IN MEMORY OF...

Sixteen years after

monstrous waves wiped
out a part of Tamil Nadu,
fishermen hoisted black
flags and lit candles in the
memory of those who lost
their lives to the 2004
Indian Ocean tsunami, at
Pattinapakkam beach
in Chennai on Saturday
| R SATISH BABU

CHENNAI � SUNDAY � DECEMBER 27, 2020 � `8.00 � PAGES 26 � LATE CITY EDITION
02 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020
� � THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS

WITHOUT
HARD WORK,
NOTHING
GROWS BUT
WEEDS
GORDON B HINCKLEY

H.O. BANGALORE - CHENNAI CIRCLE OFFICE E-AUCTION

RECOVERY & LEGAL SECTION
No.524, 1st Floor, Anna Salai, Teynampet,
SALE
A Government of India Undertaking
Chennai-600 018. Ph: 044 - 2432 8428 / 2432 1108 ON
E-mail: recoverycochn@canarabank.com 29.01.2021
E-Auction Sale Notice for Sale of Immovable Properties under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 read with proviso to Rule 8 (6) of the
Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002.
Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrowers that the below described immovable properties mortgaged / charged to the Secured Creditor, the Possession of which has been
������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������29.01.2021 (Time 11.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m.) (with auto
extension of 5 minutes each till sale is completed) for recovery of bank’s dues from the borrowers/guarantors. E auction arranged by the service provider CanBank Computer Services Limited, No.218,
JP Royale,1st Floor, Sampige Road, Malleswaram, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560003. through the website CCSL.CO.IN

Sl. Name and address Name of the Borrower / Guarantor / Description of the Immovable Properties / Reserve Price / EMD
No. of the Branch Mortgagor / Total liabilities
���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
PERUNGALATHUR 1) M/s.Bhavani Industrial Corporation, Smt.P.Selvi, (Proprietor/Borrower) All that part and parcel of the residential property situated at Door No. 10, Thiruvalluvar Street, Perungalathur village, Tambaram Taluk, Kancheepuram District,
Bharathy Nagar, No.13, Thiruneermalai Main Road, Opposite Yamaha Service Station, Nagalkeni, Chennai - 600 063. (Land extent 960 sq.ft; Building 715 sq.ft) Old Gramanatham Survey No 243/54 (Part) as per Patta No.709, New Survey No.542/11 to an
Chrompet, Chennai - 600 044. 2) Mr.K.Punniyamurthy, S/o. Mr.M.Krishnan, extent of 960 sq.ft. Bounded On the North by Chelladurai Property, On the South by: Lalitha Property, On the East by : Selva Ganesh Property and, On the
1. Old Perungalathur,
(Guarantor) No.10, Thiruvalluvar Street, Old Perungalathur, Chennai - 600 063. West by: Thiruvalluvar Street.
Chennai - 600 063.
Phone 044-22760375, Rs.45,62,587.50 due as on 22.12.2020 Reserve Price Rs.32,00,000/- EMD Rs.3,20,000/-
9444273856 with further interest thereon and other expenses Canara Bank, Perungalathur Branch, Chennai Alc No. 3856296000001 IFSC Code: CNRBO003856

THIRUVALLUR REGIONAL OFFICE: No.69, Armenian Street, Leelavathi Building, Chennai-600001. Ph.No.044-25219965/66 E-mail : rotvrrec@canarabank.com
SME AMBATTUR M/s S S Engineering Industries All that part and parcel of the vacant land situated in Sy.No./City or Town Survey No./Khasra No. 67/2B, Indira Nagar, Orathur Village within the registration sub-
No.3, M.T.H Road, Represented by Proprietor Mr R Subash Chandra Bose, district Guduvancheri and district Kancheepuram measuring an extent of 11772 Sq Ft Bounded: On the North by : Land in S No 67/2A6, On the South by : Land in
2. Padi, Chennai-600 050. No 67/1-A, Balaji Nagar, Padi, Chennai – 600 050. S No 67/2C, On the East by : Road, On the West by : Indira Nagar Layout Plots in S No 67/3C,3D,3E,3F & 3G.
Ph: 044 26543034, Rs.44,76,082.38 due as on 24.12.2020 Reserve Price Rs.58,86,000/- EMD Rs.5,86,600/-
26546180, with further interest thereon and other expenses
9444722412 Canara Bank, SME Ambattur Branch, Chennai A/c No2412295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0002412

Property owned by Mr.G.Sugumar & Mr.G.Mahendran: Land measuring an extent of 3 cents (1308 Sq.ft) out of 6 cents and building thereon
PONNERI Borrower: Mr.Sugumar G, S/o.Govindaraj M,
No.244 Hariharan
comprised in Gram Natham Survey No.42/2 (New Survey No.42/17) having Grama Natham Patta No.69, of periyakavanam village, situated at
31, Bajanai Koil Street, Periyakavanam, Ponneri- 601204 Ponneri Taluk, Tiruvallur District together with the building thereon and bounded on the North by : Vacant plot of Andal Ammal, South by : House
Bazaar Street, Guarantor: Mr.Magendran G, S/o.Govindaraj M,
3. Thirumala Complex, 31, Bajanai Koil Street, Periyakavanam, Ponneri- 601204
belonging to Mr.Subramani & Common Passage, East by : Plot belonging to Mr.Nagaraj, West by : Plot belonging to Mrs.Meenammal. Situated
Ponneri-601204. within the Registration Sub-District of Ponneri and Registration District of Chennai North.
Rs.22,78,289.36 due as on 30.11.2020
Ph: 044-27971755,
with further interest thereon and other expenses Reserve Price Rs.14,50,000/- EMD Rs.1,45,000/-
9444443725 Canara Bank, Ponneri Branch, A/c No. 3725295000001, IFSC Code:CNRB0003725

PONNERI M/s. Yogaa Agency, Prop. Mr.Jagannathan S M, No.62, T.H.Road, Property owned by Mr.R.Kumaravel: All that piece and parcel of land measuring an extent of 1462 ½ Sq.ft. out of 114 cents, bearing Plot no.105,
No.244 Hariharan Venbakkam, Ponneri – 601204. Mr.Jagannathan S M S/o. S.Manickam Sri Vari Baba Nagar comprised in Survey No.361/3 situated at No.75, old gummudipoondi Village & Taluk, Thiruvallur District and bounded on the
Bazaar Street, 32G Bharathi Street, Shankar Nagar, Venbakkam, Ponneri – 601204 North by : 20 Feet Road, South by : Survey No.363, East by : Plot No.104, West by : Plot No.106. Situated within the Registration Sub-District
4. Thirumala Complex, Mr.Kumaravel R, S/o Ramamoorthy 2/18B Chinnambedu Village and post, of Gummudipoondi and Registration District of Chennai North.
Ponneri-601204. Ponneri – 601204
Ph: 044-27971755, Rs.36,45,100.83 due as on 30.11.2020 Reserve Price Rs.11,76,000/- EMD Rs.1,17,600/-
9444443725 with further interest thereon and other expenses Canara Bank, Ponneri Branch, A/c No. 3725295000001, IFSC Code:CNRB0003725

AMBATTUR II Mr.Anbazhagan, S/o Manickam,

Property: owned by Anbazhagan: Schedule-A (Total Property) All that piece and parcel of land, bearing Plot No.8, measuring an extent of 4484 sq.ft., and plot No.9 & C.S., having
37A, Sarangapani total extent of 5923 Sq.Ft., in all total 10407 sq.ft, comprised in survey Nos.230/1 & 230/2, in “Sri Meenakshi Nagar”, an appoved layout, approved by CMDA, vide PPD/LO No.113/2003,
46 Balu Nagar, Mogappair East, Chennai-600037.
Street, situated at Village No.68, (Old No.42) MANGADU VILLAGE, Sriperumbudur Taluk, Kancheepuram District, within the Registration District of Chennai south and Registration Sub District of
Mrs.Savitha K, W/o Anbazhagan,
5. Krishnapuram, 46 Balu Nagar, Mogappair East, Chennai-600037.
Kundrathur, Boundary for plot No.8: North by : Vacant Land, South by : Plot No.1, East by : 40 Feet Road, West by : Water Canal. In all total 4484 sq.ft. (Property covered under this Deed).
Ambattur-600 053 Flat No. G-1, Ground Floor, Sree Andal Iris Apartment, Plot No: 8A, Sri Meenakshi Nagar, Mangalapuram, Mangadu, Chennai – 600 122. 455 Sq.ft UDS of 2466 Sq.ft of land and
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.50,51,252.35
Ph: 044-26581703, with further interest thereon and Other Charges Building. Plinth area 815 Sq.Ft. Reserve Price Rs.28,21,000/- EMD Rs.2,82,100/-
9444396478 Canara Bank (erstwhile Syndicate Bank), Ambattur II Branch, A/c No. 61053170000011, IFSC Code: SYNB0006105
MADARPAKKAM Borrower: Mr. Chengalvarayan R, S/o Mr. Rajagopal Reddy, No. 6, Pallavada All that Piece and parcel of the residential building situated at No 6, Pallavada Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District - 601202 comprised in survey
NO 365, Madarpakkam Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District – 601202. No 369/12 of Gramanatham measuring total extent of 112 Sq. Mtr with an extent of Land 1221 Sq.Ft and Building 1584 Sq.Ft. The property is owned by Mr.
Guarantor: Mr. Ramesh Kumar J, S/o Jayaraman P S, Pallavada Village,
6. High Road,
Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District – 601202.
Chengalvarayan R and Bounded on the North by : Harinath Reddy Site, South by : Balaiah Site, West by : Chenchu Kanthammal Site, East by : Vanachandran Site.
Thiruvallur – 601202.
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.12,04,453/-
Reserve Price Rs.25,87,000/- EMD Rs.2,58,700/-
Ph: 044-27945255/
09444721336 with further interest thereon and Other Charges Canara Bank, Madarpakkam Branch, A/c No. 1336295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0001336

MADARPAKKAM Borrower: Mr. Damodaran J, S/o Mr. Jayarama Reddy All that Piece and parcel of the residential building situated at No 12, Pondavakkam Village, Gummipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District comprised in survey No 49A/13
NO 365, Madarpakkam No. 12, Ponthavakkam Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District. measuring total extent of 635 Sq. Meter in patta No 143. The property is owned by Mr. Damodaran J and Bounded on the North by : Common Pathway, South by :
Guarantor: Mr. Somasundara Reddy M, S/o Kallappa Reddy
7. High Road,
Ponthavakkam Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District.
Erungulam Road, West by : Common Pathway, East by : Roja Vaccant Site.
Thiruvallur – 601202.
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.6,85,076/-
Reserve Price Rs.18,87,000/- EMD Rs.1,88,700/-
Ph: 044-27945255/
09444721336 with further interest thereon and Other Charges Canara Bank, Madarpakkam Branch, A/c No. 1336295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0001336

MADARPAKKAM Smt P Mary, W/o.P Abraham, Plot No:9 Nethaji Nagar Road All that piece and parcel of ground and premises (land and building) situated at Village No.63,Thervali village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallore district ,Plot
NO 365, Madarpakkam Thervazhi Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallore District-601202. no.9,Nethaji Nagar, Comprised in Old survey no.701/1b,New S.No.701/1B85,in a total extent of 0.02.0Hectors,and the Superstructure plinth area of 591.37 Sq.ft in
Sri P Abraham, S/o. Palayam, Lot No:9 Nethaji Nagar Road
8. High Road,
Thervazhi Village, Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallore District-601202.
the name of Mary P bounded by: North : Nethaji nagar cross street, South : Kaottakarai anna nagar 1st street, East : Residential building, West : Residential building.
Thiruvallur – 601202.
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.8,57,877.86
Reserve Price Rs.32,67,000/- EMD Rs.3,26,700/-
Ph: 044-27945255/
09444721336 with further interest thereon and Other Charges Canara Bank, Madarpakkam Branch, A/c No. 1336295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0001336

MADARPAKKAM Mr.Ragupathy Raja S/o.Late Papa Raju, All That Piece And Parcel Of Land At Village No.10,Soorapoondi Village, Ramachandrapuram, Gummidipoondi Taluk,Thiruvallur District Comprised In Sy No.68/12
NO 365, Madarpakkam Mr.M Bhavaneswar, S/O Late Raghupathy Raja, To An Extent Of .03.0hectares Of House Site And Superstructure To A Total Plinth Area Of 600sq Ft Standing In The Name Of Sri Raghupathy Raja. Boundaries: On
Both at: Ramachandrapuram Village, Soorapoondi Panchayat,
9. High Road,
Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District Tamilnadu-601201.
The North By: Road, On The South By: Vacant Land, On The East By: Building, On The West By: Building.
Thiruvallur – 601202.
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.11,10,375/-
Reserve Price Rs.2,22,000/- EMD Rs.22,200/-
Ph: 044-27945255/
09444721336 with further interest thereon and Other Charges Canara Bank, Madarpakkam Branch, A/c No. 1336295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0001336

Mr.Sudeerkumar.V, S/O Venkatasubba Raju, (Borrower) All That Piece And Parcel Of House,Ground And Premises Situated At Village No.10,Soorapoondi Village,Gummidipoondi Taluk,Thiruvallur District Comprised In
MADARPAKKAM Mr.V Venkatasubba Raju, (Cobligant) Old Gramanatham Suryvey No.68/14,New Grama Natham Survey No.68/14b Measuring An Extent Of 214 Sq.Mts(5883 Sq.Fts) In Patta No.54 Of House Site And
NO 365, Madarpakkam The Superstructure Of Residential Buildings Constructed Thereon To A Plinth Area Of 828 Sq.Fts In Ground Floor And Plinth Area Of 303 Sq.Fts In 1st Floor To A
M K Balasubramanyam, S/O M Krsihnam Raju (Guarantor)
10. High Road,
All at: Ramachandrapuram Village, Soorapoondi Panchayat, Total Plinth Area Of 1131 Sq.Fts Or There Abouts Together With Electricity Connections Including All Fixtures And Fitting Thereto And Property In The Name Of
Thiruvallur – 601202. Mr.V Venkatasubbaraju Bounded By: North Mpkm Road, South Vacant Land, East Vacant Land, West Existing House.
Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallur District Tamilnadu-601201.
Ph: 044-27945255/
09444721336
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.35,82,015.54 Reserve Price Rs.31,47,000/- EMD Rs.3,14,700/-
with further interest thereon and Other Charges Canara Bank, Madarpakkam Branch, A/c No. 1336295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0001336
Mr.Steve Arnold Christoper, S/o. Godwin Christopher R, (Borrower) Property No.1: Land and building owned by Sri VARATHNAKUMAR situated at No.14,Madarpakkam village,Gummidipoondi Taluk,Thiruvallore district,comprised
Mr.Godwin Christopher R, S/o. M K Rathinam, (Co Borrower) in old Survey no.115/96,New Survey no.115/96a measuring total extent of 0.01.0 Hectors of House site and the superstructure constructed there on to a
Mrs.Florance Indirabai S, W/o Godwin Christopher R, ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
MADARPAKKAM All at: Nemalur Colony, Madarpakkam Post, Gummidipoondi Taluk, rights, interests and appurtenants thereto and the property is bounded by North : Street, South : Vacant Site, East : Vacant Site Of Mr. V A Rathina Kumar, West
NO 365, Madarpakkam Thiruvallore District, Tamilnadu-601202. : Paul Mary Jaya House Sites.
11. High Road, Mr.V A Rathnakumar, (Guarantor) Reserve Price Rs.38,22,000/- EMD Rs.3,82,200/-
Thiruvallur – 601202. Annie Illam, Dno :3/386 M P G Street, Madarpakkam Village Property No.2: Vacant site owned by Sri Florance Indirabai situated at No.116,Sholavaram Village,Ponneri taluk,Thiruvallur District,Comprised in Survey
Ph: 044-27945255/ Gummidipoondi Taluk, Thiruvallore District, Tamilnadu-601202. No.504/1A3, “Indira Gardens Layaout” Plot No:.36 measuring total extent of 1800Sq.Ft of vacant House site including all common rights,interests and appurtenants
09444721336 thereto and the property is bounded by North : Vacant site, South : 24 feet road, East : Plot no:37, West : Plot no:35.
as on 30.11.2020 Rs.56,52,928.59 Reserve Price Rs.36,00,000/- EMD Rs.3,60,000/-
with further interest thereon and Other Charges
Canara Bank, Madarpakkam Branch, A/c No. 1336295000001, IFSC Code: CNRB0001336
Date of inspection ��������������������������������������������� 18.01.2021 to 22.01.2021 between 11.00 a.m. to 5.00 p.m Last Date and Time for deposit of EMD 27.01.2021 Till 4.00 p.m.

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������������������������������Concerned �������������������Service provider CCSL.CO.IN ��������������������������������������

Place: Chennai �����������������

Date: 24.12.2020 Canara Bank

SPAIN REGISTERS FOUR CASES
OF BRITISH VARIANT OF VIRUS
O�cials said the cases detected involved UK returnees or
those in contact with someone who had travelled to UK
CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI
Morcha urges the Centre to drop smear
campaign to ‘defame & malign’ the unions
Farmers set date
for talks, but add
tough conditions
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chandigarh
AFTER nearly 20 days of dead-
lock, protesting farmers decid-
ed to resume talks with the
Centre for the sixth round on
December 29, but set four tough
conditions even as it urged the
government to stop “the cam-
paign launched by the entire
state machinery to defame and
malign the farmers’
movement”.
The four conditions are: mo-
dalities to repeal the three farm
WITH THIS ISSUE
PEOPLE OF
2020
PLUS 12 PAGES
CHENNAI � SUNDAY � DECEMBER 27, 2020 � `8.00 � PAGES 26 � LATE CITY EDITION
laws; a mechanism to be adopt-
ed to make Minimum Support
Price legally-binding, that too
for all agricultural produce;
keeping farmers out of the pur-
view of the air pollution law;
changes in the draft Electricity
Amendment Bill, 2020, to pro-
tect their interests.
The last round of talks be-
Rajasthan ally walks out of NDA
The Rashtriya Loktantrik Party, led by Hanuman Beniwal, snapped its
ties with the NDA to protest against the farm laws. Soon after the
protests started, Beniwal had hinted at walking out of the alliance | P9
Chouhan takes a leaf out of Yogi’s book to clear MP’s ‘love-jihad’ bill
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Bhopal
THE Shivraj Singh Chouhan-
led Madhya Pradesh govern-
ment on Saturday approved the
Dharma Swatantreya Bill,
(Freedom of Religion), 2020,
proposing to make forcible reli-
gious conversion a cognisable
AFP
15
AWAITING PCR RESULT TO CONFIRM FIFTH FRANCE, ITALY TOO REPORT U.K. STRAIN
The father, mother and sister of a young man who arrived in Madrid by France and Italy have already confirmed cases of the new variant,
■
plane last week tested positive. The young man is suspected to have the while the World Health Organization reported that nine cases from
new variant as well but Spanish authorities are waiting for the results of Denmark, and one each in the Netherlands and Australia
PCR test to confirm this. The fourth confirmed case of the new variant ■ The new strain of the virus has prompted more than 50 CASES OF THE NEW STRAIN IN SPAIN,
involves a man who arrived in Madrid on December 20 on another flight countries to impose travel restrictions on the UK | P11 DENMARK, HOLLAND & AUSTRALIA SO FAR
Modi tears apart Rahul’s NEW STRAIN?
5 more UK
‘no-democracy’ remark returnees test
+ve in TN
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE Speaking at the launch of the
@ New Delhi government health insurance
scheme, PMJAY-SEHAT, for
PRIME Minister Narendra J&K, Modi said, “You will be EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
Modi on Saturday sought to de- surprised that the Supreme @ Chennai
flect the charge of lack of de- Court called for holding of the
Farmers at Singhu on the Delhi-Haryana border on Saturday during their Delhi Chalo mocracy in the country back to Panchayat elections in Puduch- CHIEF Minister Edappadi K
march to protest the Central government’s contentious new farm laws | PTI the Congress, pointing erry in 2018, but the Palaniswami is scheduled to
to the party-ruled Pu- g ove r n m e n t t h e re, hold another round of dis-
tween all farmers’ unions and tary in the Ministry of Agricul- ducherry where local which has not even an cussions with District Col-
the group of ministers led by ture, the Samyukta Kisan body polls have not ounce of belief in de- lectors and health experts
Agriculture Minister Narendra Morcha, an umbrella organiza- been held since 2011 de- mocracy, is delaying on Monday, to decide on the
Tomar was held on December 5. tion representing all the un- spite Supreme Court the holding of the local next course of action as the
Subsequently, select farmer ions, said: “We propose the next observations. In sharp body elections.” lockdown ends on December
leaders and Home Minister meeting between the farmers’ contrast, District De- T his, Modi said, 31. He is also expected to dis-
Amit Shah had held consulta- representatives and the Centre velopment Council shows the gap between cuss measures to prevent
tions, which too ended in a be held on December 29.” elections have been what some par ties spread of the new strain. On
stalemate. In a letter addressed While setting the date for the held in J&K within a year of preach and what they do. Saturday, Chief Secretary K
to Vivek Aggarwal, joint secre- talks, the morcha hit out at the the region becoming a Union The Congress is in power in Shanmugam held talks with
gover nment for what they territory, he said. Puducherry, which will face As- the Collectors to assess the
called an “an attempt to mis- Modi’s response came two sembly polls next year. progress made in Covid
lead the public by suppressing days after Congress leader Ra- Under the PMJAY SEHAT management.
facts about the deliberations in hul Gandhi’s jibe that “there is scheme, 21 lakh people in J&K The State reported 1,019
the previous meetings.” no democracy in India; it’s only will get the benefits of `5 lakh new cases, of which five
CONTINUED ON: P9 in imagination”. insurance coverage. P10 have UK travel history.
Among the 81 contacts
traced of the 10 positive UK
returnees, four have tested
positive and 33 negative. Of
the near 2,300 people who re-
turned from the UK between
and non-bailable offence. burden of proof on the accused, a cognizable and non-bailable vance. Complaints under the November 21 and December
It is likely to be introduced in meaning he/she will have to offence. Mishra said that the proposed law will have to be 21, as many as 1,362 were
the Assembly during the three- prove their innocence. bill seeks to declare null and probed by an officer in rank of tested. Others were being
day session that starts on Mon- State’s Home Minister Narot- void any marriage conducted inspector or a sub-inspector. traced, said officials. Mean-
day. If passed, the proposed law tam Mishra said the bill makes solely for conversion. Many of the bill’s provisions while, the Madras HC said a
would provide for a jail term religious conversion through The bill allows voluntary resemble a similar law passed Covid negative certificate
between one and 10 years, and enticement, threats, force, un- conversion, provided that the by the Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar was not mandatory for those
a fine ranging from `25,000 to due influence, coercion, mar- district magistrate concerned Pradesh government earlier visiting Thirunallar temple
`1 lakh. The law shall place the riage, or any fraudulent means, is informed two months in ad- this year to tackle ‘love-jihad’. for Sanipeyarchi.
 MIN MAX Sunrise 06.33 am
18 C 31 C
0 0 Sunset 05.55 pm
Moonrise --.--
FORECAST
WEATHER Sunny Moonset 03.57 pm

04 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� �

YOU, I, AND US...

TOGETHER WE FIGHT
What we cannot see with naked eyes is the virus, but what we can
see daily are the virus-busters who don various hats to take it down.
Subash Srinivasan in action; the head constable is seen collecting strewn-around
Some of the best pictures clicked by Express lensmen this year...
masks from the roadside in Ramanathapuram | SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT

Supercop is here
WHEN YOU SEE IT

in his mask to
‘unmask’ virus
Subash, a Covid-survivor policeman, picks up PICTURES:
DEBADATTA MALLICK,
used masks from roads & incinerates them ASHWIN PRASATH,
MARTIN LOUIS, K K SUNDAR,
R SATISH BABU
LALITHA RANJANI cannot be blamed as they are V KARTHIKALAGU, P JAWAHAR
@ Ramanathapuram already overburdened with the
work of segregating these

M
EET the 43-year-old
policeman S Subash
Srinivasan, a Covid
survivor, whose day
starts with the collec-
tion and disposal of
soiled facemasks strewn on the
streets of Ramanathapuram
town since May. He has collect-
ed and incinerated about 20,000
used masks so far. A head con-
stable at the Police In-service
Training Centre in Ramanath-
apuram, Subash has been ac-
tively involved in social activ-
ism for over a decade now.
During the Covid-19 outbreak
in March, he began distribut-
ing kabasura kudineer (a herb-
al concoction) to residents in
t h e t ow n t o b o o s t t h e i r
immunity.
“It was in May that I took up
the disposal of used masks, af-
ter noticing a cow chewing on
one, mistaking it for fodder, on
the roadside. Similarly, I wit-
nessed a dog sniffing a soiled
mask. Aware of the risks of vi-
ral transmission through used
masks, I decided to take the is-
sue into my own hands. The im-
proper disposal of masks
can spread the Covid-19
infection to people as
well as animals like
dogs and goats, that
come in contact with
humans, as pets or as
food,” Subash tells
Express.
In the initial months, he
started collecting masks as a
pastime activity, which soon
turned into a serious mission
after he tested positive for the
virus in August. “When I was
infected, I became too frail to
even stand. Hit by severe fa-
tigue, I experienced breathing
difficulties and loss of taste.
Upon recovery, I was deter-
mined that, through the best of
my efforts, I must prevent as
many people as possible from
getting infected by the deadly
virus,” shares the cop, a native
of Salaigramam in Sivaganga
district.
Wielding an eucalyptus tree
stick in his gloved hands, as
dawn breaks, Subash sets out to
collect the masks thrown on the
streets and bushes using the
stick. After a two-hour-long
masks that are usually mixed
with other waste, even if
dumped in bins, he explains.
“Watching me collect the
masks in the morning, a few LEAVING THE MARKINGS
conservancy workers
made friends with me
and started offering
MESSAGE CONVEYED
me tea. They are
overwhelmed that I
help them keep the
town clean,” smiles
Subash.
Recalling how it all began,
the good Samaritan police-
man says, “In 2004, while I was
posted at Devipattinam, which
is a tourist destination I noticed YOU BAD DIRT
mentally-challenged persons
being abandoned on roadsides
by their families. Doing my bit,
I arranged a barber for them to LET ME DO IT FOR YOU READY TO GO
have a haircut, and would bathe
them at a nearby temple and
change them into fresh clothes
whenever I could. Since then,
there has been no looking back
for Subash.
Subash usually sets aside
nearly half his salary to help
socially-neglected persons or to
carry out works for a greater
cause. He extends mone-
tary help to a bunch of
HIV-positive children
for their education.
And, in the last four
years, he has removed
nearly 150 kg of iron
nails that were ham-
mered on trees to pin ad- FIELD CLEAR, CAPTAIN
vertisement boards.
Accolades and recognition
Subash was honoured with the
Tamil Nadu Government’s Gal-
lantry Award for saving the
lives of a three-year-old girl
who accidentally fell into a
well, and the toddler’s mother,
who jumped in to save her, at
Devipattinam in 2013. Last year,
he won the Chief Minister’s
Medal of Honour for excellence
in police service. In December
last year, Subash came under MASKS AND ROSES
the spotlight when he wrote to
the Director-General of Pris-
ons, Tihar Jail in New Delhi,
volunteering to execute the
death sentence awarded to the
four convicts in the Nirbhaya
gang-rape case, after learning
NGO comes as angel with ‘siragukal’ to give dignified funeral
through media reports that the C H A N D H I N I R @ Erode and dear ones. dent Vimal Karuppannan. relief for many suffering in si-
convicts could not be hanged The program -- ‘Kaaduvarai “At least `3,000 is needed to lence. “I was working in a gar-

walk, he incinerates the col-
lected waste in a secluded spot,
usually a barren land. This has
become a routine for Subash
every morning and evening.
He says in the last 3-4 months,
the dumping of masks has in-
creased. Every day, he now col-
lects nearly 200-300 used masks
from the roadside. The munici-
pality conservancy workers too
for the want of an executioner
in the jail.
He says, “I ensure that my
social activism does not disrupt
my job as a policeman between
10 am and 5 pm. Through these
simple acts, I am able to serve
society and lead a meaningful
life. After all, we don’t carry
any wealth with us when we
perish,” he signs off.
W
HILE bidding a final
goodbye to your loved
ones isn’t easy, the ina-
bility to provide a dig-
nified funeral can makes it
tougher. Volunteers of Siragu-
kal, an NGO based in Erode,
make this grief a little endur-
able for the underprivileged,
by helping them arrange a
proper farewell for their near
Siragukal’-- initiated by the
NGO provides all necessary fa-
cilities required to conduct the
last rites, free of cost. They
provide a freezer box, awning
or ceremonial tents, tables,
chairs, beverages, cutlery and
other materials. “This is an ex-
pensive affair. Some of them
cannot even arrange that much
money,” says Siragukal presi-
Siragukal team members taking out a
freezer box | SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
rent a freezer box for a day.
When other things are taken
into account, the amount goes
up to `10,000 a day. Many of
them have rites that go on for
more than a day. So, we decided
to help these people by provid-
ing the required material free
of cost,” says Vimal. When the
pandemic hit and lockdown
was imposed, Siragukal was a
ment unit in Tirupur and my
father died in August in Coim-
batore. I was going through a
financial crisis and it was dif-
ficult to rent a freezer box. But
thanks to Siragukal, they im-
mediately arranged the facili-
ties. Inspired by their work I
started volunteering for them,”
says, A Kumar Arul, one of the
beneficiaries.

RTI applications:
O M J A S V I N M D @ Chennai public, and we raised up to `3.5 He says that the CM finally in government hospitals, etc.
lakh to distribute food in the lo- recognised him with his 14th “Due to my RTI-plea filing

A
CTIVISM is selective cality,” he lists among his Cov- letter and called him to the Sec- skill, many people from the me-
and a ‘phase’ for some. id-time contributions. retariat. “I was surprised that dia approach me. I file RTIs

Santhanam’s love
Whereas, for people like “We arranged various provi- the CM wanted to see me,” he only to share it to the media,”
Santhanam, it is a way sions for auto drivers, barbers, beams. says Santhanam, who was also
of life. The method of activism and priests, among many other “It was a brief meeting of awarded the ‘Civic Crusader
that he chose was filing RTI ap- people, as they suffered the five minutes. CM Anna Durai Award’ by the Express Group

plications and enhancing trans-
parency and governmental ac-
countability through the
information shared. The civic
and RTI activist, who turned 83
this week, believes that age is
no barrier for activism and one
can strive to make a difference
in society at any point in life.
Being a relentless activist for
50 years, nothing stops San-
thanam from filing pleas under
RTI Act and soliciting informa-
tion for the public. He begins,
“During cyclone Nivar, I filed
an RTI to TNEB, asking them
for details on the number of
letter to activism
electrocutions in the city dur-
ing monsoons. To my surprise,
I received 40 replies. It was un-
believable.” He has filed more
than 2,500 RTI pleas so far.
“They also sent me the de-
tails of animals that died due to
electrocution,” he adds. His
RTI journey in 2020 does not
simply end there. He has filed
around 50 RTI pleas to the rail-
ways, police, and local panchay-
ats, even during the pandemic.
Santhanam says he had to
largely stay at home due to the
Covid-19 situation, and despite
age being against his side, he
continued to fill up RTI applica-
tions. Although replies were
delayed, officials are respond-
ing to all my applications now,
he proudly says.
Starting a career as a sales
representative, Santhanam’s
Santhanam standing next to the bust of
Mahakavi Bharathiyar | ASHWIN PRASATH
‘activist life’ began to shape up
in the 1960s, when he shifted
from Tondiarpet to Chrompet,
where, he says there was no
road, drinking water, and gar-
bage collection facilities.
His enthusiasm and commit-
ment to question officials and
write petitions continues even
at this age. “I helped supply
1,000 masks to Chrompet GH,
3,000 litres of sanitiser to the
most during the pandemic,”
adds Santhanam.
Encounter with Arignar Anna
Santhanam had an early expo-
sure to activism due to his per-
severance in making govern-
ment of ficials re ply to a
common man’s questions. “In
the late 1960s, my house in
Chrompet came under govern-
ment acquisition. I wrote 14 let-
ters continuously to the then
chief minister of Tamil Nadu,
CN Anna Durai, to exempt my
land from the acquisition exer-
cise,” he elaborates.
asked me, ‘Did you think it
would take 14 letters for me to
recognise your issue? I appreci-
ate your perseverance and I ex-
empt your land from acquisi-
tion’,” Santhanam recalls.
He notes that that was the
moment he decided to get into
activism. “It was at that mo-
ment that I understood the pow-
er of repeated questioning,”
says the 83-year-old. Since then,
the activist has been behind
several waterbody restoration
projects, removal of encroach-
ments, highlighting issues of
bad roads, poor infrastructure
in the early 2000s.
He says that when he ques-
tioned the encroachments in a
nearby lake and filed petitions,
he was attacked by goons. “I
spent a few months in hospital
and returned only to fight. I
was awarded by Express for
that,” he says. The octogenari-
an has also trained 150 young-
sters to file RTI pleas. “Democ-
racy be gins when the
government acknowledges pe-
titions from its people,” he says.
His message for all is, “Don’t
blame the darkness; at least
light a candle.”
 The PM 2.5 level recorded at Alandur NEWS UPDATE FROM TN

64 µg|m3 on Saturday. Nitrogen dioxide level

was at 14 µg/m3 against the
prescribed standard of 80 µg/m3
Twitter @ xpresstn
‘TNIE Tamilnadu’ @ xpresstn

05 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� �

Rajini progressing State orders removal of crash guards and bull

COURT TOLD

well but blood bars from vehicles belonging to VVIPs, VIPs
pressure still high
Apollo doctors advise actor complete
rest; EPS, OPS wish him speedy recovery
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
ACTOR Rajinikanth, who was
admitted to Apollo Hospitals
in Hyderabad for high blood
pressure, is progressing well
but his BP is still on the high-
er side, according to a health
bulletin from the hospital.
“He has had an uneventful
night and his blood pressure
is still on the higher side, al-
though under better control
than yesterday,” the hospital
said.
Chief Minister Edappadi K
Palaniswami, in a telephonic
conversation, enquired about
Rajinikanth’s health and
wished him a speedy recovery.
Deputy Chief Minister O Pan-
EXPRESS READ
ASI officials inspect
neerselvam tweeted wishing
the actor a speedy recovery.
The ‘Superstar’ had flown
to Hyderabad to shoot his
movie Annaatthe. During the
shoot, about four members of
the movie crew tested positive
for Covid-19. Rajinikanth,
however, tested negative.
Meanwhile, Apollo Hospi-
tals said the actor is sched-
uled for a further set of inves-
tigations and reports would
be available. “His blood pres-
sure medications are being
titrated carefully and he will
be under close monitoring. He
has been advised complete
rest in view of his labile blood
pressure,” the hospital added.
Visitors are not being allowed
to meet him.
CMRL holds trial run on Phase-1 metro line in North Chennai
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
THE State government has told
the Public Department to en-
sure vehicles of VVIPs and
VIPs comply with the Motor
Vehicles Act and to remove
crash guards or bulls bars that
pose a danger to pedestrians. A
circular to this effect was is-
sued on Saturday, asking all
State departments to comply
with the Act.
It was issued after the Ma-
dras High Court directed the
State to file a counter affidavit
highlighting measures taken to
remove crash guards and bull
bars from vehicles, especially
official ones and those belong-
ing to VVIPs and VIPs. The
bench of Justice M Sathy-
anarayanan and Justice R He-
malatha suo motu impleaded
the State Chief Secretary as a
respondent and directed him to
file a counter affidavit by Janu-
ary 20.
Bull guards were removed
from the vehicles of judges of
the High Court in view of a cir-
Regional Transport department officials continue their drive against the vehicles
that have fitted bumpers on Saturday | EXPRESS
cular issued by the Union Min-
istry of Road Transport and
Highways dated December 7,
2017, since such guards ob-
struct the functioning of air-
bag sensors in the vehicles.
An official said the fitments
are in contravention of Section
52 of the Motor Vehicles Act,
and attract a penalty under Sec-
tions 190 and 191 of the Act.
The official told Express the de-
partment has been conducting
a special drive across the State,
and crash guards and bull bars
are being removed.
Petitioner LD Lenin Paul of
Kilpauk, in his petition, alleged
such guards pose a serious
threat to pedestrians. “There
are instances of bone replace-
ment surgeries arising only be-
‘Bumpers pose severe
risk to human lives’
Petitoner LD Lenin Paul had
earlier contented at the
Madras High Court that
fitting such bumpers directly
onto the chassis or frame of
the vehicle doubles the
impact, damages human
lives and leads to severe risk
to life. He added that such
guards also hindered
triggering of airbags upon
an impact
cause bull guards hit pedestri-
ans. Moder n vehicles are
designed in such a way that
they crush on impact, thereby
minimising the impact on oc-
c u p a n t s, ” t h e p e t i t i o n e r
stated.
Fitting such bumpers direct-
ly onto the chassis or frame of
the vehicle doubles the impact,
damages human lives and leads
to severe risk to life. Moreover,
such guards hinder triggering
of airbags upon impact, he
said.
‘Notices served
against illegal
constructions
in Royapuram’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
THE Chennai Corporation
has informed the Madras
High Court that notices have
been issued against 5,674 un-
authorised and illegal con-
structions that have sprung
up in Royapuram zone. The
court directed the corpora-
tion to sent notices against
all illegal constructions in
civic body limits.
The issue pertains to a
plea moved by advocate N
Rukmangathan seeking ac-
tion against 5,674 unauthor-
ized constructions that
sprung up in Royapuram
zone. The petitioner submit-
ted documented evidence ob-
tained through RTI, stating
that Corporation authorities
adopted a blatant selective
approach in taking action
against illegal constructions
in Royapuram. “Out of the
5,674 unauthorised construc-
tions, Stop Work notices
were issued to only 1,191 de-
viations under the Town and
Country Planning Act, 1971,

Low patronage halts

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai and action was initiated
Adichanallur only against 115 of them,”
archaeological site THE Chennai Metro Rail on Sat- he added.
urday successfully performed In response, the State told

Tejas Express service

Thoothukudi: Archaeological
Survey of India (ASI) officials
surveyed Adichanallur
archaeological site using
drones for establishing an
iconic museum here on
Saturday. The officials,
headed by ASI Tiruchy circle
Superintending Archaeologist
T Arun Raj, inspected the site
spread over 114 acre. Drones
were used to survey the site
in connection to the
construction of a world class
museum which was
announced by Union Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitaraman
during her budget speech in
February, 2021. Raj had earlier
visited the site on December
11 and chose five locations
viable for constructing the
museum at Adichanallur. He
said that reports on five
locations suitable for
constructing the museum
was sent to government. ENS
the diesel locomotive trial run
on the nine-km Phase-1 exten-
sion stretch from Washermen-
pet to Wimco Nagar. According
to a statement from CMRL, the
trial run covered 9 km up and
down, spanning the eight metro
stations (six elevated and two
underground). Almost 90 per
cent of the work on the Phase-1
stretch has been completed and
the line is expected to be opened
to the public by January.
“The installation of various
systems, including ballast-less
track, overhead electrification,
signalling, tunnel ventilation,
HVAC, platform screen doors,
and automatic fare collection
gates, is underway,” said the
statement.
CMRL is also expected to give
a green makeover to the medi-
um lanes by growing various
plants on the shade. Once open,
the six km elevated portion of
the nine-km stretch will give
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Madurai
SOUTHERN Railway has can-
celled the Tejas Superfast Ex-
press from January 4 due to
poor patronage of passengers
and the refund for the re-
served tickets would be
disbursed to the pas-
sengers soon.
Train No. 02613
CMRL officials holding a trial run of the diesel locomotive on the phase-I stretch from Chennai Egmore to
Washermenpet to Wimco Nagar on Saturday | SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT Madurai Tejas special
train (6 days a week, ex-
commuters a view of the north The Phase-1 extension was to cept Thursday) leaves
Chennai coast. be inaugurated in 2020 but the Chennai Egmore at 06.00 am
Metro has also floated tenders construction got delayed due to and reaches Madurai at 12.20
for Digital Route Display Re- the pandemic. A total of 10 pm on the same day. In the Re-
quirements to set up LCD TVs trains will be added for the turn Direction, Train No.
and audio systems for an- Phase-1 extension, which is be- 02614 Madurai to Chennai
nouncements in trains and at ing built at a cost of `3,770 Egmore Tejas Special train (6
stations. crore. days a week, except Thurs-
day) leavex Madurai at 03.15
pm and reaches Chennai
Egmore at 9.30 pm on the same
day.
In view of the pandemic,
the number of passengers
travelling in Tejas has re-
duced drastically.
Speaking to Express,
an official from Ma-
durai Division of
Souther n Railway
said that the Chennai
- Madurai Tejas Ex-
press was occupied by
only 43 per cent of passen-
gers in October and in No-
vember, the express train saw
an attendance of below 50 per
cent passengers. Refund
would be given to the passen-
gers who had booked tickets
in Tejas Superfast Express.
the two-member bench of
justices M Sathyanarayanan
and R Hemalatha that notic-
es were already served and
necessary action will be ini-
tiated soon.
However, the bench ob-
served that the unauthor-
ised constructions and de-
viations exist across the city
and the corporation should
initiate action across all
zones. The court adjourned
the plea to February 5.
Out of the 5,674 unauthorised
constructions, Stop Work notices
were issued to only 1,191
deviations under the Town and
Country Planning Act, 1971, and
action was initiated only against
115 of them
Advocate N Rukmangathan, Petitioner

Biomining at Perungudi dump next month?

O M J A S V I N M D @ Chennai Perungudi landfills at a cost of Ramsar tag will provide a TRAITS
`1,250 crore, early this year. waterbody international im- Perungudi
THE Chennai Corporation may However, a financial aid of portance, and will also help it has six
finally begin biomining at Pe- `350 crore was provided only come under the purview of in- million
rungudi dumpyard next month, for reclaiming the Perungudi ternational policies. However, cubic
after a delay of almost nine dump land. Officials said that the Forest Department’s pro- metres
months owing to the pandemic. the civic body would set up bio- posal to include the marshland of waste
Corporation officials said that CNG plants at Chetpet, into Ramsar Convention
tenders will be invited in a cou- Madhavaram, Pallikara- is still on the back 80
ple of days and would be final- nai and Sholinganallur burner. hectares of
ised by December end. “This to process wet waste Pallikaranai is a rare marsh land
would be one of largest biomin- and convert it into re- and unique type of used to
ing project carried out in our dump
newable energy, while wetland within an ap-
waste in
country,” an of ficial told dry waste will be proc- propriate geographic re-
Perungudi
Express. essed through shredding gion, and it supports vul-
Biomining the landfill will machines. nerable and endangered species Chennai
help the civic body reclaim 250 The Pallikaranai marshland of plants and animals. While a generates
acres of marshland in Pallika- meets requisites chalked out by waterbody needs to meet only average
ranai. After years of discus- the Ramsar Convention, an in- criterion for inclusion in the 5,220
sions, civic body made a pro- ternational treaty to conserve Ramsar Convention, Pallikara- metric
posal to State Chief Secretary wetlands protect water bodies nai marshland met seven out of tonnes of
for biomining Kodungayur and from further depletion. The total nine criteria. waste daily

AR constable from Cuddalore found dead

in Periamet lodge, suicide note retrieved
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai
A 26-year-old armed reserve constable was found
dead in a private lodge in Periamet in the wee hours
of Saturday. The police said the deceased was iden-
tified as A Suresh, a native of Cuddalore district.
He stayed in the police barracks at Pudupet.
“On Wednesday, he checked into a lodge
in Periamet and was not seen since
then by the staff at the lodge. His
door was locked from inside. On
Friday night, when a foul smell
emanated from his room, the staff
alerted the Periamet police around
12.30 am and the door was opened in
the presence of police,” said police.
Suresh was found dead on the bed, next to a bottle
of poison and sleeping pills. A suicide note has been
retrieved in which Suresh allegedly stated that no-
body is responsible for his decision.
The body was sent to the Rajiv Gandhi Govern-
ment General Hospital. A case has been registered
and an investigation is on. The police suspect he
ended his life due to a family dispute.
Two die as truck falls into eight-feet deep pit
Chennai: Two men died and two persons, including a 13-year-
old boy, suffered injuries after a truck fell into a eight-feet
deep pit and turned turtle near Maduranthakam on Saturday.
When agricultural labourers were returning to Neelamangalam
village via a lake bed, the truck they were travelling in fell into
the pit. “Upon alert by passersby, 108 ambulance crew reached
the spot and declared Mahavishnu (20) and Naveen (20)
dead. Govindan (13) and Harish, who sustained severe injuries,
were rushed to Chengalpattu Government Hospital. ENS
Two men drown in lake near Tiruvallur
Chennai: Two men who went to bathe in a lake near Tiruvallur
along with friends, drowned on Friday evening. The deceased
were identified as Sathish Kumar (30) of Mandaveli Street in
Pattabiram, and Sathish (31) of Thandarai village. “The
friends went to bathe and fish in a lake at Nemam village.
Around 6 pm, Sathish Kumar got stuck in slush and began to
drown. Sathish went to save his friend, but he also lost his
step and drowned,” a police officer said. Vellavedu police
registered a case, and Tiruvallur fire and rescue personnel
fished the bodies by Saturday evening. ENS
06 CHENNAI
Order on ‘No-Covid certificate’ for
Sanipeyarchi festival set aside
Madras High Court issues interim orders; UT CM urges Centre to take action against L-G
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai/Puducherry
IN a special hearing earlier on
Saturday, the Madras High
Court set aside an order of the
district administration in Ka-
raikal which had made a ‘Cov-
id-negative certificate’ manda-
tory for all those taking part in
the Sanipeyarchi festival on
Sunday. Passing interim orders,
the vacation bench comprising
Justices R Mahadevan and RN
Manjula set aside the district
administration’s order. The in-
terim orders said body temper-
ature of all devotees visiting
Thirunallar temple should be
checked as part of Covid-19
guidelines. Anyone whose tem-
perature is high has to be sub-
jected to Covid tests.
The district administration,
in a meeting on December 24
PANCHAYAT HEAD
HC seeks
response on
plea to provide
police security
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
THE Madras High Court has
ordered the government and
the police department to re-
spond to a plea on providing
police protection to V
Amirtham, the 60-year-old
panchayat chief of Athupa-
kkam village belonging to
the SC/ST community. In
her petition, Amirtham al-
leged the village panchayat
secretary, former president
of the Aathuppakkam vil-
lage panchayat and the hus-
band of the vice-president
had been threatening her
ever since she was elected.
According to the petition-
er, the issue began at Aathup-
pakkam village in Gummidi-
poondi Taluk on
Independence Day. She was
invited to hoist the flag at
the local school, following
which there was
pressure to
w i t h d r aw
t h e ance should be announced by
invitation.
“On No-
vember 27,
when I went
to Aathuppakkam
village with my son Sasiku-
mar to inspect the damage
caused by Cyclone Nivar, Vi-
jayakumar, husband of Re-
vathi, the vice-president,
waylaid our motorcycle and
abused us using filthy lan-
guage based on our caste. He
threatened to finish us off
soon,” she added.
Immediately after the in-
cident, her son approached
the inspector at the Gum-
midipoondi police station,
filed a written complaint
against Vijayakumar, and
was issued CSR. But no ac-
tion was taken, the petition-
er alleged.
She also said several pan-
chayat presidents from SC/
ST communities were mur-
dered between 1997 and 2014,
and asserted that she must
be given protection from all
present and potential
threats.
Plea on cop protection
to Amirtham
Justice T Ravindran admitted
the plea that Amirtham filed,
recorded the submissions of
the petitioner, and issued
notices to the State and
Central governments to
respond to the plea within two
weeks.
Kadambur Janarthanan dies at Thoothukudi hospital
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Thoothukudi/Chennai
FORMER Tirunelveli MP and
senior AIADMK leader MR Ka-
dambur Janarthanan, died of
age-related issues on Saturday.
Janarthanan (91) was under
SUNDAY
Kiran Bedi V Narayanasamy
with stakeholders of the tem-
ple, had made it mandatory for
devotees to carry copies of
‘Covid negative certificate’ and
receipt of online registration to
take part in the festival.
Challenging the stakehold-
ers’ decision and Lieutenant
Governor Kiran Bedi’s inter-
ference making the certificate
mandatory, one M Singaravel
moved an urgent plea in the
court on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister
V Narayanasamy charged Bedi
‘BJP dragging its feet in announcing
CM cadidate will hurt its prospects’
T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai
THE saffron party’s delay in
recognising Edappadi K Palan-
iswami as the alliance’s Chief
Ministerial candidate for the
2021 Assembly elections could
affect vote transfer, say politi-
cal analysts. Addressing the
media on Saturday, senior lead-
er Vanathi Srinivasan reiter-
ated that there was no confu-
sion in the alliance over the CM
candidate. “The BJP will an-
nounce its decision after meet-
ing with its allies,” she said.
Meanwhile, speaking at a
g ove r n m e n t f u n c t i o n i n
Thoothukudi, minister Kad-
ambur C Raja said the silence
of Union Minister Prakash Ja-
vadekar -- who was visiting the
State and was asked about this
matter by the media -- shows
the BJP has accepted Palan-
iswami as the CM candidate.
However, Prakash Javadekar’s
refusal to answer questions on
the CM choice, has created con-
fusion among the cadres of
both parties.
For three months, State unit
leaders of the BJP have been
maintaining that the chief min-
isterial candidate of the alli-
the party’s national leadership
and it drew sharp reactions
from AIADMK functionaries.
State government issues SOPs for Jalikattu
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
THE government on Saturday
issued SOPs for holding Jal-
likattu. Since only 50 per cent
of the total capacity of the open
ground can be used by viewers
FESTIVE HUES
Ahead of Pongal celebrations, workers are busy drying the colour powder at Srivaikundam in Thoothukudi | V KARTHIKALAGU
treatment for more
than a month at a pri-
vate hospital in
Thoothukudi.
Janarthanan was born
on October 22, 1929 at
Kadambur village in
Thoothukudi.
27 12 2020
� �
of acting against the interest of
Hindus by making ‘Covid nega-
tive certificate’ mandatory, just
48 hours prior to the commence-
ment of the festival. Narayana-
samy also urged the Centre to
take action against Bedi for
“misusing her power”.
Addressing a press confer-
ence, Narayanasamy ques-
tioned the necessity of the cer-
tificate at such a short notice
when Puducherry had a very
low positivity rate and the
court had also set aside the or-
der. “How is it possible for
17,000 devotees, who have regis-
tered for the first day, to take
Covid test at such short notice,”
he asked. Had the decision on
making the certificate manda-
tory been taken earlier, people
would have got sufficient time
to take a test, he added.
Narayanasamy cited the in-
‘No confusion or conflict
over CM candidate’
Tiruchy: BJP’s
State unit
leader Vanathi
Srinivasan told
reporters that
there was no
confusion in
the NDA over
the CM
candidate and the BJP would
announce its decision after a
meeting with the allies. “AIADMK
is leading the NDA in Tamil Nadu.
But, there has been no meeting of
the coalition partners about the
polls. When we decide on a
candidate in the meeting, we will
spell it out, “ she said, adding that
there was no conflict.
On November 21, the AIADMK
top brass - Palaniswami and
Panneerselvam - announced
the continuance of alliance
with the BJP in the presence of
party’s election strategist Amit
Shah. However, even a month
after the event, the BJP has not
responded to that matter.
AIADMK’s minority wing
secretary Anwar Razza told Ex-
press that if the BJP continued
with its present attitude, it
would affect the ‘vote transfer’
to the BJP candidates at the
time of elections. “When there
and participants, only the own-
er of the bull and an assistant
will be allowed to enter after
thermal screening.
Officials and coordinators of
Jallikattu should produce ‘Cov-
id-free certificate’ in advance.
Only those bull tamers who
Chief Minister Edap-
padi K Palaniswami
and Deputy Chief Min-
ister O Panneerselvam
condoled the death. In
a statement, both lead-
ers said that
Janarthanan was one
stance of Tirupati temple,
where there is no requirement
of producing such a certificate.
“Like in Tirupati, precautions
such as thermal screening, use
of mask and social distancing
should be ensured. People will
be allowed only in small batch-
es and arrangements have
made. Bedi should withdraw
the order,” Narayanasamy said,
adding that people have begun
protesting in Karaikal and the
Lieutenant Governor will be
held responsible for any law
and order situation.
‘No ulterior motive’
Responding to the charges,
Bedi said she had no ulterior
motive and just wanted to en-
sure safety of the pilgrims.
In a message, she said that
her intention was to ensure
that there is no spurt in cases.
is no mutual understanding be-
tween the cadre of the AIAD-
MK and the BJP, the vote trans-
fer to the latter won’t take place.
The AIADMK can withstand
without the vote share of the
BJP. But the saffron party can-
not,” he added.
Political analyst Tharasu
Shyam said, “As far as Tamil
Nadu is concerned, only the
State parties used to announce
the chief ministerial candidate.
Only once, in 1980, the DMK
and the Congress contested in
equal number of seats. MP Sub-
ramanian, the then leader of
the Congress in Tamil Nadu,
said whichever party won in
more number of seats, would
propose the chief ministerial
candidate. But, DMK president
M Karunanidhi opposed it and
for the first time, Indira Gan-
dhi announced Karunanidhi as
the chief ministerial
candidate.
“However, the BJP might lose
the cordial relationship with
the AIADMK cadre owing to its
attitude. Bitter feelings among
grassroots-level cadre will af-
fect the BJP ultimately. The
BJP is trying to lead the alli-
ance in Tamil Nadu as it did in
Bihar. But, it won’t work here.
In a nutshell, the BJP does not
understand the psyche of
Tamils.”
have obtained the certificate
from a government-recognised
laboratory two days in advance
will be allowed to take part.
Registration of bull tamers
should be done by the district
administration one week in
advance.
of the senior members of the
AIADMK and had served as
general secretary of MGR Man-
dram and as secretary to
Thoothukudi unit of the party.
He was also elected to Lok Sab-
ha four times from Tirunelveli
Parliamentary constituency.
CM Edappadi K Palaniswami chaired a meeting held for selecting a new chairman for Tamil Nadu Human Rights Commission
New Chairman for Human
Rights Commission soon
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
A new Chairman to Tamil
Nadu Human Rights Commis-
sion will be appointed soon as
the committee for selecting
the candidate, headed by Chief
Minister Edappadi K Palan-
iswami, met here at the Secre-
tariat on Saturday. Assembly
Speaker P Dhanapal, Chief
Secretary K Shanmugam and
‘IF ALAGIRI
LAUNCHES A
PARTY, DMK
WILL BE HIT’
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Madurai
IF the expelled DMK leader
and former Union Minister
MK Alagiri launches a politi-
cal party, it will certainly af-
fect DMK, said Minister for
Cooperation Sellur K Raju
here on Saturday.
Raju was commenting on
Alagiri’s statement made ear-
lier this week that he would
discuss his future course of
action with his supporters on
January 3.
Addressing mediapersons,
Raju said, “Alagiri does not
change his ideology. He has in-
herited the qualities of his fa-
ther M Karunanidhi in keep-
ing the opposition parties at
bay. DMK is ignoring him now.
But, if he launches a party, it
will certainly affect them.”
The DMK could not claim
that the party is ‘rowdy-free’
just because Alagiri has been
expelled. “All those who earli-
er worked for Alagiri are now
working under the leadership
of DMK president MK Stalin.
It is the AIADMK rule which
ensured law and order in the
past ten years,” Raju added.
On BJP State president L
Murugan’s comments about
alliance, he said, “As a nation-
al party, they might have cer-
tain policies stipulating that
only the central leadership
made announcements. It is
fair on his part to say so.”
Centre defers 500-MW hydroelectric
project of Nilgiris biosphere reserve
S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA
@ Chennai
AN expert appraisal commit-
tee (EAC) of Union Environ-
ment Ministry deferred grant-
ing environmental clearance
for the 500-MW Kundah hydro-
electric project inside the buff-
er zone of ecologically sensi-
tive Nilgiris biosphere reserve
forest.
It is a pumped storage
scheme in Nilgiris hills being
executed by TANGEDCO. The
project does not involve con-
struction of new reservoir.
Two existing reservoirs - Por-
thimund in higher altitude
and Avalanche-Emerald reser-
voir in the lower altitude - will
be connected with tunnels
which will serve as head race
and tail race water conducting
system. An underground pow-
erhouse with four units of 125
MW each will be built to gen-
erate electricity.
The EAC, which met on De-
cember 2, has discussed the
project in detail and chose to
defer it considering the fact
Public Secretary K Senthil Ku-
mar took part in the meeting.
However, Leader of Opposi-
tion MK Stalin, another mem-
ber of the selection commit-
tee, boycotted the meeting.
Following the stepping down
of retired HC Judge T Meena-
kumari as Chairman of the
Commission after completing
her tenure in November last
year, the post has fallen va-
cant. Conveying his decision
Nallakannu turns 95;
EPS, OPS tweet their
birthday wishes
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
VETERAN CPI leader R Nal-
lakannu’s 95th birthday was
celebrated at the party head-
quarters on Saturday.
Chief Minister Edappadi
K Palaniswami and Deputy
Chief Minister O Panneer-
selvam also greeted Nal-
lakannu through tweets and
wished him a healthy, long
life.
Speaking at the celebra-
tion, Nallakannu recalled the
struggle for Independence
and how the Constitution
was accepted by all leaders.
“The Constitution, which
was written by leaders like
BR Ambedkar, is in peril now.
After 74 years of Independ-
ence, here is a question as to
whether this Constitution
will sustain in future. Inde-
pendence was hard-earned
and now it is time to protect
it at any cost,” Nallakannu
said.
DMK president MK Stalin,
party general secretary Du-
rai Murugan, treasurer TR
Baalu, CPI State secretary R
Veteran leader recalls Independence struggles
Speaking at the celebration, Nallakannu recalled the struggle for
Independence and how the Constitution was accepted by all
leaders. “The Constitution, which was written by leaders like BR
Ambedkar, is in peril now,” Nallakannu said.
that the project area is sur-
rounded by natural forests
and falls inside the buffer zone
of Nilgiris biosphere reserve.
TANGEDCO has already ob-
tained forest clearance for di-
version of 30 hectares in Ka-
ducuppa reserve forest and
Hiriyashigee reserve forest in
Nilgiris.
“As the project is located in
the buffer zone of Nilgiris bio-
sphere reserve area, impact
study shall be carried out with
detailed mitigation measures.
Conservation plan for Sched-
ule I species is to be prepared
and submitted to the Chief
Wildlife Warden for approval.
Also, environmental matrix
during construction and op-
erational phase needs to be
submitted,” the EAC said.
When contacted, the TAN-
As the project is located in
the buffer zone of Nilgiris
biosphere reserve area,
impact study shall be
carried out with detailed
mitigation measures
Expert appraisal committee
to skip the meeting to the Pub-
lic Secretary, Stalin said, “De-
spite the fact that the post has
been vacant for more than an
year, the AIADMK govern-
ment did not take any step to
fill the vacancy. Besides, the
government did not honour
the recommendations of the
Commission during the past
many years. So, there will be
no use in taking part in this
meeting.”
Veteran CPI leader R Nallakannu
Mutharasan and senior par-
ty leader D Pandian, CPM
State secretary K
Balakrishnan, and VCK
founder Thol Thirumavala-
van were among those who
wished Nallakannu. Veteran
CPM leader N Sankaraiah
also greeted Nallakannu over
phone.
Speaking on the occasion,
Stalin recalled what his fa-
ther and former CM M Karu-
nanidhi had said,: “Nallakan-
nu is younger than me in age.
Through service to people,
he is older than me.”
GEDCO officials told Express
that the construction of the
project has been going on for
almost a decade now. Environ-
mental clearance was first ob-
tained in 2007 and its validity
expired on May 7, 2020. “As the
project could not be commis-
sioned within the validity pe-
riod, the ministry has asked
us to obtain the clearance de-
novo. A sub-committee visited
the project site and recom-
mended to continue the project
work without any stoppages,”
officials said, adding that lot
of men, material and machin-
eries have been deployed at
various work fronts for carry-
ing out the construction.
“About 20 per cent of civil
works have been completed
and an expenditure of `354
crore has been incurred.
If the works are to be
stopped on expiry of the per-
mission, all the men and ma-
chinery have to be demobi-
lised and to be remobilised
which will cause huge time
and cost overrun,” the power
corporation said.

07 CHENNAI
Mother held for
abandoning girl
in Tirupur district
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Tirupur
A day after a seven-year-old girl was
rescued in an unconscious state near
Avinashi the Tirupur police said that
a 39-year-old woman from Bengaluru
admitted to having abandoned her
daughter at Thandukkaranpalayam
in Cheyur in the district on
Saturday.
According to police, the woman in-
troduced herself as a doctor and told
police that she left her house, along
with her daughter, due to family dis-
pute. She admitted to abandoning
her daughter after she became un-
conscious due to excessive medica-
tion. She also claimed to have con-
sumed rat poison. Immediately, she
was rushed to the government Avi-
nashi hospital. Upon searching her
bag, police found snacks, medicines,
and a bill that listed rat poison. How-
ever, the poison was missing from
her bag.
Sources added that the girl under-
went a stomach wash at the Coimbat-
ore Medical College Hospital while
her mother was shifted to Tirupur
Medical College Hospital.
Based on a complaint lodged by
City Coordinator of Childline M Di-
nesh Babu, the Cheyur police regis-
tered a case under Section 75 (pun-
ishment for cruelty to child) of the
Juvenile Justice (Care and Protec-
tion of Children) Act, 2000.
Reuniting in ‘pride’
after a long season
of social isolation
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai
FINDING a community where you
feel like you belong, drawing strength
from each other’s struggles, and cel-
ebrating small victories are more im-
portant for some than for others.
Members of Orinam, a Chennai-
based LGBTIQ support group, met
for the first time on Saturday, nine
months after the lockdown was en-
forced in March. It was also the
group’s 17th anniversary.
About 30 members, including those
from other districts and countries,
gathered at the ICSA Programme
Centre in Egmore while a few others
joined the group virtually. Most of
them were people who benefitted
from the work of Orinam.
Shanma (name changed), a trans-
woman, could barely contain her ex-
citement as she told the gathering
that her mother had bought her a
saree as soon as the lockdown ended,
a sign of acceptance after years of
her struggle.
For some others, the stories were
not as happy — from dealing with the
death of loved ones to Covid-19, to job
losses, to the mental-health upheaval
that the lockdown brought.
“The Pride March really gets me
going. I throw myself into organising
Vizag ‘best performing’
municipal corpn in India
Visakhapatnam: Visakhapatnam has
been selected as the best performing
municipal corporation in the country. The
city has been chosen under the annual
awards for excellence instituted by the
Union Ministry of Housing and Urban
Affairs to recognise the outstanding
contribution of States, Union Territories
and Urban Local Bodies in
implementation of Pradhan Mantri Awas
Yojana (PMAY)-Urban in 2019. The award
will be presented by the minister of state
for housing and urban affairs on January
1, 2021. Andhra Pradesh has also secured
third position in the best performing
State category. ENS
Kerala youngster dies in mob attack in Tiruchy
T’Puram: A youth from Thiruvananthapuram died after he was allegedly beaten up by a mob at
Allur near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu on the suspicion that he was a thief. Deepu (20) from
Malayinkeezh was identified as the deceased. According to local reports, Deepu and his friend
Aravind were confronted by a group of people who grew suspicious of their movements, on
Thursday. Aravind, who managed to escape, was also caught by the local people. He was
admitted to a hospital with injuries. Police have launched a probe. ENS
TS BJP leader killed by close
friend over money dispute?
Khammam: BJP senior leader and RTI activist
N Rama Rao was killed by his close friend at
his house in Wyra town on Saturday morning.
According to police, a dispute over financial
transactions is the reason behind the murder.
After preliminary inquiries, the police suspect
that Rao’s close friend might have killed him.
The BJP leader had borrowed `15 lakh from a
trader with the help of his friend, but had not
repaid it. ENS
SUNDAY 27 12 2020
� �
VICTIMS OF
2004 TSUNAMI
REMEMBERED
Fishermen community observes 16th anniversary
of disaster that left thousands dead across State
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Thoothukudi
FISHERMEN stayed away from
fishing to mark the 16th anniversa-
ry of Tsunami which killed several
hundreds of people.
The Tsunami waves struck the
Coromandel coast on December 26,
2004 and devastated the coastal re-
gions. Several thousands of fisher-
men, public and tourists were
washed away.
In Thoothukudi, the giant Tsu-
nami waves washed away three
fishermen and nine persons were
killed at different tourist places. At
least 19,625 families were affected in
the district. More than 634 houses
Prayer ceremony held at churches as
Idinthakarai residents mark anniversary
Tirunelveli: Residents of Idinthakarai paid homage to the victims of Tsunami here
on Saturday in the seashores during the early morning hours. Marking the 16th year
of the tragedy, the residents prayed for the victims of 2004 Tsunami. They
conducted a prayer ceremony together in the nearby churches and later poured
water, sprinkled flower petals in the sea waters paying homage to the victims.
Advice for parents
of LGBTIQ children
At the meeting, Parents of those
belonging to the LGBTIQ community
sought help in understanding their
children. “(My daughter) was
in mental agony. Coming from
a traditional family, I had
nowhere to turn for advice.
So I came here, hoping to
understand my daughter
better and help her in
whatever way I can,”
said Durga (name
changed)
and working on it. When it was can-
celled this June, I was lost. Meeting
my community was a very important
part of my life and I had to learn to
live without it,” said Priya (name
changed).
Pride Month celebrations and the
Rainbow Pride March in Chennai
were cancelled this year due to the
Covid-19 outbreak and the
lockdown.
The meeting also saw parents of
those belonging to the LGBTIQ com-
munity trying to seek help in under-
standing their children better. “My
SOUTH CORNER
5 including 2 minors riding
in autorickshaw killed
Hyderabad: Five persons, including three
agricultural labourers and two minors,
travelling in an auto were crushed to
death, after the auto was rammed by a
bus and a truck coming from opposite
directions, at Ijrachittampally gate, in
Vikarabad district on Saturday morning.
The deceased have been identified as
Sona Bi, 15, Sandhya 18, Nithin, 18, Sheini
Bi, 55, and Renuka. All were residents of
Ijrachittempally Thanda in Mominpet
mandal. According to police, the victims
were on their way to Shankerpally to
work in cotton field. The auto driver was
outside the vehicle and ran away from
the spot. A case was filed. ENS
Bust of Vishnuvardhan
vandanised; fans protest
Bengaluru: Tension gripped at Magadi road
toll gate after a bust of late actor
Vishnuvadhan was vandalized by unidentified
miscreants. The followers of the actor blocked
the road for a while and policemen were
deployed at the spot to control the situation.
Many actors from Sandalwood condemned
the incident and demanded strict action
against those involved in the vandalising of
the bust. ENS
Kanniyakumari District Collector
M Arvind offers tributes at the Tsunami Floral tributes &
Memorial in Kanniyakumari | EXPRESS silent processions
Nagercoil: At the 16th tsunami
anniversary here on Saturday,
Collector M Arvind offered floral
tributes at the tsunami memorial
located at the Triruveni Sangamam.
The residents including children
and elders offered floral tribute at
the memorial situated near the
church. Assistant Director (Town
Panchayats) Vijayalakshmi,
Kanniyakumari DSP Baskaran,
Kanniyakumari town panchayat
Executive Officer Sathyadas were
part of the anniversary. At
Kottilpadu coastal village, parish
priest Father C Raj began a silent
procession from Tsunami colony
and South Asian Fishermen
Fraternity (SAFF) general secretary
Father Churchil led the silent
procession. They also offered
prayers at the Tsunami
in the taluk, 85 in Tiruchendur, 13 cemetery
in Vilathikulam and five in People conduct rituals in memory of
Sathankulam taluks were damaged loved ones in Nagapattinam | EXPRESS
in the aftermath of the furious
waves. Besides, 640 boats were
damaged.
The fishermen who belong to
mechanised fishing vessels and
country boats stayed away from
fishing, and held special prayers to
remember the departed souls here
on Saturday. Marking the 16th an-
niversary of the Tsunami, the fish-
ermen observed silence and lit can-
dles on the beaches and fishing
harbours. They also showered flow-
er petals and poured milk in the
sea.
Pondy CM pays respects to victims
Puducherry: Floral tributes were paid to people who lost their lives in the
2004 tsunami here, on the 16th anniversary of the disaster on Saturday. Puducherry
Chief Minister V Narayanasamy, his cabinet colleagues and speaker V Sivakolunthu,
A woman whispers a prayer at Marina Beach among others, paid tributes by offering milk and showering petals into the sea
as she remembers the victims of the tsunami, behind the Gandhi statue. Tributes were also paid at different places along the
in Chennai on Saturday | R SATISH BABU Puducherry coast
2,039 students graduate from VIT Chennai
EXPRESS ILLUSTRATION
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai
A total of 2,039 graduates from Vel-
lore Institute of Technology (VIT)
in Chennai, were conferred their de-
grees through virtual conference on
Saturday.
Madras High Court judge V Bha-
vani Subbaroyan was the chief
guest on the occasion. She congratu-
There is no substitute for in- lated the graduates and applauded
VIT’s achievements. “Realise your
person meetings. So much can responsibility as the youth of this
be conveyed. It’s also a place great nation; keep up-skilling, inno- Students of VIT graduated virtually with Madras HC judge V Bhavani Subbaroyan as chief guest
vate and learn to relearn for suste-
to share energy and stories nance,” she said, recalling Swami opportunities, economic productiv- grated), M.S Software Engineering
of shared Vivekananda clarion call ‘arise, ity and growth,” he said. (Integrated), M.Tech, B.Tech, B.A,
struggles and awake, and stop not till the goal is “VIT has so far offered scholar- LL.B (Hons), and B.B.A, LL.B
reached’. ships to over 6,000 students,” he add- (Hons).
triumphs VIT founder and chancellor Dr G ed. Vice Chancellor Rambabu Ko- Vice Presidents Sankar Viswa-
Ram, Orinam Viswanathan, in his presidential ad- dali welcomed the gathering and nathan, Sekar Viswanathan, GV Sel-
volunteer dress, requested the Central and briefed them on the institute’s vam and Kadhambari S Viswanath-
State governments to spend more on achievements at national and inter- a n , a l o n g w i t h Re g i s t r a r K
higher education. “Development of national levels. Sathiyanarayanan, Pro Vice-Chan-
a country depends on the develop- According to a statement, the cer- cellors VS Kanchana Bhaaskaran
ment of higher education, and edu- emony was held for graduates of and S Narayanan, and Additional
daughter opened up to me about be- cation is not for academic qualifica- Ph.D, MS (Research), MBA, MCA, M Registrar PK Manoharan were on
ing confused regarding her sexuality. tions alone; it increases employment Tech Software Engineering (Inte- the occasion present.
She was in mental agony. Coming
from a traditional family, I had no-
where to turn for advice. So I came
here, hoping to understand my
daughter better and help her in what-
ever way I can,” said Durga (name
SAD DEMISE
changed).
Ram, a volunteer with Orinam,
said, “There is no substitute for in-
person meetings. So much can be
conveyed. It’s also a place to share en-
ergy and stories of shared struggles
and triumphs.”
Born : Died :
05.10.1933 20.12.2020
Youth falls victim to caste
murder? Two arrested
Palakkad: Two persons were on Saturday
arrested by Kuzhalmannam police in
Smt. A.P. MALLIKA
connection with the killing of Aneesh, 27, W/o. A.Punna Rao and eldest D/o. (late) T. P. Rajalakshmi
of Elamandam in Kuzhalmannam in a (First Women Director cum Actress, Tamil), passed away
suspected case of honour killing. Those at Chennai.
arrested were Prabhukumar, 43, and
Suresh, 45, father and uncle, respectively Suba Sweekaram will be held on 01-01-2021 at her
of Haritha, wife of Aneesh. Aneesh alias residence, Sembakkam, Chennai.
Appu, son of Arumughan was killed near Mourned by
Manamkulambu school in the vicinity of
Thenkurissy around 6pm on Friday. Family Members
Prabhukumar, who had fled after the Cell: 7305601992.
incident, was traced to Coimbatore from
where he was arrested on Saturday.
Suresh was nabbed in the wake of the
incident. ENS
PUBLIC NOTICE
The General Public is hereby informed that my Client
Mrs. M. Jaya, W/o. L. Mani purchased one Plot No. 62
measuring 2722 Sq.Ft comprised in Survey No. 197/2
of Madambakkam Village, Sriperumbudur Taluk,
Kancheepuram District, under Sale Deed dt. 16.07.1990
registered as Doc.No. 2135/1990 on the file of SRO
Guduvanchery from the legal heirs of Late. N. Govindan.
In the said Sale Deed Mrs. Jaya signed on behalf of
6th vendor minor Prasad. So even after the limitation
my client wanted to obtained Deed of consent from the
then minor now major Mr. Prasad. But the whereabouts
could not be traced out. My client wants to sell the
property. If anybody is having any objection, claims
over the property may contact the under signed with
the documentary proof in support of their objection
within 15 days from the date of this publication failing
which it shall be deemed that no objection or claim
or right ever existed in respect of the said property
and my client will proceed to complete the sale and
there after no objections will be entertained.
SCHEDULE OF PROPERTY
All that piece and parcel of Plot No. 62 measuring
2722 Sq.Ft comprised in S.No. 197/2 of Madambakkam
Village, Sriperumbudur Taluk, Kancheepuram District,
within the Sub Registration District of Guduvanchery.
M. UMA, B.A., B.L.,
(Mob: 9952679233)
Plot No. 10, 9th Street, Sakthi Nagar,
Alapakkam, Chengalpattu-603003.
 Speak in
extremes, it'll
David Bowie
save you time

08 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� � THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS

HINDSIGHT 2020: GOVERNORSHIP IS BORING. POWER MATTERS

TAKEAWAYS FOR POINT OF VIEW
comes over-enthusiastic about proving dled the matter. With a smile, he said the

BUDGET 2021
his loyalties. The Governor’s loyalty proper procedure was for the Governor
T J S GEORGE must be to the Constitution and only to to accept what the Cabinet recommend-
the Constitution. The Constitution also ed. He sent two senior Cabinet minis-

T
defines his powers. As per convention, ters to discuss the matter with the Gov-

A
HE gap between India’s potential and reality is reflected RIF Mohammed Khan must be he has no authority to ask why the leg- ernor. Subsequent reports suggested
by the fact that the India Story continues to be defined, the most frustrated politician islature has to be called into session. that the Governor softened his position.
quote-unquote ‘emerging’ for three decades since 1991. in India today. He has been That is a political right vested in the If he did, it could not have been just be-
India’s $ 2.8 trillion economy is at an inflection point. made governor when his own political leadership. In this case, the op- cause of the Christmas cake the minis-
Hindsight, they say is 2020 and the year has many lessons. conviction is that he can serve position had also joined the ruling coa- ters had taken with them.
Here are five takeaways for Budget 2021. the country best by being a lition in support of a special session. In most states the Governor is but a
Invest in Human Capital: India’s strength is the scale of 1.3 power-wielding minister. He is The Governor’s interference in such a decorative part of the parliamentary
billion aspirations. Yet, successive regimes have flailed at in- taking out his frustration on the elected situation is plain politics. Governor system. As a resident of Karnataka, I
vesting in developing human capital. The state of health care government in Kerala, the state he is Khan’s keenness to please the BJP Gov- cannot offhand remember who is the
and the broken education system is illustrated by the ranking ‘governing’. He seems convinced that ernment in Delhi is a bit, too, obvious. Governor of the state. This is in spite
in the latest UN Human Development Report and the findings he as governor has a political role to Perhaps, he should learn a thing or of the fact that this Governor, Vajubhai
of the fifth National Family Health Survey. Take education. play as much as the ministers of the two from the Chief Minister’s expert Vala, once invited the BJP to form the
Literacy is necessary but not sufficient. What is critical is years state. Result: An ugly situation that has handling of the spat. Asked if the Gov- Government in preference to the larg-
of schooling. India with 6.5 mean years of schooling fares poorly been saved from becoming a public ernor was playing politics, he smartly est alliance of parties. He failed, of
— Malaysia, for instance, boasts of 10.5 years and Korea 12.2 scandal only by Chief Minister Pi- avoided an answer. He, then, went on to course. Who for that matter is the Gov-
years, Brazil and China 8-plus years. Last week, the Health Min- narayi Vijayan’s diplomatic handling say that he had no problem with the ernor of Tamil Nadu? We have to look
istry released the NFHS report. Mal- of it. Governor exercising the powers given of legislative procedures that made into the records to find out. (What a
nutrition levels persist across states The state government wanted to call to him. This was his way of saying that him choose the wrong interpretation in pity that hardened party apparatchiks
and have worsened in some — the a special session of the legislature to the Governor had no business exercis- order to serve a calculated political are appointed governors these days.)
under-five mortality rate is over 50 express support to the ongoing farm- ing powers not vested in him. Calling a purpose. People are not likely to accept As to who is the Governor of Kerala,
(per 1,000 births) in many states. The ers’ agitation. The discipline of the session of the legislature is a political the idea that an unelected office-holder even people in UP and Assam must be
aggravation of stunting and wasting farmers, not to mention their determi- matter and if the Cabinet takes the de- such as a Governor can interfere with aware. He is in the news with his self-
has long-term consequences. nation, has won universal admiration. cision to do so, the Governor’s role is to the proceedings of an elected legisla- serving ambitions. See how he enjoys
How can a nation betting on de- But the Modi Government sees them as accept it. What must be discussed in the ture. Arif Khan takes that position be- every opportunity to talk to a media
mographic dividend justify spend- enemies, which means that those who House is for the legislature to decide, cause he has chosen to please Delhi crowd, explaining how he is the embod-
THE THIRD EYE ing barely 1.5 per cent of GDP for are loyal to the government must criti- not for the Governor. rather than carry out his limited con- iment of wisdom unlike the run-of-the-
SHANKKAR AIYAR health and 3.1 per cent of GDP for cise them. Arif Khan seems to be on the It cannot be that an experienced poli- stitutional obligations. mill politicians. The Centre must help
Author of The Gated Republic, Aadhaar: education — and the levels have side of the critics. He refused permis- tician like Arif Khan was unaware of If he were a wise man, Khan would this man get out his frustrations. Give
A Biometric History of India’s 12 Digit been static for nearly a decade. No sion for the legislature to convene. these facts. It is more likely that it was learn from the way the consummate him a political post and all will be well.
Revolution, and Accidental India economy has prospered without in- This is what happens when a man be- his awareness of the rights and wrongs politician that is Pinarayi Vijayan han- (So we hope.)
shankkar.aiyar@gmail.com vesting in human development.
Leverage Low Rate Regime:
The aspiration of a $5 trillion econ-
omy rests on how India finds ways to fund it. Global interest
rates are at their lowest, yo-yoing between sub-1 per cent and
negative yields. Over $17 trillion of global savings is locked in
negative yielding debt paper. Global pension funds and sover-
eign funds are hurting and hunting for returns, and India could
COMRADE VIJAYAN AND COMMUNAL COMMUNISM
align its potential and market conditions to raise resources. God’s Own Countrymen. The objective 2019. The BJP has been strident against
There is an opportunity for India to monetise assets and op- is to convert them into God’s Own Com- the rising Islamic fundamentalism and
portunities. It could house its PSEs in a sovereign trust or fund munists. The abovementioned commu- demographic distortions in Kerala.
and raise debt against assets — and use the trust for strategic nities have been traditional Congress Both Christian and Hindu population
sale of public sector units. It could invite investors opportunity followers or supporters. has been declining over the past three
to invest in the infrastructure push — either through bonds or The Indian Union Muslim League decades as Muslim numbers climb. Ac-
via Infrastructure Investment Trusts housing ready and run- (IUML) has been part of the Congress- cording to the 2011 Census, Muslims ac-
ning highway and other projects. led United Democratic Front (UDF) for counted for 26.56 as against 24.70 per-
Reposition Make in India: Ideally, India and any economy POWER & POLITICS almost four decades. Vijayan is cashing cent in 2001. Hindus declined from 56.16
would want to produce the bulk of consumption demand. The PRABHU CHAWLA on this confusing camaraderie, calling percent to 54.73 and Christians from
mindset of globalisers though has been to view India purely as prabhuchawla@newindianexpress.com the Congress, in so many words, an 19.02 to 18.38 in the same period. Hindus
a market for their goods. If India can re-craft land and labour Follow him on Twitter @PrabhuChawla IUML stooge. He hopes the Christians are vertically divided along caste lines,
policies, it could leverage cost economics of for production and are alarmed by Kerala’s demographic with Ezhavas and Nairs forming over 36
the scale of domestic market to align competing compulsions changes and the increasing influence of percent, which is divided between the
and benefit from the global China-plus-one reconfiguration of hardcore Muslim political parties in

A
supply chain economics. And there are opportunities — for spectre is haunting Kerala, the
instance, renewables, electric vehicles and 5G telecom services. spectre of Communalism. Par-
India will be a big market as the EV sector expands to touch aphrasing Marx’s Manifesto
$800 billion by around 2025. The transition to 5G is another op- seems apt at this time when
portunity. Currently, India hosts over a billion mobile phone Marxism survives as discred-
users of which 600 million are estimated to be smart phone us- ited dogma and Marxists an
ers. If India crafts a smart scheme a la the productivity-linked endangered species. Left with
incentive scheme, it could be part of the commoditisation of an obsolete textbook for connecting the
components and eventually transition to a global hub. masses against the classes, our leftover
Induct Skills Apprenticeship and Certification: India’s Leftists are looking for new ways to
economy hosts contrasting extremes — large scale unemploy- reach Stalinist paradise. But it’s a Faus-
ment and jobs for which skilled personnel are hard to find. The tian bargain Kerala Chief Minister Pi-
crux is the skills gap which demands a model which allows narayi Vijayan has struck with polari-
people to earn as they learn and re-learn through an appren- sation. The 75-year-old Comrade is a
ticeship programme for newcomers and re-skilling for those in classic example of the Marxist muddle;
the workforce. The need for such a model acquires urgency in his party CPI(M) abhors religion and
the light of the many disruptions — from climate change to regionalism but is now socialising with
technology adoption — which could render those stepping out sectarianism.
of college inadequate and those with jobs redundant as alloca- Since the success of a political
tion of capital for automation displaces human interface. Budg- party is measured in terms of votes and
et 2021 affords an opportunity to design a tax-based incentive seats, the CPI(M) is almost politically
scheme which enables employers to fund skilling and for job bankrupt, abandoned in ideological
seekers to learn anew and renew skills. ICU. Once the party ruled three states,
Wall the Data Ant-hills: The derailment of the IPO of Jack held over 40 Lok Sabha seats and was
Ma led Ant group, the series of actions on tech companies in present in more than ten states. It
Europe and in the US represent an emerging and paradigm lost power in West Bengal and Tripura.
shift in public policy on data across political economies. Verily It has less than half a dozen MPs, sur-
these moves — riding on the percept of controlling market mo- v iv i n g o n c r u m b s f r o m o t h e r
nopolies and trust issues — are heading towards localisation Opposition parties.
of data for purpose control, storage, usage and monetisation. Vijayan’s bleak choice reflects the
The trends have consequences for India. Already, large com- preferential practicality of ‘Divide and
panies across India — in the financial sector and on factory Rule’ by crafting a Hindu-Christian coa-
floors — are rapidly inducting technology for repetitive, cogni- lition as he prepares for the Assembly
tive and predictive processes and analysis. Data spewed by a elections in April-May 2021. As chief
billion phone users, online-shopping and digital transactions minister, his performance during the
make India data rich even as it aspires to prosperity. It needs to past 55 months has been better than
urgently fix the gap in data protection and privacy, and move many of his counterparts. But, he now
towards a system enabling Indians and Indian entities first realises that simply waving the red flag
charge on data generated and transition eventually to a system does not cut much ice with voters, who
to leverage data as a public good. are being abscinded along religious and
These are not all but some of the takeaways. Every political caste lines. His current mission is to
economy will and does face competing crises and contradic- create a wedge between Kerala’s two
tions. What matters is alignment of policy and aspiration. India dominant minorities — the Christians
has been held back not by what it could not but what it could and the Muslims. Put together, they
but did not. constitute over 40 per cent of 35 million
the UDF.
The concerned Comrade has reasons
to worry. The Welfare Party of India,
backed by the Muslims, had a tactic al-
liance against the Left Front candidates
in the local elections. An impressive
performance of the Social Democratic
Party of India, the political wing of the
Islamist Popular Front of India (PFI),
in the municipal elections led to panic
among other communities. Vijayan
seized the opportunity and started a
dialogue with the Christians who are
the recent segment of BJP’s outreach.
The CPI-M had lost a large chunk of its
Hindu base, mainly OBCs, Dalits and
tribals, over its pro-women stand on
Sabarimala. Its current plan is to com-
pensate the loss by wooing the Chris-
tians and the Muslims who perhaps be-
lieve that only the Left can stop the
saffron footprint from expanding in Adi
Shankaracharya’s Kerala.
Vijayan finagled Kerala Congress
(Mani), supported by a section of the
Christian community, into the Left
Democratic Front. In addition, he met
bishops and assured the Christians that
his government has no plans to imple-
ment the Church Act, which aims to es-
tablish the Devasom administrative
model in their places of worship. The
CM’s assurance would keep churches
out of the ambit of the state govern-
ment audit. Previously, a draft was post-
ed on an official website by Justice
(retd) KT Thomas, a former Supreme
Court judge and chairman, State Law
Reforms Commission.
The secular credentials of the Marx-
ists obfuscate the first communal act of
executive power in India. In June 16,
1969, the venerable Marxist patriarch
EMS Namboodiripad carved Malap-
puram out of Palakkad and Kozhikode
Vijayan knows he has to get the party
and himself out of the backwaters and
create a red wave around the shores of the
Arabian Sea. He is dangerously diluting
red with a tinge of sa�ron and green. But
voters are not colourblind anymore, though
politicians have become colourless in the
age of ideological idiosyncrasy
when he was the Chief Minister — the
first time a special district was created
for a community in a blatant act of
Communalism mating with Commu-
nism. It was a reward for the Muslim
League’s political support of his gov-
ernment. “Denounced by its opponents
as ‘the illegitimate child of the Two Na-
tion theory’, Malappuram – ‘Mopalastan’
to its critics – combined within a single
district those taluks which forty eight
years before, in 1921, had been the scene
of the Mapilla rebellion,” writes South
Asia expert Professor Robert L
Hardgrave.
Vijayan has realised that the BJP has
lassoed away a large chunk of Hindu
voters from the Left by polarising the
electorate. The saffron party may not
have won seats but its popular vote
share has been growing consistently for
the past ten years, rising from about 10
percent in 2016 to around 13 percent in
Congress and the Communists. Vijayan
is not considered an Ezhava, being the
son of a toddy tapper.
The Kerala chief minister is a Teflon
Commissar of Controversy. He was one
of the accused in the state’s first politi-
cal murder of Vadikkal Ramakrishnan
in April 1969. He was acquitted. He was
arrested again during the Emergency.
He was charged with corruption in 1998
as state Electricity Minister, in the infa-
mous S N Lavalin case. The CBI accused
him of causing a huge loss over grant-
ing a contract for the repair of electric-
ity generators. He was again acquitted.
His detractors, both in his party and
outside, were using these cases to pre-
vent him from becoming the CM. Now,
his own principal secretary has been
arrested in a gold smuggling case. But
one of the 17 Politburo members and
Kerala’s 12th chief Minister who car-
ries a ten-party portmanteau, Comrade
Vijayan appears undeterred. National
CPI-M leaders are conspicuous by their
irrelevance. They are in the company
of Rahul Gandhi and Opposition lead-
ers as numerical baggage. The CPI-M
doesn’t have a single leader to match
the political articulation of EMS Nam-
boodripad, Jyoti Basu, AK Gopalan,
Somnath Chatterjie, Harkishen Singh
Surjeet et al. Most of its current leader-
ship cannot win their own seats, let
alone lead the party to victory.
Vijayan knows he has to get the party
and himself out of the backwaters and
create a red wave around the shores of
the Arabian Sea. He is dangerously di-
luting red with a tinge of saffron and
green. But voters are not colourblind
anymore, though politicians have be-
come colourless in the age of ideologi-
cal idiosyncrasy. The CPI-M may be get-
ting a new political PANTONE, but it is
the tone that is disturbing.

For many, this time of the year will be tinged with
sadness — some mourning the loss of those dear
to them, and others missing friends and family
members, distanced for safety, when all they really
want for Christmas is a simple hug...
Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom
I will bring the House back to session where we will hold a recorded vote on our
stand-alone Bill to increase economic impact payments to $2,000. To vote
against this Bill is to deny the financial hardship that families face...
Nancy Pelosi, US House Speaker
The US condemns the latest attack by Iran-backed militias on the International
Zone in Baghdad. While no embassy personnel were harmed, the attack caused
at least one Iraqi civilian casualty and damaged Iraqi civilian property
Mike Pompeo, US Secretary of State
Listen to the farmers
It was good to read that the prime minister, Naren-
dra Modi, has released I18,000 crore to over nine
crore farmer families under the Pradhan Mantri
Kisan Samman Nidhi programmer. This seems to
indicate that he is concerned about the farmers’
good. However, it is still a mystery why he is unable
to accept their demands. The farmers have been
protesting in bitter cold for around a month. They
are not unaware about what they are doing; if they
are risking their lives in the harsh winter — some
have already lost lives — it is because the new laws
would harm them irretrievably. Instead of trying to
put an end to their demonstrations, the Centre
must accept their demands before it is too late.
M N Alam, Saharanpur
Rahul should not comment
This refers to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi pro-
claiming that there is democracy in the country,
accusing the PM for labelling those who talk
against the government as terrorists. Rahul Gandhi
has forfeited the right to comment against the
Centre as being non-inclusive in the country’s af-
fairs by siding and supporting the agitating farm-
ers who have no rationale in continuing their pro-
tests against farm laws.
K V Raghuram, Wayanad
Strict Covid rules must
It is with reference to the news, “New stringent
policy to monitor positive patients coming from
UK”— Dec26. The discovery of of the new Covid
strain in the UK has come with its own set of chal-
lenges for India. It has led to the cancellation of
flights from the country amid the new year festivi-
ties. Now every state has a new task of tracing and
tracking the travellers who have moved to different
states upon their travel, crucial to containment
and surveillance. While the government has clari-
fied that the new mutant strain has so far not been
detected in the country, contact tracing and screen-
ing are imperative to rule out the recurrence of the
disease. The WHO has said that new Coronavirus
strain can be stopped by strictly adhering Covid
preventive measures.So it would be good for the
states to be stringent in executing existing preven-
tive measures, including quarantining the UK re-
turnees, until vaccines are launched.
P Victor Selvaraj, Palayamkottai
Barking up the wrong tree
Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the entire
blame for the farmers’ unrest on the shoulders of
the opposition parties is hardly going to provide
any solution to the crisis with the agitation now
entering its second month. (Modi broadside on po-
litical foes – 26th December). On their part, the
farmers’ unions have been repeatedly reiterating
that they have no truck with any political outfit
and have also been ensuring that opposition par-
ties are kept at arms length. It is a fact that the
opposition parties are doing their best to derive
political mileage from the agitation, but the farm-
ers are not acting at their behest and that is cer-
tain. Despite quite a bit of mollycoddling from the
government’s side, the farmers’ unions are in no
mood to call off their agitation and are continuing
to press their demand for repeal of the three vexa-
tious laws which the government is not willing to
consider leave alone accede.
CV Aravind, Bengaluru
Abhaya verdict is unique
What is important and unique about the verdict in
Abhaya case is that the courts repeatedly dis-
missed the investigators’ failure stories and or-
dered re-investigation. The courts were keen that
the murder mystery of Sr Abhaya be solved. The
fair-minded public were also eager to see the guilty
punished, particularly because of the sensational
aspects involved. Looking from that angle the ver-
dict convicting the priest and nun for life imprison-
ment coming after 28 years is definitely justice,
though delayed. One important takeaway from this
case is that, if judges and some activists mind, no
criminal case need be closed in the country for
want of evidence.
Geetha BK, Mangaluru

THE NEW SUNDAY EXPRESS

Chairman of the Board: Manoj Kumar Sonthalia Editor: G S Vasu
Printed and Published by R K Jhunjhunwala on behalf of Express Publications (Madurai) Private Ltd., at Express Press, ‘Express Gardens’, 29, Second Main Road, Ambattur Industrial Estate, Chennai - 600 058. Chennai: Vol. 21, No. 51. RNI Reg. No.TNENG/2000/3090,
Phone: 044-23457601, Fax: 044-23457619. Copyright: Express Publications (Madurai) Private Ltd. All rights reserved. Reproduction in any manner, electronic or otherwise, in whole or in part, without prior written permission is prohibited.
 Smriti Z Irani @smritiirani
TWEETS
OF THE Rahul Gandhi uses foul language against
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and is indulging
DAY in lies to create confusion in the country
Sitaram Yechury @SitaramYechury Sanjay Raut @rautsanjay61
A fifth of 87 million salaried employees lost jobs All Oppn parties should come together
in 2020...The poor can’t survive, & economy won’t against the dictatorial attitude of Centre. A
revive. PM Modi sits on crores in his private trust weak opposition is bad for democracy

09 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� �

Beniwal quits:
Not stuck with
fevicol to NDA
Rashtriya Loktantrik Party is the latest to
leave the alliance over the farm laws
R A J E S H A S N A N I @ Jaipur Delhi. “I was stopped from en-
tering the Lok Sabha with a
RASHTRIYA Loktantrik Party fake Covid report. Had I been
(RLP) convenor and Nagaur there, I would have thrown
MP Hanuman Beniwal on Sat- away the copy of the farm bills
urday announced a split from in the house,” said the 48-year-
the BJP-led National Demo- old politician who had earlier
cratic Alliance (NDA) over the declared that his party will
Centre’s new farm laws. “think about continuing” with
“I am not stuck with fevicol the NDA if the “black laws” are
with the NDA. Today, I separate not repealed. Rashtriya Loktantrik Party leader Hanuman Beniwal during a protest against new farm laws at Shahjahanpur border on Delhi-Jaipur highway on Saturday | SHEKHAR YADAV

myself from the NDA,” Beniw-
al said while addressing a farm-
ers’ rally in Shahjahanpur
in Alwar district.’
On Friday, Beniwal had
announced a march to
Delhi in support of
farmers organisations
holding a protest against
the contentious laws.
Far mers from Rajasthan
h ave b e e n p ro t e s t i n g i n
Shahjhanpur on the Jaipur-
Delhi highway for 14 days.
“We won’t stand with anyone
who is against farmers,” Beni-
wal, a Lok Sabha MP from Ra-
jasthan’s Nagaur, said, address-
ing protesters at the
Shahjahanpur-Kheda border in
the state’s Alwar district after
leading rally against the new
laws and promising a march to
Thousands of farmers from
several states have been camped
on the outskirts of New
Delhi for over a month,
blocking highways to
demand that Prime
Minister Narendra Mo-
di’s government repeal
the farm laws passed in
Se ptember with little
debate.
A prominent Jat leader, Beni-
wal enjoys considerable sup-
port in districts like Nagaur,
Barmer in Rajasthan. Beniwal
had launched RLP after quit-
ting the BJP before the 2018
state elections. He however, al-
lied with the BJP ahead of the
2019 general elections again.
The RLP is the latest member
of the NDA to leave the alliance
over the contagious issue.
Farmers from Maharashtra
reach Delhi border
A group of farmers from Maharashtra on
Saturday joined protesters at one of the borders
of Delhi, an All India Kisan Sabha (AIKS) leader
said and added that tillers have expressed
willingness to discuss issues with the
government but wanted ceretain clauses from
the three agri laws removed. On Monday,
thousands of farmers from Maharashtra had
left for Delhi from Nashik in vehicles to join the
ongoing agitation seeking the repeal of the
legislations. “We received a rousing welcome at
a New Delhi border. Farmers sitting on protests
here welcomed us and thanked us for joining
them,” All India Kisan Sabha secretary,
Maharashtra, Ajit Navle, said. He said that
farmers have expressed willingness to discuss.
‘Left-backed farmer
Calling traders middlemen is
unfair, says association
unions are obstacles’
Traders community has objected to the use of
term ‘bicholia (middlemen)’ which is being used
for them in the current farmers’ protests. They E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra
said that it is the defective agriculture system Modi. “If there is any blood-
and failure of administrative machinery which is THE Bharatiya Jnata Party on shed or loss (of life) in the com-
responsible for deficit farming. Confederation of Saturday said that the Left-in- ing days, then the Congress and
all India traders (CAIT) said that it is the traders fluenced farmers’ unions are the left parties will be responsi-
who have more connect with farm bills and proving to be obstacles in the ble,” Gautam told a press
therefore the traders must be involved in any path of finding solutions in the conference.
talks concerning farm bills. CAIT said that “If ongoing protests at the He also said BJP workers,
even after 75 yers of Independence, the farmers border surrounding national general public and farmers
are doing deficit farming and for thus blaming capital. were attacked during the Fri-
the traders who are allegedly called as Bicholiya “The Leftists sitting in the day event at Bathinda to cele-
is unfair. Every party is accusing traders as midst of the farmers are not al- brate Vajpayee’s birthday, leav-
middlemen and they should evaluate the lowing settlement of issues. ing several party workers
repercussions of such saying.” The Modi government has giv- injured.”
en assurances on MSP, APMC “They were listening to
mandis and contract farming. Prime Minister Narendra Mo-

16K leave Punjab with ration to join protest at Delhi borders

H A R P R E E T BA J WA @ Chandigarh
MORE than 16,000 farmers
from various parts of Punjab
carrying ration and other es-
sential items are heading to
Delhi. Considering the Centre
is firm on not repealing the
agri laws, the farmers said they
have prepared for a long haul
as were carrying ration and
other essentials in their troll-
The government has spoken di’s address, when the “Punjab
with open hearts and even gave government, with the help of
written assurances.” the local police, attacked them
“But the protestors accuse with iron road batons. Due to
ies. “We will rest only when the secretary of Bharatiya Kisan 15,000 pamphlets were distrib- headed to Delhi. that the government of being this, many suffered serious in-
government repeals the laws,” Union (Ekta Ugrahan), one of uted and a two- minute silence The Punjab Taxi Union has stubborn. It will be the people juries,” he said.
said a farmer. largest farmer organisations in was observed to pay tribute to announced not to charge fares who will decide who is stub- He said the state police acted
Despite bitter cold and fog, the state, said, “Over 16,000 peo- those who have died in the agi- from farmers wishing to go to born, the government or the as a “Congress police”.
farmers from Gurdaspur, Am- ple on 454 trolleys, 50 buses, 60 tation so far before the farmers Delhi to join the protests. Leftist farmers’ unions,” said He said the state police acted
ritsar, Sangrur, Tarn Taran and trucks, canters and 400 cars started for Delhi.” Meanwhile, another farmer, Dushyant Gautam, BJP nation- as a “Congress police”.
Bathinda districts started for and jeeps moved towards Delhi The union will send another 75-year old Amrik Singh of al general secretary. “Nobody was stopped, the
Delhi. Sukhdev Singh, general from Khanauri border. Some group to Delhi from Dabwali Gurdaspur, died of cardiac ar- It also slammed the Congress tent at the event venue was up-
border. Several batches of farm- rest at Tikri border. The Kisan for the alleged violence against rooted and people gathered
Some 15,000 pamphlets were distributed and a two- minute silence ers from Amritsar under the Ekta Morcha has appealed to the party workers in Punjab on there were told to get out
was observed to pay tribute to those who have died in the agitation banner of the Kisan Mazdoor boycott PM’s Mann Ki Baat ad- Friday when they had gathered through the rear gate,” Gautam
so far before the farmers started for Delhi — Sukhdev Singh, farmer Sangharsh Committee are also dress on Sunday, beat ‘thalis’. to listen to the speech of the alleged.

Farmers’ body charges government with distorting facts, spreading misinformation

CO N T I N U E D F R O M PAG E 1
“WE have consistently demand-
ed the repeal of the three cen-
tral farm acts, whereas the gov-
ernment has distorted our
position as if we were asking
for amendments to these Acts.
If you are sincere about re-
spectfully listening to the farm-
ers, as you say in your letter,
the government must not in-
dulge in misinformation about
the previous meetings,” the
morcha said.
Swaraj Abhiyan chief Yogen-
dra Yadav said: “You know a
letter diplomacy is going on be-
tween the government and the
farmers’ unions as the aim of
the government is to put the
ball in our court. The last two
letters sent to us by joint secre-
tary Vivek Aggarwal have half
truths.”
Yadav said as the govern-
ment has said it was ready to
talk to the farmers on any is-
sue, they had outlined their de-
mands. “We have made the
agenda because the govern-
ment keeps asking us what we
want. We are always ready to
talk with an open mind,” he
said.“Out of the four agendas
the first two points are modali-
ties to repeal the three farm
laws and a mechanism and pro-
cedure to bring a law for pro-
viding a legal guarantee on
MSP,” he added.
Krantikari Kisan Union pres-
ident Darshan Pal announced
the next round of programmes.
He said like Punjab, toll plazas
in Haryana would be perma-
nently opened in the coming
days.On December 27 and 28,
the martyrdom day of Guru
Gobind Singh would be ob-
served at all the five protest
sites on the Delhi borders.
Pal also invited all the resi-
dents of Delhi on January 1 to
the celebrate new year’s day
with the farmers on the Singhu
border. He said they had al-
ready given a general call for
agitation and protests across
the country, including a ban on
Ambani-Adani products.
Meanwhile, a former mem-
ber of Parliament of the Lok
Sabha from Punjab, Harinder
Singh Khalsa, resigned from
the BJP in protest against the
“insensitivity” shown by the
government and saffron party
leaders towards the farmers’
protest.

UK ALARM

SEQUENCING Covid hits 150 Army jawans

OF GENOMES TO for Republic Day parade
TRACK MUTANTS EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ New Delhi
opment. The test was done
more than a week ago and some
had since recovered. The sol-
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi the point of entry of the virus AROUND 150 Army soldiers diers who tested positive were
into the human respiratory gathered in New Delhi to par- segregated and isolated, the of-
FOLLOWING the emergence cells. ticipate in the Army Day pa- ficer added.
of a new strain of SARS CoV It was emphasised in the rade on January 15 and the Re- Around 2,000 Army soldiers
2 in the UK, the National Task meeting that since the UK var- public Day celebrations on from different parts of the
Force on Covid-19 has recom- iant was implicated to cause January 26 have tested Covid-19 country have gathered at the
mended that 5% of all positive increased transmissibility of positive. Delhi Cantonment for the pa-
samples from every state be the virus, it was critical to Confirming the news, an rades. The mobilization of
subjected to whole genome se- identify individuals infected Army officer said: “The sol- troops takes place from across
quencing to track the with this strain and diers who came in from outside the country. The movement of
m u t at i o n s i n t h e adequately contain to participate in various pa- the selected contingents takes
virus. them to prevent its rades were tested before putting place through various means,
Samples from over transmission in India. them in a safe bubble. Some of including rail, road and air.
50 travellers who have But the task force con- them tested positive.” The contingent which pre-
arrived in the country cluded that there was While only seven of them sented the guard of honour on
from the UK and have no need to change the had visible signs of the disease, Independence Day at the Red
tested positive for existing treatment the rest were asymptomatic, Fort in Delhi was put under 14-
Covid-19 are already
being subjected to
Watch on
protocols in view of
mutations emerging
WATCH YOUR GROUND the officer added.
The officer said there was
day quarantine before they
were allowed to participate in
s p i ke g e n e
UK flyers in the strain. Tourists stand on the frozen Kholudu Lake at Jobrang in Lahaul-Spiti, Himachal Pradesh, on Saturday | PTI nothing alarming in the devel- the celebrations.
sequencing.
must The NTF also rec-
The task force un- Adding to the ommended that in ad-
der the chairmanship
of V K Paul, member
existing
surveillance,
dition to the existing
surveillance strate-
(health) in the Niti states have to gies, it was critical to Jaishankar to visit
EXPRESS READ
Board exam dates to
Sena bats for Sharad Pawar as UPA chief
Aayog, met to discuss conduct conduct enhanced ge- Qatar on Dec 27-28 be out on Dec 31 SUDHIR SURYAWANSHI @Mumbai ment has not yet started posi- from his knowledge,” it said,
the evidence-based enhanced nomic surveillance tive talks with them. This is giving the example of West
modifications in test- genomic for SARS-CoV-2, espe- New Delhi: EAM S Jaishankar New Delhi: The schedule for NCP chief Sharad Pawar unfortunate and it’s happening Bengal Chief Minister Mamata
ing, treatment and surveillance, cially among incom- will undertake an official visit classes 10 and 12 board should be made the chairman because the Opposition is di- Banerjee’s call to the Maratha
surveillance strate- especially ing passengers from to Qatar on December 27-28. examinations will be of United Progressive Alliance vided and weak”. strongman. Raut further says
gies for coronavirus among UK the UK. He is scheduled to meet the announced on December 31, (UPA) and all anti-BJP parties Saamana further says that that Sonia Gandhi has so far
in the wake of the mu- flyers “Besides, it will also Qatari Deputy Prime Minister Education Minister Ramesh should come together under the Congress-led UPA is like an “successfully handled both the
tant, which is report- be critical to conduct and Foreign Minister Sheikh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ said on one banner, the Shiv Sena NGO and did not take the farm- party and the UPA, but the peo-
edly far more infectious. genome sequencing in sam- Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Saturday. “I will announce the mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ said on ers agitation seriously. ple who were around her like
The variant strain has 14 ples where there is a dropout bin Jassim Al-Thani. He will date on Dec 31 when the Saturday. Sena MP and Saama- “It is not clear which politi- Ahmed Patel are no more.”
non-synonymous (amino acid of the S gene in lab diagnosis, also call on other important exams will commence for na editor Sanjay Raut wrote cal parties are part of the UPA. “BJP has strong leadership
altering) mutations, six syn- proven cases of re-infections,” dignitaries of the State of students appearing for CBSE that the Opposition is scattered It has not done anything as the like PM Modi and strategist
onymous (non amino-acid al- the NTF said. “Routine ge- Qatar. Jaishankar’s visit to board exams in 2021,” he and the Congress-led UPA look Opposition. The NCP is the Amit Shah, but UPA does not
tering), and three deletions. nomic surveillance of SARS- Qatar will be his first visit to tweeted.Nishank had earlier like an NGO right now. That is only prominent party that is a have anything like this. All op-
Eight mutations are present CoV-2 from representative the country as EAM. He is this week ruled out conducting why it is not taken seriously by visible partner. NCP chief positions need to come together
in the spike (s) gene which samples all across the sam- expected to hold talks on board examinations for classes the government, he said. Sharad Pawar is a very sea- and then only we will able to
carries the binding site of the ples needs to be a continuous bilateral as well as regional 10 and 12 till February in view “Farmers are agitating from soned and experienced leader put the strong fight against the
ACE2 receptors, which are and well-planned activity.” and international issues. of the Covid-19 situation. last one month but the govern- and everyone wants to benefit BJP,” it added.
 INDIA Max Min Max Min

8L
Ahmedabad 28 8 Mumbai 31 20
BITING CHILL Bhopal 28 11 Panaji 33 22
Severe cold conditions prevailed in Haryana and Punjab on Jaipur 24 1 Patna 21 9
Amritsar 17 3 Lucknow 22 11
Saturday, with Hisar reeling at a low of 2.2 degrees Chennai 28 23 Port Blair 29 25
Celsius. Chandigarh, the common capital of the two states ILLEGAL LIQUOR SEIZED Kolkata 24 12 Imphal 21 7
registering a low of 4.2 degrees Celsius WORTH IN UTTAR PRADESH Srinagar 7 0 Chandigarh 24 4

10 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� �

‘PMJAY-SEHAT shows Modi’s resolve for J&K’

EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ New Delhi
AYUSHMAN Bharat Pradhan
Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana
(AB-PMJAY) SEHAT scheme
launched by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi for the resi-
dents of Jammu and Kash-
mir is another testament of
PM Modi’s resolve towards
welfare of the newly created
Union Territory, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah said.
Amit Shah being felicitated by Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal (left) and finance minister Himanta Sarmah | PTI “The launch of PMJAY-SE-
mains deprived of their rights that the people of Jammu and prosperity after the scrap-
for decades,” Shah tweeted. Kashmir will be able to avail ping of Article 370 and 35A
Prime Minister Narendra medical facilities up to `5 from the state,” Nadda said.
Modi virtually launched the lakh free of cost. He said that the “Narendra
“SEHAT” health insurance Ecohing Shah, BJP nation- Modi government is commit-
scheme for the resi- al president J P ted towards completing all
dents of Jammu and Nadda said that Jam- pending development works
Kashmir on Saturday. mu and Kashmir has and social initiatives in the
The scheme will cover begun the march on UT”. “The manner in which
the remaining one the path of develop- the people of J&K participated
crore population, ment after the scrap- in the recently concluded Dis-
which was not cov- ping of Article 370 trict Development Council
ered under the Ayush- and Article 35A. (DDC) elections in the state
man Bharat scheme. “Since Independ- and made it successfull is high-
A total of 264 hospi- ence, J&K remained ly commendable. I hope that

AASU’s ploy to help Cong

HAT scheme is yet another
testament of PM @Naren-
draModi’s resolve towards the
health security and welfare of
every person of J&K who re-
tals—229 government and 35
private ones have been listed
under the Ayushman Bharat
Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya
Yojana, Shah said, adding
neglected and deprived of
growth, progress and devel-
opment. Now, J&K has start-
ed walking on the new path
of development, growth and
the newly elected members of
the DDCs will leave no stone
unturned to fulfill and meet as-
pirations and hopes of the peo-
ple of the UT,” added Nadda.

won’t succeed, says Shah BOOST FOR PEACE

Home minister alleges conspiracy to split BJP’s votes in Assam
P R A S A N TA M A Z U M D A R @ Guwahati
IN a thinly-veiled attack on the
All Assam Students’ Union
(AASU), the Union Home Min-
ister Amit Shah on Saturday
said some people in Assam,
“who have always walked the
path of agitation, have floated
a political party to help the
Congress win next year’s As-
sembly elections”.
Shah asserted that their con-
spiracy will not be successful.
“Election is coming up. Some
people will try to take you to the
path of agitation. I want to ask
them what they gave Assam by
agitating. Did it lead to the de-
velopment or creation of em-
ployment or infrastructure?
Only the youth of Assam be-
came martyrs,” Shah said.
“Some of them today floated
a political party by changing
their colour. It is a conspiracy to
cause a split of BJP votes and
help the Congress that fired the
shots win the polls. But they can
never form the government,” a
FRAUD
Court orders
confident Shah asserted before
a crowd in Guwahati at a pro-
gramme where some projects
were launched by the state
government.
Lives were lost during the six-
year-long bloody Assam Agita-
tion of early 1980s, spearheaded
by the AASU. It ended with the
Some of them today floated a
political party by changing their
colour. It is a conspiracy to cause the
BJP votes to split and help the
Congress. But they can never form
the government
Amit Shah
signing of the Assam Accord by
the then Rajiv Gandhi govern-
ment with the AASU. The Con-
gress-ruled Assam then. The
AASU had also actively partici-
pated in the protests against
Citizenship (Amendment) Act
which led to loss of some lives.
In September this year, the
‘Structural issues’ may delay Ram temple construction
AASU along with Assam Jatiya-
tabadi Yuva Chhatra Parishad
floated a political party “Asom
Jatiya Parishad” (AJP). Anoth-
er party “Raijor Dal” (People’s
Party) was floated by 70 organi-
sations, led by peasants’ body
Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti
(KMSS).
The general perception is that
the AJP, which is headed by
former AASU leader Lurinjyoti
Gogoi, will cut into the votes of
another regional party Asom
Gana Parishad (AGP), more
than that of the BJP. The op-
tions for the Assamese sub-na-
tionalists and people believing
in regionalism increased with
the birth of AJP and KMSS.
Shah spoke about 15th centu-
ry saint-reformer Srimanta
Sankardeva to the rhinos at Ka-
ziranga National Park.
“Srimanta Sankardeva and
(his disciple) Madhavdeva had
united the people in Assam.
They started a Bhakti Andolan
in India and spread their mes-
sage,” the home minister said.
53 OF NAGA REBEL
FACTION SURRENDER
M AYA N K S I N G H @ New Delhi
IN a major success for the In-
dian Army, the Assam Rifles,
and the armed forces of My-
anmar, a large number of the
dissident NSCN Khaplang-
Yung Aung’s (K-YA) cadre
have surrendered.
Army sources in-
fo r m e d , S t a r s o n
Lamkang, a Manipu-
ri Naga from Lam-
kang tribe and an ex-
leader of NSCN
K h a p l a n g - Yu n g
Aung (K-YA) surren-
dered on 25 Dec 2020
along with 52 other
cadres.
NSCN (K-YA) is the only
Naga faction that has not ob-
served a ceasefire with the
security forces. It is not a
part of the ongoing peace
talks. NSCN (K), a major
Naga Insurgent Group, abro-
gated the ceasefire with gov-
Pandemic pain hurting
workers from denotified
tribes, wages head south
ernment of India in 2015.
A framework agreement
was signed in 2015 between
the Centre and the Isak-
Muivah (I-M) faction of the EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
National Socialist Council of @ New Delhi
Nagalim, or the NSCN (I-M).
“The Group, thereafter, WORKERS from the denotified
was responsible for a series tribes faced a worsening of
of violent incidents, conditions in terms of wages,
extortion and re- safety, and other conditions be-
cruitment in the tween July and September
North-east region amid the Covid-19 pandemic,
and became the fo- showed the data collated by the
cus of operations by National Alliance Group for
both the Indian Denotified, Semi-Nomadic and
Army and the Tat- Nomadic tribes and PRAXIS.
madaw (Myanmar Of the 471 workers inter-
Army),” the officer viewed, 32 per cent reported a
informed. decline in their wages.
Talking about the on- While 29 per cent said
ground modus operandi the there was a poorer safe-
officer said, “Relentless dom- ty net at their jobs, 30
ination by the armed forces per cent reported an
of the India-Myanmar border overall deterioration
and the hinterland areas se- of their work
verely restricted the operat- conditions.
ing space for the insurgents. The highest number of
workers interviewed was from
Madhya Pradesh at 96, followed
by Tamil Nadu at 85. Bihar,
Andhra Pradesh, Rajasthan,
Manipur, Odisha, and Uttara-
khand are the other states
where workers were
Pradesh, West Bengal, Andhra
Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, and
Telangana.
Of the 217 locations, over 69
per cent reported that children
did not have access to online
education, and children in 61
per cent locations did not have
access not offline education.
When it comes to having ac-
cess to additional rations, peo-
ple in over 20 per cent of the
places did not receive them be-
tween July to September.
According to the Renke Com-
mission report submitted in
2008, at least 23 per cent of
the denotified communi-
ties surveyed had re-
ported their families
were in debt and 23 per
cent of denotified tribes
reported availability of
BPL cards. It had also reit-
erated that denotified tribes
constitute the most socially
and economically backward
sections of the population.
A previous survey by Na-
tional Alliance Group for De-
notified, Semi-Nomadic and

FIR against
IIT director
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Dehradun
ADDITIONAL Chief Judi-
cial Magistrate court of
Roorkee in Uttarakhand’s
Haridwar district has or-
dered the police to file an
FIR against the director of
the Indian Institute of Tech-
nology (IIT) Roorkee and
other staffers over the al-
leged financial fraud in
scholarships, central grants
and construction money.
The order, dated Decem-
ber 23, 2020, came as the
court was hearing a petition
filed by a former IIT staffer
Menpal Sharma. The peti-
tioner alleged that IIT direc-
tor Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi,
Dean of IIT’s Sponsored Re-
search & Industrial Consul-
tancy (SRIC) Manish
Shrikhande, Assistant Reg-
istrar (SRIC) Jitendra Dim-
ri, Dhiraj Upadhyay, junior
assistant (SRIC) and Rajesh
Kumar clerk (SRIC), com-
mitted financial fraud worth
crores for over more than a
decade by siphoning off the
money of grants and other
aids to their bank accounts.
Sonika Srivastava, in-
charge media cell of the in-
stitute, in a 8-point state-
ment, saidthe Institute will
continue to extend full coop-
eration to the police.
N I M ATA B A J PA I @ Lucknow
TECHNICAL issues have
marred the preparations for
the Ram temple’s foundation-
laying. Tests conducted by a
team of experts have found
that structural piles on which
the temple has to rest are not
of the desired quality.
The piles play a crucial role
as they have to be laid under
the ground and be made to bear
the entire weight of the temple,
said Shri Ram Janmabhoomi
Teerth Kshetra Trust’s general
secretary Champat Rai. He
EXPRESS READ
Hemant Soren to
speak at Harvard
Ranchi: Jharkhand Chief
Minister Hemant Soren will
deliver a lecture at Harvard
University in February.
According to an official twitter
handle, Soren has accepted
the invite to deliver a lecture
at Harvard on tribal rights,
sustainable development and
Jharkhand’s welfare policies
Free movie screening
for Army soldiers
Patna: In a first for the
country, free film show has
been offered to Indian soldiers
of Army, Navy as well as IAF
lifelong at a Patna based
movie hall. The army
personnel will just have to
show their identity cards at
counter.
said a team of experts from temple site,” Rai said. put some of these pillars interviewed. Nomadic tribes and PRAXIS
IITs, the Central Building Re- In fact, as per the design of around 125 feet below the Access to education among released in April showed peo-
search Institute (CBRI), Roor- the foundation drawn so far, ground level and then tested children belonging to denoti- ple from denotified tribes of
kee, NIT Surat, Larson and
Toubro and Tata Consult-
about 1,200 concrete piles with
a thickness of around 1 me-
them after 28 days, the mini-
mum required period for test-
fied tribes remained poor be-
tween July to September,
Nat, Bacchara and Bediya
were being pushed in to debt
ing Engineers are brain- ter in diameter would be ing as per the standard engi- showed data collected from 217 owing during the coronavirus
storming a solution. placed 20-40 meters be- neering norms” Rai said. locations across Tamil Nadu, lockdown. Life for many, work
As per Champat Rai, low the ground. On A tremor situation was cre- Gujarat, Chattisgarh, Uttara- had dried up for them during
when the place, where these piles would rest ated to check the tenacity of khand, Delhi, Bihar, Uttar the lockdown.
the sanctum sancto- plain cement concrete the pillar. “The test piles did
rum of the temple has raft and then the tem- not give the desired results.
to be brought up, was ple thereon, according to The readings on the machines
LOCAL POWER STRUCTURES ADD TO THE WOES
dug, the experts found the the design finalised and were much different from what The denotified tribal communities have been historically stigmatised
first hurdle in the form of loose submitted by the L&T. was expected by the experts. and criminalised. Amid Covid-19, local power structures have kept them
sand at the construction site. “The test of the piles was This is why approval to com- excluded and prevented outsiders from reaching out to them and
“This is because of River Saryu conducted as per the drawing mence the construction was showing them empathy, said the secretary for Nation Alliance Group for
flowing on the west side of the that had 1,200 pillars. Experts held back,” Rai said. Denotified and Nomadic Tribes
DISGRUNTLED
NCP leader Khadse gets Enforcement
JD(U) in vindictive mood Directorate notice over old land case
over Arunachal defections S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Mumbai joined the NCP that time, in his
R A J E S H T H A K U R @ Patna speech, said if the BJP sends
EKNATH Khadse, who recent- ED after him, then he will play
THOUGH the JD(U) leaders have avoided clashing with the BJP ly left the BJP and joined the the CD of BJP leaders.
over the development in Arunachal Pradesh, which saw six out NCP, on Saturday received an “It is unfortunate that the
of seven JD(U) MLAs defect to the BJP, sources said the party Enforcement Directorate (ED) BJP is misusing the central
will not take it quietly. notice in connection with a agencies against their political
Sources said the party is feeling disgruntled internally with land case in Pune. opponent. They have set the
the act shown by its NDA ally and will take appropriate action at Khadse said earlier Income wrong precedent. People of
a suitable time in the future. Tax and the state government- Maharashtra will reply to them
“We are not in hurry to act in a vindictive way but we don’t appointed zoning commission when the time arrives,” said
forget any kind of political treatment meted out to our party,” a had also inquired about the NCP minister Nawab Malik.
senior, preferring anonymity, said after the end of the first day Pune MIDC land deal. Former land is bought by my wife and Vijay Wadettiwar, Congress
of JD(U) two-day-long national executive meeting, on Saturday. chief minister Devendra Fad- son in law, not by me. The land minister said that if Eknath
Meanwhile, sources said the development in Arunachal navis had forced then revenue was purchased as per prevail- Khadse gets the ED notice, then
Pradesh was discussed in detail at the executive meeting of party minister Khadse to resign from ing ready reckoner — govern- he will also get it. “BJP is tar-
leaders. Plans were also chalked out for the party’s future. his cabinet over the Pune land ment rate, therefore, nothing to geting the OBC and Bahujan
Prior to Saturday’s meeting, one of the senior leaders of JD(U) deal citing a conflict of hide there. I am ready to coop- leaders. We are afraid of cen-
KC Tyagi has also expressed his displeasure against the Aru- interest. erate with ED and provide the tral agencies. We will give them
nachal Pradesh development saying that it was not a friendly act “That time also, we had sub- documents as well,” Khadse befitting reply,” Wadettiwar
on the part of BJP. mitted the documents. The said. Eknath Khadse when he said.

Uttarakhand in talks
to bring in a white tiger
Uttarakhand’s tourism department
is in talks with the government of
neighbouring Madhya Pradesh to
bring in a white tiger for the soon-
to-be-built tiger safari park near
the Corbett Tiger Reserve (pic).
Tourism minister Satpal Maharaj
said, “I am in talks with honorable
Madhya Pradesh chief minister.” To
transfer a tiger from one state to
another, various agencies,
including National Tiger
Conversation Authority and Central
Zoo Authority, have to give their
nods. The tiger safari is being
planned in Pakhro range of the
Corbett Tiger Reserve with
estimated cost of `150 crore
VINEET UPADHYAY PIL on farmers ABAP to make list
Our correspondent in Dehradun
Amid ongoing farm protests, of ‘fake saints’
vineet.upadhyay@ Uttarakhand High Court (pic)
newindianexpress.com Akhil Bharatiya Akhada Parishad,
on Tuesday issued a notice to
the apex body of all the Akhadas
the state government while
has decided to prepare a list of
hearing a public interest
DEHRADUN DIARY litigation alleging non-
“fake saints” and self-styled
godmen and send it to
implementation of the
‘Uttarakhand Hills Uttarakhand chief minister to
Sharp rise in crimes against women Consolidation of Holdings and prevent them from participation in
Land Reforms Act, 2016’ Mahakumbh 2021 starting next
Crimes against women in Uttarakhand during the first 10 months of 2020 have despite persistent and prolong month. Akhil Bharatiya Akhada
surpassed that of 2018 and 2019, according to the state police department. demand from the people. The Parishad president Mahant
Crimes against women including rape, murder, dowry killing, kidnapping and government must respond to Narendra Giri Maharaj said, “We are
others stood at 2,359 in comparison to 2,273 recorded in 2019 and 2,279 in 2018. the notice within four weeks. preparing a list of such groups and
Police department said the increase followed strict instructions to cops to not weeks. The PIL was filed by individuals who seek participation
avoid registering cases on crimes against women. The figures are likely to increase Kewalanand Tiwari ‘Fakeer’, a in religious grounds demanding
once the data for two pending months-November and December are released. A resident of the Almora district. The petition alleges that the inaction and apathy certain facilities. The list will be
total of 452 cases of rape were registered till October 2020, in comparison to on the part of the respondents has put a large number of farmers, workers and shared directly with CM so that no
450 in 2019 and 433 in 2018. There have been 30 cases of murder of women till youths in “a state of occupational desperation”. “Presently tens of thousands of “fake saints” will be allowed to
October – a drop from 53 murders registered in 2019 landowners have left their villages in search of alternative livelihood,” it said enter the Kumbh zone

11 CHENNAI
EU vax jabs begin today as UK virus strain spreads in continent
Each country deciding on its own who will get first shots, but they are all putting the most vulnerable first; Britain imposes movement curbs on 6 mn more people
PARIS
COUNTRIES around Europe
were on Saturday preparing to
roll out their first coronavirus
vaccines even as a reputedly
m o re c o n t a g i o u s va r i a n t
spreads around the world, forc-
ing some nations back into
lockdown.
First doses of the Pfizer-Bi-
oNTech vaccine arrived in hard-
hit Italy, Spain and France on
Saturday morning ready for dis-
tribution to elderly care facili-
ties and hospital staff.
“We’ll get our freedom back,
we’ll be able to embrace again,”
Italian Foreign Minister Luigi
Di Maio said as he urged Ital-
ians to get the shot.
Vaccinations in all 27 Euro-
pean Union countries will begin
Firms pore over 1,246-page Brexit deal Beijing residents told not to leave city
BRUSSELS
THE European Union and the
United Kingdom made public
Saturday the vast agreement
that is likely to govern future
trade and cooperation between
them from Jan. 1, setting the
27-nation bloc’s relations with
its former member country and
neighbor on a new but far more
distant footing.
EU ambassadors and lawmak-
ers on both sides of the English
Channel will now pore over the
“EU-UK Trade and Cooperation
Agreement,” which contains
1,246 pages of text. EU envoys
are expected to meet on Monday
to discuss the document. Busi-
nesses, so long left in the dark
about what is in store for them,
CLASSIFIEDS
PUBLIC NOTICE
LOST
I, VADIRAJ ANIRUDH S.G, hereby declare that
I have lost the following Documents while
shifting houses: 1. CCE Certificate in AISSE 2013
(CBSE Class ‘X’) bearing Roll No. 4107227.
2. Mark Sheet and Pass Certificate in
AISSCE 2015 (CBSE Class ‘XII’) bearing Roll
No. 4603999. If found, Contact : 7299219128.
CL00379565
CHANGE OF DATE OF BIRTH
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I, PRABHAVATHI, w/o Subramanian,
R/o 4/19LIG, NH-1, Poigaialwar Street,
Maraimalai Nagar-603209, declare that
my name has been wrongly mentioned
as PRABAVATHY in my son’s (Rajagopalan)
passport,but my correct name is
PRABHAVATHI for all purposes, vide
affidavit dated 18.12 . 2020 before
notary T.L. Vijayakumar, Chennai.
CL00378804
I, ANGELIN EZHIL ABRAHAM LINCOLN,
w/o. Abhilash Thottupurath R/o Plot No. 106,
4 t h M a i n R o a d , K r i s h n a N a g a r,
Perumbakkam, Chennai-100 have changed
my name to ANGELIN EZHIL ABRAHAM
for all purposes.
CL00379496
I, MD IMRANULLAH alias
IMRAN MOHAMED AFZAL, son of
Thiru Mohamed Afzal, born on 30th
April 1983 (native district: Tiruvallur),
residing at No. 137/155, F Block,
2nd Cross Street, Thanikachalam Nagar,
Ponniamman Meadu, Chennai-600 110,
shall henceforth be known as IMRAN.
MD Imranullah alias Imran Mohamed Afzal.
Chennai, 23rd January 2020.
CL00379540
SUNDAY
on Sunday, after regulators ap-
proved the Pfizer-BioNTech vac-
cine on December 21.
However, Hungary began vac-
cinating hospital staff on Satur-
day itself, hours after receiving
its first delivery of the Pfizer-
BioNTech coronavirus jabs and
ahead of most EU countries.
A new strain that emerged in
Britain and spread rapidly has
sent jitters through already
overstretched health services as
countries from Sweden to Japan
have reported cases.
Austria began its third na-
tional lockdown on Saturday
and millions also woke to tough-
er restrictions in Britain, where
the vaccine rollout has already
begun. France, Spain, Sweden
and Switzerland are among the
countries confirming that the
will also be trying to understand
its implications.
Tariffs
The deal avoids tariffs or quotas
on almost all goods produced in
the UK and EU moving between
the two sides.
British exports must comply
with EU health and safety stand-
ards and conformity rules, and
there are strict rules governing
products made with parts origi-
nating outside the EU or UK.
Disputes
The UK refused any role for the
EU’s European Court of Jus-
tice, so disputes will be ad-
dressed by the WTO or ad hoc
arbitration tribunals made up
of three independent legal and
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I, ABDUL RAHIMAN SARFUDDIN
(Old Name), S/o. Mr. Abdul Rahiman,
Date of birth : 15.01.1957 (native district:
Veerasholam), residing at Old.No. 520,
N ew N o . 3 8 , 4 t h C ro s s S t re e t ,
M.K.B. Nagar, Vyasarpadi, Chennai-600 039,
shall henceforth be known as
ABDUL RAHIMAN SARFUDDIN (New Name).
Abdul Rahiman Sarfuddin (Old Name).
Chennai, 26th December 2020.
CL00379556
MY DAUGHTER, NETHRA, born on
1 3 t h M ay 2 0 1 3 ( n a t i ve d i s t r i c t :
Chennai), residing at No. C-15, Brown Stone
Apartments, Mahalingapuram Main Road,
Nungambakkam, Chennai-600 034,
shall henceforth be known as NETHRA. A
A. Amali Uma (Mother). Chennai,
11th December 2020.
CL00379567
Thirumathi SARAH NANDINI JAYAPRAKASH
(Christian), wife of Thiru A K Sriram,
b o r n o n 6 t h J u n e 1 970 ( n a t i ve
district: Chennai), residing at Old No. 81,
New No. 28, C.P. Ramasamy Road,
Alwarpet, Chennai-600 018, has converted to
Hinduism with the name of NANDINI SRIRAM
on 10th November 1996. Sarah Nandini
Jayaprakash. Chennai, 11th December 2020.
CL00379627
I, SHARBUDEEN NAGOOR GANI
(Old Name), S/o. Mr. Sharbudeen,
Date of birth : 06.06.1987 (native district:
Chennai), residing at Old.No. 520, New.No. 38,
4th Cross Street, M.K.B. Nagar, Vyasarpadi,
Chennai-600 039, shall henceforth be
known as SARFUDDIN NAGOOR GANI
(New Name). Sharbudeen Nagoor Gani
(Old Name). Chennai, 26th December 2020.
CL00379711
3 mn
Beijing 4 -8 SNY Los Angeles 25 9 SNY
Colombo 30 23 TDS Melbourne 22 10 LC
Dhaka 23 11 SNY Moscow -1 -1 LC
GLOBAL Dubai 27 17 SNY New York 4 0 LC
WEATHER Houston 18 9 SNY Singapore 31 24 TDS
Covid-19 cases Russia has recorded cumulatively LR: Light Rain HR: Heavy Rain Istanbul 12 7 LC Toronto 4 0 LC
amid a second wave battering the country TDS: Thundershower LC: Light Cloud SNY: Sunny London 11 7 LC Washington 9 2 LC
27 12 2020
� �
down from Saturday, making for health professionals who treat-
a total of 24 million nationwide. ed him.
Hungarian doctors and health In Spain, four cases were con-
care workers began getting vac- firmed in Madrid on Saturday.
cinated on Saturday with one of The patients were “not seri-
the continent’s first shipments ously ill,” the Madrid regional
of the vaccine, upsetting the Eu- government’s deputy health
ropean Union’s plans for a coor- chief Antonio Zapatero said,
dinated rollout of the first shots adding that “there is no need for
across the bloc on Sunday. alarm”.
The new strain of the virus,
Patients with new strain not which experts fear is more con-
Left, men in PPE take a box containing critically ill: Authorities
tagious, prompted more than 50
Covid-19 vaccines from military The first French case of the new countries to impose travel re-
personnel at an army-run storage coronavirus variant was found strictions on the UK, where it
facility in Romania. Above, The in a citizen resident in Britain first emerged.
temperature indicator on a box with the who arrived from London on Bottlenecks of thousands of
Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine | AP, AFP December 19, the French health trucks in southern England
ministry said late Friday. were ebbing Saturday, after
new virus strain has reached world, people are being urged to Friday and is confronted with They are asymptomatic and France lifted a 48-hour entry
their shores. More than 25 mil- respect social distancing guide- surging cases from the new self-isolating at home in Tours ban for drivers with a negative
lion total infections have been lines. The UK itself passed strain. Six million people in the in central France, and contact- test and kept Calais port open
recorded in Europe. Across the 70,000 coronavirus deaths on south and east were locked tracing has taken place for the on Christmas Day. Agencies
BEIJING Lunar New Year is Feb. 12.
Various committees under
that Council will supervise the BEIJING has urged residents
Variant confirmed
different aspects of the treaty. not to leave the city during the Japan’s health ministry said
There is also an option for MPs Lunar New Year holiday in Saturday it has confirmed a
and MEPs to form a “Parlia- Feb, implementing new restric- variant of the coronavirus that
mentary Partnership tions after several coronavirus has spread across Britain in
Assembly”. cases last week. two Tokyo residents — the first
Two domestic cases were re- two cases of the new variant
Level playing field ported on Friday, a conven- found outside of Japanese air-
The EU insisted on “level play- ience store worker and a A visitor to a mall with a monster- ports. A man in his 30s tested
ing field” regulations to pre- Hewlett Packard Enterprise themed festival strikes a pose in positive for the new variant
vent British firms undercut- employee. Another two asymp- Beijing on Saturday | AP Saturday after returning from
ting European rivals with lower tomatic cases were discovered Britain on Dec. 16, the ministry
labour, environmental or tax in Beijing earlier in the week. ple fairs. It says applications said in a statement. A second
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson | AP standards, or with unfair subsi- Beijing is conducting testing will be strictly reviewed for patient is a woman in her 20s
dises. The United Kingdom will on a limited scale in the neigh- any major events. Venues such who is related to the man.
trade experts, should consulta- set up an independent authori- borhoods and workplaces as cinemas, libraries and mu- Also Saturday, Tokyo con-
tions fail. ty to decide competition law as where the cases were found. seums have to operate at 75% firmed 949 new cases of the
That overall treaty will be a counterpart to that role held To contain any new out- capacity, the government said. coronavirus, a record high for
overseen by a “Partnership by the European Commission, breaks, the Beijing govern- It also called on companies the Japanese capital, as the
Council” with representatives with both upholding common ment canceled big gatherings not to arrange business trips country struggles with an up-
from both sides. principles. Agencies such as sports events and tem- outside the city and abroad. surge that is spreading. AP
MATRIMONIALS
brides
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40 Ø¥kR SôUdLp UôYhPj§p AWÑ
T¦«p (VAO) Es[ UQULàdÏ
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Contact : 96556-94146.
CL00379435
®vYLoUô, Gv.úLô©, YVÕ 42,
ÑVùRô¯p (Photo Studio), ®Ýl×Wm,
UQULàdÏ RÏkR UQULs úRûY,
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ùRôPo×dÏ : 9965942092.
CL00379637
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CL00379663
grooms
Attractive Konar female (26) BE holder,
working in Chennai, earning a 5 figure
salary; looking for groom not over 31 yrs
with atleast a degree, earning person
with good family background. 7639769666.
CL00379459
IF YOU’RE
GOING THROUGH
HELL, KEEP
GOING
WINSTON CHURCHILL
 $581.13 bn
was India’s forex reserve as of December 18,
$ according to RBI data. This was an increase
of $ 2.56 billion over the previous week

12 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� �

Govt mulls bad Discoms limp through 2020 as debt takes wings
bank idea as J O N AT H A N A N A N DA @ New Delhi

EVEN at the best of times, the

losses,” noted a senior state
discom executive. Dues to gen-
cos soared to a massive `1.21
crore has been disbursed. At
the end of October, discoms
owed gencos `1.26 lakh crore.

NPA fears soar

power distribution sector has
been among the weakest of
links in India’s economic lat-
tice. And 2020, with its (hope-
fully) once-in-a-lifetime pan-
demic and a record economic
Heavily criticised earlier, the proposal has contraction, hasn’t been kind.
gained some traction again after Covid-19 Even before the pandemic
struck with full force in March,
power distribution companies
J AYA N TA R O Y C H O W D H U R Y the same period last year, ana- (discoms) were in a world of
@ New Delhi lysts say that this was because trouble. In 2015, the Centre had
of the moratorium. launched the UDAY scheme to
THE Finance Ministry is once A report by Care Ratings says right a sector reeling under a
again looking at a proposal to “the Gross NPAs would have mountain of debt. But five
set up a `bad bank’ as a way to been around 0.5 per cent to 0.6 years later, its plight hadn’t
address the problem of rising per cent higher had these (mor- changed by much.
NPA levels in state-run banks. atorium) accounts been classi- At the end of March 2020,
Top officials said the proposal fied as NPAs.” The rating agen- discoms’ overdues to power
is still being studied though c y s a i d t h a t w i t h t h e generators (gencos) stood at
both bankers and industry moratorium offered by banks `96,007 crore—a whopping 56
chambers are lobbying for it. ending, the after-effect and im- per cent higher year-on-year.
The proposal for the bank- pact on banks’ balance sheets Over 80 per cent had been left
which will function a bit differ- may be witnessed in the com-
ently from a normal ing months of the fi-
unpaid for over 60 days.
But this wasn’t exactly a bolt
from the blue. Over financial
year 2019-2020, delayed state
subsidy payments and un-
tamed distribution losses
meant that discoms consist-
ently paid gencos far less than
billed. The situation was bad
enough by January 2020 (over-
dues at `96,960 crore) that in-
dustry sources began speaking
of an assistance package.
This eventually arrived in
May, but as part of the Centre’s
Covid-19 relief. By then, April’s
nation-wide, near-total lock-
down had eviscerated high-
paying industrial demand and
increased heavily-subsidsed
household consumption. “It
was the worst thing that could
happen financially, because
many (of discoms’) problems
come from delayed subsidy
payments and distribution
lakh crore at the end of June—
60 per cent higher y-o-y.
Things have improved since,
driven by improving demand
and the liquidity package. First
announced for `90,000 crore
and later enhanced to `1.20
lakh crore, the relief is in the
form of loans from state-run
power sector financiers PFC
and REC. But analysts note
that this hasn’t been very effec-
tive at paring debt, only at ar-
resting further accumulation.
“Disbursements under the
scheme have been very slow
due to the reluctance or delay
on the part of the state govern-
ments to adhere to the strin-
gent norms,” noted Emkay
Global. So far, loans worth
`1.18 lakh crore have been
sanctioned, but only `31,100
Going forward, subsidy pay-
ment delays from state govern-
ments are expected to remain
a problem due to severely
strained tax incomes. Another
stress risk for discoms is the
new notification of power con-
sumer rights, which provide
for penalties if they don’t meet
certain minimum standards—
including 24x7 power supply.
But executives fear that the
penalties may just add to the
sector’s financial woes.
One hope on the horizon is
the proposed direct benefit
transfer system for subsidies.
If implemented, this would
make it mandatory for all con-
sumers to pay discoms in full,
with subsidies being trans-
ferred to consumers’ bank ac-
counts by state governments.

Centre allows additional borrowings worth NEW ROUND

asset reconstruction Moratorium nancial year.
company-that is doing dilemma However, there are
the rounds calls for Gross NPAs many detractors of
Gold bond IX
`19,459 cr for six states that satisfy riders
setting it up with a would have been the bad bank scheme.
share capital of
around `10,000 crore.
Its job will be to buy
around 0.5-
0.6% higher if
Several economists
have argued that it
would simply transfer
issue price
moratorium
up bad loans from were made NPAs the bad loan problem
scheduled banks at to another entity, leav- E N S E CO N O M I C B U R E AU @ New Delhi additional borrowing permis- egories of reform measures
`5,000 a gram
book value. Care Ratings ing banks to continue sion of `19,459 crore,” the fi- Citizen-centric would enable an additional
Behind the proposal says the after- making poor loan de- THE Ministry of finance on nance ministry said in a state- reform measures borrowing og 0.25 per cent. E N S E C O N O M I C B U R E A U @ New Delhi
is the lurking fear that effect on banks’ cisions in the future, Saturday said that the state of ment on Saturday. This would make a total of
NPAs are set to go up balance sheets sometimes under pres- Rajasthan has become eligible On May 17, 2020, while an- Apart from Rajasthan’s ?2.14 lakh crore available for THE issue price for the next se-
once the after effects will show in the sure from the political for an additional open market nouncing the Aatmanirbhar grant, additional borrowing states which are able to meet ries of sovereign gold bonds
of the interest morato- coming months leadership. borrowing of `2,731 crore af- package, finance minister Nir- permissions worth `50,253 all conditions. has been fixed at `5,000 per
rium, which ended in Officials said that ter the state successfully im- mala Sitharaman had said crore has been issued to The four identified citizen- gram of gold, the government
August, starts telling on indus- besides the Confederation of plemented ease of doing busi- that states were permitted the states which have centric areas for reforms were: said on Saturday.
try. With several sectors of the Indian Industry, which has ness measures. This grant to raise an additional 2 undertaken the various the implementation of One “Sovereign Gold Bonds 2020-
economy working at below nor- called for multiple bad banks, takes the total additional bor- per cent over and above citizen-centric reforms, Nation One Ration Card sys- 21 (Series IX) will be opened for
mal capacity, the ability of for mer RBI Gover nor Ra- rowings allowed under this 3 per cent of the GSDP the government says. tem, ease of doing business the period December 28,
many firms to repay loans are ghuram Rajan has also suggest- category to `19,459 crore. mandated under the reforms, urban local body, or 2020-January 01, 2021 with a
seen as severely challenged, es- ed such a measure in a paper “Rajasthan has now joined Fiscal Responsibility utility sector and power sector settlement date January 05,
pecially those that have borne co-authored with his former the five other States namely, and Budget Manage- be borrowed without reforms 2021. The issue price during
the brunt of Covid-related deputy Viral Acharya. The two Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, ment (FRBM) Act. any condition, while Till date, 10 states have im- the subscription period shall
restrictions. had also suggested the privati- Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu However, half of these of next 0.5 per cent would have plemented the One Nation One be `5,000 (Rupees Five thou-
Though Indian banks have zation of a few select state-run and Telangana, who have additional borrowing permis- to be made through the op- Ration Card system and six sand only) per gram,” said the
seen their gross non-perform- banks and the dilution of the achieved this feat. On comple- sions would only be granted if tions offered by the Centre to states have received borrow- Ministry of Finance in a
ing assets (GNPAs) come down role of the department of fi- tion of reforms facilitating the states completed reforms meet the GST compensation ing permission after satisfy- statement.
to 7.7 per cent in July-Septem- nancial services in Finance ease of doing business, these to facilitate ease of doing busi- shortfall. For the remaining 1 ing ease of doing business The issue price for the previ-
ber as against 9.3 per cent for Ministry. six States have been granted ness. The first 0.5 per cent can per cent, each of the four cat- conditions. ous Series VIII of gold bonds,
that was open for subscription
from November 9 to 13, 2020,
GST NORMS
Only 0.37% of
India’s job market on road to recovery DLF rental arm to buy
EXPRESS READ
Vi deploys 3G airwaves
had been fixed at `5,177 per
gram of gold.
The Government of India, in
stake in NCR project for Mumbai 4G biz consultation with the Reserve

firms in 1% cash B I S M A H M A L I K @ Bengalurui

India’s job market is on a road

payment group
E N S E CO N O M I C B U R E AU @ New Delhi
THE mandatory requirement
of 1 per cent cash payment of a
company’s GST liability com-
ing into effect from January 1
would be applicable to about
45,000 taxpayers, according to a
report. This roughly translates
to about 0.37 per cent of the to-
tal businesses registered in the
GST system.
According to a PTI report,
sources said that out of the to-
tal GST taxpayer base of 1.2
to recovery with experts fore-
casting a major uptick in
hirings, salary incre-
ments and promotion
cycles next year. Ac-
cording to a recent
Linkedin workforce in-
d e x s u r ve y, wh i c h
quizzed 1,000 workers
every two weeks since April,
the optimism in the job market
has gradually returned.
The survey said that the job
security score of employees
stood at +54, up from +51 a
month ago and +43 in Septem-
ber, on a scale of -100 to +100.
Anilkumar Singh, Head of
Talent Acquisition–India,
Capgemini Told this pub-
lication that as Covid-19
led businesses ramp up
their digital transfor-
mation, the demand for
skilled professionals in
new age technologies is
expected to rise. “The hiring
outlook looks positive in com-
ing year as businesses are
transforming to be more ag-
ile,.. we will see a positive trend
of demand in new age technol-
ogies like digital, cloud, data
management and cyber secu-
rity,” Singh said.
Freshers are expected to
have the edge. Fresheresworld.
com, recorded a 55% jump in
freshers job postings, a 55%
jump since September. There is
also a 1.45-fold jump in new reg-
istrations indicating recovery
in the interest to hire freshers.
Kaushik Banerjee, VP and
head, Freshersworld.com said
that there has been a 300% in-
crease in the hiring activity of
freshers in the past 3 months.
PRICIER TAG
New Delhi: Realty major DLF’s
rental arm DCCDL has agreed to
acquire the entire 52 per cent
stake of US-based Hines in a
premium commercial project in
Gurugram for `780 crore. In a
regulatory filing late last night,
DLF informed that its joint
venture firm DLF Cyber City
Developers Ltd (DCCDL) has
“entered into a securities
purchase agreement with funds
managed by Hines for
acquisition of their stake in
Fairleaf Real Estate, which
owns ‘One Horizon Center’.”
New Delhi: Vodafone Idea on
Saturday said that it has
started using 3G spectrum for
4G services in Mumbai and
claimed that customers in the
metro city will get higher data
speed with the refarming of
spectrum. Vodafone Idea has 5
megahertz of spectrum in 2100
Mhz band which was being
used for 3G services. Vi users
(Vodafone Idea) who are on 3G
connection can get faster 4G
experience when they use a 4G
handset and a 4G SIM, the
company said.
Bank of India, has also decided
to allow a discount of `50 (Ru-
pees Fifty only) per gram from
the issue price to those inves-
tors who apply online and if
the payment is made through
the digital mode. For such in-
vestors, the issue price of gold
bonds will be `4,950 per gram
of the precious metal.
The minimum permissible
investment will be 1 gram of
gold and the maximum limit of
subscription shall be 4 kg for
individuals and HUFs, and 20
kg for trusts and similar enti-
ties per financial year.

crore taxpayers, only around 4
lakh taxpayers have a monthly
supply value greater than `50
lakh. Of these, only about 1.5
lakh pay less than 1 per cent of
their GST liability in cash.
“Now, when the exclusions
in the rule are applied, then
around 1.05 lakh taxpayers get
further excluded from these 1.5
lakh taxpayers. Thus, the rule
would apply only to approx
40,000 to 45,000 taxpayers. This
would be around 0.37 per cent
of the total GST tax base of 1.2
crore taxpayers,” sources said.
They added that rules have
been amended to curb the men-
ace of GST fake invoice frauds
and fake firms.
Consumer appliance makers set to hike prices to offset high input costs
S E SA S E N @ New Delhi
AFTER a year of offering lim-
ited discounts and not-so-
strong sales, companies are
firming up plans to hike prices
of consumer durables next
year. According to industry es-
timates, prices of washing ma-
chines and air conditioners
(ACs) may go up by 8-10 per
cent, while refrigerators are set
to be costlier by up to 15 per
cent. Prices of televisions
could rise by 9-20 per cent de-
pending on size.
“One clear challenge ahead
however is the hike in com-
modity prices mainly due to a
global shortage of raw materi-
als. As a result, brands would
increase prices to the extent of
8-10 per cent in two phases,
which may hamper the demand
to a certain extent,” said Kamal
Nandi, President, CEAMA and
Business Head & Executive
Vice-President, Godrej Appli-
ances. Cost of commodities
such as copper, zinc, plastic,
We expect prices to go up by 6-7 per
cent in January and then further up
to 10-11 per cent towards April-end
Manish Sharma, President & CEO,
Panasonic India
aluminum and steel rose by 20-
25 per cent. Besides, logistics
remains a challenge for some
imported products since ocean
and air freights are now higher
and delays in port clearances
are leading to further shortag-
es, added Nandi.
An analysis of segments un-
der IIP consumer durables
showed that the consumer du-
rables index saw a y-o-y fall of
39.1 per cent for the first half of
FY21 in comparison to a fall of
5.1 per cent in H1FY19. “This
decline reflects the impact of
nationwide lockdown and con-
sequent fall in consumer de-
mand which started increasing
gradually,” say analysts at Care
Ratings. While the festive sea-
son brought some cheer for an
industry that lost 25 per cent of
annual sales this year, a delay
in supply chain restoration and
cost inflation has forced com-
panies to initiate price hikes to
curb margin erosion.
“We expect prices to go up by
6-7 per cent in January and
then further up to 10-11 per cent
towards April-end,” said Man-
ish Sharma, President & CEO,
Panasonic India.
A few brands have already
revised prices. Blue Star, for in-
stance, raised AC prices by up
to 5 per cent from December 1
onward. Voltas and Bajaj Elec-
tricals, too, anticipate the need
to hike prices to cover the even-
tual cost increases but is confi-
dent of sustaining margins
ahead of the seasonally strong
March quarter.

NTPC-Vallur takes top 2 positions at MoU signed between HUDCO and MoHUA
AlMA, YMS Competition HUDCO has signed a Memorandum of Understanding
Two teams from NTECL-Vallur emerged as winner and (MoU) with the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs
runners-up at the 4th edition of the All India Management (MoHUA) setting key financial year-based targets. The
Association (AIMA) Young Managers Simulation (YMS) MoU was signed between Durga Shanker Mishra, Secretary,
(2020). The 1,500 MW Vallur Thermal Power Station MoHUA and Kamran Rizvi, Chairman and Managing
located in Tamil Nadu is operated by NTPC Tamil Nadu Director, HUDCO in the presence of M Nagaraj, Director
Energy Company Limited (NTECL), an NTPC joint venture (Corporate Planning) and D Guhan, Director (Finance).
with TANGEDCO. Bebilson Mansingh, Manager (Operation), NTPC wins CII-ITC Sustainability Awards
Prem Raj S, Manager (MM), and S V D R Sankar Kovvali, Dy. The country’s largest power producer NTPC Ltd has been
Manager (FM), comprised the winning team (NTECL-Vallur). conferred the award for Excellence during the CII-ITC NBCC wins Global Green New Executive Committee for PRSI-
Sustainability Awards 2020 in the Corporate Social Building 2020 award Chennai Chapter elected
Responsibility (CSR) domain. NTPC has been honoured in NBCC has won the The Energy And Satyan C Bhatt, managing director, Prism Public Relations
SER organises virtual cultural event the Corporate Excellence category and received a Environment Foundation Global was elected as the Chairman of the PRSI, Chennai
for Railway employees Commendation for Significant Achievement. The Green Building 2020 Award in the Chapter for a two-year term at the annual general
South Eastern Railway organised a virtual cultural event recognition was received by D K Patel, Director (HR) in the Platinum category for the meeting held on December 17. Six executive committee
at SER Headquarters on December 23 to rejuvenate presence of Anurag Singh Thakur, MoS, Finance. Mahatma Gandhi International members were also elected: V Ramesh Kumar, Muthu
cultural activities amongst railway employees and their Conference Centre Kumar Balu, Thomas T
family members. SER said that the event’s focus was to project, built in Niger. Abraham, V Kalidoss,
“help to develop socio-cultural competence” and Rajendra Chaudhari, Daniel T Dass, and N
included dance and song performances. The Director Raja, during the annual
programme was streamed live online and was attended (Commercial) NBCC, general meeting, an
by senior officials from the Ministry of Railways and received the official statement from
other Zonal Railway employees. award. the body said.
 Ex-England cricketer
Former England cricketer Robin Jackman, who played four Test matches
and 15 one-day internationals, has died, the International Cricket Council
said. He was 75. Jackman took 1,402 wickets in a 399-game first-class
Robin Jackman no more career between 1966 and 1982. Following his retirement he became a
commentator in South Africa, where he lived with his wife Yvonne.

13 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020 newindianexpress com

LIFT AND UPLIFT

� �

Vikas lean & mean with

new-found endurance
A N M O L G U R U N G @ Chennai while sparring during the na-
Bowlers give batsmen chance to redeem themselves by keeping Australia under 200 for second straight time tional camp. And I want to ap-
BOXER Vikas Krishan Yadav is ply the same during competi-
V E N K ATA K R I S H N A B @ Chennai back in familiar surroundings. tions in future. I know Olympics
And he’s leaner and meaner. is a different level and it is go-
AFTER the horror of Adelaide, India needed a day like this. Bowl- Confidence is evident in the ing to be hard. But I want to
ers had time and again bailed them out in recent years. On Satur- Haryana man’s voice as he work on the defensive side of
day, sans two first-choice pacers, at the most daunting cauldron of spoke about his rich experience my game and improve as much
all — Melbourne Cricket Ground — India’s bowling unit showed in the US, where the 2011 Worlds as possible. If I can improve my
their worth as Australia failed to touch 200 in successive first in- bronze medallist had trained defence, it will be easy to play
nings at home for the first time since 1984. for almost two months. Cur- counter and move to positions
Unlike in some recent away wins — Johannesburg, Birmingham, rently under quarantine in In- where I can fetch points.
Adelaide and Melbourne (all in 2018), Antigua and Jamaica (2019) spire Institute of Sport (IIS) in
— the Indians are not at full arsenal. Mohammed Shami has flown Vijayanagar, the three-time Ol- On mixing with pro boxers
back with a fractured arm. Ishant Sharma, senior most pacer and ympian said that he has made I trained with some of the top
Dr Watson of the pack, is building workload at home in Delhi. Mas- giant strides when it comes to professionals out there. US box-
ter seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is injured. This leaves India with endurance — something the ing is different from ours; they
Bumrah to share the responsibility with spinners Ravichandran 28-year-old conceded that he are more inclined towards pro-
Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. For company they have Umesh Yadav, was lacking in recent times — fessional boxing, so they are
who would have warmed the bench had Shami, Ishant and Kumar and is eager to apply what he always looking to hurt you. We
were fit, and debutant Mohammed Siraj. This attack isn’t the best has learnt in future tourna- (Indians) are more focussed on
India have had in recent times, but they know what to do. ments. Excerpts... scoring points. So it was good
On Day 1, Bumrah and Ashwin led the bowling, constantly on to see that side of the game and
ears with the rest, complementing stand-in skipper Ajinkya Ra- How was your experience learn. I defended well against
hane. Having said he would lead by instinct, he walked the talk by in the US? those boxers and I’m more con-
bringing in Ashwin as first change after Bum- I had a fruitful training. My en- fident now. I feel I can do much
rah’s early break-through. “There were con- durance has improved im- better against amateur boxers.
stant discussions going on between bowlers mensely. Now, three rounds are
and the captain. The wicket changed after the not a big deal for me. I can fight On impressing self
first session. It got better to bat on in the sec- around eight rounds easily. En- I wanted to ensure that I come
There were constant ond session and the moisture went away. We durance was something that back as a different person. I
discussions going on
between bowlers
were just trying to communicate what kind of was lacking in my game in re- wanted everyone to take notice
and the captain. The lines we wanted to bowl so that we could set the cent times. If I’m tired, nobody that I have improved. Now that
wicket changed field accordingly. When there was less of help, will be able to see that on my I’m back at IIS, I just want to
after the first we tried to change our lines,” said Bumrah. face. I did plenty of running, show what I have learnt, that
session. It got Like in the first Test, Australia were made sprints, long rounds (15/20 min- I’m a more composed pugilist
better to bat on. to earn every run, as the off-spinner played the utes) of bag training. and can keep up during long
Jasprit Bumrah
role of restrictor and aggressor at the same gruelling bouts. This is not to
time. First up against Matthew Wade, who On strengthening defence impress others, for myself.
clearly doesn’t trust his defence, Ashwin made The other thing that I had want-
him play a bad shot. To Steve Smith, he bowled with close-in field- ed to improve was defence and On feeling homesick in US
ers all around, especially around the leg. There was turn, but not there has been a significant im- Coach (Ronald Simms) was al-
the kind that would encourage Ashwin to attack him like he would provement on that aspect as ways there. I was feeling a little
in India. He is bowling in line with the stumps, challenging bats- well. My immediate target is to homesick so my friend Neeraj
men to work him around in a crowded field. In Adelaide, Smith India’s Jasprit Bumrah (L) was lethal on Saturday. Australia’s Travis Head deals with a rising delivery | AFP take least number of punches Goyat joined me last month.
lasted three balls off Ashwin. At MCG, just two, before being caught
at backward short-leg. SCOREBOARD NZ VS PAK SA VS SL
Marnus Labuschange survived till lunch, but didn’t look that IN MEMORY
AUSTRALIA 1ST INNINGS: Burns c Pant b OF JONES
convincing. And when one expected Rahane to begin with Bumrah
Bumrah 0, Wade c Jadeja b Ashwin 30,
Williamson grinds SL make strong start
and Ashwin in the second session, he threw the ball to Siraj and
Labuschagne c Gill b Siraj 48, Smith c Pujara b
The baggy green Pakistan on Day 1 against Proteas
Yadav. Labuschagne and Travis Head forged a partnership and cap and bat of
Ashwin 0, Head c Rahane b Bumrah 38, Green MT MAUNGANUI: An unbeaten 94 CENTURION: Dhananjaya de
sensing trouble, Rahane brought back Bumrah, who obliged by former Australia
lbw Siraj 12, Paine c Vihari b Ashwin 13, Starc c by Kane Williamson had New Silva and Dinesh Chandimal put
removing Head in a four-over spell which helped Siraj reflect on his batsman Dean
Siraj b Bumrah 7, Cummins c Siraj b Jadeja 9, Zealand at 222 for three in the Sri Lanka in a strong position
first spell and make corrections. Jones, who died
Lyon lbw Bumrah 20, Hazlewood (not out) 4, face of a concerted Pakistan on the first day of the first Test
Siraj isn’t express, but has the heart for long spells. India’s bowl- in September,
Extras (b10, nb3, w1) 14, Total (10 wickets, 72.3 attack at stumps on Day 1 of the against South Africa. De Silva
ing coach Bharathi Arun saw it first hand in 2016-17, when he lean against
overs) 195. FOW: 1-10, 2-35, 3-38, 4-124, 5-134, first Test in Mount Maunganui. made 79 before retiring hurt
coached Hyderabad. That season he ended up with 41 wickets, fol- the stumps in
6-155, 7-155, 8-164, 9-191. Bowling: Bumrah Henry Nicholls was the other not and former captain Chandimal
lowing which he was fast-tracked into the A team set-up and expo- remembrance
16-4-56-4, Umesh 12-2-39-0, Ashwin 24-7-35-3, out batsman on 42 as New hit 85 as Sri Lanka reached 340
sure tours. As he came in for a second spell, Siraj looked far more during tea
Jadeja 5.3-1-15-1, Siraj 15-4-40-2. Zealand recovered from being 13 for six at the close. De Silva
in control with a semi-old ball. With a natural angle that aides re- break, on Day
verse-swing, the sight of Labuschagne could have been comforting INDIA 1ST INNINGS: Agarwal lbw Starc 0, Gill 1 of the second for two after Pakistan’s Shaheen suffered what appeared to be a
for him. He had dismissed him twice in A games and on Test debut, (batting) 28, Pujara (batting) 7, Extras (nb1) 1, Test between Afridi removed openers Tom left hip injury while running
nailed him for his first scalp. By the time Ashwin returned to re- Total (one wicket, 11 overs) 36. FOW: 0-1 Australia Latham and Tom Blundell cheaply. between wickets.
move Tim Paine, India were in control with the ball. Bowling: Starc 4-2-14-1, Cummins 4-1-14-0, and India in Brief scores: NZ 222/3 (Williamson 94 n.o, Brief scores: SL 340/6 (Chandimal 85,
Over to the batsmen to make it count. Hazlewood 2-0-2-0, Lyon 1-0-6-0. Melbourne | AFP Taylor 70, Afridi 3-55) vs Pakistan. De Silva 79 retired hurt) vs SA.

Leicester strike late to frustrate Tale of

missed
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE

CHENNAIYIN FC played
but the Kolkata giants hit
back through a brace from
Ville Matti Steinmann.
was again a tale of missed
opportunities. Chhangte
could have had another any
if you have to be champions,
these are the chances you
must put away,” coach Csaba

Man United in Premier League

out a thoroughly entertain- The result means last other night, Jakub Sylvestr Laszlo said at the end of the

chances as
ing 2-2 draw with SC East year’s runners-up climbed a could have had a hat-trick. contest.
Bengal at the Tilak Maidan spot to seventh and now “We are champions of miss- Prior to the match, it did
stadium on Saturday. The have nine points from seven ing chances. I’m feeling de- not seem goals would be the
A F P @ Leicester
CFC settle scoreline could have been
different if both teams had
games. The Red and Golds
climbed to 10th. Chennaiyin
stroyed. We are suffering
and it is painful to see. We
order of the day considering
both teams have not been
MANCHESTER United missed out on the
chance to move within two points of Pre- for draw taken all their chances. Lal-
lianzuala Chhangte and Ra-
should have won the contest
considering the number of
need to keep at it, keep heads
up but we must be clinical.
clinical up front.
Sunday match: Kerala vs Hyderabad |
mier League leaders Liverpool as Axel him Ali scored in either half chances they created but it They are trying, fighting but Live on Star Sports 2/3 @ 7.30 pm
Tuanzebe’s own goal five minutes from
time earned second-placed Leicester a 2-2
draw on Saturday. Slow starts had been a ����������������������
feature for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men ����������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
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on the road this season as they had won
their previous six away league games de- ���� ����������������
��������������
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spite conceding first. However, this time � �����������������������������������������������������������������������
it was the Red Devils who twice failed to ����������������������������������������������������������������������
������������������������������������������������������������������������ ������
hold onto the lead. ��������������������������������������������������������������������������

Harvey Barnes’s fierce strike cancelled �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

out Marcus Rashford’s opener before
half-time. Bruno Fernandes thought he
had claimed another away win 11 min-
utes from time, but Jamie Vardy’s preda-
tory instincts kept Leicester one point
and one place above United in the table as
Leicester’s Jamie Vardy (L) celebrates with James
Maddison after scoring against Man United | AFP
behind had come from a mishit clearance
from David De Gea from which Barnes
could not pick out a teammate in the
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his shot deflected in off Tuanzebe. Liver- middle. � ���������������������������������������������� ��������������������

pool’s lead at the top now stands at three
points and Jurgen Klopp’s men can move
further clear when they host West Brom
at Anfield on Sunday.
Solskjaer has been keen to put an end
to his side’s sluggish starts and should
have been celebrating inside 90 seconds
when Rashford headed over Fernandes’s
inch-perfect cross with only Kasper Sch-
meichel to beat. The England interna-
tional was not so forgiving to the Foxes
when given a second chance midway
through the first-half as he swept Fern-
andes’s prodded through ball into the bot-
tom corner for his 13th goal of the
season.
Leicester’s only threat before falling
However, Barnes hauled his side back �����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������
���������������������������������������������������������� �������������
into the game with one moment of bril- ���������������������������� ����������������������
liance as his powerful blast from outside
the box had too much power for De Gea
on 31 minutes. United continued to pose
the greater threat, but lacked the killer
instinct on the counter-attack that has
played a major role when they have had
success this season.
Paul Pogba again had to make do with
a place on the bench, but the Frenchman
made an instant impact when he was in-
troduced just before the hour mark and
helped United take control of the
midfield.
Results: Leicester City 2-2 Manchester United; Fulham 0-0
Southampton; Aston Villa 3-0 Crystal Palace.

Conflict complaint
against Kuruvilla
MUMBAI: A complaint
alleging conflict of interest
has been filed against
newly-appointed national
selector Abey Kuruvilla by
former Madhya Pradesh
Cricket Association member
Sanjeev Gupta. Gupta has
alleged that Kuruvilla’s
conflict of interest centres
around his twin roles of
being the Sports Director of
the DY Patil Academy and a
national selector.
EXPRESS READ
ICC Awards of
Decade on Dec 28
CHENNAI: The ICC Awards of
the Decade will be presented
on December 28 at a
programme beginning at 2
pm IST. The best male player
will receive the Sir Garfield
Sobers Award. The best
female player will receive the
Rachel Heyhoe-Flint Award.
Fan votes make up 10% of
the voting, while votes from a
panel of players, journalists
and broadcasters make up
the remaining 90%.
AICF election
objections overruled
CHENNAI: Objections raised
against the candidatures of
PR Venketrama Raja and RM
Dongre — contesting for
president and secretary — for
the AICF polls (to be held on
January 4) were overruled by
returning officer Justice
(retd) K Kannan. The other
faction had claimed Raja and
Dongre are not eligible
because they are not elected
representatives of their state
associations.
 Tokyo has confirmed 949 new cases of the coronavirus, a new high for the
Japanese capital, as the country struggles with an upsurge that is spreading
nationwide. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government said on Saturday that the
additional cases bring the prefectural total to 55,851.

14 CHENNAI SUNDAY 27 12 2020

� � newindianexpress com

Antibody drug that may

give instant immunity
Scientists in UK begin trial of new treatment with potential to
provide immediate protection against coronavirus
FILE ENVIRONMENT
HEALTH medical treatments. They are

A THREAT TO SEAFOOD SAFETY LONDON: Scientists in the UK

designed to be injected direct-
ly into the body, unlike vac-
have begun trials of innova- c i n e s wh i ch ‘ t r a i n’ t h e
Contamination of the marine environment by microplastics is currently recognised tive antibody drug treatments immune system itself to pro-
as a global threat of great concern. A recent study has revealed that that they hope could provide duce antibodies.
mussels, oysters and scallops have the highest levels of microplastic contamination instant protection against “These two clinical trials
among seafood. A look at how it affects human health Covid-19. The University Col- are an important addition to
lege London Hospitals NHS testing new therapeutic ap-
STUDY MICROPLASTIC LEVEL HOW ANIMALS ARE AFFECTED Trust (UCLH) said that the re- proaches, as antibody treat-
The research — The study shows the content was Microplastics block digestive tracts, diminish searchers in the Storm Chase ments may offer an alternative
led by people at 0-10.5 microplastics per gram the urge to eat, and alter feeding behaviour, study believe a Long Acting to patient groups who cannot
Hull York Medical (MPs/g) in molluscs, 0.1-8.6 all of which reduce growth and reproductive AntiBody (LAAB) known as benefit from a vaccine, such as
School and the MPs/g in crustaceans, 0-2.9 output. With the species’ stomachs stuffed AZD7442, developed by Astra- immunocompromised pa-
University of Hull MPs/g in fish. with plastic, some species starve and die. Zeneca, may offer immediate tients,” said professor Stephen
— looked at more and long-term protection to Powis, the medical
than 50 studies people who have been recently director of National Health
between 2014 IMPLICATIONS FOR LARGEST CONSUMERS exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 Service (NHS) England.
and 2020 to HUMAN HEALTH The latest consumption data in the coronavirus and prevent them The LAABs have been engi-
investigate the Human activity has led to research shows China, Australia, developing Covid-19. neered with AstraZeneca’s
levels of microplastic Canada, Japan and the US are The study, led by UCLH vi- “proprietary” half-life exten-
microplastic contamination amongst the largest consumers of rologist Dr Catherine Houli- sion technology to increase
contamination throughout the marine molluscs, followed by Europe and han, recruited the first par- We know that this antibody the durability of the therapy
globally in fish environment. Because the UK. Also, it was found that ticipant in the world to the combination can neutralise the virus, for six to 12 months following
and shellfish. microplastics are molluscs collected off the coasts of so we hope to find that giving this
study earlier this month and a single administration. The
associated with treatment via injection can lead to
Scientists are Asia were the most heavily has recruited 10 participants combination of two LAABs is
immediate protection against the
still trying to chemicals from contaminated, with researchers since then. “We know that this also designed to reduce the
development of Covid-19
understand the manufacturing suggesting that these areas are Microplastics are small enough to be ingested by sea antibody combination can risk of resistance developed
impact it has on and that more heavily polluted by plastic. animals, including those that end up on our plates neutralise the virus, so we Virologist Dr Catherine Houlihan by the SARS-CoV-2 virus,
humans sorb from the hope to find that giving this which causes Covid-19.
consuming fish surrounding treatment via injection can “We will be recruiting people “AZD7442 has the potential
ALARMING SIGNS

155-265MN METRIC
and shellfish environment, lead to immediate protection who are older or in long-term to be an important preventa-
contaminated there is concern against the development of care, and who have conditions tive and therapeutic medicine
with these tiny regarding physical Covid-19 in people who have such as cancer and HIV which against Covid-19, focusing on
particles of and chemical toxicity. Microplastics can come from a been exposed ‘when it would may affect the ability of their the most vulnerable patients.
waste plastic, Microplastics in the water variety of sources including larger be too late to offer a vaccine,” immune system to respond to This work complements our
which finds its we drink and the air we plastic pieces that have broken said Houlihan. a vaccine. vaccine development pro-
ways into breathe can also hit Plastic waste generated worldwide is expected to apart, resin pellets used for plastic UCLH said its new vaccine “We want to reassure any- gramme,” said Mene Panga-
waterways and humans directly. Evidence triple to 155-265 million metric tonnes per year by manufacturing, or in the form of research centre is running two one for whom a vaccine may los, AztraZeneca Executive
oceans through regarding microplastic 2060. Once the plastic finds its way into oceans, lakes microbeads, which are small, clinical trials testing a LAAB not work that we can offer an Vice-President for BioPhar-
waste toxicity and epidemiology and rivers it has the potential to end up as microplastic manufactured plastic beads used combination treatment to pro- alternative which is just as maceuticals Research and
mismanagement. is emerging. inside shellfish, fish and marine mammals. in health and beauty products. tect against Covid-19. The sec- protective,” said Dr Nicky Development.
ond Provent study is looking Longley, UCLH infectious dis- “Storm Chaser is exploring
at the use of AZD7442 in peo- eases consultant leading the the use of a combination of
No-one yet fully understands the full impact of microplastics on the human body, but early evidence from other ple who may not respond to Provent study. monoclonal antibodies given
studies suggest they do cause harm. A critical step in understanding the full impact on human consumption is in vaccination, for instance Antibodies are protein mol- intramuscularly in those who
first fully establishing what levels of microplastics humans are ingesting. We can start to do this by looking at how where someone has a compro- ecules that the body produces have been exposed to SARS-
mised immune system or are to help fight infections. Mono- CoV-2 ‘ a setting where vacci-
much seafood and fish is eaten and measuring the amount of MPs in these creatures at increased risk of Covid-19 clonal antibodies are artifi- nation would not have time to
Study author Evangelos Danopoulos, a postgraduate student at Hull York Medical School infection due to factors such cially produced in a laboratory work and we have no other
as age and existing conditions. and designed as possible proven therapies to date.”

ISRO developing FACT OF THE MATTER

green propellant: Tool detects hand gestures

Chairman Sivan
TECHNOLOGY

A team of scientists has developed a new de-

SPACE
CHENNAI: Indian Space Re-
search Organisation chairman
K Sivan on Saturday said the
space agency was developing
‘green propulsion’ for its ambi-
tious human space flight mis-
sion, ‘Gaganyaan’.
He also said it may be adopt-
ed for use in every stage of a
rocket. He was speaking at the
16th convocation of SRM Insti-
tute of Science and Technology,
near here. Sivan, also the Sec-
retary, Department of Space,
advised the new graduates to
take up ‘calculated risk’ in
their life as it may safeguard
them from ‘absolute failure’.
“As India continues to focus
on economic growth, it needs
to ensure that environmental
damage is limited by adopting
green technologies. ISRO has
made space grade lithium-ion
batteries and this technology is
useful for mass adoption of
electric vehicle”, he noted.
On the green propellant,
Sivan said, “Even in the rocket
propulsion, ISRO is developing
green propulsion for its human
space flight mission. In future,
all the propulsion stages may
adopt green propulsion.”
According to ISRO, polar sat-
ellite launch vehicle (PSLV) a
trusted workhorse of the space
scientists — is a four stage
rocket filled with fuel which
pushes the rocket to ensure
that the satellite it carries is
placed in the intended orbit.
GSLV or a geo-stationery
launch vehicle (GSLV) is a
three stage rocket with a cryo-
genic upper stage.
T h e s p a c e a g e n cy h a d
planned to launch its maiden
human space flight mission by
December 2021. But early this
month, ISRO indicated that it
is likely to be delayed by a year
due to pandemic. Addressing
students through virtual plat-
form, the ISRO chief encour-
aged them to take up calculated
risk as it would safeguard them
from absolute failure.
vice that can recognise hand gestures
based on electrical signals detected in the fore-
arm. The system, which couples wearable bio-
sensors with artificial intelligence, could one
day be used to control prosthetics or to interact
with almost any type of electronic device, said
engineers from Berkeley. “Prosthetics are one
key application of this technology, but it also
offers an intuitive way of communicating with
computers,” said Ali Moin, who helped design
the device. Reading hand gestures is a way of
improving human-computer interaction.
1L impact craters found
SPACE
A n international team of researchers has
identified over 109,000 previously unrecog-
nised impact craters on the moon using ma-
chine learning methods. The study, led by re-
searchers from Jilin University, was published
in Nature Communications. Impact craters are
the prominent lunar surface feature and occupy
most of the moon’s surface. With traditional au-
tomatic identification methods, it is difficult to
find irregular and degraded impact craters that
may have formed earlier. To effectively identify
craters, researchers applied a transfer learning
method and trained a deep neural network with
the data of previously identified craters.

WINTER SURGE

South Korea sleepwalks into virus crisis

HEALTH
SEOUL: South Korea had seemed to
be winning the fight against the coro-
navirus: Quickly ramping up its test-
ing, contact-tracing and quarantine
efforts paid off when it weathered an
early outbreak without the economic
pain of a lockdown. But a deadly re-
surgence has reached new heights
during Christmas week, prompting
soul-searching on how the nation
sleepwalked into a crisis.
The 1,241 infections on Christmas
Day were the largest daily increase.
Another 1,132 cases were reported
Saturday, bringing South Korea’s
caseload to 55,902. Over 15,000 were
added in the last 15 days alone. An ad-
ditional 221 fatalities over the same
period, the deadliest stretch, took the
death toll to 793.
People queue up to undergo test in Seoul | AP
As the numbers keep rising, the
shock to people’s livelihoods is deep-
ening and public confidence in the
government eroding. Officials could
decide to increase social distancing
measures to maximum levels on Sun-
day, after resisting for weeks. Tighter
restrictions could be inevitable be-
cause transmissions have been out-
pacing efforts to expand hospital ca-
pacities. In the greater Seoul area,
more facilities have been designated
for treatment and dozens of general
hospitals have been ordered to allo-
cate more ICUs for virus patients.
Hundreds of troops have been de-
ployed to help with contract tracing.
At least four patients have died at
their homes or long-term care facili-
ties while waiting for admission this
month, said Kwak Jin, an official at
the Korea Disease Control and Pre-
vention Agency. The agency said 299
among 16,577 active patients were in
serious or critical condition.
“Our hospital system isn’t going to
collapse, but the crush in Covid-19
patients has significantly hampered
our response,” said Choi Won Suk, an
infectious disease professor at the
Korea University Ansan Hospital.