WEDNESDAY HUGE DRUG HAUL FROM PAKISTANI BOAT OFF PORBANDAR COAST 13 In a joint operation, narcotics worth `480 crore was seized from a Pakistani boat with six crew on the Arabian Sea, 350 km off Porbandar coast MARCH, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in 80 KG facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard OF NARCOTICS SEIZED IN THE DRUG BUST AT ARABIAN SEA HAITI PM TO QUIT AS GANGS GO BERSERK The PM accepted a regional push for a transition that sets the stage for int’l intervention PAGE 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS  NEW DELHI  M O N I K A YA D A V @ New Delhi H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh THE 54-year-old Nayab Singh Saini is a low-profile politician belonging to the Other Backward Classes (OBC). He has risen through the ranks in the party to become the Chief Minister of Haryana. A law graduate, Saini, considered an aide of Manohar Lal Khattar, was born on January 25, 1970, at a village in Ambala. He did his graduation from BR Ambedkar University in July 1996 and then LLB from Choudhary Charan Singh University , Meerut (UP) in 2010. Saini started his career in the saffron party’s organisational framework in 1996, and in 2002 he became the general secretary of the Amabla district youth wing. He also held the position of district president and general secretary of the state BJP Kisan Morcha. Sanini was elected MLA from the Naraingarh assembly segment in 2014 when the BJP came to power in the state for the first time. Saini was also a minister in the Khattar cabinet between 2014 and 2019. He was a legislator when he fought the Lok Sabha elections in 2019 and won from Kurukshetra. The BJP in October appointed Saini as its Haryana unit president in place of Om Prakash Dhankar. His appointment was seen as the party’s move to strengthen its hold over the OBC community and non-Jats. The support of Jats, who are the most populous community in the state, is largely seen to be divided among the Congress, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD). The announcement to pick Saini as Haryana’s next CM was sudden, but had the same element of surprise as in 2014 when the party named Khattar to the post in 2014. At that time, Khattar was picked up ignoring senior leaders like Ram Bilas Sharma, Anil Vij, Capt Abhimanyu and O P Dhankar. Video grab of Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya (R) administering the oath of office to BJP leader Nayab Singh Saini as chief minister of Haryana, on Tuesday | PTI Khattar makes way for Saini as Haryana CM PAGES 12 U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE Crime Branch of Delhi Police has busted a racket of manufacturing and supplying spurious chemotherapy drugs and arrested seven people. The accused have been identified as Viphil Jain (46), Suraj Shat (28), Neeraj Chauhan (38), Parvez (33), Komal Tiwari (39), Abhinay Kohli (30) and Tushar Chauhan (28), police said. Special Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Shalini Singh said information regarding a racket involved in manufacturing and supply of spurious cancer medicine was received after which a team was formed. “Simultaneous raids were conducted at two flats in Moti Nagar, one in Gurugram, one in Yamuna Vihar, and a cancer hospital in Delhi,” Singh said. The Special CP said two flats in DLF Capital Greens, Moti Nagar, was the main location where the spurious cancer medicines were being manufactured by Viphil Jain, the kingpin of INDIA’S industrial output growth, as measured by the Index of Industrial Production (IIP), slowed to 3.8% in January this year from 4.2% in December 2023 owing to poor show by the manufacturing sector. According to government data released on Tuesday, the manufacturing sector grew at 3.2% in January compared with 4.5% in December 2023. The data also shows that the December IIP was revised upwards to 4.2% following a revision of core sector growth to 4.9% from 3.8%. The eight core industries are coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertilisers, steel, cement, and electricity. These sectors constitute 40% of the IIP and serve as a key indicator to industrial growth trends. In January 2023, industrial output had grown 5.8%. In January this year, mining and electricity production rose H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh NAYAB Singh Saini was on Tuesday sworn in as the new chief minister of Haryana, hours after the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) walked out of the ruling coalition led by BJP’s Manohar Lal Khattar. It gave the BJP a shot at spring cleaning ahead of the general elections, as the uncharismatic Khattar, 69, made way for his loyalist Saini, 54, who is an OBC leader. Despite the coalition’s collapse, Saini claims he has the support of seven Independents. “We have asked the Speaker to conduct the floor test tomorrow as we have support of 48 MLAs,’’ he said. Saini represents Kurukshetra in Parliament and was named the Haryana BJP president in October last year. His appointment as CM is meant to d e f l e c t a n t i - i n c u m b e n cy against Khattar, who ruled Haryana for nine-and-a-half years. Sainis constitute around 8% of the total population in Haryana. The community is influential in Haryana’s north, including districts like Ambala, Kurukshetra and Hisar. The coalition collapsed as the JJP chief and outgoing deputy chief minister Dushyant Chau- the racket. “He had taken 2 EWS flats at DLF Greens, Moti Nagar and was using the same to refill the spurious cancer medicine (vials). Suraj Shat was managing the refilling and packaging of these vials,” Singh said. During the raids, 140 filled vials of spurious cancer injections of Opdyta, Keytruda, Dextrose, Fluconazole brands were seized along with three cap sealing machines, one Heat Gun Machine and 197 empty vials and other essential packaging material. At the Gurugram flat, one Neeraj Chauhan hoarded a large cache of spurious cancer injections. At the instance of Neeraj, his cousin Tushar Chauhan was also nabbed. From Yamuna Vihar, the police nabbed one Parvez, who arranged empty vials for Viphil Jain and was also involved in supply of the refilled vials. . The raid at a cancer hospital, Komal Tiwari and Abhinay Kohli were nabbed. They were involved in providing empty vials costing `5,000 each. A day after notifying the rules under CAA, I&B minister Anurag Singh Thakur says BJP has done what it promised in its manifesto and asks why the Opposition wants to take away rights of those who waited for 70 yrs | P7 INLD: 1 FIRE, EXPLOSION TRIGGER PANIC After the crash, the jet caught fire and there was an explosion, which triggered panic in the vicinity. Local residents immediately alerted the fire brigade and the blaze was brought under control Independents: 7 TOTAL SEATS: 90 Cong: 30 BJP: 41 JJP: 10 tala demanded that his party be alloted two of Haryana’s 10 Lok Sabha seats. The constituencies his party was intent on contesting from were Hisar and Bhiwani-Mahendragarh. Dushyant had won the Hisar Lok Sabha in 2014. Just two days ago, BJP’s Hisar MP Brijendra Singh resigned from the party as he anticipated that his seat would go to the JJP . The JJP is a breakaway faction of the Indian National Lok Dal. It appears to be in trouble as five JJP MLAs stayed away from a legislative party meeting in Delhi. These lawmakers are likely to form a breakaway group and could support BJP . As for Khattar, he could get a Lok Sabha ticket from Karnal. And sitting Karnal MP Sanjay Bhatia could be appointed the new Haryana BJP president, sources said. ISRAELI STRIKES KILL 67 PALESTINIANS AS RAMADAN STARTS Palestinians in Gaza began fasting on Monday for the holy month of Ramadan as hunger worsens across the strip and pressure is raised on Israel over the growing humanitarian crisis. Gaza’s health ministry said that the bodies of 67 people killed by Israeli strikes were brought to hospitals over the past 24 hours | P9 A Tejas aircraft in flames after it crashed near Jaisalmer in Rajasthan on Tuesday. (Inset: The pilot who ejected safely before the crash) | PTI RAJESH ASNANI & M AYA N K S I N G H @ Jaipur / New Delhi IN the first such incident since its maiden test flight in 2001, a Tejas light combat aircraft (LCA) of the Indian Air Force (IAF) crashed near a residential colony in Jaisalmer around 2 pm on Tuesday during an operational training sortie. The pilot successfully ejected from the aircraft before the crash. There were no casualties. A court of inquiry has been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident, the IAF said. The accident happened when the indigenously built fighter jet was returning to the Jaisalmer air base after taking part in the Bharat Shakti military exercise in Pokhran, which was witnessed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and top military brass. Jaisalmer is roughly 100 km away from the exercise venue in Pokhran. Sources said the aircraft crashed into a five-room hostel for the Bhil community in Jawahar Nagar near Jaisalmer. There were three students in the hostel compound at the time of the crash but they were unhurt as the fighter jet damaged one of the rooms. LCA Tejas, which took to the air on January 4, 2001 holds significance for the IAF as it is set to replace the ageing squadrons of MiG fighter jets and become the mainstay of the force in the coming First-ever crash of Tejas fighter jet in Jaisalmer, pilot safe years. The IAF has a sanctioned strength of 42 combat squadrons but it has come down to around 30. A squadron comprises 16-18 aircraft. Currently, the IAF has two operational Tejas squadrons. The first IAF Squadron to induct the Tejas was No 45 Squadron, the Flying Daggers, in July 2016. Flying Bullets, raised in 2020, is the second Squadron. Manufactured by state-run Hindustan Aeronautics, the aircraft is a potent platform for air combat and air support missions. Reconnaissance and anti-ship operations are its secondary roles. In February 2021, the Cabinet Committee on Security approved procurement of 73 Life terms to 10 for Hapur mob lynching N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow A local court in Hapur on Tuesday sentenced 10 accused to life imprisonment for lynching a meat trader to death over rumours of cow slaughter. Qasim Qureshi, 45, was killed by the mob in June 2018. Another victim, Samaydeen, 62, was injured in the mob attack. The victims had not sought death penalty for the convicts saying they did not have any personal enmity against them. The court convicted the accused persons under Sections 302 (murder), 149 (unlawful assembly), 307 (attempt to murder), 149, 147 (rioting), 148 (being ar med with a deadly weapon) and 153A (promoting enmity between dif ferent groups on grounds of religion) of the Indian Penal Code. The court also slapped a penalty of `58,000 on each of the convicts. In 2018, Samaydeen had moved Supreme Court seeking a thorough investigation into the attack after the police sought to give a motorcycle accident angle to the lynching, in its first information report. The SC then directed the Inspector General of Police, Meerut range, to ensure the probe is in consonance with the guidelines issued in the Tehseen Poonawallah case judgment relating to mob lynching and hate crimes. The crime had created a nationwide buzz after pictures purportedly showing the victims being dragged on the ground in the presence of cops went viral on social media. Later, the UP police posted an apology, adding its personnel who were present at the spot but did nothing to save the victim would be proceeded against. The main accused, Rakesh Sisodia, had boasted, saying that he was not scared of going to jail. When he walked out of custody on bail, he bragged on camera that he was accorded a warm welcome. He also claimed that the police were on his side. Just married! Kala Jathedi weds ‘Revolver Rani’ U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi CRIME and punishment are dramatic, if not a spectacle of a celluloid kind. On Tuesday a , wedding became the script of a perfect potboiler. Jailed gangster Sandeep alias Kala Jathedi came with at least two dozen cops. His bride Anuradha Choudhary alias ‘Revolver Rani’ drove an SUV to the wedding venue in Dwarka area. Given a history of gang rivalries, the police turned the area into a fortress with more than 250 cops being deployed at the wedding venue around Santosh Garden in Dwarka Sector-3. Sandeep’s lawyer had booked Food inflation, which constitutes as much as 45.9% of the CPI basket, is still on the higher side as it came in at 8.66% in February compared with 8.3% in the previous month. Last year, it was recorded at 5.95%, data showed. “The key risk to inflation outlook remains from food prices which have been volatile, due to successive supplyside shocks,” said Guara Sen Gupta, economist at the IDFC First Bank. Air Force authorities said the Tejas fighter jet was manned by a lone pilot, who successfully ejected moments before the crash. He was promptly evacuated to the Army Hospital PARTY POSITIONS Haryana Lokhit Party: 1 5.9% and 5.6%, respectively, compared with 5.2% and 1.2% in December 2023. According to Aditi Nayar, chief economist of ICRA, the IIP growth is likely to remain at 3-4% in February . Meanwhile, the retail inflation, also known as consumerprice-based inflation (CPI), remained unchanged at 5.09% in February this year compared to 5.1% in January It was record. ed at 6.44% in the same month of the previous year. PILOT EJECTS BEFORE CRASH Alliance with JJP collapses; trust vote today Fake cancer drug racket busted, 7 land in cop net CITIZENSHIP FORMED J8.00 Manufacturing drags IIP growth to 3.8% in Jan Low-profile OBC leader rose through BJP ranks CAA PANELS TO GRANT  IT WAS A SEA-AIR COORDINATED OPERATION: Following specific intelligence inputs, the Indian Coast Guard, Narcotics Control Bureau and the anti-terrorist squad coordinated their efforts on March 11-12 night. With the Coast Guard’s ships strategically positioned in the Arabian Sea, its Dornier was deployed to spot the Pakistani boat. The boat tried to scoot, but was chased, forced to stop P8 More than 200 cops were deployed at the wedding venue in Dwarka | EXPRESS the hall for `51,000. Sandeep, who once carried a bounty of `7 lakh on his head, got a six-hour parole for his wedding from a Delhi court. While Kala Jathedi, donning a bearded look, was brought from Tihar Jail, his partner bride Anuradha, wearing a pink saree arrived from Haryana’s Sonipat in an SUV. None was allowed to enter the banquet hall except those who were on the cops’ list of attendees. Before entering, the police could be seen thoroughly checking the visitors. A metal detector was placed at the entrance. The ‘mandap’ where the couple took vows was guarded by around two dozen police personnel wearing bulletproof vests and body cameras. Anuradha, who is out on bail, showed her hands that carried two names, hers and her husband’s — in henna. After about half an hour, the two were declared husband and wife after the chanting of mantras was over. Jathedi was taken back to Tihar around 3.50 pm in the same police van in which he was brought. LCA Tejas Mk-1A fighter aircraft and 10 LCA Tejas Mk-1 Trainer aircraft at a cost of `45,696 crore. In November 2023, the Defence Acquisition Council cleared the purchase of an additional 97 LCA-Mk 1As at a cost of `65,000 crore. The LCA Mk-1A will have updated avionics — Active Electronically Steered Radar, updated Electronic Warfare suite, and a Beyond Visual Range missile capability The . new variant will be capable of firing a number of weapons from increased stand-off ranges. Once this order is completed in the stipulated 15 years, IAF will have 40 LCA in initial configuration, over 180 LCA Mark-1A and at least 120 LCA Mark-2 planes. EXPRESS READ SBI shares electoral bond details with poll panel The Election Commission on Tuesday said the SBI has submitted details of electoral bonds to it in compliance with the Supreme Court order. The SC on Monday ordered the SBI to disclose the details of electoral bonds to the EC by close of business hours on March 12. In the same order the SC mentioned that the EC will have to publish the details shared by the SBI on its website by 5 pm on March 15. P7 Hyderabad Liberation Day on Sept 17: Centre The Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday issued a notification declaring that the government will celebrate September 17 every year as ‘Hyderabad Liberation Day’. Hyderabad, which did not get independence for 13 months after India’s independence on August 15, 1947, and was under the rule of Nizams, was liberated on September 17, 1948, after ‘Operation Polo’, the MHA said. Foreign secy’s tenure extended by 6 months The government on Tuesday granted a six-month extension in service tenure of foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kwatra, who was scheduled to retire at the end of next month, according to an official order. The decision was taken by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet headed by PM Narendra Modi. Kwatra, a 1988-batch IFS officer, took charge as the foreign secretary on April 30, 2022.