MANGALURU TUESDAY MAY 07, 2024 `9.00 PAGES 14 CITY EDITION HAMAS ACCEPTS EGYPTIAN-QATARI CEASEFIRE PROPOSAL TO HALT WAR Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on Monday informed Qatar and Egypt that his group accepts their proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza ISRAELI DELEGATION SKIPPED PEACE TALKS BALL IN ISRAEL’S COURT, MORE PRESSURE ON BIBI Details of the proposal were not immediately released. But Egyptian and Hamas officials have said the ceasefire would take place in stages and Hamas would release hostages in exchange for Israel troop pullout from Gaza. There was no immediate reaction from Israel, which did not send a delegation to Cairo for talks, and is opposed to withdrawing its troops from Gaza ■ ■ Hamas’ acceptance of the deal is nonetheless expected to put pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, especially if its proposes release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza Also, it would make it more difficult for the Israeli government to justify a ground operation in southern Gaza’s Rafah | P11 1,00,000 PALESTINIANS IN RAFAH WERE ORDERED BY ISRAEL TO LEAVE THE TOWN 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 More victims willing to file plaints against Prajwal EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE noose around 33-year-old sex video scandal accused Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna is likely to further tighten as more victims are reportedly willing to file complaints against him. The women officers, who are part of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the state government to probe the alleged scandal, have identified more than 25 victims and have reportedly spoken to them. Of these victims, some are willing to file rape complaints against the MP if their identities are not revealed and protection given to them. Two FIRs have already been registered against Prajwal. The first complaint was registered in Holenarasipur town police station, while the second one was filed at the CID police station in Bengaluru. The second Stakes high for Kharge, BSY, NCP in Phase 3 BJP sees it as one of consolidation; 30-40 seats to witness triangular contests today RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR AND DEVARAJ B HIREHALLI @ New Delhi/ Bengaluru THE electoral fate of half-a-dozen Union ministers and two former chief ministers will be sealed on Wednesday in the third phase of the general elections is 93 constituencies in 11 states and Union territories. The BJP sees the third phase as one of consolidation as compared to the first two phases. Prominent among the heavyweight candidates in this phase are Union home minister Amit Shah in Gandhinagar, Union health minister Mansukh Mandaviya (Porbandar), civil aviation minister Jyotiraditya M Scindia (Guna), former Madhya seats for which Pradesh chief minister Digvijaya Singh polling will be (Rajgarh), NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar)’s Supriya Sule (Baramati) and Adhir Ranheld in 11 states/UTs jan Choudhary (Berhampur). In Uttar Pradesh, representatives of the Mulayam Singh Yadav clan are contesting in this phase — Dimple Yadav from Maincandidates including around 120 puri, Akshaya Yadav, son of Ram Gopal women, in the fray Yadav, from Firozabad and Aditya Yadav, son of Shivpal Yadav, from Budaun. In Karnataka, the last of the 14 seats will go to polls in what is being seen as a people eligible to vote high-stakes battle for Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. For, most of the seats Entire Gujarat are in North Karnataka, which is regardand Goa, 11 seats in ed as his home turf. The elections are Maharashtra, 10 in equally important for former chief minisUP, 14 in Karnataka, ter B S Yediyurappa, whose son Vijayen7 in Chhattisgarh, 5 in dra is the state BJP president. Bihar, 4 each in Assam Prominent among those in the fray in and West Bengal to go Karnataka are former CMs Basavaraj to polls Bommai (Haveri) and Jagadish Shettar (Belgaum), Union ministers Pralhad Joshi (Dharwad) and Bhagwant Khuba (Bidar), Yediyurappa’s son Raghavendra (Shivamogga) and Kharge’s son-in-law Radhakrishna Doddamani (Gulbarga SC). According to sources, around 30-40 constituencies in the third phase will witness triangular contests, giving sitting Lok Sabha members a really tough time. Most of the sitting MPs are from the ruling BJP . PHASE 3 FACTOIDS 93 1,300 11 crore Bengaluru girl scores 99.80% in ICSE exam EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru THE Council for Indian School Certificate Examination (CISCE) on Monday declared the results of the Indian Certificate of Secondary Education (ICSE), 10th grade, and Indian School Certificate (ISC), 12th grade, examinations conducted across the country Students from Kar. nataka have performed exceptionally well. The overall pass percentage of ICSE students is 99.83 and that of ISC students is 99.49. The state’s performance is better than the national pass percentage of 99.47 for ICSE and 98.19 for ISC. Adrita Tripathi, the top scorer for Karnataka, is from Bengaluru’s Greenwood High School with an overall percentage of 99.80. CONTINUED ON: P5 complaint is more serious as the 44-year-old victim has accused the MP of raping her at his MP Quarters on RC Road in Hassan at gunpoint. Some of the victims have orally provided details of the accused and the incidents to the officials. To tighten the case and to ensure that the MP does not escape, the SIT officials want more victims to file complaints against him. Statements made by the victims before the SIT do not guarantee punishment to the accused, but the FIRs will have a stronger impact, said a senior official. Meanwhile, the 47-year-old victim, who was the first to file a complaint of sexual harassment against Holenarasipur MLA HD Revanna and Prajwal, was brought to Revanna’s Bengaluru residence in Basavanagudi near Ashoka Pillar for the spot mahazar. A team of SIT officials brought the victim on Monday morning. CONTINUED ON: P4 The SIT officials did not let me inside the premises during the spot mahazars. I have been authorised to be present during the spot mahazars — Gopal, an advocate DKS BEHIND SEX PEN DRIVE LEAK: HASSAN BJP LEADER Bengaluru: Deputy CM DK Shivakumar is behind leaking the alleged sex pen drives of Hassan MP and Lok Sabha candidate Prajwal Revanna, alleged advocate and BJP leader from Hassan, Devaraje Gowda on Monday. “I was offered a cabinet minister’s post through LR Shivarame Gowda,” he said. He alleged that Shivarame Gowda was the one who connected the call to Shivakumar. But he refused to reveal more details about the telephone conversation between him and the deputy chief minister. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday said the state is not intervening in the SIT probe. “Devarajegowda’s allegations are misleading,” he added. P4 INDIAN OLY TEAM TO GET SLEEP THERAPIST AND PHYSIOS “This year,” Dinshaw Pardiwala, the Chief Medical OfTHE Indian Olympic Associa- ficer (CMO) of the delegation, tion (IOA) have made elabo- said, “the IOA took the decirate plans to take a battery of sion to have a proper medical support staff including a sleep team like some of the bigger therapist and a small army of squads (Germany, US and Japhysiotherapists to help the pan). What used to happen is Indian contingent at our physiotherapists the Paris Games. UnCLUSIVE used to be there, we like in the previous did have a physician Games, they will also who would help with get a full-fledged recovery services but we didn’t have a room. The advantages include full (medical) team. Whenever cryotherapy chambers and ice somebody had an injury they , baths to help athletes recover would do an MRI and contact faster in their quest for Olym- me here. But it’s difficult to do pic glory . it online.” S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N @ Mumbai Delhi L-G calls for NIA probe against Kejriwal A S H I S H S R I V A S TA V A @ New Delhi LIEUTENANT Governor of Delhi V K Saxena on Monday recommended a probe by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, citing an allegation that his Aam Aadmi Party received funding from the banned pro-Khalistan group, Sikhs for Justice. The L-G’s recommendation comes amid the Supreme Court’s indication that it may consider giving bail to Kejriwal in view of the Lok Sabha polls. In a letter written to the Union home ministry, the L-G said his recommendation is based on a complaint he received about the AAP receiving $16 million from Khalistani groups for facilitating the release of Devendra Pal Bhullar, who was convicted for his role in the 1993 blast in Delhi. The complaint mentioned by the L-G was filed by Ashoo Mongia, the national general secretary of the World Hindu Federation, referring to a video in which Khalistani leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun mentioned that the AAP took money from pro-Khalistani groups between 2014 and 2022. Saxena also mentioned a letter written by Kejriwal to activist Iqbal Singh in 2014, saying his government has recommended to the President to release Bhullar. Hitting back, AAP called him a BJP’s agent. “The BJP is losing all the seven seats in Delhi, hence it is upset,” a senior AAP leader said. K’taka to see robust monsoon A S H W I N I M S R I PA D @ Bengaluru THIS southwest monsoon is expected to be a robust one for Karnataka. Experts have forecast a non-drought year and farmers are expected to harvest a bumper crop this time. Karnataka faced 16 drought years between 2001 and 2023, and 2023 was the worst in the last 123 years. In 2023, the state recorded less rainfall (both southwest and northeast), resulting in 223 of the 236 taluks being declared droughthit. Added to this, most parts of Karnataka saw a dry spell from January to April this year. However, things are changing now with the state receiving some rain in May . Former director of Karnataka State Natural Disaster Management Centre (KSNDMC) Srinivas Reddy said the IMD has predicted 106% more rain this monsoon, which is more than normal across the country It will be the same for Kar. nataka. “The El Nino effect caused higher sea surface temperature. Now it is becoming weak and by May 15, it is expected to become neutral,” he said. It was because of last year’s El Nino effect, People run for cover as rain lashes Bengaluru on Monday evening | VINOD KUMAR T Karnataka witnessed a severe drought. Reddy said the La Nino condition is prevailing now. Because of this, the sea surface temperature will be less than normal. That is expected to bring good rainfall. “Whenever there was La Nino, those years witnessed good rainfall,” he added. He said August and September will see good rainfall this year. This is expected to work in favour of farmers. Prof MB Rajegowda, an agrometeorologist and ex-registrar of the University of Agricultural Sciences, said during the southwest monsoon, Karnataka is expected to get 860mm of rain. This year, it could touch up to 900mm. Dinshaw Pardiwala, head of Centre for Sports Medicine at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Mumbai The well-equipped recovery room will be a first-of-its-kind for Indian athletes. “When you are doing high-level sports, you require a full support system,” Pardiwala, who has mended the bones of almost every medal-winning Indian Olympian in the 21st century, said. “Although the Olympic Village has a polyclinic and some physiotherapy services, it’s difficult when you have 10000 athletes and 12 ice baths.” He was very elaborate when speaking about the need for a sleep therapist in the modern world. At least some of it has to do with the Paris Games’ desire to be carbon-neutral. “It’s also going to be important because the Games have decided that they won’t have air-conditioning in the Village as they would like to go green.” India, like some of the other contingents, are planning to take their air cooling units but the sleep therapist will act as a backstop in case this plan doesn’t work out. “The process is going on, we have requested ACs. If that doesn’t happen, we will have to manage our own air cooling systems. In case there’s a heat wave, it will be difficult to adjust at the last minute. So, we have taken that factor into consideration also (to have a sleep therapist).”
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