SOURCE: X MANGALURU TUESDAY MARCH 19, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 12 CITY EDITION TENSIONS HIGH AS PAK AIRSTRIKES IN AFGHAN TERRITORY KILLS EIGHT The Pakistan Army said eight terrorists were killed in ‘anti-terror operations’ in the border regions inside Afghanistan on Monday A RESPONSE TO ATTACK ON ARMY OUTPOST: PAK STRIKE KILLED CIVILIANS, SAYS TALIBAN The airstrikes come amid heightened tensions between the two neighbours over a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which Islamabad has blamed on groups based in Afghanistan. Pakistan said Monday’s airstrikes, which were in response to a recent attack on one of its army outposts, targeted a group allied with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan ■ ■ Afghan Taliban said Pakistan targeted civilian homes and claimed five women and three children were killed in the pre-dawn strike Tensions between Pakistan and Afghanistan rose after the Taliban took power in Kabul in 2021. Pakistan said it had repeatedly urged the group to act against terror outfits operating in Afghanistan 6,000 PAK TALIBAN FIGHTERS IN AFGHANISTAN, SAYS PAKISTAN OFFICIAL CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI I.N.D.I.A alliance aiming to destroy Shakti concept: PM SC directs SBI to share all data on electoral bonds EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Shivamogga Details including bond numbers that can link donors to political parties must be disclosed 2019. The top court on Monday rejected a plea urging it to order SBI to disclose details reTHE Supreme Court on Monday lated to electoral bonds purdirected the State Bank of India chased and redeemed prior to (SBI) to disclose all details re- this date. lated to the electoral bonds in its In a landmark verdict on Febpossession by March 21, includ- ruary 15, the Supreme Court ing the unique alphanumeric struck down the Centre’s elecnumbers that can map donors to toral bonds scheme introduced political parties. in 2018 that allowed anonymous Rapping the public-sector political funding. lender over selective discloThe court had asked the SBI sure, the Supreme Court said it to stop issuing electoral bonds had in its February 15 with immediate effect verdict sought a comand submit all the dePlea against plete disclosure of all tails to the EC by disclosure data related to elecMarch 6. “Lack of The Supreme Court privacy of political toral bonds in the on Monday refused affiliation would be bank’s possession. “We had asked all to entertain pleas catastrophic. It can by Associated details to be disclosed be used to disenfranChambers of by the SBI which inchise voters. Right to Commerce & cludes electoral bond informational privaIndustry of India numbers as well. Let cy extends to finanSBI not be selective in and Confederation cial contributions to of Indian Industry political parties,” the disclosure,” the fivejudge Constitution seeking to delay the court had said. disclosure of Bench, of the SuThe Election Comelectoral bonds preme Court headed mission on March 14 numbers by Chief Justice D Y released data shared Chandrachud said. by the SBI. However, The bank’s chairperson has did not contain electoral bond been directed to file an affidavit numbers. Last week, the top by 5 pm on March 21 stating court issued a notice to the that all details have been dis- country’s largest bank to exclosed to the Election Commis- plain the reasons for the nonsion (EC). The court also direct- disclosure of unique alphanue d t h e C h i e f E l e c t i o n meric numbers in compliance Commissioner to file a detailed with its directions. compliance affidavit by March The electoral bond scheme 21 to ensure no further compli- was challenged by the Associacations arise over the matters. tion for Democratic Reforms, The details sought are relat- the CPI (M) and Congress leaded to electoral bonds purchased ers Jaya Thakur and Spandan and redeemed after April 12, Biswal. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accompanied by BJP candidates for Davanagere Gayathri Siddeshwara and Shivamogga B Y Raghavendra arrive at the election rally venue in Shivamogga on Monday | EXPRESS KSE skips Modi rally in Shivamogga Now, Sadananda keeps ‘options open’ Former CM DV Sadananda Gowda, who was denied an LS poll ticket by the BJP, said he has kept his option open of contesting from Congress. He said Congress leaders were in touch with him. POLL PANEL TRANSFERS WEST BENGAL DGP Deal struck in Bihar, NDA gets 17 seats, JD(U) 16 New Delhi: The Election Commission of India on Monday ordered the transfers of the West Bengal DGP and home secretaries in six states — Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. It also mandated the appointment of Vivek Sahay, once suspended by the poll panel, as the new Bengal police chief | P7 RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi THE BJP on Monday ironed out its seat-sharing deal with National Democratic Alliance partners in Bihar, pocketing 17 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It emerged as the undisputed big brother in the alliance, as the JD(U) will contest from 16, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 5 and the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Nine killed as building collapses in Kolkata FUN & FROLIC Devotees celebrate Lathmar Holi at Sri Ji temple near Mathura on Monday | PTI Ad-hoc panel dissolved, WFI requests to host national camp The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc committee formed on December 27, 2023 to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The decision paved the way for the federation led by Sanjay Kumar Singh, considered a close associate of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, to take administrative control of the sport. “The decision to dissolve the Ad-hoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Ad-hoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi,” said the IOA order. Interestingly, the sports ministry — which on December 24, 2023 directed the IOA to form the ad-hoc committee three days after the Sanjay Singh-led panel won 13 out of 15 posts in the election — has not issued any order this time. The IOA also instructed WFI to appoint a “Safeguarding Committee” to address concerns of sexual harassment apart from conducting elections of the Athletes’ Commission. Soon after the order, Sanjay Singh wrote to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) requesting it to facilitate the hosting of national camps for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier scheduled next month. BJP sources said they were trying to mollify Paras with possibly a governor’s berth while accommodating his son and others from his faction in the assembly elections. However, his party could go it alone or forge a tie-up with the opposition. The NDA deal was announced by Vinod Tawde, BJP in-charge of Bihar unit of the party. For the full break-up of NDA seats, see the accompanying graphic. “The top-four (gold, silver and two bronze medallists) of the trials are eligible for the camp,” Sanjay Singh told this daily . This means Vinesh, who participated in two weight categories — 50kg and 53kg winning the first and finishing with bronze in the second — will be named as a camper. Bajrang Punia, who lost the 65kg semifinal before skipping the bronze medal bout, may miss out. Sources, however, believe he can still make it if SAI wants. “If the SAI wants to add names including of Bajrang, it can do that,” said a WFI source. N o t ably, B a j r a n g a n d Vinesh, along with Sakshi Malik, spearheaded the protest against Brij Bhushan last year accusing the UP strongman of sexual harassment. Satyendar Jain back in jail after SC cancels bail S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ Bengaluru ON THE MAT F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Chennai tigious Hajipur, the seat held by his late dad. Chirag later said he will vacate his Jamui seat and contest from Hajipur. Chirag’s gain was Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras’s loss. Paras, the brother of Ram Vilas, is the sitting MP from Hajipur. His breakaway faction of the LJP has five seats in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Paras is expected to tap the RJDled grand alliance in Bihar in a day or two. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Bengaluru: Biocon executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Monday clarified that the company did not make any political donation to any party. Shaw said she purchased electoral bonds in her personal capacity and donated to JDS and other parties | P10 Kolkata: A five-storey underconstruction building, said to be an illegal structure, collapsed on adjoining tiled-roof shanties in Garden Reach here early on Monday, leaving nine dead and at least 15 seriously injured | P8 Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) one each. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, JD(U) and the undivided LJP were part of the NDA, which won 39 of the 40 seats. Both the BJP and JD(U) had contested from 17 seats each at that point in time. The big headline maker this time was Chirag Paswan, son of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan. His faction, LJP (RV), got five constituencies, including the pres- Indirectly referring to DCM DK Shivakumar, PM Narendra Modi on Monday said there is a leader in the ruling party who is a “‘CM in waiting’, ‘Future CM’, ‘Super CM’, ‘Shadow CM’, and ‘Delhi Collection Minister’”. Bizman attacked over ‘chalisa’? Police say no Bought electoral bonds in personal capacity: Shaw Bengaluru: The Karnataka HC ordered authorities not to take precipitative action over display of 60% Kannada in name boards if the Karnataka Language Development (Amendment) Act has not come into force. PM calls certain Cong leader ‘collection minister’ mindset of the British. Even today, Congress relies on divideand-rule policy and aims to divide the country along caste and religious lines,” he said. Referring to an earlier statement by Bengaluru Rural MP DK Suresh, he said, “A Congress MP makes a statement of division of North and South, exhibiting their mentality .” BJP selected a tribal woman as the President of India. BJP has ample scope to make a Scheduled Caste the chief minister. BJP is committed to provide social justice to all sections of society he added. , Winding up his speech, Modi told the gathering that he is waiting for their guarantee that the lotus will bloom in the state. They responded saying MORE: P4 they will. Senior BJP leader KS Eshwarappa did not attend PM Narendra Modi’s rally in Shivamogga on Monday, sending a strong signal to the party that he is determined to contest as an independent. EXPRESS READ No precipitative action for 60% Kannada: HC PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Monday alleged that the I.N.D.I.A bloc has proclaimed to destroy the Shakti concept, which not only disrespects the Hindu dharma but also the Nari Shakti (women power). He said the opposition alliance will definitely come to know about Shakti’s significance on June 4, the day Lok Sabha election results are announced. Addressing a mega election rally in Shivamogga, covering four parliamentary constituencies of Shivamo g g a, Chikkamagaluru-Udupi, Davanagere and Chitradurga, he said, “Nari Shakti is a symbol of Maa Shakti, which is my armour.” Quoting the example of the relationship between Chhatrapati Shivaji and Maa Bhavani, Modi said he is a devotee of Hindu religion and offers pooja to Bharata Maata, but opposition parties say they will destroy Shakti. “While the I.N.D.I.A bloc attacks the womenfolk, BJP focuses on women empower ment. Join hands with BJP he exhorted voters. ,” “The British left this country, but Congress still has the @ New Delhi A 26-year-old shopkeeper was attacked by a group of six men for reportedly playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’, claiming that the loud music will disturb ‘Azan’ prayers. The incident happened at Siddannagalli in Halasuru Gate police limits on Sunday between 6 pm and 6.40 pm. The police, however, said that during their investigation they found that the victim was neither playing ‘Hanuman Chalisa’ nor the fight was over the m u s i c d i s t u r b i n g ‘A z a n’ prayers. The video of the incident went viral and netizens took to social media and poured in their comments. Taking to X, BJP condemned the incident, AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on Monday returned to Tihar jail after the Supreme Court cancelled his regular bail plea and asked him to surrender immediately He was out on interim . bail on health grounds in the Delhi excise policy scam case since May 26 last year. The bail was extended multiple times on various grounds, primarily citing his health. A two-judge bench of justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal declined Jain’s plea to grant him at least a week to surrender, though he claimed that he continued to be unwell. “Jain arrived at Tihar jail in the evening. He was taken to jail number 7 after the formalities of lodging him in the prison were completed,” a jail official said. On December 14, 2023, the court had extended his interim bail till January 8. On January 17, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Jain, had requested regular bail claiming that the health of his client was deteriorating. The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case against Jain, based on a CBI complaint that he had acquired movable properties in the name of various persons for which he did not give satisfactory answers. A CCTV footage of the group attacking the shopkeeper, in Bengaluru saying the Congress government in the state is ‘antiHindu’. The victim, G Mukesh, a resident of Cubbonpet, filed a police complaint against Sulem a n , S h a n av a z , Ro h i t h , Dyanish, Taruna and others at 10.30 pm on Sunday. Mukesh was taken to Victoria Hospital P4 for treatment. HC reserves order on Board exams EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE division bench of Karnataka High Court on Monday reserved its order on the appeals filed by the state government against quashing of Board examinations for Classes 5, 8 and 9 by a single judge. A division bench of Justices K Somashekar and Rajesh Rai K reserved the order after the conclusion of the arguments by the state government and counter-arguments by the counsel of the RTE Students and Parents Association and the petitioners. Allowing the petitions filed by the Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association Karnataka and the Organisation for Unaided Recognised Schools, the single judge had quashed the board ex- ams. Against this, the state government filed the appeal before the division bench which passed the interim order permitting the state government to conduct the Board examinations. Aggrieved petitioners then approached the Supreme Court, which set aside the division bench’s interim order and remitted the matter to the division bench to decide it on its CONTINUED ON: P5 merits. NRN gifts Infy shares worth `240 cr to grandson EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru INFOSYS founder NR Narayana Murthy has gifted 15 lakh shares or 0.04% stake worth over Rs 240 crore in the IT company to his four-month-old grandson Ekagrah Rohan Murty . According to regulatory filings, Murthy gifted these shares in an off-market transaction on March 15. Following this, Murthy’s holding in Infosys fell to 0.36% from 0.40%. Infosys shares on Monday closed at Rs 1,602.30 apiece on the BSE. Ekagrah is the third grandchild of Narayana Mur thy and Sudha Murty. They have two other grandchildren Krishna and Anoushka, daughters of Akshata Murty and UK PM Rishi Sunak. Rohan Murty and his wife Aparna Krishnan announced the arrival of their baby boy in November last year. Sudha Murty, who recently took oath as Rajya Sabha member, holds 0.83% stake worth about Rs 5,600 crore in Infosys. She holds about 3.45 crore shares as of December 31, 2023. While their daughter holds 0.94% stake, Rohan Murty holds 1.47% stake in the IT company . Sudha Murty gave her husband Rs 10,000 as seed capital to start the company which was found, ed by Murthy in 1981. From a capital of $250, it has grown to a $18.55 billion company. At the end of FY23, the company’s headcount stood at 3,43,234. In January, Infosys was recognised as the Top 3 IT services brand globally and the fastest growing IT services brand over a five-year period, according to Brand Finance. Infosys brand value has more than doubled in the last five years, and at over $14 billion in 2024, Infosys is ranked as No 145 most valuable brand in the world.
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