KALABURAGI  SATURDAY  DECEMBER 10, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION SUSHMITA SHUKLA APPOINTED NO 2 OF NY FEDERAL RESERVE The Indian-origin insurance sector veteran, 54, has been named First Vice-President and Chief Operating Officer of New York Fed DID ENGG FROM MUMBAI, MBA FROM NEW YORK TO TAKE CHARGE IN MARCH 2023 Shukla has an MBA from New York University and a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Mumbai. She has served in leadership roles in insurance industry for nearly 20 years and has extensive experience leading large-scale enterprise transformation initiatives, as well as in-depth knowledge of technology and Agile innovation methods ■ ■ The Federal Reserve Bank of New York is one of 12 regional Reserve Banks which, together with the Board of Governors in Washington, DC, make up the United States’ Federal Reserve System Sushmita Shukla will take over as the second ranking officer with effect from March 2023, the New York Fed said in a statement Largest THE NY FED IS THE BIGGEST RESERVE BANK IN TERMS OF ASSETS AND VOLUME OF ACTIVITY 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 Himachal Cong allows Kharge to decide CM pick CM plans overnight village stay on Dec 17 A S H W I N I M S R I PA D @ Bengaluru State unit chief Pratibha Singh leads race H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ Chandigarh A day after wresting power in Himachal Pradesh, newly elected Congress MLAs on Friday passed a typical one-line resolution authorising party president Mallikarjun Kharge to name their chief minister. Himachal Congress president Pratibha Singh leads the race for the hot seat followed by former state unit chief Sukhiwnder Singh Sukhu and outgoing Congress legislature party leader Mukesh Agnihotri. The first meeting of the legislature party at Shimla had to be postponed thrice before it began late in the evening. The resolution authorising Kharge to name the new CM was moved by Agnihotri and seconded by Sukhu. After the meeting, AICC’s Himachal Congress in-charge Rajeev Shukla flanked by Pratibha, Sukhu and two party observers — Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Haryana CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda — made the announcement about the resolution. “Both our observers will give their report to the high command in a day or so. Then the decision on the new CM will be made,’’ he said. Shukla claimed that no MLA proposed any name and it is for Kharge to take the call. However, sources claimed that all MLAs were told to give two names for CMship along with their merits and demerits. Right through the day, both Pratibha and Sukhu were lobbying will party MLAs seeking their support. While Pratibha met Baghel, Hooda and Shukla, Sukhu remained elusive during the day amidst speculation that he was keeping his flock of MLAs intact. WHEN MANDOUS VISITS High tides due to cyclonic storm ‘Mandous’ eat into the shore at Thevaneri near Mahabalipuram in Tamil Nadu on Friday. The cyclone will cross the north Tamil Nadu and Puducherry coasts early Saturday morning. In Bengaluru, the cyclone led to a dip in temperature coupled with light rain. The IMD has forecast a further fall in temperature, accompanied by light rain and cloud cover for the next two days | ASHWIN PRASATH | P5 Pratibha Singh’s loyalists raise slogans demanding her selection as CM before Bhupesh Baghel’s vehicle, in Shimla | PTI Before the CLP meeting, Pratibha’s supporters raised slogans outside Congress Bhawan in Shimla, demanding that she be made the CM. Pratibha did not contest the Assembly election as he represents mandi in Parliament. However, she campaigned extensively across the state and sought votes in the name of her late husband Virbhadra Singh’s legacy . EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru EXPRESSING shock over an unregistered agreement entered into by a Muslim couple to adopt an unborn child of a Hindu couple, the Karnataka High Court said that such an agreement is “unknown to law”. Terming it a case of adoption for money, a division bench of Justice B Veerappa and Justice K S Hemalekha upheld an order passed by a trial court in Udupi which had rejected a plea filed by the Probe govt-funded madrasas, states told BRAZIL PAY IN PENALTY SUPER SATURDAY Defending champs, France, seek to move past England while Portugal face Morocco test. A look... MBAPPE MAIN MAN Kylian Mabppe has scored five goals and will like the chance of running at an England defence. It’s no surprise that most of the focus is on him. But England will know they possess the tools to upset defending champions. SITUATION SURROUNDING PORTUGAL They were at the attacking best in their 6-1 dismantling of Switzerland, largely due to the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo. However, they will find Morocco a tough nut to crack. TODAY MATCHES Portugal vs Morocco 8.30 PM | France vs England 12.30 AM (on Sunday) New Delhi: Apex child rights body NCPCR has asked all states and Union Territories to conduct inquiry into government-funded madrasas that are admitting non-Muslim children. P9 CORRIGENDUM Due to a technical glitch, two stories — “Safety of buses: MSRTC thanks Belagavi cops” and “Cabinet nod to K’taka Youth Policy, stress on skill training” — on this page got inadvertently carried in their dummy format in the edition dated December 9, 2022. The error is sincerely regretted. INDIA’S SOFT POWER G20 events to showcase Yoga, Ayurveda and herbal products K A V I TA B A J E L I - D AT T @ New Delhi THE Centre plans to use the G20 events spread across the country during India’s presidency to promote India’s tradi, tional medicine, indigenous products like herbal tea, and recipes based on Ayurveda. To boot, traditional medicine experts will be around to share personalised diet and well-being tips to foreign delegates, said Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, secretary, Ministry of Ayush. “We have proposed that in all the meetings, there should be yoga sessions for which we will be the knowledge partners,” he told this newspaper. Kotecha added that the ministry has already successfully tried it at the recent SCO meet- ing held at a five-star hotel in Goa. “We coordinated with the chef on some recipes based on Ayurveda, to be served to the delegates. The recipes were highly appreciated,” he said. For G20 events, the plan is to organise a full-fledged yoga ses- SOURAV ROY limbs to physically challenged to seeking land for graveyard to pension for the aged. A BJP leader said, “People from various villages gather in one place during such visits. Also, many voters can be reached. This will surely help the CM as Shiggavi is his home constituency .” The Grama Vastaya is being planned at a time when the assembly polls are just a few months away . Sources in the CM’s office, however, said, “Bommai might be interested in spending a night at a hostel where Minister Ashok stays. We have no confirmation on this, but he seems to be interested.” ‘Unknown to law’, says HC on Muslim couple adopting unborn Hindu child State BJP’s war room to be EXPRESS READ Brazil players in tears after their agonising defeat in the penalty shootout against Croatia in the quarterfinals. Both teams scored one goal each in extra time before Croatia won the shootout 4-2 | AP CHIEF Minister Basavaraj Bommai is likely to take part in a ‘Grama Vastavya’ (village stay) along with Revenue Minister R Ashok at Baada village in Shiggavi taluk, the CM’s home constituency on December 17. This will be the first time that Bommai will be taking part in a Grama Vastavya, an initiative started by his predecessor B S Yediyurappa when he was the CM. Revenue Minister R Ashok said Grama Vastavya has become popular as it is benefiting a large number of people. Officials go to each house ahead of the Grama Vastavya programmes in villages and discuss their problems. Since the entire government machinery is present along with the CM during such stays, including DCs, Tahsildhars and SPs, it becomes easier to sort out people’s problems. The demands of villagers range from artificial sion, a five-minute yoga break or both, along with promotion of traditional medicine through different activities such as prakriti pariksha (Ayurveda’s unique way of determining the body type of an individual). The official said it’s a short routine in which meditation and stretching can be done in sitting and standing positions. “All these are science-based, which our experts will help the delegates with,” Kotecha said. A scientific software will be used for prakriti pariksha. “We will inform the delegates how they can become healthy without consulting a doctor. They can achieve it by changing their diet, exercise, and sleep pattern. These are customised recommendations,” he added. Muslim couple seeking directions to appoint them as the adoptive parents and guardians of a minor child, who is now two years nine months old, under the provisions of the Guardians and Wards Act. The high court said that the agreement was entered into on March 21, 2020, five days before the birth of a girl child, whose mother had almost completed nine months of pregnancy Thereby the appellants, . both adoptive and biological parents, have violated the rights of the child. Dismissing the appeal filed by the adoptive and biological parents of the child against the judgment of the trial court, the high court said that even ‘Mohammedan Law’ does not recognise such adoption. “It is shocking that an agreement is entered into between two parties with regard to an ‘unborn child’. It is for the District Child Protection Unit to take responsibility of all such cases. It is well established that an unborn child has a life and rights of its own, and the rights of unborn are recognised by law”, the court observed. RTI Act not applicable to Collegium discussions: SC S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking full details of the Collegium meeting that took place on December 12, 2018 under the RTI Act, saying the discussions and consultations among Collegium members can’t be disclosed as they are not final decisions. A bench of judges M R Shah and C T Ravikumar said a decision is termed final only after it is formally drawn and signed by all Collegium members. Till then, it can only be considered a “tentative decision”, which can’t be put in public domain. “During the consultation if some discussion takes place but no final decision is taken and no resolution is drawn, it cannot be said that any final decision is taken by the Collegium,” the court explained. The SC’s order came on a plea filed by RTI activist Anjali Bharadwaj seeking the agenda, minutes and resolution of the 2018 Collegium meeting. According to the autobiography of former CJI Ranjan Gogoi, the 2018 meet had agreed to elevate the then Rajasthan High Court Chief Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and the then Delhi High Court Chief Justice Rajendra Menon to the SC. However, the decision was kept in abeyance after the news of their elevation was leaked. The petitioner also cited an article written by a former Collegium member expressing disappointment over the SC’s failure to upload the decision taken at the December 2018 meeting. While dismissing the plea, the bench cited a subsequent resolution passed by the Collegium on January 10, 2019, indicating that no final decision on elevating the two judges was taken in the 2018 meeting. CONTINUED ON: P3 on lines of its Gujarat unit B A N S Y K A L A P PA @ Bengaluru UPBEAT after its party’s landslide victory in Gujarat assembly polls, the state BJP unit has started preparations to set up a fullfledged state-level ‘war room’ on the lines of the one that was operational in Gujarat. The Karnataka assembly polls are scheduled to be held in about five months. According to sources, a central team of handpicked men arrived in Bengaluru a few days ago and are holding talks with BJP-RSS leaders. Election war rooms are equipped to deal with communication and strategy issues. Besides focussing on social media, the party is also planning to organise more people-contact programmes. In August, the BJP had opened a war room near its office for coordination with districts and local units. The upgradation of the war room is aimed at overseeing strategy and operational isCONTINUED ON: P4 sues for the 2023 polls.