NEW DELHI 24 MARCH 2024 SUNDAY `12 PAGES 24 facebook/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard Packing a Punch https://epaper.morningstandard.in The Clout of Kali PLUS: 12 PAGES High Notes on Kabir MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE VOICES Walk the Ruck Pushpesh Pant Ravi Shankar Utkarsh Amitabh Anu Aggarwal Sathya Saran Santwana Bhattacharya Shankkar Aiyar Geetha Ravichandran Warliwise with Furniture The Eyes Have Eat AMMA SPEAKS The Ancient Core Faith in Yourself is Vital India sharply reacts to German foreign office spokesperson’s comment that the Delhi CM should get full legal access, rebukes its envoy Setback to CM as HC turns down urgent hearing S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y A N D Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi CHIEF Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday suffered a fresh setback after the Delhi High Court rejected his appeal for urgent listing and hearing against his remand in the liquor scam case. He was remanded in the Enforcement Directorate’s custody till Thursday by a local court on Friday . The legal team of AAP national convenor Kejriwal mentioned the matter before Justice Manmohan, Acting Chief Justice. The judge heard it though it was the court’s off day but refused to , list it for urgent hearing. Since the Delhi High Court will be closed for two days on Monday and Tuesday due to the Holi festival, the earliest Kejriwal’s plea can be listing for hearing is Wednesday . The ED had alleged on Friday that Kejriwal generated over `100 crore in kickbacks in the liquor policy scam. Of the proceed of crimes, `45 crore was used in the Goa polls. In a related development, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) bristled at a comment on Kejriwal by a spokesperson for Germany’s foreign office. “Kejriwal is entitled to fair and impartial trial. This includes that he makes use of all available legal avenues without restriction. The presumption of innocence is a central element of the rule of law and must apply to him,” the spokesperson said in response to a question. The MEA reacted sharply by summoning Ger man envoy Georg Enzweiler and voicing its disapproval. “The German Deputy Chief of Mission in New Delhi was summoned on Saturday and we conveyed India’s strong protest on their foreign office spokesperson’s comments on our internal affairs. We see such remarks as interfering in our judicial process and undermining the independence of our judiciary,’’ said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal. India is a vibrant and robust democracy with rule of law. As in all legal cases in the country, and elsewhere in the democratic world, law will take its own course in the instant matter, he said. “Biased assumptions made on this account are most unwarranted,’’ Jaiswal added. P3 A message from custody: ‘I’ll be back soon... BJP workers our brothers’ Rumours swirl Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwat Maan at an AAP protest condemning the arrest of his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi on Saturday | PTI Raids against Matiala AAP MLA in tax evasion case A G E N C I E S @New Delhi EVEN as AAP grapples with Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, the Income Tax department on Saturday conducted searches against AAP MLA Gulab Singh Yadav and some others in Delhi as part of a tax evasion investigation, official sources said. Yadav (45) represents the Matiala seat in the Delhi Assembly and has been elected twice. The premises of the AAP MLA in Delhi’s Ghummanheda village and some others are being raided as part of a tax evasion investigation. The tax officials are being escorted by Delhi Police, the sources said. Some documents have been recovered and certain persons have been questioned, they said. More than half-a-dozen AAP MLAs have come under the scanner of various Central agencies and a range of investigations have been launched against them. Kejriwal, who was arrested on Thursday night, was sent to ED custody till March 28 by Rouse Avenue Court on Friday in the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam. The ED has alleged that the AAP is the major beneficiary of the proceeds of crime generated in the alleged scam. A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, who is also the AAP national convener, sent his first message from jail on Saturday During a presser, his wife Sunita Kejri. wal conveyed the CM’s message. Kejriwal appealed to AAP workers that public service should not stop because of his imprisonment. “AAP workers should avoid hating BJP,” he said in his message read out by his wife Sunita. “They (BJP workers) are our brothers and sisters,” read the CM’s message. He also assured the people that he would return from jail soon. The CM was arrested on Thursday night by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) from his residence in the Delhi liquor policy scam and was sent to 6-day ED custody a day later. AAP has rejected speculation about Kejriwal’s resignation and the party is giving an impression that he would run the government from jail. But there is yet another speculation about his wife taking over if he resigns. “Every moment of my life is dedicated to the nation; every ounce of my body is for the country My life on this earth is meant for strug. ... My life on this gle; I have struggled a lot, and there are still earth is meant for many struggles written in my life ahead. So, this struggle; I have arrest does not surprise me. I have received a lot struggled a lot, and there are still of love from you,” the message said. About his government’s recently announced many struggles written in my life Mahila Samman Yojana, Kejriwal appealed to ahead. So, this Delhi’s women to trust him about his promise to arrest does not transfer `1,000 per month to them. surprise me. I’ve “No bars of jail can put Kejriwal behind bars received a lot of for too long. I will come out soon and fulfill my love from you promise,” he said, adding that “your brother, Arvind Kejriwal, CM your son, is made of iron, and is very strong.” CM Kejriwal was sent to 6-day ED custody on Friday. AAP has rejected speculation about Kejriwal’s resignation and the party is giving an impression that he would run the government from jail. But there is yet another speculation about his wife taking over if he resigns. GAZA UN CHIEF APPEALS FOR CEASEFIRE UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, on a visit to the doorstep of war-ravaged Gaza, on Saturday said that the world has seen enough of its horrors and appealed for a ceasefire to allow in more aid. He spoke at the crossing on the Egyptian side of Rafah | P9 143 dead and counting in Moscow terror attack by IS group’s Afghanistan branch Putin rejected warnings about attack, says US Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi AT least 143 people were killed in a terrorist attack on a packed concert hall in western Moscow, Russian authorities said on Saturday. The Islamic State’s Afghanistan branch later claimed responsibility for the attack. Gunmen burst into Crocus City Hall in Moscow’s suburb of Krasnogorsk on Friday and randomly opened fire on people who had arrived to watch a concert by Russian band Picnic that was about to start. The attackers also set off a blaze that took firefighters hours to bring under control. Authorities said the toll could rise as investigators were combing through the charred wreckage of the hall for more victims. Over 100 people have been injured and the condition of 44 of EXPRESS READ Ajay Rai to contest from Varanasi; Cong 4th list out The Congress on Saturday released the fourth list of 45 candidates for Lok Sabha polls. The party’s Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai is fielded from Varanasi, PM Narendra Modi’s home constituency. Danish Ali, who recently joined the party after being sacked from BSP, will contest from Amroha. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Digvijaya Singh got the party’s ticket from Rajgarh. JNUSU election results to be announced today The results for the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union election will be announced at 9 pm on Sunday. Polling for the fourmember central panel and other posts was done on Friday. There are 19 candidates vying for the four central panel posts of JNUSU and 42 candidates for school councillors, with seven candidates eyeing the post of president. P3 The US Embassy in Moscow said it had warned Russia on March 7 that extremists were planning to target large gatherings in the city. But Russian President Vladimir Putin had called it a “provocative” statement and “outright blackmail... to intimidate and destabilise our society by scaring Russian citizens” Rescuers clear charred wreckage inside Moscow’s Crocus City Hall on Saturday | AP them is said to be serious. The Russian interior ministry said all four suspected gunmen were foreign nationals. Sources with links to the security services said they were from Tajikistan. One of the detained suspects reportedly told Russian investigators he was recruited through Telegram and offered 5,00,000 rubles (`4.5 lakh) for his role. In his statement on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said 11 people have been detained. He also sought to link the attack to Ukraine, saying they were trying to escape to Ukraine through a ‘window’ prepared for them on the Ukrainian side of the border. But Ukraine denied any role in the carnage. Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined others in condemning the attack. “We strongly condemned the heinous terrorist attack.... India stands in solidarity with the government and the people of the Russian Federation in this hour of grief,” he P9 posted on X. NUMBER CRUNCHING Chennai link to IPL data analysis S WA R O O P S WA M I N AT H A N @ Chennai WHEN Gujarat Titans won the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the first time of asking in 2022, one person came in for special praise. Sandeep Raju, somebody who had played zero games for the franchise. Sunday REPRESENTATIONAL IMAGE But the role he played Special helped Hardik Pandya & though, links Raju with Co. win the league. “I bamost of the other analysts sically help the team with currently employed by variwith performance analytics,” he had said in an in-house vid- ous IPL teams is the city they eo the franchise uploaded. “I call home? Chennai (or a place help them look at data and in Tamil Nadu). Mumbai Indicome up with performance and ans have in their ranks Varun strategies and I also help with Narasimhan. Rajasthan Royals have Krishnan Seshadrinathan. recruiting talent.” Of course, none of this is Sunrisers Hyderabad have Gaunew. All sports teams — fran- rav Sundararaman. Lakshmi chise, clubs, countries across a Narayanan has been associated wide variety of sport — employ with Chennai Super Kings. data analysts to give them that Shrinivas Chandrasekaran extra one per cent. What, (Lucknow Super Giants) and Sankar Rajagopal (former Punjab Kings, now with Jio) are other names. Why is this the case? There are multiple reasons but the most common answer is that the ‘companies that provide data analysts are headquartered in Chennai’, both are within a 10km radius (SportsMechanics and Kadamba). In a way this is , what’s happening to the IPL teams. Because some teams still do not have separate data wings, what they essentially do is hire employees of these two companies for a fixed period every season. This year alone, there are at least seven Tamil-speaking analysts in IPL. Even the Indian men’s cricket team analyst has Sports Mechanics (Hari Mohan, who hails from Coimbatore) connect. Seshadrinathan was at StatDNA, ArseP11 nal’s analytics company . Independent MLAs join BJP in presence of Union I&B Minister Anurag Thakur in New Delhi on Saturday | SHEKHAR YADAV 9 former Himachal MLAs join BJP H A R P R E E T BA J WA @ Chandigarh NINE former Himachal Pradesh MLAs, including six disqualified Congress lawmakers and three Independents who resigned on Saturday, joined the BJP amid the continuing political uncertainty in the hill state. The Supreme Court recently refused to stay the disqualification of the six Congress lawmakers and posted the matter for further hearing on May 6. Numbers-wise there is no immediate danger to the Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu-led Congress government. However, the BJP aims to weaken the Sukhu administration by winning the six bye-elections due with the Lok Sabha polls on June 1. These legislators joined the BJP in the presence of I&B Minister Anurag Thakur, former CM and Leader of Opposition in the Himachal Assembly Jai Ram Thakur and state party chief Rajeev Bindal. The former Congress MLAs were disqualified on February 29 for defying the party whip asking them to be present in the House and vote for the government during a cut motion and the state Budget presentation. The six who joined the BJP are Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Rajinder Rana, Inder Dutt Lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Devinder Kumar Bhutto. The three Independent MLAs walking into the saffron camp are Ashish Sharma, Hoshiyar Singh and KL Thakur. Anurag Thakur accused the Congress government of failing to fulfill its promises, leading to anger among people. The Himachal House strength after disqualification of six MLAs and three Independents is 59. The Congress has 33 MLAs while BJP 25. CBI raids premises linked to Mahua in cash-for-query case M U K E S H R A N JA N @ New Delhi THE CBI on Saturday conducted searches at premises linked to Trinamool Congress leader Mahua Moitra, including her parent’s home in Kolkata, in connection with the cash-forquery scam. A search was also conducted at the former MP’s party office in Krishnanagar. The CBI carried out raids at Moitra’s flats at Ratnaboli apartment in Alipore and also in Krishnanagar. Moitra’s father Dipendra Lal Moitra has been staying in Alipore since long. The CBI began started the raids from 7am in the morning. The CBI registered an FIR against the former Trinamool MP on Thursday on the directives of the Lokpal, which has instructed the central agency to file a report within six months, officials said. The Lokpal’s directives came after it received the CBI findings of its probe into BJP MP Nishikant Dubey’s allegations against Moitra. The order of the Lokpal bench found, “Allegations leveled against the RPS (Respondent Public Servant), most of which are supported by cogent evidence, are extremely serious in nature, especially in view of the position held by her.” PCB FORMER CHIEF PASSES AWAY Former Pakistan Cricket Board chairman and cousin of former Indian cricket team captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi, Shaharyar Khan, dies at 89 | P9
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