KALABURAGI  SATURDAY  MARCH 06, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION PANT PAINTS MOTERA RED Rishabh Pant cracked his first hundred at home to steer India clear of trouble against England on the second day of 4th Test BOSS MAN PARTNERSHIP TOP CRUMBLE All-rounder Washington Sundar and Pant added 113 runs for the seventh wicket. They came together at 146 for 6. Sundar stayed unbeaten on 60 while Pant was out before close of play India’s top-order once again failed to live up to expectations. Though Rohit Sharma played well, others including Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane & Cheteshwar Pujara did not last long With a pacer short, both Ben Stokes and Jimmy Anderson worked overtime. Off-spinner Dom Bess was off mark. Skipper Joe Root had to step in to help Jack Leach share the burden 3 ENGLAND TOIL The wicket-keeper batsman started cautiously to reach his half-century off 82. He brought up 100 in the next 33 balls to help India take an 89-run lead with three wickets in hand Rishabh Pant celebrates his hundred against England in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad on Friday | BCCI | P11 THIS IS PANT’S THIRD HUNDRED IN 33 INNNINGS CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI Churn as parties get battle-ready ‘Insulted’ TN Cong wants to fight polls alone S K U M A R E S A N @ Chennai IN what could be the end of long-time, but strained, friendship, the DMK and Congress may go different ways in this Assembly polls. The State unit of Congress, according to sources, wants to contest polls alone. A final decision on the matter would be taken by the party’s national leadership. State Congress leaders, it is said, feel “insulted” by DMK, which is offering very few seats for the party in the alliance. The decision was taken in an internal party meeting held on Friday, after TNCC chief, KS Alagiri, made an emotional speech. Accepting the numbers offered by DMK would amount to destroying Congress in TN, Alagiri reportedly said at the meeting. He, hence, appealed for another leader from the party to come forward to conduct talks with the DMK. In his speech, Alagiri also elaborated how the grand old party’s strength kept dwindling — one election after another — since it got into an alliance with Dravidian parties. Congress got 114 seats in 1980, in the DMK alliance. From there, the allocation plummeted to 61 in 1984, when it contested as part of the AIADMK combine. In 1989, Congress decided to contest alone and won 26 seats. By 2001, however, the number of seats contested reduced drastically to a mere 14. While elaborating these numbers, Alagiri got so emotional that he choked up, causing an uproar among those seated, who demanded that Congress contest this elections alone. AICC in-charge, Dinesh Gundu Rao, who was present at the meeting, remained silent all through these developments. He made no attempts to placate the aggrieved cadre. It has been learnt that the DMK leadership is planning to wait for one more day and take , a decision based on how the national leadership of Congress reacts. DMK’s RS Bharathi dismissed the issue as an attempt by Congress leaders to placate unhappy aspirants. The ripples were felt in Puducherry where DMK — which , is feeling that it’s weighed down by Congress — is trying to woo NR Congress into its Secular Democratic Alliance. Fewer minorities, 40% new faces in Didi’s list P R O N A B M A N D A L @ Kolkata THE Trinamool Congress on Friday announced candidates for 291 of the 294-Assembly seats, fielding young and new faces including actors and sportspersons. TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee will fight from Nandigram in East Midnapore district. The Gorkha Janmukti Morcha will be given three seats. Of the 291 TMC candiates, 114 are new faces, which works out to over 39%. The party has dropped octogenerian MLAs. Finance minister Amit Mitra and technical education minister Purnendu Basu will not contest. Besides, As many as 28 sitting MLAs, including five ministers, have been left out. “We are fielding 51 women candidates, up from 45 in 2016 Assembly elections,” said Mamata. Among the candidates are nine actors, two sportspersons and a retired IPS officer. The decision to give women more tickets is a calculated strategy to tap the rise in women vote share. “According to the final list released by the Election Commission, women voters in Bengal form 49% of the total. The gender-ratio improved from 956 in 2019 to 961,” said a TMC leader The number of minority candidates has been reduced to 40 from 57 in 2016. But at the same time, the party has given 79 tickets to those hailing from the SC community even though only 68 seats are reserved for the category It means, SC candidates . will contest on TMC tickets in 11 unreserved Assembly constituencies. Seventeen candidates from ST community have also been given tickets when Bengal has 16 reserved seats. Urban India increasingly getting slouchy The outcome of a comprehensive national survey in 2017-18 on the risk of Indians picking up lifestyle diseases conveyed a pretty grim picture. The takeaways: 51.7% 52.4% urban adults physically inactive (30.9% in rural India) physically inactive urban women (36.1% in rural areas) 8.9 gm/day salt consumed by men 7.1 gm/day 2 SERVINGS PER DAY average salt intake by women Men often took extra salt before having food Average consumption of fruits and/or vegetables one 28% adults useddaily or other form of tobacco 5 SERVINGS WHO’s recommendation 31.7% of them were in rural areas 20.5% in urban India 21.1 years mean age of initiation of tobacco 15.9% of respondents consumed alcohol 81.1% of adults were lifetime abstainers of alcohol (97.3% women and 66.1% men) 22.2 mean age of initiation of alcohol use 40.2% of adults 18–69 year age group had a clustering of three or more risk factors like daily tobacco use, inadequate fruits and/or vegetable intake, insufficient physical activity etc Labour unrest at car maker’s plant ends after minister plays mediator B A N S Y K A L A P PA @ Bengaluru KARNATAKA has always pitched itself as a favoured investment destination and many global corporations have already set up bases in the state. However, some recent incidents of labour unrest may have dented Brand Bengaluru and Brand Karnataka. A case in point being the prolonged workers’ strike at the Toyota Kirloskar plant at Bidadi near the city. But acting quickly In, dustries Minister Jagadish Shettar mediated between the man- agement and the striking workers and brought about a truce. The Toyota team thanked him on Friday for personally intervening and ending the labour unrest. Explaining to TNIE how the impasse ended, Shettar said, “I visited the factory twice. On two other occasions, the representatives of both sides met me at my house. We had also met at another venue and had a joint meeting. Apart from this, I was in touch with both sides on the phone. The management had suspended some staffers. I expedited the inquiry and the matter has been sorted out.’’ The minister also said the labour issues concerning iPhone maker Wistron in Kolar district and Asian Paints in Mysuru district have also been sorted out. Regarding the workers’ issues at AT&S, he said, “It has not come to my notice. If they approach me, I will intervene. Meanwhile, I will also try to find out what the problems are.” Additional Chief Secretary, Industries Department, Gaurav Gupta told TNIE, “The government has held talks at the ministerial level with the labour union and the factory P4 management.” WHAT IS BIG BANG THEORY? Cosmologists, astronomers and astrophysicists largely believe that the Universe was created in a massive explosion that not only created the majority of matter, but the physical laws that govern our ever-expanding cosmos. This explosion started from what is known as a singularity. WHAT IS SINGULARITY? It is the extremely dense and microscopic point from which an unimaginably huge explosion took place, and the Universe was born. In the fractions of the very first second of the Universe’s life, immense gravity dominated physical interactions to cause the bang. This is believed to have occurred 13.8 billion years ago. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru AS Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa prepares to present the State Budget for 2021-22 on March 8, which also marks International Women’s Day, he has promised to give priority to women’s welfare, apart from laying emphasis on tourism, irrigation and Bengaluru’s development. “This time, we have decided to give more emphasis and priority to women’s welfare in the budget which will be presented on International Women’s Day ,” the CM told mediapersons during his pre-budget interaction on Friday evening. In the light of the the severe financial constraints due to the Chief Minister B S Yediyurappa at a pre-budget interaction with journalists in Bengaluru on Friday | EXPRESS Covid-19-induced lockdown and shortfall in revenue receipts, the CM, over the last few weeks, has held a series of meetings with ministers, senior officials, industry representatives and stakeholders from various sec- tors to finalise the budget proposals. The process was completed on Friday . “We completed the exercise today and sent the budget document for printing,” said the CM, who looked relaxed and satisfied with the exercise. “We will present a better budget compared to last year,” he said. During his interaction, the CM thrice spoke about laying emphasis on women’s welfare in his budget. He, however, did not spell out the women-centric programmes he plans to announce on Monday. Development of the tourism sector in the state, giving push to irrigation projects and taking up infrastructure projects in the state capital will be among the priorities in the budget. Red shift, in astrophysics, is the movement of light towards the redend of the light spectrum. This occurs when observing extremely distant celestial objects, galaxies that are moving away from us. If it is moving towards us, it is called the blue shift. 4 Indian scientists challenge ‘Big Bang’ B A L A C H A U H A N @ Bengaluru IN what could dramatically change the way astrophysicists look at the birth of the Universe, four Indian scientists, including one from Bengaluru, have challenged the Big Bang theory related to its origin. The theory holds that the Universe was born out of a highly compressed, dense and microscopic point (called singularity) which exploded with a huge force some 13.8 billion years ago, resulting in everything arising from that singularity moving outwards in all directions. From this, all cosmic matter (as we know it today) was formed at different stages through time until now. The Big Bang theory was based on observation of the ‘red shift’ in the light spectrum. The light wavelength emitted from an astronomical object that is moving away from us exhibits a shift in the light spectrum (VIBGYOR) towards the red end. The Big Bang theory is supported by the understanding that the shift of light towards the red band in the spectrum is continuous and uniform in nature — an indication of all matter (galaxies and all cosmic matter) moving outwards steadily, but at great speed. Working the outward movement backwards, it would mean that it all began from a single starting point in the centre of the Universe (singularity), which is how the Big Bang theory was popularised among astrophysicists. But now, in a research paper published recently in the prestigious international journal Astronomy & Astrophysics, Prof Sisir Roy from the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru; Arindam Mal from the Indian Space Research Org anisation (ISRO), Ahmedabad; and Sarbani Palit and Ujjwal Bhattacharya from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI), Kolkata, have revealed findings contrary to the continuous and uniform nature of movement of light towards the red band of light in the spectrum — casting doubts and challenging the Big Bang theory itself. CONTINUED ON: P5 E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday said the Centre’s guidelines to regulate the functioning of digital platforms are weak as they don’t offer any mechanism to block objectionable content or stipulate penal provisions for those who violate the norms. A bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan noted the rules were more in the form of an advisory and not law. , “These rules do not talk about prosecution or punishment in case of a violation. It cannot be done without a legislation,” the bench told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre. The court was hearing a plea by Aparna Purohit, India head of Amazon Prime, for anticipatory bail in connection with FIRs against her over the controversial web series Tandav. There are two FIRs filed against her — one each in Greater Noida and Lucknow. The hearing also witnessed some sharp exchanges between Mehta and senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing Purohit. On Thursday, the Supreme Court had expressed concern over adult content on some OTT platforms. EXPRESS READ Biden appoints two more Indian-Americans Washington: US President Joe Biden has appointed two more Indian-Americans, Chiraag Bains and Pronita Gupta, in key administrative positions, according to an announcement by the White House on Friday. College horror: 7 booked for ragging in M’luru EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Mangaluru THE Mangaluru City police have arrested seven college students on charges of ragging their juniors in two separate incidents. City Police Commissioner N Shashi Kumar told reporters on Friday that nine first-year BBA students of a private college in Balmatta were allegedly ragged by three students of the second year. The victims were residing in a rented house at Simon Lane near Pumpwell. On Thursday, the seniors barged into their house and allegedly threatened the nine students to shave of f their beards and moustaches. When they returned after doing so, they were further ordered to tonsure their heads by 5 pm the next day . The victims were also reportedly abused and made to prepare tea for their seniors, who allegedly warned them against roaming around and talking to girls in their college. Based on a complaint by one of the victims, a case was registered at the Kankanady Town Police station following which, the three accused — II B.Com student Mohammed Adil (20) from Kan- nur, II BBA (Aviation Logistics) student Rijin Riyas (20) from Kozhikode, and II B.Sc (Aviation Travels) student Mohammed Nizamuddin BP (20) from Kannur — were booked under IPC Sections 448 (house-trespass), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), and 34; and Section 116 of the Karnataka Educ a t i o n A c t . T h e y we r e P2 subsequently arrested. Foreign, Indian military cadets spar at IMA V I N E E T U PA D H YAY @ Dehradun BSY’S PROMISE Budget to focus on women’s welfare WHAT IS RED SHIFT? OTT norms need strong law to monitor content, says SC An Olive Ridley turtle spotted on Kasarkkod beach on Friday | EXPRESS After eggs, Olive Ridley turtle spotted on Kasarkkod beach in UK district S U B H A S H C H A N D R A N S @ Karwar THE controversy over the finding of Olive Ridley turtle eggs by local fishermen may finally be put to rest with the sighting of a turtle on the Kasarkkod beach in Honnavar taluk of Uttara Kannada district on Friday morning. The Forest Department and other officials here had earlier raised questions about the origin of the eggs. During the third week of February local fishermen had , found three turtle nests with over a hundred eggs each. But this had stirred a controversy , with the Forest Department alleging that the fishermen may have shifted the eggs from somewhere else to Kasarkkod in order to exert pressure on the local authorities and stop the construction of a private port, which they have been opposing. However, sources in the Forest Department had pointed out that the Kasarkkod port area does not come under it. “All these days, we would find only eggs here. On Friday morning, we were surprised when we spotted a turtle. We immediately informed marine biologist Prakash Mesta. The turtle was seen moving all around the beach before it went back into the sea,” said Jagadish Thandel, a local fisherman. Normally, an Olive Ridley turtle does not venture out during the day time. “They do not come out in crowded places, that too when the beach gets busy with the fishermen,” informed Prakesh Mesta. He said that he has waited for hours to see a turtle which comes to lay eggs. “There are more chances of it being sighted on a full moon day,” he noted. CONTINUED ON: P2 FOR the first time in the prestigious Indian Military Academy’s (IMA) history, groups of Indian and foreign trainee cadets got into a major scuffle, with reports suggesting at least three Indian cadets were admitted in a military hospital here with injuries. The IMA has ordered a probe into the incident that happened on the intervening night of March 3/4. “ case of A scuffle involving Gentleman Cadets undergoing pre-commission training at Indian Military Academy Dehradun , has occurred on night 03/04 March 2021. The case is being investigated and followed up as per regulations governing the academy,” said the official statement by the academy. However, there was no of ficial word on the hospitalisation. The two groups got physical after a heated argument.