixth game. "That was a real-ly good test for me," Osaka

said. Cold winds blowingfrom 20 to 30 mph sent debrisswirling around the court.

"I felt like I was fightingfor my life. I was fightingagainst her, I was fightingagainst the wind. It was crazy,"Osaka said.

"I'm really proud withhow I handled it."

Osaka, the 2018 winner atIndian Wells, is back in thedesert for the first time since2019. The Japanese star hasn'tplayed a tournament sinceJanuary when she lost in theround of 32 at the AustralianOpen. Only having played a

handful of events last year, herranking has dropped to 78thin the world.

"I keep taking these longbreaks," she said.

"I do need to play a lotmore matches and I do needto give myself the opportuni-ty to get more into the swingof things."

Osaka has said she hasfaced bouts of depressionsince winning the U.S. Openin 2018. The four-time majorchampion withdrew from theFrench Open last year to pre-serve her mental health.

Stephens, the 2017 U.S.Open winner, lost for the firsttime in three career meetingswith Osaka. The American'sranking has dropped to 38th,although she was coming offa win in the tournament atGuadalajara, Mexico, lastmonth. Other first-roundwinners were Yulia Putintsevaof Kazakhstan, Daria Savilleand Tereza Martincova.

In men's f irst-roundmatches, AmericansMackenzie McDonald, JensonBrooksby, Jack Sock and J.J.Wolf all won.

Christopher Eubankssaved three match points inoutlasting Maxime Cressy 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-4 in an all-American matchup. NickKyrgios, who received a wildcard, beat Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-0.

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World Championships bronzemedallist Lakshya Sen progressed

to the semifinals but fellow IndianKidambi Srikanth suffered a straight-game loss to Olympic champion ViktorAxelsen to bow out of the German OpenSuper 300 tournament here on Friday.The 20-year-old Sen, who had claimedhis maiden Super 500 title at the IndiaOpen in January, continued his rich veinof form as he saw off former top 10 play-er HS Prannoy 21-15 21-16 in an all-Indian quarterfinals that lasted 39 min-utes. The world number 14 had defeat-

ed Prannoy, currently ranked 24th, at thequarterfinals of India Open as well. Senwill now face top seed and former worldchampion Viktor Axelsen of Denmarkin the semifinals on Saturday.

World number 1 Axelsen proved atough customer for Srikanth as he wentdown 10-21 21-23 in 35 minutes.

It was the Indian's sixth defeat on thetrot to Axelsen, whom he had beatenthrice in the past, including en route tohis 2017 Denmark Open title in Odense.Srikanth, who was playing his first eventsince recovering from COVID-19 thatforced him out of the India Open,looked clueless against Axelsen in theinitial moments of the match as the

Dane galloped to a 17-4 lead. Srikanthreeled off four points on the trot, beforereaching double figures with two more

points but it was not enough to stop amarauding Axelsen to pocket the open-ing game.

Srikanth produced a better displayafter the change of sides, opening up a3-0 lead but in a jiffy it was 4-4.

The duo continued to fight it out,moving to 12-12. Srikanth then grabbeda three-point advantage only to squan-der it as Axelsen nosed ahead at the finalmoments. India's hopes now rests on theyoung shoulders of Sen, who hadstunned fourth seeded IndonesianAnthony Sinisuka Ginting 21-7 21-9 ina second-round match on Thursday andcarried his momentum in the quarter-finals against Prannoy.

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Veteran batter Ross Taylor willturn out for the New Zealand

XI against Netherlands inNapier next week to get

some game-time beforehe bids farewell tointernational cricketin his final ODIseries later thismonth.

Paul Wisemanwill lead thecoaching staffand will be sup-ported by

Auckland pacebowling coach

Azhar Abbas and for-mer BLACKCAPS

wicket-keeper BJWatling.

Watling has beenworking in the ND coach-ing network for the pastcouple of seasons and washead coach for ND A thisseason.

Taylor was ruled out of thePlunket Shield match on Friday forthe Central Stags for being aCOVID-19 'household contact'.The 38-year-old will turn outagainst the touring Dutch atMcLean Park in the second one-day warm-up match on March 19as well as the one off T20 onMarch 21.

"I'm looking forward to gettingdown to Napier and playing onone of my favourite grounds inMcLean Park," Taylor said.

"It's a great opportunity to getsome time in the middle aftermissing the latest round of thePlunket Shield and it will also beuseful to have a look at the tour-ing team ahead of the ODI series.

"I'm looking forward to shar-ing the dressing room with somenew and younger faces who I hopeI can help by passing on someknowledge," he added.

The New Zealand XI faceNetherlands behind closed doorsin two one-day matches at Napieron March 17 and 19 followed bya one-off T20 on March 21.

The BLACKCAPS then takeon the Netherlands in a T20I onMarch 25 at McLean Park followedby three ODIs, at MountMaunganui's Bay Oval on March29 and Hamilton's Seddon Park onApril 2 and 4.

"The Netherlands are an everimproving side and they'll be rel-ishing the chance to take on a Testplaying nation," Taylor said.

"They have a few familiarplayers from the New Zealanddomestic scene who I'm sure willbe valuable to them in terms ofunderstanding the conditions Weknow they'll play with plenty ofpride and expect them to be agood challenge," he added.

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Rajasthan Royals haveannounced two additions

to their coaching staff ahead ofthe much anticipated IPL 2022season. The franchise has wel-comed Sri Lankan legendLasith Malinga as their new fastbowling coach and has alsoonboarded Paddy Upton in anew role of Team Catalyst.

The 38-year-old T20 WorldCup-winning captain Malinga,who led his country to the 2014ICC T20 World Cup trophy,will be working during theupcoming season with the tal-ented group of pacers presentwithin the Royals' set-up.Renowned as one of the bestlimited overs bowlers ever,Malinga will oversee the prepa-ration of bowling strategies inthe build-up and during theseason, while also acceleratingthe development of the youngbowlers by imparting his

knowledge and expertise ofT20 cricket.

During a career thatspanned over 17 years, theright-arm fast bowler repre-sented Sri Lanka in 340 match-es across the three formatsand picked up 546 wickets. Inthe Indian Premier League, heonly represented one team -Mumbai Indians - for whom hegrabbed 170 scalps in 122matches.

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Australia captain Pat Cummins announced theplaying XI for the second Test, and also con-

firmed that leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson will makehis long-awaited Test debut against Pakistan onSaturday.

Swepson first toured with Australia's Testteam five years ago, now he has been included topartner Nathan Lyon on a pitch that is expected toaid spinners.

Swepson will replace seamer Josh Hazlewood,who has been left out of the team after playing justone Test into his comeback from his strained Ashescampaign.

Speaking on Swepson's inclusion captainCummins said that the leg-spinner is "pumped"to be part of the playing XI in the secondTest against Pakistan and he is absolute-ly ready.

"He's pumped and to be honest,we're all pumped for Swepo," said PatCummins as stated by ICC.

"It's been a long time runningdrinks over the last couple of years,but he is absolutely ready. He hasbeen a huge part of the squad,even though he hasn't beenplaying. So we're reallyexcited to see him get achance," he added.

The first Test endedin a draw with both theteams getting fourpoints each in the ICCWorld TestChampionship table.

Australia XI:David Warner,Usman Khawaja,M a r n u sL a b u s c h a g n e ,Steve Smith, TravisHead, CameronGreen, AlexCarey, MitchellStarc, Pat Cummins(c), Nathan Lyon,Mitchell Swepson.

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Chasing an elusive interna-tional hundred for 28months now, Virat Kohli

would hope for a turnaround athis 'spiritual home' when Indiatake on an under-prepared andinjury-hit Sri Lanka in the sec-ond Test, with the actionunfolding under flood lights,here from Saturday.

Interestingly, the last timeKohli reached a three-figuremark, it was a 'Pink Ball' gamein which India thrashedBangladesh by an innings and46 runs in Kolkata, back inNovember 2019. He had scored136 back then.

The former India skipperhas taken strike in 28 inningssince then but a Test hundredhas remained elusive. The 33-year-old has got a 50-plus scoreonly six times with highestbeing a knock of 79 againstSouth Africa in Cape Town inJanuary this year.

Now he is returning to theM Chinnaswamy stadium, avenue which he knows like theback of his palm as he has ledhis IPL side Royal ChallengersBangalore here (RCB) for adecade. That comforting famil-iarity with the conditions mayalso help.

KOHLI VS TOUGH TIMESA colossus that he has

developed into in world crick-et, expectations are always highfrom the star Indian cricketer,who is perhaps enduring themost challenging phase of hiscareer and not just in purecricketing terms.

Kohli's run-in with theestablishment and the subse-quent removal from the leader-ship role in ODIs may haveadded pressure but he canbreath easy since in Sri Lanka

he faces a bowling attack, whichhardly has the wherewithal totrouble the Indian batters intheir own den.

Kohli had got a start evenin the Mohali Test but could notmake full use of that. It's notthat he is not batting well. Heis still striking the ball with easeand that trademark fluency isalso there but lapse of concen-tration at times is becoming hisundoing.

Fatigue that creeps in witha punishing schedule and agecould be factors and the lack ofconfidence due to noise sur-rounding him outside the crick-et grounds is also somethingwhich is perhaps affecting hisbatting.

Batting against a below-average Sri Lankan attack in acomparatively small ground isactually a perfect opportunity tocome out of the lean patch in-front of capacity crowd that has

always egged him on.

TEAM COMBINATIONSince it is a pink ball con-

test, either a fit-again spin all-rounder Axar Patel or pacerMohammed Siraj could replaceJayant Yadav in the playing XIbecause both have the ability tocause more damage in aDay/Night game.

Jayant did not do anythingspecial in Mohali. Even whenthe Sri Lankans were struggling,he went wicket-less in his 17overs across the two innings.

Axar, in his last Pink ballTest, had wreaked havoc withhis under cutters inAhmedabad against England,taking 11 wickets in that con-test.

He even opened the attackin the second England innings.

However, if grass is left onthe pitch then Siraj would be abetter option for skipper Rohit

Sharma.Any more change to the

playing XI is unlikely eventhough it will be interesting tosee if HanumaVihari is givenanother chance tobat at numberthree. Rohit hadsaid that it is not cer-tain that the slotwould remain withVihari.

SRI LANKA'SSTRUGGLE

Their resourcesalready not goodenough to challengethe talent in theIndian squad, SriLankans will be withoutpacer Lahiru Kumara,who has been ruled outdue to a hamstring injury.

But since pacerDushmantha Chameera

has also been ruled out due toan ankle injury, ChamikaKarunaratne will replace him inthe visiting playing XI.

Dinesh Chandimal is alsolikely to play as PathumNissanka, who was a better per-former last game, is also out dueto an injury.

Skipper DimuthKarunaratne will have to lead

from the frontand producesomethingout of the

ordinary toensure that they

do not meet the samefate as that in the series-opener. He had gotstarts in both inningsbut could not convert.

Also, veteranslike AngeloMathews have toshow a bit morestomach for fight.

While the bat-ters, at least foundruns, intermittently,the Lankan bowlerscut a sorry figure.

Pacer Suranga Lakmal,playing his last series, was theonly one among the sixbowlers, who managed aneconomy of under-4 runs.Others were pretty expensivewith every Indian batter goingafter them, especially RishabhPant (96) and Ravindra Jadeja(175).

LAST HOME TEST IN 2022It will be the last Test match

on home soil for team India in2022. There are seven moreTests in the current WTC cycleafter the Lankan series. Theteam will travel to Bangladeshfor a two-match series andthen Australia will arrive for afour-Test rubber in 2023.

The one Test of the lastyear's England tour is still to beplayed away. India need to winall these matches, if the teamhas to qualify for the WTCfinal.

For both Sri Lanka andIndia, it will be their fourthDay-Night Test and both sharesimilar record of two wins anda defeat each.

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India vice-captain JaspritBumrah feels that cricketers

need to make a few "mentaladjustments" going into a'Pink Ball' Test but definingone set parameter for that isnot possible since all threeday-night games they haveplayed in the past were in var-ied conditions.

India are gearing up fortheir fourth day-night Testagainst Sri Lanka, havingplayed against Bangladeshon a seaming Eden Gardenstrack, versus Australia on abouncy Adelaide Oval surfaceand with England on aMotera rank turner.

Bumrah said they arestill learning how to approachpink ball games.

"As professional crick-eters, we need to adjust asquickly as possible. The pinkball looks different whilefielding. It comes earlier (trav-els faster) than what you per-ceive. In a Test match, ballswings more in the morningsession.

"But in the afternoonsession, the ball may notswing much. And then in theevening, it can swing more, allthese small points (are beingdiscussed)," Bumrah said dur-ing the pre-match virtualmedia interaction.

"We have not playedmany pink ball matches andwhatever we have played,they were all in different con-ditions, so no parameter canbe set (on adjustmentsrequired). "Sowhatever little experience wehave gathered and the feed-back we have taken, we aretrying to work on thosethings," the fast bowler added.

Bumrah also revealedthat they had an optionalpractice session with pink balleven during the Mohali Test.

In India's previous pink-ball games, the pitches onoffer were of different of vari-ety. "We are not used to field-ing, bowling and batting withthe pink ball. You don't playpink ball cricket. When youfield under lights, whatadjustments you have tomake. We are still new in thisformat."

Bumrah said it dependson an individual how difficultor easy it is to make thosemental adjustments.

Asked if India will gowith three spinners or seam-ers, Bumrah said unless theyassess the pitch for one finaltime, he can't talk about thecombination.

"We have had a look atthe surface. Today is the daywhen we assess it and thendecide what combination weneed. We will make a planand back that."

It is expected that sinceAxar Patel, who has beenadded to the squad, mayreplace Jayant Yadav, keepingin mind the conditions.However Bumrah did notdisclose if that is beingplanned for the game.

"Axar was part of thesquad in the previous seriesalso. He has added a lot ofvalue to the squad. He hascontributed a lot. He offers alot with both ball and the bat.He was injured, so now whenhe is fit, he jumps back.

"There will be discus-sion what combination wewant to go with. He is animportant player for ourteam."

Bumrah stated in anassertive tone that KuldeepYadav, who has been releasedfrom squad, has not beenkicked out.

"He has not beendropped. He was in bubble forlong and has not been home.Since his chance to play thisgame was minimal, he hasben rested so that he canspend time with his familybefore the IPL.

"Players well-being isimportant since staying inbubble is not easy, keepingthat in mind, in that aspect,he has been rested. Wheneverhe gets opportunity, he will dowell."

Bumrah also laughed offqueries about RavindraJadeja's workload in MohaliTest where he scored 175 notout and snared nine wickets.

Can he (Jadeja) be rested?"I don't see any player to

sit out after such a goodgame. He would want toreplicate that performanceand contribute more."

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India's under-performing top-orderwill be keen to display way more

intent to bring the team's campaignback on track when it squares offagainst a dangerous West Indies in thethird league game of the ICC Women'sWorld Cup here on Saturday.

Currently placed fifth after ademoralising 62-run loss to NewZealand, India would like to get backto winning ways as back-to-back defeatcan cause loss in momentum, especial-ly when they are playing one game afteranother on the bounce.

The likes of Smriti Mandhana,Mithali Raj, the young Yastika Bhatiaand all-rounder Deepti Sharma were allcriticised for not getting a move-onagainst New Zealand in India's chase of261 and despite Harmanpreet Kaur's62-ball-71, the team ended up beingoutplayed by 62 runs.

It is understood that Shafali Verma,despite her 'blow hot, blow cold' form,will be back in the playing eleven, andwould be expected to lend pace to

innings, something which YastikaBhatia failed to do in the previous game.

The Indian batters played out aninexplicable 162 dot balls, equivalent to

27 overs, in the last game against WhiteFerns and the match was as good asover when they scored only 50 off thefirst 20 overs.

Head coach Ramesh Powar wasvery blunt and critical of the team'sshow on the eve of the game against thelikes of Stafanie Taylor, Deandra Dottin,and Anisa Mohammed.

"I think it was one of those dayswhere things didn't go our way andhonestly I was also surprised with theway we batted for 20 overs. (But) if youlook back (at the) last six games,which we have played against NewZealand, we were executing our planswell," Powar told reporters ahead oftheir game.

Mithali, playing her last tourna-ment, has been in very poor form andeven Mandhana has looked scratchyputting a lot of pressure on the likes ofPooja Vastrakar and Sneh Rana.

No wonder, coach Powar made it

clear that he want the seniors to acceptmore responsibility.

"I think it is the pressure, I think ofthe World Cup but I don't want to giveany excuses. This is the right time to putyour hand up and put up the perfor-mances, because we have been trainingfor last six months," Powar was verycurt. "We have been to England,Australia, we have been to New Zealandearly, so we have got every practiceopportunity which was needed, so it istime as a group to stand up and deliv-er," one could gauge the irritation in hisvoice. One of the poor call by NeetuDavid-led selection committee hasbeen non-inclusion of opening batterS Meghana, who showed a lot of sparkin her comeback ODI series againstNew Zealand.

She was middling the ball well andunfortunately didn't make the cut in theWorld Cup squad, which was pickedmuch earlier.

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Late-bloomer Nkrumah Bonner'scareer-best century anchored West

Indies to a 62-run lead against Englandon an attritional third day of the first testat Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

The home side batted all day to over-turn a 109-run deficit, and Bonneralmost endured, too. He was out just twoovers from stumps for 123 after almost10 hours at the crease.

The West Indies, in reply toEngland's 311, resumed on 202-4 andreached stumps at 373-9. On a sluggishpitch on which it was hard to bowl and

bat, the West Indies eked out only 171runs from the day's 90.1 overs.

Bonner made his test debut just overa year ago, but at 33 has been making upfor lost time.

He absorbed England's pressurewith ease and rode considerable luck.During the day, he was dropped on 73,survived umpire's calls on 102 and 112,and got an out overturned on review on121.

His overnight stand with JasonHolder finished early on 79, but Bonnerfound regular partnerships with the tailto frustrate England. Bonner shared 73with Joshua Da Silva, 44 with Kemar

Roach, and 46 with VeerasammyPermaul. Holder added only two to hisovernight score before trying to leave

Ben Stokes but edging behind on 45.Stokes, who barely bowled in the Ashesbecause of injury, finished the day com-mitting 28 overs, his most in an inningsin six years.

Holder's wicket was the only oneWest Indies conceded in the morning,despite England taking the new ballinstantly.

Worrying for England, seamer MarkWood bowled one over and left withoutbowling again because of an elbowinjury.

Da Silva was out after lunch, lbw tospinner Jack Leach after two hours, 88balls and one boundary.

Alzarri Joseph was dismissed for 2by Craig Overton and England's hopeswere up.

But just as in the first session, earlywickets were followed by incrediblysustained defense from the West Indies.

Bonner and Roach scored at practi-cally one run per over until Roach hit acouple of fours off England captain JoeRoot.

They passed England's total in themeantime and Bonner went to tea on 98.

He earned his second test century inhis 10th test straight after tea with asweep to the boundary off Leach. Hejumped into Roach's arms.

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