NEW DELHI 14 JANUARY 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24 facebook/TheMorningStandard twitter.com/TheMornStandard https://epaper.morningstandard.in Dances with the Floodwaters PLUS: 12 PAGES The Buzz of Betrayal MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Dweep Blue Sea Lose It to Use It Pushpesh Pant Ravi Shankar Ajai Sahni Sunaina Anand Shampa Dhar-Kamath Shankkar Aiyar Prabhu Chawla Anuradha Goyal Toasty Warm in Tbilisi Snowless hills take life out of winter sport I N D R A N E E L DA S @ Chennai FOR winter sports, heavily reliant on weather, climate change is posing a hurdle to its dear existence. Gulmarg, one of India’s best winter sports destinations, is facing such a threat. The snow-draped slopes have been replaced by barren brown ones. Sunday The skiing industry, that had seen a boom Deserted ski resort at Gulmarg in January 2024 due to lack of snowfall | PTI Special in the last three years after COVID, suddenly Rauf Tramboo, Winter even finalised the dates as Febhas been caught in this reGames Association of Jammu ruary 2-6. But because there has lentless fury of nature. It is the and Kashmir, who is the compe- not been enough snowfall, middle of January, yet the re- tition manager for the Games, Tramboo felt the hosting of the gion has not seen enough snow- explained the scenario. “We Games needs to be postponed. fall that would be conducive for have been hosting the Khelo In“In our recent meetings with the snow sport. This is set to dia Winter Games for the last the Sports Authority of India lead to the postponement of the three years. This year too we and the Sports Ministry and the biggest Winter Sports event in were planning to host chapter federation and our associations, the country — the Khelo India four of Khelo India in Febru- we have addressed these probWinter Games. ary,” he said, adding that they lems,” he said. Kharge named INDIA chairperson, Nitish playing hard to get Oppn meeting proposes JD(U) chief as bloc convenor, but party claims he is not in the race for the position P R E E T H A N A I R @ New Delhi CONGRESS president Mallikarjun Kharge was named chairperson of the Opposition INDIA bloc on Saturday after leaders of its 14-party coordination committee held a virtual meeting to discuss seat sharing for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Though Bihar Chief Minister and JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar’s name was proposed as convenor, a final decision will be taken after consulting all parties, sources told this newspaper. At least 10 leaders of the bloc met virtually and discussed various aspects of the alliance and the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections, due in AprilMay Trinamool Congress chief . Mamata Banerjee, SP head Akhilesh Yadav and Shiv Sena (UBT)’s Uddhav Thackarey skipped the meeting. Speaking to this newspaper, CPI general secretary D Raja said all parties were in agreement that the Congress should hold the position of chairperson since it is the largest party within the bloc, while the convenor post should go to a nonCongress leader. “All the leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi suggested Nitish’s name as convenor. It was unanimous,” said Raja, adding that the final call would be taken after consulting Mamata and Akhilesh. Apart from Raja, Sonia, Rahul, Kharge, NCP chief Sharad Pawar, AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal and CPM’s Sitaram Yechury and a few others attended the meet. According to a leader, JD(U)’s Sanjay Jha and Lalan Singh said leaders from other parties should be considered for the post of convenor as Nitish is not an aspirant. “Nitish suggested the name of RJD leader Lalu Prasad Yadav for the convenor post. Kharge will consult Akhilesh and Mamata and arrive at a decision soon,” said the leader. Nitish’s reluctance to accept the convenor post surprised many as the party had been pressuring the bloc for it. Speaking to the media, Pawar asserted that there was no dispute among the INDIA bloc over appointing its convenor, but said there was no need to project any face for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. According to Raja, allies were advised to conclude seat sharing as early as possible. “There is a sense of urgency as we are aware that time is running out. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin said seat-sharing talks will be done in the state after Pongal,” said Raja. Though Kharge posted on X that “Everyone is happy that the seat-sharing talks are progressing positively,” fissures were apparent with the absence of the TMC and SP. Seat share in Bengal, UP rocky Trinamool sources said Mamata’s no-show was due to her prior engagements. Uddhav’s party had told the bloc about his unavailability. But on seat share, Cong, TMC, SP are on shaky ground Kejriwal meets Kharge AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with Congress leaders Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi. In Punjab, Cong-AAP seat sharing may not take place, said sources | P7 Kejriwal gets fourth ED summons, told to appear on Jan 18 A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) has issued its fourth summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to appear before the probe agency on January 18 for questioning in connection with the money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22, officials said on Saturday . Kejriwal called the summons illegal and ignored three of them so far. The latest one comes as he is set to begin his three-day visit to Goa on January 18 to take stock of his party’s preparations for the Lok Sabha polls. Asked if Kejriwal would appear before the ED this time, Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai said the party is consulting legal advisors and would act according to their counsel. Addressing a presser, Rai accused the BJPled Central government of misusing the ED to stop Kejriwal from campaigning. “The ED is a constitutional body Its notice was leaked to the . media before it reached the chief minister. This is not the work of a constitutional body . It is the BJP’s work,” Rai charged. He also questioned the timing of the summons. “Delhi CM’s Goa tour to be held from January 18-20... was announced (Friday) and now this news about ED notice,” he said. Meanwhile, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said Kejriwal was acting like a “fugitive”. “The people have seen Nirav Modi and Vijay Mallya behaving like this,” he said. THE National Green Tribunal has observed that reports from Delhi, UP and Haryana governments on the rejuvenation of the Yamuna must disclose each drain’s quantity of treated and untreated discharge and the number of sewage treatment plants set up. The river’s Delhi stretch alone is responsible for 76% of its pollution, the tribunal headed by Chairperson Prakash Shrivastava observed. It said a district-wise approach may be undertaken to rejuvenate the river in the 11 districts of the national capital. The tribunal, also comprising judicial member Sudhir Ag arwal, and exper t member Dr A. Senthil Vel directed the governments to re-submit their reports after finding “deficiencies” in it. The governments were asked to produce information on the drains that discharged wastewater into the river, the operational sewage treatment plants (STPs) and TAIWAN LAI CHING-TE ACES PRESIDENTIAL POLLS The ruling Democratic Progressive Party appealed to self-determination, social justice and rejection of China’s threats struck a chord, despite a sluggish economy and expensive housing being projected during the campaign | P9 AMMA SPEAKS No Peace Like Home WEDDING BELLS RING FOR EX NEW ZEALAND PM After almost five years of engagement and a postponement due to the coronavirus pandemic, Jacinda Ardern married longtime partner Clarke Gayford in a private ceremony on Saturday | P9 their capacities, areas that were not under a sewage network system, measures taken to utilise treated wastewater for non-contact purposes and the plan for restoration of the Yamuna floodplain. “We find that the requ i s i t e i n fo r m at i o n which is necessary for ascertaining the factual situation has not been disclosed,” the NGT said. Last October, the green tribunal, which was hearing a plea on the river’s rejuvenation, sought several details from the three state governments. On Delhi’s report, the green court noted that out of 22 drains meeting the Yamuna, only nine drains have been tapped and untapped 13 drains are still discharging huge quantities of sewage. It was also noted that Najafgarh and Shahdara drains, which are the major sources of sewage discharge (507.4 MGD), are said to be not feasible for interception. No timeline is disclosed for the completion of Interceptor Sewer Project to divert the flow of these two drains. Happiness is a Choice RED ALERT Expect more of a shiver after season’s coldest night E X P R ESS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi IF you thought it was difficult to wriggle out of quilts on Saturday you were right. But make , no mistake about Sunday Here . are the figures: The national capital on Saturday recorded the coldest night of this winter for a second day in a row with the minimum dipping to 3 degrees Celsius in Aya Nagar, the last village of Delhi on the Mehrauli-Gurgaon Road. The weather department has predicted a cold wave on Sunday. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to settle around 19 and 4 degree Celsius respectively it added. , Considering the two consecutive cold nights and dense fog conditions in Delhi-NCR, the India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert. The ‘red colour warning’ does not mean red alert as per the IMD. All it means is “take action.” On January 12, the IMD issued a warning saying that Saturday will witness a severe cold wave, which will then get the form of a cold wave on Sunday . Friday night saw the minimum temperature dipping to 3.9 degrees C as cold wave conditions continued. The minimum temperature at Lodhi Road was 3.4 degrees, 3.6 at Safdarjung, 3.9 at Ridge and 5.8 at Palam, the IMD said. Brace for COLD WAVE TRAINS DELAYED: 18 (by one to six hours) VISIBILITY: 200 m at Safdarjung Observatory, Delhi's main weather station, at 5:30 am VERY POOR AIR: AQI at 399, which is under ‘very poor’ category, according to CPCB OLD WAVE: Weather dept predicts cold wave on Sunday. Max & Min are may settle around 19 and 4 degree Celsius respectively Eighteen Delhi-bound trains have been delayed due to weather-related conditions in many other parts of the country Also, flight operations were . delayed at the Delhi airport due to low visibility amid fog. According to the IMD, the visibility at Safdarjung Observatory Delhi’s main weath, er station, was 200 metres at 5:30 am. Visuals showed thick layer of fog over several parts of the national capital on Saturday morning. EXPRESS READ Qatar grants consular access to ex-Navy men BODY FOUND 175KM AWAY Nearly 11 days after model Divya Pahuja (27) was allegedly shot dead by her boyfriend Abhijeet Singh (56) at his City Point Hotel in Gurugram, her body was on Saturday found from a canal in Haryana’s Tohana town in Fatehabad | EXPRESS | P3 Centre orders probe against Kerala CM daughter’s firm Yamuna cries: Go deeper into rot, NGT tells 3 states JA I SO N W I L SO N @ New Delhi Tramboo consulted the meteorological departments across J&K and even in the Centre and found out that snowfall is likely only in the third or fourth week of January. In his opinion, the Khelo India Games need to be postponed. Gulmarg is not alone. Other destinations like Solang Valley in Himachal Pradesh and Auli in Uttarakhand, too, are facing the same predicament. Ludar Thakur, president of the Winter Games Association of Himachal Pradesh, said it had been very bad this season. Some of the skiers were even forced to look for better venues out of the country. “Around 10 skiers have gone abroad for training,” he said. Apart from Europe, Kazakhstan is a favoured destination because of P11 relaxed visa norms. Mining the Middle Class EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ T’Puram/Kochi NO SERVICE THE Union Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) has ordered a probe against Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, an IT company owned by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T Veena, in connection with the monthly payments it received from a firm allegedly without providing any services. The ‘probe will also be conducted against the Aluva-based Cochin Minerals And Rutiles Ltd (CMRL), which made the payments, and the Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation Ltd (KSIDC), which has 13.4% stake in CMRL. The order was issued by MCA joint director M D Shakeel on January 12. A threemember team comprising Karnataka deputy Registrar of Companies Varun B S, Chennai deputy director K M Shanker Narayan and Pondicherry Registrar of Companies A Gokulnath will conduct the investigation. The probe team has been asked to submit its report to the Centre within four months. In August 2023, the Income Tax Interim Settlement Board released a report saying that Veena and her company re- Exalogic Solutions Pvt Ltd, an IT company owned by Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter T Veena, has accused of receiving the monthly payments from a firm allegedly without providing any services. ceived `1.72 crore over the last three years as monthly payments from CMRL thought there is no evidence of any services given in return. According to the order issued by MCA, Registrar of Companies, Bengaluru, had conducted a probe based on a complaint it received. “The inquiry conducted under the provisions of Section 206(4) of the Companies Act unearthed various violations and offences. The report also recommended an investigation into the affairs of the company Based on this re. port, the Registrar of Companies in Er nakulam, in its report submitted to the Central government, said that replies furnished by CMRL are vague and evasive to the allegations. KSIDC had not furnished a reply to the notices issued by the Registrar of Companies based on the complaints,” the order said. Qatar’s Ministry of Interior has agreed to grant another consular access — the fifth since their detention on August 30, 2022 — to the eight Indian naval veterans on Sunday. This is the first consular access since the case was moved to the Cassation court after the death penalty was commuted to prison terms for all eight last month. The last consular access was granted on December 3, 2023. “Even though the death penalty has been commuted to separate prison terms for the naval veterans, we are concerned about their health,” said a source. P7 PM to address election rally in Bihar on Jan 27 Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Bihar’s Champaran on January 27 to address an election rally for the upcoming Lok Sabha election and flag off various developmental projects. Earlier, he was slated to visit the state on January 13, which was deferred owing to consecration of Ram temple in Ayodhya. The PM will inaugurate Indian Oil depot at Chhapwa Bahas near Sugauli, national highway between Raxaul and Piprakothi, national highway connecting Bettiah to Patna and some other development works before addressing a rally at Ramna Maidan in Bettiah. P8 DU colleges told to install CCTV cameras After an allegation from several female students that they were filmed without their consent during a fashion show at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT-D) fest, the Delhi University has asked its colleges to install CCTV cameras outside women’s washrooms and changing rooms and at all gates of the education institutes, including hostels. In addition, colleges have been advised to conduct assessments of their boundary walls before hosting events and install low concertina wires to prevent unauthorised access, sources said. P3
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