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Thirty-eight out of 49accused of 2008

Ahmedabad serial blasts wereawarded death sentence by aspecial court here on Fridaywhereas 11 others were sen-tenced to life imprisonment.

A series of 21 blasts thatrocked the city on July 26, 2008,claimed 56 lives and left over200 injured. The court hadacquitted 28 others in the caseon February 8.

In its voluminous judg-ment running into nearly 7,000pages, the court termed this asthe rarest of rare crime. These38 people were convicted underthe Indian Penal Code (IPC)sections 302 (murder) and120B (criminal conspiracy)and provisions of the UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act(UAPA). Eleven others wereheld guilty for criminal con-spiracy and under various sec-tions of the UAPA, he said.

The court imposed a fineof �2.85 lakh on 48 convictsand of �2.88 lakh on anotherone. It also awarded compen-

sation of �1 lakh to the kin ofthose who died in the blasts,�50,000 to those who were seri-ously injured, and �25,000 tothose who received minorinjuries.

Those who were awardeddeath sentences include SafdarNagori, QayumuddinKapadiya, Zahid Shaikh,Qumaruddin Nagori, andShamsuddin Sheikh. All theconvicts were present for thehearing via video conferencefrom eight different jails —Sabarmati Central jail inAhmedabad, Tihar in Delhi,Bhopal, Gaya, Bengaluru,Kerala, and Mumbai.

“I can say that this is thecase in which the highest num-ber of convicts were awardeddeath sentence. Earlier, in one

case 26 people were givendeath cases. But in this case, thenumber is 38,” the public pros-ecutor said.

The court had concludedthe trial against 77 accused inSeptember last year. Out of 78accused on trial, one hadturned approver. The trial hadbegun in December 2009against 77 persons linked tobanned terror outfit IndianMujahideen (IM).

Four more accused werearrested later, but their trial hasnot commenced yet, a seniorGovernment lawyer said.Bombs had exploded at variousspots in Ahmedabad, includingthe State Government-run civilhospital, AhmedabadMunicipal Corporation-runLG Hospital, on buses, parked

bicycles, in cars and otherplaces, killing 56 people.

As many as 29 live bombswere also found in Surat in thenext couple of days thoughnone of them exploded. Thetrial was conducted after thecourt merged 20 FIRs ofAhmedabad and 15 FIRs ofSurat.

The State Government hadtransferred the investigationto the Ahmedabad crimebranch, under the supervisionof then JCP Ashish Bhatia,who is now serving as theGujarat DGP.

A total of nine differentjudges presided over the case,starting with Bela Trivedi, inwhose court charges wereframed against the accused onFebruary 15, 2010. JusticeTrivedi is now the judge of theSupreme Court. Special judgeAR Patel, who handed over thejudgment, started hearing thecase from June 14, 2017.

The police had claimedthat members of the IM, a rad-icalised faction of the bannedStudents Islamic Movement ofIndia (SIMI), were behind theblasts.

The IM planned the blastsas revenge for the 2002 post-Godhra riots in Gujarat inwhich over a thousand persons,most of them from the Muslimcommunity, had died, theinvestigators have said.

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Aday after India called forresolving the ongoing cri-

sis in Ukraine through “quietand constructive diplomacy”,Russia on Friday welcomed thisstand.

The reaction came afterIndia on Thursday said at theUN Security Council that“quiet and constructive diplo-macy” is the need of the hourand that any step that couldescalate the tension should beavoided.

“We welcome #India’s bal-anced, principled and inde-pendent approach,” the RussianEmbassy in India tweeted.

At a meeting of the UNSecurity Council on theUkraine situation, India’sPermanent Representative tothe UN TS Tirumurti pitchedfor immediate de-escalationof the situation.

External Affairs Ministryspokesperson Arindam Bagchi

said India has been supportiveof an immediate de-escalationof tensions and resolution ofthe situation through sustaineddiplomatic dialogue.

The MEA on Wednesdayset up a control room to pro-vide information and assis-tance to Indian nationals inUkraine. In addition, theIndian Embassy in Ukraine hasalso set up a 24-hour helplinefor Indians in the easternEuropean nation.

There are more than20,000 Indian students thereand the Indian Embassy therehas urged them to leave thecountry for time being.

Indian citizens, moreover,were advised to avoid travellingto Ukraine.

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The Supreme Court onFriday directed the Uttar

Pradesh Government to refundthe fine and restore theattached properties of thealleged anti-CAA protestersfor causing damage to publicand private assets in December2019.

Terming it as a case of“unjust enrichment”, the court

said the State can recover thedamages under the new law,once it is established before theclaims tribunal that public andproperties were damaged.

The UP Government toldthe top court that it has with-drawn 274 recovery notices and

subsequent proceedings initi-ated against anti-CAA protes-tors in 2019 for property dam-ages. The State Governmentasked permission from the SCto issue new notices based onthe new law for recovery ofdamages to public and privateproperty.

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Ahead of voting in PunjabAssembly elections on

Sunday, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi hosted a num-ber of prominent Sikh repre-sentatives at his residence onFriday and detailed the worksdone by his Government forthe community.

Thirty-eight prominentSikh representatives met thePrime Minister at his resi-dence and felicitated him fordeclaring December 26 as “veerbaal divas” in the memory ofthe four sons of the Sikh 10thguru, Guru Govind Singh, andcreating Kartarpur Sahib cor-ridor to visit the birthplace ofthe founder of the Sikh religionGuru Gobind Singh. Modi waspresented with a “Kripan” anda shawl.

According to a Press state-ment from the Sikh represen-tatives who attended the meet-

ing, Modi said in his childhoodhe was greatly influenced by thelives of the Sikh gurus and“used to mention sahabjadesdeeds in his public speeches”.

“I am grateful that I coulddo something in the memoryof Guru Gobind Singh’s bravesons..”, he said.

Modi was also quoted assaying in his childhood he

would go to Kartarpur Sahiband had darshan of the birth-place of Guru Dev throughbinocular at Kartarpur Sahibthrough binocular.

Modi maintained “if wewanted we could have wonPakistan in 1971 war andclaimed Kartarpur Sahib inthe agreement executed inSoviet Union but we could notdo so…”.

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Bengaluru: The KarnatakaGovernment on Friday con-tended before the KarnatakaHigh Court that the hijab is notan essential religious practice ofIslam and preventing its use didnot violate Article 25 of theIndian Constitution, whichguarantees religious freedom.

State’s Advocate GeneralPrabhuling Navadgi told thefull bench of the High Courtcomprising Justice Awasthi,Justice JM Khazi and JusticeKrishna M Dixit that the prac-tice of wearing hijab shouldalso pass the test of constitu-tional morality as interpreted invarious Supreme Court judg-ments, including the Sabrimalacase.

“We have taken a stand thatwearing Hijab is not an essen-tial religious part of Islam,”Navadgi told the HC bench.

AG Navadgi also rejectedthe charge of the girls, whochallenged the KarnatakaGovernment’s order on

February 5 which restrictedstudents from wearing hijab orsaffron scarves saying that itviolated Article 25 of theConstitution. Article 25 givesfreedom of conscience andfree profession, practice andpropagation of religion to thecitizens of India.

“If somebody wishes toexercise the right to freedom ofreligion, it has to be seen if thisexercise affects public order,health and morality,” Navadgicontended.

To buttress his point, hesaid during the Covid-19 pan-demic all the religious placeswere shut and the purpose forkeeping the places closed waspublic health. In terms of hijab,it has to be tested in terms ofmorality, health and publicorder. The Government orderalso does not violate 19(1)(A),Navadgi argued. Article19(1)(a) of the Constitutionguarantees to all its citizens theright to freedom of speechand expression.

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Mumbai: A special court herehas denied bail to three personsaccused in the Elgar Parishad-Maoist links case, saying thatthe material on record suggeststhat the trio and members ofthe CPI(Maoist) hatched a“serious conspiracy” to createunrest in the country and tooverthrow the ModiGovernment.

A letter placed on recordprima facie speaks that the CPI(Maoist) was bent upon endingthe “Modi-raj” and that theywere also thinking of anotherincident like the death of formerprime minister Rajiv Gandhi, bytargeting the road shows of PMNarenda Modi, the court said.

The three accused, SagarGorkhe, Ramesh Gaichor andJyoti Jagtap, members of theKabir Kala Manch, were deniedbail by the special court judgeDE Kothalikar on Monday.

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The campaigning for thethird phase of UP

Assembly polls ended onFriday. The electoral battle forthe 18th UP Assembly becomesincreasingly crucial for the BJPand the Samajwadi Party.

The challenge before theBJP is to retain the inroads ithad made in this region during2017 Assembly polls and 2019Lok Sabha elections, while the

SP is fighting for reclaiming thelost territory. Polling in thethird phase will be held onFebruary 20 on 59 seats spreadacross 16 districts.

These include five districtsfrom western UP — Firozabad,Mainpuri, Etah, Kasganj andHathras. Six districts of theAvadh region, namely Kanpur,Kanpur Dehat, Aurraiya,Kannauj, Etawah andFarrukhabad, will go to pollsalong with five districts fromBundelkhand region: Jhansi,

Jalaun, Lalitpur, Hamirpur andMahoba.

The region, known fordominance of the Yadav com-munity, was once a strongholdof the Samajwadi Party but sig-nificant share of votes of Yadavcommunity went with the BJPin 2017. The BJP won 49 out of59 seats while the SP only hadto settle for 9. The Congress gotone while the BSP drew ablank from here. Even theYadav stronghold, whichincludes Firozabad, Kasganj,

Etah, Mainpuri, Farrukhabad,Kannauj and Aurraiya did notvote for the SP which got onlysix seats in these districts.

Political observers feel thefamily feud between Akhileshand Shivpal was a major factorfor this shift. The biggest shiftcame from Kannauj in 2019when Akhilesh’s wife and sit-ting MP Dimple Yadav lost theLok Sabha contest to the BJPeven though the SP was inalliance with BSP.

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Delhi Police Commissioner,Rakesh Asthana on Friday

said that the initial probe intothe case related to theImprovised Explosive Devices(IEDs) being found inSeemapuri on Thursday andGhazipur’s flower market onJanuary 17, ahead of RepublicDay suggest that the IEDs wereprepared with the intention ofcarrying out blasts at publicplaces across the nationalCapital.

Meanwhile, Delhi Policehas also stepped up securityand deployed additional per-sonnel in northeast Delhi'sOld Seemapuri area, a dayafter the bag containing theIED was found there.

Police said that the ownerof the house, where the IEDwas found, and a propertydealer, through whom thehouse was given on rent, arebeing interrogated. Accordingto sources, three men were liv-ing on the second floor of thebuilding where the IED wasfound. They had fled from thearea before the police arrived.

Talking to reporters,Asthana said that such activi-

ties are not possible withoutlocal support and the initialprobe suggests that these IEDswere prepared with the inten-tion of carrying out blasts atpublic places.

“The Special Cell andother police teams are investi-gating the case. They are prob-ing forward and backwardlinkages. Police teams are try-ing to pre-empt every suchincident in Delhi and exposeany local and foreign net-work,” said the Police

Commissioner.According to a senior

police officer, security hasbeen stepped up in the areaand in order to preserve thecrime scene, police have alsoput up barricades and sealedthe house.

“The local police had alsoconducted the verification oftenants in the area as part ofsecurity measures ahead ofRepublic Day. A local enquiryhas also been conducted by thepolice,” said the senior police

official.“The Special Cell team

has also retrieved the footageof all the CCTV camerasinstalled in the area and thefootage is being analysed,” saidthe official.

The mother of the houseowner Aashim alleged thatpolice have taken him into cus-tody, while his wife said theyhad rented out the floor, wherethe explosives have beenfound, to two persons a coupleof months ago.

“During interrogation, theowner of the house told thepolice that he had taken thedocuments of two people whilegiving the house on rent.However, the documents areyet to be recovered by theSpecial Cell unit probing thecase,” said a police officer.

“On Thursday, when thepolice team went to the house,it was vacant. The bag wasfound there and we immedi-ately informed the NSG. Thesuspects have managed toescape. We think that theexplosive recovered from OldSeemapuri had been made bythe same persons who placedthe IED at the Ghazipur flowermarket last month,” policesaid.

The IED was picked up bythe NSG bomb disposal squadfrom the second floor of thebuilding. The IED wasdestroyed using a water dis-ruptor, an NSG official said,adding all pieces of evidencehave been handed over to theDelhi Police.

NSG sources had said theexplosive is suspected to be amix of ammonium nitrate andRDX but a forensic lab willexamine it in detail.

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Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)National Convenor and

Delhi Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal termed himself thesweetest terrorist in the worldwho builds roads, schools andprovide free water and elec-tricity.

Kejriwal’s remarks cameafter Punjab Chief MinisterCharanjit Singh Channi wrotea letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, seeking aninquiry into allegations lev-elled against the Delhi ChiefMinister by former AAPleader Kumar Vishwas,

“I must be the world’s firstsweet terrorist who buildsschools, hospitals and givesfree electricity to people. TheBritish labeled a revolutionarylike Shaheed-e-Azam BhagatSingh as a terrorist 100 yearsago and today those whodivide and rule like the Britishare labeling his disciple as aterrorist. I have ruined thesleep of these corrupt leadersbecause of which they call mea terrorist,” he added.

AAP leader dubbed theallegations levelled by Vishwasand other leaders as "a come-dy". "This is laughable. Is thispossible," he asked. Kejriwalsaid he has learnt that "lastevening, Channi got a callfrom the Centre saying thatthe matter (accusations ofsupporting separatists) shouldbe investigated."

"One officer told me thatover the next one or two days,an FIR will be registered

against me by the NIA. Allsuch FIRs are welcome, but ifthe Centre deals with nation-al security in this manner, thenit is a matter of concern."

“The Modi Governmentsent the police, Income Taxand ED not just to my officebut my bedroom too, yetcouldn’t find anything againstme. How hilarious is it that thePM of the world’s largestdemocracy gets to know of aterrorist after a poet recitesnonsense for cheap publicity.We are living in such an erawhere the country’s largestparties and their chiefs thinkthey can make a joke out ofnational security,” he said.

On the last day of cam-paigning in Punjab, Kejriwalsaid that all the corrupt lead-ers have come together as oneto f ight AAP and stopBhagwant Mann from becom-ing the CM of Punjab. “Wewill bring an honestGovernment to Punjab anderadicate corruption just likewe have in Delhi. Callingupon the three crore Punjabisto unite against the BJP,Congress and Akali Dal to fixthis broken and corrupt sys-tem,” he added.

Kejriwal said leaders of theBJP and the Congress as wellas their allies have joinedhands to target him overVishwas' accusations whichhe dubbed as "laughable".

"Narendra Modi, PriyankaGandhi, Rahul Gandhi,Charanjit Channi, SukhbirBadal, Amarinder Singh,Navjot Singh Sidhu, all arenow levelling allegations that

for the last ten years, Kejriwalis hatching a plan to break thecountry into two parts andwants to become the PrimeMinister of one part," Kejriwaltold reporters in Bathinda.

"If one goes by theirclaims, that means I am a bigterrorist. If one goes by theirlogic, then what were theiragencies doing, why did theynot arrest me? EarlierCongress was ruling and nowfor last over seven years theBJP is in power (at the Centre).Were all of them sleeping," hesaid.

AAP leader RaghavChadha had already describedVishwas's allegations as "mali-cious, unfounded and fabri-cated."

Kejriwal pointed out thatall his rivals have joined handsas he was talking about under-taking development and build-ing schools and hospitals if hisparty comes to power inPunjab in the February 20polls.

"See the sequence of thewhole thing. Rahul Gandhiwas the first to level accusa-tions (after Vishwas' state-ment), then the PrimeMinister, then Priyanka andSukhbir Badal used the samelanguage against me," he said.

Kejriwal said people usedto say when Rahul Gandhisays something people don'tbelieve him. "But I neverthought the PM too would toeRahul's line and the PM wouldalso become Rahul Gandhi," hesaid, referring to Modi target-ing the Delhi CM on the issueat his poll rallies.

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Following the fall in coron-avirus cases as well as

reopening of schools in thenational Capital, the All IndiaParents' Association (AIPA)has written to DelhiLieutenant-Governor AnilBaijal demanding that vacci-nation centres running inGovernment schools be shift-ed to other places and teachersposted on Covid duty be calledback.

According to the letterwritten by Ashok Agarwal,the president of the AIPA, nowthat students have startedreturning to school, vaccina-tion centres running inGovernment schools shouldbe moved to other places.

“Also, teachers posted onCovid duties should be calledback since the number ofcases has gone down consid-

erably. It is important to pro-vide a safe and secure envi-ronment to students wherethey can concentrate on stud-ies as there has already been asignificant learning loss due tothe Covid-induced school clo-sure", he said.

Amid declining coron-avirus cases in the city, theDelhi Disaster ManagementAuthority (DDMA) decided toreopen higher education insti-tutions and coaching centresalong with schools for classes9-12 from February 7. It alsodecided to reopen schools forstudents from nursery to class8 from February 14.

While the Centre hasdropped the mandatoryparental consent for studentsto physically attend schoolsfrom its guidelines and left itto the States, the DelhiGovernment has decided tocontinue with it.

There is no cap of 50 percent student strength andschools are free to decide thenumber of students based ontheir infrastructure so thatthe Covid protocols are fol-lowed.According to guidelinesissued by the DDMA, the areaor part of a school being usedfor vaccination or ration dis-tribution should be properlyseparated or demarcated fromthe area which is being usedfor academic activities.

"In this regard, the districtadministration shall cordonoff the area demarcated for thevaccination or ration distrib-ution centre, make separateentry or exit for this purposeand deploy a sufficient num-ber of civil defence volun-teers to avoid mingling of stu-dents with the persons comingto vaccination or ration distri-bution centres," the guidelinesstated.

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The Delhi High Court onFriday refused to entertain

a public interest litigation (PIL)alleging that the agreementbetween a RelianceInfrastructure subsidiary, DelhiAirport Metro Express PrivateLimited (DAMEPL) and DelhiMetro Rail Corporation(DMRC), pursuant to which anarbitral award of over Rs 4,600crore was earlier passed againstthe corporation, was “fraud on

public money.”A Bench headed by Justice

Manmohan said the PIL, filed bylawyer Manohar Lal Sharmawho alleged that the agreementwould result in the Delhi Metro“going into the hands of AnilAmbani”, was misconceived,half-baked and without anybasis.

The Bench, also comprisingJustice Navin Chawla, said thecourt cannot examine under PILjurisdiction the allegations of thepetitioner when the contract in

question has been scrutinised bythe High Court as well as theSupreme Court at the time oftesting of the validity of the arbi-tral award. “You can't come onthe basis of a news report to saythe contract is vitiated. If we startdoing that, what will happen tocontracts?

According to someone, oneclause in a contract may beopposed to public policy andthey will start challenging it...Which investor will come toIndia? We'll ensure no business

takes place in India and only lit-igation takes place in India andthat too PIL. That's not the intentof PIL,” Justice Manmohan said.

Remarking that many timesa PIL is filed to kill a good causeby filing a premature plea andgetting it dismissed, the courtasked the petitioner to availother legal remedies available tohim under the law and come tocourt after doing some research.

“Have you written to the

DMRC? Have you given anynotice to the other side sayingwhy this was done? Nothing ofthis sort has been done andyou've come straightaway tothe High Court... You havealternative remedies, explorethem.

This is all half-baked, quitemisconceived,” the court stated.The court clarified that the alle-gations levelled by the petition-er required a “full trial” and thesame cannot be done under thePIL jurisdiction.

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A14-year-old girl wasallegedly raped by her

neighbour twice in west Delhi'sKirti Nagar area. Police saidthat they arrested the accused.

The accused has been iden-tified as Servesh (27). Policesaid that the accused has beenarrested and sent to judicialcustody on Wednesday underrelevant sections of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) and POCSOAct on the complaint of the vic-tim, a resident of Kirti Nagar.

According to a seniorpolice official, the minor girlalleged that her neighbourServesh forcefully raped her inlast December and then justafter five days he raped heragain.

“She disclosed the matterto her mother who reported theincident to the police and theaccused was arrested on thesame day,” said the seniorpolice official.

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Two labourers got injuredwhile demolishing a build-

ing in south Delhi's GreaterKailash area on Friday.

According to Benita MaryJaiker, the DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP),South district, the GreaterKailash-1 police station wasinformed at around 10.05 AMthat some labourers got injuredafter a portion of a building col-lapsed following which policeteam was dispatched for thespot.

“When police team reachedthe spot, they found that housenumber E-162 was beingdemolished for new construc-tion. During the demolition ofthe second floor, a portion of therear wall suddenly collapsed andtwo labourers were injured in

the incident,” said the DCP.“The injured were identified

as Harvesh (28), who has amajor injury on his head, andAjaypal (22), who has a minorinjury on his leg. Both of themare residents of Badaun in UttarPradesh. They were shifted tothe AIIMS where they are undertreatment,” said the DCP.

“On the basis of Ajaypal'sstatement, a case under sections288 (negligent conduct withrespect to pulling down orrepairing buildings) and 338(causing grievous hurt by actendangering life or personalsafety of others) of the IndianPenal Code (IPC) was registeredand a probe launched,” said theDCP.

The family members of theinjured persons have beeninformed about the incident,police said.

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A32-year-old woman alongwith her four-year-old

daughter jumped into Yamunariver on Friday morning inDelhi's Kalindi Kunj area. Theofficials said that the rescueoperation is going on to searchthem.

The woman has beenidentified as Rajni Kumari.She had a quarrel with herhusband on Thursdayevening.

According to the firedepartment, they receivedinformation at 6.45 AM aboutthe incident.

According to a seniorpolice official, they receivedinformation that a womanjumped into the Yamuna fromKalindi Kunj flyover. The staffrushed to the spot where a six-

year-old girl Divyanshi waspresent with head constableSanjeev Kumar from NoidaSector-126 police station.

“Devyanshi told policethat her mother along withher sister Prisha has jumpedinto the Yamuna river aboutan hour ago. Fire brigade andambulance were called at thespot and the search was madewith the help of divers butthey could not be found,police said, adding the rescueoperation is on.

“Her husband RamanandPathak stated that Rajni alongwith both the girls had left thehouse around 6 am. They hadgot married in 2012. Thefather and brother of Rajni livein Patna, Bihar, and they havebeen informed about the inci-dent. Investigation is inprogress,” said police.

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With more students on cam-pus a day after colleges

reopened here, authorities andvolunteers were seen ensuringCovid-appropriate behaviouron Friday, while teachersexpressed hope that attendancewill increase in the comingweek when hostellers return.

Delhi University collegesresumed physical classes onThursday after almost two yearsas Covid cases dipped in thecity, and this also meant goodnews for cash-strapped eateriesand canteens as studentsthronged them in lunch breaks.

"The attendance in thesetwo days was actually morethan we expected, but I believethe things will return to pre-Covid times soon," said a pro-fessor at the Hindu College.Authorities at the Gargi Collegesaid outstation students havebegun arriving and the num-bers will rise from Mondayonwards. The varsity and itscolleges were shut in March2020 owing to the outbreak ofthe coronavirus infection.

The VishwavidyalayaMetro Station, near the varsi-ty's north campus, saw a bee-line of students exiting andentering it as guards equipped-with thermal scanners checkedtheir temperature accordingto Covid guidelines.

"I arrived in Delhitoday so that I can settlemyself over the weekend. Iwasn't prepared for this andwas hoping that classes wouldto startfrom March 1. But Idon't want to miss out on stud-ies so I rushed. I will be join-ing college from Monday,"Ritika Jain, a student of KeshavMahavidyalaya, said.

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The standing committee ofthe North Delhi Municipal

Corporation on Fridayapproved a proposal to build apark on the 'waste-to-art' themeon the premises of the historicAjmal Khan Park in KarolBagh, officials said.

The South Delhi civic bodyhad come up with a 'Waste-to-Wonder' Park in Sarai KaleKhan in February 2019.

It has replicas of sevenworld-famous monuments,including the Taj Mahal andEiffel Tower, fashioned out ofmechanical waste.

"The standing committeeof the North Delhi MunicipalCorporation in its meetingtoday approved a proposal tobuild a 'waste-to-art' park in theold Ajmal Khan Park in KarolBagh area. The park is spread-over nine to 10 acres," a seniorofficial said.

The approval now awaitsthe nod of the NDMC House.According to the proposal, 13sculptural models of world-famous heritage landmarks willbe set up in the park, includingthe Great Sphinx at Giza, theGreat Wall of China, OperaHouse in Sydney, SagradaFamilia of Barcelona andStonehenge of the UnitedKingdom. Also, 12 artworkswill be done in relief, includingmodels of Angkor Wat atCambodia, Chichen Itza ofMexico, the Grand Mosque ofAbu Dhabi, London Bridge,Mount Rushmore in the USand Petra in Jordan, it says.

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RAIPUR | SATURDAY | FEBRUARY 19, 2022 chhattisgarh 03

Tender Notice(1st Call)

Contractors, Registered appropriate class in UnifiedRegistration System [e-Registration] invited Onlinetenders for the following works :-

Last date of tender Download Date up to 08.03.2022 17:30 PMNote :- All eligible/interested contractors are mandatedto get enrolled on the e Procurement portal(https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) in order to download thetender documents and participate in the subsequentbidding process.

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEERPUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, CIRCLE NO-1 RAIPUR (C.G.)

Superintending EngineerP.W.D. Raipur Circle No-1

Raipur (C.G.)G- 67927/4

NIT.No./System

Tender No.

Name of Work Probableamount of

contract1 2 3

218/91985 Special Repair work at Various Roadsof Vidhansabha Sub-Division, Raipur

Rs. 80.00 Lakh

218/91986 Special Repair work at Various Roads UnderP.W.D. Sub Division No.2, Raipur(C.G.)

Rs. 50.00 Lakh

218/91987 S/R M.O.W., DEPOSITE WORK INR.B. & N.R.B. AT KUTCHHARYSECTION RAIPUR

Rs. 25.00 Lakh

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1 92920 82/14.02.2022 DHANDHAPUR 280.20 2 92926 83/14.02.2022 KUNDIKALA 117.243 92933 84/14.02.2022 KOTAGAHANA 69.344 92937 85/14.02.2022 BETO 79.46

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

FWith an aim to ease theregularization process of

unauthorized buildings, theCabinet on Friday approvedthe ChhattisgarhRegularization ofUnauthorized DevelopmentBill 2022 and amended theChhattisgarh UnauthorizedDevelopment Regulation Act2002.

Briefing newspersons,Agriculture MinisterRavindra Choubey said theCabinet in its meeting alsoapproved the ChhattisgarhAppropriation Bill 2022 topresent the budget estimatefor 2022-23 in the VidhanSabha.

In another importantdecision, the governmentdecided to fill up the vacantposts of pharmacists in vari-ous districts under theDirectorate of AYUSH. Itdecided to extend the validi-

ty of the recruitment resultfor one year.

Choubey said theCabinet approved the SchoolEducation Department'sproposal to startKindergarden for the agegroup 5 to 6 years. These willbe opened in 6,536 locationsacross the state where

Anganbadi centers are situ-ated in the school premises.

This initiative wouldbenefit 68,054 children inthe 5-6 age group.

New provisions havebeen approved for allotmentof government land, settle-ment of encroached land andgrant of land owner rights in

urban areas, Choubey said.Also, the Seeds and

Agriculture DevelopmentCorp has been authorized tofix the rates of essential com-modities for the AgricultureDepartment and otherdepartments of similarnature, he added.

Cabinet okays regularizationbill for unauthorized devpt

STAFF REPORTER nMAHASAMUND

Amother and son andtwo others were killed

when a motorcycle inwhich they were travellingwas hit by an unidentifiedvehicle in Chhattisgarh’sMahasamund district,police said on Friday.

The accident took placeon the Jhalap-BaghbaharaRoad on Thursday night,Maasamund AdditionalSuperintendent of PoliceMegha Tembhurkar said.

The deceased wereidentified as Premlal (18),his mother Bugli Bai (45),Jamlal Nagvanshi andHuman (18), all residentsof Mahasamund, sheadded.

All of them were goingon the motorcycle towardstheir village Basuladabri(Baghbahara) from nearbyDhank village when it was

hit by an unidentifiedheavy vehicle. All of themdied on the spot.

Four including motherson killed in accident

The accidenttook place onthe Jhalap-Baghbahara

Road onThursday

night,MaasamundAdditional

Superintendent of Police

MeghaTembhurkar

said.


In its fight against malnutri-tion, the Chhattisgarh gov-

ernment on Fridays decidedto distribute fortified rice inaspirational and high-burdendistricts.

This has to be donethrough the PublicDistribution System (PDS)on the lines of the NationalFood Security Act.

The Cabinet on Fridaydecided that the fortified ricewill be made available on theration cards of the statescheme from March to eradi-cate malnutrition and anemiain the aspirational and high-

burden districts of state.The Chhattisgarh gov-

ernment will distribute forti-fied rice to the ration cardholder beneficiaries, the cab-inet decided.

The entire expenditure ofrice fortification will beborne by the state govern-

ment.According to the Food

Department, annual alloca-tion of rice to ration cardsunder the state scheme viaPDS is about 3.89 lakhtonnes.

Nearly Rs 28.43 croreswill be spent on the fortifica-

tion of this rice and Rs 11.16crores will be spent on fordistribution of fortified riceto the beneficiaries of theNational Food Security Act.

Fortified rice will be dis-tributed in the 10 aspira-tional districts of Korba,Rajnandgaon, Mahasamund,Kanker, Narayanpur,Dantewada, Bijapur, Bastar,Kondagaon and Sukma andin two high-burden districts:Kabeerdham and Raigarh.

It will be distributed toration card holding benefici-aries of the state scheme inthese districts.

The 'fortified' rice is richin iron and vitamins.

Free fortified rice inaspirational districts


Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Baghel

launched 'Arth' -- an inte-grated brand name for vari-ous types of organic productsmanufactured by womenself-help groups in Gauthans.

With this, gift hampersprepared by women self-helpgroups will be made availablefor sale in the market underthe brand name 'Arth'.

The Chief Minister alsoreleased the brand logo of‘Arth’. He said that marketingof all these products wouldbe done through the websitewww.arthcg.com.

Women SHGs in

Gauthans are manufacturinga variety of products includ-ing immunity-tea, essentialoil, soap, organic gulal andpooja materials using naturalingredients.

The work of manufactur-ing organic gulal and poojamaterials started as a pilot

project in Rajnandgaon dis-trict.

Women of Rajnandgaonare reaping good benefits ofthis initiative. Now, the gov-ernment has decided toexpand this initiative inGauthans of Raipur andDurg districts.

On the occasion, Baghelvirtually released Rs 10.24crore to livestock holders,Gauthan committees andwomen Self-Help Groupsassociated with state-runGauthans.

This includes payment ofRs 5.62 crore in lieu of pur-chase of cow dung in the lastfortnight and Rs 1.88 croreand Rs 2.75 crore to Gauthancommittees and womenSHGs respectively as divi-dend.

So far, Rs 127.79 crorehas been paid to cow dungvendors in lieu of purchase ofcow dung. Similarly, a total ofRs 79.39 crore has been paidto Self-Help Groups andGauthan committees.

CM launches ‘Arth’brand SHGs products


Acourt here on Thursdaysentenced a 26-year-old

man to life term jail for killinghis live-in partner in a village inRaipur district in 2018.

Public Prosecutor K.K.Shukla told The Pioneer thatSecond Additional SessionsJudge Arvind Kumar Vermafound Yahwant Kumar Padwaguilty.

On December 14, 2018,Padwar, from Kara village,strangled Devanti Markam aliasRekha to death with a scarf andthrew her body in the riverKharun after a dispute betweenthem.

Man gets liferfor killing woman


In a bid to promote e-banking and make cus-

tomers aware of the securitymeasures and prevent themfrom fraud, the PunjabNational Bank (PNB)organized a FinancialLiteracy Camp ‘Go DigitalGo Secure’ at Raipur’s out-skirts Amleshwar.

A communiqué fromPNB said that this year’stopic was chosen by theReserve Bank of India(RBI).

The bank’s focus is onraising awareness about theease of online payments,

their security and clientprotection and also tospread information andraise awareness about theevent among customers and

public at large, the state-ment said.

Customers of the bankalong with local residentsparticipated in the camp.

PNB awareness campstresses on e-banking

A study team from IIT Mumbai under the leadership of Prof Bakul Rao of the Centre forTechnology Alternatives for Rural Areas (CTARA) is visiting Chhattisgarh. The prestigiousinstitute had agreed to provide technical assistance and consultancy for making better thelivelihood activities in rural areas of Chhattisgarh. Pioneer Photo

nRAJNANDGAON

Chhattisgarh Police onFriday arrested three per-

sons for stealing cash, goldand silver ornaments worthlakhs of rupees and selling itto jewellers to lead a lavishlifestyle in Rajnandgaon dis-trict.

Retired governmentemployee Jatindra Nath Daslodged a theft case against hisadopted son and one of theaccused earlier this monthsaying Jayesh stole his wife’sgold and silver ornamentsand Rs 20,000 in cash.

R a j n a n d g a o nSuperintendent of PoliceSantosh Singh told ThePioneer that those arrestedwere Jayesh Das (20) and bul-lion traders Mahaveer Baid(26) and Gautam Baid (28),all from Rajnandgaon town.

Three arrestedin theft case


Products of 'ChhattisgarhHerbal' brand are fast

gaining popularity in thedomestic and internationalmarkets.

Herbal products of Self-Help Groups from the tribalregions of Chhattisgarh arealso available for sale onmajor online business plat-forms like Amazon andFlipkart.

Now, all the departmentsof the Chhattisgarh govern-

ment will be provided 10percent discount on pur-chase of ChhattisgarhHerbals products.

According to an officialstatement, all the depart-ments of the state govern-ment, government under-takings and municipal cor-porations will be providedthe discount on all productsof Chhattisgarh Herbals.

This would further pro-mote the sale of these prod-ucts in the state.

Chhattisgarh Herbalsproducts worth Rs. 1.25crore were sold in 2019-20.

The figure stood at Rs 2.15crore in 2020-21. In the firstnine months of 2021-22,products worth Rs. 4.34crore have been sold in thenational and internationalmarkets.

More than 150 productsincluding cereals, indige-nous spices, cookies, person-al care items and forest pro-duce are being sold throughthe State Minor ForestProduce CooperativeSocieties.

The Herbal productsinclude Bhringraj Oil, NeemOil, Herbal Soap,

Chyawanprash, Pure Honey,Sanitizer, Herbal HavanIngredients, Seed Oil, AmlaJuice, Bael Sherbet, JamunJuice, Mahua RTS, MahuaSquash, Herbal Coffee, AmlaLachha, Achaar, digestives,Candy, Bael Murabba, Chaiare available under thisbrand, along with variousother products such asMahua Laddu, Jam, Cookies,Pickles, Chikki, Chunks andTamarind Bricks, Candy,Kaunchpak, Tamarind Sauceand Jamun Chips, MasalaJaggery Powder andAyurveda Churna.

‘C’garh Herbal’ fastgaining popularity

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With agencies anticipating a "hotsummer" in the Kashmir region,

Union Home Minister Amit Shah onFriday reviewed the security situationalong with the development initiativesundertaken in the Union Territory.

Lieutenant Governor of Jammu &Kashmir Manoj Sinha, National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval, Army Chief GenMukund Naravane and top security offi-cials of the Central Government and theUnion Territory administration attend-ed the meeting. According to agencies,there might be more infiltration to cre-ate troubles in the regions.

The Home Minister reviewed thesecurity situation in Jammu andKashmir, including along theInternational Border and the Line of

Control, official sources said. Shah alsotook stock of the progress of the devel-opment initiatives taken in the union ter-ritory, they said. Jammu and Kashmir iscurrently under the central rule.

The erstwhile state was bifurcatedinto two union territories - Jammu saidKashmir and Ladakh - after the abro-gation of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

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The Centre has approved the second phase ofthe Inter-Operable Criminal Justice System

(ICJS) project, which will be implemented at acost of Rs 3,375 crore during 2022-23 to 2025-26. The Phase II of the ICJS project, closely mon-itored by Union Home Minister Amit Shah, willbe a step towards ensuring effective and modernpolicing. The project will be implemented as acentral sector scheme, said MHA in a statement.

The ICJS system would be made availablethrough a dedicated and secure cloud-based infra-structure with high speed connectivity. TheNational Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) will beresponsible for the implementation of the projectin association with the National Informatics Center(NIC). The project will be implemented in collab-oration with State Governments and UnionTerritory administrations.

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With Covid cases declining,the duration of DefExpo-

2022, Asia's largest exhibitionon land, naval and homelandsecurity systems, has beenextended by a day. The exhibi-tion will now be held fromMarch 10-14, 2022.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Friday here reviewedthe preparations for the eventto be held in Gandhinagar,Gujarat.

The event is being organ-ised as one of the largestdefence international exhibi-tions of the world with morethan 1,000 exhibitors includingforeign and Indian displayingtheir weapon systems. Thetheme of this year’s exhibitionis ‘Path to Pride’ to showcaseIndia’s march towards selfreliance in defence manufac-turing.

Giving details here aboutthe minister’s review, officialssaid there has been greaterdomestic and internationalinterest in this 12th edition ofDefExpo, since India relaxed itshealth protocols owing to thereduction in COVID-19 cases.

So far, 930 exhibitors haveregistered for the mega eventand the numbers are expectedto rise beyond 1,000 in the daysahead. Foreign DefenceMinisters’ confirmations arealso being received and are

comparable with the previousedition of the event which washeld in February 2020 inLucknow, Uttar Pradesh duringthe pre-COVID times.

Noting that the relaxationin COVID protocols has gen-erated greater interest inDefExpo-2022, Rajnathextended the event by one day.It will facilitate defence businessthrough three business daysand make it inclusive for youngentrepreneurs and college andschool millennial of Gujaratduring two public days.

The DefExpo-2022 will beheld as a hybrid exhibition,with stalls in both physical andvirtual realms. This will ensuregreater engagement as theexhibitors will be able to caterto both physical and virtual

attendees.The defence minister was

briefed that virtual attendeescould participate in seminars,interact with the exhibitorsand representatives; holdBusiness-to-Business (B2B)meetings and view productdetails and supporting videos.

The mega exhibition isbeing planned in a three venueformat - exhibition at theHelipad Exhibition Center(HEC); Events and Seminars atthe Mahatma MandirConvention and ExhibitionCenter (MCEC) and livedemonstration for the public atSabarmati Riverfront.

To instil a sense of pride, thetheme of the event has beenchristened, ‘Path to Pride’. In afirst-of-its-kind initiative, the

event will showcase India'sresolve to be first amongst firsts.

With indigenous techno-logical and logistic prowess atthe forefront, the event willinvigorate the defence industry,start-ups and MSMEs tocement solid partnerships withattending foreign OriginalEquipment Manufacturers(OEMs). A 50 per cent dis-count is offered to the MSMEsfor booking stalls at the expo.

A DefExpo-2022 mobileapp was also launched byRajnath during the review. It isan interactive and user-friend-ly interface for all issues relat-ed to the event. The app, avail-able on the Android/iOS plat-forms, contains features to sup-port exhibitors, attendees andthe media.

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India along with many othercountries may have started

easing Covid-19 led restrictions,a team of researchers haveflagged concerns that Omicron,the super-mutant variant ofcoronavirus is 10 times better atescaping Covid vaccine andimmunity than the previousDelta variant and that the worstof the virus may not yet be over.

“This may also explain whythe virus spread so swiftlyaround the world, in a short spanof time from its discovery,” saidthe researchers at University ofNew South Wales in Australia.They reached this conclusionafter mapping the infectious

rate of Omicron.The super-mutant variant

was first discovered from SouthAfrica and Botswana in lateNovember. It has so far spread tomore than 120 countries, out-pacing the dominant Delta vari-ant in many countries.

In a highly secure cleanroom at the University of NSW'sKirby Institute, experts studiedthe strain at the beginning ofAustralia's Omicron wave inmid-December and found outjust how adept the variant is atevading vaccines, the reportsaid.

While the Delta variant was60 per cent better at evadingantibodies than the originalvirus found in Wuhan - even inthe bodies of the double-vaxxed,

Omicron was 16.5 times betterat evading immunity - 10 timesmore than Delta.

But while the Omicron waveis subsiding across the globe, sci-entists believe new variants maycontinue to emerge for years -particularly in winter.

Already in Europe and partsof Asia, a new subvariant ofOmicron known as BA.2 israpidly spreading with indica-tions it could be even more con-tagious than its predecessor, theOmicron BA.1 strain, the reportsaid.

Danish health officials esti-mate that BA.2 may be 1.5 timesmore transmissible than BA.1based on preliminary data, butit likely does not cause moresevere disease.

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Airlines suffered a majordecline in their passenger

numbers due to Covid-relatedrestrictions imposed by Stategovernments.

As per the date ofDirectorate General of CivilAviation (DGCA), around 64.08lakh domestic passengers trav-elled by air in January, approxi-mately 43 per cent lower than the1.12 crore who travelled inDecember. This was 17.14 per-cent lower as compared toJanuary last year.

Occupancy of the flightstermed as the passenger load fac-tors (PLF) fell for all Indian car-riers in January as compared toDecember, the DGCA data said.Major scheduled commercialairlines registered 60.5-73.4%passenger load factor (PLF) inJanuary, down from 67-86% inthe previous month. The load

factors of SpiceJet, IndiGo,Vistara, Go First, Air India andAirAsia India were 73.4 percent, 66.6 per cent, 61.6 per cent,66.7 per cent, 60.6 per cent and60.5 per cent, respectively, inJanuary 2022, it mentioned.

IndiGo ferried 3.56 millionpassengers during January toreport 55.5% market share and66.6% PLF,during the month.The airline has carried 6.14 mil-lion passengers in December.Spicejet flew 6.8 lakh passengersand Air India flew 6.56 lakh pas-sengers in January.

The DGCA data said that inJanuary, Go First had the best on-time performance of 94.5 percent at four metro airports -Bengaluru, Delhi, Hyderabadand Mumbai.

IndiGo and Vistara were atthe second and third positions atthese four airports in Januarywith 93.9 per cent and 93.6 percent on-time performance

respectively, the DGCA said.However, domestic traffic

has shown an upward trend as theCovid cases reduced gradually inthe Country. Average dailydomestic air passengers rosesharply in the week ended 12February, compared to the pre-vious week, due to a decline inactive cases of coronavirus. Theaverage number of daily flyersrose to 249,000 in the week ended12 February, up from 196,000 inthe previous week, ICICISecurities said in a recent report.

In terms of passenger com-plaints, a total of 501 complaintshad been received by the sched-uled domestic airlines in January2022. The number of complaintsper 10,000 passengers carried forthe month was around 0.78.

Major reasons for complaintsare flight problems and refunds.Of the total complaints received,around 85 percent or 427 havebeen addressed.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court onFriday refused to entertain a plea of twoBJP councillors challenging theMaharashtra government's ordinancenotifying the increase of nine seats inthe Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) for which electionsare scheduled later this month.

A bench headed by Chief Justice NV Ramana did not agree to the con-tention of senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for the BJP leaders,that the power to increase the numberof wards has to be exercised by the pollpanel and not by the civic body that toothrough an Ordinance.

Rohatgi said the last census avail-able was of 2011 and based on that, twoelections for BMC have been conduct-ed in 2011 and 2017, and the increase

of the number of wards from 227 to 236was not valid.

“The issue of increase in the num-ber of wards depends on the popula-tion,” said the bench which also com-prised justices A S Bopanna and HimaKohli.

“The wards have to be decided andcommissioned by the ElectionCommission and not by the corpora-tion. And here the Corporation hasbeen exercising the power through anOrdinance,” Rohatgi said.

The population increases everyday and the number of seats cannot beincreased without the census and thelast one was held in 2011 and on that,two elections for the BMC were held,he said.

PTI

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Giving a legal backing to itsfight against single-use

plastics in the country, theUnion Environment Ministryon Thursday notified com-prehensive guidelines forplastic packaging ensuring aframework not only tostrengthen the circular econ-omy of plastic packagingwaste, but also promotedevelopment of new alterna-tives to plastics.

According to governmentfigures, nearly 43 per cent arepackaging material, mostlysingle-use plastic which aremostly non-biodegradable innature.

Union EnvironmentMinister Bhupender Yadavsaid on Twitter on Thursday:

“Taking forward the clarioncall given by PM Shri@narendramodi ji to elimi-nate single-use plastics,@moefcc has notified com-prehensive Guidelines onExtended ProducersResponsibility on plasticpackaging.”

According to theMinister, the guidelines notonly provide a framework tostrengthen the circular econ-omy of plastic packagingwaste, but also promotedevelopment of new alterna-tives to plastics. “They pro-vide a roadmap for business-es to move towards sustain-able plastic packaging,” hesaid.

Plastics have been classi-fied into four categories: rigid,flexible, multi-layered and

those used for packaging andcarry bags. Producers,importers and brand ownershave to provide details of thecertificates from registeredrecyclers along with datarelating to the quantity sentfor end-of-life disposal byJune 30, said the ministry.

Reuse of rigid plasticpackaging material has beenmandated in the guidelines toreduce the use of fresh plas-tic material for packaging.

The enforceable pre-scription of minimum level ofrecycling of plastic packagingwaste collected under EPRalong with use of recycledplastic content will furtherreduce plastic consumptionand support recycling of plas-tic packaging waste.

The EPR guidelines will

give a boost for formalizationand further development ofthe plastic waste manage-ment sector. In a significantfirst, the guidelines allow forsale and purchase of surplusextended producer responsi-bility certificates, thus settingup a market mechanism forplastic waste management.

The implementation ofEPR will be done through acustomized online platformwhich will act as the digitalbackbone of the system. Theonline platform will allowtracking and monitoring ofEPR obligations and willreduce the compliance bur-den for companies throughonline registration and filingof annual returns. In order toensure monitoring on fulfil-

ment of EPR obligations, theguidelines have prescribed asystem of verification andaudit of enterprises.

The Guidelines prescribea framework for levy of envi-ronmental compensationbased upon polluter paysprinciple, with respect tonon-fulfilment of extendedproducer responsibility tar-gets by producers, importers& brand owners, for the pur-pose of protecting andimproving the quality of theenvironment and prevent-ing, controlling and abatingenvironment pollution. Thefunds collected shall be uti-lized for collection, recyclingand end of life disposal ofuncollected plastic waste inan environmentally soundmanner.

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The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has fileda supplementary Prosecution Complaint

(chargesheet) before a designated PMLA courthere against the Unitech Group in a moneylaundering case.

The Rouse Avenue Court here took thecognizance of this Prosecution Complaint onFriday.

In this Prosecution Complaint, the ED hasarrayed as accused five individuals who are pro-moters/directors Sanjay Chandra, AjayChandra, Ramesh Chandra, Preeti Chandraand Rajesh Malik besides 66 domestic andoverseas companies.

A prosecution complaint had been filedearlier on December 2 last year/.

The ED had registered a Money launder-ing case against Unitech Group following a direc-tive from the ED on date June 6, 2018, based onthe FIRs registered by Economic Offences Wing,Delhi Police, Mandir Marg, New Delhi andPolice Station Saket, New Delhi under variousSections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

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Air India will operate three flights betweenIndia and Ukraine from February 22 to

26 to facilitate the easy travelling of studentsand professionals stranded in the easternEuropean nation. All three flights will land atthe Boryspil International Airport in Ukraine.

Air India took to its official Twitter han-dle on Friday to announce that it will oper-ate three flights between India and Ukraineto help Indian citizens.

“Air India will operate 3 flights betweenIndia-Ukraine (Boryspil InternationalAirport) India on 22nd 24th & 26th FEB2022," wrote Air India.

“Booking open through Air India Bookingoffices, Website, Call Centre and AuthorisedTravel Agents (sic)," it added. However, AirIndia, which is now owned by Tata Group didnot mention where in India these threeflights--one on each date--will take off forUkraine's Capital.

Air India's announcement came a dayafter the Ministry of civil aviation, onThursday, removed restrictions on the num-ber of flights between the two countries; theoperations were taking place under an airbubble agreement. The ministry also removedthe cap on the availability of seats on eachflight.

The embassy has earlier advised its citi-zens to temporarily leave Ukraine. On theother hand, the Ministry of External Affairson Thursday has stated that India does nothave any immediate plan to evacuate its cit-izens and its focus has been on ensuring theirsafety rather than on anything "larger".

MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi saidat a media briefing that India has been sup-portive of an immediate de-escalation of ten-sions and resolution of the Ukraine crisisthrough sustained diplomatic dialogue. Thegovernment has set up a control room to pro-vide information and assistance to the Indiannationals in Ukraine. In addition, the Indianembassy in Ukraine has also set up a 24-hourhelpline for Indians in the eastern Europeannation.

Russia has positioned around one lakhtroops near its border with Ukraine, besidessending warships to the Black Sea for navalexercises, triggering concerns among theNATO countries about a potential Russianinvasion of Ukraine. Russia has been denyingthat it plans to invade Ukraine.

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The CBI on Friday questioned formerCEO of National Stock Exchange

(NSE) Chitra Ramkrishna in connectionwith its ongoing probe into the allegedabuse of co-location facility in the NSE

The CBI has also opened look outcirculars against Ramkrishna, anotherformer CEO Ravi Narain and formerCOO Anand Subramanian to preventthem from leaving the country.

The agency had booked an ownerand promoter of Delhi-based privatefirm OPG Securities Pvt. Ltd, SanjayGupta and other in connection withalleged abuse of NSE co-location facil-ity to make gains by getting early accessto the stock market, officials said.

Unidentified officials of Securitiesand Exchange Board of India (SEBI) andNSE, Mumbai and other unknown per-sons are also being probed by the CBI.

"It was alleged that the owner andpromoter of said private companyabused the server architecture of NSE inconspiracy with unknown officials ofNSE. It was also alleged that unknown

officials of NSE, Mumbai had providedunfair access to said company using theco-location facility during the period2010-2012 that enabled it to login firstto the exchange server of the stockexchange that helped to get the databefore any other broker in the market,"the CBI has alleged in the FIR.

Recently, Ramkrishna was in thenews after SEBI in a report on February11 said she was steered by a yogi,dwelling in the Himalayan ranges, in theappointment of Anand Subramanian asthe exchange's group operating officerand advisor to the managing director(MD).

The SEBI charged Ramkrishna andothers with alleged lapses in the appoint-ment of Subramanian as the chief strate-gic advisor and his re-designation asgroup operating officer and advisor toMD.

The SEBI had slapped a fine of Rsthree crore on Ramkrishna, Rs two croreeach on the NSE, Subramanian, formerNSE MD and CEO Ravi Narain, and Rs6 lakh on V R Narasimhan, who was thechief regulatory officer and complianceofficer of NSE.

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The Centre on Friday claimed a major milestoneas it said its Jal Jeevan Mission achieved the

landmark of providing tap water to every home of100 districts in the country. Chamba, in HimachalPradesh has become the 100th 'Har Ghar Jal' dis-trict and the fifth aspirational district to be cov-ered under the initiative.

"A promise made by our government is nowa reality in 100 districts of the country, from aridones to those in the remotest corners," Jal ShaktiMinister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said onTwitter.

Earlier this week, the initiative had crossed themilestone of providing clean tap water to nine crore

rural households.Since the announcement of the 'Har Ghar Nal

se Jal' scheme on August 15, 2019, it has provid-ed tap water supply to more than 5.78 crore ruralhouseholds.

At the time of announcement of the Mission,out of 19.27 crore households in the country only3.23 crore (17%) had tap water connections, an offi-cial statement said.

In this short period, 100 districts, 1,138blocks, 66,328 Gram Panchayats and 1,36,803 vil-lages have become 'Har Ghar Jal', it said.

In Goa, Haryana, Telangana, Andaman &Nicobar Islands, Puducherry, Dadar & NagarHaveli and Daman & Diu, every rural householdhas tap water supply.

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Ahmedabad: Survivors andthe kin of those who died in the2008 Ahmedabad serial bombblasts welcomed the court'sdecision to sentence the per-petrators to death as well as lifeimprisonment.

A special court on Fridayhanded down the death penal-ty to 38 persons and sentenced11 others to life imprisonmentfor the 21 blasts that tookplace in a span of 70 minuteson July 26 that year, killing 56and injuring over 200.

Collegian Yash Vyas, whowas a 9-year-old when he suf-fered severe burn injuries aftera bomb blast rocked the trau-ma ward of the civil hospital inAsarva area, said he and hismother were waiting for thisverdict day for the last 13 years.

“I am happy that the courtawarded death penalty to 38persons responsible for killinginnocent people, including myfather and brother. Even the 11who were given life imprison-ment should have got the deathpenalty. There should be nomercy for such people," Yash,22 now and a second-year B.Sc

student, said.Yash spent four months in

the Intensive Care Unit (ICU)of a hospital with 50 per centburn injuries, and continues tosuffer from partial hearingimpairment because of theimpact of the explosion.

His father, Dushyant Vyas,was a lab technician in a can-cer medical facility located onthe civil hospital campus andhad, on the fateful day, takenhis two sons to an open groundof the hospital to teach themhow to ride a bicycle.

“At around 7.30 pm, whenmy father saw some blast vic-tims being brought in ambu-lances (from an incident inanother area in the city), hedecided to help them. As soonas we reached near the civilhospital's trauma ward, anexplosion occurred killing myfather and 11-year-old brotherinstantly," Yash said.

As people injured in blaststhat were taking place in otherparts of the city were beingbrought into the civil hospital,two blasts ripped the traumacentre, killing patients and kin,

medical staff and bystanders.Among the victims were

Dr Prerak Shah, who used toserve in the civil hospital, andhis pregnant wife Kinjal. Theduo had come to the civil hos-pital's gynecology ward forKinjal's medical check-up.

"I welcome this verdict. Ialways had trust in police andjudiciary that one day I will getjustice. However, I feel all 49guilty persons should havebeen given the death penalty.Nonetheless, I am satisfied 38will hang," said Prerak's fatherRamesh Shah, a resident ofModasa town.

Jagdish Kadia, who used tosell sandwiches on his cart inRaipur Chakla area of the oldcity, lost his wife HasumatiKadia in a blast that occurrednear his cart.

"Some19 sharp objectspierced my wife's body due tothe blast. I remember my wifeeveryday and have been livinga lonely life since then. I strong-ly believe even the 11 who weregiven life imprisonment musthang," the 65-year-old mansaid. PTI

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Continuing their crackdown on taxfraudsters, the Maharashtra State

Goods & Services Tax Department offi-cials have arrested the Director of aMumbai-based private company underthe charges of accepting bogus invoicesof �162 Crore and in the process avail-ing a fake Input Tax Credit of �29.17crore.

More than a week after they took intocustody a Gujarat-based couple forallegedly accepting bogus invoices of �482crore and availing fake Input Tax Credit(ITC) of �111 crore, the GST officials onThursday arrested the director of MessrsEverant Feromat Private Limited fromGirgaum in south Mumbai for allegedlyavailing a fake Input Tax Credit of�29.17 crore.

“The taxpayer dealing in Metal &Scrap was found to have been acceptingbogus invoices from non-existent deal-ers. Upon investigation; the Directors ofthe company could not explain thebogus transactions with the non-existententities; nor could they discharge the lia-bility on the fake Input Tax Credit issue,”a statement issued by the office ofDeputy chief minister Ajit Pawar whoholds the State Finance portfolio said.

The arrested director of the privatefirm was on Friday produced before theMetropolitan Magistrate, who remand-ed him to 14 days’ judicial custody.

The team led by AssistantCommissioner of State Tax RamchandraN.Meshram carried out the entire oper-ation.

It may be recalled that the secondweek of this month the State GST depart-ment officials – had in their first-everoperation conducted outside the statearrested a Gujarat-based husband andwife as Prima Mhatre of DolphinOverseas and Sanjeev Singh of PrimeOverseas for allegedly accepting bogusinvoices of �482 crore and availingfake/ineligible Input Tax Credit (ITC) tothe tune of �111 crore.

The Maharashtra GST Departmentofficials so far arrested several errant tax-payers involved in 16 different tax eva-sion cases and unearthed fake ITC scamsinvolving bogus billing of more than�3000 crore.

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In a clear indication showing that itwas she and not her nephew

Abhishek Banerjee called the shots inthe Trinamool Congress, BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjee onFriday appointed most of her loyal-ists in top party posts.

Even as the old and new genera-tions (led by her nephew) fought forsupremacy in the TMC the ChiefMinister made her preference for theolder generation clear, saying howev-er that two sides should work in coor-dination to take the party to newerheights.Banerjee who addressed thefirst ever meeting of the nationalworking committee constituted afortnight ago --- amid ongoing intraparty feud --- told her leaders that"there is a need for the newer gener-ation to come forward and work ...But there is also a need for a coordi-nation between the old and the new... It will have to be remembered thatold is gold," insiders said.

The Chief Minister also asked theleadership to shun extravagance andlead a simple life so as to send theright message to the people.

"We are a poor party ... We havecertain ideology and principles andshould follow that ... Everyone isexpected to shun extravagant lifestyleand lead a simple life" Banerjee said.

Most of her loyalists likeChandrima Bhattacharya, Forhad

Hakim Subrata Bakshi were given topposts. Her nephew Abhishek aroundwhom a parallel power centre hadbeen created however managed toretain his number two post as partynational general secretary.

His loyalists however wereignored for any plum post. No deci-sion was taken on poll consultantPrashant Kishor's I-PAC which is con-sidered to be close to the juniorBanerjee.

Unlike earlier ocassion Banerjeeappointed three national vice presi-dents - Yashwant Sinha, SubrataBakshi and Chandrima Bhattacharya.Yashwant Sinha and Amit Mitra havebeen given the responsibility to chalkout the economic policy as well.

Firhad Hakim a powerful minor-ity leader and minister has beenappointed as the coordinator betweenthe Chief Minister and the NWC.

A tug of war between Mamataand Abhishek loyalists had been onin the TMC for supremacy eversince the party roared back to powerin last year's Assembly elections.

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Taking serious cognisance ofthe recent tragic death of an

uncle-nephew duo at famedHadbichi Shendi hillock atNashik in north Maharashtra,the Maharashtra Directorate ofTourism (M-DoT) has slappeda notice on a private “unregis-tered” adventure sports outfitfor alleged failure to take ade-quate safety measures that ledto the mishap.

On February 2, oneIndraprastha Trekkers' Group(ITG), Ahmednagar had organ-ised a tough trek to HadbichiShendi hillock, in which 17 par-ticipants including some girlshad participated.On that day,two of the trekkers – identifiedas Anil S. Wagh (35) and hisnephew Mayur D. Mhaske (22)- had a fatal fall when they weredescending from the hillock,while one Pravin Pawar wasinjured when he tried to rescuethem. Following the mishap,un-registered, ill-equipped, for-mal and informal groupsengaged in such treks havecome under the scanner of thegovernment.

“From August 2021, wehad made it compulsory fororganisations engaged in adven-

tures, sports/tours/activities toregister themselves, within sixmonths. Till date, the ITG hasnot registered itself,” M-DoT’sJoint Director Dr. Dhananjay D.Sawalkar said.Sawalkar saidthat a total of 25 adventureactivities related to aerial, ter-restrial and water sports havebeen listed for which registra-tion is compulsory.

“However, after the dead-line passed, many organisationsor groups have not yet regis-tered themselves for conduct-ing such adventure sports activ-ities. We will take stringent nec-essary action against them,” Dr.Sawalkar warned.

The M-DoT has demand-ed the ITG to provide its reg-istration details, whether thereare trained operators for theiradventure treks, what kind ofsafety and security equip-ment/measures were in placeduring the February 2 trek atHadbichi Shendi and whetherit follows the governmentnorms or not.

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As part of a project under-taken by the Indian

Council of Medical Research(ICMR) to investigate newlyemerging and re-emerging viralinfections, South Asia’s firstBiosafety level-3 (BSL-3) con-tainment Mobile Laboratorywas set up in Nashik of northMaharashtra on Friday.

Inaugurated by UnionMinister of State for Health andFamily Welfare Dr. BharatiPravin Pawar, the Biosafetylevel-3 (BSL-3) containmentMobile Laboratory aims tohelp the health authoritiesdetect and investigate highlyinfectious pathogens that arehighly infectious and of lethalpotential to human beings.

The laboratory has beendesigned and built by ICMR incollaboration with Mumbaibased bio-safety equipmentmaker Klenzaids.

The laboratory is airtight,access-controlled, bio-decont-aminable, fitted with safechange HEPA (High EfficiencyParticulate Absorbing) filtra-tion and biological liquid wastedecontamination system, giv-ing it the tag of BSL-3Enhanced. The lab is con-trolled through an intelligent

control automation system,which maintains the workingenvironment under negative airpressure, maintains equipmentparameters and records all nec-essary data.

The mobile laboratoryprovides a public health solu-tion to this problem. It can besimply driven around to vari-ous locations, just like a normalbus. This laboratory will beable to access remote andforested areas of the countrywhere specially trained scien-tists from ICMR can investigateoutbreaks using samples fromhumans and animal sources.These activities will ensuretimely and on-site diagnosiswith rapid turnaround time forreporting these outbreaks.

Speaking on the occasion,Union Minister, Dr Pawar saidthat the Biosafety level-3Mobile Laboratory was a sig-nificant value addition to theGovernment’s efforts tostrengthen healthcare infra-structure through the PradhanMantri Ayushman BharatHealth Infrastructure Mission.

Dr Pawar further said themobile laboratory would help inreal-time data collection whichwill enable us to ensure quickcontainment and preventing fur-ther spread of any emerging viral

infections. Terming the launch of the

Biosafety level-3 (BSL-3) con-tainment Mobile Laboratory as“historic”, ICMR’s DirectorGeneral Dr. Balram Bhargavasaid: “The need for such labo-ratories is more pronounced inIndia and the neighbouringregions, with vast animal andhuman population living inproximity. The existing infra-structure of BSL-3 laboratoriesis fixed and dependent ontransporting samples from nearand far locations, often leadingto delays in diagnosis”.

Dr Bhargava recalled thatduring the Nipah virus out-break in Kerala, samples had tobe transported to NationalInstitute of Virology (NIV),Pune. “It was then we felt amobile laboratory could be ofgreat help during outbreaks ofhighly infectious pathogens.Such mobile Laboratories canbe stationed at different regionsof the country and may bemobilised in case of suddenoutbreaks,” he said.“In view ofrepeated outbreaks of highlyinfectious pathogens like Nipah,Zika, Avian influenza and nowCovid-19, it is critical to be ableto detect the emerging epi-demics/pandemics at a veryearly stage”, he said.

KOCHI: The fourth session ofthe 15th Kerala LegislativeAssembly commenced onFriday with the customaryaddress of the Governor whichwas boycotted by the Congress-led Opposition. WhenGovernor Arif MohammedKhan began his speech, Leaderof the Opposition VDSatheeshan was on his feetwith a point of order as hewanted to tell the House aboutThursday’s controversy causedby the former refusing to signthe declaration of statementwhich was to be read at thebeginning of the Session. “Thisis not the time for such things.Please understand that you area responsible person andLeader of the Opposition.There is enough time for youto discuss such things,” theGovernor reminded the leaderof the opposition. Satheeshanand other opposition memberswalked out of the House wav-ing placards bearing the slogan“Governor Go Back”.

Satheeshan alleged that theGovernor was acting as a BJPagent instead of aConstitutional head. “Hisrefusal to sign the statementlast evening was a murder ofdemocracy,” said the Congressleader. What was discerniblewas the silence by theOpposition, especially theCongress against the CPI(M)-led Kerala Government.

Equally interesting was thesilence maintained by the rul-

ing front members includingthe ministers even as theGovernor was waxing elo-quence over the achievementsmade by the KeralaGovernment during the lastnine months. Though theGovernor read out in detail thecharges levelled against theBJP-led Central Government,the ruling front members satgrim faced. There was nothumping of desk at any pointof time while he read out thestatement prepared by theGovernment.

Even as the Governor con-cluded the speech with thepermssionof the Speaker, therewas no thumping of desks orsmiling faces to be seen. Someof the senior members andministers were seen dozing offwhile the Governor listed theachievements made by thePinarayi Vijayan-ledGovernment.

Speaking to reporters,Satheeshan said that underArticle 163 of the Constitution,Governor was bound to readout the declaration of statementmade by the Government.“The Governor conspired withthe Government of Kerala andsigned on the ordinance thatweakened the Lok Ayukta.Governor insulted and humil-iated the House,” allegedSatheeshan.

KVS Haridas, a seasonedpolitical commentator, said theGovernor successfully com-pleted his Constitutional

responsibility by reading outthe statement. “The PinarayiVijayan-led Government hadto sit silently for the entire 66minutes of the Governor’sspeech. What stand out in thisepisode was the failure of thetreasury benches to reciprocateor react when the Governorlisted the so called achieve-ments of the State Governmentas well as the charges againstthe Centre. For the first time inthe history of the KeralaAssembly, we saw the rulingfront members sitting withfrozen minds,” Haridas toldThe Pioneer.

He pointed out that theOpposition, instead of oppos-ing the Government was tar-geting the Governor. “It isgood that the Congress and theCPI(M) have come togetherwhich has underscored thestance of Sitharam Yechury, theCPI(M) General Secretary, whohas called for unity among allOpposition parties to take onthe BJP,” said Haridas.

Regarding the statementread out by the Governor,Kerala is the State that haseffectively managed the Covid-19 pandemic in the countryand is designated as the bestmanaged State in the country.

“The refusal of the Centreto part with more funds and itsfailure to hand over the GSTdues to the State are the mainproblems haunting Kerala,”read out the Governor. PNS

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Aligarh: The BJP's youth wingon Friday took out a marchhere, demanding a completeban on hijab in educationalinstitutions in the country.

Members of the BharatiyaJanata Yuva Morcha (BJYM),who took out their march fromthe Centre Point Market in theCivil Lines area, were headingfor the Aligarh MuslimUniversity (AMU) crossing,but were stopped by police,leading to angry exchanges.

The demonstrators warned

that they would intensify theirprotest in educational institu-tions in the district.

BJYM district vice presi-dent Saurabh Chaudhry saidhis organisation would holddemonstrations in all educa-tional institutions to check stu-dents from wearing hijab orcaps inside educational insti-tutions.

Security measures at AMUhave been tightened as a pre-cautionary measure to preventany untoward incident.

Additional City MagistrateSudhir Kumar, who received acopy of a memorandum statingthe BJYM's demands, said itwould be forwarded to thestate and central governments.

The demonstration comesamid a row over hijab versussaffron scarves in Karnataka,which started at the end ofDecember in Udupi in thesouthern state.

On Thursday, theKarnataka government ordered

that students in schools man-aged by its minority welfaredepartment should not wearsaffron scarves, hijab or anyreligious flags.

In Aligarh, on Tuesday,students belonging to theBJYM in some colleges in thecity wore saffron shawls whileattending classes.

The same day RaghurajSingh, a senior BJP leader ofthe district, who holds therank of a minister of state in theUttar Pradesh government,

had released a statement warn-ing AMU students, who wereprotesting over the hijab issue,"to mend their ways or the UPpolice would enter their homesand drag them out from there".

Singh had stirred a con-troversy by saying that "eithersuch wayward elements shouldmend their ways or migrate toPakistan or Afghanistan wherethey will find that there is nodemocracy or right to protestwhich they enjoy in India". PTI

Kolkata: The Calcutta HighCourt on Friday rejected a PILseeking direction to the UnionGovernment to removeJagdeep Dhankhar as theGovernor of West Bengal.

A division bench compris-ing Chief Justice PrakashShrivastava and Justice RBharadwaj said that theGovernor is not answerable toany court for the exercise andperformance of the powersand duties of his office underArticle 361 of Constitution.

The bench rejected thepetition that sought directionto the Union government to

remove Dhankhar as the gov-ernor of West Bengal.

Petitioner Rama PrasadSarkar, a lawyer practising atthe high court, claimed in thewrit petition that Dhankhar isinterfering in the functioningof the state and also maligningthe Trinamool Congress gov-ernment in West Bengal bycommenting critically againstit.

The petitioner claimed thatDhankhar is "acting as themouthpiece of Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP)".

Seeking direction to theCentre for removal ofDhankhar as governor allegingthat he is partisan, Sarkar's peti-tion claimed that he is bypass-ing the state council of minis-ters and dictating officialsdirectly, "which is violative ofthe Constitution". PTI

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The daily Covid-19 infec-tions in Maharashtra

dropped to 2,068 on Friday,while the daily cases camedown in Mumbai from 259 to202.A day after the staterecorded 2,797 cases, the dailyinfections dropped to 2,068.With fresh infections, the totalnumber of Covid-19 cases inthe state rose from 78,53,291 to78,55,359.

With 15 fresh deaths, thetotal number of deaths regis-tered in the state since the out-break of Covid-19 in the statein March 2020 went up from1,43,532 to 1,43,547.

With the fresh 202 cases,the total number of cases inMumbai mounted from 10,54,991 to 10,55,193. While therecovery rate stood static at 98per cent, the overall growth rateof Copvid-19 cases in the

metropolis for a period fromFebruary 11 and 17 dropped to0.03 per cent.

As 4,709 Covid-19 patientswere discharged from the hos-pitals across the state after fullrecovery, the total number ofpeople discharged from thehospitals since the second weekof March 2020 increased from76,81,961 to 76,86,670. Therecovery rate in the state rosefrom 97.82 per cent to 97.85per cent.

The number of “activecases” in the state droppedfrom 23,816 to 21,159. Thefatality rate in the state stoodstatic at 1.82 per cent.

The active cases in Punedropped to 6032. The activecases in Mumbai dropped from1945 on Thursday to 1780 onFriday, while the number ofactive cases in the neighbour-ing Thane dropped from 1423on Thursday to 1279 on Friday.

Nagpur accounted for 2061active cases, followed byAhmednagar (1824), Nashik(1120) and Aurangabad (1071).

Of the 7,70,01,972 samplessent to various laboratoriesacross the state so far, 78,55,359have tested positive (10.20 percent) for COVID-19 untilFriday. Currently, 2,37,252 peo-ple are in home quarantinewhile 1,139 people are in insti-tutional quarantine.

Meanwhile, no freshOmicron case was recorded inMaharashtra on Friday, resultingin the total number of the newCovid-19 variant cases remain-ing static at 4,456. Of these cases,3,531 patients have been dis-charged after they tested nega-tive in the RT-PCR tests.

Till Friday evening, 8904samples had been sent forgenome sequencing, out ofwhich, results of 7,991 patientshave been received.

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arriving at the spot whenev-er they seemed getting readyto break through, and stoodbefore them arguing andpleading with them not toleave, as certain death await-ed them outside with groupsof hunters and poachers werewaiting with guns ready.Gradually, the elephantsunderstood that he was a car-ing friend, and a deep bondgrew between Anthony andthem, so much so that amost remarkable thing hap-pened when he died after aheart attack in March 2012.The herd, which now had 29elephants, was at the otherend of the reserve whentragedy struck. Yet, coming toknow of the event — itremains unexplained how —they gathered in front of thehouse and stood silently —almost as if keeping vigil —for two days and then dis-persing.

Many more such eventscan be cited. My grandmoth-er, Punyalata Chakraborty,once narrated a story fromthe days when under the“Sunset Law”, theGovernment confiscated andauctioned a land if revenuewas not paid before sunset ona specified date. A zamindar,

in what was then East Bengal,found on arrival at the trea-sury that the sack containingthe money for revenue pay-ment had disappeared. Athorough search some dis-tance down the road to thetreasury drew a blank. He wasin trouble; because it was toolate to somehow put togeth-er the money and bring itover to the treasury. Facingdisaster, he stood cryingbefore his beloved elephant,stroking her trunk and sayingthat he would now have topart with her per force. Theelephant listened and, per-haps getting a hang of what itwas about, opened hermouth. The sack fell out! Ofthe various conjectures, theone that became a consensuswas that the sack had fallenfrom her back, on which thezamindar and the mahoutsat, somewhere down theroad to the treasury. Thezamindar did not notice it,but she did and had picked itup and had perhaps thoughtof carrying it all the way backhome and drop it there beforeshe had changed her mindseeing the zamindar’s dis-tress.

Did she understand whatthe zamindar was saying? One

does not know. I was, howev-er, an eyewitness to an incidentin a South African game sanc-tuary some time ago. Travellingin a car, we had run into a herdof elephants that did not recog-nise the vehicle and were takenby surprise. As they glared sus-piciously, the ranger accompa-nying us, a young woman bythe name of Antia, began talk-ing to the matriarch calmly inAfrickaans, as if she wasexplaining a matter to a fellowhuman being. The matriarchlistened intently and led theherd away after Antia had fin-ished.

Curious, I had Antia atthe end of the drive as to whatshe had told the matriarch.She replied, “I just said,Mamma, you know us. We goabout the sanctuary everyday and never have we causedthe slightest harm to you oryour babies. So, please goyour way. You have nothingto worry about.” Then sheadded, “Elephants under-stand everything we say, pro-vided it is put simply. Theyare in many ways morehuman than us. And, yet, wetreat them so horribly.”

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

�� Sir — Speaking on how a democracyshould function, Singapore PM Lee HsienLoong is reported to have said thatNehru’s India has become one wherealmost half the MPs in the Lok Sabha havecriminal charges against them, includingthose of rape and murder. Though it isuncalled for, it is a bitter truth coming froma foreign dignitary. It is a fact. Many crim-inals ruling us is the order of the day. India,as the largest democracy in the world,should have barred criminals from becom-ing lawmakers in its 70 years of self-rule.The Vohra Committee report is simplylying around, gathering dust.

The Union Government is slack inbarring criminals from contesting elec-tions and becoming lawmakers. Thesame goes for the EC and the SupremeCourt. But criminals have taken full con-trol over Indian politics. Men, muscle andmoney power have a distinct say in elec-tions but the EC and the apex court remainsilent spectators. Indian politics hasbecome dirty and corrupt because of crim-inals becoming lawmakers. People havelost faith in this Indian model of democ-racy. The lesser voter turnout in electionsis a direct result of such developments.Two, it’s not only Nehru’s India but anIndia of many great leaders.

Sravana Ramachandran | Chennai

�� Sir — Since former Punjab CM CaptainAmarinder Singh and the Congress lead-ership have parted ways, their noises areonly about castigating each other prior tothe Assembly election. It’s high time thatthey concentrated seriously on theAssembly election, knocking on the doorof the voters. The Captain’s commentslaughing away Bhagwant Mann as theAAP's chief ministerial candidate by dif-ferentiating between “comedy and the seri-ous business of running a Government”,however, fall on hard ground given thatthe people of Punjab have voted the actorto take on the political mantle.

Former Prime Minister ManmohanSingh’s observation that the BJP findsJawaharlal Nehru responsible for every

problem in the country, despite being atthe helm of affairs for seven years, standsjustified. Singh also took to task theincumbent dispensation at the Centre forthe fault lines in the country’s foreign aswell as economic policies in view ofChinese incursions on Indian soil on theLine of Actual Control (LAC) along theLadakh border. After all, Punjab will onSunday have the final call on which partydeserves to lead the State. However, thedin of speculation will end only onMarch 10.

Azhar A Khan | Rampur

�� Sir — The COVID-19 pandemic will leavea lasting imprint on the global economy,causing permanent changes and impart-ing important lessons to the population.Virus screening is likely to become a rou-tine of our life, just like security measuresbecame ubiquitous after 9/11. It is impor-tant to invest in the infrastructure neces-sary to detect future viral outbreaks. Thisinvestment protects economies in caseimmunity to COVID-19 turns out to be

temporary. The pandemic crisis hasaccelerated the pace of digital transforma-tion, with further expansion in e-com-merce and increases in the pace of adop-tion of telemedicine, videoconferencing,online teaching, and fintech. Companieswith international supply chains are deal-ing with shortages and bottlenecks.

We are likely to see many of thesecompanies reshore some of their produc-tion. Unfortunately, this trend will not cre-ate many jobs because most of the pro-duction is likely to be automated.Governments will play a much bigger roleafter turning insurer and investor of sortof the last resort during the crisis. Publicdebt will balloon and create financial chal-lenges around the world. The mostimportant lesson from the COVID-19pandemic is the importance of workingtogether on problems that affect the entirehuman race. We are much stronger unit-ed than divided.

Ankita Meena | Ujjain

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This happened at theAddo NationalElephant Park in SouthAfrica in December

2010. A herd of elephants wasout taking the air, and doingsome foraging, when a baby ele-phant became a trifle adventur-ous. Breaking away on its own,exploring the land around, itslipped and fell into a smalldepression where it got stuck.Hearing his/her piteous cry, allthe mama elephants rushed tothe rescue. It was a difficult liftbut they managed after a whilewith powerful pulls and push-es by their trunks. As theexhausted baby lay on its bellywith four legs spread out in fourdirections, the mama elephantsgathered all round rebukinghim/her just as elderly relativesof a family would collectivelyberate a young boy or girl whosemisguided quest for excitementhad led to the jettisoning of dis-cretion and trouble.

The event provided yetanother reminder of theimmensely strong mutual tiesthat bind elephants and howhumane the latter are. Taking anelephant away from a herd andbringing him/her to a distantplace to labour for a humanmaster, causes him/her intensesorrow born of loneliness andhaunting memories of old tiesthat have been severed.

This is particularly sobecause elephants have longmemories that transcendspecies. They remember acts ofkindness and the people behindthem. The story of LawrenceAnthony, the ElephantWhisperer, who was a wildlifeconservationist, environmen-talist and best-selling author,and the herd of seven elephantshe took into his reserve, ThulaThula in Zululand, South Africa,is well-known. The damagethey had been causing to cropsand villages, breaking out againand again from confinement,had enraged people who weredetermined to kill them.Requested to take them in by theauthorities, Lawrence agreed ashe knew they would otherwisedie. Exceptionally clever behe-moths, they posed a majorproblem for Lawrence.

He adopted the strategy of

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With a relatively comfortableposition of the UnionGovernment's exchequer, itwas obvious for the middle

class to expect some relief in personalincome tax, farmers to get a hike in 'KisanSamman Nidhi' and corporate sector to geteven unwarranted relief in taxation.However, the Finance Minister belying allsuch hopes, retained status quo and decid-ed not to go for populism and refused tofall into the arguments of corporate'smirage of investments. By now the govern-ment has fully realised that despite allefforts of luring corporates the necessaryinvestment is not forthcoming from them,and the country cannot afford to wait forthem any more. In view of the decline ineconomic activities during Covid, it wasimperative to raise investment in the coun-try, especially in the infrastructure sector,to take the economy on the path of fastmode recovery.

If we see budgets of the last two-threedecades, the governments had been wash-ing their hands off from capital expendi-ture. It seemed that perhaps the entireresponsibility of capital investment was ofthe private sector. It was thought that for-eign investment can make up for everyshortcoming, be it investment, technolo-gy development, employment or export.But despite all the efforts for the last almostone decade, public as well as private cap-ital investment has been on decline, as per-cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

However, there has been a change inthe thinking of the government in the lastfew years and it has started investing cap-ital in many sectors including infrastruc-ture, with an ultra-huge target of infra-structure investment of Rs. 100 lakh crorein 5 years, including from private sector.Need was also felt to increase both publicand private investment to revive the econ-omy hit by Corona. Due to Corona, thegovernment's finances were in doldrums,both due to dip in revenue and because ofcommitment for much higher expenditureon relief, health, including vaccination andalso the stimulus package for the econo-my. It was not possible then, to raise fundsfor investment. But thanks to the 9.2 per-cent growth in the current fiscal year, therehas been a significant increase in GSTreceipts as well as direct taxes. Taking fulladvantage of this fiscal space, capitalexpenditure (capex) was increased in thecurrent financial year and in the comingyear also a provision of Rs.7. 50 lakh crorehas been made, up by 35 percent comparedto current fiscal, which is 19 percent of thebudget. This is probably the highest everCapex in the last 30 years.

In this situation, while avoiding pop-ulist policies, the Finance Minister hasopted to provide sufficient allocation for'PM Gati Shakti' Project, which aims atcoordinated development of various typesof infrastructure so that the country's workefficiency is increased and logistic cost forbusinesses be reduced. Provision has been

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made for various types of infra-structure including digital infra-structure, infrastructure for educa-tion, drinking water and housingfor the poor. We can definitely saythat this budget is not a populist oneand is futuristic with a focus ondevelopment for the next 25 years.

Since the years of GreenRevolution, chemical farming waspromoted in the country, due towhich agricultural production didincrease in the country, but at thesame time, the cost of farming alsoincreased and unwanted chemicalsincluding pesticides entered ourfood plate. For some time, theemphasis of the government hasbeen towards chemical-free farm-ing. Provision has been made in thisbudget for promotion of naturalfarming, zero budget farming andorganic farming, taking forward thegoal of chemical-free farming. Wehave been going through excessiveproduction of food grains andshortage of oilseeds, due to whichthe country's dependence onimported edible oils is very high.Provision has been made in thebudget to rectify the same byencouraging production of oilseeds.Although the farmers' agitation isover, to improve the condition ofthe farmers, provision was neededto ensure remunerative price fortheir produce, which has got placein the budget.

In the era of globalization, pro-tection had become a dirty word.Due to the obsession for globaliza-tion, tariffs were constantly reduced,

causing unprecedented increase inimports, especially from China. Themanufacturing sector of the coun-try was almost destroyed. Our APIindustry was finished due to thegimmicks adopted by China, theelectronic industry almost died inits infancy, the chemical industrywas also badly hit. How the small-scale industries suffered, is knownto all. Country was imposing near-ly 10 percent of average tariff,which was hardly one fourth ofbound tariffs rates in WTO. Evenbefore Corona, in his budget pre-sented in February 2018, the formerFinance Minister of the Modi gov-ernment, Arun Jaitley, hadannounced hike in tariff from 10percent to 20 percent, for protectionof India's electronics and telecomindustry. After that this prudentpolicy of protection continued.During the Corona period, the gov-ernment outlined the goal of self-reliant India, modifying its own'Make in India' policy announcedearlier. Production LinkedIncentives (PLI) scheme waslaunched by identifying 14 sectorswhich have been affected the mostdue to imports. Last month, a $10billion support was also announcedto manufacture semiconductors inthe country. All this happened forthe protection and promotion of theindustries of the country.

Continuing this policy in thepresent budget as well, the govern-ment has announced hike in tariffs.A special allocation of Rs 19,500crore has also been made in the

budget to promote the productionof solar energy equipment in thecountry.

Though, push for capitalexpenditure and protection andpromotion of domestic industry isalso likely to create employment,limited efforts towards promotionof small-scale industry is a causeof major concern in the budget.Promotion of self-employment inthe country, should be the first pri-ority for both central as well asstate government. For thisEntrepreneurship DevelopmentPrograms (EDPs) can help. Furthergovernment can infuse more fundsand seed capital for small business-es to motivate youth to start theirown enterprises. EntrepreneurshipDevelopment Centre (EDCs) canalso be established in each districtof the country. In this regardenhanced lending to MSME sec-tor by extending the guaranteecover for such loans is a welcomemove.

Although, the budget has taxedthe income from the virtual digi-tal assets at the rate of 30 percentand gift of virtual digital asset willalso be taxed at the hands of recip-ients, looking at the dangers ofnational security, the menace ofmoney laundering and other relat-ed dangers emanating from thetransactions in cryptos ban on pri-vate crypto currencies is the onlysolution. However, the announce-ment of the issue of Central BankDigital Currency (CBDC) is awelcome move.

(The writer is Professor,Department of

Economics,P.G.D.A.V.College (University of

Delhi). The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Amid shifting of majori-ty votes, the next phas-es of polls in Central UP

hold the key. The party winningthe region reigns Lucknow.

The trends in the first twophases in UP and Uttarakhandturned curiouser. The minori-ty votes are consolidating andmajority votes are shifting. Itgives jitters to contestants andis becoming a serious study forsocial scientists.

It is not easy to say if thetrends would continue in thenext phases. The split of major-ity votes finds echo in PrimeMinister Narendra Modi'sKalyanpur, Kanpur Dehataddresses. Modi called upon the"Hindus not to split their votes"deprecating Bengal chief min-ister Mamata Banerjee's moveto divide majority votes in Goa.

Whether it changes the

perception in Central UP andleads to Hindutva consolidationor not is to be watched. TheSamajwadi Party got 90 seatshere in 2012 and a mere 12 in2017. BJP also had a loss andwindfall. In 2012, it got 10 seatsthat soared to whopping 90 of118 seats in 2017.

The region spreads fromHardoi in the West, Lucknow,Kanpur - heart of the region -- Farrukhabad, Kannauj,Etawah -the Yadav belt - toBundelkhand. The regionunderstands the pulse and theparty that controls it reigns UP.

It also has the key seat ofKarhal. It will decide whetherAkhilesh Yadav would be in theUP Assembly and could leadthe state or not. The intensecontest forced SP to recall relax-ing patriarch Mulayam SinghYadav to address a rally at

Karhal on February 16.Now Akhilesh faces stiff

resistance as BJP pits centralminister Satya Pal Singh Baghelagainst him. The BJP has sentkey organizers, strategists andhundreds of workers to theconstituency. It is too presti-gious for the party. Highpitched contest is crucial ifBaghel could emerge a darkhorse like Shubhendu Adhikariwho trounced MamataBanerjee at Nandigram inBengal.

Ayodhya is adjacent oralmost a part of the region.Chief Minister Yogi Adityanathhad considered contesting fromthere. ButRamjanmabhoomitemple isnot a great vote attractor. In therecent Zila (district) Panchayatelections BJP could get eight of40 seats. The rest went to SPand allies. Yogi quietly shiftedto Gorakhpur. Chief priest ofRamjanmabhoomi templeMahant Satyendra Das sayshe told Adityanath to shift asthere is commotion in Ayodhyafor houses and shops beingdemolished due to infrastruc-ture projects in the wake of theconstruction of the temple.Soaring real estate prices andmanipulative land deals also areissues, party workers say.

This is an aspirationalregion. It contributes signifi-

cantly to agriculture but ispoor on human developmentindex. This makes the contesttough in these seats.

The region remembersCovid-19 bodies floating inthe rivers, the difficult migrantlabourers' trek, acute povertyand farmer problems. Akhileshis contesting on the issue of anempathetic regime. The twomajor contenders have theirstrengths and weaknesses. Mostsitting MLAs are proving a lia-bility for the BJP.

While SP campaign is mea-sured, sharp and avoids incitingpassion, the BJP is aggressive,often raising threats from "SP'sgoondas, Hijab and Hindu inse-curity", an attempt to polarize.There are sections of the peo-ple who are heeding Yogi. Butthere are others who havedecided to oppose him.There is

a palpable yearning for changein the regions.

A new social coalition isemerging. Majority communi-ty is aligning with unemploy-ment, high prices and issues ofjunking of ten-year-old cars,stray cattle guzzling crops andmany more.

But in the first two phasesit is also observed that castegroups like Tyagis and someothers were swept by the Modiand community sentiments,'rashtravad' (nationalism), lawand order, women's safety andfree food dole.

The silent voters may givejitters to everyoone. Amideuphoria there are fears too asminority voters consolidate.The political parties are appre-hensive of BJP's influence overthe official machinery.

Akhilesh Yadav, instead of

selecting only minority andYadav candidates like in 2017,has a broader caste mix alasoin-cluding other OBCs, Jats,Thakurs, Brahmin, Saini,Shakya, Kurmi, Gujar and othermarginal castes. This constitutesabout 44 percent of the totalvoters. He has been adventur-ous in pitting Thakur, Brahmin,Jat, Gujar and other candidateseven in minority hotbeds inSaharanpur, Deoband andAmroha.

The bouquet, RLD leaderSK Mukherjee says, is morepractical than Yogi's 80-20 (per-cent) formula. He excludes 20percent minorities. In lightervein, he says that Yogi isattempting for 80 marks in anexam against Akhilesh's 100.But polls are more than arith-metic with emotions and creepycalculations.

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(The writer is a senior journal-ist. The views expressed are

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Kyiv:Fears of a new war in Europeresurged Thursday as U.S. President JoeBiden warned that Russia could invadeUkraine within days, and violence spikedin a long-running standoff in easternUkraine that some worried could providethe spark for wider conflict.

World dignitaries raced for solutions,but suspicions between East and West onlyseemed to grow, as NATO allies rejectedRussian assertions it was pulling backtroops from exercises that had fueled fearsof an attack. Russia is believed to have builtup some 150,000 military forces aroundUkraine's borders.

Concerns escalated in the West overwhat exactly Russia is doing with thosetroops, which included an estimated 60%of Russia's overall ground forces. TheKremlin insists it has no plans to invade,but it has long considered Ukraine part ofits sphere of influence and NATO's east-ward expansion an existential threat.

The U.S. Government issued some ofits starkest, most detailed warnings yetabout what could happen next.

Speaking at the U.N. Security Council,U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinkenrevealed some conclusions of U.S.Intelligence in a strategy that the U.S. AndBritain have hoped will expose and pre-empt any invasion planning. The U.S. Hasdeclined to reveal much of the evidenceunderlying its claims.

He told the diplomats that a sudden,seemingly violent event staged by Russiato justify invasion would kick it off.Blinken mentioned a "so-called terroristbombing" inside Russia, a staged dronestrike, "a fake, even a real attack … usingchemical weapons."

The assault would open with cyberat-tacks, along with missiles and bombsacross Ukraine, he said. Painting the U.S.Picture further, Blinken described the entryof Russian troops, advancing on Kyiv, a cityof nearly 3 million, and other key targets.

U.S. Intelligence indicated Russia alsowould target "specific groups" ofUkrainians, Blinken said, again withoutgiving details.

In an implicit nod to Secretary of StateColin Powell's appearance before theSecurity Council in 2003, when he citedunsubstantiated and false U.S. Intelligenceto justify the U.S. Invasion of Iraq, Blinkenadded: "Let me be clear. I am here todaynot to start a war, but to prevent one."

Biden's own comments on the Russianthreat were unusually dire.

Speaking at the White House, he saidWashington saw no signs of a promisedRussian withdrawal, and said the invasionthreat remains "very high" because Russiahas moved more troops toward the bor-der with Ukraine instead of pulling themback.

AP

Kyiv: The U.S. Issued some ofits starkest, most detailed warn-ings yet about how a Russianinvasion of Ukraine mightunfold, and its Western allieswent on high alert for anyattempts by the Kremlin to cre-ate a false pretext for a new warin Europe.

U.S. President Joe Bidensounded unusually direThursday, as he warned thatWashington saw no signs of apromised Russian withdrawal- but instead saw more troopsmoving toward the border withUkraine, indicating Moscowcould invade within days.

"Every indication we haveis they're prepared to go intoUkraine, attack Ukraine,"Biden told reporters at theWhite House. He said the U.S.Has "reason to believe" thatRussia is "engaged in a false flagoperation to have an excuse togo in," but he did not providedetails.

Western fears focus on anestimated 150,000 Russiantroops - about 60% of Russia'soverall ground forces - postedaround Ukraine's borders. TheKremlin insists it has no plans

to invade, but it has long con-sidered Ukraine part of itssphere of influence andNATO's eastward expansion anexistential threat. A keydemand in this crisis is thatNATO promise never to allowUkraine to join.

Biden planned to speakby phone Friday with trans-Atlantic leaders about theRussian military buildup andcontinued efforts at deterrenceand diplomacy.

U.S. Secretary of StateAntony Blinken revealed someconclusions of U.S. Intelligence,part of a strategy designed toexpose and pre-empt any inva-sion planning. The U.S. Hasdeclined to reveal much of theevidence underlying its claims.

Blinken told diplomats atthe U.N. Security Council thata sudden, seemingly violentevent staged by Russia to jus-tify an invasion would kick offthe assault. Blinken mentioneda "so-called terrorist bombing"inside Russia, a staged dronestrike, "a fake, even a realattack … using chemicalweapons."

AP

Washington: The US Senatevoted overwhelminglyThursday to show unwaveringsupport for an independentUkraine and "condemn"Russian military aggressiontoward its neighbour as freshfears emerged of a possibleinvasion that could spiraltoward a European war.

Action in the Senate cameafter President Joe Biden saidthe US has "every indication" ofa potential Russian attack onUkraine in a matter of days. USofficials have outlined stark sce-narios of President VladimirPutin's potential plans asRussian troops remain massedat the Ukraine border.

The resolution from thesenators does not carry theforce of law but puts the US leg-islative body on record with"unwavering United States sup-port for a secure, democratic,and independent Ukraine" and"denounces the Russian mili-tary buildup" on Ukraine'sborder. The vote was unani-mous, without objection orthe formal roll call.

"This Congress is united inits support of Ukrainian inde-

pendence and sovereignty,"said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, in introducing the mea-sure with Democratic SenatorJeanne Shaheen of NewHampshire and others.

Senators have been racingall week to mount a response torising tensions in the region,many eager to go even furtherby imposing devastating sanc-tions on Putin that would sendshockwaves through theRussian economy.

Ukraine has strong allies inthe Senate, where there is broadsupport for sanctions on Russiaas a powerful foreign policytool to be used if Putin furthershis aggression toward Ukraine.

AP

Washington:Widely availablecommercial satellite imagery ofRussian troop positions brack-eting Ukraine provides a bird's-eye view of an international cri-sis as it unfolds. But the pic-tures, while dramatic, havelimitations.

High-resolution photosfrom commercial satellite com-panies like Maxar in recentdays showed Russian troop

assembly areas, airfields,artillery positions and otheractivities on the Russian side ofthe Ukrainian border and insouthern Belarus as well as onthe Crimean Peninsula, whichRussia seized from Ukraine in2014.

The images confirmedwhat U.S. And other Westernofficials have been saying:Russian forces are arrayed

within striking distances ofUkraine. But they could notprovide conclusive informa-tion about net additions or sub-tractions of Russian forces orreveal when or whether aninvasion of Ukraine wouldhappen. In such a fluid crisis,even day-old satellite photosmight miss significant changeson the ground.

AP

Washington:The Biden administrationon Friday released a screening tool tohelp identify disadvantaged communi-ties long plagued by environmentalhazards, but it won't include race as afactor in deciding where to devoteresources.

Administration officials toldreporters that excluding race will makeprojects less likely to draw legal chal-lenges and will be easier to defend, evenas they acknowledged that race has beena major factor in terms of who experi-

ences environmental injustice.The decision was harshly chal-

lenged by members of the environ-mental justice community.

"It's a major disappointment and it'sa major flaw in trying to identify thosecommunities that have been hit hard-est by pollution," said Robert Bullard, aprofessor of urban planning and envi-ronmental policy at Texas SouthernUniversity in Houston and a member ofthe White House Environmental JusticeAdvisory Council.

Moscow:The Russian militaryon Friday announced massivedrills of its strategic nuclearforces, a stark reminder of thecountry's nuclear might amidWestern fears that Moscowmight be preparing to invadeUkraine.

Russian President VladimirPutin will personally overseeSaturday's exercise, which willinvolve multiple practicelaunches of intercontinentalballistic missiles and cruisemissiles, the Defense Ministry

said.Kremlin spokesman

Dmitry Peskov said Putinwould observe the drills fromthe Defense Ministry's situationroom and supervise the prac-tice missile launches himself.

The ministry said itplanned the maneuvers sometime ago to check the readinessof Russia's military commandand personnel, as well as thereliability of its nuclear andconventional weapons.

AP

Athens:A fire on an Italy-bound ferry in the Ionian Seaearly Friday required rescuersto carry out an overnight evac-uation of more than 280 peo-ple near the Greek island ofCorfu, authorities said.

A crew member and twopassengers were hospitalizedwith breathing difficulties.There were no initial reports ofanyone missing, but a fullcheck of passenger and crewmember lists was expected totake several hours, the Greek

coast guard said. The rescued passengers

were being transported toCorfu.

"This is a difficult opera-tion and we must remain cau-tious. The final accounting ofthe people on board will takeplace on Corfu when everyonerescued is assembled there,"Greek Deputy Minister forShipping Costas Katsafadostold state-run ERT television.

AP

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Islamabad: The IslamabadHigh Court on Friday orderedthe city police chief to file areport by February 21 on theallegation of police torturemade by a senior media per-sonality who was arrestedrecently.

Mohsin Baig was arrestedon Wednesday from his househere by officials of police andFederal Investigation Agency(FIA) on the complaint ofcommunication ministerMurad Saeed that he made"indecent" comments againsthim during a TV talk show.

Baig told the media whilebeing presented before a courtafter his arrest that he was sub-jected to physical torture by thepolice.

The issue of torture againcame up during a hearing by

the Islamabad High Court(IHC) of a petition filed byBaig's wife for the dismissal ofterrorism and other chargesbrought against him.

The petitioner's lawyer saidBaig was severely tortured by15 people in the room of theStation House Officer (SHO).

IHC Chief Justice AtharMinallah ordered the InspectorGeneral (IG) of Islamabad tofile a formal report of allegedtorture by police personnel byFebruary 21. He also orderedthat legal access to Baig shouldnot be blocked.

However, the IHC dis-missed the petition by sayingthat only Baig himself can filethe petition to delete terrorismcharges against him and alsogranted permission to Baig tofile the petition.

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Equity indices surrenderedmid-session gains to close

lower for the third day in a rowon Friday as participantsremained cautious amid geopo-litical uncertainties in easternEurope. Persistent selling by for-eign investors and expectationsof policy tightening by globalcentral banks kept sentimentmuted, traders said.

After swinging about 700points between gains and loss-es, the BSE Sensex finally closed59.04 points or 0.10 per centlower at 57,832.97. On similarlines, the NSE Nifty edgedlower by 28.30 points or 0.16per cent to settle at 17,276.30.

The Sensex was dragged

lower by mainly UltratechCement, M&M, Infosys,Reliance Industries, BajajFinance and Nestle -- droppingas much as 1.88 per cent.

In contrast, HDFC toppedthe gainers' chart with a jumpof 1.25 per cent, followed byL&T, Axis Bank, SBI, DrReddy's, Kotak Bank andHDFC Bank. On the index, 17shares closed in the negativezone. "...Market opened lowtaking cues from yesterday'ssell-off in Wall Street followingthe release of FOMC meetingminutes.

Reports that the USSecretary of State agreed tomeet the Russian foreign min-ister in order to ease tensionhelped the domestic market to

wipe-off early losses thoughsell-off was seen in late hours.

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The rupee spurted by 40paise, its biggest single-

day gain in over three months,to settle at a more than two-week high of 74.66 against theUS dollar on Friday on hopesof a diplomatic solution to theEast-West standoff overUkraine. A fall in crude oilprices also supported the localcurrency, analysts said.

At the interbank forexmarket, the local unit openedat 75.03 against the greenbackand witnessed an intra-dayhigh of 74.60 and a low of75.05. The rupee settled at74.66, registering a rise of 40paise or 0.53 per cent over itsprevious close of 75.06. Therupee had closed the session onThursday at 75.11 (provision-ally) but later settled at 75.06.

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Gold prices rose by Rs 77 toRs 50,037 per 10 grams in

the national capital on Friday,according to HDFC Securities.

In the previous trade, theyellow metal settled at Rs 49,960per 10 grams. Silver zoomed byRs 379 to Rs 63,869 per kg, fromRs 63,490 per kg in the previous

trade. "Spot gold prices for 24carat gold at Delhi were up by Rs77, reflecting overnight gains inCOMEX gold prices," TapanPatel, senior analyst (com-modities) at HDFC Securities,said. In the international market,gold was trading 0.1 per centlower at USD 1,896 per ounceand silver was flat at USD 23.94per ounce.

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Mining major Coal Indiahas flagged an urgent

need for price hike of the dryfuel, contending that withoutwhich, "certain subsidiaries"would find it "difficult tosurvive", company sourcessaid on Friday.

It is also trying to bringstakeholders on board tobuild a consensus for hikingprices, they said. In an effortto tide over inflationary pres-sure, the miner will likelyraise prices after the assemblyelections in five states, includ-ing Uttar Pradesh, in March,the sources said.

"Every day is critical forme. A price hike has becomevery urgent. For certain sub-sidiaries, survival depends onit," Coal India ChairmanPramod Agrawal is under-stood to have told investorson Thursday, they said.Agrawal, however, did notdisclose the name of the sub-sidiaries.

Global coal prices havebeen on the higher side,which has led to greaterdemand for the dry fuel fromdomestic sources.

He also said wage negoti-ations are expected to becompleted in 2022-23. Themining behemoth is facinghuge cost pressure from pro-posed wage hikes and fuelcosts, the sources said.

In the second quarter ofthe current fiscal, higherdiesel prices had resulted incost inflation by around Rs700 crore, the chairman hadsaid earlier.

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CSB Bank on Friday said theReserve Bank has approved

appointment of Pralay Mondalas the deputy managing direc-tor of the private sector lenderfor three years.

"Pralay Mondal has beenappointed as Deputy ManagingDirector of CSB Bank postRBI's approval in terms ofSection 35B of the BankingRegulation Act, 1949. His tenureis for three years from February17, 2022," CSB Bank said in astatement. His prior appoint-

ment in the bank sinceSeptember 23, 2020 was asPresident (Retail, SME,Operations and IT). With over30 years of banking experienceacross multiple business andfunctions including retail assets,retail liabilities, business bank-ing, products and technology,Mondal has been instrumentalin building up various facets inleading banks and reputableorganisations such as Axis Bank,Yes Bank, HDFC Bank,Standard Chartered Bank,Wipro InfoTech and ColgatePalmolive.

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Mahindra Electric MobilityLtd (MEML) on Friday

said it has partnered withCommon Service Centres(CSC), a government organisa-tion that helps provide employ-ment in rural India, to promoteadoption of electric vehicles.Through this association withCSC, MEML will offer its rangeof electric vehicles like the Treoand Alfa to aspiring customersin the rural markets.Commenting on the partnership,MEML CEO Suman Mishrasaid,"Such tie-ups can providegainful employment opportuni-ties for the educated youth inIndia to earn a proud livelihood."The earning ability with

Mahindra electric three-wheel-ers is quite high while the main-tenance is the lowest when com-pared to conventional fuel vehi-cles and the benefit to environ-ment is significant, she added.

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IndiGo's co-promoter RakeshGangwal on Friday resigned

from the board of directors ofparent company InterGlobeAviation, stating that he willgradually reduce his equity stakein the airline over the next fiveyears. Gangwal and his relatedentities own around 37 per centstake in this company. RahulBhatia and his related entitiesown around 38 per cent inInterGlobe Aviation.

"I have been a long-termshareholder in the company formore than 15 years and it's onlynatural to someday think aboutdiversifying one's holding,"Gangwal said in his letter to theboard members. "Accordingly,my current intention is to slow-ly reduce my equity stake in thecompany over the next five plusyears," he added. At an extra-ordinary general meeting heldon December 30, IndiGo share-holders had approved a specialresolution to remove a clausefrom the company's Articles ofAssociation (AoA) which gaveits two promoters the power ofright of first refusal when one ofthem wanted to sell his shares.

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Markets regulator Sebi onFriday lifted restrictions

imposed on ten entities, includ-ing individuals, in a matter per-taining to alleged insider trad-ing in the scrip of ZeeEntertainment Enterprises Ltd.

They were alleged to havetraded in the scrip of the firmwhile in possession of unpub-lished price sensitive informa-tion (UPSI) pertaining to audit-ed financial results of ZEEL forthe quarter ended June 30,2020. They allegedly violatedProhibition of Insider Tradingnorms. Consequently, the reg-ulator had barred 15 entitiesfrom accessing securities mar-ket till further directions The 15 entities are -- Bijal Shah,Gopal Ritolia, Jatin Chawla,Amit Bhanwarlal Jajoo, ManishKumar Jajoo, Gomati DeviRitolia, Daljit GurucharanChawla, Monika Lakhotia,Pushpadevi Jajoo, BhawarlalRamniwas Jajoo, Bhawarlal

Jajoo HUF, Ritesh KumarKamalkishore Jajoo, SuccessurePartners, Yash Anil Jajoo andVimla Somani.

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Healthcare industry veteranKapil Khandelwal's Toro

Finserve has announced thelaunch of its maiden health-care fund with a USD 1 billion(about Rs 7,450 crore) com-mitment from investors, pri-marily hedge funds andhealthcare industry players.Khandelwal, who launchedthe country's first quant (algo-based) hedge fund -- EquNev-K1t Capital -- which he latersold to the England-basedColeman Group in 2018, saidthe digital healthcare impactfund will make most of itsinvestments to accelerateadoption of digital health-care.

Most of the funding com-mitments are from globalhedge funds and from a fewdomestic healthcare industryplayers, Khandelwal told PTIon Friday, but refused to namethem citing confidentiality.

The first investmentshould be done over the nextthree-four months, he added.

Khandelwal, who has over30 years of experience in thehealthcare industry, launchedToro Finserve in 2020. He waspreviously associated withKPMG in Bahrain as a part-ner, headed the global health-care division at Wipro, andwas the managing director ofCisco's healthcare business inthe APAC and emerging mar-kets.

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As the Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana (PMFBY) enters

the seventh year of implemen-tation with the upcoming Kharifseason, the government onFriday said it will launch adoorstep distribution drive todeliver crop insurance policies tofarmers.

The doorstep campaign'Meri Policy Mere Hath' aims toensure all farmers are well awareand equipped with all informa-tion on their policies, landrecords, the process of claim andgrievance redressal under thePMFBY, the AgricultureMinistry said. The doorstepcampaign will be launched in allimplementing states in theupcoming Kharif season, theministry said in a statement.PMFBY, launched in February2016, aims to provide financialsupport to farmers sufferingcrop loss/damage arising out ofnatural calamities. According tothe ministry, over 36 crorefarmer applications have beeninsured under the PMFBY, withover Rs 1,07,059 crores of claimshave already been paid under thescheme as of February 4, thisyear. The crop insurance schemehas been able to provide finan-cial assistance to the most vul-nerable farmers as around 85per cent of the farmers enrolledwith the scheme are small andmarginal farmers.

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Mapping the trailblazingstory of multinational

digital-payments companyPayPal, a new book sheds lighton how a scrappy start-upturned into one of the mostsuccessful companies of alltime, worth over USD 70 bil-lion today.

"The Founders", writtenby author Jimmy Soni, offerscolourful anecdotes aboutperennially popular figures likeElon Musk and Peter Thielwith the gripping true story ofhow PayPal reimagined thedigital age. It will hit the standson February 24.

Based on original researchand rare interviews with PeterThiel, Elon Musk and others,

the book, published by AtlanticBooks, claims to contain "juicydetails not yet made public".

"Modern technology talesare usually told as stories ofindividual achievement-more'genius' than 'scenius'.

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While the heroes might have beengrabbing eyeballs, Priyamani hasthe distinction of having acted in

Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam andHindi films. The recipient of the NationalFilm Award for Best Actress and threeFilmfare Awards, she made her debut in theTelugu film Evare Atagaadu (2003). Shegained widespread recognition for her roleas village girl Muththazhagu in the Tamilromantic drama Paruthiveeran (2007). Hernotable works include Raam (2009), Raavan(2010), Raavanan (2010), Pranchiyettan & theSaint (2010), Chaarulatha (2012) and IdolleRamayana (2016). She will be seen inBhamakalapam next. Excerpts from aninterview:

�What made you take up Bhamakalapam?The reason why I took up

Bhamakalapam was the way it was narrat-ed. When Bharat Kamma, the director, nar-rated the story over Zoom, I really liked theway it was told. I had not played the char-acter before and I felt it would be a gooddebut character for me to play and that toofor an OTT platform.

�How do you approach any character?Do you take inspiration from peoplearound you or listen to the director’s ver-sion?

I am more of a spontaneous actor. I didnot do any homework for this role. I justwent with my instinct. I do observe a lotof people on a day to day basis and howthey observe a situation or how they are athome or how they manage their home andhow they are at it. So, I observe that on aday to day basis. So, maybe, some of thesereactions inspire me. More so, it is also, howthe director envisions the character.Sometimes when I feel that the characterneeds to be toned down a little bit — be itthe body language or the dialogues — Isuggest it to the director and he also makessome suggestions. It is a give and take. AndI was fortunate that Abhimanyu as adirector was kind enough to incorporatemy suggestions for the character.

�The big screen and OTT... what is thedifference for actors?

I wouldn’t say there is much of a dif-ference between the two per se. But one dif-ference is the variety of characters that canbe played in OTT, it is a lot different. Andeven the choice of roles is quite vast anddifferent. It is also quite challenging.

�You do not have a background in theindustry. How tough were the initial years?

Fortunately for me, I wouldn’t say it wasvery tough but I have had my fair share ofups and downs in the initial years. My firstfilm was Kangalal Kaidhu Sei in Tamil. Westarted shooting in 2002 but it was releasedin 2003. Similarly, there was Balu Mahendra’sAdhu Oru Kana Kaalam that we start-ed in 2004 and by the time it wasreleased it was the end of 2005. Idid feel every time I chose to doa film, by the time it was releasedit took a year or a year and a half.There were times I was sitting athome and doing absolutely noth-ing or doing some modellingwork. And once Paruthiveeran(2006) came and released... the restas they say is history.

�Pellaina Kothalo(2006)... Did youthink it wouldbecome so big?And what were thechallenges thatcame in yourway?

I honestlydid not think itwould becomeso big but Iwas reallyhappy thatp e o p l eloved thefilm. Thecombina-tion ofJ a g a p a t iBabu andmyself. It wasmy first filmin Teluguwhere I wasplaying thelead and thestory was uni-versal and themoment thed i r e c t o rMadantod methe story Iabsolutely lovedit and told himthat I wanted tobe a part of it.Then Jagapati

Babu called to say that he was excited for meto be a part. The only challenge I had to gothrough was learning Telugu. I started talk-ing to people and that is how I picked it up.The film was the breeziest one that I havedone. It was a fun film and even now I thinka lot of people watch it, they tag me in socialmedia posts and tell me that they have

watched the film and loved it.

�How difficult is playing a real-life character as you did inThirakkatha (2008)? Do youemulate the mannerisms? Orhow do you go about it?

The difficulty inThirakkatha was after the ovar-ian cancer thing came up. Themakeup took three hours. Themakeup boy was in tears whenthe whole thing was done. A lit-tle bit of difficulty also cropped

up when Ranjith (the direc-tor) wanted me to

walk a little odd ora little differently.Moreover, thewhole film wason my shoulders.After the narra-tion, the firstthing that I askedRanjith sir was,‘Do you have thefaith in me thatI can do it? It issuch a beautifulstory. I don’tknow whatfaith you havein me that Ican carry it.’ Hesaid, ‘I havefaith in youand only youcan do it.’ Iam reallythankful thathe thoughtthat I wouldbe apt forthe role. Idid note mu l at ea n y

m a n -n e r -ism. It

was just

blind trust in Ranjith sir and I just followedhis guidance.

�You have acted in Tamil, Telugu,Kannada, Malayalam and Hindi films.How do you get the nuances right? Whatis the difference in industries?

I am one of the lucky ones to have actedin all five industries and I am still doing it.The nuances are just as per the director’swishes. I just go one step at a time.

The difference is in the language, thecrew, the co-stars, directors and the unit.Apart from that, the shooting process is verymuch the same in all the languages.

�Awards or popular acclaim. What wouldyou choose?

Why not both? Awards are a reward foryour work and popular acclaim is equallyimportant.

�Films from South India are making waveswhile earlier, the Hindi film industry heldsway. What would you attribute the reasonsto?

I am glad that South India is beingrecognised and at this point, we should allbe called Indian actors rather thanBollywood or South Indian actors. And yes,I am glad that South Indians are gettingrecognition in Bollywood whether it is thetechnicians or the artistes. Earlier, there wereSridevi, Rekha, Vyjayanthimala, HemaMalini all of them ruled Bollywood and thenthere was a dearth. So, better late than never.

�Do you think the audience will return totheatres or will OTT continue to holdsway?

I hope that theatres go back to normalviewing. I feel that situation is slowly gettingbetter. I hope that theatre viewing doesn’t endbecause all of us work hard in making ourfilms. The theatrical experience is complete-ly different. You don’t get the same feelingwhen you are watching it on OTT. Duringthe pandemic, the OTT was booming but Ihope that theatrical experience comes backto normal and people return to cinemas with100 per cent capacity in all films and all lan-guages.

What makes you take up any project?Primarily the script and if my role is

good. And if I am convinced that I can takeup the project I do it. Else, I would not. I havemaintained this and I will always continueto maintain this.

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The Padma Shri awardee, fromArunachal Pradesh, is one of the

few modern Indian writers thathave managed to add ‘seminal’ as atitle in front of their names.

The writer dons multiple caps ofachievement. She was the firstwoman from her state, then NEFA,to be selected for IAS, but decidedto pursue journalism instead.Although she excelled in the field,she has never thought about how herlife would have been if she had cho-sen the former career. We’re glad shedidn’t! Or we wouldn’t be blessedwith such great stories and poetry.

Poetry and prose are her strongsuit, but she defines poetry as “thereal lifeline.” The writer had also wonthe Sahitya Akademi Award for hernovel The Black Hill in 2017.

Read on for excerpts from anexclusive interview with Dai abouther latest creation, Escaping theLand:

�What inspired you to beginthis book and this saga? Please giveus an overview of the same.

This book was always in themaking, at the back of my mind,even when I was writing somethingelse. A part of the book is a recollec-tion of NEFA times based on first-hand accounts when Arunachal wasthe North East Frontier Agency(NEFA). Shillong was the capital andI can’t imagine how our parents tookall the trouble to ferry us back andforth from boarding school inShillong to wherever my father wasposted at the time.

For my brothers and me, child-hood was a landscape of rivers,stones, sand, ferry ghats and walk-ing – one posting was a six-day footmarch through the dense junglewhen we were cajoled, carried, fromone camp to another until we

reached our destination — a smalloutpost, where it was a solid threemonths’ winter break before makingthe return journey back to school.Much of this travelling was throughthe districts now linked by thecountry’s longest rail-road Bogibeelbridge and the country’s longestDhola Sadiya bridge, the latter alsoknown as Bhupen Hazarika Setu,linking Assam and ArunachalPradesh.

It was how it was then with thefamilies of NEFA officers serving inthe Indian Frontier AdministrativeService.

The other portion of the book ismore current, dealing with contem-porary state politics with flashbacksinspired by real events. Viz:Achingmori, the era of politicalinterpreters, the 1962 war, the con-stitutional and political changes,growth and attainment of state-hood.

In fact, 2022 marks the closureof the erstwhile North East FrontierAgency and is the state’s goldenjubilee year of achieving UnionTerritory status under the brand-newname of Arunachal Pradesh — ‘landof the dawn-lit mountains’.

�From Kojum-Koja toArunachal Pradesh, talk to usabout the journey covered in thebook.

About the story of the ancientcivilisation of Kojum-Koja, thiscrept in because these references to

mythical times and different worldslike a land of fish and stars are partsof oral literature that is still chant-ed by traditional shaman priestsinvited to perform at special festivals.

�What is the significance ofthe title — Escaping the Land?

It was the only title I could thinkof.

Midway, I thought maybe —NEFA Notebook, but somehow, ‘EL’as it is labelled in my manuscripts,stuck. It’s a way of looking at whatwe say about the grass being green-er on the other side. There was aboom period when everyone whohad money was looking to investoutside of the state, going into bigbusiness, housing schemes and buy-ing apartments.

It’s also about the desire to trav-el out from your hometown, to besomewhere else, even though, moreoften than not, it’s just to come backfull circle — that sort of thing.

�Is the objective behind writ-ing this recording the history ofyour land and talking about theuntold stories?

Well, in the last 50 years,Arunachal has undergone tremen-dous changes. I can tell you Itanagarhas changed overnight from a ratherragged place of unfinished buildingsto a place full of Korean eateries,gyms and shopping malls. So writ-ing is a record of sorts, of a feelingor a remembrance of where we came

from to get here. For this book, I would say that

there is still a great deal of nostalgiafor the NEFA days. After all, it is thestate’s common foundation. I alsofeel there was an air of innocenceabout that time, of integrity and evenromance, and I wanted to writeabout this based on my father’s anec-dotes, those of his colleagues andbooks and memoirs of some greatpioneer officers like Nari K Rustomji,S Krishnatry, Indira Miri, to namea few.

Recently, a family in Assamwas remembering how their fatherhad gone off a long time ago, acrossthe river, to serve as a school teacherin one of those unheard-of places inNEFA. They saw him on rare homevisits, now and then, they told me,reminiscing. So, these are the storiesof time, geography, memory.

Also, I feel the NEFA era and theIndo-China border war has littledocumentation/ record/ of the trib-al peoples’ voices — how it was, whatdid they hear, what happened in thevillages, what about the atmosphereof utter pandemonium as everyonefled before an advancing the Chinesearmy and how does it impact us now.

�‘What is never lost is theoriginal obsession that was a dreamof love’. Please elaborate on this forus.

In the context of the book, Iguess this line is for Lutor and Umsi.There is love for the land, love for its

people, love for each other, maybelost, and found. In the end, I thinkeveryone wants to find and feel, areturn to love. This can be a feelingof anticipation — a sense of wonderand mystery that is equal to a stateof being in love, that there is some-thing bigger than us beyond ourdoubts and struggles. Hard toexplain. The reader will have to findits meaning for themselves.

�I truly believe we need morefemale authors to write stories ofwomen since they were eitherwiped out from the pages of his-tory or their truths misconstruedby male voices. Care to weigh in?

Yes, in the historical context,the stories of women have been lostor misconstrued, but we can findthem again and make up ourminds. There are well known andwidely read women writers takinga look at the literature of differentperiods from biblical times toGreek drama, western classical lit-erature and portrayals of women inthe great epics the Ramayana andMahabharata. Female authors arewriting in every genre with greatimpact, so I think the job is gettingdone.

�How do you like to portrayyour female characters? For,Maying seems to be a determinedwoman looking for herself byunravelling the stories of peoplearound her.

About portrayal of female char-acters: the female characters are likethe women I know. There’s love,loyalty, wit and endurance, intellectand vulnerability. Maying is deter-mined because in the book she rep-resents these qualities of womenwho are secure because they knowwho they are.

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Lewis Hamilton downplayed spec-ulation he considered quitting

Formula One following last year'scontroversial finale that cost theMercedes driver a record eighthchampionship.

"I never ever said I was going tostop," Hamilton said Friday at thelaunch of Mercedes' car for theupcoming F1 season.

Hamilton said he "needed totake a step back" after the Abu DhabiGrand Prix, where Red Bull driverMax Verstappen won his first worldtitle following a controversial ruling.

"It was obviously a difficulttime for me," Hamilton said in hisreturn to the public eye.

"I eventually got to a pointwhere I decided I (am) going to beattacking again coming into anoth-er season." Mercedes team boss TotoWolff said he was "never con-cerned" that Hamilton would stopracing. "Within the team, we knewhe needed to take the time to reflecton things and particularly to under-stand how he would return in the

right frame of mind," Wolff said."I think what he did was

absolutely right to take himself outof the microcosm of Formula Oneand step aside and flake out social-ly," he added. "And he has comeback in a great mindset. He's posi-

tive, he's determined and he, yetagain, adversity that was thrown athim will make him stronger. It'sattack mode." On Thursday,motorsport's governing bodyannounced that Michael Masi willbe replaced as F1's race director.

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With the chasing packsnapping at their

heels, Hyderabad FC willlook to leave no stoneunturned in their bid toconsolidate their top spotwhen they take on FCGoa in an Indian SuperLeague match here onSaturday. Hyderabad areon 29 points from 16games but have ATKMohun Bagan breathingdown their neck havingthe same number of pointsbut with a game in hand.

The Mariners take onKerala Blasters earlier inthe day but ManoloMarquez would want hiswards to decide their ownfate with a win on Saturdaywhich would all but securetheir place in the semifi-nals.

Hyderabad are cur-rently in the midst of their

best-ever season. In theirlast match, they equalledtheir record points total ina single season of 29points, in just 16 matches.They have also won eightmatches, the most theyhave managed in a singleseason.

B a r t h o l o m e wOgbeche has been in theform of his life forHyderabad, scoring 14goals so far but forMarquez the pleasing factis that others have alsocontributed with goals andassists making the team

click.Javier Siverio was

handed a start in the lastgame and he rewarded hiscoach with a crucial goal asthey won 2-1 againstBengaluru FC. Siverio nowhas six goal contributionswith only Ogbecheinvolved in more goals forthe club.

Joao Victor alsoscored in the previousmatch and now has fourgoals to his name, his best-ever return in a single sea-son. FC Goa, meanwhile,are not mathematicallyout of the semifinal racebut realistically the defeatto ATK Mohun Bagan theother night virtually endedall their hopes. FC Goa arein ninth spot with 18points from 17 matches.

Glan Martins is sus-pended for the gameagainst Hyderabad FC,Pereira confirmed.

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The recently-concluded AFC Women'sAsian Cup held in India was the most

engaging event on digital platforms in thetournament's history, the continental footballbody said on Friday.

The Asian Football Confederation's(AFC) digital channels witnessed unprece-dented growth during the January 20 toFebruary 6 tournament in Mumbai andPune as the statistics grew by a staggering 5324per cent as compared to the 2018 edition inJordan. "The AFC Women's Asian Cup India2022 has left an indelible digital footprint, withthe engagement and coverage of the showpiecesurpassing the previous edition and soaringto an all-time high record," the AFC said ina statement. The tournament's digital platformreceived more than 270 million impressions,17 million engagements and 74 million videoviews across its channels.

The AFC reached out to more fans by pro-ducing coverage in Arabic, Mandarin,Japanese, Korean, Thai, Vietnamese, Farsi andIndonesian, in addition to its coverage inEnglish.

"The AFC Women's Asian Cup India 2022

has achieved many milestones, on and off thepitch, with our talented football teams andofficials creating history while our digital plat-forms continue to rise in record numbers andengaging with more fans than ever before,"AFC's General Secretary Datuk Seri WindsorJohn said.

The tournament, however, turned out tobe a heart break for India as they were forcedto withdraw after playing their first groupmatch as the home team could not assembleenough players for the second game due to aCOVID-19 outbreak in their hotel.

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Rangers stunned BorussiaDortmund 4-2 in the Europa

League on Thursday whileBarcelona had to come from behindto draw 1-1 at home to Napoli intheir play-off first leg tie.

In Dortmund, James Taverniergave Rangers the lead with a 38th-minute penalty after a handball byDan-Axel Zagadou from a corner.

Three minutes later, Dortmundagain failed to cope with a Rangerscorner.

Joe Aribo nodded the ball to thefar post where Alfredo Morelos wasunmarked and scored from closerange.

Four minutes after the break,Ryan Kent, who tormentedDortmund all night, found JohnLundstram who scored with a pow-erful strike.

Jude Bellingham replied for thehome team with a rasping left-footshot.

But two minutes after that,Rangers scored again as Zagadou,attempting to deprive Morelos ofanother tap in, deflected the ball intohis own goal.

Raphael Guerreiro cut thedeficit with eight minutes left witha ferocious long-range left-footer but

Rangers survived without furtherscares.

"It is a great night but only agreat night," said Rangers managerGiovanni van Bronckhorst.

"We are not through to the nextround, which is what we want. Weknow we have to have a good per-formance next week."

Napoli gained a 1-1 draw inBarcelona.

The visitors, challenging for theSerie A title, opened the scoring inthe Nou Camp against a home teamthat is scrambling just to finish inthe top four in La Liga.

Polish midfielder PiotrZielinski ran onto his own reboundto slam the ball home after 29 min-utes.

Barcelona increasingly domi-nated possession but needed one offour penalties awarded for handballby VAR in the Europa League onThursday to level.

Adama Traore's cross hit JuanJesus on the arm after 59 minutes.

Ferran Torres converted thepenalty with confidence for his firstgoal at Camp Nou for Barcelonabut his cool deserted him as he hittwo good chances over the bar asBarcelona dominated the closingstages.

'Not a friendly'"We played very good foot-

ball," said Barca coach Xavi."But of course, it's not a friend-

ly, it's the Europa League. Theresult is insufficient, but I am veryhappy with the performance."

Real Betis, who won 3-2 at ZenitSaint Petersburg, and Sevilla, whobeat visiting Dinamo Zagreb 3-1,both stayed on course for the finalin their home city.

Ivan Rakitic gave Sevilla the leadfrom the spot. The next three goalscame in four minutes just before halftime. Mislav Orsic levelled for thevisitors but Sevilla quickly repliedthrough Lucas Ocampos andAnthony Martial, with his first goalsince arriving from ManchesterUnited.

Zenit, who have played onlyfriendlies since their last RussianLeague game on December 12,looked rusty at the start concedingto Guido Rodriguez and WillianJose in the first 18 minutes.

Artem Dzyuba and Malcolmbrought Zenit level with goals threeminutes apart, but the home teamthen presented Betis with the win-ner in the 41st minute.

Aitor Ruibal ambushed YaroslavRakitskyi and found AndresGuardado who curled the ball into

the goal.Real Sociedad grabbed a 2-2

draw away to RB Leipzig.The Basques led twice, first

with a goal by defender Robin LeNormand. Christopher Nkunkulevelled.

Mikel Oyarzabal restored thelead with a penalty spot but EmilForsberg levelled from the spotwith eight minutes left.

Atalanta came from behind toedge Olympiacos 2-1 in Bergamo.

Albanian defender, BeratDjimsiti who had not scored sinceNovember 2018, struck twice with-in two minutes following corners.

In Tiraspol, Braga dominatedpossession and had more goalattempts, but Sheriff won 2-0.

Luxembourg midfielderSebastien Thill converted a first-halfpenalty and with Braga pressing,Sheriff sealed victory on thecounter-attack in the 83rd minutewith a goal by their Adama Traore.

In the Europa ConferenceLeague, Celtic had a less distin-guished evening than their Glasgowrivals, losing 3-1 at home toNorway's Bodo/Glimt.

Leicester responded after VitoHammershoy-Mistrati of Randerscancelled an earlier Wilfried Ndidigoal just before half time.

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India's campaign at theBadminton Asia Team

Championships came to endas the men's and women'steams failed to advance to theknockout round after goingdown to their respectiveopponents here on Friday.

While the men's teamlost 2-3 to three-time defend-ing champions Indonesia,the women's side were ham-mered 1-4 by Japan.

The Indian men's teamhad earlier lost 0-5 to Koreaand beaten Honk Kong 3-2.It needed an outright winagainst t it le holdersIndonesia to advance to theknockout stage.

The Indians finishedthird in the group stagebehind Indonesia and Korea.Hong Kong finished last.

The women's team alsoneeded a win to qualify for

the knockouts but foundJapan to be a formidableopponent. The Indians hade ar l i e r l o s t t o h o s t sMalaysia 2-3.

India Open winnerLakshya Sen and MithunManjunath gave a goodaccount of themselves

Sen, a world champi-onship bronze medallist, ekedout a hard-fought win overChico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-18 27-25 in 46 minutes tostart the proceedings on abright note for India.

However, the two inexpe-rienced doubles pairs andsingles player Kiran Georgecouldn't rise to the occa-sion.

The pair of Manjit SinghKhwairakpam and DingkuSingh Konthoujam wentdown in straight games 16-2110-21 to Leo Rolly Carnandoand Daniel Marthin in lessthan 30 minutes as Indonesialevelled the tie.

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Indian boxer LovlinaBorgohain, who creat-

ed history at the 2020Tokyo Olympics by win-ning a Bronze medal inthe women's welter-weight category, has sether eyes on the Gold atthe Paris Olympics 2024and says that she's hun-gry to bring more laurelsto the country and willgive her best to changethe colour of her medalin the world's biggestsporting extravaganza.

In an interactionwith The Pioneer, the 24-year old Assamese

pugilist, who has alsowon two WorldChampionship Bronzemedals besides having apair of Bronze in theAsian Championship,said: "My ultimate goal isto win gold for my coun-try, which will inspiremany young girls to optfor boxing as theircareer."

"I'm planning a dif-ferent strategy this time,which I cannot disclose,but I will give my 200%and make sure to bookmy seat and make mycountry proud, "she said.

"I just don't want tostop, and my goal is to

win Gold for the coun-try," Lovlina added.

Lovlina became anovernight sensation inthe country after theOlympics and theBronze in Tokyochanged her life com-pletely, but she doesn'twant to get carried awayby the fame and stillprioritises her trainingover anything.

"My life has experi-enced some changes(after getting theOlympics medal).Earlier, I was not sobusy. Now I am doing alot of events. Amid allthis, I take care of my

training so that it doesnot get affected. I try toattend as few events aspossible. I don't missmy training. My ulti-mate goal is to play. "

Lovlina has beenassociated with adidasfor a long time and saidthat it has been theirbiggest support for bet-ter game play.

"Adidas has been mybiggest supporter. Therewas a time when I did-n't have the money tobuy sports equipment. Itwas Adidas who spon-sored me in 2018 andsupported me through-out, "she concluded.

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Second-seeded Casper Ruud of Norwaypulled out of the Rio Open clay-court

tournament with an abdominal injury.Ruud told a news conference that he

was still feeling the effects of an injuryhe picked up during Sunday's final of theArgentina Open, which he won.

"I tried as much as I could, but unfor-tunatelly it wasn't possible," Ruud said.

"It was a tough decision, I was look-ing forward to play here."

Ruud was replaced by Spain'sRoberto Carballes Baena, who lost hissecond-round match against Argentina'sFrancisco Cerundolo 6-3, 6-2 after thesecond set was halted for a rain delay.

Cerundolo will next face Serbia'sMiomir Kecmanovic, who beat sixth-seeded Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 7-5,6-4.

Rain came back to Rio late onThursday and forced the suspension ofthe two remaining matches of the day.Seventh seed Carlos Alcaraz of Spain wasbeating Argentina's Federico Delbonis 5-4 when play was stopped. The encounterwill take place Friday.

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The judges who let Russian figureskater Kamila Valieva continue to

compete at the Beijing Olympicsblamed anti-doping officials in alegal document published Friday fora "failure to function effectively."

The Court of Arbitration forSport explained its verdict in the casethat has dominated Olympic head-lines for more than a week in a 41-page document, citing the "untenabledelay" at the testing laboratory inSweden as a reason for letting the 15-year-old Valieva skate in the women'scompetition. Valieva's positive test fora heart medication was only revealedduring the Olympics despite herurine sample arriving at theStockholm lab on Dec. 29. The lab'sstaffing was affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The full verdict was pub-lished early Friday, hours after the 15-year-old Valieva's mistake-filled freeskate dropped her from the lead to fin-ish fourth in the women's individualevent at the Beijing Games.

Valieva was cleared to skate by anurgent CAS ruling Monday after anappeal hearing that started Sundaynight and ended at around 2 a.M.

Monday. The World Anti-DopingAgency and International OlympicCommittee appealed against the deci-sion by the Russian anti-doping agencyto lift Valieva's initial suspension,which had been triggered by the pos-itive test.

"Put simply, athletes should not besubject to the risk of serious harm occa-sioned by anti-doping authorities' fail-

ure to function effectively at a high levelof performance and in a mannerdesigned to protect the integrity of theoperation of the Games," the verdictstated.

Valieva's lawyers suggested shetested positive "as a result of domesticinteraction with her grandfather whouses Trimetazidine' after heart replace-ment surgery."

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Veteran pacer Jhulan Goswami'simpressive three-wicket haul was the

only bright spot as India yet again failedto defend an imposing total with hostsNew Zealand notching up a series-clinching three-wicket victory in the thirdODI here on Friday.

It was Goswami yet again who led thebowling pack, after sitting out of the sec-ond ODI. She accounted for the threeNew Zealand wickets at the top to rockthe home side's run chase of 280.

India seemed to be cruising to theirfirst win of the tour when they reducedNew Zealand to 171 for 6 in the 35th overbut in the end they could not do so asLauren Down (65 not out) took the hostshome with five balls to spare.

This was the second highest runchase in women's ODI cricket history.

New Zealand needed 105 runs fromthe last 15 overs and 64 from 10 with fourwickets in hand and the Indians failed topolish off the home side's lower order.

Down and Katey Martin (35) made

life difficult for the Indian bowlers witha 76-run stand for the seventh wicket.

New Zealand needed 18 runs fromthe final two overs and Goswami conced-ed 12 in the penultimate over beforeDown, who was dropped on 10, hit a sixin the first ball of the final over bowledby Deepti Sharma to reach 280 for 7 andwin the match.

India had lost the first two ODIs by62 runs and three wickets, respectively,after suffering a 18-run defeat in the loneT20I.

The 39-year-old Goswami struck inthe third ball of New Zealand run chaseby removing captain Sophie Devine fora duck before clean-bowling Suzie Bates(5) to leave the hosts at 14 for 2 in 2.3overs.

She then returned to break a danger-ous-looking partnership between AmySatterthwaite (59) and Amelia Kerr (67)by dismissing the former in the 24th over.

Satterthwaite and Kerr had revivedthe New Zealand innings with a third-wicket stand of 103 runs.

After Kerr -- who had hit a match-

winning 119 not out in the secondgame -- was out in the 31st over, NewZealand lost three quick wickets for just19 runs to be reduced to 171 for 6 in the35th over.

Earlier, India rode on half centuriesfrom Sabbhineni Meghana, Shafali

Verma and Deepti Sharma to post 279 -- their highest total against New Zealand-- after being asked to bat.

Young openers Meghana (61) andVerma (51) gave India a flying start witha stand of 100 in 13 overs, but the visi-tors lost wickets at regular intervals later

to be all out for 279 in 49.3 overs.Star opener Smriti Mandhana once

again missed the match -- her fourthgame of the tour, including the lone T20I-- as she came out of quarantine onTuesday.

Meghana was in sensational form asshe consumed just 41 balls for her 61 andstruck nine fours and two sixes. Vermahad seven fours in her 57-ball knock.

Vice-captain Harmenpreet Kaur'swretched form continued as she madejust 13 off 22 balls to add to her identi-cal 10 runs each in the first two ODIs.

Yastika Bhatia (19) and captainMithali Raj (23), who scored back-to-back half centuries, were also unable tocontribute much but Deepti Sharma roseto the occasion with a brilliant run-a-ball69 not out down the order to take India'sscore past 275 mark.

Sharma struck seven fours and onesix.

New Zealand used as many as sevenbowlers with Hannah Rowe andRosemary Mair picking two wicketsapiece.

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Wicketkeeper Het Patel hit apatient 72 off 139 balls to

keep Gujarat in the hunt for a cru-cial first innings lead againstMadhya Pradesh on the second dayof their Elite Group A Ranji Trophymatch here on Friday.

Madhya Pradesh, which start-ed at the overnight score of 235 for7, were bundled out for 274 in 96.3overs. In reply, Gujarat ended theday at 244 for 6, thanks to HetPatel's vital knock, in which heslammed eight fours and a lone six.

Gujarat still trail by 30 runs atthe SCA stadium.

At one stage, Gujarat werereeling at 167 for 5 as their top-order faltered despite decent con-tributions from skipper PriyankPanchal and Manprit Juneja.

Arindam Ghosh leadsRailways' solid response toKarnataka's 481

Arindam Ghosh hit an

unbeaten half-century to leadRailways' strong response toKarnataka's huge first inningsscore of 481 on the second day ofthe Ranji Trophy Elite Group Cmatch here on Friday.

Railways finished the secondday at 213 for 3. The team's causewas helped by Ghosh's knock of 78(108 balls, 12 fours, 1 six) andfifties by Mrunal Devdhar andVivek Singh after Karnataka hadrode on tons by skipper ManishPandey's 156, (121 balls, 12 fours,10 sixes) and K V Siddharth'sunbeaten 146 (250 balls, 18X4,2X6) to post a huge total.

Resuming at 392 for 5,Karnataka lost the wicket ofovernight not-out batsmanSiddharth after he had added six

runs to his score. Railways hit backwith some quick wickets and hadthe opposition at 438 for 9.

Shah's maiden double ton takesMaharashtra to 415; Assam 81/2 inreply

Debutant Pavan Shahslammed his maiden double hun-dred to take Mahrashtra to animposing 415 and put them in acommanding position againstAssam on the second day of theirElite Group G Ranji Trophy gamehere on Friday.

The 22-year-old Shah, a right-handed batter, who hails fromChinchwad near Pune, took thepedestrian Assam attack to clean-ers as he hammered 20 boundariesand two maximums enroute his219 off 401 balls.

Shah started from hisovernight score on unbeaten 165,and remained the cynosure ofeyes at the Choudhry Bansilalstadium here, as he kept playinghis shots at will.

Lalit Yadav's special hundredputs Delhi in command against TN

Lalit Yadav hammered 10 sixesenroute to his maiden first-classhundred and batted brilliantlywith the tail to put Delhi in astrong position against Tamil Naduafter day two of the Ranji TrophyGroup H here on Friday.

Resuming the day at 291 forseven, Delhi ended up getting animposing first innings score of 452all out courtesy Yadav's 177 off 287balls.

Delhi also got two crucialwickets before stumps, leavingTamil Nadu at 75 for two and trail-ing by 377 runs.

If the opening day belonged toIndia U-19 star Yash Dhull, Fridaywas all about Yadav who battedfearlessly in his entertaininginnings. Besides 10 sixes, hesmashed 17 fours.

Sarfaraz's 275 takes Mumbaito mammoth 544/7d againstSaurashtra

Young Sarfaraz Khan hit astroke-filled 275 to propel Mumbaito a mammoth 544/7 and put 41-time champions in a commandingposition on the second day of theirElite Group D Ranji Trophy gameagainst defending championsSaurashtra here on Friday.

Sarfaraz, who continued fromhis overnight score on 121, tookthe Saurashtra attack to cleanersand hammered 30 boundaries andseven maximum in his 401-ballinnings.

The 24-year-old was at hisbest at the Narendra Modi stadi-um as he spared no bowler. Hissenior pro Ajinkya Rahane fell fora patient 129 off 290 balls, butmore importantly kept himself incontention for a place in thenational team.

Sarfaraz and Rahane, a Testspecialist, conjured 252-runs forthe fourth wicket and pulled thedomestic heavyweights out of trou-ble after they were 44/3 at onestage.

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Indian Premier League franchise SunrisersHyderabad is once again in news for all the

wrong reasons after former Australian batterSimon Katich resigned from the post of assis-tant coach after reportedly being unhappy withsome of the side's hefty auction buys.

Katich, who along with West Indies legendBrian Lara and former India batter HemangBadani, were added to the SRH coaching groupheaded by Tom Moody and MuttahMuralitharan, resigned immediately after theauction. Although the SRH management, head-ed by Kavya Maran, hasn't yet issued any offi-cial statement, it is understood that his resigna-tion has been accepted and well-known coachSimon Helmot, who has earlier worked with thefranchise, has been brought back.

'The Australian' reported that Katich's res-ignation was primarily due to the fact that thepre-auction strategy discussed wasn't followedat the two-day auction where SRH had somewhopping big buys like Nicholas Pooran (Rs10.75 crore), Washington Sundar (8.75 crore)and Rahul Tripathi (8.50 crore).

Some of the SRH big buys have been baf-fling although it's not always a player's qualitybut the auction dynamics that determines thefinal price of a player.

Left-handed spin bowling all-rounderAbhishek Sharma's Rs 6.75 crore deal alsograbbed eye balls.

Abhishek is being looked as a potential open-er for this edition of IPL.

The 21-year-old hasn't done anything in hisfour seasons in the league which would warrantsuch a steep price and many were shocked atPooran's bid after he had endured one of theworst IPL seasons in the UAE last time round.

SRH's three retentions have also comeunder scanner as they couldn't convince theirbest performer spinner Rashid Khan to stay backwhile keeping New Zealand captain KaneWilliamson, who has a recurrent elbow condi-tion. Add to that, they kept two Kashmiri young-sters, pacer Urman Malik, more for his raw paceand Abdul Samad for his big hitting prowess forRs 4 crore each.

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Yash Dhull always knewthat a smooth transi-

tion from age-group tofirst-class level can onlyhappen if he is ready tocounter challenges and thatis precisely what workedfor him on his RanjiTrophy debut for Delhiagainst Tamil Nadu.

The Under-19 WorldCup winning skipper, whohas been a career middle-order batter, was asked toopen against a formidabledomestic side like TamilNadu and he came out inflying colours with a crack-ing 113 that had no lessthan 18 boundaries.

"In my cricket career,there has been a lot ofcoaches but someone whohad guided me from child-hood is Rajesh Nagar sir.Nagar sir had told me thatwhen Ranji Trophy willcome, I might be asked toopen, so I should be men-tally prepared," soft-soft-spoken Dhull told PTI inan interview after his open-ing day exploits.

Delhi cricket is repletewith instances where

young players have losttrack after showing earlypromise. There is no choiceif someone is assigned anunfamiliar role. The play-er needs to accept it ratherthan choosing the easyoption of cooling heels.

"Whatever the teamdemands from you, itneeds to be done withoutany questions asked. I amready to bat any position.I am just starting off in my

career and now I need tomake a mark with consis-tent performances and forthat I need chances.

"So when you are toldto play, you need to beready to grab that chance.When I was informed thatI would be opening theinnings, mentally I wasready," said Dhull, wholooked like having playedfirst-class cricket forever onhis launch day.

It was even morepraiseworthy as Dhull hadnot played any red ballcricket this season afterbeing named for India U-19 side before the CoochBehar Trophy (NationalU-19 days format) evenstarted.

"Cricket at this levelwill be as much aboutmindset as it is about tech-nique. It's all in the mindand if I can have the rightattitude, then things willfall in place," the youngstershowed maturity beyondyears.

So what is Dhull'sprocess of preparing for abig match?

"I do my visualisationsof how I am going to playa particular bowler," saidthe 19-year-old.

"Try to watch videosand close my eyes and tryto be in that zone where Ican see the bowler runningup and I am in mind decid-ing on a particular shotthat I intend to play. Whatwill he bowl to me andwhat will be my reactiontime, all these things I tryand visualize," heexplained.

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The Indian women's teamhas lost all the four match-

es so far in its ongoing tour ofNew Zealand but coachRamesh Powar is "not con-cerned at all" as he attributedthe poor performance to lackof game time due to COVID-19 and quarantine-relatedissues.

India suffered an18-run defeat in the loneT20I before losing the threeODIs on the trot to concedethe five-match series to NewZealand. The visiting teamhas not won a match so far.

"We had only threedays of practice sessionsahead of tour. You cannot getinto a competitive series likeagainst New Zealand in suchless time. So, there will besome rustiness in the players'approach," Powar said at thepost-match conference afterIndia lost by three wickets inthe third ODI here on Friday.

"There is no con-cern at all, I'm not concernedabout anything. AfterAustralia, we did not play any

game as a team. We camestraight to NZ. When youwant to address few issuesabout batting, fielding andbowling, you need to play asa group before a series whichdid not happen."

Powar admittedthat batting has clicked on thistour but there has been"inconsistencies" in bowlingdepartment but expected thatthings will be sorted outbefore the World Cup startsnext month.

"Batting has clicked. FromEngland tour to where we arenow. We have scored 270, 280.In Australia also, we have

scored 260, 270 so batting unithas done its job," said Powar,adding that opening batterSmriti Mandhana will beavailable from the next gameafter coming out of quaran-tine on Tuesday. "It is nowthe bowling unit to get intorhythm. There were restric-tions on doing practice, otherlimitations. So, I have to give(benefit of doubt) to thebowlers, they will come backhard when the World Cupbegins." India put up 270-plustargets to New Zealand in thesecond and third ODIs but thebowlers failed to defend onboth the occasions.

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar andHarshal Patel producedsuperb bowling in slog overs

as India survived some anxiousmoments before walking out withan eight-run won over West Indiesin the second T20I that handedthem an unassailable 2-0 lead inthe three-match series here onFriday.

Chasing a stiff 187, wicket-keeper-batter Nicholas Pooran (62off 41 balls) and Rovman Powell(68 not out from 36 balls) hit bel-ligerent fifties to keep them in thehunt as they needed just 29 runsfrom the last two overs.

But death bowling specialist,Bhuvneshwar Kumar revivedIndia's hopes by removing thedangerous-looking Pooran with aslower off-cutter.

Under pressure after hedropped Rovman Powell off hisown bowling, Bhuvneshwar wasbrilliant and conceded just fourruns in the over.

Needing to defend 25 in thefinal over, Patel was hit for twoconsecutive sixes but he held hisnerves to seal the issue for India.

This was India's 100th win in

T20Is as they sealed the series withone match to go on Sunday.

Earlier continuing his impres-sive run in his debut series, RaviBishnoi dismissed Brandon King(22) in his third delivery to breakthe second-wicket stand.

But Pooran and Powell lookedwithout any trouble against theIndian attack.

Wicketkeeper-batter Poorancontinued his impressive form tosmash a second successive half-century, while Powell gave a finesupport at the other end with a 28-ball 50 as the Windies recoveredfrom being 59/3 inside nine overs.

Dropped on 21 by Bishnoi inthe 10th over, Pooran brought uphis fifty in 34 balls -- his second inas many games -- with a slog overoff Deepak Chahar's final over.

Powell then completed a 28-ball fifty as India looked under realpressure before Bhuvneshwarturned it around.

Earlier, Virat Kohli was backamong runs with a fifty whileRishabh Pant smashed a quick-fireunbeaten 52 to lift India to a chal-lenging 186/5.

Kohli hit his 30th fifty in theshortest format, his first since the57 versus Pakistan in the T20

World Cup on October 24 last year.The former captain's sheer

elegance was on full display as he

cut, pulled and also took the aer-ial route en route to his 41-ball 52that had seven fours and one six.

Luck also favoured Kohli onthe day as the former skipperbrought up his 30th T20I fifty with

a slog over long-on after JasonHolder failed to get hold of thecatch as the ball went over theboundary.

But Kohli failed to make it bigand was cleaned up by Chase twoballs later after the Windies off-spinner breached his gate for histhird wicket.

Chase was impressive in themiddle overs to return with 3/25and which included the wickets ofRohit Sharma (19) andSuryakumar Yadav (8).

Thereafter it was Pant andVenkatesh Iyer (33 from 18 balls)show on offer as they took chargeon the likes of Kieron Pollard andRomario Shepherd in their 76-runpartnership from 35 balls.

Pant (52 off 28 balls) broughtup his third fifty in T20Is with adouble in the penultimate deliveryof the innings, taking just 27 ballsto get to the milestone.

Earlier India got off to a slowstart with Sheldon Cottrell bowl-ing four dots on the trot before dis-missing Ishan Kishan in the secondover of the day.

Kishan, who was the mostexpensive buy of the IPL 2022mega auction, looked listless andunder pressure to continue his

poor form and departed for twoafter his 10-ball stay.

But thereafter it was Kohlishow at the sparsely-crowded Edenas the former India skipper delight-ed his fans with his elegant timingand strokeplay.

Getting off the mark with aboundary with a whip to thesquare leg boundary, Kohli foundhis timing early on and got a sec-ond boundary in the same over ofAkeal Hossain.

Kohli was the aggressor andskipper Rohit was happy to play thesecond fiddle as the duo tookIndia's score to almost 50 in thefirst six overs.

There was a clear shift inIndia's batting in the powerplay asthe duo were not afraid to take theaerial route.

Rohit departed for 19 in 18balls after a fine partnership withKohli that yielded 49 runs from 36balls before Chase gave the break-through in his first over removingthe Indian skipper after inducinga thick leading edge to be caughtat the point.

In his next over, Chaseaccounted for Suryakumar butKohli ensured that there was nofurther damage.

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