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Front Page

- Govt notifies Emergency anniv as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’

- Jagan booked for murder bid on YSRC ex-MP

- Rathee booked over ‘fake’ message

- Pune techie feared drowned in US

- WHEN STARS ALIGN AT AMBANI WEDDING

- U-21 live-in duos ‘not mature’, parents to be told: U’khand panel

- Cong: Modi govt has been killing Constitution each day for 10 years

- Munak breach repair almost over, water flow to resume today

- 9/9: MLC poll win boost for Mahayuti

- In Pithoragarh, cops turn baraatis, organise wedding of adopted girl

- Days after don’s ‘forecast’, 3 Burger King shooters killed in Hry ‘encounter’

- Goa DGP, DIG moved out over misconduct

- Kejriwal gets interim bail from SC but will stay in jail

- All authorities involved in tree felling, should’ve accepted mistake: SC

- MP Amritpal’s brother held with drugs in Punjab

- 2 shelter inmates raped by staffers

- Dalit kills self after ‘torture’ over loan

- BJP worker beaten to death in Raj

- SC: Stay on bail only in rare cases, ‘disastrous’ if blocked mechanically

- Khedkar to face sack and charges if claims on caste, disability found untrue

- ED detains former K’tak a minister in corpn probe

- After solid presser, Biden calls Zelensky ‘Putin’, Kamala ‘Trump’

Govt notifies Emergency anniv as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’

Bid To Counter Oppn’s ‘Save Constitution’ Campaign

Akhilesh.Singh@timesofindia.com

New Delhi:Escalating its counter to the ‘Save Constitution’ campaign that Congress and its partners started against BJP in the build-up to the Lok Sabha polls, the Centre on Friday notified June 25, the anniversary of the imposition of the Emergency in the country in 1975 by the then PM Indira Gandhi, as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’.

“(It is)… a tribute to all those who suffered and fought against the gross misuse of power during the period of Emergency and also recommit people of India to not support in any manner such gr- oss misuse of power in future,” the home ministry stated in its gazette notification.

“On June 25, 1975, the then PM Indira Gandhi, in a brazen display of a dictatorial mindset, strangled the soul of our democracy by imposing Emergency on the nation. Lakhs of people were thrown behind bars for no fault of their own, and the voice of the media was silenced,” home minister Amit Shah wrote on X.

BJP has been smarting un- der the realisation that Congress and other constituents of INDIA bloc managed to hurt its prospects in UP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan in the LS polls by unleashing a “false propaganda” that BJP would change the Constitution to scrap caste quotas if it won over 400 seats. BJP’s own assessment, with which many independent political circles concur, was that the claim was effective in turning a large section of Dalits away from the party and nudging them towards the INDIA bloc.

BJP’s pushback on the issue, which started during the election campaign with Modi promptly denying the charge and saying that the boot was on the opposition's foot by pointing to efforts under Congress govts to bring in quotas for Muslims not allowed under the law, has since continued apace.

Open faultlines, P 24

Jagan booked for murder bid on YSRC ex-MP

Former Andhra Pradesh chief minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was on Friday booked alongside two IPS officers, another cop and a govt doctor for an alleged 2021 conspiracy in attempting to murder K Raghurama Krishnam Raju, a former YSRC MP who is now an MLA of the governing TDP. Raju accused cops of torturing him at Jagan’s behest after he was arrested three years ago on charges of sedition.

P 12

Rathee booked over ‘fake’ message

Maharashtra police have filed a case against YouTuber Dhruv Rathee for posting on his X handle an alleged fake message that Lok Sabha Speaker MP Om Birla’s daughter had cleared the UPSC exams without appearing for it. He has been booked under BNS for defamation and intentional insult among other sections.

P 24

Pune techie feared drowned in US

A 26-year-old techie from Pune, Siddhant Vitthal Patil, is feared drowned after he fell into a creek and got washed away into a gorge while hiking with friends on Avalanche Lake Trail of Glacier National Park in Montana, US, on July 6. It is unclear if he slipped on a wet portion of the rock or lost balance, the park said.

P 17

WHEN STARS ALIGN AT AMBANI WEDDING

(From top left, anticlockwise) Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant at their wedding at the Jio World Convention Centre in Mumbai on Friday. Anant earlier with his family — brother Akash, sister-in-law Shloka and their two children; parents Mukesh and Nita Ambani; and sister Isha and brother-in-law Anand Piramal. Reality TV superstars Kim and Khloe Kardashian on their way to join the celebrations

P 17

U-21 live-in duos ‘not mature’, parents to be told: U’khand panel

Kautilya.Singh@timesofindia.com

Dehradun: The nine-member panel constituted to form the rules, procedures and other matters related to the implementation of the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) Act in Uttarakhand released the document on its website Friday. CM Dhami has said UCC will be introduced in Oct.

Former chief secretary Shatrughan Singh, who heads the panel, said the privacy of couples in live-in relationships would be ensured under the law, but parent of couples in the 18-21 age group would be informed as they “are not completely mature”.

‘To give STs option’, P 14

Cong: Modi govt has been killing Constitution each day for 10 years

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge accused Modi govt of killing the Constitution every day in the past 10 years with an “undeclared emergency”. The PM has insulted B R Ambedkar by suffixing “murder” to a sacred word like “Constitution”, Kharge said, adding the usage is reflective of BJP-RSS’s desire to replace the Constitution with Manusmriti and target the rights of Dalits, tribals and backwards, reports Subodh Ghildiyal. Jairam Ramesh mocked the Centre’s notiification as “another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy” by Modi since he’s smarting from the “moral, political and personal defeat” in the LS polls.

P 24

Munak breach repair almost over, water flow to resume today

The repair of the Munak Canal, which suffered a breach on Wednesday night, is still going on. DJB officials confirmed on Friday that the breach had been sealed and there was no leakage anymore, but because the concrete layering of the carrier lined channel was yet to start, the flow of raw water could not resume, reports Siddhanta Mishra.

“Water is expected to be released into the canal by Saturday afternoon,” said a DJB official. Water minister Atishi was optimistic that Haryana would release water into the canal from around 7am Saturday: “It takes around four hours for water to reach Dwarka and water treatment will, thus, restart by 10am on Saturday.” Dwarka has been worst hit by the water shortage.

P 2

9/9: MLC poll win boost for Mahayuti

Maharashtra’s Mahayuti alliance, comprising CM Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena, Ajit Pawar’s NCP, and BJP, won all nine seats it contested in the legislative council elections while opposition’s Maha Vikas Aghadi lost one of three seats for which it put up nominees, report Prafulla Marpakwar & Clara Lewis.

The outcome is a setback to MVA ahead of assembly polls and shows CM Shinde and Ajit Pawar succeeded in keeping their MLAs intact amid speculation over some of them voting for the other side. For the Mahayuti, it is a boost after the poor showing in Lok Sabha polls.

P 12

In Pithoragarh, cops turn baraatis, organise wedding of adopted girl

Inspector Jakhmola, who adopted the girl, blesses the couple

Kalyan.Das@timesofindia.com

Dehradun:For once, no one was attached to the police lines. The opposite happened, in fact. The police lines, this one in Pithoragarh, got attached to a young orphan girl. So much so that cops in the Uttarakhand station got together to organise her wedding to a local boy, laying out a grand feast.

The usually austere place — commonly used to accommodate reserve forces or receive cops on punishment posting — turned into a radiant wedding venue on Tuesday, the touching event led by none other than their superintendent.

But then, the story of Pushpa Bhatt, the 21-yearold bride, would melt any he- art. Pushpa lost both parents when she was five and was raised by her grandmother.

‘I saw Pushpa’, P 15

Days after don’s ‘forecast’, 3 Burger King shooters killed in Hry ‘encounter’

Raj Shekhar Jha & Abhay

New Delhi:Three henchmen of US-based gangster Himanshu Bhau were killed in an ‘encounter’ with Haryana STF near Sonipat late Friday evening. The men — Ashish, Vicky and Sunny — were allegedly involved in the shooting at a Burger King outlet in west Delhi's Rajouri Garden last month besides a murder at an eatery at Murthal in Sonipat earlier this year.

The trio had a reward of several lakhs on them. Two weeks ago, the three had allegedly fired shots at a car showroom in Hisar and demanded Rs 5crore from the owner.

Friday’s encounter took place five days after Bhau posted on Instagram claiming the trio had been picked up by police and kept in detention. He claimed the three would be killed in a “fake encounter” for medals.

Multiple units of Delhi and Haryana police were on the trail of the gangsters who had allegedly carried out a series of shootings and made several extortion demands.

Woman at large, P 3

Goa DGP, DIG moved out over misconduct

After TOI reported that Goa DGP Jaspal Singh had pressured police to allow unimpeded demolition of an Assagao house, MHA on Friday transferred him to Delhi with immediate effect. Goa DIG A Koan, who was suspended nearly a year ago for misbehaving with a woman, has been transferred to Andamans.

P 12

Kejriwal gets interim bail from SC but will stay in jail

Court Refers Issue Of ED’s Power To Arrest To Larger Bench

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: In a big relief to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, Supreme Court Friday granted him interim bail in a money laundering case related to change in Delhi’s excise policy. He will not be able to come out of jail immediately as he has also been arrested by CBI in the corruption case related to the alleged scam.

However, that does not detract fully from the respite he has got from the apex court. For, unlike ED’s case against him under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), the threshold for bail in the case under Prevention of Cor- ruption Act (PCA) which CBI is pursuing against him is significantly lower.

While giving Kejriwal relief, the SC bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said ED’s power to arrest under Section 19 of PMLA needed to be examined by a larger bench.

“Given the fact that right to life and liberty is sacrosanct, and Arvind Kejriwal has suffered incarceration of over 90 days, and that the questions referred to above requires in depth consideration by a larger bench, we direct that Arvind Kejriwal may be released on interim bail,” it said.

‘Can’t tell rep to quit’, P 5

AAP: Truth has won; seal on guilt, says BJP, P 5

Custody in ED case extended till July 25, P 5

Judicial review needed to check improper use of power: Court

Judicial review of arrest by ED is needed “to check improper exercise of power”, Supreme Court said Friday, stressing that officers cannot pick and choose implicating material while ignoring material that absolves the person being arrested, reports Amit Anand Choudhary.

The court said judicial review is permissible when the power to arrest “is not exercised genuinely, but rather to avoid embarrassment or for wreaking personal vengeance”. It said courts have emphasised that the power to arrest must be exercised cautiously to prevent severe repercussions to life and liberty of individuals and not routinely or in a cavalier fashion.

P5

All authorities involved in tree felling, should’ve accepted mistake: SC

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday found fault with all authorities — DDA, Delhi govt, CM and LG — who were involved in allowing felling of trees in the Ridge area in south Delhi and said they should have accepted their mistake on day one instead of trying to “cover up”, while also making plain its intent to examine the roles of all concerned.

A bench of Justices Abhay SO ka and Ujjal Bhuyan said Delhi govt had permitted felling of trees when it did not have the power to do so and there was “complete non-application of mind by LG” V K Saxena in approving the proposal.

Going through documents placed before it, the court said what was being covered up had been exposed and it was now clear that the LG had visited the site and had ordered that work be expedited — the observation being a reference to the haze generated over Saxena’s visit to the site of the Central Armed Police Forces Institute of Medical Sciences.

‘Did officers brief LG?’ P 6

SC to Hry govt: Open Shambhu border

SC on Friday asked Haryana govt to clear barricades at Shambhu border near Ambala, where agitating farmers have been camping since Feb 13. “How can a state block a highway? It has a duty... Open it, but regulate (traffic),” it told govt, adding, “Farmers are also citizens... They will come, raise slogans and go back”.

P 14

MP Amritpal’s brother held with drugs in Punjab

Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh’s brother Harpreet Singh and his friend were arrested Thursday evening with ‘ice’ (an illicit drug made from methamphetamine) near Phillaur in Punjab. They had allegedly procured the drug for a peddler in Ludhiana, who was also arrested. Amritpal’s family said they had “anticipated challenges” following his political rise.

P 12

2 shelter inmates raped by staffers

Two mentally and physically challenged inmates have been allegedly gang-raped by staffers of a private shelter home in UP’s Barabanki. Cops are trying to trace one of the survivors who has reportedly been abducted by the accused. Three people have been arrested.

P14

Dalit kills self after ‘torture’ over loan

A Dalit man, 26, died by suicide in UP’s Firozabad after two loan sharks allegedly held him hostage and beat him up throughout the night of June 6 for his inability to repay Rs 4,500. The death came to light on Wednesday after videos of the torture surfaced on social media.

P14

BJP worker beaten to death in Raj

A BJP worker, Yaseen Khan, died on Friday morning after he was attacked by a group of people in Rajasthan late on Thursday night. The assailants were armed with sticks and axes. The murder is suspected to be a fallout of personal animosity, police said.

P24

SC: Stay on bail only in rare cases, ‘disastrous’ if blocked mechanically

New Delhi: Supreme Court on Friday said a bail order should be stayed only in “rare and exceptional” cases and it would be “disastrous” if the stay order was passed in a mechanical manner, violating right to personal liberty.

“Courts should stay bail order only in rare and exceptional cases like somebody is involved in terrorist cases, where order is perverse or provisions of law have been bypassed. You cannot restrict liberty like this. Where will Article 21 go?” a bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Augustine George Masih said.

The court’s observations came while reserving its order on a plea filed by one Parvinder Singh Khurana whose bail was stayed by Delhi HC, which kept the case pending for over a year. SC on June 7 stayed the HC order.

TNN

IN THE COURTS

➤ Bengal govt moves SC against governor C V Ananda Bose for stalling eight bills passed by assembly

FLAP OPP

➤ Delhi HC directs Congress functionaries Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera to immediately delete ‘defamatory tweets’ against journalist Rajat Sharma

P 13

➤ SC stays K’taka HC order suspending broadcast by Kannada channel Power TV after it reported alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna, calls it ‘sheer political vendetta’

FLAP OPP

➤ Delhi court grants bail to man arrested by CBI in NEET paper leak case after he tells court that it was a case of mistaken identity

P 13

Khedkar to face sack and charges if claims on caste, disability found untrue

Bharti.Jain@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar, in the eye of a storm over the authenticity of her disability and OBC status claims that got her appointed to the civil services, could face termination of service and even criminal charges of forgery if the one man probe panel set up by the Centre finds any misrepresentation or suppression of facts on her part.

Sources in the govt said the panel of DoPT additional secretary Manoj Dwivedi will, over the next two weeks, probe how Khedkar obtained the documents establishing her disability and OBC status, and whether proper scrutiny was carried out by the issuing authority.

Khedkar is said to have re- peatedly failed to appear for mandatory medical tests at AIIMS Delhi to confirm her disability, despite having qualified for IAS in the ‘Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD)’ category.

Disability claims, P 17

Mom waves gun in clip, cops to file case

Pune rural police are set to register a case against Puja Khedkar’s mother, Manorama, over an old video clip in which she is seen waving a firearm during a heated argument over land ownership with some farmers at Dhadavali village in Mulshi taluka. Cops have verified the clip with the person who shot it on June 5, 2023.

P17

ED detains former K’tak a minister in corpn probe

ED detained former Congress minister B Nagendra on Friday morning in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam involving Rs 94 crore. The detention followed a two-day ED search at multiple locations linked to Nagendra, corporation chairman Basanagouda Daddal and others.

Nagendra’s Bengaluru and Ballari houses were searched for two days. The officials questioned him till late night, but there was no indication till 10pm of his arrest. The case came to light after a corporation employee died by suicide in May, leaving a note claiming pressure to divert the corporation’s funds.

P12

After solid presser, Biden calls Zelensky ‘Putin’, Kamala ‘Trump’

Chidanand Rajghatta

Washington: US President Joe Biden was forceful and authoritative at a high-stakes press conference Thursday, demonstrating policy depth and command over issues in making his case for a second term in the White House at 82.

But continued gaffes, such as mistakenly referring to vice-president Kamala Harris as vice-president Trump and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as President Putin, sustained doubts about his mental agility and his ability to lead his party to victory in elections four months from now, much less lead the US for four more years. The ranks of Democratic lawmakers and party loyalists who want Biden to bow out continued to grow even after a momentous press conference where the president defiantly pushed back at questions about his age and vitality while declaring he is running for a second term not for legacy reasons but to complete the unfinished job of strengthening America.

“The only thing age does is creates a little bit of wisdom if you pay attention,” Biden, already the oldest person to ever serve as president, said in one of the stand-out moments of Thursday’s White House press conference that was virtually an audition for a second term.

More on INSIDE JACKET

Dem donors withhold $90m, INSIDE JACKET

Times Nation

- Man succumbs to 2nd croc attack

- Rats bite sleeping students at hostel

- Mahayuti drubs MVA as 7 Cong MLAs cross-vote in MLC polls

- BJP MLA in judicial custody allowed to vote, Cong protests

- Lightning strikes claim 21 lives in Bihar in 24 hours

- Jagan, 2 IPS officers booked for bid to murder AP MLA in 2021

- ED detains K’taka ex-mantri in `94cr Valmiki Corp scam

- ‘Corp MD hid scam share of `4cr in pals’ farmhouse, car’

- 2 missing BSF women jawans show up in Kol

- Amritpal’s brother held with drugs; conspiracy, says dad

- MHA transfers Goa DGP after row over putting pressure on cops to raze house

- Govt school librarian held over fake-degree racket in Rajasthan

- Odisha staff lodges manhandling plaint against guv’s son

- Delete defamatory posts against journo, HC tells Cong functionaries

- 2 mentally-challenged women ‘gang-raped’ in Barabanki shelter home, 3 staffers held

- Dalit thrashed, held hostage for inability to repay `4.5k ends life

- Haryana to move SC against HC’s Shambhu order

- ‘U’khand to give STs option to be governed by UCC’

- Doval, Sullivan discuss issues amid US concern over Modi’s Russia visit

- India abstains from UNGA’s Ukraine vote

- Airline staffer who slapped cop at Jaipur airport gets bail

- 14-year-old abducted, gangraped in UP:

- ‘I saw Pushpa as a blessing from Maa Durga’

- Suspicious moves on Kathua border spark search ops

- US forecasts delay in La Nina; may not impact monsoon

- U’khand, Kerala make big strides in SDG rankings

- KEEPING UP WITH THE AMBANIS

- 106 with fake air tickets denied boarding in Madurai

- Five trains cancelled as goods train derails in Bihar

- Old clip shows IAS probationer’s mom waving gun, cops to file case

- Pune techie falls into creek at US nat’l park, feared drowned

- DoPT panel to also vet Khedkar’s mental & physical disability claims

- Dhruv Rathee booked over ‘fake’ post on LS Speaker

- Raj BJP worker axed to death in 20-min assault; manhunt on

- Winning, losing happen, stop ‘being nasty’ to Irani, says Rahul

- Mamata meets Uddhav, Pawar; to campaign for UBT in Maha

- ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ sparks Cong-BJP slugfest

- BJP: Tribute to those who fought dictatorial order

- ‘... Hatya Diwas’ move may also exploit oppn faultlines on Emergency issue

- Centre counters Stalin, says cleared projects worth `3-lakh cr for TN

Man succumbs to 2nd croc attack

Three years after a man escaped death by a whisker when a crocodile attacked him in Orsang river in Gujarat’s Vadodara, the 45-year-old wasn’t lucky for the second time. On Tuesday, Pravin Tadvi, who stepped into the river to ensure the safety of his goats, died after being attacked by a crocodile, reports Tushar Tere. This is the third crocodile attack in Orsang in the last three months. In April, Mehul Virambhai (22) was attacked by a crocodile near Fulvadi village, while on June 10, Lalji Vasava, 60, was injured by a reptile. On May 3, a crocodile attacked 55-year-old Bhagvansinh Ahambaliya in the same river.

Rats bite sleeping students at hostel

Nine students at a Telangana social welfare residential school in Medak district, about 90km from Hyderabad, were bitten by rats while sleeping in their hostel on Thursday night, reports Ashresh Marupaka. This comes only days after a lizard was found in the food served to students at a model school in the same area. School officials said all children are safe and have been sent back to hostel after being treated at the area hospital. “Last year, too, there was a similar rodent issue,” a second-year intermediate student from the school told TOI, adding that several students are now scared about continuing in the hostel now.

Mahayuti drubs MVA as 7 Cong MLAs cross-vote in MLC polls

Bags 9 Seats; Oppn Gets 2 In Jolt Before Maha Assembly Polls

The win shows both CM Shinde and deputy CM Ajit Pawar managed to keep Sena and NCP legislators intact. It is also a victory for deputy CM and BJP’s Fadnavis, who steered poll management for Mahayuti

Prafulla Marpakwar & Clara Lewis | TNN

Mumbai: Fears of cross-voting in MLC polls for 11 seats, which had 12 candidates, came true Friday with seven Congress MLAs voting for Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Mahayuti Friday won all nine seats it contested in the legislative council elections, while Maha Vikas Aghadi lost one of three seats for which it had put up nominees.

All five candidates of BJP and two each of CM Eknath Shinde-led Sena and NCP emerged victorious, with Congress and Sena (UBT) getting one seat each. Peasants and Workers Party’s Jayant Patil, who was supported by NCP (SP) and MVA, lost.

The outcome is a setback to MVA ahead of assembly polls and shows both CM Shinde and Ajit Pawar succeeded in keeping their legislators intact when there was speculation over whether some of them would vote for other side. Significantly, Uddhav Thackeray’s trusted aide Milind Narvekar, who was expected to win in the first round, won at the end of third round.

The results are also seen as a victory for deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis who steered poll management for Mahayuti, which has got a boost after its poor performance in Maharashtra in the Lok Sabha polls and the recent loss in the Mumbai graduates and teachers constituency elections.

Congress said it had identi- fied seven of its legislators who voted in favour of NCP or Sena. Congress nominee Pradnya Satav won in first round as she polled 25 votes against the quota of 23 required for a win. However, according to a Congress neta, the party had earmarked 30 votes for her, which means five Congress legislators did not vote for her.

MPCC chief Nana Patole said he has submitted a report to AICC on the matter. “All traitors will be shown the door.”

BJP nominees Pankaja Munde, Parinay Fuke, Amit Gorkhe, Yogesh Tilekar and Sadabhau Khot were elected in the first round of polling itself.

BJP MLA in judicial custody allowed to vote, Cong protests

Chaitanya.Marpakwar@timesofindia.com

Mumbai: Congress Friday objected to BJP Kalyan (East) MLA Ganpat Gaikwad voting in MLC polls. In a complaint to the RO, Congress MLA Abhijit Wanjari said Gaikwad was in judicial custody and should not be allowed to cast his vote.

Gaikwad was arrested for an assassination attempt on Shiv Sena functionary Mahesh Gaikwad and remanded to judicial custody in Feb 2024.

He arrived at the state legislature and waited at BJP office. EC officials referred Congress’s complaint to central EC and asked Gaikwad to wait. Later, Gaikwad was allowed to cast his vote in the afternoon.

Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut said previously, then NCP MLAs Anil Deshmukh and Nawab Malik (who were behind bars) were not allowed to vote.

Lightning strikes claim 21 lives in Bihar in 24 hours

Patna: At least 21 people were killed in lightning-related accidents in Bihar in past 24 hours, acommunique issued from the chief minister’s office said Friday, reports Madan Kumar.

Six deaths took place in Madhubani district, followed by four in Aurangabad, two in Patna, and one each in Rohtas, Bhojpur, Kaimur, Saran, Jehanabad, Gopalganj, Supaul, Lakhisarai and Madhepura districts, the CMO said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar condoled the deaths and announced ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh for the next of kin of each of the deceased. He urged citizens to remain alert during the inclement weather, stay indoors and follow suggestions issued by the state’s disaster management department.

Jagan, 2 IPS officers booked for bid to murder AP MLA in 2021

Nalla.Babu@timesofindia.com

Vijayawada: Former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy was Friday booked alongside two IPS officers, another cop and a govt doctor for an alleged 2021 conspiracy in attempting to murder K Raghurama Krishnam Raju, a former YSRC MP who is now an MLA of the governing TDP.

Raju accused cops of torturing him at Jagan’s behest after he was arrested three years ago on charges of sedition for “disturbing communal harmony and attacking dignitaries of govt”. Raju had won Narsapuram seat in the 2019 LS elections on a YSRC ticket, but had a falling out with Jagan, also the party chief, within a few months.

Nagarampalem police in Guntur registered the case on Raju’s complaint. The Undi MLA has alleged third-degree torture at the hands of then DG of CID PV Sunil Kumar, then anti-corruption bureau DG P Seetharamanjaneyulu and ASP Vijay Pal in custody on then CM Jagan’s instructions. “PV Sunil Kumar threatened me that he will kill me if I criticise Jagan Mohan Reddy,” Raju said in the complaint.

The doctor named in Raju’s complaint is Dr G Prabhavathi, superintendent of Govt General Hospital in Guntur. Raju claimed the doctor had issued a certificate falsely de- claring that he had suffered no assault injuries in custody.

As YSRCP MP, Raju had openly disagreed with Jagan on a decision to turn govt Telugu medium schools into English medium and even alleged scams in several govt schemes. YSRCP had in July 2020 asked the Lok Sabha Speaker to disqualify him as an MP for anti-party activities. However, the Speaker never took a call on the request. Raju had also written to PM Narendra Modi, accusing Jagan of promoting evangelism in Andhra Pradesh.

In his complaint, Raju alleged that he was taken to the CID office in Guntur, beaten with a rubber belt and a stick, and not allowed to take medicines for his heart ailment.

ED detains K’taka ex-mantri in `94cr Valmiki Corp scam

Former Congress minister Nagendra’s detention followed a two-day search at multiple sites

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: Enforcement Directorate detained former Congress minister B Nagendra Friday in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation scam involving Rs 94 crore.

The detention followed a two-day ED search at multiple locations linked to Nagendra, corporation chairman Basanagouda Daddal and others. Officials picked up Nagendra from his Bengaluru residence at 7am and took him to ED office. Nagendra’s houses in Bengaluru and Ballari were searched for two days. Officials quizzed him till late night, but there was no indication of his arrest.

Nagendra quit as tribal welfare minister early June after one of his aides was linked to the tribal welfare fund scam. About Rs 94 crore was allegedly transferred between Feb and May from the corporation’s bank accounts to multiple mule accounts opened using stolen identities.

The scam surfaced after a corporation employee died by suicide in May, leaving behind a note in which he detailed how he was under pressure to divert the funds. The note had referred to ‘a minister’.

Under pressure from opposition BJP and JD(S), state govt constituted a SIT of CID to probe the case. Nagendra resigned after probe revealed the role of his aide, Nekkuni Nagaraj, in the scam.

SIT has arrested 11 people, including corporation’s JG Padmanabha and Nagaraj, in the case. CBI’s banking fraud wing has registered a case. ED registered a case after SIT flagged money-laundering aspects in the scam and several BJP leaders and other organisations lodged multiple complaints with it.

‘Corp MD hid scam share of `4cr in pals’ farmhouse, car’

Santoshkumar.B@timesofindia.com

Bengaluru: JG Padmanabha, the then MD of Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki ST Development Corporation Ltd, allegedly concealed his scam share of nearly Rs 4 crore in cash at a friend’s farmhouse in Nelamangala and in another friend’s car parked outside his own house, sources said,

An SIT probing the Rs 94-crore scam arrested Padmanabha on May 31. He remained tight-lipped for more than a week about the money he had received. But subjected to detailed inquiry, sources said, he confessed that he had hidden his share with friends.

A police team took him to the farmhouse in Govinahalli, and seized Rs 3.6 crore from the spot on June 13. Cops found two suitcases and two carry-bags full of cash. They found Rs 149 lakh in one suitcase and Rs 108 lakh in another, alongside Rs 50 lakh and Rs 55.4 lakh in the two bags.

Further probe revealed that Padmanabha had borrowed a car from his friend and parked it near his residence in Sahakaranagar. He is suspected to have borrowed the car only to hide money in it. Investigators, accompanied by Padmanabha, went to the spot on June 14 and found the car, the key to which was with Padmanabha’s son. Police found and seized Rs 30 lakh in cash hidden in the car.

2 missing BSF women jawans show up in Kol

Bhopal: Two women constables of the BSF, who went missing from Tekanpur Academy near Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior over a month ago, have been found in West Bengal.

Gwalior SP Dharamveer Yadav told TOI that Shahana Khatoon and Akanksha Nikhar have reported to BSF zonal HQ in Kolkata, where they are being questioned and counselled by senior officers.

“We received inputs from the BSF. No cognisable offence is being made out in this matter. A report will be submitted in court,” Yadav said. Police had registered a case of kidnapping against Shahana on the basis of a complaint lodged by Akanksha’s family.

Shahana and Akanksha were last seen on June 6, 2024. BSF had registered a missing person’s report at Bilua police station while Akanksha’s mother accused Shahana of kidnapping her daughter.

TNN

Amritpal’s brother held with drugs; conspiracy, says dad

IP Singh & Yudhvir Rana TNN

Jalandhar/Amritsar: Khadoor Sahib MP Amritpal Singh’s brother Harpreet Singh and friend Lovepreet Singh were arrested Thursday with ‘ice’ (a drug made from methamphetamine) near Phillaur in Punjab. Police said a Ludhiana-based drug peddler, from whom they allegedly procured the contraband, was also arrested. The arrests evoked sharp response from Amritpal’s kin, saying they had “anticipated the challenges” following his political rise.

Rural Jalandhar SSP Ankur Gupta said a police patrol spotted a car with tinted windows parked by the NH near Phillaur, and this aroused their suspicion. “On seeing the policemen, the two youths in the car hid things under their seats and then insisted upon a search by a gazetted officer,” the SSP said.

“When DSP Phillaur reached there and questioned them, they identified themselves. Harpreet’s search led to recovery of 4 gm of ‘ice’, a Rs 20 note, a piece of silver foil, one lighter and two mobile phones while apiece of silver foil, a Rs 20 note, lighter and a mobile phone were recovered from Lovepreet, a resident of Cheema Bath village,” Gupta added.

The SSP added that their dope test turned out to be positive at Civil Hospital in Phillaur. Their questioning led to the arrest of Ludhiana resident Sandeep Arora, from whom the duo had procured the drug for Rs 10,000.

Amritpal’s father Tarsem Singh alleged that “there were certain forces conspiring to hinder Amritpal’s progress and damage his reputation.” Without naming anyone, Tarsem said, “They aim to impede our progress and discourage us from pursuing the path of truth, particularly continuing the anti-drug campaign initiated by Amritpal.” Rejecting allegations of Harpreet possessing ‘ice’, Tarsem said: “What could be more surprising than the arrest of Harpreet, elder brother of Punjab’s champion against drug abuse?”

MHA transfers Goa DGP after row over putting pressure on cops to raze house

Murari.Shetye@timesofindia.com

Panaji: Nearly two weeks after TOI exclusively reported that Goa DGP Jaspal Singh had pressured Anjuna police to allow unimpeded demolition of an Assagao house, home ministry Friday transferred him to Delhi with immediate effect. Alok Kumar, serving in the central paramilitary forces, will be the new DGP.

Singh’s transfer orders were issued after the state govt sent a detailed report to Centre on the demolition case. CM Pramod Sawant had discussed the issue with Union home minister Amit Shah too.

TOI reported on June 28 that cops, in its report submitted to chief secretary, said the DGP threatened them to help an intelligence officer’s wife Pooja Sharma to demolish the house on her property, which was occupied by a Goan family.

Sawant, who also holds the home portfolio, had directed the chief secretary to conduct a detailed inquiry into the demolition and transferred the case to crime branch. On June 28, govt placed Anjuna police inspector Prashal Dessai and SIs Sanket Pokhare and Nitin Naik under suspension.

Goa police issued two notices to Sharma to join the probe, but the notices were not delivered as she was not at her Mumbai residence.

The row erupted on June 22 when Sharma, who had bought the property in 2023, sent people to demolish the house. Cops said when they tried to stop the demolition, “the DGP started shouting” & said it should be demolished “at any cost”.

DIG who misbehaved with woman at pub shifted

Nearly a year after Goa DIG A Koan was suspended for misbehaving with a woman, home ministry Friday transferred him to Andaman and Nicobar Islands, reports Murari Shetye. “With the approval of the competent authority, A Koan, IPS, is hereby transferred from Goa and posted to Andaman & Nicobar Islands with immediate effect and until further orders,” said home ministry undersecretary Rakesh Kumar Singh in an order. In Aug 2023, MHA suspended Koan after he was caught allegedly in a drunken state and acting inappropriately with a woman at a Calangute pub. The drama unfolded while Koan was on medical leave, on the intervening night of Aug 7 and 8 at Las Olas Bar and Restaurant. MHA had issued a show-cause notice to the IPS officer asking why disciplinary proceedings should not be initiated against him.

Govt school librarian held over fake-degree racket in Rajasthan

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Jaipur: Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) Friday arrested a 30-year-old librarian from Govt Senior Secondary School in Sanchore over his alleged involvement in the fake degree racket. The accused, Manohar Lal Vishnoi, allegedly facilitated the acquisition of a forged degree from a Chittorgarh-based private university for a candidate, ADGP (SOG) V K Singh said. The arrest was made by SOG’s Ajmer unit, led by Additional SP (SOG) Ajmer Mukesh Soni.

Vishnoi’s involvement came to light during the probe of previously arrested suspects Kamla Kumari and her brother Dalpat Singh, who had obtained a fake MA (Hindi) degree from Mewar University, a Chittorgarhbased private institution. Officials said the accused took money from Kumari to help her get the degree.

The case traces back to March when Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) filed an FIR, leading to the arrest of two women — Brahma Kumari from Jalore and Kamla Kumari from Sanchore. Both had submitted forged degrees for the school lecturer (Hindi) recruitment exam 2022.

NEET suspect says case of ‘mistaken identity’, gets bail

A Delhi court granted bail on Friday to Gangadhar Ranganath Gunde, a suspect in CBI custody in the NEET case, after he claimed that a namesake from Bengaluru, not him, was involved in the paper leak and that his arrest was a case of mistaken identity, reports Vineet Upadhyay. According to Gunde, the CBI picked him up when it should have gone after his namesake, Bengaluru’s N Gangadhar Appa. A worker aged around 60 in a private company in Gurugram since 1990, Gunde was arrested while on way to Dehradun on June 26. Special judge Ankit Singla granted Gunde bail on a bond of Rs 25000 and other conditions.

Odisha staff lodges manhandling plaint against guv’s son

Bhubaneswar: A govt staffer engaged at Odisha Raj Bhavan lodged a complaint on Wednesday against governor Raghubar Das’s son, Lalit Kumar, and five others for manhandling him in Puri on July 7.

In his complaint to principal secretary to the governor, Pradhan said, “Around 11.45pm on July 7, the personal cook of the governor came to the office and told me that Lalit Kumar wanted to meet me immediately. When I went to Kumar’s room, he started scolding me, using unparliamentary language.” Pradhan had informed Saswat Mishra, principal secretary to the governor, about the incident on July 8.

TNN

Delete defamatory posts against journo, HC tells Cong functionaries

New Delhi: The Delhi high court directed Congress functionaries Ragini Nayak, Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera to immediately delete “defamatory tweets” against journalist Rajat Sharma latest by 7 pm on Friday.

The single-judge bench of Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora in its order dated July 11 asked them to comply with its interim order passed on June 14. The court directed “X” to unblock the tweets in question, which the social media platform claimed to have geo-blocked, by 5 pm Friday.

The defamation suit was filed after Congress politicians alleged that Shar- ma had used abusive language on air during a show on June 4, election results day. On June 14, a coordinate bench of the HC directed Congress politicians as well as “X” to remove the social media posts within seven days.

The social media platform submitted before the court that the tweets were geo-blocked by it on July 4. However, the same were not deleted by the authors, the Congress politicians.

“X” told the court that to enable the Congress politicians to delete the tweets it would first have to unblock the URLs and that the process would require 24 hours.

TNN

2 mentally-challenged women ‘gang-raped’ in Barabanki shelter home, 3 staffers held

The arrests came after a woman — the facility’s treasurer-cum-warden — filed a complaint at Haidergarh police station two days ago

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Lucknow: Two mentally and physically challenged women — inmates of a private shelter home in Uttar Pradesh’s Barabanki — were allegedly gang-raped by staffers. Police are searching for one of the survivors who is missing. Three persons have been arrested in this connection, including shelter director Rajesh Kumar, security guard Ram Kailash, and Amrita Devi, a staffer who allegedly assisted the accused in the crime.

The arrests came on Thursday after a woman — the facility’s treasurer-cum-warden — filed a complaint at Haidergarh police station two days ago. She claimed that the shelter director came to the facility along with a woman staffer. He and other staffers gangraped two mentally challenged inmates and even abducted one of them, said SP Dinesh Kumar Singh.

SP Singh added that one of the survivors underwent a medical examination, the result of which was inconclusive. Her swab test report is still awaited. “We have formed four teams to search for the missing inmate,” the SP added.

A three-member team headed by an sub divisional magistraterank officer inspected the shelter home and found inadequate facilities, after which the inmates were moved to an orphanage in Lucknow, Barabanki district magistrate Satyendra Kumar said.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the treasurer lived in the shelter home along with her husband, SP Dinesh Singh added.

“The accused director, Rajesh Kumar, had previously started a similar shelter home in Sultanpur, where the treasurer had given land at the time of the organisation’s establishment. Rajesh, however, had not paid for the same, leading to a dispute between them,” he said, adding that police were probing all aspects of the case.

Dalit thrashed, held hostage for inability to repay `4.5k ends life

Deepak LavaniaTNN

Agra: Kamal Kant, a Dalit man, took his own life after allegedly being thrashed and held hostage by two loan sharks, who are siblings, for his inability to pay back Rs 4,500. The incident was reported from Dakshini Mohalla in Firozabad. Cops have registered a case against the duo, who are on the run.

The death came to light Wednesday when videos surfaced showing Kamal being held hostage and beaten. On Thursday, cops filed a case against three individuals and launched a search for them.

Kamal, 26, was allegedly subjected to severe abuse, which led to his suicide on July 6. Kamal had lost his father five years ago and lived with mother Krishna Devi. He used to drive a loading vehicle for Pramod Singh, one of the accused.

Krishna Devi said, “Pra- mod was demanding Rs 60,000 from my son, but Kamal claimed he only owed Rs 4,500. When he failed to repay the amount, Pramod and his brother Manish began harassing him. They often came to our house to threaten my son.”

On July 6, Pramod called Kamal to his house, where he was taken hostage, tied up, and beaten throughout the night. The following day, they released him after forcing him to promise to repay the debt. In the video, Kamal can be heard pleading, “I will borrow money to pay you back,” only to be kicked on the head and further abused.

Distressed by the torture, Kamal hanged himself at night.

Morphed obscene pics drive debtor to death

Chennai: Shaming and harassment meted out by an online loan app to a man led the man to kill himself using poison in Chennai’s Muthapudhupet on Thursday night, reports Sindhu Kannan . R Sathya Narayanan (37), a driver with a private company, had borrowed Rs 1 lakh through an online app and defaulted on repayments. For the past few days employees of the loan app sent obscene morphed pictures of him to his wife. Then he started receiving obscene messages from various numbers and explicit images of his wife, causing immense mental distress to the family.

On Wednesday, the loan app employees forwarded these obscene messages to all his relatives, contacts and friends. Distraught, he consumed pesticide and fell unconscious. His wife, with the help of relatives, rushed him to a private hospital and later shifted him to Sri Ramachandra Hospital in Porur for further treatment. However, he did not respond to treatment and died.

Haryana to move SC against HC’s Shambhu order

Chandigarh: Haryana’s govt has decided to challenge in Supreme Court the July 10 order passed by Punjab and Haryana HC in which directions were issued by a division bench to the state to remove the barricades at Shambhu border on an experimental basis within a week so that the general public is not inconvenienced.

In a special leave petition (SLP), which is expected to come up for hearing next week, the state govt has mainly cited law and order situation on account of opening of the barricades.

A large number of farmers have been camping at Shambhu border for over nine months since the “Dilli Chalo” march under the banners of Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Sanyukta Kisan Morcha (Non-Political) was halted.

The state has said they may move towards Delhi, like they did in the 2020 agitation, and may create a law and order issue. Lokesh Singhal, additional advocate general, Haryana, confirmed the SLP may come up for hearing Thursday or Friday.

Meanwhile, when a related matter came up for hearing in SC Friday, the court asked Haryana govt to clear the barricading at Shambhu border, and questioned its authority to block the highway.

In its July 10 order, the division bench comprising Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Vikas Bahl, while directing the opening of Shambhu border, had clarified that it would be open to Haryana to take effective steps to enforce law and order against the protesters if they do not remain within the limits set down by the state. All farmer unions that have taken part in the agitation were also directed to maintain law and order.

TNN

‘U’khand to give STs option to be governed by UCC’

Continued from P1

Singh said that during the panel’s field visits, the issue of registration was frequently raised. “Registration not only provides a security cover but also helps us prepare a database for future reference. If someone challenges a matter in court, the court will take a call on the issue,” he said.

Uttarakhand’s ST, including Jaunsari, Bhotiyas, Tharu, Raji, and Buksa, make up 3% of the state’s population. Their areas have been granted ST status, keeping them outside UCC’s jurisdiction. Singh said, “Tribal communities have been excluded from UCC’s scope as of now. We will give them the option to consent to be governed by UCC.”

Regarding the completion of rules and manuals, Singh said, “CM Dhami said UCC will be introduced in Oct, and all our efforts are directed towards this. We are working to complete the process promptly.” Addressing concerns raised by a few religious groups, Singh said, “We reviewed religious texts from both Muslim and Hindu traditions, and after considering various aspects, the draft was prepared.”

The 740-page draft was presented to CM Pushkar Dhami by a five-member panel on Feb 2and passed by the cabinet on Feb 4. The bill was tabled in the assembly on Feb 6 and approved the following day. Governor Lt Gen Gurmit Singh (retd) approved the bill, and it was signed by President Murmu on March 11. Following the President’s assent, a nine-member panel was formed to prepare rules for implementing the UCC Act.

Doval, Sullivan discuss issues amid US concern over Modi’s Russia visit

New Delhi: In the middle of the controversy over PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Russia, NSA Ajit Dovalspoke to his US counterpart Jake Sullivan on Friday. According to an Indian govt readout, they discussed a wide range of issues of bilateral, regional and international concern and forthcoming high-level engagements under Quad framework to be held in July and later in the year.

“They agreed to work closely to further advance India-US relations, which are built on shared values and common strategic and security interests,” said the readout, adding that they reiterated the need to work collectively to address global challenges to peace and security. Since Modi landed in Moscow, US has repeatedly raised concerns about India’s ties with Russia. US ambassador Eric Garcetti gave vent to some of these concerns when he said on Thursday, without referring to Modi’s visit, that India-US ties are not deep enough for India to take it for granted.

Significantly, the NSAs spoke on a day US Vice-President Kamala Harris had a phone conversation with leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi.

TNN

India abstains from UNGA’s Ukraine vote

United Nations: India has abstained in UN General Assembly on a resolution that demanded that Russia immediately cease its aggression against Ukraine and urgently withdraw its military and other unauthorised personnel from Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

The 193-member UN General Assembly adopted the resolution on Thursday with 99 votes in favour, nine against and 60 abstentions, including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Sri Lanka. Those voting against the resolution included Belarus, Cuba, North Korea, Russia and Syria.

The resolution demanded that Russia “unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders”. It also demanded that Russia immediately return the Zaporizhzhia plant to the full control of the sovereign and competent authorities of Ukraine to ensure its safety and security. It called for the “immediate cessation of attacks” by Russia against the critical energy infrastructure of Ukraine.

PTI

Airline staffer who slapped cop at Jaipur airport gets bail

A day after a 24-year-old woman crew member of a private airline was held for allegedly slapping an ASI of CISF at Jaipur International Airport, a city court granted her bail on Friday. Her counsel stated that the ASI had allegedly misbehaved with the woman and made objectionable statements, adding that the comments led to the sudden provocation. TNN

14-year-old abducted, gangraped in UP:

A 14-year-old girl was allegedly abducted from her home and gangraped by four men in a village in Firozabad district, police said on Friday. Police have registered an FIR and launched a search for the suspects, reports Deepak Lavania. She was produced in court on Friday and her statement was recorded before the magistrate.

‘I saw Pushpa as a blessing from Maa Durga’

 Continued from P 1

Pushpa was raised by her grandmother, who had died just as the girl stepped into her 10th year. Left an orphan, she relied on the kindness of strangers to get by in life. About 25 days ago, Pushpa came to Pithoragarh from her home in Balwakot in search of work. Reserve inspector Naresh Chandra Jakhmola found her sitting alone. Being a cop, he asked questions. By the time Pushpa answered them, Jakhmola had decided that he wanted to adopt her.

Jakhmola told TOI on Friday: “I saw her as a blessing from Maa Durga. I have two sons, and when I met Pushpa, I knew she was the daughter I never had,’ and brought her home.”

As luck would have it, a week later Jakhmola was contacted by his son’s mother-in-law, who was looking for a bride for a relative. Seeing it as a sign, Jakhmola introduced Pushpa to the family. Despite Pushpa’s slight disability in one leg, Bipin Upadhyay, who works at a TV cable office in Dharchula, agreed to marry her. Pushpa happily consented.

Suspicious moves on Kathua border spark search ops

Jammu: Security forces launched on Friday search operations in Jammu’s Akhnoor and Ramkot — Billawer of Kathua district after locals reported suspicious movements along the border with Pakistan, officials said, reports Sanjay Khajuria. The pockets have been on high alert with forces asking people to share details of suspected movements after the July 8 Kathua ambush.

“A joint search was launched after information about suspicious movements of three people,” an official said. A poultry farm operator reportedly provided the tip.

US forecasts delay in La Nina; may not impact monsoon

Likely To Set In Around Sept, Say US Agencies

NO REASON TO WORRY

Amit.Bhattacharya@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The La Nina climate pattern that was expected to develop around Aug and create conditions largely conducive for bountiful monsoon rains in Aug Sept, is likely to be delayed by about a month. As per the latest forecast by US govt weather agencies released late Thursday, La Nina is now likely to set in around Sept, the last month of India’s rainy season.

Experts, however, do not expect a major setback for monsoon rainfall over the June-Sept season due to the projected delay in La Nina. The monsoon is currently 3% below normal over the country but the figure is expected to improve over the next two weeks.

The update by agencies affiliated to US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) gave a 70% probability of La Nina developing in the Aug-Sept-Oct period, generally taken to mean the month of Sept. The note said the probability of La Nina forming in Aug had reduced to 48%. In the forecast released last month , the probability of La Nina setting in around Aug was 65%.

In a La Nina event, surface waters in the east and central Pacific Ocean cool down below threshold temperatures, leading to associated changes in wind currents that impact weather around the world. The condition is a reverse of El Nino, where abnormal warming takes place. La Nina generally aids summer monsoon rainfall in India while El Nino often depresses it. In between the two states is a neutral or normal phase.

“The projected delay in La Nina shouldn’t be a cause of worry. The important thing from monsoon’s standpoint is whether the sea surface temperature anomaly in the region known as Nino 3.4 (in the Pacific) goes below zero. At the moment, it is slightly above zero but is likely to fall into the negative zone by Aug. When that happens, monsoon usually gets strengthened,” said M Rajeevan, veteran meteorologist and former secretary of the Union earth sciences ministry.

U’khand, Kerala make big strides in SDG rankings

Top States’ List As India Makes Sharp Progress

BRIGHT SPOTS: Chandigarh topped among UTs

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Uttarakhand and Kerala have topped the list of states in sustainable development goals (SDG) index while Chandigarh took the top spot among Union Territories, data released by govt think tank Niti Aayog showed on Friday.

Tamil Nadu took the third spot followed by Goa and Himachal Pradesh. This year, 32 states/UTs have scored between 65 and 99, up from 22 in the 2020-21 edition. There are 10 new states and UTs in the front runner category. These include Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Manipur, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu.

The data showed that between 2018 and 2023-24, the fastest moving states were Uttar Pradesh (increase in score by 25), followed by J&K (21), Uttarakhand (19), Sikkim (18), Haryana (17), Assam, Tripura and Punjab (16 each), Madhya Pradesh and Odisha (15 each).

The composite score for India improved from 57 in 2018 to 66 in 2020-21 to further to 71 in 2023-24, the data released by Niti Aayog CEO Suman Bery showed. India has made significant progress in accelerating progress on SDGs between the 2020-21 and 2023-24 editions of the index. Goal 13 (Climate Action) records the highest increase in score from 54 in 2020-21 to 67 in 2023-24 followed by Goal 1 (No Poverty) from 60 to 72.

Targeted interventions by govt such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Ujjwala, Swachh Bharat, Jan Dhan, Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY, Ayushman Arogya Mandir, PM-Mudra Yojana, Saubhgaya, Start-up India had impact and led to rapid improvement, according to an official statement.

KEEPING UP WITH THE AMBANIS

Shah Rukh Khan with Gauri

Superstars from the worlds of politics, business, entertainment, fashion and sports descended on the biggest wedding in memory on Friday as Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant tied the knot at the Jio World Convention Centre at BKC in Mumbai. The festivities, which will go on for another couple of days, cap months of pre-wedding celebrations in Jamnagar and Europe. The wedding — themed ‘A Celebration of India: An Eternal and Enduring Civilization’ — brought together under one sprawling roof and against the backdrop of the Varanasi-inspired décor, A-listers from across continents. Amid a symphony of Hindustani classical ragas and international pop, the ‘baraatis’ immersed themselves in the colours, culture and cuisine of Varanasi

Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt

American reality show ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’ stars Kim and Khloe Kardashian

Priyanka Chopra with Nick Jonas

Ex-UK PM Tony Blair with wife Cherie

M S Dhoni with Sakshi and Ziva

FIFA chief Gianni Infantino & wife Leena

Banker Uday Kotak with Times Internet vice chairman Satyan Gajwani

American WWE wrestler and actor John Cena

Amitabh and Jaya Bachchan with Navya Naveli, Shweta and Agastya; Aishwarya with daughter Aaradhya

A R Rahman with wife Saira Banu

Salman Khan

Rajinikanth

Jasprit Bumrah with wife Sanjana

Prabal Gurung, designer to Hollywood A-listers, with filmmaker Karan Johar

106 with fake air tickets denied boarding in Madurai

Madurai: More than 100 passengers were disallowed from boarding a flight at Madurai airport on Friday after they presented counterfeit tickets for their journey to Ayodhya via Bengaluru, allegedly issued by a travel agency.

Sources said that a total of 106 individuals, mostly from Salem, had paid for a five-day package tour with a private agency. The itinerary included flights from Madurai to Bengaluru and then to Ayodhya on IndiGo Air. Upon arrival at Madurai airport, these passengers showed their tickets to IndiGo staff, only to learn that no such tickets had been booked.

The passengers were shocked when IndiGo confirmed that the tickets were fraudulent and not issued by them. All 106 passengers were escorted out of the airport premises. When they contacted the agent responsible for their bookings, he claimed that someone else had handled the ticket arrangements and promised to investigate and provide valid tickets TNN.

Five trains cancelled as goods train derails in Bihar

Five passenger trains were cancelled following derailment of six wagons of a goods train near Daniyawan junction in Bihar’s Danapur division on Friday, reports Kumod Verma. Traffic operations were also suspended for several hours on this route.

LAND DISPUTE

Old clip shows IAS probationer’s mom waving gun, cops to file case

Mihir Tanksale & Gitesh Shelke | TNN

Pune: The Pune rural police initiated on Thursday evening the process of registering a case against probationary IAS officer Puja Khedkar’s mother, Manorama, in relation to an old video clip in which she is seen waving a firearm during a heated argument over land ownership with some farmers at Dhadavali village, Mulshi taluka.

SP Pankaj Deshmukh (Pune Rural) told TOI, “We have verified the video clip with the persons who shot it during the incident on June 5, 2023 in Mulshi taluka.”

Deshmukh said, “A case is being registered under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Indian Arms Act against Manorama and the people who accompanied her, based on farmer Pandharinath Pasalkar’s (67) complaint.”

When contacted, Pasalkar told TOI, “I filed a complaint against Manorama and others for threatening us despite the fact that the land dispute case is pending before a civil court. They even lodged a complaint against us.”

Manorama did not respond to text messages sent to her by TOI seeking her version of the matter. Her lawyer Ravindra Sutar told TOI, “The land dispute is pending before the civil court at Shivajinagar in Pune. For now, I have no instructions from my client to offer any comments on the video which is in circulation on social media. You can contact my client to seek their comments.”

Sutar, however, released a video in which he said that Manorama is his client. “The disputed property is in her possession and the related documents are submitted before the court. When she had gone to visit the disputed land, some people did not allow her to enter the land. She has filed a complaint with the Paud police and the FIR has been submitted before the court. As the land is in a secluded spot, she was carrying her licensed firearm for self-defence,” Sutar has said in the video.

In the June 5, 2023 incident video, Manorama is seen having reached the spot along with some private male and female bouncers and an earthmoving machine and arguing with one of the farmers as both sides claim ownership of the land. According to reports, the farmers had filed a complaint application with the Paud police and had later claimed that there had been no action.

District administration officials told TOI on Friday that there has been no complaint of a threat to usurp land in Dhadawali village registered with their office against IAS probationer Puja Khedkar and her mother, Manorama Khedkar. The village is about two hours by road from Pune city. According to details sourced from the govt website, Manorama owns 4.2 hectares while Puja owns 4.7 hectares. The land documents sourced from the website mention their names on the mutation extracts, or 7/12 extracts (Record of Land Rights).

Pune techie falls into creek at US nat’l park, feared drowned

Pune: A 26-year-old techie from Pune, Siddhant Vitthal Patil, is feared drowned after he fell into a creek and got washed away into a gorge while hiking with friends on Avalanche Lake Trail of Glacier National Park in Montana, United States, on July 6, reports Aditi Shekar.

An Indian Embassy source in Seattle said 10 rescue professionals and troopers conducted a search and rescue operation over two days with drones and helicopters but could not locate Patil. External affairs minister S Jaishankar — acting on an appeal from Maharashtra deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis — has sought an update from the embassy.

Patil had walked away from the trail to stand on a large rock, from where he fell into Avalanche Creek. It is unclear if he slipped on a wet portion of the rock or lost balance, the park said in a statement Wednesday.

DoPT panel to also vet Khedkar’s mental & physical disability claims

Bharti.Jain@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The DoPT panel probing the claims of IAS probationer Puja Khedkar is likely to take the help of social justice ministry to verify her OBC status, govt officials said. “The panel will submit its findings to DoPT which will then forward the report with recommendations to the Maharashtra govt, since she is allocated to the Maharashtra cadre. If found guilty of forging her OBC and disability papers, the state govt could terminate her. Also, she may face criminal liability for forgery and misrepresentation,” a source said.

Although Khedkar claims to be from the economically weaker category, the affidavit filed by her father, an ex-bureaucrat and a candidate in the recent Lok Sabha polls, declared his assets at over Rs 40 crore. Khedkar was shown as the owner of flats and plots worth crores. The panel will, in consultation with experts from AIIMS Delhi, also examine if the visual and mental disability claimed by her meets the bench- marks for employment in govt.

A senior govt functionary said this was not the first case of a civil services aspirant making incorrect disability claims. “There are instances almost every year when those selected on the basis of false disability claims have evaded the mandatory medical test at AIIMS Delhi and even escalated the matter to Central Administrative Tribunal seeking testing elsewhere. Eventually, they could not secure an appointment after having failed the test,” the functionary told TOI.

Khedkar’s Audi ‘driver’ pays `27k in challans

Traffic police in Pune on Friday sent a letter to RTO asking for documents and details of the private Audi car used by Puja Khedkar to find out if there were any more violations related to the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Aslam Jamadar, who claimed to be the driver of the Audi car, on Friday paid Rs 27,400 fine to clear all the 22 challans against the car.

TNN

Dhruv Rathee booked over ‘fake’ post on LS Speaker

Mumbai:Maharashtra nodal cyber police on Wednesday registered a case against Dhruv Rathee for posting on his X handle an alleged fake message that Lok Sabha Speaker MP Om Birla’s daughter Anjali had cleared UPSC exams without appearing for it, reports Ahmed Ali.

Police have booked Rathee under BNS sections for defamation, intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace, and statement leading to mischief, as well as IT Act.

The post on X handle Dhruv Rathee (parody)@dhruvrahtee claimed: “India is the only country where you can clear UPSC without sitting in the examination. But for that, you have to be born as a daughter of Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla. Om Birla’s daughter Anjali Birla cleared UPSC without giving any examination, she is a model by profession. Modi govt is making a mockery of our education system.”

Anjali (23) had cracked the tough three-test exams in the first attempt. Her name is also on the merit roll for Civil Services (Main) Exam 2019. Police said they filed the FIR on a complaint filed by Anjali’s cousin Naman Maheshwari.

Raj BJP worker axed to death in 20-min assault; manhunt on

Alwar: A BJP worker died on Friday after he was attacked by a group of people in Rajasthan late on Thursday.

The murder is suspected to be a fallout of personal animosity, police said. A group of over a dozen assailants attacked Yaseen Khan near Vijaypura village in Narayanpur police station area of Kotputli-Behror district.

Khan, accompanied by BJP member Parmendra Sharma and advocate Jitendra Sharma, was returning to Alwar from Jaipur when the attackers intercepted their vehicle. Armed with sticks and axes, they assaulted Khan for about 20 minutes, fracturing his limbs. Despite being rushed to hospital in Jaipur, Khan succumbed to his injuries on Friday morning.

A case has been registered against Irfan, Akbar, Akram, Dilawar, Akkha, Wasim and others of Belaka village. A search operation is under way to apprehend the perpetrators, while police have provided security to the victim’s family. Police are probing the circumstances surrounding the attack and motive behind the targeted violence.

TNN

Winning, losing happen, stop ‘being nasty’ to Irani, says Rahul

New Delhi: Congress’ Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged people to refrain from targeting BJP member and former Union minister Smriti Irani, who lost to Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The advice followed digs at Irani on social media after she vacated her official bungalow recently.

“Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter,” Gandhi wrote on X.

“Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength,” he added.

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi post on X, BJP’s IT department head, Amit Malviya said, “This is the most disingenuous message, ever. After unleashing Congress functionaries, like a pack of wolves, on the woman who defeated him in Amethi and smashed his arrogance to smithereens, this is rich. All this gibberish doesn’t take away from the fact that Smriti Irani forced ‘Balak Buddhi’ to abandon Amethi.”

TNN

Mamata meets Uddhav, Pawar; to campaign for UBT in Maha

Mumbai:West Bengal CMMamata Banerjee on Friday met Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray at the latter’s Bandra residence. Banerjee said “khela” had started and it will go on. She said she would come to Maharashtra for the state assembly elections and campaign for Uddhav, reports Chaitanya Marpakwar.

Banerjee slammed PM Modi-led Centre over declaring June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’, saying there is more of an Emergency in the country under Modi. She said criminal laws in the country were changed, BNSwas introduced without consulting anybody and 147 MPs were suspended.

Criticising BJP for “taking away” Shiv Sena name and symbol, she said despite that, Uddhav fought like a tiger.

This was her first meeting with Thackeray after LSpolls. Uddhav said they have “family relations of a brother and sister”. “There was nothing political about the meeting,” he said.

She also met NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar, NCP (SP) MP Supriya Sule, MLA Rohit Pawar and Sharad Pawar’s grand-nephew Yugendra Pawar on Friday at his Silver Oak residence.

TNN

‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ sparks Cong-BJP slugfest

Each Day Of Last 10 Years A Murder Of Democracy: Cong

Cong’s Kharge said the PM has insulted Ambedkar by suffixing ‘murder’ to a sacred word like ‘Constitution’

Subodh.Ghildiyal@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Accusing Modi govt of celebrating each day of the past ten years as “Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas” with “undeclared emergency”, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said PM Narendra Modi has insulted Ambedkar by suffixing “murder” to a sacred word like “Constitution”. He said the usage is reflective of BJP-RSS’s desire to replace the Constitution with “manusmriti” and targeting the rights of Dalits, tribals and backwards.

AICC spokesman Jairam Ramesh mocked it as Modi’s “another headline grabbing exercise in hypocrisy” since he is smarting from the “moral, political and personal defeat” in the polls which will go down in history as “Modi Mukti Diwas”. “It is a PM for whom democracy means only demo-kursi,” he added.

Kharge, in an open letter to the PM on X, said, “Defence of the Constitution does not sound good from your mouth… every moment in power, you have snatched self respect from every poor and deprived section of the country.”

The Congress chief said when a BJP functionary urinates on a tribal in MP or when UP govt forcibly cremates a Dalit girl in Hathras, it is the “murder of the Constitution”. He asked Modi to answer if it is not “Samvidhaan hatya” that six Dalit women are raped every day, “illegal bulldozer justice” is meted out to minorities with 1.5 lakh houses demolished rendering 7.38 lakh citizens homeless in two years, and when the PM does not like to visit Manipur despite the state being in the grip of violence for past 13 months.

As BJP devised the new offensive on emergency as a weapon to counter the opposition which has not let go of its election time charge that the ruling party is conspiring to junk the Constitution, Congress sought to keep the focus trained on Ambedkar and the marginalised sections where it finds the rival vulnerable — a tack that brought rich dividends to INDIA bloc in national polls.

Kharge said BJP-RSSJansangh never accepted the Constitution and the Organiser on Nov 30, 1949, derided it as bereft of Indianess, arguing that it shows the RSS as standing against Ambedkar and in favour of Manusmriti.

BJP: Tribute to those who fought dictatorial order

The circumstances that arose due to Emergency and the kind of repressive cycle that was carried out are still fresh in the memory of the countrymen, Rajnath Singh said

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Welcoming the govt decision to observe June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’, senior BJP functionaries on Friday said it was a pertinent move to awaken the current generation on how Congress had “trampled” with the Constitution and was now taking pledges to protect it.

“In the history of Indian democracy, the circumstances that arose due to Emergency and the kind of repressive cycle that was carried out are still fresh in the memory of countrymen,” defence minister Rajnath Singh said in a post on X.

Singh, who was jailed for two years and recently claimed that he was not allowed to visit his ailing mother, further said, “To remind us of the attempt to strangle the Constitution by imposing Emergency in India and to pay tribute to the revolutionaries who protected democratic rights, the govt of India has declared June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’.”

“The contribution of those who spent time in jail and suffered torture during Emergency can never be forgotten,” he added.

BJP president J P Nadda said that June 25, 1975, was a black day when the “dictatorial mindset of then PM Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency on the country by killing democracy enshrined in Constitution”.

“The central govt decision to observe June 25 every year as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ will remind us of the sacrifices and martyrdom of all our great men who fought against this dictatorial mindset of Congress, endured torture and died for protection of the Constitution and restoration of democracy,” he said.

“I express my gratitude to the Prime Minister for this decision which reminds us of the importance of democracy every year,” Nadda added.

BJP’s chief spokesperson and Lok Sabha MP Anil Baluni said Emergency was a “blot on India’s great democracy”.

‘... Hatya Diwas’ move may also exploit oppn faultlines on Emergency issue

The decision is intended to honour the spirit of millions who struggled to revive democracy (during Emergency) despite facing inexplicable persecution at the hands of an oppressive govt. The observance... will help keep the eternal flame of individual freedom and the defence of our democracy alive in every Indian, thus preventing dictatorial forces like Congress from repeating those horrors AMIT SHAH | UNIONHOMEMINISTER

Akhilesh.Singh@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Speaking on the Centre notifying June 25 as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’, home minister Amit Shah said on Friday, “The decision made by the govt led by PM Narendra Modi ji is intended to honour the spirit of millions who struggled to revive democracy (during the Emeregency) despite facing inexplicable persecution at the hands of an oppressive govt. The observance... will help keep the eternal flame of individual freedom and the defence of our democracy alive in every Indian, thus preventing dictatorial forces like the Congress from repeating those horrors.”

Prez Droupadi Murmu, in her recent address to the joint sitting of Parliament, made a detailed reference to the Emergency and PM Modi spoke about it on multiple occasions, including in his customary media address ahead of the Parliament session and also in his reply to the debate on the President’s address.

It can also bring out contradictions among opposition ranks on the issue as some important allies of Congress — from SP and RJD to DMK and CPM — were victims of excesses during the Emergency.

On the last day of the first session of the 18th Lok Sabha, they did not join Congress’ protests against the statement read out by Speaker Om Birla to condemn the Emergency.

Centre counters Stalin, says cleared projects worth `3-lakh cr for TN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Dismissing Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin’s allegations of Centre not clearing large projects for the state in past 10 years, sources on Friday listed railway, highway and social infrastructure projects in state involving investment of at least Rs 3 lakh crore.

In addition, govt sources said, the state has not moved ahead with schemes that have already been approved. For instance, against Rs 12,491 crore sanctioned under Jal Jeevan mission between FY20 and FY 24, Tamil Nadu has drawn Rs 5,167 crore.

Similarly, under PM Vishwkarma, the state has not cooperated in helping verify and register the 8.4 lakh aspirants who had enrolled for the scheme, sources said, adding that the central schemes should be utilised by states.

They added that during the past 10 years, a record number of central projects were cleared and are under implementation in Tamil Nadu, and insisted that there is no discrimination among states.

“Stalin’s statement is far from the truth. As a matter of fact, NDA govt has significantly increased the funding of projects on railways, highways, airports, and also in schemes in the social and rural sectors in the state in past 10 years,” said an official.

Officials said while on an average Rs 879 crore was allocated in the Budget annually to the state for railway development between 2009 and 2014, for the current financial year Rs 6,331 crore has been allocated.

Under Amrit Bharat station revamp scheme, 77 stations have been identified and redevelopment work is going on at 62 of these stations.

Similarly, in civil aviation sector, five projects worth Rs 4,000 crore have been approved by the Centre and two of these projects have been completed.

Times City

- With Munak Canal Repair Still On, Supply Hit In Dwarka And Bawana

- Day later, Bawana residents try to get back on feet

- Pak Hindus draw parallels with Tibetans as axe looms

- Need Of Hour: 150 More Forensic Experts

- Around 600 FIRs daily under BNS keep cops on toes

- Patchy rain likely for 2-3 days, little relief from heat

- HC dismisses Bibhav’s bail plea in Maliwal assault case

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With Munak Canal Repair Still On, Supply Hit In Dwarka And Bawana

Breach Sealed But Concrete Layering Work Yet To Start; Several Other Areas Affected

PAIN CONTINUES: The flow of raw water may resume on Saturday

Siddhanta.Mishra@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The repair of the Munak Canal, which suffered a breach on Wednesday night, is still going on. The stoppage of water caused a shortage in some parts of the capital. Delhi Jal Board officials confirmed on Friday that the breach had been sealed and there was no leakage now. But because the concrete layering of the Carrier Lined Channel was yet to start, the flow of raw water could not resume.

“Water is expected to be released into the canal by Saturday afternoon,” said a DJB official. “But that is only possible after the concrete layering is over. Haryana and DJB are working hard to fix the channel.”

Water minister Atishi said, “The 7-metre wide and 15-metre barrier was built with earth and is now being reinforced with concrete. The work will be completed by la- te Friday night, but the concrete will take 5-6 hours to set.” She was optimistic that Haryana would release water into the Munak Canal from around 7am on Saturday: “It takes around four hours for water to reach Dwarka and water treatment will, thus, restart by 10am on Saturday.”

Dwarka has been worst hit by the water shortage. Against the usual capacity of 50 million gallons per day (MGD) there, production has dwindled to 14MGD. “There are around 350 housing societies in Dwarka and almost all are suffering because of the Munak Canal breach. There was sewage overflow in some areas too,” said Rakesh Gupta, president, Dwarka Federation of Group Housing Societies.

In Dwarka Sector 12, Geeta Sharma said, “We were facing a scarcity for the past few days and this has only worsened the situation. There is a severe shortage of water in our society and DJB of- ficials informed us it would take two-three days for normal supply. Till then, we’ll have to buy water. The tankers are also charging a higher amount than usual.”

The Bawana and Nangloi treatment plants also couldn’t process enough water, impacting colonies in west Delhi. “There was no morning water supply today,” said Sanjay Gupta, chairman, Model Town Residents’ Welfare Association, on Friday. “In some pockets, there has been no supply since Wednesday. This is in addition to the problem of dirty and smelly water.”

On Friday, cumulative water production dipped significantly by 50MGD, with the total output standing at 907MGD against the average demand of around 1,290MGD.

Day later, Bawana residents try to get back on feet

In low-lying areas, people are busy bailing out water from homes

Siddhanta.Mishra@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: There is a lot less anxiety in Bawana’s JJ Colony in west Delhi now. The deluge caused by the breaching of the Munak Canal has subsided in most of the affected J, K, L and M blocks and on Friday, the residents were counting their losses and trying to get back to normalcy.

Asha Devi, a daily wage worker in Bawana Industrial Area, hasn’t gone to work for two days. On Friday, TOI found her discarding soiled clothes and household items outside her room. “My house lies at a low height, so a lot of water entered it,” she said. “Since morning today, I have been trying to bail out the water from the house. I stacked most of our belongings on the bed before leaving for a safer place and they are all wet.” She stopped to instruct her grandson, who was sweeping the floor, to clear the sludge from beneath a wooden boxbed.

Many residents were similarly engaged in restoring their homes, which were inundated around midnight on Wednesday when a breach in the Munak Canal bringing water from Haryana to Delhi flooded the area. The power supply has been restored, the emergency pumps have been taken away and the people who took shelter elsewhere have returned home.

The incident reminded people like Dilip Kumar of L Block of their longstanding concerns. “This part of the colony has always been neglec- ted. The sewer and water lines have been laid but aren’t functional. Hence, we are completely dependent on water drawn through submersible pumps,” Kumar grumbled, stuck because his and his neighbours’ pumps were affected by the flo- od. “Garbage and muck carried by the water are lying around but no agency is interested in cleaning the place.”

The main road is drier, though there are still craters filled with water. Thankful that he no longer has to wade through waist-deep water, Krishan, Kumar's neighbour, attended to his e-rickshaw. “When the water flowed in, we had to leave everything and go to a safer place,” said Krishan. “I left my rickshaw outside. I had hoped the water level wouldn’t climb so high, but today I found the motor damaged by the moisture. This is the only source of my earnings.” The mechanic told Krishan it would cost him around Rs 4,000 to fix and so, he was trying to repair the motor himself. “I will have to take it to the garage if I am unsuccessful,” he smiled ruefully.

Amid all this, mason Vidyanand waited for the DJB water tanker, his only source of water till his submersible motor is repaired. “Power was restored around 11pm on Thursday,” disclosed Vidyanand.

Pak Hindus draw parallels with Tibetans as axe looms

AMIGRANT SAYS Despite becoming citizens of India, it seems there will be no end to our suffering

Part of Yamuna floodplain, the area is set to be freed of encroachments by DDA on NGT’s orders

Kushagra.Dixit@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The once-joyous atmosphere in the camp of Pakistani Hindu migrants at Majnu Ka Tila has been tempered by reality. On Thursday night, Delhi Development Authority issued the camp dwellers a notice, asking them to vacate their houses in 24 hours, pending a demolition drive scheduled for July 13 and 14. Despite the looming threat, the migrants, some of whom were recently granted Indian citizenship, remained composed on Friday, placing their trust in the high court to stay the action.

The DDA notice stated that the camp land was part of the Yamuna floodplain and all encroachments on the river land adjacent to Majnu Ka Tila gurdwara had been ordered cleared by the National Green Tribunal.

This is not the first time that DDA has attempted to clear the camp. In March, a simi- lar effort was thwarted when the migrants obtained a stay order from Delhi High Court. The camp dwellers drew comparisons between their situation and that of the Tibetan market area in Majnu Ka Tila. They said that people living in both the areas shared a history of persecution in their countries and had set up home there seeking safety and refuge in India.

“Some officials from DA arrived last night (Wednesday) and handed us notices that say we have to vacate our houses by today. Where will we go?” asked Nanaki Bagri, who recently was granted Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. “Despite becoming citizens of India, it seems there will be no end to our suffering. While grateful to govt for the citizenship, we hope we will also be given a place to live in. At least, don’t throw us on the road.”

Nanaki’s husband, Dharmveer, pointed out that there are similar and more permanent establishments in the Tibetan monastery area of Majnu Ka Tila. “Both the Tibetans and we are victims of extremism. Had they not fled their country, the communists would have killed them. Had we not left Pakistan, we would have continued to suffer for being Hindus,” said Dharmveer, who also pleaded for some time to relocate and added that they would protest if the bulldozers came.

Dayal Das, a migrant who named his granddaughter Naagrikta, meaning citizenship, showed TOI a photograph of his wife and granddaughter with PM Narendra Modi at a function. He was hopeful that the high court would stay the demolition, but pointed out that despite such orders, vacation notices kept haunting their lives.

“Three of my children arrived in India as infants. They have received Indian citizenship and one of them is now married and a mother,” said Das, his granddaughter in his hands against the backdrop of Krishna written in Urdu. “My wife and my papers are being processed. We have surrendered our Pakistani passports to the officials. Having reached India for security and a future, why is the roof over our head being taken away from us?”

Das and the other dismayed residents said they would also file a police complaint against demolition notices despite court orders to the contrary.

Need Of Hour: 150 More Forensic Experts

Govt Initiates Process To Strengthen Lab As Workload Increases Manifold Under New Law

AN OFFICIAL SAYS Currently, each police district has one forensics lab van, which we plan to increase. This will help in covering multiple spots simultaneously. We are also procuring necessary equipment for the teams

Atul.Mathur@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: With the workload of forensic sleuths having increased manifold since Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) replaced Criminal Procedure Code earlier this month, Delhi govt has initiated efforts to strengthen its forensic science laboratory. More than a hundred scientific experts are being hired to boost the number of professionals available for forensic investigations of crimes, officials stated.

According to an official from Delhi govt’s home department, the current strength of Delhi’s forensic science laboratory is 100, which is now being increased to over 250. The experts being hired include scientific officers and examiners in fields such as ballistics, cyber forensic, computer forensic, photography, chemistry and physics. While these experts are being hired on a contractual basis, officials said that recruitment rules were simultaneously being developed for the hiring of permanent employees.

“We are aiming to complete the process of their hiring and training as early as possible. We are aiming at notifying the three new laws—Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, and Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam— in the capital before Aug 15,” said the official.

Forensic officers will be the first responders at crime scenes, assisting investigators by collecting evidence crucial for securing convictions. Meticulous searches of every nook and cranny at the crime scene are conducted to ensure no evidence is overlooked. Conducting detailed photography and videography of the location is also an essential part of the investigation.

As per BNSS, forensic examination of crime scenes where the crime is punishable by seven years or more of imprisonment is mandatory. This requirement, officials noted, has significantly increased the workload of forensic professionals. With the introduction of the new laws, officials expect to investigate more than 80,000 cases annually. Forensics teams will now be involved in the investigation of all murders, attempted murders, dacoity, narcotics trade, smuggling, and various other organised crimes.

Another official mentioned that the presence of the forensics team at crime scenes with potential sentences exceeding seven years was now mandatory. Previously, the decision to use videography was left to the investigating officer’s discretion. Now, under the new law, this practice is compulsory to ensure that a comprehensive picture is presented to the courts. The coverage of the crime scene from multiple angles by forensic experts may take more time but will significantly enhance the investigation. Not only will visits to crime spots increase but the number of samples and exhibits to be analysed will also rise significantly, further increasing the workload.

“Currently, each police district has one forensics lab van, which we plan to increase. This will help in covering multiple spots simultaneously. We are also procuring necessary equipment for the teams,” said the official.

Around 600 FIRs daily under BNS keep cops on toes

AN OFFICER SAYS The real success of BNS will be measured in the coming months as cases progress through courts and convictions are secured

Abhay@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Since the rollout of new laws, Delhi Police has been filing around 600 FIRs every day under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). On average, 22 individuals have been apprehended each day under the new legal framework.

Between July 1 and July 10, police filed 6,334 FIRs under BNS, including 1,074 “offline FIRs”, 1,059 “e-motor vehicle theft FIRs”, and 4,201 “e-property theft FIRs”. “Thefts were registered more frequently, followed by snatchings, accidents, hurt and burglary,” a police officer said. Among these 6,334 FIRs, 178 cases were resolved, resulting in the arrest of 225 suspects.

Additionally, on average, 147 FIRs were filed under the old IPC every day, data reveals.TOIhad earlier reported that police would continue filing FIRs under both laws for now, with BNS being the main law. During the initial 10 days of July, 1,471 FIRs were filed under the previous laws, comprising 383 offline, 135 e-MV theft, and 953 e-property theft cases. Among these cases, 32 were resolved, le- ading to the apprehension of 45 individuals.

One of the most noticeab- le changes brought about by BNS is the emphasis on videography. Investigators are now mandated to record crime scenes, suspect searches and vehicle seizures meticulously. This may significantly strengthen cases and improve conviction rates.

“The videos are being shot through an application named e-Pramaan and will be uploaded to the centralised video pool. Even after years, the investigator can see the video to refresh the sequence of events that happened at that time. The main important thing is that it will be admissible in court,” the officer said.

Another investigator said the new laws would help them curb organised crime and check petty crimes. “The new laws give us more chances of dismantling criminal gangs and also help in curbing street crime. The real success of BNS will be measured in the coming months as cases progress through courts and convictions are secured,” the cop added.

BNS has introduced harsher punishments for offences like vehicle theft which now carry a potential sentence of up to seven years.

Police are, meanwhile, creating awareness among people about the new laws. “The laws are people-friendly. Whoever comes to the station, we tell them about the new laws and under which section their case will be registered. We have also visited markets and some other areas to create awareness,” the officer said.

Patchy rain likely for 2-3 days, little relief from heat

The city’s air quality continued to remain in the ‘moderate’ category

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The maximum temperature in the city decreased by over four degrees Celsius on Friday, resulting in pleasant outdoor conditions. The weather analysts expect drizzle over next few days but no intense showers.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) had sounded a yellow alert, forecasting the possibility of mild to moderate precipitation on Friday. However, no rain has been reported in any part of the city until late evening.

No colour-coded warning has been issued for Saturday. Nevertheless, IMD anticipates light showers accompanied by mostly overcast skies throughout Saturday and Sunday.

According to the weather analysts, there are chances of only patchy rain in the region.

“No substantial rain is expected over a few days apart from some drizzling in some areas. The monsoon trough is passing near Delhi, so there is additional moisture feed, and thus for next 2-3 days there are chances of patchy ra- in in isolated areas, but nothing substantial,” said Mahesh Palawat, vice chairman, meteorology and climate change, Skymet.

On Friday, the maximum temperature was 34.3 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal, against 38.8 degrees Celsius a day earlier. The minimum temperature was 29.6 degrees Celsius, two notches above normal. The relative humidity oscillated between 56% and 79%.

IMD expects the maximum and minimum temperatures to hover around 34 and 26 degrees Celsius, respectively. “There are chances of light rain with generally cloudy sky,” said an IMD official.

Meanwhile, city’s air quality continued to remain in the ‘moderate’ category. The air quality index (AQI), on a scale of 0 to 500, was 107, as against 113 a day earlier.

HC dismisses Bibhav’s bail plea in Maliwal assault case

Abhinav.Garg@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Saying that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's aide Bibhav Kumar wields “considerable influence”, Delhi High Court on Friday denied bail to Kumar, accused of assaulting AAP Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal.

Justice Anoop Kumar Mendiratta, dismissing Kumar's bail plea, said that it cannot be ruled out that witnesses may be influenced, or evidence tampered with in case he is released on bail. Kumar had sought bail, claiming the allegations were false and his custody was no longer required as the probe was over.

In an eight-page order, the court noted that allegations of assault at the chief minister's residence, made by a sitting MP cannot be disbelieved merely on account of delay in registration of FIR as the subsequent events "reflect that complainant was in a traumatized condition faced with the unprovoked brutal assault.”

Justice Mendiratta said it is "preposterous" to infer that the accused has been falsely implicated as “complainant would not have herself made a call on 112 during the course of assault, in case no such incident had occurred. The utterances made by the petitioner (Kumar) during the course of assault, as reflected in FIR, reflect that there was a deeper conspiracy or motive to be achieved. Since the complainant herself is a dignified member of a political party, she had second thoughts to lodge the complaint, considering the powerful position of the petitioner.”

Woman who aided gang in eatery killing still at large

The same set of shooters were also involved in the murder at Gulshan Dhaba at Murthal reported on March 10

Continued from P1

On Friday, the Haryana STF and sleuths of Delhi Police claimed to have received a tip-off about their whereabouts on Chhinauli road near Kharkhauda in Sonipat. A trap was laid and the suspects were intercepted. The cops claimed that the shooters started firing after which they shot back in self defence. All three were gunned down amid barrage of bullets. Cops recovered five automatic pistols from the trio.

Meanwhile, a woman named Anu, who had aided the three gangsters in the Burger King shooting by honey-trapping the target is still missing. She was last spotted at Katra station in Jammu.

On June 18-19 night, the victim, Aman Joon, had arrived at Burger King in Rajouri Garden with Anu. Minutes later, the three men arrived at the building and two went in. They also ordered food and took a table behind the couple.

Minutes later, they whipped out pistols and begin shooting at Joon. Some 45-50 people, including staff, present at the outlet, ran for cover. The shooters fired at least 40-50 rounds and left the spot without resistance. Anu also left with Joon's phone.

Police say the murder was to avenge the killing of gangster Bawana’s cousin Shakti by rivals in 2020, Bhau had claimed. The target, Aman Joon, was believed to have tipped off the killers about Shakti's whereabouts. Bhau also aimed to spread terror by killing his target in full public view.

The same set of shooters were also involved in the murder at Gulshan Dhaba at Murthal reported on March 10, sources said. The target in that case was Sunder Malik, a 38-year-old liquor trader from Gohana, who was dragged out of his vehicle and shot multiple times by henchmen sent by gangster Himanshu Bhau. The shooters had fired around 35 rounds at Malik after tracking him using a GPS that they fitted in his vehicle.

Teen shot in NE Delhi, no arrest yet

New Delhi:A 16-year-old boy has been shot dead in northeast Delhi's Jafrabad. The boy, a class 11 student from Kabir Nagar, was with his 17-year-old brother when the incident occurred on Thursday.

"The victim's brother recounted that they were leaving a shop after purchasing T-shirts when some boys on two scooters confronted them. They started an argument over something trivial, then attempted to take the boys with them, and upon resistance, one shot was fired at the younger brother," a police officer said.

The assailants fled, leaving the victim critically wounded. He succumbed to his injuries at GTB Hospital shortly after, the officer said, adding that the victim was shot in the back, and no exit wound was found.

"Both the deceased and the accused belong to the same community, but the motive behind the murder remains unclear," the officer said adding that an FIR had been registered under sections 103 of the BNS and 27 of the Arms Act.

TNN

Cop facing trial for 10 years acquitted

A head constable facing trial for 10 years in an assault case lodged by a woman and her friend after a routine check of their vehicle was acquitted by a Gurgaon court, which observed that the sole purpose of the complainant was to harass the cop. On Oct 14, 2014, awoman and her male friend were on their way to Cyber City when traffic constable Baljeet stopped near NH-8 exit 18. The cop denied them access to the service road and asked them to take the highway instead. This led to an argument, as the two friends pointed out that they would have to make a long detour.

TNN

Cop held with drugs worth `1cr

New Delhi: Special Cell of Delhi Police has arrested a police constable with drugs worth Rs 1 crore. Police sources said the arrest was made when he was on the way to supply the contraband.

Earlier, Special Cell sleuths received information that the constable, along with his accomplice, would come to Jafrabad metro station. “A trap was laid. As both of them arrived in a four-wheeler, they were intercepted and nabbed,” an officer said. At least one kg of MDMA was recovered from their possession. Police are now investigating whether the constable was a member of a drug cartel in north India.

In Jan, a Crime Branch’s sub-inspector, Naresh Kumar, was found to be allegedly running an international narcotics cartel from Delhi.

The accused is believed to have travelled to South Africa via Nepal and Syria. A non-bailable warrant has been issued against him, police said.

TNN

Man feared drowned in Yamuna

New Delhi: A 21-year-old man is feared to have drowned in the Yamuna on Friday, prompting an extensive rescue that was still under way. The victim, Pradeep Kumar, had gone swimming with his three friends near Yamuna Thokar 7 when the incident occurred.

"The group of four, all residents of Sonipat, Haryana, had arrived at the river around 11 am and were making videos of themselves diving. At one point, Pradeep decided to venture further into the river. Unfortunately, an increase in the water flow swept him away, and his friends lost sight of him," a Delhi Fire Services (DFS) officer said.

"One of Pradeep's friends made a PCR call at 12:59 pm to report the incident. The call was received, and a police team was dispatched to the scene," the officer added. The National Disaster Response Force and Delhi Fire Services carried out a search operation from 1:30 pm to 8:30 pm to retrieve the body. Despite efforts by a team of divers and fire brigade, the body has yet to be found.

TNN

Exhibition on Kargil Vijay Diwas

New Delhi: To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Kargil Vijay Diwas, an exhibition was inaugurated on Friday at Rajiv Chowk Metro station, one of the biggest interchange stations of Delhi Metro network.

The exhibition at the Rajiv Chowk viewers’ gallery showcases details about the Param Vir Chakra, Mahavir Chakra and other gallantry award winners in the war.

The exhibition, organised by National Book Trust (NBT) in association with DMRC, will be on display till the Kargil Vijay Diwas on July 26. “NBT in association with DMRC is organising a number of activities including drawing competitions for children to celebrate this special occasion,” said Anuj Dayal, principal executive director, corporate communications, DMRC.

TNN

Arrest Can’t Be Made On Whims And Fancies: SC

‘Judicial Review Permissible To Check Improper Exercise Of Power’

SC BENCH SAYS Not to undertake judicial scrutiny when justified and necessary would be an abdication of constitutional and statutory duty placed on the court to ensure that the fundamental right to life and liberty is not violated

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Holding that judicial review of validity of arrest by Enforcement Directorate is needed "to check improper exercise of power", Supreme Court Friday said that an officer cannot selectively pick and choose implicating material to arrest a person and he has to apply his mind equally to other material which absolves the arrestee and then take a decision.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said the courts have time and again emphasised that the power to arrest must be exercised cautiously to prevent severe repercussions on the life and liberty of individuals and must not be exercised routinely or in a cavalier fashion.

“Arrest, after all, cannot be made arbitrarily and on the whims and fancies of the authorities. It is to be made on the basis of the valid “reasons to believe”, meeting the parameters prescribed by the law. In fact, not to undertake judicial scrutiny when justified and necessary, would be an abdication and failure of constitutional and statutory duty placed on the court to ensure that the fundamental right to life and liberty is not violated,” the bench said.

It noted that the legislature prescribed safeguards under PMLA which are salutary and serve as a check against the exercise of an otherwise harsh and pernicious power and said that the subjective opinion of the arresting officer must be founded and based upon fair and objective consideration of the material. “We are con- cerned with violation of personal liberty, and the exercise of the power to arrest in accordance with law. Scrutiny of the action to arrest, whether in accordance with law, is amenable to judicial review. It follows that the “reasons to believe” should be furnished to the arrestee to enable him to exercise his right to challenge the validity of arrest."

"...the officer acting under Section 19(1) of the PML Act cannot ignore or not consider the material which exonerates the arrestee. Any such non-consideration would lead to difficult and unacceptable results. First, it would negate the legislative intent which imposes stringent conditions. As a general rule of interpretation, penal provisions must be interpreted strictly. Secondly, any undue indulgence and latitude to the DoE (Directorate of Enforcement) will be deleterious to the constitutional values of rule of law and life and liberty of persons. An officer cannot be allowed to selectively pick and choose material implicating the person to be arrested. They have to equally apply their mind to other material which absolves and exculpates the arrestee. The power to arrest under Section 19(1) of the PML Act cannot be exercised as per the whims and fancies of the officer," the bench said.

Observing that judicial interference is warranted when there is no proper application of mind by authority, the court said judicial review is permissible to check improper exercise of power when "the power is not exercised genuinely, but rather to avoid embarrassment or for wreaking personal vengeance".

Truth has won and BJP’s conspiracy has been defeated: AAP

Pathak

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The truth has won and the conspiracy of BJP has lost, AAP said on Friday after Supreme Court granted interim bail to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case being probed by Enforcement Directorate (ED).

“Some decisions of the court are such that they determine the direction of the country. The order has demolished the so-called liquor scam hatched by BJP,” claimed AAP’s Rajya Sabha member, Sandeep Pathak. “Earlier, the order of PMLA Special Court had also exposed the truth of this case in front of the country,” he added.

Claiming that certain things are written very clearly in the order, Pathak said, “First, there has been no transaction of any kind. Second, not even a single penny has been recovered from anywhere.” In a case under Prevention of Money Laundering Act, bail or interim bail is granted only after considering all arguments and evidence, Pathak said.

The MP said the apex court had sent the case to a larger bench after studying CM’s plea about his arrest being illegal. “We believe that whatever Supreme Court does will be good for the country and it will give direction to the country in the future.”

Pathak claimed that BJP was facing defeat in every court. “This case is a circus created by it, which now needs to be stopped. The time of the people of the country and Delhi should not be wasted,” the MP demanded.

He added, “We all should do new politics to take the country forward. I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah to come out of this dirty politics and do good politics.”

Delhi minister Atishi said the decision proved that Kejriwal’s arrest was a witchhunt. “The investigation of this fake liquor scam that has been going on for the last two years is a conspiracy of BJP. It is conspiring to stop the work of AAP, Delhi govt, the people of Delhi and, hence, they put the elected CM of Delhi in jail in a fake case, without any evidence,” she alleged, adding that this bail makes it clear that Kejriwal stood with the truth, is standing with it, and will continue to do so.

Saurabh Bharadwaj, another Delhi govt minister, said, “Supreme Court has clearly said Kejriwal has already been in jail for 90 days in this case, so he should be granted interim bail.”

No court can decide if Kejriwal, who is facing a case, can remain CM, he insisted.

“The court has taught a big lesson to BJP govt at Centre. If govt continues to act arbitrarily, its pride will be broken even more,” he posted on X.

Can’t tell elected rep to quit as condition to grant bail: SC

Continued from P1

The bench set the same conditions that were imposed when the court had granted him interim bail in May until June 1 for campaigning in elections — barring him from visiting CM’s office and Delhi secretariat so that the probe in the case did not get influenced. It barred him from signing official files unless necessary for obtaining clearance and nod of LG. The court prohibited him from interacting with any witness or accessing official files related to the case. Besides, the court gagged him from commenting on his role in the alleged liquor scam. He was directed to furnish bail bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of like amount.

The bench, which had earlier too raised the question whether it would be proper for Kejriwal to continue as CM after coming out on bail as it may hamper the probe, said the court could not pass a direction against an elected representative to step down as a condition to grant bail and left it to the CM to decide whether or not to continue in the post. As senior advocate A M Singhvi raised the legal issue that arrest should be done in a money laundering case only when there was “need and necessity” and ED must mention the ground of need while arresting, the bench said the issue should be adjudicated by a larger bench and referred it to a constitution bench. The court also said the larger bench may extend the interim bail given to Kejriwal or recall it. ED had contended that the test of necessity to arrest was satisfied in view of Kejriwal failing to appear despite the issuance of nine summons to him but the CM said there was no necessity to arrest him on March 21 when the case was registered in Aug 2022 and most of the material relied upon by the agency was prior to July 2023.

“We deem it appropriate to refer the following questions of law for consideration by a larger bench: (a) whether the ‘need and necessity to arrest’ is a separate ground to challenge the order of arrest passed in terms of Section 19(1) of the PML Act? (b) whether the “need and necessity to arrest” refers to the satisfaction of formal parameters to arrest and take a person into custody, or it relates to other personal grounds and reasons regarding necessity to arrest a person in the facts and circumstances of the said case? (c) if questions (a) and (b) are answered in the affirmative, what are the parameters and facts that are to be taken into consideration by the court while examining the question of ‘need and necessity to arrest’?” the bench said.

BJP: Verdict is a seal of approval of CM’s guilt, he should quit

Kiren Rijiju

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: It is “completely wrong to misinterpret” the Supreme Court order granting interim bail to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, BJP said on Friday, claiming that it is not a victory for AAP as the court has put its “seal of approval” on Kejriwal being prima facie guilty in the excise policy case.

Union minister Kiren Rijiju said the court had not said that Kejriwal’s arrest was illegal. “The case is of a serious nature and his prosecution will continue. It is completely wrong to misinterpret the apex court order as if Kejriwal has been honourably discharged,” he added.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said obtaining interim bail didn’t mean a declaration of innocence. Referring to former Bihar CM Lalu Prasad’s case, Sachdeva said, “Even he had received interim bail, but was later convicted and had to go to jail.” Asking AAP functionaries to read the order, Sachdeva said, “If they do, they will be forced to introspect, instead of celebrating.”

“Now even the court has raised doubts about whether Kejriwal can continue as chief minister,” he claimed, questioning Kejriwal’s rights to receive govt allowance, use a govt car or live in CM’s official residence.

BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj said Kejriwal had petitioned the apex court not for bail, but for adjudication that his arrest was illegal. “Supreme Court did not provide any relief on this prayer, rather it found that Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sufficient evidence to prove the requirement of Section 19 of Prevention of Money Laundering Act that an accused is prima facie guilty. This is a seal of approval by SC,” she claimed.

The New Delhi MP alleged that AAP was “misleading” people and the media by claiming vindication. “The order is not a victory for Kejriwal, rather the court has put a stamp on the charge that he is guilty in the excise policy case and ED has sufficient proof of it.” SC has granted interim bail as a point of law has been referred to a larger bench and such a hearing takes time, she added.

The court has also hinted that whenever a constitutional functionary is involved in an offence of corruption, the person should resign, Swaraj said. “But Kejriwal is not ready to step down from chief minister’s post,” she added.

BJP MP Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, “AAP is celebrating as if the court has declared Kejriwal innocent. The case filed by ED regarding the liquor ‘scam’ is still on and the CBI case is also pending.”

The South Delhi MP alleged, “When AAP functionaries feel the court is giving them any relief, they start praising the court and calls it a victory for justice. However, when the same court passes an order against them, they start blaming BJP.”

Lower court extends judicial custody of Kejriwal in CBI case till July 25

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A Delhi lower court on Friday extended the judicial custody of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal till July 25 in the CBI case on the alleged corruption linked to the now scrapped Delhi excise policy, hours after Supreme Court granted him bail in a money laundering case related to the same policy.

Kejriwal appeared before the Rouse Avenue court through video conferencing before special judge Kaveri Baweja.

Earlier in the day, the apex court had granted him interim bail in the money laundering case being investigated by ED. Coincidentally, on Friday, the custody in both the CBI and ED cases ended, after which his custody was extended only in the case with CBI.

The Rouse Avenue court directed ED to provide the court a copy of the chargesheet filed, naming Kejriwal and AAP, to Pankaj Gupta, national secretary of the party, who appeared on behalf of the party.

On July 9, the lower court, while taking cognisance of the seventh supplementary chargesheet by ED, issued production warrants for Kejriwal and AAP. The court that day also took cognisance of the chargesheet naming two other persons — Vinod Chauhan and Ashish Mathur. A production warrant was issued for Chauhan while Mathur was summoned to appear in court.

The Rouse Avenue court granted bail to Mathur against a bond of Rs 1 lakh as he was chargesheeted without arrest by ED.

The same court, while hearing default bail of Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) MLC K Kavitha scheduled the next hearing of the matter on July 22.

On May 17, ED filed a supplementary chargesheet against Kejriwal and AAP.

Another supplementary chargesheet was filed against Vinod Chauhan and Ashish Mathur on July 1.

The seventh supplementary chargesheet filed by ED has called Kejriwal the "kingpin and key conspirator" and AAP “the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the Delhi liquor scam”.

The chargesheet said that Kejriwal was "knowingly involved in the use of proceeds of crime (PoC) in the Goa election campaign of AAP" in 2022 and has been “intrinsically and actually involved in the entire conspiracy” of the alleged scam. The chargesheet deals with Rs 100 crore of proceeds of crime out of total Rs 1,100 crore generated in the alleged scam.

The chargesheet says that Kejriwal demanded Rs 100 crore kickbacks from the members of South group and Rs 45 crore of this was utilised in the Goa elections.

Woman among 6 held in human trafficking case, toddler rescued

A senior officer said they analysed CCTV footage and call records, which led them to apprehend one of the female suspects in Krishan Vihar

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Six people, five of them women, were arrested in connection with a human trafficking racket. A one-year old boy sold to a childless couple was rescued. The arrested included the child's mother.

On the evening of July 8, an alert was received at Sultanpuri police station reporting a missing one-year-old boy from Kanjhawala Road. The boy, last seen wearing a red Tshirt and white trousers, had been taken away by a woman. A case was registered at Sultanpuri police station

A senior officer said they analysed CCTV footage and call records, which led them to apprehend one of the female suspects in Krishan Vihar. “Upon interrogation, she revealed that she had taken the child for Rs 1.5 lakh from the mother of the child and sold him to another woman for Rs 2.10 lakh,” the officer said, adding that the child’s mother was nabbed.

He added, “Further investigation uncovered that the child had been sold again to a couple in Vrindavan in Mathura for Rs 3.3 lakh. The police team traveled to Vrindavan, where they arrested the couple, who were identified as Arpit and his wife. The couple admitted to purchasing the child through a mediator.” The child was safely rescued.

Arpit told cops that he runs a cooler manufacturing business in Muzaffarnagar. The couple wanted to adopt a child but ended up purchasing him through one of their female relatives, who was also arrested.

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

Hindustani 2 (Action, Drama)★★½

Cast: Kamal Haasan, Siddharth, Bobby Simha, Rakul Preet Singh

Direction: Shankar

Duration: 3 hours

Language: Hindi, Tamil (UA)

The follow-up to 1996’s Hindustani picks up decades after the original, with vigilante Senapathy (Kamal Haasan) resurfacing to aid a young group fighting corruption. But has India changed enough for his brand of justice?

Nearly 30 years have passed, and the fight against corruption seems more relevant than ever. A new generation, led by Chitra (Siddharth) and his friends, uses their online platform to expose corrupt politicians and authorities. When two youngsters tragically succumb to corruption, they call upon the legendary Senapathy to return. The story is about how he punishes the corrupt and mobilises the youth while evading arrest by Inspector Pramod (Bobby Simha), his old nemesis Inspector Krishnaswamy’s (Nedumudi Venu) son.

Hindustani 2 dials up the action and vigilante justice. Senapathy takes on more outrageous villains in extravagant settings—like a Gujarati businessman living in a mansion with golden pillars (and even a toilet). The film showcases Se napathy’s mastery of Varmakalai (a Tamil traditional art) with overdramatic takedowns.

Clocking in at three hours, the narrative constantly falls into familiar territory. Clichéd portrayals of corruption, over-the-top and longdrawn action sequences, and dramatic dialogues seem jarring. ‘Chitra’s fiance, Disha (Rakul Preet Singh), says, “Election is not a change, it’s an exchange.” At the outset, the narrative seems to steer in a direction where the youth takes charge, and people turn custodians of change. However, things go the old route soon as Senapathy goes on a killing spree. While the film advocates for social change at the grassroots level, Senapathy’s methods remain a topic of debate. The movie acknowledges the impracticalities of his vigilante justice, as he becomes a controversial figure. Despite being idolised, he is shown as the hero who falls from grace—a comment on people’s (especially social media) tendency to drop someone as readily as they lift him.

Kamal Haasan ably reprises the role of the vigilante and has fun with the character and his derring-do. However, an overstretched climax where he rides an automatic unicycle seems a bit of a stretch. Siddharth and Bobby Simha deliver strong supporting performances.

Hardcore fans of the first film might find initial appeal, but the heightened tone and length prove demanding and could test the patience of even dedicated viewers.

— Dhaval Roy

To review any movie and check show timings visit etimes.in

BJP protests against Delhi govt over power tariff hike

Virendra Sachdeva alleged that AAP govt raised PPAC without touching the per unit cost of electricity for political benefit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: BJP functionaries and workers, along with some RWA representatives, staged a protest against AAP govt near Delhi Secretariat over power “tariff hike” in the city on Friday. The protesters burnt copies of electricity bills and demanded that the hike in power purchase adjustment charge (PPAC) be rolled back.

Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva alleged that AAP govt raised PPAC without touching the per unit cost of electricity for political benefit. He claimed it was mainly CM Arvind Kejriwal who brought PPAC to Delhi. PPAC was just 1.7% in 2015, which has now gone up to 46%, he said. Meter charges and load surcharge have also increased during Kejriwal’s 10-year tenure, he claimed.

PPAC is a surcharge to cover fluctuations in power purchase costs incurred by discoms. It saw an increase of nearly 6% to 8% this year, depending on the discom.

Hitting back, AAP claimed that BJP was misleading the people. “Wherever BJP is in office, those states provide the most expensive electricity in the country. Even after paying expensive electricity bills, people have to face power cuts of 8 hours in peak summers in BJP-led states, whereas Arvind Kejriwal’s govt in Delhi provides 24x7 electricity and free electricity,” the party stated. “Even otherwise, power is cheapest in Delhi compared to the entire country due to honest governance of AAP,” it said.

‘Did officers brief LG on need to seek court nod on tree cutting?’

Continued from P1

The bench directed DDA to file its response whether the cutting of trees was done after the LG's instruction and whether any officers had briefed Saxena that trees could not be cut without the court's permission.

“On the very first date, we should have been told that LG had given directions. Cover up went for 3-4 hearings. We understood from the first day of the LG’s involvement when attorney general himself appeared before us. It is very clear. Affidavit shows that DDA sought permission from LG. There is complete non-application of mind by LG as well. Why was it not placed before LG that permission of court was required? This is a very sorry state of affairs,” the bench said.

Senior advocate Mahesh Jethmalani, appearing for the LG, urged the bench not to jump to any conclusion without hearing the LG and said he should be heard before issuing notice to him. But the bench said there was no law mandating that a contemnor be heard before issuing notice to him.

The bench thereafter grilled Delhi govt and DDA for acting in violation of law and said nobody was bothered about trees and environment in the national capital. “Everybody has committed a mistake. After 4-5 hearings, the truth has come out. They should have straightaway come to us and accepted the mistake," the bench said, asking them not to indulge in blame game.

The court also directed DDA to explain whether it had taken the decision to cut trees on the basis of the LG's permission or some independent decision was also taken. It asked the contractor to inform the court on whose instructions he had proceeded to carry out tree felling.

As per records, a proposal was moved in the forest department of Govt of NCT of Delhi for notification under Section 29 of Delhi Preservation of Trees Act for felling of 422 trees in non-Ridge area for construction of approach roads spanning approximately 10.5 km from the main Chhattarpur Road to Saarc University, CAPFIMS and other establishments at Maidangarhi, Shahurpur and Satbari in New Delhi, and was finally placed before the LG on Jan 30.

“This proposal was recommended by the technical officer working in the forest department, GNCTD. Thereafter, APCCF (additional principal chief conservator of forests) recommended the proposal to the principal secretary (environment and forest) who, in turn, recommended the proposal to the chief secretary. The chief secretary recommended the proposal to the minister (environment and forest) who agreed with the proposal and recommended the proposal to the chief minister who agreed upon and recommended the proposal to the LG on Jan 25 which was endorsed by LG on Jan 30. Thereafter, the notification was issued on Feb 14," the DDA vice-chairman said in his affidavit.

SC notice on plea for ensuring stray dogs’ sterilisation and immunisation

Abhinav.Garg@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Supreme Court has sought the stand of Delhi govt, MCD, Animal Welfare Board and Centre on a plea which claims that not enough efforts are being made in the city towards sterilisation and immunisation of dogs. A bench of justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan earlier this week issued notices to them and sought their replies.

The apex court was hearing a plea by an NGO, Conference for Human Rights (India), which contended that sterilisation and immunisation is the only solution to dog bite cases and these should be enforced strictly according to Animal Birth Control Rules 2023.

The plea claimed that due to nonperformance of statutory duties by the authorities, there was a rapid increase in the stray dog population in Delhi, consequently resulting in an increase in incidents of dog attacks. It also sought regular census of stray dogs and data about these programmes on the official websites to ensure compliance with statutory duties of agencies.

Arguing that increasing dog bite cases is widening the gap between dog lovers and people who are afraid of the canines or outrightly dislike them, the plea sought urgent measures.

It challenged Delhi High Court’s last year order disposing of the public interest plea filed by the NGO. The high court had then directed the city authorities to ensure continued efforts for sterilisation and immunisation of stray dogs. It had, however, recorded its satisfaction with the performance of Delhi govt and municipal authorities in discharge of their statutory duties. “Sterilisation and immunisation of stray dogs is an important public function which is required to be performed in all earnestness,” the court asserted.

Earlier, Municipal Corporation of Delhi claimed that sterilisation of over 59,000 dogs was done during 2022-2023, while between April and June of 2023, the figure was 12,244. Delhi govt stated that in 2022-2023, more than 63,000 stray dogs were vaccinated against rabies while the figure for the previous year was 85,979. Anti-rabies vaccines are provided for free round the year in all 77 veterinary hospitals, it claimed further.

Unhappy with the high court’s order, the NGO approached the apex court and sought specific directions for the agencies concerned to take further action.

Get Rebate For Letting Old Vehicle Go

Sending It For Scrapping May Make You Eligible For Discounts On New Vehicle

Abhinav.Rajput@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: If you have an end-of-life vehicle, you might want to scrap it. That is because doing so will make you eligible for some discounts when purchasing a new vehicle. Delhi govt’s transport department wants to give rebates of 10-20% on the motor vehicle tax and registration, depending on the vehicle category and the fuel used by the scrapped vehicle, to motivate Delhiites to scrap their old vehicles.

Scrapping a petrol, CNG or LPG non-transport vehicle — cars and two-wheelers —come with a 20% discount on the motor tax payable when buying a new one. Those who scrap diesel cars and motorbikes will get a 15% rebate on the registration of a new vehicle in the same category. Buses and transport vehicles run on petrol, CNG and LPG can avail a 15% rebate, while diesel ones will get a 10% discount.

However, one would need to buy a new vehicle in the same category as the one being scrapped to become eligible for the discounts. An official clarified that it had also been proposed that the motor vehicle tax concessions should not exceed 50% of the scrap value.

The National Green Tribunal had banned all diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old from plying on Delhi roads. The state govt is pushing for the scrapping of old vehicles because many of these discar- ded vehicles continue to remain parked on the roads.

The official said that to avail the discount, the buyer should collect a certificate of concession after scrap the old vehicle. “This certificate will be valid for three years, du- ring which one should purchase a new vehicle,” he said.

A transport official said the proposal, which will be implemented once it is approved by govt, aims to encourage Delhi residents to replace their old vehicles with newer, environmentally friendly options, thereby contributing to the effort to reduce pollution and improve air quality. “The initiative encourages people to themselves take the step of scrapping their vehicles instead of the transport department taking action,” said another official. The department conducted a drive last year to impound end-of-life vehicles, inviting objections from different quarters.

According to the new guidelines released on Feb 20, owners wishing to reclaim their end-of-life vehicles need to submit an undertaking that the vehicle would not run or be parked in a public place but would be removed from the jurisdiction of Delhi. A penalty of Rs 10,000 along with towing and parking charges is levied on four-wheelers before the impounded vehicle is released. For two-wheelers, the penalty is Rs 5,000.

Those desirous can fill out the application on voluntary vehicle scrapping available at https://vscrap.parivahan.gov.in and choose a registered vehicle scrapping facility as per convenience.

Mansarovar Park fire chargesheet: ‘Owners were aware of danger’

Despite knowing the risks that could have resulted in the loss of life, they did not take any action, the chargesheet said about the owners. The fire, which started in the parking space where illegal commercial activity was on, claimed four people on Jan 26

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi police’s chargesheet in the case of a fire in a residential building at Mansarovar Park in Shahdara says that the building’s owners were aware of the dangers of storing combustible materials in the parking space.

Despite knowing the risks that could have resulted in the loss of life, they did not take any action, the chargesheet said about the owners — Bharat Singh, and grandmother Prabhawati. The fire, which started in the parking space where illegal commercial activity was on, claimed four people — a woman and her daughter, and another woman and her son — on Jan 26.

Police have booked Bharat Singh and Prabhawati and their grandson Mohit Kumar.

The police investigation has revealed that the ground floor of the five-story building, which was essentially a parking area for vehicles of residents, was instead being used by Mohit for commercial purposes. He stored plastic and rubber products there. "The occupants of the house, including the tenants, were left with a narrow space to pass through the staircase and up to the entry and exit gate. In this way, he had blocked a common passage for residents of the upper floors," an officer said.

Mohit paid no heed to the repeated requests of tenants of the upper floors and continued his commercial activities on the ground floor, police said.

Singh and Prabhawati allowed Mohit to run his illegal commercial activities, despite knowing that those materials were inflammable.

They were booked under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), and 34 (common intention) of IPC.

Police said Rachna (28) and her daughter Ruhi (9 months), who lived on the first floor, lost their lives. Gauri Soni and her son Pratham Soni, who lived on the second floor, also died in the blaze.

Promotion, financial benefits will motivate NDMC employees: LG

NDMC had organised a special drive which benefited more than 9,500 of its employees

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Lieutenant governor VK Saxena distributed letters of promotion and financial benefits to New Delhi Municipal Council employees at an event held at Talkatora Stadium on Friday. Saxena commended the council for resolving the pending cases of promotion and other financial issues, stating that this would greatly motivate the entire workforce.

NDMC had organised a special drive as part of the Prime Minister’s 100-day action plan, which benefited 9,652 of its employees. The council has approximately 12,000 employees, mostly working as field workers across the city.

In June, LG directed NDMC to complete the process of promotion and financial benefits under Modified Assured Career Progress schemes for 3,178 employees within 15 days and resolve 5,561 pending cases of pay fixation under the 7th Central Pay Commission. He also instructed the resolution of pending service-related matters for 9,569 employees across various divisions within the next 100 days.

To clear the backlog, NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar formed special teams to work in two shifts every day, including weekends. “Through consistent efforts and regular monitoring, all pending cases were cleared by midnight on July 1, 2024. Ninety officers worked round the clock to clear this pendency, utilising infrastructure and manpower to its maximum capacity,” said an NDMC official.

During the event, some employees who received service benefits shared their experiences and feelings. Bansuri Swaraj, MP from the New Delhi constituency, praised all employees and officers who were part of the special team constituted for completing the task in a timely manner.

In May last year, 4,400 contractual NDMC employees were regularised.

JNU to set up centres for Hindu, Jain and Buddhist studies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) announced on Friday that it will establish a Centre for Hindu Studies, along with centres for Buddhist and Jain studies.

These centres will be part of the School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies.

Speaking to TOI, dean of Sanskrit School Brijesh Pandey said: “As of now, the curriculum has not been passed. There will be rigorous discussion on it, following which it will get passed.”

He added that the aim was to impart learnings of the ancient Indian knowledge system to students. Explaining what the course will probably look like, he said it will have components from ancient literature, such as Hindudarshan and Bodhdarshan. Buddhist studies will focus on its history and then how it had an impact in various parts of the world. “We will focus more on classical Buddhism,” Pandey said.

“We want the new generation to learn all Indian customs, which is why we are adding all three kinds of centres, not teaching about only one,” he added.

The dean added that centres initially will have postgraduate and PhD courses and only after gauging the response, JNU would start UG courses.

The JNU executive council had approved the creation of these centres on May 29. To facilitate the implementation of the National Education Policy (2020) and the Indian Knowledge System at the university, a committee was formed. A notification released on July 9 said: “The executive council in its meeting held on 29.05.2024 has approved the recommendation of the committee to explore and recommend NEP-2020 and the Indian Knowledge System, along with the establishment of these centres within the School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies.”

Bihar woman electrocuted in Ggn

A 42-year-old woman was electrocuted and two of her family members were injured when the frame of an iron cot they were moving to a balcony touched a live wire hanging near their building in Sector 9A on Friday morning. Police said Sunita Devi, who was from Bihar's Arwal, was rushed to a hospital in the city, where she was declared dead. Her 18-year-old son Situ Kumar and her sister-in-law Subhanati (32) have been admitted to Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi.

TNN

12 farmhouses and boundary walls razed in Aravali Retreat

Gurgaon: As many as seven farmhouses and five boundary walls, which were illegally built on around 22 acres at Ansals Aravali Retreat in Raisina, were demolished on Friday by a team of Sohna municipal council officials. This was the second demolition drive carried out in Raisina this year. The team found ongoing construction work at Raisina Hill C-97, C-20, B-66 and D-31, where seven farmhouses were being built in front of G8-9 and A2 to 5. “We will carry out such drives during the next few days,” deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav told TOI.Sohna SDM Sonu Bhatt said Sohna municipal council has issued eight additional notices to people who carried out illegal construction, informing them about potential demolitions. TOI had reported on the commencement of demolition drives targeting illegally built structures in the Aravalis.

TNN

A Storage Pit Just For Errant E-Ricks

Transport Dept Sets Up Facility In Burari

VIOLATORS LINED UP

Abhinav.Rajput@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The transport department has set up a dedicated facility in Burari to house e-rickshaws being confiscated following the growing number of complaints regarding these vehicles flouting traffic rules across the city.

The facility, which has the capacity to accommodate approximately 700 e-rickshaws, will strengthen enforcement efforts, with more drives planned in the near future, said a transport official. Besides violating regulations on the roads, many erickshaws even operate without proper authorisation, he added.

While the total number of registered erickshaws in the city is around 1.2 lakh, the actual number on the ground is more than double, as per the transport department’s estimates. “Our main focus is on those e-rickshaws that do not have numberplates as they are completely illegal,” the official said.

According to the data available with the department, around 50 e-rickshaws have been seized daily till now in July.

The department earlier had two pits — in Sarai Kale Khan and Dwarka — to keep all types of seized vehicles. It is demanding more space from other agencies as the Sarai Kale Khan facility has shrunk in size due to the construction work in the area, officials said.

One of the cheapest means of public transport, e-rickshaws started plying in 2012 and soon spiralled across the city as it acted as a bridge between the last-mile connectivity and pocket-friendly rates. But soon they also became a major nuisance due to the unchecked growth and the non-enforcement of regulations. The major complaints against e-rickshaws area cluttering on the road leading to traffic jams and long tailbacks, improper parking, violation of restrictions such as one-way traffic, overlo- ading passengers, and underage driving, officials said.

“An extensive drive was carried out ahead of G20 Summit in the areas around Ring Road,” a senior official said. “But complaints have again started coming, especially of e-rickshaws plying even on the roads where they are not allowed.” The e-rickshaws are not permitted to operate on 236 roads in the national capital, which are either highly congested or reserved for high-speed and heavy vehicles, he added.

The department has deployed teams at strategic locations. Among the key stretches are Rajghat to Sarai Kale Khan, Karkardooma junction to ITO, Bhikaji Cama Place to Dhaula Kuan, Mayapuri Chowk to Britannia Chowk, Sarai Kale Khan to Hauz Khas, and Azadpur to Delhi University.

Officials said the unauthorised e-rickshaws were also a safety hazard as their batteries were charged illegally overnight. In the past few years, several cases of electrocution and injuries have been reported due to such charging units.

A senior official said slow-moving vehicles like cycles and e-rickshaws often took over the space for bus lanes. “Our teams have been deputed at these places to ensure that they do not choke the bus lanes and slow the traffic from behind,” he said.

DU rolls back fee increase on degree certificate correction

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi University (DU) has rolled back charges that it had hiked for corrections in degree certificates days after announcing the raised fee.

The decision for rolling back the fee was taken on Friday during a meeting of the university’s academic council.

For correction in degree certificates within six years of graduation, DU had increased the fee from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000. For degree certificates older than six years that needed correction, DU had raised the fee from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000. The changes were announced on July 6. After Friday’s meeting, the new charges stand revoked.

Among other developments, recommendations of the department of anthropology have been approved regarding changes in the course for the fourth semester of MSc in forensic science and in the Russian program in BA (Hons) under the department of Slavonic and Finno-Ugrian Studies in the faculty of arts.

Talking about Russian studies, vicechancellor Yogesh Singh said that for the first time in DU, the Russian program has been included at the undergraduate level. Earlier, it was taught at the postgraduate level only. During the council meeting, the course curriculum was passed by accep- ting recommendations made by the faculty of arts in this regard with minor modifications. This program will be implemented in the academic session 2024-2025.

On teachers’ appointments in 12 colleges funded by Delhi govt, Professor Singh said that all colleges will be asked to put out advertisements for appointment to vacancies by July 31. Taking cognizance of a suggestion from the academic council, the VC approved the nomination of three members from the council to the committee that has been formed for the seniority of teachers at Delhi University and its affiliated colleges.

The recommendations of the department of anthropology regarding changes in the course content for the fourth semester of MSc in forensic science were also accepted by the council.

Under the changed course, now visit to a crime scene through the police station will be included in the course content.

Further, approval has been given to DU students to pursue two degrees simultaneously. Also, degrees of Sanskrit universities will get equivalence. Under this, Shastri to be considered equivalent to BA, Sammant Shastri to BA (Hons) (4th year UG), Acharya to MA, Shiksha Shastri to BEd, Shiksha Acharya to MEd, Vidya Varidhi to PhD and Vachaspati to DLitt.

NDMC to get new agency to run 99 parking lots at Lutyens’

The parking lots operated by NDMC staff include those in Sarojini Nagar, Khan Market, Rail Museum, Yashwant Place, Dilli Haat and the musical fountain opposite Hyatt Hotel

Vibha.Sharma@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has initiated the process of assigning its 99 parking lots to a new agency to improve their operation and management. The facilities include the parking lots being managed by NDMC staff for over six years and those on contracts nearing expiry.

NDMC has engaged a consultant to develop an initial proposal, and after the finance department’s approval, it will start the tender process. “The consultant has already prepared the request for proposal for 99 parking lots in Lutyens’ Delhi. It includes the parking lots where the contractor’s lease expires by Aug. The proposal has been forwarded by the parking management department to the accounts or finance and civil departments for comments,” said NDMC member Kuljeet Chahal.

Till the tender is finalised, NDMC will maintain these parking lots through its staff, Chahal added. However, some facilities that are running under the Bhagidari scheme will continue to operate under the same model as it is generating good revenues, he said.

NDMC has 150 parking lots, with 99 operated on contract, six run in partnership with locals under the Bhagidari scheme, and 39 managed by NDMC through 116 staff.

For the past six years, the council has been unable to allocate tenders for 39 parking lots, resulting in financial losses. In Oct 2023, NDMC members expressed concerns over it, suggesting potential cor- ruption in the collection of parking fees and the lack of real-time data on the number of vehicles parked daily. They had demanded a probe by chief vigilance officer on the repeated failures in allotting multiple parking sites.

“But nothing happened, and in Nov 2023, the issue was raised again during a meeting and a decision was taken to form a committee under Section 9 of NDMC Act to investigate the matter,” said an NDMC member. “Finally, to address these concerns, a consultant was hired to evaluate various factors, such as the demand and available space at these locations,” he added.

The parking lots operated by NDMC staff include those in Sarojini Nagar, Khan Market, Rail Museum, Yashwant Place, Dilli Haat and the musical fountain opposite Hyatt Hotel.

2 members of ‘thak-thak’ gang arrested after gunfight with police in Noida

Noida: Two members of ‘thak-thak’ gang were arrested on Friday following a gunfight with police, officials said. They said Deepak alias Manish and Imtiaz alias Arman received gunshot injuries in the exchange of fire that took place near the Sector 41 outpost. “The incident unfolded during a routine police check when the gang members, who were on a motorcycle, opened fire on officers. Cops retaliated, injuring both suspects in their legs,” additional DCP, Noida, Manish Kumar Mishra said. Police seized two illegal firearms, two used cartridges, two live cartridges, a motorcycle stolen from Delhi, three stolen laptops and Rs 8,000 in cash.

PTI

Rain Leaves Veggie Buyers High & Dry

Steep Rise In Prices As Tomato Sells For `100/kg

AWHOLESALER SAYS The number of trucks carrying tomatoes as well as onions from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh has gone down because of heavy rain

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With the monsoon rain lashing various parts of the country, the prices of vegetables, especially tomatoes, have increased in the past few days in both wholesale and retail markets in the capital.

Tomato, a kitchen staple, was selling for over Rs 100 per kg in several parts of the city on Friday. Vegetable dealers said heavy rain in northern states had impacted the movement of trucks, causing the surge. They added that the prices might go up further in the next few days.

According to the price monitoring division of Union ministry of consumer affairs, food and public distribution, the average wholesale price of tomatoes was recorded at Rs 3,600 per quintal (Rs 36 per kilo) on Friday. This was almost 1.5 times its usual price in July. Dealers at the city’s Azadpur Mandi said vegetables were sold at 100-150% of the wholesale rate in the retail market.

Hauz Khas resident Krishna Gulati said her regular vegetable supplier sold tomatoes to her for Rs 100 per kilogram on Friday while she got them for just Rs 40 earlier this month. “I even asked him how the prices have jumped so much while it hardly rained in Delhi. He replied that the prices had increased in the wholesale market,” Gulati said.

Other kitchen staples such as onions and potatoes and seasonal vegetables like bottle gourd, bitter gourd, lady’s finger and colocasia, too, registered an increase of 50-80% in the retail market in the past few weeks. Wholesalers said the supply of vegetables, seasonal as well as kitchen staples, had decreased at mandis due to the rain.

“The prices of all vegetables increase during the mon- soon as the crops get ruined due to continuous rain and transportation gets impacted because of flooding,” said Purshottam Dagar, a wholesaler at Ghazipur Mandi. “The number of trucks carrying tomatoes as well as onions from Maharashtra, Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh has gone down because of heavy rain. The rates will start coming down only when we have a fresh stock,” he added.

Varinder Bhadana, another wholesaler, said the price of tomatoes in July last year was more than Rs 200 per kg, probably the highest in the past several years. “Due to heavy rain, even Delhi was flooded, and there was a huge shortage. The situation this time is not anywhere close to that. The actual relief in prices will be seen only after Sept,” said Bhadana.

Vegetable dealers said tomatoes rot quickly due to their short shelf life. As the supplies get affected, the prices rise automatically. Leafy vegetables, too, have a small shelf life, and their prices also jump by nearly 50% in the rainy season.

A tree in the middle of brand-new flyover!

The tree stands on the lane of traffic coming from Anand Vihar and going towards Dilshad Garden

Siddhanta.Mishra@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Public Works Department is set to inaugurate a new flyover at Anand Vihar despite an unusual obstacle — a tree standing in the middle of one of the carriageways. The opening of the flyover has seen delays that officials attributed to the anti-pollution construction ban and clearances pending from the forest department for the removal of trees.

The tree stands on the lane that will carry traffic coming from Anand Vihar and going towards Dilshad Garden. PWD has, however, decided to open the flyover to traffic even before the tree’s removal. “To ensure the safety of motorists, we will erect barricades around the tree till the necessary approvals for its removal are obtained from the forest department,” said an official.

The delay in permission to cut down the trees at the Anand Vihar flyover, which starts from the railway overbridge, have hindered the comp- letion of the side ramps and a footpath. These are unlikely to be finished by the time the flyover opens. The de- adline for the Anand Vihar flyover, which includes an elevated corridor, pedestrian subway and side ramps was extended from Dec 2023 to April this year but remains unmet.

"We have applied for permission to chop down the trees, but to complete the ramps we would need to take the central govt’s permission since the location is designated a 'deemed forest'. This is the reason the process is taking time," explained a PWD source.

Last year, Road No 56 in Anand Vihar was classified as a 'deemed forest', causing work to grind to a halt for some days. The forest department even fined PWD and work could resume only after the fine was paid. Now, the area on the side of the main road, where the ramps and footpath are being constructed, is considered to fall in the ‘deemed forest’ category, The Anand Vihar flyover project was planned in 2019, but the pandemic delayed the commencement of construction. The foundation stone was finally laid in Oct 2022 by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and Delhi Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel.

Interchange stns vital cogs in metro wheels

Priyangi.Agarwal@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: An analysis by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) shows that of the total number of passengers boarding a train on a particular line, around 20-30% complete their journey on the same corridor. The remaining 70-80% transfer or interchange to other lines to reach their destination, the analysis found, highlighting the importance of the interchange stations in the Delhi Metro network to commuters.

Delhi Metro currently has 29 interchange stations, which were introduced in phases I to III. The addition of Phase IV corridors will increase the total number of such stations to 47.

DMRC, which analysed the network effect of DMRC in terms of passenger journeys from Oct 2023 to March 2024 on an average daily basis, found that the majority of the commuters used the first metro line to transfer to other lines. For instance, 1.13 lakh passengers entered and exited from the same Red Line, Line 1, during this period. In comparison, 5.27 lakh passengers shifted to different lines to complete their journey.

The data revealed that the number of passenger journeys was around five times higher for commuters using Red Line for interchanging to other metro lines. This is the case with all metro lines, the analysis showed. “The fact that 70-80% of the passengers transfer or interchange to other lines to complete their journey establishes the effective utilisation of a dense network interconnected through a number of interchange stations,” said a DMRC official.

The data stated that Yellow Line, one of the busiest in the metro network, witnessed 3.75 lakh passenger journeys who boarded and deboarded from the same line. However, the li- ne, which currently has seven interchange stations, also saw three times higher passenger journeys, with 12.5 lakh commuters transferring to other lines during the same period. Yellow Line will get two more interchange stations in the up- coming corridors of Phase IV.

Similarly, Pink Line, the longest metro corridor with a length of 59.2km and 38 stations, is used by seven times the number of passengers to go to other lines. On the other hand, Grey Line, the shortest with a length of just 5.5km and four stations, connects Dwarka to Najafgarh and the Dhansa bus stand on the Delhi-Haryana border. It recorded around 30 times higher passenger journeys who entered from Grey Line to exit the metro from some other line to reach their preferred location.

In Phase IV, DMRC is currently constructing three corridors: Majlis Park to Maujpur (extension of Pink Line), Janakpuri West to RK Ashram (extension of Magenta Line), and Aerocity to Tughlaqabad, which is the new Golden Line. “The Majlis Park-Maujpur corridor is likely to be opened next year. The rest of the sections of the priority corridors are expected to be opened in a phased manner by 2026,” said a DMRC official. A small section from Janakpuri West metro station to Krishna Park Extension is expected to open in Aug this year, the official added.

Two more corridors under Phase IV — Inderlok-Indraprastha (extension of Green Line) and Saket G Block-Lajpat Nagar (extension of Golden Line) — have recently received approval from central govt.

Boy Defies Odds, Undergoes Rare Kidney Surgery At AIIMS

1st Successful Renal Autotransplant In Country On 7-Yr-Old

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: A seven-year-old boy with resistant renovascular hypertension, a condition that causes high blood pressure due to narrowed kidney arteries, underwent the country’s first rare successful renal autotransplant surgery at AIIMS Delhi.

The rare surgical operation, which was carried out on June 29, entailed the removal of the patient’s kidney and its subsequent relocation to another area within his body. According to doctors, this is the first such case in India and the third in the world.

Pranil Chowdhury, who is from West Bengal, was found to have an aneurysm in an artery, which impaired blood flow to his right kidney. This led to uncontrolled high blood pressure readings of 150/ 110 and two episodes of blood in his urine over the past three-and-a-half years. Doctors warn that prolonged exposure to such high blood pressure can harm vital or- gans, including the brain, heart and kidneys.

Dr Manjunath Maruti Pol, additional professor of surgery and kidney transplant surgeon, said symptomatic aneurysms require treatment through stenting or surgery. “In this case, the aneurysm’s location near the kidney hilum (distal) and its fusiform shape made stenting unfeasible and ineffective, leading to the decision to proceed with surgical treatment,” he said.

The eight-hour surgery was performed by a team led by two surgeons, Dr Pol and Dr Pradeep, professor of CTVS cardiac surgery at AIIMS. The child was discharged seven days later. His tests have shown that post-surgery, his kidney is functioning as well as the other one.

Dr Pol said the patient had been taking daily medication to regulate hypertension for the past year. However, following the surgery, he no longer requires medication for it. “The goal of the autotransplantation procedure is to restore renal anatomy, treat renovascular hypertension, preserve normal renal mass and eliminate the risk of rupture,” he added.

Explaining the intricacy of the surgery, Dr Pol said the vessels on the right side are more complex compared to those on the left due to the presence of the vena cava, thin-walled and small-caliber veins, and short vein lengths susceptible to tearing and blockage (thrombosis). The surgery allowed for a very small margin of error, with a maximum tolerable blood loss of “350 ml in a 21kg child”, making it a highly challenging procedure.

The first instance of autotransplantation was performed on a 13-year-old patient in Korea in 2014, but the procedure was unsuccessful and the kidney had to be removed shortly after the surgery, Dr Pol told TOI. The second case involved a four-year-old girl in London in 2021, who underwent surgery for a left kidney artery aneurysm as a preventive measure, despite being asymptomatic.

“The seven-year-old boy is the third case in the world and the first successful right kidney aneurysmectomy and autotransplantation,” he said.

Pranil’s father Krishna Choudhary, who works as a procurement analyst in International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), Delhi, said the issue was diagnosed last year. He added that after the surgery, his son is doing well.

Fee hike row: HC steps in to ensure students allowed to study

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Earlier this month, parents of several children protested outside the office of Directorate of Education (DoE), alleging that Delhi Public School Dwarka was “harassing” their wards for an increased fee, even though they had paid the DoE approved fee.

Delhi High Court has recently stepped in to ensure that the students whose names were struck off the rolls by the school are allowed to continue their studies.

The court, in an interim order on Tuesday, directed the school to take back the students but also asked the parents to pay half of the hiked fee, which they opposed.

“In the interregnum, it is directed that without prejudice to the rights and contentions of the respective parties and subject to the petitioners depositing 50% of the hiked school fee only for the academic year 2024-25, the names of the wards of the petitioners be restored on the rolls of the school in their respective classes, subject to the final outcome of the present writ petition,” noted Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma in the order, while dealing with a clutch of petitions challenging the fee hike.

The court underlined that the interim order is being passed “keeping in view the future and saving the academic year of the petitioners” and issued a notice to Delhi govt and DPS Dwarka on the main plea assailing the fee hike.

The interim order came after the counsel for the petitioners sought urgent intervention, informing the court that DPS Dwarka struck off the names of students/wards of petitioners from the rolls of the school on account of non-payment of the hiked fee.

Parents claimed that the school took the action despite the fee being hiked without the approval of Directorate of Education.

Earlier, TOI had reported that parents had claimed that the names of their children had been removed from the roll call and they were asked to sit in a separate room as a punishment.

Restaurant owners seek licence to do biz easily

The National Capital Region is the second biggest organised food market in the country after Mumbai and Greater Mumbai combined

Amin Ali

New Delhi: The National Capital Region is the second biggest organised food market in the country after Mumbai and Greater Mumbai combined. It is estimated to be worth over Rs 42,000 crore. While Delhi has over 66,000 restaurants, there are 54,000 in Gurgaon and 33,000 in Noida, according to the National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI) India food service report.

NRAI reported that Delhi diners eat out or order food around nine times a month, roughly meaning that households eat non-home cooked food at least twice a week. Delhi diners spend an average of Rs 1,165 per outing per person, while those in Gurgaon pay Rs 1,247 and Noida, Rs 997.

The Delhi report describes 45% of the diners as ‘taste voyagers’ who love to try out restaurants with unique themes and international cuisine with family and friends. Indian snacks and north Indian and Mughlai food are the most preferred items in Delhi, followed by Italian, Chinese, south Indian and American fast food. In Gurgaon, Chinese is favourite in outings while Noida favours Indian snacks and Italian dishes.

Among the locations where eateries pay the highest rent are Khan Market, South Extension I and II, Lajpat Nagar, Connaught Place, M Block Greater Kailash I, Rajouri Garden, Punjabi Bagh, Karol Bagh and Kamla Nagar.

Sandeep Anand Goyle, Delhi chapter head of NRAI and director of Essex Farms, said that Delhi’s dining scene was expanding fast and the report highlighted the industry as a substantial revenue and employment generator. He added that the restaurant industry in the city faced challenges, some of which have been highlighted in the report for the attention of the authorities concerned.

One of such issues highlighted in the report is the number of licences required. NRAI has suggested that Delhi govt and LG’s office abolish the redundant permissions needed on aspects like police, weights and measures, signage, etc. The body pointed out that the capital had among the maximum number of li- cences required and was the only Indian state mandating police permission for restaurants. It also claimed that the opening of many eateries was delayed by 3-6 months because of their applications for police licence being stuck. NRAI has demanded the introduction of a single-window system in Delhi instead of the current multiple licence/approvals system involving the state govt and LG’s office. The need to submit 24 documents for eating house licences led to duplication of efforts, it maintained.

The report also raised the issue of rationalisation of excise fees and the delays caused by excise department approvals. It suggests a review of the present automatic increase of 10% in licence fees every year. It recommended that the licence payment date be changed from Feb-end to March-end. Another request NRAI made to the excise department was to transfer the excise licence when a restaurant shut down to the new owners of the same premises instead of requiring them to go through the process from scratch.

The report would also like all the departments concerned to address the issue of service in open areas across Delhi. “There is a need to review the condition of covered area service and permit F&B service in open areas in NDMC zone. The areas should include any of the open spaces, terraces, gardens, etc. Also, the service of liquor should be permitted there by the excise department — as was done in the past,” NRAI said. Restaurants have also sought clarification on the use of wood and charcoal from Delhi Pollution Control Committee and Municipal Corporation of Delhi to allow operations without disruptions. Wood and charcoal use are restricted during pollution episodes.

These suggestions, if implemented, the report said, would help restaurants reduce their losses, bring vibrancy to Delhi’s dining scene and promote Delhi as a city that offers ease of doing business.

The report claims India is the second fastest growing food services industry globally after Brazil and is poised to become the third largest food services market after the US and China by 2028, overtaking Japan.

The restaurant industry has come out of the shadow of the Covid pandemic and is today valued nationally at Rs 5.7 lakh crore, or 1.9% of India’s GDP, with its share of GST being 1.4%. Estimated to grow to Rs 7.7 lakh crore by 2028, the report says it is among the largest employers in the country; 85.5 lakh people work in the sector and this is estimated to rise by over 20% by 2028. According to NRAI, the industry will contribute Rs 33,809 crore in taxes to the national coffers in 2024, a figure that may reach Rs 55,594 crore in four years.

Times Global

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In a big win for Imran Khan, SC says PTI eligible for reserved seats

Omer Farooq Khan TNN

Islamabad: In a major win for jailed ex-PM Imran Khan, Supreme Court of Pakistan declared Friday his PTI party eligible for allocation of seats reserved for women and non-Muslims in national and provincial legislatures, increasing pressure on PM Shehbaz Sharif’s weak coalition govt. SC’s 8-5 majority judgment not only paved the way for PTI’s return to parliament after being kicked out of the Feb 8 polls due to a Dec 2023 ruling of Election Commission of Pakistan, but also increased pressure on the coalition alliance by changing composition of the National Assembly (NA). The verdict was announced by Justice Mansoor Ali Shah and supported by Justices Athar Minallah, Shahid Waheed, Muneeb Akhtar, Muhammad Ali Mazhar, Ayesha Malik, Syed Hassan Azhar Rizvi and Irfan Saadat Khan.

PTI-backed candidates had contested the polls as independents after their party was stripped of its cricket bat symbol. After the polls, they joined Sunni Itte had Council (SIC) to claim a share of reserved seats as independents were not eligible for the extra seats. ECP, however, had ruled SIC was not entitled to claim reserved seats “due to having non-curable legal defects and violation of a mandatory provision of submission of party list for reserved seats”. Moreover, ECP distributed the seats among other parties, with governing PML-N and PPP getting 16 and five additional seats, respectively.

Friday’s verdict nullified Peshawar HC’s order wherein it upheld ECP’s decision. The SC also declared ECP’s ruling to be ultra vires the constitution, without lawful authority and of no legal effect. It gave PTI 15 days to submit to ECP a list of candidates entitled to reserved seats. The governing coalition has over 200 members in the 336-member lower house but the judgment has effectively denied them the two-thirds majority they were hoping for. PTI’s strength stood at 84 in the NA before the decision; it now is expected to rise to over 100.

Teen held for UK gurdwara attack which left 2 hurt

London: A 17-year-old boy remains in custody after two women were injured in a suspected religiously aggravated incident involving a “bladed weapon” at a gurdwara in Kent, south-east England, police said Friday. Police officers were called to Sri Guru Nanak Darbar Gurdwara Thursday evening to probe reports that a male had entered the place of worship and attempted to assault members of the gathering. The gurdwara, among the largest in Europe, said ‘Guru Granth Sahib Ji’ was not present in the Darbar Hall at the time of the incident.

Police described it as an “isolated incident” and nobody else is being sought in connection with the attack.

PTI

Prachanda loses House trust vote, Oli stakes claim to be PM

Oli Says He Has Support Of 165 MPs, 77 From His Party, 88 From Ally NC

Kathmandu: K P Sharma Oli is set to become Nepal’s PM once again after incumbent PM Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ Friday failed to win a trust vote in parliament after surviving four times in the past, amidst frequent political turmoil in the Himalayan nation. Communist Party of Nepal-Unified Marxist Leninist (CPN-UML) chairman Oli Friday staked claim to lead a new majority govt before President Ramchandra Paudel with the support of 165 lawmakers, including 77 from his party and 88 from Nepali Congress (NC).

Although fringe parties, including Janata Samajbadi Party (JSP), JSP-Nepal, Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, Janamat Party and Nagarik Unmukti Party are in favour of the Congress-UML coalition, Oli staked claim showing the support of only UML and Congress. “We have staked claim for the new govt before the prez. It’s up to him to decide when to make the appointment,” said Ramesh Lekhak, Congress chief whip.

Prachanda, also chairman of Communist Party of NepalMaoist Centre (CPN-MC), faced the vote as the Oli-led CPNUML withdrew support from his govt last week after inking a power-sharing deal with the largest party in the House, NC, led by Sher Bahadur Deuba.

Prachanda, 69, lost his position Friday, over 18 months after his appointment on Dec 25, 2022, as he failed to secure a vote of confidence during a floor test in the House of Representatives. He failed to secure the 138 votes required to endorse the trust motion as only 63 lawmakers voted in his favour in the 275-strong House of Representatives. A total of 194 lawmakers voted against him.

Deuba has endorsed Oli as the next PM as per a 7-point deal both parties agreed upon Monday before toppling Prachanda‘s govt. According to the deal, Oli and Deuba will share the premiership during the remaining period of the House; in the first phase Oli will become PM for one and a half years and then, Deuba will take the post for rest of the period.

PTI

India ready to work with Oli

With K P Sharma Oli set to return as PM, India’s primary concern in the immediate run would be whether Oli, seen as pro-China in the past, will go ahead and sign the BRI implementation plan with China during his term in office.

Nepal under P K Dahal Prachanda backed down from signing the agreement last month, when Chinese vice minister for foreign affairs Sun Weidong visited Kathmandu.

Nepal joined the BRI in 2017 but it’s yet to approve the implementation plan which will clear the way for over a dozen BRI projects in the country.

CPN-UML and N Carrived at a power sharing agreement last week, leaving the Prachanda-led govt woefully short of majority. India would have ideally liked Prachanda and NC to come together in the game of musical chairs that has unfolded repeatedly since the elections in 2022, but govt sources said India will be happy to work with Oli as well.

Despite his alleged China tilt, and the controversy over Nepal’s new map during his previous term in office, Oli has been looking to build ties with India, acknowledging the role its neighbour can play in Nepal’s development. In fact, the chief of his party’s foreign po- licy department, Rajan Bhattarai, said in an interview this week CPN-UML doesn’t believe that Nepal can progress or the interest of Nepalese people could be promoted by pursuing anti-India policy. The fact that he will be dependent on support from pro-India NC will also be a determining factor. NC has maintained that while financing BRI plans, Nepal must accept only grants, and not loans, from China.

TNN

‘Before vote, PM okayed a rail deal with China’

A day before the vote of confidence, Prachanda gave nod to an agreement to connect Nepal with China by rail under Beijing’s ambitious Belt and Road Initiative. A minister downplayed its immediate impact, stating, “This is an initial decision; details of project implementation and BRI modalities are yet to be finalised.”

A report by MyRepublica news portal quoted communication minister Rekha Sharma as saying, “The cabinet meeting held on Thursday decided to approve the ‘Strengthening the Development Cooperation in Building the Trans-Himalayan Multidimensional Connectivity Network’ agreement between Nepal and China.”

PTI

‘I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee’

George Clooney and Joe Biden

George Clooney

I’m a lifelong Democrat; I make no apologies for that. I’m proud of what my party represents and what it stands for. As part of my participation in the democratic process and in support of my chosen candidate, I have led some of the biggest fund-raisers in my party’s history. Barack Obama in 2012. Hillary Clinton in 2016. Joe Biden in 2020. Last month I co-hosted the single largest fund-raiser supporting any Democratic candidate ever, for President Biden’s re-election. I say all of this only to express how much I believe in this process and how profound I think this moment is.

I love Joe Biden. As a senator. As a vice president and as president. I consider him a friend, and I believe in him. Believe in his character. Believe in his morals. In the last four years, he’s won many of the battles he’s faced. But the one battle he cannot win is the fight against time. None of us can. It’s devastating to say it, but the Joe Biden I was with three weeks ago at the fund-raiser was not the Joe “big F-ing deal” Biden of 2010. He wasn’t even the Joe Biden of 2020. He was the same man we all witnessed at the debate.

Was he tired? Yes. A cold? Maybe. But our party leaders need to stop telling us that 51 million people didn’t see what we just saw. We’re all so terrified by the prospect of a second Trump term that we’ve opted to ignore every warning sign. The George Stephanopoulos interview only reinforced what we saw the week before. As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president, whom we respect, walk off Air Force One or walk back to a mic to answer an unscripted question.

Is it fair to point these things out? It has to be. This is about age. Nothing more. But also nothing that can be reversed. We are not going to win in November with this president. On top of that, we won’t win the House, and we’re going to lose the Senate. This isn’t only my opinion; this is the opinion of every senator and Congress member and governor who I’ve spoken with in private. Every single one, irrespective of what he or she is saying publicly.

We love to talk about how the Republican Party has ceded all power, and all of the traits that made it so formidable with Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, to a single person who seeks to hold on to the presidency, and yet most of our members of Congress are opting to wait and see if the dam breaks. But the dam has broken. We can put our heads in the sand and pray for a miracle in November, or we can speak the truth.

It is disingenuous, at best, to argue that Democrats have already spoken with their vote and therefore the nomination is settled and done, when we just received new and upsetting information. We all think Republicans should abandon their nominee now that he’s been convicted of 34 felonies. That’s new and upsetting information as well. Top Democrats — Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries, Nancy Pelosi — and senators, representatives and other candidates who face losing in November need to ask this president to voluntarily step aside.

All of the scary stories that we’re being told about what would happen next are simply not true. In all likelihood, the money in the Biden-Harris coffers could go to help elect the presidential ticket and other Democrats. The new nominee wouldn’t be left off ballots in Ohio. We Democrats have a very exciting bench. We don’t anoint leaders or fall sway to a cult of personality; we vote for a president. We can easily foresee a group of several strong Democrats stepping forward to stand and tell us why they’re best qualified to lead this country and take on some of the deeply concerning trends we’re seeing from the revenge tour that Donald Trump calls a presidential campaign.

Let’s hear from Wes Moore and Kamala Harris and Gretchen Whitmer and Gavin Newsom and Andy Beshear and J.B. Pritzker and others. Let’s agree that the candidates not attack one another but, in the short time we have, focus on what will make this country soar. Then we could go into the Democratic convention next month and figure it out.

Would it be messy? Yes. Democracy is messy. But would it enliven our party and wake up voters who, long before the June debate, had already checked out? It sure would. The short ramp to Election Day would be a benefit for us, not a danger. It would give us the chance to showcase the future without so much opposition research and negative campaigning that comes with these ridiculously long and expensive election seasons. This can be an exciting time for democracy, as we’ve just seen with the 200 or so French candidates who stepped aside and put their personal ambitions on hold to save their democracy from the far right.

Joe Biden is a hero; he saved democracy in 2020. We need him to do it again in 2024.

This piece by Hollywood superstar and Democratic supporter George Clooney was recently published in the New York Times

Obama, Clinton said to be working in background to ease Biden out

Biden later explained that the Zelensky error happened because he’s ‘so focused on beating Putin’

Chidanand Rajghatta TNN

Washington: Despite a spirited performance at Thursday’s press conference, three more Democratic lawmakers went public with statements asking US Prez Joe Biden to quit the race, one going so far as to asking him to resign from office immediately. Others held fire, hoping party grandees such as Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Nancy Pelosi, all of whom are said to be working in the background to resolve the issue, will find a way to ease him out.

So far, at least 15 Democratic legislators have asked Biden to quit the race, mostly out of the instinct for political self preservation: they fear losing their seat in Congress — for which elections will be held concurrently and on the same ballot — due to the Biden drag.

Most polls show him trailing Trump, and newer polls show voters, even Democratic voters, want Biden to drop out of the race and make way for a new party nominee.

Faced with such headwinds, Biden, at a press conference interspersed with much throat-clearing and checked digressions, appeared most at ease while talking about policy, both global and domestic.

Aides watched with whiteknuckle tension as the president gradually overcame an early verbal flub, when, asked if he had any concerns about Kamala Harris’s ability to beat Trump if she were to be the Democratic nominee, he replied, “Look, I wouldn’t have picked Vice President Trump to be vice president, if I did not think she was not qualified to be president.” He did not realise his mistake — and laughed it off when it was pointed out to him at the end of the press conference — but two hours before the event, he caught himself immediately after referring to Ukraine Prez Zelensky as Putin, explaining that the error happened because he’s “so focused on beating Putin”. “I’m better,” Zelensky joked, making light of the matter. “You are a hell of a lot better,” Biden replied.

The US president later claimed at the press conference that even European leaders wanted him to win the election (“I’m not hearing my European allies say, ‘Don’t run’”) because they feared Trump would dismantle Nato. Running for a second term and winning was not just a political issue but a national security issue, he said, asserting that any diminution of Nato would endanger the US.

Biden was similarly forceful about taking on China and Russia. He went into long-winded but cogent policy details that his Republican rival, who publicly admitted he did not know what Nato was before he took office, is clearly incapable of. But such is the searing focus on Biden and the standard he is being held to that Trump’s own verbal flubs and ignorance is glossed over.

Dem donors said to freeze $90m as long as Biden stays in race

Some major Democratic donors have told the largest pro-Biden super PAC, Future Forward, that pledges worth roughly $90 million are now on hold if Prez Biden remains atop the ticket, according to two people who have been briefed on the conversations.

The frozen contributions include multiple eight-figure commitments, according to the two people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The decision to withhold such enormous sums of money is one of the most concrete examples of the fallout from Biden’s poor debate performance at the end of June.

Future Forward declined to comment on any conversations with donors or the amounts of any pledged money being withheld. A Future Forward adviser would say only that the group expected contributors who had paused donations to return once the current uncertainty about the ticket was resolved.

Separately, one donor to the group described being approached multiple times by Future Forward since the debate for a contribution, but said he and his friends had been “holding off”. The two people briefed on the frozen pledges declined to say which individual donors were pulling back promised cheques, which were estimated to total around or above $90 million.

NYT

7 Indians among 62 missing in Nepal landslide

Kathmandu: At least seven Indian nationals are among over 60 passengers who are believed to be missing after two buses were swept away by a landslide and pushed into a swollen river in central Nepal early Friday, officials said. The two buses carrying 65 passengers went missing in the Trishuli river in landslides at Simaltal area, 120km west of Kathmandu, along the Narayanghat-Mugling road in Chitwan district, my Republica reported.

Chief district officer of Chitwan, Indradev Yadav, said Kathmandu-bound Angel bus and Ganpati Deluxe, en route to Gaur from the capital, met with the accident at around 3.30am. Twenty-four people were onboard the bus travelling to Kathmandu and 41 on the bus travelling to Gaur, police said. Three of the passengers on Ganpati Deluxe escaped after jumping out of the vehicle, Kathmandu Post reported.

A third bus was hit by another landslide Friday morning on the same highway. Govt administrator Khima Nanada Bhusal said the driver was killed but it was not clear if there were any other casualties. Home minister Rabi Lamichhane told parliament over 500 personnel have been assigned to the search operation.

AGENCIES

TOUGH STANCE

Canada govt to cast greater onus on higher edu institutions for student-related compliance

Lubna.Kably@timesofindia.com

A proposal in the Canada Gazette has announced the federal govt’s plan to halt processing of study permits for post-secondary international students, if educational institutions fail to monitor enrolment of such students, their attendance and compliance with study permit conditions.

The administration of ‘International Student Programme’ is a shared responsibility between Immigration Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC), the immigration agency of federal govt, and Canada’s provinces and territories.

Regular compliance reporting to IRCC by designated learning institutions (DLIs) and also a rule for time-bound submission of replies in case of inquiries and requests is built in the proposal.

Compliance requirements have also been cast on international students in certain in- stances. The proposed changes are meant to strengthen the educational sphere — to prevent international students from falling victim to scams and to ensure that a study permit is not viewed as a backdoor entry to work in Canada.

Last year, hundreds of students, majority of them from Punjab, were adversely im- pacted owing to the fraudulent act of a middleman — Brijesh Mishra. The students had arrived in Canada between 2017 and 2019. Investigations revealed that the letters of offer of admission to higher education institutions, that were required for study permits, were fake. On arrival in Canada, the students were asked to shift to another college and not the one on the basis of which they had got the study permit and gained entry into Canada. The irregularities came to light when the students tried to gain permanent residency.

The proposed amendments would require that a study permit holder who received a letter of acceptance to attend a DLI other than one indicated on their permit and who wishes to switch institutions must submit an application for a new permit before the start date for the new programme. The proposed regulations would allow the student to attend the new institution without a valid permit until a decision is made on the application, as long as the student remains in Canada and complies with all other conditions of their permit.

The proposed amendments apply exclusively to postsecondary DLIs and post-secondary international students. The open-window for inviting comments from stakeholders and public ends on July 29.

‘I painted them’: Curator reveals truth of controversial Picassos

Artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele with a painting that imitates the style of Pablo Picasso

Wellington: They were billed as artworks by Pablo Picasso, paintings so valuable that an Australian art museum’s decision to display them in an exhibition restricted to women visitors provoked a gender discrimination lawsuit. Later, the artworks prompted global headlines when the gallery re-hung them in a women’s restroom to sidestep a legal ruling that said men could not be barred from viewing them.

But the artworks at the centre of the uproar were not really by Picasso or the other famed artists billed as their creators, it emerged this we- ek when the curator of the women-only exhibition admitted she had painted them herself.

Kirsha Kaechele wrote on the blog of Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art Wednesday that she was revealing herself as the works’ creator after receiving questions from a reporter and the Picasso Administration in France about their authenticity. But they had been displayed for more than three years before their provenance was questioned, she said, even though she had accidentally hung one of the fake paintings upside down. “I imagined a Picasso scholar, or maybe just a fan, or maybe just someone who googles things, would visit the Ladies Lounge and see that the painting was upside down and expose me on social media,” Kaechele wrote. But no one did.

“I’m flattered that people believed my great-grandmother summered with Picasso at her Swiss chateau where he and my grandmother were lovers when she threw a plate at him for indiscretions (of a kind) that bounced off his head and resulted in the crack you see inching through the gold ceramic plate in the Ladies Lounge,” Kaechele wrote, referring to the title card on one painting.

“The real plate would have killed him — it was made of solid gold. Well, it would have dented his forehead because the real plate is actually a coin,” she added.

AP

AROUND THE WORLD

CALL OF THE WILD: An art sculpture in NYC depicts some of world’s most endangered animals to raise awareness about human role in it

Venice entry charge likely to rise in 2025

Venice’s experimental payment system for tourists only had a limited impact on reducing crowds in the lagoon city, meaning prices will almost certainly be hiked next year, a politician who led the project said Friday. In a world first, Venice introduced a 5-euro ($5.44) charge in April for daytrippers arriving on particularly congested days, hoping to deter some visitors.

200 crocs crawl into cities as rains pound Mexico

Heavy rains associated with Hurricane Beryl and the earlier tropical storm Alberto have led at least 200 crocodiles to enter urban areas in the Mexican state of Tamaulipas, authorities said. So far, authorities say they have captured around 200 of the reptiles since June.

In The Courts

- In fresh feud, Bengal moves SC against guv for stalling 8 bills

- HC: Free man languishing in jail for inability to pay `2.6L fine

- ‘Political vendetta’: SC stays HC order against TV channel

- 16 yrs on, only 481 rural courts set up, 6,000 needed, SC told

- HC: If parole can be granted to share grief, why not for a happy occasion?

In fresh feud, Bengal moves SC against guv for stalling 8 bills

New Flashpoint Involves 7 Bills On Appointment Of Univ VCs

Six of the bills were passed in June 2022, when Jagdeep Dhankhar was governor. The seventh was passed in Aug 2023 after Ananda Bose (in pic) stepped into West Bengal Raj Bhavan

Saibal.Sen@timesofindia.com

Kolkata: West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool govt on Friday moved Supreme Court against the governor for stalling eight bills passed by the assembly, six of which are pending for a year and 10 months and two for eight months. The time frame coincides with the tenures of governor CV Ananda Bose, and his predecessor and current Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar. Seven of the bills pertain to the appointment of vice-chancellors (VCs).

In its plea, the state has contended that a governor “must not be allowed to use pocket veto through the backdoor” when the Constitution does not give him or her such discretionary powers.

This is the latest in the series of Mamata Banerjee govt’s stand-offs with the governor. Banerjee’s ties with Bose have soured to such an extent that she has said that she will not go to Raj Bhawan and will only meet the governor publicly. The Kolkata police has already lodged two FIRs relating to molestation and rape complaints implicating the Raj Bhawan staff, and the governor’s kin, over allegations levelled against governor Bose. In another faceoff, the state assembly snubbed the governor with the speaker administering the oath of office to two newly elected MLAs.

There have been instances of other opposition-governed states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala approaching SC against their respective governors in the last few months. In March this year, the Pina- rayi Vijayan govt had appealed against Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s office for keeping four bills pending for a long and indefinite period and later reserving them for the consideration of the President. Earlier, the MK Stalin govt had moved SC against Tamil Nadu govt for delaying crucial bills passed by the legislature.

The 124-page special leave petition (SLP) was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra. “The bench said the matter will be heard early,” said Sanjay Basu, Bengal’s senior standing counsel in Supreme Court.

The seven VC-related bills deal with the appointments in state-aided and private varsities. These include the ones in which the CM replaces the governor as state university chancellor and state education minister replaces the governor as “visitor” in private universities.

Six of these bills were passed in June 2022, when Dhankhar was governor. The seventh was passed in Aug 2023 after Bose stepped into Raj Bhavan. It seeks to expand the search-and-selection committee for VC appointment as per UGC norms, but in a manner that gives the majority voice to state nominees.

The only non-education bill cited in the petition is the West Bengal Town and Country (Planning and Development) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which does away with multiple and often Joverlapping fees for development projects.

State counsel Basu said that the governor withholding consent to the bills was violative of Article 200 of the Constitution and had “precipitated a constitutional crisis” in the state. The statement added that the governor had neither acted on the bills or given any reason for keeping them pending.

HC: Free man languishing in jail for inability to pay `2.6L fine

‘TRAVESTY OF JUSTICE’

Rosy.Sequeira@timesofindia.com

Mumbai: Bombay high court recently directed the forthwith release of a man who remained in jail despite completing his sentence because he was unable to pay Rs 2.6 lakh fine due to poverty.

“If he is directed to undergo the entire default sentence, he will be required to be incarcerated for a further period of nine years, which in our consideration would amount to travesty of justice,” said Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande on June 27.

In Feb 2019, the man was convicted by a Kolhapur magistrate in 14 criminal cases for house-trespass, mischief and theft. He was sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment and collectively imposed Rs 2.6 lakh fine with default imprisonment.

He moved high court saying his substantive sentence ended in March 2020 but continues to be in jail for undergoing nine years’ default imprisonment as he cannot afford the fine. He urged reduction of the default sentence to the period served by him.

His advocate Atharva Dandekar said his client, then 24 years, has been in custody since his arrest in September 2017. “He is 30 years old now. He will be entitled for release after default imprisonment that ends in Feb 2028, after 11 years’ jail,” Dandekar said.

The judges noted that the man belongs to a financially weaker class of society and “that is the specific reason why he has continued to be in jail for the last four years as he has not been able to arrange the amount of fine.”

‘Political vendetta’: SC stays HC order against TV channel

SC provided relief to Power TV, which had extensively reported the alleged sex scandal involving JD(S) politicians

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said suspension of broadcast by Kannada news channel Power TV after it extensively reported the alleged sex scandal involving JD(S) politicians appeared to be “sheer political vendetta” and stayed a Karnataka HC order that had virtually blocked its operations.

“We must zealously protect the right to free speech. The more we hear arguments in this case, we are inclined to think it is a political vendetta. The channel extensively covered the sex scandal, so it is blocked. It is sheer political vendetta,” said a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.

Protesting the CJI’s remarks, solicitor general Tushar Mehta said, “The Supreme Court said something which may not be justified from the records. The show cause notice to the channel was issued on Feb 9 as it was found that the license for uplink and downlink permissions have been sublet by the channel. Subletting the uplink and downlink permissions can’t be done without the ministry of home affairs’ express permission as it could be misused to the detriment of the nation.”

The bench’s remarks came after it learnt that the writ petitions in the HC against the channel were filed by two functionaries of JD (S). After the SG’s protest, the bench stayed the HC order till Monday and said,” We are not concerned with politics. We will proceed strictly in accordance with law.”

Appearing for the TV channel, senior advocate Ranjit Kumar said there was no basis for the HC to suspend the broadcast of news and other programmes by the channel. He said the petitioners had approached the HC after the channel extensively showed the sex scandal allegedly involving Prajwal and Suraj Revanna.

A single judge bench of the HC heard counsel for the petitioners, the channel and the Centre and ordered Power TV to stop broadcasting. The channel stopped news broadcasts and began transmitting a blank screen with the message “Satyameva Jayate”.

16 yrs on, only 481 rural courts set up, 6,000 needed, SC told

PILING CASES

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: The rural people’s dream of inexpensive justice at their doorsteps continues to remain a dream and their cases seems to have got choked in the pile of over 4.5 crore cases pending in trial courts as the states have paid little heed to a 16-year-old Parliament enacted law to set up gram nyayalayas.

Appearing for NGO ‘National Federation of Societies for Fast Justice’, advocate Prashant Bhushan on Friday informed a Supreme Court bench of Justices B R Gavai and K V Viswanathan that as against a requirement of 6,000-oddd gram nyayalayas only 481 have been set up, but only 309 among them are functional.

The bench felt that with the trial courts, with nearly 23,000 judicial officers, groaning under seemingly unresolvable pendency of over 4 crore cases for last five years, gram nyayalayas could be activated to ease the burden from the trial courts and provide easy and afforda- ble access to rural folk to justice delivery system.

After additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati informed the court that the Centre was ready to provide financial assistance as per the existing scheme to the states in this regard, the SC directed the chief secretaries and Registrar Gener- als of the states and the HCs to file the status report on gram nyayalayas, and the infrastructure and staff provided to them.

“Right to justice includes the right to speedy and affordable access to justice. Gram nyayalayas will provide affordable justice at doorsteps and help de-clogging the huge pendency in trial courts. We will appreciate it if the states file their affidavit keeping this aspect in mind,” said Justices Gavai and Viswanathan.

The seat of gram nyayalayas is to be located at the headquarters of the intermediate Panchayat. As per the law, the nyayadhikari shall periodically visit villages and may hear the parties and dispose of the cases at the place other than its headquarters.

HC: If parole can be granted to share grief, why not for a happy occasion?

Bombay HC gave 10-day parole to a man so that he can go to his Noida home and arrange funds for his son who has got entry to a university in Australia

Rosy.Sequeira@timesofindia.com

Mumbai: Bombay high court has granted a convict parole for 10 days to go home to Noida so that he can arrange funds and bid farewell to his son who has secured admission in a university in Australia.

“Grief is an emotion, so is happiness, and if parole can be granted to share grief, why not to share a happy occasion or moment?,” questioned Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande in Monday’s order.

The murder convict has spent 9 years in prison. He urged 30 days parole as his son was selected for admission for a 2-year Master of Data Science Program at RMIT Uni- versity, Melbourne. The course commences from July 22. He has to arrange huge tuition fees, besides his son’s travel and stay expenses. The Silvassa jail authorities rejected his parole application.

Public prosecutor Hiten Venegavkar, citing Prison (Bombay Furlough and Parole) Rules, said parole is given for contingencies, and bidding farewell and arranging money for meeting the ex- penses of tuition and travel will not fall within it.

The judges said the object of parole is to enable an inmate to maintain continuity with his family life and deal with family matters and to save him from the evil effects of continuous prison life. They said time and again “the courts have construed the Rules liberally in favour of a convict” and provisions of furlough and parole are looked at as “humanistic approach” towards convicts.

The judges said though behind bars, a convict continues to be someone’s son, husband, father, brother. The Rules provide parole for deaths and marriages in the family and for serious illnesses and natural calamities. They said “we miserably fail to understand” why for a happy occasion, like the convict’s son securing admission in a prestigious Australian university, should the benefit of parole be denied to him.

After reading the University’s offer letter, judges said until the father is available to arrange the huge amount, “his young son may lose a chance and the offer which he has received.” They directed his release from July 12-22.

Times Evoke

- ‘Climate politics began with equity and justice — we now face evasion, migration and wars’

- LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER

- ITS THEIR CLIMATE TOO

- ‘Scientists started noting anthropogenic impacts in the 1970s — but climate denialism rose alongside’

- READERS WRITE

NORTH & SOUTH

‘Climate politics began with equity and justice — we now face evasion, migration and wars’

Sunita Narain is director general of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE). Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, she discusses the long ark of climate politics:

What are some key turning points in the global trajectory of climate politics?

■ This discussion began in 1991. Global warming came onto the world stage as an issue when the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change was being negotiated. Right at the start, there was concern about what this meant in terms of development for the Global South. The first big flashpoint came when a report was published just before the 1992 Rio Conference when the Framework Convention was being negotiated. Until then, there was a lot of disquiet in developing nations about global warming but things were still simmering — suddenly, this report basically stated the developing world was a cause of climate change. It showed data about rising methane emissions and said if you took the contribution of the developing world, it matched that of countries like the United States. Therefore, it suggested, everyone had to act.

Anil Agarwal and I then worked on a report titled ‘Global Warming in an Unequal World: A Case of Environmental Colonialism’. The real sleight of hand the earlier report had done was to allocate a share of the global commons based on the contribution of emissions. Human beings emit because of fossil fuel-driven growth but nature has its own assimilative capacity to clean up through carbon sinks like the oceans. That report was saying that if the United States emits, say, 10x, then it also gets a 10x share of global sinks. We argued this was completely wrong and global sinks had to be allocated on the basis of principles. We found reallocating these on the basis of per capita changed the entire calculation.

That altered climate politics. In 1992, climate justice and equity were firmly on the table — as a result, the UN Framework Convention included the phrase ‘common but differentiated responsibility’. It also had a framing of the agreement which said a group of nations had created the problem — called Annex I countries — and they had to take the first steps to reduce emissions. Other parts of the world had the right to develop but to make their growth different from fossil fuel economics, they should receive money and technology supporting this.

How have things evolved since?

■ We have gone downhill. From 1992 to now, the entire effort has been to rewrite the Convention by erasing both the concept of historical emissions and money and technology transfers as a right for countries which didn’t create the problem. This is now the core of climate politics.

How does climate politics work within economies of the Global South?

■ The CSE has always advocated that just as you need climate justice between countries, you also need intra-climate equity — however, the latter cannot become an excuse to argue against climate justice at the global level. It is often said that only the rich in India cause emissions, the poor don’t, so why should climate justice apply to the entire country? This is why keeping the two discussions separate is crucial.

Climate justice is not a moral imperative — it is essential to get action done on climate change. Over the last

few decades, due to the efforts made by some to erase the principle of justice, we have reached the worst situation possible where there isn’t a rules-based system and the emissions scenario itself has changed. Once, around seven countries, including the European Union, had caused these — now, China is also being discussed in this context. China’s emissions are over double those of the US now and by 2030, it will be equal in per capita terms. If the world had a rules-based system, as framed in 1992, a bar would be set — if a nation’s emissions rise like this, they automatically become an Annex I country and undertake reduction targets. This however was not done because the entire framing of responsibility and action was diluted. Under the Paris Agreement in 2015, it became about ‘everybody acting’.

Within India, of course, the poor are victims of climate change. Consider how a large number of women still have to cook using polluting biofuel. As they move to LPG, they will enter the fossil fuel economy. Now, suppose you had a situation where global funds for climate would go to government investments via which these women could move to the cleanest fuel possible or adopt solar technology through mini-grids, etc. We need plans like this rather than the international community trying to evade responsibility by arguing that climate justice isn’t being applied within India.

This is a year of major elections worldwide — is there adequate political discussion of climate change?

■ Global warming is definitely a mainstream issue now in terms of the extreme weather events seen worldwide. No region is being spared its effects. However, worryingly, there is also a green backlash in some places. While the environmental issue is becoming more urgent, it is also being undermined and growing marginal to many of the reasons people are voting.

This is not a uniform trend — the victory of the Labour Party over the Conservatives in the United Kingdom is very positive as Labour is much more climate-friendly. In France, the Green Party and the Left winning is also a vote for environmentally friendly policies. However, increasingly, young voters in Europe are voting for the far right. This is despite their being much more concerned than older people about climate change — yet, migration and the cost of living are taking over as issues. This is linked in part to the horrific wars the world is seeing since these are reducing the ability of governments to buffer the worst impacts on their people. We are truly in troubled times — we are in a war with nature, which we are losing, and now, physical wars, such as in Ukraine, which are draining governments and making the young insecure.

The big question is, what happens if Donald Trump returns to the White House? He’s a complete climate sceptic and a huge proponent of fossil fuels. This plays into a larger narrative, which denies the need for hard and drastic action and touts soft solutions — a few electric vehicles won’t solve this. The world’s rich are shaky over migration and rising costs — but these will only increase with environmental instability. We are entering a vicious cycle — and we need far more discussion of this.

FIRST NATIONS, FIRST RULES

● Indigenous communities often shape the greatest climate politics. The Keystone Pipeline XL saw resistance from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community. These First Nations stated the pipeline, crossing the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers, endangered piping plovers, swift fox and whooping cranes — after sustained protests, President Biden revoked this on his first day in office in 2021

● The Yanomamo and Kayapo cherish Brazil’s rainforest which began being hacked for ranches and logging. Withstanding attacks, often supported by former President Jair Bolsanaro, the First Nations demonstrated — in 2023, Lula da Silva was re-elected President and deforestation in the rainforest has since fallen by 50%

● The ‘lithium triangle’, spread in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile, holds the world’s largest lithium reserves. Used in phones, solar panels and EVs, its mining in Jujuy pollutes ecology but was backed till 2024 by Governor Morales. It is opposed by the Kolla, Guarani and Ocloya who seek harmony with ‘Pachamama’ or Mother Earth — do think of them when considering your next phone

Research: Harvard Law School, BBC, Smithsonian Magazine

WHO STARTED THE FIRE? Climate politics includes the Global North criticising methane-emitting rice farming (above) vs the South stressing consumerism (L)

CLOSE: Keir Starmer (L) won the UK but Marine le Pen (R) shook France

TIMES EVOKE

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER

Normally, drawing room meteor ology is a light exercise in pleasantries — ‘What high humidity! Do have some more tea.’ However, the stock phrases once used for the climate were in fact humanity’s homage to the Holocene, the last 11,700 years when climatic conditions became stable. With predictable weather, humans could establish rhythms, of crops being sown and harvests celebrated, dwellings set up and cities initiated, enabling us to settle down, accumulate resources, embellish our relationships and create.

Today, global warming is changing all that. Driven by anthropogenic or human causes — since 1850, the world has emitted over 2,500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) — climate change has literally entered our homes as gasp-inducing heat and bone-drenching rain. The atmospheric impacts of greenhouse gases have been unimaginable — wrapping themselves around Earth, they’ve halted its natural methods of letting off heat into space and cooling, causing warming instead of over 1.1ºC since 1850. This has skewed Earth’s balances of heat, cold and rain — as the Copernicus Programme finds, 2023’s record surge in global temperature of 1.48ºC drove extreme weather events, even creating climate refugees.

However, while the science of climate change is straight, its politics is not. Global warming isn’t just a story of atmospheric imbalances — it is also a chronicle of skewed power. It is the tragedy of colonialism when resources were ripped from conquered lands, the inequity of capitalism, where the production of tin and tinsel, profiting a few, pollute soil, air and sea for everybody, and a mockery of justice, when those responsible for warming won’t compensate those suffering its ravages. Voices echo on this stage, from indigenous people whose regard for Earth has been brutally razed to the young who fear an inheritance of loss. At times, climate change seems such an overwhelming entity, few discuss its core realities.

And yet, dear reader, we need to talk about the weather. Once upon a time, a hopeful pop song exhorted us to discuss intimacy, trilling, ‘Let’s talk about all the good things and the bad things that may be.’ As Times Evoke’s global experts emphasise now, let’s discuss climate politics, not simply to assign blame, but to tap into humanity’s greatest forces — cooperation and ingenuity — to allay this existential crisis. Join Times Evoke in tracking climate politics — it’s Earth’s most important news story.

ITS THEIR CLIMATE TOO

● Global warming doesn’t only impact human beings — it is changing the world for animals and birds. The lovely Green Jay is found only in south Texas’ dry scrub. Clever and confident, the little jay uses twigs or tools to seek insects in bark. It travels in vibrant flocks across brushland — but, as climate change dries up water and causes soil desertification, the Green Jay has been increasingly forced to extend its range northwards

● The Arctic ringed seal can make breathing holes in sea ice along coasts, thus exploring the food-rich waters under ‘landfast’ ice — seals also make snow lairs atop ice to shelter pups. However, with climate change, as ice and snow melt away, ringed seals are unable to build such caves — hence, their pups are exposed to hypothermia and predators, with splintering ice separating babies from mothers who could protect them

● Delicately vivid insects face grim challenges from global warming — being ectotherms, insects control their body temperature via ambient air. They are unable to cope with heatwaves which destroy them or damage their reproductive systems. Meanwhile, their habitats face annihilation in rain — seasonal instability also threatens hatching, causing butterflies and other species to be born out of sync with when plants blossom and nature offers food

Research: National Audubon Society, WWF, Cornell Lab of Ornithology, BBC, The Guardian

BORN IN THE USA

‘Scientists started noting anthropogenic impacts in the 1970s — but climate denialism rose alongside’

Leah Aronowski teaches at the Climate School in Columbia University. Speaking to Times Evoke, she discusses the trajectory of climate discussions — and denial:

Leah Aronowski is a historian of science whose work deals with the climate crisis. She focuses in particular on the history of climate science, the trajectory of fossil fuels — and the archive of climate denialism. She tells TE, ‘I’m often asked why studying these issues is important. I think learning about how these areas evolved is crucial as we need to know what happened in the past if we want to know what to do in the future with climate politics and activism. When I teach the history of the climate crisis or the evolution of international climate institutions, for instance, these are all relevant subjects to the contemporary conversation because they help us think beyond huge mega-categories, including those of capitalism and modernity.’ She elaborates, ‘Many of us often think about the climate crisis as an effect of such big categories. However, by unearthing what actually lies under these, we can start to think about climate change as an effect of active choices made by people.’ Aronowski emphasises, ‘This helps us recover a sense of agency — if we think about the past as a series of choices made by people and organi sations, it helps us combat a feeling of ‘all is lost’ or seeing the climate challenge as a futile endeavour beyond us.’

Aronowski also studies the ‘biosphere’, the thin sliver of air, water and land where all life on Earth exists. This has interesting roots, as she explains. ‘My research on the biosphere looks at how this idea transitioned — it was originally developed in imperial Russia as a notion about how humanity and the environment had co-evolved. Then, this idea shifted into the American context in the immediate post-World War II era. It became reframed into the language of cybernetic systems — it was then that scientists started thinking of our planet as a selfregulating system which had bio geochemical cycles, etc.’

Envisioning the biosphere thus also brought home a sense of its fragility. Aronowski says, ‘At the same time as the idea of the biosphere began growing, there was also an uneasy sense emerging of how these planetary systems could be impacted in a variety of ways — some scientists began thinking of nuclear tests that were being detonated during the Cold War as having serious implications. They started using those events to study Earth’s cycles, following radioactive tracers to track the biosphere. So, they first began thinking about how to study a biosphere, which was inaccessible to everyday human observation, but then, they also looked at how, through our very human geopolitical interventions, that biosphere could be disrupted — perhaps permanently.’

Scientific consensus on how Earth was changing — or was being forced to change — started to grow. ‘Climate history shows how the scientific agreement on global warming was really strongly established in 1979,’ says Aronowski. ‘The Charney Report was one of the first key studies to put a concrete number on climate change — it projected how if the world was to double its current carbon concentrations over pre-industrial levels, it would likely see an overall warming of 3ºC. This number became a turning point for the scientific community — they began to rally around this, working on what a world with such warming levels would look like as a way to create awareness among the public and lawmakers.’

However, while the forces of science and public-mindedness were beginning to group together, so were their opposites. ‘The 1980s and 1990s are a very important moment in the history of climate denialism,’ Aronowski comments. ‘This grew especially in the era of Ronald Reagan when there was the rise of the new right in the US. This teamed up with think tanks and other industry- sponsored groups which were committed to deregulation and weaponising scientific doubt as a means to prevent any meaningful political action on climate change — in those years, we see the establishment of think tanks that were in fact explicitly dedicated to muddying the conversation on global warming and sowing doubt about science. This was a very pivotal moment in the history of the enormous crisis we face now.’

An interesting example of such denialism, fuelled by private interest, was even older. Aronowski has researched what she writes of as the ‘gas guzzling Gaia’ — she explains, ‘The 1970s saw the emergence of the ‘Gaia hypothesis’. This was the theory that Earth exists as a self-regulating system and it autonomously maintains the conditions which are necessary for life’s continued existence. It was developed by James Lovelock, a British scientist, and valorised as a whole new way of understanding the relationship between life and its environments. It was hailed as a very powerful and encouraging idea — but, over the course of my work, I found that Lovelock’s research, laying the foundations for Gaia, was funded by a huge multinational oil and gas company. I focused on the role of that money in influencing how Lovelock could have thought — for him, Gaia became a means of denying anthropogenic climate change. If you think of the planet as a self-regulating system, then you can imagine that even if humanity emits billions of tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, the Gaia system is equipped with mechanisms for restoring balance to the climate.’ This blithe imagination of Earth as an indestructible entity underlay some of the recordbreaking emissions and pollution levels future years were to see.

America has come a long way from when such climate denialism held sway — but it could well be looking at the return of doubting science and trashing the environment if Donald ‘Drill, baby, drill’ Trump returns to the White House later this year. How can the divisions over climate change which politicians like Trump exploit be navigated now? Aronowski replies, ‘One thing I really observed from the Reagan era is the extent to which he was successful in casting environmental topics as issues of ‘elites’ — it led to this huge divide between what was seen as the interests of labour and working-class Americans and the perceived elite-ness of the American environmental movement. I think we still live in that legacy today — I really hope that going forward, one goal for those in climate politics will be to empower people of all classes to understand the environment matters to everyone. This is not an area for elites alone — and we need to ignore that message, no matter where it comes from.’

SO RICH, COMING FROM YOU: Ronald Reagan framed climate change as an elite issue

MAKE DRILLING GREAT AGAIN: Donald Trump backs fossil fuels, denying climate change

THE SEEDS OF HUBRIS: The US tested an atomic device (L) in the western Pacific in 1946 — such tests became frequent through the Cold War, their environmental consequences papered over by theories like the Gaia hypothesis (R) which said Earth would simply heal itself

READERS WRITE

Share your thoughts at: timesevoke@timesofindia.com Read Times Evoke online at: www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/ india/times-evoke

Dear Times Evoke,

Thank you, TE, for the extremely insightful interview with Mackenzie Cooley (6th July). It was intriguing to read how the Spanish empire’s use of animal breeding techniques influenced the development of racial hierarchies. These actions greatly influenced colonial social structures and sustained long-lasting racist trends by extending ideas of ‘race’, first applied to animals, to human populations. A must-read!

— Siddharth Dixit, Gurgaon

Thank you, TE, for broadening our perspective on the origins of racism. As an animal lover, I was also overwhelmingly moved to read about the mass killing of animals in South America for bezoar, a supposed ‘medicine’ that turned out to be ineffective. It was also very appreciable how the article brought in the intersection between colonialism and commodification.

— Aashi Tiwari, Mumbai

I am a nature enthusiast even more than a doctor now and constantly seek information on why humans hurt animals and plunder their habitat. TE’s article on the mass slaughter of alpacas and llamas by Spanish colonisers skilfully explained why these species are limited to such small numbers now. It’s high time we realise a flourishing animal world is essential for our own lives. Thanks for raising awareness, TE.

— Sumedha Ahal, Panchkula

I was intrigued to read Mackenzie Cooley on how ideas taken from animal breeding shaped thinking about human beings. It is crucial to learn how harmful practices like racism were ‘justified’ by their perpetrators. The fact that this has deep roots in discrimination between non-human animals was astonishing! A beautifully presented article, TE.

— Mohan N. Seshadri, Bengaluru

Editorial

- A thought for today

- A Curious Bill

- Listen To Rishi

- Why War Has Always Been A Fact Of Life

- Discover Secrets To Fulfilling Relationships

- Sacred space

- It’s Even More Of A Gamble Now

- Walking Behind The Godman

A thought for today

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety

BENJAMIN FRANKLIN

A Curious Bill

Maha’s public security bill deserves close scrutiny

Maharashtra’s Public Security Bill, 2024, per officials, is meant to “plug gaps” in anti-terror law UAPA. The bill is required for, purportedly, a “growing urban naxal menace”, with all offences cognisable and non-bailable. It’s curious a govt at the fag end of its term should table such a consequential bill, with election campaigning weeks away. There are three key issues to deliberate. First, what is govt’s definition of “urban naxalism”? Second, if it can be defined, how is it measured? These should have been sorted out before the bill was designed. Third, leftwing extremism, India-wide, by GOI’s data, is largely contained.

‘Urban naxal’ phenom | The umbrella term has been applied to activists, academics, politicians. In the 2018 CM-chief secretary spat in Delhi, BJP veterans called AAP/Kejriwal “urban naxals”. Opponents of Gujarat’s Sardar Sarovar project were “urban naxals”. From academics to protesters, the “urban naxal” tag has sent people into gruelling prison terms on vague accusations. The term became a ditty in the Elgar Parishad case when Pune police arrested activists, all of whom had earned the “urban Naxal” moniker. In 2021, adivasi rights campaigner Stan Swamy died in custody, also regarded part of the “urban Naxal group”.

Near wiped out | What’s puzzling about the bill’s raison d’etre is that naxalism pan-India is on its last legs per GOI. Govt has repeatedly stated that over the last five years, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra, MP and Maharashtra had been freed from Maoist influence. That only pockets in Chhattisgarh remained as outliers. In Parliament answers in 2023, GOI said naxal incidents had reduced from 1,533 (2004) to 531 (2022), deaths from 566 to 69. Decadal comparison (May 2005-Apr 2014 to May 2014-Apr 2023) showed incidents reduced by 52%, and deaths by 69%. GOI told Parliament “districts reporting violence reduced from 96 (2010) to 45 (2022).”

For Maharashtra govt, though, urban naxalism is “growing”. How it came to that conclusion, only the govt can answer.

Listen To Rishi

His post-defeat House speech shows what India’s missing

As a new Labour govt takes charge of UK, Sunak’s first post-defeat speech in Parliament is likely to have struck many as remarkable, in its ordinary civility. Despite what has happened in much of the world, and however heated the political fray, Parliament is a common project and democracy is coexistence. Sunak acknowledged his opponent Keir Starmer’s victory, and the verdict of the people, to whom all parties are committed. He highlighted the role of legislators, whose constituents keep them grounded, and to whom they have the first obligation. In many ways, this was a departure from the norms we have seen shredded in India.

An election victory in a complex parliamentary system as ours, is an aggregate of many impulses rather than a single message. Every govt must know that its majority is partial and does not include all constituents, and engage with other views. Opposition, meanwhile, has to keep watch on the executive, and make sure it is heard by the strength of its argument. We have sharply differentiated political platforms, so a clash of ideas is inevitable. But it should not be a literal clash, or a matter of domination and subjugation. Sunak’s speech gave us all a few tips on how wins and losses should be handled in a democracy.

Deliberative democracy is an exercise in public reason. We, the people, are owed these debates, to see how various points of view are reconciled into legislation. Parliamentary civility is not about good manners, but about enlarging the space to make and hear arguments, without personalised attacks.

mind field SHORT TAKES ON BIG IDEAS

Why War Has Always Been A Fact Of Life

Its motives have been consistent across times and places

As violence riddles Gaza and Ukraine, Why War? by historian Richard Overy takes on this cruel face of humanity. Biological, psychological, cultural and environmental explanations have been proffered for why humans fight.

Freud, in a famous conversation with Einstein, concluded that it was a hardwired human impulse, the ‘death drive’. Darwin spoke metaphorically of the struggle for survival, but biologists after him claimed that warfare had evolutionary utility, that imperialism reflected Western racial superiority. Generals and thinkers who drove the World Wars cast it as a logical instrument of selection, which subdued the weaker races. Violence was ‘nature’s scheme’ to produce a higher form of humanity.

But the idea that hunting and fighting and killing were the way up the evolutionary tree was rejected by others as ‘biobabble’. They argued that it is not any innate trait but culture and environment that drive aggression.

Why do humans kill their own species? Because of a distinction between in-group and outsiders, says the book. In that sense, warfare is not in our genes, but for our genes. Aggressive raids on others and defensive protection of the warrior’s own family and nation can be observed across conflicts. Hitler’s blitzkrieg and tribal conflict share similar motivations.

Psychologists offered other angles into the riddle. War was seen as collective insanity, in the post-War West. The book argues that the cult of manliness in some societies, from Spartans to Vikings to modern Zimbabwe or America, has common features: fitness, willingness to engage in violence, discipline, emotional control and high risk-taking.

We tend to divide the world into friend and foe. Dehumanising the ‘other’ precedes extreme violence, as is visible in the language used for out-groups. Massacres, atrocities and mutilations are routine, carrying no shame or guilt. Warriors experience fighting as exhilarating, not to mention the honour their societies give them. This emotional appeal of war deserves deeper study, the book says.

Anthropologists have questioned universal explanations of war. Some hold out the hope that war, like slavery, can be erased by wise collective decision-making. But warfare is too diverse and historically widespread to be cured by simple remedies, says the book.

Economic motives have always existed. A fight for salt or metals, gold and treasure, enslaved labour or access to trade routes, or oil and other resources has marked many of the world’s violent conflicts. But ideological and religious confrontations have also driven war. Hubristic warfare from Alexander to Napoleon to Hitler was meant to establish dominion. The rise of Chinese power has provoked questions on whether potential conflict with US will descend into war. The search for security can be found in every warlike episode, as frontiers feel fragile.

Is war on the decline, with new forms of settling conflict, cyber-attacks, and so on? The wars of this very century belie that hope. An ecological crisis, resource stresses and clashes of beliefs are only too visible in the emerging international order. And so, the book concludes, the future of war might not look very different from its past.

THE SPEAKING TREE

Discover Secrets To Fulfilling Relationships

Jaya Row

Do your relationships feel like a roller coaster ride? Are the amazing highs followed by the invariable lows in your relationships? The initial thrills don’t last. Everything is not sunshine and roses.

Happy relationships cannot be attributed to luck. You need to work towards them. Begin with yourself. To the extent you get upset, you are the cause. Take responsibility and look within.

When you lack the self-sufficiency to be happy with yourself you need to lean on others. This is the starting point of a bad relationship. Only when you are happy within can you connect meaningfully with others.

Love tainted with selfishness is ‘attachment’. You expect a return for your affection – tangible or intang- ible. You make demands on people and bind them. The more people do for you, the more you want. The relationship thus becomes conflict-ridden. In the end, it breaks down and you lose the person.

The age-old philosophy of Vedanta steps in with new ways of defining ourselves, others and the world around us – ways that will appeal to the younger generation. It takes dedication, a leap of faith, and practice.

Expand your mind. Get attached to a wider circle of people – community, nation, humanity. Work for loka sangraha – welfare of the world. As you get attached to the higher, you get detached from the lower. True love is born and your relationships become free from the endless strife.

So get yourself out of the way. Rise above thought of self. Give of yourself entirely to people around you. Then people will adore you, love you and cater to every wish of yours. Healthy interactions result in extraordinary success, enduring happiness and staggering growth.

Love others for what they are, not what you want them to be. Understand that people behave according to their nature. Do you hate a lion for its ferocity or a deer for its timidity? You love both creatures equally because you understand their nature. What prevents you from accepting people as they are? Why do you complain when a partner gets aggressive, or a child is timid?

As you develop true love you will focus on their best qualities and gloss over the negativities. You will see opponents as partners, competitors as comrades. However, use the intellect at all stages of a relationship. Express your love discriminately so that unscrupulous people do not take advantage of you. In the end love turns Godward. You worship God in all beings.

Vedanta says there is only One. If you see separateness, it is your delusion. Just as the one ray of light refracts into seven different colours, you see distinctions and demarcations because you view the world through the prism of your body, mind and intellect. See the world through your mind and your love expands to include your family. Rise to the intellect and you see oneness among your compatriots. Merge with Atman, the Spirit within, and all differences vanish. You exult in the experience of the One in the many.

Sacred space

We are lucky to live on such a planet, and we should not take it for granted. After my space experience, I am a lot more tolerant of people and opinions, of everything.

Sunita Williams

It’s Even More Of A Gamble Now

The question whether gambling is a game of skill or chance has been made more complicated by fantasy sports. But one thing’s for sure, the odds are still heavily against bettors

Ramprasad.Murali@timesgroup.com

From dice duels in our epics, to Mughal court cockfights and card games, to the British-India era of horse races, matka lotteries and satta bazaars, India’s dalliance with games of chance is a tale as old as time.

Ramayan depicts gambling as a vibrant affair, with kings cheerfully wagering items from shoes to strongholds amidst celebrations. Contrastingly, Mahabharat reveals gambling’s dark side, through Yudhisthir’s successive bets leading to the Kurukshetra war. Some interpretations wax poetic about Shakuni’s roll-tampering, while others chalk it up to skill. Yet, all agree that Yudhisthir’s mix of feeble skill, foul luck, and rampant gambling instincts paved the path to calamity.

A gamble through time | In 1867, aiming to curb similar mini-disasters birthed by satta bazaars, the British introduced the Public Gambling Act (PGA), which, even 150-plus years later, remains a cornerstone of Indian gambling law. PGA banned public betting, while sparing vaguely defined “games of skill”. Post-Independence, the Seventh Schedule of India’s Constitution gave states autonomy over gambling and betting laws, with PGA as a fallback option.

Dicey legislations | As India’s gam(bl)ing scene evolved, the legal framework mostly stood still, turning courts – mainly Supreme Court – into referees of each gambling game, tasked with ruling on instances as they arose. Each decision added a new card to the deck of legal precedents, shaping future judgments, as also to decks of companies on the winning side, to brandish their newfound “skill-based” blue-tick with pride, often with celeb endorsements.

For example, in 1967, SC ruled that while “flush”, “brag” and so on are games of chance, “rummy” is predominantly a game of skill. So when 17 senior citizens were arrested in 2012, for playing rummy and bridge at Andheri Gymkhana, Bombay HC stepped in, asserting that these skilful pursuits stand outside PGA’s grasp.

And in 1996, SC held that horse racing is a matter of skill. So, a watchful officer could turn a blind eye to wagers on the calculated strategies of horse racing, yet remain ready to intercept a criminal engaged in dog racing – pending, of course, a future moment of SC wisdom that might elevate dog racing to a game of skill.

The Lotteries Act of 1998 then crafted a new playbook for a more orderly lottery scene, with 13 states keeping state-regulated ticket sales going, and the rest banning lotteries, to avoid ticket turmoil.

Draft day dreams | Fast forward to modern fantasy sports – every sofa strategist’s field day, offering a chance to play team manager without the locker-room drama. Imagine orchestrating a chess game where real athletes are your pieces, moving autonomously based on their real-world performances– no strings attached! Here, you’re the mastermind, khelo-ing from your dimag, as these sports stars rack up points in actual games. Whether it’s football, baseball, or cricket, fantasy sports blend sharp strategy with sports trivia, all the while you sit back and hope your armchair management stint lines your pockets up with more than just fantasy coins.

Chancing skill | The question of whether fantasy sports hinge on chance, or skill, has repeatedly reached multiple high courts, and indeed SC. If luck rules the game, who’s to say the digital dice aren’t loaded? It’s common knowledge that the house always wins, but a sleight of hand from a 1% win chance to 0.5% goes unnoticed by any individual, yet ensures the house’s victory lap. This is why House of Lords banned loot-boxes in video games, which are random reward generators wrapped in pixelated promise.

However, SC maintains that fantasy sports are primarily skill – as flashy ads tirelessly proclaim. But if that’s so, couldn’t seasoned insiders like commentators, former players and relatives use their deep insights to outmanoeuvre the average tier-3-town bettor, without fail? Meanwhile, the ads weave a tempting tale of riches, supposedly within reach of every Arun, Varun, and Tarun. Perhaps that’s why India has more Dream11 users (200mn) than demat accounts (151mn).

House always wins | Let’s dissect the unit economics of a simplified fantasy game: 10 bettors toss in `100 each, eyeing an advertised `1,000 prize. Here’s where it gets dicey: a 28% GST slice (courtesy 2023 update) reduces the pot to `720. The platform then claims a 20% share, cutting it down to `576. TDS then takes a 30% bite, leaving `403 for the winner.

With entry fees as low as `50, `25, `10, or even free sweepstakes, fantasy games tempt players with the promise of big wins. However, the complex math, or rather extrasensory perception, needed just to break even – let alone turn a profit – often reduces the odds to a near-comical level, making the platform resemble more of a lottery than a ‘game of skill’.

With the `35k cr Indian fantasy sports market booming at a 38% CAGR, it’s a gold mine for all but the players. Perhaps the real issue isn’t the skill-vs-luck debate of the game itself, but how it’s being used in reality. In the fantasy world, Shakuni isn’t any one player; it’s the system.

Walking Behind The Godman

Rationalists don’t get why followers, rich or poor, continue to revere a guru even after scandals such as the Hathras stampede. But to ask why religious believers aren’t scientific is a most unscientific question

Dipankar Gupta

Over a hundred devotees died last week in a stampede at Bhole Baba’s religious gathering. The arrangement was for 80,000 attendees but eventually about 2.5L devotees turned up. It is not as if Bhole Baba is a household name. There are hundreds like him but they all have enough worshippers to water the gardens, fire the “havans” and keep the chants humming.

Such godmen/godwomen are not unique to our country, except they seem to sprout spontaneously in this tropical air. However, poverty is not the reason, for they are not to be found in villages. Magnum cults of the Bhole Baba kind have always been urban, both in terms of the worshipped and the worshipper. Villages don’t have such godmen but, at best, lonely, dirt-poor ascetics.

We should now pause and reflect on the fact that, unlike other world religions, Hinduism doesn’t need a communion. One can pray alone, even have a special family deity and not participate in collective worship. In a village, where social ties are firm, such a trait easily blends in, but city life breeds anonymity. It is this that creates the need for a collective buffer, also known as community.

In a village where social bonds are firm, lack of communion is not strong. In a city where one is alienated, the need for a collective gathering is felt. This is why all night “jagrans” and the thronging of godmen’s ashrams come up to fill the vacuum. A guru’s blessings and uplifting sermons provide a healing touch to urban souls who are dangerously cantilevered on shifting ground.

Such godmen are worshipped not because there is poverty for, if that were so, then the guru cult should have suffered with the steady percentage drop of the poor. On the other hand, such “divinities” are flourishing and their numbers may even be growing. This is because a different kind of poverty stalks our society and its presence had hitherto gone unnoticed.

Such gurus do well because there are millions who are precariously balanced on a tear drop and moments away from a heartbreak. A recent study, by Prof Sonalde Desai shows that while poverty has declined, more than half the current poor are actually “newly poor”. These people have slipped down because of a catastrophic event such as illness or job loss.

It is this uncertainty, which exhibits itself primarily in urban India, that drives people to seek solace. After all, it is in towns and cities that fortunes swing to extremes. It is also in non-rural settings that you find most of the migrants in our country who are about 37% of the total population. That amounts to 45cr people in all. Hard to believe? Well, check the 2011 census.

Nor are the rich completely free of worries given the vagaries of enterprise and the fickleness of policies. When a lot depends on luck and less on self-confident skill, it is natural that beliefs in godmen will grow. There will be a persistent need to build stonewalls around sandcastles and have their ramparts guarded by “designer” gurus who have an exclusive pact with God.

Such a phenomenon, with slight variations, is also found in US. According to a 2019 Pew Research poll, America’s church attendance fell sharply by 6% in 10 years. Yet, enrolments in evangelical colleges and “born again” churches are holding steady. In US, this gave rise to the phrase “church shopping”, which is much like the “guru shopping” here.

Charismatics, like Billy Graham and Jerry Falwell, led the American Evangelist drive and they were quite like Bhole Baba or Osho. Evangelicalism and church shopping grew in Reagan-era US because old family churches were clueless about issues neoliberalism raised. Church shopping is now holding steady. Once our social conditions settle, our gurus may be right-sized too.

Finally, there is a problem of perception that particularly afflicts diehard rationalists. They cannot see a speck of scientific reasoning behind the adoration that godmen, like Bhole Baba, receive from their followers. To rationalists, these godmen are charlatans who swindle people blind. How then could good, decent folk block their reasoning faculties and not see through such obvious fakes?

Many gurus have lavish ashrams worldwide and some have also been convicted of rape and murder. Their followers are usually sceptical of these charges and that adds to the rationalists’ bewilderment. How is it, they ask, that in spite of all the evidence these gurus still retain their flock? Rationalists commit a major error here in their reasoning because science is not everything.

Both Kant and Vivekananda argued, over the ages, that science and religion should not mix and must be kept separate. Vivekananda put it clearly when he said that “their methods are different”. This is because, to quote Vivekananda: “Religion deals with the truths of the metaphysical world just as chemistry and the other natural sciences deal with the truths of the material world.”

Vivekananda, like Tagore, another great spiritualist, was a fervent supporter of Jagdish Bose’s scientific efforts. Rationalists go wrong because the lens they see the world with is not bifocal. They just know and see a single method.

To ask then why religious believers are not scientific is the most unscientific question of all.

The writer is a sociologist

Times Business

- Sensex surges over 600 pts, gains for 6th week in row

- Forex reserves rise to record $657bn

- Fitch rejigs Tata Steel outlook to negative

- Speed up resolution of stressed assets: IBBI

- Tax relief to help boost demand: Marico MD

- No merger: Govt looks to shift MTNL’s ops to BSNL

- Birla group co raises stake in Tarun Tahiliani couture brand

- HCLTech logs 1.6% drop in revenue in Q1

- RBI dy guv: In 7 years, India can be 2nd-largest economy

- SoftBank’s Paytm stake falls to under 1% from 18% in IPO

- F&B solidifies top position in ad volumes

- Adani Ports to invest `20k cr in Kerala’s Vizhinjam project

- At 5.1%, retail inflation rises to 4-month high

- Restaurants in a soup as veggie prices soar

Sensex surges over 600 pts, gains for 6th week in row

Mumbai: Equity markets rallied for the sixth week, with the sensex and Nifty scaling new highs. Software giant TCS, which outdid market expectations in earnings, and a lower-than-expected inflation number from the US fuelled Friday’s rally. Nifty climbed to 24,502, while the sensex closed at 80,519 on Friday. Both indices gained 0.7% over the week. The market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms reached a record high of Rs 452.4 lakh crore, marking an increase in investors’ wealth by nearly Rs 1.2 lakh crore.

TNN

Forex reserves rise to record $657bn

Mumbai: India’s forex reserves jumped $5.2 billion to $657.2 billion during the week ended July 5, RBI said on Friday. The forex kitty had declined for the previous two consecutive weeks, dropping $1.7 billion to nearly $652 billion for the week ended June 28.

AGENCIES

Fitch rejigs Tata Steel outlook to negative

Mumbai: Fitch Ratings has revised its outlook on Tata Steel to negative from stable on account of the uncertainty surrounding the turnaround of its UK operations. It believes that the change in the UK govt could delay the company’s plan to reduce losses this fiscal.

TNN

Speed up resolution of stressed assets: IBBI

New Delhi: IBBI chief Ravi Mital on Friday urged insolvency professionals to ensure faster resolution of stressed assets for better recovery under the insolvency law.

AGENCIES

Tax relief to help boost demand: Marico MD

New Delhi: Tax relief for the middle and salaried class in the Budget will enhance purchasing power and increase consumption patterns, Marico MD & CEO Saugata Gupta said.

AGENCIES

No merger: Govt looks to shift MTNL’s ops to BSNL

Move To Help Avoid De-listing, Allow BSNL Pan-India Presence

Pankaj.Doval@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Having failed to come up with a viable proposition, govt is now looking to hand over the operations of ailing telecom PSU MTNL to its bigger sibling BSNL, instead of merging the two state-run firms that have repeatedly been handed out bailouts, including around two years ago.

The fresh proposal will be taken up by the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) after which it will be put up for Cabinet approval, highly-placed sources told TOI.

The proposal to hand over the operations of publicly-listed MTNL — that offers services in Delhi and Mumbai — to BSNL will help the latter offer pan-India operations as it works on a revival plan.

“By not merging the two companies, there is no need to de-list MTNL from the bourses. In case of a merger, MTNL would have to be de-listed and a condition would have arisen to buy back certain number of shares. This can now be avoided as it will be a simple handing over of operations,” one of the sources said.

MTNL’s poor performance, however, has not resulted in any adverse impact on the company’s shares. Despite incurring heavy losses and having witnessed decline in its subscriber base, the share price of MTNL has gone up 139% over the past one year on the BSE, closing the day at Rs 46.3 against Rs 19.4 on July 12 in 2014.

Also, even as the broader telecom industry witnessed massive growth over the past decade, MTNL has not been able to gain from this surge and has rather lost market share and grip on business (mirroring the decline also seen by BSNL). The share of MTNL’s wireline business (including broadband) has come down to 6% at the end of the April this year against 12.5% in April 2014. On the other hand, in the mobile business, the company’s share has gone down to nearly 0.2% against just below 0.4% a decade back.

The move to hand over daily operations to BSNL is likely to have an impact on the scrip of MTNL as the company will only have land and buildings as its assets.

The source said that the department of telecom (DoT) wants to hasten the integration between the two companies as both have been struggling with no sight of a credible revival. For the year ended March 31, 2024, MTNL reported widening of losses to Rs 3,303 crore from Rs 2,911 crore ayear ago.

The annual revenue from operations declined by 15% to Rs 728 crore in the financial year 2023-24 from Rs 862 crore in FY23. The outstanding debt of MTNL at the end of FY24 increased to Rs 25,795 crore from Rs 23,500 crore a year ago. The outstanding debt on the company excludes short term borrowings and nonconvertible debentures worth Rs 3,569 crore for which the liability to pay interest and principal is on govt.

Owns 51% Now

Birla group co raises stake in Tarun Tahiliani couture brand

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Aditya Birla Fashion & Retail has raised its shareholding in Goodview Fashion, manufacturer and seller of ethnic couture brand Tarun Tahiliani, to 51% from about 33.5%. The company bought the additional 17.5% from existing shareholders of Goodview for Rs 127 crore.

Following the transaction, Goodview has gone from being an associate of Aditya Birla Fashion to becoming a subsidiary of the company. Incorporated in 1996, Goodview had a turnover of Rs 148 crore in FY24. Its turnover jumped from Rs 64 crore in FY22 to Rs 105 crore in FY23. The transaction requires no regulatory approval.

In 2021, Aditya Birla Fashion had acquired 34% in Goodview for Rs 67 crore. At that time, it also acquired the option to increase its stake in Goodview to 51% within a few years. Previously, the company acquired a majority stake in Sabyasachi, apparel brand Shantanu & Nikhil, and Jaypore.

HCLTech logs 1.6% drop in revenue in Q1

Bengaluru:HCLTech’s revenue declined 1.6% sequentially in constant currency in the June quarter, traditionally a softer period for the IT firm.

The company said its performance was better than expected at the beginning of the quarter. Indian IT companies have witnessed slower decision-making, weaknesses in the banking and financial services business, as well as clients pulling back on IT spending amid a challenging macro environment.

TNN

RBI dy guv: In 7 years, India can be 2nd-largest economy

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: India can become the world’s second-largest economy in seven years and the largest by 2060, RBI deputy governor Michael Patra said.

“Given the innate strengths and resolve to achieve its aspirational goals, it is possible to imagine India striking out into the next decade to become the second largest economy in the world not by 2048, but by 2031 and the largest economy of the world by 2060,” said Patra. He was speaking at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration, Mussoorie, on July 9.

According to Patra, the ‘age of China’ began in the early 1990s, taking it to the position of the second-lar- gest economy in the world. “It is from 2010 that India’s time has come. Several forces are coming together for India to surge ahead and assume its rightful place as a world leader over the next two-three decades,” he said.

Patra said India’s growth will be driven by several key factors. First, investment — historically fuelled by domestic savings — is stabilising and showing signs of acceleration. This is being complemented by a modest current account deficit and manageable external debt. Second, macroeconomic and financial stability, achieved through effective monetary policy and inflation control, underpins growth prospects. The banking sector’s improving health and ongoing fiscal consolidation further enhance stability. Third, India’s favourable demographics, with a young and growing workforce, promise sustained growth.

On internationalisation of the rupee, Patra said there was a need to keep inflation under check and guide it to global levels to achieve this goal.

SoftBank’s Paytm stake falls to under 1% from 18% in IPO

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:SoftBank has cut its stake in Paytm to under 1%, the fintech said in an exchange filing on Friday.

The Masayoshi Son-led Japanese investment giant, which had infused over $1 billion into Paytm and held about 18% stake in the firm at the time of its IPO in 2021, has been trimming its shareholding in the company through a series of open market transactions. SoftBank held about 1.4% stake in Paytm at the end of March.

Following the reduction in SoftBank’s stake, total FDI shareholding in the company declined by 2% to 37.7%. Paytm said that it has seen an increase in the shareholding of domestic investors including mutual funds and retail shareholders in the June quarter. “Shareholding of retail investors went up to 16.5% from 15.3% sequentially while mutual funds increased their stake to 6.8% in Q1 FY25 from 6.1% in Q4 FY24, led by Mirae Mutual Fund and Nippon India Mutual Fund. As a result, domestic institutional investors witnessed an increase in stake by 0.29% from 6.86% to 7.15%, signalling confidence in the company’s growth prospects,” Paytm said.

Paytm has come under regulatory scrutiny after RBI found compliance lapses at its banking unit and slapped severe restrictions on the entity. The company revealed wider losses of Rs 550.5 crore in Q4 FY24, saying that it expects the full impact of RBI’s action on the business to play out in the first quarter of FY25. The share price of Patym ended at Rs 467 apiece on the BSE on Friday, down 2.4%.

F&B solidifies top position in ad volumes

Rupali.Mukherjee@timesofindia.com

New Delhi: Cleanliness and hygiene seem to be occupying our mindspace, with advertisers keenly tapping into this trend. Toilet soaps and floor cleaners dominate TV advertising volumes, maintaining their top position y-o-y, even as the top 10 categories collectively added 33% share of ad volumes during the first quarter (Jan-March) this year.

The food & beverages sector solidified its top position with a 26% share in the quarter, surpassing its performance from 22% in the corresponding period last year. It was followed by personal care, with a 15% share, and services at 12%. Among top 10 categories, two were from the personal care/personal hygi- ene sector. General entertainment content (GEC), which includes soap operas and reality shows and news among the genres cornered a majority 55% of ad volumes, the TAM data said. Overall, TV advertising volumes for Jan-March decreased 4% yo-y, the latest data from AdEx India, a division of TAM Media Research said.

Among companies, Hindustan Unilever & Reckitt Benckiser (India) retained their rank as top advertisers, with PepsiCo India and GlaxoSmithkline being the new entrants this year. TAM AdEx monitors over 600 TV channels to understand the advertising trends in terms of top spenders — categories, advertisers and brands. Among growing categories, mutual funds experienced a nine-fold increase this year.

Over 165 top-growing categories witnessed positive growth during the quarter. Among top growing categori- es, milk beverages witnessed the highest increase of 27% in ad volumes. Further, wafers, tea and cement were the other growing sectors in the list. The major mover during this period was tea, which moved up to ninth slot from 14th in Jan-March 2023.

During calendar 2023, toilet soaps and floor cleaners retained their top slots with a 7% and 4% ad volumes’ share respectively over 2022. Biscuits jumped to the seventh position in the year, compared to its 10th position in 2022. Toilet soaps among categories showed the highest increase in ad volumes with a growth of 56% year on year. Reckitt Benckiser (India) and Hindustan Unilever were among the top advertisers on TV for the calendar year, the data said.

Adani Ports to invest `20k cr in Kerala’s Vizhinjam project

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Thiruvananthapuram: Adani Ports is set to go bullish on investing in the Vizhinjam International Seaport project to speed up its three-phase development. The deadline to complete phases 2 and 3 of the project has been set for 2028, far ahead of the original deadline of 2045.

The first phase of the port, which is set to be commissioned in Sept-Oct this year, rece- ived its initial cargo ship San Fernando as part of a trial of commercial operations on Thursday. Karan Adani, CEO of Adani Ports, said the Adani Group would increase total investment to Rs 20,000 crore so that the remaining phases of construction of the port can be completed in one go. The project will also generate 5,000 direct and indirect jobs. He also said the commissioning of the port will be done well in advance, and it will be before Dec.

He added that the company is not looking at market share but is keen on reducing the transit cost of cargo for manufacturers. As of now, the total investment for the Vizhinjam port is Rs 8,867 crore. Of this, Rs 5,595 crore is borne by the state govt and Rs 818 crore by the central govt. Therefore, the Vizhinjam port is considered a state port. Adani Group is the builder and operator of the Vizhinjam port.

At 5.1%, retail inflation rises to 4-month high

Industrial Growth Rebounds To 7-Mth High Of 5.9% On Strong Electricity Performance

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Retail inflation rose to a four-month high in June, led by a spurt in prices of food and beverages, delaying any prospects of interest rate cuts for now, while industrial output growth surged to a seven-month high in May on the back of robust electricity sector expansion.

Data released by the National Statistical office (NSO) on Friday showed retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, rose an annual 5.1% in June, faster than the 4.8% in May and higher than the 4.9% in June 2023. Rural inflation was higher at 5.7%, while urban was at 4.4%.

The surge in food prices was led by vegetables that rose to a four-month high of 29.3%, which experts attributed to the impact on supplies due to the intense heatwave in some parts of the country. Inflation in pulses and products continued to be in double digits at 16.1%. According to HDFC Bank research, potato, onion and tomato inflation averaged 47.5%.

“Even though food inflation continues to remain a cause of concern, its outlook has brightened due to anticipation of a normal monsoon. However, the temporal and spatial distribution of monsoon and progress of the kharif sowing would be critical factors to monitor,” said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at ratings agency CareEdge.

Separate data showed IIP growth staging a robust rebound, led by the electricity sector, which rose 13.7% in May compared with a 0.9% increase last year. The manufacturing sector rose 4.6% in May, higher than the 3.9% in April but below the 6.3% in May last year. “The IIP outperformed expectations, with the year-on-year growth rising to a seven-month high, amid a better-than-anticipated growth in manufacturing output,” said Aditi Nayar, chief economist at ratings agency Icra.

Restaurants in a soup as veggie prices soar

If Rates Don’t Come Down This Month, Some Chains May Resort To Price Hikes

Asmita.Dey@timesofindia.com

Mumbai:The next time you eat out, you may have to pay more for a plate of your favourite dim sums or spaghetti.

Citing soaring prices of vegetables — including staples such as onions and tomatoes — several restaurants fear they may have to resort to a price hike. Since discounts are certainly going to be off the table, either way, customers would have to shell out more.

While such steep prices are typically seasonal, this time they’re beyond “digestible levels”, Anjan Chatterjee, founder of Speciality Restaurants, which owns brands like Oh! Calcutta and Mainland China, told TOI. “It has been pinching us across. Our bottom lines are shrinking,” Chatterjee said, suggesting that a price review is underway. “Price increases are being absorbed as of now but we do not know what tomorrow holds,” he added.

Quick service restaurant chain Wow! Momo’s co-founder and CEO Sagar Daryani said that if prices of vegetables do not come down in 15-20 days, the brand may have to increase its menu prices in AugSept. “We have not taken price hikes in the past one year. My entire momo sauce is tomatoes and chilli but I cannot charge my customers extra money for it,” said Daryani. The company has stepped up automation to manage its costs and save on labour expenses.

Smaller eateries are having an even harder time.

Mumbai-based burger and pizza joint Bites N Grill has reduced the number of tomato slices it uses in its burgers and also discontinued the Caesar and Greek salads from its menu due of high lettuce prices, said founder George Kuriakose. QSR firm Boba Bhai which makes burgers has started rolling back discounts for some of its products, said founder Dhruv Kohli. For small chains that do not have the benefit of playing at a wider scale, raising menu prices comes with the risk of erosion of the customer base, nudging them to make other adjustments.

Large restaurants usually have annual contracts with their vendors for procuring supplies at a certain rate but the price fluctuations have pushed some of them to seek higher rates. To help some of its smaller vendors in Delhi, Massive Restaurants, which own brands like Farzi Cafe and Masala Library, has allowed a mild increase in rates (at which they procure supplies from vendors) for a 45-day period. “We have annual contracts but sometimes in spirit of partnership, we have to make some leeway to help our vendors stay afloat,” said founder and MD Zorawar Kalra.

The supply of good quality vegetables has also become a challenge with climate change, impacting menu planning and inventory management by restaurants, said Chirag Makwana, head chef at Olive Bar & Kitchen, Mumbai. “We aim to minimise the impact (of rising costs) on our customers but some price increases might be unavoidable. We also consider menu engineering,” he added. The challenge comes at a time when heavy rains in certain regions have impacted footfall.

Times Sport

- THE ENTERTAINERS

- ENGLAND RETURN TO THE SITE OF THEIR INFAMOUS NAZI SALUTE INCIDENT

- YAKIN TO STAY SWITZERLAND COACH FOR 2026 WORLD CUP

- Birthday boy Rodriguez enjoys a stunning revival with Colombia

- THE BREAKOUT BOYS

- CARLOS, THE UNSTOPPABLE!

- Church Road set for a heavy mettle battle

- GALLERY

- FAREWELL, GENIUS

- Ali wants permanent transfer from Bagan

- Revisiting Jimmy’s battles with Sachin, Kohli

- Gambhir will be a team coach: Avesh

- Sindhu gets a tough draw; Prannoy, Lakshya on collision course

THE ENTERTAINERS

Sprightly Spain On The Brink Of A New Era Of Success

BLOOMING RED: Spain topped a group comprising defending champions Italy and 2022 World Cup semifinalist Croatia, before eliminating hosts Germany and Mbappe’s France

Berlin: England and Spain face off in Sunday’s Euro 2024 final after taking very different routes to Berlin in a tournament that has at times lacked for thrills.

Spain have been a class apart despite a devilishly difficult draw that has seen them beat 2022 World Cup semifinalists Croatia, holders Italy, hosts Germany and the pre-tournament favourites in France.

By contrast, England have stumbled their way into a first ever final on foreign soil thanks to a series of late goals to paper over the cracks despite the wealth of talent available to manager Gareth Southgate.

They were among the continent’s powerhouses who were accused of turning European football’s showpiece into a tough watch.

England topped Group C despite scoring just two goals in three games, form which drew such opprobrium from their own fans that Southgate was pelted with beer cups after a 0-0 draw against Slovenia. Should Southgate’s men go on to lift the trophy, Jude Bellingham’s 95th-minute overhead kick to avoid a last-16 exit to Slovakia will go down as one of the most significant goals in English history.

But it was also their first shot on target of the match. Similarly, Bukayo Saka’s stunning strike to equalise against Switzerland on 80 minutes in the quarter-final was the first time England hit the target. “Our intention is always to play well with the ball -in football you have an opponent that’s trying to stop you,” said Southgate when quizzed on the lack of entertainment in England games. “None of this is easy.”

Yet Southgate was far from the only coach who stood accused of failing to maximise bountiful resources by deploying overly-cautious tactics.

France advanced to the semifi- nals without one of their players scoring a single goal from open play.

Despite that, coach Didier Deschamps was defiant when questioned by a Swedish journalist over the lack of entertainment offered by his side.

“If you are bored you can watch something else. It’s ok. You are not obliged,” the French boss hit back when criticised over his side’s lack of goals. “We have the ability to share emotions, to make lots of French people happy with the results we have had, especially in what is a difficult time in our country...if Swedish people are bored that is not too important for me.”

Portugal were another of the favourites who failed to fire.

Blessed with one of the deepest squads in the tournament, coach Roberto Martinez’s refusal to drop Cristiano Ronaldo backfired as his side crashed out on penalties to France in the quarterfinals.

Spain’s new generation are looking to follow in the steps of the all conquering side that won three consecutive major tournaments between 2008 and 2012. Drawn into the toughest group, Luis de la Fuente’s men shone from the start, scoring three times in the opening half in a 3-0 win over Croatia. A 1-0 victory over Italy did little justice for the scale of Spanish domination in Gelsenkirchen, before they rounded off the group stage with a 1-0 win over Albania despite making 10 changes.

Even an early own goal to give Georgia a shock lead in the last 16 did not derail the Spanish charge as they stormed back to dish out a 4-1 thrashing. Spain ended German dreams in Stuttgart with their own piece of late drama as Mikel Merino’s header edged the highest quality game of the tournament 2-1.

Lamine Yamal’s stunning strike to become the youngest ever Euros goalscorer lit up the 2-1 semifinal win over France.

“They’ve been the best team,” added Southgate, on the challenge of facing Spain. “We’ll have to get the ball off them first.” England will need their best display to stop the Spanish juggernaut but the tournament could also do with a classic final.

AGENCIES

LUIS DE LA FUENTE’S ROUTINE

The Spain coach shared details of his rigorous schedule as Spain’s head coach during the European Championship in a recent interview with radio station Cope.

“We’ve very little free time. I get up early, have my daily routines and workout. From 9 am, we are operating until late at night. So I don’t get much sleep — some days three hours, others four, others five. I can have a nap after eating, but not much.”

ENGLAND RETURN TO THE SITE OF THEIR INFAMOUS NAZI SALUTE INCIDENT

Berlin: England face Spain in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday at the site of an infamous moment in their football history when the players gave the Nazi salute to the Olympiastadion crowd before the start of their 1938 friendly against Germany in Berlin.

Adolf Hitler was not there that day but Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Goering and Rudolf Hess were in the crowd as England’s players raised their arms to give the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute during Germany’s national anthem ahead of the game. Neville Chamberlain’s British government was seeking appeasement with the Nazis, hoping to head off impending war.

The players were instructed before the match to give the Nazi salute, with the order coming from the Foreign Office for the sake of Anglo-German relations. England won 6-3 but history has not looked kindly on the incident.

The Olympiastadion then held over 100,000 spectators, having been built for the 1936 Olympics where Black American sprinter Jesse Owens’ four gold medals punctured the Nazi myth of Aryan racial superiority.

If Owens’ achievements at the Berlin Games won him a place among the great all-time athletes, then Usain Bolt’s 9.58 seconds 100 metres world record at the stadium in 2009 at the world athletics championship sets him out as the best ever. The Jamaican also ran 19.19 seconds in the 200 at the same meeting, a mark that also still stands some 15 years on.

REUTERS

YAKIN TO STAY SWITZERLAND COACH FOR 2026 WORLD CUP

MURAT YAKIN

Bern (Switzerland): Switzerland coach Murat Yakin has agreed on a contract extension to take the team into qualifying for the 2026 World Cup after an impressive run to the European Championship quarterfinals.

The Swiss soccer federation said Friday it will hold a news conference Monday to detail the extensions for Yakin and assistant coach Giorgio Contini.

Yakin, who has been in the Swiss job for three years, had a difficult period during qualifying for Euro 2024 amid tensions with the squad. He was reportedly approached to take a club job in Saudi Arabia.

Switzerland were a high achiever at Euro 2024, going unbeaten until being eliminated in a penalty shootout by England last Saturday.

Yakin’s team outclassed defending champion Italy 2-0 in the round of 16 and was held to 1-1 draws by Germany and England only by late equalizing goals. Switzerland trailed for just 13 minutes during its five games, in a 1-1 draw with Scotland. Switzerland have lost just one in 19 games under Yakin since being routed 6-1 by Portugal in the 2022 World Cup round of 16. AP

Birthday boy Rodriguez enjoys a stunning revival with Colombia

Washington: Luis Diaz was unable to control his excitement — and tears — when talking about James Rodríguez, the key player in Colombia’s journey to the Copa America final against Argentina on Sunday. “From the moment I arrived at the national team, I let him know that he has always been my idol,” Liverpool winger Diaz said. “I grew up watching him.”

Such is the admiration that the midfielder, who turns 33 on Friday, attracts within the Colombian camp.

The 27-year-old Diaz was a teenager when James proved a sensation at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where he won the Golden Boot as the tournament’s top scorer and moved from Monaco to Real Madrid.

But for this Copa America, little was expected of James. He arrived in the United States after a poor season at Brazilian club Sao Paulo, where he ended up being an afterthought and appeared to be on his way out of there.

Colombia’s aspirations of a second Copa title were placed on the shoulders of Díaz, along with Jefferson Lerma and Daniel Munoz, another couple of players in England’s top flight.

Few expected that James, despite his prodigious left foot and craftsmanship on the field, would once again be the stepping stone for Colombia in a major tournament after disappointing stints with Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Everton, among other European clubs.

But Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo put his faith in him and James has rewarded that by reemerging as, arguably, the best player at the tournament, establishing himself as the main focus of a team that will play defending champion Argentina at Miami Gardens, Florida, in the championship match. It will be Colombia’s first Copa final since winning the title as host in 2001. “I have been here for almost 13 years, wanting this very much,” said James, recalling an international career that began in September 2011. “We are happy.”

James has a goal (a penalty) and six assists at this edition of the Copa América. The sixth — in the 1-0 victory against Uru- guay in the semifinals — helped him surpass Lionel Messi’s record (5 in 2021) for the most goal assists in a single edition of the tournament since records began to be kept in 2011.

James will meet Messi in Sunday’s final. “I want to be champion. We know that they are a super complicated opponent, that they have experience playing in finals,” James said. With his superlative performances in the past few weeks, a question has again been raised: What makes James shine so much when wearing the yellow jersey of Colombia? Brazil coach Dorival Junior, who managed him in Sao Paulo, said that the transformation is because James feels comfortable in a known environment. “He really feels so good wearing the Colombian national team jersey... it’s impressive in every aspect,” Dorival said ahead of Colombia’s 1-1 draw with Brazil at Copa America.

“This is very interesting, because some players play well in their clubs and do not perform well on their national teams, the opposite happens with James. He feels very good and integrated into a group that respects him, embraces him and make him feel more important.”

Since he took over as Colombia’s coach in 2022, Lorenzo has not hesitated to make James an important piece of his project.

“With me he has nothing, simply that he has continuity and has a great commitment,” Lorenzo said before the semifinal against Uruguay. “With the national team it has always been the same, when a great player has minutes, it gives him the opportunity to show what he can do. If you give him just a few minutes you have little chance.”

AP

JAMES RODRIGUEZ

THE BREAKOUT BOYS

TOI TAKES A LOOK AT THE PLAYERS WHO MADE HEADS TURN ON THE EURO STAGE THIS SUMMER

LAMINE YAMAL

Spain, Barcelona, Age 16

Youngest to score in a Euro. Youngest to win a MoM in a Euro. Yamal’s bucket is overflowing with ‘youngest’ records. His goal against France, curled from outside the box, will be talked about alongside the goals of Marco Van Basten and Paul Gascoigne. His skills are outrageous, and his maturity (at 16 years and 362 days) belies reason. At no stage in has Yamal showed any sign of nerves. His exploits in La Liga for Barca had made waves, and Yamal made this Euro his graduation ceremony. As Xavi says, “He will mark an era.”

JAMAL MUSIALA

Germany, Bayern Munich, Age 21

Not an unknown quantity. It is Musiala’s second Euro. In between, he has represented Germany in the Qatar World Cup too. He lit up this Euro after scoring three times in the first four games. Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann says the “brilliant” Musiala must keep playing “like he is on a small pitch in Germany or England with his friends”. With the German old guard taking a bow after their quarterfinal exit, it’s time for Musiala to carry the torch ahead for Die Mannschaft.

ARDA GULER

Turkiye, Real Madrid, Age 19

The La Liga season was nearing its end and Carlo Ancelotti introduced a baby-faced striker who had already made his name as Turkish Messi. His thunderous strike with his favoured left-foot against Georgia made the world take notice. He failed to add to his tally over the rest of the tournament, but Guler still played a pivotal role as Turkey made it to the quarterfinals, where they lost to the Netherlands. Back in 2022, Mesut Ozil told the teenager: “You will be a world star.” He has become one in Germany.

KOBBIE MAINOO

England, Manchester United, Age 19

His season-ending goal in the FA Cup final against Man City has become an Old Trafford folklore but Mainoo cemented a place in the England midfield in this Euro. At the age of 19 years and 82 days, Mainoo became the youngest-ever to represent England in the semifinals of a major. His tender age never became a deterrent as he took charge of the midfield and caught the eye with his silken turns and sudden acceleration. Mainoo’s poise, balance, intelligence and work ethic will serve England for many years to come.

BART VERBRUGGEN

Netherlands, Brighton, Age 21

Youngest keeper to play in the Euro for 60 years, the 1.93m shotstopper has made his name in this Euro. He made key stops in their 2-1 opening group game win over Poland. Against France, he kept an impressive clean sheet. It was in the closing stages of the quarterfinal against Turkey though that Verbruggen really came to the fore. Turkey threw everything they had at ruining the Dutch turnaround. Verbruggen made a one-handed reaction save from Kerem Akturkoglu. It booked the Dutch a semifinal spot.

TNN

CARLOS, THE UNSTOPPABLE!

Defending Champ Alcaraz Beats Medvedev To Make Final; Djokovic Trumps Musetti

Prajwal.Hegde@timesofindia.com

London: Carlos Alcaraz didn’t get off to the best of starts in the Wimbledon semifinals, but he finished in sparkling fashion.

His shot-making rivaled the sun on an afternoon when the Centre Court roof was open, the Spaniard reveling in the elements to make his second successive final in Grand Slams this season and at SW19.

In a last-four clash where tennis rivaled the theatre, Alcaraz scored a 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 win over Daniil Medvedev, closing in just under three hours to make his fourth major final.

Alcaraz held his arms apart and roared in celebration, he was quickly joined by fans, who provided the acoustics.

If Centre Court ever had a darling, it is Carlos Alcaraz. They worship Roger Federer, the presiding deity of these grounds. They backed Andy Murray vociferously, passionately, it was his fortress. And they revered Serena Williams, but Alcaraz – schoolboy charm and staggering craftsmanship – they just adore.

The near-15,000 capacity was on their feet applauding the effort when he sprinted around the court, yo-yoing from baseline to net and then back again before topping it with a tweener that lands just wide. In the fourth set when he patted a sitter into the net and then bent his head and covered his ears, the groan from the crowd was followed by a cheer, as if they were cajoling a child who had grazed his knees.

The romance of the afternoon aside, Alcaraz struggled with his serve in the first set, where Medvedev was clearly the better player until an incident threw him on the backfoot mentally.

The fifth seed let out a string of expletives after chair umpire Eva Asderaki called a ‘not up’ against him in the ninth game of the opening set. Alcaraz continued playing, ripping one past Medvedev, but the chair umpire called the score, believing the ball had bounced twice before Medvedev had picked it up on the run. Television replays only extended the debate and the mercurial pro exploded. Asderaki called for the supervisor and referee, leaving her chair to consult with them. When she returned, she gave the No. 5 seed a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.

Medvedev did well to pull himself together and close the set, but thereafter it was Alcaraz all the way. “It was difficult for me, but I tried to push out the nerves at the beginning of

the second set,” Alcaraz said. “It was really helpful to be up 3-1 and after that I could play my own game and enjoy the match a little bit more.” The 21-year-old, who has nicknamed Medvedev ‘The Wall’, was looking for ways to break his opponent’s counter. “I tried to do different things. I tried to not play long rallies, to go to the net as much as I could. I tried to not play his game,” said Alcaraz. “Obviously, there were a few points with really long rallies, but I tried to play my own game, not go past 10 or 12 shots in the points.”

Alcaraz, who was doing really well until then in his on-court exchange then turned to the Euros where Spain clashes with England in the final on Sunday. Alcaraz goes up against the seven-time champion Novak Djokovic, who put out Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the second semifinal.

“It’s going to be a really good day (Sunday) for Spanish people with the football,” he said, and they were raining boos on him. “I only said it will be a good day, I didn’t say Spain will win,” he clarified. But no one was buying that.

Church Road set for a heavy mettle battle

High-Flying Paolini Takes On Krejcikova

Prajwal.Hegde@timesofindia.com

London: They’ll use the court, every nook and corner of it, they’re both highly ranked in doubles and angles come naturally to them.

They’ll own the net and paint the lines. Run a marathon in a match if need be. When the No.7 seed Jasmine Paolini lines up against the 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in the Wimbledon final on Saturday, expect a fight.

The Italian, 5 ft 4 in her tennis shoes, is in the form of her life, making successive Grand Slam finals, after making the second week of a major for the first time in January this year. This time Paolini, who will debut in the top-five of the rankings on Monday, will be determined to cross the finish line first. “She’s a Grand Slam champion, she plays unbelievable,” Paolini said of the Czech, who beat her in their only previous meeting six years ago when they were both ranked outside the top-100. “The Wimbledon final will be a different kind of match. The goal is always the same: to try to serve well, try to return as many balls as possible and to control the point.”

Paolini, whose mother Jacqueline Gardiner is from Lodz in Central Poland, and father Ugo is Italian, speaks three languages – Italian, Polish and English. “Two Grand Slam finals in a row is crazy to believe no?” Paolini said. “I’m surprised at how I’m living this. Maybe on Saturday I will be nervous, I don’t know. But now I feel relaxed. I’m the same person. I’m doing the same things. I’m surprised a little bit by how well I’m managing this.”

Krejcikova’s play is picking up speed again. Despite being a regular in the top-10 for long spells in the last few years, Krejcikova’s charge to the Church Road final is as unexpected as her 2021 Roland Garros title run, when she was an unseeded player, ranked No.33. With injury and illness hindering her this year, the Czech came into Wimbledon with a 7-9 win-loss record. Krejcikova, who started the year ranked just inside the top-10, suffered a five-match losing streak in the middle of 2024, including an 0-4 record on clay. “I feel I had to improve everything, I definitely got better on faster surfaces,” Krejcikova said of her game. “I feel like I had to develop my game because everybody else is developing their game. It’s great that I made some progress, I’m in another final.”

Krejcikova, looking to become the fourth Czech player to win Wimbledon in the Open Era after Jana Novotna, Petra Kvitova and Marketa Vondrousova, will carry the memory of Novotna, her mentor, onto Centre Court. Novotna passed away in 2017, after a battle with cancer. “We talked about Jana’s matches here,” Krejcikova said. “We have a huge tennis history in the Czech Republic at Wimbledon, but also at other majors. After my junior career, it was a lot about Jana because I had an opportunity to meet her and spend time with her and see, like, how she behaves, how such a big champion she is. I hope she would be proud.”

PAOLINI

KREJCIKOVA

GALLERY

You should be playing all 3 formats: Gambhir on his selection approach

New Delhi: India’s newly appointed head coach Gautam Gambhir said that his approach to picking players won’t be based on a particular format as he feels players who are “good enough” should play all three formats. “I’m a very strong believer in one thing, that if you’re good, you should be playing all the three formats. I’ve never been a big believer in injury management, you get injured, you go get recovered. As simple as it gets. When you’re playing international cricket and you’re good enough, you ask any of the top players, if they want to play all the three formats. They don’t want to stay, and they don’t want to be labelled as red-ball bowlers or white-ball bowlers. Injuries are part of sportsman’s life,” Gambhir told Star Sports.

ANI

Seine fit for swimming most of past 12 days, Paris says ahead of Games: The Seine has been clean enough to swim for most of the past 12 days, Paris city hall said Friday, just weeks ahead of the Olympic Games. The quality of the water met the required standard for “11 days or 10 days” of the past 12, city hall official Pierre Rabadan told broadcaster RFI. Weather permitting, the river will be the star of the opening ceremony of the Games on July 26 and will then host the triathlon and the swimming marathon. The Paris region has seen an unseasonably heavy amount of rain over recent weeks, which has raised the Seine’s pollution levels as untreated sewage is washed into the river. “We hope the weather will get better, but we are not worried about the possibility of holding the competitions,” Rabadan said.

AFP

Chelsea sign Portuguese midfielder Veiga: Chelsea have signed Portuguese midfielder Renato Veiga from FC Basel on a seven-year contract, with an additional one-year option included, the Premier League club said. The transfer fee for the 20-year-old was not disclosed, but British media say Enzo Maresca’s Chelsea paid about 14 million euros ($15.26 million) to the Swiss side. Chelsea finished sixth in the Premier League last season.

REUTERS

ACTION TODAY

CRICKET: India vs Zimbabwe, 4th T20I, 4 pm (Sony Sports); England Women vs New Zealand, 4th T20I, 11 pm (Fancode, Sony Sports);

CYCLING: Tour De France, Stage 14, 7.30 pm (Eurosport);

TENNIS: Wimbledon, Women's Final, 6.30 pm (Star Sports)

FAREWELL, GENIUS

Anderson Bows Out On A High As England Wrap Up Innings Win Over Windies On Day 3

END OF AN ERA: James Anderson acknowledges the crowd as he leaves the field on Friday

London: England’s James Anderson brought down the curtain on his stellar international career by taking a wicket against West Indies on the third day of the first Test at Lord’s on Friday as he helped his side wrap up a comfortable win by an innings and 114 runs.

An derson looked uncharacteristically emotional before the start of play as he walked out to a guard of honour and a standing ovation from the crowd in his 188th and final test. But the seamer quickly got to work and had Joshua Da Silva (9) caught behind in his second over of the day, finding just enough movemen t to draw the outside edge and pick up his 704th test wicket to finish with match figures of 4-58.

The 41-year-old retires with a record number of Test wickets by an England bowler and the most by any seam bowler. He is third on the all-time list for Test wickets behind Australian Shane Warne (708) and Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan (800). Anderson, clutching a pint of Guinness in the dressing room, told Sky Sports he was still trying to hold back tears at the end of his final match.

“This morning was quite emotional with the two teams lined up and the reaction from the crowd was pretty special,” he said. “Playing for England is the best job in the world. I’ve been privileged to do it for a long time.”

England captain Ben Stokes said the match was a near-perfect start to the summer, particularly with debutants Gus Atkinson and Jamie Smith turning in impressive performances. “We dominated the game,” Stokes said. “But we had to work really hard for that. We went through periods where we had to make things happen. So we are very pleased.”

Anderson’s farewell would always have drawn the headlines, but there was not much competition given the lack of any real contest in a little more than two days of play. His fourth wicket of the match dented West Indies’ slim chances of making England bat again, though the match was really lost on the first day when the visitors slumped to 121 all out. It was Atkinson who did the damage with a man of the match performance, bowling with genuine pace and looking very much at home in international cricket with a pair of five-wicket hauls.

BRIEF SCORES: England 371 beat West Indies 121 and 136 (Atkinson 5-61, Anderson 3-32).

REUTERS

Ali wants permanent transfer from Bagan

Marcus.Mergulhao@timesofindia.com

Panaji: India defender Anwar Ali has told the All India Football Federation (AIFF) that he is not comfortable with a long-term loan with Mohun Bagan Super Giant and has unilaterally terminated the contract to seek a permanent transfer.

Originally a Delhi FC player, Anwar joined Bagan last season and is on loan to the Kolkata giants till May 31, 2027, as per an agreement signed between the two clubs on Jan 12, 2023. The four-year contract kicked off on June 1 last year. It is the second loan agreement for the Delhi FC player after he spent 18 months at FC Goa since getting the green signal to play competitive football after a rare heart issue threatened to put an early full stop on his promising career.

On July 8, Anwar left Bagan stunned when he issued a notice of termination to the Indian Super League (ISL) champions, specifically citing Article 10.1.d of FIFA’s new regulations on the status and transfer of players (RSTP) that “a loan agreement may be concluded for a minimum duration of the time between two registration periods and a maximum duration of one year.”

Revisiting Jimmy’s battles with Sachin, Kohli

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesofindia.com

Chennai: “Let me know if you want to become a part of our supportstaff.” As the curtain fell on the career of one of the greatest of all time, the unique job offer from James Anderson made six years ago came to mind. It was the summer of 2018 and Anderson was suddenly hit by a force that hadn’t really bothered him ti ll then. Virat Kohli had discovered a way to deal with the legendary English paceman and Anderson, then 35, was caught off-guard.

After the immense struggles of 2014, when Anderson had got Kohli four times for virtually nothing, the Indian master had come to England with a plan. Kohli threw the age-old formula of playing late against English swing bowlers out of the window and decided to take guard outside the crease against Anderson and his pace partner Stuart Broad. The then Indian captain decided that he would play the Anderson delivery before it breaks for the swing, turning the duel into one of the most rivet ing contests that you can ever witness.

In the first Test in Birmingham on a mighty difficult track, Kohli got a magnificent century in the first innings by taking on Anderson. It was an innings of incredible quality. When TOI asked Anderson whether he would look to bowl slightly short to counter Kohli’s new method of taking guar d outside the crease, the unique job offer (with a hint of ir ritation) mentioned above came about.

After the complete one-sided nature of the 2014 series when Anderson ruled over Kohli, the Englishman couldn’t get the Indian great out once in the 2018 series. England won the series 4-1, Anderson had his moments in the sun, but this became one of the most iconic battles ever. The English pacer, who bowled in international cricket for the last time in Lord’s on Friday, had to wait for three more years to get Kohli’s scalp twice in 2021, but by then the honours had been shared.

Anderson had Kohli seven times in 25 Tests that they played against each other, but the Englishman has a far better record against Sachin Tendulkar. The king of swing got the Little Master nine times in the 14 games that they played, yet Anderson feels “Sachin is the best batter I have ever bowled to”.

The statement probably boils down to the fact that Anderson couldn’t make Tendulkar change his game. The man with 51 Test hundreds remained the same player, going about his business in the classical way of playing it late, as he won and lost in equal measure against the best swing bowler of the 21st century.

Sachin and Anderson had some fascinating battles over the years, but the one that probably stands out is one of their latter duels at Eden Gardens in 2012. The series was 1-1 at that stage and on a murky Kolkata day, Tendulkar batted brilliantly in the first two sessions, dealing with the swing of Anderson in his old-fashioned way. It was in the third session that Anderson made one to swing as late as possible that kissed the outside edge of Sachin’s bat and the catch was completed by the keeper. Our hearts broke, the match swung, the series turned, but over time we were left to cherish those memories that still makes cricket a beautiful game.

Gambhir will be a team coach: Avesh

AVESH KHAN

Harare: Gautam Gambhir’ s single-minded objective of winning at all costs and striving to extract cent per cent out of his players make him a ‘team coach’, reckons pacer Avesh Khan. Avesh, who has played under Gambhir’s mentorship at IPL side Lucknow Super Giants, shared a few insights on his style here on Friday. “Whatever I have learned from him, it is about the mindset that you should always look to get the better of your opponent and give your 100 per cent,” Avesh told BCCI ahead of India’s fourth T20I here on Saturday against Zimbabwe.

“In team meetings, as well as one-on-ones, he would speak less but would convey his point as to what is to be done. He would assign tasks and roles to players and he has always been a ‘team coach’, he always wants to win and everyone to give their 100 per cent,” Avesh said.

With six wickets in three outings, Avesh said he has enjoyed bowling in Harare. “We have played on different wickets here. We played the first two matches on the same deck, there was good bounce in the first match but in the second it had flattened out. The conditions are good, since it is an open ground the ball also swings a bit,” he said. “But since these matches are played in daytime, sometimes the wicket dries up but as a bowler you should be prepared to bowl in all situations. I always try to take wickets for my team and with bigger boundaries here, as a bowler that is enjoyable,” Avesh added.

PTI

Sindhu gets a tough draw; Prannoy, Lakshya on collision course

GOLD QUEST: P V Sindhu

Manne.Ratnakar@timesofindia.com

Hyderabad: PV Sindhu was placed in an easy group but was handed a tough draw while HS Prannoy and Lakshya Sen may clash in the pre-quarterfinals of the Olympic Games in Paris, according to the draw released by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) in Kuala Lumpur on Friday.

The much-awaited men’s doubles draw was postponed after the French pair of Ronan Labas and Lucas Corvee approached the Court of Arbitration of Sports (CAS) claiming that BWF had miscalculated their qualifying rankings. The French pair won the case and will feature in the Games. BWF said that the men’s doubles draw will be held at a later date.

Sindhu, who had won a silver in 2016 and bronze in 2020, is expected to top Group M. World No. 75 Kristin Kuuba of Estonia and Fathimath Abdul Razzaq of Pakistan are the other two players in the group.

In singles there are 16 groups and three groups are vacant. The winner of each group will reach the pre-quarterfinals while the winners of the three groups — A, E and P — which will have top three seeds will automatically progress to the q uarterfinals. On- ly five pre-quarterfinals will be played and the winners of Group A, E and P will get a direct entry into quarters.

Sindhu may face He Bing Jiao of China in the pre-quarters, the same opponent she defeated to win bronze in Tokyo. If she gets past He, Sindhu may play defending champion Chen Yu Fei of China.

Prannoy was placed in Group K along with Le Duo Phat of Vietnam and Fabian Roth of Germany while Lakshya has been drawn alongside world No. 3 Jonathan Christie of Indonesia, Kevin Cordon of Guatemala and Julien Carragi of Belgium in Group L.

The women’s duo of Ashwini Ponnappa and Tanisha Crasto are in Group C along with Nami Matsuyama and Chiharu Shida of Japan, Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong of South Korea and Setyana Mapasa and Angela Yu of Australia.

Delhi Times

- KIM, KHLOE, PEECEE, BORIS IN MUMBAI

- Kavita stuck in Joshimath; ‘I’ve seen multiple landslides in the last week’

- RELAXED VS RUSHED DINING

- A glamorous collab unveiled

- Enjoy your monsoon moments with hash browns

- FURRY FRIENDS

- HOW TO: Keep your raincoat clean

- Rajeev and Charu spend time in Dubai with Ziana

- Being stuck in Joshimath for so many days is making me very restless: Kavita Kaushik

- Relationship with Mayank has evolved, says Hunar

- TRIPPIN

- Hollywood celebs want Biden to step down

- What’s the rush? Relaxed dining vs quick table turns

- Delhiites savour all things Meghalaya at pineapple fest

- ‘Liposuction can remove the stubborn fat that diet & exercise can’t eliminate’

- Whoopi’s comic has superhero with the powers of menopause

- WHEN TAHA MET TOM IN LONDON

- Mouni meets ‘mystical girl’ Anya Taylor-Joy in the UK

KIM, KHLOE, PEECEE, BORIS IN MUMBAI

SPOTTED

Kim and Khloe Kardashian arrived in Mumbai on Friday for Anant AmbaniRadhika Merchant’s wedding. The reality stars posted videos and pics from their visit from a traditional welcome to taking auto rides and wearing bindis

Priyanka Chopra and Nick Jonas, who also made a pit stop at the 35th birthday of Priyanka’s brother, Siddharth Chopra, arrived to attend the wedding

Former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

John Cena

Kavita stuck in Joshimath; ‘I’ve seen multiple landslides in the last week’

When we reached Joshimath, we were told that there were two huge landslides nearby and the highway was blocked

(Above) A picture of the road clearing after a landslide on the Badrinath-Joshimath National Highway that she shared

Iti Shree Misra

Uttarakhand has been experiencing multiple landslides for the past week. Among the many tourists stranded there is Kavita Kaushik. The FIR actress recently visited Badrinath for darshan with her husband Ronnit Biswas and on her way back, she got stuck in Joshimath. Kavita is now staying at an army camp till the situation improves. “I have seen multiple landslides in this past week,” she tells us from Joshimath.

CONTINUED ON 6

RELAXED VS RUSHED DINING

How long do you spend at a restaurant? While restaurants try to strike a balance between maintaining customer satisfaction and a financiallyviable table turnover, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer

P10

A glamorous collab unveiled

(L-R) Sunil Sethi, Chairman, Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI), Tarun Garg, COO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Vaani Rastogi, Lakshmi Rana, Unsoo Kim, MD and CEO, Hyundai Motor India Ltd, Sonalika Sahay and JT Park, Executive Director, Hyundai Motor India Ltd

The 17th edition of the upcoming Hyundai India Couture Week (ICW) 2024 will be held in Delhi from July 24 to 31 and will feature 14 designers. On Thursday, an event was held in the capital to announce that designer duo Shane and Falguni Peacock will present the grand finale show at ICW. “This year’s event will be even grander, with Falguni Shane Peacock as our closing show designers. This edition of ICW is going to be a spectacu- lar event,” said Sunil Sethi. Talking about their collection for the finale show, the designers said, “Drawing inspiration from India’s opulent heritage and mythology, our collection celebrates the grandeur of India’s cultural legacy with luxurious silks and intricate motifs. We’ve incorporated exquisite handcrafted fabrics into our designs, blending traditional inspiration with a modern twist.”

Designers Falguni and Shane Peacock also unveiled a specially wrapped Ioniq 5 designed for ICW

Enjoy your monsoon moments with hash browns

Free from artificial flavours and colours, these hash browns are 100% natural. The potatoes used in their preparation give them a unique texture that ensures a satisfying bite

The arrival of monsoon brings with it a cool, soothing atmosphere, providing relief from the summer heat. The rainy season is the perfect time to get together with your loved ones and enjoy some scrumptious snacks. A delightful offering from Amul Happy Treats is the Amul Hash Brown – ready-to-make patties that are not only delicious, but also easy to prepare.

These patties are made to be fluffy on the inside, and crispy and golden on the outside. They’re made from good quality potatoes sourced from north Gujarat. Free from artificial flavours and colours, these hash browns are 100% natural. The potatoes used in their preparation give them a unique texture that ensures a satisfying bite.

Best served hot, they can be topped with sour cream and cheddar cheese. For a healthier option, you can bake them in the oven or prepare them in an air fryer by using little to no oil, without compromising on taste.

Whether it’s about satisfying your midnight cravings, enjoying a snack on your balcony while watching the rain or simply celebrating the monsoon in your own special way, Amul Hash Brown is sure to make your snacking experience delicious and fun.

FURRY FRIENDS

KARTIK AARYAN is missing his fur baby Katori. Taking to Instagram, the actor shared a short video of himself playing with Katori and captioned it, “Missing my bowl of love”

HOW TO: Keep your raincoat clean

WASH IT IN THE WASHING MACHINE

Close all buttons, zippers, and loops on your raincoat, including those on the pockets. If your coat has a removable belt, remove it. Place the raincoat in the washing machine. Set the machine to delicate and run the cycle with cold water.

USE A SYNTHETIC FABRIC CLEANER

There are a number of products available that are specially designed to clean your raincoat. While the instructions vary with the product you decide to use, you can opt for regular laundry detergent.

Rajeev and Charu spend time in Dubai with Ziana

Rajeev Sen and Charu Asopa with their daughter Ziana

Rajeev Sen and Charu Asopa got divorced in June 2023, but the two share a cordial relationship now. They recently enjoyed a vacation in Dubai along with their daughter Ziana. Rajeev also shared a video of them partying together with his family, which included his sister, Sushmita Sen.

Being stuck in Joshimath for so many days is making me very restless: Kavita Kaushik

There are more than a 1000 cars stuck on the highway, so you can imagine the number of people stranded

We drove from Dehradun to Badrinath and then went to Mana. But that very day there was a landslide there and we were stuck in Mana for two days

Kavita Kaushik is staying at an army camp at Joshimath

CONTINUED FROM 1

Speaking to us from the army camp where Kavita is currently staying, the FIR actress says, “There are more than a 1000 cars stuck on the highway, so you can imagine the number of people stranded. The police, army and Border Road Organisation have been working round the clock to clear the roads. It is a harrowing time for them but they are ensuring that all the tourists remain safe. They opened the road once and then there was another landslide.”

Kavita was visiting Badrinath along with husband Ronnit, her pet dog and cousin to celebrate Ronnit’s birthday on July 5. “We drove from Dehradun to Badrinath and did darshan as well,” says Kavita.

The next day Kavita visited Mana, which is known as the “first Indian village” near the Indo-Tibetan border. “The trip to Mana was heavenly. We bathed in waterfalls, went on treks. But that very day there was a landslide there and we were stuck in Mana for two days. On July 8 when the roads were cleared, we came down to Joshimath. Once we reached here, we were told that there were two huge landslides nearby and the highway was blocked. It’s been three days since we have been here. We are at an army camp now but there are many others who are stranded,” she says. “The restaurants and hotels enroute were charging `200 from people to use restrooms, but the police instructed them to help the stranded tourists.” Wanting to be back in Dehradun soon, Kavita says, “Being stuck here for so many days is making me restless. I have an event to attend in Kashipur. I am just hoping that we can get out soon now.”

Debris being removed from the road after a landslide near the Patalganga tunnel in Chamoli

Relationship with Mayank has evolved, says Hunar

I believe in making my choices and working at my own pace. That has worked for me in life

Hunar and Mayank Gandhi have been married for eight years

Hunar Gandhi, who has been married to actor Mayank Gandhi for eight years, says that their relationship has evolved over time. She says, “Things have changed because today we have more responsibilities. We also believe in giving each other enough space to make our own choices.”

On the work front, Hunar, who has been part of shows like Patiala Babes, Tera Mera Saath Rahe and Paramavatar Shri Krishna, has one dream. She shares, “I hope to be a part of a cult TV show some day. I’ve never been part of a show like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, Kahani Ghar Ghar Ki or Anupama. These are long-running shows and I hope to be a part of something similar soon. While I am satisfied with my career so far, I do want to do a lot more in the future.”

Ask her if she feels that she has got her due as an actor and she replies, “I have acted in some good shows, but my best is yet to come.” About her cameo in Deewani, Hunar says, “At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if I do a cameo or a lead, what matters is the role.”

— Hasti Doshi

TRIPPIN

RASHA THADANI is living it up in PARIS. Rasha, who is set to make her Bollywood debut, recently posted several photo dumps from her day out in the City of Lights

Hollywood celebs want Biden to step down

Hollywood’s wealthy donors, a key Democratic financial pillar, are calling for US President Joe Biden to step down as the Democrat candidate after the disastrous debate with Donald Trump on June 27

While the disastrous performance at the debate is not the first instance to bring questions about President Biden’s ‘declining memory’ and physical health to the limelight, its effect seems to have reached Hollywood. The President is now under pressure from wealthy celebrity donors, who are among the many to contribute to a major fundraiser headlined by Clooney, to withdraw from the White House race

— Compiled by Anagha Sawant

What’s the rush? Relaxed dining vs quick table turns

In Europe, it’s commonplace for a dining out experience to last several hours. In the US, on the other hand, servers are often accused of rushing diners through their meal. We ask diners and restaurateurs what is the common dining practice in India – leisurely or rushed?

Unless there are customers waiting, our closing time has passed, or the guest is seated just to pass time, we are fine with patrons staying longer at the table. Customers are also generally accommodating Arjun Thakkar, manager of Pune-based Tien

Adjusting table layouts to increase the seating capacity temporarily, or addressing waiting time proactively can help manage peak hour rush – Naman Dhandhania, co-owner of Kolkata-based Fabbrica

Nandini Ganguly

Have you ever looked at a group of people at a restaurant table while waiting for a table yourself and wondered, ‘If they’re done with their meal, why are they lounging around?’ Or have you seen someone breezing in and out of a cafe in 15 minutes and thought, ‘How can a person just eat and leave that soon?’ While these may be two sides of the same coin for patrons, for the restaurant management it’s a different story as they have to strike a fine balance between customer satisfaction and pleasing the pockets. Diners and restaurateurs share their take on what they look for while dining out and the ideal table turnover time, respectively.

We understand peak hours but don’t want to feel rushed: Diners

For diners, a restaurant or cafe visit can be anything from grabbing a midwork bite, to an elaborate meal, networking, or working. And being asked to vacate the table borders on rudeness, they say. “I feel that it should be a diner’s choice when to leave. Restaurants or cafes giving us hints to leave is rude,” says Akash Bisht, a Gurgaon-based corporate employee.

Poulami Jagtap, an artist from Pune, mentions how verbal hints and body language of servers can help with this. “I don’t like to be rushed out of a place if I’m not ready. But a simple ‘Whenever you’re ready’, rather than placing the bill on the table, makes a difference,” she says. There’s a level of understanding from diners too. “If there are people waiting for a table, I think that the staff is right in getting the bill, and I am happy to vacate the table,” said Mallika Nath, a regular diner from Delhi.

Having an SOP for guest management is essential, say restaurateurs

Asking someone to leave isn’t always in sync with the essence of hospitality, says restaurateurs. “It’s not easy to balance customer satisfaction with table turnover. For late lunch reservations, I ask if the customer is planning to stay after lunch. If yes, I request them to move to the bar while I check for any cancellations in the next slot,” says Vinay Chandrashekar, owner of Bengaluru-based Long Boat Brewing Co. Polite persuasion also helps. “Sometimes, we have to hand the bill without the customer asking for it. For such situations, training the staff in politeness is important,” adds Debaditya Chaudhary, MD, Chowman chain of restaurants. Ritika Sharma, director of Litchi, a Delhi-based restaurant, insists, “Having a standard operating procedure for service and guest management is essential for a good customer experience.”

What’s table turnover time?

It is the time spent by patrons at a table – from the time they are seated until they leave. The faster a restaurant turns their tables, the more customers they serve and the more revenue they make. During peak hours or holidays, a restaurant may look at faster table turnovers to accommodate the high footfall. However, this doesn’t trump the spirit of hospitality.

Delhiites savour all things Meghalaya at pineapple fest

I am a big fan of pineapples and I absolutely loved the Megahalyan variety – it is so sweet. I did not miss the tartness – Bani, a visitor from Uttarakhand

We have never tasted such sweet and juicy pineapples in France. It’s a hot day and the plate of pineapples was refreshing – Laureane, a visitor from Paris

Visitors can enjoy Meghalayan pineapples at the fest

Shivika Manchanda

The sweet aroma of Kew pineapples from Meghalaya drew visitors to the ongoing Meghalaya Pineapple Festival at Dilli Haat, INA. Over 10 tonnes of pineapples, brought into the capital by 40 farmers, are on offer for visitors to buy and relish. From whole pineapples to jams and squash made using the tropical fruit, there’s something for everyone.

Besides pineapple delicacies, Minha Riyaz Khan, project lead of Meghalaya’s entrepreneur incubation centre, informs that the festival is offering visitors an opportunity to buy local handicraft items, spices and more. She says, “A range of products made by Meghalaya’s rural and urban entrepreneurs are on offer here. Such a festival is an opportunity for them to cross cultural barriers and find a bigger market.”

Earrings made using fallen seeds in Meghalayan forests

GI-tagged Larnai black pottery items and cane hats and baskets are also on offer at the festival

The traditional red rice tea from the Jaintia Hills

‘Liposuction can remove the stubborn fat that diet & exercise can’t eliminate’

Dr Sunil Choudhary, Principal Director & Chief of Plastic Surgery, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket

According to a 2023 survey by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, liposuction continues to be the most popular aesthetic plastic surgery procedure for the third consecutive year. “Liposuction can help get rid of the stubborn fat that diet and exercise can’t eliminate, to give a better body shape and contour in areas such as the tummy, arms, thighs, and hips. It can be transformational for the right candidate, provided some rules are followed,” informs Dr Sunil Choudhary.

“Fat is an essential part of our body, giving it support, warmth, and shape. But with age and weight gain, fat cells increase in size and distort body shape, making one conscious of appearance and affecting self-esteem and confidence. Losing weight with exercise and diet, or even bariatric surgery, has great health benefits but fails to remove fat from the most desirable areas. This is where liposuction works brilliantly,” says the doctor, adding, “Liposuction is neither a tool for weight reduction nor a recipe for obesity. It is a tool for body contouring and spot reduction. It is best suited for people within 30% of their ideal body weight. One must have realistic expectations and promise to maintain a healthy lifestyle with exercise and a balanced diet if contemplating liposuction for a fulfilling and long-lasting result.”

He further says, “Advanced liposuction technologies like Ultrasonic Liposuction and Power-assisted Liposuction have made this procedure more refined and safer. Plastic surgeons can use these tools are the sole responsibility of the experts.with more finesse to sculpt your body while decreasing complications like blood loss and anaemia. Liposuction is also offered to people after massive weight loss in combination with other body-lift procedures. Fat is also a rich source of stem cells, capable of volume enhancement and regeneration. Liposuction is being used for harvesting fat, which can be used for fat grafting in areas such as breasts for augmentation instead of implants.”

“Safety is a non-negotiable element in all aesthetic surgeries. Keeping liposuction within the safe limit of 4-5 l and getting procedures done by a board-certified plastic surgeon in nationally accredited surgical facilities can act as a great safety shield for all patients. It cannot be overemphasized that patients should be reasonably medically fit. Uncontrolled diabetes (HB1Ac > 6.5%), heart disease, hypertension, anaemia, immunodeficiencies, history of thrombosis, and mental disorders are all considered relative contraindications for liposuction. Smoking should be quit well in advance of the procedure and any vitamin and health supplements being taken must be disclosed to your surgeon as many of them can cause increased bleeding,” says the doctor, adding, “All patients are advised to wear a customized pressure garment for a few weeks to aid in skin shrinkage and prevent complications like fluid collection, edema, and hematoma.”

“Advanced technologies and safety guidelines have made liposuction a great aid to getting a good body shape in suitable candidates. It can not only bring about a balance in body contour but also motivate and inspire many people to improve their lifestyles even further. If you think you can benefit from liposuction, don’t hesitate to consult a qualified plastic surgeon, and always look for surgeons who are full members of the Association of Plastic Surgeons of India (APSI),” says the doctor.

Address: Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket, 1-2, Press Enclave Road, Saket

Contact: 011-26515050, 7838617878

Disclaimer: The views/suggestions/opinions expressed in the article

View of the hospital

Whoopi’s comic has superhero with the powers of menopause

Whoopi Goldberg; (inset) cover of her comic book

Whoopi Goldberg has recently released a comic book she penned 25 years ago, named The Change. The actress said, “It’s about a woman who embraces the superpowers that she gains through menopause.” But funnily, she is not aware of these powers initially. Goldberg mentioned that she wrote this book as she was herself going through a change.

Speaking on a talk show, Goldberg shared that many superheroes are very well-built, but the main character of her comic book is not like that. She appears like a regular individual. She said she has loved comic books from the time she was a little girl, but none of those spoke to her, “so I wrote my own”.

Agencies

WHEN TAHA MET TOM IN LONDON

Taha Shah Badussha met Tom Cruise at a studio in London. Sharing a photo, he wrote, “Pinch me! Just met my lifelong idol. The one and only Tom Cruise!”

Mouni meets ‘mystical girl’ Anya Taylor-Joy in the UK

Mouni Roy, who bumped into Anya Taylor-Joy recently at an event in the UK, shared two pictures on Instagram with The Queen's Gambit actress.

In the photos, Anya is seen wearing a chic white co-ord set while Mouni is sporting a black polka-dot dress. Mouni captioned the post, "The magical mystical beautiful girl. #loveher. So lovely meeting you x @anyataylorjoy (sic)."

Anya earned a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for her portrayal of a chess prodigy in The Queen's Gambit. TNN

Table of Contents

TOI Print Edition Jul 13, 2024

Front Page

Govt notifies Emergency anniv as ‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’

Jagan booked for murder bid on YSRC ex-MP

Rathee booked over ‘fake’ message

Pune techie feared drowned in US

WHEN STARS ALIGN AT AMBANI WEDDING

U-21 live-in duos ‘not mature’, parents to be told: U’khand panel

Cong: Modi govt has been killing Constitution each day for 10 years

Munak breach repair almost over, water flow to resume today

9/9: MLC poll win boost for Mahayuti

In Pithoragarh, cops turn baraatis, organise wedding of adopted girl

Days after don’s ‘forecast’, 3 Burger King shooters killed in Hry ‘encounter’

Goa DGP, DIG moved out over misconduct

Kejriwal gets interim bail from SC but will stay in jail

All authorities involved in tree felling, should’ve accepted mistake: SC

MP Amritpal’s brother held with drugs in Punjab

2 shelter inmates raped by staffers

Dalit kills self after ‘torture’ over loan

BJP worker beaten to death in Raj

SC: Stay on bail only in rare cases, ‘disastrous’ if blocked mechanically

Khedkar to face sack and charges if claims on caste, disability found untrue

ED detains former K’tak a minister in corpn probe

After solid presser, Biden calls Zelensky ‘Putin’, Kamala ‘Trump’

Times Nation

Man succumbs to 2nd croc attack

Rats bite sleeping students at hostel

Mahayuti drubs MVA as 7 Cong MLAs cross-vote in MLC polls

BJP MLA in judicial custody allowed to vote, Cong protests

Lightning strikes claim 21 lives in Bihar in 24 hours

Jagan, 2 IPS officers booked for bid to murder AP MLA in 2021

ED detains K’taka ex-mantri in `94cr Valmiki Corp scam

‘Corp MD hid scam share of `4cr in pals’ farmhouse, car’

2 missing BSF women jawans show up in Kol

Amritpal’s brother held with drugs; conspiracy, says dad

MHA transfers Goa DGP after row over putting pressure on cops to raze house

Govt school librarian held over fake-degree racket in Rajasthan

Odisha staff lodges manhandling plaint against guv’s son

Delete defamatory posts against journo, HC tells Cong functionaries

2 mentally-challenged women ‘gang-raped’ in Barabanki shelter home, 3 staffers held

Dalit thrashed, held hostage for inability to repay `4.5k ends life

Haryana to move SC against HC’s Shambhu order

‘U’khand to give STs option to be governed by UCC’

Doval, Sullivan discuss issues amid US concern over Modi’s Russia visit

India abstains from UNGA’s Ukraine vote

Airline staffer who slapped cop at Jaipur airport gets bail

14-year-old abducted, gangraped in UP:

‘I saw Pushpa as a blessing from Maa Durga’

Suspicious moves on Kathua border spark search ops

US forecasts delay in La Nina; may not impact monsoon

U’khand, Kerala make big strides in SDG rankings

KEEPING UP WITH THE AMBANIS

106 with fake air tickets denied boarding in Madurai

Five trains cancelled as goods train derails in Bihar

Old clip shows IAS probationer’s mom waving gun, cops to file case

Pune techie falls into creek at US nat’l park, feared drowned

DoPT panel to also vet Khedkar’s mental & physical disability claims

Dhruv Rathee booked over ‘fake’ post on LS Speaker

Raj BJP worker axed to death in 20-min assault; manhunt on

Winning, losing happen, stop ‘being nasty’ to Irani, says Rahul

Mamata meets Uddhav, Pawar; to campaign for UBT in Maha

‘Samvidhaan Hatya Diwas’ sparks Cong-BJP slugfest

BJP: Tribute to those who fought dictatorial order

‘... Hatya Diwas’ move may also exploit oppn faultlines on Emergency issue

Centre counters Stalin, says cleared projects worth `3-lakh cr for TN

Times City

With Munak Canal Repair Still On, Supply Hit In Dwarka And Bawana

Day later, Bawana residents try to get back on feet

Pak Hindus draw parallels with Tibetans as axe looms

Need Of Hour: 150 More Forensic Experts

Around 600 FIRs daily under BNS keep cops on toes

Patchy rain likely for 2-3 days, little relief from heat

HC dismisses Bibhav’s bail plea in Maliwal assault case

Woman who aided gang in eatery killing still at large

Teen shot in NE Delhi, no arrest yet

Cop facing trial for 10 years acquitted

Cop held with drugs worth `1cr

Man feared drowned in Yamuna

Exhibition on Kargil Vijay Diwas

Arrest Can’t Be Made On Whims And Fancies: SC

Truth has won and BJP’s conspiracy has been defeated: AAP

Can’t tell elected rep to quit as condition to grant bail: SC

BJP: Verdict is a seal of approval of CM’s guilt, he should quit

Lower court extends judicial custody of Kejriwal in CBI case till July 25

Woman among 6 held in human trafficking case, toddler rescued

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

BJP protests against Delhi govt over power tariff hike

‘Did officers brief LG on need to seek court nod on tree cutting?’

SC notice on plea for ensuring stray dogs’ sterilisation and immunisation

Get Rebate For Letting Old Vehicle Go

Mansarovar Park fire chargesheet: ‘Owners were aware of danger’

Promotion, financial benefits will motivate NDMC employees: LG

JNU to set up centres for Hindu, Jain and Buddhist studies

Bihar woman electrocuted in Ggn

12 farmhouses and boundary walls razed in Aravali Retreat

A Storage Pit Just For Errant E-Ricks

DU rolls back fee increase on degree certificate correction

NDMC to get new agency to run 99 parking lots at Lutyens’

2 members of ‘thak-thak’ gang arrested after gunfight with police in Noida

Rain Leaves Veggie Buyers High & Dry

A tree in the middle of brand-new flyover!

Interchange stns vital cogs in metro wheels

Boy Defies Odds, Undergoes Rare Kidney Surgery At AIIMS

Fee hike row: HC steps in to ensure students allowed to study

Restaurant owners seek licence to do biz easily

Times Global

In a big win for Imran Khan, SC says PTI eligible for reserved seats

Teen held for UK gurdwara attack which left 2 hurt

Prachanda loses House trust vote, Oli stakes claim to be PM

India ready to work with Oli

‘I Love Joe Biden. But We Need a New Nominee’

Obama, Clinton said to be working in background to ease Biden out

Dem donors said to freeze $90m as long as Biden stays in race

7 Indians among 62 missing in Nepal landslide

Canada govt to cast greater onus on higher edu institutions for student-related compliance

‘I painted them’: Curator reveals truth of controversial Picassos

AROUND THE WORLD

In The Courts

In fresh feud, Bengal moves SC against guv for stalling 8 bills

HC: Free man languishing in jail for inability to pay `2.6L fine

‘Political vendetta’: SC stays HC order against TV channel

16 yrs on, only 481 rural courts set up, 6,000 needed, SC told

HC: If parole can be granted to share grief, why not for a happy occasion?

Times Evoke

‘Climate politics began with equity and justice — we now face evasion, migration and wars’

LET'S TALK ABOUT THE WEATHER

ITS THEIR CLIMATE TOO

‘Scientists started noting anthropogenic impacts in the 1970s — but climate denialism rose alongside’

READERS WRITE

Editorial

A thought for today

A Curious Bill

Listen To Rishi

Why War Has Always Been A Fact Of Life

Discover Secrets To Fulfilling Relationships

Sacred space

It’s Even More Of A Gamble Now

Walking Behind The Godman

Times Business

Sensex surges over 600 pts, gains for 6th week in row

Forex reserves rise to record $657bn

Fitch rejigs Tata Steel outlook to negative

Speed up resolution of stressed assets: IBBI

Tax relief to help boost demand: Marico MD

No merger: Govt looks to shift MTNL’s ops to BSNL

Birla group co raises stake in Tarun Tahiliani couture brand

HCLTech logs 1.6% drop in revenue in Q1

RBI dy guv: In 7 years, India can be 2nd-largest economy

SoftBank’s Paytm stake falls to under 1% from 18% in IPO

F&B solidifies top position in ad volumes

Adani Ports to invest `20k cr in Kerala’s Vizhinjam project

At 5.1%, retail inflation rises to 4-month high

Restaurants in a soup as veggie prices soar

Times Sport

THE ENTERTAINERS

ENGLAND RETURN TO THE SITE OF THEIR INFAMOUS NAZI SALUTE INCIDENT

YAKIN TO STAY SWITZERLAND COACH FOR 2026 WORLD CUP

Birthday boy Rodriguez enjoys a stunning revival with Colombia

THE BREAKOUT BOYS

CARLOS, THE UNSTOPPABLE!

Church Road set for a heavy mettle battle

GALLERY

FAREWELL, GENIUS

Ali wants permanent transfer from Bagan

Revisiting Jimmy’s battles with Sachin, Kohli

Gambhir will be a team coach: Avesh

Sindhu gets a tough draw; Prannoy, Lakshya on collision course

Delhi Times

KIM, KHLOE, PEECEE, BORIS IN MUMBAI

Kavita stuck in Joshimath; ‘I’ve seen multiple landslides in the last week’

RELAXED VS RUSHED DINING

A glamorous collab unveiled

Enjoy your monsoon moments with hash browns

FURRY FRIENDS

HOW TO: Keep your raincoat clean

Rajeev and Charu spend time in Dubai with Ziana

Being stuck in Joshimath for so many days is making me very restless: Kavita Kaushik

Relationship with Mayank has evolved, says Hunar

TRIPPIN

Hollywood celebs want Biden to step down

What’s the rush? Relaxed dining vs quick table turns

Delhiites savour all things Meghalaya at pineapple fest

‘Liposuction can remove the stubborn fat that diet & exercise can’t eliminate’

Whoopi’s comic has superhero with the powers of menopause

WHEN TAHA MET TOM IN LONDON

Mouni meets ‘mystical girl’ Anya Taylor-Joy in the UK