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KOCHI
CITY EDITION Regd. KL/EKM/331/2012-14
18 Pages ₹ 8.00 RNI No. KERENG/2000/49938

Vol. 25 앫 No. 155

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CM J KI-KIE
YK
 THE HINDU Saturday, June 29, 2024
J2 Kochi

CM J KI-KIE
YK
 SATURDAY
June 29, 2024
KOCHI
CITY EDITION
18 Pages ₹ 8.00
Printed at » Chennai » Coimbatore
AMID FIASCO
NTA announces fresh
dates for three exams
NEWS » PAGE 8
NEARBY
쑽 Roof collapse at Delhi Soren freed from jail as HC grants bail
Ruling, Oppn.
fronts spar over
‘cyber armies’
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
The Opposition and treasury
benches in the Assembly
engaged in a heated debate on
Friday over using party ‘cyber
armies’ for propaganda and
disinformation.» Page4
Four-year UG
programmes
from July 1
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
July 1 will mark a significant
stride in Kerala’s higher
education landscape as the
State initiates its
much-anticipated four-year
undergraduate (UG)
programmes across all
universities.» Page 4
PROPERTYPLUS » PAGE 2
CPI(M) to be named accused
in Karuvannur bank case
The Hindu Bureau
KOCHI
The CPI(M) will be ar-
raigned as an accused in
the Karuvannur Service
Cooperative Bank loan
fraud case, which is being
probed by the Directorate
of Enforcement (ED).
The investigation agen-
cy on Friday provisionally
attached a 10-cent holding
at Porathussery which was
purchased in the name of
M.M. Varghese, Thrissur
district secretary of the
party, and cash deposits to
the tune of ₹60 lakh in
eight bank accounts as a
prelude to the process.
The ED provisionally at-
tached the properties of
the accused, believed to
have been procured using
the proceeds of crime.
The CPI(M) will be listed
Cancer drugs to be sold at cheaper
rates through Karunya stores
The Hindu Bureau
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
The State government has
announced a key interven-
tion in the pharma market
to make expensive cancer
drugs and immunosup-
pressant drugs available at
zero-profit price to con-
sumers, to bring down the
out-of-pocket expenditure
on health in the State.
Kerala has the highest
per capita out-of-pocket
expenditure on health in
the country at ₹7,206, ac-
cording to the last National
Health Accounts (2019-20).
The State intends to
make available 800 drugs,
including cancer drugs and
immunosuppressants, at
the original prices fixed by
drug firms. The medicines
CM
YK
» Bengaluru » Hyderabad » Madurai
EXCLUSIVE
‘PM yet to
come to
terms with
poll results’
EDITORIAL » PAGE 6
airport claims one life
Canopy over Terminal 1’s forecourt falls on cars; six persons injured in
incident; several flights cancelled; police file case for criminal negligence
Jagriti Chandra
Samridhi Tewari
NEW DELHI
ne person was
O killed and six were
injured when the
canopy over the forecourt
at Terminal 1 of the Indira
Gandhi International Air-
port collapsed on cars fol-
lowing heavy rain in New
Delhi on Friday. At least
four cars were damaged.
Flights arriving and depart-
ing from the terminal were
cancelled and the police
registered a case of crimi-
nal negligence.
The deceased was a cab
driver, the police said. The
airport is operated by a
GMR Group-led consorti-
um.
As per the India Meteor-
ological Department
(IMD), parts of Delhi near
the airport recorded a mas-
sive 228.1 mm of rainfall in
as an accused in the case
records when the final
complaint is filed in the
Special Court probing the
case, sources said.
Incidentally, it is for the
first time in the State that a
political party would be
made an accused in a mo-
ney-laundering case. Ear-
lier, the ED had arraigned
the Aam Aadmi Party as an
accused in the Delhi liquor
policy case. The ED argues
that the CPI(M) purchased
the property in Porathus-
sery using the proceeds of
the money laundering car-
ried out by the accused in
the Karuvannur case.
The prosecution case is
that the accused, in conni-
vance with bank officials,
siphoned off the money of
depositors by generating
fake loans from the bank.
Several bogus loans
would be purchased in bulk
by the Kerala Medical Ser-
vices Corporation and sold
through the network of 74
Karunya fair price stores
across the State. These
drugs would be made availa-
ble through special “profit-
free” counters in Karunya
shops.
The new initiative is ex-
pected to be kicked off in Ju-
ly. Already, some 7,000
drugs are sold at rates much
lower than the market price
through Karunya outlets.
The “profit-free” counters
will be set up in the prime
Karunya outlets in all dis-
tricts. Additional staff would
be deployed to handle the
new counters, Health Minis-
ter Veena George said in a
statement.
The statement said the
» Noida » Visakhapatnam
Crash impact: Vehicles crushed after a portion of the roof at the
Delhi airport’s Terminal-1 collapsed amid heavy rain on Friday. PTI
the previous 24 hours,
making it one of the wet-
test days in June for Delhi.
The Ministry of Civil
Aviation has assigned a
team from the Indian Insti-
tute of Technology-Delhi to
examine the cause of the
collapse, and has also
asked all airports to con-
duct a thorough inspection
of the structural strength
of their buildings within
were sanctioned by the
bank on the same property
multiple times. Benami
loans were also sanctioned
to many who were not
members of the bank and
that too against inflated
property valuations.
The ED had earlier ques-
tioned Mr. Varghese, form-
er Minister A.C. Moideen
and party leaders P.K. Biju
and M.K. Kannan in the
case. It had arrested Sath-
eesh Kumar, a money len-
der; P.P. Kiran, a Thrissur
native; P.R. Aravindaksh-
an, a CPI(M) councillor of
the Wadakkanchery muni-
cipality; and C. K. Jils, an
accountant of the bank,
under the provisions of the
Prevention of Money Laun-
dering Act, 2002 on charg-
es of being the beneficiar-
ies of the illegally
sanctioned loans.
new initiative was part of
the several interventions ta-
ken up by the State govern-
ment to provide affordable
and quality cancer care to
people.
Steps have been taken to
run cancer screening clinics
as well as cancer preventive
clinics at least one day a
week in all hospitals; cancer
treatment facilities have
been augmented at the Re-
gional Cancer Centre and
Malabar Cancer Centre;
plans are afoot to introduce
HPV vaccination against
cervical cancer amongst
Plus One and Plus Two-level
girls and facilities for mam-
mogram, biopsy and pap
smear have been made
available at least in one dis-
trict/taluk hospital in every
district.
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Regd. KL/EKM/331/2012-14
RNI No. KERENG/2000/49938
Vol. 25 앫 No. 155
» Thiruvananthapuram » Kochi » Vijayawada » Mangaluru » Tiruchirapalli » Kolkata » Hubballi » Mohali » Malappuram » Mumbai » Tirupati » Lucknow » Cuttack » Patna
CAPITAL CONUNDRUM
The revival of
the Amaravati
project in A.P.
WAR OF WORDS
Biden, Trump clash in
Resumption of works met
THE COVETED ONE
India and South Africa
with mixed responses
presidential debate eye World Cup glory
WORLD » PAGE 12 GROUND ZERO » PAGE 7 SPORT » PAGE 13
Amit Bhelari
PATNA
The Jharkhand High Court
for bail under the Preven-
tion of Money Laundering
Act. The court had re-
served its order on June 13,
“I am out of jail after five
months. The five months’
time for the people of
Jharkhand and tribals must
granted bail to Jharkhand after hearing arguments be worrying. The entire na-
Mukti Morcha ( JMM) lead- from Mr. Soren’s advocate tion knows for what reason
er and former Chief Minis- and Additional Solicitor- I was sent to jail... I respect
ter Hemant Soren on Fri- General (ASG) S.V. Raju ap- the court, but sometimes it
day in a money laundering pearing for the Enforce- troubles me the way at-
case linked to an alleged ment Directorate (ED). tempts are being made to
land scam. Mr. Soren stepped out of Hemant Soren suppress the voices of pol-
In the court order, Jus- the Birsa Munda Central iticians, writers, journal-
tice Rongon Mukhopad- Jail around 4 p.m. Accom- porters shouting slogans in ists, social workers in a sys-
hyay said that “there is rea-
son to believe that
petitioner is not guilty of
panied by his wife Kalpana
Murmu Soren, he went di-
rectly to the residence of
his support, saying, “Jail ka
tala tut gaya, Hemant So-
ren chut gaya (The jail lock
tematic way,” Mr. Soren
told the media in Ranchi.
the offence as alleged”, his father Shibu Soren, is broken and Hemant So- CONTINUED ON
thus satisfying a condition where he was met by sup- ren is released)”. » PAGE 8
NEET-UG issue sparks Oppn. accuses CPI(M)
two to five days.
As a result of the inci-
uproar in Parliament of links with criminals
dent, IndiGo cancelled 115
flights and SpiceJet can- The Hindu Bureau Speaker Om Birla disal- G. Anand in the Assembly on Friday.
celled eight flights. The air- NEW DELHI lowed adjournment mo- THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Congress legislator Sun-
lines announced free re- tions on the issue. ny Joseph sought leave for
funds for affected The row over alleged irreg- In Rajya Sabha, the Op- A politically fraught dis- an adjournment motion
passengers. ularities in the conduct of position MPs protested for pute over the “symbiotic for an emergency debate
the NEET examination a discussion on the exami- relationship” between the on former DYFI leader Ma-
CONTINUED ON rocked both Houses of Par- nation under Rule 267. CPI(M)’s political elite and nu Thomas’ “disclosure”.
» PAGE 8 liament on Friday, with the predatory criminals in
OPPOSITION SLAMS GOVT. Lok Sabha getting ad- CONTINUED ON Kannur district precipitat- CONTINUED ON
» PAGE 9 journed for the day after » PAGE 8 ed an Opposition walkout » PAGE 4
Governor
constitutes
V-C selection
panels for six
universities
The Hindu Bureau
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
Governor Arif Mohammed
Khan sprung a major sur-
prise on Friday by consti-
tuting search committees
to select Vice-Chancellors
(V-Cs) for six State-run un-
iversities without their
nominees.
Distinguished techno-
crats have been appointed
to the selection commit-
tees, a move likely to esca-
late tensions between the
Governor and the Left De-
mocratic Front (LDF) go-
vernment once again.
Declined to nominate
Despite directives from Mr.
Khan, who serves as Chan-
cellor of the universities,
decision-making bodies of
almost all universities, pre-
dominantly comprising
LDF-backed members, had
declined to nominate their
representatives to the com-
mittees.
Kerala Raj Bhavan is-
sued notifications consti-
tuting the search commit-
tees for Kerala University,
Mahatma Gandhi Universi-
ty (MGU), APJ Abdul Kalam
Technological University
(KTU), Kerala Agricultural
University (KAU), Thun-
chath Ezhuthachan Ma-
layalam University, and
Kerala University of Fisher-
ies and Ocean Studies (Ku-
fos).
S. Somanath, Chairper-
son of the Indian Space Re-
search Organisation, has
been appointed Chancel-
lor’s nominee and conven-
er of the search committee
tasked with selecting the
next V-C of Kerala Universi-
ty.
CONTINUED ON
» PAGE 4
M KI-KIE
 THE HINDU
2 Saturday, June 29, 2024

Kochi Kochi

Sea incursion in Edavanakad: Samithi warns of indefinite Award for

filmmaker
residents observe hartal protest from July 5 The Hindu Bureau
KOCHI

The Hindu Bureau bag seawall set up at a cost Lyricist and filmmaker
People’s collective takes out protest rally, attended by more than 1,000 people, from Kuzhuppilly KOCHI of ₹48 lakh in 2022-23. Sreekumaran Thampi has
to Aniyal; panchayat members and protest committee leaders hold talks with District Collector Since then, the marauding been selected for the Le-
Theera Samrakshana Sa- The district waves had hurled the geo- gend Honour instituted by
mithi, a collective of resi- administration could textile bags into nearby wa- the Malayalam Cine Tech-
The Hindu Bureau waves while the remaining dents of Edavanakad, has only offer temporary terbodies, where they re- nicians’ Association.
KOCHI stretch has been left un- served an ultimatum to the mained deposited, he said. The award carries a
solutions like a
maintained, seriously af- authorities demanding a purse of ₹1 lakh, citation,
geotextile bag-based

A
hartal called by a fecting the mobility of the lasting solution to their Tetrapods, breakwaters and plaque. It is given to le-
people’s collective people,” said Jithin M.D., a woes caused by invading ti- seawall and widening “We have demanded tetra- gendary personalities in ci-
in Edavanakad pan- fisherman. dal waves, failing which and deepening of canals pods and breakwaters nema every three years.
chayat in Ernakulam on He also demanded that they have threatened to for water to drain out along the coast using the The award will be pre-
Friday against the misery widespread damage to live- embark on a more intensi- V.K. IQBAL allocation. But we were sented to Mr. Thampi at a
spawned by heavy sea in- lihood such as shrimp fied and indefinite protest Panchayat vice president told that making tetrapods function to be held in Ko-
cursion was complete, farming caused by the in- from July 5. would take time. Our de- chi in September.
with shops remaining shut, vading waves be properly The decision was taken a permanent solution to mand to at least maintain
vehicles off the road, block- compensated. As many as after a meeting of pan- the problem that had wor- the existing seawall was al-
ades on the stretch of the 12 fishing vessels, account- chayat officials led by pre- sened over the last couple so turned down citing
State Highway passing
through the coastal pan-
ing for nearly 50 fishing
workers each, remained
sident Aseena Abdul Salam
and Samithi chairman Su-
of days following which the
Samithi blocked the State
shortage of granite,” he
added. Office-bearers
chayat and fishing boats off
the waters.
For coastal protection: People block the Vypeen-Munambam
Road near Nayarambalam protesting against sea incursion in the
tethered to the shore on
Friday in a show of solidar-
nil Kumar K.R. with Dis-
trict Collector N.S.K.
Highway on Thursday and
called a hartal on Friday.
Residents alleged that
the seawall, which had not
elected
A mammoth protest ral- Edavanakad area on Friday. ity with the hartal. Umesh on the persisting “The district adminis- been maintained in the
ly, claimed to have been at- Meanwhile, widespread sea incursion, on Friday. tration could only offer past 20 years, was missing The Hindu Bureau
tended by more than 1,000 and protest committee proposed tetrapod seawall resentment is brewing in The Samithi called off the temporary solutions like a on many stretches along KOCHI
people, was taken out from leaders left for the district would cost around ₹57 the panchayat against the day-long hartal in the pan- geotextile bag-based sea- the shore, leaving families
Kuzhuppilly to Aniyal in collectorate to hold discus- crore,” said V.K. Iqbal, vice perceived indifference of chayat as a mark of respect wall and widening and in the vicinity vulnerable Listin Stepehen and S.S.T.
the morning. People from sions with the District Col- president, Edavanakad local MLA K.N. Unnikrish- to the Collector’s assu- deepening of canals for wa- to the vagaries of the Subramanyan were elected
all walks of life and politi- lector. panchayat. nan against the struggles of rance to find a solution to ter to drain out. But this is ocean. The situation is es- as president and general
cal parties took part in the “Our primary demand Construction of drains the panchayat. “Forget the problem by taking up likely to make little diffe- pecially worse in Wards 1, 9 secretary of the Film Dis-
rally. Traffic through the is the erection of tetrapod and restoration of the 2.5- about visiting us, he hasn’t the matter with the Reve- rence,” said V.K. Iqbal, and 13, affecting around tributors Association (Ker-
panchayat remained seawall similar to the one km stretch of the old Coas- even bothered to enquire nue Minister at a meeting panchayat vice president. 1,200 families, according ala) at the 31st annual meet
disrupted. in Chellanam. The tradi- tal Highway are the other about our problems,” al- scheduled for July 4. Mr. Kumar said the allo- to the Samithi. “We had to of the organisation held
Shortly thereafter, a de- tional seawall is of little use demands. “Around 1 km of leged Mr. Jithin. Mr. Unnik- Financial constraints cation of ₹46 lakh for geo- hit the streets after it be- here. V.P. Madhavan Nair is
legation of panchayat since huge granites are said the road remains sub- rishnan could not be facing the State govern- textile bag-based seawall came impossible to live in the treasurer. The other of-
members led by the presi- to be no longer available. merged under sand depo- reached for his response to ment have emerged as a was likely to meet the same our own households,” said fice-bearers are Siyad
dent and vice president As per an estimate, the sit left behind by invading the allegations. stumbling block to finding fate of a similar geotextile Mr. Kumar. Kokker (vice president)
and P.A. Sebastian, Alwin
Antony, and A. Madhavan
(joint secretaries), accord-

Film shoot at hospital: panel seeks HC asks govt. to explain action taken against local ing to a release.

explanation from Health officials body member who dumped waste on roadside Milma
The Hindu Bureau sued by the commission the film shooting, stated The Hindu Bureau along the tracks. It is the
launches new
KOCHI stated that the shooting of
the movie Painkili pro-
that there were restrictions
for vehicles arriving with
KOCHI responsibility of the Rail-
ways to clear waste lying in
ice cream
The Kerala State Human duced by actor Fahadh patients through the main A Division Bench of the areas under their control.
Rights Commission has ta- Faasil was held at the entrance. Kerala High Court on Fri- The court said it would The Hindu Bureau
ken suo motu notice of the emergency wing. It started However, the health day took serious note of like to know whether any KOCHI
alleged inconvenience around 9 p.m. on Thurs- authorities in Ernakulam the CCTV footage of P.S. agreement with any agen-
caused to patients follow- day. It was alleged that the denied the allegations Sudhakaran, a CPI(M) lead- cy had been inked by the Milma Ernakulam Regional
ing a film shooting at Go- lights at the wing were while pointing out that the er and a member of Man- Railways to clear garbage Cooperative Milk Produc-
vernment Taluk Hospital, dimmed as part of the functioning of the emer- jallur panchayat in Ernaku- dumped on their proper- ers’ Union (ERCMPU) on
Angamaly, on Thursday shooting. Around 50 per- gency wing was not affect- lam, riding his scooter with ties. Friday launched a tender
night. sons, including actors, ed due to the film shooting. a bag of waste and kicking Video goes viral: A screengrab of the panchayat member dumping It orally observed that coconut-based ice-cream
V.K. Beenakumari, were present on the occa- A report on the events that it on to the roadside. The waste on the roadside. the government should al- as a premium-range pro-
member of the commis- sion. It was learnt that the happened on Thursday video went viral on social so take serious note of gar- duct. Minister for Dairy De-
sion, on Friday asked the shooting was held even night was submitted to the media. the Brahmapuram fire wheeler had been bage lying along railway velopment and Animal
District Medical Officer, Er- while doctors were offer- Director of Health Servic- The court asked the breakout came up for hear- confiscated. tracks and ensure that they Husbandry J. Chinchurani
nakulam, and Superinten- ing treatment to patients. es, they said. State government to in- ing, the Bench comprising The court observed that were removed. The court released the product at the
dent of the taluk hospital A person who came to Representatives of the form it of action taken Justice Bechu Kurian Tho- garbage was being said the Railways should International Dairy Federa-
to submit an explanation the hospital seeking treat- Kerala Film Producers’ As- against him. mas and Justice Gopinath dumped beside railway file an affidavit explaining tion (IDF) Asia-Pacific Con-
within a week on the per- ment for a patient in a crit- sociation also denied alle- When the suo motu case P. asked the Government tracks. Plastic bags with the steps taken to dispose ference at Grand Hyatt in
mission granted for the ical condition could not en- gations that the film shoot- registered in the wake of Pleader whether the two- waste could be seen all of garbage. Kochi.
film shooting at the emer- ter the wing, it said. The ing caused difficulties for
gency wing of the hospital. commission, which took patients and their bystan-
A communication is- notice of media reports on ders.
Automatic
signal system
UCSL bags Transfer of three loco to be installed
order to build
four ships for
pilots draws flak on rail route
Norwegian The Hindu Bureau P.N. Soman, central
The Hindu Bureau
KOCHI EDUCATIONAL
firm KOCHI working committee mem-
ber, AILRSA, said the per- The KRDCL-RVNL Joint
GENERAL

The recent transfer from sonnel were only portray- Venture ( JV) firm has been
The Hindu Bureau Ernakulam to Trichy of ing the need to increase awarded the work to install
KOCHI three loco pilots who were the weekly hours of rest of automatic signal system in
among those who acted in loco pilots from 30 to 46 the 103-km Ernakulam
Udupi Cochin Shipyard Li- a short film that was re- hours, considering their Junction-Vallathol Nagar
mited (UCSL), a subsidiary portedly made to pledge highly-stressful work. The sector.
of Cochin Shipyard Limit- solidarity with the ongoing film does not in any way af- The automatic block sig-
ed (CSL), has won an order agitation seeking adequate fect the public image of the nal system under the
from Wilson ASA, Norway, rest hours for loco pilots, Railways, nor has the agita- ₹156.47-crore project ought
to design and construct has met with protests tion affected train opera- to be completed in 750
four 6,300-ton deadweight from, among others, the tions, he added. days.
(TDW) dry cargo vessels. All India Loco Running Meanwhile, Railway It will be the first rail
An agreement has also Staff Association (AILRSA). sources said the film at ma- corridor in Kerala to get
been entered into for an While portraying the ny instances portrayed the such an automatic signal
additional four vessels of working conditions of loco department in a negative system. Once completed,
the same type, which will pilots, the film Siren, an manner and “exaggerated” more trains will be able to
be formally contracted by untold story of loco pilots, many of the hassles that lo- operate in the saturated
September 19, 2024. This is highlighted the demands co pilots faced. Moreover, corridor, since thrice the
a follow-up order in contin- that the community had the Railways’ permission number of trains will be
uation of the contract been raising, including was not sought before able to operate through the
awarded in June 2023 for more hours of rest. making it. existing tracks, back to
design and construction of back.
six 3,800-TDW dry cargo As per the existing abso-
vessels which are now at lute block signal system, a
advanced levels of con- train will get the green sig-
struction at the yard in nal only if the one in front
Udupi, Karnataka. The ov- has reached a station locat-
erall project cost is worth ed 7 km away. A survey will
around ₹1,100 crore and be done prior to commen-
will be executed by Sep- cement of the work.
tember 2028, according to
an official release.
The 100-metre-long ves- 0
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ISSN 0971 - 751X

CM M KI-KIE
YK
Saturday, June 29, 2024
THE HINDU
Kochi 3

CM M KI-KIE
YK
 THE HINDU
4 Saturday, June 29, 2024

Kerala Kochi

From Page One Ruling, Oppn. fronts spar Four-year degree

Oppn. accuses CPI(M) over use of ‘cyber armies’ courses set to be
of links with criminals launched on July 1
During Question Hour, UDF MLAs raise questions about a WhatsApp screenshot with
Mr. Thomas had accused Khadi Board vice-chair-
person and CPI(M) strongman P. Jayarajan and his communal undertones that circulated on social media before recent Lok Sabha polls The Hindu Bureau er Education Minister R.
son Jain Raj of associating with gangsters profiting THIRUVANANTHAPURAM Bindu said at a press confe-
from ambushing gold smugglers, waylaying hawa- rence here on Friday.
la agents, illegal quarrying and drug peddling. The Hindu Bureau tual victor Shafi Parambil on behalf of Chief Minister alleged forgery of elector’s July 1 will mark a signifi- Chief Minister Pinarayi
Local Self-Governments Minister M.B. Rajesh THIRUVANANTHAPURAM in the Vadakara Lok Sabha Pinarayi Vijayan, Parlia- photo identity cards by cant stride in Kerala’s high- Vijayan will officiate the in-
contested the Opposition’s argument. He said the seat as a devout Muslim, mentary Affairs Minister Youth Congress workers er education landscape as auguration at a function at

T
UDF’s notice personally targeted a veteran leader he Opposition and
and his family, had no factual basis, and hinged on treasury benches
media speculation, canards, and hearsay. in the Assembly en-
Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan ripost- gaged in a heated debate
ed that Mr. Thomas’ revelations had shocked the on Friday on the practice
State. He said the CPI(M) top leadership’s “worry- of using party ‘cyber ar-
ing tie-up with criminal gangs” was a matter of ut- mies’ and fake social me-
most public import that warranted an emergency dia accounts for propagan-
debate in the House. da and disinformation.
Speaker A.N. Shamseer rejected the notice, qu- During Question Hour,
oting the Assembly’s Rules of Procedure and Con- United Democratic Front
duct of Business. He said the Chair could not allow (UDF) MLAs raised ques-
the House to be a forum for “scandalising and stig- tions about a WhatsApp
matising” political rivals. screenshot with commu-
Mr. Satheesan countered by accusing the Chair nal undertones that circu-
and the treasury benches of repeatedly stonewall- lated on social media be-
ing debates that could prove embarrassing to the fore the recent Lok Sabha
government and the CPI(M). He led the Opposi- elections. The issue domi-
tion benches in a walkout. nated discussions, putting
the government on the
defensive.
The message promoted
Governor constitutes UDF candidate and even-
contrasting him with his
opponent K.K. Shailaja of
the Left Democratic Front
(LDF) whom it termed a
‘kafir’ (infidel).
Initially, the LDF ac-
cused a leader of the Mus-
lim Students Federation of
creating the post, but the
police dismissed these
claims in the High Court.
‘Probe on in two cases’
The controversy continued
after the UDF accused
former MLA K.K. Lathika
of circulating the screen-
shot. The police also
launched an investigation
into pro-CPI(M) Facebook
pages for sharing the in-
cendiary content.
Replying to the queries
M.B. Rajesh told the House
that investigations were on
into two cases related to
this issue. The Kerala Pol-
ice have instructed Face-
book to remove the con-
tent and provide details of
the profiles involved.
While Opposition legis-
lators accused Ms. Lathika
of sharing the screenshot
as her Facebook profile
picture for over 40 days,
Mr. Rajesh defended the
CPI(M) leader. “She had
commented against at-
tempts to propagate com-
munal hatred, and not fes-
ter such divisions in
society,” he said.
Tensions escalated
when CPI(M) legislator V.
Joy broached the issue of
for the organisational
polls.
‘Deflecting attention’
As if on cue, U. Prathibha
of the CPI(M) highlighted a
case involving a Congress
leader who allegedly creat-
ed a fake Facebook profile,
Kottayam Kunjachan,
which targeted women,
particularly the spouses of
Left leaders.
The Opposition legisla-
tors marched to the well of
the House in protest
against the ruling front.
Leader of the Opposi-
tion V.D. Satheesan ac-
cused the government of
misusing the Question
Hour to deflect attention
from critical issues.
the State initiates its much-
anticipated four-year de-
gree programmes across
all universities.
The government will
formally launch the aca-
demic reform with a State-
wide celebration of a ‘Vig-
nanolsavam’ festival, akin
to the ‘Vidyarambham’ at
schools, during which new
students will be welcomed
to their colleges by their se-
niors, faculty members,
alumni, and people’s re-
presentatives.
Orientation sessions
Orientation sessions will la-
ter be conducted to ac-
quaint the batch with the
features of the four-year
degree programme, High-
the Government College
for Women, Thiruvanan-
thapuram. The function
will be streamed live across
all campuses.
Two-pronged approach
Kerala State Higher Educa-
tion Council vice-chairper-
son Rajan Gurukkal and
Kerala University Vice-
Chancellor in-charge Mo-
hanan Kunnummal will
participate in the function.
The four-year degree
programmes, Dr. Bindu
said, would have a two-
pronged approach com-
bining manpower develop-
ment and research, aimed
at elevating the State’s
higher education system to
global standards.

V-C selection panels

Battu Satyanarayana, V-C of the Central University
of Karnataka, represents the University Grants
Next best option
Congress races to exploit
‘unrest’ in Kannur CPI(M),
Commission (UGC) on the panel.
C. Anandharamakrishnan, Director, Council of
Scientific and Industrial Research – National Insti-

bids to woo Manu Thomas

tute for Interdisciplinary Science and Technology,
is the Chancellor’s nominee and convener of the
committee appointed to identify the V-C of MGU.
Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) Director
S. Unnikrishnan Nair leads the committee respon-
sible for selecting the V-C for KTU, nominated by G. Anand Ex-district committee wreak severe political
the All Indian Council for Technical Education THIRUVANANTHAPURAM member of CPI(M) damage, irrespective of
(AICTE). P. Rajendran, former V-C of KAU, is the accused P. Jayarajan, their veracity.
Chancellor’s nominee. Former DYFI leader and
his son of using
C.V. Jayamani, former Professor of the Cochin CPI(M) Kannur district Jayarajan’s reaction
University of Science and Technology (Cusat), has committee member Manu party for ‘criminal Meanwhile, Mr. Jayarajan
been appointed as Chancellor’s nominee and Thomas’ “disclosures” profiteering’ said he would sue Mr. Tho-
chairperson of the committee for KAU. about party strongman P. mas for libel. In a Facebook
Former Cusat and Aligarh Muslim University Jayarajan and his son Jain post, he said Mr. Thomas
V-C P.K. Abdul Azis is the Chancellor’s nominee Rajan’s “ruthless subver- so spawned an anxious had become a poster boy
and convener of the V-C selection panel for Kufos. sion” of the governing par- political climate in Kannur for the right-wing media af-
Former MGU and Central University of Kerala ty for “criminal profiteer- district. The police intelli- ter the latter denounced
V-C Jancy James is the Chancellor’s nominee and ing” have provided gence has not reportedly the party.
chairperson of the committee for the V-C selec- Crisis management: Though the intensity of rain has reduced, many parts of Alappuzha remain ammunition to the Con- ruled out the risk of inter- Mr. Jayarajan revealed
tion committee for the Malayalam university. waterlogged. A view from Thalavady in Kuttanad taluk on Friday. SURESH ALLEPPEY gress to assail the govern- necine violence. Hence, that the CPI(M) had flagged
ment and seize the moral law enforcement brought a conflict of interest bet-
high ground in the As- Mr. Thomas, his residence, ween Mr. Thomas’ respon-
sembly and outside. and business outlets under sibilities in the party’s Kan-

Probe into CMRL row vital, ED tells HC The public “falling-out”

in the CPI(M) in Kannur
has arguably become a
a security blanket.

The Hindu Bureau
KOCHI
The Enforcement Directo-
rate (ED) on Friday in-
Jayakrishnan formed the Kerala High
Court that a further investi-
is Sabarimala gation into the alleged
payout by Cochin Minerals
Special and Rutile Limited (CMRL)
to the now defunct IT firm
Commissioner owned by Chief Minister
Pinarayi Vijayan’s daughter
The Hindu Bureau T. Veena is required as the
KOCHI the findings of the Income
Tax department has dis-
closed cognizable
offences.
Petition by CMRL
The submission was made
by the ED counsel when a
petition filed by the CMRL
and its officials seeking to
quash the ED case and
summons issued to them
came up for hearing.
Counsel for the ED sub-
mitted that the CMRL’s
contention that in the light
of the commencement of
an investigation by the Se-
rious Fraud Investigation
Office (SFIO) and under
Section 212 (2) of the Com-
panies Act, the proceed-
ings under Prevention of
Money Laundering Act
could not be initiated was
baseless. It could carry out
its own investigation into
the allegations.
The Kochi unit of the ED
registered an Enforcement
Case Investigation Report
(ECIR) in March this year in
connection with the al-
leged monthly pay-off on
the basis of a report by the
Income Tax Interim Settle-
ment Board (ITSIB) in Au-
gust 2023 stating that Ms.
Veena and her company
Exalogic Solutions Private
Ltd. had received ₹1.72
crore as monthly pay-
ments from the CMRL des-
pite there being no evi-
dence of any services given
in return.
bother for the ruling par-
ty’s leadership and a per-
ceived windfall for the Op-
position at a time when the
government is licking its
wounds after a crippling
electoral defeat in the Lok
Sabha polls.
The Congress leader-
ship has put out feelers to
woo Mr. Thomas to its side.
Mr. Thomas has demurred
for now and expressed a
desire to remain an outlier
and a force for good in the
Left politics in Kannur.
The controversy has al-
Threats alleged
Mr. Thomas also said that
he was receiving threats,
including from CPI(M) ad-
herents involved in politi-
cal murders.
Mr. Thomas’ threat that
he would reveal “incrimi-
nating insider” informa-
tion about the 2012 murder
of RMP leader T.P. Chan-
drasekharan and the kill-
ing of Shuhaib, a 28-year-
old Congress worker, in
2018 has purportedly
made the CPI(M) anxious,
given the potential of such
loaded accusations to
nur district committee and
the latter’s business opera-
tions. He said Mr. Thomas
had shirked his political
duties since, including Lok
Sabha campaign work.
Congress State presi-
dent K. Sudhakaran said
his party would shield Mr.
Thomas. He said the CPI
(M)’s “cult of violence and
criminal profiteering” was
a political time bomb that
would decimate the ruling
party from the inside.
Mr. Sudhakaran claimed
the CPI(M)’s attempt to
keep a lid on the brewing
discontent in the party was
faltering.

R. Jayakrishnan, special
judge at the court in Kotta-
DEATH
State gives in to Centre’s pressure
rakara for trying offences
booked under the Sche-
duled Castes/Scheduled
Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act, has been
appointed Special Com-
missioner for the Sabari-
to co-brand health institutions DEATH

mala temple. The appoint-

ment is for two years. Mr.
Jayakrishnan will assume
charge on Saturday.
Commission
to study
The Hindu Bureau refusal to co-brand health
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM institutions was being held
against it. The Centre’s re-
The Health department has fusal to release funds was
finally relented to the affecting many crucial pu-
Centre’s insistence to blic health activities of the
comply with the branding
guidelines of the Union Mi-
State as well as the salary
disbursal of the 13,000
nistry of Health and Family
Welfare for all health insti-
NHM employees.

museums tutions under the National

The Hindu Bureau
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM
A commission will be set
up to review museums in
the State and submit re-
commendations, Minister
for Museums Kadannap-
pally Ramachandran told
the Assembly on Thursday.
A number of museums
had come up in the State in
eight years and existing
ones had been revamped.
It was against this back-
drop that the museum
commission was being
constituted, as promised in
the election manifesto.
CM
YK
Health Mission and has is-
sued orders that all sub-
centres ( Janakeeya Arogya
Kendram), primary health
centres, family health
centres, and urban family/
public health centres in the
State be co-branded as Ay-
ushman Arogya Mandir.
Accordingly, the name
‘Ayushman Arogya Mandir’
and the tagline ‘Arogyam
Paramam Dhanam’ in Ma-
layalam and English will fi-
gure on all display boards
of health institutions,
alongside their vernacular
names. An order issued by
the Additional Chief Secre-
tary (Health) on Wednes-
day directed the State Mis-
The colour code of a health centre with the clay relief art of
Chhattisgarh. The craft may change from region to region.
sion Director, National
Health Mission, and the Di-
rector of Health Services to
immediately comply with
the branding guidelines.
The Centre had written
to all States last year that
the branding guidelines for
Ayushman Bharat Health
and Wellness Centres be
complied with and that the
pictures of the re-branding
be uploaded on to the AB-
HWC portal. However, Ker-
ala held out, claiming that
the new name was alien to
the State’s cultural context.
Later, when the Central
share of the NHM funds for
2023-24 and the first quar-
ter of 2024-25 was not
forthcoming, the State
Health administration itself
insinuated that the State’s
Colour scheme changes
The State Health depart-
ment, since 2016-17, has
adopted a uniform colour DEATH
scheme for its health insti- ANNIVERSARIES
tutions, using light blue
and light green to fit into
the ambience and aesthet-
ics of Kerala. However, the
new government order di-
rects that, as prescribed by
the Centre, the outer walls
of the health centres will be
changed to the shade yel-
low metal while the name
and mural should be in eth-
nic brown. The logos of the
Kerala government, Health
department, National
Health Mission, and Ar-
dram Mission will be on the
display board.
M KI-KIE
 THE HINDU
Saturday, June 29, 2024 5
Kochi
South

Manjummel
Boys: relief for 13, including 2 children, killed Give assent to
NEET exemption
WEATHERWATCH
쑽
Rainfall, temperature & air quality in select metros yesterday

producers in road accident in Karnataka Bill, T.N. House

urges Centre
The Hindu Bureau
KOCHI
A minibus rammed a stationary truck on Pune-Bengaluru NH; Manasa, who led the Karnataka The Hindu Bureau
team in the national blind women’s football tournament in 2021 and won, was among the dead CHENNAI
The Kerala High Court on
Friday extended till July 10 With widespread irregular-
its interim directive to the The Hindu Bureau Five killed in ities in the conduct of the
police not to arrest Soubin HUBBALLI National Eligibility-cum-
Shahir and Shawn Antony, Telangana Entrance Test (NEET) that

actor-producer and pro-
ducer respectively of the
film Manjummel Boys in a
cheating and forgery case.
The court passed the or-
der when their anticipato-
ry bail petition came up for
hearing. The petitioner
said the allegation of cheat-
ing was raised only to pres-
surise the petitioners to
A
s many as 13 per-
sons, including
two children — a
three-month-old and a five-
month-old — were killed in
a road accident in Haveri
district of Karnataka when
a minibus they were tra-
velling rammed a station-
ary truck on Pune-Benga-
luru National Highway on
HYDERABAD
Five persons were killed while
five others sustained injuries
after two lorries, one from
Chhattisgarh and the other
from Nagpur, plying towards
Hyderabad, collided on
National Highway – 44 in
Chegunta mandal of Medak
Fatal clash: The vehicles that were involved in the accident near district in Telangana on Friday.
have come to the fore re-
cently, spotlighting Tamil
Nadu’s sustained opposi-
tion to the medical en-
trance exam, the State As-
sembly on Friday
unanimously passed a re-
solution urging the Union
government to “imme-
diately grant assent to the
State’s NEET exemption TEMPERATURE DATA: IMD, POLLUTION DATA: CPCB, MAP: INSAT/IMD (TAKEN AT 18.00 HRS)

settle dispute. The police
had earlier opposed the
petition and said they did
not pay the profit from the
film to Siraj Valiyathara,
who had contributed ₹7
crore for the production.
Engine, bogies
get detached
from running
train in Thrissur
Friday.
They were part of a
group of 17 people who
were returning from a pil-
grimage. The tragic acci-
dent occurred at 4 a.m.
Due to the impact of the
accident, the bodies re-
mained stuck in the mini-
bus. Fire and Emergency
Services personnel and the
police had a difficult time
Byadgi in Haveri district of Karnataka on Friday. SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
in extricating them.
Expressing shock over
the accident, Chief Minis-
ter Siddaramaiah has an-
nounced a compensation
of ₹2 lakh each to the fami-
lies of the deceased.
Meanwhile, action is be-
ing taken against the driver
and cleaner of the truck.
Among the 13 victims is
Manasa S., 20, who led the
Karnataka team in the na-
tional blind women’s foot-
ball tournament and won
the championship for the
State in 2021. She played
for the Indian team in the
Asia Cup in 2022. Her
mother, Bhagyamma, 45,
also died in the accident.
Waseem Akram, coach
at Karnataka Blind Football
Association, said, “Manasa
represented India in 2022
IBSA Women’s Asia-Ocea-
nia Blind Football Cham-
pionship held at Kochi and
played one international
match against Japan.”
Bill” and “make necessary
amendments to the Na-
tional Medical Commission
Act” to abolish the test at
the national level. The
NEET exemption Bill,
which was initially re-
turned by the Governor,
was readopted by the
House in February 2022. It
is pending the President’s
assent.
While the BJP MLAs
walked out, the members
of the Congress, the VCK,
Forecast for Saturday: Heavy/very heavy rainfall likely at isolated
places over Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Delhi, Uttarakhand, Uttar
Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram,
Tripura, Sikkim, Sub-Himalayan West Bengal, Odisha, Madhya Pra-
desh, central Maharashtra, Konkan & Goa and coastal Karnataka
CITY RAIN MAX MIN CITY RAIN MAX MIN
Agartala ...................11......31.8...... 26.6 Kozhikode .......................21......31.0...... 24.8
Ahmedabad............. —......35.7...... 27.0 Kurnool ..........................0.4......35.5...... 25.7
Aizawl ......................33......32.6...... 23.1 Lucknow.......................... —......40.3...... 29.2
Allahabad ................ —......40.5...... 28.6 Madurai ........................... —......38.8...... 25.1
Bengaluru...............1.3......29.7...... 21.3 Mangaluru......................6.6......30.0...... 23.5
Bhopal .....................12......33.5...... 25.4 Mumbai ...........................66......29.5...... 24.9
Bhubaneswar .......... —......34.0...... 25.8
Chandigarh.............. —......38.2...... 28.6
Mysuru............................. —......29.0..........—
New Delhi......................228......32.5...... 24.7
Chennai ................... —......36.9...... 29.4
Coimbatore ............. —......28.2...... 23.4
Patna...............................43......36.2...... 28.7
Port Blair ...........................4......30.5...... 25.0
Dehradun................. —......33.3...... 26.0 Puducherry ..................... —......36.3...... 27.0
Gangtok .....................9......21.5...... 18.7
Goa...........................59......32.2...... 24.4
Pune ...............................0.5......29.6...... 24.4
Raipur.............................. —......32.5...... 26.0
Guwahati ...................1......31.4...... 27.4 Ranchi .............................14......32.6...... 24.0

The Hindu Bureau

THRISSUR
The engine and a few bo-
gies of a running train got
separated from the rest of
the train at Vallathole Na-
gar, near Cheruthuruthy,
on Friday. However, a ma-
jor accident was averted as
the train was moving at a
slow pace.
The engine and a few
coaches of the Ernakulam-
Tata Nagar Express got
separated from the train
around 10 a.m. on Friday.
The train resumed the
journey after rectifying the
problem.
Polavaram project in limbo, says A.P. CM
Sambasiva Rao M.
AMARAVATI
The ignorance and ineffi-
ciency of the former And-
hra Pradesh Chief Minister,
Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, in
taking policy decisions and
in abruptly changing the
contractor of the multi-
purpose Polavaram Irriga-
tion Project (PIP) had re-
sulted in causing severe
damage to the project, said
Chief Minister N. Chandra-
babu Naidu.
He released a White
Paper on PIP at the Secre-
the CPI, the CPI(M), and
the MDMK — all allies of the
DMK — supported the reso-
Hubballi................... —......28.0...... 23.0
Hyderabad...............10......30.8...... 23.5
Imphal .....................24......30.1...... 21.1
Jaipur .....................1.5......34.0...... 26.8
Shillong .............................5......24.4...... 18.0
Shimla ...........................136......26.7...... 18.0
Srinagar........................... —......32.8...... 19.6
Thiruvananthapuram ..........10......31.2...... 24.1
lution. MLAs T. Velmuru- Kochi........................13......31.2...... 25.0 Tiruchi ............................. —......36.5...... 25.6
Kohima ....................44......27.4...... 18.2 Vijayawada........................4......31.4...... 25.0
Authority and the Ministry gan, M.H. Jawahirullah, Kolkata ....................19......31.6...... 27.6 Visakhapatnam..................4......31.2...... 26.2
of Jal Sakhti, delay in mo- Manoj P. Pandian, and (Rainfall data in mm; temperature in Celsius)
bilisation of the required those of the PMK also sup- Pollutants in the air you are breathing Yesterday
CITIES SO 2 NO 2 CO PM2.5 PM10 CODE In observation made at
men and machinery by the ported the resolution. Ahmedabad ..... .16 ..— .83 ...107 ....98 ......* 4.00 p.m., Brajrajnagar,
new agency, and not realis- Proposing the resolu- Bengaluru ........ .15 ..20 .85 .....44 ....56 ......* Odisha recorded an
Chennai............ .26 ..22 .56 .....35 ....35 ......* overall air quality index
ing the importance of plug- tion, Chief Minister M.K. Delhi ................. .10 ..40 .33 .....76 ...111 ......* (AQI) score of 250
ging the two gaps in the Stalin said while the admis- Hyderabad ....... .29 ..22 .35 .....53 ....68 ......* indicating an unhealthy
Kolkata............. ...6 ..29 .27 .....20 ....46 ......*
cofferdam upstream result- sion system based on Class Lucknow........... .10 ..25 .65 .....61 ....89 ......*
level of pollution. In
contrast, Aizawl, Mizoram
ed in severe damage to the 12 marks had ensured so- Mumbai ............ .24 ..51 .47 .....30 ....38 ......* recorded a healthy AQI
diaphragm wall, Mr. Naidu cial justice and equal op- Pune ................. ..— ..30 101 .....47 ....44 ......*
Visakhapatnam ...7 ..54 .20 .....38 ....82 ......*
score of 13
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu making a explained. portunities to students of
Air Quality Code: * Poor * Moderate * Good (Readings indicate average AQI)
PowerPoint presentation on the Polavaram Irrigation Project. The previous govern- various sections, enabling SO2: Sulphur Dioxide. Short-term exposure can harm the respiratory system, making breathing difficult. It
ment had also failed to doctors to emerge from ev- can affect visibility by reacting with other air particles to form haze and stain culturally important objects
such as statues and monuments.
tariat on Friday. Phase-I of the project.” complete the Relief & Reh- ery part of the State, the NO2: Nitrogen Dioxide. Aggravates respiratory illness, causes haze to form by reacting with other air
particles, causes acid rain, pollutes coastal waters.
Mr. Naidu said, “It will Changing the project’s abilitation work in villages NEET was marred by irreg- CO: Carbon monoxide. High concentration in air reduces oxygen supply to critical organs like the heart
cost more than ₹12,157 contractor at a critical likely to be affected due to ularities and reports of and brain. At very high levels, it can cause dizziness, confusion, unconsciousness and even death.
PM2.5 & PM10: Particulate matter pollution can cause irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, coughing,
crore to complete the re- stage, ignoring the advice the completion of the up- question paper leaks at va- chest tightness and shortness of breath, reduced lung function, irregular heartbeat, asthma attacks,
heart attacks and premature death in people with heart or lung disease
maining works under of the Polavaram Project stream cofferdam, he said. rious places.

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CM M KI-KIE
YK

6 Saturday, June 29, 2024
A fresh start
The GST Council must not lose sight
of broader reforms
T
he Goods and Services Tax (GST) Council
was convened last week for the first time
in nearly nine months. With 11 new State
Ministers on board and a recalibrated NDA go-
vernment at the Centre, the Council began afresh
with a loaded agenda of clarifications, tweaks,
forbearances, and other procedural changes,
based on industry feedback and vetted by offi-
cials, that awaited its nod. Acknowledging that it
could not conclude deliberations on all that had
accumulated on its plate, the Council has re-
solved to meet again in August to take up the rest
of the items. Yet, it is quite creditable that the
Council could, over an afternoon preceded by
Union Budget consultations with States, arrive at
a consensus on a flurry of issues aimed at easing
the lot of taxpayers, reducing litigation, and even
providing tax relief on some items. To help stu-
dents, hostel accommodation costing up to
₹20,000 a month has been exempted from GST
altogether, along with railway services availed by
passengers. A uniform 12% rate has been ap-
proved for packing cartons, milk cans, and solar
cookers, doing away with confusing classification
differences based on material or technologies.
Apart from several industry-specific measures,
a few of which will kick in with retrospective ef-
fect, the Council also opted to waive interest and
penalty on tax dues for the first three years of
GST, provided they are paid by March 2025. Mo-
reover, it lowered the stipulated pre-deposits for
filing appeals, including those that will be filed
with the upcoming GST Appellate Tribunals, and
approved a new form for taxpayers to correct er-
rors or oversights in previous returns. Beyond
nitty-gritties, the Council also signed off on end-
ing the anti-profiteering clause that required
firms to pass on any tax cut gains to customers,
and mandating biometric-based Aadhaar authen-
tication for all GST registrations in a phased man-
ner across India. The former will quell a difficult-
to-implement industry irritant, and one hopes
the latter will effectively ease the registration pro-
cess that some say has become cumbersome in
recent times, while curbing fraud perpetrated
through fake invoicing. The ground-level impact
of these moves may depend on the fine print that
may follow, but the intent to simplify and declut-
ter the seven-year old indirect tax regime is clear.
It is refreshing that the Council also plans to take
stock of the 2021 plan to rationalise the multiple-
rate GST structure, that has been in cold storage
for a while, when it meets next. The apex GST bo-
dy must not only revive and expedite GST rate re-
forms but also incorporate a road map to bring
excluded items such as petroleum and electricity
into the GST net while rejigging tax rates.
Debt trap
Kenya must find ways to service its debt
without punishing its people
T
he Kenyan President’s decision to rush
through Parliament an IMF-backed fi-
nance Bill that sought to increase taxes
on everything from imported sanitary pads and
tyres to bread and fuel backfired, with protesters
storming a section of the Parliament on Tuesday.
After the protests, which rights groups said had
left at least 23 people killed and 200 injured, Pre-
sident William Ruto announced that he would
not sign the Bill. The Kenyan government could
have avoided this bloody confrontation had it
paid more attention to the public mood. The go-
vernment’s plan was to raise an extra 200 billion
Kenyan shilling (some $1.55 billion) in taxes. Ear-
lier this year, the country had reached a deal with
the IMF to secure $941 million in additional lend-
ing. In subsequent talks in Nairobi, they agreed to
reforms, including tax increases, to stabilise the
country’s debt-battered financial situation. The
IMF deal triggered street protests. But the go-
vernment still went ahead with the plan to im-
pose additional taxes on the country of 54 million
people, a third of whom still live in poverty.
The government argues that its hands were
tied as the country struggles to repay its huge
debt burden — domestic and foreign debt was a
staggering $80 billion last year, accounting for
nearly three-fourths of its GDP. The government
spent more than half of its revenue servicing
debts last year. The crisis is an indictment of the
development model Kenya and several other
countries in the continent follow. Kenya, one of
the fastest growing countries in Africa, has bor-
rowed heavily from multinational lenders such as
the World Bank and the IMF as well as bilateral
partners such as China, to finance its infrastruc-
ture projects. But growth tanked and expenses
rocketed during the COVID-19 pandemic years.
The Ukraine war has led to a spike in global food
and energy prices, hitting African economies.
When the advanced countries increased interest
rates to fight inflation, the payment burden of
debt-ridden countries ballooned. In Africa, Zam-
bia and Ghana defaulted on their payments, and
then reached agreements with their creditors to
restructure debt. Mr. Ruto, who came to power in
2022, has promised to address the debt problem.
But he has been unimaginative and conventional,
letting the unpopular IMF dictate one-sided poli-
cy measures. Now that the Bill has been with-
drawn, he will have to tread carefully. He has yet
to spell out his next measures, besides saying that
austerity measures would be rolled out. He will
have to strike a balance between his people’s
needs and Kenya’s creditors. Multinational and
bilateral lenders should help the debt-laden
countries in Africa come out of this trap without
punishing their poor populace.
CM
YK
Editorial
Preaching consensus, provoking confrontation
O
n June 4, 2024, the verdict of our
country’s electorate was delivered
clearly and resoundingly. It signalled a
personal, political, and moral defeat
for a Prime Minister who had awarded himself a
divine status during the campaign. The verdict
negated not only such pretensions, but it was also
an unequivocal rejection of the politics of
divisiveness, discord and hatred, a repudiation of
both the substance and style of governance of Mr.
Narendra Modi.
The fading of accommodation
Yet, the Prime Minister continues as if nothing
has changed. He preaches the value of consensus
but continues to value confrontation. There is not
the slightest evidence that he has come to terms
with the electoral outcome, or understood the
verdict and has reflected on the message sent to
him by millions of voters. The first few days of the
18th Lok Sabha have, sadly, been far from
encouraging. Any hope that we might see a
changed attitude has been dashed. Any hope that
a new spirit of mutual respect and
accommodation, let alone camaraderie would be
fostered, has been belied.
I would like to remind readers what the INDIA
bloc parties told the Prime Minister when his
emissaries sought unanimity for the post of
Speaker. The response was simple and
straightforward: we said that we would support
the government — but in keeping with convention
and tradition, it was only fair and to be expected
that the post of Deputy Speaker would be given to
a member from the ranks of the Opposition. This
perfectly reasonable request was found
unacceptable by a regime that, it bears recall, had
not filled the Constitutional position of Deputy
Speaker in the 17th Lok Sabha.
And then, the Emergency was dredged up by
the Prime Minister and his party — astonishingly,
even by the Speaker whose position is
incompatible with any public political stance
other than one of strict impartiality. This attempt
to divert attention away from the assault on the
Constitution, on its foundational principles and
values, on the institutions it has created and
empowered, does not augur well for the smooth
functioning of Parliament.
It is a fact of history that in March 1977 the
people of our country gave a categorical verdict
on the Emergency, which was accepted
Tuning into the narratives in the American election
I
n this year of successive world-wide
elections, the issues in the United States
presidential election, to be held in
November, have not yet aroused considerable
scrutiny. Yet, 1892 was the last time an
immediately former President was contesting
with his successor incumbent. The election’s
main issues will cover immigration, democracy,
foreign policy, abortion and Donald Trump’s
indictments. In the current deeply polarised
setting, opinion polls show that supporters of the
former Republican President, Donald Trump, will
do so again; and the same applies to the current
Democrat President, Joe Biden’s followers.
The economy, the perception
The economy has become an important issue in
the November presidential elections; normally,
the economy should be decisive since history
shows that a sitting President with a strong
economy gets re-elected. But different economic
indicators are travelling in different directions;
some are positive, with low unemployment and a
rising stock market, but negatives also appear in
the high interest rate which affects everyone
using credit. The rate of inflation has not come
down, nor have prices even after the COVID-19
pandemic, though incomes have gone up.
The good aspects of the economy take time to
impact the public, unlike the negatives. Mr. Biden
is considered a better economic manager than
Mr. Trump, and 65% of the electorate appears to
think that the economy is in good or very good
shape. But whether this will be a steady trend or
only a momentary reaction cannot be
anticipated, remembering that Mr. Trump’s
pre-pandemic economy was quite strong. Most
voters are not focusing on the economy — at least
for now.
Polarisation in American society covers social
issues as well as the urban versus
rural/semi-urban divide. The latter since the
1990s are Republican, the former Democrat and
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Talking about Emergency history instead of debating
The President of India contemporary issues.
mentioning the Emergency Kshirasagara Balaji Rao,
that was imposed by the Hyderabad
Congress-led government in
1975, in her first address to I am 85 years old and have
Parliament after the 2024 worked in the central
general election, was government. The attempt to
unusual (Page 1, June 28). harp on the Emergency is
There is no doubt that the unwarranted. That Mrs
Emergency episode was a Gandhi was re-elected after
nightmare but most people the Emergency must not be
in India have forgotten forgotten. The leader also
about it. Though the speech expressed her regrets over
had the line, “My the events. The people of
Government is continuously the country understood
working for lasting peace in what had happened and
the North-East”, there has acted. I do wish the people
been no mention of the of this nation now recognise
burning strife in Manipur. It the wolves and the power
is a pity that the ruling mongers of today, who,
party and its government at tactfully and with political
the Centre talk about ingenuity, are clandestinely
THE HINDU
Kochi
unhesitatingly and unequivocally. That less than surprising given the communal invective and
three years later the party that was humbled in blatant falsehoods that the Prime Minister
March 1977 was returned to power, with a
majority never achieved by Mr. Modi and his
inflicted on the people during the election
campaign. He provocatively escalated the
party, is also very much part of that history. rhetoric out of fear that the election was slipping
away from him, showing complete disregard for
Sonia Gandhi Issues that need extensive debate the dignity and maryada of his position.
Member of We need to look ahead. The bizarre and In February 2022, the BJP and its allies got a
Parliament (Rajya unprecedented suspension of 146 Members of convincing majority in the Assembly elections in
Sabha), is Parliament, who were legitimately demanding a Manipur. Yet, within 15 months, Manipur began
Chairperson of the discussion on a deplorable breach of Parliament’s to burn — or should it be said was allowed to
Congress security, was clearly a way of ensuring that three begin to burn. Hundreds of people have been
Parliamentary Party far-reaching criminal justice laws could be passed killed and thousands dislocated. Social harmony
without any discussion. Several legal experts and in this most sensitive State has been shattered.
many others have expressed grave concerns Yet, the Prime Minister has not found either the
about these laws. Should these laws not be kept time or the inclination to visit the State nor to
in abeyance till they have undergone fuller meet with its political leaders.
Parliamentary scrutiny in keeping with accepted It is no wonder that his party has lost both the
parliamentary practice and especially since the Lok Sabha seats there, but this does not seem to
electoral verdict of 2024? have had any impact on his most insensitive
Similarly, amendments to forest conservation handling of the crisis that has engulfed Manipur’s
and biological diversity protection forest laws variegated society.
were pushed through last year when there was The Prime Minister diminished himself by the
uproar and chaos in Parliament. An ecological campaign he ran for over 40 days. His words did
and humanitarian disaster is awaiting us as the untold damage to our social fabric and to the
Great Nicobar project is pushed through. Should dignity of the office he is privileged to hold. It is
they also not be revisited to give meaning to the for him to reflect and introspect and recognise
Prime Minister’s stated desire for consensus and that in rejecting his call for 400-plus
for passage of laws after full debate and parliamentary seats, crores of our people — to
discussion? whom he promises sabka saath, sabka vikas —
On the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test sent a powerful message, that they had had
(NEET) scandal that has wreaked havoc on the enough.
lives of lakhs of our youth, the immediate
response of the Education Minister was to deny The Opposition will reflect India’s voice
the magnitude of what has happened. The Prime The INDIA bloc parties have made it clear that
Minister who does his ‘Pariksha pe Charcha’ has they do not seek a confrontationist attitude. The
been conspicuously silent on the leaks that have Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, has
devastated so many families across the country. offered cooperation. The leaders of the
The inevitable ‘high power committees’ have constituents of the alliance have made clear that
been constituted, but the real issue is how the they are looking to being productive in
There is no professionalism of educational institutions such Parliament and to impartiality in the conduct of
evidence that as the National Council of Educational Research its proceedings. It is our hope that the Prime
the Prime and Training, the University Grants Commission Minister and his government will respond
Minister has and universities themselves have been so deeply positively. The initial evidence does not augur
come to terms damaged in the last 10 years. well, but we in the Opposition are committed to
with the Meanwhile, the campaign of violence and restoring balance and productivity in Parliament,
intimidation against India’s minorities has once to ensure that the voice of the millions who have
electoral
again intensified. In Bharatiya Janata Party sent us there as their representatives is heard and
outcome or has (BJP)-ruled States, bulldozers are again their concerns are raised and addressed. We live
reflected on the demolishing the homes of minorities based on in hope that the Treasury benches will step
message sent to mere allegations, violating due process, and forward so that we can fulfil our democratic
him by voters inflicting collective punishment. None of this is duties.
the two are sharply divided. De-industrialisation, place in society has been taken over by
deregulation since the 1990s, job losses, and evangelical movements and gun lobbies, which
agribusiness suffering have affected the rural attract strong support among rural communities.
areas deeply and magnified these differences. Support for unions appears still high among the
President Biden has tried to rectify this but has American public, and Mr. Biden was the first U.S.
not received any credit for his initiatives because President ever to join a picket line, but this factor
Krishnan the rural and semi-urban areas remain feeling is not likely to help his campaign for a second
Srinivasan
a former Foreign
discriminated against. Mr. Biden knows very well
that the rural vote needs more attention, but it
term.
Secretary will take decades for such a divide to be properly Factors now present
rectified. Four danger signals seem key to the future of
In industry, employment levels are good but American democracy: extreme partisan
inequality is still grave. A great deal of current polarisation; social questions of ‘belonging’, such
investment goes into hi-tech, high-skilled, as anti-immigration and racism; high economic
high-salaried jobs, but many of these projects are inequality and executive aggrandisement,
long term in gestation. Republicans tend to avoid namely, when a leader expands his/her power
involvement in the economy, but, here too, beyond the customary checks and balances.
Republican opinion seems to be changing. Mr. Some experts feel that all four factors are now
Trump has been talking of a 10% across-the-board present in the United States.
tariff but this will add to inflation and increase Mr. Trump was unwelcoming to immigrants,
each family’s expenditure by $1,500-$2,500 every and by the end of his term, public support for
year. immigration had risen. Mr. Trump’s policies on
immigration will prove inflationary since he
The approaches to trade wishes to deport thousands of low-wage earners.
In trade policy, there are clear differences Mr. Biden is more welcoming, but perhaps more
between the Biden and Trump approaches. Mr. so than the American public at large wanted, and
Trump is no believer in multilateralism, and he mismanaged border issues.
during his tenure used tariffs to leverage better This is now a contentious issue even among
bilateral trade deals. Mr. Biden retained some of Democrats and will be another factor going into
these tariffs but lowered others for Europeans, the elections. Mr. Biden tried to outflank the
for example, to block Chinese steel and Republicans with a bipartisan bill that the
aluminium in order to limit the high carbon used Democrats would not normally have agreed to,
to make these in China. The age of neo-liberal but Mr. Trump gave Mr. Biden a lifeline by
fundamentalist Democratic policies seems to be opposing it; Mr. Biden will now lose fewer votes
In the Biden over, while on the Republican side, the debate as a result.
versus Trump continues; the libertarians are very powerful but Opinion polls suggest that Democrat support
face-off, the core there are nascent signs of rebellion against them. among minorities such as African-Americans,
Regarding the unions, in some regions Latinos and Asian-Americans is slipping. But all
issues to shape
blue-collar workers have become newly these polls have a small sample size and the shifts
the November unionised at a time when the recent trend has could be small, and more marked among men
election exist seen the union movement decreasing. Unions than women. Nevertheless, they give cause for
but have still to have been helpful socially and assisted the the Democratic candidate in a few key States to
stir up scrutiny Democrats, but with de-industrialisation, their be worried.
engaged in cutting the roots was certainly a need to of February, with the 1,000 government seats
of democracy. keep India’s memory alive notification in late January. available across India. Our
Pulipaka Moorthy Kumar, to an event that highlights The authorities went ahead cause always goes
Nazerpet, Tenali, Andhra Pradesh the downside to the with the exam despite a unnoticed as we are not
temptations of power. That court ruling that the exams considered to be an
It is not necessary for the the Congress, the claimant of NEET MDS and NEET PG important part of the
BJP to illuminate the to India’s oldest political should be conducted medical fraternity.
Congress’s dark past. The tradition, chose to go on the around the same time as Gayathri,
party has faced the defensive, is a reminder the counselling process. The Thiruvananthapuram
consequences of its actions. that remorse is a rare recent developments of
The ruling party seems to emotion in politics. paper leaks, the NTA’s Fourth bridge collapse
be unable to digest the Jayanthy Subramaniam, deeds and indefinite Reports of bridges
changed composition of the Mumbai postponement of NEET PG collapsing in Bihar are proof
Lok Sabha. The way 2024 lead one to question of the extent of corruption.
parliamentary conduct has NEET MDS, counselling the decision to declare that When loot is the norm,
changed from day two is I had appeared for the NEET the counselling for NEET there is more in store for us
evidence of this. MDS 2024 which was MDS will begin from July 1. (Inside pages, June 27).
P. Paramasivan, conducted despite protests Unlike NEET PG which is V. Lakshmanan,
Chennai from aspirants of there attempted by around two Tirupur, Tamil Nadu
being inadequate time lakh people, the MDS exam Letters emailed to
On the anniversary of the between notification and has around 25,000 aspirants letters@thehindu.co.in
dark event in the evolution examination. It was every year, in the backdrop must carry the full postal
of democracy in India, there conducted in March, instead of there being less than address.
M KI-KIE

Saturday, June 29, 2024
Kochi
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu inspects the Amaravati capital region. G.N. RAO
The promised land
The victory of Chandrababu Naidu has breathed life into Amaravati, his dream project that had turned to dust
under the previous regime. However, it has also led to decreasing land prices in Visakhapatnam, which was
touted by Jagan Mohan Reddy to be the administrative capital, and caused resentment in Kurnool, which was
proposed as the judicial capital. V. Raghavendra reports on public sentiment in Andhra Pradesh
n Thullur in Guntur district of coastal And-
I hra Pradesh (AP), people still wince when
they remember the sound of armed police
personnel marching through the narrow
lanes of the village about four years ago.
Aluri Pavani, a farmer in her 50s, remembers
the time vividly. In early 2015, she had given 2.75
acres of land to the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) go-
vernment, headed by Chandrababu Naidu,
which had announced its plan to build a new cap-
ital, Amaravati, for AP.
The previous year, the combined State of AP
had been bifurcated into two, AP and Telangana,
and Hyderabad was stipulated to be the joint cap-
ital for 10 years. From 2024, according to the
Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, AP
would have its own capital. Amaravati, an impor-
tant centre of Hinduism and Buddhism in India,
was Naidu’s dream project. He said in 2015 that
he envisioned a “smart, green, and sustainable
city” that would be a “symbol of pride for the pe-
ople of Andhra Pradesh and India”.
The project went on smoothly until early
2019. However, in May that year, the YSR
Congress Party (YSRCP) assumed power and
Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy proposed
three capitals instead — Visakhapatnam as the ex-
ecutive capital, Amaravati as the administrative
capital, and Kurnool as the judicial capital.
The 28,736 farmers who had parted with a
combined 33,000 acres of land, as part of a Land
Pooling Scheme in which they would be given a
developed plot of land in return, for the capital of
Amaravati were furious.
“Trying to stage protests on the streets be-
came the ‘new normal’ for us,” recalls Pavani.
The police imposed Section 144 of the Code of
Criminal Procedure, which prohibits the assemb-
ly of four or more people in an area. “They made
our lives miserable,” she continues. “We had to
confront the police all the time. The situation was
so bad that we had to show our Aadhaar cards to
step out of our homes.”
A. Rajani, a farmer from Thullur, says, “Not a
single day would pass without the police cracking
down on farmers who spearheaded the agitation
that went on for more than 1,600 days.”
The people of Thullur, one of the 29 villages
that constitute the capital region of the State, are
today hopeful because Naidu has come back to
power, but the cases booked against some of
them for violating the police curbs have not yet
been closed, they say.
Naidu’s dream capital
AP has been grappling with the question of a cap-
ital ever since bifurcation. In 2014, the Union Mi-
nistry of Home Affairs set up the Sivaramakrish-
nan Committee to study possibilities for a new
capital for the State. The Committee said there
was no need for a “single super capital city” and
favoured decentralisation. It opposed a green-
field capital as it believed that the costs of build-
ing it were too high. However, the Committee ad-
ded that if the government still wished to
construct a greenfield capital, it should search
for locations where large parcels of government
land were available.
Notwithstanding the recommendations of the
Committee, in September 2014, Naidu finalised
Amaravati as the capital on the basis of recom-
CM
YK
THE HINDU
GROUND ZERO
mendations of a panel headed by the Minister for
Not a single
day would
pass without
Municipal Administration, P. Narayana. The next
year, on October 22, the Prime Minister laid the
foundation stone for Amaravati at Uddandarayu-
nipalem village in Thullur Mandal.
A petition questioned the role of the Centre in
the police the State’s capital decision. The Supreme Court
said the setting up of the capital city was within
cracking
the State government’s discretionary powers.
down on Naidu was thrilled. He involved the Governments
farmers who of Singapore and Japan and renowned architects
spearheaded such as Foster + Partners to lend their expertise
the agitation. in designing and building the capital city, which
A. RAJANI was to be spread over 217 sq km and span the
Farmer erstwhile Guntur and Krishna districts.
“The TDP government had invited tenders
worth ₹48,000 crore for Phase-I of the capital ci-
ty project and even made payments amounting
to nearly ₹9,000 crore for works that had been
completed,” recalls Narayana.
Several villas and high-rise buildings were
constructed to house judges, bureaucrats, elect-
ed representatives of the State, and gazetted and
non-gazetted officers in Amaravati. An interim
government complex came up at Velagapudi,
about 20 kilometres from Vijayawada.
A ghost city
However, in 2019, all this came to a grinding halt
when the YSCRP government rode to power.
Reddy believed in decentralisation. His govern-
ment passed the Andhra Pradesh Capital Deve-
lopment Authority Repeal Act, 2020. Promptly,
all the new buildings constructed by the previous
TDP government were abandoned except the in-
terim government complex. Amaravati turned
into a ghost city overnight. Until June this year,
pipes, cables, and other construction material
could be seen everywhere, gathering dust. Roads
were lined with weeds. Dense vegetation had
grown around high-rise buildings.
Many people in the region say they lost a great
deal due to the agony of the changing circum-
stances. P. Bharat, a farmer who gave 2.5 acres of
land for the capital to the TDP government, alleg-
A view of the Haritha Resorts on Rushikonda Hill in Bheemunipatnam Assembly constituency. V. RAJU
es that his wife, a computer operator working on
contract in the Thullur Mandal Revenue Office,
lost her job because of the YSRCP. “Our child had
dressed up as Lord Venkateswara during the
protests against the capital shift. They fired her
on finding that out,” he says.
Hundreds of farmers describe January 10,
2020, as “an unforgettable day”. This was when
they embarked on a journey to the Kanaka Durga
temple in Vijayawada on foot to pray that Amara-
vati be retained as the capital of Andhra Pradesh
and were stopped by the police. “Several women
were injured in the clashes,” recalls Gottipati
Lakshmi, a farmer who was part of the protest.
Besides affecting the people, the AP Capital
Development Authority Repeal Act, 2020, and
the AP Decentralisation and Inclusive Develop-
ment of All Regions Act, 2020, which were in-
tended to split the capital into three parts,
sparked a major legal battle.
The Rajadhani Rythu Parirakshana Samithi, an
association of aggrieved farmers from the capital
villages, along with other entities challenged the
YSRCP government’s decision in court soon after
Reddy proposed the idea of three capitals.
On March 3, 2022, the YSRCP government was
forced to beat a hasty retreat after the High Court
ruled that the government had no legislative
competence to shift or even split the capital. The
Court issued an order saying the government
should develop Amaravati as the capital within
six months.
However, during its hearing of a Special Leave
Petition filed by the YSRCP government against
the High Court order dated March 3, 2022, the Su-
preme Court observed that the High Court was
“not a town planner or engineer” to say that Am-
aravati should be developed in a particular time
frame. The Special Leave Petition is pending final
adjudication by the apex court.
All eyes on Visakhapatnam
Meanwhile, with Reddy announcing Visakhapat-
nam as the executive capital, hectic political ac-
tivity and infrastructure development began in
the coastal city in 2019. While TDP and Jana Sena
Party ( JSP) leaders from other parts of the State
questioned his decision, local TDP and JSP lead-
ers welcomed it given the public sentiment in
Visakhapatnam.
There were several debates over where the ex-
ecutive capital should be located. After a series of
inspections, the YSRCP zeroed in on the Bheemu-
nipatnam region, located in south Visakhapat-
nam district, which is also considered the gate-
way to Visakhapatnam.
The decision led to an increase in land prices.
Construction activity boomed in many parts of
the city, especially Hanumanthuwaka, Arilova,
Marikavalasa, Madhurawada, Kommadi, PM Pa-
7
We never imagined that Reddy would try and
shift the capital. Regardless of who the Chief
Minister is, they should ensure continuity of
governance.
GADDE TIRUPATI RAO
Managing trustee of Amaravati Parirakshana Samithi
lem, and Rushikonda.
“People wanted to purchase flats or sites when
the capital announcement was made, assuming
that the prices would see a drastic increase when
the capital work began,” says Koteswara Rao, a
realtor from the city.
The government formed a committee to select
suitable places for the offices of various depart-
ments, head offices, and the camp office of the
Chief Minister. It recommended using existing
structures as temporary offices. Some engineer-
ing colleges were also proposed to be used as go-
vernment buildings.
The Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corpo-
ration and Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region
Development Authority developed roads in the
wards of the Bheemunipatnam Assembly Consti-
tuency, which had been neglected for years.
Residents say there were regular inspections
by government officials, YSRCP ministers, and
MLAs in the region. “They used to check the de-
velopment of roads and the feasibility of con-
structing some government blocks in the sur-
rounding areas of Rushikonda and
Bheemunipatnam,” says one resident. The
YSRCP government reportedly planned to make
the existing IT Towers and Special Economic
Zone region temporary office blocks.
“The present Greater Visakhapatnam Munici-
pal Corporation office was to be used as a Munici-
pal Administration and Urban Development De-
partment office. In contrast, a new office for the
Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation
was being allotted at the outskirts,” says a senior
roads and buildings department official.
Government officials and ministers began
looking for apartments in Madhurawada and
Yendada, which are located close to Bheemuni-
patnam. The YSRCP government organised sev-
eral meetings, including an Investors Summit, to
attract investments to Visakhapatnam.
In 2021, a major controversy erupted when the
YSRCP government demolished the government-
owned Haritha Resorts on Rushikonda Hill in
Bheemunipatnam Assembly Constituency, claim-
ing that the space would be developed as a five-
star resort for tourism. The TDP, JSP, and BJP al-
leged that the YSRCP government was construct-
ing the Chief Minister’s residence by destroying a
hill.
Last October, a committee appointed by the
YSRCP government said that the construction on
Rushikonda would be suitable for the Chief Minis-
ter’s camp office. When the YSRCP lost the elec-
tions in June this year, TDP and JSP leaders
barged into the site and alleged that the YSRCP
government was constructing the Chief Minis-
ter’s residence-cum-camp office at a staggering
₹500 crore.
Optimism once again
Now, with the TDP back in power, Amaravati has
come alive again. The sounds of more than 100
earth-movers clearing the jungles and doing civil
repair work have broken the eerie calm that has
prevailed for the last five years. Farmers have
gone by foot to Tirumala to express gratitude to
Lord Venkateswara for TDP’s return to power.
Naidu says he intends to rebuild the capital as
soon as possible on the basis of the old master
plan. “At a high-level review meeting, the govern-
ment will arrive at the estimated cost of recon-
struction,” says Narayana.
Gadde Tirupati Rao, managing trustee of Ama-
ravati Parirakshana Samithi, a group of farmers
affected by the proposed capital shift, points out
that the lands were given not to Naidu, but to the
government. “We never imagined that Reddy
would try and shift the capital. Regardless of who
the Chief Minister is, they should ensure conti-
nuity of governance,” he says.
The fact that the original Capital Region Deve-
lopment Authority Act of 2014 was restored by
the YSRCP government as a consequence of the
High Court order has offered no solace to farmers
as the dispute has still not been solved in the Su-
preme Court.
With the YSRCP reduced to just 11 MLAs in the
175-member Legislative Assembly, Naidu is likely
to face little resistance to his ambitious plan. In
the 2024 Assembly elections, the YSRCP was de-
feated in both the Mangalagiri and Tadikonda As-
sembly constituencies in which Amaravati falls. It
also did not win a single seat in the three urban
constituencies of Visakhapatnam, and Kurnool.
One major challenge Naidu faces is the finan-
cial crunch in the State. However, the Centre may
come to his aid as it is obliged under the AP Reor-
ganisation Act to extend financial support for
capital development.
Resentment in Kurnool
While Amaravati has begun to spring back to life,
there is disappointment in Kurnool, which will
not become the judicial capital in the changed
circumstances.
Lawyers say Naidu should fulfil his election
promise of creating a High Court Bench in Kur-
nool, now that their hopes of having the principal
seat of the High Court in Kurnool are dashed gi-
ven the government’s plan of establishing a single
capital city, Amaravati. The Reddy government
had established “quasi-judicial institutions” such
as Lokayukta and Human Rights Commission in
Kurnool as a prelude to its much-publicised slo-
gan of making Kurnool the judicial capital. The la-
wyers hope that the two institutions will be al-
lowed to continue in Kurnool. “This is all we ask
now,” they say.
With inputs from Harish Gilai in Visakhapatnam
and K. Uma Shankar in Kurnool
M KI-KIE
 THE HINDU
8 Saturday, June 29, 2024

News Kochi

From Page One

Fresh dates
announced
Roof collapse at Delhi
for UGC-NET,
2 other tests
airport claims one life
Press Trust of India
IndiGo will move its T1 flights to T2 and T3, while NEW DELHI
SpiceJet will move them to Terminal 2 until the
team from IIT-Delhi examines the cause of the col- The National Testing Agen-
lapse and T1 is reopened. cy (NTA) on Friday night
“Since it was raining, it was difficult to under- announced the new dates
stand what had happened. People, mostly cab of cancelled and post-
drivers, started running around while the cabs
were on the road. I too was running when a piece
of the roof fell on my head. When I checked, I saw
poned examinations, in-
cluding the UGC-NET,
amid a raging row over al-
blood and panicked,” said Santosh Kumar Yadav, a leged irregularities in their
private cab driver, who sustained head injuries in conduct.
the incident. The UGC-NET, which
The incident happened around 5 a.m. outside was cancelled a day after
the departure section of T1, which is a two-storey being conducted on June
building with arrivals on the ground floor and de- 18, will now be held from
partures on the first floor. The departure section August 21 to September 4.
of T1 was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra The rescheduled exam
Modi in March 2024. However, Minister of Civil will now be conducted ac-
Aviation Rammohan Naidu said that the forecourt cording to the earlier pat-
area was not part of the renovated building, but tern of computer-based
was constructed in 2008-09. test (CBT) spread across a
The airport has extended an ex-gratia of ₹20 fortnight.
lakh for the family of the deceased and ₹3 lakh for The CSIR UGC-NET will
those injured. The government has also asked air- be conducted from July 25
lines to ensure there is no abnormal surge in air- to July 27.
fares for Delhi flights due to Friday’s The National Common
cancellations. Entrance Test (NCET) for
Delhi International Airport Limited (DIAL) is a admission to the four-year
joint venture led by GMR Airports Limited, which Integrated Teacher Educa-
owns a 64% stake. tion Programme (ITEP) in
The Delhi Police registered a case under Sec- select Central and State un-
tions 304A (causing death by negligence) and 337 iversities or institutions
(causing hurt by act endangering life or personal will now be conducted on
safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) July 10.
against unknown persons.
Jharkhand school principal
held in NEET paper leak case
CBI arrests Oasis School head Ahsanul Haque and vice-principal Imtiaz Alam; agency detains six
more from the State; Haque had admitted that the question paper envelope was tampered with
Amit Bhelari
PATNA
day after arresting
A two from Patna in
the NEET-UG paper
leak case, the Central Bu-
reau of Investigation (CBI)
arrested a school principal
and vice-principal in Jhark-
hand on Friday.
CBI officials took Oasis
School principal Ahsanul
Haque and vice-principal
Imtiaz Alam, who was the
exam centre coordinator,
into custody and rushed to
Patna late at night.
The agency also de-
tained six others from
Jharkhand for questioning.
From day one, the
school in Hazaribagh was
at the centre of the paper
leak controversy. The Bi-
har police had earlier said
that a partially burnt ques-
tion paper recovered from
a play school in Patna
matched with the question
paper received from the
National Testing Agency
CBI officials at the Oasis School for investigation into the NEET-UG
paper leak case, in Hazaribagh district of Jharkhand on Friday. PTI
(NTA), which conducts the
medical entrance exam.
The series of that question
paper had then been sent
to the NEET-UG examina-
tion centre at the Oasis
School, they said.
On Wednesday, the CBI
questioned the SBI officials
and the courier company
that transported the NEET
question papers.
Four days ago, in a con-
versation with The Hindu,
Mr. Haque had admitted
that the box and envelope
containing the NEET ques-
tion papers had been cut
open. He said the digital
lock was supposed to open
by itself at 1.15 p.m. on May
5, the day of the test. Ho-
wever, when it did not
open, it was seen that the
outer box had been
opened using a cutter. He
admitted that the envelope
within the box had also
been tampered with, and
showed a precise cut.
Sources said the vice-
principal too had a role in
the case. It was found that
the question papers were
brought from the SBI to the
school in the SUV belong-
ing to Mr. Alam. On Thurs-
day, electronic devices, in-
cluding the printer from
the principal’s office, were
seized from the Oasis
School, CBI sources said.
Questioned for 3 hours
On Friday morning, an
eight-member CBI team
took Mr. Haque and Mr.
Alam to the school where
they were questioned after
three hours.
The NEET question pap-
ers were delivered to the
bank by the Blue Dart cou-
rier company using an e-
rickshaw on May 3. The
same was delivered from
the bank to the school on
May 5. Sources in the CBI
said the agency also ques-
tioned the e-rickshaw driv-
er who delivered the ques-
tion papers to the bank.
Unfortunate
that govt. does
not want a
debate: Rahul
The Hindu Bureau
NEW DELHI
Leader of the Opposition
(LoP) in the Lok Sabha Ra-
hul Gandhi, in a video ad-
dressed to candidates of
NEET and other competi-
tive exams, said on Friday
that it was unfortunate that
the Narendra Modi govern-
ment did not want a dis-
cussion on the paper leak
issue in Parliament.
“The idea behind the
discussion was to get a re-
solution to this issue. It is
unfortunate the govern-
ment didn’t want it. It
seemed to me the direc-
tion was directly from the
Prime Minister,” Mr. Gand-
hi said in the video posted
on X.
“It is sad the Prime Mi-
nister of India, who should
be leading the discussion
and should be telling us
about his opinion and
what he is going to do,
simply doesn’t want a de-
bate. We don’t want to
fight the government, we
want to place our views on
the table,” he added.

Soren freed from jail as Cong. MP Phulo Devi NTA reform panel calls for suggestions
High Court grants bail faints during protest from students, parents; time till July 7
He asserted that he had been put behind bars on
the basis of false and concocted stories.
in Rajya Sabha Well Maitri Porecha and inflated ranks, a tie-
“Many people like me are in jail. Even the Delhi NEW DELHI breaker formula will be ap-
CM is in jail, and to get justice, it takes a long time. The Hindu Bureau plied in counselling and al-
People who are working in their field with hones- NEW DELHI The high-level committee location of seats, where
ty are being troubled. I will keep fighting for the appointed by the Centre to those who got higher
cause of the people and the tribals. My release is a There was high drama in review conduct of exami- marks in biology and so on
message not only for the State but for the country the Rajya Sabha on Friday nations and functioning of will be given preference,”
that a conspiracy was hatched against me,” he when Congress MP Phulo the beleaguered National the source told The Hindu.
said. Devi Netam fainted while Testing Agency (NTA) has Meanwhile, Union Edu-
During the hearing, Mr. Soren’s lawyer Kapil Si- protesting in the Well of invited suggestions from cation Minister Dharmen-
bal had argued that the case was civil in nature. the House. stakeholders, particularly dra Pradhan said on Friday
The land was described as Bhuinhari (non-salea- Ms. Netam and other Phulo Devi Netam parents and students. that the government is rea-
ble under the Chota Nagpur Tenancy Act) and Opposition members were The committee chaired dy to discuss the issue in
cannot be transferred, so there was no possibility protesting against Chair- her blood pressure shot by former Indian Space Re- Parliament. He also said
of money laundering in the case, he said. person Jagdeep Dhank- up. After this episode, the search Organisation (ISRO) Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has said the strictest action that new dates for can-
The court order, which is in the possession of har’s decision not to allow Rajya Sabha reconvened to Chairman K. Radhakrish- would be taken against those responsible for exam irregularities. PTI celled exams (such as UGC-
The Hindu, says, “The overall conspectus of the a discussion on NEET pap- discuss the Motion of nan is looking into exami- NET and NEET-PG) will be
case based on the broad probabilities does not er leaks. She said they had Thanks on the President’s nation processes, enhanc- mittee will accept sugges- vestigation, the Supreme announced soon.
specifically or indirectly assign the petitioner to been demanding a discus- address and BJP member ing data security protocols, tions till July 7, aspirants Court has refused to stay “When the President
be involved in the acquisition and possession as sion on the issue for four to Kavita Patidar seconded and structure as well as op- who sat for the medical en- the counselling process. herself spoke about the ex-
well as concealment of 8.86 acre of land connect- five hours. Hence, when the motion moved by erations of the NTA. trance test NEET-UG, will The NTA is expected to file am in her speech on Thurs-
ed to the ‘proceeds of crime’. None of the register/ the Upper House reassem- another BJP MP Sudanshu The panel has sought have to undergo counsell- a detailed response in the day, it shows the govern-
revenue records bear imprint of the direct invol- bled after recess, Opposi- Trivedi. feedback from stakehol- ing process for allocation top court on July 8. ment’s intention that we
vement of the petitioner in the acquisition and tion MPs trooped into the Opposition MPs criti- ders between June 27 and of seats from July 6 While the students had are ready to face the is-
possession of the said land.” Well and shouted slogans. cised the Chairperson for July 7 on onwards. raised suspicion over the sue… our responsibility is
The court order further says, “The conse- That was when Ms. Ne- continuing with House innovateindia.mygov.in. Despite continuous increase in high scores in towards the youth, the stu-
quences of the findings recorded by this Court sa- tam fell. Seeing this, Mr. proceedings despite the in- The seven-member protests by students over NEET, sources in the Minis- dents of the country. We
tisfies the condition as at Section 45 PMLA, 2002 Dhankhar asked her fellow cident. Congress president committee formed on June alleged irregularities in the try of Education said that are going to take the stric-
to the effect that there is reason to believe that pe- MPs to help her and ad- Mallikarjun Kharge, who 22 met for the first time conduct of NEET, first in- the high scores was due to test action and the CBI is
titioner is not guilty of the offence as alleged.” journed the House till 2.30 visited Ms. Netam in the earlier this week on June formation reports (FIRs) the question paper being going to arrest everyone.
The ED arrested Mr. Soren on January 31 after p.m. She was rushed to the hospital, said she was 24 at the Indian Institute of being filed across multiple simpler when compared to We are hoping to discuss
questioning him for over seven hours in the case, RML hospital. awaiting a CT scan and Technology-Delhi to kick- States and the Central Bu- previous years. this issue in both Houses
which is related to forging the land documents for She told the media later more medical tests over start the reform process. reau of Investigation (CBI) “With many students on Monday, Tuesday and
8.86 acres in the Badgai area of Ranchi. that she had felt dizzy and the next few days. While the reform com- launching a nationwide in- getting similar high scores Wednesday,” he said.

Uproar in Parliament
over NEET-UG issue
Minister urges U.P. CM to look Modi is matchless, cannot be
Though the Rajya Sabha started the debate on the
into ‘caste bias’ in govt. posts compared with Nehru: Trivedi
Motion of Thanks to the President for her address
to Parliament, there were dramatic moments as Ishita Mishra interview on the basis of Press Trust of India
Congress MP Phulo Devi Netam fainted in the NEW DELHI their merit. “Hence it is NEW DELHI
House while protesting with other Opposition beyond comprehension
MPs. Union Minister of State for that candidates from OBC Prime Minister Narendra
In a rare instance, the Leader of the Opposition Health and Family Welfare and SC/ST communities Modi is “matchless” and
(LoP) in the Rajya Sabha and Congress chief Malli- Anupriya Patel has written are being repeatedly de- cannot be compared with
karjun Kharge was seen walking into the well of to Uttar Pradesh Chief Mi- clared as ‘Not Found Suita- Jawaharlal Nehru as he was
the House. Expressing his anguish over this, nister Yogi Adityanath, al- ble’ and that this should be elected unanimously to
Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar said this was the first leging bias in appoint- stopped by taking effective lead his party, unlike the
time in history that the LoP had come into the ments of Other Backward action to stop the anger Congress leader who got
well of the House, a charge promptly refuted by Class (OBC), Schedule Anupriya Patel arising among the candi- zero votes despite Mahat-
Congress chief whip Jairam Ramesh. Caste and Schedule Tribe dates from these commun- ma Gandhi’s support, BJP
In the Lok Sabha, LoP Rahul Gandhi also raised candidates in government daya Vidyalayas, Sainik ities,” she said. leader Sudhanshu Trivedi No comparison: BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi speaks in the Rajya
the issue of NEET, soon after Mr. Birla read out the jobs in the State. Ms. Patel Schools and medical cours- Ms. Patel urged the said in the Rajya Sabha on Sabha during the Parliament session in New Delhi on Friday. PTI
obituaries of 13 former MPs. “We wanted to send a heads the Apna Dal (S), a es to ensure their bright fu- Chief Minister to organise Friday.
joint message to the students of India from the Op- member of the National ture. “The candidates from multiple rounds of inter- Mr. Trivedi sought to Modi is matchless and can- ed with the Congress.
position and the government side that we consid- Democratic Alliance. OBC and SC/ST communi- views to fill the posts and counter Opposition asser- not be compared with Mr. On the Congress’ stand
er this important and to respect the students, we Ms. Patel’s letter, writ- ties are contacting me and not declare them tions that Mr. Modi cannot Nehru. Mr. Modi has also that it was working to save
will have a dedicated discussion on NEET,” Mr. ten on her party’s letter- saying that they are often unreserved. equal the achievement of had matchless achieve- the Constitution of India,
Gandhi said. The chair did not permit him to head, comes weeks after declared “Not Found Suita- Nehru, saying Modi is atul- ments),” he said. he said the Constitution
make a long speech, urging him to speak about the BJP’s poor perfor- ble” for the posts reserved BJP’s response niya (matchless) and there Nehru, he said, came was always under threat
NEET during the Motion of Thanks. Congress MPs mance in the Lok Sabha for them in various com- Reacting to Ms. Patel’s let- a vast difference in his ap- from an affluent back- when the grand old party
then alleged that Mr. Gandhi’s microphone was election and is being seen petitive examinations con- ter, a senior BJP office- proach to dealing with is- ground while Modi came was in power. He said the
turned off. as part of a tussle within ducted by the State govern- bearer from Uttar Pradesh sues facing the nation and from a very humble family. Congress government
“I have told you before that I don’t have a but- the party and its allies in ment that have an said: “At a time when the the one adopted by the Mr. Trivedi said while changed the Preamble of
ton here to turn off the microphone,” Mr. Birla Uttar Pradesh. interview-based recruit- BJP is trying to overcome first Prime Minister. Nehru jailed people for the Constitution and mis-
told the House. In her letter, written on ment process. Later, these its loss in the polls, majorly “The Opposition keeps criticism, the Modi govern- used provisions of the Con-
Mr. Birla and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ki- Friday, Ms. Patel said the posts are declared unre- due to the Opposition’s asserting that Nehru can- ment has not taken any ac- stitution to dismiss elected
ren Rijiju told Opposition members that they NDA government under served,” she wrote. pitch in which it almost not be compared with Mr. tion against his critics. state governments.
could raise the issue of NEET during the debate on the leadership of Prime Mi- The Minister said that convinced the backward Modi. I also believe that He further said Nehru Referring to the Shah
the Motion of Thanks. As members from the Con- nister Narendra Modi has Mr. Adityanath would sections of voters that the there can be no compari- awarded the Bharat Ratna Bano case, when Rajiv
gress, Trinamool Congress and the DMK stormed taken steps to provide re- agree that candidates from party will change the Con- son,” he said. to himself, while Mr. Modi Gandhi was the Prime Mi-
into the well, Mr. Rijiju said that this was the first servation for students of OBC and SC/ST communi- stitution if given 400 seats, “Modi ji Nehru ji kay tul- has conferred the highest nister, Mr. Trivedi said the
time the Opposition was seen demanding a dis- Backward Classes in the ties fulfil the minimum elig- this letter by the party’s al- na me ek atulniya PM hain civilian award to people Congress party placed
cussion on an issue even before the House took up entrance examination of ibility criteria for these ex- ly may further dent the rul- aur unhone yeah atulniya across party lines, includ- ‘Sharia’ above the
the Motion of Thanks. Kendriya Vidyalayas, Navo- aminations and reach the ing party.” uplabdhi haasil ki hai (Mr. ing three leaders associat- Constitution.
CM M KI-KIE
YK
 THE HINDU
Saturday, June 29, 2024 9
Kochi
News

Northern
States brace
for heavy rain
till July 2
The Hindu Bureau
CHANDIGARH
As the monsoon continues
to advance, rain is expect-
ed to intensify across the
northern States, including
Punjab, Haryana, Hima-
chal Pradesh, and Chandi-
garh over the weekend.
Shimla, the capital of Hi-
machal Pradesh, wit-
nessed heavy rain on Fri-
day, while other parts of
the State also experienced
moderate rain.
According to the India
Meteorological Depart-
ment (IMD) at Shimla, the
rain activity is likely to in-
tensify from Saturday.
Light to moderate intensity
rain is expected in low and
mid-hill districts of the
State between June 28 and
July 1.
As per the IMD, very
heavy rainfall is expected
at isolated places over Ha-
ryana between June 29 and
July 1 and over Punjab bet-
ween June 30 and July 1.
A spell of heavy rainfall
is expected at isolated plac-
es in Chandigarh between
June 28 till July 2, it said.
4 killed as monsoon brings Corruption and negligence
record rainfall to capital city behind collapse of shoddy
Delhi receives 228 mm rain, the highest in a 24-hour period in June since 1936; the downpour
left several arterial roads waterlogged, causing traffic jams and affecting several low-lying areas
The Hindu Bureau
NEW DELHI
our people died and
F several were injured
as the southwest
monsoon arrived in the na-
tional capital, bringing
with it 228 mm of rainfall in
a span of 24 hours, mostly
concentrated between 3
a.m. and 8.30 a.m. on Fri-
day. This is the highest
rainfall recorded in a 24-
hour period in Delhi in
June since 1936.
The deluge left several
arterial roads waterlogged
causing traffic jams and af-
fecting several low-lying
areas. It led to the closure
of several underpasses, in-
cluding the recently con-
structed Pragati Maidan
tunnel, the road under
Minto Bridge, the ITO rail-
way crossing, and the
Moolchand underpass.
Several colony roads were
also inundated, with water
filling the basements and
flowing into the ground
floor. As a precautionary
Vehicles pass through a waterlogged road in New Delhi on Friday. R. V. MOORTHY
measure, power was dis-
connected in large parts of
the capital to prevent inci-
dents of electrocution.
Two children — aged 8
and 10, both residents of
New Usmanpur in north-
east Delhi — drowned in a
rainwater pool in the Kha-
dar area, the police said.
They went swimming, but
they drowned as the water
was deep, they added.
According to DCP
(Southwest) Rohit Meena,
three labourers in Vasant
Vihar were trapped in the
muddy waters and are yet
to be rescued. “The men
are feared dead but it can-
not be confirmed,” he said.
Another person in north-
west Delhi died after being
electrocuted.
“Water started draining
immediately after the rain
stopped. We had an emer-
gency meeting to take
stock of the situation and a
24x7 control room has
been set up at the PWD
headquarters to monitor
the situation and deploy
pumps wherever re-
quired,” Delhi Water Minis-
ter Atishi said.
infrastructure, says Kharge
The Hindu Bureau
NEW DELHI
The roof collapse at the In-
dira Gandhi International
(IGI) airport in Delhi on
Friday prompted Opposi-
tion leaders to hit out at
the government for the
poor quality of infrastruc-
ture, for which they also
blamed “corruption” as
well as “ribbon-cutting ce-
remonies” before
elections.
“Corruption and crimi-
nal negligence are respon-
sible for the collapse of
shoddy infrastructure fall-
ing like a deck of cards, in
the past 10 years of Modi
govt.,” Congress president
Mallikarjun Kharge wrote
on X.
He cited various inci-
dents, including the roof
collapse at the Jabalpur air-
port this week, water leak-
age at the Ram Mandir and
potholes on the roads lead-
ing up to it following rains,
cracks on the Mumbai
Trans Harbour Link road,
collapse of 13 new bridges
Civil Aviation Minister
K. Rammohan Naidu at the IGI
airport in Delhi on Friday.
in Bihar in 2023 and 2024,
submergence of the newly
built tunnel near Pragati
Maidan in the national cap-
ital, and the Morbi bridge
collapse in Gujarat in 2022.
‘Corrupt and inept’
The canopy of the fore-
court that collapsed is out-
side the Terminal 1 build-
ing at the IGI. Prime
Minister Narendra Modi in-
augurated Terminal 1 in
March after it underwent
renovation work from 2019
to bring both arrivals and
departures under one roof.
Referring to this inaugu-
ration, Mr. Kharge said the
government was indulging
in “ribbon-cutting ceremo-
nies before elections” and
called it “corrupt and in-
ept”.
Civil Aviation Minister K.
Rammohan Naidu as well
as the GMR-owned airport
explained that the canopy
itself was constructed in
2008-2009.
Congress leader Gaurav
Gogoi said “the common
man is helpless because
the government is working
for big industrialists and
contractors”, resulting in
flaws across road, rail and
airport infrastructure.
Communist Party of In-
dia leader D. Raja said on
X, “Infrastructure develop-
ment has to be people-cen-
tric and sustainable but
Modi made it photo-cen-
tric. BJP and PM Modi’s ob-
session with inauguration
and claiming credit is
creating hardships for the
people. Poor quality infras-
tructure has also exposed
rampant corruption.”

Have full faith in Centre, Manipur
figures in NDA’s 100-day plan: Biren
Abhinay Lakshman
IMPHAL
The Union government has
started having “positive
discussions” on the con-
flict in Manipur and it is a
“great achievement” that
resolution of the crisis is
part of the 100-day plan of
the new National Demo-
cratic Alliance (NDA) go-
vernment, Chief Minister
N. Biren Singh told The
Hindu during an interac-
tion on Friday. He added
he has “full confidence”
that the Centre under-
stands the issues in
Manipur.
This comes on a day
when the Coordinating
Committee on Manipur In-
tegrity (COCOMI), one of
the most influential civil
society organisations
(CSOs) in the Imphal Val-
ley, took out a mass rally
where thousands of peo-
ple, including several Mei-
ra Paibi groups, protested
against the Centre’s han-
dling of the conflict, ac-
cused it of being involved
in the “extermination of in-
digenous peoples of Mani-
pur”, and raised slogans
against any compromise
on the integrity of Mani-
pur’s borders.
Mr. Singh said of the
protests earlier in the day,
“I am listening to the peo-
ple. We cannot reveal what
the Centre is planning at
the moment. The public’s
anger will subside once
these plans reveal them-
selves. The public is angry
and wants a quick solution.
Everyone does. But this is-
sue is so complex that you
cannot rush it.”
The Chief Minister ad-
Women take part in the ‘Save Manipur Walk’ from the Thau Ground
to Khumanlampak Stadium in Imphal on Friday. PTI
ded he is confident that the
Centre will not succumb to
any demands that threaten
the territorial integrity of
Manipur.
Ever since the conflict
broke out on May 3, 2023,
the Kuki-Zo community
had been insisting that the
only way to bring peace
back was to carve out a
separate administration
for their people in the form
of a Union Territory.
Soon after the violence
broke out, a Unified Com-
mand was set up in the
State to take security-relat-
ed decisions, which report-
ed to the Centre. This com-
mand has been headed by
Security Adviser Kuldiep
Singh.
However, since this ap-
paratus had begun func-
tioning, the people of Ma-
nipur, and newly elected
Congress MP of Inner Ma-
nipur, A. Bimol Akoijam,
have routinely asked
whether the State govern-
ment or Centre is in-charge
of the law and order situa-
tion in the State, and who
should be held
accountable.
Mr. Singh told The Hin-
du, “This centralisation of
the command for the last
one year has been done for
the good [of people]. But
the effectiveness of this
structure has to be seen on
the ground, then people
will be happy. The people
in the field here have to
start dealing with the
ground realities here from
time to time. Some excess-
es, legally, if needed, might
be necessary.”
He added that the bor-
der-fencing work along the
Indo-Myanmar border in
Manipur had started and
that the State government
was already in the process
of identifying and clearing
land for the said work.
On rumours that some
MLAs from Manipur were
now calling for his resigna-
tion, the Chief Minister ca-
tegorically denied it. He
said, “Almost 35 MLAs had
met with me on Thursday
and the decision was taken
to seek an appointment for
a meeting with the Prime
Minister and Home Minis-
ter. That is all.”
Earlier in the day, at the
mass rally attended by
thousands from across Im-
52-day Amarnath Yatra begins today,
security tightened in Kashmir Valley
phal, Moirang and Bishnu- Peerzada Ashiq first batch of 4,603 pil- base camps located in the need to follow the cut-
pur districts, among oth- SRINAGAR grims from the Yatri Niwas south and central Kash- off timings for vehicles car-
ers, the COCOMI and allied at Bhagwati Nagar in Jam- mir’s tourist places of Pa- rying pilgrims to the Valley.
Meitei organisations raised With elaborate and multi- mu, with devotees raising halgam and Sonmarg. He directed the security
calls for an end to the “di- ple security rings in place, slogans and singing This year’s pilgrimage is agencies to remain vigi-
vide and rule policy of In- the first batch of pilgrims hymns. taking place under the sha- lant, adhere to standard
dia”, and also demanded arrived in the Kashmir Val- “Elaborate security ar- dow of militant threat after operating procedures, and
that all combing opera- ley on Friday for the an- rangements have been put nine pilgrims were killed conduct regular training
tions and weapon recovery nual Amarnath Yatra, in place for the smooth and 33 injured in Reasi on and drills.
be suspended till the which will begin from the conduct of the pilgrimage,” June 9 when militants at- A three-tier security set-
armed conflict is brought twin base camps in the Val- Mr. Sinha said. tacked a bus carrying pil- up is in place at the base
to an end. ley on Saturday. This year, the Amarnath grims from Shiv Khori to camp in the Bhagwati Na-
The rally was also at- Earlier in the day, J&K Yatra will be held for 52 Katra. gar area in Jammu. Special
tended by hundreds of stu- Lieutenant-Governor Ma- days. Pilgrims are expect- J&K Director-General of Quick Reaction Teams
dents from schools and noj Sinha flagged off the ed to trek from the twin Police R.R. Swain stressed have also been constituted.
colleges of the city who
marched in their uniforms.
Their slogans included
calls to “eliminate all Ku-
kis, uproot Kukis from
Manipur”.
Responding to the sloga-
neering, the Indigenous
Tribal Leaders’ Forum, a
Kuki-Zo CSO in Chura-
chandpur, issued a state-
ment, calling these calls
“horrifying”, adding that
these “reflected the views
and attitude of the majori-
ty of the Meitei”. “Total
separation is the only solu-
tion,” the ITLF said.
Imphal West Indepen-
dent MLA Nishikanta Singh
Sapam, who also attended
the rally, said, “The people
are clearly feeling that the
need is to be able to pro-
tect themselves because
the administration has
failed them.”
After the rally, COCOMI
coordinator Th. Somoren-
dro put out a “People’s Re-
solution” which called for
expediting the process of
implementing the National
Register of Citizens so that
“foreign illegal immi-
grants” including the “Nar-
co-terrorist sections
among the Chin-Kukis”
can be deported.

M.P. Police arrest

24 for killing
bovine animals

The Madhya Pradesh Police

arrested 24 persons in
connection with the killing of
more than 60 bovine animals,
in Seoni district. Eight of the
arrested accused are from
Nagpur, where the conspiracy
to kill these animals was
hatched to whip up communal
frenzy, the police said.
“The persons were assigned
the job of killing the animals in
return for money and local
residents [of Seoni] were also
found to be involved in the
crime,” an official said. PTI
CM M KI-KIE
YK
 THE HINDU
10 Saturday, June 29, 2024

News Kochi

INBRIEF
쑽
German
Chancellor
to visit India
in October
Dinakar Peri
NEW DELHI
German Chancellor Olaf
Scholz is scheduled to visit
Petrol, diesel to be cheaper India in the second half of
October for inter-govern-
in Mumbai after VAT slashed
Petrol prices will come down by 65 paise a litre
mental consultations dur-
ing which ease of doing bu-
siness, migration,
and diesel by ₹2.60 a litre from July 1 in the geopolitics, and climate
Mumbai metropolitan region as the Maharashtra change will be high on the
government has decided a reduction in agenda, German Ambassa-
value-added tax on fuel, according to the State dor to India Philipp Acker-
government’s additional budget for 2024-25 that mann said on Friday.
was presented on Friday. This crucial move, with In addition, the 18th
the State going to polls this year, will cost the Asia-Pacific Conference of
exchequer ₹200 crore, Finance Minister Ajit German Business 2024
Pawar said. A monthly allowance of ₹1,500 for (APK 2024) is also sche-
women aged 21 to 60, three free LPG cylinders a duled to be held in the na-
year for a family of five, free electricity for tional capital from October
agriculture pumps, and a few other schemes 24 to 26. The Indian Navy’s
were also announced. multi-billion deal for six
conventional submarines
under P-75I in which TKMS
of Germany and Navantia
Fifth bridge collapses in of Spain are competing is
expected to figure promi-
Bihar in just over a week nently in talks during the
visit.
Another bridge has collapsed in Bihar, making it “This is the best mo-
the fifth such incident to have been reported in ment in history for India
the State in just over a week. The latest cave-in and German businesses.
has been reported from the Bheja police station German companies have
area of Madhubani district. Officials were never been more optimis-
tight-lipped about the incident, though sources in tic about India. They want
the Rural Works Department, which was to be part of ‘Make in In-
entrusted with the construction of the dia’, invest in India, local-
75-metre-long bridge, confirmed that one of its ise and produce in India,”
pillars got washed away a few days ago. They said said Stefan Halusa, Direc-
the bridge was being built at a cost of ₹3 crore tor General of the Indo-
over the Bhutahi river that has been in spate after German Chamber of Com-
heavy rains in the catchment areas of Nepal. PTI merce India (AHK India).
India slams ‘deeply biased’ U.S.
report on religious freedom
The report reflects ‘one-sided projection of issues’ and has selectively picked incidents to advance
a pre-conceived narrative, says government while questioning the law and order situation in U.S
Kallol Bhattacherjee
NEW DELHI
ndia on Friday
I slammed the U.S.
State Department’s re-
port on International Reli-
gious Freedom for 2023 as
“deeply biased” and said it
reflected “one-sided pro-
jection of issues”.
During the weekly press
briefing, External Affairs
Ministry spokesperson
Randhir Jaiswal said the re-
port questioned the “inte-
grity” of certain legal judg-
ments of the Indian courts
and highlighted the United
States’s own record in han-
dling domestic hate
crimes.
“The exercise itself is a
mix of imputations, misre-
presentations, selective us-
age of facts, reliance on
biased sources and a one-
sided projection of issues.
This extends even to the
depiction of our Constitu-
tional provisions and duly
enacted laws of India. It
has selectively picked inci-
dents to advance a pre-
conceived narrative as
well,” Mr. Jaiswal said.
On Wednesday, U.S. Se-
cretary of State Antony
Blinken unveiled the an-
nual report on internation-
al religious freedom and
pointed at a number of
countries for failing to pro-
tect religious rights of mi-
nority groups and basic hu-
man rights. He noted that a
wide array of violence
against religious minorities
were taking place in India
and said, “In India, we see
a concerning increase in
anti-conversion laws, hate
speech, demolitions of
homes and places of wor-
ship for members of mi-
nority faith communities.
At the same time, people
around the world are also
working hard to protect re-
ligious freedom.”
In nearly 69 pages dedi-
cated to the state of reli-
gious freedom in India, the
report elaborated on appa-
rent complicity between
the law enforcement agen-
cies and the majoritarian
The exercise
itself is a mix of
imputations,
misrepresentations,
selective usage of facts,
reliance on biased
sources and a one-sided
projection of issues
RANDHIR JAISWAL
MEA spokesperson
groups and flagged a num-
ber of factors like the cam-
paign for Uniform Civil
Code (UCC) as well as the
campaign for creating a
“Hindu Rashtra” in India.
Responding to the criti-
cism, Mr. Jaiswal raised the
law and order situation in
the U.S. and highlighted
the crimes committed by
racially motivated indivi-
duals against Indians and
other coloured communi-
ties. “In 2023, India has of-
ficially taken up numerous
cases in the U.S. of hate
crimes, racial attacks on
Indian nationals and other
minorities, vandalisation
and targeting of places of
worship, violence and mis-
treatment by law enforce-
ment authorities, as well as
the according of political
space to advocates of ex-
tremism and terrorism
abroad,” he said.
Mr. Blinken had focused
on Pakistan, India, and
other countries that also
included the U.S. for grow-
ing threat against religious
minorities and said, “In In-
dia, for example, Christian
communities reported that
local police aided mobs
that disrupted worship ser-
vices over accusations of
conversion activities or
stood by while mobs at-
tacked them and then ar-
rested the victims on con-
version charges.”
The U.S. report also re-
ferred to the drive for the
UCC and observed that “
various personal laws, in-
stead of a uniform civil
code, apply to members of
different religious com-
munities in matters of mar-
riage, divorce, adoption,
and inheritance based on
religion, faith, and cul-
ture”.
Referring to the remarks
regarding Indian legal pro-
visions, Mr. Jaiswal said the
report appeared to intrude
into the legislative affairs of
India. “In some cases, the
very validity of laws and
regulations are questioned
by the report, as are the
right of legislatures to
enact them,” he said.
Vikram Misri
Deputy NSA
Vikram Misri
is next Foreign
Secretary
The Hindu Bureau
NEW DELHI
Deputy National Security
Adviser Vikram Misri will
take charge as the Foreign
Secretary on July 15, the go-
vernment announced on
Friday. Mr. Misri, a former
Ambassador to China, will
succeed current Foreign
Secretary Vinay Mohan
Kwatra.
“Appointment of Vik-
ram Misri, IFS (1989), De-
puty National Security Ad-
visor in the National
Security Council Secreta-
riat to the post of Foreign
Secretary w.e.f. 15th July
2024 vice Shri Vinay Kwa-
tra,” the Personnel Minis-
try said in an announce-
ment.
Mr. Misri, known for be-
ing a specialist in India-Chi-
na relations, is expected to
bring a special focus on the
ongoing tension between
New Delhi and Beijing.

Screen all pregnant women for gestational India achieves ‘outstanding

diabetes with point-of-care test, say experts
Ramya Kannan
CHENNAI
Researchers from India,
London, and Africa have
proposed that the oral glu-
cose tolerance test (OGTT)
used to determine if a preg-
nant woman has deve-
loped gestational diabetes
be replaced by an HbA1c
test that can also be used at
the point of care. They
have recommended that
this be administered in ear-
ly pregnancy, during the
first trimester itself.
In a paper published in
The Lancet Diabetes and
Endocrinology, authors ar-
gued that HbA1c offers a
simple screening test for
gestational diabetes, allow-
ing those at highest risk to
receive early intervention
and greatly reduces the
need for OGTTs. Research-
ers used the results from
STRiDE, a prospective co-
hort study, set up in seven
centres in south India and
seven in western Kenya.
More than 90% of gestational diabetes cases are estimated to occur
in low-income and middle-income countries. AFP
Participants were also in-
cluded from the PRiDE co-
hort in the U.K.
The proposal is signifi-
cant for India. More than
90% of gestational diabetes
cases are estimated to oc-
cur in low-income and
middle-income countries.
Currently, guidelines re-
commend that mothers
take an OGTT, which is a
concentrated 75 g oral so-
lution at fasting, and then
wait two to three hours to
do a follow-up, at the 24 to
28-week stage. This throws
up a lot of challenges, par-
ticularly in screening wo-
men who are in far-flung
rural areas and in hard-to-
reach areas. In such situa-
tions, a trained health care
worker can instead be gi-
ven a point-of-care testing
kit and, with just a drop of
blood, test the woman for
HbA1c at her own home.
The study concluded
that in India, an HbA1c re-
sult of 4.9 rules out dia-
betes, while women who
have a score of 5.4 or above
can be ‘ruled in’ for gesta-
tional diabetes. If the risk
score classifies them in the
lowest risk group, they
would not have to take an
OGTT; only those in the in-
termediate group between
these two values would
have to do the more com-
plicated test. “We roughly
estimated this will be
around 25% of all pregnant
women,” explained P. Sara-
vanan, professor at the
Warwick Medical School in
the U.K.’s University of
Warwick, and one of the
authors of the study.
For rural, remote areas
“This would be particular-
ly useful for women living
in rural areas and hard-to-
reach terrains where OGTT
will be impossible to do.
Although the direct cost of
this is roughly double that
of OGTT, if you include the
cost of travel, lost wages,
etc, it will be cost neutral.
Moreover, HbA1c is cur-
rently more expensive
partly because it is not
used routinely. However,
more usage will also bring
the costs down,” he added.
V. Mohan of the Madras
Diabetes Research Founda-
tion, another author of the
paper, said the big advan-
tage is this could help
avoid 50% to 64% of all the
OGTTs being done current-
ly. “While we believe that
the OGTT is a gold stan-
dard test and still do it in
our labs, using point of
care HbA1c test would real-
ly make a difference in a
public health setting, by
being able to reach more
women who might other-
wise be left out of the net.”
Another of the authors,
Uma Ram, senior obstetri-
cian at Chennai’s Seetha-
pathy Clinic, pointed to
two advantages of HbA1c
test: it confers the ability to
identify a high-risk group
earlier on in pregnancy,
and an opportunity to in-
tervene with diet and exer-
cise. There is data that ear-
ly intervention helps
prevent development of
gestational diabetes.
outcome’ in FATF evaluation
Devesh K. Pandey
NEW DELHI
India has achieved an out-
standing outcome in the
mutual evaluation con-
ducted during 2023-24 by
the Financial Action Task
Force (FATF), the govern-
ment said on Friday.
The Mutual Evaluation
Report of India, which was
adopted at the FATF plen-
ary held in Singapore from
June 26 to 28, places India
in the “regular follow-up”
category, a distinction
shared by only four other
G-20 countries.
“This marks a signifi-
cant milestone in the na-
tion’s efforts to combat
money laundering (ML)
and terrorist financing
(TF),” read a Press Infor-
mation Bureau release.
In a statement, the FATF
said the plenary concluded
that India had reached a
high level of technical com-
pliance with its require-
ments. The country’s anti-
money laundering (AML),
The report was adopted at the
FATF plenary held in Singapore.
countering the financing of
terrorism (CFT), and coun-
ter-proliferation financing
(CPF) regime was achiev-
ing good results, including
international cooperation,
access to basic and benefi-
cial ownership informa-
tion, use of financial intelli-
gence, and depriving
criminals of their assets.
However, the FATF ob-
served that improvements
were needed to strengthen
the supervision and imple-
mentation of preventive
measures in some non-fi-
nancial sectors. “India also
needs to address delays re-
lating to concluding ML
and TF prosecutions, and
to ensure that CFT mea-
sures aimed at preventing
the non-profit sector from
being abused for TF are im-
plemented in line with the
risk-based approach, in-
cluding by conducting out-
reach to NPOs [Non-Profit
Organisations] on their TF
risks,” it said.
Among other things, the
FATF has recognised the ef-
forts made by India on the
issue of mitigating the risks
arising from ML/TF, in-
cluding the laundering of
proceeds from corruption,
fraud, and organised
crime, and the effective
measures implemented by
India to transition from a
cash-based to a digital eco-
nomy to reduce ML/TF
risks. “This recognition is a
testament to the rigorous
measures implemented ov-
er the last 10 years to safe-
guard the financial system
from ML/TF threats,” the
government said.

To solve this puzzle online,

SCAN TO PLAY
SUDOKU
14214 get across to our crossword site.
@ https://qrgo.page.link/jjpTn
쑽
(set by Gussalufz)

16 Seek carbon quota reforms at the earliest stage (4,2,6,3)

Across
9 Old, old relics repurposed as packing material (9)
10 Holding maybe a chunk of western venture capital (5)
11 Crack a ton; draw (7)
12 Is in Barcelona, absorbing encounters in retreat with counts (7)
13 Senior member of party getting foreign money (5)
14 Vampire's soup recipe: some type of blood with fresh veggies
(9)
CM
YK
Unexpected exits from dodgy road sport (9)
19
22 Log 10 miscalculated? Well! (5)
24 Wholesome meal unwrapped on desk (7)
26 "Trailer," per simmering wife describing fight (7)
27 Bar featured in bible verse (5)
28 Coffee and cigarettes essentially carried by French sycophant
(9)
Down
1 Settled up a bill involving Gussalufz (6)
2 Hic! City parties, drinking hard like a fish (8)
3 Happy to tour, I'm in and out (10)
4 Excellent weed, mine to roll up (6)
5 Devotee's bench in church, with "I DIE PURE" scribbled (4-4)
6 Pickle of squash? Maybe not right (4)
7 Dropping regulars!? Team's ethicist rejected proposal (6)
8 Sees drag racing as an Olympic sport (8)
15 Deals with rowdy male teenagers (10)
16 In Berlin, please rely on English getting ignored with
resentment (8)
17 Get away from the woman defending boundless love of force
(5,3)
18 Exceptional points in set — result: 1-0 (8)
20 Lively, uplifting musical showcasing Cuba (6)
21 Sea's full of unlimited epic colours (6)
23 Embarrassed about combat payment (6)
25 Poet excluded in recitation (4)
Solution to previous puzzle
FAITH
쑽
Lord saves Gajendra
The elephant Gajendra fought for several years to get liber-
ated from the crocodile’s clutches, but in vain. After get-
ting exhausted and all its faculties debilitated, it called
Lord Narayana for help, who rushed to the elephant’s res-
cue, shed tears, and told the elephant why he had not
called Him earlier. When the Lord asked the elephant
what boon he wanted, the latter pleaded that all those
who worship Him should be protected (Lokah samasthah
sukhino bhavanthu).
Trichy Sri Kalyanaraman said in a discourse how the
Tamil saint-poet Kambar had metaphorically handled the
doctrine of ‘Gajendra Moksha’ in his work Kamba Ra-
Solution to yesterday’s Sudoku
mayanam. In the Ayodhya Kanda, when Kaikeyi wanted to
see Rama, the speed at which Rama was going was like the
Lord transcending to save Gajendra. Dasaratha was like
the elephant, and Kaikeyi, the crocodile. In the Aranya
Kanda, when the demon Viraada was kicked by Rama, the
demon, realising his true nature, said his body was like the
crocodile and soul that of the elephant. In the Yuddha
Kanda, Kambar recalls Prahlada. When Prahlada’s father
tried to get his son killed by an elephant, Prahlada told the
elephant to remember that the Paramatma residing in his
heart had saved the elephant’s ancestor, Gajendra. The
elephant had withdrawn, unharming Prahlada.
M KI-KIE
 THE HINDU
Saturday, June 29, 2024 11
Kochi
Business

INBRIEF
쑽 Coal, electricity buoy core output MARKETS
쑽
MARKET WATCH
FRIDAY % CHANGE
May’s heatwave likely spurred output at the two energy sectors, Index of Core Industries (ICI) data show; production of Sensex dddddddddddddddddddddddddd 79,033 dddddddddddddddddddddddd -0.27
US Dollar ddddddddddddddddddddddd 83.34 dddddddddddddddddddddddddd 0.13
cement contracted for the second consecutive month to hit the lowest level since November; ICI growth eased to 6.3% Goldddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd 72,550 dddddddddddddddddddddddddd 0.51
Brent oil ddddddddddddddddddddddddd 86.44 dddddddddddddddddddddddddd 0.72

Vikas Dhoot tracted for the second suc- The eight core sectors
NEW DELHI cessive month, dipping constitute just over 40% of NIFTY 50
0.8% following a 0.5% fall the Index of Industrial Pro- PRICE CHANGE
Adani Enter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3177.15. . . . . . . . . . . . 2.00

O
utput growth in In- in April. However, in abso- duction (IIP). IIP growth Adani Ports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1478.10. . . . . . . . . . -7.40
dia’s eight core in- lute terms, cement pro- had slowed to a three- Apollo Hosp. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 6185.70. . . . . . . . . . -6.80
Asian Paints. . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2917.05. . . . . . . . . . 36.20
frastructure sec- duction levels were the month low of 5% in April, Axis Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1265.25. . . . . . . . -23.70

Ashok Leyland, Bajaj Finance tors eased to 6.3% in May,

from April’s 6.7%, with a
to offer vehicle financing double-digit rise in coal
and electricity production
Ashok Leyland has entered into a strategic pact offsetting contractions in
with Bajaj Finance to provide customised vehicle three sectors, including ce-
financing solutions to its customers across India. ment and fertilisers.
The MoU would enable both Ashok Leyland and Sequentially, the Index
Bajaj Finance to offer customised and seamless of Core Industries (ICI)
financial solutions to their customers, the rose 3.7% from April.
commercial vehicle manufacturer said in a Electricity generation
statement. “This strategic partnership will rose year-on-year at a se-
strengthen Ashok Leyland’s market position,” ven-month high pace of
said Ashok Leyland CFO K.M. Balaji. 12.8%, while coal produc-
tion grew 10.2%, both like-
ly triggered by higher de-
mand amid the heatwave
in most parts of the coun-
try through May.
Natural gas output rose
7.5% while steel produc-
tion increased 7.6%.
However, refinery pro-
ducts saw a mere 0.5% up-
tick in May, the slowest rise
in four months.
Cement output con-
lowest since November.
‘Upward revision’
The Commerce and Indus-
try Ministry revised April’s
ICI, reflecting a 6.7% rise,
higher than 6.2% estimat-
ed earlier.
The revision was driven
by upgrades to electricity
and steel, which are now
reckoned to have grown
10.2% and 8.8%, respec-
tively, compared with 9.4%
and 7.1% estimated earlier.
and ICRA chief economist
Aditi Nayar said she ex-
pects May’s IIP to rise in
the range of 4% to 5%.
“A combination of fac-
tors including the heat-
wave over parts of the
country and the phased
Parliamentary elections
could have curtailed activi-
ty and execution in some
sectors, even as the heat-
wave boosted demand for
coal and electricity,” noted
Ms. Nayar.
Bajaj Auto . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 9501.65. . . . . . . . . . 84.20
Bajaj Finserv . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1588.15. . . . . . . . -14.95
Bajaj Finance . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 7115.55. . . . . . . . -51.20
Bharti Airtel . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1444.05. . . . . . . . -31.75
BPCL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 303.95. . . . . . . . . . -0.90
Britannia Ind . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 5475.55. . . . . . . . . . 45.25
Cipla . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1480.80. . . . . . . . . . -0.10
Coal India . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 473.15. . . . . . . . . . . . 6.10
Divis Lab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 4596.45. . . . . . . . . . 74.10
Dr Reddys Lab . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 6402.35. . . . . . . . 166.45
Eicher Motors . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 4672.95. . . . . . . . -40.85
Grasim Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2670.45. . . . . . . . . . 32.85
HCL Tech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1459.60. . . . . . . . . . . . 4.70
HDFC Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1683.80. . . . . . . . -12.35
HDFC Life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 595.05. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.80
Hero MotoCorp . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 5579.60. . . . . . . . . . 94.40
Hindalco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 693.55. . . . . . . . . . . . 8.30
Hind Unilever . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2473.05. . . . . . . . . . 10.90
ICICI Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1199.60. . . . . . . . -20.30
IndusInd Bank. . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1464.50. . . . . . . . -38.25
Infosys . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1566.75. . . . . . . . . . -6.60
ITC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 424.90. . . . . . . . . . -0.70
JSW Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 931.50. . . . . . . . -11.65
Kotak Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1802.50. . . . . . . . -28.05

Bansal Wire Industries L&T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3548.45. . . . . . . . -15.95

Strike call: Tata Steel

LTIMindtree Ltd. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 5385.05. . . . . . . . . . . . 8.00

unveils ₹745-crore IPO Fiscal deficit at 3% of RBI raises bar M&M . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2866.65. . . . . . . . -22.30
Maruti Suzuki . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 12033.85. . . . . . -144.90

for States/UTs’ NestleIndia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2551.65. . . . . . . . . . 17.90

Bansal Wire Industries has announced to open

bids for its initial public offering (IPO) of equity target by May end WMA by 28% may shut Port Talbot NTPC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 378.35. . . . . . . . . . . . 1.20
ONGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 274.20. . . . . . . . . . . . 6.70
PowerGrid Corp . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 330.95. . . . . . . . . . -0.60
Reliance Ind . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3130.80. . . . . . . . . . 69.70
shares on July 3 in the price band of ₹243 to ₹256
per share with a face value of ₹5 each. Bids can
be made for a minimum of 58 shares and in The Hindu Bureau Expenditure was just
to ₹60,118 cr. blast furnaces early SBI Life. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1491.95. . . . . . . . . . 28.50
State Bank . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 848.95. . . . . . . . . . . . 4.95
Shriram Finance
Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 2911.50. . . . . . . . -39.55
multiples of 58 shares thereafter. Total issue size NEW DELHI Sun Pharma . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1520.85. . . . . . . . . . . . 4.60
comprises fresh issue up to ₹745 crore. The IPO
13.1% of projection, as
The Hindu Bureau The Hindu Bureau our assets through the pe- TataConsumerPro-

will close on July 5. Funds will be used for In the first two months of capital expenditure, MUMBAI MUMBAI riod of strike action, we
duct . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1097.45. . . . . . . . . . 11.85
Tata Motors . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 989.75. . . . . . . . . . 17.65
repayment of debt, working capital FY25, the Centre’s fiscal slowed to 12.9% of will not have any choice Tata Steel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 174.01. . . . . . . . . . -0.15

requirements, and general corporate purposes. deficit was ₹50,000 crore,
or just 3% of the full-year fi-
gure penned into the Inte-
rim Budget, with receipts
Emcure Pharma fixes IPO price at 18.6% of the target aided
by the ₹2.1 lakh crore divi-
band at ₹960-₹1,008 a share dend transfer from the
central bank in May.
Emcure Pharmaceuticals has announced an IPO In contrast, expenditure
the annual target
nance Ministry said.
Economists reckoned
these numbers create
space for the Centre to pur-
sue greater fiscal consoli-
dation this year than the
The Reserve Bank of India
increased the Ways and
Means Advances (WMA) li-
mits of State governments
and Union territories to
₹60,118 crore from ₹47,010
crore effective July 1.
State/UT-wise break-up
of the limits is available on
Tata Steel Ltd. said it may
go for early closure of blast
furnaces at Port Talbot ow-
ing to the impending strike
by Unite Union.
“Following the announ-
cement by Unite Union to
unilaterally call strike ac-
tion from 8 July, Tata Steel
but to pause or stop heavy-
end operations (including
both blast furnaces) on the
Port Talbot site.”
“The company again
calls for Unite to withdraw
its industrial strike action
and join Community and
GMB unions in giving con-
TCS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3904.15. . . . . . . . -30.00
Tech Mahindra . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 1430.35. . . . . . . . . . -1.90
Titan. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 3404.20. . . . . . . . . . 23.60
UltraTech Cement . . . .. . . . . 11667.90. . . . . . . . -48.80
Wipro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . 514.85. . . . . . . . . . . . 4.05
EXCHANGE RATES
Indicative direct rates in rupees a unit except yen at 4
p.m. on June 28

of equity shares on July 2 in the price band of was just 13.1% of the projec- 5.1% of GDP target set in the RBI’s website. It said is unfortunately forced to sideration to the compa- CURRENCY TT BUY TT SELL

₹960 to ₹1,008 per share. Bids can be made for a tion, as capital expendi- the Interim Budget. “The Special Drawing Facility commence legal action to ny’s proposed Memoran- US Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 83.18. . . . . . . . . . 83.50
Euro. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 89.08. . . . . . . . . . 89.43
minimum of 14 shares and multiples of 14 shares ture slowed to 12.9% of the revenue upside seen from (SDF) availed by States/ challenge the validity of dum of Understanding, British Pound . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 105.26. . . . . . . . 105.67
thereafter. The IPO will close on July 5. The IPO annual target compared non-tax revenue... suggests UTs will continue to be Unite’s ballot,” a company which puts forward a wide- Japanese Yen (100) . . . . . . .. . . . . 51.82. . . . . . . . . . 52.02
Chinese Yuan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 11.45. . . . . . . . . . 11.50
comprises a fresh issue of ₹800 crore and an with 16.8% by end May headroom to boost expen- linked to the quantum of spokesperson said. ranging proposal including Swiss Franc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 92.54. . . . . . . . . . 92.91
offer for sale of up to 1,14,28,839 equity shares by 2023. Of the ₹6.23 lakh diture and target a faster investments in marketable “In the coming days, if generous employee sup- Singapore Dollar . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 61.37. . . . . . . . . . 61.61
Canadian Dollar . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 60.75. . . . . . . . . . 60.99
selling shareholders. The firm proposes to utilise crore expenditure by May fiscal consolidation,” ICRA securities issued by the go- we cannot be certain that port packages, training, Malaysian Ringitt . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 17.63. . . . . . . . . . 17.71
the proceeds towards repayment or prepayment 2024, ₹1.43 lakh crore was chief economist Aditi vernment, including Auc- we are able to continue to and skills development,” Australian Dollar . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . 55.39. . . . . . . . . . 55.60
of borrowings and general corporate purposes. on the capital account, Fi- Nayar said. tion Treasury Bills (ATBs). safely and stably operate Tata Steel added. Source:Indian Bank

Need to eliminate ‘Tariff hikes signal

biases in algorithms better profitability
as AI on the rise: Das for telecom industry’
Press Trust of India
MUMBAI
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
Governor Shaktikanta Das
on Friday emphasised on
the need to eliminate bias-
es in algorithms as the use
of artificial intelligence (AI)
and machine learning (ML)
is on the rise.
Delivering the inaugural
address at the 18th Statis-
tics Day Conference organ-
ised by the RBI, he said the
use of statistics had been
ever growing as a preferred
tool for drawing inferences
in diverse fields and the
discipline had moved
beyond collection of facts
to focus more on interpre-
tation and drawing infe-
rences, taking into account
Shaktikanta Das
levels of uncertainty.
RBI has ventured into
AI/ML analytics in multiple
areas. Under the RBI’s aspi-
rational goals for
‘RBI@100’, Mr. Das said
the central bank was aim-
ing to develop cutting edge
systems for high frequency
and real-time data moni-
toring and analysis.
Press Trust of India
NEW DELHI
The latest telecom tariff
hikes announced by telcos
could yield additional pro-
fits of ₹20,000 crore for
the industry once they are
fully absorbed, ICRA reck-
oned on Friday.
With an improved finan-
cial metrics, the industry
will have the headroom to
undertake deleveraging,
fund capex for technology
upgrade, and network ex-
pansion, Ankit Jain, VP and
Sector Head of Corporate
Ratings, ICRA said.
The rating agency’s view
comes after Reliance Jio
and Bharti Airtel an-
nounced they would roll
out tariff hikes between 10-
With improved
financials, industry
will have room to
fund capex and
deleverage: ICRA
27%, marking the first ma-
jor telecom tariff increase
in the industry in a span of
two-and-a-half years.
“The latest round of ta-
riff hikes, as telcos in-
creased prepaid tariffs by
around 15-20% will provide
traction in the (Average Re-
venue Per User) ARPU le-
vels,” ICRA said.
It expects revenues to
grow 12-14% in FY25, which
is likely to translate into
healthy expansion in oper-
ating profits by 14-16%.

U.S. inflation ebbed in May Small savings

as prices of goods declined
Reuters
WASHINGTON
U.S. monthly inflation was
unchanged in May as a
modest increase in the cost
of services was offset by
the largest drop in goods
prices in six months, draw-
ing the Federal Reserve
closer to start cutting inter-
est rates later this year.
The report from the
Commerce Department on
Friday also showed con-
sumer spending rose mar-
ginally last month. It raised
optimism the U.S. central
bank could engineer a
much-desired “soft land-
ing” for the economy in
which inflation falls with-
out triggering a recession
and a sharp rise in unem-
CM
YK
ployment. Traders raised
bets for a Fed rate cut in
September.
‘Better behaved’
“It helps the argument in-
flation is looking better-be-
haved, which may well
open the door to interest
rate cuts later in the year,”
said James Knightley, chief
international economist,
ING. The flat reading in the
personal consumption ex-
penditures (PCE) price in-
dex last month followed an
unrevised 0.3% gain in
April, the Commerce De-
partment’s Bureau of Eco-
nomic Analysis said.
Goods prices dropped
0.4%, the most since No-
vember. There were big de-
clines in prices of recrea-
tional goods and vehicles
as well as furnishings and
durable household equip-
ment. The price of gasoline
and other energy goods
dropped 3.4%. Clothing
and footwear were also
cheaper last month.
The cost of services rose
0.2%, lifted by higher pric-
es for housing and utilities
as well as healthcare.
rates kept
unchanged
The Hindu Bureau
NEW DELHI
The Centre on Friday de-
cided to maintain the same
rate of return on small sav-
ings schemes for the July to
September quarter, the se-
cond quarter in a row that
the rates are unchanged.
The interest rates on
small savings schemes
such as Public Provident
Fund (PPF) and National
Savings Certificate (NSC)
are reset each quarter as
per a formula.
The PPF rate has been
frozen at 7.1% since April
2020. The return on Suka-
nya Samriddhi Account
Scheme, which is tax-free
like PPF, was raised to 8.2%
earlier this year.
M KI-KIE

12
TOKYO
Japan firm probing 76 deaths in
latest supplement tablets scare
X X
Japanese health supplement maker Kobayashi Pharmaceutical said
on Friday it was probing 76 deaths possibly linked to its tablets
containing red yeast rice, meant to lower cholesterol. It deepens a
scandal that erupted earlier this year when the company said it was
probing OTC products after complaints of kidney problems. AFP
Biden, Trump clash in presidential debate
In the first debate ever between a President and a former President, each traded personal insults and accused the other of being history’s worst;
while Biden, speaking rapidly in a soft, trailing-off voice, stumbled on his words often, Trump spoke loudly as he rushed through a list of complaints
Agence France-Presse
ATLANTA
A
halting Joe Biden
struggled on Thurs-
day to hold off a
forceful offensive from Do-
nald Trump as the two
traded personal insults in
the fiery first debate of a ra-
zor-close presidential race.
A bombastic Trump
lashed out at his successor,
calling him a failure on the
economy and the world
stage. Mr. Biden looked to
hit back, but his delivery
was hesitant as he spoke
rapidly in a soft, trailing-off
voice and stumbled on his
words several times.
It was the first debate ev-
er between a President and
former President — and
each accused the other of
being history’s worst. Mr.
Trump and Mr. Biden, who
were each the oldest Presi-
dent when first elected,
even accused each other of
Make world governance more effective and
balanced, China’s Xi Jinping tells Global South
Nikhil M. Babu
BEIJING
The Global South should
actively participate in re-
forming and developing
the global governance sys-
tem and make it more ba-
lanced and effective, Chi-
nese President Xi Jinping
said on Friday.
“China’s resolve to stay
on the path of peaceful de-
velopment will not
change. We will never take
the trodden path of colo-
nial plundering, or the
wrong path of seeking he-
gemony when one be-
comes strong. We will stay
on the right path of peace-
ful development,” Mr. Xi
said, in a thinly veiled at-
tack at the West.
He made the comments
at an event marking the
70th anniversary of the
“Five Principles of Peace-
ful Coexistence”.
Mr. Xi said that during
the Cold War, newly inde-
pendent countries aspired
to safeguard their sove-
reignty and grow their na-
tional economy and the
Iran votes in snap poll
for new President
Associated Press
DUBAI
Iranians voted on Friday in
a snap election to replace
the late hard-line President
Ebrahim Raisi, with the
race’s sole reformist candi-
date vowing to seek
“friendly relations” with
the West in an effort to
energise supporters in a
vote beset by apathy.
CM
YK
AP
being childlike as they ar-
gued over their golf swings.
Mr. Biden, 81, and Mr.
Trump, 78, did not shake
hands as they walked to
their podiums at the CNN
headquarters in Atlanta.
There was no live audience
and their microphones
muted as the other spoke —
rules agreed as they open a
campaign in a deeply po-
larised country.
Mr. Biden, who was re-
ported to have a cold, hit
Mr. Trump with clearly re-
hearsed lines as he sought
to remind millions of tele-
vision viewers that Mr.
Trump would be the first
convicted felon in the
White House.
“Think of all the civil pe-
nalties you have. How ma-
ny billions of dollars do
you owe in civil penalties
for, for molesting a woman
in public,” Mr. Biden said,
and “for having sex with a
porn star on the night,
Xi Jinping during a signing ceremony at the Great Hall of People on
Thursday in Beijing, China. GETTY IMAGES
five principles were includ-
ed in the China-India and
China-Myanmar joint state-
ments, which jointly called
for making them basic
norms for state-to-state
relations.
The Five Principles are
mutual respect for sove-
reignty and territorial inte-
grity, mutual non-aggres-
sion, mutual
non-interference in each
other’s internal affairs,
equality and mutual bene-
fit, and peaceful
coexistence.
“The Five Principles of
Peaceful Coexistence were
Voters face a choice bet-
ween hard-line candidates
and the little-known refor-
mist Masoud Pezeshkian.
As has been the case since
the 1979 Islamic Revolu-
tion, women and those
calling for radical change
have been barred from
running, while the vote it-
self will have no oversight
from internationally recog-
nised monitors.
THE HINDU
World
BUENOS AIRES
Argentina Parliament approves
Milei’s pro-business reform plan
AFP
Argentina’s Parliament handed populist President Javier Milei his
first legislative triumph on Friday, approving his business-friendly
economic reform package after months of debate. Mr. Milei hailed it
as “the greatest fiscal adjustment not only in Argentina history, but
in the history of humanity”. AFP
Face to face: Joe Biden and Donald Trump participate in the first
presidential debate of the 2024 elections in Atlanta on Thursday. AFP
while your wife was in the last four years,” Mr.
pregnant?” Trump said. “I’m friends
“You have the morals of with a lot of people. They
an alley cat,” Mr. Biden cannot believe what hap-
said. pened to the United States
Mr. Trump, a veteran of of America. We’re no lon-
rallies and reality televi- ger respected.”
sion, spoke loudly as he Mr. Trump sought to
rushed through a long list seize on Mr. Biden’s deliv-
of complaints about Mr. Bi- ery, saying at one point, “I
den’s record. really don’t know what he
“It’s a shame what’s said at the end of that sen-
happened to our country tence. I don’t think he
international law,” he
added.
Mr. Xi said that of all the
forces in the world, the
Global South stands out
with a strong momentum,
playing a vital role in pro-
moting human progress.
Standing at a new histori-
cal starting point, the Glo-
bal South should be more
open and more inclusive,
and join hands together to
take the lead in building a
community with a shared
future for mankind, he
born in Asia, but quickly said.
ascended to the world
stage... The Non-Aligned Force for peace
Movement that rose in the “Together, we should be
1960s adopted the Five the staunch force for
Principles as its guiding peace. We should promote
principles. Over the past peaceful settlement of in-
70 years, the Five Princi- ternational disputes, and
ples of Peaceful Coexis- participate constructively
tence have transcended in the political settlement
time and space and over- of international and re-
come estrangement, show- gional hotspot issues. To-
ing robust resilience and gether, we should be the
everlasting relevance. core driving force for open
They have become open, development. We should
inclusive, and universally restore development as the
applicable basic norms for central international agen-
international relations and da item, reinvigorate global
fundamental principles of partnerships for develop-
MANILA
Philippine troops kill ten
communist rebels in a clash
X X
Philippine troops killed at least 10 suspected communist guerrillas
in a clash in a remote northern area in the latest blow to a
decades-old insurgency that has weakened considerably, with only
about a thousand guerrillas remaining, military and security
officials said on Friday. AP
knows what he said either.”
Kate Bedingfield, a
former Biden communica-
tions director, acknow-
ledged that “it was a really
disappointing debate per-
formance” from the
President.
“I don’t think there is
any other way to slice it,”
she told CNN after the
debate.
Economic record
Mr. Biden immediately at-
tacked Mr. Trump when he
was asked about stubborn
inflation, saying he inherit-
ed an economy in
“freefall”.
Mr. Trump said he led
“the greatest economy in
the history of our
country”.
Mr. Biden shot back:
“Well, look, the greatest
economy in the world?
He’s the only one who
thinks that.”
In one of the most per-
ment, and deepen South-
South cooperation as well
as North-South dialogue,”
he added.
Countries should jointly
uphold the “golden rule”
of non-interference, and
jointly oppose acts of im-
posing one’s will on others,
stoking bloc confrontation,
creating small circles, and
forcing others to pick
sides, he said.
The Chinese President
added that in the face of
new challenges, the auth-
ority and central role of the
UN can only be streng-
thened rather than wea-
kened. “The purposes and
principles of the UN Char-
ter are never outdated, and
they are getting ever more
important. China advo-
cates the vision of global
governance featuring ex-
tensive consultation and
joint contribution for
shared benefit, and China
believes in true multilater-
alism,” he said.
(The correspondent is in
China at the invitation of
the China Public Diploma-
cy Association)
AP
sonal attacks, Mr. Biden cit-
ed accounts that Mr.
Trump had described sol-
diers who died in the Nor-
mandy landing as “suck-
ers” and noted his own son
Beau, who served in Iraq
and later died of cancer.
“My son was not a loser,
was not a sucker. You’re
the sucker. You’re the los-
er,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Trump denied the
remarks and repeatedly ac-
cused Mr. Biden of not be-
ing coherent.
On the world stage, Mr.
Trump accused Mr. Biden
— who faces a backlash
from parts of his Demo-
cratic base over his sup-
port for Israel — of not
helping Israel “finish the
job” against Hamas.
Mr. Trump described
Mr. Biden’s withdrawal
from Afghanistan as the
“most embarrassing mo-
ment in the history of our
country”.
Bolivia’s Arce
lambasts
accusations
of ‘self-coup’
Associated Press
LA PAZ
Bolivian President Luis
Arce on Thursday angrily
called accusations that he
was behind an attempted
coup against his govern-
ment “lies,” saying the gen-
eral who apparently led it
acted on his own.
He also vowed that the
former general would face
justice.
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Kochi
DENPASAR
Indonesia detains 103 Taiwanese
involving suspected cybercrime
AP
Indonesian immigration authorities have detained 103 Taiwanese
people after a search at a villa on the resort island of Bali, officials
said on Friday. They were accused of misusing their visas and
residence permits and are suspected of possible cybercrimes,
director of immigration supervision and enforcement said. AP
U.S. Supreme Court
order curbs power
of federal agencies
Agence France-Presse
WASHINGTON
The conservative-majority
U.S. Supreme Court struck
down 40 years of legal pre-
cedent on Friday, curbing
the power of federal agen-
cies to regulate critical is-
sues affecting Americans’
daily lives, from air quality
to drug safety and more. The U.S. Supreme Court in
In a 6-3 vote, judges Washington DC. AFP
overruled the landmark
1984 ruling in Chevron v mayor, and Ketanji Brown
Natural Resources Defence Jackson — voting against.
Council, which said judges In a scathing dissent,
should defer to govern- Ms. Kagan criticised what
ment experts in determin- she said was an unwarrant-
ing a “reasonable” inter- ed expansion of judicial
pretation of the law if the power.
language is ambiguous. “In one fell swoop, the
But that had proved to majority today gives itself
be “fundamentally mis- exclusive power over every
guided,” and defied the open issue — no matter
command of a statute ask- how expertise-driven or
ing courts to exercise their policy-laden — involving
independent judgment on the meaning of regulatory
whether federal agencies law,” she said.
have overreached, said the Backlash was swift
majority opinion written among lawmakers and
by Chief Justice John non-profits.
Roberts. Environmental group
“Courts may not defer
to an agency interpretation
of the law simply because a
statute is ambiguous,”
Earthjustice said the ruling
“has granted their request
carving out a path for mul-
tiple industries to take ad-
Chief Roberts wrote.
The decision divided
vantage of the changed
landscape to challenge reg-
the court along its conser-
vative-liberal fault line,
ulations they don’t like be-
fore judges who will be em-
with the three judges ap- powered and emboldened
pointed by Democrats — to second-guess federal
Elena Kagan, Sonia Soto- agencies”.
M KI-KIE
 THE HINDU
Saturday, June 29, 2024 13
Kochi
Sport
BACKING CLASS TOO HOT LEGACY TEAM EFFORT
Don’t want to jinx it but there’s a Men in Blue dethrone Buttler’s ‘To make them proud and to have ‘It is down to the squad that has
big one coming up for Kohli: Rohit England in emphatic style their support means a lot to us’ been on a journey to its first final’

K.R. DEEPAK ICC@X K.R. DEEPAK GETTY IMAGES

X X X X
India skipper Rohit Sharma has backed his opening partner Virat England wilted under Indian might in the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Aiden Markram is happy that former South Africa players and Skipper Aiden Markram credited the whole team for South Africa’s
Kohli to come good in the summit clash against South Africa. “I semifinal at Georgetown on Thursday. captains have wished the team well ahead of the T20 World Cup entry into the World Cup final. “We’ve been together for a few years
don’t want to jinx it but I think there’s a big one coming up. I’m just The scores: India 171/7 in 20 overs (Rohit 57, Suryakumar 47, Final. “There has been a lot of support from our past players. These now and we have a good understanding between us. This will help
loving his attitude and that he’s committing himself on the field — I Jordan 3/37) bt England 103 in 16.4 overs (Brook 25, Bumrah 2/12, are guys who inspired us when we were younger. To make them us with the small margins. It was not me who got us here. It is down
think he deserves it,” Rohit said after the semifinal win. Axar 3/23, Kuldeep 3/19). PoM: Axar. proud and to have their support means a lot to us,” he said. to the squad that has been on a journey to its first final.”

History and heartbreak beckon as the T20

extravaganza reaches much-awaited climax
There is little to choose between India and South Africa; Rohit’s men will rely on their experience in finals while Markram’s side will be buoyant after winning close games

Kohli. K.R. DEEPAK

Kohli will
bank on his
big match
credentials
Ashwin Achal
BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS)

Virat Kohli cut a forlorn fi-

Cliffhanger: Few teams understand the agony of not winning ICC tournaments the way India and South Africa do. While the Indians seek to end their 11-year drought, the Proteas eye their maiden World crown. K.R. DEEPAK & X@PROTEASMENCSA
rying conditions and quali-
WORLD CUP ty opposition, will believe
that a second T20 World
Ashwin Achal Cup trophy is within arm’s
BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS) reach.
The side has breezed
ndia has not won an past stiff competition
the park, and followed it
up with a fine 57 against
England in the semifinal.
Kuldeep Yadav, drafted
into the eleven when the
side moved from USA to
the West Indies, has been
India also has the added
advantage of having played
one game at this venue — a
47-run win over Afghanis-
tan. This will be South Afri-
ca’s first match in the
island.
bowlers come on — a
strength which most other
teams lacked.
Like India, South Africa
boasts of gun players in
most spots. Kagiso Rabada
and Anrich Nortje offer
gure on Thursday after yet
another failure in the tour-
nament. With five single di-
git scores in seven outings,
he has had a poor run.
Kohli, accustomed to
dominating all and sundry,
will be desperate to make it
ruption. The final has a re- count in the final on Satur-
serve day, to go with an ad- day.
ditional 190 minutes Opening the innings, he
available on Saturday to ex- has struggled to adapt to
tend playing hours. The the bowler-friendly condi-
millions watching will pray tions in USA and West In-
for a full and cracking dies. The opener has gone

I ICC title since 2013.

South Africa has
reached the final of a men’s
World Cup for the first
time, after seven semifinal
defeats.
Come Saturday, at the
grand finale of the 2024
ICC Men’s T20 World Cup
at the Kensington Oval, a
jinx will be broken. This is
a battle between the two
unbeaten teams in the
tournament.
India, having overcome
all challenges posed by va-
posed by Pakistan, Austra-
lia and England. From the
low scoring games at New
York to the wind-affected
outing at St. Lucia, India
has found a way to get the
job done.
As the campaign pro-
gressed, new heroes have
emerged. In the Super 8
stage against Bangladesh,
Hardik Pandya hit top gear
with the bat to stand tall as
an ace finisher. Skipper Ro-
hit Sharma came to life by
blasting Australia all over
among the wickets. And
then there is Jasprit
Bumrah, who has re-
The Proteas have had a
mained unplayable
from start to finish.
Suryakumar Yadav
and Rishabh Pant are
the other proven per-
formers, giving the un-
it an air of invincibility.
Rohit’s diktat to not
take a step back, to at-
tack even when on the
back foot, has brought
the players to the
right mindset.
few close shaves in
this journey. Not
pure pace, while Marco
Jansen can trouble the In-
dian batters with extra
least the must-win bounce. Quinton de Kock
West Indies outing in has fired at the top of the
the Super 8, which order, while Tabraiz Sham-
went down to the si has come good with his
wire. left-arm wrist spin.
South Africa has On paper, there is little
the goods to tackle In- to choose between the
dia’s three-man spin teams. It could come down
attack. Heinrich Klaa- to mental preparedness
sen, David Miller, Ai- and staying calm under the
den Markram and Tris- pump.
tan Stubbs can let There is a chance that
loose when the slow rain could cause an inter-
contest.
The teams (from):
India: Rohit Sharma (Capt.),
Hardik Pandya, Yashasvi Jaiswal,
Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav,
Rishabh Pant, Sanju Samson,
Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja,
Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav,
Yuzvendra Chahal, Arshdeep
Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, and
Mohammed Siraj.
South Africa: Aiden Markram
(Capt.), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald
Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn
Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco
Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav
Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich
Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan
Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, and
Tristan Stubbs.
Umpires: Christopher Gaffaney
and Richard Illingworth; TV
umpire: Richard Kettleborough;
Fourth umpire: Rod Tucker;
Match referee: Richie
Richardson.
hard at the ball, when the
sticky surfaces demand
playing late. Rather uncha-
racteristically, Kohli has re-
sorted to wild swings, too.
His dismissal against En-
gland, knocked over after
walking down the track
and heaving across the
line, was a sign that Kohli
was on edge.
Kohli will do well to rev-
ert to his old self, where
timing and neat batsman-
ship did the trick. Only a
repeat can silence critics.

Dravid gets ready for last dance
with elusive ICC crown at stake
Ashwin Achal
BRIDGETOWN (BARBADOS)
Rahul Dravid was the eter-
nal team man as a player.
Not much has changed in
his reign as the India head
coach. Dravid is not one to
hog the limelight.
But on Saturday, the
cameras are bound to turn
to Dravid. Now in his last
assignment as head coach,
Dravid has the chance to
script a fairytale ending
with a ICC Men’s T20 World
Cup title.
Dravid’s men have come
close to glory before — hav-
ing reached the final of
World Test Championship
and the 2023 Cricket ODI
World Cup.
On both occasions, the
team fell short. His primary
goal — to guide India to a
long-awaited ICC title — has
remained unfulfilled. A vic-
tory over South Africa here
will allow Dravid to walk in-
to the sunset.
To stay relaxed in a pres-
sure game is the key, Dra-
vid said. “We have just have
one day (between the sem-
ifinal and final). It is about
ensuring that we are physi-
CM
YK
Final push: Kohli and Dravid will hope to finish on a high. ICC
cally, mentally and tactical-
ly ready.
“We need to be fresh,
mentally relaxed and look-
ing forward to the game.
We will try to get the
players into the right frame
of mind,” Dravid said at the
press conference.
This is a clash between
the two top sides in the
tournament. “Everyone
will agree that this is the
top two teams in this tour-
nament. South Africa and
India have played the best
cricket. They are deserving
finalists. Hopefully it is
great game and we end up
on the right side,” Dravid
said. To reach three world
event finals in the space of
one year is no mean feat.
“It is a good thing that
we are consistent. It shows
that we have been playing
good cricket for a few years
now.
“To get into the world fi-
nals in three formats is cre-
dit to all our players. As for
Saturday’s final, if we play
well, and if we have the rub
of the green, then we can
definitely win,” Dravid
said.
A World Cup summit clash has its pressures
and it’s hard to predict who will rule the day
Sunil Gavaskar
Saturday's ICC Men's T20 World
Cup final will see two teams who
have travelled unbeaten. One
among India and South Africa will
taste defeat and, with it, endure
their first and hardest heartbreak.
India replicated its dominant
run in the 50-over World Cup in
this campaign too. Rohit Sharma’s
men are through to their second
successive ICC final after making
the summit clash in the ODI format
last time, losing the title decider to
Australia. India made amends this
time around. Australia was beaten
comprehensively in the Super 8
stage, eventually contributing to
the team’s ouster. India also swept
past England in the semifinal
fixture.
Waiting for India is a South Afri-
can side that knows the pain of de-
feat better than anyone else and
will be hungry to clinch its first-ev-
er ICC World trophy.
The Proteas brushed aside Af-
ghanistan in the semifinal on a
pitch that kicked up a storm in the trump card of their own in Jasprit who will emerge triumphant. Ho-
cricketing world. On the other Bumrah whose presence has ele- wever, this South African unit
hand, India has also traversed ar- vated the side’s showing in this edi- looks a different beast that’s deter-
duous surfaces but managed to tion compared to the 2022 mined to bury the 'choke' word
play some eye-popping cricket chapter. once and for all.
along the way. Rohit’s half-century Big finals come with their own (Professional Management
in the campaign opener against pressures and it’s hard to predict Group)
Ireland and Suryakumar Yadav's
knock against USA came on wick-
ets which not only tested the bat-
ters’ technique but also their tem-
perament. These star players have
been ably supported by vice-cap-
tain Hardik Pandya, whose cameos
have often been the difference bet-
ween victory and defeat for the
outfit.
India bats deep and that’s a
huge advantage against a testing
new ball attack that the Proteas
have. The competitive edge for the
2007 T20 World champion comes
from its superior spin arsenal. Ax-
ar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav have
been almost unplayable in the
Americas thus far.
The South Africans do have
spin-immune resources in the likes
of Heinrich Klaasen, Quinton de
Kock and Aiden Markram. Their
pace trident features Kagiso Raba-
da, Marco Jansen and Anrich
Nortje, but Rohit's PowerPlay
fluency means the seamers have to
bowl their best to shake the Indian
skipper. The Indians have a pace
M KI-KIE

14
Shafali and Smriti send South Africa on a leather hunt
Openers add a world record 292-run stand for the first wicket; former becomes the second Indian woman after Mithali to score a double century; visitors struggle on a pitch that offers no help
SA IN INDIA
S. Dipak Ragav
CHENNAI
peners Shafali Ver-
O ma (205, 197b,
23x4, 8x6) and
Smriti Mandhana (149,
161b, 27x4, 1x6) hammered
the South African bowling
attack into submission as
they powered India to a
mammoth 525 for four on
a record-breaking opening
day of the one-off Test at
the MAC Stadium here on
Friday.
The duo stitched a
world record 292-run
stand for the first wicket
and also set the highest
partnership for India in
Tests, while Shafali be-
came the second Indian
woman after Mithali Raj to
score a double-century.
Opting to bat, the open-
ers got off to a watchful
start before Smriti broke
the shackles, hitting pacer
Nadine de Klerk for a flur-
ry of boundaries through
the off-side.
The Indian vice-captain
played in her inimitable
style in a knock filled with
crisply timed cover-drives
and elegant back-foot
punches through the
square. Shafali then sig-
I wanted to play through
the day, says Shafali
S. Prasanna Venkatesan
CHENNAI
After scoring the fastest wo-
men's Test double century
versus South Africa, 20-
year-old opener Shafali Ver-
ma said that she felt like she
had to focus on staying in
when the pacers were get-
ting the ball to swing and
bowling well at the start.
"The last three ODIs (vs.
South Africa), I was getting
starts, but not able to con-
vert into big scores. My
plan was to take my time at
the start as there was move-
ment early on and they
were bowling well in that
period. So, the idea was to
back my strengths, take
some time, and find a way
to stay at the wicket," she
said after the first day of the
one-off Test.
"Today, the ball was
coming on well and my
scores in the ODIs pushed
me to just think one thing -
that I shouldn't get out and I
should play through the
day," Shefali added.
When asked if she was
reminded of getting out on
96 on her Test debut versus
England as she was closing
in on her maiden Test ton,
the record-breaker said:
"Who forgets getting out for
96? Today, when I was on
96, it took me back to Bris-
tol 2021.
“All I thought about was
somehow scoring those
four runs and getting past
100. Nearing my double
century, thank god the offie
(Delmi Tucker) came on.
It was fantastic as I
thought I could get my 200
in a few balls!"
Shafali hit back-to-back
sixes and a single off Tucker
It was really hot out there and
tough, says Delmi Tucker
S. Prasanna Venkatesan
CHENNAI
South Africa was sloppy on
the field on the first day of
the one-off Test versus In-
dia on Friday.
There were inexcusable
misfields, an unnecessary
overthrow to the boundary,
CM
YK
Smashing away: Shafali hammered a double hundred and Smriti a century that took India to a mammoth score at the end of the first day against an inexperienced South Africa side. B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
nalled her intentions when
she stepped down to left-
arm spinner Nonkululeko
Mlaba and lofted her over
the ropes.
The visitors had a
chance when Smirti’s
short-arm jab off Annerie
Resounding knock: Shafali broke multiple records en route to her
double century. B. JOTHI RAMALINGAM
쑽 “I have been training on
A slew of records
Shafali’s eight maximums are more than any other player's recorded
career tally
India's nine sixes in the Test so far are the most in a match, beating the
six in the India-England game in Bristol in 2021
Shafali has now scored the fastest hundred (113 balls) and double
hundred (194) in women's Tests. She is also the first woman to score
200 or more in a day in the longest format
Shafali (205) is the second Indian woman after Mithali Raj to score a
double hundred in Tests. She is the second-youngest (20y 152d) after
Mithali (19y 254d) to perform the feat
Shafali and Smriti's 292-run opening stand is the highest in women's
Tests and India's highest partnership ever. It is also the second-biggest
association in women's Tests
India’s total (525/4) is the most in a single day in Test history
to get to her maiden Test
double ton.
Saying that her opening
partner Smriti Mandhana
backs her and keeps talking
with her for her to play
calmly at the crease, the In-
dian opener added that the
batters' camp held in Ben-
galuru ahead of the ODI se-
and a couple of wayward
deliveries down the leg side
for four byes each. The
overthrow was from Masa-
bata Klaas.
After Smriti Mandhana
knocked a full delivery back
to her, she picked it up and
threw at the striker’s end
that the keeper couldn’t get
Dercksen fell a few centi-
metres in front of Mari-
zanne Kapp at mid-wicket
when the left-hander was
on 33.
A better effort from the
fielder could have given
her side a breakthrough.
ries was very helpful.
When asked if she values
this milestone as much as
winning the u-19 T20 World
Cup as captain, she ex-
claimed: "World Cup is
World Cup yaar!
“But after that, this in-
nings is very close to my
heart."
hold of. Asked if the hot
and humid weather played
its part, Delmi Tucker said
after the day’s play: “It was
really hot out there and
tough. Definitely, we could
be better on the field.
“Seeing an overthrow in
most fields is not the best.
But it’s happening”.
THE HINDU
Sport
However, the floodgates
opened in the second ses-
sion as the openers raced
each other to their three-fi-
gure mark and helped the
hosts collect 202 runs in 32
overs.
Smriti set the ball roll-
From uncertain future to winning gold,
Gurindervir Singh comes a full circle
ATHLETICS
Uthra Ganesan
PANCHKULA
Gurindervir Singh had a
point to prove. He did it in
style to emerge as the fas-
test man on Indian tracks
with a 10.32s sprint to win
the 100m on day two of the
63rd Inter-State athletics
championships here on
Friday, then let out a loud
roar, egged on by a crowd
of vocal supporters.
The other two fastest
men in the country at the
moment — Animesh Kujur
and Amlan Borgohain —
duly completed the top-
three in the event.
“There were quite a few
who said I was finished in
the last two years. The ce-
lebration was for those
doubters,” Gurindervir
said after the race.
my own for a while now in
Jalandhar. I have my coach
Sarabjit Singh Happy but
no training partners.
“A competition like this
is good because it pushes
you to do better, but get-
ting such competitors in
training is even more im-
portant. That is what ac-
tually helps get better and
that is what I need now,”
Gurindervir said.
Manu under dope cloud, Paris chances hit
Uthra Ganesan
PANCHKULA
Indian sports has been hit
by what is likely to be its
biggest doping embarrass-
ment of the year. Javelin
thrower D.P. Manu — na-
tional champion, Olympic
hopeful and currently 12th
in the world — is under a
dope cloud after his name
was conspicuously absent
from the entry list for the
63rd inter-State athletics
championships.
Manu, who has strug-
gled to repeat his personal
best of 84.35m (2022), has
been the biggest hope for
completing a historic jave-
lin trio — besides Neeraj
Chopra and Kishore Jena —
at Paris for India.
While there has been no
ing, collecting five quick
boundaries by giving the
charge to Mlaba, while
Shafali smashed off-spin-
ner Delmi Tucker for three
boundaries and a six.
Shafali reached her mai-
den century in style by
Doing it in style: Gurindervir emerged the fastest man on Indian tracks with a 10.32s sprint to win
the 100m. RITU RAJ KONWAR
In the 400m, Mohd.
Anas Yahiya and Mohd. Aj-
mal had to be separated
through photo finish after
both clocked 45.93 se-
conds, Anas edging ahead
45.926 to Ajmal’s 45.939.
Haryana’s Mohit Kumar
continued his impressive
performance, clocking a
personal best of 46.15s to
finish third.
Among the women, S.S.
Sneha won the 100m while
Kiran Pahal ran another
scorching race, equalling
Embarassing: Coach Kashinath Naik and Manu. FILE PHOTO
official confirmation so far
of his testing positive or a
provisional suspension
from the National Dope
Testing Agency (NADA), it
is learnt that the Athletics
Federation of India (AFI)
had been advised to not al-
flicking Mlaba to the fine-
leg boundary, and Smriti
crossed her milestone a
ball later.
The South African bow-
lers struggled to exert con-
trol and bowl to a field on a
pitch that did not offer
her Thursday’s time of
50.92s to win by a comfor-
table margin.
Separate trial
The AFI also held a sepa-
rate trial of national cam-
pers to possibly select ath-
letes for the women’s
4x400m relay team with
an eye on the Paris Olym-
pics late on Friday night,
consisting of those who
had failed to advance in
competition. The five quar-
termilers — R. Vithya Ram-
low him to participate.
Sources in the know ad-
mitted he had tested posi-
tive for an anabolic steroid
earlier this year, most like-
ly during the Indian Grand
Prix 1 in Bengaluru, but
there is no official commu-
much help, showing their
lack of experience in the
format.
After Smirti fell one run
short of 150, edging Tuck-
er to first slip, Shafali dis-
played her big-hitting cap-
abilities with clean strikes
raj, who was disqualified
for a foul start, Prachi,
M.R. Poovamma, Rupal
and Aishwarya Mishra —
were given a chance to
prove their timings.
While Vithya finished on
top in 53.16 seconds, Pra-
chi took the second spot in
53.79. The remaining three
were unable to go below
54s.
The results (only finals):
Men: 100m: 1. Gurindervir Singh
(Pun, 10.32s), 2. Animesh Kujur
nique so far. Federation of-
ficials expressed disap-
pointment at the news.
“I can only say I was also
surprised at the news
when I got it in the morn-
ing.
“It is even more surpris-
ing because he has been
tested around 14 times in
the last one year, so there
is no chance of not being
aware or alert.
“It’s disappointing,
that’s all I can say,” AFI pre-
sident Adille Sumariwalla
told The Hindu.
The disappointment is
even more baffling given
that Manu, despite not ma-
naging the qualifying mark
of 85.50m, is placed com-
fortably high to make the
cut through his world rank-
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Kochi
SCOREBOARD
쑽
INDIA
Shafali Verma run out 205 (197b,
23x4, 8x6), Smriti Mandhana c
Dercksen b Tucker 149 (161b,
27x4, 1x6), Shubha Satheesh c
Jafta b de Klerk 15 (27b, 2x4),
Jemimah Rodrigues c de Klerk b
Tucker 55 (94b, 8x4),
Harmanpreet Kaur (batting) 42
(76b, 2x4), Richa Ghosh (batting)
43 (33b, 9x4); Extras (b-11, lb-5):
16; Total (for four wkts. in 98
overs): 525.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-292 (Smriti, 51.6 overs), 2-325
(Shubha, 58.6), 3-411 (Shafali,
74.1), 4-450 (Jemimah, 86.6).
SOUTH AFRICA BOWLING
Klaas 14-2-63-0, Dercksen
11-0-60-0, de Klerk 10-1-62-1,
Sekhukhune 10-0-55-0, Mlaba
24-1-113-0, Tucker 26-1-141-2,
Luus 3-0-15-0.
Toss: India.
down the ground. She
marched to her milestone
in style by depositing
Tucker for two consecu-
tive sixes over long-on
from 187 and then took a
single through the off-side
to score the fastest double-
century off just 194 balls.
With a huge total on
board, it will be interesting
to see if India opts for an
overnight declaration and
begins its pursuit of victo-
ry early on day two.
(Odi, 10.46s), 3. Amlan Borgohain
(Asm, 10.49s); 400m: 1. Mohd.
Anas Yahiya (45.93s), 2. Mohd.
Ajmal (45.93s), 3. Mohit Kumar
(Har, 46.15); 1500m: 1. Parvej
Khan (Har, 3:42.95), 2. Yoonus
Shah (UP, 3:43.88), 3. Mehedi
Hassan (Asm, 3:44.40); 20km
walk: Sanjay Kumar (Raj,
1:26:13.00), Amit (Har, 1:26:20.00),
Vikash Singh (Del, 1:27:21.00).
4x100m: 1. Odisha (40.02s), 2.
Punjab (40.50s), 3. Tamil Nadu
(40.88s); 4x400m: 1. Haryana
(3:08.00), 2. TN (3:08.62), 3.
Punjab (3:09.07); discus: 1.
Nirbhay Singh (Har, 55.44m), 2.
Gagandeep Singh (Pun, 53.33m),
3. Oinam Singh (Man, 52.09m).
Women: 100m: 1. Sneha (Kar,
11.62s), 2. Giridharani Ravikumar
(TN, 11.77s), 3. Nithya Gandhe
(Tel, 11.79s); 400m: 1. Kiran Pahal
(Har, 50.92s), 2. Deepanshi (Har,
52.01s), 3. Jyotika Sri Dandi (AP,
52.11s); 1500m: 1. Lili Das (WB,
4:13.87), 2. Chanda (Del, 4:14.85),
3. K.M. Deeksha (MP, 4:18.38).
Pole vault: 1. Rosy Paulraj (TN,
4m), 2. Pavithra Venkatesh (TN,
4m), 3. Mariya Jaison (Ker, 3.90m);
shot put: 1. Abha Khatua (Mah,
17.63m), 2. Kachnar Chaudhary
(Raj, 16.76m), 3. Srishti Vig (Del,
15.11m); 4x100m: 1. Karnataka
(45.38s), 2. TN (45.40s), 3. Odisha
(46.65s).
4x400m: 1. Andhra Pradesh
(3:41.84), 2. TN (3:42.55), 3.
Punjab (3:44.23); triple jump: 1.
Sheena (Ker, 13.44m), 2. Pavithra
(Kar, 13.20m), 3. Anusha Mallala
(AP, 13.09m); javelin: 1. Annu
Rani (UP, 57.70m), 2. Ramyashree
Jain (Kar, 53.14m), 3. Rashmi (AP,
52.39m).
ings and had no need for
drastic measures.
Interestingly, Manu will
be the third thrower
trained by former Com-
monwealth Games medal-
list Kashinath Naik to be in
the dope net if he is sus-
pended for doping.
Davinder Singh Kang,
the first Indian javelin
thrower to make the World
Championships final in
2017 and 2019 Asian Cham-
pionships silver medallist
Shivpal Singh, both train-
ing under Naik, too were
earlier sanctioned for pro-
hibited substances.
With the AFI now decid-
ing to penalise coaches as
well for dope offenses,
Naik too will be under
close scrutiny.
M KI-KIE
 THE HINDU
Saturday, June 29, 2024 15
Kochi
Sport

INBRIEF
쑽
Slow-starting defending champ Italy
faces Switzerland in first knockout
The second game of the day will feature the only two unbeaten teams in the tournament so far when host Germany welcomes Denmark

for the Azzuri, conceding that it had at the 2006

after just 23 seconds in its World Cup.
opening win over Albania, Flags have been popping
Verstappen gets pole position then being thoroughly out-
classed by Spain, before a
up across the country and
crowds in the stadiums are
in Austrian Grand Prix last-second strike salvaged vocal, though, so a win ov-
a draw against Croatia. er Denmark for a quarterfi-
Red Bull’s Max Verstappen seized pole position Switzerland, mean- nal spot could build mo-
for the Austrian Grand Prix sprint race on Friday while, opened with a win mentum.
ahead of the McLarens of Lando Norris and over Hungary before Germany will have to
Oscar Piastri. The triple Formula One world draws against Scotland rethink the centre of de-
champion put in a best lap of 1m 04.686s around Associated Press and Germany. The winner fence following a one-game
his team’s home circuit, as the crowd roared in BERLIN will face England or Slova- suspension for Jonathan
response, with Norris 0.093s slower. Mercedes’ kia in the quarterfinals on Tah and a hamstring injury
George Russell joined Piastri on the second row efending cham- July 6. Neither team had for Antonio Rudiger.
with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and Mercedes’ Lewis
Hamilton together on the third. Mexican Sergio
Perez starts in seventh place.
D pion Italy will aim
to continue its do-
minance over Switzerland
any major injury worries
before Friday’s pre-match
news conferences.
Nico Schlotterbeck is set
to replace Tah, while Wal-
demar Anton could make
to reach the quarterfinals Later in the day, host his first Euro 2024 appea-
of the European Cham- Germany will have to rance if Rudiger can’t play.
pionship on Saturday. make changes in defence Danish midfielder Mor-
Aadya to face Goushika in Switzerland hasn’t bea- as it takes on Denmark. ten Hjulmand is suspended
ten Italy for 31 years and This is the only game in after picking up two yellow
girls’ under-13 final has only eight wins from the round of 16 that fea- cards. Thomas Delaney
their previous 61 meetings. tures two unbeaten teams. could replace him.
Indian second seed Aadya Budhia will take on But the Swiss are unbeaten Germany finished top of Prepping the players: Italy coach Spalletti will hope that his team finally shrugs off its lethargy . AFP With six days between
compatriot M. Goushika in the girls’ under-13 so far this year and their Group A with wins over its last group game and the
final of the 31st Asian junior individual squash only loss in 2023 came in Scotland and Hungary and England and Serbia. at Euro 2020 and hasn’t into its Euro 2024 cam- clash with Denmark, Ger-
championships in Islamabad on Saturday. Shiven the last game of qualifying. a draw with Switzerland. Germany was eliminat- won a knockout game at a paign, Germany hasn’t yet many has the benefit of ex-
Agarwal also progressed to the title round in the So far, Euro 2024 has Denmark drew all of its ed by eventual runner-up major tournament since ignited quite the same tra rest. Denmark has had
boys’ u-15 category after the second seeded been a difficult experience games against Slovenia, England in the round of 16 Euro 2016. Three games kind of patriotic fervour two days fewer to rest.
Indian put it past fourth-seeded local challenger
Nouman Khan 5-11, 11-6, 11-9, 11-0 in the semifinals
on Friday. Aadya defeated sixth seed Chiu Hau
Ching of Hong Kong 11-4, 11-7, 4-11, 12-10 in the
last-four stage, while fourth seed Goushika beat
Malaysian ninth seed Maisarah Binti Mohd USA battling for Copa America India’s Nagal gets
Khairul Nizam 11-6, 6-11, 5-11, 11-7, 11-6.

survival after upset by Panama tough main draw

Chhangte extends his
Agence France-Presse
contract with Mumbai City ATLANTA
Indian footballer Lallianzuala Chhangte on A moment of madness
Friday extended his contract with Mumbai City from Timothy Weah left
FC which will keep the 27-year-old at the club till the USA’s Copa America
the end of the 2026-27 season. “I had no doubts campaign hanging by a
in my mind about extending my stay with thread on Thursday as the
Mumbai City for the upcoming seasons. The fans host crashed to a shock 2-1
are immense, and so is the family at the club,” defeat to Panama.
Chhangte said. “What Chhangte is capable of on Juventus winger Weah
the field is well-documented, and I am very glad was sent off in the 18th mi-
he is staying,” said MCFC head coach Petr Kratky. nute after an off-the-ball
clash with Panama’s Ro-
derick Miller in a stormy
Group C battle.
LIVE TELECAST
Although Folarin Balo-
쑽 gun fired the US into the
India vs South Africa: One-off Test, day 2, Sports 18-1 & lead four minutes after
JioCinema, 9.30 a.m. Weah’s dismissal, Pana-
Formula One: Austrian GP (Qualifying), F1 TV, F1 TV Pro App ma’s extra man advantage
& FanCode, 7.30 p.m. ultimately took its toll and
Hockey: Pro League, Sports 18-1 & JioCinema, 8 & 10.30 the Central Americans hit
p.m. back with goals from Cesar
T20 World Cup: (final), Star Sports 1 & Hotstar, 8 p.m. Blackman and Jose Fajardo
Badminton: US Open, Sports 18-1 & JioCinema, 10.30 p.m. to seal victory. US coach
Football: Euro 2024, Sony Sports Ten 2, 3, 5 & LIV, 9.30 p.m. Gregg Berhalter said after
& 12.30 a.m. (Sunday) his team’s defeat that
The opener: Blackman fires in Panama’s first through a maze of US
defenders. AFP
Weah’s red card had been
the decisive moment of the
match, describing the
sending off as “silly.” The
defeat means the United
States will almost certainly
have to win or draw against
group leader Uruguay in its
final group game next
Monday to have any
chance of advancing to the
knockout rounds.
Uruguay all but assured
itself of a place in the last
eight with a thumping 5-0
win over Bolivia in East
Rutherford on Thursday.
Facundo Pellistri, Dar-
win Nunez, Maximiliano
Araujo, Federico Valverde
and Rodrigo Bentancur
were all on target for the
Uruguayans. Nunez scored
in his seventh straight in-
ternational match.
Seeking its record 16th
Copa America title, Uru-
guay is 2-0 for six points
with a plus-seven goal dif-
ference and would ad-
vance with at least a draw
on Monday against the U.S.
or perhaps even a loss. The
U.S. has three points and
plus-one goal difference
and Panama three points
and minus-one difference.
The results: Uruguay 5 (Pellistri
8, Nunez 21, Araujo 77, Valverde
81, Bentancur 89) bt Bolivia 0;
Panama 2 (Blackman 26, Fajardo
83) bt USA 1 (Balogun 22).
at Wimbledon
Press Trust of India
LONDON
India's top singles player
Sumit Nagal is set to make
his maiden appearance in
the men's singles main
draw at Wimbledon and
he will be up against high-
er-ranked Miomir Kecma-
novic of Serbia in the first
round here.
The World No. 72 has a
tough road ahead as he is
placed in the same section
of the draw as top seed
and World No. 1 Jannik Sin-
ner and could face the Ita-
lian in the third round if he
makes it that far.
Even crossing the first
hurdle will not be easy for
Nagal as he is pitted
against world No. 53
Kecmanovic.
The Serbian had beaten
Nagal in their lone match
so far at the ATP 250 event
in Cologne, Germany, four
years ago.
Rohan Bopanna and his
Australian partner Mat-
thew Ebden, seeded se-
cond, will take on French
pair Adrian Mannarino
and Giovanni Mpetshi Per-
ricard in the first round.
N. Sriram Balaji and his
British partner Luke John-
son will play fourth-seed-
ed Croatian-Salvadorian
combination of Mate Pavic
and Marcelo Arevalo.
Yuki Bhambri and his
French partner Albano Oli-
vetti will meet Kazakh duo
of Bublik and Alexander
Shevchenko, while Nagal
and Serbia's Dusan Lajovic
will take on Spain's Pedro
Martinez and Jaume Mu-
nar in the opening round.

KERALA ROUND-UP
쑽
Jessmon and Harshitha
triumph
PALAKKAD: Jessmon Regis
and N.K. Harshitha won
the under-13 boys’ and
girls’ titles respectively in
the Champs Open Kerala
State-ranking table tennis
tournament at the Pastoral
Centre, Chakanathara, on
Friday. R. Aadi Seshan and
S. Sachidev took the
under-11 boys’ and girls’
titles.
The results (finals): Boys:
U-13: Jessmon Regis (UTT AYTTA,
Alp) bt R. Aadi Seshan (UTT
AYTTA, Alp) 5-11, 14-12, 11-8,
11-6; U-11: R. Aadi Seshan (UTT
AYTTA) bt K. Rohith Subin
(CGRTTA, Tsr) 11-6, 11-6, 11-5.
Girls: U-13: N.K. Harshitha
(Champs TTA, Pkd) bt S. Srisha
(Champs, Pkd) 11-9, 11-2, 11-7.
U-11: S. Sachidev (UTT AYTA, Alp)
bt P.V. Sreelakshmi (HF SIS, Knr)
12-10, 8-11, 7-11, 11-9, 12-10.
Actor Prithviraj
acquires major stake
in Kochi FC
CM
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Winners all: Aadi Seshan, Harshitha, Sachidev and Jessmon who won singles titles in the State-ranking
table tennis.
KOCHI: Actor Prithviraj
Sukumaran and his wife
Supriya Menon have
acquired a major stake in
Kochi FC which will be in
action in the new six-team
Super League Kerala.
The Super League is set to
start towards the end of
August and the Kochi
team, which was earlier
known as Kochi Pipers FC,
has been renamed as
Kochi FC.
Prithviraj hoped that the
inaugural season of the
league would significantly
boost football activities at
both the professional and
grassroot-level and would
create opportunities for
deserving and upcoming
players.
Mathew Joseph, the Super
League’s CEO, said
Prithviraj’s involvement
will bring a unique fusion
of entertainment and
sports in Kerala during the
60-day football
extravaganza.
There are other changes in
the Kochi team.
Praveesh Kuzhipally and
Shameem Backer, who
were earlier co-owners of
the Kannur team, have
now come in as Kochi FC’s
co-owners along with
Nasly Mohammed and
Mohammed Shyjal.
State junior football
from today
THRISSUR: The 49th Kerala
State junior inter-district
football championship
begins at the Government
Boys High School ground,
Kunnamkulam, on
Saturday.
Fourteen teams, divided
into four groups, will be in
action in the event which
runs till July 6.
The winner of each group
will qualify for the
semifinals.
Malappuram won the title
last year with Ernakulam
finishing runner-up.
Group A: Thrissur,
Thiruvnananthapuram,
Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha.
Group B: Kasargod, Wayanad,
Palakkad, Idukki.
Group C: Ernakulam, Kannur,
Kottayam.
Group D: Malappuram, Kollam,
Kozhikode.
M KI-KIE
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16 Kochi

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 THE HINDU
Saturday, June 29, 2024 I
Kochi
Weekend Sport
GETTY IMAGES

When Wimbledon starts on Monday,

one of the questions will be whether
Berrettini can refine his adept
grass-court game and successfully quell
the challenge from the maverick
all-courters

the slick lawns, Djokovic, Murray and more re-

cently Alcaraz have counted on bespoke skills to
blunt murderous power. They have used an ab-
breviated forehand technique so as to not feel
rushed. They also use a mixture of blocked and
sliced returns to either send the ball deep or reset
the point. Though they may not be ace masters,
spot-serving is now a necessary skill and no one is
as proficient at this as Djokovic.
Another aspect in which players are getting
better is movement. Among the hardest things to
accomplish when the tennis caravan shifts from
clay to grass is the transition that happens “under
the feet”, according to Vijay Amritraj. When
pushed wide on clay or a hard court, modern-day
players invariably slide. The stance is open and
they plant their leg in one big leap, make contact
with the ball while stopping their slide and quick-
ly recover to the centre.
This is not an option on grass during the first
week of Wimbledon when the courts are still slip-
pery. Once the shot is executed, the player has to
decelerate with smaller steps, turn and acceler-
ate again. The more efficient the player is at this
facet, the quicker he or she will be in getting to
the next ball.
Last year, American Christopher Eubanks,
who won the Wimbledon tune-up in Mallorca

Can Matteo Berrettini ride his monstrous

and made a rousing run to the quarterfinals at
SW19, revealed on social media an interesting ex-
change he had had with Belgian Kim Clijsters
wherein he said that he needed 17 steps to change

serve to Wimbledon’s summit?

direction out of the corners.

The Italian’s mammoth first delivery and hissing, rearing second have helped him win four titles on grass and make deep runs at the Championships. But in
the golden age of returners on modern-day lawns, which are slower and bouncier than before, can he go all the way?

N. Sudarshan semifinalist once. Four is half the number of tit- When Berrettini lands his first serve,
les he has won all career. it’s either unreturnable or sets up an

I
n tennis, there has always been the stereo- Berrettini has made at least one grass fi- easy putaway. On the second serve, he
typical image of the traditional grass-court nal in four of the five seasons since 2019
imparts so much spin that it locks the
player: moderately tall and lanky, with a (with Covid washing out 2020). With the
big booming first serve, an intelligent se- grass swing lasting just three weeks bet- returner into awkward positions In fact, Pete Sampras expanded this grass-
cond serve, a sound volley, a good slice and a de- ween the end of the French Open and the court technique to his play across surfaces. Ho-
cent overall game. start of Wimbledon, replicating success wever, in what is perhaps an indication of how
Since the turn of the millennium, though, a year on year is remarkably tough. What also to the 2020s, for it is now fairly established that play on grass has evolved, Djokovic and the rest
distorting distance has developed between this makes the 28-year-old’s achievement note- players in the current era are hitting with unseen have now found a way to slide and stretch on the
image and the reality. As the lawns at worthy is the fact that no other man, other levels of power and Berrettini is one of the best hallowed green fields, more so in the second
Wimbledon — the place where grass- than Djokovic, has won more than two grass practitioners of that. On grass, where the ball week when the area around the baseline is bone
court tennis finds its greatest exposi- titles in this period. bounces lower and manages to retain more of its dry.
tion — changed hue and racquet-and- Through his career, one of the biggest points speed than on other surfaces, it is doubly difficult When Wimbledon starts on Monday, one of
string technology improved, consum- of difference between Berrettini and the rest to play someone like Berrettini, for it shortens the the questions will be whether Berrettini can re-
mate all-courters have ruled the roost. has been his serve. Most times, when he time a returner has and often hurries them into fine his adept grass-court game and successfully
In the 21 editions from 2002 to 2023, Novak lands his first serve, it’s either an unreturna- shots. quell the challenge from the maverick all-cour-
Djokovic has won seven times, Andy Murray and ble or it sets up a second shot that is an ea- A comparison between his overall career sta- ters. But he is unseeded and ranked 60 in the
Rafael Nadal twice each, and Lleyton Hewitt and sy putaway. On the second serve, he im- tistics vis-a-vis grass lays bare this fact. On grass, world, and has suffered debilitating wrist and an-
Carlos Alcaraz once. Even the great Roger Feder- parts so much spin that it locks the he serves more aces (15.4% vs. 11.6%), wins a big- kle injuries over the past two seasons.
er, who appeared every bit the quintessential returner into awkward positions, making ger percentage of first-serve (80.6% vs. 77.7%) and
grass genius when he won the first of his eight tit- it harder to find angles. second-serve points (54.7% vs. 53.6%) and holds Thinner draw
les in 2003, moved away and held on to only a On grass, such traits have outsized better (91% vs. 87.7%). His Dominance Ratio — % He did, however, show glimpses of his best form
few of the basic tenets. consequences, for the ball, on average, of return points won divided by % of serve points by reaching the final in Stuttgart two weeks ago.
travels faster than elsewhere. In May lost — is also higher (1.2 vs. 1.13). It helps that there is no Federer and Nadal, and
Reclaiming space 2018, in an article in the International that the 37-year-olds, Djokovic and Murray, are
In the last five years however, there has been one Journal of Performance Analysis in More egalitarian grass just about recovering from knee and back surger-
man who has tried — and been fairly successful at Sport, five researchers, Frantisek Va- Why then has Berrettini not been able to crack ies respectively.
— upsetting the apple cart and reclaiming the verka, Jan Hendl, Jiri Nykodym, Zha- the code at Wimbledon? He did hold his own for There is defending champion Alcaraz and Ita-
place for his ilk — Matteo Berrettini. nel Jiri and David Zahradnik, com- a set and a half against Djokovic in the 2021 final lian top seed Jannik Sinner, fresh off his title in
The 6’5” Italian possesses a monstrous first pared data sets from 2008, 2012 and before withering away. The reason could well be Halle. Sinner has reached the semifinals and
serve, a second serve that hisses and rears, a 2016 and concluded that players at — as seen from the number of titles the likes of quarterfinals the last two years and only lost to
crushing forehand, a reasonable volley, an effec- Wimbledon “mostly strive to obtain a Djokovic, Nadal and Murray have won — that the Djokovic both times. The 22-year-old is drawn to
tive slice and a solid backhand. And with these higher speed of the first serve during grass court of today — slower and bouncier than meet Berrettini in the second round.
tools, he has won four of the 11 grass-court events the match relative to playing at the other before — offers a wider variety of players chances But there is still an unmistakable feeling that
he has entered starting Stuttgart 2019, finished a Grand Slam tournaments”. at excelling. this is one of the most open draws at Wimbledon
finalist twice — including 2021 Wimbledon — and It wouldn’t be a stretch to extrapolate this This is also the golden age of returners, and on in recent times. Can Berrettini make it count?

BBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB

STACKING UP

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 THE HINDU
II Saturday, June 29, 2024

Weekend Sport Kochi

‘Crossing a legend like Tendulkar gives you the

assurance you are on the right track’
In this conversation, 22-year-old Sai Sudharsan discusses his dazzling rise from breaking through in the TNPL to breaking a record in the IPL, his endeavour to constantly improve and add to his game,
and the challenge of stepping up from domestic to international cricket
GETTY IMAGES

INTERVIEW

B. Sai Sudharsan
S. Dipak Ragav

O
ver the last three years, B. Sai Sudharsan
has quietly but rapidly risen through the
ranks. From bursting onto the scene in
the TNPL in 2021 to debuting for India in One-Day
Internationals in December 2023, it has been a
remarkable journey for the 22-year-old. He came
into the limelight with a brilliant 96 in the 2023
IPL final for Gujarat Titans against Chennai Super
Kings. He went on to have an impressive tour of
Sri Lanka with India-A in the Emerging Teams
Asia Cup, a short but fruitful county stint with
Surrey and an eye-catching performance in the
Irani Cup, which fast-tracked him into the Indian
set-up. This year, the Tamil Nadu left-hander
went one better in the IPL, topping the run-
charts for GT (527 in 12 games) and, in the pro-
cess, becoming the fastest Indian batter to 1,000
runs (25 innings), beating Sachin Tendulkar and
Ruturaj Gaikwad’s record (31 innings). He spoke
to The Hindu about his growth as a cricketer.
Excerpts:

You have had a terrific run in the last three

years. How do you look at it?

It’s been a great experience, for sure. There were

so many learnings, and I think I have good things
to take forward. It’s definitely been a dream. So-
metimes, when I feel we are playing so many
matches together, it is what we dreamt of. From
that first TNPL game in 2021, three years, it’s
been a great journey. I’m really grateful because ity. Just the consistency of the ity had to improve because I didn’t have many risks. I got that understanding after a few games
wherever I went, I have got an opportunity, start- people or the bowlers execut- options. I worked on that. of experience. Now, I want to get better at it so
ing with the IPL in 2022. In the first year, I got five ing is better. But it’s more about that I can do that from the first game of the sea-
games… that was a great opportunity for any I played the external things. You get more Last year, it seemed you added more shots, son, which can directly help the team. I am not a
youngster to get exposed to the conditions so under-19 pressure with 100,000 people like the uppercut and lap. person who generally sees a lot of stats, but so-
that they know what they can get better at and Challenger watching you. Cricket, I feel, is the metimes, when you see yourself cross a legend
what it takes to be there or how to improve as a and got same wherever we play. So, it is bet- In the first year, I couldn’t hit like that [Tendulkar], it definitely gives you a
batter. ter not to get affected by external through the lines or challenge the sense of happiness. It gives you an assurance that
dropped. factors. I visualise and meditate a speed and hit. In the second year, I you are on the right track and you are working in
Before COVID, you missed the under-19 bus, But it was lot. I try to keep everything similar was able to manage that or use the the right way so that you can get even better as a
and there was no cricket for a year. But from the best and not try something different pace. In 2022, I was trying to go batter.
your first TNPL, you have never looked thing to when I go to the next level. I have the after [the ball], but the next
back. Talk us through the work you put in happen to same processes and volumes during year, I was calmer and let the How do you balance the demands of the
during that time. me practice. When you are under pressure, ball come to me because it was a shorter formats with long-form cricket?
your second nature comes out, and that better option. That clarity has And is Test cricket a goal for you?
I played the under-19 Challenger and got has to be your best belief. gotten better. This year, I felt I
dropped. But it was the best thing to happen to had improved in risk-taking and I think Test cricket is the dream. It’s the purest
me. The experience teaches you a lot. What Where do you feel you have improved as a opened up a bit more. In 2023, we form. I believe red-ball cricket complements my
could have happened later, happened earlier to batter? all played around Shubman Gill white-ball game. Yes, I am also finding it a little
Exposure me, and made me aware that I should get better. because he was having such a difficult, but I’m trying to understand what it
to difficult The one good thing was I had one-and-a-half Game awareness. Sometimes, you practise a lot, great season. This year, since no takes to get better and adapt as early as possible
conditions years of work behind me. There was completely even some particular shots. But you don’t know one had a big season, I was from one format to another. I feel it’s about deci-
undistracted work or complete, deliberate prac- where to use it. I think that has gotten better in forced into a situation to step up sion-making and risk-taking. That is the crucial
and better tice each and every day, waking up, getting fitter, three years. Exposure to difficult conditions and and increase the intensity or difference.
opponents getting better as a batsman, as a person. There better opponents has helped my game aware- pace. I have some learnings and
has helped was more focused practice because we couldn’t ness, and my judgement has gotten better be- also areas to improve for next What are the goals for the new season?
my game do much else. I had all the time to focus on cause of that. As a batter in my first year [in IPL], year.
awareness, myself. I had a few things to work on after playing five There were many improvements and lessons
and my games. Last year, I played eight games, and How would you rate your from the last season. I went to Ranji, India-A, and
judgement How do you prepare when you move from again, I had a few things to work on. After ev- 2024 season? played in different conditions. I want to adapt
one level to another to bridge that gap from ery game, I try to analyse what’s hap- quickly when switching between white- and red-
has gotten domestic to IPL or international cricket? pened and what I can do better if I find I felt my approach could ball formats. Sometimes, it is difficult because the
better myself in that position again. That gives have been better in the requirements change and your basics change. It
because of I feel there is not much difference as you go up. some clarity on where I can get better. first half and that I could will always be difficult, but I want to see how
that Yes, there is definitely a slight difference in qual- After IPL 2022, I felt my shot-making abil- have taken more quickly I can do it.

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GAME THEORY PICTURE THIS

fields right through sport’s his- some have even encountered seball tend to be attention-
Pitch invasion tory — as a celebration, a prot- physical force from athletes seekers and pranksters, who are
est, a prank or a publicity stunt. irate with the disruption. On ejected from the ballpark and
An unidentified fan is tased by Not all of them suffer as much rare occasions, fans storming potentially banned from it.
an officer as he runs on the field pain as the punter in this photo- the field have created ‘a mo- Typically, the broadcast of
during the baseball game bet- graph, but the consequences for ment’ — especially after an epic the game cuts to another came-
ween the Cincinnati Reds and unauthorised entry can often be triumph — but even these cases ra shot to avoid encouraging
Cleveland Guardians earlier this severe. endanger the safety of everyone such behaviour by giving it air-
month in Cincinnati, Ohio. Fans have faced criminal involved. time or, in the case of streakers,
Fans have rushed playing charges, fines, even prison time; The intruders in modern ba- to avoid showing nudity.
CM S KI-KIE
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