PARIS: Kylian Mbappe became Paris Saint-Germain’s all-time top scorer with his 201st goal for the club as the Ligue 1 leaders warmed up for their crunch trip to Bayern Munich with a 4-2 win over Nantes on Saturday.

The France superstar had equalled Edinson Cavani’s previous record mark of 200 goals with a brace in last week’s win at Marseille and went one better by netting in stoppage time at the Parc des Princes.

PSG had earlier squandered a two-goal lead, with Lionel Messi putting them ahead and a Jaouen Hadjam own goal making it 2-0 inside 17 minutes before Nantes fought back to draw level.

Ludovic Blas pulled one back for the visitors and Ignatius Ganago equalised, but Mbappe set up Danilo Pereira to put PSG back in front on the hour mark and then claimed his record-breaking goal late on.

Mbappe reached the record in just 247 appearances since signing from Monaco aged 18 in 2017.

Uruguay star Cavani needed 298 games, and seven years, to establish the previous record in 2020.

The 24-year-old Mbappe was handed a trophy by the club after the game to mark his record in an on-field presentation.

“I play to make history and I have always said I wanted to make history in France, in the capital of my country, in my city, and I am doing that. It’s magnificent, but there is still a lot to be done,” Mbappe, who finished the game as captain, told broadcaster Canal Plus.

“For me, as a native Parisian, this is special. If someone had said to me I would score the goal to beat the record while wearing the captain’s armband, I would not have believed it.”

The result saw PSG open up a lead of 11 points at the top of Ligue 1 before nearest rivals Marseille play on Sunday, and before the Qatar-owned club go to Bayern for the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.

PSG trail 1-0 from the first leg against the Bavarians and failure to progress to the quarter-finals in Europe would put a major dampener on the end of their season.

Hakimi watches from stands
Injured Moroccan star Achraf Hakimi watched from the stands at the Parc des Princes a day after he was charged with rape following accusations made by a 24-year-old woman.

Neymar was also a spectator and will not be back for the match against Bayern, while centre-back Presnel Kimpembe is set to miss the remainder of the season with an achilles injury.

Coach Christophe Galtier lost two more defenders to injury in the second half against Nantes, with skipper Marquinhos and stand-in right-back Nordi Mukiele both having to come off.

Before the game there was a minute’s applause for Just Fontaine, the legendary former France striker who scored 13 goals at the 1958 World Cup and who passed away on Wednesday aged 89.

Fontaine also coached PSG, leading them to promotion to the top tier of French football in 1974.

The Parisians went ahead in the 12th minute, with Messi turning in a deflected low cross from Nuno Mendes to score his 13th Ligue 1 goal this season.

The unfortunate Hadjam’s own goal had PSG cruising, but a Blas shot that surprised Gianluigi Donnarumma just after the half-hour mark brought Nantes back into the game and Cameroonian forward Ganago’s header made it 2-2 before the break.

PSG had also blown a two-goal lead in their last home game against Lille a fortnight ago before recovering to win 4-3, and they repeated the feat here with Mbappe playing a starring role.

His assist was headed in by Danilo to make it 3-2 just before the hosts were awarded a penalty for a foul on Mukiele, only for a VAR check to rule that the contact had taken place outside the box.

It looked like Mbappe would be made to wait for his record before he struck right at the end with a finish on the turn.

Earlier Lens missed the chance to climb above Marseille into second place as they drew 1-1 at home to northern rivals Lille, for whom Canada star Jonathan David grabbed the equaliser.

BENGALURU: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested an absconding accused in the sensational Praveen Nettaru murder case. According to informed sources, the NIA arrested accused absconder Thufail MH – the District Head of Popular Front of India (PFI) ‘Service Team’ (Hit Team) and former PFI district secretary, Kodagu — from his house in Amruthahalli in Bengaluru on March 4 late evening after setting up a decoy.

The NIA had earlier announced a reward of Rs 5 lakh for information leading to the arrest of Thufail. He was among the 20 accused chargesheeted in the Nettaru case by the NIA in January. Thufail, along with Musthafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kodaje Mohammed Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik and Ummar Farook MR, was absconding. 

The accused are members of the banned PFI and had planned and executed Nettaru’s murder to “to create terror, communal hatred and unrest in society and to further its agenda of establishing Islamic rule by 2047”, the NIA had stated in the chargesheet.

According to the NIA, Thufail had “played a significant role in PFI’s larger conspiracy to murder leaders of a particular community. He had also provided shelter and safe harbour to the three assailants in the Nettaru case at Ashiyana Residency of Koppa village, Mysuru district, who had recced and then hacked Nettaru to death.”

Thufail was accused in the Prashanth Poojari murder case registered in Kushalnagar Rural police station and also a case of attempt to murder VHP leader Ganesh. 

PFI had formed hit squads: Central agency

NETTARU — BJP’s Yuva Morcha leader — was murdered allegedly by PFI embers on July 26 last year in Bellare village in Dakshina Kannada district in full public view. Initially, the Bellare police registered an FIR and were investigating the case, but later the state government handed over the case to NIA.

The Central counter terrorism agency had stated in the chargesheet that the PFI, to further its agenda of establishing Islamic rule by 2047, had formed secret teams called ‘Service Teams or Killer Squads’ to carry out killings of its ‘perceived enemies’ and targets.

“These Service Team members were given arms as well attack training, and training in surveillance techniques in order to identify, list out and to mount surveillance on leaders belonging to certain communities and groups. These Service Team members were further trained to kill identified targets, on the instructions of senior PFI leaders,” NIA had stated.

The chargesheet had further stated that PFI leaders and members had held meetings in Bengaluru, Sullia town and Bellare village to avenge the murder of Kalanja Masood. The head of District Service Team, Mustafa Paichar was instructed to recce, identify and target a prominent member of a particular community. The PFI members, as per instructions, recced and identified four persons and among them was Nettaru, the NIA stated.

Kalanja Masood, a 19-yearold boy, was fatally attacked by a gang of eight members on the night of July 19, 2022 in Vishnunagara of Kalanja village. He was a resident of Mogral Puthur in Kasargod. He was shifted to a hospital in Mangaluru, where he later succumbed to his injuries. The accused are: Mahammed Shiyab, Abdul Basheer, Riyaz, Mustafa Paichar, Masud KA, Kod a j e Mo h amme d Sherif, Abubakkar Siddik, Noufal M, Ismail Shafi K, K Mahammad Iqbal, Shaheed M, Mahammad Shafeek G, Ummar Farook MR, Abdul Kabeer CA, Muhammad Ibrahim Sha, Sainul Abid Y, Shekh Saddam Hussain, Zakiar A, N Abdul Haris and Thufail MH.

They have been chargesheeted under Sections 120B, 153A, 302 and 34 of the IPC for criminal conspiracy, promoting enmity between different groups, murder, acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention, Sections 16, 18 and 20 of the UAPA, 1967, and Section 25(1) (a) of the Arms Act.

COIMBATORE:  A day after holding talks with Tamil Nadu government authorities over the brewing migrant workers issue in Chennai, the official delegation from Bihar visited knitwear hub Tirupur on Sunday to check on the safety of workers from the northern state after fake videos claiming attacks on the workforce had led to panic among them.

Led by Bihar Rural Development Secretary D Balamurugan, the four-member team expressed satisfaction over the steps taken by Tamil Nadu government and the Tirupur district administration to ensure safety and protection of the workers.

They discussed the issue with the officials including District Collector S Vineeth and Police Commissioner Praveen Kumar, representatives of textile industry and contractors who bring in workers from other states, Balamurugan said.

The delegation also interacted with the workers and told them not to believe in rumours and fake videos, after which they regained their confidence, as many of them considered the information coming from them to be true, the senior officer said.

“We are satisfied by the steps taken by Tamil Nadu government and the district administration in ensuring safety of the workers to allay the fears from their minds,” he said.

These confidence building measures have brought the situation to normalcy, the delegation said.

More than 1.7 lakh migrant workers are employed in Tirupur in readymade garment manufacturing and allied industries, district officials said.

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday had reassured his Bihar counterpart Nitish Kumar that all migrant workers are safe and the police of the southern state registered cases against two journalists, including the editor of a Hindi daily for spreading rumours.

The issue of fake claims on attacks in Tamil Nadu on migrant workforce snowballed into a political slugfest between the ruling DMK and the BJP.

The saffron party targeted the Nitish Kumar-led regime in Bihar, which dispatched an official team for fact finding.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday that life-savers like medicines, vaccines and medical devices were weaponised during the COVID-19 pandemic, and asserted that his government has been consistently trying to minimise India’s dependence on foreign countries in the health sector.

Addressing a post-budget webinar on ‘Health and Medical Research’, Modi said India’s health sector was marred by a lack of an integrated approach and long-term vision for decades but his government has not confined it to the health ministry alone and has dealt with it with the “whole of government” outlook.

Our entrepreneurs should ensure India doesn’t have to import any technology and becomes self-reliant, he said, highlighting various measures taken by his government to boost entrepreneurship in the field.

The prime minister said making treatment affordable has been a top priority, adding that the ‘Ayushman Bharat’, a government health insurance scheme, and ‘Jan Aushadhi’ centres, where medicines are sold at cheaper rates, have saved citizens Rs 80,000 crore and Rs 20,000 crore respectively.

The country’s pharma sector earned global confidence during the pandemic, Modi said, urging the sector to build and capitalise on the trust.

The health sector should be seen with a pre-Covid and post-Covid dividing line, he said, noting that the pandemic showed that even developed systems of prosperous countries are destroyed during such a crisis.

His government is not focusing on health care alone but overall wellness of citizens, he said.

Now critical health care infrastructure is being taken to tier 2 cities and smaller habitations, leading to the development of a health ecosystem there, he said.

The government is also focussing on ensuring that people get treatment, including testing facilities, near their homes, he added.

NEW DELHI: A CBI team on Monday visited the residence of former Bihar Chief Minister Rabri Devi in connection with “further probe” in the land for jobs scam case, officials said.

There is no search or raid taking place, they said.

The CBI had already filed its charge sheet in the case and the special court has summoned the accused, including former Railways Minister Lalu Prasad and his family members and others on March 15, they said.

The agency has kept the further probe open into the alleged scam case, they said.

The visit of the CBI team is in connection with further investigation into the case, they said.

It was alleged in the FIR that some persons, although residents of Patna in Bihar, were appointed as substitutes in Group-D posts during the period 2004-2009 in different zones of the railways located in Mumbai, Jabalpur, Kolkata, Jaipur and Hajipur and in lieu thereof, the individuals themselves or their family members transferred their land in the name of family members of Prasad and a company, AK Infosystems Private Limited, which was subsequently taken over by family members of Prasad.

It was further alleged that about 1,05,292 sq.ft.

land situated in Patna was acquired by the family members of Prasad from those persons through five sale deeds and two gift deeds and in most of the sale deeds, payment to the sellers was mentioned to be paid in cash.

The value of the land as per the existing circle rate was about Rs 4.39 crore.

The land was directly purchased by the family members of Prasad from the sellers at a rate lower than the prevalent circle rate.

The prevalent market value of the land was much higher than the circle rate.

It was alleged that due procedure and guidelines issued by the railway authority for the appointment of substitutes were not followed and later on, their services had also been regularised.

Kolkata: West Bengal Congress spokesperson Kaustav Bagchi was on Saturday morning arrested from his residence for his alleged comments against West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, a senior police officer said.

A huge team of the city’s Burtolla police station conducted a raid at Bagchi’s residence at Barrackpore in North 24 Parganas district in West Bengal at around 3.30 AM and arrested him, he said.

A complaint was lodged against Bagchi at Burtolla police station on Friday for his alleged comments against the chief minister.

“We have arrested Kaustav Bagchi from his residence in Barrackpore. We cannot talk much about it. Our officers are talking to him,” the officer told PTI.

Bagchi, a lawyer had reacted sharply and allegedly criticised the CM and Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee for her “personal attacks” on West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee President Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury after the Congress’ win in the Sagardighi bypolls.

After the arrest, Bagchi was brought to Burtolla Police Station even as party workers staged a protest outside the police station.

Bagchi has been booked under several sections of the IPC including 120(B) (criminal conspiracy), 504 (Intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other sections, he added.

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Friday granted bail to two persons arrested in a terror case.

The duo – Mohd Mustakeem and Mohd Shakeel – are suspected to be members of the Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, an terror outfit affiliated to al-Qaida.

A bench of Justice A R Masoodi and Justice O P Shukla granted the accused bail but directed them to record their attendance at their police stations concerned in the first week of every month till their trial was concluded.

The two were booked for waging war against the country and conducting terror activities.

While granting them bail, the Lucknow bench of the high court said that the two did not have any criminal history and were in jail for a year.

Thane: Police have arrested 18 Bangladeshi nationals, including 10 women, from Maharashtra’s Thane district after they were found living illegally in the country, an official said on Saturday.

The arrest was made by the Navi Mumbai police during the intervening night of March 1 and 2, he said.

“The police had received a tip-off that some Bangladeshi nationals will gather to celebrate the marriage anniversary of one of them at a building in Navi Mumbai’s Ghansoli area. Acting on it, the officials of Navi Numbai police’s crime branch raided the premises at night,” the official of Rabale police station said.

Ten women and eight men were held during the operation as they were found residing in the locality since the last around one year without any valid documents like visa and passport, he added.

An offence under the Foreigners Act, 1946 and also the Passport (Entry into India) Rules, 1950 was registered against them and investigation is on, the police said.

New Delhi: In a major move, a select group of central government employees have been given a one-time option to opt for old pension scheme, according to a Personnel Ministry order.

The employees who joined the central government services against posts advertised or notified before December 22, 2003, the day National Pension System (NPS) was notified, are eligible to join the old pension scheme under the Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021), said the order on Friday.

This option may be exercised by the government servants concerned latest by August 31, 2023.

The move came following various representations/references and court decisions in this regard, it said.

“Representations have been received…from the government servants appointed on or after 01.01.2004 requesting for extending the benefit of the pension scheme under Central Civil Services (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021) on the ground that their appointment was made against the posts/vacancies advertised/notified for recruitment prior to notification for National Pension System, referring to court judgments of various Hon’ble High Courts and Hon’ble Central Administrative Tribunals allowing such benefits to applicants,” the order said.

The matter has been examined in consultation with the Department of Financial Services, Department of Personnel & Training, Department of Expenditure and Department of Legal Affairs in the light of the various representations/references and decisions of the courts in this regard, it said.

“It has now been decided that, in all cases where the central government civil employee has been appointed against a post or vacancy which was advertised/ notified for recruitment/appointment, prior to the date of notification for National Pension System i.e. 22.12.2003 and is covered under the National Pension System on joining service on or after 01.01.2004, may be given a one-time option to be covered under the CCS(Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021),” the order said.

Those government servants who are eligible to exercise option, “but who do not exercise this option by the stipulated date”, shall continue to be covered by the National Pension System, it added.

The option once exercised shall be final, the order said.

The matter regarding coverage under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021), based on the option exercised by the government servant, shall be placed before the appointing authority.

In case the government servant fulfils the conditions for coverage under the CCS (Pension) Rules, 1972 (now 2021), necessary order in this regard shall be issued latest by 31st October, 2023, it said.

The NPS account of such government servants shall, consequently, be closed with effect from December 31, 2023.

The National Movement for Old Pension Scheme (NMOPS), an umbrella body of more than 14 lakh central and state government employees, has welcomed the government decision.

“It is a good news for the eligible central government employees. We again ask the central government to amend the existing NPS to ensure that the benefits of old pension scheme can be extended to all central government staff,” NMOPS Delhi unit head Manjeet Singh Patel said.