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On the eve of the countingof votes, the Election

Commission on Wednesdayremoved three officials fromelection duty in Uttar Pradeshand suspended VaranasiAdditional District MagistrateNalini Kant Singh for negli-gence in electronic votingmachines (EVM) transporta-tion and initiated disciplinaryactions against them.

The commission hasdeputed Chief ElectoralOfficer of Delhi to Meerut andChief Electoral Officer ofBihar to Varanasi as specialobservers to oversee countingarrangements amid com-plaints from Opposition par-ties about alleged irregularitiesin Uttar Pradesh Assemblypolls after an official ofVaranasi publicly admitted tolapses.

“ECI has taken actionagainst any type of breach ofprotocol. ECI has suspendedADM Varanasi,” senior DeputyElection CommissionerChandra Bhushan Kumar said.

Disciplinary action hasbeen initiated against theVaranasi ADM. The VaranasiADM has also been barredfrom going to the countingspot. Additional District

Magistrate (Finance andRevenue) Sanjay Kumar hasbeen made the nodal officer,EVMs.

Meanwhile, AdditionalElection Officer VK Singh wasremoved from the electionprocess in Bareilly after ballotboxes and other election itemswere found inside a garbagecollection bin of the localmunicipality in the Baheri area.

In Sonbhadra district,where ballot slips were recov-ered from a box inside thevehicle of the additional districtmagistrate, Ghorawal returningofficer Ramesh Kumar wasremoved from election work.The commission has ordereddisciplinary proceedingsagainst them. The VaranasiDM said all EVMs werechecked late at night in the

presence of election observersand candidates after the ruckusover the alleged replacement ofEVMs on Tuesday.

This comes a day afterSamajwadi Party (SP) chiefAkhilesh Yadav accused theruling BJP of “stealing” votesand claimed that his partyworkers intercepted a truckcarrying EVMs in Varanasi.

He also claimed that vehi-cles transporting ballots wereintercepted in at least three dis-tricts. On Wednesday, takingto Twitter, the party put out avideo of the official admittingthere were “lapses”.

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India has managed to bringout most of its nationals,

including students from war-torn country, as the last biggroup of about 700 Indian stu-dents were evacuated from thenortheastern Ukrainian city ofSumy by a special train fromPoltava. They are likely toboard a flight to India fromPoland on Thursday.

With this evacuation, Indiarescued more than 18,000 of itscitizens via nearly 80 specialflights as part of “OperationGanga” starting February 22.Union Minister Piyush Goyalsaid on Wednesday “OperationGanga” was the result of the“whole Government approach”of the Prime Minister.

He also charged theCongress and other Oppositionparties of reaching “a new lowin politics” by seeing theGovernment efforts from theprism of “publicity”.

Informing that the lastbatch of Indian students havesafely moved away from Sumyand proceeded to the Polandborder on their way backhome, he complimented thePM for taking “strong mea-sures” to evacuate Indiannationals from Ukraine.

While lashing out at theCongress for “not standingtogether” in the hour of crisisbe it Galwan, coronavirus pan-demic or now on the Ukraineissue, Goyal said the ModiGovernment adopted the

“whole Government approach”in evacuating students.

“Modi took eight ministe-rial meetings and each day tookstrong measures to get eachIndian citizen back home...spoke to Russian Presidentthree times, Ukraine head twiceand chiefs of five countries bor-dering Ukraine ...”, he said.

The BJP leader said, “Weare proud that the last batch ofIndian students have safelymoved to a camp and would beon their way to their country.”

He claimed there is nosuch example from any othercountry — China evacuatingtheir first batch on March 5 and“America giving prior adviso-ry to their nationals toleave.

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In a major decision aimed atmeeting the shortage of doc-

tors in the country, theGovernment has done awaywith the fixed upper age limitof 25 years for appearing in theNational Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test forUndergraduate or NEET-UG.

An official of the UnionHealth Ministry said that underthe Graduate MedicalEducation Board, the NationalMedical Commission hasdecided to remove the fixedupper age limit for appearing inthe NEET-UG examination.

“The upper age cap put bythe Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE) in 2017 was25 years for unreserved candi-dates and 30 years for reserved

candidates,” he said.“I would like to inform that

it has been decided in the 4thNMC meeting held on 21stOctober, 2021 that there shouldnot be any fixed upper age limitfor appearing in the NEET-UGexamination. Therefore, theinformation bulletin may bemodified accordingly.

“Further, the process forofficial notification to suitablyamend the Regulations onGraduate Medical Education,1997 to this effect has been ini-tiated,” a communication sent byDr Pulkesh Kumar, SecretaryNMC to Dr Devvrat, Office ofSenior Director, NationalTesting Agency, on March 9said. The age criteria had oftenbeen questioned in the SupremeCourt and high courts of thecountry.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday granted bail to

AG Perarivalan, who has beenserving a life sentence in theRajiv Gandhi assassinationcase. The SC considered hislong incarceration of over 30years and the fact that therewas no complaint against himwhen he was out on parole.

On February 18, 2014,the SC had commuted thedeath sentence given toPerarivalan to life imprison-ment.

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State Election Commission(SEC) on Wednesday post-

poned the announcement ofdates for the municipal polls inDelhi as a simultaneous movewas afoot to unify the threecorporations — South, Eastand North — by the Centre,sources said.

“I have received somecommunication from theCentral Government at 4.30pm, so I am not able toannounce the dates right now,Delhi SEC SK Srivastava said.

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India’s gesture of evacuatingstudents of neighbouring

countries along with its citi-zens from Ukraine came in forpraise as the BangladeshPrime Minister Sheikh Hasinaand Pakistani girl AsmaShafique thanked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi forthis effort.

Hasina on Wednesdaythanked Modi for rescuing hercountry’s nationals under“Operation Ganga,” alongsidethe stranded Indian nationals.

At least nine Bangladeshi stu-dents besides some Nepaleseand a Pakistani student wererescued.

Ama was evacuated froma war zone in Ukraine withhelp from the Indian Embassyin Kyiv. In a video, shethanked the Indian Embassyand the Indian Prime Ministerfor helping her escape a “verydifficult situation”. She said,“I’m very thankful to theEmbassy of India in Kyiv forsupporting us all the way hereas we were stuck in a very dif-ficult situation.”

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RANCHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 10, 2022

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

PNS RANCHI

For more info: yssi.org

Remembering Jnanavatar Swami SriYukteswar - One of India’s Great Saints

PNS HAZARIBAG

M FAIYAZ AHMAD DALTONGANJ

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

2000 police personnel to be deployed

The city police department is working hard inkeeping a stringent vigilance on eve-teasers dur-ing Holi. PNS

Poppy cultivation in 5 acres destroyed by Palamu police

Bags 12 coveted National Safety Awards

SURESH NIKHARBERMO/GAYA

PNS DHANBAD

PNS RANCHI

Mining officers wants media persons to file complaint of sand coal smuggling, illegal mining

Workshop on Lac integratedfarming practices by IINRG

Rotary Club felicitates womenachievers

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

Rotary Club of Jamshedpur Midtown felicitated twowomen, who have achieved excellence in the fieldof education. They were honoured with citations asa token of appreciation for their achievements onthe occasion of International Women’s Day. The re-cipients of the honour were Nargis Madon , formerdirector , Tarapore Group of Schools and SisterPremalata, principal of St. Mary's Hindi MediumSchool, Bistupur.This was followed by recitation of articles/ poems bytalented women members of the club. KusumThakur read out an article written by her on furtherfreedom for women. Preeti Saini recited a couple ofpoems from her recently launched book on womenempowerment. Dr Ekta also recited a poem on in-spiring women.

International Women's Day Celebrated at Law College

PNS HAZARIBAG

A seminar was organised on the occasion of Inter-national Women's Day at Vinoba Bhave UniversityLaw College. The theme of the seminar was "Gen-der equality today for a Sustainable Tomorrow". Theprogramme was presided over by Dr. Rita, H.O.D.of Political Science, Vinoba Bhave University. Dr.Vandana Srivastava, Dr. Rita, Advocates Reena,Preeti Sinha and others were present as chiefguests. Principal of Law College Dr. Jaideep Sanyalwelcomed all the guests and gave the message ofequality. All the speakers mainly motivated the stu-dents to participate in every walk of life. Uzma Sa-dia, Komal, Pooja, Subhangi, Shagufta, Raju andDilkash participated in the programme, Nikita Ra-man proposed a vote of thanks. Women sanitationworkers were also felicitated during the pro-gramme. At last, everyone raised the slogan of so-cial, economic and political equality. Along with thestudents, Rashmi Pradhan, Urmila, Nivedita andother teachers were present on the occasion.

Safety Award for NTPC Pakri BarwadihNTPC Pakri Bar-wadih Coal Min-ing Projectbagged runnerup prize at Na-tional SafetyAward (Mines)ceremony held atVigyan Bhawan,New Delhi on March 8. The award was given by UnionMinister for Labour & Employment Bhupender Yadavin the presence of Minister of State for Labour & Em-ployment Rameswar Teli, Secretary, Ministry of Labour& Employment Sunil Barthwal, Vibha Bhalla, JointSecretary, Industrial Safety & Health Division, Dr.Shashank Goel, Additional Secretary/ DG(Emp), Govtof India, Prabhat Kumar, DG, DGMS.IWCS celebrates International Women’s DayInnerwheel ClubSwarnrekha Ranchicelebrated Interna-tional Women's Dayon March 08 at theresidence of clubmember SangeetaSinha in Morhaba-di, Tagore Hill. Un-der the chairman-ship of club President Neeta Narayan and SecretaryMala Srivastava, an eye check-up of about 30 poorwomen was done on the occasion. Food packets werealso given to all the women, along with a quiz program,three months computer course will be conducted forfive poor girls from the club. Jyoti Tiwari, a member ofour club, gave three grill carrom boards to 40 peoplein the old age ashram. Before having food, on the eveof Women's Day, on 7th evening at, cancer checkup ofpoor women was also done. All the members cele-brated the Women's Day by cutting a cake at the Ver-lin hospital, Nita Narayan, Namrata Kumar, Mala Sri-vastava, Sangeeta Sahay, Archana Trivedi, DebjaniSanyal, Nishi Srivastava, Ambuja Sharan, Suprita Lal,Sushma Pandey, Ragini Singh, Sushma Sinha, Sand-hya Prakash, Neelam Akhouri, Kiran Bala Singh etcwere present on the occasion.Holi Spl trains to ECR stationsIn view of the convenience of passengers during theHoli festival, special trains are being operated fromDelhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ernakulam to various stationsof East Central Railway. The trains include Anand Vi-har-Muzaffarpur-Anand Vihar Reserved Festival Spe-cial Express, Anand Vihar-Jaynagar-Anand Vihar Re-served Festival Special Express, Anand Vihar-Jog-bani-Anand Vihar Reserved Festival Special Express,Anand Vihar-Sitamarhi-Anand Vihar Reserved Festi-val Special Express, New Delhi-Darbhanga-New Del-hi Reserved Festival Special Express, Anand Vihar-Saharsa-Anand Vihar Reserved Festival Special Ex-press, Kolkata -Raxaul-Kolkata Holi Special Express,

Ernakulam-Barauni-Ernakulam Superfast Special Ex-press, Bandra Terminal-Barauni-Bandra Terminal Spe-cial Train, Delhi-Patna-Delhi AC Reserved SuperfastSpeed Festival Special Express, Amritsar-Patna-Am-ritsar AC Reserved Superfast Speed Festival SpecialExpress, Delhi-Patna-Delhi AC Reserved SuperfastSpeed Festival Special, Barauni-Delhi Reserved Su-perfast Festival Special Express and Amritsar-Ba-mankhi-Amritsar Reserved Festival Special Express.Inauguration of Gymnasium at CMPDICMD CMP-DI, ManojKumar, in-auguratedthe com-pletelyRenovatedGymnasi-um at CM-PDI (HQ),Ranchi onWednes-day. Onthis occa-sion, Kumar said that Gymnasium will provide an op-portunity for the employees and their family members,sports persons/fitness enthusiasts to be physically fitand healthy and also regular exercise helps to lowerstress levels and can prevent lifestyle related dis-eases. Gymnasium has been equipped with high qual-ity equipment like bench press, leg press and exten-sion, Cable tower with Multiple attachments, Pull-upand rowing machine, Chest fly, Treadmills and exer-cise cycles etc. On this occasion, RN Jha, Director(T/RD&T); SK Gomasta, Director (T/ES/CRD),GM/HoDs and employees were present.Blood donation Camp in GarhwaA blood do-nationcamp wasorganisedat Irrigationdepartmentbuilding, onWednes-day. It wasorganisedby L&T Company with the help of Garhwa Sadar Hos-pital. The camp was inaugurated by Dr. Kamlesh Ku-mar, Civil Surgeon, Garhwa. Altogether, 70 L&T em-ployees donated blood in the camp. Chandan Kumar,Project Manager, Dinesh Pandey accountant, L&T, Dr.Birendra Kumar, blood bank In-charge Garhwa hospi-tal was present in the camp. On the occasion, appeal-ing to the people, the Civil Surgeon said that peopleshould come forward with enthusiasm for blood dona-tion. The CS informed that there are 125 Thalassemiapatients in Garhwa district who require blood transfu-sion twice a month. T-shirts, key-rings and head capswere distributed as an incentive to blood donors.

RANCHI | THURSDAY | MARCH 10, 2022

PNS RANCHI

MRITUANJAY KUMARRANCHI

PNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI PNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI

DC instructs officials to identify Divyang persons through voter list

Efforts on to provide direct benefits to farmers through schemes

Sampurna Manavta Kalyan Sangh

Panchayat election in the state will be held soon

Special camps to be set up for disability certificate

Now, get Sugar Free potatoes from Palamu farmers

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved cre-

ating a new company to holdand monetise surplus land andbuildings of Government agen-cies and PSUs that are beingprivatised or being shut down.

The special purpose vehi-cle (SPV) called the NationalLand MonetisationCorporation (NLMC) will beset up as a wholly-ownedGovernment of India compa-ny with an initial authorisedshare capital of Rs 5,000 croreand paid-up share capital of Rs150 crore, an official state-ment said.

"NLMC will undertakemonetization of surplus landand building assets of CentralPublic Sector Enterprises(CPSEs) and otherGovernment agencies," it said.With monetization of non-core assets, the governmentwould be able to generate sub-stantial revenues by monetizing

unused and under-used assets,the statement added..

The Government has inrecent months spoken of assetmonetisation as means of notjust revenue generation butalso boosting economic activ-ity as Asia's third-largest econ-omy emerges from the pan-demic.

Asset monetisation is theprocess of creating new sourcesof revenue for the governmentand its entities by unlocking theeconomic value of unutilised orunderutilised public assets.

"At present, CPSEs holdconsiderable surplus, unusedand underused non-core assetsin the nature of land and build-ings. For CPSEs undergoingstrategic disinvestment or clo-sure, monetization of thesesurplus land and non-coreassets is important to unlocktheir value. NLMC will supportand undertake monetization ofthese assets," the statementsaid. NLMC will hire profes-sionals from the private sectorjust as in the case of similar

specialised Government com-panies like the NationalInvestment and InfrastructureFund (NIIF) and Invest India,the statement said, adding thatthis was considering that realestate monetisation requiresspecialised skills and expertisein areas such as marketresearch, legal due diligence,valuation, master planning,investment banking and landmanagement.

The new company, whichwill be set up under the admin-istrative jurisdiction of theFinance Ministry, will be alean organization with minimalfull-time staff, hired directlyfrom the market on a contractbasis.

The Board of Directors ofNLMC will comprise seniorCentral Government officersand eminent experts to enableprofessional operations andmanagement of company. Thechairman, non-Governmentdirectors of the NLMC will beappointed through a merit-based selection process.

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The Union Cabinet onWednesday approved the

establishment of a WHOGlobal Centre for TraditionalMedicine (WHO GCTM) inGujarat's Jamnagar by signinga host country agreement, thefirst and only global outpost-ed centre for traditional med-icine across the globe.

The WHO GCTM will beestablished under the Ministryof AYUSH. The agreementwould help position AYUSHsystems across the globe andprovide leadership on globalhealth matters pertaining totraditional medicine, an offi-cial statement said.

WHO GCTM will ensurequality, safety, efficacy, acces-

sibility and rational use oftraditional medicine besidesdeveloping norms, standards,and guidelines in relevanttechnical areas, tools andethodologies, for collectingdata, undertaking analytics,and assess impact.

The Cabinet was apprisedof a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) signedbetween the Indian Council ofMedical Research (ICMR) andD e u t s c h eForschungsgemeinschaft,Germany in December 2021.

The objectives of the MoUare to enhance cooperation inthe field of medical sci-ences/health research in areasincluding toxicology, neglect-ed (Tropical) disease, rare dis-eases and any other areas ofmutual interest. It was also

apprised of a MoU betweenICMR and the OxfordUniversity, the UK inNovember 2021 for capacitybuilding for Indian scientistsand researchers, collection ofdata compliant with interna-tional standards and regula-tory requirements, develop-ment of India towards becom-ing a regional hub for capaci-ty development using its ownfunds and following the prin-ciples of equity and sover-eignty.

The cabinet also approveda MoU signed between ICMRand the National Institute ofAllergy and InfectiousDiseases (NIAID), NationalInstitute of Health ofDepartment of Health andHuman Services, US, inSeptember 2021.

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The Enforcement Directorate(ED) has provisionally

attached immovable and mov-able properties in the form oflands, buildings and share hold-ings worth Rs 1,984 crore underthe Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) in amoney laundering investigationagainst Karvy Stock BrokingLtd (KSBL) and its ChairmanComannder Parathasarathy andothers.

The ED had initiated moneylaundering investigation on thebasis of FIRs filed by the CCSPolice Station, Hyderabad Police,on the complaints of lendingbanks who complained that theKarvy Group had availed largeamounts of loans by illegallypledging their clients’ sharesworth about Rs 2,800 crore.Subsequently, these loans turnedinto non-performing assets(NPA) after the release of theclient's securities as per theorders of NSE and SEBI.

The KSBL was one of theleading stock brokers in thecountry with millions of clients.The scam came to light after alimited purpose inspection ofKSBL conducted by NSE in2019 revealed that KSBL had notrevealed a DepositoryParticipant DP Account andcredited the funds raised bypledging of client securities to sixof its own bank accounts (“StockBroker-own Account”) instead ofthe “Stock Broker-ClientAccount”, the ED said in a state-ment.

The ED has collected theaudit conducted by NSE and theorders passed by SEBI and ROCagainst KSBL and the forensicaudit reports of BDO India LLP.

On September 22, 2021, theED had conducted searches atnine locations and subsequent-ly, Parathasarathy, CMD ofKarvy Group, and G HariKrishna, CFO, were brought onproduction warrant and pro-duced before ED PMLA SpecialCourt. They were arrested underPMLA on January 20 this year.

They are presently in judi-cial custody. Parathasarathy hasbeen totally evasive and non-cooperative during the investi-gation and while admitting a fewwrong doings by KSBL, hasbeen shifting the entire blame onthe CEO, CFO and other seniormanagement.

In a separate case, the EDhas provisionally attached mov-able and 376 immovable prop-erties worth more than Rs 268crore in Akshaya Gold Farms &Villas India Limited (AGFVIL)Ponzi scam case.

The attached properties arein the name of AGFVIL and sis-ter concerns, its directors, rela-tives of directors and theirbenamidars.

Meanwhile, the ED hasarrested 11 key accused personsinvolved in Chennai Port Trust-Term Deposit fraud case worthover Rs 45 crore in relation tomoney laundering case. In thiscase, the ED had initiated amoney laundering investigationon the basis of FIR registered bythe CBI, ACB, Chennai.

The ED had searched 15premises across Tamil Nadu inJune 2021 and during the courseof investigation, the suspectedpersons were examined and itwas found that the proceeds ofcrime or the money obtained outof liquidation of the FixedDeposits pertaining to ChennaiPort Trust was invested inacquiring more than 230 acres ofland, several plots, vehicles, goldand deposits and the same wereattached in December 2021 andFebruary 2022, it added.

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The CBI has registered acase of corruption in the

maintenance contracts of gar-dens at Uttar Pradesh's his-torical sites, including TajMahal and The Residency inLucknow, allegedly byArchaeological Survey of India(ASI) officials in collusionwith a private contractor.

The contractor allegedlysiphoned off governmentfunds by submitting fake billsshowing unskilled workersengaged in Mysore circle ofthe ASI tending lawns of his-torical sites 2,000 kilometersaway in Lucknow. Labourerslisted under ASI's Kota andDelhi circles were also shownas working in Lucknow.

Similar bogus bills werealso reimbursed on the basisof bogus bills submitted formaintenance of lawns in citeslike Kushinagar, Agra, Kanpur,among others by the privatecontractor Kuldeep Singh.

The complaint, now a partof the FIR, gave specific detailsabout archaeological sites inUttar Pradesh like the iconicTaj Mahal and The Residencyin Lucknow.

The Residency, also calledas the British Residency andResidency Complex, is a groupof several buildings in a com-mon precinct in Lucknow. Itserved as the residence for theBritish Resident General whowas a representative in thecourt of the Nawab.

The complaint furtheralleged that similar fraud wasalso perpetrated in Agra'sSikandara, Ram Bagh andFatehpur Sikri.

The accused contractorwas allegedly aided byHorticulture Assistant at TheResidency Vineet Agrawal,Deputy SuperintendingHorticulturist posted at ASI'sAgra Division-I which coversmost of Uttar Pradesh, P KChoudhary; and retired offi-cer Raj Kumar.

Singh was awarded a Rs2.5 crore contract on October22, 2019 for upkeep of archae-ological gardens in UttarPradesh for fiscal 2019-20which was CBI again extend-ed for next year at same rate.

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Veteran Congress leader andformer Union minister AK

Antony has informed theCongress leadership that he willnot seek re-election to hisRajya Sabha seat and moveback to his home state of Keralaafter his tenure comes to an endin April. The announcementmarks the end of Antony’snearly 52-year-long illustriouscareer in electoral politicswhich includes three termseach as Union minister andchief minister of Kerala.Elections to three Rajya Sabhaseats in Kerala are due on 31March.

“The time has come nowfor me to end my journey inelectoral politics and my par-liamentary career. I will leaveDelhi in April and return to livein Thiruvananthapuram,”Antony said.

Antony thanked Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi forthe opportunities given to himto represent the party in RajyaSabha. The 81 year old leadersaid that he was thinking ofquitting politics for a while andhad also informed SoniaGandhi about it a few monthsago. “After thinking about par-liamentary politics for a while,I informed Sonia ji a couple ofmonths ago about my decisionnot to seek another Rajya Sabhaterm. During my visit to Keralalast month, I told the PCC pres-ident and other colleaguesabout the same,” Antony said ata press conference in Kerala.

Earlier, the ElectionCommission announced thedates for elections to threeRajya Sabha seats in Keralawhich are currently occupiedby Antony, CPI(M)’s KSomaprasad and MV ShreyamsKumar.The former Defence

Minister’s political career beganin Kerala during the 1970sand he earned the reputation ofbeing one of the Congress’most honest and upright lead-ers, earning him the moniker‘St Antony of Congress’. He wasknown to be one of SoniaGandhi’s most trusted lieu-tenants, and also had goodterms with former PrimeMinisters Indira Gandhi andRajiv Gandhi.

Antony first became MLAin the Kerala LegislativeAssembly in 1970, after grad-uating from his student politicsdays, and went on to serve thefirst of his three terms as thestate’s chief minister at the ageof 37 in 1977. Apart from hisfive terms as MLA, he has alsoserved as the chief of theCongress’ Kerala unit for 10years. He served as Unionminister for three terms –including the longest stint byany defence minister in thecountry– from 2006 to 2014.He has also been a Rajya SabhaMP for five terms.

After the split within theCongress party in 1978, he quitas chief minister of theCongress (U) faction that ledthe coalition government inKerala.

The decision was a protestagainst the party’s support toIndira Gandhi in the 1978bypoll. Antony had also askedIndira Gandhi to withdrawthe Emergency earlier. Afterquitting as chief minister,Antony launched his ownCongress faction calledCongress (A), which laterjoined the Congress with IndiraGandhi attending the mergerceremony in Kochi.

Thereafter, Antony wasmade AICC general secretaryin 1984 and has been a long-time member of the CongressWorking Committee (CWC).

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The clash between the'Maha Vikas Aghadi' of

Shiv Sena-Congress-NCPcoalition Government and theBJP reached a new bitter scaleon Wednesday with the lat-ter demanding a CBI probeagainst the alleged conspira-cies hatched by what it called'Maha Vinash AghadiGovernment' against the BJPState leaders.

The BJP alleged that theleaders of Maharashtra gov-ernment are conspiring withpolice to frame its senior lead-ers in false cases with theactive involvement of topMinisters and demanded aCBI probe into the matter.

Addressing a press con-ference here party spokesper-son Shehzad Poonawalla,while quoting a recording ofalleged conversation of State’sspecial public prosecutor, saidhe was collaborating withsome Ministers of theMaharashtra government andofficials to framing senior BJPleaders including former stateChief Minister Devendra

Fadnavis in false cases.The BJP leader quoted

from the video recording "last-ing 125 hours" where variousfake cases, including those ofdrugs, are being planned to be"planted" against top state BJPleadership, he alleged.

Poonawalla alleged thatstate government is working tosuppress the opposition voice.He also said that the Statepolice was involved in allegedextortion and conspiracy as isevident from the recording.

" In the recording the spe-cial government prosecutorwho is assigned the task of fix-ing BJP state leaders is sayingthat ex-Maharashtra MinisterAnil Deshmukh had extortedminimum of Rs 250 crore in2-3 months from builders...",said Poonawala.

The Poonawala said theprosecutor, however, alsoaffirms that Deshmukh is rightfor (fixing) job. Deshmukh iscurrently in jail for moneylaundering case. The BJPspokesman also alleged thatthe recording also talks abouta judge of a lower court beingfixed and quotes the price.

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As both the countries arepoised for the 15th round of

military level talks on Friday tofind ways to ease tension at theLine of Actual Control (LAC),India on Wednesday made itclear to China that peace andtranquility in border areas isperquisite for bilateral ties.

Making this assertion twodays before the CorpsCommander level talks inLadakh, Foreign SecretaryHarsh Shringla also said therelationship has to be based onthe "three mutuals" of respect,sensitivity and interest. He alsosaid India wants a good rela-tionship with Pakistan, but itcannot be at the expense of itssecurity. The Foreign Secretary

made these observations in anevent at the Lal Bahadur ShastriNational Academy ofAdministration.

"We have made it clear toChina that peace and tranquil-ity in the border areas is essen-tial for the development of ourrelationship. Development ofIndia-China relationship hasto be based on 'three mutuals' -- mutual respect, mutual sensi-tivity and mutual interest,"Shringla said. On ties withAfghanistan, Shringla said Indiahas continued its "special rela-tionship" with the friendly peo-ple of that country.

"In response to the human-itarian situation in Afghanistan,India has decided to gift 50,000metric tonnes of wheat to thepeople of Afghanistan. The firstconvoy carrying wheat was

flagged off last month from theAttari border," he said. Shringlaalso said India remains engagedwith Myanmar with which itshares a nearly 1,700 km longborder. “In our engagement, wehave emphasised India's inter-est in seeing Myanmar's returnto democracy at the earliest," hesaid.

"We remain committed to arelationship that provides forour cooperation with Myanmarin areas of security, economyand humanitarian assistance,"Shringla added.

He underlined that neigh-bourhood comes "first and fore-most" in India's foreign policypriorities. "The neighbour-hood first policy, at the instanceof prime minister, accords high-est priority to our relationswith Afghanistan, Bangladesh,

Bhutan, Nepal, Maldives,Myanmar, Pakistan, and SriLanka," he said. "It is these coun-tries - with exception of Pakistan- that we work most closelywith," he said adding the coun-tries in the neighbourhood areof special significance to India.

Shringla pointed out thatneighbouring countries havedirect relevance to India's bor-der states, adding that Indiarealises that its prosperity andgrowth are linked to that of itsneighbours.

"We cannot develop unlessour neighbours develop. It wasin this spirit that cabinet secre-tary wrote to all governmentministries and departments ask-ing them to accord priority toIndia's neighbours in their inter-national activities, programmesand projects," he said.

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Serum Institute of India’sCovovax vaccine has been

given Emergency UseAuthorisation by the DrugController General of India(DCGI) for adults and forchildren above the age of 12.

Sharing the information,SII CEO Adar Poonawala saidthat the younger age groupswill follow shortly and addedthat Novavax in global trialshas demonstrated more than90% efficacy.

Interestingly, Covovax isthe fourth vaccine to receivethe regulator’s nod for useamong those below 18 years.The approval from the DCGIcomes after the SubjectExpert Committee onCOVID-19 of the CDSCOlast week recommendedgranting emergency useauthorisat ion (EUA) toCovovax for those aged 12 to17.

Amid this development,the Centre has still not takena decision on vaccinatingthose aged below 15 years.

The health ministry has con-sistently said that additionalneed for vaccination andinclusion of population forvaccination are examinedconstantly.

In the EUA application toDCGI, Prakash Kumar Singh,director (government andregulatory affairs) at SII onFebruary 21 had stated thatthe data from two studies onabout 2707 children aged 12to 17 years show that Covovaxis highly ef f icacious,immunogenic, safe and welltolerated in this age group ofchildren.

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Ahead of the World KidneyDay on Thursday, experts

have said that traditionalayurvedic herbs likePunarnava, Gokhuru andVaruna can provide naturalremedies to the patients suf-fering with chronic kidneydisease (CKD) which are onrise in the country due tosedentary lifestyle andunhealthy diet.

Professor KN Dwivedi,Dean, Faculty of Ayurveda,Banaras Hindu University(BHU), called the herbs as life-savers for the CKD patients asthey can help rejuvenate thecells of the damaged kidney.

While the well-knowndiuretic herbs like Varuna is agood blood purifier that helpsto maintain homeostasis,Gokhuru is beneficial in regen-erating kidney's nephrons,Prof. Dwivedi said, addingthat several patients havefound such formulations ben-eficial. Punarnava is a naturaldiuretic that has been pre-scribed in Ayurveda for manyother urinary problems. It alsohas anti-inflammatory and

rejuvenating properties.Punarnava can be used daily tokeep kidney functions healthy,he said. b“NEERI-KFT is onesuch ayurvedic drug based onextracts of such kidney-friend-ly medicinal plants like tulsi,ashwagandha and guduchihaving anti-oxidants proper-ties.”

Prof Dwivedi said that ifdetected properly and in time,CKD can be cured with thehelp of extracts from theseidentified herbs. More thedelay in detection, the longerthe treatment, he warned.“When detected early, the dial-ysis cycle can be brought downwith the help of the poly-herbal formulation whichhelps in strengthening the kid-ney,” he explained.Developedby AIMIL Pharmaceuticalsafter intensive research, bene-fits of NEERI-KFT in manag-ing CKD have been men-

tioned in studies published injournals like Soudi Journal ofBiological Sciences. "If theayurvedic formulation is pre-scribed in early stages of theCKD, the kidney can be savedfrom getting raptured. Its usagehas been found to be reducinglevels of Cretaine, Urea andUric Acid," Prof Dwivedi said.

In fact, the formulation isalso found to control TNFAlfa too, an indicator of dis-ruption in the kidney, as wellas in protecting the organfrom dietary AGEs, harmfulcompounds caused by pooreating habits.

CKD is a serious progres-sive medical condition char-acterized by a gradual loss ofkidney function, usuallyaccompanied by other comor-bidities such as cardiovasculardiseases (hypertension, heartfailure and stroke) and dia-betes, eventually leading tokidney failure.Because of theincreasing noncommunicablediseases (NCDs) and otherrisk factors, the burden ofCKD is increasing globally.The disease affects approxi-mately 10% of the world'sadult population, as per vari-ous studies.

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The Supreme Courtadjourned till Thursday

hearing on a plea related toappearance of fugitive busi-nessman Vijay Mallya, accusedin bank loan default case of overRs 9,000 crore involving hisdefunct Kingfisher Airlines, ina contempt case where he hasbeen found guilty.

A bench comprising justicesU U Lalit, S Ravindra Bhat andP S Narasimha on Wednesdayposted contempt case for hear-ing at 2 PM Thursday aftersenior advocate and amicuscuriae Jaideep Gupta soughtadjournment on grounds that hewould be busy arguing anothercase.

The top court, on February10, had fixed the contempt caseagainst Mallya for hearing onWednesday and had given fugi-tive businessman last opportu-nity to appear before it eitherpersonally or through his lawyer.

The bench had said it hasgiven multiple opportunities toMallya to appear either person-ally or through a lawyer and hadeven given specific directions inits last order dated November 30,2021. Amicus curiae Gupta hadsaid court has found contemnorguilty of contempt of court.

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Face off between staff of theThiruvananthapuram-

Kasaragod Semi High SpeedRail Project and the peoplewho would be displaced fromthe land to be acquired for thework has become a daily rou-tine in Kerala. At no point oftime in history, the State hasseen this kind or resistanceand opposition to a develop-ment project, according toWednesday’s editorial inMagalam, a popular pro-development and privatisa-tion newspaper in the State.

But what has come as ashocker to the KeralaGovernment, the main pro-moter of the semi high speedrail project, was a statementissued on Wednesday byMathews Mar Thimothios,Metropolitan of MalankaraOrthodox Church, who in aheart rending plea has askedthe Government to put theproject in abeyance.

The Metropolitan saiddevelopments of all kind areresplendent with hope andhappiness. “If people lose theirdwelling places and are dis-placed from their residencesand farm lands, the projectwould bring only tears anddiscontentment to the vic-tims. This would lead to theloss of purity and serenity ofthe project. Hence theGovernment should imme-diately put on hold the landacquiring process,” theMetropolitan said in a signedstatement.

The 529.45 km long railtrack connecting Kasaragod inthe north withThiruvananthapuram in thesouth would bring the com-muting time from the present12 hours to less than fourhours, claims the Governmentof Kerala. A heavy posse ofpolicemen and armed cops ofthe Special Armed Battalion ofthe Kerala Police accompanythe revenue officials deputedfor installing stone markers in

the land meant for acquisition.The owners of the land areaggrieved over the indiffer-ence of the Government totheir demand to provide alter-nate land and houses.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan has declared from allpublic platforms that comewhatever may, his govern-ment would go ahead with theimplementation of the Rs64,000 crore project. “Thehigh speed journey shouldnot get sinned by the tears ofthe poor, oppressed anddowntrodden sections. Weare yet to provide basic healthand education facilities to thepeople in the State. TheGovernment should have clar-ity on its priorities. The bestoption is not to go aheadwith the project because theresistance by poor sectionswould lead to total anarchy inthe State,” said theMetropolitan.

Meanwhile, KPurushothaman, formerGeneral Manager, State Bank

of India’s Global Market, saidin a statement that the detailedproject report of the “silverline” was full of gaps, incon-sistencies and mismatch.“Considering the high stakesin this much-debated projectof the Kerala Government, theDPR needs to be vetted by anexpert committee compris-ing experts from areas liletechnology, project finance,law, environment, earth sci-ences, governance and humanrights,” said Purushothaman.

The Government hasinstalled stone markers alongthe 140 km route throughwhich the tracks would be laiddespite massive agitation bythe population. Most of thestone markers have beenremoved by the people affect-ed though the police and rev-enue officials have warned ofdire consequences. Accordingto K-Rail officials, stonemarkers would soon beinstalled along the 390 kmstretch.

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Acivilian was killed and 14 otherswere injured, six of them critical-

ly, in a mysterious blast outside theoffice of Tehsildar near Slathia Chowkin Udhampur on Wednesday.

The powerful blast created panic inthe area. Several vital installationsincluding Northern Command head-quarters, Air Force station are also locat-ed in the district.

The relatively peaceful district wit-nessed a blast almost after a gap of 11long years.

Earlier, terrorists had set-off a carbomb explosion near the NorthernCommand Headquarters in which acivilian was killed and four otherswere injured on May 3, 2011.

According to preliminary investi-gations carried out by the local policeauthorities the blast was reportedaround 12. 50 p.m in which one of thestreet vendors selling fresh vegetablesbore the maximum brunt and suc-

cumbed to his fatal injuries in the dis-trict hospital.

Majority of residents injured in theblast had received splinter injuries.

Medical Superintendent of theUdhampur District Hospital Dr VijayRaina told reporters they had received15 injuries in the hospital after the blasttook place. One of the injured suc-cumbed to his injuries while doctors onthe duty struggled to revive him. DrRaina said several patients had splinterinjuries.

Additional Director General ofPolice Jammu Zone, Mukesh Singh alsovisited the site of blast at SalathiaChowk Udhampur and inspected thescene with DIG, SSP, NIA officials,CRPF commandant and bomb dispos-al experts. Briefing media personsMukesh Singh said, preliminary exam-ination suggests a low intensity IEDexplosion took place in which one civil-ian lost his life while 14 others wereinjured. He said, a forensic examinationand careful and minute scrutiny of thesite will reveal more accurate facts.Investigation of the case has com-menced. Singh also visited the injuredat the hospital and spoke to them.

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The Government-versus-Opposition conflict

reached new heights onWednesday with two BJPMLAs being suspended for therest of the Budget session fortheir alleged unruly conductinside the House on Monday.

Sudip Mukhopadhyay andMihir Goswami were sus-pended from attending therest of the Budget session,sources said adding the motion— seeking the suspension ofthe BJP MLAs — was broughtby ParliamentaryAffairsMinister Partha Chatterjee andwas put to vote by SpeakerBiman Banerjee. The motionwas passed by a voice vote.

State Governor JagdeepDhankhar on Monday had toabandon his inaugural speechBudget for the Budget Sessionreading only initial and con-cluding lines even as legislatorsfrom both Opposition andTreasury benches engaged each

other in sloganshouting.

W h i l eOpposition Leaderattacked the TMCGovernment for vic-timising the BJP leg-islators, TrinamoolCongress spokesper-son Kunal Ghosh hit back say-ing the BJP should rememberthe way they had suspendedthe TMC MPs in Parliament.

Speaking on the Monday’sruckus in the House ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onWednesday attacked the BJPfor not only disturbing theconstitutional proceduresinside Bengal but the Assemblybut also destroying federalstructure of the country.

“Here is an indecent partythat has been trying to destroyall the democratic institutionsof the country … they are usingcentral agencies to finish ourfederal structure,” Banerjeesaid adding the people of thecountry would soon throw

that party out of power.“Abki baar pagar paar (out

of the ring in Bengali)” theChief Minister said about theBJP’s prospects in the comingdays. She had on Mondayattacked the saffron outfit call-ing it a party of rioters and cor-rupt people.

“BJP is the 'dangabaaz'(rioter) and corrupt party...theywant to destroydemocracy...thanks to womenMLAs of TMC for savingdemocracy in Vidhan Sabhayesterday,” Banerjee on Tuesdaysaid in reference to theMonday’s ruckus inside theHouse that led OppositionLeader Suvendu Adhikari toallege that two women minis-

ters had physically assaulted theGovernor inside the House.The two ministers later broughta privilege motion against theOpposition Leader.

In a related developmentBengal Assembly SpeakerBiman Banerjee has politelyturned down the request of theGovernor who had asked himto meet him within three daysfor a discussion on theMonday’s unruly scenes insideAssembly. The Speaker report-edly told the Governor that hewould be busy with the Sessionof the House and hence wouldnot be able to visit Raj Bhavan.

Meanwhile, leaders ofBengal BJP on Wednesday saidthat they would descend on thestreets after the party’s expect-ed victories in the Assemblyelections the results for whichwould be declared onThursday.

“We will take inspirationfrom the victory in UttarPradesh, Goa and other Statesand will launch fresh move-ments in Bengal from the nextweek,” State BJP spokespersonSamik Bhattacharya saidadding, a positive result in theexit polls had already rejuve-nated the party rank and file.

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Asarpanch was killed in coldblood by unidentified ter-

rorists after they barged insidehis home and opened indis-criminate firing in Khonmoharea of Srinagar late Wednesdayevening.

The elected public repre-sentative has been identified asSameer Ahmad Bhat.

According to a policespokesman the terror incidentwas reported around 6.50 p.mon wednesday.

Preliminary investigationsconducted by the policerevealed that terrorists bargedin to the house of Sameer Bhatand targeted him from a veryclose range.

Critically injured Bhat wasrushed to a nearby hospitalwhere he succumbed to hisfatal injuries.

The police authorities haveregistered a FIR and launchedinvestigations in the case.

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Averring that the “ram-blings” between the

Maharashtra Governor andChief Minister “do not take theState forward”, the BombayHigh Court on Wednesdayobserved that it was “unfortu-nate” that the two highest func-tionaries of the State “do nottrust each other” and askedthem to “sit together” and “sortout” the differences betweenthem.

Expressing its displeasureover the strained relationsbetween the Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari and chief min-ister Uddhav Thackeray, a HCbench of Chief JusticeDipankar Datta and JusticeMS Karnik indicated that thestate was suffering becauseboth the Governor and thechief minister were not on thesame page.

"The unfortunate part isthat the two highest func-tionaries (Governor and ChiefMinister) do not trust eachother. You both please sittogether and sort this outbetween yourselves. Erase allthese differences. Your ram-blings do not take the State for-ward. There is always the otherside of the coin. We all read.The governor and CM are noton the same page.... Who is suf-fering?" CJ Datta noted.

Taking serious exception tothe Governor’s failure to imple-ment its order of August 12,2021 “to accept or return” theState Cabinet’s recommenda-tion to nominate 12 membersto the State Legislative Council,the HC bench lamented: "Weare also a Constitutional Court,how have we been treated? Wehad passed an order on the 12MLCs case. Today we are onMarch 22. Eight months havepassed and still nothing hashappened”.

“The Chief Minister is thehead of the executive. He hasto run the state. We cannot sayeither of them is wrong. Hasdemocracy died because thegovernor hasn't nominated 12MLCs, an issue graver than thepresent? Our democracy is notas fickle/ brittle," the Benchnoted.

The HC bench made theseobservations while dismissingtwo public interest litigation(PILs) petitions filed byOpposition BJP MLA GirishMahajan and citizen JanakVyas challenging rules for elec-tion of speaker and deputyspeaker of MaharashtraAssembly.

The two PILs had contest-ed the State notification alter-ing Rules 6 (election of speak-er) and 7 (selection of deputyspeaker) of the MLA Rules,claiming it is arbitrary and in

violation of the Constitution.The petitions had among

other things stated that the stategovernment by way of theamendment to Rules nos 6 and7 had removed the procedureof secret ballot and replaced itwith voice vote, restricted thepower of the Governor to noti-fy the date of the election andthe same had been transferredto the Chief Minister (whichgives absolute power to theChief Minister of State by hold-ing elections) and replaced‘election’ of the deputy speak-er for 'selection’.

Refusing to accept peti-tioners’ plea seeking an orderdeclaring the amendment as“unconstitutional and illegal”on the ground – as stated bypetitioner Girish Mahajan’slawyer Mahesh Jethmalani thatwhen amendments were made,Mahajan was serving his sus-pension period, Chief JusticeDatta noted: "Say these rulesare made in your absence,which affect the public at large.Can you come back and saythat decision should bereversed. Can that be done?Can you seek reversal? No, itcannot be done!"

While rejectingJethmalani’s contention thatthe public at large were affect-ed by the amendment, CJ Dattaobserved: “The public is leastconcerned with the election ofspeaker and deputy speaker.Just ask in this very courtroomwho is the Lok Sabha speaker.How many will be able toreply? Until and unless thisdeals with the public at large,this cannot be entertained in apublic interest litigation," CJDatta remarked.

On his part, Jethmalaniand Advocate Subhash Jha,appearing for the second peti-tioner Janak Vyas, told the HCbench that the Chief Ministercould not ask the Governor atall to fix a date for the speakerelection. He went on to arguethat the purpose of the Courtwas to ensure that everyoneremained within their bound-aries and followed good gov-ernance.

However, the HC benchdid not accept the argumentsmade by the petitioners’lawyers. “The rules do not sayanywhere the Chief Minister isunilaterally taking a decision toappoint speaker and deputyspeaker. He is only taking adecision on the date of elec-tion," the HC bench noted,while dismissing the two peti-tions.

Wednesday was the secondoccasion in the last eightmonths when the high courthas passed some seriousremarks about the Governor. Itmay be recalled that on August12, 2021 a HC bench, headedby Chief Justice Datta himself,had made telling commentswhile disposing of a PIL seek-ing its intervention over theGovernor’s “inaction” in takinga decision on the Maharashtragovernment’s recommendationmade on November 6, 2020

At that time, a HC divisionbench of Chief JusticeDipankar Datta and Justice G.S. Kulkarni had observed: “Ofcourse, the Governor is not

answerable to the Court in viewof Article 361 of theConstitution and no directioncan issue to the Governor;hence, the petitioner has notjoined the Secretary of theGovernor as a party despite lib-erty granted by an earlier orderof this Court”.

“Before parting, this Courtexpresses hope and trust thatthings will be set right at anearly date. If indeed, during thependency of this writ petition,the Governor has acted on theadvice of the Council ofMinisters, in whatever way itwas thought appropriate byhim, that would take care of thepetitioner’s concern complete-ly. The Public InterestLitigation is, accordingly, dis-posed of with no orders as tocosts,” the HC bench had said.

In its earlier observation inthe judgement, the HC benchaverred: “This Court, therefore,concludes the judgment bymaking a public law declarationthat the obligation, which theConstitution vests on theGovernor to either accept orreturn the recommendations asmade by the Council ofMinisters forming part ofadvice, has to be dischargedwithin a reasonable time”.

“Eight months, in fact,seems to be beyond reasonabletime. This Court, having regardto the gravity of the issueinvolved and the necessity to fillup the vacant seats of membersexpeditiously as well as to sub-serve the aims set by theConstitution, would consider iteminently desirable if the oblig-ation, in the present case, isduly discharged without unduedelay”.

In its remarks preceding itsconclusion, the HC bench hadmade some pertinent observa-tions when it said: “The rec-ommendations made by theCouncil of Ministers havebecome eight months old bythe time this Court com-menced hearing of this peti-tion. If the saying that every-thing happens for a reason is tobe believed, this Court ought toassume that there was/weregenuine reason(s) for theGovernor not to convey hisdecision earlier, whatever bethe nature thereof ”

“However, it is time thatthe impasse is resolved. It ismature, sensible and responsi-ble governance, both at theCentre as well as in the States,that the people look up to.Should there be any misun-derstanding or miscommuni-cation between twoC o n s t i t u t i o n a lauthorities/functionaries, rightsteps in the correct directionought to be followed to obviatethe same,” the HC bench hadobserved.

“If there be minor differ-ences of opinion, the sameought to be resolved in suchmanner as deemed fit andappropriate including, interalia, a discussion between theGovernor and the ChiefMinister in the guiding spirit ofthe Constitution. Indeed, ifthere are major differences,the same have to be madeknown for ironing out such dif-ferences,” the Judges had noted.

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The BJP secured a runawayvictory in Municipal Board

polls in Assam by cornering 73civic bodies out of the total 80,as per poll results declared bythe Assam State ElectionCommission (ASEC) onWednesday.

The Congress, the princi-pal Opposition party of thestate, failed miserably andcould not win a single civicbody till now. The result of onecivic body is yet to come.

Interestingly, in MarianiMunicipal Board, Independentcandidates won seven of the 10wards while the remainingthree were bagged by the BJP.

The poll results also gavefive hung municipal boards, the

ASEC said. The ASEC said a

total of 672 wardshave been bagged bythe BJP, while 71 werewon by the Congress.Others have won in149 wards.

Altogether 57wards were wonuncontested.

Commenting onthe results, AssamChief MinisterHimanta BiswaSarma said that themassive mandate isfor growth and development,and will inspire the party topursue the agenda of progresswith renewed vigour.

"I congratulate all@BJP4Assam karyakartas &leaders who worked tirelesslyspreading the developmentideals of Adarniya PM Shri@narendramodi ji.

"I bow my head in grati-tude to the people of Assam forthe thumping victory of can-

didates from @BJP4Assam &its allies in the municipal elec-tions," he said in a series oftweets.

On the humiliating defeatfaced by the Congress, thestate chief Bhupen KumarBorah said that rise and fall inpolitics are a continuousprocess and every party pass-es through both good and badtimes.

We have to work hard for

good times and have to waitpatiently for the opportunity. Iaccept the responsibility of themunicipal board results," hesaid in a tweet.

The polling to 80 munici-pal boards across the state washeld on March 6 through elec-tronic voting machines (EVMs)for the first time in the histo-ry of civic elections in Assam.An estimated 70 per cent voterturnout was registered.

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Maharashtra’s former ChiefMinister Devendra

Fadnavis and other BJP legis-lators were detained in southMumbai when they staged aprotest march demanding theresignation of senior NCPMinister Nawab Malik over hisarrest by the EnforcementDirectorate and his allegedlinks with the underworld donDawood Ibrahim's aides con-nection with a money laun-dering case.

Fadnavis and other partyleaders, including State BJPchief Chandrakant Patil, AshishShelar, Mangal Prabhat Lodha– who were detained nearMetro Cinema – were taken tothe Yellow Gate police station.They were, however, releasedsubsequently.

“No FIR has been regis-tered against the BJP leaders.We released them after com-pleting the legal formalities,” asenior police officer said.

The BJP legislators, led byFadnavis -- who had staged aprotest outside theMaharashtra Vidhan Bhavanon Tuesday to demand Malik’sresignation –upped the ante onWednesday by taking out amorcha to press for the samedemand.

Malik was arrested by theED on February 23 in connec-tion with a money a launder-ing case. Initially, a specialPMLA court sent him to EDcustody till March 3. His cus-tody was subsequently extend-ed to March 7. On Monday, thespecial court sent Malik tojudicial custody till March 21.

The ED, in its applicationseeking Malik’s remand thathad contended that he, alleged-ly in connivance with membersof the Dawood gang, hatcheda conspiracy to grab the ances-tral property of a woman inKurla, Goawala Compound,at a throwaway price though itwas worth around Rs.300 crore.

The ED’s contention is that

he and his family had pur-chased 2.80 acre plot of landfrom the “front men” ofDawood Ibrahim's sisterHaseena Parker -- MohammadSalim Patel — and 1993 blastsaccused Badshah Khan at athrow away price in 2005.

It may be recalled that inthe second week of Novemberlast year, senior BJP leaderand Leader of opposition in theState Assembly DevendraFadnavis had sought to linkhim to the underworld byalleging that he and his familyhad purchased a huge plot ofland at “a throw-away price”from two henchmen ofKarachi-based DawoodIbrahim.

Releasing the documentsrelating to a 16-year old trans-action at his much-awaitednews conference, Fadnavis hadsaid that M/s SolidusInvestments Pvt. Ltd. (SIPL), afirm linked to Malik, hadstruck a “land deal” withMohammed Salim Ishaq Patel

and Sardar Shahvali Khan,both close aides of Dawood.“Shavali Khan is a convict sen-tenced to life imprisonment inthe March 1993 Mumbai seri-al bomb blasts,” he had said.

Fadnavis had claimed thatthere was a “direct under-world” connection in the dealinvolving the purchase of aprime plot of land worth sev-eral crores located on LBSMarg at Kurla in north-centralMumbai by Malik-linked SIPLfor mere Rs 30 lakh. Malik’s sonsigned the “land deal”.

Daring Fadnavis toapproach any investigatingagency for a probe into the alle-gations made by him, Malikhad said: “For the first time in62 years of life in Mumbai,someone has linked me to theunderworld when there isnone. I am not the one getscared by these kinds of alle-gations. I am prepared to faceany kind of inquiry — be it bythe CBI or ED”

On the “questionable” land

deal that his family struck atKurla in 2005, Malik had said:“The deal in question was get-ting ownership rights as wewere the tenants of a landlady(the Goawala Compoundowner) who had vested herPower of Attorney (PoA) withMohammed Salim Ishaq Patel.A housing society ‘MadinatulAman CHS’, with over 125tenants was already there since1984 and on the adjoining plotthere are slums. We paid what-ever applicable duty to thegovernment to purchase therights”.

The NCP leader said thatwhen they went to registertheir ownership rights, theydiscovered that the father ofSardar Shahvali Khan – whoused to work as a watchman —had grabbed 300 metres of theplot and the latter’s name fig-ured in the land records. “Wepaid money to Khan’s fatherand purchased the rights forthat small piece of land,” Maliksaid.

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sis. This has truly angeredthe international communi-ty, especially since we areonly now finally coming togrips with the COVID pan-demic and the havoc it haswreaked globally.

Indeed, in a globalisedworld, whatever be the rea-son, national leaders can illafford to resort to the use offorce to satisfy their egos andpersonal ambitions, giventhe ramifications theiractions have worldwide. Asevents unfold in this pointlessand bloody war, it is not justthe people of Ukraine andRussia who are paying aheavy price. It is damagingand destroying livelihoods,hopes and aspirations of fam-ilies as far away as Chalagerivillage in Karnataka’s Haveridistrict, home to 21-year-old student Naveen, who waskilled in Russian shelling inKharkiv. The ambivalencedisplayed by the IndianGovernment in condemn-ing Russian aggression andsupporting the Ukrainianposition is indeed difficult tounderstand. The immediateresult of its actions has beenthat our 20,000-odd studentswere placed in harm’s wayand have had to face thebrunt of Ukrainian anger.

Despite a GDP twice thatof Russia, we continue tofawn and genuflect in thevain hope that they will act ashonest brokers for us with theChinese and help resolve ourongoing problems with them.We are unwilling to face thereality that Russia is nothingmore than a vassal State ofthe Chinese. This shouldhave been obvious from thefact that Putin reportedlydelayed his offensive till theend of the Winter Olympicsat the behest of President Xi.In stark contrast, he did notconsider it necessary to giveNarendra Modi a hint ofwhat was to come, therebyenabling us to get our citi-zens out in good time. Or, forthat matter, as the situationdeteriorated, given our “sup-posed clout”, why did we notsend in our SpecialOperations Forces to estab-lish a humanitarian corridorand with Russian assistanceescort our citizens out ofharm’s way before cities werebesieged? Obviously, ourfriendship is overstated andto believe Russia has ourinterests at heart and willsupport us in any futureconflict with China is to livein a fool’s paradise.

A dysfunctional DRDO,

inefficient ordnance facto-ries and disjointed procure-ment policies have made usdependent on Russianweapons systems. However,their performance in theongoing conflict leaves muchto be desired and it is time westarted looking elsewhere,especially given the sanc-tions now in place.

Finally, one cannot helpbut aver that while we aspireto sit at the high table, we lackthe spine to stand up and becounted when push comes toshove. This is why we may yetconfront what former ForeignSecretary Shyam Sharanrefers to as the “nightmarescenario”; a situation whereAmerica sells us down theriver and accepts Chineseprimacy in Asia, given ourunwillingness to support itunequivocally. Of course,there is a choice, we couldgrovel before the Chineseand hope they leave us alone.The truth is, at the end of theday, only our interests matter.

(The writer is a militaryveteran, who is a VisitingFellow with the ObserverResearch Foundation andSenior Visiting Fellow withThe Peninsula Foundation,Chennai. The views expressedare personal.)

�� Sir — With all the election phases inUttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab,Manipur and Goa coming to a close onMonday, the public debate has veeredround to the results now, only to befuelled by the exit polls. Going by theseexit poll predictions, the BJP is all set toretain the most politically significantUttar Pradesh, the AAP is taking overPunjab while Uttarakhand, Manipurand Goa would witness a see-saw situ-ation. Obviously, the noise of the unabat-ed discussions would subside, but notbefore the Election Commission ofIndia officially announces all the fiveAssembly results, simultaneously, onMarch 10.

That exit polls at times stand vindi-cated while sometimes fall flat, hasbeen the public perception. As regardsUP, all political pundits had written offthe BSP in the 2007 Assembly electionsbut it was voted to power with anabsolute majority of 206 seats. However,at the end of the day, politics is a gamereplete with last-minute surprises: Thereare some parties facing gloom, some oth-ers are pleasantly surprised and yet oth-ers experience glee. Hence, let's wait andwatch as to which party wins the elec-torate's favour; the election results arebarely away from us. As they say, curios-ity makes a wait prolonged, despite thetime fleeting fast!

Azhar A Khan | Rampur

� �� Sir — During the height of the pandem-ic, we all used to feel bored as there washardly anything to do outside of the fourwalls. But some people were dealing withthe scary situation for their daily bread.Then there were people who wereenhancing their skill sets. However, thesecond wave totally threw our life upsidedown. Just like the COVID-19 pandem-ic took our lives and emotions on arollercoaster ride, life is exactly like this:We all have to deal with our ups anddowns in the thick and thin of life.

So why do we yearn for only happy

moments, though we enjoy it when thereare no problems in our life, but we stillsay that life has become boring? Actually,problems come into our life so that wecan value and treasure the happymoments. The problem itself comes withthe strength to handle it. It teaches us tobecome stronger and to always stay pos-itive. It teaches us that when we have todeal with a problem, why not face it withfull strength and with a smile? Everyonehas their own problems but we shouldalways try to solve it with a smile.

Bhavya Bansal | Ghaziabad

�� Sir — We learn to communicate sincethe time we are conceived in our moth-er’s womb. As an infant, you didn’t knowhow to speak yet you communicated bygestures and facial expressions. A prop-er conversation is one that conveys mes-sages accurately to the other person. Itis significant everywhere, be it in friend-ship or any other relationship. Havinga proper conversation is the key. If we

don’t communicate properly, peoplemay perceive that there’s an attitudeproblem; they may feel unwanted, theymay think you are not interested inthem, they may even distance them-selves from you.

Therefore, it’s the responsibility ofeach one of us to maintain a healthy rela-tionship with others. No matter howengaged you are, make time for your dearones, who love and care for you. Researchalso suggests that talking to those closeto you creates a low risk of being affect-ed by mental illnesses. Of course, youmust think before you speak. Yourwords can cut through others like asword. If anyone is affecting your peaceof mind or you can’t stand them for a jus-tifiable reason, sometimes it’s better tocut off such people. After all, at the endof the day, mental peace is the mostimportant thing.

Princy Carol Gonsalves | Goa

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We are witnessingRussian attempts tobrutally subjugateUkraine, even

going so far as to threaten theworld with nuclear Armageddon.Clearly, leaders from the US, itsEuropean allies, the RussianFederation and Ukraine havebadly miscalculated and put theworld in grave danger. Probably,a rapid regime change and therather fanciful wish to assimilateUkraine into Mother Russia waswhat Putin hoped to accomplish.Things have obviously not goneaccording to plan as his Generalscompletely miscalculatedUkrainian resistance. While hemay still succeed, any newregime will likely last as long asit has Russian military support toback it up. This seems uncertain,given that the ability of theRussian military to control arestive population over timeseems extremely doubtful. Putinmay, therefore, have to be satis-fied with the capture of sufficientterritory in the Donbas regionthat would provide a land corri-dor connecting Russia to Crimea.

Even this will not be accept-able to the Ukrainians andPutin is likely to have a seriousinsurgency on his hands, whichhis conscript Army will findincreasingly difficult to control.As economic costs and instabil-ity in the region mount, one candeduce that, in all likelihood,things will end badly for Putinhimself, that is if he manages tolast out till the next presidentialelections due in 2024.

There is no gainsaying thatgeopolitical machinations onthe part of the US and the Westto push Nato eastwards havegiven Putin the excuse to actlike he has, supposedly in theinterest of national security.However, his actions appear tohave been pre-mediated as inthe days leading up to hisunprovoked offensive, diploma-cy was paying dividends andRussia was gaining substantialtraction within the interna-tional community. Thus,despite winning the diplomat-ic war, Putin decided to forciblyoccupy Ukraine and launcheda no-holds-barred assault thathas led to a humanitarian cri-

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National Dairy DevelopmentBoard projects a demand for milkand milk products at a pan-Indialevel to reach 266.5 million met-ric tonnes in 2030.

Out of the total milk producedin India, 48 percent is consumedin the rural areas and the rest ismarketable surplus for consumers.Despite being the largest produc-er, India’s share in the global milktrade is small. India exports dairyproducts to the United ArabEmirates, Bangladesh, the UnitedStates of America, Bhutan andSingapore. Skimmed milk powderaccounts for 30 percent of totaldairy exports. Butter, butter oil,cheese, ghee and buttermilk alsoform a part of the export basket.India imports (as well as exports)buttermilk, curdled milk, creamand kephir from Australia. Milknon-concentrated, cheese of allkinds, milk and cream powder arealso among the dairy productsimported from Australia in 2020.

The Indian dairy industry sup-ports around 70 million ruralhouseholds, which consist of most-ly small and marginal farmers. Themilk cooperatives, dairy farmers,and trade unions have opposedFree Trade Agreements with milksurplus economies such asAustralia and New Zealand.Assuming that a lowering of tar-iffs may lead to dumping of cheapimported products and resultantdisruption of the domestic dairyindustry, several industry

spokespersons have taken a strin-gent position against the openingof this sector.

The majority of large dairyimporting nations across the worldhave applied various tariff and non-tariff measures to protect imports.The European Union, for instance,has not granted export clearance toIndian dairy plants under the pre-text of veterinary control, levels ofantibiotic and pesticide residues,etc. Even Australia permits onlyretorted products to be imported.While countries like the EU andUSA give massive export subsidiesto their dairy farmers, in India, nosuch support is provided to dairyfarmers, making them uncompet-itive in global trade.

The government has assuredthe dairy farmers that it will pro-tect their interests. At the sametime, the possibility of givinggreater market access, by reducingtariffs or other import restrictions,to select agriculture and dairyproducts that are neither pro-duced nor consumed in greatquantities domestically, has beenkept open. This is a sensible step,considering the growing domesticdemand and consumer prefer-ence for premium, high valueprocessed products. Furthermore,this can also be seen as a windowfor structural reforms to make thesector more competitive.

These reforms, particularly insupply chain management, arecrucial and should comprise

enhancing the quality of cattle feed,procuring quality milk, institutingrigorous quality controls, and coldchain management to increaseshelf life. All with huge investmentopportunities.

As per the projections on dairydemand in India, it is evident thatproduction needs to be increasedto meet the domestic demand.There is also need for investmentin educating and training dairyfarmers, and providing betterinfrastructure for the collection,transportation, and processing ofmilk to augment milk productiv-ity and improve the quality ofprocessed milk. Foreign invest-ment, including that in agricultureand dairy services, can be soughtfor cold chain establishment, dis-tribution and marketing.

It is also important to remem-ber that foreign dairy players in thecountry prefer partnerships withlocal entities and avoid backwardintegration of direct procurementfrom farmers. Such backward inte-gration could have benefitted ourdairy farmers a lot. Another stepcould be to move forward andlower tariffs on dairy products notproduced in India or those havinghigh domestic demand. The rise indisposable income and preferencefor high protein diets has createda consumer base for such nicheproducts. These steps may besmall, but would provide a signif-icant change in the dairy landscapeof India.

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The India visit of the Australiantrade minister in February 2022has expedited the early harvesttrade deal between both coun-

tries. An interim agreement which isexpected in about a month’s time wouldbe a major leap towards the signing of aComprehensive Economic CooperationAgreement (CECA) between India andAustralia later this year.

In 2020, India was Australia’s seventh-largest trading partner and sixth largestexport destination. The two-way goodsand services trade between the countrieswas worth $24.4 billion. While India’sexport basket to Australia majorly com-prises petroleum products, medicines,polished diamonds, gold jewelry andapparel, Australian exports to Indiainclude coal, liquefied natural gas (LNG),alumina and gold. There is a hugedemand for Australian premium alcoholicbeverages and wines, health supple-ments, cold-pressed juices and trans-fat-free products in India.

The trade ministers of India andAustralia stated in a joint press meet thatthe sensitivities of both countries will be‘accommodated and respected’. It is like-ly that Australia will not seek marketaccess for dairy, beef and wheat which aresensitive sectors for India. Earlier this year,the Commerce Ministry of India hadindicated that the interim agreementwould focus on labour-oriented sectorslike textiles, pharmaceuticals, footwear,leather products and agricultural prod-ucts, and ruled out the inclusion of dairyand agriculture items.

This statement underpins India’scommitment to protecting its agricultureand dairy sectors, which was one of thereasons for its exit from the RegionalComprehensive Economic Partnership(RCEP) negotiations, back in 2019.Indian dairy farmers, cooperative soci-eties, and trade unions have taken a strongstance against the opening of sensitive sec-tors such as dairy and agriculture to theAustralian giants.

The Indian dairy industry is thelargest globally with milk production of198.4 million tonnes in 2019-20. It pro-vides livelihood to a large number of peo-ple and is dominated by milk cooperativesand small and medium-size dairy farm-ers, who face challenges towards achiev-ing economies of scale in their operations.Dairy is not considered a separate enter-prise in most rural households. Instead,it is well integrated with the farming sys-tem. Dairy not only supplements the agri-cultural incomes of farmers, but also pro-vides a regular income and helps themovercome financial crisis during the off-season and thus, a valuable asset.

Approximately 35 percent of thedairy sector is organised in India withmore and more private companies invest-ing in developing an efficient milk pro-curement network, and marketing liquidmilk and value-added products. The

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(Vidyadharan is Fellow and Verma isResearch Associate,

CUTS International, a global public policy

think-and-action-tank ontrade, regulation and

governance. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Gender is not the onlyissue in this election inSouth Korea, but it’s

the hot-button topic. It’s notclear if there was ever a success-ful sexual revolution in thecountry, but the counter-revo-lution is definitely doing well.The ‘F-word’ (feminism) isbeing used a lot by both majorparties, and not in a good way.

The conservative PeoplePower Party (PPP), unsurpris-ingly, deplores the activism ofyoung feminists. Presidentialcandidate Yoon Suk-yeol claimsthat “gender discrimination nolonger exists”, and blames fem-inism for South Korea’s verylow birth rate: “Some say fem-inism has been politicised tomake it emotionally hard formen and women to date.”

What’s surprising is thatthe liberal Democratic Party’s

candidate, Lee Jae-myung, sortof agrees. He’s a bit shame-faced about it, but he hasexpressed his “distaste” forfeminism and recently shareda post online that said the“madness” of feminism had tobe stopped.

This is a long way from thepolitics of outgoing PresidentMoon Jae-in, who is also amember of the DemocraticParty. When Moon took officefive years ago, he declaredhimself the country’s first‘feminist president’, raised theminimum wage and cut themaximum work-week from68 to 52 hours.

Lee is not necessarily moreconservative than Moon (he’spromising a universal mini-mum wage), but on the genderissue he has had to retreat.Most of Korean politics is

unchanged - the south-eastand older people vote conser-vative, the south-west andyounger people vote liberal, etc.- but on this one issue there hasbeen an anti-feminist land-slide.

In by-elections last Aprilfor the mayors of South Korea’sbiggest cities, a staggering 72.5per cent of young men in their20s in Seoul voted for the PPP.The second city, Busan, was notfar behind, and even among

men in their 30s the conserv-atives were far ahead of theirusual score. There is a hugemale backlash going on, andeven the Democrats can’tignore it.

Their calculation is as sim-ple as it is ugly. Young womenwho normally vote for theDemocrats have nowhere elseto go politically: there’s noother liberal-inclined partywith a chance of winning office.So, they can take the femalevote for granted, and try to winthe young men back with care-fully modulated anti-feministdog-whistles.

But what has happened tothe young men? South Korea isstill a strongly patriarchal soci-ety, but the young of bothsexes were much more open tochanging all that than the oldergenerations - young women

more so than young men, forobvious reasons, but there wascertainly not the yawning gapbetween the sexes that hasopened up today.

Perhaps part of the reasonwas the country’s first womanpresident, Park Geun-hye, whowas impeached in 2017, foundguilty on corruption charges,and sentenced to 25 years inprison. That wasn’t misogyny -she really did disgrace heroffice.

There is also a generalshortage of suitable jobs for thegeneration now coming out ofthe universities and colleges, 70per cent of whom have a post-secondary qualification. TheMinistry of Gender Equality’sactivities gave young men whodidn’t get good jobs a reason toblame feminism.

It backed initiatives like

startup loans for female entre-preneurs, incentives to busi-nesses to promote gender bal-ance on their boards, and apledge to allocate 30 per centof cabinet posts to women. Allthat was long overdue, actual-ly, but it fed the fire of misog-yny.

And above all, the feministmovement itself took a wrongturn in about 2015. Radicalonline feminist sites adopted astrategy called ‘mirroring’, inwhich they took the worstkind of derogatory anti-femaleabuse and reshaped it as anti-male abuse, e.g. ‘hannam-choong’ (male pest) for a manand ‘gisaengchoong’ (parasite)for a male fetus.

There were probably nevermore than a couple of hundredwomen involved in the ‘mirror-ing’ campaign, and the leading

radical feminist website,‘Megalia’, was closed down afteronly two years. The “FourNo’s” slogan survives (no dat-ing, no sex, no marriage, nochild-rearing) as a lifestylechoice, but has limited appeal(4,000 self-proclaimed adher-ents).

What the radical campaigndid, however, was to givemisogynists, and the patri-archy in general, enoughammunition to wage a ruthlessand largely successful anti-feminist, even anti-female cam-paign in the media. That’s why75 per cent of urban youngmen vote for the PPP, and whymany Korean feminists nowcall themselves ‘equalists’instead.

This too shall pass in theend, but it was a serious tacti-cal error.

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(Gwynne Dyer’s new book is ‘The Shortest History ofWar’. The views expressed

are personal.)

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Efforts are ongoing to coor-dinate safe routes of escape

for Ukrainian civilians out ofbesieged cities as the Russianinvasion rounds out its secondweek. In the time sinceRussian forces swept into thecountry, some 2 million peo-ple have fled Ukraine, nearlyhalf of them children withmost people fleeing to neigh-boring Poland. Russian troopshave captured swaths of terri-tory in the south, but havefaced fierce Ukrainian resis-tance in other regions.

Ukrainian officials saypregnant women, women withchildren and others will be ableto leave the city of Sumy onWednesday through a human-itarian corridor Russia andUkraine agreed to. Some 5,000civilians, including many for-eign students, were able to fleethe city on Tuesday in buses

marked with a red cross logo.Life has become increas-

ingly desperate in cities cutfrom electricity and facingfood and medicine shortages.In the port city of Mariupol,which has been without water,heat, sanitary systems andphone service for several days,bodies laid uncollected in thestreets.

Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy vowedthat his country would fightRussia's invasion in its cities,fields and riverbanks.

Civilian evacuations areexpected Wednesday during a12-hour-long window fromthe northeastern border city ofSumy to the city of Poltava.Nearly two dozen buses carry-ing aid to the city will pick uppeople seeking to f lee,Ukrainian officials say. A senior Ukrainian officialsays 5,000 people, including1,700 foreign students were

evacuated from Sumy onTuesday.

Ukrainian officials say theywill not accept Moscow's offerto establish safe corridors forcivilians to head toward Russia,saying they will only agree tothe safe exits leading west-ward.

Other evacuation effortsstalled or were thwarted byRussian shelling on Tuesday.The planned evacuation ofcivilians from Mariupol failedbecause Russian troops fired ona Ukrainian convoy carryinghumanitarian cargo to the cityon Tuesday, according toUkraine's deputy prime min-ister. Russia insists it is ready toprovide humanitarian corri-dors for civilians to leave fiveUkrainian cities. The two sidesblame one another for previousfailed attempts.

Russian and Ukrainian for-eign ministers are meeting inTurkey on Wednesday on the

sidelines of a forum. In the encircled port city of

Mariupol, women and childrengathered in a basement shelteras outgoing artillery fire blazedin the distance. A Ukrainiansoldier is seen telling people toremain united as a store is raid-ed for essential items. “Youdon't need to panic. Pleasedon't steal everything. You willlive here together. This is yourhome,” he's heard saying.

In the capital, Kyiv, familieswith small children continue toseek refuge inside a subway sta-tion to escape chaos and thesounds of war above. One uni-versity student told the AP thatpeople go home from time totime to shower and get foodonly. Russian artillery haspounded the outskirts of Kyivfor days, destroying homesand other buildings.

Ukrainian officials say twopeople, including a child, werekilled by Russian firepower in

the town of Chuhuiv just eastof the country's second largestcity of Kharkiv late Tuesday.

In the city of Malyn, to thewest of Kyiv, at least five peo-ple, including two children,were killed in a Russian airstrike, according to Ukrainianofficials.

Ukrainian officials sayRussian shelling made itimpossible to evacuate thebodies of five people who diedwhen their vehicle was firedupon near Kyiv and the bodiesof 12 patients of a psychiatrichospital there, where around200 patients remain withoutfood and medicine.

In the northern city ofChernihiv, Russian forces areplacing military equipmentamong residential buildings, atop Ukrainian military officialsaid. He said Russians dressedin civilian clothes are advanc-ing on the city of Mykolaiv inthe south.

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President Joe Biden has saidthat he will ask Congress for

USD 2.6 billion for foreign aidprograms that promote genderequality worldwide, more thandouble the size of last year'srequest.

Biden announced hisintentions on InternationalWomen's Day, which recog-nizes the social, economic, cul-tural and political achieve-ments of women around theworld.

Biden created the first-ever White House GenderPolicy Council on InternationalWomen's Day last year to helppromote gender equitythroughout the administra-tion.

He said everyone deservesto live up to their “God-given”potential, regardless of gender,and that societies perform bet-ter when women and girls areallowed to prosper.

"Ensuring that everywoman and girl has that chanceisn't just the right thing to do-- it's also a strategic imperativethat advances the prosperity,stability, and security of ournation and the world," thepresident said in a written

statement. The White House also

hosted a livestreamedInternational Women's Dayevent Tuesday to discuss theannouncement, featuringSecretary of State AntonyBlinken from Europe, actingbudget director ShalandaYoung, US Agency forInternational DevelopmentAdministrator SamanthaPower and Jen Klein, directorof the Gender Policy Council.

They were joined by youngwomen leaders from Ukraine,Brazil, Zambia, Burma, Jordanand the United States. Jill Biden marked InternationalWomen's Day with a video trib-ute to women. She said duringan appearance Tuesday inArizona that the women ofUkraine and Russia were in herthoughts.

"I'm thinking about thewomen in Ukraine fighting tokeep their country safe, andthose holding their children,you know, holding them closeas they flee to safety. Andwe've all seen the pictures," shesaid in Tucson.

"You're mothers and youcan see what they're goingthrough, and your hearts go outto each and every one of them.And I'm thinking of the bravewomen of Russia who haverisked their safety to speak outagainst the invasion."

"Women have never beensilent. But women have beensilenced, with violence, withdiscrimination, and with iso-lation, and it's work and carethat is never done," the firstlady added.

Biden's USD 2.6 billionfunding request will be includ-ed in his federal budget pro-posal for fiscal year 2023, whichstarts October 1.

Biden sought USD 1.2 bil-lion for gender equality pro-grams in his 2022 budget pro-posal. The numbers haven'tbeen finalized since Congressis still working on the budget.The White House has not saidwhen Biden will send his 2023spending proposal to Congress.

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Congressional leadersreached a bipartisan deal

early Wednesday providingUSD 13.6 billion to helpUkraine and European alliesplus billions more to battle thepandemic as part of an overdueUSD 1.5 trillion measurefinancing federal agencies forthe rest of this year.

Though a tiny fraction ofthe massive bill, the moneycountering a Russian blitzkriegthat's devastated parts ofUkraine and prompted Europe'sworst refugee crisis since WorldWar II ensured robust biparti-san support for the legislation.President Joe Biden requestedUSD 10 billion for military,humanitarian and economicaid last week, and Democraticand Republican backing was sostaunch that the figure grew to$12 billion Monday and USD13.6 billion just a day later.

“We're going to supportthem against tyranny, oppres-sion, violent acts of subjuga-tion," Biden said at the WhiteHouse.

Party leaders planned towhip the 2,741-page measurethrough the House onWednesday and the Senate byweek's end, though that cham-

ber's exact timing was unclear.Lawmakers were spurred bythe urgency of helping Ukrainebefore Russia's military mightmakes it too late.

They also faced a Fridaydeadline to approve the gov-ernment-wide spending mea-sure or face a weekend election-year federal shutdown. As abackstop against delays, theHouse planned to pass a billWednesday keeping agenciesafloat through March 15.

Over USD 4 billion of theUkraine aid was to help thecountry and Eastern Europeannations cope with the 2 millionrefugees who've already fled thefighting. Another USD 6.7 bil-lion was for the deployment ofU.S. Troops and equipment tothe region and to transferAmerican military items toUkraine and U.S. Allies, andthere was economic aid andmoney to enforce economicsanctions against Russia as well.

“War in Europe hasfocused the energies ofCongress to getting somethingdone and getting it done fast,”said Senate Majority LeaderChuck Schumer, D-N.Y.

Senate Minority LeaderMitch McConnell, R-Ky., saidthe measure would provideloan guarantees to Poland to

help it replace aircraft it is send-ing Ukraine. “It's been likepulling teeth” to get Democratsto agree to some of the defensespending, he said. But headded, “It's an important step.It needs to be passed. It needsto be passed quickly.”

The bipartisan rallyingbehind the Ukraine aid was justone manifestation of Congress'eagerness to help the belea-guered country, though not allof it has been harmonious.

Republicans accused Bidenof moving too slowly to helpUkraine and NATO nationsassisting it, and to imposesanctions against Russia and itspresident, Vladimir Putin.They've also used the crisis toamplify their years-long driveto ease drilling restrictions onfederal lands and to opposeDemocrats' attempts to curbcarbon-heavy fuels that wors-en climate change. Democratssaid time was needed to bringalong European allies that relyheavily on Russian energysources. They also counteredthat plenty of drilling is avail-able on nonfederal lands. Abipartisan push to ban Russianoil imports had grown perhapsunstoppable before Bidenannounced Tuesday that hewould do that on his own.

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China says it is sendinghumanitarian aid including

food and daily necessitiesworth 5 million yuan (USD791,000) to Ukraine while con-tinuing to oppose sanctionsagainst Russia over its invasion.

Foreign Ministryspokesperson Zhao Lijian toldreporters an initial batch wassent to the Ukrainian RedCross on Wednesday withmore to follow “as soon as pos-sible.”

China has largely backedRussia in the conflict and Zhaoreiterated Beijing's oppositionto biting economic sanctionsagainst Moscow.

Zhao told reporters at adaily briefing that “wielding thestick of sanctions at every turnwill never bring peace andsecurity but cause serious dif-ficulties to the economies andlivelihoods of the countriesconcerned.”

He said China and Russiawill “continue to carry outnormal trade cooperation,including oil and gas trade, inthe spirit of mutual respect,equality and mutual benefit.”

China has sought to blamethe U.S. For instigating the con-flict, citing what it callsWashington's failure to ade-quately consider Russia's “legit-imate” security concerns inthe face of NATO expansion.

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Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy

evoked British wartime leaderWinston Churchill as he toldthe UK Parliament that hiscountry would fight Russia'sinvasion to the end in Ukraine'scities, fields and riverbanks.

Zelenskyy told British law-makers “we will not give upand we will not lose,” in aspeech that evoked Churchill'sstirring “never surrender”speech during the darkest daysof World War II.

Speaking by video fromUkraine to a packed House of

Commons chamber, Zelenskyyurged Britain to increase sanc-tions on Russia and to recog-nize Russia as “a terrorist coun-try.”

Tuesday's address was thefirst time a foreign leader wasallowed to speak in the Houseof Commons. Screens andsimultaneous translation head-sets were set up in the Houseof Commons so lawmakerscould hear him.

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After bombs started fallingin her hometown of

Kharkiv, Annamaria Maslovskaleft her friends, her toys, andher life in Ukraine and set offon a days-long journey withher mother toward safety in theWest.

After finally crossing theHungarian border by trainalong with hundreds of otherUkrainian refugees, the 10-year-old Maslovska said shehad begun to worry about herfriends in Kharkiv after themessages she sent to them onViber went unanswered.

“I really miss them becauseI can't contact them, they justread my messages and that's all.I really worry, because I don'tknow where they are,” she saidin clear English from inside thetrain station at the border townof Zahony.

Annamaria, who wasraised alone by her mother, isone of more than 1 millionchildren who have fled Ukrainein the less than two weeks sinceRussia first invaded the coun-

try, something UNICEFspokesperson James Eldercalled “a dark historical first.”

That means that childrenrepresent around half of themore than 2 million people thathave fled the war, an exodusthat the UN refugee agency hascalled the fastest-growingrefugee crisis in Europe sinceWorld War II.

Most of those fleeing thewar have entered countries onUkraine's western border, likeHungary, Poland, Slovakia,Romania and Moldova.

The majority have goneinto Poland, where 1.33 millionrefugees have crossed accord-ing to the Polish Border Guardagency.

Moldova Prime MinisterNatalia Gavrili?a told CNN onSunday that one in every eightchildren in her country is arefugee.

Valeria Varenko, 9, fledwith her mother Julia and herlittle brother from Ukrainiancapital Kyiv after bombingshad forced them to shelter inthe basement of their apart-ment building.

After driving day and nightfor two days, the family reacheda temporary refugee receptioncenter in Barabas, Hungary. Valeria said she wanted to tellchildren left behind in Ukraineto be careful, and not to touchany objects in the street because“they could be bombs whichcan hurt them very much.”

Her father stayed behindto help defend Kyiv fromRussian troops edging closer tothe city.

She said she was veryproud of him, and that shemisses him “very much.”

"I would really like him tocome, but unfortunately heisn't allowed,” she said.

Her mother Julia, 30, saidthat even though she was afraidherself, she'd told Valeria to bestrong and brave, and that themost important thing waskeeping their family together.

“We will pray that this willall be over soon so we can comehome,” Julia said.

In addition to children,most other refugees are women— the mothers and grand-mothers of the children that are

bringing them to safety —since Ukrainian men from age18 to 60 aren't permitted toleave the country.

That policy is aimed atkeeping men available to fightagainst Russian forces that aremaking deeper incursions intoUkrainian territory.

Annamaria's hometown ofKharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city with 1.5 millioninhabitants, has undergoneheavy bombardment byRussian forces.

Residential areas in thecity near the Russian borderwere shelled for several daysbefore a missile strike hit a gov-ernment building in the city'scentral Freedom Square lastweek, killing at least six.

Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy calledthe attack “frank, undisguisedterror.”

Even though she's only 10,the precocious Annamaria,now a refugee, already knowsshe wants to be an actress in theUnited States, and is proud ofspeaking English at a highlevel.

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Authorities arrested sixteenagers, including a 14-

year-old, in a shooting outsidea school that killed a 15-year-oldboy and seriously wounded twoteenage girls, Des Moines haspolice said. The suspects areeach charged with first-degreemurder and two counts ofattempted murder in theMonday afternoon shooting onthe grounds of East High School,near Des Moines' downtown,about a half-mile (0.8 kilome-ters) from the Capitol. Policesaid gunshots fired outside theschool came from several shoot-ers from multiple vehicles. Police

on Tuesday named the suspectsas Octavio Lopez, 17; HenryValladares-Amaya, 17; ManuelBuezo, 16; Romero Perdomo, 16;Alex Perdomo, 15; and NyangChamdual, 14. All are fromDes Moines and the school dis-trict didn't identify any asattending East.

Police identified the 15-year-old killed as Jose DavidLopez, of Des Moines. Lopez,who was not a student at theschool, was the intended targetof the drive-by shooting, policesaid. The other two shot werefemales aged 16 and 18, whoboth attend East, and weresimply bystanders caught in theshooting, police said.

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South Koreans were votingfor a new president

Wednesday, with a liberal rul-ing party candidate consid-ered a maverick and a conser-vative former prosecutor con-sidered the favourites in a tightrace that has aggravated thecountry's domestic divisions.Pre-election surveys showedliberal Lee Jae-myung, a formergovernor of South Korea's mostpopulous Gyeonggi province,and his main conservative chal-lenger, ex-prosecutor generalYoon Suk Yeol, running neck-and-neck, way ahead of 10other contenders.

The wining candidate willtake office in May and serve asingle five-year term as leaderof the world's 10th largesteconomy.

Lee and Yoon conductedone of the most bitter politicalcampaigns in recent memory.

Both recently agreed that ifthey won they would not con-duct politically motivatedinvestigations against the other,but many believe the losingcandidate could still face crim-inal probes over some of thescandals they're been impli-cated in.

Critics say neither candi-date has presented a clear strat-egy on how they would ease thethreat from North Korea and itsnuclear weapons. They also sayvoters are skeptical about howboth would handle interna-tional relations amid the ongo-ing US-China rivalry and howthey would address wideningeconomic inequalities and run-way housing prices.

"Despite the significance ofthis year's election, the race hascentered too much on negativecampaigning," said Jang Seung-Jin, a professor at Seoul'sKookmin University, adding

that neither leading candidatelaid out a convincing blueprinton how they would lead SouthKorea.

The election comes asSouth Korea has been grap-pling with an omicron-drivenCOVID-19 surge. Viruspatients were to vote after reg-ular voting ends Wednesdayevening.

Ahead of the vote, JeongEun-yeong, a 48-year-old Seoulresident, said she was agoniz-ing over which candidate is "thelesser of two evils".

"Nobody around me seemshappy about voting" for eitherLee or Yoon, she said. "We needa leader who would be reallydevoted to improving the livesof working-class citizens."

While both Lee and Yoonshare some similar economicand welfare policies, they'veclashed over North Korea andother foreign policy issues.

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Even though Russia has lostinfluence and friends since

the collapse of the Soviet empirein 1989, the nuclear superpow-er still holds sway over severalof its neighbours in Europe andkeeps others in an uneasy neu-trality. The Russian invasion ofneighbouring Ukraine and thehumanitarian tragedy it pro-voked over the past two weekshave raised a Western outcry ofheartfelt support and spawnedcalls for a fundamental rethinkof how the geopolitical map ofEurope should be redrawn inthe future. To anchor that in thereality of 2022 is far more dif-ficult than may appear at firstsight. Nudging Ukraine,Europe's second-biggest coun-try, fully into the Western foldagainst the will of Moscowposes massive problems.

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India is the second-largestglobal venture capitalinvestment hub for digital

shopping companies, growingby a whopping 175 per centfrom USD 8 billion in 2020 toUSD 22 billion in 2021,according to an official analy-sis released here onWednesday.

On a global scale, Indiacame in second to the US lastyear, which attracted USD 51billion in investment, fol-lowed by China at third withUSD 14 billion and the UK atfourth with USD 7 billion.

Within India, Bengalurucomes out on top globallywith USD 14 billion worth ofVenture Capital (VC) invest-ments in digital shopping in2021, followed by Gurugramat No. 7 with USD 4 billionand Mumbai at No. 10 withUSD 3 billion.

Bengaluru almost tripledits investments from USD 5billion in 2020 to take the topspot, ahead of other leadingcities in the world - New YorkCity (second), San Francisco(third), London (fourth) andBerlin (fifth).

According to the London& Partners analysis ofDealroom.Co investmentdata, increasing demand foronline purchases during aseries of lockdowns acrossthe world during the COVID-19 pandemic led to globalinvestors showing a strongappetite for backing e-com-merce companies.

"Today's data shows that

the UK and India are two ofthe world's leading hubs fordigital shopping companieswith high levels of globalinvestment and unicorns,"said Hemin Bharucha,Country Director, India atLondon & Partners - theMayor of London's interna-tional trade and investmentagency.

"It 's fantastic to seeBengaluru emerge a globalleader for digital shoppinginvestment last year. Thissurely creates several oppor-tunities for collaboration withan already strong market inLondon.

"As Europe's largest hubfor digital shopping invest-ment, there has never been abetter time for India's strongpool of fast-growing e-com-merce companies to chooseLondon as the destination toscale their business outside oftheir home market," he said.

The data also shows thatBengaluru ranked number 5among cities with the poten-tial for future unicorns, justbehind London.

Three of the 15 globalcities with the highest count ofcurrent unicorns are in India- Bengaluru at No. 6 with 19unicorns in 2021 (up fromthree in 2020, Gurugram atNo. 7 with 13 unicorns (upfrom 3 in 2020) and Mumbaiat No. 14 with 7 unicorns.

London is the leadingEuropean hub for digital shop-ping investment, with a recordUSD 5 billion raised by digi-tal shopping companies basedin the capital in 2021.

Notable investmentrounds into London-baseddigital shopping companiesin 2021 included: USD 180million series H fundinground for online food deliveryservice, Deliveroo; USD 150million raised by online usedcar marketplace, Carzam; andUSD 55 million raised byonline dog-food delivery ser-vice, Butternut Box.

"London has always beena city with a distinct creativestyle that comes from thegrassroots and the street," saidJulia Hawkins, partner at ven-ture capital firm LocalGlobe.

"The huge growth in e-commerce has pushed manyconsumers into communitieswhere they can find theirtribe. Combining London'screative flair with e-commerceand embedded fintech cancreate new opportunities forstart-ups in London that therest of the world will look to,"she said. Overall, global ven-ture capital investment intodigital shopping more thandoubled in 2021 following asignificant consumer shift to e-commerce platforms duringthe pandemic.

The total global VC invest-ment for 2021 stood at arecord USD 140 billion, upfrom USD 68 billion in 2020.

London & Partners saidthe figures relating to invest-ment into digital shoppingcompanies are based on ana-lytics firm Dealroom.Co's def-inition of online marketplaces,which supplied the VC invest-ment data as of February 15this year.

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President Joe Biden onWednesday signed an exec-

utive order on Governmentoversight of cryptocurrencythat urges the Federal Reserveto explore whether the Centralbank should jump in and cre-ate its own digital currency.

The Biden administrationviews the explosive popularityof cryptocurrency as an oppor-tunity to examine the risks andbenefits of digital assets, said asenior administration officialwho previewed the orderTuesday on the condition ofanonymity, terms set by theWhite House.

Under the executive order,Biden also has directed theTreasury Department andother federal agencies to studythe impact of cryptocurrencyon financial stability andnational security.

Brian Deese and JakeSullivan, Biden's top econom-ic and national security advis-ers, respectively, said the orderestablishes the first compre-hensive federal digital assetsstrategy for the United States.

"That will help position theU.S. To keep playing a leadingrole in the innovation and gov-

ernance of the digital assetsecosystem at home and abroad,in a way that protects con-sumers, is consistent with ourdemocratic values and advancesU.S. Global competitiveness,"Deese and Sullivan saidWednesday in a joint state-ment.

The action comes as law-makers and administrationofficials are increasingly voic-ing concern that Russia may beusing cryptocurrency to avoidthe impact of sanctionsimposed on its banks, oli-garchs and oil industry due tothe invasion of Ukraine.

Last week, DemocraticSens. Elizabeth Warren, MarkWarner, and Jack Reed askedthe Treasury Department toprovide information on how itintends to inhibit cryptocur-rency use for sanctions evasion.

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Abulk of the laws still mak-ing it difficult for busi-

nesses to operate is on thelabour front, and StateGovernments will have to adoptthe simplified labour codespassed by Parliament to makeit easier for enterprises to thrive,a top Union Government offi-cial said on Wednesday.

Reacting to a think-tank'sreport of there being 26,000laws where a breach can land anentrepreneur in jail,Department for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Tradesecretary Anurag Jain said theGovernment found out that 70per cent of those relate tolabour laws.

"On studying it with thesame group of people (thethink tank), we found thatalmost 70 per cent relate tolabour laws and as far asParliament is concerned, theyhave enacted four Labour

Codes. And they have really sim-

plified those laws," Jain said,speaking at an event organisedby IVCA, a lobby group repre-senting the venture investingindustry.

"Now, the next step whichis required is state govern-ments adopting the notifica-tions and thereafter a formalnotification will be done. So, weexpect that to happen a fewmonths down the line," Jainadded.

The bureaucrat said weneed to work together with thestate governments, to ensurethat they come on board quick-ly and the requisite notificationsare issued to make it easier forbusinesses to operate. He alsourged IVCA to initiate policyadvocacy efforts in the samedirection.

In a report released lastmonth, think-tank ObserverResearch Foundation backed byrichest Indian Mukesh

Ambani's Reliance Industriessaid that among the 69,233unique compliances that regu-late doing business in India,26,134 clauses have imprison-ment clauses as a penalty whichmeans non-compliance withtwo of five compliances cansend an entrepreneur to jail.

Jain said in the last one year,the government has reduced25,000 cumbersome compli-ances but was quick to add thatit is cognizant of more work tobe done on the same.

"Recently, there was an arti-cle about 'jailed for doing busi-ness'....27,000 laws where a per-son can be jailed for doing busi-ness. We had a close look at it.We are very open that if some-body brings it out to our notice,we need to engage and see howto improve our systems," hesaid.

Jain also said that the gov-ernment is separately workingon ease of doing business 2.0framework as well in order to

facilitate entrepreneurship.Meanwhile, Jain said indus-

try players in IVCA can deploythe mandatory 2 per cent cor-porate social responsibility(CSR) funding towards honingstartups focused on sustain-ability goals or from the sectorsidentified as sunrise ones.

He also said that thegrowing number of Indianunicorns can each adopt oneof the 100 districts identifiedfor its backwardness as 'aspi-rational districts' and takeefforts towards making entre-preneurship flourish at suchplaces which are faraway frombig cities like Bengaluru andMumbai which are associatedwith business.

Jain said he is confident thatgood quality entrepreneurialtalent exists in the smallertowns and cities of the country,and urged the industry to playits part to tap the same. He citedthe case of cricket to illustratethe point, and said that the IPL

tournament helped deepen thetalent discovery and now theIndian team consists of playersfrom different parts beyondwhat used to be the estab-lished base.

The official said startupsalso need to seize the opportu-nities which will come the pri-vate sector's way with the newlyannounced Gati Shakti scheme,stressing that there is a scope forinnovation in the project.

He said the startup ecosys-tem is key for the India at 2047development agenda because ofits ability to solve problems andalso as a centre of wealth cre-ation.

Acknowledging that star-tups existed even before 2016,when the present NarendraModi government launched aprogramme aimed at suchenterprises, Jain said that theyhad not seen such a push fromthe policy front as it happenedafter the Startup India pro-gramme.

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Extending the gains for a sec-ond day, key stock indices

Sensex and Nifty jumped bymore than 2 per cent onWednesday as oil and energy,financials and IT stocksadvanced amid reports of diplo-matic efforts to end Russia'sattack on Ukraine.

The benchmark BSESensex opened in the green andfurther jumped 1,469.64 pointsor 2.75 per cent to 54,893.73during the day. It finally settledat 54,647.33, higher by 1,223.24points or 2.29 per cent, notch-ing up the biggest single-daygain since February 25.

The broader Nifty of theNSE climbed 331.90 points or2.07 per cent to end at 16,345.35as 40 of its stocks advanced.

From the 30-share pack,Asian Paints, RelianceIndustries, Bajaj Finance,Mahindra & Mahindra,Indusind Bank, Bajaj Finserv,Maruti Suzuki, HDFC Bankand UltraTech Cement were themajor gainers.

Asian Paints was the leadgainer, rising by 5.56 per cent.Reliance Industries soared 5.24per cent, Bajaj Finserve by 5 percent andHDFC Bank by 3.29per cent.

Among IT stocks, TechMahindra rose by 2.85 percent, Infosys by 1.97 per cent,

TCS gained close to 1 per cent.IndusInd Bank spurted by

over 4 per cent after the banksaid that it has set up a panel toassess the accountability of itsstaff, if any, in the matter relat-ed to disbursal of loans by itsmicrofinance subsidiary BFILwithout the consent of cus-tomers during March 2020-October 2021.

In contrast, Power GridCorporation, NTPC, Tata Steel,Nestle India and Wipro werethe laggards.

"D-Street bulls finally heldthe upper hand on reports sug-gesting that the UkrainianPresident is no longer pressingfor NATO membership," SRanganathan, Head of Researchat LKP securities said.

Top diplomats of Russiaand Ukraine have agreed tomeet in Turkey on Thursday.

"Domestic indices carriedforward yesterday's gains fol-

lowing a clawback in Europeanmarkets and US futures assmart investors saw value in thecurrent market valuations.

"The domestic market isalso reacting positively to exitpolls and in anticipation of in-line state election results. In thenear term, the domestic marketwill trade as per the positive ornegative surprise in the stateelection results and globaltrend," said Vinod Nair, Headof Research at Geojit FinancialServices.

Aviation stocks were inhuge demand on Wednesday'strade as after a two-year hiatus,India will resume regular inter-national flights from March27. Shares of InterGlobeAviation zoomed 6.94 per centand SpiceJet jumped 6.05 percent.

In the broader market, theBSE midcap index jumped 2.37per cent and the smallcap gaugegained 2.16 per cent.

A total of 2,657 stocksadvanced, while 684 declinedand 94 remained unchanged.

Bourses in Hong Kong,Shanghai and Tokyo settledlower. Stock exchanges in theUS closed in the negative ter-ritory on Tuesday.

European stocks openedhigher while Futures for WallStreet's S&P 500 index andDow Jones Industrial Averagerose up to 1 per cent.

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The Reserve Bank onWednesday said it has not

authorised any external agencyto redress public complaintsagainst regulated entities.

Instances of misinforma-tion being spread through cer-tain sections of the social mediaabout the Reserve Bank -Integrated OmbudsmanScheme 2021 (RB-IOS) - havecome to the notice of the RBI,the central banks said in a state-

ment. These messages are con-

veying to the public at large tolodge their complaints againstentities regulated by the RBIthrough third parties for acharge/fee or otherwise forearly redress of grievances, itsaid.

"It is clarified that RBIdoes not have any sucharrangement with any entity for(the) redress of grievancesagainst the Regulated Entities(REs). RBI has laid down a

cost-free grievance redressmechanism under RB-IOS,which does not involve pay-ment of fees or charges in anyform or manner," it said.

Customers having griev-ances against REs for deficien-cy in services, which is notredressed satisfactorily or in atimely manner by the REs candirectly lodge their complainton the Complaint ManagementSystem (CMS) portal(https://www.Rbi.Org.In) or bye-mail at [email protected], the

apex bank noted."Complainants having

queries on RB-IOS or desiringinformation relating to theircomplaints lodged through theabove methods, can reach theContact Centre of RBI at toll-free #14448 (currently availablefrom 9:30 am to 5:15 pm onworking days) in Hindi,English and nine regional lan-guages (Bengali, Gujarati,Kannada, Odia, Malayalam,Marathi, Punjabi, Tamil andTelugu)," it said.

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The rupee appreciated 44paise to 76.56 (provisional)

against the US dollar onWednesday following a retreatin crude oil prices and reboundin domestic equities. At theinterbank forex market, thelocal unit opened at 76.90against the greenback and wit-

nessed an intra-day high of76.55 and a low of76.92.

The rupee quoted76.56 at 1530 hrs, regis-tering a rise of 44 paiseover its previous close.

On Tuesday, therupee fell 7 paise toclose at a lifetime low of 77against the US dollar, weighed

by surging crude oil prices.Rupee appreciated fol-lowing a rebound inrisk assets and expecta-tions of inflows in bondmarkets as global fundhouses exclude theRussian debt from bondindices, said Dilip

Parmar, Research Analyst,HDFC Securities.

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Whatever hopeSalzburg had ofo v e r c o m i n g

Bayern Munich was extin-guished by RobertLewandowski scoring a hattrick in 11 minutes.

It was game over by thetime Lewandowski’s thirdhit the net in the 23rdminute on Tuesday to makeit the quickest treble everseen at the start of aChampions League match.

A second leg that start-ed at 1-1 was tilted 4-1 inBayern’s favor by the strik-er’s scoring masterclass. An8-2 aggregate win to reachthe quarterfinals was com-pleted by further goals fromSerge Gnabry, a doublefrom Thomas Müller, andLeroy Sané. At leastSalzburg avoided completehumiliation of not scoringwith Maurits Kjaergaardnetting for the Austrianteam in Bavaria.

“That was a statementwin,” Bayern captainManuel Neuer said. “I think

we showed a different sideof ourselves today and did-n’t concede as manychances on the break. Wewere also more stable indefense, which obviouslygives us hope that thingscan continue in that vein.”

Tuesday’s other roundof 16 game was far tighterwith Liverpool relying onits 2-0 victory at Inter Milanto advance after losing 1-0at Anfield.

It was three weeks ago

when Bayern was reliant ona late equalizer fromKingsley Coman to avoidlosing the first leg.

After failing to score —or even hit the target inSalzburg — Lewandowskihas now taken his season

tally to 42 goals in all com-petitions.

It took only 12 minutesto score his first againstSalzburg, from the penaltyspot after being broughtdown by MaximilianWober. The defender fouledhim again andLewandowski converted hispenalty again in the 21st.

The third came fromopen play, running ontoMüller’s pass and thenknocking a shot past theadvancing goalkeeperPhilipp Köhn from the edgeof the penalty area.

The previous quickesthat trick from the start of aChampions League matchcame in 24 minutes fromMarco Simone for ACMilan against Rosenborg in1996.

“Today it was an oppo-nent on a different level,”Salzburg defender RasmusKristensen said. “We hadsome chances but if youdon’t make them count, it isdifficult. We gave every-thing but it wasn’t enough.It had nothing to do with

attitude, focus or the matchplan. They simply havebeen better in all aspects —that’s it.”

Coman seized the balloff Mohamed Camara to setup Gnabry in the 31st toshoot under Köhn.

Müller scored nineminutes into the secondhalf before Kjaergaardstruck a superb left-footedconsolation for the knock-out phase newcomer.

But Müller swept in his52nd Champions Leaguegoal in the 83rd afterexchanging passes withLewandowski and Sané inthe buildup.

The rout was complet-ed with an assist from thestriker who started it.Lewandowski back-heeledthe ball for Sané to net theseventh in the 85th.

“Today we had the luckthat was completely missingin Salzburg,” Müller said.

“We could have gone 1-0 down after five minutes.You’re always a little depen-dent on situations like that,but overall we were better.”

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Liverpool could cope with its firstAnfield loss in a year to still overcome

Inter Milan and reach the quarterfinalsof the Champions League.

Leading 2-0 from the last-16 first legin Italy, Lautaro Martinez’s swerving shotthat reduced the deficit in the 61stminute gave the Italian champions ahope of a comeback.

But within two minutes, Inter’s taskwas made more difficult when AlexisSanchez was sent off after his follow-through on Fabinho earned him a sec-ond booking.

Liverpool held on to lose 1-0 andadvance 2-1 on aggregate. The 2019Champions League winners are in thequarterfinals for the fourth time in fiveyears despite its first loss in the compe-tition this season.

Liverpool had chances to level.Mohamed Salah volleyed against thepost and Luis Diaz’s close-range shot wasdeflected over by Arturo Vidal.

“We struggled in the beginning,”Salah said. “We managed to hold the ballup more in the second half. The mostimportant thing is we qualified.Hopefully we’ll be better in the nextgame.” Inter went out with only the con-solation of being the first team to win

at Anfield since Fulham 366 days earli-er.

“The difficulties we had were pret-ty close to what I expected,” Liverpoolmanager Jurgen Klopp told broadcast-er BT Sport. “Inter are a really good sideand set up for these kind of games. Theyare really fighters and I’m happy we don’tplay this type of team every week.”

Liverpool is still in contention for aquadruple after winning the League Cuplast month, then reaching the quarter-finals of the FA Cup and closingManchester City’s lead at the top of thePremier League to six points with a gamein hand.

Inter’s focus now returns to tryingto catch AC Milan in Serie A, with twopoints to make up and a game in hand.

“We did our best at Anfield,” Intercoach Simone Inzaghi said.

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Acharitable donation of$700,000 to aid humanitar-

ian relief efforts via GlobalGiving’s Ukraine Crisis ReliefFund and to support the UkraineTennis Federation was madeTuesday by the four Grand Slamtournaments and the sport’sgoverning bodies.

The WTA, ATP and theInternational Tennis Federationjoined the groups that run theAustralian Open, French Open,Wimbledon and U.S. Open ineach giving $100,000 to helpthose affected by Russia’s inva-sion of Ukraine.The seven orga-nizations also created a TennisPlays for Peace campaign, whichwill include giving ribbons forplayers to wear during theupcoming tournament in IndianWells to show support forUkraine.

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Novak Djokovic was placedin the men’s draw for the

BNP Paribas Open, although itremains to be seen whether thesecond-ranked player will beallowed to enter the UnitedStates.

Djokovic isn’t vaccinatedagainst COVID-19. The U.S.Requires visitors to be vaccinat-ed to enter the country.Additionally, tournament offi-cials have said everyone atIndian Wells must be fully vac-cinated to be on site.

Djokovic’s name was onthe entry list when the men’sdraw was made Tuesday, so thefive-time tournament champi-on was included. He received afirst-round bye and would playeither David Goffin or JordanThompson in the second round.

“We are currently in com-munication with his team; how-ever, it has not been determinedif he will participate in the

event by getting (Centers forDisease Control andPrevention) approval to enterthe country,” tournament offi-cials said in a statement.

Djokovic’s photo wasincluded on a “We Miss You”wall of players who are absentfrom Indian Wells.

He last played at a tourna-ment in Dubai last month, los-ing in the quarterfinals to JiriVesely.

He was deported fromAustralia in January after hisvisa was canceled on the eve ofthe Australian Open.

Djokovic said a previousCOVID-19 infection meant hewas exempt from rules statingthat all arriving visitors must befully vaccinated. He wasdetained in an immigrationfacility before being ordered toleave. Meanwhile, BarboraKrejcikova withdrew because ofan elbow injury.

The second-rankedKrejcikova said she’s been both-

ered by the injury since the tour-nament in Qatar nearly twoweeks ago. She said the painworsened overnight, a daybefore the Indian Wells eventbegins. “I will focus on gettingthe right treatment as soon as

possible and I hope I can beback on the court soonest,”Krejcikova said in a statement.

The 26-year-old from theCzech Republic is the defendingchampion at the French Open,which begins May 22.

The desert tournamentalready lost top-ranked AshBarty, who announced last weekthat she wouldn’t play since shehasn’t sufficiently recoveredafter her victory in theAustralian Open in January.

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Indian men’s hockey teamwill open its campaign at the

Birmingham CommonwealthGames against minnowsGhana on July 31 while thewomen team will also square-off against the same rivals onJuly 29.

Two-time silver medallistIndian men are placed in a rel-atively easy Pool B along sideEngland, Canada, Wales andGhana while the Pool A con-sists of six-time championsAustralia, New Zealand, SouthAfrica, Pakistan and Scotland.

The Indian women are inPool A, which also hasEngland, Canada, Wales andGhana.

After Ghana, the Indianmen will play hosts and lastedition’s bronze winnerEngland on August 1, followedby matches against Canada(August 3) and Wales (August4). After Ghana, the womenwill play Wales on July 30,England (August 2) andCanada (August 3).

The top two teams fromeach pool in both men andwomen’s competition qualifyfor the semifinals.The men’ssemifinals will be played onAugust 6 and the final onAugust 8.The women’s semifi-nals and final will be played onAugust 5 and 7 respectively.

India will be sending its ‘A’teams for both men andwomen at the BirminghamGames due short turnaroundbetween CWG and the

Hangzhou Asian Games, whichis a qualifying tournament forthe 2024 Paris Olympics.

The two events will beheld just 32 days apart and thenational federation wants tokeep its first-choice playersfresh for the Asian Games.

The Birmingham CWG isscheduled to be held from July28 till August 8.

Among other matches,gold and silver medallists fromGold Coast 2018, Australiaand New Zealand, will faceeach other in the group stagesof both the men’s and women’stournaments.

According to the competi-tion schedule for hockey,announced on Wednesday,both the women’s and men’scompetitions will begin onJuly 29, with the opening ses-sion of the women’s tourna-ment featuring reigning cham-pions New Zealand againstKenya and South Africa play-ing Scotland. Hosts Englandwill face Ghana in the firstmatch of the men’s competitionwith New Zealand facingScotland in the same session.

There will be 54 hockeymatches in total, with 40 groupgames, six classification match-es, four semi-finals, four medalmatches.All these matches willbe played at a University.“It’sgoing to be a fantastic tourna-ment with an impressive line-up of teams, featuring all of themedallists from the last editionof the Commonwealth Games,”Matt Kidson, Director of Sportfor Birmingham 2022, said.

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Ron Stander, whose fight against unbeatenworld heavyweight champion Joe Frazier in

1972 was the highlight of his 13-year career, hasdied. He was 77.

Toddy Stander said her husband diedTuesday from complications of diabetes attheir home in the Omaha, Nebraska, suburb ofRalston.

Stander was known as the “Bluffs Butcher,”a nod to both his hometown of Council Bluffs,Iowa, and his aggressive, brawling style. He was38-21-3 in a professional career that spanned theyears 1969-82.

Stander first drew national notice with afifth-round knockout of Earnie Shavers in1970, and he was 23-1-1 when he got his oppor-tunity against Frazier on May 25, 1972.

The Frazier fight was at the CivicAuditorium in Omaha, across the Missouri Riverfrom Council Bluffs, and Stander went right atthe champion from the opening bell.

The two fought on even terms early, butFrazier was able to impose his will and blood-ied Stander’s face, and the fight was stopped afterfour rounds.

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Top Indian shuttlers, including dou-ble Olympic medallist P V Sindhu

and World Championships silver andbronze winners Kidambi Srikanth andLakshya Sen, progressed to the secondround of the German Open, here onTuesday.

London Olympics bronze medallistSaina Nehwal and former top 10 play-er H S Prannoy also made an impres-sive start at the USD 180,000 Super 300badminton tournament.

Seventh seed Sindhu trouncedThailand’s Busanan Ongbamrungphan21-8 21-7 in a lop-sided contest afterSrikanth, seeded eighth, saw off France’sworld number 39 Brice Leverdez 21-1013-21 21-7 in 48 minutes.

It was Sindhu’s 15th win over theworld number 11 Thai player, whileSrikanth too extended his head-to-headcount over Leverdez to 4-0 after this vic-tory.

Sindhu, a 2019 world champion,will meet China’s Zhang Yi Man next,while world number 11 Srikanth willtake on China’s Lu Guang Zu.

Srikanth, who was forced out of theIndia Open Super 500 event in Januaryafter testing positive for COVID-19, hasa 2-0 head-to-head record against theChinese, ranked 27th.

Later in the day, Sen, who hadclaimed the India Open title in January,

dished out a superb performance to out-wit Thailand’s Kantaphon Wangcharoen21-6 22-20.

Saina, who has been struggling withfitness issues for most part of last yearand early this year, had to dig deep tostave off a challenge from Spain’s ClaraAzurmendi with a 21-15 17-21 21-14win.

Sen will now square off againstfourth seed Anthony Sinisuka Gintingof Indonesia, while Saina is likely to takeon eighth seed Ratchanok Intanon.

On a comeback trail, Prannoy, whohad reached the quarterfinals at WorldChampionships, also made a winning

start, beating Ng Ka Long Angus 21-1421-19 in 40 minutes. He will faceeither Indonesia’s Shesar HirenRhustavito or Malaysia’s Lee Cheuk Yiu.

In other results, Indonesian pair ofAdnan Maulana and MychelleCrhystine Bandaso ended the campaignof India’s Dhruv Kapila and GayatriGopichand with a 21-19 21-19 win,while Haritha ManazhiyilHarinarayanan and Ashna Roy were nomatch for Italian combination ofMartina Corsini and Judith Mair, los-ing 9-21 10-21.

The mixed doubles pair of SaiPratheek K and N Sikki Reddy endured

a difficult time against top seedsDechapol Puavaranukroh and SapsireeTaerattanachai of Thailand, going down19-21 8-21 in their opening match.

Ishaan Bhatnagar and TanishaCrasto played their hearts out beforegoing down 19-21 22-20 9-21 toEngland pairing of Gregory Mairs andJenny Moore.

M R Arjun and Treesa Jolly also lost9-21 18-21 to seventh seeded Frenchpair of Thom Gicquel and DelphineDelrue.

Sindhu was playing in a differentgear against Busanan, who failed to poseany threat to the Indian during the 32-minute match.

It was a complete domination fromthe Indian as she moved to 11-4 in notime and soon earned the braggingrights. The second game was also nottoo different as from 7-5, Sindhumarched ahead and shut the door onher rival without much ado.

In the men’s singles match, Srikanthlooked in good touch as he zoomedfrom 6-6 to 19-8 in a jiffy and pocket-ed the opening game comfortably.

Leverdez made a roaring comebackin the second game as he dominated theproceeding and led from the start to fin-ish, making it 1-1.

In the decider, Srikanth found hisrhythm back as he made his way to 11-5 at the break and kept his nose aheadto jump to 18-7 before sealing it com-fortably in the end.

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Indian Grandmaster S LNarayanan emerged winner

in the Grandiscacchi CattolicaInternational Open here onTuesday while his compatriotR Praggnanandhaa finishedrunner-up.

Narayanan and six others,including Praggnanandhaa,finished equal first on 6.5points after nine rounds.However, Narayanan took thetop spot on the basis of a bet-ter tie-break score. The 24-yearold Indian GM, the top-seed,remained unbeaten throughthe nine rounds. He drewagainst Pier Luigi Basso (Italy)in the ninth and final round on

Tuesday.He posted four wins and

secured five draws to score 6.5points. The wins came againstItalian Alex Dobboletta, com-patriot Akshat Khamparia,Jobaova Baadur (Georgia) andBelarusian Sergei Azarov.Among his drawn games, onewas against Praggnanandhaa.

Praggnanandhaa too fin-ished with four wins and fivedraws. He scored wins overSauat Nurgaliyev (Kazakhstan),Nikolas Wachinger (Germany),Dutchman Lucas Van Foreestand Meruert Kamalidenova(Kazakhstan). In the finalround, Praggnanandhaa sharedthe point with Lorenzo Lodiciof Italy.

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Russian Formula One driver Nikita Mazepinsaid he’s still shocked about being fired from

the Haas team following Russia’s invasion ofUkraine and is creating a foundation to helpexcluded athletes.

Mazepin was fired on last Saturday follow-ing F1’s decision to terminate its contract withthe Russian GP. “I did not expect Haas wouldbreak the contract with me. I didn’t see it com-ing,” Mazepin told reporters on Wednesday ina news conference.

“It was a very painful and unexpected sit-uation for me.”

He was not informed by team owner GeneHaas or team principal Guenther Steiner, but bya lawyer.

“I do feel like I should have had more (sup-port) because there has been no legal reason for

the team to terminate my contract,” he said. “I lost my dream.” Mazepin, whose father reportedly has close

links with Russian President Vladimir Putin,sidestepped questions about the war, saying hesees it “on many more levels” than outsiders.

Mazepin learned he was fired at the sametime the press did.

“I’m a young man at 23 and I was not ready,”he said.

“I did not receive any hint or any supportto say This is is the decision we’ve taken, it’s goingto go live in 15 minutes, just be ready for it.’”

He wants to come back to F1 but not withHaas.

“Formula One is a dangerous sport, and youhave rely and believe in the team you are work-ing with,” he said.

“It’s a question of safety. I think it’s fair tosay I do not have that trust in them.”

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Ramkumar Ramanathan’swinless run against Liam

Broady continued as the IndianDavis Cupper suffered hisfourth straight defeat againstthe Briton to bow out of theIndian Wells Masters’ qualify-ing event but PrajneshGunneswaran advanced at theMexico Challenger tourna-ment.

Ranked 170, Ramkumarcame into the tournament afterwining both his singles in theDavis Cup tie againstDenmark.

He lost 2-6 6-3 4-6 to 17thseed and 124th ranked Broadyin the opening round of thehard court event.Meanwhile,left-handed Prajnesh made awinning start at the Challenger100 event in Monterrey, knock-ing out American wild cardRyan Harrison 6-3 6-4.His nextopponent is also an Americanin Alex Rybakov, who dis-posed off the challenge ofRubin Statham 7-5 6-3.Prjanesh did not get play a sin-gle match in the home DavisCup tie against Denmark.

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To ensure effective mobilityand enhance the quality of

life for deprived people whohave physical disabilities inthe region, ChanglangBattalion of Headquarters 25Sector Assam Rifles under theaegis of HeadquartersInspector General Assam Rifles(North) distributed wheel-chairs to physically challenged,walking sticks to blind andhearing aids to deaf individu-als on March 7.

During interactions withvillagers and village GBs of var-ious villages in battalion area ofresponsibility, the need formedical assistance/ healthcarewas felt. To develop a rapportwith the local populace, thebattalion took the initiativeand identified basic health-care requirements of destituteelderly living in the battalionarea of responsibility and pro-vided them with medical assis-

tance in form of wheelchairs,walking sticks and hearingaids. The distribution camporganised at BattalionHeadquarters, Changlang wasgraced by Colonel SurenderKumar, VSM, Commandantof the Battalion. The projectwas conceptualised and com-pleted as a part of theDirectorate General AssamRifles Civic Action Project forthe financial year 2021-2022.

Assam Rifles have alwaysbeen committed to variousdevelopment projects of theremote areas of the North Eastand have been providing basicamenities to the local populace.The distribution camp village,GBs and individuals with phys-ical disabilities of various vil-lages attended. Villagersexpressed their gratitude andappreciated this initiative forexpressing their grievances.

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Sitare Foundation, a not-for-profit organisa-tion aiming to “Transform 50,000 lives

through education by 2050”, announced thenames of its first batch of five talented under-privileged senior secondary school students whohave secured admissions in universities in theUnited States of America, in undergraduateComputer Sciences programmes. MilanRamdhari will join Virginia Tech, TanishaNagori will join Case Western ReserveUniversity. Kusum Choudhary, MahendraKumar, and Nisha Choudhary have receivedmultiple admissions from several universitiesincluding the University of Minnesota, OhioState University, University of California - SantaCruz, and Arizona State University.

Every year National ScienceDay is celebrated across

the nation to commemoratethe discovery of the RamanEffect by Indian physicist SirCV Raman, a milestone in therealm of science that won himthe Nobel Prize. SRMUniversity- AP celebrated theevent in collaboration withSouth Asian MeteorologicalAssociation (SAMA) underthe 2022 theme ‘IntegratedApproach in Science andTechnology for a SustainableFuture’.

An array of programmes -— including a science exhibi-tion, laboratory visit, and quizcompetition — were alsoorganised. Nearly 400 studentsfrom various schools in andaround the city of Guntur andVijayawada actively partici-pated in the events. Specialtalks on the works of Nobellaureates of Physics, 2021 shedlight on latest research practicesand developments.

The inaugural address wasdelivered by Prof V S Rao,vice-chancellor.

VIT- AP School of Business(VSB) and Technology

Business Incubator -InnovationIncubation centre (TBI-IIC)held a two-day National LevelAnnual Business Plan competi-tion on March 4 and 5 virtual-ly. Ramesh Kaza, senior manag-ing director, State Street Bank &Trust, Boston, USA was thechief guest. He said “Businessplans play a vital role in strate-gies and the perfect execution ofbusiness with profitability andsustainability.”

Dr Raghavendra, associatedean-VSB said that a businessplan can bring clarity to thedecision-making processregarding key aspects of thebusiness such as capital invest-ments, leases, resourcing, etc.The valedictory programmewas also graced by Dr S V KotaReddy, vice-chancellor, VIT-AP, Dr C L V Sivakumar, regis-trar VIT-AP, Dr Y V PavanKumar, deputy director of TBI– IIC, Dr Vikas Mehra (VSB),professors, students and staff.

Forty four teams competed and15 got into the finals

The first prize winners wereTeam A squared membersAnirudh Gupta, AnushaPriyadarshi of Indian Institute ofTechnology (ISM) Dhanbad,and won a prize of �1,00,000.The second prize winner,Searchyourspace, VIT-APUniversity, Andhra Pradeshwon a prize of �50,000. Teammembers are ShaikSameeruddin, MD AbdulRazzaq and Mohammed Suhail.The third prize winner, Hustlers,Guru Jambheshwar Universityof Science and Technology,Hisar won a cash prize of�25,000/- rupees. Members ofthe team are Ravi Sinhmar,Kirti Sharma. Special Mention:Sutul, VIT-AP University won�5,000. Team members are SunilKumar Singh, Atul KumarSingh. Special Mention: ProjectSankalp, Symbiosis Law School,NOIDA won �5,000. Teammembers are Shivam Sharma,Garima Mangla

VIT-AP University celebratedInternational Women’s Day vir-

tually and invited all to break thebias. Chief guest PadmajaChunduru, managing director &CEO, National SecuritiesDepository Limited, Mumbai said,“Women should attain financialstakes in their lives to attain social,economic and professional equali-ty.” G Muthazhagi, chairman,VITAA (VIT Alumni Association)

said ,“No one can make you inferi-or without consent.” Dr GViswanathan, founder and chancel-lor urged all-party men to thrivehard to offer 1/3rd representation tothe women at parliament to the pan-chayat. Dr SV Kota Reddy, vice-chancellor, Dr C L V Sivakumar,registrar, Dr Anupama Namburu,deputy director, Student Welfare,faculty, staff and students of VIT-APUniversity were also present.

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TRIFED celebrated Women’sDay in line with the Azadi ka

Amrit Mahotsav, in the augustpresence of Shri. BishweswarTudu, Hon’ble Ministers of Statefor Tribal Affairs, Shri. AnilKumar Jha, Secretary, TribalAffairs and Shri. RamsinhRathwa, Chairman TRIFED. Atthis International Women’s DayCelebrations, the focus was oninitiatives and programmes thatshowcase tribal women arti-sans and Van Dhan beneficiariesfrom across the country andtheir contributions towardsenhancing livelihoods.

Celebrating the occasion in

a function held in the hybridmodel, TRIFED recognised thecontributions of 75 tribalwomen achievers by recognisingthe efforts of the Tribal WomenAchievers who have contributed

significantly to effect change intheir communities. During theevent, the women achieverswere presented with a souvenirand certificate highlighting theircontributions and achievements.

PFC, A Maharatna Company and India'sleading NBFC in the power sector, has

signed a Memorandum of Agreement(MoA) with Artif icial LimbsManufacturing Corporation of India(ALIMCO) for distribution of motorisedtricycles to Orthopedically ImpairedPersons with Disabilities (Divyangjans)under its CSR initiative.

As per the MoA, PFC will providefinancial assistance of around �4.70 croreto ALIMCO for the distribution ofmotorised tricycles among the beneficia-ries by organising a series of distributioncamps at the block and the districtlevel.

The MoA was signed in the presenceof Shri R S Dhillon, CMD, PFC, Shri RajanSehgal (IFoS), chairman and managingdirector ALIMCO, Shri RizwanurRahman, executive director (CSR) PFCand other senior officials of ALIMCO andPFC were also present on this occasion.

In its continuous endeavourto promote women empow-

erment, India’s largest inte-grated energy company, NTPCLtd has introduced multipleinitiatives to promote work-lifebalance, inclusiveness, diversi-ty and develop leadershipamong its female employees.

To enhance women's rep-resentation, NTPC hadlaunched a recruitment drivefor women executives. NTPChas recruited an all womenEngineering ExecutiveTrainees' (EETs) batch. These45 EETs have undergone fourmonths of technical training,one month of general manage-ment training, 15 days of sim-ulator training and have beenposted at Simhadri, Solapurand Mauda. These EETs willnow be working in theOperation department in shifts.

The company plans to have anall-women shift at one of itspower stations.

Women employees aregranted paid Child Care Leave(CCL) for two years which canbe availed in different spells.

Additionally, the incen-tives include waiving the appli-cation fee for women, paidparental leaves, maternity leaveand sabbatical leave. NTPC isproviding special leave foradopted children and childrenborn through surrogacy. In afirst-of-its-kind initiative,NTPC PMI (PowerManagement Institute) in theyear 2020 started ‘NTPCWomen Leaders AnnualConclave’ to celebrate womenleadership, encourage network-ing and facilitate women lead-ers from all walks of life toinspire and connect.

Various programmes arebeing organised by Indo-

Tibetan Border Police (ITBP),especially in the remotest partsof the country on the theme of'Desh Ki Hifazat-Desh KiSuraksha’ to commemorate the75th anniversary of the coun-try's independence as 'Azadi KaAmrit Mahotsav' from March6-13. These are on the themesof humane face of security,honouring the martyrs' fami-lies, band displays and pro-grams by Himveer WivesWelfare Association.

ITBP will also be organis-

ing free medical camps andundertaking many other pro-grammes such as distribution ofstationary & sports items forschool children in the borderregions and left-wing extrem-ism hit areas. Band displays willbe held at prominent places inthe areas of deployment of theITBP units.

For the past year, the ITBPhas organised programmesaround Azadi Ka AmritMahotsav, which include cyclerallies, fitness walk/run, banddisplay, plantation drives, blooddonation camps and more.

Power Grid Corporation ofIndia Limited (POWER-GRID), a ‘Maharatna’

Company under the Ministryof Power, Government of India,signed an MoU with deputycommissioner, Gurugram forproviding financial assistancefor the installation and opera-tionalisation of 480 smart class-rooms in 240 governmentschools across 12 districts ofHaryana.

The agreement was signedby Shri V K Singh, director(Personnel), POWERGRIDand Shri Nishant Kumar Yadav,deputy commissioner,Gurugram in the presence ofsenior officials from POWER-GRID and Haryana State CSRTrust.

Singh highlighted thatPOWERGRID through its CSRinitiatives is trying to form a

bridge between the digitaldivide and inclusive growth byhelping improve access to qual-ity education in the country.

The deputy commissioner,Gurugram, emphasised thatSmart Classes in Governmentschools will modernise theIndian education scenario, byproviding quality education tostudents, which is an essential

requisite in today’s competitiveenvironment.

POWERGRID hasalready established 330 smartclassrooms in 165 govern-ment schools in 10 districts ofHaryana. Further, evaluatingthe success of the initiativeand knowing very well thateducation is the first step indeveloping a sustainable

workforce for the digital econ-omy, POWERGRID hasundertaken this project ofproviding 480 smart classes tovarious Government Schoolslocated in various parts ofHaryana. Implementation ofSmart Class CSR Project inHaryana will be coordinatedby POWERGRID, NorthernRegion-I.

International Women’s Day was cel-ebrated in Metro Railway with the

objective to highlight the steps takenby the organisation for the empow-erment of women.

Free Health Check Camps wereorganised for lady commuters inassociation with Pailan Group ofInstitutions at Kavi Subhas, AMRIHospitals atMahanayak Uttam Kumar andTheism Diagnostics at Dum DumMetro stations. Health parameters oflady commuters like blood pressure,blood sugar, height, weight, pulserate, Body Mass Index ( BMI) werechecked in these camps. Personalcommodities were also distributed atKavi Subhas Metro station to ladycommuters.

A cultural programme wasorganised at all women managed

Netaji Bhavan Metro station. Womenstaff of this station presented recita-tion, songs and dance in this pro-gramme. They shared their thoughtsabout the empowerment of womenand the challenges therein. SeniorMetro officers were also present.

A discussion on enhancing therole of women in all fields of Metro

Railway was held at Metro RailBhavan. Smt Vinita Jain, principalchief personnel officer, Smt SamhitaSoren, principal chief materials man-ager, Smt Saumya Mathur, principalfinancial adviser, Ms Aparna Ghosh,dy. secretary (Sports & Genl.) andother senior lady officers, staff par-ticipated in this discussion.

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PFC, A Maharatna Company andIndia's leading NBFC in power

sector, has signed a Memorandumof Agreement (MoA) withMunicipal Corporation ofFaridabad (MCF), Haryana for sup-ply, installation and commissioningof LED Street Lighting Systems aspart of its CSR initiative. As per theMoA, PFC will provide financialassistance of �3.56 crore toMunicipal Corporation ofFaridabad (MCF) for supply, instal-lation and commissioning of 4,324

LED street lighting systems in 21 vil-lages of Faridabad, Haryana.

The MoA was signed in the pres-ence of Shri Krishan Pal, Hon'bleMinister of State (Power) & Ministerof State (Heavy Industries), Shri R.S.Dhillon, CMD, PFC, Shri AbhishekMeena, ACMC, MunicipalCorporation of Faridabad (MCF)Shri P K Singh, senior advisor & for-mer director, PFC and Shri RizwanurRahman, executive director andother senior officials of Ministry ofPower, PFC and MCF.

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India’s Ravindra Jadejaclimbed to the topspot in the ICC Test

rankings for all-rounderson Wednesday after hismatch-winning perfor-mance against SriLanka in the openingTest in Mohali.

“ R a v i n d r aJadeja’s perfor-mance at India’srecent Test winagainst Sri Lanka

in Mohali has catapulted him tothe no. 1 position in the MRFTyres ICC Men’s Test PlayerRankings,” the ICC said in astatement.

His unbeaten 175 lifted himup to 17 places from 54th to 37thwith the bat and he added ninewickets to move up to 17th withthe ball.

His all-round contributionwas enough for him to regain thetop all-rounder spot from JasonHolder, who had held the posi-tion since February 2021.

Jadeja’s only previous time

on top was in August 2017,when he spent a week at numberone.

Jadeja was named player ofthe match for his show againstSri Lanka in Mohali, where Indiatriumphed under three days byan innings and 222 runs.

In the same list,Ravichandran Ashwin droppeda rung to third while Axar Patelwas next best Indian at 14th, aftergoing down two positions. Pateldid not play the Mohali Test dueto injury.

Among batters, Virat Kohli

rose two spots to be fifth in thelatest list, followed by India skip-per Rohit Sharma static at sixth.

Rishabh Pant, whoimpressed with an explosive 96-run knock in Mohali, entered thetop 10 at 10th after gaining onespot.

Australian MarnusLabuschagne occupied the topspot. In the bowlers’ chart,Ashwin was static at second,while Jasprit Bumrah was alsounchanged at 10th. PatCummins led the pack, contin-uing his reign at the top.

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World Cup-winning India fastbowler Sreesanth on

Wednesday retired from all forms ofdomestic cricket, drawing curtains onhis tumultuous career.

Sreesanth played 27 Tests, 53ODIs and 10 T20Is for India, pickingup 87, 75 and seven wickets respec-tively.

The 39-year-old right-arm pacerwas last seen in action during Kerala'sRanji Trophy match againstMeghalaya last month when hereturned with two wickets in theirinnings and 166-run victory.

Making his announcement in aseries of tweets, Sreesanth said he haschosen to end his 25 years' career forthe next generation of cricketers.

“It has been an honor to representmy family, my teammates, and the

people of India. Nd everyone wholoves the game. With much sadnessbut without regret, I say this with aheavy heart: I am retiring from theIndian domestic (first class and all for-mats) cricket,” the Kerala-born pacerwrote.

“For the next generation of crick-eters..I have chosen to end my firstclass cricket career. This decision ismine alone, and although I know thiswill not bring me happiness, it is theright and honorable action to take atthis time in my life. I ve cherishedevery moment,” he added.

Having made his internationaldebut in an ODI against Sri Lanka atNagpur on October 25, 2006,Sreesanth went on to win the inaugur-al T20 World Cup in 2007 and alsothe coveted ODI World Cup in 2011under Mahendra Singh Dhoni's cap-taincy.

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Jonny Bairstow’s classy century ledEngland’s escape against the West

Indies from a noose-tightening 48-4to a breathe-easy 268-6 on the open-ing day Tuesday of their three-testseries.

England’s new top order lookedlike the old top order as it was rout-ed inside the first 16 overs.

The recovery was started byBairstow and Ben Stokes crawling tolunch at 57-4.

They combined for 67 to takeEngland past 100. Bairstow and BenFoakes made 99 together to takeEngland past 200, then Bairstowreached his eighth test century in thecompany of all-rounder ChrisWoakes. Those two saw out play tostumps, including six overs of the newball, to complete a remarkable turn-around.

Bairstow finished the day 109 notout from 216 balls with 17 fours. Hehas a partnership of 54 going withWoakes, who was on 24, almost histest average.

Fast bowler Jason Holder was thepick of the West Indies battery.Holder conceded 15 runs from his 16overs and took two wickets. He did-n’t leak a run in his first five overs andbowled nine maidens.

Jayden Seales deserved the wick-ets of Stokes and Crawley for 64 runsfrom 19 overs.

Kemar Roach bagged the bigwicket of Root and the first wicket,

Alex Lees.But their efforts came as the

attack tired amid sloppy fielding at SirVivian Richards Stadium.

Root chose to bat first as he sawthe pitch flattening out and becom-ing friendlier for the batsmen. But heand the top order couldn’t survive theearly roasting from the West Indiesquicks. Openers Lees, on debut, andZac Crawley were gone inside fourovers, Root was bowled at 27-3, andDan Lawrence departed on 48-4.

Bairstow and Stokes limped tolunch, but came back refreshed for afight and started hitting boundariesregularly as West Indies became tooloose. Stokes had just hit his third andfourth boundaries when he draggedon against Seales and ended a grittyand necessary 95-ball stay for 36.

But that was England’s only lossof the middle session.

Foakes punished anything slight-ly loose and hit eight boundariesbefore succumbing lbw to Holder for42 from 87 balls.

Woakes was yet to score when hesurvived a difficult catching chanceby Holder in the slips off AlzarriJoseph.

Bairstow was on 80 at the time.He’d bided his time, found his range,and punished the tiring West Indians.He moved relatively quickly to histon, which he reached by sweepingcaptain Kraigg Brathwaite throughbackward square to the fence.Bairstow punched the air in delightafter his second hundred in two tests,following his score in the fourthAshes test in Sydney.

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Home to many of famedAustralian spin bowler

Shane Warne’s greatest sportsmoments, the MelbourneCricket Ground will host hispublic farewell on March 30.

Victoria state PremierDaniel Andrews on Wednesdayconfirmed the MCG as thevenue for a state memorialservice to honour Warne, whodied of a suspected heart attacklast week in Thailand. He was52.

The family has announcedit will hold a private funeralbefore the MCG service.

“There’s nowhere in theworld more appropriate tofarewell Warnie than the ‘G,”Andrews tweeted onWednesday.

The MCG was the stage of

Warne’s famous Ashes hat trickin 1994 and his 700th testwicket on Boxing Day in 2006during his final series beforeretiring from internationalcricket. He was born and raisedin Melbourne.

Autopsy results confirmedthe death was due to naturalcauses with no signs of foulplay.

Following his death on theThai resort island of Koh Samuion Friday, Warne’s body wastaken by ferry to the mainlandcity of Surat Thani on Sunday.It was transported to Thailand’scapital, Bangkok, on Mondaynight and was being preparedto fly home to Melbourne.

Warne’s family issued astatement on Monday describ-ing the night of his death onMarch 4 as the beginning of “anever-ending nightmare.”

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Talented Indian men’s team bat-ter Shreyas Iyer, women’s team

captain Mithali Raj and star all-rounder Deepti Sharma were onWednesday nominated for theICC’s ‘Player of the Month’ awardfor their performances in February.

The nominations in the men’scategory also feature UAE batterVriitya Aravind, and Nepal’sDipendra Singh Airee.

In the women’s category, NewZealand all-rounder Amelia Kerr isin the list alongside Mithali andDeepti.

Iyer was in unstoppable form inthe month of February and playeda vital role in India’s white-balldomination.

He started the month with a

player of the match-winning 80against West Indies in the final ODIand a 16-ball 25 in the last T20I.

With India opting to rest play-ers and injury to SuryakumarYadav, Iyer was promoted to No.3in the T20I series against Sri Lanka.

He scored three unbeaten fiftiesin three games and finished with204 runs at a blistering strike rateof 174.35 and was awarded thePlayer of the Series for his exploits.

Mithali was one of the few shin-ing lights for India in the ODI series

against New Zealand. She was thehighest run-scorer for India and thesecond-highest overall with 232runs, including three fifties, aver-aging 77.33 with a strike rate of82.56.

In the final ODI, she played therole of the finisher to perfection,remaining unbeaten on 54 as Indiachased down 252 with four overs tospare. With that, India ensured thatthey finished the series with a winin their kitty. All-rounder Deeptiwas brilliant with both the bat andball in the series against NewZealand.She took the most wickets(10) in the ODI series and washandy with the bat as well, aggre-gating 116 runs in five matches. Shegrabbed a four-for in the secondODI and followed it up with a 69not out in the next match.

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The West Indies edged pastdefending champions

England by seven runs in athrilling league-stage encounter ofthe ICC women’s World Cuphere on Wednesday, leaving thetournament favourites in a spot ofbother.

Batting first, the West Indieswomen, despite an impressiveopening stand of 81 between vet-erans Deandra Dottin (31 off 64balls) and Hayley Matthews (45off 58 balls), managed a mediocre225 for 6 in 50 overs after optingto bat in their second leaguematch.

Keeper-batter ShemaineCampbell (66 off 80 balls) andChedan Nation (49 off 74 balls)were the stars of the show as theyadded 123 runs for the fifthwicket to steer the team.

In reply, England nearlypulled through, courtesy a 61-runstand between Sophie Ecclestone(33 no) and Kate Cross (27) forthe ninth wicket before being all-out for 218 in 47.4 overs. This wasthe West Indies’ women’s first ever

World Cup win over England.‘It’s a nice feeling. Nerve-

wracking for me though. Whenwe checked the stats at thisground, we found that we wereabout 10 under par. We knew wehad to bowl well and field well,’West Indies captain StefanieTaylor said in the post-match pre-sentation.

West Indies have now wonboth their games and are placedsecond on points table whileEngland, with back-to-back

defeats, including the openinground game against Australia, areplaced sixth among eight teams.

‘They batted outstandinglyat the start and came hard at us.We came back well with the ball,but just struggled to break thatpartnership (Campbelle-Nation).Also gave a few too many in thelast few overs. Obviously there isfrustration,’ said England skipperHeather Knight.

‘Happy with the attackingintent shown from our batters but

we need to be more clinical inexecution at crunch times,’ sheadded. It was a steady start by theCaribbean women as Dottin andMatthews safely negotiated thefirst 20 overs before a collapse sawthem slump to 81 for three from81 for no loss and subsequently 98for 4 just after the halfway stage(26.1 overs).

Campbell, who won ‘Player ofthe Match’ award, struck fourboundaries while Nation hadthree to her credit.

‘There was some pressurewhen I went out to bat, we hadlost some quick wickets and Itried to build a partnership. I gavemyself a chance and played everyball on its merit. I knew as longas I stuck in there, the runswould come,’ Campbell said afterthe match.

Despite Carisbrook Parkbeing known for aiding seamers,it was slow left-arm orthodoxEcclestone (3/20 in 10 overs), whowas brilliant throughout the mid-dle overs, not letting the Windiesbatters get away.

When England batted, theirinnings never had the momentum

as they were 72 for four at onestage and then 156 for 8 at the endof the 36th over before Ecclestoneand Cross nearly carried themhome with their highly effectivepartnership. It came down to thelast three overs and it looked likethe duo were going to get the jobdone as England required justnine runs for victory and still hadtwo wickets in hand.

But Cross was run out at thenon-striker’s end when backingup too far and Anya Shrubsolewas bowled by spinner AnisaMohammed (2/24) three ballslater to set off jubilant celebra-tions for the triumphant WestIndies side.

Pacer Shamilia Connell (3/38)was the most successful Windiesbowler among the eight used byskipper Stephanie Taylor.

Brief ScoresWest Indies: 225/6 in 50

overs (Shemaine Campbell 66,Chedan Nation 49, SophieEcclestone 3/20) beat England 218all out in 47.4 overs (SophieEcclestone 33 no, AnisaMohammed 2/24, ShamiliaConnell 3/38) by 7 runs.

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Custodian of cricket laws, theMarylebone Cricket Club (MCC), has

decided to move the law relating to run-outs at non-striker’s end from its “unfairplay” section besides completely banningthe use of saliva to shine the ball in amend-ments to its 2022 code that will come intoeffect in October.

Run-outs at non-striker’s end when bat-ters back up too far have often triggeredheated debates on spirit of the game andseveral players like India’s premier off-spin-ner Ravichandran Ashwin have advocatedfor it as a fair mode of dismissal.

“Law 41.16 – running out the non-striker – has been moved from Law 41(Unfair play) to Law 38 (Run out). Thewording of the Law remains the same,” theMCC said in a media statement late onTuesday. It was in 1948 when the dismissalfirst came to be known. Indian legendVinoo Mankad ran out Australian wicket-keeper Bill Brown at the non-striker’s endafter duly warning him for backing up toofar.The Australian media dubbed it as‘Mankading’, a name which stuck in pop-ular parlance but was vehemently opposedby legends like Sunil Gavaskar for being“disrespectful” towards Mankad.

The MCC also said that using saliva toshine the ball would be treated as an unfairpractice. Saliva application was barred bythe ICC in view of the COVID-19 pandem-ic and MCC said its research found thatapplying saliva had no impact on the ball’smovement. “When cricket resumed follow-ing the onset of Covid-19, playing condi-tions were written in most forms of thegame stating that applying saliva to the ballwas no longer permitted.

“MCC’s research found that this had lit-tle or no impact on the amount of swingthe bowlers were getting. Players were usingsweat to polish the ball, and this was equal-ly effective,” it said.

“The new Laws will not permit the useof saliva on the ball, which also removesany grey areas of fielders eating sugarysweets to alter their saliva to apply to theball. Using saliva will be treated the sameway as any other unfair methods of chang-ing the condition of the ball,” it asserted.The changes in the code, which first cameinto existence in 2017, were suggested byMCC Laws sub-committee “which weresubsequently approved at the Club’s MainCommittee meeting last week.”

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Vilified multiple times forrunning out non-strikers

backing up too far, formerIndia spinner Murali Kartikwas a happy man onWednesday after custodian ofthe game's laws, the MCC,amended its code to "stop thecriminalisation" of bowlers inthe name of "spirit of cricket".

One of the finest left-armspinners of his era with 644first-class wickets, Kartik, whorepresented the country ineight Tests and 37 ODIs, ran asmany as five batters out at thenon-striker's end across for-mats during his playing days.

On Wednesday, theMarylebone Cricket Club(MCC) amended the laws andstated "...Running out the non-striker has been moved from

Law 41 (Unfair play) to Law 38(Run out). The wording of theLaw remains the same."

This is something thatKartik, along with stars such asRavichandran Ashwin, havebeen advocating for more thana decade.

"There is spirit of cricket.But what I have always arguedis that this is not 'Spirit ofCricket'. That people who areactually flouting it were theones hiding behind the garb of'Spirit of Cricket'.

It was a classic case of 'potcalling kettle black'," Kartik . Sodoes he feel vindicated after allthese years? I would say it is avindication of what I have feltright. It was definitely high timethat we stopped criminalisingthe bowlers for doing it," therenowned commentator said.

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