Drivers' unions suspend strike for
15 days after Delhi govt. assurance
Govt. sets up 13-member panel to look into their demands of CNG subsidy and fare revision
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI
Drivers of ride-hailing apps like
Ola and Uber on Wednesday de-
cided to suspend their ongoing
strike for 15 days after the Delhi
government set up a committee
to lookinto their concerns.
Sarvodaya Drivers' Associa-
tion of Delhi president Kamal-
jeet Singh Gill said, "We have
been assured by the government
· that our concerns will be looked
into, so we have decided to sus-
pend the strike till the time the
committee submits its report:•
Futurecourseofaction
"We will decide on futllre
course of action after the panel
submits its report in 15 days," he
said.
The government said that it
had set up a 13-member com-
mittee to look into fare revision
of autorickshaws .and taxis in
The government has assured to come up with an amicable solution
for drivers, owners and commuters. FILE PHOTO: susH1L KUMAR VERMA
the capital in the wake of rising
fuel and CNG prices which have
led to hardships for drivers and
owners of such vehicles.
The government said it had
received several repr~senta-
tions from auto and taxi unions
putting forth various demands
such as increasing fares and
subsidy on CNG.
The committee, following
is headed by the Special Com-
missioner among other senior
Transport Deparnnent officials
along with twQ nominated Dis-
trict Transport Officers and a
technical expert.
1n addition to this, members
of civil society, including repre-
sentatives from Residents' Wel-
fare Associations, commuters
and students are also part of the
panel.
Delhi currently has close to
97,000 autos, including newly
registered e-autos, 12,000 yel-
these consultations, was noti- low-black taxis, and 50,000
fied on Wednesday, under Sec- economy radio taxis.
tion 67 (1) of the Motor Vehicle · "The committee has been for·
Act, 1988, which gives the State mulated and directions have al-
government the power to i~sue ready been issued to provide a
directions to both - State Tran- report as early as possible. I as-
sport Authority and Regional sure you that we will come up
Transport Authorities - by noti- with a solution that is amicable
fication in the official gazette to drivers, owners and commu-
from time to time. ters alike," Transport Minister
The Fare Revision Committee Kailash Gahlot said.
 . Spell out stand on vow
I. to implement climate
• change: HC tells Centre
India urged to set
up panel to detail
roadmap for
achieving targets
STAFF-REPORTER
NEW DELHI
The Delhi High Court on
Wednesday asked the
Centre to respond ~o· a pu-
blic interest litigation_(PIL) ay R.; stated that these com-
seeking the constitution of
an expert committee to be
tasked with laying out a
rdadmap for achieving the
commitments made by India
at the United Nations Frame- . their practices, arid, make
work Convention on Climate
\
Additional Solicitor Gen-
eral Chetan Sharma, appear-
ing for the Centre, said that
the Centre ·has already set
up several committees, such
as the Prime Minister's
Council on Cliniate Change,
which is focusing on meet-
ing the intematiorial obliga-
tions.
Mr. Madan, in his petition
filed through advocate Aksh-
mitments involve a shift to
renewable and green energy
· from current coal-based
energy. He said all business-
es in India will have to ,adjust
necessary changes anticipat-
ing the shift. ·

Change (UNFCCC) in 2021.

A Bench of acting Chief
Justice Vipin Sangh,i and Jus- Power gen~ration data
tice Navin Chawla gave the He saig a perusal of the pow-
direction on a plea by advo- er generatiorl data as on Ja-
:- cate Rohit Madan who stated nuary 2019 reveals that fos-
that India had made certain sil-based energy generation
commitments · before the constitutes close to 2/3rd of
UNFCCC to · reduce carbon India's power needs. He ar-
., footprint. gued that the data of the
"These targets include . past seven decades shows
lon:g~term, mid-term, and that the executive has been
short-term targets. These lackadaisical in adapting to
pledges form part of and are this shift. ·
in pursuance of the Paris "Time and again, it. has
Agreement to which India·is . been proven-that unless the
also a signatory. The goal of Courts step in, there can be
1

the Paris Agreement is to re- ·no scope for alleviating pol-

duce the rise.in global aver- lution and reducing carbon
age temperature to below 1.5 footprint-at all.stakeholqers'
degree Celsius above pre-in- level including industries, .
dustrial levels," Mr. Madan railways, government, citi-
said. - . zens, etc.," the plea said.
'Sea may inundate many cities by 2050'
Population,
infrastructure and
property to be
affected: study
DHINESH KALLUNGAL
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
As per a study by RMSI, a
Noida-based IT consulting
firm, on Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) reports for key coastal
cities, due to the rising sea
levels by 2050, a significant
number of population, pro-
perty, and infrastructure in
Koehl and Thiruvananthapu-
ram along with four other cl·
ties - Mumbai, Chennai, Vi-
zag, Mangaluru - will be
under water.
The IPCC assessment re-
port indicates that India's
sea level will rise significant-
ly by 2050. Sea-level rise in
the North Indian Ocean
&
Chellanam village near Kochi has been facing recurring sea incursion.
(NIO) occurred at a rate of
1.06-1.75 mm per year from
1874 to 2004 and has acceler-
ated to 3.3 mm per year in
the past two-and-a-half de-
cades (1993-2017).
RMSI used its coastal flood
modelling capabilities to
map the cities' inundation
(submergence) levels based
on various sea-level rise fore-
cast studies.
Based on inundation, it
conducted an analysis to
identify the number of build-
ings and key infrastructure
that could be potentially sub-
merged in each of these
cities.
As per the analysis, 464
FILE PHOTO
buildings will be affected by
the potential sea-level rise in
Koehl. Taking into considera-
tion sea-level rise and high
tide, 1,502 buildings are like-
ly to be inundated. . duced by cyclones, the area
These buildings are most-
ly residential (91%), commer-
cial (6%), and around 2% in-
dustrial and port and ferry
terminal buildings.
As per the two scenarios
of potentially new coastline
and coastline along with the
high tide, 10 km and 53 km of
road length will be impacted
respectively.
In Thiruvananthapuram,
due to the potential new
coastline and coastline with
high tide, 349 and 387 build-
ings respectively are likely to
be impacted.
The stretch along the Star
road, . airport-Valiyathura
road, Lana road, and Kova-
lam Beach road will be sub-
merged by the potential sea-
level rise.
"This is a scenario we
have mapped during the nor-
mal and high tide times. If
there is a storm surge in-
of inundation will be much
higher," says PushpendraJo-
hari, Senior Vice President ·
Sustainability, RMSI.
Buildings can oe -~ollstructed
_in Mars with 'spa.Ce:brtcks'
.Researchers develop a way to make bricks from Martian soil
' .
\ .
\

SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT . as cement holding the soil

BENG'ALURU
particles together," ,stated
Researchers from the Indian the release. .
Space R~search Org~sa:- This methqd ensures that
tion OSRO) and the 'Indian . the bricks are -less porous,
Institute of Scie~ce OISc) . ,· which was a problem· with
have · developed a way to -other methods used to make
make bricks _from Martian The 'space bricks' developed Martian bricks. "The bacte-
soil with the help of bacteria by researchers from:ISRO · . · ria seep deep into the pore
and urea. These 'space and IISc;. spaces, using their own pro-
bricks' can be used to con- . teins to bind the particles to-
struct building-like struc- . .
a bacteriwn called'
-
Sporosar- , gether, decreasing porosity
tures on Mars ,t h.a t coul~ fa- dna pasteurii, m¢a ·and and leading to stronger
cilitate human settlement on nickel chlonde'(NiCii).- "This bricks;' said Aloke Kumar,
- the·red planet, the IISc said ' slurry c~ be poµ_r~d into . associate professor, Depart-
in a press release. moulds of ~y <,:desired ment of Mechanical Engi~
Their research was pu- shape, and over a few days neering at IISc, and one of
blished in the peer-reviewed the bacteria convert the the senior authors of the
open access scientific jour- urea into crystals of calcium paper.
nal, PLOSOne. The team first carbonate. These crystals,. In the past, the team had
made the slurry by mixing along with biopolymers se- made bricks out of lunar soil
Martian soil with guar gum~ creted by the microbes, act using a similar method.
1
 Unfounded apprehensions about this Act
In the Cru:runaI Procedure (Identification) Act, data collection does not seem disproportionate with the Act's objectives
tion cif modem fuchniques ofiden·
tification such as an iris and retina
scan. Thus, _the' Act does not em·
power the enfdrcemei:it agencies
· additio~ally b'u( on!)'. explicitly
provides for (Vl!flo~ measure·
R.K.VU
ments and incl!l{les the use of the
ishable with imprisonment 'up to
seven years, but the Act also
makes a non-obligatory provision
for giving biological samples in
such cases. Thus, by expanding
o the scope of measurements, no
l:i harm is likely to be done tci ;m indi·
The measurements shall be taken
'if so required' and as may be pre-
scribed by governments. The pur·
pose is to help the enforcement
agencies in the prevention and the
detection of crime. "nte NCRB will
,store, process, and preserve wha-

he Criminal Procedure (Iden-

latest scientifii;tedmiqiles.
The old codi, -the Code of Cri· I viduals' privacy;'. Measurements
per se,_do not reveal any inculpatO;-
tever data is collected by the States
.JidUnion Territories. The Crime
T tification) Bill, 2022 (now
Act), that received the Presi•
dent's assent on April 18 and 'shall ·
minal Procedure, 1898, did not
have the provisi1,n of medical ex·
arnination of th$;iccused. "nte Law
Commission, .in its 41st Report
..,

t;
' ry infohnation. ; . f.,
The.provision.fqr persons or·
dered to give sej!llrity for good be-
haviour or maintaining peace, the
and Criminal Tracking Network &
Systems· (CCTNS) data have only
lielped I· enforcement agencies
•across Statd.ip matching missing
come into force on the day of such (1969), considered the necessity of " provision regar~ re~ or re· persons with ,f0und persons and
notification', has raised eyebrows. physical ~ t i o n of the arrest· · tests"_in Explanation of Section 53 sistance to allow taking~of,_.mea· unidentifiecf',.,~es, matching
The Act authorises the police and ed person for an effective investi• of the CTPC. The ' Court also laid surements, and the provisi~n re- lost/stolen · -mobile phones and
prison authorities to take 'mea• gation, without offending Article down certain guidelines for these Iatirig to the power of' (he ' vehicles•w:fth'thT.covered_ones,
surements' of convicts and others 20(3) of the Constitution. The re- tests. . magistrate to direct a person to tracking habitual criminals and in·
for the purpose of identification commendation was included in Since the Act does not lay down give measurements for the pur· ter·State gangs, etc.
and investigation in criminal mat· the CrPC (of 1973), as Section 53. any specific scientific tests for the pose·of any investigation, remain . The bJoio~ ~pie of an ac·
ters and to preserve records. The Later, an amendment was made in analysis of biological -samples or the same as provided for in the cused persof is cequired during
allegation is that the Act is uncon· the CrPC (with effect from June 23, otherwise, taking any sample or lPA. investigation (cj, (t,mparison with
stitutional and may be subject to· 2006) and an Explanation of 'ex· measurements for the sake of seized body ff~,.;~ d blood from
misuse. The Act seeks to repeal arnination' was added to Section identification . or comparison . Records ofjuveniles the scene of a'ime,to.establish Jin.
the Identification of Prisoners Act 53 to provide legal backing to ma· would not automatically violate Though the Act does not explicitly kage. Signa • Wbandwriting 1
(IPA) of 1920, whose scope was Ii· terials/biological samples on any constitutional. provision. The bar taking measurements of juye- specimens are • • for compari·
mited to recording measurements . which the medical examination validity of any new scientific tech· · niles, the proyisions of the {Special. , son with thosit . · uted or
which include lii:iger impressions could be conducted. Similarly, nique, to be applied in future, Act) Juvenile Justice Act, 2015 re- '1 ,forged documen~ ly, since
and footprint impressions of cer· Section 311A was added to facili· would need to be tested on the garding destructipn of ~rds qft'.:-1 ifi.ngerprints are M• • in nature,
tain convicts and · non-convict tate providing a specimen signa· touchstone of pennissible restric· conviction under the Act, shall ap- latent chance finger impressions
persons. ture or handwriting during tions on fundamental rights. ply. Since no disqualification can' lifted from the scene· of crime are
investigation. The lPA includes three catego· be attached to a conviction of an admitted as clinching evidence in
Broader scope ries of persons, namely, 'convicts offence by a juvenile, no measure- . 'a court of law to establish the pre-
While the scope of the 'measure· A settled consdtutionality of any offence punishable with ri· ment (if taken) can be used for any sence of the accused. Access to
ments' in the IPA was limited, the As early as 1961, the Supreme gorous imprisonment for a term of future reference. The legislature biometrics collected by the Un· .
Act now includes physical mea· Court of India in State of Bombay one year or upwards or of any of· has purposefully avoided the-word; ique Identification Authority ·of In·
surements such as finger impres· vs Kathi Kalu held that the person fence which would render him lia· "arrest" in the entire Juvehil~ ius-., dia (UIDAI) has been refused to en·
sions, palm prints, footprint im· in custody giving his specimen ble to enhanced punishment on a tice Act. A first information report ' . forcement agencies on the pretext
pressions, photographs, iris and handwriting or signature or im· subsequent conviction; persons . is to be written only in_heinous ~de 'technology issues' and strict
retina scans; biological samples pression of his thumb, finger, palm ordered to _give security for their ~ase~ (offences PUD!.5!J,abl~ . ~th provisions of the concerning law.
and their analysis; and behaviou· or foot, to the investigating officer, good behaviour; and persons ar· unpnsonment forti'e_ven years or The matter is pending with the
ral attributes including signatµres, cannot be included in the expres· rested in connection with an of· more)._In ~l ci~ :~~s,' delin• Delhi High Court and the Supreme
handwriting; or any other exami· sion "to be a witness" under Arti· fence punishable with rigorous im· quent Juvemles ~e-produced be- Court.
nation referred to in Sections 53 or des 20(3) of the Constitution. Si· prisonment for a term of one year fore the Juv11l)ile Justice Board .'.
53A of the Code of Criminal Proce· milarly, in a catena of cases, it has or upwards'. along with a gen!!ral daily diary re- Better technology cuts errors
dure (CrPC), 1973. ' been held that taking a blood sam· port and sociaJ_1background re· 'ri'lrhe objective of the Act is to facil·
The CrPC provides for 'exami· pie for the purpose of a DNA test, No harm is likely port. The power to apprehend is . jWe identification and investiga·
nation' (of the accused by a medi· taking a .hair s;unple or voice sam· · T,he Act has done away with any to_be exercised only regarclJ.ng hei• "non in criminal matters. Enforce-
cal ,practitioner) which includes pie will not amount to compelling such limitation for convicts and ar· nous. offence, un),ess'. it'is, in tiie l'l!eiit agencies must be allowed to I
examination of blood, semen, an accused to become a witness rested persons. However, it is im· best mterest ~f th~ chi)cj. . kii.).i: ,t ',.!,ise.scientific methods to prevent
swabs (in the case of sexual offenc· against himself, as such samples portant to note that most offences However, it. \Yl?µl!l-~bave . ~ :jl,ana detect crime. A number of
es), sputum and sweat, hair sam· by themselves are innocuous and punishable with imprisonment up pruden~ to a?d a pry'<isl,~,'\-IDit\le ·, analytical tools can be applied no-
pies and fingernail clippings using do not convey information within to one year are non•cognisable. Act for JUVemles fQ,r,~ ty;~~~: .wadays to the database of mea·
modern and scientific techniques personal knowledge of the ac· Otherwise too, for example, in a lay and dor?ts~~w. O
'l surements to do predictive polie·
including DNA profiling and other cused. Thus, the constitutionality simple cognisable offence (though recor s Ju~ , .Ing (which is very common in
necessary tests which could pro· of collecting biological ~amples or punishable with simple imprisc,n• to be erase • e,F';-\od,of storage developed countries). The use of ,
vide evidence as to the commis· other measurements for facilitat· ment up to only one month or of measureme~,~f. adults could · better technology will only help in
sion of an offence. Similarly, Sec· ing investigation, has been settled fine) of a chakka;jam (which gener· have bee\CO\}~~tly reduced ,' minimising the probability of er·
ally take place during political and by 10 ye~ ' qu; probability -o f rors. The right of an individual will
tion 311A of the,CrPC empowers a since l01~g. "· .
magistrate to direct. any person . The only ~:i,tlons are, scien• other protests), though arrest may ~m~tu~1"~e by any,pel'SOQ q:msidered in the back·
become necessary to clear the er e :'3:-:P y.ears Is neglqp• 0 ~ ground of the interests of s · t
untlU:dlng .a n accused person) ·to
""'""~·~ u..;. ~ -ol. -.s.'l."':f ~ -
vestigation or proceedings.
tlftc technl<lu~~~ely narcoana·
.~~•'\i&natuiem:hand• .. ,1,._..~;&<,1yl!1 •n'c-(br"lf\ flncer•
prl,.o~Y{l"ll lhe &~•me C b urt
Toad,and pr,event a condnulns of·
, re n~ i • rio btologtc!al . samples tlsti't:.s pUbltahed by the , Nadon.-J,. tb.roUS"b
in Se/vi vs State.pf Kamataka (2010) would be required normally to fa. Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) victs and others does not appear
~·--~"!.~~
ble. 'J_'he C,;lme.1!1 /(ld'4 ~ ..I020 s111,, , The data prC>J>OSed '°;,,,, .,~e y.
..
It is evident that the apparently held to '.p~ testimonial compul· cilitate investigation. Only physi· shows that the number of arrested to be disproportionate with the
enlarged scope of 'measurements'. s/ons (if .condm;ted wfthbut con· cal measurements would be suffi· persons qver 60 years of age is less stated objectives of the .Act.
in the Act is nothing but a merger sent), and thus prohiblt1!a under dent to recor~ ·ldeptlty. Further, than 1.5')(,.
of the scope of 'measurements' in Article 20(3) of the Cppsdtution·. ' nQt only h;is ~e amended Section The Act does not mandate the R.K. Vi} is a fonner Special DGP of

highlighted above, with the addi· s c.:~1f

the IPA and provisions of the CrPC Thlj!le,Wsts do not fall'under t1w · 41(1) of the CrPO put limitations on compulsory recording of all mea· Chhattisgarh. The views expressed
expressi9n "such other, arrest -In cognlsable offences pun· surenients fo11 all types of offences. are personal

m, ......... 11 • iv~,.....
1
• 1' 1 .1 .. rr 1 1 • ___ _
···. Nirmala Sitharaman has urged
IMF to assist Sri Lanka: Centre
Colombo seeks a $4-billion bailout package for this year from the IMF
sRJRAMLAKSHMAN
WASHINGTON DC
Finance Minister Nirmala
Sitharaman has urged the In-
ternational Monetary Fund
(IMF) to provide Sri Lanka
with assistance, according to
the Union government. Co-
lombo, which is in the throes
of an unprecedented eco-
nomic crisis, and announced
that it would default on fo-
reign debt repayments, to-
tallirtg $51 billion, is seeking
a $4-billion bailout package
for this year from the IMF.
Ms. Sitharaman "indicat-
ed that [the] IMF should sup-
port and urgently provide fi-
nancial assistance to Sri
Lanka;' said a Finance Minis-
try readout of the meeting
If-
Financial throes: Nirmala Sitharaman with RBI Governor
Shaktikanta Das at a G20 meeting, in Washington D.C.
between the Minister and
IMF Managing Director Kri-
salina Georgieva .
"The Managing Director
assured the Finance Minister
that the IMF would continue
PT1
to actively engage with Sri
Lanka," the readout said.
The Hindu has reached out
to the IMF Jor a readout of
the meeting.
During the meeting, the
sides discussed India's eco-
nomic performance and
prospects as well as issues of
importance to India, the rea-
dout said. Ms. Sitharaman's
delegation included Chief
Economic Adviser Anantha
Nageswaran~
On Monday, the Minister
held a bilateral meeting with
her Sri Lankan counterpart
Ali Sabry, to discuss ihe eco-
nomic situation in Sri Lanka,
the Finance Ministry said on
Twitter.
Ms. Sitharaman "assured
Sri Lanka that as a close
friend and good neighbour,
India will try to extend all
possible cooperation and as-
sistance" to the country, the
Ministry said.
 PM launches new plans
in Gujarat's tribal areas
· · Among them is an electric locomotiv:e manufacturing unit
MAHESHLANGA
AHMEDABAD
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Wednesday inaugu-
rated projects estimated at
over ?20,000 crore, includ-
ing a locomotive manufac-
turing unit, in Gujarat's tri-
bal belt of Dahod and
Pancmnahal.
He laid the foundation
stone for a project to manu-
facture 9,000-HP electric lo-
comotives in Dahod clistriµ.
He said it was his dream to
make the district an impor-
tant centre for "Make in
India".
He addressed a huge gath-
erlng of tribal people in cen-
\ ttal ~ uiarat, ahead of the As-
··-. se"U:\.b\":f slat.ed for lat.e'r
4
··= t\lis year. " ~- ~- •.,,,._~-.. .. · ~
f "Projects worth more
! than t22,000 crore for Da-
! hod and Panchmahal have
"It was my dream after
becoming Prime Minister to
see Dahod get such an im-
portant project;' he said.
According to the details
shared by the Railways, the
refurbished workshop
would manufacture broad
gauge electric locomotives
for Indian Railways and stan-
dard gauge electric locomo-
tives (or the export market.
Mr. Modi reminded his au-
been inaugurated today..One dience that tribes from cen-
of them is a·scheme related) tral Gujarat fought colonial
to drinking water. There are rulers during the ·British
many projects · related · to rule. He said new science
making paho_ q a Smari:"city. -. and·medical colleges would
jY, ...
Dahod is 'iiow 'g oing to be- · be set up in tribal districts so
a
come ~igien~e for 'Make -fb~t tosaI bo)1 ~ -d giJls
~ 1:Ddia' :' he:sai4•
1
.'-' , could study science and
• '. T~g1Woutthe l?CQtnbi nted:icine •·• ·
' unit, he said ~~"."~plo.:--.: - He •also narrated Storks /
nial:era, ste~ lo~t>mpt\ves . from his early life and men- \
workshop would now be an. tioned how his work in tribal '.
impetus for •~ e In India'. ", districts influenced him. ·
,I .
 .Amid _case spil<e, masl~
mandate bacl< in Delhi
COVID-19 tally in capital rises from 632 to 1,009 in 24 hours
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI .
Tqe Delhi Disaster Manage-
ment Authority (DDMA) on
Wednesday decided to rein-
state the f500 fine for not
wearing masks, and aggres-
sively pursue vaccination
and $e enforcement of CO-
VID-appropriate behaviour
amid a fresh surge in virus
cases in the national capital.
The DDMA, however, de-
cided that city schools
would not be shut just yet
but specific protocol would
be evolved to hip any possi-
ble surge in COVID-19 cases
among students.
At 1,00S, the city's tally of
new COVID-19 cases almost
doubled from 632 a day earl.
, . lier with the total positivity
rate rising to • ,5.7% from
4.4i% on Wednesday.
Earlier, the DDMA, at a
meeting chaired by Lieute-
nant-Governor Anil Baijal
and with Chief Minister Ar-
1
vind Kejriwal in attendance,
(:t: .i~ ~-., ' ),~_,,. ·,._;j,
~t: . , '\-, ,.,
r ··~..:· ., .. . .
-~· .tl1 " ' .. . .
' 'I)'
'~ '
~'; , .. '
, ., ..
. .
' _
·~ '. . requisite details about the·rise
' lf/:'\
People crowdin9 at a market
in Delhi on W~dnesday.
SUSHIL KUMA~ VERMA
expressed concern over the
rising number of cases and
noted that novel' coronavirus
B.1.10 and B.1.12 vari~ts
were ~'more transmissible"~
Close watch
The DDMA issued directions
' to keep a close watch on hos-
pitalisation trends for the
next fortnight, increase test-
ing and aqministering vac-
,cjne doses to those eligible
especially if they suff~red
Situation under control:
Maharashtra Minister
i, PUNE, ,
Following a nominal rise in
'
number of COVID-19 cases in ·
' . Maharashtra, Health Ministe_ r
' .- ..
~~-~-- Rajesh Tope on Wednesday
-:
'
. ;, \- ,.· ,.
said there was no cause for
... " ,: ~ \,·· -,·:
panic. "I have taken all ·,
in-cases ...There is nothing ·_
serious about this nominal rise
which is mainly in Mumbai
city," he said,adding the
situation is under control.
:: :::: :: : : :: ::: : : : : :::: : :: : : :: : ::: : : : : :: : : : : : : ::
from comorbid conditiQns.
· Both the Lieutenant-Go-
vernor and the Chief Minis-
ter were, according to sourc-
es monitoring the situation
'
personally.
' '
According to submissions
made to the DDMA -during
the meeting, . COVID-19
claimed 214 lives between
February 4 and April 18; on-
ly 13 deaths had been re-
corded between January 13
and February 3.
 .
Restructure
debt, IMF tells
Colombo
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
COLOMBO

The International Mone-

tary Fund said on Wednes-
day that it has asked cash-
strapped Sri Lap.ka to "res-
tructure" its huge foreign
debt before a bailout pro-
gramme could be finalised.
Sri Lanka opened talks
with the IMF ·in Washing-
ton this week after an-
nouncing its first ever de-
f~ult on -external
borrowings.
"When . the IMF deter-
mines that a country's debt
is not sustainable, the
country needs to take steps
to restore debt sustainabili-
ty prior to IMF lending,"
the Fund's country direc-
tor Masahiro Nozaki said in
a . statement.!'Approval of
an IMF-supported program
for Sri Lanka would re-
quire adequate ·assurances
that debt sustainability will
be restored."
The IMF said talks with
Sri Lanka were still at an
"early stage," but it was
t "very concerned" about
the economic situation and
the hardships suffered by
people; especially the poor
and vulnerable.
Earlier this year, the IMF
warnF.d Sri Lanka's approx- .
n imat~ly $51 billion foreign
debt was unsustainable.
 HDFC to sell 10% of
HDFC Capital to ADIA
Abu Dhabi fund to invest t184 crore
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
MUMBAI

HDFC Ltd. has agreed to sell

10% of wholly owned subsi-
diary HDFC Capital Advisors
Ltd. to an arm of the Abu
Dhabi -Investtnent Authority
(ADIA) for about ?184 crore.
ADIA ls also the primary
investor in the alternative
investmen~ funds managed
by HDFC Capital. Deepak Parekh
. HDFC Capital is in discus-
j . sions with global investors the supply of . affordable
i to raise additional·funds to homes, said Deepak Parekh,
: be invested in development; chairman, HDFC Ltd.
of ·affordable and mid-in- "'supported by marquee
come housing projects in In- global investors like ·ADIA,
dia, the parent firm said. the funds managed by HDFC
"Six years ago, we set up Capital have grown to create
HDFC Capital with a vision one of the world's largest
of progressing in sync with private financing platforms
the government's 'Housing for the development of af-
For All' goal by increasing fordable housing/, he said.
, C Govt."'a men~"-.•
rules for Nidhl
companies
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
NEW DELHI
To protect the int~i;ests of
the public and prevent po-
tential ·illegal fundraising
activities, the Centre has
amended the rules govern-
ing Nicllii ·companies.
Now, public companies
seeking to function as Nid-
his must obtain prior de-
claration from the central
gpvernment before accept-
ing deposits, the Ministry
said on Wednesday.
The move by the Corpo-
rate Affairs Ministry came
against the backdrop of a
significant rise in the num-
ber of Nidhi firms in recent
years and instances of the • chinery sector ·has been
public getting duped by
fraudulent activities.
: : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : : ; ; ; : : : : '. .. -I •..• .
¾;~siiia11 gear' deffiand ·rtse.-
marks shift in farming
. . . \
Industry growing.at 30-40%: ·ch~rukara
· MINI TEJASWI
BENGALURU
While India's tractor.indus-
try has contracted between
.August 2021 and March
2022, the small-farm me-
chanisation industry has
continued to witness a dou-
ble-digit growth indicating
a
hyper action in small-scale
farming and -changing dy-
namics in the agriculture two years," he added.
sector, said Antony Cheruk- "What 'it reflects is the
ara, €E0 of VST Tillers Trac- ~anging dynamics in fann·
tors Ltd. · mg," he said. "Those with
"The tractor industry has small fatmland holdings
de-grown from last August have started mechanising
to February and March this ~d small farmers have real·
year, but the small farm ma- ised ~at tractors are not so·
growing rapidly in 30% to metmng profitable and they
are -.. . . . Ullo towards sm all
far shi~--
40% range CAGR in the last
m machinery."
 ,
Procurement ,

Canad·a fund t o invest .-

t . + "'II! •.' .,, '"",,A..-1

Oil production
of wheat said . ,

todrop32% $175 mn in KKR platform declined

2.7%inFY22
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA KKR's India road portfolio has 12 assets
NEW DELHI PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
SPECIAL 'CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI
The Centre's wheat pro- MUMBAI {:) Platform includes
curement declined 32% to Investment firm KKR and a diversified mix of India's crude oil produc-
69.24 lakh tonnes till April Ontario Teachers' Pension toll and annuity tion fell 2.67% in the fiscal
17 of the current rabi mar- . Plan Board have signed .roads year ended March 31, as
keting year.as private firms agreements under which roads, with a total length of state-owned ONGC pro-
were buying grains aggres- Ontario Teachers' will in- · more than 910 km across 11 duced less than the target;
sively for exports, accord- vest up to $175 million in States, including Chhattis- however, natural gas out-
- ing to official sources. . KKR's road ·platform' in In- garh, Gujarat, Karnataka, put rose aided by KG pro-
· As per the ·official data, di~ that includes Highway Madhya Pradesh, M;aharash- duction by Reliance-BP.
about 69.24 lakh tonnes of Concessions One, KKR said. tra, Meglialaya, Odisha, Ra- Crude oil production at
wheat had been purchased The road platfonri com- . jasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telan- 29.69 million tonnes in
by government agencies till prises a portfolio of 12 road· 2021-22 was 2.63% lower
April 17 of the ongoing gana, and·West Bengal. than the 30.5 million
assets, including six that are
· 2022-23 rabi marketing sea- "The platform possesses . tonnes output a year ear-
proposed to be acquired
son (RMS) as against 102 significant . potential to lier and 11.7% below the
pursuant to definitive agr,ee-
lakh tonnes in the year-ear- scale, with plans in place to target of 33.61 million
. ments that have been
lier period. signed, it said. . acquire more assets in the tonnes, according to offi-
The country is estimated . future," it said. The transac- cial data by the Oil Minis-
to liave exported more Across 11 States tion is expected to be ·com-
try. Natural gas output, ho-
than seven million tonnes pleted in Q3 2022, subject to
This includes a diversified wever, rose 18.7% to 34
of wheat in the FY22 fiscal. mix of toll and annuity regulatory approvals and
closing conditions. billion cubic meters in the
fiscal year.
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