kochi l monday l march 18, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION No surprises in Russian polls as Putin is all set to retain power Three days of voting came to an end on Sunday. Three candidates, who are Kremlin-friendly, were Putin’s rivals in the Presidential elections Opposition asks voters to come late Protesters throw ink in ballot boxes Notably, rival candidates have not criticised Putin’s 24-year rule or his invasion of Ukraine two years ago. His fiercest opponent Alexei Navalny died in Arctic prison last month. Before his death, Navalny had endorsed an opposition call asking those who are unhappy with Putin to come to polling station at noon on Sunday. It is not clear if this call was a success ■ ■ Multiple cases of vandalism were reported at polling stations. A woman threw a firebomb at a polling station entrance and many across the country were detained for throwing ink into ballot boxes Western leaders have called the Russian election a travesty of democracy. And, there are no international observers for polls | P9 2036 russian constitution allows putin to stay in office for 12 more years 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 Latest electoral bond data show parties love to hide than disclose Only DMK, AIADMK, JD(S), and National Conference have revealed names of their donors M U K E S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Sunday uploaded the remaining data on the purchase and redemption of electoral bonds that political parties had shared with it and which was submitted to the Supreme Court in a sealed cover. The ECI published the details after it got the sealed cover back from the apex court. Political parties had filed data on electoral bonds in sealed cover as directed by the apex court’s interim order of April 12, 2019. The fresh disclosure by the ECI shows that only a few parties — DMK, AIADMK, JD(S), and National Conference — have revealed the name of their donors. The poll panel’s latest disclosure is part of the data dump pertaining to a total of 523 recognised and non-recognised political parties made public on the Supreme Court’s orders. According to reports, the latest data pertain to the period before April 12, 2019. This is the second set of data that the poll panel has published. Electoral bond details after this date was made public by the poll panel last week. “Data so received from political parties was deposited in the Supreme Court without opening sealed covers. In pursuance of the SC’s order of March 15, the Registry of the Supreme Court has returned physical copies along with a digitized record of the same in a pen drive in sealed cover. The E X P R E S S R EA D Counting date for Sikkim, Arunachal changed New Delhi: The ECI on Sunday announced changing the date of counting of votes in the Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim Assembly polls from June 4 to June 2. The rest of the schedule for the polling process in the two states remains remain unchanged. The poll panel said the decision to change the date was taken as the term of the two assemblies is till June 2 and the elections have to be wrapped up on or before that date. P7 ED issues two fresh summons to Kejriwal New Delhi: The ED on Sunday issued two fresh summons to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal regarding two separate cases — the now scrapped excise policy case and another related to a case linked to the graft in Delhi Jal Board. The AAP supremo has been asked to depose before ED at its office on March 18 in connection with the DJB case. In the liquor policy case, the central agency has summoned him on March 21. P8 2.5L aged 85 yrs & above can vote from home T’Puram: With the Election Commission allowing postal ballot facility for people aged 85 and above and Persons with Disabilities (PwD), a total of 5.12 lakh people in the two categories in Kerala will be able to cast their votes from home for the LS polls. As the electoral roll revision is an ongoing process, the number of voters in the ‘85 years and above’ category stood at 2.50 lakh as on March 17. There are 2.62 lakh voters in PwD category. P4 Modi to asks ministers plan for 100 days At a cabinet meeting on Sunday Prime Minister Narendra Modi asked his ministers to prepare a draft roadmap for the first 100 days of the new government and also for the next five years | P7 follow the money DMK JD-S K509 crore from Future Gaming and Hotel Services K89.75 crore (J50 cr from Megha Engineering and rest from Aditya Birla group, Infosys, JSW and Embassy Group) K105 crore from Megha Engineering K10 crore from India Cements K10 crore from Sun TV AIADMK K6.05 crore (Most of it from India Cements) National Conference K50 Lakh from Bharti Group Bond-ED parties BJP TMC Congress BRS BJD DMK YSR Congress TDP JD(S) AAP Shiv Sena RJD NCP Sikkim Krantikari Morcha Samajwadi party Akali Dal AIADMK National Conference Election Commission has uploaded the data received in the digitized form from the registry of the Supreme Court on electoral bonds on its website,” EC said. The fresh disclosure by the ECI is part of the data dump pertaining to a total of 523 recognised and non-recognised political parties made public following a direction by the Supreme Court. This was followed J6,986.5 cr J1,397 cr J1,334 cr J1,322 cr J944.5 cr J656.5 cr J442.8 cr J181.35 cr J89.75 cr J69 cr J60.4 cr J56 cr J50.51 cr J15.5 cr J14.05 cr J7.26 cr J6.05 cr J50 Lakh Zero bond parties CPI Rahul targets BJP at mega rally All-India Forward Bloc S u d h i r sur ya w ansh i @ Mumbai BSP CPI-M CPI-ML Maharashtra Navnirman Sena, AIMIM IAUDF Zoram People’s Movement Asom Gana Parishad Bodoland People’s Front Kerala Congress (Mani) by another dataset published by the ECI last week following the SBI shared with it. The SBI was sole bank authorised to sell and redeem now defunct electoral bonds. The data show that BJP has got the highest funds through these bonds at `6,986.50 crore, followed by the TMC at `1,397 crore, and the Congress `1,334 crore. 6,744 chicken pox cases, 9 deaths in 75 days in Kerala A nna J o se @ Kochi Chicken pox cases (2024) Kerala has been witnessing a surge in chicken pox cases, with temperatures reaching high levels early this year. Alarmingly, the state reported 6,744 cases of infection and nine deaths, including children, owing to chicken pox — a summertime infection spread by varicella-zoster virus — until March 15. Last year, the state witnessed a total of four deaths and 26,363 confirmed cases of chicken pox, according to January 2,569 3 deaths February 2,915 6 deaths March 1-15 1,265 Source: Directorate of health services, Kerala the data with the directorate of health services. “With the temperature rising, the chances of contracting the disease is high. A contagious disease, chickenpox can spread through physical contact with an infected per- Rahul along with Priyanka, Tushar Gandhi (in green), great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, at the padayatra in Mumbai | pti son. The virus can also be transmitted through the air,” said Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, chairman of the research cell, Indian Medical Association, Kerala. According to him, certain sections are at a greater risk of developing complications. “The disease can sometimes be dangerous in the case of infants, people with immune suppression and pregnant women owing to potential harm to foetus. In some cases, complications may even lead to death,” he said. ● More on P4 Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday tore into the Bharatiya Janata Party as he addressed the closing rally of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai. Alleging that the saffron party wins elections because of EVMs, he said his part y we n t t o t h e e l e c t i o n commission to show them how it operates. “But the election commission refuses to do that. Why? Voters should know whether their vote is really going to the person to whom they voted for,” he said. E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e All major Muslim organisations in Kerala have urged the Election Commission (EC) not to hold Lok Sabha elections on Friday as it would cause inconvenience to believers. A statement signed by 19 leaders of the organisations, including IUML and Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama, pointed out that the first phase of the elections falls on a Friday, April 19. The second phase is on April 26, also a Friday “The decision will create a . difficult situation for Muslims, the largest minority commu- nity in the country to fully take , part in the election process in the biggest democracy in the world,” the statement said. Terming the decision discriminatory and a violation of constitutional rights, the leaders said Muslims in Kerala, who constitute 30% of the population, will also be affected by it. Thousands of officials on election duty and booth agents won’t be able to participate in the Friday prayers, it said “Therefore, the EC should fix another day for the elections. The Kerala government should officially raise the demand before the EC,” it said. ● More on P4 During his yatra, Rahul travelled 4,000 km and understood people’s problems, he said. Chiding the media for not doing its job and working for the establishment, Rahul said, He alleged that BJP is misusing the central agencies to poach the Opposition leaders. He claimed a senior Congress leaders from Maharashtra who recently joined the BJP had told Sonia Gandhi that he was do so under duress. The leader said if he does not join BJP he , would be put in jail, he added. Cracks in India bloc over candidature of Rahul, KC | P4 Int’l students of Guj varsity FIR against attacked over prayer row Baghel filed in Mahadev app case DILIP S I N G H K S H AT R IYA @ Ahmedabad students hailing from different foreign countries were allegedly assaulted by a mob in the Gujarat University hostel in Ahmedabad for offering namaz in the facility’s building, police said on Sunday. A student from Sri Lanka and another from Tajikistan had to be hospitalised. Ahmedabad Police Commissioner GS Malik said an FIR was registered against 20-25 people and they will be arrested soon. According to police sources, the incident was reported at around 10.50 pm on March 16 when two dozen people barged into the hostel and objected to students offering namaz in the facility where they stayed. The students pointed out that Election on Friday: Muslim groups want date changed @ Kozhikode Rahul said the people will believe the Congress’ five guarantees rather than Naredra Modi’s guarantees and will vote for the grand old party in the Lok Sabha elections. He highlighted the Congress’ promises of legalising the minimum support price in favour of farmers and overhauling the GST regime to get rid of taxation on a g ricultural materials. The mega rally was attended by most INDIA bloc allies. However, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav did not attend. The Left parties also skipped the rally . there is no mosque on the Ahmedabad-based campus. So, they had assembled inside the hostel to perform taraweeh, a nightly prayer during Ramadan. A student from Afghanistan said that a mob came to the hostel and shouted slogans, questioning their right to pray in the hostel. “They assaulted us within our rooms, destroying laptops, phones, and vandalizing bikes,” he said. The student mentioned among the five injured individuals, there is one from Afghanistan, one from Sri Lanka, one from Turkmenistan, and two from African nations. Sources said the hostel’s security guards tried to intervene but the assailants continued to assault the students. There are around 300 international students enrolled at the Gujarat University . Sophie Molinuex’s perfect over Royal Challengers Bangalore are crowned champions during the final of the Women’s Premier League 2024 in New Delhi on Sunday | Sportzpics This year, cup goes to Bangalore Delhi Capitals once again fell short in the final as Royal Challengers Bangalore were crowned the champions of the second season of the WPL in New Delhi... Shafali Verma packs a Punch in powerplay On a surface where every batter found it hard to get a start, Shafali Verma breezed through the powerplay with 42 runs off just 21 balls, which included two fours and three sixes. Over her hitting spree, she smashed 19 runs off Renuka Singh Thakur’s second over With Delhi Capitals flying at 9.14 runs per over, Molinuex broke open the game with an over with three wickets in an over. It started with the wicket of Verma off the first ball. Verma tried to hit the Australian over the ropes only to find the fielder. Jemimah Rodrigues and Alice Capsey followed. DC never recovered and were bowled out for 113 Four for Shreyanka Shreyanka Patil, who missed out on a few matches in the tournament, came back in style to take four wickets in the final to dismantle DC’s hopes. With 13 wickets in the season, she became the highest wickettaker of the season taking over the likes of Marizanne Kapp and Jess Jonassen | P11 eja z ka i ser @ Raipur THE Chhattisgarh police on Sunday filed a FIR against former chief minister Bhupesh Baghel in the online Mahadev App betting scam case. Though the FIR was filed on March 4, it was announced on Sunday a day after the Lok Sabha polling dates were announced. Baghel is the Congress candidate for the Rajnandgaon constituency where the election will be held on April 26. “It is a political FIR and my name has been deliberately inserted into it along with others under pressure,” Baghel said. “If the case was registered in Raipur on March 4, why then the FIR copy was released and published from Delhi on March 17 Sunday. Usually EOW or police station uploads FIR the same day on website. The maximum action against Mahadev App has been taken in Chhattisgarh (during Congress regime),” he said, adding that it is for the Centre to get the key accused extradited to India. The investigation by the ED indicated the alleged involvement of senior politicians and bureaucrats in facilitating the Mahadev App illegal betting in reciprocity for “protection money”. In the App betting scam, presumed to be over Rs 6,000 crore, the name of Baghel was conspicuously cited in the supplementary chargesheet of the ED filed early this year before the Prevention of Money Laundering Act cour t in Raipur. ‘GLobal commitment’ Kozhikode entrepreneur all set to drive Malawi’s e-vehicle push P o o ja N a i r @ Kozhikode In a move that will revolutionise transportation in Malawi, Brijesh Balakrishnan, a young entrepreneur hailing from Cheruvannur, Kozhikode, has forged a partnership with the government of the southeast African country Balakrishnan’s . innovative electric-vehicle company is now poised to export eco-friendly two-wheelers and three-wheelers to the landlocked nation. The collaboration was sealed at a function held in Bengaluru. Malawi, a country known for its commitment to sustainability and green initiatives, sees the introduction of e-vehicles as a significant step towards reduc- ing carbon emissions and promoting cleaner modes o f t r a n s p o r t at i o n . Balakrishnan’s company, Axeon Ventures Pvt Ltd, has been making waves in the evehicle industry with its cutting- edge technology and commitment to the environment. With his experience in the automobile industry, Balakrishnan believed in going to the core of sustainable development and coming up with the most creative and high-end solu- tions. In 2017, he along with his friends started building e-vehicles after an extended period of trial and error. “Our goal is to decrease carbon emissions, lessen the effects of climate change, and enhance air quality in communities all around the world by utilising technology and sustainability We’re revolutionis. ing the battery-powered vehicle sector through innovation, quality, and a commitment to customer satisfaction,” said Balakrishnan. The manufacturing unit of Kozhikode-headquartered Axeon is in Coimbatore. The company has already sold around 500 e-vehicles in different parts ● More on P4 of the country .
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