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CHENNAI I SATURDAY 10 I DECEMBER 2022

WEATHER STATE | 3 SPORT | 12 TABLOID | 13

Max: 28 C O
`1000 crore green India-Bangladesh Shoaib breaks silence
Min: 25OC on divorce rumours
Rainfall: 6.9 mm climate fund for TN final ODI today
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Mandous brings heavy rains to

Subakrithu: Karthigai 24
Tithi: Adhithi
Star: Thiruvadhirai
Rahukalam:

Chennai, state’s coastal districts

9 am to 10.30 am
Yamagandam:
1.30 pm to 3 pm
PRAYERS
Fajar: 5.35 am
Luhar: 1.00 am ■ Cyclone crosses Mamallapuram shortly after midnight on Friday
Asar: 4.00 pm

RAIN,
Maghrib: 5.48 pm DC CORRESPONDENT
WITH AGENCY INPUTS
Isha: 7.30 pm CHENNAI, DEC. 9

COUNTER POINT Most parts of Chennai and

Only final decision
of collegium will be
made public: SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
said on Friday unless a final deci-
sion is taken and a resolution to
that effect signed by all members
of the apex court collegium, it can-
not be disclosed either in the pub-
lic domain or under the Right to
Information (RTI)
Act. The top court
said a decision is
termed as final only
after a resolution has
been drawn and
signed by the mem-
bers of the collegium following
due deliberation and until then, it
remains a “tentative decision”. A
bench of Justices M.R. Shah and
C.T. Ravikumar said the collegium
is a multi-member body whose
decision is embodied in the resolu-
tion that may be formally drawn
up and signed. ■ P7
Don’t defile religious
several districts in Tamil
Nadu received heavy rains
throughout Friday under
the influence of cyclone
Mandous which crossed
the Indian coast at
Mamallapuram, the his-
toric temple town near
Chennai, shortly after
Friday midnight.
Flights from Chennai
international airport con-
tinued to be disrupted
with the cancellation of at
least five flights in the
evening. Trains including
suburban services were
operated and there was
some disruption in bus
services in view of water
logging in a string of
areas. Schools and colleges
remained closed in several
districts.
Unrelenting rainfall with
mild wind that started in
the wee hours of Friday
and continued late at night
and took a toll on the nor-
mal life in the capital city
areas including Porur,
Pattabhiram, K.K. Ngar,
Ramapuram, Ashok
Nagar, Guindy and
Velachery.
The fishermen in the
Mamallapuram area were
caught in a dilemma
between saving their lives
by moving to shelters set
up by the government and
staying put to protect their
boats anchored on the
coast for the past few days.
iNSIDE ● Page 2: CHENNAI SHAKEN, NOT STIRRED,
WATER RELEASED FROM RESERVOIRS
BORDER ROW
Shah to meet K’taka,
A resort in Mamallapuram village lay damaged after the coast being washed away by
rough waves on Friday.
Panic gripped the fishing
villages as the rough
waves that lashed the
coast had already washed
away large swaths of sand,
damaged houses and
uprooted many trees, leav-
ing no scope for them to tie
the boats and nets to some
firmly grounded object.
In neighbouring
Puducherry, the territori-
al administration declared
holiday for all schools and
colleges in Puducherry
and Karaikal regions on
Friday and Saturday after
the IMD issued a cyclone
warning.
The IMD said on Friday
that Doppler weather
radars are monitoring the
cyclone which weakened
into a cyclonic storm on
December 9 after being a
severe cyclonic storm for
less than 24-hours and it
lay at about 260 km south-
southeast of Chennai and
180 km east-northeast of
Karaikal.
The cyclonic storm is
very likely to move nearly
northwestwards and cross
north Tamil Nadu, Puduc-
herry and adjoining south
Andhra Pradesh coasts
between Puducherry and
Sriharikota near
Mamallapuram as a from Friday, he added.
● Page 2: FEAR GRIPS FISHERFOLK OF
MAMALLAPURAM
Will handle indiscipline,
— E. K. Sanjay
cyclonic storm with a
maximum sustained wind
speed of 65-75 kmph gust-
ing to 85 kmph, during
midnight and early hours
of Saturday, it had said.
Puducherry home and
education minister A.
Namassivayam said in a
release that the govern-
ment took note of the
warning issued by the
IMD that a strong cyclone
would hit Puducherry and
Karaikal regions under
the influence of the storm
in the Bay of Bengal. All
schools and colleges would
remain closed for two days
DISRUPTION
FLIGHTS FROM
Chennai international
airport continued to
be disrupted with the
cancellation of at least
five flights in the
evening.
TRAINS WERE operat-
ed but water logging
disrupted bus services
in Chennai.
PANIC GRIPPED fish-
ing villages in the
Mamallapuram area;
Rough waves washed
away large swaths of
sand, damaged hous-
es and uprooted many
trees
PUDUCHERRY
ADMINISTRATION
declared holiday for
all schools and col-
leges on Friday and
Saturday.
The department of rev-
enue and disaster man-
agement geared up all
departments concerned
with relief works and
deployed rescue teams to
respond to any exigency.
A storm warning signal
flag Number Five has
been hoisted at the
Puducherry port and
fisherfolk had been
asked not to venture into
the sea.
Congress workers greet Himachal Pradesh Congress
Committee president Pratibha Singh after the party’s
victory in the Assembly elections in Shimla on Friday.
HIMACHAL CONGRESS
MLAs leave CM
choice to Delhi
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
The Congress met with
the governor of Himachal
Pradesh on Friday to start
the process of forming the
next government in the
hill state. At the meeting
of the newly-elected Cong-
ress MLAs, a resolution
was passed along the
expected lines, authoris-
ing the high command to
pick the next chief minis-
ter.
The party's central obs-
ervers -- Chhattisgarh
Chief Minister Bhupesh
Baghel, former CM of
Haryana Bhupinder Sin-
gh Hooda -- and AICC in-
charge for Himachal
Pradesh Rajeev Shukla
shared with the governor
a list of the party’s win-
ning MLAs and “sought
time” to formally stake
claim to form the govern-
ment. In a bid to pick a
consensus candidate, the
central observers first
met the newly-elected
Congress MLAs individu-
CONG BLAMES
STATE UNIT FOR
GUJ DEBACLE
New Delhi, Dec. 9: A day
after its drubbing in the
Gujarat assembly elec-
tions, the Congress on
Friday blamed the state
leadership for the poor
showing and said it is
time to introspect as well
as take “tough decisions”.
Congress general secre-
tary Jairam Ramesh also
accused the Aam Aadmi
Party and the AIMIM of
colluding with the BJP,
saying they were “infor-
mal alliance partners” of
the ruling party.
He, however, said in
Himachal Pradesh the
Congress put up a good
show despite Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s
high decibel campaign.
“For us, the Gujarat
results show the need for
introspection and for tak-

processions, says SC
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on
Friday dismissed a PIL filed by an
NGO seeking framing of guidelines
to regulate religious processions,
brandishing swords and firearms,
and grant of permission to such
events by state administration,
asking why such festivals are por-
trayed in poor light as a reason for
riots. A bench of Chief Justice D.Y.
Chandrachud and Justice P.S.
Narasimha refused to entertain the
PIL filed by NGO Citizens for
Justice and Peace, of which social
activist Teesta Setalvad is the sec-
retary, saying law and order is a
state subject.
Hypersonic vehicle
test successful
Maha CMs next week
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
Union home minister
Amit Shah will meet the
chief ministers of Maha-
rashtra and Karnataka
here on December 14 to
soothe the tempers on the
border dispute between
the two states, the
Nationalist Congress
Party leader Amol Kolhe
said here on Friday.
Mr Kolhe was speaking
to reporters after a delega-
tion of the Maharashtra
Vikas Aghadi (MVA) --
Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress
coalition -- parliamentari-
Maharashtra and
Karnataka on December
14 and work towards find-
ing a cordial solution to
the issue,” Mr Kolhe, the
Lok Sabha member from
Shirur in Maharashtra,
told reporters here.
On Thursday, the MVA
parliamentarians had
written to the Union home
minister, warning that
the Karnataka-Maharas-
htra border row had rea-
ched a stage where it cou-
ld erupt into full-blown
violence and had sought
his personal intervention.
In a letter to Mr Shah,
the MVA parliamentari-
Nadda cautions leaders
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
A day after the electoral
defeat in Himachal
Pradesh, BJP president
J.P. Nadda, cautioned the
party rank and file saying
Indiscipline will be han-
dled. Factional rifts with-
in the party had surfaced
in the run-up to the
Assembly elections in the
hill state. Many influen-
tial and senior BJP lead-
ers in the state were
reportedly working
against each other.
Talking about the grow-
ing ambition of the BJP
GUJARAT CM PATEL TENDERS
RESIGNATION, SET TO RETURN
Ahmedabad, Dec. 9:
Gujarat Chief Minister
Bhupendra Patel tendered
his resignation along with
his entire cabinet on Fri-
day to pave the way for for
mation of a new govern-
ment in the state after the
ruling BJP’s landslide vic-
tory in the Assembly elec-
tions. The BJP registered
a historic victory in Guja-
rat by clinching 156 seats
in the 182-member House.
Mr Patel, accompanied by
Gujarat BJP chief C.R.
Paatil and party’s chief
whip Pankaj Desai, hand-
ed over his resignation to
Governor Acharya
Devvrat at the Raj Bhavan
ally, and then the meeting
of the legislature party
took place.
Pratibha Singh, a Congr-
ess MP and the wife of for-
mer CM Virbhadra Singh,
indicated that she is in the
running for the top job.
Some Congress workers
raised slogans in support
of Ms Singh, who is also
the state party chief.
Former state chief of the
party Sukhwinder Singh
PM greets Sonia
ing tough decisions. In
Gujarat the election
results have been very
disappointing and are far
below our expectations. It
is a very sad reflection on
the state’s organisation,”
he told reporters. — PTI
Sukhu and the outgoing
legislature party leader
Mukesh Agnihotri are al-
so among the frontrunn-
ers for the CM’s post. ■ P7

is growing in size. Ambi-

tion is also growing. Some
in Gandhinagar.

ntually the party suffers.”

New Delhi: ISRO said on Friday
that it along with tri-services
(army, navy, air force) institution
Headquarters Integrated Defence
Staff successfully carried out test
of hypersonic vehicle, which can
bypass ballistic missile defence
systems. “The trials achieved all
required parameters and demon-
strated hypersonic vehicle capabil-
ity," tweeted ISRO. Russia, China,
and US are investing to develop
advance hypersonic missiles.
Hypersonic vehicle can be an air-
plane, missile, or spacecraft.
CROATIA SHOCK BRAZIL
ans met Mr Shah to air
their grievances on the
border dispute.
The MVA delegation also
complained to Mr Shah
about the “insulting refer-
ences” to Chhatrapati Shi-
vaji Maharaj by Mahar-
ashtra Governor Bhagat
Singh Koshiyari and some
other BJP leaders.
“The home minister
gave us a patient hearing
and assured the MVA par-
liamentarians that he will
call the chief ministers of
ans claimed that “high-
handed” actions by Karn-
ataka had “hurt the senti-
ments” of the Marathi-
speaking people in the
border districts at a time
the matter was in the
Supreme Court.
The NCP lawmaker said
the MVA delegation also
sought strict action
against those leaders and
constitutional authorities
who had made “insulting
references” to Chhatra-
pati Shivaji Maharaj.
Talking tough on the in-
on her birthday
leaders, the party presi- people want to run for of- discipline and infighting, DC CORRESPONDENT her birthday on Friday,
dent, speaking in a public ice and therefore they cr- the BJP chief said, “We NEW DELHI, DEC. 9 with AICC president
function, said, “The party oss the party line and eve- will find a solution.” ■ P7 Mallikarjun Kharge say-
Prime Minister Narendra ing her ‘indomitable spir-
Modi on Friday greeted it’ in the wake of adversi-
former Congress presi- ty has inspired millions.
BILL TO AMEND ST BILL ON JUDICIAL dent Sonia Gandhi on her
76th birthday.
The Congress, from its
official Twitter handle,
LIST MOVED IN LS POSTINGS IN RS In a tweet, Prime
Minister Mr Modi said,
said, “Warm birthday
wishes to Smt Sonia
DC CORRESPONDENT DC CORRESPONDENT “Birthday greetings to Gandhi who epitomizes
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9 NEW DELHI, DEC. 9 Smt. Sonia Gandhi Ji. sacrifice, courage & dedi-
Praying for her long and cation.Her sense of duty
The Union government on Friday intro- A private member bill to regulate the healthy life.” and grace is an inspira-
duced four separate bills in Lok Sabha to appointment of judges through the The former Congress tion.”
revise the lists of Scheduled Tribes in as National Judicial Commission was intro- president is in Rajasthan's Several top Congress
many states. Union tribal affairs minister duced in the Rajya Sabha on Friday. Ranthambore on her leaders including party
Arjun Munda introduced the Constitu- CPM's Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharyya birthday and is spending general secretary organi-
tion (Scheduled Tribes) Order (Amend
ment) Bills for Chhattisgarh, Karnataka,
introduced the National Judicial
Commission Bill 2022 after the majority of
time with her children
Rahul Gandhi
sation K.C. Venugopal,
Sachin Pilot, Randeep
Tamil Nadu and Himachal Pradesh. The voice votes were in its favour in the and Priyanka Gandhi Surjewala and Shashi
Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) Order Upper House. The AAP opposed the bill. Vadra. Tharoor, wished the for-
(Second Amendment) Bill seeks to modify The CPM lawmaker moved the bill that Several Congress lead- mer party chief on her
the list of Scheduled Tribes in TN. ■ P4 aims to regulate the procedure... ■ P4 ers greeted ms Gandhi on birthday.

India will be another power, but no ally: US

Washington, Dec. 9:
India, which has a unique
strategic character, will
not be an ally of the US,
but another great power, a
top White House official
has said, asserting there is
no other bilateral relation-
ship that is being “deep-
ened and strengthened”
more rapidly than
Croatia players celebrate after beating Brazil in the penalty shoot-out of the World Cup between the two countries
quarter-final at Education City Stadium in Doha on Friday. Neymar had scored late in the over the last 20 years.
first half of extra time to give Brazil the lead, but Croatia equalised when Bruno Petkovic Responding to a question
scored in the 117th. — AFP
on India during his
appearance at the Aspen
Security Forum meeting
here on Thursday, Kurt
Campbell, the White
House Asia coordinator,
said that in his view India
is the most important
bilateral relationship for
the United States in the
21st century.
“The fact is, I don’t know
of any bilateral relation-
ship that is being deep-
■ India-US relationship,
the White House said, is
not simply built on anxi-
ety around China. “It is
a deeper understanding
of the importance of the
synergies between our
societies,” the
spokesperson said.
ened and strengthened
more rapidly than the
United States and India
over the last 20 years,” he
told a Washington audi-
ence.
The US needs to invest
even more of its capacity,
and build in people-to-peo-
ple ties, working together
on technology and other
issues, he said. “India has
a unique strategic charac-
ter. It will not be an ally of
the United States. It has
the desire to be an inde-
pendent, powerful state
and it will be another great
power. But I think there
are reasons to believe that
our strategic alignment is
growing across the board
in almost every arena,” Mr
Campbell said.
There are inhibitions in
both of the bureaucracies
and there are many chal-
lenges, he acknowledged.
“But I do believe that this
is a relationship that
should have some ambi-
tion.” ■ P7
 ON HIGH ALERT

MANDOUS
Tiruvallur district collector on Friday announced that it
has been proposed to release 100 cusecs of water
through floodgate of Red Hills lake as a precautionary
measure as more inflow is expected from catchment
due to the Mandous cyclone. The present inflow from

DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI

catchment is around 140 cusecs
pg 2

Chennai shaken, not stirred

■ Heavy rains with wind lash city ■ Water released from reservoirs
T. SUDHEESH | DC 2.521 tmc feet of water. If
CHENNAI, DEC. 9

Due to the impact of cyclone TABS ON 19 LOW-LYING SPOTS CONTROL

Mandous, the city, especially
southern suburbs, experi-
enced incessant rainfall
throughout the day.
Unrelenting rainfall with
mild wind started in the wee
hours of Friday and contin-
ued late at night, taking a toll
on the normal life of the city.
Areas including Porur,
Pattabhiram, K.K. Ngar,
Ramapuram, Ashok Nagar,
Guindy and Velachery wit-
nessed heavy rainfall
throughout the day.
The relentless rainfall
resulted in the increased
inflow of inflows to the major
reservoirs in the city, forcing
the Water Resources
Department (WRD) to 100
cusecs of water each from
Chembarambakkam, Poondi,
and Puzhal reservoirs on
Friday. The department
advised the people residing in
heavy rain continues in
Chennai and suburbs,
depending on the rainfall in Fishers in dire straits
ROOM OPENED
the catchment the water out-
According to GCC, the rescue teams and special
officials have deployed to provide special focus
flow from the major reser-
voirs will be increased gradu-
SEA WATER ENTERS HOUSES IN NAGORE
on the 19 low-lying spots in the city. Apart from The corporation ally.
authorities have also The Greater Chennai Cor- R. VALAYAPATHY I DC Akkaraipettai, Keecah- income for livelihood.
this, 169 relief and gruel centres have been set poration (GCC) issued prec- NAGAPATTINAM, DEC. 9 angkuppam, Velankanni, The fishermen of
up. At least 805 motor pumps, 272 wood cutting set up a 24x7 control autionary measures and Vedaranyam, Kodiyakk- Nagore Pattinacherry
machines, 45 JCBs, and 115 tipper lorries are room so that people ordered the closure of all Sea water entered more arai, Vizunthamavadi, village were marooned
made ready to deal with the situation. A team of could contact them if parks and playgrounds till than 20 houses at Nagore and Pushpavanam could with their houses sur-
there is any emer- further notice. Meanwhile, Pattinacherry fisherman not venture into sea for rounded by sea water
10 workers in each ward along with a mini vehicle the district administration village in Nagapattinam the sixth consecutive drain and rain water.
has been deployed for the emergency service. gency. The number:
has declared a holiday for all district on Friday due to day. They expressed concern
As the wind with 80km/hour is forecast, there is a 044-25619206, the schools and colleges on rough sea, under the The machine boats over the district adminis-
high possibility of uprooting the trees. The public 044-25619207, Saturday . influence of cyclone were anchored on the tration not taking any
044-25619208, Transport Minister SS Mandous. shore, while the fisher- preventive measures,
should not go to Marina and Basant Nagar Sivasankar on Friday annou- Due to the cyclone, the men took their country despite their repeated
beaches. 9445477205, and 1913
nced that the buses would not Nagapattinam port boats to their hamlets. appeals. They wanted the
be operated in and around authorities hoisted the More than 70,000 other government to construct
East Coast Road and cautionary signal num- persons engaged in fish- a wall on the sea side
the low-lying areas to stay inundation in the low-lying and from the Kosasthalaiyar Mahabalipuram two hours ber 5. More than 50,000 ing and trading activities with metal, to save their
away from the water bodies. areas. We are watching the river the water will reach before and after the landfall fishermen in 27 fisher- were severely affected houses, household arti-
A WRD official said that the situation very closely’, said Ennore sea. of cyclone Mandous. He also men hamlets including without any regular cles and other valuables.
reservoirs were receiving the official. The water dis- The storage capacity in appealed to the passengers
5,000 cusecs in the catchment. charged from Poondi and Redhills Puzhal Lake is 2.356 to avoid travelling altogether
As heavy rain is going on, Puzhal lakes will flow tmc feet against 3.300 tmc when the cyclone makes
water is released to avoid through drains in 10 villages, feet, and Poondi reservoir has landfall.

Fear grips fisherfolk of Mamallapuram

G. BABU JAYAKUMAR &
P.A.JEBARAJ | DC
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
The meteorological forecast
of Cyclone Mandous crossing
the Indian coast
Mamallapuram, the historic
temple town near Chennai,
on the intervening night of
Friday and Saturday found
fishermen in the locality
caught in a dilemma between
saving their lives by moving
shelters set up by the govern-
ment and staying put to pro-
tect their boats anchored on
the coast for the past few days.
Panic gripped the fishing
villages as the rough waves
that lashed the coast had
already washed away large
swaths of sand, damaged
houses and uprooted many
trees, leaving no scope for
them to tie the boats and nets
to some firmly grounded
object.
The fishermen had been
keeping off the seas for the
Devanari fisherman village damaged by sea past few days due to the
erosion in many places, near Mamallapuram. inclement weather and were
waiting for Mandous to cross
the coast so that they could
set out into the sea. Now they
are making efforts to save
at their fishing gear by tying
them together with strong
ropes and shifting them to
safer places. Since fishermen
are wary of leaving their
boats and nets to the face
nature’s fury, they
remain on the beach
keeping a watch
over the boats as they were
rocked by the strong winds
that blew through the day,
without checking into any of
the 289 relief camps set up in Sea water enters houses in the Srinivasapuram area near Marina beach.
Chengalpet district.
The entire cyclone-prone
belt comprising Kalpakkam,
Sadras, Pudupattinam,
Uallikuppam, Azhikuppam 27 FLIGHTS CANCELLED Nilgiris shivers
and Mamallapuram fishing
kuppam was tense as the state
machinery was working to AT CHENNAI AIRPORT in inclement
save the people from a possi-
ble disastrous situation.
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, DEC. 9 weather
Due to Mandous cyclone , as many as 27 flights B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC
MAHABS VILLAGE BATTERED were cancelled at the Chennai airport on
Friday. The AAI said that it has decided to can-
OOTY, DEC. 9

cel all the ATR flights till the wind speed
becomes normal.
The airport officials said more flights would
get cancelled by night and many would be
diverted to Bangalore or Hyderabad since land-
ing all the flights would not be possible at the
Chennai airport.
The airport sources said till Friday night, 27
flights had been cancelled and all the passen-
gers were informed earlier regarding the can-
cellation so they need not visit the airport.
Civil Aviation was ordered not to operate the
small ATR aircraft since it's not advisable to
operate them during the cyclone. The AAI
announced that all the ATR flights are can-
celled till the weather becomes normal.
The ATR flights which were scheduled to
Tuticorin, Mysore, Kozhikode, Vijayawada,
Bangalore, Tiruchy, Madurai, Hyderabad,
Hubli and Kannur are cancelled. The other
flights to Sri Lanka, Tuticorin, Kadapah, and
Mumbai are cancelled. The officials said the
arrangements have been made for landing the
flights in Bangalore and Hyderabad in the
evening and night since the wind speed would
Fishing boats taken away from the waters of Bay of Bengal at Kokkilamedu village of
be high in Chennai due to the Mandous
Edaiyur village panchayat coming under Tirukazhukundram block of Chengalpet A temporary relief camp is set up at Kokkilamedu village. Food cyclone.
district and kept closer to homes as precautionary measures in anticipation of a and accommodation also arranged for people. —E. K. Sanjay
massive impact when cyclone Mandous makes landfall near Mamallapuram.
Incessant rains and hostile
weather began to keep the
Nilgiris shivering as the impact
of Cyclone Mandous was felt in
the hills since Friday morning.
Though the rainfall was nor-
mal with occasional heavy
downpour, the
overcast sky, drizzle and thick
misty weather throughout
Friday made the hills nippy. The
disaster management teams in
all the taluks are on their toes to
respond to any emergencies
that may arise due to the
impact of the cyclone. As a thick
sheet of mist covered the
hills, especially the Ooty,
Coonoor, Kotagiri and Kundah
taluks, the motorists had to
drive through the hill roads on
Friday daytime by switching on
the mist lights.
Meanwhile, collector S.P.
Amrith declared a holiday for
schools and colleges in Nilgiris
on Saturday due to the
inclement weather.

Govt gears up to meet any eventuality Govt ready to meet

DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
Many parts of northern Tamil Nadu,
including Chennai and its surround-
ings experienced heavy rains through
the day as Cyclone Mandous moved
toward the coast even as the govern-
ment that had made all efforts to face
any eventuality sought the people’s
cooperation to tide over the situation
easily.
Chief Minister M K Stalin who
made a visit to the State Emergency
Operations Centre at Ezhilagam on
Friday told the media that he had
given instructions to all the officials
Greater Chennai Police Commissioner Shankar Jiwal visits
cyclone rescue team at RR Stadium on Friday.
concerned to ensure the safety of the
people and that IAS officers had been
appointed in all the districts to moni-
tor the situation.
He said the government had set up
camps in most of the places feared to
face heavy rains but in many places
people had not checked in.
Electricity Minister V Senthilbalaji
held a high-level discussion with the
official of the electricity board and
later told the media that men and
materials were kept ready to face any
situation that might arise because of
the cyclone and the flooding that
might occur due to heavy rains.
The department had formed 176
Workers clearing an uprooted tree at
Mandaveli.
groups with the help of 11,000 employ-
ees to monitor the situation round the
clock, he said, adding that they would
be always available to attend to emer-
gency calls. Besides, a special group of
200 officials would also work round
the clock for the purpose, he said.
Over 2 lakh lampposts, electric wire
running a distance of over 12,100 km
and 15,000 transformers were kept
ready to address issues relating to
snapping of power connections and
repairs in transformers. By calling
the telephone Number 9498794987 peo-
ple can get in touch with the depart-
ment officials who would help them
out through the day, he said.
NE monsoon challenges,
say ministers
Coimbatore, Dec 9: The Tamil Nadu government
has taken all precautionary measures to meet the
challenges of northeast monsoon and the cyclonic
storm 'Mandous', state ministers Ma Subramanian
and V Senthil Balaji said here on Friday.
Speaking to reporters, minister for health
Subramanian said as per the direction from Chief
Minister M K Stalin, the health department has
instructed the medical teams including doctors,
nurses and staff in government hospitals and PHCs The permanent 235-metre wooden pathway built at the cost of
to be ready 24/7 and ensure that necessary medicines `1.5 crore at the Marina beach, opened recently, lies damaged.
are available.
To a question on filling up vacancies of doctors and
other staff in primary health centres, Subramaniam
said of the 4,303 vacant posts, the government has
selected 1,021 doctors.
However, due to a case prevailing in Madurai
Bench of Madras High Court, the orders cannot be
issued and it is expected to be cleared by January
next year.
State electricity minister Senthil Balaji said 44,000
damaged electricity poles have been replaced and
another two lakh poles are kept ready for emergency.
The department has kept 11,000 additional workers
to carry out 24 hours emergency works, he added.
On road infrastructure in Coimbatore district,
Senthil Balaji said the Chief Minister has issued
order on Thursday to take up works costing Rs 19.84
crore, covering 138 roads.
Earlier, Subramanian declared open new buildings,
medical equipment needed for operation theaters
and children wards in various government hospitals
in the district including Coimbatore, Mettupalayam
and Sulur. —PTI Water-logging on Royapettah road. —N . Sampath
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI
`1000 crore green
climate fund for TN
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
The State Government would
set up a `1,000 crore Green
Climate Fund as part of its
diverse initiatives to save
Planet Earth that would enable
the State to achieve carbon
emission equality much ahead
of 2070, the year that India
aspired to reach the target,
Chief Minister M K Stalin said
on Friday.
Inaugurating the Climate
Change Mission, Stalin said
that Tamil Nadu would guide
the nation not just in social jus-
tice but also in ecological jus-
tice by ensuring that the envi-
ronment and Nature were given
due care and protected properly
despite the government taking
up economic growth and indus-
trial development on a priority
basis.
All schemes and policies of
the state would be drawn with
the Climate Change perspective
and the government’s approach
would be towards achieving a
lifestyle integrated with nature
and a development that did not
devastate Nature, the Chief
Minister said.
Special programmes would be
announced for those launching
new organization in the depart-
ments of Climate Change,
Study: Delay in medical treatment
increases risk of Tuberculosis spread
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
A research study on tuberculo-
sis (TB) patients and survivors
in the state has found that delay
in approaching the healthcare
system after noticing the symp-
toms increased the risk of
transmission of the disease.
The study titled ‘Health seek-
ing behaviour among persons
infected with TB and the TB
survivor’ was carried out by
Blossom Trust, an NGO, part-
nered with the Bangalore-based
thinktank Research PAC (Public
Affairs Centre) of TB patients
in Madurai, Ramanathapuram
and Virudhunagar districts.
The study was conducted to
understand the health seeking
Periya Puranam could transform people, says retd HC judge
G. SRINIVASAN I DC
THANJAVUR, DEC. 9
Literatures like ‘Periya
Puranam’ have an objective of
transforming people to live a
good and fruitful life, said
Justice (rtd) S. Jagadeesan of
the Madras high court here.
He was speaking at a seminar
on ‘Periya Puranam’, organised
jointly by Tamil Cultural
Full-scale model of Nasa’s MP slams cops taking photos of people moving on roads at night
Mars Rover Opportunity open OP ARULN I DC
to public at US Consulate
VCK MP D Ravikumar has photographs are being taken, this Act only allows photo-
Chennai: U.S. Consul General
Chennai Judith Ravin launched
an exhibit of a full-scale model
of Nasa’s Mars Rover
Opportunity at the American
Center, along with US
Fulbright-Nehru Scholar to
India Dr. Venkateswaran
Narayanaswamy.
The American Center, located
inside of the US Consulate
General Chennai, invites stu-
dents, teachers, and science
enthusiasts to visit the new
Mars Rover exhibit.
Built by Cornell University
students, the full-scale model
was previously on display
at the Smithsonian's Air and
Space Museum in Washington
D.C. and at the U.S. Pavillion
during the 2020 World Expo
in Dubai. The temporary
interactive exhibit, tailored
to visiting school groups,
features activities built around
the Mars Rover and space explo-
ration, according to a press
release.
US Consul General Chennai
Judith Ravin said: “In 1970 – 52
years ago – here in Chennai
people were talking about moon
rocks and lunar exploration –
and hoping to inspire young
generations of Indians to
understand more about the
moon-earth system... Today, you
are here to see the Mars Rover,
renowned for its planetary
exploration... The technologies
developed in support of space
exploration have real-world
applications that affect all of
us, from advancements in
telecommunications and satel-
lite navigation to agricultural
monitoring and weather fore-
casting.”
Chief Minister M. K. Stalin distributing safety kits to sanitary workers during an event
organised at Madurai Corporation on Friday.
Renewable Energy, Rotating
Economy and Sustainable
Growth, he said and listed out
the various measures taken by
the government so far, starting
with the rechristening of the
department as ‘Environment
and Climate Change’ and also
allocating `500 crore in the
State Budget.
Expressing concern over
increased carbon emission in
the world causing various natu-
ral disasters, Stalin referred to
the recent incidents of floods in
behaviour among persons
infected with TB and TB sur-
vivors, to find reasons for not
seeking care or delay in seeking
care, and to know the various
socio-cultural factors associated
with health-seeking and
gender-based health-seeking
behaviour.
It was found that the delay of
patients in reaching health pro-
fessionals was caused by the
social stigma attached to TB and
the lack of awareness
about the disease and treat-
ments available. Prolonged
delay leads to increased infec-
tivity in the community and
severe morbidity.
The delays in diagnosis and
medical treatment were found
to be higher among women than
Centre, philosophy department
of Tamil University and
Pudukottai Thilakavathiyar
Thiruvarul Adheenam at Tamil
University on Thursday.
He released the book ‘Periya-
purana Aivukalanjiyam’ at the
function. Thanjavur city corpo-
ration mayor Shan Ramanathan
received the first copy. He said
that serving people is serving
God and the Dravidian model
Nadu are being stopped by the ing the act of the police taking
police while moving on the photographs of persons with-
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
road during night and their out their consent, and even
opposed the police taking pho-
tographs of people, while
moving on roads at night, for
the Face Recognition Software
database, as it violates right to
privacy under Article 21 and
right to move freely under
Article 19(1) (D) of the
Constitution, many Supreme
Court orders and
International Conventions.
In a letter sent to Chief
Minister M.K. Stalin on
Friday, the Villupuram MP
stated that people in Tamil
Archaeologists find rare rock art form in Tiruvannamalai
K. SENTHIL NATHAN I DC
THIRUVANAMALAI, DEC. 9
Private archaeologists have
found a rare petroglyph, an art
form created on the rock, near
Vettavalam in Tiruvannamalai
district.
The members of the
‘Thiruvannamalai District
Historical Research Centre’
(TDHRC) stumbled upon the
cave-like structure at the foot of
Singamalai in ‘Nallan Pillai
Petral’ village.
They found the carvings on
the rock, technically called pet-
roglyphs. The images meas-
ured 4 meters high and 7
meters wide.
A bull with a hump and a man
standing near it was found on
the cave’s roof. Another bull
structure was found, with a few
men standing nearby.
Finding animals in the carv-
ings, the archaeologists believe
that the place was once a settle-
ment of cattle-growers and
hunters.
Chennai and Bengaluru, cloud-
bursts in Telangana and
Uttarakhand and landslides in
Kerala, he pledged the State’s
commitment to address the
global concern.
Nature had no boundaries and
it was the responsibility of all
to protect it, he said. Since the
government could not address
the issue that had become a
global problem, environmental-
ist Eric Solheim and economist
Montek Singh Aluwaliah had
been roped in, along with a slew
men due to cultural and finan-
cial factors. This is due to
women infected with TB being
likely to undergo stigma and
rejection from their family
members and community. This
can lead to discontinuation of
the treatment. Unemployed
women may be restricted from
timely access to health care due
to financial limitations, leading
to poor adherence to treatment
and follow-up.
The study highlighted the fact
that TB is always curable with
effective and uninterrupted
anti-tuberculosis therapy. Tre-
atment adherence is critical for
the cure of individual patients,
controlling the spread of infec-
tion and minimising the devel-
opment of drug resistance.
government is doing that. Dr V.
Thiruvalluvan, Vice-chancellor
of Tamil University said that
‘Peirya Puranam’ encompassed
the principles of life. Dayan-
anda Chandrasekara Swamigal
of Thilakavathiyar Thiruvarul
Adheenam, Pudukottai, Balam-
uruganadimai Swamigal, tru-
stee of Balamurugan Thir-
ukoyil, Rathnagiri and others
spoke.
without providing any expla-
nation. Recently, the Greater
Chennai Police clarified
through their Twitter handle
that this is being done to feed
the photographs of citizens
moving around during night
into the Face Recognition
Software database.
He explained that there is no
law at present, either at state
or at national level that allows
this practice. The Identific-
ation of Prisoners Act, 1920, is
perhaps the only law govern-
Similar images were found in
places like the Nilgiris and
Madurai.
Besides protecting the
images, a detailed study needs
to be conducted for getting
more historical information
about this place, demanded
TDHRC members C. Balam-
—DC
of NGO representatives, he
said.
Ancient Tamil society always
had environmental concerns
and it was evident in literary
works like Tholkappiam and
Tirukkural that are over 2,000
years old, he said. While
Tiruvalluvur says that there is
no world without water,
Tholkappiam talks elaborately
about the importance of Nilam
(land), Nerupu (Fire), Neer
(Water), Vali (Air) and Visumpu
(Sky).
School boys found
dead in village well
near Chennai
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
In a tragic incident, two school
children who went missing from
their residence were found dead
in a well at a village near
Gummudipoondi in Tiruvallur
district.
According to the police, the
deceased boys were identified as
V Nakul (12) and K Gopichand
(13). Both the boys were resi-
dents of Sooravari Kandigai vil-
lage near Gummidipoondi and
were studying Class 7 and Class
8 at a school nearby, police said.
Police said that on Wednesday,
both the boys stayed back home
and did not go to school. When
their parents came home on
Thursday evening, the boys
were found missing after which
the parents and relatives
launched a hunt.
Meanwhile, on Friday morn-
ing, locals found two bodies of
the boys floating in a well in
Poovalam village.
Based on the alert , personnel
from the Tamil Nadu fire and
rescue services rushed to the
spot and fished out the bodies
and sent it to government hospi-
tal for post mortem. Kavarapet
police have registered a case
and are investigating.
graphs to be taken only of peo-
ple who have been arrested or
convicted in a crime. However,
this Act also does not permit
the sharing of these photo-
graphs among law enforce-
ment agencies.
The police action violates
the verdict of the Supreme
Court, in the cases K.S.
Puttaswamy v. Union of India,
Malak Singh v. State of
Punjab and Haryana and
Maneka Gandhi v. Union of
India.
urugan, Bharathi Raja,
Sreenivasan, C. Palanisamy,
Raja and Gandhi Raja.
This is the second such carv-
ings found in Thiruvan-
namalai district. Previously,
the TDHRC members visited a
cave at Sethavarai Ayyanar
hills, south west of Singamalai.
pg 3
Felicitate indigenous women
on mountain day: NDC head
B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC
OOTY, DEC. 9
This Sunday, the globe will cele-
brate the International
Mountain Day to garner sup-
port of the human race to
understand the importance of
mountains to life on the globe as
peaks are the source of rivers,
jungles, wildlife, clean air,
enjoyable weather, tribal cul-
ture, mountain foods and what
not? The International
Mountain Day this year will be
celebrated with the theme
‘Women move mountains’ as
mountain women play a para-
mount role in sustainable
mountain farming, ecological
conservation, social and eco-
nomic development of the Toda tribeswomen engaged in Toda tribal
mountain folk, besides playing embroidery work. —DC File Photo
the role of guarding the moun-
tain biodiversity, mountain cul- equality and recognition is a businesswomen, artisans, entre-
ture of locals, keepers of tradi- vital aspect of the Dravidian preneurs and community lead-
tional knowledge on adapting to model of development which ers, mountain women and girls,
life in high altitudes and having encapsulates the philosophy of in particular in rural areas,
commendable knowledge in tra- the present government. This have the potential to be major
ditional medicine and handi- year also marks the United agents of change, International
crafts. Nations International Year of Mountain Day 2022 is an oppor-
In this context, the Nilgiri Sustainable Mountain develop- tunity to raise awareness about
Documentation Centre (NDC) ment, he noted. the need to empower mountain
has made a call to felicitate Women play a key role in envi- women so they can participate
indigenous women on Mountain ronmental protection and social more effectively in decision-
Day to recognise their service to and economic development in making processes and have
mountain conservation and cul- mountain areas. Increasing cli- more control over productive
ture. mate variability, coupled with a resources. By sharing excel-
Making this appeal, NDC lack of investment in mountain lence, opportunities and capaci-
director D. Venugopal requested agriculture and rural develop- ty development in mountains,
the forest ministry and the ment, has often pushed men to the day can promote gender
Nilgiris district administration migrate elsewhere in search of equality and therefore con-
to celebrate the International alternative livelihoods. Women tribute to improving social jus-
Mountain Day to draw attention have therefore taken on many tice, livelihoods and resilience,
to the key role of indigenous tasks formerly done by men. he noted.
women in the Nilgiris. Gender As farmers, market sellers,
Ooty school to train students
in mountaineering skills
B. RAVICHANDRAN I DC
OOTY, DEC. 9
The International Mountain
Day this year is very special to
this hill station, as modern Ooty
is celebrating its bicentenary
now. In order a make a mark this
international mountain day and
to add value to the bicentenary
celebration of Ooty, the
Gurukulam school at Agalar
near here has introduced an
innovative concept to train its
students in mountaineering and
adventure sports linked to
mountains to equip the upcom-
ing generation in the skills need-
ed for modern-day mountain
life.
Realising that the present-day
students need to be good in
Gurukulam school students in Ooty
being trained in adventure sports. —DC
mountaineering and mountains-
linked adventure sports and an innovative and adventurous Independence, the school took
games, the Gurukulam school approach to give military-type lessons from Swami
joined hands with the Sardar training to the students at Vivekananda on the need to
Patel Institute of Gurukulam in mountaineering develop courage and physical fit-
Mountaineering here to train skills and adventure sports such ness to develop a healthy nation.
the students in mountaineering as sky walk, zipline, rope way, On these lines the mountaineer-
and adventure sports skills to walk on hanging bridge ena- ing skills are being imparted to
add flavour to International bling them to scale new heights the students.
Mountain Day this year. in international sports arena. This will help the kids develop
N. Arjunan, correspondent of As the nation celebrates its self-confidence and become men-
the school, said that this will be 75th anniversary of tally tough to dare and achieve.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the ‘Meeting on preparations of G20 presidency’ through video
conferencing and Tami Nadu Governor R.N.Ravi participated in it from Raj Bhavan in Chennai on Friday.
Southern Railway GM reviews
work of new Pamban bridge
OP ARULN I DC revamped Rameswaram station aspects. At Chatrakudi village,
CHENNAI, DEC. 9 will house dedicated arrival and the general manager inspected
departure terminals to handle a the upcoming structure to accom-
Southern Railway general man- large number of tourists. Besides modate the new vertical lift
ager R.N. Singh on Friday con- spacious parking lots, the two- Pamban bridge. Later, he visited
ducted an inspection in the storey station building will be Dhanushkodi and inspected the
Rameswaram – Pamban – equipped with state-of-the-art 1964 cyclone ravaged areas. He
Dhanushkodi section and facilities for passengers. He said held discussions with Rail Vikas
reviewed the status of the ongo- the new Pamban Bridge works Nigam Limited and reviewed the
ing infrastructure work on the will be completed by March 2023 status of new Pamban Bridge
new Pamban railway bridge. and the tender would be floated works.
The general manager conducted for Rameswaram – Dhanushkodi After completion of inspection
a detailed review of the station new line works after completion in Rameswaram – Dhanushkodi
redevelopment plans and, after of land acquisition. section, he proceeded on a win-
perusing sketches of the works, On the electrification of lines up dow trailing inspection from
he recommended a few improve- to Rameswaram from Ramana- Rameswaram to Dindigul via
ments and urged the officials to thapuram, the general manager Madurai. Rajendra Prasad Jingar,
complete redevelopment works on said that Railways will take up the chief administrative officer, con-
schedule. project once the track diversion struction, Southern Railway, Pa-
Addressing the media at work gets completed between dmanabhan Ananth, divisional
Rameswaram, he said that a ten- Valantharavai and Uchipuli as railway manager, Madurai, and B.
der has been awarded for requested by the Indian Navy. Kamalakara Reddy, chief project
Rameswaram station redevelop- He inspected the existing iconic manager, Rail Vikas Nigam
ment and that the work would Pamban Bridge and took stock of Limited accompanied the general
commence in two months. The the safety and maintenance manager.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI
pg 4

SHORT
Maha may bring law
TAKES
against ‘love jihad’
Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy
chief minister Devendra
Fadnavis on Friday said the
state was considering a law
against “love jihad”. “We
have not taken any decision
yet, but we will study the
laws made by different
states in this regard,” he said
on Friday. His statement
came after a meeting with
the father of Shraddha
Walkar, who was killed by
her boyfriend Aaftab Amin
Poonawala and hacked into
pieces in Delhi. “We are
looking at what are the laws
regarding this in other
states. Based on that we will
decide further,” Fadnavis,
who heads the state’s home
department, said. Vikas
Walkar, the father of
Shraddha Walkar, slammed
the police for inaction after
meeting Fadnavis. If the
Vasai and Nala Sopara police
(in Palghar district) had
taken timely action in the
matter, his daughter could
have been saved from the
macabre death, he said.
Analyse pvt data before referring to PM chairs meeting
them while raising issues: V-P to MPs of govs, CMs, LGs
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
Rajya Sabha chairman
Jagdeep Dhankhar on
Friday urged members of
the House to analyse pri-
vate studies or data
before referring to them
while raising any issue,
saying such studies can
be based on inadequate
data or dictated by inter-
ests of others.
Mr Dhankhar made this
remark during “Question
Hour” when minister of
commerce & industry,
consumer affairs, food &
public distribution
Piyush Goyal was reply-
ing to a supplementary
query on India’s 107th
ranking in the Global
Hunger Index 2022.
Raising the issue,
Kerala Congress(M)
member Jose K. Mani
said India’s rank was 107
among 121 countries.
Pvt member’s
bill on UCC
moved in RS
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
A private member’s Bill
that seeks to provide for a
panel to prepare a uni-
form civil code saw stiff
opposition from mem-
bers of the Opposition
parties in Rajya Sabha
during the introduction
stage.
The Uniform Civil Code
in India Bill, 2020, was
BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad with LJP (Ram Vilas) MP introduced in the Upper
Chirag Paswan and TMC MPs Mimi Chakraborty and House by BJP member
Derek O’Brien at Parliament House complex in New Kirodi Lal Meena.
Delhi on Friday. — PTI The UCC is one of the
core poll promises of the
ten that not a single death BJP since long.
occurred due to starva-
tion during the last two
4 bills in LS seek revision The Bill seeks for the
constitution of the
on G-20 presidency
Modi says it is a unique opportunity
for country to showcase its strengths
New Delhi, Dec. 9: Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
chaired a virtual meeting of
governors, chief ministers
and lieutenant governors
on Friday to discuss issues
related to India’s G-20 presi-
dency, and said it is a
unique opportunity for the
country to showcase its
strengths.
During the meeting, the
prime minister emphasised
the importance of team- Narendra Modi
work and sought the coop-
eration of states and Union tenant governors shared
Territories in the organisa- their thoughts during the
tion of various G-20 events, meeting, emphasising the
the Prime Minister's Office preparations being done by
(PMO) said in a statement. the states and UTs to suit-
The Prime Minister point- ably host G-20 meetings, the
ed out that the G-20 presi- statement said.
dency would help showcase
parts of India beyond the
The meeting was also
addressed by External

Kolhapur, Belagavi
Neighbouring countries
such as Nepal, Pakistan
and Sri Lanka are ahead
years," the minister said.
He said that the hunger
index is a “private index”
of ST lists in four states national inspection and
investigation committee
for preparation of a UCC
conventional big metros,
thus bringing out the
uniqueness of each part of
Affairs Minister
Jaishankar and a presenta-
tion was made by India's G-
S

bus services restarts of India in the index and

Mumbai: The Maharashtra
State Road Transport
Corporation (MSRTC) on
Friday partially resumed bus
services to Karnataka from
Kolhapur in southern
Maharashtra after consulting
local police authorities, an
official said here. The state-
owned public transport body
had suspended 382 out of
1,156 services to Karnataka,
mainly between Kolhapur
and Belagavi via Nipani,
after protests erupted over
the border row between the
two states. Some MSRTC
buses were defaced in
Karnataka. Buses from
Karnataka were similarly tar-
geted in Maharashtra. The
MSRTC spokesperson said
only Afghanistan is
behind, he noted.
Though the government
has continuously ques-
tioned the methodology
used in the index, the
prevalence of hunger and
poverty in the country is
well seen, Mr Mani said.
"Has the government
found out the reason
behind this mismatch?"
he asked.
Replying on the hunger
index, Mr Goyal noted
that the name itself was a
misnomer and under the
Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Ann Yojana
(PMGKAY), the govern-
ment provided 5 kg
grains over and above the
National Food Security
made by some private
non-government organi-
sations based on a subject
not related to hunger. So
they first have to decide
what the nomenclature
should be, Mr Goyal said.
"The statistics are
drawn out of data which
is unverified and also on
measurements we don't
relate to India. I think we
must recognise what is
official and validated and
what is mere propagan-
da," the minister stated.
Mr Dhankhar stated:
“In our country, iconic
status is granted to
parameters which are
often baffling...Don't have
any rationale. This
august House is a reposi-
tory of the wisdom of
FROM PG 1
Tamil Nadu. Similarly,
the Constitution
(Scheduled Tribes) Order
(Third Amendment) Bill
aims to provide for inclu-
sion of certain communi-
ties in the list of
Scheduled Tribes in
Himachal Pradesh. Bills
much conviction unless
the honourable member
or minister premises
them on our own record.
Let's believe in our
worth.”
He said it will be very
difficult and inappropri-
ate to surrender our
assessments, achieve-
ments to be assessed by
those who have either
were also introduced to
modify the list of
Scheduled Tribes in
Karnataka and
Chhattisgarh.
From time to time, the
government brings such
bills to give effect to mod-
ifications proposed by
various states in relation
to the ST list.
said. We must analyse the
calibration....We should
not be captive,” Mr
Dhankhar adding, “Our
country cannot be
allowed to be hurt by cali-
bration from outside on
premises which we don't
believe in. That doesn't
mean that the calibration
outside does not have
credibility. We have to get
and its implementation
throughout India and for
matters connected there-
with during the private
member’s business.
With the Opposition
seeking withdrawal of
the Bill, RS Chairman
Jagdeep Dhankhar called
for division and the
motion for introduction
of the Bill was passed
with 63 votes in favour
and 23 against it.
Opposition members
from the Congress, CPI,
CPI(M), Trinamul
Congress protested
against the introduction
of the Bill, saying it will
“destroy” the social fab-
ric and unity in diversity
that is prevalent in the
country.
the country.
Highlighting the large
number of visitors who
would be coming to India
during its G-20 presidency
and the international
media focus on various
events, Prime Minister
Modi underlined the impor-
tance of states and UTs util-
ising this opportunity to re-
brand themselves as attrac-
tive business, investment
and tourism destinations,
according to the statement.
He also reiterated the
need to ensure people's par-
ticipation in the G-20 events
by a “whole-of-government
and a whole-of-society
approach”.
A number of governors,
chief ministers and lieu-
20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant.
Earlier this week, Prime
Minister Modi had told an
all-party meeting that
India's G-20 presidency is a
unique opportunity to
showcase the country's
strengths to the entire
world.
India officially assumed
the G-20 presidency on
December 1.
The country is expected to
host over 200 preparatory
meetings across the coun-
try beginning this month.
The next G-20 Leaders'
Summit at the level of
heads of states or govern-
ments is scheduled to be
held on September 9 and 10
next year in New Delhi.
— PTI

that normal services Act limit. “We have in a
between Kolhapur and
Belagavi via Nipani restarted
from Friday afternoon.
way eliminated hunger or
starvation from the coun-
try. Every state has writ-
— PTI
over 1.3 billion people.
Therefore, when we raise
an issue in the House
they should not carry
inadequate data or whose
actions are dictated by
their interests, not ours.
“Try to digest what I have
Govt avoiding
into those areas.”
Aam Aadmi Party law-
maker MP Sanjay Singh
asked about the Central debate on LAC
I am fond of food: Gadkari
New Delhi, Dec. 9: Union “Khane ki neeyat mein

Kharge, PM greet issue: Congress minister Nitin Gadkari on kami nahin aayi hae, par

Sonia on her b’day

New Delhi: Prime Minister
Narendra Modi greeted for-
mer Congress president
Sonia Gandhi on her 76th
birthday. In a tweet, Mr Modi
said, “Birthday greetings to
Smt Sonia Gandhiji. Praying
for her long and healthy
life.” The former Congress
president is in Rajasthan’s
Ranthambore on her birth-
day and is spending time
with her children Rahul and
Priyanka. Several Congress
leaders greeted former party
chief on her birthday In a
tweet, AICC president
Mallikarjun Kharge
said, “Extending my warm
birthday greetings to CPP
Chairperson, Smt. Sonia
Gandhi ji. Her grace, dedica-
tion, indomitable spirit and
dignity in the wake of adver-
sity has inspired millions. I
wish her a long and healthy
life”.
PEOPLE SPENDING
Over 50 pvt member bills moved in LS
FROM PG 1
To be followed by the
National Judicial
Commission for recom-
mending people for
appointment as the Chief
Justice of India and other
judges of the Supreme
Court, as well as chief
justices and other judges
of high courts.
The bill, if approved,
will also regulate the
transfers of judges. It will
lay down judicial stan-
dards, provide for the
accountability of judges
JD-U’s defeat in Kurhani
raises political pitch in Bihar
May impact Kumar’s national ambition, feel experts
NAYYAR AZAD
PATNA, DEC. 9
and establish a credible
and expedient mecha-
nism for investigating
into individual com-
plaints for misbehaviour
or incapacity of a judge
of the apex court or of a
high court and regulate
the procedure for such an
investigation.
The bill also proposes
for the presentation of an
address by Parliament to
the President in relation
to a proceeding for the
removal of a judge and
for matters connected
therewith or incidental
of major change in
Bihar", Mr Modi added.
grand alliance feel that
thereto.
While opposing the bill,
AAP MP Raghav Chadha
said that the concept of
NJAC has come under
consideration by the
Supreme Court three
times -- in 1993, 1998 and
2016. "All three times,
while giving importance
to the independence of
the judiciary, the
Supreme Court dismissed
the framework of the
NJAC. I have stood to
oppose the NJAC, which
my honourable colleague
has introduced," Mr
However, few in the
Chadha said.
“We are attempting to
do a constitutional
impossibility. I think the
system of judges'
appointments and the col-
legium system is working
very well,” said Mr
Chadha, adding, “There
can be scope for improve-
ment in it, which can be
done through conversa-
tion with the judiciary.
We should not give any
handle to the Central gov-
ernment so that they
enter into the appoint-
ment of judges.”
Raman warns
of fresh ED
raids in C’garh
DC CORRESPONDENT
RAIPUR, DEC. 9
Former chief minister
Raman Singh said that
New Delhi, Dec. 9: The
Congress on Friday
accused the government
of "running away" from a
debate on the border situ-
ation with China and
asserted that it would
continue to exert pres-
sure for a discussion on
the crucial issue in
Parliament. Congress
leader Jairam Ramesh
said at Wednesday's
meeting of the Leaders of
Opposition parties the
issue of Line of Actual
Control (LAC) was top
most among those short-
listed to be raised during
Winter Session. — PTI
Mumbai HC allows felling
of 22K trees for bullet train
DC CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI, DEC. 9
The Bombay high court on
Friday allowed felling of
Friday said he is an avid
foodie and the first serious
thought that comes to his
mind in the evenings is
where and what to eat. The
road transport and high-
ways minister further said
there has not been any
reduction in his intention of
having food but the quantity
of his consumption has
reduced.
“I am fond of food. The
first thing I think seriously
after 7 o’clock in the evening
is to eat in which hotel and
what food to eat,” the minis-
ter told a TV news channel.
Mr Gadkari added that he
is a vegetarian and has gone
to many hotels.
be sought from the high
court each time an authori-
ty wishes to fell mangroves
for any public project.
While allowing the
khane mein aayi hae (there
has been no reduction in the
intention to eat, though the
food intake has reduced),"
the minister added.
The minister also advised
people to think about their
health first, “as health is
wealth.”
Mr Gadkari further said if
Tesla founder Elon Musk
wants to manufacture in
India, then he is welcome.
“If the manufacturing
happens in China than in
India, they will not get con-
cession for marketing. If
they do manufacturing in
India, in any state, then
they will be benefited,” the
minister stressed. — PTI
Assessment report for
felling trees has not been
provided.

A LOT ON ARMS
WRONG: DALAI
Dharamsala: People are
spending a lot of money on
weapons which is “totally
wrong”, Tibetan spiritual
leader Dalai Lama said on
Friday as he underlined the
need for creating a peaceful
world. Genuine compassion
is the best
weapon to
defend one-
self, he said at
the inaugural
session of a
two-day con-
ference, “SEE
Learning: A
Worldwide
Initiative for
Educating the Heart and
Mind”, here. The Dalai Lama
Trust and the Centre for
Contemplative Science and
Compassion-Based Ethics at
The JD(U)'s defeat in the
Kurhani byelection has
raised the political pitch
in Bihar.
While the RJD on
Thursday termed the
results as "unexpected",
the Opposition BJP took
a dig at Nitish Kumar
and said that the people
rejected his decision to
realign with the grand
alliance. "The result
shows that Nitish Kumar
has lost his mass base in
Bihar. He should hand
over the power to
Tejashwi Yadav and
move to an ashram," BJP
Rajya Sabha MP Sushil
Kumar Modi tweeted.
"In Gopalganj and
Kurhani the BJP proved
itself to be modern
Abhimanyu by breaking
the cycle of seven par-
ties. This is a clear sign
BJP's Kedar Gupta got
76,648 votes while JD(U)
candidate Manoj Singh
Kushwaha
73,016 votes.
secured
The margin of victory
was 3,632 votes but Mr
Kushwaha's defeat in
Kurhani is being seen as
a major setback for
Nitish and his party
which had snapped ties
with the BJP in August
and formed a govern-
ment with the support of
RJD, Congress and six
other Opposition parties.
According to political
experts, the Kurhani
defeat may also negative-
ly impact Kumar's
national ambition. After
returning to the grand
alliance fold, Mr. Kumar
has been making efforts
to unite opposition par-
ties ahead of the 2024
Lok Sabha polls.
the JD(U) made mistake
in selecting candidates
in Kurhani. The grand
alliance insiders also
hinted that there was
resentment at the local
level after the party
announced Manoj Singh
Kushwaha as its candi-
date. "There was some
resentment at the local
level after the name of
Mr. Kushwaha was
announced for the seat.
The JD(U) should have
analyzed the local sce-
nario before taking any
decisions," a grand
alliance insider said.
Talking to reporters in
Patna, the RJD
spokesperson Shakti
Yadav reacted strongly
and said that, "the party
will soon call a review
meeting to analyse fac-
tors behind the JD(U)'s
defeat in Kurhani".
more influential persons
involved in corrupt prac-
tices in Chhattisgarh
would face action by the
Enforcement Directorate
(ED) in coming days.
Mr Singh said more
and more skeletons were
tumbling out of the cup-
boards of some officers
and people close to power
with the progress of a
probe by ED into corrup-
tion at high places. He
was referring to arrests
of Somya Chaurasia,
deputy secretary to CM
Bhupesh Baghel, IAS
officer Sameer Vishnoi
and three other business-
men by ED recently in a
money laundering case.
“This is only the begin-
ning. ED sleuths are in
Chhattisgarh now. You
may see more raids by
ED in coming days,” he
said.
over 20,000 mangrove trees NHSRCL to cut mangrove
in the Mumbai suburban trees, the high court said
region and districts of that agency will will have
Palghar and Thane of
Maharashtra to enable the
to comply with the terms
and conditions set out in
construction of the the approvals granted by
Mumbai-Ahmedabad High the ministry of environ-
Speed Rail Corridor known ment, forest and climate
as the Bullet train project. change and the
A division bench of Chief Maharashtra Coastal
Justice Dipankar Datta and Zone Management
Justice Abhay Ahuja Authority (MCZMA).
allowed the plea filed by the The plea was opposed by
National High Speed Rail the Bombay
Corporation (NHSRCL) Environmental Action
seeking permission to cut Group, an NGO, on the
the mangrove trees. ground that no study was
As per a 2018 order of the undertaken about the sur-
high court, there is a “total vival rate of saplings to be
freeze” on the destruction planted as a compensatory
of mangroves across the measure and the
state and permission has to Environmental Impact

Kerala gov backs Uniform Civil Code

Emory University are jointly
hosting the conference.
“People are spending a lot
of money on weapons...
(and) this is totally wrong.
We have to think about cre-
ating a peaceful world, a
compassionate world,” the
Dalai Lama told the gather-
ing. “Genuine compassion is
the best weapon to defend
yourself... Everybody talks
about world peace but world
peace does not come from
the sky,” he said. Genuine
compassion is the basis of
world peace, family peace
and community peace, he
added. The inaugural session
of the conference coincided
with the 33rd
anniversary of the confer-
ment of the Nobel Peace
Prize on the Dalai
Lama. — PTI
New Delhi, Dec. 9:
Kerala governor Arif
Mohammad Khan on
Friday supported bring-
ing a Uniform Civil Code,
and said anyone who has
sworn to the constitution
will never oppose it.
Asked about his opin-
ion on the Uniform Civil
Code, he said, “Anyone
who has sworn to the
Constitution will not say
that it should not come.”
“The Hindu code is
already there, did it bring
uniformity in Hindus,
Sikhs and Jains? We are a
country of diversity,"
Khan said at the Agenda
Aaj Tak programme.
“Uniform civil code is
not about marriages or
customs... It is about
equal justice.”
“There are cases where
people have converted to
have two wives. I will not
name anyone,” he said.
On the recent contro-
versy around hijab, he
said, "Who is stopping
from wearing a burqa.
This is a free nation. But
institutions also have the
right to have their dress
code.
"There are institutions
that allow hijab, one can
go there," he said.
Commenting on the
Shah Bano case, Khan,
Arif Mohammad Khan
who quit the Congress in
1986 because of his differ-
ences with the leadership
over its handling of the
issue, said he stands by
his views.
"I had said that making
a law is not a big deal, law
can be changed by
Parliament in the
future... but the people
who speak against the
country, people who sup-
port violence, bowing to
them was a crime against
the nation according to
me," he said.
"Before 1947, they said
there are two nations, in
1986 the successors of
that line of thought said
we have separate identity.
My stand was against
that separate identity."
“I still stand by it.
There is no change in my
thoughts,” he added.
— PTI
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONCILE | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI
■ Says Vasai police didn’t act on Shraddha’s complaint
Aaftab should be hanged for
Shraddha killing, says father
Mumbai, Dec. 9: Vikas
Walkar, father
Shraddha Walkar who
was murdered allegedly
of
by her live-in partner
Aaftab Poonawala in
Delhi, on Friday demand-
ed that the accused be
hanged to death for “bru-
tally killing” his daugh-
ter. Blaming the Vasai
police in Maharashtra, he
said his daughter would
have been alive had they
acted on her complaint
against Poonawala in
2020. He also demanded
that an inquiry be con-
ducted against the family
members of the accused
and they be given
strictest possible punish-
ment.
Poonawala allegedly
strangled Shraddha and
cut her body into 35
pieces which he kept in a
300-litre fridge for almost
three weeks at his resi-
dence in Mehrauli in
south Delhi in May this
year, before dumping
them across the city over
several days. He was
arrested in Delhi in
November.
“Aaftab Poonawala
killed my daughter bru-
tally, he should get a strict
punishment. He should
be hanged to death for
killing my
daughter...There should
be a stern action against
whosoever is involved in
the case,” Walkar told
reporters here after meet-
ing Maharashtra deputy
chief minister Devendra
Fadnavis along with
Bharatiya Janata Party
leader Kirit Somaiya.
He was addressing a
press conference for the
first time after his daugh-
ter’s sensational murder
came to light in
November.
“There should be an
inquiry against
Poonawala’s family mem-
bers, including his par-
ents and brother, and
pg 5
Jolt to Cong: Delhi V-P, 2 new councillors join AAP
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
not apply to the MCD polls. Mr
Mehdi said he decided to join
AAP as he wants development MCD mayor to be
The Congress’ Delhi unit vice- in his area.
from AAP: Gupta
president, Ali Mehdi, and its “We have decided to join the
two newly elected councillors AAP after seeing the develop-
joined the AAP on Friday, days ment work done by Kejriwal.
after the MCD polls. We want development in our
Two of the councillors are area. Under the leadership of DC CORRESPONDENT
Poonawala’s custody Sabila Begum and Nazia
Khatoon. At a press confer-
ence, AAP leader Durgesh
Pathak said they decided to
Kejriwal, the AAP party is
working hard to develop the
national capital,” Mr Mehdi
said. Reacting to it, Delhi BJP
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
The MCD mayor will be
from the AAP and the
extended by 14 days join the party after seeing the
work done by Delhi chief min-
ister Arvind Kejriwal.
spokesperson Praveen
Shankar Kapoor said, “The
people of Delhi are today
BJP will play the role of a
“strong opposition”, the
party’s Delhi president
DC CORRESPONDENT in the case on November “We have invited the BJP and amazed to see that the AAP Adesh Gupta said on
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9 26, the court had extend- Congress to work for the bet- leaders, who till yesterday Friday.
ed the judicial custody of terment of Delhi. I am very were expressing fear of The BJP will also resist
A Delhi court on Friday the accused by 13 days. happy to announce that Delhi Operation Lotus, have today the AAP if it indulges in
Aaftab Poonawala Meanwhile Shraddha Congress vice-president Ali themselves started Operation Adesh Gupta
extended by 14 days the any “corruption”, he
judicial custody of Walkar’s father demand- Mehdi and the party’s two Loot of the already looti pitti said. said during a press con-
they should be given Aaftab Amin Poonawala, ed death penalty for newly elected councillors, Congress.” It is regrettable Mr Gupta’s statement ference while thanking
maximum punishment. who allegedly strangled Aaftab. Sabila Begum and Nazia that those who are themselves comes amid speculation BJP leaders and activists
Whoever is involved in his live-in partner Vikas Walkar on Khatoon, are joining AAP,” Mr indulging in political loot cast that the BJP will contest for helping the party win
this conspiracy of Shraddha Walkar and Friday demanded that Pathak said. allegations on BJP.” the mayoral polls in the 104 wards in the civic
killing, should also be chopped her body into the accused be hanged Sabila Begum won from ward The AAP on Wednesday newly elected MCD. elections. In the last cor-
punished,” he said. pieces, a source said. for killing his daughter. number 243, Mustafabad, and wrested power from the BJP in “We will play the role of poration elections we got
“Due to the death of my Poonawala was pro- The Delhi Police has Nazia Khatoon won from ward the high-stakes civic polls in a strong opposition in the 36.08 percent votes,
daughter, my family duced before the court been working to gather number 245, Brij Puri. The the national capital. The MCD to save Delhi from whereas this time our
members and I are sad through videoconferenc- circumstantial evidence Congress managed to win nine Arvind Kejriwal-led party the AAP, which has vote percentage has
and cannot forget the ing, the court source to firm up the case in seats in the recent MCD polls. bagged 134 of the 250 wards become synonymous increased to 39.09 per-
incident. Due to stress, I said. In the last hearing court. The anti-defection law does while the BJP won 104. with corruption,” Gupta cent.
am also feeling unwell.
Whatever happened to
her is very saddening and
should not be happen
with anybody else,” he
said.
Walkar said Delhi and
Vasai police were con-
ducting a joint probe into
the case, which was now
going on properly.
“But I was annoyed by
the non-cooperation of
Tulinj and Manikpu
police in Vasai (town in
Palghar district)...Had
they acted swiftly, my
daughter would have
been alive now or there
would have been much
help in collecting evi-
dence,” he added.
He said he has full faith
in law and judiciary.
Walkar said his daugh-
ter and Poonawala first
met on a dating app.
“Due to some mobile
apps, people are facing
problems and there
should be some control
on it. There should be a
rethink or a debate on the
freedom that a person
enjoys after completing
18 years of age. They
should be counselled and
there should be control
on them,” he said. — PTI
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI
pg 6

Subhani

10 DECEMBER 2022

Useful lessons for Opp.

in Gujarat, HP verdicts
T
he Opposition parties looking for clues in the Gujarat and
Himachal Pradesh Assembly and Delhi municipal corporation
elections on how to take on the BJP at the hustings do not have to
look far. There are a plethora of lessons in the results that are tan-
talisingly simple to identify, if excruciatingly difficult to put into practice.
It is not that the BJP government in Gujarat had solved all the problems
of the state and neither was it that the party’s government in Himachal
Pradesh was a total failure when it came to this task for the two states to
give such divergent verdicts. In fact, in terms of the sustainable develop-
ment goals index of the Niti Aayog, Himachal Pradesh counts among the
top performers in India along with Kerala and Tamil Nadu whereas
Gujarat ranks much below several others. It is definitely incorrect to
assume that the BJP faced no governance issues in Gujarat, but the fact is
that it won even the Morbi seat where 140 people were killed when a hang-
ing bridge gave in hardly one month ahead of the polls.
The BJP knows its narrative and also knows how to sell it. Its prime cam-
paigner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is per-
haps one of the best communicators Indian pol-

No one can really bajaao LETTERS

The AAP won the itics has ever had; its cadre is focused on the
Delhi election by ground 24-by-7 and its IT cell is armoured to the
proving certain hilt. And it never fights shy of what it does — be
simple points in it pushing an aggressive Hindutva agenda or HISTORIC WIN FOR BJP
displaying demonstrative nationalism or sell-
administration — ing the low hanging fruit the Modi-led govern-

Ronaldo’s band in Qatar

that it pays to ment has been plucking while in power all these The historic win for
place increased years. The party is also careful as to which BJP in Gujarat again
focus on weapon to use against adversaries. Dynastic
politics and carefully selected lapses in gover- shows that the Modi
education, health, nance after Independence are hard for them to
shelter and deflect. towards the rivals who
juggernaut is so pow-
Goncalo Ramos has
drinking water The BJP, however, has demonstrated its big boots to fill if
lost. Come on — what’s a erful as to make this
underbelly — when challenged by a focused victory without “josh’’,
adversary on performance. The AAP won the Fernando Santos has especially at such an exhil- landslide possible.
Delhi election by proving certain simple points in administration — that his way and props up arating moment — Arre O Congress got the
it pays to place increased focus on education, health, shelter and drinking Ramos at the expense Samba? Bring it on!
mandate in Himachal,
water. It frustrated the BJP’s attempt to portray it as a party of the corrupt Since we are talking
of Ronaldo. Mr
even after several of its leaders were slapped with corruption charges. It
took a leaf out of the BJP’s book and made an asset of the videos of its
Shobhaa’s Take Avocado Head’s hat
about kicks and balls and
derrieres, the story of the
but it has been
leader in jail; it harped on how the BJP was out to hunt its leaders down. trick has catapulted nightmarish experience of achieved with a slen-
The people appear to have trusted them, given the party’s track record the youngster and the “Korean Girl” (as the der margin of votes.

T
when it comes to attending to people’s problems. here are only a
It is now widely acknowledged that the local Congress unit used lapses in few things more
governance to bring down the Himachal Pradesh government. Issues of painful than the
everyday concern, starting from price rise to pension and jobs in the possibility of a
defence services, were the themes of the elections and not the national Brazilian loss at
agenda. It successfully neutralised the Prime Minister’s oft-repeated and the FIFA World Cup 2022
successful formula of the “double engine” growth wagon by pointing out final in Qatar on December
that the BJP’s state government was not up to the mark. 18 — and that’s a Brazilian
A united Opposition and a narrative that can stand on its own without wax. For non-initiates, a
overlapping with that of the BJP — Modi, Hindutva and nationalism — Brazilian wax involves a
could be a formidable combination. firm, well-calibrated tug of
a strip of hot wax, carefully
positioned along the
crotch, to remove unsight-
ly fuzz from straying out of
Promising signs in economy a skimpy bikini bottom
and ruining the picture.
This tricky vanity proce-
T
he RBI governor Shaktikanta Das-led Monetary Policy Committee dure involves excruciating
(MPC) hiked the repo rate by 35 basis points to 6.25 per cent — the pain, which countless fash-
fifth straight increase in the current cycle since May 2022 — as it ion forward women
seeks to fight global uncertainty and uncomfortable levels of inflation. The endure for reasons best
RBI governor’s post-policy meeting comments hint that the central gov- known to them.
ernment remains focused on inflation, and that it would withdraw the Remember… salons are
monetary accommodation while ensuring adequate liquidity to support gender neutral — there is
growth. The central bank’s decision to lower its forecast for the country’s also a version called the
economic growth from seven per cent to 6.8 per cent, citing global head- Brazilian man-wax, which
winds, shows that all is not well yet. follows the same aesthetic
There are a lot of issues that threaten global stability and, by extension, and is preferred by
the economic growth — the end of the Russia-Ukraine conflict does not thong/monokini-wearing
seem to be closer yet, China agreed to relax Covid curbs but its effect on men strutting their stuff
population in the coming days is still unknown, Saudi Arabia is showing on, say, the famous
signs of warming up to China and if Riyadh leaves the Western block, it Copacabana beach in Rio,
will threaten the dominance of the oil-backed US dollar. where less and lesser has
Apart from these issues, the US economy has begun to show signs of eco- always been the norm.
nomic recession. Washington could marshal all instruments to deal with Not being a football
the recession, which include stimulus or lowering loan rates — both
moves will set off a flood of easy money into India.
fanatic comes with its own
challenges — one is left out
On the domestic front, India appears to be well placed on industry and of most conversations, and
inflation. In a good sign, government expenditure in the second quarter any attempt to divert atten-
remained lower. Similarly, the private consumption and Gross Fixed tion to, say, Arvind
Capital Formation have increased giving hope of a quick exit from the eco- Kejriwal’s big triumph, is
nomic downturn. treated with disdain and
withering looks. How can
Kejriwal with all his sub-
DECCAN CHRONICLE dued sex-appeal (it exists!)
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR possibly compete with
Editor Printer & Publisher Messi? Who cares about
R. MOHAN conflicts in the Middle East
Resident Editor when the Arab world is cel-
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at:
Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254747, ebrating Morocco’s stu-
22254748 pendous football feat of
Coimbatore: No. 2/22 Sengalipalayam Road, N.G.G.O. Colony Post, Kurudampalayam Village, advancing to the quarter-
Coimbatore-641022. Phone: (0422) 2231255, 2231256 finals? Will Portugal wipe
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad 500 003. Phone: (040) 27803930-4. Fax: (040)
27805256. the floor with the newbies
Visakhapatnam: Survey No. 1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, from North Africa? What
Visakhapatnam - 530 017. Phones: (0891) 2552333/2552334, Fax (0891) 2755285 about Superstar Ronaldo
Vijayawada: No. C 3 & 4, Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.). Phones: (0866) and his sulks? Is it fair to
2555284/ 2555287, Fax (0866) 2555234
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry 533125. Phones: (0883) 2417208, 2417618 raise a question like…
Anantapur: Thapovan Colony, Bangalore Bye-Pass Road, Anantapur 515004. Phones: (08554) 276903, “Does Portugal need
Fax: 08554-276904 Ronaldo anymore?” Ask
Nellore: Survey No. 527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemudugunta Panchayat, Nellore. the people like me — those
Phone: (0861) 2348581/ 82, Telefax (0861) 2348580
Karimnagar: H .No. 1-21-12/1, Cheralabhutkur Road, Mugudhumpur Village, Karim Nagar - 505186 who know nothing about
Phone : 9121181123 football — the answer is
YES! Portugal and
Ronaldo. Ronaldo and
Portugal. Ronaldo is not
just another player — he is
a planet, a galaxy, a solar
system. Who the hell is
Santos? Heard of him? He’s
a tired 68-year-old former
player who played as a
defender and is the manag-
er of Portugal’s national
team. It is said poor Santos
is trying to free himself
from Ronaldo’s “tactical
and psychological slav-
ery”, which is apparently
generated by the star foot-
baller’s mere presence in
the team. Such insecurity!
Baap re… Benching and
humiliating an iconic play-
er is called bad strategy
and worse politics. We
shall know soon enough if
it’s a move that worked or
backfired. Goncalo Ramos
has big boots to fill if
Fernando Santos has his
way and props up Ramos
at the expense of Ronaldo.
Mr Avocado Head’s hat
trick has catapulted the
youngster and made him
an international star. But
Ronaldo is Ronaldo… His
aura and charisma will
continue to bewitch fans
across the world — Santos
or no Santos.
So glad to read Ronaldo’s
girlfriend’s tweet after the
benching fiasco. Wrote the
spirited and loyal Geor-
gina Rodriguez: “Congrat-
ulations Portugal. While
the eleven players sang the
national anthem all the
cameras were on you
(Ronaldo). What a shame
we were not able to enjoy
the best player in the world
for 90 minutes. The crowd
didn’t stop calling for you
and calling your name…”
This is star power! A five-
time Ballon d’Or winner!
Nobody can take away
Ronaldo’s glorious career
and incredible achieve-
ments. Certainly not a
petty person like Fernando
Santos.
“The Qatar Experience”
has been unique and
made him a star. But
Ronaldo is Ronaldo…
quirky on several fronts. If
the world’s most watched
sport does not generate
shock and awe, controver-
sy and scandal… it’s a total
let-down for avid fans who
thrive on every tiny foot-
ball morsel thrown their
way. Fireworks and foot-
ball go hand in hand. We
had attended the semi-
finals (Croatia-England) of
the last FIFA World Cup
(2018) in Moscow and the
experience remains indeli-
ble — I was cheering for
the Croatians (better look-
ing), and “my” team won.
Funny how proprietorial
fans get about their
favourite teams. France
had taken the Cup home in
2018. This year the French
said “áu revoir” at an early
stage after losing to
Tunisia. That is the real
fun of watching competi-
tive sports — the dynamics
change and evolve with
each major championship.
Those who greedily con-
sume statistics are exult-
ing in the current numbers
thrown up — so far, 82 out
of 84 semi-finalists have
been European or South
American. Except for the
United States in 1930 and
South Korea in 2002. The
scene is dramatically dif-
ferent today. To quote
Senegal coach Aliou Cisse:
“It’s not like 30 years ago
when the big fish were
completely eating the little
fish alive…” That’s some-
thing to celebrate, surely?
Oh… and about all those
idiots who criticised the
Brazilian team for dancing
the samba after thrashing
South Korea, come on you
tight- derrieres — if
Neymar and his boys don’t
show off their nifty samba
moves after a 4-1 win, it
would be out of sync with
team spirit and national
pride. Silly to berate them
for displaying disrespect
popular 25-year-old video
blogger named Hyojeong
Park is referred to) made
headlines for several rea-
sons. The molestation she
suffered when two men
(Mobin Chand Mohammed
Shaikh and Mohammed
Nakib Saddrealam Ansir)
physically and verbally
harassed her while she
was live streaming from
Bandra in Mumbai was
witnessed around the
world! This could be a first
of sorts — a shocking clip
that shows two men on a
scooter, one of whom tries
to kiss, despite her
protests. All this was cap-
tured live on camera,
while Hyojeong’s horrified
followers watched the
nightmare unfolding.
Luckily for her, one of the
viewers happened to be
close to the spot and
rushed to her rescue. The
police nabbed the louts
promptly and placed them
in judicial custody.
Strangely, they have been
released on bail on a surety
bond of `15,000 each. Even
more strangely, back in
her own country,
Hyojeong has been criti-
cised “for asking for it” —
much as we desis would do
if an Indian woman suf-
fered the same conse-
quences in Seoul. It is to
Hyojeong’s credit that she
decided to continue with
her podcasts and insisted
that the nasty experience
had not changed the way
she felt about India,
Indians and Mumbai. My
guess is she will be offered
a showbiz platform consid-
ering that she is already a
mini-celebrity, with fans
heaping high praise on her
handling of a potentially
life-threatening crisis. But
hello! Itni jaldi for bail?
It’s back to football fever,
folks. My money is on
England.
Instagram handle
@ShobhaaDe; Twitter
handle @DeShobhaa
Rahuls 'walking mis-
sion' helped some-
what and not in
Gujarat where it has
lost a major chunk of
seats. AAP is making
inroads in Gujarat but
the Gujarat verdict
cannot be taken as
sign of victory in
2024 Parliamentary
polls. Overcoming
strong regional par-
ties is not an easy nut
to crack. Issues like
unemployment, infla-
tion and farmer dis-
satisfaction are to be
sorted out..
N.R.Nagarajan
Sivakasi
HIMALAYAN VICTORY
This has reference to your editorial
on “Himalayan win for Congress”
(Dec, 9). No doubt the Congress vic-
tory now when the party stands
drubbed in other states is a solace for
its leaders. The grand old party has
made it only on three promises it
made to the people. They are restor-
ing the old pension scheme for the
government employees, 300 units of
free power to every household and
providing a monthly dole of Rs 1,500
to women. A huge amount of money
is required to translate these three
promises into reality. Already the
state is reeling under debt. It is a
small state with over 75 lakhs of pop-
ulation of which three lakh are gov-
ernment employees. The two nation-
al parties have been ruling the state
in rotation for over three decades.
The Congress should end the ‘revadi’
culture and turn to good governance
to gain people’s confidence.
N. R. Ramachandran
Ooty

“O Bachchoo, can sin be disguised as virtue, ment, their union boss Mick Lynch announced There used to be, according to the carol, 12 Despite this blatantly obvious fact, neither
Farrukh Or virtue wear the purdah of sin?
How do you tell if the lie is not true
a ballot to strike from 6 pm on Christmas Eve
into Boxing Day.
days of celebration. Now Christmas season
“begins” with the installation of trees and
political party or the media platforms, the
newspapers, that support them are willing to
Dhondy And the truth isn’t hidden within?” Howls of anger and derision, not least from
government ministers and MPs, on behalf of
lights and offers of Christmas shopping, weeks
and months before the hallowed days! Of
openly state that Brexit has been an economic
and industrial disaster and is at least if not
Cabbages — From Tales of Andher Nagri, by
Bachchoo
the millions who will have to make alternative
travel plans to join their family or other
course, one must wonder how many days, rid-
ing camels, it took the Zoroastrian Magi to
more than 50 per cent responsible, together
with the Covid-19 pandemic and the Russian
& Kings Christmas celebrations. A gesture that will begin following the star from Persia to sanctions, for the misery which has hit the

C
hristmas is coming but neither the
geese, nor for that matter the turkeys,
are getting fat. They are dying of Covid
— sorry, bird-flu — and millions have
had to be culled because of the danger of infect-
ing humans. The price of the birdy-Christmas-
empty the churches (as if they are not empty
already?). An abomination unto the Lord.
The ambulance workers’ union have said
they will make provision during the strike for
life and death emergencies and the government
has said it will send in soldiers to drive ambu-
Bethlehem.
(Even so, as I have observed before, if the star
rose in the East and they followed it, they
would have landed up in Pakistan. No messi-
ah’s birth there! They would have had to flog
the gold, franky and myrrh in the Lahore
British economy and the body politic.
Even so, prominent Brexiteers, owners of
businesses, are now openly saying that the
shortage of workers and the virtual bureau-
cratic barrier to exporting to Europe are caus-
ing a severe economic crisis. These purveyors

Will a wave of dinner rises with the aviocaust.

The next lines of the verse whose first line’s
words are “Christmas is coming…” are “Please
lances during the strike. With the ambulance
drivers go the paramedics who attend to emer-
gency patients at the spot where they are
bazar!)
The strikers are undoubtedly asking for their
wages to be raised in line with inflation and the
of beer, whisky, garments made in Bangladesh
etc have nothing to lose by voicing these anti-
Brexit analyses. Not so the politicians of both

strikes in UK put a penny in the old man’s hat? If you haven’t

got a penny, a ha’penny will do…” At every
Tube station, on every main street and outside
most supermarkets, the poor man’s/woman’s
picked up. Soldiers won’t be able to fill in for
them.
The government has also announced it will
send in the army to deal with immigration. So
RMT’s action is aimed at resisting threatened
redundancies. But it’s inescapable that the
nurses, junior doctors and ambulance workers
are not motivated to take industrial action
major parties who are absolutely conscious
that Boris Johnson won his 80-seat majority on
slogans like “Take back control”, “Get Brexit
Done” and “Whatever the consequences, keep

take the joy out hat/metal bowl is extended. Bad days.

And more trouble is to come. Nurses, ambu-
lance staff, postal workers, railway workers,
here then is the worldwide opportunity for mis-
creants to flood into the country on forged pass-
ports — mafias around the world please note.
through simple wage demands. The sector of
health they work in is in complete chaos. Some
even call it a “meltdown”. Under the decade
Johnny foreigner OUT!” — okay, the last was-
n’t pronounced but implied.
Now, both parties say they want a “high-wage

of Christmas? immigration officials, college lecturers, junior

doctors, even firemen are threatening strikes
over the festive period.
The latest announcement of industrial action
came from the RMT, the railway workers’
union. They had already announced strike
action paralysing the entire railway network
on three days in mid-December. Then, follow-
ing abortive talks with the railway manage-
I must confess that the strikes won’t affect me
directly. I have planned to get to the Midlands
for some work mid-December, but I can drive
— slowly — on the crowded motorways. No,
even though one may not be personally incon-
venienced, millions are, and a pall of living in a
recalcitrant, crippled dispensation certainly
descends like the winter frost over the ever-
increasing days of Christmas.
and more of the Tory government, and certain-
ly since Brexit, the National Health Service has
faced severe crises. The shortage of doctors,
nurses, ambulance personnel and care workers
is a direct result of Brexit and consequently a
central cause of the strain and stress in the sec-
tor which has triggered the willingness of these
compassionate professionals to take mitigated-
ly drastic industrial action.
economy”. In other words, keep the Polish
plumber who undercuts the demands of British
plumbers out, train more British doctors…
That’s all very well, until one notes that since
the 1950s the white working class have aban-
doned certain sectors of the economy with an
absolute resistance to be recruited into them.
Hence, immigration from the Caribbean and
the subcontinent, hence the shortages now
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI
SHORT
Gangrape accused
TAKES
Andamans ex-CS ill
Port Blair: Former chief sec-
retary of Andaman and
Nicobar Islands Jitendra
Narain, accused of involve-
ment in an alleged gang-
rape case, was admitted at
G.B. Pant Hospital in Port
Blair after he complained of
chest discomfort and fever
on Thursday night. Police
sources said, the doctors at
G.B. Pant examined him
thoroughly and decided to
admit him for few more
health check-ups. Narain was
in Jail custody at Prathrapur
district correctional center
in connection with rape of a
21-year-old woman. On
Thursday, Narain’s bail peti-
tion was heard before the
division bench of justice
Joymalya Bagchi and justice
Siddhartha Roy Chowdhury
in connection with the rape
case. After hearing Narain's
and victim’s Lawyers, the
Calcutta high court placed
the matter before the Circuit
Bench at Port Blair for next
hearing within a week by
December 15. — PTI
Efforts on to save
boy stuck for 75 hrs
Bhopal: The rescue operation
to remove an eight-year-old
boy out of an open borewell in
a village in Betul district in
Madhya Pradesh entered
fourth day on Friday. Eight-
year-old Tanmay Sahu got
stuck at a depth of 45 ft inside
the borewell while playing in
the village of Mandavi at
around five in the afternoon on
December six. Teams of
National Disaster Rapid Force
(NDRF) and State Disaster
Rapid Force (SDRF) launched
a rescue operation around an
hour after the incident.
Rescue team dug 45 ft near
the borewell to create a hori-
zontal tunnel to reach the boy.
“While the team was digging
out a horizontal tunnel a
hard rock came in the way
which was broken with the
help of machines”, Betul
additional district magistrate
Shyamendra Jaiswal said.
165 Covid cases,
2 deaths recorded
New Delhi: India logged 165
new coronavirus infections,
while the active cases fur-
ther declined to 4,345. The
total tally of Covid-19 cases
stands at 4.46 crore
(4,46,73,783). The death toll
has climbed to 5,30,633 with
two reconciled by Kerala and
one death reported from
Delhi in the last 24 hours.
The active cases comprise
0.01 per cent of the total
infections, while the national
Covid-19 recovery rate
increased to 98.80 per cent.
There has been a decrease
of 89 cases recorded in the
active Covid-19 caseload in a
span of 24 hours. The num-
ber of people who have
recuperated from the dis-
ease increased to
4,41,38,805, while the case
fatality rate was recorded at
1.19 per cent.
INDIA WILL BE
ANOTHER POWER,
BUT NO ALLY: US
FROM PG 1
We should look at things that we
can do together, whether it’s in
space, whether it’s education,
whether it’s on climate, whether it’s
on technology, and really move in
that direction,” he said.
“If you look over the last 20 years
and look at the hurdles that have
been surmounted and the depth of
engagement between our two sides,
it’s remarkable,” he said.
India-US relationship, he asserted,
is not simply built on anxiety
around China. “It is a deeper under-
standing of the importance of the
synergies between our societies,”
he said, adding that the Indian dias-
pora here is a powerful connection.
Mr Campbell acknowledged that
Indians were ambivalent when
President Joe Biden and his admin-
istration decided to take the Quad
to the leader level.
India, the US and several other
world powers have been talking
about the need to ensure a free,
open and thriving Indo-Pacific in
the backdrop of China’s rising mili-
tary manoeuvring in the resource-
rich region.
China claims nearly all of the dis-
puted South China Sea, though
Taiwan, the Philippines, Brunei,
Malaysia and Vietnam all claim
parts of it. Beijing has built artifi-
cial islands and military installa-
tions in the South China Sea. China
also has territorial disputes with
Japan in the East China Sea.
“There were probably voices in
their bureaucracy that were against
it. But when President Biden made
the direct appeal repeatedly to
Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi,
they decided that this was in their
interests,” he said.
7 killed, 52 injured in cooking
gas cylinder blast in Jodhpur
Some of the injured sustained 80 to 100 per cent burns, according to officials
Jodhpur, Dec. 9: Toll in
the cylinder explosion
accident during a wedding
function in Bhungra vil-
lage in Shergarh sub-divi-
sionof Jodhpur shot up to
7 on Friday.
A leaking cylinder caused
an explosion and fire in a
house invillage Bhungra in
Shergarh during a wedding
function on Thursday,
injuring 52 persons.
Four more persons,
including 3 women and a
child, succumbed totheir
burn injuries in MG
Hospital's burn ward on
Friday addingto the first 2
casualties. Superintendent
of MG Hospital Raj Shri
Behra said 52 injured had
been taken to the hospital
on Thursday.
“Some of them were in
critical condition. 5 of these
injured have succumbed till
now,” said Behra adding
Odisha CM blames BJP
for atrocious hate drive
AKSHAYA KUMAR
SAHOO
BHUBANESWAR, DEC. 9
Odisha chief minister
Naveen Patnaik on Friday
night blamed the BJP for
indulging in an “atro-
cious hate campaign”
against his party candi-
date Barsha Singh Bariha
during the run-up to the
Padampur Assembly
bypoll. Bariha won the
seat by a margin of 42,679
votes defeating the BJP’s
Pradip Purohit.
Speaking to reporters
after the announcement
of Barsha’s victory, Mr
Patnaik said, “I had to go
to Padampur to stand by
our candidate who was
unceremoniously target-
ed by the rival party lead-
ers during
campaign. They made
the
unsavoury remarks
against her. The voters of
Padampur gave them a
Man fined for blaming
obscene YouTube ads
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
The Supreme Court on
Friday dismissed a plea
seeking `75 lakh compen-
sation from YouTube for
allegedly carrying sexual-
ly explicit advertisements
which distracted the peti-
tioner, Anand Kishore
Choudhary, during the
preparation of Madhya
Pradesh police exam.
Pulling up Mr
Choudhary for filing
“atrocious” petition, a
MLAs leave CM choice to Delhi
FROM PG 1
According to Congress
insiders, if Ms Singh is
made the chief minister,
it will necessitate two
byelections -- first, her
MP seat will get vacant
and second, some MLAs
will have to resign so
that she is elected as a
member of the
WILL HANDLE
INDISCIPLINE, NADDA
CAUTIONS LEADERS
FROM PG 1
The rebel candidates also dam-
aged the party severely in the state.
Nearly 21 BJP rebels contested in
the recently concluded elections
for the 68 Assembly constituencies.
Though only two of them won, the
rebels dented the party's prospects
in almost all the seats they contest-
ed.
Meanwhile, upset over the loss in
the Himachal Pradesh Assembly
elections, the BJP supporters have
begun trolling some influential
state leaders on social media.
Many are complaining about the
factionalism, which they claim
was evident during campaigning,
but the party leadership failed to
take any action to sort it out. Some
are also highlighting the failure of
the leadership to rein in the rebels
and assuage the angst among the
cadre over ticket distribution.
The BJP managed to win 25 out of
68 Assembly seats this time with a
43 per cent vote share. During last
Assembly polls, the saffron party
had bagged 44 seats and 48.79 per
cent vote share.
Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot meets families of the victims
of Thursday's fire incident in Jodhpur on Friday. — PTI
that these critically injured
have above 70 per cent burn.
The injured also include the
groom Surendra Singh and
his parents besides other
family members.
Chief Minister Ashok
Gehlot on Friday rushed
to Jodhpur and met the
injured in the hospital
along with administrative
befitting reply with their
ballots.”
In fact, the CM was
referring to some
“casteist” and “anti-
woman” observations by
a few senior BJP leaders.
BJP veteran Jual Oram
had raised the issue of
Barsha, a tribal girl and
daughter of former MLA
Bijaya Ranjan Singh
Bariha, marrying outside
of her community.
Mr Oram had claimed
that tribals of Padampur
will not cast their ballots
for Barsha as she had not
got married in
accordance with the tra-
dition of the tribal com-
munity.
Aparajita Sarangi, the
BJP Lok Sabha member
from Bhubaneswar, had
raked of Barsha contest-
ing from her father’s con-
stituency instead of her
father-in-law’s Assembly
segment.
bench comprising Justice
Sanjay Kishan Kaul and
Justice Abhay S. Oka said
that the petitioner could
have chosen not to watch
the advertisements while
he was preparing for the
exams.
Taking a stern view of
the petitioner approach-
ing the top court with an
atrocious plea, the court
imposed a fine of
`25,000 on him, observing
that such petitions are
“utter wastage of judicial
time”.
Himachal Assembly
within six months. Since
she comes from Mandi,
where the BJP won nine
out of the 10 Assembly
seats, the entire prospect
of contesting a byelec-
tion appears a little
risky.
Party insiders claim
that a compromise for-
mula can be reached in
officials.
He assured them the best
of the treatment. “It is very
unfortunate. Considering
the seriousness of the inci-
dent, I have come here to
see them and assured them
all cooperation from the
government,” said Gehlot.
Later he announced an ex-
gratia of `2 lakh for the
ONLY FINAL
DECISION OF
COLLEGIUM WILL BE
MADE PUBLIC: SC
FROM PG 1
“It is observed that
after due deliberation
and discussion and after
completing the consulta-
tive process, when a
final decision is taken
and thereafter the reso-
lution is drawn and
signed by the members
of the collegium, it can
be said to be a final deci-
sion and till then it
remains the tentative
decision,” the bench
said.
The top court passed
the verdict on a petition
by RTI activist Anjali
Bhardwaj against a
Delhi High Court order
dismissing her plea
seeking the agenda of
the Supreme Court col-
legium’s meeting held
on December 12, 2018
when certain decisions
were purportedly taken
on the elevation of some
judges to the apex court.
The bench said it is
required to be noted that
the petitioner asked for
the information on the
decision(s) taken by the
collegium in its meeting
held on December 12,
2018 and reliance is
placed upon the resolu-
tion dated October 3,
2017 by which it was
resolved to upload the
resolution of the col-
legium on the Supreme
Court’s website.
It said relying upon
some article published
in the media and the
interview given by one
of the members, who
was part of the col-
legium meeting held on
December 12, 2018.
which Ms Singh remains "dark horse" can be cho-
an MP and her son
Vikramaditya Singh,
sen for the top post in the
state. The name of
who was also elected as Rajendra Rana is doing
an MLA, is made a sen- the rounds.
ior minister or deputy Sources say that the
chief minister in the observers will stay back
new cabinet. In that in Shimla on Saturday as
case, somebody else can well and that the MLAs
be picked as the chief are ready to accept the
minister. decision of the party
According to rumors, a high command.
pg 7
Court orders interim stay on
Assam-Meghalaya border pact
Shillong, Dec. 9: The
Meghalaya high court has
and his counterpart
Himanta Biswa Sarma had
petition filed by four tradi-
tional chiefs' of Meghalaya.
ordered an interim stay on
physical demarcation or
in March signed an MoU,
demarcating the border in
“It is however understood
that during the intervening
deceased and `1 lakh for the erection of boundary posts at least six of the 12 con- period, no physical demar-
injured besides free treat- on the ground in connec- tested locations that often cation or erection of
ment up to `5 lakh under tion with an interstate bor- raised tensions between boundary posts on the
the Cheeranjivi scheme. der pact signed by chief the two states. ground, pursuant to the
Cheeranjivi Yojna is a ministers of Assam and Justice H.S. Thangkhiew MoU dated 29.03.2022 shall
universal health scheme in Meghalaya earlier this ordered the interim stay be carried out, till the next
which the Rajasthan gov- year. Meghalaya chief min- till the next date of hearing date,” Justice Thangkhiew
ernment also provides ister Conrad K. Sangma on February 6, 2023, on a said.
insurance up to `10 lakh
per family. He also
announced an out-of-turn
promotion for a police-
man Dungar Singh, who
had jumped into the
burning house and taken
out the burning cylinders
to avert more casualties.
Union Cabinet minister
Gajendra Singh
Shekhawat also visited
the hospital and met the
victims and their family
members. He assured
them that any victim who
needs to be shifted to a
higher centre will be air-
lifted.
— PTI
Isro tests hypersonic
vehicle that can
beat ballistic missile
defence systems
PAWAN BALI
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
Isro said on Friday that it
along with the tri-servic-
es (Army, Navy, Air
Force) institution head-
quarters integrated def-
ence staff successfully
carried out a test of a
hypersonic vehicle, whi-
ch can bypass ballistic
missile defence systems.
“The trials achieved all
required parameters and
demonstrated hypersonic
vehicle capability,” tweet-
ed Isro.
Russia, China, and the
US are investing to devel-
op advanced hypersonic
missiles. The hypersonic
vehicle can be an air-
plane, missile, or space-
craft.
Hypersonic weapons fly
at speeds of at least Mach
5 (five times the speed of
sound) and have the capa-
bility to make maneuvers
(both vertical and hori-
zontal) while traveling at
high speed inside the
earth's atmosphere.
Ballistic missiles, which
also travel at high speed,
have less maneuverable
capability.
While ballistic missiles
move high in the atmos-
phere, have a set trajecto-
ry and are therefore easi-
er to detect by air defence
systems, hypersonic mis-
siles move near the
earth's surface making
them difficult to detect.
Hypersonic missiles can
be hypersonic cruise mis-
siles (HCMs) or hyper-
sonic glide vehicles
(HGVs).
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022
SHORT
TAIWAN REPORTS
TAKES
IST OUTBREAK OF
H5N1 BIRD FLU
Paris, Dec. 9: Taiwan has
reported a first farm-level out-
break of the severe H5N1 strain
of avian influenza, or bird flu,
the Paris-based
Organisation for
World
Animal
Health (WOAH) said on Friday.
The virus killed 214 ducks,
with the rest of the flock of
over 5,000 birds slaughtered,
WOAH said, citing a report
from the Taiwanese authori-
ties.
CHINA SEES RISE
IN COVID CASES
AS CURBS EASED
Beijing, Dec. 9: A rash of
COVID-19 cases in schools and
businesses were reported
Friday in areas across China
after the ruling Communist
Party loosened anti-virus
rules as it tries to reverse a
deepening economic slump.
While official data showed a
fall in new cases, they no
longer cover large parts of the
population after the govern-
ment on Wednesday ended
mandatory testing for many
people. That was part of dra-
matic changes aimed at gradu-
ally emerging from zero
COVID restrictions that have
confined millions of people to
their homes and sparked pro-
tests and demands for
President Xi Jinping to resign.
Theres very few people com-
ing in because theres so many
cases, said Gang Xueping, a
waitress in a Beijing restau-
rant.
SOUTH KOREAN
TRUCKERS END
16-DAY STRIKE
Seoul, Dec. 9: South Korean
truckers voted on Friday to end
a weeks-long strike that has
hammered supply chains and
businesses in Asia’s fourth
largest economy.
The strike, which started on
Nov 24 over minimum pay,
delayed the supply of goods
worth an estimated 3.5 trillion
won ($2.65 billion) in its first 12
days, according to Seoul's trade
ministry.
President Yoon Suk-yeol
slammed the action as “a dan-
ger to the economy” and on
Thursday the government
ordered truckers in the fuel
and steel sectors to return to
work or face the possibility of
jail or a fine.
“A majority of votes were cast
in favour of ending the strike
and returning to work,” the
25,000-strong Cargo Truckers
Solidarity Union said in a state-
ment.
10 KILLED IN
INDONESIAN COAL
MINE EXPLOSION
Indonesia, Dec. 9: Ten work-
ers were killed in Indonesia
after an explosion in a coal
mine caused a collapse, a res-
cue agency official said Friday.
The miners were at a coal
mine in the West Sumatra
province when the blast buried
an estimated 14 people.
The mine “reportedly col-
lapsed due to an explosion
caused by methane”, local
search and rescue agency spok-
esman Octavianto, who
like many Indonesians uses
only one name, said in a state-
ment.
He said 10 bodies were recov-
ered, while four people sur-
vived. The mine was reported
to be a licensed operation.
SOUTH AFRICA TO
DECRIMINALISE
SEX WORK
Johannesburg, Dec. 9: South
Africa on Friday said it will
decriminalise sex work, hoping
to tackle high levels of crime
against women in a country
with one of the world’s highest
HIV caseloads.
The sale and purchase of sex-
ual services will no longer be
treated as a crime under pro-
posed legislation put forward
by the justice ministry.
According to advocacy groups
there are over 150,000 sex work-
ers in the country. “It is hoped
that decriminalisation will mi-
nimise human rights viola-
tions against sex workers,”
Justice Minister Ronald
Lamola.
“It would also mean better
access to health care and ...
afford better protection for sex
workers, better working condi-
tions and less discrimination
and stigma.” Police Minister
Bheki Cele reported a critical of the Duke and
double-digit increase in mur-
ders of women year-on-year
between July and September
with almost 1,000 women
killed.
Sanctions on Iran after Visa wait crosses 1K days,
1st protester executed US still says fixing delays
Iran says it is exercising ‘utmost restraint’ on protests
Paris, Dec. 9: Iran was
slapped with new sanc-
tions on Friday and activ-
ists called for fresh
protests after the Islamic
republic carried out its
first execution over
demonstrations that have
shaken the regime for
nearly three months.
Mohsen Shekari, 23, was
hanged himself on Thur-
sday after being convicted
of “moharebeh” — or
“enmity against God” —
after what rights groups
denounced as a show trial.
The judiciary said
Shekari was arrested after
blocking a Tehran street
and wounding a member
of the Basij, a paramili-
tary force linked to Iran's
powerful Islamic Revolut-
ionary Guard Corps.
Iran said it was exercis-
ing “utmost restraint” in
face of protests that flared
over September 16 death
of Mahsa Amini, a 22-
year-old Iranian Kurd,
after her arrest for an all-
eged breach of the coun-
try’s strict dress code for
women. Britain announ-
ced sanctions against 30
targets, including officials
in Iran whom it accused of
pursuing “egregious sen-
tences” against protesters.
Canada imposed sanc-
tions on 22 senior mem-
bers of Iran's judiciary,
prison system and police
as well top aides to
supreme leader Ayatollah
Ali Khamenei. European
diplomats said the EU was
also set to impose more
punitive measures over
the crackdown that killed
at least 458 people, includ-
ing more than 60 children,
according to Oslo-based
group Iran Human Rights
(IHR). — AFP
B’desh: 2 Oppn.
leaders detained
Dhaka, Dec. 9: Police in
Bangladesh on Friday
arrested two top leaders
of the main Opposition
party BNP, a day before
its planned grand rally in
the capital to call for
Prime Minister Sheikh
Hasina’s resignation.
Bangladesh Nationalist
Party’s Secretary General
Mirza Fakhrul Islam
Alamgir and Standing
Committee member Mir-
za Abbas were picked by
the detective branch per-
sonnel from their homes
in separate pre-dawn
raids in the capital city.
DB (detective branch)
men arrested Mirza
Fakhrul Islam Alamgir
from his Uttara (area) res-
idence at about 3 am.
There are some cases
against (pending against)
him, Uttara police sta-
tion’s officer in charge
Zahirul Islam told news-
men. Without further
elaborations, the official
said Alamgir was taken to
detective branch custody
for subsequent legal pro-
cedures as former prime
minister Khaleda Zia’s
Harry-Markle docu:
UK media hits back
London, Dec. 9: Britain’s
media, the main focus of
criticism so far in Netflix
docuseries “Harry and
Meghan”, on Friday hit
back at the estranged
prince and his wife, accus-
ing them of lying and
insulting Queen Elizabeth
II.
The royal family was
largely spared during the
first three episodes of the
show, which aired on
Thursday, with the focus
more on Harry’s early life
and his resentment
towards the media, which
he blames of the death of
his mother Diana.
But the prince did
accuse the family of
unconscious racial bias,
and the royals will be
braced for next week's
instalment, which threat-
ens more revelations.
The saga dominated
Friday’s newspaper front
pages, which were largely
Duchess of Sussex —
Harry and Meghan’s for-
mal titles.
“Harry the Nasty” said
the headline of popular
REPERCUSSIONS OVER HIJAB PROTESTS
● IRAN slapped with new
sanctions over
its first
execution over
demonstrations.
● MOHSEN Shekari, 23-
year-old hanged himself on
Thursday after being
convicted of enmity
against God.
● BRITAIN announced
sanctions against 30
targets, including officials
in Iran whom it accused of
pursuing "egregious
sentences"
against
protesters.
● CANADA imposed sanctions on 22 senior
police as well top aides to supreme leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
members of Iran's judiciary, prison system and impose more punitive
Headscarf debate heats
up ahead of Turkish vote
Istanbul, Dec. 9:
Turkey’s Islamic-rooted
ruling party will submit
constitutional amend-
ment to parliament next
week enshrining women’s
right to wear headscarves
at work and in daily life,
reviving a hugely divisive
issue in officially secular
state. The highly-politi-
cised decision by Presi-
dent Recep Tayyip Erdog-
an’s AKP party comes six
months before the next
election — and one that
promises to be a tight
● DETECTIVE BRANCH
arrested Mirza Fakhrul
Islam Alamgir from his
Uttara (area) residence
at about 3 am.
BNP is waging an anti-
government campaign.
A BNP spokesman, me-
anwhile, said the police
also arrested the party’s
standing committee mem-
ber Abbas, who is the for-
mer mayor of Dhaka,
from his Shahjahanpur
home in the capital in a
pre-dawn raid.
BNP spokesman
Zahiruddin Swapan said
the plainclothesmen told
Alamgir was being taken
away on orders of the
high command”.
The BNP is demanding
that Prime Minister
Hasina step down in
favour of fresh elections
under a caretaker govern-
ment instead of ruling
Awami League, fearing
the polls to be rigged by
her administration.
Bangladesh will hold its
next general election in
2024. — PTI
Meghan and Harry
tabloid the Sun, which
added the couple had
“trashed the Queen’s lega-
cy”, left Harry’s father
King Charles III and his
brother Prince William in
a “state of sadness” and
unfairly tarnished the
whole country as racist.
The paper, along with
many others, picked up on
one scene in which
Meghan performed a
melodramatic curtsey as
she recalled meeting
Queen Elizabeth II for the
first time.
“How low can you go?”
asked the tabloid, adding
that “mocking Meghan
exaggerated a curtsey to
poke fun at the royals --
and compared their tradi-
tions to a tacky US
medieval chain”. — AFP
Demonstrators lift placards calling for the release of
activist Haidar al-Zaidi, who was given a jail term
two days earlier, during a rally in Tahrir Square in
central Baghdad on Friday.
● EU was also set to
measures on Iran, said
European diplomats.
race.
The country’s founder
Mustafa Kemal Ataturk
had sought to settle the
issue when he built con-
temporary Turkey out of
the Ottoman Empire’s
ashes a century ago.
But headscarves still
polarise Turks, exempli-
fied in popular culture by
hit Netflix series “Ethos”
in 2020. “It’s all rage now:
every show has to have a
veiled woman,” sighed an
urbane psychiatrist while
flipping through televi-
China to pay for oil with yuan
Beijing, Dec. 9: China’s
President Xi Jinping said
in Riyadh on Friday that
China and Gulf nations
should use the Shanghai
Petroleum and National
Gas Exchange as a plat-
form to carry out yuan set-
tlement of oil and gas
trade. China and states of
the Gulf Cooperation
Council (GCC) are natural
partners for cooperation,
Xi said at the China-GCC
summit.
“China will continue to
import large quantities of
crude oil from GCC coun-
tries, expand imports of
LNG, strengthen coopera-
tion in upstream oil and
gas development, engi-
neering services, storage,
transportation and refin-
ing, and make full use of
the Shanghai Petroleum
and National Gas Excha-
nge as a platform to carry
out yuan settlement of oil
and gas trade,” he said.
Xi proposed other areas
for cooperation in the next
five years, including
finance and investment,
innovation and new tech-
nologies. China is willing
“to carry out financial
regulatory cooperation
with GCC nations, facili-
tate GCC enterprises to
enter China’s capital mar-
ket, establish a joint inves-
tment association with
GCC, support sovereign
wealth funds of both sides
to cooperate in various
forms,” Xi said. — Reuters
LUNAR | ODYSSEY
Indian TV actor picked for moon trip
Washingtion, Dec. 9:
Japanese billionaire
Yusaku Maezawa
announced on Thursday
eight crew members,
including Indian TV actor
Dev Joshi, who will join
him for a journey around
the Moon planned for 2023
on a SpaceX rocket that is
still under development.
The mission, known as
dearMoon, was
announced in 2018.
Maezawa initially said he
would invite a crew of six-
to-eight artists, but later
changed the entry require-
ments to a competition
which applicants could
apply for online.
The eight people chosen
were DJ and producer
Steve Aoki of the United
States; Tim Dodd, an
American YouTuber;
Czech artist Yemi AD;
Washington, Dec. 9: The
Biden administration is
aware of the agonising
delay in visa appoint-
ments in India and is
working to respond to the
“significant demand” for
these services, the White
House has said, as the
wait for visa interviews in
the US missions in the
country crossed 1,000
days.
Non-immigrant visa,
visitor visa (B1/B2), stu-
dent visa (F1/F2), and
temporary worker visa (H,
L, O, P, Q) appointments
with embassies in specific
Asian countries and
Pacific Islands, including
India, Pakistan, Bangla-
desh, and Nepal, and
other countries, have
extraordinarily long back-
logs.
— AFP
67 dead, 30% increase
in scribes killed on job
Brussels, Dec. 9: Russias
war in Ukraine , chaos in
Haiti and rising vio-
lence by criminal groups
in Mexico contributed to a
30 per cent spike in the
number of journalists
sion channels with a killed doing their work in
remote in her hand. 2022 over the previous
Erdogan’s 20-year stint year, according to a new
as prime minister and report released Friday.
president saw him cham- The International Feder-
pion rights of conserva- ation of Journalists says
tive Muslims including that 67 journalists and
veiled women after dec-
ades of more secular rule.
media staff have been
killed around the world so
But it was his likely
presidential rival from
far this year, up from 47
last year.
Ataturk's secular CHP
party who appeared to
The Brussels-based
group also tallied 375 jour-
push Erdogan to mull con- nalists currently impris-
stitutional changes that oned for their work, with
could be up for a referen- the most in China,
dum. — AFP Myanmar and Turkey.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and other Arab leaders along with
Chinese President Xi Jinping take a group photo during the Gulf Cooperation Council
Summit, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Friday.
US lens on China space plan
for risk to assets from debris
Beijing, Dec. 9: The US is passage in the United
closely monitoring Chin- Nations of a resolution
ese activities that poten- that countries not conduct
tially threaten American direct-ascent antisatellite
assets in space as debris tests that create vast fields
rapidly accumulates in of space debris, which
low Earth orbit, the head endanger satellites and
of United States military space stations.
operations in space said
Friday.
Commander of US Space
Command Army Gen.
Of the four countries
that have conducted such
ASAT tests, the United
States was the only one
James Dickinson also
cheered the overwhelming
that voted in favour, while
China and Russia voted no
‘Bal Veer’ actor in team of nine to fly in SpaceX rocket
6-DAY SPACE JOURNEY
● 22-year-old
Dev is known
for portraying
his role in
‘Baal Veer’
and ‘Bal Veer
Returns’ on
Sony Sab. Dev
have also
worked in more than 20
Gujarati movies. He is also
The crew members of the first civilian mission to
known for playing the role of
the moon to take place in 2023.
the young Chandra Shekhar
● THE ROUND trip would last almost six days and Azad in the film
circumnavigate the Moon without landing. ‘Chandrashekhar’.
Rhiannon Adam, an Irish of South Korea.
photographer; British Dev Joshi, 22, is known
photographer Karim Iliya; for portraying his role in
American filmmaker ‘Baal Veer’ and ‘Bal Veer
Brendan Hall; Dev Joshi, Returns’ on Sony Sab. He
and K-pop musician TOP has worked in more than
pg 8
● NON-IMMIGRANT visa, While we have made
visitor visa (B1/B2), stu- great strides, as you know,
because you cover this
dent visa (F1/F2), and
temporary worker visa
very closely, in recovering
from the pandemic-relat-
(H, L, O, P, Q) appoint-
ments with embassies
ed closures and staffing
challenges, we are still
have long backlogs. working to respond to the
significant demand of
In the case of India, it these visa services, Jean-
has now crossed more Pierre said.
than 1,000 days resulting That is something that
in hardship to Asian we will continue to do. We
American and Pacific are successfully lowering
Islander (AAPI) families visa interview wait times,
inside the US and abroad,
as well as major disrup-
that’s around the world,
and we’ve doubled our
tions for students, busi-
nesses, and visitors.
hiring of US Foreign
Service personnel to do
I can say that the Biden
administration is aware of
the issues, White House
this important work.
Visa processing is recov-
ering faster than project-
Press Secretary Karine ed, and this year we
Jean-Pierre told reporters expect to reach pre-pan-
at her daily news confer- demic processing levels,
ence on Thursday. she said. — PTI
● MORE MEDIA work-
ers were killed covering
in ensuring that those
with power and influence
do not stand in the way of
the war in Ukraine —
12 in total — than in any
other country this year,
according to the IFJ.
open and inclusive soci-
eties, IFJ General Secre-
tary Anthony Bellanger
said in a statement.
More media workers
Last years report listed were killed covering the
365 journalists behind war in Ukraine 12 in
bars. With the number of total — than in any other
media workers killed on country this year, accord-
the rise, the group called ing to the IFJ. Most were
on governments to take Ukrainian but also includ-
more concrete action to
protect journalists and
ed those of other national-
ities such as
free journalism.
The failure to act will
American documentary
filmmaker Brent Renaud .
only embolden those who
seek to suppress the free
Many deaths occurred in
the first chaotic weeks of
flow of information and the war, though threats to
undermine the ability of journalists continue as
people to hold their lead- the fighting drags on.
ers to account, including — AP
LANKA CLOSES
SCHOOLS DUE
TO POLLUTION
Colombo, Dec. 9:
Schools across Sri
Lanka were closed on
Friday as health and
environment officials
said the air quality in
most parts of the island
nation was unhealthy
partly due to extreme
weather conditions.
Polluted air from neig-
hbouring India was agg-
ravating the problem,
authorities said, as a
storm in Bay of Bengal
triggered heavy rains
and winds across Sri
Lanka in recent days.
A haze hung over
Colombo, and other
parts of the country,
— AP with the level of fine
particles in air reaching
unhealthy levels.
The pollution has arisen
due to the combination
of local air pollutants
and transboundary air
pollution, said the
National Building Res-
earch Organisation, a
and India abstained. agency involved in envi-
We can't continue to con- ronmental monitoring
tribute to the debris that and risk management.
we find in the space This condition can be
domain,” Dickinson said seen in all parts of Sri
in a telephone news con- Lanka and it can cause
ference with reporters in health problems, it
Asia. added. — AP
Most of that debris lies
in crucial low Earth orbit,
which has become con-
gested, competitive and
● RISE IN pollution
due to combination of
local air pollutants and
contested, he said.
— AP
transboundary air
pollution.
backup crew members:
snowboarder Kaitlyn
Farrington of the US and
dancer Miyu of Japan.
“I hope each and every
one will recognize the
responsibility that comes
with leaving the Earth,
traveling to the Moon and
back,” Maezawa said in an
announcement video on
Dev Joshi YouTube.
“They will gain a lot
from this experience, and I
hope they will use that to
contribute to the planet, to
humanity.”According to a
mission profile graphic on
the dearMoon website, the
round trip would last
almost six days and cir-
20 Gujarati movies. He is cumnavigate the Moon
also known for playing the without landing.
role of the young Chandra When completed,
Shekhar Azad in the film SpaceX’s Starship will be
‘Chandrashekhar’. the most powerful rocket
There were also two ever built. — AFP
 SPECIAL
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022
pg 9

SHORT TAKES
Let the lava flow!
Iceland's volcano
show is a hit
Reyjavik (Iceland): In a dark
auditorium in Reykjavik, bub-
bling orange lava flows down a
slide to within inches of awe-
struck visitors. The flow, con-
tained on both sides by black
sand, lights up the room like a
sunrise.
This is the Lava Show,
Iceland's latest tourist attrac-
tion, that uses reheated lava
from a real eruption of the
island's Katla volcano more
than 100 years ago. The heat
emanating from the molten
rock is tangible, so much so that
some of the spectators shuffle
in their seats to remove their
coats.
"This is the show where you
get to experience real molten
lava flowing inside of a build-
ing, intentionally," the Lava
Show's Scottish host Iain
MacKinnon joked. The molten
liquid sizzled as it hit blocks of
ice, crackling like the sound of
breaking glass as it cooled.
"It was really beautiful,"
Jasmine Luong, a 28-year-old
PIO driver jailed for 16 years for
father-daughter killing in UK
London (UK): An Indian-
origin driver, who caused
the death of a pregnant
woman and her father
after losing control of his
vehicle due to consump-
tion of drugs in a seaside
town in south-eastern
England, has been sen-
tenced to 16 years' impris-
onment.
According to local police,
Nitesh Bissendary lost
control of his black Alfa
Romeo in Ramsgate, Kent,
in August and also injured
three others, including
two children.
The 31-year-old was sen-
tenced on Thursday fol-
lowing a trial
Canterbury Crown Court.
at
He will also be disquali-
fied from driving for 10
years following his custo-
dial sentence.
“From the moment he
took cocaine before get-
Nitesh Bissendary
ting behind the wheel, the
actions of Nitesh
Bissendary have been
nothing short of disgrace-
ful,” Detective Inspector
Lynn Wilczek of Kent
Police's Serious Collision
Investigation Unit said.
“He has refused to take
full responsibility for a
tragic incident that was
completely avoidable and
entirely of his making,
going so far as to run away
whilst his victims lay
injured and dying.
Denying his actions were
dangerous only caused
more pain for the family
as they were forced to
relive the terrible events
of that night during his
trial,” he said.
“I am pleased the jury saw
fit to convict Bissendary
for his crimes and that he
will now serve a signifi-
cant period of time behind
bars where he belongs.
This case should serve as a
stark reminder to all
motorists of the dangers
of drug-driving and why
we do not hesitate to take
action against anyone who
is found to be under the
influence. Such selfish
actions really do put lives
at risk,” the officer added.
The court was told how
Bissendary had travelled
around 30 metres on the
pavement before colliding
with the pedestrians and
then fled the scene imme-
diately afterwards. He
returned to the scene of
the incident after initially
fleeing on foot, failing a
roadside drug test that
indicated traces of
cocaine. However, he
refused to give a follow-up
blood test following arrest.
The jury heard that
Bissendary claimed to
have a vehicle defect
which he was trying to
rectify, causing him to
take his eyes off the road
moments before the colli-
sion.
Noga Sella, 37, was five
weeks pregnant when she
was killed in the collision.
Her father Yoram
Hirshfeld, 81, also died
from his injuries, whilst
Sella's husband Omer was
badly hurt.
“There are few things in
life as painful as the loss of
a loved one, especially
when such a loss comes
without warning and as
the result of someone
else's irresponsible behav-
iour. To lose two people at
the same time is unimag-
inable,” Wilczek noted in
the police statement.
Bissendary admitted caus-
ing death by careless driv- UK’s King Charles gives audience to India High
ing, but denied the more Commissioner to the UK, Vikram Doraiswami. — PTI
serious offence of causing
death by dangerous driv-
ing in addition to causing
serious injury by danger-
ous driving. He also plead-
INDIAN ENVOY PRESENTS
ed guilty to assault occa-
sioning actual bodily
harm, failing to provide a
sample for analysis and
CREDENTIALS TO UK KING
possession with intent to London, Dec. 9 Indian longest-serving monarch,
supply cocaine. PTI High Commissioner to Queen Elizabeth II, on
the UK Vikram September 8.
Doraiswami has become India's Deputy High

Women sue
Australian tourist from the first Indian diplomat Commissioner to the UK,
Melbourne said. "I can see why to present his credentials Sujit Ghosh, and other
a lot of people would be drawn to King Charles III, in a senior officials also
to (an eruption), but obviously ceremony steeped in tra- accompanied the new

you wouldn't be able to go near
it in a normal natural setting,"
she added. "This is a lot safer."
There is the same "wow effect"
that people get at an eruption
site, MacKinnon said.
Hundreds of thousands of
curious onlookers have flocked
to watch the hypnotising jets of
lava at Iceland's Mount
Fagradalsfjall after two erup-
tions over the last year just 40
kilometres (25 miles) from
Reykjavik. But not all Icelandic
eruptions are safe.
While the lava used in the
show retains a hint of sulphur,
the dangerous toxic gases that
normally emanate from an
eruption have dissipated, since
the rock has been reheated and
Musk’s Twitter
San Francisco (US): Two
women who lost their
jobs at Twitter when bil-
lionaire Elon Musk took
over are suing the compa-
ny in federal court, claim-
ing that last month's
abrupt mass layoffs dis-
proportionately affected
female employees. The
discrimination lawsuit is
the latest in a series of
legal challenges over
Musk's decimation of
Twitter's workforce
through mass layoffs and
regulators. Now a private
company, it hasn't dis-
closed how many are left.
Twitter didn't immediate-
ly respond to a request for
comment Thursday.
The lawsuit filed late
Wednesday for former
employees Carolina
Bernal Strifling and
Willow Wren Turkal on
behalf of similarly-situat-
ed female workers makes
the claim that 57% of
female employees were
laid off on Nov. 4, com-
dition and involving a
classic horse-drawn car-
riage riding through the
streets of London to
Buckingham Palace.
The presentation of
“Letters of Commission”,
a formal letter from
President Droupadi
Murmu to the monarch as
Britain's Head of State,
on Thursday marked the
formal start of his UK
posting. The ceremony
symbolises the Indian
Head of State asking the
King to give “credence” to
WNBA star Brittney Griner disembarks at Kelly Field in San Antonio, Texas, following the new High
her release in a prisoner swap with Russia, Friday. - AP Commissioner and that
the new diplomat speaks
on behalf of India.
High Commissioner to
the palace and the jour-
ney concluded at his offi-
cial residence with the
ceremonial feeding of the
horses with carrots.
This marked the fourth
time Doraiswami has pre-
sented his credentials to a
head of state, having
served as India's
Ambassador to
Uzbekistan and the
Republic of Korea and
most recently as the High
Commissioner to
Bangladesh.
"It was a great opportu-
nity to be able to set out
thoughts, plans and ideas
to take the India-UK rela-

Notorious arms dealer

melted down so many times.
More than 600 kgs of tephra -
the rocks ejected from Katla,
one of Iceland's most danger-
firings.
Days after the world's
richest man bought the
social media platform for
pared to 47% of male "Our friends in the tionship forward," shared
employees. The plaintiffs United Kingdom really the High Commissioner.
are scheduled to speak know how to make this Lord Tariq Ahmad, the
about the lawsuit on feel very special as we get UK Foreign Office
Minister for South Asia,

set free in prisoner swap

ous volcanoes, when it last
erupted in 1918 - are used in the
Lava Show. "We heat that up to
its melting point, which is
around 1,100 degrees Celsius
(2,000 Fahrenheit) and then we
pour it into the room," said the
show's founder Julius Jonsson.
In an adjoining room, a large
furnace has been modified to
suit the show's needs.
Jonsson's company has run a
version of the production in the
seafront village of Vik in south
Iceland since 2018, but the
Reykjavik show only opened
last month. He came up with
the idea of a lava show when he
was standing atop a glacier
watching lava flow from
Fimmvorduhals, a small erup-
tion that preceded the massive
Eyjafjallajokull one in 2010,
whose ash cloud disrupted air
traffic and stranded more than
10 million travellers.
Known as the land of fire and
ice, Iceland has 33 volcanic sys-
tems currently considered
active, the highest number in
Europe. It has an eruption
every five years on average. "We
thought it would be wonderful
for Iceland if lava would always
be flowing," Jonsson said.
– AFP
Kristen Stewart
youngest Berlin film
fest jury chief
Berlin (Germany): US actor
Kristen Stewart will in
February head up the jury at
Berlin's international film festi-
val, Europe's first major cinema
showcase of the year, organis-
ers said Friday.
The Berlinale, as the event is
known, said AFP that Stewart,
32, would be the youngest per-
son in its 73-year history to lead
the panel selecting the winners
of the Golden and Silver Bear
top prizes.
Festival chiefs Mariette
Rissenbeek and Carlo Chatrian
called the star of "Spencer" and
the "Twilight" movies "one of
the most talented and multi-
faceted actors of her genera-
tion". "Young, shining and with
an impressive body of work
behind her, Kristen Stewart is
the perfect bridge between US
and Europe," they said in a
statement.
Considered one of
Hollywood's major young tal-
ents, Stewart began her career
as a child actor, starring along-
side Jodie Foster in David
Fincher's "Panic Room".
The five-part "Twilight" saga
made her and Robert Pattinson
global superstars. Both have
harnessed their box office
bankability to pursue projects
with independent directors on
each side of the Atlantic.
In 2015, Stewart became the
first American to win France's
Cesar film award, for her role
alongside Juliette Binoche in
"Clouds of Sils Maria". Two
years later she marked her
directorial and screenwriting
debut with the short film "Come
Swim".
$44 bn, the company told
about half of employees
on Nov. 4 that they no
longer had a job but would
get three months’ sever-
ance. The lawsuit filed in a
San Francisco federal
court this week alleges
that 57% of female
employees were laid off,
compared to less than half
of men, despite Twitter
employing more men
overall before the layoffs.
The cutbacks continued
throughout November as
Musk fired engineers who
questioned or criticized
him and gave all remain-
ing employees the choice
to resign with severance
or sign a form pledging
“extremely hardcore”
work and dedication to
Twitter's new direction.
Scores more lost their jobs
after declining to make
the pledge.
San Francisco-based
Twitter started the year
with about 7,500 employ-
ees worldwide, according
to a filing with securities
Pop diva Celine Dion reveals rare neurological disorder
Ottawa (Canada): Pop
diva Celine Dion tearfully
revealed that she is suf-
fering from Stiff-Person
Syndrome, a rare neuro-
logical disorder that is
affecting her singing, and
said she would have to
cancel or postpone a
series of European
shows.
In a five-minute video
posted on Instagram in
French and English, a
clearly emotional Dion
said she had been dealing
with the health problems
"for a long time."
"Recently I have been
diagnosed with a very
rare neurological disor-
der called Stiff-Person
Syndrome which affects
something like one in a
million people," the
Canadian hitmaker said.
It has been causing
spasms that "affect every
aspect of my daily life,
sometimes causing diffi-
culties when I walk and
not allowing me to use my
Thursday.
The gap is even greater
for women in engineering-
related roles - 63% were
laid off, compared to 48%
of men with engineering
roles, according to the law-
suit filed by prominent
Boston workers' rights
attorney Shannon Liss-
Riordan, who ran an
unsuccessful Democratic
primary campaign for
Massachusetts attorney
general earlier this year.
“The mass termination of
employees at Twitter has
impacted female employ-
ees to a much greater
extent than male employ-
ees - and to a highly statis-
tically significant degree,”
Liss-Riordan wrote.
“Moreover, Elon Musk
has made a number of
publicly discriminatory
remarks about women,
further confirming that
the mass termination's
greater impact on
female employees result-
ed from discrimination.”
– AP
vocal cords to sing the
way I'm used to," she said.
"It hurts me to tell you
today this means I won't
be ready to restart my
tour in Europe in
February."
Dion, who is 54, said she
was supported by her
children and a team of
doctors working every
day to improve her condi-
tion, but added: "I have to
admit, it's been a strug-
gle."
Titanic fame: Dion rose
from small-town Quebec
to worldwide fame in the
1990s with hits such as
"My Heart Will Go On" --
the theme to James
Cameron's Oscar-win-
ning film "Titanic" -- and
"The Power of Love", and
has continued to sell out
huge stadiums around
the world. That success
was parlayed into a regu-
lar gig at Caesar's Palace
in Las Vegas, where she
had multiple long resi-
dencies. She first men-
San Antonio (US):
Brittney Griner returned
to the United States early
Friday, nearly 10 months
after the basketball star’s
detention in Russia made
her the most high-profile
American jailed abroad
and set off a political
firestorm.
Griner’s status as an open-
ly gay Black woman, her
prominence in women’s
basketball and her impris-
onment in a country
where authorities have
been hostile to the LBGTQ
community heightened
concerns for her and
brought tremendous
attention to the case.
Russia’s invasion of
Ukraine after her arrest
complicated matters fur-
ther.
The deal announced
Thursday that saw Griner
exchanged for notorious
arms dealer Viktor Bout
achieved a top goal for
President Joe Biden. But
the U.S. failed to win free-
dom for another
American, Paul Whelan,
who has been jailed for
nearly four years.
Biden’s authorisation to
release Bout, the Russian
felon once nicknamed
“the Merchant of Death,”
underscored the height-
ened urgency that his
SINGER CANCELS SHOWS
tioned the spasms when
she delayed her European
tour earlier this year.
Stiff-Person Syndrome
(SPS) causes muscle stiff-
ness as well as spasms,
normally between the
ages of 30 to 60. The
symptoms can remain
stable in some cases, but
get progressively worse
in others. According to
the US National
Institutes of Health, it
affects twice as many
women as men.
If left untreated, SPS
can potentially lead to dif-
ficulty walking and sig-
nificantly impact a per-
son's ability to perform
routine daily tasks.
Although the exact
cause of this syndrome is
unknown, it is believed to
be an autoimmune dis-
ease and sometimes
occurs with other autoim-
mune diseases.
'All I know is singing':
"All I know is singing, it's
what I've done all my life
to go in a four-horse
buggy, something specific greeted the High
for Commonwealth heads Commissioner on behalf
of mission. So, we have of the government and
greater horsepower," welcomed the recent
administration faced to She acknowledged in Doraiswami said on a restoration of the elec-
get Griner home, particu- court that she possessed lighter note, with refer- tronic visa (e-visa) facili-
larly after the recent reso- canisters with cannabis ence to the pomp and cer- ty for UK travellers to
lution of her criminal oil but said she had no emony of the event which India.
case on drug charges and criminal intent and acci- has been unchanged since "We hope that the India-
her subsequent transfer to dentally packed them. Her Victorian times. UK relationship will
a penal colony. defence team presented Doraiswami and his achieve new heights dur-
Griner, a two-time written statements that wife, Sangeeta, were col- ing your tenure," the min-
Olympic gold medalist she had been prescribed lected from their official ister said in his message.
and Phoenix Mercury pro cannabis to treat pain. residence in a State Doraiswami arrived in
basketball star, was seen The Russian Foreign Landau, as the ceremoni- London on Sept. 23, when
getting off a plane that Ministry confirmed al horse-drawn carriage he began his new charge
landed Friday at Joint Thursday’s swap, saying is known, for the audi- by paying tributes at the
Base San Antonio- in a statement carried by ence which takes place in Mahatma Gandhi statue
Lackland in Texas. “So Russian news agencies one of the state rooms at in Parliament Square and
happy to have Brittney that the exchange took Buckingham Palace. Ambedkar Museum in
back on U.S. soil. Welcome place in Abu Dhabi and The High Commissioner north London. Earlier
home BG!” tweeted Roger Bout had been flown is announced as he enters this week, he reached out
Carstens, the special pres- home. the room by the Marshall to the Indian diaspora in
idential envoy for hostage Biden spoke by phone of the Diplomatic Corps the UK to participate in
affairs. with Griner. US officials and after the presentation great numbers at the
The WNBA star, who also said she would be offered of the credentials, the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas
played pro basketball in specialised medical serv- King speaks informally (PBD), being hosted in
Russia, was arrested at ices and counselling. with the new diplomat. Indore between Jan. 8 and
Moscow’s Sheremetyevo In releasing Bout, the US The emphasis would have 10, 2023.
Airport in February after freed a former Soviet been on issues of the day "We are working to facil-
Russian authorities said Army lieutenant colonel in India as briefed itate the travel require-
she was carrying vape whom the Justice by his aides and also ments of all registered
canisters with cannabis Department once India-UK relations more delegates from the UK
oil. The U.S. State described as one of the broadly. and would like to see par-
Department declared world’s most prolific arms "His Majesty was very ticipation that is reflec-
Griner to be “wrongfully dealers. He was arrested warm and gracious, and tive of the size of the
detained” — a charge that in Thailand in 2008 and our interaction was laced diaspora here," he said.
Russia has sharply reject-
ed.
extradited to the U.S. in
2010.
throughout with his great
affection for India," said
The High Commissioner
also confirmed that the
Griner pleaded guilty in Bout was serving a 25-year Doraiswami, sharing next round of India-UK
free trade agreement
July but still faced trial sentence on charges that reflections from his audi-
because admitting guilt in he conspired to sell tens of ence with the 74-year-old (FTA) negotiations
Russia’s judicial system millions of dollars in monarch. remain on track, with the
does not automatically weapons that U.S officials He is the first Indian trade officials team from
end a case. She was sen- said were to be used envoy to be received at the the UK set to travel to
tenced to nine years. against Americans. – AP palace by the King since New Delhi next week.
the death of Britain's PTI
and it's what I love to do band-manager Rene
the most," said Dion, Angelil, who died from
breaking into tears. "I cancer in 2016.
miss seeing all of you, The showbiz communi-
being on the stage, per- ty voiced support for Dion
forming for you." on Instagram, with fellow
Her spring dates in singer Gwen Stefani,
Europe, which were due fashion designer
to begin in the Czech Donatella Versace and
Republic in February, actress Kate Hudson
have been postponed to among tens of thousands
2024, while eight of her leaving well wishes.
summer shows have been Dion sounded a note of
cancelled entirely. optimism at the end of
A number of perform- her video message. "I
ances between late have hope that I'm on the
August and October have road to recovery. This is
not been changed. The my focus," she said.
"Courage World Tour" – AFP
began in 2019, and Dion
had completed 52 shows
before the Covid-19 pan-
demic put the remainder
on hold. She later can-
celled the North
American section of the
tour due to her health In an emotional
problems. Instagram post, singer
It was to be the Grammy reveals the neurologi-
winner's first global con- cal condition she is suf-
cert tour in a decade and fering from.
the first without her hus-
 SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022 | CHENNAI
quick Govt seeks extra `3.25 L cr
BITES for current fiscal spending
INDICATORS % MADHUSUDAN SAHOO
Sensex 62,181.67 -0.62
Nifty 50
S&P 500*
18,496.60
3,974.86
-0.61
0.29
Dollar (`) 82.27 0.19
Pound Sterling (`) 100.76 -0.43
Euro (`) 86.87 -0.42
Gold (10gm)* (`) 54,305▼30 0.05
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 76.57 0.55
IN 10-Yr bond yield 7.298 0.01
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 3.529 0.036
* As of 8:30 PM IST
Bharat Bond ETF
oversubscribed;
garners `2,800 cr
The fourth tranche of Bharat
Bond ETF, a corporate bond
exchange traded fund, was
subscribed 2.8 times with the
total collection exceeding Rs
2,800 crore, Dipam secretary
Tuhin Kanta Pandey said. The
new fund offer of the ETF
which was open during
December 2-8 had a base issue
size of Rs 1,000 crore, with
a greenshoe option of retaining
oversubscription of Rs 4,000
crore.
5G services up in
50 towns across
14 states/UTs
The 5G telecom services have
started in 50 towns distributed
over 14 states/Union territories
as of November 26. Minister of
state for communications
Devusinh Chauhan, in a written
reply in the Rajya Sabha, noted
that telecom operators have
started providing 5G services
in the country from October 1.
The government has taken sev-
eral policy initiatives to facili-
tate faster and smooth rollout
of telecom network, he said.
NTT India to put
$2 bn in data
centres, cable
NTT India has earmarked
around $2 billion to boost infor-
mation and communications
technology infrastructure in
India over the next three-four
years. Data centres, cloud com-
puting, submarine cable land-
ing stations and solar parks are
key areas where NTT India's
capex is planned, NTT India MD
& senior EVP (global data cen-
tres & marine cables) Sharad
Sanghi said. “We will invest
$500 million annually,” he said.
Bidding for
Concor likely to
begin in January
The government is likely to
invite preliminary bids for pri-
vatising Container Corporation
of India (Concor) in January, an
official said. Besides, the
approval from the Ministry of
Corporate Affairs for demerger
of non-core and land assets of
Shipping Corporation of India
is expected to come in this
month, following which the
government may invite finan-
cial bids for SCI in March or
April, the official added.
Printed & Published by
K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &
Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses
situated at SP-3 Developed Plot,
Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai.
Editor: Kaushik Mitter, RNI Reg. No.
TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re 1.
© All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part without written per-
mission of The Editor, Financial
Chronicle ® is prohibited.
Gross additional expenditure pegged at `4.36 L cr
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
The Centre on Friday
sought Parliament's nod
for an additional spending
of Rs 4.36 lakh crore for
this fiscal. In the 2022-23
Budget, the government
had estimated a total
expenditure of Rs 39.45
lakh crore for 2022-23,
higher than Rs 37.70 lakh
crore in the previous fis-
cal.
The first batch of supple-
mentary demands for
grants tabled in the Lok
Sabha by minister of state
for finance Pankaj
Chaudhary has sought
approval for meeting addi-
tional expenditure of over
Rs 1.09 lakh crore for fer-
tiliser subsidy payout and
Rs 80,348.25 towards food
subsidy. The government
has also sought additional
allocation under the
Pradhan Mantri Garib
Kalyan Anna Yojana
(PMGKAY), mainly
towards distributing free
foodgrains to the poor.
In all, the government
has sought gross addition-
al expenditure of Rs
4,35,938.87 crore, but the
net cash outgo is expected
to be Rs 3,25,756.69 crore
as the additional expendi-
ture is matched by savings
of the ministries/depart-
ments and enhanced
receipts/recoveries aggre-
gating to Rs 1,10,180.59
crore.
The first batch of
Supplementary Demands
for Grants for 2022-23
includes 75 Grants and six
Appropriations.
The additional expendi-
ture also includes Rs
67 ENTRIES PICKED
UNDER SPECIALTY
STEEL PLI SCHEME
New Delhi, Dec. 9: The
government has selected a
total of 67 entries with an
investment potential of Rs
42,500 crore under the pro-
duction-linked incentive
(PLI) scheme for specialty
steel. The proposed invest-
ments are expected to gen-
erate 70,000 job opportuni-
ties and add 26 million
tonnes of speciality steel
capacity in the country.
A total of 79 applications
were received from 35
small and large steel-mak-
ing companies with invest-
ment commitments
totalling Rs 46,000 crore to
add downstream capacity
of 28 million tonnes (mt)
by 2030, the steel ministry
said in a statement.
After several extensions,
the final window for par-
ticipation in the PLI
scheme closed on
September 15, 2022.
"Sixty-seven applications
from 30 companies have
been selected. This will
attract committed invest-
ment of Rs 42,500 crore
with a downstream capaci-
ty addition of 26 MT and
employment generation
potential of 70,000," the
ministry said.
Applicants include steel
players like Tata Steel,
JSW, JSPL, AMNS India
and Sail. —PTI
AIRLINE GETS FIRST
CHINESE JETLINER
Beijing, Dec. 9: A
Chinese airline on Friday
became the first customer
to take delivery of a long-
range jetliner produced
by a state-owned manu-
facturer set up to try to
compete with Boeing and
Airbus, state TV reported.
The Commercial
Aircraft Corp. of China's
C919 is part of the ruling
Communist Party effort's
to transform the country
into a creator of profitable
technologies and reduce
reliance on foreign prod-
ucts. The model delivered
to China Eastern Airlines
Ltd, one of China's four
major carriers, seats 164
passengers, China Cent-
ral Television reported.
The single-aisle C919,
which is meant to com-
pete with the Airbus A320
and Boeing 737, has a
range of 4,075 to 5,555 km.
— AP
CEA HINTS AT TAPERING CAPEX
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO
NEW DELHI, DEC. 9
Amidst high expectations
that the Centre might
press the capital expendi-
ture button hard in the
upcoming Budget for 2023-
24, top economist of the
government V. Anantha
Nageswaran on Friday
hinted that capex can't
keep rising at same pace
as it has been in the recent
years, but India's public
sector capital expenditure
will continue.
"What we have now in
the corporate sector are
very healthy balance
sheets, very healthy bot-
tom line, and a financial
system that is repaired,
ready to lend and the cor-
porate sector is ready to
borrow. It may not be nec-
essary or even healthy for
public sector to keep
expanding capital invest-
ment at the same pace,"
said Nageswaran, the gov-
ernment's chief economic
13,669 crore and Rs 12,000
crore for meeting spend-
ing requirements of tele-
com and railway min-
istries, besides about Rs
10,000 crore for transfer to
GST compensation fund
for giving compensation
to states and UTs. An
amount of Rs 29,944 crore
has been sought towards
payments of LPG subsi-
dies to the poor under the
Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala
Yojana.
MF investors book profit HCL Tech dips on downbeat outlook
in equity funds, inflows
hit 21-month low in Nov.
RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
MUMBAI, DEC. 9
November equity mutual
fund inflows dropped to a
21-month low of Rs 2,258
crore compared to Rs 9,390
crore inflows in October on
account of profit booking
by investors, as the stock
market made a new high
during the month.
The rising popularity of
index funds and exchange
traded funds or ETFs are
also attracting investors to
passive funds, leading to a
drop in inflows to active
equity funds, said analysts.
But the mutual fund
industry's total asset under
management (AUM) for
the frist time crossed Rs 40
lakh crore mark to Rs 40.37
lakh crore as on November
30, 2022, mainly due to
mark- to-market gain for
equity assets as the market
touched all-time highs, Rs
7,199 crore mobilised by
new fund offers, record
high SIP collection of Rs
13,307 crore, and Rs 10,394
crore inflows in other
schemes led by index
funds.
"Within equities, cate-
gories like sectoral funds,
SWISS | APLS
Switzerland’s non-stop train to link 3 key resort towns
LEBAWIT LILY GIRMA
DEC. 9
Switzerland is experienc-
ing a healthy tourism
rebound from the pandem-
ic. Overnight stays in 2022
have reached 86.6 per cent
of 2019 levels thus far,
according to Switzerland
Tourism data shared with
Bloomberg. Now this
country of lakes, scenic
train journeys and epic
mountains has positioned
itself to win over more
tourists.
Starting on December 11,
the GoldenPass Express
will link three of Switzer-
land's major tourist desti-
nations—Montreux,
Gstaad and Interlaken—on
a three hour and 15 minute
journey that crosses into
the heart of the Swiss
V. Anantha Nageswaran
adviser (CEA) at a CII
event here.
On the contrary, Union
finance minister Nirmala
Sitharaman, who will
present the Budget for
next fiscal on February 1,
had said last month that
the government would
"continue to keep pushing
on capital expenditure."
In the Budget for 2022-23,
the Centre had projected a
record capex of Rs 7.5
lakh crore, up 35 per cent
from the budget estimate
and 24 per cent higher
than the revised estimate
Approval has been
sought for Rs 46,000 crore
additional expenditure by
the rural development
ministry, including Rs
4,920 crore for the
Mahatma Gandhi
National Rural Employ-
ment Guarantee Scheme
(MNREGA).
In addition, the govern-
ment's capital expenditure
(capex) has been
enhanced by about Rs
31,000 crore for the cur-
mid-caps and small-caps
saw the largest net inflows
while categories like large-
caps and flexi-caps wit-
nessed the largest net out-
flows.
“Index funds and ETFs
have been witnessing
steady inflows which could
therefore mean investors
could also be moving to
passive funds as opposed to
active funds in the large
cap segment," said Melvyn
Santarita, analyst,
Morningstar India.
Profit booking was also
evident from Rs 34.30 crore
outflow from equity linked
savings schemes where
there is a three year lock-
in. Gold ETFs also saw out-
flows worth Rs 194.74 crore
while debt schemes saw
inflows worth Rs 3,668.59
crore.
GoldenPass Express to connect Montreux, Gstaad and Interlaken from Sunday
Alps. Put simply: In a sin-
gle day, you'll be able to go
from having breakfast on
Lake Geneva in the west to
hitting the highest train
station in Europe along the
famous Jungfraujoch to
standing over the tallest
glaciers of Europe. At the
very least, you'll be able to
experience Switzerland's
French- and German-
speaking lakeside towns
on either side of the coun-
try, plus the Alps, on a low-
stress itinerary.
Directly linking
Switzerland's most visited
regions-Montreux's Lake
Geneva, also known as the
Swiss Riviera, in the west
part of the country, and
lakes Thun and Brienz in
Interlaken, in the east-has
such enormous economic
and tourism potential that
for 2021-22. This included
Rs 1 lakh crore as a 50-
year, interest-free loan to
state governments.
Nageswaran said the
last decade had seen the
total investment by the
public sector—including
the Centre, states, public
sector enterprises, and
capital expenditure that
is part of revenue expen-
diture—rise three-and-a-
half times to Rs 21.2 lakh
crore.
"These investments had
helped growth at a time
when the private sectors,
including banks, were
repairing their balance
sheets. So we need to obvi-
ously, at some point in
time, decide whether we
continue to scale up the
investment at the same
pace or allow the private
sector to start functioning
as the primary engine of
capital formation in the
economy, for which all of
us have been waiting for,"
he added.
rent financial year.
Finance minister
Nirmala Sitharaman had
raised capex by 35.4 per
cent for the financial year
2022-23 to Rs 7.5 lakh
crore, from Rs 5.5 lakh
crore in the previous year.
For meeting additional
expenditure under capital
outlay on Indian Railways
(commercial lines), the
supplementary demands
for grants have proposed
Rs 12,000 crore.
Bengaluru,
Shares of
Dec.
HCL
9:
Technologies Ltd fell near-
ly 7 per cent on Friday, in
their sharpest drop since
mid-January, after the IT
services firm warned fur-
loughs and spending cuts
by clients in the key US
market could hurt its rev-
enue outlook.
The IT industry, which
saw demand sky-rocket-
ing during the pandemic
on the back of a global
shift to cloud-based tech-
nology infrastructure, is
bracing for an economic
meltdown in major mar-
kets in the United States
and Europe, with industry
BharatPe seeks to claw back Grover’s shares
New Delhi, Dec. 9:
Upping the ante, fintech
unicorn BharatPe has filed
an arbitration for clawing
back its former MD and co-
founder Ashneer Grover's
restricted shareholding
and founder title, sources
said.
The arbitration was filed
on Thursday under
Singapore International
Arbitration Centre (SIAC)
rules, sources said.
If relief is granted,
Grover may lose his
unvested shares and right
to use the founder title.
Grover, who BharatPe
the idea to create a direct
route first emerged in the
19th century, when rail-
way projects were starting
to proliferate in
Switzerland. There's a
written record of this
from 1873, proving that
Swiss railway founders
were dreaming of this
project becoming a reality
one day, according to the
M o n t re u x - O b e rl a n d -
Bernese Railway Co.
Snapdeal defers
`1,250-cr IPO,
withdraws DRHP
New Delhi, Dec. 9:
SoftBank-backed e-com-
merce marketplace
Snapdeal has deferred its
Rs 1,250-crore IPO, joining
the list of startups that
have decided to shelve
their initial public offer-
ing (IPO) plans this year.
Snapdeal, which com-
petes with Amazon and
Flipkart, filed a request
this week with the
Securities and Exchange
Board of India (Sebi) to
withdraw its draft red
herring prospectus
(DRHP) amidst a sell-off
in tech stocks worldwide.
"Considering the pre-
vailing market condi-
tions, the company has
decided to withdraw the
DRHP. The company may
reconsider an IPO in the
future, depending on its
need for growth capital
and market conditions," a
Snapdeal spokesperson
said. But the company has
not decided on any fresh
timeline for the IPO.
Snapdeal joins the likes
of Boat, PharmEasy and
Droom, which have
shelved their IPO plans.
Snapdeal filed the IPO
papers with the Sebi last
December, following the
public listing of several
tech companies like
Zomato, Paytm, Nykaa
and Nazara Technologies.
The Sebi was yet to
approve Snapdeal's pro-
posed IPO.
Founded by Kunal Bahl
and Rohit Bansal in 2010,
Snapdeal had planned to
use the bulk of the IPO
proceeds to fund organic
growth.
In its draft public offer-
ing, Snapdeal was aiming
for a primary issuance of
shares worth Rs 1,250
crore. It was also looking
for an offer-for-sale from
existing investors. —PTI
experts saying big deal
wins are becoming diffi-
cult to convert.
Speaking to investors in
New York on Thursday,
HCL chief executive C.
Vijayakumar said he
expects revenue growth
for the year ended March
31, 2023 to be at the lower
end of the company's cur-
rent forecast of 13.5-14.5
per cent.
"Some of the macros like
furloughs, some drop in
discretionary spend in
tech, telecom and a few
other verticals are a little
bit more than we expected
at the beginning of the
quarter," he said.
has accused of cheating
and embezzlement of fun-
ds, holds about 8.5 per cent
of the company. Of this,
1.4 per cent is not vested.
The company did not
immediately offer any
comment.
The action follows a
detailed corporate gover-
nance review by the com-
pany's board into allega-
tions of lapses and misdo-
ings during the tenure of
Grover as managing direc-
tor.
The arbitration proceed-
ings were initiated after
Grover refused to comply
(MOB) behind the new
train.
It's now a game-changer
for international tour
operators who send large
groups, because they usu-
ally avoid connecting train
journeys to avoid the logis-
tical nightmare of keeping
track of everyone and
their luggage transfers,
says Jérôme Gachet, com-
munications manager at
MOB. Previously, tourists
heading from Montreux to
Interlaken had to connect
at the Zweisimmen station
to catch a second train.
"You have Montreux
with Lac Léman [Lake
Geneva], where you're not
far from the airport in
Geneva, and then you have
Interlaken, where you're
close to Thun, Lucerne,
the Jungfraujoch, and
Wheat acreage
up 25%; paddy,
oilseed also up
SANGEETHA G.
CHENNAI, DEC. 9
While global output of
wheat is a matter of con-
cern due to the
Ukrainian crisis, India
can breathe easy on the
domestic front. Wheat
acreage for the rabi sea-
son is up 25 per cent so
far compared to the same
time last year. Sowing of
rabi crops altogether is
higher by 15 per cent.
Spread over 255.76 lakh
hectares, wheat acreage
in the ongoing season is
25 per cent higher com-
pared to 203.91 lakh
hectares last year.
Higher acreage has been
recorded mainly in Uttar
Pradesh and Madhya
Pradesh, as per govern-
ment data. Rajasthan,
Gujarat, Maharashtra,
Bihar, Punjab and
Haryana too have seen
rise in acreage.
Higher acreage is
expected to translate
into higher output in
FY23. As per the latest
estimates, wheat produc-
tion at 106.84 million
tonnes in FY22 was 4.4
per cent less than the
previous estimates. This
had prompted the gov-
ernment to ban export of
wheat to stabilise prices
in the backdrop of the
global wheat scarcity.
Procurement by Food
Corporation of India too
was down at 187.92 lakh
tonnes against 434.44
lakh tonnes in the previ-
ous year.
Overall, rabi sowing is
up by 15 per cent at
526.27 lakh hectares so
far from 457.80 lakh
The Noida-based compa-
ny had in October raised
its revenue growth fore-
cast to 13.5-14.5 per cent
from 12-14 per cent, on a
constant currency basis,
citing strong order book-
ings and pipeline.
Vijayakumar added that
the company had a good
pipeline which he expect-
ed to deliver "decent book-
ings" in the next quarter.
The Nifty IT index drop-
ped 2.8 per centin its big-
gest drop since September
16, with IT major Infosys
also sliding 3.4 per cent, as
analysts said the commen-
tary could spell trouble for
the industry. — Reuters
with the shareholders'
agreement, sources said,
without elaborating.
This is BharatPe's third
legal action against Grover
after a civil suit at the
Delhi High Court and crim-
inal complaint with the
Economic Offences Wing.
BharatPe, in the suit run-
ning into 2,800 pages,
alleged that Grover, his
wife Madhuri Jain and
other family members cre-
ated fake bills, enlisted fic-
titious vendors to provide
services to the company,
and overcharged the firm
for recruitment. — PTI
you're pretty close to
Zurich airport," Gachet
explains. "So now we're
expecting a lot of groups:
With this new route,
they'll be able to arrive in
Zurich and then leave
from Geneva."
A number of Switzer-
land's major tourist attrac-
tions are also made acces-
sible from either end,
including chocolate tast-
ing at Maison Cailler in
Montbovon, hiking in the
mountainous Stockhorn
region or boating on the
deep turquoise-coloured
Lake Thun on a day trip
while surrounded by
panoramic views of the
Swiss Alps.
This non-stop route
seemed impossible for
decades because the tech-
nology didn't exist for
pg 10
hectares in the corre-
sponding period of last
year.
"The increase in mini-
mum support price has
increased the confidence
of farmers. Most of the
crops, including wheat
and soyabean, saw prices
rising in recent times.
Moreover, a good mon-
soon has delivered high-
er moisture content in
soil, encouraging farm-
ers to sow more," said
Ajay Kedia, MD, Kedia
Commodities.
Paddy acreage has
increased to 11.86 lakh
hectares from 10.42 lakh
hectares. Pulses acreage
has risen by over 4 lakh
hectares with gram con-
tributing to more than 2
lakh hectares.
While coarse cereals
saw a growth of more
than 4 lakh hectares of
sowing area, oil seeds
recorded a significant
increase of over 9 lakh
hectares. Of this 7 lakh
hectares of increased
acreage came from mus-
tard seeds and a higher
acreage of oilseeds is
expected to reduce
import dependency this
time.
WEDDING SEASON
DRIVES UP VEHICLE
RETAIL SALES BY 26%
MICHAEL GONSALVES
PUNE, DEC. 9
The festive and the big fat
Indian wedding season
helped boost the country's
total retail vehicles sales
by 26 per cent in November
from a year ago, the
Federation of Automobile
Dealers Associations or
Fada said on Friday.
It said the rise in sales
came on the back of the
great Indian wedding sea-
son (from November 14 to
December 14) that has so
far seen around 3.2 million
weddings.
“November 2022 has
clocked the highest retail
sales in the history of the
Indian automobile indus-
try with March 2020 as an
exception when retail
sales were higher due to
BS-4 to BS-6 transition,”
Manish Raj Singhania,
president at Fada, said.
According to the associa-
tion, the baton was passed
by the positive run of fes-
tive sales into the wedding
season.
All categories were in the
green with two-wheelers,
three-wheelers, passenger
vehicles, tractors and com-
mercial vehicles growing
by 24 per cent, 80 per cent,
21 per cent, 57 per cent and
33 per cent, respectively.
trains to transition across
the two types of railway
tracks built in
Switzerland-a standard
European track (4.7 feet
wide) and a metric-gauge
track (3.2 feet wide), made
narrower for ascending in
mountainous areas.
The idea finally emerged
in 2008 to alter the coaches
rather than build new
tracks, which had proven
cost prohibitive. Thanks
to variable gauge-chang-
ing bogies placed under
the coaches-a mechanism
to which a train's wheels
and axels are attached-
plus an adapting ramp,
the GoldenPass Express
train can now transition
from the mountain track
to the standard track, and
vice versa.
— Bloomberg

DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022
A Gibbon chooses food from
one of the boxes depicting
flags of Croatia and Brazil at
the Zagreb Zoo in Croatia.
Short passes
— AFP
England’s Sterling
back in training
R aheem Sterling was back
in training for England
on Friday after returning to
Qatar ahead of Saturday’s
World Cup quarter-final
with France. Sterling did not
feature in the round-of-16
match against Senegal after
returning to England follow-
ing a robbery at his home.
The Chelsea forward flew
out to Doha on Thursday
and was back out on the field
at Al Wakrah Sports Club
with the other 24 members
of England’s squad. Declan
Rice, who had missed train-
ing due to illness on
Wednesday, was involved in
the session for the second
straight day, easing con-
cerns about his readiness to
face Didier Deschamps side.
The other injury concern,
back-up striker Callum
Wilson, who has been nurs-
ing a slight muscle strain,
took part in the session and
showed no signs of injury.
Despite his return to camp
Sterling is unlikely to fea-
ture in Gareth Southgate’s
starting line-up on Saturday
but he does give the manag-
er an additional attacking
option from the bench.
Africa is behind us,
says Morocco coach
M orocco will have the
backing of an entire
continent when they
attempt to become Africa’s
first World Cup semi-final-
ists by beating Portugal on
Saturday, said coach Walid
Regragui. The North
Africans will take on
Portugal at Al Thumama
Stadium as the first Arab
nation to reach the last eight
after beating Spain on penal-
ties in the last 16.
A World Cup semi-final
against either England or
France is up for grabs,
alongside a place in the his-
tory books. Cameroon in
1990, Senegal’s 2002 side and
the 2010 Ghana team all fell
at the quarter-final stage.
“We have nothing to lose.
The challenge is to do as
well as we did in the previ-
ous games,” Regragui said.
“We want to show that
Africa deserves to be here,
Morocco deserves to be here.
“We have a whole people
behind us, a continent
behind us and the Arab
world behind us. That’s a lot
of energy behind us.”
Live on TV
Morocco vs Portugal
from 8.30 pm
England vs France
from 12.30 am (Sunday)
on Sports 18
Mooney powers ‘Ball-tampering approved by CA’ Prannoy stuns
Aussies past India WARNER MANAGER | DROPS A BOMB Olympic champ
Navi Mumbai, Dec. 9:
Opener Beth Mooney made
short work of India’s 173-run
target with a belligerent 57-
ball 89 to power the
Australian women’s team to a
convincing nine-wicket victo-
ry in the first T20
International here on Friday.
Mooney smashed 16 fours
during her stay in the middle,
and was helped by Tahlia
McGrath's unbeaten 29-ball
40, which included four
boundaries and two sixes.
Australia thus took a 1-0 lead
in the five-match series.
Earlier, the experienced
Deepti Sharma blazed away
to an unbeaten 15-ball 36 to
power India to 172 for five.
Sharma smashed four suc-
cessive boundaries in the
final over, bowled by Megan
Schutt to boost India's run
Arabian N ghts
● ARGENTINA ● AUSTRALIA ● BELGIUM ● BRAZIL ● CAMEROON ● CANADA ● COSTA RICA ● CROATIA ● DENMARK ● ECUADOR ● ENGLAND
●FRANCE ● GERMANY ● GHANA ● IRAN ● JAPAN ● KOREA REPUBLIC ● MEXICO ● MOROCCO ● NETHERLANDS ● POLAND ● PORTUGAL
● QATAR ● SAUDI ARABIA ● SENEGAL ● SERBIA ● SPAIN ● SWITZERLAND ● TUNISIA ● UNITED STATES ● URUGUAY ● WALES
Croatia 1
(Bruno Petkovic 116)
Brazil 1
(Neymar 105+1)
Croatia win 4-2 on penalties
Doha, Dec. 9: Croatia
stunned favourites Brazil
to reach the World Cup
semi-finals on Friday, win-
ning 4-2 on penalties after
a nailbiting last-eight tie
finished 1-1 at the end of
extra time.
Marquinhos missed the
crucial spot-kick in the
shoot-out, hitting the post
when he had to score to
keep Brazil in it after
Rodrygo’s earlier attempt
had been saved by goal
keeper Dominik Livakovic
and Croatia converted all
four penalties.
It was a remarkable
turnaround after Brazil
had looked set for victory
when Neymar opened the
scoring with a wonderful
strike midway through
extra time that allowed
him to equal Pele’s
Brazilian record of 77
international goals.
But Bruno Petkovic hit
back at the other end in
the 117th minute for
Croatia to force a shoot-
out, and Zlatko Dalic’s
team followed up their
win over Japan on penal-
ties in the last round with
this victory, which must
go down as their greatest
ever triumph.
They advance to the
semi-finals, while Brazil
will have to wait at least
another four years before
winning a record-extend-
ing sixth title.
Neymar — who left the
pitch in tears — had fired
Brazil into the lead at the
end of the first half of
extra-time, working one-
twos with Rodrygo and
Lucas Paqueta before
rounding goalkeeper
Livakovic to score.
But it did not break
Croatia’s resistance as the
2018 World Cup finalists
hit back to level.
Brazil had never played
with the same attacking
flair as in their last-16 win
over South Korea.
Croatia were as obdurate
and difficult to break
down as ever, and they
have now gone to extra
time in eight of their last
nine major tournament
knockout matches, with
the exception being their
defeat to France in the
World Cup final four years
ago.
It was never going to be
easy for Brazil to play
with the same freedom
and joy as in their demoli-
tion of South Korea, when
they celebrated their goals
with choreographed
dance moves that seemed
to upset some onlookers.
But the challenge for
Brazil coach Tite’s side —
given the huge pressure
that is always on the
Brazilian national team at
a World Cup — was to not
let the fear of losing
remove all that joy.
The stakes get higher as
the tournament progress-
es and Brazil came into
Friday’s game at Doha’s
Education City Stadium
looking to avoid falling
into another trap set by an
accomplished European
side. Brazil had been
knocked out of the last
four Cups at either this
stage or in the semi-finals,
every time by European
opposition. — AFP
rate after Richa Ghosh (36 off
20 balls) and the returning
Devika Vaidya (25 off 24)
added 56 runs for the fifth
wicket. Chasing a stiff target,
the formidable Australian
opening pair of skipper
Alyssa Healy and Mooney
gave Australia the start it
needed, adding 73 runs in
just under nine overs. Healy
and Mooney played some
wonderful shots during their
scintillating partnership.
— PTI
BRIEF SCORES
India 172/5 in 20 overs (Smriti
Mandhana 28, Devika Vaidya 25
not out, Richa Ghosh 36, Deepti
Sharma 36 not out, Ellyse Perry
2/10) lost to Australia 173/1 in
18.1 overs (Beth Mooney 89 not
out, Alyssa Healy 37, Tahlia
McGrath 40 not out).
BRUNO MARS
SAMBA PARTY
Petkovic sizzles as Croatia shock Brazil
Croatia’s Bruno Petkovic celebrates after scoring the equaliser against Brazil in the
World Cup quarterfinal at the Education City Stadium in Doha on Friday.
Morocco chase Cup history
Doha, Dec. 9: Morocco
head into Saturday’s last-
eight clash with Portugal
knowing they are only one
step away from making
history as Africa’s first
World Cup semi-finalists,
but they face a buoyant
opposition fresh from scor-
ing six goals against
Switzerland.
Walid Regragui’s
Moroccans are in unchart-
ed territory after a sur-
prise run which saw them
finish top of Group F after
beating Belgium and
Canada before a stunning
victory over Spain on
Melbourne, Dec. 9: In a
startling revelation, David
Warner’s manager James
Erskine has claimed that
Cricket Australia’s (CA)
officials allowed players to
tamper with ball more
than a year before the
sandpaper gate scandal
broke out in the Cape
Town Test in 2018. The
players got the go ahead
from “two executives”
after losing a Test match to
South Africa in late 2016 in
Hobart, according to
Erskine.
Then skipper Steve
Smith and his deputy
Warner were slapped with
one-year bans for their role
in the 2018 incident while
opener Cameron Bancroft
was handed a nine-month
suspension.
Warner was singled out
as the orchestrator of the
incident that took place in
March in Cape Town and
penalties in the last 16.
The Atlas Lions are only
the fourth African side to
reach the quarter-finals —
after Cameroon in 1990,
Senegal in 2002 and Ghana
in 2010.
Morocco have enjoyed
the vast majority of sup-
port from the crowds at all
their games in Qatar and
that is likely to be the case
again at Al Thumama
Stadium. “I think it’s
impossible for us to do this
without the fans,” said
coach Regragui after
knocking out Spain.
“A lot of fans came to
David Warner’s manager James Erskine has
claimed that Cricket Australia’s officials
allowed players to tamper with ball more
than a year before the sandpaper gate
scandal broke out in the Cape Town Test.
was ruled out of leader-
ship role for the rest of his
career.
“Two senior executives
were in the changing room
in Hobart and basically
were berating the team for
losing against South
Africa,” Erskine told SEN.
“Warner said: ‘We’ve got
to reverse-swing the ball.
‘The only way we can
reverse-swing the ball is by
tampering with it.’
“And they were told to do
it.”
In the Hobart Test,
Australia were bundled
out for 85 in the first
— AP
Qatar from a lot of coun-
tries — America, Europe,
Morocco.
“They love their country
and what I can tell them is
this — we can do nothing
without them, I need them
for the quarters and, hope-
fully, we’ll make history.”
There has still never
been a country from out-
side Europe or South
America in a World Cup
final, but Morocco want to
put that right. “Why not
aim for the sky? We needed
to change and we needed to
change our mentality,”
Regragui said. — AFP
innings, although South
Africa’s Faf du Plessis was
later found guilty of ball-
tampering.
Even though Erskine did
not directly state that the
executives involved were
from CA, he said, “He
(Warner) has shut up, he
protected Cricket
Australia, he protected his
fellow players ... because at
the end of the day no one
wanted to hear any more of
it and he’s got on playing
cricket.”
Describing the sandpaper
gate scandal as “injustice
at its greatest level”,
RONALDO WAS
‘UNHAPPY’ TO
BE ON BENCH
Doha, Dec. 9: Portugal
coach Fernando Santos
admitted on Friday that
Cristiano Ronaldo had
been unhappy to be
dropped to the bench as he
pleaded for a line to be
drawn under the affair.
The veteran striker was a
substitute for the first time
at a World Cup since 2006
for his side’s last-16 match
against Switzerland,
which they won 6-1.
A report in Portuguese
newspaper Record said
Ronaldo had threatened to
quit the squad after he was
told he was not in the
starting line-up. The
Portuguese football federa-
tion denied the report and
Ronaldo himself took to
social media to state that
the squad was “too united
to be broken by outside
forces”.
Santos, speaking on the
eve of Portugal’s quarter-
final against Morocco, said
he had spoken to Ronaldo
on the day of the game
against Switzerland.
“I invited him to my
office, and told him ‘you
will not be one of the
starters’, so it would not be
a surprise,” he said.
“I told him he would be
important (but) in terms of
the strategy, I told him ‘it’s
better for you not to play’. I
saved him for the second
half.”
Santos said five-time
Ballon d’Or winner never
threatened to leave the
team camp, although he
was upset about being
dropped. “Cristiano, for
obvious reasons, was not
very happy about it,” said
Santos. “He’s always been
a starting player except for
one or two games on the
bench — obviously he was
not happy.”
— AFP
Portugal players train ahead of their World Cup quarterfinal against Morocco. — Twitter
Erskine said that Warner
had been “completely vil-
lainised”, and “there was
far more than three people
involved in this thing”.
CA is yet to respond to
Erskine’s allegations. The
sandpaper scandal led to
the resignation of then
Australian coach Darren
Lehmann, although he was
not found guilty of any
involvement.
An internal review found
that CA was “partly to
blame” for the ball-tamper-
ing scandal.
Not prepared to let his
family be the “washing
machine for cricket’s dirty
laundry”, an angry
Warner on Wednesday
withdrew his application
for revocation of lifetime
leadership ban, saying the
independent review panel
wanted him to go through
“public lynching”.
— PTI
pg 11
England’s Harry Kane with his teammates during a
training session in Doha.
Kane & Co. face
Mbappe threat
Doha, Dec. 9: France
coach Didier Deschamps
is confident Kylian
Mbappe can still make the
difference in Saturday’s
World Cup quarter-final
showdown with England
even if the opposition put
their focus on stopping the
superstar forward.
Mbappe is the top scorer
at the tournament with
five goals in four games,
including a brace in the 3-
1 win over Poland in the
last 16, and England will
need to find a way of coun-
tering the Paris Saint-
Germain striker.
But the holders have for-
midable quality around
Mbappe, with Olivier
Giroud, Ousmane
Dembele and Antoine
Griezmann all impressing
in Qatar too.
“I imagine England will
take measures like our
four previous opponents
did but Kylian has the
ability to make the differ-
ence,” Deschamps told
reporters on Friday ahead
of the clash at Al Bayt
Stadium in the desert
north of Doha.
“Even in the last game,
when he wasn’t at his best
like in the first two, he
was still decisive, but if
we can share around the
danger that stops too
many precautions being
taken against Kylian.
“But Kylian will always
Bangkok, Dec. 9:
Already out of reckoning,
top Indian shuttler HS
Prannoy stunned world
number one and Olympic
champion Viktor Axelsen
in three games to end his
BWF World Tour Finals
campaign with a memo-
rable win here on Friday.
The tie was already
inconsequential for
Prannoy, seeded third in
the tournament, as he
had lost his earlier two
Group A matches but the
Indian pulled off a shock
14-21, 21-17, 21-18 win over
the top seed Dane in 51
minutes to at least end his
campaign on a high.
This was Prannoy’s sec-
ond career win over
Axelsen, whom he had
beaten during the
—Twitter
be Kylian, with the ability
to be decisive at any
moment.”
The pressure is intensi-
fying for both sides, but
Deschamps has won the
World Cup as a player and
a coach and the 54-year-old
encouraged France not to
let the occasion get the
better of them.
“As is the case for us and
all teams who reach the
knockouts, you don’t have
a second chance,” he
admitted.
“The further on you go
the greater the quality, but
the demands are higher
too and so is the excite-
ment. This is the next
stage but there is no
stress, no need to hold
back. It is magnificent to
play a World Cup quarter-
final.”
While France are the
defending champions,
England appear to be
growing as a team on the
back of their run to the
semi-finals in Russia four
years ago and the final of
Euro 2020. France goal-
keeper and captain Hugo
Lloris — who has spent
nearly a decade with
Tottenham —was full of
praise for Gareth
Southgate’s England. “If
you look at the English
squad they have more
players here who were in
Russia than France do,”
he said. — AFP
Viktor Axelsen (left) and
H.S. Prannoy.
Indonesia Masters last
year. The career head-to-
head record is, however, in
favour of Axelsen at 5-2.
On Thursday, Prannoy
had lost to China’s Lu
Guang Zu in his second
Group A match to bow out
of the semi-final race.
— PTI
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | SATURDAY | 10 DECEMBER 2022
SHORT
Head, Marnus
put Australia on
top in 2nd Test
TAKES
Adeialde: Travis Head and
Marnus Labuschagne posted
big hundreds in a 297-run part-
nership to set Australia on
course for a declaration in the
second cricket Test on Friday
before Michael Neser took two
wickets under lights to consoli-
date the home team’s domi-
nance in the day-night match
against West Indies.
Head’s 175 and Labuschagne’s
163 helped Australia to 511-7
before stand-in skipper Steve
Smith declared the innings just
before the second interval on
Day 2. Opener Tagenarine
Chanderpaul resisted the
Australian bowling attack for 98
deliveries, scoring a defiant
unbeaten 47 as West Indies
struggled to 102-4 at stumps.
Paceman Neser (2-20) had
West Indies skipper Kraigg
Brathwaite (19) and No. 3
Shamarh Brooks (8) caught
behind and Nathan Lyon took a
return catch to dismiss
Jermaine Blackwood (3) and
become the leading all-time
wicket-taker at the Adelaide
Oval, surpassing the great
Shane Warne’s career haul of
56. All-rounder Cameron Green
chimed in late with the wicket
of Devon Thomas (19) before
Chanderpaul, in his second test,
and night-watchman Anderson
Phillip (1 not out) navigated the
final four overs to stumps, with
the West Indies still trailing by
409 runs. “We had them out
there for nearly two days, then
took advantage of the night
session,” said Neser. — AFP
Anish betters own
record, wins four
gold medals
Bhopal: Haryana’s Anish
Bhanwala bettered his own
record in men’s 25m rapid fire
pistol qualification round on
way to winning four gold
medals at the 65th National
Shooting Championship here on
Friday. Akhil Sheoran of
Railways and Karnataka’s Yukhti
Rajendra won the men's 50m
rifle 3 positions and women’s
10m air rifle national crowns
respectively. At the MP
Shooting Academy range, Anish
won the men’s and junior men’s
rapid fire titles along with team
golds in both these events to
enjoy an excellent day. He beat
his own national record score of
588 in qualifying to top the 112-
strong field with a score of 590.
He had set the previous record
in the 2019 ISSF World Cup in
Delhi. In the four-men semi-
final, Anish was second to
Punjab's Vijayveer Sidhu with a
score of 14 to the former's 15,
but in the medal match he man-
aged to turn the tables on
Vijayveer, with 28 hits. — PTI
PT Usha to be
officially elected
as IOA boss today
New Delhi: The legendary PT
Usha will be officially elected as
the first woman president of
Indian Olympic Association
(IOA) during the governing
body’s polls on Saturday, usher-
ing in a new era in country’s
sports administration.The 58-
year-old Usha, a multiple Asian
Games gold medallist and
fourth place finisher in the 1984
Los Angeles Olympics 400m
hurdles final, will be declared
elected unopposed for the top
post in the polls being held
under the supervision of
Supreme Court-appointed
retired SC judge L Nageswara
Rao.
The elevation of Usha to the
top job will also mark the end
of the long drawn crisis in the
faction-ridden IOA, which was
warned of a possible suspen-
sion by the International
Olympic Committee if elections,
originally due in December last
year, are not held this month.
The elections will be held to
choose joint secretary (female)
and four ordinary members of
the executive council and 77
members of the electoral col-
lege will cast their votes.
Alaknanda Ashok of Badminton
Association of India and Suman
Kaushik of Netball Federation
of India are in the fray for the
joint secretary’s (female) post.
Out of eight candidates —
Amitabh Sharma, Bhupender
Singh Bajwa, Cyrus Poncha,
Harjinder Singh, Harpal Singh,
Parminder Singh Dhindsa, Rohit
Rajpal and Vitthal Shirgaonkar
— four will be elected for the
executive council. — PTI
Regd. No. TNENG/2010/35692
Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on
behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited
and Printed at Deccan Chronicle Presses
situated at SP 3, Developed Plot,
Industrial Estate,
Guindy, Chennai - 600 032.
RNI Registration No: TN ENG/2005/14987
Ph Nos: 22254747, 22254748, 22254750,
22254751
Editor: KAUSHIK MITTER
Redemption time
Injury-plagued India look to pull one back against Bangladesh
Chattogram, Dec. 9: A
struggling Indian team,
severely depleted by a
spate of on-field injuries
and fitness-related prob-
lems, will be determined to
avoid the ignominy of a
clean sweep against
Bangladesh in the final
ODI of the three-match
series here on Saturday.
Bangladesh, riding on
two contrasting yet bril-
liant knocks from Mehidy
Hasan Miraz, have already
sealed the series after win-
ning the first two matches
but if Litton Das’ men can
blank the ‘Men in Blue’ 3-0,
it will be a historic first in
the country’s cricket.
Not only will it be an
icing on the cake for the
hosts but also significantly
dent the visiting team’s
confidence ahead of the
Test series, starting at this
very venue in less than a
week’s time (December 14).
For India, there were 20
cricketers originally avail-
able for this series since
there was a very short
turnaround time between
the first ODI in Bangladesh
and the last game in New
Zealand as some players in
both squads were common.
But call it a cruel twist of
fate as within a week
things have gone from bad
to worse and they only
have 14 fit and available
players to choose from for
the final game.
Such has been the plight
that Kuldeep Yadav has
been flown
Chattogram on SOS basis
into
as the Indian bowling
attack looks thin on experi-
ence. The left-arm wrist
spinner with 118 wickets
from 72 ODIs will be the
most experienced bowler
in the line-up.
Regular skipper Rohit
Sharma sustained a left
thumb dislocation and has
flown back home. Up and
coming pacer Kuldeep Sen
suffered a back injury after
playing his first interna-
tional game. Seamer
Deepak Chahar continued
his saga of breaking down
in almost all the series he
has played since his come-
back from a long lay-off.
Add to this, Axar Patel
suffered a hit in the ribs
and missed the first game
while Rishabh Pant, who
flew all the way from New
Zealand, reportedly had a
niggle and had to be rested
for excessive workload
prior to this series.
In fact, there will be two
forced changes in the play-
ing eleven with Rohit and
Chahar already unavail-
able.
It is there to be seen
whether India bring in
Ishan Kishan into the play-
ing XI as an opener or
stand-in skipper KL Rahul,
who is now a designated
middle-order batter-keeper
in this format, decides to
promote himself just like
during the tour of South
Africa.
The other option is con-
tinuing with Virat Kohli-
Shikhar Dhawan combina-
tion and get someone like
Rahul Tripathi, who can
also bowl some cutters at
mid 120 clicks, in the play-
ing XI. If the team manage-
ment goes for a pure batter
rather than a utility player,
then the stylish Rajat
Abrar casts a spell over England
CALL ON ROHIT
AVAILABILITY TO
BE TAKEN LATER
Live on TV
Bangladesh vs India
Third One-Day International,
from 11.30 am on
Sony Ten 5, 4, 3
Kuldeep Yadav during a training session in Chattogram on Friday.
Patidar could get his first
game for India.
In case of Chahar’s
replacement, there isn’t a
back-up pacer available
and the team might not
have an option but to fall
back to all-rounder
Shahbaz Ahmed, who
could be the sixth bowling
option.
India’s five-pronged bowl-
ing attack will be
Mohammed Siraj, Shardul
Thakur, Umran Malik,
Washington Sundar and
Axar Patel.
With no Jasprit BUmrah,
Mohammed Shami and
Ravindra Jadeja, the
Indian bowling unit’s per-
formance at the back-end
has been far from impres-
sive.
In the first match, it was
plain and simple poor
bowling when only one
wicket to get and 51 runs
still required, while in the
second game, Bangladesh
scored 200-plus runs after
being six down for 69.
— PTI
Pakistan's Abrar
Ahmed celebrates
after taking the
wicket of England’s
Ben Stokes. — AP
I have been working on
my power-hitting: Sundar
Chattogram, Dec. 9: He
is not the quintessential
power-hitter. But, keeping
in mind the Indian team’s
requirements ahead of
next year’s World Cup,
Washington Sundar is
working “specifically” on
how to hit the ball long
and hard.
Known to rely more on
timing and placement,
Washington has also
played a few blinders, the
most recent coming in the
tour of New Zealand. And
who can forget his 14-ball
40 against Rajasthan
Royals in the IPL, repre-
senting Sunrisers
Hyderabad.
“That’s the role I have
been getting in the last
Multan, Dec. 9: When
Abrar Ahmed took five
wickets with his beguiling
spin in a club match in
Pakistan’s port city of
Karachi, the then-15-year-
old demanded his friends
start calling him “super-
star”. Nine years later, he
has lived up to that self-
billing, taking an impres-
sive 7-114 on his Test debut
as Pakistan dismissed
England for 281 in their
first innings in Multan on
Friday. Now nicknamed
“Harry Potter” by friends
because he wears glasses
similar to those of the fic-
tional boy wizard, Ahmed
produced magic of his own
on a turning pitch.
Brought on to bowl the
ninth over of the match,
Ahmed snagged his first
Test wicket with just his
fifth ball, bamboozling Zak
Crawley (19) to give
Pakistan a breakthrough.
“His passion for the
game, the hard work he
puts into bowling, and the
thirst for taking wickets...
it was just a matter of time
before he made his mark at
the international level,”
—AP
few years or so. That’s
what that particular posi-
tion demands, and I have
working quite specifically
that way.
“Whatever positions
demand me to do, I have
been practising that way. I
have been working in
those specific manners,”
Washington said on the
eve of the third ODI
against Bangladesh.
Washington is happy
that his hard work is reap-
ing dividends.
“I am glad that all the
hard work has been com-
ing good in the last few
months or so. Hopefully, I
will continue to do really
well in the coming months
and years as well.”
his brother Amjad told
AFP by phone from
Karachi. Ahmed came into
the spotlight in the 2019-20
domestic season, grabbing
57 wickets in the Grade-II
tournament, including
eight five-wicket hauls.
He earned his interna-
tional call-up this year
with 43 wickets in
Pakistan’s premier first
class tournament.
Ahmed followed his first
wicket on Friday with the
dismissals of Ben Duckett
and Joe Root — much to
the delight of skipper
Babar Azam who had
wanted a spinners’ track
after losing the first Test
on a lifeless pitch in
Rawalpindi.
He then lured Ollie Pope
and Harry Brook into fol-
lowing his looping deliver-
ies for a five-wicket haul,
becoming only the second
debutant in history to do it
before lunch on the open-
ing day of a Test.
“I can’t describe my feel-
ings in words,” he said at
the end of the day.
“People do call me Harry
Potter, but I am not a magi-
pg 12
New Delhi, Dec. 9: A call
on injured India captain
Rohit Sharma’s participa-
tion in the upcoming two-
match Test series against
Bangladesh, starting
December 14, will be taken
later, BCCI secretary Jay
Shah said on Friday. Rohit
had suffered a blow to his
thumb while fielding in the
slips during the second
ODI against Bangladesh in
Mirpur on December 7.
“The BCCI Medical Team India ‘A’ pacer Navdeep Saini celebrates a Bangladesh
assessed him and he wicket during the unofficial Test.
underwent scans at a local
hospital in Dhaka. He has
flown to Mumbai for spe-
cialist consultation and UNOFFICIAL | TEST
will miss the final ODI. A
Saurabh bags 6
call on his availability for
the upcoming Test series
will be taken later,” Shah.
While the BCCI will wait
for an update on Indian
skipper’s availability, it
can be safely concluded
that with a dislocation as
well as stitches, it will be
near impossible for Rohit
in India ‘A’ win
to train and then play a Sylhet, Dec. 9: Left-arm ner also finished with a
five-day match starting orthodox spinner Saurabh haul of 15 scalps in two
Wednesday. It is also not Kumar ran through games to emerge as the
just about batting but also Bangladesh ‘A’ batting top wicket-taker in the
fielding. With India having line-up as India ‘A’ series. Bangladesh ‘A’,
a packed schedule of
white-ball games through-
clinched the two ‘Test’
series with a commanding
with seasoned former
skipper Mominul Haque
out January, whether the
risk will be taken in a Test
innings and 123-run victo-
ry in the second and final
in their ranks, were
expecting to bat it out for
series against Bangladesh
is there to be seen.
game here on Friday.
With his performance,
three sessions and eke out
a draw.
The BCCI has also Saurabh has staked a However, Mominul (6)
instructed injury-prone strong claim to replace an was smartly snapped up
pacer Deepak Chahar and injured Ravindra Jadeja behind stumps by keeper
rookie Kuldeep Sen to in the Indian Test squad Kona Bharat in the fifth
report to National Cricket for the upcoming series over of the morning and
Academy (NCA) for assess- against Bangladesh, start- there was no looking back
ment of their hamstring ing December 14. for India ‘A’.
and back injuries respec- Having conceded a mam- Opener Shadman Islam
tively, informed Shah. moth 310-run first innings (93 not out) did fight it out
“Kuldeep Sen complained
of stiffness in his back
lead, Bangladesh ‘A’ per-
formed even worse in
and also had a 54-run
fourth wicket stand with
after the first ODI. The their second innings, Shahadat Hossain (29) but
Medical Team assessed being shot out for a paltry Saurabh broke that stand
him and he was advised 187 in 79.5 overs. with Yash Dhull taking a
rest from the 2nd ODI. In the first innings, catch. Navdeep Saini (2/54
Kuldeep has been diag- Bangladesh were a shade in 16 overs), who was
nosed with a stress injury better, scoring 252 and given an extended spell
and is ruled out of the India replied with a mas- because of his possible
series,” BCCI release said. sive 562, riding on skipper call-up to the senior
— PTI Abhimanyu Easwaran’s squad, then got two wick-
superb 157. ets in three deliveries to
Saurabh, who also had a send half of the home side
five-wicket haul in the sec-
ond innings of the drawn
first ‘Test’, took 6 for 74 in
30 overs to become one of
packing. — PTI
Brief scores: Bangladesh A 252
& 187 in 79.5 overs (Shadman
Islam 93 not out, Saurabh
the architects of the series
win.
The Uttar Pradesh spin-
Kumar 6/74, Umesh Yadav
2/34, Navdeep Saini 2/54) lost
to India A 562/9 declared.
The all-rounder, who has
picked up five wickets in SENIOR NATIONAL | SQUASH
the two preceding match-
es of the series which
India have already lost, is
looking to be the player
for all situations and posi-
tions. “It was a great
opportunity for me in last
game. With the World Cup
next year, I want to be the
player who could play in
any situation, in any sort
of combinations, and
wherever the team needs.
To win games, wherever
they ask me to play, I will
play. That’s the kind of
player I want to be.
“I want to be able to con-
tribute to my potential,”
he said.
— PTI
cian. I have done what is
my job, and that is taking
wickets.”
Ahmed became the 13th
Pakistan bowler to grab
five or more wickets on
debut. He is the youngest of
five brothers and three sis- Gujarat’s Akanksha Salunkhe (left) in action against
ters, and comes from hum- Tamil Nadu’s Joshna Chinappa in the semifinal of the
ble beginnings. senior national squash championship.
His father, a small-time
transport operator in
Karachi, wanted him to
study religion, but Ahmed
JOSHNA TO MEET TEENAGER
would escape to play tape-
ball cricket in the neigh-
bourhood. There he was
ANAHAT IN SUMMIT CLASH
spotted by Masroor DC CORRESPONDENT Tanishka Jain 11-4, 11-7,
Ahmed, a successful coach CHENNAI, DEC. 9 11-2.
with an eye for young tal- In the men’s final, top
ent, who took him under Joshna Chinappa will take seed Abhay Singh will
his wing. on 14-year-old Anahat take on S. Velavan.
“To make his father Singh in the final of the RESULTS
happy, he learned the senior national squash Semifinals: Men: 1-Abhay
Koran by heart, but also championship here at the Singh (TN) bt (5/8)
convinced him that he has Indian Squash Academy Sandeep Jangra (SSCB)
a future in cricket,” on Saturday. The 36-year- 11-2, 11-2, 11-4; (5/8)-S.
Masroor said. — AFP old Joshna is bidding to Velavan (TN) bt
Brief scores: England 281 in 51.4 win her 19th crown, while Harinderpal Singh (TN)
overs (B. Duckett 63, O. Pope Anahat will be playing in 5-11, 11-9, 11-4, 11-9.
60, B. Stokes 30, W. Jacks 31, M. her maiden final. Women: 1-Joshna
Wood 36 not out, Abrar In the semifinals on Chinappa (TN) bt (5/8)-
Ahmed 7/114, Mahmood 3/63) Friday, Joshna got the bet- Akansha Salunkhe (Goa)
vs Pakistan 107/2 in 28 overs ter of Gujarat's Akansha 11-9, 11-9, 11-8; 2-Anahat
(Babar Azam 61 batting, Saud Salunkhe 11-9, 11-9, 11-8, Singh (Del) bt Tanishka
Shakeel 32 batting). while Anahat beat Jain (Mah) 11-4, 11-7, 11-2.