source: x SAMBALPUR l tuesday l march 19, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Tensions high as Pak airstrikes in Afghan territory kills eight The Pakistan Army said eight terrorists were killed in ‘anti-terror operations’ in the border regions inside Afghanistan on Monday a response to attack on army outpost: Pak strike killed civilians, says Taliban The airstrikes come amid heightened tensions between the two neighbours over a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which Islamabad has blamed on groups based in Afghanistan. Pakistan said Monday’s airstrikes, which were in response to a recent attack on one of its army outposts, targeted a group allied with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ■ ■ Afghan Taliban said Pakistan targeted civilian homes and claimed five women and three children were killed in the pre-dawn strike Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan rose after the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021. Pakistan said it had repeatedly urged the group to act against terror outfits operating in Afghanistan 6,000 Pak Taliban fighters in Afghanistan, says Pakistan official CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Ad-hoc panel dissolved, WFI requests nat’l camp F i r o z M i r z a @ Chennai The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc committee formed on December 27, 2023 to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The decision paved the way for the federation led by Sanjay Kumar Singh, considered a close associate of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, to take administrative control of the sport. “The decision to dissolve the Ad-hoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Ad-hoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi,” said the IOA order. Interestingly the sports min, istry — which on December 24, 2023 directed t h e I OA t o form the adhoc committee three days after the Sanjay Singhled panel won 13 out of 15 posts in the election — has not issued any order this time. The IOA also instructed WFI to appoint a “Safeguarding Committee” to address concerns of sexual harassment apart from conducting elections of the Athletes’ Commission. Soon after the order, Sanjay Singh wrote to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) requesting it to facilitate the hosting of national camps for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier scheduled next month. “The top-four (gold, silver and two bronze medallists) of the trials are eligible for the camp,” Sanjay Singh told this daily . This means Vinesh, who participated in two weight categories — 50kg and 53kg winning the first and finishing with bronze in the second — will be named as a camper. Bajrang Punia, who lost the 65kg semifinal before skipping the bronze medal bout, may miss out. Sources, however, believe he can still make it if SAI wants. “If the SAI wants to add names including of Bajrang, it can do that,” said a WFI source. Notably Bajrang and Vinesh, , along with Sakshi Malik, spearheaded the protest against Brij Bhushan last year accusing the UP strongman of sexual harassment. SC directs SBI to Double NDA deal in Bihar, Tamil Nadu share all data on electoral bonds BJP JD(U) LJP (RV) HAM RLM 2 18 2019. The top court on Monday @ New Delhi rejected a plea urging it to order SBI to disclose details reThe Supreme Court on Monday lated to electoral bonds purdirected the State Bank of India chased and redeemed prior to (SBI) to disclose all details re- this date. lated to the electoral bonds in its In a landmark verdict on Febpossession by March 21, includ- ruary 15, the Supreme Court ing the unique alphanumeric struck down the Centre’s elecnumbers that can map donors to toral bonds scheme introduced political parties. in 2018 that allowed anonymous Rapping the public-sector political funding. lender over selective discloThe court had asked the SBI sure, the Supreme Court said it to stop issuing electoral bonds had in its February 15 with immediate effect verdict sought a comand submit all the dePlea against plete disclosure of all tails to the EC by disclosure data related to elecMarch 6. “Lack of toral bonds in the The Supreme Court privacy of political on Monday refused affiliation would be bank’s possession. “We had asked all to entertain pleas catastrophic. It can by Associated details to be disclosed be used to disenfranChambers of by the SBI which inchise voters. Right to Commerce & cludes electoral bond informational privaIndustry of India numbers as well. Let cy extends to finanand Confederation cial contributions to SBI not be selective in disclosure,” the five- of Indian Industry political parties,” the seeking to delay judge Constitution court had said. the disclosure of Bench, of the SuThe Election Comelectoral bonds preme Court headed mission on March 14 numbers by Chief Justice D Y released data shared Chandrachud said. by the SBI. However, The bank’s chairperson has did not contain electoral bond been directed to file an affidavit numbers. Last week, the top by 5 pm on March 21 stating court issued a notice to the that all details have been dis- country’s largest bank to exclosed to the Election Commis- plain the reasons for the nonsion (EC). The court also direct- disclosure of unique alphanue d t h e C h i e f E l e c t i o n meric numbers in compliance Commissioner to file a detailed with its directions. compliance affidavit by March The electoral bond scheme 21 to ensure no further compli- was challenged by the Associacations arise over the matters. tion for Democratic Reforms, The details sought are relat- the CPI (M) and Congress leaded to electoral bonds purchased ers Jaya Thakur and Spandan and redeemed after April 12, Biswal. 4 3 17 32 33 35 34 S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y 37 5 16 19 20 Details including bond numbers that can link donors to political parties must be disclosed 31 36 38 15 21 7 6 23 22 30 29 8 9 13 12 14 24 25 40 27 RA J E SH KU M AR THAKUR @ New Delhi The BJP on Monday ironed out its seatsharing deal with National Democratic Alliance partners in Bihar, pocketing 17 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It emerged as the undisputed big brother in the alliance, as the JD(U) will contest from 16, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 5 and the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) one each. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, JD(U) and the undivided LJP were part of the NDA, which won 39 of the 40 seats. Both the BJP and JD(U) had contested from 17 seats each at that point in time. The big headline maker this time was Chirag Paswan, son of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan. His faction, LJP (RV), got five constituencies, including the prestigious Hajipur, the seat held by his late dad. Chirag later said he will vacate his Jamui seat and contest from Hajipur. Chirag’s gain was Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras’s loss. Paras, the brother of Ram Vilas, is the sitting MP from Hajipur. His breakaway faction of the LJP has five seats in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Paras is expected to tap the RJD-led grand alliance in Bihar in a day or two. BJP sources said they were trying to mollify Paras with possibly a governor’s berth while accommodating his son and others from his faction in the Assembly elections. However, his party could go it alone or forge a tie-up with the opposition. The NDA deal was announced by Vinod Tawde, BJP incharge of Bihar unit of the party . A local court here on Monday sentenced a sevayat of Lingaraj temple to one-and-a-half years rigorous imprisonment for sexually harassing a Swedish national on February 19. The judgement came just 26 days after sevayat Kanan Mohapatra alias Kundu (22) was e x p r e s s r ead Satyendar Jain back in jail after Supreme Court cancels bail New Delhi: AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on Monday returned to Tihar jail after the Supreme Court cancelled his regular bail plea and asked him to surrender immediately. He was out on interim bail on health grounds in the Delhi excise policy scam case since May 26 last year | P5 Woman’s funeral stalled for 2 days over community’s goat demand IN a shocking incident, cremation of a 70-year-old tribal woman was allegedly stalled for more than two days in Shamakhunta block of Mayurbhanj district over her community’ persistent demand for a goat as repentance for violation of tribal customs. Last rites of the woman, Somabari Singh, resident of Jaibila village under Shamakhunta panchayat, were finally conducted on Monday after her family agreed to offer 10 kg mutton to the community members within eight days. By then, her body had begun decomposing. Somabari, who hailed from Mundari tribe, was reportedly suffering from an unknown disease for the last several months. She breathed her last at around 2 pm on Saturday Her two sons Doctor . and Chandan approached the community members to help cremate the body. However, their request was turned down as they were accused of violating the community customs by not inviting fellow villagers to their marriage feasts. “Both of us have been living an ostracised life for several years as we did not invite community members to our wedding feasts in the village. Villagers had demanded goats and handia (rice beer) during our marriage feast. But due to financial constraints, we could not meet their demands,” said Doctor. When the siblings sought help from the villagers to perform the last rites of their mother on Saturday the latter reportedly reiterat, BJP Paschim Champaran (2), Purvi Champaran (3), Aurangabad (37), Madhubani (6), Araria (9), Darbhanga (14), Muzaffarpur (15), Maharajganj (19), Saran (20), Ujiyarpur (22), Begusarai (24), Nawada (39), Patna Sahib (30), Patliputra (31), Arrah (32), Buxar (33) and Sasaram (34) JD(U) Valmikinagar (1), Sitamarhi (5), Jhanjharpur (7), Supaul (8), Kishanganj (10), Katihar (11), Purnia (12), Madhepura (13), Gopalganj (17), Siwan (18), Bhagalpur (26), Banka (27), Munger (28), Nalanda (29), Jehanabad (36) and Sheohar (4) LJP (Ram Vilas) Vaishali (16), Hajipur (21), Samastipur (23), Khagaria (25) and Jamui (40) HAM Gaya (38) RLM Karakat (35) PMK general secretary Vadivel Ravanan made the announcement after executive committee meeting on Monday | Express PMK joins BJP team, shuns AIADMK’s call T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai Ending days of speculation about whether the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will join hands with the AIADMK or BJP the party on , Monday announced that it has decided to go with the saffron party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The party would firm up ties with the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and a formal announcement on the number of Lok Sabha constituencies and the candidates to be fielded would be made by PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss soon, party general secretary Vadivel Ravanan said. The party announced its decision late on Monday after a key executive committee meeting held at Thailapuram in Villupuram district in which the party’s district secretaries and presidents and key office-bearers took part. Asked whether forging an alliance with the BJP would be a setback for the PMK, Ravanan said, “We don’t think so. Having an alliance with the BJP will be useful for the PMK and would augur well for the future of the party .” The PMK allied with the AIADMK and the BJP in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections. In the 2021 Assembly elections, too, the alliance continued. However, in September 2021, the PMK walked out of the AIADMK-led alliance, ahead of the local body polls. There have been many rounds of informal talks between the AIADMK and PMK. Senior AIADMK leader CVe Shanmugam too met the PMK founder S Ramadoss a few times. However, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, a few days ago, said AIADMK is not holding talks with the PMK and talks are on only with the DMDK, hinting that the alliance may not fructify . arrested for committing the crime. Judicial Magistrate First Class-I Payal Gupta convicted Mohapatra under sections 341, 354 and 354A of IPC and sentenced him to 18 months in jail. “The court observed the matter was very sensitive and created a bad image of the state and the country Around seven . witnesses including two secu- s o cial ill s S u k a n ta k u m a r S a h u @ Baripada 11 New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Monday ordered the transfers of the West Bengal DGP and home secretaries in six states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It also mandated the appointment of Vivek Sahay, once suspended by the poll panel, as the new Bengal police chief | P7 Names of Cong seats in TN announced Chennai: Days after allotting nine Lok Sabha seats to the Congress in TN and the lone seat in Puducherry, the DMK on Monday announced the names of constituencies given to the grand old party. Sivaganga, Cuddalore, Krishnagiri, Kanniyakumari, Tiruvallur (reserved), Mayiladuthurai, Tirunelveli, Karur, and Virudhunagar are the nine seats given to the Congress. K Selvaperunthagai, TNCC chief, said the names of candidates would be announced in two days Sevayat who molested Swedish tourist gets 18 months jail @ Bhubaneswar no passage left 10 26 28 39 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e A woman takes over an entire canal bridge to spread out paddy for drying on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar, on Monday | DEBADATTA MALLICK Poll panel transfers West Bengal DGP Who got what 1 ed their demand for a goat and ‘handia.’ As the siblings could not afford the same, they returned home. When Somabari’s body began to decompose after two days, Doctor again approached the villa g ers and a g reed to their demands. “When my mother’s body became infested with maggots, I went to the village head and agreed to give 10 kg mutton to them. They agreed to assist in cremating my mother’s body claimed Doctor. ,” At around 2.30 pm on Monday, Somabari’s body was taken to the village cremation ground with the help of some villagers. Subsequently, the last rites were performed by family members. Village community head San Laxman Singh said Doctor had married three women without adhering to tribal customs and inviting people from the tribe. His younger brother Chandan did not invite community members to his marriage. As the duo had violated the traditions, community members refused to assist them in cremating their mother’s body . “However, we helped them perform Somabari’s last rites as Doctor agreed to provide at least 10 kg mutton within eight days,” Laxman added. Sources said neither the Gram Rakhi nor the local police were aware of the incident. rity staff of the temple and a lady police personnel were examined during the trial,” said additional public prosecutor Bijan Bihari Kar. Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh said the matter was taken very seriously and Mohapatra was arrested on February 20. “The chargesheet in the case was filed on February 22 and the trial commenced four days later. The court awarded the sentence on Monday,” he said. Sources said the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had contacted the city police after the incident and inquired about the matter. Mohapatra has criminal antecedents and was arrested in July last year too for allegedly molesting a woman devotee. Continued on P5
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