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The electorate of UttarPradesh endorsed Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’sclaim that “Yogi hai bahut UP-Yogi” and gave a historic sec-ond term to Yogi Adityanath asChief Minister of the mostpopulous State.

However, in a major set-back to the BJP, Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav PrasadMaurya lost to Pallavi Patel ofApna Dal (Kamerawadi)) con-testing on the SP symbol.

The BJP’s tally of 255 wasdown 40 seats compared to 312of 2017, but the return of anincumbent Government wassomething unprecedented inthe recent UP politics and indi-cated strongly to pro-incum-bency.

The BJP also increased itsvote share to 42 per cent in2022 as compared to 39 percent in the 2017 Assemblyelections. The electorate reject-ed narratives of unrest amongfarmers, resentment amongthe Jat community in WesternUP and also the projectedB r a h m a n - R a j p u t conflict.

With deft crisis manage-ment during the Covid pan-demic and a rainbow of welfareprogrammes and much-improved law and order sce-nario, the BJP dislodged thecaste-based identity politics ofthe SP and BSP and created aclass-based vote bank that

included beneficiaries irre-spective of caste and religion.

The result also showedthat the Akhilesh Yadav’s planto unite backward caste underthe Yadava leadership had fewtakers.

The BJP dominance hasbeen complete, from east towest and south to north. Theoutcome has shown that theparty greatly benefited from thewelfare schemes initiated bothby the Centre and the YogiGovernment.

The result has also estab-lished Yogi as a towering leaderin the saffron outfit who couldone day dream to lead thecountry.

The outcome is a big blowto BSP chief Mayawati, whohas failed to protect her Dalitvote bank. Initial analysisshows that a large section ofthe BSP voters shifted to theBJP.

This will be the first timesince 1985 that a ruling partywill return to power in UttarPradesh. The UP polls arebeing seen are an indicator ofthe national mood ahead of the2024 general elections.

The BJP won the crucialAyodhya Assembly seat whereits candidate Ved PrakashGupta polled 1.12 lakh votesdefeating the nearestSamajwadi Party rival TejNaryan Pandey who polled92,067 votes.

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After more than threedecades, Yogi Adityanath

will become the first ChiefMinister of Uttar Pradesh tobreak the Noida jinx. As per theestablished superstition,whichever Chief Minister vis-its the city during his/hertenure loses the next election ordoes not complete the term.

However, Yogi visitedNoida several times.

Despite being an educatedsocialist who is expected tohave a scientific temper, formerChief Minister Akhilesh Yadavnever visited Noida during histenure from March, 2012 toMarch, 2017.

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The breeze that was blowingacross Punjab in Aam

Aadmi Party’s (AAP) favourbefore the February 20Assembly elections turned intoa gust as the party took theState by storm after winning 92out of 117 seats. Its jhadoo notonly swept aside the politicalstalwarts, including four formerand sitting Chief Ministers,but also seasoned politicians inan election that would beremembered not just for thewinners, but also the losers.

Its unprecedented victorywith 42 per cent vote share toform a “Government of thepeople” also heralded a new erain the country’s politics, whereneither a national, nor a region-al, but a party that believes inwork over rhetoric, formedthe Government. The comedi-an-turned-politician BhagwantMann, who has been a two-time MP from Sangrur, will bePunjab’s 17th Chief Minister.

Virtually rising from theashes of the 2017 electiondefeat, the AAP pulled off a his-toric victory with a recordthree-fourth majority in theState, without any alliance - forthe first time in Punjab’s elec-toral history. It was in 1997,when the SAD and the BJPcombine had secured 93 seatstogether.

AAP pushed the rulingCongress to the distant secondspot with just 18 seats whilelimiting the State’s regionaloutfit Shiromani Akali Dal tojust three seats. State’s politicalheavyweights, including five-time Chief Minister ParkashSingh Badal, two-time ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh, State’s only woman ChiefMinister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal,incumbent Charanjit Singh

Channi, and several othersbigwigs, who were virtuallyinvincible for decades, weretrampled under AAP’s win-ning chariot.With theresounding victory, AAP hastaken its first step towardsexpanding its political foot-print beyond Delhi — despitebeing just an eight-year-old inPunjab. In 2014, AAP tookeveryone by surprise winningfour seats in Punjab defying amassive “Modi wave” acrossthe nation.

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After a landslide victory inPunjab elections, the Aam

Aadmi Party (AAP) termed itas a new era in Indian politicsand said that the people of theborder State have opted for thevision of the party’s NationalConvenor and Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal andSardar Bhagwant Mann’s ‘jodi’.

Following the victory,Kejriwal said that Delhi saw arevolution happen; now Punjabwill see one and soon thewhole country will cheer for‘Inquilab’.

“The public has proventhat Kejriwal is not a terrorist,but all those who are lootingthe country are the actual ter-

rorists. We must all take aresolve to build a new-ageIndia where there is love, peaceand brotherhood among all.We will work towards such anIndia where there’ll be no placefor hate, no one will sleephungry and everyone will besafe,” said Kejriwal.

“The people of Punjab havegiven us a huge mandate andwe must not let their trust in usfalter. We must not get arro-gant, must not indulge in slan-der and we have to change thepolitics of India and fill it withseva-bhav, love and harmony,”said Kejriwal adding that noone can stop India frombecoming a force to reckonwith throughout the globe inthe coming future.

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In previous Uttar PradeshState elections, the Muslim-

Yadav (MY) combination usedto be synonymous with theSamajwadi Party. But this timearound, a unique M-Y factorseemed to have worked for theBJP with Chief Minister YogiAdityanath romping homewith a thumping majority.

In 2022 polls, for the BJP,MY-MY stands for Modi-Yogiand Mahila-Yuva (women-youth) - the two combinationsthat proved potent for the saf-fron outfit. “The results are aclear indicator that our MYprevailed over SamajwadiParty’s MY in this election.Akhilesh Yadav worked with amyopic vision that revolvedaround caste while we had aholistic approach. Our Modi-Yogi combination is synony-mous with the development

that was reflected in the welfareof Mahila and Yuva,” StateBJP vice-president VijayBahadur Pathak said onThursday. “On any given day,Modi-Yogi is a winning com-bination for us. They are twobrands in Indian politics. TheModi brand is accepted acrossthe globe and the evacuationof Indian students from war-torn Ukraine is an example.Yogi also has stamped himselfas a brand showing how aMahant can effectively rulethe State and control lawless-ness,” he added.

The BJP leader went on tosay people reposed faith in thedouble engine of Modi-Yogiby opting for development.Water, roads, electricity, andhealth are some of the issueswhich no government everthought about and for bothModi and Yogi these are veryclose to their hearts, he said.

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Stating that the victories infour Assembly elections are

proof of people’s emphaticstamp of approval to hisGovernment’s “pro-poor”policies, the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Thursdaysaid the voter’s choice has alsosignaled that the days of“dynasty politics” are num-bered.

Addressing party workershere at the BJP headquartersaf ter BJP’s win in UP,Uttarakhand, Goa andManipur, Modi said, “Inthese times of internationaluncertainties, people havegone for stable Governmentsand shown that the democ-racy runs in their blood...”.

Before Modi’s speech, BJPpresident JP Nadda creditedthe party’s “one-sided victoryto the programme and poli-cies of the Prime Minister”.

Modi said it is the firsttime that after 37 years aGovernment returned topower in UP and Uttarakhandand the BJP voted to power inGoa for the third successivetime.

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The Bharatiya Janata Partyhas scripted history in

Uttarakhand by becoming thefirst party to be re-elected toform the Government for aconsecutive second term sincethe creation of the State.

The BJP won 47 seats whilethe Congress could manage towin only 19. Bahujan SamajParty and independent candi-dates won two seats each.

The BJP got a 44.32 percent vote share, the Congressgot 37.91 per cent vote share.

The appeal of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andthe impact of his virtual andphysical rallies are seen asmajor factors in the BJP win.The PM’s appeal offset theperceived damage caused bychanging Chief Ministers twiceand infighting in the State

unit.A close fight between theBJP and Congress was antici-pated in Uttarakhand but theresults left many surprised.

However, Chief MinisterPushkar Singh Dhami, who isbeing credited by the partyleaders for neutralising theanti-incumbency factor in histerm of about six months,could not win from his con-stituency of Khatima and wasdefeated by Congress candidateBhuwan Kapri. On the other

hand, former Chief Ministerand head of the Congresselection campaign committeein Uttarakhand, Harish Rawatlost to BJP candidate MohanSingh Bisht in the Lalkuanconstituency.

Experts feel that theworks of the ModiGovernment during theCovid pandemic and infra-structural developments facil-itated in Uttarakhand by thedouble-engine Governmentplayed a crucial role in influ-encing the voters in favour ofthe BJP.

The PM had addressedVijay Sankalp Sabhas inSrinagar and Almora apartfrom holding virtual rallies inHaridwar and Nainita l .Before the election schedulewas announced, the PM hadsaid that this decade would bethat of Uttarakhand.

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Afractured Opposition lit-erally gifted away Goa to

the BJP, which is comfortablyplaced to retain power in thecoastal State. The BJP emergedthe single largest party winning20 seats in the 40-memberAssembly.

The BJP has said it hasreceived letters of supportfrom the MaharshtrawadiGomantak Party (2 seats) andthree Independent MLAs,enabling the ruling party tocross the

simple majority mark of 21.The Congress won 12 seats,

AAP 3 and TMC 2. Both AAPand TMC fielded one candidatewho defected from mainstreamparties. Trinamool Congress

father-daughter duo ChurchillAlemao and Valanka Alemaolost. Churchill lost to AAP’sVenzy Viegas in Benaulim,and Valanka lost to the BJP’sUlhas Tuenkar Navelim.

In an important result,former Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar’s son UtpalParrikar lost from Panjim by athin margin of 716 seats.

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The BJP is heading for a vic-tory in Manipur and retain

power for the second successiveterm winning 28 seats andleading in four others so far inthe election to the 60-memberassembly.

The Janata Dal (United)and the National People’s Party(NPP) won six seats each, theNaga People’s Front and theCongress bagged five each till8 pm, according to the ElectionCommission. The Kuki People’sAlliance won two seats. Threeseats were won by Independentcandidates.

In the 2017 assembly elec-tion, the BJP had won 21 seatsand formed the governmentwith some regional parties.

Thanking the people ofthe state for reposing theirfaith in the party, Chief

Minister N Biren Singh said itis also the victory of the vari-ous steps taken under the lead-ership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. Singh did notcomment on who will be thenext chief minister.

To celebrate the victory,Singh broke into a traditionaldance Thabal Chongba withstate party unit president ASharda Devi and other workers.

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It’s yet another jolt forCongress leadership. Even a

spirited fight under RahulGandhi and Priyanka Gandhifailed to save the party from ahumiliating drubbing in thejust-concluded Assembly elec-tions in five States, including theHindi heartland of UttarPradesh where it scored worst-ever tally bagging just two seats.

The Congress lost Punjab,yet another State it ruled. Nowthe party rules in justChhattisgarh and Rajasthan.The Congress is only analliance partner in Maharashtraand Jharkhand.

More importantly, theparty’s credential to lead anOpposition alliance against the

BJP has taken a further beating.Regional parties like the TMChave already questioned itscapability while TRS is alreadymaking moves to cobbletogether a non-BJP, non-Congress front.

The Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) under thechairmanship of party chiefSonia Gandhi is expected tomeet soon to analyze the result,the party announced. But theCongress’ dismal showing is setto lead to an increased demandfor a course correction fromwithin the party. The March 10,2022 decimation would embold-en the rebels within the party.

The dismal performancecomes when the party is alsoset to “choose” a full-time partyPresident this year inSeptember. In October 2021,

the CWC had finalized theschedule for a membershipdrive and grassroots-to-toporganizational election thatwill include choosing a newparty chief to replace SoniaGandhi who took over as an“interim” boss in August 2019after Rahul gave up owningresponsibility for the debacle in2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The knives will soon beout in the party with a sectionof leaders already saying thatthe Gandhi siblings are fast-losing credibility even withinthe party. A member of theCWC, now in Rajya Sabha,said that the Gandhis messedup Punjab and Uttarakhandwhere they could have come topower. He also criticised thedecision to entrust pollresponsibility of Goa and

Manipur to “drawing room”politicians like PChidambaram and JairamRamesh.

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RANCHI | FRIDAY | MARCH 11, 2022

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

PNS DALTONGANJ

M FAIYAZ AHMAD DALTONGANJ

Rush in Bihar bound trainand buses in view of Holi

PNS JAMSHEDPUR

The Chotanagpur Passenger Association has also demanded additionalcoaches to avoid chaos.

Area commander of TSPC surrenders in DaltonganjRAHUL SHARMAPNS BOKARO

AVINASH ANJAN HAZARIBAG

NITYANAND DUBEY GARHWA

Garhwa braces up for national lok adalat

PNS HAZARIBAG

PNS BOKARO

PHQ decides transforming of 3 police stations

Abhay alias Sakender surrendering with his coun-try made rifle before DC Shashi Ranjan (in coat)and SP Chandan Kumar Sinha in Daltonganj onThursday. PNS

Principal District Judge Rajesh Sharan Singh andDLSA secretary, SN Bara in a press briefing

State BJP President Deepak Prakash, Legislative Party leader BabulalMarandi, MLA CP Singh alongwith party workers celebrate the party’s vic-tory in Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, at BJP headquarters in Ranchi onThursday. Pix by Vinay Murmu

Bokaro MLA raisesHome Guards pay issue

Women's Day Celebrated by HCDHSJUBILATIONS

CCL observes World Kidney Day

Ranchi-based Gandhinagar Hospital, one of thecentral hospitals of Central Coalfields Limited(CCL)organized a medical workshop on kidney to com-memorate the World Kidney Day on its premises inRanchi. The health awareness programme focuseson the importance of kidneys and other related is-sues as kidneys are vital organs in the body that fil-ter the blood and help in passing waste as urine. Inother establishment of the company, world Kidneyday was also observed. Dr DKL Chawhan, CMSCCL, inaugurated the workshop. On this occasion,Dr. Ratnesh Jain CMS I/C Gandhinagar, Dr AnandKumar, CMO & HOD Dialysis Unit of GandhinagarHospital and Dr. Naveen Burnwal from ORCHIDHospital, Ranchi and others doctors were present.The visiting doctors also consulted about 30 pa-tients suffering from kidney diseases and gavemedical advice. All doctors from Gandhinagar werepresent during the presentation.

SCS student shines at Arithmetic Genius ContestChaitanya of Class III at SCS bagged the Performeraward at the National level Arithmetic Genius Con-test. He was the second runner up at the State lev-

el competition. He has received a trophy, certificate& cash prize of Rs 5000. He is a genius & doesmathematical calculations in seconds. Academi-cally, a ranking child, he actively participates in allschool activities & competitions and has won manyprizes too. Ojal Sahu of Class V also made theschool proud by bagging the Performance Awardat the State Level Arithmetic Genius Contest. Prin-cipal Madam Samita Sinha said that we need to ex-plore the talents and guide them so that they canexcel in every field.

SBPS Students excel in Gita ChantingThe students of Sarala Birla Public School, Ranchiperformed outstandingly well in the Chinmaya GitaChanting Competition 2021. Around 1715 studentsfrom the school participated in this competition withgreat enthusiasm and energy. The studentsgrabbed first, second, third and consolation prizesat school, city and inter-city levels. They were felic-itated with certificates and mementos. At Inter-citylevel, Akshita Ranjan, Vinayak Kumar, YagyaSachdev and Abhash Shaurya secured various po-sitions. The students’ consistent efforts paved theirway towards success. The school is proud of theirpraiseworthy achievements.

NCC cadets from DPS, Ranchi under-take plantation driveWith a view to mitigate human induced environ-mental crisis, 25 grade VIII NCC environmental en-thusiasts adorned the campus of their alma materby planting 55 saplings under the able leadership oftheir Principal, Dr. Ram Singh, who initiated thedrive by planting a ‘Silver Birch’ sapling. Cadetsbrimming with passion and fervor had conscien-tiously selected saplings of those deciduous treeswho had ideal carbon-sequestration potential.“Planting trees is a sustainable approach to mitigateclimate change. Trees are like the lungs of the plan-et. In order to foster environmental concern amongthe students, DPS Ranchi has taken this initiative.”said Dr. Ram Singh and patted the backs of thecadets.

RANCHI | FRIDAY | MARCH 11, 2022

BJP MLAs celebrate victory in four statePNS RANCHI

MRITUANJAY KUMARRANCHI

Legislators raise 'Modi hai to Mumkin hai' slogan

Marigold transforming peoples’ lives in Bokaro

PNS RANCHI

High time to put in cumulative efforts againstchild marriage: Governor

PNS RANCHIPNS RANCHI

PNS RANCHI

Minister Oraon says matter is with SEBI and SC

Participates in discussion on child marriage

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The BJP-led-NationalD e m o c r a t i c

Alliance(NDA) on Thursdaywinning some 50-odd seatsless than what it collected in the2017 assembly polls in UttarPradesh may have some nega-tive impact on the rulingparty’ prospects in the presi-dential poll contest, just aboutfour months away. Also, theopposition camp has sinceswelled.

Nineteen Rajya Sabha MPswill be elected from three of thefive states where electionresults to the assembly pollswere announced on Thursday- Uttar Pradesh 11, Punjabseven, and Uttarakhand one.

Though BJP, which like inUP scored a repeat win inUttarakhand, it has baggedlesser assembly seats in the hillstate than in 2017 when it hadwon 57 assembly seats.

Each UP assembly MLAseat has the highest value -208-of all the state assemblies as ithas the largest population. AnUttarakhand MLA has value of64 only.

A total of 73 out of 75Rajya Sabha seats ( includingseven nominated seats whichare not to vote) falling vacantthis year will be filled up beforethe President's election mid-July, this year.

The presidential election isconducted by an electoral col-lege constituting of electedMPs of both the Houses andall the MLAs of state assem-blies.

As many as 66 electedRajya Sabha members are retir-ing in April, June and early Julyafter completing their respec-

tive tenures.Assembly poll outcome in

UP was crucial if there is to bea direct contest between theNDA and the Congress-led-opposition parties.

In 2017, the ruling BJP andits allies won 325 out of 403assembly seats in UP and 57out of 70 seats in Uttarakhandand gained an unassailablestrength in the electoral collegethat led to an easy win for NDAcandidates.

The incumbent presidentRam Nath Kovind , who waselected as President of India,received 7,02,044 votes, whilehis opponent, the jointOpposition candidate, MeiraKumar, got 3,67,314 out of atotal of 10,69,358 votes.

If Kovind, turning 76 thisyear and is not to be repeatedas President, the NDA is look-

ing at the UP assembly electionoutcome as crucial for itsnominee.

The value of each vote ofParliament MP is 708 but eachstate MLAs has different valuedepending on state population.

At present, the NDA'snumber in the Lok Sabha is 334of the present house strength of540. Its numbers haveimproved in both the Houses ofParliament ahead of the 2022presidential election comparedto 2017.

In the Rajya Sabha, out ofthe present 232 members, theNDA has 115 with the BJP con-stituting 97 members.

In 2017, the BJP-led NDAhad more allies than today.Kovind's win was sweeping asthe Akali Dal, Shiv Sena andthe TDP were with the BJP.

Also, the BJP then ensured

the support of the YSRCP, theTRS, the BJD, and even theJD-U. In the last election, BJP alsoruled in Rajasthan andMaharashtra, which is not thecase now and also Tamil Naduis in the opposition camp, eventhough it is now ruling inKarnataka.

In the overall scenario, theBJP retaining UP with goodmajority turns key to itssmooth sailing in the presi-dential election.

The total UP assembly votevalue is 83,824. (Incidentally,five of the 11 RS seats which areto go to polls before presiden-tial elections in UP are cur-rently held by the BJP.)

In comparison to UP, theNDA-ruled four of the poll-bound Uttarakhand (70MLAs), Goa ( 40 MLAs) andManipur (60 MLAs) - have

nominal value of 64, 20 and 18respectively.

Hence, an emphatic assem-bly victory in UP and the sup-port of the regional parties BJD,YSRCP and JDU would beneeded by the NDA to ensurea comfortable victory for itspresidential nominee, giventhat TRS too is in the othercamp now.

Besides UP (11), Punjab(7) and Uttarakhand (1), sevenvacancies are to be filled inPunjab, six in Maharashtra,four each from Rajasthan,Andhra Pradesh and Bihar,three each from Kerala,Madhya Pradesh andKarnataka, two each inJharkhand, Assam, Telanganaand Chhattisgarh among oth-ers before the presidential polls.

Many of these states areopposition-ruled. Eom

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The BJP has not done toobad in Jat-dominated

Western Uttar Pradesh, theepicenter of farmers ‘agitationagainst Central farm laws andwhere the party was supposedto be wiped out as per someanalysts. It has thus also dashedthe hopes of ousting the YogiAdityanath-led BJP frompower.

Though the final tally is yetto be announced, the BJP hashad a favourable outing in thedistricts like Mathura, Meerut,Baghpat, , Gautam BuddhNagar and Hapur.

Meerut is home to BJP'sfirebrand leader Sangeet Som,who is trailing but it has wonthe other two seats in the dis-trict. Similarly, it has registereda win in Baghpat, the tradi-tional bastion of Jat-centricRashtriya Lok Dal party, and inMuzaffarnagar, the home turfof Tikait brothers who were keyfigures in the anti-farm lawsagitation.

That the anti-farm law agi-tation did not have any signif-icant impact on the BJP polloutcome in UP is also reflect-

ed in BJP's win in all seats inLakhimpur district where theson of Minister of State forHome in the Modi-govern-ment, Ajay Mishra, allegedlyran over farmers in October2021.

It has also won all five seatsin Mathura district and hasbeen successful in Bijnore.Aligarh, Bulandshahr andSaharanpur.

With issues of farmers agi-tation and sugarcane dues onthe opposition's poll menu,the BJP was expected to fairpoorly in the west UP.

Before polls, even the BJPtop brass had sought to wooRLD's Jayant Chowdhuryapprehending backlash from Jatfarmers in alliance withMuslims.

The results, however, showthat the BJP has more or lessretained its sway among the Jatvoters that it first gained in2014 elections following the2013 riots in the region thathad created a divide betweenthe Jats and Muslims.

It is likely that the SP-RLDalliance has not been success-ful in transferring the Jat votesto each other in the region.

As the SP is viewed beingsympathetic towards theminority community, it couldbe difficult for Jats to vote forthem in a highly polarizedpoll with '80:20' campaigntheme of the Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath.

The BJP candidates havebeen winning from Jat domi-nated seats by forming a rain-bow coalition of other castesbilled as ' chattis biradari' sincethe 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

RLD leaders Ajit Singhand Jayant Chaudhary lost theso-called Jat bastions ofMuzaffarnagar and Baghpat inthe 2019 Lok Sabha electionswith the BJP making deepinroads in the Jat vote bank asit gradually moved away fromthe RLD's first and second gen-eration leadership of late PrimeMinister Choudhary CharanSingh.

Accounting for 76 seats inthe 403-member UP Assembly,the BJP had bagged 66 seats inthe region, while the SP,Bahujan Samaj Party andCongress won four, three andtwo seats, respectively in thelast assembly elections.

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As Union Minister AmitShah on Thursday thanked

the public of four states,includ-ing Uttar Pradesh, with show-ing continuous and unshakablefaith on the leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, theentire party leadership alsocredited Modi for party's elec-tion victory.

"With the party's victory infour states. 2014, 2017, 2019

and today in 2022, showingcontinuous and unshakablefaith @narendramodi's, I bowbefore people of Uttar Pradesh", tweeted Shah.

With the BJP set to returnto power in four states , its lead-ers attributed the party's per-formance to Modi's populari-ty and governance model. "Newhistory" is being created inUttar Pradesh, they said.

Hours after the poll trendsbecame clear, Modi tweeted

"Together we grow. Togetherwe prosper. Together we willbuild a strong and inclusiveIndia. India wins yet again!#VijayiBharat7".

Union minister AnuragThakur, a BJP co-incharge forthe UP polls, said Modi's imageand governance coupled witheffective implementation of hiswelfare policies by the party-ruled states have delivered vic-tory.

He also lauded UP Chief

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Following its dismal perfor-mance, the Congress said

the election results are contraryto its expectations, but itaccepts the people's mandate.

Former Congress presi-dent Rahul Gandhi who ledthe show said the party humblyaccepts the people's verdict inthe assembly polls and willlearn from it.

Rahul and Priyanka led theparty's campaign but failed toreflect electorally. Congressgeneral secretary in-chargeUttar Pradesh PriyankaGandhi addressed 209 ralliesand roadshows, the maximumby any top leader during theUP election campaign, fol-lowed closely by Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath who spoke at203 poll events.

Though Priyanka Gandhiwas focussed on Uttar Pradesh,she also campaigned for thepolls in Uttarakhand, Goa,Manipur and Punjab. RahulGandhi also held several ralliesin Punjab, Goa, Manipur,Uttarakhand and UttarPradesh.

While acknowledging thatPriyanka Gandhi did hardwork in UP and raised impor-tant issues of women, politicalanalysts said it failed to clickwith the electorate. Her cam-paign events drew largecrowds, but she failed to wintheir votes.

"Humbly accept the peo-

ple's verdict. Best wishes tothose who have won the man-date. My gratitude to allCongress workers and volun-teers for their hard work anddedication. We will learn fromthis and keep working for theinterests of the people of India,"Rahul Gandhi said on Twitter.

Addressing a Press con-ference at the party's head-quarters, Congress general sec-retary and chief spokespersonRandeep Surjewala said theparty may have lost electionsbut not its courage and willcontinue to fight till it emergesvictorious. He also said that theCongress will reinvent andreturn with a new strategyand will always stand with thepeople, raising their issues,including inflation, unem-ployment and the "sinking"economy, with the sameresponsibility.

"We will introspect on thecauses of defeat, work on theorganisation and will try to dobetter in future. We are defi-nitely disappointed but notdemoralised. We have onlylost the election, not courage.We are not going anywhere -we will keep fighting until wewin. We will reinvent andreturn and will come backwith a new strategy," Surjewalatold reporters.

In Punjab, the Congressleader said even though theparty presented a humble,clean and grounded leadership,it failed to overcome the anti-

incumbency of 4.5 yrs ofAmarinder Singh governmentand people voted for change.

"The election results offive states have come againstthe party's expectations. Wewere expecting good results inUttarakhand, Goa and Punjab,but we accept that we failed toget the people's blessings," hesaid. "We accept the verdict ofthe people and congratulate theAam Aadmi Party BhagwantMann and Arvind Kejriwal fortheir victory in Punjab," hesaid.

In Uttar Pradesh,Surjewala said even though theCongress was successful inreviving the party, "we couldnot convert public opinioninto seats". Congress has beensuccessful in reaching everystreet and locality of UttarPradesh, he said, adding that''we fought better elections inUttarakhand and Goa, butcould not emerge victorious''."This is a lesson that we needto work harder on the ground,"he said.

"We made every effort tokeep this election away fromthe issues of casteism and reli-gious polarisation. But with thehelp of BJP's massive cam-paign, emotional issues dom-inated the issues of education,health, inflation, unemploy-ment," he said. In a democra-cy, the decision of the peopleis paramount and this is alsothe strength of our democra-cy, he said.

�� 172�47!&5

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Thursday said a former deputygeneral manager of the FoodCorporation of India (FCI)and his wife have been con-victed for money launderingand sentenced to three yearsrigorous imprisonment by aChennai court,

The Additional SessionsCourt, Chennai also slapped afine of Rs 25,000 each on them,it said. The court convictedDorai Raj, a former DGM ofthe FCI, Chennai, and his wife,

Sarumathi, the agency said ina statement.

The court also ordered for"immediate confiscation" ofattached property (land andbuilding) worth Rs 81 lakh ofSarumathi, it said.

The husband-wife duo hasbeen convicted under the pro-visions of the Prevention ofMoney Laundering Act(PMLA).

The ED case was filed onthe basis of a CBI charge sheetthat alleged Dorai Raj andother FCI officers received"huge amounts of illegal grati-fication".

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The Committee formed bythe Railway Ministry a

month ago to address the mas-sive protest by job aspirants andcandidates over the discrepan-cy in controversial railwayboard recruitment examina-tions on Thursday submittedthat a revised results of all paylevels could be declared by thefirst week of April.

The committee was formedto address the concerns of can-didates for Non-TechnicalPopular Categories (NTPC).According to the ministry, "20times unique candidates will beshortlisted for NTPC and therevised results of all Pay Levelswill be declared by the firstweek of April 2022."

For one category, 20 timesunique candidates will beshortlisted by Indian Railways

with Pay Level wise for secondstage Computer Based Testand the ones who have beenalready declared qualified willcontinue to remain qualified.

The list of additional can-didates getting shortlisted willbe notified at each Pay Levelwhile RRB wise second stageCBT for each Pay level with allcandidates of RRB accommo-dated in a single shift whichshould eliminate normaliza-tion. Percentile-based normal-ization will be done whereversingle shift is not possiblebecause of capacity constraintsor otherwise, recommendedthe committee.

The second stageComputer Based Test for PayLevel 6 will be held in May2022 and the second stageCBT for other Pay Levels willbe conducted after giving a rea-sonable gap. The revised

methodology with special con-ditions will be followed forCBT for level 1 due to the elim-ination of second stage CBTand this will involve mobilizingof additional infra and logisticsto conduct CBT for Level-1with a significant increase inper shift requirement, the com-mittee reported.

Efforts will be made tohave the exam conductingagency on board to conduct theComputer Based Test for Level1 as early as possible, hence,CBT for level-1 is to planned tobe held tentatively from July2022 onwards, it further men-tioned.

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The Supreme Court onThursday reserved verdict

on quantum of sentence againstfugitive businessman VijayMallya, accused in bank loandefault case of over Rs 9,000crore involving his defunctKingfisher Airlines, in a con-tempt case where he has beenfound guilty. The bench com-prising Justices UU Lalit, SRavindra Bhat and PS

Narasimha reserved thejudgement after hearing senioradvocate and amicus curiaeJaideep Gupta on variousaspects related to the con-tempt law.

The apex court permittedthe counsel, who was earlierrepresenting Mallya, to file

written submissions, if any, inthe case by Tuesday. Observingthat it had waited “sufficientlylong”, the bench, on February10, had fixed the contempt caseagainst Mallya for hearing andhad given him the last oppor-tunity to appear before it eitherpersonally or through hislawyer.

Mallya was held guilty ofcontempt in 2017, and thematter was thereafter to be list-ed to hear him on the proposedpunishment to be awarded tohim. The top court had in 2020dismissed Mallya's plea seekinga review of its 2017 verdictwhich held him guilty of con-tempt for transferring USD 40million to his children in vio-lation of court orders.

Minister Yogi Adityanath forproviding people "suraksha"(security) by ridding the stateof criminals and also for effec-tively delivering on welfaremeasures like building housesfor the poor and boostingpower supply.

Another Union ministerGiriraj Singh said the BJP vic-tory is a win of "rashtrawaad,vikaswaad and kaamwaad"(nationalism, development andwork). Slamming the opposi-tion, he said it tried to vitiatethe atmosphere over the issueslike farmers' protest but peoplehave expressed their faith inModi.

Senior BJP leader andUnion Minister MukhtarAbbas Naqvi said here thatdespite of “so-called alterna-tive”, the landslide victory of theBJP in Assembly polls in UttarPradesh and other states provesthat the people have acceptedthe Modi Model of Good

Governance.Naqvi said that the thump-

ing victory of the BJP in UttarPradesh and other states is thepeople’s stamp on PrimeMinister Modi’s commitmentto inclusive empowerment ofall.

Tweeting about BJP's pollperformance, party generalsecretary BL Santhosh said, "Ifthere is one factor that definesthe convincing victory of BJPin four state assembly elections,then it's the way with whichPM Narendra Modi has deliv-

ered schemes and implement-ed policies ably assisted therespective CMs."

Party general secretaryKailash Vijayvargiya andspokesperson SudhanshuTrivedi asserted that peoplehave expressed their faith in the

policies ushered in by Modi.Trivedi asserted that "what isclear is that a new history isbeing created in Uttar Pradesh".

It has never happened inIndia's largest and politicallymost important state that achief minister is set to comeback to power with a majorityafter serving a full term as thehead of a government with afull majority, he added.

Several BJP leaders alsolauded the UP Chief MinisterYogi Aditynath for effectivelyimplementing welfare policiesand providing efficient andclean governance.

Many party leaders simplytweeted "Jai Shri Ram" to hailthe trends projecting a big winfor the party which is alsoahead in Goa and Manipur."The silent BJP voter gives theloudest message on poll day,"BJP youth wing presidentTejasvi Surya tweeted.

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In a major relief to passen-gers, the railways onThursday issued orders to

resume providing linen, blan-kets and curtains inside trains,a provision that was sus-pended amid the coronaviruspandemic outbreak.

In an order issued togeneral managers of all rail-way zones, the Railway Boardsaid the supply of these itemswould resume with immedi-ate effect. The national trans-porter, which had suspendedthe service of providingmeals, linen and most of itsconcessions, has reintroducedmost of the facilities.

While the meals andlinen service have beenrestored, concessions for pas-sengers still remain suspend-ed.

PNS

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Congratulating people for cre-ating history, Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath said that thepeople of Uttar Pradesh havereposed faith in the welfare poli-cies of Prime Minister NarendraModi, discarding politics ofcasteism, religion and dynasty.

“This victory with a thump-ing majority is the blessing of 25crore people of Uttar Pradesh.We accept this blessing, and wewill take forward our principleof ‘sabka saath, sabka vikas,sabka vishwas and sabka prayas’as per the aspirations of thepeople,” Yogi said during hisaddress at state BJP headquar-ters in Lucknow on Thursday.

Congratulating the officebearers and workers, Yogiexpressed happiness over thehistoric victory of the BJP in

other States of Goa, Manipurand Uttarakhand. He also con-gratulated Union HomeMinister Amit Shah, DefenseMinister Rajnath Singh andBJP president JP Nadda for themassive victory.

Yogi stressed that under

the leadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, the BJP hasformed Governments in fourStates. “When we have a leaderlike Modi everything is possible.Under Modi’s leadership UttarPradesh will once again becomenumber one,” he said.

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Holi arrived early at the BJP headquarters while a senseof despondency enveloped the state office of Samajwadi

Party in Lucknow. The mood at the SP office on VikramadityaMarg changed from one of jubilation to despondency in amatter of three-hours on Thursday. As initial trends startedflashing on the giant television screens stationed outside theLucknow party office, SP cadres were elated as the party wasseen having a close fight with the BJP.

The SP cadres were hopeful of an impending victory andraised slogans. But as the counting progressed, frustrationand disbelief crept in rendering the cadres restive.

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Aligning with the SamajwadiParty (SP) in the last

Parliament election, praisingthe Bharatiya Janta (BJP) fromtime to time and even forminga Government with the helpfrom the saffron party byMayawati led to massive ero-sion of the Bahujan SamajParty’s vote bank this election.Even traditional hard core Jatavvotes slipped away from theparty’s palm.

As a result, the party cameup with its worst ever electoralperformance which now facesan existential crisis in the mostpopulous state having maxi-mum seats in both theAssembly and Parliament.

With Mayawati makingrestricted appearance duringthe entire election campaign, it

was left to party MP SatishChandra Mishra, a Brahmin, tocarry the yoke of campaigningon his shoulders despite BSPbeing known as a Dalit-centricparty.

Hoping for a 2007 repeat,Mishra aided by his familymembers organised ̀ Brahminsammelan’ to wean away com-munity members supposedlyirked with the Yogi-led BJPregime.

BSP workers felt that whenall veteran leaders exited theparty joining either the BJP orSP, the handling of the pollcampaign by Mishra sent amessage amongst the Dalitsthat the BSP chief was shiftingpower to Brahmins instead ofthe core supporters.

Earlier in 1984, KanshiRam had founded the BSP torepresent Bahujan referring toScheduled Castes, ScheduledTribes and Other BackwardClasses (OBC), along with reli-gious minorities.

After 2012, Mayawati grad-ually promoted Mishra as thenew party face and expelled ormarginalized most Dalit lead-ers from the outfit.

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Most of the candidates of theAll India Majlis-e-

Ittehadul Muslimeen have notbeen able to cross the 5,000-mark in the Uttar Pradeshassembly elections, according topoll trends on Thursday.

The vote share of theAsaddudin Owaisi-led partywas just around 0.43 per cent ofthe total votes polled across the403 Assembly seats in the State,the Election Commission web-site showed. AIMIM candidatesQamar Kamal in Azamgarh got1,368 votes, Umair Madni inDeoband 3,145 votes, Abhayrajin Jaunpur 1,340 votes,Moinuddin in Kanpur Cantt 754votes, Salman in LucknowCentral 463 votes, Rashid inMoradabad 1,266 votes, MohidFargani 1,771 votes fromMoradabad Rural, and ImranAhmed in Meerut got 2,405votes, the website showed at 4pm.

Among other party candi-dates, Abdur Rahman Ansarigot 2,116 votes in Nizamabad,Mohd Intezar 2,642 votes inMuzaffarnagar, Mohd Rafique1,363 votes in Sandila, Irfan4,886 votes in Tanda, YorMohammed 571 votes inSirathu, while Rashid Jameel got1,747 votes from Bahraich, itshowed. The All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM)had claimed to have fieldedcandidates in 100 seats for theUP Assembly elections, with afocus on the constituencieswhere the Muslim communityis in majority.

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With the BJP on course towin big in Uttar Pradesh

and Uttarakhand and attainpole position in Manipur andGoa, the Shiv Sena onThursday said the BJP shouldlearn to digest success andattributed its performance inrecent Assembly polls to goodelection management.

On its dismal performancein Goa, Uttar Pradesh andManipur, Shiv Sena chiefspokesperson Sanjay Raut saidhis party received less votesthan NOTA (none of theabove) because it fell "short ofthe notes" the BJP used.

The Uddhav Thackeray-led party failed to open itsaccount in states where itfielded its candidates.

Raut also took a dig at theBJP, a former ally of the ShivSena, over its poor perfor-mance in Punjab, where thenational party failed to makea mark in the Assembly polls.

"What success did the BJP,a national party with Modi-Shah at its face, achieve inPunjab?" the Rajya Sabha MPasked.

"It is easy to digest failure,but the BJP should learn todigest success. (Only) somepeople can digest success,"Raut said, reacting to the BJP'sperformance in Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Goa andManipur Assemby polls.

The BJP is set to retainpower in Uttar Pradesh andUttarakhand and the partyhas attained pole position inGoa and Manipur, where it ison course to form the next

government.In Punjab, the AAP

secured an impressive win,decimating the rulingCongress.

Raut said the Congressparty's election managementin Punjab was not right.

On the other hand, theSena MP said, "The BJP's winis victory of its good electionmanagement."

The Shiv Sena contestedAssembly polls in Goa, UttarPradesh and Manipur andsuffered drubbing in all threestates.

It had deployed a batteryof leaders, includingMaharashtra Tourism MinisterAaditya Thackeray, for can-vassing votes for party candi-dates.

"It is right that the Senareceived less votes than NOTAbecause we could not managethe notes used by the BJP.

Still we contested in Goaand Uttar Pradesh. Our fightwill continue. Victory or defeatis not the end, it is the start.

In the future, we will con-tinue to work," the Sena leadersaid.

Raut said the Congressand the Samajwadi Party head-ed by Akhilesh Yadav alsodid not get desired poll resultsin Uttar Pradesh.

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The results of Assembly elec-tions in Punjab are a

"shock" for Congress, whilethe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)benefited because of the per-formance of its Government inDelhi, NCP chief Sharad Pawarsaid here on Thursday.

He also made a pitch forinitiating a "process" to give analternative to the BJP at thenational level by bringingopposition parties together.

Talking to reporters here,he said the parties opposed tothe BJP need not feel discour-aged with the Assembly pollresults, but should assess wherethey lacked and take correctivesteps accordingly.

Pawar also said that "somepeople" have complaints aboutEVMs, but he himself does notsee the machines as being thereason behind the defeat of thenon-BJP parties (in UttarPradesh, Uttarakhand, Goaand Manipur).

"Punjab is a state where theCongress was in power thechange in Punjab is notfavourable to the BJP (either).The result gives a shock to the

Congress," Pawar told reportershere.

AAP's governance in Delhihelped it in Punjab as commonpeople living in the nationalcapital have accepted theKejriwal-led party, the NCPchief noted.

"I think the people ofPunjab have not accepted theCongress's internal (party)decision taken in the past six-eight months. There was agovernment under AmarinderSingh's leadership. He wasremoved.

New leadership wasbrought in there. It seems peo-ple did not like that decision,"Pawar said.

Amarinder Singh hadformed his own party after theCongress removed him fromthe post of Punjab chief min-ister.

The NCP president saidthat there was an impression inPunjab that Singh tried toestablish a rapport with the BJPafter his removal from thechief minister's post.

"The people of Punjab didnot like that," Pawar said, con-tending the farmers of Punjabwere already angry with the

BJP over the issue of threeagrarian laws.

Replying to a query, Pawarsaid the parties opposing theBJP need not feel discouragedwith the outcome of the pollsin the five states.

He recalled the Congressfaced defeat in the 1977 generalpolls, but bounced back in the1980 Parliamentary elections.

"Hence, there is no need tofeel discouraged. But there is aneed to think seriously aboutwhere we are lacking, whetherthere is a possibility and needfor us to come together," headded.

To a question whether theCongress needs leadershipchange in view of the results,

Pawar said it was not right forhim to speak about it.

"It is their own responsi-bility. I am sure the Congresswill think about what needs tobe done to strengthen theparty," he added.

He also spoke about theneed to initiate a process to givean "effective alternative" to theBJP by opposition parties onthe basis of a common mini-mum programme.

"I am not saying this willhappen tomorrow itself(immediately).

Parliament's session willresume on March 14. We willall be there for a month (for thesession). So, we will sit togeth-er, discuss and decide the futurecourse of action," Pawar said.

"It will be our duty to helppeople strengthen democracyby taking steps together," headded.

Pawar further said he doesnot see EVMs being the reasonbehind the defeat of the non-BJP parties.

The NCP president saidparties don't blame EVMswhen they win elections, butraise doubts when they don'tget favourable results. "Some

people have issues (withEVMs), they cited reasons forit, they had also given us pre-sentations on the same. But Idon't accept that is the reasontoday (behind the defeat),"Pawar said.

Pawar praised SamajwadiParty leader Akhilesh Yadav forputting up a fight single-hand-edly in Uttar Pradesh, wherethe BJP looks all set to form amajority government again.

The former Union minis-ter dismissed the possibility ofthe poll outcome in five stateshaving a bearing on the futureof the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress government inMaharashtra.

To another question aboutthe BJP talking about change ofguard in Maharashtra, Pawarsaid, the J P Nadda-led partywill have to wait for anothertwo-and-a-half years (afterwhich the Assembly polls willbe held in the state).

"But I am certain that afterconsidering today's results, allthe people in the Maha VikasAghadi will work hard withmore responsibility andimprove the condition of thestate," he said.

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Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav’s experiment

of forging an alliance ahead ofelections has failed to deliveragain. This is the third time ina row when the SP's strategy tocontest elections in alliancehas boomeranged. Ahead of2017 UP Assembly electionswhen Samajwadi Party was inpower entered into an alliancewith Congress and shared 100seats with the grand old partyand contested on rest of theseats. But the truck failed to getthe electorate’s favour and failedto benefit both partners. Whilethe SP won 224 seats in 2012polls, its tally nosedived to 47and Congress managed to winonly 7 seats in 2017.

In the 2019 Lok Sabhaelections, the SP forged a'mahagathbandhan' (grandalliance) with arch rivalBahujan Samaj Party (BSP)and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD)hoping to counter the BJP,which had won 73 seats with its

allies in 2014. The move did nothave the approval of his fatherand SP patron Mulayam SinghYadav, who publicly criticisedand said that the SP should havegone in the poll arena on itsown. Akhilesh was expectingthat BSP core voters would gettransferred to the SP, whichnever happened.

While the SP managed towin only 5 seats, BSP which didnot win even a single seat in2014 Lok Sabha elections,gained 10 seats.

In the 2022 state polls,Akhilesh along with RLDforged an alliance with a num-ber of small caste-based parties,including Om Prakash Rajbharled Suheldev Bharatiya SamajParty (SBSP) and Mahan Dal,with an objective of consoli-dating the OBCs vote bank.Except RLD and SBSP all otheralliance partners failed to per-form as expected. In fact, theperformance of some partnerscould not even compete withthe Independents at someplaces.

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The Assembly electionresults in four States indi-

cate that only TrinamoolCongress and not the Congresscan take on the "might andmanipulations" of the BJP, theBengal ruling outfit onThursday said advising thegrand old party to seek a merg-er with the TMC to save itsexistence.

Contrasting the last year’sBengal polls and the Thursday’selection results in four States ofUttar Pradesh, Goa, Punjab andManipur senior TMC leaderand Bengal Minister FirhadHakim said, “The message isclear that the Congress has lostits relevance it is on the path ofextinction … there is no wayyou can save the Congressthey should seek a merger withthe Trinamool Congressbecause only Mamata

Banerjee can lead a credi-ble anti-BJP Opposition in thecoming days as she did last yearby demolishing the BJP inBengal.”

The TMC’s takeaway from

Thursday’s electoral fallout wasmore vividly explained by partyspokesperson Kunal Ghosheven as he said “if we comparethe election results in UP,Punjab, Goa, Manipur withBengal it becomes clear thatonly the Trinamool Congresscan withstand the might andmanipulations of the BJP.”

Hailing Samajwadi Partychief and former UP ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav forgiving a “tough fight against thecombined strength of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, AmitShah, JP Nadda, YogiAdityanath still he could notread the electoral tricks playedby them though they raisedvoices against EVM tamperingand other malpractices the BJPmanaged to win the electionsbut the same tricks they triedto play in Bengal last year butMamata Banerjee singlehand-edly repulsed their attackremember how all the nation-al leaders including the Prime

Minister poured in theirfull strength, money and every-thing but Didi defended all thatshe created an example.”

Questioning the Congress’credentials in fighting the BJPat the pan-Indian level Ghoshsaid “the Congress claims thatit is the principal oppositionparty against the BJP butwhenever time comes it fails toprove that otherwise how canit explain the humiliating defeatin Punjab which was aCongress-ruled State and Goawhere the Congress had wonthe highest number of seats lastelections.”

When the TMC won all theelections including the civicpolls, by-elections the Congressfailed to retain even its oldseats, he said. Advising theJanpath to “look in mirror andintrospect,” he said “if theCongress cannot lead the fightthen it should join it with oth-ers because Mamata Banerjeehas proved that she can take onthe BJP and in days to comeBengal will show the way to thecountry.”

Meanwhile, in a bid togive a psychological boost to itsorganization aff licted byrepeated losses and desertions,a moribund BJP on Thursday

took out long processions inKolkata and districts celebrat-ing the party’s victories in UP,Goa and Manipur.

Bengal Opposition LeaderSuvendu Adhikari on Thursdaydistributed sweets in the StateAssembly saying “in anticipa-tion of grand victories inBengal we are greeting every-one with vermillion andsweets.” He said “the Baba(Yogi) of UP has shown thatonly development matters … inBengal the BJP will take a les-son from that and go ahead inthe path of victory.”

Processions were taken outon Thursday evening in variousparts of Kolkata in hailingPrime Minister Narendra Modiand UP Chief Minister YogiAdityanath.

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Three Lashkar-e- Tayyeba(LeT) terrorists including

one Pakistani commander weregunned down by the jointteam of security forces in twoseparate encounters inHazratbal area of Srinagar andin the South Kashmir districtof Pulwama on Thursday.

According to police, agroup of three LeT terroristshad planned a weapon snatch-ing from near a security postoutside famous Hazratbalshrine. On noticing the suspi-cious movement of the trionear the shrine a local policeteam neutralised a foreign ter-rorist identified as Manzooralias Haider.

The Pakistani terrorist hadtaken out a pistol to target thesecurity guard at the post butswift response of the police ledto his killing on the spot.However, two other terror-ists,believed to be local recruits,accompanying him managed togave a slip to the securityforces.

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The Aam Aadmi Partyappeared uncertain to win a

single seat in the Uttar Pradeshpolls as its vote share was lessthan NOTA on Thursdayevening, with a senior partyleader saying the 2022 elec-tions were about taking theparty's idea to the people of theState.

Till 5.45 pm, the AAP wasleading on none of the 403 seatsof the State, according to theElection Commission website.

The party had a vote shareof 0.34 per cent, even less thanNOTA (none of the above)option, which polled 0.69 percent of the total votes counted till5.45 pm, the EC data showed.

AAP's Uttar Pradesh in-charge Sanjay Singh said, "Theelection of UP was about thepresence of AAP, taking the ideaof AAP to the people, taking thepolicies of Arvind Kejriwal ji toevery village."

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With the worst-everCongress performance

in the UP Assembly elections,and managing a single seat andvote share of just 2 per cent,general secretary PriyankaGandhi Vadra had to faceopen intra-party dissent for herexperiment to run the organ-isation with a non-politicalset-up at Uttar Pradesh partyheadquarters.

Congress veterans took notime to raise their voicesdirectly blaming Priyanka’spersonal paid staff working atUPCC, Lucknow for beingresponsible for the near-anni-hilation of the grand old party.

The vote share of theCongress was 6.25 per cent inthe 2017 UP Assembly pollswhich further slipped to 2.4per cent in the 2022 polls. Thestate of affairs in the party canbe assessed for the fact that UPCongress chief Ajay KumarLallu faced a humiliating defeatfrom Tamkuhi Raj seat ofKushinagar where he trailedbehind the BJP and SP candi-dates.

“A `servant’ of PriyankaGandhi who distributed tick-ets and had either forced or got

the party veteran removed,should be taught a lesson”,posted Zeeshan Haider react-ing to worst-ever performance.

Sources said that Haiderwas mentioning Priyanka’s per-sonal secretary Sandeep Singhin his tweet. Haider resignedfrom the UPCC Media Cell onWednesday and posted anoth-er tweet mentioning party vet-erans, including former min-ister, MPs, MLAs wereremoved or were forced to quitdue to the personal staff ofPriyanka.

The list included Late RamKrishna Dwivedi, SatyadeoTripathi, Sanjay Singh, RPNSingh, Jitin Prasada, AnnuTandon, Santosh Singh,Praveen Singh Aron, IndoAron, Vinod Chowdhary,Laliteshpati Tripathi, JasmeenAnsari, Rajesh Sachan, AmitaSingh, Dinesh Singh, AditiSingh, Imran Masood,Rajarampal, Masood Akhtar,Naresh Saini, Pankaj Malik,Harendra Malik, Gajraj Singh,Ammar Rizvi etc.

Like Haider, a formerUPCC chief too questionedPriyanka’s choice of her coreteam that left senior UP lead-ers feeling insulted anduncomfortable. He too held

Vadra’s personal staff respon-sible for the poor show claim-ing that not only senior lead-ers, thousands of Congressloyalists were shunted out orset aside by this `paid’ team ofPriyanka.

The leader said that thispaid staff had no politicalexperience and as Pryankablindly functioned on their`advice’ in the name ofrevamping the state unit withyoungsters, the party had topay heavy price not only interms of seats but also in voteshare.

"She needs to get a goodteam with basic knowledgeabout UP and its understand-ing. It is a tough task to reviveCongress as the party base hascompletely eroded and electiontrends show that our loyalvoters have also shifted thistime," the leader added.

Many leaders, however,still feel that Priyanka’s highvoltage campaign and decisionto give 40 per cent tickets towomen candidates, failed tomake a mark but if she con-tinued focusing on the stateand stayed put in order torevive the party, the party’s for-tune in Parliaments electionscould be changed.

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amongst the children.The Goa civil code is

largely based on thePortuguese Civil Code(Código Civil Português) of1867, which was introducedin Goa in 1870. Later, the codesaw some modifications,based on the PortugueseGentile Hindu UsagesDecrees of 1880 (Código deusos e costumes dos Hindusgentios de Goa), thePortuguese Decrees onCanonical Marriages of 1946(Decreto 35.461: regula o casa-mento nas colóniasPortuguesas) and thePortuguese Decrees onMarriage and Divorce of 1910(Lei do Divórcio: Decreto de 3de Novembro de 1910). Afterthe establishment of the FirstPortuguese Republic, the civilcode was liberalised to givewomen more freedom.

The civil code wasretained in Goa after its merg-er with the Indian Union in1961, although in Portugal theoriginal Code was replaced bythe new Portuguese CivilCode of 1966. In 1981, theGovernment of India appoint-ed a Personal Law Committeeto determine if the non-uni-form laws of the Union couldbe extended to Goa. The GoaMuslim Shariah Organisation

supported the move but it wasmet with stiff resistance fromthe Muslim Youth WelfareAssociation and the GoaMuslim Women’sAssociations.

There are some signifi-cant ways in which the GoaCivil Code is different fromother Indian laws. A marriedcouple jointly holds the own-ership of all the assets owned(before the marriage) oracquired (after the marriage)by each spouse. In case of adivorce, each spouse is enti-tled to a half share of theassets. However, the law alsoallows ante-nuptial agree-ments, which may state a dif-ferent division of assets incase of a divorce. These agree-ments also allow the spousesto hold the assets acquiredbefore marriage separately.Such agreements cannot bechanged or revoked. A mar-ried person cannot sell theirproperty without the consentof his/her spouse. The parentscannot disinherit their chil-dren entirely. At least half oftheir property has to bepassed on to the childrencompulsorily. This inheritedproperty must be sharedequally among the children.Muslim men, who have theirmarriages registered in Goa,

cannot practice polygamy.Also, there is no provision fora verbal divorce.

The Goa Civil Code is notstrictly a Uniform Civil Codeas it has specific provisions forcertain communities. Forexample, Hindu men have theright to bigamy under specif-ic circumstances mentionedin Codes of Usages andCustoms of Gentile Hindus ofGoa (if the wife fails to deliv-er a child by the age of 25, orif she fails to deliver a malechild by the age of 30). Forother communities, the lawprohibits bigamy.

Roman Catholics cansolemnise their marriage inchurch after obtaining a No-Objection Certificate fromthe civil registrar. For others,only a civil registration of themarriage is accepted as aproof of marriage. Catholicsmarrying in the church areexcluded from divorce provi-sions under the civil law. ForHindus, divorce is permittedonly on the grounds of adul-tery by the wife. The law hasinequalities in case of adopt-ed and illegitimate children.

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

�� Sir — The crisis preceding the success-ful evacuations of Indian students fromUkraine proved a blessing in disguisewhen the Government declared to makeavailable affordable medical education inour country. It’s not the first time whenthe Indian Government successfullyevacuated its citizens from risky situa-tions and in this regard India's valiantevacuations are sure to make everyIndian proud. From the greatest airlift inhuman history (the Kuwait story) to therescuing of stranded nationals fromconflict-ravaged Yemen and Libya, Indiahas been working like a boss in extract-ing civilians out of difficult situations.

New Delhi has been at the forefrontof many a relief and rehabilitation oper-ation worldwide and by now has earnedquite a name in this risk-ridden field. Itis the consistent foreign policy of India,whichever party be in power, to main-tain neutrality and have cordial relationswith all countries. It is to be noted thatwhen Atal Bihari Vajpayee was theForeign Minister in the Janata PartyGovernment, the only photograph in hisoffice was of Jawaharlal Nehru becausethe latter was the founder of our nation’sforeign policy and a founder-member ofthe Non-Aligned Movement along withTito and Arafat.

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

�� Sir — The world is facing yet anothervirus variant of uncertain denomination.It seems similar to the initial days ofCOVID-19 back in 2019. A pall of fearhas dawned upon the world again, won-dering if a bigger challenge awaits us. Tillnow, there have been conflicting judge-ments about the behaviour of this newvariant. Many studies claim that the virusleads to mild symptoms only, especial-ly in the case of vaccinated people. Theother side is trying hard to raise an alarm.Then there are people who believe thatthe fear-mongering is meant for certainsectors to eke out profits.

In the midst of all this is the commonman who is lost in the labyrinth of the

so-called facts and counter-facts.However, there still remains an easy wayto stay safe. It is what we had started offthe pandemic with in the first place —following the SOPs. We need to trust sci-ence and get ourselves vaccinated.Vaccines work. We can debate the lev-els of efficacy but they work. Get testedat the first sign of symptoms. Hopefully,the threat won’t turn out to be as severeas the Delta variant but, at our end, wemust act responsibly.

Jubel D’Cruz | Mumbai

� ��Sir —The 2022 theme of the WorldKidney Day, which falls on March 10(second Thursday of March) this year,is “Kidney Health For All”. We mustnever forget that our kidneys might bejust the size of a fist, but these performa life-sustaining job of filtration.Unfortunately, they remain one of themost ignored organs of our bodybecause we remain unaware of the factthat a person can lose up to 90 per cent

of his/her kidney functions before expe-riencing any symptoms though there aretwo (blood and urine) simple tests tomonitor kidney diseases.

A blood test can help one monitorthe Creatinine levels. Then urine test isdone to determine whether ne has a pro-tein called Albumin in your urine. Toavoid kidney diseases, a few things needdone: a) Monitor blood sugar levels; b)Keep blood pressure under check; c)Drink adequate amount of water; d)Strictly monitor one’s protein intake;and, e) Don’t consume painkillers andOTC medications like candies.Remember, one of the first things weneed to know about kidney diseases isthat they are mostly asymptomatic.This is the reason why these are alsoknown as ‘silent killers’. Hence, preven-tion is of utmost importance to tacklechronic kidney diseases.

Bidyut K Chatterjee | Faridabad

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Goa is the only State inIndia that has UniformCivil Code regardlessof religion, gender or

caste. It has a common familylaw, which means people of allreligions are bound by the samelaws. When it became a UnionTerritory in 1961, Parliamentauthorised the Portuguese CivilCode, 1867, to Goa which can beamended and repealed by thecompetent legislature.

In Goa, a marriage is a con-tract between two people of dif-ferent genders with the purposeof living together and constitut-ing a legitimate family, which isregistered with a civil registrar.The rules and regulations haveto be followed by the partiesbefore they can begin theirmarried life. However, certaincategories of people are prohib-ited from marriage, for example,any spouse convicted of com-mitting or abetting the murderof her/his spouse.

This is an exception as noother State has adopted a com-mon civil code. The UniformCivil Code in Goa is a progres-sive law that allows equal divi-sion of income and property,regardless of the gender betweenthe husband and wife and alsobetween children. Every birth,death and marriage has to becompulsorily registered. Fordivorce, there are severe provi-sions. Muslims that have theirmarriages registered in Goacannot take more than one wifeor divorce her by pronouncing“talaq” thrice. During the courseof marriage, all the property andwealth owned or acquired byeach spouse is commonly heldby the couple. In case of adivorce, each spouse is entitledto half the share of the proper-ty and, if one dies, the owner-ship over half of the property isretained by the other.

According to the UniformCivil Code, even if the children(both male and female) have gotmarried and left the house, theother half has to be dividedequally among them. Thus, theparents cannot disinherit thechildren totally as they can dis-pose of only half of the proper-ty in a will and the rest has to becompulsorily and equally shared

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in east Ukraine, including Donbasregion. However, as the armed con-flict continues, Russia said that itwould be sending “peacekeepers” tothe affected region.

The rising tension betweenRussia and Ukraine, which shares aborder with the European Union,has ramifications for the EuropeanUnion. This is why the EuropeanUnion has joined the US in decla-ration of the penalties againstRussian firms, the majority of whichthe NATO members.

By air, land, and sea, Russia haslaunched a devastating attack onUkraine, a European democracy of44 million people. For monthsPresident Vladimir Putin haddenied he would invade his neigh-bour, but then he tore up a peacedeal, sending forces across bordersin Ukraine’s north, east and south.Asthe number of dead climbs, he isnow accused of shattering peace inEurope and what happens nextcould jeopardise the continent’sentire security structure.

Airports and military head-quarters were hit first, near citiesacross Ukraine, including the mainBoryspil international airport inKyiv.Then tanks and troops rolledinto Ukraine in the north-east,near Kharkiv, a city of 1.4 millionpeople; in the east near Luhansk,from neighbouring Belarus in thenorth and Crimea in the south.Paratroopers seized a key airbasejust outside Kyiv and Russian troopslanded in Ukraine’s big port citiesof Odesa and Mariupol too. Withinafew days Russia is likely to capturethe capital of Ukraine Kyiv after cap-turing the second largest city

Kharkiv. Putin then is likely todeclare the cease-fire after installinga puppet government of his choice.

These are terrifying times forthe people of Ukraine and horrify-ing for the rest of the continent, wit-nessing a major power invading aEuropean neighbour for the firsttime since World War Two. It willseriously affect the world economyespecially that of Russia includingIndia where fuel prices have alreadyrisen by �12.

The invasion has knock-oneffects for many other countriesbordering both Russia andUkraine. Latvia, Poland andMoldova say they are preparing fora big influx of refugees. A state ofemergency has been declared inLithuania and Moldova, wherethousands of women and childrenhave already entered.

This is not a war that Russia’spopulation was prepared for either,as the invasion was rubber-stampedby a largely unrepresentative upperhouse of parliament.

Nato has put warplanes onalert but the Western alliance hasmade clear there are no plans tosend combat troops to Ukraineitself. Instead, they have offeredadvisers, weapons and field hospi-tals. Meanwhile, 5,000 Nato troopshave been deployed in the BalticStates and Poland. Another 4,000could be sent to Romania, Bulgaria,Hungary and Slovakia.

Instead, the West is targetingRussia’s economy, industry andindividuals.

The EU has promised torestrict Russian access to capitalmarkets and cut off its industry

from latest technology. It hasalready imposed sanctions on 351MPs who backed Russia’s recogni-tion of the rebel-held regions

Germany has halted approvalon Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gaspipeline, a major investment byboth Russia and European compa-nies

The US says it will cut offRussia’s government from Westernfinancial institutions and targethigh-ranking “elites”.

The UK says all major Russianbanks would have their assetsfrozen, with 100 individuals andentities targeted; and Russia’snational airline Aeroflot will also bebanned from landing in the UK.

Ukraine has urged its allies tostop buying Russian oil and gas.The three Baltic States have calledon the whole international commu-nity to disconnect Russia’s bankingsystem from the international Swiftpayment system. That could badlyimpact the US and Europeaneconomies.The Russian city of StPetersburg will no longer be able tohost this year’s Champions Leaguefinal for security reasons. Europe’sfootball governing body Uefa is alsoplanning further measures.

Putin wants Nato to remove itsforces and military infrastructurefrom member states that joined thealliance from 1997 and not todeploy “strike weapons nearRussia’s borders”. That meansCentral Europe, Eastern Europeand the Baltics.

In President Putin’s eyes, theWest promised back in 1990 thatNato would expand “not an inch tothe east” but did so anyway.

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The Ukraine crisis isapparently the creation ofarms lobbies, which want

to increase post-pandemic salesof arms, weaponry systems andcyber gadgets. In the process,the Indian sub-continent isemerging as the hub forAmerican, Russian Chineseweapons deals.

India is hit by the Ukrainedevelopment not only for therising fuel prices but alsoimport of sunflower and otheredible oils, tea exports andpossible restrictions on ship-ping that could impact exportsand its production. But the ris-ing arms race despite a thaw innuclear contest poses multi-pronged threat in the region.

The prolonged unsuccess-ful Afghanistan and West Asianwar has drained the US econ-omy posing problem for the

world’s largest weapon industry. The economic problems

and suffering citizens pressur-ize the US President Joe Bidento remain subdued against bla-tant Russian invasion ofUkraine. A generation of the USpeople saw miseries rising;arms lobby profits soaring,economy draining and conse-quently creating an unstableworld costing it $ 8 trillion inwars in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syriaand Pakistan. It also causednine lakh deaths and displaced21 million across Europe.

The arms lobby is keen thatthe situation in the sub-conti-nent remains fluid so that theycould increase their sales. Itkeeps Pakistan in a state of fluxbecause of the US policy of notallowing it friendly relationswith India and carefully work-ing out the collapse of SAARC.

The perpetual situation of fearhelps the US and its allies to sellarms, fighter aircraft and othermilitary arsenal to both Indiaand Pakistan through mor-phed assessments of securitysituations and pressurized mil-itary build-up.

Interestingly enough the20 largest US arms producers

and military services compa-nies, including Lockheed andBoeing, report $5.436 billionprofits for several trillion-dol-lar arms sales since 2001. Assales to other countries dip, theyincrease in the Indian subcon-tinent. The region is becomingan arms bazaar.

Pakistan finance ministrysays since the 2001 USonslaught on terror, it spent$5.4 billion on arms purchasesfrom the US. A Jung and GeoTV Group study shows that theUS doled out $33 billion since2001 for curbing terrorism,‘health and education’. Since1947, Pakistan received $70billion from the US. Pakistanhas PKR11.8 trillion debts. TheUS funding apparently takescare of its revenue.

The US arms sales to Indiaincreases to $3.4 billion in 2020

from $6.2 million at a timewhen universal sale of USweapons dip to $ 50.8 billionfrom $ 55.7 billion. The majorcountries that cut arms pur-chases include Saudi Arabia,Belgium, Iraq, South Koreaand Afghanistan.

But the US sales to strate-gic regions like Taiwan andPoland rise. Poland gets armsworth $4.5 billion up from $12.4 million and Taiwan $ 11.8billion up from $ 8.76 million,according to Defense SecurityCooperation Agency (DSCA),to keep China and Russia at bay.The UAE surprisingly hasincreased its arms purchases to$ 3.6 billion from $ 1.1 billion

Even Russia since 2014 hasbeen increasing its ties withPakistan and in 2021 pledgesMi-35 assault helicopters andanti-tank systems. It has also

granted $1 billion arms loans toBangladesh and agrees to sup-ply arms to Sri Lanka.

Indian reliance on Russia isdeclining despite still its largeimports. The StockholmInternational Peace ResearchInstitute (SIPRI) states that49.4 per cent of Indian armsimports between 2016 and 2020were from Russia, 0.5 per centfrom Ukraine. Between 1996and 2016, Russia supplied 70percent of arms.

Bangladesh has been buy-ing more arms from the USwith purchases touching $110million since 2009, includingplans to Apaches and missiles.It also buys military equipment,including naval armaments,worth $2.59 billion fromChina. The Chinese bid toincrease influence in Nepal isconcern for India.

Sri Lanka is also emergingas a hub with the US wooing itfor a military cooperation dealand privileges for visiting UStroops. China in April 2021vowed to enhance “pragmaticcooperation” in the military andother sectors.

Even as the Ukraine situa-tion intensifies, the concern ofthe Indian subcontinent over anarms race should raise eye-brows. Though no major con-flict has been seen in the regionsince the Kargil conflict, thelarger arms acquisition in theregion will hopefully notchange the equilibrium.

During the past five years,the arms sellers are wooing allcountries in the region to buymore sophisticated weapon-ries and security gadgets. IfIndia gets drawn into this raceits resources can get diverted.

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(The writer is a senior journalist. The view

expressed are personal.)

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(%,��-..��&��0'�� The attack on Ukraine by Russia ispotentially the onset of war inEurope on top of Russia’s behest foran end to NATO’s eastward expan-

sion. The launch of the major invasion byRussia on Ukraine started with air and mis-sile assaults on Ukrainian military targetsbefore troops and tanks went across thecountry’s northern, eastern, and southernborders. On many fronts, the Ukrainianmilitary fought back but it cannot withstandthe Russian mighty onslaught for the lackof outright support from the NATO.

Since the invasion of Crimea in 2014,Ukraine has been living in fear of war withRussia for nearly eight years. Russia andUkraine have been at odds for a long time,with Russia claiming Ukraine as a part ofits country and opposing Ukraine’s devel-oping ties to the West. Russian PresidentVladimir Putin wants to recapture the for-mer Soviet Union Republic. He requestedthat the Ukrainian military put down theirweapons. Prior to its cessation in 1991,Russia and Ukraine were both members ofthe Union of Soviet Socialist Republics(USSR), which consisted of 15 republics.

The heat between Russia and Ukrainehave existed for a decent amount of time,they began to escalate out of control in early2021. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine’sPresident hinted the US President Joe Bidento allow Ukraine to join the NATO forcesin January of last year.

This Russia is highly infuriated, whichbegan sending soldiers near the Ukrainianborder for “training exercises” in thespring of last year and boosted the num-ber in the fall. The US began to hype thatthere is a deployment of Russian troops,and President Joe Biden had threatenedRussia with heavy sanctions if Russiaattacked Ukraine.

Russia wants a legally enforceablepromise from the US that NATO forceswill not conduct any military operationsin Eastern Europe, especially in Ukraine.According to the Russian President,Vladimir Putin, Ukraine is merely a pup-pet of the US and was never a real sover-eign country in the first place.

This isn’t the first time that conflictsbetween Russia and Ukraine have erupt-ed. Russia had previously invaded Ukrainein 2014, it happened when pro-Putin sep-aratists captured major swaths of easternUkraine, and they have been fighting theUkrainian army since the invasion. Russiaalso annexed Crimea at that time.

Ukraine has extensive social and cul-tural ties with Russia, and Russian iswidely spoken there, but those ties havedeteriorated since Russia invadedUkraine in 2014.

When Ukraine’s pro-Russian presidentlost in early 2014 elections, Russia came toan offensive. It is estimated that more than14,000 people had died as a result of thecontinuous war happening in the east.

The Minsk peace agreement was signedby Russia and Ukraine to end the ongoingviolent armed conflict, which was going on

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Ukraine's foreign ministersays talks between the top

diplomats of Moscow and Kyivproduced no breakthrough onending the war in Ukraine fol-lowing Russia's invasion.

Ukrainian ForeignMinister Dmytro Kuleba saidhe attended the meetingThursday with Russian ForeignMinister Sergey Lavrov inTurkey to discuss humanitari-an corridors and a cease-fire.

Kuleba said there are “otherdecision-makers” in Russiawho need to be consulted,adding that he agreed withLavrov to continue to seek asolution to humanitarian issuescaused by the war.

He said Moscow is notready to offer a cease-fire. Hesaid: “They seek Ukraine's sur-render.

This is not going to hap-pen.” Kuleba said “the lastthing” he wanted was to killhope for Ukrainians seekingsafe passage out of citiesbesieged by Russian bombard-ments and attacks. (AP) Earlierin the day, the meeting betweenRussia's Sergey Lavrov andDmotry Kuleba of Ukrainetook place on the sidelines ofa diplomacy forum near thecity of Antalya on Thursday.Turkish Foreign MinisterMevlut Cavusoglu was alsoparticipating in the meeting.

Cavusoglu has said thenthe aim of the meeting is topave the way for a meetingbetween the Russian andUkrainian presidents thatwould be facilitated by Turkey'spresident. Kuleba has also saidthat he would propose directtalks between the Ukrainianand Russian presidents whenhe meets Lavrov.

NATO-member Turkey,which has cultivated close tieswith both Russia and Ukraine,is trying to balance relationswith both nations. It has posi-tioned itself as a neutral party,seeking to facilitate negotia-tions between the warringsides.

Turkey has criticizedRussia's military actions inUkraine as “unlawful” and“unacceptable” but it has alsosaid Ankara would not give upon either Russia orUkraine.The head of the U.N.Nuclear agency says he's enroute to Turkey for talks onensuring the safety of Ukraine'snuclear facilities.

Rafael Grossi, the director-general of the InternationalAtomic Energy Agency, wasinvited to Antalya, Turkey byTurkish Foreign MinisterMevlut Cavusoglu. Also inAntalya on Thursday, theRussian and Ukrainian for-eign ministers are scheduled tohold talks on the sidelines of adiplomacy forum.

Grossi didn't give details ofhis own planned meetings in atweet that showed him sittingon a plane.

The IAEA chief has beenpressing for an agreement withUkraine and Russia on thesafety of Ukraine's nuclearpower plants.

A growing list of concernsincludes a power cut at thedecommissioned Chernobylplant as well as limited com-munications between Ukraine'snuclear regulator and bothChernobyl and theZaporizhzhia power plant,which Russian forces seized lastweek.

In addition, the IAEA saysit has lost direct transmissionof data from systems installedto monitor nuclear material atboth Chernobyl andZaporizhzhia. It says the rea-sons for the disruption aren'timmediately clear. Ukraine has15 nuclear reactors, eight ofwhich were operating as ofWednesday.

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U.S. Vice President KamalaHarris on Thursday

embraced calls for an inter-national war crimes investi-gation of Russia over its inva-sion of Ukraine and thebombing of civilians, includ-ing a maternity hospital.

Speaking in Warsaw,where she is demonstratingU.S. Support for NATO's east-ern f lank al l ies , Harrisexpressed outrage over thebombing Wednesday of thematernity hospital and scenesof bloodied pregnant women being evac-uated.

“Absolutely there shouldbe an investigation, and weshould all be watching,” saidHarris.

Standing alongsideHarris, Polish PresidentAndrzej Duda said “it is obvi-ous to us that in UkraineRussians are committing warcrimes.”

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An airstrike on a hospital inthe port city of Mariupol

killed three people, including achild, the city council saidThursday, as Russian forcesintensified their siege ofUkrainian cities.

The attack in the southernport city wounded womenwaiting to give birth and doc-tors and buried children in therubble. Bombs also fell on twohospitals in another city west ofthe capital.

The World HealthOrganisation said it has con-firmed 18 attacks on medicalfacilities since the Russian inva-sion began two weeks ago.

Turkey, meanwhile, washosting the highest-level talksso far between the two sides onThursday. President RecepTayyip Erdogan said he hopedthe meeting between RussianForeign Minister Sergey Lavrovand his Ukrainian counter-part Dmytro Kuleba “will openthe door to a permanent cease-fire.” But Kuleba said he did nothave high expectations.

Ahead of those talks,artillery fire was heard on thewestern edge of Kyiv, DeputyInterior Minister Vadym

Denysenko said. He told Ukrainian TV

channel Rada that residentshad a “rather difficult” night onthe outskirts of the capital inwhich Russian forces started bytargeting military sites but thenhit residential areas.

Ukrainian officials said theattack on Wednesday at a med-ical complex in Mariupol,where a siege has forced resi-dents to scavenge for food andwater, killed three people,including a girl, and woundedat least 17 people.

The ground shook morethan a mile away when theseries of blasts hit. Explosionsblew out windows and rippedaway much of the front of onebuilding. Police and soldiersrushed to the scene to evacu-ate victims, carrying a bleedingwoman with a swollen belly ona stretcher past burning andmangled cars.

Another woman wailed asshe clutched her child. In thecourtyard, a blast crater extend-ed at least two stories deep.

“Today Russia committeda huge crime,” said VolodymirNikulin, a top regional policeofficial, standing in the ruins.“It is a war crime without anyjustification.”

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Abank's decision to loanDonald Trump's company

USD 100 million is the latestevidence the former presidentmight survive fraud investiga-

tions and a business-worldbacklash over his efforts to stayin office after losing the 2020election.

San Diego-based AxosBank finalized the loan with theTrump Organization on

February 17, according to doc-uments filed with the cityTuesday. That's just three daysafter public revelations thatthe Republican's longtimeaccountants had disavowed adecade's worth of his financialstatements amid allegations byNew York's attorney generalthat they had exaggerated hiswealth.

The Axos loan is beingused to pay back an old loanbacked by commercial space atTrump Tower that was comingdue in September.

A year ago, it looked pos-sible that Trump might becomea pariah after his supportersstormed the US Capitol in anattempt to stop a vote certify-ing President Joe Biden's elec-tion win. Banks, insurers andother business partners all cutties following the riot. Last year, the TrumpOrganization was indicted inNew York on charges it helpedexecutives evade taxes. And for

two years, the company hasbeen the subject of civil andcriminal investigations by NewYork Attorney General LetitiaJames and the Manhattan dis-trict attorney. But in the fall,Trump struck a deal to sell hisWashington hotel for far morethan expected. And a partner-ship he's involved with thatowns two office towers recent-ly took out new loans for farmore than needed to pay offold ones coming due.

"He bounces back," saysBarbara Res, a former TrumpOrganization executive who isnot a fan and even urged peo-ple not to vote for him.

"If a guy brings me a prop-erty with good cash flow, agood location and good ten-ants, why do I care what hispolitics are?" says Mike Offit, aformer Deutsche Bank lenderto Trump who now consults onreal estate finance. "Trump hasgood buildings and managesthem well."

The Trump Organizationdeclined to disclose the inter-est rate on the new loan andother terms. Axos, citing cus-tomer privacy rules, would notcomment. Asked for commentfor this story, one of Trump'ssons lashed out at journalistsfor depicting the family com-pany as struggling.

"We should have neverbeen underestimated," EricTrump said in an emailedstatement, adding, "We havevery low debt, are sitting ontremendous amount of cashand have extremely profitableproperties."

Assessing the TrumpOrganization's overall financialhealth is challenging, giventhat it is a private company thatreleases few figures publicly.

During his presidency,Trump's name was stripped offhotels and residential towers inseveral cities. His Scottish golfcourse lost millions, and condosin his apartment buildings have

been selling at deep discounts.Coronavirus shutdowns

added to the trouble. Revenueat the company's biggest golfproperty, the Doral outside ofMiami, plunged USD 33 mil-lion in the two years through2021, down 44%, according tofinancial records obtained by agovernment ethics agency.

Then came the Capitolriots and a rush to exits asTrump's longtime commercialoffice broker, his two biggestlenders, the PGA of Americaand others cut ties.

The company helping himshop around his Washingtonhotel severed its relationship,too, after removing it from themarket for a lack of demand.New York City announced itwas canceling all city contractswith Trump, including therights to operate a public golfcourse in the Bronx. EricTrump branded the city's movea product of "cancel culture"and vowed to fight it.

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Singapore on Thursday cau-tioned its people not to join

the Ukrainian Foreign Legion- a volunteer military unit cre-ated by the government ofUkraine to fight against theRussian invasion, saying suchan act would be considered "anoffence".

The Ministry of HomeAffairs (MHA) said it is awarethat the Embassy of Ukrainehere has received calls frompeople expressing an interest tojoin the International Legionfor the Territorial Defense ofUkraine.

It is an offence for any per-son in Singapore to travel or tryto travel to Ukraine to take uparms in the conflict there,Singapore has taken a clearstance on Russia's invasion ofUkraine and strongly con-demns the invasion, said theministry in a statement.

It added that the Singaporegovernment has called uponRussia to cease hostilities, andrespect the sovereignty, inde-pendence and territorialintegrity of Ukraine.

"We would like to high-light that it is an offence for anyperson, whilst in Singapore, towage, attempt to wage, or abetthe waging of war, against thegovernment of any power withwhich Singapore is not at war,"The Straits Times quoted theministry as saying.

"For citizens of Singapore,in particular, even if they com-mit these acts whilst outsideSingapore, they will be legallydeemed to have committedthem as if in Singapore, andhence liable for an offence."

Under the law, those whotry to do so can be imprisonedfor life, or up to 15 years. Theycan also be fined.

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Pakistani security forces haveshot dead the "main han-

dler" of the deadly suicidebombing at a Shia mosque inPeshawar and his two accom-plices, who were reportedlyalso behind the killing of a Sikhmedicine practitioner in thenorthwestern city, according toa media report on Thursday.

At least 64 people werekilled and nearly 200 othersinjured in the suicide bombinginside the mosque in QissaKhwani bazaar in Peshawarduring Friday prayers last week,which was claimed by theIslamic State-Khorasan terrorgroup.

Officials said personnel oft h e C o u n t e r - Te r r o r i s mDepartment, police and intel-ligence agencies raided a housein the Ghu-reza area of Jamrud

tehsil on Tuesday night. Theysaid a terrorist present insidethe house opened fire on lawenforcement personnel.

Muhammad Tariq aliasKhalid - the "main handler" ofthe suicide bombing at theKoocha Risaldar mosque -Abdul Wajid, and MuzaffarShah were killed in the returnfire, Dawn newspaper report-ed, quoting an official.

"In the exchange of fire, thethree terrorists were killedwhile four others, includingtwo handlers, managed toescape," the official said.

The police said the terror-ist group was also involved inthe killing of Sikh hakeem(medicine practitioner) SardarSatnam Singh in Septemberlastyear.

Singh was shot dead in hisclinic on Charsadda Road inPeshawar.

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The World Economic Forum,best known as the host of an

annual meeting of elites inDavos, Switzerland, says it'sfreezing all its relations withRussian entities following theinvasion of Ukraine. RussianPresident Vladimir Putin lastparticipated in the event at a vir-tual “Davos Agenda” meeting inJanuary 2021. Previously, heattended the event in person. Theforum said in a statementThursday that it “will not engagewith any sanctioned individualor institution in any of ouractivities,” including the annualmeeting. Russia and Belaruswere also suspended Thursdayfrom another internationalforum: the Northern Dimension,which includes the EuropeanUnion, Iceland and Norway.

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Russia's invasion of Ukrainehas given the smaller

nation's embassy inWashington an unexpectedrole: recruitment center forAmericans who want to jointhe fight.

Diplomats working out ofthe embassy, in a townhouse inthe Georgetown section of thecity, are fielding thousands ofoffers from volunteers seekingto fight for Ukraine, even asthey work on the far morepressing matter of securingweapons to defend against anincreasingly brutal Russianonslaught.

“They really feel that thiswar is unfair, unprovoked,”said Ukraine's military attaché,

Maj. Gen. Borys Kremenetskyi. “They feel that they have to

go and help.” US volunteers represent

just a small subset of foreign-ers seeking to fight for Ukraine,who in turn comprise just atiny fraction of the interna-tional assistance that has flowedinto the country.

Still, it is a a reflection ofthe passion, supercharged in anera of social media, that theattack and the mounting civil-ian casualties have stirred.

“This is not mercenarieswho are coming to earnmoney,” Kremenetskyi said.

“This is people of goodwillwho are coming to assistUkraine to fight for freedom.”

The US government dis-courages Americans from

going to fight in Ukraine,which raises legal and nation-al security issues.

Since the February 24 inva-sion, the embassy inWashington has heard from atleast 6,000 people inquiringabout volunteering for service,the “vast majority” of themAmerican citizens, saidKremenetskyi, who overseesthe screening of potential USrecruits.

Half the potential volun-teers were quickly rejected anddidn't even make it to theZoom interview, the generalsaid. They lacked the requiredmilitary experience, had acriminal background or weren'tsuitable for other reasons suchas age, including a 16-year-oldboy and a 73-year-old man.

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Twitter has launched a pri-vacy-protected version of

its site to bypass surveillanceand censorship after Russiarestricted access to its servicein the country.

Russia has blocked accessto Facebook and has limitedTwitter in an attempt to try torestrict the flow of information

about its war in Ukraine. Bothcompanies have said they areworking on restoring access topeople inside Russia even asthey restrict the country's statemedia from their services.

Known as an "onion" ser-vice, users can access this ver-sion of Twitter if they down-load the Tor browser, whichallows people to access sites on

what is also referred to as the"dark web." Instead of .Com,onion sites have a .Onion suf-fix.

While the term "dark web"connotes illegal sites such as thenow-defunct Silk Road drugmarket, it is also often used bypeople seeking to remainanonymous for their safetyand also to access sites censoredby repressive Governments.

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With bodies piling up inRussia's nine-day siege of

Mariupol, the port city of430,000 in southeasternUkraine, local authorities arehurrying to bury the dead in amass grave.

City workers made quicksigns of the cross gestures asthey pushed bodies wrapped incarpets or bags into a deeptrench some 25 meters (80feet) long on the outskirts of thecity. More than 70 bodies havebeen interred in the commongrave since it was openedTuesday.

About half of those buriedwere killed in the intenseshelling of the city, estimated anAP journalist who visited theburial ground.

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As more than 2 millionrefugees from Ukraine

begin to scatter throughoutEurope and beyond, some arecarrying valuable witness evi-dence to build a case for warcrimes.

More and more, the peoplewho are turning up at bordercrossings are survivors whohave fled some of the citieshardest hit by Russian forces.

"It was very eerie," said IhorDiekov, one of the many peo-ple who crossed the Irpin riveroutside Kyiv on the slipperywooden planks of a makeshiftbridge after Ukrainians blew upthe concrete span to slow theRussian advance.

He heard gunshots as hecrossed and saw corpses alongthe road.

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New Delhi: Indian economy isexpected to grow by 7.8 percent in 2022-23, mainly drivenby the government's drive topush infrastructure spendingand likely increase in privatecapital expenditure, ratingagency Crisil said on Thursday.

The rating agency, howev-er, cautioned that the ongoingRussia Ukraine war and risingcommodity prices do pose adownside risk to the growth.

The country is expected toregister a growth rate of 8.9 percent in the current fiscal end-ing March 31.

"Any potential upside dueto the early end of a mild thirdwave of COVID-19 infectionswill be offset by the ongoinggeopolitical strife stemmingfrom Russia's invasion ofUkraine, which is creating adampening effect on globalgrowth and pushing up oiland commodity prices. Therisks to growth are also tilted tothe downside," it said.

Private consumptionremains the weak link, owingto reduced direct fiscal policysupport, Crisil Chief EconomistDharmakirti Joshi said whileunveiling 'India Outlook, Fiscal2023'.

As for the averageConsumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation, he said, it willstay firm at 5.4 per cent next fis-cal - if the price of crude oil aver-ages USD 85-90/barrel - andtakes into account the exciseduty cuts announced last year.

However, upside risks willbuild if the geopolitical strifeprolongs, keeping oil and com-modity prices higher for longer.

Interestingly, when theprice of crude oil averagedUSD 110/barrel between fiscals2012 and 2014, inflation was indouble digits. That situation isunlikely to repeat this time dueto the relatively benign domes-tic prices of foodgrains follow-ing sumptuous agriculturaloutput, and comparativelylower core inflation.

During that period, hesaid, food and core inflation,which together have 86 per centweight in CPI, had averaged 9.8per cent and 8.6 per cent,respectively.

"We believe the fiscal pol-icy will need to be deployedmore aggressively than envis-aged in the Union Budget fornext fiscal. This can be done byincreasing allocation fore mpl oy m e nt - ge n e r at i ngschemes and food subsidy, andcutting duty on petroleumproducts," Joshi said.

This can be a relief bridgefor those most affected by thepandemic till such time the vir-tuous cycle of investment-ledgrowth plays out in the labourmarket, and private consump-tion demand becomes self-sustaining, he noted.

The higher price of crudeoil will widen India's currentaccount deficit to 2.2 per centin fiscal 2023, the report said,adding typically, a USD 10

increase in the price of crudeoil raises the current accountdeficit to GDP ratio by about40 basis points.

The near-term impact ofhigh oil prices on inflation,assuming a significantpassthrough, will be more pro-nounced than on growth, itsaid, adding all bets are off if oilstays around or above USD100/barrel for a prolongedperiod.

The ripple effects of high-er commodity prices have beenreflected strongly in the oper-ating profitability of India Incduring past cycles.

This time around, pass-throughs have been good andhence we expect the earningsbefore interest, tax, deprecia-tion and amortisation (Ebitda)margin to sustain above 20 percent for the second year in arow for the top 700 corporates(excluding oil and banking,financial services and insur-ance, or BFSI) this fiscal, as perthe report.

The recovery next fiscalwill be broad-based, support-ed by normalisation of volumesif geopolitical and other unfore-seen events don't pose signifi-cant challenges, it said.

"Across consumption seg-ments, recovery curves havebeen staggered and incomesentiment will be the key dri-ver. As things stand, we expectIndia Inc to see revenue growthof 10-14 per cent next fiscal,"the report added. PTI

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Mumbai: Equity benchmarksmaintained their winningmomentum for the third ses-sion running on Thursday,buoyed by a bullish trend inAsian markets and state elec-tion results being in line withexpectations.

A strengthening rupeeadded to the momentumdespite uncertainties relatedto the Ukraine crisis, traderssaid.

The 30-share BSE Sensexopened on a firm footing andzoomed over 1,500 points inintra-day trade, before paringsome gains to end at 55,464.39,up 817.06 points or 1.50 percent.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty jumped 249.55 points or1.53 per cent to close at16,594.90.

Hindustan Unilever Ltdhogged the limelight in theSensex pack, surging 5.17 percent, followed by Tata Steel,SBI, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank,Bajaj Finserv, Nestle andMaruti Suzuki.

Only three counters endedin the red -- Tech Mahindra, DrReddy's Laboratories and TCS,slipping up to 1.28 per cent.

On the political front, theBJP raced towards a secondstraight win in politically cru-cial Uttar Pradesh and domi-nated the score chart in threeother states -- Uttarakhand,Manipur and Goa.

The Aam Aadmi Partyannounced its national pres-

ence with a landslide victory inPunjab, while the Congresscame a cropper.

"With hopes of progress inhigh-level talks between Russiaand Ukraine and a surge in theAsian market, the Indian mar-ket started with a strong gap-up. The outperformance wassupported by positive stateelection results being in linewith expectations.

"However, a weak westernmarket ahead of ECB and USCPI data and rise in crudeprices added volatility inbetween," said Vinod Nair,Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services.

Mohit Nigam, Head -PMS, Hem Securities, said,"The market's optimism hasbeen fuelled by the prospect ofa favourable outcome from theRussia-Ukraine talks. The BJP'sstrong showing in the stateelections encouraged the bull-ish mood even further."

In the broader market, theBSE smallcap and midcapindices jumped as much as1.18 per cent.All BSE sectoralindices settled in the green, withFMCG, realty, metal and bankclimbing up to 2.68 per cent.

A total of 2,433 stocksadvanced, while 929 declinedand 98 remained unchanged onthe BSE.Asian markets fol-lowed Wall Street higher ascrude oil prices retreated frommulti-year highs, while Russianand Ukrainian foreign minis-ters began talks in Turkey. PTI

��.��,,��'��0��#��8�� Mumbai: The rupee appreci-

ated by 20 paise to close at76.42 (provisional) against theUS dollar on Thursday, sup-ported by positive domesticequities and trends in state elec-tion results.

At the interbank forex mar-ket, the local unit opened at76.27 against the greenbackand witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 76.07 and a low of76.46.

The rupee finally finishedat 76.42, registering a rise of 20paise over its previous close.

On Wednesday, the rupeehad appreciated 38 paise toclose at 76.62 against the USdollar following a retreat incrude oil prices and rebound indomestic equities.

Counting of votes wasunderway on Thursday in fivestates where assembly pollswere held recently --Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh,Punjab, Goa and Manipur.

The BJP is headed for asecond straight win in politi-cally crucial Uttar Pradesh anddominated the trends chart inthree other states, while theAam Aadmi Party readied fora landslide win in Punjab. The rupee gained asrisk appetite rebounded, whilehaven currencies slumped, saidDilip Parmar, ResearchAnalyst, HDFC Securities. PTI

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New Delhi: The telecom tri-bunal on Thursday ruled thatTRAI's directive that enabledusers to port out of their net-work via SMS request, regard-less of the value of their tariffplans "requires no interfer-ence", as it dismissed a petitionfiled by Vodafone Idea.

The Telecom DisputesSettlement and AppellateTribunal (TDSAT), however,asked sector regulator TRAI toprovide a "reasonable time" toVodafone Idea Ltd (VIL) toimplement the impugneddirections for all its subscribers,irrespective of the value of thetariff offers or vouchers.

The tribunal, in its order,said the TRAI directive datedDecember 7, 2021 "requires nointerference" and is found to bewithin the regulator's pow-ers.The tribunal was hearingVIL's appeal against the TRAIdirective.

VIL's argument that byopting for a voucher or packwithout SMS facility, the sub-scriber may choose to surren-der right to avail port out facil-ities, "does not merit consid-eration", TDSAT said.

The port out or MobileNumber Portability (MNP)norm, independently createsan obligation upon accessproviders to facilitate all sub-scribers to request through SMSand avail the facility of port out

on a non-discriminatorybasis."Such obligation flowsfrom careful reading of theMNP Regulations. TRAI cannotbe faulted for issuing directionsto enforce such obligations," theTDSAT order said.

The petition is, therefore,dismissed, it said.

It is pertinent to mentionthat in December 2021,Telecom Regulatory Authorityof India or TRAI had directedtelecom operators to enableport out SMS facility for allmobile users requiring it, irre-spective of value of their tariffoffer, vouchers, or plans theyopted for.

TRAI's stern missive onsmooth network portability,assumed significance asReliance Jio had, at that time,written to the regulator com-plaining that the new tariffstructure of VIL allegedlyrestricts entry-level customersto port out their mobile num-ber from its network.TRAIhad taken a strong note of tele-com service companies notproviding outgoing SMS facil-ity in certain prepaid vouchers.

TDSAT, in its order onThursday, said that readingthe obligations upon operatorsunder MNP regulations in arestricted manner as pleadedon behalf of appellant wouldmake the norms unworkablefor many subscribers. PTI

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New Delhi: Three concerneddepartments of the govern-ment are working jointly to fasttrack drone adoption in thefarm sector, according to asenior official of the Directorateof Plant Protection, Quarantineand Storage (DPPQS) RaviPrakash.

The Central InsecticideBoard and RegistrationCommittee (CIB&RC) underthe DPPQS has received appli-cations from eight crop pro-tection companies seekingpermission for conducting tri-als of drones, he said.

Discussing the issue vir-tually at an industry roundtableorganised by CropLife Indiaand non-profit body ThinkAg,Prakash said drones are afford-able for farmers and help insuperior produce.

"The Directorate Generalof Civil Aviation (DGCA), theagriculture ministry andCIB&RC are working jointly tofast track applications andadoption of drones in the agri-culture sector, including crophealth monitoring and spray-ing of soil nutrients," Prakashhaving said at the roundtablediscussion, according to a state-ment.

Industry body CropLifeIndia CEO Asitava Sen said thepolicy framework on drones isin place and it is the perfecttime to promote drones in the

farm sector."We should look into how

all stakeholders can worktogether to help develop a con-ducive ecosystem for droneapplications in agriculture andspecifically agrochemicalspraying," he said.

National Institute of PlantHealth Management (NIPHM)Joint Director - Plant HealthEngineering, Vidhu KampurathP said, "NIPHM has devel-oped a ten-day integrated train-ing module for both flight andspraying for drone pilots andoperators, which is awaitingDGCA clearance."

This will help a drone pilotgetting a license for drone fly-ing valid for 10 years. Thistraining is both mandatoryand essential to ensure optimaland proper handling of drones,he said, adding the institute isalso planning to tie up withother central and state agri-culture universities and insti-tutes for a pan-India roll out.

According to DroneFederation of India PresidentSmit Shah, "the ban on importof finished drones is a welcomestep as it will help the domes-tic drone manufacturing indus-try to grow. The essential com-ponents of drones includingengines and batteries still canbe imported without restric-tions for local manufacturing." PTI

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New Delhi: Capital marketsregulator Sebi has come outwith a list of 25 defaulters,who are found to be untrace-able.These defaulters failed toreturn investors' money orfailed to pay fines imposed onthem by the regulator forvarious offences related to thesecurities market.

Publishing the details ofthe untraceable defaulters onits website on Wednesday,Sebi said the recovery certifi-cates were drawn up againstthese individuals by the regu-lator's recovery officer.However, these notices couldnot be served to the defaultersat their last known addresses.

These notices were servedduring July 2014 to January2022, the Securities andExchange Board of India(Sebi) said. The regulator hasasked these defaulters to con-tact Sebi's recovery officer bysending a letter or an e-mailby March 24, 2022.

"Further, if any person isaware of the whereabouts ofthe defaulter (s)...Detail of thesame may be provided bysending a letter to the recov-ery officer... Or an e-mail... ByMarch 24, 2022," it added.Sebi has powers to recovermoney from various entitiesby way of passing orders forrefund of money to investors. PTI

New Delhi: With an aim toenable enterprising womenstudents from diverse socio-economic backgrounds to pre-pare for high-growth techcareers with fully-fundedtuition scholarship and Rs100,000 stipend, TalentSprint,an edtech company, withGoogle’s support, announcedthe fourth edition of its WomenEngineers programme.

For tech to truly fulfill thepromise of leveling the playingfield and creating universallyrelevant solutions, the repre-sentation of women in techorganizations is key, said ShivVenkataraman, VP, Google.“We feel encouraged to witnessthe transformational journey ofover 500 enthusiastic womenengineering students,” saidSantanu Paul, Co-founder andCEO of TalentSprint.

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New Delhi: The Governmenthas appointed State Bank ofIndia (SBI) managing directorAshwani Bhatia as whole-timemember (WTM) of theSecurities and Exchange Boardof India (SEBI).

The AppointmentsCommittee of the Cabinet(ACC) has approved theappointment of Bhatia as amember initially for a period ofthree years from the date ofassumption of charge, sourcessaid.With Bhatia gettingappointed as WTM, there isnow only one post of WTM leftto be filled in SEBI, sourcessaid.

Bhatia, who is due toretire in May, this year, was ele-vated as the managing directorof SBI in August 2020. Prior tothat, he was working as themanaging director and chiefexecutive officer of SBI MutualFund. He started his careerwith SBI in 1985 as a proba-tionary officer. Over a 33-years tenure with SBI, he hasdonned many hats. PTI

6��(G5��4�3��G��(�� New York: Stocks are jumping,

and oil prices are easingWednesday as the big swingsshaking global markets go inboth directions amid uncer-tainty about the war inUkraine. The S&P 500 was2.3% higher in morning trad-ing, following a four-day losingstreak that had pulled it 13%below its record set early thisyear.

The Dow Jones IndustrialAverage was up 648 points, or2%, at 32,281, as of 10:40 a.M.Eastern time, and the Nasdaqcomposite was 3.1% higher.

Such big swings have beenjerking markets around inrecent weeks as investors gropeto guess how much economicdamage Russia's invasion ofUkraine will do. The swingshave struck not only day-to-daybut also hour-to-hour, withsome days seeing several bigreversals. The chaotic move-ments are likely only to con-tinue with uncertainty so highabout the war in Ukraine andits ultimate economic fallout. AP

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If your definition of a leisurelyweekday afternoon is similar toHong Kong’s version of ‘Yum Cha’

where you enjoy dim sum and hot teawith friends, then I have got news foryou. No, I have not discovered a ‘DaiPai Dong’ in Delhi. On the contrary,Spicy Duck, the fine dining Asianrestaurant at Taj Palace, New Delhi haslaunched ‘Signature Luncheons’ wherethey are celebrating the best of Sichuanand Cantonese flavours with a special-ly curated four-course menu thatcommences with an assortment ofhandcrafted dim sum, followed by‘Soup of the day’, a Claypot meal bowland finally a dessert.

Intrigued by the offer, I went in forlunch with a few friends a couple ofdays ago. We started with the Prawnwonton, Steamed lamb & celerydumpling, Poached chicken & pakchoidumpling and the Seafood corn puff. Allthe dumplings were very well-balancedand flavourful but the object of myaffection was the Seafood corn puff. Ithad a soft, crusty and flaky exteriorwith a soulful seafood mix at the core.You can enjoy it as it is, dip it in soyor glaze it with some chilli seed sauce.It is absolutely brilliant. I even triedsome veg dumplings courtesy of oneof our friends who is a ‘pure vegetar-ian’ and I was pleasantly surprised. Thesteamed edamame, water chestnutand truffle oil dumpling was soflavourful yet comforting. Even theBarbecue vegetable bun was top notchalthough I must confess that nothingbeats a Char siu bao (Cantonese BBQpork-filled bun). But yes, I just want-ed to make a point that the restauranthas equally good and enjoyable vege-

tarian preparations when we talkabout the dim sum selection.

The ‘Soup of the Day’ is next on theroster. If it’s a cold and nippy winterafternoon, a soup really comforts yoursoul. In my case, I was already in theflavour hangover of the dim sum selec-tion and I did not want to get out of it.

The soup did help neutralise the palateand rev it up for Southern Chinainspired Claypot meal bowls. One canselect from an array of aromatic prepa-rations. You have Kung pao tofu, Dryred chilli, pepper and black mushroom,Broccoli carrot and oyster sauce in thevegetarian options. In the non-vegetar-

ian selection, you can choose betweenWok tossed prawn in spicy coriander,ginger sauce, fresh red chilli and Yunanlamb, spring onion and celery. I chosethe lamb preparation which was servedin a charming traditional earthen-ware. The warm and aromatic broth ispoured over the succulent chunks oflamb resting on a bed of noodles andveggies. Can’t go wrong, can you?While I generally prefer robust prepa-rations, I loved this light, fragrant anddelicious concoction. The kitchen is ledby Chef Thanglawm Valte under theguidance of legendary executive chefRajesh Wadhwa and they ensure thatthey use homemade mixes and infusedoils for cooking with minimalistic useof condiments to impart lightness to thepreparations. Most of the ingredientsincluding spices and vegetables aresourced from the country of origin tokeep the preparations authentic to itsroots.

We concluded our meal on asweet note with the Darsan, walnutcaramel, chilled pomelo and mangosago dessert and polished off a fewcups of Jasmine tea while discussingthe current geo-political scenario andsports. All in all, it was a lovely after-noon around friends laced with glut-tony and harmless banter. I stronglyrecommend you to try out the‘Signature Luncheons’ menu at SpicyDuck. Priced at �1,900++ per person(Monday-Friday), I feel it’s a steal dealif you look at the quality and varietyof preparations. Be it a lazy afternoonout with family or a business meetingover lunch with clients, the curatedexperience fits the bill perfectly.

(The author is a food critic.)

Sugar has been the most prominent ingre-dient in every Indian’s daily diet. Its con-

sumption starts right from the beginning ofthe day as tea, coffee or any other form andcontinues till the very end of the day. EveryIndian meal includes one or more sweet dish-es, making sugar a staple food item in everyhousehold. However, this has led to increasedhealth concerns and issues. Hence, health-conscious people opt to reduce their sugarintake, as a first step, with the aim to incul-cate a healthy lifestyle. People want to reduceit slowly or step by step to reach the goal of‘zero sugar’.

They face a lot of difficulty in curbingsugar craving because, even if it’s a very smallamount, its consumption is consistent. Thisis one hurdle that marks every New Year’s res-olution and health goal i e they are unable tofind the right source to supplement their ener-gy and sweetness needs. This leads to con-sistent consumption of sugar through othersources such as jaggery or honey. Althoughraw and refined jaggery has digestive bene-fits, it is not one of the best substitutes forsugar, in terms of calorie density or itsglycemic index.

Among the natural sources to supplementthe sweet factor, which could create a balancebetween sweetness and health, is the lesser-known natural alternative called stevia. It hasnot been known for long in India as a natur-al source of sweetness. This lack of awarenesshas kept people away from using it in theirdiets.

However, stevia has been in use for 1,500years by South American communities.However, the Government of India had ini-tially miscategorised it as artificial sugar. Thiscontributed to the confusion and underesti-mated the usage and importance of stevia inIndian households and, as a result, the usageof sugar, jaggery, honey and even brown sugar.remained high in Indian households.

Stevia is the most practical and naturalsource of sweetness. It is about 150-300 percent sweeter than conventional sugar andother sources. Additionally, its sweetness con-tributes to zero-calorie intake making it oneof the healthiest alternatives to sugar and pro-moter of a sugar-free lifestyle.

WHY STEVIA?The highest quality of stevia is found in

the Himalayan ranges. It contains steviol gly-cosides, a chemical compound responsible forsweetness in the stevia leaves. The high andaddictive intake of sugar is generally due toneurological reactions. The mesolimbicdopamine system/the reward system of thebrain propels individuals to consume moresugar. Stevia eliminates the addictiveness and

side effects of sugar while providing healthbenefits for Indians in the best way possible.

As the awareness and information regard-ing stevia is spread, it is being adopted in theIndian market as health and fitness enthusi-asts are turning to it to fulfill their sweet needs.Moreover, it’s not just the individuals, but alsothe industrial players — like Amul, MotherDairy, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola — among otherswho are turning to stevia as a zero-caloriesugar alternative for their products. All thishas contributed efficiently to making commu-nities consider stevia as a substitute for sugarintake.

In recent times the Indian market has expe-rienced a surge in stevia products. The earlyissues of inaccessibility of stevia too have beenresolved leading to its increased consumption.One of the most apparent and major issues withthe less consumption of stevia till now has beenits adaptation in the market. Manufacturerswere unable to create ready to use, natural andacceptable forms. As consumers are used tocrystallised and/or powdered forms of sugar,hence the concept of stevia leaves (availablelargely in form of drops) as a sweetener was notadopted by the masses.

Nowadays, variants of stevia such as pow-der and drops in place of powdered sugar canbe used in halwa, kheer and other milk-baseddesserts, common food items in any Indianhousehold. For snacks, there are many alter-natives sweetened with stevia and 100 per centnatural.

Stevia with zero glycemic indexes andzero calories is considered safe for diabeticpatients. This property contributes to areduction in many sugar-related health issuesamong people.

AS a result, its market size has expand-ed exponentially in recent years and is fore-casted to grow at a CAGR of 8.95 per centbetween 2021-2028 while claiming a $1.1 bil-lion market capacity by 2028.

In recent times stevia has been consid-ered for the F&B industry and the IndianGovernment has also taken steps to promotestevia farming. However, its usage has notbeen limited to just these domains. It has beenexpanding in various countries with 40 percent of the Japanese sweetener market con-stituting stevia and the increase in its usagein the USA.

Hence, stevia is more than sugar. It issweeter, it is healthy and eliminates the toxicside effects of sugar without compromisingon taste. It promotes India’s sweetness cultureand good health by reducing sugar-relatedhealth issues. That’s why stevia has come tobe known as the king of all sweeteners.

(The author is the co- founder,Magicleaf.)

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Daniil Medvedev, who willcontest his first tourna-

ment as world number one atthe Indian Wells ATP Masters,says he's matured since his lossto Rafael Nadal in the AustralianOpen final.

In the wake of his crushingloss to the Spanish star inMelbourne -- where Nadal ral-lied from two sets down to wina record 21st Grand Slam title -- Medvedev complained about"disrespectful" fans.

But on Wednesday at IndianWells he said that those com-

ments -- which came after hewas fined US$12,000 for anoutburst at the chair umpire inhis semi-final win over StefanosTsitsipas -- were made in theheat of the disappointingmoment. "It made me mature,the Australian Open," the 26-year-old said. "I understood Ihad a lot to work on myself."Medvedev officially ascended toworld number one on February28 -- days after his rise wasassured when Novak Djokovicfell in the quarter-finals at Dubai.

Playing in the Mexico Openat Acapulco at the time,Medvedev was unable to cele-

brate the achievement with atitle, stopped once again byNadal in the championshipmatch.

The two could meet again inthe semi-finals at Indian Wells,where Djokovic is absent due toUS government Covid-19 trav-el regulations.

Djokovic, who is not vacci-nated, didn't formally withdrawfrom the tournament untilWednesday, when women's first-round action was underwayand the men's draw had alreadybeen made.

The five-time Indian Wellschampion was replaced in the

��3�63)

Amaiden League Shield titlealready in its grasp,

Jamshedpur FC, one of the con-sistent teams in the tourna-ment, will look to take a stepcloser to their first Indian SuperLeague (ISL) crown when theyface Kerala Blasters FC in thefirst leg of their semifinal at thePJN Stadium here on Friday.

Making their first appear-ance in the last-four of the ISL,Jamshedpur FC are in stunningform under head coach OwenCoyle, having won seven consec-utive matches.

In the process, Jamshedpuralso sealed the top spot andpicked up their first LeagueWinners' Shield after beatingATK Mohun Bagan 1-0 in itsfinal league stage game.

Kerala Blasters, on the otherhand, are making a semifinalappearance after six years. TheTuskers come into the tie after

playing a physically draining 4-4 draw against FC Goa in theirlast clash, which led them to fin-ish fourth in the league table.

The contests between thetwo sides have been so evenlyfought that six out of 10 match-es have ended in draws.

Jamshedpur FC have record-ed three wins while KeralaBlasters FC have managed one.Last time when both these teammet, JFC came on top by beat-

ing Kerala 3-0 in the league stagematch.

Coyle's men are unbeatenagainst the Blasters this season.

Having won their last sevengames, the Men of Steel are inred-hot form going into thesemifinals, knocking out everyteam they have faced recently.

For Jamshedpur, GregStewart and Ritwik Das will bethe key players.

Stewart has already proven

why he is one of the best sign-ings in the Hero ISL 2021-22,having scored and assisted 10times each this season. As far asthe stats are concerned, he wasinvolved in almost 50 per cent ofthe total goals scored byJamshedpur FC.

Ritwik, the 25-years oldAsansol born midfielder, too hasbeen exceptional for JFC in thelast few matches. In this season,he has already scored four goalsand assisted in one.

On the other hand,Vukomanovic's Blasters havealso suffered due to inconsisten-cy. They have won just two oftheir last five matches, havingalso lost once during this peri-od. They ended their leaguestage campaign on fourthspot with 34 points from 20matches.

�� 34�54

Real Madrid pulled off one ofthe great Champions Leaguecomebacks on Wednesday as

Karim Benzema scored a breath-taking hat-trick to upstage KylianMbappe and dump Paris Saint-Germain out in the last 16.

Madrid were set to be the latestvictims of another Mbappe master-class at the Santiago Bernabeu afterthe 23-year-old ran them ragged forthe best part of an hour and fired into put PSG 1-0 up on the night, 2-0 ahead on aggregate.

But Madrid came stormingback as Benzema capitalised on amistake by PSG goalkeeperGianluigi Donnarumma and thenscored an incredible double in twominutes, the third coming just eightseconds after PSG had kicked off.

When the full-time whistle con-firmed their 3-2 aggregate victory,many of Madrid's players droppedto their knees and looked up to thesky, as much perhaps in disbelief asjoy, after completing one of the mostmemorable turnarounds in theclub's recent history.

All eyes were on Mbappe, whowas the only player to be cheered byMadrid's fans before the game asthey were gifted an up-close previewof the player they hope will be theirsthis summer.

Mbappe delivered, scoring asuperb goal, not to mention a spell-binding second that was disallowed

for offside when he bamboozledThibaut Courtois with a magicaldummy-finish.

To think he might not even havebeen 100 per cent here after aknock in training on Monday tem-porarily put his involvement in

doubt.But what looked set to become

an exhibition of the world's deadliestplayer instead became anotherremarkable European night for RealMadrid, who showed again whythey consider this to be their com-petition.

Madrid clearly wanted to hitPSG hard form the start, with DaniCarvajal leaping and waving hishands at the crowd in an attempt togenerate a wave of noise.

For a while, it worked, ViniciusJunior tearing down the left andFede Valverde bulldozing through

Mbappe, but the surge was brief.PSG killed Madrid's momentum,pushed them back and took com-plete control.

Mbappe sped clear for the firsttime in the eighth minute, Neymarcurling a ball into the space on theleft. The stadium held its breath,

Mbappe made space but this timehit Courtois.

Madrid dropped off but cededcontrol. Mbappe nipped past EderMilitao and Courtois saved. A love-ly interchange between Lionel Messiand Marco Verratti gave Neymar asight of goal but Courtois was thereagain.

PSG were comfortable now,dictating the play and sensing thetrepidation. Madrid had openings,Benzema curling just wide, but allover the pitch they looked slower,heavier, more cumbersome.

Messi skipped through andscooped wide before Mbappe hadhis first of two goals ruled out, dri-ving into the corner only to see theflag raised.

The goal, though, felt inevitableand in the 39th minute, it came.Carvajal lost the ball upfield andwith Madrid committed, Neymararced another brilliant pass over thetop.

By the time he reached it,Mbappe only had David Alaba infront of him and as he shaped tobend into the far corner he insteadfired early, whipping a deadly shotpast Courtois and inside the nearpost.

Madrid tried to reset at half-time but Mbappe carried on wherehe left off with a brilliant, but dis-allowed, goal.

He fooled Courtois with anastonishing dummy shot, beatingthe Belgian without even touching

the ball and slammed in. The flagwent up but the stadium wasastounded.

The game was becoming less acontest, more an Mbappe exhibitionbut then Benzema, out of nowhere,dragged Madrid back into the tie.

He chased Nuno Mendes' back-pass to Donnarumma, who skewedunder pressure. Vinicius was able tocollect and cut back to Benzema,who slotted home.

Suddenly, there was hope again,the crowd on their feet roaringMadrid on. Vinicius shot overwhen the ball cannoned kindly tohim in the box. Luka Modrictracked Messi and slid him intotouch.

It was Modric who inspiredMadrid's second too, a scintillatingrun through midfield allowingVinicius to race clear down the left.He scooped back inside to Modric,whose exquisite reverse pass foundBenzema, who finished.

Madrid were level on aggregate,the goal confirmed after a checkfrom VAR. Then eight secondslater, incredibly, they were ahead.PSG squandered possession fromkick-off, Rodrygo released Viniciusand Marquinhos' attempted clear-ance found Benzema, who steeredinto the corner.

"This is how Madrid win," thefans began to sing. They fell quietwhen Messi stood over a free-kickin injury time but the ball curledover and the cheers began again.

�� 172�47!&5

Indian boxers Krrish Pal(46kg) and Ravi Saini (48kg)

progressed to the junior boys'finals with contrasting victoriesat the Asian Youth and JuniorBoxing Championships inAmman, Jordan on Thursday.

While Krrish dominatedThailand's KangpiBokhunthod, winning com-fortably by unanimous deci-sion, Saini worked hard for aclose 3-2 win over Kazakhstan'sBexultan Boranbek.

In the finals, Krrish andRavi will take on Tajikistan'sAnushervon Fazylov andIlkhomjon Ergashev ofUzbekistan respectively.

Later tonight, seven moreIndian junior boxers -- JayantDagar (54kg), Chetan (57kg),Yashwardhan Singh (60kg),Jackson Singh Laishram (70kg),Dev Pratap Singh (75kg),Rishabh Singh Shikharwar(80kg), Gaurav Mhaske(+80kg) -- will be in action inthe boys semi-finals.

India's junior boxers havesecured 21 medals, 12 in girlsand nine in boys categories, atthe prestigious continental

event. Among girls, 11 haveprogressed into the final.

In the youth women'ssemi-final matches, played lateon Wednesday night, ShaheenGill (60kg), Ravina (63kg),Priyanka (66kg), Muskan(75kg) recorded wins, whilefour including Tanisha Lamba(54kg), Prachi (57kg), PranjalYadav (70kg) and Sneha (81kg),exited with bronze medals afterdefeats.

Seven women will fightfor gold in the youth category.The finals will be played onMarch 13 and 14.

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Indian para shuttler SukantKadam has achieved world

no 2 ranking in SL 4 categoryfollowing his exploits in theinternational circuit in the lastthree months.

Kadam had claimed goldmedals at Uganda ParaInternational tournament,National Para BadmintonTournament and the recently-concluded Spanish Para bad-minton International II.

"I am really excited onbecoming world no 2, I havetrained really hard to reachhere, but this is just the start ofmy journey. Right now, myfocus is performing and givingmy best in this tournament.This is an important year andI wish I continue performing atthis high level," Kadam said ina release. The Indian kick start-ed his Spanish Para BadmintonInternational 2022 Grade Itournament on Thursday withan easy 21-13 21-11 win overGermany's Marcel Adam.

He had previously defeat-ed Adam in straight sets in theSpanish Para badmintonInternational II last week toclinch the gold.

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draw by lucky loser GrigorDimitrov.

Medvedev acknowledgedthat there was "a lot of pressure"in playing as the world's top-ranked player "but at the sametime a lot of motivation," he said.

While he'll have No 1 besidehis name, he won't have theRussian flag, after tennis author-

ities ruled that Russian andBelarusian players can't competeunder the names or flags of theircountries in the wake of Russia'sinvasion of Ukraine.

"I want to play tennis, playin different countries -- I wantto promote my sport,"Medvedev said. Right now thesituation is that's the only way I

can play, so that's what I'mgoing to do."

He also reiterated his desirefor peace as fighting raged for a15th day in Ukraine.

"My message is always thesame - I want peace in all of theworld," Medvedev said. "I thinkevery tennis player is going tosay the same."

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Chelsea Football Club'sRussian owner Roman

Abramovich was on Thursdayhit with a UK assets freeze andtravel ban, throwing his plans tosell the European and world clubchampions into disarray.

The billionaire owner ofthe English Premier League sidewas one of seven oligarchsslapped with restrictions overRussia's Ukraine invasion,including his former businesspartner Oleg Deripaska.

Others sanctioned wereRosneft chief executive IgorSechin, whom the British gov-ernment described as RussianPresident Vladimir Putin's"right-hand man", and the headof Gazprom Alexei Miller.

�� &3�5! )1

An inept batting performance byIndia led to an all-too famil-iar surrender against New

Zealand as the Mithali Raj-led sidewent down by 62 runs in its secondleague stage match of the ICCWomen's World Cup here onThursday.

New Zealand, who have domi-nated the Indians throughout thissummer, didn't let anything changein a familiar script by first scoring ahealthy 260 for 9. They then chokedthe 'Women in Blue' before bowlingthem out for only 198 in 46.4 overs.

India have now slipped to fifthamong eight teams after this defeatwhile New Zealand, with two winsfrom three games, are now secondbehind Australia in the overall stand-ings. Puja Vastrakar's 4 for 34 in 10overs and Harmanpreet Kaur's 71 off62 balls were two isolated perfor-mances which hardly made anyimpact on the larger outcome.

While Vastrakar's four-for could

still be credited for stopping NewZealand's total from going north of280, Harmanpreet's runs might justhelp her regain confidence for thecoming games.

Amelia Kerr (50 and 3/56 in 9overs), one half of the famous Kerrsisters, first laid the platform with asolid half century and then breachedthe defences of rival skipper MithaliRaj (31 off 56 balls) with a flighted

delivery. Her fast googly dismissedRicha Ghosh (0) off the successivedelivery to make it virtually impos-sible for India.

Towards the end, she alsosnapped up Harmanpreet to make ita perfect all-round performance.Seamers Lea Tahuhu (3/17 in 10overs) and Hayley Jensen (3/30 in 6.4overs) shared the other scalps.

The pursuit of 261 started on a

discordant note with SmritiMandhana (6 off 21 balls), YastikaBhatia (28 off 59 balls) and DeeptiSharma (5 off 13 balls) unable findways to rotate the strike.

Mithali's struggles have beenwell documented and it's not gettingany better in her last tournament forIndia. Even more baffling was coachRamesh Powar's strategy of sendingthree left-handers (out of form Shafali

Verma was dropped) with home teamskipper Sophie Devine giving the newball to off-break bowler FrancesMackay (8-1-25-0), who would takeit away from left-handers.

The figures don't seem excep-tional but much like what DeepakPatel did for men's team in 1992,Mackay bowled as many as 27 dotballs in those first 15 overs to chokethe flow of runs.

India haven't found a way tocounter New Zealand and in past onemonth, have lost five of the sixWODIs against the White Ferns.

The game could be divided intotwo sets of first 20 overs where thetwo teams batted.

In case of New Zealand, the first20 overs yielded 117 runs for the lossof just two wickets while India, intheir response, painfully reached 50for 3 in their share of 20.

The difference was 67 and if onelooks at the margin of victory for'White Ferns', it won't be very diffi-cult to gauge why things went down-hill for Mithali's team.

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