TUESDAY SPICE-MIX PRODUCTS SOLD IN INDIA UNDER LENS OVER CANCER RISK 23 Food safety regulator starts taking samples after Hong Kong and Singapore flagged high ethylene oxide levels in spice-mix products from India APRIL, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard ISRAEL ETHYLENE OXIDE IS A GROUP 1 CARCINOGEN FIRST RESIGNATION OVER HAMAS STRIKE The head of military intelligence quit on Monday over the failures surrounding Oct 7, 2023 attacks PAGE 11 The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it is taking samples of spices in powder form of all brands, including MDH and Everest—the two companies whose products are under scrutiny in Singapore and Hong Kong. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified ethylene oxide as a Group 1 carcinogen | P12 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS NEW DELHI J8.00 PAGES 14 `32,000 CR WORTH OF SPICES EXPORTED BY INDIA IN FISCAL YEAR 2022-23 HC nixes 24,600 school teacher jobs in Bengal Surat of things S U L A G N A S E N G U P TA @ Kolkata THE Calcutta High Court on Monday cancelled all appointments of teachers and nont e a ch i ng staf f recr uited through the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (WBSSC) State Level Selection Test2016 (SLST-2016) after it found that bribes were paid to secure recruitments. The order will cancel more than 24,000 appointments. About 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. A division bench of the court comprising Justices Debangsu Basak and Shab- bar Rashidi directed the CBI to probe and submit a report. The court had ordered a reevaluation of the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets of candidates from the 2016 recruitment exam after it received petitions alleging irregularity. The re-evaluation brought to light that many of those selected were recruited against blank OMR sheets. Those recruited in such a way must immediately surrender the salaries they have drawn to the jurisdict i o n a l m a g i s t r at e, the court said in its order. The bench directed the WBSSC to initiate ‘JUSTICE AFTER YEARS OF STRUGGLE’ As the Calcutta High Court delivered its order cancelling appointments, hundreds of school job aspirants waiting outside the court premises rejoiced with many breaking into tears. “We had been waiting for this day. After years of struggle on the streets, justice has finally been delivered,” one of them said a fresh recruitment process. Reacting to the court order, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her government will challenge the “illegal” verdict. “The court verdict cancelling all recruitments is illegal. We stand by those who lost their jobs. We will ensure you get justice, and challenge the order in a higher court,” she said. Training her guns on the BJP Mama, ta said: “It has turned the courts into their extended party offices. If the BJP files a PIL, prompt action is taken and people are sent to jail. No action is initiated when others file.” She went on to allege that people aligned with the BJP are given important positions. Former judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay. who joined the BJP recently, said: “I have said SC notice to Delhi govt on Soumya mom plea against bail to 4 convicts YOUNGEST CHALLENGER Grandmaster D Gukesh, 17, scripted history by winning the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto to become the youngest-ever challenger to the world title S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Delhi government and four convicts in the 2008 Soumya Vishwanathan murder case on a plea filed by her mother opposing the bail granted to them. A twojudge bench of Justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal said, “Replies from the four convicts and the Delhi government must be filed in four weeks”. On Saturday, Madhvi Vishwanathan filed a Special Leave Petition in the SC seeking reversal of the Delhi High Court’s order granting bail and suspending the sentences of the convicts serving two life imprisonments. The HC had passed the order, considering they had already served 14 years and nine months of imprisonment. Soumya, a TV journalist, was fatally shot in the early hours of September 30, 2008, on Nelson Mandela Marg in south Delhi while she was driving back home from office. EXPRESS READ Militants kill soldier’s brother in Rajouri The brother of a Territorial Army jawan was killed in a militant attack at his residence in Sharda Shrief area in the border district of Rajouri on Monday night. The deceased, Mohammad Razak (40), who was working in the social welfare department, was declared brought dead at a hospital. The triumph entitles Gukesh a clash against reigning world champion Ding Liren of China in the last quarter of the year D Gukesh shows his Candidates trophy after emerging victorious at the event in Toronto on Sunday | STEV BONHAGE/FIDE X | P13 No court relief for Kejriwal over daily video call to doc ‘Ensure requisite treatment’ S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi IN another setback to CM Arvind Kejriwal, a city court on Monday rejected his plea seeking daily consultation with his family doctor via video call. “I cannot grant you the relief you want,” said Rouse Avenue Court Special Judge Kaveri Baweja. However, the court said the medical treatment should be provided to Kejriwal. It directed the AIIMS to constitute a medical board to examine the CM to determine whether he needs insulin to control his blood sugar levels and said the home-cooked food that the politician was consuming was different from the diet chart prepared by his doctor. The court also responded to a nonchalant remark by Kejriwal’s lawyer that “Aam aadmi aam nahi khayega to kya mushroom khayega”. The judge said mushrooms had been prescribed by Kejriwal’s doctor, whereas there was no specific recommendation for eating mangoes. “This court is also unable to fathom as to why the family of the applicant has The court said it will be the primary duty of Tihar authorities to ensure that all requisite treatment is provided to CM Kejriwal. “In the event of a specialised consultation, the authorities shall consult the medical board to be constituted by AIIMS director.” The board will prescribe a diet and exercise plan. The judge asked the board to submit its report to the court at the earliest. been sending various articles against his medically prescribed diet i.e. mango, sweets, aloo puri etc.,” the judge said. The Tihar administration has said it had facilitated the video conference for Kejriwal with specialists from AIIMS. During the video conferencing, neither Kejriwal raised the issue of insulin nor was it suggested by the attending doctors. After his plea against arrest and remand was rejected by the Delhi High Court, Kejriwal is lodged in Tihar since April 1 for his alleged involvement in the now-scraped liquor policy case. P4 Kharge prestige at stake in son-in-law’s fight RAMAKRISHNA BADSESHI @ Kalaburagi CONGRESS chief Mallikarjun Kharge is not contesting from the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency but he is putting all his might to win this SC-reserved seat, which he lost in the 2019 general elections. That shocking defeat dented his image as Solillada Saradara (one who has not tasted defeat). And to reclaim his reputation, Kharge has fielded his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani in Gulbara. For the octogenarian, Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga) is his karma bhumi, which elected him 10 times to the Assembly and twice to the Lok Sabha. Doddamani is also Kharge’s brother-in-law as he is the younger brother of Radhabai Kharge. In line with the popular saying in Hindi Sari duniya ek taraf, joru ka bhai ek taraf (The in my verdict earlier that the Mamata Banerjee government is corrupt. I thank the Calcutta High Court bench for giving such an order. Now a can of worms will be opened.” In 2014, the WBSSC announced that a selection test would be used to recruit teachers to state government-run schools. The recruitment process started in 2016 and soon several petitions were filed in the Calcutta High Court with petitioners claiming many candidates who received lower grades were placed higher on the merit list. There were allegations that those who did not make it to the merit list received appointment letters. whole world is on side, wife’s brother on the other side), Kharge has already addressed public gatherings twice in Kalaburagi in the past month, and is visiting again on April 24. The veteran leader gets daily updates from Doddamani, while his son Priyank Kharge and strong follower Dr Sharanaprakash Patil are sweating it out in the scorching summer heat to ensure victory . The Congress has systematically planned Doddamani’s election campaign. While the party has claimed credit for implementing the five guarantees and amending Article 371-J for Kalyana Karnataka Region, Priyank and Sharana p r a k a s h h ave been meeting caste groups and working classes separately . Also, people are sympathetic towards Doddamani because of his soft manners and he is using the strategies that Kharge used to win Assembly and Parliament elections. But the BJP is equally determined to retain the Gulbarga seat and has fielded the sitting MP Umesh Jadhav, who defeated Kharge in 2019. It was from Kalaburagi that Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the saffron party’s ILLUSTRATION: MANDAR PARDIKAR election campaign in Karnataka on March 16, the day the Election Commission of India announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule for the country . However, Jadhav has to square off anti-incumbency . Sensing the mood against him for not being able to bring projects to Kalaburagi, PM Modi launched a mega textile park in the district last year and two direct trains between Bengaluru and Kalaburagi recently. During his tour of villages, Jadhav is seeking votes for his work as well as for Modi’s achievements. Of the eight assembly constituencies in the Gulbarga LS constituency, six are represented by Congress MLAs. The remaining two are shared between the BJP and the JD(S). More reports on Page 5, 6, 7, 9 & 10 to come as BJP gets 1st LS seat Party candidate Dalal elected unopposed D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad THE BJP on Monday opened its 2024 Lok Sabha account from Surat by winning the constituency without any contest. In the process, Mukeshbhai Dalal became the first candidate of any party since 12 years in a general election to be elected unopposed. The last such instance was of SP’s Dimple Yadav winning the Kannauj Lok Sabha bypoll in 2012. Eight other candidates in Surat withdrew their candidatures after Congress nominee Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination form was rejected by returning officer Sourabh Pardhi on Sunday Kumbhani’s papers . had purported inconsistencies in the signatures of his proposers. The papers of Congress dummy candidate Suresh Padsala, too, were rejected on similar grounds. “As all eight candidates who had successfully filed their papers for the Surat Lok Sabha seat withdrew on Monday Dalal has been elected , unopposed,” said Pardhi. The Surat Congress, howev- er, claimed that the entire exercise was premeditated. Congress leader Pappan Togadia told this newspaper, “I alerted party leaders and South Gujarat Congress in-charge Usha Naidu about plot to reject Kumbhani’s papers. But my warnings went unheeded. I believe Kumbhani will soon join BJP .” While the last day for filing nomination was Friday, their scrutiny happened the following day. The withdrawal window for candidates closed at 3 pm on Monday . The drama began on Saturday with the BJP questioning the legitimacy of signatures on Kumbhani’s papers. Subsequent scrutiny revealed that three persons who proposed Kumbhani’s candidature, claimed their signatures were forged. For his part, Kumbhani alleged that his supporters had been abducted. Curiously, Kumbhani’s proposers are close relatives. All three vanished since the controversy broke. Amid a Congress scramble to legally challenge the rejection of his papers, Kumbhani left for Goa purportedly to avoid signing the papers.
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