DGCA suspends Vistara vice-president DGCA has suspended Vikram Mohan Dayal, vice-president (training), for violating rules while providing training for pilots to switch from A320 to B787. The move comes after a detailed inquiry into alleged lapses in conversion training for pilots. Conversion training is extremely critical as it equips pilots who fly the narrow-body A320 aircraft, to efficiently operate the wide-body B787 KALABURAGI l wednesday l May 01, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION 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 The issue may impact BJP’s prospects in subsequent phases of voting in K’taka, other states Sex scandal: JDS suspends MP Prajwal E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e @ Hubballi As the alleged acts of sexual exploitation of women by JDS MP Prajwal Revanna showed all signs of becoming a big election issue ahead of the third phase of polling on May 7, the regional party swung into damage control mode by suspending the MP from the party . Former chief minister and JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy has said Prajwal has been suspended until the Special Investigation Team (SIT) submits its report. If he is found guilty, he would be expelled from the party and face action as per law. Former prime minister and JDS national president HD Deve Gowda’s grandson and JDS-BJP alliance candidate from Hassan, Prajwal Revanna, was suspended after the decision was taken at the party’s core committee meeting in Hubballi on Tuesday, and approved by Deve Gowda. The JDS and its larger alliance partner BJP had come under persistent attack from the Congress which targeted the BJP top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for having shared dais with Prajwal, seeking votes for him. All three seats contested by the JDS went to the polls on April 26, and in the remaining 14 seats in the state there will be a direct contest between the BJP and Congress. More than the regional party, the stakes are high for BJP as the issue could impact its prospects in Karnataka and other states where voting is yet to take place. While Congress workers took to the streets to protest in SIT tells Revanna, Prajwal to appear NSUI members protest at Maharani’s College in Bengaluru | Shashidhar Byrappa Our stand in this case is clear and we will not tolerate women’s harassment. If the Congress leaders knew about it before, why didn’t they take action earlier? — Amit Shah, Union Home Minister various places of Karnataka, besides its leaders launching a scathing attack on the BJPJDS alliance, Kumaraswamy said if Prajwal was found guilty, he should be punished as per the law of the land. The BJP top brass has clarified its stand saying they were not going to tolerate harassment against women. The latest developments have put Congress and the BJP-JDS alliance in a sparring mode. Top national and state Congress leaders are questioning BJP’s silence on the issue and hinted at its top leaders being aware of Prajwal’s involvement in the scandal much before giving him a ticket as a BJP-led NDA candidate from Hassan. Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Guwahati, “The Congress is trying to put the blame on us. But I want to ask whose government is it in Karnataka? It’s the Congress party’s gover nment. The fake video must have come to your notice because it was released on time. Why has the Congress not taken action so far? We don’t have to take action as law and order is a state subject.”  P4 Dube, Samson in; KL, Rinku out for T20 WC S w a r o o p S w a mi n at h a n @ Chennai THE Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) erred on the side of caution as they named the 15-member squad tasked with ending a 11-year ICC title drought. Both Rohit Sharma (as captain) and Virat Kohli, two of the ever-presents in the last five T20 World Cups since 2012, kept their place for the upcoming event in t h e U S a n d We s t Indies. Interestingly, the squad is a mix of people who have performed admirably at the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) and a few who have been below par. KL Rahul was expected to be in the reckoning as a back-up opener and keeper but Sanju Samson has been preferred instead. Samson, who bats in that critical No. 3 position for Rajasthan, will probably be asked to finish games if he’s selected on match day. All said, the top seven could be a carbon copy of the lineup that featured at the World Cup in the UAE in 2021, with the only change being Yashasvi Jaiswal for KL Rahul. That being the case, one wonders how they will make room for the likes of Shivam Dube and Samson in the line-up. Rishabh Pant, who last played for India in December 2022, is expected to be the starting keeper while Hardik Pandya, the vice-captain, and Ravindra Jadeja will be the two starting allrounders. Among the bowlers, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh and Mohammed Siraj may be expected to start but on spinning surfaces, one of Arshdeep or Siraj could make way for Yuzvendra Chahal. Rinku Singh, Kolkata’s designated finisher and somebody who was groomed in that role by the national selectors, didn’t make the cut.  P15 e x p r e ss r e a d No water to maintain flow in Cauvery Basin: CWRC E J A Z KA I S E R @ Raipur The banned CPI (Maoist) on Tuesday suffered fresh reverses, with the elimination of 10 fighters, including three women, in yet another encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarh. The gunfight was on when last reports came in. The encounter happened at the TekmetaKakur forested terrain along the borders of the Narayanpur and Kanker districts in south Chhattisgarh. This was the second major blow to the Maoists within 15 days. On April 16, as many as 29 of them were killed. In all, 58 were eliminated this month alone in the state (see box). As many as 91 Maoists have been killed this year in the Bastar region so far. “It was an intelligence-based operation strategically carried out by security personnel. The gun battle ensued in Abujhmad area where a joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and District Re- serve Guard (DRG) was out on a anti-Maoist operation around 6 am. Ten bodies, including those of three women cadre of the banned outfit, have so far been recovered besides automatic weapons and ammunition,” Prabhat Kumar, Narayanpur district police chief, told this newspaper. The bodies are yet to be identified. The operation was carried out around 45 km away from the district headquarter of Narayanpur. The DRG took control of the core area of the exercise while the fringe locations close to Kanker border were under the command of STF from different directions. State home minister Vijay Sharma said the forces also recovered a cache of arms, explosives and ammunition, including one AK47 assault rifle. No jawan was injured. In recent months, security forces have carried out aggressive anti-Maoist operations, targeting them in areas considered to be the latter’s strongholds in the Bastar zone. Bengaluru sizzles, records highest temp of 41.8oCelsius B o s k y K h a n n a @ Bengaluru A labourer pulls a sack-laden cart in the scorching heat, on the eve of May Day (International Labour Day), in Bengaluru on Tuesday | Shashidhar Byrappa Kengeri in Bengaluru recorded the highest temperature of 41.8 degrees Celsius on Tuesday Biddaranahalli also . in Bengaluru recorded 41.3 degrees Celsius the same day ac, cording to Karnataka State Natural Disaster Monitoring Centre (KSNDMC). Officials from the India Meteorological Department (IMD), however, said that it is possible that the temperatures have crossed 40 degrees Celsius in Bengaluru. Local factors play a major role in the rise of temperatures in respective locations. IMD has limited observatories, while KSNDMC has many. They might have recorded the highest temperatures in those areas. The India Meteorological Department has issued a heat wave alert for Bidar, Kalaburagi, Vijayapura, Yadgir, Raichur, Bagalkot, Belagavi, Gadag, Dharwad, Haveri, Koppal, Vijayanagara, Davanagere, Chitradurga, Tumakuru, Kolar, Mandya, Ballari, Hassan, Chamarajanagar, Bengaluru Urban, Bengaluru Rural, Ramanagara, Mysuru, Chikkamagaluru (Plains) and Chikkaballapura districts till May 5. According to IMD, the maximum temperature Bengaluru City observatory recorded was 38.2 degrees Celsius and HAL airport 37.5 degrees Celsius on Tuesday. Kalaburagi recorded the highest maximum temperature of 42.8 degrees Celsius. At 3 pm, Bangalore University recorded 40 degrees Celsius, Hessarghatta 40.1 degrees Celsius, Lal Bagh 40.5 degrees Celsius, Yelahanka 40.8 degrees Celsius (at 3.30 pm), Tavarekere 40.3 degrees Celsius and Uttarahalli 39.9 degrees Celsius, according to KSNDMC.  CONTINUED ON: P5 Battle of a different kind in saffron citadel Vidisha ANURAA G S I N G H @ Bhopal IN Madhya Pradesh’s Vidisha Lok Sabha constituency, nobody bothers to debate who will win this time. All discussions are about the victory margin of the BJP candidate, former CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Vidisha has been a saffron citadel right from its formation, electing Pandit Shiv Sharma of the erstwhile Jan Sangh in its first election in 1967. Since then, the constituency has always chosen right-wing candidates, except in 1980 and 1984 when Congress’ Pratap Bhanu Sharma triumphed. The Congress warhorse is now back in the race to challenge Chouhan, who has won five times from Vidisha. The contest is keenly watched because Sharma, now 77 years, is the only Congress leader to have won the seat in the past 57 years. “ Ask anyone from any of the eight assembly segments of the Vidisha constituency, the one liner reply will be Chouhan’s win is a foregone conclusion. The only thing to be seen is how big will Chouhan’s margin be,” says Vidisha-based political analyst Ajay Jain. For BJP workers, the primary goal is to increase voter turnout and give Chouhan a resounding win. “We’re trying to get 80-90% turnout in the constituency, which houses 19.38 lakh voters. Out target margin is 8-9 lakh votes, which will be a record in the country says Atul Verma, a ,” BJP worker. BJP supporters in Vidisha believe a record margin will give new wings to Chouhan to begin his stint in national politics. Adding to their hope is Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s promise at a recent poll rally about ‘the big role’ awaiting Chouhan in Delhi. As for the Congress, party insiders concede that Chouhan has a clear edge. So, the strategy is to reduce his margin. Chouhan’s margin was 2.6 lakh votes in 2004, the last time he contested from Vidisha. Eyeing a massive win this time, Chouhan has been campaigning aggressively .Sharma is also travelling extensively, braving his advanced age and rising mercury Sitting MP Ramakant Bhar. gava had won by 5 lakh votes in 2019. Ex-PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s margin was 1.04 lakh votes in 1991, while former Union minister Sushma Swaraj won Vidisha by 3.89 lakh votes in 2009. The New Indian Express founder Ramnath Goenka had won the seat as a Bharatiya Jana Sangh candidate in 1971 by 32,000 votes. Illustration: Mandar Pardikar New Delhi: The Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) on Tuesday rejected Tamil Nadu’s demand for further further release of Cauvery river water from Karnataka’s reservoirs as the water scarcity situation became grim. The committee stated that both states have just enough water in the reservoirs to meet the drinking water demands. “Water in reservoirs is so low that it is only enough for domestic drinking purposes,” Vineet Gupta, Chairman, CWRC, told TNIE, after the 95th meeting. P5 Bengaluru: The Special Investigation Team (SIT), formed to probe the alleged sex scandal involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna, issued notices to him and his father HD Revanna, JDS leader and MLA, on Tuesday. The SIT is said to have asked Prajwal and his father to appear before it in connection with a complaint filed against them by one of the victims at the Holenarasipur town police station on April 28. In the complaint, the victim, a former cook at Revanna’s house, accused Prajwal and Revanna of sexually harassing her. Revanna is accused No 1 and Prajwal accused No 2 in the case. Prajwal is said to be in Europe now. On Monday, Revanna said that his son had not fled the country. Prajwal will appear before SIT whenever he is summoned. “We will not run away and will fight the case legally,” Revanna added. 3 women among 10 Maoists killed in C’garh encounter