NEW DELHI 16 JUNE 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24 facebook/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard SECOND COMING https://epaper.morningstandard.in Read and Right PLUS: 12 PAGES MAGAZINE Larger Than Life EXCLUSIVE VOICES Pushpesh Pant Ravi Shankar Sumeet Bhasin Neha Sinha SKIN BY SCINTILLAE KUWAIT FIRE Victim families to get `8 lakh relief, wages for four years Anuja Chandramouli Prabhu Chawla Shankkar Aiyar Namrata Joshi AMID SELFIE DIPLOMACY INDIA-MIDDLE EAST CORRIDOR GETS G7 SHOT E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Kochi THE founder of the company whose 49 employees died in an inferno at their residence in Kuwait three days ago, on Saturday offered a public apology . As many as 45 of the victims were Indians. K G Abraham, 70, the founder of the NBTC Group that hired them, hails from Pathanamthitta. He dismissed charges of overcrowding in the residential apartments or irregularities in the building permits. He said the company will protect the families of the victims, including providing educational support to students.”We are sorry We are so sorry I was . . crying at home hearing about the tragic accident. They are our people. They are like our families. Some of them had been working with us for 25-27 years,” Abraham said. “We have not done any wrong. We believe this did not happen because of our mistake. But, still we will take the responsibility. They were working with us. They built our company They are our family . .” He said the company will give `8 lakh each to the families of the deceased. “Further, there is insurance coverage for all the employees. This will ensure that the families receive four years’ salaries of the victims. We will also provide jobs to the dependents of the victims’ families as per their educational qualifications,” he said. Denying reports that there was overcrowding in the building, Abraham, who founded the NBTC Group in 1977, said the six-storey building had a total of 24 apartments (four on each floor). “Each apartment has three rooms. Managers would occupy a room and two engineers would share a room. International law allows us to provide accommodation for four persons per room, or four cubic metres/person. In many rooms, there were not even three persons,” he said. The NBTC Group is into construction, manufacturing, oil and natural gas, and retail. THE ROVING AI AMMA SPEAKS ‘Can Go to Any Length for a Role’ S U C H I T R A K M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Delhi High Court on Saturday ordered removal of a video recording of court proceedings related to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case from social media platforms. In the video, the AAP national convenor can be seen addressing a trial court, which was uploaded in various social media platforms. The HC passed the order after hearing a PIL filed by lawyer Vaibhav Singh. He claimed that when Kejriwal was produced before a trial court on March 28 after his arrest in the Delhi excise policy case, he addressed the court in-person, and the video recording of that particular court proceedings was posted on social media platforms which is prohibited under the High Court of Delhi Rules for Video Conferencing for Courts, 2021. The video was allegedly reposted by CM’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and the others, he further alleged. The court directed social media platforms to remove the said video. A bench of Justices Neena Bansal Krishna and Amit Sharma said prima facie, it was observed that the court proceeding recording is violative of Rule 3 (vi) of Delhi High Court Video Conferencing Rules, 2021 and couldn’t be permitted to remain in the public domain. 8 Maoists, 1 STF jawan killed in Chhattisgarh encounter E J A Z K A I S E R @ Raipur Italian PM Giorgia Meloni takes a selfie with her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the G7 summit in Italy | PTI AGENCIES IF the Group of Seven summit in Italy was all about heavy-duty diplomacy it had , its moments of fun as well. Like Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni taking a selfie video with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, tagging it as Meloni and sharing it from her official X handle as well as her Instagram account. Her four words as caption — Hi friends, from #Melodi — broke the internet with 20 million views in eight hours. Modi attended the summit at the invitation of host Meloni. As for the business end of the summit, the G7 industrialised nations committed themselves to promoting con- crete infrastructure initiatives such as the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) in their communique at the end of the meet, also attended by Modi. The communique also reiterated the commitment to a ‘free and open Indo-Pacific’ based on the rule of law. “We will further promote concrete G7 PGII (Partnership for Global Infrastructure and Investment) initiatives, flagship projects, and complementary initiatives to develop transformative economic corridors for quality infrastructure and investment, such as the deepening of our coordination and financing for the Lobito Corridor, the Luzon Corridor, the Middle Corridor, and the In- The Rithala-Narela-Kundli metro corridor is projected to cost `6,231 crore, with the Delhi segment estimated at `5,685.22 crore and the Haryana segment at `545.77 crore. This corridor is planned as an extension of the existing Red Line. A S H I S H S R I V A S TA V A @ New Delhi dia-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor, also building on the EU Global Gateway, the Great Green Wall Initiative, and the Mattei Plan for Africa launched by Italy the ,” communique read. The IMEC envisages a vast road, railroad and shipping network among Saudi Arabia, India, the US and Europe to ensure integration among Asia, the Middle East and the West. It is also seen as an initiative by like-minded nations to gain strategic influence in the face of China’s Belt and Road Initiative, which has faced increasing criticism over lack of transparency and disregard for sovereignty of the nations. The IMEC was firmed up on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India last year. P7 EIGHT fighters of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), including three women, and a jawan were killed in a gunfight at the forested terrain of Maad region of Narayanpur district, about 400 km south of Raipur in Chhattisgarh on Saturday . Besides the jawan, two other security officials sustained injuries, said Sunderraj P, Bastar’s Inspector General of Police. The injured jawans have been airlifted to a hospital in Raipur and are said to be out of danger. All three belonged to the Special Task Force (STF). UKRAINE HOPE FLOATS AT SWISS PEACE SUMMIT Zelenskyy predicted ‘history is being made’ at the meet to chart first steps toward peace, though critics say it holds little substance as Russia is not attending | P9 Corridor to ensure UP-Delhi-Haryana connectivity Key stations on the line include sectors of Rohini, villages such as Barwala, Sanoth, New Sanoth and Narela, JJ Colony, two stations in the Bawana industrial area, and five stations in Narela — Anaaj Mandi, Narela DDA Sports Complex, Narela Village, Depot Station and Narela Sector-5. Nearly 40% of the cost of the Delhi segment will be covered by the Central government. The DDA will contribute `1,000 crore towards the remaining costs, with 37.5% sourced from bilateral or multilateral loans and approximately 20% from the Delhi government. For the Haryana segment, 80% of the funding will be provided by the state government, with the remaining 20% coming from Central grants. Spanning 26.5 km with 21 sta- tions, the corridor is scheduled for completion in four years. It is expected to significantly enhance connectivity between Narela, Bawana, Alipur, and the rest of the city, catalysing infrastructure development, the statement noted. The corridor will ensure seamless interstate connectivity linking Ghaziabad (Uttar Pradesh), Delhi, and Kundli (Haryana). It is projected to have a daily ridership of 1.26 lakh by 2028 and 3.8 lakh by 2055. The deceased jawan was identified as Nitish Ekka. He is a resident of Jashpur district. Based on intelligence inputs about the presence of senior Maoist members, a joint operation was conducted by the District Reserved Guards, the STF, Indo-Tibetan Border Police and Border Security Force on Saturday morning, Sunderraj said. The operation continued throughout the day along the Kutul, Farasbeda and Kodtameta jungles resulting in the death of the Maoists and jawan, he added. The bodies of the radi- N A R E N D R A S E T H I @ Dehradun A vehicle carrying 26 tourists, mostly from Delhi, Gurugram and Noida, to Tungnath-Chopta in Uttarakhand fell into a deep gorge near Raintoli close to Rudraprayag headquarters on the Badrinath highway on Saturday morning, killing 14 passengers. Ten others are undergoing treatment at AIIMS Rishikesh. Sources in the State Disaster Response Force said the bodies of the deceased and the injured were taken out by the rescue team personnel. Five seriously injured tourists were airlifted to the AIIMS in Rishikesh, out of which two succumbed. The accident took place around 11.45 am. SDRF Commandant Manikant Mishra said that two SDRF teams were involved in the ongoing rescue efforts. “The injured were trans- THE day the 2024 T20 World Cup started, nobody would have imagined that halfway through the tour nament, amongst the four semi-finalists from the previous edition, only India would have confirmed their position in the Super 8. There were talks of sluggish pitches, weather disruptions, one-sided matches but in the end what mattered was results in the middle. And to be fair, teams that played well won. traced back to the conditions in the US. At the same time, the lower-ranked teams, especially from the associate nations, have raised the bar to a new level. Undoubtedly, there have been a handful of upsets, but there could have been more such results. For example, at one time during the chase of 136 against Papua New Guinea in the second fixture of the WC, West Indies were in trouble with 10 runs required per over. USA took it a step further with a super-over win against Pakistan, which knocked the 2022 runners-up out of contention for the Super 8. Afghanistan, who were so close to the semi-final spot in the ODI World Cup last year, surpassed all expectations to beat New Zealand comprehensively this time. On Saturday Nepal lost by just one , run against South Africa. The usual contenders like India, Australia and West Indies have remained unbeaten to confirm their spots, however, it is the unusual suspects that have made T20 WC more interesting. ported to the hospital, and the remains of the 12 victims have been retrieved,” said Mishra. Sources said there were 26 tourists on board the vehicle, who set out from Delhi and Haryana to visit the popular tourist destination of Chopta. Three people working on the railway line jumped in to save them, resulting in one of them losing his life. CM Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered an inquiry and declared `2 lakh aid to the kin of the deceased. EXPRESS READ Group discussion: Crash out in testing conditions The tournament has truly turned global too. The likes of New Zealand and Pakistan, are already out of the World Cup, while the future of defending champions England is only partially in their hands (late night match on Saturday/Sunday). On the other hand, Afghanistan (ranked 10 in ICC T20I rankings) and the USA (ranked 17) have qualified for the Super 8 for the first time. The reasons these so-called big teams have struggled to make it to the Super 8 can be cals have been recovered but are yet to be identified. Security forces are continuing to comb the area. So far they have recovered INSAS rifles, .303 rifles, BGL launcher and shells, a huge cache of ammunition, besides items of daily use from the gunfight site. About 1,200 jawans are engaged in the antiMaoist joint operation for the first time in the Maad area, an insurgent stronghold. Since January, the forces have liquidated as many as 131 Maoists after various operations in Bastar. Many from Delhi-NCR killed as tempo on way to U’khand falls into river near tourist hub T20 WORLD CUP K A LYA N I M A N G A L E @ Chennai Spirituality is a Science Remove video of CM’s court proceedings: HC Proposal for Rithala-Narela-Kundli metro corridor gets nod THE Centre has approved a proposal from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for the construction of the Rithala-Narela-Kundli metro corridor, Raj Niwas said in a statement on Saturday . Lieutenant-Gover nor VK Saxena has advocated for the construction of this metro corridor with the Centre on several occasions. Flash of the Feminine Major fire erupts near Manipur CM’s house A major fire broke out at an abandoned building near the Manipur secretariat complex, close to Chief Minister N Biren Singh’s official bungalow in Imphal on Saturday evening, police said. Won’t take Ajit back, says Sharad Pawar United States of America are the only associate team to have qualified for Super 8 so far. Other qualified teams are India, Australia, Afghanistan, WI & South Africa Sharad Pawar on Saturday ruled out taking his nephew, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar, back to his party, after speculation whirled that BJP may drop him as its ally for the upcoming state polls. | P8
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