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VOL. 55 * NO. 296* AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

Kathmandu, May 16(IANS) Nepal Prime MinisterSher Bahadur Deuba and hisIndian Prime MinisterNarendra Modi held bilat-eral talks in Lumbini, wherethe latter is on a day-longvisit to mark the occasion ofBuddha Purnima.

During the meeting, thetwo Prime Ministers recalledtheir fruitful discussionsduring the Deuba’s officialvisit to India on April 1-3,according to the Ministry ofForeign Affairs inKathmandu.

The two Prime Ministersalso discussed a broad over-view of Nepal-India coop-eration and matters of mu-tual interests with a view tofurther enhancing the closeand cordial ties between thetwo countries.

The two sides alsoagreed in principle to estab-lish the sister city relationsbetween Lumbini andKushinagar and the neces-sary process will be taken indue course through appro-priate local authorities, theMinistry added.

After the talks, sixMemorandum of Under-standings were signed be-tween the two sides.

Earlier in the day, Modiand Deuba jointly laid thefoundation of the India In-ternational Centre for Bud-dhist Culture and Heritagein Lumbini, the birthplace of

PM receives warm welcome by Indian diaspora, in Lumbini, Nepal on May16, 2022.

Modi- Nepal PM Deuba holdbilateral talks in Lumbini

Gautam Buddha.Shortly after his arrival,

the Indian leader offeredprayers at the famous MayaDevi temple.

Modi is also scheduledto address a Buddha Jayantievent organised by theLumbini DevelopmentTrust.

Man arrested inBihar formaking fake FBID of Amit Shah

Patna, May 16 (IANS)The Gopalganj policehave arrested a personfor allegedly creating afake Facebook ID ofUnion Home MinisterAmit Shah and makingabusive remarks aboutformer MLA ofBaikunthpur, MithileshTiwari.

The incident came tolight after Tiwari filed acomplaint with theMohamadpur police onSunday. After investiga-tion, the police arrested aperson named VickyKumar Singh.

Goons createruckus atDalit’s marriagefunction in MP

Bhopal, May 16 (IANS)The attacks on the policein Madhya Pradesh con-tinued with a fresh inci-dent coming to light inRajgarh district wherestones were pelted on apolice team on Sundaynight.

As per the official re-ports, a Dalit family wastaking a marriage partyto the bride’s home inPiplia Kala village inRajgarh district on Sun-day night. A group of lo-cal miscreants from theupper caste allegedlystopped the marriageparty and also created aruckus at the bride’shome.

The accused up-rooted the wedding tentand when the policereached the village, theypelted stones at themforcing the police to firetear gas shells. The ad-ministration then de-ployed a heavy policeforce in the village to con-trol the situation.

Vodafone Ideashares soar 13%on narrowinglosses

New Delhi, May 16(IANS) Shares of telecomoperator Vodafone Ideajumped sharply on Mon-day, rallying over 12 percent at the time of writ-ing this report.

At 3.12 p.m., theshares of the companytraded at Rs 9.5, up 13.2per cent from the previ-ous closing, data showed.

Monday’s rise is itssharpest intra-day rallyduring calendar year2022. The rise was possi-bly because of thecompany’s narrowing ofits losses. The telecomservice provider’s lossesnarrowed 6.5 per cent toRs 6,563 crore on a yearon year basis in Q4FY22led by revenue growth.

Besides, earnings be-fore interest depreciationtax and amortization(EBITDA) rose 5.4 per centyear on year to Rs 4,649crore. Also, the company’saverage revenue per useror (ARPU) improved to Rs124, up 7.5 per cent on aquarterly basis from Rs115 in Q3FY22.

Bengaluru, May 16(IANS) The decision of theKarnataka Education De-partment to includeRashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) founder KeshavBaliram Hedgewar’s speechas a lesson for the Class 10students is likely to create acontroversy in the state.

The lesson has been in-cluded in the syllabus as thefirst language Kannada text-book prescribed for theSSLC (Class 10) students forthe academic year 2022-23.

The decision has beentaken following the recom-mendation by the TextbookRevision Committeeheaded by writer RohitChakratheertha. He is re-garded as a right winger bythe progressive thinkersand opposition parties inKarnataka.

The revision committeehad earlier come into eye ofstorm after the statementby Rohit Chakratheerthathat “glorification of MuslimKing of Mysuru Tipu Sultanwill be taken off from thesyllabus”.

Sources confirmed thatthe lesson is titled: “Whoshould be your real rolemodel?” and it is kept as the5th chapter in the prose sec-tion. However, the lessonsfrom the authors, who arestaunch critics of the BJPand RSS have beendropped, they say.

The lessons written bywell-known journalist,sworn critic of BJP Late P.Lankesh and leftist thinker

RSS founder Hedgewar’s speech intextbook likely to stir controversy

G. Ramakrishna have beendropped. Vedic scholar, theLate Bannanje Govind-acharya ‘SukanashanaUpasana’ and author, notedcritic Shatavadhani R.Ganesh’s ‘ShresthaBharateeya Chintanegalu’have been included, accord-

ing to sources. The TextbookRevision Committee hasmaintained that it had se-lected the lesson onHedgewar not on the basisof ideology. Education Min-ister B.C. Nagesh had de-fended the recommenda-tions of the committee.

New Delhi, May 16(IANSlife) Nutritional un-derstanding is undergo-ing a revolution in India.And a better perceptionof our needs has fuelledthe growth of the pre-ventive care supplementindustry. This rapidgrowth, however, haspaved the way for a mar-ket flooded with ‘me-too’products, making differ-entiation nearly impos-sible. Piecemeal genericformulations, antiquateddelivery formats, andpoorly sourced ingredi-ents have become thenorm. With rising adop-tion rates of health andwellness supplements inIndia, sub-par productshave gained traction be-cause they are simple todevelop, quick to manu-facture, and offered at alow cost. To addressthese issues and createan overall health andwellness brand for new-age customers, serial en-

Creating a paradigm shiftin health and wellness

trepreneur, fitness enthu-siast, and biohackerHarpreet Vir Singhfounded YourHappyLife(YHL) with a simple mis-sion: to create innovative,complete wellness solu-tions built at the intersec-tion of direct and indirectfunctionality that wereclean label and offeredholistic wellbeing.

The self-growthoptimizer/wellness brandtook two years to developits ideologies into a prod-uct, and it launched inAugust 2021 aftermonths of consistent re-search, development, andtrials.

Over the next fewmonths, YourHappyLifewill launch seven newcomplete wellness solu-tions, all of which havebeen in developmentand trials for the past year.

Visit https://yourhappylife.com tolearn more about thebrand.

Post-mortemreport ofBengali TVactress hintsat suicide

Kolkata, May 16(IANS) A preliminarypost-mortem report hassuggested that televi-sion actress Pallavi Dey,who was found dead inher South Kolkata resi-dence, had committedsuicide.

Dey’s body wasfound hanging on Sun-day morning.

However, on the ba-sis of specific allegationsby the parents of the de-ceased, police are prob-ing the “abatement tosuicide” angle. Underscanner is Pallavi Dey’sfriend ShagnikChakaborty, who usedto stay with her at thesame residence in SouthKolkata.

Under Section 306 ofthe Indian Penal Code(IPC), if any person com-mits suicide, whoeverabets the commission ofsuch act, shall be pun-ished with imprison-ment of either descrip-tion for a term whichmay extend to ten years,and shall also be liable tofine. Pallabi’s parentsstated to the police thatShagnik Chakrabortyentered into a live-in re-lationship with theirdaughter supressing thefact that he was married.However, according tothem, when Pallabicame to know of hismarriage six monthsago, Shagnik told herthat a divorce- case wasin the process and hewas in separation withhis wife.

Bank cashier who escapedwith Rs.22.53 lakh surrenders

sage to the manager that hehad taken the cash after hesuffered losses in cricketbetting. “If I win money inbetting again, I will returnthe bank amount back, elseI will end my life,” read themessage. However, the nextday he sent a selfie video tothe bank officials from anundisclosed location, claim-ing he had not stolen themoney.

He alleged that when-ever there was any differ-ence in cash balances in thebank, the officials blamedhim. He claimed that he hadearlier brought to themanager’s notice the inci-dents of missing cash but noaction was taken.

Hyderabad, May 16(IANS) A bank cashier, whohad escaped with Rs 22.53lakh last week, on Mondaysurrendered before a court.

Praveen Kumar, workingas cashier at Bank ofBaroda’s branch atVanasthalipuram, gave him-self up at a court atHayathnagar.

The court remandedhim to judicial custody tillMay 30. He was subse-quently shifted toCherlapally jail.

Kumar had left the bankwith Rs 22,53,378 on May 10and had since remaineduntraced. He had told hismanager that he was goingout to buy medicine for

stomach pain. As the cash-ier did not return and thecash was found missing, thebank officials lodged a com-plaint with Vanasthalipurampolice station underRachakonda policecommissionerate.

Police had booked acase of cheating and crimi-nal breach of trust againstthe bank employee andformed teams to nab him.Praveen’s family memberstold police that they are un-aware of his whereabouts ashe did not return home andcould not be reached overthe mobile phone.

Kumar had sent contra-dictory messages to thebank officials. He sent a mes-

with collectors of all districtsrecently in which the elec-tion commissioner BasantPratap Singh said that poll-ing for urban civic bodieswill be held through EVMs.

The commission hasalso reviewed the availabil-ity of EVMs in the state andasked the district adminis-trations to do preparationsaccordingly and get readyfor elections. As per the ear-lier statement, the SEC islikely to issue a notificationto conduct elections by May24. In its order last Tuesday,the apex court had askedSEC to issue notificationwithin two weeks.

Polling for rural civicbodies will be held throughpaper ballots. The state elec-tion commissioner hadasked the government toensure sufficient supply ofpaper as it would be re-quired in large quantities forPanchayat polls. IANS

Kamal Nath questions useof EVMs in civic body polls

Bhopal, May 16 (IANS)Former Chief Minister andMadhya Pradesh Congresspresident Kamal Nath hasonce again raised questionsover use of EVMs (ElectronicVoting Machines) in thecivic body polls. His remarkscame when the state is gear-ing up for panchayats andlocal body polls after an or-der issued by the SupremeCourt on May 10.

While addressing thepress on the occasion of ap-pointing new president ofthe state for NSUI (NationalStudent Union of India)atthe party headquarters,Kamal Nath said that whenthe EVMs are not being usedin developed nations thenwhy here. AshutoshChouksey was appointed asthe president of the state forNSUI on Monday.

“BJP wins 300 seats withthe help of EVMs. Whenelections are not being held

with EVMs in Europe andAmerica, then why is it be-ing adopted here? Germanyhas amended the constitu-tion itself to not conductelections with EVMs. Nowelections are being heldthere by ballot paper,” theformer CM added.

Following the SC’s direc-tion to conduct local bodypolls without OBC reserva-tion, the State Election Com-mission (SEC) has started itspreparation. The commis-sion had held a meeting

Hyderabad, May 16(IANS) Farmers in parts ofTelangana suffered heavycrop losses due tounseasonal rain on Sundaynight. Paddy ready to beharvested and also the pro-duce kept near procure-ment centres suffered hugedamage due to the heavyrains accompanied bystrong winds in Nizamabad,Kamareddy, Karimnagar,Jagtial, Rajanna Sircilla,Medak, Nirmal and otherdistricts.

In some places, farmersstaged protests on Monday,demanding that the stategovernment compensatethem for the losses.

They alleged that thedelay by the authorities inprocuring paddy led tolosses. The produce storedin the open near the pro-curement centres was eitherwashed away or soaked inrain water. Farmers com-plained that they had beenwaiting for 20 days forpaddy to be procured andthe delay led to huge dam-age. They said the authori-ties failed to arrange trucksfor paddy to be transported

Unseasonal rains hit hardTelangana paddy farmers

from the fields to the pro-curement centres. In otherplaces, the authorities didnot arrange tarpaulins atprocurement centres to pro-tect the paddy.

In Kamareddy, RajannaSircilla and Karimnagar dis-tricts the farmers staged asit-in or resorted to roadblockades in support oftheir demand.

A group of farmers saton the Nizamabad-Armoorhighway. They demandedthat the district collectorcome there and give theman assurance to pay com-pensation. Congress leaderand member of the Legisla-tive Council Jeevan Reddycalled on the affected farm-ers in Jagtial district andurged the state governmentto come to their rescue.

In Rajanna Sircilla dis-trict, BJP leaders met the af-fected farmers and ex-tended support to their pro-test. State minister K. T. RamaRao, who represents Sircillaconstituency, asked officialsto provide details of thelosses suffered by the farm-ers. The unseasonal rainscame as another blow to the

paddy farmers as they werealready worried over thedelay due to the stand-offbetween the state and thecentral governments.

As the Centre refused toprocure paddy despite theprotest by the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samithi(TRS), the state governmentlast month came forward toprocure the same fromfarmers.

Meanwhile, Kisan Con-gress leaders staged a pro-test at the civil supplies of-fice in Hyderabad over al-leged irregularities and alsodelay in paddy procure-ment. The leaders led byAnvesh Reddy staged theprotest in the office. Theyalleged that rice millers andofficials were exploitingfarmers.

Anvesh Reddy and oth-ers refused to leave till civilsupplies commissioner AnilKumar came to hear them.As they continued the pro-test raising anti-govern-ment slogans, police ar-rested them. The police per-sonnel physically lifted theprotesters and shifted themto a police station.

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS)Rajasthan Royals all-rounder Riyan Paragcourted controversy duringthe match against LucknowSuper Giants when he tooka catch to dismiss MarcusStoinis at the Brabourne Sta-dium on Sunday.

The incident took placein the final over of the matchwhen the Australian all-rounder Stoinis smashed alow full toss from PrasidhKrishna for a six to begin theover. However, on the nextball, he again tried to smashit over the rope, only to find

IPL 2022: Riyan Parag’s frolics on the field leaves fansParag at long-on.

Parag de-cided to make abit of a show ofthe catch as hepretended tonearly touch theball to theground, a gesturethat did not im-press the com-mentators oreven many fans.He gestured thatthe ball had nottouched theground, probablymocking the third

umpire.Earlier, Parag had

claimed a catch of Stoinisbut the third umpire ruledthat the ball had bouncedbefore reaching the RRplayer. Parag, nonetheless,found another opportunityto hold on to Stoinis’ catchin the 20th over.

Seeing his unprec-edented gesture on thefield, former Australia andChennai Super Kings batterMatthew Hayden who wasdoing commentary said, “Ihave got some advice foryou young man, cricket is a

very, very long game and weall have very long memories.Never ever tempt fate be-cause it comes aroundquickly.” “Future will deter-mine that,” said former WestIndies fast bowler IanBishop, who was in the boxwith Hayden, when replaysshowed Parag’s gesture.

Parag faced a lot of flakon social media for the act.

“Too much arrogancefor a 20-21-year-old. That actof mocking the thirdumpire’s decision wasshameless.#LSG #LSGvsRR#LSGvRR,” a fan tweeted.

Two Prime Ministers recalled theirfruitful discussions during theDeuba’s official visit to India onApril 1-3, according to the Ministryof Foreign Affairs in Kathmandu.

In some places, farmers staged protests on Monday

Devotees offering prayer on the occassion of budh purnima at BudhistTemple in New Delhi on Monday. UNI

Ahmedabad, Page 2

Editorial2FromEditor’sDesk

Government ban onwheat exports hurtsfarmers and traders

dents India’s image as a reliableglobal supplier

The ban on exports has apparently beenprompted by wheat procurement plunging to around18 mt, from last year’s all-time-high 43.3 mt, and theresultant depletion in public stocks seen as threaten-ing “food security”.

Last July, the Narendra Modi government imposedstockholding limits on pulses, going against the farmreform laws it had enacted only in September 2020and before their formal repeal in November 2021. Thatmove, and the latest decision banning wheat exports,constitutes not just a knee-jerk reaction to inflation-ary pressures. Of more concern is their long-term im-pact on the farm trade and policy credibility. Buildingexport markets, establishing warehousing infrastruc-ture and creating supply chains take both time andmoney. Investments in these — whose necessity forIndian farmers and consumers alike is not in doubt— are predicated on a stable policy framework. Whichagri-business will have the confidence to put up largeprocessing and storage facilities or search for newbuyers for Indian produce if the government doesabrupt policy about-turns — by telling them theycannot stock more than 200 tonnes of pulses or con-tract fresh exports?

The flip-flops in government actions is evidentfrom the department of commerce, on May 12, issu-ing a statement about the Centre sending trade del-egations to nine countries “for exploring possibilitiesof boosting wheat exports from India” and, a day later,prohibiting shipments “with immediate effect”. True,the country’s wheat production has fallen due to thesudden spike in temperatures from mid-March, result-ing in premature ripening and shrivelling of the grains.But this was known by early April, when most groundreports pointed to farmers harvesting 15-20 per centless yields compared to last year. How was the Minis-ter of Commerce Piyush Goyal, then, talking aboutIndian farmers “feeding the world” and projecting ex-ports of 10-15 million tonnes (mt) in 2022-23, break-ing last year’s record 7 mt, even in mid-April? This wasindicative of either poor crop intelligence — inabilityto gauge yield losses from the heatwave — or refusalto admit that production has been significantly lowerthan the “record” 111.32 mt estimate made in mid-February.

The ban on exports has apparently beenprompted by wheat procurement plunging to around18 mt, from last year’s all-time-high 43.3 mt, and theresultant depletion in public stocks seen as threaten-ing “food security”. But if that was so, what stoppedthe government to pay a bonus above the minimumsupport price, incentivising farmers to sell to it ratherthan private traders and exporters? Nor was there anyneed to continue with supplying free wheat, apartfrom the regular quota of ration cardholders. If at allexports were to be discouraged in order to containinflation, a better way would have been to impose atariff or a minimum price below which shipmentsaren’t permitted. A blanket ban is like breaking theknees of farmers and traders, from which they will findit difficult to recover — leave alone helping India’semergence as a reliable global supplier.

AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

The teenager accused of murdering 10 people in a 'racist hate crime ' after firing a barrage of 50 shots ata supermarket in upstate New York conducted 'reconnaissance' at the store before carrying out his attack.Shonnell Teague, manager of Tops Friendly Market in Buffalo, claims suspected gunman Payton Gendronvisited the store on Friday while disguised as a homeless person. 'He was acting like he was homeless andneeded change,' Teague said. 'He really was checking out the store.' Buffalo Police Commissioner JosephGramaglia confirmed the allegations, noting Gendron, 18, who lives nearly 200 miles away from Buffalomade multiple stops in the area the day before the massacre. The teenager admitted that he was targetingthe black community when he carried out the massacre, authorities said. Erie County District Attorney JohnFlynn revealed Sunday night that officials are considering charging Gendron with domestic terrorism.Gendron pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder following Saturday's attack. He is being held withoutbail and faces life in prison. The alleged killer, who is due back in court on Thursday, is currently on suicidewatch after he 'put the gun under his chin' as though to shoot himself following Saturday's attack. Officersmanaged to 'talk him down' and arrest him. Gendron is being held in a separate unit from other inmates.

BJP's replacement of Tripura CM with eye on 2023 pollsBy Sujit

ChakrabortyAgartala, May 16

(IANS) AfterUttarakhand, Gujaratand Karnataka, theBJP has changed itsChief Minister inTripura, monthsahead of the Assem-bly polls in theNortheastern state,with a view on elec-toral calculationsand gains.

The election tothe 60-memberTripura Assembly isdue in January-Feb-ruary 2023.

Though thescript was written inDelhi, the real dramawas played inAgartala to over-come the anti-in-cumbency factor atleast eight to ninemonths ahead of thecrucial Assemblypolls, which is ex-pected to be multi-cornered betweenthe CPI-M, the Con-

gress, new entrantTrinamool Congress (TMC),besides the ruling BJP.

A year after the BJP-In-digenous People's Front ofTripura (IPFT) governmentassumed charge on March 9,2018, ending the 25-yearrule of the Left Front, Tripurahas witnessed waves of re-volt by dissident BJP MLAsled by Sudip Roy Barmanagainst Biplab Kumar Deb,who also subsequently an-nounced to obtain apeople's mandate by callinga public meeting.

His move was later can-celled following the inter-vention of the Central BJPleadership.Amid open re-sentment by a section of theruling BJP MLAs and leadersin Tripura, the Cabinet ex-pansion took place on Au-gust 31, 2021, by inductingthree ministers even as thedissident MLAs and BJPleaders boycotted thatswearing-in-ceremony.

The dissidence in May2019 was sparked off afterthe State Health and FamilyWelfare and the InformationTechnology Minister Roy

Barman was sacked follow-ing differences with Deb.

Sudip Roy Barman, sixother MLAs and many lead-ers had quit the Congress in2016 to join the TMC andnext year (2017) they joinedthe BJP and helped it winthe Assembly elections in2018.However, then, SudipRoy Barman and AshisKumar Saha, whoresigned from thestate Assembly andthe BJP on Febru-ary 7, 2022, rejoinedthe Congress inNew Delhi on Feb-ruary 8.

Earlier, BJP MLAAshish Das, afteropenly criticisingthe saffron partyand its leadership,including Deb, joined theTMC on October 31, 2021,following which he was dis-qualified from the stateAssembly.Following the tu-mult, several senior CentralBJP leaders on a number ofoccasions visited Tripura toquell the internal disputeand plug the shortcomings,both in the government and

the party organisation.Political Commentator

and Editor of Tripura's lead-ing English daily "North EastColors", Sanjib Deb said thatit is clear and loud thatthough removed from thepost of Chief Minister, BiplabKumar Deb is not going tobe dumped, rather thesteering is going to remain

with him."After submitting the

resignation, Deb told themedia that he is going toremain with the partyorganisation. What is mostimportant is that in themeeting of the BJP Legisla-ture Party on Saturday,Biplab Kumar Deb had pro-posed the name of Manik

Saha while the Deputy ChiefMinister Jishnu Dev Varmaseconded it," he told IANS.

He said when BiplabKumar Deb became theChief Minister, there weretalks in Tripura that the gov-ernment is the BJP's, Coun-cil of Ministers are from Con-gress (as most Ministers arefrom the party) and admin-

istration is of the CPI-M (as the officialswere recruited dur-ing the 25 years ofLeft Front govern-ment).

Political analystand writer SekharDatta said thechange of ChiefMinistership inTripura was longoverdue."BJP has

taken the decision to avoidthe anti-incumbency issueseight to nine months beforethe crucial Assembly elec-tions. The BJP retainedpower in Assam (2021) andManipur (2022) in the As-sembly polls. So retainingpower in Tripura in the 2023polls is a vital issue for thesaffron party to keep its aim

'Congress MuktNortheast region'."

Local print andelectronic mediamostly welcomedthe BJP's decisionand criticised Deb'sstyle of functioning.

Editor of Tripura'sleading vernaculardaily 'SyandanPatrika', Subal KumarDey said he had writ-ten in April 2020about "Deb's auto-cratic governance".

"Only due toDeb's dictatorialstyle of work and un-democratic mindset,three BJP MLAs wereforced to leave theparty weakening theorganisation and thegovernment," Deytold IANS. BJPsources said BiplabKumar Deb will beTripura BJP Presidentas the incumbentManik Saha had toquit the post on be-coming the ChiefMinister.

Lucknow to get UP's 1st naturalhistory museum by March 2023

Lucknow, May 16 (IANS)A natural history museum iscoming up in Uttar Pradeshon the Lucknow Zoo cam-pus and is expected to beready by March 2023.

The museum will offerinformation on birds andanimals that existed millionsof years ago and speciesthat are extinct or endan-gered.

The museum will be thefirst-of-its-kind in UttarPradesh and will have nearly6,000 specimens of animalsand birds collected by ex-perts over the past 200 yearsfrom different places acrossthe world.

This collection has beenlying in state museum for along time due to lack ofspace in the Natural HistoryGallery of the museum.

It is only now that workto construct a separate mu-seum for natural history hasbegun and will be com-pleted in 10 months.

Though, Rs 22 lakh wasapproved for the three-sto-reyed museum building andsanctioned in the 2019-20state budget, the project gotdelayed owing to Covid-19.

According to the officialspokesman, the museumwill have five galleries show-casing specimens of mam-

mals, amphibians, reptiles,birds and aquatic animals inthe form of dummies.

Besides, skins, eggs, fos-sils and skeletons will be ondisplay.

Visitors will be able tolearn about animals that arenow extinct, near extinction,rare, critically endangered orendangered as well as thosecommonly found.

The gallery will bediitised in a way that but-tons attached to a screen ineach section will help visi-tors hear the sounds madeby the animal and moreabout them in an audio-vi-sual format.The highlightwill be a life-size workingmodel of a dinosaur madeon the principle of robotics.

Alshaz Fatmi, AssistantDirector of State museumand In-charge of the Natu-ral History Gallery, said, "Ourmotive is to provide achance to everybody to feelconnected to the environ-ment. The infusion of mod-ern technology and audio-visual medium will not justmake the museum interac-tive, but also help visitorslearn about exhibits."StateMuseum Director, AnandKumar Singh, said, "Thereare several natural historymuseums in the country.

Will China's Central Military Commission bea target under Japan's counter strike capability

By Rahul KumarNew Delhi, May 16: Ja-

pan is currently debatingwhether its proposedcounterstrike capabilityshould also include target-ing China's top decision-making body-- the CentralMilitary Commission (CMC).

In April, Japan's rulingLiberal Democratic Partyhad urged the governmentto develop "counter strikecapability" in an effort tostrengthen national de-fence. Japan has been onthe edge for the past manymonths as it witnesses themilitary rise of China accom-panied by voluble threats totake over Taiwan by force.

Japanese news agency,Kyodo, reported on Sundaythat the question whetherthe CMC will be a target"came to light in a parlia-mentary meeting last weekwhen the Defense Ministrydid not answer directly aquestion from an opposi-

tion lawmaker seeking toknow whether what has un-til recently been called "en-emy base attack capability"targets would include

China's CMC".Kyodo reports that in a

meeting of the House ofRepresentatives Committeeof Foreign Affairs onWednesday, Japanese Com-munist Party member KeijiKokuta asked if the govern-

ment is planning to includethe CMC and China's FiveTheatre Commands amongthe targets of a counterstrike capability. The Japa-

nese government did notdirectly answer the questionbut Makoto Oniki, deputyminister of defence, said,"Attacking the base of aguided missile would con-stitutionally fall under thescope of self-defence if (the

government) perceivesthere were no other means(to defend Japan)."

The five commands arein charge of defence of theeastern, southern, western,northern and central re-gions of China. Its EasternTheatre Command overseesTaiwan, Japan and the EastChina Sea. China has slightlyless than 2,000 missiles thatcan reach Japan.

Currently, Japan pos-sesses defensive capabili-ties that allow it to interceptenemy strikes. The lawmak-ers now want Prime Minis-ter Fumio Kishida to de-velop "counterstrike capa-bilities" so that Japan canattack enemy bases and dis-able enemy weapons. Thegovernment has, however,not articulated its positionon the counter strike ability.

There is a strong belief inJapan that in case China at-tacks Taiwan--which it con-siders a renegade province

of the mainland, the attackcould easily spill over toJapanese islands, many ofwhich are located close toTaiwan. The Japanese be-lieve that to take over Tai-wan by force, China is likelyto attack Japan as well,which could lead to a full-scale war in the region.

The fears of a Chinesemilitary attack on Taiwanhave become stronger afterthe Russian attack onUkraine.

Since last year, Japan hashiked its defence budget,bought more weapons fromthe US and has been lobby-ing friendly Western coun-tries about the spectre of awar in the region because ofaggressive Chinese moves.

Besides friction over Tai-wan, Japan and China arelocked in disputes over theSenkaku islands--currentlywith Japan, which are lo-cated in the proximity of Tai-wan.

UP's Pilibhit Tiger Reserve to get 4 elephants from K'takaPilibhit (Uttar Pradesh),

May 16 (IANS) Karnataka willsend four elephants to the

Pilibhit Tiger Reserve to con-duct patrolling and otheractivities, said wildlife au-

thorities.Sanjay Singh, Uttar

Pradesh's chief wildlife war-den, said, "The two el-ephants were seized by thedepartment officials fromprivate keepers who did nothave valid permission withthem. One of them is a 20-year-old bull elephantwhich has been living inPhulpur forest nursery atPrayagraj for a year, whilethe second is a 50-year-oldcow elephant in Jaunpurdistrict. These two pachy-derms are also being pro-vided to Pilibhit Tiger Re-serve." One of them is a 20-year-old bull elephantwhich has been living inPhulpur forest nursery atPrayagraj for a year, whilethe second is a 50-year-oldcow elephant in Jaunpurdistrict.

The Pilibhit Tiger Re-

serve authorities hadsought 10 elephants in 2018as part of "Project Tiger".

This was reduced to sixby the Karnataka authoritiesin December 2021.

Now with two elephantsfrom Prayagraj and Jaunpur,only four pachyderms willbe taken fromKarnataka.ephants fromKarnataka have been com-pleted, including assigningthe contract for transport-ing them by truck.However,the formalities for transport-ing the four elephants fromKarnataka have been com-pleted, including assigningthe contract for transport-ing them by truck.NaveenKhandelwal, Divisional For-est Officer of Pilibhit TigerReserve, said, "The "no-ob-jection" certificates from theAndhra Pradesh, Telangana,Maharashtra and Madhya

Pradesh governmentsthrough which the el-ephants will pass have beenobtained. We are now wait-ing for the early monsoon tolet the high atmospherictemperature dip. We havebeen issued certain guide-lines for taking proper medi-cal care of pachyderms dur-ing the transit period, whichwe will strictly follow."

A five-member teamcomprising a Sub-DivisionalForest Officer, a Range Of-ficer, one Departmental Vet-erinary Officer and twoother Forest personnel hasbeen constituted for fetch-ing the elephants.

In addition, six mahoutsarranged from Dudhwa Ti-ger Reserve will also be leav-ing for Karnataka a week be-fore the departure of thefive-member team,Khandelwal added.--IANS

India: Content Hub of the Worldis ‘Country of Honour’ at Cannes

enthralled audiences bothyoung and old. Indian musicmaestros will be performingat the India Pavilion toshowcase the vibrance andvariety of Indian cinema atthe festival. Indian startupsfrom the mediaand entertain-ment sector willalso be present toshowcase theirt e c h n o l o g i c a lprowess andpitch to the bestfrom the world ofAVGC along witha strong delega-tion of animationp r o f e s s i o n a l sfrom the sector. The worldpremier of Rocketry is anx-iously awaited along withnumerous other films invarious regional languageswhich will be screened forthe first time at Cannes. Andin another first, the remas-tered classic of Satyajit Ray’s- Pratidwandi will bescreened at the CannesClassic section marking hiscentenary year.

The celebration of Indiaat Cannes and the recogni-tion of our cinematic excel-lence the world over is set tomanifest the country intothe ‘content hub of theworld’. Today the flavour,choice and narrative hasshifted from eden in thewest and settled in the east.India’s journey has beenbeautifully captured andnarrated through cinemaand as we mark ‘Azaadi KaAmrit Mahotsav’ we mustrecall the crucial role it hasplayed and portrayed in ourfight for independence, be itthrough turbulent timesand in our triumphs.

Today the media andentertainment sector is asignificant contributor tothe Indian ‘creative’economy and also for pro-jecting India’s soft powerabroad. The Modi govern-ment has envisioned andspearheaded major initia-tives over the last 8 years toboost co-productions, film

By Anurag Singh Thakur

Union Minister forI&B, Youth Affairs and

SportsThe silent shores of the

french riviera are all set tohost the 75th edition of theCannes Film Festival. As thefocus country at the Open-ing Night of ‘Marche DuFilms’ this year, India intendsto give the global audiencea flavour of the country’scinematic excellence, tech-nological prowess, rich cul-ture and illustrious heritageof storytelling. India andFrance are marking the 75thyear of their diplomatic re-lations; Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s visit toParis and bilateral with Presi-dent Emmanuel Macrontakes even more signifi-cance in this context. It is inthis significant diplomaticbackdrop that India hasbeen chosen as the first‘Country of Honour’ atMarche’ Du Film at theCannes Film Festival.

‘Festival de Cannes’ hasplayed a significant role instrengthening Indo-Frenchrelations since its inception.The stepping stone was laidby bestowing the Palmed’Or to the prolific Indianfilmmaker Chetan Anand’sfilm Neecha Nagar in 1946and a decade later in 1956,Satyajit Ray’s PatherPanchali won the Palm d’Or.In the year 2013, AmitabhBachchan was invited toopen the festival and overthe years numerous mem-bers of Indian cinema haveserved on the Cannes Jury.

India’s presence atCannes this year holds sig-nificance in many ways. Itwill be for the first time thatour red carpet line up cap-tures the diversity of our cin-ematic excellence not onlyin terms of representation ofactors and film makers fromvarious languages and re-gions, but also OTT plat-forms, with a strong pres-ence of music composersand a folk artist who have

shoots and film facilitationsin India. States such as UttarPradesh and MadhyaPradesh amongst othershave taken the lead throughfilm facilitation policies andproviding co-production

opportunities. In2018, we had offi-cially designatedaudiovisual ser-vices as one of 12'champion servicesectors’ and re-cently set up anAVGC task forcecomprising of in-dustry leaders toprepare a policyroadmap for India

to take a quantum leap inthis sector and position usas the preferred ‘post pro-duction hub of the world’. Afew weeks ago, the world’slargest digitisation and res-toration process of 5900short films, documentaries,and features was initiated inline with our vision to pre-serve, protect and promoteour cinematic heritage forfuture generations.

We are seeing thatwithin India and across theworld, the nature of the me-dia business and contentcreation, consumption anddistribution has changed.The advent of AI, virtual re-ality, immersive technologysuch as the metaverse, pre-sents immense possibilitiesto India’s IT skilledworkforce. According to re-ports, the OTT market in In-dia is predicted to grow at21% annually to nearly Rs12,000 crores by 2023. To-day, Indian platforms out-number foreign ones andthere is a gold rush amongstbroadcasters as well astelcos to set up their own.

The opportunities Indiaoffers to the world to con-nect, communicate, createand in terms of choice aswell as consumption areunlike anywhere in theworld. And that is why theland of story tellers is on thespotlight of the cinematicworld today!

Ahmedabad, Page 3

In the news 3AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

ence. With Ranveer Singhleading this journey ofJayeshbhaiJordaar, wewanted to explore some-thing special and one of akind. Cheryl-Ann Couto,Head of Partners at TwitterIndia, shared, “Twitter is theconversational layer of theinternet and it connectspeople with what’s happen-ing in the world of enter-tainment in real-time.

Amy Sligh, Senior SocialMarketing Lead at Twitter,added, “@TwitterMovies is aone-stop-shop for fans offilm on Twitter whetheryou’re looking for funmemes, hot takes or con-necting with your favoritecelebrity. Ranveer Singh rep-resents everything we loveabout movie stars - eclectic,individualistic, unforgetta-bly authentic in every way,and not-to-mention, incred-ible on Twitter.

Ranveer Singh becomes the first Indian actor to takeover the international @TwitterMovies account

Mumbai, When it comesto the world of cinema, Twit-ter is where all the real-timeaction unfolds - be it exclu-sive first-looks, fan Q&As, oreven movie premieres. Thisweek, the service gave cin-ema buffs yet another#OnlyOnTwitter moment.

Yash Raj Films (@yrf )partnered with Twitter tocelebrate Ranveer Singh(@RanveerOfficial)’s upcom-ing comedy JayeshbhaiJordaar which is slated torelease on 13th May 2022,with his fans around theworld. On Wednesday, May11th, at 11:00 am, the actorbrought his jordaar person-ality exclusively to Twitterand took over the TwitterMovies (@TwitterMovies)account to engage with hisfans worldwide. He becamethe first Bollywood celebrityto do so, joining the likes ofRobert Pattinson, Zoe

Kravitz, Tom Holland, Nicho-las Cage and award-winningcast of Dune to name a few.

Talking about the take-over, Ranveer Singh(@RanveerOfficial)said, “My loveaffair with themovies is fu-elled by thepassion of myfans – they’rethe secret ofmy energy.And there’snothing moreg r o u n d i n gand lovelythan beingable to con-nect withthem as intimately as I havebeen able to because ofTwitter. The movieJayeshbhaiJordaar is a spe-cial one, and I can’t wait toshare it with our audienceshere in India. What better

way to kick off release weekthan a jordaar conversationwith the@TwitterMoviesfam?”

Manan Mehta, Senior

Vice President - Marketing &Merchandising at Yash RajFilms, said, “At YRF, our en-deavour is always to try andexplore newer opportuni-ties that help market ourcontent to the global audi-

First look poster, title unveiled forVijay Deverakonda-Samantha filmHyderabad, May 16

(IANS) 'Arjun Reddy' fameVijay Deverakonda hasteamed up with star heroineSamantha Ruth Prabhu for aromantic love story, which isbeing directed by Shiva Nir-vana of 'Majili' fame.

The film's creators hadpromised multiple surprises,as they unveiled the firstlook poster along with thetitle revelation on Monday.

"This Christmas-NewYears. An Explosion ofJoy, laughter, happiness &Love. A Grand Familyexperience!#KUSHI TeluguTamil Kannada Malayalam.Dec 23 Worldwide Release,"Samantha wrote, as sheshared the first look posterof her movie 'Kushi'.

The film's first look fea-tures Vijay in a stylish avatarand Samantha in traditionalattire. Both of them are tied

together, in the poster, Vijaylooks dapper, he is seen gaz-ing at something, whileSamantha is seen draped ina saree, adoring Vijay, as shelooks at him.

The pinkish poster isstunning, with a cloud in thebackground depictingKashmir's map and twodoves flying, symbolisinglove. Meanwhile, the motionposter is quite lovely, and

the background score isquite pleasant. The film willbe released in Telugu, Tamil,Kannada, and Malayalam onDecember 23.Jayaram,Sachin Khadekar, Ali,Vennela Kishore, RahulRamakrishna, and othersstar in the film, which is pro-duced by Mythri Movie Mak-ers. This film's music is com-posed by Hisham AbdulVaahab.--IANS

Simu Liu doesbhangra on'Jalebi baby' withTesher

Los Angeles, May 16(IANS) 'Shang-Chi and TheLegend of The Ten Rings'star Simu Liu was seen do-ing bhangra on the popularnumber 'Jalebi baby' withsinger Tesher on stage dur-ing an award show.

Tesher shared a smallclip on Instagram on Mon-day, where Liu was seen do-ing the Indian dance formdressed up in a classic blacksuit. The duo were very wellcoordinated.As soon as thetwo finished dancing, theHollywood star said: "That'show we celebrate Asianheritage."Me and @simuliubrought bhangra to theMCU baby!!! Shoutout to the@thejunoawards awards forletting me perform andshowcase south asian cul-ture on the biggest musicstage in Canada.

Billboard Music Awards 2022: OliviaRodrigo, Drake take home top honours

Los Angeles, May 16(IANS) The Billboard MusicAwards returned to Las Ve-gas for its 2022 edition, de-livering a star-studdedevening in celebration ofmusic's most chart-toppingartists.According to 'Variety',before the awards cer-emony aired, Billboard an-nounced many of thenight's winners, includingDrake, who took home fiveawards for top artist, maleartist, rap artist, rap male art-ist and rap album.

Olivia Rodrigo tookhome the most awards ofthe night with seven, includ-ing new artist, female artist,Hot 100 artist, streamingsongs artist, radio songs art-ist, Billboard Global 200 art-

ist and Billboard 200 album.Meanwhile, Ye was hon-

ored with Christian artist,gospel artist, Christian al-bum, gospel album Chris-tian song and gospel song.

Sean "Diddy" Combshosted the awards show,which featured perfor-mances from controversialfigures Morgan Wallen andTravis Scott.

In an interview with Bill-board prior to the ceremony,Diddy said that his missionfor the night is to "uncancelthe cancelled", reports 'Vari-ety'.

"Travis went through atragedy; Morgan (used theN-word) while talking to hisboy. People make mistakes,"Diddy said.

The show also includedperformances from BrysonTiller, Jack Harlow, ChristianCombs, Teyana Taylor, BeckyG, Burna Boy, Dan + Shay, EdSheeran, Elle King andMiranda Lambert, Florence+ the Machine, Latto, Max-well, Rauw Alejandro andSilk Sonic.

Ahmedabad, Withschools reopening and thestart of the new academicsession, Dabur Vita, the lead-ing Health Food Drink fromthe House of Dabur, todayannounced the launch of aMega Immunity AwarenessCampaign to build aware-ness about the importanceof strong immunity amongschool-going children.

The drive was flaggedoff in Indore with a specialsession covering more than500 kids from -----AnandaGlobal School. The kids wereeducated on ways to boosttheir immunity through ba-sic hygiene practices and anutritious diet. A special Im-munity Kit, comprisingDabur Vita and DaburChyawanprash, were alsoprovided to these students.

Speaking on the occa-

Dabur Vita, India’s best Immunity Expert,Organizes Immunity Session for Kids

sion, Mr. Prashant Agarwal,Marketing Head- HealthSupplements, Dabur IndiaLtd. said, “Since physicalclasses have started, strongimmunity is the primaryneed of every child as weare not yet out of the pan-demic. The importance ofstrong immunity instrengthening one’s overallhealth during the pan-demic as well as its criticalrole in fighting the virus iswell established, globally.Keeping this in mind, DaburVita has joined hands withleading NGOs/Schoolsfrom five cities in India i.e.Kolkata, Pune, Mumbai,Indore and Lucknow, to im-prove awareness about theneed to build a stronger im-mune system to fightagainst illnesses.”

Mrs. Meetika Sharma,Principal, ---Ananda GlobalSchool said, “On a daily ba-sis, we are exposed to po-tentially harmful bacteriaand viruses. Our immunesystem helps protect usagainst these harmful mi-crobes as well as diseases.Enhancing immunity is aneffective way to fight com-

mon bacteria and viruses.Through this initiative, weaim to highlight the impor-tance of a strong immunity,besides providing ImmunityKits to the Kids.”

“A recent research con-ducted by Nielsen showedthat close to 88% motherslook for immunity as themost important benefit in ahealth drink. Consideringthis consumer need, Daburhas formulated Dabur Vitato provide a better immu-nity than any other healthdrink available in market.

It is made with aunique blend of more than30+ herbs likeAshwagandha, Giloy andBrahmi, which are scientifi-cally proven not only toprovide a better immunitybut also to promote physi-cal and mental growthamong kids. Dabur Vitabrings the benefits ofAyurveda in a tasty choco-laty drink which promotesbone and muscular growthand helps in promotingbrain health, learning andconcentration in kids be-tween 6 to 15 years,” Mr.Agarwal added.

PUBLIC NOTICEI, Paramtap Y. Raval Advocate, under the instructions and consent

of my Client namely Ajabhai Rajsangbhai Nadoda resides at Deesa,Part-C-33-Somnath Township, Near Hawai Pillar Ta:- Deesa, Dist:-Banaskantha, Gujarat hereby declare by notice that

My client namely Ajabhai Rajsangbhai Nadoda possessingimmovable property belongs to Non agricultural immovable propertyfor residential purpose regarding to Revenue Survey No. 22p13 Division“C” Paiki Plot No. 33 total admeasuring in 111-47 Sq. Mt. i.e. 1199-86Sq. Ft. comprised in “Part-C-33-Somnath Township” Situated At RajpurKasba, Deesa City, Near Hawai Pillar, Ta:- Deesa, Dist:- Banaskantha,Gujarat by way of Ownership and purchased from Rajivbhai BaldevbhaiDave by Deed No. 1818 on dated 30/03/2016. Here mentioned propertyis at present in the possession of Ajabhai Rajsangbhai Nadoda andwant to take loan from AXIS FINANCE LTD. on the said property.

After investigation of Original documents of the said property, myclient has in his possession (1) Original Registered Sale Deed No.1818 on dated 30/03/2016 with Registration Receipt My Client havetotal 1 (One) Original Sale Deeds.

At present, except above mentioned sale Deed, Here mentionedOriginal documents as (1) Original Registered Sale Deed No. 792 ondated 17/02/2012 with Registration Receipt has been lost anywhere bymistaken. My Client have not total 1 (One) Original Sale Deed withRegistration Receipt.

Above namely my client Ajabhai Rajsangbhai Nadoda demandingTitle Clearance Certificate from me regarding to above stated properties.So far here mentioned properties and its documents & Deeds isconcerned, if any person have any kind of right, Share, Partnership,Interest, Mortgage, Sale, Attachment, Request or any Charge orEncumbrances, be present or produce proper document withappropriate proof of the said properties within (15- Days) Fifteen daysafter publishing notice. Otherwise after passing out the time limitmentioned in the said notice, all kind of rights will be waived is assumed.

With consent and instructions of my clientPlace of Receiving of objections:-

Paramtap Y. Raval Advocate53-54, Third Floor, Besides Electric CD (Escalator),

New Bus Port (Nava Bus Station), Opp. Madhvi DairyShop, College Road, At:- Palanpur,

Dist:- Banaskantha. Mo:- 98250 82597 Email ID:- paramtapraval76@gmail.com

At:- PalanpurDt :- 16/05/2022

Gujarat Urban Development CompanyLimited(Govt. of Gujarat Undertaking )

Karmayogi Bhavan, Block No.1, B1 Wing, Ground Floor, Sector-10/A, Gandhinagar. Telefax : 079-23246126, 27,28CIN:U75140GJ1999SGC036051Email:contact@gudcltd.com Website : www.gudcltd.com

Gujarat Urban Development Company Ltd. invites online tenders by e-tendering for 1) Bardoli SEW II: Rs.3.80 Crore 2) Botad WSS (Nal seJal): Rs.11.26 Crore and 3) Porbandar WSS (Nal Se Jal): Rs.16.05Crore under SJMMSVY on EPC basis.Tender shall be uploaded from 13/05/2022 on the websitehttps://gudc.nprocure.com. All subsequent information, notification,changes and amendments would be posted only on the aforesaidwebsite. INF/340/22-23

E-Tendering NoticeRef.No.GUDC/SJMMSVY/SEW/118, GUDC/Project/Nal se Jal/02,10

GUJARAT MINERAL DEVELOPMENTCORPORATION LTD

(A Government of Gujarat Enterprise)e-Tender Notice No.-08/LT/Water Proofing work/2022

e-Tender are invited for “Providing and applying water proofing workon roof slab of Administrative office Building at lignite projectTadkeshwar, Tal: Mandvi, Dist- Surat.”For e-Tenders notice, tender documents and for further details visitour web site www.gmdcltd.com.Tender shall be downloaded from http:gmdc.nprocure.com andsubmitted on l ine as per e-tender notice. Please visithttp:gmdc.nprocure.com for time to time for any corrigendum/addendum

INF/ABD/280/22

CHANGE OF NAME I have changed my old name

from PADHIYAR TUSHARBHOGILAL to new Name

MALI TUSHAR BHOGILALAdd: 48, Ratna Nagar Soc,

Meghaninagar,Ahmedabad

638

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from AYESHAKHATUNRIYAZ PATEL to new NameAYESHABIBI RIYAZ PATELAdd: 10-A, Chitrakut Soc,

Paldi, Ahmedabad639

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from MOHAMMEDRAEESAHMEDHUSAIN PATEL to

new NameMOHAMMEDRAEESAHMEDBHAI PATEL

Add: 10-A, Chitrakut Soc,Paldi, Ahmedabad

639A

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from RAWALHARSHIDABEN

JITENDRABHAI to newName RAVAL

HARSHIDABENJITENDRABHAI

Add: A/11, Krishndham Flat,B/h Pramukh Swami Temple,

Bapunagar,Ahmedabad-380024

624A

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from RAWALJITENDRABHAI BHAILAL to

new Name RAVALJITENDRABHAI BHAILAL

Add: A/11, Krishndham Flat,B/h Pramukh Swami Temple,

Bapunagar,Ahmedabad-380024

624

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from JAGRUTIBENBIPINBHAI SONARA to new

Name JAGRUTIBENBIPINCHANDRA SONARAAdd: A/203, Shivam Priory,

Opp. Torrent Power SubStation & Rly Crossing,

Makarba,Ahmedabad-380051

636

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SONARA to new NameBIPINCHANDRA VIRABHAI

SONARAAdd: A/203, Shivam Priory,

Opp. Torrent Power SubStation & Rly Crossing,

Makarba,Ahmedabad-380051

636A

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from SUTHARASHVINKUMAR

POPATBHAI to new NameMISTRY ASHVINKUMAR

POPATBHAIAdd: F/15, Shardul

Appartment, Opp ParekhHospital, Jodhapur,

Ahmedabad634

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PARSOTTAMDAS to newName PATEL

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from SUKHDEV AKA ANILGYANESHWAR

BADODEKAR to new NameBADODEKAR ANIL

GYANESHWARAdd: 89/473, Bahuchar

Chowk GHB Chandkheda,Ahmedabad-382424

637

CHANGE OF NAME I have changed my old namefrom PADHIYAR BHOGILALKHENGARJI to new Name

MALI BHOGILALKHENGARJI

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Ahmedabad638A

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from PATEL DAXABAHENHITESHKUMAR to new

Name PATEL DAXABAHENHITENDRAKUMAR

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635ACHANGE OF NAME

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PATEL JIYABENHITESHKUMAR to new

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Jampa Valo Vas, SankhariPatan-384275

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Ahmedabad-382480634B

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from JADEJA ASMITABAHARISHCHANDRASINH to

new Name JADEJAISHITABA

HARISHCHANDRASINHAdd: 181- Dwarkesh Park,Street No-6, Raiya Road,

Rajkot-360007634A

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639B

Akshay Kumar-starrer 'Prithviraj' had5,000 costumes, 500 turbans usedduring shoot

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS)The makers of AkshayKumar's upcoming histori-cal 'Prithviraj', which isbased on the life and valourof Prithviraj Chauhan, had tocreate over 50,000 cos-tumes and also used 500 dif-ferent types of turbans dur-ing the shoot.

Akshay Kumar says,"Rarely do films take thismuch effort and embarkupon such monumentaltasks. Every element of ourfilm which is based on thelife of Samrat PrithvirajChauhan has been dealtwith utmost sincerity, au-thenticity and reverence.

"We have paid attentionto the minutest details while

making the film because wewanted this to be the mostglorious retelling of SamratPrithviraj's life on the bigscreen," he said.

The film's directorChandraprakash Dwivedisays, "Detailing was key tomaking a film like 'Prithviraj'.Like for example, 500 differ-ent turbans were created forthe film. All these were au-thentic replication of thekinds of turbans worn bykings, masses, people ofvarious professions at thattime.

"We had an expert onturban styling on the setwho would oversee the pro-cess of these turbans beingworn by our actors," he said.

Ahmedabad, Page 4

City-State4 AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

India reports 2,202 Covid cases,27 deaths

New Delhi, India on Monday logged 2,202 freshCovid cases, a decline against the 2,487 infectionsreported the previous day, the Union Health Minis-try said.In the same period, there were 27 new fa-talities which took the nationwide death toll to5,24,241.The active caseload has also marginallydeclined to 17,317 cases, accounting for 0.04 percent of the country's total positive cases.

The recovery of 2,550 patients in the last 24hours took the cumulative tally to 4,25,82,243. Con-sequently, India's recovery rate stands at 98.74 percent.While the daily positivity rate reported slightrise at 0.74 per cent, the weekly positivity rate stoodat 0.59 per cent.Also in the same period, a total of2,97,242 tests were conducted across the country,increasing the overall to 84.41 crore.

As of Monday morning, India's Covid-19 vacci-nation coverage exceeded 191.37 crore, achievedvia 2,39,49,544 sessions.Over 3.17 crore adoles-cents have been administered with a first dose ofCovid-19 jab since the beginning of vaccinationdrive for this age bracket.

Partly cloudy weather,thundershowers likely in J&Kduring next 24 hours

Srinagar, Weather remained partly cloudy withthundershowers in Jammu and Kashmir during thelast 24 hours. The Meteorological (MeT) depart-ment said on Monday that partly cloudy weatherwith thundershowers at isolated places is likelyduring the next 24 hours.

"Partly cloudy weather with thundershower atisolated places is likely in J&K during the next 24hours", an official of the department said.Srinagarhad 15.4, Pahalgam 9.1 and Gulmarg 5 degreesCelsius as the minimum temperature.

Drass town in Ladakh had 3.3, Leh 8.6 and Kargil8.8 as the night's lowest temperature.Jammu had30.5, Katra 26.8, Batote 19.1, Banihal 28.2 andBhaderwah 17.2 as the minimum temperature.

Recovery of 266 live bullets:Kerala Police probe to moveinto K'taka

Thiruvananthapuram, The Kerala Police prob-ing the recovery of 266 live bullets from an unin-habited land near the Nellikode by-pass road inKozhikode have decided to move into theneighbouring state of Karnataka after some leadssurfaced.

According to the experts, the recovered bulletsare used in .22 rifles, which are normally possessedby rifle clubs and the police use them mainly fortraining purposes.

The scientific examination of the live bullets re-vealed that these bullets were manufactured bythree companies in India and one was of foreignorigin.Some of the bullets were 15 years old, whilesome were around five years old.According tosources, the probe team has identified the manu-facturers of some of these bullets and will soon getin touch with them to get their list of clients.Thepolice are also trying to find out more clues by ex-amining CCTV footage of the area from where thiswas recovered.

LU teachers extend support toLU professor heckled by ABVPactivists

Lucknow, Teachers of Lucknow University (LU)have finally stood up in support of Professor RaviKant, who was heckled and manhandled by stu-dents affiliated to Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad(ABVP) last week, for making remarks on theGyanvapi controversy during a televised debate.

The LU Teachers' Association (LUTA) con-demned the incident and has demanded actionagainst the accused students.The LUTA executivecommittee, which met on Sunday evening, has alsopassed a resolution criticising the varsity's authori-ties and police for not taking action against the stu-dents on the complaint of the Dalitprofessor.Instead, it added, one-sided action wastaken.Police had promptly registered an FIR againstthe teacher on the students' complaint but no ac-tion was taken on the victim's complaint.Similarly,the LU had sought explanation from the teacherand not taken any action against students.

PM Modi departs for Kushinagarahead of his visit to Nepal'sLumbini

New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi onMonday departed for Kushinagar in Uttar Pradeshahead of his official visit to Lumbini, Nepal at theinvitation of his Nepalese counterpart Sher BahadurDeuba.

Prime Minister Modi will be visiting Lumbini onthe birth anniversary of Lord Buddha where he willparticipate in festivisites marking Buddha Purnimaand also hold a bilateral meeting with Nepal PrimeMinister Deuba.

In a departure statement issued by his office onSunday, Modi was quoted as saying: "I look forwardto offering prayers at the Mayadevi Temple on theauspicious occasion of Buddha Jayanti. I amhonoured to follow in the footsteps of millions ofIndians to pay reverence at the sacred site of LordBuddha's birth."I also look forward to meetingPrime Minister Deuba again after our productivediscussions during his visit to India last month. Wewill continue to build on our shared understand-ing to expand cooperation in multiple areas, includ-ing in hydropower, development and connectivity."

Cop stabbed in DelhiNew Delhi, A Delhi Police personnel, who went

to nab an accused involved in a stabbing incident,was attacked and knifed by the same accused, anofficial said on Monday.

The accused was identified as Virender aliasKala Badal of Jharera Village, a bad character ofDelhi Cantt. police station.

The incident took place late Sunday when As-sistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Sanjeev and Head Con-stable Praveen raided the premises of theaccused."It is at that time accused Virender attackedHC Praveen with a knife and stabbed him," DeputyCommissioner of Police (north) Sagar Singh Kalsisaidhe ASI, who was along with the constable, fireda shot in self-defence that hit the accused on hisright leg.Both the constable and the accused wereshifted to a nearby hospital where their conditionis said to be stable.The accused Kala Badal had onSunday stabbed a 22-year-old man named Sunil,working as a Delhi Jal Board driver."When Sunil wasloading malba (waste), two boys later identified asBrijesh and Kala Badal, assisted possibly by a third,entered into an argument over road blockage,"Kalsi said, adding that Kala Badal then stabbed Sunilon the upper right chest and fled from the spot.

Now the police have registered a case againstaccused Badal under sections 186, 353, 332, 307 and34 of the IPC.

The second person, who was involved in thestabbing incident, is still at large.

Gujarat: 3 Rajasthan passengers dead, 10 injured after buscrashes into truck on Ahmedabad-Palanpur highway

Ahmedabad, Threepeople were killed and 10others received injuries af-ter a private bus crashedinto a parked truck on theAhmedabad-Palanpur statehighway at Kanodar underBanaskantha district inGujarat Sunday.

According to the police,the accident occurredaround 3am. Over 30 pas-sengers were overboard

when the bus belonging toKanak Travels met with theaccident. The police addedthat the bus had leftAhmedabad around mid-night and was headed to-wards Rajasthan when theincident took place.

The deceased havebeen identified as GanpatMeghwal (36) from Jalore inRajasthan, and VikramKumar Heeragar (32) and

Kailash Meghwal (30) fromSirohi in Rajasthan. Tenmore passengers were in-jured and they have beenadmitted to the PalanpurCivil Hospital, the policesaid.“I had just parked mytruck on the roadside nearSwad Hotel, when a speed-ing bus crashed into thetruck. We managed to pickup three bodies from thebus while several other pas-

sengers were taken to thePalanpur Civil Hospital,” saidNaresh Parmar, driver of thetruck, in the policecomplaint.The police havebooked the unidentifieddriver of the bus under Sec-tions 304A (causing deathdue to negligence) and 279(rash driving) of the IndianPenal Code, at the PalanpurTaluka Police Station inBanaskantha.

Muslims lost Babri Masjid, won’t lose anothermosque: Asaduddin Owaisi on Gyanvapi

Ahmedabad, Days aftera local court in Varanasi or-dered completion ofvideography survey ofGyanvapi mosque in UttarPradesh, Asaduddin Owaisi,president of All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen(AIMIM), on Saturday saidthat Muslims in the countryhave lost Babri Masjid, butthey will not lose anothermosque.

“I want to tell you andthe government that wehave lost one Babri Masjid,but we will definitely notlose another mosque,” saidOwasi said while addressingan Eid Milap programme inAhmedabad.He said afterthe court order on BabriMasjid, now it is the issuesabout Gyanvapi Masjid. TheAIMIM leader said that Babri

Masjid was snatched away“by trickery and by murder-ing justice”. “You will not beable to snatch anothermasjid,” he added as the au-dience applauded.“I amstanding by your side andsaying with responsibilitythat Gyanvapi masjid was amosque and will remainone,” he said citing a lawpassed by Parliament 1991that prohibits any change innature or character of a reli-gious structure.Owaisi alsoalleged that the Oppositionwas being silent on the issueof Gyanvapi mosque, lo-cated near the KashiVishwanath temple inVaranasi, as the Muslimcommunity is not their votebank.“Has the Congress,Samajwadi Party or the BSPspoken about Gyanvapi

masjid issue? Nobody did.Everyone is silent. They aresilent because you are nottheir vote bank. if you arenot aligned with the BJP,then why don’t you speakout,” he asked.

The AIMIM chief alsomade a remark about PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,saying, “They are all talkingabout looking under the TajMahal and Gyanvapi. In fact,they are searching for PrimeMinister’s degree —entireMA Political Science. The de-gree cannot be found andso it might be under the TajMahal or Gyanvapi…”

“Please do not take thisto heart, Prime Minister… orelse some encounter mighthappen. I am telling the me-dia that I just made a joke,”he said.

Gujarat BJP chief says workers given 90-daytarget to end malnourishment in state

Ahmedabad, The rul-ing BJP has set a target oferadicating malnutritionfrom Gujarat within threemonths, CR Paatil, presidentof the party’s state unit, saidin Kutch on Saturday, urg-ing party workers to takecare of at least one mal-nourished child each.

“It is our target to en-sure that there is not asingle malnourished childin Gujarat in the next threemonths. I have appealed toall BJP workers to adopt atleast one malnourishedchild, visit his or her homeand provide nutritious food.One day a banana can begiven, on another day green

gram, chana, chikki or 100 or200 grams of milk can begiven to the child, with theparty worker remainingpresent,” Paatil said.

Thirty-nine per cent ofunder-five children in thestate are chronically under-nourished or stunted. Thestate is among the bottomfive states when it comes tounder-five children suffer-ing from stunted growth,wasting (low weight forheight) andunderweight.“In our devel-oped state, there is no placefor malnourished children. Itis our duty to ensure thatchildren are healthy. The re-sponse from party workers

so far has been very encour-aging,” said Paatil, who wasat Krantiguru ShyamjiKrishna Verma Kutch Uni-versity in Bhuj to inauguratean IAS coaching centre anda Jain studies research cen-tre.

Addressing the Jaincommunity at the eventwhere 650 kits were given tomalnourished children,Paatil said, “Just distributing650 kits will not help. I ap-peal to all leaders of the Jaincommunity to collect theaddress of the nearest mal-nourished child from theBJP party office and to takecare of the child for 90 days.We want to drive away mal-

nourishment fromGujarat.”According to fig-ures submitted in the LokSabha earlier this year,Gujarat is only behind Biharin the number of under-weight children.

This is as per the Na-tional Family Health Survey5 (2019-20) conducted bythe Ministry of Health andFamily Welfare. Similarly thestate is only behindMaharashtra in the numberof children suffering fromwasting.

When it comes tostunted children, Gujarat isonly behind Meghalaya,Bihar, Uttar Pradesh andJharkhand.

ASI releases photos of Taj Mahal’sunderground cells ahead of court order

New Delhi, Just six daysago, as the controversy overthe 22 locked rooms in thebasement of the Taj Mahalwas raging—inside thecourtroom and outside—the Archaeological Surveyof India (ASI) released somephotographs of these cells.

On May 12, the Lucknowbench of the AllahabadHigh Court had rejected apetition seeking a fact-find-ing inquiry into the “history”of the Taj Mahal and alsoopening of the doors of its“22 rooms” to see “the truth,whatever it is”.

The writ petition wasfiled in the Lucknow benchby Rajneesh Singh, mediain-charge of the BJP’sAyodhya unit, contendingthat the Taj Mahal was aShiva Temple known as TejoMahalaya, asking for thegovernment to constitute afact-finding committee topublish the “real history” ofthe monument.

After the court order, ASIofficials had maintainedthat there is no secret inthose rooms, they are justpart of the structure, and arenot unique to the Taj Mahal,

but several Mughal-eramausoleums built at thetime—including Humayun’sTomb in Delhi.“The work ofmaintenance of under-ground cells on the riversidewas taken up.

Decayed and disinte-grated lime plaster was re-moved and replaced by lay-ing of lime plaster and tra-ditional lime processing be-fore application,” said ASI’saccompanying text, whilefour photographs of thebasement cells, “before” and“after” conversation, werepublished alongside.

The angry young brigade ofSharad ‘Mr Congeniality’ Pawar

New Delhi, With 60years in public life, SharadPawar is the grand old manof Indian politics, withfriends across parties andfew permanent enemies.

The 81-year-old has of-ten been talked about as theprime minister whom Indiacould do with, and the kindof unflappable leader whowouldn’t let a criticism ortwo affect him.

Not lately thougIn therecent past, the Maharashtragovernment in whichPawar’s party NCP has a

commanding presence hascracked down on any criti-cism of its supremo. Whenprotesting state road trans-portation employeesbarged into his house, morethan 100 were rounded upand either arrested or de-tained. An advocate repre-senting them was arrestedand spent 18 days in jail. OnFriday, two individuals werebooked and arrested forcomments they had put upon social media seen as di-rected against the NCPchief.Some attribute thisoverzealousness to the factthat the NCP holds theHome portfolio in the MVAcoalition government. EvenShiv Sena MP Sanjay Rautcommented on how policehad been quick to act incases involving NCP leaderscompared to the Sena’s.Others see in the muscle-flexing a bid to reassert theNCP’s position in the coali-tion vis-a-vis the Sena,which makes no bonesabout taking criticism of theThackerays lightly.Such wasthe outpouring of outrageagainst a little-known

Marathi actor, Ketaki Chitale(29), and a pharmaceuticalstudent, all of 21, NikhilBhamre, over social mediastatements seemingly di-rected at Pawar that NCPleaders competed with eachother in filing complaints.The two now face cases inseveral police stations.

Top NCP leaders alsoweighed in. Deputy ChiefMinister Ajit Pawar said, “Ithink the actor (Chitale)needs to get her mentalcheck-up done.” AnotherNCP minister, JeetendraAwadh, said: “The stern ac-tion was needed to stem therot which has made deepinroads in our society… Thisis part of the devious designof the right wing, who sub-scribe to the ideology of ha-tred, communalism andcasteism.”An insider in theNCP , backed by others, says:“Ideally, left to Sharad Pawar,he would not even take cog-nizance of such critics. Hehas digested far more seri-ous charges and criticism inthe past, including a BJPcampaign linking him toDawood Ibrahim.

Explained: Amid China head start, Modi push toclaim India’s place in Nepal’s Buddhist heritage

New Delhi, On Novem-ber 8, 2011, the veteranCongress leader KaranSingh, who was then amember of Rajya Sabha,told an unscheduled pressconference during a visit toNepal: “India would be inter-ested in developingLumbini in a manner befit-ting its status on the worldmap.”

Singh’s statement fol-lowed the aggressive pur-suit by China of a $3 billionproject through one of itsNGOs — Asia Pacific Ex-change of CooperationFoundation (APECF) — todevelop the birthplace ofLord Buddha into an inter-

national “city of peace”.At adinner hosted by a Nepalibusinessman where Nepal’sformer King Gyanendra —who was chairman of theLumbini Development Trustwhen it was established in1985 with the aim of restor-ing the Lumbini Garden —it was underlined thatLumbini was “less than 10km” from the Indian border.

The Congress was thenin power, and Singh was ap-parently told to convey toNepal that India had both acultural and a security inter-est in the development ofLumbini.

More than a decadelater, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi is in Lumbinion Monday (May 16), the2,566th birth anniversary ofthe Buddha, to lay the foun-dation of a monastery andto address a celebration atthe Maya Devi temple.

India will join more thana dozen countries includingChina, Thailand, Vietnam,Myanmar, Japan, Taiwan,and South Korea to have amonastery of its own in theglobal project.

As he spends severalhours in Nepal on Monday,Modi will become the firstIndian Prime Minister to visitLumbini.

He had expressed a de-sire to visit Lumbini during

his first official visit to Nepalas Prime Minister in July2014 — he had, in an ad-dress to the Constituent As-sembly of Nepal on that oc-casion, acknowledged thebirth of the Buddha in thatcountry, reassuring Nepalisentiment that India wouldnot try to appropriate it.

India reports 2,202 fresh Covid-19 cases,27 deaths; active cases at 17,317

New Delhi, India re-ported 2,202 new Covid-19infections and 27 fatalities inthe last 24 hours ending 8am on Monday, as per the

Union Health Ministry. Withthis, the active cases in thecountry dipped to 17,317.Also, India’s total tally ofcases has reached4,31,23,801, while the deathtoll was recorded at5,24,241. On Sunday, 2,487Coronavirus cases and 13deaths were reported.

The active cases com-prised 0.04 per cent of thetotal infections, while thenational Covid-19 recoveryrate was recorded at 98.74per cent, the ministry said. Adecrease of 375 cases hasbeen recorded in the activeCovid-19 caseload in a spanof 24 hours.

The daily positivity ratewas recorded at 0.74 percent and weekly positivityrate was recorded at 0.59 percent, according to the healthministry.The number ofpeople who have recuper-ated from the diseasesurged to 4,25,82,243, whilethe case fatality rate was re-corded at 1.22 per cent.Thecumulative doses adminis-

tered in the country so farunder the nationwideCOVID-19 vaccination drivehas exceeded 191.37 crore.

India’s Covid-19 tally hadcrossed the 20-lakh mark onAugust 7, 2020, 30 lakh onAugust 23, 40 lakh on Sep-tember 5 and 50 lakh onSeptember 16. It went past60 lakh on September 28, 70lakh on October 11, crossed80 lakh on October 29, 90lakh on November 20 andsurpassed the one-croremark on December 19.

The 27 new fatalities in-clude 22 from Kerala, threefrom Delhi and one eachfrom Maharashtra andJammu and Kashmir.

A total of 5,24,241deaths have been reportedso far in the country includ-ing 1,47,855 fromMaharashtra, 69,385 fromKerala, 40,105 fromKarnataka, 38,025 fromTamil Nadu, 26,195 fromDelhi, 23,513 from UttarPradesh and 21,203 fromWest Bengal.

AAP has an ally, but Keralacould be a long, lonely trek

New Delhi, On Sunday,announcing a new politicalfront with the Kerala-basedTwenty20, the CSR wing ofgarment major KITEX Group,Delhi Chief Minister andAam Aadmi Party convenorArvind Kejriwal said thepeople of Kerala have twooptions to choose from –“political parties that in-dulge in criminal activitiesand riots or honest partiessuch as AAP and Twenty20,which work for the welfareof the people”.

Kejriwal made the an-nouncement of the People’sWelfare Alliance (PWA) alongwith Twenty20 chief co-ordinator Sabu M Jacob, whois also the MD of KITEX, at a

mass convention held atKizhakkambalam near Kochi.Kizhakkambalam is theheadquarters of the KITEXgroup as well as ofTwenty20.The AAP, a partythat is in power in Delhi andPunjab, realises that Kerala— which has a long historyof successful political alli-ances, mainly the CPI(M)-ledLeft Democratic Front (LDF)and the Congress-led UnitedDemocratic Front (UDF) —could be a different ballgame altogether. The otheralliance in the state, the BJP-led NDA, hasn’t quite takenoff with the party sharing astrained relationship with itsmain ally, the BharathDharma Jana Sena.

North India swelters; mercury leapsto 49 degree Celsius in parts of Delhi

New Delhi, A witheringheatwave swept acrossthe national capital and itsneighbouring areas onSunday, with Mungeshpurand Najafgarh observato-ries in Delhi reportingtemperatures of 49.2 de-gree Celsius and 49.1 de-gree Celsius respectively.The temperature atSafdarjung Observatory,Delhi’s base station, was at45.6 degree Celsius, fivenotches above the normaland the highest this yearso far.

Maximum tempera-

tures reached highs acrossother observatories as well,of which Sports Complexrecorded 48.4 degree Cel-sius, Jafarpur lodged 47.5degree Celsius, whilePitampura and Ridge re-corded 47.3 and 47.2 de-gree Celsius respectively.

The Indian Meteoro-logical Department (IMD)said a thunderstorm or adust storm is likely in thenational capital on Mon-day. With scanty rains ow-ing to feeble Western Dis-turbances, Delhi had re-corded its second hottest

April this year since 1951with a monthly averagemaximum temperature of40.2 degrees Celsius. Aheatwave at the end ofthat month had sent themaximums soaring to 46and 47 degree Celsius inseveral parts of the city.Delhi received a minuscule0.3 mm of rainfall in Aprilagainst a monthly averageof 12.2 mm. March saw norainfall against a normal of15.9 mm. The IMD had pre-dicted above-normal tem-peratures inMay.According to the IMD,

a heatwave is declaredwhen the maximum tem-perature is over 40 degreeCelsius and at least 4.5notches above the normal.A severe heatwave is de-clared if the departurefrom normal temperatureis more than 6.4 notches.Based on absolute re-corded temperatures, aheatwave is declared whenan area logs a maximumtemperature of 45 degreeCelsius. A severe heatwaveis declared if the maximumtemperature crosses the47-degree Celsius mark.

Importance of Choosing OWN Gametes in IVFMedical and Technological Advancements in IVF paving the way forward to treat

difficult cases of Infertility with OWN gametes even in advanced maternal ageAhmedabad,

The Indian Society ofAssisted Reproduction esti-mates that 10-14% of theIndian population is suffer-ing from infertility. Further-more, the rates are muchhigher in the urban areaswhere 1 out of 6 couples areimpacted. If we roughly lookat the data, nearly 27.5 mil-lion Indian couples are ac-tively trying to conceive be-cause of infertility.

Similarly, in the UnitedStates of America, 1 out of 5(19%) heterosexual womenaged 15-49 years with noprior births are unable toget pregnant. Also, about 1in 4 (26%) out of thesewomen have difficulty get-ting pregnant or carrying apregnancy to term (im-paired fecundity).

The data suggest thatinfertility is no longer a pri-vate sorrow. It is slowlytransgressing due to abruptsocial and interpersonalramifications.

In the earlier days,women were looked upon

as childbearing machines. Awoman giving birth to ahealthy child was consid-ered normal. On the otherhand, a woman unable tobear a child or finding it dif-ficult to get through preg-nancy was frowned upon.

With packed sessions and cheeringaudiences, GLF 9 culminates on a high

Ahmedabad, The 9th edition of Gujarat Literature Festival (GLF), the

largest and most popular literary event of Gujarat, culmi-nated on a high with scores of fully packed sessions andevents on the final day on Sunday. More than 100 speak-ers, performers, authors, and artists took part in interestingdiscussions and talks over close to 50 unique sessionsthroughout the five days of GLF 9. “We had close to 50 ses-sions as a part of GLF 9, and each of them was very well-received. We are thankful to all the speakers, guests, par-ticipants, sponsors, volunteers, and especially the audiencefor making GLF a huge success, and supporting our effortsto promote Gujarati literature across mediums and attractmore youngsters to it,” said Samkit Shah, Producer, GLF.

Ahmedabad, Page 5

International 5AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

Russian state television has said Moscow maydeploy tactical nuclear weapons to its Europeanborders if Finland and Sweden allow military baseson their territory after joining NATO. Sweden's So-cial Democrats yesterday said they had droppedtheir opposition to NATO membership only hoursafter Finland confirmed its intention to join the al-liance. Pundits on Russian state TV responded:'Their official reason is fear. But they'll have morefear in Nato. When Nato bases appear in Sweden &Finland, Russia will have no choice but to neutralisethe imbalance & new threat by deploying tacticalnuclear weapons.' Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chair-man of Russia's security council, said weeks agothat Russia could deploy nuclear weapons and hy-personic missiles in its Kaliningrad exclave betweenPoland and Lithuania, in responce to NATO's Nor-dic expansion. One of the original supposed ration-ales for Moscow's invasion of Ukraine in Februarywas to stop Nato enlargement - but that plan is nowin tatters as both Scandinavian nations say they willseek membership of the alliance.

ANDREW MORTON: The Queen ordered a pot of tea but never touched adrop as she, Prince Philip and Prince Charles paced the tartan-carpeted corri-dor, wondering what should be done. When news of Diana's death camethrough, Charles wept, saying over and over: 'What have we done to deservethis?' His first instincts were about how the public would blame him for thetragedy - an assumption that was largely accurate. He discussed the issue atlength with his lover, Camilla Parker Bowles, who was at her Wiltshire home.Meanwhile, the Queen wisely ordered the removal of the radio and televisionfrom the boys' nursery. She did not want the princes to hear about the newsfrom anyone but their father. From now on, William and Harry would be herpriority. Prince Charles woke 15-year-old William at 7.15am and told him of hismother's death. 'I knew something was wrong,' William later recalled. 'I keptwaking up all night.' The Queen and Prince Philip look at floral tributes to Dianaleft outside Buckingham Palace on the eve of her funeral

Tom Cruise found himself mobbed by fans as he arrived at The Queen's Jubi-lee Celebrations in Windsor on Sunday. The Top Gun actor, 59, who took part inthe special event, looked relaxed in an all navy ensemble and flashed his fa-mous smile as he arrived to celebrate the Monarch's remarkable 70-years onthe throne.

Sweden, Finland launch talks with Turkeyover joining NATO: Turkish Minister

Ankara, May 16 (IANS)Sweden and Finland pro-posed to work with Turkeyon the "security guarantees"that Ankara has demandedover their plans to joinNATO, said Turkish ForeignMinister Mevlut Cavusoglu.

Turkey has been sup-porting the open-doorpolicy of NATO, but Finlandand Sweden's membershipbid raises security concernsfor Ankara, Cavusoglu toldTurkish reporters in Berlinon Sunday after a NATOmeeting.

Countries that "come incontact with the outlawedKurdistan Workers' Party(PKK) must abandon theirstance," state-run TRTbroadcaster quoted theMinister as saying.

These countries also im-

pose export restrictions onTurkey in the defence indus-try, he said, adding that ex-port bans should be lifted if

they seek membership inNATO, Xinhua news agencyreported.Cavusoglu had atripartite meeting with hisSwedish counterpart Ann

Linde and Finnish counter-part Pekka Haavisto in Ber-lin on Saturday on the side-lines of the NATO meeting.

Finland and Swedencame up with a proposal atthe meeting to conduct ajoint work for addressingTurkey's objections, he said.

Turkish President RecepTayyip Erdogan said on Fri-day that Turkey does nothave a favourable opinionon the idea of Finland andSweden joining the alliance.

The PKK, listed as a ter-rorist organisation by Tur-key, the US and the EU, hasbeen rebelling against theTurkish government formore than three decades.

As a NATO member, Tur-key can veto a country's ad-mission to the military alli-ance.

Egypt has no wheat crisis,interest rate hike likely: PM

Cairo, May 16 (IANS)Egyptian Prime MinisterMostafa Madbouly has saidEgypt will not have a crisisin wheat supplies despitethe repercussions of the on-going conflict between Rus-sia and Ukraine, two mainwheat exporters to Egypt.

Madbouly's remarkscame during a press confer-ence on Sunday at the in-vestment authority head-quarters in Cairo to higlightthe country's economic situ-ation amid the global risinginflation, Xinhua newsagency reported.

The national project ofincreasing agricultural landshas enabled Egypt to in-crease wheat growth, hesaid."This year, for the firsttime in the history of Egypt,we are expected to reach 10million tons of wheat pro-

duction," the Prime Ministersaid.Egypt has wheat re-serves sufficient for fourmonths, and with continu-ing local wheat production,it is expected to be sufficienttill the end of the year, he

added.Egypt has reserves ofbasic commodities, includ-ing wheat, cooking oil, rice,poultry, meat and otherssufficient for four to sixmonths, according toMadbouly.The worldwideinflation surge led the USFederal Reserve to recently

increase its interest rate, andseveral central banks acrossthe world have followedsuit.The Prime Minister saidit is "likely" that Egypt is go-ing to increase its interestrate too."The percentages

and timings are com-pletely subject to the as-sessment and evaluationof the Central Bank ofEgypt," headded.Besides, Egyptplans to reduce the grossgovernment debt from85.8 to 75 per cent of theGDP by 2026, the Prime

Minister said. (about $7 bil-lion) in the coming generalbudget to ease part of theburden suffered by the citi-zens, increase beneficiariesof social protection pro-grams and maintain provid-ing low-price food com-modities, Madbouly added.

British climber summits Mt.Qomolangma for record 16 times

Kathmandu, May 16 (IANS) British climberKenton Cool (48) broke his own record by scalingthe world's highest Mt. Qomolangma for the 16thtime, the most ever by a non-Nepali mountaineer,said the company organising his expedition.

"Cool and two other foreign climbers and fiveNepali Sherpa guides reached the top of Mt.Qomolangma at 5:25 a.m. on Sunday," Iswari Poudel,General Manager of Himalayan Guides Nepal, toldXinhua news agency.

"By reaching the top of the mountain, he brokehis own record of most summits of the world's tall-est peak by any foreign national," Poudel added.

The latest success gave Cool, a lead over USclimber David Allen Hahn, who has summited Mt.Qomolangma 15 times, Xinhua news agencyreported."This marks KC's (Kenton Cool) 16th sum-mit, a non Sherpa record," Cool wrote in his socialmedia account.

2 traders killed in Pakistan'sKhyber Pakhtunkhwa

Islamabad, May 16 (IANS) Two traders were killedwhen unidentified gunmen shot at them inPakistan's northwest Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province,Peshawar police said.The incident took place on Sun-day, Xinhua news agency reported.

The incident happened in a busy market area ofth provincial capital of Peshawar where the gunmenriding on motorbikes attacked the traders in an ap-parent targeted killing and fled the scene, policeadded.The traders belonged to a minority group andran shops of spices in the market, said a statementby Capital City Police Officer, Ijaz Khan said.

Khan later told the media that a search opera-tion was underway in the Khyber district to appre-hend the alleged attackers.

Somali presidential poll goes tosecond round

Mogadishu, May 16 (IANS) Four Somali presiden-tial candidates will progress to the second round ofvoting after the first one ended without any candi-date garnering two-thirds of the votes cast, or 219votes required to win the polls.

The first round of the presidential polls tookplace on Sunday.

The first round of the voting ended withPuntland State President, Said Deni leading with 65votes followed by incumbent Mohamed Farmajo,who garnered 59 votes, according to the joint com-mittee that is organising the elections.Former Presi-dent Hassan Sheikh Mohamud came in third with52 votes while former Prime Minister Hassan AliKhaire received 47 votes, the committee announced.

Africa's Covid-19 cases pass11.55mn: Africa CDC

Addis Ababa, May 16 (IANS) The number of con-firmed Covid-19 cases in Africa reached 11,555,033,the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Preven-tion (Africa CDC) said.Over 11 crore Covid cases werereported as of Sunday evening, Xinhua news agencyreported.The specialised healthcare agency of theAfrican Union (AU) said the death toll across the con-tinent stands at 252,637 and some 10,874,157 pa-tients have recovered from the disease so far.SouthAfrica, Morocco, Tunisia and Libya are among thecountries with the most cases on the continent, saidthe Africa CDC.

Israel to test floating sun-trackingsystem to generate clean electricity

Jerusalem, May 16(IANS) Israel has announceda project for testing an arti-ficial intelligence (AI) float-ing system to generate elec-tricity by tracking the sun,the state's Finance Ministryand the Israel InnovationAuthority (IIA) said in a jointstatement.The project wasannounced on Sunday,Xinhua news agencyreported.The solar pilotproject will be carried outjointly by the Israeli com-pany Xfloat, which devel-oped the system, andMekorot national water

company, according to thestatement.This photovoltaicsystem is designed to moveand track the sun whilefloating on reservoir water.It is based on machine learn-ing capabilities and continu-ous refining of rich data ac-quisition to optimise perfor-mance, according to Xfloat.

The system has a highpower generation capacity,and can cope with environ-mental changes and ex-treme weather, the Ministryand the IIA noted."As part ofthe cooperation, Xfloat'sfloating panels will be in-

stalled on Mekorot's waterreservoirs," Shir Azaraf, aspokeswoman for the Fi-nance Ministry, told Xinhua.

"The electricity gener-ated this way could be usedby everybody, including in-dustrial plants and homeconsumers, because theprocess is cheap and clean,"shcluded in a national pro-gram in which four Israelistartup companies were se-lected by the IIA to test in-novative technologies atgovernment sites with astate support of up to 50per cent.

Lebanese vote inparliamentary elections

Beirut, May 16 (IANS)Hundreds of thousands ofLebanese flocked to pollingstations across the countryto vote in the parliamentaryelections.

The Internal SecurityForces were deployed out-side and inside polling sta-tions onSunday toensure thesafety ofe l e c t i o n sand voters,while theL e b a n e s earmy tookover secu-rity in the vicinity of pollingcentres, Xinhua newsagency reported.

Aoun urged the Leba-nese to vote in abundance,saying that "citizens cannotbe impartial when it comesto fundamental issues re-lated to choosing the sys-tem of governance in thecountry".

The elections are held toelect a new parliament for a

term of four years with theparticipation of 718 candi-dates, including 118 femalecandidates, competing for128 seats.

The elections are heldunder the supervision of theLebanese Association forDemocratic Elections, the

E u r o p e a nUnion ElectionO b s e r va t i o nMission, theLeague of ArabStates and theInternationalOrganisation ofL aFrancophonie

to ensure the transparencyof the elections uponLebanon's request.

The Lebanese electionscome amid the worst finan-cial crisis in the country'shistory in light of the col-lapse of the local currency,the increase in poverty, un-employment and inflationin addition to scarcity in ba-sic commodities, includingfuel and medicines. --IANS

Kim issues special order on medicinesupply against Covid outbreak

Seoul, May 16 (IANS)North Korean leader KimJong-un rebuked officialsfor failing to deliver medi-cine to its people in timeamid the ongoing Covid-19outbreak and ordered themobilisation of military per-sonnel to stabilise the sup-ply of medicine inPyongyang, state media saidon Monday.

The political bureau ofthe ruling Workers' Party ofKorea convened an emer-gency consultative meetingagain to discuss measuresfor Covid control on Sunday,according to the North's of-ficial Korean Central NewsAgency (KCNA).

During the meeting, Kimexpressed his dissatisfactionthat medicine has not beenproperly supplied to phar-macies, although the polit-buro had issued "an emer-gency order to immediatelyrelease and timely supplythe state reserve medicines"

and an "order for all phar-macies to switch over to the24-hour operation system",Yonhap News Agencyquoted the KCNA report assaying.

He then issued an "orderof the chairman of the WPKCentral Military Commission

on immediately stabilisingthe supply of medicines inPyongyang City by involv-ing the powerful forces ofthe military medical field ofthe People's Army", theKCNA said.

He berated the judicialand prosecutorial sector,specifically the director of

the Central Public Prosecu-tors Office, for failing to con-duct legal supervision andcontrol over the supply ofmedicine and in correcting"several negative phenom-ena in the nationwide han-dling and sale of medicines".

After the meeting, Kimvisited pharmacies inPyongyang's Taedonggangdistrict to inspect the supplyand sale of medicine.

He pointed out thatmost pharmacies are in"poor" condition, sayingthey are equipped withmedicine display cases butlack "store houses", andcriticised some pharmacistsfor "offering service withoutwearing proper whitegowns".

On Sunday, North Koreareported eight additionaldeaths, raising the totalnumber to 50, and over392,920 people with symp-toms of fever nationwide, itadded.The total number of

fever patients stood at morethan 1.21 million, amongwhich more than 648,630have fully recovered and atleast 564,860 are beingtreated.

Chinese teachers of ConfuciusInstitute leave Pakistan

Karachi, May 16 (IANS)Chinese instructors teach-ing at the Confucius Insti-tute of the University ofKarachi have left for theircountry, according to thedirector of the department.

Director Dr Nasir Uddintold Geo News on Sundaysaid that the teachers at thedifferent Confucius Insti-tutes in the country, not justthe University of Karachi,have been called back byChina.

The Director assuredthat the institute will not beclosed, adding that Pakistaniteachers are being asked tohelp in teaching Mandarin.

Nasir said that the insti-tute was considering hold-

ing online classes and ex-ams, adding that currently,at least 500 students arestudying at the institute,

Geo News reported.The Confucius Institute

at the University of Karachiwas jointly established bythe latter and Sichuan Nor-mal University in China in2013.The institute is a non-profit educational institu-

tion which aims to teachMandarin, deepen interna-tional understanding of thelanguage, and Chinese cul-

ture, and promotepeople-to-people ex-changes betweenChina and Pakistan.

However, the insti-tute was recently in thenews after four people,including three Chi-nese teachers, werekilled while four others

sustained injuries in a sui-cide explosion at its pre-mises on April 26.Accordingto the Counter-TerrorismDepartment (CTD), the at-tack was a suicide blast car-ried out by a burqa-cladwoman.

S.Korean airlines to impose recordfuel surcharges on int'l routes

Seoul, May 16 (IANS)South Korean airlines are setto impose record fuel sur-charges on internationalroutes in June in the wake ofsoaring jet fuel prices, indus-try sources said Monday.

Starting June 1, the sur-charge for one-way ticketson international routes will

range from 37,700 won($29.4) to 293,800 won, de-pending on the routes,Yonhap News Agencyquoted an official from Ko-rean Air Lines as saying.

The planned increasewill raise the surcharges tothe highest Level 19 fromthe current Level 17.

In April 2021, rising jetfuel prices forced local carri-ers to begin imposing fuelsurcharges after a one-yearhiatus.

Fuel surcharges on inter-national routes had stayedat zero since April 2020 dueto the fallout from thecoronavirus pandemic.

Finland makes officialdecision to apply to join NATO

Helsinki, May 16 (IANS)Finland's President and thegovernment's foreign policycommittee took the officialdecision to start the processof the country's applicationto become a member of theNorth Atlantic TreatyOrganisation (NATO).

The President an-nounced the decision offi-cially on Sunday.

"On May 15, the Presi-dent of the Republic and theMinisterial Committee onForeign and Security Policyof the government finaliseda report on Finland's acces-sion to the North AtlanticTreaty Organisation. The re-

port will proceed to the ple-nary session of the govern-ment today

... and after its approval,it will be submitted to Par-liament," the governmentsaid in a statement.

Addressing a joint pressconference with Prime Min-ister Sanna Marin, PresidentSauli Niinisto described theday as historical as a new erais opening, Xinhua newsagency reported.

Also hailing the day ashistoric, Marin said followingthe parliamentary approval,the cabinet will suggest toPresident Niinisto that theapplication be sent to NATO.

1 killed, multiple injured atchurch in US's California

Los Angeles, May 16(IANS) One person waskilled and at least four oth-ers were injured in a shoot-ing at a church in westernUS state ofCalifornia, au-thorities said.

The shoot-ing happenedat the churchon the 24000block of ElToro Road inthe City of Laguna Woods inSouthern California's Or-ange County on Sunday af-ternoon, according to theOrange County Sheriff 'sDepartment.The sheriff 's

department tweeted at 2p.m. that deputies were re-sponding to reports of theshooting, Xinhua newsagency reported.

It addedlater that" d i s p a t c hreceived callof a shoot-ing insideG e n e v aP r e s b y t e -rian Church

at 1:26 p.m."All victims are adults

and are on their way to thehospital. One victim is de-ceased at the scene," saidthe department.

2 killed, 3 injured in USHouston flea market shooting

Houston, May 16 (IANS)Two people were killed andthree others critically in-jured in a shooting at a fleamarket in Houston, the larg-est city of the US stateTexas, authorities said.

The shooting allegedlytook place on Sunday dueto a fight among the fivemale victims, the HarrisCounty Sheriff's Office said.

The victims all appearto be in their early-to mid-20s and likely knew eachother, officials said, notingthey do not believe theshooting was random,Xinhua news agency re-ported.

No innocent bystand-ers were hurt although theflea market was very busyat Sunday afternoon whenthe shooting took place.

Harris County Sheriff, EdGonzalez said it is esti-mated that there were"thousands" at the fleamarket when the gun shotswere fired.

Two possible suspectswere detained and a thirdwas taken to a hospital, ac-cording to an ABC News re-port.

The Sheriff's office saidat least two pistols havebeen recovered from thecrime scene. --IANS

Ahmedabad Page 6

6 Sport

Business &Technology

AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

Bengaluru, Amazon In-dia today shared updates onits key pledges for India andannounced that it has cu-mulatively created morethan 11.6 lakh (1.16 million)direct and indirect jobs, en-abled nearly $5 billion incumulative exports, anddigitized over 40 lakh (4 mil-lion) MSMEs in India tilldate.In Jan 2020, at the firstedition of its annual eventAmazon Smbhav, the com-pany had pledged to digi-tize 1 crore (10 million)MSMEs, enable $10 billion incumulative exports and cre-ate 20 lakh (2 million) jobsin India by 2025. Amazon iswell on track to fulfil thesepledges, while in fact dou-bling its export pledge fromIndia, to now enable $20 bil-lion in cumulative exportsfrom India by 2025.

Last year at AmazonSmbhav 2021, Amazon hadannounced the $250 MMAmazon Smbhav Venture

Amazon has cumulatively createdover11.6 lakh direct and indirect jobs

Fund to invest in startupsand entrepreneurs who arefocused on technology in-novations.

Manish Tiwary, CountryManager, India ConsumerBusiness AmazonIndiasaid:“We have cumula-tively created over 11.6 lakhjobs, enabled nearly $5 bil-lion in exports and digitizedover 40 lakh MSMEs in India.As we continue to work withMSMEs across the country,we remain committed tobringing new tools, technol-ogy and innovation that willunleash the entrepreneurialspirit of Indian businesses,boost exports from thecountry and help createjobs at scale.We stronglybelieve that technology andmobile internet will con-tinue to positively impactIndia’s economic growth,and we see Amazon playinga larger role in thecountry’sdigital transforma-tion and a modern, thriving

digital economy.”Amazon has cumula-

tively created over 11.6 lakh(1.16 million) direct and in-direct jobs in India

Indian exporters onAmazon Global Selling areon track to cross $5 billion incumulative ecommerce ex-ports. Amazon is focused oncreating a robust infrastruc-ture to help Indian busi-nesses address customers in200+ countries and territo-ries, create global brandsfrom India and grow exportsstrongly through its GlobalSelling program. The pro-gram is witnessing rapidmomentum and today thereare more than one lakh(100K) exporters on the pro-gram who are on track tocross $5 billion in cumulativeexports. Amazon Global Sell-ing took three years to en-able the first billion dollars incumulative exports and only17 months to enablethe lasttwo billion dollars.

rants, including some ofthose listed in MENA’s 50Best Restaurants 2022 suchas LOWE, Reif JapaneseKushiyaki and Indochine, aswell as hotspots that havelaunched in 2021/22 such as11 Woodfire and Tamoka.

Diners will also be ableto enjoy restaurants withiconic views and globalnames at special DRWprices, including 99 SushiBar and Restaurant, Hutongand Inti, to name a few.

Those looking forunique, one-of-a-kind foodadventures across Dubai,DFF will welcome the returnof Foodie Experiences,which will run for the entireduration of DFF (2-15 May)and feature a curated seriesof Dubai’s most anticipatedand prominent chef tables,masterclasses, culinary col-laborations as well as out-of-the-box experiential diningconcepts that are exclusiveto DFF.

Dubai food festival 2022 set to tantalisetaste buds from 2 May - 15 May, 2022

New Delhi, Dubai FoodFestival (DFF), the city’s an-nual festival of food, is back!Celebrating Dubai’s globalgastronomy status, the 14-day, city-wide festival offood will return between 2–15 May 2022 to showcaseDubai’s most exciting culi-nary offerings.

Returning for the ninthedition, this year’s festivalwill take guests on animmersive tour of a cityhome to more than 200 na-tionalities and renowned forits rich culinary diversity.DFF will showcase the bestauthentic homegrown cui-sine and concepts createdby Dubai’s local food heroes,as well as world acclaimedfine dining restaurants, ex-periences andmasterclasses by leadingchefs with views of Dubai’siconic locations.

Festival favourites, DubaiRestaurant Week andFoodie Experiences, will

once again headline DFFwith exclusive dining expe-riences. Bookings are nowopen and with limitedspaces available, diners areencouraged to secure theirseats now. Here’s what is instore from the flagshipevents this DFF:

Dubai Restaurant Week(6 - 15 May)

In partnership with 40of the city’s best restau-rants, Dubai RestaurantWeek (DRW) returns from 6May with specially curated3 course dinner menusstarting from AED150 perperson or 2 course lunchmenus starting fromAED95. Diners in the citywill be able to enjoy irresist-ible dishes using the fresh-est ingredients – all at anattractive price that savescustomers up to 50 per centwhen dining out.

This year’s DRW wel-comes some of the city'smost recognised restau-

The Leela Palaces embarks ona journey of Holistic wellbeingwith ‘Aujasya by the Leela’

New Dehii, The Leela Palaces, Hotels and Resorts todayannounced the launch of their signature wellnessprogramme - Aujasya by The Leela aimed at redefining theroad to holistic wellbeing. A unique blend inspired by tra-ditional and modern practices, Aujasya by The Leela encom-passes a collection of authentic experiences that build vi-vacity and promote the vigour of life, built around the 2 Rsof Wellbeing – Restore (Food) and Renew (Mindfulness).

The brand has launched the first pillar, Restore (Food),in collaboration with renowned nutritionist and food con-sultant, Dr. Ankita Jalori. The Leela has re-imagined culinaryexperiences across the country by improving the nutritionalprofile of food menus and offering healthy alternatives.Executive Chef, Simran Singh Thapar at The Leela PalaceUdaipur and Chef Rishabh Anand at The Leela Palace NewDelhi along with their culinary teams across the countryhave thoughtfully curated menus to achieve the right bal-ance between health needs and gastronomic expectationsby focusing on millets, lean proteins, low-fat dairy andwhole grains. Speaking about the launch, Mr. AnuraagBhatnagar, Chief Operating Officer, The Leela Palaces, Ho-tels and Resorts said, “Challenges of the contemporaryworld and our fast-paced lifestyles often pose a disruptionfor our overall health. With Aujasya by The Leela, we areembarking on a lifelong commitment to holistic wellbeing.Our first step with Dr. Jalori has paved the way for a renewedtake on food and nutrition. Her expertise in the field com-bined with her unmatched experience has enabled us tobrew signature dishes with a renewed nutritional focus.

Mumbai, First of its kindfree health camp organizedby Health MinisterSudhakar’s foundation inassociation with severalmedical colleges and hospi-tals. World Book of Recordsawarded Dr K Sudhakarfoundation a world recordfor conducting a first-of-a-kind, massive, free healthcamp on May 14 and 15where total of around 2 lakhpeople are expected to par-ticipate. The camp, dubbedthe ‘Bruhat Arogya Tapasaneand Chikitsya Mela’, is offer-ing free consultation, test-ing, diagnosis and treat-ment to patients from eco-nomically weaker sections.The mela is organized by DrK Sudhakar Foundation inassociation with Depart-ments of Health & FamilyWelfare, and Medical Educa-tion in coordination withthe Chikaballapur DistrictAdministration.

“Initially I had expected25,000 to 30,000 to attend

Dr K Sudhakar Foundation receives world record forconducting a free health camp for 2 lakh people

the Mela but I came to knowthat 1.5 lakh people haveregistered just throughonline registration,” saidKarnataka Health and Medi-cal Education Minister Dr KSudhakar while speaking atthe inauguration of themela.

The camp is a unique ini-tiative where many govern-ment and non governmententities have come togetherwhich made such a camppossible. To support the ini-tiative, more than 100 re-nowned institutions fromsouthern Karnataka, includ-ing 22 private hospitals, 13private labs, 18 medical col-leges, 8 super-specialty hos-pitals, 15 eye hospitals, 6Ayush institutions and 10

dental colleges are partici-pating in the event. A totalof 1500 doctors, 1500nurses, 1000 lab techniciansand para medical staff willbe present at the camp.

Speaking at the inaugu-ration, Minister Sudhakarsaid that in case the patientneeds further care like sur-gery, they will be given refer-rals and future treatmentwill be covered further un-der the Ayushman BharathScheme. This kind of a campaccording to Dr K Sudhakarwas something he thoughtof after many of his personalexperiences with peoplefrom extremely impover-ished backgrounds wherehe realized the problem ofaccessibility to healthcare.

SAMI MOKBEL: Chelsea defender Andreas Christensen pulled himself out of contention for Saturday'sagonising FA Cup final defeat against Liverpool just hours before kick-off. The Denmark international - whowill join Barcelona at the end of the season - was not injured but told head coach Thomas Tuchel on themorning of the game he did not want to be considered for the Wembley showdown because he did not feelready to play. It is likely that Christensen would have started the game ahead of Trevoh Chalobah (inset left)if he was available for selection and his decision to withdraw from the squad to face Jurgen Klopp's sidearrived as a major blow to Chelsea's plans.

India tablet market set togrow up to 12% this yearNew Delhi, May 16

(IANS) Driven by resurgentdemand, the India tabletmarket grew 68 per centyear-on-year (YoY), while 4Gtablets recorded a sequen-tial growth of 74 per centYoY in the first quarter (Q1),a new report showed onMonday.The tablet PC ship-ments are set to record ahealthy 10-12 per centgrowth for the entire year,the report noted.Lenovo ledthe tablet market with a 36per cent market share, fol-lowed by Apple (22 percent) and Samsung (22 percent) in Q1, according toCyberMedia Research(CMR)."Driven by the pan-

demic and the continuousrise and ebb of the Covid-19cases, many of the sectorsare persisting with hybrid orremote work. This is continu-ing to fuel the adoption oftablets for work, e-learningand content consumptionuse cases," said MenkaKumari, Analyst-Industry In-telligence Group (IIG), CMR.

The education andhealthcare sector have con-tributed to the uptick in theoverall tablet market in thecountry, she added.

The shipment of tabletswith 8-inch display consti-tuted 26 per cent of theoverall shipments in the do-mestic market.

Can't afford to repeat theearlier mistakes in clashagainst PBKS: DC's KuldeepYadav

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS) Delhi Capitals are treat-ing their penultimate league game of the IndianPremier League against Punjab Kings later on Mon-day as a do-or-die clash, with wrist spinner KuldeepYadav saying that the team still have their playoffhopes alive provided they don't repeat the mistakesthey have "committed in the competition so far".

Delhi Capitals are currently fifth on the IPL tablewith 12 points from 12 games, the same as PunjabKings, but the Delhi franchise has a better net runrate (NRR).Speaking ahead of their match at the DYPatil stadium, Kuldeep Yadav said, "This is a do-or-die situation for us. We have performed well in thetournament, but we have lost some close games.We have to make sure that we don't repeat the mis-takes we have committed in the competition so far."

The spinner said that starting on a firm footing,either with the bat or ball, would be crucial.

IPL 2022: Happy to get swing butnot happy to bat at No. 8, saysRR's Trent Boult

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals seamerTrent Boult said he was happy to find some swingin the Brabourne wicket that helped him strike twoearly blows to help set up the 24-run win againstLucknow Super Giants in Match 63 of IPL 2022.

Boult finished with figures of 2/18 from his fourovers and with fellow medium pacer PrasidhKrishna (2/32) and Obed McCoy (2/35) too chippingin, Rajasthan Royals were able to restrict LSG to 154/8 in 20 overs as they chased Rajasthan's 179/6."Happy to get swing, some days are better thanothers. I'm happy with the wickets. I have a simplegame with the ball, I try to pitch it up and am happyto swing it," Boult said during the post-match pre-sentation on Monday.Boult, who was adjudged thePlayer of the Match, said it was difficult for him tobowl in India as the conditions were foreign to him.

Presence of quality spinnershelping us climb up the pointstable, says RR's Samson

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals skip-per Sanju Samson has maintained that in a high-pressure tournament such as the Indian PremierLeague (IPL), it is not always easy to maintain a"chilled and nice" atmosphere inside the dressingroom, adding that the presence of quality spinnersin the side was helping the team's campaign in IPL2022.Former champions Rajasthan Royals defeatedLucknow Super Giants by 24 runs at the BrabourneStadium on Sunday night to climb to second posi-tion with 16 points, and the team now has to en-sure they don't lose too badly in their last leagueassignment in order to secure a playoffsberth.Speaking about the emphatic win, builtaround Yashasvi Jaiswal's quick-fire 41, and his andDevdutt Padikkal's fine middle-order showing, theskipper said, "This win was satisfying. The atmo-sphere is chilled and nice, it's not easy to maintainit when there are losses and we have done it well.Batting first suits our approach well, we want to batpositively and the bowling unit is good as well.

CSK coach Fleming predicts a bright futurefor Pathirana after fruitful debut vs GT

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS)Chennai Super Kings headcoach Stephen Fleming haspredicted a bright future foryoung Sri Lankan pacebowler MatheeshaPathirana for the franchisein the coming years, afterthe 19-year-old grabbedtwo wickets in a losingcause for the four-timechampions against GujaratTitans at the Wankhede Sta-dium on Sunday.

Pathirana bowled aneconomical spell while alsotaking the wickets of GTopener Shubman Gill andskipper Hardik Pandya torattle them in the chase in

his debut match for CSK.However, WriddhimanSaha's unbeaten half-cen-tury helped the IPL new-

comers to a seven-wicketvictory with five balls tospre.

"Yeah, great. We were re-ally looking forward to him

playing and he has had suc-cess straightaway. He is veryyoung, we know who thesimilarities he has with

which are big shoes to fill.He had a great debut, andwe are really pleased forhim. It is a unique skill, andlearning to coach how touse that is one of the chal-lenges. It was great for himto get a game with us,"Fleming said.

The head coach alsoadded that the Super

Kings know where theywant to improve going intonext year, and they will leave"no stone unturned" for IPL2023.

Mumbai, May 16 (IANS)Lucknow Super Giants skip-per K.L. Rahul said his bat-ters will have to find ways toget "a good start whenthere is movement with theball" after their 24-run de-feat to Rajasthan Royals inMatch 63 of IPL 2022.

Chasing a par score of178/6 in 20 overs built onuseful knocks from YashasviJaiswal (41), Sanju Samson(32) and Devdutt Padikkal(39), Lucknow were re-stricted to 154/8 in 20 oversdespite a half-century byDeepak Hooda (59) and his65-run partnership withKrunal Pandya (25).

IPL 2022: Need to find ways to make a goodstart when ball is moving, says KL Rahul

"We need to find ways toget a good start when thereis movement with the ball.

Executing what we want tois the aim. Holding our nerveand give ourselves a chanceto play out the new ball orplay out a good spell. There's

often enough time to makeup and go big from there,"Rahul said at the post-matchpresentation on Sunday.

Rahul said theBrabourne pitch was betterthan the Pune pitch, whichwas harder. "The pitch atPune was harder. This was abetter pitch. There was seammovement earlier and theybowled well. Losing twowickets was bad, we've lostgames because of that be-fore," he said.Rahul blamedpoor work by his batterswhile chasing a gettable tar-get as the reason for theirdefeat."It was a gettable tar-get, a good pitch.

AC Milan on brinkof Serie A title

Rome, May 16 (IANS) ACMilan took a giant step to-wards the Serie A title, de-feating Atalanta 2-0 to needjust one point to win theleague in their last homegame of the season.

AC Milan went into theSan Siro on Sunday nightwith a two-point advantageover second-placed InterMilan, while Atalanta werestill fighting for a spot in theEuropean places. Milan's lastvictory against Atalanta onhome turf was in 2014, fol-lowed by four draws andthree defeats.Both sidesfailed to create genuinechances in the first half, andMilan striker Olivier Giroudwas booked for dissent afterhis penalty appeal was re-jected, Xinhua reports. Thehome side threw on Junior

Messias in the 54th minute,and made an impact almostwith his first touch as hislong pass over the topfound Rafael Leao, who re-sisted a shoulder-to-shoul-der challenge to finish witha low strike.AC Milan sealedth sensational style, whenTheo Hernandez started amove from his own half tosurge forward and ride tack-les before sending the ballto the bottomcorner.Elsewhere, InterMilan kept their Scudettohopes alive as MatteoDarmian's opener andLautaro Martinez's bracesaw the Nerazzurri beatCagliari 3-1.The title winnerswill be decided in the finalround as AC Milan visitSassuolo, while Inter Milanhost Sampdoria.

How Gujarat Titans choked CSK's run flow in the slog oversMumbai, May 16 (IANS)

Chennai Super Kings werecruising along at 109 for 2after 15 overs in the gameagainst Gujarat Titans, andlooking to unleash their bat-ting might in the slog overat the Wankhede Stadiumon Sunday. But just then theHardik Pandya-led side ap-plied the skids on MahandraSingh Dhoni's side, chokingthem and restricting thefour-time Indian Premier

League (IPL) champions tojust 133 runs.

Even though CSK are outof reckoning for a playoffsberth, they were looking tomake a match out of it byscoring at a fast clip and seta target in the vicinity of165-170. But meticulousbowling plans and clinicalexecution -- with GTbowlers not conceding asingle boundary in the lastfive overs -- resulted in CSK

returning another poorscore.With Ruturaj Gaikwadbatting on 51 (45 balls), andDhoni and Shivam Dubewaiting to bat, it caught theCSK fans by surprise thattheir team couldn't hit asingle boundary in the lastfive overs, with only 24 runsscored and three wicketslost."Ashish (Nehra), I think,has done a great job in mak-ing sure he's put together areally strong bowling unit,

with good experience in it.But also Yash Dayal is an in-credibly talented youngplayer, and I think to have aleft-armer in your bowlingattack that can bowl acrossthe 20 overs, is really, reallyimportant," opined theformer South Africanopener, who was also in con-tention for the England Testcoaching job before the rolewent to KKR head coachBrendon McCullum.

Symonds' sister says she just doesn't knowwhat he was doing on a lonely stretch: Report

London, May 16 (IANS)The mystery around Austra-lian cricketer AndrewSymonds' final hours beforehis death in a car crash onSaturday has deepenedwith his sister revealing todailymail.co.uk that the fam-ily "just don't know" whatthe 46-year-old was doingon a deserted stretch on thenight of the mishap.Theformer all-rounder died in a

single-car crash west ofTownsville in Queensland.He leaves behind his wifeLaura and twochildren.Quoting Louise, thereport said, "It's (mishap) justawful.

We just don't know(what Andre Symonds wasdoing there)," she said, add-ing, "I wish we had one moreday, one more phone call. Myheart is broken.

Covestro India Supports the AnkleshwarCommunity during the pandemic

Mumbai, As part of itsholistic dedication to its cor-porate social responsibility,Covestro India committeditself to the support of thelocal community inAnkleshwar. The supportwas part of its COVID reliefinitiatives and undertakenin cooperation with theAnkleshwar Industrial De-velopment Society- aGujarat-based NGO workingtowards sustainable devel-opment in the fields of edu-cation and healthcare.

This COVID relief projectwas focused on the JayabenModi Hospital and encom-passed support to itshealthcare staff in the con-tinued battle against thepandemic. Covestro sup-ported the hospital throughmedical aid and infrastruc-ture. Bavanji Vekariya, SiteHead - Ankleshwar, Covestro(India), commented on theCSR project in Ankleshwar,

“The second and thirdwaves of the coronaviruspandemic in India had over-whelmed the medical infra-structure of our country andled to a severe shortage ofcritical medical equipment.As part of our corporate so-cial responsibility efforts, weat Covestro have tried tosupport the relief and medi-cal efforts by aiding andsupporting the Jayaben

Modi Hospital inAnkleshwar. We are gratefulto the healthcare commu-nity in Ankleshwar for theircontinued efforts in thesechallenging times, and feelhumbled to be able to con-tribute in any way possible.”

The Covestro site inAnkleshwar began opera-tions in 2011 and covers anarea of approximately17,500 square metres.

Ahmedabad, Page 7

7AHMEDABAD TUESDAY 17/5/2022

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Noida: 80-year-old man held for'digitally raping' minor girl

Noida, May 16 (IANS) A 17-year-old girl has beenallegedly "digitally raped" for a period of seven yearsby an 80-year-old man who was arrested by theNoida Police on Sunday.

In a "digital rape", the accused person or the rap-ist uses his hands, toes, fingers or any other objectfor forceful penetration.

The man, identified as Maurice Ryder, was alsoaccused of committing obscene acts with thevictim.Based on the minor's complaint, the policeregistered a case under sections 376 (rape), 323 (vol-untarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation)of the Indian Penal Code and section 5 and 6 of thePOCSO act.It was learnt that the accused used toalso thrash the victim whenever she resisted to hisevil deeds.A police officer said a probe is underway.

Probe the reasons for yarn pricehike: OPS to Stalin

Chennai, May 16 (IANS) The Tamil Nadu govern-ment has the responsibility to probe into the rea-sons for increase in yarn prices despite the reduc-tion in taxes, said former Chief Minister and AIADMKCoordinator O.Panneerselvam on Monday.

He also said the state government has the re-sponsibility to find out the people who are hoard-ing the cotton to create an artificial scarcity result-ing in the price increase.

Panneerselvam said the Central governmenthas removed import duty on cotton and halted thehike in goods and services tax (GST) to 12 per centon textiles.The garment industry expected the cot-ton prices would come down due to these mea-sures. But on the contrary, prices of cotton and yarnhave gone up, he said.According to Panneerselvam,Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, if need be, should discusswith the Central government and take steps to re-duce the yarn prices.

Modi, Kovind greet nation onBuddha Purnima

New Delhi, May 16 (IANS) Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind andVice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on Mondaygreeted the nation on the occasion of BuddhaPurnima which commemorates the birth of GautamBuddha.On the occasion, the Prime Minister re-called the principles of Lord Buddha and reiteratedhis commitment to fulfil them."On Buddha Purnimawe recall the principles of Lord Buddha and reiter-ate our commitment to fulfil them. The thoughts ofLord Buddha can make our planet more peaceful,harmonious and sustainable," he tweeted.In a se-ries of tweets, the Vice President said: "Warm greet-ings on the auspicious occasion of Buddha Purnima.One of the most illustrious spiritual leaders of theworld, Lord Buddha preached the most profoundtruths.

Cong to push social, economicagenda to counter HindutvaNew Delhi, May 16

(IANS) After the three-day'Chintan Shivir' and hecticdebate on the 'Hindutva',the Congress has come upwith a social and economicagenda to counter the BJP.The party leaders, who de-liberated over the issue, saidthat ideological differenceswith the BJP is core to theCongress politics and tofight for the people's causeis the key takeaway from thebrainstorming session.

Congress interim Presi-dent Sonia Gandhi has an-nounced two major masscontact programmes -- oneis the agitationalprogramme against infla-tion to restart from June 15and the footmarch 'Bharat

Jodo', which will start fromOctober 2."We will launch anational Kanyakumari toKashmir Bharat Jodo Yatrafrom Gandhi Jayanti thisyear. All of us will participatein it. The Yatra is tostrengthen the bonds of so-cial harmony that are understress, to preserve the foun-dational values of our Con-stitution that are under as-sault, and to highlight theday-to-day concerns ofcrores of our people,"Gandhi said.

In the padyatra it hasbeen decided that RahulGandhi will hold the majorfoot march, and SoniaGandhi will also beparticipating.The Congressresolution also mentioned

about the fight for all sec-tions of the society and par-ticularly about the castecensus, which is a big OBCpush and the Congress lead-ers point that it may affectthe BJP's social engineeringin many states, especially inthe election-going states.

The Congress will behaving a series of mass con-nect programmes in the runup to the elections in 2024and reach out to the peopleas Rahul Gandhi haspointed out."We need tosgress was born from themasses and we have beenfighting for the peoplewhich is in our DNA," he saidin his concluding remarks atthe last day of the Congress'three-day 'Chintan Shivir'.

Mundka fire: 2 motivational speakersfrom Australia among casualties

New Delhi, May 16(IANS) The father-son duo,who had come to deliver asales motivation lecture atthe ill-fated building thatwas gutted in fire on May 13,were also killed in the mas-sive inferno.

The father-son duo,identified as Kailash Jyani(62) and his son Amit Jyani(37), had specially come toIndia from Australia to de-liver the lecture at the CofeImpax Pvt. Ltd."Both of them

had come from Australia todeliver the lecture on May13. They have also died inthe incident," Deputy Com-missioner of Police (outerdistrict) Sameer Sharma toldIANS.

The said company hadaround 100 employees, in-cluding about 50 women,who worked in a 9-hourwork shift from 10 a.m. to 7p.m. The senior officer in-formed that the bodies ofthe father and son were

identified with the help of agold chain and jewellery hewas wearing, however, it canbe confirmed only after theDNA sampling.

"One of their relatives,the brother of the deceased,is today arriving from Aus-tralia to give the DNAsample and further identifythe body," Sharma said.

SC to hear challenge to surveyGyanvapi mosque on Tuesday

New Delhi, May 16(IANS) The Supreme Courtwill on Tuesday hear a pleaagainst the Allahabad HighCourt order which dis-missed a petition challeng-ing a Varanasi court's orderto appoint an advocate as acourt commissioner to in-spect the Gyanvapi mosquecomplex.

A bench comprising Jus-tices D.Y. Chandrachud andP.S. Narasimha will hear theplea filed by Committee ofManagement AnjumanIntezamia Masajid Varanasi.

On May 13, the apexcourt had declined to imme-diately stop the survey ofthe Gyanvapi mosque inVaranasi, and agreed to listthe matter.

Senior advocate HuzefaAhmadi, representing thepetitioner, mentioned a pleabefore the top court filed bythe Committee seeking astay on survey of complex.

The plea challenged thevalidity of Allahabad HighCourt's April 21 order, whichdismissed the plea againstthe civil court's order for thesurvey.

Ahmadi mentioned theplea before a bench headedby Chief Justice N.V.Ramana.

The bench said: "Wedon't know anything aboutthe matter... We have no de-tails. How can we pass theorder?"

Ahmadi said "pleasegrant status quo", andadded that the mosque hasbeen covered under Placesof Worship Act.

The bench said: "Let melook at the papers, let mesee..."

A Varanasi court on asuit filed jointly by fiveHindu women, last monthordered an inspection of thepremises through advocatecommissioner Ajai KumarMishra.

The Allahabad HighCourt affirmed the civilcourt order.

The petitioners urgedthe court for year-long ac-cess to pray at a shrine be-hind the western wall of themosque complex.

The women petitionersalso want permission topray to other "visible andinvisible deities within theold temple complex".

On May 12, a Varanasicourt ordered resumptionof the video survey of theGyanvapi mosque complex,including the basement andclosed rooms.

The Muslim parties hadobjected to the survey. Thecourt said the survey reportshould be submitted onMay 17.The Varanasi courtalso declined to entertainthe demand of Muslim par-ties to remove advocatecommissioner Ajai KumarMishra, instead appointedtwo additional commission-ers -- lawyers Vishal Singhand Ajay Pratap Singh -- toassist him.

Kejriwal to hold meeting overanti-encroachment drive

New Delhi, May 16(IANS) Delhi Chief Minis-ter Arivind Kejriwal will onMonday to hold a meet-ing with Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) MLAs regarding theanti-encroachment drivein the national capital.

The meeting, whichwill begin at around 11a.m., was initially sched-uled for May 14 but it wascancelled due to the mas-sive building fire inMundka the previous daywhich claimed the lives of27 people.Monday'smeeting will take place atKejriwal's residence in

Civil Lines. "Everyone willshare their ideas tocounter the BJP. The BJP-controlled MCD (Munici-pal Corporation of Delhi)has launched the en-croachment drive, whichwe have to stop to savethe Delhiites. In the nameof encroachment theyare demolishing people'shomes. AAP is standingwith the common peopleof Delhi," said an AAPleader.During the meet-ing, the AAP leaders willdiscuss a strong strategyagainst the BJP as well asthe MCD.

Hubballi (Karnataka),May 16 (IANS) A Muslim ven-dor, Nabisaab Killedar, is oneamong the six representa-tives from downtroddenand working class selectedto inaugurate 8th MaySahitya Mela, which will beheld between May 27 and28 in Karnataka'sDavanagere city.

The Mela is organised tovoice out the people's is-sues, especially of the work-

K'taka Muslim vendor to inaugurateliterary event with others

ing class. Talking to IANS onMonday, BasavarajSulibhavi, stated that about1,000 delegates are takingpart in the programme.

Nabisaab Killedar, a wa-termelon fruit vendor'sshop was vandalised by theHindu activists last month inthe premises of theNuggikeri temple inDharwad, following the rul-ing BJP government's standthat non-Hindu vendors arenot allowed in the templepremises.

The photos and videosof the fruit shop beingvandalised went viral on so-cial media. The opposite par-ties have come forward tohelp Nabisaab Killedar andthe Karnataka Police had ar-rested Sri Rama Sena activ-ists in connection with theincident.

The programme will beorganised at Taj Palace inDavanagere. A beedi worker,construction worker, farmerand environment activistshave also been invited toinaugurate the programmealong with NabisaabKilledar.

Basavaraj Sulibhavi saidthat the programme is heldevery year. Eminent person-alities will make the key-note address, which is based

on contemporary issues.Justice K. Chandru, a retiredJudge from the Madras HighCourt is delivering the key-note address this time.

Veteran agrarian jour-nalist P. Sainath is deliveringa lecture on 'Rural India Cri-sis'. Sudheendra Kulkarni,former strategist for L.K.Advani from Karnataka isspeaking on 'Diversity andOppressive Violence'. Notededitor of popular Kannadadaily A.S. Puttige is also tak-ing part in the event.

The event will try to findout what country hasgained and lost in the lastseven decades of Indepen-dence. The constitutionalcrisis and the federal aspira-tions will also be discussed,Basavaraj Sulibhavi said.

Dr T.N. PrakashKammaradi will throw lighton the Karnataka agricul-tural crisis and NasreenMitai will speak about thecrisis and tensions faced bywomen belonging to theminority communities.

Kavitha Krishnan, secre-tary All India ProgressiveWomen's Association, Delhiis also taking part in theevent. The mela wasorganised online due toCovid pandemic in the lasttwo years.

13-yr-old arrested fortoddler's murder in Lucknow

Lucknow, May 16 (IANS)A 13-year-old boy has beenarrested for killing a toddlerin Lucknow after he con-fessed to his crime.

On Sunday, the boy con-fessed that four days ago, hewas allegedly slapped bythe victim's father who usedto also abuse his familymembers, humiliating themin full public view.

Syed Ali Abbas, ACP,Aliganj, said that the revela-tion came two days after thenaked body of the victimwas recovered from a watertank of a school in Sairpurpolice station area.

The boy was sent to thePara Shelter home and willbe produced before the Ju-venile Justice Board onMonday.The ACP said thatthe minor boy confessed to

his crime during interroga-tion before his parents.

"I found the girl childoutside her house, I pickedher up and brought her tomy school and threw herbody in the water tank. I alsotied a brick to both her legsand threw away herclothes," he reportedly toldthe police.The minor effi-ciently climbed the wall ofthe school to reach the tankwith ease, also traced thegirl's frock, and string heused to tie her body with.

To verify and rule out thepossibility of the involve-ment of any other culprit inthe case police also con-ducted a thorough investi-gation and questionedneighbours but did not getany evidence, the policesaid.

48,000 govt schools decked up to welcome students in K'takaBengaluru, May 16

(IANS) The Karnataka Educa-tion Department is makingall attempts to make re-opening of the governmentschools for children study-ing Class 1 to 10 a momen-tous event by creating a fes-tive atmosphere in the pre-mises. A total of 48,066 gov-ernment schools in the stateare reopening for the aca-demic year 2022-23 fromMonday.

The governmentschools are decked up towelcome students on thefirst day (Monday) followingthe directions by the Educa-tion department. The teach-ers, School Developmentand Management Commit-tees (SDMC) with the help of

villagers and localities haveembellished school pre-mises with flowers andother articles.

The managements ofschools in the rural areashave planned to bring chil-dren on bedecked bullockcarts to schools. Someschools have asked the chil-dren to come in traditionaldresses. Though there waspressure to extend summerholiday, Education MinisterB.C. Nagesh has taken per-sonal interest in reopeningof schools to make up forthe academic losses duringCovid pandemic in the last2 years.

The state government isinaugurating 'KalikaChetarike' (learning recov-

ery) special classes for theschool children. Chief Minis-ter Basavaraj Bommai is in-augurating the programmein Tumakuru. The academicyear 2022-23 is regarded asthe learning recovery yearby the education depart-ment.

The department is start-ing 'Midday Meal' and'Ksheera Bhagya' (distribu-tion of milk) for the studentsfrom Monday. However, theywill get uniforms, textbooksand bicycles later.

Among 48,066 schools,about 10,000 schools needto be repaired and officershave been given directionsto verify these schools andmake parallel arrangementsof classrooms for the chil-

dren.To encourage school

students to attend classesand to enable them to be-gin academic activities withall the joy and happiness,festive mood is being cre-ated. The schools have beenissued a circular to start'Male Billu' (rainbow) specialprogramme for the first twoweeks.

There are 6,722 aidedand 22,065 private schoolsin Karnataka. Though,Karnataka government hasreleased an order to com-mence the Classes (1 to 10)from Monday, many aidedand private schools are be-ginning Class 6 - 10 fromMay 23 and the primaryclasses from June 1.

Amid Maoist resurgence threat,Mamata to visit Junglemahal

Kolkata, May 16 (IANS)In the backdrop of frequentrecovery of Maoist postersand intelligence alertsabout the resurgence of theLeft-wing extremist (LWE)activities in pockets of WestBengal, Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee will be inJunglemahal for two daysfrom Tuesday.Although theJunglemahal area is scat-tered over three districts ofWest Midnapore, Bankuraand Purulia, this time the

chief minister will restricther activities in WestMidnapore district only.

In the coming days, thechief minister will makesimilar visits to Purulia andBankura as well, confirmedsources from the state sec-retariat ofNabanna.Sources said thaton May 17, the chief minis-ter will first reach the CircuitHouse in Midnapore town.On the same day, around 3p.m. she will chair an ad-

ministrative review meet-ing, which will be attendedby district magistrates anddistrict police superinten-dents and other senior bu-reaucrats and police offic-ers from the district.

A member of the statecabinet, who did not wishto be named, told IANS thatthe chief minister is con-cerned about the reports ofpossible resurgence of theMaoist activities in thestate.

SCO anti-terrormeet begins inDelhi

New Delhi, May 16(IANS) The meeting of theRegional Anti-Terror struc-ture (RATS) began here onMonday with an eye oncurbing terror activities.

Delegations from theShanghai CooperationOrganisation (SCO) coun-tries are participating in themeeting.

The RATS is a permanentanti-terror unit under theambit of the SCO-based inUzbekistan.

Anti-terror teams fromChina, Pakistan, Russia andother Asian countries areparticipating in the meetfrom May 16 to 19. --IANS

Of thwarted desire,misogyny and erasure

New Delhi, May 16(IANS) It is the 1970s in ruralSouth Korea and San isalone.

She finally finds a friendin a girl called Namae, untilone afternoon changes ev-erything. Following a mo-ment of intimacy in a field ofminari (a leafy green peren-nial herb), Namae violentlyrejects San, setting her on atroubling path.

It is the 1990s and San is22, when she happens upona job at a flower shop inSeoul's bustling city centre.Over the course of one hazy,volatile summer, San meetsa curious cast of characters-- the mute shop owner, abrash co-worker, kind farm-ers and aggressive custom-ers -- and fuelled by a quiet

desperation to jump-starther life, she plungesheadfirst into obsessionwith a passing magazinephotographer.

Throughout it all, San'smoment with Namae con-tinues to linger in the backof her mind.

Kyung-sook Shin is theauthor of numerous worksof fiction and is one of SouthKorea's most widely readand acclaimed novelists. Shehas been honored with theManhae Literature Prize, theDong-in Literature Prize,and the Yi Sang LiteraryPrize, as well as France's Prixde l'Inaperçu. She won theMan Asian Literary Prize in2012 for 'Please Look AfterMom', her first book to ap-pear in English.--IANS

Modi to meet UP Ministers overdinner at Yogi's residence

Lucknow, May 16 (IANS)In a first, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will interactwith Uttar Pradesh Ministersat Chief Minister YogiAdityanath's residence overdinner in Lucknow onMonday.An official spokes-man confirmed that thePrime Minister is scheduledto meet the Council ofMinisters.Modi will arrive inLucknow on Monday

evening after his visit toKushinagar where he willattend a programmeorganised at MahanirvanaStupa on the occasion ofBuddha Purnima.Modi's in-teraction with the Ministersis said to focus on theprogress of implementationof developmentprogrammes/schemes atthe grassroots level in vari-ous districts and divisions.

Natonal Human Rights Commission investigation team led by DIG S K Meenaconducting spot enquiry at the commercial complex where a fire accident claimedatleast 27 lives, at Mundka in New Delhi on Monday. UNI

Security arrangements beefed up in Varanasi on Monday following the completion of survey work ofGyanvapi Masjid, the survey report will be presented in the court on Tuesday. UNI

Villagers gather around a dry well to fetch water provided by tankers atShahapur village in Thane on Monday. UNI