WEDNESDAY ALIBABA TO SPLIT INTO SIX UNITS 29 MARCH, 2023 Chinese e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba Group plans to overhaul its sprawling $257-billion empire by splitting into six business verticals as it looks to react faster to market changes and increase value epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard twitter.com/TheMornStandard MEXICO FIRE AT DETENTION CENTRE KILLS 40 The President says fearing deportation, migrants set mattresses ablaze PAGE 9 Senior MEA official robbed of diplomatic passport in city U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi A senior official of the Ministry of External Affairs was robbed of his belongings, including his diplomatic passport, at south Delhi’s Aurobindo Marg when he got down from his vehicle to help a man lying unconscious on the road. DCP (south) Chandan Chowdhary said they received a PCR call around 6.30 pm on Monday at Kotla Mubarakpur police station about a theft from a car in front of AIIMS Gate No. 2 (Opposite Side), Near Subway, Ring Road. The police reached the spot where the complainant told them that he works at the Ministry of External Affairs as Deputy Secretary (legal officer). While returning from the office, he saw a person lying unconscious on the Aurobindo Marg (INA Market) towards South Extension. “He parked his car on the roadside and called the PCR for help. Then, the PCR van took away the said person from there and he came back to his car,” the DCP said. When the man returned, he was astonished to find out that his car’s window pane was broken and his belongings such as the official laptop with Laptop Bag, two mobile phones and his diplomatic passport, official IDs, bank cards, 20 Euros and Rs 7,000 cash were missing from the car. A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI Ukraine students to get 2 attempts to clear MBBS: SC Govt had offered them one shot at the final exams following panel’s recommendation S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi IN a major relief to Indian medical students who were forced to return from Ukraine, China and the Philippines due to war and Covid-19 pandemic, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed them to clear their final examination in two attempts, without enrolling in any medical college in India. This is applicable to MBBS students who returned to India in their penultimate year of studies and completed the course through online mode. The examination will be in line with the existing National Medical Council (NMC) syllabus and guidelines, a bench of judges B R Gavai and Vikram Nath said. The bench was hearing a batch of pleas fled by students who had to leave their studies mid-way and return to India. Earlier, the Centre had told the SC that it was ready to offer penultimate year students one chance to clear the final exams (both theory and practical) but the court modified it to two, considering the special circumstances of the case. The Centre said the theory exam would be held centrally on the pattern of Indian MBBS exam, while the practical exam would be conducted by designated government medical colleges. The students will also have to complete two years of compulsory rotatory internship, of which the first year will be free and the second year paid as decided by the NMC. The SC had in December 2022 asked the Centre to find a solution to the ‘humane problem’ faced by the medical students. “We are sure that the Union of India will give due importance to our suggestion and find out a solution for these students, who are undisputedly an asset to the nation and, particularly, when there is a dearth of doctors in the country it had said. ,” Following the suggestion, the government formed a committee of experts. The Centre submitted its recommendation to the Supreme Court via an affidavit, which the court accepted on Tuesday with one modification in favour of the students. The affidavit also made it clear that the relaxation in rules is only for the present matter and will not be treated as a precedent for issues that may arise in the future. Secret of stripes: Tiger skin seized by cops may be of canine had come to light. He explained that the stripes on a THE Crime Branch of the Delhi Police tiger’s skin are vertical and range in last week claimed that it had bust a colour from brown to black, which smuggling racket of Royal Bengal ti- help the big cat blend in with foliage ger skins with the arrest of five people in the wild. They are, however, not from south Delhi. It said that two such symmetrical, as is the case in the one skins had been seized from the smug- of the recovered animal skins. glers, which, a senior official had conThe WII is, however, yet to give a fitended, would have fetched them Rs 20 nal official report in the matter. The lakh apiece. examination of the second On Tuesday the official of , skin is still underway and it a Central wildlife agency, may well turn out to have behowever, told this newspaper longed to a tiger, he said. on the condition of anonymThe source added that the ity that one of the seized smugglers caught by the poskins did not, in all lice too were probably unalikelihood, belong to a ware that they were ferrying tiger at all, while the second a ‘fake’ tiger skin. skin was still being examSpeaking to this newspaBengal tiger skin ined by experts. per, DCP (Crime Branch) “Preliminary examination seized by Delhi Police Amit Goel confirmed that of one such skin has revealed the seized animal skins were that it belongs to an animal, but not sent to the WII, which is yet to submit a tiger. It is probably that of a dog. a final report to them. It seems that stripes were painted “When the animal skins were seized, on it to make it resemble a tiger skin,” we had called in wildlife department he said. officials and they had given an opinion According to the source, the city po- after a preliminary examination that lice had sent both the seized skins to they belonged to tigers. However, we the Dehradun-based Wildlife Institute sent them to the WII and their report of India (WII) for their expert opinion is awaited. We can comment officially on their origin, where the ‘forgery’ only after that is received,” he said. U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi Cops claimed big success  J8.00 PAGES 12  The six units are Cloud Intelligence Group, Taobao Tmall Commerce Group, Local Services Group, Cainiao Smart Logistics Group, Global Digital Commerce Group and Digital Media and Entertainment Group Each unit will have a CEO as well as a board of directors and will retain the flexibility to raise outside capital and seek initial public offering, except for Taobao Tmall Business Group that handles China commerce, which will stay wholly owned by Alibaba Group US watching Rahul case; internal matter, says govt EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE United States is watching Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s case in courts, US Department of State spokesperson Vedant Patel said on Monday . “The US engages with the Indian government on a shared commitment to democratic values, including freedom of expression. Respect for the rule of law and judicial independence is a cornerstone of any democracy and , we’re watching Rahul Gandhi case,’’ Patel said in a briefing while responding to a question regarding Rahul’s conviction in a defamation case and disqualification from Parliament. On being asked whether the US was engaging with India or Rahul, he said, “I don’t have any specific engagements to read out” though it is normal “to engage with members of opposition parties in any country wh e r e we h ave b i l a t e r a l relationships”. A BJP lawmaker in Gujarat had sued Rahul for defamation for his Modi surname slur in 2019. However, Union I&B minister Anurag Thakur dismissed the US remarks at a media event, saying the official had made a generic statement. “It is our internal matter. No one is above the Supreme Court. There are judicial and constitutional institutions. They (the US) have made a generic statement,” he said. JUNTA DISSOLVES SUU KYI’S PARTY IN MYANMAR Abduction case: Atiq, two others get life sentence, penalty of `1 lakh N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow AN MP-MLA court in Prayagraj on Tuesday convicted gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad and two others in the 2006 abduction case of Umesh Pal, sentencing all three to rigorous life imprisonment and slapping a penalty of Rs 1 lakh on each of them. The court, while pronouncing the verdict in presence of the gangster and other nine accused, acquitted the rest of seven, including Atiq’s younger brother Khalid Azim alias Ashraf, in the case. According to the court order, special MP/MLA court judge Dr Dinesh Chandra Shukla held Atiq Ahmad, Khan Saulat Hanif, a lawyer, and Dinesh Pasi guilty of Umesh Pal’s abduction under several IPC sections. Sources said Ashraf, who was among the 11 main accused in the case, was exonerated as the prosecution failed to prove his complicity . Local sources said immediately after the pronouncement of the verdict, the gangster started weeping, saying the sentence was too harsh. He, later, reportedly fainted on the court premises. The Atiq-Umesh Pal enmity was 18 years old as Umesh was the prime witness in Raju Pal murder case of 2005 and Atiq was the main accused. He was abducted by the gangster who wanted Umesh to withdraw his statement in the case. It was the first conviction of the gangster in a criminal case. There are over 100 criminal cases pending against Atiq. Atiq’s counsel Dayashankar Mishra said that they would challenge the MP/MLA court’s order in the high court. He said Atiq would be kept in the Sabarmati Jail in Ahmedabad in accordance with the Supreme Court order. Atiq’s conviction has ended his political prospects as he won’t be able to participate in electoral process ever. Delhi Police Crime Branch said last week it arrested 5 people in the smuggling of tiger skins. A senior official went to the extent of claiming that the hides could have brought Rs 20 lakh on each piece. After animal skins were seized last week, we called Wildlife Institute of India (WII) officials who gave their opinion on the basis of initial exams that the skins belonged to the tigers. The WII final report is awaited. We can comment only after receiving the report Amit Goel, DCP The revamp comes a day after its founder Jack Ma returned home ending a year-long stay abroad and when China is easing its regulatory crackdown on private enterprises ON THE MARCH Agniveers, 273 among them women, at the Passing Out Parade at INS Chilika in Odisha on Tuesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK | P5 The political party led by Myanmar’s ousted leader Aung San Suu Kyi was ordered dissolved by the military-appointed election commission | P9 Amritpal seen without turban, govt says close to netting him H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh THE Punjab government on Tuesday told the High Court that it was close to catching Khalistani Amritpal Singh. The court of Justice N S Shekhawat was hearing the habeas corpus petition filed by advocate Imaan Singh Khara seeking the release of Amritpal from alleged police custody . Punjab advocate general Vinod Ghai told the court that the radical preacher has not yet been arrested. “Therefore, the arguments should be limited to the contentious issues raised in the petition. “The judge asked the AG to file an affidavit on his claim,’’ said the petitioner. The court also asked the petitioner to file an affidavit to produce evidence that Amritpal Singh was in police custody . The next hearing is due on March 29. The radical preacher and his aide Papalpreet, who is also absconding, were reportedly spotted in Delhi in CCTV footage of March 21. Amritpal reportedly changed his attire and kept his hair open. He was also reportedly wearing a mask. The footage is said to be of a Delhi market. He is followed by Papalpreet carrying a bag. Security agencies say Amritpal’s close aide and financier Daljit Kalsi, arrested under the National Security Act, lodged in a Dibrugarh jail in Assam had been in touch with Pakistan’s ISI. Kalsi was reportedly close to the son of former Pak Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, Saad Bajwa. EXPRESS READ KARNATAKA POLLS HOUSE RUCKUS WITHIN 60 DAYS LEGAL HURDLE MARGADARSI CHIT FUND SENA MP MOVES COURT COMPLIANCE Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka House Siddaramaiah on Tuesday said that he would contest assembly elections from Kolar constituency also, ending months of speculation. Although the Congress has announced his candidature for Varuna seat, he admitted that there was pressure from the people of Kolar, hence he had decided to contest from two constituencies. The police on Tuesday registered four FIRs and arrested three persons, including a Congress leader, for throwing stones at former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s house at Shikaripura during a protest on Monday by members of the Banjara community over internal reservation for SCs. Security has been tightened around Yediyurappa’s house after Monday’s protest. P5 Amid mass layoffs in the tech sector, the federal agency for immigration services has said it is wrong to assume that sacked workers holding the muchsought-after H-1B visas have to leave the country within 60 days, asserting they have multiple options to stay in the US. The H-1B visa is a nonimmigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. P9 Leaving behind legal hurdles, Edappadi K Palaniswami emerged triumphant on Tuesday. Just after the Madras High Court rejected the petition of O Panneerselvam at 10.30 am, AIADMK election commissioners swung into action and announced the election of EPS as the general secretary of the AIADMK, the main opposition party in Tamil Nadu. The party is likely to inform the election result to the Election Commission of India to seek the poll body’s nod. P5 The Andhra Pradesh Crime Investigation Department on Tuesday issued notices to chairman of Margadarsi Chit Fund Private Limited Cherukuri Ramoji Rao and the firm’s MD Ch Sailaja for questioning in the alleged chit fund scam. The CID had registered an FIR against the media baron, his daughterin-law Cherukuri Sailaja and managers of the chit fund firm for allegedly cheating, diverting deposits into mutual funds, violating The Chit Funds Act and RBI guidelines. P5 The Delhi High Court on Tuesday issued summons to former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, his son Aaditya Thackeray and Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Raut on a defamation suit filed by MP Rahul Ramesh Shewale for allegedly levelling frivolous corruption allegations against him and the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena faction. Justice Prateek Jalan asked Uddhav, Aaditya and Raut to file their written submissions in 30 days after service of summons. P3 The government on Tuesday extended the deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar by three months to June 30 to enable people comply with the mandatory income tax provisions. The deadline was to end on March 31. As per the income tax department, failure to link the two unique identities will lead to the unlinked PAN becoming inoperative. There have been demands for giving more time to people to link PAN with their 12-digit identification number Aadhaar. P10 Apart from Varuna, Siddaramaiah will contest from Kolar Cong leader among 3 held for protest at BSY’s residence ‘Wrong to assume sacked H-1B staffers have to leave US’ HC no to OPS plea, paves way for EPS as AIADMK chief Andhra CID notice to Ramoji Rao, daughter-in-law HC issues summons to Uddhav, son, Raut in defamation case Deadline for linking PAN with Aadhaar extended till June 30