HUBBALLI THURSDAY FEBRUARY 29, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 16 CITY EDITION BCCI SENDS MESSAGE: NO DOMESTIC CRICKET, NO CENTRAL CONTRACTS Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan dropped from central contracts for ignoring domestic despite repeated calls from board secretary Jay Shah A+ FOR ROHIT, VIRAT Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who skipped the ongoing 5-match Test series against England, retained their place in Grade A-plus along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja HARDIK FINDS PLACE IN GRADE A Hardik Pandya, who hasn’t played for India since 2023 ODI World Cup or his domestic side Baroda, however, retained his place in Grade A along with six cricketers. Senior players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan miss out 30 IYER, KISHAN FACE MUSIC OVER RANJI MISS Kishan pulled out of two-Test series against South Africa last year while Iyer was apparently dropped after second Test versus England earlier this month. Iyer had said he missed Mumbai quarters match due to injury, which the National Cricket Academy refuted saying he was fit | P15 Kishan has not played Ranji this season while Iyer is in Mumbai squad for semis CRICKETERS NAMED IN FOUR GRADES FOR THE YEAR 2023-24 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 Row over pro-Pak slogan rocks Houses EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE controversy over Congress Rajya Sabha member Syed Naseer Hussain’s followers allegedly raising a pro-Pakistan slogan rocked the proceedings in the State Legislative Assembly and Council on Wednesday . In the Council, marshals had to stop members from marching aggressively towards each other, while in the Assembly, Opposition members tore copies of the Bills passed amid the pandemonium even as they protested in the well of the House. In both Houses, opposition EXPRESS READ Power tariff down by 110 paise per unit Bengaluru: After 15 years, the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission on Wednesday reduced the power tariff by 110 paise per unit for 2024- 25 | P4 PFI raised D9 cr, trained youth for terror activities | P5 Sanctions have a positive effect on Russia: Russian strategist | P5 HP budget passed amid high drama Stern action if FSL report shows proof, says CM CM Siddaramaiah on Wednesday said that stern action would be taken against anyone who raised a pro-Pakistan slogan, if the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report proved that such a thing had occurred. P4 BJP-JDS and ruling Congress legislators indulged in heated exchanges as they cited local, national and international issues to criticise each other. The BJP members took up the issue soon after the proceedings started on Wednesday morning. They said the state government has no moral right 15 BJP MLAs suspended; Virbhadra’s son quits state cabinet, later softens stand H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh BJP MLC V Ravikumar argues with marshals, as he protests against a Congress member addressing him in the singular, during the Council session at Vidhana Soudha in Bengaluru on Wednesday | NAGARAJA GADEKAL to continue in power and demanded an NIA probe into the alleged sloganeering on the corridors of Vidhana Soudha. The ruling party members hit back, while the government assured them of taking action based on a report from the Forensic Sci- ence Laboratory (FSL), which will ascertain if a pro-Pakistan slogan was raised. “For the first time in the history of Karnataka, the ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ slogan was raised inside Vidhana Soudha,” said Leader of P4 Opposition R Ashoka. RIL, Disney to merge India media biz A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi BILLIONAIRE Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and US-based entertainment giant Walt Disney have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India to create a media behemoth valued at `70,352 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2024 or early 2025. The JV will be controlled by the Reliance group, which will have a 63% stake. RIL will also pump in `11,500 crore into the JV to give it the financial muscles to fight rivals such as Japan’s Sony and Netflix. The development comes a month after Sony terminated its merger with India’s Zee Entertainment Enterprises. Nita Ambani will be the chairperson of the JV with ex, Disney executive Uday Shankar as the vice-chairperson. The JV will create the biggest fir m in the country’s $28-billion media & entertainment sector with 120 TV channels, two streaming platforms, and an estimated 750 million viewers across India. WAR clouds hovering over Himachal Pradesh dissipated a bit amid high drama on Wednesday as the Sukhu government passed the state budget after Speaker Kuldeep Pathania suspended 15 protesting BJP members. The assembly was later adjourned sine die. The government was in turmoil after six Congress members cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections the previous day . There was further anxiety as PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, put in his papers in the morning saying he was humiliated by the state leadership. By the evening, he softened and said he will not press his resignation. The six rebels — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Inder Dutt lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Divender Kumar — appeared before the Speaker as part of the disqualification proceedings. They left for Panchkula from Shimla before central Congress o b s e r ve r s — B h u p e s h B a g h e l , Bhupinder Singh Hooda and D K Shivakumar — reached the state capital. The rebels and three Independents, who supported the BJP in the RS polls, attended the House but abstained from voting on the budget on Wednesday . PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh SPEAKER RESERVES HIS ORDER Speaker Kuldeep Pathania reserved his orders after hearing the six rebel MLAs. Their advocate argued that they were given the showcause notice and the copy of the petition but not the annexures. He added that MLAs must be given seven days to file their replies. He claimed that party whip does not apply for RS polls JOINT OPERATION Record drug seizure off Gujarat coast D I L I P S I N G H K S H AT R I YA @ Ahmedabad IN a joint operation, the Indian Navy and the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) seized a record 3,300 kg of narcotics from a fishing boat off Gujarat coast, making it the largest drug haul in recent years. Five foreign nationals onboard the boat have been arrested. The value of the contraband could be `1,300-2,000 crore on the international drugs market, the NCB said on Wednesday. The drugs seized include 3,089 kg of charas, 158 kg of methamphetamine and 25 kg of morphine. The unregistered fishing boat was intercepted on Tuesday morning on the Arabian Sea, around 60 nautical miles from the Indian coast. The packets bore the stamp of ‘Ras Awad Goods Co, produce of Pakistan’, the NCB added. The Navy deployed its P8I long-range maritime reconnaissance aircraft, marine commandos and helicopters. The drugs originated from Chabahar in Iran. The boat has been brought to Porbandar. Home minister Amit Shah described the operation as a “historic success”.
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