SAMBALPUR l thursday l march 07, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l CITY EDITION A Biden-Trump Rematch no one wants but cannot be avoided Biden’s lone defeat in American Samoa Joe Biden and Donald Trump swept their parties’ presidential nomination primaries on ‘Super Tuesday’, paving the way for the November polls 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 old pals BJP may contest 14-15 LS, 15% Assly BJD-BJP joining hands again seats in Odisha The big Hectic activities in BJD and BJP over change in political dynamics, formal announcement soon 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 Five get death sentence for murder of ex-block chairman A court of the additional district and sessions judge, Anandapur on Wednesday sentenced five persons to death for the brutal murder of former block chairman, Ramachandra Behera of Dhakota village, in March 2019. The judge convicted the accused Ajit Kumar Prusty, Sanjeev Kumar Prusty, Arun Prusty and his brother Alekha Prusty, and Purna Chandra Boitei | p4 S i b a M o h a n t y/ B i j ay C h a k i @ Bhubaneswar 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 reported to have been finalized at the top leadership levels of the two parties, 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 speculations over the tie-up becoming a reality, both the parties engaged in hectic discussions with their respective leaders BJD in Bhubaneswar and BJP at New Delhi - to formalize the partnership. The BJD summoned its MPs and MLAs to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence Naveen Niwas and after four hours of meeting, the regional party issued a cleverly-worded statement which said it will do everything in the greater inter- Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik shake hands during an official function at Chandikhole in Jajpur on Tuesday | DEBADATTA MALLICK est of Odisha as well as its people. “An extensive discussion was held under the leadership of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with the senior leaders of the party today regarding the strategy of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections. In the discussions, it was resolved that since by 2036, Odisha will complete 100 years of its statehood and BJD and Hon’ble CM have major milestones to achieve by this time, therefore the Biju Janata Dal will do everything towards this in the greater interests of people of Odisha and the State,” the statement from the regional party read. Meanwhile, reliable sources in the BJP informed that the alliance is a done deal and the finer details would be announced soon. The official announcement is likely to be made during the next couple of days. Seat-sharing will be de- Finally, CBI gets custody of TMC strongman Shahjahan Sheikh 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 ap- proached a SC bench led by Justice Sanjiv Khanna to list the matter, but the latter asked the state to mention it before the SC 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. The HC in its order on March 5 directed the CID to hand over Sheikh to the CBI by Tuesday. As the CID failed to do so, the CBI went to HC on Wednesday. The HC then ordered the CID to handover Sheikh to the CBI by 4.30 pm. While passing the order, the division bench emphasised the need for a fair and unbiased investigation. express read Indian working for Wagner Army killed in Russia NIA announces `10 lakh cash award for info on cafe bomber New Delhi: A second Indian national, identified as Mohammed Asfan, who was reportedly working for the Wagner Army, has died in Russia. “We have learnt of the tragic death of an Indian national, Mohammed Asfan,” stated the Indian Embassy in Moscow | p9 New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Wednesday announced a cash reward of `10 lakh for information leading to the identification or capture of the suspect behind the March 1 Rameswaram Cafe blast in Bengaluru | p9 No tiger safari in Jim Corbett’s core areas, says SC S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi 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, 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 Jim Corbett National Park Pakhrau SC said existing safaris and the one being built at Pakhrau won’t be disturbed. On the safari at Pakhrau, it directed state govt to relocate or establish a rescue centre in the vicinity 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 specialised 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. cided after discussion between both the parties. There are, however, indications that the BJD will settle for a lion’s share of assembly seats leaving BJP with more Lok Sabha constituencies. After the core committee meeting of the BJP at New Delhi, former union minister Jual Oram said 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 committee meeting held under the chairmanship of BJP national president JP Nadda where Union Home Minister Amit Shah was also present. The BJD which was founded in 1997 after the demise of legendary Biju Patnaik entered into an alliance with the BJP in 1998 and the pact continued till 2009. The parties had an alliance government in the state for two terms from 2000 before the regional party broke off after the Kandhamal riots Continued on P7 in 2009. RAJ E S H KU M AR THAKUR @New Delhi AS the BJP works out its second list of candidates for more than 100 Lok Sabha seats, all eyes will be on seat-sharing with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) with which the national party is all set for an alliance in Odisha. A senior leader hinted that seat-sharing with BJD for LS and assembly elections is progressing on a decided formula. The BJP will go for higher number of seats in LS and the BJD will get the major share in the assembly . “If this works out, the BJP may contest in 14-15 LS seats in Odisha and the remaining will go to the BJD”, said the source, adding meetings on this formula were held both in Delhi by BJP leaders and Bhubaneswar by BJD. Asked what would be an expected formula for assembly elections if seat-sharing with BJD for LS is completed, the BJP sources cryptically said: “If we contest on higher number of LS seats in alliance with BJD, the BJP will follow the ‘gathvandhan-dharma’ and go as the second party in assembly elections with BJD. Out of the 147 assembly seats, the ruling BJD may claim to contest on 85 per cent seats and following the formula of LS, we will certainly have natural claims on remaining seats,” the sources said. The second meeting of the Central Election Committee (CEC) of the BJP to put the seal of approval on the candidates is scheduled on March 8 with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and others at party headquarters. The second list will figure ministers and high profile leaders for Bihar, UP Mahar, ashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and other states. An informed source in BJP hinted that the second list is likely to concentrate on Bihar, UP (remaining LS seats), Maharashtra, MP, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Chhattisgarh, Odisha and Telangana.
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