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Popular Punjabi singerSidhu Moosewala wasshot dead by unidentified

assailants in Punjab's Mansadistrict, a day after the StateGovernment withdrew hissecurity cover. His deathsparked off a political slugfest.

Mansa civil surgeon DrRanjeet Rai told reporters thatMoosewala was brought deadat the civil hospital. DeputySuperintendent of Police(Mansa) Gobinder Singh saidMoosewala, 27, was shot sev-eral times. He was in his car, aMahindra Thar, in villageJawahar Ke when he wasattacked.

He had fought on theCongress ticket from MansaAssembly seat in the recentAssembly election and wasdefeated by AAP's Dr VijaySingla. Calling Punjabi singer

and politician SidhuMoosewala's murder onSunday shocking, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal said:"Sidhu Moosewala's murder issaddening and shocking. I justspoke to Punjab CM Mannsahib. Culprits will be given theharshest punishment. I requesteveryone to remain strong andmaintain peace. May God givepeace to his soul," Kejriwaltweeted in Hindi.

Kejriwal's tweet came inresponse to Punjab ChiefMinister Bhagwant SinghMann's tweet on the incident. "I am shocked and deeply sad-

dened by the gruesome murderof Siddhu Moosewala. Nobodyinvolved will be spared. Mythoughts and prayers are withhis family and his fans acrossthe world. I appeal everyone tostay calm," Mann said in histweet. However, the BJP andthe Congress slammed the

AAP Government in Punjab.The BJP held Arvind Kejriwaland Punjab-in-charge RaghavChaddha responsible for themurder of Moosewala.BJP spokesperson Sambit Patrasaid the "remote controlling" ofthe Punjab Government byKejriwal and Chaddha has ren-dered Bhagwant Mann a "pup-pet Chief Minister".Patra wondered how thePunjab Government releasedthe "confidential list of 400 peo-ple" whose security was with-drawn a day before."What input did you takebefore withdrawing securityand why released it," he askedadding "obviously to gain pub-lic applause".He said both the leaders "whoknow little about Punjab"should seek an apology fromthe people of the State.

Former Congress presidentRahul Gandhi in a tweetexpressed shock at the incident.He said, "Deeply shocked andsaddened by the murder ofpromising Congress leader andtalented artist, SidhuMoosewala. My heartfelt con-dolences to his loved ones andfans from across the world."Other leaders of the Congress

and political leaders expressedshock and anger over thekilling of Moosewala andattacked the AAP Governmentfor withdrawing his securitycover.

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The fate of 22 people, includ-ing four members of an

Indian family, on board a Nepaleseairlines plane remained unclear asbad weather and blankets ofclouds made it difficult to locatethe aircraft that went missing onSunday in the mountainous regionof the Himalayan nation minutesafter taking off from the tourist cityof Pokhara, officials said. The con-dition of the plane belonging toTara Air that took off at 10:15 amfrom Pokhara, 200 kilometerseast of Kathmandu, is unknown till

now, the Civil Aviation Authorityof Nepal (CAAN) said in a state-ment.

The turboprop Twin Otter 9N-AET plane had four Indian nation-als, two Germans and 13 Nepalipassengers besides a three-mem-ber Nepali crew, said SudarshanBartaula, a spokesperson at the air-lines.

The plane was flying from thecity of Pokhara to Jomsom, a pop-ular tourist town in central Nepal.The airline issued the list of pas-sengers which identified fourIndians as Ashok Kumar Tripathy,

his wife Vaibhavi Bandekar(Tripathy) and their childrenDhanush and Ritika. The familyis currently residing in Thane citynear Mumbai.

"As the search operations carriedout in possible sites have been hin-dered due to hilly terrain and badweather, the status of the aircraftis still unknown," the CAANstatement said. "However, theRescue Coordination Centreremains open for 24 hours and thesearch operations will be intensi-fied through air as well as landroutes," it added.

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A42-year-old woman —the wife of a Saket courtjudge — was found hang-

ing from a ceiling fan at her broth-er's house in South Delhi's RajpurKhurd area, Maidan Garhi, onSaturday. Police said they haverecovered three suicide notes nearthe body. Police said the judge's wifehas clearly stated in the suicide notesthat she does not hold anyoneresponsible for her death. Accordingto Benita Mary Jaiker, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),South district, additional sessionjudge at Saket court Ashok Beniwal,a resident of Saket Court residen-tial complex, on Saturday informedthe police at 10.30 P.M. that his wifehad been to the Malviya Nagar mar-ket at 11.30 A.M to buy groceriesbut did not return. He filed a miss-ing complaint at the Saket PoliceStation and investigation was car-ried out, a senior police officer said.

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The southwest monsoonhas reached Kerala threedays before the usual

onset date of June 1. After itfailed to arrive on Friday (May27) as predicted earlier, theIMD on Saturday had saidthat the onset of monsoonmight take another 2-3 days.This is only the fourth occasionsince 2010 when the onset ofthe southwest monsoon overKerala happened before time(June 1). As per the recordsof the India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD), the mon-soon had arrived earlier thanusual in 2010 (May 31), 2017(May 30), and 2018 (May 29).

The earliest onset overKerala since 2005 was record-ed in 2006, when the monsoonarrived on May 26. The rainsare expected to reach Delhibetween June 25-30.

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The Government has withdrawn an UniqueIdentification Authority of India (UIDAI) advi-sory that cautioned the general public against

sharing photocopy of their Aadhaar with any organ-isation. The Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY)said it is withdrawing the press release as it can leadto misinterpretation. "The release advised the peo-ple to not to share photocopy of their Aadhaar withany organisation because it can be misused.

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The Janata Dal (U)has denied RajyaSabha (RS) nomina-

tion to Union Steel

Minister RCP Singh,replacing him with a less-er-known leader fromJharkhand, Kheeru Mahto,for the upcoming RS pollsin Bihar.

Meanwhile, the BJP onSunday released its list of16 candidates for elec-tions to the RS whichincludes Union FinanceMinister Nirmala

Sitharaman who will con-test from Karnataka andUnion Minister forCommerce and IndustryPiyush Goyal who will goto the Upper House fromMaharashtra.Elections to fill 57 RajyaSabha seats will be held onJune 10. The decision todeny a berth to RCP Singhcomes amid reports that

Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar and severalsenior JD(U) leadersreportedly opposedSingh's nomination overhis growing proximity tothe BJP leadership. Withthis, the JD(U) will haveno presence in the ModiGovernment unless theBJP accommodates himwithin the next six months.

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PNS JAMSHEDPUR:

RAHUL SHARMA BOKARO

SHAILESH SHARMA HAZARIBAG

Festival, themed on'Go Green to Save

Mother Earth'

PNS RANCHI

jharkhand 02RANCHI | MONDAY | MAY 30, 2022

Apartment vacat-ed, DC rushes to

the spot

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

PANKAJ KUMAR DHANBAD

Police lodge FIR in allegedfake encounter case

M FAIYAZ AHMAD DALTONGANJUnder order of the local court fol-lowing a complaint case, lodgedby Jiramani Devi widow of theslain tribal Brahmdeo Singh, theGaru police station finally onMay 3, lodged the FIR against 8named accused belonging to dif-ferent security setups like Co-BRA, Jharkhand Jaguar andLatehar district sub inspector ofpolice.Brahmdeo Singh was killed in analleged fake encounter in the Pirijungle under the Garu police sta-tion on 12.6.2021. His widowand Jharkhand Janadhikar Ma-hasabha a social outfit for rightsand justice for the common man,did not take this incident any ly-ing down but approached everyone right from Latehar districtpolice to Jharkhand State policeheadquarter to institute / to inter-vene in the case but neither thewidow nor the Jharkhand Janad-hikar Maha Sabha got any suc-cess. There were attempts tohush up or dilute this case, saidsources. Finally the widowlodged a complaint in the courtof the chief judicial magistrateLatehar which ordered the policeto lodge the FIR and it was doneso on May 3, that is more than 11months after the killing of Singhin a fake encounter with the se-curity forces.

PNS RANCHI

PNS DHANBAD

AVINASH ANJAN HAZARIBAG

Fresh measures against flashfloods, civic bodies to carry drive

10 lakh liters water used to douse fire

According to an estimate, more than 100 rounds have been madeby 16 fire engines and more than 10 lakh liters of water has beenused. The fire was so severe that the administration had to takehelp from nearby districts as well. The fire has also caused cracksin the walls of nearby houses. The total damage from this incidentwill be assessed after the fire is extinguished. A total of 50 firebrigade personnel from UCIL along with Tata Steel and Tata Mo-tors including Jamshedpur, Baharagora and Ranchi are engagedin dousing the fire. In view of this, firefighters are now using oxy-gen masks to make it easier for them to go near the fire. PNS

NTPC Swayamsiddha Ladies Club organises Food

BGH Bokaro equipped with enhanced facilities for Quality Health CareEx-Mayor slams DMC over entry fee from morning walkers

SAIL-CET young managers steal the show

Police attaches property of absconding Washeepur gangster

Free infertility counseling camp organized at HZB Arogyam Hospital

PNS RANCHI

jharkhand 03RANCHI | MONDAY | MAY 30, 2022

CM Soren meetsCongress

president in Delhi

PNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI

PNS/AVINASH ANJANRANCHI/HAZARIBAG

NEWS IN PIX

A street vendor selling ‘Hawa Mithai’ waits for customers on a hot summerafternoon in Ranchi on Sunday. Pix by Vinay Murmu

JMM likely to leave RSseat for Congress

Governor Ramesh Bais pays his last respects to Naik Sandeep Kumar Palat Birsa Munda International Airport in Ranchi on Sunday. Pal alongwith sixother Army personnel was killed after their bus skidded off the road and fellinto the Shyok River at the Turtuk area of Ladakh. Pix by Vinay Murmu

PNS RANCHI

Security personnel stand outside the Enforcement Directorate office inRanchi on Sunday. PNS

Rural SPNaushadAlam alongwith senior officialsshowing arrested criminal Dhananjay Pradhanduring a press conference at his office in Ranchion Sunday. Pix by Vinay Murmu

Models dress-uup in different attire of various horror themes partici-pating in ‘Summer Carnival of Horror Sunday’ at Aqua World in Ranchion Sunday. PNS

BAU VC Onkar NathSingh

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Asserting that Covid-19could not interrupt the

growth of Unicorn in India,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Sunday informed that theirnumbers have reached 100 thismonth with 44 of them mak-ing their mark last year whencoronavirus had resurfaced ina big way.

In his monthly 'maan kibaat' radio programme, PrimeMinister asked listeners toplant trees on June 5, the envi-ronment day and find "uniqueways" to do Yoga on June 21when International Yoga Daywould be celebrated.

Modi is himself to lead themain event of the eighthInternational Day of Yoga cel-ebrations on June 21 inMysuru, Karnataka.

In his talk Prime Ministernamed several "selfless indi-viduals" working for the pub-lic good and maintainingcleanliness in different parts of

the country.Pointing to the number of

unicorns in India which hasreached the 100-mark, Modion said that even in the phaseof the Covid pandemic, Indianstartups have been creatingwealth and value with entre-preneurs emerging from small-er cities and towns as well. Onthe fifth of this month thenumber of unicorns in Indiareached the 100-mark.

A unicorn is worth about7.50 thousand crore rupees, hesaid.

“The total valuation ofthese unicorns is more thanUSD 330 billion, that is, morethan 25 lakh crore rupees.Certainly, this is a matter ofpride for every Indian,” hesaid. “You will also be surprisedto know that out of our totalunicorns, 44 came up last year.Not only that, 14 more uni-corns were formed anew in 3-4 months this year. This meansthat even in this phase of theglobal pandemic, our startups

have been creating wealth andvalue,” he said.

Modi also pointed out thatthe average annual growth rateof Indian unicorns is more thanthose of the USA, UK andmany other countries. Analystsalso say that in the comingyears there will be a sharp spikein these numbers, he added.

Noting that the unicornsare diversifying, Modi saidthey are operating in manyfields like E-commerce, Fin-Tech, Ed-Tech and Bio-Tech.

“Another thing which Iconsider more important isthat the world of startups isreflecting the spirit of NewIndia. Today, India’s startupecosystem is not limited to justbig cities; entrepreneurs areemerging from smaller citiesand towns as well This showsthat in India, the one who hasan innovative idea, can createwealth,” he said. Modi alsostressed the importance ofright mentoring when it comesto the world of startups.

He named Sridhar Vembu,a Padma Awardee, who he saidis a successful entrepreneur, butnow he has also taken up uponhimself the task of groomingother entrepreneurs in ruralareas.

Meera Shenoy, he said isalso one such example doingremarkable work in the field ofMarket Linked Skills Trainingfor rural, tribal and disabledyouth.

Prime Minister paid tributeto the diversity of the countryand regional languages and

cited an example of a younggirl from Joshimath,Uttarakhand, who learnedKannada language despitebeing infected by TB and los-ing her vision.

"Friends, our country is arich treasure house of manylanguages, scripts and dialects.Varied attire, cuisine and cul-ture in different regions is ourhallmark. As a nation thisdiversity strengthens us andkeeps us united Modi saidshared a "very inspiring exam-ple related to this.

"Her name is Kalpana, buther endeavor is full of the truespirit of ‘Ek Bharat ShreshthaBharat’. Actually, Kalpana hasrecently passed her class 10thexamination in Karnataka, but,the very special thing about hersuccess is that, Kalpana did notknow Kannada language tillsome time ago.

"She not only learnedKannada language in threemonths, but also proved it byscoring 92 marks. You might besurprised to know this, but it istrue. Kalpana is originallyfrom Joshimath inUttarakhand. She had beensuffering from TB earlier andwhen she was in the class threeshe lost her eyesight too, but, asthey say, ‘where there is a will,there is a way’. Kalpana latercame in contact with ProfessorTaramurthy, a resident ofMysuru, who not only encour-aged her but also helped her inevery way.

Stressing on maintainingcleanliness, Modi asked pil-

grims on to the‘Char-Dham’ yatra in

Uttarakhand to not to leavegarbage behind. He compli-mented many who has beendevotedly clearing lthe left-over in and around the pilgrimroutes.

Stressing on keeping goodhealth, Prime Minister saidthe corona pandemic has madeall realize the overarchingimportance of health and Yogabeing a great medium in ensur-ing the same.

"From the world’s top busi-ness persons to film and sportspersonalities, from students tocommon people, everyone ismaking yoga an integral part ofone’s life", he said.

Modi urged people to cel-ebrate Yoga Day this time in aspecial way.

"choose any place in yourcity, town or village which ismost special. This place can bean ancient temple and touristcenter, or it could be the banksof a famous river, lake or pond.

With this, along with yoga, theidentity of your area will alsobe reinforced and tourism therewill also get a boost", he said.

Prime Minister also men-tioned

Hiroshi Koike,a well-known Japanese Director,whom he met during his recenttrip to that country.

"You will be very happy toknow that he has directed theMahabharat Project. This pro-ject was started in Cambodiaand it is continuing for the last9 years", he said

"Hiroshi Koike ji performsevery task in a very differentway. Every year, he travels toone country in Asia and pro-duces parts of the Mahabharatawith local artists and musiciansthere. Through this project, hehas done productions andgiven stage performances innine countries including India,Cambodia, and Indonesia",Prime Minister said referringto Hiroshi's deep attachmentwith India, he said.

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At least ten invasive alien species (IAS)out of 330 in India have cost the

Indian economy between at least Rs 8.3trillion to Rs 11.9 trillion in four decadessince 1960 which has increased withtime, researchers have said. But what ismore concerning is there are ‘glaring’knowledge gaps incurred by these speciesto the country’s economy, they said.

According to the analysis “Massiveeconomic costs of biological invasionsdespite widespread knowledge gaps: adual setback for India,” published in theBiological Invasion, India is the secondtopmost invasion-cost bearing countryafter the United States.

These costs are likely to be a “grossunderrepresentation” of the actual costsbased on the global analysis of 112 coun-tries, said the authors of the study.

“The negative economic impactsare documented and available only for3 percent of the known invasive speciesand unavailable/masked/underrepre-sented for the rest 97% of invasivespecies in India. That’s a huge knowledge

gap,” said the Lead author of the study,Alok Bang from the Society for EcologyEvolution and Development, Wardha,Maharashtra.

He pointed out that “When costswere specifically assigned, maximumcosts were incurred in West, South andNorth India, by invasive alien insects insemi-aquatic ecosystems; they wereincurred mainly by the public and socialwelfare sector and were associated withdamages and losses rather than man-agement expenses.

“Our findings indicate that thereported economic costs grossly under-estimate the actual costs, especially con-sidering the expected costs given India’spopulation size, gross domestic product,and high numbers of IAS without report-ed costs.”

The researchers expressed concernsthat despite the long-lasting ecologicalproblems caused by IAS in India, thecountry lacks awareness of the enormi-ty of associated economic costs, in turnpreventing the development of biosecu-rity protocols, pre-and post-invasionmonitoring guidelines, effective eradi-

cation programmes and trained humanresources to tackle this issue.

To bring home their point, they citeda few examples in this direction. Forinstance, they said, the most commonexamples of IAS in India include theSanta-Maria feverfew or carrot grassParthenium hysterophorus, gainingentry with imported wheat from the USAin the 1950s; the flagship mass socialafforestation programmes undertaken bythe government of India using the inva-sive river tamarind Leucaena leuco-cephala; or the invasion of theMozambique tilapia Oreochromismossambicus, a fast-growing fish intro-duced as a source of income for disad-vantaged fishing communities, but whichis now replacing the native fish com-munities in Indian water bodies.

The researchers have called forimmediate measures to address socio-ecological issues in India and suggestedthe Government to launch a nationalbiological invasion research programme,“especially since economic growth willbe accompanied by greater impacts ofglobal change”.

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Researchers at the IndianInstitute of Technology

(IIT), Delhi have revealed themechanisms driving the evo-lution of SARS-CoV-2 inhumans which can help inbetter understanding ofCOVID-19's pathogenesis,immune evasion and emer-gence of variants of concern.

According to the seven-member research team, CpG (acytosine followed by a guanine)numbers in virus genomeshave been linked to host-switching, the efficiency ofvirus replication, immune eva-sion and the ability of a virusto cause disease.

The researchers found thatthe rate of CpG depletion from

SARS-CoV-2 genomes rapidlydecreases after the first fewmonths of evolution inhumans. The research has beenpublished in a journal,Molecular Biology andEvolution, and is titled "TheSlowing Rate of CpG Depletionin SARS-CoV-2 Genomes isConsistent with Adaptations tothe Human Host".

"Zinc-finger antiviral pro-tein (ZAP) is a host protein thatcan bind to CpG-rich regionsin SARS-CoV-2, the causativeagent of the COVID-19 pan-demic, and recruits other hostproteins to degrade the viralRNA. Several viruses includingHIV-1, Influenza A virus andSARS-CoV-2 prefer to reducetheir CpG content (by losingCpGs) to minimise the host

immune response, thus allow-ing better virus replication andsurvival," VivekanandanPerumal from the KusumaSchool of Biological Sciences,IIT Delhi told PTI.

"The team analysed over1.4 million full-length SARS-CoV-2 sequences from acrossthe world. They found that therate of CpG depletion fromSARS-CoV-2 genomes rapidlydecreases after the first fewmonths of evolution inhumans.

"Furthermore, most SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern hadlower CpG content. This workhighlights the existence ofselection pressures apart fromZAP that may lead to CpGdepletion in SARS-CoV-2genomes," he added.

SARS-CoV-2 has a uracil-rich (uracil is one of the fourbuilding blocks of RNA)genome. The researchers haveidentified how uracils adja-cent to CpGs contribute to theaccelerated loss of CpGs fromSARS-CoV-2 genomes.

"Our results lay the neces-sary groundwork for futurestudies on understanding theintricacies of virus-host inter-actions leading to CpG deple-tion," IIT Delhi professorManoj Menon said.

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To improve the ease of liv-ing for the common man,

the Government is planning tolaunch 'Jan Samarth' — a com-mon portal for delivery ofvarious schemes run by dif-ferent Ministries andDepartments.

As part of the NarendraModi Government's vision ofminimum Government max-imum governance, the newportal plans to initial lyonboard 15 credit-linked gov-ernment schemes, sourcessaid.

The offerings will be grad-ually expanded, depending oncompatibility, as some of theCentrally Sponsored Schemeshave involvement of multiple

agencies, they added. For example, schemes like

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojanaand Credit Linked CapitalSubsidy Scheme (CLCSS) arebeing administered by differ-ent ministries.

The proposed portalintends to bring these schemeson a single platform so thatthey can be accessed by thebeneficiaries without muchhassle. Pilot testing is beingdone and loose ends are beingtied up before the actuallaunch takes place, they said,adding State Bank of India(SBI) and other lenders aredoing the testing.

They said the portal willhave open architectureenabling state governmentsand other institutions to also

onboard their schemes on thisplatform in the future.

To provide comfort toborrowers, the government in2018 had launched a portalhttp ://psbloansin59min-utes.Com for various kinds ofcredit products, includingMSME, home, auto and per-sonal loans. The portal facili-tates in-principle approval ofloans for MSMEs and otherborrowers in 59 minutes byvarious state-owned bankscompared to the earlier turn-around time of 20-25 days.

After receiving an in-prin-ciple approval letter, the loanis expected to be disbursed in7-8 working days. The portalprocesses loan applicationswithout human interventiontill the sanction stage. Any

MSME borrower does notneed to submit any physicaldocument for in-principleapproval for a loan.

Instead, the portaldepends on advanced algo-rithms to analyse data pointsfrom several sources such asIncome Tax returns, GST data,bank statements etc.

The platform is integrat-ed with the government'sCredit Guarantee Fund Trustfor Micro and SmallEnterprises (CGTMSE) tocheck borrowers' eligibility.

In the first two months ofthe launch of the portal, state-owned banks had given in-principle approval to 1.12 lakhloan applications of micro,small and medium enterpris-es, totalling Rs 37,412 crore.

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Over 94 per cent of 27.69 crore infor-mal sector workers registered on the

e-Shram portal have a monthly incomeof Rs 10,000 or below and over 74 per centof the enrolled workforce belongs toscheduled castes (SC), scheduled tribes(SC) and other backward classes (OBC),according to the latest data.

The proportion of informal workersgetting a monthly income of Rs 10,000 orbelow was 92.37 per cent in the middleof November 2021 when total enrolmentson e-Shram portal were a little over 8crore.

Those belonging to SC, ST and OBCwho enrolled on the portal were 72.58 percent in the middle of November 2021.

The experts are of the view that as theenrolments progress on e-Shram portaltowards the ultimate goal of enrolling allinformal sector workers estimated at 38crore in the country, the data would showsharp disparities in the society.

E-Shram portal is aimed at buildinga comprehensive National Database of

Unorganized Workers (NDUW) in thecountry.

The aim of the portal is to boost thelast-mile delivery of the welfare schemesfor over 38 crore unorganised workers inthe country. It was launched on August26, 2021.

The experts are of the view thatalmost all targeted informal sector work-ers should be registered on e-Shram por-tal during this calendar year only, whichwould give a big opportunity to the polit-ical leadership to draft an evidence-based policy for the large section ofdeprived classes in the country.

According to the latest data, as manyas 27.69 crore informal sector workers areregistered on the portal and show that thisunorganised workforce is living underextreme poverty and a majority of thosebelong to socially backward communities.

The data showed that 94.11 per centof the registered informal workers havea monthly income of Rs 10,000 or below,while 4.36 per cent have a monthlyincome between Rs 10,001 and Rs 15,000.

The social category analysis of the

data shows that 74.44 per cent of regis-tered workers are below the sociallybackward classes, including 45.32 per centOBC, 20.95 per cent SC and 8.17 per centST. The proportion of the GeneralCategory workers is 25.56 per cent.

Age-wise analysis of the data showthat 61.72 per cent of the registered work-ers on the portal are of the age from 18years to 40 years, while 22.12 per cent areof the age from 40 years to 50 years.

The proportion of the registeredworkers aged above 50 years is 13.23 percent, while 2.93 per cent of workers areaged between 16 and 18 years.

Gender analysis shows that 52.81 percent of registered workers are female and47.19 per cent are male.

Top-5 states in terms of registrationsare Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal,Madhya Pradesh and Odisha.

Occupation wise, agriculture is at thetop with 52.11 per cent of enrolmentsdone by those related to the farm sectorfollowed by domestic and householdworkers at 9.93 per cent and constructionsworkers at 9.13 per cent.

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Pakistan-based terror groupJaish-e-Mohammad chief

Maulana Masood Azhar hasgiven a call to the Muslims to“prepare for action” againstany adverse outcome of theongoing suits in various courtsin India concerning temple-mosque complexes like KashiVishwanath Temple andGyanvapi Mosque.

In a recent Friday sermon,the Maulana has askedMuslims to rally behind themosques facing litigations inIndia, said sources trackingthe terror group.

Taking a cue from the JeMexhortations, outfits here likethe radical Popular Front ofIndia (PFI) have also given asimilar call, exhorting theMuslims to protest such claimsof prior existence of temples onmosques like Gyanvapi inVaranasi and Shahi Eidgah inMathura.

“The JeM plot to galvanisethe Muslims in the region isorchestrated by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) toexploit the communal faultlinesto foment trouble, enhancefan following in the gullible sec-tions of the community as alsoto portray India as an intoler-ant country,” a senior intelli-gence official said.

Earlier in 1991, post Babrimosque demolition, the minor-ity Hindus and their templeswere targeted in the countriesneighbouring India, includingin Pakistan, Bangladesh and

Afghanistan.Following a meeting on

May 23 and 24 of PFI’s nation-al executive council atPutthanani, the outfit exhort-ed the Muslims to unite on theongoing disputes concerningthe prior existence of templeson mosques.

The outfit has furtherasked the Islamic communitymembers to oppose the ongo-ing action against mosquesand places of worship.

In a resolution passed atthe national executive meetregarding the temple-mosquedispute, the PFI said thatGyanvapi mosque andMathura’s Shahi Eidgah areoutcomes of ill-intentionedpetitions by Sangh Parivarorganizations and are com-pletely against the Places ofWorship Act, 1991 and thecourts should not have allowedthem.

True to its radical spirit, thePFI has also commented oncertain court decisions. In its

resolution, the outfit has saidthat the Supreme Courtupholding the ban on the useof the Vuzukhana of theGyanvapi Masjid is disap-pointing.

The PFI further claimedthat the courts also did not feelthe need to test such claims onthe basis of facts and evidence,to the effect that anyone any-where in the country can makesuch claims about any place ofworship. As a result of thiscommunal elements are nowtargeting mosques in manyparts of the country, the latestexample being that of JamaMasjid in Mangaluru,Karnataka. This will lead tonever-ending communal enmi-ty and mistrust, it said.

The PFI also appealed tothe courts to do justice to thePlaces of Worship Act 1991 andstay the process of petitionsbased on communalism seek-ing change in the status of anyplace of worship of any com-munity in the country.

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India has covered on an aver-age 50 per cent of the rural

households with access to tapwater connections, in keepingwith Prime Minister NarendraModi’s vision to provide everyrural home with safe drinkingwater.

However, major populat-ed States like Uttar Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, andJharkhand continue to reportbelow 25 per cent coverage offunctional tap water connec-tion, under the central flagshipJal Jeevan Mission.

In contrast, Goa,Telangana, A&N Islands, D&NHaveli and Daman & Diu,Puducherry and Haryana havealready achieved 100 per centhousehold connections.Punjab, Gujarat, HimachalPradesh and Bihar have cover-age of more than 90 percentand are progressing fasttowards attaining the status of

‘Har Ghar Jal’.The Jal Jeevan Mission

aims to empower thePanchayati Raj Institutions andcommunities by engaging themin water supply schemes fromthe very beginning.

Over 9.59 crore ruralhouseholds spread acrossStates/ UTs are getting waterwithin their premises. Womenand girls in these householdsare now free from the century-old drudgery of walking longdistances in scorching heat,rain and snow in search ofwater, said a senior officialfrom the Union Jal Shakti

Ministry..‘Har Ghar Jal’ is a flagship

programme of the UnionGovernment, implemented byJal Jeevan Mission under theMinistry of Jal Shakti, in part-nership with States/ UTs toensure tap water connection inevery rural household by 2024.

At the time of the launch ofJal Jeevan Mission in 2019, only3.23 Crore households i.e. 17per cent of the rural populationhad access to drinking waterthrough taps. The burden ofarrangement of water for dailyhousehold needs mostly fell onwomen and young girls.

On poor coverage in UttarPradesh, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan and Jharkhand, asenior official said it was a mat-ter of concern and the Centrewas working with states toresolve the issues.

The official said eventhough coverage was low inthese states, groundwork forestablishing functional tapwater connections was at an

advanced stage and resultswould soon be visible.

Under the Jal JeevanMission, tap water connec-tions are also being provided togovernment schools, grampanchayat offices, communityhealth centres (CHCs) andanganwadi centres.

According to official data,tap water supply has beengiven to 8.6 lakh schools, 8.89lakh anganwadi centres, and3.51 lakh gram panchayatoffices and CHCs.

Among states and unionterritories, Jharkhand has thelowest coverage of tap waterconnections in schools andanganwadi centres at 17.99 percent and 4.57 per cent, respec-tively.

As of 27 May, 108 districts,1,222 blocks, 71,667 GramPanchayats and 1,51,171 vil-lages have become “Har GharJal”, wherein all rural house-holds have been provided withdrinking water through watertaps.

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After the construction ofthe Ram Temple in

Ayodhya, the temple town ofKashi appears to be waking up,as are Mathura, Vrindavan,Vindhyavasini Dham andNaimish Dham, Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath said onSunday.

There has been no com-munal riot in the state, he toldthe BJP's one-day state execu-tive meeting in Lucknow andmentioned recent festivals tosay that for the first time in thestate the namaz on the lastFriday before Eid was not heldon roads.

Adityanath referred to theinauguration of the KashiVishwanath Temple Corridor,to say one lakh devotees visitKashi every day and the placeis proving the significance of itsname in line with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'svision.

"Ram Navami andHanuman Jayanti were held

peacefully. This was the firsttime that the last Friday namazbefore Eid was not held on thestreets. For namaz there is aplace of worship, the mosqueswhere their religious pro-grammes can be held," he said.

Mentioning the removalof loudspeakers from religiousplaces, he said, "You must haveseen how the unnecessary noisewas got rid of."

At the first state executivemeeting of the BJP after theassembly polls in UttarPradesh, he asked the partyworkers to start preparing forthe 2024 Lok Sabha polls andmove forward with the target ofwinning 75 out of the state's 80seats.

In 2019, the BJP had won62 Lok Sabha seats in UttarPradesh while its ally ApnaDal(S) registered victory intwo seats.

Referring to the KashiVishwanath Temple Corridor,he said, "After the beginning ofthe construction of the grandRam temple in Ayodhya, the

waking up ('angadai') of Kashiis before us."

"All pilgrimages centreslike Mathura Vrindavan,Vindhyavasini Dham, NaimishDham are once again wakingup ('angdai li'). In this situationwe all have to move forwardonce again," the chief ministersaid.

His remarks came amidlegal proceedings over the tem-ple-mosque disputes inMathura and Varanasi, alsoknown as Kashi.

At the meeting, Adityanathsaid, "We have to prepare theground for the 2024 Lok Sabhaelections from now only. Weshould move ahead with the

target of winning 75 seats.""With people's help and by

dint of our hard work duringCovid, we got better results inthe assembly polls. In the 2024general elections, under theleadership of PM Modi, wehave to march ahead with thetarget of winning 75 seats inUttar Pradesh."

Congratulating Modi forcompleting eight years as primeminister, Adityanath said withthe 2024 roadmap, the BJP willsucceed in its achieving itstarget.

Adityanath said the per-ception about the state changedafter 2017 while asserting thatUttar Pradesh is leading thecountry in over four dozenschemes.

Earlier, addressing themeeting, BJP state chiefSwatantra Dev Singh congrat-ulated PM Modi, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, BJP pres-ident J P Nadda and seniorparty leaders and people of thestate for the party's victory inthe assembly polls.

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An alert search party of theJammu and Kashmir

police on Sunday morningshot down a North Koreanhexacopter attached with apayload carrying magneticbombs and UBGL (Under bar-rel grenade launcher) grenadesnear Hariya Chak area ofRajbagh in Kathua district.

A total number of sevenmagnetic bombs and sevenUBGL grenades were packed ina packet attached with thehexacopter.

Police media centre,Jammu Sunday tweeted, "Todayearly morning, the search partyobserved a North Koreandrone coming from the borderside and fired at it. The dronewas shot down. It has a payloadattachment with it which isbeing screened by the bombdisposal experts". 7 Magneticbombs and 7 UBGL grenadeswere later recovered from thedrone.

Significantly, there was no

word from the Border SecurityForce how a hexacopter,attached with a payload, man-aged to enter deep inside theIndian territory from across theInternational border withPakistan and the same was shotdown by the police party inHariya Chak area.

In Jammu, AdditionalDirector General of Police,Jammu range Mukesh Singh ina statement said,"early Sundaymorning, the search party fromRanbagh police stationobserved a drone coming fromthe border side and fired at it.The drone was shot down.

A team of experts fromJammu were rushed to Kathuato examine the hexacopter anddig out more information todetermine its exact trajectoryand the destination fed into itsGPS system.

Meanwhile, the recovery ofmagnetic bombs and UBGLgrenades has already alerted thesecurity grid tasked with theherculean task of conductingpeaceful Amarnath pilgrim-

age starting June 30.According to police, sever-

al incidents of drone spottinghave been reported in the bor-der belt of Kathua and Samba in

recent days. It appears the han-dlers of terrorist outifts havebeen stocking up arms andammunition ahead of the yatra.

SSP Kathua RameshChander Kotwal, the firstsenior officer who reached thespot told reporters, "the hexa-copter was shot down by thepolice party from Rajbaghpolice station as they were reg-ularly carrying out searches inthe Hariya Chak area followinginputs about the suspecteddrone movement from acrossthe International border withPakistan". He said the suspi-cious drone movement anddetection of cross border tun-nels in the border belt of Sambaand Kathua pose a big chal-lenge to the security forcesahead of the beginning ofAmarnath yatra. "We are on thejob and carrying out anti tun-neling drills and launchingearly morning searches todetect any suspicious move-ment of over ground workersand payload dropping viadrones".

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Hours after TrinamoolCongress MP and party

national general secretary,Abhishek Banerjee made anapparently contemptuousremark against the judiciarysaying that “a small percentageof it” was acting as the stoogeof the BJP Government, BengalGovernor Jagdeep Dhankhardemanded strong actionagainst him for having “crossedthe red line” of constitutionaldecorum.

The remarks, made by an“honourable member ofParliament” prove that the“Constitutional institutions inthe State are under attack …the attack on the Judiciary isreprehensible,” the Governoron Sunday said.

Dhankhar who was goingto Darjeeling told journalists inSiliguri, that to attack a judge

in public was a reprehensibleact and attracted necessaryproceedings. “Attacking a judge— who ordered CBI inquiryinto SSC scam — is most con-demnable,” he said adding,“the honourable Member ofParliament crossed the redline.”

Banerjee who is also thenephew of Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Saturdaytold a rally in East Midnaporehow some judges were actinghands in gloves with the BJPGovernment to malign theTrinamool Congress leaders.

“I feel ashamed to say thatthere are a small percentage …perhaps one or two persons inthe judiciary who are acting asTalpi Bahak (luggage bearers inBengali)” of those sitting inDelhi. “They have a tacitunderstanding with them andare ordering CBI investigationin every case… even they are

giving stay in murder cases.”Banerjee however would makeany specific reference about anyparticular judge.

In the recent past theCalcutta High Court hasordered CBI investigations in aplethora of cases that include

CBI investigation into coal andcattle smuggling, large-scaleschool level recruitment scaminvolving thousands of people— by the School ServiceCommission as well as post-poll violence and Rampurhatcarnage case.

Without giving any clarifi-cation for the statements hemade on Saturday, Banerjee hitback at the Governor onSunday saying he was notafraid of telling the truth andwould do so thousands oftimes.

Banerjee tweeted“Yesterday, I said how 1% inKolkata HC is working incohorts with Centre in pro-tecting some individuals.People are Watching, theyknow who is actually ‘Crossingthe Red line’ I rest my case!”

Top leaders of the rulingTrinamool Congress has beenfacing judicial inquiry for thepast several years now.Following the Court ordersenior Bengal ministers likePartho Chatterjee and PareshAdhikari were presently beingquestioned by the central agen-cies for their alleged roles in thefake recruitments of hundreds

(maybe thousands) of people inschools by-passing the claim ofeligible candidates who hadcleared the recruitment exams.

Meanwhile, Congress LokSabha leader AdhirChowdhury made a strongdemand for contempt pro-ceedings against Banerjee formaking “such filthy statementsagainst the High Court Judges… Though I am not a legalexpert to demand such steps Ifeel contempt proceedingsshould be started … AbhishekBanerjee is making such state-ments because he knows thathis party leaders are in trouble… in any case this is the samejudiciary — to which heapproaches every time — thathas given him respite fromappearance before the CBI andED in their Delhi offices … heis so much afraid of being jailedthat he is making such com-ments.”

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Hard pressed for fundsBengal Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee on Sundayslammed the Centre for notclearing the State Government’sdues “making it impossible toclear the “wages under theNREGA scheme.

Banerjee who was on a dis-trict tour said, that her partyTrinamool Congress wouldorganise continuous agitationagainst the Centre in the firstweek of June if its demandswere not met. She told themedia at Durgapur how thatthe “Centre has not cleared theState’s dues towards the 100-

days work scheme for the pastfive months … this is creatinggreat hardship for the poorestof the poor people who havebeen hit hard by the nonpay-ment of wages.”

Asking her party wings to“hold protest marches at village,block and district level on June5 and 6 against the Centre’sdeprivation,” Banerjee said that“they (New Delhi) already owesRs 98,000 to the State … andhere they have stopped fundsworth Rs 6,000 towards thepayment of wages for 100-days work … this is despite thefact that Bengal is number onein Awas Yojna (housing) and100-days work projects.”

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The Bahujan Samaj Partywill not contest the bypoll

for the Rampur parliamentaryseat and also not support anyparty on this seat. The party,however, will fight for theAzamgarh Lok Sabha seat inthe bypoll.

BSP chief Mayawatideclared Shah Alam aliasGuddu Jamali as the partycandidate for the by-election toAzamgarh Lok Sabha seat.

By-elections for theRampur and Azamgarh par-liamentary seats will be held onJune 23. The bypolls have beennecessitated after the resigna-tions of Mohammad AzamKhan and Samajwadi Partypresident Akhilesh Yadav fromRampur and Azamgarh LokSabha seats respectively afterthey won the UP assemblypolls.

In a statement issued aftera two-day party review meet-ing in Lucknow, the BSP said,"The party will not contest theLok Sabha by-elections sched-

uled on June 23 from theRampur seat as we have towork on this seat to make theorganisation strong there. Theparty will also not supportanyone on this seat. The partyhas already decided to contestthe Azamgarh parliamentaryseat.”

The party asserted that it is"capable" of shaking the rootsof the "anti-poor" and "pro-cap-italists" Bharatiya Janata Partyin the state. At the meeting,Mayawati said the BSP was aparty with limited resourcesand it was fighting parties thatwere run with the support ofcapitalists so "we have to makethe party strong by holdingsmall cadre-based meetings".

"We did not get expectedresults in the assembly pollseven after hard work," she said,and added, "New politicaldevelopment will give a newlease of life to the party and forthis attempts are on."

"After uprooting theCongress from the state, theBSP is the only party that cando the same for the BJP," she

added.An atmosphere of atroci-

ties on the poor and anarchy isseen in the BJP rule but peoplecannot muster the courage tospeak against them, shecharged.

"Poor and unemployed aretargeted in the name of anti-encroachment drives and theyare made targets with the ter-ror of bulldozer. The right useof bulldozers is for makingroads and construction worksbut it has been put for destruc-tion works," she said.

At the meeting, Mayawatiadvised party workers to holdcadre meetings on the issues ofemployment and basic prob-lems of people.

She alleged that to divertthe attention of people, reli-gious issues and disputes werebeing raised in the state.

Mayawati also said thatdue to lack of upkeep, memo-rials and parks constructedduring her regime in Lucknowwere in a bad shape and an ade-quate budget was not beingallocated for them.

�� :�

Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, anorganisation of Deobandi

Sunni Muslim clerics, hasopposed the proposed UniformCivil Code (UCC).

In the conclaves of theclerics at Deoband inSaharanpur district, Jamiatadopted a resolution against theUCC, arguing that it wouldprevent observance of person-al law by the Muslims and thusviolate the guarantees forMuslim Personal Law given inthe Indian Constitution.

“This ignores the true spir-it of the Constitution. NoMuslim accepts interferencein Islamic law. If any govern-ment makes the mistake ofimplementing UCC, Muslimswill not accept this injusticeand will be forced to take allmeasures against it while stay-ing within constitutional lim-its,” the resolution said.

The UCC will formulatepersonal laws which will applyto all citizens equally regardlessof their religion and gender.The Bharatiya Janata Party-ledgovernment at the Centre and

in states has promised to imple-ment the UCC.

Apart from the resolutionagainst the UCC, the JamiatUlama-i-Hind also passed aresolution on the ongoingmandir-masjid dispute. Theorganisation expressed its dis-pleasure at igniting controver-sies over places of worship likeGyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

At the conference, JamiatUlama-i-Hind chief MahmoodAsad Madani said, "Muslimshad a chance to go to Pakistanbut we did not go. Those whoharp on Pakistan should gothere themselves."

On Saturday, the Jamiathad raised the banner of‘Islamophobia’. During an emo-tional address to the gathering,Madani said that Muslims hadbeen made strangers in theirown country.

The two-day meeting wasattended by nearly 2,000 mem-bers and representatives oforganisations from across thecountry and was presided overby Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind pres-ident Maulana Mahmod AsadMadani.

�� :

Afamily of five people fromMaharashtra and their dri-

ver were killed when their carplunged into the ravine inNorth Sikkim, police said onSunday.

The incident happened inKedung Bhir, 13 km away fromthe popular tourist destinationof Lachung, on Saturdayaround 8 pm, they said.

The family, which came ona vacation to Sikkim, wereheading to Lachung from cap-ital Gangtok when the accidenthappened, police said.

The vehicle skidded offthe road and fell into theravine, hundreds of feet below,they said.

The deceased were identi-fied as Suresh Punamia, TuralPunamia, Hiral Punamia,Devanshi Punamia and JayanParimar, and their driver SomiBiswakarma, police said.

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Japanese Deputy Chief ofMission in India Kawazu

Kunihiko on Sunday said theinvestment target of five trillionyen over the next five yearsfrom his country will dependon the "investment atmos-phere" in India.

The diplomat, however,asserted that the relationshipbetween Japan and India is onthe rise in every field.

"We have alreadyannounced a target to investfive trillion yen in the next fiveyears in India. This will be byboth public and private sectors,including debts to India for var-ious projects," Kunihiko toldPTI on the sidelines of a con-clave here.

The major areas likely toattract the chunk of the invest-ment will be manufacturing,climate change and infrastruc-ture, he added.

"That's the target and we

hope to achieve that figure.However, it's up to improve-ment of investment atmos-phere in India. Without theeffort and cooperation from theIndian side, it'll be very difficultto achieve that investment tar-get," Kunihiko said.

When asked what hemeant by "investment atmos-phere", he said stable energysupply, thrust on infrastructuredevelopment and stability inpolicy are prime to attract cap-ital to India.

"The relation betweenIndia and Japan has alwaysbeen on the rise in the 21st cen-tury," the Japanese Embassyofficial in New Delhi said,adding that his country's expo-sure to India currently standsat around USD 30 billion.

In March, Japanese PrimeMinister Fumio Kishidaannounced an investment tar-get of five trillion yen (Rs3,20,000 crore) in India overthe next five years after hold-

ing talks with his PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on awide range of issues, includingthe Ukraine crisis.

Speaking at the 'NaturalAllies in Development andInterdependence' conclavehere, Kunihiko said that Indiaand Bangladesh are the top twonations in the world receivingJapanese assistance for variousdevelopment projects.

"Japan would like to be thenatural ally of India and theneighbouring countries. I'mlooking forward to workingwith the Indian government,"he added.

Kunihiko stressed thatJapan does not prefer thesupremacy of one country, sur-rounded by other less empow-ered nations.

"We believe in economicself-reliance and politicalautonomy. We are in associa-tion with India in the Indo-Pacific by becoming a leader inthe region," he added.

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Passenger train servicesbetween India and

Bangladesh resumed onSunday after an over two-yeargap owing to the pandemicwith the f lagging off ofBandhan Express from Kolkatastation on way to Khulna in theneighbouring country, anEastern Railway (ER) officialsaid here.

Maitree Express is alsoscheduled to resume servicesbetween Kolkata and Dhaka onSunday and will travel to theBangladesh capital on Mondaymorning on the first journeyfrom here since March 2020, hesaid.

"Passenger train servicesbetween India and Bangladesh,which were stopped for overtwo years owing to the pan-demic, resumed with the flag-ging off of Bandhan Expressfrom Kolkata station at 7.10am," ER spokesperson EkalavyaChakraborty said.

While the BandhanExpress between Kolkata andKhulna runs two days a week,Maitree Express connectingKolkata with the BangladeshIcapital is a five-day service.

Chakraborty told PTI thatpeople on both sides of the bor-der are excited about theresumption of the train ser-vices, which are fully bookedfor the next few days

"With the comfort of traintravel and a convenient timeschedule along with afford-ability, people prefer this modeof transport over others such asbus and air," he said.

The trains have a capacityof around 450 passengers andhave air-conditioned chair carand executive class categories,he said.

India-Bangladesh trainconnectivity through WestBengal will receive anotherboost from June 1 with theinauguration of Mitali Expressbetween New Jalpaiguri andDhaka, Chakraborty said.

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The Nagaland government'sCore Committee on Naga

Political Issue (NPI) urged theNSCN(IM) to continue thenegotiations with the Centre.

The Core Committee,headed by Chief MinisterNeiphiu Rio, made the appealduring a marathon meetingwith the NSCN(IM) onSaturday, ruling UnitedDemocratic Alliance (UDA)chairman TR Zeliang said.

After Centre's interlocutorAK Mishra visited Nagaland inApril, NSCN(IM) leaders wentto New Delhi and returned lastweek. Following their return,they have been saying thatthey will not hold any furtherdiscussions with the Centre,Zeliang said.

The Core Committeerequested the NSCN(IM) to

continue the talks as any settle-ment can take place onlythrough it, he said. The CoreCommittee will convey to theCentre whatever has been dis-cussed with NSCN(IM), he said.

Government spokespersonNeiba Kronu said that themeeting was held for a betterunderstanding with theNSCN(IM) over an early solu-tion to the Naga issue.

The meeting, which lastedfor nearly four hours, deliber-ated on the competencies, hesaid. It was agreed that furtherdiscussions are needed on thedemands of the NSCN(IM)for a separate flag and consti-tution for the Nagas, Kronusaid. He said that they also dis-cussed the need for the supportof Assam Chief Minister andNorth East DemocraticAlliance (NEDA) convenerHimanta Biswa Sarma.

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With an eye on the 2024Lok Sabha polls,

Samajwadi Party has decided tosupport Supreme Court lawyerKapil Sibal and Rashtriya LokDal leader Jayant Chaudhary inthe Rajya Sabha polls fromUttar Pradesh even thoughboth the leaders are not con-testing the election on thesymbol of the SP.

Kapil Sibal is an indepen-dent candidate while JayantChaudhary will contest thepoll on RLD election symbol‘hand pump’. Jayant is likely tofile his nomination papers onMonday.

“For the sake of allianceand placating senior partyleader Mohammad AzamKhan, Akhilesh Yadav had tocompromise and none of thethree candidates is his choice.Akhilesh Yadav wanted JayantChaudhary to contest asSamajwadi Party candidate buthe declined. Akhilesh Yadavhad no option but to concede

Jayant Chaudhary’s demandto contest the poll on his ownparty symbol,” a SP leader said.

The third candidate is aprotégé of Ram Gopal Yadav,the uncle of Akhilesh Yadav.

Sources said Kapil Sibalhad first contacted West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee for a Rajya Sabhaseat. She had agreed but put thecondition of joining her partyTrinamool Congress first. Sibaldeclined to join her party andhis wish for contesting theelection as an independentcandidate was fulfilled by theSamajwadi Party.

Sources in the SP saidAkhilesh Yadav had decided tofield his wife and former MPDimple Yadav for the RajyaSabha but he was forced todefer his choice for the nextelection. Dimple Yadav is like-ly to be the SP candidate fromAzamgarh Lok Sabha seatwhere bypoll is scheduled to beheld in June.

The supporters of AkhileshYadav, however, maintain that

their party president has triedto score many goals with oneshot.

“To placate Azam Khanwho is angry with the SP thesedays, Kapil Sibal, who was hislawyer, was backed by the SP.On the other hand, JayantChaudhary has been given amessage to follow the alliance'dharma'. The party hasreposed faith in Sambhal'sJaved Ali Khan. Along withthis, the party has also tried towoo Muslim voters amid theincreasing distance from AzamKhan,” said a senior SP leader.

The sources claim that thereason for Akhilesh Yadav sup-porting Kapil Sibal is that it willgive the party a loud voice inthe Rajya Sabha and will alsohelp in sorting out the internaldifferences in the party. Alongwith this, due to his fatherMulayam Singh Yadav's healthissues and the compulsion ofhis own active presence inUttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadavneeds an effective advocate forhimself in the national politics.

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encounter a thing, individualor group, you are afraid of.There are mainly three maincategories of xenophobia:stranger/ immigrant, cultural,and religious. A person suffer-ing from xenophobia willreject interaction with anyonethey hate. They will avoidbusiness and social contactswith them, describe their liv-ing areas as dangerous, makederogatory remarks againstthem and, if they have beenindoctrinated by communalpoliticians, they will easily getready to assault or kill thehated individual on one pretextor the other. These days, reli-gion is the most (il)logical pre-text to spew venom and exhib-it naked xenophobia.

These days, our country isin the grip of ideologicallysponsored communal divideby attacking and lynchingmembers of minority commu-nity on the pretext of azan,loudspeakers, namaz, etc.Wahabi clowns are shame-lessly displaying their skills ofkilling Shia Muslims inPakistani amphitheatre. Thesame lobby following Wahabiideology has indulged in aim-lessly killing Kashmiri Pandits(KPs), who are very simple andharmless people. If Kashmiri

Muslims feel that they are tar-geted, falsely arrested or killedby police and paramilitaryforces, it’s the matter betweenthem and the Government.How come KPs are at fault andwhy are they being targeted?

Those indulging in terroracts in the name of false jihadare as a matter-of-factWahabis, who have camou-flaged themselves under thecover of Islam, which is the factknown by very few people,including Muslims.Wahabiism is the distortedversion of Islam. Its founderwas Sheikh Najdi ibn AbdulWahab who in association ofIbn Saud, a Bedouin tribalchief having Zionist ancestry,founded this new cult in 1744AD. They are currently therulers of Saudi Arabia.

The Quran says: “ProphetMohammad was sent to theworld as a mercy to mankind”(21:107). .... Allah abhors anydisturbance of peace (2:205).The murder of one innocentperson is akin to the murderof the whole humanity.”Whereas Sheikh Najdi ibnAbdul Wahab, the founder ofWahabi cult, in his book ‘Kitabal Twahid’, prescribes forcefulconversion of Muslims andothers to his Wahabi ideology

wherein he manifests: “Followmy ideology, else get ready tobe killed.”

In 1766, Ibn Saud waskilled and his son Abd al Aziztook over as Emir (temporalleader). He accelerated hisattacks in a spectacular bid toextend his territory. Since then,it has been the schismatic,fraudulent practice of Wahabiterror operators to misguideand exploit the Muslim youthfor recruitment with thepromise of Paradise. Hence,attacks on KPs are un-Islamic.

Muslims of Kashmir andoutside must raise their voicefor the protection of KPs.Similarly, Hindus engaged inviolence and lynching ofMuslims must know that inRamayana Ratnas-80,Yuddhakanda 116.44/45/46, itis conveyed, “The wise neverinjures even those that harmhim. On the other hand, theygo to their aid in case of trou-ble and help them out.Virtuous conduct is the orna-ment of a meritorious person.(Sita’s advice to Hanuman notto kill or cause harm to femaledemons that tormented her atthe Ashok Vatika).”

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

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�� Sir — Telangana BJP president BandiSanjay’s recent comments “If Ram Rajyacomes, we will completely ban Urdu,madrasas … and all Shivlingams foundwould be ours” reek of ignorance and falsearrogance. Out of ignorance, he is sayingthat he will ban Urdu when Ram Rajyacomes to Telangana. But he doesn’t knowthat Urdu is in the 8th schedule of theIndian Constitution and he wronglythinks that Urdu is the mother tongue ofall Muslims. There was a time when lead-ers would talk about employment, devel-opment or science but now I am ashamedthat we are choosing leaders who hate aparticular religion because they only con-tribute 15 per cent of the votes.

Such leaders talk about destruction ofa particular religion instead of the nation’sdevelopment. The people of Telanganavote for development and the State is agood example of secular India where allcitizens live in peace and harmony. BandiSanjay must not try to ruin this fabric ofharmony. By winning one or two byelec-tions, perhaps the BJP is dreaming aboutforming the Government in Telangana,but there is no swing in favour of the BJPin Telangana.

Zeeshaan | Kazipet

�� Sir — In a country engulfed by inequali-ty, where the VIP enjoys a privileged posi-tion from a toll tax to the airport, it is easyto feel for the common man. The recentepisode in which Delhi Government-runThyagaraj Stadium was found closing itsground to athletes at 7 pm, apparently toallow Principal Secretary (Revenue) towalk his dog on the track, must come asa rude shock to all, especially to sportlovers. The athletes were forced to prac-tice in the scorching heat during the daybecause the premises were closed early.

What is most distressing is that evenafter 70 years of Independence, ourbureaucracy has retained its colonialcharacter and public servants remain aloof

from common people. The episode laysbare the sense of unbridled power andentitlement that many politicians andbureaucrats gain merely on the basis ofwinning elections or passing an exam oncebut not due to consistent outstanding per-formance. Politicians, bureaucrats andbusiness tycoons must be kept out ofsports governance, and much more needsto be done so that only competent anddeserving persons acquire strategic andpivotal positions in sports administration.It’s time to get serious.

Vijay Singh Adhikari | Nainital

�� Sir — As the Central Government com-pletes eight years in office, an aggressiveOpposition led by the Congress willrelease a ‘report card’ on its performance.The communications department of theAll India Congress Committee (AICC) hasprepared a report card highlighting thefailures and performance of the CentralGovernment on various fronts including

economy, foreign policy, communal har-mony and inflation. The unemploymentrate is very high and has broken a 45-yearrecord while inflation is rising especiallyin essential commodities, petrol-dieselprices are at a historic high while the rupeeagainst the dollar is at a historic low; theforeign reserve is also dipping.

On national security, China’s aggres-sion at the Line of Actual Control is amajor concern on which the Government’sperformance is lacking and it hasn’t takenon China in the manner it should be dealtwith. There are also concerns about com-munal harmony and polarisation in thecountry as several areas in various Stateshave seen unrest on this front in the lastfew months. The Congress is also goingto highlight the failures of the CentralGovernment over the last few years in thecoming days to the people of India.

Bhagwan Thadani | Mumbai

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Pandit Kailash Nath Kaul‘Mekash Kashmiri’, was agreat Urdu poet ofJammu. Aggrieved by

the strained Indo-Pak relations,he once wrote in his anthology:“Kyun jang ke saaman idher bhihein udher bhi; sehme hue insaanidher bhi hein udher bhi. (Whyis the battle preparedness thisside and the other side; peopleon both sides are terrified).” Thepoet was right while revealingthe plight of gullible citizens onboth sides of the border who areleast bothered by politicalmachinations.

In addition to lurking exter-nal aggression, the internal sit-uation is marred with commu-nal tensions. Mostly, we hideour misdeeds blaming Britishrulers for their “divide andrule” policy, but the magic vendof Angrez jadugar cannot retainits ugly impact forever. Weneed to honestly introspect forfinding the causal factorsbehind hate-mongering, polar-isation and communal dividestrategically designed by polit-ical masters, misusing religionsand promoting xenophobia.

Xenophobia is an extreme,intense fear and dislike of cus-toms, cultures and people consid-ered strange, unusual orunknown. The term xenophobiacomes from Greek, where ‘pho-bos’ means fear and ‘xenos’means stranger, foreigner or out-sider. It also means guest or wan-derer. As a matter of fact, therewas a practice among ancientGreeks for extending extremehospitality to strangers andguests. They used to considerunexpected guest a god or god-dess, walking among people indisguise. This culture of hospital-ity towards strangers was anessential feature of that timeand the violation carried seriousrepercussions, which can befound in the Illiad, Odyssey andother Greek literature.

However, with the turning oftime, the tide got reversed andpeople globally started behavingadversely towards the strangersand guests to the extent of devel-oping phobia towards them.Phobia, an anxiety disorder, trig-gers rage and anger when you

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today as 'primitive' though itwas a tremendous leap in knowl-edge and capability when TV wasintroduced. So when we comeacross what might seem simplis-tic or naive practices in our com-munities, we must realize thatthey are all stages. The new can-not dismiss the old. The old can-not cast an iron mold on theemergent new.

Very typically, we expect tosee a 65+ person talking about thegood old days, about ancientlore, historical bonds, and aboutmovies of the 1930s their grand-parents had mentioned! We areequally unsurprised when a mil-lennial is wholly unaware that theEarth had been orbiting the Suneven prior to the release of thePlayStation console or The NeedFor Speed game. A 'generationgap' might seem apparent. Nowit's commonly seen that just asthere is a craze about the 'latest',there is a big business in'antiques'. What is seen less is apractical perspective. To see acontinuity and a succession ofdevelopments over months andyears. To form an idea of how ourearlier generations have livedand how our own lives havecome to be.

It's true that there is such athing as progress. We speak of'golden ages' when largely peaceprevailed. The arts flourished,new discoveries were made, andthe general populace improved

their lifestyle. These are decadesand successive centuries withwhich are associated a bonanza ofgreat buildings, musical compo-sitions, garden areas, reservoirs,stage presentations, and poetryevents.

When ancient learning fromAsia could flow into Europeansocieties, their dogmas could getshed and an era of revival ofknowledge and arts came about.Their ships then accessed thematerial and cultural resources onfaraway lands on other conti-nents. Thus, many communitiesacross the globe have experi-enced the coming into contactwith other ethnicities - somethrough barter and hospitality,and many through shock of vio-lence and subjugation.Unsurprising the,n that conflictsalways seem a greater likelihoodthan collaboration.

In a somewhat later era, sci-entific breakthroughs in medi-cine, transportation, and commu-nication have travelled eastwardthis time, and electrified andawakened relatively dormantcivilisations. And thus, the batontravels, the torch is propelledahead. We see that everyone doesindeed have their place under thesun, and there are no lastingmonopolies. The value of enor-mous oil reserves can get assessedvery differently in a mere 150years. Distance education overthe web is going to level out the

quality gap in syllabus and teach-ing between regions. Zoonoticviruses from afar can arrive atyour doorstep, just as remoteopportunities become encash-able for you.

In the midst of all the global-isation, what is the role of 'local'?What could that term mean any-more? Through very long periodsof association, a language and itsdialects, a bunch of sub-ethnici-ties and a larger society come tobe identified with a given geogra-phy. Somehow, it feels natural thata deeper affinity is readily avail-able amongst its members than isimmediately possible with per-sons outside the 'locality'. This isnot in conflict with globality.Rather, we only expand the scopeof how we relate to each other -as neighbours, as our tribe, asnative speakers in our languagegroup, as fellow pilgrims, as riversharers, and so on. Vasudaivakutumbakam, as is loftilyinscribed on our Parliamentbuilding's entrance - of the worldas a family - is an extension of thisnatural tendency in us.

The lesson we can glean fromexamples worldwide - from NewZealand to the Caribbean, fromPolynesia to Alaska - is to culti-vate respect for local culture andcustoms, to not dump in our bag-gage from elsewhere, and to min-imise any disruption we maybring. This new attitude is writ-ing fresh chapters in communi-ty relations.

It goes without saying thatwherever extensive and deliber-ate fracturing had taken place inthe past, the process of makingamends needs honest acknowl-edgement and a commitmenttowards the future. When itcomes to an illumined attitude,why should you be in the GLS erarather than LED?

When it is clearly possible formany modern companies to prac-tise retrospection sessions toachieve their goals, it's a matterof time before the larger societylearns to incorporate similarmethods towards promoting har-mony between communities andclass interests. Typically, theapproach assesses what theywould like to stop, what they wantto continue with, and what theywish to start. Except for the mostadamant, many people find itpossible to agree that some thingscan be stopped or minimised.The key thing is to orient individ-uals to initiate reforms ratherthan resist them. Welcome thechange!

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ulty, and an amateurepistemologist.Theviews expressed are

personal.)

Awork ethic is a set ofmoral principles weuse in our jobs. It has

been measured as a multidi-mensional variable composedof seven factors, includingself-reliance, ethical behav-iour, valuing leisure time,hard work, giving centrality towork, productive use of time,and delay of gratification." —Miller, M.J., Woehr, D.J.,&Hudspeth, N. (2002).

The meaning and mea-surement of work ethic:Let meillustrate these seven factorswith examples I have come tosee or hear.

The first example thatcomes to mind is Sir MVisvesvarayawho personifieda wonderful work ethic inengineering and publicadministration. A stickler fortime and perfection, he would

rebuke his engineers for,draw-ings, and notes that did notmeet his standards. In theearly 1900s, as the Dewan ofMysuru, he was on an officialvisit to Nanjangudwhere hewas scheduled to attend afunction at the local munici-pality. He arrived at 9 a.m.sharp, much to the chagrin ofthe organisers. By the time theofficers gathered their witsaround and got the functiongoing, it was 9.30 am. Afteradmonishing the officers, SirMV promptly left at 10 am,midway through the func-tion, so that he could keep hisnext engagement!

Another beacon of profes-sionalism is Prof. DuncanHaldane, the Eugene Higginsprofessor of Physics atPrinceton University,winnerof the 2016 Nobel Prize. The

award announcement wasmade at around 5 am EST.Haldane, who was teachingfirst-year undergraduate stu-dents 'Electromagnetism:Principles and ProblemSolving' those days, turned upfor his classfour hourslater,sporting a light smile.

Applause and cheers erupted."Thank you," he said, loweringhis head in slight bows as theclapping continued. A studentasked,"Do you need to teach onthis big day? Would you rathernot celebrate, Prof. Haldane?"After a pause, Haldane replied,"Well, what can I say," elicitinga round of laughter from thestudents. "I guess we'll have todouble down and learn someelectromagnetism and seewhere it goes."

The next example goes toshow that even the greatestpersonal tragedies cannotdeter the committed fromputting work first. SahityaAkademi Award winnerDevudu Narasimha Sastri wasan eminent Kannada andSanskrit scholar whowroteand spoke extensively on thephilosophy of the Bhagavad

Gita. In the 1950s, he was dueto speakon Chapter 2 of theholy book at an event inUdupi. While he was speak-ing, someone handed him atelegram that containedthedeath news of his eldest son.Without a pause, he finishedhis speech. It was only after hegot down from the stage thathis wife and friends who werein the audience received thetragic news. Sastri is reportedto have saidChapter 2 is aboutbeing stoic and detached andhow could my practice differfrom precept".

Anil Kumble, too, showedstoicism when he bowled 14overs with a broken jaw in theAntigua Test of 2002. He evenclaimed Brian Lara's wicket.On his way home toBengaluru the next day for hissurgery, he said,"At least I can

go home with the thought Itried my best. I did not wantto sit around."

Every example of a posi-tive work ethic, however,doesn't make headlines. Thereare some that we grow upwatching and admire deeply.MN Krishnaswamy, the head-master of my school inMysuru, personified all theseven factors that I started thepiece with. Always on time,never to miss a class, the firstto be in school and the last toleave, his exemplary workyielded phenomenal resultsfor my alma mater.

A positive work ethicshould not to be confusedwith being a workaholic.During my years with theBritish retailer Tesco,I foundtheir executives valued theirvacations and leisure, and this

made them better at work.There are also people who

feign a positive work ethic,often staying late in the officeto impress bosses. there is,however, a story about a for-eign head of state gettingannoyed during a factory visitin Japan becausenone of theworkers lifted their heads toacknowledge his presence.When he asked them about it,one of them replied,"I ampaid to do my work."

People who possess astrong work ethic producehigh-quality work consistent-ly. This motivates them to stayon track creating a virtuousloop that leads to self-respect,satisfaction, and fulfilment.Like a wise, much-respecteddirector at Asian Paints oncetold me, "Work is its ownreward!"

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(The writer is ChiefCommunications Officer,Azim Premji Foundation.The views expressed are

personal.)

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30�� Change is not easy to come toterms with. While it is takingplace all the time, there's a jux-taposition of the old and the

new. Our eyes can either see a continu-ity and harmony, or we see a struggle.

If T.A.Edison were to visit my home,he'd notice the electric bulbs immediate-ly. Right now, nearly all of them are LED.A few years ago, they were a mix of CFLand LED bulbs. Before that, some wereGLS and some CFL. When all were GLS(it simply stood for general light source)bulbs with a few fluorescent tubes, noone quite expected much innovation indomestic lighting.

Now if Edison were to look for some-thing remotely resembling a gramo-phone in my home, he would find nosimilarity with how music is stored andreplayed today. Sometimes we lookupon heirloom objects with under-standing and admiration in a ScienceMuseum. Some exhibitions are termedas 'retrospectives'.

Today, in the IT industry, 'retrospec-tion' is a formally scheduled exercise.People gather to look at past events andconcluded projects together to go oversubjective and objective data and to shareexperiences. They expect benefits fromdoing it such as improved team collab-oration, better productivity, preventingrepetition of mistakes, anticipatingfuture problems, and improved workprocesses.

There is a proper way to regard thepast - merely raking it up in a rough waybrings little good. It's also only vain tocrudely compare the past with the pre-sent, and to say that one or the other issuperior by far. About forty years ago, thebicycle and the radio were regarded asoutmoded, and virtually as relics. Neitherhas disappeared. They have a redefinedrole and command a useful place, andoffer a different set of experiences thanthey did before.

When a person from a different cul-ture, particularly from Europe, looks atcommunities on other continents theydon't see them instinctively as backwardor primitive like in the days of theirgreat-grandparents. This healthy trendbegan Down Under with the Maori tra-ditions and then the Abo ceremoniesbeing respected, and with legislationpassed to protect and cherish indigenousculture and languages.

In many countries, with the onset ofthe tech toy craze and the informationexplosion from so-called "popular mag-azines", there was a devaluation of tra-ditional forms of recreation, fitness reg-imens, beauty treatments, and handicraftjewellery. Regional folklore and lin-guistics have often got swamped underby the deluge of the wide mainstreamchannels.

When we really look at it, today'sLCD/LED television has its forerunnerin the old picture tube that you could see

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In the aftermath of the ele-mentary school massacre in

Uvalde, Texas, schools aroundthe US have brought in addi-tional security staff and restrict-ed visitors as they deal with anew rash of copycat threats. Forsome families and educators itall has added to uneasiness inthe wake of the deadliest schoolshooting since the 2012 attack

at Sandy Hook ElementarySchool. Jake Green, 34, of LosAlamos, New Mexico, was jolt-ed when he saw a plainclothespolice officer for the first timewhile walking his seven-year-old daughter into school Fridaymorning. He grew up inColorado, not far from wheretwo Columbine High Schoolstudents shot and killed 12classmates and a teacher in1999. Green remembers

attending memorials and can-dlelight vigils as a fifth-grader,but he's torn about whetherhaving police at his daughter'sschool is best."In a way, I don'treally feel any safer with policearound," Green said. "Seeingthe police there, it really madeit seem like the worst possibil-ity was even more possibletoday." In El Paso, Texas, wherea gunman killed 23 people ina racist 2019 attack that tar-geted Hispanics at a Walmart,schools are on edge.

The El Paso IndependentSchool District has alreadyencountered some reportedthreats that turned out to befalse. They were either "stu-dents joking or overly-sensitiveparents," said Gustavo RevelesAcosta, a district spokesperson.

"Our community is stillraw from that incident," Acostasaid. "It hits us in a pretty emo-tional way."The district, whichhas its own police department,has also stepped up patrollingat all 85 campuses. Officershave been pulled from moni-

toring traffic or other duties.Schools already have updatedcamera surveillance systems.Visitors are required to ring adoorbell and show identifica-tion before they can enter.

The district is making apoint to look out for teachers'and students' mental health. Acounselling team has been vis-iting every school to speakabout the shooting in Uvalde.They are also urging people totalk in private about any dis-tress.

Mia Baucom, a 15-year-oldstudent at a Forth Worth,Texas, high school said it wassurreal to think the Uvaldekillings happened in her homestate. It also stirred memoriesof a lockdown at her school twomonths ago that was prompt-ed by a shooting.

"I'm a little more stressedout about it because just thefear of what if that happened atmy school?" said Baucom,whose last day of school wasThursday. "Let's say we getmore police officers. Most like-

ly that's not going to stop peo-ple from going crazy and justshooting up schools.

"Schools have ramped uppolice presence in a host ofstates, including Connecticut,Michigan and New York, afterthe shooting Tuesday that left19 students and two teachersdead.

In Buffalo, New York,where a white gunman fatallyshot 10 people in a racist attackin a supermarket on May 14,the largest school districtannounced new security ruleseffective immediately.

Any visitors - parents, sib-lings, vendors - have to callahead for approval. No excep-tions will be made. They maybe subjected to a search by awand detector. Doors will belocked at all times.

In Jacksonville, Florida,the Duval County PublicSchools' chief of school policebanned backpacks or largehandbags at any schoolthrough Friday, the last day ofschool.

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President Joe Biden and firstlady Jill Biden are hoping to

console a city stricken by griefand anger when they meetwith families affected by themass shooting at a Texas ele-mentary school that killed 19students and two teachers.

The visit to Uvalde onSunday is Biden's second tripin as many weeks to comforta community in mourningafter staggering loss.

On May 17, he was inBuffalo, New York, to meetwith victims' families and con-demn white supremacy after ashooter espousing the racist"replacement theory" killed10 Black people at a super-market.

The shootings in Texasand New York and their after-math have put a spotlight onthe nation's entrenched divi-sions and its inability to forgeconsensus on actions to reducegun violence.

"Evil came to that ele-mentary school classroom inTexas, to that grocery store inNew York, to far too manyplaces where innocents havedied," Biden said Saturday ina commencement address atthe University of Delaware."We have to stand stronger.

We must stand stronger.We cannot outlaw tragedy, Iknow, but we can makeAmerica safer."Biden was tovisit the makeshift memorialoutside Robb ElementarySchool before attending Massat a local Catholic church.

He was also scheduled tomeet with family members ata community centre and thenwith first responders at thelocal airport before returningto Washington, the WhiteHouse said.

He was not expected todeliver formal remarks.Mckinzie Hinojosa, whosecousin Eliahana Torres waskilled Tuesday, said she

respected Biden's decision tomourn with the people ofUvalde."It's more than mourn-ing," she said. "We wantchange. We want action. Itcontinues to be somethingthat happens over and overand over.

A mass shooting happens.It's on the news. People cry.Then it's gone. Nobody cares.And then it happens again.And again."

"If there's anything if Icould tell Joe Biden, as it is, justto respect our communitywhile he's here, and I'm sure hewill," she added. "But we needchange. We need to do some-thing about it."

The Bidens' visit to Uvaldecomes amid mounting scruti-ny of the police response to theshooting. Officials revealedFriday that students and teach-ers repeatedly begged 911operators for help even as apolice commander told morethan a dozen officers to wait ina hallway.

Officials said the com-mander believed that the sus-pect was barricaded inside anadjoining classroom and thatthere was no longer an activeattack. The revelation prompt-ed fresh anguish and questionsabout whether more lives werelost because officers did not actfaster to stop the gunman, whowas ultimately killed by BorderPatrol tactical officers.

On Wednesday, beforedetails about delayed officerresponse were known, Bidenhad praised their efforts, say-ing, "brave local officers and

Border Patrol agents inter-vened to save as many childrenas they could."

Authorities have said theshooter legally purchased twoguns not long before theschool attack: an AR-style rifleon May 17 and a second rifleon May 20. He had turned 18just days earlier, permittinghim to buy the weapons underfederal law.

Speaking on Saturday,Biden said something had tochange in response to attack."Icall on all Americans at thishour to join hands and makeyour voices heard, to worktogether to make this nationwhat it can and should be,"Biden said. "I know we can dothis. We've done it before.''

Hours after shooting,Biden delivered an impas-sioned plea for additional guncontrol legislation, asking:"When in God's name are wegoing to stand up to gunlobby? Why are we willing tolive with this carnage? Why dowe keep letting this happen?"

With Jill Biden standing byhis side in the RooseveltRoom, the president, who hassuffered the loss of two of hisown children - though not togun violence - spoke in visceralterms about grief of lovedones of victims and pain thatwill endure for students whosurvived.

"To lose a child is like hav-ing a piece of your soul rippedaway," Biden said. "There's ahollowness in your chest. Youfeel like you're being suckedinto it and never going to beable to get out."

Over the years, Biden hasbeen intimately involved ingun control movement's mostnotable successes, such as 1994assault weapons ban, and itsmost troubling disappoint-ments, including failure topass new legislation after 2012massacre at Sandy HookElementary School inNewtown, Connecticut.

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An international team ofastronomers have detect-

ed the signal from the activesupermassive black holes ofdying galaxies in the earlyUniverse.

The appearance of theseactive supermassive black holescorrelates with changes in thehost galaxy, suggesting that ablack hole could have farreaching effects on the evolu-tion of its host galaxy, saidresearchers in the paper pub-lished in the AstrophysicalJournal.

The Milky Way Galaxywhere we live includes stars ofvarious ages, including starsstill forming. But in someother galaxies, known as ellip-

tical galaxies, all of the stars areold and about the same age.This indicates that early intheir histories elliptical galax-ies had a period of prolific starformation that suddenlyended. Why this star formationceased in some galaxies but not

others is not well understood.One possibility is that a super-massive black hole disrupts thegas in some galaxies, creatingan environment unsuitable forstar formation. To test this the-ory, astronomers from Japan,Mexico, Denmark, France,

Italy and the US, looked at dis-tant galaxies that are 9.5-12.5billion lightyears away. Theyused a database combiningobservations from the besttelescopes in the world, includ-ing Japan's 8.2-metre SubaruTelescope and the AtacamaLarge Millimetre/submillime-tre Array (ALMA).

The team first used opticaland infrared data to identifytwo groups of galaxies: thosewith ongoing star formationand those where star formationhas stopped.

The x-ray and radio wavedata signal-to-noise ratio wastoo weak to identify individualgalaxies. So the team combinedthe data for different galaxiesto produce higher signal tonoise ratio images of "average"

galaxies. In averaged images,the team confirmed both x-rayand radio emissions for thegalaxies without star forma-tion. This is first time suchemissions have been detectedfor distant galaxies more than10 billion lightyears away.

Furthermore, the resultsshow that the x-ray and radioemissions are too strong to beexplained by the stars in thegalaxy alone, indicating thepresence of an active super-massive black hole.

This black hole activitysignal is weaker for galaxieswhere star formation is ongo-ing. The results show that anabrupt end in star formation inthe early Universe correlateswith increased supermassiveblack hole activity.

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At least 10 people, includinga minor, were killed and 20

others injured after a passengerbus met with an accident inSouthwestern Bangladesh onSunday, police said.

The accident happened inBarishal district's Wazirpurafter the bus driver lost controlof the vehicle following whichthe bus hit a roadside tree.

"Ten people lost their livesalmost immediately and 20others wounded after the bushit a roadside tree in Barishalon Sunday morning," a seniorpolice official said.

Ali Arshad, the police sta-tion's in-charge of Wazirpur,said the injured ones havebeen sent to Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical CollegeHospital.The district adminis-tration had launched an inves-tigation on the accident.

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Afar-right Israeli lawmaker,joined by scores of ultra-

nationalist supporters, enteredJerusalem's most sensitive holysite early Sunday, prompting acrowd of Palestinians to beginthrowing rocks and fireworkstoward nearby Israeli police.

The unrest erupted aheadof a mass ultranationalistIsraeli march planned laterSunday through the heart ofthe Muslim Quarter ofJerusalem's Old City. Some3,000 Israeli police weredeployed throughout the cityahead of the march.

Israel says the march ismeant to celebrate Israel's cap-ture of east Jerusalem, includ-ing the Old City, in the 1967Mideast war.

Israel claims all ofJerusalem as its capital. ButPalestinians, who seek eastJerusalem as the capital of afuture state, see the march asa provocation. Last year, the

parade helped trigger an 11-day war between Israel andGaza militants. Sunday's unresttook place in a contested hill-top compound revered by Jewsand Muslims.

The compound is home tothe Al Aqsa Mosque, the third-holiest site in Islam. It also theholiest site for Jews, who callit the Temple Mount andrevere it as the home of the bib-lical Temples.

The competing claims tothe site lie at the heart of theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict andhave triggered numerousrounds of violence.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, leaderof a small ultranationalistopposition party and a followerof the late racist rabbi, MeirKahane, entered the com-pound early Sunday along withdozens of supporters.

Palestinians shouted "Godis great" as Ben-Gvir, accom-panied by Israeli police, shout-ed "the Jewish people live."Later, a crowd of Palestinians

barricaded inside the mosquethrew fireworks and stonestoward police, who did notimmediately respond. Israel'snational police chief, KobiShabtai, said his forces wereprepared for "every scenario"and had taken "immediate andprofessional" action whenneeded. "We will not allow anyinciter or rioter to sabatage

today's events and to disruptlaw and order," he said.Sunday's march comes at atime of heightened tensions.Israeli police have repeatedlyconfronted stone-throwingPalestinian demonstrators inthe disputed compound inrecent months, often firingrubber bullets and stungrenades.

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British Prime Minister BorisJohnson is reportedly set to

announce a return to imperialmeasurements of pounds andounces as a post-Brexit moveaway from the European met-ric system to mark the Queen'sPlatinum Jubilee next week.

As part of a series ofannouncements to celebratethe 96-year-old monarch's 70years on the British throne, UKmedia reports indicate thatJohnson is preparing a nostal-gic move away from anotherEuropean Union (EU) influ-ence on the country.

It is also being seen as anattempt to placate his strongBrexit voter base in the wake ofthe partygate scandal ofCOVID lockdown breachingparties at Downing Street,which have angered many vot-ers.

"As the British people havebeen happy to use both impe-rial and metric measurementsin their daily life it is good forthe government to reflect thatnow we are free to change ourregulations accordingly," TheMirror newspaper quoted aCabinet source as saying.

At present, shopkeepersare legally obliged to use met-ric measurements such asgrams, kilograms, milli-litresand litres when selling pack-aged or loose goods inEngland, Scotland and Wales.

As opposed to the metricsystem of weight, in which1,000 grams are equivalent toone kilogram, under the impe-rial system there are 14 poundsin a stone and 16 ounces in apound.

While it is still legal to pricegoods in pounds and ounces,these have to be displayedalongside the price in gramsand kilograms. Since 2000,when EU weights and mea-sures directive came into forcebusinesses have been legallyrequired to use metric units forsale by weight or measure offresh produce.

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Pope Francis said Sunday hewill elevate 21 churchmen

to the rank of cardinal in a cer-emony at the Vatican this sum-mer. Among the churchmentapped by the pontiff to receivethe prestigious red hat will betwo prelates from India andone each from Mongolia,Ghana, Nigeria, Singapore,East Timor, Paraguay, andBrazil, in keeping with Francis'determination to have churchleaders reflect the global face ofthe Catholic church.

Francis read out his choic-es at the end of his traditionalSunday greetings to the publicin St. Peter's Square.

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AUnited Nations SecurityCouncil report has remind-

ed about the persistent threatPakistan's security faces fromthe Afghanistan-based Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) andwarned that prospects of suc-cess of the ongoing peaceprocess with the dreaded terrorgroup were bleak, according toa media report.

The annual report of the1988 Taliban sanctions com-mittee monitoring team notedTTP's linkages with the AfghanTaliban and explained how thegroup benefitted from the fallof the Ghani regime last yearand touched upon its relationswith other terrorist groupsoperating from Afghanistan.

The banned TTP, thereport noted, had up to 4,000fighters based in east and south-east areas along theAfghanistan-Pakistan borderand made up the largest groupof foreign fighters based there,according to Pakistan's Dawnnewspaper.

This was the team's firstreport for the committee sincethe Taliban takeover of Kabul inAugust last year. The report'soriginal focus was on theTaliban's internal politics,

its finances, relations with

Al-Qaeda, Daesh, and otherterrorist groups, and the imple-mentation of the UNSC sanc-tions. The report's launch coin-cided with the start of the thirdround of talks between thePakistan government and TTPlast Thursday.

The first round of talks,held in November last year, hadyielded a month-long ceasefirethat later broke down afterTTP accused Islamabad of notfulfilling promises.

The TTP subsequentlyresumed attacks againstPakistani forces. Statistics tab-ulated by the Pakistan Instituteof Peace Studies reveal that thisyear, the militant group carriedout nearly 46 attacks, mostlyagainst law enforcement per-sonnel, in which 79 people losttheir lives. On March 30, theTTP, emulating AfghanTaliban's strategy during US

war in Afghanistan, announceda "Spring Offensive" againstsecurity forces here.

The peace process, which isbeing facilitated by TalibanInterior Minister SirajuddinHaqqani, meanwhile, resumedearlier this month after bothsides took confidence-buildingmeasures.

The TTP militants havebeen fighting with the Pakistanisecurity forces since 2008, whenoutfit was set up, to press for theimplementation of Sharia lawsin country.

However, the group isbeing pressed by AfghanTaliban for talks with Pakistangovernment to end conflict.The TTP first announced aceasefire on occasion of Eid andlater extended it after Pakistanreleased a couple of its (TTP)commanders, who were thenon death row.

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Pakistan is expected to reachan agreement with the IMF

next month to resurrect anenhanced bailout package tosupport the cash-strappedcountry's sagging economy,Finance Minister Miftah Ismailhas said.

Pakistan has repeatedlybeen seeking international aidto support its failing economy.The talks with the InternationalMonetary Fund are being heldin the Qatari capital Doha.

He said that the country isprojected to need USD 36-37billion in foreign financing inthe next fiscal year.

Speaking at a webinar onthe "National Dialogue onEconomy: The Way Forwardfor Pakistan", organised byNutshell Conferences andCorporate Pakistan Group onSaturday, Ismail revealed thatat present the government wasnot considering raising freshforeign debt from the globalcapital market and commercialbanks after the country's inter-national bonds lost almostone-third of their value, whiletheir yields went up signifi-cantly, The Express Tribunereported.

He said that instead ofeconomic growth, controllinginflation was the top priority of

the government."Inflation con-trol will lead to economicgrowth," he said.Giving thebreakdown of the externalfinancing requirement, Ismailsaid "Pakistan is to repay USD21 billion in foreign debt in thenext fiscal year."

Besides, the countrywill require another USD 10-15 billion to finance the currentaccount deficit.

The government isalso aiming to boost the coun-try's foreign exchange reservesby USD 5 billion to USD 15 bil-lion next year."So, it is a mustto enter the IMF loan pro-gramme (worth USD 6 billion)to arrange the required financ-ing," Ismail said on the talkswith the global crisis lenderwhich began on May 18 inDoha.

The finance minister invit-ed all political parties to framethe Charter of Economy, whichcould include the minimumeconomic agenda by settingaside the political differences.

Saudi Arabia has agreed toprovide Pakistan with a "sizablepackage" of around USD 8billion to help the cash-starvedcountry bolster dwindlingforex reserves and revive its ail-ing economy.Pakistan securedthe deal during the visit ofPrime Minister Shehbaz Sharifto Saudi Arabia.

M a k a s s a r ( I n d o n e s i a ) :Rescuers in Indonesia weresearching for 25 people whowere missing after a cargo boatsank in the Makassar Strait inSouth Sulawesi province, offi-cials said Sunday.

A total of 42 people wereon the boat when it sank in badweather on Thursday morningwhile traveling from a seaportin Makassar to Kalmas Islandin Pangkep Regency, saidDjunaidi, the head of theprovincial search and rescueagency.

Like many Indonesians,Djunaidi goes by only onename.Seventeen people werelater rescued, including someby two tugboats that were at

sea at the time of the incident.Djunaidi said the search

and rescue agency receivednew information about thelocation of the sunken boat onSaturday and dispatched crewsto the area.

Two motor boats and asearch and rescue boat, alongwith local fishing boats andIndonesia air force helicopters,are involved in the search forthe missing passengers.

The sunken vessel was ini-tially said to be a passengerferry, but Djunaidi later clari-fied that it was a cargo boat car-rying construction materials.Thirty-six passengers hadasked for a ride on the boat andthere were six crew members.

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Shoppers returned to themalls of Beijing on Sunday

as the Chinese capital relaxedpandemic restrictions afterdeclaring a small but persistentCOVID-19 outbreak effec-tively under control.

A partial reopening ofstores and offices in Beijing waswelcomed by a weary populaceand struggling shopkeeperseager for life to return to nor-mal.

Coupled with a gradualeasing of restrictions inShanghai, it signalled that theworst is over in the twin out-breaks in China's most promi-nent cities.

The lockdowns and otherrestrictions under China's"zero-COVID" strategy haveincreasingly frustrated resi-dents as they see other coun-tries ease up and re-open theirborders.

Some have resisted andstaged protests at apartmentcomplexes and university dor-mitories, in an authoritariancountry where people thinktwice about speaking out pub-licly because of possible reper-cussions.

Restaurants remain closedin Beijing, except for takeoutand delivery.

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As Russia asserted progressin its goal of seizing the

entirety of contested easternUkraine, President VladimirPutin tried on Saturday toshake European resolve topunish his country with sanc-tions and to keep supplyingweapons that have supportedUkraine's defence.

The Russian DefenseMinistry said Lyman, the sec-ond small city to fall thisweek, had been "completelyliberated" by a joint force ofRussian soldiers and Kremlin-backed separatists, who havewaged war for eight years inthe industrial Donbas regionbordering Russia.

Ukraine's train system hasferried arms and evacuated cit-izens through Lyman, a keyrailway hub in the east.Control of it also would giveRussia's military anotherfoothold in the region; it hasbridges for troops and equip-ment to cross the SiverskiyDonets river, which has so farimpeded the Russian advanceinto the Donbas.

Ukrainian officials havesent mixed signals on Lyman.On Friday, Donetsk Gov. Pavlo

Kyrylenko said Russian troopscontrolled most of it and weretrying to press their offensivetoward Bakhmut, another cityin the region. On Saturday,Deputy Defense MinisterHanna Malyar disputedMoscow's claim that Lymanhad fallen, saying fightingthere was still ongoing.

In his Saturday videoaddress, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyydescribed the situation in theeast as "very complicated'' andsaid that the "Russian army istrying to squeeze at least someresult'' by focusing its effortsthere.

The Kremlin said Putinheld an 80-minute phone callSaturday with the leaders ofFrance and Germany in whichhe warned against the contin-ued transfers of Westernweapons to Ukraine andblamed the conflict's disrup-tion to global food supplies onWestern sanctions.

German Chancellor OlafScholz and French PresidentEmmanuel Macron urged animmediate cease-fire and awithdrawal of Russian troops,according to the chancellor'sspokesperson, and called onPutin to engage in serious,

direct negotiations withZelenskyy on ending the fight-ing.

A Kremlin readout of thecall said Putin affirmed "theopenness of the Russian side tothe resumption of dialogue."The three leaders, who hadgone weeks without speakingduring the spring, agreed tostay in contact, it added.

But Russia's recentprogress in Donetsk andLuhansk, the two provincesthat make up the Donbas,could further embolden Putin.

Since failing to occupy Kyiv,Ukraine's capital, Russia hasset out to seize the last parts ofthe region not controlled bythe separatists.

"If Russia did succeed intaking over these areas, itwould highly likely be seen bythe Kremlin as a substantivepolitical achievement and beportrayed to the Russian peo-ple as justifying the invasion,"the British Ministry of Defensesaid in a Saturday assessment.

Russia has intensifiedefforts to capture the cities of

Sievierodonetsk and nearbyLysychansk, which are the lastmajor areas under Ukrainiancontrol in Luhansk.

Luhansk Gov. SerhiiHaidai reported thatUkrainian fighters repelled anassault on Sievierodonetsk butRussian troops still pushed toencircle them. He later saidRussian forces had seized ahotel on the city's outskirts,damaged 14 high-rise build-ings and were fighting in thestreets with Ukrainian forces.

Sievierodonetsk Mayor

Oleksandr Striuk said the pre-vious day that some 1,500civilians in the city, whichhad a prewar population ofaround 100,000, have died,including from a lack of med-icine or diseases that could notbe treated.

Just south ofSievierodonetsk, AP reporterssaw older and ill civiliansbundled into soft stretchersand slowly carried downapartment building stairsFriday in Bakhmut.

Svetlana Lvova, the man-ager of two buildings inBakhmut, tried to persuadereluctant residents to leavebut said she and her husbandwould not evacuate until theirson, who was inSievierodonetsk, returnedhome.

"I have to know he is alive.That's why I'm staying here,"said Lvova, 66.

On Saturday, people whomanaged to flee Lysychanskdescribed intensified shelling,especially over the past week,that left them unable to leavebasement bomb shelters.

Yanna Skakova left thecity Friday with her 18-month-old and 4-year-old sons andcried as she sat in a train

bound for western Ukraine.Her husband stayed behind totake care of their house andanimals.

"It's too dangerous to staythere now," she said, wipingaway tears.

Russia's advance raisedfears that residents could expe-rience the same horrors seenin the southeastern port city ofMariupol, which endured athree-month siege before it felllast week.

Residents who had notyet fled faced the choice of try-ing to do so now or staying.Mariupol became a symbol ofmassive destruction andhuman suffering, as well as ofUkrainian determination todefend the country.

Mariupol's port hasreportedly resumed opera-tions after Russian forces fin-ished clearing mines in theAzov Sea. Russian state newsagency Tass reported that avessel bound for Rostov-on-Don in southern Russiaentered the port earlySaturday.

In the call with Macronand Scholz, the Kremlin said,Putin emphasized that Russiawas working to "establish apeaceful life in Mariupol and

other liberated cities in theDonbas."

Germany and France bro-kered a 2015 peace agreementbetween Ukraine and Russiathat would have given a largedegree of autonomy toMoscow-backed rebel regionsin eastern Ukraine.

However, the agreementstalled long before Russia'sinvasion in February. Anyhope that Paris and Berlinwould anchor a renewed peaceagreement now appearsunlikely with both Kyiv andMoscow taking uncompro-mising stands.

Ukrainian authorities havereported that Kremlin-installed officials in seizedcities have started airingRussian news broadcasts,introduced Russian area codes,imported Russian school cur-riculum and taken other stepsto annex the areas.

Russian-held areas of thesouthern Kherson region haveshifted to Moscow time and"will no longer switch to day-light saving time, as is cus-tomary in Ukraine," Russia'sstate news agency RIA Novostiquoted Krill Stremousov, aRussian-installed local offi-cial, as saying Saturday.

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Russian and Ukrainiantroops engaged in close-

quarter combat in an easternUkraine city on Sunday asMoscow's soldiers, supportedby intense shelling, attemptedto gain strategic footholds inthe region while facing fierceUkrainian resistance.

Ukrainian regional offi-cials reported that Russianforces were "storming" the east-ern city of Sievierodonetsk,where the fighting has knockedout power and cellphone ser-vices and terrorised civilianswho haven't fled.

Sievierodonetsk, a manu-facturing centre, has emergedas an epi-centre of Russia'squest to conquer Ukraine'sindustrial Donbas region.

Russia also stepped up itsefforts to take nearbyLysychansk, where Ukrainianofficials reported constantshelling.

The two cities, with a com-bined prewar population ofaround 200,000, are the lastmajor areas under Ukrainiancontrol in Luhansk province,which makes up the Donbastogether with neighbouringDonetsk.

Russia is focused on cap-turing parts of both not alreadycontrolled by pro-Moscow sep-aratists.

Russian forces made smalladvances in recent days asbombardments chewed away atUkrainian positions and keptcivilians trapped in basementsor desperately trying to get outsafely.

Attacks to destroy militarytargets throughout the countryalso caused casualties in civil-ian areas.

In his Saturday night videoaddress, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyydescribed the situation in theeast as "very complicated'' and

"indescribably difficult".The "Russian army is try-

ing to squeeze at least someresult'' by concentrating itsattacks there, he said.

Sievierodonetsk MayorOleksandr Striuk said therewas fighting at the city's busstation on Saturday.

A humanitarian centrecouldn't operate due to thedanger, Striuk said, and cell-phone service and electricitywere knocked out. Residentsrisked exposure to shelling toget water from a half-dozenwells, he said.

Some supply routes werefunctioning, and evacuations ofthe wounded were still possi-

ble, Striuk said.He estimated that 1,500

civilians in the city, which hada prewar population of around100,000, have died from thefighting as well as from a lackof medicine and diseases thatcouldn't be treated.

Haidai, the regional gover-nor, claimed that the Russianshad retreated "with losses"around the village of Bobrove,around 20 kilometres southeastof Sievierodonetsk, but werecarrying out airstrikes in anearby village on the strategicSiverskiy Donetsk river.

"The situation inLysychansk is severe due toconstant shelling by the occu-piers, there are fatalities andwounded people," he wrote onTelegram, without elaborating.

On Saturday, he said, onecivilian died and four wereinjured after a Russian shell hita high-rise apartment building.A local cinema and 22 moreresidential buildings were alsodamaged, he said.

The Ukrainian militarysaid Sunday morning thatRussian forces were trying tostrengthen their positionsaround Lyman, a small city thatserves as a key rail hub in theDonetsk region.

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As Russian forces press theiroffensive to take the east-

ern Ukrainian cities ofSievierodonetsk andLysychansk, civilians who havemanaged to flee say intensifiedshelling over the past week leftthem unable to even ventureout from basement bomb shel-ters.

Despite the attacks, somemanaged to make it to thetown of Pokrovsk, 130 kilo-meters to the south, andboarded an evacuation trainSaturday heading west, awayfrom the fighting.

Fighting has raged aroundLysychansk and neighboringSievierodonetsk, the last majorcities under Ukrainian controlin the Luhansk region.

Luhansk and the Donetskregion to its south make up theDonbas, Ukraine's easternindustrial heartland which isthe focus of Russia's currentoffensive.

Moscow-backed sepa-ratists have controlled parts ofthe Donbas for eight years andRussian forces are now tryingto capture at least the wholeDonbas.

Bouncing her 18-month-

old son on her lap, YanaSkakova choked back tears asshe described living in a base-ment under relentless bomb-

ing, and having to leave herhusband behind when she fledwith her baby and 4-year-oldson.

Initially after the warbroke out, there were quiettimes when they could comeout of the basement to cook inthe street and let the childrenplay outdoors. But about aweek ago, the bombing inten-sified.

For the past five days,they hadn't been able to ven-ture out of the basement at all.

"Now the situation is bad,it's scary to go out," she said.

It was the police who cameto evacuate them Friday fromthe basement where 18 people,including nine children, hadbeen living for the past twoand a half months.

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The UN envoy for Sudan onSunday decried the killing

of two people in a violentcrackdown against pro-democ-racy protesters who once againtook to the streets of the capi-tal to denounce an Octobermilitary coup.

Hundreds of peoplemarched Saturday inKhartoum, where securityforces violently dispersed thecrowds and chased them in thestreets, according to activists.

"I am appalled by the vio-lent death of two young pro-testers in Khartoum yester-day, Once again: it is time forthe violence to stop," saidVolker Perthes, the UN envoy,

on Twitter. The two were killedin during protests inKhartoum's Kalakla neigh-bourhood. One was shot deadby security forces and the othersuffocated after inhaling teargas, according to the SudanDoctors Committee, which ispart of the pro-democracymovement.

Perthes urged militaryauthorities to lift the state ofemergency imposed since theOctober 25 coup and find a"peaceful way out of the currentcrisis."

Sudan has been plungedinto turmoil since the militarytakeover upended its short-lived transition to democracyafter three decades of repressiverule by former strongman

Omar al-Bashir.Al-Bashir and his Islamist-

backed government wereremoved by the military in apopular uprising in April 2019.Saturday's protests were part ofrelentless demonstrations inthe past seven months callingfor the military to hand overpower to civilians.

At least 98 people havebeen killed and over 4,300wounded in the governmentcrackdown on anti-coupprotests since October, accord-ing to the medical group.

The protesters demand theremoval of the military frompower. The generals, however,have said they will only handover power to an electedadministration. They say elec-

tions will take place in July2023 as planned in a constitu-tional document governing thetransition period.

The UN, the AfricanUnion and the eight-nation eastAfrican regional group calledthe IntergovernmentalAuthority in Development havebeen leading concerted effortsto bridge the gap between thetwo sides and find a way out ofthe impasse.

Meanwhile, the trial offour activists accused of killinga senior police officer during aprotest earlier this year beganSunday amid tight security

outside the Judicial and LegalScience Institute in Khartoum.

Dozens of protesters gath-ered in the area in a show ofsupport for the defendants.

The four were detained inraids after police Col. AliHamad was stabbed to death assecurity forces dispersed pro-testers on January 13. Theirdefence lawyers deny the alle-gations.

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North Korean leader KimJong Un and other top

officials discussed revisingstringent anti-epidemic restric-tions during a meeting Sunday,state media reported, as theymaintained a widely disputedclaim that the country's firstCOVID-19 outbreak is slow-ing.

The discussion at theNorth's Politburo meeting sug-gests it will soon relax a set ofdraconian curbs imposed afterits admission of the omicronoutbreak this month out ofconcern about its food and eco-nomic situations.

Kim and other bureaumembers during the meeting"made a positive evaluation ofthe pandemic situation beingcontrolled and improved acrossthe country," the official KoreanCentral News Agency said.

KCNA said the bureau"examined the issue of effec-tively and quickly coordinatingand enforcing the anti-epi-demic regulations and guide-lines given the current stableanti-epidemic situation."

On Sunday, North Koreareported 89,500 new patientswith fever symptoms, takingthe country's total to 3.4 mil-lion. It didn't say whether therewere additional deaths.

The country's latest deathtoll reported Friday was 69, set-ting its mortality rate at 0.002%,an extremely low count that noother country, includingadvanced economies, hasreported in the fight againstCOVID-19.

Many outside experts sayNorth Korea was clearly under-stating its fatality rate to preventany political damage to Kim athome. They say North Koreashould have suffered manymore deaths because its 26 mil-lion people are largely unvac-cinated against COVID-19 andit lacks the capacity to treatpatients with critical condi-tions.

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On the back of the best-ever price it earned oncrude oil it produces,

State-owned Oil and NaturalGas Corporation (ONGC)reported a record net profit ofRs 40,305 crore in the fiscal yearended March 31, becomingIndia's second most profitablecompany behind RelianceIndustries Ltd.

In a statement, ONGCsaid net profit for the fiscalFY22 (April 2021 to March2022) soared 258 per cent to Rs40,305.74 crore from Rs11,246.44 crore in the previousfinancial year.

This as it got an averageof $76.62 for every barrel of crude oil produced and sold inthe fiscal as against $42.78 per barrel net realisation in the pre-vious year.

This is the best-ever pricethat ONGC got as internation-al oil prices surged from late 2021and spiked to a near 14-yearhigh of $139 per barrel afterRussia invaded Ukraine.International rates had spikedto a record $147 per barrel in

2008 but ONGC's net realisa-tion at that time was muchlower as it had to provide sub-sidies to fuel retailers so thatthey could sell petrol, diesel, cooking gas LPG and keroseneat rates lower than cost.

ONGC now gets interna-tional rates as the downstreamfuel retailers too price petrol,diesel and other petroleumproducts at global rates.

The firm got $2.35 per mil-lion British thermal unit for the gas it sold as against $2.09in the previous FY21 fiscal. The gas price jumped to $6.1 inApril this year and this impact will be visible in the first-quar-ter earnings.

Consolidated net profit,after including those earned by its subsidiaries like HPCL,PLand ONGC Videsh Ltd, soaredto Rs 49,294.06 crore in 2021-22 as compared to Rs 21,360.25crore in 2020-21. Both stand-alone and consolidated netprofit of ONGC is the second-highest profit in the country.

Reliance had on May 6reported a consolidated netprofit of Rs 67,845 crore on arevenue of Rs 792,756 crore.

ONGC displaced Tata Steel

for the No.2 spot. Tata Steel on May 3 reported a standalonenet profit of Rs 33,011.18 croreand a consolidated net profit ofRs 41,749.32 crore for FY22.

At No.4 spot is TataConsultancy Services Ltd (TCS)with a consolidated net profit ofRs 38,449 crore, followed byState Bank of India (SBI) whichreported a net profit of Rs31,676 crore on May 13. Its private sector rivalHDFC Bank reported a stand-alone net profit of Rs 36,961.33crore and a consolidated netprofit of Rs 31,150.90 crore forthe fiscal. ONGC once wasIndia's most profitable compa-ny but a decline in output andpaying fuel subsidies led to itsearnings declining over theyears. ONGC said its stand-alone revenue from operationssoared nearly 62 per cent to Rs1.10 lakh crore and consolidat-ed turnover came in at Rs 5.31 lakh crore.

The profit surge was despitea 3.7 per cent drop in crude oil production to 21.7 milliontonnes in 2021-22 as some ofthe firm's western offshorefields were hit by a severecyclone in May last year. Gas

output fell 5 per cent to 21.68billion cubic meters.

"The decrease in oil/gasproduction is mainly due to the impact of cyclone Tauktae inwestern offshore assets andwestern onshore assets andmodification work at Hazira(Gujarat)," the statement said.

ONGC said its ReserveReplacement Ratio (2P) fromdomestic fields (excluding jointventure fields) was 1.01. This isthe 16th consecutive year whenONGC achieved ReserveReplacement Ratio (2P) of more than one. The compa-ny's overseas arm, ONGCVidesh Ltd reported a 16 per cent drop in net profit to Rs1,589 crore in 2021-22 as crude oil and natural gas output fell.Its crude oil productiondeclined to 8.099 million tonnesin FY22 from 8.51 milliontonnes in the previous year. Gas output fell to 4.231 bil-lion cubic meters from 4.529bcm in FY21.

ONGC declared a final div-idend of 65 per cent (Rs 3.25per share of face value Rs 5each), taking the total dividendpaid in the fiscal to 210 per cent(Rs 10.50 a share).

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The National CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT) hasordered to initiate insol-

vency proceedings against State-run National TextileCorporation (NTC) after admit-ting a plea by one of its opera-tional creditors claiming defaultof around Rs 14 lakh.

The New Delhi bench of theNCLT has also appointed AmitTalwar as an interim resolutionprofessional (IRP), suspendingthe board of NTC and has alsodeclared a moratorium againstthe PSU as per the provisions ofthe Insolvency & BankruptcyCode (IBC).

A two-member NCLT benchalso rejected the claims of NTCand said the dispute it raisedover the due amount claimed byits operational creditor is mere-ly a "moonshine dispute" andsaid default has occurred for the payment.

This is probably for the firsttime since the code has comeinto effect that insolvency pro-ceedings against a central gov-ernment-owned public sectorunit (PSU) has been initiated. NTC is under the jurisdiction ofthe Ministry of Textile,Government of India. It isengaged in the production ofyarn and fabric through its 23

mills in operation, located allover India.

The NCLT direction cameover a petition filed by HeroSolar Energy Private Ltd(HSEPL) through its counselPallav Mongia, claiming adefault of Rs 13.84 lakh for twocontracts for installing solarrooftop power projects.

The matter relates to an almostsix-year-old contract. NTC hadawarded a work order in May2016 in Tamil Nadu for a total780 kWp grid-connected rooftop solarpower PV system. As per thecontract of both the projects, theamount of Rs 2.21 crore towards Project 1 and Rs1.86 crore towards Project 2become due upon the comple-

tion of work on December,2016 and April, 2017, respectively.

However, NTCfailed to release the completepayment due to HSEPL and retained an amount of Rs13.84 lakh against the terms ofthe agreement. It was informedby the operational creditor thatas per the clauses of the agree-ment, there was no provision forlevying any penalty and sent a demand notice toNTC under section 8 of the IBC.However, NTC in its reply hadsaid HSEPL has committed adelay of 117 days in the execu-tion of the work order and it hassuffered losses and hence it hasdeducted penalties from theamount due.

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San Francisco: Tech billionaireElon Musk's Starlink, the satel-lite Internet division of hisrocket company SpaceX, hasreceived the green light in thePhilippines, Nigeria andMozambique.In a statement on Sunday, theNational TelecommunicationsCommission (NTC) said it hasapproved the registration ofStarlink Internet ServicesPhilippines Inc. as a value-added service (VAS) provider,reports CNN Philippines.

"Starlink's VAS registra-tion now allows the companyto directly access satellite sys-tems, build and operate broad-band facilities to offer internetservices. The NTC's swift pro-cessing of Starlink's VASprovider registration wasmeant to expedite the service'simmediate roll-out," the regu-lator was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the CEOinformed its Twitter users viaa tweet that "Starlink approvedby The Philippines".

In another tweet, he alsoannounced that the satelliteinternet service has beenapproved in Nigeria andMozambique.

"Starlink approved byNigeria and Mozambique," hewrote on the microbloggingsite. This month, a report saidthat Starlink is available in 32countries, up from 25 countriesreported earlier this year.

Recently, Musk was askedabout an update on Starlink'sapproval in India, to which hereplied "we are waiting forgovernment approval".

In June last year, Muskclaimed that Starlink would

span the globe, including India,within months. But its plans toset up space in the countrywere dented. Starlink regis-tered its business in India viaa local unit, Starlink SatelliteCommunications and targetedan April rollout.

But the Department ofTelecommunications under theMinistry of Communicationsin December warned Starlinkto get the necessary permissionrequired to offer satellite-basedInternet services in India.

The Government toldStarlink to stop "booking/ren-dering the satellite internetservice" in India without alicence.

Starlink later announcedthat it will apply for a com-mercial licence in India byJanuary 31, which it is yet to.

IANS

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Gurugram: After the reductionof excise duty on petrol anddiesel by the Centre, the AllHaryana Petrol PumpAssociation has demanded thatthe state government followsuit. The organization hasthreatened that if the Haryanagovernment ignores theirdemand, all dealers of the statewill not buy oil from companieson May 31, which has beennamed 'No Purchase Day'.

The association said onSaturday that in the comingdays, giving fuel to governmentvehicles will also be stopped.

This was announced bythe All Haryana PetroleumDealers Association during apress meet here. They said thatthe pump dealers are incurringlosses of crores of rupees due tothe arbitrariness of the govern-ment and oil companies.

"The state governmentshould reduce VAT on petroland diesel so that the constantloss to the petrol pump opera-tors can be compensated," AnilYadav, President of Petrol PumpAssociation told IANS.

"Excise on petrol and dieselhas already been reduced by thecentral government but thestate government has not yetdecided to reduce VAT. In viewof this, all petrol pump opera-tors will register their protest fora day on May 31," he added.

"In the past five years, theprice of petrol has increased by160 per cent and that of dieselby 150 per cent, but the com-mission of pump dealers hasnot been revised even once. TheApoorva Chandra Committeeconstituted by the Governmentof India has also said in itsreport that 90 per cent of thecommission that pump dealersget is spent on operating thepump itself. The expenseswhich have increased for themare not being met by the com-mission."

Association general secre-tary M.C. Gupta said that pumpdealers should be kept out ofthe fluctuation of excise rates."Full supply of petrol, diesel isgiven only after full payment ofexcise duty to the dealer. In sucha situation, it is excessive toreduce the amount of exciseduty back from their sale price,"Gupta said.

"There are 4,000 oil pumpsin Haryana and 200 pumps inGurugram. The reduction inexcise duty has resulted in a lossof at least Rs 5 lakh to eachpump. Accordingly, the dealershave suffered a loss of morethan Rs 200 crore," ManishYadav, a Gurugram based deal-er said. IANS

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Chennai/New Delhi: Electricscooter manufacturer AtherEnergy has blamed an"extremely rare" phenomenonfor a fire at its experience cen-tre in Chennai, saying struc-tural breach allowed water tofind its way into the batterypack of the scooter, which trig-gered a thermal runaway eventresulting in smoke and fire.

The EV maker said thescooter in question had beenbrought to theNungambakkam facility forservice after an accident.

The service crew appar-ently subjected the Ather 450electric scooter to a high-pres-sure wash to remove dust andmud that had accumulated onthe scooter over time.

The crew later "discovereda crack on the top casing of thebattery pack", which, the com-pany believes, was due to the

accident of the scooter."A structural breach

allowed water to find its wayinto the battery pack of thescooter, which triggered a ther-mal runaway event," the com-pany claimed. The EV makersaid such an incident has neverhappened with neither its testvehicles nor any scooters it hassold to date.

"The crack in the casingallowed water into the batterypack - which is both IP67-ratedas well as AIS 156-compliant -that made its way to the 224cells in the pack," said thecompany, adding it was an'impossible to solve' scenario interms of saving the batterypack. The EV maker also saidthat the scooter in question hada number of 'non-standardparts' in place of the stockscrews surrounding the batterypack, adding that it is increas-

ing the pre-checks for accidentcases to avoid such incidents inthe future.

The company had earliersaid in a tweet that there hasbeen a minor fire incident onits premises in Chennai.

"While some property andscooters got affected, thankfullyall employees are safe andthings are under control. Theexperience centre will be oper-ational shortly," the EV com-pany said.

This was the first timeAther Energy came in news fora fire incident as several top EVplayers are facing governmentinquiry over battery explo-sions and fire incidents acrossthe country. A Hero PhotonElectric scooter in Odishacaught fire this week while itwas being charged. The inci-dent left the scooter partiallydamaged. IANS

Chennai: Petrol and dieselpumps in Tamil Nadu havedecided not to purchase fuelfrom Oil MarketingCompanies on May 31 inprotest of the sudden reductionin prices by the UnionGovernment.

Tamil Nadu PetroleumDealers Association in a state-ment said that the reduction inthe fuel prices by the CentralGovernment led to dealers los-ing Rs 3 lakh to Rs 15 lakh.

The dealers associationsaid that while the dealers hadrequested the CentralGovernment for a gradualreduction of prices, the priceswere reduced all of a suddenleading to heavy losses.

KP Murali of the TamilNadu Petroleum Dealers asso-ciation in the statement saidthat the price of fuel wasreduced during Deepavali butduring those days the dealerswere advised to keep five days'

stock of petrol and four days'stock of diesel. He also said thatthe dealer margin has not beenrevised since 2017 and said thatthe present margin is the samewhen the petrol price was Rs 60a litre.

The statement also saidthat with the price of petrolhovering above Rs 100 a litre,the dealers are forced to paymore money but the marginremains the same which wasunscientific and loaded againstthe dealers.

The dealers' associationsaid that they have announceda protest of not buying fuel onMay 31 to highlight their woes.

The dealers said that oneday's protest would preventthe oil marketing companiesfrom achieving their monthlytarget, hitting their bottomlineshard which have been bol-stered till now with the hard-earned money of the commonman. IANS

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New Delhi: As a pall of gloomshrouds the Indian startup ecosystemamid funding drought after a strongbull run, the quick commerce (10-minute delivery) segment is brewingwith new hope as people prefer gro-ceries and other home essentials attheir doorsteps within no time aftermaking an online order.

Startups like Swiggy Instamart,Zepto, and Reliance-backed Dunzo,etc are trying to defy the current slow-down, as they add more goods anddaily essentials to their kitty and deliv-er them to their customers.

Learning from the earlier playersin the quick delivery space, the star-tups are minimising cash burn.

India's quick commerce market isall set to witness 15 times growth by2025, reaching a market size of near-ly $5.5 billion, according toBengaluru-based market researchfirm RedSeer.

The total addressable market for

quick commerce in India stands at $45billion, and urban areas are drivingthis market on the back of mid-high-income households.

Swiggy Instamart pioneered quickcommerce grocery delivery in Indiawhen it launched this in August2020.

Since then, Instamart has madequick commerce more accessible andaffordable to consumers across 28cities to date.

"We are encouraged by the con-sumer adoption and the opportunitythis category is providing for sellers,D2C brands, and FMCG brands alikeas they benefit from SwiggyInstamart's reach and superior expe-rience," Karthik Gurumurthy, SVP,Swiggy Instamart, told IANS.

In December 2021, Swiggyannounced to pour $700 million intoInstamart.

"While grocery is commonlyunderstood to be the largest catego-

ry in retail, quick commerce remainsa new and largely untapped segmenteven within grocery," Gurumurthyadded. Over the last two years, quickcommerce has seen a significantuptake in urban areas, with majorcities such as Bengaluru, Chennai, andNew Delhi enjoying most of theofferings.

According to Abhishek Gupta,Engagement Manager, RedSeer, India

has laid the foundation for a well-posi-tioned market for quick commerceadoption.

"The growing online populationand an increasing preference foronline shopping over brick-and-mor-tar shopping is enabling this marketto grow rapidly," he said.

Earlier this month, 10-minutedelivery platform Zepto raised $200million, taking its valuation to around$900 million.

Just nine months after launching,Zepto posted a record 800 per centrevenue growth quarter-on-quarter.

"Our rigorous focus on UnitEconomics is the main reason whywe've had such an amazing trajecto-ry as a company and also the reasonfor our investors' continued faith inour efficient business model," a Zeptospokesperson told IANS.

The cash burn has also "comedown 5 times on a per-order basis, sig-nificantly lower than companies grow-

ing at the same pace", the spokesper-son added.

The company has a 1,000-strongworkforce and plans to hire across allfunctions.

The platform has so far raised$360 million from investors in SiliconValley and India. It recently clockedSeries D fundraise of $200 million,bringing its valuation to $900 million.

Quick commerce is fundamen-tally changing consumer purchasebehaviour and the grocery retail mar-ket on the whole by providing fasterdelivery options (in as little as 10 min-utes) as well as a more convenience-driven shopping experience.

"Quick commerce is satisfying thelatent needs of its customers in a waythat traditional commerce nevercould," said Gupta.

According to Gurumurthy, theywill continue to "make online groceryshopping more delightful and conve-nient to users". IANS

New Delhi: As venture capital(VC) funds and top investorssqueeze the flow of money totraditional startups owing tomultiple global macroeconom-ic conditions, they have nowturned their attention on emerg-ing tech like Web3.0(Blockchain/Crypto/ NFTs) andgaming (Metaverse) where theysee immense opportunities.Realising that 'funding winter'has finally set in after a strongrally of more than two years inthe pandemic that allowedInternet-driven startups to growexponentially across the spec-trum — edtech, healthtech, e-grocery, food delivery andonline home services, they havedecided to park their moneyelsewhere.

Leading the pack is

California-based investmentfirm Andreessen Horowitz(A16Z) which just announcedtwo new funds — a massive $4.5billion fund for crypto andBlockchain companies andWeb3.0 startups and a $600 mil-lion 'Games Fund One' that isexclusively focused on the gam-ing industry.

Web3, or Web 3.0, repre-sents the next generation of theInternet.

A group of former execu-tives from one of the largestcryptocurrency exchangesBinance has also reportedlycreated a $100 million venturefund.

"Games will play a pivotalrole in defining how wesocialise, play and work over thenext century," said Andreessen

Horowitz.The fund's backers include

co-founders at gaming compa-nies like King, Discord, Roblox,Zynga, Twitch, Blizzard, andRiot Games.

Indian startups in the gam-ing industry have also realisedimmense opportunities assmartphone usage grows anddata packs get cheaper, as high-intensity gaming devices andbigger screens arrive on thescene.

India is currently home tomore than 430 million mobilegamers and the number is esti-mated to grow to 650 million by2025. Currently, mobile gamingdominates the sector, con-tributing more than 90 per centto the current $1.6 billion gam-ing market in the country,

according to a latest report bythe Internet and MobileAssociation of India (IAMAI).

"The Indian gaming ecosys-tem consists of gamers of allages, game developers anddesigners, investors, and mar-keters all working together tocome up with the latest cutting-edge games, concepts and offersfor players," Sean (Hyunil)Sohn, Head of India Division atKrafton, Inc, said.

Gaming startups in Indiaattracted $1.6 billion in thefirst nine months of 2021,according to a report by invest-ment banking platform MapleCapital Advisors.

Nearly 90 per cent of theinvestments went to two largeplayers in the fantasy sports andplatform gaming sector - Dream

Sports and the Mobile PremierLeague (MPL).

Top venture firms alsoinvested millions of dollars inother gaming startups likePlayShifu, Zupee, and Winzo.PUBG Mobile developerKrafton invested $22.4 millionin the home grown esportscompany Nodwin Gaming.

"In the last 12 years, we hadto update our GPUs (graphicsprocessing units) over 700times, that's the demand com-ing in from the consumers," saidQualcomm Vice President andPresident, Rajen Vagadia.

A metaverse and NFT-focused startup known asSandbox recently raised nearly$93 million in a round led bySoftBank Vision Fund 2, thefirst investment into crypto

assets by the Japanese invest-ment giant. Another NFT-focused startup, known asSfermion, received $100 millionfrom billionaires Cameron andTyler Winklevoss (Winklevosstwins) and two general partnersfrom A16Z. Blockchain-basedstartups from India also aspireto be on the world map.

According to Nasscom, thecryptotech industry in India hasexpanded over 39 per cent in thelast five years. The governmenthas also stated that there will beno blanket ban on all tech-nologies related to Blockchainor Web3.0. Apart from havinga robust blockchain space, thetechnology and entrepreneur-ship sectors in India too havewitnessed significant growthwith more than 230 cryptotech

startups and 34 Indian compa-nies gaining unicorn status in2021 itself, according to VentureIntelligence Unicorn Tracker.

Apart from popular cryptoexchanges like WazirX,CoinDCX and CoinSwitchKuber, India is now brimmingwith Web3.0 startups likePolygon. Rajan Anandan, man-aging director at SequoiaCapital, recently said that Indiarepresents great potential onWeb3.0.

"Look at the Indian startupsin the Web3.0 space. Some ofthem are doing great work,and not just in the crypto space.Startups working onBlockchain-based Web3.0 pro-jects in India have continued togrow," Anandan said during theLenovo Tech World India con-

ference in March.With capital becoming

scarce, Sequoia Capital has alsotold its founder community totighten the belt and focus onprofitability.

"We are just beginning tosee how the increasing cost ofmoney flows through to impactthe real economy. If you're step-ping back and thinking twice,it's not just you. Belt tighteningand priority reassessment willhave second- and third-ordereffects, as one company's costsrepresent someone else's rev-enue or purchasing power," theleading VC fund told its foundercommunity.

Sequoia Capital India hasinvested in almost 30 unicornsof the 100 Indian unicorns.

IANS

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India wicketkeeper batterTaniya Bhatia said she has

been working on her strike rateto cement her place in the nation-al women's team ahead of theBirmingham CommonwealthGames and next year's WorldT20.

The 24-year-old fromChandigarh, known for herglovework, is not a regular in theIndian team since retiring hurtduring the T20 World Cup finaltwo years back due to a concus-sion.

She played three ODIs lastyear in England, managing just7 and 2 in two opportunities. Shealso played three ODIs this year-- one each against the WestIndies, South Africa and NewZealand, scoring 8 in her onlyouting with the bat.

She was included in theWorld Cup squad in NewZealand this year but didn't get

a game with young Richa Ghosh,with better batting credentials,getting the preference.

"The main thing is to acceptthings, so I accepted my situa-tions," she said after Supernovasbeat Velocity by four runs toclaim the Women's T20Challenge title.

"I thought during the WorldCup that when I go back I willwork on my batting. I knew thereare T20s lined up this season, soI started working on my strike rateduring the domestic tournament.

"T20 cricket is all about main-taining strike rate and average, sohere also I kept my focus on that,

to act according to the situation,and now also when I go back mypreparation and focus will remainthe same for the upcominggames."

Bhatia had played a pivotalrole in India snatching a drawagainst England in the one-offTest last year when she shared anunbeaten 104-run partnershipwith Sneh Rana after coming onto bat at number 10.

"I am always positive and livein the moment. I didn't thinkabout past even during thedomestic season," said Bhatia,who scored 36 and 1 not out intwo innings besides claimingthree catches and one stumping inthe three games of the Women'sT20 challenge.

"Before coming here, Ithought that I will just focus onmy role, do what the situationdemands and not think aboutwhat is happening outside and tryto grab the opportunities thatcome my way."

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India almost clinched the title round berth beforeRazie Rahim turned out to be Malaysia's saviour with

a hat-trick in an enthralling 3-3 draw in a 'Super 4'encounter of Asia Cup hockey tournament here onSunday.

Rahim (12th, 21st, 56th minutes) converted threepenalty corners for Malaysia, while India made a valiantfightback after being two goals down, scoring throughVishnukant Singh (32nd), SV Sunil (53rd) and NilamSanjeep Xess (55th). India had earlier defeated Japan2-1 in their first match on Saturday.

Meanwhile in the other Super 4 league match,South Korea defeated Japan 3-1 to move to four points.South Korea had earlier drawn 2-2 against Malaysiain their first match.

As the Super 4's table stands, South Korea with agoal difference of +2 (5-3) are on top of the table withIndia (GD) +1 (5-4) are placed second.

Japan with two defeats have no chance of makingit to the final while Malaysia (GD) 0 (5-5) have an out-side chance if they can beat Japan by a comprehensivemargin (minimum 2 goals) provided India and SouthKorea match ends in a draw.

On the day, Malaysia started brightly and put theIndian defence under sustain pressure.

Indian goalkeeper Suraj Karkera was brought toaction in the sixth minute when he made a fine saveto deny Muhammad Hassan's reverse hit.

Malaysia earned a penalty corner from the resul-tant move but Karkera positioned himself perfectly tokeep out Faizal Saari's try.

It was all Malaysia in the first quarter as the Indianteam failed to get a single shot on target.

Malaysia's consistent pressure secured themanother penalty corner in the 12th minute and this timeRahim beat Karkera with a powerful low flick to theright bottom corner of the board.

The Indians upped their game in the second quar-ter and created a few chances but that didn't result ina goal.

Malaysia, on the other hand, secured anotherpenalty corner in the 21st minute and once again Rahimwas bang on target as India conceded second goal ofthe match. A minute later, India goalie Karkera cameout of his line to narrow down the angle and deny Saarifrom close range. Trailing by two goals, the Indiansstepped up the pressure after the change of ends andpulled a goal back when Vishnukant converted froma rebound after the team got its first penalty corner.

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Former Australian cricketer andWorld Cup-winning coach Dav

Whatmore on Sunday said UmranMalik was a breath of fresh air in theworld of pace bowling and expressedhope that the 22-year-old goes fromstrength to strength.

Whatmore, who arrived inSrinagar as part of a camp at a privateschool here, said many youngstersfrom J-K would like to emulate thepace sensation.

"Umran Malik is a breath offresh air for the speed and pace bowl-ing. He has been wonderful to thepoint that he was retained by his (IPL)franchise which is a big thing. I amsure there are a lot of youngsters inthis state that would like to emulateMalik," the cricketer, who has in pastcoached Pakistan, Sri Lanka, andBangladesh among other teams, toldreporters. He congratulated Malik forbeing selected in the India cricketteam "Let's hope he does well.Congratulations to him for beingselected in the Indian squad. We all

hope that he goes from strength tostrength," Whatmore said.

Asked about his favourites for theIPL final match to be played betweenRajasthan Royals and Gujarat Titans,Whatmore said it is really good for theIPL for those two teams to be play-ing in the finals.

"I am not sure which way to go.

There are good reasons for both towin the IPL. Maybe later in the day,I will have some leaning, but both arevery very good teams," he said.

Whatmore, who was part of theAustralian squad which played amatch here in 1979, expressed hopethat his second visit to the valleywould not be his last.

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The 2022 season of the Indian PremierLeague has seen the rise of Hardik

Pandya as a skipper. In his first year as a cap-tain of any team, the 28-year-old fromBaroda has done an outstanding job, leadinghis team, the Gujarat Titans, to the IPL finals.

His exemplary work with theAhmedabad-based side has earned him a lotof praise already, and recently another bigname was added to the list in the form of SunilGavaskar, who lauded the star all-rounder forhis on-point captaincy in the ongoing season.

Analysing Hardik's captaincy, the mem-ber of the Indian team that won the 1983World Cup said that Hardik seems to havelearnt a lot from his close friend and formerIndia captain MS Dhoni. The cricketer-turned-commentator highlighted that theGujarat captain has focused on man-manage-ment and that approach has paid dividendsfor him.

"Looking at Hardik Pandya's captaincy, itseems as if he has learnt a lot from MS Dhoni.He considers MS Dhoni his elder brother andhero. His man-management style is MSDhoni's approach. Not showing too muchemotion on the field and letting anyone know

about their mistakes in the dressing room."The legendary Indian opening batter is

impressed with Hardik's bowling changes andfield placements throughout the competitionand said the 28-year-old's inspiring perfor-mance as the captain is also a good sign forthe Indian cricket team going forward.

"Because of this, every player wants to dosomething special for the skipper. Hardik hasbeen very impressive with his bowlingchanges and field placements as well. His suc-cess as captain is a positive sign for TeamIndia."

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South Africa's LauraWolvaardt, who smashed a

40-ball 65 for Velocity, albeit ina losing cause, said she has beentrying to improve her game onthe leg side.

"I have been working on myleg-side game quite a lot, espe-cially now in T20 games whenteams put out the long off anddeep extra cover, it takes awaymy extra cover powergame. SoI have to think about differentoptions," she said.

"I am glad I got one or twoover long on today (Saturday)but last over Sophie (Ecclestone)bowled really well, those yorkerswere hard to get away.

"I got the first one away but

she nailed the yorkers after-wards under a lot of pressurewhich shows there is a reason sheis number one in world in bothformats at the moment."

Wolvaart hit five fours andthree sixes during her innings,including a maximum of AlanaKing over long-on.

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Gujarat Titans' highly-ratedbowling attack, led by skipperHardik Pandya himself, limit-

ed a formidable Rajasthan Royals bat-ting unit to 130 for nine in the IndianPremier League final here on Sunday.

Hardik (3/17) struck thrice in hisfour overs while Rashid Khan (1/18)delivered yet again on the big stage toput their team on course for a title inits debut season.

Rajasthan did not have the bestof starts after skipper Sanju Samsondecided to put runs on the board ina big final.

With more than a lakh support-ing the home team, Gujarat bowlerswere able to maintain the pressure onthe opposition though Jos Buttler (39of 35) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 off 16)tried their best to break free.

Jaiswal, who looked tentativeagainst the pace and swing ofMohammad Shami, took morechances compared to Buttler at thestart of the innings.

Among the shots Jaiswal attempt-ed, his most assuring stroke was abeautifully timed six over cover offShami. After pulling Yash Dayal fora massive six over long leg, the south-paw tried one too many and wascaught in the deep. The extra bounceinduced the mishit.

Buttler, who began his inningswith a crisp square cut, was joined bySamson (14 off 11) in the middle.

Knowing both Rajasthan right-handers struggle against Rashid Khan,Hardik brought the star spinner intothe attack in the powerplay itself.

Both Buttler and Samson choseto play safe against Rashidh asRajasthan reached 44 for one in thepowerplay.

The in-form Buttler decided toforce the issue as he drove LockieFerguson over the cover fielder beforecutting him for successive boundaries.

The New Zealander was generat-ing serious pace and went on to clock157.3 kmph, the fastest ball of thetournament.

Samson did not last long as hisopposite number Hardik removedhim on his second ball of the game.Hardik hit the hard length andSamson went for the pull shot only to

be caught on the off-side, leavingRajasthan at 60 for two in 8.2 overs.

Rajasthan's struggles worsenedwhen Devdutt Padikkal (2), whotook eight balls to get off the mark,and Buttler departed in a space ofthree balls.

Rashid ended the painful stay ofPadikkal before Hardik got the mas-sive wicket of Buttler. The Englishmanattempted to steer one to third manbut ended up edging it back to thewicketkeeper.

At the other end, new batter

Shimron Hetmyer had to answer tothe guile of Rashid, who was gettinghis googlies to rip.

With Rajasthan going at run a ballafter 14 overs, big hits were the needof the hour. However, Hardik madeit 94 for five by having the dangerous

Hetmyer caught and bowled.R Ashwin perished in the follow-

ing over, ending all hopes of aRajasthan fight back. PTI

Shami ended the innings in styleby castling Riyan Parag's stumpswith a perfectly placed yorker.

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Vinicius Junior scored theonly goal of the game asReal Madrid beat

Liverpool 1-0 in Saturday'sChampions League final inParis to become kings ofEurope for a record-extending14th time after a night marredby problems outside theground that led to the kick-offbeing delayed by over half anhour.

Brazilian winger Viniciusturned in Fede Valverde's entic-ing low cross in the 59thminute at the Stade de Franceand Liverpool could not find anequaliser as Jurgen Klopp'sside lost to the Spanish giantsin a Champions League finalfor the second time in five sea-sons.

The Anfield side will won-der what might have been hadthe outstanding ThibautCourtois not pushed SadioMane's shot onto the inside ofa post when they were on topin the first half, as they fell shortof a trophy treble.

Winners of the EnglishLeague Cup and FA Cup thisseason, they just missed out to

Manchester City for thePremier League title and weredenied a victory here whichwould have put them level

with AC Milan on sevenEuropean Cups.

"These boys played an out-standing season. The two com-

petitons we couldn't win, wedidn't win for the smallestpossible margin," said Klopp.

Instead Real have a fifth

Champions League in nineseasons to go with theirSpanish title, as Carlo Ancelottibecomes the first coach to win

European club football's great-est prize for a fourth time.

Ancelotti was also incharge of Real when they wonthe 2014 final having tri-umphed with AC Milan in2003 and in 2007, the latter vic-tory coming against Liverpool.

"We managed the gamevery well," said Ancelotti, whocalled himself "a record man".

"I had luck to come herelast year and have a fantasticseason. A fantastic club, a real-ly good squad with a lot ofquality and mental character,"he told BT Sport.

#�9�$�#�+��+A�The delayed kick-off may

have been responsible for theslow start to the game, as it took16 minutes before there was anincident of note, MohamedSalah turning a low TrentAlexander-Arnold crosstowards goal only for Courtoisto save.

Liverpool were seen asfavourites to avenge their lossto the Spanish giants in the2018 final in Kyiv and theybegan to take control of thegame.

Mane came agonisingly

close in the 21st minute as heskipped his way into a shoot-ing position inside the box onlyfor Courtois to tip his net-bound shot onto his right-hand post.

Klopp's side, with Fabinhoand Thiago Alcantara startingin midfield after overcomingfitness worries, were on top butcould not turn their superior-ity into a lead.

�-��#��)��-��Real, meanwhile, created

almost nothing in the first halfwith Karim Benzema quiet, buttheir captain briefly thought hehad got the breakthrough twominutes before the interval.

The Frenchman proddedhome after the ball broke backto him inside the area but theoffside flag was raised.

The decision to disallowthe goal was upheld after alengthy VAR check, despiteFabinho deflecting Valverde's

touch through to Benzema.Yet Ancelotti's side kept

their nerve and were rewardedwith the goal as the hour markapproached.

Valverde drove forwarddown the right before firing alow ball across the face of goalfor Vinicius to turn it in at thefar post past his Braziliannational team colleagueAlisson.

Just like in 2018, Real haddrawn first blood, but thistime there was no need forthem to send on Gareth Bale inorder to ensure victory.

Courtois was superb, flyingto his right to keep out a Salahcurler before two saves in quicksuccession late on.

First the Belgian got downlow when substitute DiogoJota deflected Salah's efforttowards goal, and then he pro-duced a strong arm to turn aSalah strike behind.

It was Real Madrid's night.

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Karim Benzema admittedhe had done all he could

with Real Madrid this sea-son to make himselffavourite for the Ballon d'Orafter helping the Spanishgiants beat Liverpool 1-0 inSaturday's ChampionsLeague final in Paris.

Benzema did not scorein the final at the Stade deFrance as Vinicius Juniornetted the only goal of thegame, but the Frenchmanfinished as the ChampionsLeague's top scorer with 15including 10 in the knock-out rounds.

"Of course," the 34-year-old told Canal Plus whenasked if the Ballon d'Or wason his mind after a season inwhich he also won La Ligawith Real Madrid.

"Now I will join upwith the national team butI don't think I can domuch more with my club.

"We will see what hap-pens, but in any case I amproud of what I have done."

Benzema will join upwith the France squad fora series of UEFA NationsLeague games in June afterfinishing the season with44 goals altogether for Real.

He scored hat-tricksagainst Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea inthe Champions Leagueknockout rounds and net-ted three times across thetwo legs of the semi-finalagainst Manchester City.

"There is no luck," hesaid in reference to a seriesof remarkable comebackwins on their run to thefinal.

"You can be lucky oncebut not every time. Wedeserve our victory. We putin the effort, we came backevery time, we never gaveup.

"Every player is impor-tant in our squad, whetherthey are a starter or a sub-stitute, or they don't playoften but give everything intraining."

Benzema, who has nowwon five ChampionsLeagues with Real, addedthat ending the season as thecompetition's top scorer was"exceptional".

"But the most importantthing is to win this fifthChampions League."

The winner of theBallon d'Or will be revealedin a ceremony in Paris inOctober, before this year'sWorld Cup in Qatar.

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Aseason that will live in thememory for Liverpool

fans ended on a night that willbe remembered for all thewrong reasons as JurgenKlopp's men were beaten 1-0by Real Madrid in Paris.

Less than a week ago, theReds were on the brink of anunprecedented quadruple.

Instead they have to set-tle for the double of Leagueand FA Cup after missing outon the bigger prizes of thePremier League andChampions League.

Manchester City claimedthe English title by one pointafter a dramatic final daywhen Pep Guardiola's mencame from 2-0 down to beatAston Villa 3-2.

"These boys played an

outstanding season," saidKlopp. "The two competi-tions we couldn't win we did-n't win for the smallest pos-sible margin.

"City was one point bet-ter and tonight Madrid wasone goal better."

Vinicius Junior scored

the only goal as he stole in atthe back post to turn homeFede Valverde's cross-come-shot.

But the fact it was Madridgoalkeeper Thibaut Courtoiswho was named man-of-the-match said more about theflow of the game.

"When the goalkeeper isman-of-the-match thensomething is going wrongfor the other team," addedKlopp.

"They scored a goal andwe didn't. That's the easiestexplanation in the world offootball."

For the third time thisseason, Klopp's men failed tofire in a final.

Twice they beat Chelseain penalty shootouts after120 goalless minutes atWembley.

But Madrid were not soforgiving as they capped aremarkable run through thecompetition to claim a 14thEuropean Cup.

Klopp has now won justone of his four EuropeanCup finals.

Four years ago, Real alsowon a clash between the sides3-1 in Kiev.

Liverpool bounced backa year later to win their sixthEuropean crown in Madrid.

And Klopp is confidenthis side will not stop at reach-ing the showpiece for a thirdtime in five years.

"The difference betweennow and 2018 is I see us com-ing again," he said. "I wishedit but I couldn't know it.

"They have an incredibleattitude, it's a fantastic groupand we will go again."

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World number one and defending champi-on Novak Djokovic reached a 16th French

Open quarter-final on Sunday where old rivaland 13-time winner Rafael Nadal could be wait-ing.

Djokovic, bidding to equal Nadal's record of21 Grand Slam titles, eased to a 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 last-16 victory against 15th seed Diego Schwartzmanof Argentina.

"I have a lot of respect for him(Schwartzman). He's a good per-son off the court," said Djokovicwho has now beatenSchwartzman seven times inseven meetings.

Djokovic is still to drop a setat Roland Garros after cruisingthrough the first week.

He has also won 22 sets in arow, stretching back to his ItalianOpen title triumph in Rome ear-lier this month.

"I've made a good start but Ihave a lot of work to do," addedDjokovic who will face Nadal forthe 10th time at Roland Garrosand 59th overall if the Spaniarddefeats Felix Auger-Aliassime

later Sunday.In an inter-

esting twist,A u g e r -

Aliassimehas Nadal'suncle and former long-time coach Toni workingwith him.

Toni coached hisnephew for the best part of

three decades during whichtime Nadal won 16 of his

record 21 Slam titles.When asked if he will divulge to Auger-

Aliassime the secret of how to become just thethird man to defeat Nadal at Roland Garros, the61-year-old coach was unequivocal.

"Of course not. I told Felix that my ethics donot allow me to give him advice on beating mynephew. It's as if I were telling someone how todefeat my own son," said Toni ahead of his firstmeeting with Rafael since their split.

Toni said he would not sit in Auger-Aliassime's player box for the match, taking his

place instead in the presidential box on CourtPhilippe Chatrier.

In the wide open women's event, which sawnine of the top 10 seeds fall before the secondweek, Canadian teenager Leylah Fernandezreached the quarter-finals for the first time.

Fernandez, seeded 17th, and who was USOpen runner-up last year, fired an impressive 40winners past 2019 semi-finalist AmandaAnisimova to secure a 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 win.

The 19-year-old has madethe quarter-finals on the backof an impressive 23 servicebreaks over four rounds atRoland Garros.

"It was a very complicat-ed match. Amanda is a verygood player but I was happyto win in front of you," said the2019 junior champion.

She next faces MartinaTrevisan for a place in thesemi-finals.

The world number 59from Italy booked her place inthe quarter-finals for the sec-ond time in three years, edg-ing out Aliaksandra Sasnovichfrom Belarus 7-6 (12/10), 7-5.

Trevisan enjoyed a sur-prise run to the quarters as aqualifier in 2020, losing toeventual champion and cur-rent world number one IgaSwiatek.

"Paris is a bit like my secondhome," said the 28-year-old, who won her maid-en WTA title earlier this month in Rabat.

"The atmosphere here is magical and I feelgreat on the court."

American teenager Coco Gauff reached thelast-eight for the second successive year with a6-4, 6-0 win over Belgium's Elise Mertens.

Gauff, 18, will face either US compatriot, and2018 runner-up, Sloane Stephens or 23rd-seed-ed Jil Teichmann of Switzerland for a spot in thesemi-finals.

Later Sunday, 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, theyoungest man through to the second week of theFrench Open since Djokovic 16 years ago, takeson 21st seed Karen Khachanov.

Alcaraz has won 20 of 21 matches on claythis season but needed to save a match point tobeat Spanish compatriot Albert Ramos-Vinolasin the second round.

�� :��:

Sergio Perez reboundedfrom Red Bull team orders

that denied him a chance torace for the win one week agoto pick up his first FormulaOne win of the season in therain-marred Monaco GrandPrix.

Perez earned his thirdcareer F1 victory on the slickcity streets of Monaco after aquestionable strategy call byFerrari cost pole-sitterCharles Leclerc a win on hishome circuit.

Although Leclerc fin-ished the race for the firsttime in four tries, he finishedfourth and allowed reigningworld champion MaxVerstappen to extend his leadin the points standings.Carlos Sainz Jr. finished sec-ond for Ferrari andVerstappen was third for RedBull.

Verstappen now leadsLeclerc by nine points in thestandings; Leclerc has twowins this season, Verstappenand Perez have combined forfive victories as Red Bull andFerrari have claimed all sevenraces.

But the win went toVerstappen's teammate justone week after Perez wasordered to cede the lead toVerstappen during theSpanish Grand Prix. Leclerchad dropped out of the racewith an engine failure andRed Bull chose to capitalize bymanipulating the finish to getVerstappen the win in Spain.

The team promised Perezhe'd be allowed to race forwins and held its wordSunday.

"You dream of winningthis, and after your homerace, there is no place morespecial to win," Perez saidafter waving the Mexicanflag.

Leclerc led from the poleand screamed in rage whentold to pit for a second tirechange on Lap 22 - at thesame time as Sainz. His engi-neer realized the mistake andyelled "stay out!" but it wastoo late and Leclerc cameback out on track in fourthplace.

"What are you doing?"Leclerc shouted.

After the race, he lecturedFerrari again.

"No words, no words.We cannot do that," heradioed. Leclerc also won thepole a year ago but never gotto start because he crashed atthe end of qualifying, and thecar's gearbox failed momentsbefore the start. In 2018 and2019, Leclerc had retiredfrom the race with crashdamage.

The race was delayed by

70 minutes for heavy rain andbegan from a rolling startbehind a safety car. It wasthen red-flagged on Lap 30after Mick Schumacher'sheavy crash three laps earli-er sliced his Haas car in two.He escaped unharmed. "I'mfine, very, very upset not tofinish the race," Schumachersaid. "I don't know why thecar split in two."

George Russell finishedfifth for Mercedes ahead ofMcLaren's Lando Norris andthe Alpine of FernandoAlonso. Seven-time F1 cham-pion Lewis Hamilton waseighth for Mercedes - extend-ing his winless run with theSilver Arrows to eight races -while Valtteri Bottas was ninthfor Alfa Romeo and SebastianVettel 10th for Aston Martin.

The restart afterSchumacher's crash was againa rolling start behind thesafety car. But the long delayand red flag shortened therace from 77 laps into a timedrace so that it would end bylocal curfew.

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