MANGALURU l Monday l January 29, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION West Indies, England script historic away Test victories Thousands of miles away from each other, India and Australia, two indomitable Test sides at home, suffered shocking defeats on Sunday... Pic: Sri Loganathan Velmurugan Shamar Rallies Wi to beat Oz after 27 yrs Everytime West Indies do well, cricketing world heals a little. Sunday was one such day as pacer Shamar Joseph — who had broken his toe the previous day, who was nowhere near the WI team a few months ago — rose to the occasion, took seven wickets to help West Indies beat Australia by eight runs in Brisbane — their first Test win against Australia since 1997 ■ 2000 hartley hands India bitter defeat ■ Ollie Pope, who missed his double century, and Tom Hartley — both had nightmarish show in the first innings — were the heroes in the second as India lost by 28 runs after securing a 190-run lead Hartley took seven wickets on Day four, including the top four batters, as the hosts failed to chase the target of 231 | P11 The last time India lost a home TEst after taking 1st innings lead (SA) 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 Nitish back in NDA, swears in as Bihar CM for the ninth time Lowering Hanuman flag turns Mandya tense K S h i v a K u m a r @ Mysuru BJP’s Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha become deputy chief ministers People won’t forgive this betrayal: Cong R AMASHAN K A R @ Patna CURTAINS fell on the week-long political drama in Bihar on Sunday with Janata Dal (United) president Nitish Kumar taking oath as chief minister for a record ninth term -this time with the support of his old ally the BJP , . Soon after taking oath as the CM of the new NDA government, Nitish said: “I am back where I was earlier. I had gone with other another alliance for some time. But now I am back and will remain here forever.” Earlier in the day Nitish met Gov, ernor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and submitted his resignation as the Mahagathbandhan chief minister. After that, he staked claim to form a new government with the support of the BJP and its allies. He claimed the support of 128 MLAs — 45 from JD(U), 78 from BJP 4 from HAM and , 1 Independent. Bihar has 243 assembly seats. In the swearing-in ceremony held on Sunday evening, Nitish, Vijay Kumar Choudhary Vijendra Prasad Ya, dav, Shravan Kumar from the JD-U; Samrat Choudhary Vijay Kumar Sin, ha, and Prem Kumar from the BJP; Santosh Kumar Suman from HAM; and, Sumit Kumar Singh (Independent) took oath as cabinet ministers in Former grassroots bjp worker to deputy CM Vijay Kumar Sinha, an experienced uppercaste BJP leader, has held various posts , including that of Bihar Assembly Speaker and the state’s leader of the Opposition. Starting off as a grassroots BJP worker, Sinha, 64, made his debut in the Assembly in 2010 and got a ministerial berth seven years later. He belongs to the influential Bhumihar community, was an active member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad — the RSS’ student wing Pree t h a n AIr @ New Delhi Nitish Kumar with Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar after the swearing-in ceremony | PTI the presence of BJP president J P Nadda and other dignitaries. All of them had earlier served as ministers in the NDA government after the 2020 assembly election. Samrat Choudhary and Vijay Kumar Sinha will be the two deputy chief ministers. Earlier, rumours were rife that Sushil Kumar Modi, who had served as deputy chief minister during the NDA regime earlier, might be inducted in the Nitish cabinet as deputy CM. As soon as the swearing-in ceremony started and the name of Nitish was announced, BJP supporters chanted ‘Jai Sriram’. Later, slogans in favour of Nitish and other ministers echoed in the air.  p7 obc leader whose fortunes rose with BJP An OBC leader of the BJP in Bihar where the party wants to transcend its “proupper caste” image, Samrat Choudhary has had a meteoric rise since he joined the outfit nearly seven years ago. Samrat was a minister in the government headed by Rabri Devi, the RJD supremo’s wife. In 2014, he became part of a rebel faction and joined the JD(U) government. Three years later, he grew disenchanted with the JD(U) and joined the BJP The latest political somersault by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar invited sharp reactions from the Opposition INDIA bloc on Sunday, with the Congress and other parties warning him that the people will never forgive his “betrayal”. Soon after Kumar announced his decision to form a government with the BJP’s support, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said the alliance members had an inkling of his decision to leave. “There are many like ‘Aaya Ram-Gaya Ram’ in the country . We already knew this, but we did not say anything to keep the INDIA alliance intact. If we say something wrong, a wrong message will go out. Lalu Prasad Yadav ji and Tejashwi Yadav ji had already given us this information,” Kharge said. Comparing Kumar to a “chameleon”, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said, “Nitish Kumar, who frequently changes political partners, is giving tough competition to the chameleons in changing colours.” Ramesh said a “political drama” is being created to divert attention from Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which is set to enter Bihar. The Congress leaders said Kumar’s exit won’t affect the alliance’s electoral prospects. However, political observers say it will have a ripple effect on the equation of alliances in other states. Speaking to this newspaper, political analyst Sandeep Shastri said, “All the other partners will now play hardball with the Congress.” Padma awardee turned from burns victim to burns doc R i s h i ta K h a n n a @ Bengaluru Once known for her melodious voice, which turned hoarse, leading people to address her as ‘sir’ whenever she made a phone call, Dr Prema Dhanraj, who had aspired to become a singer, resolved to turn from a burns survivor to a burns surgeon at the same hospital where she was treated. Despite societal challenges, this 72-year-old specialist turned from a burns victim to a plastic (reconstructive) surgeon a f t e r p e r s eve r i n g through a gruelling journey Her determi. nation culminated in a triumph, earning her the civilian honour, the Padma Shri, in this year’s list. Having grown up in a family with her parents as singers, Dr Prema started learning to sing at a young age. A day before a music competition at school, the eight-year-old Prema’s thoughts were only about giving her best at the competition. A few hours before the competition, with both her parents and helper away she , decided to make a cup of coffee before rehearsals. Being the eldest among her four siblings, she was familiar with cooking. But the pump stove failed to start and when she added kerosene, the stove caught fire, leading to a blast that burned nearly her entire face. The girl, who was not tall, could not reach the water drum in time to douse herself. A neighbour studying on his terrace noticed the fire and rushed to douse it, recalls Dr Prema about how a day before a singing competition changed her life.  P5 CJI D Y Chandrachud hands over a statue of B R Ambedkar to Prime Minister Narendra Modi | PTI Long vacation, adjournment culture need to go, says CJI s u c h i t r a k a lya n m o h a n t y @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that ‘ease of justice’ is the right of every citizen and the Supreme Court is its medium. Addressing the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Supreme Court, the PM said the Centre has sanctioned `800 crore for expansion of the SC building. Stressing the need for an empowered judicial system as a part of Viksit Bharat, Modi asked the apex court to work towards capacity building of stakeholders to ensure the transition from old laws to the new regime is seamless. Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, speaking at the same function, said the judiciary needs to begin “difficult conversations” to remain relevant as an institution. He said the ‘adjournment culture’ and long vacations need to go, to tackle the issue of case backlogs. “We must emerge out of the adjournment culture to a culture of professionalism,” the Chief Justice of India said. The Chief Justice of India urged all stakeholders to have a meaningful conversation on long vacations and think of alternatives such as flexitime for lawyers and judges to dispose of cases in a reasonable timeframe. Commenting on the 65,915 cases pending cases in the SC, CJI asked: “There has to be a radical change in the approach to decision making. In our desire to ensure justice in each individual case, should we risk the Court becoming dysfunctional.” Police try to pacify the protesters at Keragodu village in Mandya district on Sunday | Express People can hoist the ‘Bhagwa Dhwaja’ on temples and private places. We have no objection to hoist the ‘Hanuma Dwaja’, but it should not happen on government properties — Dr G Parameshwara, Home Minister Tension gripped Keragodu village in Mandya district as hundreds of people, and BJP and JDS leaders protested against the district administration’s move to bring down a Hanuman flag that was hoisted on a 108-foot pole by the gram panchayat to mark Ram Mandir inauguration. The police resorted to a mild lathicharge and arrested a few protesters, including Assembly Opposition leader R Ashoka, MLA Dr CN Ashwath Narayan and other leaders, when they proceeded towards the barri- cade put up to protect the flagpole. They were released later. The police snatched a knife from a youth, who threatened to kill himself if the Hanuman Dhwaja was brought down. It all started when Assistant Commissioner Shiva Murthy and Tahsildar Shivakumar arrived at the village early on Sunday morning to lower the Hanuman flag and hoist the Tricolour. Keragodu villagers, including wo m e n , p r o t e s t e d a n d claimed that they had taken permission from the village panchayat to hoist the flag.  CONTINUED ON: P4 Anganwadi workers not paid for phone data S u b h a s h C h a n d r a NS @ Karwar Money has been released for recharge. As for phone replacement, I will get the cabinet approval Laxmi Hebbalkar, minister Mobile phones that were provided to Anganawadi workers to ease their job have turned into a money-draining gadget for them as they are spending from their pockets to recharge phone data packages. Considering that Anganwadi workers are involved in government-related work, three years ago the government pro- vided them with smartphones, which have now become a burden. The phones, provided under the ‘Poshana Abhiyan scheme’, allows them to enter data into registers. “We have to enter data every day, but our mobiles have not been recharged so far,” said an Anganawadi worker in Karwar. “It has been more than four months since the mobile data of these phones are recharged. We get Rs 10,000 per month as payment, but we spend from our pockets to recharge data. Most of us use wifi or share hotspots with others. Sometimes, even that becomes difficult because of poor network. In some interior parts of the district, internet connectivity is poor. We carry work home and that prevents us from doing our household chores,” said Manjula, another Anganawadi teacher. P5