BENGALURU  SATURDAY  JUNE 18, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 20  LATE CITY EDITION CHINA BLOCKS BID TO ADD PAK MAN TO GLOBAL TERROR LIST Beijing blocks proposal to list Lashkar-e-Toiba leader Abdul Rehman Makki as a global terrorist at the United Nations TECHNICAL HOLD IN U.N. ON INDIA-U.S. PROPOSAL INDIA SLAMS CHINESE DOUBLE STANDARDS China placed a “technical hold” on the joint proposal from India and US against Makki, who is a brother-in-law of 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeed. A technical hold can last six months during which another proposal can’t be moved against him. Beijing claimed it was acting in accordance with the relevant “procedures and rules”, but did not specify what they were ■ ■ Indian officials called out China’s double standards, saying its action runs counter to its claim of fighting terrorism This is not the first time China has blocked action against Pakistani terrorists. In 2019, Beijing vetoed a proposal by India to list JeM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist at the UN 2010 WHEN MAKKI WAS LISTED AS SPECIALLY DESIGNATED GLOBAL TERRORIST BY U.S. 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 Youth killed, trains set on fire Now, CBI goes after Gehlot’s brother in Secunderabad as stir spreads E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Widespread damage to public property as protests singe North EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Fire and smoke billowing out of a Ajanta Express bogie after a mob attack against the Agnipath job scheme, at Secunderabad Railway Station on Friday | VINAY MADAPU P I N T O D E E PA K @ Hyderabad THE Secunderabad railway station resembled a battlefield on Friday after a mob, protesting against the Union gover nment’s Agnipath scheme, went berserk, torching a couple of trains and vandalising kiosks and cargo, forcing security personnel to open fire that killed one protester and left at least 12 others injured. While Damera Rakesh (25) from Warangal district succumbed to bullet injuries, a number of personnel from the Railway Protection Force (RPF), Telangana Special Police Battalions and the Hyderabad Police were injured. Fortunately all passen, gers were safe. By the time additional forces from the RPF and all wings of the Telangana police were rushed in, major damage had already been done. All platforms of the Secunderabad railway station were ransacked, with kiosks, furniture, a majority of the CCTV cameras and other equipment damaged. In all, eight trains were suffered damages. It all began when the mob marched to the end of the plat- Covid clusters jump to 18 in Bengaluru EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE number of Covid-19 clusters in Bengaluru has increased to 18, with 12 being reported from Mahadevapura zone and two from Yelahanka zone. Except for two schools in Dasarahalli, the remaining clusters in both these zones are found in apartments and villas. While 11 clusters in Mahadevapura have less than five cases, one cluster in a Mahadevapura apartment complex and one in a school in Dasarahalli have five to 14 cases each. On Friday, the number of cases reported from across Karnataka was 634, down from 833 on Thursday. The number of deaths was two. On Thursday the city’s day posi, tivity rate touched 4.3 per cent, with 791 cases, the highest in the past 21 days. The lowest positivity rate in the past 21 days was 1.1 per cent, with just 158 cases on May 31. PRESS INTAKE Seven malls default on property tax payment | P2 CM Bommai meets Shekhawat, discusses Mekedatu | P4 25% rise in mental disorders in 1st Covid year | P9 PM Modi to attend BRICS summit hosted by China | P9 India beat SA in 4th T20I by 82 runs, level series 2-2 | P15 form towards Kazipet while damaging trains stationed there. They went berserk, pelting stones from the tracks on the trains. After repeated attempts to calm them down failed, the police opened fire to mqanage the situation. This led to further stone pelting on the trains and security personnel. The protesters later squatted on the tracks, raising slogans demanding cancellation of the Agnipath scheme. After consultations with the Army, the police invited 10 members from the crowd for talks with Army authorities, but the protesters refused to yield. Repeated attempts to convince them to come for talks failed, so the police and paramilitary teams as also the Rapid Action Force and RPF, surrounded the railway station from all sides and rounded up the protesters. They were whisked away and shifted to various police stations across the city . Passengers already seated in the trains panicked on noticing the violence and ran for safety , leaving their luggage behind. Some claimed they were dragged out of the trains before the coaches were set on fire. THE firestorm of protests against the Agnipath defence recruitment scheme continued for the third consecutive day on Friday, taking several north Indian states in its sweep and spreading further afield to West Bengal, forcing the cancellation of over 200 trains and impacting the operations of 316 other trains. The situation in Bihar, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh turned grim as protesters ran amok, damaging public property and torching trains at several places. But the Centre appeared determined to push it through with IAF chief Air Marshal V R Chaudhari setting the timeline for its rollout in his force — from next Friday June 24. , Coaches of seven trains have so far been set ablaze by protesters, officials said, adding that coaches of three other running trains in the ECR and one empty rake in Kulharia, in the same zone, were damaged. Protesters’ fury raged across at least 12 districts of Bihar where, besides setting two coaches of the Jammu Tawi Express on fire in Samastipur district, the enraged youth attacked a BJP office in Lakhisarai district. P5,9 AGNIPATH IS WITH GOOD INTENTIONS, SAYS CM BOMMAI Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday defended the Central Government’s Agnipath scheme, saying it was started with good intentions, and that four years of military training will open up a slew of opportunities for the country’s youth. He said in New Delhi that there are some issues and the Centre will give clarity on the scheme. The relaxation of the age limit from 21 to 23 in the first year of recruitment shows the Centre’s sensitivity to the needs of the people, he added. Senior Congress leader Veerappa Moily alleged that the Agnipath is an attempt to recruit RSS members into the forces. P4 THE Central Bureau of Investigation on Friday conducted raids at various locations linked to Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s brother Agrasen Gehlot in connection with a fertiliser scam. Responding sharply to the raids, the CM accused the BJP-led Central government of practicing vendetta politics. He sought to attribute it to his participation in protests in Delhi against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the National Herald case. EXPRESS READ Second PU results to be announced today Bengaluru: Minister for Primary and Secondary Education B C Nagesh said that the results of the second PUC exams will be announced at 11.30 am on Saturday. The students can see their results on www.karresults.nic.in website. The results will also be sent to the students’ registered mobile numbers. As many as 6,83,563 students had registered for the exams. JAB-O-METER June 16 13,21,282 doses TAKE June 17 13,14,094 doses YOUR SHOT TOTAL: 1,95,98,55,566 NATIONWIDE JUNE 16 JUNE 17 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths KARNATAKA JUNE 16 JUNE 17 12,213 12,847 Fresh cases 7,624 7,985 Recoveries 11 14 Deaths 833 458 1 634 503 2 The CBI raids were carried out across 15 locations in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and West Bengal linked to Agrasen and 14 others. The agency said it is probing the diversion of Muriate of Potash (MoP) also known as potassium chloride meant for farmers. It alleged Agrasen and others colluded with officials of the Central Board of Excise and Customs and the Indian Potash Limited (IPL) to re-package the imported potassium chloride as feldspar (aluminium silicate) and export them, causing a loss of `52.8 crore to the exchequer. One of the IPL’s dealers is Anupam Krishi, which is run by Agrasen. Anupam Krishi purchased MoP from IPL, but instead of supplying it to farmers at subsidised rates, it sold the chemical to other dealers who re-sold it to a few export firms — Saraf Impex Pvt Ltd, Shivam Chemicals and Kailashpati Chemicals & Minerals and Industries. To avoid being caught by Customs, the exporters repackaged MoP as feldspar powder which was sent abroad packaged in a high-density polythene bags. For this BDA gardener, money grows on trees! S LALITHA @ Bengaluru ASSETS and valuables worth `10 crore. If you are thinking this is the package of a business firm CEO, think again. A gardener working with the Bangalore Development Authority (BDA) has been trapped by the AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB) and the following have been recovered from him. Three houses - one each in J P Nagar, Kumaraswamy Layout and Doddakallasandra; two sites in Bengaluru; one site in Anekal; many small portions of commercial land along the Bengaluru-Mysuru Corridor which measure up to 2.5 acres; three small cars; two bikes; half a kg gold and one kg silver. There’s more. The gardener resides in a three-bedroom house in Doddakallasandra with the ground floor rented out, while the other two houses too have tenants. Shivalingaiah, 59, was due to retire in just 13 days, but the ACB seems to have spoilt his retirement plans. The gardener, a Class D employee, was trapped following a tipoff. CONTINUED ON: P5