TUESDAY TENSIONS HIGH AS PAK AIRSTRIKES IN AFGHAN TERRITORY KILLS EIGHT 19 MARCH, 2024 The Pakistan Army said eight terrorists were killed in ‘anti-terror operations’ in the border regions inside Afghanistan on Monday epaper.morningstandard.in facebook.com/TheMorningStandard X.com/TheMornStandard 6,000 ISRAEL WAR A RESPONSE TO ATTACK ON ARMY OUTPOST: PAK FAMINE IMMINENT IN NORTH GAZA: UN Half of Gazans are experiencing ‘catastrophic’ hunger; famine to set in by May, says a UN report PAGE 9 A CAPITAL VIEW OF NEWS NEW DELHI J8.00 SC raps SBI for selective data share ELECTORAL BONDS: Directs bank to disclose all details, including alphanumeric numbers, to EC S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE Supreme Court on Monday directed the State Bank of India (SBI) to disclose all details related to the electoral bonds in its possession by March 21, including the unique alphanumeric numbers that can link donors to political parties. Rapping the public sector lender over selective disclosure, the Supreme Court said it had in its February 15 verdict sought complete disclosure of all data related to electoral bonds in the bank’s possession. The bench noted the submission of senior advocate Harish Salve, who appeared for the SBI, that there is no reser- Plea against disclosure The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain pleas by Associated Chambers of Commerce & Industry of India and Confederation of Indian Industry seeking to delay the disclosure of electoral bonds numbers vation on the part of the bank in disclosing all the details of electoral bonds in its possession. “We had asked all details to be disclosed by the SBI which includes electoral bond numbers as well. Let SBI not be selective in disclosure,” the fivejudg e Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by CJI D Y Chandrachud said. The bank’s chairperson was also directed to file an affidavit by 5 pm on March 21 stating that all details have been dis- closed to the Election Commission (EC). The court went on to direct the Chief Election Commissioner to file a detailed compliance affidavit by March 21 to ensure no further complications arise over the matter. The details sought are related to electoral bonds purchased and redeemed after April 12, 2019. The court, however, rejected a plea urging it to order the SBI to disclose details related to electoral bonds purchased and redeemed prior to this date. “With effect from April 12, 2019, we had directed the collection of details. Everyone was put to notice at that time. This is why we did not ask for disclosure of bonds sold prior to the interim order. This was a conscious choice by the Constitution bench,” the bench said. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said after the March 11 order (on SBI’s plea for time till June 30 to furnish details of electoral bonds to the EC), those before the court started giving press interviews deliberately embar rassing the bench. But the court said its shoulders were “broad enough” to face the broadside. Chief Justice Chandrachud said once the court delivers a judgment, it becomes the nation’s property and is open for debate. He went on to say that court was only concer ned about enforcing its directions. LIQUOR POLICY CASE Satyendar Jain back in Kavitha moves SC as ED jail after SC cancels bail flags ‘conspiracy’ angle S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi AAP leader and former Delhi minister Satyendar Jain on Monday returned to Tihar jail after the Supreme Court cancelled his regular bail plea and asked him to surrender immediately. He was out on interim bail on health grounds in the excise policy scam case since May 26 last year. The bail was extended multiple times on various grounds, primarily citing his health. A two-judge bench of justices Bela M Trivedi and Pankaj Mithal declined Jain’s plea to grant him at least one week to surrender, though he claimed that he continued to be unwell. “Jain arrived at Tihar jail in the evening. He was taken to jail number 7 after the formalities of lodging him in the prison were completed,” a jail official said. On December 14, 2023, the court had extended his interim bail till January 8. On January 17, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Jain, had requested regular bail claiming that the health of his client was deteriorating. The Enforcement Directorate had registered a case against Jain, based on a CBI complaint that he had acquired movable properties in the name of various persons for which he did not give satisfactory answers. S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y & U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi BRS MLC K Kavitha on Monday moved Supreme Court challenging her arrest by the ED in a money laundering case relating to the excise policy, her lawyer P Mohith Rao told this newspaper. “We have filed a plea in the Supreme Cour t challenging K av i t h a ’ s a r r e s t , which is illegal and arbitrary Rao said. ,” Kavitha’s move came on the back of the ED’s charge on Monday saying she and some others “conspired” with top AAP leaders, including CM Arvind Kejriwal and then deputy CM Manish Sisodia, to get favours in the now-scrapped excise policy formulation and Navy chopper crashes during training in Kochi A N U P V E R M A @ New Delhi A remotely piloted aircraft of the Indian Navy crashed during a training sortie in Kochi on Monday. The Navy said that the incident happened around 5 pm at the INS Garuda base, about one mile short of the runway, but no one was injured. “Responding swiftly, a specialist team was dispatched to the site to ensure the crashed aircraft is rendered safe,” the Navy said in a statement. It added that an inquiry has been ordered to investigate the incident. AAP convener and Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Monday skipped the ED summons in a money laundering case linked to the alleged irregularities in the Delhi Jal Board. The AAP said that the ED’s summons is illegal and has been served at the behest of the BJP. It said that the Centre wanted to “use” the probe agency to stop the party leader from campaigning in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. EC orders removal of 6 home secys, Bengal DGP HC refuses to intervene in Guj varsity clash case The Gujarat High Court on Monday declined to take suo motu cognizance of the assault on foreign students in Gujarat University. The students were attacked while performing namaz in their hostel on Saturday night. “We have our police force for that. Our role is that of a court, not an investigative agency,” remarked Chief Justice Sunita Agrawal. Meanwhile, Gujarat Police have arrested three more individuals in connection with the matter. implementation. “In exchange for these favours, she was involved in paying `100 crore to AAP leaders,” the ED said. The ED on March 15 arrested Kavitha from Hyderabad. The next day she was produced before a special PMLA court that remanded her in ED’s custodial interrogation for seven days till March 23. The probe agency said by acts of “corruption and conspiracy”, a continuous stream of illegal funds in the form of kickbacks, from the wholesalers was generated for the AAP . The ED has so far conducted searches at 245 locations, including Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Mumbai, in the excise policy case. The airstrikes come amid heightened tensions between the two neighbours over a series of terrorist attacks in Pakistan’s Balochistan province, which Islamabad has blamed on groups based in Afghanistan. Pakistan said Monday’s airstrikes, which were in response to a recent attack on one of its army outposts, targeted a group allied with Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan PAGES 12 Poll position: NDA seals double deal in Bihar and Tamil Nadu WHO GOT WHAT 1 BJP JD(U) LJP (RV) HAM RLM 2 4 3 17 18 16 19 20 32 33 34 35 37 5 31 36 38 15 21 7 6 23 22 30 29 14 24 25 8 9 13 12 39 11 26 28 40 10 27 BJP R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi THE BJP on Monday ironed out its seatsharing deal with National Democratic Alliance partners in Bihar, pocketing 17 of the 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state. It emerged as the undisputed big brother in the alliance, as the JD(U) will contest from 16, Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) 5 and the Hindustan Awam Morcha (HAM) and Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) one each. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP , JD(U) and the undivided LJP were part of the NDA, which won 39 of the 40 seats. Both the BJP and JD(U) had contested from 17 seats each at that point in time. The big headline maker this time was Chirag Paswan, son of LJP founder Ram Vilas Paswan. His faction, LJP (RV), got five constituencies, including the prestigious Hajipur, the seat held by his late dad. Chirag later said he will vacate his Jamui seat and contest from Hajipur. Chirag’s gain was Union minister Pashupati Kumar Paras’s loss. Paras, the brother of Ram Vilas, is the sitting MP from Hajipur. His breakaway faction of the LJP has five seats in the outgoing Lok Sabha. Paras is expected to tap the RJD-led grand alliance in Bihar in a day or two. BJP sources said they were trying to mollify Paras with possibly a governor’s berth while accommodating his son and others from his side in assembly polls. But his party could go it alone or forge a tie-up with the opposition. The NDA deal was announced by Vinod Tawde, BJP incharge of Bihar. For the full break-up of NDA seats, see the accompanying graphic. Tamilisai quits as T’gana guv, to contest poll | P5 ‘Be ready for a surprise result in Bengal’ | P7 Paschim Champaran (2), Purvi Champaran (3), Aurangabad (37), Madhubani (6), Araria (9), Darbhanga (14), Muzaffarpur (15), Maharajganj (19), Saran (20), Ujiyarpur (22), Begusarai (24), Nawada (39), Patna Sahib (30), Patliputra (31), Arrah (32), Buxar (33) and Sasaram (34) JD(U) Valmikinagar (1), Sitamarhi (5), Jhanjharpur (7), Supaul (8), Kishanganj (10), Katihar (11), Purnia (12), Madhepura (13), Gopalganj (17), Siwan (18), Bhagalpur (26), Banka (27), Munger (28), Nalanda (29), Jehanabad (36) and Sheohar (4) LJP (Ram Vilas) Vaishali (16), Hajipur (21), Samastipur (23), Khagaria (25) and Jamui (40) HAM Gaya (38) RLM Karakat (35) PMK joins BJP team, shuns AIADMK call T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai ENDING days of speculation about whether the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) will join hands with the AIADMK or BJP the party on , Monday announced that it has decided to go with the saffron party in the upcoming Lok Sabha election. The party would firm up ties with the BJP-led NDA and a formal announcement on the number of Lok Sabha constituencies and the candidates to be fielded would be made by PMK founder Dr S Ramadoss soon, party general secretary Vadivel Ravanan said. The party announced its decision late on Monday after a key executive committee meeting held at Thailapuram in Villupuram district in which the party’s district secretaries and presidents and key office-bearers took part. Asked whether forging an alliance with the BJP would be a setback for the PMK, Ravanan said, “We don’t think so. Having an alliance with the BJP will be useful for the PMK and would augur well for the future of the party .” The PMK allied with AIADMK and BJP in the 2014 and 2019 elections. In the 2021 Assembly elections, too, the alliance continued. However, in September 2021, PMK walked out of the AIADMKled alliance, ahead of local body polls. There have been many rounds of informal talks between AIADMK and PMK. Senior AIADMK leader CVe Shanmugam too met PMK founder S Ramadoss a few times. However, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami, a few days ago, said AIADMK is not holding talks with PMK and talks are on only with DMDK, hinting that the alliance may not fructify . Kejriwal skips ED summons in DJB scam case EXPRESS READ The Election Commission on Monday issued orders for removal of the West Bengal DGP and home secretaries in six states, including Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Besides this, the EC also removed the secretaries of the General Administrative Departments in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh from their position, as they continued to hold charges in the CMOs. | P7 PAK TALIBAN FIGHTERS IN AFGHANISTAN, SAYS PAKISTAN OFFICIAL DIDI’S CALL OF DUTY Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee visits Garden Reach area in Kolkata where an underconstruction building collapsed, killing nine people, early on Monday | PTI | P8 PUTIN EXTENDS RULE IN PREORDAINED RUSSIAN ELECTION Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva, however, hit back, saying Kejriwal has lost his “honour” by repeatedly skipping the ED summons. Kejriwal was summoned by the probe agency to appear before it on Monday in a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the DJB. He is also facing inquiries in the excise policy-linked money laundering case and has previously disregarded eight summonses in that matter, terming them “illegal”. President Vladimir Putin sealed his control over Russia for six more years in a highly orchestrated win. With 76 mn votes, it was his highest tally ever | P9 Ad-hoc panel dissolved, WFI requests nat’l camp F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Chennai The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) on Monday dissolved the ad-hoc committee formed on December 27, 2023 to manage the day-to-day affairs of the Wrestling Federation of India (WFI). The decision paved the way for the federation led by Sanjay Kumar Singh, considered a close associate of former WFI president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, to take administrative control of the sport. “The decision to dissolve the Ad-hoc Committee comes in light of the lifting of the ban on the Wrestling Federation of In- dia (WFI) by the United World Wrestling (UWW) and the successful completion of Selection Trials by the Ad-hoc Committee appointed by the IOA as per the directives of the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi,” said the IOA order. Interestingly, the spor ts ministry — which on December 24, 2023 directed the IOA to form the ad-hoc committee three days after the Sanjay Singh-led panel won 13 out of 15 posts in the election — has not issued any order this time. The IOA also instructed WFI to appoint a “Safeguarding Com- mittee” to address concerns of sexual harassment apart from conducting elections of the Athletes’ Commission. Soon after the order, Sanjay Singh wrote to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) requesting it to facilitate the hosting of national camps for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Games Qualifier scheduled next month. “The top-four (gold, silver and two bronze medallists) of the trials are eligible for the camp,” Sanjay Singh told this daily . This means Vinesh, who par- ticipated in two weight categories — 50kg and 53kg winning the first and finishing with bronze in the second — will be named as a camper. Bajrang Punia, who lost the 65kg semifinal before skipping the bronze medal bout, may miss out. Sources, however, believe he can still make it if SAI wants. “If the SAI wants to add names including of Bajrang, it can do that,” said a WFI source. Notably Bajrang and Vinesh, , along with Sakshi Malik, spearheaded the protest against Brij Bhushan last year accusing the UP strongman of sexual harassment. The ED has also issued a ninth summons to Kejriwal to appear for questioning on March 21 in the excise policylinked money laundering case. “It is beyond understanding when the ED will stop serving the BJP’s political agenda. The ED served notices and the CM replied to them saying they were illegal. The ED went to court against him. When the matter is in court, what is the urgency of sending another notice,” the AAP asked. “If the BJP wants to arrest Kejriwal, it does not need summons, AAP leader Gopal Rai said. “If you believe in the Constitution, wait for the court’s decision. The court will hear the matter on April 1,” he added. ED raids 10 locations in fake cancer drug case U J W A L J A L A L I @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) swooped down on at least 10 locations in the national capital and its adjoining areas in connection with a fake cancer drug racket that was recently busted by the Crime Branch of the Delhi Police. According to official sources, the raids were conducted at locations in Delhi-NCR, and around `65 lakh in cash recovered from two places. The ED learned about a big scam involving fake cancer drugs being made and distributed to hospitals in Delhi-NCR. It then registered a money laundering case. Twelve people, including two employees of a hospital and a BTech from IIT-BHU, were held and an illegal unit involved in crime was also busted. The accused were identified as Viphil Jain (46), Suraj Shat (28), Neeraj Chauhan (38), Parvez (33), Komal Tiwari (39), Abhinay Kohli (30) and Tushar Chauhan (28), Aditya Krishna (23), Rohit Singh Bisht (36), Jitendra (33), Majid Khan (34), and Sajid(33). According to the sources, during the raids, the premises of the main suspects and their associates such as Viphil Jain, Suraj Shat, Neeraj Chauhan, Parvez Malik, Komal Tiwari, Abhinay and Tushar Chauhan were covered. “Out of the total cash, `23 lakh was recovered from a bean bag kept in the house of Suraj Sharma,” the sources said. While unearthing the racket, the police had conducted simultaneous raids at two flats in Moti Nagar, one in South City, Gurugram, one in Yamuna Vihar, northeast Delhi, besides a cancer hospital in Delhi.
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