cmyk
THE LARGEST CIRCULATED ENGLISH DAILY IN SOUTH INDIA
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ASTROGUIDE
Pilava: Karthigai 1
Tithi: Sathurthasi
Star: Aswini
Rahukalam:
12 noon to 1.30 pm
Yamagandam:
7.30 am to 9 am
PRAYERS
Fajar: 4.54 am
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Asar: 3.12 pm
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Posthumous Karnataka Ratna
for Puneeth Rajkumar
Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief
Minister Basavaraj Bommai on
Tuesday announced that
Kannada film star Puneeth
Rajkumar, who died recently, will
be conferred with the ‘Karnataka
Ratna’ award posthumously. He
will be the 10th recipient of the
state's highest civilian honour.
Considered the Kannada cine-
ma's reigning star, Puneeth,
youngest of five children of
thespian and matinee idol Dr
Rajkumar, had died of a cardiac
arrest on October 29 at the age
of 46.
Vax hesitancy: Maha govt to
rope in Salman Khan
Mumbai: Maharashtra Public
Health Minister Rajesh Tope has
said there was hesitancy about
taking anti-coronavirus vaccines
in Muslim-dominated areas, and
the government will take the
help of Bollywood superstar
Salman Khan to convince people
to take the jab. “There is still
some hesitancy in Muslim-domi-
nated areas. We have decided to
use Salman Khan and religious
leaders to convince the Muslim
community to take the vaccine,”
Sheena Bora murder case: HC
he said.
refuses bail to Indrani
Mumbai: The Bombay high court
on Tuesday rejected the bail
plea of Indrani Mukerjea, who is
the prime accused in the Sheena
Bora murder case. Mukerjea's
lawyer Sana Khan said they will
now move the Supreme Court
for bail. Mukerjea is currently
lodged at the Byculla women's
prison in Mumbai following her
arrest in August 2015.
This was her first attempt to
seek bail from the high court on
merits of the case.
COUNTER POINT
Xi objects to Biden’s ‘democracy initiative’
Beijing, Nov. 16: China on
Tuesday welcomed a virtu-
al meeting between
President Xi Jinping and
US President Joe Biden as
raising hopes for better
relations, while the US was
more muted on the talks as
the world's two biggest pow-
ers sought to ratchet down
more than a year of ten-
sions.
The leaders appeared to
put aside the language of
acrimony in their first for-
mal meeting since Mr Biden
took office. Xi greeted the
US leader as his “old
friend,” and Chinese for-
eign ministry spokesperson
Jai Bhim row: Support
deccanchronicle.com, facebook.com/deccannews, twitter.com/deccanchronicle, google.com/+deccanchronicle
State to spend `300 cr
to repair flood-hit infra
■ Liberal compensation for crops damaged by rain
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
Chief Minister M.K.
Stalin on Tuesday
announced an allocation
of Rs 300 crore for rebuild-
ing infrastructure, includ-
ing roads and drains,
which were damaged in
the recent rains that
lashed several parts of the
state besides a substantial
compensation for crop
damage.
The Chief Minister
announced a compensa-
tion of Rs 20,000 for every
hectare for the kuruvai
crop that was ready for
harvest but was damaged
by the rains. Farmers who
lost the just cultivated
samba crop would get a
package of Rs 6,038 per
hectare - Rs 1,485 for
seeds, Rs 1,235 for 25 kg of
fertilisers, Rs 354 for 60 kg
urea and Rs 2964 for 125 kg
of DAP fertilisers.
The decision on compen-
sation to farmers was
made after a ministerial
team, headed by coopera-
tion minister I.
Periyasamy which
assessed the damage, sub-
mitted its report on
Tuesday. Mr Stalin, who
visited the rain-affected
parts in the Cauvery delta
and spoke to the farmers,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for the inaugura-
tion of the 341 kilometers long Purvanchal expressway,
in Sultanpur district, in Uttar Pradesh, Tuesday. — PTI
PM’s chopper lands
on UP’s expressway
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, NOV. 16
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Tuesday inaugu-
rated the 341 km-long
Purvanchal Expressway
that connects Lucknow to
Ghazipur in Uttar Pra-
desh. Mr Modi reached
Karwal Kheri, the venue
of inauguration, in C-130 J
Super Hercules aircraft of
the Indian Air Force. The
PM also witnessed an air-
show on the 3.2 km long
airstrip constructed on the
expressway in Sultanpur
district.
Addressing the gather-
ing, the Prime Minister
said while laying the foun-
dation stone of Purva-
nchal Expressway three
years ago, he had not ima-
gined that one day he wou-
ld land on the same Exp-
ressway. “This Express-
In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency Chinese
President Xi Jinping, right and U.S. President Joe Biden
appear on a screen as they hold a meeting via video link,
in Beijing, China, Tuesday.
Zhao Lijian said the Joe Biden's initiative to
exchange was candid and rally democratic countries,
constructive. saying democracy is not
Mr Xi, however, ques- “mass produced” with a
tioned his US counterpart uniform model.
CHENNAI I WEDNESDAY 17 I NOVEMBER 2021
CITY | 4
pours in for Suriya
EXTENSIVE DAMAGE
was caused to infra-
structure including
roads and drains
across the state
`300 CRORE will be
utilised to repair
them
FARMERS TO get
`20,000 for every
hectare for loss of
kuruvai crop ready
for harvest
PACKAGE OF `6,038 per hectare for those
who just cultivated crops.
had appointed the team.
All the roads, drains and
other damaged infrastruc-
ture all over the state will
be repaired with the pack-
age of Rs 300 crore.
Infrastructure had been
badly damaged all over
the state, especially in
Chennai and its neigh-
bouring districts and
Kanyakumari district in
the recent in the down-
pour and the resultant
floods.
During his visit to the
various places, the Chief
Minister had ordered
expediting relief opera-
way will lead to a better
future at a faster pace, this
Expressway is for UP's
development, this Expre-
ssway is for the building a
new Uttar Pradesh, this
Expressway is a reflection
of modern facilities in UP,
this Expressway is a proof
of accomplishment of reso-
lutions in UP and this is
the pride and wonder of
UP,” he said.
The Prime Minister
remarked that security of
the country is equally
important as the prosperi-
ty of the country. Keeping
that in mind, emergency
landing provision for
fighter jets has been made
while constructing the
Purvanchal Expressway.
He added that the “roar of
these planes will be for
those who ignored the
defense infrastructure in
the country for decades”.
virtual summit with his US
counterpart on Tuesday,
Mr Xi, also general secre-
tary of the CPC, highlighted
that civilisations are rich
and diverse, and so is
democracy.
produced with a uniform
model or configuration for
countries
world,” he told Mr Biden.
“Whether a country is
— AP
democratic or not should be
left to its own people to
decide. Dismissing forms of
democracy that are differ-
ent from one's own is in
itself undemocratic,” the
Farmers’ compensa-
tion decided after
ministerial team,
headed by coopera-
tion minister
I. Periyasamy
submitted its report
on Tuesday.
tions that are now in full
swing and also distributed
assistance to affected peo-
ple.
The Chief Minister also
declared open several
buildings and facilities
constructed by the agri-
culture and farmers' wel-
fare department at a total
cost of Rs 183.73 crore in
various parts of the state.
He also inaugurated a
new building of the PWD
in Vellore district, con-
structed at a cost of Rs 1.27
crore. The three-storied
structure has a floor area
of 6495 square feet.
Pfizer to allow other firms
to make Covid-19 oral pill
Geneva, Nov. 19: US ph-
armaceutical giant Pfizer
on Tuesday announced a
deal to make its prospec-
tive antiviral Covid-19 pill
available more cheaply in
the world’s least wealthy
countries.
Pfizer will sub-licence
production of its promis-
ing Paxlovid pill to gener-
ic drug manufacturers for
supply in 95 low- and mid-
dle-income nations cover-
ing around 53 percent of
the world’s population.
Under the deal struck
with the global Medicines
Patent Pool (MPP), Pfizer
— which also produces
one of the most widely-
used Covid vaccines with
German lab BioNTech —
will not receive royalties
from the generic manufac-
turers, making the treat-
ment cheaper. The agree-
ment is subject to the oral
antiviral medication pass-
ing ongoing trials and reg-
ulatory approval. Pfizer
BORDER POWER
WB ASSEMBLY PASSES RESOLUTION
ON BSF JURISDICTION
The West Bengal Assembly, on Tuesday,
passed a resolution, opposing the extension of
jurisdictional authority of the Border Security
Force (BSF) by the Centre from 15 kms to 50
kms in the state, in a score of 112 votes by
the ruling Trinamul Congress against 63 votes
of the BJP.
■ REPORT ON PAGE 7
During his much-awaited
“Democracy is not mass
around the
FINANCIAL CHRONICLE | 9
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala orders 72
Boeing 737 Max worth $9 bn
Heavy reains
predicted in
Chennai, dists
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 16
The IMD has predicted
heavy rains for Chennai
and adjoining districts of
Kancheepuram, Chengal-
pattu and Tiruvallur on on
November 17 and 18 due to
a low pressure eveloping
and intensifying over the
south Andhra Pradesh. A
red alert has also been
issued.
State is ready
to deal with
H1N1: Minister
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 16
The government has taken
all precautionary mea-
sures to deal with Swine
flu (H1N1), health minis-
ter Ma. Subramanian on
Tuesday. There are 13 sus-
pected cases and one con-
firmed case of H1N1 in
Coimbatore,
reporters here.
he told
COVID DAILY CASELOAD GOES BELOW
10K; DEATH TOLL UP AT 4.63 LAKH
New Delhi, Nov. 16: India
logged 8,865 new coron-
avirus infections, the low-
est in 287 days, taking the
country’s total tally of
Covid-19 cases to
3,44,56,401, while the active
cases settled at 1,30,793, the
lowest in 525 days, accord-
ing to the Union health
ministry data updated on
Tuesday.
The death toll climbed to
4,63,852 with 197 fresh
drug is to be taken with the
HIV medicine ritonavir.
Interim data from ongo-
ing trials demonstrated an
89 percent reduction in the
risk of Covid-19-related
hospitalisation or death
compared to a placebo, in
non-hospitalised high-risk
adults with Covid-19 with-
in three days of symptom
Chinese President said.
“China is ready to have
dialogues on human rights
on the basis of mutual
respect, but we oppose
using human rights to med-
dle in other countries' inter-
nal affairs,” he said, appar-
ently referring to the US
allegations of genocide
against Uygur Muslims in
Xinjiang as well as allega-
tions of human rights viola-
tions in Hong Kong and
Tibet.
Both sides held firm to
their positions on the issues
that divide Washington and
Beijing.
— Agencies
Vol. 17 No. 232 Established 1938
KIN ALLEGE SLAIN
CIVILIANS WERE
USED AS SHIELD
YUSUF JAMEEL | DC
SRINAGAR, NOV. 16
Two separatist militants --
one of them possibly a
Pakistani national -- who
were allegedly running a
“hi-tech” hideout in a com-
mercial building in Sri-
nagar’s Hyderpora area
were killed in an encounter
with the security forces
overnight.
Two civilians, including a
dental surgeon and a trad-
er, were also killed during
the clash. While the police
on Tuesday insisted that
the civilians had been cau-
ght in a crossfire, their fa-
milies alleged that they we-
re used as “human shields”
by the security forces.
The police announced it
had set up a special investi-
gation team (SIT) to probe
the modus operandi in the
running of the hideout and
the circumstances leading
to the killing of civilians.
Inspector-general
(Kashmir range) Vijay Ku-
mar expressed regret over
the civilians’ killings, but
added that “as per our
source and digital evi-
dence” one of them was a
“top-ranking overground
worker” of the militants
and the other was appar-
ently harbouring them.
He said one of the slain
militants was reportedly a
Pakistani national who alo-
ng with his associate (who
is yet to be identified) was
running the “hi-tech” hide-
out in the building. ■ P7
fatalities, including 127
from Kerala and 19 from
Maharashtra, according to
the data updated at 8 am.
Kerala has been reconcil-
ing Covid deaths since the
last few days. The ministry
said the daily rise in new
coronavirus infections has
been below 20,000 for 39
straight days and less than
50,000 daily new cases have
been reported for 142 con-
secutive days now. — PTI
onset, said Pfizer.
Similar results were
seen within five days of
symptom onset, it added.
The Geneva-based MPP
is a United Nations-ba-
cked international organi-
sation that works to facili-
tate the development of
medicines for low- and
middle-income nations.
SC nod to transfer green
warrior Nilgiris collector
B. RAVICHANDRAN | DC
OOTY, NOV. 16
Proven anti-plastic cru-
sader and longest-serving
collector of Nilgiris J.
Innocent Divya will bow
out soon as the Supreme
Court has given its clear-
ance to transfer her.
Ms Divya took charge as
Nilgiris collector on July
10, 2017 has been continu-
ing in the post until now.
On Tuesday, the apex
court gave its nod for the
transfer of Ms Divya,
clearing the deck for the
government to appoint a
new person.
The Supreme Court had
on November 28, 2018,
directed the Tamil Nadu
government not to trans-
fer Ms Divya from Nilgiris
until further orders. The
court issued the order
while hearing a public
interest litigation on the
Segur Valley elephant cor-
ridor in Nilgiris.
Known as a taskmaster,
Ms. Divya had identified
SPORT | 10
India-New Zealand
first T20 today
SC: Courts can’t
decide rituals
New Delhi, Nov. 16: The
Supreme Court on
Tuesday said the constitu-
tional court cannot inter-
fere in the day-to-day
affairs of a temple, and
declined to issue any
order on a petition alleg-
ing irregularities in cer-
tain rituals of Tirupati
Balaji temple.
A bench headed by Chief
Justice N.V. Ramana said
constitutional courts can-
not spell out how rituals
('puja' in a temple) should
be performed, how
coconut should be broken,
how a garland should be
put on a deity, etc.
The bench, also compris-
ing Justices A.S. Bopanna
and Hima Kohli said these
issues cannot be decided
in a writ petition.
Sarvari Daadaa, peti-
tioner-in-person, submit-
ted that it is a public tem-
ple. The bench said: "How
will courts interfere in
this...how to conduct ritu-
als?"
The bench noted that the
relief sought by the peti-
tioner is in the nature of
interfering in day-to-day
affairs of the temple. It
further added that this
cannot be looked into by a
constitutional court and
any deviation from tradi-
tion is a question of fact,
which the trial court can
look into by appreciating
the evidence.
The top court asked the
Kartarpur corridor
to re-open today
VINEETA PANDEY | DC
NEW DELHI, NOV. 16
The Indian government
on Tuesday announced
the reopening of the Shri
Kartarpur Sahib Corridor
on November 17.
The decision, taken
keeping in view the
improved situation of
Covid-19, comes ahead of
Guru Nanak Jayanti on
Friday. Operations at the
corridor were suspended
on March 16, 2020, due to
Covid-19.
Several political leaders
cutting across parties had
■ THE SUPREME
COURT had on
November 28, 2018,
directed the Tamil
Nadu government
not to transfer Ms
Divya from Nilgiris
until further orders.
the unauthorised con-
structions and illegal
tourist cottages in the cor-
ridor and her role as col-
lector was considered
vital in the case then.
The Supreme Court in
October 2020 accepted the
Madras High Court order
on restoration of the ele-
cmyk
| 20 PAGES| `3.00
■ THE PETITIONER, a
devotee of Lord
Venkateshwara
Swamy, had alleged
irregularities in the
conduct of 'sevas'
and rituals at the
Tirupati Temple.
temple administration to
respond to the petitioner's
grievances, and if there is
still a grievance on speci-
fied aspects, the petitioner
can approach the appro-
priate forum.
Dadda, a devotee of Lord
Venkateshwara Swamy
alleged irregularities in
conduct of 'sevas' and ritu-
als at the Tirupati
Temple.
On September 29, the
Supreme Court had grant-
ed a week to the Tirumala
Tirupati Devasthanams
(TTD) to clarify whether
there was any irregulari-
ty while conducting any
rituals at the Tirupati
Balaji temple.
Earlier, the Andhra
Pradesh High Court had
dismissed the PIL filed by
Srivari Dadda on the
same issue and had held
that the procedure of con-
ducting rituals is the
exclusive domain of the
Devasthanams and it can-
not become a matter of
adjudication, unless it
impacts secular or civil
rights of others. — ANI
urged the Centre to
reopen the corridor ahead
of the 552nd Parkash
Purb.
The birth anniversary of
Guru Nanakji is expected
to see over 8,000 Indian
Sikh pilgrims crossing
over to Pakistan to pay
obeisance at Kartarpur
Sahib.
Last week Pakistan high
commission in New Delhi
issued around 3,000 visas
for travel between
November 17-26
Kartarpur Sahib and
to
Nankana Sahib, the birth
place of Guru Nanakji.
phant corridor at Segur
Valley. The apex court
also formed a committee
to look into the grievances
of those who are holding
lands and other properties
in the private lands in the
elephant corridor.
She also took steps to
ban nearly 20 types of plas-
tics in Nilgiris, besides
implementing the court
orders in letter and spirit
to ban plastic pet bottles in
the ecologically fragile
region. Her role in Covid-
19 management had also
come in for appreciation.
She also steered the
Nilgiris to become the
first district in the state in
achieving cent percent
vaccination drive (first
dose) against Covid-19.
A.S. Ahulwalia had
served as Nilgiris collec-
tor for four years and
three months between
1966 and 1970. Ms Divya
has broken his record by
holding the office for four
years and four months
now.
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DECCAN CHRONICLE | WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021 | CHENNAI
pg 4

SHORT TAKES
Hyundai distributes relief
materials for flood-hit
Chennai, Nov 16: The Hyu-
ndai Motor India Foundation
(HMIF) distributed relief
materials to Kancheepuram
district collector Dr M Aarthi
for the benefit of flood-affected
residents in the district. On
behalf of HMIF, Stephen
Sudhakar J and Ramesh N,
trustees, handed over the dry
ration and other essential
items, including bedsheets,
tarpaulin and mats to Dr M
Aarthi. This would benefit
1000 flood hit families. HMIF
has also planned to roll out
similar relief efforts in
Greater Chennai, Tiruvallur
and Chengalpet districts
shortly. Commenting on the
initiative, SS Kim, MD & CEO,
Hyundai Motor India Ltd.
said, “Hyundai is committed
to make every effort to help
Tamil Nadu overcome this
calamity. The relief kits are a
small gesture from our side to
the people of the state that has
been our home in India for
over 25 years. In-line with our
global vision – ‘Progress for
Humanity’, we will continue
to stand by the people and gov-
ernment of Tamil Nadu in
these trying times.”
79 students get VIT seat
under Stars scheme
Chennai, Nov 16: Anbil
Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Minister
for School Education, inaugu-
rated the Stars scheme for
Chennai campus on Tuesday
and distributed the provision-
al allotment orders in his
office at the Secretariat in
Chennai.
Stars is the merit scholarship
scheme of Vellore Institute of
Technology, under which engi-
neering graduation program-
mes are offered at VIT, free of
cost to students from govern-
ment schools in Tamil Nadu.
They are also provided with
hostel and transportation
facilities. The minister also
felicitated students. Sankar
Viswanathan, Vice President,
VIT, Dr. P.K.Manoharan,
Additional Registrar, Dr. P.
Balamurugan, Stars coordina-
tor of VIT Chennai, presided
and felicitated the students.
In this current academic year,
five students from three rev-
enue districts of Chennai and
74 students from remaining
districts of the state are being
offered free engineering edu-
cation at VIT in both Vellore
and Chennai campus together,
according to a press release.
MDMA tablets,
psychotropic substances
and ganja seized
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 16
Chennai air customs seized
MDMA tablets, psychotropic
substances and ganja totally
valued at Rs. 1.6 lakh in a postal
parcel at Foreign Post Office in
Chennai.
According to the official press
release, Chennai Air Customs
has seized three postal parcels,
one of the parcels containing 26
MDMA tablets and other two
parcels containing 88 grams of
NDPS contraband substances
and 105 grams of ganja, at
Foreign Post Office, Chennai.
This parcel arrived from the
Netherlands and was addressed
to a Chennai based person. On
opening the parcel, 26 green
colour tablets suspected to be
MDMA having a total weight of
14 grams were found.
In second case, the parcel
which arrived from USA and
was addressed to a Andhra
Pradesh based person. On
examination, 24 grams of ganja
along with 64 grams of
cannabis mixed with neutral
matter was found concealed
inside the parcel.
In the third case, the parcel
had arrived from the US and
was addressed to a Hyderabad
based person. On examination,
105 grams of ganja was found
concealed inside the humidifi-
er.
Totally, 26 green colour tablets
suspected to be MDMA along
with 64grams of
Cannabis mixed with neutral
matter and 129 grams of ganja,
totally valued at Rs. 1,60,000
were seized from 3 postal
parcels under provisions of the
NDPS Act, 1985, read with the
Customs Act, 1962. Further
investigation is in progress.
#WeStandWithSuriya trends on Twitter
ANUPAMA
SUBRAMANIAN | DC
CHENNAI, NOV 16
The controversy surrounding Jai
Bhim seems to be never-ending,
but the film fraternity and the
public at large have rallied behind
Suriya.
The film directed by TJ Gnanavel
and headlined by Suriya is
inspired by real life incidents is
about the custodial torture inflict-
ed on the members of the Irular
community. Initially, Hindi-speak-
ing people had a problem with a
scene where actor Prakash Raj
can be seen slapping a man for
conversing in Hindi.
Later, PMK members opposed
the film for allegedly defaming the
Vanniyar community in the film.
Reports on a PMK cadre barging
into a theatre and stopping the
screening of the film Vel, starring
Suriya at Mayiladuthurai sur-
faced. Video of a Nagapattinam
district secretary of Pattali
Makkal Katchi (PMK) announc-
ing `1 lakh for anyone who
assaults Suriya has created huge
outrage among the Internet users.
When PMK leader Anbumani
Ramadoss, MP, released a press
note criticizing Jai Bhim for
allegedly portraying the Vanniyar
community in a bad light, Suriya
replied back that creative freedom
should be protected against all
forms of threat. He then said that
the particular error in the scene
has been rectified. He also request-
ed him not to curtail the film's
question against oppression by
bracketing under 'name politics'.
Finally, Vanniyar Sangam sent a
legal notice to Suriya, Jyotika,
director TJ Gnanavel and Amazon
Prime Video for tarnishing the
reputation of the Vanniyar com-
munity.
The South Indian Film Chamber
of Commerce, one of the powerful
film bodies, was the first one to
raise support to actor/producer
Suriya and asked PMK leader and
former Union minister Anbumani
Ramadoss to refrain from criticis-
ing the actor over his film Jai
Bhim.
In a letter to Anbumani, TSIFCC
president Katragadda Prasad
Loss in share market
drives man to suicide
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 15
A 29-year-old mechanical engineer
allegedly took his life after suffering
huge losses in the share market.
According to the police,
Chandrasekar (29), a Madurai native,
worked as an engineer in a
private bike manufacturing unit
near Sriperumbudur. Due to his work
here in the city suburbs, his wife
Nagaveni and two children
lived in Vallakottai in Kanchipuram.
Chandrasekar’s father
Alagiriswamy also lived with the
family.
Based on the information, police
learnt that Chandrasekar suffered
huge losses in the share market busi-
ness and he was upset for sometime
due to this.
Meanwhile, a few days back ,
Nagaveni and the children had gone
to Madurai to attend a family fu-
nction, while Chandrasekar stayed
back and worked. His father Alagiri-
swamy stayed Sunday night at his
friend’s place in the city.
The police said when the elderly
returned home on Monday morning ,
he found the main door locked from
inside. He knocked on the
door and tried to reach Chandras-
ekar through the phone. As he did
not respond, he peeped through the
window and found him hanging from
the ceiling.
Based on the information, the
Oragadam police rushed to the scene.
They recovered the body and sent it
to the Sriperumbudur government
hospital for post-mortem.
Based on a complaint by the family,
the police registered a case and
began investigations.
HC: Obtain pass to ply autos
between Cuddalore-Pondy
Chennai, Nov 16: To ply autorick-
shaws between Cuddalore in Tamil
Nadu and nearby Puducherry, an
authorisation to do so is necessary,
the Madras high court held on
Tuesday. —PTI
DVAC probes allegations against two Chennai cops
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 16
Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-
Corruption (DVAC) sleuths on Tuesday
conducted searches at the houses of two
police inspectors of the Chennai city
police, in connection with cases booked
against them on allegations of corrupt
activities while they were working with
Bharathiraja
pointed out that Suriya, who did
not have any political, caste or
religious affiliations, was a social-
ly responsible philanthropist and
was a beacon of hope in the field of
education, especially to students
on the fringes of society.
Later, Tamil Film Active
Producers Association headed by
director Bharathiraja, came out in
support of actor Suriya. In his
statement he said, “Cinema has
influenced and been a catalyst for
social change on multiple occa-
sions. Jai Bhim is also one such
creation that is part of efforts to
instigate social change. Viewing
him as someone who is against
positive change in society or
encouraging violence against
him, is wrong and sets the wrong
example. The best thing to do
would be to let an art stand for
itself without infringing the cre-
ators’ artistic freedom. If this
trend goes on, filmmakers will
have to wait outside the houses of
politicians to seek their approval
before they could go ahead with a
script and shoot a film,” it added.
The statement also asked groups
to reach out to people in the film
industry if there were concerns.
Soon, Tamilnadu Movie Makers
Sangam helmed by Usha
Rajhender also issued a statement
in support of Suriya and request-
ed Anbumani Ramdoss to stop
criticizing Suriya.
What followed was the Film
Employees Federation of South
India’s statement signed by its
head RK Selvamani seeking
Anbumani to have a smooth rela-
tionship with Suriya and not to
encourage violence and threaten-
ing culture entering Tamil cine-
ma.
Suriya's fans took to Twitter to
trend the hashtag
High court rejects plea from aspirant to
become Pondicherry RERA member
J.STALIN I DC
CHENNAI, NOV 16
The Madras high court has held
that “Selection list is not a
reserve or waiting list. A selec-
tion list cannot be equated with
a reserve or waiting list. A
reserve or a waiting list is one,
wherein the candidates are
arrayed in serial number based
on their merits and upon a post
remaining unfilled from the
original list, the candidates on
chronological order, from the
reserve or waiting list are given
that opportunity”.
Justice R.Mahadevan gave the
ruling while dismissing a peti-
tion filed by K.V.Sarveswaran,
which sought a direction to the
Puducherry government to
operate the select list forwarded
by the Selection Committee
constituted under the
Puducherry Real Estate
(Regulation and Development)
General Rules, 2017 and appoint
him as member of the Pudu-
cherry Real Estate Regulatory
Authority.
According to the petitioner,
the selection committee recom-
mended two names to the gov-
ernment to select one among
them for appointment to the post
of chairman and four names to
the government to select two
among them for the post of
members. The name of the peti-
23-year-old falls off second floor balcony, dies
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 16
A 23-year-old man , son of a
Chennai airport housekeeping
employee’s son, fell off the sec-
ond-floor balcony of the air-
port quarters on Sunday night .
Police said Nagaraj was the
son of Vijayakumar who works
at Chennai airport. The
the Anti-Vice Squad.
The accused officers are Sam Vincent,
Inspector of Police, Crime, Kilpauk and
Saravanan, Inspector of Police, Law and
Order, Saidapet.
A press note from DVAC noted that
Sam Vincent, former inspector, Anti-
Vice Squad, who is currently with the
Kilpauk Crime and Saravanan, now
inspector of police, Saidapet L&O, were
Vetri Maaran
Jai ho! Despite row, some
movies rake in moolah
B. VIJAYALAKSHMI | DC
CHENNAI, NOV 16
While filmmakers have taken
their creative liberty to the next
level, instances of political par-
ties, communities and sections of
society complaining about movies
hurting their sentiments have
also gone up. Web series The
Family Man 2 released on OTT
faced condemnation for hurting
Tamil sentiments. A banner of
revolt was raised against the web
series for its ‘insensitive portrayal
of Eelam Tamils’. NMK and
MDMK urged the OTT platform to
call off/ ban the series.
Yet another film which faced
backlash from several quarters
was 800, a biopic on Sri Lankan
cricketer Muthiah Muralidharan.
Vijay Sethupathi was compelled
by Tamil nationalist sympathiz-
ers not to act in the film as it
would hurt the sentiments of
Tamils. Muralitharan soon issued
a statement that he had asked
#WeStandWithSuriya. It was
Pa.Ranjith who first expressed his
support to Suriya tagging the
hashtag. Venkat Prabhu, Prakash
Raj, Chimbu Devan, Prakash Raj,
CSamudhan and a number of
celebrities came up with tweets
tioner was included in serial
no.3. Thereafter, order was issu-
ed appointing Ashok Kumar,
IPS, as chairman and S.Ragunat-
han and Ramakrishna Rao Ravi
as members. However, Ashok
Kumar and S.Ragunathan ex-
pressed their unwillingness and
Ramakrishna Rao Ravi, whose
name was indicated in serial
no.2 joined as a Member. So, for
appointment of chairman and
one more member, the authori-
ties resorted to a fresh process
without considering the name of
the petitioner, whose name was
indicated in serial No.3 in the
selection list. When the
person whose name was indicat-
ed in serial no.1 expressed his
unwillingness, the authorities o-
ught to have appointed the
person in serial no.2 as well as
the petitioner as members, he
added.
The judge said the rules gov-
erning the appointment would
have to make way for such
appointments from the reserve
or waiting list. On the contrary, a
selection list, as in the present
case, would indicate a list of
candidates who are eligible to be
appointed. The inclusion of the
name in the selection list would
not ipso facto entitle a candidate
to get appointed. The discretion
to appoint a particular candi-
date named in the list rests with
the appointing authority.
deceased Nagaraj was the
employee of a private mobile
showroom in Meenamabakk-
am and lived in the airport
staff quarters. On Sunday nig-
ht , he was taking over the pho-
ne and walking on the second
floor balcony , when he accide-
ntally had a fall, said the police
The youth was rushed to a
private hospital in Pallavaram
in the AVS during the period between
January 2018 and May 2018.
The two while serving as inspectors of
police, Anti-Vice Squad, Greater Che-
nnai have been alleged to have obtained
pecuniary advantages from the brothel -
keepers.
DVAC has registered a case under
Section 13(2)r/w 13(1)(d) of Prevention
of Corruption Act , 1998.
A still from Jai
Bhim
Vijay Sethupathi to withdraw
from the project, and the actor
shared the statement on his FB
page.
Tamil outfits had sought a ban
on movies like John Abraham-
starrer Madras Café . Santosh
Sivan’s Inam was voluntarily
pulled from cinemas following pr-
otests by pro-Eelam groups.
In 2011, English movie Dam 999
was banned in Tamil Nadu as the
state government felt the movie
would create discord between the
people of Tamil Nadu and Kerala.
When Vijay starrer Sarkar was
released, protests were held out-
side theatres. Film producers
agreed to cut out portions that the
then ruling party claimed were
offensive. Vijay’s Mersal and
Kamal’s Viswaroopam also faced
similar protests.
However, most of these movies
which deal with sensitive social
and political issues and face harsh
criticism have become the biggest
box office hits of that year.
supporting the actor with the
#WeStand WithSuriya”.
Vetri Maaran: “No one can be
made to feel lesser for doing the
right thing#Jaibheem. Suriya is
one star who is redefining star-
dom.”
Similarly, the need to recom-
mend two candidates for one
post would not mean that the
second person is kept in waiting
or as a reserve. Though it is
tempting to assume that fiscal
reasons could be the object
behind the provision to recom-
mend two names for every post,
careful analysis of the provi-
sions would throw lucidity to the
issue. The right to appoint the
candidate has been vested with
the government. The recommen-
dation of one name would leave
the government with no author-
ity to exercise its discretion in
appointing the suitable candi-
date. But for this provision, the
government would only have to
be a rubber stamp.The legisla-
ture, in its wisdom, has decided
to leave the ultimate authority of
appointing the chairman and its
members with the government,
the judge added.
The judge said during the pen-
dency of the petition, the new
selection process to fill the
vacant posts was completed by
the committee(presided over by
Justice N.Kirubakaran) and
recommendations have already
been sent to the government for
consideration. Therefore, the
petition fails. “The government
is at liberty to appoint any can-
didate from the selection list
without any further delay,” the
judge added.
where he succumbed to his
injuries. His body was handed
over to the family after an
autopsy at the hospital.
Police at the airport police
station have initiated inquest
proceedings under Section 174
of the CrPc. So far, police have
not detected any foul play in
the case. Further investiga-
tions are underway.

From 2022, KVPY exam must be conducted in most of scheduled languages: HC

DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV 16
The Madras high court has ob-
served that this year’s edition
of the contest relating to the K-
oshore Vaigyanik Protsahan
Yojana (KVPY) programme m-
ay be conducted only in Engli-
sh and Hindi as originally sch-
eduled, but from the 2022 edi-
tion, it must be in most of the
scheduled languages apart
from English and Hindi.
The first bench comprising murugan, which sought a anguages placed in
Chief Justice Sanjib direction to the Union 'Eighth Schedule of the
Banerjee and Justice P.D.Audi- government to conduct the Constitution of India,1950’ in
kesavalu made the observa- ‘Aptitude Test’ of Koshore the interest of the students
tion while disposing of a Vaigyanik Protsahan who had studied in the
petition filed by G.Thirum- Yojana, Fellowship held on stream of their vernacular
urugan alias Theeran Thiru- November 7, 2021, also in all l- languages.
 STATE
DECCAN CHRONICLE | WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021 | CHENNAI
pg 5

SHORT TAKES
Fresh Covid-19
infections drop
below 800 in TN
Chennai, Nov. 16: New Covid-
19 infections in Tamil Nadu
fell below 800 on Tuesday, as
789 fresh cases pushed the
overall tally to 27,16,421, the
Health department said.
Fifteen more deaths were
reported as the toll in the state
mounted to 36,311.
Recoveries outnumbered
new cases with 913 people
recovering in the last 24 hours,
taking the overall number to
26,70,761, a medical bulletin
said, adding the number of
active infections stood at 9,349.
Witnessing a declining trend,
Tamil Nadu has been report-
ing around 800 new Covid-19
infections daily during the last
few days.
A total of 1,03,202 samples
were tested in the last 24
hours, pushing the cumulative
number of specimens exam-
ined so far to 5,28,50,459 till
date.
Chennai and Coimbatore
accounted for the majority of
new infections with 120 and
118 cases respectively, while
the remaining were scattered
across other districts.
As many as 20 districts
reported less than 10 new coro-
navirus cases which included
Perambalur and Tenkasi
which registered zero active
infections respectively, the bul-
letin said. — PTI
Two grads pose as
customers, rob
pawn broker of
30 sovereigns gold
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
The police arrested two
graduates for robbing a
pawnbroker of 30 sover-
eigns gold near Pallavaram
in Chennai.
The police identified the
accused as Francis Xavier
(24) of Cuddalore and
Vinoth (32) of
Thiruvannamalai.
Shankar Nagar police
nabbed the duo with the
help of the CCTV footage
of the incident.
The pawnbroker,
Kamalesh (38) of Pammal
near Pallavaram , deals in
gold and silver jewelry. On
the morning of October 31,
the duo arrived on a two-
wheeler. They told
Kamalesh that they were
in a hurry to go to town
and had to buy a gold chain
and asked Kamalesh to
show him a few models.
Kamalesh then took out
six gold chains, but they
said he found the designs
old and asked for some new
ones. As Kamlesh went to
another part of the shop to
get more gold chains, the
duo snatched the six
chains on display and fled
the spot on the two-wheel-
er.
Following this, Kamalesh
Shankar lodged a com-
plaint with the Nagar
police station.
The police have regis-
tered a case and nabbed
the culprits on Monday.
Police recovered the gold
chains from them.
AIADMK leaders visit delta districts, distribute relief to rain-hit
OPS, EPS in single jeep
is bad tiding for Sasikala
G. BABU JAYAKUMAR &
D. SEKAR | DC
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
In an open display of
unity and amity, when
AIADMK top honchos O
Panneerselvam and
Edappadi K Palaniswami
drove together through
flood affected regions in
some Cauvery delta dis-
tricts on Tuesday, it
marked the end of ousted
general secretary V. K.
Sasikala’s dream to stage
a comeback.
Whether the recent visit
of BJP state president K.
Annamalai to
Panneerselvam’s home in
Theni, when the former
was there to lead a protest
to uphold the state’s rights
on the Mullaiperiyar dam,
has anything to do with
the sudden bonhomie
between the leaders or
not, it does not augur well
for Sasikala’s plans.
For, not too long ago, just
before the Jayanthi cele-
Difficult ride
After heavy rain, city roads lie damaged and heavy smog on 100 feet road near Rettai
Eri inconveniences motorists.
Tamil Nadu launches high
quality cement ‘Valimai’
DC CORRESPONDENT
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
A new high quality
cement produced by the
state-owned Tamil Nadu
Cements Corporation
Limited (Tancem) and
marketed under the brand
name of ‘Valimai’
(strength) was launched
by Chief Minister M. K,
Stalin on Tuesday.
Valimai with greater
compression strength,
quick setting features and
having more heat resist-
Whether the recent visit of
BJP state president K.
Annamalai to Panneer-
selvam’s home in Theni,
when the former was there
to lead a protest to uphold
the state’s rights on the
Mullaiperiyar dam, has any-
thing to do with the sudden
bonhomie between the lead-
ers or not, it does not augur
well for Sasikala’s plans
brations of Pasumpon
Muthuramalinga Thevar,
Panneerselvam had given
her some hope by stating
that the AIADMK top
brass would decide on
Sasikala’s re-entry, strik-
ing a discordant note that
out of tune with the
party’s stand.
Since then, the top lead-
ers had been charting
their own paths, issuing
statements independently,
and not seen together,
which gave rise to the
speculation that
Panneerselvam might
pitch for Sasikala’s re-
ance is the latest from the
stable of the state-owned
cement maker, hitherto
manufacturing and mar-
keting the ‘Arasu’ brand.
The announcement on
the introduction of
‘Valimai’ in the market
was made in the State
Assembly by the
Industries Minister
Thangam Thennarasu
during the demands of
grants for his department,
under which functions
Tancem.
The Tancem was
admission when the gen-
eral council would meet
before January against
the wishes of
Palaniswami.
Adding credence to that
rumour was the lawyer of
Panneerselvam not
appearing in court to
argue the case filed by
Sasikala, contesting her
ouster from the party in
an earlier occasion.
Now, it is learnt
Pannerselvam’s lawyer
has told the city civil
court, as Palaniswami’s
lawyer had earlier said,
that the general secretary
post had been done away
with and that Sasikala has
no locus standi to claim
admission to the party.
These indications of
unity between the leaders
has stymied the possibili-
ty of someone from within
the party top brass to
speak in favour of
Sasikala, thus opening the
doors of opportunity for
her entry.
— DC
launched when the first
factory was set up with an
annual capacity of two
lakh metric tonnes of
cement at Alangulam in
1970 during the tenure of
M Karunanidhi as Chief
Minister.
Two more factories were
started in Ariyalur subse-
quently, one with a capaci-
ty of five lakh metric
tonnes and the other with
a capacity of 10 lakh met-
ric tonnes, thus taking the
total production capacity
to 17 lakh metric tonnes.
Sabarimala season
On her part, too, Sasi-
kala, who was showing
some aggression in reach-
ing out to her supporters
down South with a view to
mobilising and motivating
them to take up her cause
with the mandarins of the
party during the Thevar
Jayanthi celebrations, is
now lying low.
Earlier, she had been
making a series of efforts
to intimidate the AIADMK
top brass by showcasing
her popularity in the pa-
rty but failed after no local
functionary called on her
when she was camping in
Thanjavur or driving
through their localities.
Since those who welco-
med her at the roadside re-
ceptions or met her were
ordinary supporters with
no position or power in
the party to influence the
top brass, Panneerselvam
could have felt the futility
of standing by Sasikala.
Or, did Annamalai have a
message from New Delhi?
Landslip in
Bargur delinks
32 villages
Erode (TN), Nov. 16:
For the fifth time in a
week or so, landslides
were reported on
Tuesday at Bargur in
Krishnagiri district of
Tamil Nadu thereby cut-
ting off the town from 32
villages. According to
Revenue officials, boul-
ders and mud fell on the
ghat road affecting the
flow of traffic between
Ayyappa devotees purchase pooja items at Mylapore. (Above) HR&CE minister P.K.
Anthiyur in Erode dis-
trict of Tamil Nadu and Sekar Babu flags off mobile ambulance with hospital for devotees during the
Mysore in Karnataka Sabarimala season in association with SIMS-SRM hospital, Vadapalani. — DC
State via Bargur. The
officials of the
Highways Department
and the Forest
Department cleared the
debris and traffic was
disrupted. — PTI
TN seeks expansion of airports
DC CORRESPONDENT
Participating in a meeting convened by
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
Union Finance Minister Nirmala
Cop who State Finance Minister Sitharaman, through video conference, on
probed Jaya Palanivel Thiaga Rajan Monday, Thiaga Rajan urged the Union
case no more
has sought the Union gov-
ernment’s cooperation to
resolve the bottlenecks
faced in the expansion of
Government to declare the Madurai air-
port as an International Airport soon to
facilitate more trade and flights to the
regions, pointing out that land acquisition
DC CORRESPONDENT 4 major airports -
CHENNAI, NOV. 16 Chennai, Coimbatore, for its expansion had been done and
Tiruchirappalli and
Former Superintendent Thoothukudi.
transferred to Airports Authority of India
of Police, N. Nallama Participating in a meet- Government to speed up adequate and continuous
Naidu, who investigated ing convened by Union 11 pending NHAI highway supply of coal and to help
the corruption cases Finance Minister projects. in the development of
against former Chief Nirmala Sitharaman, Demanding a compre- and access to supplies of
Minister J Jayalalithaa, through video conference, hensive revival package Chandrabila Coal Block
passed away on Tuesday. on Monday, Thiaga Rajan for MSMEs which have in Odisha.
He was 74. urged the Union been adversely affected by He wanted permission
Condoling his death, Government to declare the pandemic, Thiaga for the States to borrow
Chief Minister M K the Madurai airport as an Rajan said that in general unconditionally within
Stalin recalled his serv- International Airport the economy of the State the prescribed limits and
ices in the Department soon to facilitate more had been resilient in such limits should be
of Vigilance and Anti- trade and flights to the terms of revenue and decided based on the
Corruption (DVAC) and regions, pointing out that investment. capacity of the State to
described him as an hon- land acquisition for its Chief Minister M. K. absorb higher invest-
est and fearless officer, expansion had been done Stalin had presided over ments.
who refused to cow and transferred to two investment conclaves “On similar lines, the
down to any threat. Airports Authority of where 50 MoUs with an restriction of one project
He said he handled India. investment commitment per annum per State from
many corruption cases In the meeting, called to of `21,021 crore and a given external agency
deftly and that he had discuss with Chief employment potential of should be discontinued to

Tamil Nadu to hold two mega Breach: Samba crop on 1,500 acres in water very recently met him to
present a book written
Ministers and State
Finance Ministers steps
around one lakh jobs were
signed.
allow market mecha-
nisms to function freely.
by him, titled ‘En to promote investment, Appreciating the These measures would
DC THANJAVUR ging the breach. Kadamai – Oozhal infrastructure develop- National Single Window benefit the State of Tamil

vaccination drives every week NOV. 16

A 20 ft breach occurred on
the southern bank of
Meanwhile farmers also
joined them in clearing
water weeds in the river
at Imbathuveli.
Ozhiga’ (My Duty, Do
Away with Corruption)
when he shared his
experiences in the police
ment and economic
growth in the country,
Thiaga Rajan emphasized
on the need to take up the
Portal (Maadhyam) for
obtaining GOI related
clearances from various
departments, he recom-
Nadu which is considered
an attractive investment
destination”, he said.
The Minister requested
Chennai, Nov. 16: Stepping up the gas on the vaccination exer- Konakidangalar between According to agricul- department. master plan for expansion mended the inclusion of the Union Government
cise, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to hold two mega Varahur and Imbathu ture department officials of Thoothukudi port with aftercare services and to formulate a data shar-
vaccination drives every week, hitherto a weekly exercise, melnagaram and samba crops on 17,500 acres were Condoling N. Nallama the Outer Harbour proj- grievance redress mecha- ing protocol that allowed
as members of the public were evincing hesitation to re- crop on 1,500 acres was inundated in the district Naidu, death, Chief ect. nism in the platform. the states access to data
ceive the jabs, State minister Ma Subramanian said on Tues- inundated due to rain on due to rain last Minister M K Stalin He sought the upgrading Stating that the State like income tax, Aadhaar,
day. Monday evening in week. recalled his services in of the entire length of was taking several steps Covid, among others,
Beginning September 12, Tamil Nadu has been conducting Thanjavur district. Water receded in some Chennai-Kanyakumari to to improve the condition which would supplement
the Department of efforts of states towards a
mass vaccination campaigns during the weekends in its fight Revenue and PWD offi- places and as on Monday 8 lanes in order to reduce of Power DISCOMs, he
against Covid-19 pandemic through 50,000 vaccination camps cials rushed to the spot crops on 9254 acres are Vigilance and Anti- logistic costs for the requested the Union data-driven administra-
across Tamil Nadu. and are attending to plug- under inundation. Corruption (DVAC) industries and urged the Government to ensure tion.
With effect from November 18, the Health department would
hold the vaccination exercises on Thursdays and on Sundays
respectively across the state, the Minister for Medical and
Family Welfare Subramanian said after inspecting the vaccine
inventories at the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive
Medicine here.
"Today alone, we have vaccinated 4.32 lakh people and there
are about 1.31 crore vaccines as stock. Inoculating oneself is the
‘Fringe’ group mudslinging judiciary, lawyers tell CJI
best possible way to safeguard from the contagion. It is unfortu- Chennai, Nov. 16: Over The memorandum group was not against the only with malafide inten- judge. malafide intention of
nate that people express hesitancy to receive the vaccinations," 700 advocates, supporting has been sent to policy of transfer of tions of demeaning the Earlier, the MHAA and demeaning the judiciary
he told reporters. the transfer of Madras Judges but only opposed judiciary among the citi- the Madras Bar among the members of the
Asked whether there was a possibility to administer a booster High Court Chief Justice the Chief Justice, that of a particular Judge, zens. Hence, we, the advo- Association had passed public.
dose to those who have received two doses of the vaccine, he Sanjib Banerjee to Madras High Court for reasons unknown. cates who have under- resolutions protesting The President of India
replied in the negative, stating World Health Organisation did Meghalaya, have signed Advocates "It is unfortunate that a signed, request the Chief against the proposal to had accorded his formal
not issue any such advisory. and sent a memorandum Association (MHAA) fringe group of advocates Justice of India and the shift the CJ. consent to the transfer on
"Those people who have received the two doses of vaccinations to the Chief Justice of keep creating such situa- president of the All India Over 30 senior advocates Monday, he pointed out.
were 97.5 per cent safer (against Covid-19)," he added. India, NV Ramana, seek-
former president tions, which not only Bar Council to take neces- of the High Court had also The central government,
To a query, he said 463 people were under treatment for Dengue ing action against whom R. C. Paul interfered with the admin- sary action against the joined those protesting which had no role to play
in the state. they described as a "fringe Kanakaraj said istration in the Judicial members of the fringe against the transfer, even in the matter, was unnec-
Meanwhile, an official release said the government has direct- group" that was opposed to system but also created a group for their activities as 237 lawyers had written essarily dragged and the
ed district Collectors to collect data of those people who were yet the apex court Collegium 'mudslinging' against the bad opinion about the which are detrimental to to the CJI and the col- matter was politicised, he
to receive the jabs at the panchayat level. decision to shift Justice judiciary. entire judiciary among the the judicial functioning," legium last week, seeking alleged.
The district administrations would integrate NGOs, volun- Banerjee from here.As The memorandum has public." the memorandum added. to reconsider the transfer There was no involve-
teers, and various departments to conduct the mass vaccination many as 754 advocates been sent to the Chief "This would lead to the The Supreme Court col- of Justice Banerjee. ment of the central gov-
campaigns. Excluding Mondays, vaccinations would be admin- have signed the memoran- Justice, Madras High public losing confidence in legium's proposal transfer- Meanwhile, Kanakaraj, ernment. The decision
istered to beneficiaries at government-run health centres on all dum seeking action Court Advocates the judicial system. From ring Justice Sanjib also president of the BJP's was taken purely by the
days. Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu is scheduled to chair a meet- against the so called Association (MHAA) for- the manner the said fringe Banerjee to Meghalaya state Legal Wing told PTI Supreme Court CJ and its
ing with district collectors on November 17 through video con- 'fringe' group of agitating mer president R C Paul group conducted them- High Court has snow- that it was unfortunate Collegium, which was con-
ferencing facility to issue the guidelines on holding the two vac- advocates, including 32 Kanakaraj told PTI. selves, it could be seen that balled into a controversy that the "fringe group" was stitutionally authorised to
cination camps. — PTI designated senior ones, for Among other things, it they indulged in mud- with voices for and against indulging in mudslinging do so. he added.
allegedly indulging in stated that the fringe slinging on the judiciary the shifting of the senior on the judiciary only with — PTI
 EDIT
DECCAN CHRONICLE | WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021 | CHENNAI
pg 6

Subhani

17 NOVEMBER 2021

Amid global fear of virus

resurge, step up vax drive
I
ndia opening itself up fully to foreign tourists on Monday should mark an
important milestone the country has crossed in its fight against Covid-19,
though there are concerns about the rising number of daily infections across
the globe, including Europe and the United States.
The government had closed all air operations in March last year along with the
decision to announce a three-week national lockdown. Though India later
launched the Vande Bharat Mission to bring home Indians trapped abroad and
last month allowed foreign chartered flights, regular flights remain a strict no-no.
Now, passengers from close to 100 countries can travel to India without a manda-
tory quarantine except that they have to watch out for their health conditions.
The decision comes at a time when the World Health Organisation and experts
warn about the third wave of the pandemic. The WHO has, in fact, portrayed a
scary picture of Europe being the epicentre of the wave that could kill half a mil-
lion people by February next year. Germany alone could see one lakh deaths, as
has been forewarned. Almost everyone who cares about the virus spread and the
need to mitigate it is unanimous in their opinion
Data analysts point that inadequate vaccination is the key to its spread;
LETTERS
Myanmar the key factor in
some even call the wave the “pandemic of the
out that the speed of unvaccinated”. People’s callousness originating
the second dose of from a false belief that the pandemic is over is also
vaccination is way listed as a major contributing factor. UNHAPPY AUGURY
too low compared Health experts now demand that governments
with the first, take timely preventive steps instead of managing

Manipur’s ‘hot’ insurgency

the pandemic once it knocks on their door. And What can you do in a
signifying hesitancy realising the threat, some of the countries or the country where even the
and complacence worst affected provinces are now reworking their
strategies and pushing vaccination. While some, Chief Justice of a high
like the Dutch government, are re-imposing the old rules of mask-wearing and court becomes a victim of
social distancing, the German province of Saxony has decided to bar unvaccinat- therefore it is geopoliti-
ed people from accessing most public services.
Myanmar’s flip-flop cally important to India injustice? For no percepti-
The developments leave adequate inputs for the governments in India to act on. in acting against as it stands at the centre ble reasons, Madras high
India has already distributed 112 crore doses of Covid-19 vaccines but the fully vac- Wasbir Hussain the Manipuri and of the India-Southeast court C.J. Sanjib Banerjee
cinated people make up only 38 per cent of the total eligible population though the Naga insurgents is Asia geography. In fact,
has been suddenly trans-
share of those who have got a single jab is a higher 80 per cent. This gap is unac- Myanmar is the only
among the reasons
ceptable at a time when reports of breakthrough infections are pouring in making
why the insurgency
country that sits at the ferred to the Meghalaya
a significant share of total infections. Data analysts point out that the speed of the intersection of India’s
second dose of vaccination is way too low compared with the first, signifying some continues to thrive. “Neighbourhood First” High Court. This clearly
kind of a hesitancy from those who got their first jab. It could be, as happened in Could it be that policy and its “Act East” shows what the govern-

W
several European countries, that complacency is a factor. ith around
This trend must be reversed, and the government must act. Prime Minister 40 active
Narendra Modi has called a door-to-door campaign to achieve the target of uni- insurgent
versal vaccination and all state governments must now take it forward. They must groups,
devise new ways, some even coercive such as in Saxony, to push up the numbers. armed with
The campaign for social distancing norms must be reinvigorated, too. It’s good relatively cheap Chinese-
that we have opened our airways but it takes concerted efforts to keep them that made military hardware,
way. besides weaponry from
other sources, Manipur
Biden on backfoot against Xi continues to be not just
India’s but one of
Southeast Asia’s hottest
insurgency theatres. That
Forces (Special Powers)
Act is in force in the state
that gives the security
forces near sweeping
powers to deal with any-
one they suspect to be an
insurgent.
The situation in
Myanmar after the
February coup in that
country could also be a
factor behind the rise in
insurgent activities in
Myanmar does not
want to annoy
China?
The routes are Kheiman-
Behiang-Singhat; New
Somtal-Sugnu-Chura-
chandpur-Imphal; and
Homalin-Kamjong.
Reports trickling in
over the past few days
policy. Without doubt, ment of the day wants is
therefore, Myanmar is
key to the pursuance of not those who are good at
India’s regional diploma- the administration of jus-
cy in the Indo-Pacific
region. tice, but those who have
India is obviously con- mastered the art of playing
scious of its ties with
Myanmar and there have
second fiddle to the pow-
ers-that-be.
even been joint military
exercises between the two
nations. But why has New
Delhi not been able to
P.G. Menon,
Chennai

T
he first-ever virtual meeting over a video call between Joe Biden and Xi this state of 27 lakh people
Jinping may not have gone as smoothly as the United States may like to
believe. The Chinese State media revealed their President had warned Mr
is still caught in a
whirlpool of insurgent
Biden that he was “playing with fire” over Taiwan. The US had initiated the violence was proved yet
move to get its President to converse with his “old friend” Xi since he had not again on Saturday
held such a “summit” with his Chinese counterpart since taking up residence in (November 13) when a
the White House last January. The two may have spoken over the phone several heavily armed rebel hit
times, including as recently as last September, but this diplomatic initiative was squad of the People’s
on a higher plane and the call lasted a half-hour more than the allotted three Liberation Army of
hours and featured frank exchanges over issues. Manipur (PLA) and the
A deeply polarised world, which has been suffering the tensions over misgiv- little-known Manipur
ings on the virus origin, trade, Taiwan and human rights abuses against the Naga People’s Front
Uyghurs of Xinjiang, may have felt somewhat relieved that the leaders of the two (MNPF) ambushed and
superpowers at least broke the ice by speaking to each other extensively. Mr Xi killed an Indian Army
snapping back at Biden over Taiwan could be a given considering the depth of colonel, of the 46 Assam
feeling over differences about the “One China” policy the USA follows, and which Rifles, his wife, six-year-
officially recognises Beijing but allows defence ties with Taiwan. Whether Mr Xi old son and four other
was just playing to his home gallery over perceived interference in its internal troopers of the force in
affairs or not, the fact remains that China chooses to be strident over such issues. Churachandpur district.
Mr Xi may have his own domestic compulsions for staying at home in the last Now, this has been the
couple of years while consolidating his hold over his party and preparing for an deadliest attack on the
unprecedented third term from 2022 and when China has been facing economic security forces after the
crosswinds thanks to the pandemic. But it is clear who was the more diminished June 5, 2015 ambush on
party in the video call. Mr Biden, facing a slide in ratings and in real fear of his the 6 Dogra Regiment of
Democratic Party losing a wafer thin majority in both the Senate and the House the Army in the nearby
of Representatives, is far removed from the image of the leader of the free world Chandel district, where 18
that goes with his office. On the other hand, China’s strongman is beating his
own path in militarising his country besides being close to attaining the ambi-
soldiers were killed and
more than 10 others were
tion of becoming the world’s premier economic superpower. wounded. The key ques-
tion that arises is why the
security forces in
DECCAN CHRONICLE Manipur have been tak-
ing such big hits. One of
KAUSHIK MITTER K. SUDHAKAR the reasons is the state’s
Editor Printer & Publisher
R. MOHAN geographical location,
Resident Editor being Myanmar’s imme-
DECCAN CHRONICLE offices are located at: diate Indian neighbour.
Chennai: SP 3 Developed Plot, Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai 600032. Phones: (044) 22254747, One cannot miss the fact
22254748
Coimbatore: 77 Vivekananda Road, Ramnagar, Coimbatore 641009. Phone: (0422) 2231255, 2231256 that the site of Saturday’s
Hyderabad: 36, Sarojini Devi Road, Secunderabad 500 003. Phone: (040) 27803930-4. Fax: (040) ambush was near the vil-
27805256. lage of Behiang T, barely
Bengaluru: 5th Floor, BMTC Commercial Complex, 80 Ft. Road, Koramangala, Bangalore-560095. Ph: 10 km from the border
08043460500; Fax: 080-22960551/52/55
Visakhapatnam: Survey No. 1/3A Beach Road, Near Kailasagiri Ropeway, Sector-9 MVP Colony, with Myanmar.
Visakhapatnam - 530 017. Phones: (0891) 2552333/2552334, Fax (0891) 2755285 It is possible that the
Vijayawada: No. C 3 & 4, Patamata, Industrial Estate, Auto Nagar, Vijayawada (A.P.). Phones: (0866) rebel hit squad stealthily
2555284/ 2555287, Fax (0866) 2555234 crossed the unfenced and
Rajahmundry: Vemagiri, Dhawleswaram Rd, Rajahmundry 533125. Phones: (0883) 2417208, 2417618
Anantapur: Thapovan Colony, Bangalore Bye-Pass Road, Anantapur 515004. Phones: (08554) 276903, heavily wooded border,
Fax: 08554-276904 carried out the operation
Nellore: Survey No. 527/2, Burranpur Village, Venkatachalam (M), Chemudugunta Panchayat, Nellore. and sneaked back to their
Phone: (0861) 2348581/ 82, Telefax (0861) 2348580 jungle hideouts in
Karimnagar: Survey No. 1341, Vavilalapally Colony, Jagityala Road, Karimnagar 505 001.
Phone: (0878 ) 2228908; Telefax (0878) 2220433 Myanmar.
Kochi: No. 3-B, 3rd Floor, DD TRADE TOWER, Kaloor-Kadavanthara Road, Ernakulam, Therefore, tackling the
Ph: 0484-4039408 insurgency in Manipur
Kozhikode: No 6/1002 E, First Floor City Mall, Opp. YMCA Kannur Road, Kozhikode - 673 001 has been a huge challenge
Fax : 0495 4019018
Thiruvananthapuram: St Joseph Press Thycaud post, Cotton Hills, Thiruvananthapuram-14, Ph: 0471- to the security establish-
2735105/6/7, Fax: 0471-4016112 Gram: CHRONICLE Postal registration no: No. H/SD-348/2006-08ss ment despite the fact that
the stringent Armed
Manipur. The military
junta in Myanmar has
been battling a coalition
of rebels of the Chin
National Army (CAN)
and civilian resistance
fighters who formed what
is called the Chinland
Defence Force (CDF). In
September, this anti-mili-
tary coalition had killed
12 Myanmar government
soldiers, escalating vio-
lence in the areas along
the border with India.
The prevailing situation
in Myanmar also could
have forced Northeast
Indian insurgent groups
like the PLA, MNPF and
many others to shift base
and operate from mobile
bases close to Indian
states like Manipur.
Another possible reason
for the rebels targeting
the security forces in
Manipur could be the
state’s war on drugs
smuggling and trade.
Manipur’s proximity to
the infamous Golden
Triangle, a region in
Southeast Asia (parts of
Lao PDR, Myanmar and
Thailand) known for high
opium cultivation and
drug trafficking, makes
the state a drugs traffick-
ing epicentre. In fact,
Myanmar remains the
main producer of illicit
opium, accounting for
nearly 95 per cent of the
total opium produced in
the region.
Most significantly, the
site of Saturday’s ambush
is among the three listed
drugs trafficking, more
precisely heroin smug-
gling, routes through
which the contraband
articles are brought from
Myanmar into Manipur
for onward supply to the
rest of India and outside.
after the ambush indicate
that Col. Viplav Tripathi,
the commanding officer
of the 46 Assam Rifles,
was directly supervising
the anti-drugs operation
in the area, a known
drugs smuggling hotspot.
There is, however, no offi-
cial input or communiqué
on this aspect.
But when I asked
Manipur chief minister
N. Biren Singh on Sunday
whether the ambush
could be an act of retalia-
tion by the rebels against
the government’s cam-
paign to choke drugs traf-
ficking, he said: “I have to
carry on with the war on
drugs and other illegal
activities.” Apart from
Manipur, the other
Northeast state which is
currently at the forefront
of the war on drugs is
Assam.
If New Delhi has not yet
succeeded in taming the
Manipur insurgents and
if neither the state gov-
ernment nor the Centre
has been able to bring the
rebel groups, particularly
the Imphal Valley-based
Meitei insurgents, to the
negotiating table to talk
peace, it is largely
because these militants
have safe hideouts and
staging areas right across
the border in Myanmar.
This is where India’s
Myanmar policy becomes
very important, and more
so because China has set
its eyes on Myanmar and
would love to convert it
somehow into one of its
satellite states.
Myanmar actually is the
only Southeast Asian
country that shares a
land border with
Northeast India, stretch-
ing some 1,624 km, and
push the military junta to
adopt a consistent policy
against India’s Northeast
rebel groups operating
out of its territory?
Myanmar’s flip-flop in
acting against the
Manipuri and Naga
insurgents is among the
reasons why the insur-
gency continues to thrive
in the Manipur-Nagaland
region. Could it be that
Myanmar does not want
to annoy China? It is well
known that Chinese enti-
ties, through outfits in
Myanmar like the United
Wa State Army, a rebel
force, sell a huge quantity
of weapons and ammuni-
tion to the Northeast
Indian insurgents?
While New Delhi grap-
ples with these issues, the
government of chief minis-
ter N. Biren Singh in
Manipur has challenges in
hand, particularly because
the Assembly polls are less
than six months away. He
has said on more than one
occasion since Saturday’s
ambush that the perpetra-
tors would be brought to
book. The big question
now revolves around as to
how the rebel hit squad
can be neutralised if they
have sneaked back to their
Myanmar hideouts. Elec-
tions in Manipur have
almost always been held
under the shadow of the
gun. Will it be any differ-
ent this time around?
That’s the question that
everyone would like to
ask.
Wasbir Hussain is a
political commentator
and the editor-in-chief of
Northeast Live,
Northeast India’s only
satellite English news
channel
CJ TRANSFERRED
The transfer of the Chief Justice of
Madras HC Sanjib Banerjee appears
to be taking a murky turn because
of the protest from lawyers’ associa-
tions and the opposition parties try-
ing to make use of this opportunity
to shift the blame on the Centre.
The Supreme Court collegium
would not have taken this as a casu-
al call to affect transfers unless the
background to this is warranted
under the circumstances. The oppo-
sition claim is to be taken as noth-
ing but politicising the issue. The
Supreme court collegium of many
minds need not divulge the reason
behind this transfer and the person
affected may relinquish his office if
he finds the order is unacceptable to
him.
T. Radhika,
Chennai
CSR NEEDS RELOOK
Charity begins at home, but it
should not stop there. As a German
proverb says, Charity sees the need
and not the cause. This gives us the
boost to be different. Teaching your
children to be charitable is one of
the greatest gifts you can give them.
Not only are you fostering kind-
ness, but you are helping them
along the path to a happier life and
a better world. All companies with a
net worth of `500 crore or more, a
turnover of `1,000 crore or more, or
net profit of `5 crore or more, are
required to spend 2 percent of their
average profits of the previous
three years on CSR activities every
year. The amended CSR rules allow
companies to set off CSR expendi-
ture above the required 2 per cent
expenditure in any fiscal year
against required expenditure for up
to three financial years. Experts do,
however, note that there was ambi-
guity whether the rule would apply
for expenditure undertaken prior to
the amendment.
C.K.S. Maniam,
Tiruchy

T
he premature repatriation of secre-
tary, defence production, Raj Kumar
to his parent Gujarat cadre was
reportedly at the behest of the state
chief minister Bhupendrabhai Patel. But the
Dilip Cherian buzz is that the 1987-batch IAS officer has
been recalled perhaps for a higher calling. It
Dilli Ka Babu is being whispered that Mr Kumar may be
made chief secretary of the state that is head-
ed for Assembly elections late next year. The
current chief secretary is 1986-batch IAS offi-
cer Pankaj Kumar, who was brought in after
Anil Mukim retired in September this year.
ng permission to Tamil Nadu state for cut-
ting 15 trees growing in the vicinity of the
Mullaperiyar dam, which has been in the
news lately. Mr Thomas reportedly acted
against the stated stand of the Pinarayi
Vijayan government on the sensitive issue.
Sources say that Tamil Nadu has repeated-
ly approached the Kerala government for cut-
ting the trees, which would allow it to rein-
force the small dam before raising the water
level in the big Mullaperiyar Dam. While the
request was repeatedly rejected, this time it
was accepted, though the Kerala govern-
ter concerned and other senior members of
the state Cabinet?
RAILWAY BOARD MEMBER’S
UNCEREMONIOUS EXIT
Rude shocks are not part of the usually
smooth and rarely derailed Indian Railway’s
playbook. So the sudden despatch of Railway
Board member (traction and rolling stock)
Rahul Jain, sent packing on leave until his
retirement, still five months away, has creat-
ed quite a buzz in the Rail Bhavan.
Apparently to the outside eye, there was not
policy terms, distinct from that of his prede-
cessor. There’s nothing untoward there
either, say those in Rail Bhavan who’ve seen
change of guard before.
Mr Vaishnav’s fast pace, he believes, is crit-
ical to improving the performance of the rail-
ways, which has seen steadily dwindling rev-
enues and an inability to modernise rail
infrastructure. Now some of our sources hint
darkly that Mr Vaishnaw has dumped sever-
al initiatives introduced earlier. He is rapid-
ly rebuilding his team at the board level.
Perhaps, and this isn’t established yet, Mr

Babu’s return
The view is that Mr Kumar will have ample
time to get a grip on the state administration
before the elections.
Since Mr Kumar will be in service until
ment’s stance has not changed. It wants a even a hint of this development until it was Jain was seen as someone standing in the
new dam in place of the 125-year-old dam announced. It was rumoured that Mr Jain, way of the minister’s idea of how he wants to
instead of repairing it. who was a secretary-level officer, had got proceed. This is proffered as a possible trig-
Turns out that the decision to allow cutting into some heated exchanges of late, which ger for what’s decidedly an unceremonious

smacks of long 2025, sources say, even if he is inducted as

chief secretary in the state until next year’s
Assembly elections or even the Lok Sabha
elections in 2024, he will still have time to
term planning, make a comeback to the Centre as Union sec-
retary. That’s long-term planning for you,
Gujarat-style!
of the trees was taken at a meeting headed by
additional chief secretary T.K. Jose. Mr
Thomas handed over a copy of the letter per-
mitting Tamil Nadu to cut the trees. While
now ministers and higher officials have been
feigning ignorance about Mr Thomas’ order,
there are sufficient indicators that many
might have escalated rapidly and led to his
unprecedented exit. But were these a battle of
ideas or merely a personality clash? That is
departure. But with Railway Board chair-
man and CEO Suneet Sharma and other
members tight-lipped, the absence of an
difficult to say, at the moment. The exit has explanation is more unsettling — for other
raised more than a few eyebrows.
Clearly, there is more to this than meets the
eye. Sources have told DKB that Mr Jain who
rail babus. There is now also the question of
who will replace Mr Jain on the board.
There are likely many able contenders, but

Gujarat style KERALA OFFICER TAKES THE

FALL OVER MULLAPERIYAR
senior officials and other forest department
officials were aware of the order issued by
Mr Thomas.
was appointed member of the board during
former Union railway minister Piyush
Goyal’s tenure wasn’t remarkably acerbic or
Mr Vaishnaw is not revealing his cards just
yet.

The Kerala government has suspended chief The big question is, how did an important acrimonious, in his own track record. But the Share a babu experience! Follow
wildlife warden and Indian Forest Service government order be issued by one officer current minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is dilipthecherian@Twitter.com.
(IFoS) officer Bennichen Thomas for granti- alone without the concurrence of the minis- reportedly keen to set off on a path that is, in Let’s multiply the effect.
 NATION
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021
pg 7

SHORT

DELHI’S AIR
TAKES
QUALITY DROPS
TO ‘SEVERE’ AGAIN
DC CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, NOV. 16
The air quality in Delhi con-
tinued to worsen for the third
consecutive day. Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal once
again raised concerns about
the air quality of the city, on
Tuesday. Taking to Twitter, the
Chief Minister informed that
Air Quality Index (AQI) of
Delhi on Tuesday was 403,
which falls under the ‘severe’
category.
Delhi, which has been bat-
tling a toxic haze since early
November, took emergency
measures on the weekend,
ordering schools to close and
building work to stop for four
days.
Delhi had told the Supreme
Court yesterday, in an affidavit
filed before the hearing, that it
WB passes resolution
against BSF order
RAJIB CHOWDHURI
KOLKATA, NOV. 16
The West
Assembly, on Tuesday,
Bengal
passed a resolution,
opposing the extension of
jurisdictional authority of
the Border Security Force
(BSF) by the Centre from
15 kms to 50 kms in the
state, in a score of 112
votes by the ruling
Trinamul Congress
against 63 votes of the
BJP.
Moving the resolution in
the House for the TMC,
state parliamentary
affairs minister Partha
Chatterjee said, “People of
Bengal gave their man-
Family members mourn the killing of Mohammad Altaf Bhat, the owner of a shopping centre, in Srinagar on date to TMC. In such a sit-
Tuesday. — AP uation, doesn’t the
Centre’s order to the BSF
Didi likely to visit Delhi next week;
meet PM over dues, BSF jurisdiction
Kolkata, Nov. 16: West
Bengal chief minister
Mamata Banerjee is likely
to visit New Delhi next
week and meet Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
to discuss issues such as
dues to the state and
increased BSF jurisdic-
tion, a highly-placed
source said on
Tuesday.Banerjee is likely
to visit the national capital
on November 22 and
return to Kolkata on
November 25, he said.
“During her three-day
stay in New Delhi, she may
meet the PM. Banerjee is
also likely to hold meet-
source told PTI.
Asked about the agenda
of her proposed meeting
with Modi, he said, "The
CM will press for her long-
standing demand to clear
dues of the state. She will
also raise her objection to
the Centre’s decision to
increase the jurisdiction
of the BSF from 15 km to
50 km from the interna-
tional border.”
The Trinamul Congress
chief had earlier said that
the Centre’s move was
only meant to “torture
common people” and writ-
ten a letter to Prime
Minister Modi raising

J&K: 2 ultras operating

was ready to take steps like a reveal an attempt to grab ings with leaders of other objections over the issue.
complete lockdown to fight air power here through the political parties,” the — PTI
pollution though it would have backdoor? Not only did
a limited effect unless similar chief minister Mamata
restrictions applied to the Banerjee object to the 50 kms should be extended Udayan Guha, while

‘hi-tech’ hideout killed

neighbouring areas.
Delhi environment minister
Gopal Rai on Tuesday said
that his government has pro-
posed that WFH (Work From
Home) should be implemented
in NCR regions to curb air pol-
lution. The government also
proposed that construction
work should be banned and
industries should be shut too
in NCR.
RAJASTHAN CUTS
2 civilians also killed; kin allege they were used as human shield
FROM PG 1
Owned by businessman
Muhammad Altaf Bhat,
who is among the two
civilians killed in the
Srinagar) from where
they would operate,” he
alleged.
The IGP added: “He died
in the crossfire, we regret
it. If we wanted, we could
chahye (I want my
father's body). We're two
sisters and a brother who
is very young. What will
we tell him if he asks us
about Papa?”
decision in a letter to
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, a protest was also
lodged on behalf of the
state government when
the Union home secretary
came here for a meeting.”
Leader of the
Opposition Suvendu
Adhikari, however, said:
MUFTI DEMANDS “The Centre’s step is per-
fect. If needed, the limit of
JUDICIAL PROBE
INTO ENCOUNTER
Cabinet reshuffle
upto 80 kms. We urge the
state government to echo
our demand. Though the
resolution was passed
under the provisions of
the Constitution, it will
meet the same fate that
the previous ones did
against the Centre.”
The House, however, wit-
nessed
Dinhata
chaos
TMC
when
MLA
MANIPUR ATTACK:
speaking on the debate,
threatened Natabari BJP
MLA Mihir Goswami, say-
ing, “Your party already
has a broken leg in
Bengal. I will break anoth-
er.”
Expressing his anguish
over his comments,
Assembly Speaker Biman
Banerjee rebuked and
warned him.

PETROL RATE BY operation.

“One of the terrorists
have saved him. We tried
our best, but it was diffi-
Mr Kumar said since
there were some fears of

`4, DIESEL BY `5
Jaipur, Nov. 16: Amid
increasing demands to reduce
taxes after reduction in excise
duty on petrol and diesel by
the Centre, the Congress gov-
ernment in Rajasthan on
Tuesday night announced
slashing VAT to make petrol
and diesel cheaper by `4 per
litre and `5 per litre, respec-
tively, from midnight. This
will result in annual revenue
loss of `3,500 crore to the state.
“In the Cabinet meeting on
Tuesday, it was unanimously
decided to reduce the rate of
VAT on petrol/diesel. After
this, the rates will be reduced
by `4 per litre in petrol and `5
per litre in diesel from 12
o’clock tonight,” chief minis-
ter Ashok Gehlot tweeted.
The Centre on Novem-ber 3
had cut excise duty on petrol
by `5 and on diesel by `10 to
bring down fuel rates in the
country. Following the excise
duty cut, BJP-ruled states,
Punjab and Odisha had
killed in the operation
has been identified as
Bilal Bhai. Some call him
Hyder. He was probably a
Pakistani terrorist and
the other is a local terror-
ist, most probably from
Ramban Gool (area of
J&K),” the IGP told
reporters here.
He said: “It is not clear
whether terrorists' bul-
lets or those fired by the
security forces hit the
building owner.
Terrorists were carrying
pistols and it would be
clear after investigations
as to whose bullet hit
him,” he said. He added:
“As far Mudassir Gul, he
was a top-ranking OGW,
involved deeply in mili-
tancy. He was deceptively
doing some business but
in the garb of it running a
terrorist module. He
would bring terrorists
from south and north
Kashmir to his home (in
cult to save him for the
firing from both the sides
was on.”
Gul's family strongly
denied the police allega-
tions and insisted that he
was an innocent civilian
murdered in “cold blood”.
His sister Sabreena said:
“He was innocent. He had
no links whatsoever with
militants. We now just
want his body, nothing
else. We have been devas-
tated.” The family held a
demonstration at
Srinagar's Mushtaq Press
Enclave on Tuesday,
demanding his body so
that it could give it a prop-
er burial as per local cus-
toms and Islamic tradi-
tion. “Let his two small
kids be allowed to have
one last glimpse of their
father,” Gul's mother
pleaded.
Bhat's daughter Naifah
Altaf also said: “Mujhe
mere Papa ki mayat
law and order problems,
the police decided not to
hand over the bodies of
the civilians to their fam-
ilies. “We had established
contact with the families
of Altaf and Mudassir
last night and asked them
to attend their burial. As
we had had apprehension
of a law-and-order situa-
tion, we took the bodies to
district Handwara and
buried them there this
morning,” he said.
After the bloody clash
which continued
throughout the night, ten-
sions have mounted in
Srinagar where hundreds
of Central armed police
and paramilitary rein-
forcements fanned out
earlier this month for a
stepped-up tight security
bandobust after a series
of targeted killings and
other violent acts blamed
on separatist militants by
the authorities.
Jammu, Nov. 16: PDP presi-
dent Mehbooba Mufti on
Tuesday demanded a judicial
probe into the Hyderpora
encounter, expressing con-
cern over the killing of a
house owner and a doctor.
“It pains to see that you
(police) have started target-
ing civilians while fighting
militants,” she said, demand-
ing a probe.
Using innocent civilians as
human shields, getting them
killed in cross firing & then
conveniently labelling them
as OGWs (Over Ground
Workers) is part of GOIs
(Government of India’s)
rulebook now, Mufti wrote
on Twitter, responding to a
video of a teenaged daughter
of one of the deceased, Altaf
Bhat, shared by a user.
“Imperative that a credible
judicial enquiry is done to
bring out the truth & put an
end to this rampant culture
of impunity, she added.
— PTI
soon, says Gehlot
Jaipur, Nov. 16: Rajas-
than Chief Minister
Ashok Gehlot on Tue-
sday said the cabinet
reshuffle in the state
will take place soon,
amid the clamour to
accommodate support-
ers of his former depu-
ty Sachin Pilot, who
had rebelled against
the CM last year.
On Thursday last
week, Gehlot had met
Congress president
Sonia Gandhi to dis-
cuss the long-pending
demand. After the mee-
ting, he had said the
party’s top leadership
will decide on it. “The
cabinet reshuffle will
take place soon, Gehlot
said while addressing
the oath ceremony of
the Secretariat
Employees’ Union.
The clamour for the
cabinet reshuffle has
been increasing for the
last several months
with the demanded to
accommodate Pilot's
supporters. Apart from
the Congress MLAs,
independents who sup-
port the government
and those who defected
from the BSP to the
Congress also having
expectations from the
exercise. — PTI
COMBING OPS ON
FOR MILITANTS
Imphal, Nov. 16: A mas-
sive manhunt mounted
on Sunday in the jungles
of Churachandpur in
Manipur near the border
with Myanmar to search
for militants responsible
for a deadly ambush
which killed personnel
and family members of
Assam Rifles continued
Tuesday.
Officials said that the
combing operation con-
ducted jointly by Assam
Rifles and state police
was on in the jungles
even as border patrolling
was beefed up to ensure
the militants who killed
AR Col Viplav Tripathi,
his wife and son besides
four other riflemen on
Saturday , did not slip out
to Myanmar.

CBI DETAINS 10 OVER CHILD Assam, Meghalaya vow to CBI personnel

reduced VAT on fuel to further
reduce the prices. Some
Congress-ruled states, includ-
ing Rajasthan, however, had
not cut VAT and had demand-
ed further reduction in central
excise duty.
After the Rajasthan Cabinet
meeting on Tuesday, transport
minister Pratap Singh
Khachariyawas said that the
decision was taken to give
relief to the public.
NAVY TO GET
SEXUAL ABUSE MATERIAL
New Delhi, Nov. 16: In
its biggest pan-India
crackdown on peddlers
of online child sexual
exploitation material
(CSEM), the CBI on
Tuesday carried out
coordinated raids at 77
locations in 14 states
and detained 10 accused
for allegedly posting
gr-oups/platforms and
t h i r d - p a r t y
storage/hosting plat-
forms,” CBI spokes-per-
son R.C. Joshi said.
The massive opera-
tion started on
November 14, i.e. chil-
dren's day, with the reg-
istration of 23 separate
FIRs against 83 accused
settle border friction soon attacked in Odisha
DC CORRESPONDENT AKSHAYA KUMAR ing wooden planks
GUWAHATI, NOV. 16 SAHOO | DC gheroaed the CBI officials
BHUBANESWAR, NOV. 16 and beat them up. The mob
In a significant step for- allegedly dragged the CBI
ward in resolving their Eight officers of a Central officials out of Nayak’s
border rows, Assam and Bureau of Investigation house before assaulting
Meghalaya on Tuesday
committed to taking all
(CBI) team on Tuesday
faced public ire during a
them. The officers were sub-
sequently rescued by the

ANOTHER MISSILE and circulating the illic-

it content on the
which continued till the
next day.
the necessary steps to set-
tle inter-state border dis-
raid in Odisha’s Dhenkanal
district in connection with
Town Police station staff.
Senior officials at the

DESTROYER, SUB
PAWAN BALI | DC
NEW DELHI, NOV. 16
In a major boost to India’s
maritime security, Indian
Navy will commission
‘Visakhapatnam’, the first
stealth guided missile destroy-
er ship of the project 15B on
Sunday and Kalvari class sub-
marine Vela on 25 November.
Both the platforms have been
built at Mazagon Dock
Shipbuilders Limited,
Mumbai. This will be followed
by the launch of first ship of
Survey Vessel Large project,
Sandhayak in early December.
“This will enhance our
capacity and fire power to
address the threats both in the
above water and underwater
domains,” said Indian Navy’s
Vice Chief, Vice Admiral SN
Ghormade.
He said that global and
regional balances of power are
Internet. Arrest formal-
ities are going on for the
10 accused who have
been detained, officials
said adding that the
number of arrested peo-
ple may go up as the
p r o b e which tracks and moni-
continues.
“It was alleged that
various syndicates of
individuals based in
different parts of India
and foreign countries
were indulging in circu-
lating, storing and
viewing CSEM through
various social media
platforms/groups. It
was also alleged that
persons were dissemi-
nating CSEM by way of
sharing links, vide-os,
pictures, texts, posts
and hosting of such
content on social media
RACIST | RHETORIC
The FIRs were based putes in six areas by the
on inputs provided by a end of this year.
special CBI unit, Online Assam Chief Minister
Child Sexual Abuse and Himanta Biswa Sarma
E x p l o i t a t i o n and Meghalaya Chief
P r e v e n t i o n / Minister Conrad Sangma,
Investigation (OCSAE), at a joint press conference
on Tuesday, told reporters
tors posting, circula- that the border commit-
tion and downloads of tees set up jointly by the
CSEM on the Internet. two states have made sig-
Under the scanner nificant progress in find-
were over 50 social ing an amicable solution.
media groups having Saying that the border
more than 5,000 alleged committee is expected to
offenders sharing child submit its report by
sexual abuse material November 30, the two
with some accu-sed Chief Miniters said: “The
based in countries like committees will present
Pakistan, Canada, reports before their
Bangla-desh, Nigeria, respective state govern-
Indonesia, Azerbaijan, ments, which will then
Sri Lanka, the US, talk to the stakeholders.
Saudi Arabia, Yemen, After that, a clear picture
Egypt and the UK. will emerge and a final
— PTI statement will be issued.”
Assam CM condemns it, says racism has no place in India
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarmah and
Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma at
Koinadhara in Guwahati on Tuesday.
The two Chief Ministers
also visited a disputed site
at Langpih in Kamrup dis-
trict earlier on Tuesday.
Noting that the two
states had formed three
committees each to reso-
lve all the problems at six
out of 12 disputed sites in
Kamrup, Kamrup Metro-
politan and Hailakandi
districts, the Assam Chief
Minister said: “In the first
phase, we are looking to
resolve problems at six
— PTI
places. Going by the spirit
and pace, we are looking
to issue a final statement
by December 30.”
Sarma said: “When cou-
ntry is celebrating the
Amrit Mahotasav of Aza-
di and Meghalaya is step-
ping towards 50 years of
existence, we the two nei-
ghbouring states intend to
resolve this border dis-
pute through talks and
taking the people of the
area on board.”
a nation-wide investigation
into an alleged racket of
cyber sexual abuse of chil-
dren and circulation of abu-
sive material on social
media.
As part of the probe, the
Central agency on Tuesday
carried out simultaneous
raids at different locations
across 14 states including
Odisha.
The CBI has registered 23
separate cases against 83
people on charges of online
child sexual abuse and
exploitation.
As per reports, a CBI team
which reached the house of
one Surendra Nayak at
Colony Sahi in Dhenkanal
came under attack by an
angry mob of locals. The
CBI team reached Nayak’s
house at around 7 am. It is
alleged that the locals got
angry after the interroga-
tion continued till after-
noon.
Several women brandish-
Town police station said
that the CBI officials had
not intimated about their
visit. Sources said Nayak
was part of a group on
social media where he used
to share links containing
adult content.
“I had joined a group
named Desi MMS. The CBI
officials today asked me
about the number of mem-
bers in the group and when
I had joined. They took
away my mobile phone,”
said Nayak.
Nayak admitted to have
created a WhatsApp group
having members from dif-
ferent parts of the country.
“It was only two months
that I joined the group after
coming across a link on the
internet. I was only sharing
the links of adult contents
from one website to other
sites and groups. I had
received 21 USD (`2,000
approximately),”
added.
Nayak

shifting rapidly and the region

of most rapid change “is
undoubtedly the Indian Ocean
Region.” “Continuous efforts
are, therefore, on to ensure
that our force levels grow pro-
gressively to enhance the capa-
bility of Indian Navy to meet
the emerging challenges,” he
added. ‘Visakhapatnam’,
would be launched by defence
minister Rajnath Singh and
Chief of Naval Staff Admiral
Karambir Singh will be the
chief guest during the com-
missioning of Vela submarine.
Vice Admiral Ghormade said
that commissioning of
‘Visakhapatnam’ and ‘Vela’
are major milestones showcas-
ing the indigenous capacity to
build complex combat plat-
forms.
Racist ‘slur’ on reality show draws fury
MANOJ ANAND | DC
GUWAHATI, NOV. 16
A video featuring host of
a dance reality show,
introducing a contestant
from Assam with words
“momo”, “chowmein”
and “gibberish Chinese”
has triggered outrage
among the people in
north-eastern states with
Assam Chief Minister
Himanata Biswa Sarma
describing it as racist
and cringe-inducing.
A clip from the reality
show Dance Deeewane
Season 3 has gone viral
in north-eastern states
on social media that
shows host Raghav Juyal
introducing a young con-
testant with the con-
tentious monologue.
The clip which was
posted on twitter has
drawn angry reactions,
with many slamming the
content and the presen-
ter. Assam Chief
Minister Himanta Biswa
Sarma on Tuesday tweet-
ed condemning the
episode, saying that
‘racism has no place in
our country’. “It has
come to my notice that a
popular reality show host
has used racist rhetoric
against a young partici-
pant from Guwahati.
This is shameful and
totally unacceptable.
Racism has no place in
our country and we
should all condemn it
unequivocally,” he tweet-
ed.
One person tweeted,
“It’s 2021, but the #racist
Indians still practicing
“Chinese” “momo”
“ching chong” #racism
as a comic element on
their national television
with their #bollywood
celebs applauding it. The
racist host
@ T h e R a g h av _ Ju y a l
introduced Gunjan Sinha
from Assam in a show on
@ColorsTV.”
While another added,
“If it had been against
any other community on
a big stage. There wo-
uld’ve been national
news TV coverage by
now. Its NORTH EAST so
nggehh what does it mat-
ter.”
After angry reaction on
social media Juyal apolo-
gised to people in case he
hurt them, stating that it
was unintentional. He
also urged everyone to
see the entire show to get
an understanding on his
bond with Gunjan, and
the intention behind the
joke.
However, clarification
of the host has also trig-
gered controversy as he
claimed that the contest-
ant, a kid who hails from
Guwahati speaks
Chinese.
3 NARADA ACCUSED APPEAR BEFORE
BANKSHAL COURT, GET INTERIM BAIL
DC CORRESPONDENT
KOLKATA, NOV. 16
Three Narada bribery
sting accused including
two Trinamul Congress
MLAs were granted inter-
im bail on Tuesday after
they physically appeared
at the Bankshal Court
while responding to
its summons against
them.
They are state transport
minister Firhad Hakim,
Kamarhati legislator
Madan Mitra and former
Kolkata Mayor Sovan
Chatterjee.
The trio along with
another accused Subrata
Mukherjee were sum-
moned to appear in person
after getting chargesheet-
ed by the Enforcement
Directorate in September
following their arrest by
the Central Bureau of
Investigation in May.
Mukherjee, who was the
state panchayat minister,
however died recently.
 WORLD
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021
TAKES
SHORT
MAN ARRESTED
FOR SELLING 130
WOMEN IN AFGHAN
Kunduz: The Taliban have arr-
ested a man for allegedly sell-
ing dozens of women in north-
ern Afghanistan after duping
them into believing they would
be marrying into money, offi-
cials said on Tuesday.
The man was arrested in
northern Jawzjan province late
on Monday, Damullah Seraj,
the Taliban provincial police
chief, told reporters.
“We are still in our initial
stages of the investigation. We
hope to find out more about
this case later,” he said.
Mohammad Sardar Mubariz,
a district police chief in
Jawzjan, said the man would
target poor women desperate to
improve their circumstances.
After saying he would find
them a wealthy husband, he
would move them to a different
province where they were
instead sold into servitude.
He allegedly trafficked
around 130 women this way.
MYANMAR JUNTA
CHARGES SUU
KYI WITH FRAUD
Yangon: Myanmar’s junta has
charged Aung San Suu Kyi
with committing electoral
fraud during the 2020 polls,
state media reported on
Tuesday, the latest in a barrage
of allegations against her since
her party won in a landslide.
Myanmar has been in turmoil
since the military coup in
February sparked nationwide
protests and a deadly crack-
down on dissent.
Detained since the putsch,
Suu Kyi, 76, has been charged
with illegally importing walkie
talkies, sedition and corrup-
tion, and faces decades in jail if
convicted.
Suu Kyi is now also accused
of “election fraud and lawless
actions” during the polls, state-
run newspaper Global New
Light of Myanmar reported,
without giving details on when
court proceedings would
begin.
Fifteen other officials —
including former president
Win Myint and the former
chairman of the election com-
mission — face the same
charge, the report added.
US URGED TO HELP
MORE PEOPLE
ESCAPE AFGHAN
Washington: A coalition of
organisations working to evac-
uate people who could be tar-
geted by the Taliban rulers in
Afghanistan appealed for more
assistance from the U.S. gov-
ernment and other nations as
conditions deteriorate in the
country.
Members of the AfghanEvac
Coalition met in a video call
with Secretary of State Antony
Blinken to press the case for
additional resources to help
tens of thousands of people get
out of Afghanistan, now faced
with a deepening economic and
humanitarian crisis in addi-
tion to a precarious security
situation following the U.S.
withdrawal.
Participants said afterward
they were grateful for what the
State Department has done so
far, including helping to
arrange a series of evacuation
flights for U.S. citizens and res-
idents since the withdrawal,
but more will be needed in the
months ahead.
About 82,000 people have
come to the US so far under
what the Biden administration
calls Operation Allies
Welcome.
W.H.O.: SMOKERS
SHRINKING
WORLDWIDE
Geneva: The number of smok-
ers worldwide has dropped
steadily in recent years, the
World Health Organization
said on Tuesday, urging coun-
tries to step up control meas-
ures further to kick deadly
tobacco addiction.
In 2020, some 1.30 billion peo-
ple were using tobacco globally,
down from 1.32 billion two
years earlier, the WHO said in a
fresh report.
And that number, it said, is
expected to dwindle to 1.27 bil-
lion by 2025, indicating a
decrease of some 50 million
tobacco users over a seven-
year-period, even as the
global population has swelled.
The report showed that while
nearly a third of the global
population over the age of 15
used tobacco products back in
2000, only around a fifth is
expected to be doing so by
2025.
“It is very encouraging to see
fewer people using
tobacco each year,” WHO chief
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
said in a statement.
Germany aims for deal on new govt next week
Berlin, Nov. 16: Three
German political parties
said on Tuesday that they
hope to clinch a deal next
week to form a new gov-
ernment, keeping center-
left leader Olaf Scholz on
track to become
Germany’s new chancellor
in early December.
Scholz’s Social Democrats
narrowly won the coun-
try’s national election in
late September.
Talks on a coalition with
the environmentalist
Greens and the business-
friendly Free Democrats,
Kampala hit by twin blasts Ukraine offers
Uganda attacks carried out by ‘domestic terror group’ tied to ADF, say cops
Kampala, Nov. 16: Three
people died and 33 others
were injured in twin sui-
cide bombings targeting
Uganda’s capital Kampala
on Tuesday, police said,
blaming a “domestic ter-
ror group” linked to the
Allied Democratic Forces
(ADF) for the attacks.
An armed group active
in the eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo, the
ADF has been linked to
the Islamic State by
Washington and blamed
for a string of recent
attacks in Uganda.
Two suicide bombers on
motorbikes — disguised as
local “boda boda” motor-
cycle taxi drivers — deto-
nated a device near the
entrance to parliament,
killing a passerby, while a
third attacker targeted a
checkpoint near the cen-
tral police station, leaving
two people dead, police
spokesman Fred Enanga
said.
The explosions in Kam-
pala’s central business dis-
trict occurred within min-
utes of each other, shortly
after 10 am, and left “bod-
ies shattered and scat-
tered” across the sites, he
said.
There was no immediate
claim of responsibility but
Enanga told reporters:
“The indications are that
this is a domestic terror
group linked to the ADF.”
Police foiled a third attack,
recovering an improvised
explosive device at the
home of an alleged suicide
bomber who was shot and
Polish cops fire water cannon
on migrants at Belarus border
Sokolka, Poland, Nov.
16: Polish forces fired tear
gas and deployed water
cannons against stone-
throwing migrants trying
to cross the Belarusian
border on Tuesday, spark-
ing accusations from
Belarus that Poland was
trying to escalate the cri-
sis.
Polish border guards
estimate up to 4,000
migrants are currently
camped out along the bor-
der between Poland and
Belarus in increasingly
dire conditions and freez-
ing temperatures.
Western powers accuse
Belarus leader Alexander
Lukashenko of orchestrat-
ing the crisis, possibly
with the backing of
Russia, by luring
migrants to the border to
sow division in the EU —
claims denied by Minsk
and Moscow.
A standoff near the
Bruzgi-Kuznica border
crossing on the EU’s east-
ern frontier began last
week when hundreds of
migrants gathered there.
“Migrants attacked our
MISSILE | TEST Denies US accusations of endangering International Space Station
Russia admits satellite strike
Moscow, Nov. 16: Russia’s
defence ministry on Tues-
day admitted to destroying
one of its satellites during
a missile test but rejected
US accusations that it had
endangered the Intern-
ational Space Station.
US officials on Monday
accused Russia of a “dan-
gerous and irresponsible”
strike on a satellite that
had created a cloud of
debris and forced the ISS
crew to take evasive
action. The move reignited
concerns about an escalat-
ing arms race in space,
encompassing everything
both of which also made
gains in the election,
opened last month. If the
negotiations are success-
ful, the new alliance will
send outgoing Chancellor
Angela Merkel’s center-
right Union bloc into oppo-
sition.
Few details have
emerged as negotiators
have largely fulfilled a
pledge to keep the talks
confidential. Party leaders
on Monday started ironing
out disputed points after
leaving working groups to
discuss various policy
People extinguish fire on cars caused by a bomb explosion near Parliament building in Kampala, Uganda, on
Tuesday.
injured, and were in pur-
suit of other members of
the group, Enanga added.
The explosion near the
police station shattered
windows while the one
near the entrance to par-
liament set cars parked
nearby on fire, Uganda's
Assistant Inspector
General of police Edward
Ochom said.
Polish serviceman use tear gas during clashes between migrants and Polish border
guards at the Belarus-Poland border near Grodno, Belarus, on Tuesday.
● RUSSIAN FOREIGN
Minister Sergei Lavrov on
Tuesday said the use of
tear gas and water can-
non by Polish forces to
stop migrants entering
from Belarus was “ab-
solutely unacceptable”.
soldiers and officers with
rocks and are trying to
destroy the fence and
from laser weapons to
satellites capable of shunt-
ing others out of orbit.
“The Russian defence
ministry successfully con-
ducted a test, as a result of
which the Russian space-
craft ‘Tselina-D’, which
had been in orbit since
1982, was destroyed,” the
military said in a state-
ment.
US officials said they
were not informed in
advance of the anti-satel-
lite missile test — only the
fourth ever to hit a space-
craft from the ground —
which generated over 1,500
areas in recent weeks. “We
aim to achieve a coalition
agreement next week” and
to keep to the target of
having parliament elect
Scholz as Merkel’s succes-
sor during the week that
starts Dec. 6, according to
the Greens' general secre-
tary, Michael Kellner. His
party recently raised ques-
tion marks over the
timetable, but Kellner said
he was “satisfied with
many of the preliminary
results,” although some
tough issues remain.
“We have agreed on a lot
The attacks follow two
blasts last month — a bus
explosion near Kampala
that wounded many peo-
ple and a bombing at a
roadside eatery in the cap-
ital that killed one woman.
Police said last month
both those explosions
were connected and were
carried out by the ADF.
Uganda has also blamed
cross into Poland,”
Poland’s defence ministry
said on Tuesday, tweeting
a video showing apparent
clashes at the border.
“Our forces used tear gas
to quell the migrants'
aggression.” A police offi-
cer, a border guard and a
soldier were injured in the
clashes, Polish officials
said, with police saying
stun grenades and tear gas
pieces of trackable orbital
debris.
US Secretary of State
Anthony Blinken said on
Monday that the danger
was far from over and the
debris would continue to
threaten satellites and
activities on the ISS.
Nato Secretary General
Jens Stoltenberg on Tue-
sday described the test as
a “reckless” and “concern-
ing” act.
“It demonstrates that
Russia is now developing
new weapon systems that
can shoot down satellites,”
he said at a meeting with
already, but of course
there are conflicts that we
will talk about intensively
in the final days," Social
Democratic Party General
Secretary Lars Klingbeil
said. “I am firmly con-
vinced that we will man-
age it.”
A coalition deal would
require approval from a
ballot of the Greens' mem-
bers and conventions of
the other two parties
before the new govern-
ment can take office. The
potential alliance brings
together two traditionally
the group for a foiled
bomb attack in August on
the funeral of an army
commander who led a
major offensive against
Al-Shabaab militants in
Somalia.
Salim Uhuru, mayor of
Kampala Central, said he
was near the police station
when he heard the blast.
“It was so loud. I ran
— AP
canisters had also been
thrown at officers.
Belarusian foreign min-
istry spokesman Anataoly
Glaz accused Poland of
exacerbating the problem.
“The goal of the Polish
side is completely under-
standable — it needs to
escalate the situation even
more, to stifle any
progress in resolving the
situation,” he said. — AFP
EU defence ministers.
The Russian military
said it was carrying out
planned activities to stre-
ngthen its defence capabil-
ities but denied that the
test was dangerous.
“The United States
knows for certain that the
resulting fragments, in
terms of test time and
orbital parameters, did
not and will not pose a
threat to orbital stations,
spacecraft and space activ-
ities,” it said.
The confirmation of the
US claims came moments
after Russian Foreign
left-leaning parties with
one, the Free Democrats,
that has tended to ally
with the center-right. A
preliminary agreement
last month left a lot of
open questions. It called
for Germany to accelerate
its exit from coal-fueled
power, currently due by
2038, so it “ideally” hap-
pens by 2030, and speed up
“drastically” the expan-
sion of renewable energy
generation.
At the Free Democrats'
insistence, the prospective
partners said they won't
— AFP
towards the police station
and saw one policeman I
know dead on the ground.
His body was scattered
like mincemeat,” Uhuru
said. Kyle Spencer, the
executive director of
Uganda’s Internet Exc-
hange Point, said that the
explosions had sparked
panic among many people
nearby. — AFP
JUDGE TO HEAR
TRUMP’S TAX
RETURNS CASE
Washington, Nov. 16:
A US judge on Tuesday
will hear arguments in a
long-running lawsuit
over whether Congress
can obtain former Pres-
ident Donald Trump’s
tax returns from the In-
ternal Revenue Service.
Trump was the first
president in 40 years not
to release his tax returns
as he aimed to keep sec-
ret the details of his we-
alth and activities of his
family company, the
Trump Organisation.
U.S. District Judge
Trevor McFadden in
Washington will hold a
court hearing in the case
at 2 p.m. Trump’
lawyers have asked
McFadden to dismiss the
case, which dates back to
2019, saying the House
Ways and Means
Committee made an ille-
gitimate request to see
the tax returns.
In 2019, under Trump,
it said the request for his
taxes by the committee
was based on a “disin-
genuous” objective ai-
med at exposing them to
the public. — Reuters
Minister Sergei Lavrov
had denied that Moscow
had endangered the ISS.
“To declare that the
Russian Federation cre-
ates risks for the peaceful
use of space is, at the very
least, hypocrisy,” Lavrov
told a press conference in
Moscow, adding that
“there are no facts”
behind the claims. Nasa
said the crew aboard the
orbital outpost — current-
ly four Americans, a
German and two Russians
— were woken up and
forced to take shelter in
their return ships. — AFP
raise taxes or loosen curbs
on running up debt, mak-
ing financing a central
issue. Merkel's Christian
Democratic Union, mean-
while, is focused on elect-
ing a new leader after
incumbent Armin Laschet
led the Union bloc — the
two-party bloc the CDU
dominates — to defeat and
its worst-ever election
result.
Prominent conservative
Friedrich Merz on Monday
became the third candi-
date to make a bid for the
party leadership, his third
rewards for
vaccination
Kyiv, Nov. 16: Ukraine
reported record daily
Covid-19 deaths on Tu-
esday as authorities str-
uggle to boost the coun-
try’s vaccination rate
amid rising Coronavirus
infections.
Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
promised to pay 1,000
hryvnias ($38) to each
Ukrainian who gets vacci-
nated.
Ukrainians can receive
their payments starting
Dec. 19, authorities said.
“With this money, it will
be possible to purchase a
gym or fitness club mem-
bership, visit a cinema,
theatre, museum, concert
hall or exhibition centre,
or buy tickets for domes-
tic travel,” Zelenskyy said
in a video message posted
on Facebook.
The government plans
to allocate 3 billion hryv-
nias ($113.8 million) to the
incentive programme this
year and the same
amount in 2022. Ukraine
reported 838 more deaths
from Covid-19 on Tuesday,
bringing the pandemic
death toll in the country
of about 41 million resi-
dents to 77,985.
Although Ukraine has
four coronavirus vac-
cines available — Pfizer-
BioNTech, Moderna,
AstraZeneca and Sinovac
— only 19.8 per cent of
the population has been
vaccinated so far, one of
the lowest rates in
Europe. Authorities have
blamed the recent surge
in new cases on wide-
spread public reluctance
to get vaccinated.
To get more people imm-
unised, the government
required teachers, doc-
tors, government employ-
ees and other groups of
workers to get fully vacci-
nated by December 1. The
government also started
Biden signs $1 tn
infrastructure bill
Washington, Nov. 16:
President Joe Biden
signed his $1 trillion
infrastructure deal into
law on the White House
lawn, hailing it as an
example of what biparti-
sanship can achieve.
The president hopes to
use the law to build back
his popularity and says it
will deliver jobs, clean
water, high-speed inter-
net and a clean energy
future. Support for Biden
has taken a hit amid ris-
ing inflation and the
inability to fully shake
the public health and eco-
nomic risks from Covid-
19.
A smattering of
Republican lawmakers
were on hand for what
might be one the last cele-
bratory displays of bipar-
tisanship ahead of the
2022 midterm elections.
“My message to the
American people is this:
America is moving again
and your life is going to
change for the better,”
Biden said.
The president hopes to
use the law to build back
his popularity, which has
taken a hit amid rising
inflation and the inability
to fully shake the public
health and economic
risks from Covid-19. “My
message to the American
people is this: America is
moving again and your
life is going to change for
the better,” Biden said.
With the bipartisan deal,
the president had to
choose between his prom-
ise of fostering national
pg 8
try in as many years.
Norbert Roettgen, a for-
mer environment minister
who has chaired parlia-
ment's foreign policy com-
mittee in recent years, and
Merkel’s chief of staff,
Helge Braun, threw their
hats into the ring on
Friday.
Both are centrists, while
Merz has generally
appealed more to tradi-
tional conservatives. The
CDU plans to hold a vote of
the party’s roughly
4,00,000 members to
choose a new leader. — AP
DOC SUSPEDED
FOR FALSE COVID
INFORMATION
Houston, Nov. 16: A
Houston hospital has
temporarily suspended a
doctor for spreading false
information about Covid-
19 to her patients and on
social media.
Dr. Mary Talley
Bowden, an ear, nose and
throat specialist who
runs a private practice in
River Oaks, had been
granted provisional privi-
leges at Houston
Methodist Hospital with-
in the last year.
The hospital revoked
Bowden's hospital privi-
leges on Friday citing
“unprofessional behav-
ior,” including vulgar lan-
guage on social media, as
the main reason for sus-
pension, the Houston
Chronicle reported.
On her Twitter account,
Bowden repeatedly dec-
ried vaccine mandates
and promoted the unpr-
oven benefits of iver-
mectin, the anti-parasitic
drug that federal health
officials advise against
using to treat the virus.
In emails obtained by the
Chronicle, Bowden was
urging against vaccina-
tions for children and tell-
ing her patients that data
she has collected “sug-
gests that the vaccine is
not working.” — AP
requiring proof of vacci-
nation or negative test re-
sults to board planes,
trains and long-distance
buses. New government
regulations and restric-
tions have spawned a bl-
ack market for fraudulent
vaccine documents. — AP
Joe Biden
unity and a commitment
to transformative
change.
The final measure whit-
tled down much of his ini-
tial vision to invest in
roads, bridges, water sys-
tems, broadband, ports,
electric vehicles and the
power grid. Yet the
administration hopes to
sell the new law as a suc-
cess that bridged partisan
divides and will elevate
the country with clean
drinking water, high-
speed internet and a shift
away from fossil fuels.
“Too often in
Washington —the reason
we don’t get things done
is because we insist on
getting everything we
want,” Biden said in his
prepared remarks. “With
this law, we focused on
getting things done. I ran
for president because the
only way to move our
country forward is
through compromise and
consensus.”
Biden will get outside
Washington to sell the
plan more broadly in
coming days. — AP
 WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021 | CHENNAI
quick RBI for rebalancing
BITES liquidity in system
INDICATORS % MALATHI NAYAK
Sensex 60,322.37 -0.65
Nifty 50 17,999.20 -0.61
S&P 500* 4,707.71 0.53
Dollar (`) 74.37 0.16
Pound Sterling (`) 100.07 -0.15
Euro (`) 84.82 0.52
Gold (10gm)* (`) 49,149▼149 0.30
Brent crude ($/bbl)* 81.20 0.40
IN 10-Yr bond yield 6.364 0.00
US 10-Yr T-bill yield* 1.627 0.006
* As of 8:30 PM IST
US retail sales
jump by most
since March
US retail sales rose in October
for a third month as higher
prices boosted merchant
receipts and household demand
remained resilient. The value of
overall retail purchases
increased 1.7 per cent last
month, the most in seven
months, following a upwardly
revised 0.8 per cent advance in
Sept., Commerce Department
figures showed. Excluding gas
and motor vehicles, sales
gained 1.4 per cent in Oct.
Aprilia SR 125,
SR 160 launched
for `1 lakh-plus
Piaggio, the Italian auto major,
launched the updated version
of its Aprilia SR scooter range—
Aprilia SR 125 and Aprilia SR
160—with a completely new
design and features priced at
Rs 1.08 lakh and Rs 1.17 lakh.
Both models come with new
elements such as a V-shaped
LED headlight, a new pillion
grab rail, split seats and a
redesigned taillamp. Aprilia has
also tweaked the front apron
for a sportier styling.
Dubai starts
issuing five-year
entry permits
Dubai started issuing five-year
multi-entry permits for employ-
ees of international companies,
the latest in a series of moves
aimed at attracting foreigners
and boosting growth. New per-
mits will help employees travel
easily to Dubai and take part in
conferences and exhibitions,
Dubai’s crown prince Hamdan
Bin Mohammed said on Twitter.
The UAE earlier this year app-
roved plans to offer citizenship
to a select group of people.
Policybazaar
stock surges on
fund buying
The stock of PB Fintech, parent
of Policybazaar, surged over 19
per cent to Rs 1,435.95 intra-day
on the BSE on the news of fund
buying. The stock, however, set-
tled lower with a gain of 11.59
per cent at Rs 1,343.35. US finan-
cial services firm Capi-tal
Research and Management
Company bought over 34.18 lakh
equity shares, or 0.76 per cent
stake, in the firm at Rs 1,192.96
per share on the NSE on Monday
on the stock’s debut.
Printed & Published by
K Sudhakar on behalf of Deccan
Chronicle Holdings Limited. Printed &
Published at Deccan Chronicle Presses
situated at SP-3 Developed Plot,
Industrial Estate, Guindy, Chennai.
Editor: Kaushik Mitter, RNI Reg. No.
TNENG/2008/25473 Air surcharge Re 1.
© All rights reserved. Reproduction in
whole or in part without written per-
mission of The Editor, Financial
Chronicle ® is prohibited.
■Das asks banks to be investment-ready
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
The Reserve Bank of
India is working towards
gradually re-balancing
liquidity in the banking
system in such a way that
banks hold only the
required level of liquidi-
ty, not in excess of it.
Speaking at an SBI
event, RBI governor
Shaktikanta Das said the
central bank's effort is to
also ensure that there
will always be adequate
liquidity in the system to
meet the requirements of
the productive sectors of
the economy.
"But slowly we want to
re-balance the economy
in a manner that banks
are left with that much
liquidity which they need
and not excess," he added.
Das asked banks to
remain investment-ready
as the private sector
would soon turn the
investment cycle, as the
economy is picking up
pace.
He also noted that the
economy is yet to cover a
lot of ground before it
gets broad-based and
entrenched. Contact-
intensive services are
still to regain the lost
capacity. Hence sustained
impetus is needed so that
growth could return to,
or better still, exceed the
pre-pandemic trend.
According to him, rein-
vigorating private invest-
ment is crucial to realise
India's growth potential.
Early results of firms in
Q2 FY22 suggest robust
sales and resilient prof-
Coforge files for US IPO Dairy’s unlikely new world champion is India’s paneer
New Delhi, Nov. 16: IT
firm Coforge on Tuesday
said it has filed papers
with the US Securities and
Exchange Commission for
a proposed initial public
offering of American
Depositary Shares (ADS)
representing its equity
shares. Coforge, which
was formerly NIIT
Technologies, is promoted
by Barings Private Equity
Asia and is listed on
Indian bourses.
Coforge has filed a
Registration Statement on
Form F-1 with the US SEC
in connection with a pro-
posed IPO of ADS repre-
senting its equity shares,
Coforge said in a regulato-
ry filing.
The number of equity
shares to be represented
by each ADS, the number
of ADS to be offered and
the price range for the pro-
posed offering have not yet
been determined, it added.
As of September 30, 2021,
HC ASKS CCI TO
DECIDE ON FUTURE
DEAL IN 2 WEEKS
SANGEETHA G
CHENNAI, NOV. 16
The Delhi High Court on
Tuesday gave two weeks’
time to the competition
watchdog to decide
whether e-commerce
major Amazon misled it
while seeking approval for
the company’s investment
in Future Coupons in 2019.
The order of the division
bench was given in a peti-
tion filed by the
Confederation of All India
Traders Association’s
(Cait), which intervened in
the Amazon-Future legal
fight.
The Cait had filed the PIL
on Monday seeking protec-
tion to 6,000 traders who
had supplied goods to
Future Group, amounting
to about Rs 10,000 crore. It
said the fight was affecting
the business of traders.
It wanted the Competi-
tion Commission of India
to decide on the show-
cause notice issued to
Amazon on June 4, 2021 on
a complaint filed by
Future Group over alleged
misrepresentation of facts
before CCI.
The CCI told the court
that it was contemplating
to call Amazon on January
4, 2022 for a hearing.
Shaktikanta Das
itability despite input
cost pressures. Such
trends could provide
impetus to capacity
expansion by the corpo-
rate sector in the coming
quarters. With stronger
balance sheets, the organ-
ised corporate sector is
well-placed to make new
investments in emerging
areas. "As demand recov-
ers, I am sanguine about
the corporate sector play-
ing a major role in turn-
ing the investment cycle
that will facilitate
absorption of surplus liq-
uidity for productive
investment," he said.
"In this background, it
is incumbent upon a com-
petitive and efficient
financial system to iden-
tify high productive sec-
tors and reallocate
resources to harness the
growth opportunities.
Banks, in particular,
should be investment
ready when the invest-
ment cycle picks up," he
added.
The RBI governor
"strongly" urged the
banks to focus and fur-
Baring Private Equity
Asia, through Hulst BV's
shareholding in Coforge,
held about 50.2 per cent of
the total outstanding equi-
ty shares, representing a
majority of the voting
rights of its equity shares.
"Hulst BV will be one of
our selling shareholders,"
it said.
The selling shareholders
of the ADS will be identi-
fied through an invitation
to participate in the offer-
ing. Coforge will dispatch
the relevant documents
for participation in the
IPO to its existing equity
shareholders as on an
identified date, being
November 12, 2021 (identi-
fied date), the filing said.
All equity shareholders
holding Coforge shares
after the identified date
and prior or up to Dec. 2,
2021 (offer closing date)
are eligible to offer shares
for sale in the IPO.
— PTI
‘Pfizer making $1,000 profit every second’ Bank brokerages face heat of discount
Washington, Nov. 16:
Pfizer, BioNTech and
Moderna are making com-
bined profits of $65,000
every minute from their
highly successful Covid-19
vaccines while the world's
poorest countries remain
largely unvaccinated, acc-
ording to a new analysis.
The companies have sold
the vast majority of their
doses to rich countries,
leaving low-income
nations in the lurch, said
the People's Vaccine
ADD | AND DEDUCT
Investment banks profit from building, breaking big firms
ANIRBAN SEN &
DAVID FRENCH
NOV. 16
It is a constant dilemma
facing companies; do they
acquire or shed business-
es to boost shareholder
returns? Investment
bankers profit every time
the answer involves a
deal, even if it represents
an about-face for the com-
panies.
Last week's announce-
ments by General Electric
Co, Toshiba Corp and
Johnson & Johnson of
ther improve their capi-
tal management process-
es with a forward-look-
ing, scientific and pru-
dent approach. It is
expected that banks will
exhibit prudent risk-tak-
ing behaviour and use
their capital efficiently,
he said.
Further, he stressed on
the oversight role of the
board of directors of
banks, its composition,
directors' skill profile,
strong risk and compli-
ance structure and
processes, more trans-
parency and a robust
mechanism of balancing
various stakeholder
interests. Banks should
ensure that their busi-
ness models and business
strategies are conscious
choices, following
robust strategic discus-
a said in the complaint.
sion in the board, instead
of being driven by
mechanical 'follow the
market' approach. In
their endeavour to grow,
banks should avoid herd
mentality and look for
differentiated business
strategies.
KATE KRADER
NOV. 16
Given the current obses-
sion with plant-based
cooking, cheese might
seem like a food in decline.
But curd consumption
has risen 19 per cent in the
past decade, according to
recent data from the US
Department of Agricul-
ture's Economic Research
Service. It's the main cata-
lyst of per capita dairy
consumption. Last year
was great for the dairy
case, as sales increased $7
billion from a year earlier
to $61 billion.
At Kroger Co, the second-
best-selling overall prod-
uct of 2020 was four-cheese
Mexican blend. (Zero-calo-
rie soft drinks were No. 1.)
Now an under-the-radar
cheese is making inroads
in the US, even though it's
been around since the
Alliance (PVA), a coalition
campaigning for wider
access to Covid vaccines,
which based its calcula-
tions on the firms' own
earning reports.
The Alliance estimates
the trio will make pre-tax
profits of $34 billion this
year between them, which
works out to over $1,000 a
second, $65,000 a minute or
$93.5 million a day.
"It is obscene that just a
few companies are making
millions of dollars in prof-
Cos pay hefty fees to bulk up via M&A, only to pay more to reverse them
their plans to break up
offer the latest examples
of how some companies
have spent hundreds of
millions of dollars on
investment banking fees
to bulk up through acqui-
sitions over the years,
only to pay more fees to
reverse them.
Some of the banks that
worked on preparing
these spin-offs---Goldman
Sachs Group Inc,
JPMorgan Chase & Co
and UBS Group AG--
advised on previous
acquisitions that took the
Franklin
accused of
startup
sabotage
NOV. 16
Franklin Resources Inc
destroyed a blockchain
startup to get its technol-
ogy and a "short cut" into
the booming fintech mar-
ket, a group of investors
claimed in a lawsuit.
The startup, Onsa,
claims to have developed
a "tokenised" money
market that converts
assets into digital
tokens—the first of its
kind to be approved by
the US Securities and
Exchange Commission.
But after taking control
of Onsa through an
investment, Franklin
abruptly axed top execu-
tives and coders at the
startup in 2020 and hired
some of them to start its
own version of the
blockchain technology,
according to the lawsuit.
"Franklin Templeton is
now on the cusp of
launching the technolo-
gy it took from Onsa
under the Franklin
Templeton banner, hop-
ing to change its image
as a technological
dinosaur and to generate
enormous financial ben-
efits that flow from
Onsa's innovative tech-
nology," the group of
Onsa shareholders called
Blockchain Innovation
Franklin called the law-
suit "misguided" and
said it's the first time
Franklin has heard of
Blockchain Innovation,
"which app-ears to be an
entity that exists solely
to manufacture litiga-
tion.” —Bloomberg
1500s. Paneer, the firm
cheese that's a staple of
Indian menus, is the hero
ingredient in the go-to veg-
etarian dish saag paneer.
There are several rea-
sons for the groundswell.
Paneer is high in protein
and fat, which makes it a
keto favourite. And
because it's got a high
melting point, it keeps its
shape when it's cooked,
making it a good candidate
for centre-of-the-plate veg-
etarian dishes.
Unlike many faux-meat
options, paneer is clean-
label, meaning it's made
with minimal ingredients.
There's also increased
culinary interest in its
place of origin. Searches
for "Indian restaurants
near me" rose 350 per cent
last year on Google
Trends. "Paneer maker"
was up 140 per cent.
"Indian cuisine has
it every single hour, while
just two per cent of people
in low-income countries
have been fully vaccinated
against coronavirus,"
Maaza Seyoum of the
African Alliance and
People's Vaccine Alliance
Africa said.
"Pfizer, BioNTech and
Moderna have used their
monopolies to prioritise
the most profitable con-
tracts with the richest gov-
ernments,” the PVA said.
— AFP
companies in an opposite
strategic direction.
Goldman Sachs,
JPMorgan and UBS did
not respond to requests
for comment.
Akasa orders 72 Boeing
737 Max worth $9 bn
New Delhi, Nov. 16:
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala-
backed new airline Akasa
Air has ordered 72 '737
Max' aircraft from US-
based aerospace company
Boeing to launch service
in India, a statement said
on Tuesday."Akasa Air's
order includes two vari-
ants from the 737 Max
family, including the 737-8
and the high-capacity 737-
8-200," the joint statement
by Akasa Air and Boeing
mentioned.
The order, valued at
"nearly $9 billion at list
prices", was signed at
Dubai Air Show 2021 on
Tuesday, it stated.
The Ministry of Civil
Aviation had last month
given a no-objection cer-
tificate for the operation
of Akasa Air in India.
Addition of RE under existing PPA allowed
MADHUSUDAN SAHOO
NEW DELHI, NOV. 16
Taking yet another step to
cut carbon emission and
reduce the cost of power to
consumers, the govern-
ment on Tuesday amended
the prevailing norms and
allowed power producers
to replace thermal power
with renewables under
their existing power pur-
chase agreements, or PPAs.
Besides, the government
also revised the relevant
norms as part of the larger
efforts to have 500 GW of
clean energy generation
capacity by 2030.
The move comes at a time
when the country has fall-
en short of its own renew-
able capacity target.
According to the Central
Electricity Authority data
grown in popularity, and
people have become more
interested in learning to
make it at home," says
Joey Wells, global senior
principal for product
development at Whole
Foods Market Inc. Paneer
sales are up, he adds: "We
continue to see growth in
the category overall."
Unlike the case of anoth-
er breakout cheese, hallou-
RAVI RANJAN PRASAD
MUMBAI, NOV. 16
The retail investor wave
and buoyant capital mar-
kets are likely to aid the
growth of bank-sponsored
brokerages that have
faced stiff competition
from discount broking
firms.
Bank brokerages like
ICICI Securities, Kotak
Securities, HDFC Securi-
ties, Axis Securities and
SBICap Securities have
Corporate break-ups are
on the rise amid a grow-
ing consensus on Wall
Street that companies per-
form best only if they are
focused on adjacent busi-
ness areas, as well as
increasing pressure from
activist hedge funds push-
ing them in that direction.
Some 42 spin-offs collec-
tively worth over $200 bil-
lion have been announced
globally so far this year,
up from 38 spin-offs worth
roughly $90 billion in 2020,
according to Dealogic.
Investment banks have
Rakesh Jhunjhunwala
Akasa Air is backed by
investor Rakesh Jhun-
jhunwala, former IndiGo
president Aditya Ghosh
and former Jet Airways
CEO Vinay Dube.
"We are delighted to
partner with Boeing for
our first airplane order
and thank them for their
trust and confidence in
Akasa Air's business plan
and leadership team,"
Dube, who is now the
for September, the renew-
able capacity in the coun-
try has crossed the 100 GW
mark. The government's
aim was to achieve 227 GW
of renewable energy
capacity by 2022 and reach
500 GW by 2030.
Issuing the revised guide-
lines, the Ministry of
Power and New & to 500 GW by 2030.
Renewable Energy said the
new norm will provide for
thermal generation compa-
nies to set up renewable
energy generation capaci-
ty either by themselves or
through developers by
open bids, and supplying it
to the consumers under the
existing PPAs.
Now, India stands at the
forefront of addressing the
climate change and has
committed to an ambitious
nationally determined con-
mi, which had an entire
country-Cyprus-propel-
ling it forward, the rise of
paneer has been pushed by
a couple of artisans on the
East and West coasts.
In New York City, the
stellar version made by
Unapologetic Foods chef
Chintan Pandya has
raised the cheese's profile
exponentially.
"The higher the fat, the
better the paneer," says
Pandya, who uses a blend
of milk and cream to make
his light and incompre-
hensibly pillowy product.
It is now a top seller at his
Lower East Side restau-
rant, Dhamaka, where it's
grilled and topped with
garam masala.
Chefs across the U.S.
have become inspired. At
Ghee in Miami, Niven
Patel smokes the cheese
and serves it with charred
corn. Paneer pies are a
seen their ranking come
down in terms of number
of clients as Zerodha,
Upstox, Angel Broking,5
Paisa and IIFL Securities,
among others, have roped
in more clients by offering
cheaper broking services.
"The retail broking seg-
ment has witnessed a sig-
nificant disruption in the
last few years due to the
growing prominence of
discount brokerages,” rat-
ing agency Icra said.
Due to rising transac-
collected more than $4.5
billion since 2011 advising
on spin-off deals globally,
according to Dealogic.
While this represents less
than 2 per cent of what
they pocketed from deal
fees overall, it is a growing
franchise; banks have so
far earned over $1 billion
on spin-offs globally so far
this year, nearly twice
what they earned in 2020,
according to Refinitiv.
In the case of GE, finan-
cial advisors including
Evercore Inc, PJT
Partners Inc, Bank of
pg 9
CEO of Akasa Air, was
quoted as saying in the
statement.
He said the new 737 Max
airplane will support the
the carrier's aim of run-
ning not just a cost-effi-
cient, reliable and afford-
able airline, but also an
environmentally friendly
company with the
youngest and greenest
fleet in the Indian skies.
India's aviation regula-
tor had on August 26 lift-
ed the ban on Boeing 737
Max planes' commercial
flight operations after
almost two-and-half
years. All 737 Max planes
were grounded by the
Directorate General of
Civil Aviation on March
13, 2019, three days after
an Ethiopian Airlines 737
Max plane crashed.— PTI
tributions of reducing
emission intensity by 33-35
per cent in 2030 against the
levels of 2005. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in
the recently concluded
COP26 summit in Glasgow
announced that India
would increase the instal-
led capacity of renewables
"This revised norms will
enable the replacement of
fossil fuel based energy by
renewable energy under
the existing PPAs. As the
cost of renewable energy is
less than the cost of ther-
mal energy, the gains from
the bundling of renewable
energy with thermal will
be shared between the gen-
erator and distribution
companies/other procur-
ers on a 50:50 basis," the
statement said.
popular option at
Chicago's Pizza With a
Twist, which has locations
around the country.
At Aurum in Los Altos,
California, Manish Tyagi
reimagines classic palak
paneer as lasagna, using
slices of the cheese in
place of pasta. Between
the layers are sautéed
spinach, ground paneer,
cumin, and fenugreek leaf
powder. It's baked with
shredded mozzarella and
served with tomato sauce.
Donna Berry, a former
Kraft Heinz Co scientist,
says sales of paneer can
continue rising along with
awareness. She spotlights
paneer as dairy's best
alternative to challenge
tofu, the mainstay of
vegan meals. "With more
households going flexitari-
an," she says, "paneer has
an opportunity to shine."
—Bloomberg
tions in the equity market,
the average daily turnover
(ADTO) increased to Rs.
27.92 lakh crore in FY21
from Rs 14.39 lakh crore in
FY20, an annual growth of
94 per cent. The market
clocked an ADTO of Rs
56.36 lakh crore in the first
half of FY22.
However, the market
share of bank brokerages
in terms of transaction
volumes declined in FY21
and moderated further in
Q1 FY22. Icra said.
America Corp and
Goldman Sachs each stand
to collect tens of millions
of dollars from their advi-
sory roles on the compa-
ny's break-up, according to
estimates from M&A
lawyers and bankers.
Goldman Sachs had pre-
viously collected nearly
$400 million in fees advis-
ing the company on acqui-
sitions, divestitures and
spin-offs over the years,
making it GE's top advisor
based on fees collected,
according to Refinitiv.
—Reuters
 GAMES
DECCAN CHRONICLE | CHENNAI | WEDNESDAY | 17 NOVEMBER 2021
pg 10

DRAVIDIAN ERA
INDONESIA | MASTERS
SHORT TAKES
India set to host
three ICC events
Impressive wins
Dubai: Major cricket event will
return to Pakistan after more
than two decades with the
country set to host the 2025
India look for fresh start under new coach Rahul for Sindhu, Sen
Champions Trophy, an ICC flag- Jaipur, Nov. 16: After a Bali, Nov. 16: P. V. Sindhu
ship tournament. The ICC board
on Tuesday awarded the hosting
rude reality check in the
T20 World Cup, India will WILLIAMSON eased into the second
round with a straight-game
2 BLASTS NEAR
rights of the 2025 Champions
Trophy to Pakistan, while pick-
ing United States and West
aim to press the reset but-
ton for the 2022 edition
under new captain Rohit TO SKIP INDIA
win after fellow Indian
Lakshya Sen showed his
mettle with a stunning vic-
HOTEL OF INDIAN
Indies as co-host of the 2024 Sharma and an illustri- tory over world No. 10
PARA SHUTTLERS
T20 World Cup. This will be the
first ever global event hosted in
North America. According to
ous head coach in Rahul
Dravid, starting with the
three-match series
T20I SERIES Japanese Kanta
Tsuneyama on the opening
day of Indonesia Masters New Delhi, Nov. 16:
the announcement, India will against New Zealand New Delhi, Nov. 16: Super 750 here on Tuesday. Indian para shuttlers com-
get to host three ICC events in beginning here on New Zealand captain Two-time Olympic medal- peting at the Uganda Para
the next cycle, including the Wednesday. The duo in Kane Williamson will sit list Sindhu, seeded third, badminton international
2026 T20 World Cup and 2031 the next 11 months will out this week’s Twenty20 recorded a 21-15, 21-19 win suffered a jolt when there
50-over World Cup, where the underline the Men In internationals against over Thailand’s Supanida were multiple explosions
country will be Co hosts along Blue’s template and phi- India to focus on the Katethong in a 43-minute near the team hotel at the
with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh losophy in the shortest upcoming Test series, the women’s singles match to capital city of Kampala on
respectively. India will also host format after it became Black Caps said as they set up a second-round clash Tuesday.
the 2029 Champions Trophy sin- clear that some rejigging confirmed their squads with Spain’s Clara The two bomb blasts led
gularly. Pakistan, who had last will be needed as a part of Tuesday. Azurmendi. to the death of at least
co-hosted the 1996 World Cup course correction. The talismanic batsman However, the highlight of three civilians and caused
along with India and Sri Lanka, The disappointment in has been in blazing form, the day was Lakshya’s win chaos in Kampala as terri-
have not been able to host the UAE edition has hitting 85 off 48 balls in over Kanta in the men’s fied residents fled the city’s
many international games in the forced India to look Sunday’s T20 World Cup singles. The 20-year-old centre.
country since the 2009 terrorist beyond Hardik Pandya, final defeat to Australia from Almora, who had Chief coach of Indian
attack on Sri Lankan team bus who for long has not been in Dubai. reached the semifinals at para badminton team,
in Lahore. The Champions able to bring his all-round The 31-year-old arrived Hylo Open Super 500 and Gaurav Khanna said the
Trophy was last held in UK. skills to the table. with the squad in Jaipur final of Dutch Open, dis- blasts happened around
— PTI Star IPL performer on Monday, with the first played tremendous grit on 100 metres away from the
Venkatesh Iyer has been of three T20 internation- way to a 21-17, 18-21, 21-17 hotel but everyone is safe
brought in as Hardik’s als against India taking win over Kanta in an hour and there is nothing to
7 Australian cities replacement and the
three games is likely to
place on Wednesday.
But Williamson has
and eight minutes. — PTI worry. — PTI

to host T20 WC
Pandya says watch
give an indication if he joined the Test specialist
can be groomed for the group to focus on red-ball
Dubai: Seven Australian cities, much needed fast bowling preparation, New Zealand
including Melbourne, Sydney, all-rounder’s slot. Cricket said.
Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide,
will host the ICC Men’s T20
World Cup from October 16 to
November 13 next year. The
India can also do with
more power hitters in the
batting department and
Venkatesh, who played
Paceman Tim Southee
will captain the Twenty20
side for the matches in
Jaipur, Ranchi on
was not worth `5cr
other two cities which will in all for KKR this IPL, has Saturday and Kolkata on Mumbai, Nov. 16: India watches worth `5 crore
likelihood host the Round 1 shown his ability to hit Sunday. Southee said he all-rounder Hardik Pandya were seized from him by
matches include Geelong and long and big. was upbeat about leading on Tuesday dismissed the customs department.
Hobart with the iconic The other IPL perform- the side, but admitted the reports of custom officials While he was making the
Melbourne Cricket Ground host- ers who have been picked tight scheduling and the at Mumbai airport seizing declaration of the import-
ing the final. “The event which in the squad are Ruturaj team’s long spells in his luxury watches, saying ed goods bought, it was
is scheduled to take place Gaikwad, Harshal Patel, Covid bubbles were con- that only one watch worth found that the price of the
between 16 October and 13 Avesh Khan and cerns. — AFP `1.5 crore had been taken watches, as per bills sub-
November next year will see a Yuzvendra Chahal, who Twenty20 squad: Tim Southee for “proper valuation” mitted, didn’t match the
total of 45 matches hosted makes a comeback after (capt), Todd Astle, Trent Boult, after he “voluntarily actual value, which is
across Adelaide, Brisbane, controversially being left India captain Rohit Sharma in action during a practice session ahead of the T20 Mark Chapman, Lockie declared” the items believed to be much more.
match against New Zealand, at Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur on Monday night. Ferguson, Martin Guptill, Kyle
Geelong, Hobart, Melbourne, out of the World Cup Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl
brought by him. As per rules, he will have
Perth and Sydney,” ICC said. squad. — PTI Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, The out-of-favour India to pay the correct duty fee
The semi-finals will be held at With Jasprit Bumah Squad: Rohit Sharma (captain), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, all-rounder, who was before he gets back his pur-
the Sydney Cricket Ground and rested for the series, India and Mohammad Siraj ing skipper Rohit and KL Rahul, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Tim Seifert, Ish Sodhi. returning from Dubai after chased watches.
Adelaide Oval on November 9 will be looking to find into the picture. head coach Dravid will Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Test squad: Kane Williamson an ordinary outing in the “The cost of the watch is
and 10, respectively. another pacer, who can Bhuvneshwar Kumar, also assess a player’s util- Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Ishan (capt), Tom Blundell, Kyle T20 World Cup, which led approximately `1.5 crore
Among the countries that have consistently clock who was not at his best in ity keeping the Kishan, Venkatesh Iyer, Jamieson, Tom Latham, Daryl to his omission from the and not `5 crore as per
directly qualified for the Super 140kmph and above. As it the UAE, has been given Australian conditions in Yuzvendra Chahal, R. Ashwin, Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Ajaz squad for the T20 series rumours floating around
Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin
12 are defending champions was seen in the UAE, the another opportunity to the mind as the country Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Will against New Zealand, the social media,” Pandya
Australia and runner-up New extra pace always comes find his A game. hosts the World Cup in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak refuted reports that tweeted in his defence.
Chahar, Harshal Patel, Somerville, Tim Southee, Ross
Zealand. in handy, bringing Avesh The think tank compris- less than 12 months time. Mohammad Siraj. Taylor, Neil Wagner, Will Young. claimed that the two wrist — PTI
Along with the finalists,
Afghanistan, Bangladesh,
England, India, Pakistan and
South Africa, which are the next
highest ranked teams, will gain
ISTA JUNIOR | OPEN SQUASH
direct entry into the Super 12

Vidarbha stun
stage. — PTI

TN’s Arihant, Ashvin

Maha, in quarters
New Delhi: Vidarbha stunned
fancied Maharashtra by seven
wickets in the first pre-quarter
storm into quarters
DC CORRESPONDENT
final of the Syed Mushtaq Ali CHENNAI, NOV. 16
Trophy here on Tuesday to
enter the last-eight stage of the Tamil Nadu’s KS
national T20 championship. Arihant beat state-mate
Opting to field at the Feroz P. Meyyappan 11-3, 11-3,
Shah Kotla, Vidarbha restricted 11-0 to storm into the
Maharashtra to 157/8 despite a quarterfinals of the
brisk 45-ball 66 by one-down ISTA Junior Open
Rahul Tripathi. Then they rode squash tournament on
on half centuries by opener Tuesday. The opening
Atharva Taide (56 off 38 balls) day of the tournament
and skipper Akshay Wadkar (58 witnessed matches for
not out off 47 balls) to chase boys U-13, girls U-13,
down the target with 13 balls to boys U-15 and boys U-17
spare. Vidarbha lost opener where seeded players
Siddhesh Wath (0) in the first moved up convincingly.
over. But Taide, who hammered Results: Boys U-13
six boundaries and a maximum, (Round of 32): Aryaveer
along with skipper Wadkar, Dewan (Del) bt Agastya
knocked Maharashtra out of the Rajput (Mah) 11-0, 11-1,
tournament with their match- 11-2. Aakash BS (Ker) bt
winning 95-run stand for the Aryan Swain (Kar) 11-8,
second wicket. 11-8, 11-6. Ishaan Dabke
Brief scores: Maharashtra 157/8 (Mah) bt Ranav Reddy
(Rahul Tripathi 66, Yash Nahar (TN) 11-2, 11-2, 11-3.
29; Yash Thakur 3/17, Akshay Shrrinith Subramanian
Karnewar 2/25) lost to (TN) bt Shresht Iyer
Vidarbha 160/3 (Akshay (Mah) 11-5, 11-4, 11-3.
Wadkar 58 not out, Atharva Purav Rambhia (Mah) bt
Taide 56). Vishwajith G (TN) 11-1, Action during the opening day of ISTA Junior Open
11-1, 11-3. Lokesh S (TN) squash.
Italy miss out on bt Shyam Kanchi
Seshadhri (TN) 11-0, 11- Raju (TL) 11-1, 11-1, 11-2. 11-3, 11-5, 11-3. Ashvin
direct qualification 2, 11-0. Ijaz Mohammed
(TN) bt Harsh Joshi
Hriday Rajani (Mah) bt
Vivaan Satwalekar (Tel)
Ganesh (TN) bt Dhairya
Shah (Mah) 2-11, 11-8, 11-
Paris: European champions Italy (Mah) 11-5, 11-2, 11-2. 11-7, 11-5, 11-9. Ekambir 6, 11-4. Shaurya Bawa
missed out on automatic quali- Saharsh Shahra (MP) bt Singh (Mah) bt Hariarun (Del) bt Sandhesh Pr
fication for next year’s World Dharshan (TN) 11-4, 11-3, N (TN) 11-0, 11-3, 11-3. (TN) 11-9, 9-11, 11-6, 12-
Cup after being held to a goal- 11-1. Agastya Bansal Neil Paswan (Mah) bt 10. Adith Achpal (TN) bt
less draw by Northern Ireland in (Mah) bt Athulyan Shravin Jain (TN) 11-3, Abhay S Vasudev (TN)
Belfast on Monday, ceding top Kathiravan (TN) 11-0, 11- 11-2, 11-3. 11-7, 11-4, 11-9. Rohan
spot in Group C to Switzerland 0, 11-3. Aryaman Singh Round of 16: Arihant Ks Arya Gondi (Tel) bt
who beat Bulgaria 4-0. The (Mah) bt Devdarsen (TN) bt P. Meyyappan Dishant Murjani (Raj) 11-
Italians needed to match Va n i t h a t a m i l m o h a n (TN) 11-3, 11-3, 11-0. 4, 11-5, 11-7.
Switzerland’s result to qualify (TN) 11-6, 11-3, 7-11, 9-11, Rahul Sanjay Girls U-13 (Round of 16):
directly but while Roberto 11-8. Vivaan Srivastava Balakrishnan (Kar) bt Vyomika Khandelwal
Mancini’s side could only stut- (Kar) bt Jasper Franklin Lokesh S (TN) 11-9, 9-11, (Mah) bt Saanvi Kalanki
ter to a stalemate, the Swiss (TN) 11-7, 11-3, 11-3. 11-6, 9-11, 11-5. Udit (MP) 11-4, 11-1, 11-0.
went on the rampage in Varun Shah (Mah) bt Mishra (RJ) bt Dheer S a n g a m i t h r a
Lucerne to book their ticket for Rishaan Avinash (TN) Hirani (TN) 11-8, 11-5, 11- Shanmugam (TN) bt
Qatar. There they will find 11-0, 11-3, 11-4. 1. Abhiraj Singh (UP) bt Eesha Shrivastava
England, the team the Italians Lakshmana Harri (TN) Hriday Rajani (Mah) 11-7, (Mah) 10-12, 11-8, 11-6,
beat in the Euro 2020 final in bt Prabhav Pandey (MP) 11-2, 11-4. Ekambir Singh 11-9. Yaavnaa
July, who clinched their qualifi- 11-5, 11-6, 11-1. Shiven (Mah) bt Adeev Devaiah Saravanakumar (TN) bt
cation with a rampant Harry Agarwal (TN) bt Vedant (Kar) 11-6, 11-7, 11-6. Aadya Budhia (JR) 7-11,
Kane bagging four goals in 15 Mehta (TN) 11-0, 11-0, 11- Teerth Jilka (Mah) bt 11-5, 11-8, 11-6. Aarika
minutes in a 10-0 win in San 2. Hridhaan Shah (Mah) Ishaan Kumar Byreddy Mishra (Mah) bt Anika
Marino. — AFP bt Zaad Gani (TN) 11-7, (Kar) 11-1, 11-4, 11-1. Kalanki (MP) 11-1, 11-1, 11-
11-6, 11-1. Darshil Priyaan Thakker (Mah) 4. Diva Shah (Mah) bt
Regd. No. TNENG/2010/35692 Parasrampuria (TN) bt bt Neil Paswan (Mah) 11- Diva Parasrampuria
Sherbir Singh Poonia 6, 11-3, 11-3. (TN) 11-3, 13-11, 11-7.
Printed & Published by K. Sudhakar on (MP) 11-2, 11-2, 11-1. Boys U-17 (Round of Aishni Pathak (MP) bt
behalf of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited Boys U-15 (round of 16): Krishna Mishra (MP) Harshini Sri S (TN) 12-
and Printed at Deccan Chronicle Presses 32): Meyyappan P (TN) bt Rajasmin Sharma 10, 11-6, 11-5. Kriya
situated at SP 3, Developed Plot,
Industrial Estate, bt Ayush Verma (Mah) (UP) 11-6, 11-2, 11-5. L. Saravanan (TN) bt
Guindy, Chennai - 600 032. 11-8, 9-11, 11-9, 11-9. S. Meyyappan (TN) bt Drishti Pawar (Mah) 11-
RNI Registration No: TN ENG/2005/14987 Lokesh (TN) bt J. Dhruv Jaitly, (UK) 11-2, 5, 11-5, 11-3 Sahana
Ph Nos: 22254747, 22254748, 22254750,
22254751 Advaith (TN) 8-11, 10-12, 11-5, 11-8. Arush Kalaivanan (TN) bt
Editor: KAUSHIK MITTER 11-8, 11-6, 11-3. Dheer Chatterjee (Del) bt Ananya Ganesh (TN) 11-
Hirani (TN) bt Tanush Joseph George (Mah) 1, 11-5, 11-6.