Vol. 65 No. 345 | TUESDAY | JUNE 14, 2022 | 17 Pages | EDITIONS: MUMBAI*, Pune, Indore, Bhopal, Konkan, E-paper DIVING SENSEX SPELLS WRATH One day, two rounds MAY RETAIL INFLATION AT 7.04%, STILL ABOVE RBI'S PREZ ELECTION: CRITICAL FOR OPPOSITION UNITY TOLERANCE BAND IT IS IMPORTANT TO BE RELEVANT IN THE CURRENT TIMES: SHILPA SHETTY KUNDRA EDIT 330c. 240c. Sunrise: 06:01 am Sunset : 07:17 pm RAHUL GANDHI’S ED INTERROGATION Equity investors lost over Rs 5.47 lakh cr in early trade on Monday FPJ BUREAU NEW DELHI Equity investors became poorer by over Rs 5.47 lakh crore in early trade on Monday amid an extremely weak trend in the broader market with the Sensex plunging over 1,500 points. The 30-share BSE benchmark tanked 1,568.46 points to 52,734.98 in early trade. The broader NSE Nifty slumped 451.9 points to 15,749.90. In line with weak trend in equities, the market capitalisation of BSE-listed firms eroded by Rs 5,47,410.81 crore to Rs 2,46,36,948.05 IPL Media Rights: BCCI richer by ` 44k cr New Delhi: Disney Star won the coveted IPL Indian subcontinent TV rights for a whopping Rs 23,575 crore, while Viacom18 grabbed the digital rights with a bid of Rs 20,500 crore at the media rights auction on Monday . The BCCI is set to laugh its way to the bank after selling its IPL TV and digital rights for the Indian sub-continent for a combined amount of Rs 44,075 crore, making it one of the richest entities in the sporting world. “Star has retained Indian TV rights of IPL for next five years while Viacom18 has got the digital rights. The combined per match value only from Indian TV and digital rights per game is 107.5 crore. With these bids, monopoly of one broadcaster in IPL ends,” a senior BCCI functionary said on condition of anonymity. – See Games BETWEEN THE LINES NO FIR AGAINST ANURAG THAKUR T he Delhi High Court on Monday upheld the trial court’s order of not registering FIR against Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports and Minister of I&B Anurag Thakur and BJP MP Parvesh Thakur for their alleged hate speeches concerning anti-CAA protest at Shaheen Bagh in 2020. ONLINE BETTING ADS BANNED T he Information and Broadcasting Ministry on Monday issued an advisory to print, electronic and digital media to refrain from advertising the online betting platforms. The ministry has also advised the online and social media to not display such ads. ATHLETE HARI CHAND DIES AT 69 T wo-time Asian Games gold medallist in long-distance running, Hari Chand, passed away on Monday morning aged 69. The former athlete was reportedly undergoing treatment in Jalandhar. Hari Chand was the winner of gold medals in 5000m and 1000m events at the 1978 Bangkok Asian Games. DISMISSED: AMAZON PETITION I n a major setback to Amazon, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) on Monday rejected the US e-commerce giant’s appeal against an antitrust suspension of its investment deal with Future Group, saying the retailer had not made full disclosures at the time of seeking approval. NCLAT also upheld a Rs 200 crore penalty imposed on Amazon by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) and asked the e-commerce giant to deposit the same in 45 days. crore in morning trade. Nifty opened gap down as equity markets across the globe are witnessing a sell-off after US May inflation data accelerated to four decades high, which raised concerns about aggressive rate hikes by US Fed in the upcoming monetary policy meeting due this Wednesday. “On the domestic side, India’s inflation data is due on Monday on account of which nervousness is likely to be seen in the market,” said Hemang Jani, head of Equity Strategy, Motilal Oswal Financial Services. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE ROUGH ROAD FOR RUPEE D ropping for the third straight session, the rupee depreciated by 11 paise to close at a fresh lifetime low of 78.04 against the US dollar on Monday as a global market meltdown and stronger greenback overseas weighed on investor sentiment. The safe-haven dollar climbed as investors wagered on accelerated rate hikes by the Federal Reserve after US consumer inflation soared to a fourdecade high in May. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Tables turned on loan recovery agents AFTER AN 8-YR HIGH, INDIA'S RETAIL INFLATION EASED SLIGHTLY TO 7.04% IN MAY. –SEE BIZ Five arrested from Karnataka for harassing Mumbai man STAFF REPORTER MUMBAI The menace of harassment by loan recovery agents finally witnessed action by the Maharashtra cyber department; the agency has arrested five agents working with a Gujarat-based loan app firm for allegedly harassing a complainant from Mumbai. The arrests were made after the cyber department was instructed to start an umbrella investigation into the unchecked vast network of loan apps, followed by dogged pursuit of technical leads and several red herrings. Cyber police officials said the five accused were picked up from Karnataka between Friday night and Saturday Actor’s son arrested for drug use Siddhanth Kapoor was DJ at the 5-star hotel party where 35 were detained SHANKAR RAJ BENGALURU East Division, Bheemashankar S Guled said, “They have all been charged under Actor Shakti Kapoor’s son Sidthe Narcotic Drugs and Psydhanth, 37, and five others chotropic Substances (NDPS) were arrested by the police on Act. They would be produced Monday for allegedly before a court.” consuming drugs Reacting to the arduring a party at the rest, Shakti Kapoor five-star Park Hotel. reportedly said, “I Acting on a tip-off, can only say one the police raided the thing – it’s not possiparty and detained 35 ble. I am not aware of guests, following anything. I have just which their samples Siddhanth Kapoor gotten up from my were sent for medical sleep and my phone tests. Five of them tested posihas started ringing. He hasn’t tive for drugs and Siddhanth been arrested but detained by Kapoor, who was the DJ at the the cops for consumption (of party was one of them, offi, drugs). I don’t think there was cials said. Siddhanth has also any possession. I have as much acted in movies like ‘Shootout information as it is coming out At Wadala’, ‘Haseena Parkar’ in the news and I am really and ‘Jazbaa’. troubled by it,” Shakti Kapoor District General of Police, said. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE Mamata, not WB Guv, is chancellor of varsities FPJ BUREAU / KOLKATA The West Bengal assembly on Monday passed a bill that sought to replace Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the chancellor of all staterun universities. Opposition to the bill by BJP legislators was in vain; they had alleged that appointing the chief minister as chancellor would lead to direct “political interference” in the state’s higher education system. State education minister Bratya Basu, after introducing the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022 in the House, said there was “nothing wrong” in the chief minister taking over as the chancellor. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE morning, and brought to Mumbai on Sunday The ac. cused include an MBA graduate, and they were all given a target of recovering at least Rs 40,000 per day . Thousands of complaints against loan apps have been logged so far from all over India on the national cybercrime portal. Officials said these complaints are forwarded to the states concerned by the portal through an artificial intelligence algorithm. Over the last three years, 2,084 such cases from complainants based in Maharashtra were received and the Maharashtra cyber started with 27 cases based in Mumbai. “We contacted each of the complainants till we reached a Mulund resident who registered a formal FIR in the matter. He had borrowed Rs 8,000 from a loan app called Happy Loans and was being harassed by recovery agents. They were threatening to send messages to his family members and friends saying that he was a rapist, along with his morphed pictures,” said Madhukar Pandey, Special Inspector General of Police, Maharashtra cyber. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE FPJ BUREAU NEW DELHI Amid protests by Congress party leaders and workers, Rahul Gandhi walked twice on Monday to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) office in New Delhi in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper. He has been asked to appear again before the agency officials today Sources . said questioning on Monday continued well past 9 pm. Gandhi, who entered the headquarters of the federal agency in central Delhi around 11.10 am, was put to questioning about 20 minutes later after he finished some brief legal proceedings and marked his attendance. He was allowed by the ED to leave for lunch around 2:10 pm and he returned around 3:30 pm. The probe pertains to alleged financial irregularities in the party-promoted Young Indian that owns the National Herald newspaper. Senior ED officials who interrogated him refused to give FPJ BUREAU / NEW DELHI Congress leader P Chidambaram suffered a fracture in his left rib after he was pushed by the Delhi police during the party’s protest on Monday Chidambaram tweeted, . “When three big, burly policemen crash into you, you are lucky to get away with a suspected hairline crack. Doctors have said… It will heal by itself in about 10 days. I am fine and I will go about my work tomor- KAMAL MISHRA MUMBAI A dumping plot at Wadi Bunder will no longer remain an eyesore and nuisance to olfactory neurons. The Central Railway (CR) has turned a 2,000 sq ft plot into home for 400 plants of 23 different species to attract the city's best butterflies. For now, there are just saplings of Dark Blue Tiger (Tirumala Limniace), Blue Mormon, Tawny Rajah (Charaxes Bernardus), Striped Tiger (Danaus Genutia), Orchid Tit, Common Jezebel (Delias Eucharis), Tawny Coster (Acraea Violae) and Restricted Spotted and Flat. With monsoon rains, they will soon turn into heavy bushes that will sustain the entire cycle of butterflies. It also has jet watering facilities to provide a vibrant atmosphere in the dry months from November to May . Permaculture expert Samir Paleja said India is home to 1,500 species of butterflies, and 153 are found in Mumbai. He row.” His colleague, Randeep Surjewala, said another Congress leader, Pramod Tiwati, was thrown on the road and suffered a head injury . Meanwhile, Congress general secretary (organisation) KC Venugopal, who had recovered from a week’s bout of Covid-19 on Sunday col, lapsed in police custody after the arrest of a large number of party leaders for violation of the prohibitory orders under section 144. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE 90% Covid PREZ ELECTION Sharad Pawar's strong denial patients in home quarantine SANJAY JOG MUMBAI NCP chief Sharad Pawar, on Monday nipped in the bud all , conversation about him being the opposition’s Presidential candidate. He told party ministers and senior leaders that he is not keen. However, he said he will speak to opposition and like-minded parties to field a unanimous candidate against the BJP . Pawar and NCP MP Praful Patel will attend a meeting called by Trinamool Congress and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on June 15 to discuss the upcoming election and future course of action, including putting up a serious candidate against the BJP nominee. Pawar and Patel will be in Delhi on Tuesday and Wednesday His deci. sion is crucial, especially when the NCP’s ally Congress party in Maharashtra and Aam Aadmi Party have extended their support to him as the opposition’s candidate. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE SHEFALI PARAB-PANDIT MUMBAI 6 high tides in a week Sea waves lash the shore at Gateway of India during high tide. STAFF REPORTER MUMBAI Of the 22 high tides in the Arabian Sea this monsoon, six will occur this week alone. As per the Disaster Management Cell, they will be around 4.5 metres high, and if the city witnesses high rainfall on those days, there could be episodes of heavy inundation. As a precautionary measure, personnel have already been deployed on PIC: SALMAN ANSARI HIGH TIDE SCHEDULE the six beaches of the city by the BMC. The BMC last month washed its hands off flooding in the city during an expert conclave, , and said that flooding is bound to happen as infrastructure development is not conducive to heavy rainfall. There are 186 storm water outlets in the city . Among them 45 are below sea level, and 135 are at high tide levels; only six are at higher levels. CONTD. ON NATION PAGE June 13 11.08 am 4.56mt June 14 11.56 pm 4.77mt June 15 12.46 pm 4.86mt June 16 4.87mt 4.8mt June 17 1.35 pm A new modus operandi of sextortion surfaced after a 27-yearold man fell prey to it recently . An employee of a private firm, the man received a WhatsApp message from an unknown number, followed by a video call, in which he first saw his own face, and then half of the image changed to another man indulging in an obscene activity He disconnected the call im. mediately but soon received a , recording of the call, and was forced to pay money by the extortionist. The accused threatened to share the video with the man’s friends and relatives if he refused to pay The police said . that in most cases the victim encounters a woman in an obscene video call, but this time there was a morphed live video of another man. The Vile Parle police said the incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when the victim was at home. Later, with the blackmail message, the extortionist shared a QR code for the payment. The frightened complainant sent Rs 5,000 in three them is from September to January “At the Wadi Bundar . site, we hope to see them by September,” he said. As per CR officials, the con- cept is one of its kind in the Mumbai division. They said that in coordination with NGO Go Shoonya, they turned a dumping ground into this garden, hoping for conservation of endangered species of butterflies. The CR has also set up herbal gardens at CSMT and Igatpuri and a Miyawaki forest at LTT. Boasting of a collection of more than 120 herbs and 470 shrubs, the herbal garden includes ashwagandha, adusa, ajwain, bramhi, to name just a few. added that the plants chosen for the garden can sustain the entire cycle of most species, helping them propagate. As per Paleja, the best time to spot The city’s coronavirus numbers are still high (at over 1,200, owing to reduced testing on Sunday) but 90 per cent of them have been found to be asymptomatic and are recovering at home. At present, there are 11,331 active patients in the city of which only 1.92 , per cent or 478 are hospitalised. Meanwhile, in the last two weeks, the number of home quarantine patients has gone up from 30,000 to 1.21 lakh. During the second wave in April 2021, the number of home quarantine patients was as high as 6.27 lakh. In the third wave this year, around 10 lakh patients were isolated at home. 2.25 pm June 18 4.66mt 15.16 pm BEWARE: SEXTORTION’S UGLIER FACE SOMENDRA SHARMA MUMBAI headquarters from where the march was to begin as also all areas around the India Gate. The police were checking the identity of the Congress Working Committee members and MPs by barricading the front gate and allowing only those whose names were provided by the party office. A large number of workers, however, entered the AICC headquarters from the backside residences of the staff until the police realised and blocked even that entry . CONTD. ON NATION PAGE PUSHED BY COPS, PC FRACTURES RIB Rly dump turns a leaf, becomes a butterfly garden LAST WORD out any details on the ground that it is a preliminary investigation and they are yet to examine Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who will be questioned on June 23 since she could not turn up at an earlier date of June 8 due to Covid-19 infection. She has been in the private Gangaram Hospital since Sunday for Covid-19-related complications, but her office said she was improving. As his senior leaders and workers protested, the police had heavily barricaded all roads leading to the AICC (mt: Metres) different transactions but kept on receiving increased demands for more. Harassed with this, he approached the police and got a criminal offence registered in the matter. The police have registered a case on the charges of extortion, criminal intimidation by communication and punishment for publishing obscene material in electronic form. Early last month, when daily positive cases in the city were less than 200, around 30,000 people were home quarantined. But this number rose up to 1,21,712 till Monday As . per the BMC’s circular during the third wave, the formal home isolation period has been brought down to seven days. Since the pandemic started, 1,03,85,691 people have completed home quarantine in the city . 4 caged mongooses saved from bizman ABHITASH SINGH THANE Kalyan forest department officials on Monday rescued four mongooses caged by a Dombivli businessman who believed they would bring him luck and prosperity Forest offi. cer MD Jadhav who was part of the rescue mission said that the businessman, Vitthal Joshi, lives with his family in Shastri Nagar. He said, “We got information from neighbours that he had caged four mongooses, which is an offence under the Wildlife Conservation Act, 1972. We raided the house and have taken legal action against him.” Wildlife belongs in the wild, said Jadhav, adding that they shouldn’t be caged at home or kept as pets.