bhubaneswar-english-edition-2022-03-24.pdf - Daily Pioneer

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It was well past 9 pm … Theycame from nowhere, rained

bombs …frightened... themales like us took shelter in thepaddy fields leaving back ourwomen and children withhope that normally they arenot touched…The womenhad shut themselves insidethe houses… unable to catchthem, the men of AnarulSheikh cut open the grills…first hacked the inmates …my two grandsons cried for

mercy but they would not lis-ten … I helplessly watchedthese from distance… thenthey poured diesel on themand set them afire... all infront of my eyes… 10 peoplescreamed as they died bit bybit… we cried hiding in thedarkness watching the may-hem.”

That is how Mihilal andManirul Sheikh describe theTuesday night’s horror ofBagtui village in Birbhum dis-trict where a retaliatory attackby rival Trinamool Congressgangs allegedly fighting overthe control of coal, sand andstone racket left 10 people,including 6 women and twochildren dead.

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Citing the continuous dip in coronaviruscases for the past seven weeks, the Union

Home Ministry on Wednesday decided to endall Covid-19 containment measures across thecountry from March 31.

However, as a precautionary measure inkeeping with the WHO warning due to theconsistent rise in cases in pockets of Europeanand Asian nations, the Government hasdecided to continue with Covid appropriatebehaviour such as wearing of masks andmaintaining social distancing norms as ear-lier.

On Wednesday, though, the Covidcases were around 11 per cent higher(1,778) compared to Tuesday’s figures.

The overall tally of Covid-19 casesstands at 4,30,12,749. According to the data,62 deaths have been reported in the last 24hours, taking the toll to 5,16,605. The activecases further declined to 23,087.

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Dehradun: Pushkar SinghDhami took oath as the 12thChief Minister ofUttarakhand in a ceremonyorganised at the historicParade Ground in Dehradunon Wednesday afternoon.Along with him eight CabinetMinisters took oath of officeand secrecy.

The Governor ofUttarakhand, LieutenantGeneral (retd) Gurmit Singh,administered the oath to CMDhami and his CabinetMinisters.

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New Delhi: The country’s exports for the firsttime crossed the USD 400 billion mark in a fis-cal on healthy performance by sectors such aspetroleum products, engineering, gems and jew-ellery, and chemicals, according to the commerceministry’s data released on Wednesday.

The merchandise exports rose by by 37 percent to USD 400.8 billion in 2021-22 until March21 against USD 292 billion in 2020-21.Previously, the outbound shipments hadtouched a record of USD 330.07 billion in 2018-19.

Imports during the period stood at USD 589billion, leaving a trade deficit of about USD 189billion. Hailing the country’s success in achiev-ing its goods export target, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said that this is a key milestonein India’s “Aatmanirbhar Bharat” journey.

The highest ever goods export target wasachieved nine days ahead of the March 31 dead-line. “India set an ambitious target of USD 400billion of goods exports and achieves this tar-get for the first time ever. I congratulate ourfarmers, weavers, MSMEs, manufacturers,exporters for this success. This is a key mile-stone in our Aatmanirbhar Bharat journey.#LocalGoesGlobal,” Modi tweeted.

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Taking suo motu cognizanceof Birbhum carnage that

saw 10 people burnt to death inan alleged intra-party feud,the Calcutta High Court onWednesday asked the StateGovernment to produce thecase diary/report in the casebefore it by 2 pm on Thursday,when the matter will be takenup for hearing again.

The court also directedCentral Forensic ScienceLaboratory (CFSL) Delhi toimmediately collect necessarymaterials for forensic exami-nation at Bagtui village inBirbhum.

The HC asked the DGP toensure safety of witnesses,including that of a minor boyinjured in the arson, in con-sultation with the districtjudge, Purba Bardhaman.

The Division Bench ofChief Justice PrakashSrivastava and Justice RajarshiBharadwaj said, “Let no evi-dence be destroyed. The dis-trict court and the State DGP

will have to ensure the safetyof every villager and witness-es. If any post-mortem is pend-ing, it will have to be video-graphed.’’

The court also directedthe administration to installCCTV in the area.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday

urged the people of WestBengal not to forgive the per-petrators of such incidentsand the those who encouragesuch criminals.

Virtually addressing anevent on Shaheed Diwas inKolkata’s Victoria Memorial,he said, “I am pained by theviolent incident in Birbhum,West Bengal. I express mycondolences. I hope that theState government will defi-nitely punish those who com-mit such heinous sins.

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6 more officials fired from jobs

Manas murder: Crime Branch takes over probePrime accusedSarmistha’s car,used in crime,seizedPNS �� BHUBANESWAR

The Crime Branch onWednesday took over the in-vestigation of thesensational Nayagarh camera-man Manas Swain murdercase from the Bhadrak police.

Crime Branch ADGSanjeev Panda said the probeinto the case has been handedover to the Crime Branch onthe directions of DGP SunilBansal.

The decision was taken inview of the gravity of the caseand involvement of multipledistricts, said the Odisha Policein a tweet.

The Crime Branch immedi-ately formed two teams to probethe case. DSP Kalpana Sahuwould lead the investigatingteams. If need arises, the teams

would widen its probe to out-side Odisha. The investigatingagency has information thatprime accused Sarmistha Routhas managed to escape to out-side the State.

Sources said police teamswould be sent outside Odisha totrack Sarmistha, the owner ofBhubaneswar-based web chan-nel ‘Sampoorna,’ where Manaswas engaged as a cameraman.

In another development inthe case, the Bhadrak policeseized Sarmistha’s car, which wasallegedly used for kidnappingManas and later disposal of hisbody after he was killed atSarmistha’s Dayal Ashram on theoutskirts of Sundarpada inBhubaneswar.

The four-wheeler was foundparked at the basement of SkyTower apartment under the Air-field police station here. Copshave recovered some documentsfrom the car after breaking itsrear window glass.

“Manas was kidnapped inSarmistha’s car. After his mur-

der, the body was taken toNayagarh in the vehicle and dis-posed of. As many as five per-sons, Sarmistha, Jhuna Bhoi,Vivek Nayak, Ranjan Nayakand Bhagyadhar Nayak, werepresent in the car when the bodywas being taken for disposal,”said an official of the Mattopolice outpost (Bhadrak district).

A security guard of the apart-ment said the then Informationand Public Relations Director(Technical) Niranjan Sethi usedto visit Sarmistha’s house in theapartment frequently.Sarmistha had introducedNiranjan as chairman of herorganisation. She had in-structed not to enter Sethi’sname in the visitors’ register,the security guard added.

Meanwhile, police alsobrought Sarmistha’s brotherParameswar Rout toChandbali from Vijayawada,where he had been nabbed.Parameswar is said to be theone who helped Sarmistha es-cape the police dragnet after

the murder came to light.Police have so far arrested

six persons Niranjan Sethi, hisassociate Ranjan Nayak,Bhagyadhar Nayak, VivekNayak, Krushna ChandraNayak and Parameswar.

Earlier on Tuesday, familymembers of Manas madesome explosive claims alleg-ing the complicity of Minis-ters Pratap Jena and DibyaShankar Mishra in the mur-der case.

Demanding immediate ar-rest of all the accused, Manas’wife also threatened to kill her-self in front of the residenceof Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik if denied justice.

Notably, Manas had beenkidnapped from Bhadrak onFebruary 6 and brought to anold age home, Dayal Ashram,run by Sarmistha where he wasallegedly murdered. His bodywas exhumed from near theBadhipatna hills atRajsunakhala of Nayagarh district on March 12.

15 human skullsfound in BBSR

Till now, 164tainted officerscompulsorilyretiredPNS �� BHUBANESWAR

The State Government onWednesday showeddoors to six taintedofficers, a Chief En-gineer, three Execu-tive Engineers andtwo Block Educa-tion Officers(BEOs).

Till date, as manyas 164 officers havebeen given compulsory retire-ment and their pensions havebeen stopped in accordancewith Chief Minister's policy ofzero tolerance to corruptionand inefficiency, said an offi-cial statement.

Of the new axed officials,

Sambalpur Electrical DivisionChief Engineer Sunil KumarPanda had earlier been sus-pended from the job for pos-sessing disproportionate assetsworth Rs 3.26 crore.

Brahmpaur Rural WorksElectrical Division ExecutiveEngineer Jagannath Sethi had

also been suspendedfor acquiring illegalassets worth Rs 7.63crore.

Vigilance caseswere also pendingagainst BhubaneswarElectrical DivisionDeputy InspectorDeepak Kumar

Bhuyan.Apart from them, the Gov-

ernment also dismissed BEOAntaryami Behera posted atGunupur block in Rayagadadistrict and BEO Braja KumarNayak of Nuagad block inKandhamal district.

PNS �� BHUBANESWAR

As many as 15 humanskulls and several skeletonswere found below theKalarahanga Injana bridge

under the Mancheswar policestation in Bhubaneswar onWednesday.

Police rushed to the spot onreceipt of information about

the discovery and confiscatedthe human remains, whichwould be sent to the ForensicScience Laboratory for scien-tific analysis, police sourcessaid.

The discovery of the dumphas, nevertheless, spread panicin the locality and raised ques-tions about the origin of theskulls and skeletons.

BHUBANESWAR l THURSDAY l MARCH 24, 2022 capital 02

HITTING THE BULL'S EYE

Russia's war on Ukraine logical; India's stand righteousthe erring aggressor in Ukraine.Hence, support by way of sendingmore and more weapons to theUkrainian Government forces hasbeen extended without a secondthought. Unfortunately, even afterdecades of US military disasters dueto similar one-sided narratives,Americans haven’t learned muchlesson till date. Several criticalevents that have been airbrushedout of the West’s political narrativeon purpose, the big one being theviolation of agreements Westernleaders made at the end of the ColdWar not to expand NATO intoEastern Europe; and the February2014 US-backed coup in Ukraineonly to offend Russia and show thecountry in hateful light.

Russia’s 2014 reintegration ofCrimea and the decision by ethnicRussians in Eastern Ukraine tosecede from Ukraine asthe Luhansk and Donetsk People’sRepublics has been painted just toohorribly by the America-backedWestern mainstream media. Thesubsequent Russian actions werenot unprovoked. They were naturalresponses to the US-backed coup,in which an armed mob led by theneo-Nazi Right Sectormilitia stormed the Ukrainian

parliament, forcing thedemocratically-elected PresidentYanukovich and members of hisparty to flee for their lives. Americabacked comedy actor Zelensky tobe elected President in 2019 bydefeating the incumbent PetroPoroshenko by casting himself asan antiestablishment outsider hell-bent on cleaning up corruption andsecuring better relations withMoscow. His pitch was based on hisTV show character, wherein heportrayed an ordinary man beingthrown into the Presidency to cleanup the entire country. Even hispolitical party was named after theshow, ‘Servant of the People’.Zelensky’s Ukraine has still notimplemented the Constitutionalchanges called for in the Minskagreements. He has also not turneddown the unconditional militarysupport from the United States andthe NATO which has encouragedUkraine’s leaders to ignore theMinsk-Normandy process. Further,the Zelensky team has reassertedsovereignty over all of Ukraine’sterritory, including Crimea whichhurt Russia. Rest is history as onegets to witness.

Lately, Jo Biden had also revealedthat not all NATO countries are on

the same page as the US and thatthere are differences on how oneshould act against Russia and underwhat circumstances. In 2014,Crimea chose to merge with Russiaafter a formal referendum wasconducted and this had never gonewell with the US. At least 1,00,000Russian soldiers had trooped inCrimea to smoothen the wilfulsecession to Russia, the big brother.

Russia has a set of demands tonot invade Ukraine, the primaryone: Ukraine or any other formerSoviet country in Eastern Europewill not join NATO. More so,NATO has to ban any former Sovietcountry trying to join theorganisation. By now, 14 formerSoviet nations out of 16 are part ofNATO already. So, the Russiandemand would mean their exitfrom the fold. Russia also wasinsistent on NATO going back toits pre-1997 border. Further,agreeing to the demands would alsomean that NATO allies would haveto cease their military activity inEastern Europe, including pullingout combat units from Poland,Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania andnot deploying missiles in any suchcountries ever again. Mostsignificantly, the NATO countries

would not be able to supply the USwith nuclear weapons.

The fears of the former Sovietnations joining NATO would meanUS influence on Russia’s doorsteps.Incidentally, Vladimir Putin hasmade it very clear from day onethat he is enormously unhappy withthe collapse of the Soviet Unionand the current status quo. He hasscreamed at all times thatUkrainians and Russians are just‘one people’.

Now as the war is on, the Westhas been overtly and covertlyproviding military support toUkraine. The US has promised a$200-million military aid while ithas already Okayed weaponstransfers from Estonia, Latvia andLithuania. The UK is also sendingmilitary aid to Ukraine. ButGermany, the real consciencekeeper in the group, is still standingits ground denying arms toUkraine.

All the same, India and Russiacontinue to need one another.Moscow also shares with New Delhicertain historical discomforts overa rising China. Russia is still India’sproven friend. Putin has clarifiedto Indian news agency PTI thatIndia, like any sovereign nation,

has the right to choose its foreignpolicy and, thus, become a memberof the QUAD that China keepsopposing vehemently. QUAD is aninformal group for Quadrilateralsecurity Dialogue comprising theUSA, India, Australia and Japan.

India is the second largest marketfor the Russian Defence industry.In 2017, approximately 68% of theIndian military’s hardware importcame from Russia, making Russiathe chief supplier of Defenceequipment. India has an embassyin Moscow and two consulates-general in Saint Petersburg andVladivostok. Making it clear that ithas no intention to hurt Russia ties,New Delhi neither condemnedRussian action nor joined in the UNresolutions against Russia.

Some statesmen say India’s stancedoes not go ethically with itsdemocratic character and theavowed commitment to the rules-based international order. Butcircumstances do provoke India toadopt a pragmatic path to savesituations in the interest of thenation as well as leave the rightfootprint for posterity to berighteous.

The India-US dynamics duringthe Cold War era still looms large

in memory. There is still a strongperception that Washington wasunfailingly reluctant to empathisewith India despite the latter being acolossal democracy. The US alliancewith Pakistan during the 1971 waragainst India evokes compellingdiscontent even today; and rightlyso. Fifty years is a small period toobliterate painful events fromhuman minds. Even after the fallof Soviet Union, Washington didprecious little to shake off its ColdWar-era stance against New Delhieven after strategic proximitybetween the two nations grewexponentially somehow.Washington has not responded welleven once to India’s appeals toisolate Pakistan internationally forsupporting cross-border terrorism.Instead, US military assistance toIslamabad has not diminishedsignificantly to reassure India thatthe US is an ally for real.

It is evident by now that Putinwill pay a huge price for a prolongedwar, but fall of Ukraine is inevitable.The conscientious world, all thesame, has realised already thatPutin’s Russia is more righteous thanthe NATO countries exceptGermany, which has stuck toagreed-upon principles.

Ralf Stegner, a Member ofParliament for Germany’sruling Social Democrats,

revealed in January this year thatthe Minsk-Normandy processagreed to by France, Germany,Russia and Ukraine was the onlyframework for ending a civil warin Ukraine, which did not happen.Consequently, that provoked Russiato wage a full-blown war in thedisturbed country a month ago. Asmost American politicians andcorporate media have remainedpermanent enemy of Russia sinceages, they have lapped up the one-sided narrative that paints Russia as

BISWARAJ PATNAIK

Anganwadi Centres to reopen from Mar 28Fresh guidelines

issuedPNS �� BHUBANESWAR

In view of the improvement inthe Covid-19 situation, the StateGovernment has decided to reopenall Anganwadi Centres (AWCs)from March 28.

The AWCs were closed sinceApril 19, 2021 due to the pandemicand ration items, in lieu of hot cookmeals (HCMs) and eggs, werebeing provided to children

belonging to 3-6 years age groupat their doorsteps by AnganwadiWorkers. Besides, take home ration(THR) and eggs for children in 6months-3 years age group andpregnant women were alsodelivered at their doorsteps.

Ahead of reopening of theAWCs, the Women and ChildDevelopment Department haswritten to the district Collectorssuggesting a set of guidelines:

The AWCs will be kept openfrom 7.30 am to 9.30 am 25 daysa month. Sitting arrangement for

serving of morning snacks andHCMs to preschoolers (3-6 year agegroup) should be made in such away that will ensure socialdistancing among children.

Rations, in lieu of HCMs andeggs will be given to theAnganwadi children at theirdoorsteps, in case of children whoare not able to come to AWC dueto Covid or some other problemor on closure of AWC.

Preschool education is to beresumed as per the Nua Arunimacurriculum to be done at AWCs

and outdoor activities to bepromoted.

All other Integrated ChildDevelopment Services (ICDS)such as immunisation, healthcheckups, referrals and Nutritionand Health Education (NHEd) areto continue.

Entry of outsiders into AWCsmust be restricted. All AWWs/AWHs should have been fullyvaccinated before attending theAWCs. If anyone is notvaccinated, steps should be takento vaccinate them immediately.

Odisha economy from revenue-deficit to revenue-surplus

Rs 817 cr for 6 new med colleges in State

Centre Okays3 solar parksfor StatePNS �� NEW DELHI

The Union Government hasapproved three solar parks forOdisha under the Solar ParkScheme, Union Renewable EnergyMinister RK Singh told Rajya Sabhaon Tuesday.

In a written reply to a questionof BJD member Amar Patnaik, hesaid the Government has approvedthe three solar parks of a cumulativecapacity of 340 MW at villageLandeihill, Tehsil Jagannath Prasad(40 MW land based and 100 MWfloating) and Rengali Reservoir(200 MW floating).

About 176 acres of land has beenacquired and an EPC contract hasbeen finalised for establishment ofthe 40-MW solar park at Landeihill.

For the floating solar park of 100MW, a detailed project report(DPR) has been submitted and awater body has been identified anda tender for an EPC contractor toset up the solar park has also beeninvited, said Singh. The Ministerfurther informed that a water bodyhas been identified and tender alsoinvited for setting up of a 200 MWfloating solar park at the RengaliReservoir. The State Government-run Odisha Renewable EnergyDevelopment Agency (OREDA)has sanctioned a 10-MW solarpower project as part of the schemefor solarisation of the Konarktemple and town and at villageTentulipada in Kalahandi district.

As per the KBK area, Singh saidthe OREDA has reported that anydeveloper intending to developsolar power projects in theKalahandi, Balangir and Koraput(KBK) region can be facilitated asper the provision of OdishaRenewable Energy- 2016.

Tea stall owner donates to CMRF

To combat heat waveRed Cross sets up water kiosks in city

60 new Covidcases in StatePNS �� BHUBANESWAR

The State witnessed a slightincrease in daily Covid-19 positivecases with 60 infections beingreported from16 districts and theState pool on Wednesday. Withthis, the total tally rose to12,77,580.

Among the newly-infectedwere 13 children in the 0 to18 yearage group. Notably, the State hadreported 32 Covid cases onTuesday.

Out of the 60 new cases, 36 werefrom quarantine and 24 localcontacts.

The highest nine new caseswere reported from theSundargarh district followed byBaleswar and Khordha with sixeach and Jajpur five. Besides, twocases were reported from the StatePool.

The active cases stood at 536.So far, 12,77,580 patients have

recovered from the disease in the

PNS �� NEW DELHI

The Centre has released a totalamount of Rs 817 crore to Odishafor establishment of seven newmedical colleges in the State.

Union Minister of State, Healthand Family Welfare, Bharati PravinPawar told this in the Rajya Sabhawhile replying to a question of MPSasmit Patra on Tuesday.

Pawar said the Ministry ofHealth and Family Welfareadministers a Centrally SponsoredScheme (CSS) for establishment ofnew medical colleges attached withexisting district/referral hospitalsunder which seven medical collegeshave been approved in Odisha withfund sharing between Centre andState Government as 60:40.

Under the CSS, the Centre hasapproved establishment of newmedical colleges at Baleswar(Mayurbhanj), Balangir, Koraput,Puri, Jajpur and Bhawanipatna(Kalahandi) districts.

The total approved cost is Rs1,520 crore, of which State's shareis Rs 608 crore and Centre's share isRs 912 crore.

Out of the Central share of Rs912 crore, the Health Ministry has,so far, released Rs 817 crore. TheMinistry will provide Rs 95 crorefor the new medical college atBhawanipatna in Kalahandi district.

The approved amount for allother six medical colleges have beenreleased by the UnionGovernment, informed theMinister.

An amount of Rs 189 crore hasbeen approved for each of themedical colleges at Baleswar(Mayurbhanj), Balangir, Koraputand Puri while Rs 250 crore hasbeen approved for the medicalcollege at Jajpur and Rs 325 croreapproved for the medical collegein Kalahandi district.

Further, under the Centrally-sponsored schemes for increase ofMBBS seats and PG seats in

existing medical colleges, anamount nearly Rs 258 crore hasbeen approved for five medicalcolleges in Odisha.

An amount of Rs 120 crore eachhas been approved for the VSSMedical College, Burla andMKCG Medical College,Brahmapur. The Centre has alreadyreleased its share Rs 72 crore foreach of the two institutions.

For increase of PG seats, Rs 5.40crore, Rs 8 crore and Rs 6.30 crorehas been approved for VSS MedicalCollege, Burla, MKCG MedicalCollege, Brahmapur and SCBMedical College, Cuttack,respectively. The UnionGovernment has released its shareof Rs 3.59 crore, Rs 5.76 crore andRs 4.38 crore for the three oldmedical colleges at Burla,Brahmapur and Cuttack.

Further release of funds will bebased on the pace of expenditureand receipt of demand from theState Government, added Pawar.


Odisha's economy has seenmassive transformation in the pasttwo decades with the State'sjourney from a revenue-deficiteconomy to a revenue-surplus one.All this was possible because ofmassive industrialisation, saideminent political leaders andeconomists at the annual 'NewOdisha-Vibrant Odisha' Conclavehere on Wednesday.

Odisha Legislative AssemblySpeaker Surjya Narayan Patro,former Finance Minister PrafullaChandra Ghadai, former ChiefSecretary Jugal Mohapatra, JSPLCSR head Prashant Hota, JK PaperCSR State head Prafulla Dhal,economist Dr Pravas Mishra, PressCouncil of India Member PrasannaMohanty and senior journalistAkshaya Kumar Sahoo touchedvarious points of Odisha's economyand suggested measures forstrengthening it.

"Odisha has rich mineralresources which are attractingminerals-based industries. In thelast two decades, the State hassucceeded in wooing all bigminerals-based industries whichhave greatly contributed to theState's economy," said Patro.

The conclave was jointlyorganised by New Delhi-basedCentre for Socio-Economic Studiesand the Indus Valley Times

newspaper. Prafulla Ghadai spokehow the State was battling financialblues in the early years of the presentcentury and outlined the fiscalmeasures that helped Odishaovercome its financial hardships.

"In 2000, we were struggling toprepare a Budget of Rs 11,000crore. In 2021-21, we presented abudget of 1.70 lakh crore. This year,the Budget allocation might touchor even exceed Rs 2 lakh crore," saidGhadai.

Jugal Mohapatra stressed on theneed for harnessing green energyto run industries to reduce thecarbon burden on theenvironment. He also emphasisedthat strategies are needed to ensure

that agri-workers are absorbed inlabour-intensive industries so as toaddress the unemployment issue.

The industry leaders and otherspeakers highlighted how theindustries in Odisha worked hand

in hand with the State Governmentduring the Covid-19 pandemic andcontributed to keep the Stateeconomy afloat.

"When the State badly requiredfunds to meet the Covid exigencies,the industries in Odisha, whichcontinued their productions despitethe challenges, contributedrevenues to the State coffer. Theircontribution was almost 40% to theState's Gross State DomesticProduct," the speakers said.


Minister's Relief Fund (CMRF). Hehad saved an amount of Rs 6.700received as Covid assistance from the StateGovernment and the remaining amountwas from the profit of the tea shop.

Jena had a tea shop near the RTOoffice at Acharya Vihar which wasdemolished by a joint squad of BMCand BDA. When he drew attention ofChief Minister Naveen Ptanaik, his teastall was restored in the same location.He was determined to pay back thefavour to the CM in form of donationto the CMRF.


Under the guidance ofHonorary Secretary, Indian RedCross Society Odisha StateBranch CTM Suguna, water kioskpoints have been set up fordistribution of fresh drinkingwater to the public atcongregation points likemarketplaces, labour addas, bus-stops, etc., in the city.

Suguna and Red Cross State

Honorary Treasurer Bhabani PrasadNanda inaugurated a water kioskpoint in front of the Red CrossBhawan by distributing water to thepedestrians on Tuesday.

The temporary water kiosks or'Jalchhatras' will be operationalbetween 9 am and 4 pm. To mark theWorld Water Day on Tuesday, Sugunaadvised Red Cross staff members tocreate awareness at schools andcolleges and among communitypeople on water conservation.

capital 03BHUBANESWAR l THURSDAY l MARCH 24, 2022

ANIL DHIR

A spate of idol thefts inOdisha in recent daysis an indicator of the

organised crime in the State.Odisha tops the list both intemple idol thefts and the fail-ure to recover the stolen arti-facts. In every decade since the1950s, the number of idolssmuggled out of India is be-tween 10,000 and 20,000.And the looting continues tothis day.

Odisha perhaps has the mostancient idols and imagesamong all States. They are ev-erywhere; in small shrines,little temples, huge sacredcomplexes, strewn over in ar-chaeological sites. The Statehas become a major hub forillegal idol exports as containershipment is facilitating theirexit by sending the stolenitems along with the recentlymade statues and idols.

State Convener ofINTACH, Amiya BhusanTripathy, who is also the

Heritage crime: Odisha earns dubious distinction

former DGP of Odisha, la-ments that there is an abso-lute lack of awareness andgross apathy regarding the in-trinsic value of these idolswhich represent the rich cul-tural heritage of the State. Theprevailing laws intended toprevent idol thefts and bur-glary are inherently ineffec-tive. A holistic National Heri-tage Protection Policy andSystem should be put in place,Tripathy opines.

There is no true objectivedata base for all the antiques,both stone and metallic idolsin the approximately 22,000ancient places of worship inOdisha. It is true that morethan 95% of the antique idolsin these temples remain le-gally unregistered as the Na-tional Mission on Monumentsand Antiquities remains in-complete.

Tripathy further says thatOdisha is the easiest target.The State does not have a dedi-cated enforcement wing forheritage crimes; the law en-

forcement agencies are notaware of the enormity of thesethefts. Heritage crime is a so-phisticated crime akin to cyberand wildlife crime. It's unfairto expect a Sub- Inspector or aHavildar to solve it. The Stateneeds a special wing whichunderstands art valuation,shipping, documentation,currency transfers. The Statedoes not have mandatory reg-istration of old idols.

Dr Biswajit Mohanty, an-other senior member ofINTACH, blames the incon-sequential and weak legisla-tions like the Antiquities andArt Treasures Act, the AncientMonuments and Archaeologi-cal Sites and Remains Act andthe Ancient Monuments Pres-ervation Act, 1904 which areineffective to curb thesecrimes. Mohanty is of theopinion that new legislationsand amendments are a press-ing need of the hour.

"Sadly the Antiquities Acthas no penalizing provisionsand the only section availablefor heritage thefts is IPC Sec-tion 370, which predomi-nantly deals with house break-ing theft and carries a maxi-mum penalty of six years andRs 3,000 fine. It needs to berevamped and made morestringent," adds Mohanty.

Heritage explorer DeepakNayak who has worked on therecently completed three- yearlong survey of the heritage ofthe Mahanadi valley has madeshocking revelations in the yetto be released report. As theco-ordinator of the project, Iand Deepak have discoveredrampant thefts of ancient ar-tifacts all along the course ofthe river valley. Many hithertoearlier reported and docu-mented images, carved panelsand archaeological pieces werejust missing from their right-ful places. Even temples whichare in the submergence areaof the Hirakud reservoir havebeen vandalized by idolthieves.

Earlier, when I had done a

detailed survey of the antiqui-ties of the Prachi Valley, I hadfound out that more than 300valuable idols were missing inthe different temples andmutts. Idols which had beenphotographed and docu-mented by scholars in the lastthree decades have vanished.I collected details of 48 FIRsthat had been filed in differ-ent police stations of thePrachi valley in the last decade,only one recovery had beenmade.

Precious Jain and Buddhistidols have vanished in the lastdecade. Many rare sculptedpieces are lying in abandonand in the open. In the Bud-dhist sites of Ratnagiri andLalitagiri, many of the votive

stupas have been stolen andremoved from their originalplaces.

Singapore based S VijayKumar, who has been trackingthe theft of venerable godsand goddess for 15 years haswritten about this in his book"The Idol Thief ". He has giventhe details of the modus oper-andi of India art loo, howeven huge objects like 15-16tonnes sculptures, left thecountry by ocean containers,declared as brassware and gar-den furniture.

The US is the biggest mar-ket for Indian stolen pieces,followed by the UK and nowthe trade is moving to Aus-tralia, according to Kumar.Giving a comparison, Italy

was the front runner in pro-tecting its artwork with toughlaws which has helped recover6,78,000 pieces till 2020 whileIndia has rescued 127 piecessince 2012.

Many auction houses, deal-ers and private collectors andeven Government fundedmuseums all over the worldopenly flout norms , rules andlaws and buy India art. Theypractice poor due diligenceand do not ascertain the le-gitimacy of the objects theybuy. This is because they knowthat India does not have thewill to go after the robbers whostole and sold them.

There is no internal demandfor these things in India. Allthe stolen items go abroad.According to Kumar, the taskof buyers and sellers of stolenIndian art is made easier byinternational experts who rou-tinely authenticate stolen ar-tifacts. Reputed scholars, in-cluding Padma awardees, pro-vide advice to dealers and buy-ers and assist in selling theloot. In fact many scholarspublish research papers basedon these rare images , but listthem as belonging to "privatecollections", withholding vitalinformation on where, when,who and how.

Proper methods should be

adopted as per internationalnorms to discourage this ram-pant illegal trade. The metalidols should have laser mark-ings as the base as evidence ofownership. In the event oftheft, this will be evidence.The stone idols should havemetallic engraving at basehaving the name of the templeand the place. The State Ar-chaeology Department shoulddevelop a data base by photo-graphing and documentingthe physical dimensions of theantique idols including theirspecific identifying features.There have been many in-stances where recovered sto-len idols could not be tracedback to their original places,and are lying in different po-lice malkhanas and the ASIgodowns. Many recoveredimages stolen from Odishacannot be traced back to theplace they were stolen from.

According to AB Tripathy,"There is an Orissa High Courtjudgment that the artifacts inthe unclaimed Malkhanasshould be kept in the respec-tive State museums underproper inventory. This judg-ment was raised in AllahabadHigh Court. He says he haswritten to the Superintendentof the Odisha State Museumand is waiting for a response.

In BargarhIn BargarhIn BargarhIn BargarhIn Bargarh

Road, drain encroachment leads to civic woes

State tops in templeidol thefts, failureto recover artifacts

4 brothers killed in group clash in Hinjili

CRS inspects Mahipur-Nuagaon line

In RajgangpurIn RajgangpurIn RajgangpurIn RajgangpurIn Rajgangpur

Woman duped of jewelleryin broad daylight

Talk for homoeopath docs held in J'suguda

Woman killed over dowry in B'swar

Demolition ofillegalconstructionsdemandedASUTOSH RATHA�� BARGARH

Rampant land grab inBargarh city has been a primecause of congestion and traf-fic problem in the city.

A two-lane constructionwork of Bargarh-Bhedenroad is in progress. However,encroachment of land hasbeen a big impediment forthe project. The road workbetween private bus stand toTora could not be take offdue to this.

Meanwhile , though late, theadministration has started re-moving the encroachments.

But it is discussed that theadministration will face aherculean task while lifting theencroachment from Lengu

Mishra Chhak to Lamba build-ing through Jeera river.

The road has been occupiedby hundreds of residentialhouses and shops because ofwhich traffic jam is a majorproblem here. After the Jeera

river bridge connectingAmapali to Bargarh is com-pleted, it will ease much of thetraffic woe in the city.

In addition, drains are alsoclogged and at several placesencroached in the city. As a

result, in normal rain, drainsare flooded and unable to re-lease water. Due to blockageof drains, low-lying areas ofthe city witness submergenceproblem.

In summer season also,drain water flows over areaslike Mangla Jhupdi Pada,Khanur Tikra, BishiPada,Bandu Tikra,ShibanandNagar,Danikata, College RoadPada and Nadi Pada due toblockages.

The piling of sand and con-crete on main roads also blockdrains. People have builthouses by covering the maindrainage gate. So the intellec-tuals have demanded that allillegal constructions be re-moved.

Forest Day heldat Bhitarkanika


The Commissioner of Rail-way Safety (CRS), South East-ern Circle, Kolkata inspectedthe 13.050-km-long rail linebetween Mahipur andNuagaon Station of ongoingKhurda Road-Balangir RailLine project.

Construction of the muchawaited project has been com-pleted and will be commis-sioned after clearance from theCRS. Movement of train ser-vices will be allowed just aftergetting clearance from CRS fortrain traffic.

The CRS inspected all thesafety related works thor-oughly between Mahipur andNuagaon station. A light en-gine was also run between thetwo stations to measure the

feasibility of train line for traintraffic.

The CRS will also inspectthe newly constructed 3.099-km Khurda Road-Bypass Lineon Thursday and will check

thoroughly the safety aspectsof the line.

Train traffic towards southdirections from Puri will beeasier after commissioning ofthe bypass line.

Probe onPNS �� BALESWAR

The Simulia police initiatedan investigation after the par-ents of a deceased alleged thattheir newly-married daughterwas killed due to dowry de-mands by her in-laws. Theyalleged that after murder, thebody was dumped in a pond.

According to reports,Sasmita Behera ( 20) ofSahajapada village underSabang GP had married toKrutibash Mahal (26) of thesame village about eight

months ago as per Vedic ritu-als after fulfilling all the de-mands of the groom's side byher parents.

The complainants allegedthat soon after marriage thefamily members including herhusband and other in- lawswere torturing her. Even theywere not allowing the victimto visit her parents' house.

On Tuesday afternoon, herbody was found floating in awater tank near their house.The police after seizing thebody sent it for postmortemand began an inquiry, in-formed reports.

Dept personnel,activists, scribesfelicitatedPNS �� KENDRAPADA

The Rajnagar MangroveForest Division(wildlife) onMonday celebrated the Inter-national Day of Forests atDangamal within theBhitarkanika National Parkwith an aim to increase aware-ness about the unprecedentedrole forests play in sustaininglives on the planet.

The theme for 2022 was"Forests and Sustainable Pro-duction and Consumption."

A meeting was organisedunder the chairmanship ofRajnagar Mangrove Forest

Division(wildlife), DFO DrJangyadatta Pati, where theRanger of Kanika forestrange, Manas Kumar Sahupresided. Forest personnel,NGO activists, forest loversand reporters also participatedin the meeting.

The Forest Department alsoawarded their staff for their 30years of glorious dedication toprotect and conserve the man-grove forest of Bhitarkanika.Several mediapersons were alsofelicitated for their role in cre-ating awareness for the pro-tection and conservation ofBhitarkanika and Gahirmathaeco systems. The district re-porter of The Pioneer, RajeshBehera, was also felicitated onthe occasion by DFO Pati.

PNS �� BRAHMAPUR

In a violent incident, four broth-ers were killed at Pitola Square inNarendrapur panchayat under theHinjilicut police station inGanjam district late on Tuesdaynight.

The incident was fallout of apetty issue involving lewd re-marks with two groups clashingwith each other near a fast foodshop owned by one Sambhu Swain(25). Swain's two siblings RajaSwain (28) and Pandav Swain (23)and their minor cousin brotherChandan (16) were assisting himto run the shop.

Police said one Sadhu Swain

of Ramachandrapur village, whowas earlier involved in variouscriminal cases in the past, had aviolent altercation with these fourbrothers and attacked them withsharp weapons after Sambhumade an obscene comment onSadhu.

A few minutes before the clash,a couple had slipped from theirvehicle in the road and Sadhu vol-unteered to help them get up.Sadhu's act drew sarcastic remarksby his rivals.

While Sadhu was also seriouslyinjured in the clash and admittedto a hospital, his three accomplicesSrikant, Ganesh and Santosh weredetained by police.

The violent clash between thetwo groups led to killing of fourpersons, three brothers Sambhu,Raja, Pandav, and their minorcousin Chandan. All four whowere taken to the MKCG Medi-cal College Hospital here, wherethey were declared brought dead.

Local people on Wednesdayprotested against the ghastlyincident and staged a demon-stration at NH-59 demandingimmediate arrest of the killers.Ganjam SP Brijesh Kumar Royrushed to the spot and tookstock of the incident and as-sured the public and the con-cerned family members of im-mediate action.

PNS �� SUNDARGARH

A married woman of Rajgangpur wasduped on Monday of gold jewellery worthRs 2.5 lakh by four youths. The Rajgangpurpolice after registering a case were search-ing the fraudsters.

The victim identified as Jayadevi Agarwalwas going to buy vegetables in morningin front of the Community Health Centregate. Two youths came by a bike and toldher that she was not keeping good health.

Meanwhile, two more youths reached bya bike and told that your mother's healthcondition is not good. Hearing this, the

youth gave his nod. Seeing this, Jayadevibelieved the two youths who were doingprediction. The two youths immediatelyshowed a small cloth bag to Jayadevi andtold her to keep all her gold jewellery inthe cloth bag, which she had worn andtold her to walk five steps and to returnback. The youths further told her that ifshe followed the instruction, the ill healthissue of her family members would becompletely sorted out.

Jayadevi walked five steps and whenshe returned, she saw the two youths flee-ing the spot. Later, son of Jayadevi lodgedan FIR in Rajgangpur police station.

Jindal Scholarship to 28 Angul students

PNS �� ANGUL

The JSPL Foundation, the CSR armof Jindal Steel and Power (JSP),awarded OP Jindal Star Scholarship andOP Jindal Jewel Scholarship to 28meritorious students of Angul district.

Angul Collector Siddharth ShankarSwain presented the scholarship

cheques to the selected meritorious stu-dents in presence of JSP's Angul loca-tion head Hridayeshwar Jha, AssistantDistrict Education Officer Ajay KumarPatra, Principal of OP Jindal SchoolAtanu Rath and JSPL's General Man-ager (CSR) Puspalata Satapathy.

On this occasion, Swain and Jhaamong others spoke.

Out of 28 students, 19 received OPJindal Star Scholarship and others re-ceived OP Jindal Jewel Scholarship.

"More than 1,000 meritorious stu-dents from low economic means havereceived OP Jindal Scholarships acrossIndia," said president and group head(CSR), Jindal Steel and PowerPrashantHota.

PNS �� JHARSUGUDA

A two-day seminar forhomoeopathic doctors was held atJDS Homoeopathic Hospital. Themotto was on how to become bet-ter homoeopathic doctors and pro-vide faster relief to the patients.

Director, Naiminath

Homoeopathic MedicalCollege,Hospital and ResearchCentre Prof Dr Pradeep Gupta

presented live cases on how toprovide quick relief in life threat-ening diseases like cancer, kidney

failure and pain management inpatient.

On Saturday, Health MinisterNaba Kisore Das also joined theseminar and felicitated Prof DrPradeep Gupta for his immensecontribution towardshomoeopathy. He congratulatedJDS Director Dr Deoshlok Sharma

and Dr Jitesh Sharma for collabo-ration with NaiminathHomoeoathic Medical CollegeAgra.

In the seminar 50 homoeopathicdoctors participated.

��

��

Stating that regional air con-nectivity is rapidly increas-

ing in the country and the avi-ation sector is registering an 11per cent growth vis-à-vis 5.6per cent of the railways, CivilAviation Minister JyotiradityaScindia on Wednesdayinformed the Lok Sabha thattill 2014, there were 74 airportsin the country while in the lastseven years 66 new airportswere added taking the totalnumber to 140.

"Our resolve is to take thisnumber of airports to 220 by2025," said Scindia replying tothe Demands for Grants, 2022-23, for the Ministry of CivilAviation in the lower house.

Scindia said the Indiancivil aviation sector is the thirdlargest in the world and 15 percent of its pilots are women.

As many as 3.82 lakh pas-sengers undertook air traveldaily in the last seven days, giv-ing hopes of revival of the sec-tor scarred by Covid-19, Scindiasaid as he set a target of nearlytripling the total passenger traf-fic by 2023-24 to 40 crore.

Scindia further said that ata time when the airline indus-try world over is facing turbu-lence, two new airlines, Jetand Akasa, will soon launchtheir services.

He said the governmenthas brought about a paradigm

shift, a structural change in thesector in the last two years andit will focus on inclusion, accessand affordability to increase thedemand among common man.

The total number of pas-sengers travelled increasedfrom 6.70 crore in 2013-14 to14.50 crore in 2018-19. Thenumber of planes too increasedfrom 400 from 2013-14 to 710by 2018-19.

As per DGCA data, 8.38crore people travelled ondomestic flights in 2021, ascompared to 6.3 crore in 2020- the year which saw the out-break of Covid-19.

Detailing the decline andloss in the aviation sector dur-ing the UPA’s time, the minis-ter said 111 aircrafts were pur-chased in 2005 and Rs 55 croredebt earned.

Scindia said the aviationsector started to look up post

the second Covid wave and thenumber of air travellers in thecountry increased to 3.90 lakhper day in November 2021,compared to 4.15 lakh per dayin pre-Covid times.

"But, due to Omicron itcame down to 1.60 lakh perday. I am happy to report thatin last seven days we are againback to 3.82 lakh per day.There is a hope of revival andbased on that we expect that by2023-24 we will take the num-ber of 40 crore," he said.

Scindia said the aviationsector's competitiveness canbe compared to AC-1 and AC-2 services of Indian Railways.Last year, 18.5 crore peopletravelled AC-1 and 2.

He said 14.5 crore peopletravelled in the aviation sectorwhich registered 11 per centgrowth vis-à-vis 5.6 per centgrowth in the railways.

��

The IAF is conducting themandatory court of inquiry

into the accidental firing of aBrahmos missile which crashedinto Pakistan and a few officersincluding a Group Captainmay be held responsible. AnAir Vice Marshal is heading theinvestigation.

Giving this informationhere on Wednesday, sources,however, said these are the ini-tial pointers and the final resultof the court of inquiry will takesome more days. The accidenttook place on March 9 when thesupersonic cruise missile firedfrom a base near Sirsa crashedinto Mian Channu in Pakistanafter travelling a distance ofnearly 140 kms. However,there were no casualties on theground and the Indian gov-ernment said it had viewed itseriously “deeply regretted it.”

In fact, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh gave a statementin Parliament on March 15 nar-rating the sequence of events.In this backdrop, the Air ViceMarshal was appointed to con-duct the inquiry, sources saidadding he is very experiencedand highly qualified.

In his statement inParliament, Rajnath had said “Amissile was unfortunately acci-dentally launched on March 9.The incident occurred duringa routine inspection. We latercame to know that it had land-ed in Pakistan.”

Informing Parliament thata high level probe was initiat-

ed, the defence ministerassured the members the mis-sile system is trustworthy andthe armed forces are fully com-petent to handle such systems.

He said during inspection.During routine maintenanceand inspection, a missile wasaccidentally released at around7 p.m.

It was later learnt that themissile had landed inside theterritory of Pakistan.

“While this incident isregretted, we are relieved thatnobody was hurt due to theaccident. I would like to informthe august House thatGovernment has taken seriousnote of the incident.

A formal high level inquiryhas been ordered. The inquirywould determine the exactcause of the said accident. Iwould also like to state that areview of the StandardOperating Procedures for oper-ations, maintenance andinspections is being conductedin the wake of this incident. Weattach highest priority to safe-ty and security of our weaponsystems. If any shortcoming isfound, the same would beimmediately rectified.

I can assure the Housethat the missile system is veryreliable & safe. Moreover, oursafety procedures and protocolsare of the highest order and arereviewed from time to time.Our Armed Forces are well-trained and disciplined and arewell experienced in handlingsuch systems,” he said.

Pakistan had lodged astrong protest against the

reported accidental firing of themissile and summoned theIndian Charge d’Affaires inIslamabad.

It also called for a jointprobe and China backed it.However, the US said it wasaccident and the Indiandefence ministry had giventhe details. “We have no indi-cation, as you also heard fromour Indian partners, that thisincident was anything otherthan an accident," StateDepartment spokesperson NedPrice had said..

China’s Foreign Ministry,responding to a question from

Pakistani media about the inci-dent, said it “called on relevantcountries to have dialogue andcommunication as soon aspossible and launch a thoroughinvestigation into this inci-dent, strengthen informa-tion–sharing and establish anotification mechanism in timeto ensure the non-recurrence ofsuch incidents and preventmiscalculation.”

Pakistan termed the Indiandefence ministry statementregretting the accident as a“simplistic explanation” whilecalling for a joint probe.

Major General Babar

Iftikhar, the Director-Generalof the Inter-Service

Public Relations (ISPR) ofPakistan, had claimed that anunarmed projectile launchedfrom India entered thePakistani airspace travelling124 km and fell near MianChannu. No loss of life wasreported.

Noting that the missilethat landed in Pakistan wasfired "accidentally" due to atechnical malfunction, theIndian defence ministry hadsaid it had also ordered aCourt of Enquiry into the inci-dent.

��

For the second-day in a rowboth the houses of the

Parliament on Wednesdaywitnessed disruption in theproceedings on account ofsteep hike in fuel prices andwere adjourned for sometimeduring the early hours of busi-ness.

In the Rajya Saba the agi-tated members displayed plac-ards and shouted slogansdemanding suspension of otherbusiness to discuss hike. TheLok Sabha proceedings toowere adjourned for about 20minutes as opposition mem-bers protested the spiraling-upof oil and cooking gas pricesand staged a brief walk-outfrom the house.

Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu disallowed thedemand for suspension andsaid the members can raise thematter during other discussionon demand for grants. He alsodid not allow the suspension

under rule 267 when Leader ofOpposition M MallikarajunKharge tried to raise the issue.

Sensing the mood of thehouse, Naidu then adjournedthe proceedings for nearly anhour shortly after 11.000amwhen the house met for the day.The Question Hour later func-tioned smoothly.

Congress, Left andSamajwadi Party leaders want-ed their notices admitted underrule 267, requiring setting asideof the listed business of the dayto take up the issue of rise inprices of petrol, diesel, cookinggas LPG, kerosene and otheressential commodities likepulses and edible oils.

Ramgopal Yadav (SP),Mallikarjun Kharge, ShaktisinhGohil, Syed Naseer Hussainand K C Venugopal (allCongress) and Binoy Viswam(CPI) had given notices underrule 267.

In the Lok sabha as theQuestion Hour began, mem-bers from the Congress, DMK,

TMC and other partiesstormed the Well of the House,raised placards “janata ki rojiroti par prahar” and showedcooking gas price rising to Rs1000. They kept shouting “wewant justice” and sought toblock ministers’ sight by plac-ing placards in front of them.

The opposition membersbegan the protest soon after theHouse assembled for the day.Members from the TRS, BSPand SP also joined the protestbut remained on their seats.

The Congress members,who were most vocal wereseen at the forefront of theprotest and staying put in thewell of the house. Amid thebedlam , Speaker Om Birlarepeatedly urged the membersto go back to their seats andallow the House to function.

With opposition refusingto relent, he adjourned theproceedings till 12 noon.

Intervening from the trea-sury benches, UnionCommerce Minister Piyush

Goyal alleged that the opposi-tion has no commitment forthe development of Jammuand Kashmir and their "dis-crimination" against the UnionTerritory continues as before.

Goyal made the allega-tions in Lok Sabha after an MPfrom Jammu and Kashmir,Hasnain Masoodi, could notask a supplementary questionduring the Question Hour dueto the protests and sloganeer-ing by the opposition over thefuel price hike.

"This shows their (opposi-tion) commitment towardsJammu and Kashmir. TheCongress and its allies havebeen discriminating againstJammu and Kashmir for yearsand they are doing the sameeven now. They are not allow-ing an MP from Jammu andKashmir to ask a question,"Goyal said.

However, the unrelentingopposition continued theirprotests in the Well of theHouse.

��

Congress president SoniaGandhi on Wednesday

made a demand for restartingthe mid-day meals in schoolswhen they open in the post-pandemic phase.

Sonia said that the mid-day meal scheme was stoppedwhen schools were shut downdue to the Covid pandemic.

Raising the issue duringZero Hour, the Congress leaderalso said better nutrition shouldbe provided to children as theystart returning to schools.

Stating that children weregiven dry rations during thepandemic and food grains were

also provided under theNational Food Security Act, shesaid dry ration is not a substi-tute for a proper meal.

"But for children, dryration is no substitute for hotcooked meals," she said.

The Congress leader saidchildren have been the worstaffected due to the pandemic asschools were the first to be shutdown and the last to open.

This is the second-time inthe ongoing session that Soniahas raised an issue in the ZeroHour. Earlier, she had raisedthe issue of social mediafavouring the ruling party andurged the government to pre-vent its alleged misuse.

��

In view of the recent politicalcrisis in Afghanistan and the

ongoing conflict in Ukraine, aStandard Operating Procedure(SOP) for evacuation of Indiannationals stranded in exigenciesmust be chalked out and it maybe made available to all IndianMissions/Posts abroad, aParliamentary StandingCommittee on External Affairsin its report “Demands forGrants -2022-23” suggested onWednesday.

The Committee has alsosuggested that India should setup resident missions in theremaining 48 of the 193 UNmember-nations in a time-bound manner in line with itsaspiration to become a perma-nent member of the UNSecurity Council.

The Committee has sug-gested that a database of Indiannationals abroad may be pre-pared and updated on a regu-lar basis for emergency situa-tions. “In view of the number

and spread of overseas Indians,there is a high possibility ofthem getting stranded in a cri-sis situation. The recent polit-ical crisis in Afghanistan andconflict in Ukraine is a grossreminder about the implica-tions on safety and security ofIndian nationals in such avolatile situation. The roleplayed by the Ministry inAfghanistan and Ukraine in therecent past has been com-mendable,” the report said.

The report further statedthat the Committee are awarethat during outbreak of conflictor any other exigencies, theevacuation of Indian citizens isplanned on a case-to-case basisand evacuation is dependent ona number of factors. The reportwas tabled in Parliament onWednesday. Under theOperation Ganga mission, over22000 Indian nationals havereturned from Ukraine tilldate. The evacuation exerciseinvolved a whole of theGovernment approach withPrime Minister himself taking

regular coordination meetingsand the Ministry of ExternalAffairs (MEA) taking the leadrole. Prime Minister spoke toPresidents of Russia, Ukraine,Poland, Romania and Slovakiato ensure safe return of Indiannationals from Ukraine.

Under the Operation DeviShakti, a total of 669 peoplewere evacuated fromAfghanistan including 448Indians, 206 Afghans (includ-ing Hindu Sikh minority mem-bers) and 15people of foreignnationalities (Nepal, Lebanonand Uganda). These peoplewere evacuated in seven flights;6 flights operated between

August 16 to 25, 2021 and thelast flight on December 10,2021.During the OperationDevi Shakti, both Indian AirForce and commercial flightswere used which included sixIAF flights (C-17 and C-130),two Air India flights and 1 KamAir flight.

Evacuation fromAfghanistan under these cir-cumstances was a difficult andchallenging exercise mainlydue to fast deteriorating secu-rity situation in the countrywhich prevented people fromreaching airport and led toextreme chaos at airportpremises.

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Following the death of at leasteight people after their

houses were set ablaze, BJPMPs from West Bengal onWednesday sought the Centreto use the constitutional pro-visions in the State. Theyalleged in the Lok Sabha thatlaw and order has collapsed inthe State under the TrinamoolCongress dispensation.

As soon as the Zero Hourbegan, several BJP MPs showedplacards and raised slogansagainst the West Bengal gov-ernment.

Rejecting the allegations,the TMC leader SudipBandyopadhyay said whateverhappened in West Bengal'sBirbhum district had nothingto do with any political fightand noted that around 20 peo-ple have been arrested by thestate police in connection with

the incident.He asked the BJP not to do

politics over the incident andsaid his party has sought anappointment with UnionHome Minister Amit Shahregarding the matter. Shad meta delegation of BJP MPs fromthe state on Tuesday.

Sukanta Majumdar, thestate unit chief of the BJP, saidthe deaths of so many people asan act of revenge following thekilling of a panchayat leader ofthe TMC have "ashamed"humanity and cited locals toallege that the houses of the vic-tims were set ablaze in the pres-ence of police personnel.

Twenty-six people havebeen killed in a week in WestBengal as law and order hascollapsed in the state, he said.

Political violence had alsoexploded in the state followingthe TMC's victory in the May,

2021 Assembly polls, the BJPleader alleged, urging theCentre to intervene.

He noted that all the vic-tims in the fire tragedy weremembers of a minority(Muslim) community.

"We want the central gov-ernment's intervention in thestate of West Bengal to stop thestate-sponsored terrorism," a

placard raised by one of the BJPMPs in the House read.

BJP MP Dilip Ghosh alsolashed out at the West Bengalgovernment. He told reportersthat even Muslims, who areseen as dependable supportersof the TMC, are not safe in thestate as the goons allegedlyaffiliated to the ruling partytarget people indiscriminately.

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Ajoint forum of central tradenions has given a call for a

nationwide strike on March 28and 29, to protest againstGovernment policies affectingworkers, farmers, and people.The joint platform of centraltrade unions held a meeting inDelhi on March 22, 2022, totake stock of the preparationsin various states and sectors forthe proposed two-day all Indiastrike on 28-29 March 2022against "the anti-worker, anti-farmer, anti-people and anti-national policies" of the centralgovernment, a statement said.

The statement said thatroadways, transport workersand electricity workers have

decided to join the strike inspite of the impending threat ofESMA (Haryana andChandigarh, respectively).Financial sectors, includingbanking and insurance, arejoining the strike, it stated.

The strike notices havebeen given by unions in the

sectors such as coal, steel, oil,telecom, postal, income tax,copper, banks, insuranceamong others, it also stated.The unions in railways anddefence sector would be mak-ing mass mobilization in sup-port of strike at several hun-dreds of spots, it stated.

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The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has pro-

visionally attached immovableand movable properties worthRs 1.58 crore belonging toSanjay Kumar Singh, the thenExecutive Engineer, PublicHealth EngineeringDepartment (PHED),Samastipur, Bihar Government,his wife Pushpa Singh, and hissons Abhishek Ashish andAnunay Ashish under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA) in adisproportionate asset case.

The ED had initiatedmoney laundering investiga-tion on the basis of an FIR reg-istered under Prevention ofCorruption Act against Singhby Bihar Police.

During the period July 15,1987 to September 4, 2013, itwas alleged that Singh hadacquired huge assets, bothmovable and immovable, eitherin his name or in the name ofhis family members, whichwere disproportionate to his allknown and legitimate sources

of income, the ED said in astatement.

“Investigation underPMLA revealed that SanjayKumar Singh had made hugecash deposits in his bankaccount and in the bankaccounts of his family membersfrom unexplained sources.

Sanjay Kumar Singh depositedthe proceeds of crime into hisbank accounts in order to con-ceal the actual nature withintent to launder money andprojected it as untainted,” itsaid.

Meanwhile, in a separatecase, the ED has arrestedabsconding accused GudemMadhav Reddy on the basis ofa Non-bailable Warrant (NBW)issued by the PMLA SpecialCourt Hyderabad, the agencysaid.

Reddy is wanted in theongoing trial in 2018 casesbased on the prosecution com-plaint (chargesheet) filed by theED.

Reddy was producedbefore the court which hasremanded him to 14-day judi-cial custody.

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The country’s top drug reg-ulator, Drugs Controller

General of India (DCGI), hasgranted permission for con-ducting the phase-3 clinicaltrial of Covid-19 vaccineCovovax as a booster dose inadults, according to officialsources in the Union HealthMinistry.

The Subject ExpertCommittee (SEC) on Covid-19of the Central Drugs StandardControl Organisation(CDSCO) had, on March 5,recommended permission forconducting the phase-3 clinicaltrial for Covovax as a boosterdose in adults who have been

fully vaccinated with eitherCovaxin or Covishield at leastthree months ago.

The DCGI approvedCovovax for restricted use inemergency situations in adultson December 28 last year andfor inoculating the beneficiariesin the 12-17 years age group,subject to certain conditions,

on March 9.The vaccine has not been

included in the country's inoc-ulation programme againstCovid-19. Director,Government and RegulatoryAffairs at the Serum Institute ofIndia (SII), Prakash KumarSingh, submitted an applicationto the DCGI in February, seek-ing permission to conduct aphase-3, observer-blind, ran-domised, controlled study toevaluate the safety andimmunogenicity of Covovaxfor booster doses in adultswho had received primary vac-cination either with Covishieldor Covaxin at least threemonths ago, according to theofficial sources.

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Lucknow: Samajwadi Partychief Akhilesh Yadav onWednesday accused the rulingBJP of misusing power andalleged that it is using its "goons"to attack democracy.

"The BJP has done nowork for the welfare of thecommon man. The entire country is watching thehooliganism the BJP is doing to get majority," Yadavsaid referring to the election to the upper house ofthe state legislature.

"The party is using goons to attack democra-cy. The BJP is enchanted by power and misusing itto attack the democratic process in the MLC elec-tions," Yadav said at an event held to pay tributesto socialist leader Dr Ram Manohar Lohia on his112th birth anniversary. The leader's statementcame a day after nomination papers of the party'stwo candidates for the state Legislative Council pollswere rejected. On Wednesday, a party candidatefrom Budaun withdrew his papers. The SPhad on Tuesday demanded that the nominationprocess for the elections to the state LegislativeCouncil be started again, with Yadav alleging "eitherthe nomination forms will not be allowed to be filedor the election or its results will be influenced".

According to a press statement issued onWednesday by the Samajwadi Party here, Yadav vis-ited Lohia Park and offered flowers to the leader'sstatue.

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The Samajwadi Party is likely tofield former Kannauj MP

Dimple Yadav as its candidatefrom Azamgarh Lok Sabha seatwhich fell vacant after her hus-band and Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav resigned from theLok Sabha on Tuesday. Akhileshhas been elected to the UPAssembly from Karhal Assemblyseat in Mainpuri.

Samajwadi Party sources saidthat the by-poll to Azamgarh LokSabha seat was likely to be held inthe next six months. They saidthat the party will also have to takea call for deciding the candidatefor Rampur Lok Sabha seat whichhas fallen vacant due to the res-ignation by MP Azam Khan,who was elected to UP assemblyfrom Rampur during the recent-ly concluded state elections.

Akhilesh had visitedAzamgarh on March 21 and con-sulted party MLAs and districtleaders before resigning fromLok Sabha. Though theSamajwadi Party won all 10Assembly seats in Azamgarh, itfaced a tough challenge from theBJP, which finished second in allthese seats.

Meanwhile, SP ally Suheldev

Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP)has demanded that SP leaderDimple Yadav be fielded fromAzamgarh Lok Sabha seat vacat-ed after the SP chief 's resignation.

"Akhilesh Yadav’s resigna-tion as Azamgarh MP is a wel-come move. His presence in theUP assembly is necessary for astrong role of the opposition tocounter the BJP in the state. In theassembly, SP-SBSP alliance MLAswill raise all important issuesrelated to people," commentedSBSP president, Om PrakashRajbhar on Wednesday.

Rajbhar further said thatAzamgarh has been known as astronghold of SP patriarchMulayam Singh Yadav, who waselected from this Lok Sabha seatin 2014. In 2019, SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav was elected MPand worked for the developmentof Azamgarh. As a result, theSamajwadi Party won all 10Assembly seats in the recentlyconcluded state elections.

"As an ally of the SP, we (theSBSP) demand that SP leaderDimple Yadav be fielded from theAzamgarh Parliamentary seatwhenever by-elections are heldthere. It would help strengthen theSP and its allies in the entirePurvanchal region," he added.

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With over 1.5 million tulipsof 68 varieties in its lap,

Asia’s largest Tulip garden over-looking the world famous DalLake was on Wednesdaythrown open to visitors, mark-ing the beginning of newtourism season in the Valley.

Lt-Governor Manoj Sinhapersonally invited tourists fromall over the world to make aplan to witness the sublimebeauty of nature. "J&K is call-ing. Welcome to Asia's largestTulip Garden, with over onemillion blooms, opened to thepublic today. Make a plan towitness the sublime beauty ofnature and enjoy the warmhospitality of the people of J&KUT", office of LG Manoj Sinhatweeted.

A large rush of visitorsthronged the garden soon afterit was thrown open by theChief Secretary, Dr ArunKumar Mehta, in the presenceof senior officers fromFloriculture department,Tourism department and J&KBank.

The Chief Secretary, whilespeaking on the occasion, stat-ed that the Government isexpecting a heavy tourist influxthis year as compared to lastyear. “The later part of 2021had broken past records oftourist arrival to the region andwe are optimistic of an incred-ible tourism boom this yearalso.

Director Tourism KashmirGN Itoo said "it is the mainattraction for tourists who visitKashmir. Without visiting the

tulip garden they think theirtour is incomplete. Besides, ithas preponed the tourist seasonof Kashmir by about onemonth."

Garden In-Charge InaamAhmad said " we work hardround the year to give our bestto tourists and other visitorswho come when it's in bloom.This time we have 1.5 milliontulips here with 68 varieties, wehave added some other flowershere to make it more attractive."

Besides, extra plants likedaffodils, hyacinths, narcissusand other ornamental plantsare being planted here to dec-orate the area making the tulipgarden one of the main attrac-tions for tourists from differentparts of the country and world.

Referring to major initia-tives aimed at boosting tourist

traffic in the Union territory DrMehta said the Governmentunder a comprehensive policyhas explored and developedhidden and virgin tourist des-tinations and tourists will havemore places to visit beyondGulmarg, Pahalgam and otherplaces.

He said that the govern-ment has added 75 new virgindestinations, 75 new adventuretreks, 75 heritage sites, and 75religious sites.

Later, the Chief Secretaryalso inaugurated J&K Bankenabled e-ticketing facility forthe visitors becoming the firstvisitor to generate E-ticket. Hesaid that queuing up for a longtime was cumbersome for thevisitors, so E-ticketing wasintroduced to make the visit oftourists hassle free.

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Aday before the swearing in of thenew Government in Uttar

Pradesh, the BJP Legislature Partymeeting of newly-elected lawmakerswill be held in Lucknow on Thursdaywherein they will formally elect ChiefMinister-designate Yogi Adityanathas its leader.

Union Home Minister Amit Shahand former Jharkhand Chief MinisterRaghubar Das have been appointed asobservers for this important meeting.In-charge of UP and Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan will also bepresent in the meeting.

"Letters have been sent to all the250 newly-elected BJP legislators ask-ing them to attend the meeting onThursday at 4 pm. In the meeting YogiAdityanath would be formally electedas leader of the BJP Legislature Party.

Later in the evening, a BJP dele-gation led by Yogi will call on GovernorAnandiben Patel and put its claim toform Government," state BJP vice-president Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.

"As per the statutory provision, thegovernor will invite the leader of theBJP Legislature Party to form theGovernment and announce the time of

swearing-in ceremony," he said.It is almost after three decades that

a chief minister will get a second con-secutive term after completing the firstterm of five years.

In fact, Yogi will be the first chiefminister from BJP to have completedfive years in office.

Sources claimed that around 50ministers are also likely to take oath ofoffice and secrecy with the chief min-ister on March 25. After attending theswearing-in ceremony of UttarakhandChief Minister Pushkar Dhami inDehradun on Wednesday, Yogi flew toDelhi to f inalise the list of ministers.

"The formation of the cabinetwould be a tight rope walk for YogiAdityanath as he has to strike a balanceamong different castes and regionsbefore finalizing the list. Seniority ofmembers will also be under consider-ation for ministerial post," a BJPleader said.

"Besides Yogi, some leaders fromthe alliance are also likely to be accom-modated in the Cabinet. A meetingwith alliance partners will be held afterthe BJP Legislature Party meeting.Sanjay Nishad has also been invited forthat meeting," the leader said.

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The State capital Lucknow has been painted saffron asit prepares for the mega oath-taking ceremony of sec-

ond time Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at the Atal BihariVajpayee Ekana Stadium on March 25.

The function will be attended by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Bharatiya Janata Party president JPNadda and other VVIPs. Among the dignitaries, UnionHome Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh,Chief Ministers and deputy Chief Ministers of BJP-ruledStates, governors, industrialists, opposition leaders and over50,000 BJP workers and commoners are expected in theprogramme. Newly-elected legislators of the BJP will electYogi Adityanath as their new leader in the presence of UnionHome Minister Amit Shah and other senior leaders. TheBJP has managed to win 255 seats in the 403-member UPLegislative Assembly.

Yogi will take oath as the Chief Minister of UttarPradesh for the second consecutive term and 50 Ministerswill be administered the oath of office and secrecy byGovernor Anandiben Patel at the function at 4 pm on Friday.

Mahants of various maths and temples will also be pre-sent in the swearing-in ceremony along with Yoga GuruBaba Ramdev. Besides, all leading industrialists, who setup industries and operate industries in UP, have also beeninvited for the function. A senior BJP leader said that ChiefMinisters of Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka,Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Manipur and Goa have been invit-ed. Chief Ministers of States ruled with the support of theBJP in Bihar, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Pondicherry havealso been invited. Apart from BJP ruled States, ChiefMinisters of all States are being invited by the Government.

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Tragedy struck Kushinagarwhen four children, includ-

ing three siblings, died afterconsuming poisonous toffeesthey picked up outside theirhomes at Latur Tola village inKasya police circle onWednesday morning.

The victims' parents belongto the Scheduled Tribe and aredaily-wage labourers.

Additional Superintendentof Police of Kushinagar, RiteshKumar Singh, said the policewere informed that the childrendied after eating the toffees atLatur Tola village and an inves-tigation had beeninitiated.

The police have seized tof-fee wrappers for examinationand locals are being ques-tioned. The police suspect thatsomeone had thrown the poi-son-laced toffees on the road.

The police are now awaiting theautopsy reports to know aboutthe poison used to lace the tof-fees.

Quoting the villagers, Sub-Divisional Magistrate VarunKumar Pandey said that Devi,the head of Latur Tola, wassweeping the house in themorning when she stumbledupon five toffees and ninerupees in a polythene bag. Shegave three toffees to her grand-children and a toffee to aneighbour's child. But soonafter consuming the toffee, thefour children fainted on theground.

"The sick children weretaken to the district hospital bythe locals where doctors pro-nounced all four dead. Thedeceased include three sib-lings Manjana (5), Sweety (3)and two-year-old Samar. Theother victim was five-year-oldArun, the only son of Balesar,

who lives in the neighbor-hood," Pandey said.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath expressed griefover the incident and ordereda probe and directed officials toprovide relief to the bereavedfamilies and take necessaryaction.

The locals alleged that thedelay in the arrival of an ambu-lance was one of the reasons forthe deaths of the children.Meanwhile in Ghaziabad, threelabourers were killed and twoothers seriously injured whenthe boundary wall of an underconstruction building of aschool collapsed at PratapVihar locality on Tuesday.

Officials and workers ofGhaziabad MunicipalCorporation were getting sewerlines laid late in the nightwhen the boundary wall of theadjacent school collapsed on

the five labourers workingthere. Soon, local police andfire brigade teams rushed to thespot and took the labourers toMMG hospital where doctorspronounced three of themdead.

The deceased were identi-fied as Munkesh, Ahjaz andTauqeer of Bihar. Two otherlabourers were injured and areundergoing treatment at thehospital. In Bulandshahr, aman and his two sons werekilled in a road accident inSecunderabad Kotwali area onWednesday.

As per reports, Shakir washeading to Bulandshahr fromMeerut with his two sons,Sanib and Uzair, when theirspeeding car rammed into atree near Gulavathi. All threedied on the spot. Later policepersonnel reached the spotand shifted their bodies to themortuary.

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The decision of Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav to resign from the Lok

Sabha and retain his Assembly seat to takethe party forward by staying put in UttarPradesh has now raised demands withinUP Congress that Priyanka Gandhi adopta similar stand and not just make occa-sional presence.

“Akhilesh had taken a right decisionand now Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shouldalso immediately take a similar stand as UPpolitics cannot be done by staying in Delhi.One has to join the day to day struggle withthe people of the State by staying amongstthem," opined a former UP Congress pres-ident.

"During the last two years, Priyankahas been active as far as other Oppositionparty leaders are concerned. But shechose to work from New Delhi and onlymade occasional presence during protestsin the state which sent the wrong messageamongst the masses that she preferreddoing politics from the national capital,"the Congress leader said.

"We fought the assembly poll show-casing Priyanka’s face but when questionscrop up of her leading the party as a chiefministerial candidate, she outrightly deniedit which spoiled all the hard work madeby her to strengthen the party organiza-tion in Uttar Pradesh," the former UPCongress chief said.

"The Congress desperately needs a`face’ which the people could look forwardto as an alternative. Take the example offour-time chief minister and BSP chiefMayawati. During the last five years andeven during the pandemic, the BSP chiefwas seen nowhere and as a result her partyperformed worse than the Congress get-ting just one assembly seat," he said.

Another senior Congress leaderZeeshan Haider, who was expelled recent-ly, supported Priyanka Gandhi takingcommand in UP and not working fromNew Delhi.

"I demanded Priyanka's resignation asshe too was responsible for the worst everpoll defeat of the Congress in UP. Sheworked and took all decisions on theadvice of her secretary Sandeep Singh. HadPriyanka camped in UP and taken deci-sions in consultation with senior partyleaders, the poll outcome would have beenbetter. How can the country’s oldest polit-ical outfit be run by a non-political staff,"asserted Haider.

Earlier in 2019, after the humiliatingdefeat in the last Lok Sabha elections,Priyanka had announced to makeLucknow as her base to strengthen theparty. She also made her permanent officehere at UPCC headquarters besides tem-porarily shifting to the `Kaul House’.

But she never made Lucknow her baseand only made short visits to attendparty meetings or lead demonstrations.

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Jaipur: In a first, the Rajasthan Government hasstarted a special helpline service to provide men-tal and emotional counseling to Indian studentsreturning from Ukraine and other war-torncountries.

Health Minister Parsadi Lal Meena said the'Mansamvad' toll-free helpline will prove to bevery effective in the development of the emo-tional and mental health of these students.

"Most of the Indian students studying there(Ukraine) are returning home due to the

Russia-Ukraine crisis. These students haveseen the war very closely and it has had anadverse effect on their mind. To save them fromany more trouble, the state government has start-ed 'Mansamvad' toll free helpline service," he saidin a statement.

Elaborating further, Meena said subjectexperts will provide counseling and otherinformation on mental and emotional issues, tothe callers. The helpline service will operate from9 am to 5 pm on all working days. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaTourism on Wednesdaylaunched 24x7 WhatsApp chat-bot 'Maya' to enable tourists getinformation and updates ontourism eco system in the Stateby sending a 'Hi' to theWhatsApp no: 7510512345 orby scanning the QR code.

Launching the service here,Tourism Minister P AMohamed Riyas said Mayawould act as a virtual travelassistant of tourists to ask andget complete information forhassle-free travel experience.

"The chatbot service, whichleverages the potential of tech-nology for tourism develop-ment, will help attract moretourists to Kerala. The touristscan easily access a whole lot ofinformation regarding the primeattractions in each place, ourcultural diversity, culinary tra-ditions of different regions andthe routes and means for trans-port to reach various places,"said the Minister. Maya wouldassist tourists to also knowabout experience-oriented loca-tions, never-miss spots, histor-ical places,etc, said a pressrelease from Kerala Tourism.

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AMumbai court onWednesday refused to grant

interim relief to Bollywoodactor Salman Khan in hisdefamation suit filed against hisneighbour Ketan Kakkad, aNon-Resident Indian (NRI)from the US, and others seek-ing to restrain them posting anyobjectionable content on socialmedia against him and his fam-ily members over a land parceladjacent to his farm house atPanvel.

Additional Sessions JudgeAnil H Laddhad of the MumbaiCity Civil Court passed a brieforder on Salman’s plea, seekinginterim relief for blocking/sus-pending/withdrawing the socialmedia accounts of Kakkad andother defendants on the groundthat the latter (Kakkad) alleged-ly shared derogatory contentagainst the actor and his fami-ly.

While pronouncing theorder, the Judge noted that hewould give the reasons forrejection of the plea in a detailedorder to be published soon.

In notice of motion, theactor had sought injunctionagainst one Kakkad, YouTuberSandeep Phogat, Paras Bhat,Ujjwal Narain, Facebook Inc,

Facebook India Online ServicesPrivate Ltd, Twitter Inc, TwitterCommunications India Private,Twitter International Company,YouTube LLC, Google LLC andGoogle India Pvt Ltd fromuploading anything against himand his family members inmatters relating to a land par-cel located adjacent to the actor's100-acre farmhouse at Panvel inthe neighbouring Raigad dis-trict.

Opposing the actor’s pleas,Kakkad’s lawyers Abha Singhand Aditya Pratap told thecourt that there was "substantialtruth" in the allegations made bytheir client that the actor hadcarried out substantial “illegal”constructions on his Panvelfarmhouse which falls withinthe Matheran Eco-SensitiveZone Notification.

On his part, Salman’s lawyerPradeep Gandhy argued that thedefendants had made “false,disparaging and defamatoryallegations” in videos, postsand tweets causing harm andloss to the actor, his familymembers and his business ven-tures.

Gandhy told the court thatKakkad had attempted to pur-chase a plot of land adjacent tothe actor’s farmhouse ArpitaFarms' at Panvel, but the local

authorities cancelled the landtransaction on the grounds thatit was illegal.

Gandhi went on to tell thecourt that Kakkad subsequent-ly made “false and baseless” alle-gations that the transaction hadbeen cancelled at the behest ofthe actor and his family mem-bers. Opposing interim relief tothe actor, Kakkad’s AdvocateAbha Singh argued that herclient's statements “revolvedaround” the actor’s property anddid in no way amount todefamation.

On their part, Kakkad’slawyers told the court that theirclient had purchased a plot ofland measuring 2.5 acres adjoin-ing the actor’s palatial farm-house from the actor himself in1996. They told the court thathe had been denied access to theland owned by him by theactor since 2014.

Kakkad’s lawyers told thecourt that they client had madevarious statements on socialmedia in public interest as envi-ronment was part of the fun-damental right to life underArticle 21 of the Constitution ofIndia and further, under Article51(A)(g) it was the fundamen-tal duty of every citizen to pro-tect the environment. further itwas the duty of every Indian and

the state to protect Wildlife.Kakkad lawyers also told

the court that the actor’s coun-sel had approached Kakkadoffering him money to give upthe Panvel land and the actorfiled the defamation after herclient refused the offer.

The lawyers appearing forthe various social media plat-forms opposed the interim reliefto the actor saying that they hadno control over what was post-ed by users on their socialmedia platforms. They con-tended that scanning all postsand contents on their websitesto remove the defamatory con-tent against Khan was “unrea-sonable and meaningless”.

It may be recalled that inmid-January this year, theactor had joined issues with hisneighbour Kakkad over the lat-ter's social media comments.

An aggrieved Salman sub-sequently filed a civil defama-tion suit against Kakkad andalso made Google YouTube,Facebook, Twitter and othersocial platform content cre-ators as parties in the case andalso sought an order restrainingKakkad from posting objec-tionable statements pendingthe outcome of the defamationsuit filed by the actor against hisneighbour.

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dropped to one-third. Thisslump was attributed to theRevolution in Russia. Importsby this consumer had stoppedall together.

In due course, the SovietUnion resumed imports on alimited scale. A big enoughalternative home had nothowever been found for thesurplus tea even a decadelater. The annual imports bythis country in 1930 rangedaround 60 million poundswhen contrasted with thepre-war figure of 200. Toomuch was therefore beingshipped to Britain, causing acontinual indigestion there.Trade circles felt that to savethe industry from ruin, anurgent outlet for up to 100million pounds had to befound. The Capital of July 2,1937, reminded that theUSSR was the obvious homefor this surplus. And thiscountry was willing to importmore, provided it was grant-ed long-term credit. Apartfrom relieving the glut, theworry was of generationsgrowing up in Russia withoutthe tea-drinking habit.

The Ceylon Associationwas reported in October 1931to have turned down theproposal to extend two years’credit to Russia. The reason

was that a single Sovietagency bought all the tea. Inthe event of a default, the losswould be total. Meanwhile,negotiations between the pro-ducers and the SovietGovernment had been goingon. The purpose was toensure continuity of sales ofblack tea to Russia. The sup-ply was plentiful and theSoviets were keen to buy; themissing link was money. Itwas finally in July 1934 thata tentative scheme of creditwas reported. A trading com-pany was to be formed by theproducers of India, Ceylonand the Dutch Indies. Themain producers of thesecountries were to subscribe tothe share capital of the com-pany on the basis of £3,750per million pounds of teagrown. £938 were payable incash and £2,872 were to coverany default by the Soviets.

The joint company was tobe known as the Anglo-Russian Tea TradingCompany which would buytea for cash at the auctions inLondon, Colombo, Calcuttaand Amsterdam and sell it inRussia on 12 months’ credit.Those hopes dashed to theground when the negotia-tions were suddenly sus-pended. In June 1944, it was

reported that the SovietUnion had received morethan 35 million pounds ofIndian and Ceylon teathrough the British Ministryof Food. The trade thereforewondered whether theRussian market might bereopened. The ManchesterGuardian opined that therewas a bigger opportunityafter the war for re-develop-ing the Russian market.

On July 12, 1948, in NewDelhi, the first Indo-Russianfood agreement was signed.India would receive 50,000tonne of wheat. In return, itwould supply 11.5 millionpounds or 5,000 metric tonneof high-grade tea. Some inthe trade felt that this wouldput Indian tea at a disadvan-tage in the hard currencymarkets. This conflictbetween barter and hard cur-rency trade increased as thevolume of trade with theSoviet Union went up. In theagreement signed in 1949,200,000 tonne of wheat and100,000 tonne of food grainswere to be exchanged for tea,jute and castor oil.

(The writer is a well-known columnist, an authorand a former member of theRajya Sabha. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

�� Sir — Recently, Vice-President VenkaiahNaidu asserted the need for ‘Indianising’the nation’s education system. Similarly,in September last year, CJI NV Ramanastated that ‘Indianisation’ of the country’slegal system was the need of the hour.What is this ‘Indianisation’ and why havedemands for it cropped up across insti-tutional spaces? In simple terms,‘Indianisation’ is the process of chang-ing the character of an institution, pol-icy or practice to make it consonant withIndia’s social realities. It is neededbecause despite having been liberatedfrom colonial rule, India continues to fol-low their spirit which has only hinderedthe country’s development.

From our language policy to our legalsystem, everything continues to operatethe way it did under the British Raj. Theirobjective was to mould the colonised intothe worldview of the coloniser by radi-cally altering their indigenous systems.Even after India attained Independence,attempts were barely made to dilute thecolonial influence on indigenous prac-tices and institutions. As a consequence,the Indian mind was indoctrinated intoextolling western values. It will contin-ue to be the case as long as this colonialinfluence exists. Therefore, ‘Indianisation’is required to restore the self-esteem ofIndians and make India consistent withits social ethos.

Nissim Aggarwal | Chandigarh

��Sir — It is unfortunate that at least eightpeople were charred to death in a polit-ical conflagration in Birbhum after thekilling of Trinamool leader BahadurSheikh. The heinous incident is a setbackto the State Government, which has oftenbeen blamed by the BJP for political may-hem in Bengal. The orchestrated violenceshows the deteriorating condition of lawand order in the State, which was hijackedby unruly elements in the TMC. It willmalign CM Mamata Banerjee’s image whois often faced with difficult situationsowing to political turf war and rivalries.

The recent skirmish has put GovernerJagdeep Dhankhar and the CM at logger-heads, indulging into scathing attacksagainst each other. The prompt action bythe State Government in arresting 11 peo-ple involved in the violence, murder andarson will send a strong message to thewrongdoers who take law in own handsthrough reckless violence and hooligan-ism with impunity. The suspension of theofficer in-charge and setting up an SITis the need of the hour to pacify the angerof the aggrieved families. It will be theonly way forward to restore peace in thetense village and restore people’s faith inthe Chief Minister.

Janga Bahadur Sunuwar | Jalpaiguri

��Sir — It refers to the editorial, ‘Shiftinggoalposts’. The proposed CUET has itsown advantages and disadvantages. It willdefinitely provide equal opportunitywhile marks given in board exams do nothave equal parameters across the coun-try. And it should also not be forgotten

that purely on the basis of marks in three-four subjects, admission is decided for aspecific course while the student may missout on that seat due to fewer marks in onesubject. For example, if a student wantsto pursue Physics (Hons), he may miss outon it due to poor marks in Chemistry.

As for disadvantages, it will surelyreduce the importance of the CBSEboard and students will have to addition-ally prepare for this entrance test. Asrightly mentioned in the editorial, a newkind of coaching industry will emerge.But in a nutshell, the CUET will definite-ly create a huge disadvantage for rural stu-dents. If it leads to more students drop-ping out after 12th Board exams, that willbe disastrous, to say the least. All effortsshould be made in the direction of ensur-ing that rural students go on to completetheir graduation or vocational courses soas to become independent.

Bal Govind | Noida

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For nearly 30 years, Indianproducers enjoyed theincidental generosity ofthe Soviets. ‘Incidental’,

because the rouble was valuedlow. In 1991, the RBI treated therouble as worth �18 whereas itwas not worth even 28 paise.With the collapse of the USSRand the end of the rupee trade,Indian tea exports had declinedby one-third. The result was aslump in prices, hopefully to notlast long. It should be interest-ing to pursue this nostalgia fur-ther back and recount the high-lights of the Indo-Russian trade.

1897 was a year of anxiety inIndian tea exports to Russia.Plague had broken out in thecountry and import of Indiantea into Batoum, Georgia, wasprohibited. Calcutta made atimely intervention and persuaded Russians to recognisethat tea is no carrier of plague.In 1903-04, nearly 29,000pounds of tea were exportedfrom Bombay to Russia. Two years later, the quantity hadtrebled.

About this time, it was dis-covered that lately there was astrong bias in Russia in favourof land-borne teas and theyrealised higher prices than theirsea-borne counterparts.Nevertheless, the Indo-Russiantrade continued to grow. ABritish report from Odessa saidthe Russian tastes had under-gone an extraordinary change inthe last decade. His preferencehad swung from China toIndian and Ceylon tea.Purchases from China haddeclined by one-third.

The consular report went onto add that there had been asteep rise in the demand ofgreen tea between 1904 and1912; imports had grown bynearly 20 times. The CentralAsian provinces had taken togreen tea as a kind of substitutefor intoxicants, which were for-bidden by Islam. A whole newmarket, over and above that ofblack tea, had been created.When everything was hunky-dory, WWI ended and there wasa general recession, the crash intea prices was unprecedented.Between 1919 and 1920, theprice for common teas had

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ecotourism it is essential to makeecotourism a key feature of forest conservation strategy. Letus examine some of these aspects in relations to some of the Stateswho had great potential to set an example.

In terms of ecotourismMadhya Pradesh and some otherTiger states are noticed by peoplequite often in national media butsome of the best features in NorthEastern states like Tripura hadremained neglected and underexploited. Indian landscape has tooffer much more than tigers andelephants. In Tripura the CloudedLeopard National Park, BisonNational Park, Rubber estates,Trishna Wildlife Sanctuary,Elephant Reserve, HornbillConservation Reserve combinedwith scenic undulating geographyand other cultural features likeUjjayanta Palace (an Indo-Saracenic structure made in1901), Unakoti rock templeandChabimura rock carvings arean ideal place to enjoy the seren-ity of the environment.

Chabimura is famous for itspanels of rock carvings on thesteep mountain wall on the bankof Gomati. These are 15 to 16centuries carvings.Home to thelargest bas relief sculptures inIndia, Unakoti is famous for itsmassive stone and rock-cut sculp-tures dedicated to Lord Shiva that

have been carved out from thehillside during 11th century. TheHeritage Park in Agartala is ofrecent making and it depicts thegeographic features of Tripura.There are several beautiful parkswith water bodies all over Tripurawhich can be developed as eco-tourism destinations. The bam-boo and wooden handicrafts ofTripura are very popular outside.The tourist flow in Tripura hasbeen picking up slowly. During2018-19, total 5, 29,879 touristsvisited Tripura including 1,12,955 foreign tourists.However,though the footfall is increasingsteadily during the last threeyears it is nowhere near its vastuntapped economic and ecolog-ical potential.

The state is one of the first inthe country to have announcedthe Ecotourism policy in theyear 2004 but nothing substantialwas done thereafter to promotethe ecotourism in terms of infra-structure. Excellent physicalinfrastructure in place, like anInternational swanky airport,good rail connections and betterroads have given the state’stourism potential a big boost. Inthe last few years as Agartala hasemerged as one of the fastestdeveloping statecapitals in theNorth Eastern part of the coun-try. Now the time is ripe for theState Government to issue

detailed guidelines for the eco-tourism activities inside and out-side the forest areas and also tocreate an independent body tomanage the ecotourism in thestate integrating the concept withlocal livelihoods, conservationand culture. The Joint ForestManagement (JFM) has beenquite successful in Tripura andelsewhere in the country in pro-moting forest-based livelihoods;the government must empowerthese JFM committees to overseethe ecotourism and make thepeople real stakeholders. Thereare 18 tribes in the state, theirfood items and culture should bepart of any tourist resorts anddestination. For achieving suc-cess,the local people especiallywomen should be trained in han-dling the tourist, preparinghygienic food and maintainingsanitation all around because it isthe clean drinking water, cleantoilets and beds are the basic fea-tures which attracts the people toa destination. A well-plannedecotourism shall also garner rev-enue for the Government and itis necessary that business sense isenthused in our national forestconservation programmes andpolicies for which the Ministry ofEnvironment, Forest and ClimateChange must act in a proactivemanner to encash the scenicbeauty of our landscapes.

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(The writer isChairman of Centre forResource Management

and Environment. The views expressed

are personal.)

The resounding victory ofAam Aadmi Party (AAP)defeating the two main-

stream parties, Congress andShrimani Akali Dal (SAD),in therecent Assembly elections inPunjab has created a history andkindled a new hope amongst thepeople of the state. BhagwantMann was sworn in as the 28thChief Minister at an impressiveceremony attended by thou-sands of his followers at BhagatSingh’s village Khatar Kalan.Addressing his supporters, thenew Chief Minister promised tofight widespread unemploy-ment and corruption in thestate and usher in reforms inagriculture. improve healthinfrastructure,transform theeducational system by introduc-ing quality education to suitinnovations in the job sector andprovide job security to the

youth. After the oath-takingceremony, Bhagwat Mann wasgreeted by hundreds of employ-ees gathered on the balconies ofPunjab Civil Secretariat withclaps and cries of joy as soon ashe reached the secretariat.

The people of Punjab haveextended whole-hearted supportto AAP which is an offshoot ofthe social movement launchedby Anna Hazare against corrup-tion in 2014. Fed up with themisrule of Congress and AkaliDal, the masses of Punjab “votedfor change”. Carried away by theDelhi Model of governance,hoping for better days, the peo-ple felt that they were investingin their own future by voting forAPP. Now, the pertinent ques-tion is: “Will the AAP party beable to come up to the expecta-tion of the people of Punjab?”.

It will take a while to get an

answer to this question. But themurmur of discontent hasalready started about the man-ner in which the swearing-in-ceremony was held. The 17-minute ceremony which includ-ed the signing of papers and 10-minute speech of Chief MinisterBhagat Mann cost the stateexchequer more than Rs 3 crore

which far exceeds the Rs 2 croreearmarked for the ceremony.Standing crops on acres of landwas destroyed for the event. Thefleet of Punjab Roadways buseswere used to transport people toAmritsar for the victory marchcausing inconvenience to thegeneral public as public trans-port services were hampered.

Spending crores from the stateexchequer for the victory rally,swearing -in-ceremony andprint and TV advertisements iscriminal misuse of taxpayer’smoney for personal and politi-cal purposes. What was theneed to stage all this drama fora party which has come topower because of genuine loveand affection of the masses andwith a thumping majority?

The vigilant public and theopposition parties are already upin arms asking questions:”Isthis the sign of change?” “Inwhat way the AAP party is dif-ferent from other political par-ties?”The leadership of AAPshould realise that the issues ofaccountability in public life,goodgovernance and appointment ofLok Pal to end corruption werethe hallmark of the Anna Hazaremovement out of which AAP

was born. So, it has to proveitself as a party with a difference.The new government in Punjabshould take positive steps to winthe hearts of the taxpayers whoare alreadyhard-pressed due toyears of mis-governance bychanging the style of working insharp contrast to the previousgovernments functioning in theState. The focus of the govern-ment should be in setting anexample by providing good,transparent governance,focussing on job creation byestablishing industries, settingup agro-food processing unitswhich will engage rural youth,eliminating the drug and min-ing mafia, controlling pollutionof rivers, resolving the problemof the water table going down,and dwindling forest cover. Thenew incumbent should not for-get that he has to take care of the

debt-ridden farmers and deplet-ed treasury.

AAP has attracted the com-mon man because its composi-tion is different from othercadre-based parties. The partyhas a people-centric character. Itprovides equal opportunities toone and all to organize andevolve in a spontaneous manner.The biggest regret of AAP whichhas been in power in Delhi hasbeen that they have not beenprovided full autonomy to rulethe state. In Punjab, they are getting this opportunity. Thepeople of Punjab have broughtthem to power with high hopesby providing an absolute majority and the electorate ofother states are also looking upto them as an alternative to themainstream parties. Now, is their chance to prove their worth.

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(The writer is a senior journalist and Chairman,

Panwar Group ofInstitutions, Solan,Himachal Pradesh. The views expressed

are personal.)

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�01--,�� The Indian landscape is endowedwith diversified scenic beautyhaving unmatched natural fea-tures ranging from hot desert to

cold deserts to verdant tropical and tem-perate forests to sea beaches andglaci-ers, all with rich in flora and fauna. Inthe modern life style, relaxation in themidst of scenic landscape is every glob-al citizen’s dream.

Many European countries with his-torical monuments and features haveexploited the business potentials oftheir landscape and making tourism astheir major source of revenue. Morethan 10 per cent of the world’s GDP andseven per cent of the world’s totalexports come from tourism. The indus-try is worth over $1.1 trillion. Themoney earned from expenditures by for-eigners is a key driver of economicdevelopment and important source ofearning foreign exchange. In 2018France led the world with 89.4 milliontourists’ footfalls followed by Spainand the USA.

Among Asian countries Thailandhad 38.2 million footfalls. India had in2018 received a little more than 17 mil-lion tourists with an annual growth rateof about 5 percent and is poised toleapfrog. However, tourism has a neg-ative streak of damaging the environ-ment and polluting land and waterresources and due to climatic vagariesbeing notices all over the world there ismore emphasis on promoting eco-tourism all over the world.

Ecotourism is responsible tourismand in tune with the ethos of living inharmony with nature. It is therefore,based on learning and enjoying the var-ied components of ecosystem and pro-moting the pristine environmentalattributes of an area. Ecotourism isdeeply entrenched with local culture anda great source of community livelihood.It is a win-win situation for the touristsas well as the local people and the envi-ronment. The global ecotourism marketis valued at $181 billion in 2019 and islikely to grow to $350 billion in 2027.The question resource managers are ask-ing whether India is prepared to give abig lift to ecotourism not merely on pol-icy front but concrete results in termsof revenue generated, conservation offorests and livelihood created. It createsemployment and jobs but not at the costof environment. With India’s risingmiddle class the potential of earningfrom ecotourism is huge provided wellthought out planning is done for creat-ing the infrastructure.

Around 24 percent of our landmassis under forests and tree cover out ofwhich around 4.8 million hectares iscovered by 103 National parks and 544wild life sanctuaries. We have innumer-able scenic spots integrated in the over-all landscape of the country. In order toexploit the multifaceted potentials of

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One month of war, still defi-ant. With its government

still standing and its outnum-bered troops battling Russianforces to bloody stalemates inmultiple places, Ukraine isscarred, wounded, mourningits dead but far from beaten asit braces for a second month ofbombing, combat, casualtiesand resistance.

When, on Feb. 24, Russiaunleashed its Ukraine invasionforce in Europe's biggest offen-sive since World War II andfloated the prospect of nuclearescalation if the West inter-vened, a lightning-swift top-pling of Ukraine's democrati-cally elected governmentseemed possible.

But with Wednesday mark-ing four full weeks of fighting,Russia is instead bogged downin an increasingly attritional,costly and uncertain militarycampaign, with untold num-bers of dead, no immediate endin sight, and encircled by west-ern sanctions biting hard on itseconomy and currency. U.S.President Joe Biden and keyallies meeting in Brussels andWarsaw this week will discusspossible new sanctions andadditional military assistancefor Ukraine.

Repeatedly pushed backby hit-and-run Ukrainian unitsarmed with Western-suppliedweapons, Russian troops are

shelling targets from afar,falling back on tactics they pre-viously used in reducing citiesto ruins in Syria and Chechnya.Major Russian strategic objec-tives remain unfulfilled: Thecapital Kyiv has been repeatedlyhit but not taken or even encir-cled.

More shelling and gunfireshook the city again

Wednesday, with plumes ofblack smoke rising from thewestern outskirts, where thetwo sides battled for control ofmultiple suburbs. A shoppingmall and buildings were hit,injuring four people, the cityadministration reported.

In the south, the port cityof Mariupol has seen the worstdevastation of the war, under

weeks of siege and bombard-ment. So far, the Ukrainianforces' defense has prevented itsfall. That is thwarting theRussian aim of opening upanother permanent andsecured land link from theCrimean peninsula, seizedfrom Ukraine in 2014, toRussia.

Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy says100,000 civilians remain in theshattered city that has beenstruck from the air, land andsea. Repeated efforts to get des-perately needed food and othersupplies to those trapped haveoften failed.

"They bombed us for thepast 20 days," said 39-year-oldViktoria Totsen, who fled from

Mariupol into Poland. "Duringthe last five days, the planeswere flying over us every fiveseconds and dropped bombseverywhere - on residentialbuildings, kindergartens, artschools, everywhere."

Zelenskyy, speakingTuesday in his nightly videoaddress to his nation, saidefforts to establish stablehumanitarian corridors forMariupol residents are almostall being "foiled by the Russianoccupiers, by shelling or delib-erate terror."He accusedRussian forces of seizing onehumanitarian convoy. DeputyPrime Minister IrynaVereshchuk said the Russianswere holding captive 11 busdrivers and four rescue work-ers along with their vehicles.

The head of theInternational Committee ofthe Red Cross traveledWednesday to Moscow forexpected discussions withRussian foreign and defenseofficials on prisoners of war, theconduct of hostilities, aid deliv-ery and other humanitarianissues.

"The devastation caused bythe conflict in recent weeks, aswell as eight years of conflict inDonbas, has been vast," PeterMaurer, the ICRC president,said.

A senior U.S. Defenseofficial, speaking on condi-tion of anonymity to give thePentagon's assessment, said

Russian ships in the Sea ofAzov added to the shelling ofMariupol.

The hands of one exhaust-ed Mariupol survivor shook asshe arrived by train in the west-ern city of Lviv. "There's noconnection with the world.We couldn't ask for help," saidJulia Krytska, who was helpedby volunteers to make it outwith her husband and son."People don't even have waterthere."

Russian forces alsobombed and destroyed a bridgein the encircled northern cityof Chernihiv that crossed theDesna River and connected thecity to Kyiv, regional governorViacheslav Chaus saidWednesday. Deliveries ofhumanitarian aid and evacua-

tions of civilians went throughthat bridge. Local authoritieshave warned of a humanitari-an disaster in the city, with nowater or electricity.

But as Biden embarkedWednesday on a four-day tripto Europe to shore up pressureon Russia, the Kremlin saidRussian President VladimirPutin hasn't yet achieved hisaims in Ukraine. Kremlinspokesman Dmitry Peskovinsisted that the military oper-ation was going "strictly inaccordance with the plans andpurposes that were establishedbeforehand."Putin's aimsremain to "get rid of the mili-tary potential of Ukraine" andto "ensure that Ukraine changesfrom an anti-Russian center toa neutral country," Peskov said.

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Even before Air Force Onetouches down in Brussels to

bring President Joe Biden tothree Ukraine summits onThursday, Western allies havealready found what they arelooking for - that all too raresense of unity.

They have RussianPresident Vladimir Putin tothank for that.

After Russia's invasion ofneighbouring Ukraine on Feb.24 and its brutal war since thenover the past month, alliesfrom Washington to Tokyo andBrussels have acted in unison.

And they did it with suchstaggering speed to hit theKremlin with unprecedentedsanctions and offers of help toKyiv. That symbolism has thespace to trump urgent problem-fixing this week.

With staccato rhythm,Biden will attend a NATO,Group of Seven and EuropeanUnion summits all within 12hours of driving aroundEurope's diplomatic capitalfrom one headquarters toanother. The only reason this ispossible is because all agree onthe major issues so, basically, lit-tle time will be needed to paperover deep differences.

On Friday, Biden will betraveling to Poland, the human-itarian hub of the crisis wheremore than 2 million Ukrainian

refugees have arrived, andwhere U.S. Forces have shoredup NATO's eastern flank.

WHAT BIDEN WANTSBeyond the all-important

handshakes, group photos andwarm scenes of togetherness,Biden will use his time inBrussels to announce new sanc-tions against Russia whileunderscoring the importance ofclosing possible loopholes in theavalanche of Western measuresthat have already been enact-ed.At a time when it is essen-tial to avoid fissures in what'sbeen a largely unified Westernresponse to Russia, the U.S.President will look to pressimportant allies like Poland todial back the idea of deployinga Western peacekeeping mis-sion to Ukraine. It's an idea thatthe U.S. And some other NATOmembers see as too risky asthey seek to deny Russia anypretext to broaden the warbeyond Ukraine's borders.

For his domestic audience,look for Biden to once againunderscore the heroics of theUkrainian military and volun-teers who have managed tohold off an imposing Russianmilitary. He will highlight thoseremarkable efforts - as well asthe generosity of the Poles andother allies at the front lines ofthe humanitarian crisis - as heredoubles his calls forAmericans to stand firm againsta Russian war that is spurring

gas price hikes and adding toinflationary pressures in theU.S.

Overall, Biden also wants torevel in the scenes of unity atthe headquarters of NATO andthe EU, where memories of anunraveling trans-Atlantic bondriven with disputes under for-mer President Donald Trumpare far from forgotten.

WHAT NATO WANTSThat show of unity will also

be paramount at NATO head-quarters, where the UnitedStates has traditionally givenorders, with the rest, sometimesgrudgingly, going along.

The summit on Thursdaywill be a new opportunity forthe 30-nation military organi-zation to publicly show thatWashington is consulting itsallies, something that was sore-ly lacking under the Trumpadministration.Biden and hiscounterparts are expected todiscuss the kinds of "red lines"that might draw NATO out ofits defensive posture - theworld's biggest security orga-nization has mostly bolstered itsown defenses since the invasiona month ago - to respond withforce.

Nuclear, chemical or a mas-sive cyberattack appear themost likely triggers, but NATOremains wary of any responsethat might draw it into a full-scale war with nuclear-armedRussia.

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The United Nations will facethree resolutions

Wednesday on the worseninghumanitarian situation inUkraine after Russia decided tocall for a vote on its SecurityCouncil resolution that makesno mention of its attack on itssmaller neighbour.

The General Assembly isscheduled to start consideringtwo rival resolutionsWednesday morning - onesupported by Ukraine andWestern nations that makesclear Russia is responsible forthe escalating humanitariancrisis and the other sponsoredby South Africa that doesn'tmention Russia.

The Security Council willvote on the third resolution,which is sponsored by Russiaand widely criticized for notreferring to its invasion ofUkraine. Russia had cancelleda council vote on the measurelast Friday as diplomats pre-dicted it would be over-whelmingly defeated, withmany abstentions and very few"yes" votes when at least nineare needed for approval alongwith no vetoes.

Russia's deputy UN ambas-sador, Dmitry Polyansky, toldreporters Tuesday that Russiahad now asked for a voteWednesday. It was scheduled tobe held after the SecurityCouncil's scheduled meetingWednesday morning on its

cooperation with the ArabLeague.

Polyansky said if Westernnations don't support theRussian resolution it will be "areflection of their hypocrisy"and refusal to support a pure-ly humanitarian measure "with-out any politicisation," just likeother humanitarian resolutionsadopted by the 15-mmbercouncil.

US Ambassador LindaThomas-Greenfield counteredthat Russia cancelled Friday'svote on its resolution "becausethey knew that they didn'thave support for that resolu-tion." She said there still is nosupport.France and Mexicodecided to take their humani-tarian resolution to the 193-member General Assemblyafter Russia made clear aftertwo weeks of negotiations inthe Security Council that itwould veto their draft. It makesclear the aid crisis is a result ofRussia's invasion of Ukraine.

A letter sent to the assem-bly president Monday fromthe two countries and 20 oth-ers, including Ukraine and theUnited States, asked for aresumption of the GeneralAssembly's special session on

Wednesday to put the resolu-tion to a vote.

South African on Mondaycirculated a rival draft resolu-tion that is similar to theRussian text before the SecurityCouncil and makes no mentionof Russia's aggression. It wassent to the General Assemblyon Tuesday.

The South African draftcalls for "an immediate cessa-tion of hostilities" as a first stepin ameliorating the deteriorat-ing humanitarian situation andencourages "political dialogue,negotiations, mediation andother peaceful means aimed atachieving lasting peace".

According to the speakerslist obtained Tuesday night byThe Associated Press, 61 coun-tries planned to address theassembly on the matter. Thatmeant the vote could takeplace Wednesday evening orThursday.

The first two speakers wereUkraine, to present theWestern-backed resolution itsupports and helped draft, andSouth Africa. Unlike SecurityCouncil resolutions, GeneralAssembly resolutions are notlegally binding, but there are novetoes and they do have cloutin reflecting international opin-ion. The US ambassador saidsupporters of the French-Mexican resolution hoped toget the same vote for the draftas for a resolution adopted bythe assembly March 2 thatdemanded an immediate haltto Russia's military action.

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Britain's Treasury chiefpledges to respond to

Russia's war in Ukraine and acost-of-living crisis hittingworking families while deliv-ering his spring budget state-ment on Wednesday.

Rishi Sunak did not offerdetails on specific policy pro-posals but said Britain wouldcontinue its "unwavering" sup-port for Ukraine and seek tostrengthen the domestic econ-omy to counter the threatposed by Russian PresidentVladimir Putin.

"So when I talk about secu-rity, yes, I mean responding tothe war in Ukraine," Sunak saidin remarks released ahead ofthe statement.

He added that he "alsomean the security of a faster-growing economy, security ofmore resilient public finances,and security for working fam-ilies as we help with the cost ofliving".

Sunak has come underincreasing pressure toannounce further measures tohelp consumers facing whatone economist has called "thebiggest year-on-year fall inhousehold incomes in a gen-eration".

Utility bills are set to rise bymore than 50 per cent in April,

on top of a planned income taxincrease and an acceleration ofconsumer prices for every-thing from fuel to food at thefastest pace in decades.

Some politicians also arecalling for increased defencespending amid rising tensionsbetween NATO and Russiadue to the conflict.

The spring statementSunak will deliver to the Houseof Commons is a midyearupdate on public finances thatoften includes policyannouncements responding tonew challenges facing the gov-ernment.

The economic and securi-ty picture look much bleakernow than when Sunak releasedhis budget in October.

Economists now estimateinflation will peak at close to 9per cent this year -- double the4.4 per cent forecast govern-ment advisers made in October-- as the war in Ukraine boostsfood and energy prices.

Accelerating inflation isalso likely to curtail economicgrowth and squeeze govern-ment finances, with econo-mists forecasting that grossdomestic product will grow lessthan 1 per cent next year, com-pared with the 2.1 per centforecast by the Office of BudgetResponsibility when Sunakreleased his fall budget.

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The head of theInternational Committee

of the Red Cross has arrived inMoscow for talks at theRussian foreign and defenceministries on humanitarianissues caused by Russia's inva-sion of Ukraine.

Peter Maurer, the ICRCpresident, was expectedWednesday to take up issues

such as prisoners of war, theconduct of hostilities and thedelivery of aid.

"The devastation causedby the conflict in recent weeks,as well as eight years of con-flict in Donbas, has been vast,"Maurer said in a statement,referring to the region of east-ern Ukraine held by Russian-backed separatists.

"There are practical stepsguided by international

humanitarian law that theparties must take to limit thesuffering," Maurer said.

Maurer travelled toUkraine last week. While inMoscow, he was also expect-ed to meet with the head of theRussian Red Cross, which hasbeen helping people who havefled eastern Ukraine intoRussia.

The Russian parliamenthas passed a law expanding

military veteran status totroops taking part in the inva-sion of Ukraine.

Veteran status brings var-ious benefits, such as month-ly payments, tax breaks, dis-counts on utilities and prefer-ential access to medical treat-ment, among other things.

Russia's lower house ofparliament, the State Duma,passed the law on Wednesday,four weeks since the start ofthe war in Ukraine, with thethree required readings takingplace at once.

Britain's defence ministrysays the war in northernUkraine is largely "static", withRussian forces trying to reor-ganise before resuming alarge-scale assault.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, UKdefence officials say "Russianforces are attempting to envel-op Ukrainian forces in the eastof the country as they advancefrom the direction of Kharkivin the north and Mariupol inthe south".

In an update postedWednesday on social media,Britain's defence ministry saidRussian troops in the south aretrying to circumvent the cityof Mykolaiv as they push westtowards Odesa, a key Black Seaport that has so far beenspared major attack.

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French authorities say a con-voy of rescue vehicles and

emergency equipment is toleave Paris on Wednesday to beprovided to Ukraine's emer-gency service.

A statement from theFrench foreign and interiorministries says 100 firefightersand rescue staff will dispatchthe vehicles and equipment toRomania, at the border withUkraine. They include 11 fireengines, 16 rescue vehicles,and 23 trucks transporting 49tons of health and emergencyequipment.

It comes in addition to aconvoy of 21 new ambulances,which left on Tuesday.

The statement says theoperation is meant to supportrescuers from Ukraine'sEmergency Situations Service"mobilized day and night toprovide relief to victims."

German Chancellor OlafScholz has reiterated that hiscountry will not support a no-fly zone over Ukraine or sendtroops to intervene in the warlaunched by Russia.

Scholz told German law-

makers on Wednesday that"NATO will not become aparty to the war. We are inagreement on this with ourEuropean allies and the UnitedStates."

Still, the German leadersaid Ukraine could rely onGermany's help, citing thefinancial and military aidalready provided, the harshsanctions on Russia and thereception of hundreds of thou-sands of Ukrainian refugees.

Scholz said Germanywould not support a boycott ofRussian oil, coal and gas, but isseeking to wean itself off thoseimports by seeking out othersuppliers and ramping up theuse of renewable energy.

The Kyiv city administra-tion says Russian forces shelledthe Ukrainian capital overnightand early Wednesday morning,damaging buildings in twodistricts.

Kyiv authorities said onTelegram that a shopping mall,some private sector buildingsand high-rises came under firein the districts of Sviatoshynskyiand Shevchenkivskyi.

Four people sustainedinjuries.

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Russian forces bombed anddestroyed a bridge in the

encircled city of Chernihiv, theregion's governor, ViacheslavChaus, said. The destroyedbridge had been used for evac-uating civilians and deliveringhumanitarian aid. It crossed theDesna River and connected thecity to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv.Chernihiv authorities said onTuesday that the encircled cityhas no water or electricity andcalled the situation there a

humanitarian disaster.Explosions and bursts of

gunfire shook Kyiv onWednesday morning, and heavyartillery fire could be heardfrom the northwest, whereRussian forces have sought toencircle and take the capital'ssuburbs.Russian military forcesdestroyed a laboratory at theChernobyl nuclear plant thatworked to improve manage-ment of radioactive waste, theUkrainian agency responsible forthe Chernobyl exclusion zonesaid on Tuesday.

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The humanitarian needs ofmore than 10 million dis-

placed Ukrainians have quicklybecome staggering, and longer-term problems resulting fromRussia's invasion will grow everlarger if they are not sufficient-ly addressed now, warned MarkMalloch-Brown, president ofthe Open Society Foundations.

Experts report an "unprece-dented" outpouring of aid forfood, medicine and other essen-tial needs of Ukrainians, butcomparatively only few dona-tions have been earmarked formaintaining the country's cultureor democratic foundations.

Open Society Foundationshas launched the UkraineDemocracy Fund with a USD25million pledge, in hopes of rais-ing USD100 million to addressthat cause.

The foundations, launchedby billionaire investor GeorgeSoros, are now one of the world'slargest funders of democracy,human rights and justice groups.

"Keeping their civil societyalive absolutely is the key bit,"said Malloch-Brown, who hasalso served as the United Nations

deputy secretary general."Otherwise, it's a hollow

victory. If you neglect or lose thatcivil society piece, you've lostwhat this was ultimately allabout."

Since Russia invadedUkraine on February 24, thephilanthropy research organisa-tion Candid has cataloguedUSD440 million in grants andUSD333 million more in pledgesfor the victims.

Those totals do not, howev-er, include individual donationsor from non-profits and corpo-rations that have not yet publiclyreported their gifts, meaning thatthe actual amount of aid ismuch higher.

"By many measures, thishas been an unprecedented phil-anthropic response by organisa-tions, by individuals," said LaiaGrino, Candid's director of datadiscovery.

"Some groups have said thatthis has exceeded what theywere able to raise for COVID-19,what they raised for racial equi-ty, the response to the crisis inAfghanistan," Grino noted,adding that the bulk of thosedonations are for immediateneeds - food, shelter, safety.

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US President Joe Bidenwould attend an emer-gency NATO Summit,

address European Union lead-ers and hold meetings with G-7 leaders, his national securityadvisor has said on the eve of hisdeparture for Brussels andPoland.

Biden is scheduled to leavefor Europe to show a unitedfront and take stock of the sit-uation in the wake of theRussian invasion of Ukraine.

“He will attend an emer-gency NATO Summit, joined bythe leaders of the other 29NATO Allies. He will join theG7 leaders. And he will addressthe 27 leaders of the EuropeanUnion at a session of theEuropean Council. He will have

the opportunity to coordinateon the next phase of militaryassistance to Ukraine,” NationalSecurity Advisor Jake Sullivantold reporters at a White Housenews conference on Tuesday.

“He will join our partners inimposing further sanctions onRussia and tightening the exist-ing sanctions to crack down on

evasion and to ensure robustenforcement,” Sullivan said,adding that Biden will workwith Allies on longer-termadjustments to NATO forceposture on the eastern flank.

“He will announce jointaction on enhancing Europeanenergy security and reducingEurope’s dependence on

Russian gas at long last. He willannounce further Americancontributions to a coordinatedhumanitarian response to easethe suffering of civilians insideUkraine and to respond to thegrowing flow of refugees,” hesaid.

From Brussels, Biden willtravel to Poland, where he willengage with US troops who arenow helping to defend NATOterritory, and he will meet withexperts involved in the human-itarian response. He will alsohold a bilateral meeting withPresident Andrzej Duda ofPoland.

“For the past few months,the West has been united. ThePresident is travelling to Europeto ensure we stay united, tocement our collective resolve, tosend a powerful message that we

are prepared and committed tothis for as long as ittakes...Helping the Ukrainianpeople defend themselves,imposing and increasing costson Russia, and reinforcing theWestern alliance,” Sullivansaid.Sullivan said Biden willannounce new sanctions, but onensuring that there is jointeffort to crack down on inva-sion.

“We have applied an enor-mous amount of economicpressure. In order to sustain andescalate that pressure over time,part of that is about new desig-nations, new targets, but a bigpart of it is about effectiveenforcement and applying thelessons that we’ve learned fromother circumstances where wehave, in fact, imposed sanctionson countries,” he said.

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Geneva, Mar 23 (AP) Thenumber of new coron-

avirus cases globally increasedby 7per cent in the last week,driven by rising infections inthe Western Pacific, even asreported deaths from COVID-19 fell, the World HealthOrganization said.

There were more than 12million new weekly cases andjust under 33,000 deaths, a23per cent decline in mortali-ty, according to the U.N. Healthagency’s report on the pan-demic issued late Tuesday.

Confirmed cases of thevirus had been falling steadilyworldwide since January butrose again last week, due to themore infectious omicron vari-ant and the suspension ofCOVID-19 protocols innumerous countries in Europe,North America and elsewhere.

Health officials have saidrepeatedly that omicron caus-es milder disease than previousversions of the coronavirusand that vaccination, including

a booster, appears highly pro-tective.

The Western Pacif icremained the only region inthe world where coronaviruscases are rising, reporting a21per cent jump last week,continuing weeks of increase.According to figures fromlast week, the number of newinfections in Europe remainedstable and fell everywhereelse.

WHO cautioned that withmany countries dropping wide-spread testing programs, manyinfections are likely beingmissed and new case numbersshould be interpreted cau-tiously.

In recent weeks, COVID-19 cases inched upward acrossEurope, prompted by the moreinfectious BA.2 subvariant ofomicron and the relaxation ofnearly all public health mea-sures.

WHO Europe chief Dr.Hans Kluge said restrictions innumerous countries across thecontinent had been lifted “bru-tally - from too much to too

few,” noting that in recent days,cases were rising significantlyin the U.K., France, Italy andGermany. Last week, Britishhealth minister Sajid Javidsaid U.K. Residents shouldbrace for a jump in COVID-19 infections but that thecountry was still “in a verygood position” due to its highvaccination levels.

Meanwhile, China’s healthauthorities this week reportedthe first coronavirus deaths inmore than a year as the coun-try battles its worst outbreaksince the coronavirus wasdetected in Wuhan. The semi-autonomous city of Hong Kongis also entrenched in a deadlywave of COVID-19, and thecity of 7 million has recordedmore deaths than mainlandChina during the pandemic.

Hong Kong ChiefExecutive Carrie Lam said thisweek that authorities wouldconsider relaxing some of itsstrict pandemic measures ascases begin to fall after weeksof rising cases overloaded hos-pitals and cemeteries.

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India said an early return tothe political course by

launching credible direct nego-tiations between Israel andPalestine on all final statusissues is an immediate require-ment and stressed that theabsence of direct talks betweenthe sides is not conducive tosecuring long-term peace.

“We call upon parties torefrain from any unilateralaction that unduly alters thestatus-quo on the ground andundercuts the viability of thetwo-State solution. We need tourgently build on the recentpositive developments and notslide back,” India’s PermanentRepresentative to the UNAmbassador TS Tirumurtisaid.

Speaking at the UNSecurity Council monthlymeeting on the Question ofPalestine on Tuesday, he saidthe focus must be on address-ing the urgent security and eco-nomic challenges, includingthe precarious financial situa-

tion of the PalestinianAuthority, and charting a con-crete path for discussing keypolitical issues.

“An early return to thepolitical course by launchingcredible direct negotiations onall final status issues is animmediate requirement. Theabsence of direct talks betweenthe sides on these issues is notconducive to securing long-term peace,” he said.

He noted that resolution2334 was adopted by theCouncil to reaffirm the inter-national community’s firmcommitment to preventing theerosion of the two-State solu-tion. It calls upon parties toprevent all acts of violenceagainst civilians, to refrainfrom provocative acts of incite-ment and inflammatoryrhetoric and stresses that all set-tlement activities must cease.

India has been supportingPalestinian nation-building andcapacity-building efforts underthe India-Palestine develop-mental partnership for overthree decades now.

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Cambodia’s Foreign Minister onWednesday claimed minor initial

progress in his mission as a special regionalenvoy seeking to facilitate peacemaking instrife-torn Myanmar.

Prak Sokhonn, repre-senting the Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations,spoke after his return froma visit to military-ruledMyanmar, which wasplunged into an extendedviolent political crisis afterthe army seized power lastyear.

He said he was encour-aged by the military gov-ernment allowing him tomeet with various partiesto the conflict, but pes-simistic about immediate chances for aceasefire to end the violence.

Popular discontent with the military’souster of the country’s elected leader, AungSan Suu Kyi, has turned into what some UNexperts have characterised as a civil war, lead-ing as well to a humanitarian crisis with hun-dreds of thousands of displaced people.

Prak Sokhonn held discussions Mondayand Tuesday with Myanmar’s leader, SeniorGen Min Aung Hlaing, and members of hiscabinet about ASEAN’s five-point consensuson Myanmar, issued in April last year. He alsomet with diplomats from other ASEANcountries and the UN, as well as Ko Ko Gyi,

a Myanmar politician bestknown as an activist in the failed1988 uprising against militaryrule.

Myanmar, although a mem-ber of ASEAN, has done little toimplement the plan, which callsfor the immediate cessation ofviolence, a dialogue among allconcerned parties, mediation byan ASEAN special envoy, provi-sion of humanitarian aid throughASEAN channels, and a visit toMyanmar by the special envoy tomeet all concerned parties.

A major sticking point had beenMyanmar’s refusal to let a previous ASEANspecial envoy meet with Suu Kyi, who hasbeen in detention since the army seized powerin February 2021.

ASEAN in response ostracised Myanmarby blocking its leaders from attending majormeetings of the regional grouping.

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A man has been arrested formurdering an 18-year-old

Hindu girl when she resisted abid to abduct her in Pakistan’ssouthern Sindh province,according to a media report onWednesday.

Pooja Kumari Oad was saidto have been shot after she putup resistance to the attackers inRohi, Sukkur in Sindh onMonday.

The Sukkur police arrestedthe suspect, identified as WahidBakhash Lashari, and registeredan FIR against him under therelevant sections of PakistanPenal Code, The News report-ed on Wednesday.

Lashari, along with his twoaccomplices, reportedly brokeinto the house of Sahib Oad

with a gun on the day of themurder. Lashari allegedly shotOad’s daughter, Pooja Kumari,dead when the family resisted ashe tried to abduct her, the papersaid.

The alleged murderersescaped after the killing.

The incident sparked anuproar on social media withactivists strongly condemningthe brutal murder and demand-ing protection of religiousminorities, mainly Hindus andChristians.

SSP Sukkur Sanghaar Malikordered the arrest of the sus-pected killer and his aides.Lashari was arrested from thelimits of Rohri, with what is sus-pected to be the murderweapon. On Tuesday, a localcourt sent the suspect to 10-daypolice remand.

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Pakistan’s top election bodyhas imposed a fine of Rs

50,000 on Prime MinisterImran Khan for violating elec-tion code of conduct byaddressing a rally in Swatahead of the local governmentelection in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The Election Commissionof Pakistan (ECP) had onMarch 15 barred him from vis-iting Swat to address a publicrally, but the premier ignoredthe directives and addressed arally a day later, the ExpressTribune reported.

According to the new ECPcode of conduct, no publicoffice holder can visit the dis-tricts where elections are beingheld. The second phase ofKhyberPakhtunkhwa localgovernment elections is sched-uled for March 31.

The ECP had twice issuednotices to Khan for violatingthe code of conduct. The lastnotice was sent on March 21for addressing a political rallyin Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa’sMalakand area. The PrimeMinister and Minister forPlanning and DevelopmentAsad Umar had filed a petitionin the Islamabad High Courtagainst the notices. Accordingto the petition, “The noticeshave been issued despite newlegislation regarding the elec-tion campaign.”

However, the IHC hadrefused to restrain the ECPfrom proceeding against thePrime Minister, saying thecommission had a mandate todevise a code of conduct fortransparent elections. The ECPhas banned PM Khan fromattending meetings during thesecond phase of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa local govern-ment elections.

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Moderna’s Covid vaccineworks in babies, toddlers

and preschoolers the companyannounced Wednesday — andif regulators agree it couldmean a chance to finally startvaccinating the littlest kids bysummer. Moderna said in thecoming weeks it would ask reg-ulators in the U.S. And Europeto authorize two small-doseshots for youngsters under 6.The company also is seeking tohave larger-dose shots clearedfor older children and teens inthe U.S.

The nation’s 18 millionchildren under 5 are the onlyage group not yet eligible forvaccination. Competitor Pfizercurrently offers kid-sized dosesfor school-age children andfull-strength shots for those 12and older. But parents haveanxiously awaited protectionfor younger tots, disappointedby setbacks and confusion overwhich shots might work andwhen.

Pfizer is testing even small-er doses for children under 5but had to add a third shot toits study when two didn’t provestrong enough. Those resultsare expected by early April.

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The State of Bihar shoulduse the links created by

several indentured labourers,who came to South Africafrom 1860 as sugar-cane farmlabourers, to boost tourism, atop diplomat of the Africancountry has said.

Dr Anil Sooklal, DeputyDirector-General for Asia inthe South AfricanDepartment of InternationalCooperation and Relations,who is of Bihari origin, saidthat projects need to be start-ed to get the 1.4 millionSouth Africans of Indian ori-gin to rediscover their roots.

Sooklal made the remarksat a Bihar Diwas event inJohannesburg hosted byConsul General Anju Ranjan,who arranged a linkup withthe event which was hosted byChief Minister Nitish Kumarin Patna on Tuesday.

“Between 1860 and 1911,over 152,000 Indians came toSouth Africa under the inden-tured scheme. Very often,when we speak of our relationswith India, we forget that asizeable number of IndianSouth Africans have their roots

in Bihar,” Sooklal said.He added that the state of

Bihar should use the links cre-ated by indentured labourers,who came to South Africa assugar-cane farm labourers,to boost tourism.

“This conclave is a goodfirst attempt to demonstratethe strong historical bondsthat we have between SouthAfrica and especially the stateof Bihar. Cultural connectiv-ity is a very important part ofthe connectivity betweenIndia and South Africa,”Sooklal said as he highlight-ed that prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, there were over100,000 visitors from India toSouth Africa annually, whileover 80,000 South Africansvisited India.

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A jewellery firm directorwas fined SGD104,400

on Wednesday for conspir-ing with five Indian touriststo unlawfully obtain goodsand services tax (GST)refunds that they were notentitled to.

The cases involving WooSin Chai from ArthesdamJewellery and his colleagueswere linked to large amountsof GST tourist refunds whichwere claimed from 2015 to2016, The Straits Timesreported.The five Indiannationals wereKothandaraman Gnanam,Karunanidhi Rajesh,Karunanithi Saravanan,Ramaiyan Karthikeyan andW a i t h i y a l i n g a mKarunanidhi, who were thenbetween 29 and 61 years oldand were jailed in 2017 fortheir part in the offences.

Woo, now 61, had plead-ed guilty to multiple chargesunder the Goods andServices Tax (General)Regulations.The court heardthat Arthesdam Jewellery hasshops in Serangoon Roadwithin the Little Indianprecinct, one of the most

popular shopping precinctsfor South Asians.

Woo, a Singaporean,had attended training on theelectronic Tourist RefundScheme (eTRS) and was incharge of eTRS matters atthe company. Senior taxprosecutor from the InlandRevenue Authority ofSingapore (Iras) David Limsaid the Tourist RefundScheme (TRS) allowstourists to claim a refund ofGST paid by them.Woo wasat his workplace betweenMarch 2015 and May 2016when he conspired.

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Aonetime top aide toBenjamin Netanyahu

took the stand for the firsttime Wednesday against theformer Israeli prime ministerengulfed in corruption chargesover a scheme to generate pos-itive news coverage.

Shlomo Filber, the direc-tor of the CommunicationsMinistry under Netanyahuand one of two former aides totestify for the prosecution,said Netanyahu wanted him to“mitigate” competition for Israel’s Bezeq telecom company, a move worth hundreds of millions of dol-

lars. In return, Bezeq’s popular news site, Walla,allegedly provided favorablecoverage of Netanyahu and hisfamily.

Netanyahu, now opposi-tion leader in Israel’s parlia-ment, denies any wrongdoingand says the charges of fraud,breach of trust and briberyamount to a witch hunt. Butthe case has cast a deep shad-ow over his family and hislegacy as Israel’s longest-serv-ing prime minister.

Like the previous aide-turned-state’s witness, NirHefetz, Filber described theformer Israeli premier as beingimage-obsessed.

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Pakistan is a responsiblenuclear power but it will not

hesitate to retaliate with “fullforce” if attacked, PresidentArif Alvi said on Wednesday, ashe reaffirmed the resolve tomake his country economical-ly stronger and prosperous.

“This is an important yearas we are celebrating this yearthe 75 independence ofPakistan. We affirm that we willdo everything to keep our free-dom,” Alvi said while address-ing the Pakistan Day parade inIslamabad.

Pakistan Day commemo-rates the passing of the LahoreResolution on March 23, 1940,

when the All-India MuslimLeague demanded a separatenation for the Muslims of theBritish Indian Empire.

“We are a responsibleatomic power and want peacewith every country and werespect their sovereignty...But Iwant to make it clear for every-one that we will not compro-mise our independence. Andwill respond to every aggres-sion with full force as we havebeen doing,” Alvi said.

Noting that terrorism, pop-ulation explosion and fakenews are among the biggestchallenges being faced byPakistan, he urged Muslimscholars to help combat theseissues.

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The country's exports forthe first time crossed the

USD 400 billion mark in a fis-cal on healthy performance bysectors such as petroleumproducts, engineering, gemsand jewellery, and chemicals,according to the commerceministry's data released onWednesday.

The merchandise exportsrose by by 37 per cent to USD400.8 billion in 2021-22 untilMarch 21 against USD 292 bil-lion in 2020-21. Previously,the outbound shipments hadtouched a record of USD330.07 billion in 2018-19.

Imports during the periodstood at USD 589 billion, leav-ing a trade deficit of about USD189 billion.

Hailing the country's suc-cess in achieving its goodsexport target, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said that this isa key milestone in India's'Aatmanirbhar Bharat' jour-ney.

The highest ever goodsexport target was achievednine days ahead of the March31 deadline.

"India set an ambitioustarget of USD 400 billion ofgoods exports and achievesthis target for the first time ever.I congratulate our farmers,weavers, MSMEs, manufactur-ers, exporters for this success.

This is a key milestone inour Aatmanirbhar Bharat jour-ney. #LocalGoesGlobal," Moditweeted.

Briefing media, Commerceand Industry Minister PiyushGoyal said that despite alladversities including Covid-19 pandemic, and Russia-Ukraine war, India hasachieved this milestone.

"First time in history, Indiahas crossed USD 400 billion inmerchandise exports...If thiswas a movie like The KashmirFiles, it would be called a Makein India blockbuster," Goyaltold reporters here.

He added that closer inter-action with states and districts;engagement with exporters;faster resolution of their issues;actively engaging with differentexport promotion councils,industry associations and otherstakeholders have helped inreaching this milestone.

On average, goods worthabout USD 33 billion wereshipped every month andabout USD 1 billion every day.

The key export sectors,which contributed to recordhealthy growth include petro-leum products, engineering,gems and jewellery, chemicalsand pharmaceuticals. The topfive export destinations arethe US, the UAE, China,Bangladesh, and theNetherlands.

Director General of

Foreign Trade (DGFT) SantoshKumar Sarangi said that goingby the trend, "we would beadding USD 10-12 billion in theremaining nine days", takingthe exports by end of 2021-22to over USD 410 billion.

Commenting on the data,Federation of Indian ExportOrganisations (FIEO) DirectorGeneral Ajay Sahai said cross-ing USD 400 billion is aremarkable achievement asexporters have added over USD110 billion in one year to reachhere despite huge logistics chal-lenges, including containershortage, skyrocketing freightand liquidity constraints.

"What is more important isto build on it, as we will havebenefits of new free trade agree-ments and the PLI scheme(production linked incentive)backing us," he said.

FIEO Vice-PresidentKhalid Khan termed theachievement as a "landmark"and said that despite theCOVID-19 pandemic exportshave "done so well".

Apparel Export PromotionCouncil (AEPC) ChairmanNarendra Goenka said thatIndia crossing USD 400 billionmerchandise exports marks thebeginning of an era of expo-nential growth and dominancein world trade.

"From here, the growthrates are going to be exponen-tial," Goenka added.

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Production Linked Incentive(PLI) scheme will account

for 13-15 per cent of the aver-age annual investment spend-ing in key industrial sectorsover the next three-four years,according to a report by Crisil.

Since its introduction inMarch 2020, PLI has beenannounced for 15 sectors,involving government incen-tives to the tune of Rs 1.93 lakhcrore. Of this, 50-60 per centis to be spent on sectors withdomestic manufacturing andexport focus, and the rest onimport localization.

"Implementation of theProduction Linked Incentive(PLI) scheme will lead to apotential capital expenditure(capex) of Rs 2.5-3 lakh croreover the scheme period andwill account for 13-15 percent of average annual invest-ment spending in key indus-trial sectors over the next 3-4years," the rating agency saidin a report released onWednesday.

PLI is now poised for arapid on-the-ground execu-tion, with almost 60 per centof the capex already approvedand major spending set tooccur over FY23-FY26. Thecapex has been approved for10 sectors, it said.

While the capex in mobile,pharma and telecom hasalready kicked off, that incapital-intensive sectors suchas automobile and solar pho-tovoltaics - which form 70 percent of the committed invest-ment - will kick off from April2022, the agency said.

The scheme has receivedinterest from over 900 playersacross sectors, of whicharound 350 have got approvalso far.

The Crisil Director HetalGandhi said PLI will spurgreen investments in India,with around 55 per cent of thescheme expected to be green,in sectors such as electricvehicles/fuel cell electric vehi-cles, and solar photovoltaics.

The report said that alongwith supply-chain integration,PLI will aid exports too.

Of the 15 sectors, ninehave an export potential, rang-ing from 20-80 per cent of theincremental revenue generat-ed, the agency said, addingthat this, in turn, can create anannual export potential of Rs2 lakh crore or 6 per cent ofthe total exports of calendaryear 2021.

Sectors that could benefitfrom exports include mobiles,pharma, food processing, IThardware, white goods andspecialty steel, the agency said.

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The Income Tax Departmenton Wednesday conducted

raids at multiple premises ofHero Motorcorp as part of a taxevasion investigation againstthe country's largest two-wheeler automobiles manu-facturer, officials said.

The company called it a"routine inquiry, which is notuncommon before the end ofthe financial year".

Offices and residentialpremises of the companyincluding that of chairman andCEO of the group PawanMunjal located in Gurugram(Haryana), Delhi and few otherlocations were being covered,they said.

A team of officials of thedepartment are looking atfinancial documents and otherbusiness transactions of thecompany and its promoters,they said.

"Officials from the IncomeTax Department visited two ofour offices in Delhi andGurugram and the residence ofour Chairman & CEO Dr.Pawan Munjal on Wednesday.We have been informed thatthis is a routine inquiry, whichis not uncommon before theend of the financial year," thecompany said in a statement.

It said Hero MotoCorp isan ethical and law-abiding cor-

porate, and maintains the high-est standards of impeccablecorporate governance.

"In keeping with this phi-losophy, we are extending ourfull cooperation to the author-ities. We reassure all our stake-holders that it continues to bebusiness as usual," the state-ment said.

Hero MotoCorp becamethe world's largest two-wheel-er manufacturer in 2001, interms of unit volume sales in acalendar year, and has main-tained the title for the past 20consecutive years.

Till date, it has sold over100 million units acrossdomestic and internationalmarkets.

Led by Pawan Munjal, thecompany has presence across40 countries spanning Asia,Africa, and South and CentralAmerica.

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Atotal of 10,60,707 electricvehicles were registered in

India till last week, while 1,742public charging stations (PCS)were operational in the coun-try, Parliament was informedon Wednesday.

In a written reply in theRajya Sabha, Road Transportand Highways Minister NitinGadkari said electric chargingstations are to be provided bythe developer on nationalhighways as part of the waysideamenities (WSAs).

"The number of electricvehicles in the country, as perVahan 4 data as on March 19,is 10,60,707, and a total of 1,742Public Charging Stations(PCS), as per Bureau of EnergyEfficiency (BEE), are opera-tional in the country as onMarch 21, 2022," Gadkari said.

He said the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) has already awarded39 such facilities for develop-ment.

Replying to a separatequestion, Gadkari said 816 feetoll plazas are operational onnational highways across thecountry as on March 21, 2022.

On the policy regardingwinding up of a toll plaza, heexplained that as per NationalHighways Fee (Determination

of Rates and Collection) Rules,2008, incase of Public PrivatePartnership (PPP) projects,after completion of the con-cession period, the user fee isto be collected by the centralgovernment at reduced rates of40 per cent.

In case of public-fundedprojects, the user fee rates areto be reduced to 40 per centafter recovery of capital cost ofthe project, the minister said.

According to Gadkari,Rajasthan (122), Uttar Pradesh(90) and Madhya Pradesh (77)have maximum number of feeplazas.

Replying to another ques-tion, he said about Rs.20,268.45 crore and an amountof Rs. 1,189.94 crore has beenreleased/spent on projectssanctioned under the CentralRoad & Infrastructure Fund(CRIF) and EconomicImportance & InterstateConnectivity (EI&ISC) schemerespectively during the lastthree years.

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The rupee pared initial gainsto settle 24 paise lower at

76.42 against the US dollar onWednesday, pressured by sell-offs in domestic equities andsurging global crude pricesamid geopolitical uncertainties.

Dollar demand from oilimporters and prevailing riskaversion globally added to thewoes, forex traders said.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the rupeeopened strong at 76.08 againstthe American currency butcould not hold the momentumand entered negative territory.During the session, it wit-nessed a low of 76.42 and ahigh of 75.99.

The domestic unit finallysettled at 76.42 against thegreenback, down 24 paise fromthe previous close.

On Tuesday, the rupee hadsettled flat at 76.18 against theAmerican currency.

"Indian rupee depreciatedfor the third day in a row fol-lowing dollar demands fromimporters ahead of the monthand financial year-end andrebound in crude oil prices,"said Dilip Parmar, Research

Analyst, HDFC Securities.Parmar further added that

global financial markets havebeen searching for clear direc-tion on the back of ongoinggeopolitical uncertainties. TheUS Fed's hawkish bet has beensupporting gain in the dollar.

"Rupee traded in a narrowrange but fell in the second halfafter global crude oil pricesstarted to rally sharply. In thelast few sessions rupee hasbeen reacting to how crude andthe dollar have been movingand volatility has been influ-enced by these factors," saidGaurang Somaiya, Forex &Bullion Analyst, Motilal OswalFinancial Services.

According to Sriram Iyer,Senior Research Analyst atReliance Securities the rupeecame off session highs to endthe day weaker against thedollar amid dollar demandfrom crude refiners.

While domestic equitiesdeclined on concerns about FPIselling domestic assets and thisweighed on the local unit.

Anindya Banerjee, VP,Currency Derivatives &Interest Rate Derivatives atKotak Securities Ltd said theUSD/INR spot closed at 76.32,

due to demand for US dollarsfrom oil marketing compa-nies. Weakness in stocks andhigher oil prices also wereresponsible for the Rupee'sweakness.

"Over the near-term, weexpect a range in USD/INRbetween 75.80 and 76.50 onspot, due to higher oil sup-porting USD and year-endexporter selling, capping theadvance in the pair," Banerjeeadded.

The dollar index, whichgauges the greenback's strengthagainst a basket of six curren-cies, was trading 0.14 per centhigher at 98.63.

Global oil benchmarkBrent crude futures jumped2.16 per cent to USD 117.97per barrel.

On the domestic equitymarket front, the 30-shareSensex ended 304.48 points or0.53 per cent lower at 57,684.82,while the broader NSE Nifty fell69.85 points or 0.4 per cent to17,245.65.

Foreign institutionalinvestors emerged as net buyersin the capital market on Tuesday,as they purchased shares worthRs 384.48 crore, according tostock exchange data.

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The government has issued270 notices since January

2021 to e-commerce players forviolation of provisions relatedto country of origin, and overRs 56 lakh have been collectedas compounding fees fromsuch online companies,Parliament was informed onWednesday.

In a written reply to theLok Sabha, Minister of State forFood and Consumer AffairsAshwini Kumar Choubey saidthe Legal Metrology (PackagedCommodities) Rules, 2011under the Legal MetrologyAct, 2009 provides, in the caseof imported products, formandatory declaration ofcountry of origin on the digi-tal and electronic networksused for e-commerce transac-tions.

The Act also provides forpenalty in case of violationsand authorises the state gov-ernments to take action there-on."The Legal MetrologyOffice of the Department ofConsumer Affairs has issued270 notices since January 1,2021 to e-commerce entitiesfor violation of provisions per-taining to country of originand an amount of approxi-mately Rs 56,40,500 in theform of compounding fees hasbeen realised from such e-commerce companies,"Choubey said.

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Pakistan has said that Chinaagreed to rollover USD 4.2

billion debt that was maturingthis week, providing a majorfinancial relief to the cash-strapped country.

The USD 2 billion loan byChina's State Administration ofForeign Exchange (SAFE) hasbeen rolled over, The ExpressTribune quoted FinanceMinister Shaukat Tarin as say-ing.

The SAFE deposit loanmatured on Wednesday.

Tarin said that the visitingChinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi also conveyed onTuesday China's willingnessto rollover another USD 2.2 bil-lion Chinese commercial loan.The USD 2.2 billion (15 billionyuan) facility was maturingon Friday.

Pakistan had made repeat-ed requests to Beijing torollover the debt and the latestrequest was made last week tothe top Chinese leadership,according to the ministry offi-cials. Beijing had given a com-mitment to the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF) in 2019to rollover its debt until the

Fund programme expires.During the visit of Prime

Minister Imran Khan, Pakistanhad sought USD 4 billionrollover of SAFE deposits loansthat were maturing in the nextfew months.

Pakistan had requested atotal USD 21 billion lifeline thatincluded a total USD 10.7 bil-lion rollover of both commer-cial and safe deposits.

These included rollover ofSAFE deposits of USD 4 billionand commercial loans of USD6.7 billion upon maturity.

Pakistan has only USD15.8 billion foreign exchangereserves as of last week and itscurrency is fast depreciating.The rupee fell to the lowest everlevel of Rs 181.75 to a USD onTuesday.

Pakistan had also request-ed to increase the size of thecurrency swap facility fromUSD 4.5 billion to USD 10 bil-lion - an additional borrowingof USD 5.5 billion.

The Currency SwapAgreement is a Chinese tradefinance facility that Pakistanhas been using since 2011 torepay foreign debt and keep itsgross foreign currency reservesat comfortable levels instead for

trade-related purposes.The benefit of this arrange-

ment is that the additionalChinese loan will not reflect onthe books of the federal gov-ernment and will not be treat-ed as part of Pakistan's exter-nal public debt.

Pakistan had paid Rs 26.1billion interest on the out-standing balance at agreedrates.

Last month, the IMF saidthat Pakistan owes USD 18.4billion or one-fifth of its exter-nal public debt to China, whichis not only USD 4 billion high-er than the officially reportedfigures but is also the highestlending by any single countryor financial institution.

The IMF has made theUSD 4 billion loan given byChina to stabilise the foreignexchange reserves part of theexternal public debt as of June2021. Out of this, USD 2 billionhas matured but was extendedfurther due to Pakistan's thinfinancial position.

The amount of USD 18.4billion is equal to 20 per centof the external public debtreported by the IMF. It is alsothe highest amount given byany country or an institution.

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Governments across Europehave been slashing fuel

taxes and doling out tens of bil-lions to help consumers, truck-ers, farmers and others copewith spiking energy pricesmade worse by Russia's inva-sion of Ukraine.

The move was, however,not enough for some whoselivelihoods hinged on fuel.

Miguel Ángel Rodriguez,one of the 200 concrete truckdrivers who held a slow-drivingprotest around Madrid thisweek, said filling up used to cost1,600 euros (USD1,760) amonth, but he had been fork-ing out an extra 500 eurossince the start of the yearbecause of the rising price ofdiesel.

"We will continue strikingbecause, at the end of the day,it's pretty much the same for usto go out to work or to stay athome," Rodríguez said.

He warned that his risingcosts were part of "a dominoeffect that is only going todrive us all to our ruin unlessthe government takes somedefinitive action".

He's among those in indus-tries like trucking or fishingwho are staging protests topush politicians to ease theirfinancial pain.

The war has exacerbated a

month-long energy crunch inEurope, which is dependent onRussian oil and natural gas.

Governments have limitedoptions to provide lasting reliefas households and businessesface crippling energy bills, highprices at the pump and othereffects.

Volatile energy marketscontrol natural gas and oilprices that have soared andfuelled record inflation.

Countries like Italy, theNetherlands, Belgium, Greece,Sweden and Cyprus are passingtemporary efforts to provideimmediate help: slashing fueltaxes, rolling out heating andpower subsidies or rebates, andcapping energy bills for house-holds and small businesses.

Such measures "are sensi-ble, and some of them, such asenergy tax cuts, could be sus-tained indefinitely - even ifprices continue to increase,"said Elisabetta Cornago, asenior research fellow at theCentre for European Reformthink tank who specialises inEU energy policy.

But she called them partialsolutions that "only make asmall difference".

"The main problem is thatthese measures to keep energyprices low will also suppressincentives for energy efficien-cy, for investment in greenenergy generation, and for elec-

trifying sectors that currentlyrely on fossil fuels - so theycould make the long-term painof adjustment harder," Cornagosaid.

Raising interest rates, thetool wielded by central banks totame inflation, also would dolittle to rein in energy prices -which European Central BankPresident Christine Lagardenoted last month.

That's because "rising ener-gy prices are due to funda-mental shifts in energy mar-kets", Cornago said.

The energy crisis will be ahot topic at a European Councilsummit starting Thursday inBrussels, where leaders fromSpain, Portugal, Italy andGreece will call for an urgent,coordinated bloc-wideresponse.

EU officials on Tuesdaysaid they were moving towardsthe joint purchase of naturalgas and ensuring the bloc'sstorage facilities were toppedup.

In the meantime, workersare taking to the streets.

Truckers around France,dissatisfied with aid they con-sider "insufficient", held a dayof action on Monday, with agroup of independent driversin Normandy and the EnglishChannel region staging a block-ade that prevented hundreds oftrucks from moving.

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Benchmark BSE Sensexreversed its early gains to

close lower by 304 points onWednesday due to profit-tak-ing in banking, financials andselect IT stocks after a recentsurge.

The 30-share BSE barom-eter opened higher and rosefurther to 58,416.56 in line withgains in Asian shares.

However, profit-taking byinvestors in recent winnersand lackadaisical buying athigher levels dragged down theindex which tanked over 420points to hit the day's low of57,568.59 points in the secondhalf.

The Sensex finally closedlower by 304.48 points or 0.53per cent to settle at 57,684.82.During the day, it tanked420.71 points or 0.72 per centto 57,568.59.

The broader NSE Niftydipped 69.85 points or 0.4 percent to finish at 17,245.65 with29 of its stocks ending in red.

The key indices had gainedover 1 per cent in the previoustrade.

Among Sensex stocks,HDFC fell the most by 2.36 percent.

Kotak Mahindra Bank lost2.25 per cent, HDFC Bank fellby 1.26 per cent, Bharti Airtelby 1.97 per cent, Sun Pharmaby 1.46 per cent, Maruti SuzukiIndia by 1.54 per cent,Mahindra & Mahindra by 1.33per cent, Asian Paints by 1.16per cent and Infosys by 0.86 percent.

"Domestic equity market is

stuck in a range for the last cou-ple of days amid increasingvolatility. Despite opening inthe green, follow up buying wasmissing at higher levels. Thisled to downward pressure inthe second half of the day," saidSiddhartha Khemka, Head -Retail Research, Motilal OswalFinancial Services Ltd.

Among major gainers, DrReddy's Laboratories rose by2.31 per cent, Tata Steel by 2.15per cent, and ITC by 0.86 percent.

"After the recent rally, mar-ket is getting cautious. Volatilityis back due to inflationary pres-sures triggered by supply con-straints. While consistently ris-ing input cost & fall in demanddue to surge in Covid cases inparts of the world, war & highcommodity prices are impactingearnings growth which can leadto downgrade in outlook," saidVinod Nair, Head of Research atGeojit Financial Services.

In the broader market, theBSE midcap index gained 0.39per cent, while smallcap gaugedipped marginally by 0.02 percent.Among BSE sectoralindices, banking (down 0.81per cent), finance (0.74 percent), auto (0.72 per cent) andindustrials (0.56 per cent) werethe biggest laggards.

"The move in the index sofar shows consolidation after twoweeks of rebound and it'shealthy. However, the prevailinguncertainty on the global frontcombined with lack of anydomestic trigger is keeping theparticipants on their toes,"according to Ajit Mishra, VP -Research, Religare Broking Ltd.

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Under attack from the oppo-sition over the sale of Air

India to Tata Group, CivilAviation Minister JyotiradityaScindia on Wednesday hit backand accused the UPA regime forsaddling the then profit-makingnational carrier with a hugedebt burden.Responding to thedebate on the Demands forGrants of the Civil AviationMinistry in Lok Sabha, Scindialisted out the merger of Air Indiaand Indian Airlines, purchase of111 new aircraft and liberalisa-tion of bilateral rights as the rea-sons for the downfall of thenational carrier.Earlier, opposi-tion members had slammedScindia for not referring to thesale of Air India in his nearlyhour-long reply to the eight-hourdebate on the budgetary alloca-tion to the civil aviation ministry.

"Before 2005, Air India wasmaking a profit of Rs 15 crore perannum and Indian Airlines wasmaking profit of Rs 50 crore.These airlines were made to pur-chase 111 aircraft at a cost of Rs50-55,000 crore which pushedthe national carrier into deepdebts," Scindia said.

As opposition membersstood up in protest, Scindia saidhe had not referred to Air Indiaat all, but was forced to speakafter Trinamool leader SudeepBandyopadhya and Congressleader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhuryraised the issue.

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World number oneAshleigh Barty stunnedtennis on Wednesdayby announcing her

retirement from the sport aged just25, saying she had fulfilled herdreams and was "spent physically".

Barty dropped the bombshellweeks after becoming the first homeAustralian Open champion in 44years and so winning a Grand Slamcrown on three different surfaces.

In a tearful social media videomessage with her close friend andformer doubles partner CaseyDellacqua, Barty said she was "soready" to call it quits after achievingher life-time ambition to winWimbledon last year.

"Success for me is knowing thatI've given absolutely everything,everything I can. I'm fulfilled, I'mhappy and I know how much workit takes to bring the best out of your-self," said the three-time GrandSlam winner.

"It's just I don't have that in meanymore. I don't have the physicaldrive, the emotional want and kindof everything it takes to challengeyourself at the very top level any-more.

"I think I just know that I'mabsolutely, I am spent. I just knowphysically I had nothing more to giveand that for me is success."

One of the most respected andloved players on tour, Barty alsobecame the best -- with her dizzyingarray of slices, pinpoint serving and

seamless forehand typifying her all-round game.

Few athletes can boast such avaried sporting resume as the down-to-earth Australian.

She began playing tennis as achild in the Queensland state capi-tal Brisbane and went on to win thejunior Wimbledon title as a 15-year-old in 2011.

But the expectations that camewith success took their toll and shemade a shock decision three yearslater to ditch tennis for cricket,signing for Brisbane Heat in theinaugural Women's Big Bash League.

DREAM COME TRUE

But the lure of tennis was neverfar away and she returned after a sea-son out, breaking through for hermaiden Grand Slam triumph at theFrench Open in 2019 and becomingAustralia's first women's world num-ber one since Evonne Goolagong-Cawley 50 years ago.

Barty finally won a cherishedWimbledon crown last year beforeher Australian Open triumph atMelbourne Park in January, storm-ing back from 5-1 down in the sec-ond set against American DanielleCollins to triumph 6-3, 7-6 (7/2).

"It's something I've been think-ing about for a long time," she saidof retirement.

"To be able to win Wimbledon,which was my dream, the one truedream that I wanted in tennis, thatreally changed my perspective. AndI just had that gut feeling afterWimbledon and had spoken to my

t e a mquite a lot

about it."And there was just

a little part of me thatwasn't quite satisfied,wasn't quite fulfilled.And then came the chal-lenge of the AustralianOpen and I think thatfor me just feels likethe most perfect way."

Barty has beenworld number onefor more than twoyears and saidafter herAustralian Openwin that she want-ed time to consid-er her nextmove, with-drawing fromthe presti-gious earlys e a s o nhardcourtt o u r n a -ments atI n d i a nWells andMiami.

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Re i g n i n gWimbledon and

Australian Openc h a m p i o nAshleigh Bartyannounced hershock retirementfrom tennis onWednesday aged

25. Here are a fewhighlights from her

short but illustriouscareer:

‘DREAM’ WIMBLEDON

TRIUMPH

The Australian winsWimbledon on the 50thanniversary of fellow indige-nous Australian EvonneGoolagong Cawley's triumphthere. Barty's victory in 2021fulfils a dream that leaves herwondering how long she wantsto carry on.

In her retirement message Barty — who wonthe French Open in 2019 —described her Wimbledoncrown as her "one true dream".

AUSTRALIAN

OPEN AT LAST

In January 2022, Bartybecame the first Australian to

win her home Grand Slam in44 years.

The world number onewas 5-1 down in the second setagainst fearless AmericanDanielle Collins but camestorming back to win on atiebreak and sweep past the27th seed in straight sets.

LEAVING TENNIS, ACT I

Barty decides out of theblue aged 18 to take a breakfrom tennis — she had wonthe junior Wimbledon title in2011 and reached three GrandSlam doubles finals.

After putting down hertennis racquet, Barty tries herhand at cricket and turned outfor the Brisbane Heat in theinaugural Women's Big BashLeague.

After one season, Bartydecides to return to her firstsporting love, tennis.

GOLF TALENT, TOO

After skipping the FrenchOpen over Covid-19 fears,Barty picks up her golf clubsin September 2020 and claimsthe Brookwater Golf Clubwomen's title near Brisbane.

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Manchester United greatWayne Rooney and for-

mer Arsenal captain PatrickVieira were on Wednesdayinducted into the PremierLeague Hall of Fame.

The pair are the ninth and10th players named in the selectgroup, joining David Beckham,Steven Gerrard, DennisBergkamp, Frank Lampard, RoyKeane, Eric Cantona, ThierryHenry and Alan Shearer.Rooney, currently manager ofChampionship side Derby, issecond on the list of all-timePremier League goalscorers,with 208 goals for ManchesterUnited and Everton.

"It's a huge honour for me tobe named in the Premier LeagueHall of Fame, alongside anincredible group of players whohave already been inducted,"said the 36-year-old former

forward."Growing up, I watched the

Premier League as far back as Ican remember. My dream wasalways to become a profession-al footballer, score goals, and wintrophies and I was lucky enoughto win the Premier League fivetimes. "I have so many brilliantmemories from my years play-ing for Everton and ManchesterUnited and I'm really proud ofwhat we achieved."

Vieira, now manager ofCrystal Palace, played 307 timesin the Premier League, winningthe competition three timesincluding as captain of theArsenal "Invincibles" team, whoremain the only club to havewon the title without losing agame. "Being inducted into thePremier League Hall of Fame isa fantastic achievement," said theFrench World Cup winner, whofinished his playing career atManchester City.

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Manchester United have held "pos-itive" talks with Ajax coach Erik

ten Hag about the vacant manager's jobat Old Trafford, it was reported onWednesday.

Ralf Rangnick has been in chargeof the misfiring Premier League giantson an interim basis since Ole GunnarSolskjaer was sacked in November afternearly three years in charge.

Sky Sports said the talks with TenHag had been "positive", reporting thatclub chiefs were believed to beimpressed by his vision. But it isunderstood to be too early to talk about

favourites for the job.Other names in the frame include

Paris Saint-Germain boss MauricioPochettino, Sevilla manager JulenLopetegui and Spain coach LuisEnrique.

Chelsea boss Thomas Tuchel wasmentioned as a possible candidate dueto the turmoil at the London club fol-lowing sanctions imposed on Russianowner Roman Abramovich but he hasreaffirmed his commitment to theBlues.

Ten Hag, who took over at Ajax in2017, won the Dutch league title in2019 and 2021 and his team are cur-rently two points clear of PSV

Eindhoven at the top of the table.The 52-year-old's contract at Ajax

runs until 2023 but United have goodlinks with the Dutch club, where for-mer goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar ischief executive.

Whoever takes over at OldTrafford will have a major rebuildingjob, with a clutch of senior playersincluding Paul Pogba, Jesse Lingardand Edinson Cavani all out of contractat the end of the season.

The future of 37-year-old CristianoRonaldo, who rejoined United inAugust, has also been the subject ofwidespread speculation after the club'sdisappointing season.

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The football associations ofEngland, Northern Ireland,

the Republic of Ireland,Scotland and Wales onWednesday formally submittedtheir joint bid to host Euro2028 to European governingbody UEFA.

The "Expression ofInterest" comes on deadlineday, with The Times in Londonreporting earlier this week thatthe UK and Ireland bid was setto be unopposed.

A joint statement from thefive associations read: "Webelieve Euro 2028 would be oneof the greatest sporting eventsever held in the UK andIreland.

"This unprecedented part-nership of five associationsoffers something special to

European football, includingthe potential for an expandedtournament, and we are pas-sionate about maximising thesustainability and legacy ben-efits for communities across theUK and Ireland."

There had been reportedinterest from Russia -- beforethe country's invasion ofUkraine -- and Turkey but sofar no other national associa-tion has confirmed an intentionto bid.

The UK and Ireland aban-doned plans to bid for the 2030World Cup last month infavour of going for Euro 2028.

UEFA, which couldexpand the tournament to 32teams, is expected to make aformal decision on April 7.

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The World Cup hopes of thelast two European champi-

ons are on a knife edge withPortugal and Italy on a collisioncourse in decisive qualifyingplay-offs over the next week.

A potential clash in Portobetween the Euro 2016 winners,captained by Cristiano Ronaldo,and an Italy team who succeed-ed them as continental cham-pions last year is a mouth-watering prospect.

However, both must firstcome through semi-finals onThursday that are far fromforegone conclusions, withPortugal hosting Turkey andItaly facing North Macedonia.

Failure to reach this year'sWorld Cup would be a catastro-phe for the Azzurri, who hadgone to every finals since 1958until missing out in 2018 whenthey lost a play-off to Sweden.

It would be all the moreremarkable given that theybounced back from that underRoberto Mancini to win Euro2020 while on a world record37-game unbeaten run.

Yet four draws in their lastfive World Cup qualifiers lastautumn saw them finish secondin their group to Switzerland,and now they must comethrough these two one-off tiesto secure a place in the April 1draw in Doha.

"Our goal is to win theWorld Cup, and to win theWorld Cup we have to win

these two matches. There'snothing else to say," Mancinisaid on Monday.

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Italy host North Macedoniain Palermo, and they will knownot to take the Balkan nation oftwo million people lightly.

After all, they beatGermany away in qualifyinglast year before appearing attheir first major tournament atEuro 2020, and they also heldItaly to a damaging draw inTurin in qualifying for the lastWorld Cup.

"We are not going to Italyas tourists, but to outplay(them) and to win," said coachBobi Milevski, who is aiming totake North Macedonia — bornin 1991 out of the break-up ofYugoslavia — to their firstWorld Cup. Portugal skipperRonaldo will be 41 come 2026,

so Qatar surely represents hislast chance to win the WorldCup. Missing out altogether isunthinkable for the all-time topscorer in international footballwith 115 goals.

"We know the road will notbe easy and we have full respectfor our opponents, who sharethe same objective as us. Buttogether we will fight to takePortugal where we belong,"Ronaldo posted on Instagramthis week.

Portugal, who are rankedeighth in the world, two placesbehind Italy, must beat Turkeyin Porto to reach the play-offfinal, in which they would havehome advantage.

However, their two first-choice centre-backs have beenruled out — Manchester City'sRuben Dias succumbed toinjury before 39-year-old veter-an Pepe tested positive forcoronavirus.

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Veteran Sharath Kamal final-ly made the men's singles

medal round in a major cham-pionship when he entered thesemifinals of the WTTContender Doha here onWednesday.

He was the lone Indian,ranked No. 41, in the fray afterbeating Tomislav Pucar ofCroatia 11-8, 11-7, 11-4, follow-ing the exit of G Sathiyan, in thefirst round.

However, Sathiyan andManika Batra combined well toreach the final of the mixed dou-bles. The pair, ranked No. 7 in theworld, accounted for HongKong's Wong Chun Ting andDoo Hoi Ken 3-2.

The Croat, just a place aheadof Sharath in the world rankings,failed to contend with the Indianonslaught in the quarterfinalsand was error-prone on the day.

The closest he came toSharath was in the first game inwhich he managed eight points,and one less in the second.However, in the third, Sharathran into a sizable lead and main-tained it throughout to win it instyle. In the semifinals, Sharath

will take on Chinese Yuan Licen,who is ranked 264. But it was thesame Chinese who accounted forSathiyan on Monday when hedecimated the Indian 11-5, 11-6, 14-12.

Other men's paddlers thatcould not make it to the maindraw of the men's singles includ-ed Manav Thakkar, HarmeetDesai, SFR Snehit and MuditDani. The win in the semifinalsby the mixed duo against theworld No. 4 pair was indeedcreditable, particularly after theway the Indians kept their hopesalive when the Hong Kong pairlevelled the score 2-2, taking the

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Seventh seed KidambiSrikanth defeated Mads

Christophersen in straightgames in the men's singlesopening round of Swiss Openbadminton here onWednesday.

The Indian beat the Danish

player 21-16, 21-17 in a matchlasting 32 minutes.

Third seeds Chirag Shettyand Satwiksairaj Rankireddygot past Indonesia'sMuhammad Shohibul Fikriand Bagas Mauland after losingthe first game. The final score-line read 17-21, 21-11, 21-18.

Other Indians in fray, P V

Sindhu, Saina Nehwal andParupalli Kashyap play theiropening matches later onWednesday.

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Congrats on an incredi-ble career Ash. It was a priv-ilege to share a court withyou. Wishing you all thebest in your next chapter,@ashbarty. You will bemissed

—KAROLINA PLISKOVA

Happy for @ashbarty gut-ted for tennis what a player

—ANDY MURRAY

Ash, what can I say, youknow I have tears right? Myfriend, I will miss you ontour. You were different, andspecial, and we shared someamazing moments. What'snext for you? Grand Slamchampion in golf?! Be happyand enjoy your life to themax xo Simo @ashbarty

—SIMONA HALEP

What a legend @ashbar-ty.. tennis will miss you ..unbelievable role model onand off the court .. good luckmate for this next phase#inspiration.

—SANIA MIRZA

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issue to the decider.In the crucial fifth game,

they stopped their opponentswell short to win the match 13-11, 9-11, 11-9, 8-11, 11-8. In thefinal on Thursday, they willmeet the top seeded pair fromTaipei — Cheng I-Ching and LinYun-Ju.

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UK and Ireland submit Euro 2028 bid

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Top-seed Saumya Vig ofGujarat sailed into the

semifinals of the CTC-AITAwomen's tennis tournament2022 being organised here byChennai Tennis Centre withan easy 6-0, 6-1 win over SirsiManjunath Patil (Karnataka).

She was joined in the lastfour by the second, third andfourth seeds respectively afterthey had to work harder fortheir wins.

While second-seededJanani Ramesh (TN) had toquell the challenge of a fight-ing state-mate Joell Nichole 7-5, 7-6(5), the third-seedVidula Reddy of Karnatakadefeated Tamil Nadu's MHarivarshine 6-2, 7-5.

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Mumbai Indiansskipper RohitSharma onWednesday said

they will have no "addedadvantage" of playing their IPLmatches in the city's threegrounds as many in the "rela-tively new team" have notplayed a single game here inlast two years.

The IPL-15 begins at theWankhede Stadium with aclash between Chennai SuperKings and Kolkata KnightRiders on Saturday.

"I hope you saw the auc-tion, relatively new team, lot ofnew guys have come into theteam, so I don't believe inadded advantage because theseguys, like lot of the guys 70 (or)80 percent of the squad has notplayed in Bombay before,"Rohit said at a virtual pressconference.

"So there is no such thingas added advantage," the five-time IPL winning captainadded.

The league phase of the IPLwill be held in Mumbai andPune. Mumbai have been play-ing their home games at the

Wankhede Stadium since thestart of the tournament in2008.

"Only myself, Surya(Suryakumar Yadav), (Kieron)Pollard, Ishan (Kishan),(Jasprit) Bumrah have played inBombay a lot. Others have notplayed, so there is no such thingas added advantage," he reiter-ated.

"We all are playing inBombay after two years, wehave not played a single gamein Mumbai, in fact the otherfranchises have played inBombay last year, we didn't getto play, so no advantage," Rohitmaintained.

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Rohit also said that batterSuryakumar is still undergoingrehab at the National CricketAcademy in Bengaluru andwould join the team after get-ting clearance from there.

"Surya is at NCA at themoment, he is recovering well,he will be here soon and I can'tgive you his availability now,whether he will be available forfirst game or not, but we aretrying to get him as soon aspossible, once we have the

clearance from the NCA," saidRohit. Rohit also made it clearthat he and Ishan Kishan wouldopen the batting for the five-time champions.

"I will open the batting. (Ihave) been doing that in thepast, so I am looking forwardto open (the batting) withIshan (Kishan)," he said.

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Kolkata Knight Riders mentor DavidHussey feels new skipper Shreyas Iyer

has a good cricketing brain and has provedhis skills as a leader during his stint as DelhiCapitals captain.

Iyer, who led Delhi Capitals to the finalin 2020, was bought by KKR for �12.25crore at the mega auction last month.

He was named captain by KKR teammanagement ahead of pacer Pat Cummins,who leads the Australian Test side.

"Shreyas is a born leader, just the wayhe walks around, he commands respect.Knowing Pat (Cummins) really well, hewould be a good deputy and would also leadfrom the front," Hussey said during a vir-tual press conference on Wednesday.

"But the way Shreyas has captained inthe past for Delhi, he has a very good crick-et brain and a nice vision of how to play thegame and I think he will express himselfreally well. I think it's a smart move fromBrendon (McCullum) and KKR manage-

ment." Iyer has been in sensational formrecently for India.

Asked Hussey how he would go aboutcoaching the 27-year-old, he replied: "Thebest coaching is to just leave the good play-ers alone, let them go where they work.

"He is in rare form at the moment. Idon't know him, I'm getting to know himbut he comes across as true leader and a per-son who knows his game really really well."

KKR were dealt a blow after T20 spe-cialist Alex Hales withdrew from the tour-nament citing bubble fatigue.

Adding to KKR's misery is that theAustralian duo of Cummins and AaronFinch, who was roped in as Hales' replace-ment, are expected to miss the team's firstfew games as they are touring Pakistan.

"It is a concern to not have your bestplayers available but saying that internation-al cricket is paramount. They miss the firstfive games but they'll hit the ground run-ning, match fit. Both are quality players.Hopefully they can perform as per the gameplan," Hussey said.

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Rajasthan Royals wicket-keeper batter Jos Buttler on

Wednesday asserted they havethe requisite wherewithal andfirepower to end a 13-year-longtitle drought in the IndianPremier League, beginning hereon Saturday.

Buttler, who has beenretained by inaugural IPLchampions alongside skipperSanju Samson and YashasviJaiswal, said he is fresh, re-ener-gised after the injury-forcedbreak and is desperate to con-tribute to the team's goal thisyear. "It's a really exciting timefor the team you know, to starta new cycle and build a newteam. The aim here is to win theIPL, and I can't wait to con-tribute to that," Buttler said.

"We are delighted to haveso many great players in thesquad. Obviously,(Ravichandran) Ashwin and(Yuzvendra) Chahal are two ofthe best spinners in the world,and with a great pace attack, Ithink it's really exciting.

"Then we've got ourselves astrong batting line-up, alongwith great all-round options, soI think it's going to be a reallyexciting IPL for us," added the31-year-old.

Buttler said he was "quiteflattered" after he was retainedby RR. "There were only a cer-

tain number of players thatcould stay with the franchise soit was quite flattering to havebeen offered to be retained. I'vealways enjoyed playing for thisfranchise and have had somereally enjoyable memories.

"Obviously I knew the fran-chise had placed their trust inme, along with Sanju and Yash(Yashasvi Jaiswal). There werea lot of conversations that hap-pened before the auction, andwe were just focused on tryingto create a strong team, cover-

ing all bases that you need towin the tournament," he said.

With a lot of new faces inthe RR squad this year, Buttleris expecting to connect withsome special cricketers in theupcoming season.

"I'm also looking forward toconnecting with a lot of people,especially Chahal. I've playedagainst him a few times, and heseems to be that fun characterin the team. So, I'm looking for-ward to having him on myteam.

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India's Ravindra Jadejareclaimed the top spot from

West Indies' Jason Holder inthe latest ICC Test rankingsfor all-rounders released onWednesday.

Jadeja had risen to No 1after his 175 not out and ninewickets in the first Test againstSri Lanka in Mohali earlierthis month.

However, he had lost theplace to Holder last week.But the two players have onceagain interchanged places withJadeja back on top with 385rating points.

Jadeja 's compatriotRavichandran Ashwin heldon to his third place amongall-rounders and continued tobe second in the bowlers'chart.

Indian pace spearheadJasprit Bumrah, who hadjumped six spots last week,remained static on fourth inthe bowling list.

India skipper Rohit, thecountry's top-ranked batter,fell a spot down to seventh inthe latest Test rankings forbatters.

While former India skip-per Virat Kohli and RishabhPant remained static on theninth and 10th place respec-tively.

Pakistan skipper BabarAzam, who was at his gloriousbest against Australia duringthe second Test of the series inKarachi, gained three spots tomove up to No 5 in the rank-ings chart.

Other star performerswith the bat from the samematch - Mohammad Rizwanand Usman Khawaja - havealso taken a massive leap.

Rizwan has moved up sixspots, to be joint No 11 along-side David Warner after hisunbeaten knock of 104 in thesecond innings. Khawaja, whoscored 160 and 44 in Karachi,moved up eleven spots to No13.

In the ODI chart, Kohliretained his second spot evenas Rohit moved down a rungto be fourth among batters.

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The 15th edition of theIndian Premier League,

which is set to begin inMumbai on Saturday, willwitness 25 per cent crowdattendance in stadiums, theorganisers said onWednesday.

The lucrative league getsunderway at the WankhedeStadium on Saturday withdefending championsChennai Super Kings takingon Kolkata Knight Riders.

"This match will be amomentous occasion as the15th edition of the IPL willwelcome fans back to thestadiums after a brief hiatusowing to the pandemic," anIPL release stated.

"The matches will beplayed across stadiums inMumbai, Navi Mumbai &Pune with an audience occu-pancy rate of 25% as perCOVID-19 protocols," therelease added.

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India's Smriti Mandhana andYastika Bhatia moved up to

the 10th and 39th spots respec-tively in the recently-releasedICC Women's ODI PlayerRankings, but skipper MithaliRaj's descent in the batters'chart continued as she droppedto eighth position.

Star opener Mandhana,who played modest knocksof 35, 10 and 30 in India'sprevious three matches inthe ongoing ICC Women'sWorld Cup, climbed upone place to enter thetop 10 with a rating of663.

Bhatia's impres-sive run was alsoreflected in the

rankings issued on Tuesday asshe moved up eight places tothe 39th spot. The left-handerhad scored back-to-back halfcenturies against Australia andBangladesh in India's previoustwo games.

Mithali, who has slippedfive places in the past two

weeks, has dropped onemore spot to be jointeighth alongside NewZealand's AmySatterthwaite.

In the bowlers'chart, India pacer

Pooja Vastrakar hasrisen 13 spots and is

currently placed56th while veteranJhulan Goswamidropped a rung tobe seventh.

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Defending champions ChennaiSuper Kings will miss the services

of Moeen Ali for their IPL-opener asthe star England all-rounder is yet toreceive his India visa for competing inthe lucrative T20 tournament, begin-ning in Mumbai on Saturday.

CSK CEO Kasi Viswanathan con-firmed the development

"It is almost certain that Moeen Aliwil miss the first game. He has still notgot the visa. We are on it as well asBCCI. Hope it is sorted in a day or two,"Viswanathan said.

"It is disappointing that he has notbeen able to join us. They follow set pro-cedures for players with Pakistandescent. That looks like the reason (fordelay)."His grandfather migrated to

England from Pakistan OccupiedKashmir but Moeen is born in Englandand is a frequent visitor to India.

CSK, four-time IPL champions, willtake on last edition's runner-up sideKolkata Knight Riders in the openingmatch of the this year's IPL at theWankhede Stadium in Mumbai onSaturday. Viswanathan said even if hemanages to reach India by Thursday, Aliwill be unavailable for the openerbecause of the quarantine protocol laiddown by the IPL organisers.

"There is three-day mandatoryquarantine which Moeen has to under-go before joining the IPL bio-bubble.So he will be out of the first game evenif he gets his visa today or tomorrow."

Because of his fine all-round showwhich helped the team lift its fourth IPLtitle, Moeen was retained by CSK

alongside inspirational captainMahendra Singh Dhoni, RavindraJadeja and Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Moeen scored 357 runs from 15innings for CSK in the IPL last year,while also taking six wickets from 15games with his off-spin bowling.

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Besides Moeen, CSK will also misstheir star pacer Deepak Chahar, whohas been ruled out of the first half ofthe IPL due to a right quadriceps injurywhich he sustained during the third andfinal T20 match against the WestIndies in Kolkata last month. Askedabout Chahar's progress, Viswanathansaid: "He will remain in the NCA untilhe gets fitness clearance from the BCCI."

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Pakistan was 268 all out against thepersistent pace of Australia captain

Pat Cummins and impeccable reverseswing of Mitchell Starc to concede amassive 123-run lead on Wednesday inthe third and final Test.

In a sensational collapse after tea onDay 3, Pakistan lost seven wickets for41 runs - the last four wickets withoutadding a run - as Cummins finishedwith 5-56 and Starc took 4-36.

Australia had stretched its lead to134 runs by reaching 11-0 by stumpswith Usman Khawaja not out on 7 andDavid Warner unbeaten on 4.

In-form opening batter AbdullahShafique (81) and veteran Azhar Ali(78) had carried Pakistan to 170-1 anddenied Australia a breakthrough in thefirst session after resuming on 90-1before the visitors took control of theseries deciding test.

Nathan Lyon (1-95), who dried upthe runs with his marathon spell of 30

overs on Day 3, provided the openingwhen he found the outside edge ofShafique's bat after lunch to end apatient 150-run stand.

Shafique's prolific run in the serieshas seen the opening batter score hismaiden Test hundred in the drawn firstTest in Rawalpindi before his patient 96in Karachi led Pakistan to force adraw.

Shafique defied Australia with yetanother patient knock off 228 ballswhich featured 11 fours before Lyonstruck in the fifth over after lunch andsuccessfully overturned umpire AleemDar's not out decision through a tele-vision referral.

With the second new ball onlyseven overs old, Cummins took a spec-tacular return catch to dismiss Azhar inhis homecoming test match as Pakistanwas restricted at 227-3 at tea.

Azhar, playing in his 94th Testmatch but for the first time in his home-town of Lahore, became the fifthPakistani batter to complete 7,000 testruns when he reached 74 by sweepinghard at Lyon to deep square leg for asingle.

Former test captains Younis Khan(10,099), Javed Miandad (8,832),Inzamam-ul-Haq (8,829) andMohammad Yousuf (7,530) are theother Pakistan batters to score morethan 7,000 Test runs.

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Bangladesh fast bowler TaskinAhmed ripped through

South Africa's batting, takingfive for 35 as the hosts collapsedto 154 all out in the series-decid-ing third one-day internation-al at SuperSport Park inCenturion on Wednesday.

It was South Africa's lowesttotal against Bangladesh, whohad never beaten their oppo-nents in South Africa beforewinning the first match of theWorld Cup Super League seriesat the same venue on Friday.

South Africa hit back bywinning the second match inJohannesburg on Sunday andmade a fast start onWednesday, with JannemanMalan and Quinton de Kockputting on 46 for the firstwicket inside the first sevenovers.

Off-spinner Mehidy Hasanhad De Kock caught at long-offfor 12 and South Africa crum-bled to their lowest total againstBangladesh.

Taskin, 26, produced hisbest performance since takingfive for 28 on debut againstIndia on debut in Mirpur in

2014. He bowled at a lively pacein three spells and troubled allthe batsmen. Bangladesh wick-etkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim wasso delighted at taking a lowedge from Kagiso Rabada forTaskin's fifth wicket that hehurled the ball high in the air

in celebration, seeming to hurthis shoulder in the process. Hehad to leave the field.

Bangladesh captain TamimIqbal said at the toss that win-ning a series in South Africawould be "one of our biggestachievements".

No ‘added advantage’ of playingin Mumbai for MI, says Rohit

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Lucknow Super Giants have signedAndrew Tye as a replacement for

the injured England pacer MarkWood for the upcoming IndianPremier League, it was announcedon Wednesday

The announcement was madevia an IPL media advisory.

Wood suffered an elbow injuryduring England's first Test againstWest Indies earlier this month.

Tye has represented Australia in32 T20Is and picked 47 wickets. Theright-arm pacer, who has so farplayed 27 IPL matches and haspicked 40 wickets, will join LSG forthe price of �1 crore.

LSG - who will be making theirIPL debut this season - will begintheir IPL 2022 campaign on March28 when they take on Gujarat Titansat the Wankhede Stadium here.

The IPL-15 begins with a matchbetween Chennai Super Kings andKolkata Knight Riders on March 26.

Tye, who was with RajasthanRoyals earlier, had left the IPL midway last season due to personal reasons.

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