chennai l monday l june 27, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION g7 takes aim at Putin’s war chest with gold import ban The Group of Seven on Sunday agreed to ban import of Russian gold in a bid to undermine Kremlin’s war efforts moscow to lose access to its key market Macron pushes for cap on oil price Gold is Russia’s second largest export item and a significant source of revenue for President Vladimir Putin and his allies. Since 90% of its gold exports go to G7 countries, especially Britain, the US-led ban will hit Russia hard. It will also hurt Russian oligarchs who have converted their assets to gold in a bid to shield them from Western sanctions ■ To tighten the screws further, French President Emmanuel Macron urged oil producers to cap prices to limit Russia’s gains ■ The G7’s gold ban comes as Russia made significant gains in Ukraine’s east over the past week, taking full control of Severodonetsk and entering nearby city of Lysychansk $15.45 bn Revenue earned by Russia through export of gold last year 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 BJP wrests key UP seats from SP in LS bypoll Blow for AAP as pro-Khalistan leader wins Sangrur in Punjab; Tripura CM gets elected E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ New Delhi Tripura Congress leader Birajit Sinha being treated for injuries sustained during clashes LOK SABHA Uttar Pradesh Rampur: BJP wrests from SP Azamgarh: BJP wrests from SP Punjab Sangrur: SAD (Amritsar) wrests from AAP STATE ASSEMBLIES Tripura: Jubarajnagar: BJP wrests from CPM Surma: BJP retains Town Bardowali: BJP retains Agartala: Cong wrests from BJP Delhi Rajinder Nagar: AAP retains Jharkhand Mandar: Cong retains Andhra Pradesh Atmakuru: YSRC retains The BJP wrested two prestigious seats from the SP in Uttar Pradesh while Punjab sent a pro-Khalistan leader to Parliament, dealing a stunning blow to the ruling AAP as results of , the Lok Sabha by-polls came in on Sunday . In the bypolls to seven Assembly seats in four states, the BJP won three on four in Tripura, while the ruling YSRC retained a seat in Andhra Pradesh, AAP in Delhi and Congress in Jharkhand. There were allegations of BJP goons indulging in violence after it lost the Agartala seat in Tripura to the Congress, with at least 19 people, including Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha, suffering injuries. In Uttar Pradesh’s BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ won from Azamgarh while Ghanshayam Singh Lodhi snatched the Rampur seat defeating SP’s Dharmendra Yadav and Asim Raja respectively by margins of 8,679 and 42,192 votes. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and SP leader Azam Khan had vacated their Azamgarh and Rampur seats respectively hence , the bypoll. In Punjab, the ruling Aam Aadmi Party suffered a severe blow as Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) president Simranjit Singh Mann won in the Sangrur Lok Sabha constituency, which is the bastion of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Simranjit Singh Mann defeated AAP’s Gurmail Singh in a neck-and-neck fight. However, Delhi did not disappoint the AAP as its candidate Durgesh Pathak comfortably retained the Rajendra Nagar Assembly seat by 11,000 votes. In Tripura, BJP Chief Minister Manik Saha won in Town Bardowali constituency defeating Con, gress candidate Ashish Kumar by 6,104 votes. He needed a win to continue as the CM. The party defeated CPI(M) in its stronghold Jubarajnagar 4,572 votes. The saffron camp retained Surma while Congress wrested away its Agartala seat. In Andhra, YSRC retained Atmakur assembly constituency with its candidate Mekapati Vikram Reddy defeating BJP rival by 82,888 votes. Congress candidate Shilpi Neha Tirkey won Jharkhand’s Mandar seat.P8 police custody Activist Teesta Setalvad being brought to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court in Ahmedabad on Sunday after she was arrested by the Gujarat Crime Branch over alleged criminal conspiracy in connection with 2002 communal riots in the state. The court remanded her in police custody till July 2 | PTI | P7 express read AIADMK calls meet, OPS says it’s illegal Chennai: A few hours after the AIADMK called for a meeting of its headquarters office-bearers on Monday, party coordinator O Panneerselvam called it illegal and said the decisions taken at the meeting would not be binding as it violates bylaws. He said it could only be convened with the consent of both coordinator and joint coordinator | P4 MP create history with maiden Ranji triump Bengaluru: Madhya Pradesh on Sunday scripted its first Ranji Trophy victory, defeating Mumbai by 6 wickets at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. On the fifth day, Mumbai were bowled out for 269 runs in their second innings, with a lead of 107. Madhya Pradesh then reached the target of 108 runs in just 29.5 overs | P11 Rebels move SC against disqualification notice S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai The ongoing power struggle in Maharashtra went up a notch on Sunday with the rebel Shiv Sena MLAs moving the Supreme Court against a disqualification notice issued to 16 of them, including Eknath Shinde, by the deputy speaker. A vacation bench of justices Surya Kant and J B Pardiwala will hear the writ petitions on Monday. The deputy speaker had given the rebels time till 5.30 pm on Monday to submit their response in writing. In all, two writ petitions have been filed by the rebels in the SC. Shiv Sena boss and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will be represented by senior advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Singhvi in the SC. There was action in the Maharashtra Raj Bhavan as well, with Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari getting discharged from hospital after recovering from Covid. Shortly thereafter, he ordered security cover for all rebels and their families. Parallelly, the Centre granted Y-plus CRPF security to 15 rebel Sena MLAs and their families following a recommendation by central security agencies to the Ministry of Home Affairs. As for the Sena, it kept up its Eknath Shinde welcoming Uday Samant (R), to the rebel camp, in Guwahati | PTI tough talk amid further desertion. Higher education minister Uday Samant became the eighth minister to defect to the dissident camp. He did so after attending the party’s national executive meeting addressed by Uddhav on Saturday. “We will never forget these traitors,” Uddhav’s son Aditya warned. The eight rebel Sena ministers are Eknath Shinde, Gulabrao Patil, Dada Bhuse, Sandeepan Bhumare, Shambhuraje Desai, Abdul Sattar, Uday Samant and Bacchu Kadu. Another minister Bachu Kadu of Prahar Janshakti Party and an Independent minister from Sena quota, Rajendra Yedravkar, are with Shinde. Aditya is the lone Sena MLA minister left in the ruling Aghadi. He said about 15-16 MLAs in the rebel camp were in contact with the parent party “If they . return, they would get a warm welcome,” he added.  P8 NATIONWIDE June 25 June 26 Jab-o-meter Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 15,940 12,425 20 11,739 10,917 25 tamil nadu June 25 June 26 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 1,382 617 0 1,472 691 0 Take your shot June 25 11,19,043 doses June 26 2,41,295 doses Total doses 1,97,00,01,961 Sanatana Dharma is religion-neutral: TN Guv ‘Inclusive, followed by everyone’ PM’s Emergency anniv shot at Cong in Munich Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took a fresh swipe at the Congress, this time in Munich while addressing the Indian diaspora, saying 47 years ago on June 26 an attempt was made to hold democracy hostage by invoking Emergency but people gave a fitting response. , Modi is in Munich ahead of the G7 Summit, for which which he has been invited by German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “People of India answered all conspiracies to crush democracy Democracy is our pride and . in the DNA of every Indian,” Modi said in his speech at a crowded Audi Dome stadium. Lauding the contribution of the Indian diaspora, he said, “You are both India’s success story and the brand ambassadors of India’s success.” He also spoke about the success India achieved in exports, manufacturing, climate change, vaccination drive and upliftment of the poor. “Today’s India has come out of the mentality of ‘It happens, it runs like this.’ India has taken a pledge that work has to be done on time,” Modi said. “In information technology, digital technology India is making its presence felt. As many , as 40% of digital transactions in the world are from India. India is making new records in data consumption,” he said. Regarding climate change, the PM said even the youth of India are investing in electronic vehicles and other such pro-climate technologies. “ Sustainable climate practices are becoming a part of the lives of ordinary people of India today he added. Besides, the cleanliness ,” drive in India has been effective and has become part of its lifestyle as even the youth are becoming conscientious. “Tax compliance is increasing, too, which indicates India is getting rid of corruption,” he added. Marina kiosk plan hits a dead-end, 200 booths taken to crematorium E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Chennai The Chennai City Corporation’s plan to streamline hawking on the Marina with the help of custom-made kiosks seems to have hit a dead-end as 200 of these stalls have now been moved to the Mylapore burial ground from a local playground following complaints of space crunch by the residents. The stalls were stored at Alphonsa Ground after hawkers rejected them citing small space and faulty design. The corporation procured 900 smart carts at a cost of `16.4 crore based on a Madras High Court order after inviting applications from vendors in December 2020. The HC passed the direction in a suo motu case pertaining to beautification and maintenance of Marina Beach. Of the 900 carts, 540 were meant for existing vendors and 360 for new vendors. Parthiban (name changed), a resident of Mylapore, who visited the burial The kiosks at Mylapore burial ground | R Satish Babu ground last week, said, “The kiosks are kept here to hide them from people’s eyes. A burial ground cannot be used as a temporary warehouse.” When TNIE contacted councillor A Revathi of ward 125, she said there was no other place available to store the kiosks after they were shifted from Alphonsa Ground. “We don’t have any other place in Mylapore to store them. They are kept in an empty spot on the burial ground without disturbing visitors. This is a temporary arrangement,” she said.  P5 The Governor, speaking at a school function in Chennai, said Sanatana Dharma is inclusive and different from religion, and has been followed by even those who do not practice any religion. E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Chennai Unfazed by the criticisms for his earlier comments glorifying Sanatana Dharma, Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi on Sunday doubled down on the topic again by saying that the dharma is inclusive, different from religion, and it has been followed by even those who do not practise any religion. The concept of secularism as practised now in the country is deviant from what was envisioned in the Constitu- tion, the Governor said while speaking at the centenary celebration of Ramakrishna Mission Residential High S ch o o l i n M y l ap o re o n Sunday . In his address, Ravi recalled how Swami Vivekananda, after travelling all over the country and seeing the plight of people, said only Bharat (India) through its Sanatana Dharma could save the world from self-destruction. “Growth of science and technology industrial revolu, tion, and communication rev- olution are transforming the world. These innovations have left immense powers in the hands of humans. There are several countries that even have the power to destroy the world,” he said, and stressed that only India, with Sanatana Dharma as its backbone, can save the world from these destructive forces. Speaking about the “distorted” secularism in discourse, Ravi said the country has deviated from the true meaning of the term as enshrined in the Constitution. P4