HUBBALLI THURSDAY MARCH 07, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 14 CITY EDITION A BIDEN-TRUMP REMATCH NO ONE WANTS BUT CANNOT BE AVOIDED Joe Biden and Donald Trump swept their parties’ presidential nomination primaries on ‘Super Tuesday’, paving the way for the November polls BIDEN’S LONE DEFEAT IN AMERICAN SAMOA HALEY OPTS OUT, DOESN’T ENDORSE DON There was a little flutter as Biden lost tiny American Samoa 51:40 to Jason Palmer, a little-known entrepreneur. But it did not halt his march towards renomination as the Democratic candidate for president. Trump lost Vermont by 1% while recording impressive victories in other places. Overall, Trump has 893 delegates — 92% of those awarded so far, CNN reported ■ ■ Indian-American Republican Nikki Haley to quit the race. “I said I wanted Americans to have their voices heard. I have done that,” she said. Haley congratulated Trump but stopped short of endorsing him Haley challenged Trump to win the support of the moderate Republicans and independent voters who backed her | P11 1,215 DELEGATES NEEDED FOR TRUMP TO BAG HIS PARTY’S NOMINATION 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 DEAL TAKING SHAPE FOR BJD RE-ENTRY INTO NDA BJP may get more LS seats in alliance E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhubaneswar SHAM EXAM Alleged guardians of students climb a wall to help them cheat during the Class 10 board examinations, at a school in Haryana’s Nuh district, on Wednesday | PTI 10 K’taka BJP MPs may not get tickets for Lok Sabha polls EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru AROUND 10 sitting BJP MPs from Karnataka may not get party tickets to contest the Lok Sabha elections this time. Senior BJP leaders are holding a series of meetings in New Delhi to finalise the candidates’ list, which they may release on Friday. Party leaders from Karnataka, including former CM and parliamentary board member BS Yediyurappa, state unit president BY Vijayendra, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly R Ashoka, Leader of Opposition in the Council Kota Srinivas Poojary and deputy leader of opposition in the Assembly Aravind Bellad attended a meeting on Wednesday evening. After the recent state core committee meeting in Bengaluru, three to four names for each Lok Sabha constituency were sent to the party high command. “BJP and JDS candidates for all 28 LS seats will be announced together. We are expecting 25 seats for BJP and three for JDS, BJP sources told TNIE. The sources said BJP MPs from Bidar, Belagavi, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Bengaluru North and a few other constituencies may not get tickets. Un- ion Minister for External Affairs S Jaishankar may contest from Karnataka. He worked in Chikkodi as a probationary officer for a few months several decades ago, and has roots in Bengaluru. His grandparents lived in the city He, however, is . said to be not keen on contesting from Karnataka. A BJP leader said that a survey on the winnability factor of the candidates has been conducted. The par ty is against giving tickets to MPs who have lost touch with cadres at the local level. The party leadership also considered their performance as MPs. “Apart from these factors, new faces that can take the party to the next level will be considered. We are grooming next generation leaders. In some constituencies, party workers are not happy with the performance of their MPs. This will also be taken into consideration,” the leader said. CONGRESS TO DECIDE ON CANDIDATES ON MARCH 7 New Delhi: Top Congress leadership will meet here on Thursday to finalise the party’s candidates in 12 states, including Karnataka. Top leaders, including president Mallikarjun Kharge, will be present at the Central Election Committee meeting | P9 EXPRESS READ Hyd man, duped into fighting for Russia, killed Hyderabad: A 30-year-old man from Hyderabad, who was allegedly forced to join the Russian forces after falling prey to a job fraud, has been killed in the Russia-Ukraine war front. Following reports, the Embassy of India in Russia confirmed the news of Mohammed Asfan’s death on Wednesday | P9 In a first, IOC to make fuel for Formula One New Delhi: Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOC) will, in three months, start manufacturing fuel used in Formula One motor racing as it looks to expand its basket of niche fuels. IOC, which already has three branded fuels on Wednesday unveiled ‘Storm’ petrol that it will supply for the Asian region motorcycle road racing championship. Maha allies sore over BJP’s seat share plan S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai FIFTEEN years after their bitter break-up, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP have almost stitched up the second innings of their alliance in Odisha. While the deal is being finalised at the top leadership levels, a formal announcement is yet to be made. But, it is only a matter of time, sources said. On Wednesday the day after Prime Minister , Narendra Modi’s visit to the state had given ample indications of the tie-up becoming a reality , both the parties engaged in hectic discussions with their respective leaders — the BJD in Bhubaneswar and the BJP at New Delhi — to formalise the partnership. The BJD summoned its MPs and MLAs to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence. After four hours of meeting, the party issued a cleverly-worded statement which said it will do everything in the greater interest of Odisha. Sources in the BJP claimed the alliance is a done deal and that the finer details would be announced soon — within the next 24 to 48 hours. Seat sharing will be decided after discussion between both the parties. There are, however, indications that the BJD will settle for a lion’s share of assembly seats, leaving the BJP with more Lok Sabha constituencies. After the core committee meeting of the BJP at New Delhi, former Union minister Jual Oram said that the issue was discussed but a final call will be taken by the central leadership. Top leaders of the state including Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state BJP president Manmohan Samal attended the meeting held under the chairmanship of BJP national president J P Nadda. Union home minister Amit Shah was also present. Odisha had a BJD-BJP coalition government for two terms from 2000 before the BJD broke off after the Kandhamal riots in 2009. AFTER the intervention of Union home minister Amit Shah, the BJP-led Mahayuti in Maharashtra resolved its seat-sharing dispute and tentatively decided on a 36:8:4 formula for upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Going by the formula, the BJP will contest from 36 of the total 48 seats in the state while Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar’s NCP will enter the fray from eight and four seats, respectively However, both allies of the . BJP articulated their dissatisfaction. Highly placed sources said after addressing poll rallies in Akola, Jalgaon and Sambhaji Nagar, Shah flew to Mumbai on Tuesday night and held discussions with Chief Minister Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar. “Shinde said he has 13 sitting Lok Sabha members who left Uddhav Thackeray and joined him, so he sought at least 13 seats. Ajit Pawar sought nine seats,” said the source requesting anonymity. But Shah told them that multiple survey reports were suggesting otherwise. “There is palpable public anger against the allies and very little chance of their candidates emerging victorious. Therefore, it is better for the BJP to contest from more places in the name of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. For the BJP winning as many seats in the , Lok Sabha as possible is important. Shah promised them a better deal in the assembly elections,” he added. But NCP’s Chhagan Bhujbal later said they will not settle for four. “BJP should spare as many seats for the NCP as they are allotting Shinde’s Shiv Sena,” Bhujbal said. As for the Shinde Sena, sources in the party said the BJP is offering a humiliating number of seats, which will demoralise the cadre. “The BJP should understand the situation because it will damage them as well,” a Sena leader hinted. THE BIG 1 MARRYING SKILL WITH RELEVANCE AND ENDURANCE R Ashwin came into national reckoning with his exploits in the shortest format. But he has continuously evolved and has grown into one of the greatest red-ball cricketers this country has produced 2 FIRST FROM TAMIL NADU Thirteen Indians have gone on to play 100 Tests or more but the off-spinner will be the first from the Tamil Nadu to reach the milestone. He spoke about what it meant on Tuesday 3 UNASSAILABLE LEAD FOR INDIA About the series itself, the hosts have already sealed it 3-1 after winning a hattrick of matches starting with Visakhapatnam before wins at Rajkot and Ranchi 4 MILESTONE MATCH Apart from Ashwin, another, Jonny Bairstow, will also win his 100th Test cap 507 No. of wickets he has picked up DEBUT : V. WEST INDIES IN NOVEMBER 2011 SANDESHKHALI Finally, CBI gets custody of Shahjahan PRANAB MONDAL/SUCHITRA KALYAN MOHANTY @ Kolkata/New Delhi SUSPENDED Trinamool Congress strongman Shahjahan Sheikh was on Wednesday handed over to the CBI by West Bengal’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) after the state did not get any relief from the Supreme Court. He underwent medical tests before the hand over. The Calcutta High Court for the second successive day on Wednesday, had directed the state to transfer a case on the attack on Enforcement Directorate officials at Sandeshkhali to the CBI and hand over custody of Sheikh to the central agency . The West Bengal government had approached a SC bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna to list the matter, but the latter asked the state to mention it before the Supreme Court Registrar General, after which the CJI would take the call. But Bengal’s counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi could not mention the matter before the CJI bench as he was hearing a different case. No board exams for state No tiger safari in Corbett core areas: SC syllabus std 5, 8, 9, 11: HC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru IN a big relief to lakhs of students, the High Court of Karnataka on Wednesday quashed the notifications issued by the state government to conduct board examinations for classes 5, 8, 9 and 11 in schools affiliated to the Karnataka Secondary Education Examination Board (KSEEB) from this academic year. The gover nment issued the notifications on October 6 and 9, 2023, without framing any rules, Justice Ravi V Hosmani said while quashing them. The Registered Unaided Private Schools Management Association of Karnataka and the Organisation for Unaided Rec- ognised Schools had challenged the notifications. The court noted that in cases involving major decisions to bring drastic changes in the examination system, the government should have invited objections under Sections 22 and 145 of the Education Act, a mandatory procedure laid down in Section 23 of the Karnataka General Clauses Act. The notifications cannot be considered valid if these rules are not followed, it said. The court said when officials made no effort to justify the notifications which were not issued as per the procedure under Section 145(4) of the Education Act, they should be held as unsustainable and accordingly quashed. P5 THE Supreme Court on Wednesday banned tiger safaris in the core areas of Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. However, those in the peripheral and buffer zones can be permitted, said a bench headed by Justice B R Gavai. The bench also rapped former Uttarakhand forest minister Harak Singh Rawat and ex-divisional forest officer Kishan Chand for allowing felling of trees and construction in Corbett, adding that it was aghast at the audacity of the duo in throwing all statutory provisions into the dustbin. “This shows how a nexus between a politician and a forest officer has resulted in causing heavy damage to the environment for some political and commercial gain,” said the bench, Jim Corbett National Park also comprising judges P K Mishra and Sandeep Mehta. Rawat was the forest minister in the BJP government in 2021. He was expelled by the saffron party ahead of the 2022 state assembly polls, following which he joined the Congress. The apex court pronounced the judgment after hearing a petition filed by environment activist and lawyer Gaurav Bansal challenging the Uttarakhand government’s proposal to have a tiger safari on the lines of a spe- cialised zoo with caged animals at the national park. The court said the illegal felling of trees cannot be ignored. The bench directed the CBI, which is probing the case, to submit a detailed status report to it within three months, whereas the state government was told to initiate disciplinary proceedings against errant officials. The court said the government must estimate the cost of damage to ecology and recover it from the guilty. It ordered the constitution of a committee to quantify costs of restoration. NIA offers `10L reward Farmers donate land for elephant-proof trenches, save crops for info on cafe bomber WIN-WIN FOR ALL B O S K Y K H A N N A @Bengaluru AFTER two decades of suffering crop loss due to jumbo attacks, at least 49 farmers from five villages falling in the revenue lands near Chamarajanagar territorial division of Biligiri Rangaswamy Temple (BRT) Tiger Reserve, have given up parts of their cultivable land free of cost to help control movement of elephant herds. The lands they parted with are now being used to dig elephant-proof trenches (EPTs) and solar-powered fences (SPFs) to control the movement of the rampaging herds to minimise man-elephant conflict. The farmers of the villages bordering Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve were experiencing severe crop loss from OctoberMarch, when 60-80-strong elephant herds would enter their fields in Karnataka and raid the crops. Umesh H, Range Forest Officer, Chamarajanagar Territorial Division, said every year farmers from Moodalahasahalli, Arkalvadi, Madagalapura, Honnahalli and Bissill Avadi villages would cry foul. “A year-and-a-half ago, we pro- Such 3-metre-wide elephant-proof trenches have significantly prevented elephant raids near BRT Tiger Reserve posed to the farmers, panchayat members and locals to barricade the elephant path as a solution. The farmers were convinced and willingly agreed to part with portions of their land for construction of EPTs and laying SPFs.” Land acquisition was completed in December 2023, and from January, EPT and SPF works started simultaneously . Farmers voluntarily gave 2-3 guntas each. A total of 6.5 kmlong trench, 3-metre-wide has now been constructed. To mitigate man-elephant conflict, the state government was giving crop loss compensation to farmers annually. In 2022-23, Rs 39 lakh ex-gratia was paid. But this year, from April 2023 till date, the department paid-ex gratia of only Rs 6lakh. “The amount has come down after construction of the trench,” said forest department officials. Besides, in the retained parts of the land, the farmers grow horse gram, coconut, barley, banana, watermelon, tomato and cabbage, which are saved because of measures taken on donated land. A villager said: “Elephants would destroy everything. There was no fixed time for their raids for us to keep watch. They came late at night, early P5 mornings or evenings.” EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE National Investigation Agency (NIA) has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh for those providing information on the Bengaluru cafe bomber. It has released a picture of the suspect on platform X. Informants can call 08029510900 or 8904241100. “NIA announces cash reward of 10 lakh rupees for information about the bomber in Rameshwaram Cafe blast case of Bengaluru. Informants’ identity will be kept confidential. Any information leading to his arrest shall be rewarded,” the post put on Wednesday says. The postal address is: SP National Investi, gation Agency, 3rd F loor, BSNL Telephone Exchange, 80 ft Road, HAL 2nd Stage, Indiranagar, Bengaluru, Karnataka - 08.
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