th.th delhi.14 05 2023

SUNDAY www.thehindu.com May 14, 2023 FOLLOW US facebook.com/thehindu twitter.com/the_hindu instagram.com/the_hindu DELHI CITY EDITION 24 Pages ₹ 15.00 Vol.13 앫 No.20 Printed at » Chennai » Coimbatore » Bengaluru » Hyderabad » Madurai » Noida » Visakhapatnam » Thiruvananthapuram » Kochi » Vijayawada » Mangaluru » Tiruchirapalli » Kolkata » Hubballi » Mohali » Malappuram » Mumbai Tirupati » » Lucknow Cuttack » Patna » CLEAN SWEEP Several Ministers trounced NEWS BJP’s experiments with caste matrix backfire » PAGE 9 NEWS Congress surge topples BJP in Karnataka Congress improves tally from 80 in 2018 to 135 in 224seat Assembly Focus on corruption issues, free power, income support pays off Cong. to meet today to discuss next step BENGALURU ending out a clear signal for change, Karnataka voters have defeated the incum bent Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and given the Con gress an unambiguous mandate, with 135 seats in the 224member Legisla tive Assembly. The acid test for the Congress will now be to choose a Chief Minister, with both Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Siddara maiah, and Karnataka Pra desh Congress Committee president D.K. Shivakumar publicly jockeying for the post in the runup to the election. In the results declared on Saturday of the election held on May 10, the Con gress improved its tally from the 80 seats it won in 2018, powering to 135 seats on the back of a robust un ified campaign promising S CM YK The Hindu Bureau BENGALURU The MLAselect of the Congress will meet in Bengaluru at 5.30 p.m. on Sunday. The meeting of the Congress Legislature Party has been convened to discuss the formation of the government, said sources in the party. During the meeting, the leaders are also expected to elicit views of the free rice, power and in come support, and build ing a case against the BJP based on local issues of corruption and gover nance. In contrast, the BJP lar gely flagged a “doubleen gine” government’s bene fits and used polarising communal rhetoric during its muchadvertised cam paign led by Prime Minis ter Narendra Modi. Many of its senior Minis ters were also swept out of their seats by the Congress wave. This result continues Karnataka’s record of not reelecting incumbent go vernments. The defeat of the BJP in the only south Indian State where it had managed to establish a strong presence marks a stunning setback for a party that has tried hard to grow beyond the Hindi heartland. While the BJP’s seats de clined sharply to 66 against IN BRIEF 쑽 JD(S) that was banking on a hung House bites the dust with 19 seats BJP’s strength declines to 66 against 104 seats it won in 2018 Nagesh Prabhu » PAGE 9 104 in 2018, the H.D. Kum araswamyled Janata Dal (Secular) — which was counting on a hung As sembly to revive its for tunes — slid to the sidelines with just 19 seats, against 37 in 2018. The decline of MLAselect on the chief ministerial candidate, which is a key question the party has to wrestle with. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the party’s victory had brought a new energy among the cadre and south India had become “BJPmukt [free] now”. CONTINUED ON » PAGE 7 BATTLES AHEAD » PAGE 9 18 seats, largely came in the old Mysore region, seen as a JD(S) stronghold. CONTINUED ON » PAGE 7 MORE REPORTS » PAGES 8, 9 & 10 Karnataka result not surprising, says Assam CM GUWAHATI Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma on Saturday said the Karnataka Assembly election result was not surprising and that the BJP had won most of the seats he visited during campaigning. » Page 6 It’s the beginning of BJP’s end, says Mamata Banerjee KOLKATA Congratulating the people of Karnataka for the “decisive mandate in favour of change”, West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday the results are the beginning of the end for the BJP ahead of the Lok Sabha election. » Page 8 » CLASSIFIEDS PAGE 4 MAGAZINE 8 PAGES » A ND-NDE THE HINDU 2 Sunday, May 14, 2023 City INBRIEF 쑽 Delhi govt. inks deal to combat vehicular pollution The Delhi government’s Transport Department is collaborating with the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago Trust in India (EPIC India) to combat vehicular pollution in the Capital. Transport Secretary Ashish Kundra said the collaboration aims to improve the air quality of the Capital through innovative policy interventions through the establishment of a research unit in Delhi. “There will be separate units for focused solutions to combat vehicular pollution,” he added. Two held for robbing woman with her son’s plan Two people have been apprehended for allegedly holding a woman hostage at her house in Vivek Vihar and robbing jewellery and ₹85,000, the police said. An officer said the two accused, Mandal, 19, and a juvenile, revealed that the robbery plan was hatched by the victim’s son, Sachin, who is on the run along with the fourth accused, Tinku. The police said the incident took place on May 9 when the victim was having dinner at her residence. Woman found dead at underconstruction building A 33yearold woman was found dead at an underconstruction building in northeast Delhi’s Sonia Vihar, the police said on Saturday. The suspect remains at large, the police said. The police received a call at 10.34 a.m. about a body found at an underconstruction site. The victim, identified as Meena Giri, was allegedly strangulated and hit with a brick. However, the postmortem will ascertain the exact cause, the police said. Delhi Don’t send files to LG without approval, AAP govt. orders bureaucrats City agencies seek to delist 232 out of 1,045 waterbodies Missive issued hours after SC ruling on May 11 prohibits officials from routing files through Chief Secretary; papers to be sent to Minister directly; many officials confirm receiving similar directive The Wetland Authority of Delhi (WAD) has received requests to delete 232 wa terbodies, i.e. 22.2% of the total 1,045, from its re cords, according to data accessed by The Hindu. The requests have been made by some of the 16 agencies that own water bodies in the city. Around the same time last year, the WAD had received re quests to delete 214 waterbodies. “An agency makes such a request on various grounds, including water bodies being encroached upon or drying up,” an offi cial source said, adding that the WAD is yet to act on the requests. The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has sought the deletion of 223 of the 822 waterbodies it owns. The urban body comes under the Central government and the Lieu tenantGovernor is its ex officio chairperson. According to the source, data from earlier surveys were used to arrive at 1,045 as the total number of wa terbodies. The WAD has prepared ‘brief docu ments’ for 710 of them, while the rest are either en croached upon or their owners are yet to be identi fied or determined, ac cording to official data. Each ‘brief document’ contains important details of a waterbody. After scru tiny by a technical commit tee, waterbodies with ‘brief documents’ are noti Movement of files has been a major flashpoint between the AAP government and the LG Nikhil M Babu NEW DELHI H ours after the Su preme Court on Thursday gave the Delhi government power to make laws and wield control over bureaucrats deputed to its depart ments, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Ministers directed top bureaucrats to not send files to the Central governmentappointed LieutenantGovernor without their approval. An official communica tion dated May 11, seen by The Hindu, directed the bureaucrats to send files directly to the Minis ter and not via the Chief Secretary. The govern ment has not yet made the communication public or shared details of it officially. “Most of the files are be ing presented to me through the Chief Secre tary. This is contrary to the provisions of TBR (Transaction of Business Rules). Therefore, it is di rected that the Secretary shall present the files di rectly to the Minister and not through the Chief Se cretary,” a communication to the head of a depart ment read. Multiple offi cials confirmed to The Hindu that they have re ceived similar communi Even after the SC ruling, the tussle between the LG and the AAP government may not be completely over, as the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021, is still intact. FILE PHOTO cation from their Minister incharge. Movement of files has been a major flashpoint between the AAP govern ment and the LG, with the former claiming that the latter is taking files direct ly from bureaucrats and “unconstitutionally” by passing the Ministers and the Chief Minister. In relation to the files being sent to the LG, the communication said, “All such files should first be presented by the Secre tary to the Minister quot ing the subrule of Rule 23 which is applicable. The Minister shall give his find ing whether he agrees with the Secretary. If he agrees with the Secretary, the Minister shall note his approval.” Even after the Minis ter’s concurrence, accord ing to the missive, files can be sent to the LG only through the Chief Secre tary, the Minister, and the Chief Minister. No powers “It has been observed that the Chief Secretary is giv ing directions to various officers directly. Chief Se cretary does not have any powers under TBR to give any directions directly to any officer. If any such di rection is received from the Chief Secretary, the same should be presented before the Minister for ap propriate instructions,” the communication read. The order stated that “any violation shall be viewed seriously”. While an AAP source backed the directive, a bu reaucrat said the govern ment has “gone beyond its powers” with the commu nication. Another senior bureaucrat indicated a waitandwatch approach on how file movement will actually happen over the next few days. The Hindu had reported earlier this week that even after the judgment, the power tussle between the LG and the AAP govern ment may not be com pletely over, as the Nation al Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Act 2021, seen as giving more powers to the LG, is still intact. The Delhi govern ment has challenged the Act in a separate case, which is to be heard by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. In fact, the government had also issued orders on May 11 to replace the Se cretary of the Services De partment with another of ficer, which was not executed. That matter is also now with the apex court. Nikhil M Babu NEW DELHI Upset over Class 12 results, two students kill selves The Hindu Bureau NEW DELHI Two students were found dead at their homes in sep arate incidents on Friday, after the Class 12 Central Board of Secondary Educa tion exam results were an nounced, the police said. An officer said the first suicide was reported at the Hari Nagar police station around 11.54 p.m. by Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital. The victim’s father had brought her to the hospi tal, but she was declared brought dead, he added. DCP (West) Ghanshyam Bansal said, “The girl was upset as she scored 75%. No note has been recovered.” The police said the se cond death of a 19yearold CM YK The police said both female students were found dead at their respective homes student was reported at the Sultanpuri police station. DCP (Outer) Harendra K Singh said, “The student was upset after finding out that she failed in the Class 12 exam. She was admitted to Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri where she died during treatment.” A senior officer said no note was recovered. Those in distress may contact Sanjivini, Society for Mental Health suicide prevention helpline 011 40769002. Wetlands support a host of animal and plant life and are important for mitigation of flooding. FILE PHOTO fied as wetlands if they fit the definition. This gives waterbodies legal protec tion and also facilitates ef forts to rejuvenate them. The government is also carrying out a ground truthing exercise, or a veri fication, of waterbodies. Wetlands support a host of animal and plant life and are critically important for mitigation of urban flood ing — a major issue in Delhi — as they can store excess water. They also help puri fy and store water, re charge groundwater, con trol erosion, and aid microclimate regulation. ‘Dip in numbers’ “According to a 1997 sur vey, Delhi had over 1,000 waterbodies, but it is now left with less than 700,” said Suresh Kumar Rohilla, programme lead at Inter national Water Association. Mr. Rohilla said that the Najafgarh lake was spread across 80 sq. km in 1883, as per records, but now it has shrunk to 5 sq. km. Process for DU undergraduate admission likely from Mayend Press Trust of India NEW DELHI Delhi University plans to start the admissions pro cess for undergraduate programmes through the Common Seat Allocation System by the end of this month, a senior official said on Saturday. The university will launch two portals for ad missions to undergraduate and postgraduate pro grammes. The CBSE on Friday declared the Class 12 results, with 87.33% of students clearing the ex am. The admissions for un dergraduate and postgrad uate programmes will be done through CSAS (UG) 2023 and CSAS (PG) 2023. A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 3 States Delhi Stalin hails Congress win in Karnataka The Hindu Bureau AAP breaches Cong. bastion of Jalandhar, returns to Lok Sabha CHENNAI/MADURAI Tamil Nadu Chief Minis ter M.K. Stalin on Satur day congratulated the Congress on its victory in the Karnataka Assembly election and said the “landmass of Dravidian family stands clear of the BJP”. “Now, let us all work together to win 2024 to restore the democracy and Constitutional values in India,” he wrote in a message on Twitter. Con gratulating the Congress for its ‘spectacular’ victo ry, he said the unjustifia ble disqualification of Ra hul Gandhi as Member of Parliament, misusing in vestigative agencies against political oppo nents, imposition of Hin di, and rampant corrup tion have echoed in the minds of the people of Karnataka. “They have upheld the Kannadiga pride by teaching a befitting lesson to the BJP’s vindictive pol itics,” Mr. Stalin added. Earlier, Mr. Stalin tele phoned Congress presi dent Mallikarjun Kharge, former presidents Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, former Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee pre sident D.K. Shivakumar and conveyed his wishes on the victory. Tamil Nadu Congress Committee (TNCC) As sembly floor leader K. Sel vaperunthagai said this is just the beginning to wards change. People have voted for the politics of work, says party chief Arvind Kejriwal; setback for SADBSP; BJP finishes fourth Vikas Vasudeva CHANDIGARH ongress turncoat Sushil Kumar Rin ku, who joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) shortly ahead of the Ja landhar Lok Sabha bypoll in Punjab, delivered a win for his new party by de feating the nearest rival of the Congress on Saturday. Mr. Rinku, a former Congress MLA, won the Lok Sabha seat by secur ing 3,02,279 votes and de feating the Congress’s Ka ramjit Kaur Chaudhary by 58,691 votes. Ms. Chaud hary got 2,43,588 votes. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) candidate, Sukhwinder Kumar Sukhi, secured 1,58,445 votes to stay in third place. He was the joint candidate of the SAD and the Bahujan Sa maj Party (BSP). The Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) candidate, In der Iqbal Singh Atwal, got 1,48,00 votes to settle at fourth spot. Addressing a joint press conference with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in New Delhi, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal said the result captures the mood of Pun jab and the people of the State have given their stamp of approval to the AAP government and its “good work”. Terming it an “unprece dented” victory for the party, Mr. Kejriwal said, C Triumphant: Aam Aadmi Party candidate Sushil Kumar Rinku flashes the victory sign after winning the Jalandhar Lok Sabha byelection by a margin of 58,691 votes on Saturday. ANI “The people of Punjab have defeated dynasty politics and voted for the politics of work.” He added that the party last year was able to win only four out of the nine Assembly constituencies in Jalandhar, a stronghold of the Congress for over 50 years. ‘Majority in Lok Sabha’ The AAP chief said this victory marked the party’s reentry into the Lok Sab ha and was hopeful of soon having a majority in the lower House. “AAP’s dedication to the welfare of all citizens resonated with the electo rate. This surge of support for positive and construc tive politics signifies a re AAP’s dedication to the welfare of all citizens resonated with the electorate. This surge of support for positive and constructive politics signifies a remarkable shift in public sentiment ARVIND KEJRIWAL AAP national convener markable shift in public sentiment,” he said. AAP had been left with no representation in the lower House of Parliament with Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) candidate Sim ranjit Singh Mann defeat ing the ruling party’s can didate, Gurmail Singh, by a margin of over 5,800 votes in the bypoll to the Sangrur Lok Sabha consti tuency last June. This byelection was ne cessitated owing to the re signation of Mr. Mann from the seat after he was elected as an MLA in the 2022 Assembly election. ‘Endorsement of AAP’ Mr. Mann termed the win an endorsement of AAP’s work culture, honesty, and commitment to inclu sive politics. He said the government’s initiatives such as opening Aam Aad mi Clinics and providing “zero bill electricity” paved the way for success. Taking a dig at Opposi tion parties, the Chief Mi nister said, “Their collec tive efforts proved futile against overwhelming support for AAP.” The result has come as a jolt for the Congress as the Jalandhar Lok Sabha seat has traditionally been its stronghold. Out of a to tal of 18 Lok Sabha elec tions, the Congress won the seat 14 times and lost just four times. It had not lost the seat since 1999. It was also a setback for the Akali Dal (Badal), which was seeking to make a political comeback with its alliance partner: the BSP. For the SAD, which faced a drubbing in the Assembly election, and later in the Sangrur bypoll, the loss is another grim reminder of the crisis that is staring at it. Deposit lost For the BJP, which had faced the wrath of farmers during protests against the three farm laws, the Ja landhar byelection result has not been encouraging as its candidate lost the se curity deposit. For the ruling AAP, the victory has come as a res pite as it has been in pow er for over a year in the State and had sought votes on its ‘performance’ and ‘policies’. The party had been highlighting the go vernment’s efforts to weed out corruption, ille gal mining, and ‘mafias’ from the State. (With inputs from Nikhil M. Babu) INBRIEF 쑽 Bajrang Dal not afraid of ban threat in Karnataka: VHP The Bajrang Dal is not afraid of ban threat in view of a Congress victory in the Karnataka elections, a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) functionary said on Saturday. “If they ban Bajrang Dal out of the hatred for Hindus, necessary steps will be taken,” VHP general secretary Milind Parande told reporters in Indore. He said during the Ram janmabhoomi movement, the Bajrang Dal was banned but the court quashed it saying it was wrong. PTI NIA arrests one person in 2021 fake currency case The National Investigation Agency on Saturday arrested one person in the 2021 fake currency case in Naupada, Thane. According to the Central agency, searches conducted at six locations led to 33yearold Mohammad Fayaaz, a resident of Mumbai. Twelve sharpedged swords and other incriminating material linking him to the case were found in his custody. Coaccused Riyaz and Nasir are currently in judicial custody for allegedly counterfeiting Indian currency notes of ₹2,000 denomination. The original complaint was registered by the Thane police on November 18, 2021. Attempt to divide people failed: Baghel Press Trust of India RAIPUR With Congress coasting to a comfortable victory in Karnataka, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said the BJP’s at tempts to polarise the elec tion proved futile and peo ple’s mandate in the southern State shows that ‘Bajrangbali’ is with the grand old party. Talking to reporters in Raipur, Mr. Baghel said the party had realised that it was going to lose the Kar nataka elections and hence images of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on televi sion were replaced with that of BJP chief J.P. Nadda. Timings DELHI SUNDAY, MAY. 14 RISE 05:32 SET 19:04 RISE 02:14 SET 13:49 MONDAY, MAY. 15 RISE 05:31 SET 19:05 RISE 02:47 SET 14:52 TUESDAY, MAY. 16 RISE 05:31 SET 19:06 RISE 03:19 SET 15:54 0 DISCLAIMER: Readers are requested to verify and make appropriate enquiries to satisfy themselves about the veracity of an advertise ment before responding to any published in this newspaper. THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., the Publisher & Owner of this newspaper, does not vouch for the authenticity of any advertisement or advertiser or for any of the advertiser’s products and/or services. In no event can the Owner, Publisher, Printer, Editor, Director/s, Employees of this newspaper/company be held responsible/liable in any manner whatsoever for any claims and/or damages for advertise ments in this newspaper. Published by Nirmala Lakshman and Printed by S. Ramanujam at HT Media Ltd. Plot No. 8, Udyog Vihar, Greater Noida Distt. Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P. 201306, on behalf of THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD., Chennai600002. Editor: Suresh Nambath (Responsible for selection of news under the PRB Act). Regd. DL(ND)11/6110/20060708 RNI No. UPENG/1986/49939 ISSN 0971 751X ● CM YK ● A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 4 Delhi TELUGU TAMIL MALAYALAM DHEEVARA GIRL 35/163/Pooram,Good looking,Software professional,working in MNC Trivandrum ,Financially well off family,Caste No Bar , Seeks suitable Groom .contact :9446551054,944771054,Not Bureau NAIR FAMILY of Mumbai seeks suitable alliance for their daughter working in Mumbai BE/MS (US) 32/165cm Thiruvathira vegetarian divorced with no liabilities (Alappuzha, Kerala) from Nair men aged upto 36 with suitable qualifications Contact: 9322358659 GROOM PROPOSALS invited for Nov 1998/165 cms, Fair & beautiful girl with good family values, Completed MS and working in USA from Vanniya Kula Kshatriya, Tamil boys in late 20’s working in USA (Preferrable) / NRI’s. 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Short marist, only daughter seeks any docriage. Awaiting divorce. E−mail: tors. Contact: Mrs. S.P.Revathi − HINDU TAMIL Yadhava Girl, tall kshmi@myyahoo.com / 9345253699 9884300680 wheatish , B Tech, currently working in Citibank Belfast UK, 93 MCH IIYR, 28, 5ft 8inch, rohini born Seeks Suitable IT Groom who seek veg MD/MS/SS groom from Chen- can relocate to UK. CNB. Ct:73050 nai. Parents Brahmin&Pillai. 10105 6383189302 MUDALIYAR, TAMIL, Chennai, Dec. 1992, 165CM, Doctor PG−Pediatrics, pursuing fellowship in CMC, Vellore seeks suitable alliance from well settled family−Doctors, Engineers−MS/MBA, CAs. CELL 9444841350 HINDU SC(AD) 32 Govt Dr MS(O.G) Rs.75000/pm seeks suitable. Groom 9443158169 VANNIYAR, 29/164, M.E, fair good looking. Expecting well qualified, good looking, settled groom. Pref WANTED SUITABLE groom for beauti- from IT/ Banking. Ct: 9444171147 ful girl, 39/ doctor/ DKV/ from affluent family. Contact− 9865795874 MUDALIAR /PILLAI 35/154 fair Hastham MCA Uppr Mid Cls Chennai (M) Seeks Prof Quaf Working Groom 26 YEARS /165cm Doctor,from Chen- 8220757159 nai Joining Neurology residency in June 2023 at New Jersey USA. Seeks SC AD TAMIL 29 Staff Nurse at AIMedical Doctor Groom doing Residen- IMS New Delhi Seeks Groom From cy/Fellowship in USA. Hindu,Tamil GOVT/PSU /PVT. Whatsapp BHP to: OBC preferred Whatsapp/Call 9488854998 9677026459 HINDU NADAR girl, MOB 8/1994, ME, DM II yr Seeks PG (Clinical) Super Junior Research Fellow, IIT Kharagpur Specialist / Civil Servant / Group I offi- West Bengal, 168 cms, 65 kg, Wheacer / well employed PG in Engineering tish brown, Thiruvathirai, Mithunam from Mudaliyar Community born befo- with Chevvai Ragu Kaethu, Upper re March 1989. Ph: 70104 29191 middle class Seeks equally qualified Christian Nadar PG Doctor Girl CMC boy, well settled. Ct : 96265 15511 Vellore, good Looking, 28/152 seek HINDU MUDALIYAR 26, BE, 170cm, VIP PG Doctor. Contact: 9790794189 Well to do Seeks Suitable Groom 9710093999 / 8939691888 IAS / ALLIED SERVICES WANTED BRIDEGROOM −For unmarried my cousin and daughter −a)1985 Born Doctor working All India Civil Services− Revenue in Chennai No Sibling expecting same Cadre and b) 32/165,A. P. GEC,M.E.,Ph.D. No sibling Hindu SC AD −Retd Director GOI/ wife−Vellalar −MVSc., Doctors settled in Chennai preferred. CNB −matri9757@gmail.com MALAYALAM SEEKING SUITABLE match from Unmarried groom for 38 years 152 cm, MBBS, IFS, Hindu SC, CNB Ct: 8137003061 SEEKING SUITABLE match from Unmarried groom for 39 years 158 cm, B.Tech, MBA, Lecturer. Hindu SC. CNB: Ct: 8137003061 CM YK CHETTIAR (CNB): 30/Good Looking, B.Arch, M.RES (France), PG M.A (IARD) OXFORD Brookes University− London, Leading Architecture Firm in Coimbatore, Elite Family, Seeks Groom Abroad/ Business / Eng − 8939012419 TAMIL AGAMUDI MUDALIAR Elite Family 33/ 170 Rohini/ Mirugasim M.Sc IT Works in MNC Seeks UG/PG Bride. 9176780777 COIMBATORE, RACE course based MIB, 30/175 with Ragu Kaethu, Upper middle class, S/o.Cinema Producer / Director, seeks suitable bride Kurumba Gounder / Nadar. 9442105222 Engineer IIT Mudaliar 6'2 Boy born Nov 91 Wkg in Hyderabad Top MNC Sal 60 lacs Seeks Bride 5' 4 Doctor, CA, Engineer Contact: 7382620365 24 MANAI TELUGU CHETTIAR 30/180 B.Tech, MBA, Bharani, HR Manager @ Infosys, Chennai. Seeks Suitable Educated & Working Bride. 9789056884 / subbudu@gmail.com TAMIL TELUGU IYENGAR VADAKALAI, Bharadwaja Gotra, Nov 1991, 5'11, B. Tech Nit, 36 Lpa, Mnc @ Bangalore, Seeks Brahmin Bride, Never Married, Age 23 To 29, Contact: matrivr23@gmail.com 45/170 Arya Vysya (Gupta) Late Marriage, own house, working for Infosys at Bangalore. Prfd any Language, Divorcee without children, CNB, any State. 9901753787 ASSISTANT Professor, Chennai M.E 31/ 164cm, Divorcee seeks suitable Bride Unmarried/ Divorcee, No Issue. Naidu/ Mudaliar/ Pillai/ Chettiar Preferred Ct: 94430 52596/ 94456 89306 Brides Tamil Iyengar Doctors / Engineer for 1993/ 181cm/ Chithrai/ Bharadwaj/ MTech Software Developer @ WANTED A good looking graduate MNC Gurgoan Doctor Parents North bride for Kamma Naidu Mechanical settled Contact: 9300502792 Engineer of 30 years from affluent family and well settled. Now work- HINDU TAMIL Nadar 43/181 BE Caring in a Multinational company at leton Univ IISC vimalkrishna@tamil Chennai. Also from other Naidu com- filmmakerspro.com, 9994351766. munity. Contact 9150456568, Email TAMIL YADAVA 29/167 BE MS(USA) − balajir40@gmail.com senior executive MNC seeks suitable bride from elite & educated family in WELL SETTLED, Healthy NRI IT Busi- Chennai . Phone: 94444 16262 ness Consultant, Looking for Good Looking Female Companion/Soulmate, Tamil Muslim 30/5'7", Software EngiHindu age 46, BE, ct: 9487810558 neer in Seattle (USA), MS CS (NY, USA). Affluent Well-Educated Family ✔ PILLAI(KARUNEEGAR), DOB:24−01− from Chennai. Contact: 9094349425 92, BE, Veg, Job: MNC (Software) Chennai, Annual Income: 23.5 DOCTOR,M.D., D.M., 43/ 165, SC/AD lakhs. Seeking a suitable bride Working in a Pvt Hospital, Issueless from the same or any other communi- Divorcee, seeks First Marriage Bride ty. Ph: 9841784047 Email: below 35 yrs, any degree from the same Community& from a decent Family pingme.arul@gmail.com. Contact: 9445205446. NADAR 29/178 BE,MS working in USA with clean habits & character reTELUGU puted family in Chennai,Seeks Goodlooking, Educated Bride from afflu- NAIDU, BALIJA Boy 30, Star Ashwient,good family background. ni, B.Tech, 171cm working with Ct:8667206699 Multinational Co, well settled, from affluent family seeks good MUDALIAR 30/175, Handsome, B.E, looking, Qualified, working Girl SWE, Infosys, 1300000.PA, Affluant with family values. Sub Sects No Family, CNB. 7299576644, 7299576666 Bar Ct:9840234571 HINDU TAMIL Bangalore Based/46/B.E/ Only Son/Estd. Businessman/Own House. Looking for a suitable match for early marriage. (080− 69070658) DEVANDRA KULA Vellalar (PL) DOB : 09.03.2000, Mesham / Ashwini , DCE (BE.,) Young Entrepreneur. BPCL Dealer and IOCL Transporter, Own House and Land in Dindigul seeks a Girl with Educated and Good Family Background. Ct.98940 55699 HINDU NADAR, 33/175, Hastham, Fair, Handsome, Good family, Clean habits, B.Tech., Global MBA, Strategy analyst, Dubai seeks suitable pleasant Bride, good family. Contact: 98431 52680. joie51@yahoo.com WANTED A Telugu Speaking Fair, Tall Qualified Balija/ Naidu/ Kamma/ Kamma Naidu Bride with B.E. Or Similar Professional Qualification, Willing to locate to USA, for a Brilliant Balija Bridegroom, 1995 Born, Fair, Good Build (HT.5-10), Mithuna Rasi, Arudra Nakshathram, B.E., M.S. (USA) Presently Settled in USA, Working as a Senior Software Engineer for an MNC (VM WARE) Now in Seattle, With Good Earnings. Only son of his Parents who are settled in Bangalore. Contact: e-mail Id: bhaskarsrjgroup@gmail.com. ARYA VYSYAS, Mithunakulam,49, B.Tech, M.B.A, single, Industrialist pure Veg. Ct: 9940420039/ 9789978999 BALIJA NAIDU 30yrs Rohini Rishabam Fair Business (Surgical Mfg) Seeks Any Telugu Caste Bride. 9790963402. Telugu Settybalija Groom Divorced No Kids 43Y 173cm 72kg Wheatish Brown MBA SW Hyd 22Lpa seeks Girl Same/ Equal Caste Working/ Homemaker Contact: 9908487569. URDU AGE 45,GOOD Looking Buisnesman Seeks Bride Life Partner (Ist Marriage,Widow& Divorce)No Demand 9884550603 SMU 29/179 ME PG Engineer MNC, Europe seeks Working BE/ME Engineer bride from Reputed Religious good KSHATRIYA RAJU Groom, MD Radiolo- family. Only WhatsApp: 0091− gy, Age 29. Same community Bride 6369056963. with PG preferred. Contact: 9500198706 MUSLIM URDU, Handsome 30/175, O+, B.E, Asst. Manager, Nationalised Bank Rs.10 LPA, Middle Class. Seeks KAMMAVAR NAIDU 30, 174 cm Pooram− Professionally qualified employed beSimmam M.S (Engg) working in USA autiful bride. Contact : 88701 14557 seeks bride from same community working/studying in USA, CT. SUNNI MUSLIM Urdu Well Settled Di9442026567 or kvr1956@gmail.com vorced Groom require New / Divorced Bride. Call: 9962484938. CHENNAI BASED employed Chartered Accountant Groom aged 25 years, Telugu Valanadu Brahmin, BharadhwaMARRIAGE BUREAU jam, Kumbam, Poorattadhi. CA Bride preferred. Father: CA-C.Govindaraj- USA UK Canada All Caste Religion, 98431 28670, Mother: Ramaprabha- 1st Marriage, Remarriage. 98430 18359. 8248757840 Tamil, 32 Y, 185 CM, 98 KG, Lead Position, PGDCA BE, Financial Institution California USA. Seeking Bride working in USA / willing to relocate. Liberal family values preferred. Hindu Vannar. Caste No bar. Ph: +91 9786265786 MUDALIAR 28/170/FAIR MBA Moolam own House Good Family seeks girl from good family. Subcaste OK 9597830845 COACHING CLASSES HINDU NADAR VIP 25, 165cm, MBA, Income 2000000 Seeks Suitable Bride KA Raman Nadar 9380791999 SENGUNDA MUDALIYAR 28, MBBS, 162cm, Income 50000 Seeks Suitable Bride 9710093999/ 8939691888 ALLIANCE FROM unmarried Iyer girls for bachelor 57 own business traditional teetotaller Iyer. 9447496006 BRAHMIN IYER VADULAM Uthiram Nov 1977 BSc(MCA)MNC, IT 24Lakh PA Seeks unmarried Brahmin Girl 9841071359 DIVORCEE TAMIL SUITABLE EMPLOYED partner for a tall Hindu boy, known family, 49 years, B.tech, MS, US citizen, employed, divorcee, contact : 91-9645145972 WhatsApp CSI CHRISTIAN NADAR, Chennai settled 36yrs/165cms, B.E., working in MNC. Innocent Divorcee seeks same caste working or qualified Bride. Ct: 94434 82782 DOCTOR DM DOCTOR, Catholic 34,173, Asst Prof in Chennai, seeks suitable Doctor/Civil Services/ CA bride.Ph 8122083188 HINDU MBC Maruthuvar (Vaithiyars), MBBS Own Clinic, 33, Tall and Good Looking seeks Alliance For Remarriage from Divorced Bride or Unmarried. MBBS, BSMS, BAMS or other degrees from Good Family Background. Caste No Bar. Ph: 9442788649, 7598179790 ENGLISH 47 without Income seeks well Settled Lady as Life Companion. Age, Religion, Marital Status No bar Whatsapp 8939226446 GUJARATI Wanted a Gujarati or Marwari girl for a US based Dr. Anish Bavishi residing in Houston. Dob:02.08.91, Time 1.44 a.m in Chicago. Contact: 8336057630. HINDI TELI, MBA (BITS), 91 born, 5’8, MNC Gurgaon,10 LPA, Bihar, 7503922636 VANNIYAR28/168cms, Kettai, MBBS, Medical officer, state govt. seeks suitable professional groom Ct:9884244151 1985/175CM. IT. 40 Lakhs PA. Chennai. Father Doctor. Seeks well eduVellalar Pillai 38/157, 58kg, Fair, MCA cated bride. WhatsApp: 96290 12248 Manager- Nationalised Bank, Chennai Divorcee seeks equally qualified and MALAYALAM Employed Groom Ct: 9445671401 HINDU, ARUNDHATHIYAR- SC, B.E., HINDU NAIR 27/176cm Pooram MBA (E&C) DOB- 25.12.1990 seeks Groom Deputy Manager HDFC Bank Coimbafrom same Caste. Ct: 9535523396. tore. Salary 5-6 Lak PA. Seeks EducaRC NADAR, 32/156, B.Tech., Working ted Working Bride. Ct:8449975810. in TCS, Canada seeks RC Groom. Caste No Bar. Ct: 75388 02230 MARINE ENGINEER Merchant Navy, 28, 167 cm, Hindu, Chothy, TELUGU Mob-9526432651 BALIJA NAIDU Ashwini 23/168 B. Tech, M.Tech good looking seeks WANTED HINDU Vegetarian girl for 34 Professional Qual working in IT, years Brahmin boy graduate entrepreCorporate, Banking sector/Govt ct: neur, Trivandrum. Ct: 9249414941 9940224519 TAMIL HINDU Girl 38, BE,MBA from Leading Business School, Divorcee, working in MNC Chennai Caste No Bar. Seeks Suitable groom from Professionals. Contact: 94449 15440 VERY RICH, Kamma, 94 born tall, slim, fair & Beautiful Girl, Inter35 PILLAI B.Com MBA Anusham Di- national MBA with mild defect in vorcee issueless seeks suitable hearing Seeks rich educated Kamma groom 9094020665 Ggroom well settled in Chennai. 7305010105 SAIVA PILLAI 27 / 157 B.Tech MSc. Working in UK, Johnson & Johnson / Seeking Groom Hindu Religion for 81 40 laks P.A. Seeks Groom Working at born Postgraduate, Employed in InfoU.K Europe & India. Caste No Bar. Ct : sys, Caste no bar, Contact91 76390 88446 9502860817 TAMIL HINDU NADAR 26, 180cm, Income IYER GOUTHAMA Rohini, 14.3.1997, 200000, Working in Bangalore Seeks 26 yrs, 168 cms, B. Tech, M.Sc. GeSuitable Bride. Ct: 9380791999 nomic Medicine (London, UK), Vegetarian, Settled in Chennai, AffluCHETTIYAR, 24MANAI, MBA, 47, ent business family. Director, 5.4ft, well settled, young looking Leading Instrumentation company. divorcee/no kids, worked with all Seeks Telugu/ Tamil Brahmin girl, major Telecoms as Sr.Manager, now professional, aged below 24 years. owns mid size Internet solutions WhatsApp Parent: 93422 68247 Pvt Ltd. company with TRAI’s Cat−C license, 30lacs p.a., own villa, INTERCASTE 1985 Mithunam MBA, ACS seeks bride below 42, unmarried, well placed seeks financially unendivorcee,widow, Caste no bar, Mob: cumbered non divorcee Bride CNB 6379257390 86676 05361 WE ARE looking for an alliance for our son , residing in Bangalore, height (5ft 7inch), (B.Tech) graduate, working in an MNC , DOB 15.11.1991. Avittam, Bharadwaja gotharam, Brahmin Iyer. The bride should hail from a decent, educated family. Brahmin Iyer, age difference up to 5 years, preferably MALAYALAM working in Bangalore. . Contact A WELL Settled Kerala Viswakarma with (Astrological) details mobile (Blacksmith) 29/188cm Chothy BE, No.9449048076 or Email to sivauma4@ MBA Running an Engineering Indus- hotmail.com try in Chennai looking for a Suitable Match. Ct: 8015878921/ VANNIYAR AGE 29,B.com,C.A.Work at Infosys,Salary 75k,Wanted Bride 9940168679 Same Cast (Sevvai Dosham).Ct WANTED BRIDE Nair (32 years, Vis- 9841665583 akham) Kalamassery. B.Tech, PGDM. Manager (Foreign Exchange Trading) TAMIL VISWAKARMA, 37/5.9, B.E., at HDFC Bank, Ernakulam. Phone MBA., Chithirai, Kanni, HCL, Chennai, 9495307218. First Marriage seeks Good Looking, Fair Bride. CNB. Ct: 99440 97021 HINDU TAMIL Viswakarma 31 Years Handsome 6 Feet Well Settled Canadian PR Senior Data Analyst LookMBA / CA / ICWA ing For Bride Good Looking Good Educational And Family Background GUJARATI BRAHMIN boy CA/CS/ICWA inWilling To Settle In Canada. vites alliance from CA, IT, SAP SAIVAPILLAI TIRUNELVELI, 24, 9444116659, 9283285686. professional bride. Mob: − Good Looking, B.E., Comp.Science, 8758782911 Employed seeks suitable Groom (India DIVORCEE /Abroad).Ct:8870504498/ 9486852992 NRI SUITABLE MATCH for Hindu IAS 37, Tamil Christian Nadar, Gd Looking, RC NADAR 27, BE, IT, 165cm, Income 50000, Seeks Suitable Groom Con- 172, Divorced, no child, CNB. PG B.Tech, M.S Computer Science doctors preferred. Contact (USA) Software Engineer Working in tact: 9380791999 8826377843 MNC in Toronto Seeks an Educated HINDU NADAR 27 B.COM/MBA Fair, Bride, a slim, Good-Looking, Flair HINDU TAMIL Boy 36yrs Punarpoosam/ Yearly income 7.5L, Employed in for Fitness Whatsapp: 9945536139, Chennai seeks Same caste Employed Kadagam B.Sc., Nautical, Second Of- thamby3232@gmail.com Groom from Chennai. 9444844884, ficer in Cargo Ship, 18 Lpa, Leagally Divorced, No Issues. Seeks 9384888889 PUNJABI Educated Bride from Cultured FamiAYYAVAZHI-NADAR Age 22 / 170 cm ly. Ct: 6369004108 CHENNAI BASED Punjabi Khatri FaMagaram, Advocate Family well Settther Wants Suitable Brides for 2 led Kanyakumari dis only. 9840075922 HINDU, Malayalee groom 49/180cm, Sons aged 38 &32,Tall Handsome EduMBA, Business, caste no bar, seeks cated,well placed.Caste No Bar. SAIVA PILLAI Tirunelveli girl 26/165, bride, any state. contact : 8188985891 8681094931 Punarpoosam/ Mithunam, BE (CS) BITS employed MNC 35 LPA seeks groom from same & allied community age between 27 to 32. Ct: 8072149714/ 6383601807 PILLAI/MUDALIAR, 33, Good looking, MBBS, MD Final yr, Well Settled family seeks Groom aged 33-36 yrs, Engineer/ Business/ Doctor. 9345855735 BENGALI TELUGU RICH (KAMMA Naidu) 23, Fmous Textile Mills & Star Hotels Family Telugu Bestha Naidu Bride age 31 (500cr.) seeks Rich groom. Ct: years Height 163 permanent job as Assistant Professor working in Delhi 7200067015 from well to do family seeks suitable NAIDU ISSULESS DIVORCE, Born 1975, Bridegroom from decent family. Class II Govt Officer. Seeks Groom CASTE NO BAR send Bio-data with Preferably Chennai, CNB −9360167989 photo to her father's WhatsApp No.9440109317 / 9391031354. REDDIAR 32/165CM MBBS, MS Own Health Centre in Chennai, Well SetURDU tled Family. Seeks Industrialist/ Business/ DR/ SR.Professional From Well Settled Family Cnb 8925640111 URDU MUSLIM Labbai 30yrs/150cm, LOOKING FOR Groom Age : 30 to 35 B.E Software Engineer/1.3 lakh PM. Telugu Brahmin PhD USA match Seeks B.E, M.E, Engineer Groom KA Contact:vvkrishna1062@gmail.com & TN State Only. Ct : 94426 69961. AMBALAVASI YOUTH, B.Com., C.A.(inter) Palakkad, 36 Yrs, handsome, vegetarian, non-alcoholic, God-fearing, employed in a MNC in Kerala, mutually divorced after one month of marriage with no liabilities whatsoever, seeks proposals from parents of ambalavasi or Nair girls (vegetarians only), unmarried or widow / divorcee without any liability. Please contact: 8891637987 Handsome, Fair & Tall Groom 26 years, Christian-RC, Mech Er., Canada PR. Seeking Christian (R.C./ C.S.I.) well-Educated & Employable Professi onal Bride willing to settle in Canada. Ct: 9176900066 GROOM BRAHMIN TK, Iyengar,46 Arthreya,Pooradam, Asst.Manager MNC Logistics Rs.40000pm Own 2BHK in Chennai Brahmin Subsects No Bar S EMPLOYED M4 M.E. 27 YRS Govt. em- 9962860285 ployed Hindu. swathi. settled T. Nadu. Nuclear family, M:− IYER VADAMA 43 Divorcee with Tradi9443202585 tional Values & Modern Outlook MNC S/W Engr Bangalore seeks Suitable ALLIANCE INVITED from a settled Alliance from Family-Oriented UnmarHindu family for our son 36/ ried Brahmin Girl with Good Family 175cms, Good Looking, B.E., M.S Background respecting our Customs (UK), Caste no bar, Prefer Pet and Traditions. Mobile: 9952892314 Lovers. Contact: 8148796783−Trichy IYER, GARGAYA, Brahacharanam, Avittam, Widower 43/156 11 yrs Child. MUDALIYAR WELL settled parents Partner, Family concern, Own House seek educated bride for their son Ct: 9940469993 / tprakash1@ Chithrai 36 5ft 11inch IT Engineer gmail.com residing in Dubai Ph: 9884452926 TAMIL CASTE, RELIGION Nobar alliance invited from Educated Widow/Divorcee without Children around 50yrs for a Muslim Businessman aged 70, B.A Monthly income 2.6 Lakhs. HINDU DKV Pallan Age 41/167cm Ct:9443011354 Manager Nationalised Bank, Salary 14 Lakhs PA. Seeks Suitable Bride. Ct: 82 BORN, RC christian, BE software 99652 11259 Engineer, Chennai, Never married, caste no bar, CT− 9500188067 CASTE NOBAR Hindu Tamil affluent only child SC 30/170cm Handsome MS Doctor 25/178, Fair Seeks Suitable (CS) Software Engineer Microsoft Match MBBS / BDS Arcot Mudaliyar Seattle USA H1B visa I140 appd Age:20-22. 9940027947 / 9791059529 seeks suitable Bride (Tamil//Telugu/Malyalam/Kanada) preferably working/studying in USA. Ct: HINDU NADAR CA/CFA, 27, 170cm, In- 9445442020/9445006500 come 500000/−, Seeks Suitable Bride. KA Raman Nadar 9380791999 HINDU BRAHMIN, 50, Remarriage, MUDALIAR (CNB) 30/180, Handsome, State Govt. Employee seeks any B.E, MS(USA) Business Analyst, Brahmin Bride. Ct: 0461-2338755, Cell Canada, Elite Family, Seeks Bride No: 89037 24659 Good looking & Affluent Family− 9840437858 PILLAI 29 6 feet MCA IT Punarpusam Chennai left leg & hand weak due HINDU NAICKER 48yrs/179cms BE, US to accident seeks suitable caring return, High Net Worth, Clean Mud/Pillai Bride Geetham 9884858014 Habits, First marriage, Vegetarian, seeks Bride. Caste No Bar. Divorcee and Widows excuse. Ct: KONGU VELLALA Gounder 48yr B.Tech +917397267754 wedadv09@gmail.com 176cm Inc 6 Lacs Working in Canada Divorcee CNB 9710093999/ 8939691888 VACANCIES GENERAL REPUTED CONSTRUCTION Co requires Civil Engineer − 5yrs Site Exp for Pune − Rajguru Nagar & Karnataka −−Tondikatti.Accountant − 3yrs Exp with Tally Knowledge for Chennai. Mail: nsdoshi.4@gmail.com, Mob 9840736314 BRAHMIN WIDOWER in B'lore 70 seeks companion, widows /divorcees/ spinsters. kchandra03@gmail.com WANTED ACCOUNTS & Admin, For a Private Firm in Chennai, Any Degree Experience preferred Attractive Salary package. cv@sunjay.in / 9381408962 35, IYANGAR, Vadakalai, Kashyabam, 15L P.A. ,Chennai. Contact : 91769 86643 HINDU NADAR 35, BE, 175cm, Income 200000 Divorcee Seeks Suitable 27, BE, 175cm, Inc 100000, VIP, Bride KA Raman Nadar 9380791999 Well to do family, Caste no Barseeks Suitable Bride. 9710093999/8939691888 MUDALIAR GROOM, First Marriage, 45, 5ft 7inch, BE − ECE, Bangalore. 9886493369 , rajdmohan@ HINDU NADAR MBA IAM, 27yrs, 170cm, outlook.com. Income 200000, Seeks Suitable Bride. KA Raman Nadar 9380791999 IYER SRIVATSA 45 yrs USA LA / Chennai Capgemini Senior Progam Manag- HINDU 34/169 PG Working in MNC, as er Never Married Veg Seeks Suit- a Manager in US, Seeks professionable Girl Ct: 8825457700 /+1(818) ally Qlfd. bride from decent fami9279760 ly. age 28−32 yrs. CNB Ct: 8754486314 ARCOT MUDALIAR MBA IIM 168/Sep’88 Thiruvadirai(CleanHoroscope) Handsome Fair TEETOTALLER, Bangalore AGAMUDAYA MUDALIYAR Divorced 41 45L. Seeks Unmarried Qualified Mirugasiridam PhD TNGovt Job Smart Girls. CasteNB. 9940434055, Rs1.21Lakh PM 170cm 70kg SlimFair 7904550883 9742010729 CSI CHRISTIAN Nadar Parents seeks Fair, Tall Bride Preferably MS/ Working 59, CLEAN Habits Good Looking Own AYYAVAZHI-NADAR Age 23 / 170cm in USA for their second son B.E MS, in House Stable Income Seeking Fair Viruchigam, Advocate Well Settled USA 28/177Cms H1B,well Settled and Kanyakumari Dis only. Ph:9840075922 working in USA Contact: 98404 65657. Issueless Bride. Ct: 8610446647 MEDICAL WANTED STAFF Nurse’s and Pharmacist for Christudas hospital Guduvanchery, Chennai. 9445543370, 8807068688 SELLING FARMHOUSE / LAND /RESORTS FOR SALE: Prime Land at posh location within Ooty Municipal limits, measuring 68 cents (29,620 sq. ft) at Lovedale-Ooty, fully fenced with Well, close to Lovedale Railway station. Just 4 KM from Ooty. Genuine Buyers contact: Manuel: 9845026509 / 9845362058 FINANCE RESIDENTIAL FLAT − NEW GILL NAGAR, Near Kendriya Vidyalaya, 3rd Street, New Proposal 4BHK/2BHK Flats,Stilt+3Flr, 6 CCP, 6 Pass Lift, Architect Designed Modern Finish 9003607981 A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 5 States Delhi Groundwater exploitation is silently sinking the ground beneath India’s feet Karnataka results to shift focus of Pilot’s yatra to Rajasthan polls Jacob Koshy The Congress victory has put pressure on the former Deputy CM to present a united face, instead of openly confronting CM Ashok Gehlot, before this year’s Assembly election; both CM and his former deputy hail win in southern State NEW DELHI Cracks in buildings and ‘sinking’ land in Joshi math, a hill town in Utta rakhand, made national headlines earlier this year. A similar phenomenon has been playing out for years in the plains of Punjab, Ha ryana, Delhi and Farida bad. The unlikely culprit is excessive groundwater ex traction. Agricultural practices in northwest India are heavi ly dependent on ground water withdrawal. With li mited monsoon rain, the groundwater table is pre cariously low, show data gathered for years by the Central Ground Water Board (CGWB). In Punjab, for instance, 76% of the groundwater blocks are ‘over exploited’. In Chandigarh, it is 64% and about 50% in Delhi. This means that more groundwater than can be recharged is extracted. “Over time, when the un derlying aquifers (deep water channels that are stores of percolated water) aren’t recharged, they run dry and the layers of soil and rock above them start to sink,” Prof. Dheeraj Ku mar Jain of the Indian In stitute of Technology (In dian School of Mines), Dhanbad, said. Mr. Jain, whose core re search interests lie in min ing and minerals, said dig ging operations that were carried out hundreds of metres below the ground for coal, oil and gas through the years had shown examples of ‘soil Mohammed Iqbal JAIPUR he Assembly elec tion results in Kar nataka, where the Congress registered an im pressive victory on Satur day, are set to shift the fo cus of party leader Sachin Pilot’s ongoing ‘Jan Sang harsh Yatra’ to the impend ing electoral battle in Rajas than. Mr. Pilot has so far raised the issues of corrup tion and paper leaks in his fivedaylong yatra, which started from Ajmer on May 11. The Congress victory has put pressure on the former Deputy Chief Minis ter to show a united face, instead of openly confront ing Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, before this year’s Assembly election. He will be compelled after his yatra’s conclusion to join oth er senior leaders and party workers from all factions to make preparations for the Assembly polls if he wishes to stay relevant within the party. T Source of worry: Farmers survey a dry well in Fatehpur village of Patiala district in Punjab.. FILE PHOTO settlement,’ or the soil sinking in to fill voids created from mining. “From here we sur mised that if oil and gas ex traction cause subduction (sinking), then surely groundwater also ought to be playing some role. We found such instances in several parts of the world and that motivated some of my students to assess the situation in India, par ticularly the National Capi tal Territory.” The CGWB, a subsidiary body of the Jal Shakti Mi nistry, is tasked with as sessing the state of India’s groundwater resources. It has a system of groundwa ter observationwells and monitors water levels four times a year. It, however, does not analyse the con sequences of ‘over exploi tation.’ “The link between ex cessive groundwater ex traction and land subsi dence only started to become clear, thanks to data from the GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Cli mate Experiment) satel lites,” V.K. Gahlaut, chief scientist, National Geo physical Research Institute (NGRI), Hyderabad, said. Mr. Gahlaut earlier pu blished a research paper linking groundwater ex traction to subsidence in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, an evidence that the issue was not specific to north India alone. A wealth of studies in recent years, all of them obtained from satellite based analysis of ground movement, from institu tions and researchers that specialise in satellitedata analysis have correlated building deformities with groundwater withdrawals. Kapil Malik, a research scholar who worked with Mr. Jain and runs the Noi dabased Radar System and Services, used data from the Sentinel1 satellite (different from GRACE) to show that from 20112017, the National Capital Re gion sunk, on an average, 15 mm per year. Urbanisa tion and unplanned growth were major fac tors, said Mr. Malik and this exacerbated ground water withdrawal. Parts of DelhiNCR that saw subsidence were far away from tectonic (earth quakelinked) fault lines. Congress leader Sachin Pilot with supporters during his ‘Jan Sanghrah Yatra’ in Dudu in Jaipur on Saturday. PTI Mr. Pilot, who earlier drew parallels between the corruption issue in Karna taka and Rajasthan, said on Saturday that the people in the southern State had en sured the BJP’s exit from power by rejecting its “mis rule and undemocratic pol icies”. “The people in Kar nataka were fed up with unlimited and unbridled corruption of the BJP go vernment,” he said. While All India Congress Committee incharge of Ra jasthan Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa said in New Del hi on Saturday that the cri sis within the party’s State unit would be resolved firmly, Mr. Pilot has so far found support from only one Minister, Pratap Singh Khachariyawas, and San god MLA Bharat Singh Kun danpur. The Minister said there was “nothing wrong” with the yatra against the alleged corruption and scandals during the pre vious BJP regime. Voices of support Mr. Kundanpur, in a letter to Mr. Gehlot on Saturday, urged him to join Mr. Pilot in his campaign and “stop giving protection to the corrupt ‘Bhaya’”, referring to Rajasthan Mining and Gopalan Minister Pramod Jain Bhaya who faces cor ruption charges. Mr. Pilot said the slogan of “40% commission go vernment” given by the Congress was accepted by the public in Karnataka. “The BJP has failed to play the role of a strong Opposi tion in Rajasthan. When we go to polls six months from now, we must make our selves credible before peo ple by probing and taking action in the instances of corruption,” he said. Youths from the Gujjar belt between Ajmer and Jai pur as well as those from Mr. Pilot’s Assembly consti tuency, Tonk, joined the yatra. Mr. Gehlot, reacting to the Karnataka results, said during his visit to an infla tion relief camp in Pali dis trict that the people in the southern State had chosen the politics of development over the BJP’s “communal politics”. “The atmosphere built up in Karnataka dur ing Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is clearly visible in the election results. The Congress leaders under took a brilliant election campaign,” he said. Bihar BJP leaders welcome ‘controversial’ preacher The Hindu Bureau PATNA BJP leaders on Saturday ac corded a grand welcome to ‘controversial’ preacher Dhirendra Krishna Shastri, alias Bageshwar Baba, on the first day of his fiveday visit to Bihar. Union Minister Giriraj Singh and Patliputra MP Ram Kripal Yadav wel comed him at the Patna air port, while MP Manoj Tiwa ri drove him to the hotel. ‘TMC’s new outreach an image makeover for Abhishek Banerjee’ Shiv Sahay Singh KOLKATA The public meetings of the Trinamool Congress’ se condincommand, Abhish ek Banerjee, have witnessed large gatherings in West Bengal. At various places, he was alsoseen interacting with or waving at party workers from his vehicle. What is unique about Trinamooler Nabo Jowar is that for the first time in the 25year history of the party, an initiative is not centred on TMC chairperson and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. Despite the initiative drawing large crowds, the outreach has faced challeng es from the start. In almost every district, there have been scenes of unrest and chaos among the party sup porters. They had even torn ballot papers for the primar ies at the panchayat level and engaged in scuffles after Mr. Banerjee’s departure from the venue. The police had to be deployed at some places to control the situation. The Opposition parties have taken a dig at the TMC saying it reflects that there is no order in the ruling party. Leader of the Opposition Suvendu Adhikari had raised allegations of corrup tion. He alleged that the out reach was not only support ed by the West Bengal administration, but also funded by those running lot tery business in the State. “Trinamooler Nabo Jowar, Chalo Tihar [let us go to Ti har],” Mr. Adhikari had said. State Congress president Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had been more direct. He had said the initiative “is an indication that Ms. Mamata is no longer in control of her party”. CM YK This is the first instance in TMC history when an initiative is not centred around the party chief Political observers, ho wever, feel that the initiative has her support and Ms. Ba nerjee wants to create a niche for her nephew. Des pite differences between the two, the former had in Fe bruary 2022 reappointed Mr. Banerjee the party gen eral secretary and since then his control over the party has increased. Ms. Banerjee had even congratulated the initiative, saying the 2000 km milestone has been “achieved with people’s blessings and strong sup port”. Political observer Biswa nath Chakraborty, who teaches political science at Rabindra Bharati University, said Mr. Banerjee is taking a risk with the campaign, and the initiative has full support of the party chief. “If Mr. Ba nerjee is able to secure victo ry for his party in the pan chayat elections, he will take full credit, but if there are any setbacks, the blame too will be on him. The initiative is to build his brand and im age,” he said. Referring to Mr. Baner jee’s remark on remaining out on the streets for 60 days and not returning to his home before the event drew to a close, Prof. Chakraborty said this is to project him as a leader connected to the roots. “His rise happened only after Ms. Banerjee came to power. He has never been in volved in Opposition polit ics,” Prof. Chakraborty said on why the party’s second incommand needs an im age makeover. A ND-NDE THE HINDU 6 Sunday, May 14, 2023 States Delhi NCB and Navy make biggest seizure of drugs in India Himanta: Cong. win not surprising, won’t affect BJP in Lok Sabha poll In a joint operation, 2,500 kg of methamphetamine valued at around ₹15,000 crore seized; the drug has its origin in Pakistan and was loaded to the mother ship from the Makran coast The Hindu Bureau The Hindu Bureau KOCHI n what is claimed to be the biggest ever drug seizure in terms of monetary value by any antidrug enforcement agency in the country, the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) and the Indian Navy, in a joint operation off the Kerala coast, have seized around 2,500 kg of meth amphetamine valued at around ₹15,000 crore and originating from Pakistan. It is also the first inter ception of a mother ship carrying drugs by an In dian agency and a man sus pected of Pakistani origin has been detained from the ship. The seizure is part of Operation Samu dragupt targeting maritime trafficking of drugs aimed I Huge haul: The Narcotic Control Bureau and the Navy have seized 2,500 kg of methamphetamine from Indian waters. THULASI KAKKAT at making the Indian Ocean region free of nar cotics. “The operation has been initiated by inputs from sources developed by the Naval Intelligence and the NCB. As the assess ment is still under way, the actual volume of drugs could be more,” Sanjay Ku mar Singh, Deputy Direc tor General (Operations), NCB, told a press confe rence here on Saturday. The drugs had its origin in Pakistan and was loaded to the mother ship from the Makran coast. The con tinuous intelligence collec tion and analysis resulted in the identification of a highly probable route that the mother ship would take. Officials have seized 134 sacks of suspected methamphetamine. The sacks had Pakistani in scriptions. The drugs, the detained person, and oth er items salvaged from the ship have been brought to the Mattancherry wharf in Kochi and handed over to the NCB for further action. “The modus operandi is to halt the mother ship at a particular point at which the crew in the ship re ceives a message about the boat to which the drug is to be offloaded. Since, the mother ship itself has been intercepted, there is no in formation on any boat sup posed to take delivery of it. The consignment has been meant for India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. More ar rests in the case are likely,” said Mr. Singh. GUWAHATI Assam Chief Minister Hi manta Biswa Sarma on Sa turday said the Congress winning the Karnataka As sembly election was not surprising, but it would in no way affect the BJP’s chances of returning to power for a third succes sive term at the Centre in the 2024 Lok Sabha poll. “The Opposition is tak ing this win as a straw to hold on to in the ocean, but it will have no impact in the future,” Mr. Sarma said on the sidelines of a function at Bihaguri in As sam’s Sonitpur district. There is nothing new in the Congress victory as the party had been in power in the southern State before the 2014 general election when the BJP came to pow er at the Centre under Na rendra Modi, he said. Mr. Sarma, who had Assam CM says the BJP won most of the seats that he visited in Karnataka during the campaigning campaigned extensively in Karnataka, said he had realised that the BJP will not perform well in the State, but the party had won most of the consti tuencies that he visited during the campaigning. “It was certain from the discussions over the past twothree months that the BJP would not be able to put up a good perfor mance,” he said. The BJP had formed the government in Karnataka after displacing the Con gress and the general feel ing this time was that the BJP may not make it, the CM said, adding that he was not aware of any move by the BJP to forge an al liance with the JD(S). Kalangummukal becomes Kerala’s first fully insured ward Navamy Sudhish KOLLAM Kalangummukal is a non descript rural pocket in Kollam district of Kerala, mostly populated by un derprivileged families. But now it will be State’s first fully insured ward as its 1,382 residents in the 570 age group have been pro vided insurance coverage against accidental death and disability. Kalangummukal (Ward 32) falls under the Punalur municipality. Following the initiative of ward councillor G. Jaya prakash, the entire ward now has an insurance cov erage of over ₹13.82 crore under a plan provided by the United India Insu rance, a public sector company. “All permanent and temporary residents of the ward have been offered the financial safety net of insu rance coverage. Docu Kerala village in the grip of tiger fear Hiran Unnikrishnan PATHANAMTHITTA Approached through lush green rubber plantations dotted with farm yards, Bathanimala is an outpost that straddles the border between the Periyar Tiger Reserve and Perunad gra ma panchayat in Kerala’s Ranni. Barring a few stray incidents, humans and wild animals coexisted peacefully in this village until now. But the past cou ple of months have been different. According to villagers, an aged tiger has deve loped the habit of lifting cattle from the sheds here at night. In a span of 40 days, the animal has feast ed on three cows and a goat. The villagers have been under constant fear that the tiger may eventual ly attack humans. All roads across this vil lage get deserted by even ing and people are locking up their cattle in safe shelters. The forest officials, meanwhile, have placed a cage inside a rubber plan tation here, besides setting up camera traps at several locations. A 24member special task force has been deployed to monitor the animal’s movement. “The tiger looks aged and suffers from dental problems. As it is unable to hunt, it is looking for easy prey,” said Jayakumar Sharma, Divisional Forest Officer, Ranni. While councillor contributed half the amount required for premium, a school sponsored the rest ments have been printed and the policies will be handed over to them by next week. This is a firstof itskind initiative in the country,” says Mr. Jayaprakash. He says it is the plight of financially weak families that prompted him to look for possible solutions. Struggling families “The majority of the strug gling families do not take any insurance and when a tragedy befalls them, they will be in deep crisis. Very often we have to collect funds and depend on do nations, which is a time consuming process and the amount we raise too will not be sufficient. Re cently, a woman who visit ed our municipal office tripped on the steps and suffered a fracture. She was unable to work for a while. In such situations, an insurance coverage will be a big help,” he says. While the councillor contributed half the amount required for the premium from his honora rium, the rest was spon sored by the St. Thomas Senior Secondary School at Punalur. “It came to around ₹2 lakh and though we first tried for group in surance, the process turned out to be too diffi cult. Later, we opted for in dividual policy,” he adds. At present, the depen dents of any policyholder will get ₹1 lakh in case of ac cidental death. Those with permanent or partial disability will get financial assistance up to a maximum of ₹1 lakh based on the percentage of dis ability. Cong. confident of Karnataka repeat in Telangana poll The Hindu Bureau HYDERABAD In a show of unity, all Te langana Congress leaders came on a single platform and announced that the Karnataka results will re peat in Telangana, which is going to the polls soon. Telangana Congress president A. Revanth Red dy, along with AICC in charge for the State Manik rao Thakare and other par ty leaders, spoke to the media on Karnataka de feating a communal and corrupt BJP government and the same result repeat ing in Telangana soon. Mr. Reddy equated the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government with the ‘40% commission BJP go vernment’, saying the BRS was “30% commission go vernment” as revealed by Chief Minister K. Chandra sekhar Rao himself when he spoke of BRS MLAs col lecting ₹3 lakh from every beneficiary of the Dalita Bandhu scheme. “It is simi lar to the 40% BJP govern ment. The CM himself re vealed this,” he said. ‘Many similarities’ The State Congress chief said Karnataka and Telan gana had many similari ties. The HyderabadKar nataka region was part of the Hyderabad State and of the 41 Assembly seats in the area, the Congress had won a majority. Apart from that, several Teluguspeak ing districts in Karnataka also chose the Congress. “That impact will be seen in Telangana,” he said. 30% commission BRS is similar to 40% commission BJP government, says Revanth Reddy Mr. Reddy also took pot shots at IT Minister K.T. Ra ma Rao over his tweet that the Karnataka results would not repeat in Telan gana. Mr. Reddy said nowhere had KTR ex pressed his pleasure on the defeat of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Why is he so unhappy that Modi was defeated there?” he said. ‘BJP, BRS are friends’ Stating that BJP and the BRS were friends and that the people of Telangana did not see them as sepa rate parties, he asked why the Chief Minister re frained from visiting Kar nataka and appealing to people to defeat Mr. Modi. “Instead of organising public meetings in Maha rashtra, he could have or ganised a similar meeting in Karnataka and sought Modi’s defeat,” Mr. Reddy said. “The intention of KCR was not to play any role to defeat the BJP.” Earlier, the Gandhi Bha van erupted with celebra tion at the news of the Con gress gaining seats in Karnataka. A large number of Congress workers and leaders turned up and burst crackers. Mr. Reddy, along with senior party leaders, of fered special prayers at the Bajrangibali temple in Nampally and also prayed at the Nampally dargah. TTD to tighten Fishing holiday security at hill temple in Tirumala Over 2,000 sedative injections seized in A.P. The Hindu Bureau The Hindu Bureau TIRUMALA VISAKHAPATNAM The Tirumala Tirupati De vasthanams (TTD) has re solved to tighten security measures of checking and frisking devotees entering the temple in Tirumala for darshan. The decision was taken after the incident of a devo tee shooting a video of the Ananda Nilayam inside the temple came to light. TTD Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy has said that the temple man agement has invited ex perts from Central and State intelligence agencies to suggest ways to improve the security system. In a major catch, officials from the City Task Force (CTF) raided a house and seized nearly 2,100 seda tive injections at Allipuram in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. The police reportedly nabbed three youth. Apart from the huge sedatives, the police have also reco vered around 30 kg ganja. Sources from police said that another key accused in the case is at large and teams have been formed to nab him. It was learnt that the Police Commissioner would reveal more details on Sunday. An aerial view of mechanised boats that are anchored due to fishing ban at Jalaripeta in Visakhapatnam on Saturday. The annual fishing conservation period will end on June 14. K.R. DEEPAK Study on butterflies’ migration opens door for conservation IMD forecasts severe E.M. Manoj KALPETTA Millions of milkweed but terflies undertake a migra tion between the Eastern and the Western Ghats in southern India, seeking re fuge from the harsh summer. This spectacular ecolog ical phenomenon had been recorded more than a century ago but received little research and conser vation attention until re cently. However, a recent study by a team of re searchers has shed light on the migration patterns of milkweed butterflies in southern India, which has the potential to contribute to the conservation of these butterflies and their migration in the face of on going changes in land use, habitat degradation, and climate warming. CM YK Winged beauties: (From left) Striped tiger, Blue tiger, Dark blue tiger and Plain tiger. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT The study was pu blished in the recent issue of the Journal of Insect Conservation. After south west monsoon, milkweed butterflies migrate west ward from the Eastern Ghats and plains to the Western Ghats, becoming active for more than two months upon their arrival. Between October and April, most of the milk weed butterflies in the Western Ghats congregate in large numbers at specific sites during winter and dry seasons. When the sum mer rain cools southern In dia, the butterflies migrate eastwards into the Eastern Ghats and the plains. Battered wings The studies reveal that the wings of the majority of butterflies during their eastward journey are bat tered than that in the west ward migration. Also, the researchers found that the dominant species involved in the mi gration, Dark blue tiger and Doublebranded crow, are not found breeding in the mid and highaltitude evergreen and semiever green forests of the West ern Ghats. P.A. Vinayan, who led the study, says the adults of Dark blue tiger and Dou blebranded crow that ar rived in the Western Ghats may be migrating reversely and breeding in the East ern Ghats and the plains of southern India. However, further studies are needed to confirm the finding, says Mr. Vinayan, who is also the president of the Ferns Nature Conservation Society. Vital role “The migration of milk weed butterflies also plays a vital ecological role dur ing the migration. As polli nators, their movements can impact entire ecosys tems. Their migration is threatened by habitat des truction and climate change. Studying their mi gration patterns and feed ing habits can throw light on the interconnectedness of plant and animal life. By unravelling the mysteries of their migration, we can help protect these beauti ful creatures and their eco systems,” says Mr. Vinayan. “The Ferns society has begun tagging these mi grating butterflies. Our hope is that their longterm monitoring of these tagged individuals will reveal more about the darker as pects of their migration,” he says. M.A. Yedhumon, re searcher, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun; M.R. Anoop, researcher, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecol ogy and the Environment, Bengaluru; and N.S. Sujin, researcher, The Sálim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Comiba tore; were the other mem bers of the team. heatwave conditions in A.P. from today The Hindu Bureau VIJAYAWADA Andhra Pradesh is likely to experience severe heat wave conditions during the next four to five days as the maximum temperatures are likely to touch the sea son’s peak. Based on the maximum temperature forecast by the India Meteorological Department, the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) has warned that 136 mandals in the State are likely to experience severe heatwave condi tions, while temperature is likely to soar in 173 man dals on Sunday. Similarly, while 153 mandals are likely to expe rience severe heatwave conditions, 132 mandals may have similar condi tions on Monday. On May 16, the maxi mum temperature in the coastal districts may vary between 45 degree Celsius and 48 degree Celsius. The IMD has warned that the maximum temper ature in many places may increase by 26 degree Cel sius in the next four days. APSDMA Managing Di rector B.R. Ambedkar said all the district administra tions had been alerted. On Saturday, the highest maxi mum temperature of 42.2 degree Celsius was record ed at Jangamaheswara Pu ram of Palnadu district. A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 From Page One Congress surge topples BJP in Karnataka 7 News Delhi Narwekar to decide after everyone gets ‘fair chance’ The process of settling the matter on a party, whip or petitions cannot be rushed, says Maharashtra Speaker after SC directs him to complete proceedings within a ‘reasonable period’ Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood to be next Director of CBI Sandeep Phukan Vijaita Singh NEW DELHI Sonam Saigal MUMBAI t is not possible to hur ry the process of de ciding on a political party and its Whip and hearing all the disqualifica tion petitions, Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar said on Saturday. On Thursday, the Su preme Court said Mr. Nar wekar’s decision of can celling the approval of Ajay Choudhari (of Maha Vikas Aghadi) as Leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party while authorising the ap pointment of Mr. Shinde, was “contrary to law”. The court directed Mr. Narwekar to recognise the whip and leader who are duly authorised by the Shiv Sena, and decide on the disqualification proceed ings (by 16 members of the Legislative Assembly) with in a “reasonable period”. I Future prospects: It remains to be seen how the Congress will project the victory into other States where it is not the principal opponent of the BJP. K. BHAGYA PRAKASH In 2018, the BJP won 104 seats, but fell short of a majority. After the collapse of the coalition go vernment led by H.D. Kumaraswamy, the BJP came to power in 2019 following defections by 14 MLAs from the Congress and three from the JD(S). The Karnataka outcome will boost the Con gress’ prospects in the upcoming Assembly elec tions in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattis garh, where both parties will directly face off in the Hindi heartland. The BJP, which had linked its fortunes to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s cha risma by decimating its own State leadership, will be forced to rework its centralised campaign stra tegy over the coming months. The Karnataka results have also sent out a po werful message to the party’s sceptical allies in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), that it is not yet a spent force. This victory will put the Congress, and especially its former president Ra hul Gandhi, as the central character of Opposi tion politics nationally. It remains to be seen how the Congress will take forward this victory, and how it will try to project the victory into other States where it is not the principal opponent of the BJP. How it will hammer it out with regional partners is a crucial factor to track as the country shifts gear to the campaign for the 2024 general election. Stability factor The main challenges before the Congress are pro viding stability in the State — which has seen three Chief Ministers in the past five years — and imple menting its election manifesto of five “guaran tees” catering to the welfare of lower income communities in the runup to the general elec tions, which is just a year away. In terms of vote share, the Congress increased its vote from 38.04% in 2018 to 42.91 in 2023, while the BJP’s vote share declined marginally from 36.22% to 35.97. The JD(S) vote share fell sharply from 18.36% in 2018 to 13.3% in 2023. Winners and losers Some of the prominent winners are Chief Minis ter Basavaraj Bommai from Shiggaon; former CM Siddaramaiah from Varuna; KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar from Kanakapura; H.D. Kumaraswa my, Channapatna; B.Y. Vijayendra, Shikaripura; R.V. Deshpande from Haliyal; and G. Paramesh wara, from Koratagere. Among the highprofile candidates who lost are former Chief Minister Jagadish Shettar (Con gress) in Hubbali Central, Assembly Speaker Vish weshwar Hegde Kageri and 12 Ministers in the Bommai government. The defeated Ministers are Govind Karjol, B. Sriramulu, V. Somanna, J.C. Madhuswamy, Murgesh Nirani, B.C. Patil, K. Sud hakar, MTB Nagaraj, Narayana Gowda, B.C. Na gesh, Halappa Achar, and Shankar Patil Mune koppa. Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai submitted his resignation to Governor Thawar Chand Geh lot late on Saturday evening. He will continue as a caretaker CM until his successor is sworn in. Cong. to meet today to discuss next step Senior leaders such as Mr. Kharge, Siddaramaiah, D.K. Shivakumar, Randeep Singh Surjewala and others held a joint press conference at the party office and celebrated the victory. They also congratulated the winners and called it a victory of the collective leadership of the par ty. Mr. Kharge said they would have been in the same position as 2018 if they had not been united. Mr. Siddaramaiah said that it is the victory of democracy, Kannadigas and Karnataka and con gratulated the people of the State for voting the party to power. On the party’s victory, Mr Siddaramaiah tweet ed, “Bharat Jodo Yatra, led by Rahul Gandhi, unit ed the people of Karnataka & spread the idea of peace & harmony an important factor that put our party in the path of victory”. At the party office, Congress workers burst crackers and celebrated boisterously. CM YK The hearing will start soon. The Election Commission took almost four months while the courts took around nine months. We cannot hurry the process the new chief whip “ille gal”, and stated that Sunil Prabhu (of the MVA) was appointed by the political party Shiv Sena but not the Legislature Party as the chief whip. RAHUL NARWEKAR Internal rebellion On June 21, 2022, Mr. Shinde, Leader of the Shiv Sena in the Maharashtra Assembly, suddenly left Mumbai with many other Sena MLAs for Surat. This rebel group later went to Guwahati. Following the disqualifi cation, proceedings were issued against the first batch of 16 MLAs and a not ice was served on them. This group was granted 48 hours’ time to respond to the said notice. The next day, the group led by Mr. Shinde filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the pro ceedings against the 16 MLAs. Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Talking to The Hindu, Mr. Narwekar enlisted the questions before him. “The moot question is to first decide as to who re presents the political par ty. On that basis, I will have to decide who the whip is, in accordance with the pol itical party. Then, I will have to get into the merits of multiple disqualification petitions,” he detailed. Procedural steps “All the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure will be applicable — leading of evidence, examination of the chief, crossexami nations, verification and so on. Only then will I be able to come to a decision after giving everyone a fair chance,” he said. “The hearing will start soon. The Election Com mission of India took al most four months while the courts took around nine months. We cannot hurry the process,” he added. The apex court on Thursday held Mr. Nawe kar’s decision of recognis ing Bharat Gogawale (of Eknath Shinde camp) as Karnataka DirectorGener al of Police Praveen Sood will be the next Director of the Central Bureau of In vestigation (CBI) after his name was finalised on Sa turday by a threemember panel comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, and Leader of the Opposition (Con gress) in the Lok Sabha Ad hir Ranjan Chowdhury. Though there was no of ficial word on the selec tion, it is learnt that Mr. Chowdhury submitted a dissent note against Mr. Sood’s name as he was not among the original panel of officers who were shor tlisted for the top CBI job. A source said his name was included at the last minute. The name of the empa nelled officers are shared with the panel members ahead of the meeting. The other senior IPS of BJP wins big in U.P. local body polls; victory signifies faith in propeople policies, says CM Mayank Kumar LUCKNOW The BJP on Saturday regis tered a resounding victory in Uttar Pradesh’s Urban Local Body elections, win ning, or leading in, all the 17 Mayoral seats, and a ma jority of 1,420 councillor seats in municipal corpora tions, and member seats across Nagar Panchayats and Nagar Palika Parishads. As per the latest data available, the BJP won 30 out of 544 Nagar Panchayat chairman seats and was leading in more than 200. Of 1,420 councillors seats in Municipal Corporations, the party won or was lead ing in more than half the seats. In the Prayagraj Municipal Corporation, out of 100 seats whose re sults have been declared, the BJP won 56, Samajwadi Party (SP) 16, Indepen Major milestone: Yogi Adityanath congratulated the people of the State for choosing a tripleengine government. SANDEEP SAXENA dents 19, the Congress won four seats, and AIMIM and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won two seats each. The saffron party candi date Bihari Lal Arya from Jhansi became the Mayor after winning with a mar gin of over 83,000 votes. In Prayagraj, the BJP’s Ganesh Kesarwani defeated the SP’s Ajay Srivastava by a thumping margin of over one lakh votes. Ajay Singh won the post of Mayor in Saharanpur Municipal Corporation, Girishpati Tripathi won from Ayodhya, Manglesh Srivastava from Gorakh pur, Ashok Tiwari from Va ranasi, Pramila Pandey from Kanpur, Prashant Singhal from Aligarh, Hari kant Ahluwalia from Mee rut, Archana Verma from Shahjahanpur, Sushma Kharwal from Lucknow, Umesh Gautam from Ba reilly and Sunita Dayal from Ghaziabad Municipal Corporation. The SP came second on 10 out of 17 Mayoral seats, while in the remaining se ven seats — including Agra Municipal Corporation — the BJP defeated the BSP whose candidates came second. Chief Minister Yogi Adi tyanath, who leads the BJP’s campaign by holding 50 rallies across the State, thanked the voters for forming a tripleengine go vernment. “Heartiest con gratulations to all the dedi cated and hardworking workers of U.P. BJP and the citizens of Uttar Pradesh, on the resounding victory of the BJP in the Uttar Pra desh local body polls. This emphatic victory reflects the successful guidance of respected Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and immense public faith in the propeople, develop mental and inclusive poli cies of the doubleengine government,” he said. State BJP president Bhu pendra Singh Chaudhary called the victory a symbol of public’s faith towards the developmental policies of the doubleengine BJP government. The SP, however, al leged rigging in counting at various places and de manded immediate action by the Election Commis sion. “How about one lakh more votes were counted during the counting of votes in the Gorakhpur mayoral election? Govern ment should clarify. Elec tion Commission should take cognizance of the mal practices done with the de mocratic process,” said the SP, in a statement. Praveen Sood ficer who was in the reck oning for the position was the DGP of Madhya Pra desh Sudhir Saxena. Mr. Sood is a 1986batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre. He was appointed DGP three years ago. He hails from Himachal Pra desh and is an alumnus of IITDelhi. He was to retire in May 2024, but will now get a twoyear fixed tenure and be in office till May 2025 at least. In March, senior Con gress leader D.K. Shivaku mar had hit out at Mr. Sood for being incompetent and accused him of being a stooge of the BJP govern ment in Karnataka. Govt. starts training of medical staff for Haj 2023 The Hindu Bureau NEW DELHI Minority Affairs Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday in augurated the training pro gramme for the adminis trative and medical contingent selected to serve Haj pilgrims in Saudi Arabia this year. A 468member team — 339 medical professionals and 129 personnel for ad ministrative duties — has been chosen for the train ing to facilitate the move ment of 1.75 lakh pilgrims. The Ministry said it had received a record 4,314 ap plications from women who plan to travel without a male guardian (mehram). This year, there is a di rect involvement of the Health Ministry and its agencies for the medical screening of pilgrims, their vaccination. Gaganyaan: parachutes for Not planning largescale request to U.K. for return of reentry capsule sent to ISRO facility in Bengaluru cultural property: Centre The Hindu Bureau The Hindu Bureau LONDON/NEW DELHI NEW DELHI Indigenously developed parachutes for the safe re turn of the capsule that will carry astronauts under the proposed Gaganyaan pro gramme are set to undergo fitment tests at an Indian Space Research Organisa tion (ISRO) facility in Ben galuru in July. The Aerial Delivery Re search and Development Establishment (ADRDE), the Agrabased laboratory under the Defence Re search and Development Organisation (DRDO), has developed the parachutes for India’s manned space flight programme, Gaga nyaan, which envisages putting a crew of three as tronauts in lowearth orbit. On Saturday, the flight unit of the parachutes was flagged off from ADRDE to the ISRO Satellite Integra tion and Testing Establish ment in Bengaluru. “The first test demon stration is likely to take place in July this year, with the first unmanned mission The Gaganyaan crew module will carry three astronauts as part of India’s first human space flight programme. FILE PHOTO to be undertaken only after the success of two such de monstrations,” the ADRDE said in a statement. The Test Vehicle Demonstra tion (TVD1) flight will be a significant milestone to ward realising the nation’s ambitious Gaganyaan pro gramme, it stated. The parachute configu ration consists of 10 para chutes. During flight the se quence starts with deployment of two para chutes of “apex cover sepa ration parachute”, which is protection cover for the crew module parachute compartment, followed by two more of “drogue para chute deployment” to sta bilise and bring down the velocity. Upon the drogue parachute release, three parachutes of the “pilot pa rachute” system will be used to extract three para chutes of the “main para chute” individually, to re duce the speed of the crew module to safe levels dur ing its landing, the state ment explained. Stating that each para chute’s performance must be evaluated by complex testing methods, the ADRDE said that individual parachutes have under gone subsystem level testing. The government has de nied that it is seeking who lesale repatriation of cultu ral property extracted by Britain from India during colonial times. Reacting to a story, “In dia to force Britain into co lonial ‘reckoning’ with treasure demands”, in the U.K.’s Telegraph newspap er, the government said the headline and story were “unfortunately misleading”. ‘Overstatement’ The Telegraph, on Friday, reported that New Delhi was preparing to make “the largest repatriation claim faced by the UK, on a scale that would dwarf Greece’s demands for the Elgin Marbles” and that In dian diplomatic and minis terial staff were being “mo bilised” to secure “potentially thousands” of artefacts, including the Ko hinoor diamond. Government sources said that while it was seek ing the restitution of arte facts taken from India, the story was a “significant overstatement” in terms of how it portrays the govern ment and its approach to the U.K. The story goes on to say, “It is understood the issue may spill over into diplo matic talks between the UK and India on matters such as trade.” India and the U.K. are in advanced stages of nego tiating a trade deal. Indian diplomats in London will file formal requests for the return of artefacts, starting sometime this year, ac cording to the Telegraph story. “It is also not true that Ministerial and Diplomatic resources are being mobil ised toward securing the return of thousands of ar tefacts from the U.K.,” the government said, empha sising that its approach was to retrieve antiquities via “cooperation and partner ship” and in a manner con sistent with international agreements. A source noted that the issue was part of the G20 Culture Ministers’ meeting in India recently (India cur rently holds the G20 presidency). The government res ponse refers to its ap proach as reaching for “low hanging fruit”, such as working on the return of manuscripts from the U.K. Cooperative ties “India remains committed to work with international partners in building holis tic and cooperative ties, in which our shared history is an important pillar, but not the only one,” the govern ment’s response said. Just over a week ago, Queen Camilla of the U.K. wore a crown without the controversial diamond during her coronation, alongside the coronation of Charles III. While Buckingham Pa lace attributed the use of another crown to “sustain ability and efficiency” rea sons, the crown with the Kohinoor was set aside, re portedly, because of the of fence it would cause, espe cially in India, as a reminder and symbol of a painful colonial past. A ND-NDE THE HINDU 8 Sunday, May 14, 2023 News Delhi Karnataka result offers a U.P. Assembly byelections: BJP ally wrests Suar from SP, keeps Chhanbey lesson for BJP, Congress In Suar of Rampur, Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate Shafeek Ahmed Ansari wins against SP’s Anuradha Chauhan; the seat had fallen vacant due to the conviction of then MLA Abdullah Azam Khan, son of SP leader Azam Khan in a packed polling season Varghese K. George The Hindu Bureau LUCKNOW he Apna Dal (Sone lal), an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Ja nata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, on Saturday won both the Assembly seats — Suar and Chhanbey — in the State, to which byelec tions were held on May 10. In the highprofile con stituency of Suar in Ram pur, the Apna Dal(S) candi date, Shafeek Ahmed Ansari, won by a margin of 8,724 votes against his nearest rival, Anuradha Chauhan of the Samajwadi Party (SP). While Mr. Ansari polled 68,630 votes, Ms. Chauhan polled 59,906 votes. The byelection was necessitat ed by the conviction of then MLA Abdullah Azam Khan, son of SP leader Azam Khan. In Chhanbey, where the byelection took place fol lowing the demise of Apna T On winning track: Apna Dal (Sonelal) candidate Rinki Kol (second from left) showing the victory sign after filing her nomination for the Chhanbey Assembly byelection. PTI Dal(S) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol, Rinki Kol, wife of the late leader, registered vic tory for the party by a mar gin of around 10,000 votes against SP candidate Kirti Kol. The Apna Dal(S) candi date polled 76,203 votes against the SP nominee who got 66,616 votes. The defeat in Suar is seen as a major jolt to Azam Khan, who cam paigned extensively for the party nominee Anuradha Chauhan, a Hindu candi date in a constituency hav ing a sizeable Muslim elec torate. The Apna Dal(S) fielding Mr. Ansari, a Pas manda Muslim, was consi dered one among the ma Beginning of BJP’s end, says Mamata without mentioning Congress ny latest attempts by the National Democratic Al liance (NDA) in reaching out to this backward sub group, which forms a ma jority within the Muslim population in the State. In the 2022 Assembly elec tion, the Apna Dal(S) had fielded Haider Ali Khan from the seat. Daughter of slain Minister wins big in Odisha byelection The Hindu Bureau BHUBANESWAR Shiv Sahay Singh KOLKATA Congratulating the people of Karnataka for the “deci sive mandate in favour of change”, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Ba nerjee said on Saturday that the results are the be ginning of the end for the BJP before 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking to journalists at her residence in Kolkata, Ms. Banerjee said the peo ple of Karnataka had voted against “arrogance, intole rance and agency politics” of the BJP. The Trinamool Con gress chairperson gave the slogan “BJP hatao, desh bachao (remove BJP, save the country)”, and said in the next few months, elections to Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assemblies will be held and the BJP would lose there as well. Ms. Banerjee added that the people of the country want change. She said all the Opposition parties should come together against the BJP and fight the Lok Sabha polls on a Decisive mandate in Karnataka, says West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. FILE PHOTO “1:1 formula”. She said in the next Lok Sabha election, the BJP would not win seats in States in the south, includ ing Kerala, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, and in eastern India, including Bihar, West Ben gal and Odisha. In Delhi and Punjab, the BJP would not do well, she said. Ms. Banerjee said the BJP remains strong in States like Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. No reference to Rahul While Ms. Banerjee con gratulated the people of Karnataka and said even the party of H.D. Kumaras SUDOKU 쑽 wamy ( Janata DalSecular) has done well in the As sembly polls, she did not make any reference to the Congress. There was no mention of the Congress in her tweet or during the inte raction with journalists. She refused to comment on the Congress’ perfor mance and Rahul Gandhi’s leadership. During the day, the CM met Bollywood actor Sal man Khan at her resi dence. Mr. Khan was in the city to participate in an event. Ms. Banerjee said that she was worried about the ac tor’s security. Chief Minister Yogi Adi tyanath congratulated the NDA cadres for the victory, and described it as a sym bol of unwavering public trust in the good gover nance established by the doubleengine govern ment on the basic mantra of “Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas”. “Heartiest congratula tions to all the hardwork ing workers and respected voters for the grand victory of the BJP alliance in the byelections held in Suar and Chhanbey Assembly seats. This victory achieved under the suc cessful guidance of res pected Prime Minister Na rendra Modi ji is a symbol of unwavering public trust in the good governance es tablished by the double en gine government working on the basic mantra of Sab ka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sab ka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas,” he tweeted. The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday registered a landslide victory in the Jharsuguda Assembly bye lection. The seat was lying vacant following the mur der of then Health and Fa mily Minister Naba Kishore Das. Deepali Das, daughter of the slain leader and BJD candidate, defeated Tan kadhar Tripathy of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a huge margin of 48,721 votes. Ms. Das se cured 1,07,198 votes while Mr. Tripathy got 58,477 votes. Congress candidate Tarun Pandey trailed at a distant third with only 4,496 votes. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik spoke to Ms. Das and congratulated her on the victory. Ms. Das said the victory belonged to the people of Jharsuguda and those who were associated with her father. The former Health Mi nister was shot dead by an assistant subinspector of police in Brajarajnagar on January 29. It was the BJD’s sixth by poll victory in Odisha after the 2019 Assembly elec tion. It earlier won the As sembly byelections in Bije pur, Balasore, Tirtol, Pipili and Brajarajnagar consti tuencies. NEW DELHI NEWS ANALYSIS The outcome in Karnataka has set the tone for nation al politics in the runup to the 2024 Lok Sabha elec tion when Prime Minister Narendra Modi will seek a third straight term in pow er. The Congress has de feated the BJP in two States — Himachal Pradesh and Karnataka — in a span of five months. Later this year, the Congress and the BJP will battle for Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh. In Karnataka, the Con gress effectively tackled the BJP framework of polit ics, which is a combination of welfarism, caste repre sentation and Hindutva. Between D.K. Shivakumar and Siddaramaiah, the Congress pushed back against two allegations that the BJP usually raises: that it is hostile to the Hindu faith, and its Anglicised lib eralism does not accom modate backward castes while it “appeased” the Muslims. Mr. Shivakumar is a religious Hindu who does not mince words when it comes to speaking up for Muslims; Mr. Sidda ramaiah is a champion of caste justice. Added to this combination was the re lentless campaigning by party president Mallikar jun Kharge, who is a Dalit from the State. Rahul Gandhi openly spoke about caste justice in Kar nataka, a historic first for the Congress. The BJP tried to expand its social base among va rious castes and may have succeeded to some extent, but the Congress still could outsmart it. The Congress did not shy away from questioning exclusions based on both caste and re ligion. The BJP’s model of caste inclusiveness and re ligious exclusiveness faced a major setback. The Congress organised For the Congress, the question is whether it can replicate the same dynamics in the coming Assembly elections. PTI its campaign better than the BJP, which is very rare. Two general secretaries of the party, K. C. Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala, who is also in charge of the State, kept factionalism in check and messaging on track for an extended pe riod of time and stayed put in the field. Mr. Venugopal, who is now in charge of the organ isation, was in charge of the State during the 2018 Assembly election, and the coordination between the two galvanised the party. Mr. Surjewala’s affable but assertive style resolved sev eral flareups between the two doyens in the State Congress through the elec tion season. Rahul Gand hi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra had stirred up the party in Kar nataka, and the momen tum was sustained into the election. Mr. Kharge’s own team of advisers such as Syed Naseer Hussain and Gurdeep Sappal kept close tabs on the campaign at a granular level. In contrast, the BJP was struggling to get its campaign in order, and its messaging was muddled in the face of an antiincumbency trend. For the Congress, the question is whether it can replicate the same dynam ics in terms of leadership, ideological framework and coordination between State and national leader ship in the forthcoming As sembly elections. The out come in Karnataka will potentially quell rebellions in the Congress units of Chhattisgarh and Rajas than, and encourage dissi dence in BJP units. The BJP will have to de cide whether it will en courage State leaders to take charge in Assembly elections or keep all cam paigns dependent on Mr. Modi’s charisma and whirl wind tours. An equally important lesson for the BJP to pon der is about its capacity to reach out to linguistic mi norities. Karnataka should also spur the BJP to accom modate particularities of a place than offer a national magic potion. If the BJP should draw the lesson that its tricks in the Hindi heartland and the west may not work in other States, its opponents should be aware that Kar nataka’s outcome is not ne cessarily an indicator of what might happen in saf fron strongholds. Also, Assembly elec tions are no indicators of parliament outcomes. The Congress was wiped out in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattis garh and Rajasthan in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, barely six months after it won the Assembly elec tions in those States. Karnataka outcome sup ports the theory that trian gular contests are disap pearing fast, at the constituency level and the State level. The JD(S) may find it difficult to survive without power for five years. Single caste, single familydriven politics is the most delegitimised form of politics at the moment, and similar parties in other parts of the country could draw appropriate lessons from the crossroads that the JD(S) is currently at. Mandate of a new India, says Akhilesh The Hindu Bureau LUCKNOW Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku CM YK Describing the Karnataka election result as a ‘begin ning’ to the ‘end’ of the BJP’s ‘negative, communal, divi sive and false propaganda’, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav in a tweet on Saturday said the mandate is of new India which is against inflation, unemploy ment, corruption and animosity. Mr. Yadav tweeted, “The message from Karnataka is that this is the ‘end’ of BJP’s negative, communal, cor rupt, richoriented, antiwo menyouth, socialdivisive, false propaganda, indivi dualistic politics has begun.’ He added, “This is a strict mandate of new positive In dia against inflation, unem ployment, corruption and animosity.” The results indi cated a clear victory for the Congress. A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 Triumphant Congress looks at battles ahead With the defeat in Karnataka, BJP back to square one in south India Nistula Hebbar Congress exudes confidence after spectacular victory in Karnataka; party credits the template of five guarantees, Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra and local leadership for the emphatic win Sandeep Phukan NEW DELHI he power of the poor people defeat ed the might of cro ny capitalists and it will be repeated in other elec tions, Congress leader Ra hul Gandhi announced hours after his party wrest ed Karnataka from the BJP on Saturday. “I am happy we contest ed the Karnataka polls without using hate, bad language. We fought the polls with love. In Karnata ka, nafrat ka bazaar (mar ket of hate) has closed down and mohabbat ki dukaanein (shops of love) have opened,” Mr. Gandhi said to loud cheers from party workers and burst ing of firecrackers at the Congress headquarters. The result is the Con gress’s best performance since 1999 in the State, when S.M. Krishna became the Chief Minister after the party won 132 seats. The spectacular win for the Congress, riding on its campaign of five guaran tees, has provided some key lessons for the next round of Assembly elec T Winning in style: Congress supporters celebrate outside a party office in Bengaluru as it emerged as a clear winner in the Karnataka Assembly election on Saturday. K. MURALI KUMAR tions Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. “It was during the Bha rat Jodo Yatra, from the many conversations @Ra hulGandhi had with the pe ople of Karnataka, that the guarantees and the pro mises in our manifesto were discussed and final ised,” Jairam Ramesh of the Congress tweeted. Ac cording to data shared by Mr. Ramesh, of the 20 As sembly constituencies that the yatra passed through, the Congress won 15 seats. The Congress campaign mostly focussed on the lea dership of Basavaraj Bom mai and contrasted it with that of Siddaramaiah and D.K.Shivakumar. Though Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s “ve nomous snake” comment at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party manif esto’s promise of decisive action against the Bajrang Dal were being used ag gressively by the BJP to charge the Congress with insulting Lord Hanuman and hurling abuse at Mr. Modi, the party, instead of responding, stuck to its campaign of “misgover nance” and “40% commis sion sarkara” against the BJP. Though much will de pend on the Congress’s performance in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan polls, the Karna taka win will give the party a boost to reclaim its posi tion as a rallying point for Opposition parties in the run up to the 2024 polls. Trinamool’s Derek O’ Brien and Bahujan Samaj Party’s Danish Ali were among those who tweeted that the Karnataka results would have a bearing in the next Lok Sabha polls. B.S. Satish Kumar BENGALURU A dozen Ministers who held prominent portfolios have lost their seats in the Karnataka Assembly, brought down by the anti BJP wave that swept through the State in this election. In a debacle that has shocked the BJP, as ma ny as 12 of them — includ ing veteran Dalit leader and Major Irrigation Minis ter Govind Karjol, who had earlier worked as Deputy Chief Minister — have lost. The BJP’s Adivasi icon and Transport Minister, B. Sriramulu, who was a vote The Hindu Bureau BENGALURU Amid high drama, BJP can didate C.K. Ramamurthy was declared the winner from Jayanagar against the Congress incumbent MLA Sowmya Reddy by just 16 votes. The result was declared only by midnight as major drama unfurled during the evening. According to sources, Ms. Reddy was de clared elected by 160 votes at the end of all the rounds of counting. However, la ter, BJP leaders took objec tion to the rejection of 177 postal votes for technical reasons. Later, after offi cials and others met, these ballots were counted again. The BJP was de clared winner by 16 votes. CM YK NEW DELHI As soon as the definitive trends started emerging on Saturday, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai conced ed defeat to the Congress in the Karnataka Assembly election, and said the BJP would learn from its mis takes and plan for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. For the party, this election was just as existentially impor tant as it was for the Con gress as Karnataka was its only bastion in southern India, and its rule there was a strong argument to fight the perception of the BJP being a party of Hindi speakers. The loss in Karnataka will hit the BJP because of the perception that it is a largely north Indian party, out of touch with the polit ical and cultural sensibili ties of the southern States. Some of the messages from the Chief Ministers of southern States have touched upon those themes. The BJP Karnataka unit may well say that it will learn from the mistakes and the party may do well in 2024 in the State as it did in the Lok Sabha election in 2019 winning 24 of the 28 seats due to the popu larity of Prime Minister Na rendra Modi. But for the Counting one’s losses: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai during an election campaign on May 8. ANI national leadership, the problem goes beyond that. The first challenge for the BJP in the wake of the Karnataka result will be in Telangana, where the As sembly election will be held later this year. In the 2019 election, the BJP won four Lok Sabha seats in the State. The par ty has been on an aggres sive campaign pitch for the Greater Hyderabad Munici pal Corporation election, Assembly byelections and the Assembly election. In ternal meetings of the BJP with Telangana leaders has shown that the party has very few of its own candi dates for the Assembly seats, and the byelections that it won in Huzurabad and Dubbak had candi dates who started their political life with the Bha rat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), formerly Telangana Rash tra Samithi. The party was nursing the idea that a defeat for the Congress in Karnataka could lead to wholesale de fections to the BJP in Telan gana, demoralising the Congress further and mak ing the BJP, if not a winner, then at least the official number two party in the State. That battle seems more of an uphill task after the Karnataka results. Lok Sabha battle The southern States ac count for 140 Lok Sabha seats. The BJP has 28 of them as of now (29, if one counts Mandya Lok Sabha MP Sumalatha Ambareesh, an Independent candidate supported by the BJP). With the BJP’s alliances in Bihar and Maharashtra broken, the party has been casting a wide net for the next Lok Sabha election in areas where newer seats can be won. For the past few months, senior BJP leaders have been hobnob bing with cultural icons and social sector leaders of the southern States, espe cially in Telangana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, to fight the perception of being a party from the Hindi belt. The absence of a large social group sticking to the BJP, as the Lingayats had done in Karnataka starting in the late 1990s, has hob bled the BJP’s efforts. The Karnataka results, with the Congress beating the BJP on an intensely lo cal campaign with strong overtones of regionalism versus Delhi, including the Amul versus Nandini milk cooperative controversy, does not appear to look good for the party in the southern States. The irony in the situa tion is that the BJP claims that it is a party with a na tional footprint, but it will have to identify hyper lo cally with each of the southern States to make any headway, which will be a tricky balancing act. Several Ministers swept aside by Cong. wave On the draw High drama at Jayanagar as BJP wins by just 16 votes 9 KARNATAKA VERDICT 2023 Delhi puller in Scheduled Tribe (ST) constituencies, has al so lost this time. This has come as a shock for the BJP which was trying to win ov er the ST and Scheduled Caste (SC) communities by increasing reservation for them. The party is also finding it difficult to digest the defeat of sugar baron and Large and Medium In dustries Minister Muru gesh Nirani, who was a strong aspirant for the Chief Ministerial post. Mr. Nirani belongs to the domi nant Lingayat community and the influential subsect of Panchamashali. The fact that he has lost in the Lin gayat heartland (Bilagi) that forms the main sup port base of the BJP will force the party’s think tank to introspect about its strategies. Loss of Lingayat leaders Another Lingayat Minister who lost was Housing Mi nister V. Somanna, who had been pitted against Congress stalwart Siddara maiah in the Varuna con stituency of Mysuru dis trict. Others from the Lingayat community — Law Minister J. C. Madhus wamy, who used to aggres sively defend the party from the Opposition on BJP tripped on experiments with caste matrix Sharath S. Srivatsa BENGALURU The BJP’s experiments to tinker with the reservation matrix months before the Karnataka Assembly elec tion, along with a series of decisions that are believed to have riled the Lingayat community, appear to have backfired on the par ty as the poll outcome indi cates. The party was already on the backfoot over the demand for reservation by the Panchamsalis, the nu merically stronger Vee rashaivaLingayat subsect. The “forced” stepping down of Lingayat strong man B.S. Yediyurappa from the post of Chief Mi nister seems to have been further cornered it, along side the ignominious exits of former Chief Minister Ja gadish Shettar and former Deputy Chief Minister Lakshman Savadi. to have voted for the Con gress. The powerful landown ing community of the north Karnataka region ap pears to have backed the Congress this election, with 34 VeerashaivaLin gayats getting elected on Congress ticket as opposed to only 18 on BJP ticket. In the 2018 Assembly election, 38 BJP legislators were VeerashaivaLin gayats, following the row over the movement for a Lingayat religion that re sulted in the Congress hav ing only 16 Veerashaiva Lingayat legislators. The numbers game: The BJP’s caste and community calculations failed to bring success. FILE PHOTO Reservation gimmick Another big loss for the BJP came from reserved consti tuencies for Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). Tinkering with the SC internal reservation was resented by the communi ties and resulted in sporad ic violence. While the BJP government claimed credit for taking a “historic deci sion” on increasing the qu ota matrix, it fell short of providing a framework to back it against any legal challenge, a point that was raised repeatedly in the runup to the elections. The Congress recorded big wins in the reserved consti tuencies, taking 22 out of 36 constituencies reserved for SCs, up from 12 in 2018, and 14 of the 15 constituen cies reserved for STs, up from eight in 2018. The elevation of Malli karjun Kharge as the All In dia Congress Committee president is also believed to have worked in favour of the Congress as Dalit com munities in both the Left and the Right are believed Minority votes The perceived threat to Muslims under the BJP go vernment, which took a number of controversial decisions, including a ban on the hijab, the anticon version Bill, the anticow slaughter Bill and eventual ly, the scrapping of 4% re servation to Muslims, ap pears to have consolidated the minority votes in fa vour of the Congress. While the Janata Dal (S) was hoping to get a chunk of the minority votes to boost its tally, this does not appear to have worked out. While the BJP does have a large base in the Vokkali gadominated region, its presence has dropped to six seats from nine seats earlier, though it had of fered reservation to the community. slaught in the legislature; Agriculture Minister B.C. Patil; and Sugar Minister Shankar Patil Munenakop pa — also suffered losses. Revenue Minister and Vok kaliga leader R. Ashok who had been pitted against Congress State president D.K. Shivakumar in Kana kapura, lost miserably as the Congress leader won by a huge lead of over one lakh votes. However, Mr. Ashok has managed to win comfortably from his home constituency of Pad manabhanagar. Other Ministers who lost include Health and Medi cal Education Minister K. Sudhakar, who was the go vernment’s face during the COVID19 pandemic; Prim ary and Secondary Educa tion Minister B.C. Nagesh, who had initiated revision of school textbooks; Min ing Minister Halappa Ba sappa Achar; and Sports Minister K. C. Narayana Gowda, who was the par ty’s lone face in the Vokka liga heartland of Mandya. In addition to this, senior BJP leader and Speaker Vishveshwara Hegde Kage ri, who is a sixtime MLA, and M.P. Renukacharya, who was the Chief Minis ter’s political secretary, al so faced defeat. PM’s push did little to turn the tide in many constituencies The Hindu Bureau BENGALURU/BELAGAVI Prime Minister Narendra Modi headlined the BJP’s campaign in Karnataka, pitching for a “doubleen gine government”, with the same party in power at the Centre and the State. He held over 20 rallies and roadshows in the State af ter election was an nounced. An analysis of the re sults in these constituen cies show that his rallies seem to have had little im pact, except for his three roadshows in Bengaluru. Of the 17 other locations where the PM held rallies and roadshows, the BJP won only five seats. The Congress won in 13 places and the JD(S) in two. For instance, in seats such as Shivamogga Rural, Kudachi in Belagavi, Kolar, Vijayanagar, Chitradurga, Sindhanur, Kalaburagi, Karwar, Kittur, Nanjangud, Channapatna, Badami and Haveri seats, where Mr. Modi held rallies, the BJP lost. Of the PM’s rally loca tions, the BJP won in Hum nabad in Bidar, Bijapur Ci ty, Belur in Hassan, Mudabidri, and Tumakuru Rural. In Bengaluru, where he held three mega road shows, the party has main tained status quo. Congress leader Sidda ramaiah said the mandate was against the PM. “I have always maintained that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will have no impact in the State. That has been borne out in the results.” A ND-NDE THE HINDU 10 KARNATAKA POLLS 2023 CM YK Sunday, May 14, 2023 Delhi A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 11 World Delhi RAWALPINDI VATICAN CITY KHARTOUM MANILA Raid leaves civilian, 7 troops, 6 militants dead: Pakistan Army Zelensky arrives at Vatican for a private audience with the Pope Blasts rock Khartoum as warring sides affirm humanitarian pledge Philippine court acquits top critic of exPresident’s ‘war on drugs’ FILE PHOTO X A raid on militants in Pakistan’s southwest in response to an earlier attack on soldiers left seven troops, six militants and a civilian dead, the Army said on Saturday. The operation continued for two days after a group of militants attacked a camp of soldiers in the Qila Saifullah district of northern Balochistan province on Friday. AP AFP X Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky arrived at the Vatican on Saturday for what was expected to be a private audience with Pope Francis. The 86yearold pontiff has repeatedly called for peace in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion in February 2022, including offering to mediate with Moscow. AFP Air strikes pummelled Khartoum on Saturday, with representatives of Sudan’s warring factions meeting in Saudi Arabia for talks to prevent a “humanitarian catastrophe” as the fighting entered a fifth week. More than 750 people have been killed and hundreds of thousands displaced since fighting erupted on April 15. AFP Myanmar, Bangladesh brace for Cyclone Mocha Palestinian militants, Israel trade fire in Gaza It is expected to make landfall on Sunday morning between Cox’s Bazar, where 1 million Rohingya refugees live in camps largely made up of flimsy shelters, and Sittwe on Myanmar’s Rakhine coast Associated Press Agence France-Presse SITTWE T housands fled Myanmar’s west coast and officials in neighbouring Bangla desh raced to evacuate Rohingya refugees on Sa turday as the most power ful cyclone in the region for over a decade churned across the Bay of Bengal. Cyclone Mocha was packing winds of up to 220 km per hour, according to India’s meteorological of fice, equivalent to a catego ry four hurricane. It is expected to weaken before making landfall on Sunday morning between Cox’s Bazar, where nearly one million Rohingya refu gees live in camps largely made up of flimsy shelters, and Sittwe on Myanmar’s western Rakhine coast. On Saturday, Sittwe resi dents piled possessions and pets into cars, trucks and tuktuks and headed Run for life: People being evacuated on a truck in Myanmar's Rakhine on Saturday, ahead of the landfall of Cyclone Mocha. AFP for higher ground, accord ing to reporters. “We have our grandma in our family and we have to take care of her,” Khine Min said from a truck packed with his rela tives on a road out of the state capital. “There is only one man left in Sittwe to take care of our homes.” Shops and markets in the town of about 1,50,000 people were shuttered, with many locals shelter ing in monasteries. Myanmar’s junta auth orities were supervising evacuations from villages along the Rakhine coast, state media reported Fri day. Myanmar Airways In ternational said all its flights to Rakhine state had been suspended until Monday. In neighbouring Bangla desh, officials moved to evacuate Rohingya refu gees from “risky areas” to community centres, while hundreds of people fled a top resort island. “Cyclone Mocha is the most power ful storm since Cyclone Sidr,” Azizur Rahman, the head of Bangladesh’s Mete orological Department, said. That cyclone hit Bangla desh’s southern coast in November 2007, killing more than 3,000 people and causing billions of dol lars in damage. Bangladeshi authorities have banned the Rohingya from constructing perma nent concrete homes, fear ing it may incentivise them to settle permanently rath er than return to Myanmar, which they fled five years ago. Forecasters expect the cyclone to bring a deluge of rain, which can trigger landslides. Most of the camps are built on hill sides, and landslips are a regular phenomenon in the region. AFP X A Philippine court on Friday acquitted former senator Leila De Lima, one of the fiercest critics of exPresident Rodrigo Duterte, of a charge stemming from allegations that as a Cabinet Minister she received money from drug dealers. However, Ms. De Lima will not immediately be released due to another case still in court. REUTERS Sharif wants those who incited violence arrested Reuters KARACHI GAZA CITY Israel and Palestinian mili tants unleashed salvos of fire for a fifth day on Satur day, with the Islamic Jihad militant group launching dozens more rockets and the Israel pounding targets inside the Gaza Strip. Missile shrapnel that slammed into an agricultu ral community in Israel’s southern Negev desert se verely wounded two Pales tinians from Gaza in their 40s who had been working in Israel and moderately wounded another man, medics said. Late Saturday, Egypt's Al-Qahera channel said a ceasefire would take ef fect. However, there was no immediate comment from Israeli PM. AFP X Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered authorities on Saturday to identify and arrest all those involved in violent acts af ter former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest this week sparked deadly unrest. Mr. Khan departed the court premises late Friday night and headed towards his hometown Lahore amidst high security, after a court granted him bail. His arrest in a land fraud case on Tuesday, which the Supreme Court ruled “invalid and unlawful” on Thursday, sparked violent protests by his supporters. They stormed military establishments, set ablaze a state broadcaster build ing, smashed buses, ran Shehbaz Sharif sacked a top Army official’s house and attacked other assets, leading to nearly 2,000 arrests and the Ar my being deployed in mul tiple cities. Widespread chaos At least eight people were killed in the violence, a spasm of unrest in a coun try that is facing economic crisis, with record infla tion, anaemic growth and delayed IMF funding. Mr. Khan, who was ex pected to address his fol lowers virtually later on Sa turday, on Friday welcomed the court’s bail order and said the judici ary was Pakistan’s only protection against the “law of the jungle”. “I must say I expected this from our judiciary, be cause the only hope now left – the only thin line bet ween a banana republic and a democracy is the judiciary,” he told journal ists inside the court premises. Many cities in Pakistan saw violent protests follow ing his arrest by the anti graft agency. Mr. Khan de nies any wrongdoing. Fa cebook, YouTube and Twitter were inaccessible in Pakistan on Saturday, journalists said. Ukraine used longrange Storm Shadow missiles from Britain to attack Luhansk, claims Russia Reuters MOSCOW Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Uk rainian aircraft had struck two industrial sites in the Russianheld city of Lu hansk in eastern Ukraine with Storm Shadow long range cruise missiles sup plied by Britain. Britain on Thursday became the first country to say it had start ed supplying Kyiv with longrange cruise missiles, which will allow it to hit Russian troops and supply dumps far behind the front lines as it prepares a major counter attack. British Defence Minister Ben Wallace said he had re ceived assurances from Ky iv that they would not be used to attack targets in side Russia’s international ly accepted borders. ‘Broken vow’ The Russian ministry said the missiles had hit a plant producing polymers and a meatprocessing factory in Luhansk on Friday. “Storm Shadow airto air missiles supplied to the Kyiv regime by Britain were used for the strike, contrary to London’s state ments that these weapons would not be used against civilian targets,” the minis try said. ‘Moving forward’ along Bakhmut front, says Ukraine Agence France-Presse KYIV A senior Ukrainian military commander said on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces were advancing along parts of the front line against Russian forces near the eastern town of Bakhmut. “Our soldiers are moving forward in some areas of the front, and the enemy is losing equipment and manpower,” Commander of Ukrainian ground forces Oleksandr Syrskyi said on social media. Earlier Saturday the Germany defence mi nistry said the country was preparing a new weapons package for Ukraine worth 2.7 bil lion euros, reportedly Berlin’s largest since Russia invaded last year. Kyiv said that the massive new weapons package from Germany was another sign that Russia would lose in its war against Ukraine. “States declare large defence aid packages for Ukraine,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, an ad viser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Ze lensky.Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Ku leba said that he discussed next weapons supplies with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “I paid close attention to the importance of providing Ukraine with F16s and steps neces sary to begin training of Ukrainian pilots,” he added. CM YK A ND-NDE THE HINDU 12 Sunday, May 14, 2023 SCIENCE Delhi U.K. sees success in mitochondrial replacement therapy R. Prasad Eight years after the U.K. became the first country in the world to approve a re productive technique known as mitochondrial replacement therapy (MRT), “less than five” chil dren have been born using the procedure, as of April 2023. The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the U.K. fertility regulator that approves the IVFbased procedure on a casebycase basis, recent ly confirmed this in res ponse to a freedom of in formation request. The fertility regulator refused to share more information about the birth details of the children as that “could lead to the identification of a person to whom the HFEA owes a duty of confidentiality”. Last year, Australia be came the second country to approve this therapy. The mitochondrial re placements in “less than five” children were carried out by the Newcastle Fertil ity Centre, U.K., the only clinic that has been ap proved by the regulator to conduct this therapy. Threeparent IVF Mitochondria replacement involves transferring nu clear genetic material from a mother’s egg into a do nor egg that has had its nu clear DNA removed so the embryo does not inherit the mitochondrial disease. This would allow a woman carrying mitochondrial diseases to have healthy children. The resulting IVF embryo combines sperm and egg from the biological parents, while the mito chondria is from the do nor’s egg. As a result, the baby has DNA from each of its pa rents, along with 37 genes from the donor. This is the reason why this technique is also called threeparent IVF (in vitro fertilisation). According to the HFEA, one in 6,500 babies in the U.K. is born with a mito chondrial disorder which can lead to serious pro blems such as heart and liver disease, and respira tory problems, which can even lead to the death of the infant. Lifesaver The Authority said, in 2013, that this procedure can save around 10 lives each year in the U.K. Mitochondria is the po werhouse of a cell, and any mutation that damages the mitochondria tends to affect energyhungry or gans the most. As of 2013, about 12,000 people in the U.K. live with such conditions, the rea son why the therapy was approved by the HFEA. In the U.S., 1,0004,000 babies with mitochondrial disease are born each year. Long COVID: a lingering problem requiring greater attention SNAPSHOTS 쑽 Hammerhead sharks hold their breath during diving As per a new study (Science), hammerhead sharks hold their breath to maintain body temperature as they hunt in deep, cold waters. The previously unobserved phenomenon, which has broad similarities to breathholding thermoregulation strategies employed by marine mammals, may be widespread among other deepdiving sharks and fish. Like most fish, sharks are fully ectothermic, and their body temperatures are largely regulated by their immediate environment. For long COVID, the onset is more insidious and diagnosis is less certain; there are no diagnostic tests to confirm long COVID and, therefore, a sizeable number of patients go undetected lenging for many reasons. Firstly, many infections oc cur without symptoms. Se cond, the virus is constant ly evolving to escape human immune responses arising from vaccination and/or prior infection. This means that repeated bouts of COVID19 can be expected, especially when precautions are not fol lowed during a regional surge. A recent study pu blished by the CDC found that 15% of reinfections oc curred as early as two months after initial infec tion. Every (re)infection has a possibility of causing long COVID. Rajeev Jayadevan ometimes, I forget what I was doing, and have to pause and think.” “After having COVID19, I have not been able to go to work due to breathing difficulty.” “I feel so tired, with ach es and pains in my muscles and joints.” These are complaints voiced by some people long after recovering from COVID19. While it is not unusual for a viral fever to leave a person feeling tired for a few days, people with long COVID experience symptoms for several months or even longer. “S Several symptoms The World Health Organi zation (WHO) defines long COVID as the continuation or development of new symptoms (beyond three months after the initial in fection) lasting for over two months with no alter native explanation. Studies have attempted to deter mine how commonly it oc curs. However, since there are several symptoms re ported by those who suffer from long COVID, classifi cation has become diffi cult. For instance, a study that uses tiredness as a cri terion could overestimate the prevalence, as that symptom is already com mon among the general population. A study of long COVID from AIIMS, Delhi during the first wave reported its incidence to be as high as 10%. More recent studies estimate the true incidence to be around 5%, which im plies that one out of 20 pa tients with COVID19 go on to develop long COVID. While gradual recovery has occurred in some cases, this has not been the case for others. For instance, a paper from Kerala reports that 62% of long COVID pa tients who became unem ployed following their in itial illness remained so even at 10 months postinfection. Across the world, mil lions continue to suffer from long COVID, and a study last year by the At lantabased CDC found that nearly onefifth of peo ple in the U.S. who had the disease in the last two years continued to suffer from long COVID. The impact of any dis ease is assessed based on certain outcomes. For CO VID19, death is a frequent ly discussed hard outcome measure. However, long COVID is a relatively soft outcome because its onset is more insidious and its diagnosis is less certain. Many people experiencing long COVID do not rush to the doctor, and among those who do, a diagnosis is seldom made. Frequently, such people are ignored as ‘psychologi cal’ or ‘anxietyrelated’. Unfortunately, there are no diagnostic tests such as X rays, CT scans, or blood tests to confirm long CO VID. Therefore, a sizeable number of patients with long COVID go undetected. Research is ongoing to determine why only some individuals develop long COVID. Some studies have found that it is more com mon in women, but it has not been linked to any specific age group or the severity of the initial infec tion. Initially, long COVID was thought to be an au toimmune phenomenon, and some believe it is due to persistence of the virus in remote parts of the bo dy, such as the gut. Reactiv ation of other viruses in the body is also implicated. There is evidence of an ab normal immune response in long COVID, but it is not clear what drives this res ponse or what can be done to alleviate it. At present, there are no approved drugs for treat ing long COVID, and multi ple clinical trials are cur rently under way. The WHO said the best way to prevent long COVID is to avoid getting infected with SARSCoV2 virus. Preventing COVID19 on a forward timeline is chal Pandemic fatigue The recent declaration by the WHO ending the CO VID19 public health emer gency of international con cern is misunderstood as the end of the pandemic it self. Blame it on pandemic fatigue, despite the WHO’s assertion that COVID19 continues to be an “esta blished and ongoing health issue”, people end up tak ing home a different mes sage. For them, the decla ration of the end of the public health emergency is tantamount to the pan demic coming to an end. This could worsen the spread of the virus. Recognising the exis tence of long COVID and continuing to implement regionally appropriate mi tigation measures when the situation so demands will help in reducing the negative impact of the pan demic on global health and productivity. (Rajeev Jayadevan is co Chairman, National IMA COVID Task Force) Data reveal Homo adaptation to diverse environments Homo species — particularly Homo sapiens — were uniquely equipped to adapt to diverse environments (Science), which may have enabled our species and that of our closely related ancestors to survive in highly fluctuating Pleistocene environments. Whether this is because our species was uniquely successful at adapting to Pleistocene environments, because we outcompeted other contemporary Homo species, or because we simply outlived others by chance remains largely unknown. Using disposable diaper waste as a construction material Up to 8% of the sand in concrete and mortar used to make a singlestorey house could be replaced with shredded, used disposable diapers without diminishing their strength, as per a study (Scientific Reports). Researchers tested six samples containing different proportions of diaper waste to measure how much pressure they could withstand. Then, they calculated the maximum proportion of sand that could be replaced with these diapers in building materials. A break in the Western Ghats side of the Palghat Gap. SPEAKING OF SCIENCE D. Balasubramanian Often called as a significant discontinuity in the Western Ghats, the Palghat Gap is about 40 km wide, with the steep Nilgiris and Anamalai hills, both rising above 2,000 msl, on either side. The Palghat Gap has histor ically been important as a sig nificant gateway into the State of Kerala. It is a corridor for both roads and railways that con nects Coimbatore with Palak kad. The Bharathappuzha riv er flows through it. In contrast to the tropical rainforests of the Western Ghats, the vegetation in the Palghat Gap is classified as dry evergreen forest. It also marks a divide in the flora and fauna of the region. For example, several species of frogs are found only on one CM YK Geological upheaval The Gap is a geological shear zone that runs from east to west. Shear zones are weak regions in the earth’s crust — this is the reason why tremors are sometimes felt in Coimba tore. The origin of the Palghat Gap also stems from the drift of continental shelves after Australia and Africa broke off from the Gondwana landmass. India and Madagascar re mained as one landmass until largescale volcanic activity split the two, the split occur ring where the Palghat Gap is located — this is mirrored in the Ranotsara Gap on the east ern face of Madagascar. How long ago did the Gap origi nate? The landmass split about 100 million years ago, and the Gap had formed be fore this; although how long before is debated. It has been speculated that one reason for the biogeo graphic distinctions in species Variation: There are biogeographic distinctions in species north and south of the Palghat Gap. FILE PHOTO in north and south of the Gap could be due to an ancient riv er or an incursion of the sea in the distant past. Elephant populations on the Nilgiris side differ in their mitochon drial DNA from elephants in the Anamalai and the Periyar sanctuaries. One study from IISc Banga lore has analysed DNA se quence divergence data in populations of the Whitebel lied Shortwing, an endemic and threatened bird. Birds found around Ooty and Baba Budan are called the Nilgiri blue robin; the Anamalai group differs slightly in appea rance, and is called the White bellied blue robin. South of the Gap The biodiversity of a region is expressed in two ways: spe cies richness, which relates to how many species are found in an ecosystem, and phyloge netic diversity, where you add up the evolutionary age of all the species you find. Both these traits are abun dant in the Western Ghats south of the Palghat Gap, as reported in a recent study by groups from the CCMB at Hyd erabad and other institutions (Proceedings of the Royal So ciety B, April 2023). There are over 450 species of trees here, including some such as Mag nolia champaca (Champa; Ta mil: Sambagan) that have been around for over 130 mil lion years. Warm weather due to prox imity to the equator, and moist air brings plenty of rain to the southern Western Ghats. Therefore, this region has been an island refuge for all forms of life, even as cycles of ice ages and droughts have reduced biodiversity in sur rounding areas. The Western Ghats in north of the Palghat Gap receive more rain annual ly, but the south gets rain more evenly throughout the year. (The article was written in col laboration with Sushil Chan dani, who works in molecular modelling. sushilchanda ni@gmail.com) Question Corner Sea level rise Has the future sea level rise been correctly estimated? Researchers have uncovered a previously unseen way in which ice and an ocean interacts. According to glaciologists, this could mean that the climate community has been underestimating the magnitude of future sea level rise caused by polar ice deterioration. Using satellite radar data from three European missions, the team learned that the Petermann Glacier’s grounding line — where ice detaches from land bed and floats in the ocean — shifts during tidal cycles, allowing warm seawater to intrude and melt ice at an accelerated rate (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences). The researchers found that as the Petermann Glacier’s grounding line retreated nearly 4 km between 2016 and 2022, warm water carved a 670foottall cavity in the underside of the glacier, and that abscess remained there for all of 2022. The new study shows that warm ocean water intrudes beneath the ice through preexisting subglacial channels, with the highest melt rates occurring at the grounding zone, says a release. Readers may send their questions / answers to questioncorner@thehindu.co.in A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 13 PROFILES Delhi Clash of clans in Manipur Meiteis The valleydwellers, who make up 53% of Manipur’s population, demand ST status for protecting their ‘ancestral land, traditions, culture and language’, while existing tribal groups say the Meiteis enjoy demographic and political advantages ILLUSTRATION: R. RAJESH account for the bulk of the State’s 3.8% SC population. A section of the Bamons and Kshatriyas are against the ST status, as are the SCs who feel they will lose out if they compete with Meiteis and existing tribes if they are granted the ST status, first demanded by the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur in 2012. Rahul Karmakar M ultiple factors led to the ethnic conflict that erupted in Manipur on May 3 that left more than 60 dead, 231 injured, and 1,700 houses, many belonging to tribes of the Kuki group, destroyed. The most recent was a ‘Tribal Solidarity March’, spurred by the Manipur High Court’s March 27 order (issued on April 19) that revived a decadeold demand of a section of the Meitei people that they be granted the Scheduled Tribe status for protecting their “ancestral land, traditions, culture and language”. New Delhi rushed thousands of Central forces to the State as violence spread. An uneasy calm has prevailed over the State ever since, but the equations between communities remain tense. Manipur, one of the eight northeastern States, covers an area of 22,327 sq. km and has a rich cultural, literary and administrative history. The State’s territory, according to Britishera maps in the 1850s, once extended up to the Ningthee or Chindwin river beyond the Kabaw or Kubo Valley in Myanmar. The presentday Manipur can be broadly divided into two valleys that account for a little more than 10% of the landmass and the hills covering the rest. About 60% of Manipur’s population, largely the nontribal Meitei, live in the 1,864.44 sq.km Imphal Valley, comprising five districts, almost at the centre of the State. The remaining 40% inhabit the surrounding hills divided into 10 districts besides the 232 sq.km valley of Jiribam, also a district, adjoining southern Assam’s Cachar. Jiribam is the access point of one of the two major National Highways and a railway (partially completed) linking the State’s capital Imphal. The other arterial highway is via Nagaland to the north. Extremismrelated and ethnic conflicts have often disrupted vehicular movement on these highways largely through tribal areas, resulting in a fuel, food and medicine scarcity in the Imphal Valley and elsewhere in Manipur. Meiteis account for about 53% of the State’s total population of 2.85 million. Also known as Meetei or Manipuri, the community is spread across the other northeastern States, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. Their language, Meiteilon, is one of 22 recognised tongues that has been included in the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution. Their ancient script, Meitei Mayek, of the sixthcentury vintage, is undergoing a process of revival. More than 83% of the Meitei people are associated with Hinduism, followed by the Meitei Pangals or Manipuri Muslims (8.4%) and Christians (above 1%). The rest adhere to Sanamahi, an indigenous faith first mentioned in the Cheitharol Kumbaba, the royal chronicle of Kangleipak — the old name of Manipur — from 33154 CE. The Manipuri dance, one of India’s principal classical dance forms, has its roots in the Lai Haraoba, a festival associated with pleasing the Sanamahi deities. The royal patronage also yielded Thangta, a Manipuri martial art involving fighting with swords and spears and gave the world Sagoj Kangjei, which evolved into the modern polo. Four eras, seven clans The history of the Meities, broadly divided into four eras from the ancient to the modern, is chronicled in Puyas or texts such as Cheitharol Kumbaba, Ninghthou Kangbalon, Ningthourol Lambuba, Poireiton Khunthokpa and Panthoibi Khongkul. According to the chronicles, the Meiteis are divided into seven Salai or clans — Mangang, Luwang, Khuman, Angom, Moirang Kha, Ngangba, and Sarang Leishangthem. The Meitei kingdom, called Kangleipak, traces its origin to Pakhangba (14451405 BCE), who came from presentday China and settled in the Koubru hills, about 35 km northwest of Imphal. Pakhangba founded the Ningthouja dynasty belonging to the Mangang clan, which exercised some clout until Manipur’s merger with the Indian Union in 1949. Pakhangba is also represented as the presiding deity of both Hindu and preHindu Meitei people and is symbolised as a dragonlike serpent with its tail in its mouth. The symbol is ubiquitous across the areas dominated by the Meiteis. Hinduism penetrated the Meitei kingdom in the late 15th century but largescale adoption of the religion is attributed to the influence of Vaishnav monks and adherents from Bengal who fled persecution under the sultans of Bengal. The indigenous deities such as Panthoibi were gradually given a Hindu makeover. Caste entered Manipur via Hinduism. The Meitei community can be broadly divided into three castes — the Bamons or Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, and the Scheduled Castes. The Bamons are believed to have settled from elsewhere in India after marrying locally and are primarily the priests who perform rituals or cook during festivals and other religious functions. The Kshatriyas adopted Singh as the surname but are subtly different from the RKs — Rajkumars and Rajkumaris — who have the royal lineage. The third category of Meitei comprises the Lois and Chakpas, who can be both Hindu and Sanamahi. While the Sanamahi followers are not SC, those following Hinduism ST status The committee claimed the existence of the Meitei community was under threat from outsiders, primarily the KukiChin people allegedly settling in Manipur from Myanmar illegally. It said the space for the Meitei people is shrinking as the ST people are allowed to buy land in the Imphal Valley while the Meiteis, without the ST tag, are kept away from the hills. The demand was later taken up by the Meetei (Meitei) Tribe Union, which filed a petition in the Manipur High Court. The petitioners claimed the Meiteis were recognised as a tribe before the merger of Manipur with the Union of India, although many contest this theory. Citing a May 2013 letter from the Tribal Affairs Ministry to the Manipur government seeking a specific recommendation along with the latest socioeconomic survey and ethnographic report, the court directed the State government to propose the inclusion of the Meitei community in the ST list to the Centre. The court order led to the ‘Tribal Solidarity March’ organised by the All Tribal Students’ Union of Manipur (ATSUM), representing the State’s 33 tribes divided unequally into Kuki and Naga groups. The union said the Meiteis enjoy a demographic and political advantage (Imphal and Jiribam valleys send 40 MLAs to the 60member Assembly, while the tribal hills send 20) and are more advanced in every spheres. Pointing out that the Meiteis already have access to benefits associated with the SC, OBC, or Economically Weaker Section status, the union said the demand was a strategy of the valley dwellers to acquire land in the hills and push the tribals out. What followed the march were violent clashes. THE GIST 쑽 More than 83% of the Meitei people are associated with Hinduism, followed by the Meitei Pangals or Manipuri Muslims (8.4%) and Christians (above 1%). The rest adhere to Sanamahi, an indigenous faith 쑽 While the Sanamahi followers are not SC, those Meiteis following Hinduism account for the bulk of the State’s 3.8% SC population. the Scheduled Tribe Demand Committee of Manipur has demanded ST status for them 쑽 The existing tribal communities oppose any such move, saying Meiteis are already an advanced community The chosen rebel Erdogan’s rival Eknath Shinde Kemal Kilicdaroglu The Shiv Sena leader, who revolted against the Thackerays and clinched the top job in Maharashtra with the BJP’s help, is under mounting political pressure Turkey’s joint opposition candidate has promised to defend the country’s democracy and institutions and strengthen ties with the West if voted to power ILLUSTRATION: J.A. PREMKUMAR Shoumojit Banerjee I n June last year, the startling dénouement to Maharashtra’s re gime change drama came when BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, widely consi dered the frontrunner for the top post, bit the bullet and announced ‘rebel’ Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde’s name as the State's 20th Chief Minister. The crisis triggered by Mr. Shinde’s revolt, which vertically split the 56year old party founded by the late Bal Thackeray and top pled the tripartite Maha Vi kas Aghadi (MVA) govern ment led by Uddhav Thackeray, significantly al tered Maharashtra's politi cal equation. But in the 10 months since Mr. Shinde's faction of 50 MLAs (40 from the undivided Sena and 10 In dependents) formed a new government with the BJP, there have been questions about the constitutional and moral legitimacy of his government. Those ques tions were reinforced by Supreme Court's verdict last week in the Sena vs Se na case, which held that Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari’s call for a trust vote that led to the resignation of the Uddhav Thackerayled go vernment, was illegal. The rise of the current CM, from his hardscrabble early years working in a brewery, then leaving stu dies to drive an autorick CM YK shaw in Thane to support his family, has become the stuff of legend in Maha rashtra's politics (He finally took a B.A. degree in 2020). With no platinum spoon or political pedi gree, Mr. Shinde built one for himself, nurtured and mentored by the fiery and fearsome Anand Dighe, the late Sena strongman dubbed the 'Bal Thackeray of Thane.' Mr. Shinde, who be come a Sena branch head in Thane when he was just 18 in 1982, modelled his personality on Dighe, who was known for his simplic ity, honesty and round theclock accessibility for poorer sections but a dangerous man to cross when dealing with political or personal betrayal. The 1980s were momentous for Mr. Shinde’s career; this was a period when Bal Thackeray made a notable shift from his party's nati vist plank to adopt a har dline 'Hindutva' stance by piggybacking on the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation. In 1997, he first tasted electoral success, becom ing a corporator in the Thane Municipal Corpora tion. In 2000, Mr. Shinde's life entered a traumatic phase when two of his chil dren tragically died in a boating accident. He went into a shock, but was brought back into active politics by Dighe. Party organiser His skills as a superb organ iser and dynamic worker translated into electoral success with Mr. Shinde first becoming a legislator, winning the Thane As sembly seat in 2004 and thereby winning the Kopri Pachpakhadi seat (created from the Thane segment) for three consecutive terms. Importantly, he emerged as a bridge bet ween the BJP and the Shiv Sena when faultlines ap peared in the alliance after Bal Thackeray’s death. However, despite Mr. Shinde's personal qualities ILLUSTRATION: SREEJIT R KUMAR and equation with the BJP, his influence as CM ap pears to be circumscribed only to his stronghold Thane. Besides, the Sena cadre continues to side with the Thackeray clan, underscoring the reso nance of the 'Thackeray' name with the party rank andfile despite the Elec tion Commission awarding the party name and sym bol to Mr. Shinde's faction. While claiming to be Bal Thackeray's legitimate pol itical heir, Mr. Shinde has struggled to shake off the image of being a 'BJP pup pet' with its top brass in Delhi dictating Maharash tra’s script. There is also an inbuilt friction with Mr. Fadnavis and the unenvia ble task of managing dis sensions within his faction. More problematically for the ShindeBJP dispen sation, it seems to be losing electoral ground to the MVA. The ruling alliance was trounced by the MVA in the recent Legislative Council bypolls and the Andheri and Kasba Peth Assembly bypolls. The longpending civic polls, particularly the criti cal cashrich Mumbai civic body (BMC), will be the acid test for Mr. Uddhav as well as Mr. Shinde and the BJP. Mr. Shinde will know whether he is in control of the chain of events he set in motion and the BJP will learn whether they did right by propelling a ‘sup porting actor’ to ‘leading man’ status. G. Sampath A bout 64 million Turks will cast their ballot on Sun day in presidential and par liamentary elections deemed to be highly conse quential — both for the fu ture of Turkish democracy and geopolitics in the re gion. They will choose bet ween President Recep Tay yip Erdogan (69), leader of the Justice and Develop ment Party (AKP), and Ke mal Kilicdaroglu (74), the presidential candidate of the Table of Six, a united front of six parties. Mr. Erdogan has been in power, either as Prime Mi nister or President, since 2003. There is a sense among political observers that if Mr. Erdogan wins yet again, Turkey would tran sition to a de facto dictator ship. The man vested with the responsibility to pre vent such an eventuality is Mr. Kilicdaroglu, leader of the centreleft Republican People’s Party (CHP), the largest constituent of the Table of Six. Born in 1948 in eastern Turkey, he was one of the seven children in a family from the Alevi religious mi nority. After a degree in economics, he worked with Turkey’s top financial institutions, including the Ministry of Finance. He en tered Parliament on a CHP ticket for the first time in 2002, the same year that saw AKP commence its long reign. He has led the CHP from 2010, and has lost a series of elections to Mr. Erdogan. A career bureaucrat Mr. Kilicdaroglu doesn’t have the charisma or the penchant for the polarising rhetoric of Mr. Erdogan. As a career bureaucrat, he has a staid, professorial style that has led many to dis miss him as ‘boring’ and discount his chances against a mass leader like Mr. Erdogan. In fact, as soon as he was anointed as the Opposition’s joint can didate for the Presidential race, fractures appeared in the Table of Six, with Meral Aksener, leader of the centreright Iyi party, pull ing out of the coalition. But the swift resolution of this crisis underscored Mr. Kil icdaroglu’s ability to nego tiate and make deals with political rivals. As head of the century old secularist party creat ed by Mustafa Kemal Ata turk, Mr. Kilicdaroglu has been at the forefront — though not always — of de fending democratic rights in Turkey. In 2017, he led a march of more than 400km to protest against Mr. Erdogan’s crackdown on Opposition politicians. So far, the only major vic tories under his leadership have come in the mayoral elections of Istanbul and Ankara, Turkey’s largest ci ties, sparking hope that the Opposition may have final ly found a strategy to un seat Mr. Erdogan. There is clearly a lot of discontent against the in cumbent. While a stalling yet inflationary economy is a major issue, the more im mediate cause of public an ger is the government’s mishandling of the res ponse to the February 2023 earthquake which killed more than 50,000 people in Turkey and northern Syria. Mr. Kilicda roglu in his campaign has said the large scale col lapse of residential build ings was due to corruption under the Erdogan govern ment as a result of which building codes and safety regulations were given the short shrift. However, by and large, Mr. Kilicdaroglu has chosen not to focus on Mr. Erdogan, preferring in stead to offer a positive message of hope, change and democratic freedoms. But Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s love for democratic free doms doesn’t extend to the millions of Syrian and Af ghan refugees in Turkey. Like Mr. Erdogan, he too has taken a nationalistic stance on this issue, vow ing to send them back to their countries of origin if voted in. When it comes to foreign policy, where Mr. Erdogan has chosen to play all sides and even risk antagonising the U.S. in his bid to develop Turkey into an influential power brok er, Mr. Kilicdaroglu has promised a more “ba lanced” relationship with the U.S. and indicated he would prefer Turkey to be more readily compliant with its commitments as a NATO member — which may not be great news for Russia. Mr. Kilicdaroglu’s big gest achievement so far has been uniting the perennial ly bickering Opposition parties into a singular front against Mr. Erdogan. While he is slightly ahead of Mr. Erdogan in the polls, it re mains to be seen whether he can draw enough voters away from Mr. Erdogan’s conservative base to get past the finish line. A ND-NDE THE HINDU 14 Sunday, May 14, 2023 Business Delhi G7 finance chiefs warn of global uncertainty as U.S. debt crisis looms INBRIEF 쑽 Central banks vow to keep inflation expectations anchored; finance leaders reiterate that global financial system is ‘resilient’, promise vigilance and agile, flexible approach to macroeconomic policymaking amid heightened uncertainty over outlook Adani to raise ₹21,000 crore from share sale in two group firms Press Trust of India pressures,” the leaders said in a communique. Reuters NIIGATA, JAPAN DMart Q4 net profit rises 7.8% to ₹460.1 cr.; revenue up 20.5% Avenue Supermarts Ltd., which owns and operates the retail chain DMart, on Saturday reported an increase of 7.81% in consolidated net profit to ₹460.10 crore for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2023. The company had posted a net profit of ₹426.75 crore in the JanuaryMarch quarter a year earlier, Avenue Supermarts said in a BSE filing. Revenue from operations was up 20.57% to ₹10,594.11 crore as against ₹8,786.45 crore in the corresponding quarter last fiscal. PTI DLF to unveil ₹20,000 crore worth of projects this fiscal Realty major DLF Ltd. will unveil projects worth ₹19,710 crore for sale by March next year and aims to achieve sale bookings of about ₹12,000 crore in this fiscal on strong housing demand. On Friday, DLF reported sale bookings jumped more than twofold to a record ₹15,058 crore last fiscal from ₹7,273 crore in the previous year. The company clocked ₹8,000 crore from a single luxury housing project ‘The Arbour’ unveiled in Gurugram during the March quarter. PTI U.S. FDA issues observations for Dr. Reddy’s unit in A.P. The United States Food and Drug Administration (U.S. FDA) has issued Form 483 with four observations to a formulations manufacturing facility of Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories (DRL) in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh. DRL said it was a productspecific preapproval inspection and a routine GMP inspection and conducted from May 812. “We have been issued a Form 483 with four observations, which we will address within the stipulated timeline,” DRL said in a filing. F inance leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations warned of heightening glo bal economic uncertainty on Saturday, as they wrapped up a threeday meet overshadowed by a U.S. debt ceiling stalemate and fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Their gathering came as worries over a U.S. default fuelled uncertainty over the global outlook, already clouded by stubbornly high inflation and U.S. Collective watch: G7 finance leaders vow vigilance amid heightened uncertainty about the global economic outlook. PTI bank failures. “The global economy has shown resilience against multiple shocks, in cluding the COVID19 pan demic, Russia’s war of ag gression against Ukraine, and associated inflationary IRDAI forms panel to advice on mental health coverage The Hindu Bureau HYDERABAD Insurance regulator IRDAI has set up a fivemember expert committee com prising medical experts and insurers for advice on matters related to mental health and insurance. With the National Insti tute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) Director Pratima Murthy as chairperson, the commit tee will provide advice and inputs on existing coverage and covers to be offered for mental illnesses. It will also guide on the terminology and concept from a medi A holistic review of types of conditions, treatments from an insurance perspective is needed cal domain perspective, and aspects pertaining to mental illnesses from an insurance perspective. The panel has a two year tenure and comes in the backdrop of mental health being identified as a key area requiring atten tion for insurance cover age. “A holistic examina tion of aspects involved such as types of condi tions, treatments from an insurance perspective is necessary when dealing with products designed to cover mental illnesses and other related aspects,” the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India said. Separately, IRDAI ad vised insurers to comply with the provisions on in surance covers for the sur rogate mother and oocyte donor under the Surroga cy (Regulation) Act, 2021, and ART Act, 2021. “All in surers are directed to comply with the provisions of the two Acts with imme diate effect,” it said. ‘Need to stay vigilant’ “We need to remain vigi lant and stay agile and flex ible in our macroeconomic policy amid heightened uncertainty about the glo bal economic outlook.” The communique made no mention of the U.S. debt ceiling stalemate, which hits markets at a time when borrowing costs are rising because of aggressive mo netary tightening by U.S. and European central banks. On the banking trou bles, policymakers said they would tackle “data, supervisory, and regulato ry gaps in the banking system”. They retained their April assessment that the global financial system was “resilient”, thanks to regu latory reforms made after the 2008 global financial crisis. Warning that inflation remains “elevated,” the G7 central banks stressed their commitment to price stability and ensure infla tion expectations re mained wellanchored, the communique showed. TVS Motor aims to go global in twowheeler personal transportation N. Anand CHENNAI Aiming to become a global player in personal tran sportation in the two wheeler segment, TVS Mo tor said it has drawn up plans to unveil new pro ducts in the EV and ICE segments and consolidate its geographies. “We are looking at ebi cycles, emotorbikes and e scooters,” said TVS Group chairman emeritus Venu Srinivasan. “We need a big ger footprint in Latin America and South East Asia and ultimately with Norton motorcycles and e bicycles to North America and Europe,” he added. “This year is going to be a very important year, be cause we will also start looking at some of the in ternational markets by ex panding into Latin Ameri ca and West Asia,” CEO K.N. Radhakrishnan said during an analysts call. For FY24, TVS Motor has lined up a capex of ₹9001,000 crore for the ICE and EV two and three wheelers, and an invest ment of about ₹700 crore. NEW DELHI Adani Group will raise ₹21,000 crore through share sale in two group companies in a comeback strategy after the portsto energy conglomerate was rocked by allegations of fraud levelled by U.S. based short seller Hinden burg Research. Adani Enterprises, the group’s flagship, plans to raise ₹12,500 crore, while electricity transmission firm Adani Transmission [plans] another ₹8,500 crore, the companies said in stock exchange filings. The board of Adani Green Energy Ltd. too, was scheduled to meet on Sa turday for a fundraising but the meeting was post poned to May 24. Institutional buyers The fundraising will be through issue of shares to qualified institutional buyers. Sources aware of the matter said investors in Europe and West Asia had evinced strong interest. This comes three months after Adani Enter prises was forced to abort a ₹20,000crore followon public offering (FPO) in the wake of the Hindenburg report. The offer was fully subscribed but the compa ny decided to return the money to subscribers. The sources said the company stock, which was offered in the price range of ₹3,112 to ₹3,276 in the FPO, was now available at ₹1,964 (at Fri day’s closing price). ONDC orders grow, India Post gears up to join in ‘Increase agroforestry cover to cut carbon emissions’ Aroon Deep NEW DELHI The Open Network for Dig ital Commerce (ONDC), a governmentbacked modu lar network for ecom merce, food and grocery delivery, and cabs, is not meant to create a price war, but to help small en terprises to get to a thresh old in digital commerce, the network’s CEO Tham py Koshy told reporters this week. Activity on ONDC has grown dramatically — part ly on the back of incentives it has provided to partici pants — and India Post may soon join the network, bringing one of the world’s largest logistics systems on board. The network, which in January had 800 mer chants, 50 transactions a day, and 20 participants, is now clocking more than 25,000 mobility, retail and food delivery orders a day. Network participants is the term for tech firms that provide an app to access or sell through ONDC. ONDC was introduced to curb “potential rent seeking” behaviour from top ecommerce platforms in retail, food delivery and cab aggregation, and leave each part of the value chain — from cataloguing orders to actually deliver ing them — to different players. Having it all done by one platform, “there is inefficiency that’s created,” Mr. Koshy said. Incentives continue Just like with the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the payment technology with which ONDC is fre quently compared, new participants in the network are receiving financial in centives — which some have passed on to custom ers in the form of signifi cant discounts — to provide handholding support. The incentives are funded with financing that ONDC raised from banks. While ONDC’s architec ture allows network parti cipants to focus on whit tling down the economics of their individual part of the ecommerce process, there is also the larger goal of reducing the power of large players, with food de livery firms like Swiggy and Zomato most under threat. As the honeymoon period of financing rapid expan sion and acquiring custom ers with wellsubsidised discounts plays out this year, these firms find themselves under pressure to cut costs themselves. “Restaurants have also been pressurised in the sense that 3035% of the commission stays with Zo mato and Swiggy and only some of the rest is trans ferred to the restaurant,” said Ritu Chhikara, who heads the Centre for Sus tainability and Social Res ponsibility at BML Munjal University. “The restaurant also has to make profits. So, they eventually increase the price of various items on the menu,” she added. Lalatendu Mishra MUMBAI With demand for plywood increasing by 10% per an num in tune with urbanisa tion and India embarking on ambitious netzero tar gets, a top industry execu tive has called for an ur gent need to increase agroforestry cover in India to address these demands. “The forest cover in In dia has increased from 21% to 25%. So, 4% has been contributed by agrofores try [in recent years] and this is basically supported by the plywood industry,” Sajjan Bhajanka said Sajjan Bhajanka, chair man, Century Plyboards India Ltd. He said various State go vernments were trying to augment agroforestry as it contributed to the environ ment, helped in reducing carbon footprint, and led to rainfall. “But the impact has been very less due to several factors,” he added. “In a presentation I had submitted to the Prime Mi nister, I suggested that we have about 14 to 15 million hectares of arable land in the country,” Mr. Bhajanka said. “So, if 5% of that land would come under planta tion, India’s forest cover would increase from 25% to 30% of the entire surface area,” he said, adding that a shift in policy could bring about transformational changes. Sport Rhythm rewrites longstanding world Race for topfour heats up, Newcastle record but fails to grab a medal drops points, Man United posts a win ran shot 585 for the 15th spot. Olympic quota win ner Swapnil Kusale shot 583 and placed 26th. India stayed second in the medals table with one gold, two silver and a bronze. China was on top with three gold, a silver and two bronze. Sports Bureau Rhythm Sangwan shot 595 in 25metre sports pistol to beat a longstanding world record, but a medal eluded her grasp in the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan, on Saturday. The previous world re cord of 594, shot first in 1994, was shared by three — Diana Iorgova, Luna Tao and Doreen Vennekamp. The 19yearold Rhythm, who had earlier won the air pistol bronze, had a bad start in the final, when she failed to score a point with the first five shots. It was an anticlimax after she had shot 299 out of 300 in the rapid fire section. It was hard to recover, and Rhythm was the first CM YK Mixed bag: On a day when Rhythm shot 595, a new world mark, she was the first to be eliminated in the final. FILE PHOTO to be eliminated among the eight, pipped by one point, by the former World and Olympic champion Olena Kostevych. The Chinese added one more gold medal as Feng Sixuan beat Haniyeh Rosta miyan of Iran 3833. Inter estingly, Doreen, who had equalled the world record of 594 in the World Cup in Bhopal earlier this season, climbed to the bronze medal. In the men’s 50metre rifle 3position event, Aish wary Pratap Singh Tomar shot 586 and missed the fi nal by one point. Another World Cup gold medallist like Aishwary, Akhil Sheo The results: 50m rifle 3position: Men: 1. Jiri Privratsky (Cze) 466.1 (588); 2. Serhiy Kulish (Ukr) 465.5 (590); 3. Petr Nymbursky (Cze) 453.5 (590); 12. Aishwary Pratap Singh Tomar 586; 15. Akhil Sheoran 585; 26. Swapnil Kusale 583; RPO: Pankaj Mukheja 581. 25m sports Pistol: Women: 1. Feng Sixuan (Chn) 38 (584); 2. Haniyeh Rostamiyan (Iri) 33 (583); 3. Doreen Vennekamp (Ger) 30 (586); 8. Rhythm Sangwan 10 (595); 15. Esha Singh 582; 33. Manu Bhaker 578; RPO: Abhidnya Patil 576; Niveditha Nair 539. Agencies MANCHESTER Newcastle dropped more points in its push for Cham pions League qualification by drawing 22 at Leeds, which remained in the Pre mier League relegation zone after a thrilling game. Anthony Martial and Alejandro Garnacho struck as Manchester United notched a comfortable 20 home win over Wolves. Un ited is fourth on 66 points. Southampton was rele gated after its 20 defeat against Fulham. Bayern Munich took another step toward a re cordextending 11th consec utive Bundesliga title by routing Schalke 60 on Sa turday. Crucial points: Martial scores United’s opener against Wolves. REUTERS Borussia Dortmund move back within a point after a 52 thrashing of Bo russia Monchengladbach. Meanwhile, AC Milan’s troubles were extended af ter losing at relegation threatened Spezia 20 in the Serie A. The results: Premier League: Leeds 2 (Ayling 7, Kristensen 79) drew with Newcastle 2 (Wilson 31pen, 69pen); Aston Villa 2 (Ramsey 8, Luiz 72) bt Tottenham 1 (Kane 90pen); Chelsea 2 (Sterling 51, 58) drew with Nottingham Forest 2 (Awoniyi 13, 62); Crystal Palace 2 (Eze 39, 58) bt Bournemouth 0; Manchester United 2 (Martial 32, Garnacho 90+4) bt Wolves 0; Southampton 0 lost to Fulham 2 (Vinicus 48, Mitrovic 72). LaLiga: Real Sociedad 2 (Oyarzabal 5pen, Silva 24) drew with Girona 2 (Couto 37, Stuani 45+3); Villarreal 5 (Baena 24, 90, Jackson 37, 50, Paredes 61og) bt Athletic Bilbao 1 (Sancet 45+3pen). Serie A: Salernitana 1 (Candreva 90+3) bt Atalanta 0; Spezia 2 (Wisniewski 75, Esposito 85) bt AC Milan 0. Bundesliga: Dortmund 5 (Malen 5, Bellingham 18pen, Haller 20, 32, Reyna 90+5) bt M’Gladbach 2 (Bensebaini 75pen, Stindl 85); Bayern Munich 6 (Muller 21, Kimmich 29pen, Gnabry 50, 65, Tel 80, Mazraoui 90+2) bt Schalke 0; Union Berlin 4 (Behrens 5, Becker 36, 38, Laidouni 80) bt SC Freiburg 2 (Gulde 56, Grifo 70pen); Eintracht Frankfurt 3 (Kamada 18pen, Buta 40, Kolo Muani 59) bt Mainz 0. On Friday: Serie A: Lazio 2 (Immobile 34, MilinkovicSavic 90+4) drew with Lecce 2 (Oudin 45+2, 51). A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 15 Sport Delhi UNPLEASANT BUSINESS PAPA PIYUSH NUMBER TWO OOZING CONFIDENCE Spectator’s unruly act leads to stoppage in play Chawla reveals person behind his special comeback season Rohit moves past de Villiers in IPL sixhitters’ alltime list Rohit lauds Suryakumar’s initiative to bat up the order X X X X There was a commotion and sixminute stoppage of play on Saturday after a spectator apparently threw a metal object at LSG fielder Prerak Mankad at longon after SRH’s appeal for a noball was turned down by the third umpire in the 19th over. LSG’s Andy Flower had a discussion with the match officials, who responded quickly. Veteran spinner Piyush Chawla revealed on Friday that his resurgence in the current season meant a lot not only to him but also to his sixyearold son. “I wanted to play for my son as well because he had not seen me playing... I wanted to do something special for him,” said Chawla. Rohit Sharma surpassed A.B. de Villiers to become the secondhighest sixhitter in the history of the IPL. He accomplished the feat against Gujarat Titans on Friday when he cleared the ropes twice and took his tally to 252 (de Villiers 251). Chris Gayle holds the record with 357. Mumbai Indians skipper Rohit Sharma lauded batter Suryakumar Yadav for his confidence. “We wanted to keep the rightleft combination but he said he wanted to go in. That is the kind of confidence he has and that rubs off on others,” said Rohit about Suryakumar who made an unbeaten 103 against Gujarat Titans. Pooran’s pyrotechnics, Mankad’s solidity take Super Giants home Prabhsimran hits century; Kings knock out Capitals Stoinis and de Kock chip in with good knocks for the Lucknow side; Krunal takes the bowling honours for the visitors; Klaasen top scores for Sunrisers with a rapid 47 but his effort goes in vain as the bowlers fail to deliver SCOREBOARD 쑽 Stellar shows: While Mankad set the tone for the chase, Pooran’s cameo sealed it for LSG. K.V.S. GIRI SUNRISERS HYDERABAD Abhishek Sharma c de Kock b Yudhvir 7 (5b, 1x4), Anmolpreet Singh c & b Mishra 36 (27b, 7x4), Rahul Tripathi c de Kock b Yash Thakur 20 (13b, 4x4), Aiden Markram st. de Kock b Krunal 28 (20b, 2x4, 1x6), Heinrich Klaasen c Mankad b Avesh 47 (29b, 3x4, 3x6), Glenn Phillips b Krunal 0 (1b), Abdul Samad (not out) 37 (25b, 1x4, 4x6), Bhuvneshwar Kumar (not out) 2 (1b); Extras (lb2, nb1, w2): 5; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 182. FALL OF WICKETS 119 (Abhishek, 2.1 overs), 256 (Tripathi, 5.4), 382 (Anmolpreet, 8.5), 4115 (Markram, 12.1), 5115 (Phillips, 12.2), 6173 (Klaasen, 18.6). SUPER GIANTS BOWLING Yudhvir 30241, Mayers 10110, Krunal 40242, Avesh 20301, Yash Thakur 40281, Mishra 40401, Bishnoi 20230. LUCKNOW SUPER GIANTS Quinton de Kock c Abhishek b Markande 29 (19b, 3x4, 1x6), Kyle Mayers c Markram b Phillips 2 (14b), Prerak Mankad (not out) 64 (45b, 7x4, 2x6), Marcus Stoinis c Samad b Abhishek 40 (25b, 2x4, 3x6), Nicholas Pooran (not out) 44 (13b, 3x4, 4x6); Extras (lb1, w5): 6; Total (for three wkts. in 19.2 overs): 185. FALL OF WICKETS 112 (Mayers 3.2), 254 (de Kock, 8.2), 3127 (Stoinis, 15.3). SUNRISERS BOWLING Bhuvneshwar 40300, Farooqi 3.20320, Phillips 20101, Natarajan 40310, Markande 30391, Abhishek 30421. Toss: Sunrisers; PoM: Mankad. Super Giants won by seven wickets with four balls to spare. Lighting up the night: Prabhsimran stole the thunder with a blistering hundred before Brar’s fourfor shut the door on Capitals. R.V. MOORTHY Rakesh Rao NEW DELHI IPL-16 an IPL match at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadi um on Saturday. V.S. Aravind HYDERABAD icholas Pooran rained sixes and Prerak Mankad scored an unbeaten half century as Lucknow Super Giants beat Sunrisers Hyd erabad by seven wickets with four balls to spare in N Chief architect Mankad (64 n.o., 45b, 7x4, 2x6) was the chief architect of the chase and was in volved in three useful part nerships to steer his side to a facile win. The batter first forged a 42run stand with Quinton de Kock and then a 73run partnership with Marcus Stoinis. However, it was the un beaten 58run stand with Pooran, that came in just 17 minutes, that helped Super Giants chase down a com petitive target of 183. Sunrisers kept the oppo sition in check for a good part of the chase. But, Poo ran changed the complex ion of the game by smash ing Abhishek Sharma for three sixes as 31 off the 16th over. Stoinis (40, 25b, 2x4, 3x6) had hit two sixes ear lier in the over before hol ing out to longoff. Super Giants needed 69 off 30 balls with a wellset Mankad at the crease. Pooran stunned the home side with his batting pyrotechnics with one six landing in the second tier and almost smashing the broadcaster’s camera. From there, Super Giants cruised home easily to move to the fourth position with 13 points. Opting to bat first, Hen rich Klaasen topscored for Sunrisers with a brilliant 29ball 47 to propel the in nings to 182. However, that wasn’t enough as Sunrisers suf fered their fifth loss at home. Royals and Royal Challengers desperate to stay in the hunt, face off in crucial contest Lalith Kalidas JAIPUR With the setting sun on Sunday, either Rajasthan Royals or Royal Challen gers Bangalore will topple the other in the IPL16 playoffs race at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here. A defeat could prove fa tal for Sanju Samson’s men, who would then fin ish below the predicted 16 point cutoff. Wading through another middling campaign, RCB’s hopes will also hit a wall if it errs against RR on a day when temperatures may hit mid40 degrees Celsius. Buoyed by its ninewick et win over Kolkata Knight Riders after Yashasvi Jais wal’s glittering 98 n.o. and Yuzvendra Chahal’s four wicket haul, Royals will be keen to finish its home stretch with a victory after three defeats in four pre vious matches. While runscoring has fluctuated on turners and belters at the ground, cap CM YK The nowfamiliar implo sion returned to haunt Del hi Capitals as it was knocked out of IPL 2023 af ter the loss against Punjab Kings at the Ferozeshah Kotla ground here on Sa turday. Chasing a nonetoointi midating target of 168 set by Kings, Capitals tumbled from a sound 65 without loss in the PowerPlay, los ing six wickets in the space of 19 runs and 30 balls, to suffer a 31run defeat. Warner shines, but... David Warner’s 13th half century against Kings went in vain after he became part of the heap that in cluded Philip Salt, Mitchell Marsh, Rilee Rossouw, Ax ar Patel and Manish Pan dey. Later, Aman Khan and Praveen Dubey did their bit to soften the blow be fore the chase ended at 136 for eight. Before the bowlers did the job for Kings, opener Prabhsimran Singh’s mai den century in the compe tition lifted the team from 66 for three in 10 overs. After watching Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma depart in the PowerPlay, which produced 46 runs, Prabh simran chose his time to counterattack. His 65ball 103 was dotted with 10 fours and six sixes. On the attack In the 11th over, bowled by Mitchell Marsh, Prabhsim ran hit 6, 6, 4 in succession in a 21run over and inject ed the muchneeded mo mentum. He added 72 with Sam Curran for the fourth wicket to keep Kings on course of setting a chal lenging target. In this re surrecting stand, Curran’s contribution was 20 off 24 balls but it was important for Kings that he kept Prabhsimran company. Despite Curran’s strug gle, 71 runs came between the 7th and 15th overs and another 50 in the last five overs to leave Capitals with a target of 168. The quicker scoring rate in the second part of the in nings — 101 runs in the last 10 overs — ensured Kings had something to defend. The bowlers then struck after the PowerPlay to keep alive Kings’ slender hopes of making the playoffs. SCOREBOARD 쑽 On a high: Kohli coming good augurs well for RCB. PTI tain Samson’s return to form has restored faith in the RR toporder. Meanwhile, RCB is suf fering from familiar woes: a misfiring middleorder and bowlers losing form at a crucial phase. Pace spearhead Mohammed Si raj would believe his two match wicketless streak was just an aberration. RCB will want captain Faf du Plessis’ prolific run to continue against the most effective (40 wickets) spin attack of the league, with Virat Kohli and Glenn Maxwell also stepping up in the ‘royal’ challenge. PUNJAB KINGS Prabhsimran Singh b Mukesh 103 (65b, 10x4, 6x6), Shikhar Dhawan c Rossouw b Ishant 7 (5b, 1x6), Liam Livingstone b Ishant 4 (5b, 1x4), Jitesh Sharma b Axar 5 (5b, 1x4), Sam Curran c Aman b Dubey 20 (24b, 1x4), Harpreet Brar c Marsh b Kuldeep 2 (5b), Shahrukh Khan run out 2 (4b), Sikandar Raza (not out) 11 (7b, 1x6), Rishi Dhawan (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb2, w11): 13; Total (for seven wkts. in 20 overs): 167. FALL OF WICKETS 110 (Dhawan, 1.2 overs), 232 (Livingstone, 4.1), 345 (Jitesh, 5.4), 4117 (Curran, 14.4), 5129 (Brar, 16.1), 6154 (Prabhsimran, 18.2), 7165 (Shahrukh, 19.5). CAPITALS BOWLING Khaleel 40360, Ishant 30272, Axar 40271, Dubey 30191, Kuldeep 40321, Marsh 10210, Mukesh 1031. DELHI CAPITALS David Warner lbw b Brar 54 (27b, 10x4, 1x6), Phil Salt b Brar 21 (17b, 3x4), Mitchell Marsh lbw b Rahul Chahar 3 (4b), Rilee Rossouw c Sikandar b Brar 5 (5b, 1x4), Axar Patel lbw b Rahul Chahar 1 (2b), Manish Pandey (Impact Player in place of Khaleel) b Brar 0 (3b), Aman Khan c Brar b Ellis 16 (18b, 1x4, 1x6), Praveen Dubey b Ellis 16 (20b, 2x4), Kuldeep Yadav (not out) 10 (17b), Mukesh Kumar (not out) 6 (7b); Extras (lb1, w3): 4; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 136. FALL OF WICKETS 169 (Salt, 6.2), 274 (Marsh, 7.2), 381 (Rossouw, 8.1), 486 (Warner, 8.6), 586 (Axar, 9.1), 688 (Pandey, 10.1), 7118 (Aman, 15.4), 8123 (Dubey, 17.2). PUNJAB KINGS BOWLING Rishi 10100, Curran 20180, Brar 40304, Ellis (Impact Player in place of Prabhsimran) 40262, Arshdeep 40320, Rahul Chahar 40162, Sikandar 1030. Toss: Capitals. PoM: Prabhsimran. Kings won by 31 runs. A ND-NDE THE HINDU 16 Sunday, May 14, 2023 Sport INBRIEF 쑽 CSK up against KKR, looks to consolidate Bopanna & Ebden in last 16 Dhoni’s men have the upper hand, having won 18 of the last 27 meetings between the two sides Seventh seeds Rohan Bo panna and Matthew Ebden reached the prequarterfi nals with a 63, 76(6) win over Federico Arnaboldi and Gianmarco Ferrari in the €8,637, 966 ATP tennis in Rome on Saturday. Lying third, Aditi Ashok eyes historic win on LPGA Tour Garcia sent packing in Rome by qualifier Osorio The results: Men: Second round: Rublev bt Molcan 63, 64. Women: Third round: Xiyu bt Townsend 62, 06, 75; Osorio bt Garcia 64, 64; Kalinina bt Kenin 64, 62. India begins against Chinese Taipei SUDIRMAN CUP Success formula! Dhoni, whose batting has been sensational at the death, could be sharing a tip or two with Rayudu during practice. R. RAGU IPL-16 Ayan Acharya LIVE TELECAST 쑽 Badminton: Sudirman Cup, Sports 181 (SD & HD) & Jio Cine ma App, 7.30 a.m. & 2.30 p.m. Ireland vs Bangladesh: 3rd ODI, FanCode, 3.15 p.m. IPL: Star Sports 1 (SD & HD) & Jio Cinema App, 3.30 & 7.30 p.m. Serie A: Jio Cinema App, 4 p.m.; Sports 181 (SD & HD) & Jio Cinema App, 6.30, 9.30 p.m. & 12.15 a.m. (Monday) LaLiga: Jio Cinema App, 5.30 p.m.; Sports 181 (SD & HD) & Jio Cinema App, 7.45, 10 p.m. & 12.30 a.m. (Monday) Premier League: SS Select 2 (SD & HD) & Hotstar, 6.30 & 9 p.m. Bundesliga: Sony Sports Ten 2 (SD & HD) & LIV, 7 & 9 p.m. Bangladesh wins lastover thriller against Ireland Sports Bureau Other results: €73,000 Challenger, Francavilla al Mare, Italy: Doubles (semifinals): Nicolas Barrientos (Col) & Ariel Behar (Uru) bt Luca Margaroli (Sui) & Purav Raja 63, 64. $15,000 ITF women, Monastir, Tunisia: Doubles (semifinals): Salma Drugdova & Katarina Kuzmova (Svk) bt Sharmada Balu & Lucie Wargnier (Fra) 76(4), 64. Aditi Ashok moved up to tied third and within one shot of the lead at the 2023 Cognizant Founders Cup in Clifton (New Jersey) as she bids to become the first Indian to win on the LPGA Tour. Aditi was 7under 137 and one shot behind coleaders Australian Sara Kemp (65) and Korea’s Jin Young Ko (68). Caroline Garcia became the latest big hitter to be dumped out the Italian Open after the World No. 4 lost 64, 64 to outsider Camila Osorio. On a soaking day in Rome, qualifier Osorio almost broke down in tears after her shock straightsets victory over Garcia, a twotime doubles winner at the French Open. A careerbest win for Osorio puts her in the last 16 of a WTA 1000 event for the first time in her career. Sixthseeded Andrey Rublev, meanwhile, beat Alex Molcan 63, 64. Delhi CHENNAI hennai Super Kings has little to com plain about after a great IPL 2023 campaign so far, but will have to be wary of a volatile Kolkata Knight Riders outfit in its last home game of the league stage on Sunday. CSK has had the upper hand over KKR, having won 18 of the last 27 meet ings between them. Kolkata must be feeling C the aftereffects of the bru tal takedown by Yashasvi Jaiswal just three nights ago. Meanwhile, Super Kings reaffirmed their status as title contenders with a 27 run win over the Delhi Capitals at the M.A. Chi dambaram Stadium. The surface used for that match was a traditional slow pitch. With the league stage now winding to a close, ex pect Sunday’s wicket to play similarly. Any score higher than 170 could end up being a winning total. Dhoni has been sensa tional for CSK at the death, smacking 78 off 35 against fast bowlers in seven in nings. He has been relative ly quiet against spin, col lecting 18 off 12. Varun Chakravarthy has dismissed Dhoni three times in four innings, with the latter averaging 3.66 against him. KKR could consider holding back an over of Varun for the death. A win will push CSK closer to a playoff spot. Knight Riders, who have won three of their last five, need to depend on other results going in their fa vour. Press Trust of India SUZHOU (CHINA) Star shuttlers P.V. Sindhu and H.S. Prannoy will look to hit top gear as the Indian badminton team begins its campaign at the BWF Su dirman Cup with a block buster clash against a for midable Chinese Taipei here on Sunday. India has been placed along with Malaysia, Chi nese Taipei and Australia in Group ‘C’ with the two top teams qualifying for the knockout stage. The Indian team, which qualified for the presti gious event after claiming bronze at the Asian Bad minton Championships in Dubai last month, will have its task cut out when it fac es a strong Chinese Taipei team, led by Olympic silver medallist Tai Tzu Ying. Sindhu the key A lot will depend on Sind hu as she is expected to face former World No. 1 Tai Tzu, who has proved to be a nemesis for her, having lost 17 times in 22 meetings so far. World No. 9 Prannoy too will face a tough battle as he is likely to be pitted against World No.5 5 Chou Tien Chen. The two have played eight times so far with Chou winning five times. However, Prannoy had success against the Taipei player, having bea ten him twice in last three meetings, all in 2022. India bests Hong Kong to finish fifth Sports Bureau Rethin Pranav and Kriish Tyagi won their singles matches to help India beat Hong Kong 20 in the match for the fifth place in the AsiaOceania Junior Da vis Cup under16 tennis tournament in Shymkent, Kazakhstan, on Saturday. Japan beat Korea 20 in the final to emerge the champion. Host Kazakhstan, Thai land apart from Japan and Korea qualified for the World Group competition to be staged later in Europe. The results: Fifth place: India bt Hong Kong 20 (Rethin Pranav bt Ngai Hoi Cheung 62, 60; Kriish Tyagi bt Jacob Shen 75, 63). Ankit honours the memory of his father and basketball coach Rajesh Patel Associated Press CHELMSFORD (ENGLAND) Mushfiqur Rahim finished the chase that Najmul Hos sain Shanto started for Bangladesh to win a thrill ing ODI against Ireland in the last over at Chelms ford, England. The scores: Ireland 319/6 in 45 overs (Harry Tector 140, George Dockrell 74 n.o.) lost to Bangladesh 320/7 in 44.3 overs (Najmul Hossain Shanto 117, Towhid Hridoy 68, Mushfiqur Rahim 36 n.o.). (Bangladesh beats Ireland by three wickets with three balls to spare, leads threematch series 10). Ankit Patel (second from left) with family, champion Tamanna Takoria at the tennis tournament in memory of his father Rajesh. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Kamesh Srinivasan NEW DELHI Grant Bradburn. REUTERS Bradburn appointed Pakistan’s head coach Associated Press ISLAMABAD Former New Zealand inter national Grant Bradburn was appointed as Pakis tan’s head coach on a two year contract on Saturday. The 56yearold Brad burn had been serving as Pakistan’s interim head coach during the white ball home series against New Zealand. CM YK Ankit Patel is one of the bright tennis coaches in the National Capital Re gion. A current member of the Indian team for Junior Davis Cup, Aarjun Pandit has been groomed by the 35yearold Ankit. Sandeepti Singh Rao is another player developed by Ankit. Tavish Pahwa, a talented under14 player, is shaping up nicely under the tutelage of Ankit. A great basketball coach, who had worked wonders with the Chhattis garh women’s team, the late Rajesh Patel had pushed his son, Ankit from basketball into tennis. The senior Patel died while tra velling from one national basketball tournament to another in 2018. While the family runs a basketball coaching centre and grooms 120 girls at the Rajesh Patel Sports Com plex in Bhilai, Ankit con ducts a tennis tournament every year in the memory of his father. “My dad was a oneman army. He was a basketball coach, fitness trainer, yoga teacher. He was also a math and commerce teacher. He had three de grees — M.A., M. Com and LLB. He was a gold medal list in basketball coaching at the NIS. His day started at 5 a.m. and ended at 9 p.m. From 2019 till date, the family is managing all the expenses of running the basketball academy. My mother Anita and brother Rohit take care of the centre,” said Ankit. Hundreds of girls were trained by Rajesh over two decades, and many made a career at the national and international level. “My wife Mridula was trained by my dad. She played in the Asian un der18 championship. Like all his students, she was al so attached to him. She was the one who gave me the idea to do a memorial tournament,” said Ankit. The games may be diffe rent, but Ankit has grasped the good points from his father to be an efficient and successful coach. “My father did not be lieve in the old military style of coaching. He was more friends with the players and helped them to play their best, giving them conviction in the method. He always emphasises on discipline, dedication, hard work, self belief and good attitude. He demand ed 100% concentration on court,” observed Ankit. The good work of Ra jesh continues in Bhilai. Last year D. Kirti played in the Asian under18 cham pionship. Moni Adla played in the Asian un der16 championship in Jordan. Ankit not only coaches talented players, he also competes in the ITF Mas ters circuit, making it to the finals most of the time, with his strong game and excellent court craft. The family guides bas ketball and tennis players with equal felicity, based on strong fundamentals developed by Rajesh dur ing his sterling career, en tirely devoted to sports. A ND-NDE THE HINDU Sunday, May 14, 2023 News in Frames Delhi I X Elegy in white: Karbi boys and girls in traditional dress perform a ceremonial dance during the Chomangkan ceremony in Borgaon village, Karbi Anglong district of Assam. Songs for the soul The Karbi tribe of Assam observes the distinctive practice of Chomangkan, a ceremony to remember the dead that lasts four days and nights T Ritu Raj Konwar rituraj.k@thehindu.co.in he Karbi people make up one of the major tribes of Assam, with most of them living in Karbi Anglong district. They are expert weavers and practise jhum (slash and burn) cultivation in the hills. But their most distinctive practice is an elaborate death ceremony, called Chomangkan. While the funeral ceremony is performed at the time of cremation, a unique festival is held at a later date as a remembrance for the departed. Karbis believe in the immortality of the soul, the afterlife and rebirth. It is believed that unless the spirits of the dead are sanctified with the rituals of Chomangkan, they do not get peace. Among the most elaborate and expensive of ceremonies of the Karbis, Chomangkan lasts for four days and nights. Professional mourners, called lunsepi, render sorrowful songs. Their tunes of lamentation go on for hours, with only short breaks in between. No one is formally invited to the ceremony but all are welcome. In spite of the sad undertones, Chomangkan is an important occasion for families to welcome guests with great warmth. People come in batches, and everyone carries ceremonial totems. At the top of the main totem, there is a wooden vo-jaru (rackettailed drongo). This extraordinary woodcraft — a symbolical representation of the tribe standing for clan unity — is called jambeli athon. Y Songs of lamentation: Professional mourners called lunsepi sing for the peace and the safe passage of the souls of the departed. X X A time for sorrow: The lunsepi can sing for hours on end, taking only short breaks between songs rich with pathos. Shoulder to shoulder: The Phangcho family carries a symbolic bier as part of the ritual. CM YK S ND-NDE THE HINDU II News in Frames Sunday, May 14, 2023 Delhi X Y Birds of a feather: The ceremonial totem of the Karbis features a wooden rackettailed drongo, which symbolises clan unity. Quiet intensity: Although the ceremony for the dead has sad undertones, the rituals include drumbeats and dancing. X Sacred rites: Karbis believe that unless the spirits of the dead are sanctified with the rituals of Chomangkan, they do not get peace. X X Coming together: There are no formal invitations to the rituals for the remembrance of the departed but all guests are welcome to take part. CM YK Established custom: The rituals are performed wearing traditional traditional attire and jewellery. S ND-NDE

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