MANGALURU l tuesday l february 27, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION Legendary ghazal and playback singer Pankaj Udhas passes away Pankaj Udhas, who sang many hits numbers like Chitthi Aayi Hai and Chandi Jaisa Rang Hai , died in hospital after prolonged illness. He was 72 17 May 1951 - 26 February 2024 Funeral to be held today in Mumbai Credited with popularising ghazal genre His funeral will be held on Tuesday in Mumbai. He is survived by wife Farida, daughters Reva and Nayaab. Udhas started his career with a Ghazal album titled Aahat (1980). He got his first film album as a solo singer with Mahesh Bhatt’s Naam (1986), for which he sang Chitthi Aayi Hai and rose to instant fame. He also acted in films like Saajan, Yeh Dillagi and Naam ■ ■ Pankaj Udhas along with Jagjit Singh and Talat Aziz popularised the Ghazal genre in the country. For his work, he was bestowed with the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 2006 Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his tribute said his singing conveyed a range of emotions, adding his ghazals spoke directly to the soul 50 ALBUMS WERE RELEASED BY PANKAJ UDHAS IN HIS FOUR-DECADE CAREER 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 Founder out as You do it, else we’ll: SC fiat on permanent Paytm Payments commission to women in Coast Guard Bank rejigs board Su c h i t r a K a lya n M oh a nt y @ New Delhi Vijay Shekhar Sharma steps down as the payments bank’s non-executive chairman Security deployed near Gyanvapi mosque after the High Court refused to stay the order to allow puja | pti HC rejects plea to stop puja in cellar of Gyanvapi n a m i ta b a j pa i @ Lucknow The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a plea of Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM), the Gyanvapi Mosque Management Committee, challenging a Varanasi district judge’s order allowing worship in the southern cellar (Vyas Tehkhana) on the mosque premises. By doing so, the Allahabad High Court upheld the verdict of the Varanasi district judge in the case. A single judge bench of the court, comprising Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, had on February 15 reserved the judgment after hearing both parties. Justice Agarwal, while dismissing the appeal of AIM, said: “That after going through the entire records of the case and after considering arguments of the parties concerned, the court did not find any ground to interfere in the judgement passed by the Varanasi district judge, dated January 7, 2024 appointing DM, Varanasi, as receiver of the property as well as order dated January 31, 2024 by which the district court had permitted Puja in the Tehkhana.” AIM’s general secretary S M , Yasin said that after studying the high court verdict, the mosque management committee would approach the Supreme Court. While rejecting AIM’s plea against the Varanasi District Court’s order through which the puja resumed in the Vyas Tehkhana after three decades, the HC in its 54-page order observed that the Mulayam Singh Yadav government’s move to stop puja in the southern cellar in 1993 was “illegal”. The worship which continued to be performed in the cellar by the Vyas family till 1993 was stopped by illegal action of the state, the order said. Vyas Ji Ka Tehkhana, was sealed in 1993 by the Varanasi district administration following a verbal order by the Mulayam government in the aftermath of the Babri masjid demolition in 1992. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru PAYTM Payments Bank Limited (PPBL), which is under fire from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) over non-compliance of regulatory norms and suspected money-laundering, has reconstituted its board of directors while its founder and majority shareholder Vijay Shekhar stepped down as its part-time non-executive chairman and board member. PPBL will now commence the process of appointing a new chairman, the parent company One 97 Communications said in a regulatory filing on Monday . The action comes days after RBI barred the payments bank from accepting deposits and credit transactions in any customer account citing non-compliance of norms. The reconstituted board includes former Central Bank of India chairman Srinivasan Sridhar, retired IAS officer Debendranath Sarangi, former executive director of Bank of Baroda Ashok Kumar Garg, and retired IAS officer Rajni Sekhri Sibal. They have recently joined as independent directors, the company added. One 97 Communications, which holds a 49% stake in PPBL, has also withdrawn its nominee from its board. Vijay Shekhar Sharma has a 51% stake in the payments bank. Sharma is not the first start-up founder to come in the line of fire on governance practices. BharatPe’s Ashneer Grover and Zilingo’s Ankiti Bose had to step down following mismanagement issues. Similarly Edtech firm Byju’s inves, tors have voted to oust the founder Byju Raveendran over the same issue. Some investors have also filed a suit against the management of the company in NCLT to declare the founders unfit to run the company and appoint a new board. After barring PPBL from accepting deposits, RBI extended the deadline of business restrictions from February 29 to to March 15. It said the nodal accounts of One97 Communications and Paytm Payments Services maintained by PPBL will be terminated. After March 15, customers won’t be able to get any credits in their account with Paytm Payments Bank. RBi told to hold Monthly meets In the light of fintech firms coming under regulator’s lens, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday urged RBI to hold monthly meetings with startup and fintech firms to address their concerns Paytm in talks with banks Paytm is likely to partner with Axis Bank, HDFC Bank, State Bank of India, and Yes Bank for processing transactions via the UPI, according to reports D e v a r a j B H i r eh a l l i @ Bengaluru With biennial elections to the Rajya Sabha for four seats from Karnataka scheduled for Tuesday the prestige of three major , parties -- ruling Congress, opposition BJP and JDS -- is at stake with the fifth candidate entering the fray . While it could have been a cakewalk for Congress to wrest three seats, if there was no contest, the BJP-JDS alliance giving the Grand Old Party a run for its money by fielding former RS member Kupendra Reddy “We have put up the can. didate after the BJP leadership and Union Home Minister After a slight hiccup, Shubman Gill and Dhruv Jurel helped hosts secure a five-wicket win in Ranchi and take 3-1 lead Gill, Jurel rise to the occasion Transition on track as young turks step up E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Nithin Kamath working out | pic: X sleep, exhaustion, dehydration and overworking outany of these could be possible reasons,” he stated. From having a ‘big droop’ in the face and not being able to read or write, Kamath said might be required. He added that an affidavit would be filed to highlight how the Coast Guard was functionally different from the Navy and the other armed forces. But the bench comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was not impressed. “If you do not do it, we will do it. So Nirmala, Jaishankar will contest LS poll: Joshi Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi on Monday said Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar will contest the Lok Sabha polls, but from which constituencies is yet to be decided. P4 Amit Shah okayed it,” a JDS leader said. Despite having adequate numbers with 134 MLAs and claiming the support of two independents, Congress is under pressure as it wants to win all the three seats. To achieve it, Chief Minister 17 Consecutive home Test series wins for India his health has improved to having a ‘slight droop’ and being able to read and write more. Also his health progressed from being absentminded to more present-minded. He said that it will take three to six months for full recovery He further added that . he is slightly broken, but still getting the treadmill count. Many people replied to Kamath’s social-media post and wished him speedy recovery apart from suggesting , health precautions he must take post the stroke and the need to take a break and slow down. take a look at that,” the CJI said. The bench was hearing an appeal filed by Coast Guard officer Priyanka Tyagi, seeking permanent commission to eligible women short service commission officers of the force. It fixed the petition for further hearing to Friday . In its earlier hearing, the court h a d o b s e r ve d , “You speak of nari shakti (wom- Shubman Gill (left) and Dhruv Jurel took the hosts home after they suffered a mini-collapse | PTI | P13 Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar threw a surprise by offering bouquets to their one-time bete noire and mining baron Gali Janardhana Reddy who is , Gangavathi MLA, on Monday, seeking his support to get the party’s candidate elected. It also sought the support of independents. The death of party Raja Venkatappa Nayak on Sunday has come as a shock to the party . On Monday, Siddaramaiah held the Congress Legislature Party(CLP) meeting at a hotel. Mock voting was held to show members how to vote and not to invalidate their votes. CONTINUED ON: P4 Metro staff stop farmer from boarding train, trigger row E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru When it seemed like England might get into the game, Jurel joined hands with Gill. The duo went for wicket preservation as they cut risks. Only when the finish line was in sight did they open up. In the end, their unbroken union took the hosts home to give them an unassailable lead No Virat Kohli and no KL Rahul but the young batting line-up — Yashasvi Jaiswal, Gill, Sarfaraz Khan, and Jurel — stood up to be counted at various points during the series. Every time there was a need for someone to step up, players kept performing “All these functionality etc., arguments do not hold water in the year 2024. Women cannot be left out,” Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud remarked and asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to grant permanent commission to deserving and eligible women in the Coast Guard. Fifth man in fray, Siddu, DKS seek Janardhana Reddy’s help Clinical India seal series in style Zerodha founder Nithin suffered stroke six weeks ago Zerodha founder and CEO Nithin Kamath revealed that he suffered a mild stroke six weeks ago. On Monday, he revealed it through a social media post that has gone viral, along with the photos of him lying on the bed and on the treadmill. “I wondered why a person who’s fit and takes care of himself could be affected. The doctor said you need to know when you need to shift the gears down a bit,” the fintech app head said in the post. “Dad passing away, poor The Supreme Court on Monday gave the Centre no wriggle room on granting permanent commission to women within the Indian Coast Guard, warning that the bench would step in if the government continued to stall. Attorney General R Venkataramani said there were some functional and operational difficulties in granting permanent commissions to short service commission officers in the Coast Guard, as their case was different compared to the other armed forces. He said a board has been constituted to revisit the modalities as structural changes ‘these arguments won’t work in 2024’ Namma Metro has come under severe and wide criticism after its staff stopped a farmer from boarding the rail at Rajajinagar metro station citing that he is shabbily dressed. In an undated video that has gone viral on social media, a metro commuter, Karthik C Airani, along with other passengers is seen confronting the Metro staff for their insensitive behaviour towards the farmer. Airani demanded that the Metro staff show the rule that prevents people who are shabbily dressed from using Metro services. After a huge uproar, Bangalore Metro Rail Corpora- tion Limited regretted the inconvenience caused to the passenger and said it is an inclusive service. In the viral video, passenger Airani is seen confronting the security staff at Rajajinagar metro station and he is joined by other passengers. “He (the farmer) is not allowed inside citing that his clothes are dirty. His sack is also searched, there is nothing inside it that is prohibited from carrying in the metro. The sack has only clothes,” Airani said. Airani and other passengers explain to the staff that he is a farmer from a village. He possesses the required ticket to travel in the Metro and why shouldn’t he be allowed, they asked. an power). Now show it here. You are in the deep end of the sea in this matter. You must come up with a policy which treats women fairly .” The bench had wondered whether the government was still adopting a patriarchal approach despite judgments on the grant of permanent commission to women officers in the three armed forces – Army , Air Force and the Navy . “Why are you being so patriarchal? You do not want to see the face of women in the Coast Guard,” the bench had asked Additional Solicitor General Vikramjit Banerjee. It also asked why the Coast Guard was not granting women permanent commissions when the Navy was. Express read Hate speech case stayed against TN BJP chief Chennai: The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the proceedings in a criminal case against Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai for alleged hate speech against Christians in an interview to a YouTube channel in 2022 over bursting of firecrackers during Deepavali. “Prima facie, there is no hate speech. No case is made out,” the court said. Conservationist Chinnappa no more Bengaluru: Noted wildlife conservationist KM Chinnappa breathed his last on Monday. Chinnappa’s (84) had health and age-related ailments for a long time. He suffered a heart attack on Monday morning at his house in Kodagu district. P5 African experts will look into moving cheetahs Bhopal: A team of African experts will soon visit Gandhi Sagar and Nauradehi sanctuaries in MP to conduct surveys for translocating cheetahs to these places, Union minister Bhupender Yadav said on Monday. Shahjahan sheikh Gets no relief from Calcutta High Court The court said that in a different matter it had stayed the constitution of a joint special investigation team of the CBI, state police to probe the attack on ED officials as ordered by a single bench | P8 Uncertainty over Rahul fighting from Wayanad P r eeth a N a i r @ New Delhi With months left for the Lok Sabha elections, uncertainty looms in political circles over whether Congress MP Rahul Gandhi would seek a mandate from Wayanad Lok Sabha for the second time. Sources said the former Congress president is likely to contest from two seats and there is thinking in the party that he should contest either from Karnataka or Telangana instead of Wayanad in Kerala. The other seat would be Amethi in UP . This comes amid the Congress’s seat sharing stalemate with ally Indian Union Muslim League, which is adamant on a third Lok Sabha seat for the party preferably Wayanad. , On Monday, Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal hinted that he is willing to contest from Alleppey Sources said the party will . be spreading itself thin if two top leaders contest from the same state. Moreover, Rahul’s presence in Congress-ruled Karnataka or Telangana would further bolster its chances to secure more seats. Meanwhile the CPI, an ally of the INDIA bloc at the national level, announced senior party leader Annie Raja as its candidate from Wayanad. Annie Raja is the joint candidate of the ruling CPM-led Left Demo- cratic Front. She is the wife of CPI general secretary D Raja and a member of the party’s national executive. Some Opposition leaders are of the view that two INDIA leaders fighting against each other would be bad optics for the alliance and give ammunition to the BJP to attack them. Speaking to this newspaper, D Raja said the CPI did not hold any discussion with Congress on this. “Wayanad is a CPI seat. We haven’t discussed the seat with Rahul or Congress. We only discussed with our LDF partners,” he said. Rahul won the Wayanad seat in 2019 Lok Sabha elections with a huge margin of over 4.31 lakh votes defeating the CPI candidate P P Suneer. However, he lost to Union minister Smriti Irani in his second seat and pocket borough Amethi. Though there is no clarity on whether Rahul will take on Irani in Amethi, sources said that ally Samajwadi Party wants him to contest from there.
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