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Regional

- Hathras stampede toll hits 121; organiser pins blame on ‘anti-social elements’

- Champai quits to make way for Hemant’s return

- We must rise above politics for peace in Manipur, says Modi

- HC sets aside ex-Minister’s conviction, sentence in rioting case

- 26/11 accused Rana can be extradited: U.S. attorney

- Kin continue search

- Vijay extends support to T.N. government’s resolution against NEET

- Conservancy staff protest against move to privatise solid waste management

- Mannargudi Easwaran and M.A Sundareswaran honoured

- Seven held for murder of drum-maker in Pulianthope

- Isolated rain likely to continue over parts of T.N., says IMD

- Man treated for cardiac stent infection

- Metrowater commences baseline survey in parts of city to step up services

- Woman undergoes procedure to remove brain tumour

- Canara Bank celebrates 119th foundation day

- Mega property show in Chennai on July 6, 7

- ‘Kallakurichi hooch tragedy not a sequel to 2023 incidents in Villupuram, Chengalpattu’

- Mayors of Coimbatore, Tirunelveli resign

- ED’s plea to assist DVAC in wealth case against Fisheries Minister dismissed

- T.N. BJP begins introspection on Lok Sabha poll debacle

- High Court sets aside ex-Minister’s conviction, sentence in rioting case

- Carnatic musician Kalpakam Raman dies

- Sports Development Minister conducts review meeting

- EPS seeks Central intervention to tackle drug abuse in T.N.

- ‘CM’s announcements under Rule 110 show focus on growth’

Hathras stampede toll hits 121; organiser pins blame on ‘anti-social elements’

Ishita Mishra

Hathras

A villager who lost his mother, wife and daughter in the stampede being consoled after their burial at Hathras in U.P. R.V. Moorthy

With the death toll in the Hathras satsang stampede touching 121, Sooraj Pal Singh, alias Narayan Sakar Vishwa Hari, the self-styled godman who was heading the prayer meeting, said a ruckus was created by “anti-social elements” after he left the event.

“I express deepest condolences to the families of the deceased and pray to god for the speedy recovery of the injured,” Mr. Pal Singh said, adding that he will take legal action against the “anti-social elements”.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who on Wednesday visited the spot, ordered a judicial probe into the incident. He did not rule out the possibility of a “conspiracy” behind the stampede, and said the accused will be punished.

“A judicial probe by a retired High Court judge will be conducted into the incident,” Mr. Adityanath said after meeting the injured and the kin of the deceased. The Chief Minister asked if the stampede was not an accident, then “whose conspiracy is this?” “All these will be probed,” he said.

FIR against aide

The police have filed an FIR against a close aide of Mr. Pal Singh but did not name the godman as an accused. The FIR said followers of the preacher had thrown slippers and other belongings of the victims in nearby farmlands to destroy evidence.

On why Mr. Pal Singh, also known as Bhole Baba, was not named as an accused by the police, Mr. Adityanath said prima facie, the case has been filed against those who had applied for permission for the event. “All those who are guilty will be punished,” he said.

Champai quits to make way for Hemant’s return

Amarnath Tewary

PATNA

MLAs from JMM-led alliance unanimously elect Hemant Soren as new leader ; he was released on bail in money laundering case on June 28; BJP accuses JMM of playing dynastic politics

Change of guard: Outgoing Jharkhand CM Champai Soren, JMM leader Hemant Soren and State Congress chief Rajesh Thakur meeting Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan in Ranchi on Wednesday. PTI-

Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren resigned on Wednesday, paving the way for his predecessor Hemant Soren to stake his claim to form the government and return to the State’s top post after being unanimously elected leader of the ruling alliance’s legislators at a marathon meeting in Ranchi.

Mr. Hemant Soren, son of Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) supremo Shibu Soren, had resigned as Chief Minister in January shortly before he was taken into custody by the Enforcement Directorate in a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam. He was released on bail on June 28.

Ending his five-month term, Mr. Champai Soren met Governor C.P. Radhakrishnan at the Raj Bhavan on Wednesday evening and tendered his resignation in the presence of Mr. Hemant Soren, who staked his claim soon afterwards.

The outgoing CM is said to be “upset” over the development, though he has denied this, and is likely to be given a new responsibility as the chairman of INDIA bloc coordination committee in the State or as executive president of the JMM, sources said.

“I have resigned on my own,” Mr. Champai later told presspersons.

Alliance partners from the Congress, including Ghulam Ahmad Mir, the party’s in-charge for the State, and State Congress chief Rajesh Thakur, were present at the meeting of legislators from the INDIA coalition who reached a consensus on the change of guard.

Reacting to the development, BJP spokesperson Vinay Singh said: “It is clear that once a dynast, always a dynast. The momentary transition of power to Champai Soren was nothing but a façade.”

We must rise above politics for peace in Manipur, says Modi

Vijaita Singh

NEW DELHI

Narendra Modi speaks in the Rajya Sabha. ANI/Sansad TVANI

In his first detailed remarks on the Manipur conflict in Parliament since ethnic violence broke out in the State over a year ago, Prime Minister Narendra Modi told the Rajya Sabha that efforts were on to bring peace, adding that history suggests that “social tensions” in the State are deep-rooted.

About 11,000 FIRs have been registered and over 500 people arrested so far, he said, noting that when a similar but more violent unrest took place in the State in 1993, the violence had lasted for five years.

“We have to rise above politics to bring normalcy. The elements trying to add fuel to the fire in Manipur should stop. There will be a time when Manipur will reject them. There is a long history of social tensions that are deep-rooted... We have to act wisely. Whoever wants to contribute to peace-building is welcome,” Mr. Modi said.

In his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, he noted that Manipur had been subject to President’s Rule on 10 occasions during the Congress era, but “we have not resorted to such means”.

HC sets aside ex-Minister’s conviction, sentence in rioting case

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

The Madras High Court on Wednesday set aside the conviction and three-year sentence imposed by a trial court in 2019 on the then Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister, P. Balakrishna Reddy, in a 1998 case of rioting related to protests against illicit arrack in Krishnagiri.

Justice G. Jayachandran allowed the appeals preferred by the former Minister and 15 other convicts against the verdict passed by a special court for MP/MLA cases in Chennai in January 2019, holding that the trial court had erred in convicting them despite a lack of credible evidence to do so.

“On a cumulative assessment of the evidence, this court finds several lacunae in the prosecution case and those lacunae enure to the benefit of the accused persons. The trial court, unfortunately, failed to note that the prosecution was unable to even ascertain the identity of the accused persons who had gathered for the protest and formed an unlawful assembly. It convicted them at random based on the weak and uncorroborative evidence,” the judge wrote.

The conviction of the then Minister by the trial court created ripples in political circles in 2019, as he faced disqualification from continuing in the AIADMK Cabinet due to being sentenced to more than two years.

26/11 accused Rana can be extradited: U.S. attorney

Press Trust of India

Washington

Pakistan-origin Canadian businessman Tahawwur Rana, wanted in India for his role in the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks, is “extraditable under the plain provisions of the U.S.-India extradition treaty”, a U.S. attorney has told a court.

Assistant U.S. Attorney, Criminal Appeals Chief Bram Alden was making a closing argument before a U.S. Court of Appeals, where Rana has appealed against the order by a U.S. District Court in California that denied his writ of habeas corpus. Rana, 63, jailed in Los Angeles, filed the writ in May challenging the court order, which acceded to the request of the U.S. government that the 26/11 terror accused be extradited to India.

Kin continue search

The Hindu Bureau

Hathras

The tragedy of the Hathras stampede kept unfolding at district hospitals and healthcare centres here on Wednesday as relatives of those dead and missing were seen frantically looking for their near and dear ones. “The number of dead in this incident is far more than what is being told by the government,” said an eyewitness to the incident.

Vijay extends support to T.N. government’s resolution against NEET

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Recent irregularities in the conduct of the NEET have ruled out the need for a national-level entrance examination for medical college admissions, says Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder

Honour for toppers: Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder and actor Vijay honoured students who topped this year’s school board exams at his party’s ‘meet-and-greet’programme in Chennai on Wednesday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam founder and actor Vijay on Wednesday has said that he supports the State government’s recent resolution in the Assembly urging the Union government to grant Presidential assent for the ‘Tamil Nadu NEET Exemption Bill’ and to ‘abolish NEET at the national-level’.

Speaking atthe second leg of his party’s ‘meet-and-greet’to honour students who topped this year’s school board examinations, he said the recent irregularities in the conduct of the NEET have highlighted the fact that there was no need for a national-level entrance examination for medical college admissions.

Wholehearted support

“I wholeheartedly welcome the State government’s resolution against NEET. The Union government shouldn’t delay anymore and respect the sentiments of the Tamil people. What is the comprehensive solution to this issue? It is to bring education [from the Concurrent List] to the State’s List,” he said.

“If there are some issues in doing it, a ‘Special Concurrent List’ could be created under which education and health should be included. The Union government can conduct NEET for medical institutions under its control, such as AIIMS, Jipmer, etc.,” he said.

Stating that he knows it won’t be easy to achieve this, Mr. Vijay said “there would be those who wouldn’t want this to happen”.

Conservancy staff protest against move to privatise solid waste management

The Hindu Bureau

Chennai

As an extension of a three-day hunger strike against privatisation of solid waste management in Zones 5 (Royapuram) and 6 (Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar) by the Uzhaipor Urimai Iyakkam (Labour Rights Movement), temporary conservancy workers of the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) staged a demonstration in front of the Ripon Buildings on Wednesday.

The Chennai police detained 65 of the protesters in Ayanavaram, 358 at a hall in Perambur Barracks and over 50 near Poonamallee High Road, since the demonstration disrupted traffic on E.V.R Periyar Salai at Kannappar Thidal, towards Chennai Central railway station.

Previously, the contract workers, appointed under the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NULM), had staged a protest at the zonal offices in May, demanding regularisation and salary hike.

K. Aisha, 42, claimed private companies will offer lower salaries. “My husband is differently-abled. As the sole breadwinner of the family, a meagre ₹15,000 salary will not suffice,” she said.

Sulochana, 51, a temporary worker for nearly 15 years, claimed that she has been travelling from Padi to work in Collector Nagar under Division 89. “I have no kids, and my husband passed away. This work is my only source of sustenance. The private agency may not hire me considering my age,” she said.

No facilities

Many workers alleged that the Corporation has not set up appropriate toilet and drinking water facilities or provided safety gear for the workers and that they depend on locals even for basic needs. Sariba. B, a DAY-NULM worker of Division 90, claimed that the protest would continue until the civic body considered their demands.

GCC Commissioner J.Radhakrishnan said the Corporation resolution mentions that the existing workers, after consultations, would be accommodated in the vacancies in education, health and other Corporation departments. They could be accommodated in other zones closer to their homes, so their travel time is reduced.

He added that the salary provided by the private agency would also be looked into.

Mannargudi Easwaran and M.A Sundareswaran honoured

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

From left, musicians M.A. Sundareswaran and Mannargudi Easwaran with T.V. Gopalakrishnan and Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, after being honoured at the Pallavi Darbar in Chennai on Wednesday. M. SRINATH

Veteran violinist M.A. Sundareswaran and mridangam maestro Mannargudi Easwaran were honoured with the title ‘Pallavi Chakaravarthy’ here on Wednesday.

They were felicitated at an event ‘Pallavi Darbar 2024,’ organised by Carnatica and Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha in Srinivasa Sastri Hall, Mylapore. Legendary musician T.V. Gopalakrishnan said for a musician, singing a ‘pallavi’ can create magic. To give such an importance to singing the ‘pallavi’ and holding a festival for it, is a great initiative. He lauded both Mr. Easwaran and Mr. Sundareswaran for their contribution to the field all these years.

There would be 15 special programmes this time, said M. Krishnamurthy, honorary secretary of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha. “This Pallavi Darbar is a unique festival. Many view it online and this gives a musician an opportunity to showcase his talent,” he said.

Industrialist and president of Sri Parthasarathy Swami Sabha Nalli Kuppuswami Chetti, Cleveland V.V. Sundaram, Mr. Easwaran and Mr. Sundareswaran and Carnatica founder K.N. Shashikiran spoke.

Seven held for murder of drum-maker in Pulianthope

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

The Basin Bridge police arrested seven persons in connection with the murder of a 41-year-old drum-maker of Pulianthope on Tuesday. Search is on for three more.

A senior official of the City Police said S. Murugan, a resident of Sivarajapuram of Pulianthope, was engaged in making small drum musical instruments. Murugan was making instruments on the first floor of his house when a group of seven persons came to the house on Tuesday at 3 p.m.

After a heated argument, they assaulted Murugan and escaped. Hearing the cries, neighbours rushed to Murugan’s help. Though he was rushed to the Government Stanley Hospital, he died within a few hours. The Basin Bridge police filed a case.

Meanwhile, seven persons surrendered in Kodungaiyur police station on Tuesday evening.

Heavy rain lashes city, leaves many streets waterlogged

Heavy rain lashed parts of the city on Wednesday evening leading to waterlogging of many streets. The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) said isolated rainfall is set to continue over parts of Tamil Nadu till Sunday. The RMC has forecast that rainfall of light to moderate intensity may cover more areas across the State on July 8 and 9. Thunderstorms may return over some places in north Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, during evening or night hours till Friday. According to a bulletin, moderate westerlies/southwesterly winds prevailed over the region. Chennai’s Nungambakkam and Meenambakkam recorded a relatively hot day with 38.3 degrees Celsius and 37.9 degrees Celsius respectively.

Man treated for cardiac stent infection

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

A 77-year-old man was recently treated at Apollo Hospital’s Perungudi branch for a rare cardiac infection. The man had recently undergone an emergency intracoronary stent insertion in a city hospital after a heart attack. Three days later, he complained of fever. Since his fever did not subside, he was taken to Apollo Hospital in Perungudi.

R. Kannaiyan, general physician and Madhu Prabhu Doss, consultant cardiologist, suspected that the man could have developed infection in the stent. It could also cause a rupture of the artery, the doctors surmised.The diagnosis led M.M. Yusuf, consultant cardiac surgeon, to consider excision of the intracoronary stent.

According to him, only 76 cases of such infections have been reported across the world.

According to the doctors, a hospital with infrastructure and multidisciplinary team alone would be able to perform such rare surgeries.

Metrowater commences baseline survey in parts of city to boost services

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Survey will be carried out in 15 zones under Chennai City Partnership programme with an aim to improve the quantum and quality of the drinking water supplied

Plugging performance gaps: The Metrowater serves nearly 16.9 lakh consumers with 1,072 million litres of water a day. FILE PHOTO

Chennai Metrowater had started a baseline survey among consumers in various parts of the city from Monday to improve its services and increase accountability in service delivery.

The water agency has entrusted the work to field workers who would collect data on various aspects related to water supply. The survey has been mandated to develop service-level benchmarking mechanism for the water agency.

Officials said the survey would be carried out across 15 zones of the city under the Chennai City Partnership programme with an aim to improve the quantum and quality of the drinking water supplied in the city. It would cover both domestic households and commercial establishments.

The Metrowater covers a population of nearly 89.34 lakh, spread over 426 sq.km in Chennai. It serves nearly 16.90 lakh consumers, both in core and merged areas, with 1,072 million litres of water a day.

The field workers, who have been trained by the water agency, would collect details on quantum of piped water supply, its quality, and number of hours of water supply. They would collate feedback on adequacy of water supply and need for increase in the supply timing. The survey would be done using a random sampling method.

The survey would identify performance gaps and help in extending services to more areas by increasing house service connections, wherever necessary. The data collated would enable assessment of efficiency of daily water supply.

Officials noted that service-level benchmarking was one of the requisites sought by international financing agencies to monitor and improve Metrowater performance. This would also involve upgrading online services and mapping streets that are yet to be covered with piped water supply.

The water agency is in the process of roping in international agencies for various projects, including upgrading its existing infrastructure and establishing ring main system to link all its water sources.

The survey report must be submitted by August end, and the feedback would be incorporated in the mobile application to be launched soon. The data collated would also be used to prepare project feasibility reports, sources said.

It may be recalled that the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs had launched benchmarking initiative, covering water, sanitation, stormwater drains and solid waste management.

This was to increase accountability in services and identify standard performance parameters for better service delivery to people.

City doctors perform rare procedure to remove brain tumour

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

A 69-year-old Sudanese woman underwent supraorbital keyhole craniotomy, a minimally invasive procedure to remove brain tumour, recently at Kauvery Hospital in Vadapalani.

Addressing media persons in the city on Wednesday, Ranganathan Jothi, chief brain and spine surgeon and director of neurosciences, Kauvery Hospital, Vadapalani, said the surgical procedure involved a small incision near the eyebrow to access and remove the tumour.

The traditional craniotomies involve larger incisions and often lead to longer recovery periods and higher risks of post-operative complications. In keyhole craniotomy, the state-of-the-art facilities like navigation system and high-resolution fluorescence microscope helped the surgical team to locate the tumour precisely and remove it completely without compromising vital brain functions. The Sudanese patient who had complaints of headaches and seizures for over two years was referred to Kauvery Hospital for treatment.

Unlike the normal procedure that takes about five to six hours, the surgery period reduced to about one hour in keyhole craniotomy. Moreover, the post-operative discomfort was less, and the patient was discharged in two days. This approach also reduced scars after surgery, Dr. Jothi said.

This technique can be used to remove tumours located in sensitive areas and provides a safer alternative to traditional procedures. The shorter recovery period allows the patient to return to daily life quicker. The minimally invasive procedure is more suited for elderly patients, he added.

Canara Bank celebrates 119th foundation day

Canara Bank which has over 9,600 branches across the country celebrated its 119th Foundation Day on July 1. The Chennai Circle Office and Chief General Manager Nair Ajit Krishnan organised a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative at Government Higher Secondary School in Okkiyam Thoraipakkam on the occasion, according to a press release. The Deputy General Manager, Y. Shankar, and the headmistress of the school gave away notebooks to students of Class XI and Class XII, the release said. They also spoke of the importance of education and how it helps students go a long way in life.

Mega property show in Chennai on July 6, 7

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Roofandfloor.com, an online real estate marketplace from The Hindu group, is organising a mega property show, ‘3.0’, on July 6 and 7 at Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Entry to the event is free.

The show aims to provide a platform where homebuyers can explore an extensive range of residential properties, get expert guidance and connect with reputed builders in Chennai. The event is bringing together over 70 major builders who will be showcasing their projects. Some of the participants are Casagrand, Appaswamy, TVS, DRA Homes, Urbanrise, Urban Tree, SIS, VGN, Ashok Group, RWD, Jones Foundation, Anarock, MP developers and SPR among others.

Home buyers will have diverse options of residential properties including luxury apartments, budget apartments, villas and plots. G Square Housing is the title sponsor for the event. The event is powered by Shriram Properties and Co-Powered by Asset Tree Homes (ATH).

‘Kallakurichi hooch tragedy not a sequel to 2023 incidents in Villupuram, Chengalpattu’

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

The methanol composition in source samples was 99.1% in the 2023 incidents whereas in Kallakurichi, it was only between 8.6% and 29.7%, Chief Secretary tells Madras High Court

Showing progress: The State government filed a status report in response to two PIL petitions seeking a CBI probe. PICHUMANI K

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday told the Madras High Court that the 2024 Kallakurichi hooch tragedy cannot be considered a sequel to similar incidents in Villupuram and Chengalpattu in 2023, since the source and quantum of methanol were different.

In a status report filed before the first Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice R. Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena said that the methanol composition in the samples was 99.1% in the 2023 incidents, whereas in Kallakurichi, it was only between 8.6% and 29.7%

Explaining the steps taken by the State government after the 2023 incidents, the Chief Secretary said that massive raids were conducted against illicit arrack and spurious liquor across the State, leading to the arrest of 159 persons in 2023 and 95 more till May this year.

List of measures

To prevent the recurrence of such incidents, all district police teams had been provided with WhatsApp numbers to receive complaints regarding illicit arrack, and the action taken on the complaints was being reviewed by the enforcement unit every week.

Industrial units using methanol were being checked diligently to prevent pilferage or diversion of the chemical for use as arrack, and the prohibition enforcement wing had intensified raids to eradicate illicit arrack in the State. Notorious prohibition offenders were being detained under the Goondas Act, the Chief Secretary said.

Action taken on intelligence inputs from the enforcement wing was being reviewed at the police headquarters every month, and massive awareness campaigns were being conducted in vulnerable areas since most of the illicit arrack consumers were socio-economically backward, the officer added.

Mr. Meena said that a call attention motion moved by the AIADMK MLA for Kallakurichi, M. Senthilkumar, on March 29, 2023 regarding the sale of spurious liquor was disallowed by the Speaker, and hence, neither was the matter discussed in the Assembly, nor was a notice of it received by the authorities. “Several hundreds of call attention motions are submitted in the Assembly Secretariat and the honourable Speaker, depending upon the seriousness and accuracy of the information, permits discussions. When the rest are rejected, the government hardly ever receives information unless the Speaker forwards it,” he added.

Asserting that the entire State machinery acted assiduously in response to the Kallakurichi hooch tragedy (which has claimed 65 lives so far) and brought the situation under control by mobilising the required number of medical officers and paramedical staff, the officer said that the lives of 145 people had been saved due to effective treatment.

Stating that 21 persons had been arrested within two weeks of the incident, the Chief Secretary added that the then Kallakurichi Superintendent of Police, two Deputy Superintendents of Police, three Inspectors, two Sub-Inspectors and the Writer of the Kallakurichi police station had been suspended.

PIL petitions

The status report was filed in response to two public interest litigation petitions filed by AIADMK advocate I.S. Inbadurai and PMK advocate K. Balu, seeking a CBI probe. The Chief Secretary opposed the plea and said that the State police had already examined 132 witnesses.

After State Public Prosecutor Hasan Mohamed Jinnah submitted the status report, Additional Advocate-General J. Ravindran sought time for the appearance of Advocate-General P.S. Raman. The AAG said that the A-G’s mother, Kalpakam Raman, had passed away, and therefore, he could not attend court.

Accepting his request, the judges adjourned the hearing on the two PIL petitions to July 10. In the meantime, advocate A. Mohan Doss, too, filed a PIL petition seeking a CBI probe.

Mayors of Coimbatore, Tirunelveli resign

The Hindu Bureau

COIMBATORE/Tirunelveli

1 of 2 Kalpana Anandakumar File photo

2 of 2 P.M. Saravanan SHAIKMOHIDEEN A

The Mayors of Coimbatore and Tirunelveli resigned from their post on Wednesday.

Coimbatore Mayor Kalpana Anandakumar submitted her resignation to Corporation Commissioner M. Sivaguru Prabhakaran, citing health issues and personal reasons.

In accordance with Section 37 of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation Act, 1981, a special council meeting will be held on July 8 (Monday) for the approval of her resignation by the elected body. “The council will also decide who will hold additional charge,” Mr. Prabhakaran said.

The Mayor, who was earlier in Chennai amid speculation over her resignation, returned to Coimbatore to officially step down from her post.

A senior DMK functionary suggested that Ms. Anandakumar’s resignation was also related to recent allegations from councillors regarding her performance and her husband’s interference in her mayoral duties.

DMK office-bearers in Coimbatore cited her “lacklustre performance as a Mayor” and her strained relations with party members and officials as reasons for her exit.

‘Health reasons’

However, Ms. Anandakumar told The Hindu that her decision was solely due to health reasons, and that she had faced no pressure from the party high command. “I originally intended to serve as a councillor, but was appointed Mayor,” she claimed. Ms. Anandakumar declined to comment on whether she intends to remain a councillor.

Her exit marks the second such resignation mid-way through a tenure in Coimbatore. The first instance occurred in 2014, when S.M. Velusamy of the AIADMK stepped down as Mayor. At the time, since Mayors were directly elected by the people, a byelection was held in Coimbatore, which Ganapathy Rajkumar (now a DMK MP) won on an AIADMK ticket.

Tirunelveli Mayor P.M. Saravanan, who had been facing stiff opposition from councillors of his own party, also stepped down citing personal reasons. He tendered his resignation to Corporation Commissioner Thakare Shubham Dnyandeorao.

The Commissioner said that a special council meeting would be held on July 8 to decide on the Mayor’s resignation.

However, a party source said that he was asked to step down by the party high command, as he had lost the confidence of the DMK councillors.

Mr. Saravanan, a first-time councillor, became Mayor after the party high command decided to go for a candidate from the Pillaimar community, one of the three dominant communities in Tirunelveli.

The then party district secretary and sitting MLA from Palayamkottai, M. Abdul Wahab, rallied behind Mr. Saravanan and ensured his victory amid a tough fight from within the party. However, Mr. Saravanan later fell out with Mr. Wahab.

With no ground support from the party cadre and councillors, Mr. Saravanan became “unpopular”, so much so that he had to face the wrath of the councillors at every council meeting.

The councillors made multiple representations to the party high command demanding that Mr. Saravanan be replaced. Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who is in charge of Tirunelveli district, also tried his best to get the Mayor and the councillors on the same page, but in vain.

They even moved a no-confidence motion against Mr. Saravanan in January. However, the leadership took all possible steps to prevent an embarrassment for the ruling party, and ensured that the no-confidence motion was “dropped” by convincing the councillors to stay away from the council meeting.

“With Mr. Saravanan showing no sign of having a rapprochement with the councillors, the civic body bore the brunt as development and welfare works took a hit,” a party source said.

The stand-off between the Mayor and the councillors, and his failure to keep them in “good humour” cost him his post, as he literally had no councillor in the city by his side, the source added.

ED’s plea to assist DVAC in wealth case against Fisheries Minister dismissed

The Hindu Bureau

THOOTHUKUDI

The Thoothukudi Principal Sessions Court has dismissed a petition filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) seeking permission to assist the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) in the disproportionate assets case against Minister for Fisheries, Fishermen Welfare and Animal Husbandry Anitha R. Radhakrishnan.

The ED had filed the petition seeking permission to assist the prosecution and to file documents and a written submission in support of the prosecution. The DVAC officials of Thoothukudi registered an FIR under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act against Mr. Radhakrishnan for disproportionate assets acquired during the period from May 2001 to May 2006. The final report was filed against the Minister and his family members in 2013. The trial is on.

The DVAC submitted that the present investigation had been done in a fair and impartial manner. On a mere apprehension, it was not open to the petitioner and investigating agency to approach the court to assist the prosecution under Sections 301 (2) and 302 of the Cr.PC. It amounted to interference in the federal structure enunciated in the Constitution and the separation of powers that had to be given to the State.

The State Public Prosecutor representing the DVAC submitted that the petitioner was neither a victim nor an aggrieved party. The petitioner was a third party and had no locus standi to assist the Public Prosecutor. Other than the Public Prosecutor, no one could be allowed to conduct the prosecution.

Principal Sessions Judge K. Ayyappan observed that before going into the legality of the petition, the stage of the case had to be considered. In this case, out of the 108 witnesses, 71 had been examined till date. Only three witnesses did not support the case of the prosecution, and on the date of examination of those three witnesses, Mr. Radhakrishnan was not a Minister. The DVAC was conducting the case in all fairness. The apprehension of the petitioner that the State had a vested interest, as Mr. Radhakrishnan was a Minister, was not acceptable, the court observed.

The third party could not be permitted to assist the Public Prosecutor, especially when the Public Prosecutor was conducting the case in all seriousness and when the Public Prosecutor stoutly opposed the participation of the petitioner. The contention of the petitioner was not acceptable factually as well as legally, the court said.

T.N. BJP begins introspection on LS poll performance

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

The BJP has started introspecting on its Lok Sabha election performance by conducting constituency-wise post-poll review meetings across the State.

The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which includes the PMK, AMMK, TMC(M) and a few other regional outfits, suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha election in Tamil Nadu.

Though the alliance received a considerable vote share of 18.27% without the support of the Dravidian majors, it failed to win any seat. Some known faces fielded by the coalition secured only the second spot.

According to BJP sources, the party decided to conduct review meetings for each Lok Sabha constituency to assess the performance of the intra-party machinery.

Various issues

Some of its leaders had been tasked with conducting review meetings in which district-level office-bearers, constituency in-charge and party workers were asked to share their experiences during the poll with regard to various issues including cooperation of the candidates, party workers and alliance partners. The review meetings for some of the constituencies have already been held.

BJP State vice-president Narayanan Thirupathy said that after reviewing the performance of the party machinery in all the constituencies, the leaders would submit a report to BJP State president K. Annamalai.

He said that these meetings would help the party take corrective measures and further strengthen its organisational structure to face the 2026 Assembly election in the State.

High Court sets aside ex-Minister’s conviction, sentence in rioting case

He chose to resign after the trial court verdict.

He, however, did not have to go to jail because the trial court had suspended his sentence until all 16 convicts in the case preferred appeals before the High Court within a stipulated period of time. While 13 of them filed a joint appeal, the former Minister and two others, C.V. Venkataramanappa and M. Govinda Reddy, filed individual appeals before the High Court.

Though the former Minister made frantic efforts in 2019 to get the conviction stayed in order to rejoin the Cabinet, Justice V. Parthiban (since retired) of the High Court had, in 2019, refused to suspend even the sentence. When the sentence itself was not being suspended, there would be no question of staying the conviction, the judge had said.

The judge had taken serious note of government buses and police vehicles having been damaged and set afire when a protest at Bagalur village near Hosur, to condemn alleged police inaction against illicit arrack sellers, turned violent.

“The appellant may not have been an MLA in 1998, but what he had done, which was proved in the trial court, was an affront to the rule of law. This court is unable to comprehend as to how a yesteryear law-breaker can claim to continue as a law-framer,” Justice Parthiban had said while denying interim relief.

Subsequently, the Supreme Court stayed the sentence and thereafter, the High Court began final hearing on the criminal appeals filed by all 16 convicts.

Carnatic musician Kalpakam Raman dies

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Kalpakam Raman

Noted Carnatic musician Kalpakam Raman passed away on Tuesday at the age of 85.

She was the wife of the former Additional Solicitor-General of India, V.P. Raman, and mother of Tamil Nadu Advocate-General P.S. Raman.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin offered his condolences to the family and spoke about the long association he has had with them.

Kalpakam Raman, who belonged to the family of V.S. Srinivasa Sastry, was honoured by the Music Academy at the age of 16 for her extensive knowledge of Carnatic music. She completed a master’s degree from Mysore University at the age of 45. A reputed singer at All India Radio, she learnt from musician Ramnad Krishnan and Carnatic vocalist and musicologist T.K. Govinda Rao.

She also taught and delivered lectures at several music schools and colleges.

She is survived by P.S. Raman and two other sons – actor Mohan Raman and senior advocate P.R. Raman.

Sports Development Minister conducts review meeting

Youth Welfare and Sports Development Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin on Wednesday held a review meeting to discuss providing 3% of government jobs to sportspersons under the sports quota, and the upcoming cricket stadium in Coimbatore district. Minister for Industries, Investment Promotion and Commerce T.R.B. Rajaa, Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, Sports Secretary Atulya Misra and other senior officials were present during the meeting held at the Secretariat.

EPS seeks Central intervention to tackle drug abuse in T.N.

AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami on Wednesday wondered whether prisons in the State had become “centres of narcotics” instead of being places meant for the reformation of drug peddlers. In a statement, he referred to information from the Narcotics Control Bureau regarding a person lodged at the Puzhal Central Prison indulging in the sale of narcotics with the help of his wife. He called for intervention by the Central government in this issue. Referring to the reported double murder near Perungalathur in Chennai following a feud between two gangs over the sale of ganja and painkiller tablets, he called for the police to be given a free hand to tackle drug abuse.

‘CM’s announcements under Rule 110 show focus on growth’

The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday said that Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had, through a slew of announcements made in the Assembly under Rule 110, affirmed that the government’s only goal was the progress and growth of the State. An official statement pointed out that the announcements made by the Chief Minister included improving 10,000 km of roads in rural areas, filling over 75,000 vacancies in various government departments within 18 months, building an international airport in Hosur and a world-class library and knowledge centre in Tiruchi, and reconstructing a total of 6,746 TNUHDB units at a cost of ₹1,149 crore. Through such announcements, Mr. Stalin had paved the way for development and employment opportunities for the youth, it added.

National

- Will rebuild Amaravati city as soon as possible: Naidu

- 3 new criminal laws named only in English: ASG

- CPI(M) to take up corrective steps in Kerala after drubbing in LS election

- ‘A.P. CM must convince Centre for special status’

- Hathras stampede: amid the dead, search on for the living

- No Indian industry presence in Board of National Research Foundation

- ‘Family of Agniveer killed in landmine blast will get compensation of ₹1.65 cr.’

- Rajinder Khanna is Additional National Security Adviser

- Centre issues advisory for ads on food and health products only

- Champai quits to make way for Hemant’s return

- 26/11 accused can be extradited: U.S. attorney

- Rise above politics for peace in Manipur: PM

- Army chief reviews security along LoC in Jammu

- Petition in SC seeks panel to probe Hathras stampede

- Toll in Hathras stampede hits 121

- Smart Cities Mission period extended till March 2025

- Kharge not allowed to intervene during PM’s reply; INDIA walks out

- Return Indians stuck in Ukraine warzone: Jaishankar to Lavrov

- Cabinet committees reconstituted; NDA partners on board

- Speaker forms committee to frame rules on oath-taking of members

- Expunge PM’s remarks on Chopra and Sandeshkhali: Trinamool

- Disappointed by disruptions in House, says Dhankhar

- ‘Attack’ on Cong. office strengthens my point about BJP, RSS: Rahul

- In a repeat of 2023, vegetable prices upset family budgets

- NCERT textbooks for three subjects of Class 6 will reach students late

- 14218

- Air pollution spikes may raise death rates in cities with cleaner air, says study

- Pay a visit to Divya Desams

- CBI arrests key accused in NEET paper leak case

- Maintain vigil, says Centre as Maharashtra reports Zika

- India to host 46th UNESCO heritage panel session

- ‘Are you well?’ Delhi HC asks man seeking to debar Modi

Will rebuild Amaravati city as soon as possible: Naidu

The Hindu Bureau

VIJAYAWADA

CM says that he has to consult with Singapore government whether it is willing to take up project, adding that YSRCP ruined everything in the past five years; he released White Paper on Amaravati

N. Chandrababu Naidu giving a presentation after releasing a White Paper on Amaravati on Wednesday. Special Arrangement

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has asserted that he will rebuild the capital city in the quickest possible time by removing the hurdles in its path, including legal, one by one and striving to restore the much-needed investors’ confidence.

Releasing a White Paper on “Amaravati- The people’s capital” on Wednesday, Mr. Naidu said that he has to consult the Singapore government to see if it would collaborate with the State government again in taking the capital project forward under the changed circumstances.

“Bringing them back is not so easy as they have apparently lost confidence in the Andhra Pradesh government. Who would risk their money on projects like ours? They would lend their expertise to several other countries and States (like A.P.) in the world. Here is a situation where international governments and potential investors will ask what guarantee can we give that everything will be fine, after having a bad experience in the last five years. We need to introspect if such persons (like Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy) should occupy a public office ever,” he said.

Mr. Naidu said he would seek the Centre’s cooperation to rebuild Amaravati and exuded confidence that the expected support would come.

The Centre had provided capital gains exemption for all sales of land and released ₹1,500 crore of the approved ₹2,500 crore for Amaravati. The TDP government invited tenders worth ₹41,170 crore between 2014 and 2019 and all the works were grounded. A sum of ₹4,319 crore was paid and the payables stood at ₹1,269 crore.

Mr. Naidu said the YSRCP government “ruined everything and the present government was in an unenviable situation because of it”.

He said the issue of extending the time period for paying annuity to the farmers who have given their lands for the project would be examined and all cases booked against those who protested against the proposed three capitals would be reviewed.

3 new criminal laws named only in English: ASG

Mohamed Imranullah S.

CHENNAI

AR.L. Sundaresan

The three new criminal laws, which have replaced the Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act from July 1, have been named only in English and not in Hindi or Sanskrit since the English alphabet had been used in the nomenclature, argued Additional Solicitor-General (ASG) AR. L. Sundaresan before the Madras High Court on Wednesday.

Appearing before Acting Chief Justice R. Mahadevan and Justice Mohammed Shaffiq, the ASG denied the charge of public interest litigant B. Ramkumar Adityan that the names Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam violate Article 348, which mandates the authoritative texts of all laws to be in English. “Here, Your Lordships may see that everything is only in English. My respectful submission is that English alphabet has been used to describe the names. Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita is only in English. These are all proper nouns. It is a name. This does not affect the fundamental right of anyone... By passage of time, people will get used to these names,” he said.

He went on to state that “the names reflect the wisdom of the Parliament. The parliamentarians, being our elected representatives, have decided to give these names. Therefore, the name given by the lawmakers who represent the will of the people, cannot be questioned. Around 70% of the people may like it and 30% may not like it but the will of the Parliament is reflected in these.”

He agreed that a case could be filed by any citizen questioning the nomenclature if it was against any provision of the Constitution.

CPI(M) to take up corrective steps in Kerala after drubbing in LS election

The Hindu Bureau

Kozhikode

Sitaram Yechury,THULASI KAKKAT

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] is reportedly planning to take corrective steps to address the erosion of its core vote base in Kerala, the only State where it is in power in the country, in view of the party’s poor performance in the recent Lok Sabha polls.

The areas where such steps should be taken are being communicated to party functionaries during zonal-level meetings attended by party general secretary Sitaram Yechury, Prakash Karat and other senior leaders.

The meetings are primarily aimed at conveying the party central committee’s review of the poll results after examining the reports presented by various State committees. The meeting covering Kozhikode, Palakkad, Malappuram and Wayanad was held in Kozhikode on Wednesday.

The central committee has reportedly directed the party cadre to regain the trust of the people, including its core working class constituency.

‘A.P. CM must convince Centre for special status’

The Hindu Bureau

VISAKHAPATNAM

CPI Andhra Pradesh secretary K. Ramakrishna on Wednesday said this was the “right time” for Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to insist on the Centre to extend Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh. The CPI leader was in the city as part of the three-day CPI State Council meeting.

The sale of the assets of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP) by the Centre is a part of its larger ploy of sell the plant, he said.

Mr. Ramakrishna recalled that the trade unions and the Left parties had been staging protests in all the districts against the privatisation. He said the CPI national council meeting to be held in Delhi from July 11 to 15 would also discuss the Visakhapatnam steel plant issue.

Hathras stampede: amid the dead, search on for the living

Ishita Mishra

Hathras

The district hospital staff say they have never seen a tragedy of such scale; people at the village where the event was held say the death toll is higher than what the government has put out

In shock: Vinod cries after the burial of his mother, wife and daughter after the stampede at Hathras on Tuesday. R. V. MoorthyMOORTHY RV

The tragedy of the Hathras stampede that left 121 dead kept unfolding in the district hospitals and healthcare centres here on Wednesday as family members of those who are still missing frantically searched for their near and dear ones.

Chandan Jatav, 28, said he picked up a bag and left Agra as soon as he heard about the stampede. His mother and paternal aunt were visiting the event. The two have not returned home and their mobile phones are switched off.

“I was asked to uncover 10 bodies which were lying in the mortuary. None of them were of my mother and aunt. They then asked me to go to Aligarh and Etah as the rest of the bodies were sent there,” said

Mr. Jatav was inconsolable when his brother called him to ask if he had managed to find the two. After weeping for a few minutes, a distraught Mr. Jatav left for Aligarh.

The Hathras hospital staff said they have not seen a human tragedy of such scale. “There were piles of bodies on the floor of the hospital yesterday. There was no space to walk,” a staffer said.

At Phulrai village in the Sikandrarau area, where the meeting was held, a crowd gathered to witness the forensic teams screening the spot to ascertain the cause of the stampede.

“I have counted 300 bodies at this site. Buses and lorries were full. Many people left the spot with the bodies of their kin before the police could arrive and take them for post-mortem examination. The number of dead in this incident is far more than what is being told by the government,” Satendar Bhavnoi from Phulrai village said.

Some men gathered at the venue and threw stones at the posters of Narayan Sakar Hari, the self-styled godman who is being held responsible for the stampede by the locals.

Vishal Kumar, who hails from Mathura, said he is yet to find his mother who was at the meeting.

At Sokhna village, Vinod was yet to accept that he lost his mother, wife, and 10-year-old daughter in the stampede.

He fainted every now and then while preparing for the cremation of the three whom he loved the most.

No Indian industry presence in Board of National Research Foundation

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

The foundation seeks to promote basic research in science and engineering.

The Executive and Governing Boards of the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF) — a high-level body conceived to give strategic direction to scientific research in India — has no representation from Indian industry, suggests a perusal of the list of members made public by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST) earlier this week.

There is also no presence of State universities, which the ANRF had said would be among the major beneficiaries of the new structure.

The absence of Indian industry is glaring as the ANRF Act, passed in August 2023, was expected to galvanise research by having close to ₹36,000 crore or 70% of its five-year outlay of ₹50,000 crore from “non-government sources, industry & philanthropists, from domestic as well as outside sources”.

Science Minister Jitendra Singh had said this in discussions surrounding the passage of the Bill in Parliament last year.

Appoint members

To this end, the text of the Act specifically empowered the President of the Governing Board — in this case the Prime Minister of India — to nominate or appoint up to “...five members from business organisation or industry”, into the Board.

The 15-member Governing Board, as notified by the MoST, however, has only one industrialist — Romesh Wadhwani, an American billionaire of Indian origin and former CEO and chairperson of the Symphony Technology Group. There are two other Americans with Indian roots — Manjul Bhargava, Professor, Princeton University, U.S.; and Subra Suresh, Professor at Large, Brown University and former head of the U.S. National Research Foundation, from which the ANRF draws inspiration.

Only two universities are represented in the Body by the Directors of the Indian Institute of Science, and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research.

Ajay Sood, Principal Scientific Adviser to the Union government, is the Member Secretary of the governing body, with the rest of the members being the Ministers of Science, and Education, and the Secretaries of the departments under the MoST.

The ANRF is a significant reform in that it proposes a more expansive definition of research, which includes science, engineering, Information Technology, Liberal Arts, Social Sciences, and the Humanities — the ANRF Board has among its members Raghuvendra Tanwar, Chair, Indian Council of Historical Research.

‘Family of Agniveer killed in landmine blast will get compensation of ₹1.65 cr.’

Dinakar Peri, Sandeep Phukan

NEW DELHI

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with the father of a deceased Agniveer. PTI-

The Army late on Wednesday clarified that the family of Agniveer Ajay Kumar, who was killed in a landmine blast, would receive a compensation of approximately ₹1.65 crore. The Army emphasised that the “emoluments due to a fallen hero are paid expeditiously” to the next of kin of the departed soldiers, including Agniveers.

The Army’s clarification was prompted by a social media post of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, in which he demanded an apology from Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for misleading Parliament.

“Certain posts on social media have brought out that compensation hasn’t been paid to the next of kin of Agniveer Ajay Kumar who lost his life in the line of duty. It is emphasised that the Indian Army salutes the supreme sacrifice made by Agniveer Ajay Kumar. The last rites were carried out with full military honours,” the Army said in a post on X.

The 23-year-old was killed on January 18 in a landmine blast near the Line of Control in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir.

Of the total amount due, the family of Agniveer Ajay has already been paid ₹98.39 lakh, the Army said.

Ex gratia and other benefits amounting to approximately ₹67 lakh, as applicable according to the provisions of the Agniveer scheme, will be paid on final account settlement shortly, post due police verification, it said. “The total amount will be ₹1.65 crore approximately.”

‘Not entitled to pension’

Agniveers are not entitled to pension and emoluments on completion of four years of service but a lump sum package.

Earlier, Mr. Gandhi put out a video clip of the soldier’s father claiming that the family had not received any compensation.

Rajinder Khanna is Additional National Security Adviser

Dinakar Peri

NEW DELHI

The National Security Council Secretariat has seen a series of changes in the past couple of days while also maintaining continuity.

Pavan Kapoor, Secretary (West) in the External Affairs Ministry, has been appointed Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA).

In a significant move, Rajinder Khanna, Deputy NSA and former chief of India’s external intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW), has been promoted as Additional NSA. There was no Additional NSA so far.

“A former RAW chief, Mr. Khanna has been Deputy NSA (T&I) since January 2018. As in most other appointments, this signals continuity in the NSCS too,” officials said.

The appointment of Mr. Kapoor as Deputy NSA follows the recent appointment of Vikram Misri as the next Foreign Secretary from July 15. The other appointment is of T. V. Ravichandran, IPS, as the Deputy NSA in place of Mr. Khanna. He is serving as Special Director in the Intelligence Bureau.

With these changes, effectively there will be an Additional NSA in addition to three Deputy NSAs under NSA Ajit Doval. At the same time, former Border Security Force chief Pankaj Kumar continues as Deputy NSA. With the latest changes in the MEA, all eyes are on who would fill the positions of UN Permanent Representative in New York and Ambassador to the U.S. that are vacant at present and other important postings due to become vacant later this year.

(With inputs from

Suhasini Haidar)

Centre issues advisory for ads on food and health products only

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting on Wednesday issued a fresh advisory, asking advertisers and advertising agencies issuing advertisements for products and services related to the food and health sectors to upload an annual self-declaration certificate on the platforms made available for the purpose.

According to a senior Digital News Publishers Association (DNPA) office-bearer, the advisory supersedes all previous advisories issued by the Ministry. It is limited to the food and health sector only, meaning these sectors are only required to provide the self-declaration certificate annually.

According to the new advisory, the facility for uploading the self-declaration certificate by the advertisers/advertising agencies has been made available on the Broadcast Seva Portal for TV/radio advertisements and on the portal of the Press Council of India for the advertisements on print media/internet.

Accordingly, in view of the Supreme Court order dated May 7, 2024, and in suppression of the previous advisories dated June 3, 2024, and June 5, 2024, the advertisers/advertising agencies issuing advertisements for products and services related to food and health sectors have been advised to upload an annual self-declaration certificate on these platforms, as applicable.

Champai quits to make way for Hemant’s return

“The alliance partner legislators and leaders elected Hemant Soren for a third term of Chief Minister for a unified command ahead of the upcoming State elections in October this year,” a JMM leader said.

Mr. Hemant Soren had previously taken oath as CM in July 2013 and December 2019. He may now be invited by the Governor to take oath as CM for the third time on Thursday.

The strength of the JMM-led alliance in the 81-member Jharkhand Assembly has been reduced to 45 MLAs after the recent parliamentary election. Two JMM MLAs, Nalin Soren and Joba Majhi, are now MPs, while Jama legislator Sita Soren resigned from the party to contest the general election on a BJP ticket. The JMM also expelled two more legislators – Bishunpur MLA Chamra Linda and Boriyo MLA Lobin Hembrom – from the party, leaving it with 27 MLAs, along with 17 from the Congress and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal in the ruling coalition.

The BJP’s strength has also been reduced to 24, as two of its MLAs – Dhulu Mahto from Baghmara and Manish Jaiswal from Hazaribag – are now MPs. It also expelled Mandu MLA Jaiprakash Bhai Patel after he joined the Congress to contest the election.

(With inputs from PTI)

26/11 accused can be extradited: U.S. attorney

“Rana is extraditable to India under the plain provisions of the treaty, and India has established probable cause to prosecute him for his role in terrorist attacks that resulted in 166 deaths and 239 injuries,” Mr. Alden said.

In his deposition before the court on June 5, Mr. Alden, who left the position last week, said both India and the United States have agreed on the meaning of the treaty provision, the non-bis provision in Article 6-1. “Both parties have now stated what they intended, that that provision be interpreted based on the elements of the offence and not based on the conduct underlying those crimes. That is consistent with long-standing Supreme Court double jeopardy precedent,” he argued.

Rana faces charges for his role in the Mumbai attacks and is known to be associated with Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley, one of the main conspirators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Rana has never even attempted to argue that he cannot show that the same elements India seeks to prosecute him for were those he was prosecuted for in Chicago, Mr. Alden said.

Representing Rana, attorney John D. Cline said there is no competent evidence supporting probable cause.

Rise above politics for peace in Manipur: PM

Addressing the alleged irregularities which have tainted the conduct of the NEET examination this year, the PM said that his government was taking strong action against those involved in criminal acts. “I expected all political parties to rise above party lines on the issue. I want to assure the youth that the government is not going to spare the people who have betrayed you,” Mr. Modi said.

“The Congress is the biggest opponent of the Constitution,” the PM said, adding that the party’s past sins, such as the imposition of Emergency, could not be erased simply by waving the book.

Opposition MPs, led by Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge, walked out of the House barely 30 minutes after Mr. Modi began his speech. Mr. Kharge sought permission to interject when the PM stated that the Congress had opposed the celebration of November 26 as Constitution Day, but was not allowed to do so by Rajya Sabha Chairperson Jagdeep Dhankhar.

In the Rajya Sabha, Mr. Modi spoke for an hour and 51 minutes. He said that his government had given a free hand to security agencies to act against corruption.

Army chief reviews security along LoC in Jammu

The Hindu Bureau

SRINAGAR

General Upendra Dwivedi, who took over as the 30th Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) recently, on Wednesdayvisited forward posts in the Jammu region, which has witnessed heightened militancy this year.

An Army spokesperson said General Dwivedi, along with senior Army officers, visited the forward locations of the White Knight Corps, and reviewed the security situation along the Line of Control (LoC).

The COAS was briefed on operational preparedness by the Commanders on the ground, the Army spokesperson said.

General Dwivedi lauded all ranks for maintaining high standards of professionalism, and exhorted them to remain steadfast in meeting all current and emerging security challenges.

The Jammu province has witnessed about five militancy-related incidents this year, which left nine pilgrims, four militants, and a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawan dead.

Petition in SC seeks panel to probe Hathras stampede

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

A writ petition was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday to appoint a five-member expert committee under the supervision of a retired Supreme Court judge to inquire into the Hathras stampede which has seen over 121 deaths.

The petition filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari also asked the court to lay down safety guidelines for mass meetings and public gatherings.

The incident happened during a prayer meeting held by a self-styled godman, Narayan Saakar Hari, in Hathras district of Uttar Pradesh. The event had drawn a large crowd.

“Several questions brew up from this horrific incident of stampede thereby questioning the duty and lapse of State Government and Municipal Corporations,” the petition submitted.

It urged the court to direct the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report and initiate legal action against those who had acted negligently about the safety and crowd control measures.

Toll in Hathras stampede hits 121

On the Opposition’s allegations that the law and order situation in the State has deteriorated and the government is trying to hide the death toll, Mr. Adityanath said, “Some people have a tendency to dig up politics in such tragic incidents. Everyone knows with whom that gentleman has a photo and who are his political connections. I think it is necessary to get to the bottom of it.”

Several BJP affiliates have shared photographs of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav participating in previous meetings of the godman.

In its preliminary report to the government, the Hathras district administration has said chaos began at the event when Mr. Pal Singh left the spot but his followers, numbering over a lakh, started running behind his convoy to collect the soil from his footprints. “Baba’s security personnel and followers started pushing and shoving the crowd and this is when people fell on the swampy slope resulting in the stampede that killed 121 people,” the report said.

Smart Cities Mission period extended till March 2025

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Centre has extended the Smart Cities Mission (SCM) under the Union Urban Development Ministry till March 31, 2025.

Under the SCM, launched in June 2015, 100 cities were chosen through a competition to be developed as smart cities. The mission envisions developing areas within selected cities in the country as model areas based on an area development plan, which is expected to have a rub-off effect on other parts of the city and nearby cities and towns.

More than 8,000 multi-sectoral projects are being developed by the 100 cities amounting to around ₹1.6 lakh crore under the SCM.

As on July 3, the 100 cities have completed 7,188 projects (90% of total projects).

Kharge not allowed to intervene during PM’s reply; INDIA walks out

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Opposition leader says Modi gave wrong information in the House ; Congress counters claim that situation in Manipur is normal, cites statement of an MP from State on the continuing tensions

Mallikarjun Kharge walking out of the Rajya Sabha along with Sonia Gandhi and other Opposition leaders on Wednesday. ANI

MPs of the Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance rallied behind the Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, on Wednesday as they staged a walkout in protest against the Chair’s decision not to allow him to intervene during the Prime Minister’s reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President for her address to the joint sitting of Parliament.

“We staged a walkout because the Prime Minister, while replying to the debate on the President’s Address, gave some wrong information... It is his habit to tell lies, mislead people and speak against the truth,” Mr. Kharge said after walking out during Mr. Modi’s speech.

Accusing Mr. Modi of giving wrong information in the House, Mr. Kharge said the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, was “anti-Constitution”.

Mr. Kharge quoted a November 30, 1950 article from the RSS publication Organiser to assert that the organisation had opposed the Constitution saying it did not have anything Indian. “They had opposed and rejected the Constitution and now, they are talking about protecting it. They have been anti-Constitution since the beginning,” he said.

Congress leaders such as Sonia Gandhi and P. Chidambaram; Nationalist Congress Party (SP) chief Sharad Pawar; Tiruchi Siva of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam; Sagarika Ghose and Sushmita Dev of the Trinamool Congress; Mahua Maji of the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha; Manoj Jha of the Rashtriya Janata Dal; and Priyanka Chaturvedi of the Shiv Sena (UBT) were among those who rallied behind Mr. Kharge.

Ms. Dev said the BJP had shown disrespect to the constitutional post of the Leader of the Opposition. “A saga of lies in the address of the Prime Minister in Rajya Sabha. The Opposition cannot be expected to sit through such a speech without a single opportunity to intervene,” she said in a post on X.

Comments on Manipur

The Congress reacted to Mr. Modi’s comments on Manipur. “Today in the Rajya Sabha, after months of absolute silence on the issue, the non-biological PM made the astounding claim that the situation in Manipur is normal. In actuality, the situation is still tense as the MP from Inner Manipur pointed out in the Lok Sabha on 1st July,” the Congress Chief Whip in the Upper House, Jairam Ramesh, said.

“And the non-biological Pradhan Mantri has still not visited Manipur since it erupted on the night of May 3rd, 2023; nor has he met with the political leaders of the state. The President’s Address too was silent on the issue,” he said.

Mr. Ramesh responded to Mr. Modi’s remarks in the Rajya Sabha that since the results came out, one Congress leader kept on beating the drum that there was a “one-third government” in place.

“What can be a bigger truth than this? We have completed 10 years, 20 more are left. One-third is done, two-thirds are left. So we are very happy for this prediction,” Mr. Modi said in the House.

After the resounding personal, political, and moral defeat in the election, the Prime Minister’s legitimacy and aura had been diminished to one-third — and he himself was dependent on two other ‘Ns’ [Nitish Kumar of the Janata Dal(U) and Telugu Desam Party leader N. Chandrababu Naidu] for his political survival, Mr. Ramesh said. His government was anyway on its last legs and could fall anytime, he added.

Return Indians stuck in Ukraine warzone: Jaishankar to Lavrov

Suhasini Haidar

NEW DELHI

S. Jaishankar

Expressing “strong concern” about Indian nationals recruited for the war with Ukraine, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar on Wednesday called upon Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Astana on Wednesday to ensure their return to India soon.

Both Foreign Ministers met on the sidelines of the ongoing SCO Council meeting in the Kazakhstan capital. It comes less than a week before Prime Minister Narendra Modi travels to Moscow for the annual bilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“[I] raised our strong concern on Indian nationals who are currently in the war zone. [I] pressed for their safe and expeditious return,” Mr. Jaishankar wrote in a social media post after the meeting, adding that they discussed the India-Russia “bilateral partnership” and the “global strategic landscape”.

Mr. Jaishankar’s specific reference to the ongoing issues over Indians being hired as helpers by the Russian military to work on the frontlines indicates growing pressure on the government from their families in India to take up their cause, and suggests that Mr. Modi will also raise the issue with Mr. Putin during his visit on July 8-9. Four Indians have been killed in the fighting so far.

On June 25, the families of six of those stuck on the Russia-Ukraine war front, all of whom belong to the same village in Haryana, had travelled to Delhi to plead for action from the government. They met an official from the Eurasia division of the External Affairs Ministry to make their case.

As The Hindu has reported since January, dozens of Indian men, some of whom were duped with promises of jobs in Russia, have been petitioning the Indian Embassy in Moscow to help them return to India. While the government has cracked down on a number of recruitment agencies and has made several pleas to the Kremlin asking that those forced into working with the Russian Army be released from their contracts, the process has been slow.

The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs posted pictures of the meeting on Wednesday, but did not give any details of the issues they covered or any response to Mr. Jaishankar’s statement about the Indians in the war zone.

(With inputs from

Vijaita Singh)

Govt. reconstitutes Cabinet committees, several NDA partners included in panels

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Union government reconstituted various important Cabinet committees here on Wednesday.

Ministers of the Bharatiya Janata Party’s National Democratic Alliance partners, Janata Dal (U), Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (S), Shiv Sena and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas), have found place in the committees.

Most of the panels are headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

According to a government release on Wednesday, the Cabinet Committee on Appointments, which overseas various high-level appointments, has two members — the Prime Minister and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

The Cabinet Committee on Accommodation is headed by Mr. Shah and senior BJP Ministers Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman, Manohar Lal Khattar and Piyush Goyal are members. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh is a special invitee to the panel.

Security panel

The crucial Cabinet Committee on Security is headed by the Prime Minister and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Mr. Shah, Ms. Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar are its members.

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, the panel that takes decisions on allocations and disbursements, is also headed by the Prime Minister. Mr. Singh, Mr. Shah, Ms. Sitharaman, Mr. Jaishankar, Mr. Gadkari, Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Heavy Industries and Steel Minister and JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy are its members.

The Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Affairs is headed by Mr. Singh.

Mr. Shah, Union Health Minister and BJP president JP Nadda, Ms. Sitharaman, Mr. Rajiv Ranjan Singh, Ministers K. Rammohan Naidu, Kiren Rijiju, Virendra Kumar, Jual Oram, and C.R. Patil are its members.

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, also headed by Mr. Modi, has Rajnath Singh, Mr. Shah, Mr. Gadkari, Ms. Sitharaman, Mr. Goyal, Mr. Nadda, Mr. Naidu, Ministers Jitan Ram Manjhi, Sarbananda Sonowal, Bhupender Yadav, Annpurna Devi,Mr. Rijiju and G. Kishan Reddy as its members.

Speaker forms committee to frame rules on oath-taking of members

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has constituted a committee to frame rules for “oath-taking and affirmation” of MPs, so that any deviations can be punished, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said at a press conference here on Wednesday at the end of the first session of Parliament after the new Lok Sabha was constituted.

There were several instances of members raising slogans while taking oath as MPs. Hyderabad MP Asaduddin Owaisi raised a slogan hailing Palestine, while Chhatra Pal Singh Gangwar, Bharatiya Janata Party MP for Bareilly, ended his oath with “Jai Hindu Rashtra”.

“Oath or affirmation is a constitutional process, and there is no scope of politicising it. It is a solemn occasion, and there is a prescribed format to be followed. But this time, we saw several violations,” Mr. Rijiju said.

He criticised the opposition for shouting slogans during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech in the Lok Sabha. “Interjections between a speech is fine, but constant heckling is not. The Congress should think that the Prime Minister is the leader of the country, they should respect the chair,” he said.

There is no call yet on election of a Deputy Speaker, Mr. Rijiju said.

Expunge PM’s remarks on Chopra and Sandeshkhali: Trinamool

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The Trinamool Congress, in a letter to Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar, has demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments on flogging of a man and a woman at Chopra in West Bengal and the alleged incidents in Sandeshkhali be expunged from the record.

The party accused him of giving a “selective picture” of the two incidents.

Mr. Modi made the comments during his reply to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President in the Upper House. “A woman was being flogged in public. The woman was screaming but nobody stepped forward to help her and were instead making videos,” Mr. Modi said, referring to an incident in Chopra, where the perpetrator was reportedly a Trinamool worker.

In a letter to Mr. Dhankhar, Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose said the accused in the case had been “promptly arrested and are behind bars”.

“The West Bengal Police are determinedly pursuing the investigation and all the guilty will be brought to justice,” she wrote.

Mr. Modi, while flagging the Sandeshkhali events, accused the Trinamool Congress of being silent on the issue. Ms. Ghose termed the issue a “disgraceful conspiracy by the BJP to defame the people of Bengal”.

Disappointed by disruptions in House, says Dhankhar

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

Vice-President and Chairman of the Rajya Sabha Jagdeep Dhankhar, during his remarks at the conclusion of the 264th session of the Upper House on Wednesday, expressed “deep disappointment” over recent disruptions in Parliament.

He said the action of Leader of the Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge in entering the Well of the House was a disgrace to parliamentary propriety.

He said such actions undermine democratic values and set a dangerous precedent, antithetical to democratic values. “While there was active participation from both the Treasury and Opposition benches, it was disheartening to witness seasoned members conduct themselves irresponsibly,” he said.

He said that the House’s productivity was over 100%.

‘Attack’ on Cong. office strengthens my point about BJP, RSS: Rahul

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

The “BJP people” who “spread violence and hatred do not understand the basic principles of Hinduism”, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday as he hit out at the party for what he described a “violent attack” on the Congress office in Ahmedabad.

In an X post, he said, “The cowardly and violent attack on the Gujarat Congress office further strengthens my point about the BJP and the Sangh Parivar. The people of Gujarat can clearly see through their lies and will teach BJP a decisive lesson.”

In a repeat of 2023, vegetable prices upset family budgets

A.M. Jigeesh

New Delhi

Consumer Affairs Ministry says situation will ease soon, but wholesale prices of tomato have gone up by 65.7%, onion by 35.36% and potato by 17.57% in past 30 days; officials say next harvest of tomato in States such as Karnataka will ensure supply

The all-India average retail price of tomato was ₹55.04 for a kg on Wednesday.Nagara Gopal

Harking back to the high prices in July and August last year, when a kilogram of tomato cost as much as ₹250 in various parts of the country, its retail price and those of essential vegetables such as onion and potato have increased by 15% to 58% in the past month. The Union government, however, said the rise was temporary, and the prices, except that of potato, would be under control soon. The wholesale prices of the three vegetables have increased — by 65.7% for tomato, 35.36% for onion and 17.57% for potato — in the past 30 days.

The all-India average retail price of tomato was ₹55.04 a kg on Wednesday. On the corresponding date last month, it was ₹34.73 a kg, a 58.48% increase, says the Price Monitoring Division of the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry. Last year, on July 3, the price was ₹67.57 a kg. By July-end and in the first week of August in 2023, the price had touched ₹250 for a kg of tomato in various places.

The price of onion too is on the rise. Wednesday’s all-India average retail price for a kg of onion was ₹42.46, an increase of 31.09% from the June price of ₹32.39. A year ago, on the corresponding date, the price was ₹25.04, thus showing a 69.57% increase year-on-year. The price of potato is also increasing. The all-India average retail price was ₹34.65 on Wednesday. One month ago, it was ₹29.97 and last year, it was ₹22.98 for a kilogram on the corresponding date. The price saw an increase of 15.62% from last month’s and 50.78% from the corresponding date last year.

The Centre, however, said the situation would be under control soon. An official with the Department of Consumer Affairs, on the condition of anonymity, told The Hindu that the increase was temporary, and the Ministry expected the prices of tomato and onion to come down soon. However, the price of potato was likely to remain elevated during the season. The source said that the increase in the price of tomato was seasonal, and the situation would not be as bad as that of last year. “The second harvest of tomatoes in States such as Karnataka has started and it will ensure adequate supply in the markets,” he said.

On onions, the official said its production during the last rabi season was down by 40 lakh tonnes and this was the reason for the increase in prices. “We are expecting a good monsoon. So once the sowing and transplantation scenario is clear, the prices will be stabilised. But for the time being, the prices will be on the higher side,” he said.

He said the rate of release of potatoes from cold storage units was high recently. The prices would come down slightly in the coming days, but it would be higher than that of last year. “But it will be regulated,” the official said.

He said the demand for potato was usually high during summer, and as green vegetables arrived in the markets during the monsoon, the demand would come down.

NCERT textbooks for three subjects of Class 6 will reach students late

Maitri Porecha

New Delhi

Students are likely to get new books in two months.m. KARUNAKARAN

Students of Class 6 will be without textbooks for mathematics, science and social sciences as schools reopen for the academic year 2024-25 in July. The introduction of the new National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) textbooks based on the National Curriculum Framework and New Education Policy, 2020 for Class 6 has been delayed.

The NCERT had said that in 2024-25, students of Classes 3 and 6 would get new books.

“While new textbooks for Class 3 have hit the market, the entire lot for Class 6 has not yet been made available to students, leaving students with no textbooks to study from,” an official from the Education Ministry told The Hindu. Officials said the students are likely to get the new books within two months.

Last July, the Ministry constituted the National Syllabus and Teaching Learning Material Committee (NSTC) to develop new textbooks for Classes 3 to 12. It had set an ambitious deadline to develop new textbooks for all grades within seven months of constituting the NSTC by February. The deadline was later revised, and it was decided that only students of Classes 3 and 6 will get new textbooks this academic year.

However, the NCERT has not received drafts of the new books for social science, mathematics and science for Class 6 from the NSTC, officials said. Once the NSTC submits the approved drafts, the NCERT can issue a print order and make the textbooks available within 10 to 15 days.

At present, students of Class 6 are without textbooks for the three subjects because the NCERT was instructed not to print books with the old syllabus.

Even online, only books on the language subjects — English, Hindi and Urdu — are available for download.

Ministry sources said there was a possibility that three books on social science subjects — Our Pasts (history), Our Earth: Our Habitat (geography) and Social and Political Life (political science) — will be merged into one. However, there is no clarity on this yet as the NSTC has not sent drafts for publication to the NCERT.

For Class 3, new books for English, Hindi, Urdu, mathematics, environmental education and arts are in the process of being printed and supplied, officials said.

Fourth generation texts

The new books will be the fourth generation of NCERT textbooks since the 1990s.

While the first generation was published in the 1990s, between 2002 and 2004, under the NDA government of Atal Bihari Vajpayee, there were “pro-Hindutva” changes. A third generation of textbooks were released between 2006 and 2008 by the Congress-led government.

(set by Vidwan)

1 of 4

2 of 4

3 of 4

4 of 4 Scan to play

Across

8 Flunking with his stupid, unrealistic idea (7,8)

9 Small radio enthusiast is fake (4)

10 Doubt popular judgement (10)

11 Shut if out for peep (6)

13 Some job structures hinder progress (8)

14 Vacation? Cold in England? Come with wine and immunity document! (7,8)

17 Pilot carried trash of sticky stuff that catches insects (8)

19 Make thinner, air fry maybe! (6)

21 These fishers with AI can make mineral water (10)

22 Price's about right! Gratis! (4)

23 Refer to nothing, talk and argue evasively after losing head on Zoom, for example (15)

Down

1 Height could be 12.5%? (6)

2 Fancy working hard in marketplace, at start (4)

3 Test car scoring 1 in 100 (8)

4 Accommodation for Lady Killer/Intelligence Officer, alone and slightly more than half mad (6,9)

5 Group of entertainers travelling about, mostly with people in general (6)

6 Short swashbuckling Indian batsman's small escapade, gets runs, stands tall like Burj Khalifa! (10)

7 One who implements some regimen for certain? (8)

12 Cosmetic item for loud master keeping Germany in control (4,6)

15 Hypersensitive - every unit of energy is consumed at start! (8)

16 Unknown street guard (8)

18 Quietly arrive at address (6)

20 Wild fire and ice! Most wild! (6)

22 Following the law for contract (4)

Air pollution spikes may raise death rates in cities with cleaner air, says study

Jacob Koshy

NEW DELHI

Delhi had about 12,000 deaths linked to air pollution per year. Charlie Riedel

A spike in air pollution in Indian cities that have cleaner air may raise death rates higher than in cities that have higher pollution loads. Thus, the same increase in air pollution in, say, Bengaluru, can raise death rates more than in Delhi, which has much higher background levels of air pollution.

Overall, however, cities that had high pollution loads saw a greater fraction of annual deaths attributable to air pollution, with 11.5% of Delhi’s annual deaths attributable to air pollution, and 4.8% in Bengaluru. The latter’s population had 30% the exposure to daily air pollution that an average Delhi resident is subjected to, says a first-of-its-kind multi-city analysis in India that studied the health effects of short-term exposure to air pollution, published in the peer-reviewed Lancet Planet Health on Thursday. The scientists analysed pollution and death registry data from Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Mumbai, Pune, Shimla, and Varanasi.

Nearly 30,000 deaths, or 7.2% of the annual deaths in the 10 cities, were due to short-term PM 2.5. The total daily deaths in these cities rose by 1.42% for every 10 microgram per cubic metre increase in the average PM 2.5 exposure over a two-day period, the study found.

From air pollution, Delhi had about 12,000 deaths per year and Shimla 59 a year — the lowest among the 10 cities — between 2008 and 2019. In the same period, Bengaluru had 2,102 deaths.

“Our findings confirmed that the risk of mortality rose more quickly at lower PM 2.5 levels but plateaued as levels increased. Significantly, we found mortality risk to be very high (2.65%) even when analysing days with PM 2.5 levels below the current Indian national air quality standard of 60 microgram per cubic metre,” the authors, from multiple institutes in Europe and India, reported.

The variation in mortality in different Indian cities mirrors findings from similar studies in other countries. A 272-city study in China reported a 0.22% increase, per 10 microgram per cubic metre increase in PM 2.5. However, death rates were higher in Greece (2.54%), Japan (1.42%), and Spain (1.96%), which had lower base pollution levels.

Pay a visit to Divya Desams

We often face hindrances in material and spiritual progress. The supreme being is ever alert to the needs of those who reach out to Him for succour. The more gnana one develops, the better. One way to achieve this is to visit the Vaishnavite Divya Desams. Even the Pandavas visited a number of sthalams in south India in order to expiate their sins which they felt they had incurred due to the war, said Dushyanth Sridhar in a discourse.

Obstacles are a way of life and one should seek divine help to surmount them. The sthala puranam associated with the five abodes in Kancheepuram states that Brahma sought help from Perumal to conduct Ashvamedha Yagam without Saraswati. Each of the abodes testify to the various impediments she used to try to obstruct the yaga. When she sent eight women to stop the yaga, they were all stopped by Ashtabujanga Perumal, at Ashtapuyagaram.

At Tirutannka, Saraswati hindered Brahma’s yaga by sending a demon to darken the world. On Brahma’s prayer, Perumal appeared bright as a light, holding a lamp. Praying to the deity Vilakkoli Perumal will dispel one’s inner darkness. Tiruvaelukkai is another place where Saraswati despatched demons to obstruct Brahma’s work. Perumal took the form of Nrisimha to overpower them.

CBI arrests key accused in NEET paper leak case

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday arrested an alleged key conspirator in connection with the Patna National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Under Graduate) paper leak case.

The accused, Aman Singh, was picked up by the agency from Dhanbad in Jharkhand following a tip-off. Earlier, three persons were arrested by the CBI from Hazaribagh for their purported role in the incident. They were identified as — a Hindi newspaper journalist Jamaluddin, Oasis School Principal Ahsanhul Haque and the Vice Principal Imtiaz Alam.

Two others allegedly involved in the racket were Manish Prakash and Ashutosh Kumar. They had helped in arranging Learn Boys Hostel and Play School on rent in Patna’s Khemnichak, where the leaked papers were allegedly distributed to the 20 to 25 candidates gathered there on the eve of the test, so that they could memorise the answers.

Maintain vigil, says Centre as Maharashtra reports Zika

With some cases of the Zika virus reported from parts of Maharashtra, the Union Health Ministry on Wednesday issued an advisory to all States, highlighting the need for maintaining a constant vigil. States have been urged to focus on screening pregnant women for the virus and monitor the growth of the foetus of expecting mothers who tested positive for the infection. The Ministry also asked health facilities to identify a nodal officer to monitor and act to keep the premises free of Aedes mosquitoes.PTI

India to host 46th UNESCO heritage panel session

The Hindu Bureau

New Delhi

The 46th session of the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, being hosted by India from July 21-31, will be held at the Bharat Mandapam in New Delhi.

The event will be attended by over 2,500 delegates from State Parties, advisory bodies, senior diplomats, heritage experts, scholars, and researchers from 195 countries, a senior official said. State Parties are countries which have adhered to the World Heritage Convention.

Sources said the event, being organised by the Archaeological Survey of India, is likely to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. UNESCO has already released a provisional agenda and timetable for the meeting.

The World Heritage Committee has representatives from 21 State Parties to the World Heritage Convention (1972) elected by the General Assembly.

‘Are you well?’ Delhi HC asks man seeking to debar Modi

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s debarment from the Lok Sabha over claims that he plotted a fatal air crash and indulged in anti-national activities. The court said that the person who filed the plea appeared to be suffering from mental health issues. “Are you well? Your application is inchoate. It is going from one end of the spectrum to another,” the Bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela asked the petitioner, Captain Deepak Kumar.

Edit

- Trials, medical ethics and the orbit of power

- Factory accidents, a pointer to rusty inspection reform

- Of accommodation

- Avoidable tragedy

- letters to the editor

- data point

- Humility in public discourse

- Coal politics heats up in Telangana

- fifty years ago Month x, xxxx

- a hundred years ago Month x, xxxx

- An overview of the French elections

- Till Russia do us part? NATO at 75, an enduring alliance

- A quiz on the 248th anniversary of the adoption of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

- Know your English

Trials, medical ethics and the orbit of power

Dinesh S. Thakur a public health activist and was the whistle-blower in the case against Ranbaxy Laboratories

On January 10, 2021, Rashida Bee (representing the Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Stationary Karmchari Sangh), Nawab Khan (representing Bhopal Gas Peedit Mahila Purush Sangharsh Morcha), Rachna Dhingra (representing the Bhopal Group for Information and Action) and Nausheen Khan (representing Children Against Dow Carbide) wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the then Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Dr. Harsh Vardhan. In the letter, they alleged irregularities and ethical violations in the conduct of the clinical trial for Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin (a COVID-19 vaccine) by the People’s Hospital in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh and the resultant exploitation of trial participants belonging to vulnerable groups demanding stoppage, punishment and compensation.

The letter further alleged gross violations of ethics guidelines including violations of informed consent procedures, enrolment of vulnerable population among study participants, non-reporting of adverse events and a lack of monitoring and follow-up of study participants among others.

The writers sought urgent intervention to stop the study at the trial site and for investigation by an independent body. What became of the letter and any consequential actions are unknown. The Indian drug regulator, Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation had approved the vaccine candidate prior to the completion of the recruitment for the vaccine candidate’s Phase III study for “Restricted Use of Covaxin under Clinical Trial Mode” — a term and process that finds no mention in India’s Drug Regulatory Framework, the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and its accompanying Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 2019.

Ethics committees and whistle-blowers

One of the issues that stands out in this case is the functioning of the trial sites and their respective ethics committees. Dr. Jacob Puliyel, a member of the National Technical Advisory Group on Immunization (NTAGI) filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court of India where the Court said “subject to the protection of privacy of individual subjects and to the extent permissible by the 2019 Rules, the relevant data which is required to be published under the statutory regime and the WHO [World Health Organization] Statement on Clinical Trials shall be made available to the public without undue delay”.

The development of potential therapeutic agents is often complicated by subjective and sometimes objective violations of ethical guidelines. The role of conscientious insiders, and sometimes outsiders, who have unique knowledge of such violations is the subject of a recent book, The Occasional Human Sacrifice – Medical Experimentation and the Price of Saying No, by bioethicist, philosopher and whistle-blower at the University of Minnesota, Carl Elliott. The book details several such incidents in the western world, starting with the Tuskegee Syphilis Study to the Willowbrook Hepatitis Study.

It also looks at what happened with Protocol 126 for cancer study of bone marrow transplantation at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center and at the Eugene Sanger Radioisotope Laboratory, Cincinnati Medical Center, to study the effect of radiation on humans among others. Driven by his own experience to understand the suicide of Dan Markingson at the university, Elliot traverses some very difficult and human questions such as what makes someone speak out, the ethics of dissent, honour, respect, guilt and shame, and the concepts of dignity and integrity told through the journey of whistle-blowers. As Nancy Olivieri, a whistle-blower, recounts in her review, threats of legal action and, worse, often resulting in destroying the whistle-blower’s life are far too common in such cases.

While one often wonders why such instances of moral courage are few and far between in our society, Satyendra Dubey, Shanmugam Manjunath, Sanjiv Chaturvedi and a few other named exceptions notwithstanding, lack of strong whistle-blower protection statutes is only a part of the problem. Unlike the United States, India does not have a law that protects those who take great personal risks to bring wrongdoing to public notice. The existing law, whose scope is limited to public servants to begin with, was further diluted in 2015, making it a dead letter law.

The deeper issues which we should, but do not wrestle with are: understanding group think and organisational wrongdoing, loyalty to the ivory tower, fear of retribution, social conformity, status hierarchies and exercise of power that are so ingrained in us as a society. Unless we study these traits among us as a society, we will never understand why someone chooses to be an Anand Rai, the whistle-blower who exposed the Vyapam scam.

Innovative therapies and ethics

Back to the topic at hand, i.e., the development of life-saving medicines is a morass in our country. While we have a vibrant industry that manufactures generic (copy-cat) drugs, developing innovative therapies has not been our cup of tea. Development of life-saving medicines often entails balancing the risk to the patient with the projected benefit from using the therapeutic candidate. In most cases, there is not enough data to make an informed decision, which is not straightforward and requires specialised knowledge and experience. Using an approved drug that is on the market does not qualify a medical doctor to make such decisions. Drug development is a separate area of expertise. While we see green shoots of late, we do not have deep expertise in managing clinical development. Therefore, we make do with appointing medical doctors to oversee the development of therapeutics. This requires better guardrails than we have in order to ensure that the basic tenets of ethics are not violated in the process. For example, when medical doctors who specialise in treating individual patients with specific diseases such as cardiology and paediatrics are appointed to run our pandemic response, we see absurd actions such as projecting cases to become zero during the COVID-19 pandemic. Members of subject expert committees make up things such as “emergency use authorization in clinical trial mode” and work hard to justify it with a straight face. These are glaring examples of gross violations of medical ethics in our recent past.

Indian patients and clinical studies

The bigger issue in our country is the historic and repeated violation of informed consent when patients are enrolled in clinical studies. More than anecdotal evidence exists that poor and uneducated people are enrolled in such studies without fully informing them of potential harm from the therapeutic candidate being evaluated in a clinical study. The job of ensuring such atrocities do not occur falls to what is called an institutional ethics committee. While such committees exist on paper and in our regulations, their function and effectiveness are at best patchy.

A publication (2022) by Gayatri Saberwal et al. in the journal PLOS Global Public Health that evaluated 1,359 Phase II or III interventional studies registered in the Clinical Trials Registry–India (CTRI) identified as many as 30 problems with the way in which our ethics committees function. These include clinical trials without any ethics committees, and trials with more sites than functional ethics committees — for example, three ethics committees approving one study site. The simple takeaway from this analysis is that the primary guardrails that are supposed to be a check on abuse of medical ethics do not function in our country. This analysis says nothing about the competence of the members of the ethics committees, which was plainly obvious during the development of Coronil during the pandemic. The biggest abuser of these regulations is a section of the industry that is actively promoted by the Ministry of AYUSH. These poorly designed, ill-executed “clinical studies” with zero oversight are often used to provide a veneer of scientific validity to their concoctions and nothing more.

If there is one message that comes out clearly in Elliott’s book, it is how even well-designed and well-run systems of checks and balances on accountability are often run roughshod over by those who have the means and power. We are nowhere even close to how such systems function in the West. If we truly wish to hold wrongdoing to account, we have a very long way to go before we even get the basics right. That is, if we truly want to.

Factory accidents, a pointer to rusty inspection reform

K.R. Shyam Sundar Adjunct Professor, Management Development Institute, Gurgaon

An explosion of a reactor in a chemical factory in the Dombivli Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) area in May 2024 resulted in the loss of lives and injuries to workers and people. It also caused damage to factories, shops and residencies in the neighbourhood. The Maharashtra government announced compensation to the kin of the deceased and funds for the treatment of the injured.

Newspaper reports show that fatal industrial accidents were frequent in 2016, 2018, 2020 and 2023. The Maharashtra government is guilty of not relocating 156 chemical factories in the Dombivli MIDC area even after “deciding” in 2022 to relocate them to Patalganga. It is now known that the boiler in the chemical factory was not registered under the Indian Boiler Regulations, 1950.

Poor inspection

In 2021, in Maharashtra, 1,551 of 6,492 hazardous factories were inspected, i.e., a 23.89% inspection rate. And, 3,158 out of 39,255 registered factories were inspected, i.e., an 8.04% inspection rate. The situation is no better in two other top industrial States. In Tamil Nadu, the general inspection rate was 17.04% and the hazardous factories inspection rate was 25.39%. In Gujarat, it was 19.33% and 19.81%, respectively. The all-India figure, of 14.65% and 26.02%, respectively, is not surprising (the data are from the Directorate General Factory Advice Service & Labour Institutes report, 2022).

The poor inspection rates could also be due to a shortage of personnel among other reasons. In Maharashtra, the appointment rate is just 39.34%; 48 out of the 122 sanctioned officers were appointed. The numbers are better in Gujarat (50.98%) and Tamil Nadu (53.57%). The all-India figure was 67.58%. Even the sanctioned posts relative to the number of registered factories have been inadequate to ensure that every factory is inspected in a year. For example, for an all-India reach, each of the 953 sanctioned inspectors would have had to inspect 337 registered factories in a year, in 2021. The inspection rates are poor because of the heavy workload of the inspectors. An inspector in Maharashtra must inspect 818 factories in a year; 589 in Gujarat; 532 in Tamil Nadu, and 499 at the all-India level.

The prosecution rate, i.e., the number of prosecutions decided as a percentage of total prosecutions (including pending cases) was 6.95% in Gujarat; 13.84% in Maharashtra, and 14.45% in Tamil Nadu. As a result, inspections lose their “deterrent effect”.

From the data, it is clear that labour market governance through the labour inspection system is weak and does not perform efficiently. However, employers call it pejoratively as “inspector-raj”, implying harassment and prevalence of compromising practices such as bribes.

Need for the right reforms in inspection

The criticism is not without merit. Given the vast universe of inspection, the inspectors may “target” and “harass” several factories/establishments, exhibiting state power and also attempting to secure bribes. But this cannot be universal as the statistics are telling. The president of the Maharashtra Industry Development Association has admitted, in a media report in May 2024, that in many cases, safety inspection and certification were done “on an “understanding” between the auditors and factory owners or managers”. Employers are as guilty as the labour inspectors, and tackling the “supply side” of “rent seeking” is as important as reforming the “demand” side.

Reforms of the inspection system are necessary but not of the kind initiated in most States in response to employer criticism. Self-certification, randomised inspections, online inspections, and third-party certification have been introduced by ruling political parties at the all-India level and in many States. These changes violate several articles in the International Labour Organization’s Labour Inspection Convention (081), 1947.

According to the Convention, there must be sufficient qualified and well-provided inspectors and they shall enter the establishments freely and without prior notice at any time to secure due compliance of the labour laws, among others. Instead of liberalising the inspection system, governments must ensure a strong labour market governance by implementing the provisions of the ILO Convention. Given the fast-paced changes taking place in technology, and the use of hazardous and chemical substances, the increased need for inspection is felt. Inspectors can both “inspect” and “facilitate” due compliance of laws by providing suitable advice to employers and unions. This is recognised by the ILO Convention.

Penalties for the enforcer

If a firm or a trade union does not comply with laws, they are prosecuted by the state. If the state fails in its governance what is the penalty the state, viz. the government and the labour department officials pay? Simple and meagre compensation to the victims and their families? No. There must be a penal system for the enforcers also which will pave the way for complete legal compliance.

The recurrence of the same kind of industrial disasters shows a lack of learning by the government. In the name of reforms and a lean government, the state cannot abrogate its fundamental duty — to ensure a safe working and living environment. It should carry out meaningful reforms to ensure an “efficient” and “ethical” labour inspectorate.

Of accommodation

Treasury benches and the Opposition must uphold parliamentary tradition

The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha and the corresponding session of Rajya Sabha were notable for the renewed spirit of parliamentary debate on display, notwithstanding the excessive combativeness and avoidable grandstanding by the government and the Opposition. Echoes of the election campaign continued too, as Rahul Gandhi, in his debut as the designated Leader of Opposition (LoP), mounted an aggressive critique of the NDA government and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Mr. Modi in turn called into question the track record and intentions of the Congress, and Mr. Gandhi’s capacity. Both sides categorically declared fealty to the Constitution of India, while accusing each other of trying to undermine it. They also crossed swords over Hinduism and its political role. The rise of a strong Opposition — with no designated LoP earlier — and the return of coalition politics as the leading party lacks an absolute majority may restore the role of Parliament. The increase in Opposition numbers can help restore healthy traditions such as more Bills getting scrutinised by parliamentary standing committees. A robust Opposition can also act as an effective restraint on the government, preventing it from bulldozing opposition with its legislative agenda. The 17th Lok Sabha not only earned the dubious distinction of having seen the suspension of the most number of Opposition MPs (146 in a single session, including Rajya Sabha MPs) but also functioned without a Deputy Speaker, a post usually reserved for the Opposition. To underscore this point, the INDIA bloc predicated its support for Om Birla as the Speaker only on the condition that the government agreed to offer it the deputy chair. The stalemate eventually led to an election between Mr. Birla and Kodikunnil Suresh (Congress), which Mr. Birla won through a voice vote. The Opposition did not press for a division and rich parliamentary tradition was followed, with Mr. Modi, leader of the House, and Mr. Gandhi, LoP, escorting Mr. Birla to his Chair.

The roles of the Lok Sabha Speaker and Rajya Sabha Chairman gain additional prominence. The Opposition has urged them to be even-handed. The Opposition has also questioned the expunging of portions of Mr. Gandhi’s speech from the records by the Speaker. The threshold for removing parts of what is spoken in the House from official records should be very high. Following the deviation from the standard format by several members, the Speaker has constituted a committee to frame rules for oath-taking. Parliamentary speeches could do with more humour and less diatribe, but the fact that there was an expanded debate is encouraging. The Treasury and Opposition benches must understand that their place in the highest seat of democracy is to represent the people who sent them there. They must find a common sense of purpose and function in a spirit of accommodation.

Avoidable tragedy

Gatherings should be tightly regulated to prevent Hathras-type stampedes

The stampede on Tuesday at a religious congregation at Hathras in western Uttar Pradesh, claiming over 120 lives, is only the latest in a series of such tragedies in the country. There have been at least half-a-dozen such incidents in the last 20-odd years. In this instance, at least a lakh of people flocked to Fulrai village to listen to an address by a preacher Suraj Pal, also known as Narayan Sakar Hari or “Bhole Baba”. There are reports that there were over 2.5 lakh participants at the venue, which could accommodate no more than 80,000. The preacher is said to have followers in States such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana too. Most of the deceased, mainly women and children, were from the economically vulnerable sections of society, and were in search of spiritual solace. While only a fair investigation can find out the cause for the stampede, the reasons being cited include overcrowding, and the bid by some to collect soil from around the feet of the preacher. Not surprisingly, the responses, particularly from the field-level public health system, have exposed how ill-prepared the Uttar Pradesh administration is. Visuals of bodies lying outside the place of post mortem and of the kin desperate for help, as well as an inadequate number of ambulances and medical staff have become the common features of such tragedies. What has made it worse is the preacher and his aides reportedly leaving the site even as panic-stricken people were dying.

The most tragic aspect, as seen in the past, is that it was all avoidable had there been proactive steps taken by a vigilant administration. Unfortunately, the authorities in many States do not appear to have learnt lessons or made use of the availability of better technology and communication. Apart from stringent action against those responsible, the U.P. administration should ensure a just compensation package, the cost of which has to be borne by the organisers. The tragedy is a classic study in the management of large crowds. The officials concerned should ensure that the organisers have the wherewithal to handle large gatherings of any size. The local authorities and organisers should also conduct a drill ahead of such events. What is more important is that the political executive, the bureaucracy and organisers of any public event should be conscious of the fact that the loss of a life is a tragedy for the person’s family. The arrangements for mass functions should be governed by this fact.

In Parliament

The abrasive exchanges between the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have certainly lowered the dignity of Parliament (Page 1, “PM says mandate is for continuity, Cong. a ‘parasite’ on allies”, July 3). The Prime Minister, given his seniority, should have shown some consideration for fellow members instead of bulldozing them. No MP should forget that a strong Opposition, which has been missing for a long time, is essential for a healthy democracy. The BJP failed to win the required number of seats and must introspect over this.

P. Sanath Kumar,

Visakhapatnam

The Prime Minister’s speech did not have answers for the points raised by the Leader of the Opposition or the other Opposition leaders. Instead, it was focused on levelling accusations and ridiculing the Congress. The Prime Minister’s claim that the 2024 mandate is for continuity needs to be clarified. The continuity is certainly not for such incongruent and hate speeches to continue even after the election is over. The BJP too was not given the mandate to rule on its own strength. The leader of an august house is expected to be conscious of the difference between a speech delivered in a street corner and a speech before a gathering of elites and in an august house such as Parliament. The Prime Minister’s speech should only enhance the image of the nation and not the otherwise.

A.G. Rajmohan,

Anantapur, Andhra Pradesh

The rise of the far-right in Europe and its ramifications

Agencies

Supporters of some right-wing populist parties in Europe have higher confidence in Putin than those of other parties

French voters face a decisive choice on July 7 in the run-off of snap parliamentary elections that could see the country’s first far-right government since the World War II Nazi occupation — or no party emerging with a majority at all. In Sunday's first round, the National Rally came first with an estimated one-third of the votes. The New Popular Front coalition that included the center-left, green and left forces polled close to 29% of the vote and came in second place, ahead of President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist alliance.

If the National Rally or the Left alliance gets a majority, Mr. Macron will be forced to appoint a Prime Minister belonging to a new majority. In such a situation — called “cohabitation” in France — the government would implement policies that diverge from the President’s plan. The rise of a far-right party in France has not been sudden. When Mr. Macron was re-elected in 2022, his vote share did not increase in any department. In contrast, his challenger from the far-right National Rally Marine Le Pen's vote share rose across the country, resulting in the far-right's best-ever performance. More importantly, the rise of the Right in European politics is not limited to France.

In last month's European Parliamentary Elections, right-wing and far-right parties achieved their best performance in the legislative body's history. The far-right European Conservatives and Reformists Group and the Identity and Democracy Group together increased their tally from 118 to 131 seats in the Parliament, while the left-Greens’ seat share was reduced to 53 from 71.

Chart 1 shows the vote share secured by right-leaning parties in the national-level polls of the U.K. and select countries in the European Union. The vote share of right-leaning parties is increasing at varying degrees of pace in each country. For instance, the vote share of the National Rally increased from just 4% in 2007 to 19% in 2022. The German party, Alternative for Germany, recorded over 10% vote share in the last two elections, with the Sweden Democrats vote share increasing from 2% in 2006 to 20% in 2022 in Swedish polls.

Given that most such parties have an anti-immigrant stance, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights on Wednesday called for vigilance, citing narratives that dehumanise migrants and asylum seekers. One other impact may be on the nations’ views about NATO, and on the ongoing-war between Russia and Ukraine.

Polls by Pew Survey indicate that in some European countries, positive views about NATO and confidence in Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy have started to decline. In contrast, slight increases in favourable views towards Russia and confidence in Russian President Vladimir Putin were recorded across many European countries in 2024 compared to a year before. Table 2 lists responses to four questions — Q1: % who have a favourable opinion of NATO; Q2: % who have a favourable view of Russia; Q3: % who have confidence in Mr. Putin to do the right thing; Q4: % who have confidence in Mr. Zelenskyy to do the right thing. The percentage point change in 2024 from 2023 is also listed.

According to Pew Survey, in several European countries, people who have a favourable view of a right-wing populist party in their country see Russia and Mr. Putin more positively than people with unfavourable views of those parties.

While their support dropped in 2022 and 2023, confidence in Russia and Mr. Putin has climbed back up in 2024 as shown in Chart 3.

Humility in public discourse

Adithya Reddy Advocate, Madras High Court

In the wake of the recently concluded general election, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s comment on the need for humility and decorum in public discourse is a wake-up call. The idea that the best way to respond to political criticism is through verbal harassment has become popular in the era of TRP-driven media. Public discourse has become a gladiatorial game, teaching the common citizen to be impressed with the nastiness of verbal blows rather than by how they serve matters of importance to the individual or the country. This problem is faced by liberal democracies throughout the world.

There has been growing literature on the issue of polarising discourse in the West. American Philosopher Elizabeth Anderson diagnoses the problem of personal attacks as the failure of participants in a democracy to distinguish between first-order and second-order moral claims – “First-order moral claims call us to perform good and right actions… Second-order moral claims evaluate people’s characters as virtuous or vicious… When people interpret first-order claims as illegitimate second-order claims, they disregard the first-order moral concern at stake. Every call to action is dismissed as hypocritical, smug, and disingenuous. This creates a culture of impunity and irresponsibility.” This tendency is often observed in TV debates and election campaigns, where the only response a speaker has to any issue is a comment on the other speaker’s past record or personal character.

Creating division

Personal attacks and hate speech push relevant and meaningful information to the margins. More importantly, they mask the refusal to understand both one’s own limitations and those of the opponent. They create distance between sections of the society. Conclusions are drawn about another person’s values and character based on their views, without understanding how they came to hold those views.

Similarly, there is a failure to acknowledge that each of us speaks only from partial knowledge. Overcoming these tendencies requires the virtues of humility and care.

Unfortunately, it is a contemporary consensus that the cultivation or discussion of such character traits can only happen in the personal sphere. They are not matters for government or public discourse.

Charles Taylor, the great critic of our ‘secular age’, states “the need to train character has receded even farther into the background, as though the morality of mutual respect were embedded in the idea of individual self-fulfilment itself.”

We owe much of our idea of modern constitutional government to the French nobleman and philosopher Baron De Montesquieu. Beyond the procedures and institutions necessary for the separation of powers in a democracy, for which he was famous, Montesquieu was primarily concerned about the education necessary for citizens to preserve democratic ideals. He wanted the “whole power of education” to be used to cultivate “a constant preference of public to private interest”.

Virtues of humility and care

The spirit of renunciation that Montesquieu wanted citizens to have is related to the virtues of humility and care, which are absent in today’s political discourse. Due to the subsequent course of political philosophy, especially in Anglo-American thought, Dr B.R. Ambedkar could only express apprehension that “however good a Constitution may be, it is sure to turn out bad because those who are called to work it, happen to be a bad lot.” He could not do anything about it. Whether the future citizens of India turned out to be a “bad lot” or not could be a matter of concern for the Constitution or government, even if the survival of the Constitution depended on it.

Historically, freedom of speech was seen as necessary for arriving at the truth, based on the view that human nature is capable of learning and improving from external criticism. Unless both the listener and speaker are tolerant and humble, they cannot, through their faculty of imagination, understand the perspectives of those whose character and opinions are entirely foreign to them. Therefore freedom of speech is not only about having the opportunity to speak freely but also about exercising the positive traits of one’s character.

Pursuit of knowledge

Today, people are constantly told that knowledge is power or a matter of individual achievement. So, why would someone who believes they are more knowledgeable be open to relinquishing their social capital? Why should one have intellectual humility? Traditional Indian thought never viewed the pursuit of knowledge as an individual enterprise, with the individual being a modern, atomic one.

Prof. Vrinda Dalmiya, in her works comparing Mahabharata and western philosophy, finds a focus on character over one’s store of knowledge in the epic. Acquisition of knowledge or the quest for truth is not an amoral exercise involving method and study alone but an essentially moral one involving care for others. Even sages and gods become better by finding humility. Ms. Dalmiya shows, through the example of the great Sage Kausika who learns from the butcher and the housewife, that intellectual humility ‘is relational as it involves not only a single person’s beliefs and awareness but a focus on… others.’ Some of us may have come a long way from this way of thinking and living.

Mr. Bhagwat’s comments are a call for reorientation.

Coal politics heats up in Telangana

B. Chandrashekhar

Parties are debating the implications of privatising coal mining in the region

The 10th round of the Commercial Coal Blocks auction, initiated by the Ministry of Coal on June 21 to privatise 67 blocks across eight States, includes the Shravanapalli coal block in Telangana’s Mandamarri mandal. Estimated to contain approximately 120 million tonnes of coal, this auction has sparked a fresh round of political debate among the State’s major parties.

The Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) opposes the auction of coal blocks in Telangana, arguing that the State government, should allocate coal mines through nomination. However, the argument has not gone down well with the Union governments. The auction was mooted by the UPA-II government in 2013 and subsequently pursued by two terms of the NDA government on the pretext of making India ‘atma nirbhar’ (self-reliant) in coal production as the country had been importing huge quantities of coal despite having reserves.

The auction of coal blocks is intended to allow private companies to take up mining after successful bidding and exploit the mineral on a commercial basis by offering a percentage value of coal sold to the government. The successful bidders will get leasing rights from the State governments.

Coal mining in Telangana dates back 140 years, with the establishment of the Hyderabad (Deccan) Company Ltd in England in 1886 initiating coal extraction. Later, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) was established in 1920 and the majority stake (holding) in it was purchased by Hyderabad in 1945. It continued to be a wholly-owned State public sector undertaking until 1960 when the then erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government transferred a 49% stake to the Centre for mobilising funds for the expansion of coal mining.

Despite occasional losses, SCCL, a profitable State PSU, has extracted approximately 1,753 million tonnes of coal from underground and opencast mines by the end of the 2023-24 fiscal year.

Telangana has a total of 82 coal blocks with over 3,000 million tonnes coal reserves and of them only 39 are with Singareni and one with TG-Genco.

The Centre has identified four coal blocks for auction in Telangana— Koyagudem, Sattupalli Block-3, Shravanapalli Block-3 and Kalyanakhani Block-6 — to begin with. The Koyagudem block had received only one bid and as a result it was not allotted. The other three mines too were offered in the auction in the past but there were no bidders. This time around, the Coal Ministry has listed Shravanapalli again.

The previous BRS government had instructed the SCCL management not to participate in the coal blocks auction, protesting the Centre’s policy of allotment of coal blocks only through tenders. It is not clear whether the incumbent Congress government would follow the same. The BRS had written to the Centre and Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the allotment of coal blocks to Singareni on a nomination basis and the then-Pradesh Congress Committee president, A. Revanth Reddy, present Chief Minister, also did the same.

Working president of BRS, K.T. Rama Rao, has alleged that the Centre was conspiring to privatise SCCL by divesting its stake in the company by regularly denying coal block allocations until the company incurs losses. “Now that its key partners TDP and Jana Sena have won 18 seats, it could go slow. In Telangana, people have given 8 seats each to the BJP and the Congress party but they too have colluded in the matter of coal blocks’ auction”, he said.

The BRS’ argument for allotment of coal blocks to Singareni has ample ground as the Centre had allotted two lignite blocks each in Odisha and Tamil Nadu and five coal blocks in Gujarat to State public sector companies due to pressure from the State governments or parties.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has faulted the previous BRS government and criticised it for handing over a coal block allotted to TG-Genco to a private company. The BJP leaders are arguing that the auction was to improve revenue through royalty to the State government. Irrespective of the parties blaming each other, it is to be seen whether they could stop Telangana’s coal mines from falling into the hands of private companies and secure mine allocations for Singareni through nomination. This is a million dollar question for now.

Edible oil adulterated with used motor oil

New Delhi, July 3: An all-India sample survey conducted by Consumer Council of India has revealed that used motor oil is being utilised for adulteration with edible oils, hair oils etc, after being refined.

On the basis of this finding, the Consumer Council has written to the Ministry of Petroleum and Chemicals to take steps to check this practice which poses a serious health hazard.

The survey covered nearly 250 petrol stations where cars are also serviced. It was found that most of these service stations sold the used motor oil drained from cars during service, to the highest bidder who refined it at a hideout and sold it for adulteration with edible oils and hair oils of popular brands.

In Madras, 40 service stations were surveyed which were found to sell 2,500 litres of waste oil every day. In Bangalore, 15 service stations were surveyed which sold 1,000 litres per day. The largest daily sale of 4,000 litres of used oil was reported from Calcutta where 50 service stations were surveyed.

The Consumer Council, which has as its chairman the Union Deputy Minister for Labour, Mr. Balgovind Varma, has also referred to the Monopolies and Restrictive Trade Practices Commission about 100 cases where retail traders insist on consumers buying goods they do not need, as a condition for making available essential items to them.

The retailers are reported to have passed on the blame to manufacturers’ representatives and wholesale distributors who refuse to supply the retailer essential articles unless they buy non-salable items too.

Hungarian loan in London.

London, July 2: The London portion of the big loan to assist in rehabilitating Hungary amounting to €7,902,000 in 7½ per cent, sterling bonds at 88 and redeemable in 1934-44 was issued to-day. The lists closed at 11:30 in the morning. This is about 70 per cent of the loan, the balance of which is being divided between various other countries. The New York portion of 7,500,000 dollars was issued simultaneously with the London portion.

An overview of the French elections

Joan Sony Cherian

Why did French President Emmanuel Macron decide to dissolve parliament and call for snap elections? How did the far-right National Rally become so popular? How are the two rounds of elections conducted in France? Why have left-wing parties also formed a bloc?

A polarised nation: People hold up a sign which reads “All anti-fascists” as a protest against the National Rally party, following partial results in the first round of the elections at the Place de la Republique in Paris, France on June 30. REUTERSFABRIZIO BENSCH

The story so far:

The first phase of the French elections conducted on June 30, after President Emmanuel Macron’s sudden decision to dissolve parliament, has placed the far-right National Rally (RN) and its allies in the lead with a 33% vote share. The New Popular Front, a left-wing coalition, came second with 28%, while Mr. Macron’s centrist bloc got only 20.7% of the vote share. The second phase will be held on July 7.

Why elections now?

On June 9, Mr. Macron stated that he was dissolving parliament, three years too soon, observing that “France needs a clear majority if it is to act in serenity and harmony”. This announcement came after his bloc’s devastating defeat at the hands of the RN in the European Parliament elections. While the decision came as a shock to most of his party members and allies, Marine Le Pen, the RN leader, welcomed the decision, claiming, “we’re ready for it”.

Experts say Mr. Macron’s decision was an attempt to stop the rise of the RN. His gamble was that the French public, faced with the choice of having a far-right party in power, would consolidate against the right-wing wave. However, if that was indeed the reasoning, it seems as if Mr. Macron placed the wrong bet. Almost all opinion polls by major outlets were predicting a lead for the RN (but short of an absolute majority), while Mr. Macron’s approval ratings hit rock-bottom to 36%, as per a Toluna-Harris Interactive poll.

The sudden call for elections and the high stakes involved in the race has energised the electorate, with the Interior Ministry stating that 59.4% of registered voters had cast a ballot as of 5 p.m. on June 30, as compared to the 39.4% at the same time two years ago.

How are elections in France conducted?

There are 577 seats in the French parliament, which include 13 overseas districts and 11 constituencies that represent French citizens abroad. So to hold an absolute majority in parliament, a party needs 289 seats.

The first phase of the elections is equivalent to a qualifying round wherein candidates must at least get 12.5% of locally registered votes in order to stay in the race and not get eliminated. If a candidate gets more than half of the total votes cast in the first round itself, they will automatically win. If not, candidates who have met the qualifying criteria will move on to the second phase. At this stage of the elections, ‘horse-trading’ is a common practice wherein parties form blocs among themselves and drop candidates in constituencies which may split the vote and favour a rival party/alliance.

The 2024 snap elections are mainly a three-way battle between the RN and its allies, the New Popular Front, the left-wing coalition which include the Socialists, the Greens, the Communists and France Unbowed, and Ensemble, which is Mr. Macron’s bloc.

What is at stake?

The RN, founded as the National Front (FN), was established by Ms. Le Pen’s father, Jean Marie Le Pen. The FN was an offshoot of a fascist organisation created as a reaction against the Algerian war, the formation of the Fifth French republic and the protests of May 1968 in France. However, under Ms. Le Pen, the party has undergone a significant rebranding wherein she has sought to whitewash the party’s fascist roots as well as her father’s Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. By changing the name of the party from FN to RN, Ms. Le Pen also softened the organisation’s once hardcore policies such as leaving the EU and opting out of the euro, the region’s currency. Additionally, ever since the Russia-Ukraine war and the subsequent energy crisis, the party has actively distanced itself from Russian President Vladimir Putin with whom Ms. Le Pen once kept close ties.

However, in other aspects, the RN is as far-right as it always was. The policy of ‘national priority’, which the RN espouses, gives French citizens the first choice when it comes to social housing, employment and social benefits — a scheme which goes against the French Constitution. Similarly, the RN is completely opposed to immigration. It calls for the deportation of all ‘illegal’ immigrants and strict border controls, and characterises immigrants as destroying the ‘European way of life’. The party has also promised to abolish citizenship by birth to children born to parents of foreign descent.

Thus, the RN has risen to popularity within the French republic due to fears of culture clashes, a cost-of-living crisis and Mr. Macron’s unpopular policies such as increasing the age of retirement. It increased its seat share in the French parliament from seven to 89 in 2022 and now hopes for it to jump as high as anywhere between 240 to 300 seats. Moreover, the party has also been able to tap into the electorate in the provincial towns and villages of southern France, mostly composed of blue-collar workers who have often felt neglected by the political elites of Paris.

Mr. Macron’s political gamble could potentially lead to France being ruled by a far-right party for the first time since the end of the Second World War. Already there have been reports of a rise in racist attacks, along with anti-far-right protests in many parts of Paris on June 30, some of which ended in violence and arson. The political uncertainty has stoked fear in immigrants and minority communities, particularly among Muslim groups who have often been attacked by the RN.

What happens next?

As the date for registering the final list of candidates who will be contesting from various constituencies is over, more than 200 candidates from the centre and left alliances have dropped out of the race in order to consolidate votes against the RN.

The sudden formation of the New Popular front (a reference to the 1936 Popular Front where Socialists and Communists allied against far-right rioters), is part of a practice known as the “republican front”, wherein centrist and left parties’ team up to keep right-wing parties out of power. However, whether the ‘front’ will hold this time is questionable, especially considering the presence of leftist leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon, a controversial figure who was accused of anti-Semitism by his rivals.

The president of the RN and its Prime Ministerial candidate, Jordan Bardella, has stated that he won’t enter into an alliance with any of the other blocs. He said he didn’t want to be the “President’s assistant” and that he would rather be a ‘cohabitation Prime Minister’ as accorded by the French Constitution. A cohabitation is where the President is part of one party and Parliament is ruled by a party not of the President’s. Here, domestic policy is governed by the Prime Minister and his Cabinet while defence and foreign policy are handled by the President’s office. Mr. Bardella, like his patron Ms. Le Pen, promises that he would prioritise French citizens and bring more purchasing power into their hands by reducing VAT on essential products such as fuel, food, etc.

The last time a snap election was called was in 1997, when centre-right President Jacques Chirac dissolved the National Assembly to consolidate his party’s dominance after a slew of unpopular policies surrounding fiscal austerity. However, his gamble backfired as a new left-wing government came to power inadvertently entering him into a cohabitation alliance. By next week, one would know whether Mr. Macron’s decision will also go the same way, and whether his party will be, as Ms. Le Pen stated, “wiped out” by the RN.

Till Russia do us part? NATO at 75, an enduring alliance

Shoumojit Banerjee

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation came into being on April 4, 1949. Writers explain the complex structure of this alliance, after it began life as the ‘Atlantic Alliance’. After NATO’s failures in Afghanistan, Russia’s aggression has given new momentum to the alliance, making it feel relevant

Going strong: Flags flutter as the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting takes place at the Alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, Belgium on April 4, 2023. REUTERSJohanna Geron

In Gen. Sir John Hackett’s terrifying alternate fiction, The Third World War (1978), which describes a world locked in nuclear conflict, a deliberate provocation against the NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organization) powers in Europe causes WWIII. Though NATO wins the war, it’s a pyrrhic victory.

In H.G. Wells mould, The Third World War was a ‘Shape of Things to Come’ for the nuclear age, and leagues apart from dreary military publications on NATO, and an exciting way to understand the complex structures of this alliance, which turned 75 this year since its formation on April 4, 1949.

NATO began life as the ‘Atlantic Alliance’ in 1949 with 12 states including the U.S. and Canada, as well as the U.K., France, Belgium among others in Europe as its founding members with the aim to deter Soviet Union expansion under Stalin (NATO today has 31 members). U.S. President Harry Truman’s administration feared that the dictator wanted to expand his empire as Stalin’s iron fist fell on countries in eastern and central Europe ‘liberated’ by the Red Army from Nazi Germany where puppet Communist regimes were installed following the Second World War.

NATO’s purpose was encapsulated in a famous quip attributed to the alliance’s first secretary general, Baron Hastings ‘Pug’ Ismay, who described it thus: “to keep the Soviet Union out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.”

In Deterring Armageddon, a sweeping biography of NATO, Peter Apps notes that the world’s longest military alliance has outlasted its historic rival, the ancient Athenian-dominated Delian League, formed against the Persians in 478 BC and dissolved 74 years later following the end of the Peloponnesian War in 404 BC.

Eye on minutiae

In fluid prose, Apps brings to life personalities dimmed by the march of history and turns the spotlight on obscure diplomatic details. For instance, a March 1954 proposal by the Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov to Politburo honchos Georgy Malenkov and Nikita Khrushchev urged the Soviet Union to take diplomatic and political initiative by applying for NATO membership!

The book is full of choice anecdotes and apercus: Apps wryly notes that for Dwight D. Eisenhower, the supreme military command of NATO provided a welcome escape from the boredom of peacetime university administration.

The third and fourth week of June 1948 saw a series of momentous events that directly lent impetus to the formation and growth of NATO. After the Western Allies introduced the new German currency, the Deutsche Mark (DM), in the British, French and American zones, Stalin cut off road and rail access to the western sector of Berlin on June 24, marking the start of the Berlin blockade. This in turn led to the incredible Berlin airlift (June 26) which saw Allied airplanes supplying Berliners with essentials (from foodstuffs to coal) for an incredible 323 days.

Yet, relations between the Western European powers and America have been riven by tensions, right from the formation of NATO.

The launch of NATO

In a splendid chapter in The Atlantic and its Enemies (2010), maverick historian Norman Stone charts the formation of the NATO system. As Stone says, while there had already been a military alliance between the British and the French in the Treaty of Dunkirk in 1947, it was marked by distrust of the Americans.

It was the ratcheting Soviet threat beginning with the Soviet-backed Communist coup in Czechoslovakia in February 1948 that saw a ‘Brussels Pact’ being formed the very next month. This pact brought in the Low countries with a committee of defence ministers and staff under the British war hero, Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery.

The stage was set for the creation of the Atlantic Alliance as “old wartime alliances came to life,” says Stone. A key point, as the edifice for future NATO coordination between countries was built upon the coordination plans laid by Eisenhower and his military colleagues from Allied countries during his time as Supreme Allied Commander during D-Day (the start of the liberation of Europe from Nazi Germany) in the Second World War.

Secret armies

Despite all the grand rhetoric about democratic ideology, NATO was not made up of democratic states — Salazar’s Portugal was part of it. Soviet skullduggery in Central Europe was matched by NATO and the CIA in the form of secret ‘stay-behind armies’ (the Gladio network, consisting of military operatives, and involving the mafia with tacit support from the Vatican) which attempted to undermine left-wing regimes.

What then makes NATO different from other alliances of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries, which were rife with mutual suspicion and rank opportunism?

For analytical clarity, Wallace Thies’ Why NATO Endures (2009) is a must-read. The book debunks the frequent ‘NATO-in-crisis’ myth as well. Thies observes that the absence of divisive ideological issues was reflected in the conduct of 18th century wars, which were mainly about balance of power. This meant every state could be considered a potential ally, while a parity in power ensured that no one had a decisive edge. Moreover, the absence of any bonds of affinity or affection between allies meant that alliance members generally had few qualms about sacrificing their partners’ interests for the sake of their own.

Two diplomatic classics offer a template to understand pre-NATO alliances: Walter L. Dorn’s 1940 work Competition for Empire offers the example of England and Austria during the War of the Austrian Succession (1740-48), characterising them as ‘‘unsuitable allies.” The iconoclastic A.J. P. Taylor’s The Struggle for Mastery in Europe (1954) is splendid on the cynical motives of the alliances formed between 1848 to the end of World War I in 1918. Taylor observes the disastrous coordination between the ‘Triple Entente’ countries (the U.K., France, and Russia) before the start of the 1914 war. “From the moment the war opened, the French, uncertain that Russia really would or could perform what she had promised, began exhorting their ally to hurry [on to Berlin],” quips Taylor, in one of his classic aphorisms.

According to Thies, unlike the members of pre-1939 alliances, who often sought to keep each other in the dark regarding their capabilities and their intentions, NATO members opted for integration and transparency in their defence efforts to a degree never before achieved in the history of alliances.

And yet, the alliance survived. After NATO’s failures in Afghanistan, Russia’s aggression has given new momentum to the alliance, making it feel relevant.

A quiz on the 248th anniversary of the adoption of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

V.V. Ramanan

Visual question: Name this only U.S. President to be born on July 4 (in 1872).Wikimedia Commons

Question 1

Why does the the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia ring 13 times every July 4?

Question 2

What distinction does Edward Rutledge have among the 56 signatories of the historic document?

Question 3

Who was the English monarch when the colonies established independence and in which European capital was the treaty, that recognised American independence, signed on September 3, 1783?

Question 4

One of the highlights of the Independence Day is the spectacular fireworks display in New York. Which famous department stores has sponsored it since 1976?

Question 5

On which world-famous U.S. monument can one see the engraving ‘July IV MDCCLXXVI” (July 4, 1776)’ on a tablet?

Question 6

He is said to have remarked after doing what he did: “The British ministry can read that name without spectacles; let them double their reward.”. Who and what did he do?

Question 7

In which year was July 4 declared a national holiday in the U.S.?

Questions and Answers to the previous day’s daily quiz: 1. This movie was directed by Robert Zemeckis and starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly. Ans: Back to the Future

2. This American singer and songwriter died on July 3, 1971. Ans: Jim Morrison

3. This musician who was the founder of the band ‘The Rolling Stones’ was found dead in 1969. Ans: Brian Jones

4. This American actor is known for action and sci-fi films, where he often performs his own risky stunts. Ans: Tom Cruise

5. This singer retired his stage persona Ziggy Stardust on the last day of the Ziggy Stardust Tour. Ans: David Bowie

Visual: This writer was born in 1883 and this is the term used to describe absurd situations like those depicted in his writing. Ans: Franz Kafka; Kafkaesque

Early Birds: Prashant Nain| Seema Das| Ranjeet Kumar| Akshay Kumar Khanna| Eliza

Know your English

K. Subrahmanian

1 of 2

2 of 2

“Words are interesting. Each word has a story to tell if one has the patience to listen. Some words which had a good meaning once have a bad meaning now. Like human beings, words also undergo changes either for better or for worse. Here are some examples:

Silly: If Churchill met King Alfred and if the latter said that Churchill appeared very silly, he would be paying a compliment to Churchill. Churchill would be furious, though. In Old English silly meant, ‘happy, blessed.’ It came to be associated more and more with the clergy who were supposed to contemplate on God much of the time. They were supposed to be ‘silly,’ ‘happy’ for this reason. When you think of God much of the time, others would say that you do not know much about this world. They would say that you do not know much about the ways of the world. Hence, in course of time, ‘silly’ came to mean ‘simple’, ‘ingenuous;’ eventually, the modern meaning ‘foolish.’ What a fall for ‘silly.’ Even today some silly people may be really happy, some happy people really silly. We have an instance of degeneration of meaning in the word ‘silly.’

‘Villain’ originally meant ‘a worker in a farm.’ It is derived from Latin ‘Villa’, a farmhouse. ‘Knave’ originally meant ‘boy.’ The world ‘knabe’ in German means ‘boy.’ The original meaning of ‘cunning’ was ‘skilful;’ ‘counterfeit’ did not have any bad meaning when it was first used. It meant ‘imitation’, ‘portrait.’ ‘Lust’ originally meant ‘pleasure,’ ‘rash’ meant ‘active,’

Minister: In Latin ‘minister’ means ‘servant’. Originally, in English also, it meant the same. The old meaning is retained in the verb ‘to minister’ which means ‘to render service.’ Christ said that he had come ‘not to be ministered unto but to minister.’ ‘Minister’ has acquired an exalted status now. A minister is a head of a government department. Most ministers treat others like servants. They are the rajas, not ‘mantris.’ ‘Mantri’ in Sanskrit means ‘adviser,’ ‘councellor.’ The Chinese word ‘mandarin’ is from Sanskrit ‘mantri.’ A mandarin is a Chinese official, a bureaucrat, a respected person. The Chinese had nine ranks of mandarins and each was distinguishable by the button on their cap: ruby; coral; sapphire; an opaque blue stone; crystal; an opaque white shell; wrought gold; plain gold; and silver.

In ‘minister’ we have an example of exaltation of meaning. Some more words of this kind: ‘Nice’ originally meant ‘foolish,’ marshal, ‘a house-boy,’. Chamberlain, ‘servant in charge of the chambers,’ lord ‘bread-keeper,’ lady, ‘bread-kneader.’ ‘Knead’ means ‘to press and stretch bread dough with the hands to form a firm, smooth paste.’ The ‘k’ is silent and ‘ea’ is pronounced like the ‘ea’ in ‘east.’

Published in The Hindu on July 28, 1992.

Business

- ‘States GST kitty to rise 13-14% this FY’

- India faces high debt but sustainable for now: NCAER

- Star Health eyes doubling GWP to ₹30,000 cr. by FY28

- JSW Infra unit to develop cargo berth at Tuticorin Port

- Rating upgrade rests on fiscal deficit: S&P

- Franklin Templeton plans re-entry into fixed-income market

- Federal Bank records 20% loan growth in first quarter

- ‘Domestic rubber crunch hitting tyre makers hard’

- ‘Equity returns in next 3 years won’t be good as last three’

- CIEL HR Group turned a net profit of ₹6-crore in 2023-24

- ACME Solar Holdings files papers for ₹3,000-crore IPO

‘States GST kitty to rise 13-14% this FY’

The Hindu Bureau

NEW DELHI

CRISIL projects higher revenue growth of 8%-10% for India’s top 18 States in 2024-25 , from a 7.5% growth last fiscal; GST collections and tax devolutions from the Centre constitute about 50% of aggregate State revenues, as per the rating agency

Money spinners: Sales tax collections from petro products, which constitute 7-8% of revenue, were projected to grow 3-4%. File photo

Revenues of India’s top 18 States are likely to grow by 8%-10% this fiscal year to about ₹38 lakh crore, accelerating from a 7.5% uptick in 2023-24, largely aided by a rise in collections from the Goods and Services Tax (GST), CRISIL said.

These States, which include Maharashtra, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal and Rajasthan, account for more than 90% of India’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP). GST collections and tax devolutions from the Centre constitute about 50% of aggregate State revenues.

“The biggest impetus to revenue growth will continue to come from aggregate State GST collections that, after growing approximately 18% last fiscal, will climb 13%-14% in the current fiscal,” said Anuj Sethi, senior director at CRISIL Ratings.

CRISIL reckoned that central tax devolutions to States would grow about 12%-13% this year, from about 19% in FY24. “While the proportion of the devolution is determined by the Finance Commission, the overall kitty is linked to gross tax collections by the Centre. This pool should grow at a healthy pace this fiscal as well, supported by rising income tax and GST collections,” it said.

States’ own revenues from taxes on liquor and petroleum were seen stable, with a marginal uptick in growth this year. Taxes on liquor, which account for 10% of revenue, were estimated to rise 5%-7% from 5.8% growth last year.

Sales tax collections from petroleum products, which constitute 7%-8% of States’ revenue, were projected to grow 3%-4%, compared with a 1.4% rise in FY24. After a flattish performance last fiscal, the petroleum sales tax kitty would rise modestly due to higher fuel consumption and a largely unchanged tax structure, reckoned Aditya Jhaver, director, CRISIL Ratings.

India faces high debt but sustainable for now: NCAER

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

At almost 82% of GDP, India’s public debt is very high, but the country doesn’t face debt-sustainability issue on account of high growth rate and higher share of local-currency debt, NCAER Director General Poonam Gupta said.

Participating in an event organised by NCAER, Ms. Gupta said the high debt levels are sustainable for now because of higher real or nominal GDP and as most of the debt is held in rupee.

The States together hold one-third of the total debt, and in the ‘business-as- usual’ situation, their debt levels will only increase further over the next five years, Ms. Gupta said.

“In a handful of States like Punjab and Himachal Pradesh, Debt-to-GDP ratio could increase by 50%,” Ms. Gupta said, adding the States, including the most indebted ones, also don’t face sustainability issue as they have implicit guarantee of the Centre and as States cannot hold debt in foreign currency or floating rate.

Drawing a comparison between Punjab, one of the most indebted Sates, and Gujarat, with low debt, she pointed out the most indebted States are ironically better off, as the interest rate is similar for all and in fact, more indebted States hold longer maturity and pay little premium.

‘Need better deal’

“More prudent States need a better deal. They are de facto subsidising the more indebted States.

“The Finance Commission may reward such States for their fiscal prudence, and incentivise the profligate ones to become fiscally more responsible,” Ms. Gupta added.

Star Health eyes doubling GWP to ₹30,000 cr. by FY28

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI

Anand Roy

Star Health and Allied Insurance Co Ltd., has drawn up plans to double its Gross Written Premium (GWP) to about ₹30,000 crore over four years.

“We are aspiring to grow faster than the industry,” said MD and CEO Anand Roy at a press meet.

In FY24, the standalone private insurer recorded a GWP of ₹15,254 crore and net profit of ₹845 crore.

On Wednesday, the private insurer unveiled 100% cashless home health care services in 50 cities across India to avail treatment for infectious ailments. For this, the company has tied up with leading providers such as Care24, Portea, CallHealth and Athulya Homecare to offer in-home medical care.

Customers can now avail treatment for infectious ailments including fever, acute gastroenteritis, and urinary tract infection.

JSW Infra unit to develop cargo berth at Tuticorin Port

The Hindu Bureau

Mumbai

JSW Tuticorin Multipurpose Terminal Private Ltd., a subsidiary of JSW Infrastructure, said it had entered into a concession agreement with V.O. Chidambaranar Port Authority in Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu, for the development and mechanisation of North Cargo Berth-III (NCB-III) for handling dry bulk cargo.

The agreement is on a Design, Build, Finance, Operate and Transfer (DBFOT) basis.

The company will develop and mechanise a new seven MTPA cargo berth at the V.O. Chidambaranar Port, it said.

JSW Infra said in a statement that it would leverage its operational capabilities of handling bulk products and raise its cargo share on the east coast.

“The asset provides access to the rich hinterland with a diverse cargo profile including dry bulk, coal, limestone, gypsum, rock phosphate and copper concentrate,” the firm said.

Rating upgrade rests on fiscal deficit: S&P

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

A sovereign rating upgrade for India in the next 24 months is possible if the Central government is able to prudently manage its finances and bring down fiscal deficit to 4% of GDP, an S&P Global Ratings official said on Wednesday.

S&P Global Ratings Director, Sovereign Ratings, YeeFarn Phua said the trigger for upgrade would be general government (Centre + States) deficit falling below 7% of the GDP, and a lot of this would have to be driven by the Centre.

“If the Central government is able to bring down fiscal deficit to 4% of the GDP, we will consider a rating upgrade over the next 24 months,” Ms. Phua said.

The Centre estimates to bring down fiscal deficit to 5.1% of the GDP in the current fiscal from 5.63% in 2023-24. As per fiscal consolidation roadmap, the deficit will be brought down to 4.5% by 2025-26.

S&P had in May upgraded outlook for India to positive, from stable, while retaining the rating at ‘BBB-’.

Franklin Templeton plans re-entry into fixed-income market

Suresh P. Iyengar

Mumbai

Franklin Templeton Asset Management plans to re-enter the fixed income space after abruptly stopping six debt schemes with assets of ₹20,215 crore on account of a liquidity crisis in the debt market amid 2020 pandemic breakout.

Avinash Satwalekar, President of Franklin Templeton-India, said the fund house will enter the fixed-income market in the next three months, and the initial process is underway.

“We have already appointed a fixed market expert who is working on the strategy for our re-entry in managing debt funds,” he added.

The fund house earlier appointed Rahul Goswami as chief investment officer and MD – Fixed Income.

“It is the right to have debt investment as part of portfolio diversification for investors with over three years investment horizon,” Mr. Satwalekar said on the sidelines of an event to unveil Franklin India Multi-cap new fund offer.

(The writer is with The Hindu businessline)

Federal Bank records 20% loan growth in first quarter

Private sector lender Federal Bank on Wednesday reported a 20% growth in advances at ₹2,24,139 crore for the first quarter ended June 30. Total advances stood at ₹1,86,593 crore at the end of the first quarter of the last financial year, Federal Bank said in a regulatory filing. As per internal classification, retail credit book grew by 25% and wholesale credit book grew by 14%, the lender said, adding, retail-to-wholesale ratio stood at 56:44 respectively. pti

‘Domestic rubber crunch hitting tyre makers hard’

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

The Automotive Tyre Manufacturers’ Association (ATMA) on Wednesday said its members were witnessing a ‘severe crunch’ in availability of domestic natural rubber, which might disrupt production unless supply issues of the raw material were addressed.

The association also expressed apprehension that “some sections of natural rubber producing interests or trade were withholding the material in anticipation of an increase in natural rubber prices, worsening the availability.”

‘Equity returns in next 3 years won’t be good as last three’

Press Trust of India

Mumbai

Equity market returns for investors in the next three years will not be as good as the last 3 years, a senior Franklin Templeton MF official said on Wednesday.

Chief investment officer for emerging markets equity R. Janakiraman, however, told reporters that the returns will be “respectable” and outperform other asset classes.

The comments come at a time when concerns are being raised about the high valuations in the equity market.

CIEL HR Group turned a net profit of ₹6-crore in 2023-24

CIEL HR Group has posted a standalone net profit of ₹6 crore for 2023-24, against a net loss of ₹2.7 crore in the year-earlier period. The HR solutions provider logged ₹1,042 crore in revenue from operations, against ₹767 crore through a mix of organic and inorganic growth. “This accomplishment underscores our sustained growth trajectory driven by a strategic mix of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions,” executive chairperson K. Pandiarajan said.

ACME Solar Holdings files papers for ₹3,000-crore IPO

Renewable energy firm ACME Solar Holdings Ltd. has filed preliminary papers with SEBI to raise ₹3,000 crore through an initial public offering (IPO). The proposed IPO is a combination of fresh issue of shares worth ₹2,000 crore and an offer for sale (OFS) of shares valued ₹1,000 crore by ACME Cleantech Solutions, according to the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP). The offer also includes a reservation for a subscription by eligible employees. pti

Foreign

- Labour in lead, Tories vow to fight as U.K. goes to elections

- Brazil held by Colombia, to face Uruguay in quarterfinal

- Sunak’s performance has been disappointing: Rajesh Agrawal

- Taliban, U.S. envoys discuss the release of 2 American prisoners

- Second round of National motorcycling race from today

- ‘U.K.’s migration policy has to change to match the times‘

- Russia's Dagestan bans niqab over 'threats' following recent attacks

- Russia claims to have captured key Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar

- Japan's top court rules forced sterilisation law unconstitutional

- Hurricane Beryl kills seven as it churns towards Jamaica

Labour in lead, Tories vow to fight as U.K. goes to elections

Sriram Lakshman

London

Labour enjoys an approximately 20-point lead over the Conservatives in polling ; its leader Keir Starmer, who has promised ‘change’ to the voters, accuses Tories of dissuading people from voting, with talk of a foregone conclusion; Prime Minister Sunak says he is ‘fighting hard for every vote’; Liberal Democrats are expected to finish third; rightwing Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, is also in the fray

Last-ditch effort: Rishi Sunak has been trying to reach out to workers by visiting warehouses and supermarkets.PTI-

As the last full day of campaigning dawned, the U.K.’s Conservative Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, faced with the prospect of a crushing defeat at the hands of the opposition Labour Party, said he was still “fighting hard for every vote”.

Earlier in the day, one of his Cabinet colleagues, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride, had told the BBC that the Conservatives should focus on the kind of opposition party they would become, with Labour on its way to getting the “largest majority that this country has ever seen”. On July 2, former Home Secretary Suella Braverman had said the election was “over”.

“What Mel was doing was warning of what a very large Labour majority, unchecked, would mean for people,” Mr. Sunak said on Wednesday, in an interview with ITV, as the six-week campaign began drawing to a close.

Although the U.K. has had the highest tax burden in 70 years under the Conservative government, the last stretch of the Conservative campaign has focused on warning Britons that Labour as a party of taxation, should not be given such a large majority. “24 hours to top the tax-raising Labour supermajority,” Mr. Sunak said on X.

Mr. Sunak, the fifth Prime Minister in his party’s 14-year rule, and at risk of losing his own seat in Yorkshire, has been trying to reach out to workers by visiting warehouses and supermarkets in the last few days of the campaign.

Sensitive issues

Britons have struggled with a cost of living crisis, high taxes and crumbling public services, including long waits to see doctors in the National Health Service. Immigration and borders are also a politically sensitive issue with some parties blaming migrants for the drain on public services. Both the major parties have promised checks on migration, with the Conservatives also promising an annual cap on legal migration.

Labour has consistently enjoyed an approximately 20-point lead over the Tories in polling. With support for the Conservative Party at a low, Mr. Sunak appeared to cut his losses when he surprised many by calling an election six weeks ago, months ahead of when it was expected.

A July 2 Survation poll predicted just 64 seats for the Tories (down from 365 in 2019) , with a record 484 for Labour. The Labour party, by some projections, is set to outdo its 1997 landslide victory when, under Tony Blair, it won 418 seats to defeat the John Major-led Tory government.

Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is likely to become Britain’s Prime Minister on Friday, had a hectic day of campaigning planned, that began in Wales, and ended in England, with stops in Scotland en route.

Standing beside the First Minister of Wales, Vaughn Gething, Mr. Starmer talked about the “double benefit” of having two Labour leaders working together. “When we saw what might happen with Tata Steel in the latest development, our first act was to get in touch with each other, within minutes.”

The Labour leader referred to Mr. Sunak allegedly being too busy to take a phone call from the former First Minister Mark Drakeford, following Tata Steel’s announcement in January 2024 that it would be installing an electric arc furnace, to replace its blast furnaces — a move that would reportedly make close to 3,000 jobs redundant.

During his speech, he emphasised Labour’s central campaign theme: ‘change’, as he warned against complacency. “We have to say over and over again, ‘Change only happens if you vote for it,’” Mr. Starmer said in South Wales, home to Port Talbot steelworks, owned by Tata Steel.

Responding to Mr. Stride and others, Mr. Starmer said the Conservatives were attempting to “dissuade” people from voting.

It’s not just about Labour and the Conservatives. The Lib Dems (Liberal Democrats) and Scottish National Party (SNP) and others are also in the fray. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, whose campaign has included stunts — from bungee jumping to going down water slides — said on Wednesday that coming in at third place would be “nirvana” as it would give his party the chance to ask questions in Parliament each week during Prime Minister’s Questions.

Also in the fray is Reform UK, right of the Conservative Party and led by Nigel Farage, who was the de facto leader of the U.K.’s Brexit movement. Reform is projected to win a handful of seats (up to 7), eating into the Conservative’s vote share.

This election could also gain significance for another first: the largest share of ethnic minorities in parliament by some accounts, including several of Indian descent or born in India. Some 20-30 more MPs are likely to be ethnic minorities, according to an analysis by British Future, a think tank.

Brazil held by Colombia, to face Uruguay in quarterfinal

Agence France-Presse

Santa Clara

Just reward: Colombia looked more assured against Brazil and defender Munoz finishes off a slick move for the equaliser. Reuters

Colombia came from behind to grab a 1-1 draw with Brazil on Tuesday, ensuring its qualification to the Copa America quarterfinals as group winner.

An equaliser from Daniel Munoz in first half stoppage time was enough to earn Colombia a share of the spoils after Raphinha had fired Brazil into the lead with a sublime 12th-minute free-kick at Levi’s Stadium here.

The result means Colombia advances to the knockout rounds as winner of Group D, where it will face Group C runner-up Panama in Glendale, Arizona, on Saturday.

But Tuesday’s draw means Brazil will face a titanic showdown in Las Vegas on Saturday against archrival Uruguay, winner of Group D with a perfect record.

Brazil will head into the quarterfinals without Real Madrid star Vinicius Jr, who picked up his second yellow card of the tournament for a reckless early foul on James Rodriguez on Tuesday.

Colombia playmaker Rodriguez had alarm bells ringing amongst Brazil fans from the ensuing free-kick, just clipping the top of the bar with goalkeeper Alisson beaten.

But although Colombia made the smoother start it was Brazil who took the lead after 12 minutes, with Raphinha curling a sensational free-kick into the top corner to make it 1-0.

Colombia however continued to threaten, Rodriguez volleying over the bar on the turn after 16 minutes.

Rodriguez thought he had set up Colombia’s equalier three minutes later, supplying a pinpoint cross from a free-kick on the right for Davinson Sanchez to home. The goal was ruled out for offside after a VAR review.

Colombia looked the more assured side throughout the first half and in stoppage time its slick play got its reward, with Crystal Palace wing back Munoz blasting home after being released by a superb pass from veteran forward Jhon Cordoba.

Colombia looked comfortable through the second half and should have wrapped up victory in the final minutes only for substitute Rafael Borre to shoot over from eight yards with the goal gaping.

In Tuesday’s other Group D game Costa Rica defeated Paraguay 2-1 in Austin to finish in third place.

The results:

Brazil 1 (Raphinha 12) drew with Colombia 1 (Munoz 45+2); Costa Rica 2 (Calvo 3, Alcocer 7) bt Paraguay 1 (Sosa 55).

Sunak’s performance has been disappointing: Rajesh Agrawal

Sriram Lakshman

London

Rajesh Agrawal, the Labour Party’s candidate in Leicester East, says issues around the economy, long waits for healthcare appointments and limited places in schools are some of the main issues facing his constituents, echoing some of the issues of concern across the U.K.

Madhya Pradesh-born Mr. Agrawal is one of several candidates born in India or with direct ties to India, running in the U.K.’s general election.

He was born to a school teacher and irrigation department worker and immigrated to the U.K. at the age of 24. Mr. Agrawal’s constituency, Leicester East, has been a destination of Indian-origin migrants over the decades.

In an interview with The Hindu, Mr. Agrawal, an entrepreneur, says there is peace in Leicester now, and the Hindu and Muslim communities are proactively engaged to maintain that. He adds that while it is a matter of pride that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is of Indian origin, his performance has been disappointing. “We are stuck in this very poor economy, which is growing extremely slowly. There are not enough well-paying jobs. People can’t get GP appointments, and hospital appointments.”

Mr. Agrawal says he has worked to forge ties between India and the U.K. as Deputy Mayor of London for Business.

(Scan QR code to read full interview)

Taliban, U.S. envoys discuss the release of 2 American prisoners

Associated Press

ISLAMABAD

The Taliban’s delegation to the third United Nations-led Doha meeting on increasing engagement with Afghanistan met with U.S. envoys on the sidelines and discussed the two Americans imprisoned in the central Asian country.

Zabihullah Mujahid told reporters in Kabul on Wednesday that the meeting aimed at “finding a solution.” He said: “During our meetings, we talked about the two American citizens who are in prison in Afghanistan,” adding “but they must accept Afghanistan’s conditions. We should free our prisoners in exchange for them.”

Special Representative Thomas West and Special Envoy Rina Amiri met directly with the Taliban, according to State Department spokesman Vedant Patel. Mr. West pressed for “the immediate and unconditional release of U.S. citizens unjustly detained in Afghanistan,” Mr. Patel said on Tuesday.

When prodded if there was any headway on the matter, Mr. Patel said the issue “was just raised.”

It was the first time that representatives of the Taliban attended the UN-sponsored meeting in Doha on Sunday and Monday that focused on increasing engagement with Afghanistan. However, a UN official said the gathering did not translate into a recognition of the Taliban government.

Second round of National motorcycling race from today

Sports Bureau

Chennai

The second round of the MRF MMSC FMSCI National motorcycle racing championships will commence at the Madras International Circuit, here on Thursday.

The weekend will see 18 races besides 10 qualifying and 11 practice sessions with over 100 riders from across India lining up on various grids.

Title sponsors MRF Tyres has decided to allocate slick tyres to the Pro-Stock 301-400cc Open category that should bring down the lap times.

Incidentally, the other premier class, the Pro-Stock 165cc Open has also greatly benefited from slick tyres in the past few seasons.

Two 17-year-old riders and TVS Racing team-mates, Sarthak Chavan and Chiranth Vishwanath have established themselves as the front-runners and pace-setters in both classes that contain very experienced riders who have been around for over a decade.

Set to dominate

Another 17-year-old, Abdul Basim, looks set to dominate the Novice (Stock 165cc) category, having won both the races in Round-1 ahead of much older riders.

‘U.K.’s migration policy has to change to match the times‘

Sriram Lakshman

London

U.K.-born Eric Sukumaran, who is running in the new London parliamentary constituency of Southgate and Wood Green on the Conservative Party ticket, says the U.K,’s migration policy should change to fit the times. “We are looking for productive members of our society. We are not anti-immigration, we are just anti uncontrolled immigration,” Mr. Sukumaran, an entrepreneur and consultant with the World Bank, told The Hindu in an interview, referring to the Conservative Party’s promise to put an annual cap on migration.

Mr. Sukumaran is a child of immigrants, has spent time in India as a child and speaks Malayalam.

(Scan QR code for full interview)

Russia’s Dagestan bans niqab over ‘threats’ following recent attacks

AFPHANDOUT

Russia’s Dagestan region on Wednesday issued a ban against the niqab in the Muslim-majority republic, citing security reasons after a recent attack against churches and synagogues. Last month, gunmen simultaneously attacked two churches, two synagogues and a police checkpoint in two cities in Dagestan, killing 22. afp

Russia claims to have captured key Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar

REUTERSInna Varenytsia

Russia said on Wednesday its forces had captured a district in the key hilltop town of Chasiv Yar near Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has been pressing for months. The town, in Ukraine's Donetsk region, has strategic importance and its capture could allow Russia to mount further offensives in the region. afp

Japan’s top court rules forced sterilisation law unconstitutional

AFPYuichi Yamazaki

Japan’s top court ruled that a defunct eugenics law under which thousands of people were forcibly sterilised between 1948 and 1996 was unconstitutional. The Supreme Court also ruled that a 20-year statute of limitations could not be applied, paving the way for compensation claims from victims after years of legal battles. afp

Hurricane Beryl kills seven as it churns towards Jamaica

APRICARDO HERNANDEZ

Hurricane Beryl churned towards Jamaica on Wednesday, with forecasters warning of potentially deadly winds and storm surge, after at least seven were killed and widespread destruction. The powerful hurricane was expected to pass over Jamaica around midday as a "life-threatening" Category 4 storm. afp

Sports

- It’s coming home: World champion to have a rousing parade in Mumbai today

- Turkiye through to the quarterfinals after thrilling win over Austria

- Gauff and Alcaraz advance; Fognini shocks Ruud

- India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match slotted for March 1

- Top results

- Kroos says Germany-Spain quarterfinal won’t be his last game

- Murray to partner Raducanu for mixed doubles at Wimbledon

- Djokovic seeks snooker tips from ‘Rocket Ronnie’

- Cavendish makes Tour de France history with 35th stage win

- Gill’s India touches down in Zimbabwe for five-match T20I series

- Air India cancels flight to bring back cricketers

- Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji beating the odds to realise her Olympic dream

- Upbeat Tryon eager to catch up on lost time due to injury lay-off

- Around THE CITY

- TNCA under-14

- Vaidehi Chaudhari bows out in the first round in Thailand

- Pragg, Gukesh play out draws, tied for second with Firouzja

- Advani starts defence with two close wins

- Geoff Boycott reveals second cancer diagnosis

- Hardik becomes No. 1 all-rounder in T20Is

- Brazil to celebrate ‘King Pele Day’ every November 19

- Messi not included in Argentina’s Olympics squad

- Former high jump World champion Freitag found dead

- Abhay, Velavan get top billing in Asian doubles squash

- Engagements

- LiVE TELECAST

- Exhilarating Euros knocking it out of the park

It’s coming home: World champion to have a rousing parade in Mumbai today

Press Trust of India

Mumbai

There will be an open bus ride from Nariman Point to Wankhede Stadium after which the squad will be presented the prize money of ₹125 crore

1 of 2 All smiles: Rohit & Co. departed from hurricane-hit Barbados on a chartered flight hired by the BCCI.PTI

2 of 2

The T20 World Cup-winning Indian cricket team will take part in an open bus road show followed by a felicitation ceremony here at the Wankhede Stadium on Thursday.

AIC24WC

The Indian team departed from the Barbados Grantley Adams International Airport in a chartered flight (AIC24WC: Air India Champions 24 World Cup) on Wednesday and is expected to reach New Delhi early on Thursday morning.

“The team has left from Barbados on a special Air India flight hired by the BCCI.

“The Indian journalists who were stuck there (Barbados) are also coming on the same flight along with BCCI president (Roger Binny) and secretary (Jay Shah), who are looking after all the arrangements,” BCCI vice-president Rajeev Shukla said.

“The flight will land at Delhi airport at 6.00 a.m. The team will meet PM Narendra Modi at 11.00 a.m. at his residence. After this, the team will fly to Mumbai, where a ceremony has been organised.

“There will be a road show from Nariman Point in an open bus and later we will honour and present the players with the prize money of ₹125 crore as announced,” he added.

BCCI secretary Shah welcomed all fans to join the parade.

“Join us for the victory parade honouring Team India’s World Cup win! Head to Marine Drive and Wankhede Stadium on July 4th from 5:00 pm onwards to celebrate with us,” Shah posted on X.

India captain Rohit Sharma took to social media to welcome the fans.

“We want to enjoy this special moment with all of you.

“So let’s celebrate this win with a victory parade. It’s coming home,” Rohit posted on X.

Turkiye through to the quarterfinals after thrilling win over Austria

Agence France-Presse

Leipzig

1 of 2

2 of 2 Rising high: Demiral heads in Turkiye’s winner against Austria.Getty Images

Turkiye will face the Netherlands in the quarterfinals of Euro 2024 after winning a thriller with Austria 2-1 as both countries reached the last eight of a European Championship for the first time since 2008.

Unlikely hero

Merih Demiral was the unlikely hero for Turkiye, in soaking Leipzig, after bundling his team ahead with less than a minute on the clock and then thumping in the decisive header just before the hour mark.

Vincenzo Montella’s side, which was missing suspended captain Hakan Calhanoglu but once again backed by massive support at the Zentralstadion, will take on the Dutch in Berlin on Saturday after their comfortable 3-0 win over Romania earlier on Tuesday.

Turkiye was beaten 6-1 by Austria in March and Montella admitted he was hoping to get his own back for that embarrassing defeat.

“I denied it yesterday but today I can admit that Austria was the team I wanted so that I could get rid of that stain that as a coach I had on me,” said Montella.

Turkiye will again be able to count on its raucous fans in the German capital as it aims to replicate its run to the last four from 16 years ago.

That tournament was co-hosted by Austria, who played a full part in an engrossing match and on another day may have run out winner.

Against run of play

Ralf Rangnick’s side was on top for most of the match and in particular in the second half, when it pinned Turkiye back and conceded the second goal completely against the run of play.

Al-Ahli centre-back Demiral became the first European defender to score twice in the knockout stages of a major tournament since Lilian Thuram for France at the 1998 World Cup.

Michael Gregoritsch halved the deficit by forcing home Stefan Posch’s flick on at another corner shortly after Demiral took his international goal tally to four in 48 caps.

But Austria couldn’t capitalise on its dominance and went out after Christoph Baumgartner was denied a leveller in the final seconds of added time by an incredible Mert Gunok save.

The result: Austria 1 (Gregoritsch 66) lost to Turkiye 2 (Demiral 1, 59).

Gauff and Alcaraz advance; Fognini shocks Ruud

Associate Press

London

Achilles heel: Defeat left 25-year-old claycourt specialist Ruud still figuring out how to play his best on grass.REUTERSHannah McKay

Coco Gauff likes No. 1 Court at Wimbledon.

It's where she beat Venus Williams back in 2019 when Gauff made her Wimbledon debut at age 15.

On Wednesday, Gauff beat qualifier Anca Todoni 6-2, 6-1 to advance to the third round at the All England Club.

“This is the court where I first started here at Wimbledon. Court 1 is always a special place for me to play on,” Gauff said. The victory also allows the No. 2 seed to move another step away from last year's first-round exit.

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz trailed 6-5 in the first set before coming back to beat Alexsander Vukic 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2, setting up a third-round meeting with No. 29 Frances Tiafoe after the American eliminated Borna Coric 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-3.

When told by the on-court interviewer that Tiafoe said he's “coming after you,” the 21-year-old Spaniard replied with a smile: “I'm going for him.”

Fabio Fognini rolled back the years with a dazzling display to knock out eighth seed Casper Ruud 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-3.

The 37-year-old produced his trademark brand of languid shot-making to largely dominate Ruud on Court Two.

Defeat left 25-year-old claycourt specialist Ruud still figuring out how to play his best on grass while Fognini is into the third round at Wimbledon for the seventh time in his 14th visit, although he has never gone further than that.

In other results, four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka was eliminated in the second round by No. 19 Emma Navarro by a score of 6-4, 6-1.

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden made short work of the Netherlands’ Robin Haase and Sander Arends in the first round of the men’s doubles. Sumit Nagal and Dusan Lajovic, meanwhile, bowed out to Pedro Martinez and Jaume Munar.

India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match slotted for March 1

Press Trust of India

New Delhi

The Pakistan Cricket Board has slotted its Champions Trophy match against India in Lahore on March 1 next year but the BCCI is yet to give its consent to the tentative schedule, a senior ICC Board member said on Wednesday.

The tournament is slated from February 19 to March 9 with March 10 as Reserve Day.

India to play in Lahore

It is understood PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi, who was invited to watch the T20 World Cup final in Barbados, submitted a 15-match schedule with all of India’s games kept in Lahore for security and logistical reasons.

“The opening match will be held in Karachi with two semifinals in Karachi and Rawalpindi, final in Lahore. All India matches (including semifinal, if the team qualifies) in Lahore,” the source added.

India has been clubbed with Pakistan, Bangladesh and New Zealand in Group A. Group B comprises Australia, South Africa, England and Afghanistan.

BCCI to consult govt.

“All board chiefs of the ICC Champions Trophy participating countries (excluding BCCI) have assured him of their complete support but BCCI will consult its government and update the ICC,” the source added.

Men: Second round: 5-Medvedev (Rus) bt Muller (Fra) 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5; 23-Bublik (Kaz) bt Cazaux (Fra) 6-4, 7-6(1), 6-4; Bautista Agut (Esp) bt Sonego (Ita) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

29-Tiafoe (USA) bt Coric (Cro) 7-6(5), 6-1, 6-3; 16-Humbert (Fra) bt Van de Zandschulp (Ned) 7-6(9), 6-1, 6-3; 3-Alcaraz (Esp) bt Vukic (Aus) 7-6(5), 6-2, 6-2; Fognini (Ita) bt 8-Ruud (Nor) 6-4, 7-5, 6-7(1), 6-3; 5-Medvedev (Rus) bt Muller (Fra) 6-7(3), 7-6(4), 6-4, 7-5.

First round: 21-Khachanov (Rus) bt Karatsev (Rus) 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(11), 2-0, ret; Norrie (GBr) bt Diaz Acosta (Arg) 7-5, 7-5, 6-3; 13-Fritz (USA) bt O'Connell (Aus) 6-1, 6-2, 6-4; 28-Draper (GBr) bt Ymer (Swe) 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

Doubles: First round: 2-Bopanna (Ind) & Ebden (Aus) bt Haase & Arends (Ned) 7-5, 6-4. Martinez & Munar (Esp) bt Lajovic (Srb) & Nagal (Ind) 6-2, 6-2.

Women: Second round: Raducanu (GBr) bt Mertens (Bel) 6-1, 6-2; 19-Navarro (USA) bt Osaka (Jpn) 6-4, 6-1; Shnaider (Rus) bt Stephens (USA) 6-1, 6-1.

2-Gauff (USA) bt Todoni (Rou) 6-2, 6-1; Andreescu (Can) bt 26-Noskova (Cze) 6-3, 7-6(5).

First round: 20-Haddad Maia (Bra) bt Frech (Pol) 7-5, 6-3; 21-Svitolina (Ukr) bt Linette (Pol) 7-5, 6-7(9), 6-3; 31-Krejcikova (Cze) bt Kudermetova (Rus) 7-6(4), 6-7(1), 7-5; Putintseva (Kaz) bt Kerber (Ger) 7-5, 6-3; Wozniacki (Den) bt Parks (USA) 6-2, 6-0; 10-Jabeur (Tun) bt Uchijima (Jpn) 6-3, 6-1; 27-Siniakova (Cze) bt Stakusic (Can) 6-4, 6-2.

Kroos says Germany-Spain quarterfinal won’t be his last game

AFPTOBIAS SCHWARZ

Retiring Germany veteran Toni Kroos said he was confident Friday’s blockbuster Euro 2024 quarterfinal against Spain would not be the last game of his career. “We will still be in the tournament for a while. I don’t think it will be my last game. I think we’ll see each other again — and I look forward to it,” Kroos told reporters.

Murray to partner Raducanu for mixed doubles at Wimbledon

1 of 2 AP, AFPJordan Pettitt

2 of 2

Andy Murray and Emma Raducanu will team up in mixed doubles at Wimbledon. The news arrived on Wednesday, a day after Murray withdrew from singles a little more than a week after having surgery to remove a cyst from his spine. Murray is entered in men's doubles with his older brother, Jamie.

Djokovic seeks snooker tips from ‘Rocket Ronnie’

Getty ImagesKarwai Tang

Novak Djokovic admitted that he is a huge fan of Ronnie “The Rocket” O’Sullivan, so much so that he invited the Englishman into his Centre Court box to see him open his campaign.

“It was really nice to have him around. Hopefully we’re able to play some snooker. I’m OK at pool or billiards, but snooker, I tried it twice, and it’s really, really tough.”

Cavendish makes Tour de France history with 35th stage win

REUTERSSTEPHANE MAHE

Briton Mark Cavendish claimed a record-breaking 35th victory on the Tour de France when he prevailed in the fifth stage, a 177-km ride from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne on Wednesday. The 39-year-old had shared the record of 34 wins with Belgian great Eddy Merckx. Slovenian Tadej Pogacar retained the overall leader’s yellow jersey.

Gill’s India touches down in Zimbabwe for five-match T20I series

Press Trust of India

Harare

A young Indian cricket team, led by skipper Shubman Gill and with National Cricket Academy chief V.V.S. Laxman as coach, arrived here to play a five-match T20I series against Zimbabwe beginning on July 6.

“We welcome T20 World Cup champion India,” Zimbabwe Cricket posted on X.

Riyan Parag said in a video posted by BCCI that he had a childhood dream of travelling with the Indian team. “The feel of donning India jersey, travelling with the side is different. Coming from Assam, I had this dream of playing for India.”

Abhishek Sharma said from the day he started playing cricket, he had only one dream, which was to play for the country.

Air India cancels flight to bring back cricketers

The Hindu Bureau

Air India cancelled a scheduled passenger flight from Newark to New Delhi on Tuesday to operate a chartered flight to bring back the stranded Indian cricket team from Barbados, sources said.

Emergency measure

Air India didn’t explain how the passengers were accommodated, but insisted that the charter flight was arranged as an ‘emergency measure’.

No information

The issue came to light after some passengers complained on X that they received no information on flight cancellation or alternative accommodation.

Meanwhile, aviation regulator DGCA has sought a report from the Air India on the issue.

Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji beating the odds to realise her Olympic dream

Sports Bureau

HYDERABAD

Her mentor and SAI athletics coach Ramesh feels that the athlete has to focus on the small things after having shown remarkable resilience so far

1 of 2 Blood, sweat and toil: Jyoti, who overcame physical distress, is focused on going for glory at Paris. Ritu Raj Konwar

2 of 2 There is a big change in her attitude, technique and speed — Ramesh, SAI coach

Not many may be aware that Jyothi Yarraji, who became the first Indian to qualify in hurdles for Olympics (100m women’s in Paris later this month), had braved blood oozing out of her legs after repeatedly bumping into the hurdles during training sessions in the early days!

Dream come true

So, for her mentor N. Ramesh, the Sports Authority of India athletics coach, “it is a dream come true” that his 24-year-old trainee Jyothi has achieved this great feat.

For the record, Jyothi clocked 12.78 seconds in a Finland event in May, just one-hundredth of a second outside the automatic qualification time of 12.77 seconds.

She is at 34th in the world ranking quota list while 40 athletes will compete in the event in Paris.

“My thoughts go back to 2014 when I first spotted her during the SAI selection trials at Saroornagar Stadium in Hyderabad.

“First time I saw her, I felt because of her height, she should be good in hurdles,” Ramesh recalls in a chat with The Hindu.

“It took a lot of time for us to mould Jyothi, who is from Visakhapatnam and born to a father who is a watchman and mother a domestic help, into a hurdler,” Ramesh said.

“There were often blood stains on her body because of the rigorous training schedule. But, hats off to her indefatigable spirit she kept pursuing her passion between 2014-19, never complained,” he explained.

“Jyothi’s hard work, rare grit and determination to keep improving. The support system we ensured thanks to SAI, Gopi-Mytrah Foundation, being a great learner and having a terrific understanding of her event really helped her,” Ramesh said.

“Definitely, moving over to Odisha Reliance Foundation in 2019, under the tutelage of James H. Miller, helped her cause further. Even Miller said strong basics are the biggest strength of Jyothi,” Ramesh said.

“There is a big change in her attitude, technique and speed. She prepares mentally and physically for the big events much better now,” he said.

“For someone who faced so many challenges on and off the track over the years, her maiden Olympics may not be a bigger challenge, having won medals in the Asian Track and Field, Asian Games and on the European circuit. She is ready for the big day,” Ramesh said.

Focus

“My advice to her is, she still has a crucial few weeks left to prepare for the Paris Olympics, to stay focussed and avoid any kind of distractions. Just give your best,” he said.

Upbeat Tryon eager to catch up on lost time due to injury lay-off

Lavanya L

Chennai

Back in the mix: Tryon could be the X-factor for South Africa.CSA

After multiple injury lay-offs and time spent away from the 22 yards, South African all-rounder Chloe Tryon is raring to go as her team heads into the T20I leg of its multi-format tour of India.

“I love watching cricket, but don’t like watching the Proteas play too much. It gets a bit stressful wishing I was there in the thick of it,” Tryon told reporters here on Wednesday.

“You always want to be playing, especially in the subcontinent,” Tryon said about missing out on game time courtesy a groin injury sustained during her last Women’s Big Bash League season and a back issue soon after.

The 30-year-old spent plenty of time facing pace and spin in the nets here and worked particularly on the ball coming into the batter.

Her explosiveness might just be what the Protean line-up needs as it takes on a strong Indian side in home conditions.

“When I started batting, I became this explosive hitter and I used to come in the third or fourth over and put so much pressure on myself to score runs, eventually getting out most of the time. Now, we’re just kind of simplifying it and looking at it as 18 balls (at a time) and trying to stay there as long as I can.”

Ahead of the World Cup in Bangladesh, Tryon said that South Africa is hoping to be more consistent over multiple phases in a game.

“There were key moments in games sometimes where I thought we could step up a bit more while watching from home. We’ve played a lot of good cricket in patches.

“ We’ve had good stages and then some not-so-good parts.

“Idea is to be more consistent across departments.”

Tickets for India-SA women’s T20s on sale

Tickets, priced at ₹150, for the India vs South Africa women’s T20s to be played on July 5, 7, and 9 at the MAC Stadium are currently available on Paytm Insider online platform (www.insider.in). Car and two-wheeler parking will be available at the PWD Parking area and Omundurar Medical College campus.

Gates will open two hours prior to the start of the matches.

Aditya stars for

M.J. Gopalan Club

S.S. Adityan’s unbeaten 163 enabled M.J. Gopalan Club script a nine-wicket win over Magnet Club in the final of the Chennai Cricket Academy-GRCA open tournament on Wednesday.

The scores (final): Magnet Club 287/6 in 50 overs (Saravanan Mohan 95, Sudharsan 30, Johan Fernando 32, Suresh Ganesan 45, Sai Mayank 3/54) lost to M.J. Gopalan 290/1 in 34.4 overs (S. S. Adityan 163 n.o., Sai Mihir Prasad 60 n.o.).

State junior athletics from tomorrow

The Tamil Nadu Athletic Association (TNAA) will organise the 36th State junior championships at the Nehru Stadium from July 5 to 7.

More than 3500 male and female athletes from all over the State in four age groups (under-14, 16, 18 & 20) will compete for honours in 150 events.

Athletes from various schools, colleges, clubs and SDAT sports hostels will be participating in this event.

In a release, the TNAA said, “We are attempting a world record by making 2500 athletes take an anti-doping pledge to raise awareness of doping among the young athletes.”

THIRUVALLUR:

1 of 3 Star performers: Sachin (Thiruvallur, 6/30), Gautam Anand (Thiruvallur, 113) and Iniyavel (Erode, 5/47).

2 of 3

3 of 3

Thiruvallur in the driving seat

THIRUVALLUR: S. Sachin claimed six for 30 as Thiruvallur bundled out Namakkal for 65 on the opening day of their two-day quarterfinal in the TNCA under-14 inter-district cricket tournament on Wednesday.

In reply, skipper S. Gautam Anand’s 113 helped Thiruvallur reach 210 for five at stumps.

The scores (quarterfinals, day one): At Thiruvallur: Namakkal 65 in 42.1 overs (S. Sachin 6/30) vs Thiruvallur 210/5 in 62.1 overs (S. Gautam Anand 113, Chetan Kumar Meena 47).

At Erode: Kancheepuram 206 in 80.5 overs (Jadan Jonah David 48, K. Viswanth 35, Ruthvik Muralidharan 70 n.o., P.V. Iniyavel 5/47, T. Sanjit 3/57) vs Erode 38/0 in 11 overs.

At Salem: Salem 199 in 88.2 overs (S. Pugal 40, M. Mohamed Saafir 30, C. Mahadheeran 31, A. Jayanth 3/52) vs Chengalpattu 32/0 in 17 overs.

At Coimbatore: Coimbatore 182 in 78.5 overs (S. Raghava Karthick 83, S. Anish Saran 3/46, G. Sridhar 3/52) vs Tirunelveli 49/3 in 18 overs.

Vaidehi Chaudhari bows out in the first round in Thailand

Sports Bureau

Vaidehi Chaudhari was beaten 7-6(4), 6-4 by Alicia Smith of Australia in the first round of the $25,000 ITF women’s tennis in Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand, on Wednesday.

Other results:

$15,000 ITF men, Tianjin, China: Singles (first round): S. Mukund bt Yang Xiaoyin (Chn) 6-3, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF men, Store, Slovenia: Singles (first round): Lukas Pokorny (Svk) bt Manas Dhamne 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2.

$15,000 ITF men, Hillcrest, South Africa: Singles (first round): Ishaque Eqbal bt Patrik Oplustil (Cze) 4-6, 7-6(0), 6-3. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Ishaque & Aryan Shah bt Sergio Badini & Maximilian Figl (Ita) 6-1, 6-4.

$15,000 ITF men, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand: Singles (first round): Adil Kalyanpur bt Yamato Sueoka (Jpn) 6-3, 6-4.

$25,000 ITF women, Hillcrest, South Africa: Singles (first round): Verena Meliss (Ita) bt Paavanii Paathak 6-1, 6-0. Doubles (pre-quarterfinals): Amanda Elkin (Mex) & Haine Ogata (Jpn) bt Sofia Avataneo (Ita) & Ashmitha Easwaramurthi 6-3, 6-3; Matilde Mariani & Beatrice Stagno (Ita) bt Alicj Formella (Pol) & Paavanii Paathak 6-1, 6-2; Shria Atturu (USA) & Smriti Bhasin bt Grace Koenig & Erin McKenzie (RSA) 5-7, 6-3, [10-7];Isabella Kruger & Zoe Kruger (RSA) bt Elena Jamshidi (Den) & Soha Sadiq 6-0, 6-3.

Pragg, Gukesh play out draws, tied for second with Firouzja

R. Praggnanandhaa was held to a draw by Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania, while Gukesh signed the peace treaty with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, in the sixth round of the Superbet Classic in Bucharest on Tuesday. Alireza Firouzja beat Wesley So of USA to be in joint second with the Indians on 3.5 points. USA’s Fabio Caruana continued to lead with four points.

The results (round 6): R. Praggnaanandhaa (3.5) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rom) 2; Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 3 drew with D. Gukesh 3.5; Fabiano Caruana (USA) 4 drew with Ian Nepomnichtchi (FIDE) 3; Alireza Firouzja (Fra) 3.5 bt Wesley So (USA) 2.

Advani starts defence with two close wins

Press Trust of India

RIYADH

Ace Indian cueist Pankaj Advani started his campaign at the 2024 Asian billiards championship with victories over Aung Phyo and Yuttapop Pakpoj here.

The 38-year-old, vying for a hat-trick of Asian billiards titles, beat Myanmar’s Aung Phyo 4-2 and then emerged victorious in a thrilling clash over Thailand’s Pakpoj 4-3.

“It is always good to start a tournament on a positive note. These two victories have boosted my confidence,” Advani said.

The results: Pankaj Advani bt Aung Phyo (Mya) 4-2 (100(86)-35, 104-34, 83(66)-101(54), 35-100(61), 100(53)-26, 100(100)-14).

Advani bt Yuttapop Pakpoj (Tha) 4-3 (100(93)-00, 101-03, 61-100, 102(99)-05, 79(70)-101(60), 80-100, 100(72)-18).

Geoff Boycott reveals second cancer diagnosis

Agence France-Presse

LONDON

Boycott.File Photo

Geoffrey Boycott has been diagnosed with throat cancer for the second time and will undergo surgery, the England cricket great announced on Tuesday.

Boycott, 83, was told last week the cancer had returned, having been previously treated for the illness in 2002 with chemotherapy and radiotherapy.

He is now set to have an operation to remove the cancer in two weeks’ time.

He said: “It has now been confirmed I have throat cancer and will require an operation.

Hardik becomes No. 1 all-rounder in T20Is

Hardik Pandya rose two places to become the first Indian to occupy the No. 1 spot in the ICC’s T20I all-rounders’ rankings on Wednesday, as the country’s cricketers improved their standings following their title-winning performance in the just-concluded World Cup. The 30-year-old climbed up two places to go level with Wanindu Hasaranga as the top-ranked men’s T20I all-rounder. Jasprit Bumrah moved up 12 spots to 12th.

Brazil to celebrate ‘King Pele Day’ every November 19

Brazil will celebrate a national ‘King Pele Day’ on Nov. 19 every year, marking the date he scored what he considered to be the 1,000th goal of his career in 1969, as per an official publication from Brazilian government. Pele scored Santos’ winner in a 2-1 win against Vasco da Gama although some historians question whether that actually was the 1,000th goal of his career.

Messi not included in Argentina’s Olympics squad

Lionel Messi won't be in Argentina’s squad at the Olympics in Paris. Coach Javier Mascherano included four World Cup winners in the squad he announced Tuesday, including striker Julián Álvarez and defender Nicolás Otamendi. Messi is now playing at the Copa America, aiming to defend the continental title he won in 2021.

Former high jump World champion Freitag found dead

South African former high jump World champion Jacques Freitag, 42, has been found dead with gunshot wounds having been missing for two weeks, South African media reported on Tuesday. The 2003 World champion was found in the grass near a cemetery in Pretoria West.

Abhay and Velavan get top billing

Sports Bureau

CHENNAI

Abhay Singh and Velavan Senthilkumar have been given top billing in men’s section of the Asian doubles squash which begins in Johor on Thursday.

Abhay also features in mixed doubles with Joshna Chinappa, the duo seeded third. Rathika Suthanthira Seelan and R. Pooja Arthi are fifth seeds in women’s doubles.

Cricket: TNCA-Freyer Trophy, Green Invaders vs Yellow Challengers (V.B. Nest); Pink Warriors vs Orange Dragons (CPT-IP, Turf), 9 a.m.; TNCA inter-district u-14 tournament, quarterfinals, day two, Thiruvallur vs Namakkal, Avadi, 9.30 a.m.; XL1 super sports-GRYT u-14 inter-school tournament, Sumangali S3, Santhosapuram, 7.30 a.m.

Wimbledon: SS Select 1, 2 (SD & HD) & Hotstar, 3.30 p.m. onwards

Badminton: Canada Open, Sports 18-1 (SD & HD) & JioCinema, 9.30 p.m.

Bhavin Shivaa

The second phase of the continental showpiece has produced it all — stoppage-time bicycle kick, shock headers in opening moments, fingertip stops to win the game, controversial VAR calls to alter the course of the match, and an unprecedented hat-trick of penalty saves

Getty ImagesINA FASSBENDER

International knockout football, there’s nothing like it. Stature holds no weight here, it disintegrates and fades away into oblivion.

Tactics take the backseat. Pulverising passion, oceans of emotion, gut-wrenching nerves, the hopes of an entire nation — these are the driving forces in the playoff rounds.

David, Goliath, Butch, Sundance, it doesn’t matter. It is all about these 90 minutes — a one-off tie with the highest of stakes and you have to leave it all on the pitch.

It is not the team that is most structurally sound nor the side with the highest possession that progresses. But it is the outfit that is the hungriest for the win, which will go to the ends of the Earth to give to its country the intoxicating ecstasy of progression that will prosper.

The best teams win leagues; not so much the case in Cup football. Knockout football, however, is decided by moments of magic, by players who embrace the pressure and step up, the biggest of names on the grandest of stages.

Stoppage-time bicycle kick, shock headers in the game’s opening moments, fingertip stops to win the game, controversial VAR calls to alter the course of the match, and an unprecedented hat-trick of penalty saves.

This is what elimination football promises, and it is exactly what an exhilarating round-of-16 delivered at the Euro 2024.

The prelude

There was drama in Deutschland well before the first elimination game even kicked off. There was an imbalance in the scales. One half was laden with several title-winners like an ornate necklace sporting several beautiful stones.

The other, crafted like a pendant flaunting one dazzling diamond, a centrepiece, hogging the spotlight from its supporting acts.

Germany was set to play, arguably and personally, the tournament’s strongest unit in a revamped Spain in the quarterfinal. Euro 2016 winner, Portugal was also on the same side of the draw alongside powerhouses France and Belgium.

On the other end of the draw, it seemed like a straight route to the final for underperforming England, with a Netherlands team that came third in the 2014 World Cup and defending champion Italy also present.

The draw also had its fair share of dark horses with a Slovakia side that beat Belgium, Ralf Rangnick’s transformed Austria, and spirited debutantes Georgia, off the high of a sensational 2-0 win against Portugal.

Swiss affair

The stage was set. The Olympstadion Berlin prepared to host the first pre-quarterfinal clash, and boy was it a cracker of a game!

Italy — which finished second only thanks to Mattia Zaccagni’s superb last-minute leveller against Modric’s Croatia — up against underdogs Switzerland which went unbeaten in the group stages and would have finished top of the group with three wins in three had it not been for an equaliser from Nicholas Fullkrug in the dying moments to clinch first place for the host.

Murat Yakin’s aggressive approach meant Switzerland had the upper hand right from the start. The side deservedly took the lead after Ruben Vargas’ pass from the edge of the box was cleanly volleyed into the bottom corner by Remo Freuler.

Italy skipper Gianluigi Donnarumma’s heroics in goal saved the title-holder’s blushes as he produced a stunning save to deflect Fabian Reidler’s freekick onto the post moments before the whistle blew for half-time.

Assister then turned scorer as Vargas sent a mouth-watering shot curling into the top-right corner to book Switzerland’s berth in the last eight, ending Italian hopes in what was a lacklustre performance from Luciano Spalletti’s men.

The Azzurri’s closest sight of goal came when Swiss defender Fabian Schar almost headed the ball into his own net with custodian Yann Sommer left watching as the ball hit the post and was cleared out of harm’s way.

Italy’s loss marked the third successive Euros where the reigning champion bowed out in the last 16, following Spain in 2016 and Portugal in 2020.

“If we failed, we failed. And we failed because of my team selection. And in terms of the way I conducted myself, it’s never down to the players,” said Spalletti.

While the Euro 2020 winner crashed out in its first knockout game, the runner-up barely scraped through to the quarterfinals in a tense encounter against a Slovakian team that was playing in the European knockout stages for only the second time as an independent nation.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man

The undeniable favourites going into the tournament, the Three Lions were staring at yet another unsuccessful outing as England went behind in the 25th minute.

Slovakia put Gareth Southgate’s men in a chokehold in the game’s early minutes, coming agonisingly close to bulging the net twice, and the constant attacking pressure finally bore fruit when David Strelec found himself with an abundance of space and time to play a perfectly weighted pass to Ivan Schranz who buried it in the bottom corner to score his third goal of the tournament.

The star-studded English outfit went into half-time humbled by the 45th-ranked Slovakia. The second 45 minutes were better for England, relatively at least. Phil Foden did manage to put the ball in the back of the net within five minutes of the restart, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

Southgate needed a spark to revive England’s title charge. In search, the English manager brought on attacking dynamites Cole Palmer and Eberechi Eze in the 66th and 84th minutes hoping to effect change.

While there was a more direct approach, the increased threat did not materialise.

He later brought on Ivan Toney for Foden in the fourth minute of added time, a bittersweet consolation, it seemed for the Brentford forward.

It looked like it was all over. The headlines were all typed out. ‘English tears, Slovakian jubilation’. An upset for the ages was within touching distance for Slovakia.

And there it was — a speck of gold in a barrel of dust. A deep throw-in from Kyle Walker into the box in the fifth minute of stoppage time, a Marc Guehi flick backwards with his head, hoping, searching, praying for someone to be on the receiving end.

True greats shine in the darkest of hours, and how he did! Like a phoenix rising from the ashes. Number ten on his back. “Who else?”, he mouthed as he put his arms out and celebrated in trademark fashion. Reminiscent of that David Beckham free-kick versus Greece. The Golden Boy, Jude Bellingham took to the air to execute an inch-perfect bicycle-kick and restore parity, as he rescued his country from the depths of despair.

From there it was England’s game to lose. Slovakia, still recovering from Bellingham’s devastating blow, went behind in the first minute of extra time.

A flick-on from substitute Toney following a scuffed Eze volley was enough for captain Harry Kane as he headed England home and into the last eight.

Slovakia did respond well, but it wasn’t enough as Kane & Co. held on to their lead for dear life as the full-time whistle blew. England was through. Milan Skriniar’s men left their hearts out on the field and deserve to walk with their heads held high.

Turkish delight

Everyone loves an underdog story, and the final round-of-16 fixture witnessed two of the tournament’s biggest ones battle it out as Rangnick’s riveting Austrian side square off against Vincenzo Montella’s men.

Austria impressed everyone after it beat the formidable Netherlands to top a group that also had 2018 World Cup winner France.

Turkiye qualified in second behind Portugal on goal difference after a solid group stage show, which also included a 3-1 win over Georgia.

It didn’t take long for the drama to unfold as an Arda Guler corner fell right in front of the Austrian six-yard box, a few ricochets here and there and Merih Demiral thundered the ball into goal in the 57th second — the second fastest goal in the Euros.

Austria responded almost immediately as Christoph Baumgartner came close twice in the next couple of minutes. It was shaping up to be another quintessential international knockout fixture.

This was never a match-up that promised compact defending or an impenetrable structure. Though, it did have in-store end-to-end football where chaos was the currency.

It was a beautiful anarchy.

Since going down, or from the first minute if you want, Austria tore Turkiye apart. Attack after attack, Rangnick’s men hurled everything they had at the Turks.

Against the run of play, the same duo combined once again for Turkiye’s second as Demiral headed home another goal to give his team some much-needed breathing space.

The game resumed in similar fashion, and a vital touch by substitute Michael Gregoritsch in the 66th minute from an Austrian corner halved the deficit at last.

Baris Yilmaz was in on goal in the last seconds of added time but a terrific save by goalkeeper Patrick Pentz kept Austria in the game.

The ball went up the field and was put into the Turkish box by Alexander Prass, and in, potentially, the most important save of his career, Mert Gunok produced a heart-stopping save off of Baumgartner’s header from close range to confirm Turkiye’s place in the elite eight.

Amidst the incessant Leipzig rains, Mert Gunok stopped time, and Austria, to cement his place as a cult hero.

It was excruciating for Austria but that is the beauty of international football. Rangnick’s men, much the better team, were on a flight back home after two moments of Turkish delight.

Spain too hot to handle

On the other side of the draw, Spain utterly outclassed Georgia despite going behind in the 18th minute as Robin Le Normand was unable to get out of the way of a dangerous cross.

Goals from Rodri, Nico Williams, Dani Olmo, and Fabian Ruiz were enough to crush any glimmers of hope Georgia may have had.

In a tournament where all the big names have been misfiring, Alvaro Morata’s men have been impeccable.

The tiki-taka style of play that has been the hallmark of the Spanish football for long has been replaced by free-flowing, flashy football best exemplified by young guns Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.

The quality Spain possesses combined with the sheer dominance it has shown makes for a combination that seems unstoppable.

Germany will be looking to put an end to the fiery La Roja, but chances look slim as Spain seems favourites to take the reign once again.

Could we be seeing a sequel to the Spanish era of 2008-2012?

The usual suspects — Germany, Netherlands, Portugal, and France — all progressed to the quarterfinals, with Belgium’s golden generation crashing out, maybe for the last time, in a 0-1 loss to France.

The European Championship has a long way to go before the final in Berlin on July 14th, but the way the first round of knockouts has gone, we seem to be in for a tournament for the history books.

Science

- Spiral galaxies evolved 4 billion years sooner than expected

- Like it or not, you’re accelerating

- UFO Day rekindles the conspiracy theory that refuses to die

Debdutta Paul

An important idea in astronomy is that as the young universe cooled, it accumulated hot gas that clumped and gravitated to form galaxies. As these early galaxies cooled, they formed hot, thick disks that ultimately became thinner and formed spiral arms. A new finding mucks up this theory

1 of 2 A Hubble Space Telescope image of the spiral galaxy Messier 77. NASA NASA

2 of 2 Astronomers would like to observe light emitted when the universe was 500 million years old, at the point when the galaxies were thought to be forming

A new study has revealed more spiral galaxies in the universe’s youth than astronomers had expected.

The universe is about 13.8 billion years old and is home to different kinds of galaxies, from spiral to elliptical and those with or without bulges. Astronomers previously believed spiral galaxies formed about 6 billion years ago, but a new study by a group of astronomers from the University of Missouri in the U.S. has called this belief into question. It was published on June 11 in the Astrophysical Journal Letters.

While the universe’s younger galaxies have tended to be spiral, the older ones have a variety of shapes. Astronomers study them to understand how they formed and evolved. But studying the older galaxies is more difficult because the light from them is fainter.

Not just hot air

An important idea in astronomy is that as the universe cooled down from a dense plasma state, it contained more and more hot gas. They formed clumps of matter that eventually gravitated to become galaxies. These early galaxies had irregular shapes and lacked disks. But as they cooled as well, they formed hot, thick disks that later became thinner and finally spiral ‘arms’ — a process that took billions of years.

This theory is now suspect. “Our work shows that this cooling down and spiral formation occur around the same cosmic time,” said Vicki Kuhn, a graduate student at the University of Missouri and a member of the study.

Astronomers routinely see stars forming in real-time but since all the galaxies have already formed, they use a sort of astronomical archaeology to study them. “We don’t see proto-galaxies,” said Girish Kulkarni of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, who was not involved in the study. “What we do then is study how the galaxies evolve. The spiral galaxy fraction is one way to do this biography.”

Seeing further into the past

The first step is to use light of the infrared and optical wavelengths to detect galaxies in the early universe. Since older galaxies are harder to detect, we need powerful telescopes. Ideally, astronomers would like to observe light emitted when the universe was around 500 million years old, when the galaxies were thought to be forming.

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope, launched in 2021, has helped astronomers gaze much deeper into the universe’s past than before. The University of Missouri team used the telescope to study a cohort of 873 galaxies individually and identified at least 216 spiral galaxies. Some of them dated to 1.5 billion years after the universe’s birth.

For the study, all six authors went through each image to classify it as spiral or non-spiral. Prerana Biswas, a postdoctoral researcher at the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Bengaluru, who wasn’t involved in the study, said the method is crude but shows the result is free of human bias. Abhijeet Borkar, a research scientist at the Astronomical Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague, agreed. He wasn’t involved in the study either.

But while Dr. Biswas said future studies should use automatic algorithms to spot spiral galaxies, Dr. Borkar said there are few alternatives to this sort of verification. “Even for invoking machine learning or neural networks, this is the first step. The only way to improve is to have a larger number of astronomers” going through the data.

An underestimate comes to light

The researchers then compared the number of spiral galaxies to the total number of galaxies. They found that between 3 billion and 7 billion years after the Big Bang, the fraction of galaxies with spiral shapes increased from about 8% to 48%. Previous observations had indicated an increase from 5% to 30% instead. “It’s much greater than what was known before,” Dr. Kulkarni said.

Dr. Borkar was in fact taken aback by the fact that spiral-armed galaxies were fully formed so early. The new observation shows the number of spiral galaxies is high as well as that they increased in number as the universe evolved.

Dr. Kulkarni explained how astronomers study the formation of galaxies. They develop mathematical models on powerful computers and let them evolve with time. While dark matter and gravity exert dominant influences on the universe’s evolution, they aren’t enough to produce galaxies. So astrophysicists include hot, dense gases in the simulation. These simulations have thus far matched what astronomers have observed.

As the universe ages, the gases cool and clump together, and stars form. As the stars evolve, they give rise to supernovae, which create most of the elements we have on the earth today. Some black holes are formed, too, and a few of them sit at the centres of galaxies and exert their own influence.

From simplistic to complicated

Given the uncertainty in many of these models’ parameters, astrophysicists also use observations to refine them — and such refinements are often crucial.

The Hubble Space Telescope is famed for its clear images of distant celestial objects and astrophysicists have used it to refine many models. But then some studies found signs that the early universe had many galaxies with disks. Astronomers think such galaxies were actively forming new stars.

The authors of the present study didn’t compare their observations with the simulations, however, which has puzzled Dr. Kulkarni.

He also said the link between these sophisticated simulations and the present-data may not be easy to decipher. All experts agreed astronomers must carefully reexamine the existing framework of observational data and theoretical studies.

“The earlier scenario was more simple,” Dr. Borkar said. Now “the theories need to be made more complicated.” He added that it’s possible that while stars are formed in some regions of galaxies, hot gases could be present simultaneously in other regions.

‘No one knows’

The new findings could also affect what astronomers understand about the rate of the formation of stars in the universe. For earth-like planets to form around stars, spiral galaxies should host a sufficient amount of elements heavier than iron in their spiral arms. When heavier stars die and blow up as supernovae, they throw out these elements into the arms. But if something else gets in the way of star formation — such as the influence of black holes — then not enough stars will form in the first place.

As the universe aged, spiral galaxies became more populous even around the time star formation peaked. Over time, spiral gases have less and less gas in their spiral arms, slowing the formation of more stars. But collisions between galaxies, like the one predicted to occur between our Milky Way and its neighbouring Andromeda in about 5 billion years, could restart this process into a second life while also creating an elliptical galaxy.

Overall, our view of the universe’s cycle of forming galaxies, stars, and earth-like planets seems to be getting more complicated. What does it imply for our understanding of galaxy formation? Dr. Biswas said, “I can safely say that no one knows.”

(Debdutta Paul is a science writer at the International Centre for Theoretical Sciences, Bengaluru, and a freelance science journalist.)

Vasudevan Mukunth

1 of 2 Visual: In 2003, this Swedish racer suffered the highest g-force ever survived by a human, 214 g, during a race on the Texas Motor Speedway. Name him. PSPARROT

2 of 2

Question 1

The Sun exerts a gravitational force on the earth. As a result, what is the value of the earth’s acceleration through space (in SI units)?

Question 2

When an object is subjected to a constant and sustained acceleration, it is perceived to have weight. In the absence of this acceleration, if we say this object weighs 1 kg (for example), we really mean its ____. Fill in the blank.

Question 3

‘g‘ stands for gravitational force equivalent. An object experiencing 1 g of force on the earth (at sea level along the equator) will be accelerated by 9.8 m/s^2. What’s the threshold in terms of g beyond which a human will start to experience dizziness?

Question 4

From the 1940s, the U.S. Air Force ran a series of tests to understand the effects of extreme acceleration on the human body. The most frequent volunteer on these tests was an officer named X, and his findings as well as the injuries he suffered informed many aspects of U.S. aerospace missions. After the tests he became known as the “fastest man on earth”. Name X.

Question 5

What is the force (in terms of g) that flight recorders onboard large civilian aeroplanes are expected to be able to survive so that they can be certified for use?

Answers to July 2 quiz:

1. Russian city over which a meteorite exploded in 2013

– Ans: Chelyabinsk

2. The entity whose deity among the Evenki is Agda

– Ans: Thunder

3. Russian scientist who led the 1921 and the 1927 expeditions

– Ans: Leonid Kulik

4. Name for asteroids once in the atmosphere

– Ans: Bolide

5. Occasion designated by the U.N. for June 30

– Ans: International Asteroid Day

Visual: Didymos

First contact: P.N. Moorthy | Arpit Kumar | K.N. Viswanathan

Associated Press

A sign directs travellers to the start of the ‘1947 UFO Crash Site Tours’. Eric Draper/AP ERIC DRAPER

A former U.S. Air Force intelligence officer said last summer the country’s government had a programme to retrieve and reverse-engineer unidentified flying objects (UFOs). The Mexican Congress held an unprecedented session in September during which supposed mummies were presented as “nonhuman beings that are not part of our terrestrial evolution.” And NASA now has a director of research for “unidentified anomalous phenomena”.

The Pentagon denied the former officer’s claims. Mexican researchers said the mummies “made no sense”. And a NASA study found no evidence of extra terrestrials. Yet there’s never been a better time to mark World UFO Day.

The day has its roots in the so-called Roswell Incident on July 2, 1947. On that date, something crashed at a ranch in New Mexico. There were reports the U.S. military had recovered a “flying disc”. But officials later said the debris was merely the remnants of a high-altitude weather balloon.

The material found near Roswell consisted of foil-wrapped fabric, wooden sticks, rubber pieces, and small I-beams with strange markings on them.

The Air Force investigated the incident in 1994 and concluded the supposed alien spacecraft was likely a secret military balloon designed to monitor Soviet nuclear testing.

A 2021 U.S. government report reviewed 144 sightings of aircraft or other devices apparently flying at mysterious speeds or trajectories. It found no extraterrestrial links but drew few other conclusions and called for better data collection. Lawmakers from both U.S. political parties have said UFOs are a national security concern. But the sightings are usually fleeting. Some appear for no more than an instant on camera — and then sometimes end up distorted by the camera lens.

Ronald Moultrie, the undersecretary of defence for intelligence, said during a 2022 hearing the Pentagon was trying to destigmatise the issue and encourage pilots and other military personnel to report anything unusual they see.

Then things got a little strange last year.

During a congressional hearing in late July, retired Air Force Maj. David Grusch testified that the U.S. is concealing a longstanding programme that retrieves and reverse engineers unidentified flying objects.

The Pentagon denied Grusch’s claims of a cover-up and denied the existence of any such programme. It also released a study in March that had examined the many UFO sightings over nearly the past century and found no evidence of aliens or extraterrestrial intelligence.

The Pentagon’s report arrived about six months after NASA released a report on UFOs, which reached the same conclusions.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson did acknowledge another earth-like planet could exist within the billions of galaxies in the universe. When pressed by reporters on whether the U.S. or other governments are hiding aliens or otherworldly spaceships, he said: “Show me the evidence.”

Table of Contents

The Hindu Jul 04, 2024

Regional

Hathras stampede toll hits 121; organiser pins blame on ‘anti-social elements’

Champai quits to make way for Hemant’s return

We must rise above politics for peace in Manipur, says Modi

HC sets aside ex-Minister’s conviction, sentence in rioting case

26/11 accused Rana can be extradited: U.S. attorney

Kin continue search

Vijay extends support to T.N. government’s resolution against NEET

Conservancy staff protest against move to privatise solid waste management

Mannargudi Easwaran and M.A Sundareswaran honoured

Seven held for murder of drum-maker in Pulianthope

Isolated rain likely to continue over parts of T.N., says IMD

Man treated for cardiac stent infection

Metrowater commences baseline survey in parts of city to step up services

Woman undergoes procedure to remove brain tumour

Canara Bank celebrates 119th foundation day

Mega property show in Chennai on July 6, 7

‘Kallakurichi hooch tragedy not a sequel to 2023 incidents in Villupuram, Chengalpattu’

Mayors of Coimbatore, Tirunelveli resign

ED’s plea to assist DVAC in wealth case against Fisheries Minister dismissed

T.N. BJP begins introspection on Lok Sabha poll debacle

High Court sets aside ex-Minister’s conviction, sentence in rioting case

Carnatic musician Kalpakam Raman dies

Sports Development Minister conducts review meeting

EPS seeks Central intervention to tackle drug abuse in T.N.

‘CM’s announcements under Rule 110 show focus on growth’

National

Will rebuild Amaravati city as soon as possible: Naidu

3 new criminal laws named only in English: ASG

CPI(M) to take up corrective steps in Kerala after drubbing in LS election

‘A.P. CM must convince Centre for special status’

Hathras stampede: amid the dead, search on for the living

No Indian industry presence in Board of National Research Foundation

‘Family of Agniveer killed in landmine blast will get compensation of ₹1.65 cr.’

Rajinder Khanna is Additional National Security Adviser

Centre issues advisory for ads on food and health products only

Champai quits to make way for Hemant’s return

26/11 accused can be extradited: U.S. attorney

Rise above politics for peace in Manipur: PM

Army chief reviews security along LoC in Jammu

Petition in SC seeks panel to probe Hathras stampede

Toll in Hathras stampede hits 121

Smart Cities Mission period extended till March 2025

Kharge not allowed to intervene during PM’s reply; INDIA walks out

Return Indians stuck in Ukraine warzone: Jaishankar to Lavrov

Cabinet committees reconstituted; NDA partners on board

Speaker forms committee to frame rules on oath-taking of members

Expunge PM’s remarks on Chopra and Sandeshkhali: Trinamool

Disappointed by disruptions in House, says Dhankhar

‘Attack’ on Cong. office strengthens my point about BJP, RSS: Rahul

In a repeat of 2023, vegetable prices upset family budgets

NCERT textbooks for three subjects of Class 6 will reach students late

14218

Air pollution spikes may raise death rates in cities with cleaner air, says study

Pay a visit to Divya Desams

CBI arrests key accused in NEET paper leak case

Maintain vigil, says Centre as Maharashtra reports Zika

India to host 46th UNESCO heritage panel session

‘Are you well?’ Delhi HC asks man seeking to debar Modi

Edit

Trials, medical ethics and the orbit of power

Factory accidents, a pointer to rusty inspection reform

Of accommodation

Avoidable tragedy

letters to the editor

data point

Humility in public discourse

Coal politics heats up in Telangana

fifty years ago Month x, xxxx

a hundred years ago Month x, xxxx

An overview of the French elections

Till Russia do us part? NATO at 75, an enduring alliance

A quiz on the 248th anniversary of the adoption of the United States of America’s Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776

Know your English

Business

‘States GST kitty to rise 13-14% this FY’

India faces high debt but sustainable for now: NCAER

Star Health eyes doubling GWP to ₹30,000 cr. by FY28

JSW Infra unit to develop cargo berth at Tuticorin Port

Rating upgrade rests on fiscal deficit: S&P

Franklin Templeton plans re-entry into fixed-income market

Federal Bank records 20% loan growth in first quarter

‘Domestic rubber crunch hitting tyre makers hard’

‘Equity returns in next 3 years won’t be good as last three’

CIEL HR Group turned a net profit of ₹6-crore in 2023-24

ACME Solar Holdings files papers for ₹3,000-crore IPO

Foreign

Labour in lead, Tories vow to fight as U.K. goes to elections

Brazil held by Colombia, to face Uruguay in quarterfinal

Sunak’s performance has been disappointing: Rajesh Agrawal

Taliban, U.S. envoys discuss the release of 2 American prisoners

Second round of National motorcycling race from today

‘U.K.’s migration policy has to change to match the times‘

Russia's Dagestan bans niqab over 'threats' following recent attacks

Russia claims to have captured key Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar

Japan's top court rules forced sterilisation law unconstitutional

Hurricane Beryl kills seven as it churns towards Jamaica

Sports

It’s coming home: World champion to have a rousing parade in Mumbai today

Turkiye through to the quarterfinals after thrilling win over Austria

Gauff and Alcaraz advance; Fognini shocks Ruud

India-Pakistan Champions Trophy match slotted for March 1

Top results

Kroos says Germany-Spain quarterfinal won’t be his last game

Murray to partner Raducanu for mixed doubles at Wimbledon

Djokovic seeks snooker tips from ‘Rocket Ronnie’

Cavendish makes Tour de France history with 35th stage win

Gill’s India touches down in Zimbabwe for five-match T20I series

Air India cancels flight to bring back cricketers

Hurdler Jyothi Yarraji beating the odds to realise her Olympic dream

Upbeat Tryon eager to catch up on lost time due to injury lay-off

Around THE CITY

TNCA under-14

Vaidehi Chaudhari bows out in the first round in Thailand

Pragg, Gukesh play out draws, tied for second with Firouzja

Advani starts defence with two close wins

Geoff Boycott reveals second cancer diagnosis

Hardik becomes No. 1 all-rounder in T20Is

Brazil to celebrate ‘King Pele Day’ every November 19

Messi not included in Argentina’s Olympics squad

Former high jump World champion Freitag found dead

Abhay, Velavan get top billing in Asian doubles squash

Engagements

LiVE TELECAST

Exhilarating Euros knocking it out of the park

Science

Spiral galaxies evolved 4 billion years sooner than expected

Like it or not, you’re accelerating

UFO Day rekindles the conspiracy theory that refuses to die