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Front Page

- BIG APPLE PITCHED BATTLE

- 6-1: The Indo-Pak story In T20 World Cups

- Beijing wishes Modi, India sends reminder of ‘3 mutuals’

- J&K admin sacks 4 more govt staff for ‘terror links’

- Police outposts, houses torched in previously calm Manipur district

- BJP will keep plum portfolios, asks allies to pare down hopes

- Russia drowning tragedy: Cousins’ bodies recovered

- 3 workers in sewer tank electrocuted

- Cottages of Porsche teen’s family razed

- Bus from Vaishno Devi overturns, 3 die

- Telugu media mogul Ramoji Rao dead

- INDIA bloc offered Nitish PM post: JD(U)’s Tyagi; oppn rubbishes claim

- CWC clamours for Rahul as Leader of Oppn, Sonia re-elected CPP chairperson

- Never thought it’d befall us: Kin of lynched trucker

- 3 sleeping after finishing shift killed in blaze at Narela factory, 6 injured

- 47 Manipur kids find new home & hope in Kerala

- Cities will keep facing heatwaves: IMD chief

- Panel to review NEET-UG results of 1,563 candidates

- Kerala tops in share of spend on non-veg in food products: Survey

- Hot spell likely to return by Monday

ICC MEN'S T20 WORLD CUP

BIG APPLE PITCHED BATTLE

India is in good nick. Pakistan is down in the dumps. But the form book goes out of the window when the two familiar rivals face off. Each match is a battle of nerves. Nothing can be foretold about this game, which will be played on a New York pitch, where the swing can be uncontrollable and the bounce unpredictable. Let the better side win

HEAD TO HEAD

OVERALL: India has won 9 out 12 T20 games against Pakistan.

SUCCESS RATE: 75%

IN T20 WC: India has won 6 out 7 in T20 WC against Pakistan

SUCCESS RATE: 86%

FEEL-GOOD FACT: In their previous World Cup encounter in 2022, India prevailed on the last ball

INDIA World No. 1

Nickname Men In Blue Previous Best Winners (2007) Captain Rohit Sharma

FORM BOOK W W W W W

Positives: Strong and experienced batting line up. Both Rohit and keeper-batter Pant scored runs and showed intent on a tricky pitch against Ireland in the group game. Main batter Kohli was among the runs in IPL. He generally raises his game, if not run rate, in big matches. With Axar likely to come in at 8, the team has both class and depth in batting. Strong pace attack trio: Bumrah, Siraj and Arshdeep. Bumrah’s pace, control and deceptive variations have helped him emerge as the world’s premier speed merchant. Pandya’s return to fitness and bowling form will add to the team’s balance and heft. In fielding too, this team is better than its opponent

Concerns: It needs to be seen how Suryakumar Yadav, currently ranked the world no. 1 T20 batter by ICC, and Shivam Dube perform against a quality attack on a difficult track. Jadeja and Axar are good defensive bowlers but the team might miss the guile and bite of Kuldeep Yadav, if the thinktank prefers the same playing 11. One also hopes that Arshdeep displays better control and minimises wides

Watch Out For: Hardik Pandya. After a sub-par IPL season and facing a ton of brickbats, the 30-year-old allrounder could be on mission mode to excel

X-Factor: The toss. Unfortunately, the outcome is beyond anybody’s control. Also, grabbing every catch that comes one’s way

Objective: To play with freedom and without fear. Take early wickets while bowling. If batting first, the team needs to remember that this is not a 200-plus pitch

Highest Rungetter in T20 WCs (Vs Pakistan): Virat Kohli. 308 runs. Average: 308 (not out in 4 of 5 innings). Strike rate: 133

Highest Wicket-Taker In T20 WCs (Vs Pakistan): Hardik Pandya: 4 wkts. Average: 14. Economy rate: 9.1

Likely Motto: Chak De! India

Pakistan World No. 6

Nickname: Shaheen, also Men In Green Previous Best Winners (2008) Captain Babar Azam

FORM BOOK L L W L W

Positives: Openers Mohd Rizwan and Babar Azam are proven world-class performers. Rizwan is currently ranked no. 3 and Azam no. 4 in the ICC T20 batting rankings. Rizwan, especially, has the knack of producing his best during periods of turmoil and changing the game’s course. Fakhar Zaman and Iftikhar Ahmed are experienced and reliable batters. Allrounder Shadab Khan’s return to batting form in the US game is another positive development. But the might and muscle of the team lies in its potent pace attack: Shaheen Shah Afridi, Haris Rauf, Mohd Amir and Naseem Shah. If the New York pitch plays games, as it did earlier, they could be lethal

Concerns: The team is having a dreadful run, including a humiliating loss to minnows the USA last Thursday. The defeat could have a debilitating impact on the team’s morale. Pakistan’s fielding also lacked urgency, allowing the hosts to frequently steal runs. Azam and company need to pull up their socks

Watch Out For: Azam Khan. The 25-year-old keeper-batter has been in the news for the wrong reasons. But he is an explosive batter who can also smote sixes with ease

X-Factor: The team. Pakistan are at their most fearsome when they seem down for the count.

Objective: To win this game at any cost. Otherwise, entering the Super Eight stage could depend on a host of other factors

Highest Rungetter In T20 WCs (Vs India): Mohammad Rizwan. 83 runs. Average: 83. Strike Rate: 124

Highest WicketTaker in T20 WCs (Vs India): Haris Rauf. 3 wkts. Av: 21. Economy rate: 7.6

Likely Motto: Do or Die

6-1: The Indo-Pak story In T20 World Cups

Virat Kohli Has Been The Most Dominant Performer In These Games, Often Steering His Team Home

2007: Durban | A thriller that nobody has forgotten. Both teams were tied at 141 at the end of the group game. But in the ‘bowling’ Super Over, India triumphed. Pakistan opted for pacers who failed to hit the mark. India’s spinners struck the bull’s eye. Robin Uthappa doffing his cap to the crowd after striking the stumps is one of the most memorable images of the inaugural T20 World Cup.

Scores: India 141-9 (20 overs). Pakistan 141-7 (20 overs)

2007: Johannesburg | Gautam Gambhir scored a responsible 75 off 58 balls and Rohit Sharma smashed 30 off 16, which remains his most valuable innings in a big T20 knockout game. When bowling, India seemed to have the game under control, before Misbah intervened. He was on the verge of taking Pakistan home in the final when an overambitious stroke off Joginder Sharma proved to be his undoing. S Sreesanth taking the catch and throwing the ball in the air – the moment still produces goosebumps. Irfan Pathan (3/16) got Man of the Match (MoM).

Scores: India: 157/5 (20 overs). Pakistan 152 (19.3 overs)

2012: Colombo | The match where Virat Kohli took charge, not only with the bat but with the ball. He clean bowled Pakistan captain Mohd Hafiz. And then he decimated the opposition with an outstanding and unbeaten 78 off 61 deliveries. L Balaji took 3/22 but there was no doubt who would be the MoM.

Scores: Pakistan 128 (19.4 overs). India: 129/2 (17 overs)

2014: Mirpur | On a spinning track, India got the better of its traditional rival. Pakistan’s batting failed to fire. Amit Mishra (2/22) received MoM. In reply, Virat Kohli’s unbeaten 36 off 32 and Suresh Raina’s undefeated 35 off 28 balls ensured a hasslefree win for India.

Scores: Pakistan 130/7 (20 overs). India 131/3 (18.2 overs)

2016: Kolkata | Rain shortened the game to 18 overs a side. But winning the toss gave India a distinct advantage. The bowling was steady and Pakistan was let down by its batters again. Virat Kohli delivered a superbly controlled unbeaten 55 off 37 balls (strike rate: 149) to anchor India home.

Scores: Pakistan 118/5 (18 overs. India 119/4 (15.5 overs)

2021: Dubai | The law of averages finally caught up with India. After losing 12 successive matches in ODI and T20 World Cups, Pakistan came up with a tablethumping win. India’s batting was timid and the bowling below average.

Scores: India 151/7 (20 overs). Pakistan 152/0 (17.5 overs)

2022: Melbourne | It was the edgiest of encounters. But thanks to an unbeaten 82 by Virat Kohli, India prevailed.

R Ashwin keeping his cool to let go a wide was both nerveless and breathless.

Scores: Pakistan 159/8 (20 overs). India 160/6 (20 overs)

Statistics: Rajesh Kumar

Beijing wishes Modi, India sends reminder of ‘3 mutuals’

New Delhi: Acknowledging China’s congratulatory message to PM-designate Narendra Modi for his third term, India reminded Beijing of the three mutuals — mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interest — it has cited repeatedly in recent times for restoring normalcy in bilateral relations.

While a message from President Xi Jinping is still awaited, the Chinese foreign ministry and newly appointed ambassador Xu Feihong had congratulated Modi after the poll results.

“Will continue to pursue efforts towards normalisation of India-China ties based on mutual respect, mutual interest and mutual sensitivity,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal in a post on X, in response to the message from Beijing in which it had sought healthy and stable relationship. Bilateral ties remain plagued by the military standoff in east Ladakh that has entered its fifth year.

TNN

Modi-Xi meet? P 16

J&K admin sacks 4 more govt staff for ‘terror links’

The J&K administration on Saturday sacked its four employees — two police constables, a school teacher and an assistant lineman — over alleged terror links and activities that include illegal supply of ammunition to terrorists and servicing of their weapons, playing guide to infiltrating terrorists and mobilising violent protests to keep Kashmir on the boil, report Saleem Pandit & Bharti Jain.

Invoking Article 311(2) (c) of the Constitution, J&K LG Manoj Sinha ordered the dismissals after “a discreet background check by the J&K CID established that the four staffers were acting on behalf of Pakistan’s ISI and terror outfits sponsored by it”. With these, 61 J&K govt staffers have faced termination during Sinha’s tenure in J&K.

P 13

Police outposts, houses torched in previously calm Manipur district

Unidentified gunmen torched govt offices, including two police outposts, and more than 70 houses in several villages of Manipur’s Jiribam district bordering Assam early Saturday, shattering peace in the north-eastern state already grappling with ethnic strife since May last year, reports Prabin Kalita.

Jiribam, known for its diverse ethnic composition of Meiteis, Nagas, Kukis, and non-Manipuris, had remained unaffected by the sectarian conflict until the latest flare-up. However, tension erupted Thursday evening after the body of 59-year-old Soibam Saratkumar Singh was discovered in Lamtai Khunou village. Singh had been missing since he went to his farm on June 6, and villagers accused another community of his murder.

Following this, authorities evacuated Friday over 200 people to relief camps set up in a sports complex. Security sources said armed men torched Jiri Mukh and Chotobekra police outposts and Goakhal forest beat office.

 ‘Intrigued’, P 17

BJP will keep plum portfolios, asks allies to pare down hopes

TDP, JD(U) May Get 1 Cabinet Post, 1 MoS Slot Each

Preparations under way at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Saturday for the swearing-in ceremony of Narendra Modi and his Cabinet on Sunday

Akhilesh Singh & Sidhartha

New Delhi: As the buzz about allies seeking to secure a higher share of berths and highprofile portfolios in Modi 3.0 govt persisted on Saturday, there were indications of the BJP leadership asking NDA partners to ‘pare down’ their demands to ‘reasonable limits’ while assuring that unfulfilled desires may be given due consideration at an appropriate time later.

Sources said none of the crucial ministries, including the four represented on the Cabinet committee on security — home, defence, finance and external affairs — is on the table. BJP is also likely to keep education, parliamentary affairs, culture and I&B, while ensuring that the Speaker is from its own ranks.

Allies may have representation of 12-15 ministers and talks are also under way with Shiromani Akali Dal.

TDP (16 MPs) and JD-U (12) have been asked to settle for a Cabinet berth and a junior minister slot. Shiv Sena (7) and LJP (5) have each been offered a Cabinet berth.RLD (2 MPs) chief Jayant Chaudhary is expected to be part of the Cabinet. Although the BJP brass is keen to accommodate Pawan Kalyan, founder of Jana Sena (2), it’s not clear whether the willingness will extend to his colleagues if the Telugu cine star refuses to shift to Delhi. Sources said a call on Jana Sena’s representation may be taken in consultation with TDP boss and Kalyan’s ally N Chandrababu Naidu.

BJP’s old ally Anupriya Patel, the Apna Dal chief who served as a minister in the earlier Modi dispensations, is seen as a certainty.

The claims of both Jitan Ram Manjhi, former Bihar CM who is the sole representa- tive of Hindustan Awam Morcha, the Mahadalit outfit that he founded, as well as NCP for Cabinet berths are considered to be strong, and will be settled by Narendra Modi.

While those involved in negotiations were tight-lipped, sources said three-term Srikakulam MP Ram Mohan Naidu could be a probable for the Cabinet berth from TDP’s quota. Though only 34, Naidu, son of former Cabinet minister, the late Yerran Naidu, and nephew of TDP’s AP unit chief Kinjarapu Atchannaidu, is seen as a rising OBC face. Chandrasekhar Pemmasani, a doctor from the Kamma community with assets of over Rs 5,000 crore who has been elected from Guntur, could be the party's choice for the junior minister berth.

Former JD(U) president Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lallan’ and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar's confidant Sanjay Jha are considered favourites for the Cabinet berth, in that order.

May rope in Chirag, P 16

Russia drowning tragedy: Cousins’ bodies recovered

Bodies of the missing Jalgaon cousins, Jia Pinjari (20) and Jishan Pinjari (20), were recovered from Volkhov River in Russia’s Veliky Novgorod city Saturday morning, four days after they were swept away in the fast-flowing waters along with three friends. All five were from Maharashtra and studied at Yaroslav-the-Wise Novgorod State University.

TNN

3 workers in sewer tank electrocuted

Three workers were electrocuted while working in a sewer tank at a newly constructed restaurant in front of Prem Mandir in Vrindavan on Saturday. Sources alleged the workers were not provided with safety gear.

TNN

Cottages of Porsche teen’s family razed

The Satara administration Saturday demolished eight cottages constructed illegally in a Mahabaleshwar club owned by the family of the teen allegedly involved in the Porsche crash that killed two techies.

P 13

Bus from Vaishno Devi overturns, 3 die

Two women and a child died and 46 were injured after a bus ferrying devotees from Vaishno Devi went out of control and overturned on the Agra-Lucknow eway in Firozabad Saturday.

P 13

Telugu media mogul Ramoji Rao dead

Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, 87, who dominated the Telugu media and film industry for half a century, and put Hyderabad on the world map with his Ramoji Film City, died on Saturday.

P16

INDIA bloc offered Nitish PM post: JD(U)’s Tyagi; oppn rubbishes claim

Congress supporters demanding Rahul Gandhi be made Leader of Opposition, at the CWC meeting venue at Ashoka Hotel on Saturday

Madan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Patna: Senior JD(U) functionary K C Tyagi claimed on Saturday that the opposition INDIA bloc had offered the prime ministership to Bihar CM Nitish Kumar if he joined the alliance, but INDIA politicians dismissed the claim. RJD alleged that it was a JD(U) tactic a day before Narendra Modi’s swearing-in as PM to get more for its support to BJP.

The Bihar CM’s confidante, Sanjay Jha, too said neither the party nor the CM was aware of any such proposal.

“After the election results, one party after another and one opposition leader after another called some top JD(U) netas, including me, and offered the PM’s post to Nitish if JD(U) returns to INDIA bloc,” Tyagi told TOI. He, however, did not reveal any names.

 ‘Surrendered’, P 16

CWC clamours for Rahul as Leader of Oppn, Sonia re-elected CPP chairperson

With the party claiming that people had put it “firmly on path of revival”, Congress Working Committee on Saturday demanded in “one voice” that Rahul Gandhi take over as Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha and passed a resolution to this ef- fect. The Gandhi scion said he will consider the demand. Sonia Gandhi was re-elected chairperson of Congress Parliamentary Party by LS and RS MPs, while party president Mallikarjun Kharge is set to stay on as LOP in the Upper House.

P 16

Never thought it’d befall us: Kin of lynched trucker

Azma Qureshi, 33, is in shock like many others in Shamli’s Banat town. Her husband Tehseen (Guddu) Qureshi and Chand Miya Khan, transporting cattle, were lynched in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh early on Friday. A third man is battling for life.

“She was the last person to speak to Guddu the night before the incident... She has gone quiet since the news... We had heard about lynchings before, but never thought it would happen to us,” said Guddu's brother.

Chand’s grandfather said: “What can I say? Who can understand the trauma of a 20-year-old pregnant woman who got married five months ago and lost her husband to this mindless killing.”

P 13

3 sleeping after finishing shift killed in blaze at Narela factory, 6 injured

A massive fire destroyed 3 eateries at Shaheen Bagh on Saturday. There were no casualties

New Delhi: Three people died and six were injured in a fire that broke out in a factory in Narela Industrial Area. The blaze was followed by an explosion on the premises that led to panic and frenzy.

Those who died and were injured were workers sleeping after completing the day shift. Initial probe revealed that raw green gram was being roasted on burners and a gas leak caused the fire, which led to a blast in a compressor.

DCP Ravi Kumar said the factory owners — Ankit Gupta and Vinay Gupta — have been arrested. Cops are looking into claims that the machines were not serviced regularly and thus caused a mishap.

Atul Garg, director of Del- hi Fire Service, said the factory had no fire NOC and had been operational since 2010.

TNN

90 firefighters, P 4

P 5

47 Manipur kids find new home & hope in Kerala

Manipur children at a school in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district

Jaikrishnan.Nair@timesgroup.com

Kottayam: Zamngichan Chandini has witnessed horror and endured hardships that few 14-year-olds can imagine. Hailing from a violencehit district in Manipur, Chandini, who lost her home in the ethnic conflagration that engulfed the northeastern state and was unable to continue her education, is now back in school, in Kerala, along with 46 other students who are also victims of the Manipur violence.

Chandini now attends St Thomas Higher Secondary School in Thiruvalla, in Kerala’s Pathanamthitta district.

Thanks to Sathyam Mini- stries, a Christian charitable organisation based in Thiruvalla, these Manipur children could see a new beginning. The children, including 14 girls, were initially traumatised on arrival in Thiruvalla, said C V Vadavana, chairman of Sathyam Ministries.

‘Will return...’, P 17

Cities will keep facing heatwaves: IMD chief

The increase in number and intensity of heatwaves in Delhi this summer has been mainly due to El Nino coupled with local and regional factors, but climate change is also raising temperatures in the long term while cities are particularly getting hotter because of concrete structures and less vegetation, IMD chief Mrutyunjay Mohapatra told Kushagra Dikshit.

Mohapatra said IMD forecasts improved by 40-50% over the past decade. This year, its accuracy for a 24-hour forecast for a heatwave has been 91%, for heavy rain 79%, and for thunderstorm 86%. IMD is also trying to make forecasts more people-centric by introducing heat index, etc.

P6

Panel to review NEET-UG results of 1,563 candidates

To Recheck Extra Marks Given Due To Exam Time Loss

Manash.Gohain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Ministry of education has constituted a four-member panel headed by a former Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) chairperson to review grace marks awarded to more than 1,563 candidates in the medical entrance exam National Eligibility Entrance Testundergraduate (NEET-UG). This was announced by the National Testing Agency (NTA) on Saturday.

The medical/dental entrance test results were announced on June 4, and thereafter aspirants have been alleging multiple issues, including irregularities in the exam demanding fresh examination. Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, the student wing affiliated to the RSS, on Saturday demanded a CBI inquiry into the allegations on the NEETUG. Many aspirants have al- so approached courts for relief in the matter. Meanwhile, a political slugfest commenced between AAP and BJP on the exams, which recorded over 24 lakh registration and 97% attendance.

File report in a wk, P 16

FULL EXPLAINER, P16

Kerala tops in share of spend on non-veg in food products: Survey

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Share of milk and milk products in total consumption is higher in rural areas in Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh while eggs, meat and fish account for a greater share for households in Kerala.

The final Household Consumption Expenditure survey, released by National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) late Friday, also shows that for other states, beverages & processed food have the maximum share in rural segments.

In urban areas, Haryana, Punjab, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have the maximum share of consumption for milk and milk products. For the remaining states, it’s beverages and processed food.

The survey data shows significant shifts in rural and urban consumption with the share of food and cereals coming down. This is in line with the trend visible in earlier surveys.

Share of food, P 31

‘Inequality fell between ’11-12 & ’22-23’, FLAP OPP

Hot spell likely to return by Monday

After a brief respite, heatwaves are likely to return in city. Saturday’s maximum was below normal but temperatures are likely to rise, hitting 45 deg C by mid-week.

P6

Times Nation

- Inequality declined between 2011-12 & 2022-23: Govt data

- Last month was India’s hottest May in 36 yrs: IMD

- NGO makeovers are helping ‘sarkari’ schools shed stigma, boost enrolment

- 2 cops among 4 govt staffers sacked in J&K for terror links

- Sub-Lt Anamika Rajeev is Navy’s first woman helicopter pilot

- Mistaken ID? BSF kills cook near IB in J&K

- Bajaj Housing Finance submits draft to Sebi for `7,000-crore IPO

- Bus overturns as driver dozes off, 3 pilgrims killed

- We never thought it would happen to us: Lynched men’s kin

- WW2 hero’s great-grandson is now fourth-generation officer

- Illegal cottages in club owned by Porsche teen’s family razed

- Modi to make day-long visit to Italy for June 14 G7 summit

- Vande Bharat loco pilot gets invite to Modi’s swearing-in

- CWC urges Rahul to take over as LoP; will consider, says MP

- CWC praises Kharge, Gandhis for poll efforts

- Won’t run away, I’m a fighter: Fadnavis on Maha poll jolt

- RJD: Nitish has completely surrendered in front of Modi

- Oppn parties to take call on attending Modi inauguration

- Pawar kin Rohit eyeing Maha berth, may join BJP: NCP MLA

- Modi may be keen to rope in Chirag; several new faces from BJP also likely

- Panel on NEET-UG mess to file recommendations in a week

- Modi, Xi slated to attend SCO summit next month

- Media mogul Ramoji Rao dies at 87

- IIM passout Sofia Firdous, 32, is Odisha’s 1st Muslim woman MLA

- Pandian criticism regrettable: Naveen

- ‘Children will return to Manipur only after peace is restored’

- Intrigued at violence right after polls: Manipur Cong MP

- Got back gold as overseas quantum rose, had storage capacity here: RBI

- Maoists kill villager, allege he was police informer:

- Artificial Intelligence Paradox

- Share of food spend plummeted in both urban & rural India: NSSO

- Akhilesh to retain Kannauj LS seat, quit as Karhal MLA

- Coca-Cola to set up new plant in T’gana at `700cr

- Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM at 11.27am on June 12: CMO

Inequality declined between 2011-12 & 2022-23: Govt data

Consumption Expenditure Study Shows Fall In Both Rural, Urban Areas

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Inequality has reduced both in urban and rural areas across the country between 2011-12 and 2022-23, results of the Household Consumption Expenditure survey have shown.

The latest data is expected to add to the raging debate over the extent of inequality in the country with some experts saying it had increased while others have said that it has shown a decline after a spike during the Covid-19 pandemic period.

The Gini coefficient, a statistical measure of inequality in the population, shows a decline, from 0.283 to 0.266 for the rural sector and from 0.363 to 0.314 for the urban sector of the country, according to the survey results.

“A decline in the Gini coefficient across urban and rural areas suggests a reduction in income inequality between 2011-12 and 2022-23. Remarkably, income inequality has decreased both in industrially advanced states and in states that have not performed well in attracting businesses,” said Nilanjan Banik, professor of economics at Mahindra University.

The NSSO had earlier released a fact sheet on the household consumption expenditure data. While commenting on those numbers, Niti Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam had said that based on the household consumption survey data the poverty level in the country could be closer to 5% or less.

The household consumption expenditure survey has been released after more than 10 years as the one in 2017-18 was put on the backburner due to inconsistencies in the data. The survey results are used to extrapolate poverty estimates, update GDP numbers.

“The survey reveals that the share of consumption at the bottom 50% fractile classes expanded faster in urban areas during FY12 and FY23 including those at the lowest pyramid at 0-5%. In rural areas, there was also a concomitant shift though the pace was slower. There is also a pronounced decline in estimated Gini coefficient in rural and urban areas over the period. Interestingly, across states for rural areas, the estimated Gini coefficient is higher than all India for states like Kerala, Maharashtra and Rajasthan. For urban areas, Haryana and Kerala have higher Gini coefficient than all India. Thus states seem to be doing better on an average in terms of distribution across rural and urban areas,” said Soumya Kanti Ghosh, group chief economic adviser at State Bank of India.

The results also showed the Gini coefficient for various states for both urban and rural areas. The survey for 2022-23 has undergone some changes in terms of coverage of items, change in questionnaire, multiple visits for data collection and mode of data collection which has prompted some experts to raise issues linked to comparing the results of the current survey with the previous ones.

The average estimated monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) in 2022-23 was Rs3,773 in rural and Rs6,459 in urban India.

“Thus, the per capita expenditure level in the urban areas, in nominal terms, and ignoring rural-urban differences in price levels, has been about 71% more than that in the rural areas,” according to the survey.

Among the major states, MPCE is the lowest in Chhattisgarh for rural (Rs 2,466) as well as urban (Rs 4,483) sectors. It is the highest in Kerala (Rs 5,924) in rural areas and Telangana (Rs 8,158) in urban areas. Separate surveys conducted by independent think tanks have shown a decline in inequality.

“India’s income inequality declined in 2022-23 for the first time since the pandemic, with the income Gini index decreasing by 23%, from 0.506 to 0.390. This improvement is primarily due to the significant recovery of the bottom 50% of households which include labourers, petty traders, small business owners, and small and marginal farmers, according to our ICE 360 survey,” said Rajesh Shukla, MD and CEO of PRICE, a private economic think tank. “Their share of total household income rose from 15.8% in 2020-21 to 22% in 2022-23. Govt welfare schemes introduced in response to the pandemic significantly contributed to the decrease in income inequality,” said Shukla.

Last month was India’s hottest May in 36 yrs: IMD

Regions towards south India felt intense heat during the initial stage of summer, but later, the unbearable heat was felt more in the north

Neha.Madaan@timesgroup.com

Pune:As India voted to elect its MPs to the 18th Lok Sabha over the past six weeks, sweltering heat blanketed large swathes of the country. May 2024 was the hottest May in 36 years, shows India Meteorological Department (IMD) data.

Both April and May this year recorded high maximum temperatures and broke records across multiple stations. The average maximum April temperature this year across India was 35.6°C. This was higher than those observed in the election years of 2004 (35°C), 2009 (35.5°C) and 2014 (35.3°C), but slightly lower than the record 35.7°C observed in 2019.

The average maximum temperature this May was 37.3°C, the hottest since May 1988, when the average maximum temperature was 37.4°C. IMD data shows many stations broke past records in May.

On May 31, Alwar reported 46.5°C, its fourth-highest temperature. The same day, Bilaspur logged 46.8°C, its fifthhighest May maximum ever, while Bulandshahr saw 46°C, its second-highest May maximum ever. Even the hill station Dehradun experienced 43.2°C recently, its third-highest May maximum temperature on record, as per IMD.

Regions towards south India experienced intense heat during initial summer, but later in the season, the unbearable heat was felt more in the north.

Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, the director general of meteorology at IMD, explained: “During early summer (March to April), regions like Maharashtra, Gujarat and southern peninsular areas experience higher temperatures because the sun’s position is more directly overhead, providing intense solar radiation as it moves northward. By late summer (May to June), the sun is nearly directly over northern India, causing these regions to heat up significantly.” He added that IMD’s monthly forecasts had already predicted day temperatures to be above normal for most parts of the country.

NGO makeovers are helping ‘sarkari’ schools shed stigma, boost enrolment

With colourful classrooms, teacher training and tech, some non-profits are trying to bring back pride in govt schools

We’ve changed the narrative that no one wants to go to govt schools. In some cases, MLAs are writing letters to get kids inRAMESH BALASUNDRAM, BAL UTSAV, KARNATAKA

GIVING A FACELIFT: Besides infrastructure facilities, some NGOs provide scholarships as well. (Right) In Nagpur, murals double up as learning tools

Ketaki.Desai@timesgroup.com

After 24 long years, the once-crumbling Utkarsh Vidya Mandir and Junior College (UVM) in Nagpur has undergone quite a transformation — from basic repair to more lights, better toilets and colourful classroom murals that help kids learn. This makeover was thanks to NGO My Zero Gravity, which runs a programme to improve the subpar infrastructure of govt schools. Founder Maitreyi Shrikant Jichkar says over the years, the organisation has seen learning outcomes and attendance improve in the schools they work with.

Think ‘sarkari school’ and you think of under-funded, dilapidated buildings, and teachers who are not properly trained. However, several NGOs across the country are focusing on concrete solutions like building or repairing infrastructure, training teachers and bringing tech to classrooms. The apathy often attributed to government teachers is not inherent, they say. When teachers are engaged and infrastructure is in place, things begin to change not only for students, but the community at large.

INCENTIVE TO STUDY

Karnataka-based Bal Utsav is one such NGO. Director Ramesh Balasundaram says their interventions span four areas: infrastructure, teacher training, scholarships and sanitation. “Typically, the number of students drops, the higher the grade they’re in. In part, this is because the spread of schools is not linear, so if a primary school is in a 1km radius, the upper primary may be 5km away,” he says. “But the most important thing is that if students are not sure they’ll be in school next year, why would they step up to the pedal and learn?” This is the idea behind their scholarship programme — to retain the top students in each school. He adds that bringing alumni back to talk to current students helps as they see someone become an engineer or study in an international school.

WATER TO WASHROOMS

Jichkar says it is not just about having pretty schools but creating an enabling learning environment. Their murals, for instance, double up as a pedagogical tool. “If we paint a protractor on the wall, the teachers can use them to teach angles.”

But much of the infrastructural work these non-profits do is more basic — schools often lack classrooms, drinking water, washrooms, and waste-disposal mechanisms. Balasundaram says they did a survey of 100 Bengaluru schools in 2015 and found that none had any form of waste disposal on offer, let alone for menstrual waste. “If you’re a teacher who cares about their job, but your school doesn’t have a toilet and you spend nine hours a day there, would you do it?” Menstruating students miss out on school or in some cases even run back home in the middle of the day, these experts say.

One School at a Time (OSAAT) is a non-profit started by techies who were living in the US some 20 years ago. But recently, they’ve established a local team. “In the last few years, we’ve been working on 10-15 schools a year across 10 states. Our 103rd project is underway,” says Sudheer Hullemane, vice president, OSAAT Digital School Infrastructure. In a school in Karnataka’s Belgaum which was ravaged by the 2018 floods, they built four classrooms and toilet blocks. “Since then, the school has transformed. Its student strength has doubled to 600,” says Balakrishna Rao, head of operations of OSAAT Physical Infrastructure.

TEACHING WITH TECH

The other focus of their intervention has been around technology. Much is made of the transformative potential of tech for classrooms, but in rural areas where data, if not electricity itself, is precarious, this is easier said than done. OSAAT tackles this by providing their schools with laptops and tablets, rather than desktops which need constant electricity.

Abhishek Dubey studied both in a govt and private school and had a strong desire to give back. What began as teaching kids from rural areas while he was in college has turned into a full-fledged organisation. They’ve trained over 11,000 teachers thus far, and fitted schools with an interactive panel. “We curate content and give them a screen where they play a video and facilitate a discussion in class. All this can be accessed offline.” Similarly, Caring with Colour, another NGO, focuses on providing school kids with 21st century employable skills. “We train teachers to move from blackboard-style rote learning into a more experiential method where students learn through activities, games, art and projects,” says Rajeev Annaluru, trustee & COO. So, if fractions are being taught, teachers use everything from chapatis to trees to explain the concept.

SENSE OF PRIDE

Balasundaram says they see at least 5% increased enrollment year-on-year, with some schools even seeing a 25% jump year-on-year. “We’ve been able to break the narrative that no one wants to go to these schools. In some cases, MLAs are writing letters trying to get students in.”

This sense of pride speaks to the intangible effects of this kind of transformation. Rao says, “Once basic infrastructure is in place, teachers, students, and the larger community get motivated. The administration finds it easier to raise funding. Students enrolled in private schools come back to government schools. Villages come out to celebrate the inauguration and neighbouring villages get more motivated to do the same. You can’t quantify that feeling.”

— Additional inputs by Ved Ghulghule

2 cops among 4 govt staffers sacked in J&K for terror links

Were Acting On Behalf Of ISI, Probe Shows

The sacked employees have been charged with supplying ammunition to terrorists and servicing their weapons, playing guide to infiltrating terrorists and mobilising violent protests in the Valley

Saleem Pandit & Bharti Jain TNN

Srinagar/New Delhi: J&K administration on Saturday sacked its four employees — two police constables, a school teacher and an assistant lineman — over alleged terror links and activities that include supply of ammunition to terrorists and servicing of their weapons, playing guide to infiltrating terrorists and mobilising violent protests to keep Kashmir on the boil.

Invoking Article 311(2) (c) of the Constitution, J&K LG Manoj Sinha ordered the dismissals after “a discreet background check by J&K CID established that the four staffers — constables Abdul Rehman Dar and Ghulam Rasool Bhat, school teacher Shabeer Ahmad Wani and assistant lineman Anayatullah Shah Pirzada — were acting on behalf of Pakistan’s ISI and terror outfits sponsored by it”.

With these four terminations, 61 J&K government staffers have faced termination under Article 311(2) (c) during Sinha’s tenure in J&K.

As per CID dossiers accessed by TOI, Abdul Rehman Dar hails from Tral. Recruited in 2002, Dar was mostly seen with overground workers, in- cluding Sajjad Hussain Parray, with whom he ran a garments business. Sajjad was apprehended in Awantipora along with three other Al-Badr terrorists and a search unearthed an AK-56 rifle, magazine, 28 rounds and Chinese hand grenades. Dar allegedly acted as terrorists’ mole in J&K Police and would transport illegal arms and ammunition, provided by another tainted constable Ghulam Rasool Bhat, between Budgam and Tral.

J&K constable Ghulam Rasool Bhat, who was posted at a kote (a facility for storage and repair of weapons) in Budgam police lines, was inducted into active terrorism by a network of OGWs and terrorists of Lalgam Tral area. Sources said he managed his posting for years as an assistant kote NCO with the ulterior aim to provide technical support to terrorists for the repair and maintenance of their firearms.

Anayatullah Shah Pirzada, assistant line-man in jal shakti division, Baramulla, CID dossier states, is a “terrorist associate of outlawed Al-Badr Mujahideen”. He was close to then chief operations commander of the outfit Yousuf Baloch, based in Rafiabad, PoK in late 1990s and early 2000s, and later another Al Badr terrorist commander Tameem. Anayatullah would receive and guide infiltrating groups of terrorists from across the border and settle them in J&K.

Shabeer Ahmad Wani, a teacher in J&K school education department and a resident of D H Pora, Kulgam, had been an active member of banned Jamaat-e-Islami and associated with Hizbul Mujahideen. He played a pivotal role in nourishing, strengthening and proliferating a conducive ecosystem for secessionism and terrorism across Kulgam, Shopian and Anantnag.

Sub-Lt Anamika Rajeev is Navy’s first woman helicopter pilot

Anamika B Rajeev got the ‘golden wings’ at the passing-out parade at naval air station INS Rajali

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: After IAF and Army, Indian Navy has also begun inducting women as helicopter pilots, with sub-lieutenant Anamika B Rajeev becoming the first to get the “golden wings” at the passing-out parade at naval air station INS Rajali in Tamil Nadu’s Arakkonam.

In another milestone, Lieutenant Jamyang Tsewang, the first officer from Ladakh to be commissioned into the Navy, also successfully graduated as a qualified helicopter pilot.

The two were among the 21 pilots of the 102nd helicopter conversion course to be awarded the “golden wings” by Eastern Naval Command chief vice admiral Rajesh Pendharkar at the parade on Friday.

The naval pilots underwent the 22-week training programme at INS Rajali after initial training with IAF. While the Navy already has women pilots flying the Dornier-228 maritime patrol aircraft, SubLt Rajeev is the first to gain entry into the force’s helicopter fleet that includes Chetaks, Sea Kings, Dhruvs and the spanking new submarine-hunting MH-60R Seahawk helicopters, which are armed with Hellfire missiles, MK-54 torpedoes and precision-kill rockets.

There are 19 women flying fighters like MiG-21s and Sukhoi-30MKIs in the IAF, while there are over 145 women chopper and transport aircraft pilots in IAF, Army and the Navy.

Mistaken ID? BSF kills cook near IB in J&K

Sanjay KhajuriaTNN

Jammu: A 28-year-old cook hired for a construction project near an outpost along the India-Pakistan border in J&K’s Samba was fatally shot in the chest allegedly by BSF guards late Friday, police said on Saturday, suggesting it may be a case of mistaken identity.

The cook — Vasudev from Akhnoor in Jammu — allegedly wandered from the construction site to the border in darkness. “As BSF guards from the outpost noticed suspicious movement, they sounded a warning. They asked the man to halt and identify himself. Instead of stopping, he allegedly began running, prompting the guards to shoot,” Samba ASP Surinder Choudhary said.

Vasudev was taken to a hospital in Samba, where he was declared dead upon arrival. Choudhary said cops have “taken cognisance of the case and further probe is ongoing”. BSF hasn’t issued any statement till late Saturday.

Samba ADC Suresh Kumar Sharma said an ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh, including Rs 4 lakh from the construction company, has been given to the family, who received the body after the post-mortem.

Bajaj Housing Finance submits draft to Sebi for `7,000-crore IPO

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

Mumbai: Bajaj Housing Finance has submitted a draft of the red herring prospectus to Sebi for an initial public offer (IPO) of Rs 7,000 crore. The IPO will include a fresh issue of shares worth Rs 4,000 crore and an offer for sale by promoter Bajaj Finance worth Rs 3,000 crore.

This is the largest IPO since LIC’s offering in May 2022. Bajaj Housing Finance said under RBI’s scale-based regulations, all upper-layer NBFCs must be listed within three years of identification as NBFC-UL. Bajaj Housing has been identified as a NBFC-UL since Sept2022.

Bajaj Housing Finance is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bajaj Finance, which is listed on the stock exchanges. Bajaj Finance is the lending arm of Bajaj Finserv, the holding company for the Sanjiv Bajajled financial services group.

As of March 2024, Bajaj Housing Finance had a net worth of Rs 12,233 crore and a total income of Rs 7,617 crore. The company had reported a net profit of Rs 1,731 crore.

BHF’s assets under management in FY24 were up 32% to Rs 91,370 crore, as against Rs 69,228 crore as of March 31, 2023. The company’s majority business is home loans to individuals.

Following the merger of HDFC with HDFC Bank, market share of banks vis-a-vis NBFC/HFC has shifted 80:20 from 66:34, with banks having majority market share. The top HFCs are LIC Housing Finance, Bajaj Housing Finance, Indiabulls Housing Finance and PNB Housing Finance.

According a recent report on housing finance by Crisil, the Indian housing finance market clocked a healthy CAGR of 12.6% (growth in credit outstanding) during fiscals 2019 to 2023, on account of rise in disposable incomes, healthy demand, and greater number of players entering the segment.

Bus overturns as driver dozes off, 3 pilgrims killed

Agra: Two women and a child died and 46 persons were injured after a bus ferrying devotees from Vaishno Devi went out of control and overturned on Agra-Lucknow expressway in Firozabad around 3am on Saturday. With the help of locals, police rescued passengers from the mangled vehicle.

The bus, which embarked on its journey on May 28 from Chhattisgarh, was returning from the shrine via Prayagraj. As it entered Firozabad, it veered off the e-way and plummeted into a deep gorge. According to police, preliminary investigations suggest the driver had dozed off at the wheel.

The deceased were identified as Anshu Kumari, Chamit Singh and Annapurna Devi.

TNN

We never thought it would happen to us: Lynched men’s kin

Sandeep Rai & Sachin Sharma TNN

Shamli/Saharanpur: Azma Qureshi, 33, is in shock like many others in North Haqeeqat Nagar at Banat town in Shamli. Her husband Tehseen (Guddu) Qureshi was among two labourers transporting cattle who were lynched in Raipur district of Chhattisgarh on Friday. The third man is battling for life.

“She was the last person to have spoken to Guddu, the night before the incident. He told her they were leaving for Odisha. She has gone quiet since the news was broken to us Friday. We had heard about lynchings before, but never thought it would happen to us,” said Waseem, Guddu’s brother.

Guddu, 35, was the eldest among eight siblings and was a father of four kids — the eldest six years old, youngest just six months.

There was grief and anger among locals at Lakhnoti in Gangoh, Saharanpur, too, 50 km away. People, irrespective of caste and faith, assembled at the house of Mohammad Dilshad, grandfather of Chand Miya Khan.

Chand and Saddam Qureshi (both 23-year-olds and cousins) had accompanied Guddu when the lynchings happened. Like Guddu, Chand was killed. Saddam is in critical condition at a hospital in Raipur.

Dilshad said: “What can I say? Who can understand the trauma of a 20-year-old pregnant woman who got married just five months ago and has lost her husband to this mindless killing.”

Chand got married to Niha in Jan. He was happy he got the driver job 12 days ago.

The victims’ kin said the three worked for Shamli- based cattle trader Monu Khan who transported animals across states.Khan refused to comment on the matter Saturday. SP Shamli Abhishek said: “We are probing the nature of trade.”

Saddam’s uncle, Rashid Ahmad, said, “I’m in touch with my family members who are with Saddam at the moment. He has given his statement to the police. Their vehicle, he said, was intercepted by men from Bajrang Dal who attacked all three men in the truck that carried cattle and threw them over the bridge after brutally assaulting them.”

24 hrs on, cops yet to identify killers

A day after two truckers from UP’s Saharanpur were lynched and another injured in an attack by alleged cow vigilantes, Chhattisgarh Police filed an FIR against unidentified assailants on charges of culpable homicide and attempted murder.

More than 24 hours after the fatal assault, police are yet to identify any of the accused.

Raipur senior SP Santosh Singh told TOI that a team led by Raipur additional SP (rural) Kirtan Rathore has launched a probe and is trying to trace and arrest the accused, adding the case was registered based on preliminary investigation and autopsy reports.

A 57-second video of the survivor, Saddam Qureshi, circulating on social media gives a chilling account of the attack — 14-15 people beat Chand Khan and Guddu Khan to death and threw their bodies from the Mahanadi bridge into the riverbed. The survivor says he jumped from the bridge to save his life.

TNN

WW2 hero’s great-grandson is now fourth-generation officer

Dhruv Dahiya, 21, was among 394 cadets to pass out from Indian Military Academy on Saturday

Tanmayee Tyagi TNN

Dehradun: Dhruv Dahiya from Bengaluru is a fourth generation officer. His great grandfather fought WW-II on Burmese and African fronts, his grandfather is a Shaurya Chakra recipient who saw action in 1971 Indo-Pak war, and his father, Commodore Shivnath Dahiya, a test pilot for Tejas, was the first to land the aircraft on INS Vikrant.

On Saturday, the 21-yearold was among 394 cadets to pass out from Indian Military Academy. He was accompanied by his father, Shivnath, and grandfather, Sajjan Kumar. The family originally hails from Haryana’s Rohtak.

Now settled in the USA, Dhruv’s grandfather flew all the way to be part of the proud moment. Kumar, who was on the frontlines during the PNS Ghazi attack, said, “My father, Tek Chand, was a captain in British military. He fought in WW-II and was away from home for five years. My mother would wait six months to receive a letter from him. He suffered bullet injuries during the war, but never gave up.”

Dhruv’s family legacy continued with his father, a chief test pilot for LCA Navy, who performed the first successful arrested landing, hot refuelling and launching of Tejas on INS Vikrant last year.

The fourth-generation officer hopes to follow in their illustrious footsteps. “This isn’t pressure for me, it’s inspiration,” said Dhruv, a former RIMC Dehradun graduate.

He added: “Like them, I look forward to excelling in my military career. I’m going to do my best to make my country and family proud.”

Illegal cottages in club owned by Porsche teen’s family razed

The demolished cottages in a Mahabaleshwar club built on govt land. Though the land was leased for residential use, it was being used for commercial purposes in violation of land use laws

Rahul.Gayakwad@timesgroup.com

Kolhapur: Satara district administration Saturday demolished eight cottages constructed illegally in a Mahabaleshwar club owned by the family of the teenager allegedly involved in the Porsche crash that killed two engineers in Pune on May 19.

The club was built on govt land and run by a trust. Parents and grandparents of the teen allegedly involved in the crash are members of trust. Though the land was leased for residential use, it was being used for commercial purposes in violation of land use laws.

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde had ordered the Satara collector to bulldoze the club if its construction was found illegal, as alleged by local RTI activist Abhaysingh Havaldar.

Municipal council administrator Yogesh Patil said: “We had issued a notice to the owners, asking them to take down the illegal structures on their own. Since they did not take any action, we razed eight cottages on Saturday as per the collector’s orders.”

While Havaldar thanked the CM, the guardian minister and the collector for quick action, he said the property should be taken over by govt.

Cops quiz man on sample swap money trail

Cops are questioning Ashpaque Makandar, a liaison person, to find the source of Rs 3 lakh he handed to a grade-IV staffer of Sassoon Hospital to swap the blood sample of the minor involved in the May 19 crash. Police said Makandar functioned as a middleman between the minor’s father and hospital staff. He and his associate Amar Santosh Gaikwad (27) were arrested Tuesday.

A crime branch officer said, “Earlier we thought the cash was given to grade-IV staffer Atul Ghatkamble on the hospital premises. Now, it has been revealed that the cash was delivered to him at the Govt Observation Home for Boys in Yerawada on May 19.”

TNN

Modi to make day-long visit to Italy for June 14 G7 summit

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Days after his swearing-in, Narendra Modi will undertake a day-long visit to Italy to participate in the G7 summit on June 14. With Modi unlikely to attend the Ukraine peace summit, which will be hosted by Switzerland immediately after G7, he’s expected to be back the next day, in time for the Parliament session beginning mid-June.

Unlike China, India is likely to participate in the Switzerland summit, for which Russia has not been invited, but at a junior level. Modi will address the G7 outreach session on June 14 and have bilateral meetings with several G7 leaders, as also with counterparts from other invitee countries. Govt sources said efforts were on to schedule as many bilateral meetings as possible on the margins of the summit.

Modi is expected to address issues related to development, health and food security, while ducking G7 recriminations against Russia. The G7 is expected to announce at the summit progress in their plans to use income from frozen Russian assets for the benefit of Ukraine.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who will host the summit in Apulia, was among the first heads of govt to congratulate Modi for the majority his NDA got in the Lok Sabha elections.

In a post on X, Meloni said she was sure “that we will continue to work together to strengthen the friendship that unites Italy and India and consolidate cooperation on the various issues that bind us, for the well-being of our nations and our peoples”.

Modi responded by thanking Meloni and saying he remained committed to deepening the India-Italy strategic partnership which is underpinned by shared values and interests.

Vande Bharat loco pilot gets invite to Modi’s swearing-in

Ved.Ghulghule@timesgroup.com

Nagpur: When assistant loco pilot Sneh Singh Baghel met Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi briefly during the flagging of the semi-highspeed Vande Bharat at Nagpur railway station in Dec 2022, he could hardly have imagined that he would be one of the 10 loco pilots receiving an invite to his swearing-in ceremony.

“It’s such a great honour. I couldn’t believe my ears when I got the phone call,” Baghel told TOI.

With 3 years of experience, Baghel is a trained rail worker under Mission Karmayogi.

Besides Baghel, Surekha Yadav LP from Central Railway, Preeti Sahu from WCR, Srini Shrivastava from NER, Aishwarya Menon from Southern Railway, ASP Tirkey from SER, N Prakash from SCR, Lalith Kumar from SWR, Surender Pal Singh from NR, and Satya Raj Mandal from NFR will attend Modi’s oath ceremony.

CWC urges Rahul to take over as LoP; will consider, says MP

Sonia Elected Cong’s Parl Party Chief

Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after attending the CWC meeting in New Delhi on Saturday

Subodh.Ghildiyal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: With the party claiming that people have put it “firmly on the path of revival”, the Congress Working Committee led by president Mallikarjun Kharge Saturday demanded in one voice that Rahul Gandhi take over as the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha to carry forward the fight for welfare and democracy inside the Parliament.

The CWC also passed a resolution urging Rahul-as-LOP, while the Gandhi scion replied he will think over the demand. Later, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said, “Rahul is the best person to lead us in the Parliament. For a strong and vigilant opposition, those who want to protect the Constitution also... should be safe under the leadership of Rahul as LOP.”

Sonia Gandhi was reelected as the chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party by Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs, who would now nominate the leaders in the two Houses. While Kharge is set to stay on as the LOP in the Upper House, the possibility of Rahul taking up the top responsibility in the LS is open.

As an upbeat Congress wrapped up the inhouse formalities , Sonia said Modi is unlikely to change the substance and style of his governance, warning of “challenging times ahead”.

“We have to be alert to prevent any attempts to increase polarisation and erosion of secular and democratic values by the ruling cabal. All such attempts must be thwarted,” she said.

Kharge said people voted to “save democracy and the Constitution” and the mandate is a rejection of BJP’s ten years of politics of hate and polarisation. In a resolution, the CWC thanked the people for “voting so powerfully to preserve our democracy, protect the Republic’s Constitution and enhance social and economic justice.” It criticised the PM for running a campaign anchored in bigotry.

Sonia said “a mighty and malevolent machine” tried to destroy Congress by crippling it financially and through a campaign of lies against the party leaders.

CWC praises Kharge, Gandhis for poll efforts

New Delhi: The CWC, in a resolution, praised the efforts of party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the just concluded Parliamentary elections.

Meanwhile, asked if Rahul will retain Rae Bareli or Wayanad, AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said the decision will be announced within four days.

Talking about Kharge, the resolution noted, “The sheer energy and determination of Kharge was an inspiration to everyone. He was bold and fearless both in Parliament and outside.”

Kharge lauded Rahul’s Yatras, noting that the party’s votes and seats had increased on their route.The resolution said, “More than any other individual, it was Rahul who made the protection of our Republic’s Constitution the central issue in the 2024 elections.”

The CWC said Priyanka exposed BJP relentlessly and communicated Congress’s messages powerfully.

TNN

Won’t run away, I’m a fighter: Fadnavis on Maha poll jolt

Mumbai: Asserting that he was a fighter who took responsibility when things did not go right, Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis said on Saturday that BJP got its political arithmetic wrong in the Lok Sabha election in the state, reports Clara Lewis.

“'I am not one to run away, I am the one who fights,” he said when BJP held a meeting of its MLAs at its Dadar office for feedback on factors that led to its dismal performance in the state. BJP won nine seats this time compared to 23 in 2024.

Fadnavis said he had even requested the central leadership to relieve him of the deputy chief minister’s post so that he could work full-time with the party for the upcoming assembly election. “Since I am leading the party in the state, I take responsibility for the party’s defeats,” he said.

“I met Amit Shah and told him what is in my mind. His opinion was not very different from yours but he said that whatever is going on now let it be and later we shall prepare a blueprint for Maharashtra,” he said.

The party has planned celebrations across the state to mark Modi’s swearing-in.

RJD: Nitish has completely surrendered in front of Modi

Madan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Patna: Dismissing K C Tyagi’s claim, RJD spokesperson Mrityunjay Tiwari said, “Nitish has completely surrendered in front of Modi. JD(U) netas are making such claims just to get more ministerial berths.”

Asked whether any INDIA bloc politician from Bihar also made the offer, Tyagi declined to reveal the name of anyone, saying only that the offer was made not only by Congress but also by other INDIA bloc constituents.

Tyagi said the offers were made till June 7, when Nitish extended his party’s support to Modi at the NDA meeting.

“After the Lok Sabha elections, those leaders of the INDI alliance who did not want Nitish to become convener of the opposition bloc started offering him the post of PM. We have phone records to substantiate our claim,” the JD(U) politician said, adding, “But we declined their offer as Nitish had remained with PM Modi and the NDA during the entire election. They stopped calling us after Nitish endorsed the name of Narendra Modi as the next PM.”

Asked why INDIA bloc politicians woke up so late to offer the PM’s post to Nitish, Tyagi said, “Just leave it. What will happen jab chiriya chug gayee khet?”

Oppn parties to take call on attending Modi inauguration

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Congress and the opposition parties were mulling if to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Narendra Modi on Sunday. Sources said Congress president received the invite late night for the event, which will be attended by leaders of South Asia and Indian Ocean Region.

Earlier, AICC functionaries Jairam Ramesh and KC Venugopal chided BJP that Indian leaders have not received the invite yet, while all the invitations were going to international leaders. They said the INDIA parties will take a decision, when they get the invitation.

Sources said discus- sions were held between the opposition parties on Saturday, and the view was that they could stay away. But a final decision will be taken tomorrow.

Jairam Ramesh said, “The person taking the oath has lost his personal, political and moral authority. Mandate was sought in Modi’s name, he did not get it. This is one-third PM. We don’t understand why this drama of swearing-in is being undertaken.”

Reassess ‘guarantee’ schemes as people voted for BJP, says Karnataka Cong neta

Karnataka Congress spokesperson M Lakshmana, who lost the Lok Sabha elections in Mysuru, urged CM Siddaramaiah to reassess beneficiaries of state govt’s “guarantee” schemes, saying Saturday that many people voted BJP despite availing themselves of the benefits.

“Forward caste voters who benefit from the guarantee schemes have supported BJP, which opposes these schemes. So, Iurge the CM to re-evaluate and review the five guarantee schemes offered by Congress-led state govt. The people have given a mandate against these,” Lakshmana said. He proposed limiting these benefits to those truly in need.

TNN

Pawar kin Rohit eyeing Maha berth, may join BJP: NCP MLA

Mohammed.Akhef@timesgroup.com

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: NCP (Ajit Pawar) legislator Prakash Solanke alleged Saturday that NCP founder Sharad Pawar’s grandnephew and MLA Rohit Pawar was eyeing a ministry in Maharashtra govt and could join BJP. The 38-year-old NCP (SCP) legislator Rohit dismissed the claims as baseless.

Solanke’s statements followed Rohit’s suggestion that several MLAs from Ajit Pawar’s NCP were considering returning to Sharad Pawar’s camp, after the state’s governing Mahayuti coalition failed to impress in Lok Sabha polls.

Solanke countered, say- ing: “The claims made by Rohit are part of the party’s strategy. At our recent meeting with NCP MLAs, none were willing to leave Ajit Pawar and return to the Sharad Pawar camp. My information is that Rohit is more than willing to get a ministry from BJP and join the party. There are also reports that he has had several rounds of meetings in this regard.”

Solanke added that discussions about Rohit’s potential move to BJP were doing the rounds within Maharashtra’s political circles.

Solanke blamed the false narrative set by MVA for Mahayuti’s poor performance in LS polls.

‘2 Sena (UBT) MPs contacted CM, said they’ll rope in 4 more to back Modi’

Newly elected Shiv Sena MP Naresh Mhaske alleged on Saturday that two Shiv Sena (UBT) MPs had made contact with Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde-led Sena and wanted to support Narendra Modi to get development works in their constituencies, reports Chaitanya Marpakwar. Mhaske claimed the two MPs are worried about disqualification, so they said they would get six MPs together and then back Modi with CM Shinde. Sena (UBT) functionary Sushma Andhare said, “Mhaske is doing this to get attention.”

TNN

Modi may be keen to rope in Chirag; several new faces from BJP also likely

Speculations over ministry-making may persist beyond the swearing-in. Likely assignments for Shivraj Singh Chouhan and ML Khattar will also impact the pecking order

A carcade on the Kartavya Path during a rehearsal on the eve of the swearing-in ceremony of the NDA govt, in New Delhi on Saturday

Continued from P 1

Although Rajiv Ranjan Singh is senior, former Bihar water resources minister Sanjay Jha is also a strong contender. Besides chief minister Nitish Kumar’s trust, he also enjoys goodwill in BJP for the role he played in facilitating JD(U)’s return to NDA.

For the junior minister berth, JD(U) is likely to consider someone from the MBC bloc, an important constituency for the party. Rajya Sabha member Ramnath Thakur, whose father, the late Karpoori Thakur, was awarded a Bharat Ratna by the Modi govt, is likely to get the nod, although the party has an array of choices to pick from.

For the Shiv Sena quota, it is likely to be a toss-up between Shrirang Barne, the three-term winner from Maval, and Prataprao Jadhav, the winner from Buldhana, while Modi may be keen to bring in Chirag Paswan, whose claim to be the legatee of his father, late Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, has been fortified with LJP sweeping the five seats allotted to it.

Modi’s choices are being looked forward to also for the clues they may offer regarding his response to the setback that the party suffered in Uttar Pradesh and elsewhere and the success of the opposition’s claims that BJP was anti-Dalit and had sought a super majority to change the Constitution to scrap caste quotas.

While the suspense over inductions from among allies is expected to end on Sunday evening, when the swearing-in is scheduled, speculation over ministry-making may persist until the portfolios are announced. Whether the portfolios of CCS ministers are going to be shuffled remains a matter of intense discussion in political and bureaucratic circles which are also waiting with keen anticipation for the picks for crucial positions like principal secretary, cabinet secretary, foreign secretary, home secretary, Army chief, ED director and SBI chairman.

Likely assignments for former chief ministers like Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar will also have a bearing on the pecking order and indicate their standing, besides being a pointer to the govt’s priorities.

Several new faces from BJP are also expected, with over 20 of the 71 ministers having lost the elections.

Panel on NEET-UG mess to file recommendations in a week

 Continued from P 1

Earlier, Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticised govt on purported irregularities in the medical entrance examination demanding a thorough investigation. According to NTA officials, the four-member panel is being mandated to submit its recommendations within a week and the results of these candidates might be revised accordingly.

The move comes amid allegations of inflation of marks leading to 67 candidates sharing first rank in the exam, including six from the same centre in Haryana.

Demanding re-exam, candidates are alleging that the grace marks awarded to make up for the loss of time at six exam centres have led to the inflation of marks and tampered with the chances of other candidates. These centres are from Meghalaya, Bahadurgarh in Haryana, Dantewada and Balodh in Chhattisgarh, Surat in Gujarat and Chandigarh.

“Ahigh-powered committee has been set up to review the results of over 1,563 candidates. The four-member panel headed by a former UPSC chairman will submit its recommendations within a week and the results of these candidates might be revised,” said Subodh Kumar Singh, direc- tor general, NTA.

Singh added, “The awarding of grace marks has not impacted the qualifying criteria of the exam and the review of results of the affected candidates will not impact the admission process.”

The issue also took a political turn with several opposition parties raising the issue. While AAP demanded a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe into the alleged irregularities, Congress alleged paper leaks, rigging and corruption have become an integral part of many examinations and accused BJP of cheating youngsters and playing with their futures. Congress in Kerala alleged that results have raised concerns about the authenticity of the national exam for medical courses, with many students casting doubt on the procedure.

Responding to AAP’s allegations, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor questioned that “the people of Delhi want to know how minister Atishi took credit for the 100% results of Delhi’s six specialised excellence schools in NEET, while today Jasmine Shah called the emergence of six toppers from a centre in Jhajjar, Haryana, a scam?”

The NTA however, denied any irregularities and said the changes made in the NCERT textbooks and grace marks for losing time at the examination centres were some of the reasons behind the students scoring higher marks.

On whether the exam will be re-conducted for certain students, Singh said: “It will be decided depending upon the committee’s recommendations. The idea is to ensure that students who lost time or other students are not at any disadvantage,” while denying any paper leak and irregularities in the exam and reiterated that the integrity of the crucial test had been compromised.

ABVP, in a statement, said that irregularities were reported on the very day of the examination from different parts of the country and solvers were caught at different places, and at some places irregularities were also found in the distribution of question papers, etc. Vidyarthi Parishad stands with the legitimate demands of the NEET candidates. ABVP’s national general secretary Yagyavalkya Shukla said that there is suspicion of irregularities among the candidates regarding the NEET-UG exam results, this entire episode should be investigated by CBI and strict action should be taken against the culprits.

Modi, Xi slated to attend SCO summit next month

 Continued from P 1

While military disengagement has been achieved at four points in the western sector, the same has remained elusive in Depsang and Demchok areas even after 21 rounds of military and 15 rounds of diplomatic talks.

Modi and Xi have not had a formal bilateral meeting since the standoff began even though they have had “informal conversations” on the margins of the Brics summit last year and G20 summit in 2022. Modi and Xi will again come face to face at the SCO summit in Kazakhstan next month. There’s no proposal fo a bilateral meeting between the leaders yet.

China believes the impasse in the remaining areas in eastern Ladakh are legacy issues and that these should not be allowed to block resumption of normal bilateral exchanges, since they predate the onset of the standoff in eastern Ladakh. India, however, has steadfastly maintained there can’t be any progress in ties till the time disengagement is effected in the remaining areas, calling it an essential basis for peace in the border areas.

Media mogul Ramoji Rao dies at 87

Hyderabad: Cherukuri Ramoji Rao, who straddled the media and film industry in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana for half a century, passed away here on Saturday. He was 87, reports Sushil Rao. Rao had been ailing for some time, was admitted to hospital on Friday and put on ventilator support. His last rites will be performed with state honours at Ramoji Film City here on Sunday.

PM-elect Narendra Modi and Prez Droupadi Murmu condoled his death.

Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, former Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jangamohan Reddy also condoled Rao’s death.

IIM passout Sofia Firdous, 32, is Odisha’s 1st Muslim woman MLA

Women should come forward in every field, including politics, said Congress’s Sofia Firdous

Hemanta.Pradhan@timesgroup.com

Bhubaneswar: Sofia Firdous, 32, of Congress has created history by becoming the first Muslim woman to be elected MLA in Odisha from the Barabati-Cuttack seat. She defeated BJP candidate and noted gynaecologist Dr Purna Chandra Mahapatra, 69, by a margin of 8,001 votes.

Though 141 women have become MLAs in Odisha since 1937, no Muslim woman had won an assembly seat before Sofia, daughter of Mohammed Moquim, former MLA of Barabati-Cuttack.

“As a Muslim woman, I understand I made history. But women’s representation in the assembly is not impressive. Out of 147 MLAs, we have only 11 women members this time. The number should increase. Women should come forward in every field, including politics. My ideal politician is former chief minister Nandini Satpathy,” said Sofia, an alumnus of IIM Bangalore.

Pandian criticism regrettable: Naveen

Odisha caretaker CM Naveen Patnaik defended his close aide VK Pandian Saturday and deemed regrettable the criticism directed at the BJD chief election strategist for the party’s set back in Lok Sabha and assembly elections, reports Ashok Pradhan.

He said, “It has come to my notice there has been some criticism of Mr Pandian. This is unfortunate.” Pandian did excellent work as an officer in many fields in the last 10 years, helping the govt manage two cyclones andCovid-19 pandemic in the state, he said, adding “He is a person of integrity and honesty and should be remembered for all that.”

‘Children will return to Manipur only after peace is restored’

11 Of Them Have Lost Their Parents To The Violence

Continued from P 1

Now, the situation has changed. Children are immersed in their studies, are mingling well with local students, and are active in sports,” said C V Vadavana, chairman of Sathyam Ministries. He revealed that fellow missionaries in Manipur had informed them about the plight of these children, some of whom had been orphaned and were unable to continue their education. “Among this lot, 11 have lost their parents to the violence,” said Vadavana.

Sathyam Ministries provides these children free accommodation and food at its seminary in Kaviyoor, near Thiruvalla. Additionally, they receive free education and lunch at school. “The children will return to Manipur only after peace is completely restored there. The election results have given them some hope,” he said.

“I have made friends with many Malayali students here, and after studies we spend time chatting,” said Chandini, who added that she likes dosas.

Shaji Mathew, principal of the school, said most children are in Class 8 and 9. Beyond classroom learning, the school provides free lunch, uniforms and a bus to transport them between the seminary and the school. Their admission to the school was facilitated by the intervention of the Archbishop of Thiruvalla, Metropolitan Thomas Mar Koorilos, Mathew said.

Intrigued at violence right after polls: Manipur Cong MP

Continued from P 1

Houses in Lamtai Khunou, Dibong Khunou, Nunkhal, and Begra villages, which were empty following the evacuation, were also set ablaze. In retaliation, members of the targeted community burned down an unoccupied farmhouse belonging to the other group.

Manipur govt on Saturday sent reinforcements and police commandos from Imphal to Jiribam, about 220km away. The govt also transferred Jiribam SP A Ghanashyam Sharma, replacing him with M Pradip Singh as the new senior SP.

Earlier, locals staged a protest in front of Jiribam police station, demanding the return of their licensed firearms which had been taken from them before the Lok Sabha elections. Since Thursday night, district authorities have enforced an indefinite curfew, prohibiting movement of people outside their homes. Authorities in neighbouring Tamenglong district have announced an indefinite curfew in areas bordering Jiribam.

“I am quite intrigued that this happened just after the elections. This will certainly be the handiwork of those people who don’t love Manipur, who want the crisis to continue for their benefit, personal or otherwise, to destroy Manipur,” said Angomcha Bimol Akoijam, newly-elected Congress MP for Inner Manipur, commenting on the situation.

Got back gold as overseas quantum rose, had storage capacity here: RBI

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das said the decision to bring in 100 tonnes of gold was made because the quantum of gold outside the country had gone up due to RBI’s purchase. Part of the gold was decided to be held within the country as there was storage capacity available.

“The quantum of gold held by RBI was static for a long time. As data shows, RBI was buying gold as part of its reserves management, and the quantum of gold held outside was going up. We have domestic capacity, and we felt part of the gold should be stored within the country. There is nothing more to it,” said Das.

On whether RBI was following rec- ommendation of the Rangarajan committee on balance of payments in 1993, which said at least a fourth of the gold reserves should be held overseas, Das said, “A lot of water has flown down the Ganges since 1993, we have a high-level committee which takes care of all this.”

TOI was the first to report, on 31 May 2024, that RBI had moved 100 tonnes of gold from UK to its vaults in India. Now, around half the gold is in vaults within the country. Das expressed surprise that only one media house had picked up the information, although the half-yearly data on gold reserves referenced the quantum of gold held within and offshore. “RBI annual report contained this data, and one media house (TOI) picked it up,” said Das.

Maoists kill villager, allege he was police informer:

Maoists shot dead a villager in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon on Friday, accusing him of being apolice informer. This is the second such murder in Bastar division in less than a week. Victim was Dinesh Kumar Mandavi (33) of Timri village. Police have registered a case and are trying to identify the killers. Mandavi’s kin told police that he was returning with his brother-inlaw after attending a wedding when Maoists waylaid him. They shot him and fled.

TNN

Artificial Intelligence Paradox

As technology advances, AI seeks to emulate natural intelligence, yet the very pursuit raises questions about the true nature of intelligence and its potential consequences for humanity, writes DEEPAK RANADE

THE SPEAKING TREE

SCIENCE & SPIRIT

Intelligence is an attribute that’s ubiquitous and omnipresent in the universe. Every single living cell, every single subatomic particle, is testimony to an underlying, implicate order not only in its creation but as much as in the inherent properties. This cryptic intelligence is subtly embedded into the very fabric of creation. It determines with precision the mass of a proton, neutron, or electron, the strength of the forces like strong nuclear, weak nuclear, electromagnetic and gravity. It is designed and executed to perfection. This omnipresent intelligence and its infallible accuracy, verified in scientific experiments, lent a degree of comprehensibility to the otherwise overwhelming incomprehensibility of its source.

Einstein alluded to this when he proclaimed, ‘The most incomprehensible part of the universe is that it is comprehensible.’ An intelligence that reveals itself tantalisingly to seduce reason, only to lead it down the garden path and force it to surrender to its unfathomable guile and subversion.

The double slit experiment and its subsequent upgraded versions using a monophotonic source of light led to one of the most incredible conclusions. Even the single photon was conscious and had the intelligence to modify its behaviour depending on the observer’s position.The universe was not just made of gross matter, but its every constituent atom was pulsating with an intrinsic, intricate, interactive intelligence. Panpsychism, or the belief that the entire universe is conscious, appears to provide a workaround to the Cartesian mind-matter duality.

We no longer have to worry about how inanimate matter forms minds because mindedness has been there all along, residing in the fabric of the universe. The intelligence of man, by virtue of its complex neural networks, was blessed with the ability to investigate not just the universe but also realise his true nature — the Self.

Technology is now developing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to incor- porate intelligence into machines. It is purely logic-driven, computational and protocol-driven.

An incredibly fast processing capacity, that can sift thorough terabytes of data in seconds. And yet, none of these ‘intelligent’ machines have been able to pass the Turing Test so far.

Biological, organic intelligence might never be surpassed by the inorganic machine variant. The effort to embed intelligence into machines will surely enable faster calculations, data processing, and data analysis. However, man will soon devise and invent intelligence that will compete with and challenge his computational speed and logic-based data processing abilities. The ‘cyborgs’ of tomorrow will be highly efficient machines working tirelessly for and at the behest of their masters.

A master who claims to be intelligent yet whose intelligence threatens his survival is paradoxical.

Any intelligence that pushes the individual and his race towards destruction can hardly qualify as intelligence. An intelligence that destroys and damages the very environment it dwells in, that fuels unprecedented indulgence, breeds hate and an uncalled-for power struggle and can decimate man’s existence can hardly be called intelligent.

But this mutant intelligence is the substrate of an AI meant to serve man’s vested interests and aspirations. If used with discretion and discrimination, vivekbuddhi, the hallmark of human intelligence, AI could become a benediction, resonating with the self-sustaining, natural intelligence that pervades our world.

AI risks regressing from an oxymoron to mere rhetoric and eventually to a parody, or even worse, a self-defeating paradox if deployed without discretion. 

The writer is a neurosurgeon

Share of food spend plummeted in both urban & rural India: NSSO

Spend On TVs, Processed Food, Healthcare Up

 Continued from P 1

Spending on non-food items such as fridge, television, beverages and processed food, medical and transportation have increased between 2011-12 and 2022-23 while expenditure on food such as cereals and pulses has slowed.

Households in Haryana had the highest share of milk and milk products in total consumption at 41.7%, followed by Rajasthan at 35.5%, and Punjab at 34.7%.

Chhattisgarh and West Bengal had the lowest share at 7.5% and 7.4%, respectively, under this category.

In the rural areas, households in Rajasthan and Gujarat had the lowest share of eggs, meat and fish in total consumption at 2.6%, followed by Punjab at 3%.

The share of food is seen to have shrunk from 59.4% in 1999-00 to 46.4% in 2022-23 in rural areas and from 48.1% to 39.2% in urban areas during the corresponding period, according to the survey results.

The decline in share has been the steepest for cereals, which has come down to 4.9% in 2022-23 from 22.2% in 1999-2000 in rural India.

For urban India, the corresponding share has declined to 3.6% in 2022-23 from 12.4% in 1999-2000.

Akhilesh to retain Kannauj LS seat, quit as Karhal MLA

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav will resign as UP MLA to retain the Kannauj parliamentary seat and head the party in Lok Sabha, SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said Saturday.

According to Chaudhary, Akhilesh will quit as Karhal MLA as well as leader of opposition in the assembly.

The new SP MPs will elect their parliamentary party chief after Narendra Modi is sworn in as PM and the Lok Sabha’s protem speaker is named, Chaudhary said.

TNN

Coca-Cola to set up new plant in T’gana at `700cr

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Hyderabad: Fast-moving consumer goods giant Coca-Cola has uncorked plans for a third greenfield facility in Telangana at an investment of Rs 700 crore. The facility, to be set up by US major’s wholly-owned subsidiary Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages Pvt Ltd, is slated to come up in Peddapalli district.

The announcement was made by Telangana industries & IT minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu’s office after he met Coca Cola’s top team, including its head of fiscal policy Jonathan Reif, at its headquarters in Atlanta. Babu was accompanied by state road minister Komatireddy Venkatreddy. Babu is leading a delegation to the US as part of efforts to pitch Telangana as a global investment destination.

The Coca-Cola team confirmed it had already shortlisted sites in Peddapalli for the unit. “This decision marks a significant shift of new large-scale manufacturing capacities by multinational companies into the hinterland of the state, away from Hyderabad, thereby leading to a more distributed industrial growth in line with the priority of the new govt,” Babu said in a statement.

The minister also urged the Coca-Cola top brass to set up a Coca-Cola technology global capability centre in Hyderabad as part of its IT drive.

Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM at 11.27am on June 12: CMO

Amaravati: TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu will take oath as Andhra Pradesh CM on June 12, the CMOsaid.

“Swearing-in ceremony will be held @ 11.27 am on June 12, 2024 near Kesarapalli IT Park, Gannavaram, Krishna district,” the Andhra Pradesh CMO said on Saturday.

On Friday, TDP Leader K Raghu Rama Krishna Raju informed that Naidu will take oath as Andhra Pradesh CMon June 12 at 4.55 pm. The CM-designate on Friday acknowledged that the dedicated efforts of Narendra Modi have changed the political scenario in Andhra Pradesh whichled to the victory of NDA in LS polls.

AGENCIES

Times City

- CM In Jail, Govt May Move SC For Clearing DERC File By LG

- HC: Decide on plea to carry out elderly survey

- DIAL awaits nod for airside baggage transfer

- First Time, Haryana Sent Less Than 1k Cusec: Delhi

- AAP to councillors: Connect with voters at grassroots level

- BJP may soon pick new LoP for assembly

- Fire in east Delhi house

- BJP demands all-party meeting on water, blames govt for crisis

- Swaraj alleges leakage, DJB says work on

- 90 Firefighters Douse Factory Fire In 3 Hours

- Workers recount horror of blast that shook them

- Safety norms go up in smoke, 194 factory blazes in 5 months

- Life already on the backfoot, labourers, families look at a more uncertain future

- Kanhaiya attacker held for abusing voters after BJP loss in Faizabad

- Major Tragedy Averted As Blaze In Shaheen Bagh Destroys 3 Eateries

- Petition against magistrate court’s decision dismissed

- Fall from flyover or hit & run? Cops probing death

- Journalist ‘bound down’ over 2020 ‘assault’ case

- Bikes are not allowed: NHAI, experts cite flaw in design

- 35-yr-old woman, friend arrested for thrashing help in Vasant Kunj

- ‘Nowhere are forecasts 100% right but have improved over past decade’

- NEET ‘lapses’: AAP demands probe by SIT, BJP hits back

- Murder accused held after exchange of fire

- Transport dept cracks down on delayed vehicle registration cert

- Relief over, heatwaves likely to scorch city again from Monday

- Bizman gets interim bail for 2 weeks in excise case

- Sarita Vihar flyover repair work to start from June 15

- Are you an ever-anxious teen? Focus on future rather than problems

- Traffic restrictions in place for swearing-in

- Man gets life term for rape of stepdaughter

- In deepfake time, adultery photos of spouse need to be proved: HC

- ‘Assault’ at mall: HC quashes FIR against Elvish, 3 others

- Brave souls overcome life’s scars to serve others

- Man found dead in slum, police probe

CM In Jail, Govt May Move SC For Clearing DERC File By LG

2 Pro Tem Members’ Appointment First Got Stuck Due To Poll

Since the file can only be sent to LG by chief minister himself, sources said the only option govt is now left with is to approach the apex court for its intervention

Atul.Mathur@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: With the appointment of two pro tem members of Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) stalled due to the absence of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, AAP govt is now likely to approach the Supreme Court to have the file approved directly by lieutenant governor.

Sources said a committee appointed by the apex court to shortlist the candidates had completed the process by the second week of March, but the announcement of general elections and implementation of the model code of conduct resulted in the delay of finalizing the appointments. Kejriwal’s arrest in the liquor policy case within a week of the announcement of elections further complicated the matter.

Since the file can only be sent to LG by CM , sources said the only option govt is now left with is to approach the SC for its intervention.

“The transaction of business rules has clearly laid down that such proposals ha- ve to be endorsed by the chief minister and forwarded by him to LG. Since the minister of power in Delhi govt cannot do it directly, the court will have to be informed about it,” the source said, adding, “Only after the permission of the apex court, the file can be sent to LG for approval and notification of the appointment of pro tem members”.

The DERC comprises a chairperson and two members. The Supreme Court had in Aug last year appointed retired Justice Jayant Nath as pro tem chairperson after Delhi govt and lieutenant governor failed to pick a consensus candidate. Two posts of members have been lying vacant since the same month.

On the SC’s direction, a selection committee comprising current pro tem chairman Nath, the Appellate Tribunal for Electricity (APTEL)’s chairman retired Justice Ramesh Ranganathan, and retired Justice Asha Menon was formed in Nov last year to select the members. The power department had also started the process the same month, calling applications from persons having “ability, integrity, and standing” and adequate knowledge and capacity to deal with problems related to engineering, finance, commerce, economics, law, and management to fill the posts.

As per the court directions, the selection committee shortlisted two candidates, but before it could send the file to chief minister for his consent, the election was announced. A source said the file was sent to the Election Commission for its approval to be placed before CM when he came out of jail on interim bail, but by the time it came back from the panel, Kejriwal was back in prison.

Officials said the most important task for the power regulator after the pro tem members assume office would be to decide the power tariff for the financial year 2023-24. Due to various reasons, DERC could not even decide power tariff in 2022-23.

Taking a call on issues like regulatory assets of discoms and their demand for a power hike, ensuring compliance with various directives issued by the Supreme Court and Appellate Tribunal for Electricity, and direct benefit transfer of subsidy to consumers would be other challenges for the commission.

Sources said the power regulator on Friday admitted the petition for aggregate approval of true up of expenses up to the fiscal 2022-23 and aggregate revenue requirement for FY 2024-25 filed by power discoms BSES Rajdhani, BSES Yamuna, and Tata Power Delhi Distribution Limited apart from truing up of expenses and aggregate revenue requirement from the power generation companies.

HC: Decide on plea to carry out elderly survey

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi High Court has directed Delhi govt's chief secretary to decide within 12 weeks a plea to conduct a door-to-door survey to collect data about total number of senior citizens in the national capital.

The division bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet PS Arora recently directed the chief secretary to treat as representation a plea filed by one Salek Chand Jain to construct a new senior citizen home in every district of the city.

The plea further sought a direction to Delhi Police to maintain separate data of offences being committed against senior citizens.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that presently there are only two old age homes in the city being run by Delhi govt and one additional senior citizen home is being run by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (Dusib).

The counsel added that the senior citizens are neglected and discriminated by their families and they need special care, love, and affection.

"Keeping in view the aforesaid, this court directs the present writ petition to be treated as a representation to the chief secretary, GNCTD who, in turn, is directed to decide the same in accordance with law, as expeditiously as possible, preferably within twelve (12) weeks,” the bench said after hearing the submissions.

DIAL awaits nod for airside baggage transfer

New Delhi: Soon, passengers landing at Terminal 1 of Indira Gandhi International airport might not have to carry their checked-in baggage for a connecting flight from Terminal 3 as the airport operator plans to ensure the baggage transfer through the airside.

Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) is awaiting approval for the proposal regarding the airside transfer of checked-in baggage of passengers between T1 and T3 from the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS), according to officials.

Similarly, airside baggage transfer from T3 to T1 for international flight passengers will also be considered, the officials said.

At IGI airport, interna- tional flights are operated from T3, while T1 and T2 are for domestic flights.

Currently, passengers landing at T1 have to carry their checked-in baggage to T3 for the connecting flight.

Once the system of airside transfer of the checked-in baggage is in place, the passengers will not be required to carry them while taking a connecting flight from T3.

In the case of an international flight passenger landing at T3 and then taking a domestic flight from T1, modalities will be worked out, as the baggage has to be cleared by customs.

T1 and T3 of the Delhi airport are slightly away from each other and passengers travel between the terminals by road.

PTI

First Time, Haryana Sent Less Than 1k Cusec: Delhi

Water Production Dips A Bit, Atishi Seeks Central Help

Atishi visited the Munak canal and claimed that Haryana govt was not releasing the required quantity of raw water

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Even as the national capital’s water crisis continues to be a pressing concern, Delhi govt and the neighbouring state of Haryana are at odds over the allocation of raw water resources.

On Saturday, Delhi Jal Board (DJB) once again reported the problem of low water supply from Yamuna river at Wazirabad pond, taking down the overall water production from all the plants by around 10 million gallons per day (MGD) of water from a day earlier.

As per the latest summer bulletin of DJB, the city’s nine water treatment plants and tubewells in total generated 993 MGD of water, which may worsen the situation for the residents already grappling with a severe summer. On Friday, the production was 1,002 MGD, which was above the summer target of DJB.

Water minister Atishi, who visited the Munak canal, claimed that Haryana govt was not releasing the required quantity of raw water for Delhi. Delhi govt has been blaming the neighbouring state for the ongoing water shortage in the city and has even approached the Supreme Court regarding this issue.

“If the water supply from Munak Canal decreases, it will affect all the seven water treatment plants of Delhi and there will be a decrease in pro- duction. Haryana govt should stop doing cheap politics to harass the people of Delhi in the scorching heat and should give Delhi its rightful water,” said the water minister.

Of the total nine WTPs, seven water treatment plants get majority of the water from Munak Canal, the remaining two—Bhagirathi and Sonia Vihar—get raw water from river Ganga.

The minister has now sought intervention of Centre and Upper Yamuna River Board to address and resolve the matter.

“Delhi should get 1,050 cusecs of water daily from Haryana through Munak Canal, but only 840 cusec is reaching Delhi. Water in the treatment comes from Wazirabad barrage and two sub-canals of Munak Canal—CLC and DSB. From these two sub-canals, water goes to all the seven water treatment plants of Delhi,” added Atishi.

Earlier, Atishi had visited the Wazirabad water treatment plant to take stock of the situation and found that water level at the raw water pond was four feet below average. The minister stated that since June 2, the water level at the Wazirabad pond has been steadily decreasing, and on Friday, it was recorded at 669.7 feet, which is four feet below the normal level.

“This has never happened before in the history of Delhi when less than 1,000 cusecs of water has come to Delhi from Munak Canal. But yesterday, this quantity remained only 840 cusec. That means water is not being released in sufficient quantity into Munak Canal, Haryana. I request Haryana govt to stop playing cheap politics with the people of Delhi and give its share of 1,050 cusecs of water to Delhi. Also, Upper Yamuna River Board should monitor it. Central govt should, too, pay attention to this matter and provide Delhi with the water it deserves,” the minister said further.

AAP to councillors: Connect with voters at grassroots level

Durgesh Pathak

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: With the Lok Sabha elections not producing the desired results, Aam Aadmi Party on Saturday decided to strengthen the party at the grassroots level. In a review meeting, the senior leadership told the party’s MCD councillors to focus at the municipal ward level to connect with the electorate.

Senior AAP functionaries had held a similar meeting with party MLAs on June 6. With Delhi Assembly polls due early next year, party sources said the meetings aimed at looking at areas where AAP and Congress, which contested the recent election together as constituents of INDIA bloc, could not put up a strong fight to BJP. Despite a pre-poll alliance, the AAPCongress combine lost all seven seats to BJP.

Both AAP and Congress have already clarified in separate statements that the alliance was limited to the Lok Sabha election and they will go solo in the assembly polls.

AAP said the Saturday meeting with municipal councillors was held to review the results of the Lok Sabha elections and decide the future strategy.

“This was the first meeting after the elections, in which the senior functionaries of the party decided to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level,” AAP’s MCD incharge and Rajendra Nagar MLA Durgesh Pathak said.

“Everyone decided that even though Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia and Satyendar Jain are in jail, we will fight the ongoing battle to save the Constitution and democracy together with the people of Delhi,” Pathak said.

Among senior AAP functionaries present at the meeting were national general secretary (organisation) Sandeep Pathak, Delhi state convenor Gopal Rai and mayor Shelly Oberoi.

Pathak said with the kind of mandate the people of the country had given, BJP’s pride had been “shattered”. “There is a discussion everywhere that Narendra Modi as PM and his govt have been doing injustice to Delhi for the last 10 years. Despite the apex court’s order, the rights of the elected govt were completely abolished by bringing in an ordinance. We hope that the PM will learn a lesson from this mandate and return the rights to the people of Delhi,” he added.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor said the people of Delhi have rejected Arvind Kejriwal govt and AAP’s “vote ki chot” campaign.

“Durgesh Pathak should note that people very well understand that the administrative problems in MCD are result of AAP not allowing formation of standing committee, and statutory and zonal committees fearing loss of power,” Kapoor added.

BJP may soon pick new LoP for assembly

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: With incumbent leader of opposition in Delhi assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri, elected to Lok Sabha, Bharatiya Janata Party may pick his replacement within a few days.

Sources said all senior MLAs are currently in the race for the coveted post. In the 70 member house, BJP had eight MLAs and the number has now come down to seven.

“The decision to choose the leader of opposition is taken by the high command. The state unit, after consulting the MLAs, sends its recommendation to the party leadership through general secretary (organisation),” said a party functionary.

“Once the govt is formed at the Centre, the senior party leadership may take a decision in this regard,” he added.

The leader of opposition enjoys the perks of a cabinetrank minister. His tenure, however, would remain small due to Delhi Assembly polls due early next year.

While the post of Badarpur MLA will also fall vacant with Bidhuri taking oath of office in Lok Sabha, a party functionary said the chances of a by-election were not high. Bidhuri is expected to resign from Vidhan Sabha on June 14 and take the oath in Lok Sabha on June 15.

Fire in east Delhi house

New Delhi: A fire incident was reported from a house in Krishna Nagar on Saturday. No one was injured. Cops received information about the fire at 3:24pm at a house in East Azad Nagar. A police team rushed to the spot and found that the fire broke out on the first floor of the two-storey building.

TNN

BJP demands all-party meeting on water, blames govt for crisis

Delhi BJP chief Sachdeva

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: Reiterating that AAP govt was responsible for the water crisis in the capital, Delhi BJP on Saturday challenged water minister Atishi for an open debate on the issue.

Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said AAP govt should also call an all-party meeting to discuss the supply of water from a neighbouring state and also invite Haryana govt to it.

“Kejriwal govt immediately calls assembly sessions to shine its political agenda on minor issues, but when the people of Delhi have been suffering for several days due to the ongoing water crisis, it is merely playing a blame game,” Sachdeva said.

The Delhi BJP chief alleged that Atishi falsely accused Haryana govt of not sending enough water to Delhi after her visit to Wazirabad barrage on Friday and Munak-Bawana canal on Saturday. Sachdeva claimed the Delhi water minister intentionally did not mention that her govt failed to remove silt from the Wazirabad barrage for the past 10 years, which reduced its storage capacity.

“Disproportionate water distribution in many areas of Delhi has led to people fighting over water. People are falling victim to the arbitra- ry behaviour of tanker mafias and a game of extorting money under the patronage of AAP MLAs and municipal councillors is ongoing in exchange for water,” Sachdeva alleged, adding that Delhi govt’s promises of free and 24-hour water supply and increased number of water tankers to ensure smooth distribution had “fallen flat”.

The Delhi BJP chief said water theft and wastage were the biggest reasons for the water crisis, which AAP govt had failed to resolve.

“While Himachal Pradesh govt has agreed to supply water to Delhi after Supreme Court’s inter- vention, Delhi govt’s water treatment plants lack the storage space as their ponds are filled with silt,” Sachdeva alleged.

The member of Parliament-elect from South Delhi and leader of opposition in Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri also alleged that AAP was misleading the public on the issue of water. “Water minister Atishi regularly lied that Haryana was not releasing Delhi’s share of water. But it was proved in the Supreme Court that Haryanan govt was consistently providing water to Delhi as per the agreement,” Bidhuri said.

“Atishi knows that it takes at least 48 hours for water to reach Delhi from Himachal, but she has started creating a fuss within 12 hours of the release, claiming that Haryana was stopping it,” he added.

Swaraj alleges leakage, DJB says work on

New Delhi: BJP MP Bansuri Swaraj on Saturday highlighted leakage of water from a pipeline in Greater Kailash. “Today, I received information that the water pipeline near BRT corridor Chirag DelhiPanchsheel Enclave, Greater Kailash has been leaking for the last 10 days, wasting lakhs of litres of wa- ter. It is disappointing to know that no action has been taken by Delhi govt,” she posted on X.

DJB officials, however, said work had already started. “We are aware of the leakage in the pipeline and the work is ongoing. It will take around 12-18 hours to fix the problem” said a DJB official.

TNN

90 Firefighters Douse Factory Fire In 3 Hours

12 Gas Cylinders Found, Single Escape Route Creates Problem For Rescuers

Continued from P1

The fire started around 3.20am, it is suspected. A call about the blaze was received at the fire control room around 3.38am and 16 fire tenders were rushed to the site. Nearly 90 firefighters were deployed to douse the blaze, which was controlled in around 3 hours. Firemen also recovered a dozen gas cylinders from the building. “Had these cylinders exploded, they could have caused significantly more injuries and casualties,” said a fireman.

“The impact of the blast was such that part of the roof and balcony blew up, flinging a labourer 20 metres away,” another firefighter said.

He added that the major problem they faced was the single escape route, which was filled with goods and proved to be a major hindrance.

“We had to use the Bronto skylift to reach the height of the building and douse the flames,” said an official.

Similarly, another group of firefighters went to the terrace of a neighbouring building, attached ladders to the burning building to gain entry, and then doused the flames.

According to police, the blast occurred at the front of the building, making escape impossible for the labourers.

A fire official described the building having a basement, a ground floor, and three floors. Notably, the factory lacked proper ventilation: all spaces were sealed, and even the windows were fixed shut.

Additionally, a large gate with iron netting was installed. According to workers, the factory processed raw green gram. The pulses were refined through three ma- chines and then polished. Gas pipes had been installed throughout the factory.

The factory will be examined by experts for lapses.

The deceased have been identified as Shyam (24), Ram Singh (30) and Veerpal (42). Six injured were admitted for treatment. They were later referred to Safdarjung Hospital.

“The factory had a valid factory licence which was renewed in 2022 and was valid till March 31, 2025. The situation is currently under control,” said a MCD official.

A case under IPC Sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 287 (negligent conduct with respect to machinery), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 304 A (causing death by negligence) has been registered.

Workers recount horror of blast that shook them

Rajesh Babu (left) and Ravi Kumar at Safdarjung Hospital

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: “The explosion tore through the walls of the factory, leaving devastation in its wake,” said Rajesh Babu, who narrowly survived the catastrophic blast at a Narela factory on Saturday. Babu narrated to TOI his efforts to alert sleeping workers after detecting the tell-tale sound of gas leaking. Moments later, a cataclysmic explosion ripped through the building, leaving a trail of destruction.

“I was on my night duty. Most of the workers were sleeping in rooms on the first and second floors. There were 7-8 people on the night shift. The machines were operating when suddenly gas began leaking from a pipe and spread through the factory,” said Babu.

“People immediately began running out of the premises in a frenzy. Within minutes, a colossal explosion tore through the compressor, grievously injuring a man near the wall and trapping another person under the rubble that cascaded upon him."

Babu was also injured when he stumbled while trying to escape the cataclysm. The scene was chaotic. People were screaming for help. According to eyewitnesses, the dense, choking dust caused by the blast temporarily obscured their vision, creating a disorienting haze. It took time for them to spot the staircase and rush out of the factory, their only thought being their safety.

Ravi Kumar, a 19-year-old witness, said if he had been delayed from running out by a mere two minutes, he might have met a fatal end. "I had never seen such a horrific situation before. A fireball erupted," he said, the blood spots staining his T-shirt a grim reminder of the ordeal. "At that moment, my mind was utterly blank. But I ran, abando- ning my slippers, and when I finally was outdoors, I realised my phone had fallen somewhere on the way." Kumar was employed by the factory around four months ago. He says he will now return to his home city of Kanpur, forever haunted by the memories of the fateful day.

Some factory workers said there was a main gate, which was always locked, and a smaller gate used to stay open for the labourers. During the incident, this door was also locked, but labourers used the key and many managed to escape, said one of them.

Safety norms go up in smoke, 194 factory blazes in 5 months

In the last two years, there have been 800 fires in Delhi factories

Abhay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: In the first five months this year, fires in factories in the city have touched the three digit mark. Till May 26, there have been blazes in 194 factories, indicating the need for urgent govt intervention to prevent loss of innocent lives. Most of the fires have been reported from industrial hubs like Narela and a majority of them originated because of establishments flouting fire safety norms, according to fire officers.

In the last two years, there have been 800 fires in Delhi factories. However, no corrective measure has been taken by the authorities despite the large-scale nature of incidents at these unauthorised factories and warehouses. Such places don’t usually have fire safety clearance from the Delhi Fire Service, but that has not proved a deterrent for them as they operate without hindrance in collusion with the civic authorities.

Fire officers highlighted several safety concerns. They noted that most factories operate in an unorganised manner, often with narrow staircases cluttered with goods that can hinder escape and rescue efforts. These factories lack demarcated escape routes, which can be crucial during emergencies. "They don't follow any fire safety norms. The interiors of these factories too are entirely crammed with goods," one officer said.

In January, an inferno engulfed a factory in Alipur, claiming the lives of 11 individuals. Upon investigation, the authorities discovered that the factory owners had disregarded essential safety measures, despite their awareness of the potential dangers. According to a fire officer, "There was a single escape route but that too was filled with combustible materials, making it tough for people to escape."

Proper maintenance of the wiring and machinery is also neglected. The officer explained that adding new machines necessitated an upgrade in the wiring to handle the increased load, which was ignored. Overloading the existing wiring significantly increased the risk of short circuits. Another officer pointed out the lack of fire safety training and awareness among labourers and workers.

A fire officer said that the most severe scenario occurs when a compressor explodes within a factory building, intensifying the fire's severity. The officer explained, "That’s because the abundance of combustible materials kept inside the factory fuels the flames." The dense smoke emanating from the burning materials prevents firefighters from entering the factory premises, further complicating the effort to control the blaze. The officer added that poor ventilation in the factories also contributed to casualties and injuries.

Life already on the backfoot, labourers, families look at a more uncertain future

LABOURER SAYS I was sleeping on the second floor when the blast occurred. I burnt my chest and hands. I lived and slept in the factory

FUTURE TENSE: Three victims of the Narela factory fire at Safdarjung hospital

Abhay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:Lalu has been working as a labourer for a decade in the Narela factory that went up in flames after an explosion on Saturday. A native of Kanpur, he came to Delhi for better job opportunities, but only gets a salary of Rs 14,000 a month, most of which he remits to his wife, Lalita, and 10-year-old son Ayush, a Class IV student. On Saturday, the fire left him wondering what the future held.

Lalu, 32, stood at the staircase outside the burns ward of Safdarjung Hospital, his upper body in bandages. "I was sleeping on the second floor when the blast occurred,” he told TOI. “I burnt my chest and hands. I used to work for 12 hours a day with a one-hour break for lunch. I lived and slept in the factory." Being the sole earner in his family, Lalu appeared anxious about the looming financial burden, the doctors having told him that his injuries would take time to heal.

Like Lalu, many of those who died or suffered injuries in the fire were migrant labourers who had come to the city with a dream in their eyes. Most were marginal farmers from villages in Uttar Pradesh, forced to leave their families behind to secure their well-being. Delhi has left these families facing an uncertain future.

Worst off is the family of Veerpal, 42. His wife and six children, including a daughter whose wedding plans are now improbable, live in Mainpuri in UP. Ashish, Veerpal’s son, said, "My father had been working in the factory for 15 years. We received a call from an acquaintance about my father’s injuries. My brother Akash and I rushed to Delhi from Mainpuri, only to learn of his passing. He worked 12-hour shifts, sometimes even 18 hours to earn extra to pay for his five children's education.”

According to factory workers, most of them were offered a meagre Rs 14,000 per month for 12 hours of work daily. Confined to the factory with only two rooms for sleeping, they lacked basic safety measures. Ram Singh, a resident of Maharajpur, was among those who succumbed on Saturday. He left behind his wife, Rekha Devi, and daughter, Mehak, who is only five years old. Jitender, a relative, lamented, "He was the only one with a job in the family. Who will take care of his wife and daughter now?"

Ramkesh, who came from Kanpur, was also at the burns ward. His nephew, Mohit Kumar, lay critically injured. "During the explosion, he was on the first floor. He couldn't see anything and fell to the ground floor, sustaining burns all over his body," explained Ramkesh.

Raju Kushwah, Mohit's father, also arrived there. He revealed that he and his son worked in separate factories to support their family of six. "Mohit and I earlier worked in the same Ghaziabad factory," said Kushwah. "But he moved to the factory in Narela because they offered a higher salary of Rs 14,000. He wanted a bigger salary for his siblings' education."

A desultory Akash, an injured worker, wandered outside the ward. A resident of Auraiya in UP, he had joined the factory only a few months ago. "We have a small farmland," his elder brother disclosed, "but it wasn't enough to support our family. That is why Akash had joined the factory workforce.” Akash was sleeping when the explosion occurred. Despite his burns, he managed to escape the inferno.

Pushpender was also asleep at the time. "Luckily, I saw a room untouched by the flames so I was able to run out," he said. His wife and two children had arrived from Kanpur a few days ago for a visit. With the injuries to his upper body and legs needing time to heal, his wife, Priyanka, is worried. “Where will the money come from till then? He was the sole breadwinner," she said.

Kanhaiya attacker held for abusing voters after BJP loss in Faizabad

Ghaziabad: Daksh Chaudhary, one of the two men accused of attacking Congress’s Kanhaiya Kumar in Delhi last month, and his accomplice Annu Chaudhary were arrested earlier this week for an alleged hate speech abusing voters after BJP lost the Faizabad constituency, home to Ayodhya, to SP in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.

ACP Shalimar Garden Siddharth Gautam said that the arrests were made after a video, circulated widely on social media, showed the two men sitting in a car and hurling abuses at the voters in Ayodhya for not voting for the BJP in the general elections.

“Police took suo motu cognisance of the video and registered an FIR against Daksh and Annu at the Tila Mod police station under sections 295a (deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings of any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC),” Gautam said.

TNN

Major Tragedy Averted As Blaze In Shaheen Bagh Destroys 3 Eateries

Narrow Escape For Staff And Customers, Fire Started From A Pole Nearby

Firefighters received an alert regarding the blaze at 40 Feet Road around 5.45pm on Saturday. Eighteen fire tenders were sent to the spot

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A major tragedy was averted after three eateries, located next to each other, were engulfed in a conflagration that took place in southeast Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh on Saturday.

Firefighters received an alert regarding a blaze at an electrical pole at 40 Feet Road—a popular Mughlai food hub—around 5:45 pm on Saturday. Twelve fire tenders were immediately sent to the location, however, heavy traffic impeded their movement to the spot for a while.

A senior fire official said that the fire originated from a pole installed near one of the three restaurants. Within a few minutes, the inferno consumed the three restaurants, namely Zaika, Zahra and Bismillah. “When our team arrived at the spot, the fire was intense. We called six more fire engines to the location. In total, more than 70 firefighters were deployed to extinguish the blaze. The flammable substances within these eateries served as accelerants, exacerbating the inferno,” the official added.

A staff member at one of the affected restaurants recalled that when the fire broke out, 22 employees and a few customers were present at the restaurant. “Our restaurant got completely destroyed in the incident. In the other two restaurants also, some people were present but they managed to exit the premises unscathed,” he added.

Witnesses told TOI that the event occurred during the evening hours, a time when individuals usually visit the restaurants to enjoy light meals or snacks. “Had it been peak lunch or dinner time, the fire could have possibly resulted in a major tra- gedy,” said those present at the scene.

Several video clips of the incident, which depict the severity of the blaze, were making the rounds on social media. In one such footage, intense flames billowing out of the restaurants could be clearly observed, along with a sizeable group of onlookers assembled close to the scene. Images taken after the fire revealed the extent of the destruction, with the establishments left thoroughly ravaged.

Riyaz, who lives in Shahe- en Bagh, said that a cylinder at one of the restaurants exploded immediately after the fire. He also contacted police to report the incident. “No one was injured in the incident,” he added.

Zubair Sidiqui, a shopkeeper, said there’s a lot of dangerous wiring in the area. These wires are either dangling or strung across multiple poles.

In May, a fire broke out at a restaurant in Greater Kailash-II Market. There were no casualties. Last year, in Jan, a fire broke out at a restaurant in Connaught Place. No one was injured in the incident. In 2022, an air conditioner mechanic died and several others suffered injuries when the compressor of an AC exploded at a restaurant in southeast Delhi’s Tikona Park.

Fire calls in the city have risen by a significant 37% in comparison to last year. According to the data, the fire department received 8,201 calls up to May 20 this year. In the same period in 2023, it received 5,970 calls.

Petition against magistrate court’s decision dismissed

SESSIONS COURT SAYS The magistrate concerned has no power to discharge the accused and if any particular offence is not attracted against a particular accused, it will be dealt by learned trial court at the stage of charge and not at this stage

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A Delhi sessions court recently stated that a magistrate court cannot refuse to take cognisance of a chargesheet for commission of an offence triable exclusively by a sessions court. It dismissed a revision petition against a magistrate court’s decision of taking cognisance of a chargesheet for rape and other offences.

The court of additional sessions judge Kumar Rajat of Karkardooma Courts (Shahdara) said “in the offences exclusively triable by court of sessions, the committing magistrate court has no power to discharge the accused”.

The court was hearing a revision petition filed by Vikram Kathuria and his father, Rajendra Kathuria, against a court order dated Sept 25, 2023 taking cognisance of the chargesheet for the offences of rape, unnatural sex, criminal intimidation, fraud and various other offences.

Noting the submissions of advocates Manoj D Taneja and Simran Chawla, the court stated there are specific allegations of rape and at the time of taking cognisance, strict scrutiny of evidence is not required and what charges are to be farmed or whether accused is to be discharged will only come into picture at the stage of charge before the sessions court.

“The magistrate concerned has no power to discharge the accused and if any particular offence is not attracted against a particular accused, it will be dealt by learned trial court at the stage of charge and not at this stage,” stated the court.

The complainant had alleged that she was raped by the accused man who spiked her drink and committed the alleged crime. She alleged that he concealed the fact that he was already married and had a son from that wedlock. She added that his divorce proceedings were already pending before the family court.

The accused man married the complainant at Hanuman Mandir at Connaught Place. The case was registered at Anand Vihar police station on Aug 8, 2022.

The counsel for the revisionists submitted that the order taking cognisance of the chargesheet was passed in “mechanical manner without applying judicial mind” by the additional chief metropolitan magistrate court.

Fall from flyover or hit & run? Cops probing death

Mahesh.Buddi@timesgroup.com

Gurgaon: Police have initiated a probe into the death of a 19-year-old college student, who succumbed to injuries after falling 20ft off the IFFCO Chowk U-turn flyover on Thursday evening.

According to cops, Rhythem Sharma was thrown off his bike after it crashed against the flyover wall while taking a sharp turn and landed on the Delhi-Jaipur highway below. His mother, however, alleged Rhythem was hit by a vehicle and toppled over the wall. She has lodged a police complaint.

The accident occurred around 5pm on Thursday, minutes after Rhythem — a student of KR Mangalam University — had dropped his friend off at IFFCO Chowk and was on his way back to his PG accommodation in Sohna.

“He suffered grievous inju- ries after falling 20ft and was rushed to Narayana Hospital in DLF-3. He succumbed to his injuries later that night,” said Tarun Kumar, an ASI at Sector 18 police station.

Kumar said footage sourced from cameras at the entry and exit of the flyover showed no vehicle apart from Rhythem’s Yamaha R-15 had taken the road around the time the accident occurred.

Moreover, the bike that crashed into the wall near the turn and remained in one corner of the flyover had no dent, raising questions on whether it had been hit by another vehicle from behind.

“There are no cameras near the accident spot, but we have footage from those installed at the entry and exits. We can say that no vehicle had taken the flyover for some time after Rhythem’s bike passed. We did not find any tyre marks, nor glass shards that are usually seen at accident spots. His bike did not have any scratches either. Only the left indicator was damaged, which may have happened after it rammed the wall. We suspect Rhythem might have been thrown off the bike after the crash and landed 20ft below,” the ASI said.

Bikes are not allowed on the flyover that Rhythem took. But slack enforcement gives bikers and three-wheelers a free run to travel on the road.

The college student’s mother — a resident of Delhi’s Uttam Nagar — wasn’t convinced with the police version. She mentioned in her complaint it was a hit-and-run case.

Following the complai on Friday, a case was registered against unknown persons under sections 304A (causing death due to a rash or negligent act) and 279 (rash driving on a public way) of the IPC.

Journalist ‘bound down’ over 2020 ‘assault’ case

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi Police has “bound down” a journalist working with The Caravan magazine in connection with a case of assault and molestation registered in northeast Delhi in 2020.

According to DCP (northeast) Joy Tirkey, the journalist was served a notice on June 3 to join the investigation on Saturday. "He appeared before the police on June 7 and was bound down to remain present in court. Further investigation in the case is in progress," the DCP said.

The incident had reportedly taken place around 3pm on Aug 11, 2020 at Subhash Mohalla in Bhajanpura area, police said. A case under sections of molestation (354), causing hurt (323) and promoting enmity between two groups (153A) of the IPC was registered on the complaint of a woman who also alleged assault on her husband. The journalist was accompanied by a male and a female colleague at the time of the incident. All three were working with the magazine at that time.

According to the police, the journalist, now bound down, had given a countercomplaint on behalf of the woman journalist. An FIR was registered on similar offences. Regarding that FIR, the DCP said: "Despite efforts, the woman reporter never joined the investigation. Fresh efforts are being made to request her to join the probe in the case as soon as possible."

"The complainant also alleged biased reporting aimed at instigating animosity between different religious groups. During investigation, the complainant's statement was recorded under section 164 of the CrPC and action taken on that basis," the DCP added.

The magazine has a different version of the events. It said in a statement that on the day of the incident, a mob had assaulted the three journalists, hurled communal slurs at them and threatened them with murder.

"The police have informed us that our FIR is being considered a ‘counter-FIR’.

These are shocking and worrying developments. The allegations in the FIR are absolutely false and fabricated. For four years, neither The Caravan nor the named journalists were ever informed of any such FIR," said the statement.

"We were not given a certified copy of the FIR against our staffers, citing its sensitive nature. We have learnt that the FIR against our staffers was lodged less than an hour before our FIR on the same day in 2020. It is worth noting here that although our complaints were filed on the day of the incident itself, the police did not register our FIR until three days later, on August 14, 2020," the magazine claimed.

Bikes are not allowed: NHAI, experts cite flaw in design

Akanksha.Gupta@timesgroup.com

Gurgaon: A spate of fatal accidents on the U-turn flyover at IFFCO Chowk has sparked concerns about its structural design.

Road safety experts said the design of a four-lane flyover allowing a U-turn at one end was fundamentally flawed. These structures often prioritise cars without considering the dynamics of two-wheelers. Indian Road Congress norms for exit or entry from the main road towards loops or such Uturns are not being followed at the flyover, they said. Meanwhile, NHAI — which maintains the flyover — said bikes were not allowed on it.

“Psychological cues such as signage and speed-calming measures are needed to alert commuters about merging and diverging traffic. A wide road without these cues allows drivers to maintain high speeds, increasing accident risks at sharp U-turns. The turning radius should match the speed with adequate signage. The flyover’s design transitions directly from a four-lane expressway to a four lane U-turn, which is hazardous, especially for two-wheelers. Any sudden braking during a turn or being hit by a highspeed vehicle can cause serious accidents. No speed-calming measures have been implemented prior to the exit despite the wide U-turn flyover. Structural design as well as enforcement issues are prevailing, with the highway exit being designed as a corner rather than a curve, further exacerbating the risk,” said Anurag Kulshrestha, founder of TRAX, an NGO dealing with road safety.

35-yr-old woman, friend arrested for thrashing help in Vasant Kunj

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A 35-year-old woman and her friend have been arrested for allegedly thrashing her dog sitter in southwest Delhi's Vasant Kunj. The incident occurred on Friday when the domestic help went to his employer’s house to collect his salary, police said.

The woman Preeti Handa, along with her friend Nikhil, began abusing Shaidul Haque (24) and assaulted him, a senior police officer said. The victim's wife, with the assistance of RWA members, rescued Haque, and a case was filed, the officer added.

After receiving a PCR call regarding a man was beaten by his employer in Vasant Kunj, a police team rushed to the spot to find that Haque, who resides in Masoodpur, had been admitted to a hospital, said Rohit Meena, DCP (Southwest).

"The statement of the injured was recorded, wherein he stated that he works as a dog sitter at one of the flats in Kaveri Apartment, Vasant Kunj," the DCP said.

He had been ill for two days and had not gone to work. On June 7, when he visited his employer’s house for his salary, Handa was consuming al- cohol with her friend, police said, adding that upon requesting for his salary, the suspects abused him, confined him in Handa’s house, and beat him. He was rescued by his wife with the RWA’s support and was subsequently admitted to the hospital.

A case under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34 (acts done by several persons with a common intention) of the Indian Penal Code was registered at VK South police station, and both accused were arrested, police added.

‘Nowhere are forecasts 100% right but have improved over past decade’

In an exclusive interview, Director General of India Meteorological Department Mrutyunjay Mohapatra discusses with Kushagra Dixit the extreme weather conditions in Delhi this summer besides IMD’s plans to improve weather forecasting infrastructure

We will enhance our observational network in capital. We will soon have 3 more radars and also increase the number of automated stations to cover entire NCR. Radar data will help improve our forecast by a few hours

We’re trying to make our forecasts more people-centric – like the heat index or feel-like temperature – so that people can gear up for the sweaty humidity. Similarly, whenever the daytime temperature crosses 40 degrees, we have started specifying warm night conditions

TOI INTERVIEW

The capital has seen some extreme weather events this summer. Is this normal and should we feel concerned?

■ Heatwaves, thunderstorms and sometimes cyclones happen during summer. This year, however, the number of heatwave days has been higher than normal, and it had been predicted by IMD. The 2024 summer is seeing the El Nino effect. So, the frequency, duration and intensity of heatwaves have increased. There were local and regional factors at play too. For instance, in Delhi, there was no western disturbance after May 15 and hence the temperature kept on increasing. Besides, there is climate change to contend with. It has been found that global warming leads to about a 1.15 degrees Celsius rise in temperature in 100 years across the globe. In India, from 1970 onwards, the temperature, especially the maximum temperature, has been rising at a higher rate.

Do climate change and rising temperatures pose a greater risk to cities like Delhi?

■ Not just Delhi, any urban area will be hotter than other areas. It is mainly because such an area will have large concrete structures and roads and less vegetation and water bodies. This traps energy in the lower atmosphere and creates the urban heat island effect. And it’s not true for just Delhi or India – it’s a global phenomenon. We have also noticed that areas with high vegetation, like Lodhi Garden, were cooler.

Should we expect next summer to be even hotter?

■ Overall, we have observed a trend but that means it will happen over the next 10 to 15 years. Temperatures are expected to rise but that doesn’t mean that it will happen every year. For example, temperatures in northwest India over the past two years were not so high. So, there will be a rising trend but it will not be linear; it will fluctuate.

Local factors will always be there. For Delhi, it will be thunderstorms and western disturbances.

Will monsoon, too, be extreme in Delhi? Some agencies recently declared La Nina for monsoon which favours rain.

■ We are expecting La Nina conditions in the second half of monsoon. For now, it’s neutral, not La Nina. Different countries follow different criteria. Forget Delhi; such a location-based forecast for a season is never given anywhere in the world.

How prepared is IMD for forecasting extreme weather events. It failed in forecasting the recent Kochi cloudburst. In May, Delhi saw a thunderstorm damaging trees and properties but we came to know once we were stuck in it.

■ A cloudburst is never predicted. There is only a heavy rainfall warning. Phenomena like cloudbursts occur within an hour. For cyclones and thunderstorms, there is a nowcast, which, as the name suggests, predicts almost before the event. Usually, we issue a nowcast every three hours.

Do you have any plans to enhance the forecasting network?

■ Yes, in Delhi we are going to enhance our observational network. We will soon have three more radars and there is also a plan to increase the number of automated stations to cover the entire NCR. The radar data will go to our forecast models and improve it by a few hours.

How accurate is the forecasting system at present?

■ There is no 100% forecast accuracy anywhere in the world. It is not possible because of limitations of science. But forecast accuracy is improving globally and it’s the same here. There has been a 40% to 50% improvement in forecast accuracy over the past decade. Be it cyclone or other events, pinpoint accuracy is difficult. This year our heatwave forecasts have been very accurate – the rate of accuracy for a 24-hour forecast for a heatwave is 91%; for heavy rain 79%; and for thunderstorm 86%.

Is it on par with the best in the world?

■ It depends on many factors like the region concerned. If you go to northern parts of USA or Europe, occurrence of extreme weather there is different from the extreme weather in regions like Africa, India and Australia where an extreme activity, say a thunderstorm, is more convective (vertical transport of heat and moisture in the atmosphere) and less periodic or more random with low life period. So, predictability is less or very diffi- cult. For instance, in Delhi events occur because of intense heating, a confluence of warm and cold fronts or different types of air masses which move like troops. We have to predict their movement here which is very periodic in nature, making it difficult to forecast unlike non-convective systems (weather that is not caused by thunderstorms) in northern parts of UK, USA or Europe. But when you come to southern parts of USA, for example say Florida, or Mexico, the situation is same as in the Indian region. If you compare similar situations, then our forecast is better than them though we are a developing country. We need to compare apples with apples.

Are you establishing any new weather centres in the country?

■ We are going to establish one thunderstorm research test bed each in north Orissa, West Bengal and Jharkhand. That will help us understand and predict better. We have set a target of improving our forecasts by up to 10% in the next five years, not just for Delhi but for the entire country.

You recently launched the heat index. Any more measures being contemplated?

■ Yes, we are trying to make our forecasts more people-centric – like the heat index or feel-like temperature which combines heat and humidity – so that common people can gear up for the sweaty humidity. Similarly, whenever the daytime temperature crosses 40 degrees, we have started specifying warm night conditions which is meant for people with lesser means like labourers or those who generally spend their night outside during summer and cannot sleep due to heat stress which causes mental and physical strain. These warnings could be used to caution people and secondary measures taken.

Any plan to be more interactive and accessible so that people can factor it in their daily lives?

■ Yes, we are working in that direction. For example, through GIS, one can zoom in to their village and find out about the weather and heat conditions for the next five days. Then, for Indian Railways, one will be soon able to track the heat impact along railway lines. A similar project is in the works for national highways. So, while travelling, one would be able to track the heat impact at the destination besides the authorities being able to take some action. The power sector can gear up for the rising demand. IMD is already working with these departments. We are also giving information on social media.

NEET ‘lapses’: AAP demands probe by SIT, BJP hits back

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Alleging irregularities in the recent NEET undergraduate examination and results, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday demanded a Supreme Court-monitored SIT probe into the case.

Addressing a press conference, AAP functionary Jasmine Shah charged that National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the examination, was silent over the issue of the paper leak in Bihar and Gujarat and its scope, which, he alleged, could be extensive. He also said awarding grace marks to some students was also inexplicable and there was no transparency in it. “It is a serious matter concerning the future of the country’s youths,” Shah said.

Several other parties in non-BJP-governed states, too, demanded a Supreme Court-monitored probe while junior doctors’ network of Indian Medical Association threatened to go on strike if their demand for a re-examination and a CBI probe was not accepted. They claimed that for the first time in the history of NEET, aspirants scored 718-719 marks, which was impossible due to the negative marking system in the exam.

The results for the medical entrance exam, National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEETUG), were announced by NTA on Tuesday. NTA announced on Saturday that the Union education ministry had set up a four-member panel to review the grace marks awarded to more than 1,500 candidates in the exam.

Shah alleged that most of the allegations that point to a “big scam” in the exam had come from states governed by BJP. He said the first reports of paper leaks came from Bihar and Gujarat and later it was found that of the 67 toppers in the exam, six were from one centre in Haryana’s Jhajjar. “AAP resolutely stands with the country’s youth in this matter. We demand a Supreme Court-monitored special investigation team probe into all the irregularities so that the truth comes out,” he said.

Shah charged that BJP asserted that it would make India a “vishwaguru” but was unable to properly conduct an entrance. He also alleged that paper leaks in BJP-governed states such as Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh were a common occurrence. “In Gujarat, 11 competitive exam papers leaked in the last 11 years while papers for recruitment exams of police constables and teachers were leaked in Uttar Pradesh, forcing lakhs of youths into an uncertain future,” he alleged.

Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor, however, pointed out that just a day before, AAP minister Atishi had praised the NEET examination system and claimed credit for the excellent performance of students from Delhi govt schools, while Shah alleged malpractice and a scam on Saturday.

“Public is confused as to whom to believe between Atishi and Jasmine Shah. People of Delhi want to know how minister Atishi took credit for 100% results of Delhi’s six specialised excellence schools in the NEET exam on Friday when Shah called six toppers from one centre in Jhajjar a scam,” Kapoor said.

He added that like Delhi and Kota in Rajasthan, Jhajjar has a number of coaching institutes and students from other states appear for exams from these centres.

Murder accused held after exchange of fire

New Delhi: A man wanted in seven criminal cases, including two cases of murder, was arrested after a brief exchange of fire in Welcome on Saturday. The accused sustained a gunshot injury in a retaliatory police fire on his right leg. One 7.65 mm pistol with 2 live rounds was recovered from him.

Delhi Police officials said that the accused Imran Kala (18) resided at Janta Majdoor Colony, Welcome. According to police officials, he was found involved in 7 criminal cases including 2 cases of murder, 2 cases of attempt to murder, one case of robbery, one case of snatching and one case of sodomy (POCSO).

A case under relevant sections is being registered in this regard. The accused is being interrogated.

ANI

Transport dept cracks down on delayed vehicle registration cert

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Following complaints from consumers about delay in getting registration certificates (RC) from automobile dealers for their newly purchased vehicles, the transport department has asked the district officials to investigate and put the system back on track.

Officials said that district offices of the transport department have also been told to seek reports on the issuance of vehicle registration certificates from vehicle dealers under their jurisdiction on a fortnightly basis.

Sources said the complaints of delay in issuing the RC had reached transport minister Kailash Gahlot, who directed the department to act on them at the earliest.

According to officials, several automobile dealers in the capital have the facility to issue registration numbers to buyers on the same day they buy a set of wheels and also print and issue registration certificates the same or the next day. The transport department, however, was getting complaints that sellers were not following norms and were not handing over RCs to buyers at the time of purchase of vehicles.

“It has been observed that vehicle dealers having self registration facilities are not printing and handing over the registration certificate to the registered owners at the time of delivery of vehicle. It has also been observed that in some cases the delay is more than 30 days,” said an official order issued by the transport department on June 6.

The order directed all district transport offices (DTOs) to take fortnightly reports from each dealer under their jurisdiction over the date of delivery of vehicle and date of delivery of RC for each vehicle and forward it to the operation branch within three days.

“It is further directed to take strict action against the vehicle dealer for not following the direction in this regard,” the order read.

According to estimates, over 1,800 vehicles are registered in the national capital every day.

Relief over, heatwaves likely to scorch city again from Monday

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhiites had to endure another day of sweltering heat and high humidity levels, despite a minor decrease in the peak temperature. India Meteorological Department (IMD) expects rise in the temperature on Sunday but no warning for heatwave has been issued.

IMD had warned of a potential thunderstorm and rain on Saturday evening and issued a yellow alert for the same. However, no such activity was recorded at least till 9pm.

Some areas in eastern Uttar Pradesh recorded heatwave on Saturday. However, with southwesterly and westerly winds the city steered clear of heatwave conditions. The respite from the scorching weather is expected to be short-lived as the city is likely to face the onslaught of heatwaves once again, starting from Monday.

On Saturday, the maximum temperature at Safdarjung was 41.4 degrees Celsius, against 43 degrees Celsius a day earlier.

IMD predicts that Delhi's maximum temperature will hover around 43 degrees Celsius on Sunday. However, the maximum temperature is likely to spike to 44 degrees Celsius by Monday with the possibility of heatwaves. Thereafter, the temperature will spike reaching 45 degrees Celsi- us on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The weather department has issued a yellow alert for heatwaves from Monday to Wednesday. Last time the city’s base station recorded heatwave was on June 3 with max temperature of 44.6 degrees Celsius. “The maximum temperature will begin to rise from Sunday onwards, with possibility of heatwave from Monday onwards due to warm westerly winds,” said an IMD official.

Bizman gets interim bail for 2 weeks in excise case

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A Delhi court has granted two-week interim bail to businessman Amit Arora in a money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam.

In an order passed on June 6, the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja noted that the accused’s wife had to undergo a surgical procedure and he needed to take care of her. The court granted the relief on a personal bond of Rs 2 lakh with one surety of like amount.

Arora was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on Nov 29, 2022.

The court took into consideration the submissions of senior advocate Vikas Pahwa, who appeared for Arora. The senior advocate submitted that father of the Arora’s wife had already expired and her mother was stated to be aged around 72 years, a resident of Mohali, Punjab, and her two brothers were residents of Bengaluru and London, UK.

The counsel also told the court that Arora was earlier granted interim bail on similar grounds and there was no allegation that he misused the relief.

Noting that n o other family member, cousin or anyone else stays in the house or even in the proximity and hardly visit the applicant’s house in order to take care of the wife and children, the court stated that even otherwise, the extended family members cannot compensate for the husband’s/father’s absence and take good care of the applicant’s family members, the judge observed.

The court imposed various conditions, including directions to Arora not to leave Delhi-NCR unless and until it is necessary in connection with the treatment of his wife. “He shall not destroy or tamper with the evidence of this case, shall not influence any witness,” it added.

Sarita Vihar flyover repair work to start from June 15

TIMESNEWSNETWORK

New Delhi: The Public Works Department (PWD) has received a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Delhi Traffic Police to start the repair work of Sarita Vihar flyover from June 15. The expansion joints of the flyover require immediate attention and the repair work is expected to take around two months, stated officials.

The route from Ashram to Faridabad is being taken up for repair in the first phase.

However, the entire flyover will not be closed during the repair work. “The work will be carried out in phases. To ensure least discomfort to commuters, one portion of the flyover will be open for vehicles,” said a PWD official.

The police also confirmed that the NOC has been granted. The traffic restrictions are likely to start from June 15. Officials said that necessary approvals had been received for the same. As per govt procedure, any infrastructural project involving traffic diversions must also be approved by PWD minister before work begins on the ground.

The repair work will follow the same procedure as the Chirag Dilli flyover, with half of the carriageway open for vehicles to pass while the other half undergoes repair, and then switching to the other half to minimise inconvenience to the public.

The department routinely replaces the expansion joints of flyovers to strengthen elevated roads.

During the strengthening and maintenance work, the concrete of the flyovers will also be repaired.

Govt has directed PWD officials to complete the maintenance work within the stipulated time. The repair work was approved in 2022 when Manish Sisodia was the minister in charge.

Are you an ever-anxious teen? Focus on future rather than problems

To help readers cope with their anxieties in these stressful times, TOI has launched Talk it Out, a series in which expert counsellors answer your mental health queries. This week’s advice is from psychiatrist Manjiri Deshpande Shenoy

I am a teenager literally struggling with everything and everyone, including my friends, boyfriend, family, academics and my health. I am in the 12th standard and I am stressing out just thinking about entrance exams, getting into college and cracking my boards. To top it off, I have to deal with my family and friends. My mom is very controlling. I recently found a new group of friends but it feels very fake. My health issues are also giving me trouble and I am not even good at academics. I get haunted by thoughts of what will happen in the future. Will it ever get better? Please help.

— Anonymous

I can understand that you have a lot on your plate. Adolescence comes with its own set of mixed emotions and feelings of vulnerability. It’s also a time when psychological illnesses take root. I advise you to work on your health issues first by seeking proper consultation and treatment. Only focusing on the problems that you are facing will not help. Rather, focus on what you can do to resolve it. Come up with a structured routine and try to study daily. Fake friends will not help you. Entrance exams are a tough time but can be easily navigated with some planning. It is important for you to figure out your strengths and the career you wish to pursue. If you feel too many shifts in your mood, please speak to a counsellor or mental health professional to get correct guidance.

I am a 32-year-old unemployed man living with my parents and a younger sister. I have been diagnosed with schizophrenia and blood pressure issues for which I take medication. I have been unemployed for the last 10 years. I get fits when I’m tired. I don’t feel like doing any work or getting a job. Also, there are fights at home everyday. Please advise on how to handle this situation.

— Anonymous

Schizophrenia is a chronic mental illness that needs long-term medication and support. Yo u are also suffering from seizure disorder. I can understand that the home environment is very stressful for you. But there are only very few things that you can control at this point. Stressing over it will only worsen your clinical condition. Also, it would help if instead of staying home all day, you step out, interact with other people, keep yourself engaged and find an activity which gives a sense of purpose and meaning. As already mentioned, chronic psychological illnesses need psychological support along with medication. Consulting a doctor at least once a month to adjust the dose of medicines and taking regular counselling will help you develop better coping strategies. Work on maintaining a regular sleep cycle, pursuing a hobby and doing some physical activity.

After graduation, my life has been full of all kinds of ups and downs. I have been divorced once, even with a good job. My second marriage led to a separation mostly because I quit my job. But thankfully, I ensured it did not end up in a full-blown divorce again. At this point, I have no job or a family for support. I want to end my life. Please help.

— Anonymous

Having thoughts of ending one’s life is a cause for alarm. I urge you to speak to a mental health professional at the earliest. Please understand that there is help available and these issues are treatable. Regular counselling and medication, if need- ed, will help you. Do not feel embarrassed to seek help. Sharing your thoughts with a close friend can give you mor e clarity on things. Remember that ending your life will not solve these problems. Practice gratitude and deep breathing when you

are assailed by negative thoughts. Try to do any activity that can distract you from lapsing into a thought spiral. Small steps will help you feel better.

I am a 16 year-old-boy living in a joint family. I am really depressed because of my unsupportive family. I am in the 10th standard, so my family members expect good grades. They want me to study the whole day instead of following my passion and hobbies. I want to be a musician in future so I practice drums for 3-4 hours a day but my parents and other family members grumble about it and threaten to put an end to my music classes. Please advice.

— Anonymous

I can totally understand what you are going through. You want to be a good musician but it is important for you to realise that this is a crucial year for your educat ion. Once you complete your basic education, it will be much easier for you to pursue your passion. Your family is worried. If you are able to balance your studies and your passion for music, they may understand and support you. Completing basic education, becoming financially independent and standing on your own feet should be your priority along with nurturing your love for music. Try to speak to your family and explain why music is important to you but also assure them that it will not happen at the cost of neglecting your studies.

If you need counselling, please contact the following helplines

➤ Aasra +91-9820466726 (24x7)

➤ Cooj +91 9822562522 (Mon-Fri, 1-7pm)

➤ iCall +91 9152987821 (Mon-Sat, 10am-8pm)

➤ Fortis +91 8376804102 (24x7)

➤ Kiran 1800-599-0019 (24x7)

➤ Sumaitri +91 9315767849 (2-6.30pm)

➤ Saath +91 7926305544 (1-7pm)

➤ Sneha +91 44 24640050 (10am-7pm)

➤ Vandrevala Foundation 18602662345, +91 7304599836 (24x7)

➤ Sanjivini Society 01140769002, 01141092787 (Mon-Fri, 10-5.30pm)

Traffic restrictions in place for swearing-in

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: As the swearing-in ceremony of Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi is likely to affect traffic around Rashtrapati Bhavan, Delhi Traffic Police has issued an advisory to ensure smooth vehicular movement.

"A large number of people are expected to witness the ceremony, which may affect the traffic on the surrounding roads of Rashtrapa- ti Bhavan," a traffic police officer said.

Sansad Marg (between Transport Bhawan and Tpoint Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg), North Avenue Road, South Avenue Road, Kushak Road, Rajaji Marg, Krishna Menon Marg, Talkatora Road, and Pt Pant Marg will be closed for vehicles from 2 pm to 11 pm and only pedestrian movement will be allowed, the officer said.

"No vehicle will be allowed to halt or park anywhe- re on Imtiaz Khan Marg, Rakab Ganj Road, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, Pandit Pant Marg, and Talkatora Road," the officer said, adding that vehicles found parked on the above roads would be towed away and prosecuted for improper parking and disobedience of lawful instructions.

"Towed vehicles will be parked in the traffic pit at Pandit Pant Marg towards Gole Dak Khana," the officer said. The traffic will be diverted from Patel Chowk, Rail Bhawan, Gurudwara Rakab Ganj, Gole Dak Khana, RML, GPO, Patel Chowk, Krishi Bhawan, Sunehri Bagh, Gol Methi, GKPO, and Teen Murti roundabouts.

The commuters have been advised to avoid Sansad Marg, Imtiaz Khan Marg, Gurudwara Rakab Ganj Road, Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg, Pandit Pant Marg, Rajaji Marg, Tyagraj Marg, and Akbar Road.

Man gets life term for rape of stepdaughter

A local court in Gurgaon has sentenced a labourer to life imprisonment for raping his 14-year-old stepdaughter in June 2020. A case was registered against the accused under the Pocso Act following a complaint by the girl’s mother on June 24, 2020.

TNN

In deepfake time, adultery photos of spouse need to be proved: HC

New Delhi: In the era of deepfakes, photographs placed by a spouse alleging adultery by the other partner would have to be proved by way of evidence before the family court, Delhi High Court has said.

The court's observation came while dealing with a man's contention that his estranged wife was living in adultery.

The high court dismissed the appeal of the husband challenging a family court's order directing him to pay Rs 75,000 maintenance to his wife and minor daughter.

As the counsel for the husband drew the court's attention to certain photographs of his wife, a bench of justices Rajiv Shakdher and Amit Bansal said, “It is not clear as to whether the respondent/ wife is the person in the photographs, as alluded to by the counsel for the appellant/ husband.”

“We may take judicial notice of the fact that we are living in the era of deepfakes and, therefore, this is an aspect that the appellant/ husband, perhaps, would have to prove by way of evidence before the family court," the bench said.

Deepfake technology allows for the creation of realistic videos, audio recordings and images that can manipulate and mislead viewers by superimposing the likeness of one person onto another, altering their words and actions, thereby presenting a false narrative or spreading misinformation.

Asked by the bench whether this averment of adultery found mention in the husband's reply to the wife's plea under the Hindu Marriage Act, the man's counsel conceded that there was no mention of this aspect in the reply.

The bench noted that since the petition instituted by the husband for divorce is pending adjudication, if this issue is pressed, the court may give opportunity to the parties to place their evidence on rerespective cases.

“Notably, this aspect, which is vehemently pressed before us, almost as a measure of desperation to wriggle out of the obligation cast in the impugned judgment, finds no mention in the impugned judgment (of family court),” the high court said.

PTI

‘Assault’ at mall: HC quashes FIR against Elvish, 3 others

Elvish

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Gurgaon: The Punjab and Haryana high court has quashed an FIR filed against YouTuber Elvish Yadav and three others for allegedly assaulting a content creator at a mall in March. While quashing the FIR, the HC also asked the petitioners, including Elvish, to refrain from depicting or promoting violence and substance abuse in any of their social media posts or content.

An FIR was filed against Elvish at the police station on March 8 after content creator Sagar Thakur — also known as Maxtern — alleged Elvish and his friends thrashed him in a mall in Sector 53. Sagar accused Elvish of trying to break his spine with repeated jabs of his cellphone, punching him in the face and issuing death threats.

A case was registered against Elvish and three others — Lovokesh Kataria from Ashok Vihar, Ajay from Hisar and Rustam from Pratapgarh in UP — under sections 147 (rioting), 149 (unlawful assembly), 323 (causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

Subsequently, Elvish and other accused approached the high court in April for quashing the FIR based on a compromise having been reached between the parties concerned.

On HC’s direction, the statements of the accused and the complainant were recor- ded before a judicial magistrate (first class) on May 9, where they testified that there would be no objection if the court quashed the FIR and consequent proceedings.

Quashing the FIR, Justice Anoop Chitkara in an order on May 28 said: “The FIR portrays that the motive for violence was some dispute regarding popularity and content creation, in which allegations were levelled against Elvish Yadav and his accomplices. To ensure that similar violent acts are not repeated in the future, that impressionable followers do not get influenced by the misdemeanour exhibited by the accused persons, and that the accused are not under the mistaken belief that such instances are taken lightly by the legal system.”

Brave souls overcome life’s scars to serve others

Acid attack survivors hand out cold water and drinks to parched people near Sabz Burj in Nizamuddin

Ridhima.Gupta@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Amidst the bustling streets and the noise of everyday life, a remarkable group of individuals are reclaiming their identity with an act of compassion and empathy. In the scorching Delhi heat at a busy junction near Sabz Burj in Nizamuddin, acid attack survivors hand out cold water and drinks to parched people. Flanked by posters, their social act is meant to underline their visibility and to raise awareness about acid attacks with one major demand: stop the sale of acid in the city.

Once shrouded in the shadows of her trauma but now emerging as a beacon of resilience and strength, Sumitra, 26, handed out water cans to the crowd in the hot afternoon. Sumitra, who became an acid attack survivor at the age of just three, remembers that the first time she actually realised that she was “dif- ferent” was when she started going to school in her hometown of Hisar in Haryana. She was not allowed to join the classes in the schools because they thought her presence would scare other children and have a bad impact on them.

“In the schools, I was made to sit separately and was excluded from most activities. Then came a time when I started to stay away from people on my own and became very depressed," said Sumitra, who has undergone 26 surgeries till now. Today, she is a changed person. With boldness and confidence, she said, “The support of my father and some people I met over the years has made me realise that I am different only in a good way. Aur jo different hote hai wahi kuch kar pate hai (Those who are different are also those who can change things).”

Among the other people at the event was Rima, 24, who said that doctors usually advised acid attack survivors not to stay in the sun too long because the various surgeries leave the skin very sensitive. But, she added, to be among people and serve them and raise awareness about acid attacks felt nice. Rima, a native of Bihar, was attacked at ho- me by one of her relatives in 2018. She said, “I like doing social work, so when the idea of distributing cool drinks was pitched, I was quickly on board. It took years for me to be able to face society, so now I wanted to use this opportunity to be visible and empower scores of survivors like me.”

The stall was set up between the Nizamuddin dargah and Sabz Burj, an octagonal tomb situated in the Nizamuddin complex. Making his way through the crowd to get a cool drink for his mother and father, Sarim Khan, 19, a visitor at the dargah, said, “When I reached the counter to take the glass of drink and saw the person handing them out to me, her smile instantly made me smile.” Khan’s mother, Ruksai Akhtar, 46, interjected, “While those who carry out these crimes have no shame being seen in the society, why should the survivors have any shame? It's nice to see them lead a normal life and do normal things.”

Holding up a poster that read, ‘Himmat and tazgi ka ek perfect combo’, survivor Shaheen Malik, founder of Brave Souls Foundation, Saturday’s camp organiser, said, “The objective of the campaign was for the survivors to provide relief to the people.” The three-hour camp served more than 3,000 people. “The idea was, when people came to the stall and looked at the women distributing water, it would start a conversation in their homes or among friends about what they saw today. This might be a start to normalising the survivors' lives,” she said.

Malik added that despite health challenges, all the camp participants brightly came forward for the events, seeing it as an opportunity for them to interact with society. “The survivors want to be part of the society in an equal capacity. But they don’t get many opportunities for this. This has to change,” she said, adding that in this campaign, the foundation also demanded a complete ban on the sale of acid, which still goes on unabated in the city.

Man found dead in slum, police probe

New Delhi:A 22-year-old man died by suicide at his residence in southwest Delhi, police said. The deceased was identified as Anas Ahmed, a resident of Israel Camp near Doctor Sardar, Rangpuri Pahari area.

Sharing details about the case, police said, "On June 7, 2024, at about 6.00 pm a PCR call was received at PS VK South regarding a male person hanging in Israel Camp, Rangpuri Pahari."

After reaching the spot, Anas was found hanging from the ceiling pipe inside his jhuggi (slum), which was latched from inside.

As per the police, the deceased used to work as a butcher in Israel Camp and had not been to work since yesterday and was not picking up calls, after which his employer Danish came to see him and found him hanging.

The deceased is survived by his mother and two younger siblings.

ANI

All That Matters

- Elite mindset is not going to solve jobs issue

- 'Constitution: People have strong sense of ownership, and want to protect it

- Bigger spends not the answer. New govt should focus on effective governance instead

- How did BJP muff up ‘singhasan’ state? More to it than social engg

- Ab ki baar, soch vichar: Why BJP needs to introspect, adjust

- INBOX

BY INVITATION

Elite mindset is not going to solve jobs issue

RAVI VENKATESAN

Pundits are going to be busy analysing the messages from this election for a while, but it is already apparent that economic distress and lack of jobs are critical issues. Young India wants jobs more than temples.

India has had a brewing jobs crisis for at least 15 years. It is a wicked problem that manifests in all sorts of statistics, particularly our low workforce participation rate (49% overall). The data also shows that the lack of good work particularly hits young people (80% of the unemployed are below 30), women, and graduates. The last is particularly shocking. For most of us, a good education was the passport out of poverty into the middle or affluent class. Now, a young person with a college degree is NINE times as likely to be unemployed as her illiterate counterpart, according to an ILO report. This indicates both the quality of degrees as well as the low-end nature of work that is available. What has changed recently is that this is no longer a lower-middle class problem. This year, 35% of all IIT graduates and nearly 20% of IIM graduates are still looking for jobs. The problem now affects elites too, and that may be good news; it can no longer be ignored or wished away. (Incidentally, this appears to be a global issue affecting US computer science and Harvard Business School grads as well.)

One reason why we have such a massive problem with good jobs is because our economic thinking is still very elitist. Affluent India, our media, and policymakers are obsessed with catching up with the US and China in GDP terms without care for other indicators of broad-based well-being. We are captivated by big companies that can compete globally like the Tata group, Reliance or Infosys. In entrepreneurship, we celebrate unicorns, not the millions of mundane small businesses that create 60% of all employment. To incentivise manufacturing, we dream up (production-linked incentive) PLI schemes to bring iPhone assembly or semiconductor packaging rather than seek grubby labour-intensive companies that make apparel, toys, shoes or all sorts of household products and hardware.

Nobel-winning economist Edmund Phelps, who examined the economic rise of England, then America and later China (in a book titled ‘Mass Flourishing: How Grassroots Innovation Created Jobs, Challenge, and Change’), points out that in these countries, prosperity was defined by a broad sense of ‘flourishing’. This flourishing included meaningful work, self-expression, and personal growth for a large portion of the population. Phelps believes that the source of this flourishing was a change in societal values that fuelled widespread innovation and entrepreneurship at the grassroots level, meaning many people, not just a few famous ones, were coming up with new ideas and businesses. Such widespread tinkering and entrepreneurship led to a period of economic and personal prosperity that he calls ‘mass flourishing’.

LESSONS FROM CHESS

India has witnessed such a flourishing of sports. Our success, first in cricket and more recently in chess, is because these sports have become dramatically more inclusive, thereby drawing in massive talent. Chess is growing at the grassroots across the country, and is now included in the school curriculum in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat. Chess clubs and tournaments are pervasive, creating a movement just like in cricket. This democratisation has made a fast-growing funnel for talent, with at least a million people playing local tournaments across the country, including Uber and auto drivers and construction workers who sign up for free entry tournaments. Prize money and sponsorships, though still a trickle, are growing fast with the sport’s success. As a result, India has 73 grandmasters now, up from 20 in 2007, and seven players ranked among the top 100 in the world. Our success in chess has great parallels with mass entrepreneurship. For India to prosper and reach its potential, we cannot have just a handful of large firms and a few thousand tech startups. We need a grassroots movement of millions of young people who want to start and build their businesses rather than seek elusive good jobs. These are not just gig workers or necessity entrepreneurs who are forced to start small businesses such as tea shops or grocery stores out of compulsion, but entrepreneurs who are drawn to an opportunity and are growth-oriented.

SCHOOLED IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

For this, not only must entrepreneurship be a mandatory part of all curricula, we also need thousands of venture clubs, incubators and accelerators in schools, colleges, ITIs and districts. Competitions like Shark Tank are highly effective in inspiring young entrepreneurs. The key is to build a pyramid of competitions that build a huge funnel of entrepreneurial talent that can see opportunity in every problem and build a business out of solving it.

India’s innovation and economic potential cannot be unlocked by a small elite. Imagine instead a future where every small town and city feels like Bengaluru, buzzing with innovation, brimming with opportunity, and alive with the entrepreneurial spirit of our young people. ■

Venkatesan is founder of Global Alliance for Mass Entrepreneurship (GAME)

NEW GAMBIT: An inclusive grassroots movement in chess has given us a funnel of talent. A similar campaign is need for entrepreneurship

FOR THE RECORD

'Constitution: People have strong sense of ownership, and want to protect it

This election, there were several factors at play. Among them was the unlikely issue of the Constitution. In an email interview with Ketaki Desai, academics Rohit De and Ornit Shani, who have done extensive research on the subject and are co-authoring a book, ‘Assembling India’s Constitution: A New History of Constitution Making’, say that the founding document is a continuous conversation rather than a static contract

■ Some see the Constitution as an ‘elite’ document that was gifted to the citizens of India. Is that myth your book seeks to bust?

Both champions and critics shared an assumption that the Constitution was given to Indians by benevolent political elites, and that the people not only were not involved, but had no understanding of what they were getting. However, ample evidence that we uncovered, both from hitherto unknown materials and materials that were hiding in the open, suggests that the Indian public engaged with the future Constitution and turned its making into a site of struggle. We show that the Constitution-making was infused with public engagement on a very large scale and generated a ‘fever of constitutional expectations’. Indians read and debated the anticipated Constitution in a range of sites: princely states, darbars, trade unions, refugee camps, temples, mosques and churches, within classrooms, in courtrooms, within civic associations, in tribal villages in deep forests, and among the diaspora. They also shared their ideas and preferences with those in charge of drafting it.

■ Since then, did the everyday relevance of the Constitution, and invocations of it, wane?

No, in fact, even after it was made, people continued to mobilise around these aspirations and, in many cases, were successful in changing the text and/or constitutional meaning through their struggles. For example, at the time of Constitution-making, Khasis across the North-East demanded statehood. They es- tablished their own constitution-making body, drafted their own constitution, and held discussions in villages across the Khasi Hills. None of their demands were met in 1950, but they continued to agitate until they achieved the state of Meghalaya through a constitutional amendment in 1972.

■ This election, we have seen the Constitution spoken about a lot by the opposition. Why is that?

In the run-up to the elections, sections of the public were concerned about the possibility of drastic constitutional changes if the govt were to come back to office with an overwhelming majority. Commentators, moreover, argued that the Constitution is an alien document; that it is not really the people’s Constitution because it was framed in a language that was foreign to them, or because large parts (about two-thirds of it) reproduced the colonial Government of India Act, 1935. By evoking it during the elections, the public and opposition parties manifested the strong sense of ownership of the Constitution and the willingness to protect it. Our research shows the Indian public acted on the basis that it belonged to them at the time of its making. They repeatedly used the term ‘our Constitution’, and even made unauthorised translations of it into vernacular languages, and confronted judges and politicians with their own interpretation of it. While the scale of opposition led mobilisation around the Constitution in the election was remarkable, it builds on a long history of mobilisation by many groups including Dalit political parties, tribals, minorities, women’s organisations etc.

■ Looking at the Constitution as a social contract, what assurances does it offer Indian citizens in terms of the rules of engagement with the republic?

We suggest that the Indian public turned the Constitution into more than a fixed social contract. It was never a static founding document promulgated by the Constituent Assembly in 1950, but a continuous conversation between the citizens and the state. The Constitution itself became the very rule of engagement. Thus, while both the Hindu Mahasabha and the Communist Party had been strong critics of the Constitution in 1950, the same year, president of the Hindu Mahasabha would defend Muslim communist detainees before the Supreme Court using the Constitution.

■ The last time we have seen such consistent mention of the Constitution was during the 2019-20 CAA-NRC protests. What does it represent in terms of people’s movements?

The protests were perhaps the most visible and widespread struggles that invoked the Constitution, and particularly its Preamble. However, people’s movements from the outset have drawn on the Constitution both to expand its meaning as well as to enforce it. Be it expanding the right to food through litigation and legislation, or more dramatically the Pathalgadi movement (in Jharkhand) carving the constitutional protection for tribal areas in the Fifth Schedule into the landscape.

■ Have we proved once again that the vote matters to the ordinary Indian?

During this election, despite the extreme heat, masses of people stood in lines waiting to cast their vote. The key to why the vote matters so much to Indians lies largely in its truly equalising power. My book (‘How India Became Democratic’) argues that because of the preparation of the electoral rolls on the basis of universal adult franchise in anticipation of the Constitution, Indians became voters before they were citizens. And that the institutionalisation of procedural equality for the purpose of authorising the govt in India’s hierarchical and unequal society turned the idea of India’s democracy and elections into a credible story for its people. This is why it is all the more important to protect the integrity of the electoral process.

BY INVITATION

Bigger spends not the answer. New govt should focus on effective governance instead

KARTHIK MURALIDHARAN

In our 75th year as a sovereign Republic, India has much to celebrate. The recent elections showcased our vibrant democracy, and we are the world’s fastest growing large economy. But, we also face profound challenges that impede both individual and national progress including in education and skills, health and nutrition, police and public safety, courts and justice, social protection and welfare, and insufficient high-quality jobs.

As a new govt takes charge, a natural reaction to these challenges may be to advocate for increased budgets for these sectors. However, research shows that higher sectoral budgets often do not translate into better outcomes, reflecting weak governance. In contrast, even modest investments in better governance have been found to have much larger impacts than increasing ‘govt as usual’ spending.

In many ways, the Indian state is like a 1950s Ambassador car. Political parties compete to see who gets to drive, which passengers to prioritise, and where to steer it. However, the car itself is outdated! Increasing sectoral budgets without improving govt efficiency is like adding fuel to a 1950s car. It can move the car forward, but the translation of fuel into distance will be limited. While party manifestos and policy discussions focus on the direction of the car, much less attention is paid to the functioning of the car itself.

So, a key message for the new govt is that higher public spending by itself will not solve our massive social and developmental problems. Rather, we need to focus much more on improving the effectiveness of the Indian state.

The good news is that we have both the knowledge and technology needed to implement governance reforms to strengthen our public systems. Such reforms will greatly enhance India’s ‘state capacity’ for service delivery, and allow govts to deliver more for citizens at any spending level. Key systemic areas of governance to improve include: (a) data and outcome measurement; (b) public per- sonnel management including hiring, training, postings, and rewarding performance; (c) boosting quality of public expenditure by reducing allocations to ineffective spending items, and spending more on effective but underfunded ones; (d) increasing the quantity and quality of tax revenues; (e) greater decentralisation of funds and functionaries for service delivery; and (f) building better regulatory and procurement capacity for making markets function better, and leveraging private actors in the public interest. High-quality research across diverse sectors such as education, welfare, and even justice has shown that investing in governance and state capacity can have a return on investment (RoI) over ten times the cost. So, we have a ‘free lunch’ to accelerate India’s development by investing in strengthening our public systems for better service delivery.

Building a more effective state should be a top priority for all Indians across the political and ideological spectrum. It will enable us to deliver basic services and welfare more effectively to the poor and vulnerable, which will promote equity and justice as valued by the economic left. But it will also en- hance public spending efficiency and lay a foundation for sustainably higher long-term growth, which should appeal to the economic right.

Traditional policy debates focus more on the ‘top line’ of budget allocation across sectors than on the ‘bottom line’ of how allocations improve citizens’ lives. However, this focus distracts us from a more crucial issue: improving the effectiveness of public spending — regardless of what we spend on. Budget debates are zero sum because increased allocations for any sector comes at the cost of reductions in others (or higher debt). However, investing in better public systems can enhance outcomes in all sectors, delivering far greater improvement in citizens’ lives than simply expanding budgets for more ‘govt as usual’ spending.

Improving govt effectiveness is both an economic and a moral imperative. India’s Constitution enshrines equality among citizens through universal voting rights. Yet, weak public service delivery limits the ability of the poor and marginalised to translate the political equality of ‘one person, one vote’, into greater equality of opportunities through better education, health, and essential services. This is why building a more effective state is the great unfinished task of Indian democracy itself.

This agenda will require broad political consensus, and a long-term vision. Many of India’s greatest achievements ranging from our nuclear and space programs to delivery of welfare benefits through digital infrastructure have taken decades of effort across multiple political parties and govts. Similarly, building more effective public systems is a long-term project that will require close collaboration, cooperation, and trust across central, state, and local govts.

Just like race car drivers’ performance crucially depends on their car’s quality, political leaders’ effectiveness is limited by the govt machinery that they rely on to serve voters. This is why it should be a top political priority for the new govt to upgrade the car that is the Indian state by investing in better public systems. This will be a critical driver of accelerating India’s development. ■

Muralidharan is Tata Chancellor’s Professor of Economics at University of California, and author of Accelerating India’s Development: A State-led Roadmap for Effective Governance

BY INVITATION

How did BJP muff up ‘singhasan’ state? More to it than social engg

BADRI NARAYAN

‘Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are’— this insightful line by German poet Bertolt Brecht seems to hold true for Lok Sabha results. In fact, it applies to both BJP and the opposition INDIA bloc. For BJP, new territories in the east and south like Odisha, Telangana and Andhra (albeit, because of an ally) changed its fate, while rising vote share in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Punjab has given it hope for the future. On the other hand, Uttar Pradesh proved to be a ‘state of challenges’.

But how did UP go from BJP’s big strength to its weakness? I posit three reasons for this:

First, INDIA fought this election in an organised fashion, and its tactics of mobilising people by weaving imagined dangers about the Constitution, reservation and other issues to conjure up disquiet among a section of OBC, MBC and Dalits. This sense of insecurity fractured the broader Hindutva identity that had tethered them to BJP for over a decade.

The second reason may be the slow and steady accumulation of small dissatisfactions which were woven in a meta narrative by INDIA bloc by linking them with issues such as unemployment, inflation, Agniveer etc. They also made aggressive use of social media to create an anti-BJP mood in the state.

Third, Samajwadi Party (SP) diversified its social alliance by taking a leaf out of the BJP model of social engineering, which is based on non-Yadav, non-Jatav political participation. They moved from their traditional M-Y (Muslim-Yadav) social engineering and expanded their base among non-Yadav, non-Muslim communities by giving them tickets in this election. For instance, a Dalit candidate (Awadhesh Prasad) was fielded from the Faizabad seat even though it’s not a reserved constituency. Selection was strategic even in neighbouring seats like Sultanpur where a Nishad candidate was fielded, and Ambedkarnagar which had a Kurmi. Add these to the M-Y kitty, and SP had a distinct edge.

But why did BJP’s social engineering fail while INDIA’s worked? One big reason for this is that BJP candidates of these communities were being repeated for the third time, and most of them may have faced anti-incumbency at local level. Moreover, party cadre were not enthused enough to counter these. On the other hand, candidates of INDIA alliance were fresh faces who appealed to voters of OBCsMBCs and mostly non Jatav Dalit communities. The Akhilesh Yadav-Rahul Gandhi bonhomie also enthused cadres. In the context of BJP, the lack of coordination between candidates and cadres, as well as between BJP and its allies in planning the joint campaign may have also contributed to setbacks in UP.

As for the much-touted Modi magic, it did work impressively well in other parts of the country but in UP, it actually proved to be a disadvantage. Candidates and many cadres became lethargic due to their over-dependence on Modi-Yogi image.

It is interesting to observe that the same methods of campaigning were applied by INDIA alliance and Congress in the other adjoining Hindi belt states of Bihar and MP. But as election results showed, this method of opposition failed and BJP coasted to a very impressive victory in MP, and a strong performance in Bihar. Why is it so? In my view, in Bihar the NDA alliance has big faces of non-Yadav/ OBC politics like Nitish Kumar, Samrat Choudhary, and Dalit leader Chirag Paswan from the Dusadh caste which is the largest Dalit community in Bihar. They also have a face like Jitan Ram Manjhi who leads Musahars (rat eaters), another large Dalit community of Bihar. These factors together proved hurdles for INDIA bloc. In MP, BJP has the credible OBC face of Shivraj Singh Chauhan and chief minister Mohan Yadav who countered the Congress narrative. Congress lacked a credible OBC political face in these states.

A factor that not many talk about is the fact that development also produces discontent sometimes. There were reports that a section of villagers was not happy with compensation for land acquisition for highway projects. Most of this land belonged to the landed class of OBCs, Thakurs, Jats etc, and these small dissatisfactions may have also contributed towards creating an anti-BJP ‘mahaul’ (atmosphere) in UP.

However, BJP is likely to work hard to regain its lost ground in the state so that they redeem themselves in 2027. SP and Congress will face the challenge of retaining what they have achieved in this election and building their electoral politics around it. What will happen in the future is difficult to say, but one thing there is no doubt about — UP matters for the ‘singhasan’ of Delhi. ■

Narayan is director of the GB Pant Social Science Institute, Allahabad

WRONG BET: Why did BJP’s caste math fail while Akhilesh’s worked? It had a lot to do with candidates and cadre

SWAMINOMICS

Ab ki baar, soch vichar: Why BJP needs to introspect, adjust

SWAMINATHAN S ANKLESARIA AIYAR

How fabulous is democracy! How it can bring in fresh air!

Opinion polls just before campaigning predicted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance would increase seats though it could fall short of its 400-paar target. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had an approval rating of 74%. Exit polls, taken after polling, also gave NDA up to 400 seats. How then did BJP end up with just 240 seats, with its coalition scraping through to a small majority on two crutches called Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu?

Let BJP reflect and adjust. Above all, let it learn how counter-productive is the curbing of dissent in the media. Media criticism is never pleasant to swallow, but it reveals realities that ‘godi media’ will hide. Fear prompts bogus praise and the illusion of universal support, while dissenters and critics keep silent, believing that discretion is the better part of valour. The greater the fear, the more misleading are opinion and popularity polls. The truth comes out only in a secret ballot.

Elections have a habit of taking the sheen off even the most seasoned of politicians. Recently, Modi said in a TV interview: “I am convinced that ‘Parmatma’ (God) sent me for a purpose… He does not reveal his cards, just keeps making me do things.” These results have shown Modi as just one more mortal politician, undoubtedly a very talented and successful one, but a mortal, nevertheless.

Despite liberal rejoicing, the bottom line is that BJP is here for five years, with a chance to win another five years in 2029. But we will not get simultaneous elections for the Centre and states. We will not get removal of references to secularism from the Constitution. We will not get a Hindu state. Gone are the days when govt could rush through Bills in Parliament with minimum or no debate. Opposition has now doubled its strength. NDA allies who felt humiliated earlier will be far more assertive this time, and Modi will have to venture into uncharted territory and play a new role as negotiator.

Both Nitish Kumar and Naidu have ditched BJP in the past. They are opportunists, not loyal friends. But neither has any incentive to ditch Modi in the foreseeable future.

Voters did not vote for communal polarisation or an ‘autocratic’ Modi. But what exactly did they vote against? Some analysts call it a protest against unemployment, farm distress, rising inequality (the supposed K-shaped recovery), and Hindutva. Such all-India explanations fail scrutiny because the trend varied so widely in different states.

BJP made a clean sweep in MP, Himachal, Uttarakhand, and almost a clean sweep in Chhattisgarh, Assam, and Odisha, ending the 25-year-old rule of Naveen Patnaik in the last case. Yet it fared disastrously in UP, and suffered serious setbacks in Rajasthan, Haryana and West Bengal. The building of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was the biggest media event of the year, with record audiences. But it seems like the millions who rejoiced did not see this as an election issue. The mandir attracted tourists, but not voters. BJP even lost the Faizabad seat, in which Ayodhya lies.

Can anyone claim that employment and a K-shaped recovery were not problems in MP, Chhattisgarh, Himachal or Uttarakhand, but were serious problems in UP, Haryana and Rajasthan? BJP’s gains and losses in different states were clearly due to very local issues, not all-India ones.

In UP, reporters claim SP and Congress managed to stitch up a good caste combination. In West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee’s TMC was able to triumph despite allegations of corruption and the Sandeshkhali controversy. In Andhra Pradesh, the landslide win was due to BJP’s allies, Naidu and Pawan Kalyan, with BJP playing a peripheral role. In Tamil Nadu, BJP failed to translate a concerted push into electoral success, but the silver lining came in the form of a vote share of 11.3% on its own. In Haryana, the BJP-led govt had already lost its majority thanks to defections, and its poor Lok Sabha showing was predictable. ■

TIGHTROPE ACT: With far more assertive NDA allies this time around, Modi will have to play negotiator

INBOX

Email your letters to the editor at sunday.times@timesgroup.com with ‘Sunday Mailbox’ in the subject line. Please mention your name and city

Porsche case: Guilty shouldn’t get away

Apropos of ‘Pune Porsche case...’ (ATM, Jun 2), the author makes a valid point. However, there has to be a stringent law and order system in place that can act as a deterrent for erring parents and their children. This case has shown how affluent parents use money power and political influence to subvert the system and weaken the case. lnstead of teaching their children to be responsible citizens, they have shown them how to get away with breaking the law.

— Nobin Pradhan, Pune

Create film fund

This refers to ‘Need indie film fund...’ (ATM Interview, Jun 2), since big studios in India are run by rich industrialists, there is an urgent need to pay serious heed to Payal Kapadia’s suggestion of a tax on profits of blockbuster films. Such a fund can be used to promote independent voices and allow newcomers to enter in the field. Kerala govt has started a fund to support female filmmakers and those from under-represented castes. This should be emulated by others.

— S H Quadri, Bikaner

Fix school education

Apropos of ‘Piketty wrong again...’ (ATM, Jun 2), income inequality can be narrowed down only by addressing inequalities in education and opportunity. Our broken staterun school system needs to be fixed by putting in place a rigorous mechanism of quality control designed to ensure productivity and accountability.

— Chander S Dogra, Punjab

Times Special

- Can the land of baseball be bowled over by cricket?

- WHEN MR FOLLOWS THE MISSUS

- OPENING A CAN OF BOOKWORMS

Can the land of baseball be bowled over by cricket?

US has scored a dramatic win over Pak in the T20 World Cup, but question is whether interest in the game will go beyond the diaspora?

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesgroup.com

Are you here for cricket,” asks Luis, a Colombian banker who doubles up as an Uber driver for his “beer money”, as he picks us up from Eisenhower Park — a sprawling splash of green in Long Island, New York, which has been partly converted into a unique pop-up stadium to host the T20 World Cup. Such is the buzz around the tournament that even locals are curious about this “new sport which has the look and feel of baseball”.

The big draw, of course, is the India-Pakistan game today. Fans have already streamed in from different corners of the US. Instead of baseball staples like hamburgers and hot dogs, food stands will have samosas, chai and shikanji. There will be watch-parties at nearby parks, and organisers expect about 6,000 people to attend, apart from the 35,000 at the stadium. “Crowds are going into shops, bakeries, restaurants, hotels are full...It has helped local businesses,” Gary Slavin, treasurer of the Nassau County Chamber of Commerce, told TOI.

For a sport that’s just spreading its wings in the US, that’s a promising start. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is keen to globalise the game and for that to happen, it is crucial that it finds a bigger foothold in the US. According to ICC estimates, there are already 2,00,000 cricket players in the US. The sport has been included in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, and the T20 World Cup is a bit of a dress rehearsal for that.

Sanjay Parthasarathy, owner of the Seattle Orcas team which was part of Major League Cricket (MLC) that started in the US last year, feels these events are a catalyst. “MLC, T20 World Cup, cricket’s inclusion in Olympics — these things can help the sport to grow in the US. But if it has to pique the curiosity of non-South Asians in America, it has to have a strong domestic structure. For starters, the national team has to do well. And for that to happen, we need more turf wickets, more grounds and more awareness about the sport,” says Parthasarathy, a former Microsoft executive who went on to found his own AI and machine learning startup which was later acquired. Now, he’s nurturing the game of cricket like a startup, and hoping it gets a fan following beyond the diaspora, which has kept its love of the game alive through communal meetups to watch matches and weekend games in parks and empty parking lots.

There was a huge boost for the US team on Thursday when they pulled off a magnificent Super Over victory against Pakistan in Dallas. This is the biggest win in the history of US cricket, and it came on the back of a victory against Canada when they chased down 196. With two more games to go, the hosts now have a chance to make the Super-8s, which could well be a game-changer for US cricket.

“This is an amazing performance by a group of hungry players who have been given a second chance in sport and life,” says Parthasarathy.

While Indian expat Saurabh Ne- travalkar, who is an engineer at Oracle and an excellent ukulele player, was the hero of Thursday’s triumph, their biggest star Corey Anderson is a prime example of what one can do with second chances. The allrounder is a former New Zealand player, who had his successes in the IPL as well. After injuries took a toll on his body, Anderson and his family started living in Dallas, Texas, where his wife Mary Margaret is from. In 2023, he became eligible to represent the US, and it was the lure of playing a World Cup that made him return to competitive cricket after his first retirement in 2020.

After the win, he was flooded with congratulatory text messages. “I think USA Cricket is just not that well known within America, and I think we put ourselves a little bit more on the map,” the 33-year-old Anderson told CNN in an interview.

While the likes of Anderson, Harmeet Singh (Indian origin) and Ali Khan (Pakistani origin) have played a big role in the US doing well in recent times, it is the need for a home-grown superstar that is crucially lacking to the US structure.

Sunil Subramaniam, a former Tamil Nadu spinner who spends six months in Seattle as coach of the MSK Prasad International Cricket Academy, feels it won’t be too long before the US will throw up its first big star, and more likely “it will be a batter”.

“These days, cricketers from across the world are taking the help of baseball coaches to work on their range hitting, which is basically an offshoot of baseball batting. T20 cricket is slowly becoming a game of hand-eye coordination and power, and American lads playing baseball are already good at that,” says Subramaniam, who was one of Ravichandran Ashwin’s early mentors.

He adds that some young Americans (both blacks and whites), are slowly showing interest. “We often share practice facilities with baseball teams in Seattle. Sometimes, when their practice is over, they come over and watch us train. A few of them even do some knocking and I can tell you, they are very good.”

US cricket bosses are optimistic that the T20 World Cup can do what FIFA World Cup in 1994 did for football (soccer for Americans) in the country.

Venu Pisike, chairman of US Cricket, told TOI that interest in the India-Pakistan game has been massive, and has gone beyond South Asians. “There are really important people in the country who are taking an interest in the game. If it’s a success, it can truly be a game-changer for US cricket,” Pisike says. MLC, for instance, boasts of tech investors like Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella and Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen. It already has official List A status from ICC, which means tournament playing records now count as official format statistics, and more teams will be added in the new season.

But, according to Subramaniam, the change will happen when there is a pathway for the sport through schools and colleges. “For games like baseball, basketball, soccer, there is scholarship in schools and colleges and parents want their kids to take these disciplines up. After the 1994 World Cup, there was a major push for soccer among young girls and that led to a world-beating team in the 2000s and a player like Megan Rapinoe,” Subramaniam says.

Cricket, too, needs its own Rapinoe in its ‘newfoundland’, and the seeds might be sown by Virat Kohli and Shaheen Afridi as they fight it out in the ‘Superbowl of 22 yards’ at the Nassau County ground on Sunday.

GLOBAL GAME: Changing demographics of US have only boosted audience for cricket

INTERNATIONAL CRICKET WAS BORN IN THE USA

Those who believe that baseball and soccer are the main sporting endeavours of the US may be surprised to learn that cricket has a long history there. In fact, the first international event in the modern sporting world was a cricket match that took place in New York between the US and Canada in 1844. This predated the revival of the Olympics. Interest in the game spread and many cricket clubs sprouted, many of them in Philadelphia. So how did interest die? Historians are not sure though some of them attribute it to the civil war when players went off to the war, leaving cricket fields deserted. Another blow came when the game’s first world governing body was established in 1907: the Imperial Cricket Conference, which excluded nations outside the British Empire.

PARK TO STADIUM IN 100 DAYS

➤ Site of New York stadium is the 930-acre Eisenhower Park. The 34,000-capacity temporary structure was put up in just 100 days at a cost of $30m

➤ First international cricket ground to be completely modular. Some stands are double decker. Playing area is as big as Wankhede

➤ Part of the material (mostly steel and aluminum, and not concrete) came from F1 Las Vegas Grand Prix. It will be dismantled and moved back after World Csup. The ground will be used by USA Cricket

➤ Drop-in pitches were first grown in trays in warm Florida by an Australian firm and then shipped to New York in 22 trucks

➤ Architect is a firm called Populous which has also designed the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad

Source: Cricket Monthly

WHEN MR FOLLOWS THE MISSUS

The trials of being a trailing spouse are usually borne by women, but now more men are willing to uproot themselves for their wives’ careers

In the last five to six years, there has been an increase in cases of men relocating for their wives or staying back to take care of the children while wives moveNIRUPAMA V G, HR PROFESSIONAL

Aman Chawla, ex-Navy officer, moved to Canada for his wife’s MBA

Kritika.Sharma@timesgroup.com

The term ‘trailing spouse’ was coined in 1981 by The Wall Street Journal’s Mary Bralove to describe those who have to derail their lives and careers to follow their partners. For the most part though, the one who packs her bags is the woman.

But that’s changing, with more Indian husbands ready to relocate so that their wives can chase their career dreams.

One reason for that is the option to work remotely post-pandemic. Shreyas M, a graphic designer with a Gurgaon-based studio who moved to Goa when his wife Natasha got the opportunity to head a school in Panjim, says the move made sense. “I can work remotely, but she could not have done that. She got the opportunity to be the head of a school, which is great for her career. Besides, who would want to let go of the chance to live in Goa?” says Shreyas.

Nirupama V G, founder of HR firm AdAstra Consultants, says this trend of trailing husbands has picked up pace. “In the last five to six years, there has been an increase in cases of men relocating or staying back to take care of the children while wives move.”

Such instances are only likely to increase as, with job losses, families want to grab the best offer possible. Rituparna Chakraborty, independent director of staffing firm Teamlease, says more organisations now support employees who want to relocate. But it is still rare to find men asking for transfers to adjust to their partners’ career requirements. “I think it’s going to take a while before society and workplaces support such decisions,” she adds.

In the startup world, trailing spouses are more common. Peeyush Jain, an IIT Delhi alumnus who advises startups, has relocated twice for his wife Shweta, who works at an MNC. The first time was to the US in 2010, where he was her dependent. Since Jain couldn’t find suitable employment in the US, his wife took a transfer to Delhi, and the couple returned to India. In 2014, he moved again, from Delhi to Bengaluru, this time after Shweta took another transfer.

Jain would have preferred living in Delhi because of the alumni network he could tap into for opportunities and the fact that the capital has a big Jain community. But since his wife was keen on moving to Bengaluru, he decided to go along with her.

“I had to start from scratch and build contacts in the startup sector in Bengaluru, which I did over time,” he says. The couple has enrolled the children in online Jainism classes in Bengaluru to make up for the lack of community.

Harpreet Singh Grover sold off his Gurgaon-based education startup CoCubes in 2016 to move to Mumbai with his wife who had a good offer. He says it was only fair to put her first as in 2010, she quit her job in Hong Kong as he found it difficult to adjust to their long-distance relationship. “I had taken away many years of her professional life. So, when she got the chance to pursue her dream job at a company in Mum- bai, I decided to relocate with her.”

He kept travelling back and forth from Gurgaon to Mumbai till the startup’s sale was finalised. After 2018, he settled down in Mumbai with his wife. wife and since then, has been working as a freelance parenting researcher and consultant. “Since my wife needed to be in Mumbai for work and I could work from anywhere, we thought moving to Mumbai would be perfect for us as a family,” he says. It initially posed a few challenges like building a network from scratch. But life has been good since their daughter gets to spend time with both of them.

It’s not just working wives who have found supportive husbands but even those who want to study. Aman Chawla, a retired Indian Navy officer, moved to Canada last year as his wife enrolled in a university in New Brunswick, New Jersey to pursue her MBA. “Having served in the Indian Navy for 14 years, I was looking for a corporate role. When my wife got the opportunity to study further, it allowed me to explore opportunities abroad as well,” says Chawla.

Before he moved to Canada, he completed his MBA from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) and upskilled himself. He now works at an economic development agency in Fredericton, a job he secured soon after relocating, while his wife works with the New Brunswick government. The couple feel it is a good move in terms of career growth, family life and the future of their three-year-old son, though they miss the social connections they had in India.

A media professional, who did not wish to be named, also relocated out of India after his wife got an opportunity to pursue a PhD in a UK university soon after marriage. “The decision to move was a no-brainer. There was no way I was going to let my wife lose the brilliant chance she got. Besides, a long-distance relationship is not what either of us was comfortable with. We are both 29 and have age on our side to explore opportunities in a new country,” he says. He has no regrets about leaving his media job in India and is confident about finding another.

Another couple, both communications professionals in their 40s, moved last year to Helsinki in Finland — which topped the World Happiness Index for the seventh time this year. Rohtash Singh, who worked with a media company in India, moved as his wife’s dependent after she first landed a job at a private company there. “We have always supported each other in our career journeys, and this just seemed like a great opportunity for her,” says Singh.

The couple and their 10-yearold daughter are now adjusting to a new life in Finland. Singh is still freelancing with no permanent job yet. But he’s not complaining. “The education system in Finland is world-class and I’m only too happy to have my daughter studying here,” he says.

Harpreet Singh Grover sold his startup to move to Mumbai with his wife

Peeyush Jain, startup advisor, relocated twice for wife Shweta

Mrs. Funnybones

OPENING A CAN OF BOOKWORMS

In the fable, a merchant from Hastinapur (presentday Meerut) makes a garment for the king that cannot be seen by anyone of illegitimate birth. His followers feign admiration for it but when the king strolls through the city, folks point out that he is wearing nothing. In stories and in real life, the folks of UP do seem to have a habit of holding a mirror up to power

TWINKLE KHANNA

As a child, I was accident prone. Tumble after tumble left me with myriad broken bones and torn ligaments. When I was laid up in bed, my favourite moments were when I had a bowl of banana chips on one side and a pile of books on the other. I could just about limp to the bathroom, but with a book in my hand, I could run in forests with the Grimm Brothers and spend hours submerged with Hans Christian Andersen’s ‘The Little Mermaid’. I was fortunate to have grown up before the internet age; otherwise, all those hours would have been spent going down a digital rabbit hole watching Mr Beast videos like today’s children instead of following Alice down hers.

The fact remains that if we want to be smarter than our phones and want the same for our children, then the only way is still rather old-fashioned: It’s by using a book. A recent study published by ‘Advanced Science’ stated that screen use leads to social problems in young adolescents. It also significantly reduces children’s reading time, indirectly affecting their language skills and brain volume. So excessive screen time affects not just cognitive abilities, but the actual structure of the brain.

Unlike watching a YouTube video or scrolling, reading a book requires active participation. It also acts as a navigational tool to guide us through this expedition called life. There was a time when my little one wanted to discontinue her swimming lessons. A tan had become her nemesis.

‘I want to be the same colour as bhaiya.’

A chance remark by a foolish relative within her earshot had not gone unnoticed. ‘She is so cute but not as fair as her brother!’

I gave her Frida Kahlo’s illustrated biography. Gleaming skin of a shade not unlike hers, with eyebrows that met in the centre, a formidably talented woman as a role model.

These days, she claims she doesn’t need to use as much sunblock as her brother. ‘White is a light colour, so it gets dirty fast like my T-shirt; brown is darker, so it doesn’t.’

One of the biggest challenges of the digital age is finding a way to get ourselves and our children to set aside whirling screens and focus on turning one page after another.

My father, who also enjoyed reading, once stated that in an ideal world, he wanted a partner who would lie down in his lap while they read the same book together.

I recall saying, ‘Dad, this is never going to happen. Your expectations are ridiculous. What if they read slower than you or wanted to take a break?’

But his comment stayed with me like a piece of meat stuck between the molars after eating biryani. This year, after nagging my daughter to read and when even the ‘one tight slap’ threat began to wane, I decided to find another way. Perhaps like my father said, it was possible to be on the same page together, just not at the same time.

I decided to turn reading into a group project for the two of us and called it The Book Battle. It began by taking my daughter to our local bookstore and requesting a recommendation. I wanted a book that my 11-year-old would enjoy, and I would not feel like I was injecting an anaesthetic into my ageing neurons. William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ was the store manager’s recommendation, and though I knew it was gory, I was also aware that my younger one is unfazed by blood, death and even intestine-chewing zombies.

We made a deal that included reading a minimum of 20 pages a day and annotating the book. We would underline words we didn’t understand, compete in marking interesting passages and great metaphors, leave comments and questions for each other in the margins.

Some purists may find scribbling in books distasteful, but it’s important to remember that the goddess of wisdom doesn’t visit when you worship books, she drops by when you read them.

My daughter and I chased each other’s thoughts and ideas on the margins of the printed pages. If I needed to prod her to read more, instead of bribes or threats, I just had to tell her that I was way ahead. Then, like the PT Usha of literary pursuits, she would race across the pages.

When we were done with ‘Lord of the Flies’, I put the book away in her bedside drawer. In time, my daughter may forget about our Book Battle, but when she opens this scribbled copy, it will be another sort of navigational guide — one that will outline a bond we shared, a connection we made, and a book we read together.

Recent events have unveiled an additional dimension to a book’s purpose. They can even function as crystal balls and predict the future. Watching the election results, I was reminded of another famous Hans Christian Andersen story from my childhood, ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’, where a king is given invisible clothes and everyone around him admires his garments. Though published by the Danish author in 1837, this tale originates in our backyard. It appeared in the 13th century as a summary of a now-lost anthology of fables by Jinaratna. In the Indian fable, a merchant from Hastinapur (present-day Meerut) claims to weave a garment for the king that cannot be seen by anyone of illegitimate birth. When the king purportedly has the garment on, his followers feign admiration for it. The king then strolls through the city to show off the garment, and that’s when the common folk point out that he is, in fact, wearing nothing. In stories and in real life, the folks of Uttar Pradesh do seem to have a habit of holding a mirror up to power.

While there are numerous compelling reasons to be a reader, let me tell you my secret one: When you curl up on a couch and bury your head in a book, people are instantly fooled into thinking you are an intellectual when in reality, you are just an expert at being idle.

Times Parenting

- Pune Porsche case shows we may be taking yes-parenting too far

- I can be crazy mom one day, and calm the next. Parenting throws many curveballs: Ranna Gill

- YOGA FOR KIDS

Pune Porsche case shows we may be taking yes-parenting too far

Recent case of drunk teen makes one wonder whether things would have been different if his dad had refused to give in to his demands. But whether it’s a smartphone or keys to a luxury car, modern-day parents struggle with being strict. So when and how should parents say No?

The sooner you stand your ground and show that you are the decision maker as the parent, the less you have to keep fighting as the kids grow older — BHARATI SINGH | AUTHOR OF ‘NO IS A GOOD WORD’

Neha Bhayana

Three weeks ago, an allegedly drunk 17-year-old boy from Pune rammed the Porsche he was driving at 200kmph into a bike, killing two 24-year-old techies on the spot. The boy, son of a prominent builder, had apparently gone out with friends to celebrate his Class 12 results. His grandfather, after consulting the father, had handed over a credit card and the luxury sedan’s keys to the boy who reportedly spent Rs 69,000 on liquor at two pubs before wanting to drive himself home. The driver claims he called the dad to ask whether he should give the car keys or not. The father said yes. The crash occurred minutes later.

What if the dad had said a firm no and asked the driver to not hand the Porsche key to his son? What if he had said no for giving a credit card and instead given a small amount of cash for just a drink or two? Maybe the son would have listened or maybe not. Perhaps, the victims Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta would still be alive today.

While not every nod given by a parent leads to dire consequences, one thing that stands out in modern-day parenting is the reluctance to say no. Unlike parents of the previous generations who used to coolly pronounce a no — often even before the child had finished his sentence — young moms and dads these days hate to disappoint their ‘laadla bachchas’. Whether it is a two-year-old who wants yet another toy or a teen’s demand for the latest iPhone, parents often give in easily. The desire to avoid the two-letter word is so strong that parenting sites even offer articles on the ‘10 ways to say no to your kid without saying no’ and ‘Five positive words to use instead of no’.

Parenting experts say the struggle to say no starts from the time the child is a baby. As families get smaller, kids tend to be treated like mini royalty. Toddler meltdowns and door slamming by teens make parents tread even more cautious- ly. Priyanshi, the four-year-old daughter of Delhi-based Archana and Amit Srivastav, is so used to getting her way that her lower lip curls out, eyes fill up and skin turns beetroot-red the moment she hears someone say no to her. Amit melts and quickly hands over the fourth cookie she has demanded. “I know the cookies are filled with sugar and she will barely eat lunch, but I just can’t say no to that innocent face,” he says. The couple often argue about this, especially as Amit recently started singing “noi, noi, noi” instead of saying no when he had to stop Priyanshi from jumping on the sofa. “It is ridiculous. Amit has become so allergic to saying no he sings it now. What’s the big deal, let her cry if she wants? As parents it is our duty to stop her,” says Archana.

Mom of two boys Priti Jha too struggles with no these days. “I used to say no without a second thought when Reyansh, my older one, was little but now that he is 12-plus, I think ten times. A fear has crept in my mind… I worry that my relationship with him will get strained and he may in any case go ahead and do what he wants without keeping me in the loop,” she says.

Are we scared of our kids?

The fear of ruining one’s relationship with the child is often the root cause of yes-parenting, say experts. “There is a lot of guilt among parents nowadays. Parents feel bad about being too busy with their own careers or social lives, and not giving enough quality time to their kids so they overcompensate by agreeing to all the demands,” says parent coach and educationist Pallavi Chaturvedi. “Look at the teens today. They all have add-on credit cards.”

Child psychiatrist Dr Sapna Bangar points out that parents are also striving to be different from their own authoritarian parents. “Our parents and teachers used to say no and that was the final word. And that felt very unfair to us, so some of us are now going to the other extreme,” she says. Chaturvedi says that some parents don’t realise that by pampering their kids and “showing them love or giving them all that you didn’t have in your childhood, you’re actually setting them up for failure.”

Bharati Singh, author of a children’s storybook titled ‘No is a Good Word’, points out that the new wave of gentle parenting has put additional pressure on parents as they don’t want to be looked upon as too strict. “The current generation of parents were first scared of their own parents and now they seem scared of their own children,” she says.

The ‘self-esteem movement’ (where an- ything that can hurt a child’s self-esteem is frowned upon) is also making parents reluctant to say no. Renowned lawyer-activist Abha Singh blames peer pressure for the eager-to-please attitude of parents. “Peer pressure makes children have complexes. Even if parents don’t want to give something, they buckle down so that the child does not feel left out. They feel they must host parties in five-star hotels, buy expensive cars and latest phones.”

Know when to say no

Considering it is not ideal to be too strict or too soft, experts say parents must choose their yes and no moments wisely. Mumbai mom Reema Makhija tries to strike the right balance. “When I am not giving permission for something today, I can at least remind that I had allowed him something yesterday. I also make it a point to hear Sian’s views before making a decision,” she says. “It’s not a war which I have to win all the time because I’m an adult.”

Singh does the same. “My parents were very strict and they used to say no a lot and I used to feel cheated because there was not much communication. So, I do explain my reasons to my daughter, but I don’t overexplain. Sometimes a no is a no. I tell her that this is my house so we have to follow my rules. When she grows up, she can have her own house rules,” she says. Sometimes, her daughter realises her demand was unjustified and even appreciates Singh for stopping her. Singh wishes people would stop considering no a bad word. “We should have the confidence to say no when required. The sooner you stand your ground and show that you are the decision maker as the parent, the less you have to keep fighting as the kids grow older,” she says.

Chaturvedi feels parents often forget that their role is not to look cool or be friends with their child. “Our role is to guide children, teach them the right principles and reign them in when required,” she says.

Dr Bangar advocates saying no to children as often as required, but with a valid reason. “It’s important for kids to know we are not saying no because of our whims and fancies. Our job is to teach kids what’s right and wrong and train them to make the right decisions in future, even when we are not there to guide them. If you’re saying no to chocolate, you have to tell the child it leads to cavities,” she says. The tone in which parents are saying no also makes a big difference.

No can be a gift

Counsellors point out that moms and dads tend to forget that no may cause a little pain in the short-term but it is beneficial in the long run. “I can guarantee you that sometimes saying no will be the most wonderful gift you can give your kids. It establishes boundaries and it teaches them to weather an experience that is a part of life,” observes Rachel Marie Martin, founder of social media community Finding Joy, in her HuffPost article titled ‘I desperately wanted to be a Yes mum. I’m a better mum when I say no’.

Hearing no also teaches kids to say no which is an important life skill. Many people face difficulty in saying no to their friends, spouses, bosses and colleagues and end up doing things they don’t agree with. “Kids learn best by imitating. If we assert our no to them, they too do the same when they step out in the world and need to say no for something,” says Singh. “If we respect our kids and still manage to say no, we are doing them a favour.”

Jha understands this and is prepared to be a ‘bad mom’ if required. “I don’t care if my sons think I don’t love them. If they are about to do something harmful, I will stop them. I truly believe that a parent’s scolding can act like a vaccine to protect the child.”

Dr Bangar believes it is when parents ignore small mistakes in childhood that things escalate and ‘blow up’ when the child is older. “It is important for parents to make it clear to kids that there will be consequences for their actions. If we overlook little things in the beginning, problems can arise in the future,” she says, adding that parents should take away privileges rather than give punishments (change WiFi password, cancel a shopping trip or ban a party) to teach lessons.

A lesson for parents

Parenting coaches say the Pune incident should serve as a wakeup call for parents. “Rich kids, posh schools, unlimited spending money, over-indulgent parents, so many distractions out there and we wonder why some rich kids turn into entitled souls,”

asks Chaturvedi, adding that a child is “born as a blank slate” so it is a parent’s duty to raise them to be well-grounded and empathetic individuals who understand the difference between right and wrong.

Experts observe that parents often unknowingly teach their kids that it is okay to break the law (by jumping signals, parking at a ‘no parking zone’) as long as one gets away with it. “What makes it worse is that some parents brag about it,” says Bangar.

Makhija feels it is very challenging for parents to always be right, whether they are saying a yes or a no. “When I read about the Pune incident, my heart went out to the parents. If you don’t allow your 17-year-old to go for a night-out, he will still go without telling you. These parents at least sent the driver. And, they apparently received a call at 2am and had to decide if they should let their son drive. That also makes me think of the number of times when Sian calls me when I am in office. Sometimes, my mind is thinking about 10 other things. One may not think while saying okay that it will lead to something like this,” she says.

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HOW TO RAISE RESPONSIBLE KIDS

Parent coach Pallavi Chaturvedi shares tips to help parents (especially affluent ones) raise their kids to be well-grounded and responsible citizens

START EARLY

The moment you realise that your children have opportunities to go astray, recognise it and know that you have to do something about it

BUILD EMPATHY

Friends from different economic groups, social work and adventure camps can help your child step out of their luxurious comfort zone and get a sense of the real world

DON’T OVERPAMPER

Your children already know that they live lives beyond most of their friends around them so don’t give them fake licenses, expensive electronic gadgets or vehicles beyond their means

INSTIL VALUE FOR MONEY

Encourage teens to do internships and part-time jobs in their vacations so they know how hard it is to earn money

AVOID BRAGGING

Don’t brag about how wealthy you are, how many cars or how much land or bank balance you have. This creates a sense of entitlement in your child

SET BOUNDARIES

Impose clear limits (or even bans) for alcohol, vacations with friends, late-night parties and set consequences for breaking rules

WHY YOU SHOULD SAY YES TO NO

➤ Kids need to learn to deal with disappointment. Children who have never heard no as kids will be shocked when they face rejections in the future

➤ Kids need to learn to wait. Instant gratification is not always possible in life. Tell them that they can get play time or screen time only after homework

➤ In certain cases, a no can be comforting to the child and make them feel cared for and safe

➤ A firm no establishes the hierarchy in the parent-child relationship and tells the kids the parents are in charge. This makes the kids feel secure

➤ With the healthy boundaries set from hearing no, kids are much more likely to be able to create these boundaries for themselves in adultrelationships

I can be crazy mom one day, and calm the next. Parenting throws many curveballs: Ranna Gill

Designer Ranna Gill’s creations, worn by many a film star, are both chic and timeless. But a busy career means that Gill, who is married to an American, has to shuttle between her business in Delhi, and her home and kids in New York. She spoke to Neha Bhayana about bringing up biracial kids, her secret to stress-free parenting and today's teens

I think kids today are very compassionate. There’s not so much bullying. They don’t judge people by the way they look, their religion or sexual orientation

My kids will choose their religion when they are older. Or they may follow both paths. We are just letting them soak in everything

Your daughter is 13 and son 12. What, according to you, is the toughest part of being a parent?

■ It’s not tough. It’s incredible. I love kids. In fact, I wish I had another child. Kids are such a gift. Of course, you really have to choose your time very judiciously, especially if you are a working parent. You have to be very precise about what you need to do. There’s really not that much free time because you’re a full-time parent (that’s the way it is) and your career needs you full-time too. So, there’s no lounge time. You are either working or parenting. But it is still great. My kids are a bit older now. They’re not little babies who need me constantly. Now, we have a lot of intelligent exchanges. I learn a lot from my children.

What have you learned from your kids?

■ Our kids are growing up in a very different world. I have one Gen Z kid and one Gen Alpha. Their choices in friends, music, fashion and food are so different. As a parent, I find it very interesting. Even their academic life is so new for us. My children learn via the Chromebook, not textbooks. Their entire world is on the screen and everything is linked to technology. I have been running a business for more than two decades, and was still so amazed to learn about the business of sneakers from my 12-year-old son. He told me how they are traded and how there is a sneaker stock market. My daughter introduced me to new-age makeup trends like clean makeup and non-makeup. It’s very interesting for parents to learn from their kids and their journeys.

Do your kids like your designs?

■ I am not going to lie. My kids don’t hate my outfits, but they are not all over them. I guess it is a little bit of mom fashion. I get that. My daughter doesn’t like too much colour. She likes clean, quiet kinds of tones. And her mom loves colours. Our company celebrates colours. The current generation of teens also celebrate colours but softer, more neutral hues. It’s a different colour palette.

I do think they like fashion. My son hopes to be the biggest basketball player there ever was. But when I told him that you need a plan B in life, in case plan A doesn’t work out, he said maybe he will work for my company. Our daughter goes through phases. At the moment, she wants to go to Harvard and be a lawyer. She wants to fight cases for big athletes and fashion giants like Dior (laughs). As of now, they live in their own world. So, she has her direction, and he has his. Mom’s business is woven in somewhere.

What’s your trick for getting your kids to listen to you?

■ I think I have really sweet kids. They do listen. They see a mom who’s always working, always committed, so they fall in line easily. At the moment, the water is calm. I don’t know if everything changes next year, and I’m going to be losing it. Of course, they do have their personalities and I want to let them develop. They can have their point of view. It’s okay if they don’t agree and say, “I’m not gonna cut my hair.” Even when my daughter does not agree with my sense of fashion, I let her choose what she wants to wear. I kind of listen to her. It’s very educational for me.

Strict or soft — how would you describe your parenting style?

■ I think I am a new mom every day. On Monday, I am a strict mom. On Tuesday, I am a soft mom. Wednesday is crazy mom. Thursday is busy mom and Friday is calm mom. I just go with the flow. Of course, as they are getting older, I realise I am saying a lot more no than yes. I look at whatever curveball is thrown at me and take my call. This morning, my daughter said she wanted highlights. I was like absolutely not. I can be tough that way. I have a tough mom and I think I mirror that. To this day, my mom is quite tough. And she is my business partner — she co-owns the brand Ranna Gill — so I have to listen to her about everything. My kids see that. They tease me that nani is CEO and I actually work for her.

How do you keep your kids connected to their roots?

■ I talk to them only in Hindi. See, they are half white, half brown. I was the only one who could teach them Hindi because they live in the US, and study Spanish in school. Their dad does not speak Hindi either. They are so used to me speaking Hindi with them that when I suddenly switch to English, they know mom’s angry. I also take the kids to India as much as possible. We try to spend at least six weeks each year at our home in Delhi. When we go to local stores, people are stunned to see these two white kids speaking in fluent Hindi. I am Sikh so I take my kids to the Gurdwara every Sunday. We also take them to the church as my husband’s Catholic. We celebrate all festivals, be it Easter, Diwali or Gurpurab. My kids will choose their religion when they are older. Or they may follow both paths. We are just letting them soak in everything.

What values did your parents teach you which you are also trying to instill in your kids?

■ I think values are the same everywhere. We have so many wonderful families living around us who are our friends. Their origins are different (Greek, Italian, Spanish, Jewish and mixed race) and they speak different languages, but I don’t find their values differ- ent from ours. No parent wants their kids to overspend or go crazy and colour their hair yellow.

Are you a typical Indian mom for whom marks matter the most?

■ I am. If my daughter comes home with 98 out of 100, I ask her why she lost two marks. My son comes home with 89 and I want to know why he didn’t score higher. I do push them to do well in their tests and have high expectations. But I don’t bully them. I hold their hands. If they need a certain tutor or need to go somewhere to learn something, I arrange it. It’s not like I magically expect them to produce A+ results.

Your work entails a lot of travelling. How do you manage?

■ I do one trip to Delhi every month. Of course, it’s not easy, but I get a lot of help. I have a great husband who is an equal partner. Both of us hold hands and power through.

I also invite my mother-in-law to come help us. We have a lady who cooks for us. My kids also understand that mom has to manage the factory and stores. They are responsible and hold their end.

Do you ever lose your cool with your kids?

■ Not really. I don’t get ticked off that easily.

Most moms find juggling a career and kids very stressful. You, on the other hand, seem very sorted. What’s your secret for stress-free parenting?’

■ I think every mom’s journey is unique. I guess I may be the way I am because I am an older mom; I had my kids when I was in my late 30s. By then, I had had a good 15-year-long career, I was not broke, my path was set and my mind was clear. So, when my children came, their journey overtook everything else. I wasn’t a new parent with a new partner or a new career. My life was stable, so I could focus on my kids. Of course, there are some incredible moms who have children in their 20s. They are just 40 when their kids are in college. They have beautiful journeys too.

There is a growing demand for kids’ couture. You didn’t want to try your hand at designing for children?

■ I haven’t forayed into kidswear yet, but you never know. My mother was a kidswear designer so I know how it works. As a young girl, I used to do pattern-making in my mom’s company. I remember how the neckline of children’s clothes has to be very open because their heads grow faster. I definitely feel the kids’ designer clothing market will boom.

Do you find the current generation of kids different from their predecessors?

■ I think kids today are very compassionate. There’s not so much bullying. They don’t judge people by the way they look, the religion they follow or even their sexual orientation. I think that’s the modern world. We were not like that when we were kids. Today’s teens are also more politically aware.

YOGA FOR KIDS

Kids are bundles of energy and it is often difficult to get them to concentrate on reading a book or completing their homework. Practising yoga can help your child become fit and more focused too. Start with these simple asanas

TREE POSE | Vrikshasana

1 Stand straight with your feet together and hands at your sides

2 Bring the bottom of one foot to the middle of your other calf, knee or upper thigh and hold the pose

3 Look straight ahead, ideally at one spot or one object in front of you to maintain your balance

4 Repeat with the other foot

SEATED FORWARD BEND Paschimottanasana

1 Sit on the mat with your legs stretched straight in front

2 Inhale and raise your arms up

3 Exhale and bend forward slowly

4 Try to touch your toes with your hands

5 Hold for 20 to 60 seconds

6 Slowly return to sitting position

PLOW POSE | Halasana

1 Lie on your back and place your palms on the floor beside you

2 Lift your legs off the floor while inhaling till your feet are pointing at the ceiling

3 Pause for a few seconds

4 Slowly bring your legs over your head, try to make your toes touch the ground over your head

5 Don’t press your neck into the floor. There should be space between your neck and the floor

6 Hold this pose for eight breaths before slowly coming out of it

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Israel rescues four hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct 7 attack

Netanyahu: ‘Israel Does Not Surrender To Terrorism’ | At Least 94 Palestinians Killed In Largest Hostage Rescue Operation Since War With Hamas Began

Almog Meir Jan, a rescued hostage, reacts with his mother, Orit Meir, after Israeli forces rescued him from the central Gaza Strip; (Right) Noa Argamani, a rescued hostage, embraces her father, Yakov Argamani

Deir Al-Balah: Israel on Saturday carried out its largest hostage rescue operation since the war with Hamas began, taking four to safety out of central Gaza as heavy fighting continued there. At least 94 dead Palestinians, including children, were brought to local hospitals, a health official said.

Israelis were jubilant as the army said it rescued Noa Argamani, 25; Almog Meir Jan, 21; Andrey Kozlov, 27; and Shlomi Ziv, 40, in a daytime operation in the heart of Nuseirat, raiding two locations at once and under fire. All were well, the military said. They were taken by helicopter for medical checks and reunions with loved ones after 246 days held.

Argamani had been one of the most widely recognised hostages after being taken, like the three others, from a music festival. The video of her abduction was among the first to surface, with her between two men on a motorcycle as she screamed, “Don't kill me!” Her mother, Liora, has stage four brain cancer and in April released a video pleading to see her daughter before she dies.

An elated Argamani spoke by phone with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In a video message released by the government, she tells him she is “very excited,” saying she hasn't heard Hebrew in so long.

Netanyahu in a statement said “Israel does not surrender to terrorism and acts with creativity and boldness that knows no bounds to bring home our abductees.” He vowed to continue the fighting until all are freed. The operation was “daring in nature, planned brilliantly, and executed in an extraordinary fashion,” defence minister Yoav Gallant said.

The bodies of nearly 100 Palestinians killed were taken to Al-Aqsa Hospital, where spokesperson Khalil Degran told The Associated Press more than 100 wounded also arrived. AP reporters saw dozens of bodies brought from the Nuseirat and Deir al-Balah areas.

A baby was among the dead. Small children wailed, covered in blood. Bodies were placed on the ground outside, their feet bare, as more wound- ed were rushed in. “My two cousins were killed, and two other cousins were seriously injured. They did not commit any sin. They were sitting at home,” one relative said in the chaos. Israel’s military said it had attacked “threats to our forces in the area.” The military said one commando died from his wounds.

A US hostage cell provided advice and support throughout the process of locating and rescuing the hostages, according to a Biden administration official. The official, who was not authorized to comment and requested anonymity, declined to offer further detail on the American involvement. The hostage cells are multi-agency teams.

“We won’t stop working until all the hostages come home and a cease-fire is reached,” US President Joe Biden said.

Hamas took some 250 hostages during the October 7 attack that killed about 1,200 people. About half were released in a weeklong cease-fire in November. About 120 hostages remain, with 43 pronounced dead. Survivors include about 15 women, two children under the age of 5 and two men in their 80s. Saturday’s hostage recovery operation brings the total of rescued captives to seven. Two men were rescued in February and a woman was rescued in the aftermath of the October attack. Israeli troops have recovered at least 16 bodies of hostages, according to the government. The latest rescue was expected to lift spirits in Israel at a time when the war is dragging on and divisions are deepening over the best way to bring hostages home.

AP

Lebanon arrests 20 over attack on US embassy

Lebanese authorities have arrested 20 people after a shooting near the US embassy in Beirut said to be in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, a judicial source told AFP Saturday. A Syrian man was arrested Wednesday after the shooting at the embassy, and a judicial official said at the time that the assailant carried out the attack “in support of Gaza”.

The US embassy said on X that “small arms fire was reported in the vicinity of the entrance” and that “thanks to the quick reaction” of the Lebanese army, security forces “and our embassy security team, our facility and our team are safe”. The judicial source on Saturday said “the number of people arrested over the attack on the American embassy has risen to 20, including the Syrian assailant Qais Farraj, who is receiving care at the military hospital in Beirut”.

AFP

Tens of thousands join election rally against German far right

STRONG STATEMENT: Protesters hold signs (referring to Germany’s far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party) during a demonstration in Berlin on Saturday, one day ahead of European Parliament elections

Tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in Germany on Saturday, urging citizens to vote against the far right in this weekend’s European Union elections. With placards reading “Stop hatred” and “Down with racism”, around 30,000 people joined a demonstration in central Berlin, according to Campact, one of the civil groups organising the rally.

Polls indicate the anti-immigration AfD party could win up to 15 percent of the vote in Germany on Sunday — potentially its best ever performance — despite a string of scandals. That would place it joint-second with Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party and behind the centre right Christian Democrats. Some demonstrators in Berlin held up letters spelling out “Go vote” along with yellow stars like those of the EU flag.

“There is no better way to defend democracy than to go and vote tomorrow,” activist Tareq Alaows of the refugee rights group ProAsyl told the crowd. Thousands of people joined similar rallies in Stuttgart, Leipzig, Dresden, Munich and Frankfurt.

The AfD was expelled from a far-right group within the European Parliament af- ter its top candidate Maximilian Krah made comments minimising the crimes of the Nazis’ SS guards. Among other scandals, Krah is also being investigated over his relations with China after one of his aides was arrested on suspicion of spying for Beijing.

AGENCIES

Pakistan’s Punjab govt gets notice for not naming Lahore Chowk after Bhagat Singh

Lahore: A Pakistani court on Friday adjourned the hearing of a petition seeking contempt proceedings against the government for not complying with the court’s order regarding renaming a chowk in Lahore after Independence war hero Bhagat Singh for three months. Bhagat Singh was hanged at Lahore’s Shadman Chowk by colonial British rulers on March 23, 1931, after being tried under charges of hatching a conspiracy against the regime. The freedom fighter is respected in the subcontinent not only by Sikhs and Hindus but also by Muslims.

Lahore high court Justice Shams Mahmood Mirza on Friday adjourned the further hearing of the case till September 13, on the request of one of the respondents.

During the hearing, assistant advocate general Punjab Asghar Laghari told the court that deputy commissioner, Lahore, Rafia Haider (one of the respondents) requested for an adjournment as she has been abroad for a couple of months.

The petitioner's counsel, advocate Khalid Zaman Khan Kakar, told the court that there had already been a lot of delay in the matter, therefore, it should decide forthwith. “After hearing the arguments from both sides, the LHC adjourned the proceedings till September 13,” a court official said.

PTI

Two members of minority Ahmadi community shot dead

Omer Farooq Khan TNN

Islamabad: Two members of the minority Ahmadi community were shot dead in Pakistan’s central Punjab province on Saturday, days after a vicious campaign was launched against the Supreme Court order releasing a person from the persecuted sect in a 2022 case. The incident occurred in Sadullapur area of Mandi Bahauddin district. The victims, a 50-year-old man and another 25 years old, were targeted by an unknown assailant when they were en route to a nearby market.

District police officer Ahmad Mohiuddin said the suspected attacker has been arrested from the same locality and the murder weapon seized. “He was involved in both shootings,” he claimed.

Following the incident, a large police force was deployed in the area.

There are an estimated four million Ahmadis in Pakistan, a country of over 220 million people.

‘Shaken’ Danish PM cancels appointments after attack

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Saturday cancelled her appointments after suffering a whiplash injury in a street attack that left her “shaken”. Frederiksen’s office told AFP that she he had been taken to a hospital for a check-up after the attack on Friday evening in a Copenhagen square. The assault has caused a “minor whiplash injury,” it said, adding that the prime minister was “otherwise safe but shaken by the incident” and her Saturday schedule had been cancelled.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday became the latest European leader to denounce the attack as “unacceptable”, in a statement on X. “I strongly condemn this act and wish Mette Frederiksen a speedy recovery,” Macron added.

Danish police on Saturday said “a 39-year-old man will be brought before the Copenhagen district court for questioning” to decide if he is to be remanded in custody. Two witnesses, Marie Adrian and Anna Ravn, told newspaper BT they had seen Frederiksen arrive at the square while they were sitting by a nearby fountain, just before 6 pm on Friday. “A man came by in the opposite direction and gave her a hard shove on the shoulder, causing her to fall to the side,” the two women told the newspaper. They added that while it was a “strong push”, Frederiksen did not hit the ground.

They described the man as tall and slim, and said he had tried to hurry away but had not got far before being grabbed and pushed to the ground by men in suits. The attack was widely condemned by leading European politicians, including EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, who said it was a “despicable act which goes against everything we believe and fight for in Europe.”

AFP

Sexual minorities demand equality in Nepal parade

Kathmandu: Celebrating the month of June as the month of pride, sexual minorities in Nepal held a parade through the capital painting the roads with rainbow-coloured flags and slogans demanding equality both by the state as well as the society. Hundreds of members of marginalised sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics (PoMSOGIESC) annually organize the parade on the second Saturday of June. Since its inception, the demand for equality and equal treatment has always been raised.

ANI

Imran’s wife seeks suspension of sentence in wedding case

Islamabad: Former Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s wife Bushra Bibi has approached the Islamabad high court (IHC) seeking suspension of her sentence in the iddat case, Pakistan-based Geo News reported. Bushra Bibi registered the petition through her lawyer Salman Safdar. According to the petition, the hearing of her appeal against the conviction is pending. Criticising Bushra Bibi’s “prolonged incarceration”, the petition underscored her right to the suspension of her sentence, according to Geo News report.

The plea reads, “It is imperative to decide the suspension of sentence of the petitioner [Bushra] as early as possible in the interest of justice.”

Earlier in February, Imran Khan and Bushra Bibi were each sentenced to seven years in prison after a trial court found their marriage to be fraudulent after Bushra Bibi's ex-husband Khawar Maneka approached the court against their marriage, stressing that it was solemnised during her iddat period.

In its 51-page verdict, the judge stated that their marriage reflected dishonesty and also imposed a fine of Pakistan Rupees (PKR) 500,000 each, for which the failure to pay provisions additional four months of incarceration, Geo News reported. After the court’s verdict, the couple filed appeals against their conviction in a district and session court.

ANI

Macron hosts Biden as 2 leaders try to move past trade tensions

Allies Aim To Show Off Partnership On Global Security

(L) French President Emmanuel Macron with US President Joe Biden in Paris on Saturday. (Above) France’s first lady Brigitte Macron (R) welcomes US first lady Jill Biden at the Presidential Elysee Palace in Paris

Paris:President Joe Biden is being feted by French President Emmanuel Macron with a state visit Saturday as the two allies aim to show off their partnership on global security issues and move past trade tensions. Biden and Macron attended ceremonies marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday and met separately the following day with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Paris. The leaders both used those engagements to underscore the urgent need to support Kyiv’s fight against Russia’s invasion.

But Macron and Biden have often chafed at the pace of support for Ukraine, especially as the United States, by far the largest contributor to Kyiv’s defence, was forced to pause aid shipments for months while congressional Republicans held up an assistance package.

The state visit began with a ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe, including a wreath-laying at France’s tomb of the unknown soldier, and a military parade along the Champs-Élysées leading to the Élysée Palace, where the two held official meetings and were delivering public statements. Later, there is a state dinner at the palace for Biden and his wife, Jill.

“Proud to be here,” Biden said at the Arc de Triomphe. “A great honour.” Biden hosted Macron in December 2022 at the White House for the first state visit of his presidency as the Covid-19 pandemic receded.

Jill Biden flew back to Paris aboard a US government plane after spending Friday in Delaware to support their son, Hunter Biden, who is standing trial on federal gun charges.

As the president’s trip draws to a close, the far right is likely to emerge as one of the biggest winners in Sunday’s European Parliament election while Macron’s pro-European Union movement is flagging.

A top French official said Macron and Biden have a friendly and warm relationship and stressed that the US president is spending five days in France, reflecting the importance he attaches to the visit. The official spoke anonymously, in line with customary practices for Macron’s office.

The official said the US presidential campaign was not a factor in the discussion.

Macron hosted then-President Donald Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee this year, for Bastille Day in 2017, and he came to Washington for a state visit in 2018 before their relationship soured. US and French officials said Ukraine would be at the top of Saturday’s agenda, but the centrepiece of the weekend event would be the strength of the alliance, fortified at Normandy 80 years ago, but with roots far deeper.

“It’s probably a good thing for us to remember that we didn’t win our independence either without some foreign help or foreign assistance, specifically from France,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday.

AP

Officials say 27 killed in attacks on Russian-held Ukrainian regions

Kyiv: Russia-installed officials in the partially occupied Ukrainian regions of Kherson and Luhansk say Ukrainian attacks left at least 27 people dead as Russia and Ukraine continued to exchange drone attacks overnight into Saturday.

A Ukrainian attack Friday on the small town of Sadove in Ukraine’s partially occupied Kherson region killed 22 and wounded 15 people, Moscow-backed governor Vladimir Saldo said.

Russian state news agency Tass cited Saldo as saying that Ukrainian forces first struck the town with a French-made guided bomb, then attacked again with a US-supplied HIMARS missile. He said Ukrainian forces had “deliberately made a repeat strike to create greater numbers of casualties” when “residents of nearby houses ran out to help the injured”. Further east, Leonid Pasechnik, the Russia-installed governor in Ukraine’s partially occupied Luhansk region, said Saturday that two more bodies had be- en pulled from the rubble following Friday’s Ukrainian missile attack on the regional capital, also called Luhansk, bringing the death toll to five. Pasechnik also said 60 people were wounded in the attack. Ukraine did not comment on either assault.

Meanwhile, drone attacks between Russia and Ukraine persisted.

Ukraine launched a barrage of drones across Russian territory overnight Friday, Russia’s Defence Mini- stry said Saturday. 25 drones were reportedly destroyed over Russia’s southern Kuban and Astrakhan regions, the western Tula region, and the Moscow-annexed Crimean peninsula.

On Saturday morning, officials said air defences for the first time shot down Ukrainian drones over the North Ossetia region in the North Caucasus, some 900 km from the frontline in Ukraine’s partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region.

AP

Russia jails French citizen detained on charges of collecting military data

A court in Moscow on Friday ordered a French citizen accused of collecting information on military issues in Russia be held in jail pending investigation and trial. Laurent Vinatier was arrested in the Russian capital on Thursday as tensions have flared between Moscow and Paris following French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements about the possibility of deploying the country’s troops in Ukraine. The authorities accused Vinatier of failing to register as a “foreign agent” while collecting information about Russia’s “military and military-technical activities,” which could be used to the detriment of the country’s security. They did not provide details of the accusations beyond alleging that Vinatier repeatedly traveled to Russia to collect this information.

AP

AROUND THE WORLD

COUNTRY QUEEN: Kelsea Ballerini performs during CMA Fest, a gathering of country music fans in Nashville, on Friday

Kate apologises for missing Irish Guards final rehearsal before king’s parade

Kate, the Princess of Wales, wished the Irish Guards good luck on their final rehearsal on Saturday before the Trooping of the Colour parade in honour of the king's birthday. Kate, who has been recovering from cancer, apologised for not being there in her capacity as the guards' honorary colonel. “Being your colonel remains a great honour and I am very sorry that I'm unable to take the salute at this year's Colonel's Review," she wrote in the letter shared by the Irish Guards on the social media platform X. "Please pass my apologies to the whole regiment, however I do hope that I am able to represent you all once again very soon.”

The review is a dress rehearsal for the annual military parade held each June to mark the monarch's official birthday. King Charles III will oversee the ceremony June 15.

It's still unclear if Kate will attend the ceremony next week. She's been treated for an unspecified type of cancer she announced in March.

S Korea on alert for more trash balloons from North

South Korea’s military said it was on alert for more trash-carrying balloons possibly arriving from North Korea on Sunday. In two waves last week, North Korea sent hundreds of balloons with bags of trash into the South, describing them as a response to anti-Pyongyang propaganda balloons sent the other way by South Korean activists. Pyongyang announced a halt to the balloons on Sunday but days later, a South Korean group called “Fighters for Free North Korea” said it had sent 10 balloons with K-pop music and 200,000 leaflets against leader Kim Jong Un. The South Korean military is “closely monitoring with vigilance” because of “the possibility of more trash balloons descending around tomorrow”, its spokesperson told AFP on Saturday.

Centenarian WWII vet marries sweetheart, 96, in Normandy

TIMELESS ROMANCE: US WWII veteran Harold Terens, 100, left, and Jeanne Swerlin, 96, arrive to celebrate their wedding at Carentan-les-Marais, in Normandy, France, on Saturday

It might have been the longest wait but on Saturday 100-year-old American World War II veteran Harold Terens married his 96-year-old fiancee in Normandy, just days after being honoured on the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France.

To the sounds of “I will always love you”, “Ave Maria” and bagpipes, Terens and his sweetheart Jeanne Swerlin said “I do” in the town of Carentan-les-Marais at a ceremony attended by dozens of guests, some wearing military uniforms. “I waited 96 years to find the right man and now I have a wedding like only a queen and king can have,” Swerlin told AFP before the ceremony.

Terens, who wore a light blue suit, entered the local wedding hall to applause from family and friends. His young great-granddaughter scattered flower petals on the floor.

Dressed in satin pink, Swerlin made her entrance to the sound of Whitney Houston’s “I will always love you”. The bride and groom embraced, swaying with emotion.

“Oui!” Swerlin said in French when asked by the mayor, Jean-Pierre Lhonneur, if she wished to take Terens to be her husband.

Terens and Swerlin, who live in Boca Raton, Florida, tied the knot after the Allies commemorated the 80th anniversary of the June 6 Normandy landings, with US President Joe Biden, Britain’s King Charles III, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and French President Emmanuel Macron in attendance.

Anne-Marie Ruffier, a 66-year-old local, called the wedding a “unique event”. “It’s al- so a way of thanking this man who helped liberate France,” she told AFP.

Pierre Le Goubey, 69, said he “wouldn’t have missed this wedding for the world”. “It’s a powerful symbol,” he said, adding that in a way the veteran was “marrying France”.

“We are very honored that Mr. Terens has chosen to marry here, in Carentan, where in June 1944 the Allied troops landed on the beaches of Utah and Omaha,” the mayor said before the ceremony. “We’ll be offering him champagne, of course, but also a gift to thank him for taking part in the liberation of France.” The wedding was to be followed by a celebration “with his loved ones, in a small group”, said Sarah Pasquier, the town hall’s representative for D-Day commemorations.

Terens was awarded the French Legion of Honour by Macron in 2019. During the war he was also part of a secret mission that took him to Soviet Ukraine via Casablanca, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, Cairo, Baghdad and Tehran.

After the war Terens married his first wife, Thelma, with whom he spent 70 years and raised three children until her death in 2018. In 2021, a friend introduced him to Swerlin, a charismatic woman who had also been widowed, and the two have been inseparable practically ever since. “She lights up my life, she makes everything beautiful,” Terens told AFP last month in Florida. “She makes life worth living.” “It’s a love story like you’ve never heard before,” he added.

Swerlin said Terens was “an unbelievable guy”. “He’s handsome — and he’s a good kisser.”

AFP

Times Sport

- OLD RIVALRY, NEW GROUND

- Composed Miller guides South Africa to 4-wicket win

- Even curator isn’t sure how pitch will behave: Rohit

- ‘What happened two days ago is forgotten’

- Afghanistan shocker for listless Kiwis

- BANGLADESH PREVAIL IN LOW-SCORING THRILLER AS LANKAN HOPES SINK

- LA IGA HAT-TRICK

- GALLERY

- Pragg ends with a win; Carlsen grabs Norway crown

- CR7 experience key for Portugal, says Martinez

- Liverpool boss ‘determined’ to see EPL games played in USA

- Nagal enters Helibronn Challenger final

- Will Carlitos have his way against motivated Zverev?

- England freeze vs Iceland

- Stimac leaves out Bagan trio

TIMES IN THE US

OLD RIVALRY, NEW GROUND

India, Pakistan Look To Conquer New Shores In Biggest Clash Of T20 World Cup

THE BIGWIGS: Jasprit Bumrah and Virat Kohli share a moment during India’s practice session on Saturday

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesgroup.com

New York: When the ball jumped up from a length and hit captain Rohit Sharma’s thumb during a training session, there was suddenly a sense of apprehension that a beautiful day can turn stormy. But it only proved to be a strong gust — a regular feature along the Long Island coast — as the Indian captain started batting again, preparing for the storm ahead. After all, Pakistan lie in wait on Sunday.

It’s the match that cricket in this part of the world has been desperately waiting for. And just the way a lot is riding on it for the promotion of the sport itself in the United States, both teams’ fates are hanging in the balance as well.

For India, a defeat would mean a very difficult next few days in which they will have to ensure everything falls into place. That includes the weather, because a wash-out may also lead to an early ouster. As far as Pakistan are concerned, it’s a point of no return after the shock loss to hosts US in Dallas the other day.

The Pakistan team had a charity dinner planned for which tables had already been booked in New York, but that was scrapped following the backlash of defeat at home. The team is in a terrible space, with nothing going right for them. India are probably the last team they would like to play in a situation like this.

Add to that the familiarity factor that they are sorely lacking for New York conditions. The new pitches here have undulations, making the ball skid. There’s excessive movement of the white ball due to the early starts. India have been here for the last two weeks, battling their way to familiarity, but for Pakistan, it’s truly virgin territory. They landed on Thursday night, took Friday off, and had a rigorous session on Saturday, hoping that they could make a game of it.

TOSS ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL

It’s not the best-case scenario when the toss becomes so important in the final out- come of the game. But that’s what it is at the Nassau International County Ground for now, where batting is extremely difficult in the first few overs.

India have a fine batting lineup that has prepared hard for difficult circumstances like these, but the Pakistan pace quartet of Shaheen Afridi, Mohammed Amir, Haris Rauf and Naseem Shah may just become deadly if they can get to make first use of the wicket.

As for India, Jasprit Bum- rah is deadly on any surface, and if he bowls four overs full steam on this pitch in the morning session, the game could be over then and there.

SWEATING OVER DUBE’S FORM

On a track like this, having more meat in the batting department is important and Shivam Dube’s batting form hasn’t been up to scratch. While he struggled in the practice game against Bangladesh, the southpaw didn’t get time to get into the groove against Ireland in the opener.

The team management spent a lot of time on his batting in the two days of practice ahead of the game.

While he got a shortish stint on Friday, the Saturday practice was all about Dube. He was the only player among the 15 who turned up and worked on his technique against the short ball, batting coach Vikram Rathour giving him some serious batting tips.

There is a ready-made replacement available in Yashaswi Jaiswal and he, too, got an intense batting practice session on Friday.

WILL IT GO THE DISTANCE?

Amid all these, for the fans coming in from near and far including the new ones who are looking to get a first feel of cricket, the hope will be to experience ‘a contest’. Both the flags will flutter in the morning breeze as neighbours, who have turned many a foreign field into great cricket venues with their intense rivalry, will look to conquer new shores.

Composed Miller guides South Africa to 4-wicket win

New York: David Miller made a mind-over-matter fifty on a tough pitch as South Africa survived some anxious moments to beat their bogey team Netherlands by four wickets in the T20 World Cup on Saturday.

This was South Africa’s second consecutive win as they had defeated Sri Lanka by six wickets in their opening Group D match. After SA elected to bowl, pacer Ottneil Baartman registered his best bowling figures of 4 for 11 as South Africa produced a fine bowling effort to restrict Netherlands to 103 for nine.

Despite some early hiccups, Miller (59 not out off 51 balls) played a gem of an innings to guide South Africa home with a ball to spare. It was a torrid start to the run chase for South Africa as they lost Quinton de Kock in the first delivery via a run out.

REUTERS

Brief scores: Netherlands 103 for 9 off 20 overs (Sybrand Engelbrecht 40, Logan van Beek 23; Ottniel Baartman 4-11, Anrich Nortje 2-19) vs South Africa 106 for 6 off 18.5 overs (David Miller 59 not out, Tristan Stubbs 33; Vivian Kingma 2-12, Logan van Beek 2-21).

Result: South Africa won by 4 wickets.

Even curator isn’t sure how pitch will behave: Rohit

India Skipper Says Pakistan Remain A Threat Despite Loss To USA

Captain Rohit Sharma and Suryakumar Yadav train in New York

TIMES IN THE US

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesgroup.com

New York: This is getting slightly repetitive, but the pitch talk just doesn’t go away. The ICC had said that they would try to do something about the pitch for the India-Pakistan game, but the first innings of the South Africa-Netherlands game didn’t give anybody any sense of confidence. Netherlands managed 103 and when Rohit was meeting the press ahead of the Pakistan game, South Africa had been reduced to 3-3.

It’s the same pitch that is likely to be used for the Sunday bash and the Pakistani contingent, who only had one practice session in New York before the game, is obviously worried.

When a Pakistan journalist asked India captain Rohit Sharma how much of an advantage India would have going into this game, the India captain gave a cheeky reply: “This is not our home either, yes we have played a couple of games here, but a few of our training sessions have been washed out too…and about the pitch, well even the curator doesn’t know how the pitch will behave.”

The teams from the subcontinent are not used to the idea of drop-in pitches and the skipper said the curator, who is an Aussie, is still trying to figure out “how much grass to take out”. “I think both the teams will have similar opportunities and whoever plays better will win,” Rohit added.

The Pakistan team’s loss in the first game to United States also came up for discussion, but the captain doesn’t feel that it will make them a less dangerous opposition. “This is a format where anything can happen anywhere. In the last T20 World Cup, they lost to Zimbabwe and then went on to play the final. Here, you cannot think much about the opposition, because form doesn’t take too long to come and go,” Rohit said.

The Indian skipper has been hurt a few times during this World Cup, once during the game against Ireland and once in practice on Friday. But the captain insisted that those who want to play for India, have to deal with such blows. “It’s tough, but as far as I am concerned, blows don’t count for anything. You have to cross those hurdles,” Rohit said.

The skipper evoked memories of Gabba while trying to elaborate on the point: “If you remember the Gabba Test (in January 2020), we won it because of mental toughness. These are the moments where you test yourself, all players who want to make a name for himself has to thrive in these moments,” the skipper said.

‘What happened two days ago is forgotten’

GARY KIRSTEN

Dwaipayan.Datta@timesgroup.com

New York: Gary Kirsten has already set a record — he is the first coach who has been in charge of both India and Pakistan. It was 13 years ago that he lifted the World Cup with India and now he has to do the job of guiding Pakistan in a T20 World Cup in which things have started to go downhill.

Asked whether things look any different on the other side of the border, Kirsten smiled. “I have been in charge for 13 days, but the frenzy seems the same from both sides. It’s great to be associated with both these teams,” Kirsten, who was the Gujarat Titans batting coach in the IPL, said.

Could his knowledge of Indian players be an advantage for Paki- stan? Kirsten isn’t too sure. “I think these players have seen enough of each other and it is a matter of getting their games right,” he said.

When India beat Pakistan in that 2011 ODI World Cup semifinal in Mohali — one of India’s most memorable wins — there was an explosion of euphoria. The former South African opener feels the vibe is similar among fans, just that the game not being played in India or Pakistan makes it slightly different.

“It’s a new venue. It does feel good when people come out to support us here,” the coach said.

Kirsten tried to play down talk of whether India would have an advantage going into the game, especially since they have been here for 14 days. “It’s just a bowling-friendly pitch,” he said, adding that he wants his team to forget what happened a couple of days ago in Dallas. Pakistan lost that game to USA in the Super Over and now find themselves in a must-win situation.

“It’s never nice not to win a game. I don’t think I need to motivate this team for a game as big as this. Yes, we need individuals to come up with performances, but we are going to treat it as any other game. What happened two days ago is forgotten. We’ve to move on,” he said.

During the last T20 World Cup, Pakistan lost their game against Zimbabwe but went on to play the final. Kirsten didn’t want to dwell too much on the issue. “I don’t like to hop on history, rather we try to play the best cricket we can. With our skillsets, we can put pressure on the opposition.”

Afghanistan shocker for listless Kiwis

AFGHANISTAN VS NEW ZEALAND

Georgetown: Determined Afghanistan rode on splendid spells from their skipper Rashid Khan and left-arm pacer Fazalhaq Farooqi to stun an under-prepared New Zealand by 84 runs and make a strong case for a Super 8 berth in the T20 World Cup here.

Chasing a tricky 160 at the Providence Stadium here, 2021 runners-up New Zealand were shot out for a lowly 75 in an innings that lasted a mere 15.2 overs, with only Glenn Phillips (18) and Matt Henry (12) managing double-digit scores.

The decision to bowl after winning the toss backfired on the Black Caps as the Afghans relied on openers Rahmanullah Gurbaz’s 56-ball 84 and Ibrahim Zadran’s 44 off 41 to post a reasonably good total of 159/6. Gurbaz was expectedly adjudged player of the match for his knock.

Farooqi, who snared five wickets for nine runs against Uganda, returned figures of 4/17 off his 3.2 overs. Rashid Khan (4/17) was also lethal as he collected the prized scalp of Kane Williamson (9 off 13).

Scores: Afghanistan 159/6 (Gurbaz 80, Ibrahim 44) beat NZ 75 (Phillips 18, Rashid 4/17, Farooqi 4/17) by 84 runs. PTI

BANGLADESH PREVAIL IN LOW-SCORING THRILLER AS LANKAN HOPES SINK

BANGLADESH VS SRI LANKA

Dallas: Young leg-spinner Rishad Hossain claimed a splendid 3/22 before veteran Mahmudullah Riyad kept his composure in a tricky chase as Bangladesh pipped Sri Lanka by two wickets to make a winning start to the T20 World Cup here. On a reasonably good Dallas surface, Rishad’s googlies and leg-breaks broke the back of the Lankans as his three wickets in seven deliveries restricted the islanders to 124/9. Rishad returned with 3/22 from his four overs. From being 70/2 in 8.4 overs, Sri Lanka lost seven wickets for 54 runs.

Mustafizur Rahman (3/17) also bowled his customary slow off-cutters which Sri Lankans found hard to negotiate. Save Pathum Nissanka’s 47 off 28 balls, the only other 20-plus score came from Dhananjaya de Silva (21), which was a reflection of their batting performance.

In reply, Bangladesh were in cruise control as Towhid Hridoy (40 off 20 balls) smoked four sixes and enjoyed a 63-run fourth-wicket stand with Litton Das (36 off 38 balls), but slinger Nuwan Thusara (4/18) brought Sri Lanka back as five wickets fell for 21 runs, leaving them reeling at 113/8 with 12 still to get. PTI

Brief scores: Bangladesh 125/8 (Hridoy 40, Thushara 4-18) beat SL 124/9 (Nissanka 47, Mustafizur 3-17, Rishad 3-22) by 2 wickets.

TIMES IN PARIS

LA IGA HAT-TRICK

Poland Garros: Swiatek Crushes Paolini To Extend Her French Open Reign With Three Successive Titles, And Fourth In Five Years

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Iga Swiatek claimed her fourth Roland Garros title after 68 minutes of play, having dropped just three games. On a perfect spring evening in Paris, when the sun was sharp and the wind chilly, the world No.1 went down on Court Philippe Chatrier to celebrate, the dirt stuck on her knees. It was a squeaky-clean performance otherwise.

Swiatek, who later bounced around the court, which must now seem like her backyard, climbed up to her box, reaching for her family and team. As the players waited for the presentation ceremony, the Pole held up four fingers, and recorded the moment on her phone. The four-time French Open champion was misty-eyed.

On the other side of the court, Jasmine Paolini was steady in her seat. The Italian, who had never been past the second round here until this year, was putting the 6-2, 6-1 result in perspective.

Paolini, aged 28 and ranked 15, is a 5 ft 4’ bundle of joy. She might not have had the weapons to trouble Swiatek, whose game is geared for clay, but the Italian has enjoyed an inspirational run here, showing what hard work and effort could do.

“Congratulations Jasmine for an amazing tournament. I’m really impressed with how you’ve been playing, I think you can do so much, especially on clay...” said Swiatek, who has now won 21 straight matches at Roland Garros, was richer by €2,400,000 on Saturday.

“I want to thank my team, my family, without them I wouldn’t be here,” Swiatek said. “I love this place, I wait every year to come back here. I was almost out of the tournament in the second round (against Naomi Osaka) so thank you for cheering me. This has been a really emotional tournament.”

Paolini, who will play the doubles final on Saturday, said, “Congratulations Iga, I think to play you here is the toughest challenge in this sport. I want to thank my team, my family and everyone for believing in me. These have been the best days of my life. It has been a very intense 15 days. Today was tough, but I’m really proud of myself. Merci Boku, Paris.”

Paolini, who took home €1,200,000, will make her top-10 debut on Monday at No.7.

On another surface, one that’s faster perhaps and slicker perhaps, the player field has a chance against Swiatek, but on the slow shale of Roland Garros, she won’t allow even a window of opportunity. She uses her topspin to flatten the challenge of her opponents. Not only can the Pole outstay, she can also outhit and outrun her rivals. A potent cocktail to go up against.

The head-to-head record of the finalists best reflected the rise and rise of Swiatek. The 23-year-old won the only previous WTA main draw meeting against Paolini at the 2022 US Open first round. They also faced each other in an ITF clay court event in 2018 in Prague, when Swiatek was ranked No.342 and Paolini No.182. Swiatek was 17 then and dropped just three games in that outing.

Swiatek and Paolini with legends Chris Evert (L) and Martina Navratilova

GALLERY

Anshu settles for silver in Budapest meet

Budapest: Indian woman wrestler Anshu Malik could not match the skills of her Chinese rival Kexin Hong in the final, bowing out tamely to settle for a silver in the 57kg category of the Budapest Ranking Series here.

Indian women go down 2-4 to Germany in FIH Pro League: The Indian women’s hockey team could not break its sequence of half-a-dozen consecutive losses in the FIH Pro League, losing to Germany 2-4, its seventh consecutive defeat in the tournament in London.

Diksha misses first cut in four months, Sharma T-20 in Scandinavian: Diksha Dagar missed her first cut since February this year as she exited early in the Scandinavian Mixed Open. Diksha shot rounds of 75 and 73 over two days and fell well short of the cut line. Shubhankar Sharma, who had a superb start in the first round with three birdies, repeated his 69 in the second.

He was tied-20. No male artistic swimmer at Olympics: Despite World Aquatics’ bold move to let men compete in artistic swimming at the Olympics, there will be no male swimmers among the 10 countries in the team event in Paris, after the USA left Bill May out of their squad.

AGENCIES

ACTION TODAY

AUTO: F1, Canadian GP, Race, 11.30 pm (Fancode);

BADMINTON: Indonesia Open, 10.30 am (Jiocinema);

CRICKET: ICC T20 WC, WI vs Uganda, 6 am; India vs Pakistan, 8 pm; Oman vs Scotland, 10 pm (Star Sports);

HOCKEY: FIH Pro League, Britain vs India (women), 5 pm; Britain vs India (men) 7 pm (Jiocinema);

TENNIS: French Open, women's doubles, 3 pm; men's final, 6.30 pm (Sony Sports)

Pragg ends with a win; Carlsen grabs Norway crown

Stavanger: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa ended his campaign on a positive note by defeating American Hikaru Nakamura in the finale to sign off third even as world number one Magnus Carlsen won the Norway Chess tournament here.

Carlsen walked away with prize money of 7,00,000 NOK (Around $65,000 reserved for the winner) for ending with 17.5 points in the unique tournament that ensured that each round had a winner either through Classical time control or Armageddon if the game ended in a draw. Nakamura finished second on 15.5 points despite losing to Praggnanandhaa, who concluded third on 14.5 points.

Praggnanandhaa can be happy with the fact that he defeated the top three ranked players in the world in one of the strongest ever tournaments. He had beaten Carlsen and Caruana under Classical time control earlier in the tournament and his win against Nakamura ensured that he became the first player ever to beat the top three.

The fourth place went to Alireza Firouzja (13.5 points) who accounted for reigning world champion Ding Liren of China.

PTI

CR7 experience key for Portugal, says Martinez

Portugal will benefit from the wealth of experience veteran Cristiano Ronaldo brings to their squad, manager Roberto Martinez said ahead of this month’s European Championship in Germany.

“Cristiano had very consistent performances at his club (Al-Nassr). There is no doubt that he is an incredible scorer,” Martinez told reporters on Friday ahead of their friendly match against Croatia on Saturday.

“He is in his sixth European Championship, and he is the only player who has played in five European Championships. So, we are talking about achieving a unique feat in the world of soccer and his experience is important for us.

“We have 23 players. We create competitiveness and the game makes decisions. But Cristiano is prepared to help the team and give everything he can give. And there is no other player in the world who can bring what Cristiano can to the dressing room.”

REUTERS

Liverpool boss ‘determined’ to see EPL games played in USA

Liverpool chairman Tom Werner said he was keen on seeing English Premier League games being played in New York and fixtures being hosted around the world, with his comments attracting criticism from fans.

The idea of hosting competitive domestic matches overseas has seen a resurgence in recent years, with world soccer governing body FIFA last month saying it would review its policy on ‘out-of-territory’ matches. “I’m determined one day to have a Premier League game be played in New York City,” Werner told the Financial Times on Friday.

“I even have the sort of crazy idea that there would be a day where we play one game in Tokyo, one game a few hours later in Los Angeles, one game a few hours later in Rio, one game a few hours later in Riyadh and make it sort of a day where football, where the Premier League, is celebrated.”

REUTERS

Nagal enters Helibronn Challenger final

Sumit Nagal entered the final of the ATP Challenger 100 event in Helibronn, Germany, on Saturday, boosting his chances of getting a direct entry into the Paris Olympics. The Indian ace defeated Luca van Assche of France 6-2, 7-6 (5) in just over two hours in the semifinal of the 120,000-euro clay-court tournament.

Nagal rises to 88 in live world rankings, and winning the title would likely push him past his career-high 80. In that scenario, with entries capped at four per nation each in men’s and women’s singles, Nagal would be assured of making the cut of 56 direct acceptances in the 64-player draws.

TNN

Will Carlitos have his way against motivated Zverev?

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Paris: Carlos Alcaraz, stirred by the performances of his compatriots, who have made a tradition of winning at Roland Garros, has always wanted his name on La Coupe des Mousquetaires. He’ll have a chance to do that on Sunday.

Carlitos or ‘Little Carlos’ would run home after school this time of the year to turn on the television and watch the French Open. The clay court championship is one of Alcaraz’ earliest memories of tennis. “I have watched a lot of matches. Rafa Nadal dominated this tournament for 14-15 years. It’s unbelievable,” he said. “I wanted to put my name on that list of Spanish players who have won this tournament. Not only Rafa, but also Juan Carlos Ferrero, Carlos Moya, Alberto Costa… I want to put my name on that list, as well.”

Alcaraz, who on Friday became the youngest player to reach Grand Slam finals on all three surfaces — grass, hard court, and clay — was tooled to excel on all surfaces. Not that the 21-year-old is checking records at this point, more likely that he’s walking around the Eiffel Tower, looking at the iconic five-ring logo of the Olympic Games which was unveiled on Friday. “That is something that I don’t want to think about before the final,” he said. “But obviously that means I’m playing good tennis on every surface.”

“If I want to be one of the best players in the world, I have to be a good player on every surface, like — Roger (Federer), Novak (Djokovic), Rafa Nadal and Andy Murray. The best players in the world have had success on every surface.”

On Sunday, in his third major final, Alcaraz will look to stop the fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev. The 27-yearold German made his first major final in 2020 in New York, four years later, he’s in with a second chance.

Zverev leads the head-tohead 5-4, but the Spaniard finished on top in their last meeting in Indian Wells. At the Australian Open in January, Zverev came through in four sets. “Sascha is playing great tennis on clay. Big serve, big shots, really solid,” Al- caraz said. “It’s going to be a really interesting final. So I’ll try to take the good things that I did in the previous matches and try to improve the bad things that I did against him.”.

Zverev, at 27, very much the senior pro in the mix, is ready to swing. “If not now then when?” he asked. “We have had very tough battles in the past,” the German said. “It is going to be a difficult match. It is a Grand Slam final, if you’re in a Grand Slam final, you deserve to be there. That goes for both of us.”

England freeze vs Iceland

Euro Friendlies: Germany Recover To Beat Greece 2-1

COOL STRIKE: Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson of Iceland celebrates after scoring the winner on Friday

London: England were booed by some of their own fans after losing 1-0 to Iceland on Friday in their last friendly before the European Championship, while host nation Germany recovered from a goal down to beat Greece 2-1.

Jón Dagur Thorsteinsson left defender John Stones standing as he scored for Iceland in the 16th minute to bring back memories of one of England’s lowest points of recent years, its 2-1 elimination by Iceland at Euro 2016.

England created few clearcut chances against Iceland and nearly conceded a second goal when a promising Icelandic counterattack ended with Thorsteinsson slipping as he shot.

“We learned a lot and we know the performance wasn’t good enough,” England manager Gareth Southgate told broadcaster Channel 4. “Equally we needed the game; there’s a lot of players that we’re managing their minutes and it was obviously a disjointed and disappointing performance and we didn’t show enough character.”

England, who beat BosniaHerzegovina 3-0 on Monday, gets its tournament under way June 16 against Serbia in Group C.

Germany needed substitute Pascal Gross’ 89th-minute goal to secure the win over Greece a week before it opens Euro 2024 against Scotland in Munich. Georgios Masouras gave Greece the lead in the 34th on the rebound after goalkeeper Manuel Neuer failed to hold a shot from Christos Tzolis. Arsenal forward Kai Havertz leveled in the 56th when he shot on the turn and it went in off Manolis Siopis.

After Benjamin Henrichs sent a shot off the bar in the 83rd, Germany finally took the lead when Gross hit a fierce shot from outside the box.

With a flat first-half performance and a late recovery, the win over Greece continues a mixed bag of form for Germany, which beat France and the Netherlands in friendlies in March but has also lost to Japan, Turkey and Austria within the last 12 months.

Neuer’s error for the Greece goal came shortly after Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann confirmed he was cutting Stuttgart goalkeeper Alexander Nübel as he finalized the 26-player squad for the tournament.

Also on Friday, Poland beat neighbor Ukraine 3-1 with three goals in the opening 30 minutes and Scotland drew 2-2 with Finland.

AP

WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS

Stimac leaves out Bagan trio

Kolkata: India’s football head coach Igor Stimac on Saturday named a 23-member squad without the defensive trio of Mohun Bagan veteran Subhasish Bose, Mumbai FC’s Amey Ranawade and Lalchungnunga of East Bengal for its away World Cup Qualifier against Qatar on Tuesday.

This will be India’s first match after the retirement of Sunil Chhetri, who made his last international appearance in a frustrating goalless draw against Kuwait in their secondround World Cup Qualifier at Salt Lake Stadium on Thursday.

Stimac chose to give Jay Gupta the debut as both Bose and Ranawade started on the bench and did not get any minutes in their match against Kuwait. Lalchungnunga, however, was not named in the Indian team list against Kuwait.

India have five points and are behind table-toppers Qatar who have 13 in the Group A standings. Afghanistan and Kuwait have five and three points, occupying the third and fourth places respectively.

While Qatar have sealed their third-round berth, the other three teams, including India and bottom-placed Kuwait, have a chance to make the cut. Kuwait will face Afghanistan at home in their concluding second-round clash.

India must win against the two-time Asian champions Qatar to make their maiden appearance in the third round of Asia’s top-18 teams.

A point will be enough for the Blue Tigers if the Afghani- stan versus Kuwait tie also ends in a draw.

However, a defeat in Qatar will end India’s hopes.

PTI

INDIA SQUAD

Goalkeepers: Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Amrinder Singh, Vishal Kaith. Defenders: Anwar Ali, Jay Gupta, Mehtab Singh, Narender, Nikhil Poojary, Rahul Bheke.

Midfielders: Anirudh Thapa, Brandon Fernandes, Edmund Lalrindika, Jeakson Singh Thounaojam, Lallianzuala Chhangte, Liston Colaco, Mahesh Singh Naorem, Nandhakumar Sekar, Sahal Abdul Samad, Suresh Singh Wangjam.

Forwards: Manvir Singh, Rahim Ali, Vikram Partap Singh, David Lalhlansanga.

Delhi Times

- RITIKA BEATS DELHI HEAT IN STYLE

- Not approached for second season of Maddam Sir: Gulki

- Playing mom on TV isn’t the end of one’s career: Ulka

- Watching the India-Pak match will be historic: Armaan Malik

- INDIA IS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE T20 WORLD CUP: ANGAD

- BUZZ STOP

- One in a million: Celebs pay their last respects to media baron Ramoji Rao

- DID YOU KNOW?

- I’M GOING TO MISS WATCHING THE T20 WORLD CUP WITH MY FATHER: ANGAD

- A special day: Yusuf Pathan meets Aamir

- In India, it’s impossible to not be inﬂuenced by cricket, says Armaan

- Relish the unique flavour of khameeri naan in the capital

- Savour delicious kulfi falooda at home

- ‘Healthy lifestyle can reduce risk of heart diseases’

- Ofﬁce workers in China are growing bananas on their desks to beat stress

- YOUR POV

- GLOW AND SHIELD

- IND V/S PAK, FRENCH OPEN OR CANADIAN GP, WHAT’S YOUR PICK FOR THE DAY?

- Try indoor cyclingto transform yourfitness regime

- #Shiny&Chic: Metal couture is making heads turn

- Balance ﬂavours for perfect cheese pairings

RITIKA BEATS DELHI HEAT IN STYLE

Ritika Nayak is soaking up the Delhi sun while indulging in some juicy watermelon. With her quirky style, the actress and winner of Delhi Times Fresh Face Season 12, has got all the summer essentials down: a pastel outfit, staying hydrated, and those perfect sunkissed vibes!

Not approached for second season of Maddam Sir: Gulki

I am so attached to the character that if someone asked me whether I wanted to be a part of it, I would say yes. However, thinking logically, I feel I did everything possible in the first season

Gulki Joshi

The buzz was that Gulki Joshi would be part of the second season of Maddam Sir. She played Haseena Malik, a cop, in the show’s first season for three years before it wrapped up in February 2023. However, the actress clarifies that she hasn’t even been approached for the project. “Nobody has approached me, and I am not part of it,” she says, adding, “I am so attached to the character that if someone asked me whether I wanted to be a part of it, I would say yes. However, thinking logically, I feel I did everything possible in the first season, and it’s time to explore other facets of my craft.”

How did she feel about not being approached for the second season, especially after a successful first season? “I may have felt bad initially, par first season kaun sa planned tha; it just fell into my lap. If it is meant to happen, it will happen again. As an actor, disappointment and rejection become such an integral part of your life that after a point, you stop caring,” she replies.

Gulki took some time off after Maddam Sir ended last year. She says, “To feel like myself again, I travelled for around five months and caught up on my social and personal life. I also returned to theatre, which I do after every TV show. Now, I am back to the grind and in talks for a couple of new shows.”

— Neha Maheshwri

Gulki in Maddam Sir

Playing mom on TV isn’t the end of one’s career: Ulka

Ulka Gupta

Ulka Gupta, who became a household name after being a part of shows like Jhansi Ki Raani and Banni Chow, is playing a mother in Main Hoon Saath Tere.

Given that she is only 26, was she apprehensive about playing a mom on screen? She replies, “There is always this worry about getting stereotyped because once you play a particular role, you get similar offers. But I try not to bother about these things and focus on the role because I want to play a range of roles in my career.”

Elaborating further on why she took up this role, she says, “This story is different and even though I play a young, single mother, there is romance and other elements. Some people say that playing a mother’s role can mark the end of your career, but I want to redefine things. I understand their concern, but I feel that our industry is also evolving along with the audience. So actors shouldn’t restrict themselves from doing good work.”

— Hasti Doshi

Watching the India-Pak match will be historic: Armaan Malik

The singer and his fiancee Aashna Shroff are all set to watch the match today

I was better at batting than bowling and loved hitting sixes. Amaal had even nicknamed me ‘Chhotu Sehwag’ because of it

Armaan Malik and Aashna Shroff

Debarati S Sen

Armaan Malik is incredibly excited to watch India play against Pakistan in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup match in New York today with his fiancee, Aashna Shroff. “The stakes are always high for an India-Pakistan match with immense energy and passion reflecting from both sides. The adrenaline rush one feels when each ball is bowled cannot be explained in words. I cannot wait to witness the excitement and emotions firsthand. It’s going to be an epic match. This is the first time Aashna and I will watch a match live, which makes it more special,” says Armaan.

CONTINUED ON 3

INDIA IS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE T20 WORLD CUP: ANGAD

Pakistan is a highly unpredictable side. Remember the 1992 World Cup? They rose like a Phoenix, so you never know. India, on the contrary, has nothing to prove

Angad Bedi says he’s eyeing at India, New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan at the ongoing tournament

Renuka Vyavahare

After USA’s nail-biting super-over victory against Pakistan in the latter’s WC opener, things are heating up at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup. Ahead of today’s India-Pakistan match, which is extremely crucial, we caught up with ardent cricket fan and actor Angad Bedi to talk about India’s chances at the ongoing tournament, the India-Pakistan rivalry and more.

CONTINUED ON 3

BUZZ STOP

CHAHAT FATEH ALI KHAN’S BADO BADI REMOVED FROM YOUTUBE

Pakistani singer CHAHAT FATEH ALI KHAN’s latest hit, Bado Badi, has been taken down from YouTube following claims of copyright infringement. The song, which became popular across South Asia, is believed to be a version of a classic track originally performed by Noor Jehan in the 1973 film Banarasi Thug. Agencies

One in a million: Celebs pay their last respects to media baron Ramoji Rao

Condolences poured in from industry stalwarts like Rajinikanth, NTR Jr, SS Rajamouli and MM Keeravani as media mogul Cherukuri Ramoji Rao passed away on Saturday morning at a Hyderabad hospital. He was 87.

Admitted on June 5th for hypertension and respiratory issues, Rao reportedly succumbed to his illness at 4.30am on June 8. Founder of the Ramoji Film City and leader of the Eenadu newspaper and ETV network, Rao’s influence extended beyond media into education, heritage foods, textiles, chit funds and education.

In his tribute, NTR Jr wrote on X, “Visionaries like Sri Ramoji Rao are one in a million.” A titan of Telugu cinema, Ramoji Rao left an indelible mark on Indian cinema. He is best known for establishing the Ramoji Film City, a one-stop shop for filmmakers, boasting the world’s largest film studio complex spread over 1,600 acres in Hyderabad. A prolific producer, Rao helmed over 50 films and television shows. Besides Telugu, he produced films in Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, and Hindi languages as well.

Awards & honours

Padma Vibhushan (2016) Government of India

National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Telugu (producer) Nuvve Kavali (2000) Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) Pratighatana (1985)

Filmfare Special Award | South for outstanding contributions towards Indian cinema (1998)

Filmfare Best Film Award (Telugu) Nuvve Kavali (2000)

Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award South (2004)

Nandi Award for Best Feature Film Silver Kanchana Ganga (1984)

Tujhe Meri Kasam, Nache Mayuri and Pratighat are a few of the films that Ramoji Rao produced

RAMOJI RAO 1936-2024

DID YOU KNOW?

Some people fear peanut butter sticking to the roof of their mouth

Yes, it is absolutely normal to dislike the feeling of having peanut butter stuck to the roof of your mouth. But, there are people with an irrational fear of peanut butter. It’s called arachibutyrophobia. There’s a phobia for just about everything, isn’t there?

T20 WORLD CUP 2024

I’M GOING TO MISS WATCHING THE T20 WORLD CUP WITH MY FATHER: ANGAD

Be it the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s or today, IndiaPakistan is a big match and the players always feel the heat. But yes, there’s better camaraderie between the teams today

Angad Bedi, who played cricket professionally till U-19 for Delhi before pursuing acting, tells us, “I played cricket, but there comes a point when you realise making it to the final 11 in a national squad is not everyone’s cup of tea. You need to be realistic”

CONTINUED FROM 1

‘OURS IS A COMPLETE SIDE AND HAS EVERY CHANCE OF WINNING THE T20 WORLD CUP’

The Pink actor considers India a formidable side and a hot favourite to win the WC. “I am not saying this because I am Indian, but ours is a complete side and has every chance of winning this T20 World Cup. All our boys are coming out of the IPL, they are in good form and are match fit. The ODI WC left a huge dent as we made it to the finals unbeaten and lost the final game to Australia. Personally, I am going to miss watching the World Cup with my father. That was our ritual.”

‘FOR TEAM INDIA, IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE GAME, BUT MENTAL RESILIENCE AS WELL’

One cannot deny that the most exciting game of the WC has always been the iconic India-Pak clash. Angad says, “When it comes to matches against Pakistan, it is not just about your game, but mental resilience as well. It’s a big game. Pakistan is a highly unpredictable side. Remember the 1992 World Cup? They rose like a Phoenix, so you never know.”

‘AN INDIA PAKISTAN MATCH IS A BIG MATCH AND THE PLAYERS ALWAYS FEEL THE HEAT’

Ask him whether he feels the rivalry between the two sides has simmered down a bit, and he says, “Be it the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s or today, India-Pakistan is a big match and the players always feel the heat. Yes, there’s better camaraderie between the teams today. What makes these games interesting is the equal contest of bat and ball. They are always known for their fast bowlers, and we are known for our batting dominance. When I was growing up, watching Wasim Akram bowl that spectacular yorker to Sachin Tendulkar to get him out, and the latter hitting it out of the park was a delight to watch. Virat Kohli has always been in top form against Pakistan.”

‘WE HAVE THE BEST STROKE MAKERS AND A GREAT BOWLING LINEUP’

The USA, a non-cricketing country hosting the WC for the first time, helps the sport grow. However, Angad feels that a lot of factors matter. He shares, “We are in a different time zone as these games are in the US, so various factors like jet lag, outfield bhaari hai, 77 yards ki boundary hai – all this will come into play. However, I have a lot of faith in our team as we have the best stroke makers.”

Angad’s favourite cricket teams

While the WC has just begun, Angad has picked his favourite sides. “India, New Zealand, Australia and Pakistan – my eyes are on these teams. Actors get retakes, cricketers don’t. They just get that one ball to play. So, you need to understand that before getting aggressive about the losses,” Angad signs off.

‘Virat has bounced back stronger’

Angad is aware that this could be the last WC for some of India’s senior players, but is optimistic. He says, “I hope they stay fit. Virat is in good shape, so I feel he has more years left in him. After the bad patch that he went through, he has bounced back stronger. He is owning every shot. He knows what he wants from himself and what the team wants from him.”

A special day: Yusuf Pathan meets Aamir

Yusuf Pathan shared a photo with Aamir Khan on Instagram on Friday

On Friday, former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who recently won the Lok Sabha polls from the Baharampur constituency in West Bengal, met Aamir Khan on the sets of Sitaare Zameen Par in Vadodara. Our source shares, “Yusuf, along with his father and children, met Aamir and interacted for a bit on the sets.”

Later, taking to social media, Yusuf wrote, “A special day in Vadodara meeting the legendary Aamir Khan. His humility and kindness are truly admirable.”

After wrapping up the Delhi schedule of Sitaare Zameen Par, Aamir is currently shooting for the film in Vadodara. A source tells us, “It’s a six-day schedule in Vadodara and the shoot started on June 6. Nobody is allowed to carry mobile phones to the sets. There’s tight security at the shoot locations and bouncers have been hired.”

– Inputs by Soumitra Das

In India, it’s impossible to not be influenced by cricket, says Armaan

The adrenaline rush one feels when each ball is bowled during an India-Pakistan match cannot be explained in words. I cannot wait to witness the excitement and emotions firsthand

Armaan Malik and Aashna Shroff

CONTINUED FROM 1

‘AMAAL HAD NICKNAMED ME CHHOTU SEHWAG BECAUSE OF MY BATTING STYLE’

Armaan has many memories of playing cricket with his elder brother, composer-singer Amaal Mallik. “Like most kids, we played cricket in our building compound growing up. I was better at batting than bowling and loved hitting sixes. Amaal had even nicknamed me ‘Chhotu Sehwag’ because of it. Of course, I often got bowled out because of my aggressive style, but those moments were filled with so much fun and laughter.”

He adds, “In India, it’s impossible not to be influenced by cricket. It’s something that brings people together, and I’ve always enjoyed watching it with friends and family.”

‘I reworked my schedule to watch the match’

When the singer got to know of the tournament dates, he adjusted his schedule to ensure he could attend this match. “I have been planning to visit the US for a while to set some songwriting sessions and connect with musicians there to make some new music. When I got to know that the India-Pakistan match was scheduled to take place around the same time, we decided to rework the dates. Attending this match is a chance to witness history, and we knew we had to be there!”

Relish the unique flavour of khameeri naan in the capital

A haven for vegetarian food enthusiasts seeking a blend of tradition and innovation, Kiara Soul Kitchen, boasts a signature bread known as the khameeri naan. “The bread which finds its roots in the Mughal period is known for its unique texture and sour flavour profile, making it a must-try for visitors looking to indulge in the rich tapestry of Indian cuisine,” says the resto’s team, adding, “The khameeri naan is described as thick, puffy and sour, setting it apart from conventional bread varieties. The term khameer derives from yeast, hinting at the primary ingredient responsible for its distinctive qualities.”

At the restaurant, the khameeri naan finds its perfect companions in paneer roulade and makhni gravy. Kiara paneer roulade takes inspiration from two popular Indian dishes – matar paneer and paneer makhni. The team shares, “The velvety smoothness of paneer roulade harmonises with the textured naan, offering contrasting yet complementary tastes and mouthfeel. Meanwhile, the luscious makhni gravy adds depth to each bite, infusing richness and warmth into every morsel.”

“Embarking on a culinary journey at Kiara Soul Kitchen promises more than just satiating hunger. It offers guests a gateway to not just Indian but global flavours. Patrons can expect nothing short of gastronomic bliss when they

partake in these delectable creations crafted with care and passion.”

Address: Greater Kailash 2, M Block Market

Contact: 8587904000

Address: Ashok Vihar Phase 2

Contact: 8587902000

Meal for two: `1500-2000

Time: 12pm to 11pm

Get to know all about Delhi’s food and restaurants, follow insta@delhitimes.food

Interior of the restaurant

Savour delicious kulfi falooda at home

When it comes to traditional Indian desserts, few can rival the love and craving for kulfi falooda. “Zafran Kulfi Falooda has captured the hearts and taste buds of Delhi, offering mouth-watering kulfi falooda that beats even the famed kulfi falooda of Chandni Chowk,” says the brand’s team.

They add, “Zafran makes its kulfis with the most delicious rabri, prepared in-house using pure A2 milk that is slow-churned for hours to give it a thick creamy texture and the delightful taste of malai. No stabilisers, preservatives or artificial flavours are used in the kulfis.”

Enjoy them at multiple locations or have them home-delivered across Delhi through food delivery platforms. Kulfi is delivered in its mould, packed in thermal packing and falooda is sent in a separate container to ensure that the kulfi does not melt. The range of varieties includes kesar pista, dry fruit malai, shahi gulab, kesaria ra- jbogh, aam ras, paan, jaggery roasted almond and sugar-free.

Address: Hauz Khas Village; Amar Colony Market; V3S Mall, Vikas Marg; Logix Mall, Noida; Indirapuram; and Sector 93 Noida

Locations: Dwarka, Vasant Kunj, Rohini, Rajouri Garden, Sector 51 Noida (Delivery-only)

Contact: 9267963808

Get to know all about Delhi’s food and restaurants, follow insta @delhitimes.food

‘Healthy lifestyle can reduce risk of heart diseases’

Dr Manoj Kumar, Principal Director & Head Cardiac Cath lab, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Patparganj, Delhi

It’s crucial to adopt healthy habits to keep our hearts functioning well. Dr Manoj Kumar says, “Indians suffer heart attacks nearly a decade earlier than their western counterparts, with higher mortality rates affecting the most productive age group, impacting both individuals and their families.”

Talking about preventive measures, the doctor informs, “Preventing cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the best approach. Small lifestyle changes in every family can significantly improve the nation’s health.” He adds, “ One should engage in at least 30 minutes of brisk exercise daily, aiming for 10,000 steps, or moderate cardio activities like swimming or jogging. Physical activity also helps control weight and reduces the risk of conditions that strain the heart, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes. People should avoid smoking entirely and adopt a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains to reduce heart disease risk.”

“High blood pressure is a major cause of cardiovascular disease, often accompanied by conditions like stroke, heart disease, kidney disease, vascular disease, and retinopathies. Managing blood pressure is also crucial,” says the doctor. He adds, “Diabetes can also increase the risk of heart failure and silent heart at- tacks, often accompanied by hypertension. Managing it is essential for heart health.”

Talking about the key lifestyle changes and their impact on heart disease risk, the doctor shares, “Quitting smoking reduces heart disease risk by 50%. Maintaining ideal weight reduces risk by 35-55%, daily physical activity decreases risk by 35-55% and a healthy diet reduces risk by 66-85%. Lowering blood pressure reduces heart disease risk by 16% and stroke risk by 42% and reducing LDL cholesterol can cut risk by 50%.” He adds that one reduces the risk by 90-95% if they adopt all of these changes in their routine.

Office workers in China are growing bananas on their desks to beat stress

A new trend has emerged among the Chinese youth – cultivating bananas in the office. This quirky practice is going viral as ‘stop banana green’ (ting zhi jiao lu in Mandarin), has gained attention on a Chinese social media platform, Xiaohongshu, according to a media outlet. This process is said to be a fun distraction from work tension in offices. “From lush green to golden yellow, every moment is filled with endless hope and surprises... Eat away the anxiety and let your troubles vanish,” read a post shared on the social media platform, the report said.

This is also considered a way to foster better relationships at work by sharing these bananas with your colleagues. An online observer told the outlet that these “desktop bananas naturally generate conversation”. In a few photographs going viral on the platform, one can also see bananas with names written on their skin before they are handed out to colleagues.

In order to alleviate stress, youngsters in China, where the average working week exceeds 49 hours, often look for various ways to tackle the problem. Meanwhile, some believe that this trend is a mere marketing stunt to tackle the slump in sales. TNN

How does this work

Employees buy the bananas when they are green. The bananas are then transferred to vases. And, after some time – probably a week of nurturing – the bananas are ready to eat.

This quirky practice is going viral as ‘stop banana green’ on a Chinese social media platform. In order to alleviate stress, youngsters in China, where the average working week exceeds 49 hours, often look for various ways to tackle the problem

YOUR POV

Here’s what your point of view was to our POV

For celeb MPs, the show’s just begun

Refer: June 07, 2024 edition

For celeb MPs, the show’s just begun: In the run-up to the elections and all through counting day, a certain scene from SRK’s Jawan was doing the rounds...

Celeb MPs are given party tickets as they use their star status and charisma to pull crowds during election rallies. They lack any knowledge of politics and don’t use the funds allotted to them to develop their respective constituencies. After the elections, they meet people for some photo ops and all is forgotten till the next elections. It will be the same this year as well and we cannot expect them to take their roles as MPs seriously.

– Parimala G Tadas, Hyderabad

Dharmendra, Vinod Khanna, Sunny Deol rarely visited their constituencies or maintained contact with their people. Hopefully newly elected MPs like Kangana Rawat, Yousuf Pathan will do better and justify the confidence reposed in them by their voters.

– Hemanth D Pai, Bangalore

Have you passed the chopsticks test?

Refer: June 05, 2024 edition

Have you passed the chopsticks test?: Perhaps you know this already, but your dexterity with a pair of chopsticks says a lot about how well you know your nigiri from your oshi, your temari from your temaki...

Using chopsticks is not an easy task at all. It takes a huge amount of practice, dedication and interest to learn how to use them. If we Indians see some foreigner eating samosa with a knife and fork and calling the green chutney “sauce”, I am sure it will anger most of us, and it does. Similarly, eating some dishes like udon with a fork is going to anger the Japanese as well. Learning to use chopsticks is an- other sort of a mind game which requires a lot of practice.

– Sauumya Dixit

Reform or reject? The Pune Porsche incident poses a tricky question for the judiciary

Refer: June 02, 2024 edition

Reform or reject? The Pune Porsche incident poses a tricky question for the judiciary:

My object all sublime, I shall achieve in time, To let the punishment fit the crime...”

A propos the incident, I hold the parents solely responsible for the accident. They were aware of their son’s alcoholism, yet they did not deter him from driving knowing fully well that (a) the vehicle was not registered, (b) the son did not have a driving license, (c) the vehicle was power packed for speed, and (c) he had to be strictly told to avoid driving after consuming alcohol. All such parents have to be ‘deterred’, and for people without conscience, or with flexible morality, ‘retribution’ is important for the message to go around. The son, just on the verge of escaping juvenility, could be put under a ‘reformative’ grind, and with some punishments to deter him from similar escapades in future.

– Arvind Rastogi

It takes a considerable amount of time for a guilty person to be sentenced for their crime(s) or for an innocent to be acquitted of all charges. The former scenario is more prevalent, especially if the subject is influential. The ‘deterrent’ punishment theory appears progressive and should be a founding pillar of any judicial system. Adopting this approach will also cultivate fear and respect for the law in people’s minds. The ‘retributive’ theory is extreme, normalising such practices may lead to fostering sadistic instincts; the ‘reformative’ theory does not have any place in today’s society and is bound to be exploited by miscreants. Above all, justice should be easily ac- cessible and affordable to the citizens. Often justice is denied because it does not fulfil these two criteria. These reforms should be brought about through a continual improvement cycle, and not just talked about only when a Nirbhaya materialises or a driver driving a luxury car claims innocent lives.

– Debashish Roy

As a law graduate and a POSH consultant, I found the article particularly resonant. It effectively addresses the critical dilemma between opting for severe punishment versus embracing a reformative approach in our judicial system. The question of whether the objective is to instil fear or to reform offenders is a nuanced debate that Deedwania has articulated beautifully.

The article rightly points out that rendering a verdict is far more complex than it might appear – akin to the seemingly simple task of making Maggi noodles, yet involving intricate considerations, especially regarding the intent behind the crime.

– Ramita Taneja

The laws in place now were framed in old times when there was no internet, exposure to various things was limited and parents were the only guide to children. Things have drastically changed over time and today everything is available to children just at the click of a button. And an adolescent then is not the same as now.

It’s time that we look at adolescence from a different perspective in terms of today’s world and change the laws and punishment.

– Selvarajan Kuppuswamy

Criminal trials should not be based on the physical age of the accused but on the basis of mental age. There must be a specific provision in law to determine the mental age of the accused before arraying him or her and the accused. Although there is a procedure prescribed in the Juvenile Act to declare the accused as minor, but that is to verify the actual age, not the mental one.

– J S Rawat, Advocate on Record, Supreme Court of India

Agree? Disagree? Got a POV idea? Write to us at: pov@timesgroup.com

GLOW AND SHIELD

Surviving a heatwave without compromising your skin’s health is entirely possible with the right approach

Antioxidant-rich foods help combat free radicals and protect your skin from damage

Artha.Neog@timesgroup.com

When the summer sun blazes and temperatures soar, taking care of your skin becomes more crucial than ever. Heatwaves can be unforgiving, leaving your skin dehydrated, sunburnt, and vulnerable.

But don’t sweat it! With these trendy and effective skincare tips, you can keep your skin glowing and healthy, even during the most intense heatwave.

THE GOLDEN RULE

The cornerstone of any good skincare routine, especially during heatwave, is hydration. When temperatures soar, your body loses water at a rapid rate, leaving your skin parched and dull. Aim for at least 8-10 glasses of water a day. Infuse your water with slices of cucumber, lemon, or mint for an extra refreshing boost.

“Hydration is an essential factor in avoiding sunburn. When the body is dehydrated, the skin becomes more vulnerable to sun exposure. Drink plenty of water throughout the day, especially when spending time outside,” shares, Poulomi Roy, CMO of a leading personal care brand.

SKIN’S BEST FRIEND

Sunscreen isn’t just a summer staple; it’s a year-round necessity. But during a heatwave, its importance skyrockets.

Choose a broad-spectrum sunscreen with at least SPF 30. Broad-spectrum means it protects against both UVA and UVB rays, which can cause premature aging and sunburn, respectively.

“Keep your skin hydrated at all times with gentle and nourishing products and shield it from the sun’s harsh rays with broad spectrum sunscreens,” says, Shaily Mehrotra, CEO and co-founder of a noted skincare brand.

Reapply sunscreen every two hours, or immediately after swimming or sweating. Don’t forget those often-missed spots like your ears, neck, and the tops of your feet.

“During harsh summers, it becomes crucial to add careful steps in our daily life such as keeping ourselves and the skin hydrated, reapplying sunscreen every three hours and keeping a check on peak hours to avoid unnecessary exposure to the sun,” says, Preetam Jena, chief marketing officer and e-commerce head of a prominent skincare label.

Also, wear widebrimmed hats, sunglasses, and light, breathable clothing to provide an extra layer of protection. “Don a wide-brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses to shield your face. Seek shade during peak sun hours, typically between 10 AM and 4 PM. Refresh your skin with a cooling mist and avoid heavy makeup,” says, Inputs by Paridhi Goel, cofounder of a significant skincare and makeup label.

Heat can trigger inflammation and redness, so it’s essential to keep your skin cool. Keep a facial mist in your bag for an instant cooling effect. Look for ingredients like aloe vera and cucumber, which soothe and refresh the skin.

If you feel particularly overheated, a cold compress can do wonders. Soak a washed cloth in cold water and place it on your face for a few minutes.

“Cooling face mists can provide an instant hydration boost and soothe sunburned or irritated skin. Look for mists containing ingredients like aloe vera or green tea to calm and nourish your skin. When it comes to makeup, opt for waterproof and lightweight products to prevent clogged pores and skin issues. Avoid heavy, oil-based formulas that can exacerbate skin problems during the summer months,” says, Dr Mrunal Shah Modi, founder and director of a significant skin, hair, and laser clinic.

KEEP IT LIGHT

Heavy creams and oil-based products can clog your pores in the heat, leading to breakouts and irritation. So, switch to gel-based cleansers and moisturisers. They’re light, absorb quickly, and won’t leave your skin feeling greasy. Opt for a more natural look during heatwave. Heavy makeup can melt and clog pores. A tinted moisturiser with SPF can provide coverage without weighing down your skin.

“During the summer months, it's important to choose makeup products that are lightweight and non-comedogenic to avoid clogging pores. Prioritise formulas perfect for summer wear—comfortable, long-lasting, and gentle on the skin, ensuring you look and feel your best despite the heat,” says, Riya Pant, founder of a leading cosmetic brand.

NOURISH FROM WITHIN

What you eat has a significant impact on your skin’s health. Load up on fruits and vegetables rich in antioxidants like berries, spinach, and tomatoes. They help fight free radicals and protect your skin from damage. Foods high in omega-3s, like salmon, chia seeds, and walnuts, help maintain your skin’s lipid barrier, keeping it hydrated and smooth.

According to Gaurav Singh, founder and MD of an eminent skincare brand, “Rice water helps maintain skin elasticity and fights early aging signs. Rich in nutrients and antioxidants, rice water is a time-tested remedy for nourishing and rejuvenating the skin. By incorporating rice water into your skincare routine, you can help keep your skin youthful and radiant despite the sweltering heat.”

To enhance the benefits of rice water, Singh recommends mixing it with aloe vera, renowned for its soothing and hydrating properties. “Mix it with aloe vera for added hydration, keeping your skin fresh, firm, and soothed,” he advises.

Foaming face washes containing these ingredients make it easy to incorporate their benefits into your daily skincare routine, ensuring your skin stays healthy and hydrated throughout the summer months.

COMBAT SWEAT AND OIL

Heatwaves can increase sweat and oil production, leading to clogged pores and breakouts. Keep blotting papers handy to dab away excess oil without disrupting your makeup. Also, use a clay mask once or twice a week to absorb excess oil and purify your pores.

“To shield your skin during a heatwave, ensure that you apply broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher at least 30 minutes before stepping out. Additionally, avoid using harsh skincare products that can irritate or dry out your skin, look for products that have zero microplastics inside and opt for gentle, hydrating cleansers and moisturisers,” says, Nitin Jain, founder of a well-known skincare brand.

Jain adds, “Incorpo- rate antioxidants into your skincare routine, such as vitamin C serums, to combat free radical damage caused by sun exposure.

SUPER SUNDAY FOR SPORTS FANS

IND V/S PAK, FRENCH OPEN OR CANADIAN GP, WHAT’S YOUR PICK FOR THE DAY?

India takes on arch-rivals Pakistan in the T20 Cricket World Cup in New York, Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz clash in the French Open final, and Charles Leclerc looks to close the F1 championship gap between him and Max Verstappen at the Canadian Grand Prix. We bring you some deets to make your Sunday more memorable

Kya phir ayega mauka?

INDIA VS PAKISTAN MATCH @8PM The India-Pakistan cricket rivalry is intense. India holds the upper hand when it comes to wins against Pakistan in the T20 World Cups, with a 6-1 win-loss record. Babar Azam’s team will look for another mauk a to improve their tally against Rohit Sharma’s Men in Blue.

HOST A HOUSE PARTY: Arrange a classy setup for your friends and family with a projector. Throw in a sports trivia quiz related to the match you choose to watch.

GO OUT WITH YOUR GANG: Find a café or bistro offering live screenings. Cheer for the best as you tuck into some delicious food.

PREPARE SPECIFIC SPORTSTHEMED DELICACIES: If you are hosting your friends or family at home prepare or order themedfood. A tricolour dhokla platter, chequered flag-themed cupcakes or tennis-themed cakes would just be perfect to set the mood. Make the experience more interesting

— Shourya Jha

Chequered flag, ft. Leclerc & Verstappen

F1 CANADIAN GP A@11.30PM While Max Verstappen has been cruising to win races, he has been facing a good challenge from Charles Leclerc of late. Fresh from a win at his home race in Monaco, Leclerc will be looking to close the championship gap between him and Verstappen at the Canadian GP tonight. Currently 31 points separate the Top 2 in the drivers’ standings.

World No 3 v/s World No 4

FRENCH OPEN MEN’S SINGLES FINAL @6.30PM The French Open finale will turn out to be super interesting. This is the first final for each of the finalists – Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz and Germany’s Alexander Zverev, the World No 3 and 4, respectively. This is also the first French Open Men’s Singles final since 2010 without either Rafael Nadal or Novak Djokovic featuring in it.

FITNESS FUNDAS

Try indoor cyclingto transform yourfitness regime

Indoor cycling is a versatile and effective fitness option that caters to the needs of busy people... The pedalling motion helps strengthen muscles without putting excessive strain on the body, promoting cardiovascular health and endurance — Dr Ashu Kumar Jain, Head, Pain Medicine & Palliative Care, at a hospital in Gurgaon

Yvonne Jacob

Are you skipping your daily cycling routine because of the heat? Indoor cycling could be a fun switch for your workout regime. Here’s why.

CUSTOMISED WORKOUTS

Indoor and virtual cycling platforms can provide a variety of workout programs that can be tailored to different fitness levels and goals. From high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and endurance rides to scenic virtual routes, you can plan and personalise your workout for a more engaging experience.

KEEP A TAB ON YOUR PERFORMANCE

Live tracking your workout sessions and getting real-time data about your heart health allows you to set your goals accordingly. Moreover, by setting and observing your personal records, you can track your progress and understand if your workout needs any change.

SOCIAL ENGAGEMENT WITH GAMIFICATION

Most virtual cycling platforms include features like virtual group rides, leaderboards, and community challenges. Participating in these events can foster a sense of community and healthy competition, encouraging you to stay committed to your goals and enjoy a more interactive workout.

LOWER IMPACT ON JOINTS

Compared to oth- Compared to other forms of exercise and outdoor cycling, cycling indoors can be a low-impact option that reduces the stress on joints and lowers the risk of injuries. This makes it a preferable option for those with joint-related issues or those recovering from injuries.

Enhanced safety

Cycling indoors or virtually can eliminate many safety concerns associated with outdoor cycling, like traffic, poor road conditions, and adverse weather. This controlled environment reduces the risk of accidents and injuries, making it a safer option for many.

#Shiny&Chic: Metal couture is making heads turn

Tisca Chopra wore a custom pantsuit paired with a metalaccented bustier for a promotional activity. Created by London-based Misho, the bustier has gold-plated bronze pieces

Metal, as a wearable textile, has again become a fashion chatter in 2024 after its successful appearances in 2023 – from red carpets, to movie promotions, to social media. Here’s taking a look at the celebrities who have rocked metal, and deets on what makes these pieces worth taking a note of.

What’s being used?

Steel wire, metal washers, chainmail, metal lace, aerospace-grade alluminium, metal rings, aluminium plates, metal alloys, are used to create outfits

What’s making metals tick?

Versatility, aesthetic and luxury aspects, dynamic nature, visual impact, recall value, fusing technology with fashion a rising fashion trend

Vijay Varma often flaunts designer Rimzim Dadu’s couture pieces. These designs are made using unconventional materials like metallic-finish textiles, hair-thin steel wire, and century-old techniques like cord work

Natasha Poonawalla is no stranger to haute couture. Her inverted teardrop-shaped outfit in hand-hammered stainless steel with a chrome finish, became a talking point during a recent event. Named The Teardrop, it was designed by a label helmed by Akshat Bansal

Created by designer Grace Ling, Katy Perry’s couture piece depicts her seven-year journey with an American reality show as a judge. The metal piece was made using 3D printing and CGI technology

Beyonce’s custom Paco Rabanne dress made heads turn. Designed by Julien Dossena, the dress had more than 6500 discs and was entirely hand-assembled in Paris in 80 hours

Zendaya created a stir when she wore an archival cyborg suit from the late French designer Manfred Thierry Mugler’s 20th anniversary, haute couture collection. Called Maschinenmensch, the bodysuit took more than six months to design

Another one of Zendaya’s memorable looks, created by designer Tom Ford, had her wearing a lacquered, hot pink breastplate which required a 3D

— Compiled by Nandini Ganguly

TIMES FOODIE

Balance flavours for perfect cheese pairings

Try Brie with honey and fresh fruits like pear or apple. Blue cheese-fig jam make a delish combo on a cracker. Goat cheese’s tangy flavour complements the herbaceous taste of pesto on crostini – Chef Tushar Malkani

Cheese on crackers

Cheese evolves with time, and pairing it thoughtfully only enriches the experience, say experts. “Exploring cheese pairings at home can be an exciting culinary adventure. From the creamy delight of paneer with mint chutney to the robust fusion of aged cheddar with mango chutney, each combination is exciting. Embrace the richness of Gouda alongside the tang of tamarind chutney for a desi twist,” says chef Roshan Kumar. — Compiled by

Aditi Pancholi

PAIR IT RIGHT

When pairing cheese, consider the following tips to enhance your tasting experience:

Balance flavours: Pair mild cheeses with delicate flavours and strong cheeses with bold flavours to ensure one doesn’t overpower the other

Texture contrast: Pair creamy cheeses with crunchy elements like nuts or crisp fruits

Consider acidity: Acidic a ccompaniments like citrus fruits or vinegar can cut through the richness of fatty cheeses, providing a refreshing balance

Temperature: Serve cheeses at room temperature to enhance their flavours and textures. Take them out of the fridge at least 30 minutes before serving

TRIVIA

■ Vieux-Boulogne, aFrench cheese, has been scientifically proven to be the world’s smelliest cheese

■ The fastest time to eat500gm of mozzarella is 1 minute 2.34 seconds, achieved by Leah Shutkever in London in 2023

■ According to reports,global cheese consumption is projected to reach a record high of 21.6 million metric tons, or 47.7 billion pounds, in 2024

“Creamy, pungent “Creamy, pungent Gorgonzola pairs elegantly Gorgonzola pairs elegantly with ripe pears," says chef with ripe pears," says chef Roshan KumarRoshan Kumar

Table of Contents

TOI Print Edition Jun 09, 2024

Front Page

BIG APPLE PITCHED BATTLE

6-1: The Indo-Pak story In T20 World Cups

Beijing wishes Modi, India sends reminder of ‘3 mutuals’

J&K admin sacks 4 more govt staff for ‘terror links’

Police outposts, houses torched in previously calm Manipur district

BJP will keep plum portfolios, asks allies to pare down hopes

Russia drowning tragedy: Cousins’ bodies recovered

3 workers in sewer tank electrocuted

Cottages of Porsche teen’s family razed

Bus from Vaishno Devi overturns, 3 die

Telugu media mogul Ramoji Rao dead

INDIA bloc offered Nitish PM post: JD(U)’s Tyagi; oppn rubbishes claim

CWC clamours for Rahul as Leader of Oppn, Sonia re-elected CPP chairperson

Never thought it’d befall us: Kin of lynched trucker

3 sleeping after finishing shift killed in blaze at Narela factory, 6 injured

47 Manipur kids find new home & hope in Kerala

Cities will keep facing heatwaves: IMD chief

Panel to review NEET-UG results of 1,563 candidates

Kerala tops in share of spend on non-veg in food products: Survey

Hot spell likely to return by Monday

Times Nation

Inequality declined between 2011-12 & 2022-23: Govt data

Last month was India’s hottest May in 36 yrs: IMD

NGO makeovers are helping ‘sarkari’ schools shed stigma, boost enrolment

2 cops among 4 govt staffers sacked in J&K for terror links

Sub-Lt Anamika Rajeev is Navy’s first woman helicopter pilot

Mistaken ID? BSF kills cook near IB in J&K

Bajaj Housing Finance submits draft to Sebi for `7,000-crore IPO

Bus overturns as driver dozes off, 3 pilgrims killed

We never thought it would happen to us: Lynched men’s kin

WW2 hero’s great-grandson is now fourth-generation officer

Illegal cottages in club owned by Porsche teen’s family razed

Modi to make day-long visit to Italy for June 14 G7 summit

Vande Bharat loco pilot gets invite to Modi’s swearing-in

CWC urges Rahul to take over as LoP; will consider, says MP

CWC praises Kharge, Gandhis for poll efforts

Won’t run away, I’m a fighter: Fadnavis on Maha poll jolt

RJD: Nitish has completely surrendered in front of Modi

Oppn parties to take call on attending Modi inauguration

Pawar kin Rohit eyeing Maha berth, may join BJP: NCP MLA

Modi may be keen to rope in Chirag; several new faces from BJP also likely

Panel on NEET-UG mess to file recommendations in a week

Modi, Xi slated to attend SCO summit next month

Media mogul Ramoji Rao dies at 87

IIM passout Sofia Firdous, 32, is Odisha’s 1st Muslim woman MLA

Pandian criticism regrettable: Naveen

‘Children will return to Manipur only after peace is restored’

Intrigued at violence right after polls: Manipur Cong MP

Got back gold as overseas quantum rose, had storage capacity here: RBI

Maoists kill villager, allege he was police informer:

Artificial Intelligence Paradox

Share of food spend plummeted in both urban & rural India: NSSO

Akhilesh to retain Kannauj LS seat, quit as Karhal MLA

Coca-Cola to set up new plant in T’gana at `700cr

Naidu to take oath as Andhra CM at 11.27am on June 12: CMO

Times City

CM In Jail, Govt May Move SC For Clearing DERC File By LG

HC: Decide on plea to carry out elderly survey

DIAL awaits nod for airside baggage transfer

First Time, Haryana Sent Less Than 1k Cusec: Delhi

AAP to councillors: Connect with voters at grassroots level

BJP may soon pick new LoP for assembly

Fire in east Delhi house

BJP demands all-party meeting on water, blames govt for crisis

Swaraj alleges leakage, DJB says work on

90 Firefighters Douse Factory Fire In 3 Hours

Workers recount horror of blast that shook them

Safety norms go up in smoke, 194 factory blazes in 5 months

Life already on the backfoot, labourers, families look at a more uncertain future

Kanhaiya attacker held for abusing voters after BJP loss in Faizabad

Major Tragedy Averted As Blaze In Shaheen Bagh Destroys 3 Eateries

Petition against magistrate court’s decision dismissed

Fall from flyover or hit & run? Cops probing death

Journalist ‘bound down’ over 2020 ‘assault’ case

Bikes are not allowed: NHAI, experts cite flaw in design

35-yr-old woman, friend arrested for thrashing help in Vasant Kunj

‘Nowhere are forecasts 100% right but have improved over past decade’

NEET ‘lapses’: AAP demands probe by SIT, BJP hits back

Murder accused held after exchange of fire

Transport dept cracks down on delayed vehicle registration cert

Relief over, heatwaves likely to scorch city again from Monday

Bizman gets interim bail for 2 weeks in excise case

Sarita Vihar flyover repair work to start from June 15

Are you an ever-anxious teen? Focus on future rather than problems

Traffic restrictions in place for swearing-in

Man gets life term for rape of stepdaughter

In deepfake time, adultery photos of spouse need to be proved: HC

‘Assault’ at mall: HC quashes FIR against Elvish, 3 others

Brave souls overcome life’s scars to serve others

Man found dead in slum, police probe

All That Matters

Elite mindset is not going to solve jobs issue

'Constitution: People have strong sense of ownership, and want to protect it

Bigger spends not the answer. New govt should focus on effective governance instead

How did BJP muff up ‘singhasan’ state? More to it than social engg

Ab ki baar, soch vichar: Why BJP needs to introspect, adjust

INBOX

Times Special

Can the land of baseball be bowled over by cricket?

WHEN MR FOLLOWS THE MISSUS

OPENING A CAN OF BOOKWORMS

Times Parenting

Pune Porsche case shows we may be taking yes-parenting too far

I can be crazy mom one day, and calm the next. Parenting throws many curveballs: Ranna Gill

YOGA FOR KIDS

Times Global

Israel rescues four hostages taken in Hamas’ Oct 7 attack

Lebanon arrests 20 over attack on US embassy

Tens of thousands join election rally against German far right

Pakistan’s Punjab govt gets notice for not naming Lahore Chowk after Bhagat Singh

Two members of minority Ahmadi community shot dead

‘Shaken’ Danish PM cancels appointments after attack

Sexual minorities demand equality in Nepal parade

Imran’s wife seeks suspension of sentence in wedding case

Macron hosts Biden as 2 leaders try to move past trade tensions

Officials say 27 killed in attacks on Russian-held Ukrainian regions

AROUND THE WORLD

Centenarian WWII vet marries sweetheart, 96, in Normandy

Times Sport

OLD RIVALRY, NEW GROUND

Composed Miller guides South Africa to 4-wicket win

Even curator isn’t sure how pitch will behave: Rohit

‘What happened two days ago is forgotten’

Afghanistan shocker for listless Kiwis

BANGLADESH PREVAIL IN LOW-SCORING THRILLER AS LANKAN HOPES SINK

LA IGA HAT-TRICK

GALLERY

Pragg ends with a win; Carlsen grabs Norway crown

CR7 experience key for Portugal, says Martinez

Liverpool boss ‘determined’ to see EPL games played in USA

Nagal enters Helibronn Challenger final

Will Carlitos have his way against motivated Zverev?

England freeze vs Iceland

Stimac leaves out Bagan trio

Delhi Times

RITIKA BEATS DELHI HEAT IN STYLE

Not approached for second season of Maddam Sir: Gulki

Playing mom on TV isn’t the end of one’s career: Ulka

Watching the India-Pak match will be historic: Armaan Malik

INDIA IS BETTER THAN ANY OTHER TEAM IN THE T20 WORLD CUP: ANGAD

BUZZ STOP

One in a million: Celebs pay their last respects to media baron Ramoji Rao

DID YOU KNOW?

I’M GOING TO MISS WATCHING THE T20 WORLD CUP WITH MY FATHER: ANGAD

A special day: Yusuf Pathan meets Aamir

In India, it’s impossible to not be inﬂuenced by cricket, says Armaan

Relish the unique flavour of khameeri naan in the capital

Savour delicious kulfi falooda at home

‘Healthy lifestyle can reduce risk of heart diseases’

Ofﬁce workers in China are growing bananas on their desks to beat stress

YOUR POV

GLOW AND SHIELD

IND V/S PAK, FRENCH OPEN OR CANADIAN GP, WHAT’S YOUR PICK FOR THE DAY?

Try indoor cyclingto transform yourfitness regime

#Shiny&Chic: Metal couture is making heads turn

Balance ﬂavours for perfect cheese pairings