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 Iyer, Kishan face music over ranji miss THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l thursday l February 29, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION 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 Kishan has not played Ranji this season while Iyer is in Mumbai squad for semis 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 humiliated by the state leadership. By the evening, he War clouds hovering over softened and said he will not Himachal Pradesh dissipat- press his resignation. ed a bit amid high drama on The six rebels — Rajinder Wednesday as the Sukhu Rana, Sudhir Sharma, Ravi government passed the state Thakur, Inder Dutt labudget after Speakkhanpal, Chetanya er Kuldeep Pathania Sharma, and Divsuspended 15 proender Kumar — aptesting BJP mempeared before the bers. The assembly Speaker as part of was later adjourned the disqualification sine die. The govproceedings. They ernment was in turleft for Panchkula moil after six Confrom Shimla before Vikramaditya gress members central Congress obSingh cross-voted for the servers — Bhupesh BJP in the Rajya Baghel, Bhupinder Sabha elections the previous Singh Hooda, and D K Shivaday . kumar — reached the state There was further anxiety capital. The rebels and three as PWD minister Vikrama- Independents, who supportditya Singh, son of former ed the BJP in the RS polls, chief minister Virbhadra attended the House but abSingh, put in his papers in stained from voting on the the morning saying he was budget on Wednesday . H a r p r e e t B a j w a @ Chandigarh Talks end; Cong, IUML strike RS seat deal E x p r e s s N e w s S e 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 6 arrested for college student’s suicide E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @Kalpetta Six students affiliated to the SFI were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the alleged suicide of a secondyear student of the College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences in P o o k o d e , Way a n a d , 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 interro- gation led by Kalpetta DySP Sajeev T N. The other accused include college union secretary 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 ar- rested 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 seniors 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,” he said, while accusing Vythiri police of delaying the arrest of the accused. ● More on P4 been approved by 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. 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. P10 16 pages, including 4 pages of THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Express Prez approves Lokayukta Amendment Bill E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @T’Puram In a major morale boost for the LDF government , the controversial Kerala Lokayukta Amendment Bill, 2022, which limits the powers of the anti-corruption watchdog, received the President’s assent late on Wednesday . With this, the chief minister or ministers need not step down even if there’s an adverse verdict from the Lokayukta. The assent has come as a setback to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan who had been sitting on the legislation for more than a year. President Droupadi Murmu issued her nod to the Bill, passed in August 2022. As per reports, the Bill was approved based on legal advice that the amendment is similar to provisions in Lokpal Bill. It also marked the rare instance of a legislation getting the Presidents’s assent so quickly . Law Minister P Rajeeve told reporters on Wednesday that the government brought in the legislation as it was constitu● More on P4 tionally valid.
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