G7 takes aim at Putin’s war chest with gold import ban The Group of Seven on Sunday agreed to ban the import of Russian gold in a bid to undermine Kremlin’s war efforts. 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 | P9 bengaluru l monday l june 27, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION 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 U.P. seats from SP in LS bypoll E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ New Delhi 7 labourers killed in B’gavi road accident Express news service @ Belagavi Seven daily wage labourers were killed and 14 others injured after a multi-utility vehicle carrying them from one village to another rolled down Kalyal bridge near Kabalapur in Belagavi taluk on Sunday morning. The deceased were identified as Adiveppa Sajali (42), Basavaraj Dalavi (35), Basangouda Hanamannavar (51), Akash Gasti (22) and Fakeerappa Harijan (51), all residents of Akkatengerhal, Basavaraj Sanadi (40), a resident of Mallapur and Krishna Khanduri (36) of Dasanatti village of Gokak taluk. The labourers were working at two railway track-doubling sites at Desur railway junction and near Sambra village in Belagavi taluk. They used to reach work sites and return every day travelling in a Cruiser vehicle from their villages.  P5 The BJP wrested two prestigious seats from 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, 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 Congress, with at least 19 people, including Tripura Congress chief Birajit Sinha, suffering injuries. In UP, 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. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and leader Azam Khan had vacated their Azamgarh and Rampur seats. In Punjab, AAP 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 CM Bhagwant , Mann. Simranjit Singh Mann defeated AAP’s Gurmail Singh in a tough fight. However, in Delhi, AAP candidate Durgesh Pathak comfortably retained the Rajendra Nagar Assembly seat by 11,000 votes. In Tripura, BJP CM Manik Saha won in Town Bardowali constituency defeating , Congress’s Ashish Kumar by 6,104 votes. 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 Tripura Congress leader Birajit Sinha being treated for injuries sustained during clashes 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 welcomes 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 trai- Rampur: PM’s Emergency anniv shot at Cong Azamgarh: Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi Punjab 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 Ger man 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 c r o w d e d Au d i D o m e stadium. Lauding the contribution of LOK SABHA Uttar Pradesh BJP wrests from SP BJP wrests from SP 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 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 electric vehicles and other such proclimate 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. tors,” 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 P8 welcome,” he added.  Infy techie falls off flyover, dies ENS @ Tu m a k u r u A software professional died in a freak accident on BengaluruMangaluru NH-75 near Kunigal when the sports bike he was riding jumped off a bridge and fell down on Sunday. The deceased, Suraj N J (27), was a resident of Padmanabhanagar in Bengaluru. He was an employee with Infosys in Bengaluru, the police said. He was travelling to Belluru and was clocking 150 kmph on his Ducati bike when it brushed past a van and fell off the bridge at Gavimata around 7 am. He died on the spot, sustaining injuries in the neck, spinal cord and thighs. His friend Ajay who , was riding another bike, was a long way behind Suraj when the mishap occurred.