11 SECURITY FORCES MEN KILLED IN CHHATTISGARH MAOIST ATTACK

Ten jawans from the District Reserve Guard (DRG) and their driver were killed when an IED planted by Maoists exploded in south Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district, over 350 km from state capital Raipur, on Wednesday afternoon.

This is the biggest attack carried out by Maoists on the security forces in the state in the last two years – in 2021, 22 security personnel were killed in an ambush along the border of Sukma and Bijapur districts.

The slain security personnel were from the District Reserve Guard (DRG), a state force designed to carry out anti-Maoist operations.

Following the attack, Inspector General of Police for Bastar range, Sundarraj P, said, “Acting on information of Maoist presence in the area, an operation was conducted by the Deputy Inspector General. As they were returning to the Dantewada headquarters, the team was targeted by the Maoists. Reinforcements of the CRPF and DRG have been sent to the spot. Search operations are underway and senior officials are there. The process of removing the bodies of the slain personnel is underway.”

The DRG, a special force of the Chhattisgarh police, was formed to carry out anti-Maoist operations in the state. It has inducted mostly local tribals in the force, especially from the Bastar region, and has performed several successful anti-Maoist operations there. “It is a measure of their activity that in all recent attacks, it is the DRG personnel who have been targeted by the Maoists,” a Chhattisgarh police officer said.

Speaking to reporters, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said “this fight is in its last stage” and “Naxals won’t be spared”.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah spoke to Baghel and took stock of the situation, while assuring the CM that the Centre would extend all possible help to the state govt.

In a tweet, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrote: “Strongly condemn the attack on the Chhattisgarh police in Dantewada. I pay my tributes to the brave personnel we lost in the attack. Their sacrifice will always be remembered. My condolences to the bereaved families.”

SAME SEX MARRIAGE: CONTENTIOUS, LEAVE IT TO PARLIAMENT, SAYS GOVT

Terming same-sex marriage a “very complex subject having a profound social impact”, the Centre yesterday urged the Supreme Court to leave it to the Parliament to deal with the contentious issue.

On day five of the hearing on petitions seeking legal recognition to same-sex marriage in India, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a five-judge Constitution Bench led by CJI DY Chandrachud that the legislative policy in India had traditionally been to recognise a ‘conventional man’ and a ‘conventional woman’ for the purpose of marriage.

“The real question is who would take a call as to what constitutes a marriage between a particular class of people…. The only constitutionally permissible solution would be to wait for Parliament to deal with it,” Mehta submitted before the Bench. Contending that the judiciary was ill-equipped to deal with the ‘varieties of situations’ that would arise as a consequence declaring marriage equality, he said, “Only the Parliament or state legislatures can envision the situations that may arise and provide for their regulation. It would be impossible for the court to conceive of all situations.”

1ST BATCH OF 360 INDIAN EVACUEES LANDS IN DELHI

The first batch of Indian nationals evacuated from strife-torn Sudan landed in Delhi on Wednesday, heaving a sigh of relief after returning to their homeland.

India has evacuated at least 534 Indian nationals from Sudan and is looking to rescue more of its citizens from the strife-torn African nation before the end of a tenuous ceasefire between the regular army and a paramilitary force.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar took to Twitter to share images of the evacuees after their arrival in Delhi.

“India welcomes back its own. Operation Kaveri brings 360 Indian nationals to the homeland as first flight reaches New Delhi,” he tweeted.

Two C-130J military transport aircraft of the Indian Air Force brought to Jeddah 256 Indians from Port Sudan on Wednesday, a day after an Indian Navy ship rescued 278 citizens from that country.

PM: NO GOING BACK ON FIGHT AGAINST GRAFT

In wide ranging remarks encapsulating nine years of his dispensation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the fight against corruption and dynastic politics would continue no matter how strong an alliance the corrupt formed.

Describing the BJP govt’s approach against corruption as “integrated and institutional rather than half-hearted and isolated”, the PM, addressing a television channel event, said he was not going to retreat from his path.

“No matter how formidable an alliance the corrupt form, Modi is not going to retreat from the path of war against corruption, no matter what. My fight against corruption and family-based politics will continue,” said the PM, accusing the erstwhile Congress-led UPA govt of “institutionalising corruption and sending monies into accounts of 10 crore fake beneficiaries which the NDA govt weeded out”.

INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS

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XI DIALS ZELENSKYY, OFFERS MEDIATION TO END CONFLICT

Chinese President Xi Jinping on Wednesday told his Ukraine counterpart Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Beijing would dispatch a special envoy on Eurasian affairs to visit Ukraine and related countries to have in-depth communication on the political settlement of the Ukraine crisis.

Xi spoke on the phone to Zelenskyy for the first time since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. Xi had visited Moscow last month and had met his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin. China is among a large number of countries, including India and South Africa, which have not criticised Russia despite intense pressure from the West.

Xi had earlier played peacemaker between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

China has proposed a 12-point peace plan for Ukraine which, the West says, is too vague and could offer Putin space to leave his forces in control of occupied territory.

Xi also told the Ukrainian President that dialogue and negotiations were the only viable way out for the Ukraine crisis, and “no one wins a nuclear war”, reported the state-owned Global Times.

China will focus on promoting peace talks, and make efforts for a ceasefire as soon as possible, Xi told Zelenskyy, it added. “As a permanent member of the UN Security Council and responsible major country, we will neither sit idly by, nor pour oil on fire, still less seek to profit from it,” Xi reportedly said. Ukraine is currently poised to launch a counteroffensive with Western equipment and guidance.

BIDEN SAYS NUCLEAR ATTACK BY NORTH KOREA WOULD RESULT IN "END OF REGIME"

US President Joe Biden and his South Korean counterpart Yoon Suk Yeol warned North Korea it would face a nuclear response and the "end" of the leadership there if Pyongyang uses its own arsenal.

Speaking at the White House after Oval Office talks during only the second state visit so far in the Biden presidency, the two leaders said the US security shield for South Korea was being strengthened in the face of the nuclear-armed North's aggressive missile tests.

And they made clear that if the isolated, communist dictatorship in North Korea attacks the South or the United States, the response will be devastating. "A nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies... will result in the end of whatever regime were to take such an action," Biden told reporters at a joint press conference with Yoon.

Yoon said his priority was to secure peace through "superiority of overwhelming forces and not a false peace based on the goodwill of the other side."

THE REST

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PM MODI AMONG OTHERS TO PAY LAST RESPECTS TO BADAL

A host of dignitaries, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, paid their last respects to five-time former Punjab CM and SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal in Chandigarh yesterday.

Modi paid homage to the late leader and also met SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal and his family members at the party’s office in Sector 28, Chandigarh. In a condolence message, the PM described Badal as a colossal figure and his death a personal loss.

Former PM Manmohan Singh, in a message to the bereaved family, expressed condolences. He acknowledged the late leader’s contribution to the welfare of farmers and weaker sections.

The Union Cabinet passed a resolution condoling Badal’s demise.

The five-time former CM and SAD patron Parkash Singh Badal’s cremation will take place at Badal village in Muktsar today.

KARNATAKA POLLS: BJP LEADERS PULL ‘RELIGION CARD’ ON CONG

The campaigning for the May 10 Karnataka elections intensified on Wednesday with the BJP, the Congress and the JD-S fielding top guns to woo voters in the high-stakes battle for the 224-member Assembly.

The ruling BJP fielded several senior leaders with Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and UP CM Yogi Adityanath attacking the Congress for playing the “religion card to attain power and implementing the now-scrapped 4 per cent reservation for Muslims in the state which was unconstitutional”.

In Belagavi, Rajnath questioned the Congress for practising the politics of mazhab. “If there is any party in the history of India that used mazhab to come to power, it is the Congress...To appease Muslims, four per cent reservation was given on religious lines,” he alleged.

Adityanath accused the grand old party of “continuing to divide the nation years after India was partitioned”. He was also referring to the Muslim reservation, which the Karnataka Govt ended days before the model code was enforced.

Meanwhile, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra,  sought to evoke public sympathy over Rahul’s recent disqualification as Lok Sabha MP following a two-year sentencing by a Surat court. Addressing a rally in Chikmagalur’s Sringeri, Priyanka said, “In 1978, when Indiraji visited Chikmagalur, she was undergoing a difficult period. In that tough time, people of Chikmagalur stood with her. Today also, Rahulji and my family are entangled in tough times. We have confidence that people will stand with us.”

MAMATA BANERJEE'S "DELHI CONSPIRACY" ALLEGATION ON A SCHOOL HOSTAGE SITUATION

A man brandishing a gun was tackled and arrested by the police as he threatened to hold a classroom full of children hostage at gunpoint in West Bengal's Malda. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said a disaster had been averted by the police's timely action, adding that the act may not have been one of lunacy.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, "I must congratulate my police officials and the media who have saved us from a deep sea of conspiracy. There is a conspiracy around Bengal, and I believe Delhi is involved in this. I don't know who exactly is doing this, but this is Delhi's conspiracy A-Z. Wherever there is an opposition party state there is an attempt to disturb, and they have been doing it to me from the beginning."

She further alleged that no common man would have been able to execute this. "Where did he learn the word (hostages) from? When people who do these kinds of things are caught, they immediately say it's a lunatic. Who gave him the idea that you can take hostages like this?"

BJP, CONG SLAM KEJRIWAL FOR 45 CR RENOVATION BILL FOR CM’S BUNGALOW

The BJP has alleged that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal spent Rs 45 crore to renovate his govt bungalow amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The Aam Aadmi Party, however, defended the renovation, saying the bungalow was 80 years old, adding that Prime Minister Narendra Modi spent Rs 90 crore to renovate his official residence during the same time.

The BJP made its allegations under what it termed ‘Operation Sheesh Mahal’, referring to Kejriwal as “maharaj (king)”.

“It is the same maharaj who used to say ‘I won’t take the govt house, car or anything’,” BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said at a press conference at the party headquarters Wednesday. “This is a story of that maharaj”s mental transformation. In 2013, he signed an affidavit that he won’t take extra security, a red beacon car, or a big bungalow.”

In 2013, before the Delhi elections, all the AAP leaders had submitted an affidavit for austerity, pledging to live like the common man, and shunning VIP symbols.

Senior Delhi Congress leader Ajay Maken also criticised Kejriwal over the renovation exercise, and questioned his right to remain in his position as a public servant.CM’son CM’s bungalow

NEED PRELIMINARY PROBE BEFORE FIR AGAINST WFI CHIEF: DELHI POLICE TO SC

The Delhi Police on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that some kind of preliminary inquiry was needed before they could lodge an FIR over sexual harassment allegations levelled by seven women wrestlers, including a minor, against BJP MP and Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.

“We, prima facie, feel that there is a need to conduct a preliminary investigation before the registration of an FIR,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud on behalf of the Delhi Police. Mehta, however, said if the Bench felt an FIR was to be lodged straightaway, it could be done. “Let an impression not be created that the FIR has not been registered despite the court asking for it,” he added.

ACCUSED TO GET DEFAULT BAIL IF CHARGESHEETED POST INCOMPLETE PROBE: SC

A chargesheet or prosecution complaint cannot be filed by an investigating agency without completing the investigation of a case only to deprive an arrested accused of his right to default bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday.

“Such a chargesheet, if filed by an investigating authority without first completing the investigation, would not extinguish the right to default bail under Section 167(2) CrPC,” a Bench led by Justice Krishna Murari said.

“The trial court, in such cases, cannot continue to remand an arrested person beyond the maximum stipulated time without offering the arrested person default bail,” said the Bench which also included Justice CT Ravikumar.

“Even at the cost of repetition, we find it pertinent to mention that the right of default bail under Section 167(2) of the CrPC is not merely a statutory right, but a fundamental right that flows from Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The reason for such importance being given to a seemingly insignificant procedural formality is to ensure that no accused person is subject to unfettered and arbitrary power of the State,” the top court said.

AYURVEDIC, ALLOPATHIC DOCTORS NOT ENTITLED TO EQUAL PAY: SUPREME COURT

The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that practitioners of alternative systems of medicine such as ayurveda are not entitled to equal pay with allopathic doctors as they are not involved in performing emergency duties and complicated surgeries.

Setting aside a Gujarat High Court order, the top court said the emergency duty that allopathic doctors were capable of performing and the trauma care that they were able to provide could not be performed by ayurvedic practitioners.

It noted that even post-mortem or autopsy was not carried out by ayurvedic practitioners. The apex court was hearing appeals challenging a 2012 Gujarat HC order which held that ayurvedic practitioners were entitled to be treated on a par with doctors with MBBS degrees.

While recognising the importance of ayurvedic practitioners and the need to promote alternative or indigenous systems of medicine, a Bench of Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice Pankaj Mithal said it could not be oblivious to the fact that both categories of doctors were not performing equal work to be entitled to equal pay.

MG MOTOR UNVEILS INDIA'S CHEAPEST E-CAR COMET EV STARTING FROM RS 7.98 LAKH

MG Motor India on Wednesday launched Comet EV — India’s cheapest electric car — at prices starting from Rs 7.98 lakh. It will compete with Tata Motors’ popular compact electric vehicle (EV) Tiago that is available at prices starting from Rs 8.67 lakh.

The two-door Comet EV offers a range of 230 kilometers on a single charge, while Tata's four-door Tiago EV has a range of 250-315 km. Electric cars currently hold less than 2 per cent share of the Indian car market. However, the segment has been observing sizable growth during the last few years.

The share of EVs in MG Motor India’s total domestic sales could rise to about 30 per cent in 2023-24, according to its President Rajeev Chaba.

The bookings for Comet will begin from May 15, Chaba said. Comet will be MG Motor’s second EV in the Indian market. Its first electric car, ZS EV, a sport utility vehicle, was launched in India in 2020. “This year, our total sales target is 80,000-100,000 units,” Chaba added.

IPL MATCH 36: CLINICAL KKR DOWN RCB

Kolkata Knight Riders conjured up a spin magic after Jason Roy's sterling fifty as they snapped their four-match losing streak with a 21-win over Royal Challengers Bangalore, in Bengaluru on Wednesday.

The English opener led the show with a 29-ball 56 as Kolkata Knight Riders batters fired in unison to notch up a fighting 200/5 after RCB captain Virat Kohli opted to bowl at their home den.

But the spin duo of Varun Chakravarthy (3/24) and rookie Suyash Sharma (2/30) created a top-order mayhem, before Andre Russell (2/29) broke Kohli's resistance to restrict RCB to 179 for eight.

Leading the side in absence of Faf Du Plessis, Kohli struck a 34-ball 54 and kept their hopes up in the 201-run chase after du Plessis (17) Glenn Maxwell (5) fell cheaply. But all hell broke loose when Venkatesh Iyer took a game game-changing catch at deep midwicket boundary to dismiss Kohli, off Russell.

Wins Tally: KKR 3/8; RCB 4/8

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Bhagavad-gita was the first of books; It was as if an empire spoke to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age and climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

OFF TRACK

Yesterday, in the club we had a grand party...Almost 150 guests along-with their wives attended......During one of the party games the MC yelled, "All the married men please stand next to the one person who has made your life worth living."

The bartender was almost crushed to death......