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JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SATURDAY, MAY , , CHANDIGARH, LATE CITY, PAGES SINCE `5 WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM

BUSINESS AS USUAL
CONGRESS, BJP SPAR OVER CEREMONIAL SCEPTRE
BY UNNY
New Parliament tomorrow
PM tweets video
of new comple :
‘Will make ever
Indian proud’

DAMINI NATH & DIVYA A

NEW DELHI, MAY

Jang-e-Azadi AHEAD OF its official inaugura-

tion b Prime Minister Narendra
memorial probe: Modi on Sunda — which is set
tobebo cottedb 2 Opposition
Punjab vigilance parties including the Congress,
amid a bitter war of words with
summons Ajit’s the ruling BJP — the Centre on
Frida releasedavideoclipof the The Lok Sabha chamber of the new Parliament building, which will be inaugurated b PM
editor-in-chief new Parliament building. Narendra Modi on Sunda . PTI
Sharing the video, Modi
tweeted: “The new Parliament
Has been
asked to
appear
building will make ever Indian
proud. This video offers a
glimpse of this iconic building. I
will begin with an earl morn-
ing havan and a multi-religion
pra er, followed b a formal in-
SC dismisses plea seeking
before the
vigilance on
have a special request — share
this video with our own voice-
auguration b Modi.
Sa ing that the PM's “deci-
inauguration by President
Ma 29 over, which conve s our sion to inaugurate the new instead of Prime Minister
thoughts. Iwill re-tweet someof Parliament building b himself, EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Narendra Modi on Ma 28.
them. Don’t forget to use completel sidelining President NEW DELHI, MAY “It is not a function of the
#M ParliamentM Pride.” (Droupadi) Murmu, is not onl a court to look into,” a bench of
ANJU AGNIHOTRI CHABA The video showed an aerial grave insult but a direct assault THE SUPREME Court on Frida Justices J K Maheshwari and P S
JALANDHAR, MAY view of the triangular building on our democrac ,” 2 dismissed a petition which Narasimha said.
withthenationalemblemontop, Opposition parties have an- sought a direction to the Lok AdvocateCRJa aSukin,who
THE PUNJAB Vigilance Bureau as well as close-ups of the Lok nounced their decision to bo - Sabha Secretariat to get the new filedthePIL,toldthebenchthere
Frida issued summons to the SabhaandRaj aSabhachambers. cott the event. Parliamentbuildinginaugurated is no provision that empowers
Editor-in-Chief of Punjabi news- The ceremon on Sunda CONTINUED ON PAGE b President Droupadi Murmu CONTINUEDONPAGE
paper Ajit, Dr Barjinder Singh
Hamdard, in connectionwith an
ongoing probe related to the al-
legedmisuseof fundsduringthe
e ecution of Rs 315-crore Jang- Facing harassment FIRs, Brij Bhushan: INSIDE

Laws to protect women being misused

E-A adi Memorial at Kartarpur
in Jalandhar. Hamdard has been WRESTLERS GEAR
asked to appear before the vigi- UP FOR PARLIAMENT
lance sleuths on Ma 29. ment b seven female wrestlers INAUGURATION DAY
Thiscomesthreemonthsthe LALMANI VERMA includingaminor,hasallegedthat PROTEST
governmentinitiated a vigilance LUCKNOW, MAY Shares letter the “law to protect women and
inquir into the project, among b ‘Sant girls”isbeingmisused. PUNJAB FARMERS TO
one of the most prestigious ven- WRESTLINGFEDERATIONofIndia Sabha’ Singh did not name the START FOR JANTAR
tures of the previous SAD-BJP (WFI) president and BJP MP Brij against Se ualHarassmentof Womenat MANTAR TODAY
government. Bhushan Sharan Singh, who has POCSO Act Workplace (Prevention, PAGE 8
CONTINUEDONPAGE been accused of se ual harass- CONTINUEDONPAGE

Chandigarh
 THE SECOND PAGE
Ujjwala to vaccines to Vande Bharat: FROM PAGE ONE
BJP showcases nine years of Govt
JATIN ANAND
NEW DELHI, MAY
MARKING NINE ears of the
Narendra Modi-led NDA
Government, the top leadership
of the BJP Frida said that its
model of “inclusive growth”
since 2 14 had effected sweep-
ing change in a range of areas:
fromrail,airandroadinfrastruc-
ture to “irreversible empower-
ment”of millionsthroughinitia-
tives blending technolog and
social welfare that included vac-
cines and rations during Covid.
Speaking in one of a series of
meet-the-press events to mark
the milestone, BJP president J P
Nadda said that the Prime
Minister’s recent three-nation
tour had reinforced the image of
atransformedIndiaontheglobal
stagewhileonthedomesticfront,
flagship programmes and
schemes had enriched the
“roots”.
The event was attended b
senior BJP leaders and several
Union ministers, including Amit
Shah, Rajnath Singh, Nirmala
Sitharaman, Ashwini Vaishnaw,
Anurag Thakur, Smriti Irani and
Rajeev Chandrasekhar. Also
present was national head, me-
dia, Anil Baluni.
At the event, the part re-
leased a booklet — Sewa,
Sushasan and Garib Kal an –
that sought to underline “inclu-
sive” welfare schemes such as
the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala
Yojana (PMUY) under which 9.6
crore LPG connections had been
Union minister inside, mob tries
to storm his residence in Manipur
JIMMY LEIVON
IMPHAL, MAY
A MOB tried to storm the house
of Union Minister of State for
E ternal Affairs and Education R
K Ranjan Singh at Kongba in
Manipur’s East Imphal district
late on Thursda night.
Rapid Action Force (RAF) and
Manipur Police personnel
reached the spot and dispersed
the mob before it could storm
into the house, where the min-
ister is learnt to have been pres-
ent.Nocasualtieswerereported.
Meanwhile, on Frida ,
Manipur Chief Minister N Biren
Singh urged the public not to be
worried as operations against
armed miscreants had begun
Chhattisgarh official drains reservoir to
find cellphone he dropped during selfie
Vishwas
drained‘3ft’
of waterfrom
the Paralkot
reservoir
(left)
JAYPRAKASH S NAIDU
RAIPUR, MAY
A SELFIE proved costl for a gov-
ernment official, who was sus-
pended on Frida after it was re-
vealed that water was drained
from a reservoir ne t to a dam in
Chhattisgarh over two da s,
starting Tuesda , in search of his
new phone.
The phone, a Samsung S23
ultra worth Rs 95, , belonged
to Rajesh Vishwas, 32, a food in-
spector who is posted at
Pakhanjur town in Kanker dis-
trict. Confirming his suspension,
Kanker Collector Pri anka
Shukla said, “The official had no
authorit to drain the water.
Hence,hehasbeensuspended”"
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New Parliament tomorrow
BJP president J P Nadda. File
issued and free rations to 8
crore citi ens during the Covid
pandemic.
As man as 11.72 crore
“Samman Ghars” or public toi-
lets for women had been con-
structed across the countr ’s vil-
lages even as India now had the
world's largest public health
care program in the form of the
A ushman Bharat Yojana, the
part said. A senior Minister said
the Prime Minister had identi-
fied the “challenge so man
women faced when the started
their da ” in his push towards
building toilets.
The part flagged the up-
grade in infrastructure: 17
Vande Bharat trains and 4 on
their wa ; 74 new airports con-
structed in the last nine ears
while the number of airports in
the countr in 2 14 had stood at
74; 54, km of national high-
wa s, earmarking 111 water-
wa s and Metro rail connectiv-
it in 15 cities.
The part flagged what it
called was the “historic” deci-
sion to provide reservation to
economicall weaker sections
of the societ . It listed the Kashi
Minister
of State R K
Ranjan Singh
both in the hills and the valle .
Hesaidasman as38vulner-
able areas have been identified
where troops from central and
state forces will operate jointl .
Most of these vulnerable ar-
easaresituatedintheperipheral
areas of valle districts border-
ingKuki-dominateddistricts,in-
cluding the Torbung area of
Bishnupur district, which is at
the epicentre of the latest flare-
up of tensions in the state.
Manipur saw ethnic clashes
Vishwas had gone for a pic-
nic with friends to Paralkot
reservoir onMa 21.Hedropped
his phone into the 1 -foot-deep
reservoir while taking a selfie.
Agovernmentservantforthe
past nine ears, Vishwas told The
IndianExpress,“SinceIamalocal,
somevillagerswhoknow swim-
ming dove in to find m phone.
The looked for it for two da s.
When the failed to locate it b
Tuesda ,the suggesteddraining
the water b a few feet. I said the
phone would be damaged b
now, but the locals, who share a
good rapport with me, insisted
that the would find it for me."
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
ENTERTAINMENT
INFRA TO SOCIAL WELFARE, THE UPGRADE
INFRASTRUCTURE: 74
airports since 2 14; 17
Vande Bharat trains, 4
more to be manufactured;
Metro rail in 15 cities
WELFARE: 9.6 crore
Ujjwala connections; 8
crore got food under PM
Garib Kal an Anna Yojana;
11.72 crore toilets under
Swachh Bharat; cash
transfers to 2 crore
women during lockdown;
over 3 crore houses under
PM Awas Yojana
SOCIAL SECURITY: 48.28
crore Jan Dhan accounts;
37 crore A ushman Bharat
accounts; 29.75 crore
under PM Suraksha Bima
Yojana
FARMERS’ WELFARE:
Over 11 crore PM Kisan
beneficiaries; over
Rs 1.33 lakh crore
settled under PM Fasal
Bima Yojana
EDUCATION: National
Education Polic ; 7 new
IITs; 7 new IIMs; 39 new
universities
Vishwanath Corridor in
Varanasi, the Mahakaal Lok
projects in Ujjain, the construc-
tion of a Ram temple in A odh a
and various other projects to un-
earlier this month, in which
around 75 people were killed.
On Wednesda , a flare-up of the
violence saw several houses be-
ing burnt in Bishnupur and
shooting incidents in multiple
locations, leading to the death of
at least one civilian.
Biren Singh said on Frida
that 34, troops from central
forces were currentl stationed
in Manipur. Their presence had
brought down the prevailing
sense of apprehension to some
e tent, he said. “Our priorit is
to create a conducive atmos-
phere.Wewantthepublictofeel
safe and secure. I urge the pub-
lic not to be apprehensive an -
more as joint forces have
launched operations against
armed miscreants,”theCM said.
Stating that he had bought the
phone just two months ago and
was e tremel upset since he
dropped it into the reservoir,
Vishwas added, "I called up the
sub divisional officer (SDO) of
WaterResourcesDepartment(RC
Dhivar), who gave oral permis-
sionasitwasjustafewfeetofwa-
ter. On Tuesda night, I hired a
diesel pump for Rs 7,5 and
drained around three feet of wa-
ter from the reservoir over a pe-
riod of two da s." The phone,
which was found in a damaged
condition, was located and
handed over to Vishwas.
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
STATEHOOD FOR DELHI: TRACING THE HISTORY AND LEGAL JOURNEY SINCE
Bef eDelhibecame heca i al fB i i hI diai
ca i alb ildi g, he lebe ee hem ici ali
Neg ia i e e - ha i gi Delhi k lacei heD af i gC mmi ee f heC i e A embl
ALICE, DARLING REVIEW
Anna Kendrick is
astonishingl good
in stressful
ps chological thriller
HEALTH: 4.54 crore
admissions under
A ushman Bharat; over
22 crore Covid vaccine
doses administered
FOREIGN POLICY,
DEFENCE: Over 3,
Indians evacuated from
Sudan, 23, evacuated
from Ukraine; 334%
growth in defence exports
in last 5 ears
SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY: 1 4
satellites launched in
single flight b ISRO; new
start-ups in 669 districts
CULTURE AND
HERITAGE: 75 projects
under Swadesh Darshan;
Somnath Temple
reconstruction; 1 new
Tribal Freedom Fighter
Museums; Kedarnath
redevelopment project
ENVIRONMENTAND
SUSTAINABILITY: Tiger
populationatrecordhighof
3,167;COP-21targetson
non-fossilfuelenerg met9
earsaheadof deadline
derscore what it said was the
government's commitment to-
wards ensuring that India's civil-
isational histor and culture get
due recognition.
TN jewellers
who made
Sengol to be
honoured
ARUN JANARDHANAN
CHENNAI, MAY
UP UNTIL 2 18, the current gen-
eration in charge of Vummidi
Bangaru Jewellers, a chain of
jeweller stores in Chennai, was
unaware of the part the famil
had pla ed in the “transition” of
power as India awoke to life and
freedom on August 15, 1947.
The famil was responsible
for creating the Sengol (sceptre)
— derived from the Tamil word
semmai,meaningrighteousness,
according to an official docu-
ment — handed to India’s first
PrimeMinisterJawaharlalNehru
during a ceremon at his resi-
dence on the eve of India's
Independence.
With the Sengol now being
celebrated as a s mbol signif -
ing the transition of power, sen-
ior members of the Vummidi
famil , including 97- ear-old
Vummidi Ethiraj, will be hon-
oured at the opening of the new
Parliament on Sunda . Ethiraj's
son Vummidi Uda kumar, 63,
told The Indian Express that his
father will travel to Delhi
on Saturda to participate
in the event. On Wednesda ,
Union Home Minister
Amit Shah had announced
that Prime Minister Narendra
Modi would have the Sengol in-
stalled in the Lok Sabha, near
the Speaker's podium. It will
also be on displa during signif-
icant national holida s.
UntilapieceabouttheSengol
appeared in a Tamil maga ine in
2 18, the current generation of
the Vummidi famil had no idea
about its historical significance.
Uda kumarsaid, "The article
included a picture of the Sengol
and gave our famil credit for its
creation. It mentioned m
grandfather's name, Vummidi
Anjalelu Chett , who passed
awa inthe196 s,anddescribed
m famil as a traditional famil
of goldsmiths."
i a a f heP jab i ce E e i heea l da f he
de P jaba d heim e ialg e me hadbec mee ide
PUZZLES AND GAMES
However, 25 parties, includ-
ing non-NDA parties like the
JD(S),BSP,TDP,haveopposedthe
bo cott and are e pected to at-
tend the inauguration.
Meanwhile, retweeting the
videoclipof thenewParliament,
NC leader Omar Abdullah said:
“Setting aside the brouhaha
abouttheinaugurationforamo-
ment, this building is a welcome
addition. The old Parliament
House has served us well but as
someone who has worked there
for a few ears, a lot of us often
spoke amongst ourselves about
the need for a new & improved
Parliament building. Better late
than never is all I’ll sa & this one
looks prett damn impressive”.
On Frida , the ceremonial
Sengol or sceptre, which will be
handed to Modi and installed
near the chair of the Speaker in
thenewParliamentbuilding,be-
came the latest flashpoint be-
tween the Congress and BJP.
● ‘Laws to protect women being misused’
Prohibition and Redressal)
Act, commonl known as the
PoSH Act, or the Protection of
Children from Se ual Offences
(POCSO) Act. However, he re-
ferred to a letter which he has
shared on his Facebook account,
in which the “Sant Sabha” of
A odh a has said the POCSO Act
has become “a cancer” and
should be amended.
Singhhasbeennamedintwo
FIRs registered b the Delhi
Police on April 28, including one
under the POCSO Act pertaining
to the allegations of the minor
wrestler.
Speakingatagatheringof his
supporters in Bahraich on
Thursda , Singh said: “Aaj hum
dekh rahen hain, kis tarah se iss
kanoon ka durup og ho raha hai.
Yeh mahilaon ke sanrakshan ke
li e bana a ga a tha, bachhi on
ki suraksha ke li e bana a ga a
tha. Lekin isse sabse ada nuksan
aaj hamari bachhi on ka ho raha
hai (We are seeing toda how
this law is being abused. It was
enacted for the protection of
women and girls. But the girls
are suffering the biggest loss be-
causeof it).”Heclaimedthatgirls
were not being emplo ed in the
private sector as people feared
misuse of the law.
“Ektarfa hai kanoon... Isme
aapko bolne ki ijaajat hinahin hai.
Kuch dharaa e aisi hain ki jaise
likhi, waise turant aapko jail me
jaana hai (This law is one-sided.
There is no permission to speak.
Some sections are such that ou
have to go tojail immediatel af-
ter registration of case),” he said.
“Aur aaj apne-apne swarth ke
karan itna vichaar girta ja raha ki
● Punjab vigilance summons Ajit’s editor-in-chief
Then chief minister Parkash
Singh Badal had thrown open
the memorial, spread over 25
acres, in November 2 16,
months before the state went to
polls.
Hamdard, who had pla ed a
ke role in the conception and
construction of the project, had
on April 1 resigned as member
secretar of the Jang-e-A adi
Memorial Foundation and as its
managingcommittee president.
In his resignation letter, he had
blamedtheBhagwantMann-led
Aam Aadmi Part government
of “repeatedl maligning the
name of the memorial b send-
ing police and vigilance teams”.
He had in the recent past
complained to Governor
Banwari Lal Purohit about the
Punjab government. Hamdard
had also called on Prime
MinisterNarendraModionApril
4.
Afterinitiating the probe, the
a vigilance team had conducted
a surprise check at the Jang-e-
A adi memorial on March 14.
ENJOY DAILY
CROSSWORDS AND
SUDOKU FROM THE
INDIAN EXPRESS
FULL REPORTS ON
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
Home Minister Amit Shah
had said earlier that the Sengol
washandedtoJawaharlal Nehru
on the eve of Independence to
mark the transfer of power from
the British.
But Congress communica-
tion head Jairam Ramesh
tweeted that there is “no docu-
mented evidence” of Lord
Mountbatten, C Rajagopalachari
andJawaharlalNehrudescribing
the Sengol as a s mbol of trans-
fer of power b the British to
India.
Hitting back, Shah tweeted:
“Wh does the Congress part
hate Indian traditions and cul-
ture so much? A sacred Sengol
was given to Pandit Nehru b a
hol Saivite Mutt from Tamil
Nadu to s mbolise India's free-
dom but it was banished to a
museum as a 'walking stick'.”
The construction of the new
Parliament building started in
Januar 2 21, after Modi laid the
iss dhaara ko ek hath aar ke roop
me logon ne apna li a hai (Due to
self-interests, moral values have
fallen so much that people are
using this section as a weapon),”
he said.
In his speech, Singh also
asked the gathering to read the
letter sharedonhisFacebookac-
count. The letter, issued b the
“Sant Sabha, Shrilakshman Qila,
A odh aDham”,onMa 24,sa s
that the POCSO Act, whose ob-
jective was to protect minors
from se ual harassment, has be-
come a weapon of “character as-
sassination” and “political con-
spiracies”.
“Amid growing ambitions,
andintheeraof uncontrolledso-
cial media, POCSO Act has be-
comeacancerinsociet .Thesant
fraternit , businessmen, politi-
cians, actors – this law has af-
fectedall...Apersonbecomesun-
acceptable just because of one
allegation, even if it is false.
Believingsomebod isacriminal
and punishing him without con-
ductinganinquir onthebasisof
allegations like teasing, staring
andtouching,wheretheauthen-
ticit remainsdoubtful,cannotbe
justified,”sa stheletterinHindi.
“The e istence of such a law
in which there is a provision to
send an accused to jail without
hearing his side is against the
values of a civilised societ ,” it
sa s.
While stating that there
shouldbestrongpunishmentfor
se ualoffences,theletterunder-
lines a need to make identifica-
tion and definition of the crime
more transparent.
“The conditions defined in
During the visit, the team col-
lected construction materials,
e amined the furniture, and in-
spected the installation of vari-
ous items, including air condi-
tioners.
The VB has now summoned
a Ludhiana-based contractor
who was responsible for the
memorial's construction.
Additionall , senior officials in-
volved in the project have also
been called for questioning, al-
though details are not clear.
Relations between the Ajit
Group and the ruling AAP have
been strained. Hamdard had
previousl written to Governor
Purohit citing confrontations
with the government and alleg-
ing threats from police officials
regarding false cases. The news-
paper's reporters and photogra-
phers were allegedl prevented
fromenteringthePunjabVidhan
Sabha during the recent budget
session, allegedl at the behest
of senior government officials.
The newspaper group had
earlier also alleged that the vigi-
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,
Bombs kill children in
Bengal, UP encounters,
& new parliament row
WhatanIndianExpressinvestigationreveals
abouttheimpactof Bengal’scrudebomb
industr onchildren,howman encounters
tookplaceinUPsinceYogiAdit anath
becametheCM,andanupdateon
inaugurating thenewparliamentbuilding
foundationstoneandperformed
a bhoomi pujan on December
1 , 2 2 . The new building,
spread over 64,5 square me-
tres, has bigger Lok Sabha and
Raj a Sabha chambers.
The overall design and aes-
thetics of the premises draws
from ancient Indian culture and
iconograph , said sources.
According to sources, while the
old Parliament was inspired b
British architecture and s mbol-
ism, the idea behind the new
comple was to reference an-
cient Indian civilisation.
Adorning a wall is a bron e
mural of 'samudra manthan' in-
spired from Angkor Wat, said
sources. “As India is celebrating
75 ears of Independence, the
narrative of Samudra Manthan
impels us to reflect on the ocean,
its unlimited potential, its aes-
thetics, and the possibilit that
lies within us,” sa s the docu-
ment outlining the objectives of
POCSO Act are considerable.
Hence, there is immediate need
to amend the POCSO Act, and to
decide on strict punishment for
the complainant if the allega-
tions are found to be false or are
not proved in court. Also, there
is a need to protect the accused
from unfair abuse during the
trial,” it sa s.
Singh had called the meeting
to discuss preparations for his
Jan Chetna rall in A odh a on
June5.Singhsaidthatsantsfrom
A odh a and other parts of the
countr would e press their
opinion on the law at the rall .
Someof India’stopwrestlers,
including Ol mpic medallists
Bajrang Punia and Sakshi Malik
and World Championship
medallist Vinesh Phogat, have
been protesting against Singh at
Jantar Mantar since April 23.
The havesaidthatthe willend
their protest when Singh is ar-
rested under relevant sections.
Responding to a question on
Singh attending the inaugura-
tion of the new Parliament
building on Sunda , Vinesh said
at Jantar Mantar on Frida : “If he
is present in Parliament on that
da , then that itself will be a
message to the whole nation.”
“The POCSO Act has been es-
tablished after so much struggle
andhewantsitremovedjustbe-
cause he has been booked... He
thinks people like him can con-
tinuetoe ploitchildrenafterthe
Act is repealed. An honest per-
son would want stringent laws
against such crimes. The laws
cannot be changed for one man.
Brij Bhushan has to pa the price
for his sins,” she said.
lance inquir was a tool to vic-
timise Hamdard, who was
closel involved with the proj-
ect. With a wide readership, es-
peciall in rural areas across the
state, no government in Punjab
can choose to ignore the Punjabi
language dail .
Earlier, Hamdard's meeting
with PM Modi had assumed sig-
nificance with the Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) spokesperson,
Daljit Singh Cheema, tweeting
the photo of their meeting. “I felt
ver nice to see the photo of the
meeting between Barjinder
Singh Hamdard, a great person-
alit related to Punjab, Punjabi
and Punjabi at, with the Prime
Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on
issues concerning Punjab. Onl
unbiased personalities can pres-
ent the true picture of the pres-
ent sensitive situation of Punjab.
God bless!,” he had tweeted.
While Ajit had maintained
cordial relations with the SAD, it
also provided e tensive cover-
ageof theAAPduringtherun-up
to the 2 22 Punjab Vidhan
the artwork inside the new
Parliament, reviewed b The
Indian Express.
Even the building's architec-
ture and geometr are drawn
from the Indian tradition of
Vastu Shastra, said sources. The
building's triangular shape is in-
spiredfromsacredIndiangeom-
etr , while the interiors have na-
tional s mbols as their main
motifs. The Lok Sabha chamber
is designed in the peacock mo-
tif, while the Raj a Sabha cham-
ber is based on the lotus motif.
The central fo er will be themed
around the ban antree,whichis
India's national tree, said
sources, adding that the interior
walls have shlokas inscribed on
them.
The building has si en-
trances, of which three are cere-
monial entrances. These special
entrances have been given the
names of G an, Shakti and
Karma, it is learnt.
● SC plea
the Prime Minister to inau-
gurate the Parliament. He also
cited the President’s role in ad-
dressing the joint session of
Parliament.
The bench then asked how
that was related to the inaugu-
ration. “You please show us how
the (President's) address is cor-
related to the inauguration,”
JusticeMaheshwarisaid,adding,
“Nothing to do. It is not a func-
tion of the court to look into”.
The counsel said the inaugu-
rationb thePrimeMinisterwas
in “total violation of Article 79”,
which states that Parliament
shallconsistof thePresidentand
two Houses. “President is the
head of Parliament and should
openthebuilding,”hesubmitted.
“WehaveseenArticle79.We
put a question to ou: how is it
correlating,” the bench re-
sponded.
As the bench started to dic-
tate the order, the counsel urged
it to let him withdraw the peti-
tion if the court was considering
dismissing it.12
“Withdrawalwouldmeanhe
willgotothehighcourtandpra
for the same relief. Instead, let
Your Lordships finall conclude
that these issues are not justicia-
ble,” Solicitor General Tushar
Mehta said.
Thecourtaskedthecounselif
he was going to approach the
high court and said it would cur-
tail him from doing that. The pe-
titioner replied that he would
not move the high court and re-
quested the court not to dismiss
the plea.
The bench then went on to
dismiss the plea.
Sabha elections. The vernacular
newspaper holds significant in-
fluence, particularl in rural ar-
eas across the state.
Meanwhile, Leader of
Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa
Frida slammed the ruling AAP
for summoning the Padma
Bhushan awardee. Bajwa said
that with such pressure tactics,
the AAP government was tr ing
to stifle the voice of the media in
the state.
Bajwa blamed AAP for creat-
ing a sense of fear among media
houses and independent jour-
nalists.
"It is a perfect e ample of
misusing the Vigilance Bureau.
Earlier, the AAP government
misused it to create horror
among the Opposition leaders
from the Congress. It lodged
forged FIRs against Congress
MLAs and other leaders. Now
Mann's government is attempt-
ingtostrangulatethevoiceof the
media that has been constantl
e posing the AAP government's
irregularities,” Bajwa added.
Chandigarh

THE CITY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
Vigila ce B ea c i e SIT
be Pea l G la d ale cam
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, MAY
THE PUNJAB Vigilance Bureau
has constituted a Special
Investigation Team (SIT) to look
into the alleged illegal land sale
b the Pearls Group.
The state government had
handed over the probe to the
Vigilance Bureau earlier this
month. The newl constituted
SIT will investigate the FIRs
registered against the Pearls
Group promoters at Fero epur
UT’s CH01CQ series Cong leader Bajwa’s photo used
fetch RLA `2.57 cr, in Facebook advertisement for
0001 No. goes for impotence drug, case registered
whopping ` 21.22L
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, MAY
FANCY NUMBER 1 of the
CH 1CQ seriesfetched the high-
est amount of Rs 21.22 lakh in
the e-auction of fanc numbers
that concluded Frida . This
amount was fetched against the
reserve price of Rs 5 , . CH 1CQ
Meanwhile the second regis-
tration number that fetched the
highestbidafterthefirstonewas
that of 9 of the CH 1CQ se-
ries which fetched Rs11.1 lakh.
The e-auction of vehicle reg-
istration numbers (fanc and
choice) of the new series CH 1-
CQ from 1 to 9999, and left-
over numbers of previous series
was held from Ma 24 to 26 in
which a total of 462 registration
numbers were auctioned. And
the registration for e-auction of
numbers of ‘CH 1CQ’ series,
along with the re-auction of
leftover fanc /special registra-
tion numbers of previous series
held on Frida .
Revenue earned
The RLA earned a total rev-
enue of more than Rs 2.57 crore
fromthee-auction. Accordingto
the terms and conditions, the
successful bidders will be re-
and Mohali.
As per the orders issued b
the VB Chief Director Virender
Kumar, the SIT will be headed b
VB Director Rahul S. Other
members of the SIT are
Kanwaldeep Singh, Additional
Director (Administration),
Paramjit Singh Rana, AIG,
Salamuddin and Navdeep
Singh,both DSPs, Mohit Dhawan
and Madhvi Kal an, both
Inspectors.
Chief Minister Bhagwant
Mann had recentl assured the
investors of Pearls Group that
HOW MUCH
THEY PAID
SR NO. PRICE
CH 1CQ 1 21.22
CH 1CQ 9 11.1
CH 1CQ 8 9. 1
7 8.56
CH 1CQ9999 8.33
CH 1CQ 2 7.52
CH 1CQ 5 7.19
CH 1CQ 3 7. 3
CH 1CQ 4 6.
CH 1CQ 6 4.67
Price in `lakh
Source: Registration and
Licensing Authorit
quiredtogettheirvehiclesregis-
tered as well as deposit the bid-
ding amount within one month
from the date of auction, failing
which a penalt of 1 per cent
as well as interest at the rate
of 1 per cent on the balance
amount will be charged till the
date of pa ment. Onl
owners who had purchased the
vehiclesonaChandigarhaddress
wereallowedtoparticipateinthe
e-auction.
,
the state government will think
of wa s to bring the accused in
the scam to justice and to ensure
that the get their due.
The two FIRs at Fero epur in
2 2 and in State Crime Police
Station at Mohali in Februar
2 23 allege that the accused
persons in the Pearls chit fund
scam had allegedl illegall dis-
posed off assets to the tune of Rs
12 crore. The police had
booked the owner of the group,
Nirmal Singh Bhangoo, and sev-
eral other close to him. The two
FIRs had been registered under
SAURABH PARASHAR
CHANDIGARH, MAY
PUNJAB LEADER of the
Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa
has got an FIR registered
against unknown people for
misusing his picture in a
Facebook advertisement for an
impotence medicine. He does
not rule out the possibilit of
his political opponents having
posted the ad to defame him.
A police officer in
Chandigarh Sector 17 said
Frida , “The complainant has
attached a printout of the par-
ticular Facebook post with his
complaint. We have registered
an FIR and started the investi-
gation. Efforts are being made
to trace the IP address from
which the post was uploaded
on Facebook."
The FIR was registered at
Cha ge f amedagai
Chandigarh: A local court Frida
framedchargesof attemptingto
commit culpable homicide
against the gangster Sampat
Nehra, a close associate of gang-
ster Lawrence Bihnoi.
SampatNehrawasbroughtto
the District Courts, Sector 43,
from Central Jail Bathinda.
Sources said Nehra, who has
beenfacingoverado encasesof
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
sections 42 , 4 6, 465, 467, 468, after being deported from the
471, 384 of the IPC. archipelago under Operation
Earlier, the then Fero epur Trishul and was placed under
Range IG, Jatinder Singh Aulakh arrest after landing here.
headed a Punjab Police SIT Gill had an open-dated Non-
formed to investigate this scam. Bailable Warrant (NBW) of ar-
Earlier this March, the rest against him issued b a spe-
Central Bureau of Investigation cial court. The CBI had got a Red
(CBI) had arrested Harchand Notice published against him
Singh Gill, a director and share- through Interpol.
holder of PGF Limited, one of the Pearls Group had allegedl
companies of the Pearl group, collected around Rs 6 ,
after his e tradition from Fiji in crore from nearl 5.5 crore in-
collaboration with Interpol. vestors across the countr b il-
A team of CBI officials had legall operating different in-
gone to Suva in Fiji to bring Gill vestment schemes.
tence. M photograph has
Punjab been misused in such a man-
leader of ner that it shows as if I have
Congress taken an medicine from the
Partap person who is giving that ad-
Singh
Bajwa
vertisement. This post is also
being widel circulated on so-
cial media... The person who
has used m photograph was
the C ber Cell police station in well aware that I had never
Sector 17 under Indian Penal taken such treatment and evi-
Code sections 419 (imperson- dentl also knew m real iden-
ation), 469 (forger , electronic tit as I am a well-known per-
record forged to defame) and sonalit having been a
5 (punishment for defama- member of Parliament and
tion) and under Information MLA. Therefore, this is a ver
Technolog Act section 66C cheap tactic, either of m po-
(identit theft). litical opponents or some peo-
Bajwa, who represents the ple acting on their behalf or at
Qadian constituenc in the their behest so as to defame
Assembl and is a resident of me and cause harm to ma
Sector 8, wrote in his police reputation.” The Congress
complaint, “A post was put up leader was not available for
on Facebook wherein m pho- comment as repeated calls
tographs were used for an ad- made to his mobile phone
vertisement for treating impo- number went unanswered.
ga g e Neh a
e tortion, attempt to murder,
murder, robberies, Arms Act etc,
was brought to Chandigarh dis-
trict courts in connection with
three separate cases.
He was brought under the
tight police securit cover of the
Punjab police. He was again
takentotheCentralJailBathinda.
Accelerating
Sampat Nehra had studied in
Chandigarh. ENS
Rural
Prosperity
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development
Head Office: Plot No. C-24, G Block, Bandra-Kurla Complex,
Bandra (E) Mumbai 400051 Website: www.nabard.org
Audited FinAnciAl Results FoR the yeAR ended MARch 31, 2023
(` crore)
stAndAlone consolidAted
sr. Quarter ended year ended year ended
Particulars
no. 31.03.2023 31.03.2022 31.03.2023 31.03.2022 31.03.2023 31.03.2022
[Audited] [Audited] [Audited] [Audited] [Audited] [Audited]
1 Total Income from Operations 10,867.14 9,304.68 39,330.54 36,761.29 39,850.37 37,175.18
Net Proit / (Loss) for the period
2 (before Tax, Exceptional and/or 2,133.27 1,450.28 6,554.70 6,692.92 6,801.39 6,839.19
Extraordinary Items)
Net Proit / (Loss) for the period
3 before Tax (ater Exceptional and/or 2,133.27 1,450.28 6,554.70 6,692.92 6,801.39 6,839.19
Extraordinary Items)
Net Proit / (Loss) for the period
4 ater Tax (ater Exceptional and/or 2,014.54 1,158.79 5,359.79 5,081.86 5,554.27 5,194.48
Extraordinary Items)
Total Comprehensive Income for the
period [Comprising Proit/(Loss)
5 NA NA NA NA NA NA
for the period (ater tax) and Other
Comprehensive Income (ater tax)]
6 Paid-up share capital 17,080.00 17,080.00 17,080.00 17,080.00 17,080.00 17,080.00
Reserves (excluding Revaluation
7 48,808.52 43,116.93 49,401.23 43,560.49
Reserves)
8 Securities Premium Account NA NA NA NA NA NA
9 Net Worth 65,118.87 59,473.35 65,118.87 59,473.35 66,293.38 60,448.66
Paid up Debt Capital / Outstanding
10 6,88,859.02 6,46,377.17 6,88,859.02 6,46,377.17 6,88,909.01 6,46,379.51
Debt*
Outstanding Redeemable Preference
11 NA NA NA NA NA NA
Share
12 Debt-Equity Ratio 10.45 10.74 10.45 10.74 10.36 10.66
13 Earnings Per Share (EPS) NA NA NA NA NA NA
14 Capital Redemption Reserve NA NA NA NA NA NA
15 Debenture Redemption Reserve NA NA NA NA NA NA
NA = Not Applicable
* Paid up Debt Capital / Outstanding Debt includes Outstanding Deposits, Bonds & Debentures and Borrowing
notes:1) he above is an extract of the detailed format of Quarterly/Annual inancial Results iled with the Stock Exchanges
under Regulation 52 of the SEBI (Listing Obligation and Disclosure Requirements Regulations, 2015. he full format of
the Quarterly/Annual Financial Results are available on the Stock Exchange websites (nse: www.nseindia.com and Bse:
www.bseindia.com) and on the bank’s website (www.nabard.org).
sd/-
Place: Mumbai shaji K V
date: May 26, 2023 chairman
Chandigarh
 4 THE CITY WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,

After plaint, HC bar association decides

to boycott Court of Justice Kshetarpal Th ee chee f gi l a he cli ch
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, MAY

FOLLOWING A complaint b its

member on account of alleged
misbehavior, the Punjab and
Har ana High Court Bar
Association (HCBA) has unani-
mousl decided to bo cott the
Court of Justice Anil Kshetarpal
ber of HCBA against Justice Anil
Kshetarpal with regard to his un-
calledformisbehaviorintheCourt
Room. The note issued b the
HCBAmentionedthatearlieralso
a complaint dated Februar 1,
2 23 was given b Baljeet Singh,
Advocate, which was signed b 7
other members of the Bar
Association. Pursuant thereto, a
requisition was also received in
Members in the Court Room and
not to insult an Member. Toda
again a complaint has been re-
ceived in the Office of Punjab and
Har ana High Court Bar
Association b Herbans Lal
i PSEB Cla X e am
Topper Gagandeep
Sharma,Advocate,Memberofthe
HCBA against Justice Anil
Kshetarpalwithregardtothemis-
Kaur of Faridkot PSEB CLASS RESULTS
behavior and insult met out to shines with a 2,81,327
him”,allegedtheresolutionletter

with immediate effect and have
sought his transfer.
Asperaresolutionnoteof the
HCBAissuedb thePresidentGBS
Dhillon, and other members of
the Association, an emergent
meetingofthee ecutivecommit-
teewascalledonFrida todiscuss
the complaint given b Herbans
Lal Sharma, Advocate, and mem-
United
97.54%
98.46%
96.73%
theofficeof theHCBAtoconvene of HCBA.Itwasfurtherstatedthat perfect score students appeared
a General House meeting and to
takeactiononthecomplaintgiven
an emergent meeting of the
General House was convened to- 2,74,4 clear exam
against Justice Anil Kshetarpal da to discuss the issue, in which JAGDEEP SINGH DEEP O e all
Appeared for re-exam 6,171
with regard to his misbehavior. the General House of Punjab and MOHALI, MAY a
“The members of the Har ana High Court Bar Students whose 1 3 Gi l
E ecutive Committee met with Association has unanimousl de- ONCEAGAINgirlsoutperformed results have been dela ed B
JusticeAnilKshetarpalonnumer- cidedtobo cotttheCourtofJustice bo s and bagged the top three
ous occasions and requested him AnilKshetarpalwithimmediateef- spots in the Punjab School
not to misbehave with the fectandtoseekhistransfer. Education Board (PSEB) Class X MORE STUDENTS FROM RURAL AREAS CLEAR EXAM
e ams,theresultsof whichwere Urban areas Rural areas Govt schools Other schools
CIRCLE SASTRA – JALANDHAR COMPANY BAGH, declared on Frida . State toppers Gagandeep Kaur (left) and Navjot with their
CIVIL LINES, JALANDHAR - 144001
Gagandeep Kaur of Sant
96.77% 97.94% 97.76% 97% teachers on Frida . Express
........Together for the better Ph. No.0181 – 4697613, Email : CS8249@pnb.co.in
Mohan Das Senior Secondar
POSSESSION NOTICE
SchoolinKotSukhi aof Faridkot

Farmer’s daughter Rajandeep Kaur tops in Mohali

[Under Rule 8(1) of Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002] (for immovable property)
Whereas, The undersigned being the Authorised Officer of the Punjab National Bank under the district topped the state b scor-
Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 and ing 1 % marks (65 /65 ). The
in exercise of the powers conferred under section 13 read with Security Interest ( Enforcement ) Rules, second rank was secured b her
2002, issued a demand notice dates mentioned hereunder, calling upon the borrowers/guarantor to repay classmate Navjot who scored cent marks (633/65 ). Rajandeepandwasdeclaredsec- at least 18 hours a da .
the amount mentioned in the notice, within 60 days from the date of receipt of the said notice. 648 out of 65 marks (99.6%), JAGDEEP SINGH DEEP Rajandeep said that she ond in the district. A student of SonuDasof BHSAr aSchool,
The Borrower having failed to repay the amount, notice is hereby given to the borrowers and the public in
general that the undersigned has taken Symbolic possession of the property described herein below in while Harmandeep Kaur of MOHALI, MAY wants to be a Chartered Government Girls Senior Mohalibaggedthethirdposition
exercise of powers conferred on him/her under Section 13(4) of the said Act read with rule 8 & 9 of the Government High School, Accountant (CA). Her two elder Secondar School, Lalru. in the district b securing
security interest (Enforcement) Rules 2002, on the dates mentioned against the account. Mandali village, Mansa district, RAJANDEEP KAUR topped in the sisters are in government job. “I want to be an engineer, I 631/65 (97. 8) marks.
The Borrower(s)/Gurantor(s)/Mortgagor(s) having failed to repay the amount and as such the clinched the third position with district in class 1 result which Rajandeep’s father is a farmer. have alread started for m Sonu Das’s father is a
undersigned has taken Possession of the mortgaged property described here below in Exercise of the 646 marks (99.38%). was declared on Frida b Saloni, stood second in the higher education,” Saloni said. labourer and had two siblings.
powers conferred on him/her under section 13(4) of said ACT read with Rule 8 of the Security Interest
The results of Class XII board Punjab School Education Board district. She too secured 97.38 She added that her father is a He added that he wanted to be a
Enforcement Rules, 2002 of the said rule on this day The Borrower(s)/Gurantor(s)/Mortgagor(s)
attention is invited to provisions of Sub Section (8) of the Section 13 of Act, in respect of time available to e ams, declared b PSEB on (PSEB). She secured 97.38 per- marks but she was older to farmer and she used to stud for doctor.
them, to redeem the secure assets. Wednesda , also saw girls out-
Name of the Borrower/Owner/ Description of the Date of
Date of
Amount Outstanding shining bo s and clinching the district had the highest 99.19% il , Gagandeep dedicated her close friends who studied to- and future careers reflect their
Demand as on date of
Guarantor(s)/Mortgagor(s) property mortgaged Notice
Possession
demand Notice
top three positions. pass percentage, while Barnala successtoherfather,whoalwa s getherandaimedforhighscores. determination to achieve e cel-
MCC-JALANDHAR (1)Equitable Mortgage of Factory 15.03.2023 23.05.2023 Rs. 10,73,13,685.27 According toan official state- district had the lowest 95.96%, motivated her to strive for e cel- The both e pressed happiness lence.
B o r r o w e r M / S R e x o n Land & Building constructed over land measuring 26 (Rupees Ten Crore ment, of the 2,9 ,796 students he added. Government schools lence.Shealsoobtainedaperfect intheirjointsuccessandthesup- Punjab Chief Minister
Laboratories Ltd., Sh. Marlas & 190 sq. ft. (1 Marla = 272 sq. ft.) situated at H. B. S e v e n t y T h r e e who appeared for the Class X had a pass percentage of 97.54%, score in her Class VIII results. port the provided each other. Bhagwant Mann and School
Rakesh Sharma S/o Sh. No. 311, Basti Bawa Khel, standing in the name of M/s. L a k h T h i r t e e n
Wazir Chand (Director & Priya Rubber & Plastic Industry, Jalandhar Vide Sale Deed T h o u s a n d S i x
board e ams, 2,81,9 5 students while the private ones had 97%. Gagandeep did not take an tu- HarmandeepKaurattributed Education Minister Harjot Singh
Guarantor), Sh. Pankaj No. 318 dated 12.04.1985. Name & Address of H u n d r e d E i g h t y cleared it. PSEB vice-chairman A total of three transgender itionbutfocusedonself-stud for her achievement to her parents Bains e tended best wishes to
Sharma S/o Sh. Rakesh Mortgagor :- M/s. Priya Rubber & Plastic Industry H. No. Five And Twenty Varinder Bhatia said as man as studentsappearedforthee ams si to seven hours ever da . She andteachers,whomotivatedher the students, teachers and their
S h a r m a ( D i r e c t o r & 9 6 , S h a h e e d U d h a m S i n g h N a g a r, J a l a n d h a r. Seven Paise Only) 653 students failed to clear the and all of them cleared the e - also sta ed awa from the dis- to work hard. With a dream of parents for the good results.
G u ar a n to r ) , S h. Vi j a y (2)Equitable Mortgage of Leased property comprising all plus future interest
Bharat S/o Sh. Wazir Chand e ams, while 6,171 students ams. The PSEB vice-chairman tractions of social media. becominganIPSofficer,sheplans TheCMcongratulatedthetop
the part and parcel of Factory land and building situated at w.e.f. 01.03.2023
(Director & Guarantor), Sh.
and incidental
have to reappear for the e ams. said that the rural areas had a E pressing her gratitude, to opt for the non-medical three position holders and an-
Karan Sharma S/o Sh. Vijay Plot D – 3, 4 & 5 at Sports & Surgical complex, Kapurthala The results of 1 3 students have passpercentageof 97.94%which Gagandeep also dedicated her stream in her upcoming class. nounced a cash award of Rs
B h a r a t ( D i r e c t o r & Road, Jalandhar measuring 1247.42 Sq. yards (49.90 expenses thereon,
Guarantor), Smt. Aruna Marla) standing in the name of M/s Priya Drugs Ltd. (Rexon less recovery if any. been dela ed. The overall pass is around 1 per cent higher than achievementtoherlategrandfa- Harmandeep praised her head- 51, for them.
Sharma W/o Sh. Rakesh Laboratories Ltd) vide Lease Deed No. 6750 dated 25/09/1995 executed by percentage in the matriculation that of urban areas (96.77%). In ther, who passed awa in teacher, who would personall Girls outshining bo s in the
Sharma (Guarantor), Sh. Punjab Small Industries and Export Corporation Ltd. Name & Address of e ams was 97.54%, with girls 2 19 the pass percentage was Januar , just before her e ams. pickherupfromhomeandbring PSEB board e ams at all levels –
A d i t y a S h a r m a Mortgagor :- M/s Priya Drugs Ltd. (Rexon Laboratories Ltd) D-5, Sports & scoring a cumulative pass per- 85.56%. The number of students Shementionedmissinghimand her to school. Harmandeep's fa- Classes VIII, X and XII – was a
(Guarantor), M/s R.K. Surgical Complex, Kapurthala Road, Jalandhar
Pharmaceuticals (Guarantor) AND M/s Priya Rubber & Plastics Industries (Guarantor)
centage of 98.46% and bo s se- that took the e ams this ear wishedhecouldhavewitnessed therworksasafarmer,whileher proud moment for the state,
curing96.73%(passpercentage). was lesser than the number of her success. mother is a homemaker. Her Mann said in a statement.
26.05.2023 PLACE : JALANDHAR AUTHORISED OFFICER
The students can check their previous five ears. When asked Navjotdedicated hersuccess oungersisteriscurrentl stud - He also hailed the state's ed-
results at the official website of about the trend, the PSEB vice- to her mother, who tragicall ing in Class IX. Similar to ucation department for its con-

OFFLINE CLASSES FOR thePSEBwww.pseb.ac.in from8

am on Saturda .
This earthepasspercentage
chairman said, “The board will
look into this as it is a serious is-
sue.” All the districts in the state
passed awa five ears ago in a
road accident. Navjot's mother
hadalwa sdesiredtoseehere -
Gagandeep,Harmandeeptoodid
notrel ontuitionstoacethetest.
The outstanding perform-
certedeffortstomakequalit ed-
ucation reach students in ever
nook and crann of Punjab.

GENERAL STUDIES AND isaround 2 percentlessthanthe

previous ear. Last ear the pass
percentage was 99. 6%.
have a pass percentage of 95% or
above.Thestudentscanappl for
revaluation or rechecking from
cel academicall , and achieving
the top position brought her jo .
Sheaspirestobecomeacivilser-
ancesof these ounggirlsinClass
Xboarde amsareatestamentto
their hard work, dedication, and
Mann, in the statement, added
that the efforts b the state gov-
ernment have immensel bene-

EXPRESS LAW OPTIONAL START ThePSEB vice-chairmansaid

the open school had a pass per-
Ma 31 to June 14, the official
statement added.
vantandplanstopursuethenon-
medicalstreaminherne tclass.
the support the received from
theirfamiliesandteachers.Their
fited the girls in Punjab, thereb
pavingthewa fortheirempow-

EDUCATION
centage of 79.26%. Pathankot Hailing from a farmer's fam- Navjot and Gagandeep are aspirations for higher education erment through education.

FROM Singer Arijit

3rd & 5th June 2023. Singh’s concert
postponed, cops
Classroom Experience say ‘due to rain’
Has No Alternative EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, MAY
Weekend Batches Available CHANDIGARH ■ SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2023 THE CONCERT of singer Arijit

NIRVANA IAS ACADEMY

ADEMY RECRUITMENT
I, Service No.
13758200N, L/NK
Regt JAK Rifles Vijay
Singh has been postponed
from its scheduled date of Ma
27. The ne t date is et to an-
nounced. The compan that
SITUATION Kumar R/o VPO
Nandpur Bhatoli, was promoting the mega
VACANT
Tehsil Dehra, Distt. event, where over 1 lakh peo-
Kangra HP declare ple were e pected to arrive,
ACADEMIC
that my son’s name in conve ed the news to the
“WANTED Asstt. Teachers my army record/ Part - Chandigarh police.
M.A., B.Ed., Economics 1 II Order has wrongly The police had made ade-
Full time for Hume High entered as Ayush quate securit arrangements
School & Jr. College AIDED
Chaudhary whereas and even released a detailed
his correct name is traffic advisor for the com-
Section. Apply before 31st
Ayush Choudhary. muters. “We were conve ed on
MAY 2023, By email - Concerned note. Frida about the news of post-
mmhhsmanagement@
0020458574-1 ponement of the concert. The
gmail.com
e act reason was not told to us
<mailto:mmhhsmanage I Vazeer Singh Jangra but we believe that the recent
ment@gmail.com> old name S/O Sh. rain has affected the e hibition
0050219577-2 Balwant Singh resident ground where the concert was
of Vill & Post office scheduled to be held in Sector
Dumerkha kalan Distt
EDUCATION
34,” a senior police officer said.
Jind Haryana have
change my name from

EDUCATIONAL
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WORKSHOPS -TWO Household goods, office
and D.O.B. from ing and fi ing PCC kerbs and high
MONTHS- industrial, Packing,
Loading, Unloading, 03.10.1955 to densit chequered tiles and land-
RS.6000/- OTHERS 01.01.1957 vide scapingworkforthebeautification
Transportation, Local
CLASS SUBJECTS. Shifting. All India. 98154- affidavit 19.05.2023 ofChristianCemeter inSector25.
9357271806 . 02243,98156-02242 before Notary Ramban Themeetingthatwasheldon
0020458572-1 0020458573-1 J&K. Frida underthechairmanshipof
0020458575-1 Ma orAnupGuptaalsoapproved
OTHER other development agendas, in-
PROPERTY cluding construction of cement
CLASSIFIEDS
FOR SALE ‘‘IMPORTANT concrete track in parks near
PERSONAL Whilst care is taken prior to acceptance House No. 268, Sector 41-A,
MOHALI of advertising copy, it is not possible to Chandigarh, repair of paver/con-
I old name Sharda Devi verify its contents.The Indian Express (P)
Limited cannot be held responsible for crete track after dismantling/de-
W/O Vazeer Singh such contents, nor for any loss or molishing e isting pavers and
purchase in mohali, resident of vill & post damage incurred as a result of
concrete track in green belts in
chandigarh. available office Dumerkha kalan transactions with companies,
Distt Jind Haryana associations or individuals advertising in Sector41andparksinSector41A,
flots , flats, kohtis. its newspapers or Publications. We Chandigarh, at an estimated cost
have change my name
sunny enclave. therefore recommend that readers make
from Sharda Devi old necessary inquiries before sending any of Rs 32.17 lakh. The workof pro-
7508067113, Name to Sharda monies or entering into any agreements viding and fi ing children pla
7681985416 Jangra new name. with advertisers or otherwise acting on an equipment in various parks and
advertisement in any manner
0020458304-3 0020458588-1 whatsoever. green belts of Sector 45 and 46,
Chandigarh, at an estimated cost
of Rs48.4 lakh. ENS
Chandigarh
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
BRANDS AFTER BRANDS
C cill i UT cha ed la e
la e e ec d ea i h
Over Rs 5 lakh
spent on laptops,
Rs 35 lakh on
smartphones
since 2 16
HINA ROHTAKI
CHANDIGARH, MAY
ONEAFTERtheotherandbrands
afterbrands.Somecouncillorsin
Chandigarh purchased ever
othernewl launchedelectronic
items be it cellphones or laptops
even after the were re-elected
asthe didn'twanttomissonthe
opportunit of lu ur freebies.
While the common man
ma finditdifficulttobu ahigh-
end smartphone or laptop as
soon as it is launched, it rained
Apple, DELL, HP products for
some elected representatives in
Chandigarhwhosplurgedpublic
mone to satisf their love for
electronics and alloted lu ur
freebies.
According to the lu ur free-
bies allocation, while the
amount can be "unlimited" for
the ma or for ever term, which
is one ear, a councillor can bu
a mobile phone with ma imum
ceiling for Rs 4 , and a lap-
top for Rs 75, once ever five
ears.
Documents accessed b The
Indian E press reveal that from
2 16 till date, councillors went
on a shopping spree, some even
few da s just after being elected
and assuming charge of council-
lor . Those re-elected in 2 21 too
didn't miss the opportunit and
continuedtobu thelatestgadg-
ets despite knowing that public
mone has been spent heavil
on purchasing in the previous
term as well.
Just a month after being
electedinDecember2 16,coun-
cillor Devinder Singh Babla pur-
chased a Samsung Gala A9 in
Januar 2 17 itself. Then in
Februar 2 18, he purchased a
brand new HP Pavillion laptop.
Whilehegave2 19amiss,Babla,
bought another phone that too
the latest Samsung S1 in
Februar 2 2 .
HiswifeHarpreetBabla,who
changed boats andmoved to the
BJP from the Congress, pur-
chased an Apple Mac Book Air
and an Oppo Reno phone in
March 2 22.
In another e ample, council-
lorKanwarjeetRanapurchaseda
Samsung Gala S7 and a HP
laptop both in 2 17. Once re-
elected in 2 22, Rana didn't
, THE CITY 5
THEIR EXPENSIVE BUYS
DEVINDER SINGH BABLA
■ Samsung Galax A9:
Jan 2 17
■ HP Pavillion: Feb 2 18
■ Samsung S 1 : Feb 2 2
KANWARJEET RANA
■ Samsung Galax S7: Jul
2 17
■HP laptop: Dec 2 17
■ iPhone: Feb 2 22
■ MacBook Air: Jun 2 22
GURBAX RAWAT
■ iPhone 7: 2 17
■ HP Pro book: Aug 2 17
■ iPhone 11: March 2 22
■ HP Lite book core:
Jan 2 22
waste much time and bought
the latest Iphone and soon after,
he also bought a MAC Book air,
the documents revealed.
Maheshinder Singh Sidhu, a
councillor from the VIP wards,
purchased iPhone 7 in 2 17 af-
ter being elected in December
2 16. Sidhu also purchased the
latest DELL Intel core I 7 laptop
in the same ear.
Even after being re-elected
Sidhu's shopping spree didn't
end.In2 22,heboughtthelatest
SamsungS2 andalsoanHPlap-
top the same ear.
Similarl , in 2 17, Dalip
Sharma purchased iPhone 6S at
public e pense and also MAC
Book Air just a few da s after be-
ing elected.
After being re-elected, Dalip
upgraded his laptop with a new
one and purchased a DELL core
5 in 2 22.
SAD councillor Hardeep
Singh was no less and has been
purchasing phones and laptops
frequentl of different brands
term after term.
According to documents, in
2 17, Hardeep purchased the
iPhone 6 and also a MAC Book
Air. In 2 22, Hardeep bought an
ASUS laptop and an iPhone 12
mini.
Gurba Rawat's love for
Iphone also has no end. While in
2 17, she purchased the latest
iPhone 7 and an HP laptop, she
bought an iPhone 11 and HP Lite
bookworthRs74,34 in2 22af-
ter being reelected.
Rs 5 lakh for laptops
According to documents,
over Rs 5 lakh has alread been
spent on laptops since 2 16.
MAHESHINDER
SINGH SIDHU
■ iPhone 7: Nov 2 17
■ DELL Intel core i7: Ma
2 17
■ Samsung S2 : Feb 2 22
■ HP laptop: Feb 2 22
DALIP SHARMA
■ iPhone 6S: March 2 17
■ MacBook: Jan 2 17
■ DELL Core 5: March 2 22
HARDEEP SINGH
■ iPhone 6: April 2 17
■ MacBook Air: August
2 17
■ iPhone 12 Mini: Jan 2 22
■ ASUS laptop: Jan 2 22
Whilethebatchof newl elected
councillors have mostl bought
high end laptops worth Rs 27. 1
lakh, councillors between 2 16
and 2 21 purchased onl lap-
tops worth over Rs 23 lakh.
However, almost none of the
councillors ever used a single
one in the general house.
Their love for Apple
Documents show that from
2 16 till date, of 33 councillors
who took mobile phones from
ta pa ersfunds,21of them pur-
chased latest Apple phones
launched in India. From BJP’s
Ravi Kant Sharma to Sunita
Dhawan and Satish Kumar all
flaunted latest Apple phones.
While then Independent coun-
cillor Dalip Sharma, councillors
Sachin Kumar, Haji Mohd
Khurshid Ali, Kamla Sharma all
purchasediphone6S,SADcoun-
cillor Hardeep Singh, BJP’s
Chanderwati Shukla, Ravi Kant
Sharma, Heera Negi had iphone
6. Congress’s Gurba Rawat and
Sheela Devi, BJP’s Arun Sood,
Mahesh Inder Sidhu, Rajesh
Kalia, Rajesh Gupta, Davesh
Moudgil, Jagtar Singh, Vinod
Aggarwal, Sat Prakash Aggarwal
all purchased Apple iphone 7 in
the first half of 2 17.
In the latest batch of elected
representatives, AAP councillors
Nirmala Devi, Damanpreet and
nominated councillor Umesh
Ghai purchased iphone 13 in
2 22, few months after the
phone’s launch in India. Of the
39 people who have purchased
mobile phones from 2 22 till
date, over 22 purchased Apple
and the rest bought either
Samsung or Oneplus.
In Punjab civic bodies, no
such ‘luxury’; Haryana too
has no phone, laptop policy
HINA ROHTAKI
CHANDIGARH, MAY
WHEN IT comes to increasing or
enhancing their honorarium,
Chandigarhpublicrepresentatives
were quick enough to quote that
the oughttofollowtheircounter-
parts in Punjab. The said that
PunjabMunicipalActise tended
toChandigarhandaccordingl the
honorarium should also be in-
creased.
However,nooneeverfollowed
Punjab or Har ana in the case of
theselu ur freebiesofe pensive
laptops and mobile phones.
NeitherPunjabnorHar anagives
itscouncillors or public represen-
tatives an laptop or e pensive
phone at the cost of the public
mone . Interestingl , here in
Chandigarh,itisthesecouncillors
themselveswhointhehousehave
created this entitlement for own
self. And never an agenda came
till now to either kill this public
mone spending let alone prun-
ingitdown.
PanchkulaMa orKulbhushan
Go alwhilespeakingtoTheIndian
Expresssaid,“Thereisnoprovision
ofan laptoporphonetothecoun-
cillorshere.AndForMa or,itisjust
officialvehiclethatisallowedand
Ihaven’teventakenthat.Iusem
personal vehicle to commute to
the office or go to an spots. Even
the honorarium that I get of Rs
2 ,5 Idistributeitinthesweep-
ersever month.”
Similarl , Punjab offers onl
honorariumtothecouncillorsand
Ma or. The Ma or in Punjab gets
an official vehicle but there is no
The e i i i
f a la
h e c cill he e
F Ma , l fficial
ehicle i all ed a d I
ha e e e ake ha I
em e al ehicle
c mm e E e he
h a i m ha I ge f
R ,5 I di ib e
am g ee e
— KULBHUSHAN GOYAL,
PANCHKULA MAYOR
No agenda has ever been brought up in an Assembl
meeting to do awa with the freebies. Express
provisionof an e pensivelaptop
ormobilephone.
AAP leader Pardeep Chhabra
while speaking to The Indian
Express said, “ These Chandigarh
councillors will keep or create
thoseprovisionsthatwillsuittheir
lavish whims and fancies. It is
sheer wastage of mone . Wh
couldn’t the bring an agenda till
nowwhichjustfinishesthisentire
provision of giving such lu ur
freebiestothesecouncillors.”
He added, “Moreover, initiall
thepurposetoallowlaptopstothe
councillorswasthatthehousewill
go paperless and all will perform
their duties digitall be it just the
reading of the agenda. But this has
moreorlessbecomeascam.Oneaf-
tertheotherthe keeppurchasing
backtobackphonesandlaptops.”
In Chandigarh, the honorar-
iumforcouncillorsandMa oralso
increased considerabl . Till 2 15,
the councillors would get Rs
1, ashonorariumandMa or
wouldgetRs2 , . Howonecanbu suchalu urious
However few ears back an
agenda was brought in the house
and the honorarium was again
h e,
m e
hiked. At present, a Ma or gets Rs
45, in Chandigarh ever
month and a councillor gets Rs
15 as the honorarium along
with amount of phone bill that is
Rs27 permonth.
TheChandigarhMChousehad
demanded their honorarium be
broughtatparwithPunjab.
Aam Aadmi Part Councillor
and Former Leader of Opposition
Yogesh Dhingra condemned for-
mer Ma ors for splurging public
mone .
Hestatedthat“tolivelifelikea
king but at the public’s e pense ,
Former BJP Ma or purchased
Apple iPhone 14 Pro just two
weeks before her ma oral term
wastoendthattooforRs1,5 ,3 6.
“Thema imumlimitof reim-
bursement of a mobile phone al-
lowed for Ma or is "unlimited"
whichisabsolutel ver ver fool-
ish and reflects entirel greed on
theirpart.WhatifApplelaunches
new phone worth of Rs. 4 lakh.
freebies from the hard earned
mone of ta pa ers.Itisnotjusti-
fiableatall,”hesaid.
Special CBI court
sentences 2 EPFO
officers to 6 yrs’ jail
for taking `2L bribe
‘People visit their office with full faith
but the didn’t avoid accepting bribe’
cused Vija and Bachittar served
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE anoticeontheMohali-basedpri-
CHANDIGARH, MAY vate firm, directing it to submit
certainrecordforverification.He
THE SPECIAL CBI Court of allegedthattheofficersissuedthe
Chandigarh on Frida sentenced notice without prior approval of
two officers of the Emplo ees thecompetentauthorit .Ascom-
Provident Fund Organisation plainant was authorised b the
(EPFO) office, Sector 17, firm, the officials made a phone
Chandigarh, to si ears' impris- call to him and allegedl de-
onment for accepting a bribe of manded a bribe of Rs 4 lakh for
Rs 2 lakh in 2 15. The convicts, favouring the compan while
identified as Vija Rawat and checking the record.
Bachittar Singh, have been held The CBI claimed after negoti-
guilt under Sections 7 of the ations,theaccusedagreedtotake
Prevention of Corruption Act, Rs 2 lakh as the first installment
1988, with Section 12 b of the of bribe. The CBI laid a trap and
IPC and Section 13 (1) (d) of the caughtbothofficerswhileaccept-
Prevention of Corruption Act, ing Rs 2 lakh from the com-
1988 with Section 12 b of IPC. plainant on November 3 , 2 15.
The special CBI court Additional While pronouncing the sen-
District and Sessions Judge Jagjit tence,thecourtsaidthatboththe
Singh also imposed a fine of Rs 2 convicts are public servants, and
lakh each on the convicts. have a lot of responsibilit upon
As per prosecution, the CBI them. People visit their office
had arrested the accused in 2 15 with full faith to get their work
while accepting a bribe of Rs 2 done. But then people like the
lakh from a representative of a convicts who are aware of the
Mohali-based compan , consequencesoftakingbribestill
HomelandBuildwell(P)Limited. do not sh awa from doing so.
The complainant in the mat- Convicts are also aware that the
ter,JasbirSingh,hadstatedtothe canfacepunishment,andhumil-
CBI that he had been allotted a iation in the societ , if the tr to
contractofadvisingvariouscom- commit such offences, but still
panies,includingaMohali-based the tr to befool the s stem, the
firm, on labour matters. The ac- judge added.
H kahba hibi edi Cha diga h
Chandigarh: The UT administration is restricting Hookah Bars in
Chandigarhthroughperiodicordersissuedb theDistrictMagistrate
underSection144of CrPC.InanorderreleasedonFrida b Secretar
Health, Yashpal Garg said that no one would be allowed to operate a
hookah bar or serve hookah to customers in an place, and in case of
violation of the notification, the person will be punished with im-
prisonment which ma e tend to three ears, but which shall not be
less than one ear and with fine which ma e tend to Rs 5 , , but
which shall not be less than Rs 2 , . Now the Union Ministr of
Home Affairs vide ga ette notification dated Ma 15, 2 23, has e -
tended the Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of
Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production,
Suppl ,andDistribution)(PunjabAmendment)Bill,2 18totheUnion
Territor of Chandigarh. ENS
Chandigarh
REGION WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,

HIMACHAL PRADESH HOUSING & URBAN DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY

DIVISION SHIMLA, KASUMPTI, SHIMLA-171 009
‘‘NOTICE INVITING e-TENDER’’
1. The Executive Engineer, HIMUDA, Division Shimla, Kasumpti, Shimla-171 009 (HP) on behalf of
Chairman, HIMUDA invites item rate tender from the eligible and approved Contractors/ Firms enlisted
with HPPWD/HIMUDA in appropriate class for following works:- However, the successful bidders must
get registered in HIMUDA, in appropriate class before signing the contract, (As per HIMUDA
EnlistmentRules,2018)
Sr. Name of Work Estimated Earnest Time Cost of form. Class of
No Cost. Money. limit. contractor
1. Repair of Residential Accommodation of Excise 16,73,712/- 33,474/- 60 days 1000/-(Non “D” Class &
Department at Vikas Nagar & Ph-III New Shimla i.e refund- one step
Block No. C-1 flat No. 1 Block No. B-4 flat No.11 & 12 able)+GST & above.
Block No. 5 flat No. 2A Block No. 7A flat No. 18%=Total
1,2,4,6,10,12,12A & 16 Block No. C-7 flat No. 16 Block Rs. 1180/-
No. 12A flat No. 3 Block 25A flat No. 2 & 5 Block No.
25B flat No. 2,4 & 5 Block No. 26A flat No. 3 and Block
No. C-47 flat No. 3 (21 Nos flats.)
AICC general secretar Randeep Singh Surjewala, Jharkhand
Please visit our web site www.gov.himuda.com to know further details & bid/tender submission procedure w.e.f. CM Hemant Soren, Himachal Pradesh CM Sukhwinder
25.05.2023 17.00 Hrs. The Bid document will be published online on website https:/hptenders.gov.in on 25.05.2023
16.00 Hrs. Bid submission start & end date 25.05.2023 17.00 Hrs. upto 30.05.2023.
Sukhu, Karnataka D CM DK Shivakumar and MLA Harris, in
Sd/- New Delhi, Frida . PTI
(Er. Rajesh Thakur)
Executive Engineer,
0002/HP Phone No. 0177-2621702
HIMACHAL PRADESH

Zonal Office - SCO - 96, 4th Floor,

CM Sukhu announces zoological
DEMAND
ALLAHABAD
District Shopping Centre,
Ranjit Avenue, Amritsar 143001 NOTICE park worth Rs 300 crore in Kangra
NOTICE UNDER SECTION 13(2) OF THE SECURITISATION AND RECONSTRUCTION OF
FINANCIAL ASSETS AND ENFORCEMENT OF SECURITY INTEREST ACT 2002 Dharamshala:HimachalPradesh nancial assistance to local outh
A notice is hereby given that the following borrower(s)/ guarantors have defaulted in the repayment of Chief MinisterSukhvinderSingh to help them bu 'shikaras',
Principal and payment of interest of credit facilities obtained by them from the bank and said facilities have Sukhu on Frida announced a Sukhu said.
turned Non Performing Asset as mentioned below. The notice under Section 13(2) of Securitization and slew of development projects, The CM also announced the
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act 2002 were issued to borrowers / including the setting up of a o- operation of five new bus routes
guarantors on their last known addresses by registered / speed post. However the notice(s) have been
returned un-served and the Authorised Officer has reasons to believe that the borrower(s)/ guarantor(s) are ological park in Bankhandi area in the area and the construction
avoiding the service of notice, as such they are hereby informed by way of public notice about the same. in Kangra district. of an indoor stadium with a
Name of the Branch.Borrowers/Guarantors/ Descrip on of Date of Demand Amount as per Addressing a gathering at swimming pool in the Dehra as-
Partners/Mortgagor Mortgaged Assets No ce Demand No ce Haripur in Dehra assembl con- sembl constituenc .
MALL ROAD BRANCH All that part & parcel of 12.05.2023 Rs. 11,10,347/- stituenc , Sukhu said the park is "To improve education in ru-
1. Sh. Harbinder Minhas S/o Sh. Vipan property bearing Plot No. 3 (Rupees Eleven Lakhs Ten estimated to cost Rs 3 crore, ral areas, Rajiv Gandhi da -
Harjit Singh, H. No 4 Gali No 1, Gopal Nagar, Measuring 189.50 sq. yards Thousand Three Hundred Forty and will provide emplo ment boarding schools will be con-
Amritsar, Punjab – 143001.(Borrower) 2. out of Khasra no. 373 min Seven only) as on 11.05.2023 with opportunities to 5, local structed in each assembl
Sh. Vipan Harjit Singh S/o Sh. Gurbachan sabka & 1127/373, 1132/373 further interest at the agreed rate from
Singh, H. No 4 Gali No 1, Gopal Nagar, min jadid having khata 12.05.2023 till date of repayment. ouths. The project will be com- constituenc , with pre-nurser
Amritsar, Punjab – 143001.(Borrower) 3. Khatoni No..1711/2056 Hadbast No.375 as per Jamabandi Year pleted in three ears, he said. and nurser wings in the first
Smt. Kanchan Mala W/o Sh. Vipan Harjit 2011-12 situated at rakba Amritsar Suburban Abadi Bhawani The CM said Rs 7 crore have phase -- one of which will be set
Singh, H. No 4 Gali No 1, Gopal Nagar, Nagar , Tehsil and Distt Amrtisar, registered in the name of Smt. been earmarked to promote ad- up in the Dehra assembl seg-
A m r i t s a r , P u n j a b – 1 4 3 0 0 1 . Kanchan Mala W/o Vipan Harjit Singh vide Sale Deed No- 1852
venture tourism at Pong Lake. ment," the Chief Minister said.
(Borrower/Mortgagor) dated 04.05.16. The property is Bounded as under:- North:
The introduction of hot air bal- "The government is also tak-
House Property of Sh.Hira Lal, South: House Property of Sh. Tilak Raj, East: Road, West: Other property Note:-
This property is also mortgaged/charged with our bank in the HL-Advantage loan account of Sh. Vipan
loon activities and the construc- ing steps towards providingem-
Harjit Singh (A/c No. 50332298654) for Rs. 33,00,000/- (Rupees Thirty Three Lakhs Only) Present tion of a floating hotel have also plo ment to the outh and ap-
outstanding in the HL-Advantage loan a/c as on 11.05.2023 is Rs. 34,91,568/- been planned, he said. proval has been given to fill the
The above borrowers / guarantors are advised to pay the amount mentioned in notice within 60 days form the In a bid to create emplo - posts of about 6, teachers in
date of the publication of this notice failing which we shall exercise all or any of the rights under Section 13(4) of ment opportunities, the state the education department," he
the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act 2002. government will also provide fi- added. PTI
Moreover the borrower(s)/ guarantor(s) are hereby restrained from dealing with any of the above secured assets
mentioned above in any manner whatsoever, without our prior consent. This notice is without prejudice to any
other remedy available to the bank including its rights to proceedings presently pending before DRT / RO of
DRT/DRAT / court and proceed with the execution of order / decree obtained / to be obtained your attention is
invited to provisions of Sub Section 8 of Section 13 of the SARFAESI Act in respect of time available to redeem
the secured assets. You are also put on notice that in terms of Section 13(13) the borrower / guarantors shall not
transfer by way of sale, lease or otherwise the said secured assets detailed in schedule B hereunder without
obtaining written consent of the secured creditor.
Date: 26.05.2023 PLACE: AMRITSAR AUTHORISED OFFICER

*NOTICE INVITING TENDER*

Sealed item rate tender are hereby invited on PWD form 6 & 8 by the Executive Engineer, Jal Shakti Division Anni on behalf
of the Governor of H.P. for the following works from the approved and eligible contractor/firm enlisted in H.P. Jal Shakti Vibhag
in the appropriate class so as to reach in this office on or before 01.06.2023 up to 12:00P.M and will be opened on the same
day at 12.30 P.M. in the presence of intending contractors or their authorized representatives. The tender form can be had from
this office against cash payment (non-refundable) on any working day up to 31.05.2023 till 04:00 P.M. The tender should
accompany the earnest money in the shape of National Saving Certificate/Time Deposit Account/FDRs in any of the post
office/Nationalized Bank in duly pledged in favour of the Executive Engineer, JSV Division Anni.
Sr. Name of work. Estimated Earnest Time Cost of
No. cost. Money limit Form
1 PLWSS to NC/PC habitation in C.V Faranalli, Dingidhar, in Anni 499566 9991/- 2 Months 250/-
Block Distt Kullu HP. (SH: Providing and Fixing of cast Steel air valve
50mm dia in syphon portion of Gravity main).
2 PWSS to Dried up Sources of GP Bari, Tunan, Poshna, Bahwa, 499566 9991/- 2 Months 250/-
Kushwa and Kharga etc due to RHEP in Nirmand Block Distt. Kullu
(H.P) (SH: Pro. & Fixing of Cast Air Valve 50 mm dia. (ASA
150/300).)
3 Water Quality Monitoring and Surveillance under NRDWP/JJM 343140 6863/- 2 Months 250/- Press e-Tender Notice
Programme under Distt. Kullu HP.(SH-Calibiration of Various CHANDIGARH ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT
Instruments installed in Sub Divisional Laboratory at Nirmand with
Certificates) CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION
4 Providing LWSSS to NC/PC Hab of CV Franali Dingidhar & Beungal 498556 9971/- 2 Months 250/- The Executive Engineer Electricity ‘OP’ Division No. 1, Chd
in Ani Block in Distt Kullu (H.P) (SH:- Providing and Supplying Sluice invites tender on the behalf of President of India online percent-
valve 50 mm dia 65 mm dia and 80 mm dia.)
age rate tenders from approved & eligible Enlisted Contractors
5 Providing LWSSS to NC/PC Hab of CV Franali Dingidhar & Beungal 478495 9570/- 2 Months 250/-
in Ani Block in Distt Kullu (HP) (SH:- Providing and Supplying Sluice of Chandigarh Administration ONLY, on three bid system for the
valve 100 mm dia and 150 mm dia.) following work:-
6 Providing LWSS to Sub Village Nishani, Kuikod, Dagrech Togi, 489899 9798/- 2 Months 250/- 1. Tender No. :OP-1/04/2023-24
Gharna etc of CV Dingidhar & Frahanali in Anni Block Distt Kullu H.P
(SH:- Providing and Supplying Sluice valve 50 mm dia 65 mm dia 2. Name of work DNIT for running rate contract for repair of
and 80 mm dia). existing Gang operating Switch (GO Switches) under the con-
Terms and Conditions. trol of Electricity (OP) Sub Division No-2, U.T Chandigarh.
1. The Earnest money or certificate of exemption of Earnest Money. Shall be attached with the tender documents.
3. Estimated cost : Rs. 4,18,905/-
2. Certificate of registration with Jal Shakti Vibhag in appropriate class and latest renewal thereof.
3. Copy of PAN card, GST registration and latest annual Income tax return thereof. 4. Earnest Money Rs. 8380/- On-line submission
4. The contractor shall submit EPF/ESIS registration in case the same is not available at the time of tender it should be 5. Period of Completion : Running contract for one year or till
submitted before commencement of any work awarded to him/her failing which no work will be awarded.
the quantum of work is completed whichever is earlier and can
5. The firms/contractors have to submit the affidavit specifying that the benefit availed under earnest money exemption has
be extended for further one year as per mutual consent on the
not been exhausted so far Any wrong submission in the matter will directly lead to cancellation of bid. In case the bidder
fails to submit the required affidavit then he has to submit the earnest money.
basis of performance of the firm.
6. Conditional tenders and the tenders received without earnest money will out rightly be rejected. 6) Last time and date of submission of Bid 01.06.2023 at 3.00 PM.
7. The contactors/firms are required to quote the rate of each item in words as well as in figures failing which Executive
7. Last line and date of opening of bid 01.06.2023 at 3.00 PM
Engineer reserves the right to accept/rejects any overall tender.
8. The undersigned reserves the right to reject/ accept any or all tenders without assigning any reason. The bid form and other details can be obtained from the website
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Executive Engineer Electy, ‘OP’ S/Divn. No. 2
Jal Shakti Division, Anni
UT, Chandigarh.
0850/HP District Kullu (H.P.)

Chandigarh
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY , REGION
Six Sirsa Dera men wanted in two DGP inaugurates 120 KW solar power
high-profile cases, Punjab Police yet plants at 13 police stations of Ludhiana from the solar grid, he added.

to announce bounty even after 6 yrs tionar , who is carr ing a cash
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
LUDHIANA, MAY

PUNJAB DGP Gaurav Yadav

KAMALDEEP SINGH BRAR
AMRITSAR, MAY
DESPITETHEhigh-profilenature
of the 2 15 sacrilege cases and
the 2 17 Maur bomb blast case,
the respective governments in
Punjab have not declared an
bount to arrest a total of si ac-
cused wanted in both cases.
Surprisingl , in the Maur
blast case, which is considered
to be the biggest terror attack in
Punjabinthelastdecade,thepo-
lice issued a Red Corner notice
against thethreeaccused onl in
March 2 23, after a long gap of
five ears.ThePunjabPolicehave
howevernottakenan steptois-
sue a Red Corner notice against
thethreeaccusedinthesacrilege
cases, which has impacted the
politicsof Punjabonalargescale.
Allthesi accusedinboththe
cases belong to Dera Sacha
Sauda (Dera Sirsa), whose head
Gurmeet Ram Rahim is alread
in jail for rape and murder
charges.
Three national committee
members of Dera Sirsa – Harash
Dhuri, Pardeep Kaler, and
Sandeep Bareta – have been de-
clared as wanted persons in the
sacrilege cases. Recentl , immi-
gration officials has detained a
person suspected to be Sandeep
Bareta who was on the run for
more than seven ears, but was
later found it to be a case of mis-
taken identit . Strangel , the
government has neither an-
nounced an reward for the ar-
restof thetrionorissuedan Red
Corner notice. “A Red Corner no-
tice has not been issued against
all the three wanted proclaimed
offenders (POs) in the sacrilege
case,” said a police officer in-
volved in the investigation.
In the Maur blast case, the
police had named three Dera
SachaSaudafollowers,including
Gurtej Singh, in-charge of a
workshop inside Dera’s main
headquarters in Sirsa, Har ana,
Amrik Singh, a securit guard of
theDera chief,andAvtarSingh,a
Gurtej Singh, Avtar Singh and Amrik Singh. In Maur blast
case, the police issued a Red Corner Notice against the three
accused after a gap of 5 ears. Express
Kurukshetra electrician.
The car used in the blast was
allegedl assembledwith e plo-
sivesattheDeraheadquartersb
Gurtej Singh, with Avtar Singh
assisting in fi ing the batteries
used in the bomb. It took the po-
lice five ears to issue a Red
Corner notice against the trio,
whichhappened in March2 23.
There has been no reward on
their head.
Dera Sacha Sauda was first
linked to the Maur bomb blast
case in 2 17. The biggest terror
attack in Punjab during the last
decade killed seven people, in-
cludingfivechildren.ThePunjab
Police had claimed at that time
that the car bomb used in the
blast was assembled on the
premises of Dera Sacha Sauda in
Sirsa, and the families of the vic-
tims demanded that the Dera
chief be held responsible for the
attack.Thepassportsof thethree
wanted people were not re-
voked until 2 21.
“The police had released
some pictures of the three
wanted accused in the case.
However, there was not as much
publicit aswesaw inthecaseof
Warris PunjabDeheadAmritpal
Singh to force his arrest. The po-
lice investigation has been ver
slow,andmostof theprogressin
the case has been made onl be-
cause there was a pending peti-
tion in the high court, which re-
quired the police to submit
status reports regularl ,”
Gurmail Singh, a member of the
action committee in the Maur
blast case, said.
Recentl , the Punjab Police
announced an “appropriate re-
ward” for providing information
about Warris Punjab De chief
Amritpal Singh, who had be-
come a fugitive after the Aam
Aadmi Part started cracking
down on his organisation.
“When police or the govern-
ment wants to arrest someone
then the make efforts, an-
nounce reward and run cam-
paign. So it is about priorit . But
nogovernmentgavean priorit
to the sacrilege cases and Maur
bomb blast cases when it comes
to investigation. There are lots of
politicsonbothcasesbutnogov-
ernment has shown interest in
arrestingaccused,”saidGurdeep
Singh of United Akali Dal, who is
closel associatedwithcampaign
for justice in both cases.
Hecitede amples wherethe
government announced re-
wards to help the police arrest
the accused persons. “Even pic-
tures of all the accused wanted
insacrilegeandMaurbombblast
casearenotinpublicknowledge.
Police completed formalities of
declare them POs but it never
made dedicated efforts to arrest
them,” Singh said.
On August 25, 2 17, Dera
Sacha Sauda followers went
berserk and indulged in rioting
after the CBI Special Court in
Har ana’s Panchkula convicted
Dera chief Gurmeet Ram Rahim
Singh of raping his two women
followers; and 4 followers died
in police firing. The government
announcedcashawardstothose
who help nab for four accused
wanted in the rioting case –
Adit a Insan, a top Dera func-
award of Rs 5 lakh, Amrik Singh,
Phool Kumar and Abhijit
Shankar Bagat carr a cash
award of Rs 1 lakh. However,
none of them has been arrested
et. The are wanted b the
Har ana Police.
In another instance, the
National Investigation Agenc
(NIA) earlier this ear declared a
Rs15-lakh reward for those pro-
viding information on Canada-
based gangster Lakhbir Singh
Sandhu who is wanted in a ter-
ror-related case in Punjab.
The Punjab Police had an-
nouncedarewardof ?1 lakhfor
givinginformationleadingtothe
arrest of gangster Jaipal and his
aides after the allegedl mur-
dered two Punjab police officers
at the New Grain Market in
Jagraon in 2 21. Jaipal was even-
tuall killedinanencountersoon
after reward was announced.
In November of last ear, the
police department of the state of
Queensland in Australia an-
nounced a reward of an
Australian $1 million reward for
information from the public as
part of ongoing investigation
into the murder of 24- ear-old
To ah Cordingle in Far North
Queensland in 2 18. Rajwinder
Singh, who was wanted and
based in Punjab, was arrested
within a month after this an-
nouncement.
However, retired police offi-
cer Ranbir Singh Khatra, who
pla ed a ke role in solving both
the Maur blast and sacrilege
cases, said that the police follow
all the necessar procedures af-
ter declaring individuals as pro-
claimed offenders. “The police
displa their pictures at police
stations and their residences.
However, the highlighting and
publicising of the pictures of the
accused for active pursuit de-
pends on the government.
When the government is inter-
ested in solving cases, the an-
nounce rewards and e pedite
the process of issuing look-out
notices or Red Corner notices.”
Frida inaugurated rooftop solar
power plants installed at build-
ings of 13 police stations in the
jurisdiction of Ludhiana police
commissionerate.
These 12 kW solar plants
have been installed under
Corporate Social Responsibilit
(CSR) as a part of the project
'Ujaala— Ek Changi Shuruwat' at
the police stations including
Jamalpur, Moti Nagar, PAU,
Division No 1, 2, 5, 6 & 8, Dugri,
Sahnewal, Shimlapuri, Sadar,
and Model Town.
Yadav said that the installa-
tion of the solar power plants in
these police buildings would re-
duce carbon emissions amount-
ingto18 metrictonnesannuall ,
besides, reducing heft electric-
it bills, resulting in savings of Rs
Inspecting the rooftop solar power plant installed at a police
station in Ludhiana on Frida . Gurmeet Singh
12 lakh annuall . Installing 12
KW capacit solar power plants
is equivalent to planting around
55 teak trees, he added.
He further pointed out that
these plants have been set up
under Net Metering Polic of
PSPCLwhichallowseligiblecon-
sumers to install rooftop solar
photovoltaic (SPV) s stems and
Yadav e pressed hope that
these solar power plants will
transform police stations as
'Green Police Stations' and mo-
tivate others to adopt such re-
newable energ sources for
making a clean and green
Punjab. He also asked Ludhiana
police commissioner to cover all
police stations of Ludhiana un-
der the project.
CP Mandeep Singh Sidhu,
while assuring the DGP to fur-
ther e pand the installation of
solar panels at all police stations,
said that the power generated
offset their electricit consump- through these solar panels
tion with the power generated would replace conventional en-
from their solar panels. Under erg and provide backup power
net metering, power consumers during shutdowns.
are billed for the net amount of Sidhu also thanked ICICI
electricit consumed which will foundation, Hero C cles, Ganga
be the difference between the Acrowools, Findoc and Oswal
amount of electricit generated Group for their support in this
b the solar panels and the environmentall sustainableen-
amount of electricit consumed deavour.
IndIan InstItute of scIence
Bangalore - 560012.
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29/04/2023 for the post of financial controller
It is hereby notiied that the last date for submission of
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extended till 07.06.2023.
The eligibility criteria and other terms and conditions remain
the same.
date: 26.05.2023 sd/-, ReGIstRaR
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Central Office, Mechanical Engineering Department K.H. Road, Shantinagar,
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NOTICE INVITING TENDER (Through e-Procurement mode only)
(1) BMTC invites Tender through E-Procurement Portal for supply of 20
Mini (Chikka) Electric buses. (2) Last Date for Bid Submission in
e-procurement portal is on 26.06.2023 at 17:30 Hours. Further, any
addendum/corrigendum in respect of changes in calendar of events, scope,
other tender terms & conditions etc., will be uploaded/Published through
e-portal only. NOTE: Interested Bidders need to register in the GoK
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Woman jumps
into canal with 2
minor daughters;
one feared dead
Ludhiana: A woman, along with
her two minor daughters,
jumped into Neelon canal of
Ludhiana on Frida . Police said
that while the woman and her
two-month-old daughter were
saved b the local residents, the
elder daughter aged around si
was feared drowned.
Police said that divers were
engaged, but the girl wasn’t
found till the filing of this report.
The woman and her infant were
rushed to Civil Hospital Samrala.
The condition of the infant
was stated to be serious.
Inspector Bhinder Singh
Khangura, SHO, Samrala police
station, said that the woman be-
longstoSahnewal.Duringprelim-
inar investigation it has been
learntthatthewomantookthee -
treme step after having an argu-
mentwithherhusband.However,
policeareinvestigatingthematter
and are also tr ing to recover the
bod of thesi - ear-oldgirl. ENS

Haryana: HC stays
recruitment test
for post of Asst
District Attorney
Chandigarh: Hearing a petition
challenging the recruitment test
for the post of Assistant District
Attorne in Har ana, the High
Courtsta edthee aminationtill
Jul 6. Digvija Singh and others
were the petitioners in the case.
The petitioners, through their
counsel Pardhuman Garg and
Jagriti Kalia, had sought to set
asidethenotificationdatedApril
12, whereb the Har ana Public
Service Commission (HPSC) had
changed the pattern of recruit-
menttestforthepostof Assistant
District Attorne subsequent to
the issuing of notification for the
recruitment of said post.
The petitioners had also
soughtdirectionstoHPSCtocon-
duct the recruitment test for the
postofAssistantDistrictAttorne
inthesamemannerasconducted
earlier or as mentioned in the
ServiceRules2 1tillthedateof
issuance of the advertisement.
A bench of Justice Suvir
Sehgal, while adjourning the
case to Jul 6, ordered, “It is e -
pected that e amination for the
recruitment to the post shall not
be held till then.” ENS
Chandigarh

8 REGION
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
SUPPORT SWELLS FOR VINESH PHOGAT, SAKSHI MALIK AND OTHERS
W e le gea f Pa liame i a g a i
da e , BJP feel he hea i Ha a a
VARINDER BHATIA
CHANDIGARH, MAY
WITH MEMORIES of the ear-
long farm protest still fresh in
their minds, man in Har ana
are silentl preparing for et an-
other stand-off with the Centre.
WhiletheUniongovernment
is getting read for a grand inau-
guration of the new Parliament
building in New Delhi on
Sunda , various groups in
Har ana —from farmers'unions
to khap pancha ats — are plan-
ning to converge outside the
building the same da to hold a
mahapancha at. In attendance
will be the wrestlers from their
state who have been protesting
at Jantar Mantar in the Capital
since April 23, demanding the
arrest of BJP MP and Wrestling
Federation of India (WFI) presi-
dent Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
On Thursda , a kisan pan-
cha at was convened at the
Khatkar toll pla a on the Jind-
Narwana national highwa in
Har ana. At the event, former
Jammu and Kashmir Governor
Sat a Pal Malik shared the stage
with leaders of farmers' unions
andseveralprotestingwrestlers,
including Bajrang Punia and
Vinesh Phogat. Both Punia, an
Ol mpic medalist, and Phogat,
an Asian Games gold medalist,
have been traversing through
Har ana and neighbouring
states to seek support for the
mahapancha at on Sunda .
At the event, Phogat criti-
cised the lack of action against
Brij Bhushan, sa ing, “When we
won medals for our countr , we
were made to feel that daugh-
ters get immense respect in this
countr . But toda , those ver
daughters are forced to sit on the
To protest non-payment of RDF, Mann PSEB CLASS RESULTS
to boycott Niti Aayog meeting today Single mother’s effort pays off, daughter
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
tops Ferozepur, is ranked tenth in state
CHANDIGARH, MAY
PUNJAB CHIEF Minister
Bhagwant Mann will not attend
theNitiAa ogmeetinginthena-
tional capital on Saturda to
protest against Centre not pa -
ing Rs 3,6 crore to the state to-
wards rural development fee
(RDF). Prime Minister Narendra
Modi will chair the Niti Aa og
Governing Council meeting and
willdeliberateonke issuessuch
as health, women empower-
ment, and infrastructure devel-
opment.
Aam Aadmi Part 's state unit
chief spokesperson Malvinder
SinghKangsaidthechiefminister
hadtakenupwiththeCentrethe
demandtoreleaseRs3,6 crore
outstanding RDF, but the Centre
has been sitting over it. He said
Mann has in the past met Union
Home Minister Amit Shah and
UnionConsumerAffairsandFood
and Public Distribution Minister
Pi ush Go al in this regard.
“The have reduced our
Mandi Development Fee (MDF)
from 3 per cent to one percent.
Where will the mone come for
the development of rural areas
and the mandi infrastructure?
Princess Sophia Duleep Singh's UK home gets commemorative Blue Plaque
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
LONDON, MAY
PRINCESSSOPHIADuleepSingh,
thedaughterof MaharajaDuleep
Singh – the last ruler of the Sikh
empire–andthegoddaughterof
Queen Victoria, was honoured
with a commemorative Blue
Plaque in London on Frida .
The Blue Plaque scheme, run
b the English Heritage charit ,
honours the significance of par-
ticularbuildingsassociated with
historical figures. In memor of
the British-Indian Princess, it
now adorns Farada House,
which was granted to Sophia
and her sisters as a grace and
favour apartment at Hampton
Court Palace southwest of
London b Queen Victoria.
“As a political journalist, I
thought I knew the stor of the
A securit personnel during wrestlers’ ongoing protest
against Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij
Bhushan Sharan Singh, at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi,
Frida . PTI
roads seeking justice, and no-
bod is bothered. This is a fight
for the honour of our Tricolour. A
mahapancha at shall be held
outside the Parliament building
on Ma 28."
“We appeal to all the outh
and the women of this countr
to reach New Delhi and partici-
pate in this mahapancha at. We
shall weed out all such people
like Brij Bhushan, who are occu-
p ing ke positions, not onl in
wrestling, but also several other
sports federations,” she added.
While the mahapancha at
presentstheBJPwithapublicre-
lations problem on a da when
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
is set to unveil the new
Parliament building, one of his
government’s most ambitious
projects, the part has been feel-
ing the heat in Har ana.
Sensing discontent, espe-
ciall in rural areas, Chief
Minister Manohar Lal Khattar
Bhagwant Mann
The Centre is discriminating
against Punjab...soin protest,the
chief minister will not be going
for the NITI Aa og meeting,"
Kang said.
"Sometimes it is the RDF is-
sue, sometimes it is value reduc-
tion imposed b the Centre on
wheatcropsdamagedduetoun-
timel rains, GST compensation
dela , sometimes it is the coal is-
sue..the 'discriminate' against
Punjab. But we want totellthem
that the countr runs according
to the Constitution," Kang said.
A senior official said that the
Centre had not released Rs 1,2
crore under National Health
Mission to Punjab citing the
state'sgovernment’sdesignoffa-
cade of the Aam Aadmi clinics
thathaveCMMannphotographs.
Earlier this ear, the Union
Health Ministr had said the
suffragettes, and then I found
this e traordinar woman and
she blew me awa ,” said Anita
Anand, the author of the biogra-
ph ‘Sophia: Princess,
Suffragette, Revolutionar '.
“As the last princess of the
Sikh Empire, goddaughter of
Queen Victoria, societ darling
and fashion icon, a life of com-
fort and celebrit was hers for
the taking, but she chose a
harder path. Using her interna-
tional fame and influence, put-
ting herself in ph sical danger,
she fought for the right of
women to vote. Campaigning
withunrelentingferocit ,lo alt
and selflessness, she moved the
dial,” she said.
Named after another former
resident, the eminent English
ph sicist Michael Farada
(1791–1867),Farada Housewas
PrincessSophia'smainresidence
,
has started holding “Jan Samvad
(public connect)” programmes
across the state since April. He is
spending three da s in each dis-
trict and interacting especiall
with the rural electorate. So far,
Khattarhascoveredthefour dis-
tricts of Bhiwani, Palwal,
Kurukshetra, and Sirsa. His Jan
Samvad programme in
Mahendragarh district is set to
conclude on Frida and to date,
the CM has covered more than
55 villages. The CM has focused
on addressing civic problems on
the spot and ensuring timel
procurement of crops and clear-
ing dues for crop loss.
In Sirsa, the outreach events
weredisruptedforthreestraight
da s, including an incident in-
volving a woman sarpanch who
confronted Khattar and threw
her dupatta (stole) at his feet.
Subsequentl , the CM blamed
peopleof “afewpoliticalparties”
for these disruptions and di-
Punjabgovernmentwasconvert-
ing the A ushman Bharat –
HealthandWellnessCentres(AB-
HWC) into Aam Aadmi Clinics, a
pet project of the ruling Aam
Aadmi Part , and had warned of
stopping the funds for the
scheme. The AB-HWC is formu-
lated with a 6 :4 contribution
ratio b the Centre and the state.
Among other issues, the
Punjabgovernmenthadlast ear
saidthe Centrehasturned down
the state government's proposal
of contributingtothecashincen-
tive to farmers for not burning
stubble.
The state government had
proposed to give Rs 2,5 per
acre to padd growers. It sug-
gested that the Centre pa Rs
1,5 peracrewhileRs1, per
acre will be borne b Punjab and
Delhi governments.
The Niti Aa og meeting will
deliberate on several issues, in-
cluding, health, skill develop-
ment, women empowerment
andinfrastructuredevelopment,
with an aim to make India a de-
veloped nation b 2 47.
The council, the ape bod of
Niti Aa og, includes all chief
ministers, lieutenant governors
of Union Territories, and several
Union ministers.
Authors Anita Anand (C) and
Peter Bance (L) during
unveiling of the English
Heritage Blue Plaque to
commemorate Princess
Sophia Duleep Singh at
Hampton Court Palace in
London, Frida . PTI
for over four decades.
Furnished to her lu urious
taste, the house – or “Apartment
41”togiveititsgrace-and-favour
title–wasPrincessSophia'sbase
during the man ears she cam-
paigned as a suffragette for
rectedtheadministrationtopre-
vent these. Khattar also sought
“action against those people
who disrupt an other political
part ’s programme too”.
Onthequestionof themaha-
pancha at, Har ana Home
Minister Anil Vij said, “The issue
of protestingwrestlersshallsoon
be resolved. Both sides have
agreed to their pol graph tests.
DelhiPoliceisalread investigat-
ing the matter. It is the opposi-
tion political parties like the
Congress that are adding fuel to
the fire. Wherever the
(Congress) find an thing hap-
pening, the reach there and in-
stigate people.”
What has e acerbated the
problem for Khattar is not onl
has the wrestlers’ protest gal-
vanised the Opposition and re-
ceived the support of the khaps
and farmers’ bodies, but some in
his part and all Janna ak Janta
Part (JJP) have also e pressed
their support for the protesters.
The BJP leaders to have e -
pressed their support include
former Union minister Birender
Singh, his son and Hisar MP
Brijendra Singh, and Har ana
power minister Ranjit Singh, an
Independent MLA from Rania.
Deput Chief Minister and JJP
leader Dush ant Chautala has
demanded the “strictest possi-
ble action” based on the FIRs
against Brij Bhushan.
While Khattar has tried to
deflectb sa ingthe“issueisnot
related to Har ana”, the
wrestlers’ protest ma et end
up hurting the part on the
ground and how the mahapan-
cha at on Sunda pans out will
be keenl observed b the
Har ana BJP since it ma set the
ground for a long and bruising
contest in the electoral arena.
DIVYA GOYAL GOPAL
LUDHIANA, MAY
LOSINGHERfatherwhenshewas
justfour,Ji a(16)andher ounger
brother were raised b their
mother J oti Sharma who has
beendoingoddjobstomakeends
meetafterherhusband'sdeathin
2 12.
On Frida , as the Punjab
School Education Board (PSEB)
declared results for class-1 , the
efforts of this single mother paid
off as her daughter not onl
toppedborderdistrictFero epur
butalsosecuredtenthrankinthe
state's merit list scoring 98.15%.
A student of Shaheed
Sukhwinder Singh Government
SeniorSecondar (Smart)School,
Mallanwala Khas village of
Fero epur, Ji a had shifted from
private school to government
school due to financial con-
straints.DuringCovid,hermother
lost her job as a teacher and she
now works in a local confec-
tionar storeforRs3 amonth
onl .
"The onl memor I have of
m father is that he used to pick
and drop me from school. After
women's voting rights.
Peter Bance, a British Sikh
historian, art collector and au-
thor of ‘Sovereign, Squire and
Rebel: Maharajah Duleep Singh
& the Heirs of the Lost Kingdom'
who campaigned for the plaque
After appeal from Sakshi
Malik, small farmers'
group to begin march
to Jantar Mantar today
RAAKHI JAGGA
LUDHIANA, MAY
A DAY after Ol mpic medallist
(wrestler) Sakshi Malik's appeal
to Punjab farmers, especiall to
the women of the state, to join
themat'MahilaMahapancha at'
in front of the new Parliament
building on Sunda in their
protestagainstallegedse ualha-
rassmentb thewrestlingfeder-
ationchief,asmallgroupof farm-
ers has made announcement to
start their march towards Jantar
Mantar on Saturda .
As Punjab farmer unions are
alread havingtheirpre-declared
programmes in the state on
Sunda aswellasonMonda ,the
strengthoffarmersgoingtoDelhi
will be limited, a farmer union
leader told The Indian E press.
Kisan Ma door Sangharsh
Committee (KMSC) Sarwan
SinghPandhersaid,“Ourjathaof
farmers with women in major-
it will be starting from Beas on
Saturda afternoon. We will be
sta ing overnight at Gurdwara
Manjhi Sahib in Ambala and on
Sunda morning will join our
women wrestlers protesting for
a cause. We full support them
as the are demanding action
against wrestling bod chief and
BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan
Singhforse ualharassment.We
are standing behind them.”
Ji a with her mother J oti.
She secured 98.15%.
losing him, m brother and I al-
wa ssawourmothertoilinghard
toprovideuswithever thingshe
could. I had decided that I will
make m mother proud," sa s
Jiah. who scored 638/65 marks.
HermotherJ otisaidthatshe
tried her best that her husband's
passingin2 12duetoallegedsui-
cide,didnotimpactherchildren's
studies. "I was working as a
teacher earlier but I lost m job
during Covid. Due to financial is-
sues,Ihadtoshiftm daughterto
said, “I came upon the stor of
the princess when I was re-
searching her father Duleep
Singh at a time when no one had
heard about her. It was as if her
stor had been erased from his-
tor . But once a forgotten
However, Dr Darshan Pal,
member, coordination commit-
tee of Sam ukta Kisan Union
(SKM), said, “SKM's Punjab unit
will be submitting memoran-
dumstoalltheMPsinPunjabre-
gardingourpendingdemandsin
which we have also raised the
matter of our wrestlers. This is
SKM's nationwide programme
which was planned about a
monthagounderwhichfarmers
will be marching towards the
houses of MPs in each district to
give them memorandums so
that the issues can be raised b
them in Parliament. So, our
women farmers will be joining
the 'Mahila Mahapancha at' in
Delhi but in limited numbers. A
group of around 5 women
will be going on Sunda .”
However, BKU Ugrahan will
be marching towards Raj
Bhawan, Chandigarh, to give a
memorandum to the governor
of Punjab over the issue of
women wrestlers and grilling of
noted political anal st, Dr
Navsharan Singh, b ED in the
past.Sheisthedaughterof noted
pla wright late Gursharan
Singh.Soourprogrammewillbe
in UT and Punjab onl on
Sunda . Our union will not be
going to Jantar Mantar, but we
full support the women
wrestlers and we have been to
Delhi in their support a number
of times.”
agovernmentschoolfromprivate
school. Toda 's result is all her
hard work," said J oti.
Jiah said that after shifting to
government school, she did not
feel an earthshaking change as
ithadallrequiredfacilities."From
labs for practicals to projector
room and e tremel supportive
teachers,Ihadever thingingov-
ernment school," said Jiah.
"I was four and m brother
Shivamwasjust11monthswhen
we lost our father. We have seen
our mother working da and
night for us. I thank m mother
andteachersforthissuccess,"said
Jiah, now pursuing non-medical
in class 11. "I never had an fi ed
stud ing hours but m golden
rule was to revise ever thing for
the da after coming from
school," she said.
SanjivTandon,principalofthe
school, said that Jiah comes from
ane tremel humblefamil and
herperformanceinboardswasa
result of her mother's and teach-
ers' efforts. "We alwa s ensured
that she had those additional
notesandever thingrequiredfor
preparationratherthangoingfor
private tuition. It was all her self-
stud ," said the principal.
princess, she has now become
an icon.” Uniquel spanning the
ver different worlds of the
British court and the movement
forwomen'ssuffrageintheearl
2 th centur , Sophia Duleep
Singh made full use of her ro al
title and public persona.
“I remember m godmother
Princess Sophia telling me about
thesuffragettesandhowwomen
weren'talwa sallowedtovoteas
we walked through the gardens
at Hampton Court together. And
then, as a child, I made a solemn
vow to her that I would alwa s
e ercisem righttovote,andIal-
wa s have,” said Drovna O le ,
goddaughter to Princess Sophia.
The princess, who died aged
71 in August 1948, dared the au-
thorities to punish her as she
shrewdl chose which political
protests to attend, ones the
couldnotignore.Herresidenceat
During the rall b Kirti Kisan Union in Moga. Express
Farmers ask govt to
provide canal water
for farming, drinking
RAAKHI JAGGA
LUDHIANA, MAY
HUNDREDS OF farmers Frida
protested against the Punjab
government demanding the
state to make canal water avail-
able for farming and drinking
purposes. At a rall organised b
Kirti Kisan Union (KKU) in the
grain market of Moga district,
the farmers also raised the issue
of providing legal guarantee for
minimum support price (MSP)
for agricultural produce.
KKU state press secretar
Raminder Singh Patiala said,
“Farmershadcomefromdifferent
areasof Majha,MalwaandDoaba
regions of Punjab. While Punjab
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann is
appealingtofarmerstoutilisemore
andmorecanalwater,wedemand
from him that canal water should
be made available to ever house
forfarmingaswellasdrinkingpur-
poses. We too want to use canal
water, but its reach is not there in
ever villageof Punjab.”
KKU state general secretar
Rajinder Singh Deep Singh Wala
said, “CM Bhagwant Mann is
telling in his speeches that
Punjabisusingonl 34%of canal
water,whileRajasthanuses87%.
Butif thereisanetworkof canals
in the state, we too will use it
along with other parts of the
state. Mann should take care of
his own constituenc Dhuri and
adjoiningareas.Farmersfrom65
villages of Dhuri, Malerkotla,
DirbaandSangrurVidhanSabha
constituencies have been de-
manding canal water from this
government but to no avail.
These areas are e ploited ones.
What is the government doing
forthem?InPunjabever house-
hold has to spend on drinking
water, that is, the have to install
areverseosmosis(RO)purifierto
get clean drinking water or pur-
chase water from a common RO
s stem. Isn't it the responsibilit
Punjab offers OTS scheme
for power bill defaulters
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, MAY
THE PUNJAB government Frida
announced a one-time settle-
ment (OTS) scheme for power
consumers who have defaulted
on their bill pa ments or whose
powerconnectionswerediscon-
nectedamidfinancialconstraints.
Announcing this, Chief
Minister Bhagwant Mann said
that the scheme will be available
forthreemonthsforallcategories
of consumers, especiall the in-
dustr .Hesaiditwillgiveagolden
opportunit to such consumers
whose power connections were
cut or not restored because of
their financial constraints.
Farada House was not without
controvers as reflected in a
much-publicised photograph of
herselling‘TheSuffragette'paper
outside Hampton Court Palace,
whichledtoherevictionfromthe
propert beingdiscussedincourt
and government circles.
The idea was eventuall dis-
missed as it would have dragged
theCrownintotheparliamentar
suffrage debates of the time.
Farada Housewasalsoraidedb
bailiffs seeking redress for her
non-pa ment of ta es after she
joined the Women's Ta
ResistanceLeague(WTRL)in1911.
“Princess Sophia was a fasci-
nating and important figure, but
her stor was not at all well
known in the decades following
her death. I'm delighted that in-
terest in her has grown in recent
ears. English Heritage hopes
that our blue plaque will help
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
of the government to provide us
clean drinking water?”
KKU president Nirbhai Singh
Dhudike said, “We also demand
opening of Attari and
Hussainiwala road corridors for
India-Pakistan trade in order to
make farming profitable.”
“The claims of crop diversifi-
cation b the central and state
governmentstosolvetheagricul-
turalcrisisaremeree ewash.The
basicrootof thefarmingcrisislies
inthepro-corporateagricultural
developmentmodelof theGreen
Revolution which has created a
crisis of waterandenvironment,
besides trapping the farmers in
deep debt. This model needs to
be replaced with a self-sustain-
ing, to ic-free, nature-friendl
and profitable farming model,”
said Rajinder Singh Deep Singh
Wala while addressing the large
gathering at the protest rall .
He said that KKU has also
launched a campaign demand-
ing debt relief for the farmers
and a legal guarantee on MSP
based on Swaminathan
Commission's'C2+5 %formula'.
It is also asking the the govern-
ment to move towards water
conservation, he added.
Raminder Singh Patiala said,
“On the one hand the water cri-
sis in the state is increasing da
b da , on the other the CM is
giving the nod to give more wa-
ter to Rajasthan. We are warning
the Mann government to stop
pla ingwiththeemotionsof the
people of the state and to make
arrangements to provide 'canal
water to ever farm and clean
potable water to ever house'.”
Calling for solving the prob-
lem of river water disputes ac-
cordingtoriparianprinciples,the
farmer leaders said that the 'de-
stro ed'canals steminthestate
should be repaired and restored.
Itisimportanttoe pandthenet-
work of canal s stem to ensure
thatthewaterreachesever farm
and house, the added.
The OTS comes with the op-
tionof pa ingtheamountinfour
instalments over one ear.
Presentl ,thedefaultershave
to make late pa ments of the
pending amount with 18 per
centinterest.However,asperthe
OTS, the interest rate has been
slashed to 9 per cent.
Further, instead of pa ing
fi ed charges for the entire pe-
riodbetweencuttingoff thecon-
nection and its restoration, the
consumers will not have to pa
such charges if the period is less
than si months.
However, if this period is
more than si months, then
fi ed charges of onl si months
will have to be paid, as per the
scheme.
ensure that she's firml estab-
lished in the pantheon of great
campaigners for women's suf-
frage,” said Anna Eavis,
Curatorial Director at English
Heritage.
Duleep Singh was the last
Maharaja of Punjab as the son
and heir of Maharaja Ranjit
Singhwhowase iledtoEngland
as a teenager in 1854. He shared
aclosebondwithQueenVictoria
until he grew critical of the
British Empire in later life.
It was on his request that the
Queen agreed to be the god-
motherofhisdaughterSophiaand
went on to grant use of Farada
House to the famil for the rest of
theirlivesevenasherrelationship
withtheirfathersoured.
During her life, Sophia main-
tained a strong connection with
Indiaandherashesweretakento
Indiab hersisterBambain1949.
Chandigarh
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY 27, 2023 9
STATE BANK OF INDIA HIMACHAL PRADESH STATE ELECTRONICS HIMACHAL PRADESH
STRESSED ASSETS MANAGEMENT (SAM) BRANCH, ADMIN OFFICE, GROUND FLOOR,
ZONAL BUSINESS OFFICE BUILDING, FOUNTAIN CHOWK, CIVIL LINES, LUDHIANA
DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION LIMITED PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
Ist & Ground Floor, I.T. Bhawan, Mehli, Shimla-171013
PUBLIC NOTICE FOR MERGER OF BRANCH E-Procurement Notice
Tel. No. 0177-2623259, 2623513, 2626320, 2623513
Customers and General public is hereby informed that our Branch INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
2623043, FAX: 0177-2626320 Website: www.hpsedc.in
namely, Stressed Assets Management Branch Ludhiana (Branch 1. The Executive Engineer Electrical Division No-II, HPPWD Shimla-1 on behalf of Governor of H.P invites the
No. SEDC/ST/DSC/2k23-2505 Date: 26/05/2023
Code 15631, Admin Office, Ground Floor, Zonal Business Office online bids on item rate, in electronic tendering system, for the under mentioned work (s)from the eligible and
Building, Fountain Chowk, Civil Lines, Ludhiana) has been merged e-TENDER NOTICE approved contractors/Firms registered with HPPWD (Electrical) department in appropriate class
with our Stressed Assets Management Branch Chandigarh (Branch e-Tenders are invited from eligible bidders for theprocurement of
Digital Signature Certificates for various departments in Himachal Sr. Name of Work Estimated Earnest Time Cost of
Code 04262, SCO-99 to 107, Sector-8C, Madhya Marg, Chandigarh) No. Cost money Form
w.e.f. 22.05.2023. All the accounts maintained and handled at SAMB Pradesh about 1000 numbers. Pre-Bid meeting will be held on
02/06/2023 (11:30AM) through Video Conferencing. 1 Providing 3 phase combined metering with load distri- 7,78,384 15,500 1 month 350/-N
Ludhiana Branch stand transferred to and will be maintained and bution and SOP cables in Govt.Industrial Training
handled at SAM Branch at Chandigarh. Any correspondence in future Last date foronline e-bid submission is 16/06/2023 (upto 02:30 Institute at R/Peo Distt.Kinnaur
regarding the accounts or otherwise be made with Stressed Assets PM) and shall be opened on 17/06/2023 at 2:30PM.Detailed Tender 2 11,28,636 22,500/- 1 month after Rs.350/-
Construction of vigilance office at
Document containing Technical Specifications and Terms completion of NR
Management Branch, SCO-99 to 107, Sector-8C, Madhya Marg, R/PeoDistt.Kinnaur(SH:Providing EI therein)
&Conditions are available on HPSEDCwebsite www.hpsedc.in and civil work
Chandigarh (04262). All concerned to note please. https://hptenders.gov.in.
State Bank of India 3 Providing electrical staff for attending complaints in 10,01,376 20,000 1 year Rs. 350/NR
0204/HP General Manager (Technical)
electrical Sub-Division,HPPWD R/Peo Distt.Kinnaur
Stresses Assets Management Branch, under Electrical Divn.No.II HPPWD US Club,Shimla-1
Civil Lines, Fountain Chowk, Ludhiana w.e.f.01.06.2023 to 31.05.2024)

2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The Bid document is available online and bid
should be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in.
Bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bid-
der is required to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities
(CA). “Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering
in HPPWD may obtain the same from the website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandato-
ry to participate in the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from author-
ized CAs can use the same in this tender
COURT NOTICE COURT NOTICE
(U/o 5 Rule 20 CPC)
3. Key Dates:
(U/o 5 Rue 20 CPC)
1. Date of Online Publication 30.05.202317:00 HRS
In The Court Of In The Court Of Sh. 2. Document Download Start and End Date 30.05.202317:30 HRS up to

Ms. Suman Manmohan Bhatti 07.06.202317:00 HRS

3. Bid Submission Start and End Date 30.05.202317:30 HRS up to
Civil Judge ( Junior 07.06.202317:00 HRS
Pathak Additional Division), Dasuya 4. Physical Submission of EMD and Cost of Tender Document 08.06.2023 up to 11:00 HRS
Civil Judge Darbara Singh Aged About 5. Date of Technical Bid opening, Evaluation of Technical Bid followed by 08.06.202311:30 HRS
Opening of Financial Bid.
(Senior Division), 68 Years Son Of Fauja
Singh S/o Sh Wadhawa 4. Tender details:
Jagraon Singh R/o Village Chak The Tender Documentsshall be uploaded online in singleCover:
Cover 1: shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bid”, where contractor will quote his offer for each item.5.
Suit For Recovery Bamu Po Chak Bamu, Submission of original documents: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand draft towards
Tehsil Dasuya Distt the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and other Technical
Punjab National Hoshiarpur Documents inO/o Executive Engineer Electrical Division No-II, HPPWD Shimla-1as specified in Key dates
Bank ....plaintiff under Sr. No. 3 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive.
6. Bid opening details:The bids shall be opened on08.06.2023at11:30Hrs in the office Executive Engineer
Vs.
Vs. Gram Panchayat Of Electrical Division No-II, HPPWD Shimla-1by the authorised officer. In their interest the tenderer are
advised to be present along with original documents at the time of opening of tenders.
Nirmal Singh Village Chak Bamu
Through Its Sarpanch And
7. If ithappens to be holiday on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids will be opened on the
next working day at the same time and venue and no separate notice will be given in this regard.
CNR NO: PBLDB0-
Others 8. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 120 days after the dead-
000813-2022 line date for bid submission.
....defendants
Next Date: 04-07-2023 CS/705/2020 9. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer-inviting tender shall not be held liable for
Publication Issued CNR NO: PBHOA0- any delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bid-
ders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It
To: 2. Jagdev Singh :- 000942-2020 is the bidder’s responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.
S/o Nirmal Singh S/o Next Date: 03-07-2023 10. The competent authority on behalf of Governor of H.P reserves the right to reject any or all the tenders
Publication Issued To: received without assigning any reason.
Jagir Singh R/o 2 ( Ii) Jasvir Singh Son Of 11. Registration with HP Sales Tax is essential. If the bidder has not registered and found to be the lowest bid-
Village Jassowal Late Nirmal Singh der he is supposed to register him on award of work. He shall submit the sales tax paper to the employ-
er, before any payment is made to him.
Tehsil Jagraon Distt 2(iii) Kulvir Singh Son Of Executive Engineer,
Ludhiana Late Nirmal Singh Both Elect. Division No.II
In above titled case, the R/o Village Chak Bamu, HPPWD Shimla-1
defendant(s)/ respondent(s) Tehsil Dasuya, Distt 0855/HP –HIM SUCHNA AVAM JANSAMPARK-
could not be served. It is Hoshiarpur
ordered that defendant(s)/ In above titled case, the
respondent(s) should appear defendant(s)/respondent(s) could HIMACHAL PRADESH
in person or through counsel not be served. It is ordered that PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
defendant(s)/respondent(s)
on 04-07-2023 at 10:00 a.m. should appear in person or e-PROCUREMENT NOTICE
for details logon to: through counsel on 03-07-2023 at NOTICE INVITING TENDER (NIT)
https://highcourtchd.gov.in 10:00 a.m. 1. The Executive Engineer, Shimla Rural Division, HPPWD, Dhami on behalf of Governor of H.P invites the
for details logon to: percentage rates bids, in electronic tendering system from the eligible class of Contractors registered with HPPWD
/?trs=district_notice&distri for the works as detailed in the table as under:-
https://highcourtchd.gov.in/?trs=di
ct=Ludhiana strict_notice&district=Hoshiarpur Sr. Name of Work Estimated EMD Cost of Time
Additional Civil Judge Civil Judge ( Junior Division) No Cost (in Rs.) Tender
( Senior Division) Jagraon Dasuya (in Rs.)
1. Construction of Govt., Ayurvedic Health Dispensary in 5390106 108000/- 2000/- Nine
Dargi Sub-Tehsil Dhami, District Shimla (SH: Site Months
Development, C/O Building Portion, WS & SI , Rain Water
Harvesting tank, Septic Tank)
2. Construction of Dharogra Dalogghatti road km. 0/00 to 19999994/ 400000/- 5000/- Twelve
8/375 (SH: Formation cutting 5/7 meter wide single lane in - Months
between km. 0/510 to 2/195, C/o R/Wall in between km.
CHANDIGARH ADMINISTRATION 1/400 to 1/420 and C/o wire crate walls for dumping site at
Rd. 0/085 to 0/135 & 0/800 to 0/850 etc.)
DEPARTMENT OF EXCISE & TAXATION 3. Annual Surfacing on Anandpur Kot Geha road from Kms. 11918142/ 239000/- 5000/- Two
0/0 to 8/0 (SH: Providing and laying 30mm thick - Months
PUBLIC NOTICE bituminous concrete alongwith providing and laying hot
applied thermoplastic compound 2.50 mm thick edge line
Notice for inviting e-tenders for allotment of in Kms. 0/0 to 7/0 ) Under AMP MDR for the year 2023-
remaining 18 licensees for Retailsale vends (L- 2024 PMGSY incentive.
4. Annual Surfacing on Link Road to Panti road Km. 0/00 to 1058614/- 21200/- 500/- One
2/L-14A) from the general public for Excise Policy 0/660 (SH:- P/L 30mm thick bituminous concrete alongwith Month
2023-24 in U.T., Chandigarh. P/L of Hot Applied Thermoplastic Compund 2.50mm thick
for edge line in between Km. 0/00 to 0/660) Under AMP for
1. It is hereby notified the information of general public that F.Y. 2023-24.
e-tenders are invited for the grant of retailsale i.e. L-2/L- 5 Annual Surfacing on Link road to Totu Bazar km. 0/00 to 2801028/- 56000/- 1500/- One
1/040 (SH: Providing and Laying 30mm thick Bituminous Month
14A licences in the form of licensing units for the Excise Concrete along with providing & laying of Hot Applied
Policy, 2023-24. Each Licensing Unit will comprise L- Thermoplastic compound 2.50 mm thick for edge line in
2/L-14A (Indian Made Foreign Liquor, Imported Foreign between km. 0/00 to 1/040) under AMP for FY. 2023-24
6. Construction of Devidhar Ambri sheedal Road Km. 0/00 to 951253/- 20000/- 350/- Two
Liquor and Country Liquor) under one roof. There will be 3/515 (SH:- formation Cutting in earth work km. 3/315 to Months
remaining 18 licensing units across the entire city with a 3/515)
reduced reserve price as approved by the Competent 7. Construction of National Law University at Ghandal Sub 2199826/- 44000/- 500/- Four
Authority and e-tenders shall be invited individually for Tehsil Dhami, District Shimla (H.P) (SH: P/F Main Gate, Months
Security work and water and water supply and sanitation
all the licensing units. installation in toilet etc.)
2. The Retail-sale vends shall be allotted to the highest eli- 8. Construction of road from Jalog Gadheri road to Village 2683355/- 54000/- 1500/- Six
Khandharti ojdu shaw seri Km. 0/00 to 1/330. (SH: Months
gible bidder, quoting equal to or above the reserve price Formation Cutting 5/7 meter single lane in Km. 0/00 to
of the licensing unit. In case of more than one bid quot- 0/510, Construction of R/walls, B/walls and wire crates for
dumping structures in between Km. 0/00 to 0/510
ing the same highest price is received, the allotment
9 Construction of link road to village Kalventi km 0/00 to 3069458/- 62000/- 1500/- Five
shall be determined by draw of lots among the bidders 0/940(SH: Formation Cutting 5/7 meter wide single lane in Months
quoting the same highest price. km. 0/00 to 0/510, C/o R/Walls, B/Walls and wire crate walls
for dumping structure at various Rds in km. 0/00 to 0/510).
3. All willing participants may visit the official website of the 10. Construction of link road to village Banuna Gagal to Bagri 2859077/- 58000/- 1500/- Five
department i.e. www.etdut.gov.in/exciseonline for infor- km 0/00 to 0/460(SH:- Formation Cutting 5/7 meter wide month.
single lane in km. 0/00 to 0/460, C/o R/Walls, B/Walls and
mation to know the procedure. The detailed procedure wire crate walls for dumping structure at various Rds in
for e-tenders and submission of participation fee and km. 0/00 to 0/460).
earnest money, in accordance with the Excise Policy 2. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission:- The Bid document is available online and bid
2023-24, is available on the official website of the should be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in. Bidder would be required to register in
department i.e. www.etdut.gov.in/exciseonline as well as the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder is required to have Digital Signature
Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities (CA). “Aspiring bidders who have not
in the Excise office of the Department. obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering in HPPWD may obtain the same from the
4. In order to submit e-bids. every prospective bidder is website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandatory to participate in the e-tendering. Bidders
already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CA can use the same in this tender.
required to get himself registered at
3. Key Dates:-
https://etenders/chd.nic.in.
1. Date of Online Publication 27.05.2023 18:30 HRS
5. The terms & conditions and the detailed list mentioning 2. Document Download Start and End Date 27.05.2023 18:30 to
localities/sectors of Licensing units, Vend Code, permis- 06.06.2023 18:30 HRS
sible No. of vends, quota and reserve price can be 3. Bid Submission Start and End Date 27.05.2023 18:30 to
downloaded from the official website of the Excise & 06.06.2023 18:30 HRS
Taxation Department i.e. www.etdutgov.in/exciseonline 4. Physical Submission of Tender Documents 07.06.2023 10:30 HRS
from 'Public Notices' Section. 5. Date of Technical Bid opening, Evaluation of Technical Bid 07.06.2023 11:00 HRS
followed by Opening of Financial Bid.)
6. All licenses shall be granted subject to the Punjab
Excise Act, 1914 (as applicable to U.T. Chandigarh) and 4. TENDER DETAILS: The Tender Documents shall be uploaded online in two cover:
the Rules framed there-under and the Excise Policy (i) Cover 1: shall contain scanned copies of all “Technical Documents/ Eligibility Information”.
(ii) Cover 2: shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bid”, where contractor will quote his offer in percentages.
2023-24. The Excise Policy 2023-24 is available on the
5. SUBMISSION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS:
official website of the Department
The bidders are required to submit strictly (a) online payment receipt (Tender Fee) (b) online payment receipt
www.etdut.gov.in/exciseonline. (EMD) (c) Original Form 7-8 and (d) Original Affidavits and other documents defined in cover-1 (Technical
documents/eligibility information) to the authorized official of Executive Engineer, Shimla Rural Division,
7. E-tenders will be available at https://etender.chd.nic.in HPPWD Dhami H.P as specified in Key dates Sr. No. 4 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be
on 26.05.2023 at 12.00 Noon and the bidders may start declared non-responsive.
to submit their bids form 26.05.2023 (12.00 Noon). 6. The bid shall be opened on 07.06.2023 at 11.00 HRS by the authorized official of Executive Engineer, Shimla
Rural Division, HPPWD Dhami H.P. in his office. The intended bidders are advised to be present along with
SCHEDULE OF DATES FOR original documents at the time of opening of tenders if so desired. If the office happens to be closed on the
date of opening of the bids as specified the bids will be opened on the next working day at the same time and
ALLOTMENT OF LIQUOR VENDS: venue.
7. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 75 days after the deadline
1 Starting Date and Time for Bid From 26th May, 2023 date for bid submission.
Submission (12.00 Noon) 8. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable for any
2 Closing Date and Time for Bid 05th June, 2023 delays due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any
bid updates, the employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidder’s
Submission (upto 03.00 P.M.) responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.
3 Opening of Technical e-Bids 05th June, 2023 9. Bidders are advised to quoted their rates in accordance with the guidelines in this regard.
(03.30 P.M. onwards) 10. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA:-The bidders must have successfully completed similar nature of work not less than
40 % of estimated cost during the last five financial years (without Liquidated damages or compensation) for
4 Opening of Financial e-Bids 05th June, 2023 Job No. 1 to 3 and bidding capacity including turnover and upload the original scan copies of the same
(04.30 P.M. onwards) specifically.
at Conference Hall, 11. The bidder must have uploaded the proof of possessing the HMP and Paver etc. and as per schedule-F
(Clause 18 of GCC) Periodic maintenance for Job No. 3 to 5.
Excise & Taxation 12 The bidders are advised to note other details of tenders from the departmental website www.hptenders.gov.in.
Department, Sector-17, 13. The competent authority reserves the right to cancel any or all the tender without assigning any
Chandigarh reason thereof.
Executive Engineer
Sd/- Shimla Rural Division
Excise & Taxation Commissioner, H.P.P.W.D. Dhami
Tel. 0177-2790534
Union Territory, e-mail:- ee-sml2-hp@nic.in
Chandigarh 0842/HP On behalf of Governor of Himachal Pradesh

Chandigarh

0 E EXPLAINED
THIS WORD MEANS
XPOSAT
India’s first polarimetr mission to stud d namics of
bright astronomical X-ra sources in e treme conditions
THEINDIANSpaceResearchOrganisation
(ISRO) is collaborating with the Raman
Research Institute (RRI), Bengaluru to
build an X-Ra Polarimeter Satellite
(XPoSat)thatisscheduledtobelaunched
later this ear.
Recentl , ISRO chairman S Somanath
urgedIndianscientificinstitutionstoiden-
tif talentedstudentsandtakestepstomo-
tivatethemineffectivel usingdataemerg-
ingfromscience-basedspacemissions.He
mentioned the XPoSat in this regard.
XPoSat mission
According to ISRO, “XPoSat will stud
various d namics of bright astronomical
X-ra sources in e treme conditions.” It
has been billed as India’s first, and the
world’s second polarimetr mission that
is meant to stud various d namics of
bright astronomical X-ra sources in e -
treme conditions. The other such major
mission is NASA’s Imaging X-ra
Polarimetr E plorer (IXPE) that was
launched in 2 21.
“IXPE carries three state-of-the-art
space telescopes. Each of the three iden-
tical telescopeshosts one light-weight X-
ra mirror and one detector unit. These
will help observe polarised X-ra s from
neutron stars and supermassive black
With brain and spine implants,
a paralysed man walks again
GERT-JAN OSKAM was living in China in
2 11 when he was in a motorc cle acci-
dentthatlefthimparal edfromthehips
down. Now, with a combination of de-
vices, scientists have given him control
over his lower bod again.
“For 12 ears I’ve been tr ing to get
backm feet,”Oskamsaidinapressbrief-
ingthisweek.“NowIhavelearnedhowto
walk normal, natural.”
In a stud published on Wednesda in
Nature, researchers in Swit erland de-
scribed implants that provided a “digital
bridge” between Oskam’s brain and his
spinal cord, b passing injured sections.
The discover allowed Oskam, 4 , to
stand, walk and ascend a steep ramp with Oskam. Jimm Ravier/EPFL via The NYT
onl the assistance of a walker. More than
a ear after the implant was inserted, he
hasretainedtheseabilitiesandhasshowed ulationproceduresallowedparal edsub-
signs of neurological recover , walking jectstoswim,walkandc clewithinasin-
withcrutchesevenwhenthe
implant was switched off.
“We’ve captured the
thoughts of Gert-Jan and
translatedthesethoughtsinto
a stimulation of the spinal
cord to reestablish voluntar
movement,” Grégoire Court- PAPER
ine, a spinal cord specialist at
the Swiss Federal Institute of
Technolog , Lausanne, who
CLIP
helpedleadtheresearch,said NEW RESEARCH foreign about the locomo-
at the press briefing.
In 2 18, a different group
of scientists, also led b Courtine, devised
a wa to stimulate the brain with electri- said: “The stimulation before was con-
cal-pulse generators, allowing partiall
paral edpeopletowalkandridebic cles stimulation.”
again.Last ear,moreadvancedbrainstim-
Drishti IAS

THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
holes. B measuring the polarisation of
these X-ra s, we can stud where the
light came from and understand the
geometr and inner workings of the light
source,” The Indian Express reported in an
e plainer published at the time.
XPoSat’s pa loads
The spacecraft will carr two scien-
tificpa loadstoalowEarthorbit.Thepri-
mar pa load POLIX (Polarimeter
Instrument in X-ra s) will measure the
polarimetr parameters (degree and an-
gle of polarisation).
The pa load is being developed b RRI
in collaboration with ISRO’s U R Rao
SatelliteCentre(URSC)inBengaluru.POLIX
is e pected to observe about 4 bright as-
tronomical sources of different categories
duringtheplannedlifetimeofXPoSatmis-
sion of about 5 ears. This is the first pa -
load in the medium X-ra energ band
dedicatedforpolarimetr measurements.
The XSPECT (X-ra Spectroscop and
Timing) pa load will give spectroscopic
information (on how light is absorbed
andemittedb objects).Itwouldobserve
several t pes of sources, such as X-ra
pulsars,blackholebinaries,low-magnetic
field neutron star, etc.
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
gle da of treatment.
Oskam had undergone
stimulation procedures in
previous ears and had even
regained some abilit to
walk, but eventuall , his im-
provement plateaued. At the
press briefing, Oskam said
that these stimulation tech-
nologies had left him feeling
that there was something
tion, an alien distance be-
tween his mind and bod .
The new interface changed this, he
trolling me, and now I’m controlling the
THE NEW YORK TIMES
,
The US and Bangladesh
The US has issued a visa ‘threat’ demanding free and fair elections in Bangladesh. Prime Minister Hasina
has been a steadfast friend to India; however, the US could be more open to political change in Dhaka
NIRUPAMA SUBRAMANIAN
CHENNAI, MAY
A NEW visa polic announced on Ma 24 b
USSecretar of StateAnton Blinken“tosup-
port Bangladesh’s goal of holding free, fair
and peaceful national elections” is a surpris-
ing new turn in the countr ’s relations with
the United States.
It comes a month after Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina accused Washington DC of
seeking tooust her government. It could also
have an impact on India’s diplomac with
Bangladesh.
Blinken announced that under the new
polic , which covers current and former
Bangladeshi officials, members of ruling and
oppositionparties,lawenforcementperson-
nel, judiciar and securit services, and their
famil members, US immigration authori-
tieswouldbeabletorestrictissuanceof visas
tothosewhounderminetheholdingof afree
and fair elections.
The announcement has come in the
midstof continuingoppositionprotestsfrom
last ear, demanding that the elections —
likel inJanuar 2 24—beheldunderacare-
taker government.
PM Hasina’s tough st le
Over her three terms in office, Prime
Minister Hasina’s st le of functioning has
cometobeseenasincreasingl authoritarian.
Her crackdown on Islamists, banning the
Jamaat-e-Islami and setting up a court that
convicted and sentenced to life terms or
death man Jamaat members forcollaborat-
ing with the Pakistan Arm in 1971, won her
plaudits.
But she e tended her attack to former
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh
Nationalist Part (BNP), citing its links to
Islamist parties and alleging corruption at
thetop. Zia is livingin virtual house arrest af-
ter a suspended jail sentence — and trial be-
gan this week in another case against her on
new charges of alleged corruption.
However, the BNP has been organising it-
self for the coming election, and the Bangla
street is bristling with political hostilit and
acrimon .OnMa 23,severalBNPcadreswere
Indus civilisation Dancing Girl and her story
ARJUN SENGUPTA & DIVYA A
NEW DELHI, MAY
INAUGURATING THE International Museum
E po in New Delhi’s Pragati Maidan on Ma
18, Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled
the e po’s mascot — a “contemporised” ver-
sionof thefamous“DancingGirlof Mohenjo-
daro”. “The mascot is regarded as contempo-
rar dwarpals e tending an invitation to the
e po,”itwasannouncedduringtheunveiling.
Themorethanfive-foot-talladaptationwas
subsequentl criticisedfordistortingtheform
of the iconic 4,5 - ear-old bron e figurine.
Standingjust1 .5cmtall,theoriginalfigurine
isdark,andwearsonl banglesandanecklace.
The mascot has fairer skin, and is dressed in a
brightpinkblouseandanoff-whitewaistcoat.
The Ministr of Culture has clarified that
the mascot is no more than “an inspired craft
EXPLAINED INDIA S NEIGHBOURHOOD
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets Bangladesh High Commissioner Md
Mustafi ur Rahman in New Delhi on Thursda . Jaishankar tweeted that he
discussed wa s to “further deepen India-Bangladesh Maitri” with Rahman. PTI
arrestedafterclasheswithpolicewhotriedto
prevent a protest march through Dhaka. And
aseniorBNPleaderwasarrestedafterhesaid
at a protest rall in Rajshahi district last week
thattheoppositionhadonl onedemand:“to
send Sheikh Hasina to the grave”.
The space for dissent and criticism has
shrunk visibl . Last ear, the Hasina govern-
ment brought in a draconian Digital Securit
Act, and a journalist of the Bangla-language
Prothom Alo was jailed under this law in
March this ear.
Another Prothom Alo reporter had been
detained and questioned for several da s in
Ma 2 21. The Prime Minister has described
the popular and widel circulated newspa-
per, founded b the Ramon Magsa sa
awardee Matiur Rahman, as anti-national,
“whichnever wantsstabilit inthecountr ”.
Not surprisingl , the Bangladesh opposi-
tion has viewed the US announcement as
outside confirmation of its own fears, and
has welcomed the new polic .
Bangladesh and the US
The US State Department has clarified
that its actions on visas were not targeted
against the Hasina government or her part ,
the Awami League. Earlier this month, the
USannouncedthesamepolic inNigeria.On
Thursda , US Ambassador to Dhaka Peter
(33 -13 BC;maturestage26 -19 BC)
— also known as the Harappa-Mohenjodaro
Civilisation and the Sindhu Saraswati
Sabh ata — was announced in 1924, after
sitesandartefactsknownsincetheearl 19th
centur werecorrectl datedandrecognised
as part of an ancient culture like the ones in
Mesopotamia and Eg pt.
A spate of e cavations followed in
the two major sites known at the time
— Harappa in Punjab and
Mohenjodaro in Sindh,
both in present-da
Pakistan. The Dancing
Girl was discovered in
1926 b the British archae-
ologist Ernest McKa in a ruined
house in the “ninth lane” of the “HR
area” of Mohenjodaro’s citadel.
After Partition, the Dancing Girl re-
mained with India. The bron e figurine
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
If there are questions of current or contemporar relevance that ou would like
e plained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com
Haas met representatives of both ruling and
opposition parties to e plain the new polic .
USofficialshavealsodeniedthatthenew
polic was in retaliation against the govern-
ment’s decision, announced on Ma 14, to
curtailthesecurit detailof Haas,whoisseen
as a “ver active” diplomat in Dhaka. In
December 2 22, Haas visited the famil of a
BNP politician who has been missing since
2 13. In 2 21, the US had imposed sanctions
on the Rapid Action Battalion, an elite anti-
terrorism paramilitar accused of rights vi-
olations, including disappearances.
The mutual unhappiness in the US-
Bangladeshrelationshiphasbeenevidentfor
some ears; in April, Hasina accused the US
of seeking regime change in Bangladesh.
“The are tr ing to eliminate democrac
and introduce a government that will not
have a democratic e istence,” she told
Parliament after a visiting senior State
Department official said that a decline in
democrac in a countr alwa s “limited” the
US’s abilit to cooperate with it.
Hasina’s week-long visit to Washington
at the end of April included no big-ticket
meetings. And on Thursda , the Bangladesh
Ministr of ForeignAffairssaidinastatement
that the countr e pected that the visa pol-
ic “will not be applied arbitraril in a non-
objective manner”.
pose she strikes and what it conve s — has
longfascinatedarchaeologistsandhistorians.
The figurine has “the pleasing stance of a
oung and spirited woman,” Romila Thapar
wrote in The Penguin Histor of Earl India:
From Origins to AD 13 (2 2).
“This oung woman has an air of livel
pertness, quite unlike an thing in the work
of other ancient civilisations,” A L Basham
wrote in his 1954 classic The Wonder that
was India.
MortimerWheeler,directorgeneral
of the Archaeological Surve of India
(ASI) between 1944 and 1948, was
awestruck: “A girl perfectl , for the
moment, perfectl confident of her-
self and the world. There’s nothing
like her, I think, in the world.”
John Marshall, who headed the
ASI from 19 2 to 1928 and oversaw
the initial e cavations in Harappa
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
Dhaka’s options are limited. The US is the
biggestdestinationforBangladesh’sgarment
e ports, and Bangladesh is the third largest
e porter of garments to the US after China
and Vietnam. The industr is the backbone
of the countr ’s economic growth, and pref-
erentialtariffsforitsread madegarmente -
ports to the US and EU is crucial as
Bangladesh graduates out of the least devel-
oped countr categor in 2 26. After a
downturn in the econom last ear,
Bangladesh had to seek an IMF bailout.
Earlier this month, the Hasina govern-
ment, which has a close relationship with
China but is also aware of its limitations,
brought out Bangladesh’s first Indo-Pacific
Outlook, committing to a vision of “a free,
open, peaceful, secure, and inclusive Indo-
Pacific for the shared prosperit for all”.
ThislanguagewaspleasingtotheUS,and
one US official told a Bangla news outlet that
there were a “lot of s nergies between our
two documents, our strateg , and our
(Bangladesh’s) outlook”.
India watching closel
The US position on the Bangladesh elec-
tions could complicate India’s diplomac in
Dhaka. New Delhi, which is in no doubt that
it wants Hasina back in power, ma prefer to
keep silent on the linking of the US visa pol-
ic to free and fair elections.
Hasina’sdealingswithNewDelhihasnot
won her man points in her countr . While
the Prime Minister is hailed in India for put-
ting aside her own political concerns over
the Indian government’s Hindutva and in-
vectivetargeting Bangladeshis tosolidif the
friendship, at home, she is seen as having
given awa too much — land transit rights to
the Northeastern states, securit assurances,
a favourable coal power deal to an Adani
compan —whenBangladeshitself hasbeen
awaiting Teesta waters for a do en ears.
Over the last few ears, the US and India
wereseenasactingintandeminBangladesh,
especiall as their securit objectives con-
verged. The visa polic is a sign that this ma
be changing. The US is the top foreign in-
vestorinBangladesh.Apost-AfghanistanUS,
with new priorities, seems more open than
India to political change in Dhaka.
time to the music with her legs and feet”.
Various inferences
As Marshall’s description suggests, the
pose the figurine strikes has led historians to
believe that it depicts a dancer. However,
there is no other evidence to support this
claim. The American archaeologist Jonathan
Keno er wrote in Art of the First Cities: The
Third Millennium BC from the Mediterranean
to the Indus (2 3) that the dancer label was
“based on a colonial British perception of
Indian dancers, but it more likel represents
a woman carr ing an offering”.
In 2 16, a paper b Thakur Prasad Verma
in Itihaas, the Hindi journal of the Indian
CouncilofHistoricalResearch,claimedthatthe
figurine was in fact a depiction of Goddess
Parvati. The paper attempted to tie the Indus
Civilisation to Vedic Hinduism — an under-
standing that most historians have rejected.
   


work”.“Theideaofintroducingthemascot,es-
peciall through a to , was also to bring forth
sitsintheNationalMuseuminNewDelhi
as artefact no. HR-5721/195, enthralling
andMohenjodaro,describedthefig-
urineas“a ounggirl,herhandonher
What the bron e statuette does confirm
though, is the degree of sophistication of
(Prelims + Mains) theimportanceofmuseummerchandiseand visitors as the star of the museum’s fa- hip in a half-impudent posture, and Harappan artistr and metallurg . The
(Along with Free Online Facility) inturn,self-sustainabilit of theseculturalin- mous Indus Civilisation legsslightl forwardasshebeats Dancing Girl is evidence of the Indus civilisa-
stitutions,” officials told The Indian Express. galler . tion’s knowledge of metal blending and lost-


  


 
8010-440-440 OR Visit Our Karol Bagh Centre at 21, Pusa Road, Delhi.
N heel
PAROMITA CHAKRABARTI
NEW DELHI, MAY
EARLIER THIS week, Ilona Chernobai, a
model and fitness influencer from Ukraine,
was dragged off the red carpet at the 76th
Cannes Film Festival after she poured fake
bloodonherself to protestRussia’sinvasion
of her countr . While Chernobai’s dramatic
action was unique, the Cannes festival has
seen several protests and
e pressions of dissent over
the ears.
EXPLAINED
1968: The New Wave
CULTURE
shutdown
In Ma 1968, a call for a morning press
conference at Cannes would lead to an un-
e pected turn of events. Jean-Luc Godard
and François Truffaut, giants of French New
Wavecinema,declaredtheirsolidarit with
the student protests rocking the countr
since March that ear.
About a week earlier, a march of nearl
3 , students had led to violent clashes
with the police in Paris’s Latin Quarter. That
“Night of the Barricades” had pushed the
The Dancing Girl
fake bl d: A h hi
filmmakers to form the Cinematheque
Defence Committee, and to come out in
support of the protesters.
“The radio announces b the hour that
factories are occupied or closed. The trains
have stopped, and themetro and buseswill
be ne t. So to announceever hour that the
CannesFilmFestivalcontinuesisjustridicu-
lous,” Truffaut said. Godard was more di-
rect:“We’retalkingsolidarit withstudents
and workers, and ou’re talkingabout doll
shotsandclose-ups.You’re
ass***es,” he said.
Truffaut said none of
thefilmsatthefestival,nor
its over-the-top show of
wealthwasrepresentative
of what was going on in France, and asked
for a closure to that ear's festival.
“Ever thing with an sort of dignit or im-
portance inFrancehascometoa stop.Ipro-
pose that we bring Cannes to a halt to or-
ganise a debate about the future of French
cinema,” he said.
Man of his colleagues agreed, and
Cannes1968cametoanunceremoniousend.
1975: (Camera) shutters down
The discover of the Indus Civilisation
Julia Roberts barefoot in Cannes in 2 16; Ukrainian model Ilona Chernobai after
putting fake blood on herself this week. Reuters/Instagram @ilonachernobai
If there aren’ta thousand shutters going
off as the stars step on to the red carpet, is it
even a festival? At Cannes 1975, American
actor Paul Newman would discover to his
peril what it meant to snub photographers.
He refused to pose for them soon after
The bron e figurine is just
Beaut & attitude
The Dancing Girl — the
f e a Ca e film fe i al
arrival, and thephotographers retaliated b
puttingtheircamerasdownandrefusingto
take pictures of him when he climbed the
famous steps of the Palais in the evening.
The matter would be sorted out the ne t
da after Newman tendered an apolog .
wa casting — a comple process b which a
1 .5 cm tall. Wikipedia
French actor Isabelle Adjani met with a
similar fate in 1983 before the screening of
her film, L’ete Meurtrier, after she refused to
be photographed b an one other than a
few select photographers with whom she
had signed an e clusive contract for pho-
tograph rights.
1991: Rocking the dress-code boat
Pop icon Madonna came dressed to dis-
sent in 1991 when she broke the festival’s
formal dress code of below-the-knee
evening dressesb appearingin a long pink
satin cloak that she took off on the steps of
the Palais to reveal a ’4 s-inspired two-
piece bustier outfit b Jean Paul Gaultier.
2 15 AND LATER: Protest against
fashion police
Rigid sartorial demands at the festival
would again come under fire in 2 15, when
it was reported that women wearing flat
shoeswerebeingturnedawa fromthefes-
tival. The organisers confirmed that the
dress code for women mandated high
heels, and refused to comment on the re-
port.
The following ear, actors Julia Roberts
duplicate sculpture is cast from an original to
create highl detailed metallic artefacts.
and Sasha Lane would walk the red carpet
barefoot. The matter would again come up
three ears later when Kristen Stewart
wouldtakeoff herLouboutinsandwalk the
2 18 red carpet barefoot ahead of the
screening of BlacKkKlansman.
At this ear’s festival, too, at the screen-
ing of Bread and Roses, actor Jennifer
Lawrence paired her red Dior gown with
black flip-flops. Cate Blanchett took off her
heels before presenting Iranian French ac-
tor Zahra Amir Ebrahimi the Breakthrough
Artist award in solidarit with Iranian
women’s fight for civil rights.
2 22: Stop the war, heal the world
Last ear too, artistes had e pressed
their solidarit with Ukraine. Producers
Dar a Bassel and Yeli aveta Smith wore t-
shirtsthathadthe image of an e plosion on
it, with the message “Sensitive content:
Russians kill Ukrainians. Do ou find it of-
fensive and disturbing to talk about this
genocide?” accompan ing it.
And a woman stripped off her clothes
on the red carpet to reveal the Ukrainian
flag painted on her bod , with a short, stark
message: “Stop raping us.”
Chandigarh
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY , EXPRESS NETWORK
‘In Karnataka, corruption has now become
a constitutive part of governance’
Social historian and political commentator Dr Prithvi Datta Chandra Shobhi on takeawa s from the Karnataka Assembl election results, wh
entrepreneurs have joined politics and how Hindutva was blunted. The session was moderated b National Opinion Editor Vandita Mishra

On the role of Hindutva in the election

On whether the verdict was a surprise
Iwasver surprisedbecauseweweree pect-
ing a much closer election. Though the Congress
had the momentum for the last si to eight
months, the e tent of its victor and the wa in
whichitmanagedtocobbletogetherasocialcoali-
tion in four out of the si regions have come as a
surprise. Even in other regions, especiall in
Bengaluru, it has done reasonabl well. It’s onl
in the coastal regions, which are a traditional
stronghold of the BJP, that the fared badl .
I think that the results of this election did not
depend on what the Congress was doing. There
weretwootherimportantquestions.Thefirstand
most important question was whether the BJP
would be able to hold on to its Lok Sabha vote-
base because unlike 15-3 ears ago, this com-
prisesapluralit ofvoters.Andthatcannotbedis-
puted as it became clear in the 2 19 Lok Sabha
elections when BJP got more than 51 per cent of
thevotes.Traditionall ,intheLokSabhaelections,
votershavealwa ssupportedanationalpart .In
1989,theCongresswonmorethan8 percentof
allseats.Andthatwouldalsotranslatetowinning
about 75 per cent of the Assembl segments in
ever election. But over the last 25 ears, the BJP
hasovertakenitandhasdonespectacularl well,
e cept for one election in 2 9. The culmination
of its upward trend was in 2 19 and for the past
four ears, the BJP has been wondering if it can
retain its hold on Lok Sabha voters and ensure
the support the Assembl election candidate.
Theotherquestionwasabouttheimpending
implosionoftheJanataDal(Secular)andwhether
its various fragments would end up in one of the
two national parties. This was e pected since
2 6 when JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswam tied
upwiththeBJPtoformacoalitiongovernment.A
AUDIENCE QUESTIONS
On learnings for other political parties
The foremost learning is that there is a
benefit of empowering local leaders, who
will build the part , understand what is
needed in their state and, therefore, will be
able to address people’s aspirations. A na-
tional political part needs to allow a con-
versation between the Central and state
leadership, share ideas and fashion a new
political imagination that can align with its
national goals. The wa the Congress revi-
talised its organisation, did its messaging
andhaddifferentleadersworkinginacom-
plementar mannerisane ampleofwork-
ing as a collective entit .
On the impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra and
Mallikarjun Kharge
Bharat Jodo Yatra set the mood. It also
monthbeforetheelections,whenanendlessfight
drovehimandhisbrotherHDRevannaapart,the
popular mood, even among strong supporters,
was moving awa from the part . The implosion
hasn’t happened et but the JD(S) disintegration
is continuing.
energised the Congress at the local level. It
was different from the Praja Dhwani Yatra,
which was done a couple of months before
the elections, where people were brought
inandprovidedtransport,accommodation
and an allowance. In Bharat Jodo, people
were walking alongside, the were not
brought in for numbers. So, this provides a
different kind of d namic and interaction
withpeopletocreatever humanmoments
that are not possible in big election rallies.
Whether this can be sustained or institu-
tionalisedwilldependonwhattheCongress
does ne t. Mallikarjun Kharge’s elevation
(toCongresspresident)isanimportantsig-
nal to both the Dalit and Kannada groups.
KhargeisthefirstKannadigatohavegotten
that importance after (Siddavanahalli)
Nijalingappa in the 196 s.
On corruption in Karnataka
Therearetworeasonswh corruptionhasbe-
comeaconstitutivepartofgovernance.First,con-
tractors and entrepreneurs have become politi-
cians. Second, there is a growing significance of
e tractive industries like mining and real estate
National issues become more important in
the Lok Sabha. Hindutva to an e tent has an ap-
peal because ou do see a resentment towards
minorities,especiall againsttheMuslim-major-
it nationslikeBangladeshorPakistan,whichare
obscenel articulatedsometimeswithviolentim-
ager and great aggression. Also, when it comes
to a national discussion, there seems to be a ten-
denc tofallbackonone’sHinduidentit andsee
thatasbeingmoreimportantthancasteidentit .
Thecasteof thecandidateisnotasingulardeter-
minantintheLokSabhaasitwouldbeinthecase
(Left)DrPrithviDattaChandra Shobhiand of Vidhan Sabha, Zilla Pancha at or Taluk
VanditaMishra Pancha at elections.
If ou were to do a surve , ou will find that
thisisafarmoreconservativesociet thanwehad
inpubliclifeandpoliticsinparticular.Thereason thought it to be earlier. Despite the progressive
wh such industr barons are entering politics is legac andtraditionthatKarnatakahashad,itstill
because the want to make sure their lands run is a ver conservative societ when it comes to
large,the canmanipulatepublicpolic ,gettheir these kinds of issues and that has gotten consol-
clearances quickl and so on. In that sense, cor- idatedinrecenttimes.Butb andlarge,Karnataka
ruption has assumed this dual face. That’s wh had this legac of harmon , even when it came
corruption has become a part of governance be- to the rule of Tipu Sultan. He was quite aggres-
causeinsteadof an substantiveno- sive,violentandwashostiletowards
tionofpublicgoodorpublicwelfare, various communities, who were ei-
it is actuall private profit, which is ther outside his empire or outside
the motivation. Therefore, what we thecoreregionofhisstateandpolit .
seeisaninefficiente ecutionofproj- When ou have these nuanced dis-
ects, which has led to the erosion of cussions, a more comple under-
the state’s capacit to function. standing of people emerges. So,
But Karnataka is still a prett when outr tobrandhimasanevil
good state as it has been growing in SCANTHECODETO ealot, that branding also hits a wall
comparison to other states quite WATCHVIDEO at some point because it runs
dramaticall . Enough wealth is be- countertothememoriesofpeople,it
inggeneratedtoapportionsomefor runscountertothehistoricalrecord.
publicwelfare.There’salwa ssomeangerabout Andthatissomethingof anissuethattheBJPhas
the wealth which politicians are making, about had to deal with. Similarl , the memor of
corruption itself, about mone that one has to Partitionorthememor ofIslamicaggressionhas
pa either to get a job or a posting. But that has- not been as fresh. Even in north Karnataka, with
n’t stopped people from actuall offering bribes the e ception of the rule of H derabad ni ams,
to get a job done, manipulate postings or ensure theBahmaniSultanateandothersortsof Islamic
deliver of services. political presence have been fairl benign. And
There is no popular uprising against corrup- therefore, there is a shared culture of religious
tion as such. Corruption will continue because spaces being used together. So Islamic scholars
that has become a standardmode of operations. have studied Vachanas and Hindu scholars have
If wearesoseriousaboutcorruptionasasociet , learnt Islamic te ts. Then Sufism has been a ma-
then we should have protested vehementl jorinfluence,andbecauseof that,therearemore
againstthekindof obscenee penditurethathas memories or legacies of harmon than of dis-
happened during campaigning in the state. So, union or of aggression. You cannot wish these
the voter is also complicit. things awa .

KRISHNA JANMABHOOMI-SHAHI IDGAH

DMK workers stop I-T team at TN minister’s home, damage vehicle
HC to hear all pleas ARUN JANARDHANAN
Coimbatore and Karur districts.
“Around 4 premises linked to
was taken during the last phase
of the campaigning for the
manding that the show their
identit cards.Mattersescalated
plainclothes, in a ta i car and
tried to scale the compound
dent, sa ing, “Law and order has
failed.” He sought stringent ac-

with Mathura court CHENNAI, MAY

DMK WORKERS stopped an

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
PRAYAGRAJ, MAY
THE ALLAHABAD High Court on
Frida directed that all matters
related to the Sri Krishna
Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dis-
pute pending before a Mathura
court be transferred to it.
Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra
passed the order allowing a
transfer application filed b
Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman
at Katra Keshav Dev Khewat
Mathura (deit ) through the
ne t friend, Ranjana Agnihotri,
and seven others.
“Let the district judge,
Mathura,preparealistof allsuch
cases of similar nature involving
the subject matter and touching
upon its peripher , e pressl or
b implication, including partic-
ulars of such cases, and these
suits and cases, along with the
record, as above, shall be dul
forwarded to this court within
two weeks and the same shall
JJP will contest Rajasthan
The complex in Mathura. File
stand transferred to this court in
the e ercise of suo motu powers
of this court,” the judge said.
“It is requested to the re-
spected chief justice to kindl
nominate an appropriate bench
fortrialanddisposalof suchsuits
so withdrawn,” he added.
The petitioners had re-
quested that the original trial
must be conducted b the high
courtitself liketheA odh amat-
ter. After hearing the counsel for
the parties, the court had, on
Ma 3, reserved its judgement,
which was delivered on Frida .
Income-Ta (I-T) team from
searching the rented accommo-
dation of Tamil Nadu minister V
Senthil Balaji and his brother
Ashok in Karur town and dam-
aged their vehicle, as the central
agenc launched simultaneous
searches at around 4 premises
linkedtothetwoFrida morning.
AccordingtoI-Tofficials,the
had to abort searches at a few
other places as well due to
protests. The searches were car-
riedoutatpropertiesinChennai,
Court orders probe against ASI
in 2018 Alwar lynching case
HAMZA KHAN
JAIPUR, MAY
IN ITS judgment in the 2 18
Rakbar Khan l nching case, the
trial court in Alwar said that no
religion permits violence or ha-
tredinitsnameandthatsuchin-
cidents in asecularnationattack
the soul of the Indian
Balaji and his brother Ashok are
underinspectionsincemorning.
The properties mostl belong to
Balaji,hisbrother,andtheirclose
allies and friends,” said a senior
I-T official.
Properties of Thangaraj, a
quarr owner and friend of
Ashok, and Senthil Karthik, a
real-estate businessman based
in Coimbatore and friend of
Balaji,arealsounderscrutin ,the
official said. A four-time MLA
since 2 6, Balaji holds
Electricit , Prohibition and
E cise portfolios. “Such raids are
not new to us as similar action
imprisonment and acquitted lo-
cal VHP leader Naval Kishore in
the case.
“Under the guise of religion,
the accused took the law into
theirownhandsandtriedtotake
action against cow smugglers.
No religion permits spreading of
religious violence or hatred …
Such illegal activities in a secular
nation like India severel harm
Assembl polls... In most places
where the searches were con-
ducted, the individuals are al-
read pa ing ta ; the are not
ta evaders,” he told reporters.
“If someone has done some-
thing wrong, please take action.
But is it fair to scale the wall and
enter the house,” he said, refer-
ring to allegations that I-T offi-
cialstriedtoscalethecompound
wall of his rented accommoda-
tion in Karur.
Earlier in the da , more than
2 DMK workers, including
Karur Ma or Kavitha Ganesan,
confronted the I-T officials, de-
ment contrasts with the state-
ments of both the special public
prosecutors (SPP) in the case,
AshokSharmaandNasirAliNaqvi,
who said that the quantum of
punishmentwasinsufficientcon-
sidering the severit of the crime
and that the would recommend
anappeal.
While four were convicted
under IPC 3 4 (punishment for
when the search team allegedl
refused to show the identit
cards.
The DMK workers damaged
the vehicle in which the I-T team
arrived, following which police
were called to restore order.
“We requested the I-T offi-
cials to follow basic protocols
and ensure necessar safet be-
fore the search a sitting minis-
ter's residence,” said an official
at the Karur SP's office.
“Neither the police nor the
CRPF were informed about the
searches. The landed up at the
minister’s brother’s house in
Man gets life
term for minor’s
rape, murder
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
BENGALURU, MAY
A 27-YEAR-OLD food deliver
agentwassentencedtolifeimpris-
onment for allegedl raping and
murderinga16- ear-oldstudent.
Raju C was apprehended on
April 15, 2 21. The fast-track
courtannouncedonWednesda
the sentence of life imprison-
wall. Luck that the were not
ph sicall attacked b the angr
mob,” the official said.
Later in the da , the I-T offi-
cials filed a complaint with the
police.
The DMKalleged theBJP was
using central agencies such as
the I-T to target Opposition par-
ties.DMKorganisationsecretar
R S Bharathi claimed the BJP was
targeting the DMK because of
the M K Stalin-led government's
popularit in Tamil Nadu.
BJP state unit president K
Annamalai slammed the state
government over the Karur inci-
UPSC weighs criminal
action against 2 candidates
for false claim of selection
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI, MAY
THE UNION Public Service
Commission (UPSC) is con-
sidering criminal and disci-
plinar penal action against
two candidates for allegedl
claiming selection in the
tion against those who stopped
the I-T team.
A leader with considerable
clout in Karur, Balaji joined the
DMK ahead of the 2 19 Lok
Sabha polls. Previousl , he was
an influential minister in the
AIADMK Cabinet.
The I-T searches were
launched amid allegations
against Balaji – an alleged cash-
for-jobscambesides allegeddis-
crepancies and lack of trans-
parenc inrunningthecash-rich
Tamil Nadu State Marketing
CorporationLimited,whichsells
foreign liquor in the state.
"The claims of both per-
sons are fake. The have
forged the documents in
their favour to buttress their
claims," said the statement
issued on Frida .
B doing so, both Makrani
and Tushar have acted in con-
travention of the provisions
of the Rules of the Civil

polls in ‘coordination’
Constitution. (or hurt) the soul of the Indian culpable homicide not amount- ment, including 22 ears of rig- civil services e amination, Services E amination, 2 22
The court has also recom- Constitution.If asoft approachis ing to murder) and 341 (wrong- orous imprisonment, and im- the results of which were notified b the government of
mended a departmental inquir adopted in such cases which fulrestraint),Naqvisaidthatthe posed a fine of nearl Rs 1.8 lakh. declared on Tuesda . India (Department of

with BJP: Ajay Chautala against Assistant Sub Inspector

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, MAY
THE JANNAYAK Janata Part (JJP)
Frida saiditwillcontesttheassem-
bl electionsinRajasthan,tobeheld
laterthis ear,in“mutualcoordina-
tion” with the BJP, the announce-
ment coming amid voices within
thesaffronpart advocatingthatit
contest the 2 24 Assembl polls
alone in Har ana where the two
partiesareinanalliance.
JJP president Aja Singh
Chautala said Prithvi Meel has
been appointed the part 's
Rajasthan unit chief and Prateek
Maharia, the son of former
Fatehpur MLA Nand Kishore
Maharia,its outhfrontpresident.
Earlier,Aja Chautala'ssonand
Har ana's deput Chief Minister
Dush ant Chautala had said that
hispart hasplansfieldcandidates
in 18 Assembl constituencies.
Rajasthan has a 2 -member
Vidhan Sabha. Addressing media
in Jaipur, Aja Chautala said talks
wereunderwa withBJPnational
presidentJPNadda."Wewillcon-
test on those seats in Rajasthan
where the BJP is weak," he said.
Chautala said the Congress gov-
ernmentinRajasthanhasfailedon
ever frontandpeoplewerelook-
ing for an alternative. "Whenever
we contested elections, people
have reposed faith in us," he said,
adding the JJP will contest elec-
tionsonman seats.
Politicall ,theJJPishopingfor
a positive response from
Rajasthanbecauseofalargenum-
ber of Jat voters there and former
deput Prime Minister Devi Lal’s
influence on the communit . In
the1989LokSabhaelections,Devi
Lal was elected from two seats —
Sikar in Rajasthan and Rohtak in
Har ana. Aja Chautala too was
elected to Rajasthan Assembl
twice—firstfromDataRamGarh
in 1989 and then from Nohar in
1993. In2 3, whenOm Prakash
Chautala was Har ana CM, the
Indian National Lok Dal (INLD)
hadwonsi seatsinRajasthan.In
2 8, the INLD contested the
Assembl electioninalliancewith
BJP, which gave the part four
seats but it could win none.
Mohan Singh over the dela in
takingRakbartothehospitalafter
he was assaulted b a mob in
Alwar’sLalwandiontheinterven-
ingnightofJul 2 and21,2 18on
suspicion of cattle smuggling.
Additional District and
Sessions Judge Sunil Kumar
Go al had on Thursda sen-
tenced four men to seven ears’
Man goes on crime spree posing as police, Army officers; held
SREENIVAS JANYALA
HYDERABAD, MAY
A MAN who went on a crime
spree posing as police and Arm
officers,andallegedl carriedout
abductions and e tortion, has
been arrested in the Madhapur
area of H derabad.
The C berabad police ar-
rested the man, identified as 25-
ear-oldNagarajuKarthikRaghu
Varma alias Karthik, who hails
from Andhra Pradesh’s West
Godavari district, on Tuesda . A
7.75 mm countr -made pistol
and Rs 2 lakh were recovered
have a widespread effect on the
societ , then there is a strong
possibilit that it might send a
negativemessageinsociet ,”the
judge said in his order. The order
also said that “even if the cows
were being taken for slaughter,
the accused had no right to take
lawintotheirownhandsandas-
sault someone”.
However, the court’s state-
from his possession. Police also
found in his possession a cap
with the IPS emblem, fake iden-
tit cards of Delhi and Telangana
police,afakeministr of defence
IDcard,andlogostickersof Delhi
and Telangana police.
Police officers in Madhapur
said there were seven cases
againstKarthikinTelangana,one
in Andhra Pradesh, and one in
Jharkhand.
Inacrimespreethatspanned
atleast5-6 ears,hehasbeenar-
rested and jailed multiple times.
He allegedl abducted and as-
saultedanumberof victims,and
filmed the assault in order to
should have been convicted un-
der 3 2 (murder) too. Citing the
judgment delivered b then
Chief Justiceof IndiaDipakMisra
in the Tehseen S Poonawalla vs
Union of India case on mob
l nching, Naqvi said that even
under IPC 3 4, the convicts
should have been awarded the
ma imum punishment of life
imprisonment.
show it to other victims to scare
and e tort mone from them.
According to police, Karthik
hadbeenkeenonjoiningthepo-
lice or the Arm , but had not
managed to clear the e ams. He
came to H derabad in 2 16 and
worked as a cab driver for a ear,
but soon got into trouble with
the law, spending si months in
jailforstealingavehiclefromthe
owner of the cab service he was
working for.
After his release, he went to
Maharashtra, where he did sev-
eral odd jobs, but returned to
H derabad before long and took
up work as a driver. He then got
Justice K N Roopa ordered
Raju to serve life term with a fine
ofRs1lakhformurder,2 earsof
rigorous imprisonment with a
fineofRs5 , forrape,andtwo
ears of rigorous imprisonment
with a fine of Rs 25, for kid-
napping.Accordingtopolice,Raju
strangledthegirlathisresidence
on April 3. Subsequentl , he al-
legedl tried to die b suicide.
arrested and jailed again for
stealing a car from his emplo er.
He was released on bail in late
2 18, after which he joined a se-
curit services agenc where he
came in contact with an e -
Arm man. “From that person,
Karthik gained a lot of informa-
tion about Arm ranks, uniform,
badges, and availabilit of uni-
forms that look like the Arm ’s,”
DCP in charge of Madhapur, T
Srinivas Rao, said.
Having procured an Arm
uniform, he then went to his
hometownandinformedfriends
andrelativesthathewasaMajor
in Para SF. Posing as an Arm of-
The case relates to A sha
Makrani (from Madh a
Pradesh) and Tushar (from
Bihar) who fraudulentl
claimed that the have been
finall recommended b the
Commission in the civil serv-
ices e amination 2 22
against two roll numbers of
genuinel recommended can-
didates, it said.
ficer, he invited local ouths to
joina‘trainingcentre’thathehad
established,whereheclaimedto
give “defence training”.
He was soon jailed again af-
ter local police found out he was
not an Arm officer and arrested
him.
After being released on bail
in 2 2 , Karthik returned to
H derabadandstartedane tor-
tion racket, according to police.
He and three of his associates al-
legedl posed as intelligence of-
ficers and raided the house of a
businessman living in Banjara
Hills,andtookRs1lakhcashthat
had been kept in the house.
Personnel and Training), it
said.
In accordance with the
provisions of the
E amination Rules, the
UPSC is contemplating both
criminal as well as discipli-
nar penal action against
the two candidates for their
fraudulent acts, the state-
ment said.
Later, posing as a police offi-
cer, he allegedl abducted the
owner and son of an ambulance
service, and e torted Rs 5 ,
from them.
Multipleothersimilarcrimes
and an arrest followed, after
which he was released in Ma
2 22. He dove straight back into
crime, going on et another
spree of e tortions and abduc-
tions, according to police.
His latest arrest came as the
police were looking into a com-
plaint b a businessman from
whomhewasallegedl tr ingto
e tortRs14lakh.Hewasnabbed
outside a hotel in Madhapur.

Chandigarh
 EXPRESS NETWORK
Terror funding case:
NIA moves HC, seeks
death for Yasin Malik
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY
THE NATIONAL Investigation
Agenc (NIA) has approached
the Delhi High Court seeking the
death penalt for Kashmiri sep-
aratist leader Yasin Malik in a
2 16 terror-funding case in
which a trial court had handed
him life imprisonment last ear.
The NIA's appeal has been
listed for hearing before a divi-
sion bench of Justice Siddharth
MridulandJusticeTalwantSingh
on Ma 29.
The NIA has accused Malik,
leader of the Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF),
of orchestrating violent protests
in 2 16, when 89 cases of stone-
pelting were reported.
Although the agenc had
sought the death penalt for
Malik, the NIA court of
Additional Sessions Judge
Parveen Singh on Ma 25 last
Among new Census questions:
Do you use bottled water,
how many smartphones?
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY
IS PACKAGED or bottled water
oneof themainsourcesof drink-
ing water at our home? Does
our kitchen have an LPG or PNG
connection? How man smart-
phonesorDTHconnectionsdoes
thehousehave?Whatisthemain
cerealconsumedb ourfamil ?
These are some of the new ques-
tionsonwhichdatawouldbecol-
lected when the dela ed 2 21
Census finall gets resumed.
The 2 21 Census had to be
put off due to the Covid pan-
demic, and a fresh schedule for
the e ercise is still to be notified.
OnMonda ,theCensusoffice,
which is commemorating 15
earsofitse istence,finall gotits
own new building -- Janganana
Bhawan.Thenewofficespacewas
CROSSWORD 5
ACROSS
1 Stock up with helpers in
break (9)
8 He has to be what he is (5)
9 Beat the counter-
Reformation (7)
1 Tension in the air
(6)
11 Copper cost is cra so get
plaster (6)
12 Late find wildl e aggerated
(8)
15 Leave some food and water
(8)
18 Instruction for the French
bo (6)
2 Possible result of good
polishing (6)
21 Wanting to be irritating
(7)
22 Is involved in one dreadful
row (5)
23 Revealed a number is to be
performed (9)
Sl i C d5 :Ac : Tedi ,4B gle, La e,8Mi i g, Sec d
ma e, S el e, B a , 5Pai edl k, 8P idge, Take, Dem , Rela ed
D : Talk , De ached, S igma,4Bl
Mah ga , S am ed, 4O age , K ead, T am
JUMBLED WORDS
Gi e bel a ef j mbled d S l e hej mble make
he e ec i e a e bel Selec hele e i he haded a e a dj mble hem ge
hea e f hegi e i
Iha e he T me he i he e heca i -WillD
ORTOR
DEROO
Answer:I hate the outdoors. To me the outdoors is where the car is - Will Durst
SOLUTION:ROTOR, RODEO, STOCKS, CURSED
ear awarded him two life sen-
tences and other jail terms,
which will run concurrentl .
Thejudgealsoimposedafine
of Rs 1 ,65, for offences un-
der the Unlawful Activities
(Prevention) Act and the IPC.
On Malik’s plea that he had
givenupviolenceandwould“fol-
lowthepeacefulpathofMahatma
Gandhi”,thespecialcourthadsaid
hecouldnotclaimtobeafollower
of Gandhi ashedidnot condemn
the violence in the Valle .
On Ma 1 last ear, he
pleaded guilt to all charges, in-
cluding those under the UAPA.
Thejudgehadsaidthecrimesfor
whichMalikwasconvictedwere
serious in nature and “intended
tostrikeattheheartof theideaof
India and to forcefull secede
J&K from the Union of India”.
“The crime becomes more
seriousasitwascommittedwith
the assistance of foreign powers
and designated terrorists,” the
special court had said.
inaugurated b Home Minister
Amit Shah. To mark its 15 th an-
niversar , the Census office has
also come out with a new publi-
cation — A Treatise on Indian
Censusessince1981—thatwasre-
leased earlier this week.
The publication contains de-
tailed information about the last
four Census operations. It also
has a chapter on preparations
that were being made for the
2 21 Census, including informa-
tion that was to be collected for
the first time. Among the other
fresh introductions is whether
“natural calamities” is a reason
for migration in the famil .
On religion, the publication
sa s, the question has si op-
tions – Hindu, Muslim,
Christian, Sikh, Buddhist and
Jain. “For other religions, write
the name of the religion in full,
but do not give an code num-
DOWN
2 Regretted imprisoning a
bird (5)
3 Start off with a meal outside
(6)
4 Take it or leave it (2,6)
5 Man people go to the
Spanish Inn (6)
6 Find made b a hunter
(7)
7 Worst or best wa to help a
duvet maker (5,4)
11 Fidgeting before making a
deal perhaps (9)
13 Closing period? (4,4)
14 A crop is knocked flat
(7)
16 What ma be said about me
is onl insinuated
(6)
17 Complaint about Ma’s hat
(6)
19 Animal ma appear on cue
(5)
d ,5G i , Eage l , I i ia i ,
e d a dm e hem
8, ,8 ame d ice
CKOSST
CRUDES
Pre-matric scholarship scam: Over
2 yrs later, Jharkhand cops arrest 2
ABHISHEK ANGAD
RANCHI, MAY
MORE THAN two-and-a-half
ears after The Indian Express re-
ported on the siphoning of the
funds meant for pre-matric
scholarship in Jharkhand, the
state police have made first ar-
rests from Koderma district of
Jharkhand, identif ing the ac-
cused as a retired clerk and a
computer operatorfromthedis-
trict Welfare Department.
Koderma police arrested re-
tired clerk Mohammad
Mobinand and computer oper-
atorMohammadHaideronMa
24 for allegedl embe ling Rs
1.5 crore scholarship amount.
The Indian Express had pub-
lishedaseriesof investigativere-
portsin November 2 2 , uncov-
ering financial irregularities in
the scholarship funds meant for
minorit students in Jharkhand.
The reporting had led to an in-
quir and made the state gov-
ber,” it sa s. There have been de-
mands from the tribal commu-
nit to list Sarna as a separate re-
ligion.
The house-listing e ercise,
which forms the first part of the
Census and is carried out in the
ear prior to the Census ear,
was just about to begin, on April
1, 2 2 , when Covid intervened.
Coronavirus cases began
emerginginIndiainMarch2 2 ,
andafulllockdownwasimposed
onMarch24that ear,forcingthe
Census to be put on hold. The
house-listinge erciseisfollowed
b the actual population enu-
meration that happens in
Februar of the Census ear.
The 2 21 Census was also
supposed to be a digital e er-
cise, though later it was decided
to use electronic means as well
as traditional paper forms to
collect data.
OVER THE HEDGE b Michael F & T Le i
CALVIN & HOBBES b Bill Wa e
MARVIN b T m A m
Diffic l Le el
I ci
T l eaS d k le,
e e digi f m
m a ea i each f he
i e e icalc l m ,i
SUDOKU 5
each f he i eh i al
a di each f he
i eb e
Diffic l Le el
=Ve ea =Ea
=Medi m 4 =Ha d
5 =Ve Ha d
=Ge i
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren had launched a probe b the
Anti-Corruption Bureau in the aftermath of the report. File
ernment strengthen the verifi-
cation process, saving the e -
chequer at least Rs 5 crore in
the financial ear 2 2 -21.
However,from2 22-23,thepre-
matricminorit scholarshipwas
discontinued till Class 8 since
Right to Education Act, 2 9
makes it obligator for the gov-
ernment to provide free and
compulsor elementar educa-
tion(classes1to8)toever child.
Dark clouds cover Kochi’s sk line on Frida . PTI
Withdrawal of Rs 2k note is ‘currency management’, not demonetisation: RBI
MALAVIKA PRASAD
NEW DELHI, MAY
OPPOSING A plea in Delhi HC
challenging the RBI's Ma 19 no-
tification to withdraw Rs 2,
g CANCER (June 22 - Jul 23)
Police said that the arrest in
Koderma happened months af-
ter the district administration
initiatedaninquir intothescam
andfoundmorethanRs1.5crore
embe led in the name of fake
schools and fake students.
Sources said that initial investi-
gation showed that the person-
nel of the welfare department
embe led an amount of about
Rs 1.5 crore in the name of 1,433
currenc note from circulation,
the central bank on Frida said
the decision is not demonetisa-
tionbutapartof "currenc man-
agement s stem".
The submission was made
b senior advocate Parag
SOLUTION SUDOKU 5
minorit students.
Subsequentl anFIRwasreg-
istered against 1 schools, in-
cluding its three emplo ees, and
against certain emplo ees of the
district welfare office in
Koderma. Sources in the district
said Rs 15 lakh were shown as
paid to 144 students of Child
Progressive School, however, it
was found in the probe that the
school received no mone as no
student studied there. The
school management alleged use
of fake stamps and signatures to
s phon off the mone .
Koderma SP Kumar Gaurav
said:“Wehavearrestedtwoper-
sons in the minorit scholarship
fraud after we received a com-
plaint from the Welfare
Department.”
While the CBI had also initi-
ated a preliminar inquir into
the scam which spread in Bihar,
Assam apart from Jharkhand,
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren
had started an Anti-Corruption
Bureau probe.
Tripathi who stated before a
division bench of Chief Justice
Satish Chandra Sharma and
Justice Subramonium Prasad
that currentl Rs 2, notes
were being used, adding that
“this issue of alleged demon-
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,
G a i
chief j ice
f fi e HC
APURVA VISHWANATH &
OMKAR GOKHALE
NEW DELHI, MAY
THE CENTRE on Frida ap-
pointedchief justicestofivehigh
courts, including Justice R D
Dhanuka who will have a four-
da tenure as chief justice of the
Bomba High Court. He is due to
retire on Ma 3 .
The Collegium had recom-
mended the appointment of
Justice Dhanuka on April 19. He
was appointed a judge of the
Bomba High Court in 2 12 and
is currentl the second senior
most judge of the Bomba High
Court.
The Centre appointed Justice
SV Gangapurwala, currentl the
acting chief justice of the
Bomba High Court, as the chief
justiceof theMadrasHighCourt.
The appointment comes just a
da after the retirement of
Justice T Raja who was the act-
ing chief justice of the Madras
High Court for over si months
and Collegium’s recommenda-
tionforhistransferwaspending.
Conventionall , if the senior
most judge of the high court is
due for retirement in a month,
she is appointed the chief justice
of that High Court. The
Collegium had recommended
Justice Dhanuka to be chief
Justice of the Bomba High
Court, keeping in mind this con-
vention. However, Justice
Dhanuka would become the
seniormostjudgeof theBomba
High Court onl after Justice
Gangapurwala’sappointmentas
Madras High Court chief Justice
etisation was also subject mat-
ter of an earlier petition the
verdict on which has been re-
served b the HC”. He also sub-
mitted that this was a matter
of “economic polic ”.
The RBI further said that
DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 2 )
The Sun is now
highlighting
ever thing in our
life that is
e pensive, not to sa
downright e travagant. You'll
probabl be much more
concerned to save than
spend, though, and
e tracting our mone could
be like getting blood out of
a stone.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - Ma 21)
As it happens, this is
a moment for
traditional pursuits,
if onl because
Saturn, s mbol of all old-
fashioned things, is lurking in
the background. There is a
shortage of profound planetar
influences at the moment, so
ou ma happil enjo being
superficial.
GEMINI (Ma 22 - June 21)
This is one of those
rare periods when
partners or close
companions
actuall pa attention. You
ma have to use a small
amount of emotional
blackmail, or make a tin scene
but, one wa or another, others
should recognise that ou
must now be noticed.
Things are generall
looking quite slack,
which doesn't
necessaril mean
that ou're not bus , onl that
there is an increasing
sense of woolliness and
uncertaint . If ou're in a
gambling mood then ou ma
take an emotional risk, but
don't pla with someone
else's feelings.
LEO (Jul 24 - Aug 23)
Pleasantl social
influences include a
slight chance of a
difference of
opinion, but no other signs of
strain. It's not the best da for
practical chores, although it's a
great time to be irresponsible!
You must be prepared for the
consequences, though.
VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23)
Special indications
in parts of our
chart concerned
with mone offer a
strict warning against financial
risks. You should onl proceed
if ou are happ not to
receive an return other than
pure satisfaction or
romantic contentment. In
other words, don't hope for
cash pri es.
was made. The dela in appoint-
ing Justice Gangapurwala is
learnt to have impacted Justice
Dhanuka’s appointment.
Tthe government appointed
Justice M S R Ramachandra Rao,
currentl a judge of the Punjab
andHar anaHighCourt,aschief
justice of the Himachal Pradesh
High Court. Justice Rao’s parent
high court is the Telangana High
Court.TheCentrealsoappointed
Justice S V Bhatti, currentl a
judge of the Kerala High Court,
as the Chief Justice of the same
court. Justice Bhatti is originall
from the Andhra Pradesh High
Court.
The Centre also appointed
Justice Augustine George Masih,
judgeof thePunjabandHar ana
HighCourt,asChief Justiceof the
Rajasthan High Court.
The five appointments were
recommended b the Supreme
CourtCollegiumheadedb Chief
Justice of India DY Chandrachud
on April 19.
With this, onl one recom-
mendation of the Collegium is
pending with the government.
The Collegium on Februar 9,
had recommended the appoint-
ment of Justice Dhiraj Singh
Thakur, currentl a judge of the
Bomba HighCourt,forappoint-
ment as chief justice of the
Manipur High Court.
The Collegium had said that
“over a long period of time, no
judge of Jammu and Kashmir
origin has been elevated as chief
justice of a high court or as a
judge of the Supreme Court of
India,” while recommending
Justice Thakur, as chief justice of
Manipur High Court.
this e ercise was onl for the
e change of notes and that af-
ter September 3 (time
granted for e changing the
notes), a decision ma be
taken after seeing a result of
the e change.
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
There is an awful lot
to sa for pressing
ahead with travel
plans, although it's
not clear that ou'll be going on
a ph sical journe . It might be
a spiritual adventure which
calls ou. Also, ou ma make
contact now with famil
members who are overseas or
far awa .
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
Business
opportunities flow
thick and fast, but
ma be difficult to
spot, let alone grasp. This could
be a better da for leaving
certain fantasies as just that -
dreams to be treasured
but not implemented. Plus,
perhaps a friend can provide
the missing piece in an
emotional jigsaw.
SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
The Sun is
inaugurating a new
period of potential
and possible
achievement. This doesn't
mean, b the wa , that
ever thing will be eas , but
that even apparentl trivial
events will have a significance
which will not be immediatel
clear. To an e tent, ou have to
trust in the future.
CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 2 )
Focus on ever thing
in our life that is
going well. After all,
ever cloud has a
silver lining. Cultivate patience
and realise that now is the time
to be compassionate, caring,
and almost saintl . The more
love ou put out, the more ou
can e pect back. It's simple,
reall .
AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
You ma be
perfectl tuned in to
virtuous activities,
perhaps doing
whatever ou can to help
others out of a trick situation.
When rela ing, ou might take
our pleasures with a dash of
decadence. Most of all, ou
love a good stor , and ou ma
be spinning someone a arn.
PISCES (Feb 2 - Mar 2 )
When ou're in a
tight spot ou
usuall believe that
something will turn
up and save the da . This is
actuall one of our
most delightful characteristics
and, believe it or not, it is at
times like these that our
faith pa s off in some
curious st le.
Chandigarh
 WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM

EXPRESS NETWORK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,

May 28 is once-in-a-history moment, Cong Ka a aka Cabi e li

should rethink, Modi should make an effort fi ali ed: 4 mi i e
PM could have invited all CMs to inauguration of Parliament... imagine the message to the future

THE NEERJA
CHOWDHURY
COLUMN
Weekl i igh i ha cha gi g
i a i al li ic –a d h
“IF HUSBAND and wife are es-
trangedandtheirdaughterisget-
ting married, the will sink their
differencesandcometogetherfor
thosehourstodothekan adaan,”
said an observer I called to check
on the current controvers over
the Opposition’s bo cott of the
new Parliament Sunda . “For
theirdaughter’swell-beingmight
dependonthestartshegetsinher
new life.”
As in the life of a famil , so
also in the life of a nation, there
come moments when all else
needs to be put aside because it
marks a once-in-a-histor occa-
sionwithabearingonthefuture.
The inauguration of the new
Parliament on Ma 28 is one
such moment.
Twent Opposition parties
have decided to bo cott the oc-
casion because the consider it
tobeviolativeof theConstitution
arguing that the PM — and not
the President as the
Constitutional head of
Parliament—isinauguratingthe
new building. The feel it is an
insult to the President who is a
tribal woman. The have also
criticised the Government for
not adhering to democratic
norms in the wa it has treated
the Opposition parties.
Yes, the Prime Minister, who
started his Prime Ministerial
journe b touchinghisforehead
on the steps of the Parliament
building, could have been more
inclusive in his approach and,
personall , invited Leader of
New Parliament building ahead of its inauguration, Frida . PTI
Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge
and, indeed, all leaders of all the
major opposition parties.
Given the historic signifi-
cance of the occasion — a
Parliament built in independent
India to replace the one built
during colonial rule -- the PM
could also have invited all the
Chief Ministers and the Leaders
of Opposition from all states,
representing India’s immense
diversit and divergence of
views, in what might have been
a rare, unif ing moment. Yes, a
much larger plaque would have
been needed but imagine the
message etched in stone for all
generations to come.
That’s not to be.
As with ever thing else in
these contested times, there
were, in fact, sharp differences
right from Da One, on whether
a new Parliament building was
needed in the first place. Some
wanted the old building, de-
signed b Edward Lut ens and
HerbertBakerandinauguratedin
1927, to be renovated, strength-
enedande pandedwithmodern
technolog , as has been done in
othercountries,includingtheUK.
For, Parliament House had
become an iconic landmark,
steeped in histor , from Nehru’s
“tr st with destin ” speech on
the midnight of August 14-15,
1947 to the adoption of the
countr ’s Constitution ensuring
adult suffrage, and, over the
decades,thememorablecutand
thrust of debates b stalwarts
whobuiltamodernnation.After
all,iconsandiconics mbolssus-
tain a nation’s stor .
But that is nowhistor — and
a new Parliament, designed b
architect Bimal Patel from
Gujarat and built b Tata
Projects, is about to be opened.
Opposition leaders sa the
are bo cotting the building, not
Parliament, making a distinction
between the two. But it’s this
Parliament building the will
fight hard to enter in 2 24. The
cannot bo cott it indefinitel so
as to de-legitimise it. So wh
make its inaugural a s mbol of
their protests? There are a hun-
dred other wa s of protesting.
Particularl ,whenParliamentbe-
longs as much to the Opposition
as to the Treasur benches.
Mamata Banerjee’s TMC or
ArvindKejriwal’sAamAdmiPart
or other regional groups can be
provoked into taking an e treme
position—andthe cangetawa
withit.NotsotheIndianNational
Congress. That, too, eight da s af-
ter its government swept into
powerinKarnataka—asignalthat
people are beginning to view the
part with renewed interest.
The part keeps complaining
thattheBJPisco-optingitsheroes.
B sta ingawa ,India’sGrandOld
Part isgoingtomakeiteasierfor
PrimeMinisterNarendraModito
claimsolecreditforbeingtheone
to give India a new Parliament
andonceagainframethepart as
a perpetual na sa er.
It was the Indian National
Congresswhichgavethecountr
Parliamentar democrac in
1947, and is the legatee of a rich
legac . That is wh it has to be
more judicious in its decision-
making,mindfulofthelong-term
impact of the positions it takes:
whether it is to stall Parliament
indefinitel or to walk out of the
Houses repeatedl — or to bo -
cott the inauguration ceremon .
As for the Opposition’s de-
mandthatRashtrapatiDroupadi
Murmu should have inaugu-
rated the new building, es, she
could have opened it as the
Constitutional head of
Parliament,andthegovernment
could have still taken the credit
for its authorship and creation.
True, the PM is the e ecutive
head of government — though
he is also the leader of the Lok
Sabha and he is the one who en-
visioned the project and pushed
for its completion in the teeth of
opposition.
In the past, of course, as the
BJP has been quick to point out,
Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and
other Opposition leaders inau-
gurated the Parliament Anne e
orParliamentLibrar buildingor
state Assembl buildings, with-
out worr ing too much about
constitutional niceties. But then,
whatabouter is neither here
nor there.
It’s hard to believe that b fo-
cusing on what it calls the BJP’s
neglect of a tribal woman presi-
dent, the Congress hopes to
score political points with the
ScheduledTribesandScheduled
Castes. The Congress did well in
the tribal and Dalit seats in
Karnataka, and earlier in
Chhattisgarhand Jharkhand, not
because of s mbolism but be-
cause it pursued pro-poor poli-
cies and programmes for them.
Of course, there is nothing to
stop the Opposition campaign
against Modi’s penchant to hog
the limelight, erosion of demo-
cratic institutions including
Parliament, and call for the
restoration of Parliamentar
procedures and practices.
The can — and should — op-
pose the ordinance to nullif the
Supreme Court verdict on the
powers of an elected govern-
ment in Delhi, which has sent
panic signals amongst the state
satraps about what could be in
store for them. And for tribal
president Droupadi Murmu to
be given her due.
WhileParliament ismadeup
of the President, the two Houses
(including the ruling part and
the opposition), it is larger than
the sum total of all these — for it
is a repositor of the will of the
Indianpeople,s mboli ingtheir
supremac in a parliamentar
democrac .
It belongs to India and will
lastbe ondModiandthosewho
come after him. Sevent -five
ears on, it should not be said in
the record that the Opposition
was missing the da the new
Parliament was dedicated to the
nation. No one will go into wh
the were not present.
Evenatthislatehour,man in
the countr would hope that the
CongressandtheOppositionpar-
tieswillreconsidertheirdecision
to sta awa . And that Prime
MinisterModiwillmakeaneffort
to bring them around. For this is
about India’s ever so precious —
though fragile — democrac .
(Neerja Chowdhur ,
Contributing Editor, The Indian
Express, has covered the last 1
Lok Sabha elections)
be i da
JOHNSON T A
BENGALURU, MAY
THE NEWLY elected Congress
government in Karnataka has
scheduled the swearing-in cere-
mon of a full-fledged state
Cabinet comprising 24 ministers
at11.45amonSaturda attheRaj
Bhavan. The Cabinet e pansion
wasfinalisedafteralotofbackand
forth on the choice of ministers.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah
dispatchedthelistof newminis-
ters to the office of the Governor
on Frida night following his re-
turn from Delhi. He said the
Congress had followed the
norms of "providing equal rep-
resentation to all castes and re-
gions while keeping in mind the
principlesof socialjustice"while
choosing the ministers.
Asurpriseinclusioninthelist
of ministers is former All India
Congress Committee (AICC) and
Karnataka Pradesh Congress
Committee(KPCC)functionar N
Boseraju who is not a member of
either the Legislative Council or
the Assembl but is known to
haveworkedfordecadesasake
liaison between the state
Congressandthehighcommand.
Boseraju's son was an aspi-
rantforthe Karnatakapollsfrom
the Raichur Cit seat but made
wa for a Muslim candidate af-
terthesi eableMuslimcommu-
nit sought the ticket. This move
is believed to have helped the
Congress in several seats in the
region.
The list of ministers consists
of eightLinga ats, includingsole
woman minister Lakshmi
Hebbalkar; seven from
Scheduled Caste (SC) communi-
Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah with Congress leaders Sonia
Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, in New Delhi on Frida . PTI
Theinductionof 24newmin-
CASTE BREAK-UP isters on Saturda will take the
strengthof theCongressCabinet
Linga ats 8 inKarnatakatoitsfullcapacit of
34 ministers. Eight ministers
Vokkaligas 5 were sworn in along with CM
SC 7 Siddaramaiah and Deput CM D
ST 3 K Shivakumar on Ma 2 .
The e ercise of picking min-
OBC 6
isters witnessed an intense bat-
Muslims 2 tle between the CM and Deput
Brahmin 1 CM on the choice of candidates
from their respective camps.
Jain 1
Siddaramaiahseemstohavehad
Christian 1 a larger sa . As man as 12 of the
new ministers have no prior
ministerial e perience. The are
ties; five Vokkaligas; two K Venkatesh, K N Rajanna, S S
Muslims; three from Scheduled Mallikarjun, Mankal Vaid a,
Tribe(ST)communities;si from Lakshmi Hebbalkar, Rahim
Other Backward Classes (OBC) Khan, N S Boseraju, B rathi
groups, including one Maratha; Suresh, Madhu Bangarappa, Dr
one Brahmin, one Christian, and M C Sudhakar, R B Thimmapur,
one Jain. and B Nagendra.
Former Karnataka Congress Among the few veterans on
president Dinesh Gundu Rao the list are H K Patil, Dr H C
who was initiall not part of a Mahadevappa, Eshwar Khandre,
preliminar list made it to the fi- Sharanabasappa Darshanapur
nal list. Rao was not considered andShivanandPatil.Adecisionon
initiall on account of five MLAs portfoliosise pectedonSunda .
from Bengaluru featuring FULL REPORT ON
among the probable ministers. www.indianexpress.com

Nine years of betrayal, distraction and SCHOOL JOBS SCAM

SC refuses to stay ED,

marketing gimmicks: Cong on Modi govt CBI probe against
DELHI CONFIDENTIAL ingtoprovidejobs,destro ingso-

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY
THE NINE ears of the Narendra
Modi government have been a
saga of betra al of the people
and the man promises made to
them topped b constant and
continuousdistractionsfromthe
real issues and marketing gim-
micks, the Congress said on
Frida in a damning report card
released b the part .
Buo ed b the victor in the
KarnatakaAssembl elections,the
part saidithasbecomeclearthat
VOICE TO VIDEO people are now fed up with the
PMandassertedthat“wearecon-
AFTER PRIME Minister Narendra Modi tweeted a video of the fident that the Karnataka verdict
new Parliament on Frida and asked followers to share the will have a ver impactful result
video with their own voice-over on social media, some Union on other upcoming elections”.
ministerssharedthevideowithoutan commentar .Housing Marking the completion of
and Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri, whose ministr is nine ears of the Modi govern-
responsible for the construction of the new Parliament, put ment, the Congress asked nine
out the video with his own voice-over, in which he described
the building as an “edifice of Amrit Kaal”.
Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, Pawan Khera and Supri a
Shrinate in New Delhi on Frida . Anil Sharma
questionstothegovernment,re-
leased a 31-page booklet outlin-
ing the government's alleged
failures and announced its deci-
sion to do a media blit over the
ne t three da s to drive home its
point. The part will hold press
conferences across 35 cities of
thecountr overtheweekendto
attack the government.
And it was not just the
Congress. The TMC, too, targeted
the government. “Nine ears of
failedpromisesanddisastrouspol-
ic decisions. The floundering
nine:Failingtocheckpricerise,fail-
cial harmon , destro ing federal-
ism, undermining the
Constitution,weakeningIndia'sin-
stitutions—ParliamenttoElection
Commission, misusing central
agenciesonl totargetopponents,
notebandi?farmbills?.Nine ears.
High on promises. Low on deliv-
er ,” TMC floor leader in Raj a
SabhaDerekO’Brientweeted.
“In the last 9 ears, the Modi
government hasbecome a ‘vish-
waguru’ in snatching awa em-
plo ment of crores of ouths,”
Congress president Mallikarjun
Khargesaid.“TheBJPbuiltitsed-
ifice in 9 ears on false promises
and people's
suffering…Inflation, hatred and
unemplo ment — Prime
Ministerji,takeresponsibilit for
thesefailuresof ours,” saidsen-
ior Congress leader Rahul
Gandhi in a Twitter post.
Abhishek Banerjee
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, MAY
THE SUPREME Court on Frida
refused to sta the Calcutta HC
order allowing the ED and CBI to
question Trinamool Congress
leaderAbhishekBanerjeeincon-
nection with the West Bengal
teachers' recruitment scam.
A bench of Justices J K
Maheshwari and P S Narasimha,
however,sta edpartoftheMa 18
orderb whichtheHighCourtim-
posedRs25lakhfineonBanerjee
forwastingthecourt’stime.
“I think the order is ver bal-
ancedandfair,”JusticeNarasimha
toldsenioradvocateAMSinghvi,
who appeared for Banerjee.
The single judge bench of
Justice Amrita Sinha had on Ma
18dismissedBanerjee’spleathat
sought recall of the order of an-
othersinglejudgepermittingthe
CBI and ED to question him.
Thecasewasearlierheard b
Justice Abhijit Gangopadh a
and he had allowed the ED and
CBI inquir . Banerjee appealed
to the SC against this and re-
ferredtocertainallegedremarks
made b the judge against him
in an interview to a TV news
channel following which the SC
sought a report from the HC
Registrar General. The SC on
April24directedthatthecasebe
reassigned to another judge.
Following this, the matter was
assigned to Justice Amrita Sinha.

SUPPORTING CIRCUS
US Defence Secy to visit India More research activities Don’t let ‘urban
naxals’ enter
FORMERUNIONministerMukhtarAbbasNaqviattendedthein- next week, meet Rajnath Singh needed in Himalayas: Rijiju campuses,
auguration of the ‘International Circus Festival’ in New Delhi. terms of intensit as well as scale.
Addressingthegathering,Naqvisaidthat“preservationandpro- In a statement, the Pentagon Apart from India, Austin will PAVNEET SINGH CHADHA We need to broaden activities in says Fadnavis
motion of circus is the need of the hour”, pointing out how the AMRITA NAYAK DUTTA said that apart from Singh, also visit Japan, Singapore and PANAJI, MAY theocean.Iwastellingsenioroffi-
Indiancircusindustr hasbeenseverel hitb themodernmodes NEW DELHI, MAY Austin will also meet other lead- France during his trip. cers... that Himala as belong to EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
of entertainment. ersas bothcountries continue to The US has been looking at UNION MINISTER for Earth India. We don't have that level of PUNE, MAY
US DEFENCE Secretar Llo d J modernise the US-India Major India as a major defence partner SciencesKirenRijijuonFrida said activities in the Himala as. In m
SUMMER MEET Austin III will visit New Delhi
ne t week as part of a four-na-
Defence Partnership.
“Thisvisitprovidesanoppor-
and a top market for e port of its
militar hardware. This was evi-
there was a need to enhance and
e pandresearchactivities,partic-
homestateof ArunachalPradesh,
which covers the largest area of
MAHARASHTRA DEPUTY Chief
Minister Devendra Fadnavis on
AMID THE government's push to hold events in J&K, the tion trip and meet his Indian tunit toaccelerate new defense dentinitsstrongpresenceatAero ularl intheHimala anregion,for Himala as of our countr , not Frida appealed to the outh or-
Ministr of Fisheries, Animal Husbandr and Dair ing will counterpart Rajnath Singh, the innovation and industrial coop- India in Bengaluru in Februar theimmensepotentialtheregion muchactivitiesaretakingplace." ganisations, mainl Akhil
hold its summer meet in Srinagar. The two-da meeting, Pentagon said on Thursda . eration initiatives and drive on- this ear. Leading US defence held for further e ploration. He assured the scientific Bharati a Vid arthi Parishad
chaired b Animal Husbandr Minister Parshottam Rupala, The visit comes a month going efforts to e pand opera- companies attended the meet, Addressingscientistsandstaff communit of his commitment (ABVP),tocomeforwardinfoiling
will begin on World Milk Da on June 1. The Animal ahead of Prime Minister tional cooperation between the whichalsosawaerialdemonstra- attheNationalCentreforPolarand toprovidingnecessar resources, the attempts of ‘urban na als’
Husbandr ministers of the states will take part in the meet. Narendra Modi’s official state US and Indian militaries,” the tionsandstaticdispla of thelat- OceanResearchinGoa,Rijijusaid: policies and support to enable from getting into universities.
visit to the White House. statement said. est aircraft from the US. “We need to enhance activities in them to achieve their objectives. “The appeal is not onl for
ABVPbutallthosewhobelievein
nationalismandbelieveinnation

Kejriwal knocks on Congress’s door again, but thaw in rivalry unlikely
himself. “Sought time this morn-
SOURAV ROY BARMAN ing to meet Cong President Sh
NEW DELHI, MAY KhargejiandShRahulGandhijito
seek Cong support in Parl against
EVER SINCE Arvind Kejriwal an- undemocratic n unconstitutional
nouncedhewasplanningtomeet ordinancepassed b BJP govt and
the leaders of all Opposition par- also to discuss general assault on
ties to seek their support against federal structure and prevailing
theCentre'sordinanceoncontrol politicalsituation,"hetweeted.
over the transfer and posting of Given the bad blood between
bureaucratsinDelhi,onequestion thetwoparties,thereasonbehind
hadoccupiedthemindsofman : thecuriosit isnothardtofathom.
will AAP supremo's political out- On the other hand, Kejriwal’s at-
reach take him to the doorstep of tempt to get the Congress’s back-
Congresshighcommandaswell? ingintheRaj aSabhatostallaBill
At 1 .56 am on Frida , the an- that will have to be introduced to
swer came from the Delhi CM replace the ordinance does not
markacleanbreakbutisacontin-
uation of the AAP's approach to
the Congress question.
“Itisnotaboutindividuallead-
ersorparties.Whenbiggerthings
concerningthee istenceofIndian
democrac are at stake, political
parties should sink their differ-
encesandgettogether,forthesake
of national interest,” AAP Raj a
SabhaMPSandeepPathaktoldThe
IndianExpressonWednesda .
However, behind the rhetoric
onthenationanditsinterestsap-
pearstobegoodoldpoliticalprag-
matism. The AAP knows that
without the support of the
AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal
Congress,whichhas31MPsinthe
Raj a Sabha, its plan to resist the
Bill is a non-starter. The AAP also
feels that if the Congress refuses
themeeting,thelargerOpposition
blockwouldviewitas"arrogance"
onthepartof thegrandoldpart .
The AAP has displa ed simi-
larfle ibilit ,whichitscriticscall
opportunism,inthepastaswell.
InDecember2 13,astheAAPfell
short of the majorit mark of 36
MLAsintheDelhiAssembl inits
debut polls — the part bagged
28 seats — it took the Congress’s
support to den the BJP, which
had won 32 seats, a shot at
power. This, even though the
campaignof theAAP,anoffshoot
of the India Against Corruption
(IAC) movement, was primaril
against the “misgovernance” b
theCongressandallegedcorrup-
tion in its ranks. The AAP-
Congressarrangement,however,
lasted onl 49 da s as Kejriwal
quit accusing the Congress and
theBJPof stonewallinghisefforts
to pass the Jan Lokpal Bill.
Subsequentl ,ahighdegreeof
animosit marked the relations
between the AAP and the
Congress,whichfailedtogeteven
one MLA elected to the Delhi
Assembl in 2 15 and 2 2 . The
run-up to the 2 19 general elec-
tions also saw attempts b
Kejriwal to tie up with the
Congress, holding up the same
“nationalinterest”cardasisbeing
done now. But with Congress re-
fusingtoe tendan seat-sharing
pact with AAP be ond Delhi — in
states such as Har ana, Punjab,
and Goa — the talks broke down.
With another general elec-
tiononthe hori on, an meeting
between AAP and Congress will
trigger speculation of a possible
rapprochementonthecards.For
Congress, it is also an opportu-
nit to read the mind of AAP,
whichgovernsDelhiandPunjab,
at a time when efforts are being
made to give shape to a joint
Oppositionfronttochallengethe
BJPinthe2 24generalelections.
first.Wehavee posedurbanna -
alismandrealisedhowthe don’t
believeinourConstitutionandare
damaging our s stem. The intel-
ligence inputs are that the are
tr ing to enter into universities
andm appealisthatthe should
bestopped,”saidFadnavis,whois
also the state home minister.
Fadnavis was addressing the
‘Citi en’sAppreciationCeremon ’
organised b the ABVP. He re-
calledhisda sinABVPandattrib-
utedhisentr intopoliticstoABVP.
Hesaidtherehastobecorrection
inthehistor presentedtopeople
andthegloriouspastofthenation
have to be highlighted with the
factthatthecountr isamongthe
oldest civili ation in the world.

Chandigarh
 WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM

14
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

WORDLY WISE
When the government enters business, the
citizens of India get cheated.
— VERGHESE KURIEN

FOUNDED BY
A democratic protest
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
Opposition is bo cotting new Parliament’s inauguration
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
because PM is usurping role of head of state

LET THERE BE AMUL Brinda Karat

Normal and desirable economic competition must not be
SYMBOLSAREIMPORTANTinpubliclife.The casion such as the inauguration of a new models practised in countries across the
thwarted b misplaced subnationalism

T
choice and projection of s mbols reflect ide-
AMIL NADU CHIEFMinister M K Stalin doesnot want the Gujarat Cooperative ologies, cultures, histories, a worldview and
MilkMarketingFederation(Amul)toprocuremilkfromthestate.Hehaseven much else. At the historic midnight session
of the Constituent Assembl 75 ears ago, in
asked the Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah to “direct” Amul
a solemn ceremon , the national flag was
to desist from “infringing” on the Tamil Nadu Cooperative Milk Producers' handedovertothepresidentof theAssembl ,
Federation's (Aavin) milk-shed area. The demand is uncalled for on at least two counts. Rajendra Prasad, b Hansa Mehta, freedom
First, Amul and Aavin are supposedl farmer-owned and professionall -managed dair fighter and one of the 15 women members
cooperatives. It isn't desirable for an minister or bureaucrat to intervene in the business of the Constituent Assembl .
operations of such organisations. The urge to control and reduce cooperatives to depart- She said, “It is in the fitness of things that
this first flag that will fl over this august
mental undertakings has unfortunatel onl increased in recent times, both in the states
House should be a gift from the women of
and at the Centre. It goes wholl against the spirit of liberalisation: Ease of doing business India…”. This s mbolised then and for all
shouldn't be onl for large corporates. these ears,therecognitionof therolepla ed
Secondl , whom does Amul's entr harm in Tamil Nadu? Certainl not producers or b India’s women in the glorious struggle to
consumers. The state's dair farmers will benefit when there are more bu ers for their freeIndiafromBritishrule.Butlookingatthat
milk. In this case, Amul brings both si e and credibilit . For consumers, too, the more the historic event toda , there is another appar-
brands, the merrier it would be. The onl loser might be Aavin, the state-controlled co- entsignificance.ItwasnotJawaharlalNehru,
India’sfirstPrimeMinister,whoreceivedthe
operativethatwouldlikeasituationof bothmonopson (singlebu er)andmonopol (sin-
flag,itwasindependentIndia’sfirstpresident
gle seller). As chief minister, Stalin should actuall welcome Amul setting up processing oftheConstituentAssembl ,RajendraPrasad.
plants and chilling centres, besides farmer producer organisations and self-help groups ThiswasbeforetheConstitutionof Indiawas
for milk procurement, in Tamil Nadu. Far from leading to “unhealth competition be- adopted, establishing the post of the
tween cooperatives”, it will force Aavin to become more efficient, pa farmers better and Presidentof India.Therewouldhavebeenno
reason for Nehru, the acknowledged leader
worktowardsretainingconsumers.Thestategovernmentshouldenablethat, ratherthan
blocking competition and the creation of a single national market. How can India, the
of theAssembl ,nottohavereceivedtheflag,
since there were no set rules. Propriet and
world's largest milk producer, become a dair products e porter if firms are not allowed norms of respect for the president of the
to bu and sell freel within its own boundaries? Assembl would have determined who re-
The pushback against Amul in Tamil Nadu comes just over a month after the political ceived the flag.
brouhahaovertheGujaratcooperative'sannouncedentr intotheBengalurumarket.That In 1947, even without the formal
movewasseenasthreateningthelocalKarnatakaCooperativeMilkProducers'Federation Constitution, the president of the Assembl
was accepted as the head. Toda , despite the
(Nandini).Inbothinstances,whatshouldbenormalanddesirableeconomiccompetition
Constitution, this role and status of the pres-
inthemarketplaceisbeingthwartedb misplacedsubnationalism.ThetruthisthatNandini ident is sought to be usurped b the prime
and Aavin are strong brands in their own right. Consumers in the two states are unlikel minister.Thedecisiontoinauguratethenew
to switch to a new entrant's product in a hurr . Amul itself has been around in Telangana Parliament building himself, instead of the
and north Karnataka for nearl a decade, but hardl made a dent in these markets against President, is s mbolic of the utter disregard
and,indeed,contemptforconstitutionalpro-
homegrown cooperative and private dair brands. That should, however, not be a reason
to den competitors a chance to serve consumers and producers better. priet .TheConstitutionof IndiainArticle79,
states categoricall , “There shall be a
Parliament for the Union which shall consist
of thePresidentandtwoHousestobeknown
Parliament building should have the presi-
dent at the centre. This is even more so be-
cause the president is a s mbol of social in-
clusion, as a member of an Adivasi
communit and as a woman. This has been
repeatedl utilised b the prime minister to
claim a mantle of social sensibilit , now so
easil discarded. The president ma be too
gracioustomakeafuss,buttheOppositionis
absolutel correct to do so and to follow up
withauniteddeclarationfrom19Opposition
partiesthatthe wouldbo cottthefunction.
This decision should not be construed as
the tu tu, main main kind of debate that has
become a common feature of India’s current
political scenario. It is a democratic protest
The Oppo i ion deci ion against the insult it constitutes to the
ho ld no be con ed a President of India, against the flagrant viola-
tion of constitutional propriet and also the
he , main main kind of usurping of a role for the head of state, the
deba e ha ha become a Presidentof India,b theprimeminister.The
common fea e of India NDA which rarel meets has been rounded
up to sign a statement which determinedl
c en poli ical cena io. I
avoids answering the question: Wh the PM
i a democ a ic p o e and not the president? His colleagues have
again he in l i e pectedl jumpedintocounterthecriticism
con i e o he P e iden with the usual chorus of abuse against the
Opposition. One minister thought it fit to
of India, again he flag an compare the inauguration of the Parliament
iola ion of con i ional anne eandthelibrar b formerprimemin-
p op ie and al o he isterswiththe“if the coulddoitwh are ou
ping of a ole fo he objecting now” sort of illogic, the reduction
of the“templeof democrac ”toalibrar itself
head of a e, he P e iden anindicationof thecontemptforParliament,
of India, b he p ime andfurtherunderliningtheirhaplessstateof
mini e . The NDA hich having to defend the indefensible.
It is no secret that the BJP in its different
a el mee ha been
avatars has been a votar of the presidential
o nded p o ign a formof government.Essentiall ,insuchas s-
a emen hich tem, the president is both the head of state
de e minedl a oid andheadof thee ecutivewhileholdingacru-
an e ing he e ion: cialvetooverdecisionsof thelegislature,giv-
ingoverridingpowerstoanindividual.While
world, in the contemporar political situa-
tion in India, it fits in well with the regressive
guru-shish a,raja-prajamodelof governance
basedonunquestioningobediencetotheor-
dainedhigherauthorit ,soclosetothehearts
and minds of the Sangh Parivar. When the
Constitutionof India,establishingasovereign,
democratic republic, was adopted with par-
liamentar democrac and a federal struc-
ture, it was the RSS which had been its
strongest critic on grounds that it was not
“Bharati a”enough—“Bharati a”asdefined
in the Manusmriti.
The last decade of the Modi regime has
seen an unprecedented centralisation of
power in the hands of the central govern-
ment, and within that government in the
hands of the prime minister. The rights of
state governments are flattened. Parliament
hasbeenreducedtoashamefularenaof s co-
phanc ,wheretheundignifiedraucousheck-
ling b the Treasur Benches when an thing
critical of the prime minister is spoken, has
become the norm. A budget representing Rs
45lakhcroreof thepeople’smone ispassed
within 1 minutes because ruling part MPs
havebeengiventheordertodisruptthepro-
ceedings. Ever tried and tested mechanism
toensurescrutin andconsultationonever
legislation, such as parliamentar commit-
tees, has been virtuall dismantled. The role
of the Raj a Sabha has been emasculated b
fraudulentl includingahostofBillsasMone
Billssoastoden therightof voteintheRaj a
Sabha where the government has had a ten-
uousmajorit ,if atall.Aparliamentar major-
it is being used as a bulldo er to fashion an
autocrac , the new India version of a presi-
dential form of governance.
The replacement, at the forthcoming in-
auguration,of therealpresidentof theIndian
republic b the prime minister ma s mbol-
ise more than the ego of an individual.

NOT THE COURT’S JOB respectivel as the Council of States and the
House of the People.” Clearl , a s mbolic oc-
Wh he PM and no he
p e iden
therema beadebateontheprosandconsof
such a st le of governance and its different The writer is a member of the CPM politburo

Task of ensuring peace in Manipur is a political challenge.

Politicians, not judges, need to step up to it

U
NION HOME MINISTER Amit Shah's statement that a Manipur High Court
order is responsible for the inter-communit clashes in the state is an at-
tempt at absolving the government from the responsibilit of restoring
peace. The HC directive on March 27 on a plea to grant ST status to the
Meiteicommunit ma havecontributedtotheworseningof afraughtsituation.However,
SCEPTRE IN THE HOUSE
there are multiple reasons for the flare up, and for its toll. The violence began earlier this
month, following a tribal solidarit rall against the court order. At least 75 people have The ‘sengol’ in Parliament will be a s mbol of the rule of dharma
been killed since in the clashes involving Meiteis, who dominate the Imphal Valle , and
members of the Kuki-Zomi tribes, who reside in the hill districts. The state government,
considering the histor of tense Valle -hill relations, should have known that the HC or-
C R Kesavan
der had the potential to stoke unrest. Ultimatel , governance is a political task; the onus
of enforcing law and order is on the e ecutive. ON JANUARY 18, 1927, when the current coating adorned b the Nandi on top, s m- The Kashi Tamil Sangamam clearl in-
The Supreme Court has since criticised the HC directive — it said the single judge or- Parliament building was inaugurated b bolising strength and truth. voked the unit between the north and the
der was “absolutel wrong”. The rioting stopped after central forces took over the man- Vicero Lord Irwin, the ceremon was bereft OnAugust14,1947,adelegationcompris- south while the Madhavpur Mela demon-
agement of law and order, though there were incidents earlier this week. However, the of an vestige of Indian culture or ingSriKumaraswam Thambiran(represen- strated the concord between Gujarat in the
political institutions seem unable to convince the warring parties that the need to talk “parampara”. In a stark but welcome con- tative of the seer), Manickam Odhuvaar (the west to the Mishmi tribes of Arunachal
trast, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi priest who would recite the pra er) and the Pradesh in the east. Similarl , this tale of the
to each other and address their fears and concerns. Chief Minister Biren Singh and sen-
inaugurates the new Parliament building on nadaswaramvidwan,TNRajarathinamPillai, sengol lucidl illustrates the innate civilisa-
ior ministers have been to Delhi to discuss the situation with Shah and other central lead- Ma 28, it will be a festive occasion where went to Delhi. tionalconnectandcommonalit of ourgreat
ers. So have MLAs from the hill districts, who have demanded a separate administrative ourtimelesstraditionsandcivilisationalher- A few minutes before midnight on the countr from time immemorial.
mechanism for their region. Both parties, however, seem uninterested in engaging with itage will be honoured and celebrated. eve of Independence, alongside the dulcet The Prime Minister has alwa s been an
theother.Thisimpassehastoendandaprocessof reconciliationneedstostart.TheCentre During this historic occasion of the inaugu- soundof thenadaswaram,thepriestchanted ebullient votar of harnessing technolog
could help b encouraging a conversation among all the stakeholders. ration of the new building, the sceptre, or “Kolaru pathigam” from “Thevaram”, devo- and modernit while being firml rooted in
“sengol” as it is termed in Tamil, will be in- tional h mns composed in praise of Lord drawing inspiration from our rich spiritual
Tensions among tribal groups and between tribal groups and the Valle communities
stalled in the sacred edifice of our democ- Shiva about 1,3 ears ago b Shaivite saint and cultural heritage. The new Parliament,
have a long histor . The Biren Singh government's first term was remarkable for the ab- rac b PM Modi. Thirugnana Sambandar. When the final equipped with cutting-edge technolog
sence of communal tensions though he was in the spotlight for cracking down on dis- The sceptre has a histor . As the dawn of verses, “Adi argal vaanil arasalvar aanai na- along with this sacred sceptre, will bear tes-
sent. However, after his re-election in 2 22, Singh has been accused of fostering an anti- Independence neared, then Vicero Louis mathe” (“We command that His timon to the Prime Minister’s inclusive vi-
tribal agenda. The government action against popp cultivation, eviction drives and the Mountbatten asked Jawaharlal Nehru how A he da n of Humbleness shall rule the heavens”) were sion of India.
allegation that illegal migrants from M anmar were being given shelter in the hills have he wished to signif Britain’s transfer of Independence nea ed, hen recited, Sri Kumaraswam Thambiran re- The word sengol in Tamil is derived from
power to India. When Nehru turned to C ceived the sceptre from Lord Mountbatten the word semmai denoting righteousness.
vitiatedthemoodinthehills.TheHCdirectivecameinthistenseenvironment.Anewfault
Rajagopalachariforadvice, thelatteradvised
Vice o Lo i Mo n ba en and sprinkled it with ganga jal (hol water) The recipient of the sengol is supposed to
line, along religious lines, has now emerged. The task before Shah, who has promised to a ked Ja aha lal Neh ho
that the historic Indic civilisational tradition and handed over the sceptre to Nehru, s m- have the command to rule fairl and justl .
visit Manipur soon, and the local administration, is to steer clear of the multiple fault lines insouthern kingdoms,where thehighpriest he i hed o ignif B i ain bolising transfer of power. The timeless treasure trove of wisdom, the
and develop a political framework that transcends the man differences. of thestatehandsoverthe ceremonialsengol While most Indians are familiar with the Thirukkuralhasanentirechapter—TheRight
an fe of po e o India.
to the new king signif ing transfer of power, Tr st with Destin speech, the momentous Sceptre — comprising 1 couplets. Couplet
could be followed. Rajaji’s suggestion that When Neh ned o C occurrence of handing over the sengol has 546 sa s, “Not lance gives kings the victor /

TRUMP LITE the power transfer could be denoted b the
British vicero handing over the sceptre to
theincomingPrime Ministerwaswelcomed
and agreed upon.
Ron DeSantis ma appear different from Trump, his rival for the Rajaji then requested Sri Ambalavana
Republican nomination. But on ke issues, he ma be as illiberal Desika Swamigal, the then pontiff of
Rajagopalacha i fo ad ice, largel gone unnoticed in the annals of our
he la e ad i ed ha he glorious histor . After the transfer of power
hi o ic Indic ci ili a ional in 1947, this sacred sengol was relegated to
sheer oblivion in a museum in Allahabad la-
adi ion in o he n belled as “Golden Walking Stick Gifted to Pt
kingdom , he e he high Jawaharlal Nehru”.
But sceptre swa ed with equit ”.
It is indeed fittingthat ourPrime Minister
willbeinstallingthissacredsceptreinitsright-
fulplacebehindtheSpeaker'schairintheLok
Sabha.Fromthisposition,inthetempleofour
democrac ,thissengolwilleternall s mbol-

R
ON DESANTIS, GOVERNOR of Florida and a prospective Republican candi-
Thiruvaduthurai Adheenam (a Shaivite p ie of he a e hand o e The “A adi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, ushered isetheruleofdharma,thecivilisationalcoreb
monaster in Tamil Nadu) to take up the re- in b the government to mark 75 ears of which our great nation is governed.
datefortheUSpresidenc ,didnothavethemostauspiciousstarttohiscam- he ce emonial engol o he
sponsibilit of designingthesceptre.Theseer Independence, has ensured that unsung he-
paign. A programme hosted b Elon Musk on Twitter Spaces, featuring commissioned a lapidar in Madras to make ne king ignif ing an fe roes and heroines and untold milestones get The writer, a former member of Prasar
DeSantis,wasriddledwithtechnicalglitches—soundissues,peoplebeingun- the sceptre. It was made of silver with gold of po e , co ld be follo ed. the respect that the deserve. Bharati Board, is with the BJP
able to log in, etc. Trump, of course, took to Truth Social to ridicule DeSantis and the event.
Buttheglitchnotwithstanding,DeSantisiscurrentl themostcrediblechallengertoTrump
forthenomination.Thequestion,though,ishowdifferentheisfromTrumpandTrumpism.
DeSantis, once an avid supporter of the former president, has graduall distanced
himself from some of the more contentious aspects of Trump's politics. For e ample, he
has not denied the legitimac of the 2 2 presidential election nor has he openl cele- MAY 27, 1983, FORTY YEARS AGO
brated the Januar 2 21 Capitol riots. And while he did not attack Trump directl at the
Twitter event, DeSantis took a barel disguised swipe at the former: “Government is not POWER TO THE STATES that a peaceful settlement of the Jammu and
Kashmir question in the spirit of the Simla
powertransmissionandtheIDAcreditforur-
ban development.
about entertainment, not about building a brand,” he said. Initiall , DeSantis rose to na-
A CONFEDERATION OF regional parties with agreement and in light of UN resolutions
tional prominence in the US as a result of his Covidpolicies — he refused to abide b man
of the restrictions and advisories recommended b Washington. The image he is seeking
a clear-cut socio-economic outlook and
soundpoliticalapproachisfavouredb ares-
would remove the last hurdle in the wa of
thedevelopmentof normal,goodandneigh-
PHALKE FOR PRASAD
to cultivate is one of “common sense” and efficient governance. In addition, he might be olution adopted b the delegates session of bourl relations with India. THE EVENING BELONGED to the veteran
banking onthe fact thatthemore traditionalandsociall conservative Republicansmight therulingTeluguDesampart . CMNT Rama movie man, L V Prasad, at Vig an Bhavan
be irked b scandals like the Storm Daniels pa -off episode. Rao reiterated the need for a fiscal commis-
sion to suggest structural changes for ensur-
WORLD BANK LOAN where the countr ’s movie makers, writers,
actors,actressesandtechnicianshadgathered
Despite the differences, it would be a mistake to think of DeSantis as diametricall
ingtransferof resourcesandpowerstostates, THEWORLDBANKannouncedthatithadap- to witness the 3 th National Film Awards
opposed to Trump. In Florida, his focus has been on divisive, “hot button” issues that have
if necessar , b amending the Constitution. provedloansforIndiatotalling$397.7million. presentation b President Zail Singh.
becomethehallmarkof themostilliberaltendenciesinhispart —transgenderrightsand The loans consist of $25 .7 million from the Thunderous applause greeted Prasad as he
critical race theor , for e ample. He has also pushed legislation that severel restricts
women's bodil autonom and right to abortion. DeSantis ma appear — or perhaps is —
GEN ZIA ON J&K World Bank and $147 million from its sub-
sidiar , the International Development
walked up to receive the prestigious Dada
SahebPhalkeAwardfor1982forhisoutstand-
less boorish than his rival. But on fundamental issues, he is not all that different. PAKISTANPRESIDENTGENZiaulHaqhassaid Association (IDA). The World Bank loan is for ingcontributiontothecauseofIndiancinema.

Chandigarh

15 THE IDEAS PAGE
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
The looming Trump
He has figured out his core constituenc , which he shapes through fear, strategicall deplo ing social
media and speaking in a language that appeals to them. Along the wa , he used his privilege to bend the law
OPENING ARGUMENT
by Menaka
Guruswamy
DONALD TRUMP, WHO served as the 45th
President of the United States between
2 17-2 21, epitomises our era’s politics —
when larger-than-life, loud, fear-mongering
political characters tailor-made for televi-
sion and social media win public office. This
is an era when television news is more like
realit TV and political constituencies dis-
pla a fierce tribalism. After being a one-
term president and losing his re-election to
the now 8 - ear-old Joe Biden, Trump has
surfaced in the news again. At 76 ears old,
Trump is back to challenging Biden for the
presidenc , as a front-runner for the
Republican part ticket. However, this is not
the onl reason Trump is in the news.
On Ma 9, a jur found that Trump had
se uall abused and defamed writer E Jean
Carroll.TrumpisthefirstformerUSpresident
to face criminal charges. He has also been in-
dictedfor“falsif ingbusinessrecords”incon-
nectionwitha“hushmone pa ment”made
to Storm Daniels, a porn star, shortl before
his victor in the 2 16 presidential election.
The indictment speaks of a pa ment of
$1,3 , that Trump’s former personal
law er made to Daniels for her silence about
theaffairwithTrump.Prosecutorsallegethat
Trump admits to reimbursing his law er for
this pa ment amount but that he had falsel
characterised it as a retainer agreement for
business advice.
The tribalism that Trump inspires is fier
and lawless. On Januar 6, 2 21, mobs of
Trump supporters attacked the Capitol
Building (the seat of the United States
Congress, located on Capitol Hill, in
Washington DC) in a bid to keep him in
power followinghis loss inthe elections. The
House Committee (comprising select mem-
bers of the House of Representatives) ap-
pointed to investigate the attacks voted to
recommend to the Department of Justice
that Trump be charged with “assisting, aid-
ing or comforting” the insurrection. These
charges will haunt him as he continues to be
the Republican frontrunner — or will the ?
As Trump once boasted, he could kill a
person on a bus street and his supporters
would still back him.
The political realit is that Trump is
enormousl popular. In the last elections,
both Biden and Trump collected a record
number of votes. Biden polled 81,283,5 1
votes (51.3 per cent of the total) and Trump
polled 74,223,975 votes, with the former
becoming the president. However, both
men had received more of the popular vote
than ever before. Biden now holds the
record for the most votes earned in a pres-
idential election. To give some conte t, in
2 8, Barack Obama earned 69,498,516
votes — till then the most ever in a presi-
dential election. The “popular vote” is
hardl the barometer for winning elections
in the American electoral college s stem.
Hillar Clinton lost to Donald Trump despite
polling almost three million more votes
Balbir Punj
ONE RECENT POLITICAL development that
wentunnoticedwasthederecognitionof the
Communist Part of India (CPI) as a national
part b the Election Commission. For close
toacentur ,theCPIhasbeenanintrinsicpart
oftheundulatingsagaofIndia’ssocialandpo-
litical life. While the CPI’s footprint is getting
obliterated from India’s political scene, the
countr is bus writing a success stor . The
part ’s inescapable fall and India’s rise are
surel intertwined developments.
The RSS and the Indian chapter of the
Communist International (the CPI’s forerun-
ner)werebothbornin1925.Untilitsdissolu-
tion in Ma 1943, each communist part , in-
cludingtheCommunistPart of India,wasb
its constitution, “a section of the Communist
International”, headquartered in and con-
trolledb Moscow.Thejokewasthatwhenit
rained in Moscow, comrades opened their
umbrellas in India!
The da s chosen for the birth of the two
organisationsb theirrespectivefoundingfa-
thers probabl said a lot about their orienta-
tion. The RSS was born on September 27, on
Vija Dashami and the Communist Part ,
three months later, on December 26, when
theworldwasbus celebratingChristmasand
was absorbed in new ear festivities.
WhiletheCPIisneare tinction,theinflu-
enceof itsideologicalbreak-awa faction,the
CommunistPart ofIndia(Mar ist)orCPI(M),
isconfinedtoKerala,andeliteinstitutionslike
Jawaharlal Nehru Universit (JNU) in Delhi,
withnotractionintherestof thecountr .The
, WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
than him. In the American s stem, the win-
ner is the candidate who takes the electoral
college. Yet, the popular vote is an indica-
tor of how voters feel about a candidate,
even if it’s not the constitutional marker of
winning the elections for President.
What the Biden-Trump showdown in-
dicates is that despite losing the presidenc
to Biden, Trump was enormousl popular.
This notwithstanding well-founded allega-
tions of breaking the law on multiple counts,
repeatedl making false claims on most po-
litical issues including about the 2 2 elec-
tions being “stolen”, running a deepl dis-
organised administration and
fear-mongering that included banning
Muslims from entering the US. Wh then is
Trump so popular?
For mainstream Republican part mem-
bers and supporters, Trump delivered on
core issues while he was in office. For in-
stance, Trump’s greatest legac will be judi-
cial appointments. Most especiall , his three
appointments to the Supreme Court. The
appointment to the US Supreme Court
(SCOTUS) is notoriousl political, while the
testimon of the candidate for judge is
shown on national television. In the US, hav-
ing lifetime appointments to the Supreme
Court and other appellate courts means that
man Trump appointees will sta in office
for the ne t 3 ears or more.
All three of Trump’s appointments —
Justice Neil Gorsuch, Justice Brett Kavanaugh
and Justice Am Cone Barrett — identif
with a more conservative brand of politics.
And man Republicans see Trump’s great-
est legac as being the overruling of Roe v
Wade, the abortion rights decision, b Dobbs
v Jackson Women’s Health Organisation de-
cided in June 2 22. In Dobbs, SCOTUS held
that the US Constitution does not confer a
right to abortion and overruled its previous
decisions in Roe v Wade and Planned
A story of fall and rise
CPIdeclineswhileRSSandIndiagrow.Thetwoareconnected
Maoists/Na als, wedded to the gun, too are
remnantsof theLeftmovement.Restrictedto
afewtribalpockets,the operateoverground
and underground, depending on the e igen-
cies of the situation, in a few urban areas.
In contrast, the BJP, inspired b the RSS,
rulestheCentreandhasapan–Indiapresence.
The RSS, through its affiliates, has an impact
onalmostallaspectsof Indiancultural,social,
political and economic life.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1991, the inadequacies of communism were
e posed to the world. In India too, the com-
munists increasingl lost their relevance. In
the ears to follow, India managed to break
out of what was derisivel called the “Hindu
rateof growth”andhasnowestablisheditself
as an emerging economic powerhouse.
Wh is the CPI d ing, while the RSS and
India rise? Are these developments con-
nected? Yes, the are. The RSS aspires to re-
buildthecountr ,drawingheavil fromtime-
less Indian values, such as pluralism and
harmon , and recognising and respecting di-
versit . The CPI, on the other hand, believed
that India’s reconstruction was possible after
the complete pulverisation of its traditional
values, beliefs and social structures.
In the article ‘The British Rule in India’ in
The New York Dail Tribune, (June 25, 1853)
KarlMar said:“Wemustnotforgetthatthese
littlecommunitieswerecontaminatedb dis-
tinctionsofcasteandb slaver ,thatthe sub-
jugated man to e ternal circumstances in-
stead of elevating man to be the sovereign of
Fo main eam Rep blican
pa membe and
ppo e , T mp deli e ed
on co e i e hile he a
in office. Fo in ance,
T mp g ea e legac ill
be j dicial appoin men .
Mo e peciall , hi h ee
appoin men o he
S p eme Co . The
appoin men o he US
S p eme Co (SCOTUS)
i no o io l poli ical,
hile he e imon of he
candida e fo j dge i ho n
on na ional ele i ion. In he
US, ha ing life ime
appoin men o he
S p eme Co and o he
appella e co mean ha
man T mp appoin ee
ill a in office fo he ne
ea o mo e.
circumstances, that the transformed a self-
developing social state into never changing
naturaldestin ,andthusbroughtaboutabru-
talisingworshipofnature,e hibitingitsdegra-
dation in the fact that man, the sovereign of
nature, fell down on his knees in adoration of
Hanuman,themonke ,andSabbala,thecow.”
The British and the communists had a
shared perspective of India. On the destruc-
tionof Indian(Hindu-Buddhist)culture,the
wereonthesamepage.TheBritishwantedto
colonisetheIndianmindandtransformitinto
an e tension of the British ps che. The com-
munists, on the other hand, were striving to
turn India into a Soviet satellite. Without a
doubt, both the communists and the British
aimed to destro the idea of India in Indians.
Did the Indian communists fight the
British? Yes, the did, but onl to the e tent
that it suited the Soviet Union.
The fact that Indian communists were a
mere e tension of the Soviet Union’s foreign
polic andinterests,wasprovedbe onddoubt
during the Second World War. On August 23,
1939,theSovietUnionenteredintoapactwith
Hitler. Arraigned against them were Great
Britain and its allies. The CPI was upset with
CongressbecauseitdidnotimpedeBritishwar
efforts. After Hitler and Stalin fell out, and the
Soviet Union teamed up with allies, the com-
munists made a complete U-turn. The were
onceagainupsetwithCongress,nowbecause
ithadlaunchedtheQuitIndiamovement,and
was disrupting the British war efforts.
WhenIndiaattainedfreedomin1947,the
C R Sasikumar
Parenthood v Case . All three Trump ap-
pointees voted to overrule Roe.
Numerous studies show that Trump and
most Republicans t picall score higher
with white voters, while Democrats over-
whelmingl win black and Hispanic voters.
Interestingl , college-educated Americans
are increasingl voting for the Democrats.
While non-college-educated white
Americans support the Republicans, espe-
ciall Donald Trump. Race and class pla sig-
nificant roles in who voters support in the
elections.
For those seeking deeper insights into
Donald Trump, a riveting new biograph has
just been released. Titled Confidence Man:
The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking
of America. The author is New York Times re-
porter Maggie Haberman. Haberman cov-
ered Trump both as a candidate for the 2 16
elections and eventuall as a one-term pres-
ident. Trump was famousl conscious of
Haberman’s unflattering coverage of him as
a president. It is 6 pages of drama, politi-
cal insight, and scoops, a stor of the inter-
twined worlds of wealth law-breaking real
estate moguls, far-right politics, and the
large cult of die-hard Trump supporters and
the privileged and spoilt scion of a real es-
tate magnate father, who learnt to bend
ever rule and put himself before an one or
an thing else.
This is the e planation for the rise of
Trump: He figured out hiscore constituenc ,
which he shapes through fear, strategicall
deplo ingsocialmediaandspeakinginalan-
guage that appeals to them. Along the wa ,
he deplo ed his privilege to bend and break
thelaw.Whatremainstobeseeninthe2 24
elections for president, is whether voters re-
ward him again — for being Donald Trump.
The writer is a Senior Advocate at the
Supreme Court of India
refused to accept that India had become in-
dependent.NehruwasdecriedandIndiawas
proclaimedtoberipeforarmedinsurrection.
The armed offensive for the final capture of
power began in 1949, which Sardar Patel put
down with a heav hand.
WhenChinainvadedIndiain1962,theCPI
maintained that a socialist nation (China)
couldn’t be an aggressor. In 1964 , the part
split, with the breakawa faction christening
itselfasCPI(M).ThesplitintheCPIwasmerel
an e tension of the Sino-Soviet split.
The declaration of Emergenc in 1975 b
adesperateIndiraGandhiwasjustifiedb the
CPI. The part said that Emergenc has been
declared to foil the international conspirac
to destabilise India. In return for this betra al
of Indian democrac , the communists man-
aged to smuggle themselves into the s stem,
with the help of a complicit and acquiescing
regime.
For obvious reasons, there was alwa s a
disconnectbetweenthecommunistsandthe
restof India.ButiscommunismdeadinIndia
now? The CPI, as an organisation, ma have
reached its nadir, but communism as an ide-
olog has permeated deep, particularl in
massmediaandacademia,andstillinfluences
the narrative, within and without the coun-
tr . Since the idea of India was never central
totheCPI’se istence,notearswereshedover
its demise.
The writer is a former Member of Parliament
and a columnist
Ra he han le he epo be a o ce of con pi ac heo ie and di info ma ion,
he o head of go e nmen ho ld accep i and decide ha o do i h i . Tha
o ld be he be a o ake Nepal-India ela ion o a ne e heigh , a he a e
going o claim in hei po - i i p e mee . — THE KATHMANDU POST
Centre’s ordinance,
Ambedkar’s warning
The Services Ordinance is not just about Delhi,
Arvind Kejriwal or the Aam Aadmi Part . It is an
attack on democratic principles and institutions
Atishi
IN HIS “GRAMMAR of Anarch ” address to
the Constituent Assembl , Babasaheb
Ambedkarsoundedawarningthatnomat-
ter how good a constitution is, it will turn
out bad if those who are called to work it
happentobeabadlot.WiththeBJP-runcen-
tralgovernment’sordinancegivingprimac
to two Centre-appointed bureaucrats (not
accountabletothepeopleof Delhi)overthe
elected Chief Minister of Delhi, completel
overruling the Supreme Court’s judgment,
India once again witnesses echoes of
Babasaheb’s warning.
The contestation regarding control of
servicesinDelhihasbeengoingonforeight
ears, and in multiple courts. It was finall
put to rest on Ma 11 when the five-judge
Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court
unanimousl ruled in favour of the elected
government of Delhi. The Court’s verdict
wasthatcontrolover“services”inDelhilies
with the elected government of Delhi, and
was derived from the provisions of the
Constitution, that is, Article 239AA of the
ConstitutionreadwithEntr 41of theState
List. What did this mean? This meant that
theConstitutionBenchputpoweroverbu-
reaucrats in the hands of the elected gov-
ernment, sa ing that if an elected govern-
ment does not have this power, then it
cannot implement the “will of the people”.
So, after eight ears of legal battles, it was
established that the popularl -elected
Kejriwalgovernmentwouldhavedecision-
making powers in Delhi.
It took the central government eight
da s to make a bra en attempt to overturn
thisorder.KnowingthattheSCgaveastrong,
clear and unanimous verdict, the waited
for the court vacation to start, and then
within hours promulgated an unconstitu-
tionalordinance.TheCentredoeshavepow-
erstopassanordinanceorevenlegislateun-
derArticle239AA(3)(b).However,thepower
to legislate in order to implement Article
239AAcannotbeusedtomakelawsincon-
travention of Article 239AA, or laws which
turn Article 239AA on its head. As the ordi-
nance e pressl restricts the powers of
Delhi’s Vidhan Sabha, and removes an ef-
fectivecontrolof theelectedgovernmentof
Delhiover“services”,itisaclearviolationof
Article 239AA itself.
WhenaUnionlawattemptstoundothe
judgment of the Court b an ordinance or
evenlegislation,itmustremovethefounda-
tion of the judgment. It is clear from the
judgment of the Constitution Bench that
the Delhi government’s power to control
services is derived from the Constitution
and its Basic Structure. Chief Justice D Y
Chandrachud observed that the will of the
people cannot be implemented if the bu-
reaucrac is not accountable to the elected
government. While tr ing to nullif the SC
decision, the Services Ordinance does not
—andindeed,couldnot—haveamendedor
removed the foundation of the Court’s de-
cision, that is Article 239AA and the princi-
ples of federalism, representative democ-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
MODI S DIPLOMACY
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Warmth
in S dne ’ (IE, Ma 26). India, under
Modi,ispla ingitscardswellininterna-
tional diplomac and the upswing in
Indo-Australia relations is a testimon
to this.Thediversefieldsof cooperation
between the two nations are mutuall
beneficial, with the Quad partnership
providing a further boost. PM Modi has
beendeftl abletopla hishandinmul-
tiple international forums. His abilit to
betterIndia’sforeignrelationsisevident
through the impact he makes on globa
leaders.
Vijai Pant, Hempur
A BRAVE WOMAN
THIS REFERS TO the editorial, ‘Farewell,
queen’ (IE, Ma 26). The editorial cor-
rectl points out that the stor of Tina
Turner’s grit is “an indelible part of her
legac ”. Her life is the remarkable saga
of a girl, with humble origins, who
makes it big in the music world, walks
outof anabusivemarriage,andthenre-
connects with her audience. Even
though she suffered brutal emotional
and ph sical abuse at the hands of her
husband,shedidnotmakeherself seem
like a victim. She disagreed with those
who saw her life as tough, and felt that
theabusivemarriagewasallabouthow
one deals with it. She chose to move on
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
rac , collective responsibilit and account-
abilit as enshrined in the constitutional
provisions. Despite these limitations, the
Centre promulgated the ordinance. While
the founding fathers and mothers of the
Indian republic strived to ensure “rule of
law”, the BJP-led dispensation seems to
think that it is a law unto itself, and above
the Constitution.
TheServicesOrdinanceisnotjustabout
Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal or the Aam Aadmi
Part . It is an attack on democratic princi-
ples and institutions. The nine ears of the
Modi government have been infamous for
the BJP usurping power in states where it
loseselections.First,itrunsOperationLotus
to poach MLAs using mone and muscle
power and forms its own illegitimate gov-
ernment.If thatisnotpossible,itunleashes
the CBI and ED on governments formed b
other parties. And with those Opposition-
run states that remain, it takes awa the
power from state governments through
unconstitutional devices such as the
GNCTD (Amendment) Act of 2 21 or the
GNCTD (Amendment) Ordinance of 2 23.
Asof Ma 2 23,theBJP’sinfluenceinstates
has been reduced to just 43 per cent of
India’s land area, and just 44 per centof the
population. It is now attempting to assault
the federal structure of the countr and
concentrate power in the hands of the
Union government.
Delhi hasbecomethee perimentation
ground for the BJP to tr tactics for con-
strainingthe powersof states.After theob-
structionist agenda of the L-G in Delhi, the
BJP government e tended the practice to
Puducherr . And now it regularl uses the
apparatus of the governor/L-G to under-
mine democraticall elected non-BJP gov-
ernments.WestBengal,Punjab,Telangana,
TamilNadu,Kerala, Maharashtra and other
states have witnessed governors obstruct-
inggovernmentproposals,unconscionabl
dela ing assent to bills passed b state leg-
islatures,andundul interferingintheda -
to-da administration of the state b act-
ing be ond their powers. This
unconstitutional ordinance, b reducing
the powers of the Delhi government,
should ring alarm bells for other non-BJP-
ruled states too.
Perhaps the most audacious aspect of
thisepisodeisthever actofthecentralgov-
ernment promulgating an ordinance to
overturn the unanimous verdict of a five-
judge bench of the Supreme Court. The
ServicesOrdinanceisanunforgivableassault
ontheSupremeCourt’sdignit .Inourdem-
ocratic set-up, powers are distributed be-
tweenthelegislature,thee ecutiveandthe
judiciar . Out of these, the judiciar is the
most important pillar that upholds the
Constitution, and this is wh the Supreme
Court is called the “custodian of the
Constitution”.ButtheServicesOrdinanceis
a bra en attempt to run roughshod over its
authorit and wisdom.
As the Centre keeps mounting attacks
on federal governance and obliterates op-
position-run state governments, the stakes
havedramaticall risenforthewholecoun-
tr . This time it is not just Delhi, but the
whole of India that is looking towards the
Supreme Court to uphold the Constitution
and its values.
The writer is Minister of Education, Delhi
and a senior leader of the Aam Aadmi Part
and leave the bitterness behind. Her
journe of eight -plus ears showed
ever one that it is all about believing in
oneself.Hermusiccareerwasbuiltwith
bricksof hardwork,self-esteemandre-
silience. Turner was trul a winner in
the real sense of the word.
S H Quadri, Bikaner
NOT THE SPIRIT
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘New era
dawned in last 9 ears, sport now seen
asattractiveprofession:PM’(IE,Ma 26).
PM Narendra Modi, while inaugurating
the“KheloIndiaUniversit Games”said
thatpreviousgovernmentswerenotin-
terestedindevelopinginfrastructurefor
sports, which led to a lack of interest in
sports as a career. But the situation un-
derhisgovernmenthaschangedthatas
more people are joining the field — es-
peciall women.Whilethisma betrue,
his silence over the month-long protest
b celebrated wrestlers to seek justice
againstse ualharassmentandcriminal
intimidationb WFIchiefandBJPMPBrij
Bhushan Sharan, does not inspire confi-
dence or a sense of safet against indig-
nities.Itremindsmeof PauloFreirewho
said, “Washing one’s hands of the con-
flictbetweenthepowerfulandthepow-
erless means to side with the powerful,
not to be neutral”.
L R Murmu, New Delhi
Chandigarh

6 THE WORLD
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
TOPOFTHE
WORLD
Fulgence Ka ishema
in a court in Cape
Town on Frida . AP
RWANDA
Af e
,ge cide
ec i c
Cape Town: One of
Rwanda's most wanted
suspects for the countr 's
1994genocideappearedin
aSouthAfricancourtroom
onFrida ,clutchingaBible
and another book in-
scribed with “Jesus First”
on the cover. Fulgence
Ka ishemawasapoliceof-
ficer with the rank of in-
spectorwhenheallegedl
orchestratedthekillingsof
more than 2, people -
includingchildren-asthe
tried to seek refuge in a
church.Hewasarrestedon
Wednesda in a small
towninawine-makingre-
gionabout3 mileseastof
Cape Town. AP
UNITED KINGDOM
Pa el e ie
e af e
I dia-Pakma ch
London: The UK govern-
ment on Frida an-
nounced an independent
review into the unrest
that took place in the cit
of Leicester last ear as
communit groups
clashed in the wake of an
India-Pakistan cricket
match in Dubai. The
Indian government had
raisedtheissuediplomat-
icall at the time after a
temple in the cit was
among the sites van-
dalised in the clashes,
which resulted in several
arrests. The clashes oc-
curred in the wake of the
India-Pakistan Asia Cup
cricket match in Dubai in
August last ear. PTI
SERBIA
Af e cla he ,
highale
K b de
Pristina: Serbia put its
troopsontheborderwith
Kosovo on the highest
stateof alertonFrida fol-
lowing clashes between
ethnic Serbs and Kosovo
police that left more than
a do en injured on both
sides. The Serbs in north-
ern Kosovo, who repre-
sent a majorit in that re-
gion, were tr ing to block
theentranceof municipal
buildings to prevent re-
centl -elected ethnic
Albanian officials from
entering them. Police
fired tear gas. AP
WILL KIN LOACH, WHO WON THE PALME D’OR TWICE, WIN IT A THIRD TIME FOR THE REFUGEE DRAMA?
Warm & humanist tales ‘The Old Oak’ and ‘Perfect Days’ live up to mark
EXPRESSATCANNES
SHUBHRA GUPTA
CANNES, MAY
THE 76TH Cannes competition
lineup reserved two of its most
warm and deepl humanist tales
fortheFilmFestival’swrap,b two
veteran filmmakers whose ever
workisanevent.
Ken Loach’s The Old Oak takes
ustoasmalltowninNortheastern
UK where mining used to be a
mainsta ,butisnowaplaceadrift,
with bristling locals ganging up
UKRAINE STRIKES RUSSIAN BORDER REGIONS
R ia a ack Uk ai ia
cli ic kill ,i j e
REUTERS
KYIV, MAY
A RUSSIAN missile hit a clinic in
the eastern Ukrainian cit of
Dnipro on Frida , killing at least
two people and wounding 3 in
an attack that President
Volod m r Zelenski described
as a crime against humanit .
“Another missile attack, an-
other crime against humanit ,"
Zelenski wrote on Twitter.
Regional governor Serhi
L saksaida69- ear-oldmanhad
beenkilled. Thegovernorsaidan-
otherman'sbod hadbeenpulled
out of the rubble, and that 21 of
the 23 wounded had been taken
to hospital. Three were seriousl
hurt, he said. The Ukrainian
Defence Ministr called it a seri-
ous war crime under the Geneva
Conventions, which set out how
soldiers and civilians should be
treated in war.
Moscowhasdismissedallega-
tions that its soldiers have com-
Court halts
South Carolina's
abortion law
ASSOCIATED PRESS
COLUMBIA, MAY
AJUDGEputSouthCarolina'snew
law banning most abortions
aroundsi weeksofpregnanc on
hold on Frida until the state
Supreme Court can review the
measure, giving providers a tem-
porar reprieve in a region that
has enacted strict limits on the
procedure.
The ruling b Judge Clifton
Newman came just about 24
hoursafterGov.Henr McMaster
signed the bill. The decision
means South Carolina reverts
back to a ban at about 2 weeks
after fertilisation.
ThelawpassedonTuesda b
theGeneralAssembl issimilarto
abanonabortiononcecardiacac-
tivit can be detected that law-
makers passed in 2 21.
The state Supreme Court de-
cidedina3-2rulingthatthe2 21
law violated the state constitu-
tion's right to privac .
12 hurt as passenger opens
emergency door mid-flight
ASSOCIATED PRESS
SEOUL, MAY
A PASSENGER opened an emer-
genc e it door during a plane
flight in South Korea on Frida ,
causingairtoblastinsidethecabin
andslightl injure12people,offi-
cialssaid.Theplanelandedsafel .
Some people aboard the
Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 air-
crafttriedtostoptheperson,who
was able to partiall open the
door,theTransportMinistr said.
The person was detained b
airportpoliceonsuspicionofvio-
lating the aviation securit law, a
ministr statementsaid.Theper-
son’sidentit andmotiveweren’t
immediatel released. The plane
againstagroupof S rianrefugees
looking for a home awa from
home. Perfect Da s b Wim
Wenders is the portrait of a mid-
dle-aged toilet cleaner in Tok o,
and in the calm, dignified wa he
goes about his da s, fills his life
withmeaning.
TheOldOakisclassicLoachter-
ritor :workingclassstiffsworried
aboutlosingjobsand erojobop-
portunities, spewing resentment
against an one who challenges
theirwa of life.
Thenewlotof refugees,shep-
herdedb as mpatheticlocalvol-
unteer,arenottuckedawa infar-
awa camps. Instead, the are
offloaded in a neighbourhood
whose folks have known each
otherfordecades—gonetoschool,
got married, had their kids and
grandkids—andliketograbapint
and grouse about this and that at
,
Rescuers work at the site of a clinic heavil destro ed b a
Russian missile strike in Dnipro, Ukraine, on Frida . AP
mittedwarcrimesanddeniesde-
liberatel targeting civilians al-
though it has bombarded cities
across Ukraine since invading 15
months ago.
A Russian S-3 missile hit a
dam in the Karlivka district of
Ukraine's eastern Donetsk
TURKEY RUNOFF VOTE TOMORROW
A man walks in front of the posters of Turkish President Ta ip Erdogan, ahead of the Ma 28
presidential runoff vote, in Istanbul, Turke , on Frida . Kemal Kilicdaroglu, the leader of
Turki e's pro-secular main opposition part and a six-part alliance, has campaigned on a
promise to undo Erdogan's “authoritarian tilt”. Reuters
The flight landed safel at
Daegu in South Korea. AP
with 194 people aboard was
headingtoDaegufromthesouth-
ern island of Jeju.
The incident occurred when
theplanewasreachingtheDaegu
airport at an altitude of 7 feet,
officials said.
the local pub. It is called The Old
Oak, run b TJ ( Dave Turner), a
manwhoisbothrepresentativeof
theplaceand etdifferent.
When the camera belonging
to a oung S rian girl Yara ( Ebla
Mari)issmashedb alout,hegoes
outofhiswa tohelprepairit,and
finds a wa to repair the rift be-
tween his people and the new-
comers.
You wonder if the film’s end,
whichbringstherefugeesandthe
locals together, is altogether too
mawkish. A traged has brought
the townspeople to Yara’s
doorstep:whenthingsgobackto
normal, will the revert to their
badoldwa s?But oucannothelp
being immensel moved b the
image of people, of different na-
tionalities and faith, coming to-
gether.Asacharactersa s:ittakes
faith to hope, but if I stop hoping
province, placing nearb settle-
ments under threat of flooding.
Russia's southern Belgorod re-
gionborderingUkrainecameun-
derattackfromUkrainianartiller
fire on Frida , hours after at least
one nighttime blast rocked a
Russiancit inaregionne ttothe
‘Documented dreamers’ in US
seek Act to end uncertain future
LALIT K JHA
WASHINGTON, MAY
RUNNINGFROMpillartopostfor
the last several ears, 'docu-
menteddreamers',asignificantl
largenumberofwhomareIndian
Americans, are seeking an end to
their uncertain future.
A group of these long-term
visa holders known as docu-
mented dreamers made another
roundoftheUSCapitol–thetem-
ple of American Democrac –
knockingonthedoorsofonelaw-
maker after the other, seeking
support for the recentl intro-
duced'America'sChildrenAct.“It
is time to permanentl end the
‘Une nuit’ (Strangers b Night) actor Karin Viard kisses
director Alex Lut at Cannes on Frida . Reuters
m heartwillstopbeating.
Ma bethisishowthe86- ear-
oldLoach,whosa sthiswillbehis
last film, wants the future to be –
JAPAN ADOPTS NEW
CURBS ON RUSSIA
Tok o: Japan on Frida ap-
proved additional sanctions
againstRussiaoveritswaron
Ukraine, including free ing
the assets of do ens of indi-
viduals and groups and ban-
ning e ports to Russian mili-
tar -related organisations.
Chief Cabinet Secretar
Hiroka u Matsuno criticised
thesigningof adealbetween
Russia and Belarus formalis-
ing the deplo ment of
Moscow’s nuclear weapons
in its all 's territor . AP
anne ed Crimea peninsula. The
BelgorodtownofGraivoron,some
7 km from the Ukrainian border,
was under fire for several hours,
with four houses, a store, a car, a
gas pipeline and a power line
damaged, Gov. V acheslav
Gladkov reported.
E
E X P L A I NE D
D eame
face i k f
● de ai
THE ‘DOCUMENTED
dreamers' are basicall
undocumented immi-
grants who enter the
United States as children
with parents. The grew
up legall in the US but
risk deportation when
the turn 21 ears old.
agingoutandpasstheAmerica's
ChildrenAct,”DipPatel,founder,
Improve The Dream, said.
tingedwithoptimism.Willthedi-
rector, who has alread won the
Palme D’Or twice, win it a third
time?Wewillknowsoon.
AFTER BUSY DAY
POPE RUNS FEVER , SKIPS MEETS
Va ican Ci : Pope F anci kipped mee ing on F ida beca e
he a nning a fe e af e a pa ic la l b
US debt ceiling talks
struggle as deadline
nears: Issues remain
REUTERS
WASHINGTON, MAY
DEMOCRATIC AND Republican
negotiators struggled on Frida
to reach a deal to raise the U.S.
government's $31.4 trillion debt
ceiling, with a ke Republican
citing disagreements over work
requirements for some benefit
programs for low-income
Americans.
Time is running short for
Democratic President Joe Biden
and Republican House of
Representatives Speaker Kevin
McCarth to reach an accord to
raise the federal government's
self-imposed borrowing limit
andavertapotentiall disastrous
default.
Negotiators appeared to be
nearing a deal to lift the limit for
two earsandcapspending,with
agreement on funding for the
Internal Revenue Service and the
militar , ears while capping
spending on man government
programs,accordingtoaU.S.offi-
cial.Butanadministrationofficial
briefed on the talks said the
couldeasil slipintotheweekend.
Thetwosidesremainedatlog-
gerheads over a Republican push
for new work requirements for
someanti-povert programs.“We
have made progress,” lead
Republican negotiator Garret
Gravestoldreporters. “Weknow
it's crunch time,” McCarth told
No plans to go abroad: Imran
after being put on ‘no-fly list’
SAJJAD HUSSAIN
ISLAMABAD, MAY
UNFAZED AFTER being placed
on the no-fl list, Pakistan’s for-
mer prime minister Imran Khan
on Frida took a swipe at the top
leaders of the ruling coalition,
sa ing he has no plans to travel
overseas as he neither owns
properties nor has an busi-
nesses abroad.
Khan, his wife Bushra Bibi
andotherleadersandformeras-
sembl members of his Pakistan
Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) part were
reportedl barred from leaving
the countr on Thursda .
Of the 2,5 , dreamers, 9
per cent are pursuing STEM
(Science,technolog ,engineering,
andmathematics)careers,hesaid.
“In2 5,m parentsimmigrated
totheUnitedStatestostartasmall
business to give our famil the
best opportunit to succeed. We
made America our home,” Patel
told reporters at the Capitol.
“This countr raised me, edu-
cated me, and has made me who
I am toda . After nearl two
decadesoflivingherelawfull ,m
parentsandIhavenot etreceived
permanent resident status,” he
said,addingthataloopholeinthe
s stem is forcing oung people
brought here legall to leave the
countr after the turn 21. PTI
Hira ama(KojiYakusho)lives
in a tin apartment filled with
booksandmusiccassettes,which
hehascollectedoverthe ears.He
spends so much of his time in his
van thatfeelslikeasecondhome,
the backseat stacked with clean-
ing implements he devised. And
there’s no doubt that he is a per-
fectionist:hereachesbehindsinks
and pots, rubbing and polishing,
andleavesever thingsparkling.It
must help that the Tok o loos he
cleans looks perfect in the first
place, but still, to see someone
makingsureever thingisperfect
da afterda ,isquiteajo .
The loveliest parts of the film
are filled with the pop and rock
musicthatHira amalistensto.It’s
been ears since I’ve heard ‘The
House Of The Rising Sun’, which
used to be considered too chees
atonepoint.Buthealsonodsalong
da , he Va ican
aid.He i d e o p e ide o e Pen eco Ma on S nda
House of Representatives
Speaker Kevin McCarth
E
E X P L A I NE D
Deal f m e
mili a
● e di g
A FAILURE b Congress to
raiseitsself-imposeddebt
ceilinginthecomingweek
couldtriggeradefaultthat
would shake financial
markets and send the US
into a deep recession.The
deal under consideration
wouldincreasefundingfor
militar and veterans care
while essentiall holding
non-defensediscretionar
spending at current ear
levels, said an fficial.
reportersat theCapitol onFrida .
“We're not just tr ing to get an
agreement, we're tr ing to get
something that's worth of the
American people, that changes
the trajector .”
Imran Khan
Taking to Twitter, Khan
wrote: “I want to thank the gov-
ernmentforputtingm nameon
the ECL as I have no plans to
travel abroad, because I neither
have an properties or busi-
nesses abroad nor even a bank
account outside the countr .”
Capitol siege: Oath Keepers
founder gets 18 years in jail
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, MAY
OATH KEEPERS e tremist group
founderStewartRhodeswassen-
tenced Thursda to 18 ears in
prison for orchestrating a weeks-
long plot that culminated in his
followersattackingtheUSCapitol
inabidtokeepPresidentJoeBiden
outoftheWhiteHouseafterwin-
ning the 2 2 election.
Rhodes, 58, is the first person
convictedofseditiousconspirac
intheJanuar 6,2 21,attacktore-
ceivehispunishment,andhissen-
tenceisthelongesthandeddown
so far in the hundreds of Capitol
riot cases. It’s another milestone
for the Justice Department's
to Patti Smith, the Rolling Stones,
and Lou Reed : the latter sang
‘Perfect Da ’, and there’s the con-
nectionwiththetitle.
It’s onl when his niece, who
ran awa , comes to sta with him
that we learn a little about his
backstor . The niece’s mother,
Hira ama’ssister,hasnoideawhat
her brother does for a living. But
Hira ama is much too Zen to let
that matter : what does matter is
the wa the wind sounds when
theleavesrustle,orwhentheearl
morning sun rises, the music fills
up the van, and Hira ama is back
again,ontheroad.
Tarantino’s here
Another highlight of this
Cannes was being present in the
same theatre as Quentin
Tarantino, a special guest at
Director’sFortnight.It’sclearthat
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
Biden releases
new strategy to
tackle rise in
antisemitism
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, MAY
PRESIDENT JOE Biden on
Thursda announced what he
said is the most ambitious and
comprehensive undertaking b
the US government to fight hate,
bias and violence against Jews,
outliningmorethan1 stepsthe
administration can take to com-
bat rise in antisemitism.
Speakingduringavideotaped
addressattheWhiteHouse,Biden
saidthefirstUSNationalStrateg
to Counter Antisemitism sends a
“clear and forceful message” that
“inAmerica,evilwillnotwin,hate
will not prevail” and “the venom
andviolenceofantisemitismwill
not be the stor of our time.”
Months in the making, the
strateg has four basic goals: in-
creasing awareness and under-
standingofantisemitism,includ-
ing its threat to America, and
broadening appreciation of
Jewish American heritage; im-
proving safet and securit for
Jewish communities; reversing
thenormalisationofantisemitism
and countering antisemitic dis-
crimination;andbuilding“cross-
communit ”solidarit andcollec-
tive action to counter hate.
Jewish organisations ap-
plauded the effort. “Jewish safet
isine tricabl linkedtothesafet
of other communities,” said Am
Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish
Council for Public Affairs.
“If and when I do get an op-
portunit for a holida , it will be
in our northern mountains, m
favouriteplaceonearth,”hesaid.
Pakistan's Health Minister
Abdul Qadir Patel on Frida said
that Imran Khan's “mental sta-
bilit is questionable” and al-
leged that the former prime
minister's urine sample showed
evidence of to ic chemicals like
alcohol and cocaine.
“The medical report is sa ing
thatwhenwetalkedtoImranfor
a long time, his actions were not
that of a fit man,” Dawn News
quoted the minister as sa ing.
Patel said Khan “should be kept
in a museum”. PTI
Stewart
Rhodes,
founder of
Oath Keepers
sprawlingJanuar 6investigation,
which has led to seditious con-
spirac convictionsagainstthetop
leadersof twofar-righte tremist
groups came to Washington pre-
pared to fight to keep President
Donald Trump in power.
In a first for a Januar 6 case,
the judge agreed with the Justice
DepartmentthatRhodes'actions
should be punished as “terror-
ism.”Itcouldforeshadowlength
sentencesdowntheroadforother
far-right e tremists.
the love him here : so long was
thelinethatIjustaboutmanaged
tosquee einjustbeforethegates
closed, and got a lous seat from
whereIcouldbarel seean thing.
But it was worth it, as Tarantino
regaled us with his hot takes on
cinema,startingwithabriefintro-
duction to the ‘secret movie’ he
was going to show us, the 1977
‘RollingThunder’:‘let’sbringabit
of American grindhouse at
Cannes’! The crowd roared.
“Some people like musicals, I
like violent films,” he said, but he
added that he drew the line at
showing the killing of animals,
and‘an wa it’sallmake-believe’,
because it is being recreated for a
movie.He’salsothreatenednever
tomakeafilmafterhisforthcom-
ing,‘TheMovieCritic’.Ooh,willhe
use violence against film critics,
even if it is make-believe? Shiver.
Chandigarh

ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
SENSEX:
Plan being discussed
to create petroleum
reserves from salt
caverns in Rajasthan
SUKALP SHARMA
NEW DELHI, MAY
INDIAISe ploringtheideaof de-
veloping salt caverns in
Rajasthanasstrategicpetroleum
reserves and public sector con-
sultanc compan Engineers
India Ltd (EIL) has been tasked
with stud ing its prospects and
feasibilit .
According to EIL’s Chairman
and Managing Director Vartika
Shukla, the compan ’s recent
partnership with German ’s
DEEP.KBB GmbH is in line with
the objective as neither EIL nor
an other Indian compan has
the requisite technical
knowhow, which the German
compan has.
The countr has three strate-
gic petroleum reserves at
Mangaluru, Padur, and
Visakhapatnam, but all of these
are made up of e cavated rock
caverns. Over the past decade,
while there were plans to build
a strategic oil reserve in
Rajasthan’s Bikaner, the project
never reall took off. Shukla said
that e aminingthe possibilit of
salt cavern-based strategic stor-
age in Rajasthan can be seen as a
renewal of that proposal.
“Thereareformationsingeol-
og which have salt inside. The
salt has to be taken out and then
the caverns have to be prepared
for storage of crude. Majorit of
the caverns in the south in
America,intheHoustonarea,are
all salt caverns. EIL and Indian
companies do not have the tech-
nolog for preparing salt forma-
tions underground for cavern
storage of crude. We have done
thisalliancetogetthistechnolog
into the countr ,” Shukla said.
On being asked about the
likel project cost and whether
an specific site is being consid-
ered, Shukla said that it is too
IRDAI set to launch
single policy covering
life, health & property
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, MAY
THEINSURANCERegulator and
Development Authorit of India
(IRDAI) is looking to launch a
bundledproductwhichwillpro-
vide life, health, casualt and
propert cover in a single insur-
ance polic at an affordable
price, its Chairman Debasish
Panda said.
IRDAIisworkingontheprod-
uct along with the General
Insurance Council and Life
Insurance Council, Panda said.
Hesaid the ‘Bima Trinit ’ will
include Bima Sugam, the digital
platform, Bima Vistaar, a com-
prehensive cover for the rural
population on benefit
based/parametric structure and
Bima Vahak, a women-centric
distribution channel to focus on
Will the new angel tax tweaks
hurt fundraising by start-ups?
AANCHAL MAGAZINE
NEW DELHI, MAY
INVESTORS FROM 21 countries
including the US, UK, France,
Australia and Japan have been
e empted from the lev of angel
ta for investment in unlisted
E
Indian start-
ups.
E X P L A I NE D
Countries like
Singapore,
Netherlands
● and
Mauritius,
which constitute the major
chunk of foreign direct invest-
ment in India, have not been in-
cluded in the e emption list.
Though the move is being
viewed as a measure to plug
loopholes in investments from
ta havens, it is also e pected to
hit start-up fundraising.
Bhavin Shah, Deals Leader at
PwCIndia,said,“Thisrela ationis
awelcomesteptoeaseforeignin-
vestments. However, the e emp-
,5 1. 9 ▲ 9.
E
E X P L A I NE D
Sal ca e
a chea e
● i
UNLIKE ROCK caverns,
which are developed
through e cavation, salt
caverns are developed b
pumping water into geo-
logical formations with
large salt deposits to dis-
solve the salt. Then the salt
cavern is created b drain-
ing out the salt dissolved
in water. Developing salt
caverns is said to be easier,
faster, less labour-inten-
sive, and cheaper than
building a rock cavern.
earl to draw up a cost estimate
or ero in on a specific site. But
she added that the idea is that it
would be somewhere in
Rajasthan, as it is the state in
India that has salt caverns.
Rajasthan has a forthcoming
refiner inBarmerandhascrude
pipelines as well, and such infra-
structure is conducive for build-
ing strategic oil reserves.
“Once the technolog or
knowledgeisthere,onl thenwe
can have estimates as to what
kindof costswillbeinvolved,and
there are so man other factors
aswell.Therewillbeman steps
to project approval and the will
betakenstepb step.Butitisim-
portant that India gets that tech-
nolog , EIL gets that technolog
to…getanestimateandseehow
feasible it is,” she said.
India’sstrategicpetroleumre-
serveshaveacumulativecapacit
of5.33milliontonnesofcrude,and
can meet around 9.5 da s of the
countr ’soildemand.Thestrategic
oilreservescomeunderthepetro-
leumministr SPVIndianStrategic
PetroleumReserve.
reaching untapped/rural areas.
“BimaSugamwillbethepro-
tocolortheplatform.BimaVistar
is a product where we are tr ing
to design it in a manner which
will be accessible to the com-
mon man. It will be a bundled
product of life, health, causalit
andpropert ,”Pandasaidata CII
event on Ma 25.
In October 2 22, IRDAI had
set up a committee to e plore
and recommend on how to
bring about s nergies in the
working and operations of Bima
Vahak, Bima Vistaar and the dig-
ital platform, Bima Sugam.
“We are tr ing to design it in
a manner which will be a para-
metrictrigger.So, oudon’tneed
a surve or or assessor to assess
the loss. If there is a loss, the de-
fined benefit immediatel goes
to the bank account of the poli-
c holder,” he said
COMMENTS SOUGHT
ON VALUATION RULES
New Delhi: The Income Ta
Department Frida invited
comments on rules to value
non-resident investment in
unlisted startups. Sandeep
Jhunjhunwala, M&A Ta
Partner at Nangia Andersen
LLP, said though no changes
are proposed for the net asset
value and discounted cash
flow-based methodolog , all
newl proposedfivevaluation
methodologies for arriving at
fairmarketvalueof unquoted
sharestobeissuedtonon-res-
identinvestors,needstobede-
termined b Categor I
Merchant Banker registered
with SEBI, who were earlier
authorised to issue valuation
reportunderDCFmethodtoo.
tion for broad-based fund is pro-
vided for 21 countries, which e -
clude top jurisdictions like
,
(1. %) NIFTY: 18,499. 5 ▲ 1 8.
NCLAT gi e elief Zee S
me ge , e a ide ib al de
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
MUMBAI, MAY
PROVIDING MAJOR relief to Zee
Entertainment Enterprises Ltd
(ZEEL), the National Compan
Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT)
Frida set aside the National
Compan Law Tribunal (NCLT)
order that had directed the NSE
and BSE to reconsider their ap-
proval for the Zee-Son merger.
Atwo-memberNCLATbench
asked the NCLT to consider the
merger of Zee Entertainment
with Culver Ma Entertainment
—earlierknownasSon Pictures
Networks India — afresh, after
hearing all the parties.
The NCLAT order came on
hearing the appeal filed b ZEEL
Lloyd’s Register drops ships of
top Indian carrier of Russian oil
JONATHAN SAUL
& NIDHI VERMA
LONDON, NEW DELHI, MAY
LLOYD'S REGISTER has told
India's Gatik Ship Management,
which has become a major car-
rier of Russian oil since the
Ukraine war, that it will with-
drawcertificationof 21of itsves-
selsb June3,themaritimeserv-
ices compan told Reuters.
It is the latest setback for
Gatik, which was also been
forced to find new flags for 36 of
its ships after the were de-
flagged b the St. Kitts & Nevis
International Ship Registr .
“Llo d's Register is commit-
ted to facilitating compliance
Finfluencer settles with SEBI: To keep away
from markets for a yr, disgorge Rs 6 crore
Mumbai: Financial influencer
(Finfluencer) PR Sundar, his
compan Mansun Consulting
and co-promoter of the com-
pan Manga arkarasi Sundar
have settled the case regarding
violation of regulations of the
Securities and E change Board
of Indiab providinginvestment
advisor services without the
requisite SEBI registration.
FUND RAISE TALKS HAVE
PICKED PACE: VODAFONE
New Delhi: Vodafone Idea CEO
Aksha a Moondra said discus-
sions with investors and banks
for raising funds have gathered
pace in the last month following
the conversion of its interest
dues worth Rs 16,133 crore into
equit b the government. FE
B B eil li e a
a a d mi ee
Mumbai: Bank of Baroda an-
nounced 12 novels nominated
for the the 'Bank of Baroda
RashtrabhashaSamman'Award.
The award will promote works
in Indian languages through
Hindi translations. ENS
Singapore, Mauritius and UAE.
These three countries together
constitute over 5 % FDI in India.
Not including Singapore,
Mauritius and UAE, keeps almost
all significant PE/VC funds and
start-ups in which the invest, on
theirtoesforangelta issue.These
funds contribute close to 5 % of
foreigninvestmentinthecountr .”
"Startupe emptionforAngel
Ta applies to less than 2% of
DPIITregistered start-ups due to
a long list of conditions the
need to fulfill for a 7 ear period,
which makes it an e emption
just on paper...” he added.
Nangia Andersen India
ChairmanRakeshNangiasaidb
e plicitl mentioning this list of
countries, the government aims
to attract more FDI from coun-
tries with robust regulator
frameworks.“Surprisingl ,coun-
tries such as Singapore, Ireland,
Netherlands, Mauritius etc from
where majorit of FDI is chan-
nelised into India, do not find a
mention in this notification.”
( .9 %) NIKKEI: ,91 . 1 ▲ 115.18 HANG SENG*: 18, 4 .9 ▼
against the order passed b the
Mumbai bench of the NCLT on
Ma 11, 2 23. The NCLT had di-
rectedNSEandBSEtoreconsider
their prior approvals for the
merger of ZEEL and Culver Ma
Entertainment. It had also asked
the bourses to reassess the non-
compete fee under the clause of
the merger.
The NCLT order was chal-
lengedb ZEELbeforetheappel-
late tribunal, contending that it
was not granted adequate op-
portunit b theNCLTtopresent
itsside.Italsocontendedthatthe
NCLT doesn't have jurisdiction
over non-compete issues.
In September 2 21, Son
Pictures Networks India and
ZEEL entered into a non-binding
term sheet to bring together
Hitesh V as
An office at a Mumbai mall
from which Gatik moved out
with sanctions regulations on
the trading of Russian oil,” it said
in an email to Reuters. “Where
supportedb evidence,wewith-
drawclassandservicesfroman
Inthesettlementorderissued
b theSebi,thethreehaveagreed
to refrain from bu ing, selling or
otherwise dealing in securities
for one ear from the passing of
the settlement order, pa a set-
tlement amount and disgorge
more than Rs 6 crore, including
profitearnedfromadvisor serv-
ices and interest on the profit.
According to the order, the
DELHI JAL BOARD: GOVT. OF N.C.T. OF DELHI
OFFICE OF THE CHIEF ENGINEER (WATER) PROJECT-I
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER (PROJECT)W-VIII
A-BUILDING, JHANDEWALAN, NEW DELHI-110005
Email:- eeprojectw8@gmail.com
S. Name of work
No.
1. Shifting of the 1100 mm dia West Delhi Main at ESI Rs. 92,07,146/-
Hospital Basaidarapur Metro Station, Ring Road, to Rs. 1,84,200/- to
facilitate construction of under pass. (Deposit Work) be transmitted
Tender ID No. 2023_DJB_241807_1
Further details in this regard can be seen at https://delhi.govtprocurements.com
ISSUED BY P.R.O. (WATER)
Advt. No. J.S.V. 46 (2023-24)
their linear networks, digital as-
sets, production operations and
programme libraries. The com-
bined entit will own over 7 TV
channels, two video streaming
services(ZEE5andSon LIV)and
two film studios (Zee Studios
and Son Pictures Films India).
As per the scheme of the
arrangement,Son willindirectl
hold 5 .86 per cent of the com-
bined compan . The founder of
Zee will own around 4 per cent
and the rest will be with the
other shareholders of ZEEL.
Moreover, Son Group will
alsopa a non-compete feeof Rs
1,1 crore to the Essel Group
promoters.
Son Group Corporation
Chairman and CEO Kenichiro
Yoshida earlier said he e pects
vessels found... to be breaching
international sanctions.”
Classification societies such
as Llo d’s Register in London
provide services including sea-
worthiness checks, certification
that is vital for securing insur-
ance and entr to ports.
Llo d's Register said 11 of the
Gatikvesselsitwasdeclassif ing
were also certified b the Indian
Register of Shipping. A major US
insurer, the American Club, said
it was no longer providing cover
for Gatikships, while Russian in-
surer Ingosstrakh said it would
not work with Gatik in future.
Neither the insurers, Llo d's
Register nor the flag registr
spelled out wh the dropped
business with Gatik. REUTERS
settlement amount of Rs 15.6
lakh will have to be paid b each
of the three entities, totalling to
Rs 46.8 lakh. The will have to
shell out the disgorgement
amount of Rs 6, 7,69,863, in-
cludinginterestof 12percentper
annum from June 1, 2 2 till the
dateof submissionof therevised
settlement terms, which was
reached in Februar 2 23. ENS
N.I.T. No. 01/(2023-24)
Amount put to Date of release of Tender
tender/ Earnest Tender in e-pro- Processing
Money (Rs.) curement solution Fee(Rs.)
26.05.2023
through RTGS. )
GOLD
`6 , 8
Note: Gold, silver rates at Delhi spot market, gold per 1 g, silver per 1 kg; Crude oil (Indian basket) as of Ma 25
9. 1 FTSE: , 4. 1 ▲
the merger to be complete
within the first half of this fiscal.
Shares of Zee rallied over 6%
on the BSE on Frida , soon after
the NCLAT order. It settled at Rs
19 .7 apieceattheendof trade,
up 6.69% against the previous
da 's close.
Appearing for Zee, senior ad-
vocateMukulRohatgiarguedthat
NCLT's order had virtuall nulli-
fied all the regulator approvals
receivedsofarb thecompan as
part of the merger process.
Apart from the BSE and NSE
approval,theshareholdersof Zee
had alread given their assent to
the merger in October last ear,
weeks after the Competition
Commissionof Indiahadgaveits
conditional nod with some
modifications.
NCLAT gives
Jet consortium
more time to
clear SBI dues
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, MAY
IN RELIEF for Jalan Kalrock
Consortium (JKC), which has
emerged as a successful bidder
to take over Jet Airwa s, the
National Compan Law
Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), on
Frida granted it more time to
make pa ments to the State
Bank of India.
The appellate tribunal said
that the National Compan Law
Tribunal (NCLT) had approved
theconsortium'sresolutionplan
in Januar , but the matter on ap-
peal for sta was heard b it in
March, which was turned down.
Hence it would be proper that
JalanKalrockConsortiumgetsan
e clusion from November 16,
2 22 till March 3, 2 23, from
compl ing with pa ment obli-
gation towards SBI.
The NCLAT also pulled up SBI
for threatening to invoke bank
guarantees instead of cooperat-
ing with JKC in implementing
the resolution plan. It noted that
performance bank guarantee
can be invoked b lenders, but
onl when when successful res-
olution applicant has failed to
implement the plan. FE
Last date/ time of receipt
of tender through e-
procurement solution
Rs.1000/- 12.06.2023
(Non- upto 3:00 PM
Refundable)
Sd/-
(P.K. SHARMA)
EE(Project)W-VIII
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
USD RATE OIL SILVER
`82.57 $76.42 `72,5
. 4 DAX: 15,88 .81 ▲ 89. 1
International market data till 19 IST; *Ma 25
Meta recommends
shareholders vote
against proposal on
rights impact in India
tled ‘Assessing Allegations of
SOUMYARENDRA BARIK Biased Operations in Meta's
NEW DELHI, MAY Largest Market,’ said: “...in
Februar 2 2 , Muslim-major-
THE BOARD of Meta has recom- it neighborhoods of north-east
mended that shareholders vote Delhi were stormed b a mob,
against a proposal to evaluate its destro ing mosques, shops,
human rights impact in India — homes and cars, and killing 53
signalling resistance to the onl people.In monthsprecedingthe
proposal, outof atotalof 13 tobe massacre, the head of a power-
taken up at the Ma 31 annual ful North Indian temple videoed
general meeting, that relates to a speech onto Facebook, declar-
the tech giant’s biggest market ing ‘I want to eliminate Muslims
in terms of users. and Islam from the face of the
The shareholder proposal has Earth.’ It has been viewed well
urged Meta to release the com- over 4 million times.”
plete findings of its human rights Apar Gupta, founding direc-
impactassessmentreportinIndia tor of the Internet Freedom
andcalledforanassessmentofpo- Foundation, told The Indian
tentialpoliticalbiasesinthecom- Express that he will present the
pan ’sactivitiesinIndia.Itseeksto proposalduringMeta’sAGMand
know if the social networking
compan ’s content management
algorithms and personnel in the
submit an audio clip with his ar-
guments on wh shareholders
should support the measure.
countr areatthescaleandmulti-
lingual capacit necessar to cur-
tail mass dissemination of hate
Meta’s board has recom-
mended to other shareholders
that the vote against the reso-
speechanddisinformation.
It is unlikel that the meas-
lution, sa ing that the compan
has made “substantial invest-
ure will be passed, especiall ments” on combating hate
owing to Meta’s dual-class own- speech in India and that it works
ership structure. with a range of fact-checkers
Meta had released a human with an abilit to fact check con-
rights impact assessment report tent in 15 Indian languages.
in Jul 2 22 which included a Asked whether Meta’s board
chapter on India, where it pre- was consistent with its recom-
sented a brief summar of the mendation to vote against the
findingsof anindependentteam proposal, a spokesperson said:
it had commissioned, drawing “Metaiscommittedtorespecting
criticism from digital rights ac- human rights – and their under-
tivities for withholding the full l ingprinciplesofequalit ,safet ,
contents of the report. dignit ,privac andvoice–across
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No. NIT/2023-24/ 5901 - 11 Date: 26.05.2023
Rajasthan State Road Development And Construction Corporation Ltd., JAIPUR.
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No. NIT/2023-24/ 5821 - 40 Date: 26.05.2023
Chandigarh

8 REVIEWS
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
Recalling a
Disaster
8:EVERYONEISAHERO
HINDI ★★★■
Di ec :J deA ha J e h
Ca :T i Th ma , K chack B ba ,
A a aBalam ali,Vi ee hS ee i a a ,
A ifAli,Lal,Na ai ,Ta iRam
THEMOVIE’Stitleisagiveawa .Itinstantl
conve sthatthisdisastermovie—agenre
popularised b Holl wood — celebrates
the e traordinar courage and kindness
of the people of Kerala. A cinematic re-
counting of the severe floods caused in
August 2 18 due to unprecedented rain-
fall in the catchment areas, is both a re-
minder of nature’s fur as well as the tri-
umph of the human spirit.
The film spends the first half hour es-
tablishing the characters. The first half, in
fact, almost romanticises the rains. The
monsoonhasalread setinandthepeople
of Kerala go about their dail life unper-
turbed.Acheer Anoop(Thomas),whohas
quit the arm and dreams of finding a job
in Dubai, goes around distributing invita-
tion cards to his wedding even though it
has been raining incessantl . In Kollam,
fishermen go missing in the sea during a
storm but are rescued three da s later.
In2 18,Joseph,whohasco-writtenthe
filmapartfromdirectingit,optsforawide
canvastodepicttheimpactofanaturaldis-
aster on human life. He tries to string to-
gether stories of people from different
backgrounds with varied concerns. This
helps create several shocking, scar , and
moving moments. Having so man char-
acters also means the narrative becomes
unwield and repetitive, especiall in the
secondhalf.B then,thefilmseemstofol-
low the format of showing a crisis, help
coming in and the crisis being averted,
thanks to a brave Samaritan.
The film showcases the rescue opera-
tionsundertakenb regularfolkwhilethe
role of administration remains sketch .
2 18underlinesthee emplar actsofreal-
life heroes and celebrates them. Some are
born do-gooders. Some have a change of
heart. The film tends to paint most of the
characters in broad brushstrokes as the
areshownasselflessorturningintooneaf-
ter a quick transformation.
Aftergainingwidespreadpopularit as
a desi superhero in Minnal Murali (2 21),
Thomasstandsout.Heisendearingandhis
character is nicel fleshed out. Most of the
otherknownfaces,BobanandBalamurali,
don’t have much to do. That’s one of the
major shortcomings. While the visual ef-
fects and cinematograph are impressive,
the loud background score that attempts
to rouse the audience’s emotions can be
ta ing. The film would have benefitted b
letting go of some of the tropes of main-
stream cinema and choosing a more doc-
umentar -st le stor telling.
Since this is the review of the Hindi
dubbed version of the film, it must be
pointed out that the filmmakers need to
takenecessar stepstomakethedialogues
sound more natural and less clunk . One
thing this film should have definitel got
rid of is the fake laughter of children. AS
Definitely, Maybe
JOGIRASARARARA
★★★■
Di ec :K ha Na d
Ca :Na a ddi Siddi i,NehaSha ma,
Sa ja Mi h a,Mahaak ha Chak ab ,
Za i aWahab
WITH TWO leading characters making
their disdain for marriage ampl clear from
the outset, one is aware of the possibilit
of drama, twists, and turns that Jogira Sa
Ra Ra Ra can whip up. It lives up to that
promise, mostl .
The lead characters Jogi Pratap
(Nawa uddinSiddiqui)andDimpleChoube
(Neha Sharma) first meet when the latter
gatecrashesaweddingandsings“...shaaditoh
haigi torture”. Jogi, who lives with a houseful
of womeninLucknow,hashisownsetof rea-
sons for not marr ing, and at one point he
,
Di ec :A
Truth to Power
SHUBHRA GUPTA
BASED ON the real-life trial and conviction
of self-st led ‘godman’ Asaram Bapu, who
pre ed upon naive oung women, and their
even more gullible parents, Sirf Ek Bandaa
Kaafi Hai has a vein of sensitivit running
throughit.Andthat’sacrucialelementwhen
the subject is such, whose treatment could
so easil turn problematic.
Nu (Adrija) and her parents (Jaihind
Kumar and Durga Sharma, as the father and
mother respectivel ) are representatives of
millions of Indians who venerate these ‘god-
Head Above Water
even declares that he can’t understand
women. He runs Shaandar Events, which of-
fersmultipleservicesfromweddingplanning
to organising birthda s.
JogiandDimplemeetagainwhenthelat-
ter is getting married. Jogi, who is her wed-
ding planner, takes up an unusual task on
Dimple’s request: to cancel her wedding.
That turns out to be tougher than e pected
sincethegroom,Lallu(Chakrabort ),issmit-
ten with Dimple. As the tr out different
wa s of making Lallu’s famil call off the
wedding, several comic scenarios pla out.
Most of them work. Some don’t, especiall
because the ideas behind what’s funn have
undergone a change over the ears. For in-
stance, it is difficult to laugh when Lallu is
made to realise that since he is not demand-
ing an dowr , he is not taken seriousl b
the bride’s famil .
Jogira... aims to make sure that the audi-
ence has a good laugh, something
Cinema & Music
SIRFEKBANDAAKAAFIHAI ★★★■
Si ghKa ki Ca :Ma jBaj a ee,Ad ija,Ka
men’, and fetch up at their doorstep in the
hope that the latter will ‘cure’ their oung
women of their ‘problems’. The situation is
ripe for e ploitation, and there have been
countless instances of rape and molestation
that have been shoved under the carpet be-
causeof countlessreasons—thefearof social
opprobrium,aswellastheproblemsthatoc-
cur when the victims take the legal route,
ranging from e pense to humiliation.
At no point does the film make us queas
whenNuisonscreen,incourt,andoutsideit.
But, and this is also the trouble with the film,
that there’s not enough focus on the girl and
her trauma, which we see onl through the
Pri adarshan’searl Hindimoviessucceeded
in doing and which is grossl missing toda .
It wants to give romance, as shown in Hindi
films, a twist. Be it Dimple or Jogi’s sister
Sarita,whowalkedoutofher
abusive marriage, the
women have minds of
their own and the
know what the
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
STREAMING
WATCH
Si ha,S aM ha K l h e ha,Jaihi d K ma ,D gaSha ma
LIST BY
ALAKA
SAHANI
DEHUMANICORPORIS
FABRICA
MUBI
The French-language documentar ,
directed b Verena Paravel and
Lucien Castaing-Ta lor, focusses on
five hospitals in northern Paris
neighborhoods. It reveals that hu-
man flesh is an extraordinar land-
scape that exists onl through the
ga e and attention of others. As
places of care, suffering and hope,
hospitals are laboratories that con-
nect ever bod in the world.
e es of her morall upright law er P C phisticated legal eagles fighting his case.
Solanki(ManojBajpa ee).Despiteallkindsof But this is one film where the good wins
pressures, including a thread to his life, he and the bad loses. Bajpa ee slips smoothl
sees her case through for five long ears, as it into the role of Solanki, a devout Shiv bhakt, PACHUVUMATHBUTHA
drags through the tard Indian justice s s- and a man not above wanting to make a VILAKKUM
tem with its predilection for dela s, espe- good impression on the famous law ers ar- PRIMEVIDEO
ciall when it comes to protecting the rich ra ed against him. He is human, he gets The comed drama narrates the
and powerful. scared and loses his temper when things go stor of a Mumbai-based Mala ali
The film is set in Jodhpur, and from out of control. But at his core, he is an hon- businessman, Pachu (Fahadh Faasil),
Solanki’s terrace, the grand Mehrangarh fort est man who cannot be bought or swa ed, who travels to Kerala for an errand.
is visible, giving us a real sense of place. The with a livel relationship with his son, During his visit, a series of unex-
tentacles of the Baba and his cohorts are though ou wish he wasn’t called ‘budd ’ in pected events lead him to a lucrative
spread through the town: we see his hired a self-consciousl ‘cool’ move, which comes opportunit , wrapped in surprises
goonsgoingafterthosewhoareabouttogive off clunk . And I wanted to see more of Nu, and twists. The film follows Pachu, as
evidence against him, and the smooth, so- pla ed b Adrija so well. he embarks on this transformative
journe of empath and love.
a diverse cast, The Little Mermaid brings to-
ALAKA SAHANI gether a bunch of talented actors of different
ethnicities. The casting of Baile , an African-
THOSE familiar with the animated television Americanactor,asAriel,hadearlierfacedcrit-
seriesTheLittleMermaid,whichairedinIndia icism.Hercompellingperformanceasarebel-
in the late 9 s and was based on Hans liousteenmermaidwithanenchantingvoice
Christian Andersen’s 1837 fair tale of the validates the decision to have the first-ever
same name, are aware of its free-spirited and black Ariel. However, onl a few characters
adventurous protagonist, Ariel — a redhead leave a mark. Simone Ashle , who became
mermaid princess. In the newest retelling of Bridgerton Season 2’s breakout star, makes a
the stor in the live-action format, the cute- blink-and- ou-miss-it appearance as Ariel’s
ness of the series has made wa for high sister, Indira.
drama, revenge, romance, and heartbreak. The script gives a contemporar touch to
Thefamousquoteb Andersen—“...amer- the original stor that encapsulates Victorian
maid has no tears, and therefore she suffers moralit andwaswrittenforchildren.Itmakes VICTIM SUSPECT
somuchmore”—appearsin the mermaid rescue the NETFLIX
thebeginning,hintingatthe THELITTLEMERMAID prince. She also introduces A reporter investigates cases in
sadnessthattheprotagonist ★★★■ him to life be ond his castle. which sexual assault survivors
carries.Onecanalsoassume Di ec :R bMa hall Ca : The scale of the movie is were arrested on charges of false
that it’s a precursor to the HalleBaile ,J ahHa e -Ki g, much bigger — both under- reporting in this cogent
heartache that’s to follow. Da eedDigg ,A k afi a, water and on the surface. documentar . Rachel de Leon, a
Unlike in the TV show, we Jac bT embla , There are tempests and journalist working at The Center
see Ariel (Halle Baile ) N maD me e i, whirlwindstokeeptheaudi- for Investigative Reporting,
mostl dreaming of a life on Ja ie Ba dema d ence on the edge of their uncovered more than 2 cases of
the land and mooning over Meli a McCa h seats. But visual effects un- rape victims being revictimised b
Prince Eric (Jonah Hauer- wittingl overwhelm the law enforcement with false report
King). The film, however, is narrativeasthefilmtendsto charges, sometimes facing ears in
supposedtobearemakeofthe1989animated overdo it. prison. She gathers first hand
classic produced b Disne . Directed b Marshall, who had previousl accounts from numerous oung
Arielwantstotradeherflipperforfeet.She helmed the criticall -acclaimed Chicago women and their families and
longstoe periencethelifeofahumanbe ond (2 2), the movie aspires to be a big-screen interviews police and legal experts.
her seaweed-covered habitat. That’s some- spectacle.EventhoughBaile singsandswims
thing her overprotective father King Triton inthe“unchartedwaters”withelan,themagic
(JavierBardem)vehementl opposes.Hercu- is missing. The film is needlessl long at 135
riosit is understandable. But what triggered minutes. Several scenes that are entertaining,
her curiosit is never properl e plained. feature Ariel and her friends — Sebastian the
That’s wh one doesn’t full fathom her mo- crab, Flounder the gupp , and Scuttle, a gan-
tivewhenshegoesagainstherfather’swishes net who claims to know it all about humans.
to get a glimpse of human life. She not onl BardemandMelissaMcCarth (whopla sthe
ventures into the forbidden parts of the sea roleof Ursula,aseawitchwithoctopustenta-
but also ends up falling for Prince Eric, whose cles)tr tolivenitupbutthe failtocastaspell.
life she saves. Later, she does not hesitate to Mostof thesongs,includingPartof ourworld
give up her life and power as a mermaid to andUnderthesea,work.Butit’sTheScuttlebutt,
lead the life of a human. a rap number for Scuttle and Sebastian, that’s
Following the welcome trend of featuring a standout.
wantfromlife.Inonescene,DimpleasksLallu
to bu sanitar padsforher, knowingthat he
won’t be at ease at the pharmac . It’s fun
when women pla on men’s sill traits.
abductions taking place using his name.
Siddiqui, who has tried his hand at comed
andromanceinthepastwithmoviessuchas
MotichoorChaknachoor(2 19),isconvincing
Jogira... brings together an eclectic cast. intheroleof amanaversetotheideaof mar-
There is Sanja Mishra who is quite good as riage but has a soft corner for Dimple. This
the leader of a local abduction gang that film is et another step towards establishing
is clueless him as a versatile actor who can handle in- THESWANPRINCESS:A
about the tense roles, and evil characters and also FAIRYTALEISBORN
emerge as a romantic hero. BOOKMYSHOWSTREAM
Sharma complements his comic timing This is the first part of the thrilling
and infuses the portra al of Dimple with conclusion to the Swan Princess se-
spunk and energ . Zarina Wahab shows her ries. It begins with Uberta being
comicchopstoo.LateFarrukhJaffar,whowas notified that she is next in line for
a hoot in Gulabo Sitabo (2 2 ), makes most the throne. Her husband Max be-
likel her last film appearance as Dimple’s comes king, and is appointed to
grandmother. This time around, she has lead the council of kings, urging
some of the best lines too. them to be merciful to their sub-
In fact, the film, written b Ghalib Asad jects and neighbors. Twent ears
Bhopali, depends a lot on one-liners, punch- later, after Derek and Odette have
lines, and local flavour in the dialogues. In married, Uberta begins to train
spiteof somepredictablejokesandpartsthat Odette to become the next queen
are dragged, the stor has some charm. This and Derek the next king. Their
will do for now; till a script packing more coronation is nearl ruined b one
fun and froth comes along. of Uberta’s rivals.
AS
Chandigarh

19 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY
Mumbai walk into Gill zone
Gujarat Titans opener hits 6 -ball 129 to take team to IPL final and prove that correctness has place in T2 cricket
SYNOPSIS
The saga of stroke-making wonder
Gill rolls on, as Mumbai could onl
give a mini scare to Titans, before
Mohit grabbed five wickets.
SANDIPG
MAY 4
THE SEASON of plent continued for
Shubman Gill, whose 6 -ball-129 was the
most significant as well as the most splendid
of histhreehundredsthisseason.Itcaptured
all the traits that have thrust him on the path
togreatness—grace,calm,stroke-pla ,e plo-
siveness and a supreme game-sense—and
propelled Gujarat Titans’ total to 233. Tr as
MumbaiIndiansdid—Sur akumarYadavand
Tilak Varma conspired a heist—this was a
bridge too far for them to cross, and Titans
wrappedupa62-runvictor tomeetChennai
Super Kings in the final.
Stroke-making wonder
SomeofthestrokesthatGillunpackeddur-
ing his hundred were so wondrous that even
wisenedbatterslikeRohitSharmaturnedfan-
bo s.Thethirdballafterhecompletedhishun-
dred, he unleashed a stroke akin to a double-
handed forehand in tennis. Gill backed awa
from the stumps just as Cameron Green was
about torelease theball; thebowlerfollowed
him,congestinghimforroom.ButGillswa ed
his bod to facilitate the bat-flow, kept his
shape, rode the bounce and flat-batted it
throughlong-on.Astheballsailedintotherap-
turousstands,Sharma,himselfoneofthemost
destructive pullers around, reproduced the
stroke with his arms.
Inthedugout,HardikPand astoodda ed,
mouth agape; Kieron Pollard, a si -hitting
colossus,lookedonwithadmirationinhise es.
Moments ago, the entire stadium, including
SachinTendulkarandZaheerKhan,rosetoap-
plaud one of the most da ling hundreds ou
wouldeverseeinwhite-ballcricket,forgetIPL.
It was man hundreds in one—an unadulter-
ated stroke-making grandee, an ode to classi-
cismintherealmofp rotechnics,andareason
forpuriststowatchtheIPL.Mostofall,itcould
beanIPLinningspeoplewouldrememberand
longtorewatchevenafterseveral ears.
Themoststrikingaspectwashise plosive-
ness.Athletes,theabsoluteelitesamongthem,
wouldoftentalkaboute plosivepace,theabil-
it toe plode,thegiftofproducingspeedfrom
nowhere,theskilltoacceleratefrom1 kphto
1 kphintheblinkofane e.Atonestage,Gill
was trotting in third gear, before in a sudden
rushofvelocit ,hebeganto ipinsi thgear.He
was38off27ballsonce,astead butnotsear-
ingpaceinthisformat.Hewasgaugingthena-
tureofthewicket,measuringthedepthofthe
bowlers,la ingthefoundationandwaitingfor
the right moment to burst forth.
In the ne t 33, he would rack up 91 runs,
leaving no shot in the book unpla ed or spar-
ingnobowlerofscars.Hewaslikeaquietriver
abruptl takingafuriousdirection,devouring
ever thing in its path. The hero of Mumbai’s
eliminator one, Akash Madhwal, might have
realised the pithiness of the old adage that
sport is a leveller. The other night against
Lucknow, he produced the best figures in the
pla -off, but this night, Gill plundered three
si es in a single over. Madhwal stood broken
attheendoftheover,consoledb Sharmawho
mighthavetoldhimhe,oran otherbowlers,
couldn't have done an thing to prevent the
downpourofsi es.Thatwaspartofanincred-
ulous spell where he struck five si es in nine
balls, the passage that shifted the game’s di-
rection. From eight an over, Titans’ run-rate
soared to 11.
Si -hittinghasbeenthemostupgradeddi-
mension of Gill’s game. Last edition, he man-
Unflinching Saha puts
on a brave show
A slipper bouncer from Akash Madhwal
bashed onto the visor of Wriddhiman Saha’s
helmet.ItwasMadhwal’seffortballthatskid-
ded on after pitching. But Saha did not flinch.
He is not the most e pressive of cricketers ei-
ther, whether e pressing pain or jo . He
flashed a casual thumb’s up at his partner
Shubman Gill. Saha had a few laughs about
something with Ishan Kishan, and almost
shooedawa thesupportstaff rushingtoper-
formthemandator concussiontest.Hereluc-
tantl tookthetestandwaspassedfit.Andthe
ne tball,hesmokedthebowlerovercoverfor
afour.Thistime,hetookhisguardafew ards
outsidetheoff-stumpandjustthrewhishands.
,
Six-hitting has been the most
upgraded dimension of Gill’s
game. Last edition, he managed
onl 11; this innings alone, he
collected 1 .
aged onl 11; this innings alone, he collected
1 . The overall tall of 33 this season is more
than his combined haul in the last three edi-
tions(32).Threeofthe1 weresmeareddown
the ground, flat-batted thumps of spinners.
Seven were in the arc between long-on and
fine-leg,mostl pulls,flicksandshort-armjabs
of seamers. He has climbed another stage in
hisevolutionar leap. Andever si ofhiswas
an independent event in itself, that turned
even seasoned superstars to fanbo s. And as
Gill walked back, Sharma shook his hands in
genuine appreciation of a da ling stroke-
maker.
His consistenc in the ficklest of formats
hasbeenmind-bending.It’saformatwherein
thebestscoringstreakcanbeinterruptedb a
miscue,themostgoldenof touchesthwarted
b amomentof indiscretion.Butthegraphof
Gill has been vaulting, and leaping into great-
ness at the speed of light.
Mohit nips a mini scare
With his third ball of the night, Mohit
Sharmaeffectivel sealedthegameforTitans.
A dot ball later, Yadav cudgeled him to the
stands be ond the mid-wicket, taking him to
61off 37balls.Thene tball,Yadavshapedfor
his staple paddle-scoop behind the stumps,
butmisseditaltogetherandsawhisshattered
stumps. Sharma closed his e es and offered a
silent pra er. Yadav was Mumbai’s miracle-
workerandthedeeperhebattedthebrighter
Mumbai’s prospects of a victor ,
His dismissal followed a meltdown, as
thoughalltheirhopeshadfaded,andSharma
lived his dream night with five more wickets.
Hewouldendwithe e-rubbingfiguresof2.2-
-1 -5.Sharmawasanunlikel hangman,but
his assortment of slower-balls, cutters and
hard-length balls were enough to sting
Mumbai's shocked lower order.
Chasingdown233issteepb allaccounts.
EventhoughMumbaihadhunteddown2 -
plus totals four times this ear, this one was
near insurmountable. Mumbai, though the
tried as hard as the could.
ThepursuitbeganwithTilakVarmathrow-
ing caution to the wind, in a manner that re-
minded ou of Virender Sehwag in a carefree
mood. Titans made earl inroads, the impec-
cable Shami evicted the openers and Hardik
Pand a retired Cameron Green out after hit-
ting him on the forearm.
Then Varma decided to take charge—
ratherthanblinkingintheenormit ofthesit-
uationhedispla edhisdestructivenesswitha
torrent of four. In one over, he cut to ribbons
Shami,smokingfourfoursandafiercesi .The
masterful bowler probed ever length he
could, changed angles and pace, but Varma
emphaticall found the ropes. From a hope-
less 21 for 2 in three overs, Mumbai blit ed to
72 for 2 in 5.5 overs before Rashid Khan cas-
tled Varma for a 14-ball 43.
Themomentumdidnotrecede.Greenre-
turned and Yadav turned on the beast mood,
runs coming at a notch better than the re-
quiredrun-rate. YadavtookonKhan,whohas
neverdismissedin1 encounters,andblasted
for back-to-back fours. Green plastered left-
arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad for a pair of
si es, all raw power and long levers. Even
though he departed for a 2 -ball 3 , bowled
b JoshLittle,Mumbaiwerekeepingpacewith
therequiredrunrate.ButYadav’se itsnuffed
out their last lingering hopes.
BRIEFSCORES: GujaratTitans233for3(Gill
129, Sudharsan 43, Chawla 1-45) beat
MumbaiIndians171(Sur akumar61,Varma
43, Mohit 5-1 ) b 62 runs.
Sudharsan, one of the
horses for courses
GujaratTitanshaveusedasman as18pla ers
this season. While teams like Chennai Super
Kings,asidethatthe areoftencomparedwith,
don'tchangetheXIunlessforced,Gujarathave
been a bit different. Emplo ing a horses for
courses polic , the have been able to ring
changeswithoutaffectingtheoverallbalance
oftheside.Needingabitmorestrengthinbat-
ting,especiall afterthepitchwasundercover
because of rain, the included Sai Sudharsan
ahead of Darshan Nalkande with Josh Little
starting as a substitute to come in later as an
Impact Pla er.
Trademark Gill, the
perfect slice
Shubman Gill is on course to become the
oungest batsman to take home the Orange
Cap.Withshotsallaroundthepark,helooksall
set to take over the baton, and just like the
straight drive was associated with Sachin
TendulkarandcoverdrivewithViratKohli,Gill
is making that slice on the leg side his own.
Learningthegameb battingoncementtracks
means,hetendstopla lotofpunches,butthe
sliceoneitherofthewicketwithminimalfoot-
work, is so unique. The one boundar on off-
side off Chris Jordan was worth the mone .
WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
FINED FOR RACISM
Si fo me Yo k hi e c icke e fo nd g il of acial ab e a
he cl b e e on F ida fined a o al of , po nd b he
C icke Di cipline Commi ion. John Blain, Tim B e nan,
And e Gale, Ma he Hogga d and Richa d P ah e e all
fo nd g il of b eaching ECB Di ec i e . follo ing a CDC
hea ing in Ma ch. AP
Shubman Gill’s first fift came off 32 balls while the second took just 17 as he raced to 129 off just 6 . Nirmal Harindran
Strokes of genius from a high-quality Gill ton
perfectl in his slot. And Gill, in one neat
VENKATA KRISHNA B flow, lofted it straight over the bowler’s
MAY head, as Chawla gave a resigned
e pression. He would repeat the same
THROUGHTHEcourse of histhird centur of shot three balls later, this time the ball
the IPL season, Shubman Gill put up a grand travelling 1 6 metres over long-on.
e hibition of his batting. In a knock that con-
tained 1 si es and seven boundaries, some SWAT: 6
of Gill’s strokes showed wh his time in 14.5, bowler:Green, Gill 11 off 51
Indian cricket has well and trul arrived. Be This was improvisation at its best. Unlike
it his short-arm jab or flick or improvising some of the other batsmen of his time,
with a swat, Gill has shots outside the te t- Gill doesn’t fanc the scoops. But, like
booktoo. Here is a recap of thefew he pla ed Rohit Sharma does when he is in full flow,
en route 6 ball-129. he can improvise at will, creating one
length and picking pockets that ou least
SLICE: 4 e pect him to. This was one such shot,
5.3 ovs, bowler: Jordan, Gill 3 off 18 where Green, responding to a si and
On a night where his si -hitting stood out, boundar of the previous two deliveries,
this boundar of Jordan was a Gill special. sent down a short-ball as Gill ran down
The pacer delivered a back-of-a-length the wicket. For the first time in the night,
deliver that was not going to create an Gill was not in a position to e ecute a shot
sort of trouble for the 23- ear-old. Having As light as a ballerina, Shubman Gill deposits one into the stands. Nirmal Harindran he intended to as Green cramped him for
flicked a casual si off the previous ball, Gill room. So what does Gill do? Just swat it for
didn’t tr to do an thing e traordinar si over mid-wicket with both his feet in
rather he just sliced it. It is becoming his up the length ver earl and just moved a behind square, this time Gill chose to the air when the ball meets the bat.
trademark shot, where with minimum bit towards the off — to be in a position to deposit over mid-wicket with the wrists
foot movement he meets the ball right in hit where he intended to. As the ball generating all the power. OPEN BAT FACE: 4
front of his e es, and slices it with the full angled into him, he just flicked it over the 15.1, bowler: Jordan, Gill 117 off 53
face of the bat, making it for a crisp sound. deep square leg. It went 83 metres. DOWN THE TRACK: 6 With Gill unstoppable, Rohit Sharma went
12.1, bowler: Chawla, Gill 79 off 42 for Jordan again, asking him to bowl full on
FLICK: 6 MORE WRIST: 6, The leg-spinner has been having a ver the fifth-stump line – the pacer’s strongest
11.1 ovs, bowler Madhwal, 11.4, bowler: Madhwal, Gill 72 off 4 good season on his return, largel down to suit. Jordan ended up missing just b a
Gill 59 off 37 B now, Gill was in full flow. He was in full the lengths he has been operating on. margin as it turned into a low full-toss
There was something disdainful about control of not just the situation and was When Chawla lands it on the spot where that was alwa s going to be hard to hit.
this si , which looked all too casual as Gill making the bowler bowl in areas he the batsman is caught in two minds about Having put up an e hibition thus far, Gill
flicked his wrists. Madhwal, who was wanted to. Having conceded two si es whether to go forward or not, he looks in was not done. He got down on his knee
fresh from figures of 5/5 in the previous alread Madhwal went full in the hope it full control. As he sent down one with a bit and brought out that slice shot as he
game, erred in his line just a fraction. But would skid off the surface. Instead, it just more air in the hope that Gill would pla it opened the face of the bat. The fielder at
that was enough for Gill to free his arms. sat perfectl , inviting Gill to have a go. from the crease, Gill responded b quickl deep cover stood no chance as Jordan
Standing in a leg-stump guard, Gill picked Having alread pla ed a couple of flicks using his feet so that the ball landed looked in disbelief.
EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER
HOT HEADS, CALM MINDS AND EVERYTHING IN BETWEEN AT THE GAME
Not lazy, not lenient
and stamping his class
ShubmanGilllosthisfocus.Hesteppedouttohit
Kumar Kartike a, found himself short of the
pitchbutwentthroughwiththeshotbutcould
onl under-edge. The ball nearl trickled onto
the stumps. Ishan Kishan tumbled down and
triedtorunhimout,buthejustmadetheground
in time. The ne t ball, he unfurled a short-arm
pull, which fell agoni ingl short of the deep
midwicket fielder. The over before, Tim David
haddroppedadifficultcatch.Ma bema behe
felt a little stuck. But alla ing such fears, he
stepped out and thumped Pi ush Chawla into Varma stopped by
the sight-screen. The ne t ball, he unpacked a
gorgeouscover-drivethatbroughthimtwo.
master Rashid
Mohit Sharma, the IPL fairytale Onecouldsa ahighonadrenalineTilakVarma
couldhavebeenalittlemorecircumspectwhen
The Indian Premier League never fails to throw up fair tales. The clear winner of this Stunned Surya takes facingmasterspinnerRashidKhan.Varmago-
edition's Cinderella Award is Gujarat Titans’ Mohit Sharma. At 34, the Ballabhgarh res- ingall-outduringthesteepchasehadsuccess-
identwouldhavethoughtthathisbestwasbehindhim.AWorldCupperin2 15,injuries ages to leave full taken apart Gujarat Titans' gun bowler
and loss of form had pushed him down the cricketing hierarch . Till last ear he was Itmusthavebeenoneoftheslowestoftrudges Mohammed Shami. Varma had collected 24
GT'snetbowlerbutcoachAshishNehra-Ashubhaiforthepla ersinNorth-knewthat b a batsman. Sur akumar Yadav had gone runs in marauding fashion, four fours in a row
the Har ana bowler still had the spark in him. He gave him the confidence that ever across, like he often does and tried to paddle and a pull for a si . But Rashid has his bag of
militar -mediumpacer,upagainstbatsmenwithmonstrousbatsneed.Mohitwasem- hit medium pacer Mohit Sharma. It is one of tricks.VarmaperhapswantedtohitRashidout
powered, he wasn't sh or scared to tr out his variations. In the Eliminator, he had fig- his go-to shots but toda was Mohit’s da . oftheattack.Varmapulledthefirstdeliver he
uresof 2.2- -1 -5,thatincludedthefull-ballthatbeatSur akumarYadavandendedMI's Sur akumar missed and with that Mumbai faced for a four and then he and Sur akumar
hopes.Though,the sa inT2 afiverisequivalenttoatonbutitwasShubmanGillthat Indians’ chance of entering the final disap- Yadav tapped around for singles. He e ed the
walked awa with the Man of the Match award. But for the local fans, the images the peared.Forwhatseemedlikeanhour,thebest big one with the slog sweepbut Rashid didn't
will take home will not be just Shubhman's bow after his hundred but also Mohit's T2 batsmanintheworldtransformedintoan givean roomandthefull-lengthballcrashed
folded hands thanks giving after his fiver. immovableobjectatthecrease.Dejected,look- into the stumps. Varma with 43 off 14 looked
ing down, before deciding to finall leave. likehewouldrunawa withthegame.
Chandigarh
 SPORT WWW INDIANEXPRESS COM
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, SATURDAY, MAY ,

Tokyo Olympics
champion comes
out in support
Sindhu drifts into last four
Indian shuttler beats World No.18 Zhang 21-16, 13-21, 22-2 to reach second semifinal of 2 23
DelhiFC ec e
I-Leag ebe h
BRIEFLY

Chandigarh: Delhi FC defeated

of wrestlers
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
MAY
TOKYO OLYMPICS gold medallist and three-
time former world champion Risako Kawai
has come out in support of the top Indian
wrestlers that have been protesting against
Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) presi-
dent Brijbhushan Sharan Singh alleging se -
ual e ploitation and harassment.
Retweeting a BBC News video on the
wrestlers' protest at Jantar Mantar in New
Delhi, with interviews of Vinesh Phogat,
SakshiMalik,andBajrangPunia,Kawaiwrote:
"IhopeitwillbeanenvironmentwhereIndian
athletes can practice with peace of mind."
Kawai, who won the 57kg women's
freest le gold in Tok o, is the first high-pro-
file international wrestler to acknowledge
and come out in support of the protests that
have been ongoing for a month.
In the BBC video, the wrestlers detail the
impact of their month-long ongoing protest
ontheirtraining,inanimportant earwiththe
Asian Games and the World Championships
still pending. "(Ordinaril ) at this time, we
wouldbepreparingtoreachourpeakperform-
ance with big events coming up. Personall ,
we are losing so much. We were performing
atagoodlevel,toleavethatandsithereindef-
initel has been difficult," Vinesh Phogat said.
"If the protests were not happening, we
would have probabl been training abroad,"
Bajrang added. "The entire countr has their
hopes on us to be able to win another
Ol mpic medal for the countr , and we have
been tr ing to prepare for that."
BothBajrangandVineshareonthelonglist
for the Asian Games, but have admitted that
withtheprotestsrunningindefinitel andtheir
trainingstalled,evenwinningthetrial,letalone
an Asian medal, will be a tough ask. The
wrestlers have been adamant in demanding
the federation president's arrest, and have
maintainedthatthe willnotleavetheprotest
site at Jantar Mantar until Brijbhushan, also a
BJP MP from the Kaiserganj district of Uttar
Pradesh, is behind bars.
"Our countr can push and move for-
ward (in sports) onl if athletes are treated
fairl and with respect," Vinesh said. "A
sport does not just progress b giving
mone or facilities."
I h e i ill be a e i me
he e I dia a hle e ca ac ice
i h eace f mi d
RISAKO KAWAI
TWO-TIME OLYMPIC CHAMPION
SHIVANI NAIK
MAY
THERE HAVE been faint signs of a resur-
gence in PV Sindhu's game in the last few
months, but also enough false dawns that
could not stem the dipping ranking.
Nothing screams victor , though, as a good
solid win, and Sindhu, No 13 in the world
now, scored one against World No 18 Zhang
Yi Man in the quarters of the Mala sia
Masters on Frida . The 21-16, 13-21, 22-2
win in 74 hard-fought minutes, gave Sindhu
her second semifinal of the season after
Spain Masters.
It was also sweet revenge for the loss she
suffered at the All England earl in the sea-
son at the hands of Zhang. Should Sindhu
be on a results-reversing streak, there's
none better than the upcoming semifinal
opportunit - she meets World No 9
Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, whom she lost
to in Spain.
On Frida though, Sindhu powered her
wa past Zhang with a good aggressive
gameplan, and combined that with some
solid shot placement, ensuring she ma -
imised the drift advantage from one side.
It was her drops to the midcourt that
fetched her points, as did dragging Zhang
to the lunges on her forehand forecourt
while o- oing her to the diagonal back
with reall high tosses. Zhang doesn't have
a potent smash kill, and in the slow condi-
tions, Sindhu could defend the few bod at-
tacks as well as those to the baseline. She
could also hit her wa out of trouble with
her power game on the da .
However, it boiled down to the decider,
after she had pocketed the first set - alwa s
good for her confidence. Zhang, a persistent
retriever without an real weapon, brought
the terms level b taking the second set, but
both pla ers were prone to errors in the first
two, but Zhang was eagle-e ed on her chal-
lenges on the lines, and won most of the re-
views. While Sindhu took the opener from
the favourable side, Zhang responded b
running awa with the second when it was
her turn from that side of the net.
Sindhu started the decider well b hit-
ting a deep winner at 3- and an angled
drop to the forecourt to get to 5-1. At 7-4,
she put a lot of shoulder on the smash, and
at 9-5 watched Zhang botch a net-kill. The
earl lead in Set 3 tends to be the most cru-
cial for Sindhu's morale, and she went into
the change of ends at 11-8.
Zhang threatened to come back with a
bod attack on 13-15, soon after a delec-
table net cross. And Sindhu hit one into the
net at 16-17 to offer Zhang hope. B then
PV Sindhu defeated Zhang Yi Man 21-16, 13-21, 22-2 in the Mala sia Masters
quarterfinals. (R) HS Pranno , beat Kenta Nishimoto 25-23, 18-21, 21-13. AP
though, Sindhu had stopped pla ing the
cross shots that could potentiall go wide
from that side of the net and stuck to pla -
ing straight. This saw Zhang hitting long at
18-17, and then she drifted wide to give
Sindhu three match points at 2 -17.
The Indian got lured into a dangerousl
long rall and hit into the net at 2 -19, and
Zhang offered her last resistance as Sindhu
sailed long for 2 -all.
But Zhang had no composure at this
stage,andnervousl sentaserviceoutfor21-
2 . It was all too much for the Chinese as the
roaring Indian induced an error and Zhang's
return went wide to give Sindhu the match.
Sindhu will need to recover quickl to
take on Tunjung, the elegant trick
Indonesian who had handed her out a 21-
8, 21-8 drubbing in Spain. The slow condi-
tions will aid Sindhu though, who actuall
has a 7-1 head-to-head record against the
oungster.
T picall , a slow Sindhu start in Round 1
of tournaments helps shake her up, and she
likes building momentum with hard-
fought wins. A big occasion pla er, Sindhu
will hope the two matches against Line
Christophersen and toda against Zhang are
good omens for her first Super 5 final of
the season.
Pranno wins a marathon
HS Pranno pla ed his third straight long
three-setter, as the World No 9 had to dig
deep against Japan's Kenta Nishimoto for a
place in the semifinals. On Frida , it took the
Indian World No 9 a full 91 minutes to down
the Japanese in the quarterfinals.
Pranno had alread pla ed long
matches against Chou Tien Chen and Li
Shifeng before his 25-23, 18-21, 21-13 win.
"He had to dig reall deep in this match
to be on the winning side. Nishimoto's de-
fence was good, conditions were slow. Had
to take it longer and pla all the shots from
the back court to break his defence which
Pranno did reall well," coach Guru Sai
Dutt said.
Like the last two da s, Pranno showed
great fight in coming back from the 2 -17
brink in the opener. Earlier, Nishimoto had
run up a flurr of 6 points from being 14-
17 down to lead 2 -17 as the lead swa ed
one wa to another. Pranno defended 4
set points to finall nail down the tough
opener.
A determined Nishimoto would take the
second set. Pranno took a medical break
as his ankle seemed to be in some sort of
discomfort. But nothing could stop him
from racing awa to in the third, powering
his wa past Nishimoto.
In the semis, Pranno pla s oung
Indonesian qualifier Christian Adinata who
rallied to beat Kidambi Srikanth 16-21, 21-
16, 21-11 in his quarterfinal.
Ambernath United Atlanta FC 3-1 to
emerge second division champions
and gain a promotion to I-League for
the first time here on Frida . Pla ing
in their debut second division sea-
son, the Mumbai-based Ambernath
FC needed a point at the Minerva
Academ Ground in Chandigarh to
win the title. But a brace from Bali
Gagandeep and an audacious strike
from Vanlalhriat uala scripted a
memorable afternoon for the hosts
Delhi FC. The capital side had previ-
ousl made it to the I-League
Qualifiers Final Round in 2 21 but
finished third and missed out on the
promotion.
Bh ee hi j i
leada h i gWC
Almat : Paris Ol mpics quota winner
Bhowneesh Mendiratta missed two
targets out of 75 to move into joint
lead on da one of trap competition
at the ISSF Shotgun World Cup here
on Frida . The 23- ear-old from
Faridabad was tied with four others,
which included among othersdouble
world and 2 2 Tok o Ol mpics
mi ed team trap champion Alberto
Fernande of Spain. The 69-strong
field will come back for two more
rounds of qualification on Saturda ,
before the si -shooter final, which is
also scheduled on the same da .
Ma che e U i ed
ec eCL e
Manchester: It has not alwa s gone
smoothl for Erik ten Hag in his first
ear in charge at Manchester United.
But on Thursda night, in front of a
packedOldTrafford,TenHagachieved
what he called his “main objective” of
securing a return to the Champions
League with a 4-1 win against
Chelsea. Goals from Casemiro,
Anthon Martial, Bruno Fernandes
andMarcusRashford fired United toa
victor that means a top-four finish is
nowcertain.Unitedmoveduptothird
and two points above Newcastle go-
ingintotheseasonfinale.United'swin
assures Liverpool will finish fifth with
a Europa League spot, which
Mohamed Salah said is not good
enough. The Liverpool forward
tweeted that he's “devastated.”
PTI & AP

Hockey: India cut down on flashiness in quest for structural solidity

Wrestlers urge peace
Thewrestlers,whohaveplannedtoholda
women’smahapancha atbeforethenewpar-
liament on Sunda , urged their supporters to
maintain peace at an cost.
Sakshi urged all khaps and farmer
unions reaching Delhi to assemble at the
Singhu border as earl as 11 am. “We will
maintain peace even if provoked and will
not agitate at all. If the police hit us with
batons, we will take it. If the detain us, we
will cooperate. If the stop us midwa , we
will just sit there and protest,” said Sakshi.
The wrestlers said the are war of “mis-
chievous elements” who could hijack the
march and tr to tarnish their protest. “We
will not indulge in an violence and if an
such incidents do happen, rest assured the
have nothing to do with us,” Sakshi said.
Vinesh did not mince her words when
asked what her reaction would be if BJP MP
Brij Bhushan was present at the inauguration
of the new parliament. “If that man is present
attheinauguration,itwillautomaticall send
a huge message,” she said.
MIHIR VASAVDA
MUMBAI, MAY
THERE WAS no heav -metal hocke . None
of those breathtaking runs or thrilling for-
ward marches. Few speed counterattacks,
fewer risks and almost no flashiness.
Changethestripesandsportanditwould
feel like watching the recent Bra ilian foot-
ball teams – stripped of all the adventure, in-
stinctiveness and fun in their desperation to
ape the Europeans.
In his first match in charge, Craig Fulton
showed he isn’t afraid to tinker with the
Indian DNA. He picked simplicit over st le,
focussed on defence over attack and slowed
downthepaceimmensel .Themanwhohas
been one of the masterminds of Belgium’s
march to the top of the hocke world wants
India to pla like them.
It will be tempting for a fan to label the
new-lookIndiaasboring.Butforateamlook-
ing for consistenc and a permanent seat in
the big bo s’ club, this might not necessaril
be a bad thing. However, for a bunch of pla -
erswhosefirstinstinctistoattack,itwilltake
a lot for Fulton to drill in the discipline
needed to e ecute his vision.
This was evident from the performance
against Belgium in the Pro League on Frida .
Captain Harmanpreet Singh lauded his
pla ers, sa ing the team ‘pla ed ver well
structurall ’, bel ing the 2-1 score line that
went against them. Results in the Pro
League, though, should be taken with a
pinch of salt, given that the tournament is
nothing but a glorified e hibition for most
countries at the moment.
Yet, there is plent to unpack from India’s
first outing under the new coach.
UnliketheinterimcoachDavidJohn,who
infused fresh, oung faces in the team dur-
ing his brief sta – a decision that signalled
India vice-captain Hardik Singh in
action against Belgium on Frida . HI
thatIndianhocke wasread tomoveonand
bid goodb e to some of the pla ers who
starred in the bron e medal-winning Tok o
Ol mpics campaign – the Fulton era has
started with a U-turn on the philosoph .
Lalit Upadh a , Akashdeep Sigh, Amit
Rohidas and MandeepSingh were all back in
the squad; the promising oung striker
Selvam Karthi did not even make it to the
bench; neither did comeback man
Simranjeet Singh; and Manpreet Singh re-
turned to the midfield after being pla ed in
the defence b John, a move that seemed to
have instilled stabilit in a fragile backline.
Fulton has travelled to Europe with a
bloatedsquad,takingalong24pla ersinstead
of the usual 18, meaning he is likel to test all
pla ersduringthiseight-matchswingbefore
finalising his squad for the Asian Games.
While the chopping and changing of the
pla inggroupislikel tocontinueforawhile,
what could remain unchanged is the st le of
pla . Before fl ing to London for the Pro
League, the South African had stressed the
need to have a proper ‘defensive structure’.
There were glimpses of that on Frida .
Under former coach Graham Reid, India
mostl pla ed two-third court press. In
Fulton’s first match, India retreated a little
more, settling for a half-court press. None of
thepla ersventuredoutoftheirpositionsand
remained glued to the structure at all costs.
While defensivel that frustrated
Belgium, who scored the winner in the clos-
ing moments of the match, India were not
abletoshiftgearssmoothl whentransition-
ing from defence to attack. It’s something
the did effortlessl in the past but a change
in st le and a sharp reduction in pace meant
the pla ers were not able to find each other
with as much ease as the would have liked.
Consequentl , while the defence held its
shape,forwardsAbhishekandGurjantSingh
barel got a touch while Hardik Singh was
unable to create the same impact that he has
had in the recent games as India seemed
shackled when the tried to go forward.
In Fulton’s first match, India were slow
and stead ; uncharacteristic for a team that
swore b high-octane action.

IMMORTAL

French Open will miss Nadal, the man who humanised Federer & Djokovic
SANDEEP DWIVEDI
THIS YEAR’S French Open will decide who is
the second-best active cla -court pla er in
theworld.Themostgruellingof GrandSlams
has been reduced to a Candidates tourna-
mentto eroinonthechallengertotheundis-
puted Grandmaster of Roland Garros. Much
tothechagrinof theParisians,thisMa -June,
theseasonedshowstopperwillbemissedb
the elegantl -dressed local fans smartl
seated around the effortlessl -chic courts.
AfteraninjuredRafaelNadalpulledoutof
hisfavouritetournament,withateasingrider
that ne t earmight be his last on the circuit,
the 2 23 French Open’s stock dropped – it
was now more of a prequel to the King of
Cla ’s grand farwell in the 2 24 edition.
As it happens with most ageing stalwarts
contemplating retirement, for Nadal, Roland
Garros ne t ear wouldn’t be merel about
gettingthefeelof theglowingpowderedred-
brick surface under his feet one last time. It
could be business as usual, histor shows he
rarel leaves Paris without the silverware
neatl packed in his cabin baggage.
At 36, he is the defending champion of
the tournament he first won as a teenager
and went on to win 13 more times. His 6-3,
6-3, 6- win in the final last ear, within da s
of comprehensivel beating the great Novak
Djokovic in the quarters, makes the tennis
world stretch that famous phrase about life’s
certainties – death, ta es and Nadal on Court
Philippe Chatrier.
At this French Open, along with the
chequeandtroph ,thewinnerislikel toun-
wittingl get caught in the media fren
around Nadal’s final outing at Roland Garros
ne t ear. He is likel to be on the promo-
tional posters of Nadal’s last dance on cla .
He will also get to pla the anti-hero that the
worldwillwanttolose.Sportsfans–the are
suckers for fair tale endings. Ever sporting
great dreams of a perfect end, but few get it.
Nadal fans will wish he gets his 15th French
Open title, and this is no wishful thinking.
Roger Federer on grass, the New Zealand
All Blacks at Eden Park, Manchester United
at Old Trafford, Bagg Greens in Brisbane –
sport has seen man spectacular streaks but
‘Rafa at Roland Garros’ is much more than
mereoverwhelmingdomination.Nadaldid-
n’t just own the cla court and build a king-
dom on it, he shaped world tennis’ most en-
gaging era ever that is about toend. He made
the tennis narrative richer and also main-
tained the balance of power.
Nadaloncla pla edabigpartinhumbling
and humanising his contemporar greats
Federer and Djokovic. He was the disruptor
whodidn’tallowworldtennistofirstbeamo-
nopol and then a duopol . Federer and
Djokovic hadthe skills to winconsistentl on
cla , but not on Nadal’s watch. The two could
A Rafael Nadal statue at Roland Garros.
havesweptallSlamsthe figuredin,butthere
was alwa s that heartbreaking trip to Paris
thatdeniedthemglor .Ontheotherhand,the
Spainard, himself an all-court pla er, would
have to deal with Federer on grass and
Djokovic on hard courts. The world would be
divided into three fan groups and ever one
remained invested in the GOAT race. The all
believed their man would eventuall come
out tops, and the weren’t being delusional.
Statistics show Nadal was a bigger obsta-
cle for the other Big Two. Federer was twice
deniedaSlamsweep–2 6and2 7.Nadal
attheFrenchwastoomuchtohandleevenfor street. Unknowingl , Toni would be den ing hand to win a rall . As the surface sucks out
the modern-da great at the peak of his Spanishfootbal’stiki-takagoldengeneration pace off the ball, there were no free points.
prowess. In 2 1 , Nadal too would miss the of Xavi Hernande , Andres Iniesta, Carles On cla courts, pla ers need to strain
‘allfour’opportunit asFederer pocketed the Pu ol, CescFabregas,SergioBusquetsa fleet- ever sinew to musterbrutalforce. Compare
Australian Open. On four occasions, the ear footed,hardworkingandcreativeteammate. theforehandsof FedererandNadaltounder-
would start with Djokovic winning the For all ou know, Nadal could have been the stand the nuance of tennis’ most-used shot
AustralianOpen,kickingoffspeculationabout Messi that Barcelona had and Spain envied. – the forehand. Federer, the Swiss champion
the ‘fittest of them all’ finishing the ear un- Ver earl in Nadal’s life, he had become born and bred on indoor hard courts, moves
conquered. The dream wouldn’t last long as a part of an ecos stem with an all-encom- forward to meet the ball. On the astro-turf,
Nadal at the French would burst the bubble. passing red cla topograph . The timing of since the bounce is true and the ball travels
What is it about Nadal that makes Nadal’s entr into tennis was immaculate. fast,pla erscanaffordtobelesscautiousand
bonafide greats like Federer The 199 s was the time throw their entire bod into the forehand.
andDjokovic–pla erscapable Spanish tennis was on an up- The can also use the pace of the ball.
of adapting and reinventing Nadal didn’t just swing. This was when Sergi In contrast, on cla , the natural variation
themselves – look inadequate own the cla court Bruguera had won the coun- of the surface makes a pla er circumspect.
and inconsistent when the tr ’s first Grand Slam in two The wait for the ball to bounce and get be-
find themselves facing him on and build a decades – of course, it was the hindit.AndthenlikeNadal,the needtogive
cla ? The answer takes one to kingdom on it, he French Open – and the their all to it. Nadal, with his e aggerated
the Spanish island of Mallorca shaped world sparklingl newinfrastructure lasso-like swing of the racquet, imparts the
wherea4- ear-old,whospent built for the 1992 Ol mpics ball heav topspin – this gives him control
all his time pla ing football on tennis’ most wasattractingkidswithsport- and makes the ball jump at the opponent.
the street, picked up a tennis engaging era ever ing dreams. An thing above shoulder height isn’t eas to
racquet on the cla court at a Tennis in Spain had a ver return across the net.
that is about to end
localacadem wherehisuncle scientific regime that was rig- Nadal’s scampering runs on the baseline,
was a coach. orous but not regimental. On hisstumblingrushestothenet,andthescur-
Years later, Nadal would recall how from thecla courtsaroundthecountr ,beginners r ing dash to reach impossible balls will be
hisver firsteverhitof atennisball,hefound like Nadal learnt important lessons that missed b fans.
the game eas . It was something Uncle Toni, wouldsta withthemforalifetime.The had The game’s ultimate trier’s long run is
histravellingcoachformostof hiscareer,also to do tough drills but after a while, were al- coming to an end, but around the baselines
saw. The hard taskmaster would be strict, lowed to slide around the cla courts to do of the world-famous cla court, there are
force him to run the e tra ards and, most their things – pla drop shots and test their enough Nadal footprints to make him im-
importantl , nipped the footballer in his audaciousgameplans.Ontheslowcourt,the mortal and remind the world of his incredi-
nephew. He didn’t let Nadal drift back to the grindwasharderandoneneededakillerfore- ble journe .

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