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AP n KYIV R ussian troops on Friday seized the biggest nuclear power plant in Europe after a middle-of-the-night attack that set it on fire and briefly raised worldwide fears of a catastro- phe in the most chilling turn in Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine yet. Firefighters put out the blaze, and no radiation was released, UN and Ukrainian officials said, as Russian forces pressed on with their week-old offensive on multiple fronts and the number of refugees fleeing the country topped 1.2 million. While the vast Russian armored column threatening Kyiv appeared stalled outside the capital, President Vladimir Putin’s forces have ramped up their use of air power, launch- ing hundreds of missiles and artillery attacks on cities and other sites, and made signifi- cant gains on the ground in the south in an apparent bid to cut off Ukraine’s access to the sea. In the atttack on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant in the southeastern city of Enerhodar, the chief of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, said a Russian “projec- tile” hit a training center, not any of its six reactors. The attack evoked memo- ries of the world’s worst nuclear disaster, at Ukraine’s Chernobyl. In an emotional nighttime speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he feared an explosion that would be “the end for everyone. The end for Europe. The evacuation of Europe.” But nuclear officials from Sweden to China said no radi- ation spikes had been report- ed, as did Grossi. Authorities said that Russian troops had taken con- trol of the overall site but that the plant staff continued to run it. Only one reactor was oper- ating, Grossi said in the after- math of the attack. Two people were injured in the fire, Grossi said. Ukraine’s state nuclear plant operator Enerhoatom said three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and two wounded. The crisis at Zaporizhzhia unfolded after Grossi earlier in the week expressed grave con- cern that the fighting could cause accidental damage to Ukraine’s 15 nuclear reactors at four plants around the coun- try. In the wake of the attack, Zelenskyy appealed again to the West to enforce a no-fly zone over his country. But NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg ruled out that pos- sibility, citing the risk of a much wider war in Europe. Russia attack on Ukraine N plant fuels disaster fear PTI n MELBOURNE F ormer Australia spinner Shane Warne, who rede- fined the art of spin bowling to become one of the greatest in international cricket, has died of a suspected heart attack in Thailand, his management said on Friday. He was 52 and is survived by two daughters and a son. Warne’s management released a brief statement to the Australian media, saying that he passed away in Koh Samui, Thailand and the reason could be a suspected heart attack. Koh Samui is popular among tourists and is the second largest island in Thailand. “Shane was found unre- sponsive in his villa and despite the best efforts of medical staff, he could not be revived,” the statement report- ed by various media outlets here said. “The family requests pri- vacy at this time and will pro- vide further details in due course.” An iconic name in inter- national cricket, Warne, since making his debut in 1992, played 145 Tests for Australia, picking up 708 wickets with his leg-spin. In his 194 ODI appearances, Warne snared 293 scalps. He immortalised himself with the “ball of the century” in 1993 when as a 24-year-old, he deceived Mike Gatting at Old Trafford with a delivery that landed on the leg stump and, as the Englishman tried to defend, turned viciously to clip his off bail. India abstains from UNHRC independent enquiry vote Heart attack suspected PNS n NEW DELHI G iving a ray of hope to Ukraine-returned medical students, the Union Health Ministry and the National Medical Commission are exploring the possibility of relaxing provisions of the NMC (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021, or finding alternatives to enable them to complete their cours- es in private colleges in India or abroad. The Indian students fleeing the war-torn country are facing a huge dilemma regarding their future. A senior official from the Union Health Ministry said that officials from NMC, Health Ministry, MEA, and NITI Aayog will soon hold important meetings and the issue will be reviewed on humanitarian grounds and looked at sympathetically. Though, it will not be an easy affair given the limited seats and infrastructure in India. According to the official, the situation can be more confus- ing for fifth or final-year MBBS students as they require clini- cal training. As per the provisions of the National Medical Commission (Foreign Medical Graduate Licentiate) Regulations, 2021, the entire course, training and internship, or clerkship shall be done outside India in the same foreign medical institution throughout the course of study. The provisions also state that no part of medical train- ing and internship shall be done in India or in any coun- try other than the one from where the primary medical qualification is obtained. An official source said presently there are no norms under the National Medical Commission Regulations to accommodate medical stu- dents, who were studying abroad and had to return to India midway, in Indian med- ical colleges in between an academic session. “However, keeping in view such extraordinary situations, the issue will be reviewed on humanitarian grounds and looked at sympathetically,” the source said. Health Min, NMC to explore possibility RAMESH K SINGH n VARANASI T his Holy City of Varanasi witnessed yet another impressive three-kilometre long roadshow of Prime Minister Narendra Modi through the byzantine lanes of his Parliamentary constituen- cy on Friday. The massive roadshow took more than three hours with an ocean of people thronging the sidewalks throughout the route. More than 10,000 security personnel supervised by over 50 IPS offi- cers had a harried time keep- ing frantic fans of the Prime Minister from coming close for a closer look and even selfies. Going into the complex seventh phase of Assembly poll in this eastern region, the somewhat perplexed BJP is pinning its hopes on Modi’s massive roadshow on Friday to tilt the political scale in its favour. Voting will be held in 54 seats across nine districts of the region in the seventh and last phase of Assembly elections on March 7. In the 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP and its ally Apna Dal had romped home in 36 of these constituencies. Since 2014, Modi has been taking out such roadshows in his Parliamentary constituen- cy to send home the message that he cares the electorate . BJP pins hopes on Modi charisma in last phase Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets supporters during a roadshow for the seventh and last phase of UP Assembly elections, in Varanasi district, on Friday PTI Mau: Samajwadi Party presi- dent Akhilesh Yadav on Friday said the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls are not just to elect the Government of the State but also to save the Constitution and democracy of India. Addressing a rally in Mau for candidates of the Samajwadi Party (SP) and alliance partner Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Yadav said the ongoing state polls are the “biggest elec- tions” yet in the country. Yadav also said the BJP’s “frustration of losing the polls” is visible in their actions and language, and cited the exam- ple of attack on SP leader Swamy Prasad Maurya and insult to SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar. “Has not the language and behaviour of the people, who have become worried now, changed? You can see defeat on their faces now. They are not just frustrated but have started insulting SP leaders because they have realised the people are not with the BJP now,” he claimed. Yadav claimed the spirit of the people of Mau indicates that no rival party candidates will win on any assembly seats in the region. “The votes for the sixth phase have been caste, the seventh phase voting is coming up and I have come here to seek your support. UP election is about saving Constitution, democracy: Akhilesh PNS n BHAGALPUR/NEW DELHI A t least 14 people were killed and five suffered serious injuries in a massive explosion that took place inside a house where the residents were allegedly involved in illegal firecracker manufacturing business. According to reports, 10-15 people are still feared trapped under the debris of the build- ing that was turned into rubble due to the impact of the explo- sion. The five injured are under- going treatment at JLN Hospital, Mayaganj. Earlier, the hospital had declared four other injured as dead on arrival. The incident took place in a building adjacent to an orphanage in the Kajbalichak area of Bhagalpur district, less than 100 metres from the local police station. The explosion also impacted two-three adjoining houses which were also damaged due to the blast. Bhagalpur District Magistrate Subrat Kumar Sen said the blast took place inside the house of Mahendra Mandal in Kajbalichak locali- ty of the town in the early hours. The house of Mandal besides two adjoining build- ings were reduced to rubble by the impact of the explosion, the sound of which was heard far and wide, said the DM. He said earth moving equipment was brought in to clear the debris. Teams of bomb disposal squad and forensic experts were collecting samples to ascertain the type of explosive material that caused the blast, the official said. 14 killed in Bhagalpur firecracker unit blast PTI n PESHAWAR A suicide bomber blew him- self up inside a crowded Shia mosque during the Friday congregation here in northwest Pakistan, killing at least 56 people and wounding nearly 200 others, in one of the dead- liest attacks in the restive province, bordering Afghanistan. The blast occurred at an Imambargah located near the Qissa Khwani Bazaar area of Peshawar when the worshippers were offering Friday prayers. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the blast in Peshawar, the provincial capital of Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa which bor- ders Afghanistan. However, the ISIS and sectarian mili- tant groups have claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks targeting Shias in the past. Fidayeen attack at Shia mosque kills 56 in Pak 5 KHALISTANI ULTRAS CHARGESHEETED Chandigarh: The NIA on Friday filed a chargesheet in a special court here against five Khalistani terrorists, including the chief of proscribed International Sikh Youth Federation, in a case related to smuggling of arms, explosives and narcotics via drones from Pakistan. 3 CRPF PERSONNEL KILLED IN CRASH Basti: Three CRPF personnel were killed and one was seriously injured in a road accident here, when they were on their way to join duties at polling booths ahead of the last phase of the UP Assembly elections, police said on Friday. 7 SHOT, 1 FATALLY, AT LAS VEGAS APARTMENT Las Vegas: Seven people were shot, one fatally, at a Las Vegas apartment complex and two of the people who were wounded suffered injuries described as critical, police said on Friday. CAPSULE This image made from a video released by Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant shows bright flaring object landing in grounds of the nuclear plant in Enerhodar, Ukraine on Friday AP/PTI PNS n NEW DELHI I n keeping with its stand on the Russia-Ukraine conflict, India on Friday abstained from vote in the UN Human Rights Council that decided to set up an independent international commission of enquiry to look into the cases of human right violations arising out of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. India had already abstained on two resolutions on Ukraine in the 15-nation Security Council and one in the 193- member General Assembly in the last one week. The 47-member council voted on a draft resolution on the situation of human rights in Ukraine. The resolution was adopted with 32 votes in favour, two against (Russia and Eritrea) and 13 abstentions, including India, China, Pakistan, Sudan and Venezuela. “The UNHRC has decided to urgently establish an inde- pendent international com- mission of inquiry as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine,” the council tweeted. The UNGA this week over- whelmingly voted to condemn Russian aggression and demanded that Moscow “com- pletely and unconditionally” withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine. India abstained on the resolution, which received 141 votes in favour, five against and a total of 35 abstentions. 15 feared trapped under debris PM holds massive 3-km roadshow in Varanasi Spin legend Shane Warne dies at 52 PNS n NEW DELHI A n Indian student was shot multiple times while trying to escape from the war-torn Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. Identified as Harjot Singh, the youth is now recuperating in a hospital in Kyiv. A 21-year-old medical student Naveen Shakarappa from Karnataka was killed three days back in Kharkiv during shelling. He was the first Indian casualty of the war. Harjot, hailing from New Delhi, was injured, Union Minister VK Singh said on Friday. He was trying to leave the capital when he was shot at, the Minister said in Poland. Singh told news agency ANI that he got assurances from the Indian Embassy every day but no help came through. “I have been trying to get in touch with them, every day they say we will do something but no help yet,” Singh said. Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said here on Friday the Indian Embassy is trying to reach out to Harjot and will bear the entire medical expense. “We are trying to ascertain his medical status... Our embassy is trying to get an update on his health status...trying to reach out but facing trouble as it’s a conflict zone,” he said. As regards the evacuation efforts, Bagchi said it was dif- ficult without a ceasefire and urged all the parties concerned — Ukraine and Russia — to have a local ceasefire to enable India to bring out its students. The Government was focussing on eastern Ukraine, including Kharkiv and Sumy, and managed to operationalise five buses and more buses were likely to be deployed by evening, he said, adding near- ly 700 Indians were in Sumy and 300 in Kharkiv besides 900-1,000 in Pisochin. He also said India had requested Ukraine for special trains and was yet to hear from them. On reports regarding Indians held hostage, Bagchi said, “We are reiterating that we are not aware of any Indian being held hostage. They are facing difficulty due to securi- ty reasons particularly in Kharkiv, but no hostage situa- tion.” Meanwhile, narrating the harrowing experience, Harjot told a private television chan- nel he was shot multiple times while trying to escape from Kyiv in a cab last week and suf- fered a fractured leg. He lay on the road, wounded, for hours until an ambulance took him to hospital. Harjot said he was not allowed to board a train at the Kyiv station, so he and his friends hired a cab to Lviv, one of the cities spared the worst of the Russian invasion till now. They were on their way out of Kyiv when “many peo- ple” started shooting at their cab. “A bullet entered from my shoulder. They took out a bul- let from my chest...my leg was fractured. There was a bullet in one knee,” Harjot said. “I wanted some facility to take me to Lviv. But no one has contacted me. Only NDTV reached out to me. Now the whole world will know the reality of what is happening,” he remarked. Harjot said he was shot on Sunday night and has since been in the hospital, 20 min- utes from the Indian Embassy. Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets Indian student Harjot Singh who was shot multiple times while trying to escape from Ukraine capital Kyiv, at a hospital on Friday PTI Chance for Ukraine-returned medical students to complete course in India! @TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneer Follow us on: instagram.com/dailypioneer/ Late City Vol.19 Issue 61 *Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN HYDERABAD VIJAYWADA Established 1864 RNI No. MPENG/2004/13703, REGD. No. L-2/BPLON/2006-2008 BHOPAL, SATURDAY MARCH 5, 2022; PAGES 12 `1.50 SPORT 12 INDIA DOMINATE DAY 1 OF 1ST SL TEST } } WORLD 8 US HITS PUTIN ALLIES WITH SANCTIONS OPINION 6 OMINOUS SHADOW OF CLIMATE CHANGE www.dailypioneer.com YOU SOAK IN MORE: KRITI 10 VIVACITY Chief Minister to plant saplings on his birthday too STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL C hief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has appealed to the common people that we all have to work together to save the earth. If we get involved in creative work like plantation, then greenery will continue to expand on the earth. Today, many citizens and voluntary organisations are paving our way with new energy in the interest of the nation and soci- ety by setting meaningful goals of a capable life. The guiding and inspiring life of those who do such work has inspired me along with others to work in the inter- est of society. Chouhan will also plant trees on his birthday on March 5 as per the resolution along with envi- ronmental lovers. Trees will be planted on a large scale in the Ankur campaign in the cities and villages of the state including the capital. The Chief Minister said that the tree plantation campaign is going on continuously in Madhya Pradesh with a view to conserve nature and environment. For the last one year, I myself have been doing the sacred work of planting one sapling every day. One year has been completed on February 19, 2022 for the reso- lution taken at Amarkantak, the point of origin of mother Narmada, the life-giving moth- er. In this one year I have plant- ed more than 500 saplings. I have considered plantation as an inte- gral part of my work along with other daily activities and engage- ments of life, so that we can give a safe and balanced life to the coming generations. Chouhan said that today the whole world is facing the threat of global warming and climate change. The only way to solve this problem is to plant more and more trees. We are fortunate that we are getting this opportunity to pay off our debt towards nature. Ankur Abhiyan has been start- ed in Madhya Pradesh to take the work of conservation of nature with public participation.

Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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AP n KYIV

Russian troops on Fridayseized the biggest nuclear

power plant in Europe after amiddle-of-the-night attack thatset it on fire and briefly raisedworldwide fears of a catastro-phe in the most chilling turn inMoscow’s invasion of Ukraineyet.

Firefighters put out theblaze, and no radiation wasreleased, UN and Ukrainianofficials said, as Russian forcespressed on with their week-oldoffensive on multiple fronts andthe number of refugees fleeingthe country topped 1.2 million.

While the vast Russianarmored column threateningKyiv appeared stalled outsidethe capital, President VladimirPutin’s forces have ramped uptheir use of air power, launch-ing hundreds of missiles andartillery attacks on cities andother sites, and made signifi-cant gains on the ground in thesouth in an apparent bid to cutoff Ukraine’s access to the sea.

In the atttack on theZaporizhzhia nuclear plant inthe southeastern city ofEnerhodar, the chief of theUN’s International AtomicEnergy Agency, Rafael MarianoGrossi, said a Russian “projec-tile” hit a training center, notany of its six reactors.

The attack evoked memo-ries of the world’s worst nucleardisaster, at Ukraine’sChernobyl. In an emotional

nighttime speech, UkrainianPresident VolodymyrZelenskyy said he feared anexplosion that would be “theend for everyone. The end forEurope. The evacuation ofEurope.”

But nuclear officials fromSweden to China said no radi-ation spikes had been report-ed, as did Grossi.

Authorities said thatRussian troops had taken con-trol of the overall site but thatthe plant staff continued to runit. Only one reactor was oper-ating, Grossi said in the after-math of the attack.

Two people were injured inthe fire, Grossi said. Ukraine’s

state nuclear plant operatorEnerhoatom said threeUkrainian soldiers were killedand two wounded.

The crisis at Zaporizhzhiaunfolded after Grossi earlier inthe week expressed grave con-cern that the fighting couldcause accidental damage toUkraine’s 15 nuclear reactorsat four plants around the coun-try.

In the wake of the attack,Zelenskyy appealed again tothe West to enforce a no-flyzone over his country. ButNATO Secretary-General JensStoltenberg ruled out that pos-sibility, citing the risk of amuch wider war in Europe.

Russia attack on UkraineN plant fuels disaster fear

PTI n MELBOURNE

Former Australia spinnerShane Warne, who rede-

fined the art of spin bowling tobecome one of the greatest ininternational cricket, has diedof a suspected heart attack inThailand, his management saidon Friday.

He was 52 and is survivedby two daughters and a son.Warne’s management releaseda brief statement to theAustralian media, saying thathe passed away in Koh Samui,Thailand and the reason couldbe a suspected heart attack.Koh Samui is popular amongtourists and is the secondlargest island in Thailand.

“Shane was found unre-sponsive in his villa anddespite the best efforts ofmedical staff, he could not berevived,” the statement report-ed by various media outletshere said.

“The family requests pri-vacy at this time and will pro-vide further details in due

course.”An iconic name in inter-

national cricket, Warne, sincemaking his debut in 1992,played 145 Tests for Australia,picking up 708 wickets withhis leg-spin. In his 194 ODIappearances, Warne snared293 scalps.

He immortalised himselfwith the “ball of the century”in 1993 when as a 24-year-old,he deceived Mike Gatting atOld Trafford with a deliverythat landed on the leg stumpand, as the Englishman triedto defend, turned viciously toclip his off bail.

India abstainsfrom UNHRCindependentenquiry vote

Heart attacksuspected

PNS n NEW DELHI

Giving a ray of hope toUkraine-returned medical

students, the Union HealthMinistry and the NationalMedical Commission areexploring the possibility ofrelaxing provisions of the NMC(Foreign Medical GraduateLicentiate) Regulations, 2021,or finding alternatives to enablethem to complete their cours-es in private colleges in India orabroad.

The Indian students fleeingthe war-torn country are facinga huge dilemma regarding theirfuture.

A senior official from theUnion Health Ministry saidthat officials from NMC,Health Ministry, MEA, andNITI Aayog will soon hold

important meetings and theissue will be reviewed onhumanitarian grounds andlooked at sympathetically.Though, it will not be an easyaffair given the limited seatsand infrastructure in India.According to the official, thesituation can be more confus-ing for fifth or final-year MBBSstudents as they require clini-cal training.

As per the provisions of theNational Medical Commission(Foreign Medical GraduateLicentiate) Regulations, 2021,the entire course, training andinternship, or clerkship shall bedone outside India in the sameforeign medical institutionthroughout the course of study.

The provisions also state

that no part of medical train-ing and internship shall bedone in India or in any coun-try other than the one fromwhere the primary medicalqualification is obtained.

An official source saidpresently there are no normsunder the National MedicalCommission Regulations toaccommodate medical stu-dents, who were studyingabroad and had to return toIndia midway, in Indian med-ical colleges in between anacademic session.

“However, keeping in viewsuch extraordinary situations,the issue will be reviewed onhumanitarian grounds andlooked at sympathetically,” thesource said.

Health Min,NMC toexplorepossibility

RAMESH K SINGH n VARANASI

This Holy City of Varanasiwitnessed yet another

impressive three-kilometrelong roadshow of PrimeMinister Narendra Modithrough the byzantine lanes ofhis Parliamentary constituen-cy on Friday.

The massive roadshowtook more than three hourswith an ocean of peoplethronging the sidewalksthroughout the route. Morethan 10,000 security personnelsupervised by over 50 IPS offi-cers had a harried time keep-ing frantic fans of the PrimeMinister from coming close fora closer look and even selfies.

Going into the complexseventh phase of Assemblypoll in this eastern region, thesomewhat perplexed BJP is

pinning its hopes on Modi’smassive roadshow on Friday totilt the political scale in itsfavour.

Voting will be held in 54seats across nine districts of theregion in the seventh and lastphase of Assembly elections onMarch 7. In the 2017 Assembly

polls, the BJP and its ally ApnaDal had romped home in 36 ofthese constituencies.

Since 2014, Modi has beentaking out such roadshows inhis Parliamentary constituen-cy to send home the messagethat he cares the electorate .

BJP pins hopes on Modicharisma in last phase

Prime Minister Narendra Modi greets supporters during a roadshow for the seventhand last phase of UP Assembly elections, in Varanasi district, on Friday PTI

Mau: Samajwadi Party presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav on Fridaysaid the Uttar PradeshAssembly polls are not just toelect the Government of theState but also to save theConstitution and democracy ofIndia.

Addressing a rally in Maufor candidates of the SamajwadiParty (SP) and alliance partnerSuheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party(SBSP), Yadav said the ongoingstate polls are the “biggest elec-tions” yet in the country.

Yadav also said the BJP’s“frustration of losing the polls”is visible in their actions andlanguage, and cited the exam-ple of attack on SP leaderSwamy Prasad Maurya andinsult to SBSP chief OmPrakash Rajbhar.

“Has not the language andbehaviour of the people, whohave become worried now,

changed? You can see defeat ontheir faces now. They are not justfrustrated but have startedinsulting SP leaders becausethey have realised the people arenot with the BJP now,” heclaimed.

Yadav claimed the spirit ofthe people of Mau indicatesthat no rival party candidateswill win on any assembly seatsin the region. “The votes forthe sixth phase have beencaste, the seventh phase votingis coming up and I have comehere to seek your support.

UP election is aboutsaving Constitution,democracy: Akhilesh

PNS n BHAGALPUR/NEW DELHI

At least 14 people were killedand five suffered serious

injuries in a massive explosionthat took place inside a housewhere the residents wereallegedly involved in illegalfirecracker manufacturingbusiness.

According to reports, 10-15people are still feared trappedunder the debris of the build-ing that was turned into rubbledue to the impact of the explo-sion.

The five injured are under-going treatment at JLNHospital, Mayaganj. Earlier,the hospital had declared fourother injured as dead on arrival.

The incident took place ina building adjacent to anorphanage in the Kajbalichak

area of Bhagalpur district, lessthan 100 metres from the localpolice station. The explosionalso impacted two-threeadjoining houses which werealso damaged due to the blast.

Bhagalpur DistrictMagistrate Subrat Kumar Sensaid the blast took place insidethe house of MahendraMandal in Kajbalichak locali-ty of the town in the earlyhours.

The house of Mandalbesides two adjoining build-ings were reduced to rubble bythe impact of the explosion, thesound of which was heard farand wide, said the DM.

He said earth movingequipment was brought in toclear the debris.

Teams of bomb disposalsquad and forensic expertswere collecting samples toascertain the type of explosivematerial that caused the blast,the official said.

14 killed in Bhagalpurfirecracker unit blast

PTI n PESHAWAR

Asuicide bomber blew him-self up inside a crowded

Shia mosque during the Fridaycongregation here in northwestPakistan, killing at least 56people and wounding nearly200 others, in one of the dead-liest attacks in the restiveprovince, borderingAfghanistan.

The blast occurred at anImambargah located nearthe Qissa Khwani Bazaararea of Peshawar when theworshippers were offeringFriday prayers.

No group immediatelyclaimed responsibility forthe blast in Peshawar, theprovincial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which bor-ders Afghanistan. However,the ISIS and sectarian mili-tant groups have claimedresponsibility for the deadlyattacks targeting Shias inthe past.

Fidayeen attackat Shia mosquekills 56 in Pak

5 KHALISTANI ULTRASCHARGESHEETEDChandigarh: The NIA on Fridayfiled a chargesheet in a specialcourt here against five Khalistaniterrorists, including the chief ofproscribed International SikhYouth Federation, in a caserelated to smuggling of arms,explosives and narcotics viadrones from Pakistan.

3 CRPF PERSONNELKILLED IN CRASHBasti: Three CRPF personnelwere killed and one wasseriously injured in a roadaccident here, when they wereon their way to join duties atpolling booths ahead of the lastphase of the UP Assemblyelections, police said on Friday.

7 SHOT, 1 FATALLY, ATLAS VEGAS APARTMENTLas Vegas: Seven people wereshot, one fatally, at a Las Vegasapartment complex and two ofthe people who were woundedsuffered injuries described ascritical, police said on Friday.

CAPSULE

This image made from a video released by Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant showsbright flaring object landing in grounds of the nuclear plant in Enerhodar, Ukraineon Friday AP/PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

In keeping with its stand onthe Russia-Ukraine conflict,

India on Friday abstained fromvote in the UN Human RightsCouncil that decided to set upan independent internationalcommission of enquiry to lookinto the cases of human rightviolations arising out of Russia’sinvasion of Ukraine.

India had already abstainedon two resolutions on Ukrainein the 15-nation SecurityCouncil and one in the 193-member General Assembly inthe last one week.

The 47-member councilvoted on a draft resolution onthe situation of human rights inUkraine. The resolution wasadopted with 32 votes in favour,two against (Russia and Eritrea)and 13 abstentions, includingIndia, China, Pakistan, Sudanand Venezuela.

“The UNHRC has decidedto urgently establish an inde-pendent international com-mission of inquiry as a result ofRussia’s aggression againstUkraine,” the council tweeted.

The UNGA this week over-whelmingly voted to condemnRussian aggression anddemanded that Moscow “com-pletely and unconditionally”withdraw all of its militaryforces from the territory ofUkraine. India abstained on theresolution, which received 141votes in favour, five against anda total of 35 abstentions.

15 feared trappedunder debris

PM holds massive3-km roadshow in Varanasi

Spin legend ShaneWarne dies at 52

PNS n NEW DELHI

An Indian student was shotmultiple times while trying

to escape from the war-tornKyiv, the capital city of Ukraine.Identified as Harjot Singh, theyouth is now recuperating in ahospital in Kyiv. A 21-year-oldmedical student NaveenShakarappa from Karnatakawas killed three days back inKharkiv during shelling. Hewas the first Indian casualty ofthe war.

Harjot, hailing from NewDelhi, was injured, UnionMinister VK Singh said onFriday. He was trying to leavethe capital when he was shot at,the Minister said in Poland.Singh told news agency ANIthat he got assurances from theIndian Embassy every day butno help came through. “I havebeen trying to get in touch withthem, every day they say wewill do something but no helpyet,” Singh said.

Ministry of ExternalAffairs Spokesperson ArindamBagchi said here on Friday theIndian Embassy is trying toreach out to Harjot and willbear the entire medicalexpense. “We are trying toascertain his medical status...Our embassy is trying to get anupdate on his healthstatus...trying to reach out butfacing trouble as it’s a conflict

zone,” he said.As regards the evacuation

efforts, Bagchi said it was dif-ficult without a ceasefire andurged all the parties concerned— Ukraine and Russia — tohave a local ceasefire to enableIndia to bring out its students.

The Government wasfocussing on eastern Ukraine,including Kharkiv and Sumy,and managed to operationalise

five buses and more buseswere likely to be deployed byevening, he said, adding near-ly 700 Indians were in Sumyand 300 in Kharkiv besides900-1,000 in Pisochin. He alsosaid India had requestedUkraine for special trains andwas yet to hear from them.

On reports regardingIndians held hostage, Bagchisaid, “We are reiterating that we

are not aware of any Indianbeing held hostage. They arefacing difficulty due to securi-ty reasons particularly inKharkiv, but no hostage situa-tion.”

Meanwhile, narrating theharrowing experience, Harjottold a private television chan-nel he was shot multiple timeswhile trying to escape fromKyiv in a cab last week and suf-fered a fractured leg. He lay onthe road, wounded, for hoursuntil an ambulance took him tohospital.

Harjot said he was notallowed to board a train at theKyiv station, so he and hisfriends hired a cab to Lviv, oneof the cities spared the worstof the Russian invasion tillnow. They were on their wayout of Kyiv when “many peo-ple” started shooting at theircab.

“A bullet entered from myshoulder. They took out a bul-let from my chest...my leg wasfractured. There was a bullet inone knee,” Harjot said.

“I wanted some facility totake me to Lviv. But no one hascontacted me. Only NDTVreached out to me. Now thewhole world will know thereality of what is happening,”he remarked.

Harjot said he was shot onSunday night and has sincebeen in the hospital, 20 min-utes from the Indian Embassy.

Indian student trying to fleeKyiv sprayed with bullets

Indian student Harjot Singh who was shot multiple times while trying to escapefrom Ukraine capital Kyiv, at a hospital on Friday PTI

Chance for Ukraine-returned medicalstudents to complete course in India!

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Late City Vol.19 Issue 61*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published FromDELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL BHUBANESWAR

RANCHI RAIPUR CHANDIGARHDEHRADUN HYDERABAD VIJAYWADA

Established 1864RNI No. MPENG/2004/13703, REGD. No. L-2/BPLON/2006-2008

BHOPAL, SATURDAY MARCH 5, 2022; PAGES 12 `1.50

SPORT 12INDIA DOMINATE

DAY 1 OF 1ST SL TEST

}}WORLD 8

US HITS PUTIN ALLIES WITHSANCTIONS

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YOU SOAKIN MORE:KRITI10 VIVACITY

Chief Minister to plantsaplings on his birthday tooSTAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Chief Minister Shivraj SinghChouhan has appealed tothe common people that

we all have to work together tosave the earth. If we get involvedin creative work like plantation,then greenery will continue toexpand on the earth. Today,many citizens and voluntaryorganisations are paving ourway with new energy in theinterest of the nation and soci-ety by setting meaningful goalsof a capable life. The guiding andinspiring life of those who dosuch work has inspired me alongwith others to work in the inter-est of society.Chouhan will also plant trees onhis birthday on March 5 as perthe resolution along with envi-ronmental lovers. Trees will beplanted on a large scale in theAnkur campaign in the cities andvillages of the state including thecapital.The Chief Minister said that thetree plantation campaign is goingon continuously in Madhya

Pradesh with a view to conservenature and environment. Forthe last one year, I myself havebeen doing the sacred work ofplanting one sapling every day.One year has been completed onFebruary 19, 2022 for the reso-lution taken at Amarkantak, thepoint of origin of motherNarmada, the life-giving moth-er. In this one year I have plant-ed more than 500 saplings. I haveconsidered plantation as an inte-gral part of my work along withother daily activities and engage-ments of life, so that we can givea safe and balanced life to thecoming generations.Chouhan said that today thewhole world is facing the threatof global warming and climatechange. The only way to solvethis problem is to plant more andmore trees. We are fortunate thatwe are getting this opportunityto pay off our debt towardsnature.Ankur Abhiyan has been start-ed in Madhya Pradesh to take thework of conservation of naturewith public participation.

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capital 02

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Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for anydamage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Bhopal only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before respondingto any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group’s will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

On the third day ofthe Ekagra pro-gramme on Friday

at Madhya Pradesh StateTribal Museum devotionalsinging by RudrakantThakur and group Seoniand presentation of ShivVivah: Malvi Kahyayan waspresented byHarihareshwar Poddar andgroup Ujjain.

The programmr startedwith the welcome of theartists, which was wel-comed by DharmendraPare, Director, Tribal FolkArts and LanguageDevelopment Academy.

In the programme, firstof all, devotional singingwas presented byRudrakant Thakur and col-leagues. He started the pre-sentation with GaneshVandana. After this Shivaworship song - worship allthe deities together, BholeNath's... Laga Daun ReBhola Mere Bel Patati...,Look at my friend, Bala Jogihas come and devotees havecome through you..., Hepresented hymns.

The second presenta-tion was given byHarihareshwar Poddar andpartner - Ujjain on ShivParvati Marriage: MalviStory.

In the presentation, theartists presented the birth ofMother Parvati, givingGurumantra by Narada,penance by GoddessParvati, accepting it bybeing pleased by LordShiva, making turmeric,henna, adornment toMother Parvati, adorningLord Shiva as a groom,Preparing for the receptionof Shiva procession byNainavati Himwan and thescenes of Shiv processionhast milap, varmala, roundefarewell.

Minister for Medical Education Vishwas Kailash Sarang addresses a workshop on MBBS foundation course at GandhiMedical College, in Bhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Alecture by theConsul General ofIsrael Kobi Sushani

was organized byRabindranath TagoreUniversity on Friday.

This lecture was orga-nized under the joint aegisof Young Thinkers Forumand Rabindranath TagoreUniversity. On this occa-sion the Chancellor ofthe University SantoshChoubey, Director ofYoung Thinker ForumAshutosh Singh Thakur,Vishwas Chauhan, Pro-Chancellor of theUniversity SiddharthChaturvedi, ViceChancellor BrahmPrakash Pethia, RegistrarVijay Singh andEducationist AmitabhSaxena were present.

Introduction of thetopic Forum memberProf. Grace Nagaich. Inthis lecture organized onthe completion of 30 yearsof India-Israel relations,Kobi Sushani spoke on thestrong relations betweenIndia and Israel. At pre-sent India and Israel areeach other's reliable allies.

Working together in thefields of modern tech-nology, agriculture, watermanagement, science andtechnology.

In many ways the con-ditions and circumstancesof India and Israel aresimilar. He spoke on Indiaand Israel's GDP, Startup,Innovation, Unicorn.Solar energy, green hydro-gen, alternative proteinsare new areas of cooper-ation between India andIsrael. Speaking especial-ly on water management,he said that everyoneshould understand theirresponsibility regardingwater. He also mentionedhis favorite Indian moviesincluding 3 Idiots and 2States, favorite Indianfood etc.

Lecture by Consul Generalof Israel Kobi Sushani

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Sudhir Kumar Saxena, asenior officer of the 1987batch of the Indian Police

Service, took over as theDirector General of Police,Madhya Pradesh on Fridayevening.

On reaching the StatePolice Headquarters to takeover as the Director Generalof Police, Saxena was given aguard of honour. DirectorGeneral of Police Vivek Johrihanded over the charge tohim. Sudhir Kumar Saxenawas earlier posted as Secretary(Security), Cabinet Secretariat,Government of India.

Saxena, a senior officer ofthe Indian Police Service, is aPost Graduate (M.Tech) in

Engineering. He was awardedthe President's MeritoriousService Medal in the year2003 and the Vishisht SevaMedal in the year 2012 for hisremarkable police work. Apartfrom this, Deputy InspectorGeneral of Police AJK has alsobeen posted as PoliceHeadquarters and CID PoliceHeadquarters. Saxena has

experience of working asDeputy Inspector General ofPolice, CBI and AdditionalDirector General of PoliceCISF at the Centre.

Meanwhile On the occa-sion of retirement of DirectorGeneral of Police Shri VivekJohri, a farewell parade wasorganized at Motilal NehruPolice Stadium, Bhopal.

Addressing on the occa-sion of his retirement, Johrisaid that he tried to fulfill theoath taken at the time ofappointment with full dedi-cation and sincerity with thesupport of his colleague andsubordinate staff during hislong service. Retirement is anessential process that ensuresnew people and innovations inservices.

IPS officer Sudhir Kumar Saxemaassumes office of DGP MP

Madhya Pradesh Director General of Police Vivek Johri being given a wam farewell by the police personnel during a ceremony at Motilal Nehru Police Stadium, inBhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

BHOPAL | SATURDAY | MARCH 05, 2022

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

The Aishbagh policenabbed a notoriouscriminal engaged in

selling of firearms illegal-ly and recovered one coun-try-made pistol and twocartridges, a scooter fromhis possession near NaveenNagar on Thursday,accused was absconding inextortion case.

On Thursday ShoaibKhan lodged complaintwith the police regardingextortion demand byTaufiq Hussain alias TaufiqShooter.

Keeping in view theseriousness of the incident,during the investigationafter the police receivedinformation that miscreantTaufiq shooter carrying

firearms in Naveen Nagarpolice team rushed andarrested the accused.

The police on friskingTaufiq recovered country-made pistol was foundfrom the miscreant, 2 livecartridges and was not ableto provide any details of thefirearms.

After the preliminaryinvestigation the policehave registered a case under

section 25 and 27 of theArms Act and was alsobooked for extortion.

In the investigationpolice have also recovereda scooter from the miscre-ant.

Victim who runs aSnooker Pool game in hiscomplaint stated that whenhe was near Pul Patra hewas stopped by accusedand demanded money andwhen he refused accusedthrashed him and later vic-tim lodged complaint withAishbagh police.

In the past, Taufiq hasbeen booked for murder,attempt to murder, rob-bery, extortion and assault.

On the other handShoaib is also a notoriouscriminal and is on bail inAbid Mewati murder case.

Aishbagh police arrest notirouscriminal Taufiq for keeping firearm

GOM discusses Madhya PradeshHeritage Liquor Policy-2022 STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Home Minister NarottamMishra has said that it hasbeen agreed to patent the

heritage liquor in the Group ofMinisters. Dr. Mishra was chair-ing a meeting on Madhya PradeshHeritage (Traditional) LiquorPolicy-2022 in the StateMantralaya on Friday.

Minister of Finance and

Commercial Jagdish Deora, ForestMinister Vijay Shah, HealthMinister Prabhuram Chaudharyand Principal SecretaryCommercial Tax Deepali Rastogiwere present. Principal SecretarySmt. Rastogi made a presentationon Madhya Pradesh Heritage(Traditional) Liquor Policy-2022.

Apprised the GoM about theproposed provisions. In the meet-ing, the Group of Ministers agreed

to ensure maximum participationin manufacture, collection andmarketing along with skill upgra-dation of tribals in the HeritageLiquor Policy.

The Group of Ministers saidthat as per the suggestions madein the meeting, all necessary pro-visions should be made for theeconomic empowerment of trib-als in the new heritage collectorpolicy.

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

The Madhya PradeshState FencingAcademy player

Pragya Singh has made thecountry and the state proudby earning a silver medal inthe Asian FencingChampionship.

The championship wasplayed from February 24 toMarch 3 in Tashkent,Uzbekistan. Pragya Singhwon this medal in the EPevent of Fencing.

Pragya won the silvermedal in the final with ascore of 45-36 while playingwith the player ofUzbekistan.

State Sports and YouthWelfare Minister Hon.Yashodhara Raje Scindia has

congratulated and congratu-lated fencing player PragyaSingh on winning a silvermedal in the Asian FencingChampionship.

It is noteworthy that M.P.State Fencing Academy play-er Pragya Singh has been a

part of the Indian team in therecently held Senior GrandPrix-2022. This competitionwas played in Qatar.

This is the first interna-tional medal of the farmer'sdaughter Pragya Singh.Pragya has so far won 11medals in national competi-tions.

The players of the StateFencing Academy are learn-ing the nuances of the gameof fencing under the guid-ance of the academy's chiefcoach Bhupendra SinghChouhan.

Meanwhile, in theWomen's Cricket Academyrun by the Sports and YouthWelfare Department, a talentsearch is being organizedfor women cricketers in dif-ferent phases at Shivpuri,

Bhopal Indore and Jabalpur.Players in the age group of 14to 21 will be able to partici-pate in this talent search.

In Women's CricketAcademy, talent search forplayers of Bhopal,Narmadapuram and Sagardivisions was organized on2nd and 3rd March at AnkurKhel Ground, Bhopal. 67women players participatedin this selection trial.

Out of which 18 femaleplayers have been selected forthe final trials.

Talent search for the play-ers of Jabalpur division will beorganized on March 4 to 5 atRanital Sports Complex,Jabalpur and on March 7 to 8for the players of Gwalior andChambal divisions at AkademiSports Complex, Shivpuri.

Pragya Singh wins silver medal at AsianFencing Championship in Uzbekistan

Devotional sonspresented at Tribalmuseum

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

The objective of the RERAAct is to protect the interestsof the colonizers as well as

allottees in the real estate sector.Till the year 2016, the allottees hadto approach civil and consumercourts against the colonizer tofight for their rights. RERA rulecame into force in MadhyaPradesh from 2017. These havebeen made more consistent withpartial reforms in the year 2021.

Secretary RERA Neeraj Dubeyhas told that land is important inthe cost of the project, so the col-onizer gets the benefit of the costof land and the expenditureincurred for project approval.These provisions are already therein the rules.

The opening of the accountin the name of the project is themost important point of the Act.Seventy percent of the amountreceived from the allottees isdeposited in this account. Thisamount is deposited so that ifthe colonizer does not completethe project work on time, thenRERA can use this amount tocomplete the work. Recentlyspent 70 percent of the projectamount which was about Rs 80crore in this account by a bigcolonizer of Bhopal for non-project purpose.

RERA Actprotects allottees’interests

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Rooted in cultural barriersand stereotypical genderroles, women are often

stereotyped as caregivers orhomemakers and restricted intheir fields of study to teaching,nursing, fine arts and home eco-nomics amongst the like.

That’s why Olay has launchedits #STEMTheGap initiative, aspart of which the brand isencouraging more Indian girls tofearlessly pursue STEM educa-tion and careers. To action this,Olay has launched a STEM schol-arship program for girls in part-nership with LEAD, India's fore-most School EdTechplayer.LEAD works with over3000 schools, most of whichserve low-income families, todeliver international standardeducation to 1.2 million+ stu-dents. Specifically, LEAD trans-forms schools by helping teach-ers design the curriculum and

find ways to better convey theconcepts to students, whilst alsosecuring books and other quali-ty resources. It’s exactly this com-mitment to high quality educa-tion in geographical areas thatmay not otherwise have accessthat makes LEAD the ideal part-ner for Olay’s STEM scholarshipprogramme.

The girls who are recipientswill be enabled with a very goodexperience and education, allow-ing them to pursue their passionsand interests. Since 2021, Olay issponsoring tuition fees, as well astablets and data packs for girlsacross 6 states in India.

The latter two are particularlycritical with the backdrop of thepandemic – many families don’thave multiple smartphones ordevices at home, so providingtech-enabled solutions to ensurethe girls can continue learning,even in an online or hybrid envi-ronment of physical and digitalclassrooms, is hugely meaningful.

Encouraging more STEM educationfor girls, Olay funds scholarships

Former Leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly and Ex-MLA Ajay Singh pays tribute to his father and senior Congressleader Arjun Singh on his 11th death anniversary at PCC headquarters in Bhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Governor MangubhaiPatel has said thatfamily environment is

very important for thehealthy development of chil-dren. The mutual relationshipbetween parents has a greatimpact on the child's mind.In this regard, initiativeshould be taken by theCommission for Protection ofChild Rights regarding howto have healthy upbringing ofchildren in the family. He saidthat innocent children sufferin husband-wife disputes.The family environmentshould be pleasant andhealthy. Society should alsoconsider this.

Governor Patel wasaddressing after inauguratingthe workshop on "NationalWorkshop with State

Commissions for Protectionof Child Rights" organised bythe National Commission forProtection of Child Rights.Union Minister of State forWomen and ChildDevelopment MunjparaMahendrabhai was also pre-sent.

Governor MangubhaiPatel said that children are thefuture of the nation. Husbandand wife have an importantresponsibility in their overalldevelopment. The behaviourand language of family mem-bers have a profound effecton the soft psyche of children.Innocent children are mostaffected by parental discordand separation. He said thatit is necessary to have ahealthy and pleasant familyenvironment for a strongnation. The Amrit Mahotsavof Azadi is an opportunity to

acquaint the youth with thepride of Indian culture. Weshall have to make effortsfrom now for what our coun-try will be like when 100years of independence will becompleted. Efforts shouldalso be made to acquaint theyounger generation with thestruggle and sacrifice madeby our ancestors for freedom.

Union Minister of StateMunjpara Mahendrabhai said

that the Constitution hasgiven equal rights to all,including children, withoutany discrimination. Alongwith this, special provisionshave also been made for theholistic development ofwomen and children.Effective efforts are beingmade by the government inthis direction through thecommission. Workshops onchild rights are being organ-ised in different parts of thecountry. He said that he is aheart specialist physician byprofession. He has come forthe first time to MadhyaPradesh, the heartland of thecountry. The intimacy of thepeople of the state hasimpressed him a lot.

In his welcome address,Chairman of theCommission, PriyankKanungo said that a work-

shop has been organised forhealthy brainstorming on thetopic of child rights and pro-tection. About one and halflakh children who have losttheir parents or one of themduring the Covid outbreakare being brought up in afamily environment underthe protection of theCommission. To protect chil-dren from drugs, the com-mission has taken the initia-tive to get CCTV camerasinstalled at medical stores.Arrangements have beenmade for street children asper "Standard OperatingProcedure to Point Zero".

The vote of thanks wasgiven by the MemberSecretary of the commission,Rupali BanerjeeSingh.Officials of the children'scommission from 27 stateswere present in the workshop.

Family environment is must for Children

Kobi Sushanispoke on thestrong relationsbetween Indiaand Israel. Atpresent Indiaand Israel areeach other'sreliable allies

In the past,Taufiq has beenbooked formurder, attemptto murder,robbery,extortion andassault

Page 3: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

BHOPAL | SATURDAY | MARCH 05, 2022 capital 03

Taxido owner booked on fraud charges

PNS n JABALPUR

Exercise is the best wayto keep employeesaway from stress. for

the same purpose and keep-ing in view the fitness andhealth of Railway employ-ees, keeping in mind open-ing gyms are functioning at43 places in Jabalpur divi-sion.

The railway administra-tion provided 176 highdeveloped and advancedmodern equipment for allforms of exercise with fullfocus on health at these 43places.

For this, open gym wasopen in Railway Colonies,Railway Club, RailwayStadium, RailwayCommunity Building, hos-pitals and railway gardens.

After being off duty, theemployees are maintainingtheir fitness by reaching thegym. It has often been seenthat the employees of theoffices in which they exercisethem in the gym maintaintheir fitness by keeping fit,the employees in thoseoffices made fresh and goodworking environment.

In the effort WCR hasdeveloped 86 in Jabalpur ofWCR, 25 in Katni, 7 inAsma, 7 in Sagar, in Satna 6,in Rewa 3, Beohari 07,Pipariya 06, Narsinghpur 06,Gadarwara 04, Khurai 04,Bargawan 04, Amdara 03and Maihar 08 making 43open gyms have been pro-vided.

The RailwayAdministration has takensteps to maintain the physi-cal health and fitness of therunning staff. All runningrooms have open gyms forthe purpose.

Along with this, to keepRailway Protection Force firgym was also made in RPFbarracks.

The loco pilot , assistantloco pilot and guard areavailing high and moderntechnology equipment in therunning room of pilot andguard which is proving to behelpful in keeping themstress free and performingduty efficiently. Campaign toopen gym to keep the healthof the employees in goodshape will be continued evenfurther.

Gymsoperating at43 places

Ayurvedic scholars of Government Pandit Khushilal Sharma Ayurvedic college and Institute burn the copies of their degree inprotest during their indefinite strike demanding opening of more AYUSH hospitals, hike in the stipend including several otherdemands, in Bhopal on Friday. Pioneer photo

STAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

The MP Nagar police havebooked owner of Taxidocompany after 30 com-

plaints were made after they werecheated on the pretext of attach-ing cars to government offices andescaped with victims vehicles.

On February 17, MP NagarPolice has registered a case againstVarun alias Rahul Bansal, ownerof taxido company. The policehave also made the company'smanager Ravikant Vishwakarmaaccused in the case.

The victims claimed that theaccused had made about 170 cars

missing by forming a fake com-pany.

About 30 people, includingVikesh Singh, a resident of SemraKalan, Ashoka Garden, reachedthe Police Commissioner's officeon Wednesday.

He stated that in November2021, he had put his new car inthe taxido company on rent of 25thousand rupees every month.The company's office was in MPNagar Zone-1. The company'smanager Ravikant had promisedto pay rent every month, but after1 month nothing was paid andwas not able to locate the car.

According to Vikesh Singh,the company has run away with

vehicles of about 170 people inthis way. Cars have been taken toBhind, Morena.

On February 17, the MPNagar Police had lodged the firstFIR against the accused in thiscase on the complaint of Raj

Parosiya. His new car manager

Ravikant Vishwakarma had madean agreement to pay a rent of Rs21000 per month and cheated inthe same manner.

Complainant Vikesh Singh

told police that Varun alias RahulBansal has made four differentAadhar cards for cheating. Hisreal name was also not known. Tosome, he introduces as RahulBansal, while to others as VarunBansal.

Bhopal: ‘Madhya Pradesh TradePromotion Council’ has beenconstituted under the chair-manship of Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan, toincrease the share of the state innational and international trade,to encourage exports and to for-mulate policy regarding employ-ment generation.

This Council will also for-mulate policy regarding qualityenhancement and value addi-tion of selected products as per

national and international trade.Ministers of Finance, Micro,

Small and Medium Enterprises,Forest, Industrial Policy andInvestment Promotion,Transport, Tourism, Scienceand Technology, Horticultureand Food Processing, Cottageand Village Industries,Agriculture, TechnicalEducation and SkillDevelopment and LabourDepartment will be members inthe Council.

Madhya Pradesh TradePromotion Council formed

Police arrest three miscreantsSTAFF REPORTER n BHOPAL

Crime branch Bhopal andAshoka Garden policenabbed three miscreants

including a minor and recov-ered valuables worth Rs 1 lakhfrom their possession onThursday.

Acting on tip off AshokaGarden police and crimebranch nabbed three personsincluding a minor at Sai Mandirwho were trying to sell mobiles.

The team of AshokaGarden and Crime Branchquestioned the nabbed identi-fied as Shashank Dubey ofAlampur Papda GaratganjDistrict Raisen, Umesh Bairagi

alias Bittu of Chhola MandirBhopal while third accusedwas minor.

The accused target thedeserted shops, by breakingthe shutter of breaking withiron rod they would enter andescape with shops. They dorecce during the day.

The accused were trying tosell stolen mobiles at cheapprices when they were nabbed.

In the investigation policehave recovered 16 mobilephones and 6 USB drives and6 memory cards worth aroundRs 1 lakh.

During investigation whenthe plastic sacks accused werecarrying were searched 6

mobile phones in the hands ofaccused Shashank Dubey werepacked in orange color boxesand three USB pen driveswhile from Umesh Bairagithree USB pen drives, sixmobile phones and three mem-ory cards.

Accused confessed thataround six days ago, theaccused, along with their aide, broke the lock of a mobileshop in Govindpura SubhashMarket and stole mobiles andother items by breaking thelock during the night. Theaccused was nabbed and recov-ered 6 memory cards and 6USB pen drives. The accusedwas found to be minor.

Page 4: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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Dissident BJP MP VarunGandhi on Friday took a dig

at the "nationalist Government"at the Centre for "not filling-up"around 1.21 lakh vacancies inArmy and paramilitary forcesand keeping "jobless youth" wait-ing for the last three years.

The BJP MP from UttarPradesh who has been critical ofhis party and Government's poli-cies and progarmme said, “Youthare in desperation as there is norecruitment in the Army andpara-military forces for last threeyears."

The MP from Pilibhit whohas kept himself aloof from thecrucial ongoing elections in UP,said ,“Young men training andrunning hard for last three yearsin the hope of getting into thearmy and para-military arehopeless as recruitment is noton."

In a tweet, Varun has taggedfigures of 1,04,053 jobs in Army,5461 in Airforce, 12431 in Navy-which he said are lying vacant.

The tweet carries a videowhere a young man is claimingthat he has become "over aged"for the Army and para-militaryjob as recruitment has notopened-up for last three yearswhen he was running andpreparing hard for the physicaltest.

"Rashtraseva ka sankalp lenewale in yuvawyon ki awaaz'rashtravadi sarkar' tak pahuch-ni chahiye,” said Varun in a digat the BJP Government at theCentre.

The BJP MP and his moth-er Maneka Gandhi, MP fromSultanpur, have not been cam-paigning in the seven-phased pollin UP where results will be outon March 10.

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The Supreme Court on Fridaytook note of the Centre's

submission that it has so farevacuated 17,000 strandedIndian students from the warzone in Ukraine, saying it appre-ciated the efforts but was con-cerned about the anxiety ofpeople.

The top court asked theCentre to consider setting up an“online helpline” for the parentsand families of stranded studentsin Ukraine and to convey to thehigh courts not to take up theissue pertaining to the evacua-tion of students to avoid multi-plicity of litigation.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice N V Ramana took noteof the submission of AttorneyGeneral K K Venugopal that17,000 stranded Indian studentshave been evacuated and the restare in the process of being res-cued by the government whichis “as concerned as yourLordships”. “We are not saying

a single word, anything aboutthe efforts which you are taking.We appreciate that but at thesame time, we are also con-cerned about the anxiety of thepeople,” said the bench whichalso comprised justices A SBopanna and Hima Kohli.

At the outset, the CJI termedas “unfortunate” the ongoingwar by Russia on Ukraine andsaid conflicts can be resolvedthrough negotiations.

“It is unfortunate we haven'tlearnt lessons from historywhere the human race has beenfighting wars and killing peopleand all that. Conflicts can beresolved through negotiations...We have no say in these issues.But, the anxiety for us is how tosave these students,” the benchsaid.

Venugopal, who was askedby the bench to use his goodoffice to help in evacuation ofBengaluru resident FathimaAhana and several other med-ical students from near theRomania border in Ukraine,

gave the good news to the benchthat the petitioner student andothers would be reaching Indiatonight.

The top most law officersaid that he had contacted P KMishra, Principal secretary ofthe Prime Minister on Thursday,about the girl who was unable tocross over to Romania and wasstuck on Ukraine side of the bor-der.

“The concern was commu-nicated to Shri P K Mishra. Hecommunicated that to ShriScindia (Union MinisterJyotiraditya Scindia), the personin charge in Romania and thetelephone number of FatimaAhana was also given...She isnow in Romania,” he said,adding “I expect that she and thepersons accompanying her, theother college students, will comeback by tonight.”

“Attorney General, we sin-cerely thank you very much forthe efforts which you made bytaking personal interest in thismatter,” the CJI said.

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The Supreme Court onFriday agreed to hear on

March 11 a plea challenging thegrant of bail by the AllahabadHigh Court to Ashish Mishra,son of Union Minister AjayMishra, in connection withthe Lakhimpur Kheri violencethat left eight people, includingfour farmers, dead.

A bench headed by ChiefJustice N V Ramana took noteof the submissions of lawyerPrashant Bhushan that theother accused in the case aremoving courts for grant ofbail citing the relief granted to

Ashish Mishra and asked himto intimate the high court thatthe top court is hearing the pleafor cancellation of bail.

“I can list on March 11only. Other judges have to beavailable,” the CJI said. A sin-gle-judge bench of the HighCourt, on February 10, hadgranted bail to Mishra who hadspent four months in custody.

Bhushan submitted thatthe high court while grantingthe bail, did not follow the lawlaid down and did not consid-er aspects like tampering withevidence and fleeing from jus-tice.

“The problem is that otheraccused are also moving," he

added. Bhushan also sought a

direction to the high courtthat for the time being, the bailplea of other accused be notconsidered.

“File a memo before theHigh Court that we are hear-ing on March 11,” the benchsaid.

Three family members offarmers, who were killed in theviolence, have sought a stay onthe February 10 bail order ofthe High Court, saying the ver-dict was “unsustainable in theeyes of law as there has been nomeaningful and effective assis-tance by the state to the courtin the matter”.

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The situation in Ukrainehas led to the postpone-ment of the prestigious

defence exhibition DefExpo-2022, to be held from March 10-14 in Gandhinagar, Gujarat.While the Ministry of Defencehere did not elaborate, it said theevent was postponed as partic-ipants are experiencing prob-lems related to logistics. Thenew dates of the exhibition,held every two years, will beannounced in due course.

Announcing this here onFriday, the defence ministrysaid as on February 22 as manyas 973 exhibitors, including 121foreign exhibitors from 63 coun-tries, had registered for Asia'slargest exhibition on land, naval

and homeland security systems.Prime Minister Narendra Modiwas likely to address the exhi-bition as per the earlier sched-ule.

The exhibition was, in fact,extended by a day earlier toenable wider participation inview of a decline in Covid-19cases in India.

“Due to logistics problemsbeing experienced by partici-pants, the DefExpo-2022 pro-posed to be held inGandhinagar, Gujarat fromMarch 10 till14th is postponed,”the ministry said. This year'sDefExpo would be the 12th edi-tion of the prestigious biennialdefence exhibition.

DefExpo began in 1996 andthis year it was being organisedat over an area of one lakh

square metres. The US pavilionhad booked the largest spaceamong the nations, while Adaniand the Tata Group were to havethe largest stalls among theIndian participants.

Over 50 defence ministersor heads of armed forces fromacross the world were expectedto attend the event. Also, thesecond India-Africa DefenceDialogue was to be held along-side the DefExpo, with 52 coun-tries invited.

Many defence manufactur-ing companies from Europebesides Russia and Ukrainewere slated to participate in theDefExpo. Given the current sit-uation there and closure of theUkrainian airspace was one ofthe reasons for postponement ofthe exhibition, sources said.

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As Russia intensified itsattack, India on Friday

managed to bring back 3,772people by 18 evacuation flightsfrom bordering countries ofUkraine under “OperationGanga” but 2,000-3,000 moreIndians are stuck in the war-rav-aged nation.

According to the Ministryof Civil Aviation, 11 evacuationflights are expected to bringback more than 2200 Indians onSaturday, with 10 landing inNew Delhi and one in Mumbai.So far, over 10,300 Indians havebeen brought back in 48 flightsunder 'Operation Ganga' andnearly 20,000 Indians leftUkraine's borders since ouradvisories were issued in mid-February.

MEA spokespersonArindam Bagchi said thataround 300 Indians are stuck inKharkiv and 700 are in Sumy. Asper details shared by the min-

istry, five flights will originatefrom Budapest, two fromRzeszow and four from Suceava.Besides, four C-17 aircraft areairborne for Romania, Polandand Slovakia, which are expect-ed to reach late at night andearly Saturday morning. Thestatement did not say howmany Indians will be coming onthe four IAF flights. On Friday,14 civilian and three IAF flightsbrought 3,772 Indians back.Four flights came from

Bucharest, two from Kosice,four from Budapest, three fromRzeszow and two from Suceava,while IAF flew two flights fromBucharest and one fromBudapest.

The Indian Air Force hasoperated three flights fromusing the airfields in Romaniaand Hungary to the Hindon air-base between Thursday nightand Friday morning carrying630 Indians. Till date, the IAFhas evacuated a total of 1,428

Indians on seven flights, all ofwhich have been operatedthrough its C-17 aircraft andtaken 9.7 tonnes of relief mate-rial. The IAF joined the gov-ernment's Operation Ganga onThursday morning when itbrought 798 Indians on fourevacuation flights from theRomanian capital Bucharest,Hungary's Budapest and Polishcity Rzeszow to Hindon airbase.Meanwhile, two Russian IL-76strategic lift planes are on stand-by to fly out to Moscow as soonas Indian nationals evacuatedfrom northeastern cities ofKharkiv and Sumi are taken tothe Russian capital.

IndiGo said it will operate12 evacuation flights with over2,600 Indians from war-tornUkraine's neighbouring coun-tries between Friday andSunday. In a statement, IndiGosaid 42 evacuation flights with9,200 Indians had been sched-uled to operate betweenFebruary 28 and March 6. "We

have already operated 30 flightsbringing back more than 6,600of our citizens till today(Friday)," the airline's ChiefOperating Officer WolfgangProck-Schauer said on Friday.At least 12 flights with over2,600 Indians will be operatedby India's largest airline betweenMarch 4 and March 6.

Meanwhile, Air IndiaExpress’s second flight carrying184 passengers from Budapestlanded in Mumbai on Fridaymorning.

Go First on Friday said ithas operated first evacuationflight to New Delhi fromBudapest in Hungary to bringback 177 Indian evacuees fromwar-hit Ukraine. The airline alsosaid it will operate two flightsevery till March 10 as part of theOperation Ganga mission.

Over 80 flights and 24 min-isters have been pressed intoaction to evacuate Indians fromUkraine as part of OperationGanga.

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The Congress on Friday hit out atthe BJP over the "dead body

takes more space" remark by the lat-ter’s Karnataka MLA Arvind Bellad,saying cruelty is now the saffronparty's DNA, and accused theCentre of garnering publicity forevacuating Indian students fromwar-torn Ukraine.

On March 1, medical student,

Naveen SG of Karnataka, was killedin shelling in the Ukrainian city ofKharkiv when he ventured out to buyfood for himself and fellow students.

Former Congress chief RahulGandhi said the still-trapped Indianstudents in the conflict zone in factexhibits the complete failure of theGovernment. “Instead of question-ing students who do not praise theModi government such peopleshould self introspect,” Rahul tweet-ed.

Party’s chief spokesmanRandeep Surjewala remarked thatBJP is completely drunk with arro-gance and power has gone into thehead of heartless BJP leaders, par-ticularly from Karnataka. “(UnionMinister) Prahlad Joshi calls childrenin Ukraine as those who failedNEET. Arvind Bellad has lost his bal-ance. Insensitivity and cruelty arenow BJP's DNA," Surjewala said.

He also said "one thing is clear...In the Ukraine-Russian war, there is

no plan to rescue the thousands ofchildren who have been fighting fortheir life for the last nine days amidheavy bombing and missile attacks".

"Is all the focus from Ukraine toUttar Pradesh (where assembly pollsare being held) only on managing PRand saving image," Surejwala askedin another tweet in Hindi.

The Congress also shared avideo of Union Minister Gen (retd)V K Singh and said, "Ministers of theModi government are telling chil-dren trapped for nine days inbombs/missile attacks why they didnot come out earlier when an ulti-matum was issued, come after trav-

elling a long journey and when youcome out of all the danger, we willthen receive you. Is he a minister ofthe country or a travel agent,"Surjewala asked.

Bellad, who represents Hubli-Dharwad in the Karnataka assembly,stirred up a controversy with hiscomment that "a dead body takes upmore space in a flight", promptingthe Congress to attack the BJP. Hehas also said that instead of a coffin,nearly eight to 10 people can be

accommodated on a plane.Senior Congress spokesperson

Manish Tewari also shared a videoof students stuck in Ukraine. "DearPM (prime minister), listen to thesechildren. Please speak to President(Vladimir) Putin and establish anevacuation route across the Russianfrontlines. They are in clear and pre-sent danger and while Ukrainians arenot holding them hostage they areclearly discriminating againstIndians," he tweeted.

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Railway Minister AshwiniVaishnaw on Friday said

the indigenously-developedAutomatic Train Protection(ATP) system called “Kavach”will be deployed across theentire rail network beginningwith 2,000 km in the comingfinancial year and will berolled out in 4,000 to 5,000 kmevery subsequent year.

'Kavach', which literallymeans armour, is being pro-moted by the Railways as theworld's cheapest automatictrain collision protection sys-tem. Announced in the 2022Union Budget as a part of theAtmanirbhar Bharat initia-tive, 2,000 km of rail networkis planned to be broughtunder 'Kavach' for safety andcapacity augmentation in2022-23.

So far, 'Kavach' has beendeployed on over 1,098 routekm and 65 locos in on-goingprojects of the South CentralRailway. 'Kavach' is designed

to bring a train to a halt auto-matically when it noticesanother train on the same linewithin a prescribed distance.

"In the budget 2,000 kmhas been approved and insubsequent years 'Kavach' willbe deployed in 4,000-5,000km every year," Vaishnaw toldthe media after inspectingthe working of 'Kavach'between theLingampalli–Vikarabad sec-tion of Secunderabad division,South Central Railway.

To mark the National

Safety Day, the RailwayMinister alongwith railwaystop officials inspected theworking of ‘Kavach’ betweenLingampalli – Vikarabad sec-tion of Secunderabad Divisionof the South Central Railwayzone. The Railway Ministerwas accompanied by VinayKumar Tripathi, Chairmanand CEO of the RailwayBoard as well as other seniorrailway officials.

Vaishnav was onboard thelocomotive, which movedfrom Gullaguda towards

Chitgidda, and Tripathi wasonboard the locomotive whichmoved from Chitgiddatowards Gallaguda. Duringthe trial, Head-on-collisionsituation was created as boththe locomotives were movingtowards each other. The‘Kavach’ system initiated theautomatic braking system andhalted the locomotives 380metres apart.

Also, crossing of the redsignal was tested under whichthe locomotive did not crossthe red signal as ‘Kavach’

necessitated the application ofbrakes automatically. Thespeed restriction of 30 Kmphwas tested when the locomo-tive was run on a loop line.‘Kavach’ automatical lyreduced the speed to 30 Kmphfrom 60 Kmph as the loco-motive entered the loop line.

The system is designed,developed and manufacturedin India and will be deployedin India and exported to theworld.

Trains will also stop ontheir own when the digitalsystem notices any manualerror like "jumping" of the redsignal or any other malfunc-tion. 'Kavach' is developed byResearch Design andStandards Organization(RDSO) in collaboration withIndian industry.

The system is also said tofacilitate automatic brakingfor the prevention of overspeeding of trains. The systemis meant to provide safety bypreventing trains to pass thesignal at Danger (Red) andavoid a collision.

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General (retd) Sunith FrancisRodrigues, who headed

the Indian Army between 1990and 1993 and served as the gov-ernor of Punjab between 2004and 2010, passed away onFriday, an official statementsaid. He was 88.

Rodrigues died peacefullyat a private hospital near Panaji,

Goa around 1.30 pm, familysources said. He had beenadmitted to the hospital for thelast 15 days. "General M MNaravane, Chief of Army Staff(COAS), and all ranks of theIndian Army express heartfeltcondolences on the sad demiseof General Sunith FrancisRodrigues, who passed awaytoday," the Indian Army said onTwitter.

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People who live in walkableneighbourhoods with access

to parks and other outdoor activ-ities are more active and less like-ly to have diabetes or obesity,according to a new paper pub-lished in the Endocrine Society’sjournal, Endocrine Reviews.

The built environment is theman made structures that providepeople with living, working andrecreational spaces. This envi-ronment includes buildings,neighbourhoods, parks, bikepaths, restaurants, shops, roadsand public transportation.Human health is affected by thephysical environments we con-struct.

“The built environment caninfluence physical activity levelsby promoting active forms oftransportation, such as walkingand cycling over passive ones,such as car use,” said Gillian L.Booth of the University ofToronto, St. Michael’s Hospital ofUnity Health Toronto and ICESin Ontario, Canada.

“Shifting the transportationchoices of local residents maymean that more members of thepopulation can participate inphysical activity during theirdaily routine without structuredexercise programs.”

The researchers reviewedseveral studies on the built envi-ronment and their effects on pub-lic health and found walkable,activity-friendly cities and neigh-

borhoods were associated with alower risk of obesity and diabetes.One large population-based studyof 32,767 people found the preva-lence of obesity among adults liv-ing in highly walkable neighbor-hoods compared to those livingin low walkability areas was 43%vs. 53%.

A study of 1.1 million adultswith normal blood sugar levelsfound the incidence of pre-dia-betes was 20% higher among peo-ple living in less walkable areasafter 8 years of follow up. Another

study of 1.6 million adults founda 30% to 50% higher likelihoodof developing diabetes amongpeople living in low versus high-ly walkable areas. In a population-based Canadian study, movingfrom an unwalkable to a highlywalkable neighborhood was asso-ciated with a 54% lower likelihoodof being diagnosed with highblood pressure.

The paper also noted that airpollution and high concentrationsof fast-food restaurants are riskfactors for diabetes and can sub-stantially reduce the benefits ofliving in a walkable neighbor-hood.

“We need policies that pro-mote healthier eating habits andopportunities to engage in activeforms of transportation,” said

Booth. “Designing neighbor-hoods that have safe and effectivepublic transit options, cyclinginfrastructure and walking pathsmay reduce traffic related pollu-tion.”

As per the WHO, worldwideobesity has nearly tripled since1975. India is home to 135 mil-lion people, says the IndianJournal of Community Medicine.

According to the latestNational Family Health Survey(NFHS), there has been a rise inobesity among kids under fiveyears of age as 33 states and unionterritories registered a spike in thenumber of overweight children.Obesity rates among childrenjumped substantially in the firstmonths of the Covid-19 pan-demic.

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Page 5: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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The ongoing Assembly elec-tions enters the last and

most crucial phase in easternUP as this region is identifiedwith Prime Minister NarendraModi and Chief Minister YogiAdityanath and competitivecaste-based identity politicspursued by Samajwadi Partyand redefined caste-based pol-itics by BJP.

Voting for the seventh andfinal round will be held inVaranasi and its eight adjoin-ing districts on March 7. The54 Assembly seats going topolls in this phase areAzamgarh, Mau, Jaunpur,Ghazipur, Chandauli, Varanasi,Mirzapur, Bhadohi andSonbhadra.

Prime Minister NarendraModi held a roadshow in dif-ferent localities of Varanasi onFriday and will address a rallyin Khajuri village of district onMarch 5. The roadshow cov-ered three Assembly con-stituencies of Cantonment,Varanasi North and VaranasiSouth. Earlier, prominent lead-ers of opposition parties -Congress and Samajwadi Party

and Trinamool Congress leaderMamata Banerjee have alsocampaigned in pilgrim city -nerve centre of grand finale.Strength of old and new alliesof Samajwadi Party will be ontest and its new formula whereit has borrowed a leaf from theBJP and forged alliance withsmall caste-based parties will beunder scrutiny. The SP haschallenged non-Yadav OBCplank of the BJP as four non-Yadav OBCs ministers in Yogigovernment deserted BJP andjoined SP just ahead of polls.The four ministers are SwamiPrasad Maurya, Dara SinghChauhan, Om Prakash Rajbharand Dharm Singh Saini.

Though Samajwadi partyhas pinned hopes with newalliances and its chief AkhileshYadav has gone to the extent ofclaiming to win 400 of the total403 seats, political experts aresceptical.

Akhilesh has nominatedfour SP candidates in Varanasiand left four others to allies,Apna Dal (Kamerwadi) head-ed by Anupriya’s motherKrishna Patel and two forRajbhar’s SBSP. “Its too late inthe day for the SP to forge

alliances with small parties.These parties lack proven lead-ership in electoral politics ofUP and there is no visiblemechanism that these partiescan transfer votes to otherparty candidates inelection,’’said a political analyst.

In 2017 state elections, theBJP and its ally riding the‘Modi wave’ had won in alleight Assembly segments ofVaranasi and so was case inmajority seats in neighbouringdistricts. However, changingcaste equation and aggressivemobilisation of Muslims bySamajwadi Party has ensuredthat contest will not remainone-sided this time.

BJP’s allies Apna Dal(Sonelal) and Nishad Partyand Akhilesh Yadav’s newfriends Apna Dal (K), SuheldevBhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) ofOm Prakash Rajbhar and oth-ers would have to play animportant role to tilt the bal-ance in favour of their group-ings. Reports suggested that theSP and other parties are tryingto dent the BJP’s support baseamong Brahmins by playing uptheir reported unhappinesswith the saffron party.

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The Election Commission ofIndia has banned

Samajwadi Party candidatefrom Mau, Abbas Ansari, fromcampaigning for 24 hours forthreatening government offi-cials in a public meeting.

Abbas Ansari, son ofdreaded gangster MukhtarAnsari, who is contesting theUP election as a candidate ofSuheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party(SBSP)-Samajwadi Partyalliance, stoked another con-troversy while addressing hissupporters in Mau by alleged-ly threatening Governmentofficials.

Openly threatening thegovernment officials duringthe public meeting in Mau,Abbas Ansari said that if theSamajwadi Party alliance gov-ernment was formed in UttarPradesh, he had asked SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav not to transfer

the government officials for thenext six months as he wouldfirst do their ‘hisab-kitab’ (set-tle accounts). “I have told SPchief Akhilesh Yadav that notransfer or posting of any offi-cer or employee will happen forsix months as we will settle theaccounts first with the UPadministration and only thentheir transfer certificates will bestamped,” Abbas Ansari said.

Amidst the ongoing elec-tions in Uttar Pradesh, a videoof Abbas Ansari threateningpolice officials has gone viral onsocial media. In this video,Abbas Ansari is seen threaten-ing the officers openly from thestage of the public meeting.

Mukhtar's son is contestingthe election on the ticket ofSamajwadi Party. In the video,Abbas is heard saying, “I haverequested the national presi-dent of Samajwadi Party,Akhilesh Yadav, to not transferor post anyone until six months

after the elections. Those whoare posted here will be made tostay here. First, there will be‘hisab-kitab’ and only thenthey can be given any posting.”

Condemning the threatissued to the government offi-cials, the Bharatiya Janata Partysaid, “It is evident from thespeech of Abbas Ansari that thegoons of the Samajwadi Partyare in shock by witnessing thegrowing influence of the BJPand the ever-increasing supportof the party base in six phasesof the polls. That is the reasonthey are making such contro-versial statements and givingthreats.”

Significantly, AbbasAnsari's mafia father MukhtarAnsari was put behind thebars by Chief Minister YogiAdityanath for land-grabbing,extortion, murder and kid-napping of the poor, weak,businessmen and farmers inPurvanchal.

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Aday after the Income Taxdepartment claimed that it

had unearthed tax evasion tothe tune of �200 crore alleged-ly by city civic corporatorYashwant Jadhav and civic con-tractors close to him, MumbaiMunicipal Commissioner ISChahal dismissed as “false andmischievous” a message put outin the social media that the ITdepartment had issued him anotice in connection with theongoing investigations.

Alluding to a tweet put outby one Sameet Thakkar whodescribes himself as “CommonIndian Citizen!!”, Chahal saidthat a police complaint wasbeing lodged against Thakkarfor for spreading “false, mali-cious and mischievous”news.“The tweet is false andmischievous. No notice has

been received from IncomeTax department to inquireIqbal Singh Chahal MunicipalCommissioner Iqbal SinghChahal. A police complaint isbeing filed against this indi-vidual for spreading false, mali-cious and mischievous news.The conduct of this personneeds to be strongly con-demned,” a statement issued onbehalf of Chahal said.

Thakkar, whose claim tofame is that he “went to jail for23 days for calling CM ModernDay Aurangzeb & his SonBaby. Honour to be followed byPM Modi” had tweeted earlierin the day : “Big Breaking!!.According to sources,@IncomeTaxIndia is all set toinquire BMC CommissionerIqbal Singh Chahal in a stand-ing committee chairmanYeshwant Jadhav case. A noticein this regard has been served,

according to my sources”. Afterraids on at least three dozenlocations, the Income Taxdepartment had on Thursdayclaimed that it had unearthedtax evasion to the tune of Rs.200 crore allegedly byBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC)Corporator and StandingCommittee leader YashwantJadhav and civic contractorsclose to him.

The IT raids, conducted atMazgaon, Byculla and otherlocations over a period of fourdays, had resulted in the recov-ery of an unaccounted cash ofRs. 2 crore and jewellery worthRs.1.50 crore. The IT officialsalso seized documents relatingto 35 immovable assets worthmore than Rs. 130 crore, eitherproperties acquired in theirown names or associates orbenami persons.

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Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati targeted the

Bharatiya Janata Party leaders,accusing them of trying tomake electoral gains on theCovid vaccine and free rationdistribution during the ongo-ing elections, when it was theconstitutional responsibility ofany government in power.

On Friday, Mayawatitweeted, “The BJP leaders aretrying to exploit free Coronavaccine and ration distributedamongst the people duringlockdown just for the sake ofelectoral interest in UP. It isthe constitutional responsi-bility of a government to helpits marooned citizens. Thisduty is not a favor to anyone.”

The BSP chief furthertweeted, “What a strange pol-itics is being played by the BJP

that after snatching employ-ment and closure of manybusiness establishments, theyare not talking of it but mak-ing a propaganda of freeration and free vaccine dis-tribution during its poll cam-paign.”

Voting for the seventhand f inal phase of theAssembly elections will becast on March 7 for electingrepresentatives from 54 con-stituencies across nine dis-tricts of the eastern parts ofthe state. Campaigning forthis phase of the poll will endon Saturday evening.

Prior to this, political par-ties have engaged in a fiercetrading of charges and impor-tant leaders from various par-ties are also camping inVaranasi, the Parliamentaryconstituency of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

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Lambasting the previousSamajwadi Party

Government for shelteringmafia and criminals, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidthat that the mafia which wascommitting heinous crimes inthe last regime are now crawl-ing like worms instead offlaunting ‘tamanchas’ (guns) inopen jeeps.

Addressing a poll rally inSaiyad Raja Assembly con-stituency of Chandauli onFriday, the Chief Minister said,“If the state will has a ‘dumdar’(strong) government, thenbulldozer and developmentwill go hand in hand.”

Yogi further claimed thatthe BJP had taken a decisivelead over the opposition partiesin the six phases of polls heldso far and trends showed thatit has already crossed the scoreof 275.

“When the election resultsare declared on March 10, thenonly the BJP will be visible inthe state and due to the fear ofdefeat, several SP-BSP leadershave started making flightbookings to flee abroad,” hesaid.

The Chief Minister wenton to say that professionalcriminals who had come out oftheir ‘holes’ during the electionsto spread anarchy in the statehave realised that their motiveswill not be fulfilled and havehence been searching for holesto hide.

Hitting out at the previousSP government over providinguninterrupted power supplyonly during Eid and Moharramfestivals, Yogi said, “Before2017, even electricity had a reli-gion but during the BJP regimeuninterrupted power supply isbeing provided for everyone,irrespective of caste and reli-gion.”

“People are also being pro-vided free vaccines, free testingfacilities and free treatmentalong with free double-dose offoodgrains. Had there been

the government of SP or BSP,even the vaccine would havebeen black marketed,” Yogisaid.

The Chief Minister furthermaintained that if the BJPreturned to power in UttarPradesh, the state governmentwould provide free LPG toevery poor household duringDiwali and Holi and free scootyto meritorious girl students.“Besides, the amount of moneygiven under Kanya SumangalaYojana will be increased to Rs25,000 while underMukhyamantri Samuhik VivahYojana, Rs 1 lakh will be trans-ferred,” he assured.

Yogi claimed that over 5lakh youths were given gov-ernment jobs during his tenurewhile 2 crore youths were con-nected with employment. “Weare also distributing tabletsand smartphones to one croreyouths and the SP has object-ed to it.

The Samajwadi Partybelieves development should beof Saifai family only. OnlySaifai Mahotsav used to be heldunder the SP regime and eventhe organisers were unaware ofwhat was happening.”

The BJP government hasworked towards the develop-ment of sites and monumentswhich gives an identity to thecountry and the state.“Beautification of BabaKeenaram’s birthplace andTaposthali are being carried outin Chandauli.

At the same time, alongwith the construction of LordShri Ram’s temple in Ayodhya,Kashi Vishwanath Dham,Mathura, Gokul and Vrindavanare being beautified,” he added.

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Suitable amendments to theCinematograph Act 1952

to combat film piracy, themerger of Film Division andthree other media units withthe National Film DevelopmentCorporation (NFDC) Ltd andsetting up an Animation, VisualEffects, Gaming, and Comic(AVGC) Promotion Task Forcewere three of the major assur-ances that the Information &Broadcasting Ministry held outto the Indian film fraternityhere on Friday.

Addressing a ConsultationMeeting of Film Associationsthrough video conferencing,I&B Secretary Apurva Chandrasaid the issues with respect toproposed CinematographAmendment Bill and anti-pira-cy issues would be addressedafter consultation with thestakeholders of the industry.Friday’s meeting in Mumbai

was a follow-up of a similarconsultation with the film fra-ternity from South India, heldin Chennai on Thursday.Chandra indicated that therecommendations made by anExpert Committee set up underthe Chairmanship of JusticeMukul Mudgal was constitut-ed in 2013 and AnotherCommittee of Experts was setup under the Chairmanship ofShyam Benegal in 2016 toevolve broad guidelines forcertification would be consid-ered while making suitableamendments to theCinematograph Act.

Among other things,Chandra said that four mediaunits --Films Division,Directorate of Film Festivals,National Film Archives ofIndia, and Children's FilmSociety, India would be mergedwith the NFDC Ltd. He saidthat the basic objective isNFDC should become the enti-

ty through which the revenuesfrom the film sector can be uti-lized for development of thefilm sector. Chandra said thatnone of the existing schemeswas being discontinued. “Wewill strengthen NFDC so thatthey can rotate staff and deliv-er on the responsibilitiesassigned to them,” he said.

Alluding to the FinanceMinister's announcementabout the setting up anAnimation, Visual Effects,Gaming, and Comic (AVGC)Promotion Task Force,Chandra said that the Ministrywas working on its Terms ofReference.

“We hope to set up thisTask Force this month itself, sothat work can begin and we areable to utilize the potential ofthe sunrise sector,” he said.Chairperson, CBFC PrasoonJoshi said that the change indesign of the film certificatewas symbolic of what the Board

seeks to achieve, in terms ofmaking processes seamless,digital and more stakeholder-friendly. “The process of certi-fication has been smoothenedas much as possible; while wecontinue to need human inter-vention for watching films andcertifying it, we have stream-lined system so as to speed upother parts of process” he said

Ravindra Bhakar, CEO,CBFC, said about journey ofcertification body should beviewed from point of view of itsadaptations in view of newchallenges.

He also spoke about digi-tisation in certification processand move towards furthertransparency and measurestowards ease of doing business.Dwelling upon the initiativestaken by the Ministry and var-ious schemes implemented filmindustry like incentives forshooting foreign films in Indiaand organising a global media

& entertainment summit,Additional Secretary I &BNeerja Shekhar underscoredthe need for increasing the den-sity of screen across the coun-try..

Neerja, who chaired themeeting, said that theGovernment was planning tocome up with single windowclearances for opening of filmtheatres and also for eventmanagement. She said thatsuggestions were being soughtfor setting up rural theatres andmobile screens in order toachieve this objective. “We aregoing to work in a big way inincreasing theatre density, incollaboration with states andUTs,” she said.

On the incentives underaudio visual services ofChampion Services SectorScheme, Neerja said: “AudioVisual Services is one of the 12champion service sectors whichgovernment seeks to promote.

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Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has

questioned the CentralGovernment’s delayed reactionin bringing back the Indianstudents stuck in war-ravagedUkraine wondering why somuch time was being taken toevacuate the stranded Indiansfrom that country.

Wondering why theGovernment did not take stepsearly, a concerned Banerjee onFriday tweeted, “I am verymuch worried about the livesof Indian students stuck inUkraine. Life is very precious.Why is it taking so muchtime to bring them back? Whywere steps not taken earlier?”

Banerjee who had earlierwritten a letter to PrimeMinister Narendra Modiexpressing her full supportfor whatever steps the Centrewould take in relation to theUkrainian crisis further saidappealed to the Centre topress in more number of

flights to smoothly evacuatethe students. “I urge the cen-tral government that an ade-quate number of flights bearranged immediately and allthe students be brought backas soon as possible,” she said.

Clarifying her stancesenior Trinanool Congressparliamentarian Saugato Roysaid that the general policy hisparty was to stand by theCentre on foreign policy mat-ters “but here the question isregarding the general concernabout the Indian students whoare stranded in a war zone …the Chief Minister is natural-ly concerned about the youngboys and girls and so she hasurged the Centre to speed up

their evacuation by sendingmore aircrafts.” Earlier sayingthat during times of interna-tional crisis Indians keep asidetheir internal differencesBanerjee had expressed her“unconditional support” tothe Prime Minister for thesteps the Centre was taking onthe Ukrainian issue.

She wrote to the PrimeMinister “I would request youto accept my unconditionalsupport during the ongoinginternational crisis and to con-sider whether you will like tohave an all party meeting nowforconsolidating our nationalresolve to come out of the cri-sis with our head held high.”

Meanwhile, rejectingBanerjee’s allegation of delay inevacuating thestranded stu-dents BJP MP LocketChatterjee said that the delayhappened not because of theGovernment but because ofmisleading assessment of someUkrainian universities.Quoting the students who hadjust returned from the war-torn country she said “I have

just returned meeting some ofthese students andtheir versionover the issue was same … theIndian Government hadissued advisories well inadvance asking the students toreturn as early as February 15but these students alleged thatthe Ukrainian universities toldthem to stay back as theythought that though Russiawas threatening war it wassuch a big country andUkraine was so small a coun-try that it would never attackthem … so the studentsstayedback and got stranded.”

Elsewhere, the Left wingparties on Friday took out amassive rally in favour ofpeace urging all the parties tothe conflict to fund a solutionto the Ukrainian issue.

“The Left is in favour ofimmediatestopping of thearmed hostilities and … returnto the talking table … throughthis long procession we aretrying to drive home the mes-sage of peace and we hope theworld is listening to it,” a ral-lyist said.

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Sustaining the tempo of itsoperational readiness to

meet any challenge fromChina, the Indian Army onFriday carried out an exercisewith its commandos to deployrapidly and achieve the mili-tary objective. The drill wasconducted in the strategical-ly important Siliguri corridoror the ‘Chicken’s Neck’ nearSikkim.

The Airborne and SpecialForces of the Indian Armyrehearsed their aerial inser-tion capability and rapidresponse along the NorthernBorders in an exercise, offi-cials said here. The com-mandos parachuted from aheight of more than 20,000feet along with logistic supplyloads on precision guidedplatforms.

The free-fallers, afterlanding at a location in theSiliguri Corridor, establishedsurveillance positions toguide accurate fire ontoselected enemy targets.

As a follow up, an air-borne force of 400 personnelwas thereafter deployed by airin rapid succession to swiftlycapture objectives, they said.

This is the third suchmassive exercise in the lastfew months wherein the elitecommandos and SpecialForces practised rapid deploy-ment. The first exerciseinvolving more than 3,000para troopers was held inLadakh followed by anothersuch drill with the help of theIAF in Andaman and NicobarIslands.

Siliguri Corridor is bor-dering Nepal, Bhutan andBangladesh measuringapproximately 170X60km, atthe narrowest it is about 20-22km.

The geostrategic signifi-cance of the corridor comesabout in terms of it being anarrow piece of land whichconnects the northeast Indiato the rest of the country

through which major nation-al highways, railway line andpipelines pass.

The Indian defence estab-lishment shored up its infra-structure following the faceoff with China in 2017 inDoklam near Sikkim at theLine of Actual Control(LAC)near the tri-junction.

The stand-off lasted formore than two months. Aspart of the exercise inDecember last year in theAndaman, troops of theIndian Army, Navy, and AirForce were mobilised foramphibious landing, in closecoordination with theparadrop of airborne troops.Amphibious landing involvesthe ground troops landing atthe seashore from the shipsunder covering fire from thewarships and aircraft.

The rapid response capa-bility of Shatrujeet Brigadehas validated wherein theparatroopers who had movedfrom mainland executed air-borne drop in an island ter-ritory of Andamans in a real-istic tactical setting underthe overall command andcontrol of Andaman andNicobar Command, the onlyjoint services operationalcommand of the defenceforces of India.

The exercise saw thetransport planes para drop-ping light tanks and assaultvehicles along with the troops.The Shatrujeet Brigade hadearlier participated in thesame exercise at the LAC andLine of Control(LOC).

The Andamans is veryimportant for Indian interestsas most of the sea lanes fer-rying Indian imports andexports pass through themclose to the Islands. India hasto ensure that trade takesplace unhindered.

Moreover, China isincreasingly flexing its mar-itime muscle in the regionand the Indian security estab-lishment is keen to test all itsequipment and troops to meetany threat, they said.

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Page 6: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

does not belong to the secondcategory. It reminds that glob-al warming, reaching 1.5°C inthe near-term (2021-2040)would cause “unavoidableincreases in multiple climatehazards and present multiplerisks to ecosystems andhumans. Near-term actionslimiting global warming toclose to 1.5°C would substan-tially reduce the projectedlosses and damages, com-pared to higher warming lev-els, but would not totallyeliminate them. The chancesof this happening are remote.As the Emissions Gap Report2021 points out, “There is a50-50 chance that globalwarming will exceed 1.5°C inthe next two decades, andunless there are immediate,rapid and largescale reduc-tions in GHG emissions, lim-iting warming to 1.5°C oreven 2°C by the end of thecentury will be beyond reach.”

The IPCC’s 2022 report, asit itself points out, is differentfrom its predecessors as it, touse the words from its execu-tive summary, recognises “theinterdependence [I wouldrather have said “mutuallyaggravating inter-actionamong”] of climate, ecosys-tems and biodiversity, andhuman societies” and inte-grates knowledge more strong-ly across the natural, ecologi-cal, social and economic sci-ences than earlier IPCC assess-

ments. Also, it sets its assess-ment of “climate changeimpacts and risks as well asadaptation” against “concur-rently unfolding non-climaticglobal trends eg, biodiversityloss, overall unsustainable con-sumption of natural resources,land and ecosystem degrada-tion, rapid urbanisation,human demographic shifts,social and economic inequal-ities and a pandemic.”

While all this lends depthand enhanced understandingof the dynamics of climatechange, the fact remains thatno real progress can be madetowards countering it withouta drastic reduction in green-house gas emissions in thenear-term. This would requireaction on multiple fronts, rang-ing from a drastic reduction infossil fuel emissions and use ofcooling devices like refrigera-tion and air-conditioning. Ithas been argued that techno-logical progress can reducetheir polluting potential to alevel that does not matter.This does not hold. As DavidOwen points out in an articletitled ‘How the RefrigeratorBecame an Agent of ClimateCatastrophe’ in the New Yorker(January 15, 2022), “Makinguseful technologies more effi-cient makes them cheaper,and as they become cheaperwe use them more and findmore uses for them, just asadding lanes to congested

highways makes driving moreattractive, not less.”

Owen adds, “The use ofcooling technology is growingworldwide. China nowaccounts for close to half ofglobal air-conditioner pur-chases and roughly three-quarters of global production;in Dubai, where life duringmuch of the year would benext to impossible withoutair-conditioning, hotel swim-ming pools are chilled.According to a report pub-lished in 2018 by theInternational Energy Agency,refrigeration in 2016 account-ed for about six per cent of theworld’s energy consumption,and space cooling accountedfor about eight per cent. In thesame report, the IEA predict-ed that worldwide energy useby air-conditioners wouldtriple by 2050, ‘requiring newelectricity capacity equiva-lent to the combined electric-ity capacity of the US, the EUand Japan today.’ Energy useby refrigerators is on a simi-lar upward path.”

What would that do to thedrastic reduction in the emis-sion of greenhouse gases sodesperately needed? The harshfact is that climate change can-not be reversed unless wechange the way we live and theworld conducts its business.

(The author is ConsultingEditor, The Pioneer. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

���������� �������������������Sir — It is good news that 200 disabledorphans rescued in war-prone areas ofUkraine have been transported toPoland. Two days ago, a train pulled intothe station in Zahoni Hungary carryingabout 200 persons with severe physicaland mental disabilities. They were resi-dents of two orphanages for the disabledin Kyiv. The orphanages are territorial-ly situated where the rockets flew and fir-ing continued; a railway station near theorphanage was also blown up. The dis-abled orphans disembarked from thetrain into the arms of several Poles andHungarians waiting to receive them.

From there, they were escorted tofour waiting buses sent from Poland bya Catholic relief organisation. It is a mat-ter of introspection by our country; wemust ponder over the condition of thedisabled in our country. The main pro-tection to the disabled comes from theDisability Acts passed by Parliament. Butthe miserable condition is that thoughthe Bills have been passed but these havenot been implemented, which is clear-ly near-breakdown of the Constitution.The disabled are a harried lot and haveto face problems at every stage in life asnobody wants to listen to their problems.May wisdom prevail upon the authori-ties concerned!

Yash Pal Ralhan | Jalandhar

� ����������� ��� ����Sir — The news that the US is consid-ering imposing economic sanctions onIndia is disturbing. If such an unjust stepis taken for the reason that India absent-ed itself during the voting on UN reso-lution condemning Russia’s war againstUkraine, it will be the stupidest actionfrom the already bungling BidenAdministration. India is always againstwar and stands for peaceful resolutionof issues and disputes between nations.India sympathises with the Ukrainiansbut it cannot go all the way with the Westagainst Russia, forgetting the huge debtit owes to the ‘big bear’ for having alwaysstood solidly by it in wars waged by itsenvious neighbours, Pakistan and China.

Even now what stands betweenIndia and these two harassing, bullyingneighbours like a big brother is Russia.Russia understood in proper perspec-tive India’s concern for the people ofUkraine and it did not react impulsive-ly and immaturely like the US. Russiatoo has its own genuine grievances withrespect to Ukraine. Actually the fuse ofthe present outbreak was lit long back.The US and European nations didnothing to put it out. Instead they sim-ply watched it fester.

MR Anand | Vrindavan

��������������������� ���Sir — The world is rejoicing in the crick-eting season with the number of match-es played during this time of the year.Women’s cricket, which was neglected foryears, now got a chance to play in theWorld Cup in New Zealand. The 2022ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the12th edition of the Women’s CricketWorld Cup. It was originally scheduled

to be held between February 6 andMarch 7, 2021, but was postponed by oneyear due to the COVID-19 pandemic.With eight participating teams, 31matches will be played in the competi-tion in ODI format.

Initially matches will be played on around-robin basis and later the compe-tition will enter the knockout stage. Inthe inaugural match, hosts New Zealandlost to West Indies in a cliffhanger bythree runs. Women’s cricket was not get-ting the much-needed boost during thepandemic and this is the time to displaythe talent of eves in a tough competition.The Indian team is rather lucky to stayback in Kiwi-land and play this WorldCup with sufficient practice in their con-ditions. We hope that both Mithali Rajand H Kaur put in their best efforts andcome out with flying colours.

CK Subramaniam | Navi Mumbai

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The IntergovernmentalPanel on ClimateChange’s (IPCC) latestreport, ‘Climate Change

2022: Impacts, Adaptation andVulnerability’ which was releasedon February 28, was expected tomake grim reading. The UnitedNations Environment Prog-ramme’s Emissions Gap Report2021, released in October lastyear, and providing an overviewof the gap in emission levelsbetween what will, and whatshould, be in 2030 to mitigate theworst effects of climate change,did not offer much cause for opti-mism; nor did the outcome of the26th session of the Conference ofParties in the UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Changein 1995 (COP 26) in Glasgow inNovember 2021.

The IPCC’s 2022 report, as itso happens, has lived up toexpectations. It presents a dismalpicture of the environmentalscenario as it has been — and isset to be — unfolding. Thereseems to be not even a dim andflickering light at the end of thetunnel. It rightly states thathuman-induced climate alter-ation is causing dangerous andwidespread disruption in natureand affecting the lives of billionsof people globally, efforts toreduce the risks notwithstanding.Storms, sea-level rise, tsunamis,unusually heavy rainfall, cloud-bursts causing devastating flashfloods, droughts killing trees andanimals and causing forest firesand so on, are posing hazardsincreasingly adversely affectingpeople’s health, lives and liveli-hoods, as well as property andcritical infrastructure, includingenergy and transportation sys-tems. Occurring simultaneously,these weather extremes, thereport says, are causing cascad-ing effects that are increasinglydifficult to manage. These haveexposed millions of people toacute food and water insecurity,especially in Africa, Asia, Centraland South America, on SmallIslands and in the Arctic, and areconducing to mass migrations.

Given the dismal realities,doomsday prognoses are therule rather than exceptions whenit comes to climate change. TheIPCC’s report under discussion

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Page 7: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

ating files. No scientist or govern-ment department will have thecourage to publicly state their sci-entific result if it’s against the gov-ernment’s stated policy of the timeor against the interests of theirreporting officers. This is the reasonwhy in our society, many problemspersist, be it the adulteration in foodor faulty infrastructure developmentpolicies, even today, even thoughour scientific community havedeveloped sound scientific solutions.

Our great scientists had onlyone vision:making the countryself-sufficient through the fruits ofscience. Most of these scientistsfocussed on problems that thesociety of the time demands orcuriosity instigated by nature. Thetransdisciplinary culture modernscientists propel is not new to ourscientific community. If one tracesthe history of these great scientists,we can see that they practisedtransdisciplinary culture in theirresearch. J C Bose made pioneer-ing contributions in physics andbiology, and there are many suchexamples in the scientific history ofIndia. Many scientists of the oldgeneration can be considered as apolymath, having expertise in awide variety of topics.

It’s always better to rememberthe travails passed by these great sci-entists as it will inspire us to do greatthings in science and avoid speci-fictrials during our research.

Most of our current scientificresearch is focused on the mandateof a particular research institute.Even if scientists want to do research

from their area of expertise or pas-sion, they are tied by the institute’srules. Veryfew institutions providefree and unconditional space towork. Otherwise, rules even curbthem to speak freely with the mediaor the public. Dissidence is the suc-cess of science, and if there is no dis-sidence among the scientific com-munity, science will not grow.When a patient is in a critical situ-ation, in good hospitals the doctor’steam discusses the pros and cons ofa particular procedure. This usual-ly produces good results. In scien-tific research also,scientists shouldbe allowed to brainstorm amongthemselves, especially whene deriv-ing some crucial stuff that directlyaffects the public.

Another area of concern relatesto publication of scientific researchand giving authorship to heads ofinstitutes as a way of appeasingsuperiors. Some research scholarswho may have toiled hard may beexcluded from authorship. Someresearchers are busy trying to getthemselves published in highimpact journals rather than concen-trating on their research. Few sci-entists who think out of the box anddo creative work struggle to pub-lish their research. This can improveonly if we make it mandatory topublish our research findings in ourjournals. Let foreign scientistsexplore our journals and in thatway, the impact of our journals canalso improve in the scientific world.Even journals published by govern-ment institutions and academies arenot getting enough coverage among

the Indian scientific community.The undue importance given toimpact factorshould be abolishedfrom academic appraisals. Thiscreates a gap between people whowant to do good science and thosewho focus only on citations. Theincreasing number of scientificmanipulations reported from ourreputed research labs is ampleproof of this. These bring discred-it to Indian science and the coun-try which boast a great scientificheritage that the world lookedenvious. Our early scientists neverbothered about publications orpatents. Their only focus was doinggood science. Being the pioneers inthe raw field of science, they werefree to do the science as they want-ed; nobody interfered in theirresearch. Present-day researchersdonot have much freedom in thisrespect, as half of their precioustime is wasted on administrativeduties and paperwork.

When we celebrate NationalScience Day,we must create ahealthy scientific environmentwhere seeds for future science canbe sowed in a fertile climate. Ourresearch centres should be spacesfor innovative research where ouryoungsters could pursue their inter-ests with free will, without any hin-drance from their superiors, andhaving the courage to furnish sci-entific facts without fear. By reflect-ing on the travails overcome by ourpredecessors, our policymak-ersshould take steps to make Indiaa global destination in science andtechnology.

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Several scientists like Sir C V Ramanin pre-independent India madebreakthrough discoveries but did notget the Nobel Prize. The impact of

their research was so high that the west-ern world had to recognize them even with-out the prize. Several were nominated forNobel Prize multiple times. For instance,Meghnad Saha was nominated seventimes. If we consider the number of FRSand knighted persons as a symbol of qual-ity research, it is evident thattheir numberwas more during the pre-independent erathan post-independent India. Does itshow that our present-day scientificresearch is not up to the mark?

It is essential to kindle our thoughts onthis. Why do many great researchers of thepresent generation fail to get attention inthe scientific world?

When we reflect on our great scientistswho survived the harsh colonial environ-ment, we will understand that they gotattention because of their networking andcollaboration with the western scientificcommunity. To gain recognition in science,either one should have renowned scientistsas mentors or breakthrough discoveriespublished in international scholarly pub-lications. Many scientific prizes are basedon nominations, for which collaborationwith foreign scientists seems to be an essen-tial factor.

No scientific award selects someonefortheir merit alone. Even in India,we fol-low this nomination system for the selec-tion of many of the prestigious awards.Why cannot a researcher apply for theNobel prize or even our prestigious ShantiSwarup Bhatnagar Prize directly? Whereever a clause of nomination is included, thechance of prejudice and servitude willemerge in science. Only those close topower centres have the opportunity of win-ning the awards. This culture is indeedspoiling the scientific ecosystem.Researchers will always try to appease theirsuperiors to get benefits rather than con-centrating on their work. The appeasementpolitics in Indian science has grown to suchan extent that researchers simply give giftauthorship to their peers, who don’t haveany contribution to the work. More thangifting authorship the researchers lose theirintegrity and dignity by blindly followingthe instructions from their superiors.This, at many times, will affect scientificproductivity.

If science has to improve, we need toinculcate a culture for free-thinking amongthe scientific community,where no one,including the funding agencies, directly orindirectly should not influence theirresearch. Here, we have to appreciate ourgreat scientists in the pre-independent era,who just followed their scientific curiosi-ty irrespective of its outcome. Sir C VRaman was even against utilizing govern-ment funds for research. When onereceives Government support, they mayneed to compromise on a great deal in theirresearch, besides giving much time to cre-

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columnist. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

If we look at the Ukraine crisis objectively, it appearsasan attack on a sovereign

country. But if we look at it fromRussian perspective, then we seethat since the days of Cold Warand till now there has been aconstant tension between Russiaand the United States and itsNato allies. No doubt that ifUkraine joinsNato, it willextend the grouping’s presenceat Russia’s borders. Russiawould never want Ukraine tobecome a member of NATOunder any circumstance. This isnot the first time that Russiaand Ukraine have been at log-gerheads over this issue.Whenever Ukraine attemptedto expand its ties with Nato,Russia had retaliated.

Some international analysts believe that in the com-ing times, the President of Russia

can also subjugate the newlyborn countries after the disinte-gration of the Soviet Union forthe restoration of the USSR. Butthere does not appear to be anybasis for this idea. First of all,Russia itself has stated that it hasno intention of occupyingUkraine. Simultaneously, sometime ago when the RussianPresident was asked this ques-tion, he said that there is onlyone superpower in the world,and that is the US and there isno reason and ambition to makeRussia a superpower again. Hesaid that Russia has suffered ahuge financial loss in the race toremain a superpower since thedays of Cold War. In the days ofthe Soviet Union, due to theCold War, a large part of Russia’streasury went into militaryexpenditure, due to which theRussian standard of living

remained low and Russia laggedbehind in the race for humandevelopment too.

Significantly, the US toohas suffered a lot in its endeav-our to retain its tag of superpow-er. In general, it has been mak-ing military interventions inseveral countries as per its strat-egy to demonstrate its econom-ic and military might. TheAmericans have incurred hugeeconomic losses in such endeav-

ours. That is why former USPresident Donald Trump calledfor avoiding such endeavours infuture. Recently, despite globalcriticism, the US withdrew itstroops from Afghanistan. Thisdecision was taken for econom-ic reasons only.

Russian invasion ofUkraineshould not be seen asimperialist expansion, but as aRussia’s gesture to defend its bor-ders. Russia’s reaction to the

developments in Ukraine inthis regard is not the first of itskind. Russia had intervened inUkraine politically as well as mil-itarily in the past as well. It doesnot want any vulnerability on itsborders due to Nato.

If we go into the history ofRussia’s retaliation, re-electionswere held in the 2004 electionsin Ukraine, following allegationsof rigging in the election of pro-Russian candidate ViktorYanukovych, and after ViktorYushchenko assumed power inthe 2005 election, he promisedto take Ukraine out of Russiandomination to join Nato and theEuropean Community. In 2008,Nato promised to take Ukraineinto its fold. But in 2010, the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovychonce again won the presidencyand extended the lease of theBlack Sea port of Ukraine to the

Russian Navy. In 2017, Ukraine’s eco-

nomic ties with the EuropeanCommunity began to grow onceagain. After many ups anddowns, Ukrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyy, elected in2019, appealed to US PresidentJoe Biden in January 2021 toallow Ukraine to become amember of Nato. Russian forcesreached the borders of Ukrainein mid-2021, but Ukraine nev-ertheless continued to act againstthe wishes of Russia. OnDecember 7, 2021, Biden threat-ened to impose economic sanc-tions on Russia. Since then,Nato and the US have continuedto adopt an aggressive approachagainst Russia. Russia was con-stantly threatened by the coun-tries of the EuropeanCommunity, England andAmerica.Ignoring these threats,

Russia saw victory for itself inthis war, not only militarily butalso diplomatically.

It is noteworthy that forsome time, mutual cooperationbetween Russia and China hasincreased. The US knows thatthe understanding betweenRussia and China, so far, is lim-ited to diplomatic and econom-ic issues. America would neverwant it to ignite this to move anyfurther towards military coop-eration. Therefore, America’snon-cooperation towardsUkraine shows its apprehension.As far as the economic sanctionson Ukraine by the US, theEuropean Community and theUK are concerned, it is not goingto make much difference toRussia; rather, it is possible thatit will have adverse impact onthe countries that imposed thesanctions.

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of Delhi. The viewsexpressed are personal.)

Page 8: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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The Biden administrationordered new sanctions

blocking Russian business oli-garchs and others in PresidentVladimir Putin's inner circle onThursday in response toRussian forces' fierce pummel-ing of Ukraine.

Those targeted by the newsanctions include Putin's presssecretary, Dmitry Peskov, andAlisher Burhanovich Usmanov,one of Russia's wealthiest indi-viduals and a close ally ofPutin. The US StateDepartment also announced itwas imposing visa bans on 19Russian oligarchs and dozens oftheir family members and closeassociates.

"The goal was to maximiseimpact on Putin and Russiaand minimise the harm on usand our allies and friendsaround the world," Biden saidas he noted the new sanctionsat the start of a meeting with hisCabinet and Vice PresidentKamala Harris.

The White House said theoligarchs and dozens of theirfamily members will be cut offfrom the US financial system.

Their assets in the UnitedStates will be frozen and theirproperty will be blocked fromuse.

The White Housedescribed Peskov, the Kremlinspokesman, as "a top purvey-or of Putin's propaganda."

The property of Usmanovand the others will be blockedfrom use in the United Statesand by Americans. His assetsinclude his superyacht, one ofthe world's largest, that was justseized by Germany.

Usmanov's private jet, oneof Russia's largest privatelyowned aircraft, is also coveredby the sanctions.

The Usmanov superyacht,

known as Dilbar, is named afterUsmanov's mother and has anestimated worth of between$600 million and $735 million,according to Treasury.

Dilbar has two helipadsand one of the world's largestindoor pools ever installed ona yacht, and costs about $60million per year to operate.

The jet targeted is believedto have cost between $350 mil-lion and $500 million and waspreviously leased out for use byUzbekistan's president.

Others targeted Thursdayinclude Nikolai Tokarev, aTransneft oil executive; ArkadyRotenberg, co-owner of thelargest construction companyfor gas pipelines and electricalpower supply lines in Russia;Sergei Chemezov, a formerKGB agent who has long beenclose to Putin; Igor Shuvalov, aformer first deputy prime min-ister and chairman of StateDevelopment Corp.; andYevgeniy Prigozhin, a Russianbusinessman with close ties toPutin.

Prigozhin, who is known as"Putin's chef," was among thosecharged in 2018 by the US gov-ernment as being part of a

wide-ranging effort to swaypolitical opinion in Americaduring the 2016 presidentialelection.

According to the indict-ment then, Prigozhin and hiscompanies provided signifi-cant funding to the InternetResearch Agency, a St.Petersburg-based groupaccused of using bogus socialmedia postings and advertise-ments fraudulently purchasedin the name of Americans toinfluence the White Houserace.

Deputy US TreasurySecretary Wally Adeyemo saidThursday that the Bidenadministration would contin-ue to target Russian elites as itbuilds sanctions against thecountry.

He said elites are already"attempting to get their moneyout of Russia, because theRussian economy is shrinking."

"We're going to make ithard for them to use the assetsgoing forward," Adeyemo saidat an event hosted by TheWashington Post. He added,"Our goal then is to find thatmoney and to freeze thatmoney and to seize it."

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The head of the UnitedNations' atomic agency a

Ukrainian nuclear plant washit by a Russian "projectile"but that the building was atraining center.

Earlier reports conflictedover what part of the plant wasaffected by fire that broke outafter shelling. Nuclear plantspokesman Andriy Tuz toldUkrainian television overnightthat shells fell directly on thefacility, and set fire to reactorthat is not operating and to anadministrative training build-ing.

International AtomicEnergy Agency Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossisaid Friday that the buildinghit was a training center and"not part of the reactor."

He said that theUkrainians are still in controlof the reactor.

He added: "What weunderstand that this projectileis coming from the Russianforces. We do not have detailsof what kind of projectile it is."

He said there has been norelease of radiation and thatthe fire had been extin-guished. He said two peopleon the site were injured in thefire. He said that only onereactor at the plant is operat-ing, at about 60%.

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Norway's Prime MinisterJonas Gahr Støre said the

Russian shelling that led to afire at Europe's biggest nuclearplant was "in line with mad-ness."

The fire was put out earlyFriday and Ukrainian officialssaid that radiation levels in thearea weren't at dangerous lev-els.

If there were a leak, "it willtake about 48 hours before itarrives in Norway," Gahr Storetold Norwegian broadcasterNRK. In Lithuania, PresidentGitanas Nauseda described theattacks by Russian forces onUkraine's nuclear power plantsas "nuclear terrorism" andcalled for an immediate inter-national response to "Russia'snuclear crimes."

The world learned of the1986 Chernobyl disaster in theSoviet Union only after height-ened radiation was detected inSweden. Norway, which neigh-bors Sweden, was also able tomeasure higher-than-normallevel of radioactivity 36 yearsago.

In recent days, there havebeen reports that sales of iodinetablets in Sweden andDenmark have increasedsharply since Russia's invasionof Ukraine, with authoritiessaying there is no reason forpeople to be taking iodinetablets linked to events inUkraine.

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Japan is sending bulletproofvests, helmets and other

defence supplies to Ukraine tohelp the country fight Russia'sinvasion.It is a rare move byJapan, which has a principle ofnot shipping defense supplies

to countries in conflict.Chief Cabinet Secretary

Hirokazu Matsuno toldreporters Friday that shippingand other logistical details arebeing finalized after a decisionby the National SecurityCouncil. Bulletproof vests,helmets, tents, as well as gen-

erators, food, winter clothesand medical supplies will bedelivered by Self-Defense Forceaircraft, Matsuno said.Theplanned shipment comes aftera request from Ukraine. Japan,because of its pacifist princi-ples, is supplying only non-lethal goods, Matsuno said.

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Outraged by the invasion ofUkraine, lawmakers in

New Jersey's largest city lashedout at one of the closest sym-bols of Russia they could find- a pair of Lukoil gas stations.

The Newark City Councilvoted unanimously Wednesdayto ask the city's businessadministrator to suspend theservice stations' operatinglicenses, citing Lukoil's base inMoscow.

In doing so, however, theymay have predominantly beenhurting Americans. The sta-tions are franchises owned bylocals, not Russians. Theyemploy mostly New Jersey res-idents. And the gasoline sold atthe stations comes from a localPhillips 66 refinery.

The campaign targetingthe gas stations is one exampleof collateral damage from thebacklash against Russia, asgovernment officials and cus-tomers race to show their sup-port for Ukraine by boycottingproducts and companies - orthings they perceive to beRussian.

Roger Verma, a New Jerseyresident who immigrated from

India 45 years ago, has ownedthe franchise for one of theLukoil stations in Newark since2005. He said the decision toyank his license left him baffledand concerned that he could beput out of business, whichwould affect his 16 employees.

"Let me be clear that Istand with Ukraine and I'mfully in support of Russiansanctions," Verma saidWednesday in front ofNewark's City Hall. "But I'mbaffled and confused how peo-ple sitting in these positionswithout having any of theirfacts together and without hav-ing full knowledge of howthings are done can introduceand change laws and changepeople's lives just like that."

In some places, peoplehave been pouring outSmirnoff vodka, not realisingthat the beverage is owned byan English company and thebottles consumed in the U.S.Are distilled in Illinois.

Charlie Tgibedes, owner of

Box Seats, a restaurant andsports bar in North Attleboro,Massachusetts, told The SunChronicle newspaper he's notordering more vodka fromRussian companies but ques-tioned the wisdom of tossingwhat he already has.

"It looks good doing it, butthe stuff is already in the build-ing and paid for. You're justhurting yourself dumping itdown the drain," he said.

On social media, peoplehave called for boycotts ofLukoil stations, which operatein 11 states, mainly in thenortheastern U.S. Newark offi-cials said going after the Lukoilstations was the moral thing todo, even if they are locallyowned."All of us are horrifiedby the images we're seeing"from Russia's invasion ofUkraine, Council MemberAnibal Ramos said Wednesday.

"Today Newark is standingin solidarity with a number ofcountries around the worldwho are supporting democra-cy and taking sanctions againstthe Russian federation."

A phone message couldn'tbe left at a listing for LukoilAmericas Corp. In New York,and the corresponding website

appeared to be inoperative. Meanwhile, multiple news

outlets reported that the com-pany issued a statement callingfor a "fast resolution for themilitary conflict" throughdiplomatic means.

It wasn't immediately clearThursday when the Newarkstations' licenses would berevoked, or if the city admin-istrator might halt the suspen-sion.

Ramos, who introducedthe resolution, said he antici-pated it would still happen.

Sal Risalvato, executivedirector of New JerseyGasoline, Convenience Storeand Automotive Association,called the crackdown on thestations "nothing more thanpolitical theater."

"All of the station ownerscondemn what Russia is doingin Ukraine, but do not deserveto lose their businesses andtheir investments because ofRussia's bad behavior,"Risalvato wrote in an email.

Ramos said the license sus-pension in Newark is meant tobe temporary and his office hadreceived calls from employersoffering to give jobs to anyaffected gas station workers.

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Apowerful suicide blastripped through a crowded

Shia mosque during the Fridaycongregation here in northwestPakistan, killing at least 57people and wounding nearly200 others, in one of the dead-liest attacks in the restiveprovince, borderingAfghanistan.

A rescue official said theblast occurred at a Jamiamosque in Qissa Khwanibazaar area in Peshawar whenthe worshippers were offeringFriday prayers.

No group immediatelyclaimed responsibility for theblast in Peshawar, the provin-cial capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa which bordersAfghanistan.

However, the Islamic Stateand sectarian militant groupshave claimed responsibility forthe deadly attacks targetingShias in the past.

Mohammad Asim, aspokesperson for Lady ReadingHospital (LRH), confirmedthat at least 57 people werekilled while 194 were injured inthe blast. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa governmentspokesman BarristerMohammad Ali Saif said theexplosion was a suicide bomb-ing. He added that two ter-

rorists were involved in theattack.

Talking to the media,Peshawar SSP OperationsHaroon Rasheed Khan saidthe explosion was a suicideblast. There were two attackersbut only one of them was a sui-cide bomber, he said.

An eyewitness identified aperson as dressed in black asthe suicide bomber, saying heentered the mosque, shot andkilled the security guard firstand then fired five to six bul-lets. "After that, he quicklyentered the [mosque's] mainhall and blew himself up infront of the pulpit. Followingthis, there were bodies andinjured people lying every-where," the eyewitness toldGeo News.

An emergency has beendeclared in the hospital anddoctors on leave were sum-moned. Officials said the con-dition of some of the injured isstated to be critical. Capital CityPolice Officer Peshawar IjazAhsan said two attackers triedto enter the mosque and firedat the policemen standingguard.

One policeman was killedwhile the other was criticallyinjured, he said. The blastoccurred following the firingincident, he added.

President Arif Alvi con-

demned the blast andexpressed grief over the pre-cious lives lost.

Prime Minister ImranKhan strongly condemned thePeshawar blast while InteriorMinister Sheikh Rashid Ahmedsought a report of the incidentfrom the Chief Secretary andIG of the province.

Khyber-PakhtunkhwaChief Minister MahmoodKhan condemned the blast

and vowed to bring theperpetrators of this heinous actto justice.

He said targeting people ina place of worship is an inhu-man and cruel act and direct-ed authorities to ensure the bestmedical care to the injured.

He has convened an emer-gency meeting at ChiefMinister's House to review theoverall security situation inthe province, borderingAfghanistan.

"Heart-wrenching terroristincident in Peshawar in whichso many precious lives havebeen lost. Words can't ade-quately condemn the sheerbrutality. Terrorism continuesto remain our foremost nation-al challenge. Prayers & condo-lences are with the bereavedfamilies!" PML-N Presidentand Leader of the Oppositionin the National AssemblyShehbaz Sharif tweeted.

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Page 9: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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The Sensex and Nifty lurchedlower for the third day run-

ning on Friday, in lockstep withglobal equities, as risk-off sen-timent prevailed amid Russiastepping up its military offensiveagainst Ukraine. A depreciatingrupee, elevated oil prices andheavy selling by foreign investorsalso contributed to the decline,traders said.

The 30-share BSE Sensexopened weak and slumped over1,200 points to the day's low of53,887.72, before recouping

some losses to close at 54,333.81,down by 768.87 points or 1.40per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty slumped 252.70 points or1.53 per cent to end at 16,245.35.Titan, Maruti Suzuki, AsianPaints, Mahindra & Mahindra,Hindustan Unilever, BajajFinance and Axis Bank were thebiggest drags on the Sensex,tumbling up to 5.05 per cent. Incontrast, Dr Reddy'sLaboratories, ITC, TechMahindra, UltraTech Cement,Sun Pharma and Wipro wereamong the gainers, spurting as

much as 2.95 per cent. Marketbreadth was negative, with 23 ofthe 30 Sensex counters closingin the red.

"Global bourses are wit-nessing a sharp sell-off as reportsof Russian attack on Europe'sbiggest nuclear plant in Ukrainekept tension levels elevated.Rising oil prices along withuncertainties on supply chaindisruption have instilled fearsthat inflation could cross RBI'stolerance level, though tem-porarily," according to VinodNair, Head of Research at GeojitFinancial Services.

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The rupee on Friday slidbelow the 76-mark for the

first time this year and settledat an 11-week low as investors

assessed the global eco-nomic impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict amid risingcrude oil prices.

The rupee fell by 23 paiseat close to 76.17 against the USdollar, the lowest closing levelsince December 15, 2021.

Persistent foreign fundoutflows and a weak trend indomestic equities also weighedon the local unit, forex traders

said.At the interbank foreign

exchange market, the rupeeopened weak at 76.06 againstthe American dollar and fellfurther during the session asinvestors dumped riskier assets.The domestic unit oscillatedbetween a high of 75.99 and alow of 76.22 during the session.

The rupee this week hasweakened by 1.11 per cent or 84paise, making it second straightweek of losses for the local unitdue to persistent forex outflowsand rising crude oil prices.

"Recent market environ-ment continues to favour astronger dollar against rupee asthere are high chances of thegovernment missing fiscal tar-

get following a surge in crudeoil prices and delay in diversi-fication. Higher commodityprices could turn into import-ed inflation and the centralbank will be forced tochange stance in comingmonths," HDFC SecuritiesResearch Analyst Dilip Parmarsaid.

Spot USD/INR is expect-ed to stay right with resistancein the range of 76.30 to 76.50while the support has beenshifted to 75.70, he noted.

Looking ahead, the war inUkraine will remain the pri-mary focus along with com-modity prices in particularcrude oil and gold, Parmarsaid.

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Investors' wealth tumbledmore than Rs 5.59 lakh crore

in three days of market fall assentiments remained mutedamid the Russia-Ukraine con-flict and its impact on theglobal economy.

Continuing its decline forthe third day on Friday, the BSEgauge plummeted 1,214.96points or 2.20 per cent to53,887.72 during the day. It set-tled at 54,333.81, a decline of768.87 points or 1.40 per cent.

In three days, the bench-

mark index tanked 1,913.47points or 3.40 per cent.Tracking decline in equities, themarket capitalisation of BSE-listed companies plunged Rs5,59,623.71 crore to Rs2,46,79,421.38 crore in threedays. "Markets ended the weekwith a sharp cut, reflecting thefeeble global sentiment. Afterthe sharp reaction in earlytrade, the benchmark oscillat-ed in the broader range to final-ly settle around the day's low,"Ajit Mishra, vice-president(research) of Religare BrokingLtd, said.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Friday said the

Budget announcement of Rs19,500 crore for high-efficien-cy solar module manufacturingwill help in making India aglobal hub for manufacturingand Research & Developmentof solar modules and relatedproducts.

Addressing a webinar on'Energy for Sustainable Growth',the Prime Minister said"Provisions have also beenmade in this year's budgetregarding battery swapping pol-icy and inter-operability stan-dards."

"These will reduce theproblems faced in the use ofelectric vehicles in India", hesaid.This is ninth webinar in theseries of post-budget webinarsaddressed by the PrimeMinister.He said that sustain-able growth is possible onlythrough sustainable energysources.The Prime Ministerreiterated his commitmentmade at Glasgow to reach NetZero by 2070. He also men-tioned his vision of LIFE per-taining to an environmentallysustainable lifestyle.

He talked of a target ofachieving 500 gigawatt non-fos-sil energy capacity and achiving50 per cent of installed energy

capacity through non-fossilenergy by 2030.

"Whatever targets India hasset for itself, I do not see themas a challenges but as opportu-nity. India is moving with thisvision in last few years and thesame has been taken forward atpolicy level in this year's bud-get", he said.

This budget has announced19,500 crore for high-efficien-cy solar module manufacturingwhich will help in makingIndia a global hub for manu-facturing and R&D of solarmodules and related products.

Referring to recentlyannounced National HydrogenMission, the Prime Ministersaid India can become hub ofgreen hydrogen given its inher-ent advantage in the form ofabundant renewable energypower. He asked for private sec-tor efforts in the area.

The Prime Ministeremphasized that along with

energy production, energy sav-ing is equally important for sus-tainability.

"You should work on howto make more Energy EfficientA/C, Efficient heaters, geysers,ovens in our country", heexhorted the participants.

Stressing the need to pri-oritize energy efficient prod-ucts, the Prime Minister gavethe example of promotion ofLED bulbs at large scale. He saidthat first the governmentbrought down the cost of LEDbulbs by promoting productionand then 37 crore LED bulbswere distributed under theUjala scheme.This has led tosaving of forty eight thousandmillion Kilo Watt Hour elec-tricity and saving of about 20thousand crore rupees in theelectricity bills of poor andmiddle class families.Furthermore, annual carbonemission saw a decline of 4crore tonnes. Local bodies aresaving 6 thousand crore rupeesevery year due to adoption ofLED bulbs in street lights, headded.Coal gasification is aclean alternative to coal, thePrime Minister noted.

In this year's budget, forcoal gasification, 4 pilot projectshave been announced whichwill help in firming up techni-cal and financial viability ofthese projects.

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India's forex reserves declinedby USD 1.425 billion to USD

631.527 billion for the weekended in February 25 due to adip in currency assets, accord-ing to the Reserve Bank datareleased on Friday.

The overall reserves hadincreased by USD 2.762 billionto USD 632.952 billion in theprevious reporting week.During the reporting week,the foreign currency assets

(FCA) declined by USD 2.228billion to USD 564.832 billion.

Expressed in dollar terms,the foreign currency assetsinclude the effect of apprecia-tion or depreciation of non-USunits like the euro, pound andyen held in the foreignexchange reserves.

The value of the goldreserves continued its north-ward journey and increased byUSD 958 million to USD42.467 billion in the reportingweek, the data showed.

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GlobalData, a London-based data analytics and con-sulting company, on Fridaysaid it has lowered India'seconomy growth forecast to 7.8per cent for 2022 due to thenation's exports being impact-ed by the Russia-Ukraine warand spiking oil prices causingripple effects. In a statement,it said rupee is likely to furtherdepreciate against US dollarwhile soaring commodityprices will push inflation up.However, Indian banking sec-tor will likely remain resilient.

"The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war will have a nega-tive impact on India's exportsand spike in oil prices will causeripple effects on input prices

and consumer goods leading toinflationary pressures.

"Against this backdrop,GlobalData revises down thecountry's economy growthforecast by 0.1 percentage pointto 7.8 per cent for 2022," thestatement said.

Ukraine and Russiatogether accounted for 2.2 percent share of total imports ofIndia in 2020. India mainlyimports mineral fuels (34 percent of the total imports),natural pearls and semi-pre-cious stones (14 per cent), fer-tilisers (10 per cent), petrole-um oils and crude (5.6 percent) from Russia, and animalor vegetable fat and oils (74.9per cent of the total imports),fertilisers (11 per cent), andinorganic chemicals (3.5 per

cent) from Ukraine.The prices of these items

are projected to shoot up in theshort-term, GlobalData said.

Gargi Rao, EconomicResearch Analyst atGlobalData, commented, "Inthe short-term, Indian tradersmay feel the pinch of higher oiland gas prices along with delaysin shipment and movement ofassignments across Black Sea."

Inflation rate is already onthe rise due to increase inprices of fuel and edible oils.

GlobalData forecast thatthe ongoing geopolitical risksarising from the Russia-Ukrainewar would further push theinflation rate to 5.5 per cent in2022 compared to 5.1 per centin 2021.nt climate might dete-riorate.

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The kitchen is not just a cook-ing space anymore, but alifestyle space and we all

dream of a spacious kitchen withsky-high ceilings and tons of natur-al lighting through massive win-dows. Here are five clever and chicdesign ideas on how a differentiat-ed design approach can help youwith more room in your kitchenarea than you could have everimagined!

Play with heights of the coun-ters and the overhead cabinets:

A mid-height counter unit canbe used to install all appliances at acomfortable working height whileunlocking the extra counter spaceabove. These higher counters canalso be used as a breakfast table orpartition units. Adding extra heightto the overhead unit gives space tostore less frequently used items inthe kitchen.

Choose your appliances wisely:Adding a built-in fridge and a tallunit with a combi microwave ovenfrees up the counter space. One canalso look at installing a cookingrange to bring all cooking require-ments under the hob itself, leavingthe rest of the area to be planned forstorage. Recently, warmer drawershave gained popularity to keepcounters clean by tucking away allthe utensils once cooking is done.For a small kitchen, it makes evenmore sense since the counters arefree with food waiting in the draw-er till mealtime. Additionally, intoday’s hybrid working environ-ment, it is essential to manage timewell and a sink piled up with uten-sils would not help at all. Appliancessuch as dishwashers not only saveswater but also doesn’t occupy a lotof space. It gets the utensils squeaky

clean and dry in a short period sav-ing you sink and counter space too.

Create a pull-out pantry:If you’re adding shelves for storage,you don’t want them to look clut-tered. Enter a pull-out pantry, whichmakes use of an awkward nook nextto the refrigerator and hidesunsightly dry goods behind a super-useful chalkboard door.

Add a prep area:You may not have space to expandor add a full island, so think aboutbringing in a slim rolling kitchencart or bar cart to serve as extracounter space. Even a narrow con-sole can work as a spot to set toolsand ingredients on while you cook.

Use light colours to visuallyexpand kitchen:The lighter the kitchen, the larger itcan feel. Sometimes, keeping anespecially light palette on counter-tops, backsplashes, walls, and mill-work also helps a small kitchen feelmore open. If you’re not in the mar-ket for a full renovation, consider thecooking tools that you always haveout: Cutting boards, pots and pans,and linens can all lift a space if youopt for pieces in light shades.

(The author is an architect.)

“We now accept the fact that learning is a lifelongprocess of keeping abreast of change. And the mostpressing task is to teach people how to learn.”

— Peter Drucker

Shifting demographics, along with the rise of tech-nology and automation, are changing the way we

work and the way we learn. The 21st centurydemands the reskilling and upskilling of the acad-emic force. A reskilling of new knowledge, mindsets,and skills will need to occur across all positions todevelop a more agile workforce that is mentally andemotionally prepared to succeed in the transform-ing educational arena.

As a new school year approaches and the glob-al pandemic remains, educators are bracing for theseunforeseen changes. The abrupt shift to distancelearning has directly challenged the knowledge,mindsets, and skills of our teaching workforce. Skillsthat were just ‘nice-to-have’ in digital integration havebecome ‘must-haves,’ and the traditional classroommanagement and instructional design methodswhich no longer applied have turned outdated.Educators are now required to embrace a high levelof ambiguity as guidelines and expectations shiftedweekly.

With so much happening, teaching and learn-ing will not look the same again regardless of in-per-son, hybrid, or virtual learning models thus makingupskilling and reskilling initiatives once consideredprudent as now essential.

In the education sector, the need to identifyupskilling within the existing competencies of theexisting workforce of teachers, counsellors and otherstaff is important.

Schools need to help the staff attain digital com-petency and help them become adept in handling dig-ital platforms, enhancing their technical skills andfamiliarising them with the virtual norms. Reskillingfor new competencies will have to be considered withthe advent of LMS platforms, use of virtual instruc-tion software, polling, and digital formative assess-ment tools, technical troubleshooting for hybrid andvirtual learning.

The academic staff would also have to betrained in the health and safety-related protocols con-

cerning the classroom management, class sizes, seat-ing arrangements, clear and consistent routines andprocedures and even instructional strategies abouthandling a virtual session, in class session and evena hybrid session. Classroom management trainingabout the expectations for camera use, chat and head-phones, screen and digital monitoring FAQs etc willalso be needed.

The instructional design will also have toundergo major changes and the workforce will needto be reskilled upskilled to design new models ofteaching and learning such as the gradual releasemodel, new tactics about to formative assessments,the models of teaching and instructions for smallgroups, no contact collaborative exercises and dif-ferentiated tactics to address learning gaps.

Counsellors and teachers would have to upskillto handle students who have experienced learningand/or trauma that will affect their readiness to learnand handle social situations.

Parents too could receive training on leadingguided or independent practice with students athome. Counsellors might need to be trained to takedaily small-group instruction on health and wellnessto ease classroom sizes. Even bus drivers might playa role in providing basic in-person technical supportfor virtual students and teachers.

In fact, HR too will need to recalibrate hiring anddevelopment by identifying the present and futurestate of skill development and removing barriers andbuilding bridges along with new and existing com-petencies.

Last, even at the district and state level, there willbe a need to examine how coaching and evaluationprocesses align and support revamped expectations.

Given new conditions, our education systemfaces the monumental task of aligning the entire aca-demic force to the present scenario. Schools will haveto ensure an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ pandemic responseacross every area of expertise and train their staffaccordingly. It is rightly said that, “the illiterate of the21st Century will not be those who cannot read andwrite, but those who cannot learn, unlearn andrelearn.”

(The author is the CMO, Birla Edutech.)

The concept of “Work FromHome” and working from

remote locations has been there.But, who would have imagined thatthe world would work from homefor almost two straight years now?Corporates and brands soughtalternate work arrangements andreimagined the remote work orwork from home options. We sawthe paradigm shift and adoption,even from the brands and indus-tries who were hesitant initially,currently are encouraging employ-ees to work from their preferredplaces now. The industry reportssuggest hybrid work policy, orwork from home options arebecoming the ‘new normal’. Whilethere are a lot of businesses thatdemand the physical presence oftheir employees. For others, workfrom home is giving comfort andincreasing the productivity andperformance of the employees.

Coming to the adoption ofsmart wearables and before that asaying by the American director,Godfrey Reggio — “It’s not that weuse technology, we live technology.”Today, this statement stands true foreveryone. The last few years accel-erated the digital transformationthat led to increased digital adop-tion and created opportunities forbusinesses and brands to meet thatdemand. As work from homebecomes a part of the new normal,it has also augmented the growth ofthe smart home, smart entertain-ment, and the smart wearablessegments. People have realised theneed to digitise their surroundingsto manage workloads. They realisedthe need to stay updated and con-nected and this drove the demandfor consumer wearables includingsmartwatches and earphones.

Wearable devices are not newand include far more than justsmart glasses or smartwatches. Infact, they date back to the 1960s,when Bell helicopter experimentedwith head-mounted displays cou-pled with an infrared camera - pro-viding military helicopter pilotswith the ability to land at night inrough terrain. Today, wearableshave officially arrived. With theWork from Home trend induced bythe pandemic, there arose the needfor adoption of the connecteddevices category, as people arelooking for new-age tech solutionsto help them in their daily tasks.

The level of adoption of smartwearables has been astonishing andas per the IDC report, the Indianwearables market saw 93.8 per centyear-on-year growth in July toSeptember 2021. This is proof thatconsumers seek unique productexperiences. These minimalist yetpowerful gadgets have become apopular choice for purchase. Theinnovation in products to enhance

customer experience comes to theforefront when we see brands offer-ing premium features on a budget.I am in awe of how evolutionary thesmart wearables industry is.

While the young workforceadapted quickly to the home setupand optimised their working withsuitable gadgets, families small orbig took time to balance work andlife but latched onto the trendsooner than quicker. Working par-ents demanded smartwatches forkids to monitor their sleep, screentime and activity. While they invest-ed in earbuds to cancel the back-ground noise and attend calls with-out interference.

From working from home toworking out at home, wearablessuch as TWS and smartwatcheshave become an integral part ofpeople’s lives. With people becom-ing more conscious about their fit-ness, wireless devices became inte-gral to monitor their heartbeat, oxy-gen levels and steps. Others need-ed earbuds to attend virtual meet-ings, classes and for entertain-ment, be it playing virtual games orbinge-watching. This only suggeststhat being uber-mobile is the wayforward for the people and beingconnected even without beingphysically connected.

Interestingly, the pandemicnudged the traditional watch usersto switch to smartwatches since it

offers a more holistic experience atthe same price point of a normalwristwatch. The transition is slow,but very prominent. This is testa-ment to the fact that people arechoosing ease, comfort, and seam-lessness.

Working professionals like meswear by the smartwatch and ear-buds because it helps multitask, notmiss any emails, keep track of mybody movements, and setreminders when necessary. What isfascinating to note is that everydecade we see reduced size of gad-gets that we are getting hooked to.From desktops to tablets to smart-phones to smart watches, the screensizes have reduced but individualdependency has increased.

However, utility is one part ofthe wearable’s spectrum; the otherpart is aesthetics. As the demand forsmart wearables increased, the stylegurus of every individual took theforefront too. This is a growingtrend. Smartwatches and earbudswill not only be used for their pri-mary usage, but also as a fashionstatement, same as we do for ourregular wear, party wear and differ-ent outfits and fashion accessoriesfor different occasions. Soon a daywill arrive when people have morethan one TWS earbuds and anequal number of smartwatches tomix and match their look for theday and stand out in the crowd.

Wearables have the potential tochange our lives and society.Regardless of the form we choose,the benefits of wearables arebecoming more commonplaceevery day. They have come a longway from the simple step countersand fitness trackers of the past andhave become a major part of ourdaily wardrobe. They provide ubiq-uitous, personalised services to theend users and are equipped with arange of sensors. Wearable deviceswill continue to be refined and opti-mized.

WFH or not, the wearableswill continue to thrive and bymanifolds in the coming time.Consumers today see it as an exten-sion of their work life requirement,entertainment solution, lifestyleand fitness regime. Brands musttake actions now that prepare forthe disruptive opportunities andevolving platforms that wil linevitably be forthcoming. Byexamining trends in wearable tech-nology, emergence of 5G, ML andAIoT at large and against the back-drop of consumer expectationsand industry shifts, brands shouldwork to develop hypotheses aboutconsumer expectations, technolo-gy breakthroughs and industryadoption.

(The author is the CEO,DIZO India.)

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Page 11: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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New Delhi, 4th March2022: The Basketball

Federation of India (BFI)and International BasketballFederation (FIBA) backed3x3 Pro Basketball League(3BL) is returning for thethird straight season. Theseason is scheduled to tip offin Chandigarh from 5thMarch with the finals sched-uled on 21st March 2022.

The announcement wasmade earlier today by Mr.Rohit Bakshi, 3BLCommissioner and Mrs.Prerna Sharma, Director,3BL. Also in attendance atthe press conference in TajMahal hotel, were BFISecretary General Mr.Chander Mukhi Sharma,alongside the top Indianand foreign participatingplayers. Mr. Vikas Bansaland Mr. Rajeev Tiwari, the

owners of GurugramMasters franchise, which isthe reigning champion in themen's league, were present aswell.

"We are happy to grantexclusive rights to 3BL's pro-fessional league as an addedavenue for our star players toshine," Mr. Chander MukhiSharma said. "3BL will pro-vide additional income andexposure to many Indianbasketball athletes."

"We strongly believeIndia will be in 2024 ParisOlympics. By the end of3BL Season 3, Indian teams'global FIBA 3x3 federationranking should be at least30th, from the current 70th(in men) and 55th (inwomen). This will give Indiaa boost we all have been

waiting for," Mr. RohitBakshi said.

"We would like to thankNivia for coming on board asthe official Apparel Partner,Wyndham ChandigarhMohali as the Hospitality &Venue Partner, and BoxoSingh Sports Worldwide Pvt.

Ltd. as the Name Partner,"Mrs. Prerna Sharma said."Being a woman entrepre-neur myself, it gives megreat joy to have our path-breaking Women's Leaguereturn for a second straightseason."

3BL Season 3 will be live

streamed on Sony LIV, withadditional weekly specialprogramming to be aired onSony Six.

Twelve men's teams andsix women's teams are par-ticipating across six rounds.Winners will be announcedat the end of each round, andthe winner of the final roundwill be crowned the overallchampion.

The detailed fixtures andteam rosters are attachedseparately.

Besides attractivesalaries, prize money andFIBA 3x3 ranking points toindividual players, the topteams also get the chance tocompete at prestigious FIBA3x3 World Tour events.

"We Will Defend ourTitle"

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Yuki Bhambri returnedto Davis Cup actionwith a commandingwin while Ramkumar

Ramanathan did not even needhis 'A game' to emerge victori-ous as India grabbed a 2-0 leadin the World Group I Play-offtie against Denmark, here onFriday.

Taking full advantage of theDanish player's discomfort onthe low bounce grass court,Ramkumar cruised to a 6-3 6-2 win over Christian Siggsgaard,ranked as low as 824, in theopening singles of the tie atDelhi Gymkhana Club.

There was hardly any fightin the match, that lasted just 59minutes, as Christian made iteasy for the 170th-rankedIndian with his unendingunforced errors.

Yuki, playing Davis Cup forthe first time since 2017, dou-bled India's lead with a 6-4 6-4win in the second singles againstMikael Torpegaard, who,though served and stroked con-fidently to keep the Indiancamp on edge.

It was clear that India'sstrategy to host Denmark ongrass courts worked well as

tackling the low bounce indeedtroubled the visitors.

Rohan Bopanna and DivijSharan will now strive to seal thetie for India on Saturday whenthey take court for the doublesmatch against Frederik Nielsenand Johannes Ingildsen.

If they win, India will keeptheir place in the World GroupI and the reverse singles will berendered inconsequential.

"In Davis Cup, it's moreabout fighting than playingwell. I fought well and hardtoday," Yuki said after his win.

"The match was always onmy racquet, it was always in mycontrol. It was a matter ofstringing a few points together,"he said when asked about score-line changing from 4-1 to 5-4 insecond set.

Skipper Rohit Rajpalpraised both his singles players.

"Yuki played at a high level.He was match sharp.Ramkumar too played withconfidence. He was sharp in thefirst set. The idea was to keep itlow and trouble them. Theplayers executed the strategywell. We had planned to go up2-0 and we did that," he said.

Ramkumar too was pleasedwith his effort.

"I served pretty well, I was

sharp. The team and fan supportalso made the big difference. Ijust had to stay with the ball andmake returns. A few free pointsalso did the trick," he said.

Despite dropping his servein the opening game,Torpegaard did not let Yukiseize the momentum.

Whether it was strokingfrom baseline, serving, swiftmovement on both flanks orcharging the net, Torpegaarddid all to prevent it from becom-ing a one-sided affair like thefirst singles.

He got the break back in thefourth game and what followed

was engrossing tennis fromboth the players. Yuki broke hisrival one more time -- in theninth game -- and saved breakchances in the 10th to eventu-ally nose ahead.

The first game of the secondset was the most fiercely-foughtgame of the day as it featured as

many as five deuce points.Ironically, it ended with

Torpegaard's double fault and allthe hard work the Danish play-er had put in came to a naught.Yuki made it 2-0 with a hold inthe next game.

The perfectly placed fore-hand slices gave Yuki another

chance to break in the thirdgame. Torpegaard only helpedYuki's cause when he netted ahalf-volley.

From there on, it lookedlike a formality thoughTorpegaard kept fighting hard.Yuki dropped serve in theeighth game when he was serv-ing for the match and soonfrom 4-1 it was 5-4.

Yuki ensured there was nomore drama as he served outthe match in the 10th gamewhen Torpegaard could notreturn the ball with his back-hand.

In the first singles,Christian struggled with hisserve, committing as many asthree double faults in the sec-ond game of the opening setand was down a breakpoint butRamkumar could not capitaliseon that chance.

Ramkumar mostly usedbackhand slices for returns andstayed solid on his servicegames. Christian again handedRamkumar a break chancewhen he double-faulted at 30-all in the fourth game.

A long rally ensued withboth players putting to usetheir backhand slice stroke butRamkumar eventually pre-vailed.

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Ace shuttler Kidambi Srikanthadmits it was frustrating to miss

out on the India Open after con-tracting COVID-19 but says he'sfortunate to recover quickly fromthe infection and his main priori-ty this year is to defend theCommonwealth Games gold.

After struggling for the last fewyears, Srikanth finally got hisrhythm back when he claimed theWorld Championship silver medalat Huelva, Spain in December lastbut he couldn't continue themomentum as he tested positive forCOVID-19 and couldn't participatein the India Open Super 500 andSyed Modi International.

"It was frustrating but it issomething I had no control over. Iwanted to play the events in Indiaas I felt I had a very good chance towin the tournament," said Srikanth,one of the seven Indian players whowithdrew from the India Open aftertesting positive for the virus.

"I had mild symptoms. I was inisolation for around 10 days.

Fortunately, I recovered quicklyand once the test came negative, Istarted training immediately."

Srikanth will start the seasonwith the German Open Super 300(March 8-13) before competing atthe prestigious All EnglandChampionships (March 16-20) andend the tour with the Swiss OpenSuper 300 (March 22-27).

However, the 29-year-old saidhis main priority is to retain thegold he had won in 2018 GoldCoast Commonwealth Games.

"The Commonwealth Games isvery important for me as I am thedefending champion. Asian Gamesis also important and in between,there is the World Championship,"said Srikanth, who is leaving forGermany on Saturday.

"This is an important year andI just want to train well and play tothe best of my ability. I have a veryhigh chance of winning gold inindividuals at CWG. But I will haveto be really fit and be able to trainwell, be match-ready before CWG

and implement my plans."So, has he achieved the level

that fetched him four titles in 2017?"I don't want to compare. That

was a different phase. Now I amplaying well. Getting better fromhere and being more consistentremains the aim," he said.

A former World No. 1, Srikanthendured a difficult phase after 2018with frequent injuries and loss ofform, affecting his performance inthe international circuit.

"I felt because of the injuries Icouldn't play well," said the currentWorld No. 11 from Guntur.

"I was trying to play well, pullout close matches, and be in themix. I thought the whole set ofevents, beginning with theSudirman Cup, I was playing well.I played 9 to 10 tournaments till theWorld Championships.

"I was kind of happy with myprogress. It gave me that confidence.At the World Championship, I justwanted to be there, thinking aboutone match at a time. I just wantedto play well and not think aboutfinals."

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The Russian Paralympic Committeewill leave Beijing and has no imme-

diate plans for legal action.The PRC issued a statement Friday

criticizing the decision to exclude Russianathletes from the Paralympics and saidthe move was "absolutely politicized."

It said its lawyers had determinedthat the Court of Arbitration for Sportwould not be able to render a decision"during the accelerated proceedings."

The RPC said it reserved "the rightto apply to the appropriate internation-al and national court" later at its own dis-cretion. It said it was not "worthwhile atthe current time to remain in Beijing" andplanned to leave. The team is expectedto fly out on March 6.

The RPC also criticized ThomasBach, the president of the InternationalOlympic Committee, who earlier thisweek recommended that "internationalsports federations and sports event orga-nizers not invite or allow the participa-tion of Russian and Belarusian athletesand officials in international competi-tions."

It said Bach's move lead "to thedegradation and collapse of the worldsport."

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Ukraine wants to post-pone its World Cup

qualifying playoff againstScotland, FIFA said, amid ashutdown in domestic soccerduring the invasion byRussia.

"FIFA can confirm it hasreceived a request from theUkrainian Association ofFootball today to postponetheir matches scheduled forMarch," world soccer's gov-erning body said onThursday.

Ukraine is set to playScotland in Glasgow onMarch 24, with the winnerthen taking on either Walesor Austria five days later fora place at this year's WorldCup in Qatar.

A large part of Ukraine'steam is typically made up ofplayers playing for domesticclubs such as Dynamo Kyivand Shakhtar Donetsk. Theyhave been disrupted by thenational league stopping lastweek and many players whoare not from Ukraine left thecountry to seek safety.

FIFA said it was in talks

with Scottish officials andEuropean soccer body UEFA"to find an appropriate solu-tion. FIFA expresses its deep-est solidarity to everybodyaffected by what is happen-ing in Ukraine."

One option would be topostpone the games in thefour-team playoff bracketuntil the next national-teammatch dates in June. Theglobal World Cup qualifyingprogram has already seen

several delays because of theCOVID-19 pandemic.

The draw for the tourna-ment is scheduled for April 1in Doha, but at least two ofthe 32 entries will not beknown by that date.

The final two places areset to be decided in Junewhen four teams - from Asia,North or Central America,South America and Oceania- go to Qatar for the intercon-tinental playoffs. Ukraine

has qualified for the WorldCup only once since becom-ing an independent soccernation 30 years ago, reachingthe quarterfinals in 2006.Ukraine also reached thequarterfinals at the EuropeanChampionship last year.

Russia was also set totake part in the World Cupplayoffs and is challenging aFIFA decision to suspendthe country from interna-tional soccer.

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The race walking trio of Bhawna Jat,Ravina and Munita Prajapati

scripted history by winning the coun-try's maiden women's 20km teammedal, a bronze, at the World AthleticsRace Walking Team Championshipshere on Friday.

China and Greece won the goldand silver respectively.

Ravina produced the best finishby an Indian in the women's 20kmevent at 14th spot with a time of onehour 40 minutes 22 seconds.

The experienced Bhawna Jat, aTokyo Olympian, was 21st with a timeof 1:43:08 and 20-year-old MunitaPrajapati finished 26th in 1:45:03.

The team medals are decided aftertaking into account the overall perfor-mance of the competing athletes of acountry.

"The hard work that we put in atthe national camp has paid off," Jatsaid after the historic medal.

This was the Indian women'steam's first medal in the 61-year his-tory of the World Athletics RaceWalking Team Championships.

The men's team had already wona medal -- also a bronze -- in 2012.

Earlier in the day, Amit Khatri ledthe field at the final kilometer but wasdisqualified after receiving his fourthred card in the U-20 men's 10kmevent. Khatri was leading the fieldwhen he was disqualified but hewould not have won the gold even ifhe had crossed the finish line first as

he was handed a 60-minute penaltyafter his third red card.

He would certainly have been inthe top 10 had he not received hisfourth red card -- which resulted inhis disqualification.

The 18-year-old Khatri, who hadwon a silver in the 10000m race walkevent at the World Athletics U-20Championships in Nairobi six monthsago, was at 11th position at thehalfway mark but he gradually pulledhimself up to lead the pack after the9km mark.

Lying third behind two Chinesewalkers at the start of the final kilo-meter, Khatri stepped up the pace andshot into the lead. However, he alsopicked up three red cards in additionto the one shown to him earlier,according to Athletics Federation ofIndia.

But in the end, Khatri was pulledin to the penalty zone by the refereeas the Indian threw up his hands indisappointment.

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Reduced to 10 men at half time, Indian Arrowsdefeated Sudeva Delhi FC 1-0 to secure their

first win of the I-League season here on Friday.Parthib Gogoi scored the solitary goal in the

60th minute to decide the contest in favour ofIndian Arrows.

Both the teams settled into their rhythm earlyin the game and tried to control possession.

Sudeva Delhi were the first to test the oppo-sition goalkeeper, when William drove a stingingshot from inside the box in the fourth minute, butArrows custodian Ahan Prakash was not to becaught out on his near post.

Indian Arrows, the AIFF's developmental side,didn't have to wait longer for their own first lookat goal, when Parthib Gogoi intercepted a mis-placed pass from Sudeva Delhi player in the sev-

enth minute.Gogoi set his sights on goal early and pulled

the trigger from the edge of the box, but his effortdeflected for a corner.

The first half continued to be a cagey affairwith neither team getting a clear cut chance.

The game burst into life in additional time ofthe first half as Indian Arrows centre backAmandeep was sent off for a foul inside the boxand Sudeva Delhi got a penalty on the stroke ofhalf time. William, who had been Sudeva'sbrightest spark in the match thus far, stepped upto take the spot kick, but blazed his effort over thebar, keeping both teams level at half time.

Down to 10 men, Indian Arrows emerged inthe second half facing an uphill battle to get a resultout of the game.

With one-man advantage, Sudeva Delhiattempted to gain control in the middle of the park,but it was Indian Arrows who made the first break-through at the hour mark.

As the Arrows midfield tried to thread a passfor wide forward Parthib Gogoi, the ball was inter-cepted by Nishchal Chandan, who then failed toclear his lines. Gogoi managed to win the ball ina dangerous position and slid a calm finish pastgoalkeeper Sachin Jha. With the odds weighingagainst them, the Indian Arrows decided not tosit back with their slender lead and pushed for asecond goal. They nearly doubled their lead in the64th minute when goal scorer Gogoi smashed alow drive off the frame of the goal.

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Real Betis needed a stop-page-time equalizer to

hold Rayo Vallecano to a 1-1 draw and reach the Copadel Rey final for the firsttime in 17 years. Thematch appeared to be head-ed to extra time after Bebéscored for the visitors witha long-range free kick in the80th minute. But BorjaIglesias sent Betis into thefinal with his goal fromclose range after a break-away two minutes intoinjury time at the BenitoVillamarín Stadium inSeville.

“I don't know why, butI knew I was going to score,”Iglesias said.

“This morning I feltthat I was going to score the

decisive goal. I woke upwith this special feelingabout it.” The goal allowedBetis to advance 3-2 onaggregate after a 2-1 come-

from-behind win in thefirst leg in Madrid. ManuelPellegrini's team will faceValencia, which defeatedAthletic Bilbao 1-0 at homeon Wednesday to advance2-1 on aggregate. The finalwill be played April 23 inSevilla. “It was a long timewithout making it to afinal,” Pellegrini said. “Weare very pleased with theopportunity. The playersstayed committed even afterconceding that free kickgoal and the team's maturi-ty paid off.” Valencia isback in the final for the firsttime since winning itseighth Copa title in 2019.

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Ukraine asks FIFA to postpone World Cup playoff

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Page 12: Indian student trying to flee Kyiv sprayed with bullets

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Indian cricket's rapidly-risingbox-office draw Rishabh Pantowned the centre-stage in ViratKohli's landmark 100th Test,

hammering Sri Lankan bowlers intosubmission with an enthralling 96 asthe hosts reached a commanding 357for 6 on the opening day of the firstTest here.

The 5000 odd spectators, whohad come to watch Kohli perform ona grand stage, saw one of the mostflamboyant batters in recent historymake a mockery of an average SriLankan attack.

He was especially brutal when itcame to going after left-arm spinnerLasith Embuldeniya (28-2-107-2),who was taken for 22 in one over.

The deathly silence after Kohli'sshock exit for a well-made 45 wasthere for barely a second and half.Because at that point entered thestockily built 24-year-old from India'sengineering city of Rourkee and thatwas followed by a deafening roarwhich showed his popularity.

On Kohli's day, he had complete-ly over-shadowed the legend.

And those who came for Kohli,decided to stay back and savour Pant'smayhem as he started with a signa-ture lofted six off Embuldeniya overmid-wicket fence.

Embuldeniya, who must have feltemboldened when he got one to turna shade away and tickle Kohli's off-stump, didn't know what hit him.

In just over one and half session,Pant nearly reached his fourth hun-dred in Test cricket before veteran

Suranga Lakmal (1/63), in his lastinternational series, breached hisdefence.

There were nine fours and foursixes in his 97-ball knock and onecouldn't but feel for the young manwho looked completely devastatedafter another near-miss, the fifth time

that he has gotten out in the 90s.The walk back to the pavilion

took an eternity as it seemed that onewould need someone to drag him out.

But coach Rahul Dravid andskipper Rohit Sharma's decision tosend him at number five to bring inthe left-hander's advantage against a

left-arm spinner, had paid the richdividends they were hoping for.

Embuldeniya didn't actually bowlas badly as his figures might suggestand was pitching the ball up, puttinghis body into the deliveries and get-ting them to spin away from the righthanders.

Pant being a southpaw obvious-ly diminished his advantage to anextent and then his decision to standat least a couple of yards outside thecrease made the difference.

He turned a lot of good lengthdeliveries into over-pitched ones andEmbuldeniya, along with other spin-ners like Charith Asalanka andDhananjaya de Silva (1/47), also suf-fered. The one-handed sixes, whichhe can now hit on public demand,were in full display for the motleycrowd. The Indian team's formerstrength and conditioning coachShankar Basu, during an interviewwith PTI during the 2019 World Cup,had claimed that when it came to rawphysical power, Mahendra SinghDhoni ranked No.1 but Pant was aclose second.

To hit a five and half ounce crick-et ball into the second tier of a crick-et stadium nearly 90 yards awayrequires brute strength and Pantshowed that he possesses that inabundance. Add to it, his balance andnimble footwork.

It also helped that DimuthKarunaratne's mindset was defensivefrom the word go since Rohit Sharma(29) and Mayank Agarwal (33) hada brisk 50-run stand.

Once a fielding side skipper sta-tions a deep point, deep square legand deep fine leg within the first hourof the first day, one can get a sense that

he has already thrown the towel andplaying a waiting game of cuttingdown boundaries.

Even then, Pant found the gapswith very little difficulty when he tookguard in the 44th over after Kohli andHanuma Vihari (58 off 128 balls) hada 90-run stand.

Vihari made good use of hischance in place of veteran CheteshwarPujara and looked in control duringhis stand with Kohli before he insideedged Vishwa Fernando's deliveryonto the stumps. It was a perfect set-ting to score a second Test hundredbut Vihari let it slip and becameFernando's only scalp of the day.

A total of 170 for 3 is a neitherhere nor there and a lot of batters willbe caught in two minds -- whetherto defend or to attack.

But not Pant. With him, there areno half measures and if any critic hadan iota of difficulty in understandingwhy Dravid had a hard conversationwith Wriddhiman Saha regarding hisfuture, Friday's matinee show shouldhelp in dispelling all doubts.

The Indian team needs players,who can move the game in tricky sit-uations and among the post Kohli-Rohit generation, Pant is an assuredmatch-winner, who can open thegame in a session.

Scoring 350 plus runs in a day'splay is always bad news for thebowling team and as of now.

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Deandra Dottin complementedHayley Matthews' whirlwind cen-

tury with an immaculate last over asWest Indies notched up a stunningthree-run victory over the fancied NewZealand in the Women's ODI WorldCup opener at the Bay Oval here onFriday.

Hayley smashed a 128-ball 119(16x4, 1x6) but the rest of their battersfailed to convert their starts as WestIndies set up a 260-run target after theWhite Ferns skipper Sophie Devineopted to field.

In reply, the 2000 champions rodeon Devine's chancy 108 to overcomea shaky start but only to choke in thefinal over.

Needing six runs in the final over,New Zealand lost three wickets in fourballs to get all out for 256 in 49.5 overswith pace bowling allrounder Dottinreturning with splendid figures of0.5-0-2-2.

Having survived some anxiousmoments both in the form of a run-out and a couple of missed catches,Devine completed her sixth ODI cen-tury but could not take her team overthe line.

Chinelle Henry took a spectacu-lar return catch to dismiss the WhiteFerns captain in the 45th over, some-thing that revived the Windies hopesbefore the veteran allrounder Dottinsealed the issue.

Asked to defend six runs in the lastover with New Zealand having threewickets intact, Dottin claimed twowickets in three balls, before the 17-year-old Fran Jonas was run out in thefifth ball to concede the Windies athrilling win.

Windies turned the match aroundafter Henry took a juggling returncatch to dismiss the centurion Devine.

The win would have come easy butthe West Indies were sloppy on the fieldas they leaked runs in plenty anddropped a slew of catches.

Devine was dropped twice, onceon 37 and then on 74, as the skipperalso survived after West Indies did notreview a close lbw call from the bowl-ing of Aaliyah Alleyne.

Devine's knock meant the hostswere comfortably placed with 39 runsneeded from 30 balls with KateyMartin taking on the charge with a 47-ball 44.

Katey smashed back-to-back foursoff Henry in the penultimate over tomake it a simple equation of six runsoff six deliveries.

Under pressure, the Windiesdecided to give the task to Dottin aftermuch discussions in the middle as theveteran pacer trapped Katey in her sec-ond delivery with a perfect yorker.

Earlier, the hosts suffered an earlyjolt when their experienced openerSuzie Bates (3) was out in the fourthover as they got off to a slow start withjust one boundary in the first six over.

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With a distinctive mustache, unbut-toned shirt and a baggy green

cap like a beacon behind the stumps,the sight of Rod Marsh and the soundof his name pervaded Australian sum-mers in the 1970s and early 80s. Thecricket great, who formed a prolongedand prolific wicket-taking partnershipwith Australian pace bowler DennisLillee, died in an Adelaide hospital onFriday just over a week after having aheart attack during a fundraising eventin Queensland state. He was 74.

A stocky and stoic wicketkeeper-batter, Marsh was half of a catchphrasethat was synonymous with the era oftest cricket: caught Marsh, bowledLillee. They combined a record 95times to dismiss opposition batters intest cricket. "This is a tremendously sadday for Australian cricket and for allthose who loved and admired RodMarsh," Cricket Australia chairmanLachlan Henderson said. "Rod will beforever remembered for the way heplayed the game and the pleasure hebrought crowds as a member of somegreat Australian teams - 'caught Marsh,bowled Lillee' has iconic status in ourgame."

����� ��������

Rajasthan Royals on Fridayannounced the appointment

of Steffan Jones as the franchise'shigh performance fast bowlingcoach.

The 48-year-old former pacerfrom Wales, had previously servedas the team's fast bowling coach in2019.

As part of his new role, Joneswill be responsible for providinghigh quality training, guidanceand support to all bowlers who arepart of the Royals' set-up through-out the year, with a focus on the off-season and in the build up to theIPL season, a media released stat-ed.

Jones will be working with theteam during their pre-season campto be held from March 7 to 10 at theRoyals' High Performance Centrein Nagpur, post which he willremain with the squad, helping thebowlers prepare for the upcomingseason.

"I am delighted to be returning

to the Rajasthan Royals and grate-ful to the management for givingme the opportunity to work withthe team again. With a plethora oftalented bowlers in our ranks, I'mlooking forward to working withthem round the year and preparingthem to peak and excel when theseason comes," Jones said.

The former pacer will also beproviding inputs to the RRAcademies in India and around theworld, and aid in technical integra-tion of the facilities.

The Royals' current and futureplayers would also have a chance tovisit and train under Jones, whereformer Royals players JaydevUnadkat and Varun Aaron havealso successfully undergone devel-opment work in the past during theoff season.

"Steffan has been closely asso-ciated with the franchise over thepast few years so he understands theculture perfectly, and brings withhim a very able coaching style,which has been appreciated byboth players and management inthe past," Royals' Director of CricketKumar Sangakkara said.

"We are delighted to welcomehim back to the franchise in his newrole, wherein he will be workingwith our bowlers and providingsupport to them throughout theyear, and we're confident his exper-tise can guide us to newer heights."

�����>?����

Virat Kohli felt like a"nervous debutant" with

"butterflies in his stomach"as he stepped out for his100th Test but the publichysteria surrounding his"milestones and materialis-tic achievements" doesn'tbother the champion batterat all.

It has now been morethan 27 months that Kohlihas been stuck on 27 Testhundreds but the formerIndia skipper, despite accep-tance of disappointment forfrittering away another goodstart in the opening Testagainst Sri Lanka here, isn'tbothered about the quan-tum of runs as long as he isbatting well.

"You obviously feel dis-appointed as a batsman. Ineed to be mindful andconvert the 30s and 40sinto big scores," he saidduring his interaction with

the media at the end of day'splay after contributing aclassy 45 to the team's 357/6.

But does he feel theneed to change the processsince big scores aren't com-ing, the response was asharp one.

"I have been preparingexactly the way I have pre-pared and as long as I ambatting well, not bothered atall. From a worldly point,people look at milestonesand they talk about a lot of

things and they are justconversations on the out-side," he said.

He didn't forget to men-tion that he had a 90-runstand with Hanuma Vihariand that was important.

"Even today, partner-ship of 90 runs was impor-tant for us as we were 2down for 80 odd. So, as longas I focus on the rightthings, I am not too both-ered about milestones andthese are conversations that

happen on the outside andcontinue to do so.

"We are somehow crazyabout milestones and mate-rialistic achievements. I per-sonally don't think like thatand I am batting well andthat's the most importantthing for me," there waspragmatism in his tone.

Prior to the game, Kohlilooked a bit scratchy duringa practice session where hegot out multiple times topacers and spinners alike. Infact, both Ravindra Jadejaand Saurabh Kumar, thetwo left arm spinners, beathis outside edge and clippedthe stumps.

The dismissal by LasithEmbuldeniya on Friday,when he played on the back-foot not expecting muchturn only to see the off-stump disturbed, led toquestions if players are find-ing it difficult in currentenvironment to work ontheir game.

���� (��5��

Opener Imam-ul-Haq hit a memorablefirst Test century on Friday and led

Pakistan to a commanding 245-1 in its firsthome test against Australia in 24 years.

The left-hander closed out the openingday of the first test on 132 not out on a typ-ically slow and grassless subcontinent wick-et. Veteran Azhar Ali is also looking solid on64 not out.

Australia might have missed a trick byopting to go with its three frontline fastbowlers, who hardly troubled the batters withboth the new and old ball. Australia evenused its three part-time spinners - MarnusLabuschagne, Travis Head and Steve Smith- without any reward.

Imam and Azhar denied Australia anyhope of a breakthrough with the new ball inthe 10 overs before stumps and stretchedtheir second-wicket partnership to 140.

The lone Australian specialist spinner,Nathan Lyon (1-87), got the only success ofthe day for the visitors when he dismissedAbdullah Shafique for 44 just before lunch,but not before a 105-run opening wicketstand with Imam.

Azhar and Imam then frustratedAustralia for the entire two sessions by pil-ing up another century stand.

Imam, playing in his 12th test but firstin 27 months, showed grit throughout theday against fast bowlers and spinners aftercaptain Babar Azam won the toss and elect-ed to bat.

Fast bowlers Mitchell Starc, Josh

Hazlewood and skipper Pat Cummins hard-ly troubled Pakistan's top order in their shortspells as they bowled 45 overs between them.

Lyon earlier extracted brief turn off thewicket with the new ball but both openersdominated the spinner by using their feet and

raised a century stand.Lyon was ineffective until he claimed

Shafique in the penultimate over beforelunch. Shafique got beaten in the flight andtried to heave the offspinner over long off.He was brilliantly caught by a runningCummins.

Imam, who last played a test matchagainst Australia at Adelaide in December2019, survived a close call for lbw in Starc'sthird over as the visitors went for an unsuc-cessful television review and the replays sug-gested the ball would have went over thestumps.

Imam raised his century in the last ses-sion when he drove Starc through the cov-ers for his 13th boundary beside hitting twostraight sixes against Lyon.

Shafique also had a close call but Headdropped a difficult chance at leg slip in Lyon'ssecond over, a ball after the spinner wassmacked for a straight six.

Imam had earlier raised his half centu-ry by pulling Cummins to square leg bound-ary for a four and overtook his batting part-ner once Australia briefly applied the offspinof Head and Lyon.

It's the first time Australia has played atest match in Pakistan since 1998 due to con-cerns over security from several attacks inPakistan. It's a three-match test series.

����� �;��\

Amandeep Khare andShashank Singh struck fine

centuries to dash Delhi's slimquarterfinal hopes asChhattisgarh posted a mammoth482 for nine declared in their firstinnings on the second day of theirRanji Trophy elite group H matchhere on Friday.

Coming into the contest,Delhi were all but out of the quar-terfinal race, languishing at thelast spot in the four-team groupH with just one point from twogames.

To have any slim chances intheory, Delhi needed seven points(including a bonus point) fromthe ongoing tie, but overnightunbeaten batters Khare and Singhbatted Delhi out of that equation.

Resuming at his overnight

score of 75, Khare remainedunbeaten on 156 off 318 balls,while Singh (122 off 177 balls) hithis maiden first-class century totake Chhattisgarh to a comfort-able position.

Left-arm spinner VikasMishra (6/124) was the pick ofthe bowlers for Delhi.

In reply, Delhi scored 108 forthree in 30 overs at the close ofplay on day two.

India's U-19 World Cup-winning skipper Yash Dhull andKshitiz Sharma made 29 each.Nitish Rana was batting on 20while Jonty Sidhu (8 not out) wasgiving him company.

An uphill task awaits Delhi asthey still trail Chhattisgarh by 374runs with two days of playremaining.

Chhattisgarh are leadingGroup H with seven points from

two games.In the second Group H

match here, Tamil Nadu took thecrucial first innings lead overJharkhand as they bowled theiropponents out for 226 in reply for285.

Resuming at 256 for seven,the remaining Tamil Nadu batterscould add just 29 runs.

But Tamil Nadu bowlers, ledby left-arm spinner ManimaranSiddharth (4/37) and off-spinnerMasood Shahrukh Khan (3/36),responded brilliantly to bundleout Jharkhand for 226 in 74.3overs.

In their second essay, TamilNadu did not have the best ofstarts as they ended the day at 14for two, taking their overall leadto 73 runs over Jharkhand.

Sandeep Warrier alsochipped in with two wickets.

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