BHUBANESWAR l tuesday l april 23, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE CITY EDITION spice-mix products sold in India under lens over cancer risk Food safety regulator starts taking samples after Hong Kong and Singapore flagged high ethylene oxide levels in spices-mix products from India ethylene oxide is a Group 1 carcinogen The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) said it is taking samples of spices in powder form of all brands, including MDH and Everest—the two companies whose products are under scrutiny in Singapore and Hong Kong. The International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified ethylene oxide as a Group 1 carcinogen | P12 ■ `32,000 cr Four products under scrutiny ■ Singapore and Hong Kong specifically banned the sales of three pre-packaged spice-mix products of MDH—Madras Curry Powder, Curry Powder, Sambhar Masala—and Everest’s Fish Curry Masala Hong Kong food safety regulator warned that those violating the ban could face six months imprisonment and a fine of $50,000 worth of spices exported by India In fiscal year 2022-23 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 Surat of things HC nixes 24,600 school teacher jobs in Bengal to come as BJP gets 1st LS seat S u l a g n a Sen g u p ta @ Kolkata Party’s candidate Dalal elected unopposed D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad The BJP on Monday opened its 2024 Lok Sabha account from Surat by winning the constituency without any contest. In the process, Mukeshbhai Dalal became the first candidate of any party since 12 years in a general election to be elected unopposed. The last such instance was of Samajwadi Party’s Dimple Yadav winning the Kannauj Lok Sabha bypoll in 2012 unopposed. Eight other candidates left in the Surat fray withdrew after Congress nominee Nilesh Kumbhani’s nomination form was rejected by returning officer Sourabh Pardhi on Sunday . Kumbhani’s papers had purported inconsistencies in the signatures of his proposers. The papers of the Congress dummy candidate Suresh Padsala, too, were rejected on similar grounds. “As all eight candidates who had successfully filed their papers for the Surat Lok Sabha seat withdrew on Monday Dalal has been elected , unopposed,” said Pardhi. The Surat Congress, however, claimed that the entire exercise was premeditated. Surat Congress leader Pappan Togadia told this newspaper, “I alerted party leaders and the South Gujarat Congress incharge, Usha Naidu, about plot to reject Kumbhani’s papers. But my warnings went unheeded. I believe Kumbhani will BJP’s Surat seat candidate Mukeshbhai Dalal after he was elected unopposed soon join the BJP .” While the last day for filing nomination papers was Friday , their scrutiny happened the following day. The withdrawal window for candidates closed at 3 pm on Monday . The drama began on Saturday with the BJP questioning the legitimacy of signatures on Kumbhani’s papers. Subsequent scrutiny revealed that three persons who proposed Kumbhani’s candidature claimed their signatures were forged. For his part, Kumbhani alleged that his supporters had been abducted. Curiously, Kumbhani’s proposers are close relatives. All three vanished after the controversy broke. Amid a Congress scramble to legally challenge the rejection of his papers, Kumbhani left for Goa purportedly to avoid signing the papers. There is also speculation about his links with Patidar leaders Alpesh Kathiriya and Dharmik Malaviya, who quit the AAP last week and are said to be bound for the BJP . The Calcutta High Court on Monday cancelled all appointments of teachers and nont e a ch i n g s t a f f re c r u i t e d through the West Bengal School Service Commission’s (WBSSC) State Level Selection Test2016 (SLST-2016) after it found that bribes were paid to secure recruitments. The order will cancel more than 24,000 appointments. About 23 lakh candidates had appeared for the SLST-2016 for 24,640 vacant posts. A division bench of the court comprising justices Debangsu Basak and Shabbar express read Militants kill Armyman’s brother in the Valley Srinagar: Ahead of the second phase of voting for Lok Sabha elections in Jammu and Kashmir, militants opened fire at a house in Jammu and Kashmir’s Rajouri district killing one person. The man who died was identified as Mohammad Razak, 40, whose brother serves in the Territorial Army. Security forces launched a search operation on Monday night to nab the attackers. At 43.8o C, Bhubaneswar hottest in country Bhubaneswar: The state capital Bhubaneswar on Monday found itself on the top of the country’s heat map. The city, which recorded this summer’s highest maximum temperature, joined Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa in becoming the hottest in the country with both recording 43.8 degree each. The city was boiling since morning with temperature touching 34.4 degree C at 8.30 am, 39.8 degree by 11.30 am and reaching peak later in the day | P2 D Gukesh shows his Candidates trophy after emerging victorious at the event in Toronto on Sunday | Stev Bonhage/fide x Rashidi directed the CBI to investigate and submit a report. The court had ordered a reevaluation of the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets of candidates from the 2016 recruitment exam after it received petitions alleging irregularity. The re-evaluation brought to light that many of those selected were recruited against blank OMR sheets. Those recruited in such a way must immediately surrender the salaries they have drawn to the jurisdictional magistrate, the cour t said in its order. The bench directed the WBSSC to initiate ‘Justice after years of struggle’ As the Calcutta High Court delivered its order cancelling appointments, hundreds of school job aspirants waiting outside the court premises rejoiced with many breaking into tears. “We had been waiting for this day. After years of struggle on the streets, justice has finally been delivered,” one of them said a fresh recruitment process. Reacting to the court order, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said her government will challenge the ‘illegal’ verdict. “The court verdict cancelling all recruitments is illegal. We stand by those who lost their jobs. We will ensure you get justice, and challenge the order in a higher court,” she said. Training her guns on the BJP Mama, ta said: “It has turned the courts into their extended party offices. If the BJP files a PIL, prompt action is taken and people are sent to jail. No action is initiated when others file.” She went on to allege that people aligned with the BJP are given important positions. Former judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay who joined the BJP recently said: “I have said in BJD drops four MLAs from list for 6 Assly seats E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced candidates for six more Assembly seats. While Dhenkanal MP Mahesh Sahoo will contest from Hindol, Archanarekha Behera has been fielded from Raghunathpalli, Sarada Prasad Jena from Balikuda-Erasama, Ranjita Marndi from Bangiriposi, Biswaranjan Mallick from Bari and minister of state for Home, Sports and Youth Services Tusharkanti Behera from Kakatpur. Four sitting MLAs Simarani Nayak from Hindol, Subrat Tarai from Raghunathpalli, former minister Raghunandan Das from BalikudaErasama and Sunanda Das from Bari have been dropped. Ranjita who has been fielded from the Bangiriposi is the wife of Revenue and Disaster Management minister Sudam Marndi. Sudam has been fielded by the party from Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha seat. Similarly, Archararekha is the wife of Subrat Tarai. Mahesh was replaced by Abinash Samal as the Lok Sabha candidate. He has been asked to contest from Hindol Assembly segment in place of sitting MLA Simarani Nayak. Simarani, a two-time MLA, quit the party protesting the decision. The Balikuda-Ersama MLA Raghunandan Das has raised a banner of revolt and said he is preparing for a show of strength at Balikuda before deciding on his next course of action in consultation with his supporters. Das said he will contest as an Independent from the seat, if required. Interestingly both Das and Jena had , contested the 2014 Assembly election my verdict earlier that the Mamata government is corrupt. I thank the Calcutta High Court bench for giving such an order. Now a can of worms will be opened.” In 2014, the WBSSC announced that a state-level selection test would be used to recruit teachers to state-run schools. The recruitment process started in 2016 and soon several petitions were filed in the Calcutta High Court with petitioners claiming many candidates who received lower grades were placed higher on the merit list. There were allegations that those who did not make it to the merit list received appointment letters. in preparation CEO stresses need to mitigate heatwave impact on polling E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bhubaneswar Tusharkanti Behera Mahesh Sahoo from the seat as Independents. While Das had polled 32,195 votes, Jena had got 23,948 against BJD candidate Prashant Kumar Muduli who got 59,538 votes. Jena had then joined Congress and switched to BJD. In 2019, Das had defeated Congress candidate Lalatendu Mohapatra. Similarly, there has been strong resentment among supporters of former BJD MLA Surendra Sethi after the leadership ignored his claims for nomination from Kakatpur. He had won the seat on a BJD ticket in 2014. In 2019, he had been replaced by Tusharkanti Behera. Alleging Behera, the minister and sitting MLA, had neglected his constituency after winning, Sethi said he had remained connected with the people and carried forward the party organisation. He said, he will file nomination as an Independent from the seat. Sunanda, who had been eyeing a ticket from Bari, is also disappointed at being ignored by the party. She alleged the leadership never called her for a discussion on the issue. With the latest list, the BJD has announced 141 candidates for the Assembly seats. Only six more candidates are left to be finalised. With intense heatwave conditions impacting the poll process in the country as was evident in low turnout in the first phase across states, chief electoral officer (CEO), Odisha, Nikunja Dhal on Monday chaired a meeting to take stock of the preparedness to conduct elections in the state, where voting will be held in four-phases from May 13. Stressing the need to minimise the impact of heatwave on electoral participation as voting will be held in the peak of summer, Dhal asked officials to focus on effectively dealing with the challenges of weather to maintain high turnout and error-free elections in the state while ensuring zero loss of lives. The state is already reeling in sweltering conditions which is affecting campaigning by different political parties. Even as the CEO had urged the parties and candidates to observe restraint during peak heat hours, BJD’s Puri Lok Sabha candidate and former IPS officer Arup Patnaik on Monday fell ill due to scorching heat while campaigning near Pipili. The former Mumbai police commissioner was rushed to a nearby hospital and then shifted to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar after he felt uneasy due to the blistering heat at around 11 am. He, however, was discharged from the hospital immediately His . condition is stated to be stable now. The CEO, in the meeting, stressed coordination among various departments to ensure all tasks are completed smoothly on the days of polling and counting. He said special arrangements will be made in all polling booths. Each polling station will have provision of adequate drinking water, separate toilets for women and men, shade for queuing, stalls Continued on P5 and waiting rooms. Gukesh youngest candidate to vie Kharge prestige at stake in son-in-law’s fight for the World crown in chess RAMAKRISH N A B ADS E SHI @ Kalaburagi Swaroop Swaminathan @ Chennai SOME of chess’ greatest names have called the coming age ‘the era of Indian chess’. The Polgars, Judit and Susan. Former world champions, Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen. For mer Candidate winner, Boris Gelfand, and the only two-time winner of the World Cup, Levon Aronian... they have all heaped praise on the next generation of Indian kids. They were all proved right in the early hours of Monday as D Gukesh, all of 17, completed a logic-defying, history-beingrewritten three weeks in Toronto as he became the younge s t eve r w i n n e r o f t h e Candidates tournament, an elite eight-player field that identifies the next challenger of the World Championships (Gukesh will face Ding Liren later in the year for a shot at immortality). The Chennai boy became only the second Indian after Anand to win the event. In the 14th and final round inside the city’s Great Hall, Gukesh, sole leader by 0.5 points, drew against Hikaru Nakamura after 71 moves. Nakamura, one of the pre-Candidates favourites, needed a win to stay in contention. With white, he gave it his all but never got change on a day when Gukesh stayed rock solid till the very end. While that draw put Gukesh on the brink of victory, there was another match going on on the table next to theirs. It featured Fabiano Caruana and Ian Nepomniachtchi, two players who had been joint second coming into the final round. Both players needed a win while hoping the Indian didn’t win. They got the first wish but the win just wouldn’t come for either of them. Both of them kept at it gamely and agreed to draw after a marathon 109 moves and six hours of match play . It feels remarkable that if it wasn’t for an elite-level tournament arranged in short notice, Gukesh wouldn’t have qualified. The Tamil Nadu government played a helping hand in bringing the event to Chennai. This Candidates title completes a remarkable turnaround for the GM D Gukesh. From August, he had been on a downward spiral. Post a loss to Carlsen at the World Cup, he had felt out of it. “I wasn’t in a good mental space,” he had said. Now, he must be in the good mental space. More on P13 CONGRESS chief Mallikarjun Kharge is not contesting from the Gulbarga Lok Sabha constituency but he is putting all his might to win this SC-reserved seat, which he lost in the 2019 general elections. That shocking defeat dented his image as Solillada Saradara (one who has not tasted defeat). And to reclaim his reputation, Kharge has fielded his son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani in Gulbara. For the octogenarian, Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga) is his karma bhumi, which elected him 10 times to the Assembly and twice to the Lok Sabha. Doddamani is also Kharge’s brother-in-law as he is the younger brother of Radhabai Kharge. In line with the popular saying in Hindi Sari duniya ek taraf, joru ka bhai ek taraf (The whole world is on one side, wife’s brother on the other side), Kharge has already addressed public gatherings twice in Kalaburagi in the past month, and is visiting again on April 24. The veteran leader gets daily updates from Doddamani, while his son Priyank Kharge and s t r o n g f o l l owe r Dr Sharanaprakash Patil are sweating it out in the scorching summer heat to ensure victory . The Congress has systematically planned Doddamani’s election campaign. While the party has claimed credit for implementing the five guarantees and amending Article 371J for Kalyana Karnataka Region, Priyank and Sharanaprakash have been meeting caste groups and working classes separately . Also, people are sympathetic towards Doddamani because of his soft manners and he is using the strategies that Kharge used to win Assembly and Parliament elections. But the BJP is equally determined to retain the Gulbarga seat and has fielded the sitting MP Umesh Jadhav, who defeated Kharge in 2019. It was from K a l abu r a g i t h at Prime Minister Narendra Modi Illustration: Mandar Pardikar launched the saffron party’s election campaign in Karnataka on March 16, the day the Election Commission of India announced the Lok Sabha poll schedule for the country . However, Jadhav has to square off anti-incumbency. Sensing the mood against him for not being able to bring projects to Kalaburagi, PM Modi launched a mega textile park in the district last year and two direct trains between Bengaluru and Kalaburagi recently During his tour of . villages, Jadhav is seeking votes for his work as well as for Modi’s achievements. Of the eight assembly constituencies in the Gulbarga LS constituency , six are represented by Congress MLAs. The remaining two are shared between the BJP and the JD(S).
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