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march 7, 2021

The Delhi High Court has directed 3,499 undertrial prisoners, who were grantedinterim bail to decongestjails here amid the COVID19pandemic, to surrender onexpiry of their bail period.

The court’s order, passedon March 3 and made available on Saturday, was basedon the recommendation of ahighpowered committeeconstituted on the direction

of the Supreme Court.

‘Not inclined’A Bench of Justices Siddharth Mridul and TalwantSingh said it was “not inclined” to further extend theperiod of interim bail granted to the undertrial prisoners under various criterialaid down by the committeein its several meetings.

“It is therefore directedthat all the 3,499 undertrialprisoners, who have not ob

tained regular bails fromtheir court concerned, orany other superior court toits court concerned, shallsurrender before the jail superintendent upon the expiry of the period of their interim bail commencing fromMarch 7,” the Bench said.

The High Court considered the observations andrecommendations made bythe committee and the improved COVID19 situation inDelhiNCR.

They had been released to decongest jails during pandemic

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

HC denies extension of interim bail,orders 3,499 prisoners to surrender

Delhi to get own schooleducation board: CMNEW DELHI

The Delhi Cabinet on

Saturday approved the

setting up of the Delhi Board

of School Education (DBSE),

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal

said. The move follows the

government’s decision to

commence the ‘Deshbhakti

Curriculum’ in schools from

the new academic year.

CITY A PAGE 3DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

NEARBY

SEC declares polls in twoDDC seats ‘null and void’SRINAGAR

The State Election

Commission on Saturday

declared the polls of two

District Development Council

seats as “null and void” after

two women from Pakistan-

occupied Kashmir, married to

locals from the Valley,

contested the elections. “The

SEC has declared the polling

to the DDC constituency

Drugmulla and Hajin (A) as

void,” the SEC order reads.

NEWS A PAGE 10DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Twentyfour hours after a local court in Gopalganj district of northwest Bihar convicted 13 accused persons —sentencing nine of them todeath and four women to lifeimprisonment — in the Khajurbanni hooch tragedy,tears have refused to fallfrom the vacant eyes of Sarita Devi.

She has been wailing sinceFriday evening, with herthree bemused childrenlooking up to her, at a totalloss. Her 13yearold sisterinlaw is the only person by herside to console her.

“For the last four years, Ihave been dying each day.Death has many faces for me.Now, after the court verdicton Friday, it has come as afull stop in my life,” she said.

After a long, haunting pause,she looked at her three children and added: “What willhappen to them? Does thecourt care and consider suchinnocent lives?”

Four of family convictedMs. Devi is the wife of SanjayPasi, 23, who, along with histwo younger brothers, Ranjay and Munna Pasi, has beensentenced to death by theGopalganj court of Additional District Judge2 LuvkushKumar. Their mother, InduDevi, too, has been awardeda life sentence in the case.Their father, Shiv NarayanPaswan, died long ago, andnow only Sarita Devi, herthree sons, and a sisterinlaw are left to be haunted bytheir absence, and to earn aliving.

A few yards away is the

house of Rita Devi, who toohas been sentenced to life,and her two sons, Sanoj andRajesh Pasi, have been sentenced to death. Rita Devi’shusband Nandji Pasi alsodied a long while back, andboth her convicted sons aremarried men with small chil

dren. A group of neighboursgathered at their home on Saturday evening and they allwailed together to mourn thecourt verdict.

“No male member is left inour house to go anywhere totake further legal steps. Itseems like a death warrant

for us as well,” said Shardaand Guddia Devi, wives of Sanoj and Rajesh Pasi, respectively, while crying inconsolably with a group of gatheredwomen.

Similarly, Maya Devi,along with her four daughters and one son, has been sitting outside the locked irongate of her house ever sincethe court verdict was delivered. Her husband ChhatuPasi, 50, too, has beenawarded a death sentence inthe case. “My father used tosell sattu (gram fl��our) on awheel cart near the railwaycrossing, earning about₹��2,000 every month to runthe family. But the policemade him the accused in thehooch tragedy case, and nowhe has been served a deathsentence for no fault,” ruedthe son, Rajan Pasi.

After death sentence, a pall of gloom in KhajurbanniLife has come to a full stop, says wife of one of the nine sentenced to death in hooch tragedy case

Inconsolable: The wives and children of Sanoj and Rajesh Pasi,who have been sentenced to death. * SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Amarnath Tewary

Khajurbanni (Gopalganj)

Pinarayi Vijayan ups the

ante in standoff�� with

Customs Department

page 9

Former Trinamool

Congress MP Dinesh

Trivedi joins BJP

page 10

Pakistan PM Imran

Khan wins trust vote

in National Assembly

page 12

India women take on

South Africa in ODI

series from today

page 15

New COVID19 infections reported on Saturday crossedthe 18,000mark for the fi��rsttime since January this year.

According to the UnionHealth Ministry, 18,327 newcases were reported, withMaharashtra registering themaximum at 10,216, followed by Kerala at 2,776 andPunjab at 808.

The Centre has dispatched teams to Maharashtra and Kerala to visit hotspots and “ascertain reasonsfor the surge”. India has1,77,435 active cases andmore than 1.11 crore confi��rmed cases.

Last week, a Union HealthMinistry team visited Maharashtra and reported thatamong the possible reasonsfor the growing number ofcases were COVIDinappropriate behaviour due to“lack of fear of disease”,pandemic fatigue, missedcases, superspreadingevents, gathering of crowdsdue to the recent gram panchayat elections, marriageseason and the reopening ofschools, and crowded publictransport.

The report stressed thatthe situation in Maharashtrawas not unique, and a similar combination of events

was responsible for a surgein the other States too.

‘New areas’“The virus is spreading tohitherto unaff��ected areasand most cases are asymptomatic. People are not forthcoming for strictly followingquarantine or getting testsdone. Sense is that the current wave is less virulent.The health machinery alsomay have become lax aftercases came down after September,” said the report,based on the visit by a three

member team of epidemiologists and health experts onMarch 1 and 2, which hasnow been made public.

“Some amongst the doctor fraternity — especiallyprivate — may not be counselling patients for testing orfollowing protocols, dismissing it as fl��u. District/Statewise participative plan, engaging the community mayyield better results ratherthan kneejerk reactions,”the report said.

COVID19 cases breach 18,000again amid Maharashtra surgeInappropriate behaviour due to lack of fear, pandemic fatigue cited as reasons

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 9

Nearly 2 crore COVID19vaccine doses have beenadministered since theinoculation drive began onJanuary 16, with 7.6 lakhsenior citizens and 1.4 lakhpersons above 45 years ofage and with comorbidities getting their fi��rst doseon Saturday. Nearly 70lakh healthcare workershave been vaccinated withat least one dose of thevaccine. A page 11

Nearly 2 croredoses given

The Election Commissionof India has asked theUnion Health Ministry tocome up with a way toensure that vaccine recipients in the pollboundStates of West Bengal,Tamil Nadu, Assam andKerala and the UnionTerritory of Puducherrydon’t get certifi��cates withPrime Minister NarendraModi’s photo on it till themodel code of conduct isin force. A page 11

Remove PM’sphoto, says EC

Firm stand: Farmers blocking the Kundli-Manesar-Palwal (KMP) Expressway at Dasna, Ghaziabad, on Saturday to mark the100th day of protest against the new farm laws. * SANDEEP SAXENA (REPORTS ON PAGE 4 & 10)

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100 and counting

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Report on page 16

MAGAZINE A 8 PAGES

CLASSIFIEDS A PAGES 4 & 6

The DMK and the Congressreached a seatsharingagreement on Saturdaynight, ending days ofstrong posturing by the national party and its veiledthreat of walking out of thealliance.

The Congress will contest in 25 Assembly seatsand in the byelection tothe Kanniyakumari LokSabha seat that fell vacantafter the death of H. Vasanthakumar. It will also getone Rajya Sabha seat. In alate night development,party leaders Dinesh Gundu Rao, K.S. Alagiri andK.R. Ramasamy met DMKpresident M.K. Stalin at hisresidence.

“We have reached anagreement. We will be signing the agreement tomorrow around 10 a.m.,” Mr.Rao told The Hindu afterthe meeting.

T.N. polls:Cong. settlesfor 25 seats

T.K. Rohit

CHENNAI

Living just 850 metres awayfrom the Pakistan Army positions on the hill slopes of Pakistanoccupied Kashmir(PoK), villagers of Balkoteand Silikote, near the Line ofControl (LoC) in Baramulla’sUri, are fi��nally picking up thethreads of life, left frayed byfrequent shelling and sniping in the past three years.

It has been more than aweek since the guns have fallen silent on the LoC, afterthe renewed pact on the ceasefi��re between India and Pakistan. However, people

here are waiting and watching how long the ceasefi��rewill hold, as the two countries take tentative steps after a gap of fi��ve years.

While the soldiers manning the LoC in Uri remainon guard, a sense of calm is

visible on their faces. Keeping a close watch on

the movement on the otherside of the LoC, many soldiers, not offi��cially authorised to talk to the media, toldThe Hindu that the ceasefi��rewas being strictly adhered toby both sides.

Villagers relish peace as gunsfall silent along Line of ControlIt is healing timefor residents

Peerzada Ashiq

Silikote/Balkote

Workers construct a concrete bunker for civilians in Silikotevillage near the Line of Control. * NISSAR AHMAD

SPECIAL

CONTINUED ON A PAGE 9

Protesting farmers at Delhi’s borders are relying ontheir innovative skills to

tackle the impending summer,and their empathetic collaboration to ensure a good harvestback home.

The agitation against thethree contentious farm laws began over 100 days ago. At thestart, roads leading up to theprotest sites were packed withtractors. But the numbers havedipped slightly as the machinesare needed back in the villagesfor harvest season. The numberof trollies, however, has increased and they are at the coreof the changing landscape at theprotest sites.

Innovations range from ROpurifi��cationenabled submersible water devices, 500litre water storage tanks fi��lled with buttermilk, airconditionedsemipermanent structureswith their own sewerage system, trollies with desert coolers,and trenches to keep waterfrom entering tents during themonsoon.

‘Trolley colonies’ havesprung up around semipermanent structures laden with wetjute bags that will cool the airthrough portable fans, and submersible pumps are being installed along NH 9 to help createbathrooms for womenprotesters.

At the Singhu border protestsite, trollies have been fi��ttedwith desert coolers and even air

conditioners. A dental clinicnear the main stage has starteddistributing medicines from inside a semipermanent structure and is also fi��tted with an airconditioner.

Fans are being brought to theTikri and Ghazipur border protest sites to cool the tents. Multiple 500litre water tanks are replenished several times a daywith lassi or buttermilk at theTikri border and, like in Ghazipur, more bathing areas have also been created there. Both siteshave also received additionalwashing machines.

Summer plan

Semipermanent tents are beingpitched not only to counter theheat but to also provide accommodation for farmers staying atthe Singhu border without trollies. Plybased and readymadestructures that can accommodate around 1015 people havealso been procured.

Meanwhile, several patches

of vacant land along NH 9 havebeen cleared of shrubbery androcks to make way for trolliescovered with tarpaulin and plastic sheets parked in a rectangular pattern – each seeminglyconstituting a separate “room”surrounded by porous greencloth – forming mini dwellingswith elderly farmers resting onmattresses placed in the middle. The vacant plots are covered in trees that provide somerelief from the sun.

Rohtash Kumar from Bhiwanisaid semipermanent structuressuch as sheds for tractors, andtrollies laden with supplies, arecoming up along the highway.The alreadyerected tents willsee slight modifi��cations as themercury rises.

“Some of our tents have multiple arrangements, including akitchen and sleeping area.

Then, there are the larger tents,which are used to store vegetables and other edibles... We arecovering the tin ceilings of shedsfor our vehicles with jute bags,and will put cardboard ceilingson the smaller tents for the summer. The larger ones will be covered by jute sheets which willbe kept wet around the clockand have fans to keep the edibles cool,” he said.

Luvpreet Singh from Fatehabad led the way to a large ‘tractor colony’ that has been set upon a recently cleared vacantplot. The encampment is preparing for the arrival of womenprotesters. “The owner of theland is a farmer like us. Not onlydid he give us permission to usethe plot but also allowed us tobuild semipermanent structures,” Mr. Singh said.

Suresh Goswami from Jind inPunjab, who has been campingalong the NH 9 since late November last year, said large fansthat are used on farms will beplaced next to the semipermanent structures. They will be co

vered with wet jute sheets to

keep them cool. “Since it isproving slightly diffi��cult to gather water on a daily basis, wehave made arrangements to ensure our own water supply byinstalling submersible pumps.Around a dozen have been setup and we will instal a total of50 by April. We will not leave tillthe laws are repealed,” he said.

Community harvest

“The number of tractors isabout the same as when the agitation started but sometimestractors do need to go back tovillages since the fi��elds are beingwatered for the fourth time before the harvest,” said VirenderSingh from Hisar, whose tent isamong the many occupying thedivider on NH 9 near the Rohtakbypass.

“We have assigned duties forthis. For example, one brotherwaters the fi��elds and thencomes here on the family tractor so the other can go back. If

the family tractor is notavailable for some reason, a trolley – sometimes even two – takeits place here,” he

added.Gurdeep Singh from Patiala

said though the harvest seasonwas still a month away, farmerswere in the process of makingadjustments and arrangements,so they did not face issues oncethe harvest began.

Village panchayats haveplayed a signifi��cant role in helping households reach an understanding regarding the poolingand sharing of resources, hesaid, adding: “Once the harvestbegins, farmers will be sharingtheir resources with each otherto ensure the process is completed smoothly. Each villagehas sent around 50 tractors andtrolleys. There are hundredsthat are still in the villages andthat should suffi��ce for theseason.”

Manjeet Singh Shergill fromBahal village said their goal toget the controversial laws repealed necessitated willingnessto be able to fi��ght for a long duration. “Usually, each household has at least two tractorsand trolleys. In case a family faces some kind of a shortage dueto the protest, other villagersare more than willing to share.

Had there been a logistical issue, we would not have broughttractors here in the fi��rst place,”Mr. Shergill said.

Jatvinder Singh from Hoshiarpur said only half of the tractorsand trollies in his village hadcome to the protest. “In our village, we have around 200250tractors and trolleys. Out ofthat, only about 100 are here.We have also started putting uptents as there is uncertainty over how long this will continue,”he said, adding: “In case someof us are required to take backour trolleys for a few days, withthe tents installed, there accommodation will be sorted.”

There is a sense of community sharing in the villages andthere were enough resourcesback home for the upcomingharvest, Ramandeep Singh fromPatiala said, adding: “Recently,a farmer from our village foundhimself without a tractor whichhe required for harvesting potato. His neighbours arrived withseven tractors to compensatefor the one tractor that is stationed at the Singhu borderprotest site.”

Sukhjeet Singh Sidhu from Ajrawar village said people weremore than ready to help eachother out given the ongoing agitation. “Currently, it is harvestseason for potato and sugarcane. Once those farmers aredone, they will replace us at theborders. There are a large number of trolleys in our villages, itis unlikely that we will need totake back the trolleys stationedat the protest sites,” he said.

Jatin Anand

Shinjini Ghosh

Bahadurgarh/New Delhi DIGGINGIN FOR THESUMMER

In a bid to handle the heat, protesting farmers at Delhi’s bordersare setting up ‘trolley colonies’ and semipermanent structures

that have been fi��tted with desert coolers and air conditioners

(Left) Farmers instal shelters;(below) tractors and trolleysparked on NH-9 during a protest atBahadurgarh bypass near Delhi.

* SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

Mercury likely to rise;light rain expected todayNEW DELHI

The maximum temperature in

Delhi is likely to rise by three

to four degrees Celsius in the

next few days, said IMDon

Saturday. Light rain and

winds gusting up to 40

kilometers per hour are

predicted in the city on

Sunday.

IN BRIEF

A 22yearold civil defenceworker was shot dead in Bawana in the small hours ofSaturday, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (Outer North) RajivRanjan Singh said information was received at 5.30a.m. regarding a man lyingdead near Jogi Wada Chowk.When police reached thespot, the man was identifi��edas Shashi Kadyan from Bawana’s Katewara. He hadmultiple gunshot injuries onhis body.

Prima facie the motive be

hind the murder appears tobe personal enmity and local rivalry in the village, thepolice said.

A senior offi��cer said theincident actually happenedat 2 a.m. when the victim

was still in his uniform. Hewas declared brought deadat a hospital.

Over 20 bulletsSources said Singh sustainedover 20 bullet injuries as 20empty cartridges have beenrecovered from the spot.

“Multiple persons, whohad come in two cars, shothim dead. There are leads inthe case and teams havebeen formed to identify andnab the accused,” the offi��cersaid. A case has been registered under section 302(Punishment for murder) ofthe Indian Penal Code.

Civil defence worker shot deadPrima facie motive appears to be personal enmity: police

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI <> Multiple persons,

who had come in

two cars, shot him

dead. There are

leads in the case

and teams have

been formed to

identify and nab

the accused

Police officer

Three foreign nationals havebeen arrested for their alleged involvement in a dacoity case, the police saidon Saturday.

ACP (Crime) ShibeshSingh said the accused —Mohammad Khairul alias Arman (46), Mohammad SadiqSeikh (29) and Montu Mulla

(30), all from Bangladesh,have been arrested for a dacoity case in Ghaziabad’sKavi Nagar. With these arrests, 18 burglary cases committed in Delhi and NCRhave been worked out.

The police said that onFebruary 28 at 3.30 a.m.,four persons entered ahouse in Kavi Nagar andlooted valuables at gun

point. They also gave deaththreats to the family. Whenpolice analysed several incidents of burglary reportedin Delhi with the same modus operandi, they foundthat Bangladeshi criminalswere involved in those incidents.

During investigation, itwas found that a gang led byKhairul was active in India.

They were subsequently arrested on Friday afternoon.

Khairul is the gang leaderand in 2012, he met withone of his associates, RajeevSrivastava in Tihar Jail, whousually helps him in gettinga rented house and car.

The gang targetted houses in posh colonies andwould return to Bangladeshare committing the crime.

With these arrests, police claim to have solved 18 burglary cases in DelhiNCR

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

Three foreign nationals held for dacoity in Ghaziabad

Women visitors, bothdomestic and foreign,would not be charged entry fee at the Centrallyprotected monumentsand ancient sites maintained by the ASI on theInternational Women’sDay on March 8, the ASIsaid.

Among the most popular ticketed sites maintained by the ASI are theTaj Mahal and the Humayun’s tomb.

Free entry forwomen at ASIsites on March 8Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Elephant not in the room: A zoo keeper bathes an elephant in New Delhi. * SANDEEP SAXENA


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Living it large

The National Green Tribunal(NGT) has directed the DelhiForest Department to lookinto a plea alleging choppingtrees by the Delhi International Airport Authority Limited (DIAL) and the GMRgroup for expansion of arunway at the Indira GandhiInternational Airport.

An NGT Bench directedthe Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Delhi to verify the factual position andtake remedial action in accordance with law after dueverifi��cation.

The directions camewhen the green panel washearing a plea by VivekAwasthi, seeking actionagainst the felling of trees by

DIAL and the GMR group forthe expansion of a new runway at the airport.

According to the petition,the felling of trees had takenplace in noncompliance ofrequisite rules.

Based on a RTI fi��led bythe petitioner, it was contended that no permissionwas taken for the felling. Referring to the RTI, the Tribunal said: “While RTI proceedings cannot be taken asconclusive to presume thatthere is no permission, instead of straightaway interfering with the project of public utility and at the sametime ensuring compliance ofrule of law, we direct thePrincipal Chief Conservatorof Forests, Delhi to verify thefactual position.”

‘Look into petition allegingchopping of trees by DIAL’ Take remedial action, NGT tells Forest Dept.

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has directed theSouth Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) and theDelhi Police to remove encroachments due to construction of shops and godowns of scrap dealers inR.K. Puram here.

A Bench headed by NGTChairperson JusticeAdarsh Kumar Goel directed the SDMC Commissioner and DCP (SouthWest) tolook into the plea and takeappropriate action in accordance with law.

The directions camewhen the green panel washearing a plea moved bythe Khushi Sewa Sanstha,seeking execution of a

2019 NGT order directingremoval of encroachments. According to thepetition, the encroachments continued despitethe earlier order.

The plea sought actionagainst unauthorised commercial activity by scrapdealers in Sector 1 of R.K.Puram and contended thatit was also leading to diff��erent kinds of pollution.

No steps taken: pleaStating that the scrap dealers and furniture shopsrunning in the area wereresulting in pollution indrains due to encroachment, the plea also allegedthat despite complaints toauthorities, no remedialsteps had been taken.

SDMC, police told to removeencroachments in R.K. Puram

NGT plea seeks action against illegal shops

Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI

CMYK

A ND-NDE

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Timings

DELHI

SUNDAY, MAR. 07

RISE 06:40 SET 18:25

RISE 02:06 SET 12:33

MONDAY, MAR. 08

RISE 06:39 SET 18:26

RISE 03:07 SET 13:31

TUESDAY, MAR. 09

RISE 06:38 SET 18:26

RISE 04:02 SET 14:32

The Delhi Cabinet on Saturday approved the setting upof the Delhi Board of SchoolEducation (DBSE), Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal said.

The move follows the government’s decision to commence the ‘Deshbhakti Curriculum’ in schools from thenew academic year.

The proposed board willconduct assessmentsthroughout the year to develop holistic learning insteadof once in a year assessmentthat focuses on rote learning, the Chief Minister said.

‘Global education’“Our students will progresstowards global education.The board will function inclose alignment with national and international boards.The board will developworldclass education practices that will enable the shiftin teachinglearning practices across Delhi,” he said during a digital press briefi��ng.

“In the present educationsystem, we assess a studentat the end of the year forthree hours, but in the neweducation board, we will assess students throughout theyear. The entire system ofeducation now focuses onrote learning, this has to

change and emphasis has tobe placed on understanding,and personality development,” he added.

Mr. Kejriwal said assistance would be sought frominternational outfi��ts, andglobal practices as well asteaching methods had beenanalysed so they can be incorporated in the DBSE.

Highend techniques willbe used to impart educationand conduct assessment,Mr. Kejriwal said, addingthat the interests, needs andspecialisations of each student would be taken into account by the DBSE to provide insights on whatcourses they should opt for.

“There are approximately1,000 government schoolsand 1,700 private schools inDelhi. Most of them are affi��

liated with the CBSE. Theseschools will not become apart of the new board all atonce; 2025 governmentschools shall be included inthe 202122 session,” he said.

“These schools are beingchosen based on suggestionsfrom students, teachers, andparents. Over the next fourfi��ve years, we hope to see allgovernment and privateschools being affi��liated withthe DBSE,” he added.

The board’s governanceand coordination will beoverseen by a governing body under the chairpersonship of the Education Minister. Members of thegoverning body will includeeducation offi��cials, expertsfrom higher education, principals of government andprivate schools, teachers

and parents as well as educationists from other spheres.

“I am very happy and excited to see Delhi EducationBoard’s initiatives towardsquality education for all. Before joining politics, when Iworked with various NGOs, Ialways felt that our system ofeducation lags and it is onlythrough its improvementthat we will be able to solvethe plethora of issues thatour country faces,” he said.

“The DBSE will preparestudents to take responsibility for their country, focus onmaking students good human beings beyond all religion, caste, and class diff��erences, and enable studentsto emerge as job givers andnot job seekers,” he added.

‘Funds for National Flags’In a related development,sources said the Delhi government was preparing toallocate separate funds forthe installation of the National Flag at various locationsacross the national capital.

Sources added that the government was also preparing to hold cultural eventsbased on the lives of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar and ShaheedBhagat Singh under the‘Deshbhakti’ head for whichit is likely to allocate funds inthe 202122 Budget.

Delhi to get its own schooleducation board: Kejriwal ‘It will conduct assessments throughout the year instead of only once a year’

Special Correspondent

New Delhi

Around 20-25 government schools will switch over to theDBSE in the 2021-22 session. * FILE PHOTO

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)on Saturday alleged that anaudit report of the BJPledmunicipal corporations hasexposed a “scam” of ₹��549crore in the construction ofthe Rani Jhansi fl��yover.

The cost of constructionfor the fl��yover was fi��xed at₹��175 crore but it went up to₹��724 crore by the time it wascompleted, it said.

“The construction cost ofthe Shastri Park fl��yover wasset at ₹��302 crore, but it wasbuilt for ₹��250 crore in just 1.5years under the Arvind Kejriwal model. The cost of theRani Jhansi fl��yover was fi��xedat ₹��175 crore but it went upto ₹��724 crore and took 24years under the BJPledmunicipalities,” AAP leaderDurgesh Pathak said, addingthat the decision to construct the Rani Jhansi fl��yoverwas made in 1995 and it wascompleted in 2018.

It was supposed to be fi��nished by 2000.

“This means that the BJPleaders were involved in corruption worth ₹��549 crorefrom this project. This auditreport has 54 pages and 70objections,” he said.

Mr. Pathak said that when

a government constructiontakes place, a landowningagency is appointed by theState government to acquirethe plot.

No govt. agency“Unfortunately, the landowning agency in the RaniJhansi project was not a government agency. In fact,BJP leaders and the local engineers made a deal. Theycreated a new system andtechnique for owning everypiece of land, which involved corruption. I am surethis has never happenedanywhere in the country,”Mr. Pathak said.

He added that there was areligious building on one ofthe plots that was acquired.

“Over ₹��26 crore was givento a person named AbhishekGupta [for the land]. If thiswas government land, who

is Abhishek Gupta and whywas the money given to him?Also, over ₹��10 crore wasspent without any approval.No approvals were takenfrom any offi��cial or agencyto spend this extra money,”he said, adding the Delhi government will consider taking legal action against thecivic bodies over the matter.

‘Manipulative politics’ Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor saidthat Mr. Pathak’s statementcalling “cost escalation ofthe fl��yover project” a scamshows that he “indulges onlyin manipulative politics tomalign the corporations”.

Everybody knows thatdue to court cases, compensation claims, and other humanitarian reasons, thisfl��yover project got repeatedly stuck and was delayed by20 years, he added.

The twodecade delay escalated the cost of construction from planned ₹��175 croreto ₹��724 crore. This is cost escalation due to reasonsbeyond the North DelhiMunicipal Corporation’scontrol and not a scam. Itwould be better if Mr. Pathaktalks about facts instead ofmanipulations, he said.

‘Audit report exposes ₹��549crorefl��yover scam in north civic body’Rani Jhansi fl��yover cost went up from ₹��175 cr. to ₹��724 cr.: AAP

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Durgesh Pathak

The Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday said Malviya NagarMLA Somnath Bharti andBurari MLA Sanjeev Jha heldmeetings with residents’welfare associations in theirrespective constituencies tosensitise people on the needto switch to electric vehicles.

“We have received anoverwhelming response

from the RWAs and theyhave committed to help Delhiites transition to electricvehicles and support this EVmovement,” Mr. Bharti said.

“RWAs have alwaysplayed a crucial role inbringing people togetherand in the success of manyDelhi government initiatives. Recognising this role,we are focusing on RWAs tomake this a citizenled move

ment. To win this fi��ghtagainst pollution, the wholecity will have to come together,” he added.

Mr. Jha said many incentives are being off��ered to people who want to switch toan electric vehicle.

“The website: ev.dehi.gov.in has information on vehicle models eligible for subsidies, dealers, and location ofcharging stations,” he said.

RWAs will help govt. convince peopleto switch to e-vehicles, say AAP MLAsStaff Reporter

New Delhi

Despite the vaccination drive forfrontline workers starting almost amonth after healthcare workers,more frontline workers have beenimmunised, according to offi��cial data. While vaccination of healthcareworkers started on January 16,frontline workers, which includespolice, paramilitary and government offi��cials, started getting vaccinated from February 13.

Over 2,30,073 of 3,38,251 (68%)frontline workers had taken thevaccine till Thursday and only1,49,910 of 2,38,256 (62.9%) healthcare workers had been vaccinated.

Strong ‘encouragement’Offi��cials said that many healthcareworkers were infected by the virusand that is one of the reasons for thelesser turnout.

Enthusiasm is more because of“better awareness and communication” among frontline workers,said Delhi government offi��cials. Butthere have been cases of them beingunder some level of “pressure” totake the vaccine, as per offi��cials.

The number of people above 60years of age and in the 4559 agegroup taking the vaccine has alsobeen steadily rising since it started

on March 1.On February 26, a Delhi Police

head constable made a PCR callfrom Shakarpur in east Delhi afterhe was informed by his seniors thathis salary will be cut if he refused toget vaccinated.

The Delhi police received manysuch calls and later in the day, offi��cials said there was a “communication gap” and the message about theincrement cut was spread to encourage offi��cers to get vaccinated.

A senior offi��cer said there weremisconceptions regarding the vaccination among a few policemen, however, all SHOs have been instructed to ensure that all personnel getvaccinated. “If in a case, any policepersonnel had doubts, then he is tobe counselled by doctors and experts, but ensure 100% attendance,” the offi��cer said.

The offi��cer added that policemen

to just give them a certifi��cate, ashigherups were asking them to getvaccinated,” said a doctor workingat the Delhi governmentrun LokNayak Hospital.

“On Tuesday evening, when wewere about to call it a day, a policeoffi��cer came to get vaccinated. Hesaid that he was not inclined to getvaccinated, but “ACP saheb” hasasked him to get vaccinated. Healthcare workers do not have that levelof pressure,” the doctor said.

Chinmoy Biswal, Delhi PolicePRO, said that around 85% of DelhiPolice personnel have got the fi��rstdose of COVID19 vaccine. The remaining personnel will also get vaccinated soon.

“I got a message from the government informing me about my dateof vaccination and then I got a callasking me to get vaccinated on thedate. I was also asked to submit thecertifi��cate of vaccination at the offi��ce. In a way, we have more pressure than healthcare workers to getvaccinated,” said a police offi��cerwho works at the Delhi Secretariat.

But many said that they took thevaccine willingly.

A constable posted in CentralDelhi said, “Initially, I was againstthe vaccination after reading aboutit on social media. However, my colleagues who got vaccinated sharedtheir experiences and advised me toget vaccinated at the earliest. I gotthe fi��rst shot last week and I am doing fi��ne,” said the policeman.

The Delhi Police has a strength ofaround 90,000 personnel. At least34 personnel died due to COVID19.

with signifi��cant medical conditionshave been advised to consult theirdoctor before taking the shot.

Offi��cials monitoring situationAn offi��cial working with the DelhiJal Board said there is “monitoring”by senior offi��cials on who all are getting the vaccine and this “creates akind of pressure... but vaccination isnot mandatory”.

Last month, an audio message ofa Delhi government offi��cial askingemployees to get vaccinated or elseface action was leaked on social media. Offi��cials later clarifi��ed that nosuch action was ever taken and themessage was done just to encouragethe employees.

“There were about fourfi��ve caseswhere frontline workers, whocame to get vaccinated at the hospital, said that they did not want totake the vaccine. They requested us

Frontline workers claim under pressure to get jabAround 68% havetaken COVID19 shotcompared to 62.9%healthcare workers

Nikhil M Babu

Saurabh Trivedi

New Delhi

People registering for the COVID-19 vaccination drive in Delhi.* FILE PHOTO: SUSHIL KUMAR VERMA

A total of 33,287 benefi��ciaries took the COVID19 vaccine on Saturday, the highest in a single day so far.

There were two minorAdverse Events FollowingImmunisation, said a Delhigovernment spokesperson.

Of the total benefi��ciaries,17,288 were people above 60years of age, 2,824 peoplewere in the 4559 age group.The rest of the people vaccinated were healthcare workers and frontline workers.

104yearold gets jabHospitals said they wereseeing a good response fromthe two age groups.

Sir Ganga Ram Hospital

(SGRH) said that 476 peoplewere vaccinated on Saturday. The hospital also saidthat 104yearold Tulsi DasChawla was immunised atthe hospital on Friday.

321 new infectionsMeanwhile, Delhi witnessed321 new COVID19 cases inthe last 24 hours, taking thetotal to 6,40,815 on Saturday. The death toll hasreached 10,919 after onemore fatality was reported.

Compared to last Saturday, the number of activecases has increased from1,307 to 1,779.

In the same period, thenumber of people on homeisolation has increased from627 to 879.

Spike in active cases, morepeople in home isolation Over 33,000 benefi��ciaries take vaccine

Staff Reporter

New Delhi

Assistant Commissioner ofPolice Surinder Jeet Kaurlost her husband to COVID19 in June last year.

On March 8, InternationalWomen’s Day, she will be honoured for her work duringthe pandemic. Ms. Kaur isamong 21 women offi��cialswho will be honoured by theCommissioner of Police S.N.Shrivasata for their work.

Speaking to The Hindu,Ms. Kaur, who is posted inthe Crime Against WomenCell in SouthEast district,said the last eight monthshave been exceptionallytough. “I lost my husband,and my son, who is in Canada, could not come. My sis

terinlaw is also livingabroad and could not makeit either. I lost my fatherinlaw a few months before myhusband. In the time of sorrow, I was absolutely alone,”she said. The offi��cer addedthat she has not been able tomeet her son due to travelrestrictions.

‘Empty home’“I go back from work to anempty house as it was onlyme, my husband and fatherinlaw staying and the two ofthem are gone,” she said.

Talking about the honourshe will receive on Women’sDay, Ms. Kaur said she is gladthat the department is recognising her eff��ort. “I amhappy that the department

realises that I worked duringthe pandemic and I suff��ereda huge loss. The departmenthas been cooperative. It is agood feeling when your sacrifi��ce and work is recognised,” she said.

Other offi��cers who will befelicitated include Additional Deputy Commissioner ofPolice Laxmi Kanwat, Inspectors Lalita Rawat andKaushal Pandey, Sub Inspectors Priya, Mukta, Anita, andPooja, Assistant Sub Inspector Maya, Head ConstableBharti and Seema, Constables Yanki, Nayamooni, Geeta Bai, Manju, Sukanya, Yogendri, Neelam, Resham,Pooja, and Suman for theirwork in their departmentsand during the pandemic.

ACP who lost her husband to COVID to be honoured on Women’s Day She is among 21 women who will be felicitated for their work

Hemani Bhandari

NEW DELHI

Security ramped up overinter-community marriageNEW DELHI

The Delhi police increased

deployment in Rohini after a

man and a woman from

different communities married

each other with their parents’

consent. The move came after

an allegedly fake message

about the woman’s age went

viral on social media.

IN BRIEF

CMYK

A ND-NDE

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THE HINDU DELHI

SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2021 3EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

CITY

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


NORTH

To mark 100 days of farmers’protest against the Centre’snew farm laws, Bharatiya Kisan Union national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait fl��aggedoff�� a tractor rally from Ramraj town of Muzaff��arnagar onSaturday.

The tractor march will travel across 16 districts of UttarPradesh and Uttarakhandand reach the Ghazipur protest site on March 27.

Police deploymentDespite Mr. Tikait’s aggressive posturing, only arounda dozen tractors turned upfor the rally. Local sourcessaid a massive security deployment by Uttar PradeshPolice in Muzaff��arnagar,Meerut and Bijnor preventedfarmers from joining theprotest in large numbers.

“It seems the police con

siders tractors akin to a Pakistani tank. The local policedidn’t allow farmers to leavetheir villages,” said Mr. Tikait, who visited a local gurdwara before steering a tractor himself.

He asserted that the rallywould continue as planned.

“These are trials to checkwhat the administration isup to. Whenever we want,we can mount a massiveshow of strength,” heclaimed.

On the declining numberof farmers at the Ghazipurborder, Rajvir Singh, State

BKU vicepresident saidfarmers were busy with theircrops. “The government istrying to tire us out. So, wehave to plan accordingly. Weare in for a long haul.”

Mr. Singh said, “The BKUand the Samyukt Kisan Morcha were ready for talks withthe government, but itseems the government’s focus is on the State electionsright now.” He said the BKUwas not planning to turn political, but the BJP would facethe political fallout of farmlaws in the coming panchayat elections.

Tikait fl��ags off�� tractor rally tomark 100 days of farmers’ protestIt will cover 16 U.P. districts, Uttarakhand before reaching Ghazipur on March 27

Anuj Kumar

Ghaziabad

BKU leader Rakesh Tikait during the tractor rally inMuzaff��arnagar on Saturday. * PTI

<> These are trials to

check what the

administration is up

to. Whenever we

want, we can mount

a massive show of

strength

Rakesh Tikait

BKU national spokesperson

A night curfew was imposedin Punjab’s four districtsfrom Saturday to tackle a recent surge in COVID19cases.

The orders came afterPunjab Chief Secretary ViniMahajan and Director General of Police Dinkar Guptaheld a meeting to review theCOVID19 situation with allDeputy Commissioners, district police chiefs and civilsurgeons through a videoconferencing. The districtswhere the night curfew hasbeen imposed are Jalandhar,SBS Nagar, Hoshiarpur andKapurthala.

The night curfew will remain in place in the districtsfrom 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Ms. Mahajan said, “Thesecond wave of the diseasehas already started and allthe DCs and police chiefs

must ensure that large gatherings like marriages, religious events and social functions are restricted”.

Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thorihad earlier in the day saidthe order will be eff��ectivefrom Saturday till furtherdirections.

Some to be exemptedHowever, there will be relaxation for workers or staff��working in factories whichrun on 24hour shifts and also in cases of medical emergency. These orders will notbe applicable on people returning after travelling inbuses, trains or fl��ights.

The Chief Secretary in atweet has urged people toget themselves vaccinatedand to continue to follow theCOVID norms.

Last month, the Punjabgovernment had authorised

Deputy Commissioners toimpose the night curfew invirus hotspots if needed.

Punjab has been witnessing a surge in the number ofCOVID19 cases for nearlyfour weeks.

Jalandhar reported 242cases on Thursday, 134 caseson Friday and 154 on Saturday, promoting the districtauthorities to take this decision. Jalandhar is at the second spot in terms of COVID19 cases after Ludhiana.It has so far reported 22,410COVID19 cases.

There are a total of 926 active cases in Jalandhar as ofnow, according to a medicalbulletin.

SBS Nagar, Kapurthalaand Hoshiarpur on Saturdayreported 156, 85 and 137 cases, respectively.

Punjab on Saturday reported 1,179 fresh COVID19cases, taking the infectiontally to 187,348 cases. Twelvemore deaths took the fatalitycount to 5,910.

Punjab is among the fi��veStates that has been asked bythe Centre to refocus onstrict surveillance, containment and RTPCR testing tocheck the growing numberof cases. The other fourStates are Maharashtra, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier, the State government had lifted the nightcurfew from January 1.

Orders come after Chief SecretaryDGP review meeting over COVID19 surge


Chandigarh

Night curfew imposed in 4 Punjab districts

<> The second wave

of the disease has

already started and

all the DCs and

police chiefs must

ensure that large

gatherings are

restricted

Vini Mahajan

Punjab Chief Secretary

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur whilepresenting the budget for202122 on Saturday said thesalaries of State MLAs will bepaid in full from April 1 andthe MLALAD fund will berestored fully.

Mr. Thakur proposed nonew tax in his fourth budgetwhich pegged total expenditure at ₹��50,192 crore for202122 against ₹��49,131 crorein the last fi��scal despite theCOVID19 crisis.

The Chief Minister announced a budgetary allocation of ₹��8,024 crore for education and ₹��3,016 crore for

health services during202122.

Debt burdenAfter presenting the budget,Mr. Thakur said that theState has a debt burden of₹��60,500 crore. The debt burden has increased by ₹��4,763crore from ₹��55,737 crore inthe last fi��nancial year.

Earlier, Mr. Thakur announced in the Assemblythat MLAs will get their fullsalary from April 1.

Mr. Thakur, who alsoholds the fi��nance portfolio,said the MLA local area development (MLALAD) fund willnot only be restored, but itwill be hiked by ₹��5 lakh from

₹��1.75 crore to ₹��1.80 crore.The State government had

last year decided to cut 30%salary of MLAs and suspendthe MLALAD fund for twoyears to fi��ght the COVID19pandemic.

The Chief Minister saidthat total revenue receiptsare estimated at ₹��37,028crore during 202122, whereas total revenue expenditure is estimated to be₹��38,491 crore, leading to a revenue defi��cit of ₹��1,463 crore.Fiscal defi��cit is estimated at₹��7,789 crore which is 4.52%of the Gross State DomesticProduct, he added.

The COVID19 pandemichas impacted revenue re

ceipts adversely during202021, he said, adding thatits impact on State’s own revenue cannot be ruled outduring 202122.

The Chief Minister announced 12 new schemeswith focus on women welfare and empowerment, expansion of social securitynet, strengthening and expansion of health services,increasing income of farmers, employment creation,infrastructure and industrialdevelopment and qualityeducation.

He stated that 40,000new benefi��ciaries would bebrought under Social Security Pension schemes.

MLALAD fund to be restored, will be hiked by ₹��5 lakh from ₹��1.75 cr. to ₹��1.80 cr.


Shimla

Himachal MLAs to get full salaries from April 1: CM

Teachers hold placards during an awareness programme ahead of International Women’s Day, in Patiala on Saturday. * PTI



A fair deal

The Congress government inRajasthan has soughtCentre’s fi��nancial assistancefor the ongoing water projects and reiterated its demand for the national project status for the ambitiousEastern Rajasthan CanalProject (ERCP), which willsupply drinking and irrigation waters to 13 districts.

Calls for Oppn. supportPublic Health EngineeringMinister B.D. Kalla said inthe State Assembly that theOpposition should work incooperation with the Stategovernment for raising thewaterrelated issues with theCentre.

The State could get theCentre’s support if the Op

position leaders put forththe subjects in an assertivemanner, he said.

Mr. Kalla was replying tothe debate on budgetary demands for Public Health Engineering Department,which deals with water supply in the State.

The Minister said theCentre’s share in the Jal Jeevan Mission should be enhanced to 90% and steps betaken for bringing the State’sfull share in the Yamuna waters from neighbouringHaryana.

The demands worth₹��8,336.74 crore were passedin the House by voice vote after the debate.

Mr. Kalla said strict actionwould be launched againstillegal water connectionsand steps will be taken to ensure piped water supply tillthe tailend.

Plan for summerThe State government has also chalked out a contingency plan for summer.

While new water supplyschemes will be implemented in both urban and ruralareas in 202122, Mr. Kallasaid new borewells, handpumps, solar power plantsand reverse osmosis plantsand laboratories would facilitate the supply of adequatewater in the villages.

Rajasthan seeks Centralassistance for water projectsDemand for national status for canal project reiterated

Mohammed Iqbal

JAIPUR <> Centre’s share in

the Jal Jeevan

Mission should be

enhanced to 90%

B.D. Kalla

Public Health Engineering Minister

A 30yearold woman, allegedly set on fi��re by a manfacing court trial for rapingher in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district, succumbed to burn injuries atSawai Man Singh Government Hospital here on Saturday. The police have detained two suspects forquestioning in the case.

The woman was set onfi��re at her house in Hanumangarh district early onThursday. The victim’sgrandmother said in herpolice complaint that theaccused, out on bail, hadentered the house, sprinkled kerosene anddropped a burning stick,which set the womanablaze. The State government has announced a relief of ₹��5 lakh from theCM’s Relief Fund to the kinof the deceased.

Rape victimdies of burns


JAIPUR

The Samajwadi Party willtake out a ‘cycle yatra’ tohighlight the “continued oppression” of senior partyleader Azam Khan by theBJP government in UttarPradesh, a party spokesperson said on Saturday.

The yatra will begin fromRampur, the home districtof Azam Khan, on March 13and conclude on March 21 inLucknow, party spokesmanRajendra Chaudhary said ina statement.

Public anger“The purpose of this yatra isto register public anger overthe actions of the BJP government against the founder of Mohammad Ali Johar

University and SP MP Mohammad Azam Khan anddraw people’s attention toit,” Mr. Chaudhary said.

Mr. Yadav will reach Rampur on March 12 and addressa press conference at Mohammad Ali Johar University and will also speak at a

public meeting there, Mr.Chaudhary said, adding thaton March 13, State unit president Naresh Uttam Patelwill fl��ag off�� the ‘cycle yatra’from Ambedkar Park,Rampur.

Passing through Bareilly,Shahjahanpur, Lakhimpurand Sitapur, the ‘cycle yatra’will reach the party headquarters in Lucknow wherethe party president will address workers, Mr. Chaudhary said, adding that seniorleaders will fl��ag off�� the yatraat diff��erent places allthrough the route.

“Mohammad Azam Khanis an MP and former Minister, his wife Tanzin Fatima isan MLA yet they have beenframed in fake cases,”Chaudhary alleged.

SP’s ‘cycle yatra’ to highlightgovt. ‘targeting’ Azam Khan It will begin on March 13 and end on March 21 in Lucknow


Lucknow

Azam Khan

Five people were killed andover 25 injured after a collision between two HaryanaRoadways buses in UttarPradesh’s Aligarh districton Saturday, offi��cials said.

A bus went out of control after one of its tyreburst, colliding with another bus near Karsua villagein the Lodha police stationarea of the district around2 p.m., the offi��cials said.

Aligarh District Magistrate Chandra BhushanSingh said the injured havebeen hospitalised and theChief Minister’s Offi��ce inLucknow has been apprised of the situation.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed Aligarh offi��cials to ensureproper medical treatmentof those injured.

5 killed as twobuses collidein Aligarh


Noida

DEATH

OBITUARY & REMEMBRANCEOBITUARY & REMEMBRANCE

DEATH ANNIVERSARIES

BIRTHDAY REMEMBRANCE

DEATHDEATH ANNIVERSARIES

DEATH

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


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SOZHIA VELLALA 40/167 Uthratadi BEMBA empld SW Chennai Divorcee noencumbrance seeks educated groom.Subsect no bar. 9283433069/9840329160

DKV 29/164/56 fair BTech (NIT) MBA(IIT), MNC seeks groom from educat-ed family. Caste no bar. 9940507235

REQD VADAKALAI Iyengar Doctorabove 30 for a Highly EmployedWell Settled fair ComplexionedBeautiful Girl People BroadmindedPreferably Large Family need applyCt:8925634705

SC, AD CNB, HINDU, M. Sc., Elec-tronic Media, CEG, Anna Universi-ty, 24yrs, 5.4 seeks well settledgroom India/ abroad. Ct: 9444229142

MUDALYIAR, BDS., Fellowship inImplantology., 35yrs / 163cms seekssuitable, good natured & well settledgroom from amicable family.Contact: 8124583002.

HINDU THULUVA Vellalar 27/ 160 cmsMeenam/ Uthirattathi B Tech(IT)Software Engineer in WIPRO 6−7Lacs Per Annum Seeks Groom CasteNo Bar. Ct:9566000597

HINDU NADAR, BE, Age 27years ,165cm , S/W , 1.25Lakhs PM ,BrideGroom Wanted K.A Raman Nadar w−9380791999

MUDALIAR 24 MBBS., MRCH. TransportServices(Bus) & Hoteliers Family &Commrl.Properties. WApp: 7305491610

TULUVA VELLAL MUDALIAR Good look-ing Girl 33(Uthirattathy, Meenam,Ph.D(Physics), Employed, ParentsSeeks Alliance from First and Un-married Bachelor Bridegroom Aged33 − 36 Yrs, Employed , Caste NoBar. Contact: After 7 PM:9940840760, 7550245659

MARUTHUVAR, 24YRS, B.Tech.,Barani, 155cms, Fair Girl, Chen-nai, Seeks suitable Bride GroomCt. 9283216911

AD 25/163 BHMS Doctor working inpvt. hospital seeks Tamil−culturedEducated Well−settled Dr./EngrGovt. Employed Groom in & aroundChennai. 9444220872

MUDALIYAR GIRL, 26yrs / BDS Doc-tor, Divorced. Seeks Well Settled& Educated Unmarried Groom, Con-tact :9442287394, 9600644953

MUTHURAJA AMBALAKARAR 28 /172 Rohini, BE (ECE) Seeks Prof.Qlfd. employed groom. 89034 18219

SEEKING TAMIL / Telugu speakingProfessionally settled Groom (Age39−42yrs) for a Telugu Naidu Girl38/162 B.E,MBA,SWE working in US.send BHP to : [email protected]

DKV HINDU 35/151 Viruchigam/KettaiBE State Govt Employee 4L Tuti-corin Dist seeks alliance fromsame community 9884068956 /8939487959

SAIVA PILLAI 26 MBBS doing D.NBIIyr Paediatrician @ Bangalore.Parents residing @ Chennai seeksDr. groom, Veg family. Whatsapp:8056089061

✔ VEG CHETTIAR, Bharani 29FB.Tech, QA Analyst−MNC Chennai. Di-vorcee & Break in few days notstarted family life. Seeks suit-able match 29−33, IT professionalCNB.Veg prfd. Mb−9444230534.Ml:[email protected].

ELITE SOZHIA VELLALA PILLAI 36/163cm, MBA FAIR Visakam 16 lacsp.a Chennai seeks SWE Groom, [email protected] Ct: 9884607858

VANIYA CHETTIAR, M.Sc, 40/157,Karthigai, Govt.Officer, Chennai seeksequal Qlfn employed Boy 9486507399.

HINDU SC PR Kongu 36, MBBS DCHDoctor, working in Govt Hospital seekssuitable groom. Ct: 94436 80973

HINDU NADAR girl, 41, 152,Teacher,widow with 7yr old son, caste nobar, 9789240521

PILLAI 25 MBBS 165cm Chennai seeksPG Doctor from Pillai/Mudaliar Ct:Geetham 9884858014

25, FAIR,M.S.IN U.S. Working in areputed firm in Bangalore, seekssettled groom below 30. CNB9489935653

HINDU MARUTHUVAR 25yrs girl MComMBA employed MNC Chevvai Doshamwants educated employed groom be-low 30yrs Ct 9884491616

PROFESSIONAL GROOM for only daugh-ter 29/160 M.E.,Ph.D.,(BME) forparents Hindu AD / Vellalar Set-tled in Chennai. Elder son/ Bro-kers excuse. [email protected]

EZHAVA GIRL, 33 yrs, Bank Officer,Star − Poosam. Seeking TN/ Maduraiwell settled and educated Thiyya /Ezhava Groom. Contact : 7010925474

YADAVA 33, MBA, Wheatish, Working@infosys, Seeks Suitable GroomPreferably IT.Call:9962601864/9884191464

HINDU SC PR 28/170 BSc, well Sett-led Family Karaikudi. Seeks well Edu-cated Good Looking Groom sameCaste or Caste no bar. Contact-9480842649/9483134055.

THULUVAVELLALA ARCOT Mudaliar 28/168 / BDS Kirthikigai Fair Goodlooking Girl Well− to−do Seeks Pro-fessionally Qualified Groom subsect Welcome. 94865 31194/8637481104

CONVENT EDUCATED 85, 5’5’’ Fair,Grad mass comm., PG Dip Film Direc-tion FTII , MA Scrit writing UK ,Freelancer, SC girl seeks matrimo-nial alliance from a well quali-fied and settled partner Caste nobar. Contact: 9899514993, [email protected]

SOZHIYA VELLALAR 25/B.E/ PGDM/Work-ing/5’6"/Wheatish/ Poosam/ Kadagam/Seeks from well qualified & set-tled family same community .7760516769

ELITE MUDALIYAR 22 / M.B.A., OwnSpinning Mills , Textile Mills [Coimbatore ], Fair , Rich Family,Seeks Suitable Groom Ct:9940284235

HINDU SC−AD BDS 25 yrs 162cm medi-um complexion seeks BDS/MBBS groomchennai based contact 8072371402

MANIKANDAN CN, 41Yrs, Iyer Bharat-wajam, Aswini 2 BrahacharanamB.Sc(CS) Sales Manager 33Lakhs PA,Dubai, UAE looks suitable Iyerbride from a decent family back-ground & willing to relocate toabroad 98943 12908, 0422 [email protected]

SC AD 28/162/ MS, CS, USA, workingin reputed IT MNC in USA, seekssuitable groom, good family, cleanhabits, preferably working in USA.Email: [email protected]

TAMIL HINDU Yadava/ Agamudaiyar,MBBS, 23/173, Fair Seeks HandsomeTall Broadminded Teetotaller, CNB.Doctor, Professor Pref. Parents Ct: 9444455057/ [email protected]

RC NADAR (Caste No Bar), 30 / 155,B.Tech (Hons), Technical Lead inTCS, Canada. Canadian PR INProcess 75388 02230.

SAIVAPILLAI CHETTIAR well edn &working boy for slim,fair,homelyChennai girl 26/165,SWE,10LPA,9445395224

HINDU SC Adi dravidar,26,165cm, As-sistant professor chennai 30,000pmseeks grooms working in Govt Jobs/ Assistant professors contact9600842258/ [email protected]

MUDALIYAR 39/163 BE Mech Emp Chen-nai Divorcee Revathi Wheatishseeks caring clean habit, CNB.9444254061

HINDU NADAR, 32yrs /163cm, BankEmployee, Divorcee, with 7yrs girlchild seeks suitable Groom from samecaste only. Ct: 99941 68234

HINDU NADAR 31/154 BE,MBA Sr.Consultant/SWE/ Bangalore Simmam/Pooram 15L/PA Seek SuitableGroom9442126376

HINDU NADAR, 27.12.94/ 154cm,Chithirai, V.Fair, B.E., SWE at CTSChennai from educated affluent familyseeks Suitable Groom. 94422 79995.

THIRUVATHIRAI, HINDU Grammani, 33yrs. Girl, B.com, MBA, expectssuitable match. Caste No Bar.9445287838

HINDU MUDALIAR Divorcee, 41/168cm,Working as University Professor inUSA, CNB, Seeks Suitable Well Set-tled Groom in USA or Eligible toSettle USA, Now Bride in Chennaifor 2 months. Ct: 73584 28843

HINDU 31/162 MBBS (MD Bio Final)Sadayam Father Saiva Mudaliar,Mother Naidu Seeks ProfesionallyQualified especially Doctors Pref.PG or MD age below 34. Ct:9842437535,6383043239

MUDALIAR (CNB) 24/168 V.Fair, MBBS,MS doing,Chennai,Elite Family,Seeks Groom− Doctor/Business−7305810258

EX−CHIEF MINISTER Grand DaughterMudaliyar / 24 / M.s / Rich fami-ly. Seeks fair Groom. Ct:7305491610

SC AD 29Yrs/153cm/wheatish, Mesham/Bharani, B.E,M.Tech, working inCentral Govt. 5LPA seeks suitableemployed groom. Ct. 9994326921

MUDALIAR, 166 cms P.G QualifiedDoctor Bride Working in a Corpo-rate Hospital.Parents Well Educat-ed Well Placed. Looking for a PGQualified Doctor from a good wellplaced family. Ct:9444368200/9940358110

HINDU SC 32/168/BE/MS/MBA/USA H1Bvisa seeks US Working groom CNB.Ct:9444471466,9444475185

Iyer Koundinaya Anusham 5ft8inJan1983 BE/MBA Employed Seekswell placed Educated Brahmin Boy8884395223.

SEEKING ALLIANCE for our daughter,May’87 born, height 5.6, Hindutamil iyengar Brahmin, BharatwajGothram,with good family valuesand tradition. Currently workingin Denmark, holding Australian PR,Master’s from US.Looking for hand-some bridegroom with two to threeyears difference, similar back-ground hailing from decent familywith good academic background andclean character. Iyer or Iyengar .Willing to settle in India/abroad.Send profile with photo at themail ID [email protected] 9558814378

CHRISTIAN AD Girl 25yrs/ 167cmMBBS (Govt., Cbe) good looking,Seeks Doctor / any Govt (IAS/IPS/IFS)groom, Ct: 9578815447, 9442353301.

KAMMA NAIDU with Industrial/ Busi-ness background seeks Bridegroomsimilar Industrial Family of thesame community for their daughteraged 26 Yrs MBA @ Liverpool Emailhoroscope to [email protected]

NAIDU 23/B.COM Fair beautiful fromDiamond Merchant/Mfrs. Familyseeks handsome Groom. WApp.9940284235

NAIDU 26/MBA Only Daughter, Fairwell to do Edu. Instit /Comrl.Properties. Seeks Groom.WApp:9884300680

KSHATRIYA RAJU 23/ 157 B.Tech work-ing S/w seeks professionally quali-fied groom. India/ Abroad.9444991806

KAMMA M.TECH well settled Fair slim27 163 MNC Bengaluru 13lpa divorcedwithin a month seeks groom from welleducated decent family fromTN/Bengaluru Ct: 7045638920

BALIJA 25/160, M.Tech, Swathi, Thu-lam, Fair, well settled. Seeks Edu-cated, Fair, well settled bride-groom. Contact: 9894440200 /9840814337

CHENNAI BASED girl, 28/ 173 cm,MBA IIM., seeks liberal minded,suitable match in early 30’s.9176396307

TELUGU BALIJA Girl 32/5’4 workingin PSB Hyd 15 LPA. Seeking suit-able groom govt service/software/doctors/lawyers from well settledfamily in related communities. Con-tact 9989950888

NAIDU,25/165, BEAUTIFUL, M.Tech,Design Engr, 12 Lac.PA, Fa−Indus-trilist,25Cr, CNB.7299576644,7299576666

CA Telugu Naidu Girl 5’2 born on ‘87Working in MNC is looking for PQ guyfrom Good Family. Ct with BHP to9790736681, [email protected]

✔ TELUGU BRAHMIN girl 1984/btec/vfair/swe/required suitably em-ployed any language brahmin9791111321/9445623800

URDU MUSLIM Labbai 29yrs/150cm,B.E Software Engineer/1.3 lakh PM.Seeks Software Engineer Groom KA &TN State only. Contact : 9442669961.

SEEKING PROFESSIONALS for Urdu Mus-lim MBBS Govt Doctor Age34,Fair,Height 158cm,Chennai,Ct:9171806480/9840582124: [email protected]

SMU 24/168 B.Arch Working,Fair,Good looking.Affluent Parents fromBangalore Seek High Educated WellSettled Groom.Preferably from Chen-nai &Bangalore.Contact 9448495448

COIMBATORE MNC manager 1976 5’870kg 1lac/month, No demands, inno-cent divorcee 2 month marriage,Email : [email protected] Ph:9677776525

PQM 4 h’some SC boy 29 5’8.5 MS(US) IT Engineer in NewYork seeksUS working girl. Caste/ Religionno bar. Whatsapp 9953612328#[email protected]

BE MECH Handsome 32/178 well set-tled F−Hindu Mudaliar/ M−Anglo In-dian RC seeks bride good looking27−32yr Hindu/ Christian/ Inter Re-ligion Ph: 9940418934/ [email protected]

KERALA HINDU Boy 46 MNC Bangalorefluent in English Hindi seeking al-liance from broad minded. Remar-riage also considered 9884721412No demands

TAMIL MUSLIM 28/175cms MCh seeksMBBS completed/PG student bride.Modern, pious & small family7358467033

IYENGAR GROOM aged 40 yrs 5’9’’tall BE, MBA, earning 24 LPA seeksqualified bride from same communi-ty. Earlier marriage annulled asnon−consummated [email protected].

Mudaliar Veg CNB 38/172 Fair Good-looking Software Masters Reputed Fa-mily Seeks Matching Bride Mobile :9840054382 After 6 pm

LOOKING FOR alliance from educated family for our Son, divorcee aged43/5'8", residing in Chennai, MSc.IT.Should be around 30-40 yrs. Contact9677151440, [email protected]

BRIDE WANTED for 510 1989 bornsoftware programmer UIUC (Illi-nois) graduate, working in USAsince 2012residing in Chicago. Ju-jitsu Black belt. Caste no bar. Fa-ther Retd Doctor. Mother M.ComB.Ed housewife. Brother: Artist.(Gahlots) Contact: 9910441984

SUITABLE ALLIANCE is sought for ablind man, working in a Govt. Bank,Trivandrum, 29 years, 152 cm, a Ra-tionalist coming from an Islamic back-ground. Working woman is preferredand caste no bar. Ph: 9645809083

HINDU MALAYALI Viswakarma BoyBE MBA (S'pore) 30/180 Bangalorebased intercaste parentage employedin AP at present, well settled seeksEducated Malayali Bride, Ct:09480183919/ [email protected]

NAIR, CHATHAYAM 28/160 Grad Sr.Tm.Ldr CTS 7L/PA Chennai SettledSeeks Edu Bride. 044−26536946/9840651618

EZHAVA/32/ 186 Cms., B Com., MBA(UK) Fair tall and HandsomeVishakam Dy Manager Sales in a LtdCo., Chennai, Seeking Suitable Em-ployed Bride. Contact 9003041149

NAIR 35/173CM, Trivandrum, IT Pro-fessional Bangalore, Seeks Educat-ed Girls , Contact: 09895631014.

ISSUE LESS divorcee nair boy 38central government requires educat-ed nair bride 9895802338

VSK Boy CHN 35/170 BTech hg im-paired SBI seek suitable Alliance Cas-te no bar Contact: 9962042421.

WELL SETTLED Nair Boy 37 MBAchadayam. Working in MNC software.Seeks alliance from reputed Nair Girls.Brokers excuse. Contact: 9894546059,9894748077.

Handsome MBBS doctor 28/180cmonly son, well-to-do family. Seeks gra-duate bride for Pune based Maratha96 Kuli. 099390 77556 / 097675 44400

MADHWA DESISTHA, Sandilya Gothra,26/5.5, Bharani, Mesham, B.E., S/W,MNC Chennai, seeks suitable Mad-hwa, Employed bride preferablyfrom Chennai, Whatsapp: 9940147926Email: [email protected]

RC, NADAR−BOY, 38years, Manager,Own House Chennai, Rs.1,50,000 PerMonth. No Brokers. Contact:8667517487

CSI / SC / 26yrs / 172cm /Wheatish / B.Sc / Salary 25,000 /seeks suitable Bride. Ct:9841258349

WE ARE looking for our son aged (32)years, height (5'7'), B. Com Graduate,Sunni Urdu Muslim, residing inChennai, Looking after our FamilyBusiness, Seeks a fair, Non-working,Graduate bride from a RespectableFamily, preferably (23 to 26 years.)and height (5' 4" to 5' 7"). Contact:9789988927.

MUSLIM, AGE 43, M.Com, Well Settled in Dubai, 2nd Marriage, SuitableBride Wanted. Ph: 8056177826

SUNNI MUSLIM Tamil boy 30yrs/175cm/BE MS(France) I'less Divorceeseeks professionally qlfd girl from respectable family. Chennai 9597557582

TAMIL MUSLIM Groom 29/173cm, MS,Canada PR Holder. Seeks SuitableBride.Contact : 9486102747

CSI CHRISTIAN MUDALIAR − 28/170Cms5ft 7inch 70kg−Senior Engineer NonIT MNC Chennai−12L pa−Seeks educat-ed bride−BC Community preferred−Ct: Parents 8939161247

DKV 31/173/73 Hastam WheatishDeputy Manager in PSU Bank seeksbride from educated family.9940507235

SECOND MARRIAGE Age:45, BA, Tamil,Malayalam Own Business MiddleClass, Widow/ Divorce Ok :9445776071

MUDALIAR, 30/170, B.E., CentralGovt, Asst. Manager, Insurance,Salem. 90 thousands per month. Ran-ganathan. S, No.15, Doctors En-clave, KALPAKKAM.603102. Ct:9444417238

Chettiyar 46 BA Unmarried BusinessLooking any BC only CT: 94433-19722whatsapp 86789-15522, 99940-35122.

SAIVA PILLAI 36,BE/MBA−MNC(Salary−1 Lac above) Bangalore DivorceeSeeks Bride 1st Marriage(ThirunelveliSaiva Pillai /karkard-har) Only ct− 9344701672/8072215374

MUDALIAR 29, BE, MBA, 20 Lacs P.A, 178 cm, Smart Look Seeks Suit-able Bride CNB Ct. 7200866346/8778514465

HANDSOME NADAR 32, 5’11", LLB, re-sponsible, confident, teetotaler,well−to−do biz family seeks compat-ible bride. [email protected]

BRAHMIN AGE: 53, B.E, M.B.A, Cen-tral Govt Officer, Divorce, Caste,Religion no Bar. Cont: 98409 61998.

MUDALIAR HANDSOME 27/B.Tech wellsettled BusinessClass Metal &HotelIndustry Seeks Bride. WApp9940284235

GAVARA NAIDU, 46, BCA , Managerpvt, First Marriage seeks suitableBride from naidu family. Contact044−24511279, 9444019254

G.SIVARAJ, 36 /167,B.E., Pillai,Senior Consultant, Abudhabi, Salary60 L/yr. Caste No Bar. 9894114549.

MUDALIAR PHD Research Scientist UK29/183 Seeks Well Educated BrideDecent Family Ct: 9176620067/68

SAIVA PILLAI CNB MSc MBA company owner 4Lakhs/Month 10crores property Unmarried Only son 46yearswheatish 173cm veg visagam9841553677(W)

THEVAR 42/170 DECE Business Set-tled Chennai Seeks Bride DecentFamily. 9444405590/ [email protected]

SOWRASTRA 35, Astham 1, Kanni,B.Com, MBA, Manager, Pvt. Chennai,90K Pm Suitable Bride Wanted9444735240

DIVORCEE, 55, MBA, Govt.Officer,well Settled, Seeks Partner fromGood Family CNB, 8778514465/7200866346

MUDALIAR 44 BE 6Ft Uthiram ChennaiSeeks Educated Good Looking Bridebelow 40Yrs. Ct: Geetham 9884858014

HINDU NADAR 38/178 BE MBA DivorcedWell to do Family Fair CleanHabits seeks suitable BrideCt:7338888038

AGE 51 Hindu Mudaliyar Industrial-ist, Divorced. Seeks any MudaliyarOk, Divorcee /Widower Ok. 8610983535

MUDALIYAR 27 / B.D.S., Own Star Ho-tels , Resorts , [ Business Allover India ] High Net Worthy Fami-ly Seeks Suitable Bride.Call :9940284235

IYER BOY 20-12-1988 BharatwajamBrahacharanam Krithigai (Sub Sect NoBar), MBA, Family Business : GoodEarning. Looking For Suitable BrideFrom Economically Weaker BrahminFamilies. Bride Can Be a Graduateand Willing to be a Home maker in agood Joint Family : For Further DetailsMail to [email protected] /6383488021

VANNIAKULA KSHATRIYAR, Rohini,Rishabam, 44, Landlord & Lawyer,MBA, ML, Reputed & well settledFamily. Same caste, Degree & PG.9884406866

PILLAI 29/185CM working in US H1BVisa. Seeks Bride Staying in USwith H1B Visa/Green Card. 9144−24466142

HINDU PILLAI, 42, 30,000 p.m seekssuitable Bride, Divorcee or Widow,Caste no Bar Contact: 9488070659.

Wanted Homely Bride for Groom withClean Habits, Hindu, 34, Vegitarian,Chitra-Kanni, Chennai, Private firm, 6L/annum, Ct. 9566234554.

Mudaliar, 40, BE, Kidney transplan-ted, wants Hindu Vegetarian employedbride caste no bar Ct: 9344284888 /[email protected]

VANNIYA GOUNDER MD RadiologistAged 28, Fair & Beautiful seeksBride Groom from the same communi-ty / others. Please send Horoscopealong with Bio data to +919443233977

HINDU SC PR 33/172 BE API Inspec-tor Petroleum Industry 25LPA wellsettled family Trichy seeks well educa-ted good looking Bride 9865350317

CHETTIAR VEG Bharani 28/180 MS USA,Engr,working in MNC USA, NC H1BVisa Elite,110k USD PA, Seeks GoodLooking & Upper Middle Class Bridefrom Veg Pillai / Chettiar9840012011

ROYAL MUDALIYAR 27 / B.E (US) , En-gineering College [ Chennai ] ,Polytechnic Colleges, CommercialComplex [ T.Nagar ] ,Well to do ,Seeks Suitable Bride Ct: 7305491610

HINDU, PILLAI (CNB), 32/175 Cms,Software Architect in Bangalore,25 Lakhs pa, BS from London,Moolam, NV, Respected Madurai fami-ly. Ph. 07397506343 or [email protected]

WE ARE looking for an alliance forour son aged (28) years, very fairwith good habits, residing in Chen-nai, parents inter−caste marriage,business family. Height (6’2"),B.Tech, M.B.A., graduate. Thebride should hail from a decent,educated family. (caste no bar).Should be around (23−26) years.Contact with Astrological details7358774684 or Email to [email protected]

34 YEARS tamil Pillai groom fash-ion designer in Bangalore bridewanted from good family caste nobar. 9894878505

AGE: 34. Height: 5.5. Working inUSA. Bride preferably from Thevarcommunity but open to others. Con-tact: 91766 22449.

HINDU TAMIL Nadar 42/181 B.E Car-leton Univ IISc [email protected] 8056888863

MUDALIAR 43 yrs MCA, Director ITcompany, issueless divorce seeksbride below 37 yrs 9444409970

HINDU NADAR Boy 36 Years(Divorcee)B.sc Doing Business InChennai Per Month 10 Lakh Income.Ct: 9445774744

MUDALIYAR 32/ 163/ B.Tech/ TaseMgr, 50k PM, chithirai, Kanni,seeks suitable bride Ct9994120482, [email protected]

MUDALIAR, 01.12.1986 Anusham,Viruchigam, B.Tech., MS (UK), 6L/PA, Own House, Manager in Mines.Mudaliar/ Subsect Ok. 7299920161,9566022447

Elite Family Hindu SC 29 / 172 cmshandsome MS employed in reputedco. USA California H1B High salarySeeks employed / PG student bride inUSA (Caste no bar). Ct. 94454 42020,[email protected]

SC, 38, 173 Cm B.Tech, M.Sc., MBASeeks Dr/Er/ Any Suitable Bride.Caste No Bar Ct:9952089394. No Bro-kers

DKV 32 / 176cm BE Working inNetharland, Parents Hindu / CSI.Seeks Bride, BE or Any Degree.8056143638

VADAKALAI VADOOLAM Swathi August1973/180cm, M.Com, MBA, SoftwareUSA H1B. Seeks Unmarried BrahminGirl Preferably From USA . Con-tact: 044 − 24714448, 09444628868

MUDALIAR: 32/185, BE, M.Tech, MS(Sweden), Acoustic Eng, 300000 PAand Perks, Elite Family −SeeksBride Abroad / India − 9884187197

MUDALIAR : 26 / Handsome,MS (UK),Own Manufacturing Industry, Chen-nai, Elite Family, Seeks Bride −Any degree − 8939012419

VANNIYAKULA SATHRIYAR 34/183 Re-vathy M.Sc Phd Pursuing Asst. Pro-fessor 60000/pm Suitable Bride9840044473

MUDHALIAR 31/158 Thiruvathirai /Mithunam, B.E. Civil, Running ownbusiness now , Lost 40% Hearing ,using Nano Hearing−Aid on BothEars, Looking for an Educated Hin-du Girl, preferably from Same Com-munity. No issues on Astrological-ly related problems.Brokers Excuse.Phone:9566276283 , [email protected]

HINDU NADAR VIP 24 /175cm B.E/Fair Chennai Builder Inc 5Lac,Bride Wanted K.A Raman Nadar W−9380791999

IYER VADAMAL Vathulam PoosamKadagam, 28/6’2’’, MS(SE), Em-ployed in an MNC, Very GoodSalary. Seeking Employed Girl,9884387334/8825562817

IYER DIVORCEE Boy Vadoolam Thiru-vonam 46/168 Director IT MNC SeeksIyer/Iyengar Graduate Girl Di-vorcee/ Widow without Issues9841942915

IYER KAUSHIKA Seeking anyBrahmin Empld girl for swathi 30,182cms slim MNC B'lore. 15 lakh wellsettled decent family 9380680289

IYER BOY, 42, Divorcee with no issue,170, BTECH, PGDBM, Running a wellestablished business in Kochi. Lookingfor BRIDE from Brahmin community.Ph – 9544 400963, Email :[email protected]

IYER BHARADHWAJAM Uthiram, 39yrs /180cms, BE, HCL Chennai Rs.19 L/An-num, Own House at Chennai, seeksany Brahmin Girl. Ct: 09445222214

IYER,VADAMA, 40YEAR. SelfEmployed Chartered Accountant.Right leg slightly short. He can walkand drive vehicle normally. Needsuitable Bride. Call - 9994934568

STAR ASHWINI, Udithya Gothram, Jan75 born, 25L PA, Divorced (uncon-summated marriage) Chennai based,Tamil Brahmin Iyer Boy seeks Unmar-ried / Divorced (No child) familyoriented Brahmin Girl with cleanhabits. Ct.: 9385807542,[email protected]

GOVT. EMPLOYED (Puducherry)Seeks Brahmin Bride, Age : 40 TO 47,No Expectations. Call : 94869 05156 /63795 57959 / 0413-2244052.

BRAHMIN 41/5.3 IT Software,Sal:80k in Chennai. Seeks Any Brah-min Girl. Call 2−5pm 9445919926,9444849926

HINDU IYER 28 yrs/177/Fair/Hastham/Kousika/Vadama/ B.E., L.L.M/LawyerChennai Seeks Girl with tradition-al values, preferably Self Em-ployed / Working, aged between 23& 25. Email: [email protected]

STAR ASHWINI, Udithya Gothram,Jan75 born,25LPA, Divorced(Unconsum-mated Marriage) Chennai based,Tamil Brahmin Iyer Boy seeks Unmar-ried/Divorced(No Child)Family Ori-ented Brahmin Girl with CleanHabits.Ct:9385807542,[email protected]

CASTE NO BAR. BrahminPalakkad Iyer boy, Sankriti gotra,pious, smart, 170cm, caring,handsome, looks much younger ( late30s ), teetotaller, post grad, unmarried,well-placed, high income, own house &car seeks bride–working / not wrkg,veg, 12th / Dip /graduate from culturedbackground ( poor /middle class familyfine), between age 34–40. Nodemands. 2nd marriage cases can beconsidered. WhatsApp :09028225 299.Plz Email BHP : [email protected]

4

MUSLIM BOY 28/178cm, BE(ECE)MBA, proj mngr MNC.24lac P/A, wellto do family in chennai.9445556810

NAIDU, 26/180CM, BTech, MS (Swe-den) Puratathi , Working in Swe-den. Send BHP [email protected] /8220014155

BALIJA NAIDU Hastham 31/172, MSUSA, Design Engr, INTEL, USA Hills-boro, H1B Visa Elite, 140K USD P.ASeeks Fair Bride 9840407738/9884457973

ARYA VYSYA (41 Yrs) USAPharmacist 150K , Un-MarriedLooking For Educated BRIDEPreferably VISA HOLDER. ContactPh : 91 9840315727.

HINDU TELUGU Devanga 33 BSc , HI,6’ Railway job at Erode , house atCBE, Prefers Suitable bride CasteNo Bar Mob 8144250566

BALIJA 27/175, MBA, Moolam,Thanusu, Fair, Business, well set-tled. Seeks Educated, Fair, wellsettled bride having Raghu orKethu in 7th or 8th place.8825463854 / 9840814337

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BALIJA NAIDU [ Own Jewelleries ]27 / M.Tech ., Elite Family SeeksBride Ct: 7305491610

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COSMOPOLITAN

DIVORCEE

DOCTOR

DOCTOR

ENGLISH

HINDI

MALAYALAM

NRI

TAMIL

TAMIL

TAMIL

TELUGU

URDU

COSMOPOLITAN

DOCTOR

ENGLISH

HINDI

MARATHI

TAMIL

TELUGU

URDU

MARRIAGE BUREAU

MALAYALAM

TAMIL TELUGU TELUGU TAMIL TAMIL TAMIL

CMYK

A ND-NDE



NORTH & EAST

2021 WEST BENGAL | ASSAM

ASSEMBLY POLLSDELHI THE HINDU | SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2021EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

P7

The Odisha Right to FoodCampaign, a forum of individuals spearheading themovement for food entitlements, said the government should implement interportability facility fornewlywed women, whosenames are struck off�� thepublic distribution systemafter their marriage.

According to RTF, Odisha, a large number ofnewlywed women are unable to access their share ofration as their names arecancelled from their parental card but not added totheir marital cards.

The problem worsensfurther as families fi��nd itequally diffi��cult to addnames of children to the ration card.

“The State lacks a clear

and transparent process toport names of migrated individuals or to add new individuals to ration cards.The process remains just asopaque and diffi��cult to navigate despite the government implementing Aadhaar seeding, digitisation ofPDS or even ‘One NationOne Ration Card’ scheme,”said Samit Panda, a leadmember of RTF, Odisha.

Thousands of womenmigrate after marriage, anda large fraction of this section of population risks exclusion from PDS, he said.

The RTF, Odisha says the2011 census shows that 46%of migration was due tomarriage, of which 97%, or20.58 crore migrants, werewomen.

78% population“As high as 78% of Odisha’spopulation are PDS benefi��ciaries. Observing the widespread exclusion of women, it is estimated that atleast ten lakh women havebeen left out from PDSsince National Food Security Act came into force,” he

pointed out. Stating that access to

food was under stress following the COVID19 lockdown due to loss of income, Mr. Panda alleged,“exclusion from PDS willfurther reduce food intakeof families, and worsensthe already abysmal nutritional status of children,adolescent girls and women.”

The forum demandedimprovement in access toPDS. “A standard operatingprocedure for porting newly wed women’s namesfrom parental to marital ration cards in a timeboundmanner, must be issued after consultation with diff��erent stakeholders,” it emphasised.

Grievance redressalA grievance redressal system should be implemented to identify and fi��x gapsin the process.

There must be a mechanism to inform benefi��ciariesabout deletion and addition of names in PDS system.

Odisha Right toFood Campaignsays addingchildren’s namesalso diffi��cultSatyasundar Barik

BHUBANESWAR

Activists demand inclusion ofnewlywed women in PDS

Weather WatchRainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

Temperature Data: IMD, Pollution Data: CPCB, Map: INSAT/IMD (Taken at 18.00 Hrs)

Forecast for Sunday: Heavy rainfall/snowfall likely at isolatedplaces over Jammu & Kashmir, Ladakh, Muzaff��arabad, HimachalPradesh and Uttarakhand. Thunderstorm with lightning/haillikely at isolated places over Ladakh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura

city rain max min city rain max min

Agartala................—....32.6....23.2 Kozhikode....................—....34.0....25.0

Ahmedabad...........—....38.9....19.4 Kurnool .......................—....38.1....20.2

Aizawl...................—....25.7....17.0 Lucknow......................—....31.6....15.8

Allahabad..............—....31.7....14.0 Madurai .......................—....35.8....23.4

Bengaluru .............—....35.9....18.4 Mangaluru ...................—....35.4....20.9

Bhopal ..................—....34.2....14.6 Mumbai .......................—....32.8....23.0

Bhubaneswar.........—....40.4....20.0 Mysuru ........................—....33.7....16.7

Chandigarh ...........—....32.4....14.4 New Delhi ...................—....31.5....15.0

Chennai ................—....32.2....23.7 Patna ..........................—....31.4....17.6

Coimbatore ...........—....36.4....21.5 Port Blair.....................—....31.1....25.7

Dehradun ..............—....31.1....11.0 Puducherry ..................—....32.1....21.1

Gangtok........... 26.6....12.3......8.3 Pune............................—....36.7....18.0

Goa.......................—....33.0....22.1 Raipur .........................—....36.2....15.5

Guwahati ........... 4.7....28.2....16.4 Ranchi .........................—....32.0....16.8

Hubballi ................—....34.0....17.0 Shillong.................... 0.6....22.5....11.0

Hyderabad ............—....37.2....19.4 Shimla.........................—....19.6......8.6

Imphal ..................—....26.0....12.7 Srinagar.......................—....16.0......3.8

Jaipur ...................—....35.8....16.2 Thiruvananthapuram.........—....34.1....24.1

Kochi ....................—....32.8....24.2 Tiruchi.........................—....36.3....22.2

Kohima .................—....20.0......8.0 Vijayawada ..................—....35.6....19.2

Kolkata .................—....36.2....21.7 Visakhapatnam .............—....32.5....24.0

(Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)

Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday

CITIES SO2 NO2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE

In observation made at 4.00p.m., Vatva, Gujaratrecorded an overall airquality index (AQI) score of353 indicating an unhealthylevel of pollution. Incontrast, Eloor, Keralarecorded a healthy AQI scoreof 48

Ahmedabad..... 48 108 51 ..213 .215 ....*

Bengaluru ....... ..8 .62 43 ....71 ...90 ....*

Chennai .......... 13 .19 45 ....57 ...66 ....*

Delhi .............. 38 .45 28 ..260 .236 ....*

Hyderabad ...... ..5 .87 48 ..110 .123 ....*

Kolkata........... 30 .22 44 ..212 .162 ....*

Lucknow ......... 26 .24 68 ..269 .156 ....*

Mumbai .......... ..9 .28 .4 ..249 .144 ....*

Pune............... ..— 121 36 ..128 .104 ....*

Visakhapatnam ..9 .79 41 ....84 .148 ....*

Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)

SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system,

making breathing difficult. It can affect visibility by reacting with other air

particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects such as statues

and monuments.

NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by

reacting with other air particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.

CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to

critical organs like the heart and brain. At very high levels, it can cause

dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.

PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes,

nose and throat, coughing, chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced

lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks, heart attacks and premature

death in people with heart or lung disease

The sixmonthold Assam Jatiya Parishad (AJP) hasnamed its president Lurinjyoti Gogoi as its candidatefor the Duliajan Assemblyconstituency in eastern Assam.

Party general secretary Jagadish Bhuyan, who quit theBharatiya Janata Party in December 2019 over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,will contest from Sadiya, aconstituency where the Brahmaputra begins.

AJP was launched in September 2020 by members ofthe infl��uential All Assam Students’ Union, of which Mr.Gogoi was the general secretary, and the Asom Jatiyata

badi Yuba Chhatra Parishad.The party was an outcome ofthe antiCAA movement inAssam and sought to give Assam a new brand of regionalism that the Asom Gana Parishad – birthed by the sameorganisations – had allegedlysurrendered to its ally, BJP.

“We have announced thecandidates for 18 seats. Candidates for the other constituencies will be namedsoon,” Mr. Bhuyan said, dismissing reports of a rift withthe Raijor Dal, another partyformed by jailed rights activist Akhil Gogoi’s group andassociate organisations.

He declined to commenton the jailed rights activist’sview that an opposition alliance too many would help

BJP and its allies retain powerin the State. “We cannot comment on the views of anotherparty or individual. We don’tfeel so weak,” he said.

Apart from Duliajan andSadiya, AJP would be contesting Sarupathar, Dhemaji,Khumtai, Dhekiajuli, Rangap

ara, Dhing, Batadrava, Dergaon, Nazira, Thaora, Bihpuria, Dibrugarh, Mariani,Tinsukia, Dhakuakhana andMargherita.

Friendly fi��ghtThe All India United Democratic Front, the second major party in the CongressledMajahot or grand alliance,said it would be contest 24seats. The party would contest 21 seats independentlyand there will be a friendlyfi��ght with the alliance partners in three.

The seats that the AIUDFwould be contesting for theMahajot include the 14 it hadwon in 2016 and a byelectionlater. These are Abhayapuri(South), Algapur, Bhabani

pur, Bilasipara (East), Dhing,Dhubri, Gauripur, Hailakandi, Jaleswar, Jamunamukh,Jania, Karimganj (South), Katlicherra and Naoboicha.

Anchalik Gana Morcha, aconstituent of the eightpartymahajot, will fi��eld two candidates – Lachit Bordoloi fromBatadrava and Manjit Mahanta from Dispur.

The grand alliance has offered two seats to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and a seat each to theCPI and CPI(MarxistLeninist). These are Rangiya andSorbhog, Morigaon, and Bihali. The Congress and Bodoland People’s Front, which isdemanding at least 12 seats,are yet to announce theircandidates.

AJP chief to contest from Duliajan Assam Jatiya Parishad is an outcome of the antiCAA movement in the Staterahul karmakar

GUWAHATI

Lurinjyoti Gogoi. * FILE PHOTO

Painting on the wall: Trinamool Congress candidate Shashi Panja paints the party symbol on a wall during her electioncampaign in Kolkata on Saturday. * PTI



Marking her presence

Ahead of the Assembly bypolls in Rajasthan, BJP Stateunit president Satish Pooniaon Saturday accused the ruling dispensation of “betraying” the people.

Bypolls due to deathsThe four Assembly constituencies of Rajsamand, Sahada, Sujangarh and Vallabnagar will go to the pollsfollowing the demise of theirrespective MLAs.

Addressing a youth workers’ meeting in Vallabhnagarof Udaipur, Mr. Poonia saidpeople of the pollbound Assembly constituencies willtake “revenge from the Con

gress government for cheating them”.

He targeted the AshokGehlot government over

farm loan waiver and jobs.He said the youth will give

a befi��tting reply to the Gehlot government in the bypolls for “playing with thedreams of the unemployed”.

Unemployment rateMr. Poonia said Rajasthanhas the highest rate of unemployment in the country,which is more than 28%.

There are 12 lakh registered unemployed youths inthe State, but this government could give unemployment allowance to 2.49 lakhyouths only, he said.

Earlier, while addressingthe media, the BJP leadersaid the party has startedpreparations for the bypolls.

People will give a befi��ttingreply to Gehlot, says PooniaRajasthan BJP chief accuses State govt. of ‘betraying’ people


Jaipur

BJP has started preparationsfor bypolls: Satish Poonia.

* FILE PHOTO

The National InvestigationAgency has fi��led a chargesheet before a special courthere against three Bodo militants for their alleged involvement in carrying out anambush in which two people, including an AdditionalSuperintendent of Police,were killed in 2014, an offi��cial said on Saturday.

Bishnu Narzary, NitulDaimary and RuniluishDaimary have been chargedunder provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Indian PenalCode and the Arms Act, headded.

The chargesheet wasfi��led before the Special NIACourt in Guwahati on

Friday.The case relates to an am

bush that resulted in thedeath of Gulzar Hussain,the then Additional Superintendent of Police, Sonitpur, and a civilian, AnlarkBasumatary, and injuries toseveral police personnel inAssam’s Sonitpur district.

NIA, which took over theprobe in the case in August2019, said members of theNational Democratic Frontof Bodoland (NDFBS) hadlaid the ambush. Two of theaccused — Narzary and Nitul Daimary — have beenconvicted in another case,in which the former hasbeen given a death sentencewhile the latter has beensentenced to lifeimprisonment.

NIA chargesheets 3 Bodomilitants for 2014 ambush A police offi��cer, one civilian were killed


Guwahati

A threemember panel constituted by the Orissa HighCourt on Saturday made afi��eld trip to the Gahirmathamarine sanctuary here andassessed the measures taken for the conservation ofendangered olive ridley seaturtles, Forest offi��cials said.

The panel, comprisingwildlife and environmentactivist Kartik Shankar, Director (Environment) Sushant Nanda and advocateMohit Agarwal, made an onthespot assessment of theconservation measures at

Gahirmatha nestingground, they said.

The experts panel interacted with the offi��cials ofthe Forest, Fisheries andother departments besidesmarine fi��shermen and otherstakeholders.

Deaths reportedThe action followed a February 4 report on an online environment magazinewhich said 800 olive ridleyturtles have died since January due to negligence of theStates Forest and Fisheriesdepartment.

The court took suo motu

cognisance of the report onFebruary 23, constitutedthe panel and asked it tosubmit a report on the conservation of sea turtles inGahirmatha marine sanctuary on March 10.

Mass nestingThe olive ridley turtles turnup in millions for mass nesting along the Odisha coastevery year.

Gahirmatha beach off��Bay of Bengal coast in Kendrapara district is acclaimed as the world’s largest nesting ground of theseturtles.

Threemember expert panel takes stock of turtle conservationIt has to submit a report to Orissa High Court on March 10


Kendrapara (Odisha)

Slamming its former RajyaSabha MP Dinesh Trivedifor switching over to theBJP, the Trinamool Congress on Saturday said he is“ungrateful” and has backstabbed the ruling party inWest Bengal ahead of theAssembly polls.

Mr. Trivedi quit from theRajya Sabha last month,saying he was feeling suff��ocated in the TrinamoolCongress and was unableto bear various incidentsthat are happening in theState. TMC spokespersonKunal Ghosh said, “For thelast so many years, he (Mr.Trivedi) did not say anything. Now, just before theAssembly polls, he hasmade complaints...he isungrateful and has betrayed people of the State.”

Dinesh Trivediis ungrateful,says TMC


Kolkata

Two persons attending thebirthday bash of a BJP MLAin Madhya Pradesh’s Damohdistrict have been killed over some dispute, police saidon Saturday.

The incident occurredaround 10 p.m. on Friday atBanwar village under theNohata police station areaafter a dispute among the attendees of the function, Damoh SP Hemant Chouhansaid. One of the deceased Jogendra Singh (30) died of agunshot while another deceased Arvind Jain was beaten to death by some persons with stones and sticks,he said.

He said attackers havenot been identifi��ed so far.

According to policesources, Jabera MLA Dharmendra Singh Lodhi wasnot present at the bashwhen the incident occurred.Sources said Jain was a representative of the MLA atthe function while Singhwas a guest teacher.

Damoh district Congresspresident Ajay Tandon accused the police of failing inmaintaining law and order.

“The incident occurred atthe birthday party of BJPMLA at a time when the district is under high securitydue to the arrival of President Ram Nath Kovind,” Mr.Tandon said.

Two killed in brawl at BJP

MLA’s birthday bash in M.P.Press Trust of India

Damoh (M.P.)

Former Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta said he has not waveredfrom his stand against theCitizenship (Amendment)Act (CAA). He is among thefour MLAs of the regionalAsom Gana Parishad whohave been denied ticket forthe threephase Assamelection starting March 27.

“I stand fi��rmly with theantiCAA forces,” Mr. Mahanta said after arriving inGuwahati from New Delhi,where he had undergonetreatment at the All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciences.

The twotime Chief Minister is the founderpresident of AGP, a minor ally ofBJP in the State. The partygot 26 seats following theseatsharing agreementwith BJP and other allies inNew Delhi on March 5.

AGP(P) ticket“Which party denied ticket?” he retorted, whenjournalists asked why hewas left out. This hasfuelled speculation that hecould contest the polls onAGPPragatisheel (AGPP)ticket.

Mr. Mahanta hadformed the AGPP in 2005after his expulsion fromAGP. The party mergedwith the AGP in 2008 butwas revived on a low keyduring the antiCAA protests three years ago.

AGPP general secretaryPranab Goswami said theparty had been reenergised ahead of the Assembly poll and they were waiting for Mr. Mahanta to leadthem towards forming an“antiCAA government”.His wife and former RajyaSabha member JayshreeGoswami Mahantaslammed AGP.

I stand fi��rmlywith antiCAAforces: Mahanta

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

GUWAHATI

2021 TAMIL NADU | KERALA | PUDUCHERRY | WEST BENGAL | ASSAM

ASSEMBLY POLLSDELHI THE HINDU | SUNDAY, MARCH 7, 2021EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

P8

CMYK

A ND-NDE

<>We will contest inonly 18 seats with

the intention of notdividing the votes so thatthe BJP is defeatedBhasco De Saikia, chief state convenorof newly fl��oated Raijor Dal in Assam

West Bengal is poised for ahighstakes, historic Assembly election that will be heldover a record 33 days in eightphases. The ruling TrinamoolCongress, which has been inpower for 10 years, is not only grappling with the antiincumbency factor but is alsofaced with the challenge of adramatic rise of the BJP. Thisis the fi��rst time in the politicalhistory of West Bengal thatthe BJP has emerged as achallenger to the ruling party.

The Trinamool, which inthe past few months has beendealing with a series of defections, is relying on the charisma of West Bengal Chief Minister and party chairpersonMamata Banerjee to tide overthe toughest political challenge the party has ever facedsince 2011.

Biggest drawEven after 10 years in power,Ms. Banerjee remains the tallest leader and the biggestcrowd puller in the State. Hergovernment claims to havelaunched 70 welfareschemes, including conditional cash transfer to girlsand women and the muchtouted universal healthscheme Swasthsathi that issues cards in the name of theeldest woman of the family.

A carefully crafted campaign of the Trinamool aimsto retain people’s faith in Ms.

Banerjee by projecting her as“Bengal’s own daughter”.

The ruling party has alsobrought to the fore the issueof identity in the polls, dubbing the BJP an “outsider”party, emphasising that“Bengal will be governed bypeople of the State and not bypeople from Gujarat”. Slogans like “Joy Bangla” raisedat public gatherings are coupled with projecting Ms. Banerjee as a crusader for “Bengali pride”.

The BJP’s rise in West Bengal has been at the centre of apolitical churn in the State forthe past few years. From aminiscule 4% in 2011 and10.16% in 2016, the BJP’s voteshare increased to 40.3% inthe 2019 Lok Sabha election,enabling the party to win 18of the 42 seats.

Since 2019, the BJP, whichlacked an organisational basein the State, has used defections as a political tool and inducted senior Trinamoolleaders like Suvendu Adhikari and Rajib Banerjee whohave a signifi��cant supportbase and acceptability amongthe masses. The saga of defections has continued evenafter the election dates wereannounced.

In a State starved of industry and employment, whichsees a huge migration forwork, the BJP is selling thedream of a Sonar Bangla(Golden Bengal)”. The partyhas also relentlessly targeted

the Trinamool, accusing it ofdenying benefi��ts of the Pradhan Mantri Kisan SammanNidhi and nonimplementation of Ayushman Bharatschemes in the State. Theparty has promised ₹��14,000— the sum of seven instalments of the PM Kisanscheme since it was started —to each of the 73 lakh farmersif it comes to power.

Apart from the development plank, the BJP is notshying away from using religious rhetoric to polarise theelectorate.

While the BJP is raising issues of “illegal infi��ltration”and accusing the Trinamoolof indulging in “appeasement

politics”, it is maintaining astrategic silence on the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment)Act, which Ms. Banerjee hasvehemently opposed. TheBJP is also trying to reach outand placate the Matua sect,largely Hindu refugees fromBangladesh who are pressingfor CAA implementation.

Both the Trinamool andthe BJP are also locked in abitter contest on appropriation of cultural icons of WestBengal, a process that startedmonths before the polls wereannounced. The tussle wasvisible on several highprofi��leoccasions including the 125thbirth anniversary celebra

tions of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and recent events atRabindranath Tagore’s VisvaBharati University.

The third player in the political matrix, the LeftCongress alliance, which was themain Opposition force till2019, has got a new lease oflife as fresh political equations emerged after theyroped in infl��uential Islamistleader and Furfura Shariefpeer Abbas Siddiqui’s newlyformed party Indian SecularFront.

What makes the combination of the Left and the Congress with the ISF eff��ective istheir ability to infl��uence Muslim voters. By the last Census,

the Muslim population in theState is about 27.01% Thereare 75 Assembly seats out of294 where Muslims are in amajority. Even in the 2019Lok Sabha polls, the Trinamool maintained a lead in80% of these Assembly seats.Any possible split in Muslimvotes will pose a challenge forthe ruling party.

The signifi��cance of theLeftCongressISF combinebecame clear, particularly after the Brigade rally on February 28, indicating that thepolls were not going to be abipolar contest.

For both the Left and theCongress whose support basehas been going down, the2021 Assembly poll is a battleto reestablish their relevancein State politics. Leaders ofboth parties say that they arepresenting the real alternative to the people against the“competitive communalism”of the BJP and the Trinamool.

The Left still has a dedicated cadre base that was evident in the recent Brigade rally and other programmes,while the Congress has maintained its dominance overcertain districts in centralBengal such as Malda andMurshidabad.

As the campaign gains momentum, another provocative slogan has been raised byboth the Trinamool and theBJP — Khela hobe (the gamewill be played) — implying athreat of political violence.

Hard-charging BJP and unrelenting Trinamool But it’s no longer a bipolar contest in West Bengal, with the LeftCongressISF combine putting up a show of strength

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

SWOT ANALYSIS

Modi to address rally in Kolkata Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address a rallyat Brigade Parade grounds in Kolkata on Sundaywhile Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee will holdone at Siliguri in north Bengal. Mr. Modi’s rally istouted as a major political event by the BharatiyaJanata Party and the party has run a campaign fordays to draw large crowds at the venue. LastSunday, the Brigade parade Grounds witnessedanother mega political event with the Leftparties, Congress and the Indian Secular Frontorganising a rally. BJP leaders said that their rallywould have the presence of several prominentpersonalities from the cultural world of WestBengal, including actor Mithun Chakraborty.

POLL POURRI

The BJP has been hosting a series of roadshows inthe runup to the Modi rally. * FILE PHOTO

Making the wrong callKodiyeri Balakrishnan, formerKerala secretary of the CPI(M), may have never imaginedthat his allegation that theOpposition leader RameshChennithala accepted anexpensive mobile phone as agift from one of the prime

accused in the gold smuggling case wouldeventually boomerang on him. It took a Uturnwhen Customs (Preventive) Commissioneraterevealed that Mr. Balakrishnan’s wife, Vinodhini,had used one among the fi��ve expensive phonesthat a builder had handed over to Swapna Suresh,the second accused in the case, as a gift forsecuring a construction contract under thegovernment’s Life Mission housing project for thepoor in Thrissur. Ms. Vinodhini has denied theallegations. Mr. Balakrishnan had accused Mr.Chennithala of having violated protocol byaccepting an expensive mobile phone in a raffl��eorganised by the UAE Consulate inThiruvananthapuram.

‘Outsider’ barb against MamataThe Trinamool Congressleadership, particularly WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, has been targetingthe Bharatiya Janata Partycalling it a party of “Bahirgata(outsiders)”. On Saturday, BJPleader Suvendu Adhikari used

the same phrase against the Chief Minister sayingthat the Trinamool Congress candidate atNandigram (from where Ms. Banerjee will contestthe Assembly election)is an “outsider”. Mr.Adhikari said that Ms. Banerjee has hardly evervisited Nandigram in the past fi��ve years and raisedquestions on why she did not contest fromBhawanipur, where she resides.

Ticket tantrums in SingurBecharam Manna, one of theprominent leaders of theantiland acquisitionmovement, had approachedthe Congress for ticket fromthe Singur Assembly seat,West Bengal PradeshCongress Commitee president

Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Saturday. Mr.Chowdhury made the claim on Saturday sayingthat the Trinamool Congress has become a partyof those only interested in ticket. Mr. Manna, whogot the Trinamool ticket from Singur, denied theclaims and called Mr. Chowdhury a liar.Colour code: A rangoli vies for voters’ eyes at Sriperumbudur, near Chennai, on Saturday with

a message to ensure 100% voting. * VELANKANNI RAJ B.

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Ground truths

The use of electronic votingmachines (EVMs) in somebooths of the Paravur Assembly constituency in Ernakulam is etched in the electoral history as they wereintroduced in the constituency in the 1982 polling, a fi��rstin the country.

The EVMs were introduced in 50 polling stationsin the election in which thelate A.C. Jose of the Congressand the late N. Sivan Pillai ofthe Communist Party of Indiawere locked in a tightcontest.

The Congress candidatewas defeated by a razorthinmargin of 123. Jose challenged the election of SivanPillai in the Kerala HighCourt, arguing that the Representation of the PeopleAct, 1951 and the Conduct of

Elections Rules, 1961 did notempower the Election Commission to use EVMs. TheHigh Court refused his plea.

But on an appeal by Jose,the Supreme Court in 1984ordered a repoll in the 50polling stations using conventional ballot papers. Jose wonthe seat.

In 1992, Parliament inserted Section 61A in the Act andrules validating the use of theEVM and paving way for theiruse in elections.

The EC started using EVMswidely since 1998. The newgeneration of EVMs has VoterVerifi��ed Paper Audit Trail(VVPAT), which prints a smallslip of paper that carries thename, symbol and the serialnumber of the candidate.

Supreme Court lawyer Kaleeswaram Raj says the pleafor abolishing EVMs has beenrepeatedly rejected by thetop court.

The top court has issueddirectives for using VVPAT toensure accuracy and fairnessin the EVM practice in 2013.

“The problem, however, isthat only a minuscule number of votes are now subjected to VVPAT scrutiny acrossthe country and the ElectionCommission has to increasethe sample test reasonablyand substantially to achievethe very objective of VVPAT,”he says.

EVMs made a shaky start in aKerala constituency in 1982 Defeated candidate won in repoll using ballot papers

K.C. Gopakumar

Kochi

The control unit, left, and theballoting unit of ElectronicVoting Machine used in 1982.

Cong. giving fake news: Himanta Assam’s Finance Minister andthe BJP’s chief poll strategistHimanta Biswa Sarma haslabelled the Congress a “fakenews factory” for allegedlypassing off�� a mock drill videofrom Jharkhand as shootingby the Assam police on

protesters against the Citizenship (Amendment)Act. The Assam Congress had shared this video onits Twitter handle, asking voters to watch thevideo before deciding on their vote.

DATA BYTE

65%of the MLAs in Kerala's

Assembly have declared

criminal cases against

themselves, while 21%

have declared serious

criminal cases

37%of the MLAs in West

Bengal's Assembly have

declared criminal cases

against themselves, while

32% have declared serious

criminal cases

Minister of State for External Aff��airs V. Muraleedharanspeaks on the BJP’s chances in the Assembly election inKerala.

What is the thinking around

pushing for a chief

ministerial candidate on

behalf of the BJP in the

Kerala Assembly polls,

specifi��cally with regard to E.

Sreedharan?

■ On Thursday, I had seensome news media reportsthat Mr. Sreedharan was decided on as a chief ministerialface. But later on, when Ispoke to the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) State unit president, who said that duringthe course of his speech, related to issues of development in Kerala, he had saidthat people would like to seea Chief Minister like E.Sreedharan in place of Pinarayi Vijayan or OommenChandy. This was misunderstood by the media as an announcement and it was reported, but since no such

announcement has beenmade, a clarifi��cation wasmade.

But is the Kerala unit veering

around to the view that a

chief ministerial face needs

to be projected?

■ It has not been discussedwith me at least, possiblywith the State unit president,whatever the case, it will beacceptable to me as a partyworker.

The BJP claims that it has up

to 15% vote in Kerala, but

your performance in the

recently concluded local

body polls has not been

encouraging. How do you

square your claims with

what happened in the local

body poll?

■ First of all, even in the local

body polls we polled a similarnumber in poll percentage,and we can’t say that theBJP’s performance was notgood. We are the only partythat improved its performance from the last timearound, we saw an increasein the number of seats wewon.

Who do you consider your

main rival in Kerala, the

Communist Party of India

Marxist (CPIM)led Left

Democratic Front (LDF) or

the Congressled United

Democratic Front (UDF)?

■ Both. We don’t diff��erentiate between the two, as wedon’t think that they are inany way diff��erent from eachother. Governments led byboth parties have had corruption allegations laid againstthem.

But whose victory will be

more advantageous to your

future expansion?

■ We like to think that our

growth will be regardless andwe would like to win decisively.

The Sabarimala issue had

given a lot of traction to the

BJP in Kerala but the local

body polls again did not

refl��ect this traction. Is the

Sabarimala issue still alive

for the BJP?

■ I don’t think that any issue

is there for years together, issues keep on changing, butBJP is the only party in Keralathat has grown steadily from6% vote to 15%16%. We havealmost tripled our strength.In Sabarimala in the 2019polls, people felt that the LeftFront government should betaught a lesson, and thoughBJP was at the forefront of theagitation, they felt that forthem to ensure the defeat ofCPI(M), they should vote forthe UDF.

But in the local body polls,

the LDF did well in areas

around Sabarimala.

■ See, Lok Sabha electionsare diff��erent from local bodyelections and, going ahead,issues in the Assembly pollswill be even more diff��erent.So one cannot compare oneelection to another.

Then, if not Sabarimala,

what will be the main plank

for your campaign?

■ Development that the BJP

can bring and the misrule byboth the LDF and UDF governments.

On the question of

development, Kerala ranks

quite high in all sorts of

development indices and the

current government has

gathered kudos for its

handling of the pandemic as

well, so won’t that be a

diffi��cult narrative to defeat?

■ See, you also might haveread the reports, that now almost 70% of COVID19 casesare from Kerala and Maharashtra. Secondly, if Keralaranks so high on development indices, how come Kerala has the largest number ofexpatriates? People [are] notfi��nding jobs in the State and[are] having to travel out. Yes,the State ranks high in termof human capital, it’s an educated society with hard working people, called ‘God’s OwnCountry’, but this hard workis not used up in Kerala. So,development is not there inthe way that it should be.

INTERVIEW | V. MURALEEDHARAN

‘BJP is the only party to better performance in Kerala’Minister of State for External Aff��airs says the party has not decided on a chief ministerial face for the State

Nistula Hebbar

<>We don’tdiff��erentiate

between the UDFand LDF, as we don’tthink that they are inany way diff��erentfrom each other

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

FROM PAGE ONE

garding protocols,” the report noted.

State offi��cials reportedproblems in the CoWIN portal and app and ascribed therise in cases in Amravati to a“possible internal mutation(of the virus).”

Early managementAYUSH (traditional medicine including Ayurvedaand Homeopathy) practitioners were still not part ofdeliberations, according tofeedback from the Statesand they suggested “mainstreaming of AYUSH” formanaging cases at an earlystage.

“Role of media has beenerratic — focussing on nonissues such as AEFIs (Adverse Events Following Injection (with vaccine) andignoring issues such as promotion of vaccination nowthat vaccine has arrived,”the report said.

The report noted that people believed that this was adisease only of urban areasand were, therefore, not following COVID19 appropriate behaviour.

The team called on the Maharashtra Chief Minister aswell as those at the forefrontof the COVID19 management exercise. It also visitedAmravati, Yavatmal, Nagpur, Pune and Thane.

According to the report,the State “desired” that theCentre should indicate thetotal numbers to be vaccinated and leave actual process to the State, with “morefl��exibility” in vaccination,including use of private hospitals, time fl��exibility anddata management.

The Central team suggested that Maharashtra involverevenue and police offi��cialsin “mission mode and zeal.”

In Nagpur, the team reported, some senior doctorsand specialists were not attending to COVID19 patients and leaving it to juniors. “Some privatedoctors, Ayurveda practitioners, unqualifi��ed quackswhich are fi��rst point of contact [for patients] may notbe advising/ managing asper protocol. They also haveto be reached out to, retrained and reoriented re

COVID19 cases breach 18,000 again

gures. Nadir Hussian Shah, aresident, said both his legshad to be amputated afterbeing hit by shell shrapnel.

In a changing pattern, Pakistan resorted to unprecedented heavy calibre artillery shelling in June andNovember last year.

“It was no more a minorpickettopicket skirmishbut would engulf a widerange of area immediatelyafter the fi��rst bullet wasfi��red. It was a bloody year in2020, where civilians werefi��nding it hard to fi��nd shelter. We did our best to savetheir lives,” said Junaid Wali,SubDivisional Police Offi��cer, Uri, showing a sophisticated, leadheavy bullet thathit his offi��ce in June lastyear.

Caged communityCircled by multilayeredbarbed fencing on threesides and the PoK pickets onthe fourth side, the peopleof Silikote village live in agrim gated community.

All members of around 16households in the villagehave to share their biometrics with the Army everytime they pass through thesingle, wellguarded entry.

“No one would like to livein a cage. The Army closesthe gates by 9 p.m. Our children, many times, get stuckin schools for the nightwhen shelling takes place.But it has been a week andwe hear no exchange of fi��re.We can fi��nally have a calmsleep in the night,” GhulamQadir Chalkoo said.

The 67yearold retiredemployee has come facetoface with trauma often. Helost his wife to Pakistanishelling in 2003 and his sonlost both his legs in 2001when a shell exploded.

About half of the villagers, out of the more thantwo dozen houses, have already left their property inSilikote and shifted to saferlocations in Uri town. Butnot all can aff��ord to do that.“Where will we go? We arefarmers and depend onfi��elds. We lost our concretehouse in shelling last yearand now live in a relative’shouse,” said Saja Begum,pointing to the mound ofdebris which once was herhome.

“The free hand given to thesoldiers earlier is no more invogue,” a soldier, on thecondition of anonymity,said.

At a number of posts withsmall boards reading ‘Noopen movement, sniperzone’, relaxed soldierscould be seen millingaround. Earlier, such zoneswere nogo areas to escapePakistani snipers positionedon the hill slope.

Deep woundsFor the scores of border residents, the peace maycome as a time for healing,though many scars remainfresh.

The eldest of fi��ve siblings,15yearold Shahista Bano,daughter of labourer BashirAhmad Dar, has been forcedto take on the role of a mother. Her mother, Farooqa Begum, was killed on November 13 last year by apowerful shell fi��red fromPoK that hit their home asshe was climbing to the atticto store fi��rewood.

“There was a loud explosion. The house was fi��lledwith light followed by dust. Iturned into a stone. What Isaw later was the mutilatedbody of my mother. She waslying dead, while the smokehad turned every wallblack,” recalled Shahista,her voice overcome withgrief.

Now she takes care of hersiblings, as her father goesto work. “I doubt if I cancontinue my schooling. Mydream of donning the uniform of a policewoman wasdashed with the killing ofmy mother,” the teenagersaid.

Offi��cials said 22 civilianswere killed in the more than5,133 incidents of borderskirmishes along the LoC in2020, the highest number ofviolations since the KargilWar.

Uri — like the border villages of Rajouri, Poonch,Samba, Kathua, Bandiporaand Kupwara districts — tooturned into a theatre of warat least 21 times last year.Five civilians and three soldiers lost their lives, fi��ve suffered major injuries, andaround 16 houses were damaged in the crossborder fi��ring, according to offi��cial fi��

Villagers relish peace asguns fall silent along LoC

Saja Begum, a Silikote resident, showing the mound of debris which was once her house. * NISSAR AHMAD

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Saturdayupped the ante in the LeftDemocratic Front (LDF) government’s standoff�� withCustoms (Preventive) overthe alleged “role” of the toppolitical executive in the foreign currency smuggling aspect of the UAE Consulatelinked illegal gold importation case.

The Customs had taken over the task of disseminating political hyperbole to advantage theBJP (Bharatiya JanataParty)Congress axis inKerala, Mr. Vijayan said.The Customs Commissioner (Preventive) nowspearheaded the propaganda campaign against the LDFgovernment, he added.

The offi��cial had wrongfully impleaded in a case in

which the Prisons and Correctional Department, COFEPOSA detainee SwapnaSuresh and an AssistantCommissioner, Customs(Preventive), were respondents. The offi��cial had thuscreated a fi��g leaf of an excuseto insinuate that Ms. Sureshhad “stated with clarityabout the smuggling of foreign currency at the instance of Hon’ble Chief Minister [Pinarayi Vijayan] and

Hon’ble Speaker [P.Sreeramakrishnan]”.

The offi��cial hadcherrypicked portions of Ms. Suresh’ssworn statement totarnish the government. The offi��cial

had acted like the cat’s pawof the CongressBJP axis, Mr.Vijayan said.

The offi��cial had leaked thestatement to the media to advantage the Opposition; he

had violated the confi��dentialnature of sworn depositions,the CM said.

Legal routeThe government would seeklegal recourse to counter theunabashed act of defamation

and violation of the electioncode. Mr. Vijayan’s defi��anttake on the Central agencycame against the backdropof LDF protest marches toCustoms offi��ces in Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi andKozhikode. The government

also seemed set for a runinwith Commissioner Customs(Preventive) Sumit Kumar,who remarked about theLDF protests in a Facebookpost: “A political party is trying intimidation, will notwork.”

Kerala CM ups the ante in Customs standoff��Customs playing politics to advantageBJPCongress axis, says Pinarayi Vijayan


Thiruvananthapuram

March of dissent: Supporters of the ruling Left Democratic Front taking out a rally to the Customs offi��ce in Kochi on Saturday. * THULASI KAKKAT

The Customs (Preventive)Commissionerate hasasked Vinodini Balakrishnan, wife of former CPI(M)State secretary KodiyeriBalakrishnan, to appearbefore it on March 10 inconnection with a probeinto the foreign currencysmuggling involving offi��cials of the UAE consulatein Thiruvananthapuram.

The agency will question her based on the inference that she has been using one of the expensivecellphones handed over bySanthosh Eapen, managingdirector, Unitac Builders,to Swapna Suresh, secondaccused in the diplomaticbaggage gold smugglingcase, as bribe.

Kodiyeri’s wife to bequestioned


Kochi

A City Civil and SessionsCourt here on Saturdaygranted temporary injunction restraining 67 media organisations, including print,television, digital and socialmedia platforms, from putting out any defamatorynews or showing video footage and pictures about sixCabinet Ministers.

It also restrained themedia from committingany act or intentionalomission which causescharacter assassinationof the plaintiff��Ministers on the basis of unverifi��ed material.

D.S. Vijaya Kumar, 26thAdditional City Civil andSessions Judge, passed theinterim order on a suit fi��ledjointly by A. Shivaram Hebbar, B.C. Patil, H.T. Somashekar, K. Sudhakar, K.C.Narayana Gowda, and ByrathiBasavaraj.

The court noted in itsfi��vepage order that the Ministers had alleged in theirsuit that Ramesh Jarakiholi

resigned from his Cabinetpost after CDs containing video clips purportedly showing him getting intimatewith an unidentifi��ed womanfl��ooded media, whichtermed the episode as “sexscandal for showing offi��cialfavour for a woman beforeverifying the news, its sources and authenticity”.

“... Some of the mediahouses are telecasting/publishing newsthat there are otherCDs containing several sex scandals pertaining to MLAs, Ministers and there arearound 19 CDs of dif

ferent MLAs and Ministersincluding that of an infl��uential politician from Old Mysore region. On the basis ofsuch false news being telecast, members from respective constituency of theplaintiff��s have started calling them and presumingtheir involvement in suchsex scandals. Family members of the plaintiff��s are being put to embarrassing situation,” the court observed.

No to defamatory news or footage


Bengaluru

Court’s fi��at to mediaon Ministers’ appeal

Kannada poet-criticBhatta passes awayBENGALURU

Wellknown Kannada poet,

critic, and translator N.S.

Lakshminarayana Bhatta, 85,

passed away here on

Saturday. Many of his

bhavageethes (lyrical poems)

were set to tune and

popularised through

cassettes in the 1980s. He

taught Kannada literature at

Bengaluru University until his

retirement. He is survived

by wife and two children.

IN BRIEF

Karnataka CongressMLA’s son arrested HASSAN

The Bhadravati police have

arrested Karnataka Congress

MLA B.K. Sangameshwara’s

son Basavesh in connection

with the clash at Kanaka

Mantap grounds in the town

on February 28, in which five

people were injured. So far, 15

people have been arrested.

The MLA had staged a protest

in the Assembly by removing

his shirt to oppose the cases

being booked against him and

his family members in

connection with the clash.

A former Ranji Trophyplayer of the Andhra Pradesh cricket team was arrested on Saturday for allegedly cheating corporatecompanies by impersonating the personal secretaryof Telangana IT and Industries Minister K.T. RamaRao.

Budumuru Nagaraju, 25,from Yavvaripet village inAndhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district was apprehended by the sleuths ofHyderabad Commissioner’s Task Force (NorthZone), after he reportedlyextorted ₹��39.22 lakh fromnine corporates inHyderabad.

Impersonating the ITMinister’s personal secretary Bandari Tirupathi,Nagaraju recently phonedthe company heads informing them that Mr. Raowould soon be “sworn in asthe Chief Minister of Telangana” and they had to “arrange money for his swearingin ceremony, whichwould be held at LB Stadium”, the investigators said.

“He demanded moneyfrom them [the corporates]for erecting hoardings, giving advertisements in printand electronic media, forthe swearinginceremony,” Commissioner of Police Anjani Kumar said.

He said that since 2018,the accused was involvedin 10 cases in both Telangana and A.P., and this yearalone, nine more caseswere booked against him.

Former Ranjiplayer held forimpersonation

Staff Reporter

Hyderabad

Acting on the nostalgia fordoubledecker buses, whichonce plied on the roads ofHyderabad city, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has calledfor tenders for 25 such buses.

Offi��cials said that at itspeak, TSRTC’s fl��eet strengthof doubledecker buses hadbeen less than 100. But, dueto practical issues, such as

increased need for manpower, low fuel effi��ciency, andchanging road conditions,the buses had to be phasedout in the early 2000s.

“Regular buses had onedriver and one conductor,whereas the doubledeckershad two conductors. Interms of fuel effi��ciency, ordinary buses yield around4.5 km per litre (kmpl) andthe doubledeckers ranaround 2 kmpl. They weremade by Leyland and the fabrication was done by Allwyn, a fi��rm that shut in themid1990s,” an offi��cial said.

Another offi��cial said thatafter calculating the cost be

nefi��t, the buses were eitherscrapped or auctioned. “Thebuses could not be redeployed on any route. Backthen, standees on the upperdeck were not allowed. Butoverall, people enjoyed theride,” he said.

The move to reintroducethese buses came after aTwitter user posted a photoof a doubledecker on TankBund. This caught the attention of Information Technology Minister K. T. Rama Rao,who quotetweeted the Twitter user, tagging TransportMinister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and asking him if anything could be done about it.

Doubledeckers to delight Hyderabad againA tweet spursTelangana govt.to call tendersSyed Mohammed

HYDERABAD

Old city charm: One of Hyderabad’s doubledecker buses,which was phased out two decades ago. * FILE PHOTO

Twentyfour persons, including three governmentschool teachers from Telangana, associated with IndusViva (IndusViva HealthSciences Pvt. Ltd.), a ₹��1,500crore multilevel marketingbusiness with over 10 lakhmembers across the country, were arrested by theCyberabad Commissionerate’s Economic Off��encesWing here on Saturday. Over₹��20 crore in various bank accounts were frozen.

Commissioner of PoliceV.C. Sajjanar said thearrested include IndusViva’s CEO AbhilashThomas, 40; COOPrem Kumar, 39; director MandalanenSubramanyam, 57;and governmentschool teachers, MuluguVenkatesh, 45, from Yadagirigutta, Kasani Shesha Rao,47, from Khammam, andManepu Hari Prasad, 40,from Miryalaguda. The

teachers took long leave topromote the MLM trade andwere earning more than ₹��10

lakh per month. Theirwives were also takeninto custody. Based onthe complaint lodgedby a victim, Gachibowlipolice fi��led a caseagainst the fi��rm on February 20.

The victim told the policethat he was cheated by thecompany that promoted itsproducts like coff��ee andjuice by off��ering attractiveincome. He was attracted to

the schemes and invested₹��12,500 in Indus Viva. “Thecomplainant didn’t receiveany commission on his investment as promised bypromoters. Later, he realised that he had been cheated and approached police,”Mr. Sajjanar said.

He said the scheme of thecompany was to earn moneyby enrolling members in Indus Viva Plan and Compensation Plan. To become amember, one had to pay₹��12,500 and buy their products and then, they wouldreceive a 100point value.Then the member would beissued a user ID and password for continuing in thescheme. More than 1 lakh people were duped from Telangana.

“The member (who already joined the companyscheme/business) has to enrol two other members inthe scheme. Thus, the member has to enrol more members to earn money,” thecommissioner said.

₹��1,500 crore fi��rm has over 10 lakh members across India

Staff Reporter

Hyderabad

CEO among 24 personsarrested for MLM fraud

The fi��rm promised manyincentives for enrolling moremembers * ISTOCKPHOTO

In what is claimed to be thefi��rstofitskind gender inclusive community policing initiative in the country, theCyberabad police on Saturday inaugurated a ‘Transgender Community Desk’ at Gachibowli Police Station.

Commissioner of PoliceV.C. Sajjanar said the deskwill be managed by a policeliaison offi��cer and a transgender person who is designated as community coordinator. “It will be the focalpoint for all grievance redressal among the transgender community in the Cyberabad Commissionerate.The desk will provide support to fi��le cases in off��encesrelated to violence or dis

crimination against anytransgender person,” hesaid.

Among other services, thedesk will also provide counselling, legal aid, life skills,

soft skills training, job placements, and referral linkagesto welfare schemes in partnership with the Department of Women and ChildWelfare, and District Legal

Services Authority. According to Mr. Sajjanar,

a couple of multinationalcompanies have alreadycome forward off��ering jobs.The Society for CyberabadSecurity Council (SCSC) willalso organise monthly training, employability, lifeskilltraining, and facilitate accessto job opportunities, whilePrajwala, a nongovernmental organisation, would assistthe desk to facilitate a safespace for any transgenderperson who needs emergency transit stay.

Over 200 transgenderpersons participated in theevent, during which Mr. Sajjanar spoke about the needto build an inclusive societyensuring equal opportunities for all.

Now, a help desk for transgenders ‘Transgender Community Desk’ at Cyberabad ensures gender inclusive policing

Police Commissioner V.C. Sajjanar, activist Sunitha Krishnanand members of the transgender community at theGachibowli Police Station in Hyderabad. * NAGARA GOPAL

Staff Reporter

Hyderabad

Couple forced to sellbaby to clear debt HUBBALI

The Dharwad police have

arrested six persons over the

alleged sale of an infant.

The accused had loaned

₹��50,000 to a couple, which

they could not repay. The

accused then forced them to

sell their monthold boy to

another couple and took back

their money. Later the mother

approached the police. The

baby is now with the Child

Protection Committee.

Telangana EAMCET to be held from July 5HYDERABAD

Telangana State Engineering,

Agriculture and Medical

Common Entrance Test (TS

EAMCET) will be conducted

from July 5 to 9 in two

sessions every day. The test

for agriculture and medical

streams will be held on July 5

and 6. The test for enginee

ring courses will be held from

July 7 to 9. The notification

will be released on March 18.

Applications can be submit

ted online from March 20.

CMYK

A ND-NDE

DELHI THE HINDU


NEWS

The Nandigram Assembly seat inWest Bengal’s Purba Medinipurdistrict is all set for a mega political contest with the BJP on Saturday nominating Suvendu Adhikari to take on Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee.

This comes a day after Ms. Banerjee announced that she willcontest from Nandigram insteadof Bhawanipur in Kolkata. TheTrinamool supremo is expectedto arrive in Nandigram on March9 and will fi��le nomination papers on March 11. The constituency will go to the polls in the second phase on April 1.

Soon after the announcement, the BJP supporters in Nandigram came out on the streets

hailing it. Nandigram came intoprominence in March 2007when 14 villagers were killed in

police fi��ring and subsequent violence while protesting againstforcible land acquisition by the

CPI(M)led Left Front government. Both Ms. Banerjee and Mr.Adhikari were the most prominent faces leading the fi��ghtagainst the Left regime.

The BJP on Saturday announced the list of 57 candidatesout of the 60 Assembly seats thatwill go to the polls in the fi��rst twophases. This included formerIPS offi��cer and State vicepresident Bharati Ghosh from the Debra seat and former cricketerAshok Dinda from the Moynaseat.

The BJP left Baghmundi in Purulia district to its ally All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). It isyet to announce candidates forthree seats in the fi��rst and second phases on March 27 andApril 1 respectively.

It’s Adhikari vs Mamata in NandigramBoth led the fi��ght against the Left regime following 2007 violence in the town

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

Connecting with people: A fi��le photo of West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee addressing a public rally in Nandigram. * PTI

Former Union Minister and Trinamool Congress MP DineshTrivedi on Saturday joined theBJP, less than a month after heannounced his resignation fromthe Rajya Sabha on February 12.

Mr. Trivedi, who joined theparty in the presence of BJP president J.P. Nadda, said this wasthe “golden moment that I waswaiting for”.

Recounting his experience inthe TMC, without naming theparty, he said “there, the otherparty, one family is served”, butin the BJP, the public wasserved. He said the people ofBengal told him they were tiredof corruption and violence, eve

ryone would complain to himabout the corruption and violence by “your people”, referring to the TMC.

While welcoming Mr. Trivedi,Mr. Nadda said he used to tellthe former Minister that he was“the right person in the wrongparty”, and now that hadchanged.

Former Trinamool MPDinesh Trivedi joins BJPMove follows his resignation from the RS


NEW DELHI

Dinesh Trivedi

Several leaders of the Trinamool Congress including half adozen MLAs have come out inthe open protesting against theparty decision to deny themticket. Some of them brokedown before journalists whileexpressing disappointment andsome expressed willingness tojoin the BJP.

The list includes Sonali Guha,Satgachia MLA and close confi��dant of Chief Minister MamataBanerjee. “Why did she do thisto me. I was like her familymember… She did not even callto tell me why I was denied ticket,” Ms. Guha said.

She said she approached BJPleader Mukul Roy and was keenon joining the saff��ron party. Dipali Saha, MLA from Sonamukhi

in Bankura, who was also denied ticket joined the BJP on Saturday.

The MLAs who could nothide their emotions includeMoinuddin Shams (Nalhati), Naresh Barui (Dubrajpur) andShampa Daripa (Bankura). JatuLahiri, 84, MLA from Shibpur in

Howrah district, also announced his decision to quit theTMC. Party strongman andformer MLA Arabul Islam has also made his disappointment public after being denied ticketfrom Bhangar in South 24Parganas.

Not only were there protestsbut supporters blocked prominent roads and national highways and in places like Bhangarattacked party offi��ces.

Sources in the Trinamool saidthere was no question of any alterations to the list announcedon Saturday.

The list is a result of carefulsurveys conducted over the pastseveral months and the partyhas given importance to winnability.

More than 26 MLAs havebeen dropped from the list.

Many Trinamool MLAs denied

ticket keen on joining BJP Nomination made after careful surveys, says Bengal ruling party

Shiv Sahay Singh

Kolkata

Sonali Guha

Hundreds of farmers, including women, held ablockade at fi��ve points onthe 135km KundliManesarPalwal Expressway,connecting fi��ve districts ofHaryana, on Saturday tomark 100 days of the agitation around Delhi inprotest against the farmlaws.

The protests led to traffi��c snarls at a few pointsand the police divertedtraffi��c to avoid inconvenience to the commuters.

In response to a callfrom the Samyukt KisanMorcha, joint front of thefarmer unions, the farmers from various protestsites along the highway as

sembled at diff��erentpoints on the road around11 a.m. They blocked thetraffi��c at two points eachin Sonipat and Jhajjar districts, besides at a toll plaza in Palwal. No blockades

were reported in Nuh andGurugram.

Sonipat SP JashandeepSingh Randhawa told TheHindu that hundreds ofprotesters had laid ablockade at Kundli and

Kharkhoda leading to traffi��c snarls. He said the traffi��c headed to Delhi fromChandigarh was divertedat four points: Haldana,Gannaur, Murthal and Bahalgarh. The police hadalso issued a traffi��c advisory on Friday.

In Jhajjar, the farmerslaid blockade at Badli andAsoda and traffi��c was diverted at 10 points. Thepolice, however, claimedthe traffi��c fl��ow wassmooth. In Gurugram, thetraffi��c headed towards theKMP Expressway was diverted at Farrukhnagar.

Many farmers supported by “Khaps” walked tothe toll plaza on the KMPExpressway in Palwal andlaid blockade.

Farmers in Haryana block highway Traffi��c snarls and diversions seen at many points on 100 days of protest

100 days: Farmers blocking KundliManesarPalwalExpressway in Haryana on Saturday. * SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Ashok Kumar

GURUGRAM

The Supreme Court’s initiative to begin hybrid physical hearings from March 15sailed into rough waterswith lawyers rejecting themechanism while allegingthat it was announcedwithout consulting them.

They have even decidedto fi��le a case in the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA), a powerful lawyers’ body, saidthe court has “unilaterallythrust” the standard operating procedure (SOP) forthe hybrid hearings uponthe lawyers.

The SCBA, in a press release, said it has “unanimously resolved and decided” to reject the SOP andfi��le a writ petition in the Supreme Court, challengingits very legality.

SCBA president, senioradvocate Vikas, said theSOP was prepared by thecourt without “taking intoconfi��dence the Bar” despite assurances from theChief Justice of India.

Lawyers rejectSC’s hybridhearing move

Legal Correspondent

NEW DELHI

The State Election Commission on Saturday declared the polls of two District Development Council(DDC) seats as “null andvoid” after two womenfrom Pakistan OccupiedKashmir (PoK), married tolocals from the Valley, contested the elections in December last year.

“The SEC in exercise ofthe powers conferred under Section 36 of Jammuand Kashmir PanchayatiRaj Act, 1989 has declaredthe polling to the DDC constituency Drugmulla andHajin (A) as void, cancelling the candidature of Soomia Sadaf and Shazia Aslam,” an SEC order reads.

The SEC has ordered arepoll. An offi��cial said acomplaint was received bythe polling authorities,which mentioned that“both are residents of Muzaff��arabad, PoK, and an illegal entrant into the country and therefore are notcitizens of India.”

SEC cancelstwo DDCpolls in J&KSpecial Correspondent

Srinagar

Assam Pradesh Congress Committe president Ripun Bora, aformer BJP MP Ram Prasad Sarma and son of former Union Minister Pawan Singh Ghatowarwere among the fi��rst list of 40Congress candidates released bythe party late on Saturday.

While Mr. Bora, a sitting RajyaSabha member, will be contesting from the Gohpur constituency, Mr. Sarma, who had joinedthe Congress after representingthe Tezpur Lok Sabha seat on aBJP ticket, is the party candidate from Barchalla.

Leader of the Opposition andCongress Legislature Party (CLP)leader, Debabrata Saikia has alsobeen named from his constituency of Nazira while the Deputy Legislature Party leader Rakibul Hussain will again contest

from the Samuguriconstituency.

Earlier on Friday, ahead ofthe expected announcement ofthe list of party candidates, AllIndia Mahila Congress presidentSushmita Dev expressed her re

sentment to party president Sonia Gandhi.

“I feel hurt because I have notbeen consulted in the process ofselecting candidates and wasnot even invited to related meetings,” she said.

Ripun Bora, former BJP MP inCongress fi��rst list for AssamParty’s Mahila unit chief Sushmita Dev expresses disappointment


New Delhi/GUWAHATI

Conveying his strong appreciation for the “resolute dedication” shownby the armed forces overthe past year, in the context of the COVID pandemic and the challenging situation on thenorthern border, PrimeMinister Narendra Modion Saturday advised theservices to “rid them

selves of legacy systemsand practices that haveoutlived their utility andrelevance.” Mr. Modi wasaddressing the valedictory session of the threeday Combined Commanders Conference (CCC) atKevadia in Gujarat.

“Prime Ministerstressed the importanceof enhancing indigenisation in the national security system, not just in

sourcing equipment andweapons but also in thedoctrines, proceduresand customs practised inthe armed forces,” astatement from thePrime Minister’s Offi��cesaid. The annual CCCbrings together the military commanders andtop offi��cers of the threeServices and civilian leadership in the nationaldefence system.

Abandon legacy systems: PM Calls for indigenisation of doctrines in armed forces


NEW DELHI

The body of the youngman allegedly killed infi��ring by the Nepal policewas handed over to Indian authorities after several rounds of talks following which his familyperformed the last riteshere, offi��cials said onSaturday.

Govinda Singh, 24,

was shot at on Thursdayin a village in Nepal nearthe border. His body wasgiven late Friday night after a postmortem by Nepalese authorities, saidPilibhit SP Jai PrakashYadav.

He said Nepalese offi��cials were terming it acase of smuggling, but locals maintain the fi��ringtook place following a

minor argument.Though authorities

had initially said the Nepalese police had fi��red atthree people, the policesaid late on Friday the incident in a market inKanchanpur district involved four men, all intheir 20s. They werefrom Bhumidan Raghavpuri Tilla Chaar village inPilibhit.

People deny Nepal claim that it was a smuggling case


Pilibhit (U.P.)

Nepal hands over body of man

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

The Congress on Saturdayreleased the names of 13candidates who will becontesting in the fi��rst twophases of the Assembly polls inWest Bengal. The party is inalliance with the Left parties

and the Indian Secular Front. The list includes fi��ve

candidates for the fi��rst phaseand eight for the second. MLANepal Mahato will contest fromthe Baghmundi seat in Puruliadistrict, Debu Chatterjee fromBishnupur and Samir Roy fromthe Kharagpur Sadar seat.

Party releases names of 13 candidates in Bengal Special Correspondent

Kolkata

CMYK

A ND-NDE


THE HINDU DELHI


NEWS

SUDOKU

Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Close to 2 crore COVID19vaccine doses have been administered since the programme began on January 16with 7.6 lakh senior citizensand 1.4 lakh persons agedabove 45 and with comorbidities getting their fi��rstdose on Saturday.

Nearly 70 lakh healthcareworkers (HCWs) have beenvaccinated with at least onedose of either Covaxin orCovishield and 34 lakh ofthem have got their followup doses after at least fourweeks, the recommendedschedule. Nearly 63 lakhfrontline workers (FLWs)have been inoculated withone dose with 14 lakh gettinga second dose.

The second phase of thevaccination drive appears to

be inoculating more peoplethan during the fi��rst phase ofthe exercise.

Close to 7 to 8 lakh have

been inoculated for mostdays last week as opposed tothe 1 to 3 lakh HCWs workersin the early weeks of the vac

cination programme. The second dose of CO

VID19 vaccination startedon February 13, 2021 for

those benefi��ciaries who havecompleted 28 days after thefi��rst dose. Vaccination of theFLWs started on February 2.

The second phase of COVID19 vaccination commenced from March 1, 2021for those who were over 60years of age and for peopleaged 45 and above with specifi��ed comorbid conditions.

So far 3.5 lakh benefi��ciaries aged more than 45 yearswith specifi��c comorbiditieshave got their fi��rst dose and24 lakh who are 60 andabove have got their fi��rstdoses. The governmentplans to inoculate at least300 million of the HCW,FLW, seniors and the specifi��csubset of those over 45 bySeptember. Unless there is amassive acceleration in vaccination this exercise mightextend well into 2022.

Inoculations inch close to 2 croreMore vaccinations in second phase since March 1 with an average of 7 to 8 lakh a day last week SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI

Waiting their turn: Senior citizens wait to register themselves for the fi��rst dose of COVID19vaccine, at a hospital in Bengaluru on Saturday. * MURALI KUMAR K.

The Election Commissionhas asked the Health Ministry to come up with a way inthe next few days to ensurethat COVID19 vaccine recipients in the pollboundStates and Union Territorydon’t get certifi��cates withPrime Minister NarendraModi’s photo on it till theModel Code (MCC) is inforce, sources said onSaturday.

As part of the drive, thosewho receive the vaccine candownload a certifi��cate fromthe centralised CoWIN portal and app. The certifi��catecarries the photo which, according to sources, goesagainst the EC’s standing instructions on use of imagesof living political functionar

ies in government advertisements during elections.

A senior EC offi��cial saidthe Ministry was asked tofollow the MCC in letter andspirit. The EC asked the Ministry to come up with atechnical solution to removethe photo in the next coupleof days. Elections to the Assemblies of Assam, WestBengal, Kerala, Tamil Naduand Puducherry were announced on February 26,while the vaccination drivebegan in January.

Asked for comment, aHealth Ministry offi��cial said:“We will peruse the instructions of the ECI and thencomply with its directions.”

The Trinamool Congresshad taken up the issue withthe EC on March 2, demanding removal of the photo.

Remove PM’s photo, EC tells Health Ministry Vaccine certifi��cate violates poll code

Damini Nath

NEW DELHI The Editors Guild of India(EGI) has called upon thegovernment to put the Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines andDigital Media Ethics Code)Rules, 2021 in abeyance,saying the guidelines canundermine mediafreedom.

In a statement on Friday,the EGI said it was “deeplyconcerned” about the recent notifi��cation of therules and asked the government to consult thestakeholders.

“The Rules, issued under the Information Technology Act, 2000, fundamentally alter howpublishers of news operateover the Internet and havethe potential to seriouslyundermine media freedom. They empower theUnion government toblock, delete or modify published news anywhere inthe country without anyjudicial oversight and mandate all publishers to establish a grievance redressalmechanism,” the EGI said.

It said some provisionsof the rules could put unreasonable restrictions ondigital news media.

“The EGI is concernedthat the government didnot consult stakeholdersbefore notifying these farreaching rules. The Guildurges the government toput the rules in abeyanceand conduct meaningfulconsultation with all stakeholders. The governmentmust take note of the factthat in the name of reiningan unfettered social mediait cannot overwhelm constitutional safeguards forfree media that has beenthe cornerstone of our democracy,” the EGI said.

‘Put off�� ITrules, consultstakeholders’


NEW DELHI

Days after the Sri Lankan Cabinet decided to allocate Colombo’s West Container Terminal (WCT) to an AdaniGroup consortium to compensate for cancelling theEast Container Terminal(ECT) agreement, previouslysigned by India and Japan,both New Delhi and Tokyohave signalled their distancing from the decision.

“Our High Commission inColombo has already conveyed to the Government ofSri Lanka (GoSL) that theirmedia release, in so far astheir reference to the approval of the (Indian) High Commission, is factually incor

rect,” Ministry of ExternalAff��airs (MEA) spokespersonAnurag Srivastava said onFriday, speaking about theCabinet notifi��cation issuedon March 1 (https://www.dgi.gov.lk/news/cabinetdecisions) that had saidthe proposal presented bythe Adani group and SpecialEconomic Zone Ltd, a consortium called APSEZ, hadbeen “approved” by the Indian High Commission.

“We understand thatGoSL has engaged directlywith investors on this project,” added Mr. Srivastava,indicating that New Delhihad not been apprised of thenegotiations directly.

The Japanese governmenthas not yet responded offi��

cially to the Sri Lankan off��erfor the WCT, but it had reacted sharply to being oustedfrom the previous Memorandum of Cooperation (MoC)with India and Sri Lanka forthe neighbouring ECT project, and had called the deci

sion “regrettable”. “We ( Japan) have been in

touch with (governments of )India and Sri Lanka, but Japan has not made any decision regarding the WestCoast Terminal (WCT),” a senior diplomatic offi��cial told

The Hindu on Friday. However, another diplo

matic source said both Indiaand Japan were keen to remain engaged in Sri Lanka.

When it was signed in May2019, the trilateral MoC between India, Japan and SriLanka for the ECT was a governmenttogovernmentagreement, expected to senda strong strategic signal inthe region, as India and Japan planned to collaborateto fund and develop infrastructure projects in SouthAsia, where thus far Chinahad a bigger role. Japan is understood to have off��ered very generous terms at thetime, for a 40year soft loanwith a 0.1% interest rate tohelp fund the ECT.

Japan’s reluctance to accept the WCT off��er instead ofthe ECT could be a blow tothe new agreement, which isnow a publicprivate partnership driven by the Adanigroup.

“In the Sri Lanka port project, Adani group is committed to make investment tothe tune of $400 million (approximately ₹��3,000 cr) to develop the terminal and otherinfrastructure,” a senior Adani Group representative saidin response to a query. Headded that the investmentwould be met from the company’s own resources, andnot linked to funding from Japan.

(With Inputs from MaheshLanga in Ahmedabad)

India, Japan cool to Colombo off��er of new port projectNew Delhi has indicated that it was not directly apprised of negotiations with the private investor

Severed ties: Japan had reacted sharply to being removed fromthe MoC for the East Container Terminal project. * FILE PHOTO

Suhasini Haidar

Meera Srinivasan

NEW DELHI/ColomboRaped on several occasions by two men at the ageof 12, the victim, who hadbecome a mother, has nowlodged a case against theaccused on court orders after her son enquired abouthis father’s name.

About 27 years ago, thevictim was living in the citywith her sister and brotherinlaw. One Naki Hasan hadentered the house whenshe was alone and allegedly raped her, Superintendent of Police (City) SanjayKumar told PTI on Saturday. Mr. Kumar said that after the accused, his younger brother Guddu alsoraped her.

Woman fi��lesrape complaintafter 27 years


Shahjahanpur (U.P.)

At least four of more than 50people who have fl��ed fromcouphit Myanmar to Mizoram are policemen, a letterfrom the head of a borderdistrict in Myanmar hassaid.

Deputy Commissioner ofMizoram’s Champhai district Maria C.T. Zuali confi��rmed having received a letter from Saw Htun Win, hercounterpart in Myanmar’sFalam district on Fridaynight. The letter sought thedetention of “Myanmar police personnel who had runaway towards Indian territories and [their] hand over toMyanmar”.

The offi��cial letter saideight personnel from the

Myanmar police force hadcrossed over to India withfour having reached Mizoram capital Aizawl and fourtaking shelter in Champhai.

“I have received the letterand have intimated theChief Secretary,” Ms. Zualisaid.

There have been reportsof Myanmar police deserting to join the civil disobedience movement, particularly in areas dominated byethnic minorities.

Mizoram’s Home Secretary Sanghchin Chinzah toldjournalists that the State government had sent reportsto the Centre on the peoplecoming in. “We have not received any direction fromthe Ministry of Home Affairs,” she said.

4 policemen among those fl��eeing coup


GUWAHATI

Myanmar seeksreturn of personnel

The Ministry of Home Aff��airs(MHA) has reiteratedthrough a gazette notifi��cation that Overseas Citizens ofIndia (OCI) cardholders canlay claim to “only NRI (NonResident Indian) quotaseats” in educational institutions based on allIndia entrance tests such as NationalEligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET), Joint Entrance Examination (Mains), Joint Entrance Examination (Advanced) or other suchallIndia professional tests.

The notifi��cation also reproduced a part of the guidelines issued by the Ministryon November 15, 2019 regarding benefi��ts to OCI cardholders, which said thatOCIs are not entitled to undertake any “missionary,mountaineering, journalismand tabligh activities” without prior permission of theGovernment of India. Thenotifi��cation provides legalteeth to the guidelines.

The notifi��cation says thatthe OCI cardholder shall berequired to obtain a “specialpermission or a special permit” from the competent

authority or the ForeignersRegional Registration Offi��cer(FRRO) or the Indian Mission“to undertake research, Missionary or Tabligh or Mountaineering or Journalistic activities, undertakeinternship in any foreign diplomatic missions or foreignGovernment organisationsin India or employment inany foreign diplomatic missions in India and visit anyplace which falls within theProtected or Restricted orprohibited areas as notifi��edby the Central Governmentor competent authority”.

OCI citizens are of Indianorigin but they are foreignpassport holders and are notcitizens of India. India does

not allow dual citizenshipbut provides certain benefi��tsunder Section 7B(I) of the Citizenship Act, 1955 to theOCIs.

The fresh notifi��cation replaces three previous notifi��cations issued on the subjecton April 11, 2005; January 5,2007; and January 5, 2009,respectively. The previousnotifi��cations did not specifythe special permission required for “missionary, Tabligh, mountaineering orjournalistic activities” andwere merely part of the November 2019 guidelines.

Petitions fi��led

A Ministry offi��cial said thatseveral OCI cardholder students have fi��led petitions incourts that they are eligibleto get admission against general seats in medical, engineering and other government colleges if they clearthe allIndia tests.

In March 2019, the MHAclarifi��ed to the KarnatakaHigh Court that studentswith OCI cards had “paritywith NonResident Indians(NRIs) and can lay claim onlyon the NRI quota seats basedon the allIndia tests”.

However on December 15,2020, the High Court of Karnataka directed that students under the OCI category are to be considered as“citizens of India” for admission to professional coursesand asked the State government to admit them to undergraduate professionalcourses, including engineering, medical, and dental,even under the governmentand institutional quotas, andnot to restrict their admission only under the NRIquota.

The March 4 notifi��cationby the MHA said that OCIcard holders will have paritywith NRIs in the matter of“appearing for the all Indiaentrance tests such as National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, Joint EntranceExamination (Mains), JointEntrance Examination (Advanced) or such other teststo make them eligible for admission only against anyNonResident Indian seat orany supernumerary seat:Provided that the OCI cardholder shall not be eligiblefor admission against anyseat reserved exclusively forIndian citizens.”

Only NRI quota seats for OCI cardholdersThey can lay claim to the seats based on allIndia entrance exams, says MHA

OCIs cardholders are ofIndian origin but haveforeign passports. * PICTURE

FOR REPRESENTATION


New Delhi

The government is activelyconsidering giving the Institute of National Importancetag to the National School ofDrama (NSD), as well as redeveloping its campus inDelhi, NSD Society chairman and actor Paresh Rawalsaid on Saturday.

The former BJP MP, whowas appointed to the post inSeptember 2020, at a pressconference on Saturday“fl��agged concerns regardingsome of the pending issues”, an NSD statementsaid. He said the status of Institute of National Importance would strengthenNSD, allowing it to awarddegrees, start new coursesand set up new centres.

The NSD was in talks withthe Centre to expedite thematter and the proposal ofredevelopment of the campus was also under activeconsideration, he said. Headded that the redevelopment proposal was discussed at a meeting withHousing and Urban Aff��airsMinister Hardeep Singh Puri

last week.The NSD, which has four

regional centres in Varanasi,Bengaluru, Agartala andGangtok, had received a request from Jammu andKashmir LieutenantGovernor Manoj Sinha recentlyfor setting up a centre inJ&K, he said. He added thatthis would be discussed byNSD Society members andthe government.

He added that the NSDwas planning to digitise itsarchive of inhouse productions and plays to be used asstudy material or for viewing by the public.

NSD likely to get Instituteof Importance status ‘Delhi campus will be redeveloped’


NEW DELHI

NSD Chairman Paresh Rawalin Delhi on Saturday.

* SHIV KUMAR PUSHPAKAR

Muthoot Group ChairmanM.G. George died after a fallin his fourth fl��oor residencein South East Delhi’s AmarColony area on Fridaynight, the police said.

Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (South East) R.P.Meena said he was declaredbrought dead to hospital.

“Enquiry is being conducted and statements havebeen recorded. CCTV cameras are also being checked,”Mr. Meena said. The postmortem was conducted atthe AIIMS.

“No foul play is suspected and inquest proceedingsare on,” he said.

No foul play inGeorge’s death,say policeStaff Reporter

NEW DELHI

“The Shabnam I knew was very diff��erent from the one thatthe world loves to hate.” Usman Saifi�� makes this statement many times during theconversation. The Bulandshahrbased freelance journalist is the foster father ofdeath row convict ShabnamAli’s son Taj.

Shabnam along with herlover Saleem was convicted ofkilling seven members of herfamily, including a 10monthold nephew, in 2008. If executed, she will be the fi��rst woman in independent India tobe hanged for a crime.

On February 18, Shabnam

fi��led a second mercy petitionwith the Governor of UttarPradesh and the President ofIndia, both of whom had earlier rejected her plea. Aroundthe same time, news spreadthat preparations are beingmade in Mathura jail, the onlyone in the country where female convicts could behanged.

The news of her review petition and Taj’s appeal to spareher mother from the gallowsonce again turned the focuson Taj, and Mr. Saifi�� had toplead for privacy from theprobing media. Having spentthe fi��rst six years of his lifewith his mother, Mr. Saifi�� saidTaj understands everything.

“But still he needs to be savedfrom unnecessary questions.We were leading a normal lifebut now it seems everybody inthe neighbourhood is lookingat us,” says Mr. Saifi��. He alsoappreciates his wife Vandana’s role in tiding over socialpressures. “It was she who decided not to have our ownchild.”

People in Amroha districtof western Uttar Pradesh callShabnan stonehearted, thejudiciary described her crimeas “the rarest of rare”, particularly because she committedparricide despite being educated. But Mr. Saifi�� remembers Shabnam, a double MA inEnglish and Geography, as acaring senior who used totreat him as her youngerbrother.

“We would often travel onthe same bus from our respec

tive villages in Amroha to college. When I failed in the second year of graduation andwanted to quit education, shepushed me to fi��ll the improvement form and paid my fees.Once when some criminal elements got into a spat with mein the bus, she intervened andstood by me.” So, when thenews of the sensational murder broke out in April 2008,Mr. Saifi�� refused to believethat how a Shiksha Mitra (as

sistant teacher in primaryschool) could commit such aheinous crime. “From 2012, Itried multiple times to meether in jail, but she refused.”

When Shabnam was arrested, she was about threemonths pregnant and gavebirth to Taj in December2008. “As a friend, I felt it wasmy social responsibility toadopt the child.” It was afterTaj moved with Mr. Saifi�� thatShabnam started opening up.“When she was in Moradabadjail, she used to cover herface. It was diffi��cult to readher face.” When she was shifted to Rampur jail, Mr. Saifi��says her attitude changed.“She would not talk aboutwhat led to the crime. This February, she said that shedidn’t commit the crime andthat she wanted a CBI inquiry.”

‘The Shabnam I knew was diff��erent from the one the world hates’Freelance journalist and friend talksabout the fi��rst woman convict on deathrow in independent India

Usman Saifi�� with Taj. * SPECIAL

ARRANGEMENT.

Anuj Kumar

Ghaziabad

CMYK

A ND-NDE

WORLDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

DELHI THE HINDU


For the fi��rst time in itspostNazi history, a political party in Germany

is offi��cially under surveillance. Germany’s Federal Offi��ce for the Protection of theConstitution, also known asthe BfV, has classifi��ed the farright Alternative for Germany (AfD) as a “suspectedcase” with links to rightwingextremism. This means German security agents canmonitor AfD party members, tap their phones, readtheir emails, and scrutinisethe party’s sources offunding.

AfD leaders reacted angrily to the decision, describingit as a politically motivatedattempt by the Angela Merkelled government to sabotage its prospects in an election year by putting them “inthe Nazi corner”. It is truethat the move comes at the

beginning of anelection season. Sixof Germany’s 16States go to the polls

this year while the countrywill hold general elections inSeptember, when Ms. Merkel will depart as Chancellor.However, except for the AfD,which has challenged the decision in court, most partieshave welcomed the move.

The decision marks theculmination of a twoyearlong investigation into theactivities of the AfD’s youthdivision and the ‘Flugel’ (theWing), an extremist unit ofthe party. As the courts review the legality of monitoring the entire party, the BfVhas said, for now, incumbentlawmakers and those contesting the September elections will be exempt fromsurveillance, indicating thatthe tracking would be confi��ned to lowerlevel partymembers. But formal surveillance, even if a limitedone, could impact the per

ception battle ahead of theelections and put the AfD ata disadvantage.

The AfD was founded in2013 as a eurosceptic party.But in 201516, when Germany welcomed 1.2 million refugees, it morphed into aplatform for antiimmigrant,antiMuslim politics, afterwhich its popularity soared.In the 2017 federal elections,it emerged as the largest Opposition party, securing12.6% vote and 94 seats. Theparty is also represented inall the 16 State Parliamentsand the EuropeanParliament.

‘Sense of betrayal’The AfD has always enjoyedgreater support in what usedto be East Germany, in Stateslike Saxony, Brandedburgand Thuringia. In theseparts, sections of societythat could not plug into theprosperity of postunifi��cation Germany felt abandoned by the federal government. Their resentment wasalready high when the Merkel administration began towelcome refugees and spendon their welfare. The AfDstoked the sense of betrayalfelt by many in eastern Germany — the sense that a government that has done littlefor them, even though they‘arrived’ in 1990, is seeming

ly laying out the red carpetfor ‘foreigners’ who are noteven German, don’t speaktheir language, and follow areligion that “isn’t German”.The AfD’s manifesto proclaims that “Islam does notbelong to Germany”.

As the AfD’s popularityrose, Germany saw a spike inhate crimes targeting immigrants. As per offi��cial fi��gures,the country witnessedaround 900 Islamophobichate crimes in 2020, with 80mosques attacked duringthe year. The deadliest attack was the shooting spreeby a farright extremist in Hanau in February 2020, inwhich 11 people were killed.At the same time, AfD politicians have been serial off��enders when it comes to antiimmigrant, antiMuslim andeven antiSemitic rhetoric,with some going so far as tobreak the nation’s biggest taboo — trying to whitewash itsNazi past. For instance, theparty’s leader of the Opposition Alexander Gauland described the Nazi era as just a“speck of bird poo” on German history. The AfD’s Thuringia head Bjorn Hocke saidGermany was “crippled” byits “politics of remembrance” about the Holocaustand must “reverse it by 180degrees”. Speaking of Muslim migrants, another AfD

politician Christian Luthsaid, “We can always shootthem later. That’s not an issue. Or gas them, as youwish.” The AfD had to expelLuth following public outrage over this comment.

Right-wing violence Frequent outbreaks of rightwing violence — a promigrant politician was shotdead in June 2019, and a synagogue was attacked in Hallein October 2019 — appears tobe one of the reasons behindthe recent dip in the AfD’spopularity. The other factorhas been infi��ghting, withsome leaders calling for extremist members to be expelled in the larger interestsof the party, which theywant to project as a viable alternative for a conservativemiddle class that wantsnothing to do with neoNazis. Instances of rightwingviolence have also sparkedlarge rallies demanding thatthe state act against extremist platforms.

While AfD leaders havesought refuge in free speechrights, Germany’s postWarConstitution is stringent onone aspect: preventing thereturn of Nazi ideology. Asthe Merkel administrationmoves to stop the normalisation of hate, it believes it haspublic sentiment and theConstitution on its side. Withrightwing populism on therise in many parts of theworld, it is signifi��cant thatthe political establishmentin Germany, Europe’s mostpowerful economy, is bucking the trend of liberalcentrists shying away from confronting the farrightheadon, and instead, showing the political sagacity towield the powers of the statein defense of the constitutional order. Setting this example could well be Ms. Merkel’s parting gift to Germany,Europe and beyond.

ALTERNATIVE FOR GERMANY

The party can’t go on Germany has put the AfD under surveillance for ties with right-wing extremism

G. Sampath

When Min Aung Hlaing became Myanmar’s military chief

in 2011, the country wastransitioning into quasi democracy. The military hadintroduced a new Constitution in 2008, a year after theviolent crackdown of theBuddhist monks who led the‘saff��ron revolution’.

Senior General ThanShwe, who had been in power since 1992, had handedpowers to a new transitiongovernment of PresidentThan Sein, a former militaryoffi��cer. Aung San Suu Kyi andmany other political prisoners were released. All eyeswere on the littleknownGeneral Min Aung Hlaing,who was described by blogger Hla Oo, who knew thecommander from his childhood, as “a battlehardenedwarrior of the brutal Burmese Army”.

Initially, the General endorsed the government’s efforts to reach out to the political opposition and initiate apeace process with diff��erentinsurgent groups. When Ms.Suu Kyyi’s National Leaguefor Democracy (NLD) sweptthe 2015 election, the military accepted the results.

But the political peace didnot last long. When the NLDswept the 2020 election witha bigger mandate, the UnionSolidarity and DevelopmentParty (USDP), a proxy of themilitary, alleged electionfraud. On February 1, Gen.Min Aung Hlaing carried outthe third coup in the country’s history, declaring astate of emergency and detaining elected leaders, including Ms. Suu Kyi and President Win Myint.

Ever since, the Myanmarmilitary has unleashed violence on protesters, killingover 50 people. International criticism is mounting. But

the man behind the coup appears to be unmoved. TheTatmadaw, as the Myanmarmilitary that controlled thecountry through direct rulefor about 50 years is called,is notorious for its repressivetactics. The soldiers hadkilled hundreds of protestersin the past, incarceratedthousands of activists and established a system in whichthe Tatmadaw’s interests areperennially protected.

Partial democracy Even when the military allowed partial democracy,the Generals resisted evensuggestions from NLD leaders to change the militarywritten Constitution that hasreserved a quarter of seats inParliament and three key ministries in the government—defence, border and homeaff��airs — for the soldiers.Gen. Min Aung Hlaing nevercommitted to full transition.In 2015, a few months beforethe elections, he said he hadno timeline for full civilianrule: “It could be fi��ve yearsor it could be 10 years, Icouldn’t say.” In fi��ve years,he ended even the partial civilian rule.

Born in the southern cityof Dawei in 1956, Min AungHlaing did his school andcollege education in Yangon.He graduated in law in Yan

gon university before entering the elite Defense ServicesAcademy in 1974. As a commanding offi��cer, he led several military campaignsagainst the country’s myriadrebels. But his rise to the topechelons of the powerfulmilitary was sealed after heled the 2009 off��ensiveagainst the Myanmar Nationalities Democratic AllianceArmy, an insurgents group inthe Kokang region, along theborder of China’s Yunnanprovince. Within one week,the Myanmar military dislodged thousands of insurgents from the border. Thecampaign also resulted inthousands of refugees fl��eeing the border villages to theChinese side of the border.Within the military, the campaign was hailed as a victoryand Gen. Min Aung Hlainggot the attention of SeniorGeneral Than Shwe. In August 2010, he was appointedjoint chief of staff��. And inMarch 2011, when Gen. ThanShwe, in his mid70s, retired,he picked Gen. Min AungHlaing as his successor.

The road to coupThe General hit headlines in2017 when the militarylaunched a sweeping counterinsurgency operation in theRakhine State that led to atleast 700,000 Rohingya

Muslims, a persecuted ethnic and religious minority,fl��eeing the country. The UNHuman Rights Council calledfor investigation into allegedgenocide and crimes againsthumanity and war crimes inRakhine and Shan states.Following the UN call in2018, Facebook took downGen. Min Aung Hlaing’s pages that had millions of followers. Ms. Suu Kyi had defended the campaign againstRohingya internationally,but at home, several reportspointed to growing rifts between her and the militarycommander.

When the NLD swept the2020 election, the Armyfound the rising popularityof the party and its leader asa threat. The Generals madethree demands to Ms. SuuKyi, according to a Reutersreport: disband the ElectionCommission, announce aprobe into alleged electionfrauds and postponethe meeting of Parliament. Ms. Suu Kyisaid ‘no’ to all three.In January, General MinAung Hlaing issued a directthreat to the government.“The Constitution should berevoked if laws are not followed,” he said. And then,the military moved to capture power on February 1,hours before the new Parliament was to be convened.

The military has promisedelections, but it hasn’t givenany timeline. The public,having experienced at leastlimited liberties for 10 years,stays defi��ant. As protestsspread, the Generals turnedto their favourite playbook ofrepression. However, despite the bloodshed, protestscontinue to swell the streets,unlike 1988 and 2007 whenthe military restored orderthrough force. Perhaps thisis the biggest challenge thejunta faces today in its bid toconsolidate power.

MIN AUNG HLAING

The man behind the coupMyanmar’s military ruler seeks to quell growing protests using brute force

Stanly Johny

PROFILES

Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan survived a vote ofconfi��dence by the country’sParliament on Saturday, daysafter his party lost a key Senate seat to an oppositioncandidate.

Ruling party and opposition cadres clashed briefl��youtside the Parliamentahead of the vote, with localTV channels showing a shoebeing thrown at former Interior Minister Ahsan Iqbal.

Mr. Khan secured 178votes in the 340seat National Assembly through an openballot, boycotted by themain opposition parties, thePakistan Muslim LeagueNawaz (PMLN) and the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP).

The vote followed the contentious results of Wednesday’s election to Pakistan’sSenate, whose members are

chosen by provincial Parliaments and lawmakers fromthe lower house.

In a sign of growing ruptures within his ruling Pakistan TehreekeInsaf (PTI),Mr. Khan’s Finance Ministerlost his seat to an oppositioncandidate, suggesting somemembers of the party hadswitched their loyalty.

Mr. Khan — who came topower in 2018 after vowingto clean up corruption — accused the Opposition ofhorsetrading and buyingsome of his party’s parliamentarians in a bid to wardoff�� graft investigations.

Speaking following theconfi��dence vote, the PrimeMinister accused the opposi

tion parties of “plunderingnational wealth” duringtheir times in offi��ce. “Thiswas a decade of darknessused by the two parties toruin national institutions”.

Economy in turmoilAddressing party workersoutside the Parliament, senior opposition leader and

former PM Shahid KhaqanAbbasi denounced the voteas “illegal and unconstitutional”. “People are beingdeceived by this government,” he said.

Since taking offi��ce, Mr.Khan has struggled to stabilise an economy hit by risinginfl��ation, a depreciating rupee and ballooning defi��cits.

Pakistan PM survives confi��dence voteHe secured 178 votes in the 340-seat National Assembly via open ballot, boycotted by the Opposition

Agence France-Presse

Islamabad

Show of support: Backers of the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf outside the National Assembly in Islamabad. * AFP

Fierce fi��ghting between Yemeni progovernment forcesand Iranbacked Houthi rebels has killed at least 90combatants on both sides inthe past 24 hours, militarysources said on Saturday.

The Shia rebels launchedan off��ensive last month toseize Marib, the last stronghold in northern Yemen ofprogovernment forces whoare backed by a Saudiledmilitary coalition.

The clashes in the oilrichprovince left 32 dead amonggovernment forces andloyalist tribes, while 58

Houthi rebels were killed incoalition air strikes, thesources said.

They said heavy clashesbroke out on six fronts as government forces were ableto counter attacks by theHouthis who managed to advance only on the Kassarafront northwest of Maribcity.

The fi��ghting also left dozens of people wounded, thesources added.

The loss of Marib wouldbe a huge blow for the Yemeni government, but would also threaten catastrophe forcivilians, including hundreds of thousands of dis

placed people in desolatecamps.

It would also be a majorsetback for Saudi Arabia,which has been the target ofincreasingly frequent Houthimissile attacks in recentweeks.

Shrapnel from Houthidrones intercepted by theSaudis on Friday woundedtwo civilians, including a 10yearold, in the southwest ofthe kingdom.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Mondayurged the Houthis to halttheir off��ensive in Marib, ashe announced $191 millionin aid.

Intense fi��ghting in Yemen’sMarib leaves at least 90 deadPro-govt. forces clash with Houthis to retain the province


Dubai

The U.S. Senate on Saturdaypassed President Joe Biden's$1.9 trillion COVID19 reliefplan in a partyline vote after an allnight session thatsaw Democrats battlingamong themselves over jobless benefi��ts and the Republican minority failing topush through some threedozen amendments.

The fi��nal Bill includes$400 billion in onetimepayments of $1,400 to mostAmericans, $300 a week inextended jobless benefi��tsfor the 9.5 million peoplethrown out of work in thecrisis, and $350 billion inaid to state and local govern

ments that have seen thepandemic blow a hole intheir budgets.

The Senate voted 5049,with no Republicans supporting what would be oneof the largest stimulus packages in U.S. history.

The Bill needs to returnto the House of Representatives, which approved aslightly diff��erent version aweek earlier. The House isexpected to give its fi��nal approval next week. SenateMajority Leader ChuckSchumer said the Housepassage is expected in timefor Mr. Biden to sign the Billbefore enhanced unemployment benefi��ts expire onMarch 14.

U.S. Senate clears Biden’s$1.9 tn COVID-19 aid planBill will now return to the House for approval

Reuters

Washington

Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan said onSaturday that hisgovernment will introduceelectoral reforms andelectronic voting machines(EVMs) to ensure fair

elections in the country.Delivering a speech after

winning a trust vote in theNational Assembly, Mr. Khansaid his government plans tointroduce electronic voting,enabling millions ofPakistanis abroad to vote inelections.

Imran Khan bats forelectoral reforms, EVMsPress Trust of India

Islamabad

Grand Ayatollah Ali alSistani, spiritual leader of most ofthe world’s Shia Muslims,told Pope Francis in a historic meeting in Iraq on Saturday that the country’s Christians should live in “peace”.

The meeting, on the second day of the fi��rstever papal visit to Iraq, marked alandmark moment in modern religious history and amilestone in the Pope’s efforts to deepen interfaithdialogue.

Pope Francis later addressed the rich spectrum ofIraq’s religious communitiesat Ur, the birthplace of theProphet Abraham, a centralfi��gure in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim faiths, wherehe made an impassioned

plea for “unity” afterconfl��ict.

The 84yearold pontiff��’strip to Iraq is an eff��ort toboth comfort the country’sancient but dwindling Christian community and deepenhis dialogue with otherfaiths.

The Grand Ayatollah, 90,“affi��rmed his concern that

Christian citizens should livelike all Iraqis in peace andsecurity, and with their fullconstitutional rights,” his offi��ce said.

During his address, PopeFrancis said freedom of conscience and of religion were“fundamental rights” thatshould be respectedeverywhere.

Papal visit is aimed at deepening dialogue with other faiths


Najaf

Convergence of faiths: Pope Francis meeting with Iraq’s topShia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, in Najaf. * REUTERS

Pope, top Shia cleric plead for‘peace’ in historic Iraq meet

Security forces in Myanmaragain used force on Saturdayto disperse anticoup protesters, a day after the UN special envoy urged the Security Council to take action toquell junta violence that thisweek left about 50 peacefuldemonstrators dead andscores injured.

Fresh protests were reported on Saturday morningin the biggest city of Yangon,where stun grenades andtear gas were used againstprotesters. On Wednesday,18 people were reportedlykilled there.

Protests were also reported in Myitkyina, the capitalof the northern state of Kachin, Myeik, in the country’sfar south where police fi��redtear gas at students, and Dawei in the southeast wheretear gas was also used. Otherplaces included Kyaikto, inthe eastern state of Mon,Loikaw, the capital of Kayahstate in eastern Myanmar,and Myingyan, a city whereone protester was killed onWednesday.

The escalation of violencehas put pressure on theworld community to act torestrain the junta, whichseized power on February 1

by ousting the elected government of Aung San SuuKyi. The coup reversed yearsof slow progress toward democracy in Myanmar, whichfor fi��ve decades had languished under military rule.

UN special envoy forMyanmar Christine Schraner Burgener said in her briefing to Friday’s closed Security Council meeting thatcouncil unity and “robust”action are critical “in pushing for a stop to the violenceand the restoration of Myanmar’s democratic institutions.” “We must denouncethe actions by the military,”she said.

Protests continue in Myanmarafter UN envoy urges actionSecurity forces use stun grenades, tear gas on protesters

Associated Press

Yangon

DDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Illustration: r. rajesh

CMYK

A ND-NDE

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Slowing currentsThe Gulf Stream system

conveys warm surface water

from equator to the north and

the deeper cold, lowsalinity

water down south. A study in

Nature Geoscience

reconstructing its flow shows

that never before in a 1,000

years has it been as slow as it

is in the last decade. Increased

rainfall and melting of the

Greenland Ice sheet likely

contributed to this.

Celestial parking lotA wayward cometlike object

that travelled long distances

towards the Sun has found a

temporary parking space

among ‘Trojans’, a group of

captured ancient asteroids

orbiting the Sun along with

Jupiter. Such objects, called

Centaurs, are icy bodies found

between Neptune and Jupiter

and warm up and become

active as they near the Sun,

looking more like a comet.

From midFebruary, a spikein daily new cases was reported from a few States including Maharashtra. Fordays on end, the Health Ministry kept repeating themessage that Kerala too was“witnessing an upsurge ofdaily new cases”. Even as recently as March 6, the HealthMinistry wrongly implicatedKerala for the surge in caseswhen it said “Maharashtra,Kerala, Punjab, Tamil Nadu,Gujarat and Karnataka continue to report a surge in theCOVID19 daily new cases.”

Kerala continues to contribute a high number of caseson a daily basis. However,there has not been any surgeor spike in daily cases, asseen in other States. In reality, Kerala has been witnessing a steady decline in dailycases since endJanuary.

“From a second peak of6,078 sevenday moving average of daily cases as on January 23, we have been seeing a steady decline in casesin Kerala. There has been a50% decline in the sevendaymoving average of daily cases from the fourth week of January to March 4,” says Dr.Rijo John, Health Economistand Consultant based in Kochi, Kerala. “The sevendaymoving average of daily cases in Kerala as on March 4was 2,996. The absolutenumber of daily cases onMarch 4 was 2,616.”

While other States have reduced the number of dailytests in recent months, Kerala has been continuing with

the same number of dailytests. “The sevenday average daily tests conductedwas over 60,000 when thetest positivity rate was 15%during the peak in the fi��rsthalf of October last year.Now, even when the test positivity rate is under 5% sevenday average, the average testing has increased to 70,000since the fi��rst week of February,” says Dr. John.

“Keeping daily testing athigh levels even when dailycases are declining inspiresmore confi��dence that the decline in daily cases is real andis not due to reduced testing,” Dr. John adds. Maharashtra and Gujarat have notincreased testing despite reporting more cases on a dailybasis.

While the rest of the country witnessed a peak in midSeptember when the dailyfresh cases touched nearly98,000 on September 16,Kerala witnessed a peak amonth later in midOctober.Unlike other States that witnessed a steady decline indaily cases, there were a reduced number of daily casesin Kerala since midOctober,but the numbers continuedto stay high and did not steadily decline to low levels.

First wave“The fi��rst wave is yet to decline in Kerala. The daily cases have plateaued in theState for a long time and arenow seeing a decline,” saysDr. Raman Gangakhedkar,former chief epidemiologistof ICMR who was a part ofthe national COVID19 task

force till he retired in Junelast year. “There has notbeen any resurgence of caseslately [in Kerala].”

According to Dr. GiridharaBabu, epidemiologist at thePublic Health Foundation ofIndia, Bengaluru, the declinein cases since late Januarycould be due to high infection rate that is close to herdimmunity needed for the decline to begin.

As on March 5, over 0.8million people have beenvaccinated in the State. “It istoo early to say that vaccination could have contributedmuch to the decline. Thenumber of people vaccinatedis not large enough to havesignifi��cantly contributed tothe decline,” says Dr. Babu.

“If the sevenday average

test positivity rate stays below 5% for a few weeks it indicates that the pandemic isunder control,” says Dr. Gautam Menon, Professor ofPhysics and Biology at Ashoka University and coauthorof COVID19 modelling studies. Dr. Menon attributesthe decline in daily cases tothe long duration of background seroprevalenceacross the State, and so newinfections are only expectedto decline.

“The long plateauing ofcases has ensured a goodfraction of people have experienced an infection. In thecircumstances, one can expect a decline in daily numbers across the State. But theonly way to check this isthrough serosurvey,” Dr. Me

ing eff��orts undertaken by theState, Dr. Khobragade citesthe postCOVID19 care andmanagement provided to people experiencing problemsafter recovering from COVID19 disease. “Kerala is theonly State to provide postCOVID care and management to people. As a result,we have collected suffi��cientpostCOVID19 data,” Dr.Khobragade asserts. Thereare 1,284 postCOVID19 clinics at primary health centres,taluk and general hospitalsand medical colleges.

Genome sequencingKerala in collaboration withIGIB was the fi��rst to begin sequencing the genome ofsamples collected from allthe 14 districts to identify anyvariants/escape mutants.“We began discussion withthe State government in September, and the programmebecame operational in December,” says Dr. Agrawal.“They collect 25 samplesfrom each district per weekfrom people with high viralload, extract the RNA andship the samples at low temperature. This really helpsthe operations as we can begin sequencing immediatelyon getting the samples. Theirsupport is outstanding.”

Over 1,000 samples sentfrom Kerala have been sequenced so far. “This is thelargest number sequencedfrom any State,” adds Dr.Agrawal. “We did not fi��ndanything of concern, interms of variants/mutationsin the genomes we sequenced from Kerala.”

non adds. “My guess is thatabout 40% of the populationwould have been infected.This is just my guess.” Basedon anecdotal evidence, Dr.Menon says aggressive tracing and quarantining wouldhave contributed to the decline in cases. “Unlike Kerala, other States have notbeen able to pick up a steadyincrease in cases in the ruralareas,” he says.

Herd immunity?Refuting the possibility of widespread infection in thepopulation taking it close toherd immunity contributingto the decline in cases, Kerala Health Secretary Dr. RajanN. Khobragade says that asper the third countrywide serosurvey conducted by the

ICMR between December 17,2020 and January 8, 2021,the seropositivity in the Statewas only about 11.5%. “Sonearly 82% of the populationin the State have not got infected,” Dr. Khobragade says.

Dr. Khobragade’s assertion of low seroprevalence inthe State is supported by Dr.Anurag Agrawal, Director ofthe Institute of Genomicsand Integrative Biology(IGIB), a CSIR lab in Delhi.“The second serosurvey carried out across CSIR labsfound Kerala had the lowestseropositivity,” says Dr. Agrawal.

“The State has managed tostretch the curve such thatthe new infections arespread out over a longer period of time. The State alsocontinues to undertake moretesting and reporting,” Dr.Agrawal says.

“For the fi��rst six months,the outbreak was minimal inthe State. We have been undertaking active case fi��ndingin the State. Anyone with infl��uenzalike illness is testedfor coronavirus infection,”Dr. Khobragade says.

Dr. Khobragade also cites3040% bed occupancy forpatients with COVID19 asproof that the State did notexperience largescalespread of the virus in thepopulation. “Our healthcaresystem was never overwhelmed by COVID19 patients. There has been notone instance when COVID19patients have been deniedadmission in a hospital dueto bed shortage,” he says.

Talking about the pioneer

Kerala’s delayed approach towards herd immunityUnlike the rest of India, Kerala has maintained the same level of daily testing despite a reduction in number of cases

Seeking out: We have been undertaking active case fi��nding in the State. Anyone with infl��uenzalike illness is tested for coronavirus infection, says Dr. Khobragade. * GETTY IMAGES

R. Prasad

Researchers from JawaharlalNehru Centre for AdvancedScientifi��c Research( JNCASR), Bengaluru, havedeveloped a small moleculethat helps disrupt and reduce formation of amyloidplaques in the brains of micewith Alzheimer’s Disease.The group is planning to takethis molecule, which is a potential drug candidate, forward for clinical studies. Theresults of their study werepublished in the journal Ad-vanced Therapeutics.

Alzheimer’s worldwideThe World Alzheimer Report2015 which was an analysisof the prevalence, incidence,cost and trends in Alzheimer’s Disease documented thefact that in 2015, over 46 million people worldwide wereliving with dementia. The re

port estimated that this number would increase to morethan 131.5 million by 2050.Alzheimer’s Disease is a progressive and irreversible disorder of the brain, which affects memory and thinkingskills. One main feature ofthe disease is the depositionof amyloid plaques and neurofi��brillary tangles in thebrain.

Amyloid precursor proteins play a role in the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’sdisease by producing theAmyloidbeta peptides ofwhich in particular AmyloidBeta peptide 42 is particularly toxic in the formation ofthe amyloid plaques. Thiswas targeted by the researchers, using the small moleculeTGR63. Usually, in people,the symptoms start manifesting when they are in their sixties, though the onset ismuch earlier.

In research that spans thecourse of a decade, thegroup led by T Govindarajuof JNCASR selected six candidate molecules TGR6065,all of which had the samecore structure, and put themthrough in vitro tests to seewhether these could checkthe growth of amyloidplaques and also dissolvepreformed ones. “All the designed compounds werescreened through in vitroand cellular assays.

The data from these experiments revealed superioractivity of TGR63 and hencewe took this molecule forward for animal studies,”says Prof. Govindaraju, whoheads the Bioorganic Chemistry Laboratory at the institute.

Eff��ect on miceMice are often used as modelanimals to study Alzheimer’s

Disease. When geneticallymodifi��ed to show Alzheimer’s, the disease starts manifesting at about 45 months,by 810 months there aremild symptoms and by 1214months they reach advancedstage of disease as indicatedby amyloid plaques and cog

nitive decline and loss of memory. The experiment involved using transgenic micewhich had Alzheimer’s Disease induced in them. Theanimals were subjected tothree behavioural tests toverify that TGR63 really didreduce the amyloid burden

and, furthermore, was nottoxic to the mice. In one ofthe tests, the animals werelet to swim in relatively largepool of water. A small plankwas placed in a specifi��c spotand the mice learnt to swimtowards to spot and savethemselves by climbing on tothe plank.

Later the mice were madeto repeat the task, but theplank had now been removed. The behaviours offour categories of mice wereobserved – mice without Alzheimer’s, mice without Alzheimer’s which had beentreated with TGR63, micewith Alzheimer’s which weretreated with TGR63 and mice

with Alzheimer’s which hadnot been treated withTGR63. In the above task,while the fi��rst three categories of mice swam back to thespot where they had learnedto fi��nd the plank, the last category – mice with AD and notreatment – did not remember the way back.

Brain analysis“Further, reduction of amyloid plaques was studied bybrain analysis,” says Prof. Govindaraju. The tenyearlongresearch broadly evolved infi��ve stages, according to him:design of the set of molecules; in vitro evaluation, incellulo evaluation, computational study and in vivo evaluation and cognitiveassessment.

“I am in discussion withpharma companies to takeTGR63 to clinical studies,”says Prof. Govindaraju.

JNCASR team develops potential drug candidate for Alzheimer’s The team observed that the small molecule TGR63 reduced amyloid plaques in mice brains and reversed cognitive declineShubashree Desikan

Brain scan: A key feature of Alzheimer’s is deposition ofamyloid plaques and neurofi��brillary tangles. * GETTY IMAGES

<>The data from in

vitro, cellular assays

revealed superior activity

of the small molecule.

T. GOVINDARAJU

JNCASR

Mysterious MoonAn analysis published in

Science Advances identified

key events in the Moon’s past,

such as the formation of its

iron core and crystallization of

a sea of molten rock that is

believed to have covered the

Moon for 100 million years

after it formed. The study

analysed volcanic rock

samples collected during the

Apollo missions.

SNAPSHOTS

Printing neuronsScientists from Northwestern

University, U.S., have

discovered a new biomaterial

that mimics the brain tissue

and can be made by 3D

printing. Developed, this can

treat neurodegenerative

diseases, for instance, by

transplanting the tissues.

Earlier, the group had shown

they can design materials that

selforganise to form

‘superstructures’. Now they

find these can enhance the

growth of neurons.

National Education Policy2020 (NEP) envisions establishing large multidisciplinary universities to promoteresearch directed to solvecontemporary national problems, and provides the option of setting up clusters ofhigher education institutes.Clusterbased universitieswould increase facultystrength, both in terms ofnumbers and diversity of disciplines, and facilitate conduct of research on real lifeproblems.

Mainstay of researchDoctoral students are themainstay of research in universities. In many countriesincluding India, universitiesalso conduct off��campusdoctoral programmes in research laboratories. The Indian Institute of Science pioneered a variant ofoff��campus programmecalled External Registrationprogramme which enabledemployees working in laboratories or industries to register for a doctoral programme under thesupervision of its faculty andcarry out a major part of research at their workplace.The external registration

programme has now beenadopted by more higher education Institutes. The topic ofresearch taken upunder off��campus programmes is always of relevance to theworkplace. One could go astep further and make workplaces pursuing knowledgebased work a part of a clusterbased university.

Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Mumbai, established in 2005, by the Department of Atomic Energy,is a clusterbased universityand I have had a long association with it. Jet PropulsionLaboratory ( JPL), California,U.S., is a federally funded research and developmentcentre managed by California Institute of Technology(Caltech).

The intellectual environment and identity of JPL areprofoundly shaped by its roleas a part of Caltech. A largelaboratory, JPL has about6,000 full time employees,and Caltech was placedeighth in the Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) by Shanghai Rankings in2020.

SOKENDAI (the GraduateUniversity for Advanced Studies) established in Japan in1988 and running only doctoral programmes, brings to

gether several research institutions and museums such asthe National Museum of Japanese History.

The ParisSaclay University received its legal status in2019, though it has beenfunctioning as a “universitysystem” since 2015. The university shares 275 laboratories with several research organisations, including CEA(Atomic Energy and Alternate Energies Commission),INSERM (French Institute ofHealth and Medical Research) and others. Thoughjust accredited, ParisSaclay

university was placed fourteenth in ARWU by ShanghaiRankings in 2020. It is nowone of the Europe’s biggestresearch universities.

Common objectiveAll countries have their unique legal framework for establishing universities, andtherefore, while there are differences in the structure ofHBNI, SOKENDAI, ParisSaclay University, and Caltech,the objective is to benefi��tfrom synergies. It enablesconducting academic research on focussed areas. It

also enables pursuit of academic research and postacademic research in the sameuniversity, and results in faster deployment of results ofresearch. Benefi��ts can beseen from the growth andsuccess of HBNI, which wasranked fourteenth a,pmg universities by NIRF2020. Nature Index ranked HBNI atsecond position among allacademic institutions in India during the period October 1, 2019 to 30 September2020. Another example of aclusterbased university inIndia is the Academy ofScientifi��c and Innovative Research established in 2011.Nature Index has ranked it ateighth position in India.

Diff��erent conceptsIndia needs to earnestly pursue this model. Institutionsfor clustering in a universitycan be selected based on different concepts; some examples could be institutes managed by a Department or aMinistry or a Public Trust, institutes located in close proximity, institutes pursuing similar objectives etc. Manyindustry associations haveestablished research centresand more could be encouraged to do.

I will like to add a note of

caution as well. In a clusterbased university, the ‘rewards system’ has to recognise all aspects of talent andall knowledgebased output.One may recall the advice given by P. B. Medawar toyoung scientists that “technicians are colleagues in a collaborative research”, and“despite their paper degrees”, young scientists havea lot to learn about research.This advice is more important today when complexityof experimental facilities isgrowing, and need not onlycompetent technicians, buthighly competent engineers,called scientifi��c offi��cers innational laboratories, fortheir design, construction,safe operation and maintenance. Scientifi��c offi��cershave deep insights about research capabilities of facilities.

For moving away from singlediscipline institutions tomultidisciplinary universities, clustering is a promisingmodel to achieve a criticalmass in a university to invigorate research.

(R. B. Grover is Emeritusprofessor, Homi Bhabha Na-tional Institute, Mumbai,and Member, Atomic EnergyCommission, Government ofIndia..)

Clustering educational institutes and research centresClustering is a promising model to achieve a critical mass in a university to invigorate research

Synergy: The intellectual environment and identity of JetPropulsion Laboratory are profoundly shaped by its role as apart of Caltech. * GETTY IMAGES

R. B. Grover

How do modernhuman andNeanderthal brainsdiff��er?

Using brain organoids –mini brains developed ina lab – built using stemcells, University ofCalifornia San DiegoSchool of Medicineresearchers have beenable to compare modernhumans to otherprimates, such aschimpanzees andbonobos, which untilnow was not thoughtpossible, particularlywhen the species isalready extinct.

The researcherscatalogued thediff��erences between thegenomes of diversemodern humanpopulations and theNeanderthals andDenisovans, who livedduring the PleistoceneEpoch, approximately2.6 million to 11,700

years ago. Mimicking analteration they found inone gene, theresearchers used stemcells to engineer‘Neanderthalised’ brainorganoids.

The team initiallyfound 61 genes thatdiff��ered betweenmodern humans and ourextinct relatives(Science). One of thesealtered genes – NOVA1 –caught the researchers’attention because it is amaster gene regulator,infl��uencing many othergenes during early braindevelopment. Theresearchers used CRISPRgene editing to engineermodern human stemcells with theNeanderthallikemutation in NOVA1. Thenthey coaxed the stemcells into forming braincells and ultimatelyNeanderthalised brainorganoids, says aUniversity press release.

Neural networkchanges inNeanderthalised brainorganoids parallel theway newborn nonhuman primates acquirenew abilities morerapidly than humannewborns.

Understandinghuman brains

Readers may send theirquestions / answers [email protected]

Question Corner

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


FAQ

The story so far: On March 3, Maharashtra PowerMinister Nitin Raut announced that a State Cyber Cellprobe had found 14 Trojan horses in the servers of theMaharashtra State Electricity Transmission Company.These malwares had the potential to disrupt powerdistribution in the State. The announcement came in thewake of a report from Recorded Future, a U.S.basedcybersecurity fi��rm, stating that a group linked to theChinese government, which it called ‘Red Echo’, hadtargeted 10 vital nodes in India’s power distributionsystem and two seaports. Recorded Future claims thecyber intrusions from China began in May 2020 amidheightened tensions at the border. It also suggested thatthese malwares could be the cause of the massive poweroutage in Mumbai last October. On Monday, the PowerMinistry said Chinese hacker groups had targetedvarious Indian power centres but these groups had beenthwarted after government cyber agencies warned itabout their activities. The Ministry said there had been“no data breach” from the threat.

How did Recorded Future track malware inIndian systems? Recorded Future did not look directly into the servers ofIndia’s power system. Instead, it found a large number ofIP addresses linked to critical Indian systemscommunicating for months with AXIOMATICASYMPTOTEservers connected to Red Echo. These servers haddomains spoofi��ng those of Indian power sector entitiesconfi��gured to them. For example, it had an ‘ntpcco.com’domain, which spoofs the original ntpc.co.in.AXIOMATICASYMPTOTE servers act as commandandcontrol centres for a malware known as ShadowPad.

What is ShadowPad? ShadowPad is a backdoorTrojan malware, whichmeans it opens a secretpath from its targetsystem to its commandandcontrol servers.Information can beextracted or moremalicious code deliveredvia this path. Mr. Rauthad said that there wasan attempt to “eitherinsert or remove around8 GB of data from theserver”.

Security fi��rmKaspersky says

ShadowPad is built to target supplychain infrastructurein sectors like transportation, telecommunication,energy and more. It was fi��rst identifi��ed in 2017, when itwas found hidden in a legitimate software produced by acompany named NetSarang. Trojanised softwares, orsoftwares that have dangers hidden in them, like theeponymous Trojan horse from Greek mythology, are theprimary mode of delivery for ShadowPad.

How are ShadowPad and Red Echo linked to China? Kaspersky states that several techniques used inShadowPad are also found in malware from Winntigroup, “allegedly developed by Chinesespeakingactors”. Security analysis fi��rm FireEye links ShadowPadto a group known as ‘APT41’, which it says overlaps withthe Winnti group. Microsoft has been tracking anothergroup under the name ‘Barium’. In September 2020, theU.S. Department of Justice announced that a federalgrand jury had indicted “fi��ve computer hackers, all ofwhom were residents and nationals of the People’sRepublic of China (PRC), with computer intrusionsaff��ecting over 100 victim companies in the United Statesand abroad”. The U.S. Department of Justice confi��rmedthat these were the intrusions that various securityresearchers were tracking using diff��erent threat labelssuch as ‘APT41’, ‘Barium’, ‘Winnti’, ‘Wicked Panda’, and‘Wicked Spider’. The Department of Justice statementsaid the “defendants also compromised foreigngovernment computer networks in India and Vietnam”.

Security fi��rm FireEye also “assesses with highconfi��dence” that ‘APT41’ “carries out Chinese statesponsored espionage activity in addition to fi��nanciallymotivated activity potentially outside of state control”,i.e., the group not only spies for the Chinese governmentbut also does cybercrime when it suits them. The grouphas been known to target the videogame industry.

Recorded Future in its report notes large overlaps inthe systems used by Red Echo and ‘APT41/Winnti/Barium’. “At least 3 of the [Red Echo] targeted Indian IPaddresses were previously seen in a suspected APT41/Bariumlinked campaign targeting the Indian Oil and Gassectors in November 2020,” it says.

What were Red Echo’s targets? Recorded Future lists these as suspected targets: PowerSystem Operation Corporation Limited, NTPC Limited,NTPC Kudgi STPP, Western Regional Load DespatchCentre, Southern Regional Load Despatch Centre, NorthEastern Regional Load Despatch Centre, EasternRegional Load Despatch Centre, Telangana State LoadDespatch Centre, Delhi State Load Despatch Centre, DTLTikri Kalan (Mundka), Delhi Transco Ltd (substation), V. O. Chidambaranar Port and Mumbai Port Trust.

What is the objective of Red Echo? Recorded Future says the kind of infrastructure sought tobe accessed by Red Echo, such as Regional LoadDespatch Centres, has minimal espionage possibilities.However, it adds, “we assess they pose signifi��cantconcerns over potential prepositioning of networkaccess to support Chinese strategic objectives.”Prepositioning in cyber warfare means to have malwareassets in crucial places that can be called on when anactual attack is launched.

‘Red Echo’ over India

When did Chinese malware targetIndian power grid utilities and whyis it a matter of concern?

Cybersecurity fi��rmRecorded Future saysthe kind ofinfrastructure sought tobe accessed by ‘RedEcho’ has minimalespionage possibilitiesbut poses ‘signifi��cantconcerns over potentialprepositioning ofnetwork access tosupport Chinesestrategic objectives’

P.J. George

*F

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The story so far: Tuesday saw the end of India’s fi��rstauction of telecommunications spectrum in fi��ve years,with the government generating a revenue of ₹��77,815crore from the exercise. Mukesh Ambaniled Reliance Jioaccounted for close to 60% of the spectrum bought,followed by Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea. On off��er wasover 2,308 megahertz (MHz) of spectrum valued for theauction by the government at ₹��3.92 lakh crore, and bidswere successfully received for 37% or 855.6 MHz. Theauction lasted less than two days.

How has the industry been since the last auction? A lot has changed in the industry since 2016, when theprevious auction took place. The participants thenincluded Tata Teleservices, Idea Cellular, Reliance Jio,Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India, Reliance Communicationsand Aircel.

In the last few years, there has been a consolidation inthe industry, as a result of which there are only threemajor players now — Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel andVodafone Idea. An IIFL Securities report last Decembersuggested that Jio and Bharti Airtel are, by increasingtheir market share, shaping the industry toward “a neartwoplayer structure”. On the other hand, Vodafone Idea,it said, is struggling fi��nancially.

In recent years, while the user base has grown, theindustry itself has witnessed unforeseen fi��nancial stressin the form of an important court case against it. Thereference is to the Supreme Court verdict last Septemberthat ordered telecom players to share revenues comingfrom even nontelecom services with the government. Itgave telecom companies 10 years to pay their adjustedgross revenue (AGR) dues to the government, with 10% ofthe dues to be paid by March 31, 2021. Vodafone Idea andBharti Airtel were the worsthit by this order.

Why was an auction needed now? All three players needed to renew some of their spectrumas the validity was set to expire later this year.

Wasn’t this for the 5G rollout? No. The auction for that is likely to happen later. In theauction that was held on March 1 and 2, the governmentoff��ered spectrum for 4G in the following bands: 700 MHz,800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, 2,300 MHzand 2,500 MHz.

What do these bands stand for? To explain this, we have to begin with the term

‘spectrum’, which, in this context, stands for the portionof the electromagnetic wave range that is suitable forcommunication purposes. As this is a huge economicresource, which also provides unimaginable benefi��ts toany population, it is controlled by the government.

Industry organisation GSMA, a body that representsthe interests of mobile operators worldwide, says in itsblog that one slice of this spectrum is not the same asanother slice. The diff��erence is in terms of the frequencyof these waves (the number of times the waves repeatthemselves in a second). It says, “Spectrum bands havediff��erent characteristics, and this makes them suitable fordiff��erent purposes. In general, lowfrequencytransmissions can travel greater distances before losingtheir integrity, and they can pass through dense objectsmore easily. Less data can be transmitted over these radiowaves, however. Higherfrequency transmissions carrymore data, but are poorer at penetrating obstacles.”

In this context, hertz is a measure of the number ofcycles per second, and 1 megahertz stands for 1 millionhertz. Telecom providers cover their bases by using bothlow and highfrequency bands.

Who bought what in the auction? Reliance Jio was the biggest spender in the auction. Itshelled out ₹��57,122 crore, just over 60% of which was toacquire spectrum in the 800 MHz band, according to areport by Edelweiss. It spent the remaining on 1,800 MHzand 2,300 MHz bands.

Bharti Airtel, which dished out ₹��18,699 crore, spenthalf of its money on the 800 MHz and 900 MHz bands. Italso spent on the 2,100 MHz and 2,300 MHz bands.

Vodafone Idea, the report said, “was the mostconservative of the lot”. It used almost twothirds of its₹��1,993crore spend on the 900 MHz band. It spent the

remaining on the 1,800 MHzband. The spectrum will beassigned to bidders for aperiod of 20 years.

How do analysts view theauction strategy of thesethree companies?Though the auction is largelyseen as an opportunity torenew expiring spectrum,analysts say Reliance Jio’s“higherthanexpected” spendis an attempt to improvenetwork experience. TheEdelweiss report says Reliance

Jio could have gone for it because “in recent quarters,Bharti Airtel has onboarded a disproportionately highershare of smartphone subscribers leveraging its superiornetwork”. Vodafone Idea’s lowkey presence in theauction is linked to its balancesheet constraints. It is alsolikely that the players are preserving their resources forthe upcoming 5G era.

Why did the 700 MHz band have no takers? The 700 MHz band, as also 1,800 MHz, 2,100 MHz, and2,300 MHz bands, are seen playing an important role inthe 5G rollout (the fi��fth generation of mobile networksthat promises to connect everybody as also everythingmuch faster and at much lower latency). The 700 MHzband was not expected to fi��nd any takers given itsprohibitive fl��oor price. Some see this as an opening forthe government to scale down the reserve price when itcomes up for bidding in future. What an ICICI Securitiesreport called the “king” in 5G, the Cband, which is theband between 3,300 MHz and 4,200 MHz, was not onoff��er in this round of auctions.

How did this auction compare to the last round? In 2016, about 40% of the 2,355 MHz of spectrum (at areserve price of ₹��5.6 lakh crore) was sold, giving thegovernment ₹��65,789 crore in revenue. This time, theCentre has managed to get more.

The government said the revenue generated by theauction has exceeded its expectations, which was about₹��45,000 crore, according to Telecom Secretary AnshuPrakash. The expectations were low because of theeconomic downturn caused by the COVID19 pandemicand the fact that the top three telecom players werelooking to renew expiring spectrum and consolidateholdings in select bands.

Spectrum sale, price test and the road ahead for 5GWhat was the response and how much did the government earn from the recently concluded auction?

Sriram Srinivasan

The story so far: Nearly 20 million doses of COVID19vaccines have been administered in India so far.However, as the vaccination drive gains momentum,questions have emerged about appropriate behaviourafter being vaccinated. In the United States, last week,Texas removed its mask mandate and lifted all otherCOVID19related restrictions. In India, the Union HealthMinistry on Friday said six States — Maharashtra, Punjab,Haryana, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi — werereporting a surge in new cases. Health offi��cials said therise in the number of cases across States could bebecause of the negligence that has set in regardingestablished COVID19 protocols.

Can the mask come off��? Whether it is okay to lose the mask now is a question thatsome people have been asking; others feel confi��dent inshedding their masks, after two, or even just one shot ofthe vaccine. However, not wearing a mask would be a badidea, say experts. At various places, infection clustershave been reported that are linked to people whoparticipated in group events, such as marriageceremonies, without wearing masks or maintainingphysical distancing.

Tamil Nadu’s Health Secretary, J. Radhakrishnan, isleading the eff��orts to stem a gradually rising COVID19graph in the State. “To not wear masks would be nothingshort of criminal now. Just as in the case of Maharashtra,we have identifi��ed family clusters of COVID19 cases in acouple of cities here. In most instances, it has beenbecause of attending weddings or other family functions,and not wearing masks or being in close proximity toothers. We are reinforcing the absolute need to continuewearing masks. Even a vaccine is a secondary tool for us,many may not have got it yet, but everyone can wear amask and remain safe,” he said.

What does being vaccinated really mean? According to the Centers for Disease Control andPrevention (CDC), being fully vaccinated means a periodof two weeks or more following the receipt of the seconddose in a twodose series, or two weeks or morefollowing the receipt of a singledose vaccine. In India,currently, both vaccines being used — Covishield andCovaxin — follow a twodose regimen. Typically, theimmune response takes a while to build up after avaccine shot.

In an episode of Science in 5, Katherine O’ Brien of theWorld Health Organization (WHO) said after the fi��rst jabof a twodose vaccine, a good immune response kicks inwithin about two weeks. It is the second dose that booststhe immune response “and we see immunity get evenstronger after that second dose”. But it is still unclearhow long immunity lasts from the vaccines at hand now.She said whether or not the immune response is durable,how it performs with the passage of time, and how long itlasts can be found out only by monitoring people whohave already been vaccinated over a period. Whileclinical trials have demonstrated that vaccines protectpeople against the disease, it is not clear if they preventgetting the infection or a severe form of the disease, or ifthose vaccinated can transmit the virus to others. If thevaccinated individual is still carrying the virus, thevaccine may provide immunity from severe disease forhim or her, but the individual could still transmit thevirus to someone who is not yet vaccinated, andtherefore, vulnerable.

The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’sFAQ document on vaccines says, “Protective levels of

antibodies are generallydeveloped two weeks afterreceiving the second dose ofCOVID19 vaccine.”

In a tweet, United States’sWhite House adviser andtop infectious diseasespecialist Anthony Faucisaid, “Currently we do nothave enough data to saywith confi��dence that thevaccines can preventtransmission. So, even ifvaccinated, you may be ableto spread the virus tovulnerable people.”

What changes after you get a vaccine shot? “After vaccination, your risk of severe disease fromCOVID19 goes down dramatically. Once 7080% of apopulation has been vaccinated, many currentrestrictions may be lifted,” said Priya Sampathkumar,infectious diseases consultant and medical director,infection prevention and control, Mayo Institute, U.S.However, there is concern that vaccinated people may getasymptomatic COVID19 and transmit it to others. “So,until a large proportion of the population is vaccinated,please wear a mask to protect others,” she added.

The CDC on its website also highlights the need tocontinue with masks: “While available COVID19 vaccineshave demonstrated high effi��cacy at preventing severeand/or symptomatic COVID19, there is currently limitedinformation on how much the vaccines might reducetransmission and how long protection lasts. In addition,the effi��cacy of the vaccines against emerging SARSCoV2variants is not known. At this time, vaccinated peopleshould continue to follow current guidance to protectthemselves and others, including wearing a mask, stayingat least six feet away from others, avoiding crowds,avoiding poorly ventilated spaces, covering coughs andsneezes, washing hands often...”

Dr. O’ Brien pointed out in the episode that while weare still learning about what vaccines can do, there isoutofcontrol transmission in many countries.

There is not enough evidence yet of vaccine responsefor some age groups, and vaccines are in short supply inthe community. Hence, following COVID19 protocols isessential, she added.

Dr. Sampathkumar dealt with another question in aTwitter thread recently — what if everyone in a smallfamily or social group is vaccinated? “In a small group inwhich everyone has been vaccinated, it is okay to meetwithout masks. The risk is low. In work settings, masksare still recommended as verifying vaccination and thehealth status of coworkers is tricky,” she said.

She added that one may visit a fully vaccinated familymember if they have also been fully vaccinated. However,travelling freely might not yet be safe. “Also, a lotdepends on what we learn about the ability of vaccines toprevent asymptomatic infections and stay eff��ectiveagainst COVID19 variants,” she said. However, if you havebeen fully vaccinated, as per the recommended dosage,you can safely go eat indoors in restaurants, and the riskwould be extremely low.

The CDC urges that even fully vaccinated people whoget exposed to COVID19 but do not quarantine shouldwatch for symptoms for 14 days following the exposure. Ifthey experience symptoms, they should be clinicallyevaluated for COVID19, including SARSCoV2 testing, ifindicated.

For how long should we continue following safety protocols? “Time is going to tell. Once we get broad vaccinationcoverage ... we can slowly start taking our foot off�� thepedal,” said Dr. O’ Brien. Meanwhile, with cases rising inIndia, States are hustling to reinforce COVID19 protocols,impose fi��nes for violations, and reintroduce a dilutedversion of restrictions. After rules were relaxed graduallyfollowing an exhaustive yearlong campaign andpandemic fatigue set in among people, safety measureswere overlooked. However, unless there is evidence thatvaccination prevents transmission, or until herdimmunity is achieved with a combination of vaccinationand natural immunity from infection, it is clear thatgiving the mask up or other safety measures isdangerous. To do so would be to keep alive the cycle oftransmission of the virus in the community.

What changes after COVID-19 vaccination? How long does immunity last andwhy do experts insist that peopleshould continue wearing masks?

Ramya Kannan

A mural in Mumbai raises awareness against fl��outing safety measures for COVID19. * AFP

Experts say currently,there is limitedinformation about theextent to which thevaccines might reducetransmission and howlong the protectionlasts. The effi��cacy ofthe vaccines againstemerging virusvariants is also not known

The 700 MHz bandwas not expected tofi��nd any takers,given its prohibitivefl��oor price. Expertssee this as anopening for thegovernment toscale down thereserve price

* FILE PHOTO

CMYK

A ND-NDE

BUSINESSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

THE HINDU DELHI


Hinduja Leyland Finance,the nonbanking fi��nancecompany of the HindujaGroup, foresees doubledigitgrowth in vehicle fi��nanceand is betting big on thehousing fi��nance front as it ison a growth path, chief executive offi��cer Sachin Pillaisaid. Edited excerpts:

Have you reached pre

COVID levels in

disbursements?

■ In the asset classes, wehave a presence, especiallyvehicle and housing fi��nance. With the process ofunlocking starting fromJune, we have seen sequential growth registering on aconsistent basis.

On a YTD basis, obviouslythe degrowth is still signifi��cant. However, we haveseen a good bounce back interms of confi��dence on theground September onwards. The gap is narrowingand with continuance of thesame trend we might seepreCOVID disbursementsback in the fi��rst quarter ofthe next fi��nancial year.

The mass passengermovement segment continues to be sluggish in linewith the overall trend, andwe do expect movement inthis segment by the end ofthis quarter, especially withthe vaccination drive inplace and post that [when]relaxation of social distancing norms is expected.

In housing fi��nance, thelast quarter was the best interms of disbursements.The trends are continuingsince January as well… thebusiness is on a high growthtrajectory.

How was the performance

for the last nine months?

■ Our books at the end ofnine months remained atthe same levels of March 20.Margins have been betterlargely on account of softening of cost of funds.

We have been able todrive operating effi��ciencies.Both put together havecushioned the eff��ect of COVID provisions and enabledus to register growth of 10%in bottomline. While thereis a standstill on NPAs on account of the Supreme Courtorder, on a proforma basis,NPAs have remained largelyfl��at, with no restructuringdone in the fi��rst ninemonths.

How do you hope to end the

year and meet the target for

FY22?

■ FY22 clearly seems to be agrowth year. The economyis expected to grow in double digits, of course on amuch lower current yearbase. We foresee a double

digit growth in disbursements in vehicle fi��nancingand housing fi��nance businesses. Interest rates are expected to remain soft atleast for a major part of theyear and so will liquidity.We expect our books andprofi��tability to grow by 20%.

What is the status of your

IPO?

■ We are closely monitoringthe market movements, especially NBFCs valuations.We will wait for the rightwindow to emerge for considering listing.

How are you managing your

fund position?

■ We are comfortable on liquidity with undrawn sanctions to the extent of fourmonths of disbursements.Cost of funds have softenedin this year by almost 5075bps. Our rating and outlookhave remained unchangedduring this period.

Any update on aff��ordable

housing subsidiary?

■ Aff��ordable housing fi��nance witnessed a fasterbounce back among retailasset classes. Largely on account of this business beingsemiurban/rural based, itwas relatively unaff��ected ascompared to urban cities asfar as the pandemic isconcerned.

For us, we have presencein more than 500 locationsand in the current year, weinitiated our focus in thelowincome housing fi��nancesegment, which hitherto wewere not active in. We nowmanage ₹��2,190 crore of assets in this business.

Disbursements havegrown at 21%, registering anoverall book growth of 32%in the fi��rst nine months. Wehave registered a 62%growth in bottomline in thesame period.

The softening of borrowing cost, along with entry into the lowincome housingfi��nance segment, auguredwell for an uptick in margins.

Operational effi��cienciesresulted in lower cost aswell, cushioning the higherprovision impact on account of COVIDrelated provisions. NPAs remain fl��at ona proforma basis.

INTERVIEW | SACHIN PILLAI

‘Aff��ordable housingfi��nance unaff��ected’The business, largely ruralbased,survived the Covid impact: CEO PillaiN. Anand


SPORTEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Story so far: The TVS grouphas existed for 110 years. Given the various businesses inthe group and the interestsand priorities in the thirdand fourth generations of itsfounder T.V. Sundaram Iyengar, the family has decided toalign the ownership of diff��erent group companies withthe respective arms of the families managing them. Alook at the background andsome details of the plannedstructure:

What is the fi��rst step of the

family arrangement?

■ The group has primarilythree holding companies —T.V. Sundram Iyengar & SonsLtd. (referred to as TVS &Sons), Sundaram IndustriesPrivate Ltd. (SIPL) andSouthern Roadways PrivateLtd. (SRPL), referred to asTVS Holding Companies.

TVS & Sons holds majoritystake in both the other holding companies and the balance in those two is held bythe respective arms of theTVS family. Together, these

three fi��rms have funded, andhence hold stakes in, thegroup companies that haveemerged over the years.

The fi��rst step of the arrangement is to merge SIPL andSRPL into TVS & Sons on ashare exchange ratio basedon valuation. Such a mergeris necessary as diff��erent family arms run diff��erent businesses whose stakes are heldvariously by the 3 holdingfi��rms. A merger and then demerger of each business intothe respective family holdingcompany would follow.

Family arms also own apiece of the distribution business pertaining to theirpart of the overall business,which would be demergedinto their ownership as partof the process.

At the end of the family arrangement, there would beno single holding companybut there would be separateholding companies for eachof the family branches thathave been managing the respective businesses for decades, sources close to thefamily said.

Would there be other

agreements that family

members would enter into?

■ The sources said that additionally, the arrangementwill probably also see a number of ancillary agreements— for example as to how theTVS brand would be used inthe future, and a noncompete agreement — as hasbeen the practice for decades in prior family partitions in our country.

What changes would the

group’s listed fi��rms witness?

■ While the companies thatrun the businesses themselves are not directly part ofthe family agreement, theirholdings will witness achange. TVS Motor Companyis run by Venu Srinivasanand his immediate familymembers. According to anexchange fi��ling by TVS Motoron January 27, the TVS holding companies hold 63.76%in Sundaram Clayton (SCL),which is the holding company for TVS Motor.

It added that after themerger of the holding companies of the group, the two

gar Enterprises Pvt. Ltd.(MAEPL). So, the 32.66% ofSundaram Brake Liningsheld by the holding companies will vest with MAEPL, inwhich Mr. Mahesh’s familyholds a majority.

TVS Investments (TVSI)holds 59.84% in TVS Electronics, run by Gopal Srinivasan and family. The TVSHolding Companies hold85% stake in TVSI. TVSI willmerge into this family’s holding fi��rm Geeyes Family Holdings Pvt. Ltd. (GFHPL) andthe stake held by the TVSHolding companies will vestwith GFHPL.

The TS Rajam and TS Santhanam families would onlyhave one holding fi��rm eachthat would hold stakes in thecompanies they respectivelymanage. The TS Santhanamfamily’s holding company isSundaram Santhanam & Family Pvt. Ltd. (SSFPL). The29.69% of the TVS HoldingCompanies’ stake in WheelsIndia will vest with SSFPL.Brakes India is held partly byTVS & Sons, Southern Roadways and Sundaram Industries. Post merger of theholding fi��rms, their entire

holdings in Brakes India willmove into TVS & Sons. Viathe demerger, TVS & Sons’holdings in Brakes India willcome to the holding fi��rm ofMr. Santhanam’s arm of thefamily, as would SundaramMotors and Madras Auto Service, which are divisionswithin TVS & Sons.

As per the arrangement,the tyre business, the TVS division of TVS & Sons and TVSLogistics would go to the TSRajam family.

At the end of the exercise,all shareholders of the TVSHolding Companies shallhold equity shares in the respective family arm’s holdingfi��rms, but the family whichruns the business would ownmajority in the respective family holding fi��rms.

How was ‘fair value’ found?

■ “There are so many factors and family history whichgo into it, so that linking thevalue of business to the settlement is impossible. It isnot that the business valuedoes not matter but it is just alot more complicated,” thesources said.

wheeler auto parts and diecastings business would bedemerged into TVS Investments and Holdings Pvt. Ltd.(TVSIHPL). Also, the 63.76%of SCL’s shares held by theTVS Holding Companies willvest with TVSIHPL, in whichMr. Srinivasan and his immediate family members hold amajority stake.

Likewise, Sundram Fasteners, run by Suresh Krishna and his family, would witness a demerger of thefasteners business from theTVS Holding Companies intoTVS Sundram Fasteners Pvt.

Ltd. The 49.53% shares heldby the Holding Companies inSundram Fasteners will vestwith TVS Sundram FastenersPvt. Ltd., in which Mr. Krishna’s family holds a majority.

Similarly, K. Mahesh’s family runs Sundaram BrakeLinings, in which the TVSHolding Companies hold32.66% stake. Post merger ofthe three TVS Holding Companies, a demerger of theBrake Linings business willbe eff��ected to Madurai Ala

A look at the TVS Group’s proposed recast of holdingsThe restructuring will entail a merger and then demerger of each business into the respective family holding company

K. Bharat Kumar

EXPLAINER

Venezuela’s central banksaid on Friday that it wouldintroduce a banknoteworth 1million bolivars beginning next week, as yearsof incessant hyperinfl��ationcontinue to batter the value of the crisisstrickenSouth American country’scurrency.

The new banknote willbe worth just 52 U.S. centsat the current offi��cial exchange rate. Interannualinfl��ation was running at2,665% as of January, thecentral bank said.

The OPEC nation’s economy has been in a tailspinfor the past 7 years,spurred by a collapse in oilprices that led to a drop inimports and a gaping fi��scaldefi��cit, prompting the central bank to print morebolivars.

Venezuelaplans 1millionbolivar bill

Reuters

CARACAS

BENGALURU: S. AttaollahitrainedBellator (Trevor up) won the Dr. C.Vittal Memorial Trophy, the featureevent of the races held here on Saturday (Mar 6). The winner is ownedby Mr. Marthand Singh Mahindra,Mr. James Mathews, Mr. P.Prabhakar Reddy and Mr. Rama Seshu Eyunni. Jockey Trevor wonthree races for the day.1. YADGIR PLATE (1,200m), rated00 to 20, 5yo & over: FLORENCIA

(H.M. Akshay) 1. Nerva (Chethan G)2, Glorious Days (Shreyas Singh) 3and Barog (N.B. Kuldeep) 4. Shd, 11/4 and 1. 1m 14.85s. ₹��68 (w), 20, 27and 17 (p), SHP: 74, THP: 56, FP:524, Q: 256, Trinella: 2,367 and1,394, Exacta: 96,469 (Carriedover). Favourite: Nerva. Owner:Mrs. Shanti Devi. Trainer: SamarSingh.2. TOPMOST PLATE (1,200m), 3yoonly, (Terms): OBSIDIAN (Sandesh)1, Flying Safe (Antony) 2, EternalBlaze (Trevor) 3 and PerfectEmpress (Neeraj) 4. 101/2, 11/2 andLnk. 1m 13.11s. ₹��15 (w), 12, 18 and 17(p), SHP: 46, THP: 33, FP: 75, Q: 47,Trinella: 320 and 130, Exacta: 986and 393. Favourite: Obsidian.Owner: Mr. Gautam Maini. Trainer:Prasanna Kumar.3. KATIL PLATE (Div. II), (1,400m),rated 15 to 35, 4yo only: THE SOV-

EREIGN ORB (Trevor) 1, In A Breeze(Srinath) 2, Golden Memory (Darshan) 3 and Unyielding (AakashChavan) 4. Not run: Osibisa. 3, Shdand 91/2. 1m 26.96s. ₹��42 (w), 13, 12and 12 (p), SHP: 39, THP: 41, FP: 78,Q: 47, Trinella: 123 and 84, Exacta:585 and 426. Favourite: In A Breeze.

Owners: Poonawalla Racing &Breeding Pvt Ltd, Mr. P. PrabhakarReddy, Mr. Chaduranga KanthrajUrs and Mr. Rama Seshu Eyunni.Trainer: S. Attaollahi.4. SHIVANASAMUDRA PLATE (Div.II), (1,200m), rated 15 to 35, 5yo &over: PASTICHE (Darshan) 1, Arrogance (Neeraj) 2, Raw Gold (Vivek) 3and Bahurupah (S. Saqlain) 4. Notrun: Light Of Love. 6, 3/4 and 3/4.1m 14.67s. ₹��18 (w), 13, 18 and 78 (p),SHP: 43, THP: 129, FP: 99, Q: 65,Trinella: 2,129 and 1,186, Exacta:48,025. Favourite: Pastiche. Ownerand trainer: Mr. Aravind Ganapathy.5. KATIL PLATE (Div. I), (1,400m),rated 15 to 35, 4yo only: FLAMING

ORANGE (Sai Kumar) 1, Papparazi(Antony) 2, Arlette (Trevor) 3 andRosy Rapunzel (Gnaneshwar) 4.Snk, 13/4 and 13/4. 1m 26.09s. ₹��927(w), 123, 28 and 13 (p), SHP: 66,THP: 54, FP: 7,970, Q: 2,708,Trinella: 44,737 (carried over), Exacta: 56,224 (carried over). Favourite: Arlette. Owner: Mr. Dinesh Kumar K. Trainer: Sharat Kumar.6. TAJ MAHAL PLATE (Div. II),(1,200m), rated 30 to 50, 5yo &over: ACEROS (Trevor) 1, Candlelightqueen (Ajay Kumar) 2, Schafenberg (Shreyas Singh) 3 and MrHumble (P. Surya) 4. 23/4, 3/4 and51/2. 1m 12.90s. ₹��15 (w), 12, 41 and21 (p), SHP: 190, THP: 48, FP: 658,Q: 261, Trinella: 2,583 and 554, Exacta: 6,494 and 3,795. Favourite:Aceros. Owners: Mr. Gautam Aggarwal, Mr. Rajan Aggarwal and Mrs.Geeta Aggarwal. Trainer: PradeepAnnaiah.7. DR. C. VITTAL MEMORIAL

TROPHY (1,600m), rated 30 to 50:BELLATOR (Trevor) 1, Ansaldo(Sandesh) 2, Livisilla (Neeraj) 3 andGeneral Patton (Srinath) 4. 21/2, Nkand 11/2. 1m 37.42s. ₹��38 (w), 15, 12and 14 (p), SHP: 37, THP: 42, FP: 56,Q: 41, Trinella: 213 and 98, Exacta:302 and 167. Favourite: Ansaldo.Owners: Mr. Marthand SinghMahindra, Mr. James Mathews, Mr.P. Prabhakar Reddy and Mr. RamaSeshu Eyunni. Trainer: S. Attaollahi.

8. TAJ MAHAL PLATE (Div. I),(1,200m), rated 30 to 50, 5yo &over: OSIRIS (M. Naveen) 1, Musterion (Darshan) 2, Sea Of Cortez(Likith Appu) 3 and Land Of Liberty(Sai Kiran) 4. 3/4, Nose and 3/4. 1m13.75s. ₹��185 (w), 28, 18 and 14 (p),SHP: 46, THP: 57, FP: 1,484, Q: 879,Trinella: 4,089 and 1,227, Exacta:51,225. Favourite: Sea Of Cortez.Owners: Mr. M. Lakshminarayana &Mr. M. Venkatarama. Trainer:Sharat Kumar.

9. SHIVANASAMUDRA PLATE (Div.I), (1,200m), rated 15 to 35, 5yo &over: ANAKIN ( J.H. Arul) 1, Tiger Returns (Srinath) 2, Areca Angel (Angad) 3 and Perfectgoldenera (S.Shareef ) 4. 43/4, 3/4 and 3/4. 1m13.49s. Rs. 65 (w), 23, 15 and 16 (p),SHP: 44, THP: 60, FP: 212, Q: 117,Trinella: 559 and 405, Exacta: 8,773and 15,039. Favourite: Tiger Returns. Owners: Mr. Rajan Aggarwal& Mr. Gautam Aggarwal. Trainer:Pradeep Annaiah.

Jackpot: ₹��8,40,793 (one tkt); Runnerup: 3,60,340 (one tkt); Treble (i):998 (six tkts); (ii): 2,854 (two tkts);(iii): 12,741 (two tkts).

Bellator lifts Dr. C. Vittal Memorial Trophy

After months of inaction, theIndian women will be eagerto give their best againstSouth Africa in the ODI series starting at the Atal Behari Vajpayee Ekana Stadiumhere from Sunday.

Captain Mithali Raj saidthere was a “positive mood”in the camp and assured thatall the players, young onesand the “core”, will get a fairchance to get into theirgroove. “It is a very important series. As a team weneed to get the momentumright. Hope we can come together as a team,” said Mithali, on the eve of the series.

Saying that everybodyhad found a way to train,Mithali said that the teamhad had a good work out forfour days at the venue, including one session at the

centre.South Africa may be bet

ter prepared having playedPakistan earlier, but Mithalisaid that the Indian teamwas a “confi��dent unit” andthat the players were “notrusty”. “We are excited togive our best. It is good tostart playing some cricket,”she said.

On the personal front,Mithali said that she was“looking forward to getting

more runs”. When queriedabout the positive infl��uenceof coach W.V. Raman, Mithalisaid that he had a fi��ne equation with all players.

The teams (from):

India: Mithali Raj (Capt.),Harmanpreet Kaur (vicecapt.),Smriti Mandhana, Jemimah Rodrigues, Punam Raut, Priya Punia, Yastika Bhatia, D. Hemalatha, Deepti Sharma, SushmaVerma (wk), Swetha Verma(wk), Radha Yadav, RajeshwariGayakwad, Jhulan Goswami,Mansi Joshi, Poonam Yadav, C.Prathyusha, and Monica Patel.

South Africa: Sune Luus(Capt.), Ayabonga Khaka, Shabnim Ismail, Laura Wolvaardt,Trisha Chetty, Sinalo Jafta, Tasmin Britz, Marizanne Kapp,Nondumiso Shangase, LizelleLee, Anneke Bosch, Faye Tunnicliff��e, Nonkululeko Mlaba, Mignon du Preez, Nadine de Klerk,Lara Goodall, and TumiSekhukhune.

The schedule: ODIs: March7, 9, 12, 14 and 17. All matchesstart at 9 a.m.

Indian women ready for some actionSet to take on South Africa in ODI series from today

SA IN INDIA

Kamesh Srinivasan

LUCKNOW

Mithali Raj. * TWITTER/BCCI

Sri Lanka's spinners bamboozled West Indies toclaim a 43run win in thesecond T20I here onFriday.

The scores: Sri Lanka160/6 in 20 overs (D. Gunathilaka 56, P. Nissanka 37) btWest Indies 117 in 18.4 overs(W. Hasaranga 3/17, L. Sandakan 3/10).

MoM: Hasaranga. Sri Lankawon by 43 runs; three-matchseries 1-1.

Lanka pulls levelAgence France-Presse

St. John’s

The Indian women’s trapteam of Manisha Keer, Rajeshwari Kumari and KirtiGupta gave a good accountof itself before being beaten 64 in the gold medalcontest in the team championship of the ShotgunWorld Cup.

Women’s trapteam wins silver

Sports Bureau

Cairo

Tomas Machac of theCzech Republic defeatedeighth seed Prajnesh Gunneswaran 63, 16, 62 inthe $156,240 Challengertennis tournament semifi��nals here on Saturday.

Other results (semifi��nals):$15,000 ITF men, Sharm

El Sheikh: Edoardo Eremin(Ita) bt Sasikumar Mukund64, 61.

Prajnesh loses Sports Bureau

Nur Sultan

Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Saturday said the government is open to evaluateand explore new technologies, including cryptocurrencies, for improvinggovernance.

Prime Minister NarendraModi himself is a strong advocate of embracing technology in various aspects of governance, the Minister ofState for Finance said whileaddressing an event organised by Entrepreneurs’ Organisation — EO Punjab.

“Let me say that we welcome innovation and newtechnology... blockchain is anew emerging technology,”Mr. Thakur said. “Cryptocurrency is a form of virtual cur

rency. I fi��rmly believe thatwe must always evaluate, explore and encourage newideas with an open mind,”he added. A highlevel interministerial committee (IMC)was constituted under thechairmanship of the economic aff��airs secretary on

digital currencies and it hassubmitted its report.

The government wouldtake a decision on the recommendations of the IMCand the legislative proposal,if any, would be introducedin Parliament following thedue process, he said, inviting

suggestions on the issue.Finance Minister Nirmala

Sitharaman on Friday saidthe government is still formulating its opinion on cryptocurrencies and will take acalibrated position.

Reserve Bank of India Governor Shaktikanta Das hadlast week said the apex bankhad certain “major concerns” over the impact cryptocurrencies may have onthe fi��nancial stability in theeconomy and had conveyedthe same to the government.

The RBI had virtuallybanned cryptocurrencytrading in 2018. The Supreme Court had asked theCentre in 2019 to frame policies for crypto, and in 2020,struck down the curbs imposed by the RBI.

Govt. open to evaluate, explorecryptocurrencies, says ThakurHighlevel interministerial committee on digital currencies submits report


New Delhi

Heads or tails: The RBI virtually banned cryptocurrencytrading in 2018, while the SC struck down the curbs. * REUTERS

Reliance Home FinanceLtd. (RHFL) on Saturdaysaid it had defaulted on aloan of more than ₹��40crore from Punjab & SindBank, even as the companyhas enough cash and cashequivalent which it cannotuse due to a court order.

The Anil Ambanicontrolled Reliance Capital’ssubsidiary defaulted on theloan on February 15, 2021,and the current amount ofdefault is ₹��40 crore alongside an interest of ₹��15 lakh.

The company’s totalobligation is of ₹��200 croreon a 5year tenure securedterm loan at 9.25% per annum from Punjab & SindBank, RHFL said in a regulatory fi��ling.

The company has netcash of more than ₹��1,500crore, it said.

Reliance HFdefaults on₹��40crore loan


New Delhi

Simranjeet Singh’s 57thminute strike helped a resilient Indian men’s hockeyteam hold Great Britain 11in its third match of the Europe Tour here on Saturday.

For Great Britain, AlanForsyth scored. The drawensured India remainedunbeaten on the tour.

India holdsGreat Britain Press Trust of India

Antwerp

CMYK

A ND-NDE


DELHI THE HINDU


SPORT

Washington Sundar ran outof partners to be left withintouching distance of whatshould have been his maidenTest hundred in the morningsession. But by the end of theday, the Chennai charmerwas full of smiles, alongsidehis teammates, as Indiamauled England to not justwin the series but also set upa World Test Championshiptitle clash against NewZealand.

Once Washington andRishabh Pant had bailed India out of trouble at the Narendra Modi Stadium on thesecond evening, it was onlygoing to be a matter ofwhether the weekend crowdwould celebrate India’s winon Saturday or Sunday.

Thanks to yet another accurate, potent spell from India’s spinners and a bizarrebatting performance by England, India completed theformalities 42 minutes beforethe scheduled close of thethird day’s play.

Washington and Axar Patel’s 106run partnership forthe eighth wicket meant India stretched its fi��rstinningslead to 160 before being bowled out for 365 just beforelunch.

R. Ashwin and Axar got into the act thereafter to bundle England out for 135 andregister a thumping win byan innings and 25 runs topocket the series 31.

Two in two ballsIf England had to extend thegame into the fourth day, itrequired a solid start to its second innings. With openersDom Sibley and Zak Crawleyhaving survived the three overs before the break, Ashwinwas introduced into the attack upon resumption and hestruck twice in his fi��rst over.

Ashwin fi��rst induced anick off�� Crawley’s blade toAjinkya Rahane at slip. Off��

the next ball, Jonny Bairstowfell into the ‘leg trap’ for histhird duck in four innings.

Axar then ran through themiddleorder, with fi��rstinnings topscorer Ben Stokessweeping the leftarmerstraight to leg gully.

While Axar’s armballswere unplayable, Ashwinbamboozled the hapless England batsmen with his artistry. Since Ishant Sharma didnot take the fi��eld due to painin his left ankle, the spintwins shared 46.5 of the innings’ 54.5 overs.

Barring Joe Root, who held

the fort for more than anhour, only Dan Lawrence,batting at No. 7, off��ered anysubstantial resistance. Butwith no support from theother end, Lawrence (50)was the last man out, hisheave against Ashwin resulting in the ball crashing intothe stumps, giving the off��spinner his 30th fi��vewickethaul.

Axar had earlier completed the fourth fi��vefor of hismaiden series, playing hispart with the ball after havingdone his bit with bat. He wasinvolved in a fl��awless part

nership with Washington inthe morning to bat Englandout of the game.

While Axar rotated thestrike, Washington carriedon after starting the day on60.

When Washington wasfour runs short of the threefi��gure mark, Axar was late inrecovering his ground after

going for a nonexistent single to be run out off�� the lastball of Root’s over.

It took Stokes just fourballs to see the back of Ishantand Mohammed Siraj andleave Washington agonisinglyshort. But by then, he haddone enough to help powerIndia’s magnifi��cent turnaround.

India’s Irrepressibles maul the Three Lions, roar into WTC fi��nalAshwin, Axar split 10 in England’s second innings to bowl home side to 31 series win; Washington left stranded on 96 after batting the touring side out of the game

Amol Karhadkar

AHMEDABAD

Perfect fi��nish: India brooked no resistance, registering an innings win in the fi��nal Test on Saturday. * SPORTZPICS/BCCI

ENGLAND — 1ST INNINGS

205

INDIA — 1ST INNINGSShubman Gill lbw b Anderson 0(3b), Rohit Sharma lbw b Stokes49 (144b, 7x4), Cheteshwar Pujara lbw b Leach 17 (66b, 1x4),Virat Kohli c Foakes b Stokes 0(8b), Ajinkya Rahane c Stokes bAnderson 27 (45b, 4x4), Rishabh Pant c Root b Anderson 101(118b, 13x4, 2x6), R. Ashwin cPope b Leach 13 (32b, 2x4),Washington Sundar (not out)96 (174b, 10x4, 1x6), Axar Patelrun out 43 (97b, 5x4, 1x6),Ishant Sharma lbw b Stokes 0(1b), Mohammed Siraj b Stokes0 (3b); Extras (b10, lb6, nb3):19; Total (in 114.4 overs): 365.

FALL OF WICKETS10 (Gill, 0.3 overs), 240 (Pujara, 23.6), 341 (Kohli, 26.4), 480 (Rahane, 37.5), 5121 (Rohit,49.6), 6146 (Ashwin, 58.1), 7259 (Pant, 84.1), 8365 (Axar,113.6), 9365 (Ishant, 114.1).

ENGLAND BOWLINGAnderson 2514443, Stokes27.46894, Leach 275892,Bess 171710, Root 181560.

ENGLAND — 2ND INNINGSZak Crawley c Rahane b Ashwin

5 (16b), Dom Sibley c Pant bAxar 3 (21b), Jonny Bairstow cRohit b Ashwin 0 (1b), Joe Rootlbw b Ashwin 30 (72b, 3x4), BenStokes c Kohli b Axar 2 (9b), Ollie Pope st. Pant b Axar 15 (31b,1x6), Dan Lawrence b Ashwin50 (95b, 6x4), Ben Foakes c Rahane b Axar 13 (46b), Dom Bessc Pant b Axar 2 (6b), Jack Leachc Rahane b Ashwin 2 (31b),James Anderson (not out) 1 (1b);Extras (b4, lb8): 12; Total (in54.5 overs): 135.

FALL OF WICKETS110 (Crawley, 4.4), 210 (Bairstow, 4.5), 320 (Sibley, 9.6), 430 (Stokes, 13.1), 565 (Pope,24.5), 665 (Root, 25.1), 7109(Foakes, 43.1), 8111 (Bess,45.1), 9134 (Leach, 54.2).

INDIA BOWLINGSiraj 40120, Axar 246485,Ashwin 22.54475, Washington 40160.

ManoftheMatch: Pant.

Manoftheseries: Ashwin.

India won by an innings and25 runs to clinch series 3-1.

Next match: March 12: FirstT20I, India vs England,Ahmedabad, 7 p.m.

SCOREBOARD

India vs South Africa: 1st ODI (Women), Star Sports 2HD & 3, 9a.m.Premier League: SS Select 1 (SD & HD),5.30 p.m. 7.30 p.m., 10p.m. & 12.30 a.m. (Monday); Star Sports 3 (SD & HD), 10 p.m.Serie A: Sony Ten 2 (SD & HD), 5 p.m., 7.30 p.m., 10.30 p.m. &1.15 a.m. (Monday)ATP 250: Argentina Open, Eurosport (SD & HD), 11.30 p.m. Swiss Open badminton: Star Sports 2 & 3 (SD & HD), 3.30 p.m.

TV PICKS

ENGLAND IN INDIA

R. Ashwin, adjudged ‘Playerof the Series’, was ecstaticabout India’s qualifi��cationfor the WTC fi��nal.

“The WTC qualifi��cation isthe result of the work we’veput in over the last 10 years.The WTC was announcedand we obviously reallyfought hard. We played sixseries and we've literally gotmost of the points. We havelost just three [sic: four] ofthe Tests in the cycle,” Ashwin said.

“It means a lot to a lot ofthem in the dressing room.Some of them have not evenplayed a World Cup. I'm sovery happy for someone likeIshant Sharma, who got selected in the 2015 World Cup

but couldn't play because ofa lastminute injury. For someone like him to get to theWTC fi��nal would mean theworld. I was reading somewhere that he called it theWorld Cup fi��nal for himself.”

With 32 wickets and 189runs, including a hundred,Ashwin’s performance wasone of the talking points ofthe series. But when askedabout the highlight of the series, he picked a team — notan individual — moment.

“The way we came back inthe second Test as a group,we found ourselves in somesticky situations in all theseTests and every time somebody has managed to standup. That's related to how wehave managed to bond as ateam.”

In sticky situations, somebodystood up for us : AshwinAmol Karhadkar

AHMEDABAD

Ashwin. * SPORTZPICS/BCCI

<> The WTC

qualifi��cation is the

result of the work

we’ve put in over

the last 10 years

NorthEast United FCfound the equaliser off��

substitute Idrissa Sylla tohold ATK Mohun Bagan to a11 draw in the fi��rst leg of thesecond semifi��nal of the ISLin Bambolim on Saturday.ATKMB led for a major partof the match, thanks to David Williams’ strike in the34th minute.

NorthEast, quite uncharacteristically, appeared abit subdued in the attackingthird as ATKMB’s defencedid well to contain forwardsFederico Gallego and LuisMachado well ahead of thestriking zone. However, withinjured striker DeshornBrown missing the match,NEUFC’s attack lacked teeth.

ATKMB breachedNEUFC’s citadel in the 34th

minute as a result of the fi��neunderstanding betweenKrishna and Williams. Krishna brought down a long fl��oater on top of the NorthEastbox and set up Williams witha short square pass.

The Australian forwardcreated the space by dislodging his marker with a bodyfeint and fi��red an angulargrounder that wrongfooted

NorthEast goalkeeper Subhasish Roy.

NorthEast came close toequalising in injurytime butAshutosh Mehta’s header off��a Gallego freekick went off��the crosspiece. However,Sylla found the target nodding home a Machado cross.The result: NEUFC 1 (IdrissaSylla 90+4) drew with ATKMB 1(David Williams 34).

NEUFC snatches late equaliser Holds ATKMB after being on the back foot for the most part

Sports Bureau

ISL 2020-21

In the nick of time: Idrissa Sylla kept NEUFC alive in thesemifi��nal with this injurytime header. * ISL/SPORTZPICS

England skipper Joe Rootsaid he was disappointed

with his team’s showing especially on the fi��nal day andpraised Rishabh Pant, calling him a diffi��cult batsmanto bowl at.

“It was disappointing butcredit to India. They haveoutskilled us. They haveread the surface well,showed how to bat and wereexcellent with the ball aswell. We just have to keepfi��nding ways of getting better in similar conditions inthe future,” said Root.

“It was a frustrating wayto fi��nish this game. But credit to Rishabh and Washington [Sundar], that partnership was outstanding. Theway he [Pant] bats makes it

diffi��cult for bowlers to buildpressure, and to set fi��elds asa captain is quite diffi��cultwhen he pulls out a reversesweep to a guy [ James An

derson] with 600 wickets,”he added.

Root also felt India exploited the conditions betterand managed to grab the keymoments in the game often,which proved decisive.

“We did not react tochanges in surfaces as wellas India did. They exploitedit better. They found ways ofmanaging turn and nonturnbetter than we did. I dothink there were periods inthe game where we foundourselves at parity and Indiamanaged to grab them. Generally in lowscoring Testmatches, that is a diff��erence.”

They outskilled us: Root ‘India found ways of managing turn and nonturn better’

S. Dipak Ragav

Washington. * SPORTZPICS/BCCI

<> The way he [Pant]

bats makes it

diffi��cult for bowlers

to build pressure

Olympic silver medallist P.V.Sindhu dished out a superlative performance to outclassMia Blichfeldt of Denmark instraight games and enter thewomen's singles fi��nal of theSwiss Open Super 300 tournament here on Saturday.

Sindhu beat fourthseeded Blichfeldt 2220, 2110 in43 minutes to avenge herfi��rstround loss to the DanishWorld No. 12 at the ThailandOpen in January.

The secondseeded Indian will take on top seedand Rio Olympics gold medallist Carolina Marin in thefi��nal on Sunday. “Carolina isa good player so it won’t bean easy match, I have to playmy 100%,” Sindhu said.

Former champion K. Sri

kanth, however, couldn'tcross the semifi��nal stage ashe went down 1321, 1921 totop seed Viktor Axelsen.

World No. 10 SatwiksairajRankireddy and Chirag Shet

ty also bowed out after losing 1021, 1721 to the sixthseeded Danish pair of KimAstrup and Anders SkaarupRasmussen in the lastfourstage.

Satwiksairaj and Chirag fall to Danish pair in semifi��nals

ANI

Basel

Sweet revenge: Sindhu avenged her loss against Blichfeldtwith a clinical show. * FILE PHOTO

Sindhu in fi��nal; Srikanth loses

SWISS OPEN

Top seed Saketh Mynenicombined a sharp gamewith subtle strokes to defeatthird seed Aidan Mchugh ofBritain 63, 64 in the semifi��nals of the $15,000 ITF tennis tournament on Saturday.

In an entertaining contest, Myneni got into troubleagainst the Briton, but wasquick in getting out of thetough situations by steppingup his game.

He was serving and stroking with such assurance thathis opponent wilted underthe pressure. In the fi��nal,Myneni will be challengedby Zane Khan of the US.

Myneni-Bhambri winLater, Myneni combinedwith Yuki Bhambri to clinchthe doubles title, beating Kaza Vinayak Sharma and Vijay Sundar Prashanth for theloss of fi��ve games.

Eager to get back into the

Challenger circuit, Myneniis keen to capitalise on thechance to get matches in theinternational circuit athome, in sharpening hisarsenal.

The results:

Singles semifi��nal: Saketh Myneni bt Aidan Mchugh (GBr)63, 64; Zane Khan (US) bt Eric Vanshelboim (Ukr) 64, 61.

Doubles: Final: Yuki Bhambri &Saketh Myneni bt Kaza VinayakSharma & Vijay Sundar Prashanth 62, 63.

Myneni enters the fi��nalKamesh Srinivasan

LUCKNOW

Saketh Myneni... in line for a double. * KAMESH SRINIVASAN

A dreadful defensive errorfrom Arsenal’s Granit Xhakagifted Burnley an equaliseras the sides drew 11 at TurfMoor in the Premier Leagueon Saturday.

Arsenal had taken a sixthminute lead when Willianran at Burnley’s defence andfed PierreEmerick Aubameyang, whose low shotsnuck in at the near.

Mikel Arteta’s side lookedcomfortably in charge of thegame until a shocking mistake six minutes before thebreak.

Arsenal attempted to playthe ball out from the backwith keeper Bernd Lenopassing to Xhaka deep in thepenalty area, but the Swissinternational’s attemptedpass to David Luiz struckClarets striker Chris Woodand ricocheted into the net.

The results:

Premier League: Burnley 1(Wood 39) drew with Arsenal 1(Aubameyang 6); Sheffi��eld United 0 lost to Southampton 2(WardProwse 32pen, Adams49).

LaLiga: Real Valladolid 2 (Plano 14, Weissman 24) bt Getafe1 (Mata 37).

Serie A: Spezia 1 (Verde 71)drew with Benevento 1 (Gaich24).

Bundesliga: Borussia M’Gladbach 0 lost to Bayer Leverkusen 1 (Schick 76).

Hoff��enheim 2 (Baumgartner8, Kramaric 41) bt Wolfsburg 1(Weghorst 23).

Freiburg 0 lost to RB Leipzig3 (Nkunu 41, Sorloth 64,Forsberg 79).

Eintracht Frankfurt 1 (Kostic69) drew with Stuttgart 1 (Kalajdzic 67), Hertha Berlin 2(Piatek 62, Lukebakio 89pen)bt Augsburg 1 (Benes 2).

Friday: LaLiga: Valencia 2 (Soler 86pen, Guedes 90+1) btVillarreal 1 (Moreno 40pen).

Bundesliga: Schalke 0 drewwith Mainz 0.

Xhaka gaff��e costs Arsenal

Reuters

Burnley

EURO LEAGUES

Chennai City FC

loses to Sudeva

KOLKATA

Former champion Chennai City

FC lost to debutant Sudeva

Delhi FC 21 in a relegation

round match of the Hero

ILeague at the Kishore Bharati

Krirangan on Saturday.

In another relegation round

contest, Indian Arrows

stunned Neroca FC 30.

The results:

Chennai City FC 1 (Jockson Das6) lost to Sudeva Delhi FC 2(William Pauliankhum 34,Sairuatkima 47)

Indian Arrows 3 (Harish Patre17, 96, Vanlalruatfela Thlacheu51) bt Neroca FC 0.

IN BRIEF

Nine Indians in finalsNEW DELHI

Nine Indians — six men and

three women — advanced to

the finals of the 35th Boxam

Intl. boxing tournament in

Castellon, Spain.The results (semifinals): Men:69kg: Vikas bt AblaikhanZhussupov (Kaz) 32. 63kg:Manish bt Lounes Hamraoui(Fra) 32. 57kg: Hussamuddin btOrlando Martinez (Pan) 41.81kg: Sumit bt Raphael Monny(Fra) 50. +91kg: Satish bt JonasJazevicius (Ltu) 41. 75kg:Ashish bt Dumitru Vicol (Rou)41; Women: 75kg: Pooja btAtheyna Bylon (Pan) 50. 57kg:Jasmine bt Sirine Charaabi (Ita)41. 60kg: Simranjit bt KiriaTapia (Pur) 32. PTI

Sarita Mor won silver,while Kuldeep Malikbagged bronze at the Matteo Pellicone wrestlingevent in Rome on Friday.

India now has fi��ve medals in the GrecoRomancategory.The results: Women 57kg: Final: Giullia Penalber (Bul) btSarita Mor 42; Bronze bout:Francesca Indelicato (Ita) w/oAnshu Malik. 68kg qualifying: Mimi Hristova (Bul) btNisha 103; Repechage: Alexandria Junis Glaude (USA) btNisha 32. 76kg: Quarterfi��nals: Elmira Syzdykova (Kaz)bt Kiran 103.Men: 72kg: Bronze bout: Kuldeep Malik bt Chingiz Labazanov (Rus)109. 82kg qualifying: Richard Perkins (USA) btGurpreet Singh 1112; SalihAydin (Tur) bt Harpreet Singhby fall.

Silver forSarita, bronzefor KuldeepPress Trust of India

New Delhi

Zeel Desai was beaten 76(2), 61 by Pia Lovric of Slovenia in the $15,000 ITF women’s tennis tournament atthe DLTA Complex here onSaturday.

Lovric, who will meet Irina Khromacheva of Russiain the fi��nal, won the doublestitle in partnership with

Adrienn Nagy of Hungary,defeating the Indian pair ofSowjanya Bavisetti and Prarthana Thombare for the lossof fi��ve games.The results: Semifi��nals: PiaLovric (Slo) bt Zeel Desai 76(2),61; Irina Khromacheva (Rus) btAdrienn Nagy (Hun) 60, 61.Doubles: Final: Lovric &Adrienn Nagy (Hun) bt Sowjanya Bavisetti & PrarthanaThombare 62, 63.

Zeel goes downSpecial Correspondent

NEW DELHI

Aman Dahiya continued toassert his dominance overtop seed Nishant Dabas ashe raced to a 60, 64 victoryin the fi��nal of the ITFgrade4 junior tennis tournament at the CLTA Complex here on Saturday.

It was the fourth title on

the trot for the 16yearoldAman who had won two inKathmandu, before the onein Indore last week.

In the girls fi��nal, SuhithaMaruri beat her sister Reshma in three sets.

The results (fi��nals): Boys:Aman Dahiya bt Nishant Dabas60, 64; Girls: Suhitha Maruribt Reshma Maruri 46, 62, 64.

Fourth title on the trotfor Aman DahiyaSports Bureau

CHANDIGARH

After an impressive show inthe league, Delhi is eyeing aplace in the Vijay Hazare(50over) Trophy quarterfi��nals at the expense of Uttarakhand at the FerozeshahKotla ground here onSunday.

After fi��nishing second toMumbai in Group ‘D’ — following four wins from fi��vematches — Delhi earned theright to take on Plate Grouptopper Uttarakhand for aplace in the lasteight.Should Delhi win, it willplay Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday in the thirdquarterfi��nal.

The other quarterfi��nalsare: Gujarat v Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka v Kerala(both on Monday) andMumbai v Saurashtra (onTuesday).

Delhi eyes lasteight spot

RAKESH RAO

NEW DELHI

HAZARE TROPHY

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