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CHENNAI I SUNDAY 12 I JUNE 2022

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Star: visagam
Rahukalam:
4.30 am to 6.00 am
Yamagandam: CM stresses on vaccination, RS polls: BJP outsmarts
tests to check Covid spread Cong. in Maha, Haryana
12 pm to 1.30 pm
PRAYERS
Fajar: 5.18 am
Luhar: 12.20 am DC CORRESPONDENT
Asar: 3.31 pm
Maghrib: 5.57 pm ■‘Depts must coordinate efforts; get treatment facilities ready’
NEW DELHI/ MUMBAI,
JUNE 11
Cracks in Oppn camp
Isha: 7.12 pm
Building of Kanpur
The results of the keenly help BJP make gains
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JUNE 11 GCC MAY RE-LAUNCH FEVER and Coimbatore.
He wanted the involve-
contested Rajya Sabha elec-
tions in Maharashtra and New Delhi, June 11: The opposition ranks from
riot-accused razed ment of the various gov- Haryana, declared on BJP’s strength in state Maharashtra to

Kanpur: A week after the city

witnessed chaotic protests
marred by stone pelting, the
Kanpur Development
Authority on Saturday demol-
ished a multi-store building
allegedly owned by a close aide
of the main accused in the inci-
dent, police said. Police also
arrested one Nizam Qureshi,
who officials claim is another
mastermind of the June 3 vio-
lence. Qureshi was among the
36 accused whose names were
mentioned in the FIR lodged
soon after the violence, a police
official said. —PTI
UK to fly out
Chief Minister M.K. Stalin
laid emphasis on creating
awareness among the peo-
ple on the various preven-
tive measures like vacci-
nation, facemasks, social
distancing and hand
washing against the
spread of Coronavirus,
whose spread was on the
rise in many parts of the
country.
Reviewing the measures
taken by government to
stop another surge in the
state with top officials at
the secretariat on
Saturday, the Chief
Minister called upon the
CLINICS IN SELECT ZONES
T. SUDHEESH
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
As the active cases and test
positivity rate register a
spike, the Greater Chennai
Corporation (GCC) is likely
to re-launch the fever
camps especially in the
authorities to keep treat-
ment facilities ready and
continue with the efforts
taken to control the
spread.
The Chief Minister
zones which have the most
number of active cases.
Dr M. Jagadeesan, city
health officer of GCC, said
that the corporation is
closely monitoring the situ-
ation. “Action will be taken
to re-launch the camps if
necessary,” he said.
called the meeting after a
surge has been reported in
Chennai Corporation area
and the districts of
C h e n g a l p a t t u ,
Kanchipuram, Tiruvallur
ernment departments
such as health, local bod-
ies, municipal administra-
tion and revenue and dis-
aster management in the
measures taken to curb
the escalation of cases.
Stressing on the need for
carrying out tests on all
people in gatherings – like
work places, festivals,
marriages, meetings and
functions – where some-
one was found to be Covid-
19 positive, Mr Stalin said
the cases should be contin-
uously monitored and
proper treatment given to
the infected ones.
Saturday, proved to be a set-
back for the Shiv Sena and
the Congress. The Shiv Sena
candidate Sanjay Pawar lost
to the BJP’s Dhananjay
Mahadik in Maharashtra,
while the Congress party's
official candidate, Ajay
Maken, lost to media baron
Kartikeya Sharma, an inde-
pendent candidate backed
by the BJP.
In the 90-member Haryana
Assembly, 31 votes were
required to win. The
strength of the Assembly
was reduced to 88 as an inde-
pendent MLA abstained and
one vote was declared
invalid. So the cut off mark
assemblies suggested that
the party could retain
only 20 of the 24 Rajya
Sabha seats it held in the
biennial polls for 57 seats
but as the electoral
process got over on
Saturday, it has won 22
and also ensured victory
of an independent, under-
lining its pull among unaf-
filiated legislators and dis-
affected lawmakers in
opposition camp.
The BJP’s better-than-
expected show is a boost to
the ruling National
Democratic Alliance
ahead of the President’s
poll, and is a blow to its
Karnataka and Haryana.
The BJP’s ambitious drive
to force a contest in these
states besides Rajasthan
by backing independents
or putting its own candi-
dates to benefit from divi-
sion paid dividends as it
bagged one extra seat each
in all states barring
Rajasthan.
Congress veteran and
Rajasthan Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot not only
managed to keep the flock
of its supporting MLAs
together but also embar-
rassed the BJP by wooing
over one of its MLAs to foil
the saffron party’s efforts

illegal immigrants
London: UK Home Secretary
MAMATA INVITES
CMS, OPPOSITION
Covid cases rise by 8,329
DC CORRESPONDENT 24 hours, while the death tivity rate at 1.75 per cent,
was reduced to 29.34 votes.
The BJP candidate had a
clean 31 votes. The Congress
candidate, Mr Maken,
polled 29 votes, while the
rivals, as the Rajya Sabha
elections have again high-
lighted dissension and
lack of cohesion in the
to get an independent, out-
going MP and media entre-
preneur
Chandra, elected.
Subhash
■ P5

Priti Patel’s new plan to fly ille-
gal migrants to Rwanda got the
go-ahead as the High Court in
London allowed the first flight
to proceed. The Indian-origin
Cabinet minister has described
the new immigration strategy
that will see illegal immigrants
entering the UK being flown
out to Rwanda as a bold and
innovative move. However,
campaigners lodged a legal
challenge against the plan but
failed in an initial legal bid on
Friday to halt the removals to
the east African country.
LEADERS AHEAD OF
PRESIDENTIAL POLL
RAJIB CHOWDHURI |DC
WITH AGENCY INPUTS
KOLKATA, JUNE 11
To build “strong and
effective opposition
against the divisive
forces” ahead of the pres-
idential election, West
Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on
NEW DELHI
A single-day rise of over
8,000 fresh Covid-19 cases
was recorded in the coun-
try after 103 days, pushing
India's infection tally to
4,32,13,435, while the
count of active cases
jumped to 40,370, accord-
ing to Union Health
Ministry data on
Saturday. A total of 8,329
new coronavirus cases
were reported in a span of
toll due to the disease has
climbed to 5,24,757, with
10 fatalities being record-
ed, the data stated.
The active cases now
comprise 0.09 per cent of
the total infections.
An increase of 4,103
cases has been recorded
in the active COVID-19
caseload in a span of 24
hours, the data showed.
The daily positivity rate
was recorded at 2.41 per
cent and the weekly posi-
according to the health
ministry.
The cumulative number
of doses administered in
the country so far under
the nationwide COVID-19
vaccination drive has
exceeded 194.92 crore.
Ten new fatalities due to
the disease were recorded
in the country five from
Kerala, two from Delhi
and one each from
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh
and Madhya Pradesh.
independent candidate, Mr
Sharma, polled 28 votes.
After the BJP’s requirement
was deducted from the 31
votes it polled, the remain-
ing 1.66 votes were trans-
ferred to Mr Sharma as sec-
ond preference votes. So, he
won with 29.66 votes, while
Mr Makan remained stuck
at 29. Insiders claim party
MLA Kiran Chaudhary’s
vote was declared invalid, a
charge vehemently denied
by her.
Congress MLA Kuldeep
Bishnoi did not vote for the
official candidate, and one
more vote of the Congress
was declared invalid.
After the election results
were announced, Mr
Bishnoi tweeted, “I have the
capability to crush snakes’
hood, as I do not leave the
jungle in the fear of
snakes.” He was later
expelled from all posts of
the party.
Heavy drama had ensued
in the Haryana Assembly
on the intervening night of
Friday and Saturday when
independent candidate and
media baron Mr Sharma
and the BJP demanded dis-
qualification votes of two
Congress MLAs -- Ms
Chaudhary and Mr B.B.
Batra. They alleged that the
Congress MLAs showed
their preference of votes to
several people other than
the party agent, in violation
of secrecy. ■ P5

Mission on to save
boy from borewell
Janjgir: A massive operation
continued for the second day
on Saturday to rescue the 11-
year-old boy, who fell into an
80-feet deep abandoned
borewell at a village in
Chhattisgarh’s Janjgir-
Champa district nearly 24
hours ago. According to the
district administration offi-
cials, the boy, Rahul Sahu, who
is stuck at around 60 to 70 feet-
deep in the borewell, is still
conscious and responding. He
has been provided with food
and oxygen is being supplied
to him through a pipe, they
said. “The rescue operation,
which began at 4 pm (on
Friday) is still underway on
war-footing to evacuate the
child safely. Teams of National
Disaster Response Force
(NDRF) and State Disaster
Response Force (SDRF) assist-
ed by district administration
and police personnel have been
engaged in the rescue work,” a
government statement said.
COUNTER POINT
Saturday invited
heavyweight opposition
leaders, including eight
CMs, UPA chairperson
22
Sonia Gandhi and Left
leaders to attend a joint
meeting to be convened
by her in New Delhi on
June 15.
The eight invited CMs
are Arvind Kejriwal
(Delhi), Pinarayi Vijayan
(Kerala), Naveen Patnaik
(Odisha), K.
Chandrashekar Rao
(Telangana), M.K. Stalin
(Tamil Nadu), Uddhav
T h a c k e r a y
(Maharashtra), Hemant
Soren (Jharkhand) and
Bhagwant Singh Mann
(Punjab).
Besides Ms Gandhi, the
other invited opposition
leaders are RJD chief
Lalu Prasad Yadav, CPI
general secretary D.
Raja, CPM general secre-
tary Sitaram Yechury,
SP president Akhilesh
Yadav, NCP chief Sharad
Pawar, RLD national
president Jayant
Chaudhary, former
Karnataka chief minis-
ter H.D. Kumaraswamy,
former PM H.D. ■ P5
China hardening
LAC position: US
PAWAN BALI |DC
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
US secretary of defense
Lloyd J. Austin said on
Saturday that China has
continued to harden its
position along the Line of
Actual Control (LAC)
with India.
Addressing the Shangri-
La Dialogue in Singapore,
Mr Austin said, “We see
Beijing continue to hard-
en its position along the
border that it shares with
India.”
This is the second time
this week that a senior US
official has commented on
the India-China stand-off.
Earlier this week, the US
Army's Pacific
Commanding General,
Gen. Charles A. Flynn had
said the Chinese activity
near Ladakh is "eye-open-
ing" and some of the infra-
structure being created by
the PLA is "alarming".
The US defence secre-
tary said that China is
also pushing limits in the
East China Sea and the
South China Sea.
“In the East China Sea,
the PRC’s expanding fish-
ing fleet is sparking ten-
sions with its neighbors.
In the South China Sea,
the PRC is using outposts
on man-made islands
bristling with advanced
weaponry to advance its
illegal maritime claims,”
he said.
He said that today, the
Indo-Pacific is at the heart
of American grand strate-
gy. “We’re also weaving
closer ties with other part-
ners. I’m especially think-
ing of India, the world’s
largest democracy. We
believe that its growing
military capability and
technological prowess can
be a stabilising force in
the region," said Mr
Austin.

Two killed in Ranchi violence;

UP police arrest 227 people
Ranchi, Lucknow,
June 11: Two people
were killed and many
including security per-
sonnel were critically
injured as violent
protests rocked Ranchi
over the comments made
by two suspended BJP
spokespersons on
Prophet Mohammad, offi-
cials said on Saturday.
Over two dozen people
were injured in the clash-
es that rocked the state
capital on Friday, offi-
cials said. Thirteen of the
critically injured people
were admitted to the
Rajendra Institute of
Medical Sciences (RIMS),
doctors there said.
“Two of them died late
last night. The conditions
of three people are seri-
ous and they are battling
for their lives. The
injured include CRPF
personnel and police-
men,” a RIMS official
said.
Ranchi’s Senior
Superintendent of Police
(SSP) Surendra Kumar
Jha was admitted to the
Medica Hospital with
head injury, officials
said. Besides the head, he
also received injuries in
other parts of his body on
being hit by stones, they
said.

India, UK to make major cultural push

SRIDHAR
KUMARASWAMI |DC 75TH ANNIVERSARY announced that globally-
renowned music composer

NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
As India nears the 75th
anniversary of its indepen-
dence, its former colonial
master Britain has
announced the launch of a
“landmark season of cul-
ture” to mark the event and
strengthen bilateral ties
that are being described as
the closest-ever now in the
past 75 years. The launch
follows the successful visit
of British Prime Minister
Boris Johnson to India a
few weeks ago.
OF INDEPENDENCE
Britain pointed out that
culture is a strong unifying
theme and a key pillar of
the India-UK bilateral rela-
tionship, underlined in the
“UK-India Roadmap 2030”
signed earlier between the
two nations to elevate bilat-
eral ties and enhance col-
laboration.
Launching the pro-
gramme recently, the
British Council, the UK’s
international organisation
for educational opportuni-
ties and cultural relations,
announced the programme
that will see “digital inno-
vation and inclusion take
centrestage” as over 1,400
artists from India and UK
“showcase their collabora-
tions in dance, music, the-
atre, poetry, literature,
architecture, fashion, tech-
art, visual arts and creative
technology”.
The organisation
A.R. Rahman would be the
season ambassador for the
programme that was
launched in the presence of
British high commissioner
Alex Ellis by the British
Council’s India director
Barbara Wickham and
deputy high commissioner
to India Jan Thomson.
On the occasion, Ms
Wickham said, “India/UK
Together, a Season of
Culture’ marks the deep
connections between our
nations and the 75th
anniversary of India.
 CITY
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022 | CHENNAI
pg 2

■ Action will be taken to re-launch camps: City health officer

OTHER STORIES
Beach resort forays
into conservation
of turtles
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
Olive Ridley turtle conserva-
tion, a domain of environ-
mentalists, fisherfolks and
students in the city, is now
gaining momentum among
beach resorts.
Radisson Blu Temple Bay
Resort, a beach resort in
Mamallapuram here, on
Friday took a pledge to con-
serve sea turtles which are in
the ‘vulnerable’ category as
per International Union of
the Conservation of Nature,
(IUCN) list. The resort
unveiled Oliver Blu, a mascot,
that advocates conservation.
Flight makes emergency
landing after technical sang
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
Nearly 154 passengers flying
to Bangkok from Chennai
airport in a Thai aircraft
made an emergency landing
here soon after take off
as it developed a technical
snag, airport sources said
here on Saturday.
The flight took off from the
Chennai airport at 1: 10 am . A
little over sometime the flight
had to return to the city
owing to a technical glitch,
airport officials said. All pas-
sengers are safe, they said.
The flight later took off for
Thailand on Saturday after-
noon.
GCC likely to re-launch fever
camps to tackle Covid cases
T. SUDHEESH I DC
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
As active Covid-19 cases
and test positivity rate are
increasing, the Greater
Chennai Corporation
(GCC) is likely to bolster
the fever camps, especially
in the zones where active
cases are high.
The award-winning pro-
gramme, which helped the
GCC administration to suc-
cessfully flatten the curve
of the previous waves, is
credited with the declining
trend of Covid-related
deaths in the city.
Dr M. Jagadeesan, city
health officer, said that they
were closely monitoring
the Covid situation in the
city. “Action will be taken to
re-launch the camps,” he
said.
During the first wave, the
GCC had conducted 400 fe-
ver camps daily in 200 wa-
rds in the city. These camps
helped people to under-
stand their health condi-
tions including Oxygen sat-
uration level and blood
sugar. “The residents who
are suffering from respira-
tory problems, espcially in
the most affected zones,
had utilized the service of
the camps,” he said.
The number of camps
was reduced and later
the camps were closed
down as the number of
fresh Covid-19 cases came
down in the city.
As per the GCC data, the
number of active cases in
the city has touched 641.
Pondy records 8 Steady rise in Covid-19
new Covid cases cases in Nilgiris district
Puducherry, June 11: The Union
Territory of Puducherry registered B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC
eight new Covid-19 cases taking the OOTY, JUNE 11
overall tally in the state to 1,65,929, a
senior government official said. In a The steady rise in Covid-19 positive count
release, Director of Health G in the Nilgiris has become a cause for
Sriramulu said the health department concern now, when the schools are about Fishermen protest against the demolition of a temple on the Nochchikuppam Loop
had examined 834 samples during the to reopen on Monday. Road in Chennai on Saturday. —DC
last 24 hours and found eight new cases Though the Nilgiris became the first
of the viral infection. district in the state to administer Covid-
There were 35 active cases in the UT
while six patients recovered on the day.
With this, the total recoveries were
1,63,932.
19 vaccine first dose to all eligible popu-
lace in September 2021, there had been
positive cases in the district till this
March end. From early April this year,
Ovum case: Authorities from two
The director said there was no fatality
in the last 24 hours and the death toll
remained unchanged at 1,962. The test
the daily positive count hit the ‘zero”
level, much to the relief of the district
administration and the health depart-
private infertility hospitals probed
positivity rate was 0.89 per cent while ment. Erode, June 11: Authorit- tals cooperated with the details of the collection of
the fatality and recovery rates were 1.18
per cent and 98.80 per cent respectively.
However, there had been reports about a
couple of Covid-19 cases in May end. But,
ies from two private infer-
tility cure hospitals in
law enforcement officials
by presenting proper
eggs from the girl with
proper documents.
The department has examined the scenario began to change in the last Hosur, Tamil Nadu, and in details to them. An infertility cure hospi-
22,63,090 samples so far and has found couple of days with a steady surge in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, Meanwhile, the police tal authorities in the dis-
19,08,079 samples out of them to be neg- Covid-19 positive count. There are 13 per- appeared before the inves- also issued summons to a trict associated with the
ative. Sriramulu added that the health sons with Covid-19 infection, under tigation officer on private infertility cure hos- case appeared before the
department has administered 17,17,582 treatment in the Nilgiris now. The Saturday in connection pital in Thiruvananthapu- investigation officer on
doses that comprised 9,68,234 first Covid-19 count has begun to touch the with a case of a minor girl ram, Kerala. Friday for enquiry, police
doses, 7,23,804 second doses and 25,544 double-digit mark in the hills after a who was forced to donate Police said a private hos- said.
booster doses. —PTI three-month gap. her ovum (eggs), police pital in Perundurai in The investigation offi-
said. Based on the sum- Erode district collected cials verified the date, time
The number of cases was Ambattur (16), Tondiarpet ring in the city after BA4 mons sent to the two hospi- eggs from the girl, who and other details like how
370 on June 3. Now, the (9), Royapuram (16) , Mad- and BA.5 sub-variants of tals by Erode Additional often visited the hospital many the hospital authori-
Adyar zone crossed the 100- havram (9), Alandur(31) Omicron were reported in Superintendent of Police along with her mother and ties collected eggs from the
mark with 108 cases. Other Tiruvottiyur (4) and the city. Most of the cases Kanageswari, the investi- three others. The hospital, girl, police said. According
critical zones such as Manali (4). reported in the city are gating officer, the authori- which has contact with the to the police, the matter
Teynampet (90), Anna Health minister Ma. BA.4 and BA.5. So, the ties appeared before her. Thiruvananthapuram pri- came to light after the girl
Nagar (52), Kodambakkom Subramanian on Saturday health department is close- The police said through vate hospital, made recom- escaped from the trio
(84) , Valasaravakkam(56), said that at least 20 cluster ly monitoring the situation. the private hospital in Hos- mendations about the girl, (mother, her paramour and
Perungudi (53), Sholing- cases have been reported The GCC administration ur, the girl was taken to a took her there and collect- the broker) and narrated
anallur (51) have crossed 50- across the city now, apart has been asked to intensify hospital in Tirupati, where ed the eggs, police said. the ordeal to her relatives
plus cases. The other fig- from the institutional clus- the containment measures her eggs were collected. The police have asked in Salem. Subsequently, a
ures are Thiru.Vi.Ka. ters. The community to check further spread of The police said the the hospital authority to complaint was lodged with
Nagar (19), Tondiarpet (9), spread has started occur- the virus’, he said. authorities of two hospi- appear before them with the police. —PTI

540 offer letters Robot ‘HomoSEP’ ready

distributed at SRM Arts
and Science College
Chennai, June 11: SRM Arts
and Science College organised
Crest '22, a job offer letter distri-
bution ceremony, for the final
year students on Saturday. The
ceremony was organized to cele-
brate the successful placement
of all students. Around 540 offer
letters were distributed to the
final year students who were
placed in 77 reputed multina-
tional and national companies
through an on-campus place-
ment drive.
Dr. S. Ponnusamy, Registrar,
SRM Institute of Science and
Technology, Kattankulathur
and Mr. M. P. Lakshman
Prakash, HR-Head, Tata
Consultancy Services, SIPCOT
IT Park, Siruseri were the Chief
for field deployment
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
‘HomoSEP’, a robot developed by
the Indian Institute of Technology-
Madras (IIT-M) for eliminating
manual scavenging in India, is
ready for field deployment.
This robot was developed by a
team led by Prof Prabhu
Rajagopal, Center for Non-destruc-
tive Evaluation, in association
with Safai Karamchari Andolan
(SKA), an NGO that works to elimi-
nate manual scavenging.
The first two HomoSEP units
were distributed to the self-help
Fire and rescue services personnel trying to rescue a cow that fell into groups led by Ms Nagamma and Ms
canal at Korattur on Saturday. —DC Ruth Mary, whose husbands died
tragically during sanitation work.
“No doubt, manual scavenging is
a large and complex problem. We

Three idols were found in Palar river near Sankarapuram village next to Vaniyambadi in
Guests of the programme. The
annual placement report was Police crack down Man held for hope that our effort serves as an
inspiration for others to join the
Tirupathur district while a group of boys were taking bath there. When the boys dived read out by Mr. S. derogatory FB post push,” Prof Rajagopal said.
into the water they found the idols made of black stone. Soon, the revenue officials
reached the spot. The idols (one Perumal idol and two Amman idols) were recovered
and taken to the Vaniyambadi taluk office. The department is investigating the matter.
Santhanakrishnan, placement
officer of the college. Dr. R.
Vasudevaraj, principal presided
on illegal liquor sale DC CORRESPONDENT
HomoSEP was first developed as
a final year masters’ project by Mr
Divanshu Kumar, under the guid-
—K.SenthilNathan over the ceremony, according to DC CORRESPONDENT THIRUVARUR, JUNE 11 ance of Prof. Rajagopal. It was
a press release. CHENNAI, JUNE 11 showcased at the IIT- M Carbon
The police on Friday Zerp Challenge 2019. Despite the
In an Overnight operation against illegal arrested a 35-year-old pandemic-related difficulties, the

Feeding voyeurism with aplomb

bridal make up, the ensem-
ble that married modernity
with tradition, the regal jew-
G. Babu Jayakumar ellery and such things to
keep the readers and views
informed about the wedding,
Just spamming to which they were not wel-
comed, the question that
comes to mind is: When are
we going to stop this so
men and women come to
believe after watching such
real life shows that they too
should get married in such
style and opulence, which is
turning out to be a deterrent
to our society’s attempt to
make weddings simple per-
sonal affairs.
Traditionally, in the rural
liquor sale, the city police have seized 581 man for posting deroga-
liquor bottles and arrested 41 people in the city. tory remarks against
Police said that,during the raids that started Prophet Muhammad on
late on Friday night and went on till Saturday the Facebook.
morning, police booked as many as cases and Police said they arrest-
arrested 41 people for illegal sale of liquor in ed M. Kalidas of
the city. Mangaalur village in
Sources from the police said that the action Thiruvarur district
was taken after the complaints of illegal sales
of alcohol in the city , after the given time for
who posted derogatory
remarks last Tuesday.
selling alcohol. The arrest was based
Police warned of such raids in coming days if
more people were found to be indulging in such
on a complaint from
Nijam, TMMK town sec-
activities. retary.
IIT-M researchers collaborated
with the start-up Solinas Integrity
Private Limited, headed by Mr
Divanshu to help in the effort.
‘’The robot can homogenise the
hard sludge in septic tanks
through a custom-developed rotary
blade mechanism and pump the
tank slurry using an integrated
suction mechanism. Sanitation
workers will be given training
along with safety measures to oper-
ate HomoSEP. Safety plays a vital
role in the procedure, ‘’he said.

A
meme summed up
the hullabaloo suc-
cinctly. We are glad
that everything went on well
without any hitch and the
wedding of Nayanthara and
Vignesh Shivam is now over
but it would have been more
appropriate if the govern-
ment had declared a holiday,
said the meme. Indeed the
manner in which the media
went gung ho over the nup-
tials of the film actress with
another Kollywood personal-
ity did give an impression
that it was the most happen-
ing thing of the time and no
one would have been sur-
prised if a public holiday
was announced to enable
more people sit leisurely at
home and have a feel of the
moment through the media
updates.
The media corps was, of
course, outside the gates,
getting snapshots of those
going past them but would
not utter a word even as they
left. But when they realized
that by standing there idly
and capturing images all
that they could tell their
readers and viewers was
who went past them. That
would not be doing justice to
their reportage on the most
epoch-making event of the
century. They wanted to
know what went on inside –
with the finest details. So
they racked their brains to
come up with innovative
ideas in news gathering.
And viola they got it by the
quick sharpening of their
journalistic skills.
So they caught hold of a
priest stepping out of the
premises and found out what
went on. The priest, being a
kindly soul, spelled out all
that he saw inside, the stars,
the starlets, the shooting
stars, the fading stars and
how the galaxy behaved.
Perhaps a talented racon-
teur, he brought alive the
images like a flashback in a
movie for the journalists to
devour and of course regur-
gitate, feeding the widely
prevalent voyeurism in soci-
ety. But that was not all. The
media was even interested in
knowing what happened
after the wedding.
When the couple went to
Tirupathi to invoke divine
blessings, the media was
informed with photographic
evidence. Prior to all that,
too, the media was deeply
involved in keeping the peo-
ple informed of each and
every development in the
run up to the nuptials. The
people, too, were lapping up
everything with relish, enc-
ouraging the media to go all
out – like catching hold of a
priest – to extract informati-
on on what Nayanthara and
Vignesh Shivam were up to
from every possible source.
In fact, when journalists
write elaborately on the
called star gazing? Is it not
time for the media to take a
call on not bothering to
report on events that bar
their entry when they are of
no consequence to society at
large? Should not we change
collectively by letting actors
and celebrities live their pri-
vate lives, privately?
Most of the time, celebrity
weddings are made extraor-
dinarily lavish only because
of the expected media cover-
age, which includes finding
out the price tags of bridal
attire and other things. For
the dream wedding of Prince
Charles and Lady Diana of
England, which is supposed
to have been the most
watched nuptial ceremony
the world over, the flowing
bridal gown is said to have
been embedded with 10,000
pearls, costing US $ 115,000
way back in 1981.
Very recently, in 2018, the
wedding of Priyanka
Chopra with Nick Jonas was
an extremely opulent affair
that is estimated to have cost
Rs 7 crore and held in multi-
ple venues like Jodhpur,
Mumbai and New Delhi for
several days with entire
hotels being booked for the
events. Even if the media go
for coverage of such opulent
events seeing a news value
in them, the impact such big
weddings have on ordinary
middle class people is, to say
the least, disastrous. Young
settings, a wedding is a com-
munity celebration. The
entire village takes part in it
and large amounts of money
is blown on the proceedings
and most of the time egos,
too, get burst. Changing
such practices has become
difficult even in the urban
milieu now mainly because
of the modern aspirations,
triggered by the vignettes
from celebrity weddings
brought to the drawing
rooms by the media. Though
such media practices are
prevalent in the West, the
people, despite lapping up
the ‘content’ on offer, do not
rush to emulate the celebri-
ties in their own lives. For
them, it is a spectacle. That
is all.
So when Hollywood heart-
throb Elizabeth Taylor got
married the eight time (sev-
enth man) to a construction
worker called Larry
Fortensky in 1991 at The
Neverland ranch of Michael
Jackson, paparazzi helicop-
ters hovered over the closed
door event with 160 invitees.
The media interest in cap-
turing the moment Elizabeth
Taylor said ‘I do’ was aimed
more at satiating the curiosi-
ty of the people, who had
already seen her marrying
six men and divorcing them
– the most prominent among
them Richard Burton twice.
It was not to salivate over the
opulence.
Boy playing in
cradle strangled
to death
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
A 15-year-old boy got strand-
ed to death in a cradle while
playing at a relative's house
in Kundrathur on Friday
evening.
The deceased was identi-
fied as Deepak (15) , son of
Prakasham and a resident of
Wimco Nagar in
Tiruvottiyur.
Polxos said, Deepak and his
brother Vignesh (10) had
gone to their relative's house
in Kundrathur area for a
weekend break.
Investigations revealed that
the boy used to play in the
cradle tied from the ceiling
using a sari. It was meant for
the baby of his uncle . On
Friday, he was playing in the
cradle , he got his neck
entangled in it . One being
informed, his family mem-
bers came rushing and took
him to a hospital in the area
but he was declared dead.
The police took over the body
and brought it to Chromepet
GH for Post mortem.
Kundrathur police regis-
tered a case.
SRM hosts over 200 dentists
for an international symposium
Chennai, June 11: held at SRM Institute of Luminaries from the
Over 200 specialists and Science and Technology field of oral surgery
dentists from various (SRMIST). & orthodontics delivered
colleges and hospitals The Orthognathic the keynote lectures
across India had partici- Symposium Oration was and had a panel discus-
pated in the one day sym- delivered by. Andrew sion on contemporary
posium on Orthognathic Edwards, Dean, Faculty Orthognathic surgery.
Surgery organised of Dentistry and Vice SRMIST's Pro
by the Departments President of Royal of Vice Chancellor
of Maxillofacial Surgery Surgeons and (Medical and Health
& Orthodontics at Physicians, Glasgow, Sciences) Lt Col
SRM Kattankulathur Scotland. He also visited Dr. A. Ravikumar felici-
Dental College & the Dental College and tated the guest, said a
Hospital. The event was Medical College. press release.
100 ‘Silambam’ teachers to get `1L cash award
R. VALAYAPATHY I DC the eve of 99th birth availing 3 percent exclu-
NAGAPATTINAM, JUNE 11 anniversary of late chief sive reservation in jobs
minister M. Karuna- and education. He said
The Tamil Nadu govern- nidhi, jointly organised the government is plan-
ment will select 100 teac- by the Nagapattinam dis- ning to include the ‘Sila-
hers of ‘Silambam’ and trict DMK unit and the mbam’ game in the
will give them `1 lakh district Silambam Asso- school and college cur-
each as cash award from ciation at Nagapattinam riculum.
next year onwards, acc- on Saturday. As many as 300 ‘Sila-
ording to Siva. V. Meyya- The minister recalled mbam’ players in the 5-
nathan, environment the efforts being taken 60 age group, from acro-
and sports and youth by Chief Minister M.K. ss Tamil Nadu, took part
welfare minister, here. Stalin to take ‘Silamb- in the event, and this
He was inaugurating a am’ to the world level. He world record event was
two-hour-long, non-stop said the government will recorded by the authori-
‘Silambam’ game for cre- also include ‘Silambam’ ties of ‘Star Book of
ating a world record on players in the scheme for Records’.
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022 | CHENNAI
pg 3

CM inaugurates two flyovers to Upasi junks reports on rejection of

decongest traffic in Coimbatore exported tea due to excess pesticide
Chennai/Coimbatore,
June 11: Chief Minister M.
K. Stalin inaugurated the
Kavundampalayam and
Ramanathapuram-Sungam
flyovers in Coimbatore from
the Secretariat here on
Saturday.The flyovers built
at an estimated cost of Rs 230
crore and Rs 60 crore, respec-
tively, would decongest the
traffic on Coimbatore-
Tiruchirappalli Road.
The Chief Minister inaugu-
rated the flyovers virtually
from the state secretariat
here in the presence of
Highways Minister E V Velu,
Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu
and state Highways
Secretary Dheeraj Kumar.
The four-lane
Ramanathapuram - Sungam
flyover running for a dis-
tance of 3.15 km was official-
ly opened for public use, a
release here said. This would
decongest the traffic at
Ramanathapuram, Olympus
and Sungam besides Alvenia
School junction,
Sowripalayam junction,
Puliyakulam junction, All
India Radio Road junction,
Race Course Road and
Valankulam Road intersec-
Chief Minister M. K. Stalin inaugurates the Kavundampalayam and
Ramanathapuram-Sungam flyovers in Coimbatore from the
Secretariat here on Saturday.
tions.
This new flyover would
ensure quick access to the
government hospital, rail-
way station, town hall and
Ukkadam.The 1.17 km long
four-lane flyover at
Kavundampalayam, which
was dedicated to the pubic,
will facilitate smooth traffic
flow for vehicles heading to
—DC
Coonoor, Ooty, Gudalur and
Mysuru.
The workers of both the
ruling DMK and opposition
AIADMK distributed sweets,
separately, to celebrate the
opening of both flyovers for
the use of public in the city.
As CM Stalin inaugurated
the flyovers by video-confer-
ence, state Electricity
Minister V Senthil Balaji
flagged off traffic movement
on the flyover, a long-pending
project, attracting slogans
from both the ruling and
opposition parties that led to
tense moments.
After distributing sweets to
the people, the minister
immediately left the place.
AIADMK MLAs P R G
Arunkumar, A K Selvaraj,
Amman K Arjunan, K
Jeyaraman also distributed
sweets to the public, claim-
ing the project was initiated
by their government three
years ago and travelled on
the flyover.
Meanwhile, a few BJP
workers, led by Coimbatore
South MLA Vanathi
Srinivasan, also celebrated
the opening, claiming that
the facility was opened only
after they staged protests a
few days ago to open the fly-
overs.
District Collector G S
Sameeran, Corporation
Commissioner M Prathap,
MPs P R Natarajan and
Shanmughasundaram, and
Mayor Kalpana were present
at the inauguration.
—PTI
B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC cide residues in tea. The PPC focuses temperature. The largest auction cen-
OOTY, JUNE 11 on a responsible chemical manage- tre in South India, Cochin, has been
ment that includes proper selection, periodically testing all producers’ auc-
The United Planters’ Association of judicious usage, safe storage and prop- tion teas for several years.
South India (Upasi) has dismissed er disposal, occupational health and These teas have MRL levels far below
media reports on rejection of exported safety and green chemistry. the FSSAI-specified residue levels.
tea due to excess pesticide residues. Though several pesticides have been Exports are carried out only after the
Upasi president M.P. Cherian said registered for pest control in agricul- buyer tests the sample of each con-
that its tea members adhere to high ture, the choice for widespread appli- signment and approves it.
standards in production by ensuring cation in tea is limited to a few chemi- The present controversy on rejection
its products are well within the cals for which the maximum residue of tea consignments by unreported
residue levels laid down by the various limits (MRL) in tea have been declared importing destinations appears to be
standards/statutes. by several countries and international an exaggeration of facts, as there is no
Based on the standards adopted, a organisations like the European conclusive evidence to state that tea
Plant Protection Code (PPC) has been Economic Community. consignments were returned. Upasi
developed and is in place for compli- In tea, pesticides are recommended wishes to reassure that its members
ance by the industry. The PPC pro- for application after harvesting and are regularly advised to follow the pro-
vides comprehensive guidelines for they are generally lost by evaporation, tocols while applying pesticides.
safe usage of plant protection formu- growth dilution, photo degradation Further, the long plucking intervals
lations in the tea plantations in India. and rainfall. Further degradation followed in South India facilitate the
It also deals with safe usage of crop takes place due to thermal decomposi- safe harvest intervals specified for
protection products and the method- tion during the manufacturing each and every pesticide, Mr Cherian
ologies to be followed to reduce pesti- process when tea is exposed to high noted.
GOVERNOR, CM RANGASAMY PULL TEMPLE CHARIOT IN PONDY
Puducherry, June 11: Puducherry Lieutenant Governor were the others who took part in the chariot-pulling festi-
Tamilisai Soundararajan and Chief Minister N val. Opposition leader R Siva (DMK), who repre-
Rangasamy were among those who pulled the chariot of sents Villianoor constituency, launched an annadhanam
the shrine of Tirukameeswarar in neighbouring Villianoor programme at the temple on the occasion of the festival.
at the annual car festival on Saturday. The Saivite temple at Villianoor, dating back to the 12th
Territorial Home Minister A Namassivayam, Assembly century, was constructed during the reign of Rajendra
Speaker R Selvam and Agriculture Minister C. Djeacoumar Chola. —PTI

I am serving people as
one among them: CM
Chennai, June 11:
Regardless of his role as an
Opposition leader in the past
and now as Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu, M K Stalin on
Saturday said he has always
been serving the people as one
among them."Me and the DMK
-- of which he is the president
-- were because of the people,"
the Chief Minister said and
claimed that he has been going
around the State, reaching out
to the people and ameliorating
their conditions. When he was
the leader of the Opposition in
the Tamil Nadu Assembly and
also after becoming the Chief
Minister of the State, he said
he has been nurturing his
home constituency - Kolathur.
"Regardless of being leader
of the Opposition party in the
past and now as Chief
Minister, I have always been
serving you as one among the
people," Stalin said after dis-
tributing welfare aids to the
people and inaugurating reno-
vation work at Kolathur here.
The Chief Minister launched
the renovation work of the
Corporation High School at
Kolathur taken up under the
City Investments to Innovate
Integrate and Sustain pro-
gramme at an estimated cost
of `90.59 lakh and also laid the
foundation stones for infra-
structure projects. Also, he
distributed educational aid to
school and college students on
the occasion.
Municipal Administration
Minister K N Nehru, Hindu
Religious & Charitable
Endowments Minister P K
Sekar Babu, Chennai Mayor R
Priya, and senior officials par-
ticipated.
At Jamalia Lane in the con-
stituency, the Chief Minister
laid the foundation stone for
constructing new tenements
by the Tamil Nadu Urban
Habitat Development Board at
an estimated cost of `17.63
crore. About 130 units would
be constructed.
Earlier, Stalin appealed to
the people to join the govern-
ment's efforts in eradicating
child labour in the State.
In his message on the eve of
World Day against Child
Labour, the Chief Minister
called upon parents to take a
pledge not to send their chil-
dren to work.
—PTI

Movie review

A splendid feelgood
film all the way through
ANUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN

A
dog might be man’s
best friend, but can it
also completely turn
around one’s life? 777 Charlie
explores this angle and the
makers have ensured that you
get a light hearted yet touch-
ing piece of cinematic experi-
ence.
Directed by Kiranraj and
starring dog Charlie and
Rakshit Shetty, the story
starts with Dharma (Rakshit
Shetty) – a man who goes
about the motions and lives
an unfulfilling life. But things
start to change when the
Labrador retriever Charlie
enters his life. Rakshit begins
to connect and mends some of
his ways. Likewise, the rela-
tionship is mutual, with
Charlie too finding a new
lease on life under her latest
owner.
While there were some ini-
tial roadblocks, Dharma quits
some of his bad habits (like
smoking) thanks to Charlie’s
pure heart. Inch by inch, 1% a
day, Dharma keeps putting a
step forward towards a better
future, so much so that after
some time, even his neighbors
begin to take note. And just
when you feel Dharma has it
all sorted out, life throws a
challenge at them, and the
duo have to take the untrod-
den path. Bobby Simha’s
smart little entrance with his
pet plays a key role here.
Full marks to Kiranraj for
choosing the right cast.
Rakshit Shetty is the ideal
guy to play the loner on the
path of transformation. Since
a lot of the movie is about
emotions, his facial expres-
sions are on point. The others
– Raj B Shetty as the vet,
Bobby Simha as the dog lover,
a little girl played by
777 CHARLIE
CAST: Rakshit Shetty,
Bobby Simha, Charlie
Direction: Karthik Naren
DIRECTION: Kiranraj
RATING: 3.75/5
Sharvari, and Sangeetha
Sringeri who treats animals
as equally as humans all have
important little cameos that
add to the overall
narrative.
As eluded, 777 Charlie is
shot in a mildly funny yet
deep manner. One of the key
elements to this is music by
Nobin Paul. When combined
with Aravind Kashyap’s cam-
erawork, some of the cliched
and boring elements can be
overlooked. The climax with
the Himalayan backdrop is
inspirational. Perhaps
Dharma’s change from hating
the dog to loving it to just
blind adoration could have
been toned down a notch.
777 Charlie will definitely
make you like pets. The way
in which the crew captures
Charlie’s natural habits is
commendable. The impor-
tance of taking care of ani-
mals other than our species
will not be missed on you.
Some frequent repetitive ele-
ments notwithstanding, the
movie is a splendid feelgood
all the way through.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022
SHORT TAKES
Bride’s sister killed,
10 injured in firing
Etah, UP: The sister of a
bride was killed and 10 peo-
ple were injured when gun-
shots were fired during a
quarrel at a marriage func-
tion here in the early hours
of Saturday, police said.
Superintendent of police
(SP), Etah, Udai Singh said
the incident occurred in
Fardpur village under the
Jasrathpur police station
limits. “An argument broke
out between the family
members of the bride and
some villagers over applying
colours. During the ruckus,
someone fired a gun that
resulted in the death of
Sudha, 35, while 10 people
were injured,” he said. Sudha
was the bride’s elder sister.
The condition of three of the
injured is said to be critical.
The police has lodged an FIR
against some local people.
“We have also detained
some suspects who are
being questioned about the
incident,” the officer said.
— PTI
Cong to protest at
ED offices June 13
Mumbai: Congress leaders
and ministers in Maharashtra
will stage protests outside
the ED offices in Mumbai
and Nagpur on June 13
against the Centre’s “dicta-
torship” in view of the anti-
money laundering agency
issuing notices to Congress
chief Sonia Gandhi and her
MP son Rahul Gandhi in a
“false” case, state unit presi-
dent Nana Patole said.
Talking to reporters here, Mr
Patole accused the Modi
government of hatching a
conspiracy to implicate
Gandhis in a false case. The
ED has issued summons
against Sonia and Rahul in a
money laundering case
linked to the National
Herald-AJL deal. Mr Patole
said demonstrations will be
held outside the offices of
the ED in Mumbai and
Nagpur wherein all senior
leaders and ministers of
Congress will be present.
— PTI
4 dead as oil tanker
plunges into river
Bhubaneswar: At least four
persons were killed after a
fuel-laden tanker plunged
into a river and exploded in
the early hours in Odisha’s
Nayagarh district. Two of the
deceased were identified as
Sameer Nayak and Pankaj
Nayak of Sanapandusar vil-
lage. The identities of the
two others were yet to be
ascertained. The incident
occurred at 2 am on Friday
near Itamati area. According
to reports, the oil tanker was
enroute to Sambalpur from
Cuttack. It plunged into
Kusumi river after the driver
lost control over the wheels
near Badapandusar under
Itamati police limits. The
tanker loaded with petrol
suddenly exploded killing
both the driver Sameer
Nayak and helper Pankaj
Nayak in the incident.
HATE, UNREST
NOT OUR WAY,
SAYS RAHUL
New Delhi: India has always
set an example of truth, non-
violence and brotherhood
before the world and hate
and unrest “is not our way”,
former Congress chief Rahul
Gandhi said on Saturday
amid reports of violence
during protests at various
places against controversial
remarks on
Prophet
Mohammad.
Protests erupted
in several parts
of the country on
Friday against
the controversial
remarks on the
Prophet by two now-sus-
pended BJP functionaries,
leaving a few policemen
injured in stone pelting and
forcing security forces to
resort to lathicharge, tear-
gas shelling and firing in the
air at some places. “Bapu’s
ideals are the foundation of
independent India. Our
country has always set an
example of truth, non-vio-
lence and brotherhood
before the world. Hate and
unrest is not our way,”
Gandhi said in a tweet in
Hindi. “It is the responsibility
of all the people of the
country to unite India and
maintain mutual goodwill,”
the former Congress chief
added. The BJP had last
Sunday suspended its
national spokesperson
Nupur Sharma and expelled
its Delhi media head Naveen
Kumar Jindal after their con-
troversial remarks on
Prophet Mohammad. — PTI
RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, along with his son Tej Pratap, distributes books to dalit children during the inaugura-
tion of Lalu Pathshala, on his 75th birthday, in Patna on Saturday.
Cancer research
centre opened in Kochi
Kochi, June 11: Kerala
Chief Minister Pinarayi
Vijayan on Saturday
inaugurated a cancer
diagnostics and research
centre here, which is slat-
ed to be the country's first
oncology laboratory for
comprehensive
diagnostic services.
cancer
Karkinos Healthcare's
advanced centre for can-
cer diagnostics
research will serve as a
and
central lab for analysing
specimens at molecular
and genomic levels to aid
in personalised targeted
therapy, predicting possi-
ble response to treatment
and evaluate response by
liquid biopsy.
Inaugurating the lab on
the third floor of the JLN
Stadium Metro Station at
Kaloor here, Vijayan said
the state is encouraging
more private-public part-
nership in the healthcare
sector to benefit people.
Maoists expand footprint in Kanha
RABINDRA NATH
CHOUDHURY
BHOPAL, JUNE 11
Madhya Pradesh chief
minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan on Saturday
camped in Kanha Tiger
Reserve to review the situ-
ation in the wake of
reports of Maoists
increasing their footprints
in the wildlife sanctuary.
Mr Chouhan held discus-
sions with senior police
officers and commanders
of Hawk Force, the anti-
Naxal wing of Madhya
Pradesh police, in Kanha
Tiger Reserve on the coun-
terinsurgency strategy to
tackle the Maoist menace
9 killed in Bihar
as car falls into
a roadside ditch
CM announces `4L to deceased kin
Purnea (Bihar), June
11: At least nine people
were killed and two oth-
ers injured when the SUV
they were travelling in
lost control and fell into a
roadside ditch in Bihar's
Purnea district on
Saturday, officials said.
Chief minister Nitish
Kumar expressed condo-
lences on the loss of lives
in the accident and
announced a compensa-
tion of `4 lakh each for
the families of the
deceased.
In his condolence mes-
sage, he said, “The road
accident in Purnea dis-
trict is very painful. My
condolences are with the
bereaved families. May
God give them the
strength to bear this
immense sorrow”
The accident took place
around 3 am on Saturday
when the car occupants,
11 in all, were going to
Nania village in
Kishanganj district after
attending a “tilak” cere-
mony (initial function of
a wedding) in Tarabadi
area of Purnea district,
Baisi sub-divisional mag-
istrate Kumari Toushi
said.
The driver lost control
"Latest healthcare facil-
ities should be made
available for people at
reasonable cost. This
facility will be a boon for
society. Private-public
partnership in any sector
will always be good for
society. The government's
policy is to welcome pri-
vate investments which
will be beneficial for the
state and its people,"
Vijayan said.
While presenting the
outline of the facility to
the dignitaries, Dr. Moni
Abraham Kuriakose, co-
founder, medical director
and CEO (Kerala opera-
tions) of Karkinos
Healthcare said, the cen-
tre is the dedicated
research lab for Karkinos
Healthcare.
"The focus is on early
diagnostic tools, molecu-
lar assays for precision
medicine, which are not
readily available in the
in the park, sources in the
chief minister’s office
(CMO) told this newspaper.
Sources said the chief
minister gave his nod to
move Hawk Force deep
inside the reserve forest to
intensify counterinsur-
gency operations to flush
out the Maoists.
The development comes
in the wake of recent com-
munication from Union
environment minister
Bhupendra Yadav to the
chief minister alerting
him on the growing
Maoist menace in Kanha
Tiger Reserve.
Mr Yadav suggested Mr
Chouhan to move security
forces into the reserve for-
◗ THE ACCIDENT took
place around 3 am on
Saturday when the car
occupants, 11 in all, were
going to Nania village in
Kishanganj district after
attending a "tilak" cere-
mony (initial function of a
wedding) in Tarabadi
area of Purnea district
over the vehicle and it fell
into a water-filled ditch
beside Purnea-
Kishanganj State
Highway near Kanjia
Middle School, the offi-
cial said.
Nine people died on the
spot and their bodies
were sent for post-
mortem examination,
while the two injured
were admitted to a nearby
hospital where their con-
dition is stated to be sta-
ble.
The deceased have been
identified as Ganga
Prasad Yadav, Karan Lal
Yadav, Sandav Lal Yadav,
Amarchand Yadav, Manik
Lal Sharma, Ramkrishan
Yadav, Gulabchand Lal
Yadav, Kali Charan Yadav
and Tanveer Alam. Seven
of them are relatives.
— PTI
country," Kuriakose said.
The Tata Group is
investing Rs 110 crore in
Karkinos while Rakuten
Medical, the global clini-
cal stage biotechnology
company, Mayo Clinic
and Reliance Digital
Health, hold minority
stakes.
Venture Capital fund
Endiya Partners also has
a stake in the company, he
said.
Sundar Raman, co-
founder of Karkinos
Healthcare, said the esti-
mated number of new
cancer patients in India
is 13.2 lakh and the exist-
ing number of cancer
patients is three-times of
this number.
"The catastrophe is that
diagnoses are happening
at a late stage which is
increasing the cost of
treatment and lowering
the cure rate," Raman
said.
◗ SOURCES SAID chief
minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan gave his nod to
move Hawk Force deep
inside the reserve forest
to intensify counterinsur-
gency operations to flush
out the Maoists
est to tackle the problem
urgently. The Union min-
ister’s letter comes three
days after a forest guard,
Sukhdeo, was killed by
Maoists in the reserve on
March 23 this year.
In the last one year,
Maoists have killed three
civilians and one forest
guard in Kanha Tiger
Reserve, the police said.
Fitness enthusiasts perform yoga asanas in Bikaner on Saturday ahead of
International Yoga Day on June 21.
Another big jump in daily tally, India logs 8,329 cases
DC CORRESPONDENT
with agency inputs
NEW DELHI/GURGAON,
JUNE 11
A single-day rise of over
8,000 fresh Covid-19 cases
was recorded in the coun-
try after 103 days, pushing
India’s infection tally to
4,32,13,435, while the count
of active cases jumped to
40,370, according to Union
health ministry data on
Saturday.
A total of 8,329 new coro-
navirus cases were report-
ed in a span of 24 hours,
while the death toll due to
the disease has climbed to
5,24,757, with 10 fatalities
being recorded, the data
— PTI
Jawan missing
from LAC in
AP for 13 days
Dehradun, June 11: An
Army jawan from
Dehradun deployed on
the India-China border
in Arunachal Pradesh
has been missing for the
past 13 days, causing
great anxiety among his
family members here.
Prakash Singh Rana
was reported missing on
May 29. Army authori-
ties informed his wife
about it telephonically.
A jawan in
Garhwal Rifles, Rana
7th
who is originally a resi-
dent of Ukhimath in
Rudraprayag district
was deployed at the
Thakla post on the Indo-
China border in
BJP MLA from
Sahaspur, Sahdev Singh
Pundir, met the jawan's
family at their Sainik
colony residence here on
Friday to share their
concern. He said details
of the missing jawan
have been sent to the
Union minister. — PTI
Five ultras, including
four women cadres, were
killed in separate encoun-
ters with security person-
nel in and around Kanha
Tiger Reserve in the last
three years, forcing the
patrolling parties to avoid
core areas of the reserve.
The state forest depart-
ment has already taken up
the matter with the direc-
tor-general of police of the
state. “Maoists are now
frequently spotted in the
core area of the reserve.
They are turning the
reserve as their sanctuary
since there are no human
habitations in the core
area of the reserve,” a sen-
ior police officer said.
stated. The active cases
now comprise 0.09 per cent
of the total infections,
while the national Covid-
19 recovery rate was
recorded at 98.69 per cent,
the ministry said.
An increase of 4,103
cases has been recorded in
the active Covid-19 case-
load in a span of 24 hours,
the data showed.
The daily positivity rate
was recorded at 2.41 per
cent and the weekly posi-
tivity rate at 1.75 per cent,
according to the health
ministry.
The number of people
who have recuperated
from the disease has
surged to 4,26,48,308, while
Ahead of Prez poll, RS
result boost for BJP
New Delhi, June 11: The
BJP’s strength in state
Assemblies suggested that
the party could retain
only 20 of the 24 Rajya
Sabha seats it held in the
biennial polls for 57 seats
but as the electoral
process got over on
Saturday, it has won 22
and also ensured victory
of an independent, under-
lining its pull among unaf-
filiated legislators and
disaffected lawmakers in
Opposition camp.
The BJP’s better-than-
expected show is a boost
to the ruling NDA ahead
of the President’s poll,
and is a blow to its rivals,
as the Rajya Sabha elec-
tions have again high-
lighted dissension and
lack of cohesion in the
opposition ranks from
Maharashtra to
Karnataka and Haryana.
The BJP’s ambitious
drive to force a contest in
these states besides
Rajasthan by backing
independents or putting
its own candidates to ben-
efit from division in the
ranks of its rivals have
paid dividends as it
bagged one extra seat
each in all states barring
Fadnavis says MLC
polls will be more
disastrous for MVA
DC CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI, JUNE 11
BJP on Saturday said that
the results of the elec-
tions for 10 seats of the
state legislative council
would be more disastrous
for the Uddhav Thackeray
government. BJP leaders
said more MLAs would
vote against the ruling
alliance, as it will be a
secret ballot. The elec-
tions will be held on June
20.
Senior BJP leader
Devendra Fadnavis said
that if Maha Vikas
Aghadi (MVA) can face a
defeat in the Rajya Sabha
elections, where
MLAs have to show their
the
ballot papers to the
respective party leaders,
the upcoming Legislative
Council polls will be more
difficult for them.
“There are many MLAs
who are upset with the
government. Many of
them could not express
their dissent in Rajya
Sabha polls because of
the open ballot. But leg-
islative council elections
will have a secret ballot.
All MLAs will express
their anger against the
government through the
ballot. The BJP is only
providing a platform by
contesting elections,” Mr
Fadnavis said.
— PTI
the case fatality rate was
recorded at 1.21 per cent.
The cumulative number
of doses administered in
the country so far under
the nationwide Covid-19
vaccination drive has
exceeded 194.92 crore.
Ten new fatalities due to
the disease were recorded
in the country five from
Kerala, two from Delhi
and one each from
Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh
and Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, chief eco-
nomic advisor (CEA)
Anantha Nageswaran on
Saturday said that the
country has shown exem-
plary resilience in recov-
ery from the pandemic cri-
◗ BJP SOURCES said the
party is pleased with the
outcome, especially in
Maharashtra where the
ruling MVA coalition of
the Shiv Sena, the NCP
and the Congress suffered
a setback despite being in
power with the BJP bag-
ging three of the six seats
Rajasthan.
Congress veteran and
Rajasthan chief minister
Ashok Gehlot not only
managed to keep the flock
of its supporting MLAs
together but also embar-
rassed the BJP by wooing
over one of its MLAs to
foil the saffron party’s
efforts to get an independ-
ent, outgoing MP and
media entrepreneur
Subhash Chandra, elect-
ed.
BJP sources said the
party is pleased with the
outcome, especially in
Maharashtra where the
ruling Maha Vikas
Aghadi coalition of the
Shiv Sena, the NCP and
the Congress suffered a
setback despite being in
power with the BJP bag-
ging three of the six seats
at stake.
For nearly two decades,
Rajya Sabha and legisla-
tive council members
were elected unopposed
in Maharashtra. The BJP
leader claimed that the
legislators from the rul-
ing camp wanted the elec-
tions this time around.
“When we decided to field
three candidates for
Rajya Sabha, leaders of
MVA requested us to
withdraw our third candi-
date to avoid the election.
They offered five seats in
the legislative council in
return. We rejected their
offer. After that several
MLAs, who have support-
ed the MVA government,
called us and insisted that
the BJP should not with-
draw its candidate. They
wanted to teach a lesson
to this state government,”
he said.
After the scrutiny, there
are 13 candidates in the
fray for the 10 legislative
council seats, which
means three of them will
lose. The NCP has fielded
three candidates, taking
the total number of rul-
ing party candidates to
seven. The Shiv Sena and
Congress have fielded two
candidates each. The
alliance has strength to
win five seats clearly. The
BJP, which is assured of
four seats, fielded five
candidates and also sup-
2 men ‘rape’ girl in MP,
live-stream act to friend
Gwalior, June 11: In a
shocking incident, two
men allegedly raped a
16-year-old
Madhya
girl
Pradesh's
Gwalior city and live-
in
streamed the act to a
friend, police said on
Saturday. The accused
were absconding, said
Kotwali police station
in-charge Rajiv Gupta.
He did not disclose the
names of the accused.
The girl approached the
police on Friday, alleging
that the two men, both
around 21 years old, took
her to a hotel and gan-
graped her on June 2.
“As per the com-
sis. Mr Nageswaran was
addressing an event on
“Indian Economy:
Prospects, Challenges and
Action Points” at Haryana
Institute of Public
Administration, Gurgaon.
“India has shown an
exemplary resilience in
recovering from a crisis
due to the Covid-19 pan-
demic,” he said.
All major activities and
parameters of the econo-
my have crossed their pre-
Covid levels, and it is now
enjoying macroeconomic
tailwinds, he added.
Quick and precise steps
have been taken by the
government at the policy
level, which was support-
pg 4
It is also a boost to BJP
leader and former chief
minister Devendra
Fadnavis, who has had his
share of setbacks since
losing power in the state
as he who outmanoeuvred
friend-turned-foe Shiv
Sena.
The party also bagged
three of the four seats in
Karnataka as its rivals the
Congress and the JD(S)
could not come to an
agreement and fought sep-
arately and lost.
Congress veteran
Bhupinder Singh Hooda
suffered a blow as the
party’s nominee Ajay
Maken lost, with one of
its MLAs, Kuldeep
Bishnoi, voting for the
BJP-backed independent
Kartikeya Sharma, also a
media entrepreneur, and
the vote of another MLA
turning out to be invalid.
Rajya Sabha polls for 57
seats were held across 15
states. While 41 members
in 11 states were elected
unopposed, elections were
held for 16 seats in four
states on Friday due to the
presence of more contest-
ants than the available
vacancies in each of these
states. — PTI
Cong removes
Haryana MLA
Bishnoi from
all party posts
New Delhi, June 11: A
day after losing the
Rajya Sabha election in
Haryana due to cross-
voting, the Congress
cracked the whip and
expelled its legislator
Kuldeep Bishnoi from
all party positions.
The Haryana Congress
has alleged that Bishnoi,
an MLA from the
Adampur constituency
in Hisar, did not vote for
the party candidate Ajay
Maken and cross-voted
in favour of Independent
candidate Kartikeya
Sharma, who was sup-
ported by the ruling BJP-
JJP combine.
The Congress had 31
MLA and needed as
many votes to win the
Rajya Sabha seat from
Haryana, but one of its
legislators cross-voted
and another's vote was
cancelled. “The Congress
president has expelled
Kuldeep Bishnoi from all
his present party posi-
tions, including the post
of special invitee of the
Congress Working
Committee, with immedi-
ate effect,” a statement
from AICC general secre-
tary K.C. Venugopal said.
Mr Bishnoi had not
attended any of the
party meetings of its
legislators and had said
that he has voted as per
his conscience. — PTI
plainant, the accused
live-streamed the act to
a friend, shot photo-
graphs and videos and
later shared them on
social media. They had
been charged for a simi-
lar offence earlier as
well and are on the run,”
Mr Gupta said.
A case was registered
against them for rape
under the Indian Penal
Code as well as the
Protection of Children
from Sexual Offences
(POCSO) Act and
Information Technology
Act, and efforts were on
to nab them, he added.
— PTI
ed by the Reserve Bank of
India's timely interven-
tions, the advisor noted.
Compared to developing
and developed countries,
the Indian economy is
firm and stable in terms of
various fundamentals.
The developed world is
moving from low inflation
to high inflation and it is
in such times that we have
managed to keep inflation-
ary pressure under check,
he said.
The CEA said he is hope-
ful that as per the projec-
tions of the International
Monetary Fund, India is
heading towards achiev-
ing a GDP size of $5 tril-
lion by 2027.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022
pg 5

SHORT TAKES
2 terrorists killed in
separate encounters
Srinagar: Two terrorists were
killed in two separate
encounters with security
forces in Kulgam and
Pulwama districts of Jammu
and Kashmir on Saturday.
Acting on specific informa-
tion about the presence of a
terrorist in Khandipora vil-
lage area of Kulgam, a cor-
don and search operation
was launched by the security
forces there, a police
spokesman said. During the
search operation, as the
search party approached
towards the suspected spot,
the hiding terrorist fired
indiscriminately upon the
forces. In the ensuing
encounter, a categorised ter-
rorist, Rasiq Ahmed Ganie,
resident of Shouch Kulgam
of Hizbul Mujahideen, was
killed and his body was
retrieved from the site of
encounter, he said.
Meanwhile, another terrorist
was killed in an encounter
that broke out in Pulwama
district of south Kashmir
later in the day. — PTI
Student held for
255 arrested for UP violence;
Yogi issues stern warning
Lucknow, June 11:
Uttar Pradesh police
arrested 255 people from
various districts in the
state in connection with
Friday’s violence during
protests against the con-
troversial remarks of
now-sacked BJP func-
tionaries on Prophet
Mohammad, with Chief
Minister Yogi
Adityanath warning of
“strictest” action
against those attempting
to vitiate the atmos-
phere.
In Saharanpur and
Prayagraj, police offi-
cials said action will be
taken against those
arrested under the strin-
gent National Security
Act (NSA).
Among those arrested,
68 were held in
Prayagraj and 50 in
Hathras, additional
director-general of
police (law and order)
Prashant Kumar said in
a statement on Saturday.
VHP: Install
cameras at
all mosques,
madrasas
New Delhi, June 11:
The Vishva Hindu
Parishad (VHP) on
Saturday demanded that
high-resolution cameras
be installed “inside and
outside” every mosque
and madrasa as well as
in areas dominated by
Muslims across the
country to monitor activ-
ities there in the wake of
the Friday violence.
VHP working presi-
dent Alok Kumar said
those trying to pollute
the “peaceful and har-
monious” atmosphere of
the country will have to
understand that India is
run by the Constitution
and not by the Shariat.
Violent protests erupt-
ed in several parts of the
country Friday against
the controversial
remarks on Prophet
Bajrang Dal activists stage a protest in Jammu on Saturday, a day after clashes in Mohammad by two now-
Bhaderwah against recent remarks on Prophet Mohammad by two now-suspended suspended BJP leaders.
BJP leaders. — PTI Asking the Muslim
community to wait for
Shah: Modi govt
restored India’s
respect in world
Diu, June 11: The
Narendra Modi govern-
ment re-established
India’s respect in the
world in the last eight
years, Union home minis-
ter Amit Shah said on
Saturday.
Addressing a public
rally at Diu after inaugu-
rating various projects,
including the INS Khukri Amit Shah
war memorial, Mr Shah
said the people in India Care, Mr Modi has built
received their certificates the health infrastructure
within three seconds of and made each village
getting vaccinated self-reliant,” he said.
against Covid-19, whereas Mr Shah also mentioned
the people in even devel- various projects for
oped countries struggled youths launched by the
to get their Covid certifi- Union government.
cates in time. “In the past, the entire
“Many countries are country used to celebrate
asking how Prime though we won just a sin-
Minister Narendra Modi gle medal (in sports).
used technology through Today, India does not
which 130 crore people think of winning less
received both doses of than ten medals, whether
Covid-19 vaccines with- it is the paralympics or

calling for bandh

He said 55 people were
arrested in Saharanpur,
J&K YouTuber held Pragya Thakur the legal process in the
matter related to the
out any chaos and freed
the country from coron-
Olympics.
“And remember, the

Kanpur: The police arrested a

law student for sharing mes-
sages on Whatsapp asking
people in Kanpur to down
shutters of their shops on June
10. The accused has been iden-
tified as Kshitij Dwivedi, a resi-
dent of Shastri Nagar, Kakadev,
the police said. Violence broke
out in parts of Uttar Pradesh
during protests against the
controversial remarks of now-
sacked BJP functionaries on
Prophet Mohammad on Friday
with mobs pelting stones at
policemen and an attempt
being made to set ablaze a
police vehicle. However,
Kanpur, which witnessed vio-
lence over the issue on June 3,
remained peaceful. Joint com-
missioner of police (law and
order) Anand Prakash Tiwari
said that Kshitij was arrested
from Kakadev for circulating
messages on WhatsApp asking
people to close their shops on
28 in Ambedkarnagar, 27
in Moradabad, 13 in
Firozabad, three
Aligarh and two in
Jalaun.
is
UP chief minister
Adityanath, who has
often spoken of how
under his rule the state
has been rid of frequent
riots, issued a stern
warning. “Strictest
action will be taken
against the anti-social
elements involved in the
chaotic efforts to spoil
the atmosphere in vari-
ous cities in the past few
days,” he said while
issuing directives to offi-
cials. “There is no place
for such anti-social peo-
ple in a civilised society.
No innocent should be
harassed, but not a sin-
gle guilty should be
spared,” he said.
over Nupur video
Srinagar, June 11: A
Kashmiri YouTuber,
whose video depicting the
beheading of suspended
BJP spokesperson Nupur
Sharma had gone viral on
social media platforms,
was arrested here on
Saturday for breaching
public tranquillity and
causing fear in the public,
the police said.
Wani has deleted the
video and apologised for
it as well.
Before his arrest, Wani
posted another video in
which he said he did not
have any intention of
hurting the sentiments of
people or any religion.
Wani's arrest came after
person like me got impli-
cated. I never have any
intention to hurt any other
religion, because Islam
teaches us to respect other
religions,” Wani said in
the new video. He said he
deleted the controversial
video after it went viral.
“I respect all religions.
Yes, I had made that
video, but I had no inten-
tion to violate anything. I
deleted the video last
night itself , but I apolo-
gise for it. I am sorry,” the
YouTuber said in the
video with folded hands.
“If anyone is hurt
because of this, I am
extremely sorry. I had no
intention to hurt any-
supports BJP’s
Nupur Sharma
Bhopal, June 11: Amid
protests in parts of the
country over the contro-
versial remarks on
Prophet Mohammad
made by now suspended
BJP spokesperson
Nupur Sharma, party's
Bhopal MP Pragya
Singh Thakur has sup-
ported her, saying that if
anybody insults Hindu
deities, then such people
would be told the
“truth”.
Talking to reporters,
Ms Thakur on Friday
said, “This is true that
there (Gyanvapi) was a
temple of Lord Shiva. It
is there and it will be
there. Calling it a foun-
controversial remarks
against Prophet
Mohammed, the RSS
affiliate said the perpe-
trators of violence, who
are “puppets of the fun-
damentalist”, should be
dealt with an iron hand
and also be made to pay
compensation for the
damage to property.
“The mobs who
indulged in rioting, vio-
lence, attacks and arson
had come out from the
mosques after the
Friday prayers. The jiha-
di Muslim leadership of
the country is taking the
common Muslims to the
path of violence, which
is neither in their inter-
est nor that of the coun-
try,” Mr Kumar alleged
in a statement. — PTI
avirus,” he said.
The senior BJP leader
said Congress removed
the poor in the name of
removing poverty during
its 58-year rule, whereas
PM Modi worked to
remove poverty in the last
eight years.
Listing achievements of
the Modi government
since it came to power at
the Centre in 2014, Shah
said the prime minister
ensured that the produc-
tion of medical oxygen
increased ten times in
just 45 days during the
second wave of the pan-
demic.
“Even 50 years later, if a
pandemic strikes, even
one-litre oxygen will not
have to be sourced from
abroad...Through the PM
kind of encouragement
PM Modi is giving
through the sports infra-
structure, coaching facili-
ties, transparent selec-
tion of sportsmen and
encouraging them. Days
are not far when India
will be among the top five
in the world in the medal
tally,” he said.
Mr Shah also said that
the government expedit-
ed the road and railway
infrastructure.
He said the Centre
ensured that rural and
urban poor get free
ration, houses, water sup-
ply, Mudra loan, widow
pension, and also other
facilities in the Union
Territory of Dadra and
Nagar Haveli, Daman and
Diu. — PTI

Fashion designer
June 10. — PTI
commits suicide
Hyderabad: A woman fashion
designer allegedly died by sui-
cide at posh Banjara Hills here,
police said on Saturday. The
36-year-old woman was found
motionless in the washroom by
her family members, who
informed police. In a purported
suicide note, she mentioned
that no one is responsible for
her extreme step and that she
was feeling lonely and stressed,
they said. The fashion designer
is suspected to have ended her
life by inhaling some poisonous
chemicals and the matter
needs to be probed, police
added.
Mrityunjay Kumar, the
media advisor to the
chief minister, in a tweet
in Hindi said, “Unruly
elements remember,
every Friday is followed
by a Saturday” and post-
ed a photo of a bulldozer
demolishing a building.
— PTI
India hands over hospital to Tajikistan
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
India has handed over the
India-Tajikistan
Friendship Hospital
(ITFH) near Kurghan
Teppa (now called
Bokhtar) in the Central
Asian nation to Tajik
he deleted the viral video
and issued an apology in
a new video posted on his
YouTube channel “Deep
pain Fitness”.
“I had uploaded a video
last night about Nupur
Sharma. It was a VFX
video which went viral all
over India and an innocent
authorities that was reno-
vated with Indian assis-
tance as per existing agree-
ments. India has close
strategic ties with
Tajikistan and the two
nations have been holding
both bilateral and multilat-
eral consultations with
each other on the situation
one,” he added.
Describing himself as a
simple person,
expressed hope that the
Wani
second video would also go
viral “so that my apology
reaches everyone”. “I am
an innocent person and do
not want to be implicated,”
he said. — PTI
in Afghanistan which
neighbours Tajikistan. The
Indian embassy in the
Tajik capital Dushanbe
said the “entire comple-
ment of medical equip-
ment, medicines, stores
and support equipment,
including an Operation
Theatre, X-Ray machines,
tain is wrong. Our
deities are sanatan. If
you insult them, we will
also tell the truth. You
tell our truth and it will
be accepted by us. But
why does it pain you
when we tell the truth?
This means somewhere
history is dirty.” — PTI
laboratories, critical care
ambulances and adminis-
trative vehicles were also
handed over to the Tajik
side”.
The ITFH was renovated
by India and inaugurated
in October, 2014, based on
an MoU signed between
both sides in January, 2013.
IMD: Monsoon arrives
in Mumbai, nearby areas
AGE CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI, JUNE 11
The India meteorological
department (IMD) on
Saturday announced the
arrival of the southwest
monsoon in Mumbai and
other nearby areas. The
weather agency said that
conditions would contin-
ue to become favourable
for the further advance-
ment of the monsoon in
the upcoming days.
Heavy rains lashed
Mumbai and its surround-
◗ HEAVY RAINS lashed
Mumbai and its surround-
ing region on Saturday.
There were reports of
treefalls and traffic snarls
at several places.
ing region on Saturday.
There were reports of
treefalls and traffic snarls
at several places. The
average rainfall recorded
between 8 am on June 10
to 8 am on June 11 was 25.6
mm in central Mumbai,
21.64 mm in western sub-
urbs and 34.18 mm in east-
ern suburbs.
A tree was uprooted and
fell on a tempo vehicle
parked near it in Lodha
Paradise in Majiwada
area of Thane city due to
strong winds and heavy
rainfall. No injuries were
reported.
The first day of heavy
rains in the Mumbai
Metropolitan Region was
also marked by the col-
lapse of ceiling slams of
multiple flats in a housing
society at Nerul in Navi
Mumbai. One person died

Cops grill gangrape accused; MAMATA INVITES RS polls: BJP outsmarts

CMS, OPPOSITION
LEADERS AHEAD OF Cong. in Maha, Haryana
juveniles play blame game PRESIDENTIAL POLL FROM P1:
The poll returning
officer, however, said
Cracks in Oppn camp
help BJP make gains
Officials reportedly finished medical examinations of three juveniles FROM P1:
Deve Gowda, National Conference
there was no violation
in the voting. The mat- FROM P1:
NAVEEN KUMAR I DC rest of the minors. chief Farooq Abdullah, PDP presi- ter went up to the BJP sources
HYDERABAD, JUNE 11

The accused involved in

No VIP treatment for accused However, the ques-
tioning could not be
done on Friday due to
dent Mehbooba Mufti, SAD chief
Sukhbir Singh Badal, former
Sikkim CM Sikkim Pawan
Election Commission of
India (ECI) who only
allowed voting post-mid-
said the party is
pleased with the
outcome, espe-
the 17-year-old girl’s gan-
grape and sexual assault
case were reportedly
in Jubilee Hills gangrape case the protests in the city
and there was said to be
alleged confusion over
Chamling and IUML president
K.M. Kader Mohideen.
Ms Banerjee wrote to them indi-
night and finally one
vote of the Congress
was declared invalid.
cially
Maharashtra
where the ruling
in

playing the blame game
by pointing fingers at
one another when ques-
tioned separately by the
investigation officials
from the Jubilee Hills
police station.
The police were given
custody of all the
accused in the case,
including Sadudin
Malik and five minors
by the court.
Questioning of minors
in the case began on
Saturday. Meanwhile,
officials reportedly fin-
ished medical examina-
tions of three juveniles.
While officials started
the first day of question-
ing with the minors,
who were lodged at the
Saidabad juvenile home,
Sadudin Malik was
called for the second
time. Sunday will be the
last day of his police
custody.
On Saturday, the
minors were reportedly
taken to the Jubilee Hills
police station from the
juvenile home, following
a request from the police
to the authorities to
make the necessary
arrangements as it was
not possible for them to
question the minors on
their premises.
The minor boys will be
questioned everyday
the location of ques- vidually, "A nation with a robust The loss of Mr Maken, Maha Vikas
DC on the government, from being given spe- tioning the minors. It democratic character requires a the Congress candidate, Aghadi coalition
CORRESPONDENT so they were not tak- cial food,” said an was also learnt that the strong and effective opposition. All in Haryana will have of the Shiv Sena,
HYDERABAD, JUNE 11 ing any chances, advocate, adding that police are seeking to progressive forces in this country serious ramifications the NCP and the
sources said. such ‘arrangements’ gather more informa- need to remain aligned and resist not only in the Haryana Congress suf-
The juveniles in the Sources revealed were normal in cases tion to piece together the divisive force that is plaguing us unit of the Congress but fered a setback
Jubilee Hills gan- that due to the pres- involving VIP fami- the sequence of events today. Opposition leaders are being also in the AICC as Mr despite being in
grape case who are sure on the case from lies. and the role played by deliberately targeted by different Maken is considered power with the
lodged at Saidabad all sections, it was “The minors lodged each of the offenders to Central agencies, the country's close to senior party BJP bagging
juvenile home are difficult for the at the juvenile home build a strong case image is maligned internationally leader Rahul Gandhi. three of the six
unable to get any spe- accused to get any were closely watched against the accused for and bitter dissensions are created General secretary seats at stake.
cial VIP treatment as special care at the by the opposition par- prosecution. within. It is time we strengthen our Randeep Surjewala, It is also a boost
all eyes of the juvenile home. ties, who were wait- The sixth juvenile in resistance." who is from Haryana, to BJP leader and
Opposition parties “However, they ing for a chance to hit the case, who is the son She observed, "The presidential was given a safe seat in former chief
are said to be closely might have been back at the Telangana of an MLA of Majlis-e- elections are around the corner, Rajasthan and he won, m i n i s t e r
watching them. given permissions to government for their Ittehadul Muslimeen presenting the perfect opportunity while Mr Maken was D e v e n d r a
Any slip on the part talk or even secretly biased behaviour (MIM), along with for all progressive opposition par- made to fight it out in Fadnavis, who
of the police or meet their families towards the VIP chil- Malik and four juve- ties to reconvene and deliberate on Haryana. has had his share
authorities by giving once they were at the dren involved in the niles, who were alleged- the future course of Indian politics. In Maharashtra as of setbacks since
the accused special police station for gangrape. No risk ly involved in the gan- The election is monumental well, the counting got losing power in
care would hit back questioning, apart was taken by the grape and sexual because it gives legislators the delayed as the BJP and the state as he
assault on May 28, were opportunity to participate in decid- its opposition filed com- who outmanoeu-
booked under IPC ing the Head of our State who is the plaints and counter vred friend-
from 10 am to 5 pm. planned to talk her into The accused were Sections 376 D (gan- custodian of our democracy." complaints. When the turned-foe Shiv
Sources said the getting into the car reportedly arrested grape), 323 (causing The Trinamul Congress chief results were declared on Sena.
accused in the case with them to the pastry from places in other hurt), 354 (assault or added, "At a time when our democ-
were pointing fingers shop. When questioned states including Andhra criminal force to racy is going through troubling
at each other during Malik said the son of Pradesh, Karnataka and woman with intent to times, I believe that a fruitful con-
the questioning, claim- the minority board Goa. Sources also outrage her modesty), fluence of opposition voices is the
ing that they were chairman coaxed him shared that the officials 366 (kidnapping a need of the hour; to echo the
merely following into talking to her, were likely to show woman) and 366 A deprived and unrepresented com-
instructions of while the juveniles said minors the evidence (procuring of a minor munities. In perusal of the same, I
approaching and talk- that it was Malik’s gathered by the police girl), and Section 9 (G) urge you to kindly make it conven-
ing to the victim. idea,” sources said, against them including read with 10, 5 (G) (gang ient for all of us to meet at the
“It was reportedly adding that the gang the CCTV footage to penetrative sexual Constitution Club, New Delhi on
revealed that it was had not planned their cross examine and assault on child) read the 15th of June 2022 at 3 pm."
Sadudin Malik, along escape before fleeing make them confess. with Section 6 of The development came a day after
with the son of the once the complaint was The Juvenile Justice Protection of Children senior Congress leader and leader
chairman of a minori- lodged with the police. Board on Thursday from Sexual Offences of Opposition in Rajya Sabha
ty board, who first The accused were also granted police a five- (POCSO) Act, and Mallikarjun Kharge consulted with
approached the victim questioned about their day custody of three Section 67 of Ms Banerjee and leaders of the
at Amnesia pub. The aides in escaping from juveniles and further I n f o r m a t i o n DMK, CPI, CPI-M and AAP to put
gang later said to have the city. granted custody of the Technology Act. up a joint opposition candidate.
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022 | CHENNAI
pg 6

Subhani

12 JUNE 2022

Shashi Warrier
Off the beaten track

Variant-shopping and
the booster consultation
L
ast month came news of tomato flu in Kerala and monkeypox flu and
newer variants of Covid in other parts of the world. Then came a text mes-
sage on my phone saying that it was time for me to take my booster dose
for Covid, that I should report to the nearest vaccine centre on such-and-such a
date to take it. I’d heard much about the booster dose, both good and bad, and I
looked it up on the Internet. That provided a flood of information so full of con-
tradictions that it gave me a headache, and I thought maybe a little good scotch

A publishing wasteland: LETTERS

— purely medicinal, of course — would help me deal with it.
That evening, just as I was uncorking the bottle, the bell rang, and there on the

NEW PRESIDENT
doorstep stood my friend Murthy, with his uncanny knack of dropping in just in
time to demolish my supplies of scotch. I asked him in, sat him down, and
poured him a large slug while my wife busied herself in the kitchen with
samosas.

India needs translations

When his hunger and thirst had been assuaged, I thought it was time to ask Given its current political domi-
him whether he thought I should take the booster dose, what with the new pox nance and its proximity to the
and the flu and the new strains of Covid. “Not sure the booster’s any good?” he half-way mark in the electoral
asked. “Most people find themselves confused.”
“Yes!” I said. “You get so much conflicting information on the Internet. There
college consisting of 776 MPs
are people who say you shouldn’t take the booster, and others that say you and 4,033 MLAs, it is under-
should, and they offer all kinds of reasons that I don’t understand. Then there We are legatees of a lations so rare? There is standable if the BJP is keen on
are reports that some vaccines are 70 per cent effective, others that the same vac- nothing wrong in foreign
great civilisation, where recognition, but that can-
installing a leader of its choice as
Pavan K. Varma
cines are 10 per cent effective… I don’t know what to think! Maybe you…”
He smiled kindly at me as if I were a differently-mentally-abled five-year-old. “I literature flourished not be the only reason to the next President. The adver-
don’t know how I can help,” he said. when in most parts of awaken Indians to their sarial nature of the relationship
“You could tell me whether you’ve had your the world people were own talent. between the BJP and the
still learning to speak.
Chanakya’s View
booster,” I said. In particular, there
needs to be much more of Opposition makes the explo-
“I won’t,” he said. “You should decide indepen- Why is there such little ration of the option of a consen-
dently, not going by whether I’ve taken the shot. good translations in India.
literary discussion, In the absence of this,
You shouldn’t be influenced by anyone else’s deci-
reviews and readership sus candidate quite unlikely.

R
sion.” et Samadhi, association with the works of great merit in
“But I trust your judgment!” I said. That was Geetanjali Beatles. Satyajit Ray of our authors in our our many languages
Whether the BJP goes in for
true, in a way. I intended to do exactly the opposite Shree’s re- became a legend for his own country? remain limited to their someone with ill-disguised
of what he’d done, but there was no need to tell markable work own countrymen only specific linguistic silos, Hindutva leanings or someone
him that. of fiction, has after his films were hailed and are deprived of a with no direct links with the
“Right!” he said. “That’s why I won’t tell you. won the International abroad. recognised. wider readership and
When you’re going to invest in the stock market or Booker Prize this year. Only when Arvind Geetanjali’s Ret appreciation, including Sangh Parivar remains to be
bet on a cricket match you should go by what you This prize is given to a Adiga won the Booker Samadhi was published in abroad. I have myself seen. It is true that the BJP with
know and not by what someone else has decided work in any global lan- Prize in 2008 for his novel India by Rajkamal translated four volumes of the allies still remaining with it is
to do.” ‘Whoever developed guage, provided it has The White Tiger — and Publications in 2018. I Gulzar Saheb’s poetry into
“But this isn’t a gamble!” I said. it made it to sell. To been translated into received the prize in full spoke to Ashok English, which have been now in a less comfortable posi-
“Of course it is!” he replied. “Every decision is a countries, or very English and published in British attire of a tuxedo Maheshwari who runs published by Penguin. I tion than in 2017. Still its nomi-
gamble.” rich organisations. the UK. Daisy Rockwell, and bowtie — did Indians Rajkamal. He confirmed have also rendered in nee will, in all likelihood, make it
“All right!” I said. “Then tell me how you an American, translated recognise him as a liter- to me that until the English the poetry of Kaifi
decided.” So you can choose this monumental work, ary hero. Something simi- Booker, the book trudged Azmi, Atal Bihari
with the backing of YSR
“Sure,” he said. “I read up on Covid variants, the variant you buy and found a publisher in lar happened with the film along fairly listlessly, sell- Vajpayee, and Ghalib, also Congress and the BJD that can
and something about the names struck me. from them depend- the UK. Hence it qualified Slumdog Millionaire. ing far below its potential, for Penguin. Apart from be won with a little persuasion
They’re named with Greek letters, alpha and beta ing on whom you for consideration, and When the film won the and that Geetanjali herself English, there is a dire and promise of more funds for
and gamma and delta and mu and omicron. A want to damage became the first book in BAFTA award in Britain was frustrated at the unre- need to translate books
series, if you see what I mean. Then I started won- Hindi to win this presti- for best film, it had not markable response. Why from one Indian language Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.
dering about the basis of the differences between
and how much. gious prize. even been officially should this be so? After to another. In fact, the gov- The Presidential election offers
these series of variants. What was the principal That’s bio-warfare.’ Naturally, this is a mat- released in India. Even all, technically, India is ernment should seriously an opportunity for the
difference between, say, the omicron series and ter of great pride. But though most Indians had the third largest book consider setting up an
the delta series? So I looked it up.” there are troubling ques- not seen the film, and market in the world. institute of excellence Opposition parties to display
“And what did you find?” I asked. tions that must be con- could not, therefore, judge Hindi has a great lineage, only to encourage transla- unity before the next general
“Omicron spreads faster than delta but is less likely to do serious damage,” he fronted. Geetanjali, whom it on merit, the media was and numerically at least, a tions. Geetanjali, who election in 2024 by putting up a
replied. I know personally, is not euphoric at this achieve- very large market. would otherwise have joint candidate. The election is
He looked at me expectantly, and I obliged. “What else did you find?” I asked. new on the Hindi writing ment. After the film won Geetanjali’s first novel, been only read in Hindi,
“So I looked at all the variants and found that classification could be based on canvas. She has published the Oscar in February Mai, was shortlisted for was lucky to get a Daisy bound to acquire an ideological
lots of things. It could depend on severity, for instance, or the region where it four novels and two collec- 2009, all sense of propor- the Crossword Book Rockwell. We need more colour as any electoral battle is
spread. It could be based on what they call the spike protein, which enables it to tions of short stories earli- tion was lost. We went Award in India, and trans- Daisy Rockwells of our inevitably intertwined with the
get into a cell into your body, or how easily it spreads, or even the sets of com- er, apart from a magisteri- hysterical. Banner head- lated in 2017 into English own.
mon symptoms.” al book on Munshi lines announced the great by an Indian. But none of Incidentally, the deafen- ideological battle. Whoever is
“Then it struck me that all these variants might have been named like cars. Premchand. Within Hindi victory for a film, which this made her a “celebri- ing silence from the BJP elected to the country’s most
Like you have BMW’s 3 series and 5 series and 7 series… But then that seemed literary circles she has was, incidentally, made by ty” author, widely read to Geetanjali’s milestone exalted constitutional office, he
strange because car manufacturers name their series based on the kinds of won recognition and a British film director. and admired by Indians, achievement is indicative
clients they attract. So BMW’s 5 series is more expensive than their 3 series, and acclaim. But why did she For most Indians, win- until she won the of a small-mindedness
or she should be more con-
attracts a buyer with different concerns. You see what I mean?” become a literary super- ning the Booker is like International Booker in that is depressing. The cerned with upholding the
“About car manufacturers, yes,” I said, “but what’s that got to do with the star only when she won a being recognised where it the UK. BJP otherwise portrays Constitution than showing loyal-
strains of Covid-19?” foreign award? matters, of being vindicat- All this should make us itself as a champion of ty to the governing party at the
“What started me thinking about it differently,” he replied, “was when they This is an important — ed in the right quarters, of seriously think. We are Hindi. But when a Hindi
named one of the variants a ‘stealth’ variant. When do you talk of stealth?” and uncomfortable — having glamorously legatees of a great civilisa- novel gets the Centre. The incoming President
“In war, and hunting,” I said. question. Somehow, for- arrived. But what about tion, where literature International Booker for may have to play a crucial role in
“Exactly!” He smiled. “So then I went back to how they named the variants, eign recognition is very the departure lounge left flourished when in most the first time, they are shy case the 2024 general election
and then I realised it was exactly like car manufacturers.” important to us Indians. behind? A leading Indian parts of the world people of felicitating the author
“What do you mean?” I asked. “I still don’t get it.” When the question of giv- publisher pointed out in were still learning to apparently because in throws up a hung Parliament.
“Imagine how you buy a BMW. You go to the dealer and tell him what you ing titles to loyal Indians an interview that if an speak. Why then is there some of her books she has G.David Milton,
want, and how much you intend to spend, and, based on all that, they suggest a was being discussed in the author gets the presti- such little literary discus- — rightly — been critical Maruthancode
model. If you want to drive yourself, for instance, they’ll probably suggest a dif- British Parliament in gious Sahitya Akademi sion, reviews, apprecia- of communal divisive-
ferent model from the one they’d suggest if you intend to keep a chauffeur. 1876, British PM Disraeli Award in India, it makes a tion and readership of our ness. Our PM, who tweets
Right?”
“Right,” I said, “but what does buying a BMW have to do with coronavirus
argued that Indians attach
enormous value to such
difference in sales of per-
haps ten copies! In the
own authors in our own
country? Do we really
at a drop of a hat, lost his
voice. RANJI: WHY BAT ON?
variants?” distinctions. The Booker, case of the Crossword have to wait for an I am proud and very Though Mumbai Ranji cricket team
“Oh, everything!” he said. “Whoever developed it made it to sell. To countries, of course, carries consid- Prize, or the Jnanapith American, Daisy happy for Geetanjali. She broke the world record for the highest
or very rich organisations. So you can choose the variant you buy from them erable prestige, but that Award, there may be an Rockwell — and she has, fully deserves this belated margin of victory, I feel it is a shame for
depending on whom you want to damage and how much. That’s bio-warfare.” prestige is magnified a additional sale of 1,000 indeed, done an excellent recognition. But I would the team who has won 41 times. Despite
That vision of breathtaking evil left me speechless. When I recovered, I asked, hundred times in India. copies. But with the translation — to bring our have been even happier if getting a lead of 500+ they chose to bat
“But what does this have to do with the booster shot?” Rabindranath Tagore Booker sales go up expo- own books to our own her creativity was more the second time to pile up the miseries of
“Everything!” he said. He finished his drink and got up to leave. “Take the deservedly won the Nobel nentially — anything readers? In a multilingual befittingly recognised in Uttarakhand team. So was the case with
booster! If the bloody virus is manmade, it makes sense to develop a vaccine for Prize for literature in 1913, from 50,000 to 150,000 country where some her own country before Bengal, who too piled up 778 and getting
it, too, don’t you think?” but his literary genius was copies. Booker winning 80,000 new titles — some of the Booker Prize. a healthy first innings lead, chose to bat
fully accepted in India novels leap out of shelves them showing great talent again. Such an attitude would definitely
Shashi Warrier has written fairy tales, thrillers, a only after that. Ravi in India, bought by cus- — are published in 24 dif- The writer is an author, kill the interest in cricket.
semi-fictional biography, satires, and a love story. Besides writing, he teaches Shankar became a house- tomers eager to read what ferent languages every retired diplomat and N. Mahadevan,
strategic communication at a business school. hold name only after his the English have year, why are good trans- former Rajya Sabha MP Chennai

C
ongress president Sonia is not beyond reach. Narendra Modi’s penchant for spring- ing his Muslim support base. Mr Azad and declared Mr Khan’s close aide
Gandhi has been house-bound ing surprises. obviously has a tough choice to make. Asim Raja as the party’s candidate for

for over a week after she test-
Anita Katyal
ed positive for Covid. With
plenty of time on her hands and
Political
unable to step out, the Congress chief
used this period during her recupera-
Gup-Shup tion to watch the well-known and pop-
ular Danish series Borgen. The televi-
sion drama must have struck a chord
with Sonia Gandhi as it follows the
journey of a woman politician whose
party wins a surprise victory,
enabling her to stake claim to the
Convalescing Sonia Prime Minister’s post. The gripping
series shows the backroom negotia-
tions the female protagonist under-
has Danish muse; takes with potential allies, how she
manages the different political parties
in the government and the push for
Nupur saga opens key policies. But what perhaps should
inspire Sonia Gandhi, whose party is
currently going through a particular-
prospects for Naqvi ly lean patch, is how the fictional
Danish Prime Minister takes on pow-
erful men and manages to bounce
back despite a string of setbacks.
Clearly, the series holds out hope for a
down-and-out Sonia Gandhi that all is
not lost yet and that a better tomorrow
T
he decision to deny a Rajya
Sabha seat to Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi created quite a stir since
he is the only Muslim minister in the
Narendra Modi government. Though
it initially appeared that Mr Naqvi’s
political future was in a freefall, the
outrage triggered in the Arab world
over Bharatiya Janata Party
spokesperson Nupur Sharma’s
remarks about the Prophet could help
rehabilitate Mr Naqvi. This episode
has opened up prospects of a come-
back for Nr Naqvi as the Modi govern-
ment is under pressure to demon-
strate that it does not discriminate
against minorities and is ready to
accommodate them in key positions.
Consequently, there is a buzz that Mr
Naqvi could be the BJP’s choice for
the vice-president’s post in next
month’s election. Or else he could be
appointed governor, failing which Mr
Naqvi could find himself back in the
Rajya Sabha as a nominated member.
But the manner in which his name is
being bandied around, he could even
end up losing, given Prime Minister
G I
hulam Nabi Azad, a leading
member of the group of 23
Congress leaders (G-23), press-
ing for an organisational overhaul of
the party, appears to have been put on
notice by the leadership. Mr Azad’s
two closest aides were recently issued
show cause notices on some flimsy
grounds after they did not turn up for
the state-level Chintan Shivir held
recently in Jammu. This move has led
to confusion and uncertainty among
Mr Azad’s supporters in J&K. They
had been pressing Mr Azad to leave
the Congress and float his own politi-
cal outfit but the senior leader had
held off in the hope that party presi-
dent Sonia Gandhi would renominate
him to the Rajya Sabha. Now that he
has failed to make the cut, Mr Azad
has to weigh his options. The forma-
tion of a regional political party is
very much on the table but Mr Azad is
hesitant to take the plunge as word is
out in his home state that he is being
backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party,
which has the potential of compromis-
s Bahujan Samaj Party leader
Mayawati making overtures to
Azam Khan, the high-profile and
controversial Samajwadi Party legis-
lator? And is Samajwadi Party chief
Akhilesh Yadav’s estranged uncle
Shivpal Yadav mediating between the
two sides? This is currently the talk in
Uttar Pradesh’s political circles. It is
well known that Azam Khan has seri-
ous differences with Akhilesh Yadav
leading to constant chatter that the all-
powerful politician from Rampur is
exploring other options. At the same
time, Mayawati is looking afresh at
reaching out to the Muslims instead of
focusing all her attention on wooing
Brahmins. Shivpal Yadav has also
been sulking since he was virtually
ignored by his nephew after the
assembly polls. Finding themselves
on the same side, Azam Khan and
Shivpal Yadav are said to be working
in tandem to derail the Samajwadi
Party chief. It is precisely for this rea-
son that Akhilesh Yadav took care to
call on Azam Khan in Delhi recently
the coming Lok Sabha by-election
from Rampur.
T
here appears to be no end to the
tussle between Madhya Pradesh
chief minister Shivraj Singh
Chouhan and his home minister
Narottam Mishra who enjoys the
patronage of the BJP’s Central leader-
ship. This tension surfaces periodical-
ly. For instance, when BJP president
J.P. Nadda attended a function on his
recent visit to Bhopal, Mr Mishra
found there was no chair for him
when he climbed on to the stage. Mr
Mishra sat with the audience but was
persuaded to join the others on stage
after someone vacated a seat for
him. Mr Chouhan is fighting with his
back to the wall as Mr Mishra uses his
proximity to home minister Amit
Shah to set the agenda in the state.
Little wonder then that Mr Nadda
made an unscheduled halt
at Mr Mishra’s residence on this trip.
Anita Katyal is a Delhi-based
journalist

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 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022 | CHENNAI
BRIEF
IN
Sisodia to meet
wholesale market
representatives
New Delhi: Deputy chief min-
ister Manish Sisodia will hold
a meeting with the represen-
tatives of wholesale market
associations across the city on
Monday to get inputs and
suggestions on organising the
Delhi Wholesale Shopping
Festival to boost job avenues,
officials said. Chamber of
Trade and Industry (CTI)
chairman Brijesh Goyal said
representatives of over 20
wholesale markets of the
national capital are likely to
attend the meeting. The Delhi
government in its “Rozgar
Budget” had proposed Delhi
Shopping Festival and a Delhi
Wholesale Shopping Festival
to generate job opportunities.
A total outlay of Rs 250 crore
was proposed in the budget
for the Delhi Shopping
Festival and the Wholesale
Shopping Festival. This meet-
ing will be headed by Deputy
CM Manish Sisodia at the
Delhi Secretariat. Market asso-
ciations of over 20 wholesale
markets are likely to partici-
pate in the meeting where the
government will have a dia-
logue with traders and know
their suggestions and check
the feasibility of selecting
suitable markets to organise
the wholesale shopping festi-
val,” Goyal said. He said rep-
resentatives of some promi-
nent wholesale markets such
as Kashmiri Gate, Sadar Bazar,
Naya Bazar, Karol Bagh,
Chawri Bazar, Chandni Chowk,
Khari Baoli and Gandhi Nagar
will participate in the meeting.
In the meeting, the traders
will also apprise the govern-
ment about issues being
faced by them, if any, in
their respective market areas,
he said.
Metro Violet Line
services delayed due
to technical snag
New Delhi: Services on Delhi
Metro’s Violet Line were
delayed on Saturday morning
due to some technical issues.
The route connects Kashmere
Gate in Delhi to Ballabgarh in
Haryana. “Violet Line update.
Delay in services between
Kashmere Gate and Raja
Nahar Singh (Ballabgarh).
Normal services on all other
lines,” the Delhi Metro Rail
Corporation (DMRC) tweet-
ed. More details were await-
ed from the transporter.
Commuters took to Twitter to
share that they were waiting
for trains for a long time at
stations on their way to work
or other destinations. Delhi
Metro passengers, largely
office-goers, on Thursday
had faced inconvenience
when services on its Blue
Line were delayed for over
two hours due to a technical
snag. The Blue Line connects
Dwarka Sector-21 in Delhi to
Noida Electronic City, along
with a branch line to Vaishali.
This was the second time in
the week when the entire
Blue Line had been impacted
by a glitch. — PTI
Illegal liquor vend
busted in Gurgaon,
1 arrested
Gurgaon: An illegal liquor vend
was busted here and one per-
son arrested, police said on
Saturday. Acting on a tip-off,
the excise department and the
chief minister’s flying squad
conducted a joint raid at the
unlicensed vend in Aliyar vil-
lage and seized a large quanti-
ty of liquor, they said. Shivam,
who was working at the liquor
vend was arrested, they
added. During interrogation,
Shivam revealed that the unli-
censed liquor vend is owned
by Kanwarpal alias KP, a resi-
dent of Bas Kushla village, and
Rajveer, resident of Wazirabad
village. An FIR was registered
against the owners and
Shivam at the Manesar police
station, they said. Raids are
being conducted to nab the
owners, they added. — PTI
MCD launches fortnight-long cleanliness drive
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
Civic authorities on Saturday
launched a fortnight-long
cleanliness drive and an
action plan has been pre-
pared to execute the work
properly, officials said.
Special sanitation drives
were kicked off on Saturday
in all zones of the Municipal
Corporation of Delhi (MCD)
and nodal officers have been
appointed to execute the
work, officials said.
The ‘Swachhta Pakhwada’
has been started on the direc-
■ Messages circulated on WhatsApp are being scrutinised, says police
FIR filed in connection with
protests outside Jama Masjid
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
The Delhi police has regis-
Student groups protest at DU,
tered a case in connection
with Friday’s protest out-
side Jama Masjid to
demand arrest of Sharma, Jindal
demand the arrest of sus- New Delhi, June 11: The
pended BJP spokesperson Students Islamic
Nupur Sharma for her Organisation and Muslim
controversial remarks on Student Federation
Prophet Mohammad, offi- staged a protest at Delhi
cials said on Saturday. University’s Arts Faculty
According to DCP on Saturday demanding
(Central district) Shweta the arrest of now-sacked
Chauhan, an FIR has been BJP functionaries Nupur
registered under Section Sharma and Naveen
188 (disobedience to order Jindal over their contro-
duly promulgated by pub- versial remarks against
lic servant) of the Indian Prophet Mohammad. The
Penal Code (IPC), on student groups also held
Friday, against the protest- the demonstration
ers and further investiga- against violence against
tion is underway. those who took part in
The police said that the protests that erupted in
messages circulated on different parts of the
WhatsApp are being scru- country on Friday.
tinised and the initial The Students Islamic
probe has identified 4-5 Organisation claimed
miscreants, who are that several of its
locals. activists and that of the
“The police might add Muslim Student
more IPC sections, keep- Federation were detained
ing in view the provoca- by the police during their
tion as witnessed by our protest at Delhi
police force and in the con- University’s Arts Faculty.
tents of CCTV footage that However, the police have
have been acquired,” said denied the allegation.
the police. A senior police official
On Friday, the DCP had said that around 35 people
said, “Around 1,500 people gathered to protest out-
had gathered at the side the arts faculty
mosque for Friday
prayers. When the prayers
ended peacefully, some connection with the inci-
people came outside, start- dent. We have identified
ed showing placards, and some of the miscreants
shouted slogans. Some and our teams are work-
others also joined them ing to identify the others,”
later and the number of said the DCP.
protesters went up to After the Friday prayers,
around 300.” a large crowd of people
“Police deployment had gathered on the steps
always remains at Jama
Masjid during Friday
of the famous mosque,
carrying placards and
prayers. The protesters shouting slogans against
were dispersed within 10- Ms Sharma and Naveen
Jindal, the former head of
15 minutes and the situa-
tion is peaceful. Legal the Delhi BJP’s media
action will be taken in unit, for allegedly making
IAS trainee officials cover their faces on a hot summer day as they wait for Lok Sabha
Speaker Om Birla at Parliament House complex in New Delhi on Saturday.
Delhi reels under heatwave,
maximum temp at 43.8°C Man arrested for killing wife’
s live-in partner
New Delhi, June 11: ◗ ACCORDING TO the
The maximum tempera- IMD, partly cloudy skies
ture in the national capi-
tal on Saturday settled at with thunder, lightning
43.8 degrees Celsius, four and strong surface winds
notches above normal, are expected in Delhi in
the India Meteorological the next few days but no
Department (IMD) major respite from the
said.The minimum tem- heat is likely till June 15
perature settled at 29.7
degrees Celsius, two major respite from the
notches above normal, it heat is likely till June 15.
said. Heatwave conditions
According to the IMD, are expected to prevail in
partly cloudy skies with isolated pockets of Delhi,
thunder, lightning and Haryana, northwest
strong surface winds are Rajasthan and Himachal
expected in Delhi in the Pradesh till June 15, a
next few days but no Skymet Weather report
tion of Delhi Lt Governor V roped in to carry out the cam-
K Saxena, the MCD said in a paign in a proper way, the
statement. “Under the drive, statement said.
an action plan has been pre- “All departments concerned
pared to execute the work of the MCD will work accord-
properly and by cleaning ing to the action plan... The
garbage material, scrap, focus will be on areas with
debris, unusable items lying commercial establishments,
on roads, streets and their residential colonies, religious
sides, central verge and other places, JJ colonies... ensuring
public places,” it said. removal of piles of garbage,
The campaign will be run cleaning all public facilities
for 15 days, till June 26, every and spraying insecticides,” it
day from 8 am to 11 am. On added. MCD staff will take
the direction of the L-G, pub- appropriate action against
lic representatives, RWAs, those selling food items with-
trade unions, social organiza- out a proper license. It will
tions, and NGOs have been also ensure that impounded
Members of Muslim Students Federation stage a protest
at DU Arts Faculty in New Delhi on Saturday.
around 4:30 pm. “They
were informed that they
don’t have permission
and so they shall have to
disperse,” he said.
The row over the alleged
derogatory remarks
against Prophet
Mohammad escalated last
Sunday following protests
from countries like Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar
and Iran, prompting the
BJP to take action against
its functionaries and
assert that it respects all
derogatory remarks on
the Prophet.
The Shahi Imam of
Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed
Bukhari, had distanced
himself from the protest,
saying “nobody knows
who the protesters were”
and demanded action
against such people.
The row over the
remarks against Prophet
Mohammad escalated on
Sunday with protests from
countries such as Saudi
Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, and
— PTI
said.
The air quality index
(AQI) in Delhi was
recorded in the ‘poor’
(285) category around
6:45 pm, according to
System of Air Quality
and Weather Forecasting
and Research (SAFAR)
data.
An AQI between zero
and 50 is considered
‘good’, 51 and 100 ‘satis-
factory’, 101 and 200
‘moderate’, 201 and 300
‘poor’, 301 and 400 ‘very
poor’, and 401 and 500
‘severe’.
— PTI
vehicles on police station
premises are properly cov-
ered.
Besides this, fogging and
spraying of insecticides,
checking water installations,
keeping water tanks clean,
and cleanliness of the corpo-
ration-run schools and their
toilet blocks will be the top
priority, the civic body said.
Delhi environment minis-
ter Gopal Rai on Saturday
asked the Centre to create a
joint action plan to fight air
pollution in the capital. The
minister also said only 30 per
cent of Delhi’s pollution is
— PTI
religions.
As the row intensified
domestically and abroad,
the BJP suspended Nupur
Sharma and expelled
Naveen Kumar Jindal.
The BJP had last
Sunday suspended its
national spokesperson
Nupur Sharma and
expelled its Delhi media
head Naveen Kumar
Jindal after their contro-
versial remarks against
Prophet Mohammad.
— PTI
Iran, prompting the BJP to
suspend Ms Sharma and
expel Mr Jindal as the
party asserted that it
respects all religions.
The Delhi police has reg-
istered an FIR against 31
people, including AIMIM
chief Asaduddin Owaisi
and controversial priest
Yati Narsinghanand, and
filed a separate case
against Ms Sharma for
allegedly spreading hate
and hurting religious sen-
timents.
MCD to deploy drones
to survey landfill sites
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
The Municipal
Corporation of Delhi
(MCD) has decided to
deploy drones to map the
elevation of landfills and
also monitor the reduc-
tion in its height along
with other parameters,
officials said on Saturday.
The national capital has
three landfill sites—
Ghazipur, Bhalaswa, and
Okhla—that have turned
into huge garbage moun-
tains.
A plan in this connec-
tion has been prepared
and the project will soon
be implemented, they
said. They added that the
report of the drone survey
will also be sent to the
lieutenant-governor (L-G)
office on a regular basis.
The move comes around
a fortnight after L-G Vinai
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
A 32-year-old man was
arrested for allegedly
killing a person who was
in a live-in relationship
with his wife in Central
Delhi’s Sadar Bazar area,
the police said on
Saturday.
The accused has been
identified as Robin, a resi-
dent of Paharganj, it said,
adding that he was previ-
ously found involved in
five criminal cases of rob-
bery, hurt, and theft.
On Thursday, an inci-
dent of stabbing was
reported at Sadar Bazar
generated locally and the rest
comes from outside.
“Vehicular pollution is a
challenge in Delhi. We had
earlier introduced CNG and
now taken a conscious deci-
sion to move towards electric
vehicles. All industrial units
in the city have shifted to
PNG,” he said.
Rai said the government is
currently working on a mega
tree plantation drive. “We're
increasing green cover, mak-
ing people aware, but a joint
action plan through the
Centre’s intervention is the
need of the hour,” Rai said.
Massive hospital fire sends
patients running for safety
Patient in ICU dies after losing oxygen support
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
Panic reigned at Rohini’s
Brahm Shakti hospital
on Saturday morning
when a fire broke out in
its ICU and claimed the
life of a 64-year-old
patient. Several people,
including patients, were
rescued in time thanks to
sparse crowd inside the
northwest Delhi hospital
at the time of the inci-
dent.
One of the evacuees
said though there was no
chaos, people did get ter-
rified. Nineteen-year-old
Khushi was admitted in
the hospital and had
come out of the hospital
as the fire raged on its
third floor.
“I have some issues with
my legs and was admitted
here six days ago. I was
sleeping with my mother
in room number 206 when
a nurse came and asked
us to leave immediately
as there was a fire on the
third floor in the ICU. We
took our belongings with
us, but my books were left
inside the room,” she
said.
Her mother Mamta
Gupta said that though
people escaped in time,
everyone got scared and
some of them even broke
down.
Khushi said she is
preparing for her journal-
ism exams.
Surabhi Bhalla, 26, a
resident of Budh Vihar,
said she was on the sec-
ond floor when the fire
broke out.
“I was admitted to the
hospital last Saturday
after being down with a
stomach infection. I was
sleeping in my room with
my daughter and hus-
band. Some hospital staff
came around 5 am and
informed us that a fire
Kumar Saxena visited the
Ghazipur landfill site and
asked the MCD officials to
submit a status report on
their plan to raze these
dumping sites.
Following the L-G’s
instructions, the civic
body had, last week, sub-
mitted a status report on
the efforts being taken to
reduce the height of the
landfills.
The MCD has listed
steps such as biomining of
legacy waste and setting
up of waste-to-energy
plants to flatten and shut
garbage dumping sites in
its status report on the
landfills.
Frequent incidents of
fire at the landfills located
at the borders of the
national capital have also
left the people living in
the vicinity of the
garbage mountains gasp-
ing for breath. A senior
◗ THE ACCUSED has been
identified as Robin, a resi-
dent of Paharganj. He was
previously found involved
in five criminal cases of
robbery, hurt, and theft.
area. The victim was shift-
ed to Lady Hardinge
Hospital where he was
declared brought dead, the
police said.
The statement of the eye-
witness, the wife of the
accused, was recorded who
informed that she was hav-
ing a dispute with her hus-
band Robin, who is a crim-
inal of Paharganj area. For
the last five-six months,
Delhi BJP president Adesh Gupta with party members during the executive body
meeting in New Delhi on Saturday.
Charred remains after a fire broke out at the intensive
care unit of a hospital at Rohini area in New Delhi on
Saturday.
had broken out on the
third floor of the build-
ing. Immediately, we ran
out of the building. My
three-year-old daughter,
who was born on the
third floor of this hospi-
tal, was also with us as
she doesn’t sleep without
me,” she said.
Surabhi’s husband,
Rakesh Bhalla, 32, said
his wife was scheduled to
be discharged on Friday,
but had to stay another
day as the doctor was
absent. “I am happy that
we escaped,” Rakesh said.
After the fire, the hospi-
tal staff put beds in the
reception area and shift-
ed the patients there. A
64-year-old patient died
after his oxygen support
was disrupted due to the
fire, police said. The fire,
apparently caused due to
a short circuit, broke out
on the third floor of
Brahm Shakti Hospital,
Pooth Khurd, they said.
MCD official said that the
municipality is using all
the tools to flatten the
landfills and is effectively
monitoring the work exe-
cution.
“In our latest move, a
plan has been prepared to
deploy drones to measure
the height of the three
garbage mounds across
the city and also monitor
the reduction in their
heights along with other
parameters. The move is
aimed at getting an exact
idea of the dimensions of
the landfills and by what
speed their heights are
reducing through a num-
ber of efforts being
taken,” the official told a
news agency requesting
anonymity.
He said that a similar
pilot exercise was carried
out a few months ago
which has yielded good
results.
she was in a live-in rela-
tionship with one Kunal, a
senior police officer said.
On Wednesday, at around
11.45 pm, she and Kunal
were on their way to her
house in Gali Pahar Wali.
Meanwhile, her husband
Robin came there, stabbed
Kunal several times and
fled, the officer said.
On Friday, the police
received a tip-off that the
accused was present near
Tis Hazari court, follow-
ing which a raid was con-
ducted and he was nabbed,
DCP (North) Sagar Singh
Kalsi said.
At his instance, the
blood stained knife and
pg 7
— PTI
Ram Singh Vashisht, 64,
a retired government
school teacher, was also
admitted in the hospital
and was safely rescued.
“I was on the ground
floor and safely came out
of the building. I have
pain in the veins of my
legs and came to the hos-
pital on Thursday. I was
alone at that time. My son
Pravesh works in Delhi
Transport Department. I
am feeling well now and
hope that doctors will dis-
charge me soon,”
Vashisht said.
Another patient
Amarjeet Singh, 32, said
though there was chaos,
everyone came outside on
time. “People started
rushing out of the build-
ing. I heard that one
patient has died who was
admitted to the ICU. I
have pneumonia and my
wife and mother-in-law
are here with me,” Singh
said.
Delhi records
795 Covid-19
cases, no death
AGE CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, JUNE 11
As many as 795 more peo-
ple tested positive for
Covid-19 across Delhi in
the last 24 hours, taking
the cumulative tally to
19,12,063, said the state
health department on
Saturday. With this, the
positivity rate in the city
has reached 4.11per cent.
This marks a surge of
140 infections as com-
pared to the previous day.
The national capital reg-
istered 655 new cases on
Friday and the positivity
rate was 3.11per cent.
Further, zero deaths
due to the disease were
recorded in Delhi in the
last 24 hours. The death
toll due to Covid-19 in the
city stands at 26,218 and
the fatality rate is 1.37
per cent.
The city has 2,247 active
Covid-19 cases, of which
1,360 are currently in
home isolation.
the two-wheeler used in
the offence have been
recovered, the police said.
Robin disclosed that the
deceased was his close
friend. However, while he
was in jail, Kunal devel-
oped intimacy with his
wife. His wife left him and
started living with Kunal,
the DCP said.
On the intervening night
of Wednesday and
Thursday, he was return-
ing with his sister-in-law to
drop her home. Near
Munde Wali Gali, he saw
Kunal with his wife Reena
and was infuriated. He
chased them and stabbed
Kunal several times.
— ASIAN AGE
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022
SHORT
AUSTRALIA TO PAY
TAKES
$584 MN TO END
SUBMARINE FEUD
Sydney: Australia unveiled a
substantial compensation deal
with French submarine maker
Naval Group on Saturday, end-
ing a contract dispute that
soured relations between
Canberra and Paris for almost
a year. Prime Minister
Anthony Albanese said the
French firm had agreed to a
“fair and an equitable settle-
ment” of 555 million euros
(US$584 million) for Australia
ending a decade-old multi-bil-
lion-dollar submarine contract.
The spat caused leader-level
recriminations and threatened
to torpedo talks on an EU-
Australia trade agreement.
FUEL SUPPLY TO
LANKA FROM
INDIA SOON
Colombo: The last of the fuel
shipments due under the
Indian Line of Credit are arriv-
ing in Sri Lanka this month
with no indications on the sus-
tenance of future supplies
which are dependent on India’s
assistance. Sri Lanka is going
through the worst economic
crisis since its independence
from Britain in 1948. The eco-
nomic crisis has prompted an
acute shortage of essential
items like food, medicine, cook-
ing gas and other fuel, toilet
paper and even matches, with
Sri Lankans for months being
forced to wait in lines lasting
hours outside stores to buy fuel
and cooking gas.
STRADIVARIUS
VIOLIN SELLS FOR
$15.3 MILLION
New York: A rare Stradivarius
violin that belonged to a
Russian-American virtuoso
and was used in the Wizard of
Oz soundtrack sold at auction
in New York Thursday for $15.3
million, just below the record
for such an instrument.
The violin, made in 1714 by
master craftsman Antonio
Stradivari, belonged to virtu-
oso Toscha Seidel, who not only
used it on the score for the 1939
Hollywood classic, but also
while teaching his famous stu-
dent Albert Einstein. “This vio-
lin has set side by side with the
great mathematician scientist
as they played quartets in
Albert’s home in Princeton,
New Jersey,” said Jason Price,
founder of Tarisio. Seidel, who
immigrated to the US in the
1930s, and Einstein, who fled
the Nazi regime in Europe, par-
ticipated in a New York concert
in 1933.
N. KOREA SAYS
IT IS STEPPING
UP ON ARMS
Seoul: North Korean leader
Kim Jong Un doubled down on
his arms buildup in the face of
what he described as an aggra-
vating security environment
while outside governments
monitor signs of a possibly
imminent North Korean
nuclear test explosion.
Kim's comments during a
major three-day political con-
ference that wrapped up Friday
didn't include any direct criti-
cism of the United States or
rival South Korea amid a pro-
longed deadlock in nuclear
diplomacy.
Kim defended his accelerat-
ing weapons development as a
rightful exercise of sovereign
rights to self-defense and set
forth further militant tasks to
be pursued by his armed forces
and military scientists, accord-
ing to state-run Korean Central
News Agency.
SYRIA AIRPORT
DAMAGED BY
ISRAELI STRIKE
Damascus: Syria has con-
firmed major damage includ-
ing to runways at Damascus
International Airport, which
was closed for a second day
Saturday for repairs after
Israeli air strikes.
The transport ministry said
in a statement that runways
were out of service.
Since civil war broke out in
Syria in 2011, Israel has carried
out hundreds of air strikes
against its neighbour, targeting
government troops as well as
allied Iran-backed forces and
fighters from Lebanon's Shiite
militant group Hezbollah.
But rarely have such attacks
caused major flight disrup-
tions. The ministry said air
traffic would remain suspend-
ed until repair work is finished
and airport security can be
assured.
“Civil aviation and national
companies are working... to
repair the sizeable damage at
the airport,” the ministry said,
adding a terminal building was
also hit.
Ukraine says Russia is ILO ‘mission China’ to
using deadly weapons check minority abuse
May cause mass casualties in bid to capture Eastern Ukraine
Kyiv, June 11: Ukrainian
and British officials
warned on Saturday that
Russian forces are relying
on weapons with the
potential to cause mass
casualties as they try to
make headway in captur-
ing eastern Ukraine and
as fierce fighting depletes
resources on both sides.
Russian bombers have
likely been launching
heavy 1960s-era anti-ship
missiles in Ukraine, the
UK Defence Ministry said.
The Kh-22 missiles were
primarily designed to
destroy aircraft carriers
using a nuclear warhead.
When used in ground
attacks with conventional
warheads, they are highly
inaccurate and therefore
can cause severe collateral
damage and casualties,
the ministry said.
Both sides have expend-
ed large amounts of
weaponry in what has
become a grinding war of
attrition for the eastern
region of coal mines and
factories known as the
Donbas, placing huge
strains on their resources
and stockpiles.
Russia is likely using the
5.5-tonne (6.1-tonne) anti-
ship missiles because it is
running short of more
precise modern missiles,
the British ministry said.
It gave no details of
where exactly such mis-
siles are thought to have
been deployed.
Ukraine’s deputy head of
military intelligence,
Vadym Skibitsky, told The
Guardian newspaper that
Ukraine was using 5,000 to
6,000 artillery rounds a
day, and is now dependent
on what the West gives it.
A Ukrainian regional
governor has accused
Russia of using incendi-
ary weapons in the village
of Vrubivka in Ukraine’s
eastern Luhansk
THOUSANDS TO
RALLY OVER GUN
VIOLENCE IN U.S.
Washington, June 11:
Tens of thousands of
demonstrators are
expected to rally in
Washington, D.C., and
across the country on
Saturday, calling on law-
makers to pass legisla-
tion aimed at curbing
gun violence following
last month's massacre at
a Texas elementary
school.
March for Our Lives
(MFOL), the gun safety
group founded by stu-
dent survivors of the
2018 massacre at a
Parkland, Florida, high
school, said it has
planned 450 rallies for
Saturday, including in
New York. — AP
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi and Venezuelan counter-
part Nicolas Maduro shake hands at a joint news briefing
at the Saadabad Palace in Tehran on Saturday.
Iran, Venezuela
ink 20-year pact
Tehran, June 11: Vene-
zuelan leader Nicolas
Maduro and Iran’s hard-
line president signed a 20-
year cooperation agree-
ment on Saturday, a day
after Maduro praised the
Islamic Republic for send-
ing badly needed fuel to
his nation despite US
sanctions.
In an interview with
President Maduro after
his arrival in Tehran for a
two-day visit, Iranian
state media reported late
Friday that Maduro
hailed Iran’s move to send
fuel tankers to his energy-
hungry nation. Tehran’s
delivery of oil to Caracas
was a great help to the
Venezuelan people, he
said. Maduro’s first visit
DAY 108 OF RUSSIAN INVASION
A house burns after being shelled in Lysychansk, eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, on
Saturday.
Ukraine EU entry
bid gets boost
Ukraine’s bid to become a
candidate to join the EU
will get a clear signal
next week, bloc’s chief
Ursula von der Leyen
announced in a surprise
visit to Kyiv. Leyen says
talks she held with
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelensky “will
enable us to finalise our
plans by next week”.
Zelensky warns of food crisis, wants Russia block to end
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday urged international
pressure to end a Russian naval blockade of Black Sea ports that has
choked off his country’s grain exports, threatening a global food crisis.
Before the Russian invasion, Ukraine was the world’s top producer of
sunflower oil and a major wheat exporter.
province, southwest of the
fiercely contested cities of
Sievierodonetsk and
Lysychansk. While the use
of flamethrowers on the
battlefield is legal, Serhii
Haidai, governor of
Luhansk province, alleged
the attacks overnight
WTO finalising key fishing,
Covid jab texts at summit
Geneva, June 11: Long-
sought WTO agreements
on fisheries subsidies and
a Covid-19 vaccine patent
waiver moved a step clos-
er to completion Saturday
after negotiators finalised
texts for ministerial
review, but significant
obstacles remained in
hammering out a final
deal.
Diplomats have been in
round-the-clock talks to
hammer out texts on sev-
eral thorny topics before
the World Trade
Organisation’s first high-
level meeting in five
years, where trade minis-
ters and officials from 164
countries have four days
— AP
to Iran comes amid ten-
sions across the Middle
East over the collapse of
Iran’s nuclear deal with
world powers.
US sanctions and rising
global food prices are
choking Iran’s ailing
economy, putting further
pressure on its govern-
ment and its people.
A high-ranking political
and economic delegation
from Venezuela is accom-
panying Maduro on his
visit, following an invita-
tion from hard-line
President Ebrahim Raisi.
On Saturday, Raisi and
Maduro signed a 20-year
agreement to expand ties
in oil and petrochemical
industries, the military
and the economy. — AP
S. Korean on trial in
Russia-controlled East
A captured fighter from South
Korea will go on trial in the
self-proclaimed Donetsk
People’s Republic (DPR), which
is controlled by pro-Russian
separatists. “A verdict is being
prepared now on a mercenary
from South Korea. He is their
citizen who fought for the
armed forces of Ukraine,"
Interfax quoted her as saying
on Saturday.
caused widespread dam-
age to civilian facilities.
Information about the
number of victims in
Vrubivka, in the
Popasnyanska district, is
being specified.
At night, the enemy used
a flamethrower rocket sys-
starting Sunday to try and
get the negotiations
across the finish line.
It takes place against the
backdrop of the Ukraine-
Russia war and fears of a
global food crisis as a
result of the conflict.
The global trade body
announced in the early
hours Saturday that a
draft text on a long elusive
deal banning subsidies
favouring overfishing had
been handed over to the
ministers.
They will be tasked with
ironing out the final stick-
ing points towards a deal
decades in the making.
The success of WTO’s
12th ministerial confer-
US sees danger in China’s Taiwan activity
Singapore, June 11: US
Secretary of Defence
Lloyd Austin stressed
American support for
Taiwan on Saturday, sug-
gesting at Asia’s premier
defence forum that recent
Chinese military activity
around the self-governing
island threatens to change
the status quo.
Speaking at the Shangri-
La Dialogue in Singapore,
Austin noted a steady
increase in provocative
and destabilising military
KICK THE | HABIT
Canada to put warning on every cigarette
Toronto, June 11:
Canada is poised to
become the first country
in the world to require
that a warning be printed
on every cigarette.
The move builds on
Canada’s mandate to
include graphic photo
warnings on tobacco prod-
ucts’ packaging — a policy
that started an interna-
tional trend when it was
introduced two decades
ago.
“We need to address the
concern that these mes-
sages may have lost their
novelty, and to an extent
we worry that they may
have lost their impact as
— AFP
Russia gives out
passports
Authorities in the
Russian-occupied city
of Kherson handed
out Russian passports
to local residents for
the first time on
Saturday. At a cere-
mony, 23 Kherson
residents received a
Russian passport as a
result of a “simplified
procedure”.
tem — many houses burnt
down, Haidai wrote on
Telegram on Saturday
morning. He also said that
Russian forces continued
their assault on
Sievierodonetsk and were
destroying critical indus-
trial facilities. — AP
ence will largely hinge on
whether they succeed.
“Not every issue has
been resolved. This is a
draft agreement and there
remain some issues that
members have not agreed
to yet,” acknowledged
Colombian ambassador
Santiago Wills, who
chairs the WTO fisheries
subsidies negotiations.
But he said months of
intense negotiations had
made it possible to pres-
ent “a clean solution” to
some issues that had long
“appeared intractable”.
The WTO takes deci-
sions by consensus, mak-
ing agreements all the
harder to reach. — AFP
activity near Taiwan,
including almost daily
military flights near the
island by the People's
Republic of China.
“Our policy hasn’t
changed, but unfortunate-
ly that doesn't seem to be
true for the PRC,” he said.
Austin said Washington
remains committed to the
one-China policy, which
recognises Beijing but
allows informal relations
and defence ties with
Taipei.
Changes to come in 2023 with ‘Poison in every puff’ caution
well,” Minister of Mental
Health and Addictions
Carolyn Bennett said at a
news conference Friday.
“Adding health warnings
on individual tobacco
products will help ensure
that these essential mes-
sages reach people, includ-
ing the youth who often
access cigarettes one at a
time in social situations,
sidestepping the informa-
tion printed on a pack-
age.”
A consultation period for
the proposed change is set
to begin on Saturday, and
the government antici-
pates the changes coming
into force in the latter half
Geneva, June 11: Inter-
national Labour Orga-
nisation (ILO) members
decided Saturday to send
a mission to China amid
allegations of discrimina-
tion against Uighurs and
other ethnic and religious
minorities in the Xinjiang
region.
The ILO’s main annual
assembly adopted a com-
mittee finding to send a
“technical advisory mis-
sion” to China to “assess
the situation”, stopping
short of a higher-level
investigation, as request-
ed by the United States,
Britain and other coun-
tries.
During the more than
two-week International
Labour Conference, the
committee tasked with
assessing China’s compli-
ance with global labour
practices had heard alle-
gations, vehemently
Explosive Covid
outbreak: China
Shanghai, June 11:
China’s capital Beijing is
experiencing an “explo-
sive” Covid-19 outbreak
connected to a bar, a gov-
ernment spokesman said
on Saturday, as the com-
mercial hub, Shanghai,
conducted mass testing to
contain a jump in cases
tied to a hair salon.
The warning followed a
new tightening of Covid-
19 curbs in Beijing since
Thursday, with at least
two districts closing some
entertainment venues
after a flare-up in a neigh-
bourhood full of nightlife,
shopping and embassies.
While China’s infection
rate is low by global stan-
dards, it maintains a zero-
Covid policy, citing the
need to protect the elderly
and the medical system,
even as other countries
try to live with the virus.
So far, the country of 1.4
billion has seen just 5,226
deaths from Covid-19.
Beijing authorities said
on Saturday that all 61
new cases uncovered in
the city on Friday had
either visited the Heaven
Supermarket Bar or had
links to it.
“The recent outbreak...
is strongly explosive in
nature and widespread in
scope,”
spokesperson
Xu Hejian,
of the
Beijing municipal gov-
ernment, told a news
briefing.
The capital had regis-
tered 46 new local cases
on Saturday as of 3 pm
(0700 GMT), all people
already in isolation or
under observation, health
official Liu Xiaofeng said.
The city did not
announce new curbs at
the briefing, but later the
Beijing sports adminis-
tration said all off-cam-
Taiwan and China split
during a civil war in 1949,
but China claims the
island as its own territory
and has not ruled out
using military force to
take it. China has stepped
up its military provoca-
tions against democratic
Taiwan in recent years,
aimed at intimidating it
into accepting Beijing's
demands to unify with the
communist mainland.
“We remain focused on
maintaining peace, stabili-
● WHILE THE exact
messaging printed on
cigarettes could
change, Bennett said
the current proposal is:
“Poison in every puff.”
of 2023. While the exact
messaging printed on cig-
arettes could change,
Bennett said the current
proposal is: “Poison in
every puff.”
Bennett also revealed
expanded warnings for
cigarette packages that
include a longer list of
smoking’s health effects,
including stomach cancer,
● RIGHTS GROUPS
also say at least one
million Uighurs have
been incarcerated in
“re-education camps”
in the western region.
● CHINA REACTED
angrily, with govern-
ment insisting that
ILO committees
should not be used as
a “political instrument
of some Western
countries”.
denied by China, of sys-
temic labour violations
especially targeting
Uighur and other ethnic
minorities in Xinjiang.
In its conclusions, adopt-
ed in full by the Assembly
Saturday, the committee
“deplored the use of all
U.S. BUYS MORE
MONKEYPOX VAX
AS CASES SURGE
New York, June 10: The
US government is buying
more monkeypox vaccine
as a surprising interna-
tional outbreak contin-
ues to grow, health offi-
cials said Friday.
As of Friday, the US had
identified 45 cases in 15
states and the District of
Columbia. More than
1,300 cases have been
found in about 30 other
countries outside the
areas of Africa where the
virus is endemic.
Officials say the risk to
the American public is
low, but they are taking
steps to assure people
that medical measures
are in place to deal with
the growing problem.
A two-dose vaccine,
Jynneos, is approved for
monkeypox in the U.S.
The U.S. government
has 72,000 Jynneos doses,
and will get 300,000 more
doses. — AP
pus and “offline” sports
activities for teens would
be cancelled from Sunday.
So far, 115 cases and
6,158 close contacts linked
to the bar have been
reported, throwing the
city of 22 million back
into a state of anxiety.
Beijing only relaxed
curbs less than two weeks
ago that had been
imposed to fight a major
outbreak that began in
April. Many neighbour-
hoods in the capital have
been put under lockdown,
with residents told to stay
home. — Reuters
ty and the status quo
across the Taiwan Strait,
Austin said in his address.
But the PRC’s moves
threaten to undermine
security, and stability, and
prosperity in the Indo-
Pacific,” he said.
He drew a parallel with
the Russian invasion of
Ukraine, saying that the
indefensible assault on a
peaceful neighbour has
galvanised the world and
“... has reminded us all of
the dangers of undercut-
colorectal cancer, dia-
betes, and peripheral vas-
cular disease.
Canada has required the
photo warnings since the
turn of the millennium,
but the images haven't
been updated in a decade.
Rob Cunningham, senior
policy analyst with the
Canadian Cancer Society,
said he hopes the warn-
ings printed directly on
cigarettes become popular
internationally, just like
the package warnings did.
This is going to set a
world precedent,
Cunningham said, adding
no other country has
implemented such regula-
pg 8
repressive measures
against the Uighur people,
which has a discriminato-
ry effect on their employ-
ment opportunities and
treatment as a religious
and ethnic minority in
China”.
It issued a long line of
recommendations to
Beijing, including to
“immediately cease any
discriminatory practices
against the Uighur popu-
lation and any other eth-
nic minority groups,
including internment on
ethnic and religious
grounds for (a) de-radical-
isation purpose”.
It urged Beijing to accept
an ILO technical advisory
mission and asked it to
provide a report by
September 1 with infor-
mation on how it is apply-
ing the labour convention
against discrimination in
employment. — AP
DUTCH GREEN
PLAN ANGERS
FARMERS
The Hague, June 11:
The Dutch government
unveiled goals on Friday
to drastically reduce
emissions of nitrogen
oxides to protect the
environment, a plan that
would lead to major
upheavals in the
Netherlands' multibil-
lion dollar agriculture
industry and
already angered some
has
farmers.
Calling it an unavoid-
able transition, the gov-
ernment mandated
reductions in emissions
of up to 70 per cent in
many places close to pro-
tected nature areas and
as high as 95 per cent in
other places.
The ruling coalition
earmarked an extra 24.3
billion euros ($25.6 bil-
lion) to finance changes
that will likely make
many farmers drastical-
ly reduce their number
of livestock or to get rid
of them altogether.
Farming is a key sector
in the Dutch economy,
with exports worth near-
ly 105 billion euros last
year. But it comes at a
cost of producing of pol-
luting gases, despite
farmers taking steps to
reduce emissions.
Prime Minister Mark
Rutte conceded that the
plan would hit many
farmers hard. Of course,
it has enormous conse-
quences. I understand
that, and it is simply ter-
rible, Rutte said.
And especially if they
are businesses handed
down in the family who
want to proudly contin-
ue. Provincial govern-
ments in the Netherla-
nds now have a year to
draw up plans to achieve
the reductions outlined
in the goals released
Friday. — AP
ting an international
order rooted in rules and
respect.
Austin said that the
rules-based international
order matters just as
much in the Indo-Pacific
as it does in Europe.
Austin met with Chinese
defence minister Gen Wei
Fenghe on the sidelines of
the conference for discus-
sions where Taiwan fea-
tured prominently, accord-
ing to an American offi-
cial. — AP
tions. He's hopeful that the
warning will make a real
difference.
It’s a warning that you
simply cannot ignore,
Cunningham said. It's
going to reach every smok-
er, with every puff.
The move also drew
praise from Geoffrey
Fong, a professor at the
University of Waterloo
and principal investigator
with the International
Tobacco Control Policy
Evaluation Project.
This is a really potential-
ly powerful intervention
that's going to enhance the
impact of health warn-
ings, Fong said. — PTI
 SPECIAL
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY 12 | JUNE 2022
OTHER STORY
Dear Omana
Madras Players’
satirical play on
June 18, 19
Chennai: The Madras Players
will present their latest play,
“Dear Omana: Notes of how to be
a Literary Sensation”, in collabo-
ration with Chennai Art Theatre.
The play will be staged on June 18
at 7.15 pm and June 19 at 4.15 pm
& 7.15 pm (three shows in all) at
the Alliance Française of
Madras, Chennai. The play runs
for 60 minutes.
The play by Krishna Shastri
Devulapalli will be directed by
Nikhila Kesavan. Dear Omana
unfolds as letters exchanged
between a struggling writer,
Krishna Shastri Devulapalli, and
a bestselling author, Omana
Banerjee.
Simple do-it-yourself methods
to generate ideas for a book, being
the star attraction at a lit fest,
decoding book blurbs, the secret
behind trilogies, switching effort-
lessly from writing fiction to
futuristic recipe books, under-
standing the connection between
veg bondas and bestsellers —
Omana seemingly has all the
answers as she mentors Krishna
through the various stages of
being an Indian writer.
A savage satire, Dear Omana
spares no one in the literary field
— writers, publishers, poets, edi-
tors, lit agents, lit fest curators,
translators, wastepaper mer-
chants. A tale of passion, revenge
and sales returns.
The cast comprises just two
actors, Nikhila Kesavan (who is
also the director of this play) and
V Sarvesh Sridhar. Sarvesh has
acted in over forty plays with
about 250 performances.
Nikhila Kesavan has been work-
ing as an actor and director in
English theatre for over two
decades.
Women, children
benefit in vision
screenings
Chennai: An India Vision
Institute (IVI) screening cam-
paign, in association with Hoya
Vision Care and Chennai
Optical Association, may bene-
fit 150 underprivileged women
and 100 children from city
orphanages. The campaign at
Greater Chennai Middle School,
Jagannathapuram, Chetpet is
vision screening and providing
free corrective glasses to those
detected with refractive errors.
The campaign was launched in
the presence of Serge Zins, vice-
president, Asia Pacific, Hoya
Vision Care, Manu Bhai Davey
and Dinesh K. Shah, president &
past-president, Chennai Optical
Association, and IVI’s CEO
Vinod Daniel.
"I welcome Mr Zins, Mr Manu
Bhai and Mr Shah to the screen-
ing program. Hoya has been a
staunch supporter of IVI's ini-
tiatives and we thank them for
participating in the vision
screening program. The screen-
ing program will benefit women
and children, both in need of
access to eye care in India," said
Mr Daniel.
Kirtilals launches
‘Honeycomb’
collection
Chennai: Kirtilals, a premium
fine diamond and gold jewellery
brand launched a new collection
“Honeycomb, inspired from the
evolved natural craftsmanship
of bees” across all their stores
and online portal.
“While everyone needs their
classic jewellery pieces, some-
times there’s a need to create a
style statement by adding a
unique element of interest.
Diamond jewellery can help the
woman of today express herself
and stand out,” read a press
release from Kirtilals.
The all-new Honeycomb
Collection, while inspired from
the evolved natural craftsman-
ship of bees, has eventually
been created by adding contem-
porary and minimalist pieces
that will speak to the modern
woman from a design and use-
case perspective.
The range of long necklaces,
rings, bracelets and earrings
can be worn as daily wear pieces
and for special occasions. The
younger audience may be look-
ing for something fashionable
and functional at the same time.
The light-weight and versatile
daily wear jewellery can double
up as work wear and for
evenings and casual functions
without losing the glamorous
touch that the wearer deserves.
Sacha Baron Cohen and Roy Moore
Roy Moore seeks to
revive lawsuit against
Sacha Baron Cohen
New York: A lawyer for
Roy Moore tried to per-
suade some sceptical fed-
eral appeals judges to
revive a $95 million
defamation lawsuit that
the former Alabama can-
didate for U.S. Senate
brought against comedian
Sacha Baron Cohen.
Attorney Larry
Klayman complained dur-
ing arguments before a
panel of the 2nd U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals
in Manhattan that Moore
wasn’t treated fairly when
a judge tossed his lawsuit
last July. He even com-
pared his client to actor
Johnny Depp, saying
Moore also deserves to
have a jury determine the
validity of his claims.
US District Judge John
P. Cronan said in his writ-
ten ruling last year that a
2018 segment with Moore
on “Who Is America” — a
comedy series in which
Cohen plays fictional
characters — could not
have defamed him
because it was “clearly a
joke and no reasonable
viewer would have seen it
otherwise.”
Cronan said it should
have been “abundantly
clear to any reasonable
viewer” that Cohen was
using humour to com-
ment on accusations in
news reports that Moore
had had inappropriate
sexual encounters, includ-
ing with a minor.
In the segment, Cohen
waves a wand that he
claimed could detect
enzymes secreted only by
“sex offenders and partic-
Lebanese activists chant slogans during a protest in the southern border town of
Naqoura, Lebanon, Saturday. The protest was held to demand a clear and unified
Lebanese position that preserves Lebanon's right to marine gas wealth, including Line
29 which refers to the disputed maritime boundary between the two countries. — AP
Bob Marley brings common
cause at Americas summit
Los Angeles: Bob Marley
famously sang "Africa
Unite" but on Friday he
was bringing unity to an
Americas summit that
was marked by disputes.
Taking the podium at
the Summit of the
Americas in Los Angeles,
Prime Minister Mia
Mottley of Barbados
quoted the late reggae
legend as she said, "There
is so much trouble in the
world."
Mottley explained that
she was not "an apostle of
Bob" but shared his mes-
sage of action. "He
reminds us of the day-to-
day reality of our people
and of our citizens," she
said.
US Secretary of State
Antony Blinken, who was
chairing the session and
ularly paedophiles” and
the device seemed to emit
a beeping noise when it
was moved closer to
Moore, Cronan recounted.
Before the 2nd Circuit,
Klayman urged a rein-
statement of the 2019 law-
suit to allow him to gather
evidence to prove that the
former chief justice of the
Alabama Supreme Court
was defamed and subject
to emotional distress and
fraud because he was
tricked into an interview
with Cohen.
“There’s nothing more
heinous than being
accused of being a pae-
dophile,” Klayman said.
“People jump off build-
ings over that.”
Circuit Judge Gerald E.
Lynch noted that Moore
had signed a release provi-
sion for the show, before
he knew Cohen was
involved, disclaiming
reliance on “any represen-
tation made about who
these people are and what
they’re up to.”
And he added that the
ability of Moore to bring
claims of fraud, defama-
tion and intentional inflic-
tion of emotional distress
were “categorically
released” by papers
Moore signed before going
on the show.
On many arguments
Klayman made, he was
challenged by Lynch or
Circuit Judge Rosemary
S. Pooler.
At one point, Klayman
expressed disappointment
with the lower court
judge, and Lynch quickly
jumped to the judge’s
Bob Marle
is known for his love of
music, replied with an
impromptu medley of
Marley lyrics.
"In the words of Bob, no
woman, no cry," Blinken
said with a smile. "Don't
shed no tears. Let's act.
We can sing a redemption
defense.
“Don’t tell me that Judge
Cronan went back on
something he promised
you,” Lynch said, explain-
ing that Cronan told
Klayman he had a valid
argument but ultimately
decided that the law
favored Cohen.
Still, Klayman pleaded
for a reinstatement of the
lawsuit, saying: “You have
to give it to a jury. It’s not
for a judge to decide.”
“This was not handled
fairly. It was not handled
the right way,” Klayman
added. “And my client
deserves his day in court.”
Attorney Elizabeth
McNamara, arguing for
Cohen, said the papers
Moore signed before he
appeared on the show pre-
vented him from making
his defamation claims.
And she said Cohen’s
depiction of himself as
being capable of discern-
ing whether someone is a
paedophile by waving a
magic wand “is the classic
satirical commentary that
is fully protected by the
First Amendment.”
Moore, a Republican,
has sometimes been called
the Ten Commandments
judge, known for hardline
stances opposing same-
sex marriage and support-
ing the public display of
the Ten Commandments.
During his 2017 race for
U.S. Senate, sexual accusa-
tions contributed to his
loss to Democrat Doug
Jones, the first Democrat
to represent Alabama in
the Senate in a quarter-
century. – AP
song together."
Marley sang frequently
of political unity and is
credited by some with
helping quell a low-level
civil war in his native
Jamaica through his 1978
"One Love Peace" con-
cert.
US inflation skyrockets,
piling pressure on Biden
Washington: US inflation
surged to a new four-
decade high in May, defy-
ing hopes that price pres-
sures had peaked and
deepening President Joe
Biden's political troubles
as Americans struggle to
meet the cost of essentials
like food and gas.
Government data
released Friday put infla-
tion at 8.6%, extending
increases not seen for a
generation, with gas
prices hitting daily
records fuelled by Russia's
invasion of Ukraine and
supply chain challenges
related to the pandemic.
Biden, whose popularity
has taken a hit as prices
surge just months before
November's midterm elec-
tions, has made fighting
inflation his top domestic
priority but is finding he
has few tools to directly
affect prices.
"I'm doing everything in
my power to blunt Putin's
price hike and bring down
the price of gas and food,"
he said Friday while
speaking at the Port of
Los Angeles. "We're better
positioned (than) just
about any country in the
world to overcome the
global inflation we're see-
ing and to take the next
step towards forming a
historic recovery."
The president has tried
to hammer home his opti-
mistic message about eco-
nomic progress in the
wake of the pandemic,
including rapid GDP
growth and record job cre-
ation, while pressing
Congress to take action to
lower costs on specific
products.
Biden cited releasing 30
million barrels of reserve
oil and repeated his call to
approve legislation to go
after firms such as ship-
ping companies that are
taking advantage of limit-
ed competition to impose
steep price hikes.
But he acknowledged the
rising inflation was a
severe problem, saying in
an earlier statement the
United States "must do
more -- and quickly -- to get
prices down."
The new data dealt a
crushing blow to Biden's
efforts, as the consumer
price index (CPI) jumped
8.6 percent compared to
Thousands turn out to protest
for action on US gun violence
Washington (US):
Thousands of people
demonstrated across the
United States on
Saturday for tighter
firearms laws to curb
devastating gun violence
plaguing the country,
where Republican politi-
cians have repeatedly
blocked reforms.Two hor-
rific shootings last month
-- one at a Texas elemen-
tary school that killed 19
young children and two
teachers, and another at a
New York supermarket
that left 10 Black people
dead -- helped spark the
call for the protests,
which are planned at
hundreds of locations.
But the problem of gun
violence - which has
killed more than 19,300
people so far this year in
the United States, accord-
ing to the Gun Violence
Archive - goes far beyond
high-profile mass
killings, with more than
half of those deaths due
to suicide.
"After countless mass
shootings and instances
of gun violence in our
communities, it's time to
take back to the streets,"
March for Our Lives,
which is organising the
demonstrations, said on
its website.
"Demonstrate to our
elected officials that we
demand and deserve a
nation free of gun vio-
lence," it said.
March for Our Lives
was founded by survivors
of the shooting at a high
school in Parkland,
Florida, who organised a
rally that drew hundreds
of thousands of people to
the nation's capital in
March 2018.
David Hogg, a founder
and board member of the
organization, appealed
for Americans of all
political stripes to take
part in the Saturday
The US average price for a gallon of gasoline has topped $5 for the first time ever.
Auto club AAA said the average price on Saturday was $5.00. Motorists in some parts
of the country, especially California, are paying far above that.
May 2021, up from 8.3 per-
cent in the 12 months end-
ing in April and topping
what most economists
thought was the peak of
8.5 percent in March.
Prices continued to rise
last month for goods
including housing, gro-
ceries, airline fares and
used and new vehicles, set-
ting new records in multi-
ple categories, according
to the Labor Department
report.
"The headline inflation
numbers are dreadful.
Strip away some special
factors & they're merely
bad," Harvard economist
and former White House
advisor Jason Furman
said on Twitter.
Some economists expect-
ed the easing of pandemic
restrictions to cause a
shift of US consumer
demand towards services
and away from goods,
which they said would
ease inflation pressures,
but prices for services
increased as well.
Soaring energy costs:
CPI rose one percent com-
pared to April, after the
modest 0.3 percent gain in
the prior month, the
Labour Department
reported, far higher than
expected by analysts.
Energy has soared 34.6
People participate in the second March for Our Lives rally in support of gun control
Saturday, in Washington. The rally is a successor to the 2018 march organised by stu-
dent protesters after the mass shooting at a high school in Parkland, Florida. —AP
protests.
"Whoever you are,
march with us... Gun
owners, NRA members,
Republicans, Democrats,
independents, and people
from all backgrounds are
fed up and it is time we
make Congress do some-
thing," Hogg wrote in an
opinion piece for Fox
News the day before.
"If we can agree that
killing children is unac-
ceptable, then we need to
either prevent people
intent on killing from get-
ting their hands on the
guns they use or stop
their intent to kill in the
first place," he said.
Both issues have been
in the spotlight in the
wake of the May 24 shoot-
ing at Robb Elementary
in Uvalde, Texas, which
was carried out by a gun-
man who bought two
assault rifles shortly
after turning 18.
'The bigger tragedy:
Gun control advocates
are calling for tighter
restrictions or an out-
right ban on the rifles --
one of which was also
used in the racially moti-
vated supermarket shoot-
percent over the past year,
the fastest
September 2005, while
since
food jumped 10.1 percent --
the first increase of more
than 10 percent since
March 1981, the report
said.
Fuel oil more than dou-
bled, jumping 106.7 per-
cent, the largest increase
in the history of CPI,
which dates to 1935.
"The price of fuel oil and
natural gas is working its
way through the econo-
my," Biden economic advi-
sor Brian Deese told
CNBC. "The issue now is
how can we actually make
progress... that would
improve that?"
"We're calling on
Congress to move on ship-
ping legislation that
would bring down the cost
of moving goods over-
seas."
The United States has
come roaring back from
the economic damage
inflicted by the Covid-19
pandemic, helped by bar-
gain borrowing costs and
massive government stim-
ulus measures.
But with the pandemic
still gripping other parts
of the world, global supply
chain snarls have caused
demand to far outstrip
resources.
ing in Buffalo, New York
just 10 days before
Uvalde. Opponents of
tougher regulations have
meanwhile sought to cast
mass shootings as prima-
rily a mental health
issue, not one of access to
firearms.
Mariah Cooley, anoth-
er March for Our Lives
board member, highlight-
ed the toll gun violence
has taken on both her and
the country.
"I lost important people
in my life -- including my
cousin -- to gun violence
before the age of 18,"
Cooley wrote in a Friday
op-ed for The Hill.
"While this statement in
itself is a tragedy, the big-
ger tragedy is that this is
a reality that far too
many Americans can
relate to," she said.
Frequent mass shoot-
ings lead to widespread
outrage in the United
States, where a majority
of people support tighter
gun laws, but opposition
from many Republican
lawmakers has long been
a hurdle to major
changes.
The Democrat-con-
trolled House of
pg 9
—AP
Food and fuel prices
have accelerated in recent
weeks since the Russian
invasion of Ukraine sent
global oil and grain prices
up, and American drivers
are facing daily record gas
prices, with the national
average hitting $4.99 a gal-
lon on Friday, according to
AAA.
The University of
Michigan consumer senti-
ment index -- which meas-
ures how American con-
sumers feel about the
economy, personal finance
and business and buying
conditions -- fell sharply
Friday from 58.4 to 50.2, its
lowest recorded value.
The Federal Reserve has
begun raising interest
rates aggressively, with
another big hike expected
next week, and more
ahead in coming months
as policymakers attempt
to combat inflationary
pressures without trigger-
ing a recession.
The CPI surge "raises the
probability of even more
aggressive Fed rate hikes
to tamp down on inflation-
ary expectations," said
Mickey Levy of Berenberg
Capital Markets, adding
that a pause in rate hikes
in September is "looking
increasingly unlikely."
– AFP
Representatives passed a
broad package of propos-
als this week that includ-
ed raising the purchasing
age for most semi-auto-
matic rifles from 18 to 21,
but the party does not
have the requisite 60
votes to advance it in the
Senate.
A cross-party group of
senators has also been
working on a narrow col-
lection of controls that
could develop into the
first serious attempt at
gun regulation reform in
decades.
The package would
boost funding for mental
health services and
school security, narrowly
expand background
checks, and incentivize
states to institute so-
called "red flag laws" that
enable authorities to con-
fiscate weapons from
individuals considered a
threat.
But it does not include
an assault weapons ban
or universal background
checks, meaning it will
fall short of the expecta-
tions of President Joe
Biden, progressive
Democrats and anti-gun
violence activists. —AFP
 BOOKS
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022 | CHENNAI
Writer turns diarist, maps
INDIAN TOP 10
BESTSELLERS
NON-FICTION
his own matrix of thought
1 IN THE LANGUAGE OF
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4Juggernaut,
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AMBITIOUS SCI-FI CERTAIN TO ENTERTAIN
Rajeshwari Kalyanam
review
K
ing Rao is neither a
king nor a Rao – the
latter is a popular
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FICTION Telugu State of India, and
the importance of a sur-
1 TOMB OF SAND (Winner
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HarperCollins, `399
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3 BOOK LOVERS
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Penguin
why? It is another story of
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birds, insects and animals tessential Railways man, he
there not too different from leads a staid but comfortable
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the ones granted their
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learn lessons of brav- AND OTHER STORIES catastrophe. Steeped in
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Join a baby rabbit on
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of 16 stories that
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The most important THE STATIONMASTER own lives. The mellow
INDRANIL
of them is to believe By MUKHERJEE
in oneself and strive Become
to be the best version Shakespeare,
of that.
`199
the weight of his bonds is
evident. Early on, he men-
tions that he noted some
years ago that, while there’s
a word in English for a man
who loves his wife too much,
there’s none for one who
loves his children too
much…
He speaks about learning
to write and paint at the var-
ious residencies he’s done.
His entry on the one in
Marfa, Texas, meant mostly
for artists, is most revealing.
The late David Foster Wal-
lace preceded the author by
twenty years, and wrote,
while he was there: “The
whole Trans-Pecos is haunt-
ed. Some of this is the high
desert, where nothing has a
shadow and storm clouds
seem just out of reach. Some
of it is quiet, which is so pro-
found it has its own hum…”
What struck me was some-
thing towards the end of this
passage from Wallace: “It is
country that wants nothing
from you, where it is impos-
sible to take yourself seri-
ously...”
Some of Wallace’s thoughts
ever lived. A dalit from a
remote village in south
India, who studies hard,
travels to the US for higher
education, marries a young
woman who shares his pas-
sion to do big in the world,
and eventually grows to the
top of one of the earliest
computer companies, which
eventually ends by being the
most valuable corporation.
The Coconut Corporation
that builds one of the first
computers would have a lot
of prominence in what
would be a Shareholder gov-
ernment. And, it is again
King Rao who is behind this
change from Nation-State.
And his story is narrated
by his daughter, who is a
surrogate child with the
power to connect to internet
through the mind’s eye,
which he christened as a
Clarinet — the ability
acquired due to a genetic
code —‘Harmonica’ induced
into the blood stream.
FAST FACT
Souvankham Thammavongsa is a Laotian Canadian poet and short story writer. In 2019, she won an O. Henry Award for
her short story, “Slingshot”. In 2020, her short story collection How to Pronounce Knife won the Giller Prize. Her second
book, Found, was made into a short film by Paramita Nath. She is one of the most exciting new voices in literature today.
eet Manab Banerjee,
regular guy and sta-
tionmaster. A quin-
existence, except on
days when he has to
contend with the unex-
pected. That can take
the form of the ghostly
to the bizarre, covering
the rare heartwarming
happenstance as easily
the rollin’-steel-and-
romance
of the Railways, the
author draws from his
by the stationmaster are
all relatable and the
clever resolutions he
brings about are sure to
leave the reader cheering
for this level-headed gen-
tleman, perhaps even
borrowing a lesson or
two to apply in their
tone and writing,
meanwhile, contribute
to an immersive
time.
affected him profoundly, not
when he was writing, but
when he was painting. When
I read this, it seemed strange
at first, but then it fell into
place when it became clear
how much words and art
affect each other.
Having written a few
books, I spent some time
with the chapter, Writing a
Novel. The author begins
with an interviewer in
which the interviewer asks
him what he’s searching for,
and his reply is: “Language.
Language to name emotions,
places, people.” That is so
spot-on. That search often
fails, in that a fine strand of
emotion turns into lead
when you put a word to it,
THE BLUE BOOK:
A WRITER'S JOURNAL
By AMITAVA KUMAR
HarperCollins
pp. 153, `699
Athena, the daughter is
imprisoned in a cell and is
accused of murder — and
the Algo (short for algo-
rithm) would decide her fate
based on a social profile,
which is non-existent. King
Rao kept Athena’s existence
a secret, for obvious reasons
— he has successfully tried
the genetic code on his sur-
rogate daughter — a pro-
gram that was declared a
failure.
And it is she who reveals
that King Rao has engi-
neered the transition of the
world to Shareholder gov-
ernment, where citizens col-
lectively own corporations.
THE IMMORTAL KING RAO
By VAUHINI VARA
HarperCollins
pp. 374, `699
Bisexuality was the Bloomsbury norm...
Paul Levy
review
I
t’s been a century since
the heyday of the Bloom-
sbury group, and now
Nino Strachey, a descen-
dant of one of the key fami-
lies, has written a superb,
sparky and reflective book
charting the doings of the
younger members of the
artistic and intellectual cot-
erie. While it is easy to identi-
fy Old Bloomsbury — famil-
iar names include Lytton and
James Strachey, Duncan
Grant, David ‘Bunny’ Gar-
nett, Virginia and Leonard
Woolf, Vanessa and Clive Bell,
Roger Fry, John Maynard
Keynes, E.M. Forster and Des-
mond and Molly MacCarthy
— naming the younger
‘Bloomsberries’ is a slippery
task.
Do we count Dora Carring-
ton, who loved Lytton to dis-
traction, and after his death
When he speaks of his
children, the weight of
his bonds is evident.
Early on, he mentions
that he noted some years
ago that, while there’s a
word in English for a man
who loves his wife too
much, there's none for
one who loves his
children too much…
but when it does work, it lifts
your spirits immeasurably.
But it’s more than that. It’s
also a search for the elusive
quality of integrity, whatev-
er it is that tells you that
your work hangs together.
That requires patience: in
the author’s words, “Writing
begins with waiting.”
Going through the book
brought to mind other writ-
ers who have illustrated
their own books: examples
range from Devdutt
Pattanaik to James Thurber
to Antoine de St Exupery. St
Exupery’s The Little Prince
came to mind immediately,
with its spare writing and
haunting pictures.
I’m no art critic, but it
struck me that not all the
pictures included in the
book are worthy of being
there. There’s talent, of
course, etched clearly over
all the work, but not all of it
seems consistently good. If
there’s something to be
And it is guided by Master
Algorithm. It is this Algo
that uses social profiles to
decide the social capital, the
amount of food, water, ener-
gy, even education, hospitals
and criminal justicefor citi-
zens. A system developed to
end corruption and ruin,
which ironically ends in
chaos and Hothouse Earth.
Does it all ring any bells.
Sure, it does — on many
levels.
Part personal history, part
speculative fiction, dystopi-
an and realist — all woven
into one story — Vauhini
Vara seems to have used her
knowledge of technology
and the business world to
recreate a scenario — where
earth is heading towards
extinction, and the world is
moving towards ruin,
despite being controlled by
a computer algorithm
meant to make things better.
In the novel, ironically,
King Rao is expelled from
power by the same Algo that
he had built.
He moves away from the
main land, chooses one of
the islands -to build a house
and do his experiments. It is
here that he watches his
daughter grow up, who con-
nects to the world through
internet. What happens to
King Rao, who decides to
found she could not live with-
out him? In order to be with
Lytton, Carrington married
the man he loved, Ralph
Partridge, who then married
Frances Marshall. James
Strachey married Alix Sar-
gent-Florence; he had a life-
long affair with Noël Olivier,
and Alix had a lesbian fling or
two. Bisexuality was the
Bloomsbury norm, and Nino
Strachey’s ‘Young Blooms-
bury’ rubric includes the bro-
thers Angus and Douglas Da-
vidson, Eddie Gathorne-Har-
dy, Raymond Mortimer, Phi-
lip Ritchie, Dadie Rylands,
Eddy Sackville-West, Roger
Senhouse, Sebastian Sprott,
John Strachey (a left-wing
politician who was the
author’s distant cousin), Julia
Strachey, Stephen Tennant,
Stephen ‘Tommy’ Tomlin and
the Americans Henrietta
Bingham, Mina Kirstein and
Esther Murphy.
The author invites us to
think of Bloomsbury as a
brand, embracing Woolf ’s,
Garnett’s and Forster’s nov-
els, Lytton’s biographies, his
brother James’s contribu-
tions to psychoanalysis, Clive
learnt from the not-so-good
work, well, I didn’t get it.
On to other journals. John
Steinbeck wrote East of
Eden in a series of note-
books. He’d usually write
about 1,500 words every day,
five days a week. He wrote
the book on right-hand pages
only, and, on the left, a daily
journal in the form of a let-
ter to his friend and editor,
Pascal Covici. These letters
were published as another
book, Journal of a Novel.
Right at the end, after the
book is all written, is the
inevitable encounter with
the editor. In Steinbeck’s
words, “You came in with a
box of glory and there you
stand with an armful of
damp garbage.” Steinbeck
didn’t take himself too seri-
ously.
Comparing Journal of a
Novel with this book would
be, at the very least, idiocy.
For all that, I must say that
when I was done with the
book I couldn’t help notice
the rarity of wit and humour
in this book, and wish the
author had paid more heed
to Wallace’s words about tak-
ing oneself seriously.
Shashi Warrier has written
fairy tales, thrillers, a
semi-fictional biography,
satires, and a love story.
Besides writing, he teaches
strategic communication at a
business school.
inject the clarinet to him-
self. And, what makes
Athena move away from
Blake Island — is more or
less the rest of the story.
However, as you read
through the book, going
over Athena’s experiences
personally and those she
has gathered thanks to the
clarinet, you discover a
world that feels increasingly
similar to yours on many
instances, where one is
gradually but surely losing
control over their lives, as
knowingly and uncon-
sciously we are beginning to
respond to computer codes
and algorithms, where there
are corporations that are
indeed holding way too
much power, and capital is
proportionate to influence.
Vauhini’s
Corporation
Coconut
and
Shareholder’s government
are ominously referrable.
This dystopian aspect of the
novel is one of the reasons
you turn the pages wanting
to know more. Yet another
reason is the eloquence of
the prose, that is a com-
pelling read despite the
complexity of the narrative
style.
Rajeshwari Kalyanam is
a journalist based in
Hyderabad
Bell’s and Roger Fry’s criti-
cism, the art of Vanessa Bell,
Duncan Grant and Carring-
ton and the decorative arts of
the Omega Workshop.
Most of the characters lived
in Bloomsbury, though the
group’s origins lay in the
Cambridge Conversazione
Society, better known as the
Apostles, a select and secret
discussion club, founded in
1820, whose guru was the
philosopher G.E. Moore.
Apostles tended to help each
other climb social and profes-
sional ladders, as did
Bloomsberries. Strachey sees
both lots as “finding new
ways to connect: a commit-
ment to honest communica-
tions between the sexes, to
freedom in creativity, to open-
ness in all sexual matters. A
YOUNG BLOOMSBURY: THE
GENERATION THAT
REIMAGINED LOVE, FREEDOM
AND SELF-EXPRESSION
By NINO STRACHEY
John Murray
pp. 348, £25
pg 10
Editor’s memoir
uncovers media’s
large-scale rot
Sanjay Basak
review
nything that a section of Indian
media does these days shouldn’t sur-
prise us any more. Media trials are
carried out by twisting facts and then facts
are distorted for the benefit of the
establishment.
At a time like this, Editor Missing: The
Media in Today’s India — a book written by
Ruben Banerjee, the sacked editor-in-chief
of Outlook magazine, makes for a startling
read.
Published by HarperCollins, the book
serves shock and awe in ample measure.
In the book, Banerjee unravels in shocking
details the rot that has set in across the
media. Morals are missing and some editors
as portrayed in the book, seemed to be large-
ly compromised. The author tries make it
amply clear that journalists find that the
profession does not guarantee free speech
any more.
Banerjee should know. As the editor of
Outlook he
last year dur-
ing the height
of the Covid
second surge
had shown
spine, criti-
cising
Indian
the
gov-
ernment for
being largely
absent when
people died in
thousands for
want of oxy-
gen and medi-
al help. EDITOR MISSING: THE
“Missing,” MEDIA IN TODAY'S INDIA
proclaimed
the controver- By RUBEN BANERJEE
sial Outlook HarperCollins
cover. It led to pp. 237, `599
lot of conse-
quences, including the dismissal of
Banerjee as the magazine’s editor some
months later.
Nearly a year later, Banerjee’s book — part
memoir — makes for a dismal read. It
details — by reproducing emails that were
internally exchanged — how the Outlook
management targeted him, possibly pres-
sured by influential people.
More disturbing is Banerjee’s portrayal of
the Indian media that is deeply politicised,
immensely polarised, hopelessly divided
and worryingly less than free. An engaging
raconteur, Banerjee dips into his eventful
journey from a cub reporter to an editor and
dishes out delectable stories – all real events
with real names.
Readers therefore have every reason to
relate with the book. The challenges that
Banerjee faced — from being literally
chased out of the Indian Express building
decades ago by its then high-strung editor
Arun Shourie to the veiled threats that he
received as an editor later — are everyday
struggles that people like you and me,
including ordinary journalists, endure in
this country every day.
Having gone missing from action since
fired by Outlook, Banerjee’s Editor Missing
manages to hold the mirror to Indian media
as perhaps no recent books have done in the
recent past. The writing is straight, simple
and lucid, and the story telling is engaging.
The stories that Banerjee tells range from
the hilarious to the alarming. As an aspir-
ing reporter, he was once asked to fetch tea
by a prospective employer. The tea served,
the job never materialised.
Even his job as the editor of a well-known
magazine took a dire turn, once he came out
with the now-famous “Missing” cover story.
Journalism is in danger in India, as borne
by its declining rank in the global press
freedom index. From 142 last year, we have
slipped further to 150. Editor Missing show-
cases its rapid decline.
family of choice, they created erations, at which I arrived
ties of love that lasted a life-
time, embracing queerness,
after long and careful
thought. I do not wish to
acknowledging difference, assert the extremely general
defying traditional moral proposition that I should
codes.” The book comes ac-
ross as a generous love letter
never in any circumstances
be justified in taking part in
to Bloomsbury; and the au- any conceivable war.” In this
thor allows that she has skin statement, taken as model by
in this game “as the mother of most of the Bloomsbury con-
a teenager who identifies as scientious objectors, Lytton
gender-fluid and queer”. makes it plain that he is not a
So far, so commendable. Her pacifist. While all absolute
analysis of Young Blooms- pacifists are presumably con-
bury as addicted to truth but scientious objectors, not all
rejecting “faith, fidelity, het- conscientious objectors are
erosexuality and patriotism” pacifists.
is not just woke but wide Young Bloomsbury loved
awake. After 1918, this second parties, with jazz music,
generation of young men dancing, dressing up and the
were free from the threat of odd spliff. It seems that most
conscription that blighted the of them were being psycho-
youth of their elders, but it is analysed. If they were not
here that Strachey goes a lit- much concerned with rac-
tle wrong. She even calls ism, they appear to have con-
Lytton and James pacifists. sidered the few black poeple
But Lytton’s plea for exemp- with whom they did interact
tion from conscription of as social equals; and on the
March 7, 1916, said explicitly: Strachey side there was defi-
“I have a conscientious objec- nite, and positively regarded,
tion to assisting, by any delib- Anglo-Indian ancestry, plus
erate action of mine, in car- Sephardi Jewish lineage.
rying on the war. This objec-
tion is not based on religious By arrangement with
belief but upon moral consid- the Spectator
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022
SHORT TAKES
SAI to probe sexual
abuse allegations
New Delhi: As part of its
detailed investigation, the
Sports Authority of India (SAI)
will speak with the entire
cycling contingent that trav-
elled to Slovenia, where a
female cyclist accused sacked
national coach R.K. Sharma of
“inappropriate behaviour”.
While the female cyclist, who
made the allegations had
returned from Slovenia earlier
this week, the rest of the con-
tingent including five male
cyclists and coach Sharma got
back on Saturday morning.
“The SAI probe panel had
already spoken to the coach
and female cyclist, now it will
be speaking to other members
of the contingent next week as
part of a detailed investiga-
tion,” said a SAI source.
The training-cum-competition
trip to Slovenia was arranged to
help the Indian team prepare
well for the Asian Track Cycling
Championships, scheduled to
be held in the national capital
from June 18 to 22. The female
cyclist had apprised the SAI of
inappropriate behaviour by the
coach during her stay in
Slovenia and was so terrified
that she feared for her life.
— PTI
Nawaz lifts Pak to
series win over WI
Multan: West Indies stumbled
against left-arm spinner
Mohammad Nawaz as Pakistan
recorded a thumping 120-run
victory in the second ODI.
On a slow wicket where the ball
gripped and spun, Nawaz
recorded career-best figures of
4-18 to bowl out the West
Indies for 155 with more than 17
overs to spare. Pakistan skipper
Babar Azam (77) and Imam-ul-
Haq (72) continued their sub-
lime batting form and scored
half centuries before Akeal
Hosein bagged 3-52 to restrict
the home team to 275-8.
Shamarh Brooks top-scored
with 42 and Kyle Myers added
33 against the pace before
Nawaz ran through the top-
order to give Pakistan an unas-
sailable 2-0 lead in the three-
match series. Brooks and
Myers batted aggressively
against fast bowlers and added
a rapid 67 runs off 54 balls
despite Shaheen Shah Afridi
dismissing first-match century-
maker Shai Hope for just 4 in
the first over. — AP
Brief scores: Pakistan 275/8
in 50 overs (Imam-ul-Haq 72,
Babar Azam 77, Akeal Hosein
3/52) bt West Indies 155 in
32.2 overs (Shamarh Brooks
42, Mohammad Nawaz 4/19,
Mohammad Wasim 3/34).
Leclerc takes pole
position in Baku
Baku: Charles Leclerc lived up
to his status as the master of
poles this season when pulling
a flying lap out of the bag in
qualifying Saturday for the
Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The
Ferrari driver, registering his
fourth consecutive pole and
sixth of the season, is joined on
the front row for Sunday’s race
by the Red Bull of Sergio Perez.
Perez, who won on the streets
of the Azerbaijani capital 12
months ago and in Monaco last
time out, once again outper-
formed his world champion
teammate Max Verstappen.
Verstappen starts on the sec-
ond row with Carlos Sainz in
the other Ferrari. “It feels
good," said a visibly thrilled
Leclerc. “All poles feel good,
but this one I didn’t expect. I
thought the Red Bulls were
stronger in first and second
qualifying sessions.”
Sizzling Curry
makes it 2-2
Boston: Stephen Curry pro-
duced a dazzling 43-point dis-
play as the Golden State
Warriors battled past the
Boston Celtics 107-97 to level
the NBA Finals series at 2-2 on
Friday. With the Warriors need-
ing a victory at Boston’s TD
Garden to avoid going down 3-1
in the best-of-seven series,
Curry delivered one of the best
performances of his glittering
career to reignite Golden
State's hopes of a seventh
championship. Curry had
entered game four with con-
cerns swirling over his health
after suffering a knock to his
foot in the Warriors’ game
three defeat on Wednesday.
But the 34-year-old two-time
NBA Most Valuable Player
emphatically laid to rest any
doubts about his fitness as he
single-handedly hauled Golden
State back into the finals with
game five back in San
Francisco on Monday. Curry fin-
ished with 43 points, 10
rebounds and four assists on a
night when Golden State again
struggled to find their offensive
rhythm for long periods against
a powerful Boston line-up.
— AFP
UNDER CUTTACK
Beaten and bruised India look to hit back in 2nd T20
Cuttack, June 11:
Accidental captain
Rishabh Pant will expect
an improved showing
from the India bowlers as
he plots a comeback
against a marauding
South Africa in the second
T20 of the five-match
series here on Sunday.
Leading India for the
first time ever, Pant had to
swallow a bitter pill when
David Miller and Rassie
van der Dussen shot down
an imposing 212 with
utmost nonchalance to go
up 1-0 in the series.
The southpaw also had a
forgettable Indian
Premier League where he
failed to lead Delhi
Capitals to the playoffs.
Seen as a future white-
ball captain, Pant’s stakes
have suddenly come down
post-IPL and that has
coincided with the resur-
gence of Hardik Pandya.
Returning to full fitness,
the pace bowling all-
rounder took the IPL by
storm not only by his
form but by pulling off a
coup as he led Gujarat
Titans to the title in their
debut season.
Amid the growing cho-
rus of ‘Hardik Pandya —
the next white-ball cap-
tain of India’, Pant will be
under scrutiny again as
he masterminds a come-
back.
It may still be early days
for Pant the leader, but his
body language never stood
out and he looked under
pressure on his captaincy
debut.
He also made a debatable
decision to underbowl the
IPL Purple Cap winner
Yuzvendra Chahal, fresh
from claiming 27 wickets
for runners-up Rajasthan
Royals. At Kotla, the leg-
gie bowled only two full
overs.
As for Pandya, fresh
after his historic success
with GT, continued from
where he left in the IPL.
Pandya, who last played
for India in November last
year in the 2021 T20 World
Cup, dazzled with the bat
with a 31 not out from 12
balls to prop the total past
200.
But he failed to impress
with the bowl and leaked
18 runs in his only over.
The big headache for Pant
would be the bowling
department where he
would have to make a call
between Arshdeep Singh
and pace gun Umran
Malik.
While the batting looks
in perfect shape, the new-
look pace department
looked flat in the series
opener.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar
did not look the same and
leaked runs in the death
overs, while Harshal Patel
too was taken to cleaners.
Youngster Avesh Khan
too failed to impress
though he was the most
economical among the
trio.
With the duo of
Arshdeep and Malik try-
ing hard to impress at the
nets with their pace and
accuracy it is likely that
one among the duo may be
well set for a debut on
Saturday. — PTI
Mitchell, Blundell slam centuries
London, June 11: Daryl
Mitchell and Tom
Blundell hit centuries as
New Zealand pummelled
England to reach 481-5
before rain forced an early
tea on the second day of
the second Test at Trent
Bridge.
Taking advantage of a
flat pitch and lacklustre
England bowling,
Mitchell was unbeaten on
a masterful 162.
Blundell reached 106
before becoming the only
wicket to fall in the open-
ing two sessions, with
Test debutant Michael
Bracewell scoring a brisk
40 not out before the rain
delay.
Mitchell and Blundell
amassed a 236-run part-
nership for the fifth wick-
et to leave New Zealand in
complete control as they
bid to level the three-Test
series after losing the
opener at Lord’s by five
wickets.
A journeyman with little
Test pedigree until this
series, Mitchell was only
given his chance in the
first Test after Henry
Nicholls failed to recover
from Covid-19 in time.
Six years ago, Mitchell
Hardik reveals battle within himself
Cuttack, June 11: As he
got down to plot his
return to the Indian team,
Hardik Pandya would hit
the bed at 9.30pm and
wake up at 5am, dedicat-
ing the day’s intervening
period of time to win bat-
tles against his “own self ”
and the doubting
Thomases. The star all-
rounder followed this
time table strictly for four
months, after which he
guided an unfancied
Gujarat Titans to a memo-
rable title triumph in only
their maiden IPL outing,
leading the debutants
from the front to earn an
India call-up.
In a video posted by the
BCCI, Pandya recalled the
win in IPL 2022 and the
rewards that followed.
“I was happy. It was
more about the battles I
won against my own self
and a lot of other things
as well. Winning the IPL,
or even qualifying (for
playoffs) was a big deal for
me because a lot of people
doubted us.
“A lot of people frowned
at us before we started. A
lot of people raised a lot of
New Zealand’s Daryl Mitchell celebrates after scoring
his century on day two of the second Test against
England at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
had a season playing for
Blackpool in the Northern
Premier League and
scored just two centuries.
The 31-year-old batsman
arrived in England with
Stand-in skipper Rishabh Pant
is eyeing an improved show in
the second T20 against South
Africa.
Hardik Pandya
questions. A lot of things
were said about me even
before I made a come-
back,” Pandya said.
The 29-year-old all-
rounder said that he
would get up at 5 AM and
sleep at 9:30 in the night
— AFP
just one Test hundred to
his name since his 2019
debut, but now he has
three following his 108 at
Lord’s.
Mitchell’s latest century,
ACTION TODAY
2nd T20
India vs South Africa
AT 7 PM
LIVE ON STAR SPORTS
— PTI
for four successive
months during his time
away from the Indian
team after the T20 World
Cup.
“It was never about giv-
ing them answers. I’m just
proud of the process I fol-
his highest in Tests, came
up in 184 balls, with
England dropping him for
the second time in the
match after his milestone
moment.
New Zealand are show-
ing why they are the Test
world champions, ruth-
lessly pressing home their
advantage after scoring
318-4 on Friday thanks to
their aggressive shot-mak-
ing and England’s mis-
cues. England fast bowler
James Anderson had
defended Ben Stokes’ deci-
sion to bowl first, insist-
ing the players backed
their captain’s "aggres-
sive" call.
Anderson’s faith proved
misguided as England
gave a sloppy display just
as bad as Friday’s, which
including three dropped
catches and another close
call that eluded two slip
fielders. England, winners
of only two of their previ-
ous 18 Tests, had to make
inroads with a second new
ball that was only seven
overs old.
But Blundell’s back-foot
drive off Anderson under-
lined nothing had
changed overnight as it
rattled into the fence for
WE HAD AN
OFF DAY IN
DELHI: BHUVI
Cuttack, June 11: India
seamer Bhuvneshwar
Kumar on Saturday said
the bowlers let stand-in
skipper Rishabh Pant
down in the high-scoring
first T20 International
against South Africa.
Bhuvenshwar backed
the wicketkeeper-batter
and said he’s a long way to
go. “He’s a young captain
and it was his first match.
I'm sure he will try to do
better and improve as the
series progresses.
Generally the captain is
as good as the team and
it’s a team effort.
“Our bowling did not go
off well and let him down.
If we did well then you
would have hailed his
decision-making skills.
I’m sure he will do well,”
Bhuvenshwar said.
The experienced seamer,
however, refused to read
too much into their forget-
table bowling display at
the Ferozshah Kotla and
expressed optimism about
a strong comeback in the
second match.
In the absence of Jasprit
Bumrah and Mohammed
Shami, Bhuvneshwar is
leading the Indian pace
attack in the ongoing five-
match series.
“There wasn’t any big
discussion as anyone can
have an off day. As a bowl-
ing unit, we had an off
day but that’s okay we just
want to come back in the
next match,”
Bhuvneshwar said at the
pre-match press confer-
ence here. — PTI
lowed. No one knows what
I went through the six
months that I was off. I’ve
gotten up at 5 in morning
to make sure I train. I
slept at 9:30 in the night
for fourth months, so
(there was) a lot of sacri-
fice.
“It was the battle I
fought before the IPL. I
have always worked hard
in my life, and it has
always given me the result
I wanted,” added Pandya.
He also said the ongoing
series against South
Africa is the ideal plat-
form to get into the groove
for the upcoming T20
World Cup.
“Every series or every
game you play is as impor-
tant as your last. So, for
me, World Cup is the goal,
this is the right platform
to get into the rhythm and
a lot of cricket is going to
come back to back.
Always being in the
rhythm is very important.
“My role will be changed
here, I won’t be captain, I
won’t be batting higher up
the order and guiding
through the innings,”
Hardik said. — PTI
the first boundary of the
day.
Mitchell, who had scored
81 on Friday after being
dropped by Joe Root on
three, moved within
touching distance of his
ton after pulling a short
Anderson delivery for a
crunching four.
Having survived an lbw
appeal from Matthew
Potts, Mitchell brought up
his century with a fortu-
itous edge off the England
seamer.
If that was an ungainly
way to reach the hundred,
it was out of character
with the rest of Mitchell’s
classy innings.
As he did on Friday,
Mitchell went on the
offensive against spinner
Jack Leach but, on 104, he
rode his luck with a lofty
blow that was dropped by
Potts as it trickled to the
boundary. — AFP
Brief scores (At tea):
New Zealand 481/5 in
127.2 overs (Will Young
47, Devon Conway 46,
Daryl Mitchell 162 (bat-
ting), Tom Blundell 106,
Michael Bracewell 40
(batting), James
Anderson 2/54, Ben
Stokes 2/85) vs England.
NORWAY | CHESS
R. Praggnanandhaa
Unbeaten Pragg
emerges champ
Stavanger (Norway),
June 11: Young Indian
Grandmaster R.
Praggnanandhaa emerged
winner in the Norway
Chess Group A open chess
tournament here with 7.5
points from nine rounds.
The 16-year old GM, the
top-seed, was in fine form
and remained unbeaten
through the nine rounds.
He finished the tourna-
ment with a win over fel-
low Indian V Praneeth, an
International Master, late
on Friday.
Praggnanandhaa (Elo
2642) finished a full point
ahead of second-placed IM
Marsel Efroimski (Israel)
and IM Jung Min Seo
(Sweden). Praneeth with
six points was joint third
but was placed sixth due to
an inferior tie-break score.
Apart from beating
Praneeth, Praggnanan-
dhaa posted wins over
Victor Mikhalevski (in
round 8), Vitaly Kunin
(round 6),
Mukhammadzokhid
Suyarov (round 4), Semen
Mutusov (round 2) and
Mathias Unneland (round
1). He drew his other three
games.
The Indian teenaged star
has been putting in impres-
SRIVATSHAV IS INDIA’S
74TH GRANDMASTER
Chennai, June 11:
Rahul Srivatshav of
Telangana has become
India’s 74th Grandmaster,
achieving the title after
breaking the 2500 (Elo
points) barrier in live
FIDE ratings during the
9th Cattolica Chess
Festival 2022 in Italy.The
19-year old player reached
the 2500 Elo live rating
mark after drawing his
8th round game against
Grandmaster Levan
Pantsulaia in the
Cattolica event. His cur-
rent Elo rating is 2468.
Srivatshav had already
secured five GM norms
and achieved the title
when he crossed the rat-
ing threshold of 2500 on
Friday.
To become a GM, a play-
er has to secure three GM
(from left) Boxers Nikhat Zareen, Lovlina Borgohain, Nitu
and Jasmine.
Nikhat, Lovlina
seal CWG berths
New Delhi, June 11:
Reigning world champion
Nikhat Zareen and
Olympic bronze medallist
Lovlina Borgohain on
Saturday sealed their
berths in the Indian team
for the Commonwealth
Games with dominating
wins in the trials here.
While Nikhat, the two-
time Strandja Memorial
gold medallist, blanked
Haryana’s Minakshi via a
7-0 unanimous decision,
Lovlina out-classed
Railways Pooja by an iden-
tical margin.
Nitu (48kg) and Jasmine
(60kg) were the others box-
ers, who also sealed spots
for the quadrennial event.
Nikhat looked in control
pg 11
sive performances in
recent times and had beat-
en world number one
Magnus Carlsen for a sec-
ond time in the Chessable
Master online event and
lost a close final to China’s
Ding Liren.
ANAND SETTLES
FOR THIRD SPOT
Former world champion
Viswanathan Anand
scored a win over Aryan
Tari in the ninth and final
round to finish third in the
Norway Chess main tour-
nament which was won by
world number one Magnus
Carlsen. The 52-year-old
Indian chess legend won
the Armageddon
encounter against Tari
after the classical match
finished in a 22-move draw.
Anand was made to work
hard by Tari in the sudden
death tie-break as he need-
ed 87 moves to secure the
victory early on Saturday.
He finished with 14.5
points to sign off at the
third place behind Carlsen
(16.5 points) and
Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar
Mamedyarov (15.5). Anand
started superbly, scoring
victories in his first three
matches and then beat
Carlsen. — PTI
Rahul Srivatshav
norms and cross the live
rating of 2500 Elo points.
“India one more step
closer to getting 100
Grandmasters! A big con-
gratulations to Rahul, his
coach and family!,” All
India Chess Federation
president Sanjay Kapoor
tweeted on Saturday.
— PTI
throughout her bout, land-
ing clear punches as she
danced around the ring.
A two-time former youth
world champion, Nitu eked
out a 5-2 split decision win
over 2019 silver medallist
Manju Rani. The Haryana
boxer is enjoying a good
year. She had won the gold
at the Strandja Memorial
tournament earlier this
year. Jasmine, the 2021
Asian youth boxing
Championship bronze
medallist, out-punched
2022 world championship
bronze medallist Parveen
Hooda in a fast-paced light-
middleweight final. The
CWG is set to be held in
Birmingham from July 28
to August 8. — PTI
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SUNDAY | 12 JUNE 2022
pg 12

POLE STAR
TNCA | LOWER DIVISION
SHORT TAKE
GM Boris top seed
for Chennai Open
Mitchell’s century
chess tourney
Chennai: Russian
powers IB to win
Grandmaster Savchenko DC CORRESPONDENT
Boris (Elo 2524) is the top
seed and rating favorite for
the 13th Chennai Open
Tamil Nadu’s Siva wins national pole vault gold CHENNAI, JUNE 11

Indian Bank Sports and

International Grandmaster NEHA SURANA | DC
Chess Tournament 2022 for
Sakthi Group Dr. N
CHENNAI, JUNE 11
Mahalingam Trophy. For the second consecu-
The annual event, organised tive day at the 61st inter-
by Tamil Nadu State Chess state senior athletics
Association, is scheduled to championships, it was a
be held at Hotel pole vaulter who had the
Ambassador Pallava from local fans on their feet.
June 19 to 26. After Baranica
Behind Savchenko Boris are Elangovan’s record-shat-
GMs Alexei Fedorov and tering show on day one, it
Stupak Kirill (both Belarus). was the turn of S. Siva at
Following the top three is the Jawaharlal Nehru
Indian quartet GM Deepan Stadium on Saturday.
Chakravarthy, IMs Nitin, The 26-year-old bagged
Srihari and GM Laxman. The the gold medal in the pole
event has attracted 91 vault with his state-mate
entries consisting of 13 for- A. Gnana Sone finishing
eign players. The list com- second.
prises 24 titled players from With a small crowd
eight countries. egging him on, Siva com-
The tournament carries a fortably cleared the 5m
total prize money of `15 lakh mark and the bar was
spread over 55 cash prizes. raised to 5.11m in an
The winner gets the glitter- attempt to rewrite the
ing Chennai Open 2022 tro- meet record. But Siva who
phy and a cash award of `3 already holds the national
lakh. The 10-round Swiss record (5.30m set in 2018)
tournament offers failed in all three attempts
Grandmaster norm and much to the disappoint-
International Master norm ment of the vociferous
opportunities for title aspi- spectators.
rants, along with chances to On track, Tamil Nadu’s
improve their international K. Elakkiyadasan had to
standard rating. For the past settle for silver in the
12 years, the Chennai Open men’s 100m as he clocked
has provided ample oppor- 10.48 seconds. Assam’s
tunities to Indians, especial- Amlan Borgohain
ly Tamil Nadu youngsters to emerged fastest with 10.47
attain GM, IM, WGM and seconds.
WIM norms. Top 20 games In the women’s 400m, TN
are scheduled to be webcast athlete R. Vithya Ramraj
LIVE through eBoards & came a distant third with
compatible software. a timing of 53.78 seconds
In 1987, it was in the Sakthi as winner Kiran Pahal of
GM tournament in Haryana finished with
Coimbatore where five-time 52.47. Uttar Pradesh’s
World Champion Rupal took the second spot
Viswanathan Anand made (52.72 seconds).
his final GM Norm to Star sprinter Hima Das
become India’s first clocked her personal best
Grandmaster. In addition, (11.43s) en route to win-
Sakthi Group has sponsored ning the 100m gold. Hima
a number of district, state, said the Chennai venue is
national and International her happy hunting
chess tournaments. N ground.
Mahalingam also served as “In 2017, I was selected
president of the All India for the national team after
Chess Federation and also my performance in
played a part in chess’ Chennai. Today, it was a
growth in Tamil Nadu. tough race and pressure
was there but it felt good
that I overcame someone
like Dutee didi (Dutee
Regd. No. TNENG/2010/35692
Chand) and Srabani didi
Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on (Srabani Nanda),” said
behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited Hima.
and Printed at Deccan Chronicle Presses
The highly-anticipated
situated at SP 3, Developed Plot,
long jump event saw the
Industrial Estate,
Guindy, Chennai - 600 032. meet record being broken
RNI Registration No: TN ENG/2005/14987
twice. Kerala’s
Ph Nos: 22254747, 22254748, 22254750,
22254751 Muhammed Anees first
Editor: KAUSHIK MITTER broke the record of 8.01m,
set by state-mate M.
S. Siva in action during the men’s pole vault event in the 61st inter-state senior
athletics championships at the Nehru Stadium on Saturday.
Tamil Nadu’s S. Siva, winner of the men’s pole vault, is flanked by state-mate
A. Gnana Sone (left) who finished second and Haryana’s Sunil.
Shreeshankar on three foul jumps before
Friday, with a leap of finishing sixth (7.51m).
8.15m. Later, However, TN’s R.
Shreeshankar reclaimed Swaminathan took the
honours with a jump of bronze with 7.89m.
8.23m. Another meet record
TN’s Jeswin Aldrin had was broken by
a forgettable day with Karnataka’s D.P. Manu,
Recreation Club posted a
RESULTS five-wicket win over T.I.
Cycles Sports and
(FINAL) Recreation Club in the sec-
ond division of the TNCA
Men: Pole Vault: 1. S. league. Mitchell Anthony
Siva (TN) 5.00m, 2. A. Mannays scored an unbeat-
en 103 as Indian Bank
Gnana Sone (TN) chased down the target of Mitchell Anthony
4.60m, 2. Sunil 270 in 44.3 overs.
(Haryana) 4.60m.
100m: 1. Amlan BRIEF SCORES
Borgohain (Assam) II Division: T.I. Cycles
10.47, 2. K. Sports and Recreation
Elakkiyadasan (TN) Club 269 for 6 in 50 overs
10.48, 3. Harjit Singh (Jay Pande 146, K. Aashiq
56, S.T. Natarajan 41) lost
(Punjab) 10.55. to Indian Bank Sports and
400m: 1. Amoj Jacob Recreation Club 274 for 5
(Delhi) 45.68, 2. Noah in 44.3 overs (Mitchell
Nirmal Tom (Kerala) Anthony Mannays 103 not
46.44, 3. V. out, P. Satish 54, K. S. Siddharth
Muhammed Ajmal Rajkumar 49).
(Kerala) 46.58. Alwarpet Cricket Club
Long Jump: 1. M. 335 for 5 in 50 overs (P.
Shijit Chandran 126, S.
Sreeshankar (Kerala) Santosh Shiv 82, R.
8.23m, 2. Muhammed Sathish 51 not out,
Anees (Kerala) 8.15m, Vaibhav Rawal 34) bt
3. R. Swaminathan AG’s Office Recreation
(TN) 7.89m. Club 231 in 46.1 overs
Javelin Throw: 1. D.P. (Adittya Varadharajan 30,
Manu (Karnataka) Krish Jain 53, S. Dinesh
47, R. Jesuraj 3 for 37, R.
84.35m, 2. Rohit Divakar 4 for 33).
Yadav (Uttar Pradesh) Aruna Cricket Club 242
82.54m, 3. Yashvir for 6 in 50 overs (P.
Singh (Rajasthan) Shijit Chandran
Rakesh Kumar 61 not out,
78.62m. Ali Murtaza 53, Ishwar
1500m: 1. Harendra Suresh 34, G.K. Shyam 31,
Kumar (Delhi) 3:44.26, R. Sasidharan 3 for 26)
2. Ajay Kumar Saroj lost to Crombest
Recreation Club 243 for 8
(Uttar Pradesh) in 48.4 overs (Ankur Julka
3:44.60, Parvej Khan 104, K. Barath Kumar 76
(Madhya Pradesh) not out).
3:45.81. Southern Railway
Women: 100m: 1. Hima Institute 208 for 8 in 50
Das (Assam) 11.43, 2. overs (Jafar Jamal 52, A.
Dutee Chand (Odisha) Rakesh 35, P. Hari Raj 40
11.44, 3. Srabani not out, Shivam Singh 3
for 29) lost to Sea Hawks
Nanda (Odisha) 11.53. Cricket Club 209 for 1 in Jay Pande
400m: 1. Kiran Pahal 28.4 overs (M.
(Haryana) 52.47, 2. Mohammed Azaruddeen
Rupal (Uttar Pradesh) 86, R. Rajan 68 not out, M.
52.72, 3. R. Vithya Vijay Kumar 54 not out).
Ramraj (Tamil Nadu) Egmore Recreation Club
53.78. 261 for 9 in 50 overs
(Pranav Kumar 95, M.K.
Shot Put: 1. Manpreet Sivakumar 54, N. Niranjan
Kaur (Haryana) 46, S. Lakshay Jain 4 for
18.06m, 2. Kiran 38) lost to RKS Cricket
Baliyan (Uttar Academy 264 for 7 in
Pradesh) 16.84m, 3. 48.4 overs (B. Sachin 87,
Abha Khatua Sagar Shivashankar
(Maharashtra)16.69m. Mishra 38, N.D. Hari
who threw the javelin at a Shankar 50 not out). Ankur Julka
1500m: 1. Chanda
distance of 84.35m. Sir M.CT.M.Old Boys
Manpreet Kaur of (Delhi) 4:13.85, 2. Sports Association 218 in 44) lost to Parrys Sports
Haryana broke her own Shraddha Rajani 49.3 overs (S. Sanjay and Recreation Club 221
national record of Kathiriya (Gujarat) Srinivas 74, K. Sriram 38, for 6 in 37.2 overs (S.
17.96 with an effort of 4:14.54, 3. Ankita G. Rajesh 30, L. Nazerene Siddharth 100, Sachin
18.06m in the women’s (Uttrakhan) 4:17.80. Peter Franklin 3 for 24, Omprakash Katariya 37
shot put. Prashant Bhandari 3 for not out).

Mathana leads Yamaha 1-2 Kavyashree beats Donnya

DC CORRESPONDENT
COIMBATORE, JUNE 11
to enter semis in state TT
DC CORRESPONDENT Girls: Under-15 (QF): Boys Under-13 (QF): Jishnu
On a day of stunning rever- CHENNAI, JUNE 11 M.Ananya (Achievers) bt Balaji (ELLIS-MDU) bt A.
sals in fortunes, Mathana Sivathmika (ELLIS-MDU) 11-3, Achinth (ITTC) 12-10, 8-11, 11-8,
Kumar and Prabhu B. Kavyashree beat Donnya 11-2, 11-6. K.G. Aradhana 8-11, 11-4. M. Mohammed
Arunagiri delivered a 1-2 11-4, 11-5, 11-4, 11-4 to enter (SDAT-MDU) bt Donniya (Achievers) bt H. Srivanth
finish for Bengaluru-based the semifinals of the first (SDAT-MDU) 11-6, 5-11, 11-7, 11- (SPTTC) 11-9, 11-0, 11-8. Siva
Pacer Yamaha team in the state ranking table tennis 8. S.S. Bhuvanitha (SDAT- Karthik (Neyveli) bt R.
Pro-Stock 165cc Open cate- tournament organised by MDU) bt J. Varsha (SDAT- Sarvajith (DBAA) 11-7, 11-9, 15-
gory while Hubballi’s Rams TT Club at Meston MDU) 11-5, 12-10, 12-10. 13. Tanmay Raghavan
Sarvesh Balappa (Axor Stadium, Royapettah, on Yogashri (Dindigul) bt H. (Achievers) bt K.
Sparks Racing) was handed Saturday. Yavanika (SPTTC) 10-12, 8-11, Sathyanarayanan (Theni) 11-4,
a victory in the Novice 16-14, 11-8, 11-4. 11-7, 11-9.
(Stock 165cc) race despite RESULTS Girls Under-19 (QF): Boys Under-15 (QF): P.B.
finishing third as the Rolon Girls Under-13 (QF): M. B.Kavyashree (Jawahar) bt Abhinandh (Achievers) bt
Round of the MRF MMSC Ananya (Achievers) bt Fahima Donnya (SDAT-MDU) 11-4, 11-5, Abhinav (Theni) 11-6, 11-8, 11-3.
fmsci Indian National Suffrin (SPTTC) 11-5, 11-8, 11-6. 11-4, 11-4. S.S. Bhuvanitha K. Sathyanarayanan (Theni) bt
Motorcycle Racing Richitha Devi (Dindigul) bt (SDAT-MDU) bt V. Darshini Joshnu Balaji (Ellis-Mdu) 7-11,
Championship 2022 headed Bavithra (Neyveli) 11-6, 11-6, (KTTC) 5-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-5, 11- 11-8, 11-4, 11-7. Tanmay
to a climax at the Kari 11-2. R. Mercy (SPTTC) bt 5. V.S. Nehal (SDAT-MDU) bt Raghavan (Achievers) bt Ajay
Motor Speedway here on Diksha Harish (Achievers) 11-8, M.R.R.Preethi (Achievers) 12- Muthiah (Theni) 11-9, 11-5, 11-6.
Saturday. Sarthak Shrikant Chavan en route to his victory in the Pacer Yamaha duo of Mathana Kumar and Prabhu 11-2, 11-6. S.S. Bhuvanitha 10, 9-11, 11-9, 9-11, 13-11, 11-6. S. Sriram (Achievers) bt R.
However, veteran Rajini Honda India Talent Cup. Arunagiri in action. (SDAT-MDU) bt M. Sadhana N.B.S. Tanuja (KTTC) bt Shriya Sarvajith (DBAA) 11-4, 11-4,
Krishnan (RACR Castrol (Achievers) 11-7, 11-6, 11-7. Anand 11-7, 5-11, 11-7, 11-9, 11-6. 11-3.
Power 1), riding his refur- after the race that was cut team-mate Voropong Championship – Pro-Stock Petronas TVS One-Make
bished Yamaha R3 with a to seven laps from sched- Malahuan and Rahil 301-400cc Open (Race-1): Championship – Rookie
lighter frame and assorted uled 10 following a red flag Pilarisetty (Gusto Racing) 1. Rajini Krishnan (RACR (Apache RTR 200): 1. AMERICAN | DREAM
modifications, restored nor- stoppage due to an incident were locked in a tight battle Castrol Power 1, Chennai) Chiranth V (Bengaluru)
mal service by comfortably in the very first lap. until the last lap. Ahamed (12mins, 26.700secs); 2. (13:53.153); 2. Shreyas
winning the premium Pro- However, both Zubair and made an aggressive move Jagan Kumar (Petronas Hareesh (Bengaluru)
Stock 301-400cc category Goud were disqualified on that took him, Malahuan TVS Racing, Chennai) (13:57.560); 3. Tamizhinian
race as the expected fight “technical grounds” after and Pilarisetty out while he (12:30.167); 3. Anand R KR (14:25.140).
from known rivals dissipat- the race. The revised copped a 30-second time (Speed Up Racing, Girls (Apache RTR 200, 8
ed amidst crashes and results pushed Balappa to penalty for causing the col- Chennai) (12:41.745). laps): 1. Aditi Krishnan
penalties. first place, followed by lision. Rajini, meanwhile, Pro-Stock 165cc Open (Bengaluru) (11:58.451); 2.
Similarly, Mathana and Bengaluru’s Chiranth V serenely cruised to victory (Race-1): 1. Mathana Kumar Renuka Gajendran
Arunagiri trumped the Pro- (Rookies Racing) and ahead of Petronas TVS (Pacer Yamaha, Chennai) (Bengaluru) (12:13.332); 3.
Stock 165cc Open field with Aldrin Babu (RACR Castrol Racing’s Jagan Kumar and (13:07.483); 2. Prabhu Ananya Aswathi (Chennai)
some fine riding for a top- Power 1) from Chalakudy. Anand R of Speed Up Arunagiri (Pacer Yamaha, (12:35.006).
two sweep for Pacer “It is my first win in the Racing. Chennai) (13:07.875); 3. Idemitsu Honda India
Yamaha after a gap of 12 Championship. Last year, I “I opened up a good lead at Rajiv Sethu (Idemitsu Talent Cup – NSF250 Open
years, while the top guns in finished fourth in the cham- the start and pushed hard Honda SK69 Racing, (Race-1): 1. Sarthak
this class, Petronas TVS pionship standings. I am over the first five laps Chennai) (13:16.228). Shrikant Chavan (Pune)
Racing’s Jagan Kumar and thrilled with the victory. before easing off a bit. The Novice (Stock 165cc, Race- (12:24.394); 2. Shyam
KY Ahamed, exited the con- Back home, I used to simply expected fight did not mate- 1, 7 laps): 1. Sarvesh Sundar (Chennai)
test due to mechanical ride the bike here and rialise, but I am very happy Balappa (Axor Sparks (12:40.808); 3. AS James
issues with their bikes. As there, before I decided to with the win. We made a lot Racing, Hubballi) (Bengaluru) (12:44.806).
such, the Pacer Yamaha rid- race,” said Balappa, a of changes on my Yamaha (10:12.279); 2. Chiranth V CBR 150 (Race-1): 1.
ers had little to contend mechanical engineering R3 in the past few months (Rookies Racing, Raheesh Mudassar Khatri
with as the pair finished student, now in his third with a lighter frame. Last Bengaluru) (10:13.555); 3. (Mumbai) (14:46.340); 2.
well ahead of Rajiv Sethu season of racing. year, the bike was a bit Aldrin Babu (RACR Castrol Siddesh Sawant
(Idemitsu Honda SKRacing Meanwhile, racing at the heavy. But I will know how Power 1, Chalakudy) (Kolhapur) (14:46.408); 3.
69). Kari Motor Speedway for much the bike has (10:23.920). Shyam Babu (Chennai)
The Novice category race the first time since 2015, improved only when I race Support Race – Stock 301- (15:06.707).
witnessed a nail-biting fin- Rajini, who had qualified at the Madras International 400cc: 1. Mihir Vijay Sakpal Support Race (Hornet 2.0,
ish. Md Samrul Zubair, second behind Petronas Circuit in the next round,” (Apex Racing Academy) Race-1): 1. Ullas Santrupt
starting from pole position, TVS Racing’s KY Ahamed said Rajini. (13:52.706); 2. Ashwin R Nanda (Bengaluru)
scripted a 1-2 finish for the this morning, was in a (Pvt, Bengaluru) (15:03.230); 2. G Balaji
Race’ist Motorcycle Club, league of his own after RESULTS (13:55.015); 3. Naresh (Chennai) (15:03.458); 3. Judith Ravin, U.S. Consul-General, congratulates the basketball players who are on their
Hyderabad, ahead of rocketing off to a flying Provisional, all 10 laps Kaname (Pvt, Lakur) Romario (Chennai) way to New Jersey for a Sports Exchange Programme. The three-week programme will
Vignesh Goud and Balappa start. Behind him, Ahamed, unless mentioned: National (13:57.088). (15:05.368). give them the opportunities to improve their game and leadership skills.