wednesdAY DGCA suspends Vistara vice-prez for lapses in training of pilots 01 Vikram Mohan Dayal, vice-president (training), suspended for violating rules while providing training for pilots to switch from A320 to B787 may, 2024 epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard B e n j a m i n N e ta n ya h u vows his troops will enter Rafah `10 lakh Israeli PM vowed on Tuesday to launch a ground offensive on the Gaza Strip’s far-southern city of Rafah “with or without” a truce deal being agreed with Hamas A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS Page 11 Dube, Samson in; KL, Rinku overlooked for T20 World Cup S w a r o o p S w am i n at h a n @ Chennai THE Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) erred on the side of caution as they named the 15-member squad tasked with ending a 11-year ICC title drought. Both Rohit Sharma (as captain) and Virat Kohli, two of the ever-presents in the last five T20 World Cups since 2012, kept their place for the upcoming event in the US and West Indies. Interestingly, the squad is a mix of people who have performed admirably at the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and a few who have been below par. KL Rahul was expected to be in the reckoning as a back-up opener and keeper but Sanju Samson has been preferred instead. Samson, who bats in that critical No. 3 position for Rajasthan, will probably be asked to finish games if he’s selected on match day. All said, the top seven could be a carbon copy of the line-up that featured at the World Cup in the UAE in 2021, with the only change being Yashasvi Jaiswal for KL Rahul. That being the case, one wonders how they will make room for the likes of Shivam Dube and Samson in the line-up. Rishabh Pant, who last played for India in December 2022, is expected to be the starting keeper while Hardik Pandya, the vice-captain, and Ravindra Jadeja will be the two starting all-rounders. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj may be expected to start but on spinning surfaces, one of Arshdeep or Siraj could make way for Yuzvendra Chahal. Rinku Singh, Kolkata’s designated finisher and somebody who was groomed in that role by the national selectors, P13 didn’t make the cut. l New Delhi J8.00 l PAGES 14 Will expel if found guilty, says hdk; bjp asks why cong govt ‘delayed’ probe Political slugfest as JDS suspends Prajwal Revanna Express News Service @ Hubballi AS the alleged acts of sexual exploitation of women by Janata Dal (Secular) MP Prajwal Revanna threatened to become a major poll issue ahead of the third phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 7, the regional party on Tuesday swung into damage control mode by suspending him from the party . The decision to suspend the young MP the , grandson of ex-PM and JDS national president HD Deve Gowda and the JDSBJP candidate from Hassan, was taken at the party meeting in Hubballi on Tuesday with the approval of Deve Gowda. Former Karnataka CM and JDS state president H D Kumaraswamy said Prajwal stands suspended till the Special Investigation Team sub- mits its report. If found guilty , he would be expelled from the party and prosecuted as per law, Kumaraswamy added. Union home minister Amit Shah said the BJP doesn’t tolerate harassment of women. He, however, sought to turn the tables on the Congress accusing the ruling party in Karnataka of failing to act fast and delaying investigation. “The Congress is trying to put the blame on us. But I want to ask whose government is it in Karnataka? The fake video must have come to your notice because it was released on time. Why has the Congress not taken action so far? Law and order is a state subject,” he said while speaking to reporters in Guwahati. Slamming Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi for questioning BJP, he said the Congress gover nment in Kar nataka 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 Tuesday sought the response of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on the timing of the arrest of Arvind Kejriwal just before the elections began. The CM has moved top court challenging his arrest in the Delhi liquor policy case. A two-judge bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta sought ED response on May 3, the next hearing date. As there are no attachment proceedings in this case so far, and if there are, then show how the petitioner (Kejriwal) is involved, the court observed. “In Manish Sisodia’s case, there are findings in favour and against. So tell us, where does the Arvind Kejriwal case lie then? Then the timing of arrest, which is just before the 2024 general elections,” it added. “Liberty is very exceedingly important, you can’t deny that. The last question is about the timing of the arrest, which they (Arvind Kejriwal’s lawyers) have pointed out, the tim- The Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s move is after a detailed inquiry into alleged lapses in conversion training for pilots. Conversion training is extremely critical as it equips pilots who fly the narrow-body A320 aircraft to efficiently and safely operate the wide-body B787 plane. The regulator has asked Vistara to replace Dayal with another individual, reports said 3 women among 10 Maoists killed in C’garh encounter E J A Z K A ISER @ Raipur NSUI members protesting at Maharani College in Bengaluru | Shashidhar Byrappa Our stand in this case is clear and we will not tolerate women’s harassment. If the Congress leaders knew about it before, why didn’t they take action earlier? — Amit Shah, Union home minister should have taken action earlier. “Why didn’t Priyanka question the Congress government (in Karnataka)?” he asked. Karnataka deputy CM D K Shivakumar said neither the state government nor any Congress leader have any prior information about this alleged sex scandal. “If we had prior information, we would have acted immediately he said. ,” The JDS and its alliance partner BJP had come under persistent attack from the Congress, which targeted the BJP’s top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for sharing dais with Prajwal. All three seats contested by the JDS went to the polls on April 26, and in the remaining 14 seats in the state there will be a direct contest between the BJP and Congress. The stakes are higher for BJP as the issue could impact its prospects in Karnataka as well other states where voting is pending. Police had on Sunday booked Prajwal and his father H D Revanna on charges of sexual harassment and criminal intimidation based on a complaint from a woman, who worked in their household. SC seeks ED reply on timing of Kejriwal’s arrest Sisodia bail plea rejected A court on Tuesday dismissed the bail pleas of Manish Sisodia in the corruption and money laundering cases lodged by CBI and ED in the alleged liquor policy scam. Special judge for CBI & ED, Kaveri Baweja, denied the relief, saying the stage was not right to grant the bail. ing of the arrest, soon before the general elections,” Justice Khanna told Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, appearing for the ED. Senior lawyer for Kejriwal Abhishek Manu Singhvi said there was no proof of the CM’s direct involvement in the case being probed by the ED. “No trace of proceeds of crime and lack of proof of direct involvement,” he said. Singhvi noted that certain safeguards are provided under the PMLA to prevent unjustified arrests. The ED is expected to act impartially, but in this case, this is far from the truth. After the Delhi High Court rejected his plea on April 9, Kejriwal had on April 10 moved Supreme Court against it. The banned CPI (Maoist) on Tuesday suffered fresh reverses, with the elimination of 10 fighters, including three women, in yet another encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh. The gunfight was on when last reports came in. The encounter happened at the Tekmeta-Kakur forested terrain along the borders of the Narayanpur and Kanker districts in south Chhattisgarh. This was the second major blow to the Maoists within 15 days. On April 16, as many as 29 of them were killed. In all, 58 were eliminated this month alone in the state (see box). As many as 91 Maoists have been killed this year in the Bastar region so far. “It was an intelligence-based operation strategically carried out by security personnel. The gun battle ensued in Abujhmad area where a joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and District Reserve Guard (DRG) was out on an anti-Maoist operation around 6 am. Ten bodies, including those of three women cadre of the banned outfit, have so far been recovered besides automatic weapons and ammunition,” Prabhat Kumar, Narayanpur district police chief, told 58 killed in Bastar this year April 1 1 killed in Sukma district Apr 2 13 killed in Bijapur district Apr 6 3 killed along C’garh- Telangana border Apr 16 29 Maoists killed in Kanker Apr 21 1 killed in Bijapur district Apr 29 1 killed in Sukma district Apr 30 10 killed in Narayanpur this newspaper. The bodies are yet to be identified. The operation was carried out around 45 km away from the district headquarter of Narayanpur. The DRG took control of the core area of the exercise while the fringe locations close to Kanker border were under the command of STF from different directions. State home minister Vijay Sharma said the forces also recovered a cache of arms, explosives and ammunition, including one AK-47 assault rifle. No jawan was injured. In recent months, security forces have carried out aggressive anti-Maoist operations, targeting them in areas considered to be the latter’s strongholds in the Bastar zone. gujarat action on peddling deepfake Amit Shah video The Gujarat Police have arrested Congress MLA Jignesh Mevani’s aide Satish Vansola and an AAP worker for sharing a deepfake video of Union home minister Amit Shah on quota for SCs, STs and OBCs | P9 Devender Yadav No poverty, vows rich man of Gareeb party Former MLA A s h i s h S r i v a s ta v a @ New Delhi judge fines trump for gag order breach Former US Prez was held in contempt of court on Tuesday and fined $9,000 for repeatedly violating a gag order that barred him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and others connected to his New York hush money case | P11 l Fine on Vistara in June 2022 for letting an untrained pilot land plane at Indore Airline ordered to appoint new trainer guard of honour Admiral Dinesh Kumar Tripathi with his mother Rajni Tripathi during a ceremony before assuming charge as 26th Navy chief in New Delhi on Tuesday | Shekhar Yadav There’s something ironical about Shyam Bharteey’s ‘Gareeb Aadmi Party.’ First his brief CV: He is 57 years old and is a contestant of his party from Delhi’s Chandni Chowk seat. The party’s election symbol is not reserved, so he has opted for ‘whistle.’ Registered in 2014, the party’s symbol for the 2015 Delhi assembly poll was ‘a plate full of food.’ Now, read on the ‘gareeb’ part of it: Bharteey is a ‘crorepati’ as per the nomination affidavit. It shows that the candidate, who is also the founder and president of the party has , wealth of over `4 crore that includes his assets in gold, silver, fixed deposits and real estate. Chandni Chowk’s Gareeb Aadmi Gold: Affidavit says Shyam Bharteey has 200 gm of gold (market value of `12 lakh). His spouse owns 1/2 kg of the yellow metal Silver: 2 kg silver worth `32 lakh at the market with spouse FD & deposits: Over `15 lakh Properties: Two properties worth more than `3 crore No loans or any other liability Bharteey possesses 200 gm of gold with a market value of `12 lakh while his spouse has half a kg of the yellow metal and 2 kg of silver worth `32 lakh. Add to it over `15 lakh of Battle of a different kind in saffron citadel Vidisha A NUR A A G SIN G H @ Bhopal Illustration: Man dar Pardi kar IN Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency, nobody bothers to debate who will win this time. All discussions are about the victory margin of the BJP candidate, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Vidisha has been a saffron citadel right from its formation, electing Pandit Shiv Sharma of the erstwhile Jan Sangh in its first election in 1967. Since then, the constituency has always chosen rightwing candidates, except in 1980 and 1984 when Congress’ Pratap Bhanu Sharma triumphed. The Congress warhorse is now back in the race to challenge Chou- han, who has won five times from Vidisha. The contest is keenly watched because Sharma, now 77 years, is the only Congress leader to have won the seat in the past 57 years. “Ask anyone from any of the eight assembly segments of the Vidisha constituency , the one liner reply will be Chouhan’s win is a foregone conclusion. The only thing to be seen is how big will Chouhan’s margin be,” says Vidisha-based political analyst Ajay Jain. For BJP workers, the primary goal is to increase voter turnout and give Chouhan a resounding win. “We’re trying to get 80-90% turnout in the constituency, which houses 19.38 lakh voters. Out target margin is 8-9 lakh votes, which will be a record in the country,” says Atul Verma, a BJP worker. BJP supporters in Vidisha believe a record margin will give new wings to Chouhan to begin his stint in national politics. Adding to their hope is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise at a recent poll rally about ‘the big role’ awaiting Chouhan in Delhi. As for the Congress, party insiders concede that Chouhan has a clear edge. So, the strategy is to reduce his margin. Chouhan’s margin was 2.6 lakh votes in 2004, the last time he contested from Vidisha. Eyeing a massive win this time, Chouhan has been campaigning aggressively . Sharma is also travelling extensively braving his advanced , age and rising mercury . Ramakant Bhargava had won by 5 lakh votes in 2019. ExPM Vajpayee’s margin was 1.04 lakh votes in 1991, while former Union minister Sushma Swaraj won Vidisha by 3.89 lakh votes in 2009. The New Indian Express founder Ramnath Goenka had won the seat as a Bharatiya Jana Sangh candidate in 1971 by 32,000 votes. More reports on pg 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 fixed and other bank deposits. The couple has two properties of `3 crore and 50 lakh each Besides, they also have over `15 lakh invested in fixed and other bank deposits with no loans or other liabilities. He told this newspaper that his party maybe ‘gareeb,’ but he is definitely not. “My well-to-do status doesn’t mean that I’m not pro-poor. Our aim is to alleviate poverty in the country Bharteey said. ,” But how? “I will cease the free ration run,” says Bharteey . He is also a filmmaker. “In the movie, I did what PM Modi did later. I abrogated Article 370 and built a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya,” he said. But ‘gareeb’ has not yet disappeared, he agrees. E x p r e ss r e a d ‘No help from cops in Manipur strip-parade’ Manipur’s two Kuki-Zo women, who were paraded naked and groped by a mob in broad daylight, did not get any help from police when they were in trouble, according to the CBI chargesheet. The two women and two other males were able to get into a police gypsy. 90% of over 1K ragging cases settled by UGC As many as 1,240 ragging incidents were reported in Higher Educational Institutions in the last year, of which 1,113 or 90% cases, have been resolved, said UGC chairman M Jagadesh Kumar. Over 82% — were reported by males from January 1, 2023, to April 28 this year. named interim DPCC chief A s h i s h S r i v a s ta v a @ New Delhi The Congress on Tuesday appointed for mer MLA Devender Yadav as interim president of its Delhi unit, two days after Arvinder Singh Lovely quit the post over the alliance with AAP. Devender Yadav, who was an MLA from Badli, is currently the Congress’s Punjab in-charge. “Will try my best to tread the coveted and ideological vision the party has laid for me and give my 100%,” said Yadav. Lovely cited multiple reasons for quitting the post. In his resignation letter to AICC chief Mallikarjun Kharge, he objected to the party’s decision to ally with AAP and fielding outsiders as candidates. He also criticised the “undemocratic” behaviour of AICC Delhi incharge Deepak Babaria. According to Lovely, many leaders were against an alliance with AAP as the party was formed after leveling corruption charges against the Congress, which was the ruling party in Delhi and the Centre. Lovely was also upset over the party decision to nominate Kanhaiya Kumar and Udit Raj from North East and North West seats, respectively .
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