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Front Page

- My ‘damdar govt’ poised for 3rd term in a row: Modi

- Pandian not my heir, people will pick successor, says Naveen

- Mother of one thrashed, raped in city, man held

- 2 die in city after tree falls on scooter

- Cop: Woman’s blood replaced Pune teen’s

- CC, online frauds jump 425% in FY24

- MMS: Never singled out a community

- IN THE COURTS

- Third gender turnout sees steady climb since 2014

- Cong claim on PM post? Party with max seats will get to decide, says Jairam

- Amid LAC face-off, China deploys J-20 stealth fighters at Tibet airfield

- Desi co launches world’s 1st rocket with one-piece 3D-printed engine

- Prajwal arrested at B’luru airport on return from Munich

- Fire at city police school yard, 300 vehicles gutted

- May move SC to demand more water, hints Atishi

- RBI moves 100T of its gold from UK’s central bank to India vaults

- Kejriwal files 2 bail pleas in Delhi court; ED says ‘his health didn’t stop campaign’

- 3 Lt Cols of TA booked for J&K police stn ‘attack’

- Factory worker 1st heat casualty in city as it reels under 49.2°C

- In 36 hrs, heat claims 22 lives across 3 states

- 22 killed, 57 injured as bus carrying devotees falls into gorge in Jammu

My ‘damdar govt’ poised for 3rd term in a row: Modi

Campaigning Ends For 2024 LS Polls: Last Phase On Sat, Results In 4 Days

PM Modi offers prayers at a temple in Kanyakumari on Thursday before going on a 42-hour ‘maun vrat’. On Cong complaint against it being televised, EC said it’s not a violation of ‘silence period’

‘Oppn Using Agnipath For Polls, It’s A Sin’

IP.Singh@timesgroup.com

Hoshiarpur: After shuttling between states for over two months to pitch BJP’s vision for a ‘Viksit Bharat’, PM Modi wrapped up his marathon campaign in Punjab’s Hoshiarpur Thursday by saying that his “damdar” (strong) government was set to return for a third consecutive term to achieve its objective of making India the nation it deserved to be.

“Who knows it better than Punjab, the land of the brave, what it means to be damdar? A damdar govt is one that decimates the enemy. A damdar govt is one that goes right into the enemy’s home to strike. A damdar govt is one that makes Bharat atmanirbhar (self-dependent) in every way possible,” Modi said.

The PM said BJP had drawn up a roadmap for the first 125 days of its prospective third term, reserving 25 of those for the welfare of the country’s youth.

He said there could be “no greater sin” than constituents of the INDIA bloc using the armed forces as a political weapon, alluding to Congress and its allies repeatedly talking about scrapping the Agnipath recruitment scheme if the alliance came to office.

 ‘Punjab industry hit’, P14

EDIT:For Future Polls

P 9

Pandian not my heir, people will pick successor, says Naveen

Naveen Patnaik & Pandian

Bhubaneswar: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik said Thursday that Tamil Nadu-born exbureaucrat V K Pandian, whose swift ascent in politics has led BJP to question his credentials as next in line to the BJD legacy, wasn’t his political heir. He said the people of Odisha would pick his successor when the time came.“I see all of this (talk of Pandian being groomed to take over) as exaggeration and falsehood...You may have noticed he is not even standing for election,” Naveen said in an interview with ANI.

INSIDE FLAP

Mother of one thrashed, raped in city, man held

An e-rickshaw driver has been arrested for allegedly drugging, assaulting and raping a woman in Geeta Colony on May 26. She was headed for New Delhi station with her three-year-old son when the driver offered her a drink after which she passed out. When she came around and tried to resist, he hit her on the head with bricks and left her bleeding on the road.

He stole her phone and Rs 3,000 in cash. Cops picked him up after quizzing 150 erick drivers and owners.

P 8

2 die in city after tree falls on scooter

Two men in their twenties died after a tree fell on their scooter in outer Delhi’s Alipur on Wednesday. A purported video footage shows an individual by the fallen tree, while bystanders try to administer CPR on him.

P 7

Cop: Woman’s blood replaced Pune teen’s

Former casualty medical officer at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital collected blood samples of three people to help the Porsche teen driver. A cop said the blood belonging to a woman was labelled with the teen’s name.

P 11

CC, online frauds jump 425% in FY24

The value of credit card and online frauds has gone up by 425% to Rs 1,457 crore during FY24 compared to Rs 277 crore in FY23. Similarly, the number of such frauds has risen by 334% to 29,082 during the same period.

P 17

MMS: Never singled out a community

Former PM Manmohan Singh Thursday broke his silence on PM Modi’s charge that he gave “first right” claims on the country’s resources to Muslims, saying he never singled out one community.

“This is the sole copyright of BJP,” he said, adding that false statements were being attributed to him.

Ahead of LS elections in Punjab on June 1, in a 3-page letter, Singh hit out at Modi over the farm stir and appealed to the electorate to vote for Congress to “safeguard the Constitution.

INSIDE FLAP

BJP: He said not once but twice, INSIDE FLAP

IN THE COURTS

➤ As Constitution does not prescribe criteria for filling seats in promotional posts, no govt serv ant can claim promotion as their right, rules Supreme Court

P 11

➤ 23 years after hotelier Jaya Shetty was shot dead at his restaurant for refusing to pay extortion money, a special CBI court convicts Chhota Rajan, gives him life

P 11

➤ Special Marriage Act union betw een Hindu and Muslim not valid under Muslim Law, says MP HC, dismisses plea by interfaith couple who sought police protection

P 11

➤ Weight of blotter paper, a neutral substance, must also be taken into consider ation when weighing quantity of drugs, says K’taka HC

P 11

➤ Days after a fire at Vivek Vihar hospital claimed the lives of 6 newborns, Delhi court remands owner and on-duty doctor in judicial custody till June 13

P 7

Third gender turnout sees steady climb since 2014

The third gender, recognised as a separate voting category in 2014, has registered a steady rise in turnout. Phase-wise voting by TG electors in the current election has so far fluctuated between 18.7% and 34.2%, against 14.6% and 6.9% overall in 2019 and 2014 respectively, reports Bharti Jain.

A total 48,044 TG electors were in the electoral roll as on March 16, 2024, up from 39,075 in 2019 and 28,527 in 2014. Many third gender voters prefer to register as male or female voters, often due to fear of coming out, since electoral roll is a public document, and lack of social acceptance. Of the total 39,075 TG voters registered in 2019, 5,793 were in Tamil Nadu, followed by 3,957 in Andhra and 1,504 in Telangana. State wise data for 2024 is not available yet.

INSIDE FLAP

Cong claim on PM post? Party with max seats will get to decide, says Jairam

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Congress on Thursday claimed that INDIA bloc would get a decisive mandate on June 4 and said it was logical that the constituent with maximum seats in Lok Sabha would be the natural claimant for its leadership.

In an interview with PTI, on the last day of campaigning, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said, “I don’t think it will take even 48 hours (to decide on the PM pick). Within a few hours, the leader of the janbandhan (will be picked). It stands to reason that the party that gets the maximum seats in the ‘janbandhan’ will be a natural claimant for leadership of the janbandhan," he said in what was interpreted by political circles as Congress’s assertion of its claim for PM.

Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at a press conference at the AICC headquarters made it clear that a decision on who the PM will be taken after a discussion with all alliance partners after the results are out just as it was done when UPA-I and II formed govt.

‘No call unilaterally’, P 14

Amid LAC face-off, China deploys J-20 stealth fighters at Tibet airfield

Rajat.Pandit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: China has deployed its most advanced J-20 stealth fighters at an airfield in Tibet in the eastern sector facing India, amid the continuing military confrontation along the entire Line of Actual Control, which is into its fifth year now.

Latest commercial satellite imagery shows the People’s Liberation Army-Air Force has deployed six J-20 fighters at the Shigatse dual-use airport, which is barely 155 km from the LAC and close to Doklam near the Sikkim-BhutanTibet tri-junction, in addition to several J-10 jets and a KJ-500 AEW&C (airborne early-warning and control) aircraft already present there. “Multiple (satellite) images collected over the course of the same day indicate these aircraft (J-20s) arrived at the air base on May 27,” said All Source Analysis, which looks at geospatial intel, in a post on X.

High altitude trial, P 14

IAF’s Rafales to join multi-nation US drill

Eight Indian Rafale fighter jets, along with two IL-78 air-to-air refueller and three C-17 Globemaster-III aircraft, are set to soar high in the multi-nation ‘Red Flag’ drill in Alaska. The aircraft undertook a transatlantic flight, with halts at Greece and Portugal.

P13

Desi co launches world’s 1st rocket with one-piece 3D-printed engine

Agnikul Uses India’s First Pvt Launchpad

The IIT-M-incubated co has plans for regular customer flights from 2025

Chethan.Kumar@timesgroup.com

In a big boost for India’s private space industry, Agnikul Cosmos, an IIT-Madrasincubated startup, successfully launched on Thursday the world’s first rocket with a single-piece 3D-printed engine.

The single-stage rocket, called ‘Agnibaan Sub-Orbital Technology Demonstrator (SOrTeD)’, lifted off from India’s first private launchpad, Dhanush, at Srihariko- ta at 7.15am, marking the country’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch. It was powered by Agnikul’s Agnilet engine.

In the past two months, the startup had to call off the mission minutes before the scheduled lift-off twice — on April 7 and May 28. Thursda- y’s historic mission, Agnikul’s inaugural flight, demonstrated indigenous technologies, gathered crucial flight data and ensured optimal functioning of systems for their orbital launch vehicle, ‘Agnibaan’, in the future.

PM on ‘Yuva Shakti’, P 14

Prajwal arrested at B’luru airport on return from Munich

JD(S) MP Prajwal Revanna, who is accused of sexually assaulting three women, was arrested minutes after he landed at Bengaluru airport past Thursday midnight. The flight from Munich landed at the airport around 12.46am and the MP was whisked away by the Special Investigation Team, which is probing the cases against him.

TNN

Fire at city police school yard, 300 vehicles gutted

In a second incident in five months, a massive fire tore through a vehicle pit behind the police training school in north Delhi’s Wazirabad on Thursday, gutting 300 vehicles. The police control room received a call around 2.47pm about the fire. Twelve fire tenders, along with 70 firefighters, were sent and the fire was brought under control by 4.30pm.

P6

May move SC to demand more water, hints Atishi

Unveiling Delhi govt’s strategy to tackle the water crisis, minister Atishi announced the establishment of a central water tanker control room and the formation of quick response teams in all 11 zones to address emergencies. She also indicated govt may approach SC to demand 50MGD from neighbouring Haryana and UP.

P 3

RBI moves 100T of its gold from UK’s central bank to India vaults

Similar Quantity May Be Shipped In Coming Mths

Sidhartha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: RBI has moved a little over 100 tonnes of gold from UK to its vaults in the country, marking the first time at least since early 1991, when precious metal at this scale has been added to stock held locally.

A similar quantity of gold may be headed into the country again in the coming months with official sources telling TOI that the transfer to locations within the country was for logistical reasons as also for diversified storage.

According to the latest data, at the end of March, RBI had 822.1 tonnes of gold, of which 413.8 tonnes was overseas. It is among central banks that bought gold in recent years, with 27.5 tonnes added during the last financial year.

For a large number of central banks, Bank of England has traditionally been the storehouse and India is no diffe- rent with some its yellow metal stocks lying in London from pre-Independence days.

“RBI started purchasing gold a few years ago and decided to undertake a review of where it wants to store it, something that is done from time to time. Since stock was building up overseas, it was decided to get some of the gold to India,” an official said.

For most Indians, gold has been an emotional issue, especially after the Chandra Shekhar govt pledged the precious metal to tackle the balance of payments crisis in 1991.

Spl aircraft ferried it, P 13

Poll result jitters pull sensex down 617pts

Rising interest rates globally and nervousness ahead of June 4 results dragged sensex down 617 points to close at 73,866 Thursday. From its all time high at 76,010 earlier this week, the index is down by over 2,100 points. On NSE, Nifty lost 216 points to close at 22,489. Both the indices have closed lower in last five sessions.

P 19

Kejriwal files 2 bail pleas in Delhi court; ED says ‘his health didn’t stop campaign’

Vineet.Upadhyay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: After the Supreme Court registry refused to list Arvind Kejriwal’s plea seeking extension of his interim bail, the Delhi CM on Thursday filed two separate pleas in a local court for relief. While one petition at the Rouse Avenue Court sought a regular bail in a money laundering case initiated by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with the excise policy case, the second plea asked for extension of the interim bail for seven more days on medical grounds.

The ED opposed his bail petition, asserting that his conduct (doing poll campaign) didn’t entitle him to get relief.

Kejriwal, through senior advocate N Hariharan, sought an extension of his interim bail to undergo a host of medical tests. He had earlier moved the SC Registry for listing his petition on the same medical ground to undergo tests, including a PET-CT scan, given his “sudden and unexplained weight loss”, coupled with high ketone levels.

 Surrender on June 2? P 5

 Sisodia to be in custody till July 6 in excise case, P8

3 Lt Cols of TA booked for J&K police stn ‘attack’

A case of attempt to murder and other offences was registered against three Lt Cols and 13 others from Territorial Army — a reserve force composed of part-time volunteers — for alleged involvement in an attack on Kupwara police station in J&K. Four cops were hurt in the alleged attack Wednesday that followed the questioning of a TA jawan by police in an alleged drugs case. The army called charges “misfounded & incorrect”.

P9

Factory worker 1st heat casualty in city as it reels under 49.2°C

Was Admitted With 107°F Fever

In a rare phenomenon, monsoon arrived simultaneously in Kerala (Kochi above) and northeastern states, two days ahead of its expected date of June 1

New Delhi: The capital continues to experience a scorching summer with heatwave to severe heatwave conditions persisting for the sixth consecutive day despite a slight decrease in temperatures. Narela in north Delhi recorded the highest temperature at 49.2 degrees Celsius while Mayur Vihar in east Delhi was the lowest at 45.2 degrees Celsius.

Even as IMD is still examining Wednesday’s record-breaking 52.9oC at Mungeshpur, the temperature there and at Najafgarh on Thursday was 49oC. The city, meanwhile, recorded its first heatstroke death this season at RML Hospi- tal on Wednesday, of a 40-yearold factory worker who had been admitted with 107oF temperature and was later put on ventilator. TNN

P3

P 12

In 36 hrs, heat claims 22 lives across 3 states

Patna/Buxar/Daltonganj/ Nagpur: Ten people, including six women, died of suspected heatstroke over seven hours in Odisha on Thursday, 9died in Bihar over 24 hours, and three perished in Jharkhand in the last 36 hours.

In Nagpur, at least 20 unidentified people were found dead between May 24 and 30, indicating mortality due to suspected sunstroke in heatwave-like conditions. The maximum day temperature in Rourkela was 44.9°C.

TNN

5 are poll officers, P 13

22 killed, 57 injured as bus carrying devotees falls into gorge in Jammu

Wreckage of the bus at Chowki Choura on Thursday

Sanjay Khajuria & Mohammad Dilshad TNN

Jammu/Agra: Twenty-two (22) people, including six children and eight women, died and 57 others were injured after a bus carrying pilgrims to Shiv Khori cave shrine in Reasi district of J&K plummeted into a deep gorge in Jammu on Thursday.

The bus had started from Hathras in Uttar Pradesh and had reached Tanda area of Akhnoor in Jammu via Kurukshetra in Haryana when it veered off the road while negotiating a turn and rolled 150 feet down into the ravine at Tungi Morh near Chowki Chowra around 12.35pm, according to officials.

Police personnel and locals rushed to the spot and evacuated the injured to Akhnoor sub-district hospital. Later, Army also joined the rescue operation. The injured were later shifted to Govt Medical College and Hospital in Jammu, police said.

6 are from Hathras, P 14

Times Nation

- Territorial Army men storm J&K thana; 3 Lt Col among 16 booked

- PM ends 2-mth-long poll drive, starts 42-hour meditation spell

- Objective view, says MEA of Nawaz remark on pact breach

- Cabin crew held after nearly 1kg gold found in rectum

- From 0 to 40 in 16 years, Sariska scripts tiger conservation history

- Remove illegal shrines from govt land: Kerala HC

- SC: Promotion not a right, no criteria stated in Constitution

- HC: Special Marriage Act won’t legalise a union prohibited under personal law

- In NDPS cases, must include blotter paper in LSD weight: HC

- No proposal for FTA with Maldives: Govt

- Chhota Rajan gets life for ’01 murder of Mumbai hotelier

- Doc swapped Porsche teen’s blood with woman’s sample, says cop

- After benefitting from quota, Muslims fear this window of hope may shut

- Monsoon arrives early, and simultaneously in Kerala, N-E

- IAF Rafales to take part in 4-nation drill in US

- Maha tourist killed in paragliding accident

- In Bihar, 5 of 9 heatwave victims were poll officers

- Special aircraft ferried gold from UK back to India

- 6 more killed, toll from N-E floods & landslides hits 45

- 6 of 22 victims of Jammu bus accident are from Hathras, 9 from Aligarh

- China’s J-20s at Tibet base for high-altitude trial?

- Agnikul feat a testament to ingenuity of yuva shakti: PM

- Won’t decide unilaterally on PM on behalf of oppn bloc: Cong

- Agnipath benefits corporates: Rahul

- AAP destroying Punjab’s industry, agriculture: Modi

Territorial Army men storm J&K thana; 3 Lt Col among 16 booked

Attack Followed Questioning Of Jawan By Police In Drugs Case

According to the FIR, the group led by Lt Colonels Ankit Sood, Rajiv Chauhan and Nikhil from 160 Territorial Army unit stormed the police station and assaulted cops. Army has, however, denied the charges

TNN& AGENCIES

Srinagar: A case of attempt to murder and other offences has been registered against three lieutenant colonels and 13 others from the Territorial Army for alleged involvement in an attack on Kashmir’s Kupwara police station. The army has termed the charges “mis-founded and incorrect”.

Four cops were injured in the alleged attack on the police station on Wednesday that followed the questioning of a Territorial Army jawan a few hours earlier by J&K Police in an alleged drugs case. The Territorial Army is a reserve force composed of part-time volunteers who provide support services to the Army.

According to the FIR, the group led by Lieutenant Colo- nels Ankit Sood, Rajiv Chauhan and Nikhil from 160 Territorial Army unit stormed the police station, assaulted cops with rifle butts and sticks, and kicked them.

The Territorial Army personnel seized the police officers’ cellphones and ab- ducted a constable before fleeing, the FIR stated, adding that senior cops rushed to the scene and helped rescue their targeted colleagues. A purported video of the attack also surfaced.

The FIR has been registered under various sec- tions of IPC, including 307 (attempt to murder), 186 (obstructing public servant on duty), 332 (hurting to deter public servant), 342 (wrongful confinement) and 147 (rioting).

The accused also face charges under IPC sections 149 (unlawful assembly), 392 (robbery), 397 (dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) and 365 (kidnapping). The Kupwara DSP is handling the investigations and officials said they aimed to uncover the full extent of the crime and bring the accused to justice.

In a statement, the Army rejected the claims of the attack on the cops. “Minor differences between police personnel and a territorial army unit on an operational matter have been amicably resolved,” the statement read.

PM ends 2-mth-long poll drive, starts 42-hour meditation spell

PM Modi will meditate at Vivekananda Rock till June 1 afternoon. This is the spot where Swami Vivekananda had meditated for three days in 1892

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Madurai: Winding up a gruelling two-month-long electioneering, Prime Minister Narendra Modi went into a 42-hour meditation on Thursday at Vivekananda Rock in Kanyakumari.

Modi will meditate till June 1 afternoon. This is the spot where Swami Vivekananda meditated for three days in 1892. The rock has a special hall, Sripada Mandapam, where legend has it that Goddess Parvati meditated for Lord Shiva.

Modi flew into Kanyakumari from Thiruvananthapuram around 4.45pm and went to Bhagavathi Amman temple on the coast. There, PM offered prayers to Goddess Parvathi, after which temple authorities presented him a picture of the deity.

Modi then took a ferry to Vivekananda Rock. After paying obeisance to the statue of Swami Vivekananda and portraits of Lord Paramahamsa and Sharada, Modi began his meditation at Dhyan Mandapam. PM had taken out similar trips at the end of the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha election campaigns in Pratapgarh and Kedarnath, respectively.

This was the PM’s ninth trip to Tamil Nadu since Jan this year. On Thursday, the rock and Kanyakumari town, which see a steady flow of tourists, was put under heavy security. Devotees were not allowed into Bhagavathi temple after noon. Vivekananda Rock will be out of bounds for tourists till Saturday. Over 3,000 cops kept watch. Navy and coast guard vessels swished around the seas. Fishing has been suspended for three days.

Some Congress workers held black-flag protests in Tirunelveli condemning PM’s visit. Over 20 protesters were detained. Similar protests were held by VCK in Madurai.

PM’s event doesn’t violate MCC: EC

PM Narendra Modi’s two-day meditation does not violate the silence-period in force for Phase 7 of general election 2024, as Representation of the People Act, 1951, prohibits campaigning only in the constituencies going to polls in that phase, as per an assessment of EC, reports Bharti Jain. Congress had alleged that the trip was a “tactic” to circumvent the silence period and “unfairly leverage the ethno-cultural significance of the chosen location...to bolster his (Modi’s) campaign”.

With 208 poll meets, Modi led from front

PM Modi took part in 208 public engagements, including rallies, roadshows and other political events, during the two-and-a-halfmonth-long campaign as BJP has set an target of winning 370 seats on its own and over 400 seats for NDA in LS polls. Campaigning for the last and seventh phase of polls came to an end on Thursday and voters in 57 Lok Sabha constituencies will exercise their mandate on Saturday. Party sources said the PM also gave over 80 interviews to TV channels and print media. TNN

Objective view, says MEA of Nawaz remark on pact breach

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Delhi/ Islamabad:The Indian govt reacted positively to former Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif's remark that Pakistan sabotaged the 1999 Lahore peace agreement he had reached with his then counterpart Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying there’s an “objective view” emerging in the neighbouring country as well on this issue.

Taking over as president of his PML-N party on Tuesday, Nawaz had said it was Pakistan which violated the peace process through then army chief Pervez Musharraf’s Kargil misadventure. Nawaz, whose brother Shehbaz Sharif leads the Pakistan govt, has held that position for decades but the timing of his remarks was significant as it came just before the outcome of the Indian Parliamentary elections. “You are aware of our position on the issue. We note that there is an objective view emerging in Pakistan as well,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

Shehbaz is likely to come face to face with Indian PM, who will take oath next week after the election outcome, at the SCO summit in Kazakhstan in July. However, for any substantive bilateral engagement, the new Indian govt will likely insist on Islamabad reviewing its decision to downgrade ties in 2019, after India revoked special status of J&K.

Nawaz’s remarks also come at a time the ruling PML-N has become unpopular among masses due to its pro-military policies. Its current govt has been labeled by critics and opponents as unconstitutional.

Following the poor show in last elections despite full backing of the army, according to Pakistan-based observers, Nawaz has been trying to temper his party’s pro-military image, while also recalling his past achievements as PM like the 1998 nuclear tests and the Lahore Declaration with India.

Cabin crew held after nearly 1kg gold found in rectum

Kochi: An Air India Express cabin crew member was arrested at Kannur airport in Kerala for smuggling nearly one kilogram of gold by concealing it into her rectum.

On a specipic input, DRI officers intercepted the 26-year-old, a Kolkata native, when she arrived on a flight from Muscat on Tuesday.

A search resulted in the recovery of 960g of gold in compound form, concealed in her rectum. The woman was later produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody.

According to sources, investigation suggested she had been involved in gold smuggling on several occasions in the past. Involvement of some Kerala-based individuals in the racket was also under investigation, sources said. TNN

From 0 to 40 in 16 years, Sariska scripts tiger conservation history

Two tigresses at the park gave birth to quadruplets this year

Ajaysingh.Ugras@timesgroup.com

Alwar/Jaipur: Sariska Tiger Reserve has added a number of stripes to its sleeve.

After nearly 16 years, the reserve is scripting a remarkable success story. The country’s first tiger reintroduction plan was launched there after its big cat population had been been annihilated, the number falling to zero. This year, two tigresses at the park have given birth to quadruplets.

On Thursday, the forest department said, a four-year-old tigress, “ST-22, was captured on camera with a set of quadruplets.",

Sariska Tiger Reserve (STR) field director Mahendra Sharma said, “This is the first time ST-22 has given birth. This marks a historic event, as it is the first time since the tiger reintroduction in 2008 that two tigresses in Sariska Tiger Reserve have given birth to four cubs this year. Earlier, a 10-year-old tigress, ST-12, was camera-trapped with three cubs in March. Now it is revealed that the tigress had given birth to four. Both tigresses have their territories in the reserve’s Talvrisksh range.”

A monitoring staff member said that on Wednesday tigress ST-27 was sighted with two cubs. “In the past three months, 10 cubs have been camera-trapped in Sariska. The total count has now reached 40 tigers in STR: 11 adult males, 14 adult females, and 15 cubs.”

Dinesh Durani, founder member of Sariska Tiger Foundation, said, “The conservation efforts in Sariska are finally bearing fruit. The forest should open more tourism zones, similar to Ranthambore, as this would help with monitoring.”

Remove illegal shrines from govt land: Kerala HC

Kochi: Kerala high court has ordered state govt to remove all illegal and unauthorised stones, crosses or other structures of religious significance erected on govt land by any religious group within a year.

Justice P V Kunhikrishnan passed the order on a petition by Plantation Corporation of Kerala seeking steps to evict encroachers from its estates. The court directed the chief secretary to instruct all district collectors to conduct an inquiry through revenue officials and others to identify such “religious encroachments” within six months.

If any such structures were found, the district collectors, with police help, should remove them from govt land within six months, the HC said. TNN

SC: Promotion not a right, no criteria stated in Constitution

‘Legislature, Executive Free To Decide Norms Depending On Post’

SC said that ‘there is assumption that long-serving employees have shown loyalty to employing organisation & so are entitled to reciprocal treatment’

Dhananjay.Mahapatra@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Supreme Court has said that the Constitution is silent on criteria for granting promotion to govt servants and ruled that the legislature and executive are free to decide the norms for promotion keeping in view the nature, functions and requirements of a promotional post.

A bench of CJI D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra in a recent judgment said, “In India, no govt servant can claim promotion as their right because Constitution does not prescribe criteria for filling seats in promotional posts. The legislature or the executive may decide the method for filling vacancies to promotional posts based on the nature of employment and the functions that the candidate will be expected to discharge.”

It said the judiciary cannot sit in review to decide whether a policy adopted for promotion is apt for selecting the ‘best candidates’, except on the limited ground where such a policy appeared to violate the principle of equal opportunity, guaranteed under Article 16 of the Constitution.

While deciding disputes over selection of district judges in Gujarat, the bench said the principle of seniority as a parameter of selection for promotion derived from the belief that competence is related to experience and that it limits scope of favouritism.

Writing the judgment, Justice Pardiwala said, “There is always an assumption that long-serving employees have demonstrated loyalty to employing organisation and so are entitled to reciprocal treatment.” He said over the years, SC has consistently ruled that where promotion is based on the principle of ‘merit-cum seniority’ a greater emphasis is placed on merit. Similarly, in the principle of ‘seniority cum-merit’, a greater emphasis is laid on seniority.

“The terms ‘merit-cum-seniority’ or ‘seniority-cum merit’ are not statutorily defined by legislature. These principles are judicial connotations that have evolved over a period of years through various decisions of this court & HCs whilst dealing with matters of promotion pertaining to different statutes and service conditions,” bench said.

It was quick to clarify that the above two parameters are not mandatory since these are not backed by law enacted by legislature. These are products of judicial interpretation, which evolved while dealing with different types of promotion policies, SC said.

“The principle of ‘merit cum-seniority’ and ‘seniority-cum-merit’ are a flexible and a fluid concept akin to broad principles within which the actual promotion policy may be formulated. They are not strict rules or requirements and by no means can supplant or take the place of statutory rules or policies that have been formulated, if any. These principles are dynamic in nature very much like a spectrum and their application and ambit depends upon the rules, the policy, the nature of the post and requirements of service,” SC stated.

HC: Special Marriage Act won’t legalise a union prohibited under personal law

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bhopal/Jabalpur: Madhya Pradesh HC has ruled that marriage between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman is an “irregular (Fasid)” marriage according to Muslim personal law and it remains so even if the marriage is performed under Special Marriage Act.

“Marriage under Special Marriage Act would not legalise the marriage, which is otherwise prohibited under Muslim personal law. Sec 4 of Special Marriage Act provides that if the parties are not within a prohibited relationship then only marriage can be performed,” Justice G S Ahluwalia said in a May 27 judgment in response to a petition filed by a Muslim man and a Hindu woman who had applied for marriage under Special Marriage Act, and pleaded with the court to provide police protection because the woman’s father objected to the marriage.

HC turned down the protection request, and said: “It is clear the marriage of a Hindu female with a Muslim male is not a regular or valid (Sahih) marriage, but merely an irregular (Fasid) marriage.”

The couple’s counsel, Dinesh Upadhyay, told the high court that neither of them wanted to convert. Upadhyay argued that Special Marriage Act would override personal law, therefore marriage of a Muslim boy with a Hindu girl would not be an ‘irregular marriage’.

In response, Justice Ahluwalia said, “Under personal law, performance of certain rituals are necessary for so- lemnization of marriage. However, if marriage is performed under Special Marriage Act, such marriage cannot be challenged on ground of non-performance of such mandatory rituals. But marriage under Special Marriage Act wouldn’t legalise the marriage which otherwise is prohibited under personal law.”

Quoting from the Mulla Principles of Mahomedan Law 21st edition, the judge said, “A Muslim male may contract a valid marriage not only with a Muslim woman, but also with a Kitabia, that is a Jewess or a Christian, but not with an idolatress or a fire-worshipper. A marriage, however, with an idolatress or a fire-worshipper, is not void, but merely irregular.”

Similarly, a Muslim woman cannot contract a valid marriage, except with a Muslim male, the judge explained.

HC upholds 19-year-old’s ‘reproductive autonomy’, allows MTP

The Bombay high court’s vacation bench on Thursday granted permission to a 19-year-old girl to terminate her 26-week pregnancy as it is her “sovereign entitlement”, reports Swati Deshpande. The views of her consensual-relationship partner or parents are “not relevant” in light of her reproductive autonomy, said the high court, while citing a recent Supreme Court judgment.

State lawyer Kavita Solunke argued the partner had a stake in the decision-making process, but HC bench, relying on SC ruling, was satisfied that the partner is not a stakeholder in the pregnant woman’s reproductive rights. SC had underlined that MTP Act didn’t allow for any “interference with personal choice of pregnant person” seeking termination. The bench said, “It appears to us that the petitioner’s sovereign entitlement to make an autonomous choice about her body and to exercise it in the form of opting for medical termination, lends itself to acceptance.”

Earlier, a medical board had reviewed her plea for MTP beyond the permissible 24-week deadline. Although the fetus had no abnormalities, the board advised termination as the pregnancy posed a “grave danger” to the girl’s mental health. The girl had petitioned HC and cited “grave psychological effect of the pregnancy and social stigma” as primary reasons for seeking termination. The MTP Act currently sets the limit at 24 weeks, beyond which a medical board’s approval & a court order is needed.

In NDPS cases, must include blotter paper in LSD weight: HC

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Bengaluru: The weight of blotter paper used as the carrier of LSD must also be taken into consideration for weighing the quantity of the offending drug in cases registered under the Narcotics and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Karnataka high court observed in a recent judgment.

“Blotter paper is a carrier material for the psychotropic substance LSD. These are ingested with LSD and, therefore, forman integral part of the ingestion by the user of the same. It is also a medium of consumption of the drug,” Justice S Vishwajith Shetty said while refusing to quash proceedings against petitioner Kalam Narendra, alias Pandu, from Bengaluru. On Jan 2, NCB officers seized a parcel intended to be delivered to Pandu containing 10 strips of LSD weighing 0.11gm and 34.38gm of ganja gummies, and arrested him.

Challenging the FIR registered against him, Pandu claimed the drug was for his personal consumption and that if the weight of the blotter paper was deducted, the LSD strips would amount to a small quantity, because each strip contains a maximum of 30-50 microgrammes of psychotropic substance, which is punishable only with a year’s jail term and/or a Rs 10,000 fine.

The judge said, “If weight of offending drug with blot of paper is considered, the same totally weighs 0.11gm, which is a commercial quantity.”

No proposal for FTA with Maldives: Govt

Govt denied on Thursday it had made any specific proposal for a bilateral FTA with Maldives. However, it said if Maldives expresses interest in having an FTA, India will give it due consideration.

Last week, Maldivian minister Mohamed Saeed had indicated that India has initiated efforts to have an FTA between the two countries. “They (India) want there to be a Free Trade Agreement with Maldives, in addition to South Asian Free Trade Agreement,” Saeed had said at a press meet in Male.

TNN

Chhota Rajan gets life for ’01 murder of Mumbai hotelier

This is Chhota Rajan’s sixth conviction and the fifth in Mumbai. Fewer than 10 cases are now pending in city courts

Rebecca.Samervel@timesgroup.com

Mumbai: Twenty-three years after hotelier Jaya Shetty was shot dead at his Nana Chowk restaurant Golden Crown for refusing to give in to multiple extortion demands, a special CBI court on Thursday convicted and sentenced 67-year-old deported gangster Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje alias Chhota Rajan to life imprisonment for the murder.

Rajan, who was accused of being the head of the syndicate that orchestrated the crime and ordering the hit, is already serving a life sentence in the 2011 murder of journalist J Dey. He was produced for Thursday’s hearing via videoconferencing from Tihar jail, where he has been lodged for security reasons since his deportation.

This is Rajan’s sixth conviction and the fifth in Mumbai. The 2001 murder was among the 71 cases that were transferred to CBI after he was deported from Bali in 2015. Fewer than 10 cases are now pending in city courts.

Special judge A M Patil found Rajan guilty of criminal conspiracy to commit murder under IPC and of committing an organised crime that resulted in death, conspiring the commission of an organised crime, and membership in an organised crime syndicate under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). For each of the four offences, Rajan was sentenced to life imprisonment. He was also fined Rs 16 lakh.

Shetty’s oldest son, among the 32 witnesses examined by special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat, had said in court that his father had received extortion calls in 1999 by a Rajan aide and one such demand was for Rs 50 lakh. He said his father was given police protection that year and had also written letters to police and the anti-extortion cell about the harassment. In his deposition in 2021, Shetty’s younger son had said: “Chhota Rajan murdered him.” Another witness was Santosh Shetty, an alleged gangster deported from Bangkok. He was given a clean chit in some cases.

Gharat said shooter Ajay Mohite was caught at the spot, faced trial and was convicted. “They (Mohite and another accused who later died) had confessed that they were working for Chhota Rajan. Besides, there are extortion calls from Rajan to the victim. He had threatened to kill Shetty and his family in the event of failing to pay the extortion money. All these aspects were relied upon by the prosecution. Shetty’s two sons gave strong testimony against Rajan,” he said.

Rajan is the second accused to be handed a life term in the case; Mohite was the first in a separate trial in 2004.

Doc swapped Porsche teen’s blood with woman’s sample, says cop

Steffy Thevar & Gitesh Shelke TNN

Pune: Former casualty medical officer at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital Dr Shrihari Halnor collected blood from a woman and two senior citizens to swap them with those of the 17-year-old Porsche Taycan driver’s samples, a three member committee of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research has found.

“Dr Halnor swapped the sample on the instructions of Dr Ajay Taware on May 19 when police officers took the teen to the hospital for checkup. As per the DMER report (police are yet to receive copies officially), the blood sample which is at the hospital and labelled with the teen’s name belonged to a woman,” a crime branch officer told TOI. Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the cops would look for the woman.

ACP Sunil Tambe on Thursday told a special court that the syringe used to take the minor driver’s blood sample was not thrown into a dustbin but was given to some other person. Also, he said, the swap was done at a place where there were no CCTV cameras. Taware has been arrested along with Dr Halnor and another staffer. All three have been suspended.

The DMER committee, headed by Dr Pallavi Saaple, has in its report said that Dr Halnor did not follow protocols “mandated during a medico-legal case as per the hospital administration manual”.

Even though the teen’s mother is not a suspect in this matter, cops are trying to contact her. As per the crime branch officer, she left her bungalow three to four days ago.

Ex-HoD struck `3L deal for swap: Mantri

Maharashtra medical education minister Hasan Mushrif alleged Thursday that Dr Ajay Taware — former head of forensics dept at Sassoon Hospital and an accused in a scheme to swap the blood alcohol sample of the teenager involved in the crash — had struck a “deal” of Rs 3 lakh with the boy’s father, a prominent builder, reports Anurag Bende. According to police probe, Taware was on a long leave when the minor’s blood sample was to be collected, but he got involved in the alleged irregularities for financial gain.

“He received a call and a deal of Rs 3 lakh was finalised, after which he contacted Halnor to change the sample,” Mushrif alleged.

After benefitting from quota, Muslims fear this window of hope may shut

Introduced By YSR, It Has Brought About Transformative Change

Sudipta.Sengupta@timesgroup.com

Somejourneys are planned and a few happen, paved with opportunities that drive transformation.

Munsif’s* began in 2009, and it wasn’t just about travelling the 300-odd km between the fields of Asifabad and the classrooms of Osmania University in Hyderabad.

Born to farmer parents, he is the first from his family to go where he has, with three higher-education degrees and a job that pays him more a month than his kin combined would have ever hoped to earn.

This first-generation learner acknowledges that he might have been tilling a patch of land with his siblings had the seed of change not been sown through an administrative decision.

In 2007, after debate and deliberation, the then Y S Rajasekhar Reddy-led govt of undivided Andhra Pradesh declared a 4% quota for 14 eco- nomically backward sections of Muslim community in educational institutions and jobs.

Depending on which side one is in, the decision remains a hot-button topic. But Munsif and scores of others like him who grabbed that opportunity can’t help but wonder where they would have been without the benefit of reservation.

“It worries me that the current political discourse centres on reservation. I have no qualms about admitting to being a beneficiary of the quota system, but I don’t want to become a target of any political group,” says the 34-year-old with a PhD in economics.

A decade after the reservation tweak , the K Chandrasekhar Rao-led BRS govt in Telangana proposed to raise the quota to 12%. The Centre refused.

It is estimated that over 20 lakh Muslim students have benefited from the BC-E quota in the state to date, earning degrees in engineering, med- icine, pharmacy, and business administration, among other fields.

Amer* is one among them. Just over a decade ago, his autorickshaw driver father would struggle to put food on the table. Life changed for the better after Amer completed his master’s in pharmaceutical sciences. “I have a job in a pharmaceutical company that pays me well,” says the 30-year-old, who lives and works in Secunderabad.

When the going was tough, he would take up odd jobs — even drive an auto, like his father — to supplement the family income. His engineer brother, who is employed with a large tech company in Hyderabad’s IT corridor, would do the same. “Yes, I am a beneficiary of the quota system. But I am scared to admit it these days,” says Amer.

He had initially invited TOI to his house for a chat, only to change the plan at the last minute.

Similar success stories resonate across AP and Telangana. Mohammed Shabbir Ali’s book, The Struggle, narrates dozens of accounts of Muslim girls and boys who embraced transformative change. Some who would probably have ended up as dhobis and tea stall “chhotus” now don doctor’s scrubs or a lawyer’s coat.

“Apart from bringing education to every home, reservation has served a larger purpose — reducing instances of unemployed youth being drawn into crime and girls getting married before even completing school,” says Shabbir Ali, who witnessed the reservation debate through the 1990s.

“Yes, they are hesitant to speak up today as they are scared of this window of hope being shut on their faces. I pray that those opposing reservations understand that this is not based on religion but to rectify the denial of opportunities. Withdrawing it will send lakhs of young people back into their dark past,” he added.

*Names changed to protect identities

QUOTA ARITHMETIC

➤ Muslims in Telangana account for around 10% of the state’s population of 6 crore

➤The 4% quota for 14 backward sections of the Muslim community in educational institutions and govt jobs was rolled out in 2007

➤ Muslim groups excluded from the quota are Syed, Saiyed, Sayyad, Mushaik, Mughal, Moghal, Pathan, Irani, Arab, Bohra, Shia Imami Ismaili, Khoja, Kutchi Memon, Jamayat and Navayat

➤ It is estimated that to date, over 20 lakh Muslim students have benefitted from this quota, earning degrees in engineering, medicine, pharmacology and business administration, among others

Monsoon arrives early, and simultaneously in Kerala, N-E

Vishwa.Mohan@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Marking the beginning of the four-month rainy season in the country, IMD on Thursday announced the arrival of monsoon simultaneously over Kerala and most parts of northeast India including Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Arunachal Pradesh and most parts of Tripura, Meghalaya and Assam.

While monsoon showers hit Kerala two days ahead of the normal date of onset on June 1, it has set in over northeast India six days before the normal date of June 5.

The monsoon’s arrival over Kerala and northeast simultaneously is not very common. The last time it happened was seven years ago on May 30, 2017 triggered by Cyclone Mora that formed over Bay of Bengal. This time, Cyclone Remal was the trigger.

The monsoon covers the entire country by July 8. It normally arrives in DelhiNCR in the last week of June.

As per IMD’s forecast, monsoon rainfall during the June-Sept season is most likely to be ‘above normal’.

The monsoon has also ad- vanced into most parts of Lakshadweep area, most part of south Arabian sea and some parts of central Arabian sea and some parts of south Tamil Nadu.

IAF Rafales to take part in 4-nation drill in US

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Eight Indian Rafale fighter jets, along with two IL-78 air-to-air refueller and three C-17 GlobemasterIII strategic airlift aircraft, are now set to soar high in the top-notch multi-nation ‘Red Flag’ exercise in Alaska in the United States.

The IAF aircraft undertook a transatlantic flight, with staging halts at Greece and Portugal, to touch down at the Eielson USAF Base in Alaska on Thursday. “Exercise Red Flag is a two-week advanced aerial combat training exercise, aimed at integrating aircrew in a multinational environment,” an IAF officer said.

The IAF has taken part in the Red Flag exercise, which is considered to be the most realistic air combat exercise with fighter pilots honing their skills with thousands of targets, realistic threat systems and an opposing enemy force, two times in the past.

Over 100 aircraft from four nations, along with around 3,100 personnel to fly, operate and maintain them, will take part in this edition of the Red Flag exercise from June 1 to June 14.

The IAF has been regularly participating in air combat exercises with other countries. These include multi-nation exercises like the ‘Iniochos’ in Greece, the ‘Orion’ in France, ‘Blue Flag’ in Israel, ‘Pitch Black’ in Australia, and ‘Desert Flag’ in the UAE.

Maha tourist killed in paragliding accident

Kullu: A 57-year-old tourist from Maharashtra’s Thane fell to his death while paragliding in Raison village in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district on Thursday.

Gautam — part of a tourist group on a paragliding expedition — and his pilot fell down during takeoff. They were rushed to Kullu civil hospital, where Gautam was declared dead, police said. The pilot is out of danger.

District administration is probing the accident and whether the pilot had a valid licence. Earlier in Feb, a 26-year-old woman from Telangana died after falling on a house after her paragliding harness broke mid-air in Dobhi village near Manali, prompting the administration to halt the sports.

On Dec 24, 2022, a 30-year-old tourist from Maharashtra died under similar circumstances in Dobhi. Before that, a 20-year-old touristand his pilot died in a paragliding crash inDobhi.

TNN

In Bihar, 5 of 9 heatwave victims were poll officers

 Continued from P 1

The Odisha deaths, all at Rourkela Govt Hospital, occurred between 1.30 pm and 8.40 pm on Thursday. The age group of the deceased men was 23 to 70 years, while the six dead women were aged between 30 and 69 years.

“Of the 10 patients, eight were received dead and two died during treatment. They are suspected to have died of heatstroke,” said RGH director Ganesh Prasad Das. Postmortems are to be conducted Friday.

In Bihar, where the maximum temperature was 47.1°C on Thursday, five of the dead were polling officers. While four deaths were reported from Bhojpur, one person each died in Buxar, Rohtas, Arwal, Begusarai, and Patna, officials said.

Bhojpur DM Mahendra Kumar said three polling personnel — Sanjay Kumar, Rajesh Ram, and Mohammed Yasin — and a home guard jawan, Hem Narayan Singh, died due to heatstrokes in Bhojpur. “Despite having medical facilities at all centres, they collapsed. One home guard became unconscious at where he was staying. He was referred to Sadar Hospital but, unfortunately, he died,” Kumar told TOI.

In Arwal, Arunachal Pradesh police constable Nikki Ahuja died due to heat-related issues. In Patna, a polling official, Sanjay Kishore Sharan, died of a suspected heatstroke.

One polling officer died, and four fainted due to heatstrokes in Buxar district. All were on election duty. Sub-inspector Devnath Ram, of Bhojpur district, died of heatstroke in Dehri, Rohtas district.

In Daltonganj, Jharkhand, the civil surgeon of Palamu, Dr Anil Kumar, said on Thursday that three people, including a minor had died due to the heatwave and related illness.

Special aircraft ferried gold from UK back to India

 Continued from P 1

While RBI bought 200 tonnes of gold from the International Monetary Fund around 15 years ago, over the last few years, a steady build up in stocks has taken place through purchases by the Indian central bank.

“It shows the strength of the economy and the confidence, which is in sharp contrast to the situation in 1991,” said a source.

But getting 100 tonnes of gold, which is almost a fourth of the stock in the country at the end of March, was a massive logistical exercise, requiring months of planning and precise execution. It involved close coordination between the finance ministry, RBI and several other wings of govt, including local authorities.

To begin with, RBI got a customs duty exemption to ship the metal into the country with the Centre “foregoing revenue” on what is a sovereign asset. But there was no exemption from integrated GST, which is levied on imports, as the tax is shared with the states.

It also took a special aircraft to fly the large quantities of gold with detailed security arrangements put in place. The move will also help RBI save on some of the storage cost, which is paid to Bank of England, although the amount is not significant.

Within the country, gold is held in vaults in RBI’s old office building on Mumbai’s Mint Road as well as Nagpur.

6 more killed, toll from N-E floods & landslides hits 45

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Guwahati/Aizawl/Shillong: Floods and landslides triggered by continuous rain from Cyclone Remal’s impact and the onset of monsoon claimed six more lives Thursday in the North-East, increasing the death toll to 45 across the region.

In Meghalaya’s East Khasi Hills district, four people are feared dead due to a landslide, with one body found so far. One more body was retrieved from rubbles of a landslide in Mizoram, bringing the total confirmed deaths to 28 in the state.

In Assam, floods claimed three lives, affecting over 1.98 lakh people across nine districts, with over 35,000 people seeking shelter in camps. In Manipur, floods inundated several areas, including the CM’s residence and Raj Bhavan in Imphal.

6 of 22 victims of Jammu bus accident are from Hathras, 9 from Aligarh

 Continued from P 1

Of the 15 deceased identified till late evening, six were from UP’s Hathras and nine from Aligarh. Police are trying to ascertain identities of re- maining seven. LG Manoj Sinha has announced ex gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured. PM Narendra Modi has also announced Rs 2 lakh to kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

The Jammu and Hathras administration have set up helplines for queries and assistance: DM office 9622699666, 9419160547; SP office 9419172197, 9419194102, 9596869639; medical 9419190500, 9419190493; and 05722227041, 05722227042.

China’s J-20s at Tibet base for high-altitude trial?

IAF has a squadron (18 jets) of its latest French-origin Rafale omni-role jets deployed at the Hasimara air base in Bengal

 Continued from P 1

Multiple (satellite) images collected over the course of the same day indicate these aircraft (J-20s) arrived at the air base on May 27 preceded by the arrival of a Y-20 transport aircraft for probable deployment of ground crew and support equipment,” said All Source Analysis, which looks at geospatial intelligence, in a post on X.

A senior Indian defence official told TOI that J-20 fighters “are probably at Shigatse for high-altitude trials”. PLAAF has been regularly deploying J-20s at its airfields in the western sector like Hot an airfield in Xinjiang, which is around 240-km from the LAC, since the military confrontation erupted in eastern Ladakh in May 2020, as was earlier reported by TOI.

Apart from Sukhoi-30MKI fighters based at Hasimara, Chabua and Tezpur in the eastern sector, IAF has a squadron (18 jets) of its latest French-origin Rafale omni-role jets deployed at the Hasimara air base in Bengal, with the other one at Ambala for the western front with Pakistan.

China touts Chengdu J-20 as the effective answer to the world’s only fully-operational and proven fifth-generation jets like the American F/A-22 Raptors and F-35 Lightning-II Joint Strike Fighters.

TOI on April 29 had reported about how China was continuing to build border infrastructure and dual-use ‘Xiaokang’ villages, strengthen military positions and deploy additional aircraft at its air-bases facing India, in all three sectors of the 3,488-km LAC stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal.

China has now offset some of its air combat disadvantage due to high-altitude terrain constraints by deploying additional fighters, bombers, reconnaissance aircraft and drones after upgrading its airfields like Hotan, Kashgar, Gargunsa, Shigatse, Bangda, Nyingchi and Hoping, among others. China has constructed new runways, extended older ones, along with building new hardened shelters, fuel and ammunition storage facilities at these airfields.

At Hotan, for instance, PLAAF recently deployed two new JH-7A fighter-bombers and three Y-20 heavy-lift aircraft, among others, to add to the almost 50 J-11 and J-7 fighters, five Y-8 and Y-7 transport aircraft and KJ-500 AEW&C aircraft already present there.

Agnikul feat a testament to ingenuity of yuva shakti: PM

Agnikul Cosmos carries out a test-flight of its home-built 3D-printed rocket Agnibaan on Thursday. The firm has plans for an orbital mission by the end of the financial year 2024-25

Continued from P 1

Agnikul co-founder and CEO Srinath Ravichandran called it the culmination of the team’s thousands of hours of reviews and hard work. Co-founder and COO Moin SPM said the project owes its success to the unwavering support of the firm’s advisors, investors, vendors, customers and wellwishers. Unlike traditional-sounding rockets that launch from guiderails, SOrTeD lifted off vertically and followed a predetermined trajectory while performing a precisely orchestrated set of manoeuvres during flight.

Isro chief S Somanath said: “Department of space and Isro congratulate Agnikul. The success involved many firsts, including a 3Dprinted semi-cryogenic engine, flight-control systems demonstrating prowess of indigenous design and innovation. It motivates Isro to support space startups and nongovernmental entities for innovation to create a vibrant space ecosystem in the country.”

Hailing it as “a remarkable feat which will make the nation proud, PM Narendra Modi tweeted, “... a momentous occasion for India’s space sector and a testament to the remarkable ingenuity of Yuva Shakti”.

Agnikul team, consisting of over 200 engineers, is guided by 45 former Isro scientists. Satyanarayanan R Chakravarthy of IIT-Madras (IITM), Agnikul’s founding adviser, said the firm was proud to present India’s first semi-cryo rocket engine, which is also the world’s most integrated single-shot 3Dprinted piece. “It signals the ability to rapidly assemble rockets that is unparalleled.”

IITM director V Kamakoti noted the sky was no longer the limit for startups. “Very innovative, first time in the world, deep-core technology demonstrated today by Agnikul – a great inspiration for all young students to boldly take the entrepreneurship route,” Kamakoti said.

The success takes Agnikul a step closer to test-flying its flagship launch vehicle Agnibaan, a two-stage rocket designed to be highly customisable. “It is compatible with mobile launchpad Dhanush, allowing for launch flexibility regardless of location and accommodating payloads ranging from 30kg to 300kg,” Agnikul said.

The firm has plans for an orbital mission towards the end of the financial year 2024-25 and regular customer flights from 2025.

Aside from showcasing the country’s first semi-cryogenic engine-powered rocket launch and utilising the first single-piece 3D-printed engine, SOrTeD had another first — Dhanush, established at Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Isro’s spaceport in Sriharikota, on Nov 25, 2022.

Conceived and built as a product that enables the process of launching to be reliable and repeatable with consistency, Dhanush has two sections: Agnikul launch pad (ALP) and Agnikul mission control centre (AMCC). Critical systems connecting these two sections are designed to ensure 100% operationality during countdown.

IN-SPACe chairman Pawan Goenka said: “The successful launch of SOrTeD is not just a milestone for Agnikul but marks a significant moment for private players contributing to growing India’s space sector…”

Won’t decide unilaterally on PM on behalf of oppn bloc: Cong

 Continued from P 1

When asked about whether he was in the running for PM, Kharge said, “In our party, whatever decision is taken by the party we work by that. I have never asked for any post and will not ask just because I am a Dalit.”

Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal assured that “they will not take any unilateral decision on PM candidate on behalf of INDIA bloc”. On whether it would be easy to arrive at a consensus on the PM pick, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh said the slogan of the alliance is “main nahin hum, mera nahi humara (not me, we; not mine, ours)”.

On the meeting of INDIA bloc members scheduled for Saturday, Ramesh said the informal meeting was to discuss steps to be taken on counting day and on “what all we need to be alert to — from EVMs to Form 17 C”.

Agnipath benefits corporates: Rahul

Patiala: Congress’ Rahul Gandhi on Thursday reached freedom fighter Bhagat Singh’s native village, Khatkar Kalan in Punjab, where he claimed that Agnipath scheme has been launched to ensure a part of the defence budget went to Adani group and not for welfare of soldiers, reports Bharat Khanna. He said the motive behind launch of Agnipath scheme by Modi govt was to benefit the Adanis.

AAP destroying Punjab’s industry, agriculture: Modi

 Continued from P 1

You abuse Narendra Modi as much you want, but Modi will not tolerate this insult to my country’s armed forces. I am silent but you should not make any mistake in understanding Modi... Modi jis din muh kholega, tumhari saat pidhi ke paap nikaal ke rakh dega (The day Modi opens his mouth, he will bring out the sins of your seven generations), the PM said.

Accusing AAP of “destroying both agriculture and industry” in Punjab and Congress of fathering corruption in the country, Modi said he could take all the insults hurled at him by them, but not anyone making a mockery of the country and its people.

On AAP, which came to office in Punjab by ousting ally Congress, Modi said, “It took Congress 60 years to do a PhD in corruption but they (AAP) are born corrupt.” He added, “In Punjab, they are doing a drama of contesting separately, but in Delhi, they are together.”

The prime minister, who campaigned for BJP candidates Anita Som Parkash and Subhash Sharma, said the drug mafia was operating with impunity in Punjab and gang wars were escalating alongside atrocities on women.

“AAP is watching all this happen. Their chief (Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal) makes fake slogans and fake policies, and has malicious intent,” he said.

On Congress alleging that BJP will “change the Constitution” if it got a third term, Modi said the irony was that “these are the same people who strangled the Constitution during Emergency”.

“Where was the Constitution when burning tires were put around Sikhs during the 1984 riots?” Modi said Kartarpur Sahib “would have been in India had Congress not left it to Pakistan”.

He said the next BJP govt will name Adampur airport after Guru Ravidas. “When you come to see Guru Ravidas’ place (in Varanasi), you are my guest as I am the MP of that constituency.”

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Delhi Bakery: Narela Is Piping Hot At 49.2 Degrees

Avg Temp At 45.6°C; IMD Issues Yellow Alert For Today, Thunderstorms Likely In Evening

HEAT HEAT GO AWAY, LET US DANCE IN THE WATER SPRAY

Kushagra.Dixit@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi continued to face scorching temperatures with heatwave to severe heatwave conditions for the sixth consecutive day, despite a slight dip in the mercury.

Narela at 49.2 degrees Celsius in north Delhi was the hottest place in the city, while Mayur Vihar in east Delhi saw the lowest among the forties at 45.2 degrees Celsius.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is still examining the record-breaking temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius recorded at the automatic weather station in Mungeshpur on Wednesday.

"The 52.9 degrees Celsius recorded at the automatic weather station in Mungeshpur is being examined. We will soon be able to explain if it was the fault of a sensor or not," an IMD official said.

On Thursday, Mungeshpur recorded 49 degrees Celsius, as did Najafgarh in west Delhi.

The city may experience a marginal drop in the maximum temperature on Friday due to moisture-laden northwesterly winds, but discomfort is expected to increase because of rising humidity. On Thursday, Delhi saw dry and hot westerly winds.

"The city is already receiving components of the north-westerly winds, which will increase towards Friday evening. So, there are chances of a marginal drop in the maximum temperature on Friday, but discomfort will ri- se as the day will be both hot and humid. Towards the evening, there will be some relief with the possibility of quick cooling because of a thunderstorm and isolated light rain," an IMD official said.

The city's base station, Safdarjung, experienced a heatwave for the fifth consecutive day, recording a maximum temperature of 45.6 degrees Celsius, five notches below normal. The minimum temperature was 30.4 degrees Celsius, four notches below normal. On Wednesday, Safdarjung had recorded the year's highest and the station's second-highest temperature ever at 46.8 degrees Celsius.

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

On Thursday, the heat index or the feel-like temperature was 44 degrees Celsius due to dry winds. The temperatures at several places began to soar as early as 11am, with areas such as Narela already touching 46 by 11.30am.

The IMD has issued a yellow alert for heatwave for Friday, with the possibility of thunderstorms and light rain towards the evening. The maximum and minimum temperatures at Safdarjung are likely to hover around 44 and 29 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The city continued to suffer from poor air quality, with the AQI at 227 on Thursday, compared to 238 a day earlier.

Stay alert to avoid stroke of bad luck in heat

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: The death of a 40-year-old factory worker due to a heatstroke during the ongoing record-breaking heatwave in the city has prompted doctors to warn the vulnerable population, specially those working in the sun and those with pre-conditions, to exercise extreme caution.

Prof Ajay Chauhan of the internal medicine department at Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital told TOI that the worker, who was admitted to the hospital early Tuesday, had probably suffered from an “exertional” kind of heat stroke, caused by an increase in the core body temperature due to intense physical activities in hot weather. He was brought to the hospital around 2am with altered sensorium, a change in mental status or consciousness leading to a reduced or abnormal awareness of oneself and the surroundings.

“His initial temperature was 107 degrees Fahrenheit, nearly 8-10 degrees above normal. He was immediately admitted to the heat stroke unit, which was inaugurated in early May,” he said, adding that they had initiated all cooling methods. He was then put on a ventilator but died on Wednesday, the first heatstroke death reported in Delhi this summer.

Early cooling measures are very important, the doctor emphasised. He said at least six to seven patients with heat stroke symptoms had been admitted to the unit in the past week. “Four of them are still at the hospital,” he added.

A 63-year-old labourer from Seelampur was admitted to Lok Nayak Hospital on Tuesday with a severe heat stroke condition. He also had a temperature of 107 degrees Fahrenheit at the time of admission. Initially, he was placed on a ventilator, and his temperature came down after treatment, said medical director Dr Suresh Kumar. He added that two more patients were admitted with heat stroke three days ago. They have since recovered and have been discharged.

According to doctors, patients with pre-existing conditions such as cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), heart and kidney diseases are particularly vulnerable to heat stroke. Dehydration, a severe consequence of extreme heat, can be fatal for heart and kid- ney patients as it exacerbates their condition.

“Not everyone has access to a fully airconditioned environment, making lower and middle-income groups the primary sufferers of heat stroke. Even upper-class individuals with pre-existing conditions might unintentionally expose themselves to heat during activities like morning walk, strenuous exercise or spending time in non-air-con- ditioned areas,” said Dr Gaurav Jain, senior consultant of internal medicine at Dharamshila Narayana Hospital.

He added that in the past 10-12 days, the hospital had seen 8-10 patients with serious pre-existing conditions requiring ICU care. They include three patients with cancer, two with renal problems and one with heart problems. “The rest did not have severe comorbidities,” Dr Jain said.

Orange alert in Ggn as storm may offer relief

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Noida: There was no relief from the extreme heatwave on Thursday even as the maximum temperature in the city slid to 47.3 degrees Celsius from Wednesday’s 48.1 degrees, the highest-ever temperature to be recorded.

The minimum temperature was also recorded about 2.5 points above the season’s normal at 28.4 degrees. Since May 21, the city’s minimum temperature has been recorded above 30 degrees, with the exception between May 26 and 28 when the temperature was above 27 degrees.

The region has been in the grip of an unprecedented heatwave over the past six days. On Thursday, Narela, in north Delhi, was the hottest in the capital at at 49.2 degrees, while Mayur Vihar in east Delhi saw the lowest among the forties at 45.2 degrees Celsius.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) is still examining the record-breaking temperature of 52.9 degrees Celsius recorded at the auto- matic weather station in Mungeshpur on Wednesday.

"The 52.9 degrees Celsius recorded at the automatic weather station in Mungeshpur is being examined. We will soon be able to explain if it was the fault of a sensor or not," an IMD official said.

On Thursday, Mungeshpur recorded 49 degrees Celsius, as did Najafgarh in west Delhi.

Ghaziabad, meanwhile, recorded 44.7 degrees Celsius, almost the same as yesterday’s 44.8 degrees. In Gurgaon, the maximum temperature was 46.5 degrees, which was 4.4 degrees above normal.

The IMD, meanwhile, said the heatwave conditions are expected to reduce gradually from Thursday which coincides with the onset of southwest monsoon in Kerala and parts of northeast India.

The record-high temperatures have increased heat stroke cases. On Thursday, Delhi reported its first official death due to the extreme heat conditions — a 40-year-old man from Bihar's Darbhanga succumbing to heat stroke.

Heat action plan promises succour, but remains on paper as city sweats

Priyangi.Agarwal@timesgroup.com

HEAT IS ON

New Delhi: Delhi’s first heat action plan was issued in April this year. The plan proposed that different departments should ensure availability of shade, drinking water, ORS packets etc., at bus and auto stands, proper shade for traffic police, using nonfunctional schools as shelters and altering the timing of outdoor workers to minimise exposure to intense heat.

However, experts said when Delhi is experiencing temperatures of around 50 degrees Celsius, the heat action plan has not been properly implemented. They said the plan should have a dedicated budget, specific and time-bound targets to establish cooling centres and provide essential services to vulnerable communities.

An officialsaid, “A heat action plan was issued in April with advisories to different departments on roles and responsibilities for them. These departments will have to imp- lement the measures suggested in the plan depending on its feasibility. Every department has a budget which can be used for implementating the plan.” The official added, “This plan has been prepared for the first time in Delhi. We have a base document now, and it can be improvised in the future.”

Aditya Valiathan Pillai, fellow at Sustainable Futures Collaborative at Centre for Policy Research (CPR), said: “It is not a financial document as no budget has been allocated. Since there has been no dedicated financing, some measures may not be implemented by the departments. Many such plans across the country are facing issues as there is no proper budgetary provision.”

He added, “The heat action plan is a guidance docu- ment. However, it needs to be financed and monitored to ensure effective implementation. The plan also needs to be notified under some act or law so that it has more weight and measures recommended are implemented properly.”

Avinash Chanchal, campaign manager for Greenpeace India, said it was unfortunate to see that the heat action plan getting reduced to being a mere guiding document. “To make the plan more accountable, it is necessary to provide it with adequate funds and make it legally accountable. The plan should have specific, and time-bound targets to establish cooling centres, ward-level healthcare facilities and essential services for communities. The plan should prioritise outdoor workers and pay attention to their needs, including reducing working hours during peak heat, providing absence allowance, and ensuring accessible basic public goods like electricity and water facilities,” Chanchal said.

“It is good to see that the plan recognises the vulnerability of slum dwellers, outdoor workers, women and senior citizens to heatwaves. However, there is a requirement to have more comprehensive vulnerability assessments at the ward level and specific recommendations for the most vulnerable communities,” he added.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director for research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), said: “This plan is largely focused on emergency responses during heatwaves to protect people from exposures and enable access to health care, which is important. But the longer-term measures suggested need sector-wise deepening for time-bound improvement in infrastructure, buildings, material, urban design, planned augmentation in greening to reduce the thermal load on the city. This needs department-wise monitoring, data tracking, and reporting mechanism to ensure performance and compliance.”

As Crisis Deepens, Atishi Says May Move SC For More Water

Announces Setting Up Of Control Room, Quick Response Teams

According to Delhi govt, the main cause of the current water problem is Haryana not releasing raw water from the Yamuna to Delhi

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi govt has unveiled a new strategy to tackle the worsening water crisis. On Thursday, water minister Atishi announced the establishment of a central water tanker control room and the formation of quick response teams in each of the 11 Delhi Jal Board zones to address water-related emergencies.

Delhi Pollution Control Committee will deploy teams to see that water is not misused at car washing facilities, while the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will send its teams to monitor construction sites, announced Atishi. Earlier, Delhi Jal Board had deployed enforcement teams to see that water was not wasted on washing cars and in other such ways.

Atishi also indicated that the state govt might approach the Supreme Court to demand 50 million gallons per day (MGD) of water from the neighbouring states of Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. According to Delhi govt, the main cause of the current water problem is Haryana not releasing raw water from the Yamuna to Delhi. The capital is mainly dependent on Yamuna water for its needs. The raw water flows to Wazirabad, from where it is channelled to the three water treatment plants at Wazirabad, Chandrawal and Okhla.

“Wherever there is a shortage of water supply, we are sending water tankers to such areas,” claimed Atishi. “We are now setting up a cen- tral water tanker war room. Any Delhi resident who wants a water tanker should dial 1916. Water tankers will be sent to places from where citizens report a shortage of water supply.”

These decisions were taken in a review meeting between the minister and govt officials. Urban development minister Saurabh Bharadwaj, who was present, alleged that while Delhi was grappling with a severe heatwave, the CEO of DJB, Anbarasu, had gone on leave “without informing the ministers and without taking the- ir permission”.

From June 5, after the results of the general elections are declared, senior officers from the district magistrate offices will be stationed in all the 11 zones. “These offi- cers will form a quick response team. Wherever there are shortage hotspots, these ADMSDM and tehsildar teams will be available to direct tankers to resolve the water problem,” Atishi said.

The minister claimed that data from the last several years showed that on May 30 every year, the water in the Wazirabad pond was at a level of 673.8-674.5 feet. “But today, it had fallen to 670.3 ft, due to which the three water treatment plants have been affected,” said Atishi. She visited the Wazirabad treatment plant on Thursday to assess the situation.

Water scarcity has hit many parts of the city in the past few days. This has led to these steps being adopted in addition to water rationing — supply once a day rather than twice. While there was no official summer bulletin released by DJB, sources said the total water production increased to around 990 MGD on Thursday from 976 MGD a day earlier.

Project Empathy In Peak Summer: Construction Sites Come Up Short

Little To No Relief For Workers At Pvt Locations; Govt Projects Fare Slightly Better

Ridhima Gupta & Siddhanta Mishra TNN

New Delhi: At Delhi Metro’s Barapullah Phase 3 construction site, Utpal rested under the flyover there after lunch. “We have access to cold drinking water and the work thankfully starts after 3pm in summers because it would be difficult to work right after lunch around noon,” he said. “The only problem is there is n o shade where we can sit till work begins.” Around him, several other workers were lying on concrete slabs with temporary arrangements made to keep the sun’s rays at bay.

The sun has been relentless this season. But the construction workers have to bear the oppressive heat even if lieutenant governor VK Saxena directed on Wednesday that these workers should be given a three-hour break from noon to 3pm and adequate access to drinking water, cold drinks and shade.

On Thursday, a TOI team visited sites where govt projects are under way to assess the ground reality. The trips to Chand Bagh, Nand Nagri, Barapullah Phase 3, Delhi-Dehradun expressway at Akshardham and the Central Vista project on Man Singh Road showed that the special amenities for workers weren’t fully in place yet at most sites. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation and National Capital Region Transport Corporation officials, however, claimed they had arranged drinking water and cool drinks for their workers.

At Sarai Kale Khan, Komal said that drinking water was available in the project in-charge's room, but they weren’t neither getting coconut water nor had arrangements been made for shade as directed by the LG. Sarai Kale Khan is a major hub of construction where the underconstruction RRTS station will converge with Delhi Metro, railway and bus terminals. “We do not work outdo- ors during noon-3pm, but indoor work can be done. So after lunch, we do things like wiring,” said Komal, a migrant worker from Agra.

There were no structures meant to provide shade at the metro construction site at Khajuri Khas in Chand Bagh either. The workers were depending on the makeshift shelters, lukewarm water and the post-lunch pause for respite from the blazing sun.

Many workers in bright orange vests and yellow caps could be seen working. At Majlis Park in Azadpur too, where a flyover is being built, the workers were seen taking a rest on cement slabs.

Things were different at the Central Vista project in the NDMC area “We g et a cold drink almost daily, sometimes Rooh Afza, sometimes lemonade,” said Pradeep Kumar, a migrant labourer from Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh. “We are glad we don’t have to be toiling when the heat is at its peak after 12pm.” However, nothing had been done to ensure shade for the workers on the project site.

Meanwhile, asked if the workers were being provided cool drinks and the three-hour heat break, a DMRC official responded, “We have implemented the provision of providing breaks to the workforce during the afternoons due to the ongoing heatwave. Other necessary provisions such as drinking water and medical facilities have also been made available at all our sites. We are ensuring that the workforce is not exposed to excessive heat. All project managers have been instructed to monitor strict adherence to these instructions by the contractors.”

An NCRTC official similarly claimed that all directives are being complied with at the RRTS construction sites. "Our workers take a break from noon to 3pm. At Sarai Kale Khan, the station is at an advanced stage and the roof is already in place. Most workers take shelter under this roof. Lemon water, ORS and glucose are being provided to the workers," the official said.

At the private construction sites, none of the directives seemed to have been implemented. Near Nirankari Ground in north Delhi’s Burari, Bhup Singh, a native of Bareilly, UP, said he could “only dream” of getting three hours of paid rest. On a water break, the 22-year-old worker said, “We get an hourlong lunch break. Isse zyada kya milega? The only way to cope with the sun is to cover our heads and drink a lot of water. On our elders’ advice, we are eating onions to survive the heat.”

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

A unique sports drama about dreams and self-discovery

Mr & Mrs Mahi (Sports, Drama) ★★★½

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Janhvi Kapoor, Kumud Mishra, Zarina Wahab

Direction: Sharan Sharma

Duration: 2 hours 19 minutes

Language: Hindi (U)

■ An average and failed cricketer coaches his talented wife to qualify for the national team. During this journey, the husband-wife duo learns about individuality, chasing dreams, and defeating insecurities.

Sports dramas usually paint the same picture: athletes overcoming odds with their grit and pushing their limits to achieve glory. Director Sharan Sharma takes a refreshing detour in his romantic sports drama, exploring how self-doubt and insecurity can sabotage not only relationships but also dreams.

Sharma, alongside co-writer Nikhil Mehrotra, weaves this message through the story of a failed cricketer, Mahendra ‘Mahi’ Agarwal (Rajkummar Rao), and his doctor wife, Mahima ‘Mahi’ Agarwal (Janhvi Kapoor) — giving the movie its delightful title, which is also a nod to cricketer M S Dhoni. Mahendra, trapped working at his father’s (Kumud Mishra) sports shop, harbours a dream of cricketing glory. Mahima, meanwhile, navigates a demanding senior doctor who bullies and belittles her. Both find solace in their shared passion (cricket) and become each other’s support system.

When Mahendra’s comeback attempt fails, he recognises his wife’s raw talent and becomes her coach, propelling her towards a professional career. However, grappling with insecurity and jealousy, he struggles to be the supportive pillar. The film hinges on whether they can overcome these differences and emerge stronger or return to their old lives.

The movie’s strength lies in its narrative, which builds on a unique premise. It effectively captures the awkwardness of a newly married couple, the training, the matches, and the rift in their relationship. However, the movie has pacing issues, especially in the second half when Mahendra’s internal conflict takes centre stage. Additionally, the supersupportive Mahendra reacting poorly to Mahima’s progress after just one instance feels rushed and unconvincing.

Rajkummar Rao delivers a nuanced portrayal as a suppressed son, the supportive husband, and a man desperately seeking his own validation. His frustration exploding on Mahima and his eventual understanding of true success are particularly impactful scenes. Janhvi Kapoor shines as the initially underconfident Mahima, who finds her identity and pursues her own dreams. Both actors lend authenticity to their characters’ journeys. Kumud Mishra, Zarina Wahab, and Rajesh Kumar provide able support as well.

Mr & Mrs Mahi also celebrates the unsung heroes — the coaches, the spouses — who stand silently behind those who achieve glory. Ultimately, the film beautifully depicts the idea that true victory lies in finding fulfillment within yourself, not in the eyes of others. This tale with a heart is for everyone, and you will come out learning valuable lessons. — Dhaval Roy

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

Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan: (Fantasy, Action) ★★½

Cast: Anupam Kher, Yagya Bhasin, Kabir Sajid, Sumit Keshri, Makrand Deshpande, Navneet Kaur Dhillon

Direction: Rajiv Chilaka

Duration: 2 hours 25 minutes

Language: Hindi (U)

■ Bheem (Yagya Bhasin) and his friends travel back 1,000 years to a magical city, Sonapur, to stop a demon Damyaan (Sumit Keshri) from achieving immortality and turning every living person into a snake.

Toddlers’ favourite cartoon character, Chhota Bheem, is on an adventure with his friends from Dholakpur in this liveaction outing. The film captures the show’s spirit with humour provided by Kalia (Kabir Sajid) and his gang, along with showdowns against fantastical creatures.

While the narrative aims for a grand adventure, some elements (like the fantastical worlds) and effects are gimmicky and feel over-the-top. The story tackles familiar territory with time travel and a battle against a demon. However, stuffing the action sequences overshadows the story.

The plot is about a demon Damyaan, who needs a pure and selfless warrior to open the crypt he is imprisoned in. His aides, Takshika (Navneet Kaur Dhillon) and Skandi (Makrand Deshpande), infiltrate Dholakpur, fool Raja Indraverma (Sanjay Bishnoi), and take Bheem and his friends to the buried city, Sonapur, to bring their plan to fruition. This is where the story could have ended, but writers Shridisha Dilip and Niraj Vikram take it 1,000 years back in time, making the narrative convoluted and long-winding. Songs set the pace back and add to the movie’s length, too.

Yagya Bhasin as Bheem is passable, though he performs the stunts well. Kabir Sajid as Kalia, Divyam Dawar and Daivik Dawar as his stooges Dholu-Bholu, and Advik Jaiswal as Raju perform well and provide a few chuckles. While Navneet Kaur Dhillon is average, Makrand Deshpande and Anupam Kher provide ample support.

Toddlers and young children may love seeing Bheem’s classic encounters with Kalia and his gang, along with the exciting fights against monsters. But the length won’t hold their attention in entirety and the movie may not appeal to older kids and adults. — Dhaval Roy

The Strangers: Chapter 1 (Horror) ★★½

Cast: Madelaine Petsch, Ryan Bown, Matus Lajcak

Direction: Renny Harlin

Duration: 1 hour 31 minutes

Language: English (A)

■ A quiet evening turns into a nightmare for a young couple when three masked assailants assault them in a remote cabin.

The latest instalment in the franchise, The Strangers: Chapter 1, embarks on an ambitious journey as the first of a new trilogy. Directed by Renny Harlin, known for action hits like Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger this film intends to rekindle the eerie atmosphere of the 2008 original while setting the stage for its sequels. The setup is reminiscent of the original movie, emphasising isolation and the randomness of violence. It follows lovebirds Maya (Madelaine Petsch) and Ryan (Froy Gutierrez) on a cross-country road trip. Their journey turns sinister when their car breaks down in a small town, forcing them to spend the night at a secluded Airbnb. Here, they become the prey of three masked killers—Scarecrow, Dollface, and Pin-Up Girl— who terrorise them with increasing brutality.

While Chapter 1 mirrors the original’s premise, it fails to capture the same tension and suspense. Though competent in crafting individual moments of horror, Harlin’s direction often feels disjointed. The initial buildup, involving encounters with creepy locals and the ominous cabin, is overly prolonged, diluting the sense of imminent danger that made the original so gripping. The film’s pacing is a significant issue. Much of the runtime is spent on repetitive and predictable scares, with the masked antagonists engaging in tepid harassment tactics before escalating to more violent encounters. This repetition, combined with a lacklustre script, leads to a drawn-out narrative that struggles to maintain interest. Petsch and Gutierrez deliver adequate performances, but their characters lack depth and chemistry. Their relationship feels underdeveloped, which undermines the emotional stakes of their ordeal. This deficiency is due to the script, which opts for cliched character traits over genuine development. Ryan’s hot-headedness and Maya’s vegetarianism are played for stereotypical contrast rather than adding meaningful layers to their personalities. True to horror tropes – they make a series of questionable choices.

Occasionally, Harlin utilises the remote setting to create an unsettling atmosphere, such as a tense shower sequence and a claustrophobic crawlspace confrontation. However, these are sparse and often overshadowed by the film’s reliance on familiar horror tropes and predictable jump scares. The Strangers: Chapter 1 ultimately feels like an overstretched introduction, lacking the originality and intensity of its predecessor. The film dilutes the primal fear that made the original a cult classic by attempting to extend a simple story into a trilogy. While it holds some promise for future instalments, this first chapter leaves much to be desired, struggling to justify its place. For fans of the original, Chapter 1 may offer some nostalgic value, but it largely comes across as a redundant exercise.— Neil Soans

RATING SCALE

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

Hottest May in 11 years, days & nights warmer than usual

HEAT IS ON

Priyangi.Agarwal@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi experienced its hottest May in 11 years with both days and nights warmer than usual.

The average maximum temperature at Safdarjung, which is the city’s base station, in May was recorded at 41.4 degrees Celsius, making it the highest temperature reported in 11 years. It was 1.5 degrees higher than the normal maximum for May, which is 39.9 degrees Celsius. A higher mean day temperature than 2024 was seen in May 2013 at 41.5 degrees Celsius.

Similarly, the mean minimum temperature in May 2024 (till May 30) was 26.4 degrees Celsius. It was the highest since May 2016 when it was 26.8 degrees Celsius. The normal minimum temperature for May was 25.8 degrees Celsius.

Since the city got just 0.4 mm rainfall so far this May, the month is likely to end with a rain deficit of 99%. It was the driest May since 2013, when just ‘trace’ rainfall was recorded.

When both days and nights are warmer, there is not much respite from the blistering heat early during the day or evening. Met officials said that due to the warmer nights, days become hotter as the surface heats up more.

“This May, the difference between day and night temperatures was only 12-15 degrees Celsius. However, if the variation between day and night temperatures is around 20 degrees Celsius or more, the nights become comfortable,” Kuldeep Srivastava, scientist and head of the Regional Weather Forecasting Centre at IMD, said.

“Strong easterly winds prevailed in the city on some days, which also prevented the minimum temperature from dipping. It caused minimum temperatures to stay around 29-30 degrees Celsius for seven days,” Srivastava said.

India Meteorological Department’s data shows that Safdarjung saw five consecutive heatwave days, while some stations in Delhi saw heatwaves for over 10 days.

Even the maximum temperature has been above 40 degrees Celsius continuously since May 14. The day temperature had also surpassed 40 degrees Celsius on many days in the first week of May.

“Dry and warm winds from Rajasthan and southern Haryana, which are witnessing high mercury levels, caused a spike in temperatures in Delhi on most days. Since rain eluded the city, clear skies led to the heating of the surface,” said a Met official.

One western disturbance has impacted Delhi in May so far, which led to very light rainfall on May 11. “However, three to four western disturbances typically impact the plains in May. Though the IMD has predicted very light rain or a drizzle on May 31 and June 1, no intense rain is expected as the western disturbance is likely to be feeble,” said an official.

BJP blames ‘corruption’ in Delhi govt for water crisis

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva on Thursday alleged that the people of the city were suffering from a water crisis due to the corrupt AAP govt.

He said that water was being wasted and stolen, and Delhi govt had completely failed a t stopping the wastage and theft. “Shamefully, they have imposed a fine of Rs 2000,” he said.

“Water minister Atishi is claiming that Haryana govt is not providing them with water, but she is hiding the truth,” Sachdeva said. “Just a few days ago, officials from Delhi govt's flood department and Jal Board went to Hathini Kund Barrage, where officials from Haryana govt were also present,” he said. “After checking the system set up to measure the water, officials from the flood department and Jal Board returned satisfied because Haryana govt is supplying more water to Delhi than promised,” he said.

Sachdeva said according to an agreement, Haryana is supposed to provide 719 cusecs of water to Delhi, but it is providing 1,049 cusecs daily. “Now the question arises, what is the reason for water cuts in Delhi when it is receiving more water than promised?” he asked. The Delhi BJP president alleged that Kejriwal govt was encouraging the tanker mafia, and the number of tankers supplying water in Delhi was increasing, but the number only existed on paper.

Delhi govt did not respond to BJP’s allegations. On Thursday, Delhi BJP workers of Delhi BJP held a protest outside the residence of water minister Atishi on Thursday, holding earthen pots in their hands.

Delhi BJP women's wing head Richa Pandey Mishra said: “Today, women within Delhi are forced to leave their homes even in the heat only due to the water crisis, so Delhi govt should think about what arrangements they have made regarding water in this heat.”

Mishra said Kejriwal’s govt had promised free and clean water to the people of Delhi, but even potable water is not being provided on time.

Four cops held for extorting `8L from liquor smugglers

New Delhi: Four policemen have been arrested for allegedly extorting Rs 8 lakh from three people transporting illicit liquor in south Delhi’s Vasant Kunj.

After receiving a PCR call regarding a physical assault and extortion, a police team rushed to the spot. Caller Sukh Karan reported the assault by four policemen, including constable and head constable, a police source said.

An inquiry revealed that three men were intercepted based on information that they were smuggling illicit liquor from Haryana. "Upon checking, the cops found illicit liquor. They demanded Rs 10 lakh from them to let them go. The caller also claimed to have paid Rs 8 lakh," the source added.

The inquiry conducted by senior officers confirmed the allegations. The four cops, who were posted in the narcotics unit, were arrested and sent to judicial custody.

TNN

Focus On Civic Amenities In Unauthorised Areas: LG

Says Two-Year Stint Has Been ‘Challenging But Gratifying’

Abhinav.Rajput@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: As lieutenant governor VK Saxena marked his second year in office, Raj Niwas announced that the administration's top priority would be to provide essential civic amenities, including roads, drainage, sewerage, clean drinking water and sanitation to all unauthorised colonies in the city, where it is estimated that over 30% of Delhi lives.

Govt records put the number of unauthorised colonies at 1,797, of which 1,731 have been identified for regulations and development, the remaining 66 being deemed affluent pockets.

Alongside, Raj Niwas will also focus on rehabilitation of households in the 675 officially recognised jhuggi clusters.

Saxena, who completed two years in office on Sunday, said his tenure has been challenging but gratifying. “In a city regressing due to various reasons, while we could achieve much visibly, there was much more that got stalled. There is far more that needs to be addressed and healed. I look forward and thank the people of Delhi from the bottom of my heart for their love, affection and support," Saxena posted on X.

To mark the occasion, Raj Niwas shared highlights of Saxena’s two years, which included the successful implementation of G20 and projects for which saw installation of over 100 sculptures across the city. The LG’s office claimed that Sardar Patel Marg, Mathura Road, entire New Delhi area, Delhi Gate, ITO and Rajghat were transformed under Saxena’s supervision.

Indira Gandhi International Airport, plagued by chronic flooding during the monsoon by a lack of drainage, had its trunk drains broadened and reconstructed to resolve the problem. Among infrastructure projects overseen by the LG were the 50 acres of land identified in the Narela for the development of an international cricket stadium, five-star hotel and a world class medical facility. The construction of the Delhi portion of the Urban Extension Road-II has been completed.

Raj Niwas claimed that Dilli Gramodaya Abhiyan was also launched with the objective of developing the necessary infrastructure in the villages in Delhi. It now plans to pursue the development of additional ghats along the Yamuna as well as the cleaning of the Yamuna floodplain.

As part of the city’s beautification, Delhi administration will plant 10 lakh tulips in the winter-spring of 2024-2025. The Raj Niwas will also focus on the restoration and rejuvenation of Chandni Chowk, Jama Masjid, Fatehpuri Masjid area, Bhuli Bhatyari Complex, Sadar Bazar Complex and the Nizamuddin area. In November last ye- ar, Saxena visited the Walled City and expressed concern about the civic facilities there, calling it decrepit. The area lacks sanitation, the upkeep of civic amenities is deplorable and there is an absence of development coordination because of govt departments and agencies working in silos.

The LG’s office also said it plans to give a push to solar energy by getting Delhi Development Authority to utilise its properties for generating solar power. In March, Delhi govt notified the Delhi Solar Policy 2023, launched by CM Arvind Kejriwal, which provides for generation-based incentives to consumers for installing solar power panels on their rooftops.

As Tihar releases CM’s weight data, Atishi asks what about fluctuations in first 11 days

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: The Tihar Jail administration released data on Thursday night detailing chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's body weight measurements taken during his time in jail. The records show that the readings, starting from the initial weight of 65kg, fluctuated from 64kg to 66kg between April 1 and May 9, the day before he was released from jail on interim bail.

However, minister Atishi pointed out that the data did not include information on Kejriwal's weight fluctuations for the first 11 days of his imprisonment, which began on March 21 when he was arrested in connection with a case related to the excise policy and after failing to appear for questioning despite nine central agency summonses.

The Supreme Court granted Kejriwal interim bail for electioneering with instructions that he was to surrender on June 2. AAP has requested a seven-day extension of the interim bail, citing concerns raised by doctors about Kejriwal's "7kg weight loss”, which they suggest could indicate serious medical conditions.

According to Tihar Jail data, CM’s weight was 65kg on April 1, 65kg on April 3, 66kg on April 8, 65kg on April 16, 66kg on April 29 and 64kg on May 9 a day before his release.

Atishi said Kejriwal was arrested and taken into ED custody on March 21. "Why not share the weight chart from that date onwards? Why selective sharing of the weight chart from April 1 onwards?" she asked. “BJP and PM Narendra Modi are trying to play with Arvind Kejriwal's life. He asked for seven days extended bail for kidney checkup, heart checkup, cancer detection, but BJP's political weapon ED opposed this in court."

She also noted that ED, which didn’t oppose regular bail to another case accused Sarath Reddy who complained of back pain, was opposed to Kejriwal’s request for a mere seven days for tests to see if he was suffering from any serious disease. "Due to unexpected weight loss in custody and ketone reaching dangerous levels, doctors had advised CM to undergo blood test, cardiac test and full body PET CT scan," she said. "Under what conspiracy are bail petitions being opposed and serious me- dical checkups prescribed by doctors for Arvind Kejriwal not being allowed?"

The AAP minister also wondered what had been done to Kejriwal in ED and judicial custody that caused his weight to suddenly reduce.

In response, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva charged AAP seniors like Atishi with lowering the standards of politics in Delhi. “The kind of words Atishi has used is pathetic and most unbecoming of a minister,” he said. “Tihar Jail is a prison under Delhi govt and the prisoners kept there are under judicial custody. Only an irresponsible person can allege such things.”

He asked, “Can Atishi explain how, if CM is as sick as he is claiming, he is campaigning in the dangerous heat wave in Punjab and earlier in Delhi?”

CM must surrender on June 2 if denied reprieve by court

Continued from P1

The Rouse Avenue Court has scheduled the hearing of the plea seeking interim bail on medical grounds for June 1 while it will hear the bail plea seeking regular bail on June 7. If Kejriwal fails to get the court relief, the interim bail granted to the CM by Supreme Court will end on June 1 and he will have to surrender the next day (June 2).

Making submissions in the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja, additional solicitor general SV Raju, on behalf of the ED, stated: “He (CM) is not in custody. He has been granted interim bail by Supreme Court. Today, he is in Punjab. His health did not hinder him from campaigning. He moves for bail on the last date, so that we get very little time (to argue the case). His conduct doesn't entitle him to any orders today.”

With ED submitting that it would like to file replies to Kejriwal’s pleas, the court allowed the same for both petitions. “There are some submissions to be made. There's lot of suppression that has to be brought to notice,” ASG said, seeking at least two days to submit the response.

ED seals `300cr properties of firm running GIP Mall

ED investigation revealed that IRAL collected more than Rs 400 crore from around 1,500 investors

Aditya Dev & Mahesh Buddi TNN

Noida/Gurgaon: Enforcement Directorate (ED) has attached unsold inventory worth Rs 290 crore of an amusement services provider as part of its probe into alleged money laundering by it. The attachment included unsold inventory at Great India Place Mall in Noida Sector 38, other commercial properties in Delhi’s Rohini and 200 acres of prime land in Jaipur. The action by the ED’s Gurgaon unit followed complaints lodged at Sector 29 police station against International Recreation and Amusement Ltd (IRAL) and its associated concerns.

The complaints were lodged under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and Section 3 of the Haryana Protection Of Interest Of Depositors In Financial Establishment Act (HPIDFE). On records, the immovable properties – worth Rs 291 crore in total – are in the name International Amusement Limited (IAL), the parent company of IRAL.

“They include commercial space spanning around 4 lakh square feet at GIP Mall, 45,966sqft of similar space at Adventure Island Limited in Rohini and 218 acres in Daulatpur village of Jaipur. The properties have been attached under provisions of Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002,” an official said. ED investigation revealed that IRAL collected more than Rs 400 crore from around 1,500 investors under an affordable housing scheme, which promised the allotment of shops and commercial space in sectors 29 and 52A of Gurgaon.

The company, however, failed to deliver the project and missed several deadlines. It also defaulted on monthly returns to investors.

Sources in the agency said the company diverted investors’ money for personal gain. The promoters, they said, planned to park the money with other entities, then sell them off at a cheap rate to rid themselves of all the liabilities. According to sources, a backdated agreement was executed between IRAL’s directors and the company “buying it” to eliminate the business advance from its balance sheet.

Around 30 FIRs were registered on complaints fom aggrieved investors against IRAL and others through 2021 and 2022 at DLF Sector 29 police station of Gurgaon. Police said they had filed chargesheets in 27 of these cases and they were being heard in the sessions court. Apart from IRAL and IAL, the FIRs mentioned directors and other senior officials like Robin Vijeshwar, Monny Vijeshwar, Gian Vijeshwar, and Narender Kumar Surana. Some of the other names were Vineet Girotra, Harpreet Sethi, Rakesh Babbar, and Amarjeet Singh.

Patkar’s sentencing in Saxena defamation case likely next wk

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A court on Thursday finished hearing the arguments on sentencing against 70-year-old activist Medha Patkar in a defamation case lodged by lieutenant governor V K Saxena when he was the president of an NGO in Gujarat.

The court of metropolitan magistrate Raghav Sharma, which convicted Patkar on May 24 of the offence of criminal defamation under IPC, also sought a victim impact report from Delhi Legal Services Authority. The report is prepared after the conviction of an accused to assess the quantum of loss suffered by the victim. The case will be heard again on June 7.

Saxena had filed the case as the president of National Council of Civil Liberties against Patkar for her defamatory press release against him in 2000.

Advocate Gajinder Kumar, representing Delhi LG, sought maximum punishment as Patkar had committed a repeat offence of the same nature in 2006 and another defamation case is pending before court, he stated. The offence calls for a jail term of two years or fine, or both, as the punishment.

The counsel said the circumstances against Patkar, including her past conduct of defying the law, were aggravating and she deserved stringent punishment. “Deterrent punishment is called for, thus the maximum punishment may be given to deter her and also set an example in society and (against) people who are working to stagnate the development in the country.”

Opposing the submissions, Patkar’s counsel said there were no aggravating circumstances nor was there any repeat offence, and there were several mitigating circumstances such as Patkar’s age and her medical ailments. The counsel submitted medical records before the court and said Patkar had received 28 national and five international awards, including The Right Livelihood Award, widely regarded as an alternative Nobel Prize.

The metropolitan magistrate, in its 55-page judgment on May 2, stated that the reputation was “one of the most valuable assets a person can possess” as it affected both personal and professional relationships and could significantly impact an individual’s standing in society. “The accused’s statements, calling the complainant a coward, not a patriot, and alleging his involvement in hawala transactions, were not only defamatory per se but also crafted to incite negative perceptions,” it observed.

2 Delhi HC judges move to MP and Karnataka

New Delhi:Delhi High Court on Thursday bid adieu to Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice V Kameswar Rao, who have been transferred to other high courts.

At the farewell reference, acting Chief Justice Manmohan said that the judges, who were elevated from the Bar in 2013, have set a benchmark in different laws during their tenure.

On Wednesday, central govt notified the transfer of Justices Sachdeva and Rao to the high courts of Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka, respectively.

The Supreme Court Collegium had on March 15 recommended the transfer of Justice Sachdeva and Justice after they made a request to be shifted to other high courts.

With their transfer, the strength of Delhi High Court has come down to 40 judges against the sanctioned strength of 60. Both outgoing judges shared their experience as judges of the high court.

Justice Sachdeva said Delhi HC is one of the premier high courts and is at the forefront of digitisation. Justice Rao praised the lawyers practising in the high court.

TNN

Fire at police training centre yard, 300 vehicles gutted

Twelve fire tenders, along with over 70 firefighters, were sent to Wazirabad to control the fire

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: In a second incident in five months, a massive fire tore through a vehicle pit behind the police training school in north Delhi’s Wazirabad on Thursday, gutting 300 vehicles.

The police control room received a c all around 2.47pm about the fire at the vehicle pit in the police malkhana. Twelve fire tenders, along with over 70 firefighters, were immediately sent to the spot.

Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said the fire was brought under control by 4.30pm. “At l east 125 four-wheelers and 175 two-wheelers have been char red. All vehicles are case properties,” he said. Police are investigating the cause of the fire, the DCP added.

In Jan, over 250 vehicles were destroyed in the same pit. The fire had gutted over 200 bikes and 50 cars, which were seized in various cases and dumped at the 500-square-yard plot.

According to police, all vehicles char red in Thursday’s fire were case properties seized under different cases in West Delhi district. A video of the incident shows thick black smoke emanating from the pit and a car had caught fire. A few photographs also show that several vehicles had been completely destroyed in the blaze.

Police are probing all angles, including sabotage, to determine the cause of the fire, so- urces said. “The vehicles were kept in an open area, so there can be multiple reasons,” a fire official said.

Dousing the fire posed a challeng e for the firefighters as the presence of combustible materials acted as a catalyst and the fire spread quickly. They had to form multiple teams and it took nearly two hours to douse the blaze.

The current incident comes a day after a fire engulfed a parking lot at Saraswati Kunj Apar tment in east Delhi’s Vinod Nagar on Wednesday, resulting in the destruction of 17 cars. The city has experienced a significant 37% increase in the fire calls compared with the previous year. Data shows that till May 20, the fire depar tment had received 8,201 calls ag ainst 5,970 during the same period last year.

Is Your Home Safe? Maybe Not. Here’s How To Protect Yourself

2,328 Residential Fire Calls Till May 28, Up From 1,691 In Same Period Last Year

OFFICIAL SAYS An open terrace offers a viable alternative for escape, increasing the chances of a successful evacuation and ensuring the well-being of the occupants

Abhay@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi witnessed a37% increase in residential fires in the first five months of this year compared with the same period in 2023.

Data from fire services showed that the department received 2,328 calls related to residential fires up to May 28, against 1,691 calls during the same period last year.

Delhi Fir e Services director Atul Garg attributed the surge to various factors, including overloaded electrical systems, failure to turn off gas cylinders and substandard wiring quality. He emphasised on the extraordinary nature of this year's fir es, linking them to the rising temperatures. “Every single firefighter is overstretched this time. If people take some precautions, then it can be curbed,” he said.

Short circuits have been identified as one of the main causes of residential fires. An official explained that people often failed to update their wiring while adding new electrical equipment, leading to overloading and short circuits. The presence of combustible materials like curtains or plastic items can further exacerbate the situation, turning a small spark into a devastating fire.

Officials advise against leaving the kitchen unattended or using mobile devices while cooking, as such distractions can significantly increase the risk of a serious fire. “By staying present in the kitchen and closely monitoring the stove, one can greatly reduce the likelihood of a fire incident occurring,” an official said.

In a tragic incident in April, two sisters died when they hid in a bathroom during abuilding fire in north Delhi's Sadar B azar. They had turned on the exhaust fan, which drew smoke into the room, causing carbon monoxide inhalation and loss of consciousness. Fire officials stressed on the importance of never using exhaust fans during a fi- re. Having multiple escape routes is crucial, especially when one staircase is filled with smoke. Fire escape routes play a vital role in ensuring the safety of occupants. The placement of electrical meters should also be carefully considered, ensuring they are not located near escape routes to prevent the path from being engulfed in smoke and flames in case of a fire originating from the meters.

“To provide an additional means of egress during an emergency, it is crucial that the terrace remains accessible at all times. An open terrace offers a viable alternative for escape, increasing the chances of a successful evacuation and ensuring the well-being of the occupants,” the official said. Residential fires have claimed several lives in recent incidents. In January, six people died and one was critically injured in a fire at a four-story residential building in northwest Delhi's Pitampura. More recently, three people lost their lives and three were injured in a massive fire at a building in east Delhi's Krishna Nagar.

Civic bodies implement measures to curb fires

Vibha.Sharma@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: In response to the rising temperatures and frequent fire incidents, the civic bodies have implemented a series of measures. Municipal Corporation of Delhi has issued an advisory to various establishments, including hospitals, healthcare facilities, schools, community centres, multi-level parking lots, zonal offices, and other MCD buildings, emphasising strict adherence to fire safety regulations within their premises.

The advisory mandates the inspection of firefighting systems, electrical load audits, and installation of smoke detectors, fire alarms, and automatic water sprinklers. Officials are required to submit a report by May 31. "In-charges of hospitals and health units in coordination with the engineering department must follow these instructions to prevent occurrences of fire incidents," stated the advisory, which was also shared on 'X' by mayor Shelly Oberoi. A meeting was also held to discuss the issue on Thursday.

Health facilities have been instructed to maintain and test fire safety equipment and conduct electrical load audits to ensure compliance with safety standards without overloading the system, in accordance with the National Electrical Code of India-2023.

The MCD advisory adds, "Establish a maintenance schedule for all fire safety equipment. This should include monthly checks of fire extinguishers, quarterly tests of fire alarms and hydrants to ensure all are functional. I n areas with oxygen tanks or piped oxygen, implement strict no-smoking policies and controls on heat sources. Auditing of materials used in hospital construction and furnishings to identify and replace combustible materials with non-combustible or fire-resistant alternatives, especially in patientcare areas are also part of the drive."

An official stated, "We have also asked to inspect electrical ducts to ensure they are sealed with materials like intumescent, fire-stop sealants that prevent the spread of fire and smoke through openings. Installation of water sprinklers and hose pipes in critical areas, including ICUs and operation theatres, and linking it with the fire alarm system are among other measures mentioned."

Procuring a fire safety No Objection Certificate and formulating thorough evacuation strategies, which encom -pass well-defined, clearly marked escape paths, unobstructed emergency exits, and allocated secure assembly points, are among the Standard Operating Procedures to be adhered to. In a separate circular issued on M ay 29, New Delhi Municipal Council has instructed the health department to educate personnel, including physicians, nurses, and paramedical staff, on handling emergency situations. The circular also highlighted making suitable arrangements to replace the PVC sheet on the rooftop of "jhuggis" (housing for labourers working in the area) to avert any unfortunate occurrence.

The circular stated, "Tankers or water sprinklers which were deployed for tackling pollution, will now be deployed using treated water of STPs in order to ensure a cool-down effect in the ambient temperature."

Fire dept promises action after traders raise concerns

Vibha.Sharma@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi Fire Services has stated that the fire hydrants pump system situated in Chandni Chowk will be ready for use in the coming week. The system will be functional after a collaborative examination by the fire department and Public Works Department, a senior official said.

In a meeting with various market associations, the fire department assured that traders in different markets will be provided training regarding fire safety regulations, the process of obtaining a fir e NOC, and techniques for managing emergency situations.

"Currently, all our staff are busy handling unprecedented fires across Delhi. As soon as the calls dip down or during the rainy season, the

y will provide training at a temporary structure in the markets. Further, within the next four to five days, we will be conducting inspections of the water hydrants located in Chandni Chowk. There is a likelihood that the hydrants will be fully operational in the next few days," said the official.

Sanjay Bhargava from the Chandni Chowk Vy apar Mandal mentioned that on May 15, PWD assistant engineer wrote a letter addressing the issues highlighted by the fire department, such as the required water pressure for smooth operation of hydrants. "We shared the letter on 'X' with the Chief Fir e Officer Atul Garg and hoping that hydrants at Chandni Chowk will finally become operational," he added.

The scorching heat and rising fire incidents have heightened the concerns of factory owners and industrial areas.

"Traders from various markets come together to share their worries during a meeting with senior f ire officials at CP office. Considering, it takes time for fire department's vehicles to reach the markets of Old Delhi, and this increases the risk to life and property, we suggested the department to deploy fire tenders in the markets," said Brijesh Goyal, chairman of the Chamber of Trade and Industry.

“Officials said that there is shortage of space in many markets. If enough space is available, a fire brigade can be deployed there. We have planned to identify locations in association with concerned market associations and pursue the department with the list,” said Rahul Adlakha, vice-president of CTI.

The associations also requested the fire department to construct underground water tanks with hydrants, similar to the one in Chandni Chowk (6.5 lakh litres capacity), in other markets to quickly extinguish major fires.

Data On Nursing Homes At A Click

Govt Portal Will Be Open To Public Scrutiny

Abhinav.Rajput@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Delhi govt will develop an online portal with all data on compliances, registration and validity of the nursing homes in the city, which will be open to public scrutiny.

Govt officials said lieutenant governor VK Saxena had pointed out that the manual registration process of the nursing homes left a lot of room for discretion, ambiguity and corruption. “The chief secretary may accordingly ensure that an online portal is made operational with all data of compliances, registration and validity, which is open to public scrutiny,” LG said in an internal communication after a fire on Saturday night killed six babies at New Born Baby Care Hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar.

A facility for neonatal care, it had five more babies who were immediately shifted to another hospital and they are still receiving treatment. Police have found glaring lapses in the operations of the hospital, whose licence had expired in March. Police have also found that the hospital neither had a no-objection certificate (NOC) from Delhi Fire Services nor had implemented fire safety measures.

The chief secretary has also been directed “to advise all district magistrates to have a field verification done of their respective areas within two weeks to ascertain the actual number of functional nursing homes, which can then be compared with the list of health department”. The exercise would give an idea about the extent of such violations prevalent in the city, said an official.

The police probe has revealed that the hospital’s licence had expired on March 31 this year, yet it continued to operate without any hindrance. It also appears that the doctors working there lacked necessary qualifications and expertise to treat newborns requiring neonatal intensive care. According to police, their inquiry has disclosed that only one of the doctors had an MBBS degree, while the rest held only a BAMS (Bachelor in Ayurvedic Medicine) degree. The hospital also didn’t have a fire extinguisher and an emergency exit.

Police are also investigating the possibility of an illegal oxygen cylinder filling operation at the hospital.

A large number of oxygen cylinders have been found at the site and several neighbours have earlier reported such suspicious activities inside the hospital at night.

Dr Naveen Khichi, the owner of the hospital, has claimed that the hospital doesn’t require an NOC as the building was under 15 metres in height.

Dr Khichi and Dr Akash, who was on duty during the fire, have been arrested and booked under sections 336 (negligence), 304 (culpable homicide), 308 (attempt to culpable homicide) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code. The provisions of Juvenile Justice Act has also been added.

Associate of gangster Bhau detained in US?

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Indian Intelligence agencies on Thursday were learnt to be verifying the identity of a man detained in the US who is alleged to be a close associate of notorious gangster Himanshu Bhau.

Bhau and his associates are behind a number of shootingfor-extortion incidents in Delhi.

The detained suspect is alleged to be Sahil Kumar against whom the Interpol earlier issued a red corner notice. Bhau and Sahil are wanted by the law enforcement agencies in India for operating an extortion racket from abroad. Bhau was earlier in Portugal but is learnt to have fled to the US through the Donkey Route.

A red corner notice is a request to law enforcement agencies worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition. According to the Interpol red notice, Sahil had been calling up victims in India through messaging apps and demanding "protection money”.

“He has extended death threats to various victims and many victims were attacked with firearms by the fugitive’s local accomplices when they refused to pay the extortion money,’’ the notice said.

The Interpol said Sahil used a fake address and fake identity documents to obtain a passport, which was used by him to escape abroad.

2 die after tree falls on them in outer Delhi

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Two men died after a tree fell on them in outer Delhi’s Alipur area on Wednesday. Both were travelling on a twowheeler when the incident occurred, police said.

After receiving a PCR call regarding the fall of a eucalyptus tree on the scooter riders, a police team, along with forest department personnel, reached the spot near Hiranki Yamuna Pushta in Alipur, cops said.

One of the victims identified as Pushpender (23), a resident of Keshav Nagar, died on the spot, while another victim Vijay (24), who lived in Azadpur, was pronounced dead upon arrival at the hospital, the officer said.

Police are investigating the cause of the tree's fall, while initial suspicions points towards the recent storm as a potential factor, the officer added

A purported video footage, apparently captured in the aftermath of the incident, shows a crane being employed to extricate the tree that had toppled over and obstructed the thoroughfare. An individual was seen sprawled atop the fallen tree, while bystanders tried to administer cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in a valiant attempt to revive him.

Earlier in May, two people died after trees fell on them at separate places in the city. One of the victims, Hariom, who worked as a labourer, came under a tree that fell because of strong winds.

Hospital fire: JJ Act invoked too, accused in judicial custody

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Delhi Police has added provisions of Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act to the FIR registered in connection with the fire at a children’s hospital in east Delhi’s Vivek Vihar that killed six newborns.

A police source said they had found grave negligence on the part of the hospital authorities in the care of the admitted children. “We found several deficiencies — missing fire extinguishers, inappropriate bed sizes and BAMS doctors present instead of qualified MBBS doctors. They were playing with the lives of children,” the source said. Section 75 (cruelty to child) of Juvenile Justice Act has been added, he said.

Meanwhile, a court on Thursday remanded Dr Naveen Khichi, the owner of the hospital, and Dr Akash, who was on duty at the time of the fire, in judicial custody for 14 days. The court of chief metropolitan magistrate Vidhi Gupta Anand sent Dr Khichi and Dr Akash to the judicial custody till June 13 after their police remand got over. Dr Akash moved a bail plea that will be heard on June 3. Both were arrested on Sunday. On May 27, police had got their custody for three days.

Delhi Police has initially registered the case under sections 336 (negligence), 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) and 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code.

Police have already recorded the statements of 15-20 people, including the eyewitnesses who saw the fire unfold, the two nurses who were on duty, and a few parents whose children had died in the incident.

Police are also probing whether the hospital switched off the ventilator machines on the day of the fire or if it happened due to a power outage. Sources said the initial findings of the postmortem report revealed that the children died due to suffocation.

Blast in AC unit causes fire in flat of Noida condo, no casualty

The flames were doused by the society’s own emergency team before the fire fighters arrived

Advitya.Bahl@timesgroup.com

Noida: A blast in an indoor unit of an air conditioner caused a fire in a flat in Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100 on Thursday morning. There were no casualties and the flames were doused by the society’s own emergency team before the fire fighters arrived.

Chief fire officer Pradeep Kumar Choubey said they received a call about the blaze around 10am.

“The society president informed us about the fire. Four to five fire tenders from nearby stations were rushed to the spot within minutes. But by then, the society’s own security team and residents had brought the flames under control with their own equipment,” he added.

The fire broke out in a 10th-floor flat in Tower 28. “The three-member family living there ran out. But the entire bedroom was gutted because of furniture, curtains and other inflammable material,” Choubey said.

Videos circulated on social media showed flames leaping out of the windows and balcony along with thick plumes of black smoke.

Komal, who lives in the adjacent tower, was in the kitchen of her flat when she heard an explosion.

“I rushed towards the window and saw flames coming out of a flat in Tower 28. The fire had broken out in their bedroom. I could see the curtains and furniture going up in flames one by one. The AC was on fire too. I started shouting for help at the top of my voice,” she told TOI.

According to Komal, the flames were doused in about 25 minutes. “Residents of the upper floors started splashing water. The society’s maintenance team also fought the flames and brought them under control before the fire tenders arrived,” she said.

The blast in the AC sparked concern among residents, especially at a time when the cooling device has been running relentlessly in almost every household to beat the punishing temperatures.

“It’s quite scary to say the least. Fortunately, the blaze was controlled in time. But according to information I received, the fire sprinklers in the flat did not work, which is a cause for concern. After all, it is the first source of fire safety. I’ll urge the fire department to initiate an investigation into this,” said Vipin Kumar, another resident.

Prabhakar Bhardwaj, the society’s AOA president, said the emergency team responded early by switching off all electricity and gas supplies.

“Our on-site fire extinguishers and hose pipes were put to use too. By the time the fire fighters arrived, the blaze was already under control. All safety equipment worked well,” he added.

According to Bhardwaj, a short circuit in the AC’s indoor unit caused the fire. “An investigation is underway to find out the actual cause. We will issue an advisory to residents accordingly,” he added.

The chief fire officer lauded Boulevard’s security team and residents for their prompt response. “It’s because of them that the flames could be contained well in time. Consequences could have been far worse otherwise.”

Tharoor’s ex-aide caught smuggling gold at airport

The man, who supposedly worked for Tharoor once, also had an Aerodrome Entry Permit, Customs officers said on Thursday. Tharoor, however, said the man was a former staff member doing part-time service with airport assistance

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Customs officers caught two men for allegedly trying to smuggle gold worth Rs 35.2 lakh at IGI Airport, and one of them is a “former member” of Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor’s staff.

The man, who supposedly worked for Tharoor once, also had an Aerodrome Entry Permit (AER), Customs officers said on Thursday. A customs source said that because of the permit, the suspect had access into the arrival hall of the airport.

Tharoor, however, said the man was a former staff member doing part-time service with airport assistance.

Customs said the smuggling bid was caught on Wednesday when an Indian national arrived at the airport by a flight, TG-323, from Bangkok. This man allegedly handed over the gold to another man, who had a valid Aerodrome Entry Permit, the officers said.

“Customs has booked a case of smuggling of gold against an Indian national who arrived at IGI Airport from Bangkok on Wednesday. Further investigations revealed involvement of another individual who had come to the airport to receive the passenger and also assist in smuggling. The said individual was intercepted and a heavy gold chain weighing 500 grams was recovered from him, which was handed over to him by the passenger inside the arrival hall. An enquiry revealed that the individual had a valid Aerodrome Entry Per- mit,” Varun Koundinya, joint commissioner of customs at the IGI airport, said in a statement.

Customs said the circumstances of how the man got the Aerodrome Entry Permit as a part of the protocol team for an MP was being looked into.

“Gold valued at Rs 35.22 lakh was recovered. The recovered gold has been seized under section 110 of the Customs Act, 1962,” said a customs officer.

Tharoor wrote on X, “While I am in Dharamshala for campaigning purposes, I was shocked to hear of an incident involving a former member of my staff who has been rendering part-time service to me in terms of airport facilitation assistance. He is a 72-year-old retiree undergoing frequent dialysis and was retained on a part-time basis on compassionate grounds.”

He added: “I do not condone any alleged wrongdoing and fully support the authorities in their efforts to take any necessary action as may be required to investigate the matter. The law must take its own course.”

Extortion angle behind murder of 32-yr-old inside NE Delhi shop, say cops

A CCTV camera recorded the incident

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A investigation into the murder of a 32-year-old man reported from northeast Delhi's Welcome on Wednesday has revealed that he was killed owing to a dispute over extortion money. Raids are being conducted to nab the suspect and his aides, police said.

Deceased Suraj, who lived in Harsh Vihar, was shot dead allegedly by two men inside his hardware shop in Kabir Nagar locality. One of them has been identified as Rahul, a history-sheeter. Rahul had also shot at Suraj's friend, Prashant, a month ago, a senior police officer said.

According to police, Rahul and Prashant used to extort money from auto drivers who plied at Bhopura border (between Delhi-UP) without permit. After a dispute arose between them, Rahul shot at Prashant in April and absconded. Suraj happened to meet Rahul at a party a few days ago and confronted him. It has been alleged that Suraj asked him to return money to Prashant and threatened with consequences.

Rahul then arrived at Suraj's shop and shot him dead. The murder was caught on the camera. In the CCTV footage, Suraj is seen hiding for cover and shutting the door but assailants managed to sneak in their hand and shoot him four times in the head.

In the footage, Rahul and his aide are seen approaching the shop on a scooter. They halt at a short distance, and the pillion rider, armed with a pistol, moves towards the shop and returns moments later before fleeing the scene. A case has been registered and an investigation taken up.

The extortion racket angle will be probed and it will be ascertained whether any local policemen are also involved, the officer said.

Police have recorded Prashant’s statement regarding the extortion angle. They will also question the auto drivers playing on this route to ascertain facts, the officer added.

The cops have filed an FIR and formed a team to probe the case, police said, adding that the team has also started probing the case of attempted murder filed on the complaint of Prashant a month ago.

Woman Alleges Rape By E-Rickshaw Driver

Found Injured With 3-Year-Old Son, 1 Held

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A woman was allegedly abducted by an erickshaw driver in Delhi, then raped, assaulted and abandoned near Sadar Bazaar with her three-year-old son. Police have arrested a suspect.

The police received a complaint on May 26 from passerby who reported seeing a woman who had been robbed and injured. A team went to the area near the Geeta Colony flyover loop. “A woman was found in an injured condition and was profusely bleeding. She was found with her three-year-old son,” the officer said.

The woman told the police that she was going to meet her husband in Punjab and had disembarked at New Delhi railway station. She went to Sadar Bazar to do some shopping.

"After shopping at 6:30pm, she took an e-rickshaw to go to New Delhi railway station. On the way, the driver offered her a drink which caused her to lose consciousness, and she was raped by him. Even in her semi-conscious state, she had tried to resist, but the driver hit her on the head with bricks, left her child with her, and fled with her belongings," the police said about the woman’s account to the investigators.

The woman found that her mobile phone and Rs. 3,000 cash were missing. A case was registered.

Deputy commissioner of police (North) Manoj Meena said that the team scanned 500 cameras and identified a battery-powered rickshaw. "After a large-scale search, they investigated roughly 150 rickshaw owners and drivers. This ultimately led them to Mohammad Umer, a rickshaw puller residing near LNJP Hospital. He was arrested."

Umer (24) had a criminal past as he was found involved in a case of robbery in 2023 under IP Estate police station. He operates an erickshaw.

A case under sections 376 (rape), 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence), and 379 (theft) of the IPC has been registered.

TIMES VIEW: Over the last few years, e-rickshaws have burgeoned in the Capital. The violent crime has brought them into sharp focus. The question is: Are all such vehicles registered? Are all e-rickshaw drivers licensed and have IDs? Authorities should ensure they do.

Eeco carrying 9 overturns, falls off DME after hit by car, girl dies

DCP(RURAL) SAYS There were five minors in the car, the youngest of them barely 18 months old. So far, we know that the family was from Gujarat’s Rajkot

Avishek.Kumar@timesgroup.com

Ghaziabad: A 13-year-old girl died and eight of her family members were injured, some of them grievously, as their Eeco car overturned and skidded off the Delhi-Meerut Expressway on a farm along the speedway after it was hit by a speeding Verna near the Hawa Hawai restaurant on Thursday.

DCP (rural) Vivek Yadav said passersby alerted cops soon after the accident around 4.45pm. The injured were taken to a nearby hospital but the child, Riya Shah, died during treatment. The girl’s mother Hetal, nine-year-old brother Parth, uncle Hitendra Solanki, aunt Urvashi and four-year-old cousin Himanshi are battling for their lives.

“There were five minors in the car, the youngest of them barely 18 months old. So far, we know that the family was from Gujarat’s Rajkot and was returning home after a trip to Haridwar. The Hitendra was at the wheel when the Verna hit it from behind,” the DCP said.

The girl’s father, Rahul Shah, who was also in the car, told police that they were driving at an average speed of around 65-70 kmph.

Police said there were two persons in the Verna. “They stepped out after the crash and checked on the victims but fled soon after leaving the badly damaged car behind. It seems the driver was distracted after seeing the aeroplane restaurant,” the DCP said.

According to cops, the Verna is registered in the name of Sapna (only single name), a resident of Gurgaon. Two teams are checking CCTV footage from the expressway to ascertain the identity of the people in the car at the time of the accident and arrest them, the DCP added.

An FIR was registered against unknown persons under IPC sections 304A (death due to negligence) and 279 (rash driving).

Between Jan and April, seven accidents were reported on the DME that is used by lakhs of vehicles daily.

Sisodia to be in custody till July 6 in excise case

The court denied bail to Sisodia in the money laundering case for the second time. On April 30, the same court denied bail to him

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday extended the judicial custody of former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia till July 6 in connection with the CBI case related to the now-scrapped Delhi Excise Policy.

Sisodia’s custody was extended by the court of special judge Kaveri Baweja.

Recently, Delhi High Court denied bail to him in the case stating that he failed to pass the triple test for grant of bail in the corruption case and the twin conditions required under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002.

On April 30, the same court while denying bail to Sisodia, rejected his contention that the proceedings in the money laundering case related to the alleged liquor policy scam have been delayed or that the case is proceeding at a snail's pace.

The court made the observations while denying bail to Sisodia in the money laundering case for the second time.

In his bail plea, Sisodia had stated that the prosecution’s assurance to the Supreme Court last year that the trial would conclude within 6-8 months. The former Delhi deputy CM also mentioned that he was entitled to seek bail by the SC's Oct 30, 2023 order in case the trial is protracted and proceeds at a snail’s pace in next three months.

The court also said that the so-called delay is clearly on account of reasons attributable to Sisodia himself.

The court stating that there is a concerted effort by Sisodia and other co-accused to delay the trial in the Delhi Excise Policy case as they have been filing multiple applications or making oral submissions, some of them frivolous.

Dance Of Democracy

- Two Months On, Curtains Come Down On Campaign For 18th LS

- Turnout of trans people rising since ’14, Goa topped list this year with 75%

- Pandian is not my heir, people will pick successor: Naveen

- Manmohan denies making ‘first claim of Muslims’ remark

- ‘Modi’fied Varanasi Says A Hat-Trick ‘Guaranteed’, Focus Now On 5L Margin

- Four contestants square off in Amritsar, voters caught in a circle of confusion

- Balasore pins hopes on polls to rocket it towards better days

- Punjab sinking, youth eye flight with visa power

- In Diamond Harbour, Trinamool expects its ‘ratna’ to shine again

- Will Mirzapur roll out ‘kaleen’ thrice in a row for Anupriya?

- In Premchand’s birthplace Lamhi, change is on view, and in the air

Two Months On, Curtains Come Down On Campaign For 18th LS

Poll officials on their way to a remote polling station in Almi, HP, on Thursday ahead of Ph-7 of LS elections

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Electioneering for the seventh and final phase of Lok Sabha elections in 57 seats across seven states and one UT ended on Thursday afternoon, bringing the curtain down on a marathon exercise that saw star campaigners like PM Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge ratcheting up air miles as they criss-crossed the country for over two months.

On June 1, Punjab’s 13 seats, four of Himachal, 13 in UP, nine in Bengal, eight in Bihar, six of Odisha, and three in Jharkhand will vote along with the UT of Chandigarh to complete the last round of the polling cycle involving several heavyweights, including PM Modi as he seeks a third consecutive term from his home turf of Varanasi.

Of the 904 candidates in the fray in the last 57 constituencies going to polls, the other big names include Union minister Anurag Thakur of BJP in Himachal’s Hamirpur, BJP’s Kangana Ranaut against Congress’s Vikramaditya Singh in Mandi seat of HP, Abhishek Banerjee of TMC in Bengal’s Diamond Harbour, ex-Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi in Jalandhar, and Harsimrat Kaur Badal of SAD in Punjab’s Bhatinda.

Ravi Kishan of BJP in Gorakhpur and his party colleague Ram Kripal Yadav, who is pitted against RJD patriarch Lalu Prasad’s daughter Misa Bharti in Bihar’s Pataliputra, round off the list.

Polling in 486 seats spread over 28 states and UTs in the first six phases between April 19 and May 25 delivered voting percentages ranging between 62.2% (Phase 5) and 69.16% (Phase 4).

After 188 rallies, Shah winds down with temple trips

Tirupati: Union home minister Amit Shah reached Tirumala on Thursday evening as the marathon campaigning came to an end for the seven-phase Lok Sabha polls which saw him at a record 188 political engagements across the country, reports Sandeep Raghavan.

After halting here for the night, Shah will offer prayers to Lord Balaji on Friday morning. He may also take part in the highly revered Abhishekam seva at the Tirumala temple. He will head to Rajkot from Tirupati airport in the afternoon. Shah is accompanied by his wife Sonal Shah.

Earlier on Thursday, Shah offered prayers at Sathya Giriswarar and Kottai Bhairavar temples in Tamil Nadu before reaching Tirupati. Priests at Kottai Bhairavar temple in Tirumayam welcomed Shah and his wife with shawls and garlands. “Prayed at the Kottai Bhairavar Temple in Pudukkottai, Tamil Nadu. Sought blessings for the happiness and prosperity of all,” the home minister later said in a post on X.

Adequate security arrangements were made by Tirupati police, both at Tirumala and in Tirupati, for the home minister’s visit.

Rajnath: Pak acknowledges India growth, but not Cong

Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday said even Pakistan now acknowledges India’s ascent as a global superpower. “On the one hand, countries like Pakistan acknowledge India’s growth, on the other, SP and Congress are speaking against Prime Minister Modi,” Singh said.

Addressing political rallies in Kushinagar, Robertsganj and Chandauli, Singh was referring to Pakistani politician Fazal ur Rehman’s statement that the latter’s country is becoming the “begging bowl of the world” while India is becoming a superpower.

The defence minister said if BJP comes to office, it will establish a ‘One Nation, One Election’ policy. “BJP believes that multiple elections are not beneficial for the country as they result in a waste of both resources and time.”

Predicting a complete wipe-out of the two principal opposition parties of UP, Singh said in a few years Samajwadi Party will be known as ‘Samapt Party’ while Congress will vanish from the political landscape in the next 5-10 years “just as dinosaurs have become extinct”. TNN

Turnout of trans people rising since ’14, Goa topped list this year with 75%

Bharti.Jain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Turnout among third gender (TG) voters has seen a steady climb since the 2014 general election — when the EC started registering them as a separate category — with the phase-wise voting by TG electors in the current election so far fluctuating between 18.7% and 34.2%, as against 14.6% and 7% overall polling by TGs recorded in 2019 and 2014 respectively.

The EC’s efforts to make the 2024 general election more inclusive had started right from the voter registration stage. Thanks to its special focus on enrolling vulnerable sections like persons with disabilities, third gender, senior citizens and particularly vulnerable tribal groups, there was a 23% rise in total registered TG voters as compared to 2019 polls. A total 48,044 TG electors were in the roll as on March 16, 2024, up from 39,075 in 2019 and 28,527 in 2014.

Many third gender voters prefer to register as male or female voters, often due to fear of coming out, since electoral roll is a public document, and lack of social acceptance. However, with the EC having sensitised its machinery on the ground and growing societal acceptance, TG voters are coming forward to not only register as a separate category but also to cast their vote.

A look at the states/UTs that went to polls in a single phase — for which the genderwise turnouts are available — shows the highest TG turnout in Goa at 75%, followed by Puducherry at 69.5%, Sikkim at 66.7%, Andaman and Nicobar at 50%, Andhra at 44.3%, Kerala at 40.9%, Tamil Nadu at 32%, Gujarat at 30.8%, Telangana at 30.2%, Uttarakhand at 29.5%, Delhi at 28% and Haryana at 18.2%.

Pandian is not my heir, people will pick successor: Naveen

Ashok.Pradhan@timesgroup.com

Bhubaneswar: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik clarified Thursday that Tamil Naduborn ex-bureaucrat V K Pandian, whose swift ascent in politics has led BJP to repeatedly question his credentials as next in line to the BJD legacy, wasn’t his political heir. He said the people of Odisha would pick his successor when the time came.

“I see all of this (talk of Pandian being groomed to take over) as exaggeration and falsehood...You may have noticed he is not even standing for election,” Naveen said in an interview.

Coming ahead of the final phase of polling in the north coastal districts of Odisha, the CM’s assertion is perceived as an attempt to stem the backlash brewing in the state's heartland over Pandian being talked about as his potential successor against the backdrop of BJP’s push for “Odia asmita (pride)”.

On Pandian allegedly making decisions on his behalf, Naveen said, “That is ridiculous. And I have said it often before. This is an old alle- gation. It holds no weight.”

When asked if BJD was still open to supporting BJP at the Centre, the CM didn’t rule it out. “Let’s see what the position in the future will be.” Alluding to “personal remarks” by BJP functionaries, Naveen said the party’s “waning popularity nationally and in Odisha” was prompting its rank and file to take recourse to such tactics.

He countered PM Modi’s prediction that a BJP CM would take the oath of office in Odisha on June 10 by saying he foresaw BJD getting “very handsome results in the state elections”.

“We will form a solid govt. In Parliament, we will have a very good majority.”

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X that “Naveen Babu was unable to answer why Pandian was the only person to be seen with him, either holding his mike or controlling his hands”.

Pandian told TOI that he considers himself a successor to Naveen’s “values of impeccable integrity, absolute commitment to the people of Odisha and his selfless hard work”.

Manmohan denies making ‘first claim of Muslims’ remark

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chandigarh: Former PM Manmohan Singh on Thursday broke his silence on his successor Narendra Modi’s claims that he had said that “Muslims had the first claim on the country’s resources”. Singh accused Modi of lying, saying that the PM has “attributed some false statements to me”.

In a three-page letter issued on Thursday, in which Singh also appealed to the electorate of Punjab to vote for Congress to “safeguard the Constitution”, the former Prime Minister said: “I have never in my life singled out one community from the other. That is the sole copyright of BJP.”

Singh, who accused BJP of targeting “Punjab, Punjabis, and Punjabiyat”, said Modi was indulging in the most “vicious” form of hate speeches. “No Prime Minister in the past has uttered such hateful, unparliamentary, and coarse terms, meant to target either a specific section of society or the opposition.”

BJP counters ex-PM, asserts Singh said it ‘not once but twice’

BJP on Thursday challenged Manmohan Singh’s claim that he never differentiated among communities saying that former PM indeed said that Muslims have the first right on the resources of the country. In a hard-hitting response to former PM, BJP’s media head Anil Baluni said that it has already been established that Singh had “not once but twice” said that Muslims had the first claim on country’s resources. He also said Singh’s sudden “outburst” on the eve of polling in Punjab represents Congress’s desire to create divisions in Punjab.

“This also points to how Congress in Punjab wants to create division in the society by misleading people. It seems that even after retiring from active politics, Singhhas not given up his habit of misleading the people,” Baluni said. He took exception to Singh’s claim that Modi has reduced the dignity of the post of PM saying that the charge applied to Singh who allowed himself to be reduced to a figure head. TNN

‘Modi’fied Varanasi Says A Hat-Trick ‘Guaranteed’, Focus Now On 5L Margin

(Top) A young Modi supporter at a rally. (Above) Tea stall Pappu ki Adi, a microcosm of Varanasi, is abuzz with discussion around the high-profile constituency. (Below) Three generations of sitarists — Pt Shivnath Mishra, his son Debvrat Mishra and grandson Krishna Mishra — are happy about their improved prospects in Varanasi

Pravin Kumar, Rajeev Dikshit & Isha Jain | TNN

Varanasi: If you were in Varanasi before May 30 and checked in at a decent hotel, chances are that you bumped into a Union minister or a BJP bigwig in the lobby. Thursday was the last day of campaigning for one of the most talked-about elections in India after 2014. On June 1, when Varanasi votes in the 7th and final phase of a marathon general elections, one of the names on the EVM unit will be that of PM Narendra Modi, eyeing his hat-trick from Kashi. Hence, the clamour.

Led by Union home minister Amit Shah, a battery of senior ministers stationed themselves here for a couple of days just to improve the margin of PM’s already-guaranteed win. Modi won by nearly 4.8 lakh votes in 2019. This time, the target is to cross 5 lakh.

In working towards this, Modi wrote personalised letters to more than 2,000 prominent Kashi citizens, and over 90,000 first-time voters, requesting them to come out and vote. The idea is that a higher turnout will ensure a higher margin. When Modi filed his nomination on May 13, the entire NDA pariwar walked with him. This is the kind of preparation the new BJP is known for. No room for rivals even in the safest seat in the country.

A City Under Transformation

It’s 11 pm. Priyanka Neelam (26) and Ruchita Neerudu (27) walk leisurely on Dashashwamedh ghat on the banks of the Ganga. “Nights are calm and serene, unlike the crowds during the evening aarti. It’s an enriching experience,” says Priyanka, a traveller from Telangana’s Warangal.

As the two climb down to touch the water, Ruchita says, “It’s so tranquil that I can sit and watch the sacred river for hours. The ghats are clean. Above all, there is no fear even with just the two of us alone here,” says Ruchita, an entrepreneur from Hyderabad.

Not just tourists, even residents acknowledge the transformation the city has undergone in the past 10 years. Since 2014, development projects worth Rs 45,000 crore have landed in the city. Of them, projects worth Rs 41,000 crore have been completed and the remaining are in progress. Over 8 crore pilgrims visited the city in 2023 alone, pumping Rs 21.5 crore into the city’s economy.

Kashi Vishwanath corridor, sewage infrastructure, Babatpur-Varanasi four-lane road and Tata cancer hospital have brought a visible transformation. But less talked about initiatives like underground power cabling and effective implementation of the National Clean Air Programme which saw 72% reduction in PM10 concentration level have a qualitative impact. Now, the city will have a ropeway — connecting Godowlia with Cantt Railway Station — making it the first in the country to have a ropeway for commuting inside the city.

“The development, particularly of the Kashi Vishwanath Corridor, has come as a blessing. The consistent flow of tourists has helped us set up a thriving homestay business,” says 24-year-old Aishwarya Sharma. Though Sharmas have a saree shop in the city, this newly set up homestay at Someshwar Gali, barely 200m from the temple, is helping them earn quick money. “It’s a one-sided election. With so many infrastructure projects, it’s a hat-trick for NaMo,” says her elder brother Aakash.

A non-BJP voter till 2014, Rameshwar Kapooria, 47, who stays at Gadwali Tola in the southern assembly constituency, says, “In 10 years, change is clearly visible in Kashi. Sewage infrastructure has strengthened. Underground cabling has been done. We have new roads around the temple. Most importantly, Kashi now has a huge influx of Indian tourists. Modiji ka margin to badega hi (Modi’s margin will increase),” he says.

His 17-year-old son Garv adds, “The temple corridor has given us more money but has taken our peace. The roads are more crowded. But with Modiji giving us a cricket stadium, we are more than happy.”

For 62-year-old farmer Matroo Patel from Pahadi Gaon in Rohaniya assembly constituency, the Phulwariya four-lane bridge is a boon as it saves his time travelling to the kacheri (local court). “Modiji promised us regular power supply and he has delivered on it. Unlike before, when there was less than 10 hours of power, we now have 18-20 hours of uninterrupted power supply,” Patel says.

“Modiji has given what a Banarasi wouldn’t even have dreamt of 10 years ago,” says Kaushal Kishore Mishra, a retired professor of Banaras Hindu University (BHU), adding: “How can they think of anyone else?”

Counter View

Sitting beside Mishra at the famous ‘Pappu Ki Adi’ is his friend Arvind Yogi. “No doubt development has taken place, but do they conform to Kashi’s spiri- tual image?” he asks.

Echoing similar sentiment, 52-year-old Jyoti Sharma, who runs a school near Manmandir ghat for six decades, says, “Itna unorganised crowd hai ab, ab bache idhar aana hi nahi chahte (No child wants to come here because of the unorganised crowds). This despite the freebies.” Sharma has a total strength of 200 students from class 1 to 8 against 650 in 2019. “But there is no other alternative to Modi here,” he adds.

A resident of Sundarpur Bridge enclave from the Varanasi Cantt seat, Anil Kumar Singh, 47, a faculty of tourism management at BHU, says, “After Modi as our MP, Varanasi has a new identity. Tourism is flourishing but Kashi is now facing a management crisis. It’s time to put a check on the capacity to save Varanasi.”

PM’s Rivals

Congress’s Ajay Rai, a five-time MLA, started his political journey with BJP, but quit the party after he was denied a ticket to contest LS polls in 2009. He contested against Modi in 2014 and 2019 but finished third both times. In 2019, Samajwadi Party candidate Shalini Yadav stood second with 1.9 lakh votes while Rai got over 1.5 lakh. This time, Rai is being backed by SP. Its chief Akhilesh Yadav held a joint rally with Rahul Gandhi in Rai’s support, while Dimple Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi took out a roadshow.

“Our cadres and members of the INDIA bloc are working in unison to oust Modi. The people of Kashi are supporting me with their whole heart,” Rai poses a brave front. A Janata Party veteran, Athar Jamal Lari, who contested his first elections in 1984, is the BSP candidate. As many as 55 contenders, including mimicry artiste Shyam Rangeela, had queued up to contest against Modi, but just six contenders are in the fray now.

A Tale of Two Padma Awardees

Sitarist Pt Shivnath Mishra and his son Debvrat Mishra, who carry forward the tradition, now have disciples from all over the country and abroad. “Not so long ago, we would get meagre remunerations and people were wary of sending their children to Varanasi because of the scary stories about law and order, and crime,” Debvrat, fondly called Debu, says. “Even I wanted to move to the US or the UK. I was getting enough offers. But things have changed now. I am getting remuneration on a par with global standards and I’m travelling world over to perform,” he says.

Pt Mishra, 81, backs his son. “Modiji has done so much for the city and the country. He should continue doing the good work,” says the maestro, who represents Banaras Gharana of music. He served the music department of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University and was conferred Padma Shri in 2022.

Rajeshwar Acharya is a Hindustani classical vocalist and a jal tarang player. In 2019, he was conferred the Padma Shri. “While there are a lot of positive changes in Varanasi, I will talk of some basic ones. Earlier, I had to pay the municipal workers to get the garbage lifted. Now, you can see a clean road outside my house. Also, Modiji’s Swachh Bharat has instilled a sense of self-discipline in all.”

Then, on a cue, he switches over to something even more basic. “Till 10 years ago, women in villages avoided drinking water after sundown to avoid going to the toilet as it would mean going out in the open. Only those who have lived through such an ordeal can appreciate the transformation Modi’s toilets have brought. He was the target of much ridicule. People would say a PM is made for bigger things and he was talking about toilets,” he points out, sitting at his house near Assi Ghat.

Argumentative Banarasi

Pappu ki Adi, the famous tea joint, is a microcosm of the city and its free spirit. A few evenings before the city was to vote, a group of teachers were talking to mediapersons about the city’s metamorphosis.

“Had any person in Varanasi imagined that it would get a ropeway to commute?” asks K K Mishra. His buddy, Arvind Yogi counters, “City doesn’t need a ropeway, but a pathway.”

Pankaj Singh, a third from the group, explains: “Everyone here will vote for Modi. Plain and simple. They have accepted the development model. But don’t force a Banarasi into an argument by harping on the same thing again and again. They will start countering you.” Then he gives a parting line: “Chup chaap, kamal chhap (Silently, vote for lotus).”

Four contestants square off in Amritsar, voters caught in a circle of confusion

Yudhvir Rana | TNN

Amritsar: This prestigious seat that has in the past seen heavyweights bite the dust — remember former Union FM Arun Jaitley’s loss to Captain Amarinder Singh in 2014? — is caught between four corners in these Lok Sabha polls. While the final winner will be known only on June 4, what seems to be reigning at present in Amritsar is confusion.

Here’s why. The Lok Sabha seat has mostly switched hands between Congress and BJP for the past several elections. However, BJP, which has had the backing of Shiromani Akali Dal since 1996, is contesting on its own this time while the Akalis have interestingly fielded a Hindu candidate — BJP turncoat Anil Joshi — from the seat that has a mix of Hindu population in urban areas and a Sikh majority in rural pockets. BJP, in turn, has nominated a senior diplomat, former US ambassador Taranjit Singh Sandhu, who has a strong Akali lineage.

Congress is betting on its sitting MP Gurjeet Aujla while the fourth player in the game, AAP, has named cabinet minister Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal.

As election campaigning reached its climax, this four-cornered contest in Amritsar is growing intense as well as intriguing with each candidate confident of his victory. This has added to the confusion of the undecided voters for whom evaluating the right candidate has become a complex task, said Mehal Singh, principal of Amritsar’s Khalsa College.

The think tanks of all major parties here have their own calculations as they meticulously analyse which vote bank they need to secure a win. However, all agree that the victory margin this time will be narrower due to the quadrangular contest.

“No doubt, BJP has fielded an intellectual and former diplomat to represent Amritsar, but due to the farmers’ protest, its candidates across the state are facing opposition in the rural areas, which is certainly not good for the party,” Singh said.

Sandhu’s grandfather Teja Singh Samundari was at the forefront of the Gurdwara Reform Movement and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) headquarters in the Harmandar Sahib complex is named after him.

“While Congress and AAP are in opposition in Punjab, at the nation- al level they are part of the INDIA bloc, causing voters to feel betrayed. SAD may lose part of its vote bank and is struggling to impress voters. The situation would have been different if BJP and SAD had contested as allies,” Singh added.

In 2022, AAP swept the Punjab assembly polls riding a widespread public sentiment against SAD, Congress and BJP. However, the current situation is different, says political commentator Ravinder Singh.

“AAP lacks the same level of support this time, so it is widely believed that its vote share will be divided. The outcome will largely depend on the candidate. Dhaliwal and Aujla have their report cards to show; Joshi boasts of the work done during his term as a minister while Sandhu is selling dreams but has his work to show during his tenure as Indian ambassador to the US,” said Ravinder Singh.

Star campaigners from all political parties visited Amritsar, with Rahul Gandhi and Sachin Pilot from Congress addressing rallies.

PM Narendra Modi held a rally in support of BJP candidates, including Sandhu, in Gurdaspur. Both AAP and SAD lack a long list of star campaigners. AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann have held rallies and roadshows here while the Badal clan was the only star campaigner for Joshi.

The border district of Amritsar faces significant challenges due to cross-border drug smuggling and widespread drug abuse among the youth and women. All candidates have pledged to eradicate this menace and claim to have plans to tackle the issue, though a majority of constituents regard these promises as just poll rhetoric.

In addition to opening a VFS Global Application Centre and an American consulate in Amritsar, as well as developing infrastructure such as a sky train from the railway station to Golden Temple and Durgiana Mandir extending to the airport, Sandhu has outlined an elaborate plan for the overall development of the constituency.

Sandhu has declared a “war on drugs” and announced plans to establish a leading drug rehabilitation centre in Amritsar that will offer free medicines. Furthermore, he aims to secure a special economic package for Amritsar’s 450th anniversary celebration in 2027.

Aujla has pledged to raise the minimum wage for workers to Rs 400 and reform industrial and labour laws to restore the balance between labour and capital investment. In his political rallies, he addressed gender discrimination and workplace inequality, advocating equal access to economic opportunities. He also promised to enforce the principle of equal work for equal pay to prevent wage discrimination against women.

Undeterred by the absence of overt support in favour of AAP, Dhaliwal asserts that the party’s performance speaks for itself and assures continued good work. He acknowledges that the border belt of Punjab is severely affected by the drug menace but claims that AAP has made significant strides in combating its smuggling, as evidenced by police recoveries.

Joshi claims the people of Amritsar constituency lack basic facilities, as neither the AAP govt in Punjab nor the local MP has made any effort in this direction. In his rallies, Joshi promises to uplift the standard of living, provide potable water, eliminate garbage dumps, improve law and order, and create job opportunities for the youth.

Aujla has faced internal conflict within Congress, with some members not fully supporting him. However, these differences were eventually resolved. Similar scenarios were observed in AAP, SAD, and BJP, especially among the groups of ticket aspirants who also took some time to align with the decision of their respective parties.

Adding colour to the proceedings, sitting Sangrur MP Simranjit Singh Mann has nominated his son, Emaan Singh Mann, to corner panthic votes, especially those opposed to the Akalis led by Badals.

Balasore pins hopes on polls to rocket it towards better days

Hemanta.Pradhan@timesgroup.com

Balasore: Apart from the defence ministry’s missile testing facility, Balasore, a constituency in Odisha bordering West Bengal, is known for its industries. However, with many factories and MSME units in the area tottering, the development of the industrial sector becomes a hot topic during every elections only to be forgotten after voting.

A BJP turncoat in BJD mantle is up against two former Union ministers, from Congress and the saffron party.

BJP candidate Pratap Chandra Sarangi’s simplicity, BJD nominee Lekhasri Samantsinghar’s people connect, and Congress veteran Shrikanta Jena’s experience are drawing crowds to their campaign events. Interestingly, both Jena and Sarangi have represented this constituency and served in the UPA and the Modi ministries, respectively. Adding to the plot, three-time BJP MP Kharabela Swain is seeking mandate as an Independent.

Balasore constituency comprises seven assembly segments: Balasore, Remuna, Jaleswar, Bhograi, Basta, and Nilgiri in Balasore district, and Badasahi in Mayurbhanj district. Congress has won the seat nine times and BJP on four occasions, including in 2019. BJD had the last laugh in 2014.

Sitting MP Sarangi believes people want change and will bring BJP to power both in Odisha and at Centre. He highlights the need to address corruption, hooliganism, and the lack of development in sectors such as agriculture, education, health, and drinking water. Sarangi also emphasises the importance of reviving closed industries and MSMEs in the region.

“Balasore is famous for ‘dhana (paddy), pana (betel leaf), and mina (fish)’. BJD govt could not add value to any of these sectors. People are compelled to leave the state to eke out a living. Democracy in the state is in danger. Irrigation facilities are in doldrums despite having rivers. Farmers need support,” Sarangi said.

Former state BJP vice-president Lekhasri, who joined BJD recently, criticised the two former Union ministers for not delivering goods. She has prepared a manifesto for the economic transformation of Balasore, focusing on developing the region as an MSME hub, logistics centre, and an IT services hub. Lekhasri also stressed the need to treat agriculture as an industry to increase farmers’ income.

“What BJD promises, it delivers in time. This time, we are getting a very good response from the people of Balasore. Development of this constituency is my priority. I am com- mitted to work towards achieving all the sustainable development goals for my area. I am reaching out to all voters of Balasore with this approach,” the BJD nominee said.

Jena, who has worked with former chief minister Biju Patnaik, said no new industry has been set up in Balasore while the existing ones were struggling. He highlighted the potential of the CIPET-Centre for Skilling and Technical Support (CSTS) and the software technology park in Balasore, which were set up during the UPA govt. Jena also criticised the state govt’s industrial policy which she said has failed to support small-scale industries and emphasised the need to utilise the region’s land, water, long coast, and tourism potential for growth.

“There is no remarkable improvement in the irrigation facility in Balasore. An old canal, the coast canal of the British era, if revived, will help industries, transport of minerals, pisciculture, and agriculture in several districts including Balasore. A big asset has been left idle,” he said.

Residents are seeking better irrigation facilities, employment opportunities, quality education, and healthcare services. Ramanath Panda, a 41-year-old farmer, expressed concerns about the lack of irrigation facilities in the constituency.

“There is huge untapped potential for irrigation. If the irrigation issue is solved, farmers’ income will increase. People go outside the state in search of employment because we do not have any jobs here. Industries are winding up their operations. Politicians promise many things, but they do not fulfil them once they are elected,” he said. Social activist Pankaj Jena, 48, said the standard of govt school education has been falling. Large hospital buildings were constructed but there are no doctors there,” he said.

The largest city in northern Odisha and a significant urban hub, Balasore also houses the Integrated Test Range (ITR) of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). ITR boasts missile testing facilities at two locations: Chandipur in Balasore district and Abdul Kalam Island (Wheeler Island) in the adjacent Bhadrak district.

The expansive Chandipur range is equipped with advanced technical facilities and features three distinct missile launch complexes, enabling DRDO to conduct comprehensive testing and evaluation of various missile systems.

From a Congress-CPI bastion in its early days, Balasore has voted for Janata Dal, BJP and BJD in the past. Congress won the seat six times, the last being in 2009. BJP won the seat four times while CPI won twice and BJD only once in 2014.

Punjab sinking, youth eye flight with visa power

Himanshi.Dhawan@timesgroup.com

Amritsar/Jalandhar/Ludhiana: At Gurdwara Shaheedan Baba Nihal Singhji in Talhan village, about 13km from Jalandhar in Punjab, the dreams of those who want to go abroad and start a new life are pinned on a plastic wing and a prayer at ‘hawaijahaj wale gurdware’ (airplane gurdwara).

In a state where the measure of one’s success depends on how many of your relatives are ‘NRIs’ (non-resident Indians), the gurdwara gets thousands of toy planes every day which are later distributed to children who visit the shrine.

While the gurdwara has never claimed any such divine powers to issue visas, believers like Ravinder Kaur from Raya city in Amritsar district keep hoping for a miracle. Her nephew’s visa has been rejected thrice by Canadian authorities. He filed his fourth application for a tourist visa in the morning and Ravinder brought him to the gurdwara, an hour away from their home, for blessings. “He is a plumber. He has all the required documents and has even shown property in his name. But he has been unlucky so far. I thought coming to the gurdwara will help,” said Ravinder.

She has reasons to be hopeful. Her son had applied for a visa to Australia and Canada in 2019 and visited the gurdwara. “He got acceptance letters from both. He settled for Canada and works as a cab driver there,” said Kaur. Now all her children, two sons and a daughter, are in Canada or Australia. She says the travel agency in her city sells 150-200 air tickets every month to these two countries.

Talhan lies in the Doaba region known as Punjab’s NRI belt. Every street corner advertises English language exams like IELTS necessary for admission in foreign universities. Agencies pitch their “visa first, pay later” or “full family visa guaranteed” schemes through billboards, insta reels and YouTube videos. There are tall promises of converting tourist visas into a work permit, “full packages” that include admission in a college to getting a job that costs several lakhs.

But the harsh truth is that not everyone is flying high. For every successful application, there are thousands that are rejected. So, how about those who are left behind?

Punjab, once the poster boy of the country’s success in self-reliance, has crashed and burnt, and how. According to a study, the state’s agriculture grew by 5% from 1971 to 1986 even as Indian agriculture grew at 2.3%. Between 2006 and 2014-15, its output grew by only 1.6% while India averaged 3.5%. It has stagnated since then. The state’s GDP too has nosedived. It topped all states in 1981 and was ranked fourth in 2001. It is currently ranked 16 with a GDP of about Rs 8 lakh crore.

With agricultural growth stagnating, few youngsters want to become farmers. Salvinder Singh, a farmer from Ajnala’s Jagdeep Khurd village, an hour away from Amritsar, admits there are no young men left in his village. “There is no work.

Agniveer scheme has blocked their chances for an army job. Farming cannot sustain our families anymore. Whoever could afford it have sent their children abroad. In frustration, children are tempted to take chitta (drugs),” he said.

Most young people feel ignored by po- litical leaders and frustrated by the lack of employment opportunities in the country. Industry too has given Punjab the miss. Once famous for production of sports goods, Ludhiana’s industry has slowly withered away. Federation Of Punjab Small Industries Associations president Bandish Jindal says states like UP, Gujarat and Andhra Pradesh have beaten Punjab by providing cheap land, labour, and power. “The input costs in Punjab are so high that they make our products unviable,” he says. If competition from Chinese products was not enough, closure of trade with Pakistan has also hit businesses badly. Farm protests have created supply problems.

In an example of how states have leaped forward in progress where Punjab has barely crawled, Jindal says GST collection in Haryana and Punjab in 2016 was Rs 17,000 crore and Rs 16,200 crore, respectively. “Now Haryana has a collection of Rs 80,000 crore whereas we are at Rs 20,000 crore,” he says.

This is also reflected in govt data for 2022-23 that recorded an unemployment rate of 6.7% in the state as compared to the national average of 3.4%.

Lack of employment opportunities is a major talking point in every poll rally, but whether it is BJP, Congress or AAP, there is a public perception that these are empty promises and little has changed on the ground.

Twenty-four-year-old Ishika (uses one name) who is pursuing post graduation in Punjabi language in Amritsar, is already worried. “I still have a year to complete my studies but the thought of getting a job is so stressful. There appears to be no options for young people who have stayed back,” she says. Ishika’s brother and her cousin have moved to Russia and Canada, respectively, and are unlikely to come back.

In Jalandhar’s Model Town, 22-year-old Neha (uses one name), who started as a sales staffer soon after finishing school, was lucky enough to find a job but without much of a future. As she folds clothes and hangs them back in their racks, she knows she will never be able to afford the international brand she works 12 hours for. She can see the gleaming SUVs zipping past her on the road outside. “My husband is also in a sales job and we both work long hours but there is hardly enough to meet expenses and there is no scope for growth,” she says.

Neha tried her luck and filled forms for the police and railway recruitment exams but was not successful. Every year, lakhs appear for a few thousand govt posts which are quickly filled up.

Punjab Travel Agents Association former president Kuldip Singh Hayer, who runs Universal Travels in Jalandhar city, says, “Degrees in India, whether public or private colleges, are easily available but they have no value. Unemployment is so high that despite challenges like large amounts of money required, people are desperate to go overseas.” The recent capping of visas by Canada for instance is likely to hit students who desire to go abroad. Attacks on students and stories of hostility towards Indians haven’t helped.

Ishika says, “Politicians don’t talk about jobs and even when they make promises, they rarely ever come through. Can you blame anyone if the line at the IELTS coaching centre is longer than the one at school?” she asks.

In Diamond Harbour, Trinamool expects its ‘ratna’ to shine again

Dwaipayan.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

Diamond Harbour: The rise of Diamond Harbour in West Bengal’s political map in the last decade has been intertwined with the phenomenal growth of its MP Abhishek Banerjee in Bengal politics.

From a novice in 2014 to Trinamool Congress’s general secretary and No.2 in 2024, the political strides of Banerjee have also seen Diamond Harbour, a former Left bastion, elect him with a 3.2 lakh margin in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The 2021 assembly polls gave Banerjee further cushion, with Trinamool winning all seven segments in the Lok Sabha constituency.

“I’m contesting an election. I’m not an astrologer. I can’t predict the future, but I have left no stone unturned in serving people.... I’m hopeful and optimistic that the margin that Diamond Harbour gave me last time will increase further and people will continue to shower their love and blessings on us as we have worked hard in the last 10 years,” Banerjee said.

Courtesy Banerjee, there is the ‘Diamond Harbour model’ — a mix of welfare schemes for the elderly and others, health facilities and educational initiatives. It had become the talking point in the state during Covid. In the last 10 years, projects worth Rs 5,580 crore were implemented in Diamond Harbour constituency, Banerjee claimed, saying it would be replicated statewide.

Since his 2019 Lok Sabha poll win, Banerjee has emerged as the ‘general’ in Trinamool ranks. During the highly successful 2021 assembly poll campaign, he devised the party strategy and anchored the campaign with his aunt and Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee. He also played a key role in the party’s success in the municipal and panchayat polls, in 2022 and 2023, respectively.

While campaigning for Banerjee in Metiabruz on Wednesday, Mamata recollected: “I had promised Abhishek that I would visit his constituency once. Abhishek has been in politics since he was two years old when CPM attacked me. He saw me and would chant slogans seeking answers from CPM for attacking me. These CPM goons have become the leaders of the BJP.”

A day before, women and men had gathered on both sides of Sarisha Cross- ing braving the scorching sun to get a glimpse of Banerjee during a roadshow. Nearly one-and-a-half hours later, he arrived sitting atop his MUV and was greeted with ululation and the blowing of conch shells. Banerjee, the politician, is also a youth icon here. “The younger ones have his hairstyle and wear white kurtapyjamas and spectacles like him,” said Ratanpur farmer Rehan Ali, who travelled 5km to watch Banerjee.

On the other hand, the opposition campaign, beset with rumblings, has been a late starter in Diamond Harbour. Despite multiple claims by key partner Indian Secular Front’s Nawsad Siddiqui, the only MLA of the Left-Congress alliance in the 2021 assembly elections, that he would contest against Banerjee, the party finally nominated Majnu Laskar as its candidate. CPM had already nominated Pratikur Rahaman as its candidate. BJP took more than a month to name Abhijit Das.

Diamond Harbour has around 55% Hindus and 35% Muslims voters. SCs comprise 20.6%, and STs 0.1% of the electorate. As much as 51% of its voters are staying in urban zones.

Like any other Lok Sabha seat, Diamond Harbour too has issues plaguing it. Opposition alleges “a climate of threat and intimidation”.

Residents complain of water scarcity issues, waterlogging and most importantly, of shut industries on the urban stretches at Satgachia, Maheshtala or Budge Budge.

Perhaps it is nowhere more evident than at Budge Budge, an old settlement dotted with jute mills, oil companies, and small industrial units. A lot of high-rises have come up on old industrial premises on the Budge Budge Road from Dakghar to Budge Budge via Maheshtala.

“TMC is propagating a model of coercion and undemocratic practices. The way voters are being intimidated is unacceptable in a democracy. It is not a model for development, but a laboratory of violence,” said BJP’s Das. The party had a sizable 34% vote share in the last elections.

CPM state committee member Pratikur, 33, dismisses claims of being intimidated by Banerjee’s stature.

“I am not fighting against any individual. My fight is against the policies of TMC and BJP,” he claimed. “They are trying to polarise elections on religious grounds. Our fight is not for caste or religion but for class. They cannot stop me with violence. I will fight back hard,” Rahaman said.

Will Mirzapur roll out ‘kaleen’ thrice in a row for Anupriya?

Shalabh & Arvind Chauhan | TNN

Mirzapur: Mirzapur, made famous by the OTT series, has never given an incumbent MP a third term. Anupriya Patel, 43, the sitting MP since 2014 and the candidate from Apna Dal (Sonelal), an NDA constituent, is aiming to break the jinx this time. Anupriya’s main contender is BJP turncoat and sitting MP from neighbouring Bhadohi seat, Ramesh Chand Bind, 50, who has entered the fray from SP after being denied the ticket in his constituency.

Mirzapur comprises five assembly segments — Chhanbey, Mirzapur, Majhawan, Chunar and Marihaan. While gun-toting mafia dons like ‘Kaleen Bhaiya’ are limited to reel life, the real-life kaleen (carpet) traders are keen on an MP who can address their business concerns. Rajesh Kumar, vice-president of All India Carpet Manufacturers’ Association, says: “The one district, one product scheme has certainly created a brand value for Bhadohi-Mirzapur carpets, but the industry is not getting the support it needs. Incentives have been rolled back and additional compliances and regulations introduced in recent years have impacted the business.”

SP candidate Bind has an uphill task to consolidate voters beyond Muslims, Yadavs and Binds. The three communities account for about five lakh votes. Although Bind has deep roots in politics — he was BSP MLA from Majhawan, dominated by Binds, Dalits and Brahmins, for three consecutive terms (2002, 2007 and 2012) — he has also been mired in controversies for making inappropriate remarks against upper castes.

Water, A Deciding Factor

For Mirzapur, the driest region in Uttar Pradesh, the shortage of water — both potable and non-potable — is one of the main election issues. Farmers in Mirzapur — which sits by the Ganga — rely heavily on monsoon-fed dams and reservoirs for agriculture. Presence of red sandstone and rocky terrain make drilling of borewells difficult in this region.

The sluice gates of the reservoir, which is the primary source of irrigation in more than three dozen villages of Marihaan sub-division of Mirzapur, were last raised during 2022 Rabi season. The starting point of the canal near the gates has now dried up and algae has covered its bed.

Baba Yadav, a local resident and a worker of Apna Dal (Sonelal) faction, says: “For the past two years, we have been struggling in every cropping season as no water comes through the canal. In remote areas of Mirzapur, every family depends on agriculture for livelihood. Ahead of the paddy cultivation in Jan and Feb, power supply was also irregular because of which borewells could not be operated.” Yadav adds that he has been unable to convey these concerns to the party brass due to lack of access.

Caste Matrix In Poll Play

Scheduled Caste voters, who account for 26% of the 19 lakh electors, can be the deciding factor for any party in Mirzapur. Half of them are Jatavs, old loyalists of BSP, which has fielded Manish Kumar Tripathi in the seat. Mirzapur also has a higher population of Kol voters compared to Pasis.

OBCs, particularly Patels, constitute the largest chunk in the district and are expected to stand by Anupriya firmly for the third time. Rajesh Patel, a businessman in Rajgarh development block of Chunar, says, “I will support Anupriya because she is our community leader and a minister. Her margin may drop but she will sail through.” Patel, however, adds: “No steps were taken when we needed water and electricity for our crops in Jan and Feb. Water crisis is perennial and we hope Anupriya will find a permanent solution in her third term.”

Backing SP’s Bind, Mithlesh Prajapati from Danti village of Majhawan says, “Bulldozers were used to bring down houses of 40 rural families in Danti in Jan last year. Nobody paid heed to our pleas, and it is time to teach a lesson to the local MLA and MP.” Local administration had identified the land in Danti for setting up a university and razed the houses to clear the land. However, the project was later shifted to Deori Kalan.

The Underdog

Unlike Kaushambi, Fatehpur and some parts of Bundelkhand where Patels split up between Apna Dal (S) and its rival faction Apna Dal (Kamerawadi), the community stands united behind Anupriya in Mirzapur. However, Apna Dal (K) is also putting up a fight and has fielded 71-year-old Daulat Ram Patel — a retired maths professor, a former pradhan and a socialist associated with both SP and Congress — from Mirzapur. He has been instrumental in providing employment to youths in Chunar through his company which converts biomass into biofuels. Along with BSP’s Brahmin candidate Manish Tripathi, Daulat might shrink Anupriya’s vote bank.

Urban Voters

Urban voters in Mirzapur say work on the upcoming Vindhyavasini shrine corridor, proposed investment projects and improved connectivity through national highways might go in favour of the BJPApna Dal (S) alliance. Shyam Kumar Dubey, who runs a battery shop near Mirzapur railway station, says, “You should have seen the railway station earlier to realise what has changed. The only issue which I can recollect was frequent closure of the Lal Bahadur Shastri bridge (pucca pul) over the Ganga during the past three years for repair works.”

In Premchand’s birthplace Lamhi, change is on view, and in the air

Avijit.Ghosh@timesgroup.com

Lamhi: Poised roughly 10km from Varanasi, Lamhi could have been another faceless village of east Uttar Pradesh. But as the birthplace of Hindi-Urdu litterateur Munshi Premchand, it is both celebrated and privileged. Only, it is no longer a village, either by looks or designation.

Over the years, especially in the last decade, north India’s premier temple town has swelled and swallowed nearby areas. Lamhi is now part of Varanasi’s Nagar Nigam (municipal corporation). “We wanted the ward to be named after Premchand. But it didn’t happen,” says former pradhan Santosh Singh.

Little surprise, real estate prices have soared. “From roughly Rs 10-12 lakh about a decade ago, a biswa (1,360 sq ft) costs anywhere between Rs 40 lakh and Rs 80 lakh now, depending on the locality. You could rent a single room for as little as Rs 300 per month. Now it is Rs 2,500,” he says.

Lamhi has a panchayat bhavan, a post office, a primary school and a primary health centre. Small entrepreneurs are active. Beauty parlours, dry-cleaners, hardware stores, cosmetics and jewellery shops have also sprung up. Fresh advertisements of cement, private hospitals and coaching classes garnish the village walls. Premchand’s realistic novels and stories captured the song and suffering of rural India like few before or after. One wonders how the writer would have reacted to the change.

Nearly 90 years after his death, Premchand too is all over Lamhi. The gateway to the village bears his memory. A memorial with a marble bust, a dormant research and study centre affiliated to Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and a pond are named after the ex-village’s illustrious son.

Lamhi is part of Chandauli Lok Sabha constituency. Patels (OBCs by caste) form roughly half the village’s population. The Patel percentage was higher but with other castes such as Brahmins building homes here in recent years, the larger caste demographic has altered. Kayasthas roughly form 10%. Premchand was a Kayastha; his real name being Dhanpat Rai Srivastav. Muslims, Dalits, Kumhars, Rajbhars and Thakurs make up the rest. The village has about 2,600 votes.

Chandauli has been fickle in choosing political sides: Samajwadi Party (1999), Bahujan Samaj Party (2004), and SP again in (2009). But the last two terms (2014 and 2019) were claimed by BJP’s Mahendra Nath Pandey, the 62-year-old former Union minister who holds a doctorate in Hindi from BHU.

By all accounts, Pandey was on an unsure wicket in the previous elections, till Pulwama happened. The Feb 2019 terror strike left 40 CRPF soldiers dead. One of them, Awadesh Kumar Yadav, was from Chandauli district. Some others were born in nearby east Uttar Pradesh areas of Deoria and Maharajganj. The dastardly attack changed the public mood. Several demonstrations were staged. Pandey prevailed by 14,000 votes; in 2014, he had romped home by 1.6 lakh votes.

In the recent past, most Patels have preferred BJP, which is in alliance with Anupriya Patel’s Apna Dal (S). Surendra Patel, who runs a hardware store, says a majority of Patels are still with BJP but, this time, quite a few will vote for others. “Not many like the BJP candidate. SP’s Birender Singh is more accessible and people-oriented,” he says. Birendra, a 65-year-old science graduate, is a former MLA.

Ajay Gupta, who runs a small grocery store, says his family will vote for Modi. “Mehngai hai par vikas bhi hai (There’s price rise, but development too),” he reasons. Mohd Sabir, whose family has received free grains and benefited from a subsidy for toilet construction some time back, differs. The 23-year-old driver talks about mehngai (price rise) and how examination paper leaks are a major issue for students. “There are about 250 Muslim votes in the village. Most will vote for SP,” he says.

Aiedhe village is contiguous to Lamhi. A group of Dalits sitting near Sant Shiromani Guru Ravidas Mandir are playing cards on a charpoy. They are annoyed with the Union govt. “Govt schools are no good and private ones are too expensive. How do we compete in this unequal world?” asks Rajesh Kumar. The Dalits are not happy with Mayawati either, especially the way she has handled the ‘political successor’ issue. “She should have discussed the subject with more seniors,” says Manish Kumar, an ITI student. The disappointments aside, most Dalits will vote for the 50-yearold BSP candidate Satendra Kumar Maurya. Like Akansha, a girl filling water from a hand pump.

Suresh Chandra Dube, who looks after the Premchand memorial, says people want Modi to stay. “But unemployment and price rise worry them. Log mayoos hain (people are despondent),” he says.

In a small room in the memorial, the writer’s books, photos and memorabilia are on display. The items include his personal hookah (smoking pipe). One black and white photo shows him with fellow Hindi litterateur Jaishankar Prasad; in another he is sitting in a chair with his wife. Premchand, who spent his last years in deprivation, is seen wearing torn shoes which later prompted a much-discussed essay by noted writer Harishankar Parsai.

Godan and Nirmala are among Premchand’s finest novels. Shatranj Ke Khiladi, the subject of a 1978 Satyajit Ray film, Kafan and Idgah are among his greatest stories. “All copies of his book, Soz-e-Watan, were burnt by the British. Premchand was a patriot and a reformer,” says Dube. What saddens him is that the research institute is now defunct. “There are no books, teachers, research scholars or sanitation workers. Only the security guards come and go,” he says.

Times Business

- Sun Pharma, DRL recall drugs in US

- Card, online frauds surge 5x to `1.5k cr in FY24: RBI

- FY25 forecast: 7% growth, 4.5% inflation

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Sun Pharma, DRL recall drugs in US

New Delhi: Sun Pharma and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories are recalling products in the American market due to manufacturing issues, the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA) has said.

In its latest Enforcement Report, the US health regulator stated that a US-based unit of Sun Pharma is recalling 35,069 bottles of medication used to treat high pressure inside the eye due to glaucoma or other eye diseases. New Jersey-based Sun Pharmaceutical Industries is recalling the affected lot of Xelpros (latanoprost ophthalmic emulsion) due to “out of specification for particulate matter test”. The company initiated the voluntary Class III recall in the US on April 22 this year, the US FDA stated.

In a separate filing, the US FDA said that a US-based arm of Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is recalling 1,176 bottles of an immunosuppressant medication. Dr Reddy’s Laboratories is recalling the affected lot of Sirolimus Tablets due to “failed impurities/degradation specifications”, it said. The company initiated the Class III recall on May 1, 2024.

AGENCIES

Card, online frauds surge 5x to `1.5k cr in FY24: RBI

Pvt Lenders Report Higher Cases But PSBs Lose More Overall

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Online payments have grown at a fast clip in recent years but frauds in such transactions have grown faster. Credit card and online frauds have increased 425% to Rs 1,457 crore FY24 from Rs 277 crore in the year-ago period.

The number of such frauds has risen 334% to 29,082 during the same period. Card and UPI payments rose nearly 40% to just over Rs 224 lakh crore in FY24.

According to RBI’s annual report, over the last three years, private sector banks reported the maximum number of frauds due to cybercrimes. However, overall, it was public sector banks that contributed the most in value terms as a result of their corporate loans.

The number of bank frauds have gone from 9,046 in FY22 to 13,564 in FY23, rising an additional 165% to 36,075 in FY24. Private banks saw a 69% increase in fraud cases to 8,979 in FY23 from 4,312 in FY22. In FY24, they rose by 169% to 24,210.

The number of frauds in the private sector alone have increased 355% to 24,210 in FY24 from 5,312 in FY22. In volume terms, the majority of frauds have occurred in the digital payments (card/ internet) category, while in terms of value, frauds have been primarily reported in the loan portfolio (advances category). However, there was a 46.7% decline in the amount involved in the total frauds reported in FY24, which fell to Rs 13,930 crore from Rs 26,127 crore in FY23.

A majority of online frauds are phishing scams, where the account holder is tricked into providing sensitive information or making payments to fraudsters impersonating another individual. Govt has launched the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal to enable quick reporting of such cases. A toll-free helpline — 1930 — has been operationalised to get assistance.

RBI also plans to establish a cyber range to enhance response to cyber incidents for scheduled commercial banks and improve supervisory capabilities with SupTech (supervisory technology) data tools for micro-data analytics and other applications using AI and machine learning as part of its Utkarsh 2.0 initiative for 2024-25.

Meanwhile, the number of fake currency notes in circulation dropped from 2.3 lakh in FY23 to 2.2 lakh in FY24. The withdrawal of the Rs 2,000 notes has led to an increase in the number of fake notes detected, which rose to 26,035 from 9,806 last year.

In FY22, banks reported 3,596 cases of credit card and internet fraud amounting to Rs 155 crore. This number increased to 6,699 cases with a value of Rs 277 crore in FY23. FY24 saw a major jump, with cases rising to 29,082 and the amount rising to Rs 1,457 crore.

FY25 forecast: 7% growth, 4.5% inflation

Reforms Agenda: Eyes On Default Provisions, Climate Risks

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai:RBI has forecast 7% GDP growth for the current fiscal, with inflation settling at 4.5%. In its FY24 annual report, RBI said the Indian economy is successfully navigating adverse global macroeconomic and financial environments. The projections for FY25 come a week before the MPC’s meeting between June 5 and 7 — days after the general election results.

“Real GDP growth is robust, supported by solid investment demand, healthy balance sheets of banks and corporates, govt’s focus on capital expenditure, and prudent monetary, regulatory, and fiscal policies,” the report said. At 7%, India will remain among the fastestgrowing economies in the current fiscal.

In its agenda for FY25, RBI said there will be tightening of norms requiring banks to make provisions based on expected defaults, norms to tackle climate risks and conducting a review of the grievance redressal mechanism.

It has asked banks to address trading and banking book risks, and diversify deposit sources to mitigate risks associated with interest rate fluctuations.

RBI is also developing a framework to identify, assess, and manage climate risks. The regulatory approach will be principle-based and activity-oriented, moving away from an entity-specific focus to better address systemic risks.

Future initiatives inclu- de the establishment of a large cloud (data storage) facility for the Indian financial sector and the creation of a fintech repository, which are expected to enhance operational efficiency, reduce complexity, and promote financial innovations.

To enhance customer service and ensure public confidence in the financial system, RBI plans to embed artificial intelligence in its complaint management system (CMS). A review of the grievance redressal systems of lenders is also in the offing.

During 2024-25, RBI will review priority sector len- ding guidelines and work towards formulating the next iteration of the National Strategy for Financial Inclusion (NSFI) for 2025-30.

The regulations under review include income recognition and asset classification norms, guidelines for project finance, and instructions on interest rates on advances.

On the digital currency front, RBI has said that it will increase the number of projects for the digital rupee both in retail and wholesale segment.

The central payments fraud information registry (CPFIR) will be extended to more banks to improve payment fraud reporting. A riskbased authentication mechanism will be implemented as an alternative to SMSbased OTPs for additional factor authentication. RBI will also explore fast payment systems and multilateral inter-linkages with groups like the EU and SAARC.

Multiple fintech self-regulatory bodies on anvil?

Mumbai: RBI has indicated that it will recognise multiple entities as self-regulatory organisation in the fintech segment. The central bank on Thursday released the final guidelines for the fintech self-regulatory organisation (SROFT), which will operate under its oversight. “RBI intends to initiate the process of recognising SRO(s)... The name(s) of applicant(s) found eligible for the “recognition” will be published on the website of RBI,” it said in a statement.

According to the guidelines the SRO-FT will be a non-profit organisation and draw strength from a diverse membership that includes various fintech businesses but excludes banks.

TNN

What’s behind record `2.1L cr dividend? Drop in provisions

RBI ANNUAL REPORT

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: RBI’s record Rs 2.1 lakh crore dividend announcement last week came on the back of a 17% increase in income and 56% drop in expenses.

The fall in expenses was due to a much lower transfer to contingency provisions during FY24. As against Rs 1.3 lakh crore in FY23, only Rs 42,819 crore was transferred to the contingency fund in FY24.

Even as the size of the balance sheet expanded 11% to Rs 7 lakh crore, the 22% yearon-year increase in the value of the contingency fund to nearly Rs 4.3 lakh crore was enough to maintain the rea- lised equity at 6.5% of the balance sheet — the upper level of the range prescribed by the Bimal Jalan committee.

According to RBI’s Annual Report for 2023-24, the rise in the balance sheet on the assets side was due to increases in foreign investments, gold, and loans and advances by 13.9%, 18.26%, and 30.05% respectively. On the liabilities side, the expansion was due to increases in notes issued, deposits, and other liabilities by 3.88%, 27%, and 92.57% respectively.

RBI also reported that domestic assets made up 23.3% of total assets as of March 31, 2024, while foreign currency assets, gold (including gold deposits and gold held in India), and loans and advances to financial institutions outside India accounted for 76.7%. This compares to 26.1% and 73.9%, respectively, as of March 31, 2023.

RBI holds 822.1 metric tonnes of gold, with 308.03 metric tonnes held as backing for notes issued as of March 31, 2024. The value of gold held as asset by the issue department increased by 16.9% to Rs 1,64,604.9 crore on March 31, 2024.

Jio super-app to take on Google, Amazon

Mukesh Ambani’s Jio Financial Services has introduced a new super-app for digital banking and payment services that will take on competitors including Google and Amazon in a crowded Indian market.

The company announced the test version of its platform, JioFinance, for UPI transactions, bill settlements as well as insurance-related services. The financial arm of the conglomerate plans to expand into MF loans and mortgage lending, it said on Thursday. Ambani’s initiative comes when rival Adani Group is reportedly in talks to expand into e-commerce and payments.

BLOOMBERG

Sensex slips 617 pts as investors feel poll jitters

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Rising interest rates globally and nervousness ahead of the Lok Sabha poll results pulled the sensex down by 617 points on Thursday to close at 73,866. Foreign funds were major sellers during the session while domestic funds remained net buyers.

From its all-time high at 76,010 points recorded earlier this week, the sensex is down by more than 2,100 points. On the NSE, Nifty lost 216 points to close at 22,489. Both indices have now closed lower in the last five sessions as Dalal Street investors are now waiting for the exit poll outcome on Saturday, the last day of the seven-phase election, and the results on Tuesday, market players said.

“Nervousness ahead of the exit poll on June 1 and weak global cues continue to dent sentiments,” said Siddhartha Khemka of Motilal Oswal Financial Services. “Global mar- kets remained under pressure due to rising bond yields and denting hopes of a rate cut. We expect market volatility to heighten as we approach the general election outcome.”

Since the Lok Sabha elections started in mid-April, volatility in the Indian market has spiked. On Wednesday, India VIX, the benchmark for increase in volatility, had spiked at 24.8 — a more-than twoyear high. On Thursday, however, it moderated slightly to 24.2, NSE data showed.

In Thursday’s session, fore- ign funds were major sellers at Rs 3,050 crore net outflow while domestic institutions were net buyers at Rs 3,433 crore, BSE data showed. So far in May, foreign portfolio investors) have net sold domestic stocks worth about Rs 27,500 crore while domestic funds were net buyers at about Rs 53,600 crore, data from CDSL and BSE showed.

In a 1st, NSE drives in EV stocks index

Mumbai: NSE Indices, the index services subsidiary of the country’s largest index by turnover, on Thursday launched Nifty EV &New Age Automotive index, a new thematic benchmark that’s the first in the country for this industry segment. The top five constituents of the index are Bajaj Auto, Tata Motors, M&M, Maruti Suzuki India and Exide Industries, the index’s fact sheet showed. This index “will facilitate creation of products which will create opportunity for asset managers to invest in the electric vehicle and new-age automotive market, thereby providing an investment vehicle to investors,” Mukesh Agarwal, CEO, NSE Indices, said.

TNN

Stepped do wn as IL&FS dir ector In Dec ’13: Mistry

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: Former HDFC vice chairman Keki Mistry, who was an independent director on the board of IL&FS, has said that he stepped down as a director of the scam-tainted company on Dec 5, 2013, much before these results for the financial year were approved.

“As such, I was on board for first eight months of financial year starting April 1, 2013 but was not on the board at the time when the results for the year were approved by the directors. Commission for 2013-14 (the year when the problem started) would have been paid after the directors would have approved the accounts for the year ended March 2014, that is, during the year 2014-15 and would therefore have been reported in that years’ accounts,” he said, while responding to a TOI report on the company seeking to recover excess payment to directors.

‘IBC resolved as many cases in 7 yrs as BIFR did in 30 yrs’

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: FM Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said that the seven-year-old Insolvency & Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has helped rescue 3,171 distressed companies and assisted in the closure of unviable ones — a sharp contrast to less than 3,500 cases being resolved by the erstwhile Board of Industrial and Financial Reconstruction (BIFR) during its life of over 30 years, starting 1987.

In a social media post, the FM said the law enacted by the Modi govt has also hel- ped improve corporate governance as there is a “credible threat” that a promoter or management can lose control over a company that defaults in repaying to creditors.

Pointing to a shift towards more responsible credit behaviour, she said, up to March 2024, over 28,000 applications involving defaults of over Rs 10 lakh crore were withdrawn before their admission as companies opted to clear the dues of creditors.

FM said that the law had brought a paradigm shift in the debtor-creditor rela- tionship and provided a streamlined, one-stop solution for resolving insolvencies, while prioritising resolution over liquidation and helping preserve jobs and the value of assets.

“IBC has played a key role in helping banks recover from the NPA crisis created by @INCIndia and its allies during the UPA yearsthrough ‘phone banking’ and indiscriminate lending. IBC has built trust and transparency in the financial system,” Sitharaman tweeted, while vowing to strengthen the capacities of NCLT and NCLAT by expeditiously filling vacancies.

Govt may allow stake dilution by Chinese cos

Move To Help Them Scale FDI Wall, Expand Presence |Decision On Case-By-Case Basis

Sidhartha@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: After paving the way for joint ventures, such as, JSW-MG Motor India, govt is willing to give green light to Chinese companies to dilute their stakes in Indian ventures.

While the decision will still be on “case-by-case” basis, with security concerns being paramount, it could also lead to Xiaomi and some of the other well-known Chinese entities expanding their presence in India, sources indicated.

Since 2020, soon after the Covid-19 outbreak, govt has imposed checks on FDI from countries with land border with India — a move meant to check inflows from China — with tension at the Ladakh border resulting in even tighter scrutiny.

Unlike earlier, when Chinese companies could come through the automatic route, all investments from across the border are now vetted by govt. As a result, Chinese auto makers, like EV giant BYD, have been denied permission to expand their capital base. In fact, BYD had also proposed a joint venture with Megha Engineering, now of electoral bonds fame, but the plan was rejected by the home ministry.

In four years since the change in rules, govt has recei- ved around 450 applications from Chinese companies, of which 180 have been rejected. 70-odd got the nod, including some entities, which were seen to be crucial to ensure production of iPhones, for instance. Currently, around 200 proposals are pending with govt.

Some of the Chinese companies, which are headquartered in other countries have, however, managed to beat the checks.

Several experts have argued that govt needs to review the curbs, given that some of the Chinese entities are large players and have access to technology that can be used to manufacture in India. A dilution through the joint venture route, instead of earlier solo show by the Chinese companies may open the doors for expansion in several cases.

Govt officials have argued that Chinese products and investments are subject to scrutiny not just in India but several other parts of the world. Because of import restrictions, several companies are now locating plants in geographies close to the market.

As a result, during the JanMarch quarter, outbound FDI from China soared to an eight-year high of $33.5 billion, 13% higher than last year and the highest first quarter number since 2016, Bloomberg data showed.

Adani Green risks missing targets: Report

Co Terms Findings By London’s Snowcap ‘Factually Inaccurate’

The renewable energy unit of billionaire Gautam Adani’s empire is at risk of missing key growth targets unless it resorts to a share issue to consolidate its finances, according to a report by Londonbased Snowcap Research.

Adani Green Energy is falling short of its stated return targets, Snowcap said in a 51-page report on Thursday. The lower returns, coupled with rising debt-financing costs, mean the firm may not have sufficient funding to meet its 2030 renewable energy goal.

The company “can meet just 50% of its 50GW target funding requirement by 2030 without raising equity, despite claiming this target is ‘fully funded’,” Snowcap said. It added that Adani Green isn’t meeting a target announced in 2021 of returning 17% on capital through 2025. Based on Snowcap’s analysis, Adani Green more likely delivered an 11-12% return on capital on projects completed over the past three years — in line with the company’s peers — at a 9.5% cost of debt.

A representative for Adani Green said the com- pany “categorically rejects” the analysis published by Snowcap. “The report is baseless, factually inaccurate, and contains analytical errors and false allegations, all intended to negatively impact” the company’s share price, the representative said, adding that the management stands by its public disclosures.

Adani Green’s shares fell over 2.2% after the report was published but erased some of those losses soon after. The flagship for the group, Adani Enterprises, slipped as much as 2.6% on Thursday. Snowcap’s criticism comes more than a year after the Adani Group was jolted by allegations brought by short-seller Hindenburg Research. The USbased firm’s accusations of corruption and market manipulation initially wiped more than $150 billion off the Adani Group’s market value. Adani has repeatedly denied wrongdoing and those stock losses have largely been recouped.

Snowcap says it holds no positions in or against Adani Green, which is roughly 56% owned by units controlled by Adani.

BLOOMBERG

Oyo posts first full-year profit in FY24 at `100 crore

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Mumbai: Oyo Hotels & Homes has recorded its first profitable year in FY24, posting a net profit of nearly Rs 100 crore, founder Ritesh Agarwal said on Thursday.

“This (Jan-March quarter) was our eighth consecutive quarter of a positive ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) and we also have a cash balance of about Rs 1,000 crore,” Agarwal said in a post on X, adding that the numbers are provisional. Ebitda is a metric of operational profitability.

Oyo is among a batch of latestage startups that have been working towards reducing cash burn, building in operational efficiencies and achieving profitability. A global tech downturn and reset in startup valuations nudged companies to set their finances in order and chase prudent growth. Investors have been maintaining a cautious stance and only cutting cheques for companies which have at least been able to demonstrate a path to profitability.

Oyo recently withdrew its draft IPO papers for the second time and is negotiating with investors for a fundraise at a lower valuation. The fresh funding could be at a 70% drop from its peak valuation of $10 billion, TOIreported last week. Insiders claim that Oyo plans to refile IPO papers after refinancing its $450-million loan.

Editorial

- CONTRAPUNTO

- For Future Polls

- Good Sense Deserted Us

- Pizza queen

- Sari Or Cooker Won’t Cut It

- Bar & Bench, And Economy: Please Run In Tandem

- Sacred space

- The Future Belongs To Meritocracy

CONTRAPUNTO

Yesterday’s weirdness is tomorrow’s reason why

-HUNTER S THOMPSON

For Future Polls

Campaigning is over. EC got many things right. But there are areas it can do better

Campaigning for the final phase of Lok Sabha elections ended yesterday. Remaining 57 seats across eight states will see polling tomorrow. Regulating the 18th LS election has presented EC with unique challenges. For example, proliferation of campaigning through social media and use of deepfakes are currents of recent origin. Now, at the tail end of the world’s largest democratic exercise, there are important takeaways for EC. It must act on these, to improve the experience of all stakeholders from here on.

Polling is physical | Using Jan 1 as a reference point, the electorate’s size had already expanded since 2019 by another 72.8m to 968.8m voters. Over 18m in the 18-19 age group became eligible to vote. Voting for most requires travelling to polling booths. Evidence indicates that it’s not always been an easy experience.

For example, TOI has reportedthat for Delhi’s seven seats, there was a decline in both the number of booths and locations compared to 2019, even though the electorate had expanded by 9L. The impact of such a squeeze is unevenly spread, though it does tend to make voting harder for the elderly. Polling booths need to be in sync with changes in the electorate’s size.

Data leads to credibility | If India’s elections are credible, EC deserves most of the

credit. In a society with many fault lines, transfer of power has been smooth because of the electorate’s trust in the process. An aspect that engenders trust is timely release of data, even if this isn’t legally mandated. A former election commissioner has observed that doubt is created because of want of information.

Duration makes a difference | India’s political discourse can be coarse. During election season, it gets worse. The unusually long duration – over six weeks – meant that EC was put under a lot more pressure in terms of violations of the model code of conduct (MCC). Intense heatwaves this summer didn’t help matters.

Consistency is the key | Arguably, the hardest task is to hold politicians accountable when they violate MCC. But when a constitutional court intervenes to uphold MCC, EC’s credibility takes a knock. EC’s decisions will often be contested. But what will temper criticism is the perception that the watchdog is consistent and quick in reacting to violations.

That said, a positive takeaway in 2024 is the rise in turnout in J&K. EC deserves credit for it.

Good Sense Deserted Us

A quarter of India’s land is undergoing desertification. Stop this. Trees defend against soaring heat

One weather station in west Delhi recorded an all-time summer high of 52.9°C on Wednesday. Given relatively lower temperatures in other weather stations in Delhi, Met said it may be due to sensor error or “local factors”. Even if the record high was a notch lower, Delhi is witnessing exceptionally high temperatures. The capital is a test case for all that’s wrong with how India addresses climate adaptation and mitigation. It is the catastrophic impact of “local factors” that scientists, climatologists, environmentalists warn us about.

Under local control | Local factors are the one thing local policy controls – fighting desertification, increasing tree cover and agroforestry, green architectural practices, enforcement of environment related bylaws, use of non-heating building materials, to name a few. Turning a blind eye results in a spiral of land degradation that’s hard to stop but it’s harder to live with the outcomes. Over 25% of India’s land is undergoing desertification. In 2015, 4.4% of landmass was degraded per UN’s desertification data, which spiked to 9.5% in 2019.

The Aravalli case | Dry and hot winds from Rajasthan and south Haryana have a higher influence on west Delhi – a feature worsened manifold by deforestation of Aravalli range. It is being destroyed as a natural barrier that helps trap moisture-laden winds, leading to a decrease in rain and moisture levels. Rising temperatures and reduced rain, in turn, create conditions for desertification – fertile land turning arid.

Vanishing trees | Agroforestry, integrating trees with farmland, is a significant climate solution given its carbon sequestering potential. Isro showed Rajasthan, MP and Telangana were suitable for agroforestry. Yet between 2018 and 2022, more than 5m large farmland trees have “vanished” per Isro’s desertification and land degradation atlas of India. Too much of the exhausting heat is a symptom of a diagnosed but refusing-to-be-treated policy disease.

jugular vein

Pizza queen

Italy’s biggest export to India and the world is said to have a right royal history

Jug Suraiya

Bunny and I are in Turin, our favourite Italian city, its elegant geometry of panoramic piazzas and porticoed streets, which on a clear day can offer tantalising glimpses of the snowshawled Alps, making it perfect for a leisurely walk, an exercise made all the more appealing by the appetising display windows in the cafes and snack bars of the country’s biggest global export, the pizza.

The pizza, in its current avatar, is said to have originated in the port city of Naples as the poor man’s convenience food: oven-baked flat bread garnished with olive oil and whatever came to hand.

Folklore has it that the pizza gained upward social mobility when King Umberto I with his wife Queen Margherita, visited Naples in 1889. The Queen is said to have tired of the elaborate French fare favoured by European royalty, and summoned the city’s famous pizzaiolo, Raffaele Esposito, to create a special pizza for her.

Esposito made two pizzas, neither of which met with royal approval. The third pizza, which had tomato, mozzarella, and basil leaves – the red, white, and green of the Italian flag – won the regal nod.

Esposito named his creation after the queen. The queen’s chamberlain sent him a note of certification, which is still on display at Naples’ Pizzeria Brandi where Esposito had worked.

Pedantic nit-pickers have questioned the authenticity of this account, but whatever its origin, the Margherita led the triumphal parade of the pizza when, after World War II, US troops returning from Italy brought home a taste for the savoury treat and the queenly creation spread to other parts of the world, including India.

With true Indian hospitality, we welcomed the Italian import via America, and indigenised it, enlarging its repertoire to include Paneer Butter Masala Pizza, and Chicken Tikka Pizza.

We even renamed the pizza from peet-zah to pijj-aah. The traditional shape of the pizza is round, and to complete the circle we could export the Indian version back to Italy. A Masala Pijjaah, Maharani, fit for a queen.

POLLITICS Special Series on Elections

Sari Or Cooker Won’t Cut It

Cutting across party lines, women voters have been seen as needy and, thus, easy to win over. Such superficial vote bank politics may need a rethink in the coming years

Surveys suggest women in poorer states like Bihar, UP, Rajasthan are more easily given to vote bank politics than in richer ones like Delhi, Karnataka, Maharashtra

Dipankar Gupta

Men and women live in the same household, but election analysts and politicians would make us believe that they are not on talking terms and probably inhabit different solitudes. This could be why one hears of the ‘female vote bank’ but never of a ‘male vote bank’. If women can constitute a vote bank, then why should men not have one of their own?

The thinking, probably, is that men are harder to persuade than women because jobs are on top of their wish list and that requires a major rejig of many moving parts. It is easier, on the contrary, to service a vote bank for women as it only takes sporadic gifts of saris, cycles, cookers and so on. There is no need to call the doctor, aspirins are enough.

But is this not both demeaning and superficial?

The numbers of both men and women voters have gone up almost equally, with women holding a numerical edge of less than 1 crore. According to a Lokniti-CSDS survey, in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, 36% of women voted for BJP but men surpassed this figure by a good 3 percentage points. Modi is a clear favourite with both men and women, yet the belief persists that his wins are because he has women voters on his side.

Survey data also found that women of all classes, just as men, chose BJP across the country. There can, however, be some quirky facts. For example, in the 2023 Madhya Pradesh election, there were more women among Congress voters than men, and the reverse was true of BJP. This, notwithstanding Shivraj Singh Chouhan’s Ladli Behena scheme.

That women are as easy, or difficult, to please as men is supported by an India Today survey showing that both sexes had identical levels of satisfaction with NDA’s most prized achievements. However, even though they are under-represented in the labour-force, more women, than men, worried about unemployment. One expected the reverse would be true.

The same survey said that in 2019, 44% men and 46% women cast their votes for BJP and that 57% of women were totally satisfied with BJP while it was 55% for men. In large-scale surveys, a mere 2% difference is allowed for as a margin of error. What queers the pitch is that more males than females welcomed the Women’s Reservation Bill.

While Nitish’s vote bank policies worked in Bihar, as women voted hugely for JDU, it must also be acknowledged that his prohibition decree must have been supported by men too. Had they been mostly drunkards, men could have clubbed together a negative vote bank and voted Nitish out. Unless, of course, they were all too drunk to vote.

Other schemes, such as 50% women’s representation in local bodies, are wrongly slotted as a vote bank number rather than one of social justice. If from BJP to Congress, the ‘she voter’ notion is still compelling, it is because women are deemed to be a deprived lot and, thus, grateful recipients of vote bank handouts. This message is not complimentary at all.

Women appear to be prime vote bank picks, for only 7% of them hold positions in top manufacturing companies. They comprise around 17% of enrolments in ITIs and as many as 76% of women graduates don’t find work. Just 8% women are blue collar employees and 52% of those between the ages 15 and 29 are ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’.

Vote bank clients do not wear a badge of honour, for they are seen as easily won over by things off the shelf. This explains why vote bank politics is simpler than creating self-respecting citizens. The latter is an uphill task, for it demands systemic changes. Not surprising then that this is a road less taken. In contrast, the vote bank route is like a walk in the park.

Even so, only 10% of candidates in 2024 Lok Sabha elections are women. However, to operate vote banks effectively, ‘women’ as ageneral category is problematic. Surveys suggest that women in poorer states like Bihar, UP and Rajasthan are more easily given to vote bank politics than in richer ones like Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra.

In which case, the fact that 72% of all women workers in industries are from the four more prosperous south Indian states should cause vote bank politics to stumble in that region. Further, as there is an uptick of women entering the workforce once their husbands’ monthly income exceeds `40,000, then they may not be easily drawn to vote bank allures either.

Current demographics will change, and they have already begun to. Even female-headed households doubled between 1992 and 2022. The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey shows a 15% increase in women’s participation over the past five years. Feb 2024 further recorded a stunning 56% year-on-year increase in the number of women executives.

In future, politicians will have to redo their maths and pull away from vote bank politics to win women electorates. According to a much-quoted election expert, Gen Z women are more focused on education and jobs, unlike those of the older age group. Corporate boardrooms too are no longer just dark suits and ties, nor are company heads uniformly males.

Soon men might well emerge as a new vote bank!

The writer is a sociologist

Bar & Bench, And Economy: Please Run In Tandem

A jammed and inefficient justice system is preventing India and Indians from performing to potential. Judges, lawyers, processes all need an upgrade. Here’s how to do it

Sakate Khaitan

India is the world’s fifth-largest economy and over the next decades, it will see even more significant transformation. This has to be supported by a legal system that’s up to the task.

What we have, instead, is a system that’s slow and inefficient. As of Dec 2023, the 25 high courts had over 61L cases pending and the subordinate courts, more than 4.4cr. The challenge is that our large population can translate into a large caseload. So, only hard decisions and a radical approach can get the job done.

A legal system has two critical parts: the Bar and the Bench. Discussions on judicial reform often focus only on the Bench, neglecting lawyers. Both facets must be addressed. Increase bench strength | Govt has created additional capacity and reduced court workloads through administrative tribunals (such as National Company Law Tribunal and tax tribunals) and forums like Lok Adalat. Additional capacity can be built by recruiting lawyers from the Bar on a temporary basis and promoting specialised tribunals.

Govt, litigate less | The largest number of pending cases involve govt or govt-backed enterprises. Points of law already decided in previous cases keep getting relitigated, as SC has also observed in a recent judgment. This wastes resources and increases costs. It will be transformative if govt departments initiate only necessary litigation, holding officers accountable and requiring a panel to evaluate the merits of litigation before it’s initiated.

Set firm timelines | In UK, commercial matters include a process hearing where each side states the time and date for each stage. India should adopt a similar process. Here too, a process hearing at the start of a case should set firm timelines for each stage. Not adhering to the agreed timeline should evoke significant costs for both litigants and lawyers. At the hearing, the court/ tribunal should also assess whether the case really requires a lengthy trial. If not, decide matters on the basis of documents or oral arguments.

Cover costs | Costs of litigation need to be determined upfront, the numbers being real and significant. Courts and arbitral tribunal should make ‘security for costs’ a norm, with non-payment treated as contempt. On a preliminary assessment of the case, the court/tribunal must also decide if any of the parties needs to solely bear the ‘security for costs’. In money recovery cases, granting interest at bank rates and on a compound basis, along with legal costs, should become standard practice.

Discipline lawyers | They are in urgent need of transparency and accountability. Because adjournments sought on personal grounds are the norm, fraud is stated as a matter of course, arguments pleaded when there is no ground for such pleading, and matters taken on even though there is no relevant experience. They need a strong disciplinary body that holds them accountable for any negligence, unethical practices, delay tactics, and bad behaviour in general.It needs to be staffed with independent and impartial members.

Allow contingency fees | In commercial matters, contingency fee arrangements should be allowed, to help financially weak parties pursue justice. But the same should not be allowed in personal matters – permitting this has created an ‘ambulance chaser’ dysfunction in US.

Improve judge training | Better case disposal also depends on better training for judges. Cases should also be assigned to them basis their training, subject matter knowledge, and experience. Currently, too many commercial matters are heard by judges with no relevant experience.

Discourage frivolous litigation | Establish a centralised registry of cases that enables a proper assessment of credit risk in dealing with counterparties. This transparency could discourage habitual litigants from unnecessary litigation.

Ensure enforcement | Create specialised tribunals for enforcement proceedings, which have to complete proceedings within six months. Ensuring contracts are enforced and legal rights are protected in a timely manner will both boost investor confidence and improve citizens’ quality of life.

India’s judicial system is often criticised for its delays and inefficiencies. For the country to secure its place on the global stage, timely certainty in the rule of law is essential. Justice must not only be done but be seen to be done.

The writer is a lawyer Ajit Ninan

Sacred space

As the wind carries away a boat upon the waters, even so of the senses moving among sense-objects, the one to which the mind is attached, takes away his discrimination.

Bhagwad Gita, 2:67

The Speaking Tree

The Future Belongs To Meritocracy

Osho

Democracy cannot be the highest possibility man can attain. It is good in comparison to other forms of govt that have preceded it, but not something that can succeed it. I call that meritocracy.

I want a govt by the people of merit. And merit is a very rare quality.

As the situation is, all the geniuses of the world are outside govts. It is hilarious: those geniuses are needed in govt because they can give the best world to humanity, but they are servants of retarded politicians.

The situation may be a little bit different in different countries, but the basic thing is the same: the people of merit are not the people who rule. The people who rule are always mediocre. Democracy, rightly translated, is mediocracy. I cannot support mediocracy. I would like people of merit, geniuses, to manage the world – and things would be totally different…

You can make it a point that you have to have a first-class bachelor’s degree if you want to vote in state govt. You have to have a doctorate if you want to stand for any position in federal govt – a PhD is absolutely necessary. If you want to become the president of the country, then you must have at least a DLitt or DSc. Without having these qualifications, you cannot run for the post.

So we should require merits for each post – the highest merits. And we should make grades of voters: for federal govt, the highest degree; for state govt, a lower degree; for the county, a little lower degree.

But meritocracy has to take the place of democracy. And there are thousands of geniuses around the world…and remember, geniuses are never destructive; they are always creative. With a genius president in US, and a genius president in Russia, a third world war becomes impossible. In fact, with geniuses ruling all over the world, the day will not be far off when they will decide that it is better to make one world rather than divide it into nations, because that solves problems more easily.

It is simple…a world govt can look at the whole world as one humanity. Problems are not so much as they appear…

And if there is one world, then there is no need for seventy-five percent of every nation’s wealth to be wasted on nuclear weapons, on armies, on other kinds of war materials. Seventy-five percent! Humanity is living only on twenty-five percent. If there are no longer any nations, the question of war does not arise. A hundred percent of all energy, money, and income becomes available to the whole world.

Now, as things are, the profession of the politician is the only profession that needs no qualification. Even if you want to be a plumber, some kind of qualification will be needed, some training in plumbing, some certificate. But if you want to be the president of a country, no certificate is needed.

Democracy is not succeeding; it has failed. It was better than its predecessors, but now we have to find a new alternative, because democracy has failed. I call it meritocracy. The future belongs to meritocracy.

A bridged From Bondage to Freedom Courtesy: Osho International Foundation

Times Techies.AI

- INDIAN GCCs HAVE AN AI EDGE

- Engaging tools for teachers; but there are anxieties too

- Seeking truth in fuzzy world of generated results

- IS AI RESHAPING THE WORLD?

- TRANSFORMERS SUPERCHARGED THE FIELD OF AI

INDIAN GCCs HAVE AN AI EDGE

Many of the over 1,600 GCCs in the country are piloting AI projects for the world

Akhil George & Sujit John | TNN

When Texas Instruments set up India’s first global capability centre (GCC) in 1985, they most likely had no idea on the domino effect it would have. Today, the over 1,600 GCCs across the country are uniquely positioned to funnel India’s engineering talent to the problem of operationalising practical AI applications for the world, said a group of tech execs during our webinar last week.

While India can’t boast of creating any foundational AI model, we have engineering talent that has been working on AI for many years, says Srikanth Srinivasan, VP & head of membership & outreach for Nasscom. “Many of the engineers here have built various areas of expertise in their respective domains in AI, and are currently exploring proofof-concepts (POCs) and solutions for different problem areas that their parent organisations are trying to deal with,” he says.

This diverse engineering talent pool, combined with their practical experience in AI, has made India a fertile ground for MNCs looking to leverage AI, says Sirisha Voruganti, CEO & MD of Lloyds Technology Centre in India. “AI is going to help us solve many, many problems. And most of these companies, for example in the retail and banking sector, are looking to leverage AI to understand things like customer behaviour better.”

Cyber security, says Sirisha, is one of the biggest use cases for AI right now, and it’s an area that India’s GCC talent is working on extensively. “For example, you could use a voice biometric solution to identify and authenticate whether a customer is who they say they are and weed out fraudulent customers.”

Banks, Sirisha says, could also use AI to do credit checks and KYC checks much faster with no paperwork or manual intervention, and find out in a matter of seconds whether a potential loan will turn bad or not thanks to the analytical abilities of AI systems.

Tarun Sareen, MD for Sun Life Global Solutions, says that considering the pace of advancement of Gen AI models and their potential to supercharge cyberattacks, there is real pressure to develop AI systems that can counter these nefarious AIpowered cyber capabilities. “I think we have to absolutely have our eyes on this. You could argue that AI and Gen AI could advance even more speedily, but have we answered some of the security threats? Because of that, we, the entire industry, need to take steps deliberately to make sure that new threats are taken into account,” he says.

The pressure to stay ahead of bad actors is seen to have already catapulted India’s GCC cybersecurity talent pool up a few notches in the global hierarchy.

EXPERIMENTING WITH AI

India’s GCC talent pool is experimenting with a number of potential AI use cases. Tarun says Sun Life has been dabbling with facial analytics as a method to non-intrusively ascertain the potential health risks of a person.

Nasscom’s Srikanth says he’s seen a lot of experimental AI work happening in the retail sector out of GCCs in India. “A lot of predictive analytics work is happening; techies are building solutions to figure out the buying behaviour of customers based on past purchasing habits. In large stores, they can use GPS to tell you which part of the store to go to find a particular product and even tell you when offers will expire,” he says.

Sirisha says sustainability is an area that GCCs in India are trying to leverage AI to manage. For example, Lloyds has a significant initiative around reusing code. “Developing net new code is going to increase your carbon emissions. So, we have this huge initiative around looking at reusing code, and AI can really help us out since, based on what you’re trying to build, it can suggest probable snippets of code that you can reuse. But it’s not a simple problem to solve, which is why you need AI.”

Engaging tools for teachers; but there are anxieties too

Akhil.George@timesgroup.com

On April 28, World Economic Forum released a report that details its findings on how AI is impacting the teaching profession. Titled ‘Shaping the future of learning: The role of AI in education 4.0’, the report strengthens the narrative that teachers globally have known for at least a year now – AI tools are incredibly useful in the pedagogical arena and are being widely used by teachers and professors at all levels.

Kavita Arora, a teacher at a school in Mira Road, Thane, says that ever since Gen AI went mainstream, AI tools have become an important support system that has changed the working life of teachers. “We regularly use it to generate topics for extra-curricular activities such as elocutions, debates, and skits. We also use it to generate topics for writing tasks like essays.”

These tools are also incredibly helpful, Kavita says, in developing teaching material such as presentations and lesson plans – an onerous task at the best of times.

Abhinanda Sarkar, academic director at Great Learning, says that AI has fundamentally reshaped the way educators approach teaching and that with AI equipped to handle tasks such as research, content curation, data analysis, and automating routine administrative duties, educators have more time to focus on crafting engaging and interactive lessons. “This flexibility enables teachers to customise each student’s learning experience, tailoring activities to suit their individual needs.” This hyper personalisation of education is frequently touted as one of the biggest advantages of AI tools in the education sector, because we all learn at a different pace and might prefer different learning styles, both of which AI tools are uniquely suited to deliver. It’s also a boon for teachers dealing with differently abled students.

Vamsi Krishna, CEO & cofounder of Vedantu, says their class teachers are empowered with data insights to tailor classes to individual student needs and that this approach is taking personalised learning to new heights.

Peter Spratling, primary school principal for Stonehill International School in Bengaluru, says Stonehill uses an AI platform called Toddle AI that helps them evaluate and refine their learning experiences to better meet the diverse needs of their students. “By analysing student engagement and performance data, we generate ideas for improvement and differentiate our learning opportunities accordingly.”

THE DRAWBACKS

WEF’s April report, while upbeat about the potential of AI to enhance learning experiences and outcomes, also flagged concerns about data privacy, equity, and the displacement of traditional teaching roles. These fears are shared by educators as well.

“AI in education offers personalised learning and efficiency, yet grapples with privacy concerns, biases, and the digital divide. Navigating these challenges requires balancing innovation with ethical responsibility and ensuring equitable access for all learners,” says Rajeshwari BC, school principal for Embassy Academy in Bengaluru.

Seeking truth in fuzzy world of generated results

Vaitheeswaran.B@timesgroup.com

Many of us have started using AI chatbots to get information. They are indeed very useful, and more convenient than search tools that provide numerous links. But they are still prone to hallucination – making things up on their own. They sometimes pick up information from low-quality sources. So, what you may be getting could be AI-generated misinformation and disinformation. Even those developing the models don’t exactly know how these models work. Unlike searching web pages, large language models (LLMs) predict which words come next based on user inputs. It produces new results every time, making it hard to verify.

Even when the generated text is backed with links, the model could cherry pick information without understanding the context or take poor quality sources. For example, an AI summary concludes cold water is bad for digestion, based on a discussion in a news article. However, the source article says there’s no evidence. Similarly, it provides misleading information about sleep apnea, a health condition. People tend to look only at the summary without diving into detail, especially during emergencies.

Multiple incidents of Google generating harmful content like advising people to add glue to the pizza, eat rocks or claiming Obama is a Muslim have been reported. In one instance, Microsoft’s Copilot amplified misleading information based on a British tabloid. When the question was asked whether someone can reverse ageing, Copilot responded: “Indeed”, citing a link titled `Man re- turns 10 years younger.’ A few reputed Indian media published this misinformation without fact-checking. This news was further amplified by social media power users in government and entertainment. A Microsoft spokesperson told us they are investigating the report. “We use a mix of human and automated techniques in an effort to improve our experience,” the company said. Google said it’s taking “swift actions” and removing embarrassing queries.

B Ravindran, head of Wadhwani School of Data Science & AI at IIT Madras, says technological solutions like retrieval augmented generation (RAG) and tighter editorial control are necessary to make AI search work. RAG, he says, allows designers to seed trusted documents in the generation. But even this, he says, doesn’t prevent misinformation from being added to the augmentation process.

Aditya Kumar Shukla, associate professor of media studies at Amity University, stresses the need for government regulation, more so since the younger generation is inclined to use these newer tools.

Anubhuti Yadav, head of new media at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC), expresses concerns about gender and other biases in these models.

Now, with Gen AI platforms like GPT-4o and Gemini enabling voice interfaces, even in vernacular languages, there are worries things could get worse. Devadas Rajaram, journalism educator and assistant professor at Alliance University, says such bots will be more intimate and users will be more easily taken in. They may not even provide sources. Rajaram says AI literacy along with media literacy is a must.

IS AI RESHAPING THE WORLD?

AI will be everywhere

Santhosh Viswanathan | VP AND MD, INDIA REGION, INTEL

In the next five years, AI will be everywhere and drive exponential compute demand. AI will touch all aspects of our lives. I believe an open AI ecosystem will unlock innovation, bringing AI solutions across industries from education to healthcare to entertainment and beyond. For example, in healthcare, it can enable healthcare systems to predict a patient’s risk of developing a chronic disease and early detection of disease with precision, suggest preventive and personalised healthcare, in addition to enhancements in drug discovery, clinical genomics and diagnostics. Similarly in education, AI can be a personalised tutor for children enriching their learning experience and ensuring a customised approach that students can benefit from. India will be the epicentre of this AI transformation with our biggest advantage being abundant data and frugal innovation.

TRANSFORMERS SUPERCHARGED THE FIELD OF AI

Transformers are a type of neural network architecture that revolutionised the field of natural language processing (NLP) and are now expanding into other areas of (AI). Introduced in the paper “Attention is All You Need” in 2017, transformers address limitations of previous models like Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs) and Long Short-Term Memory networks (LSTMs) by effectively handling long-range dependencies in sequential data. The core innovation of transformers is the self-attention mechanism, which allows the model to weigh the importance of different words in a sentence, regardless of their position. This is achieved by computing attention scores that capture the relationships between all words in a sentence simultaneously, enabling the model to focus on relevant parts of the input data more effectively. Transformers consist of an encoder and a decoder. The encoder processes the input data by generating a series of context-aware representations, while the decoder generates the output sequence, such as a translated sentence or a response in a chatbot. Both components are built from stacked layers of self-attention and feedforward neural networks. The scalability and parallelization capabilities of transformers make them highly efficient for training on large datasets. This has led to the development of powerful models like BERT (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) and GPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer), which have set new benchmarks in various NLP tasks including text generation, translation, and sentiment analysis. Beyond NLP, transformers are being adapted for tasks in computer vision, time series prediction, and more.

Times Global

- Brazilian sent to mental hosp after admitting killing Indian woman

- Person is killed in running jet engine at Amsterdam airport

- ‘US may accept Ukrainian strikes in Russia with American arms’

- AROUND THE WORLD

- Israel’s seizure of Gaza-Egypt border zone risks Cairo’s ire

- ANC on track to lose 30-yr-old majority in watershed SA vote

- Black men asked to exit flight over ‘body odour’ complaint sue US airline

- Who plotted to sell Elvis’ Graceland? An identity thief raises his hand

- UK parliament dissolves ahead of July 4 election

- 14 HK democrats found guilty in subversion trial

- A RIVER RUNS THROUGH A BRAZIL STREET

- Girl, 9, from Kerala grievously hurt in London shooting

- ‘Nato boss to seek¤40bn per year for Ukraine military aid’

Brazilian sent to mental hosp after admitting killing Indian woman

Naomi Canton

London:A Brazilian man has been sentenced to detention in amental hospital after pleading guilty to stabbing to death one Indian woman from Hyderabad, Tejaswini Kontham, and attempting to murder her roommate, Akhila Janagama, in a house-share in Wembley.

After the attack on June 13 last year, Keven Lourenco de Morais (24) phoned his girlfriend and said: “I have killed the Indian females.” Police arrested him after tracking his phone location data. Judge Martin Edmunds handed down the Mental Health Act Section 37/ 41 hospital and restriction orders at Isleworth Crown Court on Thursday. He said the defendant had paranoid schizophrenia and had experienced a relapse into a psychotic episode.

Just before 10am on June 13, Janagama heard a loud noise and went to investigate and saw Kontham, 27, lying on the kitchen floor, screaming, with De Morais standing over her. He saw Janagama and ran towards her and repeatedly stabbed her. She managed to lock herself in her room and call 999 as De Morais fled. When emergency services arrived, they found Kontham gravely injured, and she was pronounced dead. Janagama underwent surgery in hospital. De Morais had stopped taking anti-psychotic medication around a week before the attack “on instructions from the voices he heard”, the court heard.

Having returned to India, Janagama, 29, watched proceedings online. She told court she had permanent scars and had been left traumatised.“I’ve sleepless nights and keep thinking if I could’ve saved my friend.”

Person is killed in running jet engine at Amsterdam airport

A person died on Wednesday after they “ended up” inside a running plane engine at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, officials said, although the circumstances of the person’s death remained unclear.

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, the flag carrier of the Netherlands, said in a statement that the episode involved its Flight KL1341, which had been scheduled to take off for Billund, Denmark. “We are currently taking care of the passengers and employees who witnessed the incident at Schiphol,” the airline said.

It was unclear whether the person who died, whose name had not been made public, entered the plane’s engine or whether they were pulled into it. KLM did not say whether the person who died was an airline employee or airport wo- rker. Schiphol Airport said in a message posted in Dutch on social media that “there was a horrible incident where a person ended up in an airplane engine. Our thoughts go out to the relatives, and we are caring for the passengers and colleagues who saw this.”

The passengers onboard disembarked after the episode, the Dutch military police said on social media, adding that they were investigating.

Images that circulated on social media showed fire trucks and other emergency vehicles next to the plane on the tarmac. The plane was an Embraer ERJ-190, a twin-engine jet, according to FlightAware, a website that tracks air travel. The jet carries up to 100 people and is known as the “Cityhopper,” because it is used for short flights within Europe, according to the airline.

NYT

‘US may accept Ukrainian strikes in Russia with American arms’

Chisinau (Moldova): US secretary of state Antony Blinken suggested Wednesday that the Biden administration could be open to tolerating strikes by the Ukrainian military inside Russia using US made weapons, saying that the United States would “adapt and adjust” its stance based on changing conditions on the battlefield.

Blinken said that the US had neither encouraged nor enabled such attacks. But he said that the Ukrainians needed to make their own decisions on how to best defend themselves — a position he has stated before — and that the US govt had “adapted and adjusted as necessary” as the war evolves.

When asked by a reporter whether his words “adapt and adjust” meant the US could support attacks by Ukraine with US-made weapons inside Russia, he said, “Adapt and adjust means exactly that” — meaning those words, signalling flexibility from Washington.

Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Feb 2022, Washington has sent the Ukrainians military aid but has repeatedly asked that they not fire US-made weapons into Russian territory for fear of escalating the war. Several European leaders have called on Prez Biden to stop imposing those limits, among them Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg and French Prez Emmanuel Macron.

NYT

AROUND THE WORLD

A volcano in Iceland spewed smoke and lava for a second day on Thursday but winds were expected to carry poisonous gas pollution away from the capital Reykjavik, authorities said. The eruption, 5th since Dec, was the most powerful in the area since volcanic systems on the Reykjanes peninsula became active three years ago after lying dormant for eight centuries, according to the Icelandic Met Office

Madrid cops monitor Taylor Swift’s gig decibels as locals fume at noise level

Police measured the decibel count of Taylor Swift’s concert in Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium after locals complained of unbearable noise. The readings need to be evaluated to see if they exceeded permitted levels, a city hall spokesperson said Thursday. She said the authorities had got 25 complaints after Wednesday’s gig. During the concert, experts took their own decibel counts and recorded readings of 80 decibels, far above the 53 permitted by city authorities.

John Lennon’s guitar from ‘Help!’ sells for $2.9 million

A recently discovered guitar that John Lennon used to record multiple Beatles songs in the 1960s before it went missi ng for 50 years has sold at auction for $2.9 million, becoming one of the most valuable pieces of memorabilia from the band. The 12-string acoustic guitar, called the Hootenanny, was believed to be lost after Lennon used it to record the 1965 albums “Rubber Soul” and “Help!”, said Julien’s Auctionson Wednesday. Later that year, Lennon gifted the 1964 guitar, made by the German instrument maker Framus, to Gordon Waller, a member of the British pop duo Peter & Gordon. Waller passed it on to one of his road managers, who tossed it in his home’s attic in the rural British countryside. More than 50 years later, a man discovered the guitar in his parents’ attic, and alerted the auction house in March.

Israel’s seizure of Gaza-Egypt border zone risks Cairo’s ire

Tactical Control Of 14km ‘Philadelphi Corridor’ Key To Cut Off Hamas’ Smuggling Tunnels: Israeli Military

Israeli armoured personnel carriers near Gaza border. Witnesses on Thursday reported fighting in central and western Rafah. Others said five people were killed in a bombardment near an aid warehouse in east Rafah

The Israeli military’s announcement that it had seized “tactical control” of a sensitive border strip between Gaza and Egypt comes after weeks of rising tensions between Egypt and Israel over Israel’s advance into Rafah.

Israeli forces advanced into the roughly 14km-long area — known as the Philadelphi Corridor — in a bid to crack down on Hamas’s ability to rearm itself by smuggling munitions into Gaza through tunnels from Egypt, according to the Israeli military. The move was part of the Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, which has prompted over one million Palestinians to flee.

Egypt and Israel have repeatedly butted heads over the push into Rafah. After Israel captured the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt in early May, the gateway effectively shut down, with each side blaming the other for the impasse. On Monday, at least one Egyptian soldier was killed in a shooting incident with Israeli forces near the Rafah crossing; both sides say they are investigating the matter. Earlier this year, Egypt warned that if Israeli forces occupied the Philadelphi Corridor, it would pose a “serious threat” to relations between the two countries. But Egyptian officials have yet to publicly comment in the wake of the Israeli announcement.

On Wednesday night, in response to Israel’s announcement about the corridor, Egypt’s state-run Al-Qahera News channel quoted an unnamed senior official saying “there is no truth” to claims of tunnels under the border. Egyptian and Israeli authorities coordinate closely on security, with defence officials regularly meeting in Cairo and Tel Aviv. Although Egypt and Israel fought at least three major wars before a 1979 peace treaty, they now have a cold peace: Their publics rema- in largely at odds, but their security establishments have close and continuing contact. Israeli military officials have generally shied away from accusing Egypt of failing to crack down on cross-border smuggling, which some analysts called an attempt to avoid damaging the sensitive and important ties between the two countries.

The Israeli military official said “tactical control” did not mean Israeli forces were present at every point along the Philadelphi Corridor. But he said it meant that Israel could effectively disrupt Hamas’s supply lines, which pass through the border zone. Another military official, on condition of anonymity, said troops had identified at least 20 tunnels running from Gaza into Egypt.

NYT

Benny Gantz’s centrist party proposes vote to dissolve Israel’s parliament

Jerusalem:Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz’s centrist party proposed Thursday a bill to dissolve parliament, showing the growing strains in Netanyahu’s govt. The move follows an ultimatum Gantz issued in May, demanding that Netanyahu agree to a day-after plan for the Gaza war by June 8. He threatened to quit the coalition if no such agreement was forthcoming, although the PM’s Likud party and hardright allies still have a majority of seats without Gantz. Gantz joined Netanyahu’s govt shortly after Oct 7 attack. As a member of the war cabinet he has helped manage the Israeli offensive in Gaza, but strains have grown as the war dragged on.

Netanyahu’s Likud responded by saying that disbanding the govt would hurt the war effort and deal a “fatal blow” to efforts to free over 120 hostages still being held in Gaza. Gantz’s National Unity then issued a second statement blaming the PM for dismantling the govt but saying there was still time to find some middle ground: “Netanyahu, it’s not too late to come to your senses — either together we are victorious or you continue alone with the method of ‘divide and rule’.”

Gantz has emerged as Netanyahu’s main political rival since Oct 7, with opinion polls showing he would receive the most votes should a snap election be held. His party, however, has just 8 seats in parliament out of 120 and Netanyahu’s right-wing coalition controls a majority with 64 seats.

REUTERS

India expresses deep concern over loss of civilian lives in Rafah

India expressed deep concern over the “heartbreaking” loss of civilian lives in an Israeli strike on a displacement camp in Rafah, while calling for protection of the civilian population and respect for international humanitarian law.

A military strike in Gaza had killed dozens of Palestinians, after which the US too had urged Israel to protect civilians. “We have consistently called for protection of civilian population,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, while noting that the Israeli side has already accepted responsibility for it as a “tragic accident” and announced an investigation into the incident. Asked about India’s position on the recent recognition of Palestine by Ireland, Norway and Spain, the official recalled India was one of the first countries to recognise the state of Palestine in the late 1980s. “We have long supported a two state solution which entails the establishment of a sovereign, viable, and independent state of Palestine within recognised and mutually agreed borders, living side by side with Israel in peace.”

TNN

Hamas says ready for ‘complete’ truce deal if Israel ‘stops its war’

Hamas said they informed ceasefire talks mediators that they are ready to reach a “complete agreement” including a comprehensive hostages/prisoners exchange deal if Israel “stops its war and aggression against people in Gaza”, a statement from the group said Thursday.

REUTERS

ANC on track to lose 30-yr-old majority in watershed SA vote

If It Gets Less Than 50%, Ramaphosa Will Need Coalition Partners For Govt

With almost a quarter of votes tallied, ANC was leading but with a score of 43% — well below the 57% it won in 2019

Johannesburg: South Africa’s ruling ANC was on course to lose its 30-year-old unchallenged majority Thursday after voters queued long into the night to cast their ballots, preliminary results and projections showed.

With almost a quarter of votes tallied, the ANC was leading but with a score of 43% —well below the 57% it won in 2019 — followed by the liberal Democratic Alliance (DA) at 25%, authorities said. The leftist Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) was in third place with 9% of the vote, trailed by former South African prez Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) on 8%. The final results are not expected to be known before the weekend.

“This is a shock to the system for the ANC and ultimately will also be a shock to the system for the average South African, who has only known ANC rule since 1994,” said political analyst Daniel Silke. If Prez Cyril Ramaphosa’s party is confirmed as dropping below 50%, it would force him to seek coalition partners to be re-elected to form a new govt. That would be a historic evolution in the country’s democratic jo- urney, which was underlined by newspaper headlines on Thursday. “SA on the cusp of shift in politics,” read the front page of daily BusinessDay. “The people have spoken,” headlined The Citizen.

The ANC has dominated South Africa’s democracy with an unbroken run of five presidents from the party. The party remains respected for its leading role in overthrowing white minority rule, and its progressive social welfare and black economic empowerment policies are credited by supporters with helping millions of black families out of poverty. But over three decades of almost unchallenged rule, its leadership has been implicated in a series of large-scale corruption scandals.

AFP

Black men asked to exit flight over ‘body odour’ complaint sue US airline

DISCRIMINATION LAWSUIT

New York: Black passengers who were briefly ordered off an American Airlines plane in Jan sued the airline on Wednesday, alleging that they were victims of racial discrimination.

Three of the men filed a lawsuit in federal court in New York. They said they were told to leave a plane waiting to take off in Phoenix and noticed five other black men who also had been ordered off the flight. The three, who did not know each other and had been sitting in different parts of the plane, said an airline employee told them they were removed because a flight attendant had complained about a passenger’s body odour. American offered to rebook them, but when it became clear after about an hour that there were no other available flights to New York that evening, they were allowed to reboard the plane, according to the lawsuit.

“If American Airlines received a complaint about a black male passenger with offensive body odour but could not verify the complaint, the solution should not have been to eject eight separate Black men from the plane,” Susan Huhta, who is representing the three men, said.

American Airlines said it was looking into the issue. “We take all claims of discrimination very seriously.”

AP

Who plotted to sell Elvis’ Graceland? An identity thief raises his hand

A SCAM? A person using an email for the company seeking to foreclose on the former home of Elvis Presley, Graceland (above), has claimed his ring was behind the threat to sell the beloved landmark

The writer said he was an identity thief — a ringleader on the dark web, with a network of “worms” placed throughout the US. In an email to NYT, he said his ring preyed on the dead, the unsuspecting and the elderly, using birth certificates and other documents.

“We figure out how to steal,” he said. Recently, the writer suggested, the group had turned its attention to a major target: the estate of Lisa Marie Presley, which last week faced a threat that Graceland was about to be foreclosed on and sold by a mysterious company, Naussany Investments & Private Lending LLC. Media outlets often recei- ve unsolicited emails from people who make outlandish claims. But this email arrived Friday in response to one sent by NYT to an email address that Naussany listed in a legal filing.

In its email, NYT referred to the company’s claim that Presley had borrowed $3.8 million from it, using Graceland as collateral. In the responses, which came from the email address NYT had written to, the writer described the foreclosure effort not as a legitimate attempt to collect on a debt, but as a scam. “I had fun figuring this one out and it didn’t succeed very well,” the email writer said. He said he was based in Nigeria, and his email was written in Luganda, a Bantu language spoken in Uganda. But the filing with the email address was faxed from a number to serve North America.

Since the news broke last week that a company was trying to sell Graceland — Elvis Presley’s former home and a beloved tourist attraction — the Naussany company has been a persistent puzzle. It is difficult to find any public records that prove that the company exists. In Sept, eight months after Lisa Marie Presley’s death, Naussany said it would agree to settle what it described as the debt for a discounted $2.85 million. But the family trust, now led by Lisa

Marie’s daughter, actress Riley Keough, did not view the debt as legitimate. That led Keough to court last week, declaring in a legal filing that the loan was a fiction, the company “a false entity” and the bid to sell Graceland a fraud. At a hearing Wednesday, the judge blocked any immediate foreclosure on Graceland, saying he needed to review more evidence. No one representing the Naussany company attended the hearing.

When NYT sought clarification on the issue, the email writer wrote, “You don’t have to understand.” The writer was only keen on taking credit. “I am the one who creates trouble.”

NYT

UK parliament dissolves ahead of July 4 election

London: The British parliament dissolved on Thursday ahead of a July 4 general election, which looks set to bring Labour to power after 14 years of Conservative govt. Five weeks of campaigning officially began as 650 seats of MPs became vacant. PM Rishi Sunak set the election for July 4, instead of later in the year as expected, in what observers said was a bid to regain momentumas his party trails double digits behind Labour in polls. The party is also facing a mass exodus. Some 129 MPs have so far announced that they will not be standing for re-election. Among them are 78 Conservatives, an unprecedented exodus.

AFP

14 HK democrats found guilty in subversion trial

Hong Kong: Fourteen Hong Kong pro-democracy activists were found guilty and two were acquitted on Thursday in a landmark subversion trial that critics say could deal another blow to the city’s rule of law and its reputation as a global financial hub. The verdicts in Hong Kong’s biggest trial against the democratic opposition come more than three years after police arrested 47 democrats in dawn raids at homes across the city. They were charged with conspiracy to commit subversion under a national security law imposed by China.

Sentencing will come at a later date for those found guilty, with prison terms ranging from three years to life. The US and some other countries have criticised the trial as politically motivated, calling for the accused to be released.

REUTERS

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH A BRAZIL STREET

Two men paddle a canoe made of zinc tiles and styrofoam down a flooded street in Brazil’s Porto Alegre. Rains that started in late April have swollen several rivers and lakes in Brazil’s state of Rio Grande do Sul to record highs, causing floods that have killed at least 169 people and left over 580,000 displaced

Girl, 9, from Kerala grievously hurt in London shooting

Lissel Maria was having dinner inside the eatery with her family when an attacker on a motorbike fired on three men sitting outside the premises, injuring her

A nine-year-old girl from Gothuruth in Kerala’s Ernakulam was shot Wednesday in a drive-by shooting at a London restaurant.

Lissel Maria is reportedly fighting for life. She had been having dinner inside the restaurant with her family when, according to reports, the attacker on a motorbike opened fire on three men sitting outside the premises. “Lissel is the daughter of Ajeesh and Vinaya, who hails from Gothuruth. Her grandmother lives here,” said Jomy Josy, Gothuruthu ward member of Chendamangalam panchayat.

“At 9.20 last night, on Kingsland High Street in Hackney, 3 men and a 9-year-old girl were shot when a firearm was discharged from a motorbike,” detective chief superintendent James Conway said in a video posted on X for Hackney Police. Conway added: “We do not believe that the girl and the men injured were known to each other. As with any child, she was an innocent victim of the indiscriminate nature of gun crime.”

TNN

‘Nato boss to seek¤40bn per year for Ukraine military aid’

Prague:Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg will ask allies to pledge aminimum of 40 billion euros ($43.37bn) annually to fund military aid for Ukraine, an alliance source said on Thursday, as Nato foreign ministers gathered for talks in Prague. He has not publicly proposed a figure before but Nato officials previously floated a sum of 20 billion euros annually.

With uncertainty over future US support for Ukraine lingering due to the possible return of Donald Trump to the White House, foreign ministers will on Friday discuss ways to put military aid for Ukraine on a more solid long-term footing. The talks will focus on hammering out the details of a Ukraine support package, meant to be agreed at Nato’s Washington summit July 9-11.

REUTERS

Times Sport

- INDIA’S SPIN GAMBLE

- Cops in NY on guard after reports of terror threat to Ind-Pak tie

- WEARING INDIA JERSEY IS A DIFFERENT FEELING: PANT

- GALLERY

- Skipper Buttler eager for T20 world champs England to learn India lessons

- Disrupted preparations won’t be an excuse: Wood

- Crack team of Boe and Satwik-Chirag to part ways

- NOVAK’S GAME SHOW

- Zverev sees off Belgium’s Goffin

- Quiet please, Swiatek appeals to unruly fans

- THIS KOMPANY YOU KEEP BAYERN

- MARADONA’S HEIRS LOSE COURT BATTLE TO BLOCK AUCTION

- GO BEAT REAL: DORTMUND’S CAN REVEALS KLOPP TEXT

- OLYMPIAKOS WIN CONFERENCE LEAGUE, CREATE HISTORY

- Seine still failing water tests two months from Oly

- Charges against Scheffler dropped

- Treesa-Gayatri pair stuns world No. 2 duo; Sindhu loses

- Four Indian pugilists advance

- China investigates ex-sports director for corruption

- Pragg scores maiden classical win over Carlsen

- ALCOHOL BAN AT ROLAND GARROS

- ERIKSEN COMPLETES FAIRYTALE RETURN TO DENMARK’S EURO 2024 SQUAD

INDIA’S SPIN GAMBLE

Will The Ploy Of Picking Four Spinners Work For Rohit’s Men In The T20 WC?

JADEJA

Nitin.Naik@timesgroup.com

Experts, fans and analysts point out that by selecting four spinners in India’s squad of 15 for the T20 World Cup, the selectors, led by Ajit Agarkar, have picked one spinner too many. “Another fast bowler, perhaps” or “Rinku Singh, surely” were words that formed part of their analysis. It was clear that Rohit Sharma wanted four spinners and his mind about who would feature in his bowling attack (two allrounders, also left-arm-spinners, in Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel, and two wrist spinners in Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav) was made up before the IPL.

Morning starts, where dew would not play much of a role was one of the reasons cited. “I definitely wanted four spinners. We’ve played a lot of cricket there. We know what the conditions are like. With morning starts at 10-10.30am, there’s a little bit of technical aspect involved in this,” skipper Rohit had said in Mumbai when the team was picked.

That technical aspect could be the fact that India are expected to qualify for the super-eights and all the games from that stage will be played in the West Indies and the general belief is that the pitches there will be spin-friendly.

Former India manager and TN left-arm spinner Sunil Subramanian, also Indian legend R Ashwin’s coach feels that way. “India may have picked one spin bowling allrounder too many. Rinku Singh for Axar and Khaleel Ahmed for vice-captain Hardik would have balanced the side better. There is no way both wrist spinners will play, especially in Nassau County in New York. It is a mickey mouse ground with the straight boundary being 55 metres only. Also, it is a drop in pitch. Against Pakistan, they may play with only one spinner and that could be Jadeja as they may want to pack the side with pacers who can execute yorkers,” he told TOI.

Subramanian was part of the team between 2017 and 2019, where India played both Kuldeep and Chahal in most white-ball games, with success. Will we see that happening in the T20 World Cup?

“The reason both the wrist spinners featured in the playing XI was because both Jadeja and Ashwin were not able to contain the flow of runs in the middle-overs and were not able to pick wickets,” Subramanian revealed. The Kul-Cha combo, as it was called, was a run-away success. They played in 15 T20I games together, including four of the five matches in the West Indies in 2023 and India ended up victorious in 11 of them. In those 15 games, Kuldeep picked 29 wickets while Chahal picked 23.

Will they go back to that formula? “Only if they are in a must-win situation. If Hardik is unable to bowl four overs and if one of the pacers gets hit, that may happen. But only in the West Indies leg of the tournament. The only other way to play both wrist spinners is by dropping Jaiswal and opening with Kohli and Rohit. They will not do that. They will err on the side of caution,” Subramanian stressed.

India’s batting coach till the 2019 World Cup, who was with the team in the Kul-Cha era, and former India allrounder Sanjay Bangar, also does not see both Kuldeep and Chahal playing together.

“It will be Jadeja and Kuldeep to start with. Two wrist spinners won’t feature in the same XI,” opined Bangar. Interestingly, he does not see India being light on pace bowling options either. “Even if we had picked an extra pacer, he might not have played. Bumrah, Siraj/Arshdeep and Hardik can go through the tournament unchanged,” he told TOI.

Former West Indies pacer Ian Bishop, a respected voice in commentary, who is armed with local knowledge of the conditions, felt India’s four-spinner theory could be a luxury while acknowledging spin will play a part in the tournament. His assessment can be supported by the fact that in all CPLT20 matches so far, featuring 692 innings, pacers have taken 2384 wickets at a strike rate of 131.31 and an economy of 8.38. Spinners have grabbed 1565 wickets at a better strike-rate of 111.60 and a lower economy of 6.85.

“The pitches for the World Cup may be slightly different. So, I think it’s a luxury to have four spinners rather than it being a necessity,” he told official broadcasters Star Sports.

Aaron Finch, the man who led Australia to the title in the UAE in 2021 feels India may have “backed themselves into a corner.”

“I had Rinku in there and only two spinners. I had the extra quick because of the inconsistency that we have seen with everyone barring Jasprit Bumrah. And if they want to play three spinners, one of them must bowl in the powerplay. I don’t see any of those guys doing it consistently,” Finch analysed while speaking to Star Sports.

Now let’s look at the spin-bowling options of other teams expected to feature in the super-eights.

Sri Lanka have six, England and New Zealand have five, Bangladesh have four and West Indies, Australia, and South Africa three. Does India having four feel like a luxury? Time will tell.

KULDEEP

CHAHAL

AXAR PATEL

Cops in NY on guard after reports of terror threat to Ind-Pak tie

IN A FESTIVE MOOD: An India-Pakistan clash in any ICC tournament is a marquee event

New York: New York’s Nassau County will have unprecedented security arrangements in place for the T20 World Cup clash between India and Pakistan on June 9 due to the threat of a terror attack here even though state governor Kathy Hochul insisted that it is not credible “at this time.”

The Eisenhower Park Stadium at the Nassau County will host eight matches of the tournament-proper, including India’s three outings. The Indians will also play a practice game against Bangladesh here on June 1. New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said she has directed state police to elevate security measures to ensure safety of the crowds.

“In preparation for the World Cup my team has been working with federal & local law enforcement to keep attendees safe. While there is no credible threat at this time, I’ve directed @nyspolice (NYPD) to elevate security measures & we’ll continue to monitor as the event nears,” Hochul said in a post on X.

A report on CNN said that New York officials are putting safety precautions in place “after terror group ISIS-K made a global threat earlier this year” against the World Cup. Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said on Wednesday that the event received an ISIS-Klinked threat in April.

“That was followed by more specific threats on the India versus Pakistan game, scheduled for June 9, and references to a viral video circulating online, which calls for ‘that lone wolf to act out’,” the report said.

“I can guarantee you this. This is the largest security we’ve ever had to do in this county’s history, and I can also guarantee you this – the safest place to be in Nassau County on June 9th will be inside that stadium,” Ryder said in that report.

PTI

WEARING INDIA JERSEY IS A DIFFERENT FEELING: PANT

Rishabh Pant trains in New York ahead of India’s warm-up tie vs Bangladesh

New York: It would be 527 days since his life-threatening accident when Rishabh Pant dons the India jersey on June 5 at the Nassau County ground for the opening T20 World Cup match against Ireland and he can’t wait for it.

“Getting back on the field with an Indian jersey on is a different feeling altogether.This is something I missed a lot...Hopefully I (can) make it count and make it better from here,” Pant told bcci. tv on the sidelines of India’s first nets ahead of the warm-up game against Bangladesh on June 1.

Pant also spoke about the prospects of cricket gaining popularity in the USA going forward. He felt the T20 World Cup could be the start of an eventful chapter.

“We are used to playing in certain countries but this is different. It has opened up a different channel for sport because cricket is growing around the world. Getting exposure here would be nice for cricket,” he said.

PTI

GALLERY

Ecclestone fastest woman to 100 ODI wkts

England’s left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone became the fastest woman to reach 100 wickets in One Day International (ODI) cricket after claiming three in their 178-run win over Pakistan on Wednesday. The 25-year-old, who was also named Player of the Series with a haul of six wickets across three ODIs, scythed through the Pakistan tail by taking the wickets of Aliya Riaz, Umme-Hani and Nashra Sandhu. She has reached the mark in 63 matches, beating the previous record held by Australian fast bowler Cathryn Fitzpatrick, who took 64 innings.

Saudi football team not happy with facilities in Pak: The Saudi Arabia football squad that is scheduled to play Pakistan in a second round match of the ongoing Asian Qualifiers for the 2026 FIFA World Cup has pushed back its arrival in Islamabad by a day due to poor training and ground conditions.

TNN/AGENCIES

ACTION TODAY

BADMINTON: Singapore Open, QFs, 9.30 am (Jiocinema, BWF Youtube);

BOXING: Oly Qualifiers, 11.30 am & 5 pm (Jiocinema)

Skipper Buttler eager for T20 world champs England to learn India lessons

KEEPING IT TOGETHER: Jos Buttler will try to make sure his team doesn’t have another meltdown like it had during the ODI World Cup in India last Oct-Nov

London: England captain Jos Buttler believes his squad will be better equipped to retain their T20 World Cup title after a miserable defence of their 50-over crown in India last year.

England will be one of the favourites for the 2024 World Cup in the Caribbean and the United States after beating Pakistan in the final in Australia two years ago.

But it was a similar story when many of the same players, Buttler included, travelled to India for the 50-over World Cup only for England to lose six of their first seven matches.

Those reverses included a ninewicket defeat by New Zealand in their tournament opener, a historic maiden loss to Afghanistan and a record 229-run thrashing by South Africa.

Buttler, one of the outstanding white-ball batsmen of his generation, managed just 138 runs at 15.33 in nine tournament innings, with some questioning whether the 33-year-old was taking on too much in his triple role of captain and wicketkeeper-batsman. Matthew Mott, the Australian coach of England’s white-ball teams, also came under fire following a series of selection switches, but Buttler said there was a simple explanation for the side’s struggles in India. “We just didn’t play well enough”, he told Sky Sports. “The big learning for me is to try not to confuse freedom with maybe a lack of clarity.

“Sometimes you’re trying to let players play with freedom and you don’t want to step in too much. But you have to make sure you don’t miss things. Even if there was a lack of clarity, or whatever you want to call it, I’d still expect us to perform better than we did.Idon’t think it’s about trying to reinvent the wheel, or trying to give people messages that they’ve never heard before.” AFP

Disrupted preparations won’t be an excuse: Wood

London: England will go into their T20 World Cup defence slightly undercooked after two of their warm-up matches were rained out but fast bowler Mark Wood said his side are strong enough to cope with the curtailed build-up. England’s four-match T20 series against Pakistan has been hampered by the weather, with two of the first three matches abandoned without a ball being bowled. The final match is scheduled for later on Thursday. While some England players competed in the Indian Premier League others, like Wood, opted out of the tournament to manage their workload.

“I might be going into the tournament feeling fresh,” Wood told reporters ahead of the fourth match at The Oval. “I’ve worked on a couple of things in training and you want the games to practise stuff, but it’s a fine balance. “One or two of us might feel like we need a game or two to get going, but whatever preparation we get that’s what we’re going to have to go with.”

England head coach Matthew Mott missed the first match due to family reasons, while captain Jos Buttler returned home for the birth of his third child and was unavailable for the third match. “Life things are sometimes more important than cricket. Those couple of instances were. I don’t think we should put a negative spin on them,” Wood said. “It’s easy to look for excuses: we’ve had people away, the rain, whatever. We’re a professional side, we’re the England cricket team, we’ve got everything we need.

“We should be able to adapt and when we get out there that’s when the time to turn it on is.”

REUTERS

Crack team of Boe and Satwik-Chirag to part ways

Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (left) and Mathias Boe

Sabi.Hussain@timesgroup.com

New Delhi: Credited with the rapid rise of Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty as a formidable pair in the badminton world, Danish legend and current India coach Mathias Boe may no longer be seen guiding from the coaching corner his two most valuable and brilliant students after the Paris Olympics.

It’s been learnt that Boe could part ways with SatwikChirag after his coaching contract expires on August 15. Boe, men’s doubles finalist at the London Games 2012, was offered a contract extension for 9.5 months in November 2023 at a salary of Rs 770,000 per month.

Sources confirmed that Boe won’t be offered extension by the Sports Authority of India (SAI) on conclusion of his ongoing stint, irrespective of results at the Paris Games. Sources cited multiple reasons for it — from paying a substantial salary to Boe to the coach’s unreasonable demands during his personal travels and also when touring with the Indian duo.

The govt has been pushing for the appointment of more homegrown coaches in the country’s sports ecosystem and wants Indian specialists to mentor and guide top athletes in different disciplines. Presently, the govt has engaged 47 foreign experts – four in badminton – across vario- us sports disciplines to train the country’s athletes for the Paris Games.

The number of such experts associated with Indian sports is the highest-ever. This will come down substantially after the Games, as the month of Sep is the time when contracts of all such foreign experts will come up for renewal. There’s a possibility that at least 10-15 foreign coaches will not be offered contract extension in athletics, hockey, shooting and badminton post Paris.

The idea is to hire Indian coaches, which will save the huge cost incurred on paying hefty salaries to foreign specialists.

TOI understands that Boe and sports officials have had a conversation in this direction and the Badminton Asso- ciation of India (BAI), too, has been told about it.

Under Boe, a former world No.1 doubles player, the duo of Satwik-Chirag not only rose to the top of the world rankings, but also won the Indonesia Open Super 1000, the Thomas Cup, a medal a t the BWF World Championships and India’s maiden gold at the Asian Games in Hangzhou. The duo is one of the favourites to finish on the podium in Paris.

Boe had previously trained the Indian duo ahead of the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 after the then doubles coach, Flandy Limpele, resigned due to personal reasons. Boe has an illustrious doubles career, twice winning the All-England Championships in 2011 and 2015 and finishing runner-up at the 2013 World Championships.

NOVAK’S GAME SHOW

World No. 1 Djokovic Decimates Carballes Baena In Straight Sets To Reach Third Round

TIMES IN PARIS

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Paris: Novak Djokovic is having fun on the tennis court again, that can only mean trouble for the player field. Roberto Carballes Baena was witness to the point-precise, secondround workout on Court Philippe Chatrier on Thursday. The 31-yearold Spaniard asked the questions and the answers were razor-like.

On another rain-marred day at Roland Garros, where the sun played hide-and-seek, forcing organizers to start play at 10 am on Friday on all courts, Djokovic’s tennis lit a spark. The top-seed was tested in the 53-minute first set when the world No.63 Baena stretched himself. A forehand down-the-line winner after a late start was particularly impressive. The world No.1, looking for a fourth title at Roland Garros, only needed another 71 minutes for the second and third sets to score a 6-4, 6-1, 6-2 win. Djokovic, the master of balance, had an equal number of winners on the forehand and backhand sides, 13 each, and 18 of his 43 winners in the match came in the third set.

The 37-year-old Serb, who arrived in Paris without a tourna- ment title, said he was having fun on the court again.

“Even Australia was a bit of an uphill battle in terms of how I was feeling on the court,” Djokovic said. “I’ve been saying from the last (few) years that Grand Slams are the tournaments that get me out of bed every day, knowing that I have to hit the practice courts. I always think about what I can do in Grand Slams.”

Bopanna, Nagal face off in doubles

The men’s doubles draw will see two India No.1s, singles and doubles – Sumit Nagal and Rohan Bopanna — face off. Bopanna and Aussie Matt Ebden will take on alternates Nagal and Austria’s Se- bastian Ofner in the first round.

The other Indian interest in the draw is Yuki Bhambri, who is partnering Frenchman Albano Olivetti. The Indo-French pairing will play John Peers and Roman Safiullin in the first round. In a clash of alternates, India’s Sriram Balaji and Miguel Reyes-Varela play Reese Stalder and Sem Verbeek.

SHORT BUT SHARP: Novak Djokovic returns during his second-round match

Zverev sees off Belgium’s Goffin

ALEXANDER ZVEREV

Paris: World No. 4 Alexander Zverev reached the French Open third round with a 7-6 (4), 6-2, 6-2 victory over experienced Belgian David Goffin on Thursday. The German had to work hard to win the first-set tiebreak but broke early in the second.

Daniil Medvedev moved into the third round of the French Open on Thursday after his opponent Miomir Kecmanovic retired while trailing the fifth seed 6-1, 5-0. Medvedev’s best run at Roland Garros came in 2021 when he reached the quarterfinals.

Aryna Sabalenka charged into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Japanese qualifier Moyuka Uchijima in 62 minutes. Ukrainian 15th seed Elina Svitolina beat Frenchwoman Diane Parry 6-4 7-6(3) in the second round.

Kazakhstan’s fourth seed and former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina beat Dutchwoman Arantxa Rus 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round.

Bulgarian 10th seed Grigor Dimitrov crushed Fabian Marozsan 6-0 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round.

Quiet please, Swiatek appeals to unruly fans

French crowds can be kind of harsh. I don’t know if it was a good decision or not (to speak), but I hope they can treat me as a human.” —Iga Swiatek

Prajwal.Hegde@timesgroup.com

Paris: Unruly crowds have been the talking point of a rain-marred first week at Roland Garros, so much so that the French Open swung hard, banning alcohol in galleries of match courts. The clay court major is the first Grand Slam to ban spirits in the stands. At the end of the epic second-round clash between Iga Swiatek and Naomi Osaka, where the world No.1 rallied from 2-5 in the decider, the Pole appealed to fans not to ‘shout during rallies’. Swiatek, who alluded that French crowds could be ‘harsh’, was caught weeping on camera after the clash.

A couple of days ago, Belgium’s David Goffin said he was ‘spat at by a fan’. Swiatek was at the receiving end of the support for Osaka, who was both the underdog and comeback player in this contest. ‘Please don’t shout during the rallies. This is serious for us,” said the 23-yearold. “The stakes are big, there’s a lot of money to win, losing a few points may change a lot.”

A spectator shouted midway through the third set, resulting in Swiatek missing a half-volley. “I got most frustrated when I missed that volley,” she said. Osaka gave the Philippe Chatrier atmosphere the thumbs up. “I thought the crowd was really cool. I feel like those are the moments I live for,” the 26-year-old Japanese said. “Also, it just makes me feel like the crowd is having fun.”

Fifth seed Daniil Medvedev, who has had his share of run-ins with spectators, said there were two ways to look at it. “There’s an official rule, don’t interrupt players before second serve and when they’re ready to serve and during the point,” Medvedev said. “Personally, I like it. Because it (tennis) is so technical and every millimetre of movement that you change, the ball is going to go to a different side. If someone screams in your ear you could double fault. Also, if there was no such rule, we would get used to it.”

The Russian, asked about fans at the other majors, said French crowds were ‘not easy’.

THIS KOMPANY YOU KEEP BAYERN

Belgian To Stick With Same Attacking Principles After Swapping Burnley For Bayern

HERE TO STAY: New Bayern coach Vincent Kompany at a news conference in Munich on Thursday

Munich: Vincent Kompany insists his footballing principles will not change after swapping the Championship for the Champions League by making the unlikely move from Burnley to Bayern Munich.

Kompany led Burnley to promotion to the Premier League in his first season at the northwest English club, only to get a reality check when his bold and attacking style of play was exposed in the top division.

Burnley’s relegation led to accusations by some that Kompany’s tactics were naïve but the former Manchester City and Belgium defender said he was proud to have stayed consistent “in the very highs and the very lows” and will be working the same way at Bayern.

“At this club and this journey, I have no intention of being a different person,” Kompany said on Thursday at a news conference where he was presented as the replacement for Thomas Tuchel. “I don’t think that’s what they want.”

Kompany will, therefore, ask the same things from Bayern’s higher-quality players as he did from those at Burnley. “I want the players of Bayern Munich to be brave, really brave on the ball, to have personality on the ball,” he said. “But also my nature is, I’m also someone that is aggressive, so I want the team to be aggressive.

“I want the team to represent those two things that would make my character — absolutely brave when they have the ball, when they’re making decisions, and absolutely aggressive, something that they carry throughout every minute of the game always.”

Kompany said the fact that next season’s Champions League final is being staged at Munich’s Allianz Arena will be used as some motivation. “The goal is for me quite simple: I always try to win every match. That the Champions League final is here in Munich might make it a bit more important than the others.”

AP

MARADONA’S HEIRS LOSE COURT BATTLE TO BLOCK AUCTION

Buenos Aires: A French court ruled the auction of the Golden Ball trophy awarded to the late Diego Maradona after the 1986 World Cup can go ahead as planned despite opposition from his heirs, their lawyer said. The trophy is set to be auctioned next Thursday in Paris by the Aguttes auction house. The Golden Ball was missing for decades after it disappeared in uncertain circumstances and only recently resurfaced.

GO BEAT REAL: DORTMUND’S CAN REVEALS KLOPP TEXT

Dortmund: Eleven years after a Champions League final loss to Bayern, Borussia Dortmund veterans Mats Hummels and Marco Reus are returning to Wembley on Saturday to set things right. Managed by Jurgen Klopp, Dortmund came into 2012-13 having won back-to-back titles. Captain Emre Can tasted defeat against Real in the 2018 final with Klopp’s Liverpool, while Niklas Suele won in 2020 when Bayern beat PSG. Can revealed he had been in touch with Klopp, who told him to set things right. “He texted me and just said ‘go and win the final’.”

OLYMPIAKOS WIN CONFERENCE LEAGUE, CREATE HISTORY

Athens: Olympiakos players hailed the team’s unity after edging past Fiorentina 1-0 in extra time to win the Europa Conference League and become the first Greek team to claim a European club title. In a game that was high on intensity and physicality but low on quality in front of goal, neither side could score in the regulation 90 minutes before Ayoub El Kaabi got the winner in the 116th minute. “It is an honour to have made the fans happy,” said Olympiakos coach Jose Luis Mendilibar, who took over in Feb. The result was a 2nd straight loss in the Conference League final for Fiorentina.

AGENCIES

Seine still failing water tests two months from Oly

Paris:Water tests in the Seine in Paris show the river is still too dirty to swim in, two months before the start of the Paris Olympics when it is set be used by athletes, data from a charity showed on Wednesday.

French authorities have been in a race against time to clean up the Seine, which is set to host the swimming leg of the triathlon at the end of July as well as the open-water swimming in August. Water charity Surfrider has been conducting regular tests to measure levels of two crucial bacteria which indicate the presence of faecal matter.

Its latest results showed levels of E. Coli and enterococci higher than authorised levels set by sports federations and European bathing standards. One reading for E.Coli at the Alexandre III bridge was more than three times higher than the maximum level authorised by the triathlon and open-water swimming federations.

Heavy rainfall in May is likely to have contributed to what Surfrider called the “poor” water quality.

It noted that there had been heavy rain 36 hours before the tests, but only light rain in the 12 hours previous.

AFP

Charges against Scheffler dropped

Scottie Scheffler

Louisville: Criminal charges against Scottie Scheffler have been dismissed, ending a legal saga that began with images of the world’s top golfer being arrested and handcuffed in Louisville during the PGA Championship. Jefferson County Attorney Mike O’Connell asked a judge Wednesday afternoon to drop the four charges against Scheffler, who was n ot required to be in the courtroom.

The prosecutor said Scheffler’s explanation that he had a misunderstanding with police directing traffic was “corroborated by the evidence.”

“Based upon the totality of the evidence, my office cannot move forward in the prosecution of the charges filed against Mr. Scheffler,” O’Connell said during the short hearing.

Scheffler said in an Instagram post Wednesday that his May 17 arrest and jailing was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” during a “chaotic situation.”

“I wish to put this incident behind me, and I hope (the officer) will do the same. Police of- ficers have a difficult job and I hold them in high regard,” Scheffler said.

Scheffler had been charged with a felony for assaulting a police officer with his vehicle, along with three misdemeanors. The arresting officer, detective Bryan Gillis, was outside the gate of Valhalla Golf Course directing traffic after a pedestrian death when he encountered Scheffler.

Video of Scheffler in handcuffs being escorted by officers quickly spread on the Internet, followed by a mug shot of Scheffler in an orange jumpsuit from Louisville’s jail. O’Connell said Wednesday that his office thoroughly reviewed evidence in the case before deciding to dismiss charges.

AP

Treesa-Gayatri pair stuns world No. 2 duo; Sindhu loses

Gayatri Gopichand and Treesa Jolly

Manne.Ratnakar@timesgroup.com

Treesa Jolly and Gayatri Gopichand stunned the world No. 2 pair of Baek Ha Na and Lee So Hee of South Korea, but PV Sindhu and HS Prannoy lost their second round matches in the Singapore BWF Super-750 tournament on Thursday.

Treesa-Gayatri won 21-9, 14-21, 21-15. It was their first victory against reigning Asian and All England champions and they are the only Indians still in fray now.

World No. 10 HS Prannoy lost to world No. 11 Kenta Nishimoto of Japan 13-21, 21-14, 15-21. Sindhu squandered big leads (8-3, 15-10, 18-15) in the third game to lose 21-13, 11-21, 20-22 to Carolina Marin of Spain.

Despite her loss, Sindhu will take a lot of positives from the match. Three days after her loss to Wang Zhi Yi in the final of Malaysia Open, Sindhu put up a gallant fight against the former world champion.

“It was a good match. There was a bit of disadvantage from the side I played. After 20-20, it can be anybody's game. It is time to prepare for the next tournament as we are coming closer to Olympics,” Sindhu said.

Treesa-Gayatri produced the upset of the day when they knocked out the South Korean combine. They outclassed their rivals in the first game before losing the second. In the decider, the Indians broke free from 10-9 to race ahead to 16-9

“It was a great match, I didn't expect to win against them. The last two times we played against them we lost, but this time we were pretty good," Gayatri said.

Treesa said, “We did not expect this result. We did not want to make any mistakes. We attacked well and our defence was good. In fact, everything came out well today.”

The duo, who did not qualify for Olympics, will face South Korean sixth seeds Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong in the quarterfinals on Friday. The Koreans have a 1-0 winloss record against Treesa-Gayatri.

Four Indian pugilists advance

India’s Sachin Siwach (57kg), Sanjeet Kumar (92kg), Amit Panghal (51kg) and Jaismine (women's 57kg) took another step towards Olympic qualification as they registered convincing victories to advance in the Boxing World Qualifiers in Bangkok on Thursday. Sachin beat Batuhan Ciftci of Turkey in the pre-quarterfinal, while Sanjeet defeated Luis Sanchez of Venezuela in the round of 32. Jaismine and Amit too won their bouts comfortably.

PTI

China investigates ex-sports director for corruption

Beijing: A former top Chinese sports official is under investigation for corruption, state media reported on Thursday, the latest figure to fall foul of a crackdown on graft in the country.

Gou Zhongwen, who served as director of the General Administration of Sport of China from 2016 to 2022, “is suspected of serious violations of discipline and law”, state broadcaster CCTV reported, using a phrase typically used as a euphemism for corruption.

Gou “is currently undergoing disciplinary review and supervisory investigation by the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the National Supervisory Commission,” CCTV said, referring to Beijing's two top anticorruption bodies.

The report did not specify what violations Gou is suspected of committing.

Since assuming the role of China's top leader over a decade ago, president Xi Jinping has overseen a wide-ranging crackdown on corruption.

In March, former chairman of the Chinese Football Association Chen Xuyuan was sentenced to life in prison for accepting bribes worth $11 million.

AFP

Pragg scores maiden classical win over Carlsen

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

RPraggnanandhaa displayed the importance of activity when he humbled Magnus Carlsen at the Norway elite chess meeting in Stavanger on Wednesday night.

It was a significant win as no Indian, besides V Anand, has beaten the reigning world No. 1 chess player in classical format. D Gukesh and Erigaisi Arjun have not defeated Carlsen yet in classical chess.

P Harkrishna had defeated Carlsen in 2005 but the latter was n either world No. 1 nor world champion then. When K Sasikiran defeated Anand in a World Cup group game in 2002 in Hyderabad, Anand was neither world No. 1 nor undisputed Matchplay world champion.

Earlier, it was not easy for an upcoming player to get an opportunity to play against the reigning world No. 1 for a variety of reasons. But thanks to the explosion of shorter time controls, online, bullet and exhibition chess, Pragg has had those chances since 2021 – during and post pandemic – before he became an elite player.

In just about three years, the Tamil Nadu boy has played Carlsen 28 times. This frequency has understandably diminished the aura of star players – somewhat like young guns rubbing shoulders with the greats during IPL and then not being afraid to take them on in international cricket.

The time control in the Norway event is two hours per player with 10-second increment from the 41st move.

Pragg, armed with strong opening preparation in the rare Sicilian Kan Modern variation and positive frame of mind, showed the virtues of his active pieces. Playing with white, his knight was placed pristinely on d5 and the kingside attack was launched on Carlsen's uncastled king (Pragg castled on the sixth move). It also helped Pragg that the Norwegian's rook was passive, sitting on h8.

The Indian, who had lost to Carlsen in tiebreak of last year's World Cup final, told the official broadcast that when he got to play f5 (13th move), things were expected to turn difficult for black.

When Carlsen resigned – giving Pragg full value of three points – the Indian had shifted his attack to the queenside. When the win was sealed after just 37 moves, a checkmate was evident in queen and r ook endgame, though Pragg had a pawn less (four vs five).

Pragg said he was q uite happy with the victory, especially after playing poorly against reigning world champion Ding Liren in the previous r ound. “I can beat any player in the world if I play my best chess,” he said.

Carlsen leads Pragg 9-7 across all formats but trails 0-1 after four classical games.

When Anand had defeated the then No. 1 Garry Kasparov for the first time at Reggio Emilia in 1991, he had the experience of playing only three games against the Russian monarch – all de- feats in the classical form. Anand was 22 then and Kasparov 28, having already won four World titles and at the peak of his prowess, just six years after winning his first crown.

Pragg is 18 now and Carlsen is 33 – having decided to vacate his world crown as he was no more feeling excited about classical chess – and 11 years older after winning his first in Chennai in 2013.

In his stellar career, Anand has defeated Kasparov, Carlsen, Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov multiple times in classical chess when they were either world No. 1 or reigning world champions.

MOVES: Praggnanandhaa vs Carlsen: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Qc7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Qe2 d6 8. c4 Nbd7 9. Nc3 Ne5 10. h3 b6 11. f4 Nxd3 12. Qxd3 Bb7 13. f5 Qd7 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Rad1 Rc8 16. Qe2 e5 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nc2 Qc6 19. Ne3 Bg5 20. Kh1 Bxe3 21. Qxe3 f6 22. b3 b5 23. Nd5 Qc5 24. Qf3 bxc4 25. Qh5+ Kf8 26. Rf3 Bxd5 27. Rxd5 Qb6 28. bxc4 Rxc4 29. Rb3 Rb4 30. Rdd3 Rxb3 31. Rxb3 Qc7 32. Qd1 g6 33. Qb1 Qc5 34. Rb7 gxf5 35. Kh2 Rg8. 36. Qb3 d5 37. Rxh7 ... Black resigns.

ALCOHOL BAN AT ROLAND GARROS

Paris: As rain suspended play on the outer courts at the French Open again on Thursday, fans were in for more disappointment when organisers announced they would not be able to drink alcohol in the stands after unruly behaviour came under scrutiny.

Tournament director Amelie Mauresmo said, “Alcohol was allowed until now in the stands, but that’s over... If fans exceed the limit, if fans don’t behave well or if they throw things at the players, that’s it.”

ERIKSEN COMPLETES FAIRYTALE RETURN TO DENMARK’S EURO 2024 SQUAD

Copenhagen: Playmaker Christian Eriksen, whose last outing at the European Championship for Denmark ended in a heart attack witnessed by millions watching around the world, has been included in Kasper Hjulmand’s squad for Euro 24 in Germany.

De Jong in Dutch Euro squad despite injury: Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman has included Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong in his final 26-man Euro squad despite the fact he is still recovering from an ankle injury. Koeman has however left out left-back Ian Maatsen, who has played a key role in Borussia Dortmund’s team. Fitness concerns also Memphis Depay.

More players accused in Oz fixing scandal: Two more players could be involved in the Australian match-fixing case that has already resulted in three Macarthur FC players being charged. Two other players are accused of participating in a criminal group.

Delhi Times

- In a man’s world, Savi is a brave woman out to save her husband

- Ayushmann bags 10 brands post Dream Girl 2 success

- VOICES

- Not the ideal time: Ranveer Singh and Prasanth Varma conﬁrm shelving Rakshas

- HOW TO: Increase water intake

- Cats on the moon? Google’s new AI tool is confusing people

- Innovative campaigns by this radio channel encouraged voting

- Farewell party for Italian ambassador

- DID YOU KNOW?

- Malala to make her screen debut with British sitcom

- Women travellers deserve more than a choice of ‘safe seats’

- Big B talks about social media addiction. Are you worried too?

- Review

- High in nutrients, low in calories: Add mushrooms to your daily diet

- TRIPPIN

In a man’s world, Savi is a brave woman out to save her husband

Abhinay Deo’s Savi, starring Divya Khossla, Anil Kapoor and Harshvardhan Rane, is a high-octane edge-of-the-seat thriller set in present-day Liverpool. The film, which releases today, combines intense action with a gripping love story that is sure to captivate audiences.

Savi centres on Savitri Sachdev, portrayed by Divya Khossla, whose life is thrown into turmoil when her husband Nakul (Harshvardhan Rane), is wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in one of the UK’s most secure prisons. Determined to prove his innocence and reunite their family, she embarks on a dangerous journey that ends in a daring prison break. Alongside her is J Paul, played by Anil Kapoor, who helps her in this pursuit, in a powerful and entertaining role.

Set against a gritty backdrop, Savi captures the essence of a simple housewife’s relentless determination. Divya promises to deliver a power-packed performance, bringing depth and intensity to her character, while Anil’s versatility and Harshvardhan’s vulnerable portrayal of Nakul add layers of emotion.

An Abhinay Deo film, Savi, is produced by Mukesh Bhatt, Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the banners of Vishesh Films and T-Series. Shiv Cha- nana and Sakshi Bhatt are the co-producers. The film is now playing at theatres near you.

Abhinay Deo and Divya Khossla and (inset) a poster of Savi, which also features Anil Kapoor and Harshvardhan Rane

Ayushmann bags 10 brands post Dream Girl 2 success

The actor has also signed his first film with Karan Johar’s banner

I am thankful that my brands feel that I can connect with the youth of India today and tell them an engaging, compelling story through these ads. Like they say, marketing is not about the stuff that you make, but the stories you tell – Ayushmann Khurrana

Ayushmann Khurrana

Bollywood star Ayushmann Khurrana’s equity seems to be soaring after delivering a 100-crore blockbuster with Dream Girl 2. He recently bagged his first film with Karan Johar’s Dharma Production. The untitled film is also being produced by Guneet Monga’s Sikhya Entertainment. The actor has also signed 10 new brands.

Ayushmann’s brand portfolio has a mix of Indian legacy brands, international fashion and luxury giants like Bvlgari, as well as young, disruptive companies. He has recently been signed as the brand ambassador of Agoda, Amazon Pay, Wai Wai, Bvlgari, Orange Health, Wakefit, Shopsy, Nautica, Wobble and Birla Brainiacs. His brand portfolio also comprises Titan Eye Plus, Kit Kat, Signature, Cipla, Ranjit Innerwear, Godrej Securities, Godrej Appliances, Monginis, Tide, JSW Paints and Nexus Malls, among others. Ayushmann is gaining popularity among brands as a trustworthy choice from the Hindi film industry.

When we spoke to Ayushmann about his projects and choices, he said, “When it comes to my brand endorsement portfolio, the goal is to always keep it diverse and disruptive, like my choice in films. I love partnering with brands that deliver their vision and purpose simply, yet effectively. For me, getting to know the brand’s proposition and promise is an insightful experience that leads to a deeper understanding of the why behind the who and what.”

He added, “I am thankful that my brands feel that I can connect with the youth of India today and tell them an engaging, compelling story through these ads. Like they say, marketing is not about the stuff that you make, but the stories you tell. And at heart, I am a storyteller.”

VOICES

For a long time, celebrities had little to no recourse against the misuse of their persona. However, I am heartened by the fact that courts have progressively recognised and protected these rights, as demonstrated in landmark cases involving Amitabh Bachchan and Anil Kapoor. These precedents have been very encouraging and motivated me to assert my rights – Jackie Shroff on the recent Delhi High Court order protecting his personality rights

Not the ideal time: Ranveer Singh and Prasanth Varma confirm shelving Rakshas

Prasanth is a very special talent. We met and explored the idea of a film together. Hopefully, we will collaborate on something exciting in the future Ranveer Singh

There was a lot of excitement when the news of a project between Ranveer Singh and Hanu-Man filmmaker Prasanth Varma started doing the rounds. However, recently there has been buzz that the two have parted ways owing to creative differences. The actor and the filmmaker have now spoken about the parting. Ranveer said, “Prasanth is a very special talent. We met and explored the idea of a film together. Hopefully, we will collaborate on something exciting in the future.” Prasanth Varma said, “Ranveer’s energy and talent is rare to find. We shall manifest our forces combining soon sometime in the future.

All parties, including the producers, agree that “everyone’s intentions were right to make it happen, but somethings sometimes aren’t meant to be at that time.” TNN

HOW TO: Increase water intake

As NCR deals with heatwaves, are you struggling to increase your water intake? Here are some tips that might help

CARRY A WATER BOTTLE

Keep a reusable water bottle with you wherever you go. Having water readily available will remind you to drink throughout the day.

SET REMINDERS AND DAILY GOALS

Aim to drink a certain amount of water each day. Use apps to remind yourself to drink water regularly, especially if you tend to forget.

INFUSE YOUR WATER

Add slices of fruits like lemon, lime, cucumber, or berries to your water for a refreshing flavor boost. Drink before meals: Make it a habit to drink a glass of water before each meal.

EAT WATER-RICH FOODS

Consume fruits and vegetables with high water content, such as watermelon, cucumbers, oranges, and strawberries. Listen to your body: Pay attention to signs of dehydration such as thirst, dry mouth, fatigue, and dark-coloured urine.

Cats on the moon? Google’s new AI tool is confusing people

Ask Google if cats have been on the moon and it comes up with an instant answer generated by artificial intelligence. “Yes, astronauts have met cats on the moon, played with them, and provided care,” said Google’s newly retooled search en- gine. It added: “For example, Neil Armstrong said, ‘One small step for man’ because it was a cat’s step. Buzz Aldrin also deployed cats on the Apollo 11 mission.”

Similar errors – some funny, others harmful falsehoods – have been shared on social media since Google this month unleashed AI overviews. The new feature has alarmed experts who warn it could perpetuate bias and misinformation and endanger people looking for help. AP

Innovative campaigns by this radio channel encouraged voting

Celebrities like Manoj Bajpayee and Shilpa Rao supported Know Your Candidate campaign in Delhi that encouraged youth voting

The Commission strongly believes that partnership and collaboration are essential pillars of the voter awareness program — Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner of India

In Mumbai, the Mirchi Voting Signal campaign, in partnership with the BMC, featured a live radio station at the iconic Selfie Point near CSMT

Mirchi, in partnership with the Election Commission of India (ECI), launched the Chunaav Ka Parva, Desh Ka Garv initiative to promote civic duty and electoral responsibility. This nationwide campaign uses the brand’s extensive radio network, strong digital presence and dynamic on-ground activations to raise awareness about voter rights, encourage participation and emphasise the importance of every vote. Other efforts by them include the Esala Vote Namde #Beralutorsi campaign in Karnataka, which received a prestigious media category award from the President of India.

For the Indian General Elections 2024, the Mirchi Voting Signal campaign in Mumbai, in partnership with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), featured a live radio station at the iconic Selfie Point near Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT). In Delhi, the Know Your Candidate campaign targeted first-time voters with fun contests and mentions. Celebrities like Manoj Bajpayee and Shilpa Rao supported the campaign. Key initiatives like 100 Takey Ki Baat with RJ Sayema encouraged youth voting and Specially Abled Voters with RJ Sid, promoted inclusivity at polling booths.

The radio channel’s efforts also reached Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. RJ Aalok was appointed Systematic Voters’ Education and Electoral Participation’s (SVEEP) ambassador for Lucknow to enhance youth voting awareness, leading a team of over 100 influencers. In Punjab, the station’s voter awareness anthem ‘Abhi toh voting shuru hui hai’ gained significant traction.

Yatish Mehrishi, CEO of Entertainment Network India Limited, shares, “Our creative use of radio and digital platforms to connect with local communities has been essential in promoting voter participation. We take great pride in supporting national causes, and this recognition underscores our commitment to making a positive difference in socie- ty, thanks to the dedication of our entire team.”

Commenting on the collaboration Rajiv Kumar, Chief Election Commissioner of India says, “The Commission strongly believes that partnership and collaboration are essential pillars of the voter awareness program. It’s really heartening to see that on the Commission’s request, different institutions, influencers, and celebrities with significant reach are working enthusiastically and on a probono basis.”

Farewell party for Italian ambassador

As we gather here to bid farewell to an extraordinary individual, I am sad to see the ambassador leave but also filled with immense gratitude for the incredible work he has done in these years Diljeet Titus

Diljeet Titus

Riya Sharma

With hugs, anecdotes and messages of love, friends and colleagues bid farewell to the outgoing Italian ambassador Vincenzo De Luca. Diljeet Titus, founder and Managing Partner, Titus & Co Advocates, in association with the Indo-Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, hosted the farewell reception.

Talking about his time here, he told us on an emotional note, “I am sad to leave India but I am also very happy with my journey. What we have done together as a team, as a community between India and Italy, the elevation of relationships, mobility, companies, and cultural events, I am so honoured to have served here and for the friendship and the relationship. I will miss the human touch, the empathy and the profound culture.”

Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs & Cul- ture, shared, “He will be leaving us as the ambassador of Italy but he is going to be an ambassador at large, representing the Indo-Italian friendship, and all of us have chosen to appoint him. He is not leaving us, he is going to be very much around, he has only left the office.”

Sunit Tandon

Muzaffar Ali

Vincenzo De Luca with Amitabh Kant

Meenakshi Lekhi, Minister of State for External Affairs & Culture, and the outgoing Italian ambassador Vincenzo De Luca share a cake slice at the farewell party

VN Dalmia

DID YOU KNOW?

Rang De Basanti was first named The Young Guns of India

Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s Rang De Basanti was originally named The Young Guns of India. It was then changed to Ahuti. But finally, the makers zeroed in on Rang De Basanti to connect with the youth.

Malala to make her screen debut with British sitcom

Malala Yousafzai’s look from the sitcom

Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai is making her sitcom debut with a cameo in the second season of Nida Manzoor’s We Are Lady Parts. Her first look from the British sitcom has just been released. It shows Malala wearing a cowboy hat while riding a horse.

The British sitcom series follows Lady Parts, a British punk rock band composed entirely of Muslim women. Malala joins previously announced cast members, including Anjana Vasan, Sarah Kameela Impey, Juliette Motamed, Faith Omole and Lucie Shorthouse.

Women travellers deserve more than a choice of ‘safe seats’

POV

As per The Economic Times, top travel agencies in the country are happy to report that women make for 40 per cent of their leisure travel base. What’s more, there has been a 35 per cent rise in solo women travellers in the last two years, presenting a fantastic business opportunity for the travel and tourism industry.

Clearly, it is a reflection of changing socio-economic dynamics when women have the resources and the agency to decide where they wish to travel, and how. But offering them a choice of seat on an airline so that they may feel comfortable while seated next to another woman may not be enough.

The opportunity to travel whether solo or in an all-women’s group, for leisure or work should not be limited to those from tier-1 cities. Neither should it be a prerogative of the privileged. We need to pause and reflect on why many women find it easier to travel abroad than in their own country despite the surge in searches for “solo travel destinations in India” as per reports. And what can the stakeholders do beyond offering customised packages to win their confidence.

It may start with the basics. Public transport system needs to be more efficient, better illuminated and deploy more women staffers in customer-facing roles. The more women you see around you, the more secure you feel. Street lighting and more CCTV cameras are also important to ensure women feel safe when in unfamiliar surroundings. Road travel should have more options for safe and hygienic public amenities accessible to all women, and most importantly, there ought to be visible police presence at busy tourist spots.

But none of this would make sense if there is not a concerted effort at sensitising the public at large about making every inch of space safe for women from hotel lobbies to camp sites, longdistance buses to metro coaches. Creating safe bubbles for women in public transport may work to an extent, but we also need to work on how women can feel as confident should they choose to step out of that bubble.

Agree? Disagree? Got a POV idea? Write to us at: pov@timesgroup.com

Big B talks about social media addiction. Are you worried too?

Doing nothing can sometimes trigger feelings of anxiety, loneliness or boredom. Constantly scrolling through the phone helps us distract ourselves from these feelings. Start by tracking how much time you are spending on social media. Allocate specific time slots for scrolling each day. Turn off the internet while sleeping. Cultivate real-world activities such as meeting friends, exercising, or pursuing hobbies – Rasika Karkare, counselling psychologist

Natasha Coutinho

Once you start looking at social media, you lose track of time – Amitabh Bachchan on Wednesday highlighted the addictive nature of social media in a post on X. And this is not the first time the actor has spoken about this. On his game show last year, Bachchan had said, “From the past few days, while writing the blog I feel like ‘Let’s publish this on social media’. I do that. But after it goes online, I tend to go again and again on the platform to see who said what. While scrolling through it, I don’t even realise where my one and half to two hours are gone. It’s a very bad habit.”

Symptoms of social media addiction

● Checking social media first thing in the morning and last thing at night

● Feeling stressed without your phone

● Feeling bad when not getting likes, retweets or views

● Preferring to communicate with friends and family through social media rather than face-to-face

● Feeling the need to share everyday things all the time

Review

GOLA SIZZLERS Multi-cuisine family restaurant

When restaurants reopened after the pandemic, there were long queues outside famous eateries, especially Gola Sizzlers in CP. People from different parts of the city came here to feast on their favourite sizzlers and Indian dishes. Seeing the demand and loyal following, the Kapoor family which owns the brand, decided to put their entire focus on making the brand even better. While Covid-19 spelt doom for many iconic restaurant chains, it gave a whole new direction and purpose to Gola Sizzlers. The restaurant underwent a transformation, improvised its logo and interiors, and has already opened 25 outlets across the country in the last few years!

ATMOSPHERICS

The latest Gola Sizzlers outlet to open is in Vasant Kunj. It is not just their biggest but also one of the largest dining spots to have opened in the mall complex. A big bar, high ceiling, modern diner setting spread across two levels with chic interiors welcome you here. While the look is modern and young, the charm of family diner remains intact. You can find three generations of a family dining here. A big draw — in an age where restaurants are trying to squeeze in too much in a limited space — is the wellspread-out seating that ensures you have a nice meal without feeling cramped.

FOOD

The place is obviously known for its sizzlers and those remain ‘hot’ favourites. The sizzling hot grilled chicken sizzler with veggies in a sauce of your choice BBQ, black pepper, or tomato mushroom sauce (we chose black pepper sauce), Two to Tango (chicken steak and breast), chicken shashlik and chicken tikka (`1,199 each) remain the popular picks. Veg manchurian, veg shashlik, grilled cottage cheese and chilli paneer sizzler (`1,099 each) are among their most ordered vegetarian picks. Shaurya Kapoor, a trained chef from the Culinary Institute of America, New York and a third-generation member of their family has introduced new flavours to the menu. Peri peri flavoured sizzlers, seafood sizzlers, pizzas, pastas, and Asian dishes are some of his introductions meant to widen the brand’s appeal. The Indian main course dishes, especially butter chicken (`749) and Beli Ram chicken chicken served in minced mutton sauce (`749) are their signature dishes.

PLUS AND MINUS

It is commendable that the brand is expanding fast and yet retains the flavours one associates with it. Unlike most big restaurant chains banking on the centralised kitchen model these days, this is one restaurant that still prepares each dish fresh at the outlet itself. One hopes they would also ensure that its character of a charming family diner remains and is not impacted by business demands.

TIMES FOOD GUIDE

Gola Sizzlers: Third floor, Ambience Mall, Vasant Kunj, New Delhi: 110070;

Tel: +919899123601;

Meal for two: `2,000 approx;

Timings: Noon – 11.30 pm; Credit cards accepted, alcohol licence awaited

RATING: ■ Food: 3.75 ■ Service: 3.50 ■ Décor: 4.00

Do you agree? Write your own review and give it a rating at whatshot.in(5) Excellent (4) Very good (3) Good (2) Average (1) Poor

MUST TRY: Chicken, seafood and veg sizzlers, pizzas, pastas, Indian main course

Facebook @delhitimesonline, Twitter @DelhiTimesTweet, Instagram @delhi.times – Amin Ali

High in nutrients, low in calories: Add mushrooms to your daily diet

Antioxidant compounds like terpenoids, polysaccharides, and phenolics found especially in wild mushrooms such as reishi and shiitake can reduce inflammation and ease body pain – Muskan Soni, a Pune-based nutritionist

Mushrooms are low in fat yet rich in fibre, vitamins & minerals. Oyster mushrooms contain compounds that may help lower cholesterol and reduce inflammation, which are risk factors for heart disease Radha Patil, a Surat-based nutritionist

White button mushroom Accounting for 90% of mushroom consumption, this is the most prevalent variety. It is usually used in soups, sauces, and curries

TIMES FOODIE

As the demand grows in India, consumers are discovering the use and benefits of different fungi

There are around 1,600 mushroom varieties worldwide, but only 100 are considered edible. But within those varieties are packed a range of healthy nutrients, which include antioxidants, vitamins and minerals. So here are reasons to add mushrooms to your diet. TNN

Method: Heat oil in a pan and add gingergarlic paste. Add onion and sauté it. Later, add tomato, and all the spices to it, and finally add the minced mushrooms. Cook till it releases a little oil. Add coriander and other seasonings as per your taste. To go with the k eema, slice the pav, apply butter on it, and toast it. Apply green chutney on one side of the pav. Place the hot mushroom k eema on the pav and top with cheese and onion. – Inputs by Urvika Kanoi, a Mumbai-based chef

Mushroom Keema 2.O

Ingredients:

● 1 ½ tbsp oil

● 1-2 minced green chilli

● 2 minced tomatoes

● 2 minced onions

● 2 tbsp ginger garlic paste

● ½ tbsp cumin and coriander powder

● 1 tbsp chilli powder

● 2 packets minced mushrooms

● Coriander leaves

●Salt to taste

● Cheese 1⁄2 cup grated (¼ cheddar + ¼ mozzarella)

● 4 tbsp green chutney

● 1-2 tbsp garlic butter

● 1 onion sliced and soaked in vinegar water

● Pav

Milky mushroom

Widely cultivated in India, this mushroom has an all-white appearance and firm consistency, making it suitable for sautéing, steaming, grilling, and boiling. Its thick, meaty texture blends well with curries, soups, and stews

NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS

● Mushrooms are low in calories and high in nutrients such as antioxidants, fibre, vitamins B and C, and minerals

● Eating mushrooms has been linked to health benefits, including better gut and brain health, protection against obesity, type 2 diabetes, certain cancers, high blood pressure, and improved bone health

● The folic acid present in oyster mushrooms helps to cure anaemia. It is suitable for people with hypertension, obesity, and diabetes due to its low sodium

Shiitake mushroom This variety of mushrooms is favoured for its meat-like texture and is used in pasta dishes, starters, and sandwiches

Oyster mushroom Among the most commonly cultivated mushrooms globally are oyster mushrooms, also known as pearl oyster mushrooms. They are used widely in curries, stir-fries, and soups

TRIPPIN

Basking in the beauty of GREECE, SANAYA IRANI wrote, “I feel like sunsets look good on me #sunset #goldenlight (sic)”

Table of Contents

TOI Print Edition May 31, 2024

Front Page

My ‘damdar govt’ poised for 3rd term in a row: Modi

Pandian not my heir, people will pick successor, says Naveen

Mother of one thrashed, raped in city, man held

2 die in city after tree falls on scooter

Cop: Woman’s blood replaced Pune teen’s

CC, online frauds jump 425% in FY24

MMS: Never singled out a community

IN THE COURTS

Third gender turnout sees steady climb since 2014

Cong claim on PM post? Party with max seats will get to decide, says Jairam

Amid LAC face-off, China deploys J-20 stealth fighters at Tibet airfield

Desi co launches world’s 1st rocket with one-piece 3D-printed engine

Prajwal arrested at B’luru airport on return from Munich

Fire at city police school yard, 300 vehicles gutted

May move SC to demand more water, hints Atishi

RBI moves 100T of its gold from UK’s central bank to India vaults

Kejriwal files 2 bail pleas in Delhi court; ED says ‘his health didn’t stop campaign’

3 Lt Cols of TA booked for J&K police stn ‘attack’

Factory worker 1st heat casualty in city as it reels under 49.2°C

In 36 hrs, heat claims 22 lives across 3 states

22 killed, 57 injured as bus carrying devotees falls into gorge in Jammu

Times Nation

Territorial Army men storm J&K thana; 3 Lt Col among 16 booked

PM ends 2-mth-long poll drive, starts 42-hour meditation spell

Objective view, says MEA of Nawaz remark on pact breach

Cabin crew held after nearly 1kg gold found in rectum

From 0 to 40 in 16 years, Sariska scripts tiger conservation history

Remove illegal shrines from govt land: Kerala HC

SC: Promotion not a right, no criteria stated in Constitution

HC: Special Marriage Act won’t legalise a union prohibited under personal law

In NDPS cases, must include blotter paper in LSD weight: HC

No proposal for FTA with Maldives: Govt

Chhota Rajan gets life for ’01 murder of Mumbai hotelier

Doc swapped Porsche teen’s blood with woman’s sample, says cop

After benefitting from quota, Muslims fear this window of hope may shut

Monsoon arrives early, and simultaneously in Kerala, N-E

IAF Rafales to take part in 4-nation drill in US

Maha tourist killed in paragliding accident

In Bihar, 5 of 9 heatwave victims were poll officers

Special aircraft ferried gold from UK back to India

6 more killed, toll from N-E floods & landslides hits 45

6 of 22 victims of Jammu bus accident are from Hathras, 9 from Aligarh

China’s J-20s at Tibet base for high-altitude trial?

Agnikul feat a testament to ingenuity of yuva shakti: PM

Won’t decide unilaterally on PM on behalf of oppn bloc: Cong

Agnipath benefits corporates: Rahul

AAP destroying Punjab’s industry, agriculture: Modi

Times City

Delhi Bakery: Narela Is Piping Hot At 49.2 Degrees

Stay alert to avoid stroke of bad luck in heat

Orange alert in Ggn as storm may offer relief

Heat action plan promises succour, but remains on paper as city sweats

As Crisis Deepens, Atishi Says May Move SC For More Water

Project Empathy In Peak Summer: Construction Sites Come Up Short

CINEMA OF THE WEEK

Hottest May in 11 years, days & nights warmer than usual

BJP blames ‘corruption’ in Delhi govt for water crisis

Four cops held for extorting `8L from liquor smugglers

Focus On Civic Amenities In Unauthorised Areas: LG

As Tihar releases CM’s weight data, Atishi asks what about fluctuations in first 11 days

CM must surrender on June 2 if denied reprieve by court

ED seals `300cr properties of firm running GIP Mall

Patkar’s sentencing in Saxena defamation case likely next wk

2 Delhi HC judges move to MP and Karnataka

Fire at police training centre yard, 300 vehicles gutted

Is Your Home Safe? Maybe Not. Here’s How To Protect Yourself

Civic bodies implement measures to curb fires

Fire dept promises action after traders raise concerns

Data On Nursing Homes At A Click

Associate of gangster Bhau detained in US?

2 die after tree falls on them in outer Delhi

Hospital fire: JJ Act invoked too, accused in judicial custody

Blast in AC unit causes fire in flat of Noida condo, no casualty

Tharoor’s ex-aide caught smuggling gold at airport

Extortion angle behind murder of 32-yr-old inside NE Delhi shop, say cops

Woman Alleges Rape By E-Rickshaw Driver

Eeco carrying 9 overturns, falls off DME after hit by car, girl dies

Sisodia to be in custody till July 6 in excise case

Dance Of Democracy

Two Months On, Curtains Come Down On Campaign For 18th LS

Turnout of trans people rising since ’14, Goa topped list this year with 75%

Pandian is not my heir, people will pick successor: Naveen

Manmohan denies making ‘first claim of Muslims’ remark

‘Modi’fied Varanasi Says A Hat-Trick ‘Guaranteed’, Focus Now On 5L Margin

Four contestants square off in Amritsar, voters caught in a circle of confusion

Balasore pins hopes on polls to rocket it towards better days

Punjab sinking, youth eye flight with visa power

In Diamond Harbour, Trinamool expects its ‘ratna’ to shine again

Will Mirzapur roll out ‘kaleen’ thrice in a row for Anupriya?

In Premchand’s birthplace Lamhi, change is on view, and in the air

Times Business

Sun Pharma, DRL recall drugs in US

Card, online frauds surge 5x to `1.5k cr in FY24: RBI

FY25 forecast: 7% growth, 4.5% inflation

Multiple fintech self-regulatory bodies on anvil?

What’s behind record `2.1L cr dividend? Drop in provisions

Jio super-app to take on Google, Amazon

Sensex slips 617 pts as investors feel poll jitters

Stepped do wn as IL&FS dir ector In Dec ’13: Mistry

‘IBC resolved as many cases in 7 yrs as BIFR did in 30 yrs’

Govt may allow stake dilution by Chinese cos

Adani Green risks missing targets: Report

Oyo posts first full-year profit in FY24 at `100 crore

Editorial

CONTRAPUNTO

For Future Polls

Good Sense Deserted Us

Pizza queen

Sari Or Cooker Won’t Cut It

Bar & Bench, And Economy: Please Run In Tandem

Sacred space

The Future Belongs To Meritocracy

Times Techies.AI

INDIAN GCCs HAVE AN AI EDGE

Engaging tools for teachers; but there are anxieties too

Seeking truth in fuzzy world of generated results

IS AI RESHAPING THE WORLD?

TRANSFORMERS SUPERCHARGED THE FIELD OF AI

Times Global

Brazilian sent to mental hosp after admitting killing Indian woman

Person is killed in running jet engine at Amsterdam airport

‘US may accept Ukrainian strikes in Russia with American arms’

AROUND THE WORLD

Israel’s seizure of Gaza-Egypt border zone risks Cairo’s ire

ANC on track to lose 30-yr-old majority in watershed SA vote

Black men asked to exit flight over ‘body odour’ complaint sue US airline

Who plotted to sell Elvis’ Graceland? An identity thief raises his hand

UK parliament dissolves ahead of July 4 election

14 HK democrats found guilty in subversion trial

A RIVER RUNS THROUGH A BRAZIL STREET

Girl, 9, from Kerala grievously hurt in London shooting

‘Nato boss to seek¤40bn per year for Ukraine military aid’

Times Sport

INDIA’S SPIN GAMBLE

Cops in NY on guard after reports of terror threat to Ind-Pak tie

WEARING INDIA JERSEY IS A DIFFERENT FEELING: PANT

GALLERY

Skipper Buttler eager for T20 world champs England to learn India lessons

Disrupted preparations won’t be an excuse: Wood

Crack team of Boe and Satwik-Chirag to part ways

NOVAK’S GAME SHOW

Zverev sees off Belgium’s Goffin

Quiet please, Swiatek appeals to unruly fans

THIS KOMPANY YOU KEEP BAYERN

MARADONA’S HEIRS LOSE COURT BATTLE TO BLOCK AUCTION

GO BEAT REAL: DORTMUND’S CAN REVEALS KLOPP TEXT

OLYMPIAKOS WIN CONFERENCE LEAGUE, CREATE HISTORY

Seine still failing water tests two months from Oly

Charges against Scheffler dropped

Treesa-Gayatri pair stuns world No. 2 duo; Sindhu loses

Four Indian pugilists advance

China investigates ex-sports director for corruption

Pragg scores maiden classical win over Carlsen

ALCOHOL BAN AT ROLAND GARROS

ERIKSEN COMPLETES FAIRYTALE RETURN TO DENMARK’S EURO 2024 SQUAD

Delhi Times

In a man’s world, Savi is a brave woman out to save her husband

Ayushmann bags 10 brands post Dream Girl 2 success

VOICES

Not the ideal time: Ranveer Singh and Prasanth Varma conﬁrm shelving Rakshas

HOW TO: Increase water intake

Cats on the moon? Google’s new AI tool is confusing people

Innovative campaigns by this radio channel encouraged voting

Farewell party for Italian ambassador

DID YOU KNOW?

Malala to make her screen debut with British sitcom

Women travellers deserve more than a choice of ‘safe seats’

Big B talks about social media addiction. Are you worried too?

Review

High in nutrients, low in calories: Add mushrooms to your daily diet

TRIPPIN