- Front Page

- Times Nation

- Times City

- Dance Of Democracy

- Times Evoke

- Editorial

- Times Business

- Times Global

- Times Sport

- Delhi Times

Front Page

- Cop booked for Kangana ‘slap’, gets offers of legal assistance

- 4 medicos from India drown in Russia

- Chargesheet filed in Parl breach

- NEET-UG results row lands in courts

- Chauhan was handling DJB postings through CM: ED to court

- UP strikes deal to host MotoGP in Gr Noida

- Punjab fake encounter: 7-yr RI for ex-DIG

- CBI chargesheet against Lalu, kin in land-job scam

- Sensex rises to all-time high as fgn funds buy

- IN DALLAS, AN AMERICAN DREAM, PAK NIGHTMARE AND THE MAGNIFICENT 7 INDIAN CONNECTION

- 7 Maoists killed in day-long joint op in Bastar

- After LS poll jolt, BJP govt in Hry offers free bus rides to poor

- 2 UP truckers lynched by cow vigilantes

- Man gets 10 yrs’ jail for child marriage, rape

- Berth talks on as Modi meets Murmu, invited to form govt

- TDP eyes four ministerial berths

- Polls ahead in J&K? EC calls for symbols

- Committed to principle of ‘sarv panth sambhav (all religions equal)’, says Modi

- Nitish offers full support but talks of ‘Bihar ka kaam’

- Balance regional aspirations & nat’l interests: Naidu

- TDP will continue 4% Muslim quota under OBC list: Naidu’s son

- Capital-in-waiting? Land prices soar in Amaravati

- DANCE of DEMOCRACY

Cop booked for Kangana ‘slap’, gets offers of legal assistance

Mohali/Bathinda: CISF constable Kulwinder Kaur was charged with “voluntarily causing hurt” and “wrongful restraint” in an FIR registered by Mohali police on Friday for her alleged act of confronting and slapping actor and newly elected BJP MP Kangana Ranaut at Chandigarh airport, report Barinderjit Saluja & Neel Kamal.

Kulwinder, whom CISF suspended after Kangana’s complaint, received support from individuals and organisations, some of whom offered her monetary and legal help if she was arrested or dismissed from service.

Family of farmers, P 17

4 medicos from India drown in Russia

Two Maharashtra students pursuing medical education at a university in the Russian city of Veliky Novgorod drowned in the fast-flowing Volkhov Tuesday, while two of their friends were washed away by a strong wave.

P 12

Chargesheet filed in Parl breach

Six months after the security breach at the old Parliament building was reported, Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against the six arrested under UAPA, accusing them of hatching a conspiracy to gain popularity and gain political mileage.

P 7

NEET-UG results row lands in courts

The NEET-UG 2024 results controversy has intensified, with multiple courts now involved in adjudicating various grievances related to the exam. Calcutta HC, Delhi HC and SC are all hearing pleas that challenge the conduct &outcome of the exam.

P 12

Chauhan was handling DJB postings through CM: ED to court

Vinod Chauhan, the man allegedly handling proceeds of crimes connected with hawala operators in the Delhi excise policy case, is “very much a close associate” of Arvind Kejriwal, the Enforcement Directorate said in its reply filed in a Delhi court in the case of a regular bail plea of the CM. Chauhan was managing postings for officers in Delhi Jal Board through the CM, showing his proximity to Kejriwal, ED said in its reply, reports Vineet Upadhyay.

Citing screenshots of many hawala note numbers which have been retrieved from Chauhan’s phone, ED said these match with the note numbers mentioned in the IT seized data.

P 4

Wild allegations, no proof: AAP

Reacting to ED’s submission, AAP said the probe agency was making “wild allegations” because it did not have any concrete evidence or recovery of money even after two years of investigation. AAP called it a “political witch-hunt at the behest of ED’s masters, BJP”.

P 4

UP strikes deal to host MotoGP in Gr Noida

UP govt has decided to strike an agreement with Dorna — which has the licence to hold MotoGP globally — and its Indian partner Fairstreet Sports to conduct the premier bike racing event in the state every year till 2029. According to the pact, Invest UP will create a corpus to pay Dorna’s licencing fee of Rs 80 crore for MotoGP Bharat every year.

P 11

Punjab fake encounter: 7-yr RI for ex-DIG

Thirty-one years after a fake encounter, the family of vegetable vendor Gulshan Kumar, who had been abducted and killed, got a compensation of Rs 2 lakh as aspecial CBI court of Judge RK Gupta in Mohali on Friday sentenced former Punjab police DIG Dilbagh Singh to seven years’ RI and former DSP Gurbachan Singh to life term in the 1993 case.

P 13

CBI chargesheet against Lalu, kin in land-job scam

Concluding their probe into the land-for-jobs ‘scam’, CBI Friday filed its final chargesheet against RJD boss and ex-railway minister Lalu Prasad, his wife, ex-CM Rabri Devi, son Tej Pratap, Hema Yadav, his ex-OSD Bhola Yadav and several others. Those chargesheeted include 29 officials of railways and 37 of those who got group-D jobs when Lalu held the charge.

P 12

Sensex rises to all-time high as fgn funds buy

Up 1,619 Pts On Friday As Anxiety Over Govt Fades

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: With the BJP-led alliance set to be sworn in on Sunday, Dalal Street investors are coming back in droves to revive the bull rally. On Friday, after a muted start, investors, led by foreign funds, took the sensex to a new all-time high at 76,795 points and closed a tad lower at 76,693, up 1,619 points or 2.2%.

The RBI decision to maintain status quo on rates and an upward revision in the growth projections for the current fiscal year also helped the rally. Good monsoon progress and outlook added to the positive cues for investors to support the rally. Short covering during the closing hour of the session added some points to the index, market players said.

Richer by `7L cr, P 23

RBI ups GDP forecast, cautions small lenders

RBI left key policy rate unchanged at 6.5% for the eighth consecutive time but raised GDP growth forecast for 2024-25 to 7.2% from its earlier projection of 7%. RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das nudged banks to make fixed deposits more attractive while cautioning small-ticket loan providers who charge exorbitant interest rates.

P23

IN DALLAS, AN AMERICAN DREAM, PAK NIGHTMARE AND THE MAGNIFICENT 7 INDIAN CONNECTION

In a superb Super Over victory, USA stunned Pakistan in their T20 World Cup match on Thursday. Seven players of Indian origin were key to the improbable triumph

MONANK PATEL: Team leader of a multi-racial squad, Monank was born in Gujarat’s milky Anand town. The 31-year-old wicketkeeper-cum-opener once ran a Chinese restaurant in New Jersey. Against Pakistan, he produced a mouthwatering 50 off 38 balls that had the spectators salivating for more

NOSTHUSH KENJIGE: Born in Alabama, Kenjige grew up in hill station Ooty and played college cricket in Bengaluru. He returned to America wanting to be a biomedical engineer. But cricket beckoned. Against Pakistan, the left-arm spinner’s 3/30 was vital to the team’s cause and game’s outcome

SAURABH NETRAVALKAR: Playing U-19 WC for India in 2010, the Mumbai-born left-arm seamer scalped Joe Root and also emerged as the team’s top wicket-taker. But Netravalkar soon gave up the game for a career in software engineering in San Francisco. Like Kenjige, he also picked up the game again, even becoming US captain in 2018. On Thursday, he delivered like none other, scalping 2/18 before coming up with a fab Super Over

NITISH KUMAR: Like his Bihar politico namesake, Nitish has changed sides – he once played for Canada – but also delivered when it mattered most. His last ball boundary pushed the game to Super Over

HARMEET SINGH: In his U-19 days for India, his bowling action reminded commentators of the great Bishan Bedi. Now 31, Mumbai-born left-arm spinner Harmeet (0/34) displayed he can perform at the highest level

JASDEEP SINGH: Born in New York, he spent most of childhood in Punjab. The 31-year-old medium pacer claimed the prized scalp of Pak skipper Babar Azam. He will never forget the ball and the match

MILIND KUMAR: The 33-year-old all-rounder, who once played for Delhi’s famous Sonnet Club, took a great diving catch to put Pakistan on the backfoot in the Super Over

➤ Edit Page: Can A Curveball Be Hit For A Six?

FULL COVERAGE: P 25

7 Maoists killed in day-long joint op in Bastar

Seven Maoists were killed and three security personnel injured in a day-long encounter on the borders of Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region Friday. A joint operation was launched by District Reserve Guards units of four districts and ITBP after inputs about the presence of Maoists. As many as 129 Maoists have been shot dead this year, police said.

P 12

After LS poll jolt, BJP govt in Hry offers free bus rides to poor

With assembly elections just four months away, and the Lok Sabha results reducing BJP’s seat tally by 50% in the state, Haryana CM Nayab Singh Saini on Friday launched ‘Happy Card’, which offers 1,000km of free rides a year on state buses to all members of families with an annual income of up to Rs 1 lakh, reports Bagish Jha.

Called Haryana Antyodaya Parivar Parivahan Yojana (Happy), distribution of the cards began in Gurgaon and other parts of the state on Friday. “So far, Happy cards have been distributed among 59,708 beneficiaries,” an official said. Saini said the card would benefit those who need to travel extensively for work. “There are 23 lakh families who would benefit,” he added. The move follows similar ones by Congress govts in Karnataka & Telangana and AAP govt in Delhi.

TNN

2 UP truckers lynched by cow vigilantes

Two truckers from UP were allegedly lynched by cow vigilantes near temple town Arang, in Chhattisgarh, early Friday while transporting buffaloes. A third man who survived with critical injuries alleged 14-15 people attacked them and beat two of them to death and threw their bodies from the bridge onto the riverbed. He jumped off the bridge to save himself.

P 12

Man gets 10 yrs’ jail for child marriage, rape

A special Pocso court at Tis Hazari sentenced a 49-year-old man to 10 years of RI on Friday and awarded his victim a compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh. It convicted the Bihar native under the IPC, Pocso Act, 2012, and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. The judge ordered a full and final compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh for the girl under the applicable Pocso norms and IPC Sec 357A payable by the state.

P6

Berth talks on as Modi meets Murmu, invited to form govt

He Says, ‘I’m Not Known To Give In To Pressure’

PM Modi shows a letter from President Murmu, following his meeting with her on Friday, inviting him to form the new govt

Akhilesh.Singh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: President Droupadi Murmu on Friday appointed Narendra Modi prime minister-designate, clearing the way for him to be sworn in on Sunday as head of a BJPled NDA coalition.

The President will administer the oath of office and secrecy to Modi and other members of the council of ministers at 7.15pm on Sunday at Rashtrapati Bhavan, a communique said.

Though a formality, the appointment and formal announcement of the date of swearingin intensified efforts for mini- stry formation, with the BJP brass holding meetings with NDA partners to finalise the tricky twin issues of representation and choice of portfolios. Nadda, home minister Amit Shah and defence minister Rajnath Singh held parleys with leaders of NDA constituents.

Modi tried to douse spiralling speculation about allies seeking to extract plum portfolios and more berths and even the office of Speaker by asserting that he was not known to give in to pressure.

‘Faster pace’, P 14

TDP eyes four ministerial berths

TDP is likely to get two Cabinet and two minister of state (MoS) berths, while Pawan Kalyan’s Jana Sena, with two MPs, is likely to get one MoS position. Three-time Srikakulam MP K Rammohan Naidu, son of late former Union minister Yerran Naidu, is among the frontrunners.

P 14

Polls ahead in J&K? EC calls for symbols

Days after indicating readiness to hold assembly polls in J&K, Election Commission announced it would accept “with immediate effect” any applications seeking allotment of ‘common symbol’ from registered unrecognised parties in the UT.

FLAP OPP

Committed to principle of ‘sarv panth sambhav (all religions equal)’, says Modi

Majority is needed

to run govt...but to

run a country, sarva-math

(consensus) is necessary.

I want to assure people of

the country that the way you

have given us a mandate

to form govt, it is our

responsibility to strive for

a consensus... — Modi Majority is needed to run govt...but to run a country, sarva-math (consensus) is necessary. I want to assure people of the country that the way you have given us a mandate to form govt, it is our responsibility to strive for a consensus... — Modi

Akhilesh.Singh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Narendra Modi on Friday emphasised the role of consensus in governance as he said the next “10 years of NDA” will be dedicated to good governance, committed to the principle of “sarv panth sambhav” (all religions are equal) to fulfil growing regional and national aspirations as he acknowledged that an era of competitive cooperative federalism had begun.

Speaking after his election as leader of the NDA par- liamentary party, Modi emphasised that while NDA, a pre-poll alliance, had got the majority, a consensual approach was needed to serve the people of the country.

‘Don’t ridicule...’, P 14

‘Middle class, household savings to be in focus’, P 18

Nitish offers full support but talks of ‘Bihar ka kaam’

JD(U) supremo and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on Friday assured unconditional support to the Modi-led NDA govt.“Hum log pure taur par sab din aapke saath rahenge (we will always be fully with you),” Kumar said. However, he reminded Modi of “Bihar ka kaam”, slipping in a reference to his demand for special category status. Kumar also proceeded to touch Modi’s feet but was stopped by the latter.

FLAP OPP

Balance regional aspirations & nat’l interests: Naidu

TDP boss and Andhra CMdesignate N Chandrababu Naidu praised Modi's leadership for transforming India into a “global powerhouse” while acknowledging the significant impact Modi and his cabinet ministers had on TDP’s success in the LS and assembly polls. At the same time, Naidu emphasised the importance of “balancing regional aspirations with national interests”.

FLAP OPP

TDP will continue 4% Muslim quota under OBC list: Naidu’s son

‘Welfare Measure To Help Them, Not Appeasement’

Srikanth.Aluri@timesgroup.com

Vijayawada: TDP general secretary and N Chandrababu Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh Friday said his party was committed to the current 4% reservation for Muslims under the OBC list.

In a stand divergent from ally BJP, Lokesh described the quota as a welfare measure aimed at helping poor Muslims come out of poverty, adding that TDP did not see it as appeasement of minorities.

“A nation or a state cannot be said to be developed if a particular section is living in poverty,” he told TOI. “As a govt, we must make policies to expose the under-represen- ted communities to opportunities. The decision to give 4% reservation to Muslims was taken in that perspective, not to appease anyone or get political gains.”

While campaigning, several BJP stalwarts, including Narendra Modi and Amit Shah, had attacked Muslim quota in AP and Telangana.

‘Taking everyone...’,P 14

Capital-in-waiting? Land prices soar in Amaravati

Workers make arrangements for the oath ceremony in Amaravati

Srikanth.Aluri@timesgroup.com

Vijayawada: The stock market may have gone yo-yo on poll adrenaline, but in Andhra Pradesh’s capital-in-waiting Amaravati, real estate prices have travelled only in one direction since the election verdict – rising 50-100% in just three days, with hardly anything up for sale.

The decisive mandate for the TDP-Jana Sena Party-BJP alliance seems to have removed uncertainty about Amaravati becoming the new state capital, renewing buyer interest. Not surprisingly, the prospective capital region has become a seller’s market. Antici- pation is high about a statement from Narendra Modi on Amaravati during N Chandrababu Naidu’s swearing-in as CM on June 12.

Prices back to ’18 level, P 19

DANCE of DEMOCRACY

➤ In 72 of 75 UP seats that BJP contested in 2019 and 2024, absolute number of votes polled fell by anything between a few thousand and 2.2 lakh. In all, party polled about 65L fewer votes

➤ Alliance with ADMK would have helped win seats in TN, says BJP’s secondrung, blames Annamalai’s ‘miscalculated’ strategies

➤ Union govt’s delayed rollback of ban on onion exports ‘sent wrong message to Maharashtra’s farming community’, section of NCP MLAs tells Ajit Pawar

➤ BJP-Sena alliance is ‘Fevicol ka Jod’ that won’t break, says Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde

P 18

Times Nation

- NEET aspirants move court at several places over anomalies

- Curfew in parts of Manipur after killing by rebels

- Chhattisgarh vigilantes lynch 2 truckers carrying buffaloes

- 16 get life term for 2020 killing of ‘evil magician’

- 7 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh, 3 security personnel injured

- Man kills friend for urinating on him in jest

- Lalu son Tej Pratap, daughter Hema named for first time

- HC nixes Sengar plea to suspend 10-year jail term

- SP MLA Solanki gets 7yrs in arson case, may lose House seat

- 4 Indians studying MBBS at univ in northwest Russia drown, another missing

- Punjab ex-DIG gets 7-yr RI, ex-DSP life in 1993 fake encounter case

- Bhavani faces SIT after HC interim bail in kidnap case

- 5 juvenile inmates flee MP shelter

- Cop who hit MP belongs to family of farmers

- Cops scanning CCTV footage to verify MP’s allegations

- Rahul gets bail in defamation case filed by K’taka BJP man

- With TDP win, Amaravati land prices have come back to 2018 levels, says AP farmer

- Agra man abducted, murdered for `10L ransom

- 30 monkeys beaten to death in K’taka

- Woman’s extramarital affair is cruelty to husband, says HC, grants divorce to man

- K’taka bans film over communal concerns

- Maha cops deny Jarange nod for hunger strike

- 8 years on, Dalit RTI activist acquitted in cops’ video case

NEET aspirants move court at several places over anomalies

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The NEET-UG 2024 results controversy has intensified with the high courts at Calcutta and Delhi, and the Supreme Court taking up petitions challenging the conduct and outcome of the test.

Calcutta HC has demanded a response from the National Testing Agency (NTA) regarding alleged irregularities in the examination process on Friday. A division bench comprising Justices Apurba Sinha Ray and Kausik Chanda is examining a PIL that questions the award of 718 or 719 marks to certain candidates and has ordered NTA to file an affidavit within ten days.

Delhi HC is hearing a petition challenging NTA’s decision to grant grace marks. A vacation bench led by Justice Dinesh Kumar Sharma has granted NTA additional time to gather instructions on the issue. This case will be further examined on Wednesday. Another petition, contesting the final answer key for a physics question and the compensatory time given to some candidates, will be heard onJune 12.

Meanwhile, a group of candidates has approached SC demanding a fresh exams due to alleged paper leaks and concerns about the test’s integrity. SC has scheduled the next hearing for July8.

In response to the controversies, the NTA has issued statements clarifying several points.

Curfew in parts of Manipur after killing by rebels

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

Guwahati: Indefinite curfew has been imposed since Thursday night along the Jiribam and Tamenglong border in Manipur after renewed tension over the killing of a villager by suspected militants.

The body of 59-year-old Soibam Saratkumar Singh’s body, bearing wounds inflicted by a sharp object, was found on his farm at Lamtai Khunoun in Jiribam district, sparking outrage and fear among locals.

Tamenglong DM’s order imposing the restrictions says “there is a likelihood of imminent danger to human lives and properties, which may result in the breach of public peace and tranquillity or rioting”.

For a coordinated response, a joint control room has been established, bringing together officials from the Assam Rifles, Central Reserve Police Force, Manipur Police, and Indian Reserve Battalion.

Chhattisgarh vigilantes lynch 2 truckers carrying buffaloes

3rd Jumps Off Bridge To Save Life, Survives With Serious Injuries

The truck was intercepted by ‘cow vigilantes’ on a bridge near Arang. Two persons were killed and thrown onto the river bed, the survivor said

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Raipur: Two truckers from Uttar Pradesh were allegedly lynched by cow vigilantes near temple town Arang, in Chhattisgarh, in the early hours of Friday while transporting buffaloes. A third has survived with critical injuries. A 57-second video of the survivor, circulating on social media, gives a chilling account. As someone questions him about the incident, the survivor, who seems barely conscious in his hospital bed, answers in monosyllables—“yes”and “no”.

He says that 14-15 people attacked them, beat two of them to death and threw their bodies from the bridge onto the river bed. The survivor says he jumped off the bridge to save his life.

The body of one of those killed shows multiple fractures, with one foot split apart, say sources. While police didn’t reveal the names of the victims, sources said those killed were Chand Miyan (23), and Guddu Khan (35), and the injured person is Saddam Qureshi.

Sources said 15-20 vigilantes suspected them of smuggling cows and chased the Chhattisgarh-registered truck from Patewa on Mahasamund-Arang Road, around 70km from Raipur. They intercepted it on a bridge on the Mahanadi river and un- leashed an attack. Raipur SSP Santosh Singh said an FIR has beenregistered.

“The truck was coming from Mahasamund to Raipur and was followed by some people. The deceased are residents of Saharanpur, UP, and the injured person has been admitted to hospital. He is not in a condition to give a statement right now but police are trying to record his version. We are scanning CCTV footage of the location. An FIR has been registered,” Raipur SSP Santosh Singh said.

The SSP told TOI that the post-mortem of one person was conducted in Raipur and of the other in Mahasamund. Both reports are awaited. Qureshi’s condition is said to be critical.

The attack took place between 2am and 3am, and police arrived within an hour of receiving information that three people were lying severely wounded on the Mahanadi river bed, on the border of Raipur and Mahasamund districts. Raipur ASP Kirtan Rathore told reporters that one person was found dead. The two injured men were taken to a community health centre where the second man died.

The ASP said they have requested a short post-mortem report as soon as possible to determine cause of death.

16 get life term for 2020 killing of ‘evil magician’

Aurangabad: Sixteen people, including two women, were sentenced to life imprisonment and fined Rs 25,000 each for the 2020 murder of a 60-year-old man in Bihar’s Aurangabad district over suspicion of ‘witchcraft’, reports Premendra Mishra. The punishment was announced by the court of additional district and sessions judge II, Dhananjay Mishra. All convicts belong to Ibrahimpur village, as did the deceased Jagdish Ram. On Aug 13, 2020, Jagdish was attacked with sharp weapons after villagers suspected him to be involved in ‘witchcraft’.

7 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh, 3 security personnel injured

As many as 129 Maoists have been shot dead this year, police said

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Raipur: Seven suspected Maoists were killed and three security personnel injured in an encounter on the borders of Narayanpur district of Chhattisgarh’s Bastar region Friday, two days after an attack on a newly established police camp in the district wasfoiled.

A joint operation was launched by District Reserve Guards units from Narayanpur, Dantewada, Jagdalpur and Kondagaon districts, and ITBP after inputs about the presence of Maoists from West Bastar division in the villages of Mungedi and Gobel, around 40km from the Narayanpur district headquarters and 270km from Raipur.

The gunfight broke out near Gobel and raged all day in the thick jungle. After the Maoists fled, police found seven bodies in uniform. A statement by Narayanpur police said many Maoists were injured but managed to escape. Three DRG jawans were injured and their condition is stable, policesaid.

As many as 129 Maoists have been shot dead this year, police said. There have been allegations of fake encounters that copshavedenied.

Man kills friend for urinating on him in jest

Meerut: A booze party turned ugly after a man killed his friend when the latter urinated on him in jest in UP’s Bulandshahr Thursday, reports Rahul Singh.The victim, Rahul Kumar, 32, who worked as a private taxi driver, is survived by his wife and a year-old child. A case of murder has been filed against Ankur Kumar, who is absconding, said the Bulandshahr SSP.

Lalu son Tej Pratap, daughter Hema named for first time

CBI Files Final Chargesheet In Rail Job Scam

RJD chief Lalu Prasad, wife Rabri and his former OSD are among those chargesheeted. CBI also named 29 railways officials, 37 candidates who got group-D jobs with railways when Lalu held charge of the public transporter, and six private persons

Rajshekhar.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Concluding its investigation into the landfor-jobs scam, CBI on Friday filed its final chargesheet against RJD boss and former railway minister Lalu Prasad, his wife Rabri Devi, son Tej Pratap, daughter Hema Yadav, former OSD Bhola Yadav and several others.

Those chargesheeted include 29 officials of railways, 37 of those who got group-D jobs when Lalu held charge of the public transporter, and six private persons.

The candidates named in the chargesheet are those who allegedly gave land parcels to the Lalu family in lieu of jobs. The candidates were engaged as substitutes in 11 zones of Indian Railways during the tenure of Lalu as Union railway minister (2004-2009) in the UPA-I govt.

In the chargesheet, CBI has accused the former railway minister of hatching a conspiracy with his family and associates to acquire land by offering employment in the railways.

“To implement the plan, the then railway minister with the help of his then special officer, Bhola Yadav, devised an indirect way wherein the candidates were en- gaged firstly as substitutes and were later regularised. The then railway minister also entered into conspiracy with officers of Central Railways and others, collected applications and documents of such candidates through his associates and then sent those to Central Railway to process and provide jobs in Railways,” CBI said.

According to CBI, the candidates were engaged in complete violation of guidelines and in lieu of transfer of land by the candidate himself/by family members and/or by submitting fake educational certificates.

Candidates who were engaged as substitutes in different railway zones were mainly from districts which fell in the constituencies of then Union railway minister and his family members.

This is the first time that Tej Pratap and Hema have been chargesheeted in a corruption case. Lalu’s wife Rabri, son Tejaswi (who has been convicted in three cases related to fodder scam), and eldest daughter Misa Bharti, the newly elected member of Lok Sabha from Patliputra constituency, have already been chargesheeted in another corruption case.

Friday’s chargesheet has been filed at the Rouse Avenue Courts under sections of criminal conspiracy, fraud and forgery under IPC besides sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. The court would consider the chargesheet on July 6. Earlier, CBI had named 16 persons as accused, including Lalu, Rabri Devi and Misa Bharti.

HC nixes Sengar plea to suspend 10-year jail term

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi high court on Friday refused to suspend the 10-year jail term awarded to expelled BJP leader Kuldeep Singh Sengar for the custodial death of the Unnao rape victim’s father.

Seeking suspension of his sentence during the pendency of his appeal against conviction, Sengar said that he had already served almost six years, and the prosecution’s case against him was solely based on circumstantial evidence.

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma, however, said once an accused is held guilty, the presumption of innocence gets erased. His application for suspension of sentence has to be considered on the basis of a prima facie view of his role, gravity of offence, etc and the period undergone in jail is only one of these several factors, Justice Sharma said. The court noted that factors such as nature of the crime, criminal antecedents of the convict, impact on public confidence and threat to the victims have to be appreciated while deciding suspension of sentence.

SP MLA Solanki gets 7yrs in arson case, may lose House seat

SP MLA Irfan Solanki is already in jail. He was sentenced along with brother Rizwan Solanki and three others by an MP-MLA court in Kanpur

Anant Shekhar Misra TNN

Kanpur: Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Irfan Solanki was on Friday sentenced to seven years in a 2022 land-grabbing and torching case, setting him up for disqualification as lawmaker. Jail terms of two years or more trigger such disqualifications.

Solanki is already in jail. He was sentenced along with brother Rizwan Solanki and three others by an MP-MLA court in Kanpur. Judge Satyendra Nath Tripathi fined each of them Rs 30,500. The five had been held guilty four days ago.

Irfan and his brother were arrested in Dec 2022 for harassing a woman and setting her house on fire in a bid to grab her plot in Kanpur . The accused were booked under the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act.

Irfan faces 17 cases and is under ED’s scanner for alleged money-laundering and illicit assets. A local court had rejected Irfan’s plea to vote in Rajya Sabha elections earlier this year.

In the current UP assembly elected in 2022, Solanki is the sixth MLA, and the third from SP, to lose membership on conviction. Among the SP trio cast out was party heavyweight and ex-Ram pur MLA Azam Khan. He was given three years’ jail in a 2019 hate speech case. Three others were from BJP.

4 Indians studying MBBS at univ in northwest Russia drown, another missing

Harshal Desale (L) with Jishan Pinjari and Jia Pinjari (R)

Santosh.Sonawane1@timesgroup.com

Nashik: Four Indian medical students drowned when they entered a fast-flowing river near St Petersburg in Russia, authorities said on Friday, prompting the Indian embassy to issue an advisory to students to be “extremely careful” while going to beaches, rivers, lakes, ponds and other water bodies. A fifth student who had gone to the river with the other four was rescued.

All five studied at Yaroslav-theWise Novgorod State University. Veliky Novgorod is around 190km from St Petersburg. Before tragedy struck, two of the students had even interacted with their parents over video call, unaware that it would be their last conversation.

The four students from Maharashtra were identified as — Harshal Anantrao Desale, Jishan Ashpak Pinjari, Jia Firoj Pinjari and Malik Gulamgous Mohammad Yakub. The rescued student was identified as Nisha Bhupesh Sonawane.

“The five students were walking on the beach along the Volkhov when a strong wave pulled them into the water. Someone called an emergency number, following which a team of rescuers reached the spot. Nisha was immediately rescued. The university informed the students’ parents,” Jalgaon district collector Ayush Prasad said.

Around 11pm (IST) Tuesday, Harshal had video-called his parents. “He told his father that he and his friends were on their way to the Volkhov river for a stroll,” Harshal’s uncle Rajendra Desale said. At 7am the next day, Harshal’s parents received a call from his hostel informing them that he had not returned. A few hours later, the university called up the family, telling them that Harsal had drowned.

Inputs from Ardhra Nair in Pune

Punjab ex-DIG gets 7-yr RI, ex-DSP life in 1993 fake encounter case

Kin Of Killed Veggie Vendor Awarded `2L

During the trial, it was proved by cogent evidence of eyewitnesses that accused persons — Dilbagh and Gurbachan — among others abducted Gulshan from his house on June 22, 1993, kept him in illegal detention and killed him on July 22, 1993

Barinderjit.Saluja@timesgroup.com

Mohali:Thirty-one years after a fake encounter, the family of vegetable vendor Gulshan Kumar, who had been abducted and killed, got a compensation of Rs 2 lakh as a special CBI court of judge RK Gupta in Mohali on Friday sentenced former Punjab police DIG Dilbagh Singh to seven years’ rigorous imprisonment (RI) and former DSP Gurbachan Singh to life term in the 1993 case.

Counsel for the victims Sarabjeet Singh Verka said the court also fined the two convicts Rs 3.75 lakh for the extra- judicial killing of Gulshan.

While appearing for CBI, counsel Anmol Narang said Gurbachan has been sentenced to life term under IPC Section 302 with a fine of Rs 2 lakh; to seven years of RI under Section 364 with a fine of Rs 50,000; to four years of RI under Section 201 with a fine of Rs 50,000; and to two years of RI under Section 218 with a fine of Rs 25,000 totalling to Rs 3.25 lakh.

Dilbagh has been sentenced to a seven-year jail term under IPC Section 364 with a fine of Rs 50,000.

The court ordered com- pensation of Rs 2 lakh to be awarded to the family of the victim, Gulshan, from the fine collected from the convicts, Narang said.

During inquiry, Gulshan’s father Chaman Lal deposed that his son was abducted by a police party led by Dilbagh — then DSP City (Tarn Taran) — on June 22, 1993 from his residence and later killed in a fake encounter on July 22, 1993.

Police cremated Gulshan’s body at the cremation ground in Tarn Taran on the same day without informing the family members. A case was registered by CBI against Dilbagh and four others on Feb 28, 1997.

Narang said a chargesheet was filed on May 7, 1999 by CBI against then DSP Dilbagh, then inspector Gurbachan, then ASI Arjun Singh, then ASI Devinder Singh and then SI Balbir Singh. Arjun, Devinder and Balbir died during trial. The charges were framed against the accused on May 7, 2000. After the trial, the court held both the accused guilty and pronounced the sentence accordingly. As many as 32 witnesses were cited by CBI.

During the trial, it was proved by cogent evidence of eyewitnesses that accused persons — Dilbagh Singh and Gurbachan Singh — among others abducted Gulshan from his house on June 22, 1993, kept him in illegal detention/confinement and killed him on July 22, 1993.

Bhavani faces SIT after HC interim bail in kidnap case

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru:JD(S) MLA HD Revanna’s wife Bhavani secured interim conditional anticipatory bail from Karnataka HC on Friday in the alleged abduction of a sexual-harassment survivor, and appeared soon after before Karnataka Police’s special investigation team (SIT).

Bhavani was quizzed for over three hours at CID headquarters in Bengaluru. Son and former MP Prajwal was lodged in a locked chamber a little distance away. He is in custody in multiple sexual offence cases, whose probes have now focused on recovering his missing mobile in which some of the acts were allegedly filmed.

Bhavani did not meet Prajwal. Instead, she sat inside the SIT chambers answering a barrage of questions. According to a senior officer, Bhavani was not questioned much on the kidnap case on Friday. “We sought explanations from her on the victims of her son and related issues. We have directed her to appear before us whenever summoned,” the officer said.

Bhavani left the CID headquarters around 4.30pm. She had arrived there at 1pm after the HC’s Justice Krishna S Dixit set the time and told her to cooperate with the probe while granting her interim bail. The judge added that she should not be questioned beyond 5pm.

The HC asked Bhavani not to venture near KR Nagar of Mysuru district, where the abduction case has been filed, and the family turf of Hassan, where the sexual harassment allegations are centred. The HC kept in abeyance a lower court’s warrant against Bhavani.

(With inputs from Rajiv Kalkod)

5 juvenile inmates flee MP shelter

Five juvenile inmates — four accused of theft and one on trial for a gruesome murder — escaped from a rehab shelter in MP’s Gwalior Friday. This is the second breakout at the facility in four months. At 6.15am, other juveniles noticed the broken grille on a skylight in the bathroom and alerted the authorities. Police teams are out looking for the juveniles, raiding their homes and known hideouts. Previously, on Jan 25, four juveniles had escaped by scaling a wall. They were eventually recaptured.

TNN

Cop who hit MP belongs to family of farmers

The CISF jawan’s brother Sher Singh and mother Veer Kaur

IP.Singh@timesgroup.com

Mahinwal (Kapurthala district): Kulwinder Kaur, the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) constable who made national headlines after allegedly hitting actorturned-BJP MP Kangana Ranaut on Thursday, belongs to a family of farmers which has been backing farm protests all along.

Some of Kulwinder’s relatives are currently in the armed forces as well while two of her uncles — her father’s elder brothers — had fought the 1965 war against Pakistan.

While defending his sis- ter, Kulwinder’s brother Sher Singh says that as an MP, Kangana should be careful about the “far-reaching” consequences of the words she uses in her statements.

“Her reaction after the alleged incident that “terror- ism” in Punjab is on the rise reflects how she can vilify Punjab, Sikhs and farmers without any hesitation,” said Singh, who is a member of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee. This sentiment finds echo not just in Kulwinder’s parental village, Mahinwal, but elsewhere in Punjab as well.

For Kulwinder, support has been pouring in from several farm groups other than Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee. Throughout Friday, representatives of farm groups and Sikh organisations visited her house in Mahinwal, expressing solidarity with Kulwinder. All of them presented siropas (robe of honour) to her entire family, including her grandparents.

Kulwinder’s mother Veer Kaur describes her as a “well behaved” person who cannot harm anyone. “I was part of the farm movement and sat at the Delhi border during the protests. Am I worth a penny as remarked by Kangana? She might have said something to Kulwinderfirst, otherwise she has been very well behaved throughout,” Kaur said about her daughter who joined CISF in 2008.

Kulwinder got married in 2015 and has a son and a daughter. After her arrest, the children have been brought to her parental house where her parents, grandparents and brother’s family live. Her father has not been keeping well for close to a year. “We haven’t told him about Kulwinder’s arrest,” said Veer Kaur.

Her brother, Sher Singh, has demanded that the video footage of the alleged slap should be made public so that people know “what actually happened and what triggered the argument”.

He added that the family could not speak to Kulwinder after the incident.

Cops scanning CCTV footage to verify MP’s allegations

Continued from P 1

Kulwinder Kaur, the CISF constable who allegedly confronted and slapped actor-MP Kangana Ranaut at Chandigarh airport on Thursday, has been booked under bailable sections 323 and 341 of IPC.

Mohali police are scanning footage from CCTV cameras at the terminal to verify Ranaut’s allegations. “Action per the complaint filed by CISF has been taken. Further action is in process,” Mohali SSP Sandeep Garg said.

CISF DIG Vinay Kajla was quoted as saying that Kulwinder was “apologetic” about her “emotional outburst” — she allegedly confronted Kangana over her remarks about women’s participation in the farm agitation — but there was no official word from the force on this.

Sources said CISF will take action based on outcome of departmental inquiry against the constable. Kulwinder’s husband, too, is a CISF employee attached to the dog squad and is posted at the same location.

Among those who came out in support of the suspended constable was 82-year-old farm activist Mohinder Kaur, who had previously filed a defamation suit against Kangana for her remarks on the farm protest. “Kangana has no sense of how to speak. Since she has been elected as an MP, she should be polite. She tried to brand Punjabis as extremists. She used derogatory words for us,” the octogenarian said.

Kangana, now MP from Mandi in Himachal, had posted on X a picture of Mohinder as “dadi of Shaheen Bagh of Delhi” and alleged that “such women” would turn up at a protest site for Rs 100. The actor had later deleted the post. Based on Mohinder’s defamation suit, a Bathinda court had issued an arrest warrant against Kangana that a bench of Punjab and Haryana HC had stayed.

Meanwhile, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar has termed the airport episode “most unfortunate”.

Rahul gets bail in defamation case filed by K’taka BJP man

Bengaluru: A special court in the city for elected representatives granted bail to Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Friday in a defamation case and adjourned the hearing to July 30. The case was registered against Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Rahul and others by a BJP worker for sponsoring an advertisement ahead of assembly polls last year accusing the then BJP govt in state of indulging in large-scale corruption.

On June 1, Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar had appeared before court in connection with the case and Rahul, through his advocate, had sought time for appearance citing his busy political schedule. Special judge KN Shivakumar had allowed it and directed Gandhi to appear on Friday.

Siddaramaiah, DK Shivakumar and other Congress politicians accompanied Rahul when he walked into court on Friday. Gandhi’s counsel applied for bail and ex-Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh stood surety. Court granted the bail and adjourned the matter.

TNN

With TDP win, Amaravati land prices have come back to 2018 levels, says AP farmer

Srikanth.Aluri@timesgroup.com

Vijayawada: Land prices in Amaravati had dipped 60-75% after outgoing AP CM Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy announced in 2019 a proposal to develop three capitals, puncturing the euphoria built around the city.

After five years, with a change at the helm and TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu’s reputation as someone with execution skills, the realty sector in Amaravati seems to be witnessing a V-shaped recovery in terms of prices.

Farmers with parcels of land near the AIIMS campus expect a further increase in land prices if an announcement on Amaravati as the new capital is made.

Ginjupalli Subbarao, a farmer from Amaravati, said he had already received many calls from prospective buyers. “There were no takers until six months ago, but the sentiment has changed,” he said. “With the election results in favour of the alliance, land prices have come back to 2018 levels.” During the election campaign, Naidu had said that Amaravati would be revived if TDP and its allies came to office.

TDP national general secretary Nara Lokesh said his party didn’t even contemplate altering Amaravati’s master plan before being replaced by YSRCP in 2018. He said since there was no better alterna- tive to the existing master plan, the TDP-led govt would stick to the original strategy of developing the city based on a self-sustaining model.

Despite spending about Rs 10,000 crore, the erstwhile TDP govt couldn’t complete all infrastructure projects, including laying roads and drains and expanding the power and water supply network.

According to sources, Naidu was planning to complete all pending infrastructure on priority to turn Amaravati into a magnet for investors and developers.

Several institutions, including RBI, NTPC, ONGC, Indian Bank and SBI, have also purchased land to establish regional offices in Amaravati.

Agra man abducted, murdered for `10L ransom

A 24-year -old man was abducted and murdered in the Malpura police station area in Agra after his family could not pay the Rs 10 lakh ransom his captors demanded for his release. Despite arresting the suspects, the police are yet to find the victim’s body.

TNN

30 monkeys beaten to death in K’taka

As many as 30 monkeys were sedated and brutally killed at Narasimha Raja Pura taluk in Karnataka’s Chikkamagaluru on Friday, forest officials said.

The monkeys were fed poisoned bananas. When they fell unconscious, they were beaten to death. All had head injuries.

TNN

Woman’s extramarital affair is cruelty to husband, says HC, grants divorce to man

Raipur: If a woman gets into an extramarital relationship, it amounts to mental cruelty on the husband, said Chhattisgarh HC as it overturned a lower court order and granted divorce to a man.

“The appellant husband’s testimony and evidence presented indicate that the wife committed adulterous acts, amounting to cruelty. This justifies the granting of a decree for dissolution of marriage under Section 13(1)(i-a) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955,” a division bench of Justice Goutam Bhaduri and Justice Radhakishan Agrawal said.

The husband said his wife’s behaviour suddenly changed. On May 27, 2014, she allegedly left her matrimonial home with their three children without informing the husband or his family. He alleged that on June 7, 2017, he saw her “in an adulterous act” at their home. The wife denied these allegations.

TNN

K’taka bans film over communal concerns

Move Comes After Muslim Outfits’ Plea; BJP Questions Action

Bengaluru: Karnataka govt has banned the screening of Bollywood film ‘Hamare Baarah’ in the state, citing that it may disturb communal harmony. The movie was scheduled for countrywide release on Friday.

The order, issued under sections 15 (1) and 15 (5) of Karnataka Cinema (Regulation) Act 1964, banned the broadcast of even the trailer of the movie for two weeks or until further orders. The move came after several Muslim organisations across the state petitioned the govt, alleging the trailer of the film portrayed Islam in a “humiliating manner” and was “provocative”.

“If the movie is screened, it will create rifts between religions and castes. Targeting one religion intentionally, harming communal harmony, creating rifts in the nation, and hurting sentiments of Muslims is part of a conspiracy,” said the order, adding: “Films should play an instrumental role in guiding society and not foment hatred between religions.”

BJP’s senior functionary R Ashoka condemned the move, calling it “another attempt to suppress freedom of speech and expression in Karnataka”. Questioning the motives behind the ban, he asked who the CM and Karnataka Congress were trying to appease. “There is no threat to law and order in Karnataka because of this movie, which is being screened across the country. Instead of protecting the civil liberties and freedom of expression CM @siddaramaiah has yet again chosen to stand with radical elements.”

TNN

Objectionable dialogues to be cut, producers tell HC

Producers of the film ‘Hamare Baarah’ told Bombay high court on Friday they will delete allegedly objectionable dialogues and exhibit the film’s edited version from Saturday. Justice Kamal Khata and Rajesh Patil allowed them to delete the dialogues so that the film’s release is not stalled after a panel sought time till June 12 to take a final decision on a petition that the film portrays a minority community in a poor light.

On Thursday, the high court recalled its earlier stay on the film’s release after producers said it will cause them financial loss as tickets are sold.

The judges asked CBFC to set up a three-member committee, including a member of a minority community, to view the film and inform on Friday as the first show was scheduled for 10am.

TNN

Maha cops deny Jarange nod for hunger strike

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Maharashtra police have refused permission to reservation activist Manoj Jarange to hold an indefinite hunger strike in Antarwali Sarati village from Saturday, citing law and order concerns, reports Mohammed Akhef.

Jarange, however, said he was firm on holding the hunger strike, but would start it from 10 am on Tuesday (June 11). He warned CM Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis not to make the mistake of attacking his supporters. He also reiterated his demands, which are: reservation of Marathas from OBC category, a law declaring that Marathas and Kunbis are one, passing of Sage Soyare law, implementation of Hyderabad and Bombay gazette, and withdrawal of cases against Marathas in the village as well as across Maharashtra.

8 years on, Dalit RTI activist acquitted in cops’ video case

Agra:A court acquitted RTI activist Sunil Kumar of all charges, including molestation and attempted rape, after eight years. Kumar, a Dalit, was allegedly framed for a video on cops collecting money from cattle smugglers. The court also directed initiation of pro- ceedings against the complainant.

In 2016, a 16-year-old girl filed a complaint against Kumar alleging molestation and attempted rape. Police thereafter arrested him. After being released on bail, Kumar filed a plea with the NHRC. Before being implicated in a false case, Kumar had conducted a sting that showed cops collecting money from vehicles smuggling cattle.

TNN

Times City

- Atishi: Haryana Not Giving Water Share

- Fire dept to conduct safety lectures, demos at hosps

- 21 girls rescued across city, five of them after cutting locked door

- Treatment plants saturated, doubts over how city will process HP water

- Man stabs friend to death after fight over woman, arrested

- After a brief respite, heatwaves likely to return from Monday

- ED Claims Chauhan Close To CM And Was Handling DJB Postings

- Enough proof to prosecute Kavitha, CBI tells court

- No proof after 2 years of probe, ED making wild allegations: AAP

- Bail plea of CM’s aide rejected, court says allegations against him are grave

- Excise policy case: Court to hear CM’s bail plea on June 14

- Utilisation of MPLADS funds beyond CIC’s jurisdiction: HC

- ED raids man accused of cheating foreign national of $400,000 by taking control of computer remotely

- ED attaches assets worth `46 crore of Gurgaon company

- Blaze erupts at fire safety equipment manufacturing unit

- 14 of 38 projects under AMRUT scheme on track

- With Shift In Terminals, IGI Looks At Ways To Navigate Through Int’l Traffic Influx

- Man gets 10 yrs’ jail for child marriage, rape

- AAP suspends former MLA

- Food safety dept tells eateries not to use liquid nitrogen

- Six Charged Under UAPA For Parliament Security Breach

- ‘Carefully scan proposals to remove names from voter list’

- Fake encounter? Footage & call records to unravel truth

- Climate change: IIT prof on a yatra to advocate energy independence

- ‘No. of govt students clearing NEET up 2.5 times in 5 years’

- Artificial Sweeteners, Real Health Problems

- BJP asks mayor to prioritise sanitation woes

- ED case: Court grants bail to Unitech ex-promoters

- Illegal godowns of gas cylinders busted

- CINEMA OF THE WEEK

- Next Stop: Dining In Coach! DDA Takes Cue From NDLS

- Vroom! Gr Noida To Play Host To MotoGP Till 2029

- Don’t allow functions in parks: DPCC to MCD, DDA

- Police brass takes stock of security arrangement at Rashtrapati Bhavan

- Two men found dead in mysterious circumstances

Atishi: Haryana Not Giving Water Share

Claims Level At Wazirabad Plant Down, Haryana Says Has Always Honoured All Decisions By SC

Atishi claimed that even if Himachal Pradesh released 137 cusecs of water as directed by Supreme Court, it would not benefit Delhi

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Water minister Atishi visited the Wazirabad water treatment plant on Friday and once again accused Haryana of not supplying Yamuna raw water to the capital. She said that the water level at the Wazirabad pond had declined since June 2 and had plunged to 669.7 ft on Friday, 4 ft below the normal level.

Despite the low water level at Wazirabad, Delhi Jal Board reported a water production of 1,002 million gallons per day (MGD), 2 MGD more than its summer action plan target. The four main sources of water for the WTPs have been carrying more than their actual allocation in the past few days. However, the Carrier Lined Canal, which has been allocated 369 MGD, is giving DJB only 263 MGD.

Atishi alleged, “Haryana govt is not giving Delhi the rightful due of water. Due to this, the water level at Wazirabad has come down to 669.7 ft today compared with 671.3 ft on June 2. For the last five days, when the hearing in the Supreme Court was under way, Haryana govt was cons- piring against the capital.”

The minister also maintained that even if Himachal Pradesh released 137 cusecs of water as directed by the Supreme Court on Thursday, it would not benefit Delhi. Atishi said that Delhi govt would apprise the Supreme Court of this and hoped the city would receive its share of water and the additional water from Himachal without obstruction in Haryana.

Satbir Singh Kadian, engineer in chief, Haryana irrigation & water resources department, responded that the state had always abided by the law and honoured all decision of the Supreme Court. The Upper Yamuna River Board and Central Water Commission had confirmed this, he said, adding that the 137 cusecs ordered by the apex court on Wednesday would be supplied at the earliest and UYRB was working out the modalities.

This is not the first time that Atishi has charged Haryana with short-changing Delhi on Yamuna water. From May 22, when she claimed Haryana was “stopping” water supply to the city while announcing measures to manage the scarcity, she has been repeating her contention.

Water rationing has been announced and DJB has decided wasting piped water would invite a fine.

Atishi emphasised on Friday that Delhi relied on the Yamuna for its entire water supply and reduced water supply from Haryana caused water supply shortages for the residents of the city.

Fire dept to conduct safety lectures, demos at hosps

New Delhi:The Delhi Fire Service has been receiving multiple requests from private and govt hospitals here to conduct a “Fire Safety Lecture and Demonstration”, officials said on Thursday.

This comes after a massive fire broke out at a private neonatal hospital in east Delhi's Vivek Vi- har last month, killing seven newborns babies. The hospital allegedly operated illegally with an “expired” licence and no clearance from the fire department last month.

“No doubt, after the fire incident, we are receiving more than 75 letters for the fire safety demonstration from different private and govt hospitals. We are always happy to help and our teams are visiting for the same pur- pose,” a senior DFS official said. He said that the best way to avoid fire situations is to keep inflammable objects away. People must check the dates on fire extinguishers and learn how to operate them. Regular inspection of fire safety norms can also avoid such incidents, he added.

TNN

21 girls rescued across city, five of them after cutting locked door

NCPCR chairperson said that the body was acting on a complaint of BBA in which they highlighted that minors had been brought from states like Jharkhand and Bihar

Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:As many as 21 minors were rescued from different parts of the national capital as part of an operation carried out by National Commission for Protection of Child Rights in coordination with Delhi Police and voluntary organisation Bachpan Bachao Andolan (BBA).

According to the commission, the intervention of the office of the lieutenant governor of Delhi was urgently sought to direct the district authorities to go ahead and cut open a door to rescue five girls who were found confined in a house in Shakurpur in nothwest Delhi.

NCPCR chairperson Priyank Kanoongo who led the rescue operation said that the commission was acting on the complaint of BBA where they had highlighted that minors had been brought from states like Jharkhand and Bihar in the guise of placing them for domestic work through traffickers working under the cover-up of placement agencies.

In a series of posts put out on X, Kanoongo shared that rescue operations were carried out at 10 places and at one location in Shakurpur where he was himself present and it took nearly five hours to rescue five girls as no one was opening the door. “The authorities Delhi Police and district magistrate finally cut the door after the LG’s office ordered urgent intervention. We found five girls who were rescued,” Kanoongo said in his post where he also shared videos of the struggle invovled in the rescue operation.

“Inside the team also found medicines, pregnancy kits, documents of the girls and 10 lakh rupees which have all been seized by the police for further investigation,” Kanoongo told TOI. Similarly teams carried out resuces at locations in Rajouri Garden and Nihal Vihar in West Delhi and Subhash Place in northwest Delhi.

“All 21 minors have been produced before the Child Welfare Committees and if there are any adults among those rescued they will be restored accordingly. The accused persons are in the custody of the police for further action. Going forward we will be issuing directions to the authorties including Delhi govt for ensuring proper restoration and action against the traffickers,” Kanoongo added.

“Till placement agencies are regulated it will be difficult to stop this kind of exploitation of minors,” Kanoongo said.

Treatment plants saturated, doubts over how city will process HP water

Siddhanta.Mishra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi Jal Board achieved a significant milestone on Friday by producing 1,002 million gallons per day (MGD) of water, exceeding the combined capacity of its nine water treatment plants by around 47 MGD. Following the Supreme Court's directive on Thursday, Himachal Pradesh is set to provide water to the capital to meet the growing demand. However, concerns have been expressed about DJB's capacity to effectively use the additional raw water and boost the water production.

DJB officials had doubts about the utilisation of the extra water that Delhi is expected to receive from Himachal Pradesh. “Given that the existing water treatment plants are already operating at their maximum capacity, there is limited scope for accommodating and processing extra water,” said a DJB official. “We es- timate that around 67 MGD of water will be available when Haryana releases water, but that will not reflect in the actual water production."

The 137 cusecs of raw water that the hill state will be releasing for the city will amount to approximately 70 MGD. After accounting for water losses of about 10%, the Wazirabad barrage will ultimately receive around 65 MGD of water. With all the nine WTPs already operating above their capacities, treating this extra volume of water would require an increased capacity.

It is being estimated that only around 30 MGD of the expected 65 MGD will be available in the next few days, presenting a challenge to DJB. But while water minister Atishi accused the BJP-ruled Haryana govt of allegedly stopping water flowing to the capital, DJB's summer bulletin on Friday indicated no problems with water production and meeting the target set under the summer action plan.

DJB has faced delays in completing work on two major water treatment plants. The construction of a new WTP at Chandrawal, with a capacity of 105 MGD, was initially scheduled for completion in March but has been delayed. The completion of another WTP at Dwarka, which has the potential to increase production by 50 MGD, is also behind schedule.

According to Delhi’s Economic Survey Report 2023, the overall water requirement of the city is 1,290 MGD, with an increase in the summer months. DJB's own target is to produce 1,000 MGD of water. The city has been grappling with an extremely hot summer and abnormally high temperatures for several days. This has compounded the shortage of water supply. When the situation escalated, a political blame game erupted between Delhi govt and BJP, which is in power in Haryana, with either side holding the other responsible for the crisis.

Man stabs friend to death after fight over woman, arrested

New Delhi: A 35-year-old criminal has been arrested for allegedly killing his friend, Rohit, after a fight over a woman. The accused has been identified as Javed, a history sheeter.

The incident took place in southeast Delhi two days ago.

Javed told cops during interrogation that he was angry over Rohit talking to a woman whom he liked. On June 5, Javed reprimanded Rohit again but was slapped by him. Seeking revenge, Javed whipped out a knife and stabbed Rohit in the abdomen multiple times. He absconded after the murder.

Cops received a tip about him early on Friday and nabbed him from Uttar Pradesh. An officer said that even though the murder was committed in daylight and in a crowded area, no one was willing to provide details. “A case was then registered and an investigation taken up. Informers were deployed and we came to know that the accused involved in the murder was also having criminal involvements,” the officer added.

TNN

After a brief respite, heatwaves likely to return from Monday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The city experienced a slight increase in temperature on Friday, but no heatwave conditions were observed for the second day in a row. The heatwave may return from Monday onwards, according to India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The maximum temperature at Safdarjung, the city’s base station, was 43 degrees Celsius, three notches above normal, compared to 41.2 degrees Celsius a day earlier.

Delhi's maximum temperature will remain between 42-43 degrees Celsius over the weekend, with the possibility of a dust storm and scattered rain in Delhi-NCR region, forecasted IMD, issuing a yellow alert for heatwave for Monday and Tuesday.

The city's minimum temperature was 28 degrees Celsius, around normal for this time of the year, compared to 24.6 degrees Celsius the previous day. The minimum temperature is expected to be around 29 degrees over the weekend.

Late Thursday night, Delhi was hit by a dust storm, with wind speeds reaching a maximum of 74 km/hr at Safdarjung around 11.30pm. IMD recorded wind speeds of 30-40 km/hr in the early hours of Friday and forecasts similar weather conditions to persist throughout the weekend.

“The day is likely to remain warm, with late evening and night recording gusty winds. There are also chances of isolated parts of Delhi recording a drizzle late on Saturday,” said an IMD official.

The heatwave conditions in Delhi subsided on Thursday after 12 consecutive days, following light rain and gusty winds late on Wednesday, which provided temporary relief from the heat.

On Thursday, Delhi experienced northeasterly winds, which shifted to southwesterly winds in the first half of Friday and then to westerly winds in the second half. Easterly winds typically bring moisture, while westerly winds are drier and originate from Rajasthan. Southwesterly winds can also contribute some moisture from the Arabian Sea.

The city’s AQI was 254 or poor against 181 or moderate a day earlier.

ED Claims Chauhan Close To CM And Was Handling DJB Postings

Agency Cites ‘Chats’ Between The Two In Its Reply To Bail Plea Filed By CM

Vineet.Upadhyay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate has claimed that Vinod Chauhan, the man allegedly handling the proceeds of crimes connected with hawala operators in the Delhi excise policy case, is “very much a close associate” of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The agency said this in its reply filed in a Delhi court hearing the regular bail plea of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.

ED, in its 182-page reply filed in the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja on Friday, has stated that Chauhan's proximity to Kejriwal is evident from the fact that he was managing postings for officers in Delhi Jal Board through the CM.

The agency submitted what it claimed to be chats between Kejriwal and Chauhan, who was allegedly responsible for the transfer of Rs 25.5 crore from Delhi to Goa.

“It is pertinent to note that Vinod Chauhan is not an unrelated person, unknown or unassociated with the AAP leaders but is very much a close associate of accused Arvind Kejriwal. Examination of the digital device of Chauhan has revealed chats revealing a close relationship between Chauhan and Arvind Kejriwal,” said ED. Referring to the chats, it said that the “acknowledgement” by Delhi CM was proof that he was closely associated with Chauhan.

“Further, Chauhan's proximity is also visible from the fact that he was managing postings for officers in Delhi Jal Board through Arvind Kejriwal. The same is evident from the below chat (submitted in court) and also the screenshot of an official note of Delhi govt which approved such postings,” the agency said.

ED claimed that Kejriwal had personally utilised part of the proceeds of crime (PoC) of an amount of Rs 45 crore as another accused in the matter, Chanpreet Singh, booked a room for him at a five-star hotel in Goa in November 2021. It added that Singh has not been able to give any reason for this payment.

“In this manner, it is evident that Arvind Kejriwal is directly and deeply associated with persons such as Chauhan and Singh involved in the hawala transfers of the PoC of this case and thus with the hawala transfers of the PoC itself,” ED said in its reply.

Citing the screenshots of many hawala note numbers which have been retrieved from the phone of Chauhan, ED stated that those match with the note numbers mentioned in the IT seized data. The agency argued that this shows how Chauhan was actually involved in the transfer of the proceeds of crime from Delhi to Goa which was collected/coordinated by Chanpreet Singh in Goa.

Calling this "a complete and direct money trail" of the transfer of proceeds of crime from the South group to AAP for the Goa elections, ED claimed there were screenshots of hawala money transfers between Chauhan and another accused, Abhishek Boinpally, and other hawala operators.

ED has claimed that AAP is a major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged Delhi liquor scam, adding that part of the proceeds of crime to the tune of Rs 45 crore in cash has been used in campaigning for the Goa assembly elections in 2022.

The agency said that in this manner, the party has committed the offence of money laundering through its national convener, Kejriwal. It also claimed that Kejriwal was "ultimately responsible" for the funds being used for election expenses, including what was incurred in the Goa elections which is relevant for his complaint and also their generation.

ED said Kejriwal, while being on interim bail, has violated the conditions imposed by Supreme Court in its order dated May 10, 2024. "The applicant was explicitly barred from commenting on his role in the ongoing case. However, the applicant has brazenly and flagrantly violated this condition by giving multiple interviews, speeches and press conferences while calling the present case false, made-up and a conspiracy," said the ED.

The agency also pointed out that when certain L1 wholesalers were not agreeing to give kickbacks to AAP in Delhi, their businesses were targeted in Punjab through state officials.

Enough proof to prosecute Kavitha, CBI tells court

New Delhi: In a supplementary chargesheet filed on Friday against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS)’s K Kavitha in a corruption case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) claimed that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute her in the matter.

The central probe agency filed a report before special CBI judge Kaveri Baweja, who will take cognisance of the matter on July 6. The chargesheet was filed under relevant sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. The judge extended the judicial custody of Kavitha, a member of Telangana Legislative Council, till June 21.

CBI also said in its report that the investigation was still on and it might file another supplementary chargesheet.

The daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao was arrested by CBI at Tihar Jail in April, where she was lodged after her arrest by Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case related to the alleged scam. ED had arrested the 46-year-old BRS functionary from her Banjara Hills residence in Hyderabad on March 15. Kavitha is currently in judicial custody in both cases.

CBI officials had questioned Kavitha inside the prison after obtaining permission from a special court. The BRS legislator was asked about the WhatsApp chats recovered from co-accused Buchi Babu’s phone and documents related to a land deal, after which Rs 100 crore was allegedly paid to Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in kickbacks to swing the excise policy for the national capital in favour of a southern liquor lobby.

In its sixth supplementary chargesheet, ED also recently claimed that Kavitha had conspired with the members of South Group and AAP to pay Rs 100-crore kickbacks to receive undue benefits.

PTI

No proof after 2 years of probe, ED making wild allegations: AAP

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate is making “wild allegations” because it doesn’t have any concrete evidence or recovery of money in the Delhi excise policy case even after two years of investigation, claimed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Friday after ED told a court that Vinod Chauhan, said to be a close associate of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, had allegedly handled the proceeds of crimes connected with hawala operators in the case.

AAP claimed that even Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently admitted in an interview that there was no evidence against Kejriwal. “This shows that ED’s attempt here is to carry out a political witch-hunt,” it said.

“All this while, ED was claiming this is a Rs 100-crore scam, while a few days back in court, they suddenly said this is Rs 1,100-crore scam and now they are claiming it (to be) Rs 45 crore,” it added.

Despite carrying out over 500 raids and questioning thousands of witnesses, ED’s theories are based on the statements of govt approvers like Sharath Reddy “who donated Rs 60 crores to BJP”, AAP stated.

“This kind of blatant politicisation of investigation agencies is exactly what people of India have rejected by voting against BJP in the Lok Sabha elections. BJP should use ED to investigate real corruption cases like the Rs 8,000-crore electoral bond scam,” AAP said.

Bail plea of CM’s aide rejected, court says allegations against him are grave

The court of special judge Ekta Gauba Mann said the injuries suffered by Swati Maliwal were apparent as per the medical report

Vineet.Upadhyay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday dismissed the second bail plea moved by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s aide Bibhav Kumar in the case of alleged assault on Rajya Sabha member Swati Maliwal. It stated that there were grave and serious allegations against him.

Observing that Maliwal is a lady and sitting MP from Aam Aadmi Party and had gone to meet Kejriwal of her own political party at his residence, the court of special judge Ekta Gauba Mann said that the injuries suffered by Maliwal were apparent as per the medical report and the allegations levelled against Kumar were grave and serious in nature.

“Considering her allegations that she has been assaulted and brutally beaten up and her modesty has been outraged by Kumar in the drawing room of the residence of the CM. Considering the fact that Kumar being the personal secretary to the CM and alleged to have misbehaved not only with the MP of the same party but also with a lady,” said the court.

Kumar’s first regular bail plea was rejected by the trial court on May 27.

Stating that the investigation in the case is at initial stage and that there is fear in the mind of the victim regarding her safety and security as she is receiving continuo- us threats, the court stated that there was every apprehension that Kumar would influence witnesses, if at liberty.

“Also, considering the fact that Kumar is alleged to have misbehaved with a lady member of the political party at the official residence of the CM where not only the elected members of their political party could meet the CM but even the general public could go and meet the CM regarding their grievances. This creates fear and panic in the mind of general public to meet their leader,” the court said.

Kumar’s counsel submitted before the court that 21 days had elapsed since Kumar’s arrest and his custodial interrogation was not required. The counsel also added that Kumar was not an influential person as he was merely a personal secretary in the ranks of a clerk and his appointment was on a co-terminus basis.

Additional public prosecutor Atul Srivastava submitted before the court that Kumar was a very influential person and investigation had revealed that no register was maintained for meeting Kejriwal, people, including the MLAs, could meet the chief minister only after seeking an appointment from Kumar.

“So, I do not find any merit in the present bail application,” the court concluded.

Maliwal narrated the incident before the court and claimed that after she lodged the complaint, she was “ostracised by the entire Aam Aadmi Party and some leaders were shaming or assassinating her character”.

Excise policy case: Court to hear CM’s bail plea on June 14

Arvind Kejriwal’s counsel sought an adjournment till Saturday as he needed more time to go through the 182-page reply filed by ED

Vineet.Upadhyay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday adjourned the hearing on bail plea of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the excise policy case, till June 14.

As the matter was taken up by the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja, Kejriwal’s counsel, senior advocate N Hariharan, sought an adjournment till Saturday as he needed more time to go through the 182-page reply filed by ED. He claimed that he was supplied the ED’s reply moments before the bail hearing. “Advance copy doesn’t mean you give it to me half an hour before the hearing,” said the senior advocate.

However, additional solicitor general SV Raju pointed out that a hearing on Saturday would cut into the trial court’s summer break which starts on Saturday only. “We don’t only have Arvind Kejriwal matter. We have so many matters. We are overburdened. If the case is posted before a vacation judge, I have to cut short my vacation,” the ASG argued.

Responding to this, Hariharan said, “It cannot be that in a bail situation, the prosecution says because I am on vacation, a bail matter may not be heard. It is unheard of.”

To this, the ASG responded that he could argue the matter without relying on the ED’s reply as the ED’s reply furnished today need not be taken on record.

Hariharan went on to reemphasise that ED cannot prolong the bail hearing by citing court vacations or oppose a hearing before a vacation bench. “The department cannot shut down. It is an absurd proposition. I will be incarcerated for two weeks. Why should I be kept waiting like this?” he questioned.

The court eventually adjourned the matter by a week and posted it on June 14. Vacation judge Mukesh Kumar is likely to hear the matter next.

On June 5, the same court declined the interim bail plea moved by Kejriwal who sought seven days of interim bail on medical grounds. It stated that he does not appear to be suffering from any serious or ‘life-threatening’ ailment.

The court, in its 17-page order, stated that diabetes or even type-2 diabetes cannot be said to be so serious an ailment so as to entitle him to the relief claimed.

On June 5, the court also extended Kejriwal’s custody till June 19.

Utilisation of MPLADS funds beyond CIC’s jurisdiction: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The Chief Information Commissioner (CIC) has no jurisdiction to comment on the utilisation of MPLADS funds as the scope of the Right To Information (RTI) Act is limited to providing access to information under the control of public authorities, Delhi High Court has clarified.

In the process, the court recently expunged certain remarks made by the CIC while dealing with an RTI application seeking information about utilisation of funds under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS).

Justice Subramonium Prasad said the authority has no jurisdiction to comment adversely upon the functioning of any public authority but retained the CIC's direction for disclosure of MP-wise, constituency-wise, and work-wise details of the funds.

Hearing a plea against a CIC order observing that some MPs were "deliberately accumulating" their MPLADS funds for the last year of their term to gain advantage at the time of next elections, the court suggested that ministry of statistics and programme implementation to prevent this "abuse" of the funds, and implement the guidelines for distributing the money equally for each year of the five-year term.

"The Ld. (learned) CIC has no jurisdiction to comment upon the utilization of funds by the Members of Parliament under the Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme (MPLADS). The scope of the RTI Act is only to ensure that information sought for under the RTI Act is dissipated in order to secure access to information under the control of public authorities," the court noted.

The court's order came on a challenge by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation against the CIC order. The ministry contended that the CIC exceeded its jurisdiction by commenting upon the action taken by MPs in spending MPLADS funds.

The court noted that as per section 18 of the RTI Act, the CIC can only deal with issues relating to the information sought or any other issue leading to its dissemination.

While ordering removal of portions to the extent of observations made by the CIC on utilization of MPLADS funds, the court left the CIC ruling intact in direction to the public authority to publish details of the funds.

ED raids man accused of cheating foreign national of $400,000 by taking control of computer remotely

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate conducted searches against a Delhi-based man, who allegedly cheated a foreign national by convincing her to invest in cryptocurrency and taking control of her computer remotely and transferring $400,000 from her account to those of his own and his associates. Searches were conducted on the premises of Prafful Gupta and others on Thursday at various locations in Delhi, Haryana and Kanpur and digital evidence, bank deposits of Rs 7 crore and Rs 35 lakh worth of jewellery were seized.

Gupta was earlier booked by CBI in the same fraud case. The FIR stated that Gup- ta and his associates contacted the target and convinced her to transfer the investments held in her bank accounts to a cryptocurrency account, claiming that the existing account was not safe.

“The accused gained unauthorised remote access to her computer and created a cryptocurrency account in the name of the victim using her mobile number and email ID. She was advised to transfer $400,000 to the said cryptocurrency account,” the agency said. However, later when she logged into her account, she found that there was no money in her crypto account. Once the $400,000 was transferred to a crypto account, the money was allegedly transferred to other accounts by the accused. “Investigation revealed that the cryptocurrency from the account of the victim was transferred to Prafful Gupta and his mother Sarita Gupta after layering transactions through several accounts. Thereafter, the cryptocurrency was sold and the money was transferred to shell entities in India,” the ED said.

The shell entities, after receiving money from the crypto wallets, further transferred the funds to thousands of accounts with fake KYCs, the FIR claimed. Part of the amount was transferred to the account of a Gurgaon-based fintech firm, which was aiding in layering of the proceeds of crime without obtaining KYC of such beneficiaries, the agency said.

ED attaches assets worth `46 crore of Gurgaon company

New Delhi: Enforcement Directorate has attached a club house, vacant land and bank accounts worth Rs 46 crore of TDI Infra group in Gurgaon, accusing the real estate firm of laundering home buyers’ money. The agency has identified Rs 166 crore as ‘proceeds of crime’ in this case.

“Investigation revealed that they had duped the innocent buyers by promising delivery of flats/plots and commercial spaces which was never done,” the ED said. The agency accused the directors of the company of siphoning off money collected from buyers. “Rather, they gave loans and advances to associated entities and diverted buyers’ money to shell companies,” the agency said. TNN

Blaze erupts at fire safety equipment manufacturing unit

New Delhi: A fire broke out in a fire safety equipment manufacturing factory in outer Delhi’s Bhorgarh Industrial Area on Friday morning, officials said.

No one was injured in the incident, they said.

Officials of Delhi Fire Service (DFS) said that a call was received at 6am and 16 fire tenders were pressed into service.

Fire officials brought the blaze under control at 11.10am, but the cooling operation continued, they said.

The reason of the fire is suspected to be a short circuit on the first floor of the two-storey building, officials said. PTI

14 of 38 projects under AMRUT scheme on track

Vibha.Sharma@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has reported progress on 14 out of 38 projects proposed under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (Amrut) 2 scheme.

The projects include the rejuvenation of waterbodies at 21 locations, revamping of green spaces at five sites, and the implementation of sewerage management projects at 12 locations by the engineering department. These sewerage projects involve the remodelling and construction of sludge drains on Mehrauli-Badarpur Road, Anand Parbat, Gulabi Bagh and Paschim Vihar II, as well as the installation of decentralised sewage treatment plants at some parks.

Centre had sanctioned Rs 117.8 crore last year for the 38 projects under the scheme to be implemented by MCD.

At 12 waterbodies, including a lake at Dwarka Sector 23, Aya Nagar Johad and Roshanara Bagh Lake, work has been completed. Additionally, major work has been completed on two sewerage management projects, while six other projects are in progress.

An MCD official stated that work would now move at a fast pace on all projects, with some having already issued work orders and others in the tendering stage. The official also mentioned that with staff from various departments returning to work after the election duty, the focus would be on completing these projects.

“The project for rejuvenating waterbodies is aimed at improving and harvesting existing resources for storing rainwater. Depending on requirement, we have included additional features such as trenching of the waterbody, chain link fencing surrounding the waterbody, developing walkway, plantation and greening, installation of LED streetlights and construction and repair of boundary wall as part of the project. We want to develop the waterbodies as recreational spaces,” said the official.

The waterbody rejuvenation project at Tahirpur Village has reached 60% completion. At the Ghazipur waterbody near Highway Apartment, the cleaning process using machines is nearly finished. “We removed all waste lying here, including debris and weeds, and 28% work has already been completed,” the official stated.

Places where work for rejuvenating waterbodies is in progress include Ghazipur, Dwarka, Jaunapur, Tahirpur, Masoodpur and Narela. Although there were plans to commence phase 2 of the Welcome Lake Project in Shahdara under this scheme, it could not be realised due to several reasons.

There are plans to set up five decentralised STPs, each with a capacity of 50 KLD, at various locations, including Divyang Park in Rathi Mill (Loni Road), Senior Citizen Park at Law Apartment in Karkadooma, Topiary Garden in Mayur Vihar-II, a park near Highway Apartment in Ghazipur, and another near Ghazipur Mandi.

“Many tubewells were shut down in the past and treated water from these STPs can be utilised for irrigation of parks in and around these facilities in coming summers,” said officials.

Recently, the civic authority got approval for additional funds for four more projects to be carried out under this scheme, including urban recreational space in Ajmal Khan Park and parks at Mayapuri, Janakpuri, GK II, Swasthaya Vihar (Laxmi Nagar), Mayur Vihar Pocket 3 and PVR Saket.

With Shift In Terminals, IGI Looks At Ways To Navigate Through Int’l Traffic Influx

Options Like Converting T2 To All-International, Transforming A T3 Domestic Pier Being Considered

INDIGO SOURCE SAYS We have proposed to DIAL either to shift us entirely to T1 by adding an int’l wing there or to allow us to operate some domestic flights from T3

Saurabh.Sinha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The operator of India’s busiest hub, Delhi's Indira Gandhi International airport, is back to the drawing board to figure out ways to manage the increasing international traffic effectively. With the imminent closure of T2 following the expansion of T1 later this month, Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) CEO Videh Kumar Jaipuriar announced on Friday that all options were being considered. These included assigning dedicated terminals to airlines, with IndiGo and Air India having substantial fleet orders, or segregating terminals based on international and domestic flights, he said.

“Our current capacity (T1 + T2 + T3) is approximately 10.4-10.9 crore passengers annually (CPA), of which 2.2 crore are international, with only T3 handling overseas flights. Last year, we managed just under 2 crore international passengers and are now facing a capacity crunch. Given that international traffic is growing at 8-10% annually and domestic-international transfers are on the rise, we need to expand our capacity for international flights," Jaipuriar stated at a CAPA event on Friday.

In the short term, two options that can be implemented within 6-12 months are being considered: converting T2 to an all-international terminal or transforming a domes- tic pier in T3 to handle international flights. No definitive decision has yet been made regarding which path will be taken, he mentioned.

"The transition from T2 to the expanded T1 will occur in phases, starting after we receive security clearance later this month. We plan to complete this process within two months, with approximately 15-day intervals between each phase," he said.

India's largest airline, IndiGo, has reportedly expressed concerns over this arrangement, as it would result in all its international flights operating from T3 and all domestic flights from T1, once the transition from T2 is complete. Conversely, the AI Group, according to IndiGo, will operate both international and most domestic flights from T3. “The entire burden of transferring passengers between the distant T1 and T3 will fall on IndiGo when T2 closes. We have proposed to DIAL either to shift us entirely to T1 by adding an international wing there or to allow us to operate some domestic flights from T3," sources familiar with the matter disclosed. Jaipuriar did not comment on this issue.

In preparation for the transfer of passengers between T1 and T3, DIAL is planning to use buses for city-side transfers in the absence of an air train or automated people mover (APM). "We are focusing on airside transfers of baggage for passengers connecting flights within the same airline group. For instance, passengers traveling from Patna to Istanbul via Delhi on IndiGo will not need to reclaim their bags at T1 for the domestic to international leg of their journey. For returns, when customs clearance is required, we are collaborating with government agencies to streamline the process," Jaipuriar said.

To accommodate transfer traffic, DIAL is constructing a hotel outside T3 and is exploring the possibility of a similar setup at the car park outside T1.

Part of Delhi Airport complex and undergoing significant expansion by Bharti Reality, Aerocity, meanwhile, is becoming a destination in its own right. "We now see people flying into Delhi, staying at an Aerocity hotel for meetings, and then flying back home, sometimes on the same day. The hotels here are experiencing 90% occupancy. With the retail space set to expand from 18 lakh square feet to 3 crore square feet, Aerocity is becoming a major commercial hub," Jaipuriar said.

Man gets 10 yrs’ jail for child marriage, rape

The judge ordered a full and final compensation of `10.5 lakh for the girl

Ridhima.Gupta@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: In a landmark judgment in a child marriage and rape case, the special Pocso court at Tis Hazari sentenced a 49-year-old man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment on Friday and awarded his victim a compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh. The court convicted the Bihar native under the Indian Penal Code, Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012, and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006.

The court invoked IPC’s Section 376 (2) (i) and (n) for punishment for rape, Pocso Act’s Section 6 (punishment for aggravated penetrative sexual assault) and the Child Marriage Act’s sections 9 (punishment for male adult marrying a child) and 10 (punishment for solemnising a child marriage).

The court noted that the girl, who is currently rehabilitated in a women’s home, was supposed to have received an interim compensation of Rs 25,000 but hadn’t because she did not have a bank account at the time when she was rescued in 2019. The judge ordered a full and final compensation of Rs 10.5 lakh for the girl under the applicable Pocso norms and Section 357A (victim compensation scheme) of the Criminal Procedure Code payable by the state under the Delhi Victim Compensation Scheme, 2018.

The father had abandoned the girl at a very young age. With her mother being mentally affected, she was brought up by her grandmother. When she attained the age of 13 years in 2017, the girl began to be pressured by relatives to drop out of her school and get married. They told her there would be no one otherwise to take care of her after her grandmother’s death.

In Feb of that year, she is alleged to have been forcefully married to a man from Bihar, who was then around 41 years old and was already a father of two daughters aged 10 and 13 years.

“After the death of my grandmother, the villagers forced me to marry the man against my will,” the girl testified in court. She said once married, she learnt that the man had married twice before. The first wife had died, leaving behind two daughters, who were living with the man’s mother. The second wife had deserted the man.

“During the first two months of marriage, the man brought me to his village, frequently beat me and forced himself upon me, all of which I resented,” the girl’s statement said. Sensing trouble in the village, the man shifted her to Delhi where he again subjected the girl to sexual torture. The merciless beating of the victim forced neighbours to inform police in 2019, who initiated the process of registration of FIR and probing the case.

Reacting to the court’s verdict, Bhuwan Ribhu, lawyer, activist and founder of Child Marriage Free India, said, “This is a landmark as there is very low conviction in child marriage cases. The judgment once again establishes that child marriage leads to child rape. I hope this verdict acts as a precedent. By acting decisively against child marriage, we can end it by 2030. While the govt aims to make India a developed country, it can only happen by ensuring access to free education for girls till 18 years of age and eliminating child marriage.”

AAP suspends former MLA

New Delhi:AAP on Friday suspended former MLA Nitin Tyagi for alleged “anti-party” activities during the just-concluded Lok Sabha polls. Tyagi claimed that the action was taken against him for “speaking the truth”.

In a communication to Tyagi, AAP Delhi convener Gopal Rai said, “It has come to our notice that you have been involved in anti-party activities during the Lok Sabha elections. The party has taken a decision to suspend you from its primary membership, pending disciplinary proceedings.”

In an apparent reference to the AAP-Congress alliance in Delhi for the election, Tyagi wrote on X, “It is anti-party to ask for votes for those against whom people had chosen you.”

TNN

Food safety dept tells eateries not to use liquid nitrogen

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: With a few cases of the consumption of ‘liquid nitrogen’ causing injuries being reported from eateries in other parts of the country, the food and safety department of Delhi govt may soon take an action against establishments illegally using the substance.

A senior Delhi govt official said they will soon coordinate with the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), a central govt’s statutory body which regulates the manufacture, storage, distribution, sale, and import of food articles, while also establishing standards to ensure food safety, and follow the advisory issued by it.

According to officials, liquid nitrogen is being extensively used by eateries to give a smoky effect to food items, sometimes causing injuries to people consuming it. The substance is often used for quick chilling of ice-creams, cocktails and mocktails and bakery products.

In a recent case in Bengaluru, a 12-year-old who ate a liquid nitrogen paan at a wedding was diagnosed with perforation peritonitis—a hole in her stomach. She had to undergo surgery and remained in the hospital for six days, after which she was discharged.

In Madurai, the food safety department revoked the licence of a shop for selling smoked biscuits made of liquid nitrogen in April this year.

A few years back, a young businessman was rushed to hospital in Gurgaon where doctors removed what they described as "nearly half his stomach", after he consumed a cocktail laced with liquid nitrogen. He swallowed the drink even before the white smoke liquid nitrogen vapours had vanished.

In a different case earlier this year, five customers suffered burns after they were served dry ice instead of mouth freshener at a restaurant in Gurgaon.

Liquid nitrogen, widely used as a coolant, can cause severe injuries to mouth, throat, oesophagus, and stomach if ingested directly. While it is banned at the stage when food is being served to consumers, liquid nitrogen permitted under FSSAI to be used as a contact freezing and cooling agent in dairy-based desserts, such as icecreams, during the production phase. There is no permission to use liquid nitrogen in smoking biscuits, desserts, or other eats while serving for consumption.

Taking cognisance of such incidents, FSSAI issued an advisory saying illicit use of liquid nitrogen directly at the point of serving or plating was not allowed and will be considered as non-compliance by the food businesses.

“Any violation to this shall result in initiation of statutory action against the food businesses in accordance with FSS Act, 2006 and rules and regulations made thereunder,” it added.

Six Charged Under UAPA For Parliament Security Breach

Cops File 1,800-Page Chargesheet, Submit Digital Evidence

Rajshekhar.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Six months after a security breach at the old Parliament building, Delhi Police filed a chargesheet against the six individuals arrested under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act. Accusing them of a conspiracy to gain political mileage, police have detailed how the alleged mastermind — Manoranjan D — and the others terrorised the people present inside and outside Parliament by setting off “bomb-like” smoke canisters.

The 1,800-page chargesheet mentions how the incident caused high panic because it coincided with the call for an “attack” by Khalistan terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

The incident took place last year on Dec 13, coinciding with the anniversary of the 2001 Parliament attack. The four main executors — who had set off smoke canisters inside and outside Parliament — were held from the spot while two others surrendered to police a day later.

The investigation by Delhi Police’s Special Cell established that Manoranjan D, Sagar Sharma, Lalit Jha, Amol Shinde, Mahesh Kumawat and Neelam Azad met on the Bhagat Singh Fan page on Facebook. They then met in person twice, once in Mysuru around a year and half before the incident where the group decided to raise social issues through various means. Manoranjan had sent others the tickets to travel to Mysore. The second meeting, nine months before the breach, decided to use Parliament as a platform to voice their ‘dissent’.

In March last year, Manoranjan — who had failed academically and wanted to become a harbinger of change for the country — wanted to study the parliament building but could not get a pass. He then attended the monsoon session in July as an observer and observed that the security personnel did not check the footwear of visitors holding valid passes.

This inspired him to order shoes with special cavities. Once the planning was finalised, Sharma travelled from Lucknow to Delhi on the Gomti Express. Deciding on Dec 14 to strike, they spent three nights and two days in Gurgaon, assisted in this by Vishal Sharma, arranging visitor passes. However, they got passes for Dec 13, the chargesheet says.

At 9am on the day of incident, Sharma collected passes at 18 Mahadev Road from the PA of MP Pratap Simha, also named Sagar. He went to Sadar Bazar and bought some national flags. Azad, Manoranjan, Jha and Shinde travelled by cab from Gurgaon to India Gate. Sharma caught up with the group there from Sadar Bazar. The “smoke bombs” had been purchased by Shinde in Latur and picked up from Kurla in Mumbai by Sharma.

Manoranjan and Sharma decided to enter the parliament building while the rest were to protest outside. Around noon, the two managed to reach the Lok Sabha chamber around 1pm. They had decided not to throw the smoke bomb, but to hold them in their hands to indicate that the bombs were harmless and that they wouldn’t be shot. Sharma hid some pamphlets in the shoes to scatter after setting off the canisters, according to police.

The court has listed the filing of the supplementary chargesheet and consideration of the chargesheet for July 15. It extended the judicial custody of the six till the next hearing. Special public prosecutor Akhand Pratap Singh informed the court that sanctions for prosecution under Section 186 IPC (obstructing public servant in discharge of duty) and under Section 13 of UAPA (punishment for unlawful activities) were awaited. A supplementary chargesheet would be filed within a fortnight.

‘Carefully scan proposals to remove names from voter list’

Atul.Mathur@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: With several complaints of wrong deletion of names from electoral rolls received from eligible voters before and on the day of voting, chief electoral officer (CEO) of Delhi has asked senior officials to carefully look at any proposal by booth-level officers to remove names of people from the voters’ list.

Delhi CEO P Krishnamurthy said nearly 25,000 proposals to delete names and reject applications of the first time voters (18-19 years) for enrolment were reversed by senior officers in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls.

“The electoral roll officers have been directed to carefully verify the details of each voter whose name is recommended for deletion by booth-level officers in case of demise or permanent shifting of the person,” Krishnamurthy said.

“Directions have also been issued to not reject the applications for enrolment for flimsy reasons. We are not a regulatory authority; we are here to facilitate eligible persons register as voters and participate in the electoral process,” he added.

TOI came across a number of instances on May 25, the day Delhi voted, of people reaching the polling booths only to find their names missing from the electoral rolls. While some said they had the voter card but their names were missing from the electoral roll, a few others said they lost their houses due to fire or demolition and now had their names also removed from the voters list.

According to officials, maintaining the purity of the electoral roll is of utmost importance by removing the names of voters from the list of the area who have either shifted permanently to a new address or have deceased. While the families of the deceased or people who have shifted should themselves inform the electoral office by filling up form number 7, not many follow the practice. The responsibility then falls on booth-level officers to survey the area and remove the names of people who do not live on the given address.

Fake encounter? Footage & call records to unravel truth

The case is currently being probed by cops from the outer-north district but is likely to be handed over to Crime Branch for further investigation

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: In what could help unravel the truth behind the death of a 24-year-old man in a "fake encounter" by the counter intelligence unit of Special Cell, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is learnt to have sought the police vehicle logs and the wireless log besides the call details records and mobile location history of the deceased from Delhi Police.

The man, Ajay, was killed around midnight on the night of May 16-17 at an isolated stretch near Rohini in northwest Delhi. A magisterial inquiry besides a probe by another unit of Delhi Police is being conducted into the matter.

The investigation into the killing, sources said, will need to focus on obtaining and analysing the footage from toll plazas at Delhi’s borders besides from the approach roads leading to the spot. “It will help rule out claims that he was brought from outside and killed in cold blood,” said an officer. There are allegations that Ajay was abducted by the cops in plain clothes from Mount Abu in Rajasthan and shot dead in Delhi at midnight.

The probe currently relies upon there crucial factors — ballistic, forensic and fingerprint reports. It is suspected that Ajay was shot twice — once in the lower back and the second time on the right side of chest.

“The diagram of entry and exit wounds will be corroborated with other details like the result of the forensic examination of ‘hand wash’ of the deceased which will clarify if there was gunpowder on the hands of the deceased. Similarly, the report of fingerprints experts on a match on prints on the deceased’s pistol seized from the spot and his hand will reveal if he was indeed holding the gun,” said a source. Interestingly, in this case, both police and Ajay have apparently used 9mm pistols.

“NHRC has already sought the site plan of the scene of occurrence and the details of the position of policemen and Ajay during the encounter. The ballistic report will clarify if the angle of shooting and the nature of bullet wounds corroborate,” said an officer.

The probe team will also carry out the technical and mechanical examination of the vehicles involved in the encounter and submit a report. According to police’s initial information to the control room, a Honda City car with registration number T012UP 2024*, believed to be of Ajay, was found at the scene. The police’s Scorpio SUV with registration number DL 1 CAD 034* was found in damaged condition with “bullet marks on the front wind shield” and broken glass on the side window.

The case is currently being probed by cops from the outer-north district but is likely to be handed over to Crime Branch for further investigation, sources said.

If the family insists, CBI and Delhi High Court could also intervene. The statements of senior cops from Special Cell, including DCPs Pratiksha Godara and Manishi Chandra, may be recorded too. It will be ascertained if the encounter or the departure of policemen had their permission.

Climate change: IIT prof on a yatra to advocate energy independence

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Travelling across the country to promote ‘Solar Swaraj’, IIT Bombay professor Chetan Singh Solanki reached Delhi on Friday after covering 56,000km and reaching out to over 2.7 lakh people to spread awareness on climate change and energy conservation and sustainability.

Asserting his AMG formula — avoid, minimise and generate — Solanki pushed for a minimalistic lifestyle and consuming strictly when required.

“This very hall that we are sitting in has five ACs; we had four switched off and still its comfortable. My formula would suggest ‘avoid use of this AC if we can, or else minimise the consumption’. Once our consumption is reduced, less generation would be needed. Just by setting new trends and consuming just the most necessary, we can save the world,” explained Solanki.

He further stressed how centralisation was not the solution “as it leads to uneven distribution” and advocated energy independence so that the country didn’t have to bear the impact of the global chain of uncertain events.

Solanki will next travel towards Bhopal as part of his 11-year ‘Energy Swaraj Yatra’, which started in Nov 2020 and still has 2,398 days to go. The yatra aims to address the climate change challenges and promote 100% solar adaptation.

‘No. of govt students clearing NEET up 2.5 times in 5 years’

ATISHI SAYS This year, students from 12 Dr BR Ambedkar Schools of Specialised Excellence appeared for NEET. Out of these, six schools achieved a 100% pass rate, meaning every student who appeared for the test qualified

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Education minister Atishi on Friday said that students from Delhi govt schools have been consistently achieving outstanding results in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET). Students from the govt schools have, however, surpassed their previous records this year and a total of 1,414 students have qualified NEET.

The minister stated, “The number of students qualifying NEET from Delhi govt schools has increased each year. In 2020, the number was 569, and it rose to 1,414 by 2024. This means that in just five years, the number of students qualifying NEET has increased by 2.5 times.”

Atishi highlighted that 255 students specialising in STEM at Dr BR Ambedkar School of Specialised Excellence took NEET, and 243 of them qualified, translating to a 95% success rate.

The minister further stated, “I believe that no other school in the country or any large institute with significant advertising has achieved such an impressive success rate of 95%. This year, students from 12 Dr BR Ambedkar Schools of Specialised Excellence, where students prepare for medical exams in the STEM stream, appeared for NEET. Out of these, six schools achieved a 100% pass rate, meaning every student who appeared for NE- ET from these schools qualified.”

Atishi congratulated all the students who passed the exam, as well as their parents, teachers and school principals. She attributed the educational revolution in Delhi over the past decade to chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s leadership. This revolution has made it possible for even the poorest children in Delhi govt schools to receive a high-quality education and secure admission to the country’s best higher education institutions.

“Until 10 years ago, it was unimaginable that children studying in govt schools would clear JEE and NEET. However, 1,414 children from impoverished families studying in Delhi govt schools have now qualified NEET. In the future, they will attend the country’s top medical institutions, bringing honour to Delhi, the nation, and their families,” she added.

Artificial Sweeteners, Real Health Problems

Too Much Of Xylitol Could Lead To Clots: Study

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:Consuming high levels of xylitol, a popular sugar substitute found in a wide range of products — sugarfree chewing gum to low-sugar baked goods, mints and even toothpaste — may lead to blood clots, increasing the risk of serious cardiovascular events like heart attacks and strokes, reveals a study published in European Heart Journal.

According to doctors across the city, the findings are troubling, given xylitol’s potential to increase the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events and enhance platelet reactivity and thrombosis. This may have significant implications for patients with cardiovascular diseases, they said.

Xylitol, a sugar alcohol that occurs naturally in various fruits and vegetables, has gained significant popularity over the past one decade. Its chemical composition resembles that of sugar, but it contains fewer calories, making it an attractive alternative for health-conscious individuals.

Dr Nityanand Tripathi, head of cardiology and electrophysiology at Fortis Shalimar Bagh, said, “Xylitol is often promoted as a safe sugar substitute, but these results highlight the need for caution, especially for individuals at risk of cardiovascular diseases.” He added that more research was needed to fully understand the mechanisms and establish clear guidelines for its consumption.

“High consumption of xylitol can lead to a state of hypercoagulability, where the blood has an increased tendency to clot. This effect is mediated through xylitol’s ability to enhance the aggre- gation and activity of platelets, small blood cells that play a crucial role in the clotting process,” explained Dr Amar Singhal, director of interventional cardiologist at Sri Balaji Action Medical Institute. “The heightened platelet reactivity induced by xylitol can result in the development of clots within blood vessels. These clots have the potential to obstruct blood flow in both arteries and veins, leading to serious cardiovascular events.”

The study, conducted by Cleveland Clinic, US, indicates that every measure of clotting ability significantly increased immediately after the ingestion of a xylitol-sweetened drink, but not with a glucose-sweetened drink. Explaining the difference, Dr AK Sahani, director and chief of neurology at Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, said, this could be due to xylitol’s specific metabolic pathway, influencing platelet function and vascular response differently.

It is advisable to use natu- ral sweeteners like honey, maple syrup and fruits in moderation, said Dr Bharat Kukreti, director and unit head of cardiology at Paras Health, Gurgaon. “Patients, especially those with cardiovascular risk factors, should be cautious with sugar substitutes and prioritise a balanced diet. For products like toothpaste and gum, the occasional use is likely to be safe due to the minimal amount of xylitol ingested,” he added.

Choosing natural items over artificial ones can provide numerous benefits. “Saunf is a great wholesome option. By making such a switch, you can improve your overall wellbeing,” said prof Vinay Goyal, chairman of neurology at Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon.

The same research team found a similar link between erythritol and cardiovascular risk last year. Xylitol is not as prevalent as erythritol in keto or sugar-free food products in the US, but is common in other countries, said researchers.

BJP asks mayor to prioritise sanitation woes

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:The leader of the opposition (LoP) in MCD and BJP councillors have voiced their worries about the deteriorating sanitary conditions in several zones, including the absence of adequate door-to-door garbage collection.

Denouncing AAP-led MCD for postponing relevant action on this issue, they have urged mayor Shelly Oberoi to prioritise waste management problems. This development follows the mayor's joint meeting with deputy commissioners to address the issue just a day prior.

"In a joint meeting on Thursday, the mayor held officials responsible for the sanitation system in Delhi. The fact is that the mayor and the AAP councillors themselves were not paying heed to the sanitation issues and were all busy in campaigning for elections… It is only after losing election on all seven Lok Sabha seats, the party got into action," said Raja Iqbal Singh.

Since AAP took control of the civic body, Delhi's cleanliness system has entirely collapsed, he said, adding, "There are heaps of garbage everywhere. There is no solution to the complaints of garbage in Delhi. Every day people make more than a thousand such complaints regarding cleanliness, but the corporation does not take any action on them".

There was no comment from AAP on the matter.

ED case: Court grants bail to Unitech ex-promoters

New Delhi: Patiala House Court on Friday granted bail to Unitech’s former promoters, Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra, in connection with a money laundering case registered by the Enforcement Directorate (ED).

Additional sessions judge, Dheeraj Mor, while granting bail, said that in the instant case, both applicants have been languishing in jail for the last two and a half years, though the trial in the case has not yet commenced.

The maximum punishment in this case is 7 years, and they have already undergone a substantial part of the maximum punishment that can be awarded to them in this case. There are 71 accused persons, 121 witnesses, and lakhs of supporting documents in the complaint.

Considering this, coupled with the fact that the trial in the case has not yet commenced despite passage of over 2 years, the trial in the case may go beyond 7 years, even more than maximum punishment of this case, the court said.

The trial in this case cannot be concluded within a foreseeable time, said the court.

There seems to be enough justifiable reason for invoking the principles of parity in favour of both applicants, added the court.

ANI

Illegal godowns of gas cylinders busted

Police have arrested two men and claimed to have busted two godowns of illegal commercial and domestic gas cylinders in outer Delhi. A total of 1,699 domestic and commercial cylinders and 17 gas-refilling pumps were recovered.

PTI

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

Munjya (Horror, Comedy)★★★

Cast: Abhay Verma, Sharvari, Mona Singh, Suhas Joshi

Direction: Aditya Sarpotdar

Duration: 2 hours 3 minutes

Language: Hindi (UA)

■ When a young man visiting his ancestral village unwittingly unleashes a vengeful spirit, Munjya, he must save himself and his love interest from its clutches. This tryst with the childlike creature throws him into a hilarious and terrifying adventure.

Director Aditya Sarpotdar’s horror comedy, inspired by Indian folklore, takes the viewer on an atmospheric adventure early on. The story unfolds in 1952 in the idyllic Konkan countryside, where young Gotya resorts to black magic to win an older girl Munni’s heart. However, he tragically loses his life as his attempt backfires. Since he dies within 10 days of his ‘munj’ (thread ceremony), he becomes a restless spirit, Munjya, trapped in a tree.

Fast-forward to the present, Munjya latches on to his descendant, Bittu (Abhay Verma), fixated on fulfilling his unfulfilled desire—to marry Munni and set his spirit free. However, in a turn of events, Munjya sets his sights on Bittu’s love interest, Bela (Sharvari). A ride filled with laughter and horror follows as Bittu scrambles to save himself and Bela from Munjya’s clutches.

As the film’s story progresses, the comedy often dilutes the tension the horror elements build. The energy slips in the second half as the narrative prioritises goofy scenes such as spirits swapping, a self-proclaimed godman (S Sathyaraj) helping the protagonist, and so on.

Cinematographer Saurabh Goswami skilfully captures the beauty and eeriness of forests and ruins, while the light and shadow play and the occasional jump scares further amplify the mood. The film boasts a well-crafted Munjya (who may remind you of The Lord of the Rings’s Gollum), brought to life through advanced CGI, but his spirit possessing other characters towards the end seems spoofy.

Abhay Verma delivers a delightful performance as Bittu, convincingly portraying the character’s fear and excelling in comedic scenes. Sharvari complements him well as Bela. Supporting actors Mona Singh as Bittu’s fiery Punjabi mother, Pammi, and S Sathyaraj as the quirky godman leave a lasting impression.

Like its predecessors, Stree and Bhediya, Munjya also subtly weaves a social message into its narrative –– about the importance of consent in love.

The movie leaves some questions unanswered, and certain elements fail to add up. Nevertheless, the atmospheric setting, hilarious moments, and engaging performances make it an entertaining watch, especially for viewers seeking a horror-comedy experience with a youthful energy. Don’t forget to stay after the credits for a surprise appearance.

–– Dhaval Roy

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

RATING SCALE

TRASH ★ | BELOW AVERAGE ★★ | AVERAGE ★★½ | ABOVE AVERAGE ★★★ | GOOD ★★★½ | VERY GOOD ★★★★ | OUTSTANDING ★★★★½ | MASTERPIECE ★★★★★

Next Stop: Dining In Coach! DDA Takes Cue From NDLS

To Create Similar Eateries At Recreational Hubs On Floodplain

CULINARY JOURNEY: Capital Diner, the city’s first railway coach restaurant at New Delhi Railway Station, was inaugurated in May

Vibha.Sharma@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Taking inspiration from the successful railway coach restaurant at New Delhi Railway Station, Delhi Development Authority (DDA) wants to create similar facilities at two of its recreational hubs on the Yamuna floodplain, Asita East and Yamuna Vatika.

DDA is said to have already approached Northern Railway, requesting two old or discarded coaches to implement the plan. Negotiations are currently underway between DDA and Northern Railway for the coaches, a senior railway official said.

“We have already received DDA’s demand for two coaches and the proposal has been moved forward for approval after finalising the cost of the coaches through the accounts department. The department finalises the cost after deducting depreciation from the initial cost,” the official said. However, no comment was available from DDA.

He added that the coaches would be provided to DDA in raw form, and the authority would be responsible for modifying them according to its require- ments. “This process has already been successfully implemented at New Delhi and Anand Vihar stations, where sleeping berths were removed to install seats,” he said.

Capital Diner, the city’s first railway coach restaurant at New Delhi Railway Station, was inaugurated in May. A vintage railway coach was repurposed into a contemporary yet nostalgic eatery for the NDLS facility. Transforming the retired coach car for the restaurant pays homage to the romantic allure of train travel, offering an authentic and captivating ambiance. Its menu presents an array of mouthwatering dishes tailored to suit every palate, from classic Indian delicacies like kadhai paneer with naan to international favourites like penne creamy tomato with chicken. This unique dining experience has already attracted both tourists and locals.

DDA now aims to replicate the concept, offering visitors a nostalgic ambiance and a chance to enjoy meals in a distinctive setting at its recreational hubs.

Asita East, spanning 90 acres from Old Railway Bridge to ITO Barrage, is one of the initial sites among the 10 projects chalked out for the rejuvenation of the Yamuna floodplain. In March 2023, a group of diplomats from 11 countries visited Asita East, a biodiversity park situated on the floodplain. However, the site doesn’t have any eating facility for visitors.

In contrast to Asita East, DDA has made arrangements for a bamboo cafe at Baansera, which can accommodate 80-100 people. This facility, offering an eating option, enhances the overall experience of visitors at the site.

Vroom! Gr Noida To Play Host To MotoGP Till 2029

Up Inks Deal, Will Pay Licence Fee Of `80 Crore To Dorna

The remaining cost of the event will be raised through tickets and sponsors

Aditya.Dev@timesgroup.com

Noida: UP govt has decided to strike an agreement with Dorna — which has the licence to hold MotoGP globally — and its Indian partner Fairstreet Sports to conduct the premier bike racing event in the state every year till 2029.

According to the agreement, Invest UP — an agency recently formed by the govt to attract investments — will create a corpus to pay Dorna’s licencing fee of Rs 80 crore for MotoGP Bharat every year.

MotoGP came to India for the first time last year and was held at Buddh International Circuit in Greater Noida from Sept 22-24.

But since then, the future of the race has been mired in controversy, with contractors alleging they hadn’t received payments totalling around Rs 30 crore from Fairstreet, which organised the event on behalf of Dorna.

Officials said the decision to strike a deal with Dorna was taken after an audit report revealed that the company hadn’t received its full licencing fee of Rs 80 crore either.

Dorna, subsequently, sought an assurance from the govt to cover its expenses, prompting authorities to step in to make MotoGP a part of the annual sports calendar and acknowledging the event’s importance in bringing in investments and to the state’s branding.

According to the audit report, expenses incurred during last year’s MotoGp Bharat amounted to Rs 159 crore. The total funds mobilised, however, were Rs 52 crore, including Rs 18 crore from govt organisations.

On May 25, industrial development commissioner Manoj Kumar Singh wrote to Fairstreet, saying a tripartite agreement would be signed between representatives of the govt, Dorna and its Indian partner to ensure the event was held every year without any hindrance.

Singh promised a maximum licencing fee of Rs 80 crore to Dorna and said the remaining expenses for the racing event should be mobilised through the sale of tickets and sponsorship.

“The licencing cost of Dorna Sports for a one-year event is approxi- mately Rs 80 crore (Rs 71 crore as licencing fees and Rs 8 crore as sponsorship buying cost). Several rounds of meetings have been held between officials of Dorna Sports, Fairstreet Sports, Invest UP, and the department of infrastructure and industrial development. It is agreed that the event will cost approximately Rs 150 crore per year. To execute the event in a transparent manner, an escrow account will be opened in which all funds mobilised through sponsorship and ticketing will be kept. The shortfall from Rs 150 crore and up to a maximum of Rs 80 crore will be raised by Invest UP. Invest UP will mobilise this resource from authorities, other government bodies, and private sponsors,” read Singh’s letter.

The govt’s move promising the licencing fee for Dorna coincides with Yamuna Expressway Authority’s recommendation to the govt to blacklist Fairstreet if it does not clear dues worth Rs 30 crore to other service providers. The companies that have been demanding money from Fairstreet include those that laid the tracks and provided other services such as hospitality.

Fairstreet, however, has a contract with Dorna from 2023-2029. It is responsible for mobilising funds through tickets and sponsorship.

Don’t allow functions in parks: DPCC to MCD, DDA

New Delhi: Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) has issued a notice to the city's land-owning agencies, such as Municipal Corporation of Delhi and Delhi Development Authority, directing them to prohibit any kind of functions in their parks.

The DPCC stated that allowing events like weddings, parties, or cultural ceremonies for commercial purposes in public parks is a violation of the Air Act, 1981, Water Act, 1974, and Environment (Protection) Act, 1986. The agencies were asked to modify their existing regulations if they permit such use of their parks.

These directions were issued in response to a complaint filed by an RWA from west Delhi, claiming that a park in their area was being used for a cultural festival for 14 consecutive days. The agencies stated that they allow the booking of parks for up to ten days per month.

The DPCC emphasized that parks must not be allowed for holding any function. "DDA and MCD shall amend their existing policies and designate the concerned executive engineer (horticulture) for ensuring the proper management of solid waste," stated the DPCC.

“In case of any violation, penalty shall be imposed by the concerned executive engineer of DDA/MCD upon the violators and a report shall be submitted to DPCC along with photograph and details of penalty imposed etc within 24 hrs of holding of functions,” said DPCC in a submission to National Green Tribunal dated June 1.

TNN

Police brass takes stock of security arrangement at Rashtrapati Bhavan

New Delhi: Delhi Police brass took a stock of security arrangements at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Friday and finalised the nitty-gritty, including seating arrangements and entry-exit route of the vehicles of the dignitaries. Security of Rashtrapati Bhavan comes under Delhi Police. On Friday, police commissioner Sanjay Arora issued an order banning flying of para-gliders, para-motors, hang gliders, UAVs, microlight aircraft, remotely piloted aircraft, hot air balloons, small size powered aircraft and quad copter.

TNN

Two men found dead in mysterious circumstances

New Delhi: Two men were found dead in mysterious circumstances inside a house in northeast Delhi’s Welcome on Friday afternoon. The deceased, identified as Firoz and Danish, were in their early twenties, police said. “During investigation, it has been found that both had partied in that house for the night with some girls. The party continued on Friday morning also. The men started feeling nauseous around noon and were rushed to the hospital where they were declared dead on arrival,” police said in a statement, adding drug overdose or spurious liquor are suspected to be the reason behind the death.

TNN

Dance Of Democracy

- Satraps offer Modi full support but talk of regional aspirations

- EC invites J&K applications for symbols, hints at imminent polls

- Rajnath & Shah hail Modi’s ‘historic’ 3rd straight term as PM

- In Nitish speech, whiff of call for spl category state

- 9,000+ guests to attend Modi inauguration, security up

- After Nitish silences his critics, a poster in Patna speaks louder than words

- India will continue to grow in all fields at faster pace: Modi

- ‘Victory does not create hysteria among us and we do not ridicule the defeated’

- SP, Cong take a dig at Jayant for no seat on stage at NDA meet

- TDP believes in taking everyone along & it doesn’t mean appeasement: Naidu’s son

- TDP expects to get 2 Cabinet, 2 MoS berths in Union govt

- Despite scepticism, the past shows Modi no stranger to coalition politics

- Reply by Fri to J&K MP’s plea for parole: HC to NIA

- Middle class and household savings to be in focus: Modi

- Ajit team to call on Modi, convey farm anger over onion export ban

- Cong brass to meet today to chalk out its strategy

- Modi-Chirag public display of affection catches the eye

- JD(U), Shiv Sena slam oppn for spreading ‘false narratives’

- In 72 UP seats, BJP got less votes in 2024 than in 2019

- 7 neighbouring nations’ leaders to attend Modi’s swearing-in

- BJP, Sena alliance ‘Fevicol ka jod’ that won’t break: Shinde

- Knives out for Annamalaiafter drawing a blank in TN

- SNIPPETS

Satraps offer Modi full support but talk of regional aspirations

Naidu speech interpreted as demand for fin aid

PM Modi with TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu and Bihar CM and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar at the NDA parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Friday

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Telugu Desam Party boss and Andhra Pradesh CM-designate N Chandrababu Naidu praised Narendra Modi’s leadership for transforming India into a “global powerhouse” and acknowledged the “huge difference” the latter made to TDP’s sweep of AP, while also calling for measures to balance “regional aspirations with national interests”.

“In Andhra, he (Modi) held three meetings and one big rally. It made a huge difference in winning the polls. The home minister addressed a very powerful meeting there. It significantly changed the situation, giving people confidence that the Centre is with the state,” Naidu said, while also referring to the campaign speeches of defence minister Rajnath Singh and BJP chief J P Nadda in AP.

“Balancing regional aspirations and national interest must run parallelly, ensuring holistic development across all strata of society,” Naidu further said in what was interpreted by many as an articulation of his demand for central assistance for Andhra, which is in dire financial straits and strapped for funds for construction of a new capital in Amaravati to substitute Hyderabad which it lost to Telangana, completion of Polavaran irrigation project and for fulfilling the promises that Naidu made to wrest the reins back from arch rival Jagan Mohan Reddy.

The meet also saw the mutual admiration between Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan and Modi, with Kalyan calling Modi an inspiration “from Kashmir to Kanyakumari, Kamakhya to Dwarka”.

Kalyan, while extending his party’s support to Modi, recounted Naidu’s prediction in Central Hall of Parliament in 2014 that Modi would be PM for 15 years. “Chandrababu ji, your prophecy has come true. Modi ji, you truly inspire the nation. As long as you are PM, our country will never bow down to anyone,” he said. Modi’s response to the actorturned-politician, “yeh pawan nahi hai, aandhi hai,” has gone viral on the internet.

Speaking earlier, Naidu called for collective effort towards a “zero poverty nation”, and described the moment as a “crucial juncture in our nation’s history”.

EC invites J&K applications for symbols, hints at imminent polls

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Days after indicating readiness to hold assembly polls in J&K in the wake of successful Lok Sabha elections, EC announced that it would accept “with immediate effect” any application seeking allotment of ‘common symbol’ from registered unrecognised parties in the UT.

Unrecognised parties can apply for a ‘common poll symbol’ — on which all the candidates fielded by it shall contest — up to six months prior to end of term of the House. With no J&K assembly in existence, EC’s press statement inviting applications for a ‘common symbol’ points to imminent polls in the state.

SC, in a verdict issued in Dec last year, had ordered EC to hold assembly polls in J&K latest by September 30, 2024.

While recognised national and state parties contest polls in their ‘reserved symbols’, registered unrecognised parties have to apply for one before a poll and many choose any of the free symbols listed by EC.

While announcing the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections in March, chief election commissioner Rajiv Kumar had reasoned that holding assembly and Parliamentary elections simultaneously in J&K was not feasible due to logistical and security reasons. He had said that with hundreds of candidates in the fray for an assembly poll, the available central paramilitary forces would fall short.

Rajnath & Shah hail Modi’s ‘historic’ 3rd straight term as PM

PRE-POLL BOND YIELDS RETURN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Endorsing Narendra Modi as leader of NDA, home minister Amit Shah said the next five years of his tenure would be epoch-making and the mandate was an acknowledgement of the govt’s performance in past 10 years.

“The proposal to see Narendra Modi as Prime Minister is not only a desire of people sitting in this hall but of 140 crore Indians. The next five years of PM Modi will be epoch-making,” Shah said in his brief address after endorsing the proposal of defence minister Rajnath Singh to elect Modi as BJP and NDA parliamentary party leader and also leader of the 18th Lok Sabha.

Later, in a post on X, Shah said, “This marks a new era in our history as Modi ji will become the first PM in 60 years to take oath for a third consecu- tive term, with a bigger number of votes than in the previous two terms. The unwavering commitment to empowering youth, farmers and women will continue to remain the hallmark of NDA.”

Defence minister Rajnath Singh, in his address, said he had worked with Modi very closely for the last 10 years and his “efficiency, vision and integrity was acknowledged by all”.

“It is a matter of great joy for all of us that NDA govt, which has been serving India and Indians for last 10 years, has received the mandate for the third time. For the first time since 1962, a politician is going to become prime minister for the third consecutive time,” Singh said.

“Since the time of Atalji, NDA has been identified as a family that upholds coalition dharma. For us, coalition is not a compulsion but a commitment.”

In Nitish speech, whiff of call for spl category state

Vishwa.Mohan@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: JD(U) supremo and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Friday assured unconditional support to the Narendra Modi-led NDA govt but also asked for redressal of Bihar’s concerns.

“Hum log pure taur par aapke saath rahenge (we will always be fully with you),” Kumar said, an assertion that was seen with interest and restrained mirth because of his history of U-turns.

“We will be with you and do whatever work you want to get done,” said Kumar, who after concluding his address proceeded to touch Modi’s feet but was stopped by the latter.

However, the display of solidarity and affection did not come in the way of Kumar reminding Modi of issues related to Bihar. Although made in an apparently casual manner, the men- tion of “Bihar ka kaam” was seen as a reference to the his old demand for special category status to the state.

Kumar, who along with BJP performed well in the Lok Sabha elections, said Modi should ensure that the gains made by the opposition were wiped out next time.

“Agli baar jab aap aaiye toh kuch log jo idhar udhar jeet gaya hai, agli baar sab haarega. Humko poora bharosa hai (they will lose all the seats whatever they won this time as you now come again. I am fully confident),” Kumar said, emphasising that the opposition’s limited success was due to false allegations levelled by them.

Without taking names, he said, “In logo ne kuch kaam kiya hai? Desh ki koi sewa nahi ki, iss baar phir se jo mauka mila iske baad koi gunjaish nehi rahega (have they done any work? They have not done any service to the nation. Now with this opportunity to you, there will not be any scope for them to return).”

“You (Modi) are going to take oath Sunday, but I would have preferred it to be today itself. But whenever you wish, it is good. My request was that your oath ceremony should happen as soon as possible,” Kumar said on a lighter note that saw Modi and other NDA leaders chuckling.

Support of JD(U), which won 12 out of the 16 LS seats it contested in Bihar, is crucial for BJP which is 32 short of the halfway mark of 272.

9,000+ guests to attend Modi inauguration, security up

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Over 9,000 guests from different walks of society are being invited for swearing in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi and his ministerial colleagues at the forecourt lawn of the Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday.

Sources said a multi-layered security force with five companies of paramilitary personnel, NSG commandos, drones and snipers will be deployed at Rashtrapati Bhavan during the event. The national capital will remain on high alert on the day as dignitaries from Saarc nations have been invited to the ceremony.

According to officials, dignitaries attending the swearing-in will be given designated routes from their hotels to the venue and back. Top leadership of Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Bhutan, Nepal, Mauritius and Seychelles are likely to attend the ceremony.

According to a police officer, as the event is scheduled to be held inside Rashtrapati Bhavan, it will have a three-layered security both inside and outside the premises. “Around 2,500 police personnel, including five companies of paramilitary and Delhi Armed Police (DAP) jawans, have been planned to be deployed around the venue,” the officer added.

Snipers will remain deployed on the routes of the dignitaries, another officer said, adding that the security cover is likely to resemble the one for the G20 summit last year.

After Nitish silences his critics, a poster in Patna speaks louder than words

A JD(U) spokesperson said, ‘If anything, the poster seems to be saying that CM Nitish Kumar still decides political discourse in the country’

Manoj.Chaurasia@timesgroup.com

Patna: Ahead of Sunday’s swearing-in of Narendra Modi as Prime Minister for a third consecutive term, a huge poster of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has surfaced in the Bihar capital, grabbing everyone’s attention. The poster, with a photo of Nitish and bearing the phrase “Tiger Zinda Hai” — the title of a 2017 Salman Khan-starrer — has been put up at a vantage point near the planetarium, making heads turn.

Its significance is not lost on the public. Critics had almost begun writing his political epitaph in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections owing to his frequent flip-flops.

At one point of time, Nitish was seen holding BJP’s party symbol — lotus — dur- ing Modi’s roadshow in Patna on May 12 amid speculation that he could hand over the reins to his saffron partner.

But silencing his critics, Nitish emerged as a “kingmaker” with JD(U) becoming the third-largest party in the NDA. The poster conveys this.

“If anything, the poster seems to be saying that Nitish still decides political discourse in the country. This is a message to those who predict- ed political disaster for JD(U) in the polls,” party spokesperson Neeraj Kumar said. “The fact is that whether you hate him or love him, you cannot ignore Nitish Kumar,” he added.

BJP reacted cautiously to the banner. “Nitish-ji is very much active in politics. He is CM of Bihar and his party has 12 Lok Sabha members. He doesn’t need a certificate from anyone,” spokesperson Manoj Sharma said, adding some overenthusiastic supporters might have put up the banner.

Such has been the impact of JD(U) in the polls that ally BJP has formally announced it will fight the next assembly polls in Bihar under Nitish’s leadership. Prior to the poll outcome, his “retirement plan” was being talked about in political circles. JD(U) and BJP contested elections on 16 and 17 seats, respectively.

India will continue to grow in all fields at faster pace: Modi

‘Some Will Offer Berths, Don’t Fall For Them’

BJP workers celebrate at the party office in Lucknow on Friday after Modi was elected as leader of the NDA parliamentary party

Akhilesh.Singh@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Narendra Modi on Friday said those promising ministerial berths in the run-up to govt formation by NDA were only trying to trap people and urged MPs not to fall in such traps.

“I have been watching reports for the past two days and most of them are baseless... far from the truth. They have not got an opportunity in past 10 years and they might be on an overdrive. A few among us might fall in the trap of such people saying that I have good contact and can get the berth for you. We need to beware of such people... those who know Modi will tell you that such efforts are futile,” Modi said while addressing NDA parliamentary party soon after being elected its leader.

President Droupadi Murmu handed over the letter of appointment after BJP chief J P Nadda presented letters of support from NDA parties which have a strength of 293 members in Lok Sabha.

Modi’s remarks, cloaked in concern for newly-elected MPs, especially first-termers and those belonging to partners, left many wondering whether they were also meant for those who may have concluded that BJP falling short of majority will render them vulnerable to coalition pressures. It, interestingly, might help the leadership of NDA partners in dealing with surging expectations of their flock that their numbers could be leveraged for outsized returns.

Modi said there might be people claiming to be distributing portfolios and playing a role in govt formation but such attempts were futile. “If you receive any call, verify 10 times, as there are a few habitually doing so. In this high tech age, letters with my forged signatures could also be circulated and our political rivals are experts in this. I urge you not to fall victim to such conspiracies and be careful of rumours. You need to have faith in the team sitting inside this House,” he said.

Nadda had led NDA delegation which included BJP’s Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Ashwini Vaishnaw and C N Manjunath. It also had members of other parties in NDA, including N Chandrababu Naidu, Nitish Kumar, Eknath Shinde, H D Kumaraswamy, Chirag Paswan, Jitan Ram Manjhi, Pawan Kalyan, Ajit Pawar, Anupriya Patel, Jayant Chaudhary, Joyanta Basumatary, Atul Bora, Indra Hang Subba, Sudesh Mahto, Chandra Prakash Choudhary and Ramdas Athawale.

Addressing reporters in forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Modi said the President has appointed him PM-designate. He said he has informed Murmu that the swearing-in could be held on Sunday. Modi said Rashtrapati Bhavan will work out details of the oath-taking ceremony on Sunday, when he will hand over the list of council of ministers to the President. “NDA govt has been given a chance to serve the country for the third time. I am grateful to my countrymen, and I assure you that India will continue to develop in every sector at an even faster pace,” Modi said.

‘Victory does not create hysteria among us and we do not ridicule the defeated’

Continued from P 1

Sarkar chalane ke liye bahumat chahiye lekin desh chalane ke liye sarvmat bahut zaroori hai, Modi said and asserted, “I assure people of the country and you all that no stone will be left unturned to serve the nation with consensus.”

Modi also declared his commitment to ‘sarv panth sambhav’ — the concept which enjoins upon the state not to differentiate among citizens on grounds of faith but, unlike in the Western concept of secularism, does not seek to evict religion from the public arena. Political circles felt the remarks stood in contrast to Modi’s strong attack on Muslim quota which the opposition and others had dubbed divisive and polarising. His putting forward the consensual feat was also seen as a switch prompted by BJP’s drop in numbers and the corresponding accretion in opposition’s strength.

However, the speech was also an exercise in projecting dominance, with Modi making light of Congress’ improved strength by pointing out that even after a decade, Congress could not win a three-digit tally. He echoed the sentiment of allies like CMs of Bihar and Maharashtra, Nitish Kumar and Eknath Shinde, who contended that opposition had managed to sway certain sections with their “false narrative”, and that the increased strength of Congress was an aberration, rather than beginning of a pattern. “So far, they were sinking slowly but now they will hurtle down the abyss,” Modi said even as he projected another 10 years of NDA at Centre.

He also mocked celebrations post-verdict in the opposition camp. “For two days after election results came, some people created such an atmosphere that we had lost. But the country knows that we were not defeated. Our val- ues are such that victory does not create hysteria among us and we do not ridicule the defeated,” he said. He added that even a child can tell that it was NDA that was in office before the polls and is there after the polls as well. “Where did we lose? NDA was there yesterday, is there today and will be there tomorrow.”

Modi, however, also emphasised that for all jubilation in Congress camp, the party’s cumulative score in the last three elections was lower than what BJP achieved in this election.

Modi, who mentioned NDA nearly 20 times, said the combine stood for “New, Developed and Aspirational India” and, unlike INDI alliance, was not an alliance of convenience. “It is an organic alliance,” he said, promising that the allies can always count on him for any help. “Jahan kaam, wahan hum,” he assured.

Referring to AAP’s pullout of INDI bloc, Modi said his prediction that opposition alliance will start unravelling after declaration of results has come true. He emphasised that NDA is the longest-surviving alliance and is committed to the policy of ‘nation first’. He also attacked INDIA bloc as a contrast which had grouped together for its hunger for office and obsession to defeat just one person. “If you see in context of alliances and statistics, then this is the strongest alliance govt,” he said.

Modi highlighted the growing footprint of NDA, saying the alliance is in office in 22 states, which reflects the spirit of India in its true essence. “There are 10 tribal dominated states of which NDA is serving in seven states. We are committed to the Constitution’s spirit of ‘sarv panth sambhav’, look at Goa and north-eastern states, where Christian community is predominant but we have got the opportunity to serve,” Modi said.

NEW INNINGS: Narendra Modi arrives at the NDA parliamentary party meeting at Samvidhan Sadan in New Delhi on Friday

SP, Cong take a dig at Jayant for no seat on stage at NDA meet

Mohua.Chatterjee@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary, an alliance partner of BJP-led NDA was seated among the audience at the meeting of NDA parliamentary party on Friday, and was conspicuous by his absence from the dais where the rest of alliance party members sat alongside Narendra Modi. The politician however, reacted to it by posting on X: “NDA (New Developed Aspirational India) has chosen our Prime Minister for ahistoric third term, Narendra Modi ji!”

That didn’t stop the opposition from taking a jibe at Jayant. In a post on X in Hindi, Samajwadi Party media cell said members of parties with one seat each were given a place on the stage but not Chaudhary who has two MPs. “BJP’s hatred towards Jat community and its false respect for late Chaudhary Charan Singh and Chaudhary Ajit Singh has been exposed.”

The attempt at drawing a wedge between RLD and BJP leadership was evident. In fact Chaudhary had hobnobbed with INDIA bloc for a while before crossing over to NDA, be- fore the polls.

“If Jayant Chaudhary is really a farmers’ well-wisher, he should distance himself from NDA and raise his voice against BJP in farmers’ interests. One should not trade self-respect and the interests of farmers with BJP due to petty and immediate greed,” Samajwadi Party media cell handle stated. Apna Dal (S) president Anupriya Patel and Hindustan Awami Morcha (HAM) chief Jitan Ram Manjhi, both of whom have won just one seat each in the current Lok Sabha elections, were seated on stage.

Congress Uttar Pradesh president Ajay Rai also pointed to this. “BJP has a habit of doing such things. It has a habit of insulting its smaller allies.”

Cong: Modi deliberately ignored BJP’s N-E allies

Congress on Friday claimed Narendra Modi ‘deliberately ignored’ and did not invite BJP’s allies from north-east, including National People’s Party from Meghalaya and National Democratic Progessive Party from Nagaland for the NDA meeting. “In a brazen display of contempt, Modi has insulted the north-eastern states yet again. During the NDA parliamentary party meet, BJP’s allies from north-east were deliberately ignored and not invited,” Congress secretary Szarita Laitphlang said in a post on X.

TNN

TDP believes in taking everyone along & it doesn’t mean appeasement: Naidu’s son

Continued from P 1

BJP stalwarts had called it (Muslim quota) unconstitutional and promised to return the quota to SCs/STs and OBCs “from whom it was stolen”, once they returned to office.

TDP had backed Muslim reservation even after forging an alliance with BJP. Naidu had told TOI in an interview days before polling in Andhra that having a difference of opinion on some specific issues while being in the alliance was not wrong. He had said that TDP & BJP “agreed to disagree” on the issue.

Elaborating his father’s stance on the contentious issue, Nara Lokesh said TDP believes in taking ev- eryone along and that did not necessarily mean appeasement. He observed that Muslims in Andhra were languishing in poverty.

Nara Lokesh said TDP never maintained a quid pro quo relationship like “we support you, you do this”.

“We always wanted to have a cordial relationship with our partners at the national level and when it comes to larger issues of national interest, we will try to convince Union govt if we believe that there are better ways to make a particular legislation,” he said.

Lokesh also clarified that Amaravati will be the only capital of Andhra, while adding that the soon-to-be-formed TDP govt also has grand plans for Visakhapatnam.

He said he had promised to make Visakhapatnam, the city that outgoing CM Jagan Mohan Reddy wanted as AP’s executive capital, India’s fifth largest economic hub. TDP already has a Rs 50,000-crore plan for the coastal city, Lokesh added.

He said: “Our vision is to decentralise development, but not decentralisation of the capital. I had promised people of Visakhapatnam during my Yuvagalam padayatra that TDP govt will make the city one of the best in country.”

Lokesh said TDP had planned to make Visakhapatnam an IT hub in its first term after bifurcation of Andhra in 2014 and even created infrastructure for the same.

TDP expects to get 2 Cabinet, 2 MoS berths in Union govt

Srikanth.Aluri@timesgroup.com

Vijayawada: Being the second largest party in NDA, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) is likely to get two Cabinet and two minister of state (MoS) berths in the Union Cabinet. TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu held discussions with BJP’s J P Nadda, Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh on Friday.

On the other hand, Jana Sena, which has two MPs, is likely to get one MoS position.

TDP joining NDA govt has been decided but how many positions it will get is yet to be officially known. With BJP falling short of a majority on its own, and TDP emerging as the second-largest party in the alliance, TDP MPs are anticipating proportionate representation in the cabinet as well.

However, TDP sources said Naidu is less interested in the number of cabinet positions than in pressing for support to state in Polavaram and central support for other pending projects. Sources said Naidu is not looking to take political advantage of the situation and has decided to use his bargaining power to get maximum funds for the state and special category status.

When it comes to probable names, sources said K Rammohan Naidu, a three-time MP from Srikakulam, is Naidu’s first choice. Rammohan Naidu, son of late former Union minister Yerrannaidu, is from the Backward Classes community. Sources said Naidu is also considering Dr Pemmasani Chandra Sekhar, a firsttime MP from Guntur; Daggumalla Prasad Rao, a retired IRS officer and first-time MP from Chittoor; and Vemireddy Prabhakar Reddy from Nellore.

TDP sources said four of them have better chances than others as regional and social equations are also in balance. Official announcement on who will get what is likely to come only on June 9.

Despite scepticism, the past shows Modi no stranger to coalition politics

He Played Key Role With Allies In Punjab, Hry & J&K In Mid-1990s

PM-designate Modi during NDA’s parliamentary party meeting on Friday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Having spent the last decade like an all-powerful CEO, running the govt at the Centre on his own, all eyes are now on Narendra Modi, who is set to start his third consecutive term as PM, leading the NDA coalition with BJP missing out on getting a majority, unlike 2014 and 2019.

The question uppermost on many minds is does he have in him the temperament; in other words, the flexibility and the ability to take disparate elements along?

While Modi may not have been dependent on allies during his tenure as Gujarat chief minister or in his first two terms as PM, he is no stranger to coalition politics.

His party colleagues point out that in the mid-1990 as the BJP’s organisational general secretary, the all-powerful post in the saffron party, he played a crucial role in stitching together alliances in the north, including with Shiromani Akali Dal, which won the mandate in Punjab in 1997. Besides, it was during his time as incharge of Haryana that BJP worked with Bansi Lal and Om Prakash Chautala in the state. Even in J&K, Modi had worked with the Abdullahs of NC, which was also part of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee govt with Omar being a minister.

As Vajpayee led the coordination, Modi as general secretary, was also involved in coordinating with allies, including George Fernandes, Nitish Kumar, Sharad Yadav, Jayalalithaa, Mamata Banerjee and Balasaheb Thackeray, among others.

When Modi was with Gujarat BJP in 1989, the BJP-Janata Dal alliance won 23 of the 26 seats in the state with the latter losing in three contests with Congress. A year later, it swept to power in the assembly polls.

Party sources said that Modi’s early training of working with people across the political spectrum during Emergency, something that he men- tioned in a blog. “For youngsters like me, the Emergency gave a wonderful opportunity to work with a wide spectrum of leaders and organisations that were fighting for the same goal. It enabled us to work beyond institutions we had been brought up with.”

While Modi may have led a majority govt at the Centre, BJP did have crucial alliances at the state level, requiring him to work closely with the allies. In fact, he is seen to have shown great flexibility when BJP and PDP put together an alliance in J&K and Modi worked closely with Mufti Mohammed Sayeed.

His party colleagues said that despite the attacks from Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu in the past, Modi has never let it come in the way of working with them.

The same skills are going to be on display and may even be tested on occasions.

Reply by Fri to J&K MP’s plea for parole: HC to NIA

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Friday granted National Investigation Agency (NIA) time till June 14 to file a reply on the plea of Sheikh Abdul Rashid, also known as Engineer Rashid, seeking interim bail to take oath as a Member of Parliament (MP).

Rashid, who is lodged in Delhi’s Tihar Jail, under Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in an alleged 2016 terror-funding case, won the Baramulla seat as an Independent in the Lok Sabha polls.

He moved the court, seeking interim bail or custody parole to take oath and fulfil his parliamentary duties.

TNN

Middle class and household savings to be in focus: Modi

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Narendra Modi, who is all set to be sworn in as PM for the third time, on Friday said that middle class and household savings will be among focus areas for his govt, while promising to accelerate the pace of development.

Speaking after his election as the leader of NDA, Modi described upper middle class and middle class as the driving force of growth and mentioned them along with the women and the poor as his priority.

In his campaign, Modi had spoken about the 100-day agenda for the new govt, some of which will feed into the Budget, due to be presented soon.

The comments point to more steps to channelise savings into the financial sector, adding to the large base of retail investors into the mutual fund space and direct investors in stock markets. Many financial sector experts have argued that it may be time for govt and regulators to build upon the JAM (Jan Dhan bank accounts, Aadhaar, Mobile) framework to ensure that money, instead of lying idle, is used to create wealth.

In the manifesto, BJP had promised better housing facility for the middle class through a reduction in the cost of construction and registration and regulatory changes such as automatic approvals for housing designs. Besides, ahead of polls, Modi had announced a new interest subsidy scheme for the urban poor, something that is expected to be implemented after the budget.

Besides, the Sankalp Patra had promised to increase the Ayushman Bharat coverage, while expanding it to include senior citizens too. They will also get doorstep delivery of several govt services, it had said.

The party manifesto had also spoken about BJP govt’s plan to launch an insurance scheme for traders and small businesses to protect them from accidents, thefts and natural calamities.

While there have been demands for reworking the income tax slabs, it is unclear if the Centre will change its strategy on the new tax regime after the budget. Besides, there is expectation of changes in the GST slabs too.

Ajit team to call on Modi, convey farm anger over onion export ban

Nashik: A section of NCP MLAs who attended Thursday’s meeting with party chief Ajit Pawar expressed “anguish” over the Union govt’s failure to roll back the ban on onion exports before Lok Sabha election, which, they said, “sent the wrong message to the state’s farming community”, reports Ranjan Dasgupta.

Ajit Pawar had called the meeting of party MLAs to take stock of his party’s poor performance in the general election wherein NCP managed to win only one of the four seats it contested.

“We told Ajit dada that many of the NCP MLAs hail from rural areas where votes from the farming community are extremely important. During our campaign for the Mahayuti candidates , we were asked by the farmers about the onion export ban issue. We failed to provide them with proper answers,” NCP’s Sinnar MLA, Manikrao Kokate, said.

Union minister Bharati Pawar lost Dindori to NCP (SCP) nominee Bhaskar Bhagare because of the growing anger among onion farmers.

Party MLAs also pointed at the growing distress among Maharashtra’s cotton and soyabean farmers.

“It was decided that after Modi takes oath, an NCP delegation will meet him and other Union ministers requesting greater focus on farmers’ issues. ,” Kokate said.

Cong brass to meet today to chalk out its strategy

New Delhi: The Congress’ top leadership will deliberate on Lok Sabha election results and chalk out its future strategy at a crucial meeting of the party’s working committee on Saturday.

In a post on X, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that a meeting of extended Congress Working Committee will be held on Saturday at 11 am at Hotel Ashok.

This will be followed by a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party, comprising all newly elected Lok Sabha MPs and Rajya Sabha MPs in Central Hall of Parliament, at 5:30 pm.

The party’s top brass, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, besides other leaders will participate in the deliberations. Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who has convened the meeting, will also host a dinner for all extended CWC members and CPP members in the evening.

Congress has emerged as the second-largest party in Lok Sabha, improving its tally to 99 from 52 in the 2019 elections.

TNN

Modi-Chirag public display of affection catches the eye

Modi with Chirag during NDA’s parliamentary party meeting in New Delhi on Friday

Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: LJP (Ram Vilas) chief Chirag Paswan credited Narendra Modi for NDA returning to office for the third time in a row. More than his praise, what caught the eye was the affection between the two.

After announcing his support for Modi, Chirag walked up to him, shook his hand and hugged him, while Modi responded with a warm pat on his head.

The bonhomie between the two leaders is not new. In July 2023, Chirag had touched Modi’s feet and Modi had hugged him ahead of the NDA meeting in Delhi. Chirag and his uncle Pashupati Kumar Paras, who heads Rashtriya LJP, were present in the meeting. Modi’s response was seen as a signal of Chirag’s outfit returning to the NDA fold.

Even during the recent election campaign in Hajipur, Modi had said he saw Chirag as a son who was the “future of Bihar”.

On Friday, Chirag said the credit of NDA forming the govt again went to Modi. “It was his willpower which helped in registering such a massive victory. It is not a normal thing that NDA got such a big victory under the leadership of Narendra Modi for the third time in a row.” Stating that people had full faith in Modi, he said, “Because of you, today we can proudly say in front of the world that India has become the fifth-largest economy of the world.”

Chirag said Modi had the willpower to reduce the difference between villages and cities, rich and poor, and to set the target of a developed India by 2047.

HAM (Secular) leader Jitan Ram Manjhi, while announcing his support to Modi, said the commitment was from the family and lineage of Dasrath Manjhi who cut a road through a mountain with “chisel and hammer” in 24 years, signalling his party’s determination to remain in NDA. Dashrath Manjhi, also known as ‘Mountain Man’, was a labourer from Gehlaur village near Gaya.

JD(U), Shiv Sena slam oppn for spreading ‘false narratives’

DurgeshNandan.Jha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Two important NDA allies, JD(U) and Shiv Sena, on Friday blasted the INDIA bloc led by Congress for “spreading false narratives” all through its election campaign. “They gained nothing through this false propaganda,” Bihar CM Nitish Kumar said while endorsing Narendra Modi as the leader of the BJP-led NDA.

Kumar said the opposition managed to win a few seats “idhar udhar” (here and there) by propagating false narratives. “Ye sab bina matlab ka baat bol bol kar ke kiya hai (they have done this by talking about meaningless things),” he said, and added that opposition leaders propagating such narratives “have done nothing for the country”.

“Modi has done so much for the country and despite that this has happened,” Kumar said in an apparent reference to BJP falling way short of full majority and warned that next time, the opposition would not get an opportunity to dominate the polls.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, who heads Shiv Sena, also mentioned “false narratives” but refused to get into details. “Voters have rejected them and accepted Modi in spite of the false narratives and rumours spread by them,” he said.

Kumar and Shinde’s attack was directed towards the opposition’s claim about BJP seeking a bigger mandate, “400 paar”, to change the Constitution and end quota.

Statues shifted in Parliament to rob oppn MPs of a place to protest: Cong

Even as the Lok Sabha secretariat clarified that statues of Mahatma Gandhi, B R Ambedkar and Chhatrapati Shivaji, among others, were “respectfully relocated to a grand Prerna Sthal” in the Parliament House complex as part of a landscaping exercise, Congress claimed that one of the reasons behind the move was to rob opposition MPs of a place to protest.

Questioning the move, party spokesperson Pawan Khera said the statues were shifted out of “vengeance and vendetta”.

TNN

In 72 UP seats, BJP got less votes in 2024 than in 2019

The only constituencies in which BJP polled more votes than last time in UP were Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) in the national capital region, Bareilly and Kaushambi

T IMESI NSIGHTG ROUP

BJP didn’t just see a sharp fall in its vote share in Uttar Pradesh from 49.6% in 2019 to 41.4% this time. In 72 of the 75 constituencies that it contested both times, the number of votes it polled also fell by anything between a few thousand and 2.2 lakh. All told, it polled about 65 lakh fewer votes in UP this time despite the total number of votes polled in the state going up.

The list of constituencies in which BJP got fewer votes this time includes Varanasi, where the PM won, Yogi’s home turf Gorakhpur, Rajnath Singh’s constituency Lucknow and Faizabad, which includes Ayodhya. Not surprisingly, Amethi and Rae Bareli too figure in the list.

The only constituencies in which BJP polled more votes than last time in UP were Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) in the national capital region, Bareilly and Kaushambi. Even among these, its vote share was lower in 2024 than in 2019 in Bareilly and just slightly higher in the other two seats.

BJP had polled just under 4.3 crore votes of the over 8.6 crore votes in UP last time. This time round, while the total votes polled in the state went up a little to just under 8.8 crore, BJP got a little over 3.6 crore votes.

Part of this decline was because it did not contest three of the seats it had contested last time — Bijnor, Baghpat and Ghosi — but even if we look only at the 75 seats it contested in both elections, its votes polled dropped from 4.1 crore to 3.6 crore or about 50 lakh. That’s an average of nearly 67,000 votes dropped on each seat.

Of the 75 seats, BJP’s votes declined by over a lakh in 12, including Mathura, Aligarh, Muzaffarnagar and Fatehpur Sekhri in the west and Gorakhpur in the east. In another 36 seats, the drop was between 50,000 and a lakh. These included Amethi, Rae Bareli, Allahabad, Ghaziabad, Mainpuri and Varanasi, where the PM got over 60,000 votes less this time.

BSP had won 8 of these 75 seats last time. Of those, SP and Congress won six this time and Chandrashekhar won Nagina. The decline in its own votes meant that BJP could not capitalize on the BSP’s decimation and could only wrest Amroha from it.

7 neighbouring nations’ leaders to attend Modi’s swearing-in

New Delhi: Leaders of seven countries from India’s immediate neighbourhood and the Indian Ocean region will attend PM-designate Narendra Modi’s third inauguration on Sunday, govt sources said. A formal announcement about the participation of Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Maldives, Mauritius and Seychelles is expected on Saturday.

Pakistan and Myanmar remain the only two countries in the immediate neighbourhood to have not yet been invited for the ceremony.

While then Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif had attended the inauguration in 2014 in which all Saarc countries had been invited, Myanmar was in the guest list for the 2019 swearingin for which BIMSTEC leaders were invited in another neighbourhood outreach.

Inviting Afghanistan was out of the question because India hasn’t recognised the Taliban regime in Kabul. Leaders of Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and the Maldives have confirmed participation in the event.

Myanmar is in middle of an internal crisis precipitated by clashes between the military and armed opposition groups. Pakistan was not invited for the 2019 inauguration too, after Modi’s peace initiative fizzled out because of repeated terror attacks carried out from across the border.

TNN

BJP, Sena alliance ‘Fevicol ka jod’ that won’t break: Shinde

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that the development plank of PM Modi has won

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:Invoking Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde extended support to PM-designate Modi saying the alliance of BJP and Shiv Sena of Balasaheb Thackeray’s ideal is “Fevicol ka Jod” which is unbreakable. NCP chief Ajit Pawar also extended support.

“I can only say that BJP and Shiv Sena have similar ideology. Our alliance was forged under the leadership of Balasaheb Thackeray. This is an alliance of ‘Fevicol ka jod’ and this will never break. Our PM has put huge efforts in every Lok Sabha election and has held meetings. The country has seen his magic and for the third time he is going to take charge as PM,” Shinde said.

The Maharashtra CM also said that while people have rejected the “fake narratives” of the opposition, the development plank of Modi has won.

NCP chief Ajit Pawar also supported the proposal to name PM-designate Modi as the leader of NDA parliamentary party. Apna Dal president Anupriya Patel said NDA family is strongly with him and under his leadership the new govt will set records in the country.

Fadnavis meets BJP brass, no decision on his offer to quit

While Devendra Fadnavis has offered to step down as deputy CM in view of the BJP’s poor performance in the LS polls in Maharashtra and take up party work full-time in view of the upcoming assembly elections, the BJP’s Central leadership has not taken any decision so far, sources said. All decisions are likely only after Modi’s swearing-in ceremony on Sunday. Fadnavis was in Delhi on Friday to attend PM Modi’s address to NDA MPs and later met Union home minister Amit Shah at his residence. He also had a meeting with BJP president J P Nadda. However, no decision on his offer has been taken yet.

TNN

Knives out for Annamalaiafter drawing a blank in TN

FEELING THE HEAT: TN BJP chief K Annamalai in New Delhi on Friday

Julie.Mariappan@timesgroup.com

Chennai: Discontent raged within Tamil Nadu BJP unit, with some second-rung leaders evincing strong views about state party president K Annamalai’s ‘miscalculated’ strategies leading to AIADMK breaking ties with BJP, that cost them dearly.

On Thursday, BJP state president K Annamalai, while noting that AIADMK had been rejected by people, ruled out the possibility of an alliance with the primary Dravidian party in the 2026 assembly election, provided he remained in charge.

Certain sections in BJP believe that an alliance with AIADMK for Lok Sabha polls could have been a gamechanger, potentially backing Narendra Modi’s overall tally, which is currently below majority mark. Annamalai’s move to sideline AIADMK to boost BJP’s growth has not gone down well with sections in the party.

BJP secured fourth posi- tion in Nagapattinam and forfeited its deposit in 11 out of 23 constituencies it contested, including that of its ally IJK in Perambalur. Allies such as PMK, TMC, and AMMK also lost their security deposits in 10 seats for failing to meet the required one-sixth threshold of votes polled.

“The unilateral decision of the leadership not to align with AIADMK has backfired on us,” said a senior functionary, requesting anonymity. Senior leaders privately expressed “concerns” about the BJP IT cell’s reaction to opinions against the state leadership.

BJP state intellectual cell in-charge Kalyan Raman took to X to accuse Annamalai of trying to mislead the central leadership “as usual.” He termed the results as a “significant loss of face in the public eye, poor perception management, and a pathetic political misadventure.”

Raman told TOI he was talking “hard truth” as the party’s “war room” was trying to create a myth around Annamalai as if he was a god sent, while he was not.

SNIPPETS

Modi bows down to Constitution

Narendra Modi on Friday walked up to the Indian Constitution kept at the Central Hall of the old Parliament buildingon Friday. Holding the Constitution in both hands, Modi lifted it and touched it to his forehead, in a show of respect. The visual holds significance as Modi stakes claim to form govt, as the effectiveness of the opposition’s allegation that BJP would change the Constitution played a big role in their success.

Modi calls on Advani, Joshi

Narendra Modi on Friday called on BJP veterans L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi at their respective residences here, after a meeting with the newly elected MPs and before staking claim to form govt for a third consecutive term, even as this time BJP lacks majority in the House. Modi met Advani, a founder BJP member who played a crucial role in stitching together the original NDA.

Historic Central Hall comes to life

The Central Hall of the old Parliament House, the historic chamber where the Constitution was drafted, came to life once more on Friday. Following the new Parliament building having come up about a year ago, this was the first time since the heritage building was abandoned that the Hall was abuzz with formal and informal interactions of MPs. The grand old chamber shone in all its glory when the elected MPs of the NDA met there to choose Modi as the leader.

Yogi gets a pat on back from Modi

UP CM Yogi Adityanath obviously did not look in the best of spirits, following the Lok Sabha debacle in a state where the party was expecting a strong showing following the Ram temple inauguration among other factors, but the pat on the back he received from Narendra Modi on Friday must have worked to relax the mood.

Gadkari missing from high table

It was interesting to note that while two of the predecessors of BJP chief Amit Shah and Rajnath Singh found a place on the high table alongside Modi and the alliance party leaders, one of the former party chiefs— Nitin Gadkari was spotted on the front row seat across the dais.

Saffron gives way to golden hue

BJP contingent led by Modi wore scarves on Friday that had a uniform golden border on off-white background, instead of the saffron border that had dominated the canvas for the last 10 years. The change in the colour scheme seemed to reflect the transition from the BJP-majority govt to the coalition govt.

Times Evoke

- TIMES evoke

- ‘Light from JADES-GS-z14-0 travelled 14 billion years to us — it mirrors how special our lives are’

- ‘We are entering solar maximum now — more places on Earth will see sun storms and aurora in the skies’

- THEY'RE HEAVENLY TOO !

- READERS WRITE

TIMES evoke

THE UNIVERSE WILL FIND A WAY

Scientists recently discovered two galaxies perched on the edge of time. One was born 350 million years after the Big Bang — the primordial state of high density and temperature which began stretching over the next 14 billion years, continuing into our ever-expanding cosmos today. The other galaxy formed just 290 million years after this epochal event — for comparison, our own Earth is 4.5 billion years old. A galaxy, a clutch of stars, which formed so soon after the Big Bang would have been an extraordinary opening note in the grand song of time.

Why, some might ask, do we need to know this? The answer is elementary, dear TE reader — you are this cosmos. Your every atom comes from these celestial bodies. The first generation of stars formed after the Big Bang, clumps of gas combining and combusting, this nucleosynthesis creating the elements. When these stars exploded in supernovas, they expelled the elements into space, producing matter for the next generation of stars to form, burn and explode.

This alchemy of galactic chemical evolution — each element coming from a star, combinations of these then creating gases, minerals, asteroids, planets, water and air — made the atoms that form us. Every living being has thus travelled 14 billion years over time and timelessness to reach the one place where all that is needed for life — air, water, soil, trees, microorganisms and a warming sun — united. Thus, you are truly miraculous, every fibre of your being having descended from space to the universe’s only known hospitable home. There is literally no end to this amazing story for as each living being perishes, it returns these atoms to the environment, as material for new life.

Today, in the Anthropocene, it is crucial we renew our admiration for this fact. Many imagine Earth as just a place to plunder and pollute. Few consider the impacts of our behaviour on such huge, intricately linked systems. More need to care for Earth which, as Carl Sagan describes so movingly in ‘Cosmos’, is our parent. Our appreciation or destruction of it will be profound, not just for this planet but for this mighty experiment of space, time and being. Join Times Evoke in learning about our stellar lives for knowledge, as TE’s global experts emphasise, can awaken us to our cosmic responsibilities as children of stars and siblings of all lives. Once that happens, to keep this unique planet proliferating, the universe will — again — find a way.

‘Light from JADES-GS-z14-0 travelled 14 billion years to us — it mirrors how special our lives are’

A BIG BANG THEORY

Astronomer Kevin Hainline , associate research professor at the University of Arizona, is part of the JWST/ NIRCam Science team. Speaking to Srijana Mitra Das at Times Evoke, he explains two new ancient galaxies:

What is the core of your research?

■ I study the early universe and how the first galaxies came to be. Using ultra-deep data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), I look at how the first stars and galaxies changed the universe and why these are different from the ones we see locally.

Can you tell us about your recent discovery of two ancient galaxies?

■ This is part of the JWST Advanced Deep Extragalactic Survey (JADES). Last year, when we got our first JADES data, ultra-deep images of hundreds of thousands of galaxies, I wrote a paper which, from the images alone, identified galaxies that emerged in the first 600 million years after the Big Bang. Last winter, we got observations confirming these distances — two of the objects I’d written about were the farthest or from the earliest times humans have ever seen. One galaxy is from 290 million years after the Big Bang and another, 310 million years. So, we’re seeing some of the first galaxies created — this is very profound.

These are remarkably bright — what are the implications of what you write of as ‘a shining cosmic dawn’?

■ As the paper by S. Carniani et al, where I’m the second author, describes, there are two galaxies — one is more in line with the type of brightness expected. However, the farthest one, termed JADES-GS-z14-0, is very bright, four to five times brighter than the other. To be that bright, you need a lot of stars or a good deal of star formation. The fact that this red galaxy is so bright — at only 290 million years after the Big Bang — stresses our models for how quickly we think galaxies could form stars.

Also, this is 1,700 light years across — that’s significantly larger than other galaxies which are usually 200 light years across. We could explain its brightness by surmising that perhaps, the galaxy is experiencing a crazy burst of stars being born and we’re seeing it at the peak of that. There could be other explanations, like when stars are formed in the early universe, the gas clouds that make them are different to the ones which form stars later. This is a real puzzle though as we weren’t expecting to see something so bright at this distance.

Could oxygen and hydrogen be present in these galaxies?

■ Jakob Helton, a graduate student I work with in the University of Arizona, saw this galaxy was very bright at longer wavelengths than can be seen with the NIRCam instrument we were using. When we looked at it with MIRI, another instrument, we saw it was even brighter — this shows there is potentially the existence of light that is a glowing ionised hydrogen or even oxygen gas. We need to continue observations but this would have larger implications — oxygen is created inside stars. Those stars then end in supernova explosions. As this galaxy emerged just 290 million years after the Big Bang, that requires very early supernovas. Generally, it’s thought that as we go back in time, we see less of the heavier elements like oxygen. The fact that there is potentially oxygen here is very exciting.

Finding this emphasises how astronomy means reaching into time. We expect the universe to become more simplistic going backwards — but here, the potential presence of oxygen is like finding a smartphone in ancient Rome.

Is there a possibility of life here?

■ We probably can’t find that. Developing life on Earth needed four billion years — this galaxy is just 290 million years old after the start of things. The basic building blocks were beginning while life is so fragile, it needs a long time to grow.

How many stars does this contain?

■ When we modelled JADES-GS-z14-0, we found it’s got 500 million stars in it. This is more than the other galaxy which has only 100 million stars. So, this one has four to five times the num- ber of stars’ worth of stuff in it. We’ll need longer wavelength observations to nail this down though.

You’re the first person to see these galaxies — how did that moment feel?

■ I’ve actually found all three of the current distance record-holders as I discovered GS-z13-0 some years ago. But JADES-GS-z14-0 was special — when I found it, I was quite suspicious because it had all the hallmarks of trying to trick us. I was sceptical until we finally confirmed its properties. When you discover these things, it’s just one tiny smudge among thousands — but the confirmation of its distance was a very important moment. That showed how this smudge in fact represents light that travelled for 14 billion years to us — and I was the first person on Earth to see it. Our team was the first group of people to grapple with what that meant. Being part of such a collective of scientists, who put years into this, is a huge privilege. The distance record will be broken by another scientist eventually but it feels good to be part of an assemblage which has pushed human understanding forward by looking a tiny bit into the past.

Humans can’t organise life on Earth too well — why is studying space important?

■ We humans tend to think we come into existence when we are born. We imagine we possess our cells and atoms — but we are just borrowing these, from the food we eat, the air we breathe. These atoms are ours for the tiniest moment. If we trace the energy that goes into our thinking, our heart beating, our blood pumping, you’ll see this has always existed.

Eventually, the atoms in your fingertips and brain, the carbon in your body, go into the centre of stars. Astronomy is very humbling — it teaches us that we are the product of so many things happening in the universe. Looking back at these galaxies helps us learn how the universe began to put life together, starting with the earliest stars, with complex materials which formed other stars and eventually — in one galaxy, around one planet — we formed. All these things had to happen and go right for us to be here — this teaches us life is incredibly precious. We humans don’t treasure life in the way we should or see it as this magnificent product of 14 billion years of things happening. We tend to look at trees, plants and other animals and think, ‘We can do what we want with them because we’re better than them’ — but they are just different expressions of the same idea in the universe, which is putting all life together, atom by atom.

STARSTRUCK...

● Humans have always been fascinated by the stellar world. Hypatia of the 4th century AD was an astronomer of Alexandria, Egypt, where she made plane astrolabes which could calculate dates and times based on the positions of stars and planets. Although Hypatia could imagine the heavens on a plane surface, petty jealousies caused her to be a martyr to a mob

● Galileo was an Italian astronomer of the 16th century — he used telescopes to observe the Milky Way, Jupiter’s satellites, Saturn’s rings and sunspots. An advocate of heliocentrism – the breakthrough idea that Earth revolved around the sun, not the other way around — Galileo was punished with house imprisonment. However, it is not possible to arrest an astronomer’s mind and he then wrote about the geometry of motion

● Sawai Jai Singh of 18th century India, maharaja of Amber, was a proficient astronomer. He built astronomical complexes with building-sized instruments like equinoctial dials to calculate eclipses and the locations of stars. He built Jaipur, the famed ‘pink city’, but his scientific buildings are testament to his far-seeing mind

Research: Encyclopaedia Britannica, CNN, The London Review of Books, The Guardian, Smithsonian Magazine

Meet JADES-GS-z14-0, captured by the James Webb Space Telescope team — born just 290 million years after the Big Bang, this has become the most distant known galaxyOUR ONGOING STAR-TREK — TRACKING WHAT JWST SEES:

CLOUDY SKY: JWST’s ‘Horsehead Nebula’ has hydrogen, methane and ice clouds

SPIRALLING IN SPACE: Captured by Webb and Hubble, galaxy NGC 1566 spirals

‘We are entering solar maximum now — more places on Earth will see sun storms and aurora in the skies’

A MANY-SPLENDOURED SUN

Mark Miesch is a research scientist at the University of Colorado and America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Speaking to Times Evoke, he discusses the sun’s recent magnetic storm, its spots, flares — and its majesty:

Speaking with the careful precision of a scientist, Mark Miesch describes his efforts. ‘I work at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC). I mainly look for research advances in the space weather community and try to turn these into real applications that can improve space weather forecasting, such as our knowledge about coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares.’ Miesch’s voice warms slightly as he elaborates, ‘I also work on ‘the seasons of the sun’. I think of this as the solar cycle — humans have been seeing sunspots or spots on the sun for centuries. These are caused by magnetic fields generated below the surface of the sun. After forming inside the sun, these pass through the surface, going into the solar atmosphere — that creates a sunspot. Over thousands of years, humans have seen how some days on the sun are very active — there are lots of spots. Some days are quiet with almost no spots. Almost 200 years ago, observers discovered a pattern to this — it goes up and down roughly every 11 years. Each sunspot lasts from a few days to a few weeks. On any given day, the number of spots varies spread over 11 years — these are ‘the seasons of the sun’.’

These ‘seasons’ generate their own forces. As Miesch explains, ‘When such activity is high with many sunspots, we get a ‘solar maximum’. This is not a single day or month but lasts for two to three years. After this level of high activity occurs, the number of sunspots and solar storms tend to go down into a solar minimum. This pattern, from solar maximum to minimum, has been repeating itself for as long as we can tell.’ He adds, with a touch of wry humour, ‘It’s been traced back over 10,000 years but the sun has probably been doing this for much longer than that.’

Such solar activity, Miesch emphasises, is set to increase in 2024 with the solar cycle entering a phase of solar maximum now. ‘We are already there and throughout the rest of 2024 and 2025, we expect the level of solar activity to remain high. The last cycle — back in 2014 — was one of the weakest in a century. This level is more normal, with the sun experiencing greater action than in 20 years.’ This has implications for life on Earth though. As Miesch explains, ‘Our societies have become increasingly dependent on electrical power grids, satellites, global satellite navigation systems, airline travel, etc. This makes us vulnerable to space events — and episodes caused by solar storms.’

There are different kinds of solar storms. Many parts of the world recently saw wonderful auroras, of the kind normally making up the glorious phenomenon termed the ‘Northern Lights’. Miesch elucidates, ‘Solar storms cause such auroras — they come from coronal mass ejections (CMEs). This is like taking a chunk out of the sun, which is a hot magnetised gas or plasma. A portion is ejected and tossed out into space, turning magnetic energy into kinetic energy or the energy of motion. This CME — a cloud of hot magnetised gas — travels through space and if it strikes Earth, it encounters our own magnetic field. That wiggles and compresses when a CME passes by. This causes particles, mostly electrons, to accelerate, move following lines of magnetic force and come down into Earth’s atmosphere near the North and South Poles. When these electrons collide with molecules in the atmosphere, they make the air molecules glow — that is when we see aurora.’

May 2024 saw a remarkable solar storm setting off amazing auroras across Earth, even seen in regions like Ladakh which are far removed from the usual setting for this. When asked why, Miesch explains, ‘It depends a lot on the magnetic configuration of the CME but, in general, more energetic CMEs disrupt the magnetosphere more. The bigger the disruption, the more it moves down to lower latitudes in terms of auroras. So, when we get bigger CMEs — which are more likely in a solar maximum — you see auroras in lower latitudes as well, as observed in May ’24.’

There are other kinds of solar storms. Solar flares are a burst of light where magnetic energy gets converted into light as x-ray wavelengths which are very short. As Miesch states, our eyes can’t see these. That burst of light hits Earth’s atmosphere and ionises with molecules and atoms — this disrupts radio communications in particular. Airlines rely on that, which makes them vulnerable to disruptions from solar flares.

Studying the life and times of the sun is thus vital for human well-being. Miesch explains, ‘We have many tools for this. Among others, we use the GONG Network — this is a collection of six solar observatories around the world, one being in Udaipur, India. These are placed at different longitudes, so that as Earth turns, at least two of them at any time are looking at the sun. So, we monitor the sun continuously when we combine these observatories around the world. We also have a fleet of satellites out in space — these spacecraft observe the sun in many different wavelengths or colours. That’s how we can see when a lot of magnetic energy emerges in sunspots and solar storms are likely to occur. It takes a CME typically two to three days to travel from the sun to Earth — so, when we see them leaving the sun, we have a few days to run models on supercomputers and predict exactly when they will hit Earth and how severe they will be.’

Life on Earth comes from the sun. We all live because of it but at times, we can take it for granted. That cannot be said of Miesch though whose enthusiasm about the glowing star is now tangible. ‘What drew me to space weather and solar physics is that the sun is so many things — it’s part of our daily lives and we rely existentially on it. The sun gives us warmth to live and enables humans to grow crops which feed us and non-human animals.’ Life on Earth is a complex enough phenomenon but Miesch draws a larger picture. ‘The sun is also a window into the cosmos — it is a star in our own backyard. It’s a laboratory for astrophysics — we can see processes on the sun that are occurring throughout the universe but the sun lets us see these up close in glorious detail, something we cannot observe on any other astro nomical body.’ Miesch concludes, with a touch of sunny warmth in his voice, ‘The sun is a connection between our daily lives — and the universe.’

THAT LIGHT IN THE SKY: Auroras — a glorious, surreal show of light in the skies, seen recently in May 2024 — occur when expended solar material hits Earth’s magnetosphere, causing it to shake, electrons to move and collide with molecules in the air, making these glow

GUIDING STAR: Our friendly sun enables all life on Earth from crops to curious humans

COMING SOON TO YOU? The sun more active, auroras could be seen in diverse locations

THEY'RE HEAVENLY TOO !

● It’s not just you and your TE, dear reader — non-human animals are also thrilled by the skies. The nightingale, as legend says, loves the glowing moon so much, it sings for it all night. Across cultures — Kalidasa described the nightingale as symbolising impending drama while the Victorians made the nightingale’s lovely song a fad, even cruelly imprisoning many birds in cages — its moonstruck melodies have become a symbol of adoration and hope

● Wolves howling at the moon are an image of majestic mystery. Wolves are nocturnal animals though with imperfect eyesight — while popular culture gushes over wolves howling fulsomely during full moons, scientists suggest this could be a social rallying call, a signal to hunt in brighter light, a call for location information, a winsome invitation to potential mates or a territorial warning — wolf howls can be heard 7 miles away by other wolves

● Harbor seals have their own lodestars — literally. Spending a good deal of time searching for food along the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines, scientists have found these marine mammals steer by the stars — and can even identify a single star out of the Northern Hemisphere night sky. Seals use stars as their navigational compasses in the skies, which help them forage and return home successfully via Earth’s waters

Research: National Geographic, NPR, BBC, Smithsonian Magazine

READERS WRITE

Dear Times Evoke,

Congratulations, TE, for the wonderful interview with Andrew Pershing (1st June) on heatwaves. We’ve experienced many extreme heatwaves recently. Earth’s entire hydrological cycle is impacted by climate change. Pershing outlined coral reefs losing their natural colour due to warming sea waters. We can still mitigate such harsh impacts through forestry, using renewable energy and saving precious natural resources.

— Suresh Dodia, Rajkot

Times Evoke throws light on Earth’s intricately linked ecosystems and makes us realise our actions not only affect other species but find a way back to us. When I read about coral bleaching in Andrew Pershing’s TE interview, it was a moment of epiphany about the human mindset of thinking we own the world. We are just one among billions of species — and we must realise this. Thank you for this well-presented interview, TE.

— Abinaya S, Class XI, Chennai

TE’s highly informative pages are always extremely important, explaining Earth’s rising temperature and its drivers. We must plant huge numbers of trees instead of deforestation, else the survival of humans and other species is at peril. Thank you for raising crucial awareness, TE.

— Sanchari Banerjee, Kolkata

TE’s interview with Andrew Pershing on heatwaves was very informative and timely. There is very little media emphasis on climate change and addressing people’s concerns about it while its potential damages are irreparable. We look forward to more, TE.

— Krupal Soni, Ahmedabad

Hello TE, I’m so grateful to you for your very helpful articles. I enjoy reading TE and I always improve my knowledge. Thanks a million!

— Heena Shaikh, Akola, Maharashtra

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

Editorial

- A thought for today

- The 13% Reality

- One Or Two Or None

- Why We Just Can’t Let Bygones Be Bygones

- UP Vote For ‘Deemokrasi’

- Can A Curveball Be Hit For A Six?

- Sacred space

- There Are New Possibilities In Victory And Defeat

A thought for today

We’ve chosen the path to equality, don’t let them turn us around

GERALDINE FERRARO

The 13% Reality

It’s a shame. Parliament’s gender ratio just isn’t changing

After 18 Lok Sabha elections, Parliament still has just 74 women MPs. Slice it, dice it any which way but the crawling pace at which women are fielded by political parties needs much more attention. That just 13% of parliamentarians are women, when, at 31.2cr, women make up 48% of the total 64.2cr voters, is the story of an inequality that seems almost unshakeable. Less than 10% candidates were women, and 155 constituencies didn’t have a single woman candidate. The largest party BJP has 32 women MPs. But at 69, barely 16% of its 441 candidates were women. It shows the tortuous road ahead to achieve the 33% reservation – and even that ball has been kicked way down the road.

Two of six women Congress fielded in Karnataka have won. Delhi has two women among its seven MPs. Of Congress’s total 41 women candidates, 13, or 34%, won. TMC showed the way – 11 of 12 women candidates were elected, 38% of TMC’s 29 total MPs. That should silence the lame lament of “where are the women?”

Where the needle’s moved is that women MPs belong to various walks of life and age-groups, beyond family and tinsel town that have dominated the supply line of women netas so far. Career politicians were given more opportunity to contest, there are lawyers, academics and doctors in the mix. Winners include a 48-year-old Gujarati professor who crowdfunded her campaign; among youngest parliamentarians is a 27-year-old tribal woman who won on a general seat.

The onus is on political parties to increase women’s political participation. And it is the Big Two that have to do much better – only 13% of MPs of both Congress and BJP are women. Get more women to jump the voters queue to be on the ballot.

One Or Two Or None

Stop telling women to have kids like their grannies did

Birth rates have been falling across the rich, and even the notso-rich, world. East to West many govts are trying to reverse this trend. Japan’s govt is planning to launch a dating app this summer. The ploy feels desperate and is doomed to fail.

Shake it off | Putin whines about how Russian grandmothers and great-grandmothers used to have seven, eight, or even more children. Xi also talks up childbearing as a national virtue. These are countries where govt propaganda tolls heavy in society. And even here, it isn’t working.

A Macron and a Trump also want to “demographically rearm” their countries. But men with such ideas couldn’t stop the march of the nuclear family. Now women, in particular, are deciding to have fewer children, basis another monumental socioeconomic shift. And neither a lecture on national duty nor a tax break can budge a deeply personal choice, with which one lives for life.

You need to calm down | While a Handmaid’s Tale type of dystopia where a totalitarian govt enslaves women to bear children against their will isn’t a real possibility, more extreme measures in undemocratic countries can’t be ruled out. Yes, govts can’t ignore momentous demographic shifts. But the solution shouldn’t be a return to rigid family structures. An empowered pursuit of happiness is a hard-won freedom. Trying to reverse it is not worth the cost. Indeed, it is stupid. Because it ignores a logical solution– just liberalise immigration policies.

mind field SHORT TAKES ON BIG IDEAS

Why We Just Can’t Let Bygones Be Bygones

Feeling nostalgic? Be careful what you do with it

We’re all prone to some sentimental waffling about the past, but once, this was considered an illness. Nostalgia: A History of a Dangerous Emotion by Agnes Arnold-Foster – is about the social, political, cultural and scientific life of a tricky emotion.

Nostalgia is not one, but many feelings; the Welsh hiraeth and the Portuguese saudade overlap with the idea of nostalgia, but have different implications..

To begin with, the idea of nostalgia was not seen as a warm, fuzzy feeling or an indulgence, but taken seriously as a disabling and killing disease. In 1688, a Swiss physician coined the term to describe the painful longing for home felt by soldiers or domestic workers. Medical professionals studied it extensively, casting it as an emotional pandemic, one that could be set off by certain songs or scents, one that tended to be especially acute in autumn. It could cause people to waste away in pining.

The pace of change in the 19th century, shifts in science, technology and industry, made nostalgia a widely recognisable condition. Then, it subtly shifted to connote time, rather than place. Capitalism, colonialism and international warfare were responsible for this refiguring. When enslaved people from Africa leapt overboard into the Atlantic Ocean, abolitionists said ‘nostalgia’ drove them to death. Indentured Indian workers were also said to be afflicted by nostalgia.

If nostalgia is homesickness, what is home? By the 20th century, nostalgia was no longer a sign of a refined sensibility, as millions of people moved or were forced to move to new places. For an increasingly mobile global workforce, this emotion became mundane, normal.

Nostalgia is never a simple yearning for the past, or for a period of time we invest with meaning. It is a reconstruction of the past to align with our current values. Whether it is personal memory or collective remembering, it is an act of retrieval that selects some good bits and blurs the surroundings.

It is a reaction to the fear of actual or impending change, an urge to return to a place, a time past or a beloved person. While there have been times when it was a cause for worry, as in the ‘nostalgia fad’ of the 1970s in Europe and US, or the yearning for a lost empire or the rehabilitation of Nazi memorabilia, it is now seen with a benign lens.

It is no longer a threat to body and mind, but an exploitable state. The past has a powerful allure, it can make you buy stuff. Advertising has long cashed in on bygone eras. It can also shape politics. Nostalgia is cast as a dangerous emotion, exploited by right-wing forces to evoke a past glory. But the book points out that the left-wing is equally given to romantic visions of the past, whether it’s the idea of the NHS in Britain or the Paris Commune. In Eastern Europe, the idea of ‘ostalgie’ is a strange backwards utopianism. It is also an insistence that the socialist past is not reducible to the popular narrative of personal misery, economic stagnation and political repression.

The problem is not collective nostalgia, but what we do with the emotion – it is dangerous only when it becomes a way for people to channel their hatred.

UP Vote For ‘Deemokrasi’

● Why temple didn’t work as a force multiplier for BJP ● Why class & region were key voting determinants ● Why checks & balances on power were a key voter concern

Indrajit Roy

Few things age as badly as hubris. UP, which brought BJP’s juggernaut to a grinding halt, offers a vivid illustration. Faizabad, home of Ayodhya where Modi consecrated Ram’s Temple barely six months ago, rejected BJP. Along with 36 of the state’s 80 constituencies, Faizabad’s residents – and each of its four divisions – chose SP, a party once known for taking a hard line against the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Faizabad’s residents did join in celebrations of the return of Ram Lalla, but they were not impressed with BJP’s further attempts to politicise the deity.

What happened around the temple | The temple construction affected lives. Almost 5,000 houses and businesses were reportedly asked to vacate land without commensurate compensation. And these were the lucky ones: many could not claim compensation for their ancestral properties dating back centuries, as they did not have appropriate documentation. Some houses were prohibited from having balconies. For months, the city was a construction site. Residents say govt contractors flouted rules to cut corners. The widening of the Ram Path, which leads to the temple, resulted in the demolition of local shops and temples that gave Ayodhya its distinctive identity. Many of those less impacted by the temple construction were indifferent: okay, we got the temple, now what? BJP leadership had little time for UP’s provincial Hindutva. For everyday Hinduism, for many ordinary UP wallahs, 80% of whom are Hindu, the temple wasn’t the key determinant in voting decision.

Constitution’s guarantees took centrestage | Lallan Singh, Faizabad’s BJP candidate, declared early in the campaign that if his party won over 400 seats, the party would secure the two-thirds majority required to amend the Constitution and dismantle affirmative actions for Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs. The Constitution and its guarantees quickly replaced “Modi ki guarantee” as the talking point for voters across the state. Building on UP’s vernacular socialist tradition, INDIA allies assured audiences that a caste census would be conducted and resources distributed accordingly.“Jiski jitni sankhyabhari, utni uski hissedari,” the phrase popularised by social justice activist Kanshiram, was revived. Modi’s attempt to politically use this claim to fair distribution backfired as people in UP, as elsewhere, tuned in to the INDIA manifesto: saving the Constitution no longer sounded like abstract rhetoric, it was about defending real rights.

PDA – Pichada (backwards), Dalit and Alpasankhyak (Minorities) – social coalition, which INDIA nurtured, acquired cohesive purpose. Faizabad is again illustrative. Here INDIA’s pro-OBC SP fielded Awadesh Prasad from the Dalit Pasi community. This helped dispel Dalit suspicions about the party. If Dalit candidates are usually fielded only from ‘reserved’ constituencies, Prasad competed for – and won – a ‘non-reserved’ seat. In Kairana, SP’s Iqra Jahan similarly won by breaching the Jat-Muslim polarisation that had affected the constituency since 2013: 30-year-old Jahan is a SOAS graduate who played a prominent role in the social media campaign against CAA.

Regional variations in voting | But UP’s six regions voted very differently. The richer western UP and Braj returned a majority of NDA parliamentarians. The middling Purvanchal and Awadh were a mixed bag, with both coalitions matched evenly. The poorer Bundelkhand and Rohilkhand were harshest on NDA and were swept by INDIA. Here agricultural distress played a pivotal role. It was in Lakhimpur Kheri, one of these constituencies, that a BJP legislator’s son had allegedly mowed down protesting farmers. The legislator was shown the door this time. Prosperous urban constituencies – Varanasi, Lucknow, Kanpur – went entirely to BJP, suggesting the vote’s class dimension. Rural and semirural UP went largely to INDIA, suggesting the resonance of its NYAY campaign, which spoke to the material struggles of some of the planet’s poorest people.

What mattered to voters | Voter preferences in UP echo much of the rest of the country. The demand for the right to representation resonates with people right across the country. Stagnant wages, rising prices, and glaring inequality hit BJP. Many are also realising that Hindutva does not satisfy anyone’s material, social or even spiritual needs: “Targeting Muslims neither creates jobs nor brings mental peace,” a villager reasoned on the outskirts of Varanasi, which Modi won by a relatively slim margin.

Above all, voters in UP cared enough about a diverse and balanced democracy, and helped give India a stronger opposition. They may well vote for BJP, led by Yogi Adityanath, in the next Vidhan Sabha elections, to re-elect the patron of popular Hinduism and provincial Hindutva. Many voters, however, understand that the improvements in law and order attributed to Yogi’s administration have little to do with BJP at the Centre. Thus the “double engine sarkar” did not take off as a vehicle of development.

In strengthening deemokrasi, as it is locally known, UP voters didn’t act as liberal individualists. But they know a thing or two about keeping power in check. After all, Krishna, the young cowherd who challenges the king of Mathura, is about championing checks on state power from below. The people of UP, who are often caricatured by the rich and the literate as bigoted bhakts, have delivered a key lesson for Indian democracy: no matter how powerful you are, you will be held to account.

The writer is Professor of Global Development Politics, University of York

Can A Curveball Be Hit For A Six?

America’s T20 World Cup victory over Pakistan is a milestone moment in US cricket history. Yes, it will take time & effort for Americans to fall in love with the game. But it will likely happen

Avijit.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

Be it sports or politics, nothing’s more uplifting and romantic than the triumph of an underdog. A Goliath’s reverse fills us with a delightful disbelief, pleases the David in our hearts. That’s why of all cricket triumphs stored in the rucksack of our memories, 1983 remains the fondest, because it was conjured against the seemingly invincible.

US too has experienced unexpected euphoria in sports, none bigger than what happened in Brazil’s mining town of Belo Horizonte. With a ragtag team that included a postman, a mill worker and a ‘funeral director’, the Americans astonished England 1-0 in the 1950 football World Cup. “At the final whistle, newspapers burned on the terraces, a funeral pyre for England, and spectators rushed on to the pitch to carry the brave American team out shoulder-high,” wrote football guru Brian Glanville in The Story of the World Cup.

Uncle Sam’s nerve-jangling triumph over Pakistan in the T20 World Cup in Dallas on Thursday is cricket’s answer to that jubilant moment in US sporting history. For captain Monank Patel and his multi-racial merry lads, it was an away game at home; the stands packed with noisy non-resident Pakistanis. Pakistan ranks No. 6 to US 18 in T20. But the difference in status doesn’t reveal the true gap in pedigree and quality of the two sides. US played its first international cricket match against Canada in 1844. But in baseball country, the willow never struck deep roots. In the hierarchy of cricket-playing countries, it remained a nobody. The victory against Pakistan, which makes them a genuine contender for a Super Eight spot, seems to be an announcement of intent: we want to be somebody.

The triumph has found sweet echoes across India because players of Indian-origin were fundamental in its construction. Skipper Monank Patel, a wicket-keeper batter who earned Man of the Match with a half century, was born in India’s milk capital, Anand. Mumbai-born pacer Saurabh Netravalkar, the bowler of the day along with N Kenjige, is a software engineer in San Francisco. Netravalkar was India’s highest wicket-taker in the U-19 World Cup in 2010 but had given up the game for a career in computers. But the dream and the desire lingered. Sometimes he would drive six hours to Los Angeles to play a game on Saturday, then drive back through the night to play another game in San Francisco on Sunday. Netravalkar’s inspirational story is emblematic of the Indian community in US which the book, The Other One Per Cent by Sanjoy Chakravorty, Devesh Kapur and Nirvikar Singh, maps and captures in detail.

Two other Indian players deserve a larger mention. One is Nitish Kumar, who like his namesake Bihar politician, is adept at changing sides. The Ontario-born represented Canada earlier. Like the master JDU politico in the Lok Sabha polls, his intervention was small but crucial to the eventual outcome. Kumar wrenched out a desperate last-ball boundary off Mohammad Amir, stretching the game to Super Over.

Mumbai-born Harmeet Singh’s story is about life and second chances. The left-arm spinner was stellar in India’s 2012 U-19 World Cup triumph. The languid grace of his bowling action reminded Ian Chappell of Bishan Singh Bedi. But Singh lost his way, once quite literally, driving a car into Andheri railway platform. Other controversies ensured his career went southwards and life sideways. He found redemption in Dallas.

The host’s improbable triumph has lit up a tournament that had prompted justifiable criticism about the vicious pitch in New York where balls exploded like popcorn in heat. And while that issue might resurface when India faces off with familiar foes Pakistan on the same ground on Sunday, US can justifiably celebrate the moment even though, as New York Times reported, “many Americans were oblivious to the magnitude of their victory in Dallas”.

Sport is forever in search of new markets. In 1994, the football World Cup hosted by US helped Major League Soccer (MLS) find its feet there. Since then, barring 2018, the Stars and Stripes have always fluttered in World Cups. Cricket seems to be following a similar path. The glitz glam superhit first edition of Major League Cricket (MLC), the US equivalent of IPL, was staged last July, with Nicholas Pooran-led MI New York taking the trophy. The second season is scheduled next month. About 200,000 play cricket in about 400 local leagues in US. But even now the home page of Cricket USA website has a section explaining the game to the curious visitor.

The truth is eight of the 15 players in the US squad have early or familial roots in India; others coming from Pakistan, the West Indies, South Africa and New Zealand. Twelve are 30-plus in age; the remaining three are 29. It remains to be seen how the victories over Pakistan and Canada – and against Bangladesh before the tournament – breed active interest in the game. The journey will take long, but the road seems right.

Sacred space

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather.

John Ruskin

THE SPEAKING TREE

There Are New Possibilities In Victory And Defeat

Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev

Swami Vivekananda famously said, “You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita.” That line is a wonderful reminder to the self when we start taking life too seriously.

When you pray or read scripture, you can think of many other things, but when you play a sport, you must be single-minded. There is no room for half-heartedness. You have to play as if your life depended on it. About five billion people watched the World Cup football tournament in 2022. We were collectively glued to our TV screens not just because of the skill involved but because someone was kicking the ball as if his life depended on it. That intensity of involvement, which pushes human beings beyond their limits, makes the whole world sit up and watch.

However, the fundamental premise of any sport is this: you must have the fire of wanting to win but also the balance to see that if you lose, it’s okay. You never play a game to lose. But if you do lose, it is still alright with you. If you maintain this balance within you, you are a sportsman.

This is a perfect metaphor for life. As a high-voltage election reached its culmination and the results were announced, it was time for us to take our inspiration from the playing field. Many have forgotten what it means to live in a modern-day democracy. In this system, we have collectively decided to choose our leaders through the power of the ballot box. Maybe somebody I don’t like has just been elected, but I still have to bow down and accept the verdict because the wonderful gift of democracy is that we have found a way of transferring power non-violently.

In the past, much blood was spilled when one regime gave way to another. Do we want to return to a monarchic or theocratic or feudal setup? If we choose democracy, it is time to abandon our tribal mindset. Above all, the vile speech and gang warfare on social media where people endlessly spew toxicity at each other should come to a halt. It is time to stop being sore losers or boastful winners.

Trying to paint the other as evil just because the verdict is not to our liking is juvenile. A mature democracy has to outgrow such pettiness. Does this mean that we have lost our right to speak or protest? No. A democracy means we retain our right to disagree, dialogue and debate, but it is important not to succumb to hatred.

For the victor, the sweetness of triumph should not turn into the lethargy of complacency. For the loser, the bitterness of defeat should not turn into despair. Victory should be the stepping stone for heightened levels of performance. Defeat should lead to an honest evaluation of what was done and what could be improved.

Ultimately, there is no such thing as triumph or loss. As humans, we come into life with nothing and go with nothing. In a limited context, some win and some lose. But to rise beyond limited notions of victory and defeat is the whole point of the game of life. It is also the essence of every spiritual process.

Every event in life is the birth of a new experience and a new possibility. Once we truly see and accept that, our life finds its fullest blossoming.

Times Business

- RBI warns against ‘usurious’ rates on small-ticket loans

- RBI raises FY25 GDP forecast to 7.2%

- Forex reserves rise $4.8bn to record $652bn

- You can soon ‘auto-reload’ UPI Lite, Fastag wallets

- Danish co’s India team key to Ozempic’s success

- ONGC seeks global tech partner for Mumbai High

- Tube Investments chief is EY World Entrepreneur Of Yr

- TDP’s Naidu family’s wealth up `858cr in 5 days as stock rallies

- Musk greets Modi, hints at Tesla’s entry

- ACs to ice cream: E-tail booms in cruel summer

- Investors richer by `7L cr, BSE m-cap hits `429.5L cr

RBI warns against ‘usurious’ rates on small-ticket loans

Repo Rate Unchanged, RBI Leaves Markets Guessing On Pivot

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:RBI has said that it is engaging with providers of small-ticket loans who charge ‘usurious’ interest rates, asking them to ensure transparency and, if necessary, re-examine their business plans.

“It has been observed in some microfinance institutions and NBFCs that the interest rates on small-value loans are high and appear to be usurious. The regulatory freedom enjoyed by regulated entities in respect of interest rates and charges should be used judiciously to ensure fair and transparent pricing of products and services,” said RBI governor Shaktikanta Das in his monetary policy statement.

The governor’s comments come at a time when there are complaints against digital lenders who extend small ticket loans at high rates of in- terest. There have been cases of lenders harassing third parties whose phone numbers have appeared in their systems, even though they have not taken out any loan.

“RBI has a fair practices code, but apart from this, all interest rates for banks, finance companies, and microfinance companies are deregulated. Our guidelines require that interest rates should be fair and transparent. We have seen some outliers charging usurious rates and our supervision department is engaging with them,” said Das. He added that the supervisory officials were monitoring the situation to take further action if needed.

According to deputy governor Swaminathan J, the objective is to flag any possible build-up of risks to the lenders. “We have requested the boards to relook and re-strategise their business plans. We have left it to the individual entities, basis, their business plans... If it is required, they will have to modify their business plans to suit long-term sustainability. That is what we would look for,” said Swaminathan. He added that RBI is not going to interfere or get into any micromanagement but would leave it to the wisdom of the respective boards.

Das also mentioned that in Nov last year, RBI raised concerns about the excessive growth of unsecured retail loans and the over-reliance of NBFCs on bank funding. He said that recent data indicates some moderation in these loans and advances.

Recently, RBI had engaged with lenders to increase transparency by asking them to annualise all fixed charges so that customers get an idea of the cost of borrowings. In the past, when the lenders did not respond to signals from RBI, the regulator has not hesitated to step in and place business restrictions.

RBI raises FY25 GDP forecast to 7.2%

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on Friday left key policy rates unchanged for the 8th consecutive time but raised growth projection for the current financial year from 7% to 7.2%. The markets were, however, uncertain about when RBI might cut rates.

The monetary policy committee decided by a 4 to 2 majority to keep the policy repo rate unchanged at 6.5%. Four of the six members of MPC also voted to remain focused on the withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation progressively aligns with the target while supporting growth.

Among the external members, Ashima Goyal and Jayanth R Varma voted to reduce the policy repo rate by 25 basis points (100bps = 1 percentage point), while the three RBI members and Shashanka Bhide voted to keep the rate unchanged. Das maintained that there was need for inflation to descend to the 4% target on a durable basis.

“The timing of the first rate cut by RBI remains a difficult question as domestic growth remains strong, which, along with sticky trajectory for food inflation, has meant that RBI MPC members may be reluctant to quickly pivot towards monetary policy easing,” said Santanu Sengupta of Goldman Sachs.

Adding to the uncertainty was RBI’s caution to banks on credit growth outpacing deposit growth for long. “The persisting gap between credit and deposit growth rates warrants a rethink by the boards of banks to re-strategise their bu- siness plans. A prudent balance between assets and liabilities has to be maintained,” he said. In a bid to ensure the full transmission of rate hikes to deposits, RBI revised the definition of bulk deposits to those above Rs 3 crore from Rs 2 crore earlier. According to bankers, this will compel banks that want to grow their deposits to broadbase rate hikes.

Announcing the MPC decision, Das said the forecast of above normal monsoon would boost agriculture and rural consumption. “Private consumption, the mainstay of aggregate demand, is reco- vering with steady improvement in discretionary spending in urban areas. Investment activity continues to gain traction on the back of expansion in non-food credit,” said Das.

RBI’s decision to hold rates comes a day after the European Central Bank cut interest rates and a month after US Fed chief Jerome Powell said that rate hikes were off the table. “There is a view that in matters of monetary policy, RBI is guided by the principle of following the Fed. I would like to unambiguously state that while we do keep a watch on the clouds that build up or clear out on the distant horizon, we play the game according to the local weather and pitch conditions,” the governor said.

According to RBI forecasts, inflation will briefly come within the target rate during the second quarter, thanks to a higher base effect. However, the inflation for FY25 has been retained at 4.5% — still above the target rate of 4%.

Forex reserves rise $4.8bn to record $652bn

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:India’s foreign exchange reserves jumped $4.8 billion to hit a record high of $651.5 billion in the week ended May 31, 2024, with the current account deficit significantly shrinking during Q4 FY24 due to strong growth in services and robust remittances.

In his monetary policy statement, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said India’s external sector remains resilient and that key external vulnerability indicators continue to improve. Incidentally, India Ratings said in a report that the current account in Q4 FY24 was likely to have turned into a surplus for the first time in 10 quarters.

“The phenomenal rise of GCCs in India has provided a significant boost to India’s software and business services exports,” said Das.

You can soon ‘auto-reload’ UPI Lite, Fastag wallets

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:Users of UPI apps will soon be able to automate balance replenishment in their UPI Lite wallets. The feature will ensure that more low-value UPI transactions take place offline faster and without increasing the load on the bank’s core banking systems.

A similar automatic replenishment facility is being considered for other prepaid instruments such as Fastag and National Common Mobility Card (used in metros and other public transport) to mitigate the risk of low balance. At present, when the balances under these instruments get exhausted, the account holder has to manually recharge them to avoid declining transactions.

“The purpose of UPI Lite is to ensure that fewer trans- actions are hitting the bank systems. Currently, 10 million of 450 million UPI transactions take place on UPI Lite,” said T Rabi Shankar, deputy governor of RBI. He said that this would also reduce the downtime in UPI transactions which are largely at the bank’s end. And with NPCI targeting 100 crore UPI transactions every day, banks will need to increase the transaction capacity of their systems.

Shankar said that RBI has constituted a committee under A P Hota, former MD & CEO of NPCI, to set up the digital public infrastructure for a Digital Payments Intelligence Platform. The platform will use AI/ML to reduce fraud risks.

UPI Lite uses the same app and QR code that is used for account-to-account payments. But instead of debiting the bank account, Lite transactions draw from a wallet which can hold up to Rs 2,000 and make payments up to Rs 500 without second factor authentication.

Danish co’s India team key to Ozempic’s success

Shilpa.Phadnis@timesgroup.com

Bengaluru: The secret sauce behind Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster weight-loss drug, Ozempic, is the Danish pharma giant’s India team, which played a key role in the rise of the semaglutide-based drug meant for treating diabetes.

The success of Ozempic and Wegovy — another semaglutide-based drug for weight management — has not only boosted Denmark’s economy but also led to Novo Nordisk’s market cap surpassing Tesla’s.

John Dawber, corporate VP and MD of global business services at Novo Nordisk, said, “Medicalised obesity has exploded over the last couple of years, and everybody’s interested in it. But Novo Nordisk’s research journey started about two decades ago.” The company’s research into new treatments for diabetes led to the discovery of benefits of weight management, prompting a separate research pro- gramme. Dawber said the demand for these products has surprised the company.

The teams in Novo Nordisk Global Business Services (GBS) based in Bengaluru have collaborated with the global teams to contribute to- wards the Ozempic programme. Dawber said the Bengaluru team collaborates closely with the headquarters on the semaglutide drug, working on clinical trials, biostatistics, data management, pharmacovigilance, and global safety. It employs 4,000 employees.

Prasanna Kumar T S, VP of global safety in Novo Nordisk GBS, said the role of the biostatistics unit in Bengaluru, which conducts all statistical analysis and reporting for Ozempic. “Our trial statisticians and clinical data scientists engage with the trial squad right from protocol development until the submission of a trial/product to regulatory authorities.” Biostatistics applies statistical methods to health data.

Biostatistics, Dawber said, is a highly technical area and something that traditionally the pharma companies keep very close to the headquarters. “We have a team of 150 biostatistics experts in Bengaluru. The VP who heads that function also heads the biostatistics team in Denmark and in the US. Something very highly technical like biostats, we have the global leadership sitting here, and they manage teams here and in other geographies,” he said.

Kumar said the global medical affairs team played a pivotal role in the development of Semaglutide. The global medical affairs team has also been instrumental in generating evidence and understanding semaglutide through investigator-initiated studies.

ONGC seeks global tech partner for Mumbai High

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: State-run explorer ONGC is seeking long-term overseas technology partnership for ramping up production from Mumbai High, India’s largest oilfield that is still pumping nearly half a century after starting operation.

The company went public with the intent on June 1, inviting bids from “internationally-proven” technical service providers, with a minimum annual revenue of $75 billion interested in collaborating for 10 years, with the provision of another five-year extension. The bid closes on July 15.

This is the first time that ONGC is seeking an overseas technology partner. Though in-house pool of experts have proven their mettle in keeping up production over the years, the company brass wants to induct best-in-class reservoir management technologies and adopt globally-best operational and management practices to unlock the “significant” upside in output.

The identified service provider would carry out a comprehensive review of field performance and identify improvements in wells and reservoir, including water injection, and facilities management.

Tube Investments chief is EY World Entrepreneur Of Yr

New Delhi:Vellayan Subbiah, executive VC of Tube Investments of India and chairman of Cholamandalam Investment and Finance has been named EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year 2024. He is the fourth winner from India and his win also makes India the only country among EY regions to win the global entrepreneurship award four times.

TNN

TDP’s Naidu family’s wealth up `858cr in 5 days as stock rallies

Swati.Bharadwaj@timesgroup.com

Hyderabad:The political revival of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and its chief Chandrababu Naidu, who has emerged kingmaker in the coalition govt, has also boosted the fortunes of his family that runs Hyderabad-based dairy player Heritage Foods.

With the Heritage Foods scrip gaining 64% over the last five trading sessions from Rs 403 a share last Friday (May 31, 2024) to hit a 52-week high of Rs 662 per share on Friday, the wealth of his family has surged by Rs 858 crore in five days.

However, when one compares his family’s wealth based on the scrip’s closing price of Rs 363 a share on May 13, 2024, the day votes were cast in

Andhra Pradesh, it has shot up by nearly Rs 989 crore in the span of less than a month as the scrip gained 82% during the period.

These figures are based on the 35.7% stake shares held by Naidu’s family in the dairy company.

While Naidu’s wife Nara Bhuvaneswari, who helms the company as MD, holds 24.4% stake in the company, Naidu’s son Nara Lokesh is the second-biggest shareholder from the family with nearly 10.8%.

The other family members, all of whom hold less than 1% stake in the company, include Naidu’s daughter-in-law Nara Brahmani (0.5%) and his grandson Devaansh Nara (0.1%).

The surge in the share prices has sent the company’s market capitalisation soaring from Rs 3,371 crore on May 13 to Rs 3,738 crore on May 31, a day before the exit polls, on to Rs 6,141 crore on Friday as the Heritage Foods scrip gained by over Rs 298 and Rs 259 a share respectively as compared to its May 13 and May 31 prices.

Naidu’s TDP bagged 16 seats in the Lok Sabha elections and 135 seats in the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections.

Musk greets Modi, hints at Tesla’s entry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:Tesla founder Elon Musk on Friday congratulated Narendra Modi on his alliance’s election victory and indicated his interest to work in the country. “Congratulations Narendra Modi on your victory in the world’s largest democratic elections! Looking forward to my companies doing exciting work in India,” Musk said on X.

The comments came weeks after Musk postponed his India visit, where he was expected to discuss investments for a new Tesla facility to produce lower cost vehicles for domestic market and exports. The trip was announced by Musk after the Modi govt unveiled a new policy, allowing EV players to import cars at a lower duty but commit to invest within three years and source components locally. Musk had cited his other commitments to postpone his visit, but days later flew to China.

Officials, however, said that he also wanted the Indian govt to address his pending proposal for his satellite communication venture Starlink.

ACs to ice cream: E-tail booms in cruel summer

Heatwaves Keep People From Stepping Out | Online Sales Jump Even As Store Footfall Dips

Asmita.Dey@timesgroup.com

Mumbai:From ACs to beauty products and even snacking items, consumers are increasingly going online to fill their shopping carts as heatwaves nudge them to stay indoors, at least during the peak afternoon hours.

Online sales for Voltas through Amazon and Flipkart, for instance, have grown by 190% year-on-year between March-May 2024. The company’s sales through its own website have grown by almost 60% YoY between April and May, a company spokesperson said.

The demand for ACs and coolers on Flipkart has almost doubled this May over the year-ago period. While the southern and eastern parts of the country dominated demand in April, the north (largely metros and tier-1 cities) — which has been reeling from a severe heatwave — joined its eastern counterparts to drive demand for cooling products for the platform in May. “Premium segments of 2 ton and higher have gained momentum…brands like Voltas, Godrej, Lloyd, Haier and Onida have gained share,” said a company spokesperson.

On Amazon, orders for coolers surged from cities like Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Pune and Hyderabad. For Panasonic India, 5-star inverter ACs contribute to 55% of its online AC sales, which is higher than industry average, said Fumiyasu Fujimori, MD at Panasonic Marketing India.

E-commerce platforms — with their convenience of doorstep deliveries — continue to find traction among households, particularly when making large purchases. Meanwhile, for daily essentials, small-ticket as well as impulse purchases, quick commerce has become the go-to avenue.

Parle’s sales through quick commerce platforms like Blinkit, Swiggy Instamart and Zepto have shot up and the segment has seen a 10-15% incremental growth due to the heat, said vice-president Mayank Shah.

“The shopping that happens between 10-11am during the day to 6-7pm in the evening has moved online. Consumers are refraining from stepping out. As a consequence, even the online players are having to deploy more manpower and that can be a challenge,” Shah said.

Manish Bandlish, MD at Mother Dairy, said that demand for its ice creams, curd and dairy beverages across online channels has grown upwards of 60% in May, even higher than modern trade which has seen a growth of 40% during the period. For several others too, the trend has been similar.

Customers of American brand Baskin Robbins also opted for online channels, including quick commerce platforms, to satisfy their ice cream cravings. “After the heatwave intensified in northwest India, Baskin Robbins has seen online growth jump from 20-25% in April and first half of May this year to almost 40% and above for the second half of May,” said Mohit Khattar, CEO at Graviss Foods which is the master franchisee of the brand in India. However, the share of online transactions has been higher among newer consumers, Khattar added.

Beauty retailer Colorbar has seen a 5-10% decrease in footfall at its offline stores even as online sales have surged. “As heatwaves intensify with each passing summer, we have witnessed more consumers opting to stay indoors, favouring the convenience of shopping from home. Moreover, online platforms frequently have bolder promotions… this strategy resonates with the value-conscious consumer segment,” said Samir Modi, managing director at Colorbar Cosmetics.

Investors richer by `7L cr, BSE m-cap hits `429.5L cr

From P 1

On the NSE, the nifty too recorded a new all-time high mark of 23,320 points and closed at 23,290 points, up 469 points or 2.1%. The rally in the last three sessions has more than wiped out the record 4,390-point crash on Tuesday, when general election results were announced.

“Markets shrugged off weak global cues as investors cheered RBI’s higher growth forecast for FY25 in its credit policy announcement, which propelled sensex to a fresh all-time high on massive broad-based buying support,” Prashanth Tapse, Senior VP (Research), Mehta Equities said.

“Also, the arrival of monsoon rains on time and expectations of its even spread across the country raised hopes of softening inflation going ahead. With the election uncertainty now over and NDA most likely to form the government, investors are hopeful that the action will now shift to reforms and the upcoming Budget.”

For a change, Friday’s rally was supported by fore- ign funds who recorded a net inflow of Rs 4,391 crore, while domestic funds were net sellers at Rs 1,290 crore, end-of-the-session data on BSE showed. The day’s rally added Rs 7 lakh crore to investors’ wealth with BSE’s market capitalisation now at Rs 429.5 lakh crore.

The day’s session also saw volatility reducing substantially with India VIX, the measure of volatility, dropping to one-month low of 16. This was a sign of reduced anxiety among investors over the formation of the new government, market players said.

After the European Central Bank announced interest rate cut for the first time in nearly five years, hopes have revived that the US Fed might follow suit in its Sept meeting, said Siddhartha Khemka, head — retail research, Motilal Oswal Financial Services.

Times Global

- No threat to warrant use of N-arms: Putin

- SUNITA WILLIAMS DANCES HER WAY INTO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

- French national in custody in Moscow

- Biden apologises to Zelensky for aid delay that let Russia advance

- Sunak faces ire for leaving D-Day event early for campaign

- Imran invokes Kejriwal’s bail to campaign in Pak SC, complains mistreatment in jail

- Willing to upgrade eco ties with Pak: Xi

- Biden: Won’t pardon son if he’s convicted in gun trial

- Israel draws criticism after strike on UN school shelter

- Israel says UN has added military to global list of offenders against children; ‘move shameful’

- Bird flu patient died of chronic disease, not virus: Mexico

- AROUND THE WORLD

- ‘True story’ gone wrong? Woman who ‘inspired’ ‘Baby Reindeer’ role sues Netflix

No threat to warrant use of N-arms: Putin

St Petersburg: Prez Putin said Friday that he sees no current threat to Russia’s sovereignty that would warrant the use of nuclear weapons but again warned Moscow could send weapons to states or others to strike Western targets. Speaking at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum, Putin said use of nuclear weapons is only possible in “exceptional cases” and that he does not believe “such a case has arisen”.

But he repeated a warning made days earlier that Moscow “reserves the right” to arm Western adversaries as a response to some Nato allies allowing Ukraine to use their weapons to strike targets inside Russia. “If they supply (weapons) to the combat zone and call for using these weapons against our territory, why don’t we have the right to do the same?” Putin asked. “But I’m not ready to say that we will be doing it tomorrow, either,” Putin added, suggesting that it might affect global stability. He didn’t specify where such arms might be sent.

AP

Kyiv hit Russia-held area with US missiles, says Moscow

The Russian defence ministry Friday accused Ukrainian forces of firing five US-supplied ATACMS missiles at the Russian-controlled eastern Ukrainian city of Luhansk in an attack it said had wounded 20 people, including children. The ministry said in a statement that four of the five missiles had been shot down, but that one of the missiles had damaged two residential blocks, something it alleged was deliberate.

REUTERS

SUNITA WILLIAMS DANCES HER WAY INTO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

Indian-origin astronaut Sunita Williams broke into an impromptu dance on Thursday as she entered the International Space Station along with her colleague Butch Wilmore. The two arrived at the space station aboard the Boeing’s new Starliner capsule, which had been delayed by last-minute thruster trouble that almost derailed the docking. The mission marks a historic milestone as Williams became the first woman to pilot a spacecraft on its maiden voyage. Williams, on her third trip to ISS, and Wilmore were warmly welcomed by the seven astronauts aboard the space station, who greeted them with the traditional bell ringing. Wearing blue overalls with her hair flowing upwards around her smiling face, Williams broke into a twist-like dance step as soon as she came out of the docking tunnel. Wilmore followed. They embraced the ISS residents. ‘It was such a great welcome, a little dance party,’ said Williams. ‘That’s the way to get things going.’ The docking was to get a final check that Starliner is ready to begin once-a-year operational flights to ferry Nasa crews for 6-month stays at the orbital outpost.

PTI & AGENCIES

French national in custody in Moscow

French researcher Laurent Vinatier pleaded guilty in a Moscow court on Friday to a charge of failing to register as a foreign agent while gathering information on the Russian military. Vinatier, 47, could face up to five years in prison. He was placed in pre-trial custody until Aug 5. “I apologise for not registering as a foreign agent. The most upsetting thing is that throughout the 10 years of my work I tried to defend Russia and its interests,” state news agency RIA quoted him as saying. Vinatier is a Russia specialist and adviser to HD, a Swiss-based conflict mediation group.

REUTERS

Biden apologises to Zelensky for aid delay that let Russia advance

Says US Is With Ukraine ‘Completely’, Announces $225M In Military Aid

US Prez Biden speaks at the WWII Pointe du Hoc Ranger Monument in Normandy following the 80th anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings

Paris: US Prez Joe Biden on Friday for the first time publicly apologised to Ukraine for a monthslong congressional holdup in American military assistance that let Russia make gains on the battlefield. Biden met in Paris with Ukrainian Prez Volodymyr Zelensky, who appealed for bipartisan US support going forward “like it was during World War II.”

A day earlier, the two had attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of the DDay landings in Normandy, where Biden had drawn common cause between the allied forces that helped free Europe from Nazi Germany and today’s effort to support Ukraine against Russia’s invasion and Zelensky had been greeted with a rapt ovation. “I apologise for those weeks of not knowing what’s going to happen in terms of funding,” Biden said, referring to the six-month holdup by conservative Republicans in Congress to a $61 billion military aid package for Ukraine. Still, the Democratic prez insisted that Americans were standing by Ukraine for the long haul. “We’re still in. Completely. Thoroughly,” he said.

The apology — and Zelensky’s plea for rock-solid support akin to the allied coalition in WWII — served as a reminder that for all of Biden’s talk of an unflagging US commitment to Ukraine, recalcitrance among congressional Republicans and an isolationist strain in American politics have exposed its fragility. And, although unremarked upon, the specter of Donald Trump’s candidacy loomed over the discussion, as the Republican former prez and the presumptive nominee has spoken positively of Russia Prez Vladimir Putin and sparked Ukrainian concerns that he would call for it to cede territory to end the conflict.

Zelensky pressed for all Americans to support his country’s defence, and he thanked lawmakers for eventually coming together to approve the weapons package, which has allowed Ukraine to stem Russian advances in recent weeks.

The US, by far Kyiv’s biggest supplier of wartime support, will send about $225 million in military aid to Ukraine, Biden announced Friday. The latest package includes munitions for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, or HIMARS, as well as mortar systems and an array of artillery rounds, officials said Thursday.

AP

A parachutist lands on Omaha beach during the 80th D-Day anniversary international commemoration in Normandy, France, on Thursday

Sunak faces ire for leaving D-Day event early for campaign

Sunak meets with a British D-Day veteran in Normandy on Thursday

London:British PM Rishi Sunak, in a new setback to his election campaign, apologised on Friday for leaving D-Day commemorations early to give an interview in which he attacked the main opposition party. Sunak’s decision not to stay at the event in France alongside other world leaders on Thursday was met with dismay in his Conservative Party, which opinion polls suggest faces the prospect of a heavy defeat in the national election on July 4.

The leader of the opposition Labour Party, Keir Starmer, remained in Normandy for the duration of events and was se- en talking to heads of state, including Ukrainian Prez Volodymyr Zelensky. “On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay longer, and I’ve apologised for that, but I also don’t think it’s right to be political in the midst of D-Day commemorations,” Sunak told reporters. “The focus should rightly be on the veterans.” Sunak said his plans had been set long before the start of the election campaign.

In Normandy, Sunak spoke at a British-led event but delegated other duties to ministers, including foreign secretary David Cameron, who was pictured with Biden, French Prez Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

A loyal Conservative politician, who asked not to be identified, said it could become the “Gillian Duffy moment” — a reference to 2010 when Gordon Brown, the then PM, apologised for being caught on tape calling a voter “a bigoted woman”, a moment seen as a turning point in a campaign he lost. Sunak’s Tories are lagging about 20 points behind Labour in opinion polls. Labour spokesman Jonathan Ashworth accused Sunak of “choosing to prioritise his own vanity TV appearances over our veterans”.

REUTERS

Imran invokes Kejriwal’s bail to campaign in Pak SC, complains mistreatment in jail

Islamabad: Jailed former Pakistan PM Imran Khan has invoked the case of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal getting bail to campaign ahead of India’s general elections, as he complained before the SC about the mistreatment meted to him in jail.

During his appearance on Thursday before a five-member SC bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Qazi Faez Isa in a case related to amendments to the National Accountability Ordinance, the PTI chairman complained of the “victimisation” that he faced since his ouster from power in April 2022.

Khan, complaining of oppression against him, pointed out that Kejriwal was released on bail by the apex court ahead of the Indian general elections for campaigning for his party but he was facing oppression in Pakistan which was under undeclared “martial law”.

Khan,71, complained that he was convicted within five days to keep him away from the elections which were held on Feb8. Khan also expressed dismay over the SC’s judgment rejecting Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s govt plea requesting the live streaming of the case.

“You wrote (in the judgment) that I did political point scoring during the last hearing. I did not get it, what political scoring did I resort to,” the PTI founder asked the CJP Isa. At this, chief justice Isa said a judge does not owe an explanation to anyone over the verdict. “You can file a review petition,” the top judge said.

PTI

Willing to upgrade eco ties with Pak: Xi

Beijing: Beijing is willing to work with Islamabad to build an upgraded version of an economic corridor linking the two countries, China Prez Xi Jinping told visiting Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif on Friday. Sharif pledged to ensure the safety of Chinese workers in Pakistan, according to a report on their meeting posted online by state broadcaster CCTV. The report said that Sharif offered his govt’s condolences for the deaths in March of five Chinese engineers in a bombing in Pakistan. Sharifis making his first trip to China since his election.

Xi said he hopes that Pakistan will ensure the safety of Chinese personnel and projects, CCTV reported.

AP

Biden: Won’t pardon son if he’s convicted in gun trial

Washington: US Prez Biden said Thursday that he would not grant Hunter Biden a pardon if he was convicted in his felony gun trial, a rare comment from the president about the legal troubles facing his son. When asked during an interview with ABC News whether he would accept the outcome of the trial of his son, who faces charges including lying on an application to obtain a gun in Oct2018, Joe Biden said, “Yes.” In the wide-ranging interview, the president also defended his border policies and reiterated his support for a cease-fire proposal in the war in Gaza.

When the topic turned to former Prez Donald Trump and his recent felony conviction, Biden said his opponent needed to “stop undermining the rule of law.” Last week, a New York jury found Trump guilty of 34 counts of falsifying business records to cover up hush money paid to a porn actor, in an unlawful conspiracy to aid his 2016 presidential campaign. He has since repeated his criticism of the judge in the case and suggested he could seek to prosecute his political opponents if elected again.

NYT

Israel draws criticism after strike on UN school shelter

Military: Stopped A Ticking Bomb, Militants Were Planning Attacks

AID PIER RE-ESTABLISHED: The US military-built pier designed to carry badly needed aid into Gaza by boat has been reconnected to the beach in the besieged territory after a section broke apart in storms and rough seas. Supply of food and other essentials is expected to start soon

Facing international criticism of its conduct of the war and its latest strike on a UN school building being used as a shelter in Nuseirat, the Israeli military offered a full-throated defence of the operation, insisting its forces had targeted a group of about 30 militants using three classrooms as a base. A military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israel had carried out “a precise, intelligence-based strike” against “dozens of Hamas and Islamic Jihad terrorists hiding inside a UN school.” He said some of the militants had participated in the attacks against Israel on Oct. 7.

Hagari said the operation took place after “three days of surveillance” and was designed to destroy three specific classrooms in the school where the Israeli military believed roughly 30 militants were staying and planning operations. Israel twice delayed the strike because it had identified civilians in the area, he said. “The terrorists inside the school were planning more attacks against Israelis, some of them imminent,” he said. “We stopped a ticking time bomb.” Gazan officials say at least 40 people were killed in the strike, including women and children. To support its contention the strike was on a military target, Israel’s military released the names of nine killed in the attack that it said were associated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

The UN human rights office said the Israeli strike in Nuseirat “suggests a failure” by the military to “ensure strict compliance with international humanitarian law”. UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres described the strike as “horrific”, while Egypt’s foreign ministry condemned what he called the “deliberate bombing of an UNRWA school”.

John Kirby, the US national security council coordinator, said Israel “absolutely” has a right to target Hamas and that it is known that its fighters “shelter in civilian facilities”, but noted that this does not give Israel carte blanche. He said that the US is discussing the incident with Israel.

NYT & REUTERS

Houthis detain at least 9 UN staffers

At least nine Yemeni employees of UN agencies have been detained by Yemen’s Houthi rebels under unclear circumstances, authorities said Friday, as the rebels face increasing financial pressure and air strikes from a US-led coalition. Others working for aid groups also likely have been taken. The detentions come as the Houthis have been targeting shipping throughout the Red Sea corridor over the Israel-Hamas war in the Gaza Strip. Regional officials confirmed the UN detentions. Those held include staff from the UN human rights agency, its development programme, the World Food Program and one working for the office of its special envoy, the officials said. The wife of one of those held is also detained. The UN declined to immediately comment.

AP

Israel hits another UN school, 3 killed

Israel’s military struck what it says was a Hamas position inside a UN-run school in northern Gaza. Palestinian emergency officials said three people were killed. The attack on Friday came a day after an Israeli strike on a UN school in central Gaza killed at least 40 people, including women and children, according to local health officials. The Israeli military said in that case as well that Hamas militants were operating from within the school, which the UN said was sheltering displaced Palestinian families. Meanwhile, with a renewed ceasefire push in the eight-month-old Gaza war stalled, Israel also bombarded central and southern areas again on Friday, killing at least 28 Palestinians, and tank forces advanced to the western edges of Rafah.

AP & REUTERS

Israel says UN has added military to global list of offenders against children; ‘move shameful’

United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres has added Israel’s military to a global list of offenders who have committed violations against children, said Israel’s UN envoy Gilad Erdan, describing the decision as “shameful”. Erdan said he was officially notified of the decision on Friday. The global list is included in a report on children and armed conflict that is due to be submitted to the UN security council on June 14. Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said the decision would impact the country’s ties with the United Nations.

Erdan said he was notified by Guterres’ chief of staff and posted a video online of him responding to the decision during their phone call. “I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision,” said Erdan. Guterres spokesperson declined to comment.

Israeli PM Netanyahu said in a statement that the UN had “added itself to the black list of history when it joined those who support Hamas murderers.” Meanwhile, Palestinian prez’s Mahmoud Abbas spokesman said the UN’s move was “a step closer to holding Israel accountable for its crimes”.

Guterres’ annual report to the 15-member UNSC on children and armed conflict covers killing, maiming, sexual abuse, abduction or recruitment of children, denial of aid access and targeting of schools and hospitals. It was not clear what violations Israel’s military had been accused of.

REUTERS

Bird flu patient died of chronic disease, not virus: Mexico

Mexico City: A man who contracted bird flu in Mexico died due to chronic diseases and not the virus, Mexico’s health ministry said on Friday. Earlier this week, the WHO reported the first laboratory-confirmed human case of infection with A(H5N2) avian influenza in Mexico.

On Friday, a WHO spokesman described the man’s case as a “multifactorial death” and noted that experts were still investigating whether he was infected by someone or by contact with animals.

Mexico’s ministry stressed the 59-year-old’s death was due to chronic conditions that led to septic shock. “The man had chronic kidney disease, diabetes and arterial hypertension over past 14 years”, it said, adding that there is no proof of person-to-person transmission of the virus stemming from the case.

REUTERS

AROUND THE WORLD

Women in costumes pose in front of St Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow

Putin’s reported daughters make rare appearance at business summit

Vladimir Putin’s two alleged daughters both made rare public appearances this week at a flagship economic forum in the Russian prez’s home city of Saint Petersburg. Putin keeps details of his family life fiercely secret and has never publicly confirmed that the two women —Maria Vorontsova, 39, and Katerina Tikhonova, 37 — are his daughters. But the pair have been widely linked to Putin through various media reports and in 2022, the US treasury sanctioned both as “daughters of Russian Prez Putin”. Tikhonova, a technology executive who works in areas connected to the Russian military, spoke Thursday on a panel about the role of the defence sector in boosting “technological sovereignty”. Vorontsova, a biology researcher, spoke on a panel Friday. The two have taken on more public roles in recent years, including speaking roles at various events. But public appearances are still rare.

Giraffe’s nibble turns into airborne safari for toddler

A Texas family got a brief scare when a nibble from a giraffe turned a 2-year-old’s safari visit into an airborne adventure. Paisley Toten was in the bed of a pickup truck on June 1 when her family drove through the Fossil Rim Wildlife Centre, where visitors can see exotic animals such as zebras and giraffes, and feed some of them from their car. The family had stopped to feed a giraffe when it grabbed Paisley’s shirt with its mouth and lifted her several feet. Her mother shouted, prompting the giraffe to drop the toddler into her arms unhurt. A clip of the encounter went viral.

Katerina Tikhonova, one of Putin’s ‘daughters’, attends an economic meet via videolink

‘True story’ gone wrong? Woman who ‘inspired’ ‘Baby Reindeer’ role sues Netflix

In the show created by comedian Richard Gadd (R), a woman named Martha, played by Jessica Gunning (L), torments an aspiring comedian via emails & voicemail messages

A woman who says that a character in the Netflix drama “Baby Reindeer” was modelled after her sued the streaming company Thursday for defamation, claiming that the show, which is based on a true story, falsely suggested that she was a convicted stalker.

In a lawsuit filed in federal court in Los Angeles, lawyers for the woman, Fiona Harvey, said she had never been convicted of a crime and that she had not committed other offences that the series character does. She also claims that the show has destroyed her reputation.

In “Baby Reindeer”, which was created by comedian Richard Gadd, a woman named Martha, played by actress Jessica Gunning, torments an aspiring comedian named Donny Dunn (played by Gadd) through emails and voicemail messages. Harvey’s lawsuit calls particular attention to a statement that appears on-screen at the beginning of “Baby Reindeer”: “This is a true story.” That statement, the lawsuit claims, is “the biggest lie in television history.”

The suit, which makes claims of defamation, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence, asks at least $170 million in damages. The show’s credits include an additional statement: “This pro- gramme is based on real events: however certain characters, names, incidents, locations, and dialogue have been fictionalised for dramatic purposes.”

In a statement, Netflix said, “We intend to defend this matter vigorously and to stand by Richard Gadd’s right to tell his story.” Netflix officials and Gadd have said they sought to disguise the identity of the character known as Martha. But as Harvey describes in her lawsuit, it took just days for members of the public to scour the internet for clues and eventually identify her as the real-life Martha.

In the lawsuit, lawyers for Harvey say she has been “tormented” since being publicly outed online and “is fearful of leaving her home.” “Baby Reindeer” has been a surprising success for Netflix. In the first four weeks after the seven-episode series premiered, it was viewed over 56 million times.

But the series has also caused complications. A Netflix official was questioned about the streamer’s “duty of care” by a British lawmaker. Harvey has gone public with her complaints, airing them in an hourlong interview on YouTube with Pie- rs Morgan, during which she called the show a “work of fiction.” Viewers have also tried to figure out the real-life identities of other characters in the series. The lawsuit also points to a scene in which the Martha character sexually assaults Gadd’s character in a dark alley. “Harvey has never had any sexual encounter with Gadd,” it says.

Gadd has urged internet sleuths to stop digging into the inspirations for the show’s characters, saying: “Please don’t speculate on who any of the real life people could be. That’s not the point of the show.”

NYT

Times Sport

- CORNERED PAK MAY COME HARD AT INDIA

- Focus now on India: USA skipper Monank

- CANADA STUN IRELAND TO RECORD FIRST WIN

- Eng target improved bowling effort vs Oz

- ‘Too late to make major changes to NY pitch’

- CAPTAIN RICHIE GUIDES SCOTLAND TO EASY VICTORY OVER NAMIBIA

- Malad to Dallas: Netravalkar cracks the code

- SHOCKER: BOWLER THERON ACCUSES RAUF OF BALL TAMPERING

- Will Paolini Will Paolini realise her dream?realise her dream?

- ALCARAZ ACES IT

- Barca’s Cubarsi left out of Spain’s Euro 2024 squad

- Lanka complain to ICC over ‘different treatment’

- Norway Chess: Prag loses to Caruana

- GALLERY

TIMES IN THE US

CORNERED PAK MAY COME HARD AT INDIA

...But Rohit & Co. Have Experience Of Playing On Tricky NY Pitch

TIME FOR ANOTHER INSTANT CLASSIC! India’s Arshdeep Singh celebrates the wicket of Babar Azam of Pakistan during the T20 World Cup match in Melbourne on Oct 23, 2022. India went on to win the thriller by four wickets

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesgroup.com

New York: The hotels in the Nassau County area in Long Island are filling up fast. The local authorities have organized a watch-party for all those who have not got tickets for the India-Pakistan clash in a sprawling park not too far away from the centre of action. There could be about 6,000 in there, in addition to the 35,000 at the ground --not a single ticket being left unsold.

Predictably, the Indian fans are likely to outnumber their Pakistan counterparts. And now that Pakistan have been beaten by United States of America, there’s a sense of celebration among the Indian fans --the arch-rivals should be easy meat.

But there’s a little catch. The US win might just have thrown a virtually ‘two-team group’ completely open. Imagine a situation where Babar Azam’s boys happen to beat India on a lottery of a pitch at Nassau County Ground and then go on to beat Canada and Ireland in their last two matches. In that case, India will be in a must-win situation against a high-on-confidence USA and Canada. And even if Rohit & Co. finish the job, it can come down to Net Run Rate, if the hosts go past Ireland too and leave three teams on three wins each.

When the tournament started, no one expected such a situation --the Indo-Pak game being nothing more than a prestige fight without too much consequence on the final outcome of the group, other than probably the top-two placings.

While Rohit’s boys have to be careful, the situation is way graver for Pakistan. They are in an absolutely must-win situation against an opposition that has had the better of them in recent times.

In addition to that, Pakistan don’t have experience of playing in New York, where India have been camped for the last couple of weeks and have already played two games. The pitch here is truly difficult to bat on and ICC has already acknowledged that it isn’t the best for T20 cricket. What’s worrying is the up and down nature of the track and even though the world body has promised to work on it ahead of the big-ticket clash, one wonders if it’s case of too little too late.

As we have seen till now, the toss can become extremely crucial on this pitch. Due to the 10.30 am starts, the white ball tends to do a lot more in the first session and that can just make the Pakistan pace quartet of Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Amir, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah a little more dangerous than they actually are.

All four failed to rise to the occasion against USA, while spinner Shadab Khan struggled to take wickets in the middle-overs, which allowed US to go for a final assault.

“We are better than that in the bowling and we know that. We did not take wickets in the first six overs and in the middle overs, if your spinner is not taking wickets, then the pressure is on you,” captain Babar said after the loss to USA, taking a dig at five of his bowlers.

He was particularly upset with Rauf on the field when the experi- enced pacer tried bowling a yorker in the last ball with the mid-off up and ended up bowling a low full-toss, which was sent to the fence by Nitish Kumar to force a Super Over.

But on slightly helpful conditions, this same group of bowlers has the habit and the ability of coming back from the dead. For starters, they have the pace that can trouble the much-vaunted Indian batting line-up, if they are to hit the right lengths. It’s on India to keep the cornered tigers secluded in the corner so that they can breathe slightly easy going into the last two games of their United States leg.

Focus now on India: USA skipper Monank

MONANK PATEL

Dallas: United States skipper Monank Patel is certain that their epochal T20 World Cup win over Pakistan will open “many doors” for them, but wants to keep emotions in check and focus on the next assignment against India.

“I am happy with the win, playing against Pakistan for the first time in the World Cup and beating them was an unbelievable performance. Our focus would be on playing against India now,” Patel said in the post-match press meet.

“But we don’t want to keep our emotion too high or low. We’ll make sure that we’ll enjoy it (the win) and make sure that next day we come fresh,” he added.

Patel, who made a crucial 50, asserted that the victory for the Asian giants would have far-reaching ramifications for USA cricket as a whole. “Beating Pakistan in World Cup is going to open many doors for us. The World Cup itself (hosting) is a big achievement, and then performing here as a team, it helps us to grow the cricket in USA.

“I would say it’s a big day for Team USA and I would say not just for USA, for the USA cricket community too,” said Patel.

But they are not yet ready to think of a Super Eight entry, despite topping Group A with four points after wins over Canada and Pakistan. “We are not worried about what people are saying (that their wins are fluke). We know what we have worked and what capability we have. We don’t even want to think about the Ireland (match) right now. So, Super Eight is far ahead. We just focus on the particular game,” he explained.

PTI

CANADA STUN IRELAND TO RECORD FIRST WIN

New York: Canada overcame a late fightback by the more-fancied Ireland to win their first match in the T20 World Cup here on Friday.

After Nicholas Kirton rescued Canada from a collapse, the non-Test nation were restricted to a total of 137-7. But despite a fighting partnership of 62 for the 6th wicket between George Dockrell and Mark Adair, who joined hands when the score was 59/6, Ireland could manage to make 125/7 only.

With the win, Canada moved to the third place in the table with two points, behind second-placed India.

Earlier, Canada were struggling at 53-4 inside nine overs after losing the toss.

None of the dismissals, however, could be blamed on a controversial pitch that had been widely criticised for uneven bounce in two previous games at the specially-built venue. But a partnership of 75 in 10 overs between Barbados-born left-hander Kirton, who made 49 off 35 balls, and Shreyas Movva (37) took Canada to 128-5.

Brief scores: Canada 137/7 (N Kirton 49) beat Ireland 125/7 (G Dockrell 30*, M Adair 34).

PREVIEWS

Eng target improved bowling effort vs Oz

Bridgetown (Barbados): Defending champions England will look to restitch their T20 World Cup campaign through an improved bowling effort when they face Australia in a Group B match here on Saturday. England’s opening game against Scotland was rained off after the latter made 90 for no loss in 10 overs, forcing the teams to take home a point each.

But even those 60 balls showed the need for England to buckle up in the bowling department, to begin with.

Scottish openers George Munsey and Michael Jones scored freely against all England bowlers, and Australia carry far more lethal guns in their line-up.

David Warner and Marcus Stoinis showed the extent of damage they can do while outclassing Oman in their tournament opener.

Once again, there will be a lot of focus on Jofra Archer, who gave away 12 runs in two overs against Scotland, as the pacer continues his comeback trail into top-flight cricket.

But bowling is just one part, as the English batters under skipper Jos Buttler, who had a good run in the IPL 2024, will have to fire in unison against the Aussie attack.

The Australian bowlers were potent against Oman even without Pat Cummins, who had a reasonable outing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the IPL. Nathan Ellis played ahead of Cummins in that game, but Australia might bring back the premier pacer against a much more formidable opponent.

While Australia’s batting looks settled, the misfiring Glenn Maxwell remains a missing link. After enduring a shipwreck of an IPL campaign with Royal Challengers Bengaluru recently, the ‘Big Show’ got out for a first-ball duck against Oman.

The 2021 champions will be eager to see Maxwell return to his best at the earliest, and a match against England offers him a perfect occasion.

SA face courageous Dutch

South Africa might have trotted past Sri Lanka in their first match, but they have a tricky opponent in Netherlands in their second group D match in New York on Saturday. The scars from their 38-run loss against the Dutch in last year’s 50-over World Cup might still be fresh in the minds of the Proteas.

The Aiden Markram-led side would certainly want a reversal this time around. The most encouraging signal from their win over Sri Lanka was the form of Anrich Nortje. Along with Kagiso Rabada, Nortje forms a strong combination upfront, and SA will require them in full flight against Netherlands, who started with a six-wicket win over Nepal.

SL-Bangladesh renew rivalry

In Dallas, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh will renew their rivalry in a bid to improve their chances to reach the Super Eights. Group D or the ‘Group of Death’ features three full members — South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh — the Netherlands, who are capable of pulling of upset wins besides Nepal.

Sri Lanka will have to bounce back from their crushing defeat to South Africa in their opener. Their batters will be expected to show better shot selection and greater match awareness. Bangladesh have struggled in the shortest format this year. They have had series losses against Sri Lanka and USA. PTI

‘Too late to make major changes to NY pitch’

Navjot Singh Sidhu Says Playing Surface Should Have Been Ready Two Months Earlier

Nicholas Kirton of Canada is struck by a ball during the match against Ireland in New York on Friday

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesgroup.com

New York: It wasn’t a game that everyone was waiting for, but suddenly there were a few inquisitive eyes focused on the Ireland-Canada action at the Nassau International County Ground on Friday.

The reason was obviously the pitch that has been the centre of attention at the venue, which will host the crucial India-Pakistan game on Sunday. Canada managed 137-7 in 20 overs, the highest at the venue so far, but that didn’t mean much.

The ICC said in a statement on Thursday that they were working on the pitch, but the amount of purchase that Irish pacers Mark Adair and Josh Little extracted during the Powerplay showed that there won’t be much relief for India and Pakistan’s top-order batters.

Former India opener Navjot Singh Sidhu feels that there are undulations on the pitch that cannot be dealt with in such a short time.

“It is a new pitch, it takes times to settle down. If this pitch was ready two months before, it could have been a different case. But here, the ball is hitting the undulations and are going either up or down. It is too late to make any significant change to the nature of the pitch,” Sidhu said during a programme hosted by Star Sports at the venue.

Batters have to cope, it’s a different kind of entertainment: Bhajji

But former India spinner Harbhajan Singh, another panelist, felt that the pitch is just more bowler friendly and there is no reason to panic about the surface. “There are Test matches in India which finish in two-and-a-half days, so why this hue and cry? It’s true that the pitch is difficult and it will need a lot of adjustment on the part of the batters, but that’s fine. It is a different type of entertainment,” Bhajji said.

Pakistan’s defeat to USA is another talking point going into this high-profile clash and Sidhu feels “it is the ignominy of the defeat” that is going to hurt them.

“It is Pakistan’s batting that is truly hurting them. Even if you see the USA game, the bowlers brought them back. But the batting is just not happening, they are like a bird without a wing,” the former opener added.

But both Harbhajan and Sidhu feel that Pakistan have the wherewithal to fight back, especially if they win the toss. “Yes, the toss is extremely crucial, if they win that on this pitch, it might not be one- way traffic,” Sidhu said.

Call for resumption of Indo-Pak ties

Whenever there’s an India-Pakistan game happens, the obvious question that crops us is whether the two nations should start playing bilateral cricket. While Sidhu insisted that they should, saying that “sport is a unifier”, Harbhajan said that it is not necessary for India to always go to Pakistan and play them. “If playing in Pakistan is a problem, we should find ways to play series around the world. The fans want it and it should happen,” Bhajji said.

CAPTAIN RICHIE GUIDES SCOTLAND TO EASY VICTORY OVER NAMIBIA

Bridgetown: Scotland moved atop Group B with a five-wicket win over Namibia in the T20 World Cup n Friday. Namibia posted 155-9 and Scotland reached the winning total with nine balls remaining.

Captain Richie Berrington made an unbeaten 47 from 35 balls and shared a 74-run fifth-wicket partnership with Michael Leask (35 from 17) which steered Scotland to their first win over Namibia in four T20 Internationals.

Scotland took a point from their opening match against England, which was rained out, and now sit atop Group B with three points.

Captain Gerhard Erasmus made 52 from 30 balls and put on 51 for the fifth wicket with Zane Green (28) as Namibia made a 155-9 after choosing to bat. Erasmus then took 2-14 to leave Scotland 69-3 at the midpoint of their innings. But Berrington and Leask guided Scotland to victory. AP

Brief scores: Scotland 157/5 in 18.3 overs (R Berrington 47*, M Leask 35) beat Namibia 155/9 (G Erasmus 52; B Wheal 3-33).

Malad to Dallas: Netravalkar cracks the code

USA’s Super-Over Hero Against Pak Is An IT Professional Who Once Played For India U-19 And Mumbai

BIG FEAT: USA’s Saurabh Netravalkar (left) celebrates after their win on Thursday

Gaurav.Gupta@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: It was well past midnight on Thursday. The ninthfloor residence of the Netravalkars in Malad was a beehive of excitement. Normally, such noise would invite the neighbours’ wrath at this hour.

However, in this case, the neighbours and friends of the Netravalkars had come to greet Naresh Netravalkar and his daughter Nidhi. Naresh’s son Saurabh, a seasoned left-arm pacer, had played a heroic role, taking 2/18 in four overs while holding his nerve in the Super Over — conceding 13 when Pakistan needed 19 — to help US stun Pakistan by five runs in a T20 World Cup match in Dallas. Saurabh’s mother Rama and wife Snigdha were at the stadium, cheering for their hero.

“The vibe in our house was something else. We were more stressed than him when he was bowling the Super Over. This is not just a win for Saurabh, but for everyone involved in his journey,” Nidhi told TOI.

“I’m very proud of Saurabh today. He has managed to pursue his passion. He had been performing in cricket for a while, but this is the first time he has come into the limelight,” dad Naresh said. “The fact that he’s so well-educated makes a difference to his cricket too,” Naresh, a businessman, said.

Based in San Fransisco, Saurabh is a computer engineer by profession and works in IT firm Oracle as principal member of the technical staff. “He was a brilliant student, scoring above 90% in 10th and 12th,” Naresh said.

Along with playing cricket for Payyade SC for seven years as a youngster in Mumbai, Saurabh also played for Air India and BPCL on scholarship. At the same time, he completed his BE in computer engineering from the Sardar Patel Institute of Technology (SPIT) in Andheri.

Payyade SC owner PV Shetty specifies what makes Netravalkar a perfect role model. “He knew how to balance academics and cricket. The problem with most of today’s budding cricketers is that they want to quit studies and focus totally on cricket.”

Says sister Nidhi, “My brother’s cricket journey started with mom seeing an ad of Elf Vengsarkar Cricket Academy’s free training selection in the newspaper and he hasn’t looked back since.”

In 2010, Netravalkar was picked for India U-19 for the World Cup in New Zealand. Led by Ashok Menaria, that team had pacers Jaydev Unadkat, Harshal Patel and Sandeep Sharma who all went on to play for India. In six matches, he took nine wickets @ 17.22, but India crashed out after losing to Pakistan in the quarterfinals.

Kolkata Knight Riders and Madhya Pradesh head coach Chandrakant Pandit, who was the coach of that team, says, “He was a simple boy, a sincere and studious cricketer who was doing his job nicely. Saurabh reminded me of someone like Paras Mhambrey (ex-India pacer and India’s bowling coach). He didn’t have pace, but he could move the ball around and stick to a decent line. He bowled well for us in that World Cup.”

During that event itself, Netravalkar shared his ‘academic dreams’ with Pandit. “He told me ‘Sir, I’m more interested in studies,’” Pandit recalled.

Gushing about Netravalkar’s game-changing spell against Pakistan, Pandit said, “The creditable thing is that after so many years, he has maintained the standard of his bowling, which reflects the hard work he has put in. We must remember that he didn’t go to a cricketing country, which means that he wasn’t playing tournaments or even training regularly.”

It was the lack of opportunity to play for Mumbai that prompted Netravalkar to fly to the US for further studies. “Even though he made his Ranji Trophy debut for Mumbai — in Feb 2014 vs Baroda in Rajkot — and played quite a few List ‘A’ and T20 matches for Mumbai, he could not get a regular spot which left him disillusioned.

“We had decided that after his graduation, he will give two years to cricket, and he will pursue the sport only if he’s able to make it to the highest level. Otherwise, he’ll move to the US for further studies,’” Naresh said.

In 2015, Netravalkar moved to the US, when he got admission to pursue master’s in computer science at Cornell University, which is amongst the top five universities in the world and is part of the prestigious Ivy League. In 2016, he got a job with Oracle. “At that point, he started playing club cricket, as a leisurely activity. One day, he went to bowl in the US cricket team’s nets. There, they realised that he has played for the India Under-19 side. He was immediately selected for the US cricket team,” recalled Naresh.

That faith was repaid on Thursday.

SHOCKER: BOWLER THERON ACCUSES RAUF OF BALL TAMPERING

HARIS RAUF

Dallas: USA bowler Rusty Theron has accused Pakistan pacer Haris Rauf of ball tampering during the T20 World Cup match between the two sides. Theron, who is not part of the USA squad, alleged that Rauf was running his thumbnails over the ball, which was two overs old, and hence it was reversing.

The 38-year-old seamer, who used to play for South Africa before, also slammed the ICC for turning a blind eye to the alleged incident.

“@ICC are we just going to pretend Pakistan aren’t scratching the hell out of this freshly changed ball? Reversing the ball that’s just been changed 2 overs ago? You can literally see Harris Rauf running his thumb nail over the ball at the top of his mark. @usacricket #PakvsUSA,” Theron wrote on ‘X’. PTI

Will Paolini Will Paolini realise her dream?realise her dream?

Italian Faces Queen Of Clay Swiatek In Title Clash

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Paris: Jasmine Paolini is living her dream, a step at a time.

The 28-year-old Italian, who rose to a career-high No.12 in the WTA ranking last month, after steadily climbing from a year-end No. 93 in 2020 to 44 in 2022. Paolini started the 2024 season as the world No.29. Whatever happens in the Roland Garros final on Saturday, where the Italian takes on the queen of clay Iga Swiatek, Paolini will have a top-10 ranking come Monday. Paolini, 5 ft 4’, whose play pivots off a solidity resulting from the hard yards run over time, never made the second week of a major, until Australia in January.

The world No.15, from Castelnuovo di Garfagnana, a bustling town in central Italy, has watched her share of Grand Slam finals growing up, but never quite imagined herself on Court Philippe Chatrier, playing for the title.

“When I started to play tennis, I was not dreaming too much, I was just enjoying playing tennis,” Paolini said. “Then when I started to train to be a professional tennis player, I was dreaming to become a professional. I never dreamed to be No. 1, Grand Slam champion… Never dreamed so big.”

“Step by step, I started to believe,” the 28-year-old said. “Step by step, I started to dream.”

“For me it’s surprising to see interviews from Nole (Djokovic) when he was a kid, saying that he wanted to be World No. 1, it’s unbelievable to see Jannik (Sinner), when he was 15 years old, say that his dream was to be No. 1. It’s unbelievable that you can dream (that big) as a child. I didn’t dream of it when I was a child. For me it’s different,” Paolini said, shaking her head and beaming a smile. “I never dreamed to be in a Grand Slam final, but I’m here. I’m a different kind of person, I think.”

Paolini has been busy on rest days too, making the doubles final with compatriot Sara Errani.

Paolini has Polish roots, and even speaks the language. Against the topseeded Pole, going for a fourth Roland Garros title, the only language she can employ is consistency.

“Iga is an unbelievable player. So young, but so many achievements and Grand Slams,” Paolini said. “She’s doing well week by week, and that’s not easy. I have huge respect for her, my goal is to step on the court and try to enjoy the match, the moment.”

PAOLINI & SWIATEK

ALCARAZ ACES IT

Spaniard Downs No. 2 Sinner In Five Sets To Make Maiden Roland Garros Final

TIMES IN PARIS

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Paris: Carlos Alcaraz pounded a forehand into the red clay to break Jannik Sinner’s defence in the second game of the fifth set. The 21-year-old then celebrated with a fist pump and a shout of ‘vamos’ that vibrated across the arena. The boy they call Carlitos was almost home.

Alcaraz, the owner of a sparkling win-loss record in fivesetters 9-1, coming into his Roland Garros semifinal, did well to push the match into the decider, which is increasingly looking like his backyard. Alcaraz — who was creating points, pushing the pace in the fifth set, unlike the secondseeded Sinner — powered into his first French Open final with a 2-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 result in 4-hours and 9-minutes.

Alcaraz threw his arms in the air, letting out a victory cry after Sinner sent a ball wide on match point. Alcaraz, playing in bright yellow shorts and a dull grey tee, has now made a major final in all three surfaces – hardcourt, grass and clay. “You have to find a way to enjoy when you are suffering, (suffering) is even more on clay, in Roland Garros,” Alcaraz said. “You play long rallies, five sets, you have to fight. As I told my team many times, you have to enjoy suffering.”

Alcaraz was quick to compliment Sinner following the semifinal that had championship match vibes. “The toughest matches I have played in my career are against Jannik. I hope to play many, many more matches like this against him. I learnt from last years’ match against Djokovic, in these moments, you have to keep calm, stay there fighting,” he said. “I’m really happy about everything I did today, waiting for the moment.”

Sinner, 22, who will rise to No.1 in the rankings on Monday, led by a set and break in the second, and again by two-sets- to-one but like in their only meeting this year, in the semifinals of Indian Wells, the Spaniard produced champagne tennis to rally after the Italian had wrested early advantage. The start of this much-awaited semifinal – a clash of contrasts, style and personalities — had full pendulum swings in momentum. First it was Sinner, who broke the Spaniard thrice in the opening set, then Alcaraz, who used his kick serve judiciously in the second, rallied from 0-2 down. Alcaraz won five straight games.

The Italian, trying to stay in it, was broken early in the third set, dragged down by cramps which affected his hands and then hamstrings. He received treatment at the changeover. Fortunately for Sinner, his opponent’s returns were shorter than a blink, giving him space to take control of the set.

There was an incident in the stands in the fourth set with the score at 4-4 (40-15). Sinner and Alcaraz offered suggestions on how they could help the elderly spectator, who needed medical attention. The break may have affected Sinner more than Alcaraz as momentum was with the Italian at that point.

FIERY FOREHAND: Carlos Alcaraz celebrates a winner against Jannik Sinner

Barca’s Cubarsi left out of Spain’s Euro 2024 squad

Madrid: Spain manager Luis de la Fuenteleft Barcelona’s 17-year-old defender Pau Cubarsi and midfielders Marcos Llorente and Aleix Garcia out of his 26-man squad for the European Championship on Friday.

Cubarsi’s consistency and ability to play the ball out from the back made him one of the breakout players in La Liga this season. Yet that was not enough to earn him a spot as De la Fuente decided to stick with a more seasoned group of centre backs in Robin Le Normand, Nacho Fernandez, Aymeric Laporte and Dani Vivian.

Former Manchester City defender Laporte, 30, has been one of the biggest question marks surrounding De la Fuente’s squad since he fell out of favour with City manager Pep Guardiola and moved to Saudi Arabia’s AlNassr last year.

REUTERS

Spain Euro 2024 squad

Goalkeepers: Unai Simon (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Remiro (Real Sociedad), David Raya (Arsenal); Defenders: Dani Carvajal (Real Madrid), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Aymeric Laporte (AlNassr), Nacho Fernandez (Real Madrid), Robin Le Normand (Real Sociedad), Dani Vivian (Athletic Bilbao), Alex Grimaldo (Bayer Leverkusen), Marc Cucurella (Chelsea); Midfielders: Rodrigo (Manchester City), Martin Zubimendi (Real Sociedad), Fabian Ruiz (Paris St Germain), Mikel Merino (Real Sociedad), Pedri (Barcelona), Alex Baena (Villarreal), Fermin Lopez (Barcelona); Forwards: Alvaro Morata (Atletico Madrid), Joselu (Real Madrid), Dani Olmo (RB Leipzig), Nico Williams (Athletic Bilbao), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Ayoze Perez (Real Betis), Ferran Torres (Barcelona), Lamine Yamal (Barcelona).

Lanka complain to ICC over ‘different treatment’

Colombo: Sri Lanka said on Friday that they have complained to the International Cricket Council over their T20 World Cup team’s treatment and conditions in cohost the United States.

The sports minister Harin Fernando alleged other teams had it better and said Sri Lanka had lodged a formal protest after the squad was held up by a seven-hour flight delay at a Florida airport.

He said Sri Lanka had also been given accommodation more than 90 minutes’ drive from the practice stadium when they reached New Yo rk. He said India’s team had been put up much closer. Sri Lanka lost to South Africa by 6 wickets in their opening match on Monday in New York. “Sri Lanka Cricket has complained to the ICC,” Fernando told parliament. “Different countries are being treated differently. We have called for an explanation from the organisers of the tournament.”

Sri Lanka’s sports ministry has dispatched an officer to the United States to look into the welfare of the team, Fernando added.

AFP has contacted the ICC for comment.

Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa said Sri Lanka’s parliament was united in its upset over the supposed conditions. “We stand against this injustice, we should not allow this,” he said. Angelo Mathews, a former skipper and current member of squad, told local broadcaster Ada Derana TV the past few days had been “most challenging”.

“Practice facilities are not good. Wickets are not good. Last four to five days have been very challenging for us,” he said. “We had to can

cel practices because a flight was delayed. We are not going to use this as an excuse, we are a team that has won despite obstacles. We want to put all this behind us and do well at the next match.”

AGENCIES

Norway Chess: Prag loses to Caruana

Stavanger (Norway): Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa went down fighting against Fabiano Caruana of United States, while world number one Magnus Carlsen inflicted an Armaggeddon defeat on France’s Firouzja Alireza in the penultimate round of Norway Chess tournament here.

With 16 points in his bag, Carlsen stretched his lead to 1.5 points over nearest rival Hikaru Nakamura, who was in for a shock as World Champion Ding Liren, for once, did not blow his position away.

Praggnanandhaa, despite the loss against Caruana in Armageddon, is still third on 13 points, a full point ahead of Alireza. Caruana on 10.5 comes in next in standings ahead of Liren (6), who spoiled Nakamura’s party.

In women’s section, R Vaishali succumbed to another loss at the hands of Tingjie Lei of China and was relegated to fourth spot while Koneru Humpy went down to leader Wenju Ju of China.

Wenjun Ju of China strengthened her claim for the title by moving to 16 points. Tingjie Lei and Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine follow her 1.5 points behind, while Vaishali on 11.5 is a distant fourth ahead of Humpy who is on 9 points. Veteran Swede Pia Cramling is last with 6.5 points in her kitty.

PTI

GALLERY

Lakshya Sen bows out of Indonesia Open

Jakarta: India’s challenge ended at the Indonesia Open Super 1000 badminton tournament with Lakshya Sen bowing out in the quarterfinals of the men’s singles event here on Friday. Sen, ranked 14th in the world, fought hard before going down 22-24, 18-21 against world no.5 Anders Antonsen of Denmark in a match that lasted one hour and one minute. Antonsen now enjoys a 3-2 head-to-head record against the Indian.

Chelsea sign defender Adarabioyo: Chelsea signed centre back Tosin Adarabioyo from fellow west London club Fulham on a free transfer, the Premier League side announced on Friday. The 26-year-old, who will join the Stamford Bridge side on a four-year contract beginning July 1, has made one appearance for the England U-19s and has played 78 times in the Premier League.

Zverev settles abuse case brought by ex-girlfriend: Alexander Zverev has agreed a settlement after the mother of his child accused him of physical abuse and a German court closed the case on Friday, the French Open semifinalist’s lawyers said. The agreement, according to German media, includes a monetary condition of 200,000 euros ($217,820), with the player not found guilty of any wrongdoing.

Nagal enters semifinal: Sumit Nagal cruised to the semifinal of the ATP 100 Challenger event, winning his quarterfinal match against Russia’s Ivan Gakhov 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in 82 minutes. Nagal, currently placed 95th in the world, would like to earn as many ranking points possible to give himself the chance of qualifying for the singles event at the Paris Olympics.

ACTION TODAY

BADMINTON: Indonesia Open, 10.30 am (Jiocinema);

CRICKET: ICC T20 WC, SL vs Bangladesh, 6 am; Ned vs SA, 8 pm; Aus vs Eng, 10 pm (Star Sports);

FOOTBALL: La Liga, playoffs, 10 pm (Jiocinema);

HOCKEY: FIH Pro League, Germany vs India (women), 2.30 pm; Germany vs India (men) 10 pm (Jiocinema);

TENNIS: French Open, women’s final, 6.30 pm; men’s doubles final 9.30 pm (Sony Sports)

Delhi Times

- It’s time for people to see my other talents: Sumona

- Don’t treat me like a divine entity, says Rishab Shetty

- ‘NO JUSTIFICATION FOR PHYSICAL ASSAULT, WHATEVER THE VIEWS’

- My connection with the ocean is very spiritual: Parineeti

- MEET SAURABH NETRAVALKAR, THE US CRICKETER WITH MUMBAI ROOTS

- Chhetri bows out

- ‘People get into diving as a vacation activity, for me it’s a discipline’

- WHAT'S HOT

- Celebrities mentor Fresh Face finalists for the grand finale

- DID YOU KNOW?

- Miley Cyrus says she trains in heels – but you shouldn’t

- Froyo bites, kala khatta: Try all things jamun this summer

- New streaming platform lets users create AI episodes

- Second Japan town to block view of Mt Fuji, is building anti-tourist fence

- ‘A remarkable career’ Chhetri bows out

- Meet Saurabh Netravalkar, the American cricketer with roots in Mumbai

- WHO BEAT PAK? IT WAS US, SAY INDIANS!

- Get dashcams, CCTVs now: Raveena Tandon after incident involving driver

- Nobody believed in Manthan when we made it: Benegal at ﬁlm’s screening

- A ceremony to honour science olympiad winners in the capital

- I’m happy, says Carrie Moss on leaving H-wood after 30 years

- Mirchi Mumbai goes live from Navy warship

It’s time for people to see my other talents: Sumona

Many know me only from Bade Achhe Lagte Hain or Comedy Nights with Kapil. It has been a bit of a speed bump, but I am telling people that I have a body of work and am eager to take up different characters

Sumona Chakravarti; (inset) on Kapil Sharma’s show

Neha Maheshwri

Sumona Chakravarti values her privacy and prefers to keep the focus on her work rather than her personal life. She explains, “Hamesha available ho jaao toh mystery khatam ho jaati hai. I am quite old-school in that regard. Pehle zamaane mein mystery rehti thi, jab social media nahi tha. I believe in maintaining that sense of mystery, and so I prefer the era before social media.”

Sumona is currently shooting for the 14th season of the stunt-based reality show Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi in Romania. She says, “I have taken it on as a challenge. Being an adventure and adrenaline junkie, I felt the urge to reignite that passion.”

The actress, who has been part of several TV shows such as Kasamh Se, Kasturi, Khotey Sikkey, Bade Achhe Lagte Hain, and Jamai Raja, is today more known as Kapil Sharma’s wife Manju from his comedy show. Often, a popular role can overshadow an artiste’s other work. Does she feel the same way? “Yes, it has been overshadowed because many know me only from Bade Achhe Lagte Hain or as Manju from Comedy Nights with Kapil. It has been a bit of a speed bump, but I am also repositioning myself by telling people that I have a body of work and am eager to take up different characters,” she replies.

Since Manju has been a much-loved character, was she disappointed when she wasn’t called to join the cast of the OTT version of Kapil’s show? “Not at all. After wrapping up the season on TV last July, I got busy networking and auditioning. When I found out about the show, it didn’t matter because koi khoon ka rishta thodi hai ki hum kahiin aur zindagi mein kaam nahi karenge kisi aur ke saath, aur yahin karenge. Honestly, I am on a different journey and in a different mindset. That’s a very talented group of people, and I think it’s time for people to see my other talents,” she concludes.

Don’t treat me like a divine entity, says Rishab Shetty

A team of 600 people have been working nonstop for four months in my hometown to put up sets for Kantara Chapter 1. I’ve not had rest, but I have no complaints!

Rishab Shetty; (inset ) a still from Kantara

Madhu Daithota

You know one has done a good job with their role when people find it hard to differentiate the art from the artiste. Rishab Shetty, who played the role of a daiva in Kantara, says that the attention he gets when he steps into a public space, is beyond measure. “I really don’t know how to react to all this. It’s been close to two years since Kantara was released,” says Rishab. The actor has just wrapped up a schedule of his upcoming flick Kantara Chapter 1 in his hometown, Kundapura.

‘I AM NOT A DIVINE ENTITY, IT WAS A ROLE I PLAYED FOR A FILM’

Rishab says, “At events, so many people come and fall at my feet and treat me with so much reverence. I feel at a loss for words when such things happen.I’m not some divine entity; I am just an actor. What you saw in Kantara, was the character I played. That person is not me. I owe it to the daivas and people for showering me with love. But treat me like an artiste. Let the reverence be for the gods!”

‘The animation studio that worked on Chronicles of Narnia is also working on our upcoming film’

“Considering the kind of expectations audiences have from Kantara Chapter 1, we decided that they must have a fully loaded visual treat. So in portions that VFX is required, we wanted to enlist the best, so the studio that worked on films like Lion King and The Chronicles Of Narnia are on board and the work has been split up and going on briskly across the world including the US, UK and Bengaluru,” shares Rishab.

‘NO JUSTIFICATION FOR PHYSICAL ASSAULT, WHATEVER THE VIEWS’

She hit me in the face and started abusing me. I asked her why she did it and she said she supports the farmer protests

Kangana Ranaut issued a video statement after the incident

Actor and BJP MP-elect Kangana Ranaut said she was hit in the face and abused by a woman CISF constable during security check at the Chandigarh airport on Thursday. This was two days after she won from the Mandi Lok Sabha seat in Himachal Pradesh.

Kangana said the constable, Kulwinder Kaur, came towards her from the side. “She hit me in the face and started abusing me. I asked her why she did it and she said she supports the farmer protests.” A video doing the rounds of social media showed an agitated Kaur talking to people presumably after the incident. “Kangana made a statement that farmers were protesting in Delhi because they were paid. At the time, my mother was one of the protesters,” she said.

The constable was suspended and an FIR lodged against her, officials said. The CISF, tasked with providing security at airports, has also ordered a court of inquiry into the incident. Kaur has had no vigilance inquiry or punishment against her in the force till now, officials said.

Leader of the opposition and former Himachal Pradesh chief minister Jai Ram Thakur and State Public Works Minister Vikramaditya Singh, who lost to Ranaut in the elections, termed incident very unfortunate and condemned it. PTI

My connection with the ocean is very spiritual: Parineeti

Damage to oceans our oceans and don’t keep our beaches clean, then, death of the oceans will lead to the death of earth

Parineeti achieved the title of a master scuba diver last year

Onkar Kulkarni

The last 10 years have reinstated my love for the ocean,” says Parineeti Chopra, who’s been training for scuba diving for a decade and is now a Master Scuba Diver. Before this, just like everyone else, Parineeti looked at the sea “as a visual, but didn’t understand how important the oceans are for human survival.”

On the occasion of World Oceans Day today, the actress talks about her love for the underwater world, how she’s a part of clean-up drives and the beautiful coastline of India which needs to be protected.

CONTINUED ON 2

Parineeti Chopra

MEET SAURABH NETRAVALKAR, THE US CRICKETER WITH MUMBAI ROOTS

The US cricketer has been the talk of the town since his Super Over bowling handed Pakistan a shocking loss in the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup. Interestingly, Saurabh’s LinkedIn profile has also had a lot of visits as it’s unheard of that a professional cricketer would have one!

P10

Chhetri bows out

On Thursday evening, Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata resounded with the swan song, ‘Chhetreee, Chhetri!’, as fans bid an emotional adieu to the Indian football team captain, Sunil Chhetri. Celebrities across the country also saluted the outgoing skipper

P10

‘People get into diving as a vacation activity, for me it’s a discipline’

I prefer doing liveaboard diving instead of land-based diving. My connect with the ocean then becomes very spiritual. It feels like a spiritual vacation as you are cut off from the rest of the world

PARINEETI CHOPRA

CONTINUED FROM 1

Talking about how she was mesmerised by the oceans and took to scuba diving, Parineeti shares, “I was on the sets of Kill Dil in 2014, where I was shooting an underwater sequence with Ranveer (Singh). They were shooting from the bottom of the pool. That’s when I was mesmerised and enrolled for a scuba diving class in Mumbai. Over the years, I became an advanced diver, then became a rescue diver. Now, I am a Master Scuba Diver. People get into diving as a vacation activity, for me it’s a discipline.”

‘I LOVE EXPERIENCING NATURE ON A MEDITATIVE LEVEL’

Parineeti says that shares a deep connect with the oceans. “I prefer doing liveaboard diving instead of land-based diving. For 10 days, you are stationed far into the ocean. This type of diving allows you to go to locations that are untouched. My connect with the ocean then becomes very spiritual. It feels like a spiritual vacation as you are cut off from the rest of the world. I love experiencing nature on a meditative level and scuba diving allows me to go into that next level of meditative trance. It is a very cerebral experience that gives me happiness on a deep level,” she explains.

‘EXTENSIVE MEASURES NEED TO BE TAKEN TO SAVE THE OCEANS’

The actress, who’s gone diving in oceans across the world, says the underwater scenery is changing rapidly and that’s alarming. “Extensive measures need to be taken to save the oceans. Industrialisation and climate change is causing this. I have sometimes gone back to the same dive spot and seen the change. There is coral bleaching everywhere, marine life is getting impacted and the Great Barrier Reef is changing with time,” she says.

Parineeti’s fave diving sites

The actress shares, “Palau in Micronesia has a lot of shipwrecks underwater from World War II. Sipadan in Malaysia is also very beautiful. Australia is stunning and closer to home. I also love Lakshadweep.”

‘I would love Raghav to go scuba diving with me’

Unlike Parineeti, her husband, politician Raghav Chadha isn’t into diving. She says, “Not all battles can be won. This battle is ongoing (laughs). It’s definitely on my priority list. I would love for him to go scuba diving with me and yes, koshish jaari hai.”

‘The oceans are considered a garbage dump in many parts of the world’

Wanting to do her bit to save the oceans, the Hasee Toh Phasee actress says, “There is a small group of people that is trying to make changes and I consider myself a part of that group. One of the greatest threats to our oceans is plastic pollution. Unfortunately, the oceans are considered a garbage dump in many parts of the world and not only physical tangible garbage, but also liquid garbage and industrial waste goes into it. There have been times where I dived to see beautiful marine life and was shocked to see cola cans and chip wrappers at the bottom of the ocean. I am also associated with an international diving body with a purpose. We take up ocean clean-ups and bring back garbage from the ocean.”

WHAT'S HOT

IF IT'S HAPPENING IT'S HERE

TASTE WITH SOUND

Are you ready for a fun time at AKRA? Nestled in the heart of Lajpat Nagar is a culinary haven that’s more than just restaurant. Offering cuttingedge music with culinary excellence, AKRA is the go-to destination for those seeking a fusion of taste and sound. As a glimpse of what Delhiites can expect here, directors Ajay Rajpal and Karan Aggarwal say people can look forward to a Bollywood and commercial techno takeover on all Fridays starting 7 June 2024. Sufi & Bollywood band vibes will further elevate the dining experience every Saturday. Rocknama band (on June 8), maestro Wajahat Hassan (on June 15), Danish Jaitley (on June 22) and a Sufi eve on June 29 will create an immersive atmosphere. On Sundays, patrons can expect comic eves with artistes like Jiveshu on June 23, followed by salsa and Bollywood Bachata dance workshops and more. Cricket lovers can enjoy T20 World Cup screenings throughout the month.

Address: BDR building, 32, opposite Defence Colony, near Lajpat Nagar metro station

Contact: 9888641111, 9888631111 and 99711 04529

Celebrities mentor Fresh Face finalists for the grand finale

The much-awaited grand finale of JOY presents Times Fresh Face Season 15 powered by Acnestar gel is all set to take place today in Mumbai. The 18 city winners alongside the two JOY wildcard entrants will battle it out to win the prestigious title. To prepare for the competition, the finalists underwent rigorous training sessions conducted by renowned names from the entertainment industry.

Filmmaker Milan Luthria, anchor Sachiin Kumbhaar, ramp walk trainers Anjli and Alesia Raut, filmmaker and photographer Amit Khanna held engaging sessions with the finalists. Talking to the contestants, Milan said, “It is very important to have an X-factor apart from being talented.” Sachiin shared, “It is important to sound your age and not think of this as a pageant. This is a talent hunt. Also, first impressions have a lasting effect, so the introductions should sound quirky and fun.”

Anjli and Alesia Raut trained the students to walk the ramp. They also shared insights on how the finalists can present themselves on stage. Amit said, “I had a wonderful time interacting with the contestants, sharing insights on the qualities essential for acting and modeling, and offering tips on looking good in photos. The contestants were bright and engaging.”

Title sponsor: JOY Cosmetics Powered by: AcneStar Gel Driven by: Kia India Fragrance partner: Yardley London

The participants are all set for the grand finale

Milan Luthra

Anjli and Alesia Raut

Amit Khanna

Sachiin Kumbhaar

DID YOU KNOW?

Techno music originated in mid-80s

Techno music originated in Detroit, Michigan, in the mid-1980s. It was developed by a group of AfricanAmerican artists known as the Belleville Three—Juan Atkins, Derrick May, and Kevin Saunderson.

DOC Talk

Miley Cyrus says she trains in heels – but you shouldn’t

I train in heels mostly. My mantra is, like any athlete, ‘Practice how you perform.’ So that’s why I practice in my heels – Miley Cyrus

Performers often undergo specialised training to meet the unique demands of their profession. They also have access to expert guidance and medical care to manage these risks – Dr Akhilesh Yadav, Associate Director, Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement, Max Hospital, Vaishali

Doctors say performers doing workout in heels have specialised training and expert guidance

Riya Sharma

Miley Cyrus in a recent interview to W Magazine said that she is “interested in feminising the workout space, because so much of the workout equipment is ugly... My mantra is, like any athlete, ‘Practice how you perform.’ So that’s why I practice in my heels. The gym looks really tough, but then I’ve got my ivory Gucci slingbacks because they remind me of Marilyn Monroe. I train in heels, mostly.”

From Beyonce in Single Ladies and Crazy in Love to Jennifer Lopez in On the Floor and probably most pop music videos in 2000s female artistes made dancing in heels or stilettos look easy. However workout in heels like Miley is definitely not recommended by experts and if you twist and turn wearing heels in your workout space, you’ll probably end up with injuries.

‘Not advisable for the average person’

While Miley may benefit from practicing in heels, for most of us who cannot even walk too long in high heels, this is unimaginable. Imagine trying to do mountain climbers in your gym with heels! Experts also say that it is not a recommended practice. “Working out in high heels or stilettos is not safe for most individuals. Yes, there are reports of performers doing workout in their heels but it is not recommended for someone engaging in any kind of exercise for leisure or fitness. There are very high chances of getting injured. Any pointed stilettos or high heels is totally not recommended for workout,” Dr Aashish Chaudhry, Managing Director, Senior Consultant & Head, Department of Orthopaedics & Joint Replacement Aakash Healthcare.

“Exercises such as weightlifting, running, jumping, and even certain types of stretching can be particularly dangerous in heels due to the instability and lack of support they provide. Proper athletic footwear is essential for safe and effective workouts. If someone feels the need to train in heels for specific performancerelated reasons, it should be done under professional supervision with a clear understanding of the associated risks,” points out Dr Akhilesh Yadav.

Thinking what might possibly go wrong? Everything, say experts

Working out in heels is generally not recommended for most types of exercise due to several safety and health concerns. Here’s why it can be risky:

■ Ankle injuries: Heels elevate the heel and shift the center of gravity forward, making it easier to twist or sprain an ankle during movements

■ Balance issues: The narrow base of heels can compromise stability, increasing the risk of falls

■ Knee strain: The altered posture from wearing heels can place extra stress on the knees, potentially leading to joint issues

■ Foot problems: Heels can cause discomfort and pain in the feet, including issues like bunions, hammertoes, and plantar fasciitis

■ Spine alignment: The forwardtilt from heels can disruptnatural spine alignment,leading to lower backpain

■ Change in posture: Heels force the body into an unnatural posture, which can lead to muscle imbalances and strain on the lower back and legs

■ Muscle engagement: While heels might engage certain muscles more (such as calves and thighs), they do so in a way that is not optimal for strength and conditioning. This can lead to muscle overuse or improper development

■ Range of motion: Heels restrict the range of motion in the ankles and feet, which can interfere with the proper execution of many exercises

■ Long-term effects: Regularly working out in heels can lead to chronic pain and long-term musculoskeletal issues– Inputs by Dr V Anand Naik, Senior Consultant, Spine Surgery, PSRI Hospital

TIMES FOODIE

Froyo bites, kala khatta: Try all things jamun this summer

Jamun is versatile. “The fruit can be used to make relishes, raita, chutneys, sorbets, ice creams, smoothies and slushies, compotes, jam, and vinegar. Its acidic nature, indicated by its low pH values, adds a unique dimension to these dishes,” adds Chef Rakesh Sethi.

Java plum yoghurt popsicle

Shivika Manchanda

Remember enjoying kalakhatta chuskis as a kid? You can recreate the desi, icy treat at home using jamuns. From popsicles and jamun leather to cheesecake, the fruit can be an interesting ingredient to use in food preparations during summers.

‘Jamun is low on calories’

The tropical fruit is packed with nutrition. “Jamun is packed with vitamins A and C, minerals and is rich in antioxidents. It has a low-glycemic index, so it is recommended to diabetes patients as well. I recommend having 12-15 jamuns directly in a day. Being a fibre-rich fruit, jamuns are good for gut health as well,” says diet consultant and nutritionist Noopur Dhingra.

‘Jamun has cooling properties’

Jamun’s tart and sweet flavour profile, coupled with its nutritional value, makes it a go-to fruit to create summer-special delights. It is a perfect condiment to make guilt-free dishes that can be consumed by everyone on the sweltering hot days, says Chef Neha Deepak Shah. “Pair jamun with some cooked apple, blend it and add jaggery in it. Spread it evenly in a stainless-steel plate and sun-dry for 2-3 days to make jamun leather, just like aam papad. Try jamun shots, blend deseeded jamun, lime juice and honey together. It is a great pre-workout drink,” she says.

‘Jamun’s tartness works well in desserts’

Self-taught baker Shivesh Bhatia says, “Whenever I create a dessert, I like to cut the sweetness with some sea salt or by using tart fruits. Jamuns fit right in, with their delightful mix of sweet and sour taste. One of my favourite creations has been jamun froyo bites they’re refreshing and perfect for summer. Jamun can be easily folded into whipped cream for a delightful mousse, and its tartness works wonderfully in cheesecakes, or even sooji cakes. Its unique flavour adds an unexpected and delightful element to any dessert.” “Jamun is considered as a coolant, making it ideal for summers. The delicate balance of flavours in jamun can be destroyed by heat, which is why it is not suitable for incorporation into desi curries. But, it can enhance side dishes like sauteed mushrooms,” says Rakesh Sethi, corporate executive chef at a leading hotel chain.

Blend deseeded jamun, mint, lemon juice, sugar, chaat masala and salt. Pour the mixture in a shot glass and then drop the shot glass in a glass filled with soda. Voila! Your fuzzy jamun fuljar soda is ready

“Jamuns have a juicy, pulpy consistency that is perfect for creating smooth purees and syrups. The vibrant colour makes it even better,” says Shivesh Bhatia, a baker

Jamun froyo bites

New streaming platform lets users create AI episodes

A San Francisco-based startup recently announced Showrunner, a streaming platform dedicated to AI-generated content. According to recent reports, the platform enables users to create episodes with just a brief prompt.

The startup stated that the users will be able to watch AI-generated series and create their own content, besides controlling dialogues, characters, and shots.

“Users can currently join the waitlist for a free testing version of the platform, which will likely last until the end of the year,” said Edward Saatchi, a chief executive of the platform in a news report. However, the tech is limited to animation and does not have the capability of creating live-action shots. Agencies

Second Japan town to block view of Mt Fuji, is building anti-tourist fence

This follows the construction last month of a black screen in another nearby town to block an Instagram-famous view of the snow-capped volcano rising from behind a convenience store

A tall metal fence will be built to control unruly tourists who have annoyed locals at Mount Fuji Dream Bridge, a popular Mount Fuji photo spot, a Japanese official said Thursday.

Despite its flashy name, the bridge is an ordinary overpass that runs above a river, with a narrow pavement separated from the road by a waist-high concrete wall.

But people have been jaywalking across the road to reach a vacant area between the two lanes of traffic, said Haruhito Yoshizaki, a tourism official at Fuji City. There, they pose for photos, twirl for videos or just chill out.

To deter this risky behaviour, authorities have already put up low metal scaffolding and signs telling people to keep away from the stretch of tarmac. Next, authorities say they plan to erect a 1.8 metre high metal mesh fence around the area by the end of June.

Locals “welcome visitors as long as basic rules are observed”, Yoshizaki said, saying the move is meant to ease the “frustration of local residents”.

AFP

Residents have complained about mostly foreign visitors venturing into the road on the Mount Fuji Dream Bridge in search of the perfect shot of Japan’s highest peak<<

Talk of the town

‘A remarkable career’ Chhetri bows out

Fans cheer for Chhetri during the match on Thursday. (Below) the skipper shares an emotional moment with his mother and wife after the match

On Thursday evening, Salt Lake stadium in Kolkata resounded with the swan song, ‘Chhetriiiii, Chhetri!’, as fans bid an emotional adieu to the Indian football team captain Sunil Chhetri. Celebrities across the country also saluted the outgoing skipper

After the match, Chhetri was also felicitated by the Eastern Command of the Indian Army and given a Guard of Honour on his way out

Sunil Chhetri dribbles the ball during his last international match — a World Cup qualifier against Kuwait at the Salt Lake stadium, Kolkata, on Thursday

Meet Saurabh Netravalkar, the American cricketer with roots in Mumbai

...and a LinkedIn profile

The US cricketer has been the talk of the town since his Super Over bowling handed Pakistan a shocking loss in the ongoing T20 Cricket World Cup. Interestingly, Saurabh’s LinkedIn profile has also had a lot of visits because it’s unheard of that a professional cricketer would have one!

Master aadmi hai!

Besides his love for cricket, Saurabh is a qualified software engineer and currently works for the tech-giant Oracle. He is also passionate about music. His Instagram profile has videos of him playing the ukulele and singing.

International Khiladi

■ Mumbai-born cricketer

■ Has played in the MumbaiRanji side

■ Played in India’s U19international squad in 2010

■ Shifted base to the US

■ Co-founded a cricket-relatedapp called CricDeCode, which he developed in 2013

■ Selected in the US cricket teamin 2018

■ Captained the US side briefly

India U-19 and Ranji outings

Netravalkar, a left-arm fast bowler, is a former teammate of KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Harshal Patel, Jaydev Unadkat and Sandeep Sharma. They played together in the U19 World Cup for India in 2010. He also played in the Ranji Trophy in the 2013-14 season for Mumbai.

Saurabh during his India U19 days; (below) playing for the US side in the T20 World Cup

WHO BEAT PAK? IT WAS US, SAY INDIANS!

Social media erupts with memes and wisecracks after Indian-origin cricketers in US team help script memorable victory over Pakistan in T20 World Cup

Get dashcams, CCTVs now: Raveena Tandon after incident involving driver

Last Saturday, Raveena and her driver were involved in an altercation with three women outside her home

Raveena Tandon has expressed her gratitude to all those who came out in her support after an incident in which the driver of her car got caught up in a scuffle outside her residence in Mumbai.

The actor took to her Instagram Story on Thursday night and wrote, “Thank you for the overwhelming love, belief, and support. Moral of the story? Get dashcams and CCTVs now! (sic),” she posted.

According to the Mumbai Police, last Saturday while Raveena’s driver was reversing a car outside the actor’s home, a family that was passing in front of the building’s gate started an argument with him. Thinking that the vehicle would hit them, the three women started arguing with the driver. Hearing the commotion Raveena who came out of the house attempting to pacify them when they scuffled with her. Nobody was injured in the incident and there was no incident of the vehicle hitting anybody, police said, adding no complaint has been filed by either party.

Agencies

Nobody believed in Manthan when we made it: Benegal at film’s screening

‘I thought Dr Kurien wanted a documentary’

“I thought Verghese Kurien wanted me to make a documentary. But he said, ‘No, I want a feature film.’ He said, ‘Just go and make it and tell me how much money you need.” I asked him, ‘Where will you get the money’. And he said, ‘Farmers’. Nobody believed in the film when we made it (laughs),” said Shyam Benegal, director.

Niharika Lal

After its premiere at Cannes in the Classics section, the restored version of Manthan was screened last weekend at select cinemas across the country. To celebrate the film’s restoration screenings, director Shyam Benegal, the Film Heritage Foundation director Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, and the “surviving members of the ship Manthan,” as Naseeruddin Shah called them, joined moviegoers for a special premiere of the film in Mumbai. During a lively conversation, the cast remembered what it was like shooting for the film.

Preeti Sagar, singer of Mero Gaon Katha Parey, said, “The lyrics of the song were in Gujarati. Shyam uncle was frowning and said, ‘This is not what my film is like.’ My sister Neeti wrote dummy words for the song so that the tune could be made. When Shyam uncle saw the dummy words, he said, ‘This is

Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Director, Film Heritage Foundation, said, “The journey of the film’s restoration began in 2014. When I went to NFAI to find the negative of the film, there were green moulds and there was no sound. We had no sound negative. It was one and a half years of amazing work.”

Naseeruddin Shah said, “Perhaps I didn’t believe in the film, but I prayed like hell that this film would get seen and that my work would reach the audiences. Seeing it at Cannes on the big screen was a very emotional experience, as you would expect. All of us dedicate this screening to Dr Kurien.”

‘Verghese Kurien wanted a sequel’

“Verghese Kurien wanted another film to be made, and he wanted it to be shot in Nilgiris. When he established the cooperative in Nilgiris, he failed, so he wanted the sequel to be about that,” said Shama Zaidi, dialogue writer and art director of the film.

Smita Patil and Girish Karnad in a still from Manthan

A ceremony to honour science olympiad winners in the capital

Justice Dipak Misra

The Science Olympiad Foundation (SOF) recently conducted a felicitation ceremony to honour SOF olympiad winners 2023-24 at Dr Ambedkar International Centre. Former Chief Justice of India, Justice Dipak Misra, and Chetan Bhagat, renowned author and columnist, attended the event.

During the ceremony, Justice Dipak Misra said, “Competition or the effort to compete doesn’t end here, and that is the beauty of competition in life.” He further underscored that the unique experience and intellect of a human mind can never be replicated by AI.

“This year, over 91,000 schools from 70 countries participated, with countless students involved. More than 1,30,000 students from 7000 schools received awards for top state-level ranks,” say the organisers.

I’m happy, says Carrie Moss on leaving H-wood after 30 years

My husband and I really wanted more connection to nature, really. I wanted to see the stars at night. I wanted to be surrounded by trees. I wanted to have winter, fall, spring and summer

Carrie-Anne Moss with (Below) Keanu Reeves in a still from The Matrix Resurrections

Carrie-Anne Moss has no regrets about moving her family out of the city and into nature. “We were just really craving a quieter life, less traffic, more nature – and I have to say, I like change," she told People. "My husband and I really wanted more connection to nature, really. I wanted to see the stars at night. I wanted to be surrounded by trees. I wanted to have winter, fall, spring and summer."

Moss first moved to Southern California in the ‘90s while filming the crime drama Dark Justice. Her time in Los Angeles gave Moss the opportunity to get the role of a lifetime as Trinity in The Matrix.

Agencies

WORLD OCEANS DAY

Mirchi Mumbai goes live from Navy warship

This special broadcast event promises an exciting experience, offering listeners an exclusive glimpse into the heart of the ocean

INS Mormugao, India’s latest destroyer ship, hosts the first-ever radio station onboard, broadcasting live from the ocean

The radio channel, which is known for its innovative and impactful initiatives, continues to set new benchmarks in engaging its audience and raising awareness about crucial social issues. Following the success of their recent endeavours where they transformed Andheri Metro Station into a vibrant hub of entertainment, inviting Mumbaikars to pause, smile and continue their day with renewed energy, and their voting campaign near Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, which encouraged people to vote in the recent elections, the brand now embarks on another venture in collaboration with the Indian Navy.

Mirchi on the Ocean is a special broadcast event that promises an exciting experience, as they go live for the first time from a Navy warship, offering listeners an exclusive glimpse into the heart of the ocean. This is scheduled for today, on World Oceans Day.

As part of this unique event, the radio channel has set up a temporary studio aboard the warship, where its hosts will conduct live shows throughout the day, featuring conversations with Navy officers. Listeners will have the privilege to hear the Commanding Officer of the ship, who will share insights from his extensive experience and leadership at sea. Additionally, officers with over 10 years of service will discuss the evolution of their careers and the unique challenges they have faced. The broadcast will also feature female Agniveers, offering a perspective on the evolving role of women in the Navy and their inspiring journeys.

This initiative aims to offer a rare glimpse into the lives of those who serve our nation at sea, highlighting their bravery, dedication and the unique challenges they face. While many activities focus on marine conservation and beach clean-ups, this event seeks to recognise the ocean from the perspective of the Indian Navy. For Navy personnel, the ocean is more than just a habitat for marine life; it is their home and workplace, often for extended periods away from the comforts of urban life. This initiative will shed light on the often-overlooked aspects of Navy life.

“We are thrilled and honoured to partner with the Indian Navy for this exceptional initiative, which is more than just a broadcast. It’s an opportunity to honour the bravery and resilience of our Navy officers. By bringing their stories to our listeners, we hope to inspire many to consider a life of service and adventure on the ocean,” said Akshay Oberoi (Business Director, Mirchi Mumbai).

The radio channel invites listeners to join them on this remarkable journey, as they set sail into uncharted waters to celebrate the spirit of our Navy and the vast expanse of the ocean that binds us all.

Table of Contents

TOI Print Edition Jun 08, 2024

Front Page

Cop booked for Kangana ‘slap’, gets offers of legal assistance

4 medicos from India drown in Russia

Chargesheet filed in Parl breach

NEET-UG results row lands in courts

Chauhan was handling DJB postings through CM: ED to court

UP strikes deal to host MotoGP in Gr Noida

Punjab fake encounter: 7-yr RI for ex-DIG

CBI chargesheet against Lalu, kin in land-job scam

Sensex rises to all-time high as fgn funds buy

IN DALLAS, AN AMERICAN DREAM, PAK NIGHTMARE AND THE MAGNIFICENT 7 INDIAN CONNECTION

7 Maoists killed in day-long joint op in Bastar

After LS poll jolt, BJP govt in Hry offers free bus rides to poor

2 UP truckers lynched by cow vigilantes

Man gets 10 yrs’ jail for child marriage, rape

Berth talks on as Modi meets Murmu, invited to form govt

TDP eyes four ministerial berths

Polls ahead in J&K? EC calls for symbols

Committed to principle of ‘sarv panth sambhav (all religions equal)’, says Modi

Nitish offers full support but talks of ‘Bihar ka kaam’

Balance regional aspirations & nat’l interests: Naidu

TDP will continue 4% Muslim quota under OBC list: Naidu’s son

Capital-in-waiting? Land prices soar in Amaravati

DANCE of DEMOCRACY

Times Nation

NEET aspirants move court at several places over anomalies

Curfew in parts of Manipur after killing by rebels

Chhattisgarh vigilantes lynch 2 truckers carrying buffaloes

16 get life term for 2020 killing of ‘evil magician’

7 Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh, 3 security personnel injured

Man kills friend for urinating on him in jest

Lalu son Tej Pratap, daughter Hema named for first time

HC nixes Sengar plea to suspend 10-year jail term

SP MLA Solanki gets 7yrs in arson case, may lose House seat

4 Indians studying MBBS at univ in northwest Russia drown, another missing

Punjab ex-DIG gets 7-yr RI, ex-DSP life in 1993 fake encounter case

Bhavani faces SIT after HC interim bail in kidnap case

5 juvenile inmates flee MP shelter

Cop who hit MP belongs to family of farmers

Cops scanning CCTV footage to verify MP’s allegations

Rahul gets bail in defamation case filed by K’taka BJP man

With TDP win, Amaravati land prices have come back to 2018 levels, says AP farmer

Agra man abducted, murdered for `10L ransom

30 monkeys beaten to death in K’taka

Woman’s extramarital affair is cruelty to husband, says HC, grants divorce to man

K’taka bans film over communal concerns

Maha cops deny Jarange nod for hunger strike

8 years on, Dalit RTI activist acquitted in cops’ video case

Times City

Atishi: Haryana Not Giving Water Share

Fire dept to conduct safety lectures, demos at hosps

21 girls rescued across city, five of them after cutting locked door

Treatment plants saturated, doubts over how city will process HP water

Man stabs friend to death after fight over woman, arrested

After a brief respite, heatwaves likely to return from Monday

ED Claims Chauhan Close To CM And Was Handling DJB Postings

Enough proof to prosecute Kavitha, CBI tells court

No proof after 2 years of probe, ED making wild allegations: AAP

Bail plea of CM’s aide rejected, court says allegations against him are grave

Excise policy case: Court to hear CM’s bail plea on June 14

Utilisation of MPLADS funds beyond CIC’s jurisdiction: HC

ED raids man accused of cheating foreign national of $400,000 by taking control of computer remotely

ED attaches assets worth `46 crore of Gurgaon company

Blaze erupts at fire safety equipment manufacturing unit

14 of 38 projects under AMRUT scheme on track

With Shift In Terminals, IGI Looks At Ways To Navigate Through Int’l Traffic Influx

Man gets 10 yrs’ jail for child marriage, rape

AAP suspends former MLA

Food safety dept tells eateries not to use liquid nitrogen

Six Charged Under UAPA For Parliament Security Breach

‘Carefully scan proposals to remove names from voter list’

Fake encounter? Footage & call records to unravel truth

Climate change: IIT prof on a yatra to advocate energy independence

‘No. of govt students clearing NEET up 2.5 times in 5 years’

Artificial Sweeteners, Real Health Problems

BJP asks mayor to prioritise sanitation woes

ED case: Court grants bail to Unitech ex-promoters

Illegal godowns of gas cylinders busted

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

Next Stop: Dining In Coach! DDA Takes Cue From NDLS

Vroom! Gr Noida To Play Host To MotoGP Till 2029

Don’t allow functions in parks: DPCC to MCD, DDA

Police brass takes stock of security arrangement at Rashtrapati Bhavan

Two men found dead in mysterious circumstances

Dance Of Democracy

Satraps offer Modi full support but talk of regional aspirations

EC invites J&K applications for symbols, hints at imminent polls

Rajnath & Shah hail Modi’s ‘historic’ 3rd straight term as PM

In Nitish speech, whiff of call for spl category state

9,000+ guests to attend Modi inauguration, security up

After Nitish silences his critics, a poster in Patna speaks louder than words

India will continue to grow in all fields at faster pace: Modi

‘Victory does not create hysteria among us and we do not ridicule the defeated’

SP, Cong take a dig at Jayant for no seat on stage at NDA meet

TDP believes in taking everyone along & it doesn’t mean appeasement: Naidu’s son

TDP expects to get 2 Cabinet, 2 MoS berths in Union govt

Despite scepticism, the past shows Modi no stranger to coalition politics

Reply by Fri to J&K MP’s plea for parole: HC to NIA

Middle class and household savings to be in focus: Modi

Ajit team to call on Modi, convey farm anger over onion export ban

Cong brass to meet today to chalk out its strategy

Modi-Chirag public display of affection catches the eye

JD(U), Shiv Sena slam oppn for spreading ‘false narratives’

In 72 UP seats, BJP got less votes in 2024 than in 2019

7 neighbouring nations’ leaders to attend Modi’s swearing-in

BJP, Sena alliance ‘Fevicol ka jod’ that won’t break: Shinde

Knives out for Annamalaiafter drawing a blank in TN

SNIPPETS

Times Evoke

TIMES evoke

‘Light from JADES-GS-z14-0 travelled 14 billion years to us — it mirrors how special our lives are’

‘We are entering solar maximum now — more places on Earth will see sun storms and aurora in the skies’

THEY'RE HEAVENLY TOO !

READERS WRITE

Editorial

A thought for today

The 13% Reality

One Or Two Or None

Why We Just Can’t Let Bygones Be Bygones

UP Vote For ‘Deemokrasi’

Can A Curveball Be Hit For A Six?

Sacred space

There Are New Possibilities In Victory And Defeat

Times Business

RBI warns against ‘usurious’ rates on small-ticket loans

RBI raises FY25 GDP forecast to 7.2%

Forex reserves rise $4.8bn to record $652bn

You can soon ‘auto-reload’ UPI Lite, Fastag wallets

Danish co’s India team key to Ozempic’s success

ONGC seeks global tech partner for Mumbai High

Tube Investments chief is EY World Entrepreneur Of Yr

TDP’s Naidu family’s wealth up `858cr in 5 days as stock rallies

Musk greets Modi, hints at Tesla’s entry

ACs to ice cream: E-tail booms in cruel summer

Investors richer by `7L cr, BSE m-cap hits `429.5L cr

Times Global

No threat to warrant use of N-arms: Putin

SUNITA WILLIAMS DANCES HER WAY INTO INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION

French national in custody in Moscow

Biden apologises to Zelensky for aid delay that let Russia advance

Sunak faces ire for leaving D-Day event early for campaign

Imran invokes Kejriwal’s bail to campaign in Pak SC, complains mistreatment in jail

Willing to upgrade eco ties with Pak: Xi

Biden: Won’t pardon son if he’s convicted in gun trial

Israel draws criticism after strike on UN school shelter

Israel says UN has added military to global list of offenders against children; ‘move shameful’

Bird flu patient died of chronic disease, not virus: Mexico

AROUND THE WORLD

‘True story’ gone wrong? Woman who ‘inspired’ ‘Baby Reindeer’ role sues Netflix

Times Sport

CORNERED PAK MAY COME HARD AT INDIA

Focus now on India: USA skipper Monank

CANADA STUN IRELAND TO RECORD FIRST WIN

Eng target improved bowling effort vs Oz

‘Too late to make major changes to NY pitch’

CAPTAIN RICHIE GUIDES SCOTLAND TO EASY VICTORY OVER NAMIBIA

Malad to Dallas: Netravalkar cracks the code

SHOCKER: BOWLER THERON ACCUSES RAUF OF BALL TAMPERING

Will Paolini Will Paolini realise her dream?realise her dream?

ALCARAZ ACES IT

Barca’s Cubarsi left out of Spain’s Euro 2024 squad

Lanka complain to ICC over ‘different treatment’

Norway Chess: Prag loses to Caruana

GALLERY

Delhi Times

It’s time for people to see my other talents: Sumona

Don’t treat me like a divine entity, says Rishab Shetty

‘NO JUSTIFICATION FOR PHYSICAL ASSAULT, WHATEVER THE VIEWS’

My connection with the ocean is very spiritual: Parineeti

MEET SAURABH NETRAVALKAR, THE US CRICKETER WITH MUMBAI ROOTS

Chhetri bows out

‘People get into diving as a vacation activity, for me it’s a discipline’

WHAT'S HOT

Celebrities mentor Fresh Face finalists for the grand finale

DID YOU KNOW?

Miley Cyrus says she trains in heels – but you shouldn’t

Froyo bites, kala khatta: Try all things jamun this summer

New streaming platform lets users create AI episodes

Second Japan town to block view of Mt Fuji, is building anti-tourist fence

‘A remarkable career’ Chhetri bows out

Meet Saurabh Netravalkar, the American cricketer with roots in Mumbai

WHO BEAT PAK? IT WAS US, SAY INDIANS!

Get dashcams, CCTVs now: Raveena Tandon after incident involving driver

Nobody believed in Manthan when we made it: Benegal at ﬁlm’s screening

A ceremony to honour science olympiad winners in the capital

I’m happy, says Carrie Moss on leaving H-wood after 30 years

Mirchi Mumbai goes live from Navy warship