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Front Page

- LeT commander, aide killed in J&K encounter

- 3 coaches of Taj Exp catch fire, no one injured

- Three from NCR among 4 burnt to death in car fire

- 3 of Delhi family die in Agra auto crash

- Now, Mother Dairy milk prices up `2/L

- Man, 42, dies while playing cricket

- 32 monkeys found dead in well

- Jail warder confined in car boot for 7 hrs

- Sensex vaults 2,507 pts, biggest 1-day gain, on exit poll forecast

- Bypolls in HP as speaker accepts resignation of 3 Ind MLAs

- VVPAT smashing: HC shields MLA from arrest, SC calls order a ‘joke’

- City eateries hit by excise licence delay due to polls

- B’luru logs over 111mm of rain in 24 hrs, breaks 133-yr June record

- BrahMos ex-engr gets life term for data leak to Pak

- Man gets triple-death sentence for rape, murder of 5-yr-old in Nagpur

- Insolvency proceedings ordered against JAL, flagship firm of Jaiprakash Group

- Pattern in ‘fake narratives’, we failed to stop them: CEC

- Mexico gets its first woman prez, a Jew

- BJP brass in a huddle, moves on govt formation

- SC asks neighbouring states to meet on June 5 to resolve Delhi water crisis

- Thief breaks into house in Lko, steals only 40 winks

- Maldives ban: Go to Indian beaches, Israel tells citizens

LeT commander, aide killed in J&K encounter

Two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, including the outfit’s top commander Riyaz Ahmad Dar, were shot dead by security forces following an overnight gunbattle in Nihama area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama on Monday. One of the longest-surviving terrorists of the outfit, Riyaz, a resident of Sethar Gund in Kakapora, had been active in the Valley during the past eight years and was wanted in numerous terror-related cases, said IGP (Kashmir) V Birdi, calling the operation a big breakthrough.

P 8

 NIA chargesheets 17 IS agents, P 8

3 coaches of Taj Exp catch fire, no one injured

Nearly two dozen passengers of Taj Express had a narrow escape on Monday afternoon after three coaches of the train caught fire near Sarita Vihar in southeast Delhi. The train was immediately stopped after the flames were spotted and the blaze was subsequently doused. No one was injured. An SOS call to police was made around 4.40pm, after which a team rushed to the spot.

P 4

Three from NCR among 4 burnt to death in car fire

Four people, two of them from Ghaziabad and one a Noida resident, were burnt to death after a CNG-fitted car going from Ghaziabad to Haridwar caught fire in Meerut district at 9.30pm Sunday. DNA samples were collected as their remains were charred beyond recognition. “Prima facie, the car seemed to be modified and a CNG kit was installed later. A glitch is suspected,” police said.

TNN

3 of Delhi family die in Agra auto crash

A Nangloi-based autorickshaw driver and two of his children died and three others of the family were injured when his auto headed for Mainpuri — a distance of 350km — was hit by a tractor trolley on the Delhi-Mathura highway at Sikandra in Agra early on Monday.

TNN

Now, Mother Dairy milk prices up `2/L

After Amul, Mother Dairy, too, increased prices of all its liquid milk categories by Rs 2 per litre across the country from Monday. It attributed the step to rising production costs over the past year. Mother Dairy had last revised its liquid milk prices in Feb 2023.

TNN

Man, 42, dies while playing cricket

A 42-year-old man, who reportedly had a cardiac issue, died during a game of cricket near Mumbai Monday. Ram Tewar, who worked for a construction firm, had hit a shot and was waiting for the next delivery when he collapsed. His kin didn’t complain of foul play.

TNN

32 monkeys found dead in well

Searing heat drove 32 monkeys to jump into a well in Palamu to slake their thirst. The dead simians were found floating in the well. The mass deaths come after those of fruit bats in Garhwa, Daltonganj, Latehar & Ranchi districts of Jharkhand because of extreme heat.

TNN

Jail warder confined in car boot for 7 hrs

A warder of a Bulandshahr jail was abducted at gunpoint in the boot of his car by two men who drove around Noida, Greater Noida and Ghaziabad for almost seven hours and then abandoned the vehicle on a secluded road after it ran out of fuel Saturday night.

TNN

Sensex vaults 2,507 pts, biggest 1-day gain, on exit poll forecast

At 76,469, Index Hits All-Time Closing High

Partha.Sinha@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Dalal Street bulls were on a rampage on Monday. Backed by exit poll estimates that showed the BJP-led govt would return to office at the Centre for the third time that would ensure policy continuity, sensex gained a massive 2,507 points — it’s biggest ever gain in a single day, to close at 76,469 points, a new all-time closing peak. Sensex’s 3.4% gain is also the biggest in a single day in over three years, BSE data showed.

The day’s rally made investors richer by Rs 13.8 lakh crore, its biggest single-session jump, with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 432 lakh crore, translating to $5.2 trillion. Investors’ wealth, too, is at a new all-time high level.

On NSE, nifty gained 733 points — again its biggest daily gain — to hit 23,264 points, its highest-ever close.

These records on Dalal Street were created after over a month’s nervousness during Lok Sabha polls when investors felt jittery at times from nar- ratives that doubted the ability of the BJP-led govt to return to office with a strong majority. On Saturday, after the end of the seven-phase election, all exit polls predicted a good majority for NDA alliance.

As a result, India VIX, the measure of market volatility that had peaked at 24.8 points Thursday, fell 22% in Monday’s unidirectional session.

However, volatility could return during Tuesday’s session while the votes would be counted, an expert said.

‘PSU stocks’, P 13

Largest one-day gain for ` in over 5 months

The rupee closed at 83.11 against the dollar in interbank foreign exchange market Monday, gaining 31 paise from its last close. It was the domestic currency’s largest one-day gain in over five months. Though the rupee reached a high of 82.98 in early trading, it weakened due to demand from importers.

P13

Adani grp recoups all post-Hindenburg market cap losses

With the combined market value of 10 Adani group companies rising to Rs 19.4 lakh crore at the close of Monday’s session, the group more than recouped the market value it had lost since the Hindenburg report was published in Jan 24, 2023. Its mcap was Rs 19.2 lakh crore at that time before stock prices of all 10 group companies took a serious tumble and within five weeks, the conglomerate’s market value had plunged by 65% to Rs 6.7 lakh crore.

P13

Bypolls in HP as speaker accepts resignation of 3 Ind MLAs

Shimla: The Himachal assembly speaker accepted on Monday the resignation of three independent MLAs, a day before the declaration of results for the state’s four LS seats and 6 assembly bypolls.

These three, along with six Cong MLAs, had voted for the BJP candidate in RS polls. Speaker K S Pathania had disqualified the six rebels and their seats were declared vacant, reducing the House strength from 68 to 62. The acceptance of the three resignations reduced it to 59 (Cong 34, BJP 25). A source said if BJP won all six bypolls, opposition party’s strength would rise to 31. The assembly secretariat issued a notification Monday declaring Dehra, Nalagarh & Hamirpur seats vacant, necessitating bypolls.

TNN

BJP questions timing, P 7

VVPAT smashing: HC shields MLA from arrest, SC calls order a ‘joke’

The Supreme Court on Monday called the Andhra Pradesh HC order granting interim protection from arrest to Macherla MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, accused of damaging a VVPAT machine at a polling station, a joke and “sheer mockery of the justice system”, reports Srikanth Aluri. SC also directed the MLA to stay away from the counting centre in his constituency on Tuesday.

Photos and a video of Reddy entering a poll booth in his constituency with his followers on May 13 and slamming the VVPAT machine had surfaced. After going through photos & video, the vacation bench of Justice Aravind Kumar & Justice Sandeep Mehta asked HC to decide the case afresh.

P6

City eateries hit by excise licence delay due to polls

The model code of conduct for LS polls came to effect on March 16, and since then, no new excise licences have been issued in Delhi, reports Amin Ali.

Almost 50 new restaurants are awaiting new trade licences while over 30% of around 800 existing licensed outlets are awaiting renewals. Without excise licence, outlets don’t have transport permits for moving liquor from bonded warehouses to off/on site licensed consumption premises. The delay is leading to huge losses for the establishments.

P 3

 Chargesheet: Kavitha paid `100cr kickbacks, P 5

B’luru logs over 111mm of rain in 24 hrs, breaks 133-yr June record

Niranjan.Kaggere@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: Intense thundershowers lit up the skies over Bengaluru on Sunday evening and the downpour broke a 133-year-old record in the state capital. The city received 111.6mm of rain in 24 hours till 8am on Monday, making it the city’s wettest day in June till date.

The record for the highest single-day rainfall for the month in Bengaluru had stood since 1891, when 101.6mm was reported on June 16, as per C S Patil from IMD Bengaluru. The city’s rain data is available from the 1850s. This was also the wettest day in the city since September 6, 2022.

The storm led to 265 trees and 309 branches falling on roads, houses and vehicles, inflicting severe damage to property. There were 64 instances of water-logging and 261 cases of electric poles collapsing or leaning dangerously.

While the average rainfall for June in Bengaluru is 110.3mm, the city in the first three days of this month has already reported more than 120mm, IMD officials said.

Cloud conditions, P 9

8 more die of heatstroke, season’s toll 219

The countrywide toll of suspected heatstroke deaths rose to 219, with Odisha reporting six fatalities and Rajasthan two in last 24 hours. Odisha has reported 147 deaths, though only 30 are officially confirmed. IMD said heatwaves, with reduced intensity, may continue in parts of northwest and east India.

P 9

BrahMos ex-engr gets life term for data leak to Pak

Former BrahMos engineer Nishant Agarwal, who was purportedly honey trapped into leaking classified missile-related information to Pakistani spies, was sentenced Monday to rigorous imprisonment for life, reports Shishir Arya.

Agarwal was convicted of leaking official data, including critical information on armaments of war, to foreign powers. Agarwal will serve an additional six month term if he fails to pay a Rs 3,000 fine. Agarwal, who had been out on bail for a year during the trial, was taken into police custody immediately after the court pronounced the sentence. The convicted missile engineer's lawyer Chaitanya Barve told TOI that his client would appeal the verdict in the high court.

P 8

Man gets triple-death sentence for rape, murder of 5-yr-old in Nagpur

Nagpur: A sessions court in Maharashtra’s Nagpur pronounced on Monday triple death sentences to a man convicted on three counts of abduction, rape and murder of a five-year-old girl in 2019, reports Vaibhav Ganjapure.

Additional sessions judge S R Padwal’s verdict against Sanjay Puri under Sections 302 (murder) and 376AB (rape of a minor) of IPC and Section 6 of Pocso Act (aggravated penetrative sexual assault) is said to be the first instance of a court in Maharashtra giving three death sentences. “The death penalty will be executed, subject to confirmation by Bombay HC. All substantive sentences shall run concurrently,” the order said.

 Raped, murdered, P 8

IN THE COURTS

➤ Delhi court dismisses bail plea of doctor who was on duty at a private hospital in Vivek Vihar when seven infants died in a fire

P 4

➤ HC issues contempt notice to deputy conservator of forests (south division) for ‘authorising’ felling and transplantation of trees at old JNU campus

P 5

➤ Bareilly court sentences 3 accused to life imprisonment for brutal gang rape in 2021 in which knife was inserted into survivor’s rectum

P 16

➤ SC’s vacation bench stays till July 15 remission and premature release of convicted gangster Arun Gawli permitted by HC

P 16

Insolvency proceedings ordered against JAL, flagship firm of Jaiprakash Group

New Delhi:National Company Law Tribunal on Monday ordered the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL), six years after lenders led by ICICI Bank first sought action.

The move will impact the company’s real estate business in Noida and Greater Noida, although the scale of operation in this company is much smaller than Jaypee Infratech, which was admitted for insolvency action in 2018, when ICICI had also moved against JAL. Two years ago, with JAL defaulting on repayments, State Bank of India too had moved the tribunal against the company which was identified among two dozen for fast-track resolution.

JAL, the flagship company of the Jaiprakash Group has real estate projects under the Wish Town brand in Noida, where delivery of some units is pending, although the exact number was not immediately available. In its last annual report, the company had said that it had offered possession of over 21,000 residential units till March 2023.

TNN

JAL properties, P 5

Pattern in ‘fake narratives’, we failed to stop them: CEC

‘Expected These From Foreign Soil, Not Within’

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Sensing a “pattern” in levelling of unverified allegations and casting of doubts on well-established electoral processes — related to voters list, EVMs, VVPATs or counting — during general elections, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar on Monday said these were part of “mischievous narratives” directed at the poll panel that it had failed to foresee and prepare against.

“We (EC) factored in fake news, fake narratives between parties to create arguments... and we contained them. We had even braced our systems against likely false narratives from foreign soil, only to face these from within. We concede that EC failed to stop these. While I had warned in March 2024 that there will be conspiracy balloons in these polls, we never imagined these would burst on EC’s head,” Kumar said at a press conference here.

Pointing to the opposition’s attacks on EC through the polls, the CEC joked that “you may see memes on social media that the Laapata Gentlemen are back”. “But we were always there. We just chose to interact with you (media) through our press notes,” he said.

Kumar said the mischievous narratives started even before the polls began, and continued through the process, including on the release of voter turnout data.

 ‘Potential to spark...’, P16

Jairam: DMs can’t be ‘thrown under bus’

Hours after EC rejected Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s request for an extra week to furnish factual details of his allegation that calls were made by home minister Amit Shah to 150 district magistrates-cum-returning officers ahead of counting, he filed his reply on Monday evening but did not share any information on the officers saying that they could not be “thrown under the bus”, reports Bharti Jain.

If observations made by CEC Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday are any indication, the commission may not take kindly to what it claims is a ‘shoot-and-scoot’ allegation.

P 6

Mexico gets its first woman prez, a Jew

Mexico’s projected presidential winner Claudia Sheinbaum will be the first female president in its 200-year history, and the first person from a Jewish background to lead the overwhelmingly Catholic country. Sheinbaum, the favoured successor of outgoing Prez An- dres Manuel Lopez Obrador, vowed to continue in the direction set by the populist leftist leader.

Sheinbaum garnered between 58.3% and 60.7% of the vote, while her key opponent Xochitl Galvez had between 26.6% and 28.6%.

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Biden may sign exec order to curb immigration, P 11

BJP brass in a huddle, moves on govt formation

Akhilesh.Singh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: As the country braces for another mandate with Lok Sabha poll results coming on Tuesday, bringing an end to a marathon polling exercise stretching over 80 days, BJP brass and NDA functionaries, buoyed by the predictions of exit polls, held several rounds of meetings amid indications that the leadership would like to finish the job of govt formation this week itself if results extend PM Modi’s term.

While the PM remained engaged with his official chores, senior BJP leaders Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and J P Nadda held a nearly 90-minute-long meeting to discuss political issues; especially what party sources termed efforts by Congress and others in the opposition to delegitimise Modi’s record-equalling win.

The day also saw JD(U) president and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar calling on Modi and holding a 30-minute meeting. Kumar held a meeting with his party leaders too.

Cabinet last meet, P 10

DANCE of DEMOCRACY

➤ Sonia Gandhi says Cong very hopeful that results of Lok Sabha elections will be ‘totally opposite’ of exit poll predictions

P 6

➤ Times Now-ETG exit poll predicts near-repeat of 2019 landslide win for Naveen Patnaik’s BJD in Odisha state polls. Others showed BJD neck and neck with BJP or not ahead by much

P 7

SC asks neighbouring states to meet on June 5 to resolve Delhi water crisis

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Resolution of the water crisis in the parched national capital will begin a day after the country elects a new govt as the Supreme Court on Monday ordered Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) comprising all stakeholder states to meet on June 5 to address Delhi govt’s distress demand for additional water supply.

While the BJP govt of Haryana maintained “there is no shortage of agreed supply of water from it to National Capital Territory of Delhi”, the Congress govt of Himachal Pradesh volunteered to supply excess water available with it to Delhi through carrier canals in Haryana. Delhi’s governing party AAP and Congress are part of the INDI Alliance for Lok Sabha polls.

Appearing for NCT Delhi, senior advocate A M Singhvi said HP’s offer to provide surplus water is not only gracious but reflective of cooperative federalism. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said if the Delhi govt tightened its belt and plugged a whopping 52% loss in distribution of supplied water, there would be no crisis.

A vacation bench of Justices Prashant K Mishra and K V Viswanathan asked solicitor general Tushar Mehta, who appeared for Union and Haryana govt, for convening of an urgent meeting of UYRB comprising member of Central Water Commission as chairman, and one nominee each of UP, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Rajasthan and Himachal.

All steps taken, P 2

Centre: Tanker mafia, industry pilfer 52%

The Centre on Monday told SC that Delhi govt must take the blame for the self-created water crisis in the city as DJB has failed to plug a massive pilferage of water supplies by tanker mafia & industries. The Centre, in its note to SC, said this DJB admission means “52% of supplied to Delhi doesn’t reach citizens...”

P2

DJB beats summer target of 1,000MGD

DJB announced on Monday that it had produced 1,002 million gallons per day of water, surpassing its own summer target of 1,000 MGD. This achievement comes after 23 days of reduced water production. Despite this improvement, people in some parts of the city are still facing water woes.

P2

Thief breaks into house in Lko, steals only 40 winks

Kapil, 19, was caught sleeping in the house of a doctor in Lucknow he had broken into

Pathikrit.Chakraborty@timesgroup.com

Lucknow:This summer has been savage but a UP doctor has much to thank it for as a thief who had entered his locked Lucknow house, switched on an AC there to beat the heat and fell asleep, only to have a cop’s baton poking at him hours later in a rude awakening.

Kapil, all of 19, wasn’t up only against the scorcher but also his own “high spirits” — police said he was tipsy. Before his AC-induced snooze and nemesis caught up with him, Kapil had gone about his job meticulously, rummaging through the premises, gathering the booty and even wrenching off a water pump to be carted away. The surreal episode unfolded Saturday night in Sector 20 of Lucknow’s Indiranagar. The house owner, Dr Sunil Pandey, is currently posted in Varanasi.

 ‘In deep slumber’, P 8

Maldives ban: Go to Indian beaches, Israel tells citizens

A day after Maldives barred the entry of Israeli passport holders, the Israel embassy in New Delhi issued on Monday a statement on ‘X’ promoting “some beautiful and amazing Indian beaches where Israeli tourists are warmly welcomed and treated with utmost hospitality”, including Lakshadweep, Goa, Andaman & Nicobar and Kerala, reports Saurabh Sinha.

Retweeting this on Monday, the Israel consul-general to Midwest India, Mumbai, Kobbi Shoshani, said: “Thanks to Maldives govt’s decision Israelis can now explore the beautiful beaches of #Lakshadweep.”

P16

Times Nation

- Porsche teen’s mom was aware of sample swap plan: Pune cops

- ‘Sheer mockery of courts’: SC slams HC shield for rowdy MLA

- EC rejects oppn demand, says postal ballots will be counted simultaneously

- EC: Made record seizure of `10,000cr during 2024 polls

- Confronted by EC, Cong’s Jairam says can’t name names

- Police arrest Maoist ‘urban link’ in Raipur

- How heel-prick CAN SAVE an infant’s life

- Clicking pics, 2 tourists washed away in Beas

- Nagpur girl was abducted, gagged, raped, murdered & dumped in field

- Long-serving top LeT commander among 2 terrorists killed in J&K

- Thief was ‘in deep slumber’ when he was caught by cops

- Ex-BrahMos engr gets 14 yrs’ jail for leaking data to Pak

- Cloudy conditions likely to continue in Bengaluru for next few days: IMD Syed Asif

- 4 killed as car hits 5 bikes in Kolhapur

- 8 more Odisha, Raj deaths push heatstroke toll to 219

- Indian food processing industry is growing at a rapid rate

- Speaker accepts Punjab MLA’s resignation, neta to move HC

- Union Cabinet to hold its last meet tomorrow

- Reconstituted products can’t have ‘100% fruit juice’ tag: FSSAI

- After fire, Guj set to regulate gaming zones

- CEC: Such allegations have potential to spark anarchy

- SP MLA Solanki, bro held guilty in 2022 arson case

- SC stays till July 15 HC order allowing Gawli’s early release

- Its citizens barred by Maldives, Israel promotes Lakshadweep

- 3 given life term in Nirbhaya-like 2021 gang-rape case in Bareilly

- Samples of 5 popular drugs found spurious in Delhi, Jharkhand

Porsche teen’s mom was aware of sample swap plan: Pune cops

Pune: The mother of the 17-year-old boy involved in the Porsche Taycan crash in Pune acknowledged Monday that she gave her blood sample in place of her son’s for the alcohol test to determine if he was driving under the influence when crash took place, police said.

The 49-year-old woman was arrested late Saturday afternoon. “She knew why she was giving her blood samples at the hospital after the accident. She informed us that she gave her blood to a doctor after receiving a call from her husband,” a senior crime branch officer said. “This means she was part of the conspiracy.”

The mother was arrested on charges of forgery and destruction of evidence after DNA analysis revealed the sample did not belong to her son. The boy and his friends had visited two pubs before the accident around 2.30am.

TNN

‘Sheer mockery of courts’: SC slams HC shield for rowdy MLA

Srikanth.Aluri@timesgroup.com

Vijayawada: SC on Monday called Andhra Pradesh HC order granting interim protection from arrest to Macherla MLA Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy, accused of damaging a VVPAT device at a polling station, a joke and “sheer mockery of the justice system”. SC also directed him to stay away from the counting centre in his constituency on Tuesday.

Photographs and a video of Ramakrishna Reddy entering a polling station in his constituency with his followers on May 13 and destroying a VVPAT device by slamming it on the ground had surfaced.

After going through photographs and videos, a vacation bench of Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Sandeep Mehta asked HC to decide the case afresh without being influenced by its earlier order. HC is scheduled to hear the case again on Thursday.

TDP polling agent Namburi Seshagiri Rao, who was present in the polling station when Reddy destroyed the VVPAT device, had moved SC. He contended that the incidents that happened on polling day may be repeated on counting day as HC had granted Reddy interim protection. Rao also contended that he was facing threat to his life from the MLA.

Arguing on behalf of Rao, senior counsel B Adinarayana Rao and Javvaji Sharath Chandra submitted photographs and a video of Reddy entering the polling station and destroying the device. The counsel said that this belittled the system as the accused was a sitting MLA. Despite having clear evidence, a complaint was lodged on unknown persons, he said and pointed out that till HC granted interim protection, the MLA had been absconding.

Appearing for Reddy, senior counsel Vikas Singh expressed doubts over the authenticity of the video. The bench noted that the video was not doctored. As Singh agreed to give an undertaking that Reddy would not go to the counting centre Tuesday, the bench directed the MLA to not be in the vicinity.

EC rejects oppn demand, says postal ballots will be counted simultaneously

Workers prepare for counting of votes at old central jail in Bhopal on Monday

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: EC on Monday rejected the INDIA bloc’s demand to revert to the old system of counting of postal ballots prior to the last round of EVM counting, saying that counting rules could not be changed mid-course.

As per rules, postal ballot counting must start first. After half an hour, EVM counting can start. “This happened in 2019 and all 21-22 state elections held thereafter, but no challenge was raised then. It happened yesterday also in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim. We cannot change this mid-course,” chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar said.

He added that since the number of postal ballots was less for a majority of constituencies across the country, it normally wound up earlier than the last round of EVM count. The CEC said postal ballots, EVM votes and VVPAT slips matching could go on simultaneously as this was as per rules.

Stating that Rule 54A of Conduct of Election Rules was enacted when postal ballots were very few in number, Kumar said the situation now was different as postal ballot facility had been extended to senior citizens, persons with disabilities and media persons on election duty. “For inclusive elections, it is necessary that we extend this facility. Essential services should be added, like nurses, doctors. We had even talked of remote voting, though the time for that has not yet come,” he said.

Kumar, however, assured everyone that counting would be as per the rulebook and would be held in the presence of candidates, counting agents and observers. “The counting processes are robust and work like clockwork. There cannot be any errors,” he said, adding that even human error, if any, would be dealt with.

EC: Made record seizure of `10,000cr during 2024 polls

Just 39 Repolls Needed In 2024 As Opposed To 540 In 2019: Kumar

With J&K recording a high turnout, Kumar said the Election Commission would build on this foundation, and hold assembly polls soon

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: EC on Monday said the 2024 general election had set a world record with the participation of 64.2 crore electors, of which 31.2 crore were women. However, it added that one of the key “learnings” from the poll was that it should end at least a month earlier to escape peak summer.

“It’s (general election) a miracle that has happened. This is a historic moment for all of us. This is 1.5 times more than the voters in all G7 countries and 2.5 times more than votes across 27 EU countries,” CEC Rajiv Kumar told a press conference .

Similarly, he said, the number of women voters was more than 1.5 times the voters of 27 EU countries. Kumar said the polls had seen no major incidentof violence in sensitive areas like J&K, Left-wing extremism-hit states, Manipur and even poll violence prone Bengal; only 39 repolls were ordered as against 540 in 2019. Also, there were fewer model code complaints with EC having acted tough initially against utterances that lowered the campaign discourse. The CEC cited the lower complaints regarding electoral rolls and lack of any Artificial-Intelli- gence-generated misleading content or fake narratives. On the other hand, he pointed to the increase in number of absolute voters; inclusion of senior citizens, third gender, persons with disabilities and particularly vulnerable tribal groups.

The CEC, however, said there were three learnings from these elections — that the polls should have been completed at least a month earlier, as the peak summer poses a logistical challenge.

Kumar also said Fridays and Mondays should be avoided as polling days. The long weekend break this creates is linked to low voter turnouts.

The third lesson, he said, was to be better prepared for “mischievous narratives” to fault EC and electoral processes when the general elections are imminent and even during the polling and counting.

With J&K recording a high turnout of 58.6%, and the Valley turnout being 51.4%, Kumar said the EC would build on this foundation and hold assembly polls soon.

Kumar said the value of progressive seizures of pollinducements like cash, liquor, drugs etc had gone up to Rs 10,000 crore in this election as against Rs 3500 crore in 2019. This was thanks to tough monitoring by EC, he said.

Confronted by EC, Cong’s Jairam says can’t name names

‘Can’t Throw DMs Shah Called Under The Bus’

EC may not take kindly to what appears to be Ramesh’s ‘shoot-and-scoot’ allegation

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Hours after Election Commission rejected Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh’s request for an extra week to furnish factual details of his allegation that calls were made by home minister Amit Shah to 150 district magistrates-cumreturning officers ahead of counting, he filed his reply on Monday evening but did not share any information on the officers saying that they could not be “thrown under the bus”.

Stating that “we have been informed that officers” in states, including UP, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal, were being “pressurised (sic)”, Ramesh — who made no mention of Shah in his reply to EC — is said to have underlined that the panel would be “aware of the sensitive nature of the claims and the risk taken by the informants”.

It is not known whether EC will immediately give its ruling in the matter. However, if the observations made by CEC Rajiv Kumar on Tuesday are any indication, EC may not take kindly to what appears to be a ‘shoot-and-scoot’ allegation.

Ramesh — while stating that the concern regarding alleged influencing of ROs was raised at the INDIA bloc meeting with the EC on Sunday, where his party colleague Salman Khur- shid’s explanation on the matter was not to the EC’s satisfaction — said the “issue was one of vigilance and not creating an atmosphere of paranoia”.

Kumar, flanked by election commissioners Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh, insisted at a press conference that opposition leaders must back their allegations with proof for the EC to take suitable action.

“You cannot spread a rumour and bring everyone under a cloud of suspicion,” Kumar said, citing opposition claims on faulty electoral rolls, the efficacy of EVMs, voter turnout and the counting process. The CEC insisted the allegation by Ramesh about ROs being intimidated should be backed with factual details before counting, as it brings the very counting process in doubt.

Ramesh’s reply to EC — submitted after he sought a week’s extension of the deadline on Monday citing his preoccupation with official duties ahead of counting day, a request out rightly rejected by EC on the ground that the allegations had a direct bearing on the sanctity of the counting process — came after the commission give him a limited extension till Monday 7pm. The original deadline was Sunday 7pm.

Police arrest Maoist ‘urban link’ in Raipur

Raipur: A 25-year-old woman who had moved Chhattisgarh HC in 2016 against alleged extra-judicial killings of six persons in Bijapur, and was wanted for murder, arson & loot, was arrested in Raipur on Monday.

Pottam faced 12 warrants on basis of cases registered against her, Bijapur SP Jitendra Yadav said. “She has been actively working as an urban link for Maoists and was living in Raipur under a changed name. She was involved in violent incidents by Maoists, attempted murder, arson, loot, instigating public through her speeches,” the SP added.

Peoples Union for Civil Liberties condemned the arrest, calling Pottam an “activist”, and describing her as a “thorn in eyes of police for raising her voice against atrocities”.

TNN

How heel-prick CAN SAVE an infant’s life

Newborn screening can detect inherited but treatable developmental and metabolic disorders early, addressing health issues in babies before they become ill

Earnest J P Daniel

Newborn screening (NBS) is a critical healthcare initiative conducted shortly after birth to detect serious inherited developmental and metabolic disorders that are treatable. This proactive approach allows for pre-symptomatic detection and intervention, preventing irreversible complications such as mental retardation, long-term physical disabilities, or even premature death. Essentially, newborn screening identifies and addresses potential health issues in babies before they become ill.

Universal newborn screening began in the United States in the mid-1960s when Dr Robert Guthrie pioneered the first screening test for Phenylketonuria (PKU). By the mid-1990s, the introduction of tandem mass spectrometry (TMS) expanded the range of disorders that could be detected from dried blood spots. Today, nearly all newborns in the US are screened for about 62 disorders, including both core and secondary conditions, as recommended by the Uniform Screening Panel (RUSP).

Globally, 40 million babies are screened annually, representing about 28% of infants born each year. Most countries now adhere to the RUSP recommended list, which includes a variety of metabolic disorders. Inherited Errors of Metabolism (IEMs), often lifethreatening, typically manifest after an initial period of apparent good health, ranging from hours to weeks following an uncomplicated pregnancy and full-term birth. Preliminary symptoms can be non-specific, such as weight loss, growth challenges, seizures, and unusual odours in sweat or urine, leading to missed diagnoses. IEMs result from enzyme defects in biochemical and metabolic pathways, affecting the breakdown of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, and causing toxic build-up.

Metabolic disorders that are tested can be grouped into categories such as organic acid, fatty acid, amino acid and carbohydrate disorders, glycogen storage disease, and lysosomal storage disorders. While individual IEMs are rare, they are collectively common with an overall incidence greater than 1 in 1,000 births. Other disorders screened for include hearing impairment, critical congenital heart disease, Congenital Adrenal Hyperplasia, Congenital Hypothyroidism, thalassemia, cystic fibrosis, and Severe Combined ImmunoDeficiency (SCID).

Newborn screening uses noninvasive hearing tests, pulse oximetry for critical congenital heart disease, and blood spot tests analysed by Tandem Mass Spectrometry, fluorometry, and immunoassays. A heel-prick is used to collect the baby’s blood on special filter paper and screenings are conducted 24-48 hours after birth, ensuring accurate results after the baby has received breast milk or formula. Pilot studies in several countries are exploring the integration of genetic sequencing to expand the screening panel to 400 genetic disorders. The goal is to create a multi-tier approach using both biochemical and genetic tests to improve accuracy and reduce false positives and missed cases.

In India, dried blood spot screening benefits are increasingly recognised, yet a cohesive national strategy for implementing a universal NBS programme is lacking. There is no clear guidance on which prevalent disorders should be included in the screening panel. Regions such as Chandigarh, Kerala, and Goa have initiated NBS programmes in govt hospitals, screening for about eight genetic disorders. Kerala’s ‘Shalabham’ programme, launched in 2018, screens 150,000 newborns a year in 90 hospitals. In states without govt-sponsored initiatives, a few leading children’s hospitals conduct extended newborn screenings through private NBS laboratories.

India, with nearly 28 million births annually, accounts for one-fifth of the world’s childbirths. Tamil Nadu, a relatively developed state with a low birth rate, sees more than 1.1 million live births yearly. Reports indicate that 13 of 100 babies born in 2021-2022 were under the recommended birth weight, signaling potential metabolic illness or mortality risks. Notably, since the inception of the National Health Mission (NHM) in 2005, Tamil Nadu’s infant mortality rate has declined from 37 in 2005 to 8.5 in 2023, which is exceptionally lower than the national average. However, premature death or mortality alone does not fully capture the burden of disease borne by different populations.

The overall burden of disease is assessed using the disability-adjusted life year (DALY), representing the loss of one year of full health. DALYs for a disease or health condition are the sum of years of life lost due to premature mortality and years of healthy life lost due to disability. The leading cause of DALYs globally is neonatal conditions and birth defects, which is several-fold higher than measles, tuberculosis, and respiratory infections. A March report from WHO mentions that the South Asia region witnessed improvement in under-five mortality, but the contribution of birth defects has increased from 4% to 11% in the past two decades. Universal newborn screening in India can significantly reduce DALYs by enabling early treatment and accurate management, thereby improving long-term health outcomes.

Implementing universal NBS in Tamil Nadu presents significant benefits and considerable challenges. The estimated annual cost for the small programme is about `80 crore with a significant benefit-to-cost ratio (1.8 to 6). The economic benefits of preventing intellectual disabilities and reducing DALY scores far outweigh the costs of screening, surveillance, and management.

Challenges include operational management, sample delivery delays, and increased lab rejections of blood spot samples. Addressing these would include establishing a primary screening lab centre equipped with advanced mass spectrometry and genetic sequencing and developing an efficient sample delivery system to mail blood cards from hospitals to screening labs. Additionally, creating a notification system to alert primary care physicians and parents about positive results and setting up certified diagnostic labs for accurate confirmatory tests.

Many developing countries, including the Philippines, have successfully implemented universal screening programmes, demonstrating that it is feasible and beneficial. Tamil Nadu should consider a phased or universal screening programme for all newborns, and perhaps serve as a model for the rest of India.

Clicking pics, 2 tourists washed away in Beas

Two women tourists from UP died after falling into the Beas while taking photographs in Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh Monday. The deceased were identified as Anchal (17) and her relative Meenu (24), residents of Baghpat district. The bodies are still to be recovered.

This is the second such incident within a week in Manali. On May 27, two tourists got washed away in Beas river at Nehru Kund.

TNN

Nagpur girl was abducted, gagged, raped, murdered & dumped in field

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Double death sentences have previously been pronounced in at least four cases in Vidarbha region alone.

Special public prosecutor Prashant Sathianathan said the child’s mother reported her daughter missing on Dec7, 2019. A case was registered at Kalmeshwar police station near Nagpur the same day.

On Dec 8, the girl’s body was found in a field. Medical examination revealed she was sex- ually assaulted before the perpetrator smashed her head with a boulder. Investigators quickly identified the accused as Puri. It transpired that he lured the child into a field the day she went missing, gagged, raped and then murdered her.

Additional sessions judge Padwal also fined the convict Rs 15,000 and directed the officer-in-charge of Kalmeshwar police station to assist the victim’s parents in applying for compensation.

The most recent double death sentence was pronounced on May 22 by another court in Nagpur against a man convicted of raping and killing his 16-year-old daughter. The convict also received three concurrent life terms. A sessions court in Yavatmal earlier pronounced double death sentences against aman convicted of raping and murdering a two-year-old girl on Aug14, 2015. Another double death sentence came in the case involving the murder of two boys — one in 2016 and the other in 2018 — by the same man.

Long-serving top LeT commander among 2 terrorists killed in J&K

‘MAJOR BREAKTHROUGH’: Locals at the house where the terrorists had sought refuge during the gunfight in Pulwama on Monday

Saleem.Pandit@timesgroup.com

Srinagar: Two Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists, including the outfit’s top commander Riyaz Ahmad Dar, were shot dead by security forces following an overnight gun battle in Nihama area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district on Monday. One of the longest-surviving terrorists of the outfit, Riyaz, a resident of Sethar Gund in Pulwama’s Kakapora, had been active in Kashmir Valley during the past eight years and was wanted in numerous terror-related cases, said IGP (Kashmir Range) V Birdi, calling the antiterror operation a major breakthrough for security forces. The other slain terrorist was identified as Rayees Ahmad, a resident of Lerve in Kakapora.

Based on intelligence inputs about the presence of the terrorists in Nihama, a joint team of the Army, J&K police, and paramilitary personnel launched a cordon-and-search operation in the area late Sunday, IGP Birdi said.

As the security forces neared the suspected hideout, holed-up terrorists opened fire at the search party, triggering an encounter. After several rounds of fire exchange, the operation was paused due to darkness. The firefight resumed early Monday and the terrorists were gunned down, said the IGP.

The house where the terrorists had sought refuge caught fire during the gunfight, police said. Security forces later launched a search at the spot to retrieve arms and ammunition, IGP Virdi added.

NIA chargesheets 17 IS agents for radicalisation of youths

National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Monday chargesheeted 17 agents of the proscribed global terrorist organisation Islamic State (IS) for being part of a conspiracy involving radicalisation of youth and fabrication of improvised explosive devices, according to an official statement.

NIA had originally chargesheeted three persons in March 2023 and filed its supplementary chargesheet before the special court at Patiala House in New Delhi on Monday against 17 others, of whom 15 are from Maharashtra and one each from Uttarakhand and Haryana, it said. This takes the total number of accused chargesheeted in the case, which had exposed global linkages with foreign handlers, to 20, said NIA in a statement.

PTI

Thief was ‘in deep slumber’ when he was caught by cops

Even when the cops tried to wak e him up, Kapil could not get up immediately. That could be because he was drunk, said aneighbour

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Thief Kapil’s plan was thwarted after some neighbours saw the main door of the house ajar early Sunday and got suspicious as they knew no one lived there now. They peeped in, found the house ransacked and a man sleeping inside. They immediately alerted the police. Soon, a team of cops arrived and found Kapil sleeping with his booty.

According to one of the neighbours who tipped off the cops, Kapil was “in deep slumber”. “Even when the cops tried to wake him up, he could not get up immediately. That may have been because he was drunk,” said the neighbour.

Dr Pandey’s father used to live in the house earlier. “But after his death last year, the house remains locked since the doctor lives with his family in Varanasi and visits this Lucknow home occasionally,” said the neighbour. Indiranagar SHO Vikas Rai said Kapil had been booked under IPC Section 379 (theft). The punishment on conviction is three years. For 40 winks, Kapil might curse himself, that’s a year too many.

Ex-BrahMos engr gets 14 yrs’ jail for leaking data to Pak

Documents with classified info on the BrahMos missile were found on hard drives of Nishant Agarwal’s (extreme left) personal computers

Nagpur: A little over five years after being purportedly honey-trapped into leaking classified missilerelated information to Pakistani spies, former BrahMos engineer Nishant Agarwal was sentenced on Monday to rigorous imprisonment for 14 years, with a clause stipulating an additional six-month term in the event of failure to pay a Rs 3,000 fine, reports Shishir Arya.

Nagpur’s additional sessions court judge MV Deshpande convicted Agarwal of leaking official data, including critical information on armaments of war, to foreign powers. These offences are punishable under Section 66 (f) of the IT Act and provisions of the Official Secrets Act.

Employed in the technical research section of BrahMos Aerospace Pvt Ltd, an India-Russia missile venture, Agarwal was 27 when he was arrested in Oct 2018. Documents with classified information on the BrahMos missile system were found on hard drives of his personal computers. Investigators found some of this classified data was transferred to Pakistani intelligence operatives. Two of them, Neha Sharma and Pooja Ranjan, had ensnared the scientist on social media by masquerading as women. They offered him a job abroad and sent him a link with malware that gave them unauthorised access to official missile-related documents on their target’s digital devices.

Agarwal, who had been out on bail for a year during the trial, was taken into police custody immediately after the court pronounced the sentence. Agarwal is likely to appeal the verdict in HC on Tuesday.

HC had previously criticised the delay in completing the trial, deeming it a violation of Article 21, which guarantees protection of life and personal liberty. Supreme Court, too, directed the trial court to wrap up the hearing by May 31.

Cloudy conditions likely to continue in Bengaluru for next few days: IMD Syed Asif

Heavy rainfall on Sunday left a trail of destruction in Bengaluru, uprooting trees and damaging several cars and houses

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IMD clarified that Sunday’s record rainfall in Bengaluru had little to do with the progressing monsoon as the thunderstorms were a result of local convection.

Meanwhile, the southwest monsoon, which entered Karnataka on Sunday, pushed further into the state on Monday.

The monsoon now covers roughly half of the state and most of Andhra, with the upper line of the system touching the southern border of Telangana. As per data sourced from Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre , Sunday’s rainfall ranged from moderate to heavy across all parts of Bengaluru.

Cloudy conditions are likely to continue over Bengaluru over the next few days with the likelihood of moder- ate to heavy thunderstorms along with strong winds, IMD officials said.

Rains trigger Assam wall collapse, 1 killed

A 12-year-old boy died when a boundary wall collapsed on him Monday as incessant rainfall from Sunday night triggered landslides and waterlogging in several parts of Guwahati, reports Dhrubajyoti Malakar.

The boy, a Class 8 student, was sleeping when the incident occurred at Nizarapara area. Guwahati received 41mm rainfall in past 24 hours since Sunday, according to Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati. Kamrup (Metro) District Disaster Management Authority said a total of three landslides were reported.

4 killed as car hits 5 bikes in Kolhapur

A 72-year-old retired pro-VC of Shivaji University and three bikers died after his speeding car rammed into 5 bikes at busy CSIBER Chowk in Maharashtra’s Kolhapur on Monday, reports Abhijeet Patil. CCTV footage showed Vasant Chavan’s car suddenly accelerating and hitting 5 bikes at the crossing around 2.30pm, flinging the bikers into the air. The car then crashed into a concrete structure at the crossing and overturned, killing him on the spot.

8 more Odisha, Raj deaths push heatstroke toll to 219

Bhubaneswar/ Jaipur: The countrywide toll of suspected heatstroke deaths touched 219 with Odisha reporting six fresh casualties and Rajasthan two in the last 24 hours even as the southwest monsoon advanced to some more parts of south India on Monday, report Minati Singha & Intishab Ali.

The toll so far in Odisha has reached 147, though only 30 are confirmed sunstroke casualties, sources in state special relief commissioner’s office said.

IMD said that heatwave conditions, though with reduced intensity, are likely to continue in isolated pockets in northwest and eastern India for the next 4-5 days before monsoon hits Odisha, a few days ahead of its usual date of June 12.

“Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into remaining parts of central Arabian Sea, remaining parts of Karnataka, some parts of south Maharashtra, Goa, remaining parts Rayalaseema, Telangana and coastal Andhra Pradesh, some parts of south Chhattisgarh and south Odisha during next four to five days,” the IMD bulletin said.

Following thunderstorm activities in several districts of Odisha, day temperature reduced to normal or below normal at several places.

In Rajasthan, Jaipur’s SMS hospital recorded two heatstroke fatalities on Monday, taking the toll in the state so far to 12. Of these, Jaipur alone accounts for seven deaths.

Indian food processing industry is growing at a rapid rate

India’s food processing sector is one of the largest in the world and its output is expected to reach USD 535 bn by 2025-26. The food processing sector in India has a quintessential role in linking Indian farmers to consumers in the domestic and international markets. The food processing industry has a share of 12.22 per cent in the employment generated in the registered factory sector, engaging approximately 2.03 million people. The unregistered food processing sector supports employment to 5.1 million workers and constitutes 14.18 per cent of employment in the unregistered manufacturing sector. Major sectors constituting the food processing industry in India are processed fruits and vegetables, RTE/ RTC, mozzarella cheese, processed marine products, edible oils, beverages, and dairy products.

To address the manufacturing needs of the fast-growing Indian food processing industry, with a focus on the latest technological trends in food processing and packaging as well as machinery and innovations, the 3rd edition of Inter FoodTech—a premier technology supplier fair for food and beverage industry—shall be held from 5th to 7th June, 2024 at Yashobhoomi (IICC), Dwarka, New Delhi. Inter FoodTech is co-located with related trade shows, Snack & BakeTec—international trade fair on snacks, bak- ery and confectionery processing and packaging technology and services; and Annapoorna Inter Food—international food and beverage trade expo jointly presented by Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), VA Exhibitions, and Forum of India Food Importers (FIFI), making this the most comprehensive food business platform in the country.

Inter FoodTech and Snack & BakeTec exhibitions bring together the best processing and packaging machinery suppliers, solutions, and service providers required for the manufacturing of all kinds of processed food and beverage products. More than 400 companies from around 20 countries will showcase their solutions to the food processing industry spread across an exhibition area of 20,000 sq mt.

Ashwani Pande, CEO, VA Exhibitions Pvt. Ltd., the organiser of these trade fairs says, “Just in their 3rd edition, Inter FoodTech and Snack & BakeTec together have become the most important trade fairs for the food processing sector bringing together the best minds and best processing and packaging solutions from across the globe to set the roadmap for future trends, and influence policy-making through representations, open up newer markets, enable joint ventures, as well as act as the best knowledge sharing platform.”

Dr Alberto Commetti, CEO and managing director, POLIN Group, Italy—one of the exhibiting companies, says, “We have a good knowledge of the Indian market since we have been working for a long time with important companies in the confectionery industry of this great country, which is constantly growing and evolving. It is a market in which channels such as supermarkets and hypermarkets are gaining importance. As a result of this retail development, traditional products that continue to be very popular, such as typical Indian bread, are being joined by more western bakery products such as croissants, muffins and artisanal biscuits, of which there is an ever-increasing demand.”

Annapoorna Inter Food, an international food beverage trade expo, will forge concurrent trade and industry connections; it will propel food and beverage brands to new heights. It is the ultimate destination for anyone serious about making waves in the Indian food & beverage (F&B) industry as it provides unparalleled networking opportunities as well as opportunities to showcase F&B products to the power players of the industry and elevate food and beverage brands among the industry circles.

The exhibition is expected to attract over 15,000 business visitors from India and neighbouring countries representing small, medium, and large-scale food and beverage manufacturers to Inter FoodTech, and Snack & BakeTec. Visitors would represent distributors and traders, retail- ers and wholesalers, modern trade and institutional buyers, hotels, resorts and restaurants, catering services, QSRs, bakeries, airlines, etc.

Balvinder S Sawhney, assistant secretary general, FICCI, the co-organiser of Annapoorna Inter Food says, “We are extremely happy to re-launch Annapoorna brand as Annapoorna Inter Food with our new partners, VA Exhibitions and FIFI and are determined to shape it as the most important trade fair for food and beverage in the region.”

Concurrent activities planned with the exhibition to create a complete business platform and enhance business for all stakeholders of the food and beverage industry: FICCI’s Food World India 2024—a global convention for food and beverage industry; seminar on ‘Technological interventions in Indian Dairy’ by Indian Dairy Association (IDA); panel discussion on ‘Improving efficiency and quality with automation in food processing’, and ‘Food Processing Technology – Trends and Challenges’ by Agro & Food Processing Equipment & Technology Providers Association (AFTPAI), and panel discussion on ‘From Farm to Table: Ensuring Authentication and Traceability in Food and Beverage Products’ by Authentication Solution Providers’ Association (ASPA); Annapoorna Inter Food, Food Retail Awards; Incredible Chef Challenge; and Chef Master Classes in the culinary arena.

Speaker accepts Punjab MLA’s resignation, neta to move HC

Jalandhar: Punjab assembly speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan accepted the resignation of Jalandhar West MLA Sheetal Angural, a day after the latter, who had deserted AAP and joined BJP in March, wrote to him saying he had retracted his decision, reports IP Singh.

Angural wrote to the speaker withdrawing his resignation on May 30. The assembly secretariat issued a notifica- tion on May 31, declaring his seat vacant. However, it came out in the public domain on Monday. Angural told TOI when he handed over a physical copy of his May 30 letter, he was not informed that his resignation was already accepted. Instead, he was asked to meet the speaker on June 11.

The MLA said he would move Punjab and Haryana HC against the speaker’s decision.

Union Cabinet to hold its last meet tomorrow

Bihar CM Nitish Kumar with PM Modi in New Delhi on Monday

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Sources said the Union Cabinet will hold its last meeting on Wednesday morning, a day after the poll results, after which ministers will resign, paving way for formation of the next govt.

Sources said the cabinet will pass a proposal endorsing the Modi govt’s performance in the past 10 years, setting narratives like “politics of performance” and “last mile delivery”, and highlighting the execution of welfare schemes like Ki- san Samman Nidhi, PM Awas Yojna, free ration scheme, Ayushman Bharat health insurance cover, free LPG connections and other development initiatives.

The cabinet proposal is likely to make special mention also of abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution, construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and banning the practice of triple talaq, besides introduction of the new criminal justice system.

Hopeful of a landslide, preparations are on for celebrations, including the possibility of a march led by the PM, to be capped by Modi’s customary victory speech.

Reconstituted products can’t have ‘100% fruit juice’ tag: FSSAI

New Delhi: Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) has issued a directive mandating all food business operators (FBOs) to remove any claim of ‘100% fruit juices’ from labels and advertisements of reconstituted fruit juices with immediate effect.

The regulatory authority said if added nutritive sweeteners exceed 15 gm/kg, the product must be labelled ‘sweetened juice’. All FBOs have been instructed to exhaust all existing pre-printed packaging materials before Sept 1.

Officials said the action follows reports of FBOs inaccurately marketing reconstituted fruit juices by claiming them to be 100% fruit juices.

Upon examination, FSSAI concluded that, according to Food Safety and Standards (Advertising and Claims) Regulations, 2018, there is no provision for making a ‘100%’ claim.

“Such claims are misleading, particularly under conditions where major ingredient is water and primary ingredientis present only in limited concentrations, or when the fruit juice is reconstituted using water and fruit concentrates or pulp,” FSSAI said.

TNN

After fire, Guj set to regulate gaming zones

Ahmedabad: After 27 people died in the fire at TRP Game Zone in Rajkot, which was operating without key permissions and flouting most rules, Gujarat govt has decided to formulate rules to regulate gaming activity areas and incorporate them into Comprehensive General Development Control Regulations, 2017 (CGDCR).

In an affidavit filed in Gujarat high court, home department joint secretary H P Gosavi said, “As per information from urban housing department, state govt is in the process of amending CGDCR, whereby a separate, new chapter will be incorporated in the said rules to regulate gaming areas.”

State intends to insert regulations in CGDCR, and will have to consequently amend the fire safety laws as well.

TNN

CEC: Such allegations have potential to spark anarchy

False Narratives Spring Up Only Before General Elections: Kumar

CEC said some electoral processes challenged during the current polls were pending before the courts since 2019, but were taken up just before polling

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CEC Kumar termed ‘mischievous narratives’ as the fifth ‘M’ in addition to the four Ms listed as poll challenges by him in March 2024 — namely money power, muscle power, model code violations and misinformation. He said while the opposition and all stakeholders had a right to raise questions, any allegation or doubts must be backed by proof so as to not create doubts in the minds of voters regarding the sanctity of the electoral processes and offer EC an opportunity to rectify the errors.

“One of the learnings from the current polls is that we should be far more prepared for such fake narratives from within,” Kumar added.

The CEC said some of the electoral processes challenged during the current election were pending before courts since 2019, with poll panel having filed affidavits detailing its stance, but were taken up just before polling. Even the issue of change in rule on postal ballots came up just ahead of counting, when the new rule was neither challenged in 2019 nor during the 2021-22 state polls held thereafter. This pointed to a pattern of setting a false narrative only during the general election, he added.

“Four days before polling, there was an allegation regarding errors in the voters list. A case was filed and we spent 15 days preparing our affidavit. Tell us during non-election time where the errors are. There can be 2-4% errors but tell us where these are 94-98%. Such allegations come when elections are im- minent... create a spark so that there is some scope for mischief. After polls began, EVMs were challenged. Such allegations had the potential to spark anarchy at the national level,” he said.

Stating that the case was pending since 2023 and that the poll panel had filed a reply, Kumar said it was suddenly taken up four days before Phase I. He said a similar pattern was seen in 2019, with a case having come up four days before the first phase. “Between 2019 and 2024, you should have raised this matter before us. We could have taken some action. There is a pattern, design (to raise issues) only during a general election, though I am not hinting at a toolkit,” he said.

On the allegation regarding delay and manipulation of voter turnout, he said, “We did not delay turnout data even by one day and nor can voter turnout be ramped up by even 1%. Voter Turnout app is updated in real time... the public and EC see the same figures,” he added.

SP MLA Solanki, bro held guilty in 2022 arson case

Kanpur: An MP-MLA court in Kanpur Monday held SP MLA Irfan Solanki, his brother Rizwan Solanki and three others guilty in the 2022 Jajmau arson case. The verdict was reserved for months.

Judge Satyendra Tripathi held the accused guilty of arson, voluntarily causing hurt and insulting someone intentionally to provoke them. The sentence will be given on June 7.

Irfan (44), a four-time MLA from Sisamau in Kanpur, is lodged in Maharajganj district jail. The SP legislator, against whom 17 cases are registered, was deprived of voting in recently held RS polls as the court rejected his plea to cast his vote.

Irfan and Rizwan were arrested in Dec 2022 for harassing a woman and setting her house on fire to grab her plot.

TNN

SC stays till July 15 HC order allowing Gawli’s early release

Swati.Deshpande@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Supreme Court’s vacation bench on Monday stayed till July 15 the remission and premature release from prison permitted by the Bombay HC to convicted gangster Arun Gulab Gawli and barred his exit from custody till then.

The SC bench of Justices Aravind Kumar and Sandeep Mehta issued a notice to Gawli, stating, “There shall be an interim stay of the impugned order, till the next date of hearing.”

Gawli is serving a rigorous life imprisonment sentence after an Aug 2012 conviction for murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2007 as well in 2008 and 2009 special cases under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). The life sentence is life till end of natural life, SC has held time and again. The state, however, has a remission policy in place for lifers.

The state had filed a special leave petition (SLP) seeking to challenge the April 5 judgment of the Nagpur bench of Bombay HC that permitted the gangster’s early release, citing a 2006 state policy for remission, called ‘premature release policy’.

The state, represented by senior counsel Raja Thakare, said the high court order was “ misconceived” as the law provides power to remit a sentence to the govt. SC had in a 1976 ruling said only govt possesses the sole discretion of granting remission to a convict and the state is, thus, arguing now that HC cannot compel govt to release a prisoner.

The high court, in its April order, had given the state four weeks to pass consequential orders for implementation of the remission.

The state’s SLP said Gawli is a ‘hardened criminal-turned-politician’ convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in a crime syndicate case and has other pending cases against him, including some under the stringent MCOCA. It said that the high court failed to consider the potential impact on society at large before permitting Gawli’s release.

SC vacation bench said since it’s a matter of policy, it requires consideration and, thus, stayed implementation of the HC judgment.

Its citizens barred by Maldives, Israel promotes Lakshadweep

PM Modi’s tweet on Lakshadweep’s ‘tranquility’ led to anti-India tweets by a few of Maldives’ politicians

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: A day after Maldives barred the entry of Israeli passport holders, the Israel embassy in New Delhi issued on Monday a statement on ‘X’ promoting “some beautiful and amazing Indian beaches where Israeli tourists are warmly welcomed and treated with utmost hospitality”, including Lakshadweep, Kerala, Andaman and Goa.

As far as tourism is concerned, Maldives has been in the news for the wrong reasons since the start of the year. A visit by PM Modi to idyllic Lakshadweep led to anti-India tweets by some Maldives’ politicians. After that, Maldives fell off the bucket list for Indian travellers.

During his visit, PM Modi had said on ‘X’ on Jan 4: “In addition to scenic beauty, Lakshadweep’s tranquillity is also mesmerising. It gave me an opportunity to reflect on how to work even harder for the welfare of 140 crore Indians.”

Retweeting the post on Monday, the Israel consulgeneral to Midwest India, Mumbai, Kobbi Shoshani, said: “Thanks to Maldives govt’s decision Israelis can now explore the beautiful beaches of #Lakshadweep.”

Maldives had Sunday announced a cabinet decision to change laws to prevent Israe- li passport holders from entering the country due to the war in Gaza. “For Israeli citizens already in the country, it is recommended to consider leaving, because if they find themselves in distress for any reason, it will be difficult for us to assist,” Maldives’ foreign ministry had said.

The office of Maldives’ pro-China president had said in a release: “Mohamed Muizzu, following a recommendation from cabinet, has resolved to impose a ban on Israeli passports. The cabinet decision includes amending necessary laws to prevent Israeli passport holders from entering the Maldives and establishing a cabinet subcommittee to oversee these efforts.”

Given Israel’s close ties with India, the ban is unlikely to go down well with Indian travellers who the island is trying to woo again after “Boycott Maldives” had trended in India earlier this year.

3 given life term in Nirbhaya-like 2021 gang-rape case in Bareilly

Bareilly: A district court in Bareilly Monday sentenced three accused to life imprisonment for a brutal gang rape in May 2021, where a knife was inserted into the survivor’s rectum, reports Kanwardeep Singh. The survivor spent months in a hospital and underwent reconstructive surgery. Sonu Bhatia, Rajiv Kumar, and Monu Singh were arrested and jailed but later granted bail.

The case came to light when the survivor’s daughter filed an FIR saying her mother had gone to meet a relative on May 23, 2021. Dr Anupama Katiyar, the doctor who treated the survivor, told the court,“ She had injuries in her private parts, and had lost enormous blood.”

Additional district govt counsel Harendra Rathore described the crime’s brutality, comparing it to Nirbhaya case.

All the three accused were awarded life imprisonment and fined Rs 30,000 each. The survivor will receive Rs 75,000 from the fines as compensation.

CDSCO CHECK

Samples of 5 popular drugs found spurious in Delhi, Jharkhand

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Samples of five commonly used drugs being sold at pharmacies in Delhi (4) and Jharkhand, Ranchi (1) were found to be spurious in inspections carried out by regulatory authorities in April.

An alert was issued by CDSCO regarding this. The central drug authority collates data on spurious drugs from all states/UTs on a monthly basis.

In April, CDSCO had said, drugs found to be spurious in Delhi included Instgra tablet that is used in HIV treatment, blood pressure lowering drug (Telmisartan 40 mg and Amlodipine 5 mg tablets), medicine used to treat migraine (Domperidone and Naproxen Sodium Tablets) and antibiotic Rifaximin. In Jharkhand, sample of another antibiotic, Cefixime Trihydrate with Lactic Acid Bacillus, was declared spurious on the basis of physical comparison and analytical tests done by the manufacturer and state licensing authorities of the respective states.

State drugs licensing authorities of Mizoram & Tripura, Pondicherry said they did not find spurious drugs in their jurisdiction while, according to CDSCO, UP failed to submit data in the prescribed format.

State drug licensing authorities of Andhra, Arunachal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Bengal, Andaman & Nicobar, Dadra Nagar & Haveli, Daman & Diu, and Lakshadweep did not submit any data in respect of spurious drug alert for April month, CDSCO said.

Times City

- Good Is Not Good Enough, Delhi Still Parched

- PWD close to meeting tree planting target before rains

- Tanker mafia, industries pilfer 52% of water meant for Delhi, Centre claims in apex court

- All steps must be taken to plug loss of water in supply: SC

- Metro helps Delhi beat May heat with 60 lakh passenger journeys

- Heatwave strikes back after two-day break; Najafgarh, Narela clock 46.9°C

- Mural of the story? Helping women reclaim their lost space

- Unable to get high? Why you may have polls to blame

- Both sides sure of win, BJP ready for big celebrations

- 3-Layered Security In Place For Peaceful Counting Day

- Stay put, focused: All three parties prep their cadres for counting day

- LG sends Anand’s resignation to Prez, Atishi may get social welfare portfolio

- Bharadwaj inspects shelters to check heat arrangements

- AAP claims CM not provided cooler in jail

- Hospital fire: Court dismisses bail plea of on-duty doctor

- 3 Coaches Of Taj Exp With 300 On Board Catch Fire

- Court dismisses ex-AAP councillor’s plea

- Chinkara dies after fight with another at zoo

- NGT Acts On Partial Combustion Of Fuels

- Buyers with registered JAL properties won’t be hit

- Flight diverted after bomb scare

- RRTS on sustainability track with 900 RWH pits

- Probe norm violations against dhaba: NGT

- Man kills 85-yr-old father after row over trivial matter in Nand Nagri

- Five days after attack during robbery, 90-yr-old dies; main suspect arrested

- Trees felled at JNU’s old campus, HC seeks explanation from forest official

- Five arrested for duping US citizens in guise of providing technical support

- EWS patient dies after hosp says no ICU bed

- Kavitha paid `100-crore kickbacks to get undue benefits, claims ED chargesheet

Good Is Not Good Enough, Delhi Still Parched

DJB Beats Summer Target Of 1,000MGD, But Many Areas Complain Of Taps Running Dry

Siddhanta.Mishra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board announced on Monday that it had produced 1,002 million gallons per day of water, surpassing its own summer target of 1,000 MGD. This achievement comes after 23 days of reduced water production. The decrease in raw water supply too has been addressed, with the Wazirabad water treatment plant now able to operate beyond its capacity.

According to DJB’s summer bulletin, the water level at Wazirabad pond rose to 671.3 ft on Monday from 670.9 a day earlier, enabling the water treatment plant there to produce 134.8 MGD against its capacity of 131 MGD. The bulletin also said that there has also been a steady rise in the supply of raw Yamuna water from Haryana. It received 155 MGD of water through Yamuna upstream against the allotment of zero on Monday and 101 MGD on Sunday.

Despite these improvements, people in some parts of the city still faced problems. “The situation is the same as it was a few days ago,” said Sanjay Gupta, president, Model Town RWA in north Delhi. In south Delhi too, residents of the South Extension II organised a protest outside the local DJB office on Monday. “Around 100 houses do not receive piped water so we depend on water tankers,” said Kanishka Deka, joint secretary, South Extension II RWA. “After the recently reported shortage, the number of water tankers has also decreased. That is why we protested.”

One persistent problem that DJB hasn’t been able to resolve for several years is the is- sue of 'non-revenue water', or water that is produced but lost during transmission. While the water utility estimates it loses around 47% of water, the Delhi economic survey of 202324 suggested an even higher 58%. On May 31, lieutenant governor VK Saxena put this figure at 40%. On Monday, the Centre told the Supreme Court that “DJB has failed to plug a massive 52% pilferage of water by the tanker mafia and industries”.

DJB member SL Meena, however, insisted, “There is no problem of water loss.”

The water transmission and distribution infrastructure comprises 123 primary underground reservoirs and around 15,400km of pipes car- rying water to around 27 lakh consumers. According to an internal report, a significant portion of this network is 4050 years old and prone to leakages. The attempts to resolve this problem were stymied by lack of preventive maintenance, unauthorised water connections and theft, according to a recent govt report.

DJB’s leakage detection cell is responsible for identifying pipeline leakages, using the helium leakage detection technology. Leaks are reported to the maintenance wing, which carries out remedial measures. Use of this technology restricts road digging for plugging leaks to just the place of leakage and not the entire road.

PWD close to meeting tree planting target before rains

Siddhanta.Mishra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:Officials from Public Works Department (PWD) claim to have completed 88% of their target of planting 10,000 trees, a goal set by Delhi High Court, before monsoon arrives in the city.

The department has launched a dashboard for online monitoring of the plants to ensure that any damage to them can be promptly addressed. This year marks the first time the location of each planted tree has been digitally marked, allowing their growth to be monitored.

According to rules, all planted trees must be at least 10 feet tall and have branches. Each of the 10 road divisions has been assigned a target of planting between 250 and 1,000 trees. Furthermore, a list of native tree species has been provided, which officers are required to strictly follow during tree selection.

The North West, South West, North East, Shahdara, North, and West road divisions have achieved 100% of their targets. However, the South West road divisions are lagging behind, having completed only around 45% of their targets.

To date, a total of 8,945 trees have been planted. PWD has instructed officials to mark the location of each planted tree on the e-monitoring application and upload monthly progress reports to ensure their survival.

Executive engineers are required to mark the location of every planted sapling on the emonitoring application and track their growth monthly.

This initiative marks the first time the growth of trees will be tracked through the app, which is typically used to monitor most of the mega projects of all departments involved in infrastructure development.

In the past, PWD has faced criticism from courts for poor maintenance of trees planted under special drives. This time, the department is taking extra measures to ensure that deconcretization rules are followed for proper growth of trees.

Earlier, PWD had requested the forest department to identify areas deemed forests in the city and other areas where there is potential for increasing greenery. Under the government’s green action plan, all agencies are given targets to achieve before the start of the monsoon season.

Tanker mafia, industries pilfer 52% of water meant for Delhi, Centre claims in apex court

A crippling water crisis has made the summer even more unbearable

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The Centre on Monday told the Supreme Court that the Delhi govt must take the blame for the self-created water crisis in the national capital as Delhi Jal Board has failed to plug a massive 52% pilferage of water supplies to Delhi by tanker mafia and industries.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta cited the Economic Survey of Delhi, 2023-2024, which said, “As per Outcome Budget (Q2 of 2023-24) of DJB, the total distribution losses are at about 52.35%. These are quite high as compared to 10-20% in developing countries. There are large water losses at different stages of the water supply system in the treatment plants, conveyance systems and distribution systems, apart from leaks and pilferage.”

The Centre in its note to a vacation bench of Justices Prashant K Mishra and K V Viswanathan said this admission by DJB means “over 52% of water supplied to Delhi does not reach citizens due to factors like theft of water by industries and menace of tanker mafia. No effort has been shown by Delhi govt to stop these losses to ensure more water for residents of Delhi.”

Mehta’s note to the SC stated that as per ministry of housing and urban affairs, 135 litres per capita per day (LPCD) is the benchmark for urban water supply, which for rural areas is 55 LPCD under Jal Jeevan Mission. “LPCD for Delhi for domestic use is 172,” it said indicating the privilege of extra water enjoyed by Delhiites per day per person.

The Economic Survey of Delhi, presented in the assembly by the Arvind Kejriwal govt on March 1, had listed two other reasons for the shortage of water in the national capital. “People use reverse osmosis (RO) systems for water filtration since the tap water is not potable. RO causes water wastage of 40-60% of the water used. During the rainy season, Delhi experiences water-clogged roads and overflowing se- wers. There is little rainwater harvesting, resulting in wastage of a precious resource,” the survey said.

The Centre also said Himachal Pradesh, which expressed its desire to share surplus water with Delhi before the SC, had in the past consistently maintained before the Upp- er Yamuna River Board (UYRB) for more allocation of water to it citing shortage.

“Whether there is any unutilised share of water which Himachal Pradesh can supply to any other state is a matter of dispute and the same is already pending before the Board, as evident from the minutes of meeting of the Board on December 13, 2023,” the Centre said.

Delhi govt relied upon a memorandum of understanding signed with Himachal Pradesh on Dec 20, 2019 to inform the SC that the surplus water released by Himachal Pradesh at Tajewala (at HP/ Haryana border) is not being released by Haryana to Delhi, the Centre said.

It said a similar petition by Delhi govt seeking additional water to meet shortage of drinking water was rejected by the SC in 2021 while granting it liberty to move UYRB and raise the issue there.

All steps must be taken to plug loss of water in supply: SC

Arvind Kejriwal govt had moved apex court seeking a direction to Haryana for immediate and continuous release of water at Wazirabad barrage

 Continued from P1

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta said convening a meeting of Upper Yamuna River Board (UYRB) on June 4 would be difficult. The Supreme Court realised that June 4 being the counting of Lok Sabha election votes, and said“everyone would be glued to the TV” and “there would be too much (political) heat”.

It directed convening of the meeting on June 5 and sought a status report of the steps taken to resolve the water crisis by June 6, the next date of hearing on the petition filed by Delhi govt. Mehta said the issue is already under consideration of UYRB and Himachal Pradesh has been asked to find out the surplus water available with it.

Arvind Kejriwal govt had moved SC seeking a direction to Haryana for “immediate and continuous release of water at Wazirabad barrage, including but not limited to the full surplus wa- ter provided by Himachal Pradesh for NCT Delhi” for mitigation of water crisis in the national capital.

Reflecting on the loss of water in distribution men- tioned by Mehta, the bench told Delhi govt counsel AM Singhvi that all steps must be taken by Delhi govt to plug the loss of water in supply. Mehta said as per Economic Survey of Delhi 2023-24, 52.3% of water supplied to Delhi does not reach the citizens for factors like theft of water by industries and menace of water tankers mafia. SC will hear the matter again on June 6.

UYRB, under Union ministry of Jal Shakti, was creat- ed on March 11, 1995 based on a memorandum of understanding signed by CMs of HP, UP, Rajasthan and NCTD on May 12, 1994 for allocation of utilisable surface flow of Yamuna up to Okhla barrage. Upper Yamuna Review Committee (UYRC), comprising CMs of UP, Uttarakhand, HP, Haryana, Rajasthan and NCTD under the chairmanship of Union water resources minister, assesses UYRB’s working and ensures implementation of the MoU.

Metro helps Delhi beat May heat with 60 lakh passenger journeys

POPULAR CHOICE

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: Average passenger journeys in Delhi Metro in May were a record high at 60.17 lakh against the 52.41 lakh in May 2023.

Officials said Delhi Metro has become a popular choice among commuters during the scorching summer.

“During this summer, when Delhi has been witnessing high temperatures, Delhi Metro is silently offering its cool service across the network by performing over 4,200 train trips and running around 1.40 lakh km daily. Thereby, it is giving much needed relief to commuters with a 24-degree Celsius pleasant commuting experience throughout the day,” Anuj Dayal, principal executive director for corporate communication with DMRC, said.

He added that Delhi Metro offers services in the most reliable and comfortable manner with no breakdowns or AC failures reported from any of its trains or underground stations which are designed for air-conditioning.

At present, DMRC has a fleet of over 345 trains with around 5,000 AC units installed in them. “To ensure that all AC units give their optimum performance during peak summer, a comprehensive health check for these units is done in March every year before summer starts. In addition, regular maintenance of the AC units is done every three months,” Dayal said. Besides this, train operators also regularly monitor coach temperature to promptly address issues related to temperature variation and to ensure a pleasant journey for passengers.

Similarly, all underground stations are equipped with building management systems (BMS) and a chiller plan manager (CPM) for remote monitoring and control of air condi- tioning units. This system continuously monitors the ambient and station temperature on a real-time basis and takes action to maintain the station temperature between 25 and 27 degrees Celsius, even when outside temperatures ranges from 45 to 50 degrees Celsius.

“Regular inspections are being conducted on infrastructure components sensitive to heat, such as escalators and lifts to prevent malfunction. The frequency of maintenance checks for heat-sensitive equipment is also increased during such periods. To prevent any incidence of fire, which is a common phenomenon during such heatwaves, DMRC has a mechanism of fire extinguishers and hoses at its stations which are regularly maintained. Sprinkler systems are regularly checked,” said a DMRC official.

DMRC said it is taking measures on construction sites. It has enforced the provision of providing breaks to the workforce during the afternoons due to the ongoing heatwave. “Other necessary provisions such as drinking water, medical facilities have also been made available at all our sites. We are ensuring that the workforce is not exposed to excessive heat,” Dayal said.

Heatwave strikes back after two-day break; Najafgarh, Narela clock 46.9°C

Kushagra.Dixit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Safdarjung, the city’s base weather station, recorded a heatwave after a break of two days. The discomfort is expected to continue on Tuesday.

Some areas in Delhi on Monday also saw heatwaves for the 10th day in a row.

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung was recorded at 44.6 degrees Celsius, five degrees above normal and hence a heatwave. On Sunday, the base station had recorded 42.8 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was 30.2 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said the maximum and minimum temperatures on Tuesday are likely to hover around 44 and 31 degrees Celsius, respectively.

On June 1 and 2, some parts of Delhi got a slight relief from the intense heat. On May 31, Safdarjung recorded a heatwave with a maximum temperature of 45.8 degree Celsius.

IMD, however, expects the temperatures to remain high on Tuesday as well, with heatwave conditions in many places despite an active western disturbance.

IMD also expects very light rain and a thunderstorm towards late evening and night on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

“There are chances of heatwave conditions to continue on Tuesday as well. An orange alert has been issued.

There is an impact of a western disturbance, though chances of thunderstorms or light rain are less on Tuesday. A yellow alert has been issued for Wednesday and Thursday for rain and thundershowers and the weather is likely to be favourable too,” an official at IMD said.

At 46.9 degrees Celsius, Najafgarh in west Delhi and Narela in north Delhi were the hottest areas of the city on Monday. On Sunday, Narela was the hottest with a maximum of 45.1 degrees Celsius.

On Monday, other areas which suffered blistering hot weather included Ayanagar at 45.1 degrees, Jafarpur at 45.8, and Pitampura and Pusa at 46 degrees Celsius.

The Ridge recorded 44.9 degrees Celsius, 5 notches above normal that qualified as a heatwave. Narela, seven notches above normal, recorded a severe heatwave.

The heatwave is recorded when the maximum temperature is above 40 degrees Celsius and is at least 4.5 notches above normal, or if the maximum temperature is above 45 degrees Celsius. A severe heatwave is declared when the maximum temperature is above 6.5 degrees or more above normal.

The heat index or the feellike temperature was 46 degrees Celsius for Monday, a rise against 44.5 a day earlier due to influx of moisture. The humidity on Monday oscillated between 55% to 19%.

Mural of the story? Helping women reclaim their lost space

ASTUDENT SAYS During our research, we found that the men at Guru Nanak Market, which is near Kashmere Gate, liked their women indoors, restricted to the terraces of the buildings there

INSPIRING CHANGE: Eight PG students from Ambedkar University Delhi's School of Social Design have transformed a panchayati pyayu at Guru Nanak Market near Kashmere Gate into a community hub

Shreya.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: In an ever-evolving urban space, can a mural depicting two women holding hands challenge the gendered spaces where women remain invisible and empower them to leave their homes and voice their needs?

Eight curious master's degree programme students from Ambedkar University Delhi's School of Social Design found exactly such a space when they spent some days researching Guru Nanak Market, a wholesale hub for automotive spare parts in old Delhi’s Chabi Ganj.

Picture around 10,000 shops, mostly run by generational ownership, tightly packed, ageing and decaying, rising three or four storeys tall. The lanes are narrow, barely accommodating the head loaders who transport goods from the market to distribution points on carts. And a predominantly male workforce, mostly migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, with some women employed to handle accounts and packaging.

“During our research, we found that the men at Guru Nanak Market, which is near Kashmere Gate, liked their women indoors, restricted to the terraces of the buildings there,” said student Alfia, who uses only her first name. “We found three toilets in the market accessible by the head loaders. Of them, two provided paid access though none was maintained properly. There is a single toilet for women, but it’s designated for the Valmiki community, so women from other castes prefer not to use it.”

Another student disclosed, “We chanced upon a panchayati pyaau there.” The pyaau, a post-independence facility meant to offer drinking water to people, stands neglected, like many others in old Delhi. It was then that the students decided to transform the pyaau into a community hub, particularly for the women of Chabi Ganj.

Venugopal Maddipati, studio director at the School of Social Design, AUD, explained, “The pyaau is a big earthen pot installed on the streets to store drinking water for wayfarers. It is a true repre- sentation of the community's collective welfare ethics. Historically, a pyaau was a spot where women congregated.”

The students thought pain- ting murals at the panchayati pyaau would resonate with women and engage them. “We decided to draw the two women on the mural,” said Alifa.

Another student Rinki, who also declined to use her surname, added, “I hope every time the women see the mural, they will feel seen. It is a way for them to reclaim their space.”

The youngsters held an informal meeting with women residents of the area. The mural was discussed with the community. “ Itne saalo baad hamare pyaau pe kuchh ho raha hai,” smiled one woman. Another said, " Ab pyaau pyaau lag raha hai.” Some wondered, however, if water supply would prove a problem.

Ashopkeeper right next to the pyaau is the grandson of the man who built the pyaau in the first place. He said, “I am so glad that it's working after such a long time. People who work here are not a vote bank so political leaders don’t take an interest in our issues. In the summer heat, the pyaau will be so useful for the people.”

The students' efforts drew attention and prompted the locals to repair the taps and offer much-needed relief to the labourers working daily in the heat.

Housewife Aarti said, “I loved the new look and took a selfie with the painting when I visited the pyaau with my daughter. It is so inspiring to see young people think so deeply about us and our existence and make us believe we matter.”

Maddipati said, “I believe that the murals are a catalyst. First, the visual images can raise awareness of pressing social concerns and secondly, they can start a dialogue that leads to change. I am proud of my students for executing the project so well. I will ensure they do more of this work.”

Unable to get high? Why you may have polls to blame

STARING AT ‘DRY DAYS’?

Amin Ali TNN

New Delhi: A restaurateur was planning to launch his premium dining and party establishment in Chhatarpur in March after working on the project for over six months. A team of the chefs, bartenders and service staff were hired from across the globe. Just as he was gearing up for operations, the model code of conduct for the Lok Sabha elections came into force. He has since been awaiting the excise licence for his swanky outlet.

Another restaurant chain that was planning to open its biggest outlet and introduce a bar menu and cocktails at a Vasant Kunj mall is operating as a food outlet because it hasn’t yet been given an excise licence. There are almost 50 new restaurants awaiting trade licences while over 30% of the existing 800 licensed outlets are awaiting renewals, according to Sandeep Goyle, Delhi chapter head, National Restaurant Association of India.

Four major approvals are required by new establishments before an excise licence is granted: health trade licence issued by the municipal body, eating house registration with Delhi Police, fire safety certification by Delhi Fire Service and Delhi Pollution Control Committee’s consent to operate. Without the excise licence, outlets cannot get transport permits to ferry liquor from bonded warehouse to the off/on-site licensed consumption premises.

Goyle hoped that after the election results on Tuesday, all the agencies would begin issuing the respective permissions.

A restaurateur explained that all permissions come under the unified licence portal launched by the lieutenant governor last year. The LG had stated that “in case the license is not granted or renewed within 49 days, it will be deemed to have been issued automatically”. However, bar and eatery owners say the reality is tedious and time consuming.

“The restaurant industry is one of the most difficult industries and Delhi among the toughest places for business. While every department claims to adhere to deadlines for issuing permits, in reality, the wait at every stage is endless,” claimed a restaurateur, who is awaiting excise papers. He maintained that after the excise policy of 2021-22 was reversed and ministers, including CM, were jailed, no one was working to end the business losses being suffered by restaurants. “Even after all other permissions are in place, the excise department isn’t issuing permissions,” he grumbled.

NRAI has written to govt departments and to the offices of CM and LG, requesting speeding up the licence process. The excise department, it said, told the restaurants that they needed to have Delhi Police, MCD/NDMC and fire service permissions before getting an excise licence.

Those who have managed to renew their licences have another problem —availability of good alcohol brands. Many brands haven’t registered in the city yet. With the model code being lifted, restaurants hope there will be more brands and better supply at their outlets because the available ones aren’t the best options to be offered in a restaurant, hotel or bar. Owners can book alcohol needs every morning at 11am on the excise department portal, but the stocks are limited. A bar owner joked that by the time he received the OTP to place his order, the available stock had already sold out or had been picked up by the bigger players leaving nothing for outlets buying just a case or two.

Amit Bagga, NRAI Delhi chapter co-head, said officials had been busy with election duties and hoped routine work would resume this week. Restaurateur Priyanka Sukhija also said with elections completed, licenses should be issued or renewed within the next few days, though he worried about the availability of some upscale alcohol brands.

Both sides sure of win, BJP ready for big celebrations

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With most exit polls predicting almost a clean sweep for BJP in Delhi, its state unit has planned a grand celebration on Tuesday when the counting for the Lok Sabha polls takes place.

The AAP-Congress alliance, however, claimed that the exit polls were not telling the right story and exuded confidence of turning the tables on BJP.

The voting for the seven Lok Sabha seats took place on May 25. While the last two elections saw BJP winning all seven seats in a three-cornered fight, it is pitted against the joint opposition of Congress and AAP this time.

A senior BJP functionary, however, said there was no reason why its candidates would not win. “We see absolutely no reason why BJP should not win all seven seats in Delhi. The people have reposed faith in PM Narendra Modi yet again. They know that there is no alternative to Modi in the opposition,” he said.

An AAP functionary clai- med that there was a strong wave against BJP govt across the country and INDIA bloc, an alliance of several opposition parties, was going to win the polls. “INDIA bloc will form the next govt at Centre. Modi govt is all set to go. We will win the majority of seats in Delhi too,” said the functionary. While AAP has fielded candidates on four seats, Congress is contesting three.

A Congress functionary also claimed of defeating the BJP candidates. “All exit polls, which are giving 6-7 seats to BJP, will be proved wrong. INDIA bloc will win seven seats in Delhi.”

A Delhi BJP functionary, meanwhile, said the party workers had arranged for music, garlands and an abundance of sweets in anticipation of a straight third term for Modi govt. “From dhol, tasha and nafiri to sweets, everything is being organised on a large scale,” a functionary said. The centre of the revelry will be the main BJP headquarters on Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg, he added.

3-Layered Security In Place For Peaceful Counting Day

Process To Start At 8am, Trends Will Be Known By 11am

Security personnel stand guard outside a counting centre

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Elaborate arrangements have been made for the counting of votes for seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi on Tuesday. While 7,000-odd polling officials will be involved in the process, police have heightened security arrangements across all counting centres in the city.

The counting of votes will start at 8am at seven designated centres. The assembly segment-wise counting of votes polled in electronic voting machines will start by 8.30am.

Each centre has been divided into 10 separate halls. “For each centre, 2-3 observers have been deployed to ensure there are no violations of rules. Depending on the size of the constituency, the counting will be completed in 20-28 rounds,” a senior election official said.

Three-layer security arrangements have been put in place to curb any untoward incident. While Delhi Police personnel will be deployed on the outer ring of the security, the reserved battalion will be there in the second ring and the innermost ring will have personnel from Central Armed Police Force. All the centres will have CCTV cameras.

There will be zero tolerance for any act of nuisance around counting centres and no unlawful gathering will be allowed, a senior cop said.

Another officer said that at each counting centre, 600 to 800 cops would be on duty. “A 100-metre periphery around a counting premise or campus has been demarcated as a pedestri- an zone,” he stated further.

Fire tenders and anti-riot vehicles have also been deployed at strategic locations to tackle any emergency.

Special commissioner of police Ravindra Yadav and his team inspected the security at counting centres and other related establishments on Monday.

Avoid August Kranti Marg and Siri Fort Road

The traffic police have announced that due to the vote counting at the Commonwealth Games Village in Aks- hardham, there will be some traffic restrictions in the area. Commuters coming from the Sarai Kale Khan/Mahatma Gandhi Marg side towards NH-24 are advised to proceed straight towards the Akshardham flyover. They should then take a left turn to reach Pusta Road/ITO/Vikas Marg to get to their destinations, a senior traffic official said.

Additionally, commuters coming from the ITO, Pusta Road side should approach the Akshardham flyover in front of the Akshardham temple. After crossing the flyover, they will take a U-turn and proceed on NH-24 to reach their destinations towards Delhi.

The traffic on August Kranti Marg and Siri Fort Road will be diverted or regulated as per the requirement. “The general public is advised to avoid August Kranti Marg and Siri Fort Road from 6 am to 6 pm on Tuesday and to take alternative routes, such as Ring Road, Aurobindo Marg & Josip Broz Tito Marg, and plan their journey accordingly,” the official said.

Stay put, focused: All three parties prep their cadres for counting day

Abhinav.Rajput@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: A day before the announcement of the Lok Sabha election results, AAP, Congress and BJP on Monday conducted meetings with their party members, offering guidance on strategies to be implemented.

Advising cadres not to get swayed by exit poll projections, AAP and Congress have directed them to stay at the polling centres until the final vote is counted. BJP, meanwhile, has instructed party workers to remain focused on their responsibilities even if “opposition workers attempt to provoke them or create controversies during the counting process”.

During a training session for its counting agents at the party office, AAP national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak told cadres on poll duty to stay put at the counting centre till the end. “The counting agent must match the number of each EVM and the time of opening it. They must keep a close eye on the counting of each vote,” he said.

The agent should also check whether the seal of the ballot unit box has been tampered with, and whether its number and data match the sheet or not, he told the workers.

Before surrendering on Sunday, CM Arvind Kejriwal had instructed party workers that they should be present at the counting centre till the end, even if the candidate is trailing. “The slips of various booths and machines are counted randomly at the end. 5% of those slips are picked and matched with VVPAT slips. The VVPAT slips are matched like the counting of ballot papers. If even a single slip does not match with the machine, then that election is cancelled,” he had said.

A senior Congress functionary said, “We are hopeful of winning all three seats. Besides, training has been given to all counting agents and a team of advocates and spokespersons will be deployed in each constituency to tackle the situation if any need arises and escalate it to the public immediately.”

At BJP’s training organised for counting agents, Delhi unit chief Virendra Sachdeva briefed the agents on precautions to be taken. “Opposition might attempt to create controversy during counting as they are losing. All workers should remain calm and carry out their duties, and if there are any issues, they should inform their observer or election in-charge,” he told workers.

At the meeting of its West Delhi unit, BJP functionary Jai Prakash told party workers to arrive in advance and ensure they are present till the end. Training sessions were organised in East Delhi constituency, where BJP functionary Anil Gupta addressed a meeting. In South Delhi, BJP’s Rajiv Babbar guided the workers.

A meeting of counting agents for Chandni Chowk parliamentary constituency was also held in Wazirpur, which was attended by in-charge Rajesh Bhatia. “We told party workers not to be carried away if the candidate is in the lead. They have to be there till the candidate is handed the certificate,” said Bhatia. Nearly 7,000 officials will be engaged in counting of votes at seven centres spread across the capital on Tuesday. The exercise will begin at 8am amid three-layer security at the venues.

The centres are located at SKV Bharat Nagar for Chandni Chowk; ITI Nand Nagri for North East Delhi; CWG Village Sports Complex for East Delhi; Atal Adarsh Bengali Balika School, Gole Market, for New Delhi; Delhi Technical University, Shahbad Daulatpur, for North West Delhi; NSUT, Sector 3, Dwarka for West Delhi; and Jija Bai ITI for Women, Siri Fort, for South Delhi.

LG sends Anand’s resignation to Prez, Atishi may get social welfare portfolio

New Delhi: Nearly two months after he quit govt, the resignation of former Delhi social welfare minister Raaj Kumar Anand has been forwarded to the President for acceptance.

Officials in the LG’s secretariat said on Monday that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal signed the file recommending the acceptance of Anand’s resignation on May 31.

“The LG has forwarded the resignation to the President for consideration,” an official said.

Anand resigned from Kejriwal’s council and quit AAP on April 10, alleging diversion of funds for SC/STs for other schemes and that Dalits were not represented adequately.

Anand held six portfolios, including social welfare, SC/ ST welfare, labour and cooperatives. Kejriwal did not assign these to anyone. Govt sources said all unallocated portfolios go to Atishi.

TNN

Bharadwaj inspects shelters to check heat arrangements

Saurabh Bharadwaj

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With the city reeling under extremely high temperatures, urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj on Monday afternoon conducted surprise inspections of rain baseras (night shelters) and also announced supplementary nutritious food on the doorstep of the beneficiaries of anganwadi centres.

Bharadwaj later said the night shelters he visited had adequate arrangements of dispensers to provide cold drinking water and air coolers. He also instructed the CEO of Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board to inspect all night shelters in the city on a war footing. “Arrangements must be made immediately wherever any deficiency is found in the water arrangement or supply of cold water. Wherever a problem with the air cooler is noticed, it should be resolved immediately,” Bharadwaj added.

In the wake of ongoing heatwaves, Delhi govt has announced the closure of all anganwadi centres from June 1 to June 30 to protect vulnerable children and mothers. To offset the impact of the closure, Kejriwal govt will deliver supplementary nutritious food items as take-home ration directly on the doorstep of the beneficiaries, including children aged 3-6 years who receive hot cooked meals at the centres.

Women and child development (WCD) minister Kailash Gahlot said, “The health and safety of our children and mothers are of utmost priority. Given the unprecedented heatwave conditions, it is imperative that we take proactive measures to protect them.” The WCD secretary has been directed to ensure compliance with the order and furnish reports on a daily basis, Gahlot added.

Delhi has 10,897 anganwadi centres providing a range of services, including supplementary nutrition, pre-schooling, non-formal education, health checkups, immunisation, referral services and nutritional education, to 6.4 lakh beneficiaries.

AAP claims CM not provided cooler in jail

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Aam Aadmi Party on Monday alleged that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who went back to Tihar Jail after completion of interim bail in a money laundering case, was not provided with an air cooler in his prison cell.

The party also claimed that Kejriwal’s weight was measured thrice in prison as a part of a “conspiracy”. In a digital media briefing, senior AAP functionary Atishi claimed that during his medical examination on Sunday in the jail complex, Kejriwal’s weight was measured at 61kg. It was then that the authorities got another machine which showed the weight as 64kg, and a third machine was brought which measured Kejriwal’s weight as 66.5kg.

The Tihar authorities refuted Atishi’s claim. A senior jail official told PTI that the chief minister's weight was taken with only once. The official said that Kejriwal was not given a cooler as it is provided only after a court order. “Kej- riwal’s weight is 63.5kg, measured only once when he surrendered on Sunday. There was no problem with the machine. His other vitals, including blood pressure and sugar, are normal,” a senior Tihar officer told PTI.

Atishi, however, said: “At the time when temperature in the national capital is ranging from 48 degrees to 50 degrees, Delhi’s popular chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been kept in a cell where not even a cooler is provided. I want to say to the BJP and the Prime Minister that not just the people of Delhi but God also will not forgive them.”

The Delhi minister said Kejriwal suffered from diabetes for 30 years and his weight was falling for the last few months. “His weight was 70 kg when he was arrested by ED on March 21 and it went down to 63 kg when he was weighed at home before surrendering on Monday. This shows a drop of 7 kg, which is a serious matter yet ED opposed his bail for medical tests,” she said.

Hospital fire: Court dismisses bail plea of on-duty doctor

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Monday dismissed the bail plea of Dr Akash, the on-duty doctor at the private hospital where seven infants died in a fire on May 25.

The court of chief metropolitan magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand stated that no logical reason was given why despite being an ayurvedic doctor, the accused was working in the most critical ward of the hospital.

On May 30, Dr Akash and the hospital’s owner, Dr Naveen Khichi, were sent to 14 days' judicial custody.

“Despite knowing that he was entitled to practise only in Haryana as a Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery doctor, as per the certificate of Medical Council of Haryana, accused Dr Akash willingly started working in the most sensitive zone of the hospital i.e., Neonatal Intensive Care Unit,” the court said.

The court dismissed the argument of the doctor’s counsel that he should be lauded for his efforts to save the children. “Police investigation reveals that he had run away from the hospital when the fire began and rather than calling the police or the fire services, he called the owner of the hospital, and in the entire process, almost half an hour was wasted, which could have saved the lives of newborn babies who succumbed to the alleged incident," it said.

TNN

3 Coaches Of Taj Exp With 300 On Board Catch Fire

Train Stopped Immediately After Flames Spotted, No Injuries

Smoke and flames billow out of the train’s coaches near Sarita Vihar

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Nearly 300 passengers of Taj Express had a narrow escape on Monday afternoon after three coaches of the train caught fire near Sarita Vihar in southeast Delhi.

The train was immediately stopped after the flames were spotted and the blaze was subsequently doused. “No one was injured as the passengers were swiftly moved to the other adjoining coaches. However, the coaches were gutted,” said DCP (railways) KPS Malhotra.

Further investigation is being done by Railways and the fire department to ascertain the cause of the blaze. Police said a committee of officials from RPF and Railways has been constituted to enquiry into the matter.

An SOS call to police was made around 4.40pm, following which a team rushed to the spot near Apollo Hospital. It emerged that D2, D3 and D4 — all general chair car coa- ches — were up in flames. “The train (12280) runs from New Delhi Railway Station to Jhansi. Inquiry revealed it was running about 10 hours late and started from NDLS around 3pm,” said a senior cop.

Fire officials suspect a short circuit in one of the bogies may have triggered the blaze. Delhi Fire Service director Atul Garg said six fire tenders were rushed to the spot. It took nearly two hours to douse the fire.

Another official said train fires often present challenges due to their unpredictable intensity and the distance from fire stations. “The train was not at the station; otherwise, we could’ve identified the nearest fire stations for refilling the tenders. Since we didn’t know how far the train had stopped, it complicated the situation,” the official said.

He said that ensuring sufficient water for extinguishing such fires is crucial. Therefore, in addition to the regular fire tenders, they called in two bowsers, each with a capacity of 12,000 litres of water.

When the team arrived at the scene, the fire had already charred one of the bogies. The firefighters formed several teams and began extinguishing the blaze, starting at the point from where it was spreading and gradually containing it towards the centre, and ultimately dousing it completely, the official said.

Another major challenge was entering the railway bogies, he added. “In the case of a regular fire, we enter the burning structure. But here, the bogies were made of iron, which turned into lava during the fire, making it impossible to enter. We could only spray water from outside,” the official said.

Court dismisses ex-AAP councillor’s plea

A Delhi court recently dismissed former AAP councillor Tahir Hussain’s plea to produce some documents in the case regarding the alleged larger conspiracy behind the 2020 Delhi riots. Noting that Hussain’s application sought the production of the statements of a witness, which were recorded in separate rioting and money laundering cases, the court said that Hussain’s plea did not explain how the statements would help his case.

TNN

Chinkara dies after fight with another at zoo

Officials confirmed the enclosure was unattended at the time of the incident

Kushagra.Dixit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: A chinkara died in Delhi zoo on Saturday morning of injuries it had suffered during a fight with another male in the same enclosure.

Zoo officials confirmed that the antelope enclosure was unattended at the time of the incident around 7am on Saturday. This prevented timely medical intervention that could have saved the animal.

The animal succumbed to injuries in the zoo veterinary hospital.

“The death was due to an injury related to infighting among males, which is not uncommon and happens for show of dominance and to be established as the head of the herd…. The incident happened early morning and veterinary care was started after it came to the notice of the keeper,” a senior official at the zoo said. Sources sa- id that in this case, the infighting must have gone on for over an hour. When discovered, the animal was bleeding and had several puncture wounds.

The death of the chinkara has reduced the zoo's population of this antelope species to eight. Officials had previously highlighted the low number of chinkaras in the zoo, which prompted acquisition of additional animals through an exchange programme from Rohtak zoo last year. The chinkaras were brought to the zoo to maintain diversity in the pool.

Chinkaras or Indian Gazelles is an antelope with long horns which can grow up to 40 cm. The animal found in Rajasthan and eight other states, among them Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Maharashtra.

The incident, according to sources, occurred weeks after night duty staff were removed from some enclosures by the zoo administration, including the enclosures of the antelope.

“More intensive CCTV monitoring and more coverage of CCTV in animal areas are being planned to have more quick information of emergency. We are working to reduce response time in an emergency through technology and by utilising optimal manpower,” Delhi Zoo director Sanjeet Kumar said.

The zoo has 97 different animal species. The officials pointed too that the zoo did not have a chinkara in 2020 but later some were introduced in 2021 as part of an animal exchange programme.

Currently, of the eight chinkara in the zoo, three are males. The zoo had also in the past seen successful chinkara births in 2022, 2023 and a recent one on May 29.

NGT Acts On Partial Combustion Of Fuels

Asks DPCC, CPCB And Ministry To File Replies

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Taking suo-motu cognizance of a TOI report titled “How partial combustion fuels your bad-air woes”, National Green Tribunal has issued a notice to Delhi Pollution Control Committee, Central Pollution Control Board, and Union ministry of environment and forest and climate change.

National Green Tribunal observed that the news item raised a substantial issue relating to compliance with environmental norms and asked agencies to file their response in the matter.

“The article quotes a study published in ‘Nature Communications’ journal, stating that incomplete combustion sources, led by biomass burning and vehicles, put secondary organic aerosols in the air and increase oxidative potential in Delhi-NCR. The news item states that ‘oxidative potential’ refers to free radicals that are generated when pollutants interact with certain substances in the environment or in people’s bodies. These free radicals can cause damage by reacting with cells, proteins, and DNA, and im- pact our health. Oxidative potential measures how likely air pollution is to cause this reaction, which in turn can lead to health problems like respiratory diseases, heart disease, and accelerated ageing,” observed the bench headed by Justice Prakash Shrivastava.

NGT noted that the news item further stated that older, poorly maintained vehicles, and the ones that idle can cause incomplete combustion. It stated that local sources and processes are the main factors contributing to widespread air pollution across the region. Ammonium chloride, and organic aerosols from traffic exhaust, residential heating, and oxidation of unsaturated vapours from fossil fuels are the dominant particulate matter sources inside Delhi.

The study also indicated that the emissions of ammonium chloride are caused due to the burning of plastic or industrial waste, etc., whereas the emissions of ammonium sulphate are due to the burning and usage of coal for various purposes.

Due to all these factors, there has been a rise in the air pollution oxidative factor which is said to be the key indicator causing adverse health effects.

Buyers with registered JAL properties won’t be hit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) on Monday, an NCLT-appointed resolution professional will take charge with the board led by the Gaurs becoming defunct.

The move will not impact buyers of JAL apartments and villas whose properties have been registered.

While the case against it was pending, JAL had sold large plots of land in its Noida “township” to companies such as Max and Kalpataru, which are building high-end residential properties. Apart from real estate, the company has interests in cement, hotels, power and EPC. The company reported a loss of over Rs 1,500 crore during the last financial year.

In a stock exchange filing last month, JAL had said it had borrowings of a little under Rs 30,000 crore, and the defaults added up to Rs 4,616 crore. Weighed by massive debt, JAL had sought to deleverage, selling large parts of its cement and power businesses. It still has a massive EPC construction business, building dams and power projects from Bhutan and Nepal to Gujarat and Telangana. The company had also built the marquee F1 track, the first in the country, but could not hold on to it as the Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority took over the land due to non-payment of lease rental.

Flight diverted after bomb scare

Mumbai: An Akasa Air flight from Delhi to Mumbai received a security alert that had the pilots divert the aircraft to Ahmedabad on Monday. This is the third Mumbai-bound flight to receive a threat alert in the past two days.

The Akasa Air flight QP 1719 with 186 passengers, one infant and six crew members on board received a security alert en route to Mumbai, said an Akasa Air spokesperson. TNN

RRTS on sustainability track with 900 RWH pits

WORK IN PROGRESS

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: In a move towards securing environmental sustainability, National Capital Region Transport Corporation (NCRTC) is developing 900 rainwater harvesting pits across the Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RRTS corridor stretching between Sarai Kale Khan in Delhi and Modipuram in Meerut.

NCRTC, which is executing the project, is covering elevated viaducts, stations and depots to maximise the benefits. The pits are strategically placed for maximum water collection, said an official. “Over 75% of these systems are already operational while the work on the remaining pits is underway. The pits are expected to recharge millions of cubic metres of groundwater, contributing significantly to water table levels,” the official added.

Along the elevated sections of the corridor, the pits are integrated into the viaduct spans, allowing for direct capture of rainwater. Since the majority of the RRTS corridor runs through the centre of existing roads, the primary location for these pits is the median, ensuring optimal water management.

The initiative also incorporates rainwater harvesting at each RRTS station. Two pits are being built near every entry and exit gate. Besides, both depots — one operational in Ghaziabad’s Duhai and the other under construction in Modipuram — feature a significant number of pits, with over 20 implemented at the Duhai depot alone.

“The rainwater harvesting system features a series of pits built beneath the viaduct at intervals corresponding to each viaduct span. These pits collect ra- inwater channelled from the viaduct above. Three-layered filters composed of gravel and sand are incorporated to clean the collected water before it reaches the ground. A unique double-chamber design further enhances water absorption,” said an official.

“Two small water chambers are constructed face-to-face underground, connected by a central rainwater harvesting pit. During rain, water flows from the viaduct into these chambers before being absorbed into the ground through the central pit,” added the official. The depth of these pits varies between 16 and 22 metres, depending on the local groundwater level. Rainwater harvesting pits are being constructed alongside the ongoing construction of the remaining corridor. For the already operational 34km stretch between Sahibabad and Modi Nagar North, the pits are fully functional.

Probe norm violations against dhaba: NGT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The National Green Tribunal has asked the Delhi Pollution Control Committee to look into a complaint that alleges that “Rajinder Da Dhaba” in Safdarjung Enclave has been violating environmental norms and creating a nuisance in the area.

The president of AB Block Market Welfare Association had submitted to NGT that a generator had been kept by the dhaba in an illegal manner and tandoors were being used illegally in the open. However, the dhaba’s CEO has denied the allegations made in the complaint. He said they were complying with all norms, including environmental.

Shreyank Dubey, CEO of Rajinder Da Dhaba, said, “We don’t use coal-based tandoors. Our tandoors are gas-based and are kept inside the establishment. We have licences from Delhi Pollution Control Committee and other agencies.”

He added, “We have an old generator set, which we used to use when there were long power cuts in Delhi. Since Delhi does not witness power cuts now, we will sell this DG set. There is no noise pollution. It seems that a complaint has been filed due to personal vendetta.”

The bench headed by Justice Prakash Shrivastava said, “Considering the nature of the grievance raised by the applicant, we are of the opinion that the complaint which is made by the applicant needs to be duly considered by the chairman, DPCC, and requisite action is required to be taken after ascertaining the correct position and giving the parties an opportunity of hearing if any violation is found.”

Man kills 85-yr-old father after row over trivial matter in Nand Nagri

New Delhi: An 85-year-old man was allegedly killed by his son on Monday following a heated argument over a trivial domestic matter in northeast Delhi’s Nand Nagri. Police have apprehended the 35-year-old accused. The deceased, Om Prakash, resided with his family in Sundar Nagri. Police said they received a call about the incident at 7.30 am on Monday from a hospital regarding the admission of a senior citizen. A team swiftly rushed to the scene and discovered that the injured man had succumbed to his injuries. “He was admitted by his elder son, Kishan Pal, who informed us that his younger brother had fatally attacked their father,” the officer stated. Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said a quarrel had erupted between the two over a minor issue in the morning. The accused, Ved Prakash, allegedly viciously stabbed his father with a sickle kept in the kitchen. The incident sparked chaos, and other family members hurriedly transported the victim to a hospital. A senior officer said that the accused is a bachelor and frequently engaged in altercations with his father over trivial domestic matters. “He was arrested. During the interrogation, the accused claimed that his father constantly berated him for his unemployment and other minor issues, which had culminated in heated arguments previously too,” the officer added. Last year, a man allegedly murdered his father at their residence in west Delhi’s Madipur. The accused was arrested. He later disclosed that he killed his father using a blade because his father was a habitual drinker and was causing trouble for the family, police said. In Feb this year, a 20-year-old man was arrested for allegedly strangling his paralysed father after he urinated on his bed at their home in central Delhi’s Anand Parbat. TNN

Five days after attack during robbery, 90-yr-old dies; main suspect arrested

New Delhi: A 90-year-old man who was battling for life after being attacked during a robbery at his home in northwest Delhi’s Model Town last week succumbed to his injuries on Sunday. Police said they have arrested the main suspect. The victim, Ajit Singh, was a retired official of Reserve Bank of India and had been living alone after the death of his wife a few years ago. Their son lives in the US. The incident took place on May 27, barely two weeks after a doctor was brutally murdered at his home in south Delhi’s Jangpura. A burglar had entered Singh’s house through the main gate, which was unlocked. When the elderly man confronted him, the intruder allegedly grabbed a piece of glass and struck him multiple times on the head before escaping with his phone, said an officer. Singh lay injured for about two hours before cops were alerted. By then, he had lost a lot of blood. He received medical attention soon after police arrived at the scene. Some cops donated blood too. Several teams were formed and law enforcement officials arrested the suspect, Suraj alias Tinku, from Jahangirpuri within 24 hours of the crime. TNN

Trees felled at JNU’s old campus, HC seeks explanation from forest official

New Delhi: Delhi High Court has taken a grim view of felling of trees in Jawaharlal Nehru University’s old campus in alleged defiance of an earlier court order. In a recent order, it issued a contempt of court notice to the deputy conservator of forest (DCF), south division, for “authorising” the felling and transplantation of trees at old campus and sought an explanation. Justice Jasmeet Singh noted that despite the court taking up the matter on May 3, the Delhi forest department did not inform it about the permission already granted for felling two trees and transplanting 132 others. The court’s order stems from a 2022 directive requiring tree officers to provide detailed reasons for felling even a single tree. The order had come after allegations surfaced that these norms were ignored by officials who granted permissions 22 times between May and Aug 2022. Last year, Delhi govt assured the court that no permissions for tree felling would be granted until the next hearing, unless for critical projects, which would need to be reported to the court. However, during a recent hearing, the court took note of the unauthorised tree felling and transplantation on April 29 for a construction project at Institute of Secretariat Training and Management in the old JNU campus.

TNN

Five arrested for duping US citizens in guise of providing technical support

New Delhi: Delhi Police arrested five individuals from a fake call center for allegedly impersonating customer service providers and duping US citizens under the pretext of providing technical support. Cops received information that a call center was operating in Ganesh Nagar area on Saturday. A team was formed, and a raid was conducted, during which they found five people speaking to foreign nationals. They were asked to produce the necessary documents, which they failed to do. During further investigation, it was discovered that the accused had been running the call center for the past 20-25 days. “The accused used to pose as executives of a tech giant and dupe foreign nationals by claiming that there was some issue with their computers. The suspects were inducing them to pay money on the promise of solving non-existent problems. It was found that the fraudsters had installed VPN software on the laptops to mask their IP addresses," a police source said. TNN

EWS patient dies after hosp says no ICU bed

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: A 72-year-old patient from EWS category, Shanti Narang, died after she was denied an ICU bed by Primus Super Specialty Hospital in the city on Monday. The hospital said no ICU bed was available when the patient was brought to the hospital.

Narang, a resident of Malviya Nagar, had been taken by her nephew, Aishwarya, to the hospital’s OPD around 12:30 pm. She had been treated there earlier and doctors advised him to admit her to emergency due to her critical condition. However, doctors in the emergency turned her away saying “no bed was available”. They, instead, referred her to a higher facility with a note on her prescription. (TOI has a copy)

Dr Subrata Gorai, chief operating officer (COO) of Primus, said: “When the patient came to our hospital, we did not have ICU beds. Therefore, the patient was referred to a higher centre.”

Aishwarya told TOI that when he was taking her to the other hospital in a cab, she died around 4:30 pm. "My aunt could have been saved if she had been provided treatment on time," he said, adding that she was being treated for cardiac and lung issues and was also examined by doctors in internal medicine.

Narang's nephew said that they had gone to the hospital's OPD 15 days ago to get her treated but she had to return as her income certificate had expired. "It took 15 days to renew the certificate, and during this period, her condition deteriorated," he said, adding that she was unable to even eat.

Aishwarya claimed that the doctors did not provide even basic treatment in emergency. He added that they did not even offer an ambulance to them. However, the hospital claimed they were ready to provide an ambulance but the patient's attendant did not agree to that.

The issue was raised on social media on X by Ashok Agarwal (@socialjurist). He tweeted — “Poor EWS patient Shanti just now died after she was denied bed by Primus hospital”.

Kavitha paid `100-crore kickbacks to get undue benefits, claims ED chargesheet

Vineet.Upadhyay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: In its sixth supplementary chargesheet in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi Excise Policy scam, Enforcement Directorate (ED) has claimed that Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) K Kavitha allegedly conspired with the members of ‘South Group’ and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to pay Rs 100-crore kickbacks to receive undue benefits and is also “guilty of the offence of money laundering”.

“K Kavitha conspired with the members of South Group and AAP functionaries through Vijay Nair (who was acting on behalf of the top functionaries of AAP) to pay kickbacks.... These kickbacks were paid in exchange of undue favours in the Delhi liquor business,” ED has alleged in the chargesheet filed on May 10.

The court of Special Judge Kaveri Baweja took cognisance of the chargesheet, which names BRS legislator Kavitha and four others, Chanpreet Singh, Damodar Sharma, Prince Kumar and Arvind Singh, on May 29.

On Monday, the court extended the judicial custody of Kavitha till July 3 after she was produced before it following an earlier order that issued a production warrant against her. The court granted bail to three co-accused Prince, Damodar and Arvind, who were chargesheeted without being arrested during the investigation, and extended Chanpreet’s judicial custody till July 3.

In the supplementary charges- heet, ED stated that the total proceeds of crime (PoC) identified so far was Rs 1,100 crore, and through the activities of these five accused, “huge proceeds of crime have been generated”. It also claimed to have provided the break-ups of PoC to each accused.

The agency alleged that Kavitha had handled Rs 292.8 crore and was “involved in the activities connected with the offence of money laundering, i.e. generation, acquisition, possession, concealment, transfer, use and projecting or claiming as untainted property”.

Through the conspiracy and the formation of Indo Spirits, she had participated in the generation, acquisition and use of PoC of Rs 192.8 crore, “derived as a result of the conspiracy of kickbacks and payment of kickbacks”, ED stated. She had shown Indo Spirits as a genuine business entity and the PoC as the genuine profit, it added.

According to the chargesheet, by paying kickback to govt functionaries through their middleman, the accused had participated in the generation of PoC of Rs 100 crore and then participated in its transfer to govt functionaries.

Kavitha had also “actively destroyed the digital evidence to conceal her role” in the case and tampered with evidence by deleting contents from 10 mobile phones, it alleged.

Kavitha had also tried to influence witnesses, as disclosed by her chartered accountant Buchi Babu, ED claimed. Kavitha’s associate and co-accused, Arun Pillai, had retracted two statements regarding her role in the alleged scam, it added.

HC seeks ED’s response to businessman’s bail plea

New Delhi: Delhi High Court on Monday asked the Enforcement Directorate to respond to a plea by Hyderabad-based businessman Arun Ramchandran Pillai who sought interim bail on medical grounds in connection with the agency’s probe into the now-scrapped excise policy. Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma listed the matter for June 10 and also asked the probe agency to verify the medical documents submitted by Pillai. In his plea, Pillai, who has been in the ED’s custody since March 2023, sought eight-week interim bail by citing medical reasons, including severe back pain. “The applicant also has a history of two episodes of fall causing damage to his back, one 13 years ago, and the second around four years ago. He also has a history of tuberculosis (lymph node). The applicant went through a treatment for tuberculosis in 2011,” his fresh application for interim bail stated. It further stated that Pillai was taken to a hospital for treatment on April 25 and May 1 where tests revealed that there is a “multilevel degenerative disc disease.” The businessman said that the consulting doctor has prescribed specific physiotherapy sessions for which he wishes to undergo a 21-day panchakarma therapy at a clinic in Kerala with the “prescribed after treatment of 21 days.” TNN

Dance Of Democracy

- Cong hopes to prove exit polls wrong, talks of rigging fears

- BJP questions timing of acceptance of HP resignations

- BJP: Cong missed chance to behave as responsible oppn

- Naveen set for huge win with 100-115 of 147 seats: An exit poll

- 7 retired HC judges highlight poll issues in letter to Prez, CEC

- AAP’s Sanjay Singh calls for ban on exit polls

Cong hopes to prove exit polls wrong, talks of rigging fears

Denies Protest Plan In Case Of Party’s Defeat

Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi with other opposition members during a ceremony in New Delhi on Monday to pay tribute to DMK patriarch M Karunanidhi on his birth anniversary

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: “We are very hopeful that our results will be completely opposite of what exit polls are showing,” Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi said on Monday when asked about her expectations. Gandhi made the remarks after attending an event here to pay tribute to DMK stalwart M Karunanidhi on his 100th birth anniversary.

On the eve of counting, Congress continued to talk up the possibility of the results being rigged even as it denied that it had finalised a detailed protest plan in the event of the results being on the lines of the exit polls.

At the same time, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge appealed to bureaucrats to discharge their duties “without coercion or political pressure”, reinforcing concerns the opposition has expressed in the wake of the exit polls.

“Do not get intimidated by anyone. Do not bow down to any unconstitutional means. Do not be afraid of anyone and discharge your duties, based on merit, on this counting day. We owe it to future generations, a vibrant democracy and a long-lasting Constitution, as penned by the makers of modern India,” Kharge said in a public appeal.

Congress also asked all its workers to be vigilant during counting of votes, be present in their district and state headquarters and report any kind of mischief to the party’s monitoring cell. The party has informed all party workers that a monitoring centre will be open 24x7 at AICC headquarters in Delhi where any kind of wrongdoing noticed during the counting process must be reported.

The party called for caution, claiming that in the past few days they had seen BJP and its govt “violate the democratic and constitutional process” during elections.

A news agency handle had posted a story claiming that INDIA bloc leaders had been asked to reach the national capital by Tuesday night or early Wednesday, and they would thrash out a plan for public protests if results were not up to their estimates.

Replying to the post, Congress spokesperson Jairam Ramesh said, “INDIA leaders will obviously meet after the results are declared. Any other meaning being given to it is completely misleading and false.” Another senior officebearer said there was no such plan in the party.

Baghel: Mismatch of EVM serial numbers

Bhupesh Baghel alleged on Monday that there were “discrepancies” in the serial numbers of EVMs used in Rajnandgaon seat and demanded an explanation from the EC. Baghel, Congress’s candidate, tweeted: “The EC had provided serial numbers for the ballot units, control units and VVPAT machines used during the elections. However, post-voting data indicates many mismatches in these serial numbers, suggesting that numbers of many machines were replaced.”

TNN

BJP questions timing of acceptance of HP resignations

Continued from P 1

With the three independents’ support, had their resignations not been accepted, BJP would have outnumbered Congress,” the source said.

The three legislators — KL Thakur (Nalagarh), Ashish Sharma (Hamirpur), and Hoshyar Singh (Dehra) — had resigned on March 22 and joined BJP the following day. However, speaker Pathania initially did not accept their resignations, citing a representation from Congress legislative party that the MLAs had resigned under duress.

Former chief minister Jai Ram Thakur of BJP questioned the timing of the resignation acceptance, suggesting it was “delayed to prevent the three independents from contesting the June 1 Lok Sabha election and assembly bypolls”.

The assembly secretariat issued a notification Monday declaring Dehra, Nalagarh, and Hamirpur assembly constituencies vacant, necessitating bypolls. “Another petition seeks disqualification of these MLAs under the anti-defection law as they joined BJP before acceptance of the resignation. Since I have accepted their resignations, this petition would automatically become infructuous,” Pathania told reporters in Shimla.

Earlier, the three MLAs had approached Himachal Pradesh high court to direct the speaker to accept their resignations. The case, pending due to differing judicial opinions, had been referred to a third judge. The MLAs also staged a dharna at Vidhan Sabha complex to press their demand.

BJP: Cong missed chance to behave as responsible oppn

BJP supporters make sweets in Mumbai on Monday on the eve of the results

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: BJP on Monday said that Congress and its allies have not only lost people’s confidence but also missed the opportunity to behave as a responsible opposition as they have consistently tried to demean democratic institutions by casting aspersions on them.

At a press conference, party’s spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that the opposition parties had been acting at the behest of “external forces” which have been hell bent on weakening the spirit of the country’s democracy.

He said Congress and other opposition parties are raising “baseless” questions on the country’s election process to create “unrest” in society ahead of counting.

“On the lighter note, I would ask them not to consider the entire country a ‘pappu’. Don’t try to hoodwink the people of India. They are wise enough to understand that you are levelling these types of allegations to satisfy your ego like a despotic prince,” he charged.

“Wait for the results of the elections. Be ready to gracefully accept defeat, rather than demeaning the dignity of democracy,” headded.

Several exit polls on Saturday predicted that PM Modi would retain power for a third consecutive term with the BJP-led NDA expected to win a big majority in LS polls.

Congress termed their projections “bogus” and said they were a “deliberate attempt to justify rigging” of the elections and part of “psychological games” being played by Modi to lower the morale of INDIA bloc workers. Congress’s Rahul Gandhi dubbed the exit polls as “Modi media poll”.

Also a delegation of INDIA bloc comprising of Congress’ Abhishek Singhvi, approached the poll panel on Sunday and urged it to ensure that all the guidelines are followed on the counting day on June 4, including declaring the postal-ballot results before the outcome of the EVMs is announced.

Trivedi charged, “It is unfortunate. Elections keep happening and govts come and go. But questions should not be raised on the integrity of the democracy and democraticsystems.”

JD(U) polling agent killed in Nalanda

Unidentified miscreants hacked to death a 62-year-old JD(U) polling agent during his morning walk in a village in Bihar’s Nalanda district on Monday, reports Kshitiz.

Locals found Anil Mahto lying injured in Maua village under Parwalpur police station area and alerted his family. They rushed him to sadar hospital, where doctors declared him dead.

“Anil’s wife alleged his selection as a polling agent had sparked enmity. Police have also learnt that Anil was involved in a property dispute with his relatives,” Hilsa DSP, Gopal Krishna, said. JD(U) MP Kaushalendra Kumar accused RJD and CPI(ML) of the murder. “It highlights their desperate measures as they face the prospect of electoral defeat.”

Naveen set for huge win with 100-115 of 147 seats: An exit poll

BJD may get 46% of vote share. In 2019, it won 112 seats with a 44.7% share

Debabrata.Mohapatra@timesgroup.com

Bhubaneswar: An exit poll by Times Now-ETG predicted on Monday a near-repeat of the 2019 landslide for Naveen Patnaik’s BJD in the Odisha assembly polls, differing from other projections that show the party either neck and neck with challenger BJP or not ahead by much.

BJD is likely to win 100 to 115 seats in the 147-member assembly, with a projected vote share of 46%, the exit poll says. In 2019, BJD won 112 seats with a 44.7% vote share.

BJP is tipped to get between 30 and 38 seats, with a vote share of around 38%. If this holds, it will be an improvement on the saffron party’s 2019 performance, when it won 23 seats with a 32.49% vote share.

Congress is expected to face a significant setback, with the exit poll suggesting the grand old party may win four to seven seats with an 11% vote share. In 2019, Congress had nine seats with a 17.02% vote share.

“People of Odisha’s faith in BJD is unwavering. With the blessings of Mahaprabhu Jagannath and the love of people, CM Naveen Patnaik will script history by winning a record 6th term,” BJD Rajya Sabha member Manas Mangaraj wrote on X.

The exit poll projection has shored up BJD’s morale, especially after some agencies predicted over the weekend that the regional party might cede ground to BJP.

The India Today-Axis exit poll, released on Sunday, suggested a close contest between BJD and BJP, with both parties projected to win between 62 and 80 seats. The poll put Congress at five to eight seats.

Lok Sabha exit polls released on Saturday showed BJP might get between 13 and 19 of the 21 seats in Odisha, up from its 2019 tally of eight. BJD, which won 12 in 2019, is expected to win between two and seven seats. Congress might retain its lone seat or draw a blank.

“Change has already happened. People have given their mandate to BJP, which will form the next govt in the state,” state BJP president Manmohan Samal said.

Describing the exit polls as “doctored and motivated”, senior Congress functionary Jayadev Jena said all exit polls would be proven wrong on Tuesday.

7 retired HC judges highlight poll issues in letter to Prez, CEC

Chennai: Six retired judges from Madras high court and one from Patna HC have written to President Droupadi Murmu and chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar, expressing deep concern over the conduct of the 2024 general elections and urging protection of “electoral democracy in India”.

The letter, writer by former judges D Hariparanthaman, GM Akbar Ali, Aruna Jagadeesan, PR Sivakumar, S Vimala, and CT Selvam from Madras HC, along with Anjana Prakash from Patna HC, highlights issues in the electoral process.

They criticised EC’s refusal to disclose the exact numbers of votes cast in each booth of every constituency and the lack of public availability of Form 17(C) of Conduct of Election Rules. They also condemned the minimal action taken against hate speech targeting minorities and opposition parties by senior politicians of the governing party.

“We, former HC judges, having no affiliation to any political party, but strongly committed to the ideals enshrined in the Constitution of India, and to the values of electoral democracy, write this open letter from a deep anguish at the recent and present goings-on with regard to the parliamentary polls 2024,” the former judges wrote.

They called for the immediate intervention of Supreme Court, demanding the presence and attendance of the top five SC judges during the ongoing summer vacation to respond to any constitutional crisis that might arise following the elections. “We hope that our apprehensions are wrong, and the polls will end smoothly with counting of votes and declaration of results done in a fair and honest manner,” they said.

TNN

AAP’s Sanjay Singh calls for ban on exit polls

New Delhi: A day after Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal asserted that all exit polls that predicted a third term for BJP-led NDA were “fake”, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh on Monday demanded a ban on exit polls, claiming they have been proven wrong several times.

Singh highlighted reports from different states to claim that as per certain exit polls “CPI(M), which is not contesting elections in Jharkhand, is being given 2-3 seats, while LJP, which is contesting on five seats in Bihar, is being given six seats.” He further claimed that while there are five seats in Uttarakhand, exit polls are giving BJP six seats, and in Rajasthan where there are 25 seats the results are being shown for 33 seats.

“Exit polls have been proved wrong many times and the survey agencies have no accountability if the results are contrary. Therefore, exit polls should be stopped in the country,” Singh said.

Singh said BJP is trying to confuse people and influence the counting of votes through exit polls. He claimed that the INDIA bloc will get 295 seats after the June 4 counting.

TNN

Times Global

- MI6 turned two China govt staff to spies: Beijing

- In another blow to PM, Brexit champion to stand in UK polls

- Gaza truce plan in doubt as ‘Bibi calls Biden’s proposal partial’

- Biden to sign order that halts asylum if migrant arrival hits 2,500 in a day

- Hunter Biden’s criminal trial begins in aftermath of Trump conviction

- Claudia Sheinbaum elected Mexico’s first woman prez

- Imran, Qureshi acquitted in cipher case

- AROUND THE WORLD

- White bike installations pop up across New York as reminder of road safety

- FROM NEHRU ERA TO MODI, MURDOCH’S 5TH WALK DOWN THE AISLE

- 23-year-old Hyd student missing in California

MI6 turned two China govt staff to spies: Beijing

Beijing: China has alleged that the British Secret Intelligence Service MI6 turned two staff members of unnamed Chinese central state organs into spies for the British govt, its state security ministry said in a statement on Monday. The ministry said the case against the two spies, a married couple, is under further investigation.

In its statement, the Chinese ministry said the spy with the surname Wang studied in the UK in 2015 under an exchange programme and had been invited to dinners and tours surreptitiously arranged by the MI6 during that period. Wang was said to have “a strong desire for money” and was lured into a part-time consulting opportunity with high remuneration before MI6 personnel approached him to work to serve the British gov t with promises of even bigger monetary rewards, as well as security. He agreed.

After espionage training, MI6 commanded Wang to return to China to collect important information related to the Chinese govt. The ministry said MI6 also persuaded Wang to turn his wife, who worked at a “core government unit”, for double the money. The wife, surnamed Zhou, eventually agreed.

In another blow to PM, Brexit champion to stand in UK polls

London: Nigel Farage, who helped champion Britain’s departure from the EU, said on Monday he would stand as a candidate in next month’s election and will lead the rightwing Reform Party in a major blow to PM Rishi Sunak.

The surprise U-turn by Farage, now a TV host, will challenge Sunak’s Conservatives for the support of right-leaning voters at a time when the governing party is already badly trailing the Labour Party in the polls.

Farage, 60, had previously said he would not stand in the July 4 vote in order to help Donald Trump fight the US election later this year. But Farage said he changed his mind because he felt guilty not standing up for people who had become disillusioned with politics and had always backed him. “We are going to be the voice of opposition, and I tell you what, I have done it before, I’ll do it again, I’ll surprise everybody,” Farage told a news conference, saying it was a fait accompli that Labour would win but he wanted to position Reform as its main opponent. He said he would lead a “political revolt” in Britain because “nothing in this country works anymore”, citing problems with public services such as healthcare and roads.

Although Farage has stood unsuccessfully for parliament seven times he is still one of the most influential British politicians of his generation, putting pressure on a succession of PMs to take tougher positions on the EU and on tackling immigration. Farage has previously made comments that his political opponents have called racist. Farage appeared in front of a poster during the Brexit campaign showing lines of migrants under the slogan “Breaking Point” and last month said Muslims did not share British values.

REUTERS

Gaza truce plan in doubt as ‘Bibi calls Biden’s proposal partial’

PM Says Ceasefire Not Condition-Free As Far-Right Allies Threaten To Quit Again

Inconsolable Palestinians at the site of their destroyed house in Khan Younis

US Prez Joe Biden’s proposal for a ceasefire and hostage-release deal to end the war in Gaza was only part of the full package, Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said.

Israel is willing to pause hostilities for the purpose of returning hostages but what happens next will be subject to further talks, Netanyahu said in a meeting with parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee on Monday, according to a spokesman for his office. There are other details that the US prez did not present to the public, he said, without being more specific. “The outline that Prez Biden presented is partial,” spokesman David Mencer quoted the PM as saying. Netanyahu, in a separate statement issued by his office, said “claims that we have agreed to a ceasefire without our conditions being met are incorrect”.

His comments raise further questions about the three phase peace plan laid out by Biden, which he said had been put forward by Israel. That proposal detailed a six-week truce involving an exchange of hostages for Palestinian prisoners, followed by focus on an Israeli withdrawal of troops and permanent ceasefire. Netanyahu was quick to push back against the idea he’s on board with that plan, saying the destruc- tion of Hamasremains a nonnegotiable target. The Israeli PM is under pressure from far- right allies who have threatened to leave his governing coalition and bring down the govt if he agrees to end the war without dismantling Hamas.

The PM’s far-right coalition partners, party leaders national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir and finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, both slammed the latest plan on Monday. Ben Gvir said the “whitewashed” proposal laid out by Biden would mean “the end of the war without achieving the objective that the cabinet clearly set: the destruction of Hamas”. If Netanyahu would “sign on an irresponsible deal”, Ben Gvir said his party “will break up the govt”. Smotrich said: “If, heaven forbid, the government decides to adopt this proposal of surrender, we will not be part of it and we will act to replace the failed leadership with new leadership.”

If the right-wing lawmakers depart the govt, it could force the fall of Netanyahu’s coalition. Opposition politician Yair Lapid, a centrist ex-PM, has said the govt “can’t ignore Biden’s important speech”, vowing to back Netanyahu if his far-right coalition partners quit. Hamas on Friday said it viewed Biden’s outline “positively”, but since has made no official comment on the stalled negotiations, while mediators Qatar, Egypt and the United States have not announced any new round of talks.

AGENCIES

‘State of Palestine’ applies to join SA’s ICJ case against Israel

Palestinian officials have applied on behalf of the “State of Palestine” at the top UN court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza. The request published Monday says that Israel’s military operation is “part of a systematic effort to wipe Palestinian society and its culture from the map”. The request to the International Court of Justice was signed by Palestinian Authority foreign ministry official Ammar Hijazi.

AP

Lebanon’s Hezbollah fires drone squadron at Israeli military unit

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said on Monday it had launched a squadron of drones towards the HQ of the Israel military’s Galilee formation in an intensification of cross-border violence. While Hezbollah has previously launched drones at Israel during hostilities that began in Oct, it marked the first time the Iran-backed group had announced firing a squadron of them. Hezbollah also launched dozens of Katyusha rockets towards Israeli targets in the occupied Golan Heights.

REUTERS

Biden to sign order that halts asylum if migrant arrival hits 2,500 in a day

Washington:The White House is telling lawmakers that President Joe Biden is preparing to sign off on an executive order that would shut down asylum requests to the US-Mexico border once the number of daily encounters hits 2,500 between ports of entry, with the border reopening once that number declines to 1,500, according to several people familiar with the discussions.

The impact of the 2,500 figure means that the border could be closed to migrants seeking asylum effectively immediately, because daily figures are higher than that now.

The Democratic prez is expected to unveil his actions — which mark his most aggressive unilateral move yet to control the numbers at the border —at the White House on Tuesday at an event to which border mayors have been invited.

Five people familiar with the discussions confirmed the 2,500 figure on Monday, while two of the people confirmed the 1,500 number. The figures are daily averages over the course of a week. All of the people insisted on anonymity to discuss an executive order that is not yet public. Other border activity, such as trade, is expected to continue. Senior White House officials have been informing lawmakers on Capitol Hill of details of the planned order ahead of the formal rollout.

Biden has been deliberating for months to act on his own after bipartisan legislation to clamp down on asylum at the border collapsed at the behest of Republicans, who defected from the deal en masse at the urging of Donald Trump, the former president and presumptive Republican presidential nominee. Biden continued to consider executive action even though the number of illegal crossings at the US-Mexico border has declined for months, partly because of a stepped-up effort by Mexico.

AP

Hunter Biden’s criminal trial begins in aftermath of Trump conviction

Hunter arrives at the court with his wife Melissa. First lady Jill Biden also attended the trial

Wilmington: The criminal trial of Hunter Biden kicked off on Monday in federal court in Delaware as Prez Joe Biden’s son faces gun charges in ahistoric case that begins four days after Donald Trump became the first former US president to be convicted.

Hunter Biden, 54, arrived at the courthouse for the first trial of the child of a sitting president, in which he will face three felony charges stemming from his purchase and possession of a revolver in 2018. He has pleaded not guilty. It is one of two criminal cases he faces, with federal tax charges brought separately in California. First Lady Jill Biden, Hunter Biden’s wife Melissa Cohen Biden and his half-sister Ashley Biden were in attendance at the trial in Wilmington, before US district Judge Maryellen Noreika. “Jill and I love our son and we are so proud of the man he is today,” Joe Biden said in a statement, adding that a lot of families have loved ones who have overcome addiction.

Trump was convicted by a jury in state court in New York on Thursday of 34 felony counts of falsifying documents to cover up hush money paid to a porn star to avoid a sex scandal shortly before the 2016 US election that put him in the White House.

Hunter’s trial gives Republicans a chance to shift atten- tion away from Trump’s legal troubles. Trump is due to be sentenced on July 11. He has pleaded not guilty in three other pending criminal cases.

In the case brought by US special counsel David Weiss, a Trump appointee, last Sept Hunter was charged with lying about his use of illegal drugs when he bought a Colt Cobra .38-caliber revolver and with illegally possessing the weapon for 11 days in Oct 2018. Weiss, who has investigated Hunter since at least 2019, also brought the tax charges. If convicted on all charges in the Delaware case, Hunter faces up to 25 years in jail, though defendants generally receive shorter sentences, according to the justice department.

Noreika began screening potential jurors for their ability to commit to serving length of the trial, likely to run through end of next week.

REUTERS

Claudia Sheinbaum elected Mexico’s first woman prez

Lopez Obrador’s Protege Gets 59% Of Vote: Early Results

CLIMATE SCIENTIST & MEXICO’S EX-MAYOR: Sheinbaum, 61, has a doctorate in energy engineering, participated in a UN panel of climate scientists awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and is Mexico City’s ex-mayor

Mexico City:Claudia Sheinbaum, a climate scientist and former mayor of Mexico City, won her nation’s elections Sunday in a landslide victory that brought a huge milestone: She became the first woman to be elected prez of Mexico. Early results indicated that Sheinbaum, 61, prevailed in what the authorities called the largest election in Mexico’s history, with the highest number of voters taking part and the most seats up for grabs. It was a landmark vote that saw not one, but two, women vying to lead one of the hemisphere’s biggest nations.

Sheinbaum, a leftist, campaigned on a vow to continue the legacy of Mexico’s current prez and her mentor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The election was seen by many as a referendum on his leadership, and her victory was a clear vote of confidence in him and the party he started.

Lopez Obrador has completely reshaped Mexican politics. During his tenure, millions of Mexicans were lifted out of poverty and the minimum wage doubled. But he has also been a deeply polarising prez, criticised for failing to control rampant cartel violence, for hobbling the nation’s health system and for persistently undercutting democratic institutions. Still, Lopez Obrador remains widely popular and his enduring appeal propelled his chosen successor.

With about 78% of votes counted, Sheinbaum had some 59% of votes, about twice as many as her nearest competitor Xachitl Galvez. Galvez, an entrepreneur and ex-senator on a ticket with a coalition of opposition parties, got aro- und 28%. Longshot candidate Jorge alvarez Maynez trailed with 10.5% of the vote. Sheinbaum’s Morena party was also projected to hold majority in both chambers of Congress. Speaking to supporters, Sheinbaum vowed to work on behalf of all Mexicans, reaffirmed her party’s commitment to democracy and celebrated her groundbreaking ascension to the nation’s highest office. “For the first time in 200 years of the republic, I will become the first female presi- dent of Mexico,” she said.

Sheinbaum’s experience is ample: She has a doctorate in energy engineering, participated in a UN panel of climate scientists awarded a Nobel Peace Prize and governed the capital. Known as a demanding boss with a reserved demeanor, she has risen through ranks by aligning herself completely with Lopez Obrador. As a result, the prez-elect battled the perception among many that she will be little more than a pawn of her mentor.

NYT

Another milestone: She’s 1ˢᵗ Jewish prez

Mexico elected its first Jewish prez over the weekend, a remarkable step in a country with one of the world’s largest Catholic populations. Sheinbaum, 61, rarely discusses her heritage. When she does, she tends to convey a more distant relationship to Mexico’s Jewish community, which stretches back to the origins of Mexico itself, and today numbers about 59,000 in a country of 130 million people. “Of course I know where I come from, but my parents were atheists,” she said in 2020. Her parents were both leftists and involved in the sciences. But while Sheinbaum has downplayed her ties to Judaism, her origins have not gone entirely unnoticeds. After emerging last year as a prez contender, Sheinbaum faced “birther” attacks questioning whether she was born in Mexico or is even Mexican. Since the Gaza war there broke out last year, Sheinbaum has condemned attacks on civilians, called for a ceasefire and said she supports a two-state solution. It remains to be seen how, as president, she will navigate Mexico’s position on the war, an increasingly contentious issue in the country.

NYT

Imran, Qureshi acquitted in cipher case

Omer Farooq Khan TNN

Islamabad: A Pakistani high court acquitted Monday former PM Imran Khan and ex-foreign minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi, who were serving 10year sentences after being convicted of leaking state secrets, known as the cipher case. An Islamabad HC division bench, comprising justices Aamer Farooq and Miangul Hassan Aurangzeb, delivered a short verdict, accepting their appeals against the convictions.

“The state had badly failed in proving its case and even its prosecutors had abandoned the case. Hats off to the honou- rable judges. It was a case of first impression. Imran and Qureshi did not do any antistate activity,” remarked Imran’s counsel Salman Safdar following the verdict.

Despite the acquittal, Khan will remain imprisoned to serve his sentence in the “iddat” case, related to his alleged unlawful marriage to Bushra Bibi, his third wife. Both are serving seven-year jail terms after a trial court ruled that their 2018 marriage broke the law by not completing the waiting period mandated by Islam, called “Iddat”, after Bibi divorced her previous husband.

Qureshi remains on physi- cal remand until June 5, accused of inciting violence on May 9last year when PTI supporters stormed govt assets following Imran’s arrest.

Imran has faced a series of political and legal challenges since being ousted as PM in April 2022. A special court, constituted under Official Secrets Act, 1923, had convicted the two PTI politicians for sharing classified communication between Washington and Islamabad, which Khan claimed was part of a US conspiracy to oust him in 2022 after he visited Moscow just before Russia’s Ukraine invasion. US and Pakistan’s military dismissed the allegation.

AROUND THE WORLD

A group of women knelt outside the Russian defence ministry in Moscow on Monday, demanding the return of partners drafted to fight in Ukraine. The protest took place after Russia last week branded ‘Put Domoy’ (The Way Home) — a movement to bring back men mobilised in the wake of a Sept 2022 draft — a ‘foreign agent’

South Korea plans to nullify ’18 peace deal to punish North for sending trash balloons

South Korea announced on Monday that it will suspend a rapprochement deal with North Korea to punish it over its launches of trash-carrying balloons, even after the North said it would halt its balloon campaign. Over several days, North Korea flew hundreds of balloons to drop trash and manure on South Korea in an angry reaction against previous South Korean civilian leafleting campaigns. On Monday, South Korea’s prez national security council said it has decided to suspend a 2018 inter-Korean agreement aimed at easing frontline animosities, until mutual trust between the two Koreas is restored. The security council said the suspension would allow South Korea to resume military drills near the border with North Korea. It said a proposal on the suspension will be introduced at the cabinet council on Tuesday. Observers say South Korea needs the deal’s suspen sion to restart blasting anti Pyongyang propaganda broadcasts and K-pop songs and outside news from loudspeakers.

Russian woman gets ‘work punishment’ for putting dye on ballots: A Russian court sentenced a woman to one year and 8 months of “correctional work” Monday for pouring green dye on ballots cast in the prez election in March, a regional branch of the state investigative committee said. The committee said the woman, whom it did not name, had gone to a polling station in the town of Kuragino on the first day of the election and, acting at the behest of “unidentified persons”, attempted to pour the liquid into a ballot box. Her actions created “significant difficulties” for authorities, it said, and she was arrested at the scene. It was not clear what form of work she would have to carry out. Under Russian law, convicted people may be sentenced to correctional labour as an alternative to jail. This can take place at their usual workplace, or at a workplace designated by authorities, with up to 20% of the earnings being withheld.

White bike installations pop up across New York as reminder of road safety

The white bikes serve as stark memorials, both an alert to passers-by that a cyclist was killed and a reminder of the dangerous conditions cyclists face in New York

On a chilly Saturday evening in April, Kevin Daloia took a bicycle that he had painted white and locked it to a pole on East 161st Street and Melrose Avenue in the Bronx. Then he climbed up, stood on the seat of the bike and mounted a metal sign on the pole above it. “Cyclist Killed Here/Rest In Peace,” the sign said. The cyclist, Thierno Balde, was hit by a car on Feb 23 while on his way home from prayers at his mosque. The driver fled after the crash and then ditched a crumpled Jeep Grand Cherokee a few blocks away, according to repo- rts. The police said Balde had run a red light. But the authorities also said the driver had been speeding. Daloia didn’t know Balde, but that didn’t matter.

In his free time, Daloia volunteers to paint old bicycles and fasten them to poles as “ghost bikes” for the New York City Street Memorial Project, which consists of installations around the city marking locations where cyclists have died. The bikes — completely white, including tires, spokes and pedals — serve as stark memorials, both an alert to passers-by that a cyclist was killed and a re- minder of the dangerous conditions cyclists face in New York. The activistshope to catch the attention of drivers as well.

Daloia isn’t sure how many, exactly, he has erected. “I’ve done this for a long time,” he said. “Anything in the Bronx I’ve touched, and I’ve touched a lot more throughout the city. I don’t know the number, man. Probably 20, 25?” Last year was the deadliest for cyclists in New York since 1999. Thirty cyclists were killed in 2023, according to the city’s department of transportation. Of those, 23 were riding e-bikes. Most fatalities oc- curred in collisions with cars and trucks — on streets that did not have dedicated bike lanes.

In New York, a group of artists called Visual Resistance first put up ghost bikes in 2005 in response to a couple of cyclist deaths. “It was supposed to speak more powerfully than words,” said Leah Todd, another volunteer. “A silent but very communicative memorial.” The idea caught on and continues to gain momentum. “We had some grand idea and hope that people would want to care — and want to limit these deaths.”

Ghost bike volunteers recei- ve donated bicycles from bike shops, friends or word of mouth. They remove a few essential parts from each bike, rendering it un-ridable and therefore less likely to be stolen. Although cyclist fatalities are usually caused by car crashes, the volunteers who install ghost bikes are not necessarily anti-car. Daloia describes himself as “a cycling traffic safety advocate who starts his car every day”. He believes cars, people and bicycles should be able to coexist peacefully. “I want some of the roads around here to be safer for pedestrians and cyclists.”

NYT

FROM NEHRU ERA TO MODI, MURDOCH’S 5TH WALK DOWN THE AISLE

Between the tenures of India’s first PM (Jawaharlal Nehru 1947-64) and current PM Narendra Modi, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch has tied the knot 5 times.

On Saturday, Murdoch, 93, exchanged vows with Elena Zhukova, 67, his fifth bride. The couple met through Murdoch’s third wife, Wendi Deng. Zhukova is a retired molecular biologist who immigrated to the US from Moscow in 1991. The wedding comes after a called-off engagement to Ann Lesley Smith, a retired dental hygienist and a conservative radio host

1956 | Murdoch, 25, marries Patricia Booker, a former flight attendant and model; have a daughter; couple call it quits in 1967

1967 | At 36, he ties the knot with Anna Maria Torv, a journalist; the union lasts 32 years, have three children; they split in 1999

1999 | Murdoch, 68, exchanges wedding vows with Wendi Deng, 30, a television executive born in China, have two daughters; divorce in 2013

2016 | At 85, marries Jerry Hall, 60, a model & actress and one of Mick Jagger’s former partners, couple divorce in 2022

23-year-old Hyd student missing in California

Sushil.Rao@timesgroup.com

Mystery shrouds the disappearance of a 23-year-old female student from Hyderabad in California missing for over a week. It is the latest in a series of such cases in the US involving Indian students, including many from Hyderabad, in the recent past.

Nitheesha Kandula of California State University San Bernadino (CSUSB) was last seen in Los Angeles on May 28, possibly driving a Toyota Corolla of unknown colour with licence plate #9KXU509. The details of the car were put out by police on social media on June 1, two days after a missing complaint was lodged with Los Angeles Police on May 30.

CSUSB chief of police John Guttierez has sought information from the public on the whereabouts of Nitheesha. Her mobile number and her last known location were also shared. “She has not been in contact with anyone since last Friday night... If anyone is around this location, it would be helpful if you can try to contact her. Please let us know, we are so worried,” a family member said in a note shared by friends on social media.

Editorial

- Fearless & Frank: YouTubers Who Beat TV In Poll Game

- Clock’s Ticking

- Find Andhra’s Capital

- Relations, after elections

- Are ACs Now A Human Right?

- Political Parties Should Have Mutual Respect

- A thought for today

- Sacred space

Fearless & Frank: YouTubers Who Beat TV In Poll Game

We are not a quiet country, listenership for dissent is expanding. Data is cheap, phones have competent cameras. All this has changed the project of amplifying voices from the ground

Anand.Soondas@timesgroup.com

A raucous group of mostly young men – and a few women – had gathered outside the DM’s office in Farrukhabad on a sweltering May afternoon. They were clamouring for “press passes” to cover the voting process on the 13th of that month. Many returned emptyhanded as they were not “recognised” as members of the esteemed fourth estate. But all of them eventually did what they had set out to do. They fed their YouTube channels with what they judged to be their best and boldest election story from that wedge of UP.

In this edition of Lok Sabha polls, like no other before it, a fair bit of opinion on the ground was tempered and forged by local and independent journalists – often carrying just a phone, or a small camera and tripod – with their YouTube offerings and Facebook posts, WhatsApp messages and tweets. And with a fearlessness perhaps undetected until now.

The YouTubers somehow beat the rest and stole the show, doing everything, everywhere. They went where no television, until now the dominant medium of “news dispensation”, could go or was reluctant to, gathering info and influence, shoring up hits and sometimes hate.

The numbers by themselves are formidable, occasionally staggering. According to a set of sources, YouTube subscribers in India, at 462m and growing, make the largest such audience in the world. It’s a platform ripe for the picking. And to use a phrase we in India love, it’s costeffective. While the real big sharks have been able to cobble together teams that do research for them and produce slick films with enviable technical know-how, a substantial chunk of the online army constitutes one-man or one-woman units who do everything on their own – write, edit, produce, sell.

Those who understood YouTube’s power early on have reaped the rewards. A former TV journalist has over 10m subscribers, another upwards of 20m. At last count, a video critical of the PM by one of them had 34m views. There is an expanding listenership for dissonance and dissent that’s yet to be tapped to its full. We see it in Bengal and Bihar, Assam and Uttar Pradesh, NCR areas and the adjoining regions of Punjab and Haryana. Pretty much everywhere.

So why is there such a flourishing market for “alternative, non-mainstream” thought and content? Cheap data and improved speeds have made things easy. Greater access to affordable mobiles has added to it. Plus, competent cameras. It’s comfortable these days to stream in regional languages and even dialects, using local nuances whose affinity hits home, whether it is a corner of Arunachal or the remote margins of Jharkhand.

But more than anything else, it’s a sweet space YouTubers have nudged themselves into. In the first week of April this year, as India’s political parties prepared for a hectic and long bout of campaigning, the Uday Deb driver of a taxi going from Saket in Delhi to Gurgaon played a programme on his smartphone that had a YouTuber at a choupalasking a noisy gathering about the issues that mattered most to them. The cabbie said he’d stopped watching the two news channels he liked “till some years ago”. All they do, he said, is bring you one side of the story. “We aren’t stupid, are we?”

It’s helped that TikTok, an emerging “cultural giant”, was banned in India in 2020. YouTubers proliferated. And though requests to block certain channels have gone up – quite exponentially – in the past few years, there are just too many to keep track of in present times. There is also a sense that restrictions have softened to some extent. Bravado has correspondingly burgeoned.

Sachin Sharma, who has close to 43,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel that sometime ago did a string of ground reports from Kairana in UP in the run-up to a tight contest between BJP and SP, has a simple explanation as to why established news studios have a modern challenger. “People don’t see themselves being represented,” he said. “Where are the voices you don’t want to hear? It doesn’t mean they are not there. YouTube has decentralised journalism. It’s no longer concentrated in the hands of the mighty.”

In Gorakhpur, Pallavi Rai, 27, proudly declared she had a subscriber base of “2.4m” with thousands, frequently lakhs, of monthly views and that her neighbours see her as some kind of a local star. It was a tad difficult when she started off, “considering the conservative society we belong to”, but she soon learnt that if one asks the right questions the loudest applause is reserved for them. “It’s not anti-national to do that,” she laughed. “We’ve never been a quiet country.”

Far away in Shamli, Rahul Rana, 31, was more gung-ho. Armed with 1.3L subscribers, he announced that “the dominance of entrenched electronic media is ending.” Asked if he had any final words of advice, he simply said, “Innovate or perish.”

Clock’s Ticking

Next govt’s main task will be to set India on the path of getting rich before it ages

A new govt will come into office with short-term advantages that are rare. Macroeconomic indicators are sound, and there’s no immediate crisis to be tackled. This creates space to carefully address structural challenges that need to be overcome if India is to join a handful of countries that have got past the “middle-income trap”.

Economy | India rode the Covid-induced crisis well. Relatively speaking, GOI didn’t go overboard on the fiscal side while RBI followed suit in monetary policy. Consequently, India’s economic growth rate is the fastest among G20 countries and its current account deficit (Apr-Dec) at 1.2% of GDP is comfortable.

GOI’s main challenge now is to find a solution to the rut in the job market. There’s been a marked deterioration in the quality of jobs. Even in urban areas, which recovered fast from the pandemic shock, the proportion of people classified as self-employed has risen over the last five years. India’s primary economic and social crisis today is that a disproportionate share of the workforce is stuck with low-paying and precarious jobs.

Federalism | There’s a breakdown in conventions that underpinned Indian federalism. To illustrate, a few states have approached Supreme Court over differences with GOI on resource sharing. Against this backdrop, the other potential flashpoint is the possibility of a delimitation of parliamentary seats that will change the balance of power among states. This is an area where GOI needs to tread carefully. Fertility rates haven’t been reversed anywhere once long-term decline sets in. Therefore, delimitation also represents loss of political power in a federal system.

Big power competition | China has emerged as the principal strategic rival to US. Unlike the Cold War era, India has an unsettled border dispute with one of the big powers, even while its growing market is sought after by everyone. The next govt will sail into uncharted waters and it will likely require a reset of some longstanding relationships. Another aspect that will require a relook is India’s trade policy, which has taken a protectionist turn just when geopolitics has opened new opportunities.

India’s on the cusp of a demographic dividend, a phase when there’s potential for transformative economic growth because of demographic changes. But the window’s small. The next govt’s main task will be to set India on the path of getting rich before it ages. The clock’s ticking.

Find Andhra’s Capital

Political vanity has hurt the poorest of southern states. Its new govt should embrace new habits

What tidings might the southwest monsoon bring to Andhra, arriving the same day it lost claim over Hyderabad – Andhra and Telangana’s shared capital for 10 years. As Telangana CM Revanth Reddy oversaw big celebrations on the foundation of Telangana, rump state Andhra had little to celebrate, amid stormy times – and not by way of weather.

Difference of polls | The simultaneous election has been fraught. Assembly results, out today, will reveal if incumbent CM Jagan’s YSRCP could defend his govt against a fierce Naidu-led TDP-Pawan Kalyan-BJP opposition trio, as Congress strained to reclaim in part a Congress legacy state via its Andhra chief YS Sharmila, YSR Reddy’s daughter and Jagan’s sister.

Matter of capital | A capital city has eluded Andhra for long. With each alteration in the state boundary, it lost its capital – Madras to Tamil Nadu when Andhra was carved out in 1953. It lost Kurnool in 1956 after the region was merged with Hyderabad state. In 2014, it lost Hyderabad to Telangana. Post-bifurcation, then CM Chandrababu Naidu said Amaravati was to serve as a lavish greenfield capital city adjacent to Vijayawada. Singapore govt prepared its master plan, 33k acres of land was pooled from farmers in probably India’s biggest land pooling exercise, but little came of it till Naidu’s term ended in 2019.

One to three | Jagan govt’s move to shelve Amaravati and create three capital cities with “decentralised” development – executive capital at Visakhapatnam, legislative capital at Amaravati and a judicial capital at Kurnool – pushed the state into fresh turmoil, further impacting the state exchequer. Andhra still has no capital and remains the poorest among the southern states on per capita income.

How a new legislature will take forward the finalisation of a capital for Andhra may be the morning that shows the day for the struggling state.

Relations, after elections

Some will put on dancing shoes, some say katti

Shinie Antony

’Tis the season of exit polls and sudden elopements. Everyone is a gypsy with a crystal ball, forecasting wins and losses. Up until the results are out, the average Indian lives in his own la la land. As we self-consciously go about our daily business, a voiceover in Amitabh Bachchan’s baritone carries on the countdown to D-day. While political parties are busy practising humble smiles and thank-you speeches, mango people are ready to put on their dancing shoes. Everyone’s drunk on hope.

The weather went from sizzling to torrential rains as politicians wooed voters for over a month. There were rallies, roadshows, and even dead politicians popping up to say hello. Candidates stormed into homes with fixed grins and folded hands to grab and cuddle babies too surprised to protest. Despite AI interference, raucous TV debates by the usual suspects and the geometric analysis of every mujra in Heeramandi, the largest ever election went through without a hitch. Soliloquies by the main characters on stage were neither applauded nor booed – by now, the masses are a deaf lot. Politicians are all milk and honey when they want our vote.

For a foreigner, our tourism brochure has always been full of beggars and unsafe alleys. Whether our leaders go on international trips with a begging bowl or not, our traffic intersections are lined with the homeless. We continue to wink at marital rape within our borders. Women are stalked and acid-attacked to constantly remind them of how risky it is to be out and about. Keeping women unsafe is a full-time job, ask any Indian city. But with a little bit of help from the local police, yawning netas and male mobs on a rampage, the crime rate is evenly maintained across the country.

Flaunt an inked finger only if you believe in fairy tales. At least 30% of the population dodged the ballot, including those who do not believe any political party can really alter their lives. Either we stay at home on voting day because one candidate looks very much like another, or keep on voting like that underage citizen who was caught after the eighth time. Now, security is being strengthened and pianos tuned for dost dost na raha. Friends and foes are set to swap as new alliances will be formed overnight. All relationships are till counting day do us part.

Are ACs Now A Human Right?

Soaring temperatures are here to stay & cooling has become a necessity. But it has to be done smartly. Not via ACs that guzzle electricity & worsen outdoor heat even at a low-penetration level

Chandra Bhushan

Last Wednesday, the automatic weather station sensor at Delhi’s Mungeshpur reported a record high temperature of 52.9°C. Fortunately, the figure has turned out to be incorrect. India Meteorological Department (IMD) has since said the reading suffered from “malfunctioning of the sensor”.

But that is no cause for cheer. Delhi had already shattered its temperature record when Narela clocked 49.9°C on May 28. And the respite from a Mungeshpur like high is only temporary. All climate models show that Delhi will likely reach 52.9°C in the next few years due to climate change. Our focus, therefore, should be on saving lives and livelihoods from extreme heat, which is projected to become even more severe and prolonged in the coming years.

This is not being alarmist, just realistic. Those who believe that runaway global warming and its consequences, such as rising temperatures and heatwaves, can be managed with a business-as-usual approach are deluding themselves. The facts are so stark that only a climate denier can ignore them.

Double whammy: Heat & humidity| 2023 was the second warmest year on record in India, and the past decade (2014-2023) was the warmest ever. In fact, 12 of the 15 warmest years occurred during the recent 15 years (2009-2023). Over the last decade, almost all major cities in India have broken their temperature records.

But it’s not only the temperature that’s the problem. A simultaneous increase in temperature and humidity is what’s becoming the biggest killer. IMD has started measuring and releasing the “Feels Like” or “Real Feel” temperature on a pilot basis this year. This metric combines heat and humidity to measure the actual impact of heat on the human body. A Feels Like temperature above 45°C is considered dangerous for outdoor activities and vulnerable populations. Above 55°C, conditions become unliveable without air conditioning.

In May, multiple stations in Delhi crossed the Feels Like temperature of 55°C. The situation is alarming in other cities as well. On May 3, in Patna, maximum temperature was 40.7°C, but Feels Like temperature was an alarming 57°C. While we have no data on the impact this had on Patna’s residents, it was certainly more than just a “discomfort”.

What we are experiencing is just a trailer. It will get worse in the coming years. Every forecast and new study predicts that heatwaves in the Indian subcontinent will take a huge toll on lives and the economy. So, what should be done about it?

ACs unleash a vicious cycle | An obvious solution might seem to be to install room air conditioners (RACs) everywhere. But installing RACs creates a vicious cycle that further exacerbates global warming and hot extremes.

Currently, less than 10% of households in India own an AC, but this number is growing by 10-15% annually. RACs are energy guzzlers. Even a 5-star AC consumes 30 times more electricity than an efficient fan. So, even at low-penetration levels, RACs now account for up to 50% of peak load in major metropolitan areas of India. If we rely on ACs, then by 2050, energy requirement for RACs will see a 20-fold increase at the very least. If this energy is produced from coal, it will lead to higher global warming. RACs also warm the planet by emitting refrigerants, which are far more potent in warming the planet than CO2.

At a local level, RACs exacerbate the urban heat island effect by expelling heat outside and increasing outdoor temperatures. To combat higher outdoor heat, we are installing more ACs, unleashing a vicious cycle.

Green cooling agenda | However, with Feels Like temperatures soaring above 45°C across most parts of India, cooling is no longer a luxury. It must be viewed as a fundamental right. The question is how to provide cooling to all without further destroying the planet.

● First, we must promote measures that do not require active cooling. We must cool our cities by planting trees and rejuvenating water bodies. We should construct ‘cool houses’ using better construction materials and incorporating passive cooling techniques like improved ventilation and shading. Techniques like cool roofs, one of the simplest and most cost effective ways to cool a building by painting roofs white, can help keep indoor air temperatures lower by as much as 2-4°C compared to traditional roofs. These measures can be implemented by changing building bylaws, urban planning guidelines, and construction technologies.

● Second, we should prioritise centralised cooling projects such as district cooling systems (DCS). These projects supply chilled water to buildings through pipelines, similarto how natural gas is supplied for cooking. The chilled water cools the air inside rooms, just like an RAC. DCS are far more energy-efficient and do not require highly polluting refrigerants. They will also lower cooling costs, making it affordable for most people.

● Third, we should use only highly efficient RACs. To achieve this, we must revise energy-labelling standards to increase the sales of super-efficient ACs in the country.

● Finally, every city must develop an integrated heating and cooling action plan to protect citizens and the economy from severe heat impacts and to provide sustainable cooling solutions for all. It’s time to prepare our cities for a clear and present danger.

The writer is CEO of the International Forum for Environment, Sustainability and Technology (iFOREST)

THE SPEAKING TREE

Political Parties Should Have Mutual Respect

Maulana Wahiduddin Khan

Winning and losing are common phenomena in politics. During the age of kingship, the man wearing the crown used to say, ‘I am here to rule the land,’ while in a democracy, the winner has to say: ‘I am here to serve the land.’ In a democracy, victory is a responsibility and not something to be arrogant about.

Democracy encompasses two distinct phases: the pre-election period and the post-election period. During the preelection phase, political parties compete intensely to secure victory. However, once the election concludes, it becomes necessary for both sides to abandon rivalry and adopt a collaborative approach, prioritising coordination over continued conflict.

The losing party must accept defeat gracefully, without feeling humiliated, while the winning party should embrace victory humbly, without arrogance.

Just as sportspeople demonstrate the sporting spirit, leaders in democracy should demonstrate the democratic spirit. Without the sporting spirit, sports would seriously lose value. Similarly, if the democratic spirit is absent from a democracy, it becomes difficult to avail of the benefits of the democratic system. All parties must adopt the philosophy of adjustment to and respect for each other rather than resort to political fighting or confrontation. All parties should focus on a single goal: national development.

Leaders elected in a democratic system are masters of national affairs for only a limited period. They can do a good job only if they concentrate on the present. If they change their focus and devote all their efforts to ensuring success in the next election, they will lose out in the present and future.

Democracy is a political boon for a nation, but to turn this potential into actuality, we need leaders who can fulfil their responsibilities with complete sincerity and honesty.

The ruling party’s role is to ensure the country’s good governance.

Governance includes fulfilling several responsibilities, such as providing a corruption-free administration, developing good infrastructure, maintaining high education standards, boosting the economy, and utilising the country’s potential in the best possible manner. The winning team will be judged by its deeds, not its words.

We proudly say that India is the largest democracy in the world, but this statement refers only to the quantitative aspect of our democracy. We need to add another dimension to this statement: the qualitative aspect. The time has come to show the world that Indian democracy is value-based rather than power-based.

Everyone talks about Bharatiya parampara, the Indian tradition. What is the Indian tradition? There are two essential aspects of the Indian tradition – peace and spirituality. These make up the real identity of our country, and India can thus emerge as the harbinger of these two values.

India, under Gandhiji’s leadership, adopted the peaceful method for its freedom struggle. His vision for a free India was to make it an international lighthouse. India is potentially a lighthouse for other nations. It has the potential to become a global spiritual superpower. This potential is grounded in India’s rich and diverse spiritual heritage. Peace and spirituality must be integrated to shape the nation’s future.

The writer was an Islamic spiritual scholar and founder of Centre for Peace and Spirituality International

A thought for today

No government can be long secure without a formidable opposition

BENJAMIN DISRAELI

Sacred space

It is through action without attachment alone that Janaka and other wise men reached perfection. Having in view the maintenance of the world order, too, you should take to action.

Bhagwad Gita 3:20

Times Business

- Rupee rises by 31p vs $, largest gain in 5 months

- Adani makes credit card foray, ties up with ICICI Bk

- Adani Grp mcap recovers to pre-Hindenburg level

- Baron marks up Swiggy valuation to over $15bn

- Lenskart raises $200mn, co valued at about $5bn

- Heatwave crimps mfg activity in May: Survey

- Car sales hit by extreme heat, buyers stay away

- Coal output helps power plants meet demand

- Infy campus hires drop 76% to less than 12,000 in FY24

- Caribbean nights: T20 boosts sports tourism

- ‘PSU stocks may gain from govt policies, return higher profits’

Rupee rises by 31p vs $, largest gain in 5 months

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: The rupee closed at 83.11 against the dollar in the interbank foreign exchange market on Monday, gaining 31 paise from its last close. Meanwhile, the 10-year bond fell below the 7% mark.

The bond and forex markets rose due to the influx of dollars from foreign institutional investors and positive market sentiment after the exit polls predicted a victory for the ruling NDA. This Monday marked the largest single-day gain for the domestic currency in over five months.

The forex market opened on a positive note following the announcement of the GDP numbers for Q4 FY24 at 7.8%. Although the rupee reached a high of 82.98 against the dollar in early morning trading, it weakened due to demand from importers.

According to Jateen Trivedi, research analyst at LKP Securities, “Expectations of current govt winning by a good margin attracted rupee buyers, anticipating positive fund flows. The trend remains volatile due to dollar fluctuations, but the rupee is expected to maintain its strength if the election results align with exit polls.”

In addition to the short-term gains attributed to markets being reassured with policy continuity, the return of the NDA is viewed positively for managing current account deficit. “Macro stability is one of the NDA’s key achievements and we expect that to continue. The fiscal consolidation path should continue. We also expect the CAD to be moderate, implying very little pressure on the rupee,” said Emkay Finance in a note.

Adani makes credit card foray, ties up with ICICI Bk

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Adani Group chairman Gautam Adani has introduced a credit card in alliance with ICICI Bank, marking his foray into retail finance. The partnership will take on competitors like Tata, Reliance and Aditya Birla groups in a crowded Indian market.

The billionaire, through his group’s digital platform Adani One, and ICICI Bank have launched the credit card with airport-linked benefits in collaboration with Visa. Cardholders will get up to 7% reward points on spends within the Adani Group ecosystem. These include the Adani One app which can be used for booking flights, hotels, trains, buses and cabs. Spending in Adani-managed airports, Adani CNG pumps and Adani electricity bills is also covered.

Gautam Adani’s initiative comes at a time when Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries has aggressive plans in the financial services sector. Last year, Ambani’s retail unit and SBI launched a co-branded credit card on the RuPay payment network. Aditya Birla Group, too, has co-branded credit cards with SBI and AU Small Finance Bank.

Adani Grp mcap recovers to pre-Hindenburg level

Nearly Triples To `19.4L Cr From Post-Report Low Of `6.7L Cr

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Adani Group has more than recouped the market value it lost since the Hindenburg report was published on Jan 24, 2023. On Monday, as Dalal Street investors went on a buying spree, the combined market value of 10 Adani group companies at the close of the session stood at Rs 19.4 lakh crore, BSE data showed.

It took the airports-to-FMCG conglomerate over 500 days to take its aggregate market capitalisation above the Rs 19.2 lakh croremark — the level it was on Jan 24, 2023 when US-based short-seller Hindenburg Research alleged corporate malfeasance, which the group has denied.

Following the allegations, stock prices of all 10 group companies took a serious tumble and within five weeks, the conglomera- te’s market value had plunged by about 65% to Rs 6.7 lakh crore. In the process, Gautam Adani — group chairman as well as the second richest person in the world in late Jan 2023 — slid to below the 25th spot on the global rich list.

Individually, however, not all group companies have regained their market value, BSE data showed. Adani Total Gas, Adani Energy Solutions (formerly Adani Transmission), Adani Wilmar & NDTV are yet to regain their market cap losses.

Such losses, however, have been more than made up by the strong gains in other companies, led by Adani Power and Adani Ports.

The market cap of Adani Power, the biggest electricity producer from the private sector, has gone up by more than six times since its post-Hindenburg report slide. From Rs 54,344 crore on Feb 15, 2023, its market cap has risen to Rs 3.4 lakh crore.

Along with Adani Power, Adani Ports has also added to its market value substantially in the last 16 months. Compared to a post-Hindenburg report low of about Rs 99,800 crore, Adani Ports’ current market cap is Rs 3.4 lakh crore — a jump of nearly 2.4 lakh crore.

The market capitalisation of cement maker Sanghi Industries has not been taken into consideration since that company was acquired by Adani Group in Dec 2023.

Baron marks up Swiggy valuation to over $15bn

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: In a boost for IPO-bound Swiggy, its US-based investor Baron Capital has marked up the company’s valuation yet again. Filings made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission showed that Swiggy has been valued at $15.1 billion as of March 31 by the investor. This is about 25% higher than the $12.1 billion valuation which the firm had ascribed to Swiggy as of Dec 31, 2023.

Baron Capital had participated in the Bengaluru-based food delivery company’s last large funding round, where it had garnered $700 million from investors led by Invesco at a valuation of $10.7 billion in Jan 2022. Swiggy did not comment on the development. The company has filed for draft IPO papers with market regulator Sebi through the confidential filing route.

Lenskart raises $200mn, co valued at about $5bn

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Lenskart has raised $200 million from Temasek and Fidelity Management & Research in a secondary investment, the startup’s financial advisor Avendus Capital said in a statement on Monday.

Sources said that the transaction has valued the omni-channel eyewear retailer at about $5 billion. Lenskart was last valued at $4.5 billion. As part of the secondary deal, some of the firm’s early investors have sold a portion of their stakes to Temasek and Fidelity. In a secondary transaction, a company’s shares change hands among investors and no funds are added to the firm’s coffers. Avendus did not disclose the names of the selling shareholders.

With this investment, Fidelity has joined Lenskart’s cap table. Temasek is already an existing investor in the company with a 5.5% stake, data sourced from market research firm Tracxn showed. The latest transaction will not significantly add to Temasek’s shareholding, sources said. Following this transaction, Lenskart has raised close to $1 billion in capital over the last 18 months, making it one of the largest growth-stage financing globally, Avendus said. Lenskart did not respond to queries.

Last year, the startup had raised $600 million from investors in two tranches through a mix of primary and secondary transactions at a valuation of $4.5 billion. Abu Dhabi Investment Aut- hority (ADIA) had pumped in $500 million into Lenskart in a financing which was largely secondary in nature and as part of which SoftBank had divested some of its shareholding in the company ($60 million worth of shares, sources said). Private equity firm ChrysCapital had infused the remaining $100 million in a mix of primary and secondary funding. Lenskart is among a batch of very few late-stage startups which has managed to attract investor interest amid still subdued deal activity in the late-stage segment. SoftBank remains the largest investor in Lenskart with a 16.5% stake. Lenskart has been expanding its presence in India while also rapidly scaling its footprint in Asia and the Middle East.

Heatwave crimps mfg activity in May: Survey

While Cos See Reduction In Working Hours, Car Dealerships Witness Lower Footfalls

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Manufacturing activity dipped to a three-month low in May as a raging heatwave took a toll on production, but overall it remained robust on the back of solid global sales, which rose to its highest level in 13 years, a survey showed on Monday.

The HSBC India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell from 58.8 in April to 57.5 in May, signalling a slower but still substantial improvement in the health of the sector. The headline figure was nearly four points higher than its long-run average, according to the survey.

Companies indicated that working hours had been reduced amid an intensive heatwave, which somewhat hampered production volumes. The 50-point mark separates expansion from contraction in the survey, which is compiled from responses to questionnaires sent to 400 manufacturing companies.

The May data showed a further upturn in Indian factory production, which stret- ched the current sequence of expansion to nearly three years. Despite easing to a three-month low, the rate of increase remained sharp. Growth was supported by new business gains, demand strength and successful marketing efforts, anecdotal evidence showed. The slowdown was attributed to reduced working hours amid intensive heat and rising production costs, the survey results showed.

The manufacturing sector has rebounded strongly after the lifting of curbs imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic and latest data sho- wed the manufacturing grew an annual 9.9% in 2023-24, higher than the 2.2% contraction in the previous year, and powering overall GDP growth that jumped to 8.2%.

The survey showed that new export orders rose at a faster pace in May. The upturn was the strongest in over 13 years as firms noted gains from customers across several countries in Africa, Asia, the Americas, Europe and the Middle East.

“Panellists cited heatwaves as a reason for lower work hours in May, which may have affected production volumes. In contrast, new export orders rose at the fastest pace in over 13 years, with a broad based demand across geography,” said Maitreyi Das, global economist at HSBC.

Manufacturers expressed the highest level of positive sentiment towards growth prospects in nearly nine-and a-half years. Confidence was fuelled by advertising and innovation, alongside expectations that economic and demand conditions will remain favourable, the survey results showed.

Car sales hit by extreme heat, buyers stay away

Pankaj.Doval@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Searing heat across many parts of the country may be powering demand for ACs, cold drinks, and refrigerators, but has temporarily punctured the growth of car, SUV and two-wheeler companies as consumers stay away from dealerships to avoid extreme heat.

Companies such as Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis told TOI that consumer footfalls have declined as temperatures continue to stay harsh across many key cities, especially in north India.

Federation of Automobile Dealers’ Association (FADA) has expressed concern over declining demand. “The soaring heat in north India has significantly impacted showroom footfalls, resulting in a decrease of approximately 15-16%. Extreme temperatures have deterred customers from venturing out, directly affecting our sales,” FADA president Manish Raj Singhania said.

Hyundai India COO Tarun Garg said the company is mindful of challenges posed by the heatwave. “To enhance convenience, we have extended our showroom hours and test drive availability into the late evenings,” he said.

Maruti also said that business is impacted. “Elections and scorching heat have impacted overall sales in May… the scorching heat has an impact on the northern zones because obviously in afternoon customers are not going to come and take a test drive,” Partho Banerjee, senior executive officer (marketing & sales) said.

The heat has also seen many potential customers of luxury cars travel abroad. “Many of our customers travel abroad during summer break or have alternate residences in the UK or US. That leads to lower showroom footfalls in May and June,” Mercedes India MD Santosh Iyer said.

Tata Motors MD Shailesh Chandra said the phenomenon is likely to “dampen the demand temporarily” in first quarter of this fiscal.

Coal output helps power plants meet demand

RISES 10% IN MAY

Sanjay.Dutta@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Coal production and dispatch to power plants rose more than 10% in May from a year ago, allowing thermal generators to do the heavy lifting in meeting record electricity demand during the extended heat wave sweeping the northern and western regions.

The sharp uptick in production and despatch has ensured power stations have 30% more fuel than May 2023, with the coal ministry putting fuel inventories at 45 MT as on June 1, sufficient to meet the requirement of 19 days. It said the average daily inventory depletion at the plants during May has been only 10,000 tonnes per day.

On Monday, ministry data pegged the total domestic production during May at 83.9 MT (million tonnes) against a little over 76 MT in the same month of 2023. Output of state-run Coal India, which supplies bulk of the fuel for producing power, increased 7.4% to 64.4 MT 59.9 MT in the year-ago period. Production from captive mines and other entities jumped 32.7% to 13.7 MT against 10.3 MT in May 2023.

Similarly, overall dispatch of 90.8 MT, reflects a 10.3% increase compared to 82.3 MT in the same period last year. Coal India's dispatches totalled over 69 MT, a growth of 8.5% from 63.6% a year ago. Coal despatches by captive mines and other entities rose to 16 MT, a 29.3% annual growth over 12.3 MT. Higher build-up of fuel stocks will stand power plants in good stead during the rainy season when mining gets disrupted, while humidity and farm sector needs push up electricity demand.

The ministry put the total coal stock with coal companies at 96.4 MT. Coal India is carrying a stock of 83 MT, while captive and other miners are holding 8.2 MT. Power demand, which has been rising since May 16-17 when the heatwave struck large parts of the country, hit an unprecedented 250 gigawatts on May 30.

Infy campus hires drop 76% to less than 12,000 in FY24

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh drew `66.3cr as compensation in FY24 — a 17.3% jump over the year-ago period

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: Infosys hired a mere 11,900 campus recruits in FY24, a 76% drop compared to the 50,000 freshers it hired in the year-ago period.

“We recruited nearly 11,900 college graduates in the year and ended the period with over 317,000 employees,” Infosys CEO Salil Parekh wrote in the company’s annual report. The IT firm has already skipped campus placements for four quarters in a row.

Engineering graduates are facing a challenging job market, with major IT companies forecasting sluggish growth for the current fiscal. In fact, Infosys has witnessed a sharp decline in headcount for the first time in over 20 years, with a reduction of 25,994 employees during FY24. In the financial year that ended this March, the combined headcount of TCS, Infosys, and Wipro dropped by nearly 64,000.

In his letter to sharehol- ders, Infosys chairman Nandan Nilekani said the initial hyperventilation of AI doomerism and the risk of human extinction by AI advances like artificial general intelligence (AGI) has quietened down. “People have accepted that, like any other general-purpose technology, be it electricity, nuclear energy, the internet, or even a discovery like fire, GenAI has enormous potential for good when explored and advanced within the guardrails of responsibility,” he said. Even as AI has become mainstream, Nilekani said enterprise AI will be markedly different from consumer AI. “Besides, many of the doomsday prophets pleading for extensive AI regulation have revealed themselves to be just protectionists who want to limit the fruits of GenAI to a few companies and investors,” he added. Nilekani is seeking reappointment as director.

Infosys CEO Salil Parekh drew Rs 66.3 crore as compensation in FY24 — a 17.3% jump over the same period last year. Parekh’s remuneration includes Rs 39 crore worth of RSUs exercised during FY24. He received Rs 56 crore as compensation in FY23. In contrast, TCS CEO K Krithivasan received a relatively modest compensation of Rs 25.3 crore, positioning him as one of the lowest-paid CEOs among his counterparts in the Indian IT sector. Wipro’s new CEO Srini Pallia will receive Rs 50 crore as compensation. However, the median remuneration of employees was Rs 9.7 lakh and Rs 9 lakh in FY24 and FY23, respectively. TNN

Caribbean nights: T20 boosts sports tourism

Debasmita.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

Chennai: With the T20 World Cup kicking off on June 1, sports tourism seems to be back in vogue among Indians.

According to travel companies, the sector has recovered from the pandemic’s aftermath, and there is a huge uptick in the demand for tickets for the US & Caribbean. A survey by global fintech firm Wise revealed that 44% of respondents in India were keen to travel to catch the upcoming T20 World Cup matches live, while 72% believed that the game will provide them more bonding opportunities with friends & family based in the US.

Daniel D’Souza, president & country head (holidays) at SOTC Travel, said, “Sports to- urism is becoming a major driver for the Indian market as it combines travel with the passion for sports... demand has increased by 20-35%. There is also a significant shift the country has witnessed over its 75-year history, with the entry of younger travellers across tier 1 and tier 2 cities.”

D’Souza attributes the growth to a burgeoning middle class, growing appetite for unique experiences as well as the rising HNI/UHNI segment. “We have included a cricketing bonanza for three of our scheduled USA group departures for the India-Pakistan cricket match in New York and will put up big screen displays given the sold out status of match tickets.” For the uninitiated, tickets for the match have gone up to Rs 8.4 lakh.

Shrawan Saraogi, APAC head of expansion at Wise, told TOI, “Beyond being a sport, cricket fosters cultural connections, strengthens family bonds, and even influences financial activities, as seen by increased travel intent during key tournaments.”

Talking about the growing demand for sports tourism among Indians, Rajeev Kale, president & country head (holidays) at Thomas Cook (India), said, “Our consumer data trends for 2024 highlight a 40% surge in demand for bigticket global sporting events, and topping the list is the cricket World Series, Wimble- don, the Olympics and F1 (Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Singapore etc). It’s not surprising then that we have received nearly 200 queries including confirmed GIT (our group series) bookings for the muchanticipated India-Pakistan fixture in New York.”

Elaborating specifically on the T20 World Cup, Subhash Goyal, chairman of STIC Travel Group and Tourism Committee of Indian Chamber of Commerce, said, “From India, there are direct flights to New York, while you can go to the Caribbean via London or Paris. Bookings are high... Despite television and live streaming on mobile phones, the charm of seeing a match live in the stadium and cheering with the crowd is different,” he said.

‘PSU stocks may gain from govt policies, return higher profits’

From P 1

According to Ajit Mishra of Religare Broking, the markets started the new week strongly and leading indices gained over 3% primarily due to exit poll numbers that indicated political stability. During the day’s session, PSU stocks led with BSE’s PSU index closing 7.7% higher. Analysts expect these stocks, like in the last two years, could gain from the govt’s policies and return superior profits.

The rally could extend after the election results are out on Tuesday. “If the actual election results (on June 4) align with what exit polls are suggesting, it is expected that India will experience a period of political stability, clear policy direction and ongoing impetus on infrastructure and capex investments,” Pranav Haridasan, MD & CEO, Axis Securities said.

“This stability is key to maintaining the current, high economic growth cycle. Moreover, there's an expectation that private sector investments, which have been low in recent years, will increase. Keeping these factors in mind, the market is expected to re- main bullish and continue its upward growth trajectory.”

During Monday’s session, foreign funds, which were net sellers of domestic stocks for nearly two months, turned a big buyer. The day’s net foreign fund buying of stocks was Rs 6,851 crore, the biggest such number in nearly two months, BSE data showed.

Of the 30 sensex stocks, 25 closed with gains. Among these stocks SBI, Reliance Industries, Powergrip Corp and some others recorded new all-time peak prices.

In addition to the expected poll results that would ensure continuity of govt policies, fundamental factors are also expected to help the market rally. According to Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal Financial Services, fundamentally, India is witnessing excellent macros with GDP growth of 8.2% in fiscal 2024, inflation at about 5%, fiscal deficits within tolerance band, stable currency, etc. “Even corporate earnings (in FY24) have been solid. We expect the market to reach new highs given the clear majority for the ruling party in exit polls, good macro trends and solid corporate earnings.”

Times Sport

- GALLERY

- Women in a hurry

- Bopanna-Ebden duo sees off Balaji & Co

- CHELSEA APPOINT MARESCA AS THEIR NEW HEAD COACH

- New global competition with record prize fund, announces World Athletics

- Biles continues Paris build-up with 9th US title

- AUSSIE RULES

- Former India batter Kedar Jadhav retires from all forms of cricket

- Prag loses to Alireza, Carlsen jumps to sole lead

- Saso wins second US Open, this one for Japan

- MBAPPE SIGNS REAL DEAL

- HURKACZ REQUESTS UMPIRE SWITCH!

- Vinicius named CL player of the season

- WILL INDIA KEEP THE FAITH IN SANJU?

- ICC ANNOUNCES $11.25M PRIZE PURSE

- It’s going to be a big test for India, says McGrath

- No more underdogs, Afghanistan confident of chasing big totals

- Nortje the star for SA in low-scoring scrap vs SL

- Wiese shines as Namibia pip Oman in Super Over

- Holders England look to regain their white-ball mojo

- T20 World Cup will be my last as India coach, says Dravid

GALLERY

Suspension on Bajrang lifted conditionally

New Delhi: The National Anti-Doping Agency's Disciplinary Panel (ADDP) on Monday revoked the provisional suspension imposed on Bajrang Punia till NADA issues a Notice of Charge to the wrestler, who had refused to provide his sample for dope test after the selection trials in March. NADA had suspended Bajrang on April 23.

Roy Krishna extends contract with Odisha FC: Fiji forward Roy Krishna has extended his contract with Super Cup champions Odisha FC for another year, the Indian Super League side announced on Monday.

Duplantis wins at Stockholm Diamond League: Sweden's Armand Duplantis failed in another attempt to break his own pole vault world record but continued to impress ahead of the Paris Olympics at the Diamond League in Stockholm.

MacIntyre wins RBC Canadian Open: Robert MacIntyre — with father Dougie at his side as his caddie and a noisy television drone close by at times, too — held on to win the RBC Canadian Open for his first PGA Tour title. Four strokes ahead entering the final round, MacIntyre shot a 2-under 68 to beat playing partner Ben Griffin by a stroke.

AGENCIES

ACTION TODAY

BASKETBALL: NBA, 6 am (Jiocinema)

CHESS: Norway elite meet, Rd 8, 8.15 pm (Youtube Chess24)

CRICKET: ICC T20 WC, Afghanistan vs Uganda, 6 am; England vs Scotland, 8 pm; Netherland vs Nepal, 11.30 pm (Star Sports)

FOOTBALL: UEFA National Team Competitions, Slovenia vs Armenia, 9.30 pm; Italy vs Turkiye, 12.30 am Tuesday (Sony Sports)

SHOOTING: ISSF Munich WC, 9.30 pm (Jiocinema)

TENNIS: French Open, 2.30 pm (Sony)

TIMES IN PARIS

Women in a hurry

FUN IN THE SUN: Rybakina enjoyed her outing against Svitolina

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

The sun made a glowing appearance at Roland Garros, signaling the change in conditions to people around the grounds, from staff to spectators.

As fans shed jackets and put on fancy sunglasses, the player field fell in step with the spike in pace. The ball whizzed through the air and the bounce was truer. Summer was somewhere on the horizon.

Not that the second seed Aryna Sabalenka – powering around Court Philippe Chatrier in a fiery orange dress —noticed.

The strapping Belarusian scored an emphatic 6-2, 6-3 win over the No.22 seed American Emma Navarro, who had got the better of Sabalenka in their only previous meeting this year at Indian Wells, to move into her seventh consecutive Grand Slam quarterfinal. Consistency has a new name.

Sabalenka shrugged when asked if the lighter conditions had affected her play. “I don’t know,” the world No. 2 said. “I felt like I was playing great tennis when it was cold. Today, I played really great tennis as well when it was warm and the conditions were different. Right now it doesn’t matter what the conditions are, all that matters is how focused I’m going to be and if I’ll be ready to fight for every point and be ready for long rallies.”

Elena Rybakina, the world No.4, who is seeded to play Sabalenka in the semifinals, prefers heavier conditions. The Kazakh put out Elina Svitolina 6-4, 6-3 to make the last eight, where she faces Italy’s No.12 seed Jasmine Paolini. The Moscow-born 24-yearold, who is second on the leader- board for aces in the tournament, having sent down 21, thought that while the court was still a bit heavy on Monday, the ball was flying because the sun was out.

“Heavier conditions are better for me, I can hit the ball and it’s not going to fly so much,” she said. “Today (against Svitolina) the ball was flying too much. There was even a difference (in an hour) from when I was warming up to when we came on the court to play (the match). It was different.”

Rybakina, who has struggled with illness and energy levels, went back to basics. “In the end I need to adjust and play in any weather,” she said.

Sabalenka, one of the biggest servers in the game, whose serve strayed a couple of seasons ago, has served only two double faults so far in the clay court major this year.

Bopanna-Ebden duo sees off Balaji & Co

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Paris: Sriram Balaji made a valiant effort to best his mentor Rohan Bopanna in the third round at Roland Garros, the 34-year-old fought doggedly for 2-hours and 20-minutes, before the second seeds —Bopanna and Aussie Matthew Ebden—scored a fighting 6-7 (2), 6-3, 7-6 (10-8) win to move into the French Open quarterfinals. Bopanna and Ebden play the Belgian pairing of Sander Gille and Joran Vilegen, the 10th seeds.

Balaji and Mexico’s Miguel Reyes-Varelas, who made the draw as alternates, even took a 7-6 lead in the match tie-break, before Bopanna and Ebden, who weren’t broken in the match, took charge, winning four of the last five points.

“I’m extremely proud of what he has done here,” Bopanna said of Balaji. “It shows he believes in himself and belongs at this level. He played extremely good tennis, he’s an explosive player, with a big game.”

Balaji, who was well out of the player field here, took a chance and arrived in Paris, where he signed up with ReyesVarelas the day before the tournament. “This match was not like any other match, playing Bops, I look up to him,” Balaji said. “I didn’t know how I could react, say ‘come on’ or something like that. Obviously it’s a sport, he will take it in a good way, I thought.”

This match was more than a Grand Slam third-round affair for more than one reason. Bopanna, 44, will decide who he’ll partner in Paris Olympics by the end of this week. Yuki Bhambri (ranked no.52) and Balaji (at No.66 in the Live Rankings) are the frontrunners.

Bopanna said he would let the All India Tennis Association know of his decision by the end of the tournament. Balaji has done his bit in promoting his case at Roland Garros, where the Olympics will be played in July-August.

“It all depends on Bops,” Balaji said of the Oly ticket.

CHELSEA APPOINT MARESCA AS THEIR NEW HEAD COACH

London: Enzo Maresca, a former assistant to Pep Guardiola, was hired as Chelsea head coach on Monday, just weeks after leading Leicester back to the Premier League.

The 44-year-old Italian signed a five-year deal as the replacement for Mauricio Pochettino, who left by mutual consent at the end of the season, and is Chelsea’s fourth permanent manager since the club came under American ownership midway through 2022.

“Enzo has proven himself to be an excellent coach capable of delivering impressive results,” Chelsea co-sporting directors Laurence Stewart and Paul Winstanley said.

Maresca is four years into coaching that has included two spells at Manchester City. He was first a reserve-team coach for the 2020-21 season and then for the 2022-23 season was the assistant to Guardiola. Between those year-long stints at City, Maresca coached at Parma and he has just spent a year at Leicester, who he led to the second-tier Championship title and an immediate return to the Premier League.

AP

New global competition with record prize fund, announces World Athletics

Geneva: Track and field announced a new global championships on Monday and promised $150,000 prizes — three times its recent cash pledge to champions at the Paris Olympics — for gold medalists. World Athletics said the first Ultimate Championships will be hosted in Budapest from Sept. 11-13, 2026 showcasing Olympic, world and Diamond League champions over three evening sessions.

Eight or 16 athletes in each event will compete for a total prize fund of $10 million that is the sport’s richest ever. In what could directly challenge the Olympics, the Ultimate Championships are set to be staged every two years, dovetailing with world championships held every two years in odd numbered years.

It sets up the second Ultimate edition to rival the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games held that July. “With only the best of the best on show and cutting straight to semifinals and finals, we will create an immediate pressure to perform for athletes aiming to claim the title of the ultimate champion,” World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said in a statement. The continued promises by World Athletics and Coe to better reward their athletes is likely to be viewed with some wariness by the IOC.

The IOC and other Olympic sports leaders have pushed back on Coe’s pledge in April to break with tradition and commit to pay $50,000 for each of the gold medals in 48 track and field events in Paris in August.

The $2.4 million fund for Paris is to come directly from the World Athletics share of the IOC’s billions of dollars in revenue from the Summer Games. That amount was almost $40 million from the Tokyo Olympics held in 2021. Now World Athletics wants to make its new Ultimate event.

“Athletes will also benefit from greater promotional rights,” the track body said of the Budapest event, “allowing them to commercially activate and enhance their personal profiles.”

Coe has long been seen as a likely IOC presidential candidate in 2025 to succeed Thomas Bach, whose 12 years in office is set to expire. Bach has left open the possibility of the IOC changing its rules on term limits. Still, the latest financial pledges suggest Coe’s focus is more on taking care of his own athletes with commitments that other less wealthy governing bodies in Olympic sports cannot match. Some of those leaders of Olympic sports governing bodies, who criticized Coe in April, are also the IOC members who elect their president.

AGENCIES

Biles continues Paris build-up with 9th US title

Simone Biles in action

Fort Worth: Simone Biles won a record-extending ninth US all-around gymnastics title on Sunday, signalling she’s a force in the sport as the Paris Olympics approach even as a couple of miscues gave her something to work on before the US trials.

“Today it’s just getting out here, getting comfortable and confident in my gymnastics, and hopefully going to Olympic trials and making that next step towards Paris,” Biles told broadcaster NBC after piling up 59.300 points on the second night of competition to take her total to 119.750. She was almost six points clear of runner up Skye Blakely, who totalled 113.850 with Kayla DiCello taking bronze with 110.800.

The top two finishers were assured of berths at the Olympic trials June 27-30 in Minneapolis, where at least a dozen athletes are expected to make their final case for a trip to Paris. Biles had cracked 60 points on the first night of competition on Friday, and while she couldn’t match that, she earned gold on all four apparatus. “I couldn’t be more proud of how I’m doing this time in the year, and just gaining that confidence over and over, getting myself back in front of a crowd and just doing what I do in practice,” Biles said.

The sheer power that has helped Biles grab four Olympic gold medals and build an array of daunting signature skills was in evidence in her few errors. She stepped out of bounds after her triple-twisting double somersault in floor exercise and skittered backwards onto her back on the landing of her Yurchenko double pike vault.

The vault is so difficult that she still scored 15.00 points — down from the 15.800 she earned on Friday.

AGENCIES

AUSSIE RULES

De Minaur Stuns Medvedev, Becomes first Australian To Reach Quarters At Roland Garros Since Mentor Hewitt in 2004

BREAKTHROUGH: Alex De Minaur exults after the win

Paris: Alex de Minaur broke a 20-year Australian hoodoo at the French Open on Monday as the 11th seed battled from a set down to stun fifth seed Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-1 6-3 and advance to his first Roland Garros quarter-final.

De Minaur became the first man from his nation to reach the last eight at the claycourt Grand Slam since Lleyton Hewitt in 2004, with the victory on Suzanne Lenglen seemingly aided by Medvedev’s mid-match blip due to a foot problem.

Former Paris quarter-finalist Medvedev had lost only twice in eight previous meetings with De Minaur and drew first blood with a break in the third game but the 28-year-old was pushed hard in the next before extending his lead.

De Minaur drew loud cheers from the crowd as he retrieved shots relentlessly to mount a late comeback attempt from there but Medvedev wrapped up the opening set with little fuss to briefly dampen his opponent’s spirits.

Medvedev shrugged off a string of superb winners from De Minaur’s racket at the start of the second set but surrendered it tamely with an unforced error after taking a medical timeout for blisters on his foot midway.

With the momentum shifting, the 25-year-old De Minaur blazed to a 5-1 lead en route to winning the third set before he traded breaks with Medvedev early in the fourth and pulled away shortly after for a famous win.

Former India batter Kedar Jadhav retires from all forms of cricket

EARNEST PERFORMER: Kedar Jadhav

Pune: India and Maharashtra batter Kedar Jadhav on Monday announced his retirement from international cricket, four years since his last appearance for the national team. The 39-year-old, who made his international debut for India in November 2014 during an ODI against Sri Lanka at Ranchi, went on to play 73 one-dayers as well as nine T20Is.

Perceived close to former Indi a captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Jadhav borrowed from the iconic wicketkeeper-batter’s style to announce his retirement with a similar play of words.

“Thank you all for your love and support throughout my career. From 1500 hrs, consider me as retired from all forms of cricket,” (sic) wrote Jadhav on X. Interestingly, Jadhav is currently captaining Kolhapur Tuskers in the Maharashtra Premier League which got underway in Pune on Sunday and his post does not specify whether the announcement covers this engagement.

Jadhav scored 1,389 runs at an average of 42.09 with two centuries and six fifties for India in 73 ODIs. He also made 122 runs in the six innings of the nine T20 Internationals that he played.

Arguably, Jadhav’s biggest moment under the sun came during the Pune ODI against England in January 2017, when he got his second ODI ton. He smacked a brutal 76-ball 120 with 12 fours and four sixes to fire India to a three-wicket win in a high scoring contest.

Having developed his off-spin skills, Jadhav also emerged as a potent option with the ball with his slingy action that fetched him 27 ODI wickets. In the Indian Premier League, the right-handed batter played for Chennai Super Kings, (formerly) Delhi Daredevils, now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala, (formerly) Royal Challengers Bangalore and Sunrisers Hyderabad.

PTI

Prag loses to Alireza, Carlsen jumps to sole lead

Stavanger (Norway): The brother-sister Indian duo of R Praggnanandhaaa and R Vaishali suffered defeats in their respective section, while Magnus Carlsen justified his top billing with a win over an off-colour Ding Liren to surge to sole lead on 12 points in the Norway chess tournament.

Fabiano Caruana also scored over compatriot Hikaru Nakamura to help Carlsen emerge as the front runner for the crown in the six-player double round-robin contest being fought for a total prize pool of $1,61,000.

Pragganandhaa lost to Firouzja Alireza of France in the Armageddon tiebreaker after suffering a bit through the Classical game too, while Vaishali went down to world women’s champion Wenjun Ju of China who outplayed the Indian in the endgame.

PTI

Saso wins second US Open, this one for Japan

Lancaster: The first Filipina to win the US Women’s Open, and now the first from Japan. Sweetest of a ll for Yuka Saso was sharing the biggest prize in her sport with countries of both her parents.

Saso delivered a on the back nine at tough Lancaster Country Club amid collapses from so many contenders. She closed with a 2-under 68 -the four players in the last two groups combined to go 22-over par --for a three-shot victory. And then she held back tears at the trophy presentation -the silver Semple Trophy has only the names of the 79 winners, not their countries -as she thought about how much her Filipina mother and Japanese father have provided so much care and support.

She won at The Olympic Club in 2021 playing under the flag of the Philippines. She won at Lancaster three years later under the flag of Japan. She couldn’t be prouder of both.

“Winning in 2021, I represented the Philippines. I feel like I was able to g ive back to my mom,” Saso said. “This year I was able to represent Japan, and I think I was able to give back to my dad. I’m very happy that I was able to do it. It’s just a wonderful feeling that I was able to give back to my parents in the same way.”

Only the flag changed. The 22-year-old Saso was just as rock-solid down the stretch as she was at Olympic Club, where two late birdies got her into a playoff she won over Nasa Hataoka.

AGENCIES

MBAPPE SIGNS REAL DEAL

FRANCE STAR INKS FIVE-YEAR CONTRACT TO FINALLY END LONG-RUNNING SAGA

Kylian Mbappe, (C) gestures as he is flanked by France coach Didier Deschamps (L) and French Football Federation chief Philippe Diallo in Clairefontaine on Monday

Paris: France forward Kylian Mbappe has joined Real Madrid as a free agent on a five-year contract, the LaLiga club said on Monday, ending a transfer saga that rumbled on for years before the European champions captured their newest “Galactico”.

“Real Madrid CF and Kylian Mbappe have reached an agreement whereby he will be a Real Madrid player for the next five seasons,” the Spanish champions said in a statement, fresh off their 15th European Cup triumph.

The 25-year-old captain of the French national team had announced he was leaving Paris St Germain in a video posted on social media platform X on May 10.

Meanwhile, Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann were on Monday left off the preliminary list of 25 players called up by hosts France for the Olympic Games. Both players had indicated their desire to participate in the Paris Games, but their Spanish clubs — Real Madrid Atletico Madrid — have said they will not release them.

France captain Mbappe will lead France at Euro 2024 in Germany. “I have to give a fairly realistic list, even if I know that it is virtual,” said France Olympic football coach Thierry Henry, before adding that he was “still hoping” to be able to call upon Mbappe during the Olympic tournament. PSG duo Warren Zaire-Emery and Bradley Barcola and Lyon forward Alexandre Lacazette were named in the preliminary list.

AGENCIES

HURKACZ REQUESTS UMPIRE SWITCH!

Paris: Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz made an unusual request to his opponent Grigor Dimitrov to change the chair umpire during a straight-sets loss in the last 16 on Sunday. Hurkacz approached Dimitrov at a changeover in the third set with the Bulgarian about to serve at 5-6, asking him if he wanted to replace Alison Hughes while motioning to do so. No change was made.

Vinicius named CL player of the season

VINI WITH THE CL TROPHY

London: Vinicius Junior was Monday named by UEFA chiefs as Champions League player of the season after spearheading Real Madrid to European glory, with teammate Jude Bellingham picking up the young player award.

Brazilian forward Vinicius scored six goals and made five assists in Real’s victorious campaign. England midfielder Bellingham was named as the Champions League young player of the season after his dazzling first campaign with the Spanish giants.

Germany’s Nagelsmann calls poll over players’ skin colour racist

Munich: Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann on Sunday said a poll ordered by German broadcaster ARD that asked about the colour of national team players’ skin was racist, and said he was stunned it was even conducted.

The poll said that about one-fifth of those questioned said they wanted more white players in the national team.

On Saturday, national team player Joshua Kimmich called the poll racist and his coach agreed. “Josh responded really well, with a very clear and thought-out statement,” Nagelsmann said. “This question is insane.”

AGENCIES

WILL INDIA KEEP THE FAITH IN SANJU?

Samson Was A Revelation In The IPL With His Leadership And Consistency For RR, But Has He Done Enough To Replace Pant In The Playing XI?

Gaurav.Gupta@timesgroup.com

As the IPL season 17 commenced, the narrative was dominated by Rishabh Pant’s remarkable resilience, bouncing back from a harrowing accident to grace the cricket field again. The most uplifting aspect of Pant’s return was his visibly improved fitness and agility, particularly his keeping skills. What also dominated headlines in the IPL was Sanju Samson’s newfound consistency that India’s keeping stocks were boosted for the T20 World Cup in the USA and West Indies. In most IPLs, Sanju Samson starts off with a bang, smashing a couple of match-winning knocks before tapering off. This time, though, Samson was a different man, leading the Rajasthan Royals.

Starting with a match-winning 52-ball 82 not out against Lucknow Super Giants, the Kerala ’keeperbat, in a refreshing change, didn’t let the momentum drop, finishing with 531 runs in 16 matches@48.27, with five fifties and a strike rate of 153.46, most of them batting at No.3. “Sanju has always been a good player of spin and pace and a good wicketkeeper. However, what impressed the selectors this time was that he looked fitter. If he had shown this attitude to the game before, he could’ve played far more for India,” a source involved in the current decision-making process in Indian cricket told TOI.

Praising Samson’s consistency in IPL 2024, former India wicketkeeper and ex-selector Saba Karim told TOI, “It was so refreshing to see Sanju bat like this. Everybody is talking about his consistency, but for me, more than that, it was the game awareness that he showed, as a captain and batter. His increased game awareness improved his consistency.”

Displaying stellar leadership skills, fine form with the bat and a calm demeanour under pressure, the 29-year-old steered the Royals into the playoffs, compelling the national selectors and the team management in captain Rohit Sharma and head coach Rahul Dravid to consider him as a viable option for the wicketkeeper-batsman’s slot for the T20 World Cup. In the process, he pipped the experienced KL Rahul, who has scored 2265 runs in 72 matches for India and was a part of India’s last two T20 World Cup campaigns in UAE and Australia. Jitesh Sharma and Ishan Kishan were of course, left far behind by Samson. Who will India pick though between Pant and Samson in the playing XI?

“They (Samson and Pant) play a different role altogether, so I don’t think there’s any competition between the two of them. Samson will get into the XI if the Indian team feels that it needs a batter at No 3, which means that Virat Kohli will open the innings. I don’t think Samson has been included in the team as a first or second wicketkeeper. He’s been included in the side as a batter. So, if the team management wants to play an additional top-order batter, then Samson will get in. Rishabh comes in lower down the order, at No 4 or No 5. It all depends on the needs of the team,” Karim felt.

Going by sources too, Pant is ahead in the race because he’s a left-hander. Pant’s T20 record, though, is hardly inspiring. In the 66 matches he’s played for India, the 26-year-old scored 987 runs@22.43, at a strike rate of 126.37, with just three fifties.

“I feel both Rishabh and Sanju can play in the XI, because Rishabh is a left-hander. He’s adept at scoring at a high strike rate and is handy lower down, while Sanju can bat in the top-order, at NO. 3, if Virat opens,” Karim said.

For someone who has hardly done justice to his immense talent at the international stage, it isn’t surprising that Samson’s record in T20Is is modest-374 runs in 25 matches@133.09, with just one fifty. Since the 2022 T20 World Cup, Samson has played six T20 Internationals for India, in which he has scored just 54 runs. He also didn’t do much of note while playing for Kerala in domestic cricket which does not help.

But Samson is the man in form and his inclusion could be a game-changer for India. Should he play as the first-choice keeper-batter ahead of Pant?

“Not at all. If you noticed, Samson’s performance dropped off in the last five-six matches of this IPL too. He has been picked only because KL Rahul didn’t have a good IPL. Plus, you need a left-hander in the middle-order. Rishabh has made an impressive comeback, and could be our next captain,” former India off-spinner and selector Sarandeep Singh told TOI.

For now, Samson must consider himself lucky that he’s finally getting to play a World Cup for India.

Will this T20 World Cup be a turning point in this talented cricketer’s career?

ICC ANNOUNCES $11.25M PRIZE PURSE

New York: The International Cricket Council (ICC) on Monday announced a record prize purse of $11.25m for the T20 World Cup with the winners pocketing at least $2.45m which is the “highest in the history of the tournament”. The runners-up will receive at least $1.28m while the losing semifinalists walk away with $787,500 each. The previous edition in 2022 had a total prize pool of $5.6m with winners England receiving $1.6m. The four teams that fail to make it out of the Super 8s will earn $382,500 each while the teams placed ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th receive $247,500 each. Participants who finish 13th to 20th place will return $225,000 each. “Every team receives an additional $31,154 for each match they win barring the semifinals and final,” ICC said. PTI

It’s going to be a big test for India, says McGrath

Shrivathsan.S@timesgroup.com

Chennai: Skipper Rohit Sharma and pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah will hold the key for India in the T20 World Cup, according to legendary Australia pacer Glenn McGrath. Currently serving as the director of coaching at the MRF Pace Foundation, he also stressed that there are no clear favourites although India and Australia appear to be the frontrunners for the title. Excerpts from an interaction:

■ On India last playing a competitive T20I five months ago

You need a team that is comfortable, set and confident, so who knows if it will work for them. The players have come out of the IPL, so they have a lot of T20 cricket under their belt and should be confident in that aspect. A lot of it is going to go around Rohit Sharma, he is a quality player and is experienced. You need someone to hold the team together.

■ On India’s pace attack

You got (Jasprit) Bumrah. He showed just how good he is throughout the IPL. He is one bowler who the batters find it hard to play and get on top of, even in T20s. It is also about who is going to take wickets around him, who is going to bowl around him.

■ On having a left-right pace-bowling pair (with Arshdeep in the XI)

It is like having a left-right opening combination for batters. It also depends on how they are bowling. In T20s, you do not have much time to be ready. If you take an over or two to warm up, the game is already over. If you have got a good opening-bowling combination, that is where you are going to win matches.

■ On who the tournament favourites are

It is going to be a big test for India. I know one-day cricket is different, but India showed in the ODI WC how dominant they can be. Australia have a quality bowling attack, Mitchell Starc is key. If Australia are to win this WC, Starc has to bowl well. We saw what Travis Head can do when he is on fire. I like the West Indies because they play without fear and have fun. Pakistan, you never know. New Zealand is a good team. I do not think there is going to be a side which will go undefeated. It is just the nature of the format.

■ On top players like Starc mulling retirement from one format to play franchise T20 cricket

My fear is where international cricket will be in 10 years. Hopefully, Test cricket is held in high regard. It is a way of the world, everyone wants to be entertained. It is up to the senior players and administrators to hold international cricket in high regard. T20 cricket is here to stay. If that is how we can take cricket to many countries, there is a lot of bonus.

AFGHANISTAN VS UGANDA

No more underdogs, Afghanistan confident of chasing big totals

Georgetown (Guyana): Afghanistan batters have developed skills and confidence of chasing down big totals and the team has ceased to rely on their bowlers for pulling off favourable results, captain Rashid Khan expressed on Monday.

Afghanistan, who have relied on their world-class spinners more often than not, have been bolstered with the rise of the explosive Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Ibrahim Zadran and Azmatullah Omarzai.

“That is something in the past. We were struggling a little bit in the batting area. Earlier, the bowlers would do a lot more and help us win the games,” Rashid said on the eve of Afghanistan’s opener against Uganda.

“Later on, we got those youngsters—especially from Under-19. The the way they have worked hard and got the opportunity to play for Afghanistan at a very young age, and then start exploring all around the world (while) playing the leagues, where they got better and better,” he added.

Rashid feels with a mix of talent, skills and the right mindset, anything is possible. “We have that kind of batting line-up where we can say, ‘it’s fine if there is 200 as well on the wicket’,” he said.

Afghanistan had their best-ever outing at the 2023 ODI World Cup but Rashid said the team is “focusing on one game at a time and making sure we do the right things and take the right decisions at the right time”.

Meanwhile, in Dallas, the Netherlands will open their campaign against Nepal. They have squared-off on 12 occasions in T20Is with the Dutch winning six and Nepal five. One match didn’t produce a result. PTI

Nortje the star for SA in low-scoring scrap vs SL

BACK IN FORM: South Africa pacer Anrich Nortje (R) took 4-7 to dismantle Sri Lanka

S AFRICA VS SRI LANKA

New York: Anrich Nortje demolished Sri Lanka with career-best figures of 4-7 as South Africa exploited the bounce on offer to secure a six-wicket win in their T20 World Cup opener here on Monday.

At a venue where India will play three of their four Group A league matches, Sri Lanka’s decision to bat first backfired. Nortje, Kagiso Rabada (2-21) and Keshav Maharaj (2-22) combined to take eight wickets in a dominant bowling performance as Sri Lanka folded for 77 in 19.1 overs, their lowest T20 total.

But it was not a walk in the park for South Africa in the challenging conditions of Nassau Stadium as the Proteas had to sweat it out after Sri Lanka reduced them to 27-2 inside the powerplay.

Sri Lankan wrist spinner Wanindu Hasaranga led their bowling show with his 2-17 from three overs, taking the wickets of Quinton De Kock (20) and Tristan Stubbs (13) in successive overs.

But the lack of scoreboard pressure meant South Africa knocked off the target in 16.2 overs to get a major boost to their net run-rate.

South Africa now have two points with a NRR of 1.048 to lead the Group D standings. Bangladesh, Nepal and the Netherlands are the other teams in the group. The in-form Heinrich Klaasen smashed Hasaranga for a massive six over long-on and followed it up with a straight boundary to bring up 11 runs in the the 15th over and virtually kill the contest. PTI

Brief scores: Sri Lanka 77 all out in 19.1 overs (Kusal Mendis 19; Anrich Nortje 4-7, Keshav Maharaj 2-22) lost to South Africa 80 for 4 in 16.2 overs (Quinton de Kock 20, Heinrich Klaasen not out 19; Wanindu Hasaranga 2-22) by six wickets.

NAMIBIA VS OMAN

Wiese shines as Namibia pip Oman in Super Over

SUPERMAN: David Wiese celebrates Namibia’s win over Oman in Barbados

Bridgetown (Barbados): Namibia’s Ruben Trumpelmann became the first player to take wickets in the first two deliveries of a T20 international as his team beat Oman via the Super Over in a thrilling T20 World Cup match here.

David Wiese and skipper Gerhard Erasmus smashed 21 runs for Namibia in the one-over eliminator with Oman managing 10 from the allotted six deliveries bowled brilliantly by the seasoned Wiese.

Asked to bat first, Oman were earlier bowled out for 109 in 19.4 overs at the Kensington Oval. In reply, Namibia were also stopped at the same team score with Jan Frylinck making 45 in 48 balls and Mehran Khan taking 3/7 to force a Super Over.

AGENCIES

Brief scores: Oman 109 in 19.4 overs (Khalid Kail 34; Ruben Trumpelmann 4/21, David Wiese 3/28) vs Namibia 109/6 in 20 overs (Jan Frylinck 45; Mehran Khan 3/7).

ENGLAND VS SCOTLAND

Holders England look to regain their white-ball mojo

MONITORING PROGRESS: Jos Buttler (R) looks on as Harry Brook attempts a reverse sweep

Bridgetown (Barbados): Deprived of ideal preparation by rain, defending champions England will hope to get their act right straightaway when they face Scotland in their T20 World Cup opener on Tuesday.

Phil Salt will look to continue his redhot form of the Indian Premier League in the T20 showpiece, even as pacer Jofra Archer’s return adds firepower to the English bowling attack.

Rain played spoilsport in the preceding four-match T20I series at home against Pakistan, but England will still enter the tournament as one of the strong contenders to lift the title for an unprecedented third time.

In what will be their first ever meeting against the Scots in the shortest format, the Jos Buttler-led England will be the overwhelming favourites to emerge winners at the Kensington Oval, which offered a two-paced wicket for the game between Namibia and Oman on Sunday.

Placed in Group B, England have traditional rivals Australia, Namibia and Oman for company besides Scotland.

In white-ball cricket, it hasn’t been smooth sailing for England since their victory over Pakistan in the final of the last T20 World Cup in Melbourne in 2022.

A year after their success in Australia, Buttler’s men endured a disastrous campaign at the ODI World Cup in India, finishing seventh after winning three and losing six of their nine matches including a painful defeat to Afghanistan.

Their poor run in the white-ball game continued with a series of defeats to West Indies in both the 50-over and 20-over format. In the rain-marred rubber against Pakistan recently, England regained some of their lost ground with a 2-0 series win.

Now focused on their opener against Scotland, England have fond memories of playing at the Kensington Oval as it is at this very venue the team won their first ever T20 World Cup title back in 2010 under Paul Collingwood’s captaincy, beating Australia by seven wickets in the summit showdown. In the last 14 years since that triumph, England have become a dominant force in limited overs cricket, winning the 2019 ODI World Cup before their glory Down Under two years ago.

Playing in their third consecutive T20 World Cup, Scotland are no match to their fancied opponents on paper but they will nonetheless look to make an impression after having breezed through the European qualifiers. PTI

T20 World Cup will be my last as India coach, says Dravid

New York: Rahul Dravid on Monday confirmed that the T20 World Cup will be his last tournament as head coach of the Indian cricket team.

Dravid’s announcement was anticipated as he was not expected to reapply for the high-profile job after the BCCI invited the applications last month. Kolkata Knight Riders’ mentor Gautam Gambhir is the frontrunner to replace Dravid.

Speaking to reporters ahead of India’s opener against Ireland, Dravid said he enjoyed every bit of his coaching tenure. “Every tour- nament is important. Every game that I’ve coached for India has been very important for me. So for me this is no different just because it is going to be the last one that I’m in charge of,” he said when asked if this tournament held more significance as it was his last one in charge of the team.

The former India captain had taken charge of the team in Nov 2021 following the T20 World Cup that year.

“I love doing the job. I’ve really enjoyed coaching India and I think it’s a truly special job to do. I enjoyed working with this team and it’s a great bunch of boys to work with but yeah but just considering you know unfortunately the just the kind of schedules and where I find myself in the stage in my life I don’t think I’ll be able to reapply.

“So yeah, obviously it’ll be my last one but having said that it’s no different for me to be very honest. From the first day I took the job, I always felt that every game was important and every game mattered and that will not change,” he asserted.

India will be aiming to win an elusive ICC trophy here and provide a perfect farewell for the coach.

PTI

Delhi Times

- Natasa restores wedding pics amid divorce rumours

- THE PLOTS TO KILL SALMAN: WHO IS TARGETING THE STAR, AND WHY

- We are excited & nervous: Soon-tobe parents Richa-Ali

- BUZZ STOP

- Venkatesh Iyer ties the knot with Shruti Raghunathan

- ‘PLEASE AVOID ORDERING DURING PEAK HOURS’

- HOW TO: Take care of your cycle

- Should you avoid ordering during peak hours? Delivery app’s request stirs a debate

- ‘People always have stories about mangoes to share’

- STAY HYDRATED AND SAFE IN THIS HEAT: MANNARA CHOPRA TO DELHIITES

- A delicious treasure trove for those who love cheese

- DID YOU KNOW?

- HAVE A LOT OF FAITH IN GEN Z, ALPHA & THEIR ABILITY TO DISSECT THINGS, SAY RICHA-ALI

- In love with a woman: Jessica Madsen

- Shut up: Adele confronts homophobic remark during her Vegas show

- Beckham meets King Charles, exchanges beekeeping tips

Natasa restores wedding pics amid divorce rumours

Days after sharing a series of cryptic posts hinting at separation, Natasa Stankovic has now restored wedding pictures with her husband and cricketer Hardik Pandya. For the last few days, there were rumours that the couple had parted ways after a Reddit user spotted Natasa removing Pandya from her name on Instagram and also archiving photos of her wedding and other special moments.

The couple’s silence only fuelled the rumours further, with many trolling Natasa online over a supposed alimony claim.

TNN

THE PLOTS TO KILL SALMAN: WHO IS TARGETING THE STAR, AND WHY

Two parallel plots to kill Salman Khan have been unveiled over the last two months. Who has been targeting him and why?

Around 16-17 members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had conducted a recce at Panvel in February. We have made four arrests last week – Navi Mumbai Police officials

Niharika Lal

Who is Lawrence Bishnoi?

Lawrence Bishnoi, 33 is from a village near Abohar in Ferozepur district of Punjab.He belongs to the Bishnoi community and is a prime accused in the 2022 murder of Sidhu Moosewala. He is currently jailed in Sabarmati prison.

He entered the world of crime through student politics in Chandigarh. The first FIR against Lawrence Bishnoi was of attempt to murder followed by another FIR of trespass in April 2010.

He is currently facing trial in over 20 cases of attempt to murder, carjacking, extortion and snatching, and Arms Act. Bishnoi was in NIA custody multiple times last year.

Bishnoi told the NIA that he has a business model involving alliances with jailed gangsters from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi where they take contracts for toll security, share percentage and provide shooters, weapons to each other and provide help for crossing the border.

The Panvel plot

On Saturday, Navi Mumbai Police revealed that a month before the arrest of two shooters for firing outside Salman Khan’s Bandra house, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had plotted to target Salman Khan at his Panvel farmhouse too. According to the police, nearly 16-17 people were involved in the Navi Mumbai operation and they had conducted a recce at Panvel in February this year.

Consquently, four members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang were arrested last week, and one on the weekend. The police said the four had planned to target Salman while he was on his way to the farmhouse. Navi Mumbai Police is questioning the four arrested accused and checking if they have any links to the Bandra attack.

Accused were to go underground after attack, says FIR in the Panvel case

A copy of the FIR filed at Panvel police station in Navi Mumbai shows that Lawrence Bishnoi, his Canada-based cousin Anmol Bishnoi, and accomplice Goldy Brar had plotted to attack Salman by sourcing sophisticated weapons including an AK-47, M-16 and AK-92 from a Pakistan-based weapon supplier.

As per the Navi Mumbai Police, “After the attack, the accused were to go underground and reassemble in Kanyakumari before fleeing to Sri Lanka.”

What’s Bishnoi’s grouse

Salman Khan became a target of Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang after his name came up in the 1998 Blackbuck killing case. Salman was accused of hunting down chinkaras at Bawad in Mathania near Jodhpur along with his costars who were filming for Hum Saath Saath Hain. Salman was accused of hunting down another chinkara at Ghoda farms. Members of the Bishnoi community thereafter filed a complaint against Salman and his costars. Salman was arrested in connection with the hunting of endangered animals and later granted bail.

The Bishnoi community holds blackbucks in high reverence.

In January 2018, outside a local court in Jodhpur, Lawrence Bishnoi said “Salman Khan will be killed here, in Jodhpur…Then he will come to know about our real identity.” Later in June that year, Sampat Nehra, a close aide of Bishnoi, said he had done a recce of Salman’s home in Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai.

In the last two year, Salman Khan has received several death threats and is on the target list of several gangsters of the Bishnoi gang.

Mumbai Police officials say that while Lawrence Bishnoi claims that he wants to take revenge for shooting a blackbuck, but by targeting Salman, his gang is primarily trying to gain ground and build a reputation in Mumbai.

The Bandra firing

In April, two unidentified people fired outside Salman’s residence and the Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility. Two men were arrested within 48 hours and two more were arrested from Punjab. One of them allegedly committed suicide in the lock-up on May 1. The Mumbai Crime Branch had made a total of six arrests in this case.

The Navi Mumbai Police said that the Bishnoi gang has several groups working independently of each other, and the police suspect that while one gang was conducting recce in Panvel, the other was in Mumbai.

Salman Khan’s security was upgraded from X to Y+ in 2022. Following death threats, the actor was provided with Y+ category security by the Mumbai police in November 2022

We are excited & nervous: Soon-tobe parents Richa-Ali

Renuka Vyavahare

As Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal are gearing up to embrace parenthood, in their first interview together, they talk about embarking on a new journey as parents, partners and producers. They also reflect upon lessons learnt in life, their relationship and what the future holds

I have seen some things that I feel have gone missing in the new generation and need to be reinstated. Our etiquette and value system need to be carried forward. There’s a new fingerprint that’s coming. That’s how the world moves

– Ali Fazal

My mother was a working mother. I remember that after she delivered my brother, she returned to work in 40-45 days. It’s not unusual for me to see women treating childbirth as a natural extension of their life. That’s what I have known in my life, so I want to keep things natural. Hum log kaafi hauua bana dete hai inn cheezon ka

– Richa Chadha

P4

BUZZ STOP

BIOPIC ON FIRST CHIEF ELECTION COMMISSIONER SUKUMAR SEN TO BE MADE

A biopic on the life of SUKUMAR SEN, India’s first Chief Election Commissioner and the architect behind the country’s first general elections in 1951-52 is set to be made. Producer Siddharth Roy Kapur along with Trickitainment Media have acquired the rights to produce a biopic. TNN

Venkatesh Iyer ties the knot with Shruti Raghunathan

Days after the Kolkata team lifted the IPL 2024 trophy, the team’s star all-rounder Venkatesh Iyer has tied the knot with Shruti Raghunathan on Sunday

Talk of the town

‘PLEASE AVOID ORDERING DURING PEAK HOURS’

With heatwave alerts, should you be ordering in during the peak afternoon hours? Delivery app request prompts a conversation

P2

HOW TO: Take care of your cycle

MAKE SURE THE TYRES ARE PROPERLY INFLATED

Checking the tyres regularly is a must. If you do not pump your tyres properly, they may get punctured easily.

CLEAN THE BICYCLE

Wash the cycle regularly. Use a brush to clean the cogs and the chain. Remove the tyres and inspect them for signs of wear or tear, and wipe them with a cloth.

CHECK THE BRAKES

Check the brake pads and ensure they are not worn out. Check the cables by making sure you can squeeze the brake handles properly.

Talk of the town

Should you avoid ordering during peak hours? Delivery app’s request stirs a debate

Other grocery and food delivery apps have also been appealing to customers to offer a glass of water to delivery boys

WHAT HAPPENED: With high temperatures across the country and heatwave alerts, some restaurants are adapting to food delivery by shutting services during peak afternoon hours. This weekend, when a food delivery service aggregator asked customers to avoid placing orders during the peak afternoon, it triggered a conversation on social media about the conditions faced by delivery boys.

REACTIONS

While some have welcomed the appeal made in the now viral post, some have called the move impractical owing to the lunch hours, and how it might backfire for delivery agents who may seek work despite the heat.

Heatstroke alerts across the capital

Meanwhile, in the last few weeks, many weather stations around the capital recorded consistent temperatures that were close to 50 degrees with the IMD warning of the heat’s impact on health, especially for children, elderly people and those with chronic diseases. The alert said there was a “very high likelihood of developing heat illness and heatstroke in all ages”, with “extreme care needed for vulnerable people”.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

 People also suggested measures such as providing tips to delivery personnel

 Offer delivery partners water when they reach

 Avoid ordering unless absolutely necessary

While there are a rare few who have come to appreciate the call, others have highlighted how the providers need to give better pay and healthcare to their employees

‘People always have stories about mangoes to share’

German ambassador hosted a mango high tea at his residence

Imampasand is a very good mango, mallika and malda both are quite nice,too. And the choosne wala mango, dasheri, that comes late in the season is also nice – Philipp Ackermann

Ghalib said mangoes need to have two qualities, they need to be sweet and there needs to be plenty. So, today, we will make sure that you don’t go empty stomach – Ravinder Singh

The guests also got to try Old Delhi’s famous mango kulfi and mango sandwich

Riya Sharma

German ambassador Philipp Ackermann loves mangoes. His #MangoDiaries last year was all about finding the best mangoes across the country and learning more about the fruit. “Knowing about mangoes is like science,” he told us at his residence where he recently hosted a mango high tea.

‘WE DON’T KNOW MUCH ABOUT MANGOES IN EUROPE’

Talking about his love for mangoes, the German ambassador shared, “I have a long history with Indian mangoes that goes back to 2007 when I was exposed to mangoes in a household with a mango-tasting culture. After this mango tasting, I was surprised by the stories and the fruit. Through the years, I have understood that the more you get to know about it, you realise you don’t know enough. And it is a fruit which we don’t know much about in Europe. Whenever you talk about mangoes in India, people have stories to share. That was the thing about my #MangoDiaries last year. I went to official meetings, to see people and if you asked them about their favourite mango, then they would share a whole story. I learnt a lot about mangoes – people told me how they put it in a bucket of water because it is a hot fruit and some people told me that they used to steal mangoes from under their grandmother’s bed – so basically everyone has a relationship with mangoes.”

MANGO STORIES

Ravinder Singh, educator, mango expert, storyteller, and lawyer shared stories about mangoes with guests. He said that his love for mangoes started because of his grandmother. “I was raised by her, and she would talk about this one memory where she and her friends would climb a mango tree in their childhood.”

When a guest asked for a tip to purchase a good mango, Ravinder, who spent four to five hours buying these mangoes for the high tea, shared, “Press the tip of a mango. If it is ripe enough, you will know.”

Ravinder Singh

German ambassador Philipp Ackermann’s #MangoDiaries last year was all about finding the best mangoes across the country and learning more about the fruit

Sebastian Fuchs, Spokesperson, German Embassy, Rekha Narula Arora, a food entrepreneur and Katharina Wieser, Ambassador of Austria also sampled various varieties of mango

DELHI DIARIES

STAY HYDRATED AND SAFE IN THIS HEAT: MANNARA CHOPRA TO DELHIITES

Mannara Chopra says, “I think people can head out in the evenings and enjoy despite the heat. Delhi has a vibe, no matter what”

Shivika Manchanda

Delhi girl Mannara Chopra was in her hometown recently to walk the ramp at Delhi Times Fashion Week. The Bigg Boss 17 contestant was happy to be a part of DTFW. She says, “I am happy to be home. Delhi mein showstopper banne ki alag hi khushi hai.”

‘DELHI HAS A VIBE, DESPITE THE HEAT’

Talking about Delhi’s soaring temperatures, Mannara says, “It is too hot right now but Delhi is a green city and has gardens and open cafes that one can explore. I think people can head out in the evenings and enjoy despite the heat. Delhi has a vibe, no matter what. Just remember to stay hydrated and safe, this summer.”

‘SAROJNI OR M BLOCK, DELHI’S MARKETS ARE A SHOPPER’S PARADISE’

About her summer style, Mannara said that like everyone she prefers to dress up in easy-breezy outfits. “I have lots of white tees in my wardrobe and I love pairing them with denim. It’s a classic for the summer. Unlike others, I like to leave my hair open and allow them to breathe. Considering the heat in Delhi and Mumbai, cool and casual wear perfectly matches my vibe,” says the actress, adding, “From stylish yet sasta daily wear to high-end fashion and designer wear, Dilli mein sab kuchh milta hai. I love exploring Delhi markets and malls with my sister. We go everywhere, be it Sarojini Nagar, CP, Lajpat Nagar or Saket. Having grown up in GK, Mblock Market is our main haunt.”

A delicious treasure trove for those who love cheese

As per research, cheese is a great source of protein, calcium and phosphorus. It can also reduce the risk of osteoporosisos

What is cheese? A creamy, cheesy indulgent food? Or a nutritional powerhouse? Jayen Mehta (MD, GCMMF, Amul) says, “Research reveals that cheese supports children’s growth and development, aiding in nutrient absorption. Studies also say that consuming cheese helps protect tooth enamel and has an antibacterial effect. In fact, cheese is a great source of protein, calcium and phosphorus. It also promotes bone strength and reduces the risk of osteoporosis.”

Today, there are over 2,000 varieties of cheeses. This National Cheese Day, melt into the rich and vast world of Amul’s cheese products a treasure trove for cheese connoisseurs. Crafted exclusively from 100% pure milk, the brand’s cheese has no substitutes. Plus, the easily digestible milk proteins make it a delightful indulgence.

Snacking or cooking, Amul Diced Cheese brings a burst of cheesy goodness to any recipe. From Diced Mozzarella and Diced Cheddar, to Diced Blend of Cheddar and Mozzarella it caters to every culinary need. Amul Processed Cheese, available in slices, cubes and blocks, is known for its balanced flavour and smooth texture. Whether you’re a fan of creamy Mozzarella, tangy Emmental or robust Gouda, the brand ensures that quality cheese remains accessible and affordable.

DID YOU KNOW?

Satyajit Ray believed that E.T. was similar to a script he’d written in the 1960s

Satyajit Ray believed the concept for Steven Spielberg’s E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial was similar to a script he’d written in the 1960s about an alien landing in a village in Bengal. Spielberg denied the allegations, and ultimately Ray didn’t pursue legal action.

HAVE A LOT OF FAITH IN GEN Z, ALPHA & THEIR ABILITY TO DISSECT THINGS, SAY RICHA-ALI

Disagreements are also healthy, and they keep things interesting... It’s natural to fight when you care. The opposite of love is not hated, it’s indifference or apathy – Richa Chadha

There are always creative differences and there should be. I really admire that both of us are strong headed and adamant in our creative endeavours – Ali Fazal

RICHA CHADHA RICHA CHADHA AND ALI FAZALAND ALI FAZAL

CONTINUED FROM 1

A baby is on the way and it’s a personal milestone. What are you feeling at this moment?

Richa: I am excited. Everything about Ali and my relationship has been organic and normal, so parenthood is in the same vein. We are just going with the flow, and we will see where we land. I think it’s going to be a beautiful sail and proper adulting hereon. In terms of my relationship with Ali, we were friends first and now we live together as husband and wife – nothing seems to have changed since the day we met. It’s just that having a child is an extreme level of seriousness (smiles).

Ali: We are very excited and nervous for both our babies – the production house, and the baby that’s on its way. When we started our production house, the motto was to help nurture amazing stories. As would-be parents too, we are hoping for the best. I am truly grateful. I will try to be the better version of myself as a father. I have a lot of empathy, I listen, and that has helped me a lot with my wife (laughs). We are also artists, so we must have that compassion to be able to take in what the world gives us. The world is going through all kinds of things, sometimes you need to allow the good things to affect us, but the bad things also affect us. We are highly emotional people so when our family extends, it is going to be very special. This is difficult for me to describe in words.

Both of you two are producers now and are working together. So creative differences are bound to happen. How do you tackle that?

Richa: Disagreements are also healthy, and they keep things interesting. No fight is final. It’s natural to fight when you care. The opposite of love is not hated, it’s indifference or apathy. You don’t have to be clones of each other. One of the best things is to collaborate with people you are friendly with. Ali can like love stories, I can like action films…that is not the point. Are we able to argue our differences and come to a point where things are amicable and move forward? We need to agree on the fact that we need to make a good film or a good show.

Ali: There are always creative differences and there should be. I really admire that both of us are strong headed and adamant in our creative endeavours. Life with sycophants around you is like a place of illusions, it doesn’t work. I have seen so many systems crumble because they have ‘yes men’ around them. I know there is one person on my side who is not going to nod in agreement with me for everything and anything. I enjoy that. Also, we don’t look at it as business. This is our craft. This is what we love doing. We get to tell so many stories in one lifetime. I am delighted to have Richa as my partner.

Have you thought about what kind upbringing you want to give your child, and in what kind of environment you want the child to grow?

Ali: I have seen things that I don’t wish upon anyone. I have also seen some things that I feel have gone missing in the new generation and need to be reinstated. Our etiquette and value system need to be carried forward. I don’t want to have a textbook answer for this. There’s a new fingerprint that’s coming. That’s how the world moves.

Richa: I am going to say something dark and disturbing. I don’t think any of our kids will have a better life than we did. The rate at which we are destroying the environment, it’s not going to be fun for anyone. However, I have a lot of faith in Gen Z, Alpha, and their ability to dissect things like gender and climate activism. They inspire me. We are living through an event of mass extinction, deforestation and heat wave warning. All over the world the tide is tilting towards authoritarianism. There’s war and violence. I am hopeful for a better future but it’s stupid to think that we don’t have work to do.

In love with a woman: Jessica Madsen

Jessica Madsen plays Cressida Cowper in Bridgerton

Bridgerton’s Cressida Cowper aka Jessica Madsen recently proudly embraced her identity. In a heartfelt post on her Instagram account to mark the beginning of Pride Month, the 32-year-old actress shared her journey of love and self-acceptance.

In the caption, Madsen wrote, “In love with a woman, loud about it and proud about it! #pride #pridemonth #loveislove #gaypride (sic).” Her Bridgerton co-stars, including Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Bailey, and Hannah Dodd, showered her with support and love in the comment section. ANI

Shut up: Adele confronts homophobic remark during her Vegas show

Adele

Adele did not mince words when an audience member shouted “Pride sucks!” during her Las Vegas residency recently. In a moment captured on a viral video obtained by Variety, the Grammy-winning singer swiftly addressed the disrespectful remark with unapologetic fervour.

“Did you come to my fu***ng show and just say that Pride s**ks? Are you fu***ng stupid?” Adele retorted, adding, “Don’t be so fu***ng ridiculous. If you don’t have anything nice to say, shut up, alright?”

June is celebrated as Pride Month, a time dedicated to celebrating the LGBTQA+ community and advocating for equality and acceptance. ANI

Beckham meets King Charles, exchanges beekeeping tips

King Charles and David Beckham

David Beckham recently engaged in a beekeeping discussion with King Charles during their meeting at Highgrove Gardens in the Cotswolds, England. The encounter preceded Beckham’s appointment as ambassador for The King’s Foundation, a news outlet reported. At Highgrove Gardens, Beckham not only interacted with King Charles but also had the opportunity to meet students of the foundation

Table of Contents

TOI Print Edition Jun 04, 2024

Front Page

LeT commander, aide killed in J&K encounter

3 coaches of Taj Exp catch fire, no one injured

Three from NCR among 4 burnt to death in car fire

3 of Delhi family die in Agra auto crash

Now, Mother Dairy milk prices up `2/L

Man, 42, dies while playing cricket

32 monkeys found dead in well

Jail warder confined in car boot for 7 hrs

Sensex vaults 2,507 pts, biggest 1-day gain, on exit poll forecast

Bypolls in HP as speaker accepts resignation of 3 Ind MLAs

VVPAT smashing: HC shields MLA from arrest, SC calls order a ‘joke’

City eateries hit by excise licence delay due to polls

B’luru logs over 111mm of rain in 24 hrs, breaks 133-yr June record

BrahMos ex-engr gets life term for data leak to Pak

Man gets triple-death sentence for rape, murder of 5-yr-old in Nagpur

Insolvency proceedings ordered against JAL, flagship firm of Jaiprakash Group

Pattern in ‘fake narratives’, we failed to stop them: CEC

Mexico gets its first woman prez, a Jew

BJP brass in a huddle, moves on govt formation

SC asks neighbouring states to meet on June 5 to resolve Delhi water crisis

Thief breaks into house in Lko, steals only 40 winks

Maldives ban: Go to Indian beaches, Israel tells citizens

Times Nation

Porsche teen’s mom was aware of sample swap plan: Pune cops

‘Sheer mockery of courts’: SC slams HC shield for rowdy MLA

EC rejects oppn demand, says postal ballots will be counted simultaneously

EC: Made record seizure of `10,000cr during 2024 polls

Confronted by EC, Cong’s Jairam says can’t name names

Police arrest Maoist ‘urban link’ in Raipur

How heel-prick CAN SAVE an infant’s life

Clicking pics, 2 tourists washed away in Beas

Nagpur girl was abducted, gagged, raped, murdered & dumped in field

Long-serving top LeT commander among 2 terrorists killed in J&K

Thief was ‘in deep slumber’ when he was caught by cops

Ex-BrahMos engr gets 14 yrs’ jail for leaking data to Pak

Cloudy conditions likely to continue in Bengaluru for next few days: IMD Syed Asif

4 killed as car hits 5 bikes in Kolhapur

8 more Odisha, Raj deaths push heatstroke toll to 219

Indian food processing industry is growing at a rapid rate

Speaker accepts Punjab MLA’s resignation, neta to move HC

Union Cabinet to hold its last meet tomorrow

Reconstituted products can’t have ‘100% fruit juice’ tag: FSSAI

After fire, Guj set to regulate gaming zones

CEC: Such allegations have potential to spark anarchy

SP MLA Solanki, bro held guilty in 2022 arson case

SC stays till July 15 HC order allowing Gawli’s early release

Its citizens barred by Maldives, Israel promotes Lakshadweep

3 given life term in Nirbhaya-like 2021 gang-rape case in Bareilly

Samples of 5 popular drugs found spurious in Delhi, Jharkhand

Times City

Good Is Not Good Enough, Delhi Still Parched

PWD close to meeting tree planting target before rains

Tanker mafia, industries pilfer 52% of water meant for Delhi, Centre claims in apex court

All steps must be taken to plug loss of water in supply: SC

Metro helps Delhi beat May heat with 60 lakh passenger journeys

Heatwave strikes back after two-day break; Najafgarh, Narela clock 46.9°C

Mural of the story? Helping women reclaim their lost space

Unable to get high? Why you may have polls to blame

Both sides sure of win, BJP ready for big celebrations

3-Layered Security In Place For Peaceful Counting Day

Stay put, focused: All three parties prep their cadres for counting day

LG sends Anand’s resignation to Prez, Atishi may get social welfare portfolio

Bharadwaj inspects shelters to check heat arrangements

AAP claims CM not provided cooler in jail

Hospital fire: Court dismisses bail plea of on-duty doctor

3 Coaches Of Taj Exp With 300 On Board Catch Fire

Court dismisses ex-AAP councillor’s plea

Chinkara dies after fight with another at zoo

NGT Acts On Partial Combustion Of Fuels

Buyers with registered JAL properties won’t be hit

Flight diverted after bomb scare

RRTS on sustainability track with 900 RWH pits

Probe norm violations against dhaba: NGT

Man kills 85-yr-old father after row over trivial matter in Nand Nagri

Five days after attack during robbery, 90-yr-old dies; main suspect arrested

Trees felled at JNU’s old campus, HC seeks explanation from forest official

Five arrested for duping US citizens in guise of providing technical support

EWS patient dies after hosp says no ICU bed

Kavitha paid `100-crore kickbacks to get undue benefits, claims ED chargesheet

Dance Of Democracy

Cong hopes to prove exit polls wrong, talks of rigging fears

BJP questions timing of acceptance of HP resignations

BJP: Cong missed chance to behave as responsible oppn

Naveen set for huge win with 100-115 of 147 seats: An exit poll

7 retired HC judges highlight poll issues in letter to Prez, CEC

AAP’s Sanjay Singh calls for ban on exit polls

Times Global

MI6 turned two China govt staff to spies: Beijing

In another blow to PM, Brexit champion to stand in UK polls

Gaza truce plan in doubt as ‘Bibi calls Biden’s proposal partial’

Biden to sign order that halts asylum if migrant arrival hits 2,500 in a day

Hunter Biden’s criminal trial begins in aftermath of Trump conviction

Claudia Sheinbaum elected Mexico’s first woman prez

Imran, Qureshi acquitted in cipher case

AROUND THE WORLD

White bike installations pop up across New York as reminder of road safety

FROM NEHRU ERA TO MODI, MURDOCH’S 5TH WALK DOWN THE AISLE

23-year-old Hyd student missing in California

Editorial

Fearless & Frank: YouTubers Who Beat TV In Poll Game

Clock’s Ticking

Find Andhra’s Capital

Relations, after elections

Are ACs Now A Human Right?

Political Parties Should Have Mutual Respect

A thought for today

Sacred space

Times Business

Rupee rises by 31p vs $, largest gain in 5 months

Adani makes credit card foray, ties up with ICICI Bk

Adani Grp mcap recovers to pre-Hindenburg level

Baron marks up Swiggy valuation to over $15bn

Lenskart raises $200mn, co valued at about $5bn

Heatwave crimps mfg activity in May: Survey

Car sales hit by extreme heat, buyers stay away

Coal output helps power plants meet demand

Infy campus hires drop 76% to less than 12,000 in FY24

Caribbean nights: T20 boosts sports tourism

‘PSU stocks may gain from govt policies, return higher profits’

Times Sport

GALLERY

Women in a hurry

Bopanna-Ebden duo sees off Balaji & Co

CHELSEA APPOINT MARESCA AS THEIR NEW HEAD COACH

New global competition with record prize fund, announces World Athletics

Biles continues Paris build-up with 9th US title

AUSSIE RULES

Former India batter Kedar Jadhav retires from all forms of cricket

Prag loses to Alireza, Carlsen jumps to sole lead

Saso wins second US Open, this one for Japan

MBAPPE SIGNS REAL DEAL

HURKACZ REQUESTS UMPIRE SWITCH!

Vinicius named CL player of the season

WILL INDIA KEEP THE FAITH IN SANJU?

ICC ANNOUNCES $11.25M PRIZE PURSE

It’s going to be a big test for India, says McGrath

No more underdogs, Afghanistan confident of chasing big totals

Nortje the star for SA in low-scoring scrap vs SL

Wiese shines as Namibia pip Oman in Super Over

Holders England look to regain their white-ball mojo

T20 World Cup will be my last as India coach, says Dravid

Delhi Times

Natasa restores wedding pics amid divorce rumours

THE PLOTS TO KILL SALMAN: WHO IS TARGETING THE STAR, AND WHY

We are excited & nervous: Soon-tobe parents Richa-Ali

BUZZ STOP

Venkatesh Iyer ties the knot with Shruti Raghunathan

‘PLEASE AVOID ORDERING DURING PEAK HOURS’

HOW TO: Take care of your cycle

Should you avoid ordering during peak hours? Delivery app’s request stirs a debate

‘People always have stories about mangoes to share’

STAY HYDRATED AND SAFE IN THIS HEAT: MANNARA CHOPRA TO DELHIITES

A delicious treasure trove for those who love cheese

DID YOU KNOW?

HAVE A LOT OF FAITH IN GEN Z, ALPHA & THEIR ABILITY TO DISSECT THINGS, SAY RICHA-ALI

In love with a woman: Jessica Madsen

Shut up: Adele confronts homophobic remark during her Vegas show

Beckham meets King Charles, exchanges beekeeping tips