kozhikode l thursday l February 29, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION BCCI sends message: No domestic cricket, no central contracts Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan dropped from central contracts for ignoring domestic despite repeated calls from board secretary Jay Shah A+ for Rohit, Virat Captain Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, who skipped the ongoing 5-match Test series against England, retained their place in Grade A-plus along with Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja hardik finds place in Grade A H ardik Pandya, who hasn’t played for India since 2023 ODI World Cup or his domestic side Baroda, however, retained his place in Grade A along with six cricketers. Senior players like Cheteshwar Pujara, Umesh Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Shikhar Dhawan missed out Iyer, Kishan face music over ranji miss Kishan pulled out of two-Test series against South Africa last year while Iyer was apparently dropped after second Test versus England earlier this month. Iyer had said he missed Mumbai quarters match due to injury, which the National Cricket Academy refuted saying he was fit | P11 K ishan has not played Ranji this season while Iyer is in Mumbai squad for semis 30 cricketers named in four Grades for the year 2023-24 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 HP budget passed amid high drama 15 BJP MLAs suspended; Virbhadra’s son quits state cabinet, later softens stand H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh War clouds hovering over Himachal Pradesh dissipated a bit amid high drama on Wednesday as the Sukhu government passed the state budget after Speaker Kuldeep Pathania suspended 15 protesting BJP members. The assembly was later adjourned sine die. The government was in turmoil after six Congress members cross-voted for the BJP in the Rajya Sabha elections the previous day . There was further anxiety as PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh, son of former chief minister Virbhadra Singh, put in his papers in the morning saying he was humiliated by the state leadership. By the evening, he softened and said he will not press his resignation. The six rebels — Rajinder Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi Thakur, Inder Dutt lakhanpal, Chetanya Sharma and Divender Kumar — appeared before the Speaker as part of the disqualification proceedings. They left for Panchkula from Shimla before central Congress o b s e r ve r s — B h u p e s h B a g h e l , Bhupinder Singh Hooda and D K Shivakumar — reached the state capital. The rebels and three Independents, who supported the BJP in the RS polls, attended the House but abstained from voting on the budget on Wednesday . PWD minister Vikramaditya Singh Speaker reserves his order Speaker Kuldeep Pathania reserved his orders after hearing the six rebel MLAs. Their advocate argued that they were given the showcause notice and the copy of the petition but not the annexures. He added that MLAs must be given seven days to file their replies. He claimed that party whip does not apply for RS polls Talks end; Cong, IUML strike RS seat deal E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Managing to pacify ally IUML, which was insisting on a third seat in the coming general elections, by conceding the Rajya Sabha seat falling vacant in July, the Congress successfully concluded seat-sharing talks within the UDF. As in 2019 LS polls, Congress will contest 16 seats, Lea gue two, and KC(Joseph) and RSP one each. Instead of a third LS berth, IUML and Congress will share an RS seat on a rotation basis, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday in the presence of Congress state president K Sudhakaran. As per the deal, the RS seat held by KC(M) chairman Jose K Mani that falls vacant on July 1 will be given to the League. Congress will take over the RS berth held by League’s P V Abdul Wahab when it falls vacant on April 23, 2027. Seat-sharing talks had been held up by IUML’s insistence on a third LS seat. Though Congress had maintained the League “had every right” to a third berth – Satheesan reiterated this on Wednesday too – it had made known its inconvenience in agreeing to the demand. “The RS seat will be shared between Congress and IUML on rotation basis. The formula has been approved by The Rajya Sabha seat will be shared between Congress and IUML on rotation basis. The formula has been approved by both parties. Congress will contest 16 Lok Sabha seats — V D Satheesan, Leader of Oppn 6 arrested for college student’s suicide E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kalpetta Six students affiliated to the SFI were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the alleged suicide of a second-year student of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in Pookode, Wayanad, around 10 days ago. Rahan Binoy 20, Akash , S D, 22, Abhishek S, 23, Sreehari R D, 23, Dons Daayi, 23 and Billgate Joshoua, 23, were arrested after hours of interrogation led by Kalpetta DySP Sajeev T N. The other accused include college union sec- retary K Arun, union member Asif Khan and SFI unit secretary Amal. Sidharth of Nedumangad was found hanging in his hostel’s bathroom on February 18. On February 24, the college suspended 12 students after its anti-ragging committee found he was brutally beaten up by fellow students days before his death. The arrested persons are not among the suspended students. Jayaprakash, Sidharth’s father, alleged his son was beaten to death by his seniors. “On February 14, Sidharth danced with senior students during a Valentine’s Day function, for which he was beaten up in front of around 100 students. Sidharth’s friends told us that the college union secretary and his gang threatened to kill them if they revealed the assault,” said Jayaprakash, who also accused Vythiri police of del ay i n g t h e a r r e s t o f t h e accused. His family members said Sidharth had booked a train ticket for home on February 15, but cancelled the trip after one of his friends called him. They claimed that Sidharth was uncharacteristically quiet and gloomy after ● More on P4 that. both parties. Congress will contest 16 LS seats,” said Satheesan. “Our view is that Muslim League has every right to get a third LS seat. However, we expressed our inconvenience in parting with it due to special circumstances,” said Satheesan. Though this means IUML gets a second RS seat three years in advance, it should not be seen as a significant political victory . IUML on Wednesday announced its two LS candidates. Ponnani MP E T Mohammed Basheer and Malappuram MP M P Abdussamad Samadani will ● More on P4 swap their seats. EXPRESS READ RIL, Disney to merge media biz New Delhi: Billionaire Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries and US-based entertainment giant Walt Disney have signed a definitive agreement to form a joint venture that will combine the businesses of Viacom18 and Star India to create a media behemoth valued at J70,352 crore. The transaction is expected to be completed in the last quarter of 2024 or early 2025. The JV will be controlled by the Reliance group, which will have a 63% stake. RIL will also pump in J11,500 crore into the JV. Govt-1, Guv-0 Prez approves Lokayukta Amendment Bill E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram In a major morale boost for the state government, the President approved the Kerala Lokayukta Amendment Bill 2022, passed by the assembly more than a year ago, late on Wednesday . President Droupadi Murmu gave her assent to the Bill which had been pending before Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. He had later sent the Bill, along with a few others, to the President after the government moved the Supreme Court citing inordinate delay by the governor in signing nine bills passed by the assembly . The bill, widely perceived as an attempt to dilute the powers of the anti-corruption watchdog, had been passed amid boycott by the Opposition UDF. The amendment allowed the “competent authority” to reject or accept the ombudsman’s report. The amendment made the assembly the competent authority to review the report against the chief minister. Similarly if a Lokayukta report in, dicted a minister, the CM would be the competent authority to take a call. In the case of legislators, the competent authority would be the speaker.
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