YK MYK RAJ’S WAR AGAINST HIS UDDHAV IS LEADING TO TURMOIL IN MAHA OPINION Rs. 5 RANCHI THURSDAY, 5 MAY, 2022 PG-12, YEAR—11, ISSUE—351 (RNI NO: JHAENG / 2012 / 44137) TIME FOR LALIT YADAV TO DELIVER AS DC FIGHT SRH TO STAY ALIVE IN IPL SPORTS Morning India Hemant Soren’s mine lease case deepens, change of guard in the offing in Jharkhand! ANURAG THAKUR AT A GLANCE ICC RANKINGS: AUS CONSOLIDATE TOP SPOT IN TESTS, INDIA ARE NO. 1 IN T20IS DUBAI: Australia have increased their lead over second-placed India from one to nine rating points while Pakistan have overtaken England to fifth position in the ICC Men’s Test Team Rankings following the annual update carried out on Wednesday. Australia, who beat England 4-0 in a fivematch home series in January, have moved from 119 to 128 rating points in the annual update that drops the 2018-19 season and reflects all series completed since May 2019. Series completed prior to May 2021 are now weighted at 50 per cent and subsequent series at 100 per cent. India have also gained a point to move to 119 while England have had the biggest decrease of nine points as their 4-1 series win over India in 2018 is now dropped from the rankings. England’s 88 rating points is their lowest since 1995. SUFFICIENT SUGAR STOCKS THIS YEAR: GOVT NEW DELHI: Even when the carryover stocks from last year (2020-21) at 85 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) are substantially less than previous year’s 110 LMT (2020-21), the production of sugar this year is estimated at 355 LMT against last year’s 310 LMT, government data showed on Wednesday. That will make the total sugar availability at 440 LMT compared to 420 LMT last year. CORONA METER INDIA TOTAL CASES: 43,088,401 TOTAL DEATHS: 523,920 WORLD TOTAL CASES: 514,863,027 TOTAL DEATHS: 6,266,432 RANCHI: The politics of Jharkhand is scorching in the case of mine lease case in the name of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. The CM has to reply to the Election Commission of India in this matter by May 10. Hemant Soren has only six days left. Soon, Soren will send his reply to the Election Commission. In this regard, the Chief Minister’s Office has started preparing the answer. Hemant Soren is also preparing from his side. During his stay in Delhi, Chief Minister Hemant Soren has consulted senior Supreme Court advocates Kapil Sibal and Abhishek Manu Singhvi on this matter. According to the information, JMM is working on many options; Sources from political corridor say that the Chief Minister is preparing to give another petition, the discussion of change of leadership has also started. It is being said that if the situation does not appear in favor of Hemant Soren, then he can resign from the post of Chief Minister and hand over the reins of the state to Guruji Shibu Soren. JMM sources said that there will be no differences in the party in the name of Guruji and after this Hemant Soren can openly fight the legal battle. JMM is also preparing to go to the Supreme Court on this matter. It is being told that JMM may ask for additional time from the Election Commission on the ground that CM Hemant Soren is busy in the treatment of his mother and seeking advice from legal experts. Meanwhile, the main opposition party of the state, BJP is continuously targeting the Hemant government. On Tuesday, State BJP President Deepak Prakash has gone to Delhi to talk to the top leaders of the party in this regard. At the same time, JMM’s central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya has also gone to Delhi and will take opinion from legal experts on this matter. The Congress, the main ally of the Hemant government, is also keeping a close eye on the entire development. On Wednesday, state Congress in-charge Avinash Pandey headed a meeting in Ranchi and said that Congress is in full support with JMM and the government is stable. He also said that the coalition government is neither confused nor scared by the notice of the Election Commission. The Congress is not even worried. On a question of notice, Pandey claimed that by RBI hikes interest rate by 40 bps to 4.40% MUMBAI: In a move that will raise borrowing costs for corporates and individuals, the RBI on Wednesday after an unscheduled MPC meeting hiked the benchmark lending rate by 40 basis points (bps) to 4.40 per cent to contain inflation that has remained stubbornly above the target of 6 per cent for the last three months. The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) headed by RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das also raised the amount of deposits banks are required to maintain a cash reserve by 50 bps to 4.5 per cent to suck out Rs 87,000 crore of liquidity from the banking system. The CRR hike will be effective from May 21. This is the first-rate hike since August 2018 and the first instance of the MPC making an unscheduled increase in the repo rate (the rate at which banks borrow from the RBI). The MPC unanimously voted for a rate hike while maintaining the accommodative stance. While the inflation has remained above the targetted 6 per cent since January, Das said the inflation print in April is also likely to be high. The retail inflation print for March stood at 6.9 per cent. The governor said the MPC decision reversed the May 2020 interest rate cut by an equal amount. The central bank had last revised its policy repo rate or the short-term lending rate on May 22, 2020, in an offpolicy cycle to perk up demand by cutting the interest rate to a historic low of 4 per cent. The announcement comes days after the 595th meeting of the Central Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India. On Monday, the central board of the RBI approved the nomination of Rajiv Ranjan as a member of the MPC. Ranjan replaced Mridul Saggar, who retired on April 30. MORE ON PG 9 sending a notice, if anyone understands that the government is in danger, then it is ridiculous. Simply, such activities are tossed by the media, which creates a state of confusion in the minds of the people. At the same time, former state president of Congress and state finance minister Rameshwar Oraon is in Delhi. According to the information, he will meet Congress National President Sonia Gandhi and inform about the latest political situation in the state. However, in the matter of taking the lease of stone mining, CM Hemant Soren has to present his side before the Election Commission by May 10. Here, according to Delhi sources of the Election Commission, preparations are being made to send CENTRE GIVES NOD FOR DIVERSION OF FOREST LAND FOR DEVP IN NAXAL-AFFECTED STATES NEW DELHI: For rapid development in the Left Wing Extremism (LWE) or Naxal-affected states, the Central government gave approval for the diversion of forest land for infrastructure-related projects in 14 categories in 20202021. The approval was granted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change mentioning the Ministry of Home Affairs’ recently published annual report 20202021. "Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has given general approval for diversion of forest land for infrastructure-related projects in 14 categories relating to schools, dispensaries, hospitals, electrical and telecommunication lines, drinking water projects, water and rain harvesting structures, minor irrigation canals, nonconventional sources of energy, skill upgradation and vocational training centre as well as rural roads," the report said. ISRO PLANS MISSION TO VENUS, EYES DEC 2024 LAUNCH WINDOW NEW DELHI: After sending missions to the Moon and Mars, the ISRO is now readying a spacecraft to orbit Venus to study what lies below the surface of the solar system’s hottest planet, and also unravel the mysteries under the Sulfuric Acid clouds enveloping it. Addressing a day-long meeting on Venusian science, Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) Chairman S Somnath said the Venus mission has been conceived, a project report made and "money identi- fied". He urged scientists to focus on high-impact outcomes. "Building and putting a mission on Venus is possible for India in a very short space of time as the capability today exists with India," Somnath said in his inaugural address. The space agency is eyeing the December 2024 window for its launch with orbital maneuvers planned for the following year when earth and Venus would be so aligned that the spacecraft could be put in the neigh- bouring planet’s orbit using a minimum amount of propellant. The next similar window would be available in 2031. Somnath cautioned against repeating experi- ments conducted by previous missions to the Venus and focus on unique high-impact outcomes as were achieved by Chandrayaan-I and Mars Orbiter Mission. Among the experiments planned include an investigation of the surface processes and shallow sub-surface stratigraphy, including active volcanic hotspots and lava flows, studying the structure, composition, and dynamics of the atmosphere, and investigation of solar wind interaction with the Venusian Ionosphere. notices to Hemant in two other corruption cases as well. There have been allegations of corruption against the CM by misusing the post. The Election Commission has received a complaint related to corruption against the CM. In the light of this complaint, preparations are being made to send the notice. According to the information received so far, Chief Minister Hemant Soren will return to Ranchi from Hyderabad on Wednesday. After returning to Ranchi, the Chief Minister will consult the eminent legal experts of the country on the mine lease case. According to the Chief Minister’s Office, the CM’s answer will be prepared in consultation with experienced lawyers of Jharkhand High Court and Supreme Court. Notably, on Monday, the Election Commission of India has given notice of action to Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and sought his favor. This case is related to taking a mining lease in the name of Hemant Soren. This was surrendered after a few days. The commission has asked Chief Minister, why your membership should not be canceled under Section 9A of the Representation of the People Act. According to constitu- tional expert Subhash Kashyap, since this matter comes under the jurisdiction of the Election Commission, the final decision has to be taken by them, which will also be binding. He says that the commission has issued the notice, so now everything will depend on the answer of Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Notably, Soren claims that he has returned the lease and he did not make any profit from the mine, but it has to be seen how he is able to present evidence before the commission. In such a situation, Kashyap says on the constitutional system three points will be decisive in its determination. The first is that the concerned undertaking does not have any office, does not earn any profit from it and does it come under any government? If the commission’s decision comes against Soren, he can challenge it in court. JMM’s central general secretary Supriyo Bhattacharya said that legal experts have been contacted regarding the notice given by the Election Commission of India in the mining lease case of the CM. Reply to the notice of the Election Commission will be given. Opinions are being taken from legal experts, he added. Khunti: PLFI commander killed in police encounter SANJAY SAHAY RANCHI: Acting on a tip off Khunti police has killed a top People Liberation Front of India (PLFI) extremist Laka Pahan near Kota village under the Murhu police station area on Wednesday morning. A country made pistol, several live and empty cartridges, three mobile phones, 11 mobile keypads keypads, 66 mobile sims and receipts related to PLFI were recovered from him. Laka was accused in 61 cases registered with different police stations of Khunti, Ranchi and West Singhbhum districts. Police said that Laka was accused of rape, murder, extortion; arms act attack on police team and other serious crimes. Speaking to media persons Khunti SP Aman Kumar on Wednesday evening said acting on a tip off regarding presence of PLFI extremist in Kota, a small action team was sent to the area to verify the information and take appropriate action. The SP said, "As the team was carrying out search operation the PLFI squad fired upon the police forcing the latter to retaliate in self defence. The extremist fled away from the spot after a sometime. During search operation the body of an extremist was found which was later identified as that of Laka." Police informed that the Laka was recently promoted as secretary of the PLFI south Chotanagpur zonal committee. He had joined the PLFI in 2008 and was arrested by the police in June 2012. After his release on bail in 2020 he joined the organisation again and committed several crimes. He has instilled fear among the people in several areas of Khunti, Chaibasa and Ranchi districts. His elimination is termed as a big setback for the PLFI. The team, which took part in the operation, comprised officer in charge of the Murhu police station Vikrant Kumar.