new ICMR guidelines amid rise in diseases caused by unhealthy diet thursdAY 09 may, 2024 Eat a varied diet, cut salt and sugar intake, and stay physically active are among top guidelines to curb the rise of non-communicable diseases epaper.morningstandard.in 50% facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard of daily cereal intake should comprise whole grains israel conflict us puts bomb shipment on hold The US paused bomb shipment to Israel over concerns that the latter was approaching a decision on launching a fullscale assault on Rafah Page 11 fill your plate with items from 8 food groups A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS l New Delhi l J8.00 l The Indian Council of Medical Research said people must source micro and macronutrients from a minimum of eight of the 10 food groups it listed. Vegetables, fruits, roots and tubers should form half of the plate. Cereals and nutri-cereals (millets) should make up most of the other half. Pulses, eggs and meat, milk, nuts and oil seeds can be included as per one’s dietary preferences | P9 PAGES 14 Crew stir Modi pillories Congress, says people will not tolerate the insult on the basis of skin colour Pitroda quits party post after his foot-in-the-mouth racial analogy P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Congress loose cannon and chairman of the party’s overseas unit Sam Pitroda stepped down from the post on Wednesday hours after his racial comments in a podcast on how people in the country’s East look like the Chinese and those of the South look like Africans, drew national outrage. Announcing the resignation, C o n g re s s l e a d e r Ja i r a m Ramesh said, “Sam Pitroda has decided to step down as Chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress of his own accord. The Congress President has accepted his decision.” In an interview with a newspaper, Pitroda described India as a diverse country “We have . survived 75 years in a very happy environment where people could live together, leaving aside a few fights here and Rahul’s close aide Pitroda was an advisor to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and has been closely associated with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, accompanying him during his foreign visits there. We could hold a country together as diverse as India, where people on the East look like Chinese, people on the West look like Arab, people on the North look like White and maybe people on the South look like Africa,” he said. The Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s remarks, calling it most unfortunate and unacceptable. “The analogies drawn by Sam Pitroda in a podcast to illustrate India’s diversity are most unfortunate and unacceptable. The Indian National Congress completely dissociates itself from these analogies,” said Ramesh. With campaigning in full swing ahead of the fourth phase of polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP’s attack on the Congress citing Pitroda’s analogy and asserted that people will not tolerate the attempt to insult them on the basis of their skin colour. At an election rally in Rajampet in Andhra Pradesh, Modi asked Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin if he would break the DMK’s alliance with its ally Congress over the insulting remarks by Pitroda. “A senior leader has exposed the divisive mindset of the Congress. The leader is close to the Gandhi family and is the mentor of the shehzada. His comments are shameful,” said Modi. He also linked the Congress’s opposition to Droupadi Murmu’s presidential bid to its mindset, which saw her as “African” because of her dark skin. In the past, too, Pitroda’s controversial comments had put Congress in tough situations. The party had squirmed after Pitroda endorsed the US model of inheritance tax law for India. Though the Congress dismissed it as his personal opinion, the issue became one of the main narratives for the BJP as it accused the grand old , party of eyeing every citizen’s assets as part of its “redistribution of wealth’’ policy . 2 cardiologists of RML nabbed in bribery case mukesh ranjan @ New Delhi The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday busted a major bribery racket at the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) hospital here and arrested nine people, including two senior cardiologists, officials said. According to CBI officials, Cardiology Professor Ajay Raj and Assistant Professor Parvatagouda Channappagouda have been arrested for taking bribes from medical equipment suppliers to use their products and stents. The CBI has also arrested medical equipment supplier Naresh Nagpal of Nagpal Technologies, who allegedly paid `2.48 lakh to Parvatagouda for promoting the sale of medical equipment; Bharat Singh Dalal of Bharti Medical Technologies, who allegedly bribed Raj using UPI twice, and Abrar Ahmed, who reportedly paid bribes to Cath Lab in-charge in the hospital, Rajnish Kumar. The others who have been arrested include Rajnish Kumar, and the hospital’s clerks Bhuval Jaiswal, Sanjay Kumar and Vikas Kumar, officials said. The probe agency alleged that Bhuval Jaiswal took bribes for fixing appointments with doctors, while Sanjay Kumar took bribes for fake medical certificates. All the arrested accused were produced before a special court here, which sent them to CBI custody till May 14, officials informed. Battle for Hindi heartland Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (left) addresses a public meeting in Ghatampur town of Kanpur; and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra at a road show in Rae Bareli on Wednesday | PTI SC says may decide Kejriwal interim bail plea on May 10 Suchitra Kalyan Mohanty @ New Delhi The Supreme Court has said it may pass an order on May 10 on the interim bail application of jailed Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the Delhi liquor case. Justice Sanjiv Khanna informed Additional Solicitor General SV Raju about the observation in the open court while hearing a different case. The same bench, comprising Justices Khanna and Dipankar Datta, had heard the arguments from the ED and Kejriwal. “We may pass an order on Friday Justice Khanna said. ,” Kejriwal had moved the top court challenging the Delhi HC’s rejection of his plea against his arrest and remand by the ED. Justifying Kejriwal’s arrest in the case, the ED told the Supreme Court that he was the mastermind and main conspirator in the case. “We have all the evidence against him,” Raju said. He said that when the investigation began, it was not focused on Kejriwal. However, when it progressed, he was named and his role became clearer. The apex court observed that Kejriwal is an elected CM of Delhi. “There are elections. These are extraordinary circumstances. He’s not a habitual offender. These factors may be considered for granting some kind of interim bail.” Express read 10 U’khand forest officials suspended Ten forest department personnel found negligent in preventing wildfires were suspended on Wednesday, the Uttarakhand government said, as forest fires raged across the state. The government said that the action was taken on the instructions of Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami. 1 more terrorist killed in Kulgam gunfight A terrorist was killed in a fresh gunfight with security forces on Wednesday near the site of an encounter in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kulgam district, where two ultras were killed a day earlier. The fresh exchange of fire took place during a search of houses near the encounter site in Redwani area. Key players: Dushyant Chautala, Nayab Singh Saini, Bhupinder Singh Hooda Will support Cong if no-trust motion moved: Dushyant harpreet bajwa @ Chandigarh BJP’s former ally Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) said on Wednesday that it is ready to help the Congress bring down the BJP government in Haryana, a day after three Independent MLAs withdrew support to the ruling party . Claiming that the BJP government has been reduced to a minority, the Congress demanded that the President’s rule be imposed and early assembly elections be held in the state. However, Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini asserted that his government is not in any trouble. “I want to tell Leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh Hooda that going by the present numbers in the Assembly if a step , is taken that this government is brought down, then we will fully consider to support them in this,” JJP leader Dushyant Chautala said in Hissar. Haryana Congress president Udai Bhan said, “We are going to write to the Governor that the government is in a minority and they have no right to stay in power. We will demand that the government be dismissed, President’s Rule be imposed and fresh elec- tions be held.” The state Congress president said JJP should also write a letter to the Governor in this regard. “JJP should also write a letter (to Governor) stating that the government be dismissed. INLD’s Abhay Singh Chautala and Independent MLA Balraj Kundu, who claim to be opposing the government, should also write similar letters to the Governor,” Bhan said. CM Saini told reporters in Sirsa, “The government is not in any trouble, it is working strongly .” Senior BJP leader Jawahar Yadav said, “There was no danger to the BJP gover nment in the state. The Saini government won a trust vote on March 13 and if it has to prove its majority on the floor of the House, it will do so.” The 90-member Haryana assembly at present has an effective strength of 88. The BJP has 40 MLAs, Congress 30 and JJP 10 in the House. Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and Haryana Lokhit Party has one member each. Apart from this, there are six independents. The BJP government has the support of two of the independent legislators. 90 AI Express flights cancelled, flyers stranded at airports AISHWARYA PRABHAKARAN @ Kochi Thousands of passengers were left stranded at airports across the country on Wednesday after Tata Group-run Air India Express cancelled over 90 flights as 300 senior crew members went on mass sick leave to protest the new employment terms at the airline. The flight disruption is likely to continue for a few days as the protesting employees are firm that their grievances be heard and demands met. Air India Express is the lowcost subsidiary of Air India and operates budget services mostly to the Gulf countries. K K Vijaykumar of Air India Express Employees Union said discontent had been brewing among the cabin crew after the Tata Group took over the airline in January 2022. “The new management reduced the contract period of several cabin crew from five years to one year and reduced salaries by 25-30%,” he said. Reports said the strike caught the airline management unawares as the senior crew members called in sick and switched off their mobiles, leaving the airline no option but to cancel flights. There was chaos in many airports in Kerala besides Delhi and Bengaluru as passengers came to know of cancellations only after they reached the boarding gates. Amrutha, who was to travel from Thiruvananthapuram to Muscat on Tuesday night, said she had to fight with the airline officials for many hours for a rescheduled ticket. “I had a medical emergency, but the airline was ready to give ticket only after a week,” she said. An Air India Express spokesperson said the airline is trying to resolve the issue soon. AstraZeneca withdraws Covid jab Kavita Bajeli-Datt @ New Delhi Days after admitting that its Covishield vaccine can cause blood clots in rare cases, British pharma giant AstraZeneca on Wednesday said it is withdrawing the jab globally citing a fall in demand. “As multiple, variant Covid-19 vaccines have since been developed, there is a surplus of available updated vaccines. This surplus has led to a decline in demand for Vaxzevria, which is no longer being manufactured or supplied,” AstraZeneca said in a statement. AstraZeneca partnered with Oxford University to develop AZD1222 vaccine, which was sold as Covishield in India and Vaxzevria in Europe. A spokesperson for the Punebased Serum Institute, which made the Covishield vaccine, said with India achieving high vaccination rates in 2021 and 2022, coupled with the emergence of new mutant variant strains, the demand for previous vaccines diminished significantly “Consequently since . , December 2021, we have stopped the manufacturing and supply of additional doses of Covishield,” the official said. K Srinath Reddy, honorary distinguished professor at the Public Health Foundation of India, said Covid vaccines have to be judged by their ability to stimulate a protective response against the form of the virus that is currently circulating to prevent serious disease. “The original AstraZeneca vaccine no longer meets those criteria,” he told this newspaper. AstraZeneca is fighting a class-action suit in the UK over claims that its vaccine caused the deaths of several people. The company said the decision to withdraw the jab was purely commercial and denied any link to the lawsuit. Nityanand Rai eyes hat-trick, hopes Ujiarpur voters would caste away anti-incumbency RA M A S HAN K AR @ Patna Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai could not have asked for more when his senior colleague Union Home Minister Amit Shah called him his jigri (favourite) and promised to make him a bada aadmi (big man) after the Lok Sabha polls. Shah’s remarks came at an election rally in Bihar’s Ujiarpur, from where Rai is trying to hit a hat-trick. Shah’s words carry weight, but Rai also needs to surmount anti-incumbency and get the caste equation right. His main opponent is ex-state minister and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Alok Kumar Mehta, who is seeking to avenge his 2014 defeat at the hands of Rai. The fight between Rai and Mehta is keenly watched for their contrasting electoral strategies. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is largely focusing on national issues, the RJD is raising unresolved local problems to dent the prospects of the NDA candidate. Rai hopes Shah’s blessings and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s image can help him, but Mehta is relentlessly raking up two major issues on the ground—unemployment and inflation in essential goods— asking voters not to give the BJP candidate a third term. Unemployment has an immediate resonance with voters. “There is no industry in Samastipur district, which falls in the Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency. As a result, people have to migrate to other places in search of livelihood,” rued Abhimanyu Kumar Singh, a resident of Mohiuddin Nagar. Girindra Mohan Mishra, a resident of Bibhutipur, said: “Ujiarpur has no major industry Many jute and sugar mills . were closed years ago. Migra- Nityanand Rai (BJP) vs Alok Kumar Mehta (RJD) in Ujiarpur, Bihar Illustration: Mandar Pardikar tion of youth in search of job is another problem.” Ujiarpur Lok Sabha constituency comprises six assembly segments—Patepur (reserved) of Vaishali district, Ujiarpur, Sarairanjan, Morwa, Mohiuddin Nagar and Bibhutipur of Samastipur district. The voting will take place on three factors — caste, local issues, and Modi’s guarantee. But caste remains the swing factor in this north Bihar constituency, which has supported NDA candidates since its creation in 2008 after delimitation. “Voters will vote for development, but caste factor can’t be ruled out,” said Rajan Kumar, a resident of Bibhutipur. Pappu Tiwari of Vidyapatinagar said: “People mainly vote on the basis of caste, followed by local issues. People of Samastipur and Ujiarpur have been demanding a railway over bridge, roads, and other basic facilities for years but neither the state government nor Cen- tre addressed these issues.” Rai, a Yadav by caste, won in 2014 and 2019. In 2019, Rai defeated Rashtriya Lok Samta Party chief Upendra Kushwaha, who was then part of the grand alliance. He is now with the NDA. Yadavs and Kushawahas are strong enough to swing results in this constituency . As for RJD, it claims Yadavs, Kushwahas, Muslims, Mallahs, OBCs and EBCs, besides those from the upper castes are solidly behind Mehta. But the emergence of a strong third candidate, RJD rebel Amresh Rai who is contesting as an Independent, may turn out to be the X factor in this election.
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.