YOUNG BRAVEHEARTS

Children who are selected for

the National Bravery Award
2023, during a press conference
ahead of the Republic Day in
New Delhi on Friday. As many
as 56 children from 17 different
states were given the awards,
held after three years, by the
Indian Council for Child Welfare.
Twenty-two awardees from
2020 were felicitated along with
16 awardees from 2021 and 18
awardees from 2022 | PTI
CHENNAI � SATURDAY � JANUARY 21, 2023 � `9.00 � PAGES 22 � LATE CITY EDITION
02 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023
� � THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

ASSET RECOVERY MANAGEMENT BRANCH :

770A, 1st Floor, Spencer Towers II Building,
Anna Salai, Chennai - 600 002.
Tel.No.2849 6339, 2849 6900.
E-mail : cb2361@canarabank.com

E-AUCTION
H.O : BENGALURU - CHENNAI CIRCLE OFFICE SALE NOTICE
E-Auction Sale Notice for Sale of Immovable Properties under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and
Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 read with proviso to Rule 8 (6) of the Security Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002

S.No.1 : Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrowers and Guarantors that the below described immovable property
mortgaged / charged to the Secured Creditor, the symbolic / constructive possession of which has been taken by the Authorised Officer of Retail Assets
Hub-I of the Canara Bank, will be sold on “As is where is”, “As is what is”, and “Whatever there is” on 13/02/2023, (Time 10:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M.)
(With unlimited extension of 5 minutes duration each till the conclusion of the sale) for recovery of Rs.75,74,734.00 due as on 31/10/2020 to the Asset
Recovery Management Branch, Chennai of Canara Bank from Mr. R. Selvam and Mrs. S. Gayathri.
DETAILS OF PROPERTIES : (Property in the name of Mr.R.Selvam, vide Doc Nos. 8471 of 2015 and 8470 of 2015) All that piece and parcel of
residential flat bearing No. F-2, First Floor, with plinth area of 1130 sq.ft including common area, at Angalamman Koil Street with undivided share of 352
sq.ft comprised in Survey No. 276/2B, Patta No. 411, as per Patta New Survey No. 276/5, Padur Village, Thiruporur Taluk, Kancheepuram District and
the land being bounded on the North by : Jayaram’s Land, South by : Perumal’s Land, East by : 20 feet Road, West by : Krishnan and Ganasan’s Land.
And situated within the Sub-Registration District of Thiruporur and the Registration District of Chengalpattu.
Reserve Price : Rs.20,85,000/- EMD: Rs.2,08,500/- BID MULTIPLIER: Rs.1,00,000/-

The Earnest Money Deposit shall be deposited on or before 09.02.2023 by 5.00 P.M. Canara Bank, Asset Recovery Management Branch
Inspection of Property Date & Time 04.02.2023 between 11.00 A.M. & 4.00 P.M. A/c No. 0416201006770 IFSC Code: CNRB0000416
(With prior appointment with Authorised Officer) on or before 09.02.2023 till 5.00 P.M

S.No.2 : Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrowers and Guarantors that the below described immovable property
mortgaged / charged to the Secured Creditor, the symbolic / constructive possession of which has been taken by the Authorised Officer of Retail Assets
Hub-I of the Canara Bank, will be sold on “As is where is”, “As is what is”, and “Whatever there is” on 13/02/2023, (Time 10:30 A.M. to 11:30
A.M.) (With unlimited extension of 5 minutes duration each till the conclusion of the sale) for recovery of Rs.75,72,006.00 due as on 31/10/2020 to
the Asset Recovery Management Branch, Chennai of Canara Bank from Mr.D.Babu and Mrs.B.Rajeswari.
DETAILS OF PROPERTIES : (Property in the name of Mr.D.Babu, vide Doc Nos.9902 of 2015 and 9901 of 2015) All that piece and parcel of residential
flat bearing No. F-1, First Floor, with plinth area of 1160 sq.ft including common area, at Angalamman Koil Street in the total land measuring 1048 sq.ft
out of which undivided share of 366 sq.ft comprised in Survey No. 276/2B, Patta No. 411, as per Patta New Survey No. 276/5, Padur Village, Thiruporur
Taluk, Kancheepuram District and the land being bounded on the North by : Jayaram’s Land, South by : Perumal’s Land, East by : 20 feet Road, West
by : Krishnan and Ganasan’s Land and situated within the Registration District of Chengalpattu, Sub-Registration District of Thiruporur.
Reserve Price : Rs.21,10,000/- EMD: Rs.2,11,000/- BID MULTIPLIER: Rs.1,00,000/-

The Earnest Money Deposit shall be deposited on or before 09.02.2023 by 5.00 P.M. Canara Bank, Asset Recovery Management Branch
Inspection of Property Date & Time 04.02.2023 between 11.00 A.M. & 4.00 P.M. A/c No. 0416201006770 IFSC Code: CNRB0000416
(With prior appointment with Authorised Officer) on or before 09.02.2023 till 5.00 P.M

S.No.3 : Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrowers and Guarantors that the below described immovable
property mortgaged / charged to the Secured Creditor, the symbolic / constructive possession of which has been taken by the Authorised Officer of
Mowbrays Road Branch of the Canara Bank, will be sold on “As is where is”, “As is what is”, and “Whatever there is” on 13/02/2023,
(Time 10:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M.) (With unlimited extension of 5 minutes duration each till the conclusion of the sale) for recovery of Rs.2,98,17,880.00 due
as on 30/06/2020 to the Asset Recovery Management Branch, Chennai of Canara Bank from M/s.M.V.R.Promoters, Mr.V.Rajavelu, and Mr.M.V.Sekar.
DETAILS OF PROPERTIES : (Property in the name of Sri.M.V.Sekar) - All that piece and parcel of the Residential Land and Building situated at Door
No.3/7, Venkataraman Street, Vannia Teynampet, Chennai – 600018, comprised in R.S.No.3814 Part, Land measuring an Extent of 1070 sq.ft of premises
and including rights over common passage measuring 245 sq.ft, in Mylapore – Triplicane Taluk, Chennai Central District and the whole property bounded
as follows: North by : Private Passage & Portion of the property owned by the Mr.Gopalkrishnan, Janabi and Prema, South by : Property belongs to
Mr.Ranganatha Naicker, East by : Property belongs to Mr.Natesa Naicker, West by : Property belongs to Mr.Natesa Naicker. And situated within the
Registration District of Chennai Central and Sub-Registration District of Chennai Central Joint Sub Registrar – I.
Reserve Price : Rs.78,20,000/- EMD: Rs.7,82,000/- BID MULTIPLIER: Rs.1,00,000/-

The Earnest Money Deposit shall be deposited on or before 09.02.2023 by 5.00 P.M. Canara Bank, Asset Recovery Management Branch
Inspection of Property Date & Time 04.02.2023 between 11.00 A.M. & 4.00 P.M. A/c No. 0416201006770 IFSC Code: CNRB0000416
(With prior appointment with Authorised Officer) on or before 09.02.2023 till 5.00 P.M

DATE & TIME OF E- AUCTION : 13.02.2023

(Time : 10 : 30 AM to 11 : 30 AM)
(With unlimited extension of 5 minutes duration each till the conclusion of the sale)
For detailed terms and conditions of the sale please refer the link “E-Auction” provided in Canara Bank’s website (www.canarabank.com) or may
contact Canara Bank Asset Recovery Management Branch, Chennai (Ph. No. 044 - 2849 6339 / 2849 6900) E-mail: cb2361@canarabank.com
during office hours on any working day. Portal of E-Auction: https://indianbankseauction.com
Date : 19.01.2023 AUTHORISED OFFICER
Place : Chennai CANARA BANK
 DOUBLE WHAMMY
A man clears snow from a car
in Joshimath on Friday. Heavy
snowfall intensified the cold in
various parts of Uttarakhand,
including the land subsidence-hit
Joshimath, where hundreds of
people are living in temporary
relief camps | PTI

CHENNAI � SATURDAY � JANUARY 21, 2023 � `9.00 � PAGES 22 � LATE CITY EDITION
04 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023
� � THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS

All the news.

(Regd. Office: PSEB Head Office, The Mall, Patiala - 147001) In just a click.
Log to
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40/RTP-06/23-1/20/2023
76155/12/1357/2022/20619

WITHOUT HARD WORK, NOTHING GROWS

BUT WEEDS ❯ GORDON B HINCKLEY

DISCLOSE SPONSORED CONTENT,
CENTRE TELLS INFLUENCERS
The government on Friday made it mandatory for social media
influencers to disclose their sponsored posts and endorsements
CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI
World body to get in
touch with wrestlers
United World Wrestling has
taken cognizance of the issue
and sought a reply from the
national federation. It is trying
to contact the wrestlers. It will
take a call on Asian meet in
New Delhi after probe is over
IOA forms panel to
probe allegations
The Indian Olympic Association
had a meeting on Friday and
formed a seven-ember
committee that included its
athletes’ commission
chairperson Mary Kom, Dola
Banerjee and Yogeshwar Dutt,
among others | P15
PANEL DEAL DONE, WFI CHIEF TO STEP ASIDE
A N M O L G U R U N G/ N A M I TA BA J PA I
@ New Delhi/Lucknow
IN a late night deal struck be-
tween the sports ministry and
the protesting wrestlers, the
government announced the
setting up of an oversight
committee to examine all the
grave charges against Wres-
tling Federation of India chief
Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
The panel will submit its find-
ing in four weeks till which
time the Singh will step aside
and assist it.
After almost seven hours of
meeting on Friday, sports min-
MULTIPLE FIRS
Film-maker
Manimekalai
gets interim
SC protection
S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi
FILMMAKER Leena Manime-
kalai got some relief on Friday
as the Supreme Court granted
her interim protection from co-
ercive action following multi-
ple FIRs against her in various
states for depicting Goddess
Kaali smoking a cigarette in a
poster of her film Kaali.
FIRs against her have been
registered in Madhya Pradesh,
Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand
and Delhi. A bench of Chief
Justice of India D Y Chandra-
chud and Justice P S Narasim-
ha while granting her protec-
tion, sought the response of
those states.
The court said, “the lodging
of FIRs in multiple states may
be of serious prejudice.”
Appearing
for the film-
maker, advo-
cate Kamini
Jaiswal told
the bench that
apart from the
FIRs, a look-
out circular
was also is-
sued against her. She pointed
out that Leena had no intention
to hurt the religious sentiments
of anyone, adding her object
was to depict the goddess in an
inclusive sense.
In her plea filed through ad-
vocate Indira Unninayar, Leena
argued that instead of taking
action against the dangerous
cyber violence she faced, the
state had targeted its actions
against her.
“Such State action is viola-
tive of her rights to creative in-
terpretation as a filmmaker un-
der Article 19(1) of the Indian
Constitution. It is also violative
of her rights to life, liberty and
reputation, and safety and safe
passage under Articles 21 r/w
19(1). It also impinges upon her
academic freedom, the right to
impart and exchange ideas and
enrich one’s development sub-
ject only, to restrictions of law,”
the plea stated.
CHENNAI � SATURDAY � JANUARY 21, 2023 � `9.00 � PAGES 22 � LATE CITY EDITION
Top wrestlers participate in their protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi against the WFI chief on Friday | SHEKHAR YADAV
ister Anurag Thakur along
with the wrestlers announced
that the committee to be
formed on Saturday will look
into the day-to-day matters of
the WFI.
“We had a discussion with
the wrestlers and have decid-
ed to form a independent com-
mittee that will be completely
neutral,” said Thakur. He also
said that the ministry will
look into all allegations in-
cluding financial misappro-
priation and sexual harass-
ment against Singh.
Bajrang Punia, who spoke
on behalf of the protesters,
PLUSH LOK SABHA
The new-look Lok Sabha in Central Vista that is expected to start functioning soon.
Designed on the theme of a peacock, it has close to 900 seats
Stop casteism during R-Day
flag hoisting: CS to collectors
E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Chennai
CHIEF Secretary V Irai Anbu
directed all district collectors
to ensure that there is no
casteism in hoisting
the national flag by lo-
cal body representa-
tives during Republic
Day celebrations and
in grama sabhas on
January 26.
The chief secretary
listed 15 instances that
could pose problems when local
body representatives from SC/
ST communities hoist the na-
tional flag, and the collectors
should preempt them all. Anbu
1,000 firecracker units shut as blast toll touches five
E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E
@ Virudhunagar
THE Virudhunagar district ad-
ministration on Friday ordered
at least 1,000 fireworks units
across the district to stop work
for a day after five people died
in three firecracker unit blasts
over the past one week.
Revenue officials have initi-
ated inspection of fireworks
units and at least 10 units have
been temporarily closed for
various violations on Friday,
sources said. “We have come to
FULL DISCLOSURE IN SIMPLE, CLEAR LANGUAGE
The disclosure must include all ‘material’ interest such as gifts, hotel
accommodation, equity, discounts and awards when endorsing any
products, services or scheme, failing which strict legal action, including
ban on endorsements, can be taken. The disclosures should be in simple
and clear language and of a duration that is hard to miss, the advisory said
said they were satisfied with
the outcome of the meeting
adding they have full faith in
the probe committee.
“Since our wrestlers were a
little worried about threats
from WFI, the ministry has
assured us full support,” said
Bajrang, adding that the pro-
test will be withdrawn. Among
those who were part of the
meeting that began around
6pm were Olympic medallists
Sakshi Malik, World Champi-
onships medallists Vinesh
Phogat and Anshu Malik.
Earlier in the day, Singh had
refused to resign. He is at
recalled how the collectors
were asked to do the same
ahead of the 75th Independence
Day celebrations and send a re-
port to the state government on
the actions taken. The
government had stud-
ied those reports.
“The collectors
should convene month-
ly meetings on prevent-
ing these 15 instances
in future and advise
village panchayat pres-
idents accordingly,” the chief
secretary said and added that a
report should be sent to the gov-
ernment after the grama sabha
meeting on January 26.
know that sub-leasing has also
been happening occasionally
and we are actively considering
invoking Goondas Act in such
cases,” District Collector J
Meghanath Reddy told TNIE.
Two of three workers, who
were injured in the explosion at
Sanankulam last Saturday, died
on Friday, taking the death toll
over the past one week to five.
Scores of workers were also in-
jured in three explosions at
Sanankulam, Keelathiruthangal
and Vembakottai in the past
week. While three people died
Gonda where the Senior Na-
tional Senior Open National
Ranking Tournament is set to
begin on Saturday.
The wrestlers who contin-
ued their protest at Jantar
Mantar, said that more players
have spoken to them about
their harassment.
The wrestlers also wrote to
Indian Olympic Association
president PT Usha. After IOA
met in the evening, it formed
a seven-member committee to
look into the allegations. In-
terstingly, the panel has Yo-
geshwar Dutt who has not
been part of the protest. P15
PROF
DISCHARGED IN
DIDI TOON CASE
Ten years after a professor
was arrested for forwarding
a cartoon aimed at Mamata
Banerjee, a Kolkata court
discharged him on Friday
AIADMK to take on Cong in Erode byelection
T M U R U GA N A N D H A M @ Chennai
AIADMK, the principal opposi-
tion in Tamil Nadu, has decid-
ed to field its candidate for the
Erode East byelection sched-
uled for February 27. Tamil
Maanila Congress (TMC) chief
GK Vasan on Friday said his
party has accepted the AIAD-
MK’s request to contest the by-
poll. TMC had fought and lost
the seat in AIADMK alliance in
the 2021 assembly election. The
ruling DMK on Thursday had
allotted the bypoll seat to its
ally Congress.
‘Running only low-floor
EXPRESS READ
buses in TN not possible’
Chennai: Procuring only low-floor
buses, accessible for persons with
disabilities, is not feasible due to
the inadequate infrastructure
including roads and bus bays, the
state government told the Madras
High Court on Friday | P6
on the spot in the cracker unit
blasts at Keelathiruthangal and
Vembakottai on Thursday,
three others who sustained se-
VIOLATORS FACE UP TO `50 LAKH PENALTY
The Central Consumer Protection Authority can slap penalty up to
■
`10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers for any
violation. For subsequent offences, `50 lakh can be imposed
■ Endorsers of misleading ads can be barred for up to one year. For
repeat contravention, the prohibition can extend up to three years
Google to lay off
12K as recession
fears grip big tech DGCA
slaps
penalty on AI,
CEO Sundar Pichai says sorry as firm plans
to cut excess jobs added during boom times
U M A K A N N A N @ Bengaluru
A day after Microsoft reported
10,000 job cuts, tech giant Goog-
le’s parent Alphabet on Friday
said it will lay off 12,000 people
across the world.
As recession fears mount, big
tech companies have been on a
firing spree after a period of
growth during the pandemic
era. After the dramatic growth
stopped, the bloated workforce
became a burden for the firms.
Breaking the bad news to em-
ployees in an email, Google
CEO Sundar Pichai admitted
that the company hired liber-
ally in the past two years to
keep pace with growth. “To
match and fuel that growth, we
hired for a different economic
reality than the one we face to-
day... I am deeply sorry for
that,” he added.
Kamal Karanth, co-founder,
Xpheno, a specialist staffing
firm, told this newspaper that
tech layoffs in the US and the
start-up layoffs in India are a
lesson for the future for mean-
ingful hiring during a bull run.
“Some of these companies and
leaders may not be able to give
the excuse next time that they
over-hired,” he added.
In the first week of January,
Amazon had said that it would
increase the number of layoffs
from 10,000 to 18,000. More than
SWIGGY LAYS OFF 380 EMPLOYEES
Online food delivery platform Swiggy on Friday laid off 380 employees
as part of a “restructuring exercise”. CEO Sriharsha Majety said
overhiring was a case of “poor judgement” | P16
Curiously, the announcement
about the AIADMK’s decision
has not come from the party’s
headquarters but from TMC
headquarters, one of the small-
er allies of the AIADMK. On
Thursday night, BJP state pres-
ident K Annamalai said Palan-
iswami and Vasan had spoken
to him and the national leader-
ship of the BJP would take a
BYPOLL MAY BE A LITMUS TEST FOR GOVT
The bypoll is a litmus test for DMK as the opposition has been saying
the DMK has lost its popularity as it has not fulfilled its poll promise of
`1,000 monthly dole to women heads of families and LPG subsidy | P8
Can Tasmac timing be
cut by 30 minutes: HC
Chennai: The Madras HC on Friday
asked Tasmac whether liquor sale
timings in retail outlets could be
reduced by half an hour. The HC
asked the Tasmac counsel to take
instructions from the government
and report back | P9
vere injuries in the accident
are undergoing treatment at
Government Rajaji Hospital in
Madurai.
T Sandeep Kohl (21) and K
Rampal Adhivasi (27) of Mad-
hya Pradesh, workers of AVM
Pyrotech Fireworks in Sanan-
kulam, who were also being
treated at the Government Ra-
jaji Hospital in Madurai for
70% and 100% burn injuries,
respectively, died on Friday. An-
other worker, Vinodh (35), who
sustained 70% burn injuries, is
critical, sources said.
Sundar Pichai
RETRENCHMENTS SO FAR
Meta 11,000
Amazon 18,000
Microsoft 10,000
Alphabet 12,000
Goldman Sachs 3,000
Salesforce 8,000
Twitter 3,700
Cisco 4,000
1,500 employees in India have
been impacted due to job cuts.
The impact of both Google
and Microsoft layoffs in India
could not be ascertained. Al-
phabet’s total number of em-
ployees as on September 30,
2022, was 1,86,779. In India, it
employs over 5,000 people.
Alphabet said it will pay em-
ployees for the entire notice pe-
riod (a minimum of 60 days).
The company will also offer a
severance package starting at
16 weeks salary plus two weeks
for every additional year at
Google. Outside the US, it will
support employees in line with
local practices.
Former AIADMK ministers in Salem to
meet Palaniswami | V SAKTHI
Woman drags man on
car’s bonnet for 4 km
E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Bengaluru
DAYS after a 71-year-old man
was dragged by a scooterist in
Bengaluru, another equally
horrific incident was reported
in the city on Friday.
In the latest incident, a 29-
year-old businessman was
dragged by a woman on her
car’s bonnet on the busy Ullal
Main Road near the Jnanab-
harathi campus for 3-4 km on
Friday morning. The brother
and friends of the businessman
had to chase the car to stop it
and rescue him.
The trigger for the incident is
suspected to be road rage after
both parties started fighting at
a signal accusing each other of
not following traffic rules.
Based on the businessman’s
complaint, the police filed a
case of attempt to murder un-
der Section 307 of the IPC
against the woman, whose hus-
`2,800 cr
PROJECTED SIZE OF THE SOCIAL
INFLUENCER MARKET BY 2025
suspends pilot
Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi
THE Directorate General of
Civil Aviation (DGCA) on Fri-
day imposed a penalty of `30
lakh on Air India and suspened
the licence of the pilot for flout-
ing the rulebook on managing
and reporting an unruly pas-
senger on board their New
York-Delhi flight on December
26, who allegedly eased himself
on a fellow flier.
“Financial penalty of `30
lakh has been imposed on Air
India for violation of applica-
ble DGCA Civil Aviation Re-
quirements. In addition, a pen-
alty of `3 lakh has been imposed
on Director-in-flight services
of Air India for failing to dis-
charge her duties as applicable
for requirements,’’ the aviation
regulator said.
The shocking incident hap-
pened on flight AI-102 on No-
vember 26 last year. Passenger
Shankar Mishra, in an inebri-
ated state, allegedly peed on a
70-year-old female passenger,
who was travelling like him in
business class.
The DGCA learnt of the inci-
dent on January 4, following
which a show cause notice to
the stakeholders. “The written
reply of Air India and the per-
sonnel involved were examined
following which enforcement
actions have been taken. Be-
sides the penalties, the licence
of pilot in command has been
suspended for a period of three
months.’’ Parallelly, Air India
announced a four-month flying
ban on Mishra.
decision about the choice of the
alliance’s candidate for the by-
poll. But the AIADMK’s an-
nouncement has come even be-
fore the BJP has made its
decision clear on the issue.
According to sources, OPS is
expected to make an important
announcement regarding the
bypoll on Saturday. A delega-
tion of senior functionaries of
the AIADMK will also meet
BJP chief K Annamalai at the
saffron party’s headquarters
on Saturday to seek BJP’s sup-
port for the AIADMK in the
byelection, sources said. P8
Videograb of the businessman being
dragged by a car driven by a woman
band accused the opposite par-
ty of trying to pull his wife’s
clothes and assaulting her. The
couple was returning home af-
ter a medical check-up of the
woman. Following the incident,
stones were hurled at her car,
breaking its windshields.
The police have registered a
complaint as well as a counter
complaint over the incident.
 ALMANAC TODAY MIN MAX Sunrise 06:36 am
Saturday: 21/01/2023 Year: Shubhakrut. Thai: Amavasai 23 C 29 C
0 0 Sunset 06:05 pm
Paush: Krishna Paksha Tithi: Amavasya till 26-24 hrs. Moonrise 05:59 am
Nakshatra (Star): Poorvashadha till 09-41hrs. Moon in Dhanu FORECAST
Rahukaalam: 09.00-10:30 Yamagantam: 13.30-15.00 Gulikakalam: 06.00-07.30 WEATHER Partly cloudy Moonset 05:35 pm

06 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023

� �

Buying only low-floor buses not feasible: Govt

State’s submission to HC says such buses need upgraded infrastructure, including access to bus stops, and drainage

R S I V A K U M A R @ Chennai Bharatha Chakravarthy. unit during 2009-2018, the trans- ing negotiating narrow road low-floor bus is `80 lakh against
“Procuring 100% low-floor port department said the buses corners could endanger the pas- `45 lakh for standard-floor bus.
PROCURING only low-floor buses needs upgrading infra- could not be operated in all the sengers apart from causing “While the operating cost (fuel
buses, accessible for persons structure that includes access routes due to insufficient road damage to the vehicles. and maintenance costs) for run-
with disabilities, is not feasible to bus stops, proper drainage width, non-standard speed- The department also pointed ning 1 km in Chennai city is ap-
due to the inadequate infra- facilities and the like,” said the breakers, and water stagnation. out water stagnation during proximately `23 for an existing
structure including roads and affidavit. The department also ex- rainy season as a major prob- standard-floor bus, that for a
bus bays, the state government The affidavit filed through plained the operational difficul- lem, as stagnant water would low-floor bus will be `41,” the

HOPES RUN HIGH

told the Madras High Court on senior counsel PS Raman fur- ties when the low-floor buses enter the buses as the floor of affidavit said.
Friday. ther said the development of were launched in the city, stat- the bus is only 400 mm above Recording the submissions,
Candidates waiting for their turn at micro job fair of private companies at Direct The submission was made such infrastructure is “un- the road level. Moreover, it not- the bench asked whether ramps
through an affidavit by the di- doubdbtedly” necessary as per While the operating cost for ed many of the workshops of could be fitted on the rear side
Employment and Career Guidance Centre in Guindy, Chennai, on Friday | R SATISH BABU running 1 km in Chennai city
rector of Institute of Road universal standards, and could the transport corporations do of the low-floor buses, so as to
Transport, under Tamil Nadu be done only gradually. is approx `23 for an existing not have facility for carrying mitigate the difficulties being
standard-floor bus, that for
Transport department, before Recalling the launching of 100 out maintenance works for the faced by the public. It also di-
JUVENILE DEATH IN GOVT HOME the first bench of Acting Chief low-floor buses in Chennai city,
a low-floor bus will be `41
low-floor buses. rected the government to file a
Justice T Raja and Justice D and 30 by TNSTC Villupram The approximate cost of a reply.

Officer visits boy’s mom,

Affidavit

draws ire of child panel ‘Covid health infra can now 19 TEXTBOOKS TRANSLATED

Anna varsity’s engg books

S A H AYA N O V I N S T O N L O B O
@Chennai
a blank sheet of paper, and I re-
fused to do so. Instead, I rushed
to collector’s office, and formally
be used for TB management’ in Tamil to be out soon
DAYS after six employees of the registered a complaint,” she had EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
social welfare department were said in her complaint. She had @ Chennai B I N I TA J A I S W A L @ Chennai and proper, a one-day orienta-
arrested for allegedly beating a also filed a complaint with the tion programme for the trans-
juvenile, Gokul Sri, to death in district police but no action has THE healthcare infrastructure THE textbooks of the new engi- lators and reviewers was or-
Chengalpattu boy’s home, a been taken yet. readied to tackle Covid-19 could neering syllabus introduced by g anised jointly by Anna
team of officials from National Henri Tiphagne, Advocate now be used to treat tuberculo- Anna University will soon be University and AICTE on Fri-
Commission for Protection of and Executive Director of Peo- sis (TB) cases, and develop a available in Tamil language. day. “We plan to complete the
Child Rights (NCPCR) visited ple’s Watch, said the director of new vaccine as the Bacillus University’s Centre for De- second phase within two
the teenager’s mother, Priya, on the social defence department, S Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vac- velopment of Tamil in Engi- months,” said Director, Centre
Thursday. Valarmathi, had issued the cine (used for inoculation neering and Technology has for Development of Tamil in
The team was accompanied transfer order of an eye-witness against TB) was formulated already started the work of Engineering and Technology,
by District Child Protection Of- who was crucial in the case. over 100 years ago, said Dr Sou- translating English engineer- and coordinator of the project,
ficer (DCPO) Sivakumar who “The man was working as an mya Swaminathan, former ing books into Tamil. P Umamaheswari,
had, allegedly, threatened the electrician in the home. Now he World Health Organisation As part of the first phase, the The All India Council for
woman weeks ago. Upon learn- is also transferred to Thoothuku- chief scientist on Friday. centre has completed the trans- Technical Education (AICTE)
ing this from Priya, the NCPCR di district, which is a clear move Delivering a public speech ti- lation of 8 books of first year under the Technical Book Writ-
team reprimanded the DCPO, to tamper with the evidence,” he tled ‘Towards Health Equity: a undergraduate engineering ing in re gional language
and sked him to wait in the po- said. Vision for India’ organised by courses, and 11 books of first scheme has given the project to
lice car until the enquiry is over. Speaking to TNIE, Valarmathi REACH, a Chennai-based NGO year diploma courses. It will Centre for Development of
Meanwhile all the employees of said after the death of Gokul Sri that has been working on tuber- soon start the work of translat- Tamil in Engineering and Tech-
the home, except the teachers, all the staff including the super- culosis eradication since its in- Former chief scientist of WHO, Dr Soumya Swaminathan delivering her speech at the ing second year engineering nology of Anna University, said
have been transferred to other intendent have been transferred. ception, to mark its 25th anni- event to celebrate 25th anniversary of REACH, on Friday in Chennai | P JAWAHAR books. varsity officials.
places. “All the accused have been sus- versary, she said “Without This time, the translation “The AICTE will provide `1
Priya, in her complaint to the pended. The teachers are not vaccines, we can’t wipe out in- Dozens of vaccines were devel- plans to eradicate TB ahead of work will be carried out on a crore fund to Anna University
Chengalpattu police, had said transferred yet, since the boys fectious diseases. Genetic se- oped at record speed without the rest of the world. The gov- bigger scale. As many as 42 for the translation project,”
that two days after Gokul’s will be facing their exams soon. quencing is also now possible. c o m p ro m i s i n g o n s a f e t y. ernment should first take into books of second year under- said a varsity official.
death, Sivakumar had threat- We can only transfer the persons We have the latest technology, Around 14 billion doses of Cov- account the social economic graduate engineering pro- The translated content will
ened her and asked her not to from one home to another, and and new platforms like mRNA id vaccine have been adminis- determinants. Social determi- gramme, and 46 books of sec- be available in the Anna Uni-
proceed with the complaint. “Si- not all 15 can be put in the same platform, viral vector platform, tered across the world so far,” nants of health account for 33% ond year diploma courses will versity library in physical and
vakumar then asked me to sign home,” she added. and others, which were used to she said and added that this to 55% of our healthcare out- be translated. digital format, and also on an
tackle Covid. We should use progress should open our eyes comes, and only the rest are de- A team of 176 translators and open portal. Any student inter-
them to manage TB eradication to the possibilities of new inno- terminants based on access to reviewers have been identified ested to learn about their engi-
EXPRESS READ also.” vation and research models. health services. We need to look by the university to work on the neering course subject in re-
“Creating a new vaccine will Opining that India should at economic aspects such as project. To ensure that the gional language can easily
CII to honour exceptional businesswomen be challenging. But with the lead the world in this aspect, education, access to healthcare translation work is appropriate access the content.
Chennai: Confederation of Indian Industry has invited nominations from right collaboration and invest- the doctor added, “Technology, and its quality.”
businesswomen including CEOs for the first edition of the CII Corporate ments, it can be done. Also, why science, researchers and inter- Health Minister Ma Subra-
Women Leadership Awards. Divided into 12 categories, the awards have been can’t we devise rapid tests for ested companies are available manian also spoke at the event.
COVID-19 CASES IN TN

New cases Death Tests TPR Active

instituted to honour the achievements and contributions of business TB as we had for Covid? During to us now. There should be a vi- Nalini Krishnan, executive Sec- 4 0 4,003 0% 43
women. Protiviti India, a business consulting firm, is the technical partner of the peak of the pandemic, sci- sion. India could provide that retary and co-founder, REACH
the event. Nominations can be submitted at https://ciicwlawards.com/ on or
Total deaths Cured total Tests Total
entists made unprecedented and lead from the forefront and others were present on the
38,049 35,56,501 7,02,47,559
before February 12. The winners will be announced on March 24 in Delhi. ENS progress in treatment methods. since our country had devised occasion.

Elementary edu wing creates app to track court cases

S U B A S H I N I V I J AYA K U M A R sary, said officials. education officers (BEOs), and said an official who is part of
@ Chennai The details of over 4,000 cas- are overseen by district educa- the team at the state level.
es against the directorate tion officers (elementary) The app will also help reduce
THE elementary education di- has been uploaded on the and also by a team at the the cases, as the grievances
rectorate under the school edu- app named ‘Legal Man- state level. All of them could be solved if the petitions
cation department has intro- agement System’. The have been given user are genuine. “Soon, the applica-
duced an application to track cases include disputes ids and passwords to tion will be extended to other
the progress of over 4,000 court related to the appoint- access the application. wings of the school education
cases filed against it over the ment of teachers in aid- After receiving feed- department, and details of all
years. The application will help ed schools and promo- back from the officials the cases will be uploaded in it
the directorate avoid contempt tions for teachers among using the application, to create a full-fledged case Minister for Sports and Youth Welfare Udhayanidhi Stalin had a consultative meeting with Odisha government officials
of court and file appeals in the others. “The details of the cas- changes have been made to tracking system for the depart- on the sports infrastructure and the implementation of Mission Sakthi, a women empowerment scheme. The minister
higher courts on time if neces- es are uploaded by 841 block make it more user-friendly,” ment,” added the officials. visited various sports complexes in Odisha and met the director of Mission Sakthi, Sujatha | EXPRESS

ARIES
(Mar 21 - Apr. 20)
Your stars begin
P E T E R V I DA L to look more
relaxed and
21ST January : Today’s dominant alignments enjoyable, although those
are deep, dark and Scorpionic in tone. What of you with responsibility
for children may have to
does this mean? That we’ll all have lots of dream of future pleasures
secrets? Perhaps! But what Scorpio really rather than experience
means is that we’re all being faced with them now! You should
a challenge to be honest - and that’s not respect a confidence for a
little while longer: the last
always easy! The first step is to be honest thing you want to do is blurt
with ourselves - and that’s even harder! out somebody else’s secret.
TAURUS
(Apr. 21 - May 21)
An upheaval on
the work front
may have been
delayed. Today’s planets
put the emphasis firmly on
home and family, and you
may have to face up to
duties you’d hoped would
go away! Your financial
stars begin to look easier, so
that’s good news. Whether
your costs are actually cut is
another question!
GEMINI CANCER LEO VIRGO LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES
(May 22 - June 21) (June 22 - July 23) (July 24 - Aug. 23) (Aug. 24 - Sept. 23) (Sept. 24 - Oct. 23) (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22) (Nov. 23 - Dec. 22) (Dec. 23 - Jan. 20) (Jan. 21 - Feb. 19) (Feb. 20 - Mar 20)
Mercurial The emotional Now that the You may You may still Leisure activities Time has moved It’s time for You want to It’s certainly a
alignments pressure you’ve Moon is so spend as be wondering are likely to be on, and old romantic do your best, day to keep
often bring been under strong, you can much time as what hit you, affected by certain problems are optimism, to be noticed busy, and many
out the best in your should now begin to lift, call the shots. There is no you like by yourself, and or why other people long-standing ambitions, really not so important. perhaps to get in touch with and appreciated but, of you may be putting in
character. Today is which means you are reason for other people to make sure that other seem so reluctant to and the best course of action You can now begin to look loved ones who are far away, above all, it’s a day for a spot of overtime or
therefore a moment unlikely to experience any hold you back, and if they people don’t pry into apportion blame. At today is one which increases at home and family affairs or who have been keeping partnership, for taking otherwise occupying
for rapid thought, lows, but you may miss don’t dance to your tune, your affairs or extract least, in future you your status, prestige and with fresh eyes, free from themselves to themselves care of loved ones, and yourself on unpaid
plenty of chat, and the highs as well. You that is their problem! In secrets which they have won’t have to work so self-confidence. Even the uncertainties of the for far too long. You may for doing everything in a business. You seem to
lively social visits. might appreciate the drift love, your dreams may be no right to know. For the hard to keep everything romantic connections will be recent past. Never forget bring travel plans up to date spirit of teamwork and have more energy than
Don’t let routine towards a more settled of a spiritual union rather business-minded, the nice and pleasant. That affected by your pride! On the the lessons that have been now, or risk a series of messy co-operation. If others usual at the moment,
chores get in your way, existence, welcoming the than raw passion. Not best investments are to task can be left to other hand, there are people learnt, and remember that misunderstandings. And appear to be taking a especially now that all
for your first priority opportunity to restore a that there’s anything be found in the world of people who think they who might be put off if you sometimes the old ways there’s no point in that, lion’s share, be gracious those old emotional cares
should be pleasure. sense of order. wrong with that! ideas or communication. can do better. appear to be too arrogant. are the best. now, is there? and give them their due. are easing.

CROSS WORD JUMBLE UNSCRAMBLE THESE JUMBLES, ONE LETTER TO

EACH SQUARE, TO FORM FOUR ORDINARY WORDS.
BY DAVID L. HOYT
ACROSS DOWN AND JEFF KNUREK
1 Vocally in top form? (2,4) 1 Switch choices occasionally (2,3,3)
4 A list of the obvious? (8) 2 Colours of average quality (8)
9 Song about a sailor overseas (6) 3 To expose a lie it needs
10 Destined to be admitted hammering home (4)
to the church (8) 5 Family ties for the
12 Double act now extinct (4) mother’s boy (5,7)
13 An addict may be fined (5) 6 One vehicle described as terrible (4)
Solutions to Yesterday’s puzzle

14 Is half left in the water (4) 7 He is sent out after

17 Early news from a rare some hesitation (6)
book sale (5,7) 8 I tried a more orderly
20 It gives an impression arrangement (6)
of permanence (9,3) 11 Bows? Nonsense! (12)
23 Cattle complaint (4) 15 Run yet remain still (5)
24 Present a degree (5) 16 They have posts out in Lagos (5)
25 All right we’ll drop the apostrophe (4) 18 A way to earn extra
28 What gun-runners take part in? (4,4) money in court (8)
29 It goes round a piece 19 Star as a roof-raiser? (8)
of preserved ginger (6) 21 Get on a bit frenetically (6)
30 Negative poles seen to 22 A money changer who had a farm (6)

SU DO KU 31
change? Absurd! (8)
Centre to be rebuilt in modern style (6)
26
27
Honest expression of agreement (4)
Vain and lazy (4)

TEST YOUR NUMBER

CRUNCHING SKILL WITH OUR
UNIQUE PUZZLE YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS
Across: 1 Refer, 4 Settled, 8 Sou, 9 Democracy, Down: 1 Resumed, 2 Feudalism, 3 Radii,
� Fill in the grid with digits in such a manner 10 Moabite, 11 Sat up, 13 Drills, 15 Enosis, 4 Summer, 5 Tucks in, 6 Lea, 7 Dry up,
that every row, every column and every 3X3 box Yesterday’s
18 Mimic, 19 Mustard, 21 Potentate, 23 Err, 12 Testament, 14 License, 16 Sadiron,
accommodates the digits 1 to 9, without repeating any. 24 Element, 25 Titan. 17 Impart, 18 Maple, 20 Sheet, 22 Tie.
 The PM 2.5 level recorded at Alandur NEWS UPDATE FROM TN

167 µg|m3 on Friday. Nitrogen dioxide level was

at 37 µg/m3 against the prescribed
standard of 80 µg/m3
Twitter @ xpresstn
‘TNIE Tamilnadu’ @ xpresstn

07 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023

� �

Kilambakkam bus terminus to be opened soon

EXPRESS READ

Once inaugurated in mid-February, the terminus will cater to around 1.5 lakh south-bound commuters per day

C S H I V A K U M A R @ Chennai tended. Now the housing secre- supports are to be provided on

THE new mofussil bus termi-
nus at Kilambakkam, being
built at a cost of `393.74 crore,
will be inaugurated by Febru-
ary 15, according to the Chen-
nai Metropolitan Development
Authority (CMDA).
Foundation for the bus ter-
minus to cater to south-bound
buses was laid in February 2019
and the project was expected to
be completed by 2021, but it got
delayed to the Covid-induced
lockdown.
It was later announced that
the work would be completed
by September 2002, however,
The under-construction new mofussil bus terminus in Kilambakkam | MARTIN LOUIS the deadline was further ex-
tary is keen to complete the
work by mid-February and has
instructed the chief executive
officer of CMDA to file a daily
report on the work status.
Official sources said the de-
lay is due to the time being tak-
en to construct the steel dome.
CMDA changed the construc-
tion methodology so that the
elevation structures are cast as
pre-engineered structures us-
ing structural steel members.
The elevation structures have
to be constructed in a curved
profile which will rest over the
terrace of the terminal build-
ing at a height of nearly 18m
from the terrace. In between,
the terrace of the main termi-
nal building. The work is ex-
pected to be completed soon.
Kilambakkam bus terminus
once thrown open is expected
to cater to 1.5 lakh passengers
with a parking space for 250
buses, 270 cars and 3,500 two-
wheelers. Meanwhile, a rail
link to the new mofussil bus
terminus will be provided by
building a skywalk. During the Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale
inaugural meeting of Chennai interacts with a recruit at the Rozgar Mela in Chennai on Friday | R SATISH BABU
Unified Metropolitan Trans-
port Authority chaired by the
chief minister, approval was SASTRA ties up with Nidhi Aapke Nikat to
given for the 15.5km stretch TCS iON for UG courses be held on Jan 27
which would cost the excheq- via ‘phygital’ platform
uer `4,080 crore, said sources. Chennai: Employees Provident
Thanjavur : Ina bid to help Fund Organisation will organise
students and working the strengthened version of Nidhi

Renovated block at Cancer professionals with upskilling, Aapke Nikat 2.0 (PF near you) in
SASTRA here has collaborated Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur
with TCS iON to offer B Com, BCA districts on January 27. During

Institute rededicated and BBA courses through a

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai
FOLLOWING renovation and
modernisation of the Mrs Mad-
huram Narayanan Block at the
Cancer Institute at a cost of `6
crore with a donation from the
Sanmar Group CSR Trust, the
block was rededicated by N Ku-
mar and Vijay Sankar of The
Sanmar Group on Friday. The
block was built in memory of
Sankar’s mother in 2000. The
modernised block has new con-
sultation rooms, an emergency
ward, 23 state-of-the-art patient
rooms, two iodine treatment
‘phygital’ platform. The online
undergraduate programmes are
rooms as per the BARC stand- being offered with multiple entry
ards, and nurses’ stations, and exit opportunities linked to
among other facilities. V Ses- Academic Bank of Credit systems
hasayee, Chairman of the Can- notified by the
cer Institute, said, “For N University
Sankar, the purpose was more Grants
important than the money in- Commission
volved. He supported a number (UGC), digital
of institutions, including Can- certification,
cer Institute, much before CSR placement
was mandated.” While the ini- assistance,
tial cost of the renovation was digital learning resources with
`2.5 crore, it escalated to `6 Anytime-Anywhere-AnyDevice
crore. However, Sankar imme- learning options digitally
diately agree to fund it and powered by TCS iON. Learners
promptly sent the donation, he will also get hands-on experience
added. through projects at the end of
sixth semester to complete their
programme. Batches will be
commencing twice a year: during
January-February and during
June-July. Further information is
JOB HALF DONE available at https://www.sastra.
edu/dodeprogramme/, a release
Unfinished stormwater drain work at Indira Nagar poses a threat to commuters and pedestrians | ASHWIN PRASATH stated. ENS
the outreach programme,
grievance redressal will be done
and awareness will be created
about online services available
for employers, employees and
other stakeholders. In Tiruvallur,
the event will be held at the
Office of the district collector
and in Kancheepuram it will be
organised at Pachayappa’s
College for Women. ENS
New dialysis centre
opened in Tondiarpet
Chennai: Minister for Municipal
Administration and Water Supply
KN Nehru inaugurated a dialysis
centre at Dr Ambedkar College
Road in Tondiarpet on Friday.
This will be the eighth dialysis
centre operating under the
corporation. Speaking after the
event, the minister said CM
Stalin will likely inaugurate the
desalination plant with a
capacity of 150MLD within the
next three months. ENS

CRIME FILE

Former employee held for Six held for

kidnapping real Migrant labourer hit by stray
bid to hurl bomb at office estate businessman bullet from CISF firing range
Apollo to host conclave on EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
Mount locality. Police said the
tech park houses six companies
Chennai: Ambattur Estate police
arrested six men on charges of
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai had pierced Aslam’s leg. He was
rushed to a nearby private hos-

inflammatory bowel disease

E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai
IN the wake of increasing in-
flammatory bowel disease
(IBD) in the country, Apollo
Hospitals along with Tamil
Nadu Gastroenterologist Trust
will organise a conclave to edu-
cation educate doctors, patients
and healthcare professionals
on Sunday. Faculties from USA
and UK will address more than
300 delegates from across the
globe in the one-day event.
Results from the recent study
conducted by Apollo Hospitals
in the south revealed most peo-
ple with IBD were youngsters.
Two bowel diseases have been
increasing alarmingly in our
country. One is inflammatory
bowel disease - a long-term con-
dition of relapsing and remit-
ting inflammation of the intes-
tines. The other is bowel (colon)
cancer, said the release.
A 32-year-old mechanical engi-
neer who alleged his former
company blacklisted him was
caught when he was about to
hurl a petrol bomb on the
premises on Thursday morn-
ing. He had earlier hurled a pet-
rol bomb at the office on Janu-
ary 14, said the police.
The arrested is V Srinivasu,
a graduate of Andhra Univer-
sity in Visakhapatnam. He was
working in a chemical piping
contract company, which has
its office in a private tech park
on Jawaharlal Nehru Road in
where at least 1,700 people are
employed. On Thursday at
around 11.30 am, deputy man-
ager of the building, Thiagara-
jan noticed a man moving
around suspiciously and he
along with the security nabbed
him and handed him over to
the police. The accused said he
had resigned from the company
three months ago and tried to
land jobs with other compa-
nies. “He suspects the former
employer had blacklisted him
which is why he was not getting
job offers and hence he threw
the bomb,” said the police.
kidnapping a real estate
businessman from Athipet. Police
said J Sivaranjani (27) of ICF
Colony on Thursday lodged a
complaint stating that her
husband Jayaram had been
kidnapped by Devaraj and his men
following a money dispute. A
special team was formed to trace
the accused. The special team
rescued Jayaram and arrested the
accused N Diwakar (40), N
Devaraj (40) of Chintadripet, S
Hemanathan (41), K Balaji (38) of
Ponneri, S Stephen Raj (36) of
Ayapakkam and L Dinesh Kumar
(23) of Athipet. ENS
A 30-year-old migrant labourer pital, where the doctors removed
was injured on Thursday a bullet from his leg,” said a sen-
evening after he was hit in the ior police officer. The construc-
leg by a stray bullet from tion site is about two km
the firing range near Ti- away from the shooting
rusulam, where a CISF range which belongs to
personnel was involved the Army, where CRPF,
in target practice. The CISF and other central
man identified as Insar uniformed units prac-
Aslam (30) from Bihar is tice. “The gun used was
out of danger, said the an INSAS rifle which
police. has a firing range of
Aslam who was working on about one km. However, we sus-
the second floor of the under- pect that the bullet deflected af-
construction building fell after ter hitting a rock or metal board
he was shot in the leg. “Other which increased the range to
employees thought an iron rod two km,” police added.

SPORTS AUTHORITY OF INDIA

LAKSHMIBAI NATIONAL COLLEGE
OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION
P.B.No.3, Kariavattom, Thiruvananthapuram - 695581.
Telephone: 0471-2418712, 2416886.
Web: http://www.lncpe.ac.in, Email: sailncpe@gmail.com
RECRUITMENT NOTICE FOR THE POST OF
JUNIOR CONSULTANT AND YOUNG PROFESSIONAL
SAl LNCPE. Thiruvananthapuram is looking for eligible, dedicated and committed
citizens of India to fill up the following vacancies of Junior Consultant and Young
Professional on contract basis.
S.No. Name of the Post Number of Post
1 Junior Consultant (Performance monitoring) OBC-1
2 Junior Consultant (Infra) UR-1
3 Junior Consultant (Accounts / Finance) UR-1
4 Young Professional (ARM) OBC-2, SC-1, EWS-1
5 Young Professional (Project & Administration) UR-1
6 Young Professional (General) UR-3
7 Young Professional (Legal) UR-1
8 Young Professional (Accounts / Finance) UR-3
*Vacancies are indicative, may vary depending Upon the vacancy arises for
different category as per reservation policy
Interested candidates may submit their application on or before 06/02/2023. For more
details visit: https://lncpe.ac.in/ or in https://sportsauthorityofindia.nic.in/sai/
Sd/- Principal
SAI LNCPE
CBC 47115/12/0005/2223 Thiruvananthapuram

PROBLEMS ARE NOT STOP SIGNS, THEY ARE

GUIDELINES ❯ ROBERT H SCHULLER

08 CHENNAI
The first rehearsal of the Republic Day events was organised on Kamarajar Salai on Friday. Personnel from different uniformed services will be holding parade rehearsals in the coming days | ASHWIN PRASATH
Opposition likely to use poll promises to bedevil DMK
Opposition parties may corner DMK government over `1,000 dole a month for women heads of families and `100 subsidy for LPG cylinders
S K U M A R E S A N @ Chennai
WITH the AIADMK joining the
hustings, the Erode East bypoll
has turned into a litmus test for
the DMK government. The as-
sembly segment falls in the
Kongu belt, a stronghold of AI-
ADMK interim general secre-
tary Edappadi K Palaniswami
(EPS), and even when the party
was facing anti-incumbency in
2021 Assembly election, the AI-
ADMK-led alliance lost Erode
East seat only by a margin of
about 8,900 votes.
AIADMK, Congress likely
to field veterans in bypoll
P S R I N I V A S A N @ Erode
THE AIADMK and Congress
are likely to field veterans as
candidates in the bypoll in
Erode East constituency.
AIADMK sources in Erode
said: “District secretary and
former minister KV Ramalin-
gam has expressed his desire to
contest. Many in the party be-
lieve that he will be a strong
contender. At the same time,
KS Thennarasu, a well-known
person in the constituency and
for mer MLA, has also ex-
pressed his desire to contest.”
Speaking to TNIE, Thennar-
asu admitted that he was will-
ing to contest the by-poll. “I
have expressed my desire to
contest from Erode East, but
will abide by the decision taken
by the leadership.”
The Congress will likely field
senior leader and father of
Thirumagan Everaa, EVKS
Election
stage set, all
eyes now on
‘two-leaves’
C O N T I N U E D F R O M PA G E 1
Edappadi K Palaniswami’s de-
cision to field his candidate and
the BJP’s silence has turned
the hustings in one of the key
seats in the Kongu belt more ex-
IT’S TIME EDUCATION GETS BIGGER PIECE OF RESOURCE PIE
CO L D R G T H I RU VASAGA M
T
HE QS World University
Ranking, Times Higher
Education World Univer-
sity Ranking, Academic
Ranking of World Universities
(ARWU) have recently pub-
lished their rankings. Harvard
University, Massachusetts In-
stitute of Technology, Stanford
University, University of Cali-
fornia, Berkeley and University
of Oxford top the lists as they
have done for many years.
Of the 1,100 Indian universi-
ties none rank in the top 100 of
these rankings. This is attrib-
uted to the conditions of Indian
universities. However, in recent
years, some IITs and a few cen-
tral universities have started
figuring in these rankings un-
der certain categories.
To understand the absence
of Indian varsities in such
rankings, we must first under-
stand their basic aims. From
SATURDAY
During the election cam-
paign, the AIADMK is likely to
raise the delay by the DMK gov-
ernment to fulfil its poll prom-
ises such as the `1,000 monthly
assistance to women heads of
families and the `100 subsidy
on LPG cylinders.
The DMK will be forced to en-
sure victory of ally Congress to
prove that the electorate re-
mains satisfied with the regime,
especially since the Congress is
not known to put up an aggres-
sive election campaign.
On Friday, Electricity Minis-
Elangovan, or his younger
brother. “Most people prefer
Elangovan to contest from
Erode East. If he declines the
offer because of his health , his
younger son Sanjay Sampath
(42), brother of Thirumagan, is
likely to be fielded,” said KN
Badshah, vice president of
TNCC Erode district minority
wing.
Meanwhile, DMK strongmen
and Minister for Housing and
Urban Development S Muth-
usamy expressed confidence
that Congress will win the by-
poll. “We are saying this based
on the works being done in
Erode. After the DMK came to
power, we have taken up many
pending works, and completed
a few. Two temporary bus
stands are being built. The ex-
isting bus stand is being up-
graded. We have started the
ground work and our prospects
are bright.”
citing. It has also raked up de-
bates about whether the EPS
camp could get the ‘two-leaves’
symbol by trouncing O Pan-
neerselvam as the internal
clash between the two factions
await a judicial closure.
The move is perceived as a
shrewd power-play by EPS to
maintain his image as the man
holding the reins in the party
and as a strong message to OPS
who has been claiming to be the
AIADMK coordinator.
“The TMC accepts the re-
quest of the AIADMK consider-
ing the political situation and
keeping in mind the forthcom-
ing elections to Lok Sabha and
the outset, while some special-
ised institutions were devoted
to research and enhancement
of knowledge, the constitution
and various government com-
mittees laid emphasis on the
importance of ensuring social
justice and recommended the
adoption of the reservation pol-
icy so Indian higher education
may provide employable educa-
tion to a maximum number of
citizens. On the other hand, the
aim of top-ranking western
universities is, by and large, to
further knowledge and allow
deserving candidates to pursue
higher education. While west-
ern universities receive fund-
ing for research and merit-
based admission, our
government policy is focused
on promoting social and educa-
21 01 2023
� �
TRIAL RUN FOR R-DAY
ter V Senthil Balaji exuded con-
fidence that the DMK-led alli-
ance would register a massive
victory in the bypoll, and right-
ly so. In TN, ruling parties have
historically had an advantage
in bypolls. In the past two dec-
ades, they won most bypolls.
Political pundits, however, do
not share Senthil Balaji’s opti-
mism.Veteran journalist R Ram
Mohan said caste dynamics
would play a crucial role in this
bypoll. When EPS contested in
2021 as CM candidate, the Kon-
gu belt voted for AIADMK.
A control room to monitor poll-related issues for Erode East was opened at Erode
corporation office by Corporation Commissioner K Sivakumar on Friday | EXPRESS
Will work for Congress victory, says CPI’s Mutharasan
Erode: CPI state secretary R Mutharasan on Friday said
his party would work for the victory of Congress in the
Erode East bypoll. He told reporters: “The Congress
party has been given an opportunity to contest in the
Erode East on the basis of alliance dharma. We will take
all efforts for the victory of the Congress candidate. We
R Mutharasan will engage in election campaigns and all India leaders,
state leaders, MPs and MLAs will join the campaigns ... The AIADMK
alliance is divided into four factions. According to the alliance dharma,
Tamil Maanila Congress should have contested. Even if TMC was given
the chance, they cannot win,” he added. ENS
Assembly,” Vasan said. “TMC
office bearers and cadre in
Erode East constituency will
work for the victory of the AI-
ADMK candidate,” Vasan said.
After the AIADMK’s deci-
sion, ensuring Congress’s vic-
tory has become a prestige
issue for the DMK since
the opposition might
dub a defeat as a peo-
ple’s verdict against the
DMK government.
Asked about specula-
tions that the AIADMK
may have difficulties in get-
ting the ‘two-leaves’ symbol,
party spokesperson Kovai Saty-
an told TNIE: “The symbol is
tion equality and maximum
outreach. Only a few highly
specialised institutions can
pursue the same agenda as
western universities.
To compete with the top-
ranked universities, we need
the best infrastructure, re-
search development laborato-
ries, software, faculty, and re-
search scholars. The
appointment of foreign teach-
ers, admission of foreign stu-
dents and the reputation of the
organisations, which offer em-
ployment to the graduates are
all taken into account when
rankings are made. The Koth-
ari Commission of 1966 recom-
mended that at least 6% of the
Gross National Product (GNP)
be allocated towards the devel-
opment of education. Even af-
ter 75 years of independence,
the Indian government has not
even allocated 4% of the GNP
for education with less than 2%
of GNP allocated for research
“AIADMK-led alliance se-
cured over six lakh votes in the
seven assembly segments of
Erode in the 2021, that’s 40,000
votes more than what the DMK
alliance managed to secure.”
If the AIADMK come out vic-
torious in this bypoll, it might
seal EPS’ control over the party,
and he knows it too. “Undoubt-
edly, people in his native region
will want him to become the
single leader of the AIADMK
and extend their support for
him,” said a former MLA from
Erode district.
with us. There is no dispute be-
fore the EC about the symbol.
So, where is the question of fac-
ing difficulty in getting it? The
Supreme Court verdict, which
is expected next week, will give
more clarity on who is leading
the party.”
“Now, Palaniswami is
enjoying the support of
63 MLAs out of 66. Only
three support Panneer-
selvam, and he does not
have the support of even
1% of the general council
members. Twice Palaniswa-
mi has submitted affidavits of
general council members sup-
porting him. The first time, the
Pecking order
The appointment of foreign
teachers, admission of
foreign students and the
reputation of the
organisations, which offer
employment to the
graduates are all taken into
account when rankings
are made
in higher education. In western
countries where top varsities
are based, 6% of GNP is allo-
cated to higher education, of
which 4% is for research.
Meanwhile, many govern-
ment universities in India do
not even have sufficient funds
to pay the faculty and staff
their salary or pensions. Ac-
cording to the union govern-
ment’s higher education de-
par tment statistics, in
December 2022, there were
11,000 vacancies in the central
18-YR-OLD
KILLED
Palaniswami’s decision
to contest bypoll leaves
OPS in catch-22 situation
E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai
THE decision of AIADMK in-
terim general secretary Edap-
padi K Palaniswami (EPS) to
field the party’s candidate in
the by-election to Erode East
Assembly constituency seems
to have put his bete noire, O
Panneerselvam in a tight spot
since any move by him might
not favour him politically.
Though the uncertainty over
the two-leaves symbol remains,
if Panneerselvam fields his
own candidate in this by-elec-
tion, grassroots cadre might
perceive it as his betrayal of
the party.
Also, if Panneerselvam takes
any step to claim the two-leaves
symbol before the Election
Commission at this juncture,
such a move could also be con-
sidered as an anti-party activi-
ty by the cadre since winning
the by-election or even secur-
ing a good share of votes is im-
portant for the future of the
AIADMK. If he gives up his
claim for two-leaves now, it
would be a political gain for
Palaniswami, and on that
count, Panneerselvam is in a
tight spot now.
Asked about whether the
Panneerselvam camp could se-
cure the two-leaves symbol, V
Pugazhendi, an associate of
Panneerselvam told TNIE:
number stood around 2,300, and
second time, 250 more GC mem-
bers supported Palaniswami.
So, the Election Commission
cannot ignore such strong evi-
dence in support of EPS, and
hence, there won’t be any prob-
lem for us in getting the sym-
bol,” Satyan said.
However, V Pugazhendi, a
staunch supporter of OPS, said
the latter continues to be the
coordinator of the party, and
without his signature on elec-
tion forms, a candidate cannot
get the AIADMK symbol. He
said many functionaries are
willing to contest this by-elec-
tion, and they would be meet-
universities (900 in Delhi Uni-
versity alone) and 90,000 vacan-
cies for teachers in the state
universities. Can Indian uni-
versities attract faculty and
students from foreign countries
without the necessary funding
and infrastructure? This is a
point to ponder.
The path ahead…
Government authorities and
scholars should be delighted to
note that the Indian education-
al system has empowered peo-
ple, especially those from back-
ward and marginalised
communities, economically, so-
cially and politically.
At the same time, these com-
mendable efforts to secure so-
cial equality through the reser-
vation policy cannot be blamed
for not achieving global rank-
ings. We have to compete with
international institutions and
reach the pinnacle while em-
bracing social justice.
Two men were arrested on Wednesday for allegedly murdering
an 18-year-old boy over an argument near Mamsapuram in
Virudhunagar. The deceased, Sethuraja of Mamsapuram, had
gone to meet his friend around 10 pm on Sunday
Edappadi K Palaniswami at a public
meeting in Ariyalur on Friday | EXPRESS
“The Election Commission’s
records still maintain the dual
posts of coordinator and joint
coordinator as far as the AIAD-
MK is concerned. Since Edap-
padi K Palaniswami has de-
clared that he has resigned as
the joint coordinator of the AI-
ADMK, Panneerselvam is the
coordinator as well as the sole
authority of the party to sign
the nomination forms for elec-
tions. “Further, we have ex-
pelled Palaniswami from the
AIADMK, and as such, he has
no connection with the party.”
Asked about Palaniswami’s
decision to contest this by-elec-
tion, Pugazhendi said: “Till Fri-
day, Palaniswami did not an-
nounce that his party would
contest the by-election. Let him
declare that; after that, we will
announce our stand.”
ing Panneerselvam shortly.
Meanwhile, Panneerselvam
held detailed discussions with
veteran leader Panruti S Ram-
achandran about the next
course of action. In Cuddalore,
after BJP state executive com-
mittee meeting on Friday, party
vice-presidents Narayanan
Thirupathy and KP Ramalin-
gam told reporters that the na-
tional leadership of their party
is yet to take a decision on the
by-election. However, they said
the BJP is keen on defeating the
Congress. Meanwhile, AMMK
general secretary TTV Dhina-
kran said: “We will announce
our stand on January 27.”
The responsibility for the ex-
cellent quality of the end prod-
uct of the university rests in
the hands of every single fac-
ulty member who has to have
the necessary and up-to-date
knowledge to equip the stu-
dents to compete at the global
level.
As per the National Educa-
tion Policy 2020, the govern-
ment of India plans to permit
100 foreign universities to start
academic campuses in India.
The government should ensure
the reservation policy is fol-
lowed in admission of students
and appointment of faculty to
ensure a level playing
field.
If we analyse the
list of top-ranking
universities, we
see that they offer
education and re-
search pro-
grammes in
their moth-
EXPRESS READ
Highway motel contract
cancelled for bad food
Chennai: Transport Minister SS
Sivasankar on Friday said the
contract of a motel near
Vikkiravandi has been terminated
for serving poor quality food to
commuters. Sivasankar said
following complaints from
commuters, officials inspected
the eatery named Vels. “It has
been found that food served to
travellers was of low quality.”
CPM cadre attempt to
besiege Raj Bhavan, held
Chennai: Hundreds of CPM cadre
were on Friday detained when
they tried to besiege Raj Bhavan
to condemn the acts of Governor
RN Ravi and urge him to step
down. During the protest, party
state secretary K Balakrishnan
said that the governor’s acts were
against the Tamils and criticised
him for sitting on the 21 Bills
passed by the Assembly.
Stalin inaugurates
new classrooms, labs
Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin
on Friday inaugurated buildings
constructed for the higher
education department at an
estimated cost of `202.07 crore
across the state. The
infrastructure include classrooms,
laboratories, digital libraries,
hostels, and auditoriums set up in
the state-run colleges and
institutes.
CM condoles demise of
Vasanthi Ramakrishnan
Chennai: Chief Minster MK Stalin
condoled the demise of Vasanthi
Ramakrishnan, wife of Thanthai
Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam
president Kovai K Ramakrishnan,
on Friday. Stalin said he was
saddened to know about the
demise and extended his
condolence to the TPDK leader.
Other leaders also offered their
condolences.
CM gives appointment
letters to med officers
Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin
handed over assistant medical
officers job appointment orders
to 15 of 130 Indian medicine
practitioners at the Secretariat on
Friday. According to the press
release, the assistant medical
officers were recruited through
the Medical Recruitment Services
Board.
PMK road trip for Tamil
medium of instruction
Chennai: PMK founder Dr S
Ramadoss has scheduled an
eight-day tour from Chennai to
Madurai between February 21 and
28 to spread awareness on the
importance of education in Tamil
medium. Ramadoss, in a
statement on Friday, said
successive state governments
were lethargic in implementing
the GO and Acts to develop Tamil.
er tongue. Indian universities
should also provide quality ed-
ucation in the mother tongue
of students.
Crucially, union and state
governments should allocate
6% of GNP for higher educa-
tion as per the recommenda-
tions of the Kothari Commis-
sion and the National Education
Policy.
With the necessary funding
and dedicated faculty at Indian
varsities, the performance of
students will rise to meet global
expectations and India will
soon be well represented in the
global rankings.
Footnote is a weekly
column that discusses issues
relating to Tamil Nadu
Col Dr G Thiruvasagam,
Vice-Chancellor,
AMET Deemed to be
University
09 CHENNAI
After HC rap, KL
attaches assets
of PFI leaders
HC had ordered govt to attach properties to
recover `5.2 crore for damage during hartal
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @
Kozhikode
COMING under fire from the
High Court over the delay in re-
covering the cost for the dam-
age caused during the flash
hartal called by the banned PFI
last year, the state government
on Friday started measures to
attach the assets of the outfit’s
leaders.
The HC directed the state to
complete the process by Janu-
ary 23. Additional Chief Secre-
tary (Home) had apologised be-
fore the HC for the delay in
completing attachment proce-
dures for realising `5.20 crore
towards the damage caused by
the outfit’s hartal on Septem-
ber 23 in protest against the ar-
rest of its leaders.
Land Revenue Commissioner
T V Anupama asked the Dis-
trict Collectors to finish the at-
tachment proceedings by 5pm
on Saturday. Following the di-
rection, teams of officials from
the revenue department started
attachment of properties in
various parts of the state.
The house and 12 cents of
land owned by former PFI state
general secretary A Abdul
Sathar were attached by the of-
ficials at Puthiyakavu in Karu-
EXPRESS READ
Annamalai to start
padayatra on April 14
Cuddalore: BJP state president K
Annamalai will start his state-wide
padayatra from Thiruchendur on
April 14, said party’s deputy state
president K P Ramalingam during a
council meeting on Friday.
Annamalai said, “BJP has created
history by being in power in Gujarat
for 27 years.” ENS
2 forest staff issue fake
tickets, pocket `35 lakh
Coimbatore: A forester was suspended
for siphoning off `35 lakh by issuing
fake entry tickets to tourists at Kovai
Courtrallam. Rajesh Kumar along with
ex-Boluvampatti range officer, T
Saravanan, who is in Madurai division
now, has been swindling money for
last one-and-a-half year. Conservator
of Forests, S Ramasubramanian has
written to Madurai officials for taking
action against Saravanan.
Class 12 girl
death: Mom
hands over
phone to cops
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Villupuram
THE mother of a Class 12
girl — who had been found
dead in the premises of the
Kallakurichi private school
last year — handed over the
latter’s phone to CB-CID on
Friday. This comes after a
Madras High Court order
on the matter.
The girl’s mother visited
the Chief Judicial Magis-
trate court here and tried to
submit the phone to CJM M
Pushparani. A source said
the CJM refused to admit
the phone asked her to sub-
mit it to the investigating
officer.
She then went to the CB-
CID office in Villupuram
a n d h a n d e d ove r t h e
phone.
It may be noted that the
girl’s mother had received
four prior warnings form
the court for not submit-
ting the phone. The CB-CID
stated that they had been
unable to conclude the in-
quiry without verifying
that particular mobile
phone.
The death of the Class 12
girl on July 13, 2022, sparked
riots.
The source said the hear-
ing of her petition in high
court is scheduled for first
week of February.
nagappally in Kollam.
In Wayanad, properties of 14
former PFI leaders in Edavaka,
Mananthavady, Vellamunda,
Anjukunnu, Nalloornadu, Mu-
til South, Nenmeni and Kuppa-
dithara villages were attached
by a team led by ADM Shaju
NA. Details about the proper-
ties will be handed over to the
Land Revenue Commissioner
by Saturday.
Revenue officials in Kannur
said steps were initiated to con-
fiscate the assets of seven PFI
leaders from Kannur, Tha-
lasserry and Taliparamba
taluks. The recovery measures,
being coordinated by revenue
deputy collectors, in the dis-
trict would be completed by
Saturday evening, said offi-
cials. After completing the for-
malities, a report will be sub-
mitted to the collector.
Officials said, 5 cents of land
of K P Noushad of Mavilayi; 2.5
cents of K V Noushad, Kad-
ambur; 10 cents of M M Raziq
of Pamburuthi; 33 cents of
Vayoth Harun of Thriprangot-
tur; 9.83 cents of land of M P
Sameer of Mokeri; 92.34 cents
of Peedikayullathil Thahir of
Puliyanambram, and the car of
Sameer of Pullookkara would
be attached.
ENS
Shri RAJARAMAN C
of Puzhuthivakkam passed away of Purasawalkam passed away on
on January 08, 2023
�
Smt JANAKI S
of Ramapuram passed away on
January 15, 2023
�
Shri PARTHASARATHY V
of Thiruvanmiyur passed away on
January 15, 2023
�
Shri NAVANEETHA KRISHNAN P
of Madurai passed away on
January 17, 2023
Shri JANAKIRAMAN V
� Dr. PADMANABHA ACHARYA
of Mylapore passed away on
January 10, 2023
All the news.
In just a click.
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SATURDAY
ON PIL PLEA
Can liquor sale
timing be cut
by 30 minutes:
HC to Tasmac
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Chennai
THE Madras High Court on
Friday asked the Tamil Nadu
State Marketing Corporation
(Tasmac) whether the liquor
sale timings in retail outlets
could be reduced by half an
hour before closing time.
The first bench of Acting
Chief Justice T Raja and Jus-
tice D Bharatha Chakravarthy
posed the query to the Tasmac
when a PIL seek-
ing orders to
check liquor
consumption
in open places
after bars are
closed at 10 pm
came up for hear-
ing. The bench di-
rected the TASMAC counsel to
take instructions from the gov-
ernment and report back.
The Tasmac management
submitted it had sent a pro-
posal to the state government,
seeking extension of bars by
half an hour beyond 10 pm.
An affidavit filed by the Tas-
mac stated the proposal was
pending consideration.
However, it added that the
opening and closing of Tasmac
shops and the attached bars are
“purely the policy decision” of
the government; writ petition-
ers have “no locus standi to in-
terfere with” it.
Smt KAMALA DEVI
January 12, 2023
Shri JUGRAJ NAHAR B
of Madhavaram passed away on
January 15, 2023
Smt INDIRA M
of Kolathur passed away on
January 17, 2023
Smt SAKUNTHA S of
Madhavaram passed away on
January 17, 2023
of Anna Nagar passed away
on January 18, 2023
�������������������
����������������
�����������������������
21 01 2023
� �
SC refuses to take up AP’s plea against stay
on GO issued to restrict meetings on roads
S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi
THE Supreme Court on Friday
refused to entertain Andhra
Pradesh government’s plea
challenging the High Court’s
interim stay on GO 1 that was
issued to restrict public meet-
ings on highways and roads.
A bench of Chief Justice of
India DY Chandrachud and Jus-
tice PS Narasimha observed
that as the proceedings are now
listed before the High Court for
hearing on Monday, they will
SHOWSTOPPER
An artiste performs ‘Nalacharitham Attakatha Kathakali’ in a cultural centre in
Kochi on Friday | TP SOORAJ
not inquire into the merits at
this stage.
“We’ll not entertain it at this
stage, but we’ll ask the HC
Chief Justice to take up
the matter,” the CJI
remarked.
It may be recalled
that the State govern-
ment had issued GO 1 on
Janaury 2, 2023 through
which it refrained the police de-
partment from granting per-
missions for public meetings
unless adequate and exception-
al reasons are provided. The
government order after 11 peo-
ple lost their lives in two back-
to-back stampedes during
events that were ad-
dressed by TDP chief N
Chandrababu Naidu.
Terming the HC’s ju-
risdiction egregious,
senior advocate CS Vai-
dyanathan, appearing for
the State government, said the
vacation bench ought not to
have taken up the matter due to
the HC’s January 5, 2023 notifi-
Woman dies during childbirth,
kin allege medical negligence
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ Villupuram
FAMILY members of a 23-
year-old woman who died dur-
ing childbirth at a PHC in Ka-
lrayan Hills in Kallakurichi
on Thursday alleged that med-
ical negligence led to her
death. Collector Shravan Ku-
mar Jadavath initiated an in-
quiry into the incident.
B Mallika of Aalanur vil-
lage was admitted to the PHC
at Serapattu on Thursday.
Her relatives alleged the duty
doctor was not present and
three nurses attempted to de-
liver the baby at midnight.
They alleged the absence of a
108 ambulance prevented
Mallika from being shifted to
a hospital. She was brought
to the PHC in an
cation which barred the vaca-
tion bench from hearing mat-
ters dealing with policy.
Contending that the court’s
interim stay, dated January 12,
2023, was procedurally improp-
er and erroneous on merits, the
plea said, “The impugned GO is
of a regulatory nature and is
thus clearly an administrative
and policy matter. Thus, any or-
der passed by a vacation bench
regarding the impugned GO is
without jurisdiction since it is
passed by coram non judice.”
autorickshaw.
“She bled, but the nurses
could not treat her. Within
minutes, Mallika died,” said a
relative. After her death, kin
and residents staged a stir on
Friday morning.
M Ramasamy (60), a mem-
ber of the Malayali Tribal
Welfare Association, high-
lighted a lack of transport
and hospital facilities in Ka-
lrayan Hills. “We submitted
many petitions to the admin-
istration demanding govern-
ment bus services and an
UPHC, but to no avail.”
The Collector said the am-
bulance driver posted at the
village was dismissed and
added more facilities would
be made available to pre-
vent a re peat of such
incidents.

10 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023
� �
T
here is a figure on the number of
people who submit income tax
INDIAN EXPRESS IS NOT AN returns, and there is a parallel
INDUSTRY. IT IS A MISSION.
figure on the number of people
— Ramnath Goenka who pay income taxes. The latter
is smaller than the former, and
with a country of India’s size,
both figures should be higher. Direct taxes
CLOSURE NEEDED are inherently superior to indirect taxes,
and the share of direct taxes to total taxes
FOR KEY ISSUES IN should be higher.
There are several reasons why such num-
POLL-BOUND NE STATES
bers aren’t higher, evasion being one. But
there are two other reasons—exemptions
and non-taxation of agricultural income.
T
The former is part of the Union Budget, and
he Election Commission of India has announced the the latter isn’t. The latter is part of State
schedule for three state assembly elections—Nagaland, Budgets or should be. The Seventh Sched-
Tripura and Meghalaya. The elections are being held in ule demarcates such matters. Entry 82 in
the Union List mentions taxes other than
these northeastern states amid increasing regional turbu-
agricultural income, while Entry 46 in the
lence. The Nagas are restive over the delay in implement- State List mentions taxes on agricultural
ing the 2015 framework agreement signed by the NSCN (I-M) income. Whether agricultural income
and the Centre. Tripura’s tribals are raising a demand for carv- should be taxed or not is for state govern-
ing out a separate state. A new convergence is taking place ments to decide. Let’s say 45% of the labour
among groups supporting the demands of a greater Nagaland force (the figure varies a bit) is employed in
and the division of Tripura for a new tribal state. agriculture. As a rough indication, we keep
45% of the labour force outside the income
The Indigenous People’s Front of Tripura, allied with the BJP, tax net. The argument that farmers are
has offered to merge with former Congressman Pradyot Deb- poor won’t wash. Are all farmers poor?
barma’s Tipraha Indigenous Progressive Regional Alliance That can’t be true. Income taxes must be
(TIPRA). Pradyot has taken a hard-line stand on the creation of paid if one’s income is above a threshold,
Greater Tipraland, a tribal state carved out of Tripura. His pro- irrespective of whether one is a farmer. The
indigenous people party recently scored a landslide victory in poor will be exempt, regardless of whether
they are in agriculture.
the Tripura Tribal Areas Autonomous District Council elec-
At this time of the year, we should re-
tions. Tripura is seeing the rise of a new regional alliance of member James Wilson, not because he es-
tribal parties and a shrill campaign for a tribal homeland. tablished The Economist magazine and
In Nagaland, too, the Naga National Political Groups (NNPGs) Chartered Bank of India, Australia and
and the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN) decided China (which later became Standard Char-
to form a ‘Council of Naga Relationships and Cooperation’ to tered Bank). He was the first Finance Mem-
ber of the Viceroy’s Executive Council.
“explore, at the earliest, realistic ways for Nagas to move for-
We should remember him because he was
ward on the basis of Naga historical and political rights”. The the first to present a budget. He also intro-
Centre has been conducting simultaneous talks with NSCN duced the Income Tax Act of 1860. Are
(I-M) and the seven NNPGs. Then there is the Eastern Nagaland farmers poorer now than they were in 1860?
People’s Organisation (ENPO), which has threatened to boycott Clearly not. The 1860 legislation taxed agri-
polls if their demand for Frontier Nagaland, comprising six cultural income, of course, above a thresh-
districts mainly inhabited by seven tribes spread over 20 as- old. All those income tax provisions were
meant to be temporary (five years), and
sembly constituencies, is not met. Elected MLAs of all these 20 they eventually lapsed.
constituencies have signed letters of support to the ENPO’s de- Those who develop apoplexy at the men-
mand. Government interlocutor A K Mishra was sent to Naga- tion of taxing agricultural income should
land to engage with the ENPO and assure them that their de- read the report of the Indian Taxation En-
mands would be considered. Meanwhile, the demand for quiry Committee (1924–25). I will give a
creating a separate Garoland from Meghalaya is also gathering longish quote since it is educational on his-
tory and equity issues.
steam. The strategic importance of India’s northeast cannot be
“It will thus be seen that, in the first in-
overstated, especially with China repeatedly testing India’s re- stance, agricultural incomes were assessed
solve to defend its borders. It is time to work towards the closure to income tax and that when the income tax
of key issues facing the bordering states in the northeast. was replaced by a license tax, they were as-
sessed to a corresponding burden in the
STOP THIS MALAISE
IN INDIAN SPORT
MARKING TIME FOR THE
I NEXT SCIENTIFIC DISRUPTION
ndian sport appears to have touched its nadir. In the most em-
barrassing episode in its history, top sportspersons have staged
a protest, levelling sexual exploitation charges against a top
administrator. In what can be termed a #MeToo movement,
O
top wrestlers recently slapped charges of sexual exploitation ver 20 years after Morse code
of athletes against Wrestling Federation of India president Brij signed off and digital radio com-
munications took over the air-
Bhushan Sharan Singh, a sitting MP. The protesters include
waves, it seems to be back with a
multiple world championships medallist Vinesh Phogat, Rio bang in the US. The Smithsonian
Olympic medallist Sakshi Malik, world medallist Anshu Malik, Magazine reports that America’s
Olympic medallist Bajrang Punia, and a host of other interna- ham radio equipment makers
tional players. The wrestlers want Singh removed, and WFI are gaining business, and surprisingly,
disbanded, including its state units. He is adamant and has re- Morse rigs are in especial demand. That’s
fused to step down, denying all charges. It is more complicated the simplest audio hardware, as basic as the
crystal radio receiver that kids used to
because he is a powerful MP in the ruling dispensation. Despite make a generation ago, and which had
meetings with the sports ministry, the wrestlers have yet to re- started the radio boom in the early 20th cen-
ceive satisfactory assurances. The Indian Olympic Association, tury. It’s a thing of wonder because it has no
with whom WFI is affiliated, constituted a panel to probe the power source. It uses the power of the radio
allegations after wrestlers sent a letter to its president on Friday. wave alone, detected by a crystal diode—a
The WFI has to file its explanation to the ministry by Saturday. crystalline ‘whisker’ (the polymath Jagad-
ish Chandra Bose seems to hold the first US
Custodians turning perpetrators is the vilest form of human
patent for such a device). That whisker is
nature. It’s a poor reflection on Indian sports and its administra- hard to find these days, but there are groups
tors, too, showing something fundamentally wrong with the of crystal set fans the world over, still capti-
system. That the wrestlers had to resort to a sit-in protest indi- vated by the retro magic of zero-power com-
cates the rot in the WFI. However, such charges are not new in munications. Morse seems to be back for
sports. Sexual harassment of players was not unheard of over similar reasons—it’s simple, it’s retro, it’s
dramatic and it’s restricted to a tiny com-
the years, but it’s of late that athletes are more aware and report-
munity of the adept. It’s like a pagan cult.
ing, especially in India. Recently, former hockey captain Sand- A similar fascination for old technologi-
eep Singh had to resign as sports minister in Haryana after cal magic has brought back valve amplifi-
harassment allegations by a female coach. There were charges ers (that edged out crystal radios when
against IOA treasurer Anandeshwar Pandey last year. A cyclist broadcasting began in earnest), which are
had to leave a foreign camp because a coach allegedly wanted being sold at astronomical prices that would
her to share his room. According to a Sports Authority of India have slain a 1950s electronics engineer at 50
paces. Although valves, or vacuum tubes,
report, there have been more than 40 cases of sexual harassment are even harder to find than crystal diodes,
in their centres, mostly involving coaches. it’s probably worth it. Because a valve amp
Look at the mental and physical turmoil the players are forced has a warm, smooth response that no tran-
to undergo. Sexual exploitation is a crushing psychological blow sistor can match. They’re not very good
that would leave them scarred forever. Whom do they trust? Par- with the heavy bass which now dominates
ents and guardians will think twice before leaving their wards music, but they render midranges, trebles
and the human voice with magical warmth.
in the supposedly secure environment of a national camp. As
The valve set craze was preceded by the re-
Vinesh said, this is not just one issue; it’s about bigger issues. turn of vinyl, which also sounds better
It’s time all stakeholders come out and end this malaise. than digital music, and the scratchy sound
of dust in the groove—the sort of thing that
Dolby was invented to iron out—is now
Q U I C K TA K E sought after, a signature of better times, so
better that they even sounded better.
STUDENTS AS CYBER ENVOYS While hobbyists are going retro, hard sci-
ence and technology are slowing down,
T
elangana is experimenting with adolescent students as cyber finds an analysis published in the year’s
first issue of Nature. Michael Park, Erin
ambassadors to help prevent online crime and educate people
Leahey and Russell J Funk have applied
about the pitfalls. The idea is to train over 9000 envoys across their new ‘CD Index’ to six datasets cover-
the state and deploy them as the torchbearers of cyber safety. ing 45 million papers and 3.9 million patents
The welcome initiative needs national resonance. Jharkhand’s filed over six decades. The index tracks cita-
Jamtara, notorious as India’s cybercrime hub, is already at- tions, surmising that breakout research is
tempting to wean youth from phishing activities. All states must more likely to be cited than related work
drive campaigns with young ethical hackers to detect crime, which it cites. The study reports a steep
drop since World War II in “disruptive sci-
track criminals and counsel citizens. India faces external cyber ence”, which breaks completely new ground
threats, while internally, criminals are currently gaining profi- and renders former gold standards outdat-
ciency in several language dialects to trap the unsuspecting. ed—like the Bohr atom, which explained
THE NEW INDIAN EXPRESS
Chairman of the Board: Manoj Kumar Sonthalia Editor: Santwana Bhattacharya
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Income taxes must be paid if one’s income is above
a threshold, irrespective of whether one is a farmer
THE NECESSITY OF
TAXING FARMERS’
INCOME IN INDIA
BIBEK
DEBROY
shape of a cess. It was the continuing exist-
ence of this corresponding burden that was
responsible for their exemption in the Act
of 1886. The corresponding burden has now
been removed under a system under which
there is no charge on the land except the
land revenue and the local rate. Conse-
quently, there is nothing in the history of
the case to justify the continued exemption
of this class of income from the income tax,
and this is a circumstance which was rec-
ognised by more than one prominent non-
official in the debate on the proposal made
in 1918 that incomes from agriculture
should be taken into account in determin-
ing the rate at which the income tax was to
be levied on incomes from other sources.
The consideration of the bearing of this
question upon the equitable distribution of
PRATIK
KANJILAL
SPEAKEASY
the energetics of orbiting electrons, and
made earlier models of atomism
redundant.
Spurred by conflict, the sciences made gi-
ant strides between the wars, and super-
power rivalry sustained the momentum
through much of the Cold War which
followed. Penicillin revolutionised medi-
cine in 1928 and the Apollo 11 mission,
which brought back pictures of Earthrise
from the Moon, changed humanity’s per-
ception of our place in the universe as pow-
erfully as Giordano Bruno, Galileo and Co-
AP
Science appears to have been
flattened. Most of the research is
incremental rather than disruptive.
It’s a slow, steady march forward
pernicus once had. And then the atomic
and hydrogen bombs brought fresh, un-
pleasant insights. In technology, semicon-
ductors changed how stuff was done in
every discipline, from how to teach school-
children to how to land on the moon by
computer guidance.
But grand stuff like that has been hap-
pening less and less, though paradoxically,
scientific publishing has exploded. There’s
just too much research for peer-reviewed
journals to publish in good time, and the
pandemic, when research results were
sought almost in real time as labs and phar-
ma companies raced to find vaccines and
drugs, made inevitable the rise of open ac-
cess preprint servers. Covid research was a
life and death matter, but a lot of what’s pre-
published these days in other disciplines
would never have passed muster earlier.
A single act of kindness throws out
roots in all directions, and the roots
spring up and make new trees
Chairman, Economic
Advisory Council to the PM
SOUMYADIP SINHA
the burden of taxation is apt to be confused
by arguments relating to the poorest of
those who derive their living from the land
and especially to the cultivators of uneco-
nomic holdings. There is no doubt that, un-
der the system of fractionation of holdings
which prevails in India, the difficulties of
the poorest cultivators are considerable, but
this is a question which has no concern
whatever with the question of imposition
of income-tax upon incomes from agricul-
ture. The income tax is imposed only on
incomes over Rs.2,000.”
Every contemporary counter-argument
was discussed threadbare and rebutted. In
1932, the Federal Finance Committee of the
Round Table Conference and its report had
a view that was no different.
That was a colonial period. Are farmers
Editor of The India Cable
There’s no stopping the deluge of papers
because academics are under unprecedent-
ed pressure to publish—almost anything at
all—just to keep their jobs. Rewrite the
summary of a contemporary paper in plain
language, and you may find nothing you
didn’t know earlier. Also, academics has
deepened—students of human origins, ear-
lier content studying evidence-rich subjects
like Australopithecines, Acheulean hand
axes and such, must now also know about
genetics and Denisovans, a race inferred
from the slender evidence of the finger-
bone of a girl. Academics has also broad-
ened across disciplines—economists make
sense of history and life scientists study
mycelia, the silvery threads spun by fun-
guses through the soil, to understand global
warming and climate science.
But in the course of this deepening and
broadening, science appears to have been
flattened, too. Most of the research is incre-
mental rather than disruptive. It’s a slow,
steady march forward, with no big bangs.
Not just run-of-the-mill PhD work, think of
the news-making Nobel-winning work in
recent years. The detection of the Higgs bo-
son and gravitational waves confirmed Ein-
stein’s work. They assured us that quantum
physics was right. They didn’t change our
world-view.
Science may have turned conservative
because much of current work is conducted
by very large teams, distributed across con-
tinents. The ability to pull together may
have become more important than individ-
ual initiative. But perhaps science is also
going through a patch in which nothing
much remains to be discovered within the
current framework of knowledge discovery
and management. Science does slump
sometimes. See how many centuries the
classical medical theory of the four hu-
mours lasted in Europe, before the founda-
tional dissection work of Leonardo da Vin-
ci, Andreas Vesalius and others spurred
doctors to begin discovering the principles
of modern medicine. Are we going through
a brief slump, as the sciences consolidate
for the next disruption?
(Tweets @pratik_k)
Amelia
Earhart
poorer now than they were in 1947? This,
too, is meant to be a rhetorical question. If
so, why did we have Agricultural Income
Tax Acts in Bihar (1938), Assam (1939), Ben-
gal (1944), Orissa (1948), Uttar Pradesh
(1948), Hyderabad (1950), Travancore and
Cochin (1951), Madras and Old Mysore State
(1955)? Note that in the present geographi-
cal compositions, many states retain these
statutes and their successors. Except for
Karnataka, they haven’t repealed these.
They do tax some kinds of agricultural in-
come, especially plantations.
Post-Independence, several committees
have recommended taxation of agricultur-
al income—Report of the Taxation Enquiry
Commission (1953–54), Raj Committee on
Taxation of Agricultural Wealth and In-
come (1972), Fourth Five-Year Plan (1969–
74), Report of Fifth Finance Commission
(1969), Tax Reforms Committee (1991), Kel-
kar Task Force on Direct Taxes (2002),
White Paper on Black Money (2012) and Tax
Administration Reform Commission (2014).
They have also listed anomalies that arise.
First, the laundering of non-agricultural
income as agricultural income and conse-
quent evasion and litigation. Second, laun-
dering is not only done by individual
farmers but also by the corporate sector.
(CAG reports highlight both these points.)
Second, lack of credibility about the way
states issue “farmer” certificates. Third,
violation of horizontal and vertical equity
principles.
These arguments are incontestable. But
let’s ask a different question. Until the 1960s,
we generally (not just economists and com-
mittees) seemed to accept the idea that ag-
ricultural income should be taxed. But
since the 1970s, this has transformed into a
proposal that raises blood pressure. What
accounts for the change?
As the Green Revolution spread, I suspect
the answer is the political clout that pres-
sure groups of large farmers came to rep-
resent. Perversely, agricultural prosperity,
not penury, led to agriculture not being
taxed. As in other areas of agricultural pol-
icy, policies that benefit large farmers start-
ed to masquerade as policies for farmers.
This does sound like a sweeping generalisa-
tion. But I can think of no better explana-
tion. Which states are most luxury cars sold
in? This may be an imperfect surrogate in-
dicator, but it does tell us something.
If there are villages in India that have
been described as the richest villages on
Earth, and we don’t tax agricultural in-
come, something doesn’t sound right. To
state it directly, it is wrong.
(bibek.debroy@gov.in)
Farmers in distress
Apropos of Culling of tigers ‘mere proposal’,
but not rejected (Jan 20). Forest Minister A K
Saseendran played down his earlier statement
on culling of tigers by saying it was a mere
suggestion. The minister need not have
swallowed his words if he really understood
the predicament of farmers who are at the
receiving end of the attacks.
S Lakshmi, Hyderabad
Humans are priority
Apropos of Culling a betrayal of conservation
efforts (Jan 20). There are two aspects:
conservation of tigers and their entry into
human habitats. One species must not
thrive at the cost of the other. Wild animal
populations are growing in forests, and as a
result, they stray into human habitations for
want of space. The human aspect must be
paramount and there must be a level-headed
clarity about it without mixing up things.
K R Parvathy, Mysuru
Culling not an option
Apropos of Culling a betrayal of conservation
efforts (Jan 20). The editorial has rightly
pointed out that culling of tigers is
tantamount to a betrayal of efforts to
conserve the animal. The first step in dealing
with this issue is to calculate the tiger
population in Kerala. If results show an
increase that breaches the carrying capacity
of forests, they can be translocated to an area
where the tiger population is scarce.
N Rama Rao, Chennai
Think before endorsing
Apropos of Endorsements should not
endanger health (Jan 20). Shame on these
celebrities who endorse such products
knowing fully well the negative impact on the
public. Greed for money is the only reason for
their advertising to the very people who gave
them their celebrity status.
Mohan Kunnakat, Palakkad
Insightful column on health
Apropos of Endorsements should not
endanger health (Jan 20). Thanks to Dr Reddy
for highlighting the risks of ultra-processed
foods and why they are harmful.
Dr Arun Gupta, Twitter
Spending on social sector
Apropos of Budget 2023 must prioritise
India’s social sector (Jan 20). Great ideas
and thoughts have been presented in this
column about the necessity of fund allocation
to the social sector. The government should
prioritise education, health, etc. to improve
the living standards of the poor. This will also
yield good results vis-à-vis production and
supply, both of which are directly related to
consumption of goods and services.
V K S Krishnan, Kumbakonam

11 CHENNAI
FROM HUMANS TO RIDLEYS,
NONE SPARED IN ODISHA
Sea erosion threatens 318 villages in six coastal districts of
Ganjam, Puri, Kendrapara, Balasore, Jagatsinghpur and Bhadrak
HEMANT KUMAR ROUT
@ Bhubaneswar
G
Jaga Rao of Ramayap-
atna village in Odisha’s
Ganjam district used to
be a happy man. Like
many other traditional
fishermen of the re-
gion, every morning,
he loved setting out into the Bay
of Bengal where landing fish
was never a problem. Now it is a
never ending struggle with the
sea.
The Bay of Bengal has ad-
vanced more than 600 metre into
his village, located under Chiki-
ti block, gobbling up hundreds
of acres of farmland and more
than 100 dwelling units. Rao lost
his house to the marauding sea
but cannot leave Ramayapatna
as fishing sustains his five-mem-
ber family.
Five hundred metres from the
new shoreline, he currently lives
in the house of another villager
who left for Andhra Pradesh in
search of work. “The monsoon
season brings fear. No one knows
when the hungry sea will devour
this house too,” he says.
Rao is caught between the
devil and the deep sea.
Though Odisha typically has
a pro-gradation coast due to dis-
posal of sediment and discharge
from Mahanadi river, it is now
turning into a hotspot of coastal
erosion with climate change
doubling down the impact. The
conversion process is rampant
in hotspots like Boxipalli and
Podampeta in Ganjam district,
Baliapanda, Chadrabhaga beach
PM says citizen always right,
hands over job letters to youth
R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi
PRIME Minister Narendra
Modi on Friday drew a parallel
between the business motto,
the consumer is always right,
and governance, where he said,
“the citizen is always right.”
The PM’s remark came at Ro-
zgar Mela, which he addressed
via videoconferencing. He said
his government had effected
broad changes in the recruit-
ment process by making it
more streamlined and time-
bound while boosting transpar-
ency and speed.
He distributed electronically
71,426 appointment letters to re-
cruits in different government
departments, saying the ongo-
ing ‘Rozgar Mela’ exercises
have become an identity of his
government. The PM said that
transparent recruitment and
promotions generate trust
among the youth.
Motivating the appointees af-
ter distributing the appoint-
ment letters, Modi said, “Serve
the country with a service at-
titude because citizen is always
right and adopt technology-
COLOMBO MEET
SC junks pleas challenging Bihar Editors, experts alarmed
Jaishankar for trade in
Indian ` with Sri Lanka
govt move to conduct caste census
E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi
AMID India’s assurance to aid
and abet Sri Lanka’s economic
crisis, External Affairs Minis-
ter Dr S Jaishankar on Friday
extended a formal invite to Sri
Lankan President Ranil Wick-
remasinghe to visit India.
Reiterating the pro-
posal for trading in In-
dian Rupee between the
neighbouring countries,
the EAM in Colombo
said that it is essential
that India and Sri Lanka
streamline their trade
relations. “The use of
rupee settlement for trade is in
our mutual interest,” he said,
addressing the Sri Lankan cab-
inet meeting.
EAM met with Sri Lankan
President Ranil Wickremasing-
he and other ministers and also
extended a formal invite on be-
SATURDAY 21 01 2023
� �
in Puri district, Pentha and Sat-
abhaya in Kendrapara and
Chandipur beach and Sub-
arnarekha estuary in Balasore.
At least four villages in Gan-
jam district face extreme coastal
erosion. Podampeta under Gan-
jam block is now a ghost village
as nearly 450 families have al-
ready been relocated to a nearby
habitation.
Spectre over six districts
A happy hunting ground for nat-
ural calamities, Odisha faces the
threat of tropical cyclones like
no other. Add to it the misery of
vanishing landmasses. State’s
Forest, Environment and Cli-
mate Change assessed sea ero-
sion threats in 318 villages of six
coastal districts - Ganjam, Puri,
Kendrapara, Balasore, Jagats-
inghpur and Bhadrak. While 91
villages are designated ‘most
prone,’ 85 villages are ‘prone’ to
sea erosion. With 49 villages fac-
ing the charging sea, Kendra-
para is the worst hit. Eight each
in Balasore and Bhadrak dis-
tricts, four in Ganjam and one
each in Puri and Jagatsinghpur
districts are vulnerable to coast-
al erosion.
In Kendrapara district, Satab-
haya panchayat under Rajnagar
block stands testimony to the
erosion as the sea has swallowed
it. The panchayat having a clus-
ter of 16 seaside villages has
Serve the country with a service
attitude because citizen is always
right and adopt technology-driven
methods to improve efficiency
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
driven methods to improve ef-
ficiency.” He said self-learning
through technology is an op-
portunity for today’s genera-
tion. “India is now witnessing
fast growth leading to a mas-
sive expansion of self-employ-
ment opportunities,” he said.
over tweak in IT rules
half of Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi for his visit to India.
In July 2022, this newspaper
was the first to report about In-
dia and Sri Lanka’s proposal to
begin trading in Indian Rupee
tabled at a Sri Lankan Central
Bank-led closed-door meeting
with Indian corporate heads in
Colombo – to discuss the
way forward for trading
in Indian currency.
India will encourage
greater investments in
the Sri Lankan economy,
especially in the core ar-
eas like energy, tourism
and infrastructure.
“We count on the Govern-
ment of Sri Lanka to provide a
more business-friendly envi-
ronment to create a powerful
pull factor. I am confident that
the gravity of the situation is
realised by policy makers
here,” the EAM said.
TWEETS
OF THE
been reduced to a few hamlets
by now.
The Subarnarekha river in
Balasore district has already
swallowed about 75 per cent of
Badakhanpur village and its
neighbouring Sanakhanpur. Of
more than 120 families, only fif-
ty hold on to their dwelling units
while the rest have shifted base
to neighbouring villages. The fe-
rocious nature has redrawn the
map of over 40 villages in Bhog-
arai, Jaleswar, Baliapal, Remu-
na and Sadar blocks in the coast-
al district.
According to a global study
conducted by 11 researchers
from six universities, almost the
entire Gopalpur shoreline expe-
rienced erosion between 2010
and 2020 and the construction of
Gopalpur port markedly impact-
ed the shoreline dynamics. Of
the 480 km sea coast of Odisha,
erosion trend has surfaced
across 227 km, accretion record-
ed in 150 km while coast charac-
ter remains unchanged over the
rest.
Professor of Geography de-
partment at FM University
Manoranjan Mishra said most
ports on the east coast have
shown a pattern of erosion and
deposition, 52 per cent Odisha
coastline faces erosion at one
stretch or other. Construction
of breakwater perpendicular to
the coastline prevented the uni-
form distribution of littoral
sediments in all cases, he said.
Coastal infrastructure
With the Odisha government
contemplating construction of
The PM said lakhs of fami-
lies would get government jobs
in the near future through ‘Ro-
zgar Mela.’ The PM had last
year announced the ‘Rozgar
Mela’ drive to generate jobs for
10 lakh people.
Addressing the recruits, the
PM said that a huge number of
recruits are from families
where no one was in govern-
ment service. “Thanks to a
transparent and clear recruit-
ment process, jobs are reaching
these families”, he said.
Appreciating growing invest-
ments, he said that the massive
investment in the infrastruc-
ture sector has boosted employ-
ment and self-employment op-
portunities in the country.
The appointees, recruited
from across the country, will
join various positions under
the Central government like
junior engineers, loco pilots,
technicians, inspectors, sub-
inspectors, constables, stenog-
raphers, junior accountants,
grameen dak Sevak, income
tax inspectors, teachers, nurs-
es, doctors, social security of-
ficers, among others.
S H R U T I K A K K A R @ New Delhi
THE Supreme Court on Friday
junked pleas challenging noti-
fication dated June 6, 2022 is-
sued by Bihar Govt for conduct-
ing caste census in the state.
Terming it as “publicity in-
terest litigation”, bench of Jus-
tices BR Gavai and Vikram
Nath granted the petitioners
liberty to approach Patna HC.
The pleas filed by non profit
‘Ek Soch Ek Prayas’, Nalanda-
based activists, Akhilesh Ku-
mar and Vishnu Gupta, argued
that the notification is discrim-
inatory and unconstitutional
as the state is only competent to
legislate law on the subjects re-
ferred in the State List of the
Seventh Schedule of the Con-
stitution of India.
“In the absence of legisla-
tion, the government can frame
guidelines on the subjects
which are listed in the State
Smriti Z Irani @smritiirani
At Davos, described efforts made by PM Modi to
centralise needs of women in policy decisions, mak-
DAY ing them equal partners in India’s growth story
SUMMARY OF SHORELINE CHANGES
ALONG THE EAST COAST (KM)
Erosion
Stable
Accretion
Odisha 140.72
128.77 280.02
Pondicherry 23.42
13.82 4.42
14 more ports, researchers warn
such infrastructure could po-
tentially impact its fragile
coastal system. Resilience of
the coastal landforms is com-
promised due to the construc-
tion of onshore and offshore
coastal infrastructures in order
to meet the growing demand for
economic activities.
Previous studies too had ob-
served a similar trend of ero-
sion and accretion along the
eastern coast. The northern
part of Paradip port experienc-
es intense erosion due to the
construction of a rigid engi-
neering structure (sea wall).
The southern part of the port
PARL SESSION
Bring back
separate rly
budget: Nitish
R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna
AHEAD of the commencement
of the Parliament’s budget ses-
sion, former railway minister
and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar on
Friday asked Narendra Modi
government to separate rail-
way budget from the general
budget During his ongoing ‘Sa-
madhan Yatra’, Nitish told me-
diapersons in his native Nalan-
da district that the old system
of presentation of the railway
budget in the Parliament
should be restored.
“There used to be a lot of dis-
cussions on the railway budget
across the country. I am not
aware why the system of pres-
entation of the railway budget
was discontinued,” he said.
The Parliament’s budget ses-
sion is scheduled to start from
January 31. Union Finance
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman
will present the general budget
in Lok Sabha on February 1.
Nitish said that large number
of people were given jobs when
he was the railway minister.
ALSO IN TOP COURT
‘Chargesheets can’t
be in public domain’
The SC on Friday ruled that
uploading chargesheets filed
by probing agencies in public
domain would violate rights
of the accused, victim and
even the probing agencies.
A bench said, “Putting the
FIR on the website
cannot be equated with
putting the
chargesheets on the
public domain.”
List. That apart, the state gov-
ernment can legislate on those
subjects where Central legisla-
tion is not made. Therefore, the
state government by executive
orders cannot conduct caste
Mallikarjun Kharge @kharge Nitish Kumar @NitishKumar
Honouring the legacy of ‘Frontier Gandhi’ and his In course of ‘Samadhan Yatra’, inspected the on-
principles of non-violence. His unwavering faith in going development works in Nalanda and gave in-
the shared ideals of India inspire millions in SE Asia structions to solve the problems of the villagers
HUNGRY SEA
GLIMPSES OF
EROSION
480 km total coast length
Overall erosional trend shows
in 52% (227 km)
Accretion recorded Satabhaya
in 34 % (150 km)
Highest accretion found along
the Hukitola bay region
Highest erosion rate observed
at Subarnarekha river mouth
50 km of shoreline of Chilika
lake-Devi river mouth region Podampeta
shows eroson trend Ramayapatna
65 km shoreline is under
erosion in the 135-km region
from Devi river to Dhamra
91 villages
VILLAGES HIGHLY VULNERABLE
West Bengal 323.07 Extreme erosion observed
Kendrapada : 49 villages
76.4 134.88 near Hukitola bay area DESIGNATED AS ‘MOST
Balasore & Bhadrak : 8 villages each
Andhra Pradesh 294.89 north of the Mahanadi river
PRONE’ TO COASTAL
223.36 509.33 mouth and areas south of Ganjam : 4 villages
Tamil Nadu 422.94 EROSION
Bhitarkanika Puri &Jagatsinghpur : 1 village each
332.69 235.85
also had signs of erosion. Al- the 5 km beach from Puruna- built at a cost of `23 crore.
though accretion pattern was bandha to Podampeta, north of “Work will start by next month
witnessed along Dhamra port the river mouth. and it will provide protection
from 1990 to 2000, drastic ero- While state government had to the villages south of
sion was observed after the port relocated residents from Sata- Rushikulya. The Podampeta
area development in 2007. bhaya and Podampeta and laid stretch will be taken up in the
Meanwhile, closer to Ramaya- geo-synthetic walls along the next phase,” he said.
patna, erosion has impacted Satabhaya coast as part of pro- “The best way forward is to
nesting of Olive Ridley turtles. tection measures, the Ganjam protect salt marshes and mud
The impact was so high that seaside villages have long been flats in the coastal regions. Be-
turtles for the first time in 30 demanding a protection wall. sides, mangrove protection and
years changed their nesting Superintendent engineer, rejuvenation must be focussed.
site from the Rushikulya rook- Berhampur Irrigation division Similarly, it is critical to create
ery to a nearby Island, south of Jayadeep Panda said as per soft structure instead of hard
Rushikulya river, said secre- recommendations made by Na- structures to fend off the im-
tary of Rushikulya Sea Turtle tional Institute of Oceanogra- pact of erosion,” said PCCF and
Protection Committee Rabind- phy (NIO), a 3.4 metre sea wall Project Director, Integrated
ranath Sahu. Earlier, the ma- along the 1200 metre stretch Coastal Zone Management
rine turtles used to lay eggs on covering Ramayapatna will be Project Susanta Nanda.
Shah flags challenges before forces,
calls for tighter digital security net
A M I T M U K H E R J E E @ New Delhi
STATING that challenges for
the law enforcement have un-
dergone a substantial evolution
from being ‘geographical to
‘thematic’, Union Home Minis-
ter Amit Shah on Friday asked
policing forces to focus on ur-
ban policing, capacity building,
police technology, critical in-
frastructure security and se-
curing digital goods.
The minister who chaired
the inaugural session of the
3-day Annual Conference of the
state and UT Police heads in
New Delhi said that the person- Home Minister Amit Shah addresses the DGPs/IGPs Annual meet in Delhi | PTI
nel have to cope up with the
changing times as now issues and IGs of the state along with curity agencies, the Union
have become thematic and mul- the senior officials of the agen- home minister said, “So far, in
ti-dimensional. cies like the NIA and CRPF run the question of internal secu-
“Earlier problems were geo- by the IPS cardres, the partici- rity, we have been successful in
graphical like unrest in north- pants are expected be to delib- maintaining peace in the coun-
east, terrorism in J&K, LWE erate upon future course of ac- try by and large – despite facing
affected areas but now they are tion to be undertaken by the many odds. I congratulate all of
thematic like cyber security policing authorities during you for your efforts to strength-
and data security,” Shah said, 2023 to deal with cybercrimes, en the security apparatus. All
adding, “The problems also ultras and extremist outfits, the police forces, paramilitary
have become multidimensional drug cartels, disruptors, terror- forces and central agencies
as narco terror and fourth gen- ist sleeper cells, cross border have responded promptly in the
eration war have chipped in.” terrorism, border surveillance challenging times, which has
During the three-day confer- and other important issues. also been appreciated by the
ence, being attended by DGPs Lauding the efforts of the se- citizens”
the government alone and it
E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ New Delhi
will result in the censorship of
EDITORS Guild has expressed the press,” said a statement
concerns over the proposed issued by Editors Guild presi-
5-judge bench for amendments to IT (Intermedi- dent Seema Mustafa.
pleas against Shariat ary Guidelines and Digital Me- Experts have also flagged the
dia Ethics Code) Rules, amendment. DigiPub,
The SC agreed to form
2021, which authorise a consortium of digital
5-Judge bench to hear PILs
the Press Information news outlets, said in a
challenging constitutionality
Bureau’s fact-check statement the pro-
of the muslim personal law
unit to declare a news Determination of posed amendments to
practices of polygamy and
report or content fake. fake news cannot IT Rules can potential-
nikah halala. The pleas be in the sole
According to the hands of the ly become an ‘institu-
were filed by BJP leader
draft of IT rules, social government and tional mechanism to
Ashwini Upadhyay and
media platforms and will result in the muzzle the press’.
representatives of the
other online interme- censorship of the The ministry had
outfit, Muslim
diaries will need to re- press initiated public con-
Womens Resistance
move the content if sultation on amend-
Committee. Editors Guild
marked ‘fake’. ments proposed to the
A press statement is- rules in relation to on-
sued by the EGI stated that it is line gaming, the last date for
deeply concerned by the amend- which was January 17. How-
census in the absence of legis- ment giving authority to PIB to ever, it has now been extended
lation on the subject. In a state determine veracity of news re- to January 25.
which is governed by rule of ports. The Guild feels this is Internet Freedom Founda-
law, executive orders must get akin to censorship. tion said the IT Rules, 2021 sig-
basis and genesis from law,” the “The determination of fake nificantly increased govern-
plea also stated. news cannot be in the hands of ment control.
 3
Ahmedabad 27 11 Mumbai 29 18
HARASSMENT Bhopal 29 11 Panaji 29 19
A 14-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide citing Jaipur 22 10 Patna 22 14
Amritsar 16 06 Lucknow 22 11
mental harassment by her teacher in Maharashtra’s Chennai 29 23 Port Blair 30 24
Latur district on Friday. Shrawani Sanjay Naiknavare, a BY SPEEDING TRAILER Kolkata 28 17 Imphal 25 03
Class 9 student, allegedly hanged herself at her house. KILLED IN UP’S DEORIA Srinagar 03 -2 Chandigarh 21 07

12 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023

� �

Restore statehood for J&K: Congress Notice to UP govt

Party says Reorganisation Act was passed in House in 2019 in a hurry without discussions
F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar
ON the second day of the last
leg of Bharat Jodo Yatra in
Jammu and Kashmir, Param
vir Chakra awardee Captain
Bana Singh and Shiv Sena lead-
er and MP Sanjay Raut joined
the yatra. The Congress on Fri-
day said the J&K Reorganisa-
tion Act was passed by parlia-
ment on August 5, 2019 in a
hurry with brute majority.
Rahul Gandhi resumed the
yatra in Kathua district of J&K
on Friday despite rain. The
Dogri song of the yatra was also
released. Due to downpour, Ra-
hul was seen wearing a light
jacket over his trade-mark
white T-shirt. He was joined by
Param Vir Chakra awardee
Captain Bana Singh, who
helped India win the Siachen
standof f, and other ex-
servicemen.
The yatra was halted after
travelling for about 21 kilom-
eters and would resume on Sun-
day after a one-and-a-half day’s
rest. Senior Congress leader
Jairam Ramesh told reporters
that the yatra would culminate
in Srinagar on January 30,
when Rahul would unfurl the
tri-colour at the party office in
Srinagar.
The Congress president has
want the democratic process to
start in J&K, and statehood
should be restored.”
“You talked about Article 370.
In our country and in our con-
stitution, there is Article 371
and there are special provisions
under Article 371 for states like
Mizoram, Manipur, Meghalaya,
Tripura, Himachal Pradesh,
Goa Sikkim, some areas of As-
sam and some areas of Karna-
taka-Hyderabad region,” he
said. On BJP charge that the
yatra has become Bharat Todo
Yatra as Congress leaders are
sharing space with Gupkar Al-
liance leaders, who are preach-
ing separatism, Ramesh said,
“Whose party was running gov-
ernment with PDP in J&K?
Who framed the common agen-
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with Param Vir Chakra awardee Bana Singh and da between BJP and PDP?
others during the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Kathua district on Friday| PTI Those who level allegations,
they should think about them-
invited leaders of 23 political passed in parliament on August selves.” He accused Azad of be-
parties to attend the Srinagar 5, 2019 was not done in a demo- ing BJP’s B-team.
event, he said. Asked about par- cratic way but forcibly through Ramesh announced that from
ty’s stand on demand of Article the brute majority without any January 26 to March 26, there
370 restoration by NC president discussion and without any will be “haath se haath jodo ab-
Farooq Abdullah, Ramesh said, provision for examination and hiyan” by Congress during
“The Congress feels that the bill analysis.” Ramesh said, “We which party workers would vis-
it every village and every home
and do door-to-door canvassing
The Congress feels that the bill passed in parliament on August 5, to put across message of the
2019 was not done in a democratic way but forcibly through the brute
majority. We want the statehood should be restored
yatra and present copy of
chargesheet of Modi govern-
Jairam Ramesh, Senior Congress leader ment to public.
on madrasa board’s
‘non-compliance’
N A M I TA B A J PA I @ Lucknow
TWO days after the UP Madra-
sa Education Board unani-
mously rejected the recommen-
dation of the National
Commission for Protection of
Child Rights (NCPCR) about
the shifting of non-Muslim stu-
dents, the commission served
notice on the UP government
on Friday. The commission had
asked the government and the
recognised madrasas to find
out how many non-Muslim stu-
dents were enrolled in them so
that they could be shifted.
In the notice addressed to the
special secretary, UP Minority
Affairs and Waqf Department,
NCPCR chairman Priyank Ka-
noongo said, “We have not re-
ceived a compliance report on
the recommendations shared
on December 8 last year.”
The commission had written
to all states and UTs to conduct
an inquiry about the non-Mus-
lim students studying in recog-
nized madrasas, citing com-
plaints about non-Muslim
students attending the govern-
ment-funded or recognised ma-
Ball is now in the UP court
drasas. “This is a violation of
the Constitution prohibiting
educational institutions from
obligating children to take part
in any religious instruction
without their parents’ con-
sent,” wrote NCPCR chairman
to the UP government. On
Wednesday, UP Madrasa Edu-
cation Board chairman Iftikhar
Ahmed Javed said the Board
had unanimously rejected the
NCPCR recommendation.
On Friday, Kanoongo wrote
to the UP government, that
“madrasa board chairperson’s
comment violates the constitu-
tional rights of children
and disrespects the commis-
sion’s mandate.”
GUWAHATI
DIARY
PRASANTA MAZUMDAR
Our correspondent in Guwahati
prasantamazumdar@
newindianexpress.com
Singer faces ire over
Kamatapur remarks
Singer Zubeen Garg faced a
backlash over his comments on
Centre’s move to create ‘Kamatapur’
state. While performing at a
function in Goalpara recently, Garg
had said, “I heard Assam will be
divided again. This divide and rule
policy of whoever it is Congress or
BJP...They are set to divide Assam.
You were born in Assam but you will
now need a voter card of Kamatap-
ur state. I urge the Modi government
to not divide Assam again.”
Koch-Rajbongshi organisations
threatened to boycott him and said
that the Zubeen would not be
invited to the first “Kamatapur
Festival” to be next month.
Two officers face action
for ‘ruckus’ during safari
An inquiry has been ordered against

Nath takes a dig at

TRIPURA two senior bureaucrats for allegedly
creating a ruckus inside the Pobitora

3 senior police Wildlife Sanctuary on the outskirts

of Guwahati. During a jeep safari,

Scindia for Gwalior

the duo, who arrived in a group of

officers face 12-14 people, allegedly smoked

cigarettes with one sitting on the

suspension
bonnet of a vehicle and abused the

mayoral poll loss

E N S @ Guwahati/ New Delhi
THE Election Commission of
India has sought explanation
from the Chief Secretary and
Director General of Police of
Tripura on election-related vio-
lence incidents in the state. It
has also ordered suspension
and immediate removal of the
Sub-Divisional Police Office of
Jirania, and officer-in-charge
of Rani Bazar and Jirania Po-
lice Stations for not taking ap-
propriate action in time.
The miscreants, allegedly
BJP supporters, had attacked
Congress workers during a
bike rally, permission for which
driver when the latter protested the
officer’s actions. Drinking alcohol,
smoking and alighting from vehicle
during safari are prohibited in
national parks and wildlife
A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal Interestingly, Nath’s remarks sanctuaries. The inquiry was ordered
about Scindia came in Tikam- after the Jeep Safari Owners’
NEARLY three years after his garh district – the same Bun- Association of the sanctuary had
15-month-old Congress govern- delkhand district, where in lodged a written complaint.
ment in Madhya Pradesh fell February 2020, then Congress-
apart following resignations by man Scindia, had for the first
Jyotiraditya Scindia and 22 loy- time sounded an open rebellion CM’s day out in state
alist MLAs, state Congress against the Nath-led Congress zoo; feeds macaws
chief Kamal Nath mocked his government, by announcing at
ex-party colleague and present a public rally to take to the Taking time off from his hectic
union civil aviation minister streets against his own govern- schedule, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma
on Friday. “We don’t ment in support of the spent the morning of Magh Bihu at
the Guwahati Zoo. He drove through
SNOW CLAD KASHMIR
need any Scindia, if ‘atithi shikshaks’.
he (Jyotiraditya Scin- Nath had mocked it and fed macaws. “Had a
dia) was such a big po- Scindia even then, refreshing feeling as I visited the @
Tourists enjoy a view of a frozen waterfall at Drung region of Tangmarg in North Kashmir on Friday | ZAHOOR PUNJABI assamzoo, having glimpses of the
litical cannon then daring him to take the
why did BJP lose may- I’m ready to give
streets over the issue. animals & birds from close
the detailed proximity. It was an amazing feeling

L-G: Kashmiri Pandit staff to get transit

was not granted, at Jirania in oral polls in Gwalior account of my 15 A month later, the
West Tripura district two days a n d M o r e n a l a s t months in power, 15-month-old Con- to feed the cute macaws!” he
ago. AICC Tripura in-charge year?” Nath said while if he (Shivraj) has gress regime was un- tweeted. He enquired about the
Ajoy Kumar had sustained mi- talking to journalists the guts, he can seated due to Scindia various ongoing works in the zoo

accommodation in 936 flats in Srinagar

nor injuries. “Chief Secretary
and Director General of Police,
Tripura were asked to explain
as to why the situation escalat-
ed despite a sufficient number
of CAPF personnel deployed in
the State. The Commission con-
veyed its displeasure in no un-
certain and strongest terms on
the violent incident despite the
Commission’s strict directions
during visit to the state and
thereafter,” stated the election
authority on Friday.
The CS and DGP have been
asked to assess the threat per-
ception to the leaders of vari-
ous political parties and pro-
vide security without further
delay.
in Tikamgarh district give the account and loyalist MLAs, and asked officials to give it a
on Friday. of 18 years in quitting the Congress facelift while maintaining harmony
Just six months ago, power on the and joining the BJP, with the flora and fauna. He also
the opposition Con- same stage paving the passage for asked them to build a park at a site
gress had stunned the another BJP govern- F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar be solved,” Sinha said. The not used by the animals. Sarma said
Kamal Nath, State
ruling BJP in July ment led by Shivraj transit accommodation for the the state would transform the zoo
Cong chief
2022, by winning Gwal- Singh Chouhan. THE Lt Governor administra- Pandit employees is also com- into one of the most attractive
ior and Morena may- Talking to media in tion is constructing a transit We are working in a sensitive manner ing up in Baramulla and Bandi- tourist destinations of the region.
oral elections after a decade. Tikamgarh, Nath dared Chou- accommodation of 936 flats for to resolve issues of PM package pora in north Kashmir and
Both these defeats happened on han to give the account of BJP’s the Pandit employees in the Pandit employees and Jammu-based about 1,200 flats would be com-
employees. The government is in
Scindia’s home turf, the Gwal- 18 years in power, before he and outskirts of Srinagar. contact with them
pleted by December.
ior-Chambal region of MP. At his party seek account of “We are working in a sensi- About 5,000 PM package Pan-
least three more senior BJP Nath’s perfor mance of its tive manner to resolve issues of Manoj Sinhai, Lt Governor dit employees have been on
leaders, including Union Agri- 15-month-old government in PM package Pandit employees strike since May 12 last year,
culture Minister Narendra MP. “I’m ready to give the de- and Jammu-based employees. accommodation at Zewan on when a Pandit employee Rahul
Singh Tomar, state BJP presi- tailed account of my 15 months The government is in contact the outskirts of Srinagar. Bhat was shot dead by militants
dent VD Sharma and state’s in power, if he (Shivraj) has the with them and their genuine “The maximum number of inside Tehsildar’s office in cen-
Home Minister Narottam guts, he can give the account of problems have reached the so- PM package Pandit employees tral Kashmir. The striking Pan-
Mishra, too hail from the same 18 years in power on the same lutions,” Sinha said after lay- are based in Srinagar and with dit employees are demanding
Gwalior-Chambal region. stage,” he said. ing foundation stone of transit this, their housing problem will relocation to Jammu.

`1L fine on liquor sellers, drinkers in Bihar village One eye each of two bodies found
R A M A S H A N K A R @ Patna

IN Bihar’s Saharsa district, a

“decree” from a panchayat
warned drinkers and liquor
sellers that they could face
hefty fines and legal actions if
they were found engaged in un-
lawful behaviour. Tariyama
panchayat under Simri Bakhti-
yarpur block of Saharsa dis-
trict in Kosi region took the de-
cision to act against drinkers
and suppliers in presence of
Panchs (members of gram
kutchery) and villagers at its
weekly meeting on Thursday.
Those found in liquor brew-
ing, consuming or selling will
have to pay a penalty of `1 lakh,
according to the ‘farman’ (or-
der) issued by the panchayat at
its meeting held under chair-
manship of a mukhiya repre-
sentative Rakesh Raushan,
“The panchayat members
also imposed fines on people in-
dulged in creating nuisance at
public places in inebriated con-
ditions. Such offenders will
have to pay ` 51,000 as fine. We
have spread the message in the
entire panchayat through the
‘nibbled at’ in MP’s Sagar mortuary
The Saharsa Panchayat’s decree has prohibited alcohol, toddy among other
intoxicants except ‘khaini’ (tobacco) | FILE PHOTO
public address system,” said
former sarpanch Bishun Deo
Yadav.
Another member Chhotelal
Sah said that it was unani-
mously decided that no citizen
under this panchayat will con-
sume alcohol, toddy or any oth-
er intoxicants except ‘khaini’
(tobacco). “We want to make
panchayat ‘nashamukt’ in
phases,” he added. The novel
initiative of Tariyama, which
has a population of over 6,000,
has become a talking point in
the entire Kosi region, which
comprises Saharsa, Madhepu-
ra and Supaul districts.
The posters were also put up
on walls across the village in-
forming people about the deci-
sion of the panchayat
The Panchayat’s decision has
raised an alarm among offen
The panchayat members also
imposed fines on people indulged in
creating nuisance at public places in
inebriated conditions. Such offenders
will have to pay ` 51,000 as fine
Bishun Deo Yadav, former sarpanch
ers of prohibition law and it is
likely to dissuade them from
violating the liquor ban. Al-
though police have also intensi-
fied their drive against those
violating prohibition laws fol-
lowing the recent hooch trage-
dy in Saran district which
claimed more than 70 lives.
Chief minister Nitish Kumar
during his ‘samadhan yatra’ is
also regularly raising the issue
of prohibition and has appealed
to people to refrain from con-
sumption or sale of liquor in
the state.
Over 4.51 lakh people have
been arrested and 3.5 lakh FIRs
lodged in different police sta-
tions across the state ever since
prohibition came into effect in
April 2016.
A N U R A A G S I N G H @ Bhopal
IN a shocking development, an
eye each of two male dead bod-
ies kept in the mortuary of the
Sagar District Hospital in Mad-
hya Pradesh, have mysterious-
ly gone missing within a fort-
night. While an eye of the first
body – a 32-year-old man Moti-
lal Gond – was found missing
on January 4,the body was kept
outside the deep freezer in the
hospital mortuary. The eye of
the second body – a 25-year-old
man Ramesh Ahirwar – was
found missing on Thursday
morning, while the body was
kept inside deep freezer at the
same mortuary building.
According to the Sagar dis-
trict hospital administration,
the primary probe suggests
that in both cases, the eye could
have been nibbled by rodents.
“We’ve asked the staff of the
Bhopal-based freezer company
to come to the hospital mortu-
ary and properly figure out how
rats could’ve entered the deep
freezer and nibbled one of the
eyes of the young man’s body.
The company’s engineers will
be here to figure it out on Satur-
day,” Sagar district hospital
civil surgeon Dr Jyoti Chauhan
said on Friday.
Importantly, the 25-year-old
man (who was unidentified till
then) was brought to the Sagar
District Hospital on January 16
evening by the 108 Ambulance.
The patient was put on ventila-
tor support subsequently, but
died on the night of January 17.
“As it was a pre-MLC matter,
the hospital sent a memo to the
local police just after the pa-
tient was admitted on January
16 evening, but none of the cops
arrived. Even after the patient’s
death, another memo was sent
to local police on January 17
night, but no cop arrived at the
hospital till January 19 morn-
ing to ensure the autopsy of the
body. The body’s identity was
established on January 19
(Thursday), after it came to the
fore stating that one of its eyes
was possibly nibbled by rats,”
Dr Chauhan said.
The Sagar district hospital’s
building is around 57 years old
and construction work has re-
cently been carried out there.
“Twice in 15 days have ro-
dent control and pest control
have been done at the mortu-
ary. In the CCTV footage too,
nothing incriminating has
been found, which makes it a
mystery as to how rats can nib-
ble a body’s eye even in a deep
freezer,” she added.
13 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023
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Shiva Shanmugam Street Branch

No.8, Siva Shanmugam Street,
West Tambaram, Chennai – 600 045
Phone : 0����������������������
SALE NOTICE FOR SALE OF IMMOVABLE PROPERTIES
E-Auction Sale Notice for Sale of Immovable Assets under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial
Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 read with proviso to Rule 6 (2) & 8 (6) of the Security
Interest (Enforcement) Rules, 2002.
Notice is hereby given to the public in general and in particular to the Borrower (s), Mortgagor (s) and Guarantor (s) that
the below described immovable property mortgaged/charged to the Secured Creditor, possession of which has been
����������������������������������������������������������������������������������� “As is where is”, “As is what
is”, and “Whatever there is” basis for recovery of dues in below mentioned account/s. The details of Borrower/s/
Mortgagor /Guarantor/s/Secured Asset/s/Dues/Reserve Price/e-Auction date & Time, EMD and Bid Increase Amount are
mentioned below:-
Mr.Pandiyan S (Borrower), No.747/2, Mettu Street, Ullavur Village, Walajabath Taluk, Kancheepuram District – 631606.
Mr.E.Sarangapani (Guarantor), No.747/2, Mettu Street, Ullavur Village, Walajabath Taluk, Kancheepuram District – 631606.
Total Dues : Rs.54,76,816.65 plus additional interest from 01.01.2023 and charges as applicable..
Detailed description of the immovable property with known encumbrances, if any: Property -1 : EM of Property at
Plot No.9, Flat No.A, SAI AVENUE. Padappai, Kancheepuram, in ground floor with built up area of 823 Sq.ft. with UDS of
389 Sq.ft. with one car park out of 2100 Sq.ft. situated at Sri Kamatchi Amman Nagar, Old No 89 , New No.143, Aathencheri
Village,comprised in SY No.56/3B, Kundrathur Panchayat Union Sriperumbudur Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist. And bounded
on the North By : Sri Karumari Amman Nagar Layout, South By: 30 feet Road, East By: Plot No 10, West By : Plot No 8.
(Physical Possession)
Reserve Price : Rs.23,00,000/- EMD Amount : Rs. 2,30,000/- Bid Increase Amount : Rs.1,00,000/-
Detailed description of the immovable property with known encumbrances, if any: Property – 2 : EM of Property
at Plot No.9, Flat No.E, SAI AVENUE. Padappai, Kancheepuram, in second floor with built up area of 905 Sq.ft. with UDS
of 427.75 Sq.ft. with one car park out of 2100 Sq.ft. situated at Sri Kamatchi Amman Nagar, Old No.89, New No.143,
Aathencheri Village, comprised in SY No.56/3B, Kundrathur Panchayat Union, Sriperumbudur Taluk, Kancheepuram Dist.
And bounded on the, North By : Sri Karumari Amman Nagar Layout, South By: 30 feet Road, East By: Plot No.10, West
By : Plot No.8 (Physical Possession)
Reserve Price : Rs.25,00,000/- EMD Amount : Rs. 2,50,000/- Bid Increase Amount : Rs.1,00,000/-

Property Inspection date & Time : Date & Time of E-auction :

01-02-2023 11:00 AM TO 01:00 PM 08-02-2023 02:00 PM TO 06:00 PM
For detailed terms and conditions of sale, please refer to the link provided in https://www.
bankofbaroda.in/e-auction.htm and https://ibapi.in. Also, prospective bidders may contact the
��������������������������������������������������������
Place : Chennai AUTHORISED OFFICER
Date : 19-01-2023 BANK OF BARODA
14 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023
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15 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023

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Defence leaders fail to resolve the Trump told to

issue of military tanks for Ukraine
Zelenskyy says there is no alternative but for the West to provide the nation heavy tanks
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE
DEFENCE leaders meeting at a
US air base in Germany on Fri-
day failed to resolve divisions
over providing advanced battle
tanks to Ukraine after more
than five hours of discussions
about sending more military
aid to the embattled country.
The defence minister of Po-
land, which has pledged a com-
pany of 14 Leopard tanks on
condition that other countries
also supply them, said 15 coun-
tries that have German-made
Leopards discussed the issue
but no decisions were made.
Ukrainian President Volody-
myr Zelensky said on Friday
there was “no alternative” but
for the West to give Ukraine
heavy tanks, as Germany failed
to say whether or not it would
provide Leopards.
Germany would need to con-
sent for the tanks to be given to
Ukraine, which is not a mem-
ber of NATO. Despite pleas
from Ukrainian officials, Ger-
US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin, rear left, attends a speech of Ukrainian President
Volodymyr Zelenskyy (on video screen) in Ramstein, Germany on Friday | AP
many has so far resisted mount-
ing pressure to quickly supply
Leopard 2 tanks to Kyiv, or at
least clear the way for other
countries to deliver them from
their own stocks.
The US has resisted provid-
ing its own M1 Abrams tanks to
Ukraine, citing extensive and
complex maintenance and lo-
gistical challenges with the
high-tech vehicle. Washington
believes it would be more pro-
ductive to send German Leop-
ards since many allies have
them and Ukrainian troops
would need less training than
on the more difficult Abrams.
United States and German
officials have given mixed sig-
nals about whether Germany is
hesitant to provide the Leop-
ards unless the US provides
Abrams tanks.
A US official familiar with
White House thinking reiter-
ated that Germany has ex-
pressed hesitance to providing
its tanks without the US send-
ing Abrams. The official added
that there was some bewilder-
ment in administration over
German position, since Brit-
ain, another NATO ally, has al-
ready agreed to provide tanks.
But Steffen Hebestreit, a
spokesman for the German
government, denied that Berlin
demanded that the US supply
Abrams tanks alongside any
shipment of Leopards.
Ukrainian leaders and sup-
porters of Kyiv have repeatedly
criticized Germany for what
they see as holding back criti-
cal assistance in the war.
The defence leaders opened
their day hearing an impas-
sioned plea for more military
aid from Zelenskyy. Agencies
pay penalty of
$1 million over
Clinton lawsuit
WASHINGTON
A federal US judge sanctioned
Emmanuel Macron shakes hands with military officials on Friday | AP for mer president Donald
Trump and his lawyers nearly
Freedom & security: Macron to $1 million on Thursday for a
‘frivolous’ lawsuit claiming Hil-
hike military funds by a third lary Clinton had tried to rig the
2016 election.
District Judge John Middle-
French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday proposed to boost defence brooks said the Republican ex-
spending by more than a third through 2030 and to ‘transform’ France’s hibited a “continuing pattern
nuclear-armed military, to better face evolving threats of misuse of the courts” and
had filed the suit “in order to
$450 BILLION SPENDING EXPANDING SUBMARINE dishonestly advance a political
SURVEILLANCE narrative.” The lawsuit claimed
Macron announced a proposal that Clinton, who lost the 2016
for 413 billion euros (nearly Macron also wants to expand presidential election to Trump,
$450 billion) in military French submarine surveillance and others had created a false
spending for the period of capacity to depths of 6,000 narrative that his campaign
2024-2030, to ensure “our metres, both for military had colluded with Russia.
freedom, our security, our reasons and to protect critical Trump had sought $70 million
prosperity, our place infrastructure such as in damages.
in the world” undersea cables carrying But the suit “should never
energy and information across have been brought,” Middle-
That compares with spending oceans that have come under
of about 295 billion euros in a brooks said in the 45-page writ-
threat ten court order.
similar military plan
for 2019-2025 “Its inadequacy as a legal
TRAINING SOLDIERS
claim was evident from the
The money would go to France also is aiming to train start. No reasonable lawyer
modernising nuclear arsenal, at least 2,000 Ukrainian would have filed it. Intended for

Western climate subsidies risk

boosting intelligence spending soldiers as part of EU-wide a political purpose, none of the
PEP TALK by 60%, doubling number of training efforts. “What we are counts of the amended com-
military reservists, reinforcing experiencing... for the past plaint stated a cognizable legal

Xi inspects war cyberdefence and developing year in Ukraine teaches us claim,” the judge wrote.

hitting emerging markets: IMF

remote-controlled weapons lessons,” Macron said The order also sanctions

readiness of
Trump’s lawyer Alina Habba.
GLOBAL POWER The pair are also
jointly liable for

military troops
Macron wants France’s military strategy to strengthen the
total amount of
country’s role as an independent global power. He called for
sanctions
reinforcing military partnerships with European neighbors as well

in Ladakh
BEIJING
CHINESE President Xi Jinping
has held a video conversation
with the soldiers stationed
along the India-China border in
eastern Ladakh and inspected
their combat readiness, official
media reported on Friday.
Xi addressed the troops from
the People’s Liberation Army
(PLA) headquarters on the bor-
der defence situation in Khun-
jerab under the Xinjiang Mili-
tary Command.
Xi in his remarks to the
troops, referred to how “in re-
cent years, the area has been
constantly changing” and how
it had impacted the Army, ac-
cording to the video shown in
the official media.
During the call, he “inspect-
ed their combat readiness,” the
media report said.
One of the soldiers replied
that they were now carrying
out ‘dynamic’ and ‘24-hour’
monitoring of the border.
Xi also asked about their con-
ditions and whether they were
able to “receive fresh vegeta-
bles” in the inhospitable and
harsh terrain.
DAVOS
THE head of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) warned
on Friday that Western subsi-
dies to combat climate change
and encourage the transition to
clean energy sources risked
hitting the economies of
the developing world.
The US under Presi-
dent Joe Biden has
passed the Inflation Re-
duction Act (IRA) which
contains sweeping subsi-
dies and tax cuts worth
around $370 billion for reduc-
ing greenhouse gas emissions,
making it the largest-ever US
programme to combat climate
change.
The European Union is con-
sidering responding in kind
amid fears that the IRA will en-
courage businesses to move
factories and production to the
US at a time when it is trying
toPP strengthen its industrial
base.
“My biggest concern is that
something that in principle is
very good to accelerate the
transition to the green econo-
my by using public money to
step up private investment...
may not serve well the emerg-
ing markets and the de-
veloping world,” IMF
head Kristalina Geor-
gieva said at the World
Economic Forum in Da-
vos, Switzerland.
She warned that the
subsidies could lead to tech-
nology and production trans-
fers from poorer emerging
countries to the rich world.
“If we are to strive to get the
industrialised world clean and
we don’t think about the emerg-
ing markets, we are all cooked,”
she said.
Speaking alongside Geor-
gieva, French Economy Minis-
ter Bruno Le Maire defended
government backing for efforts
to accelerate the transition
away from fossil fuels.
“The key question is not ‘Chi-
na first’ or ‘America first’, or
‘Europe first’: the key question
is climate first,” he said.
Also speaking in Davos on
Tuesday, EU Commission chief
Ursula von der Leyen an-
nounced plans for a “sovereign-
ty fund” and a “Net Zero Indus-
try Act” to defend Europe’s
industrial base from the US
and Chinese industrial
subsidies.
Von der Leyen said she saw
“aggressive attempts to attract
our industrial capacities away
to China and elsewhere.”
The United States climate en-
voy John Kerry argued that
countries complaining about
the act should instead try to
imitate the United States—even
though this would not be pos-
sible for emerging countries
with smaller gover nment
budgets. AFP
imposed by Mid-
as countries like Egypt, India, United Arab Emirates,
dlebrooks to cover
Indonesia, and in Africa
the defendants’
France’s military budget reached 1.9% of GDP in 2021, with a goal legal fees and
to reach 2% by 2025, as per NATO expectations costs $937,989.39.
AFP
Pak in turmoil because of Bajwa: Sharif
LONDON/ISLAMABAD Faiz Hamid responsible for army chief Gen Bajwa and
spinning Pakistan around for then-ISI chief Faiz Hamid as be-
PAKISTAN’S former three-time their personal wishes and ing behind everything.
premier and Pakistan Muslim whims, the Geo News reported. The PML-N meeting comes at
League-Nawaz (PML-N) supre- Sharif recalled his 2016 Gu- a time of heightened political
mo Nawaz Sharif has blamed jranwala speech at the PML-N activity in Pakistan as both
the ex-Army chief and ex-ISI public gathering where he di- P u n j a b a n d K hy b e r P a -
head for the current turmoil in rectly accused the ex-military khtunkhwa Assemblies
the country by rigging the 2018 men of rigging elections to dissolved.
general elections and installing make way for installing the Pa- His latest remarks come in
Imran Khan-led government. kistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) the wake of a top-level huddle
The former prime minister government in 2018. where he and his daughter,
held ex-Chief of Army Staff At the time he also questioned Maryam Nawaz, met with par-
Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa and who was responsible for the ty leaders to discuss strategy
ex-Director General of Inter- “two governments” in the coun- as the possibility of polls in
Services Intelligence Lt Gen try and went on to blame then- two provinces grows. PTI
BUREAU OF INDIAN STANDARDS
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Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food & Public Distribution,
Govt. of India
Manak Bhawan, 9 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110002.

Advertisement No.08 (YP)/2022/HRD

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16 CHENNAI
Swiggy lays
off 380 staff;
shuts Meat
Marketplace
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
FOODTECH company Swiggy
has laid off 380 employees as
part of its restructuring exer-
cise. It will also shut down its
Meat marketplace.
In an internal note to em-
ployees on Friday, CEO Srihar-
sha Majety said the growth rate
for food delivery has slowed
down against its projections.
“This means that we needed
to revisit our overall indirect
costs to hit our profitability
goals.. While we’d already initi-
ated actions on other indirect
costs like infrastructure, of-
fice/facilities, etc, we needed to
right-size our overall personnel
costs also inline with the pro-
jections for the future. Our
overhiring is a case of poor
judgement, and I should’ve
done better here,” he said.
In 2021, driven by a surge in
demand during the second
wave, Swiggy’s food delivery
business grew strongly. Also,
the company found early suc-
cess with Instamart. Looking at
these, the company invested
into building its teams to be
able to cater to the needs of the
categories.
However, in 2022, due to chal-
lenging macroeconomic condi-
tions, companies around the
world are adjusting to the new
normal, with refreshed invest-
ment horizons and accelerated
timelines for profitability, he
said. Over the last year, the
company has also identified
many areas for improvement in
its pace of execution.
“Due to the iterative build-up
of different organisations,
there have been some extra lay-
ers created in pockets. This
definitely increased our com-
munication overhead and com-
promised our agility. This
meant that instead of doing
more with less, we were doing
less with more in these cases,”
the CEO said.
Govt issues guidelines for social media influencers
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
CELEBRITIES and social me-
dia influencers now will re-
quire to disclose their material
connections with a brand,
service or company, including
free products, contests and
sweepstakes entries, trips or
hotel stays, media barters, cov-
erage and awards, consumer
affairs ministry said in a fresh
policy on ‘endorsements-know-
hows’ announcement on
Friday.
“The whole issue is centred
on the consumer’s right to
know. It is the responsibility of
the endorsers, celebrities and
influencers or other advertis-
ers to truthfully disclose what-
ever information the consumer
LTIMindtree Q3 net profit
drops 4.7% to `1,000 crore
U M A K A N N A N @ Bengaluru
IN its first earnings report as a
merged entity, LTIMindtree on
Friday reported a 4.7% decline
in its consolidated net profit at
`1,000.7 crore for the quarter
ending December 31, 2022,
compared to `1,050 crore
in the same quarter
last year.
Sequentially, it re-
ported a 15.8% fall in
net profit. Debashis
Chatterjee, CEO and MD
of LTIMindtree, said the com-
pany expects its sequential
growth momentum to acceler-
ate in Q4 as the impact of fur-
lough eases. Revenue for Q3
rose 25.3% year-on-year (YoY)
at `8,620 crore against `6,880.7
SATURDAY 21 01 2023
� �
Reliance net profit falls 15% in Q3
Jio posts 28.6% rise in net profit to `4,881 crore; APRU improves QoQ to `178.2 from `177.2
A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi
INDIA’S largest listed company
- Reliance Industries (RIL) on
Friday reported a 15% year-on-
year (YoY) drop in net profit for
the quarter ending December
(Q3FY23).
RIL consolidated net profit
(attributable to the owners of
the company) came down to
`15,792 crore in Q3 compared to
`18,549 crore reported in the
year-ago period (Q3FY22).
Market analysts had predict-
ed RIL will witness a drop in
profit due to volatility in global
crude prices during October-
December period. In addition,
RIL saw a rise in its interest
and depreciation expenses. Its
gross revenue in Q3FY23 grew
15% YoY to `240,963 crore.
The Group’s mainstay O2C
(oil to chemical) business re-
ported a revenue growth of
10% to `144,630 crore and EBIT-
DA growth of 3% to `13,926
HC quashes write-off order
of YES Bank Tier-1 bonds
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
THE Bombay high court, in an
oral pronouncement on Friday,
quashed the order of YES Bank
Administrator, which had writ-
ten down Additional Tier-1
(AT1) bonds of more than `8,300
crore overnight, leaving inves-
tors high and dry.
“This will benefit all bond
holders, including 63 moons
technologies, which held bonds
worth `300 crore,” said 63
moons technologies in a state-
ment, on Friday. The bonds
were written off as part of a re-
structuring plan to rescue YES
Bank in March 2020. Equity
holders didn’t face a similar
write-down, but 75% of their
shares were subject to a lock-in
for three years.
AT-1 bonds are high-yield se-
curities that typically have loss-
absorbing features, meaning
they can be written down if a
lender’s capital falls below a
crucial level. This feature was
invoked in case of YES Bank.
Investors, including institu-
tional and individuals, had in-
must know before making any
decision for purchase,” the
ministry said.
Influencers need to disclose material link with brand
A government statement said when there is a material connection
between an advertiser and celebrity/influencer that may affect the
weight or credibility of representation made by a celebrity/influencer.
These connections include monetary or other forms of compensation
crore in the year-ago period.
EBITDA margin for Q3 stood at
16% against 20.7% in the year-
ago period. “Combined entity
has started out with a $1 billion
quarterly revenue run rate, a
top-quartile constant currency
YoY revenue growth of
16.3%, and a robust or-
der inflow of $1.25 bil-
lion. Clients across sec-
tors are evincing keen
interest in our unique
value proposition span-
ning core to experience to
edge,” he added.
It sees a higher level of cau-
tion baked into spending plans
across sectors. The Board of Di-
rectors has recommended an
interim dividend of `20 per eq-
uity share.
NUMBER CRUNCHING
K15,792 K18,549
crore crore
K4,881
crore K3,795
crore
NET PROFIT JIO PAT
(CONSOLIDATED)
crore. RIL said growth in EBIT-
DA was supported by strength
in middle distillate cracks but
the same was partially offset by
weak margins across polymer,
polyester chain and light distil-
lates products. Continued wind-
fall tax on transportation fuels
AT-1 bonds can
be written down
Additional Tier-1 bonds are
high-yield securities that
typically have loss-
absorbing features,
meaning they can be
written down if a lender’s
capital falls below a crucial
level. This feature was
invoked in case of YES Bank
vested as much as `8,415 crore
in YES Bank’s AT-1 bonds.
Individual and institutional
bondholders had filed several
petitions in the court, arguing
the bonds were mis-sold.
The ministry further stated
that when there is a material
connection between an adver-
tiser and celebrity/influencer
that may affect the weight or
credibility of the representa-
tion made by the celebrity/
influencer.
These connections include
monetary or other for ms
of compensation, free products,
contests and sweepstakes
entries, trips or hotel stays,
m e d i a b a r t e r s, c ove r a g e
and awards, or any personal,
family or employment
RESULT
Union Bank net profit doubles to `2,245 cr in Q3
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
@ New Delhi
PUBLIC sector lender Union
Bank of India on Friday an-
nounced 106.81 % increase in
net profit to `2,245 crore for
third quarter ending December
2022, supported by rise in net
interest income.
Net interest income, which is
the difference between interest
HDFC Life profit up 15% to `315 cr
NEW DELHI: HDFC Life on Friday reported a
15% rise in net profit to `315 crore for the third
quarter ended December. The private sector in-
surer’s profit stood at `274 crore in the year-ago
period, it said in a regulatory filing. Total in-
come increased to `19,693 crore in the latest De-
cember quarter from `14,222 crore in October-
December 2021. Its solvency ratio improved to
209% from 190% as on December 31, 2021. ENS
K13,926 K13,530
crore crore
Q3FY23
Q3FY22
K2,400 K2,259
crore crore
RELIANCE O2C
RETAIL PAT (EBIDTA)
impacted earnings by `1,898
crore. Digital arm Reliance Jio
posted a 28.6% rise in net profit
to `4,881 crore, while revenue
grew 21% to `29,195 crore. Net
subscriber addition was 53 lakh
in the quarter to 43.29 crore,
while average revenue per user
Market regular Sebi had im-
posed a penalty of `2 crore on
YES Bank founder Rana Ka-
poor in September 2022 for mis-
selling AT-1 bonds. It was al-
leged the bank and certain
officials didn’t inform inves-
tors of the risk involved while
selling the AT-1 bonds in the
secondary market. The sale of
AT-1 bonds started in 2016 and
continued till 2019.
YES Bank, whose board of
directors was reconstituted and
fresh capital was infused in
2020, had issued AT-1 bonds in
the nature of debentures in De-
cember 2013, December 2016
and October 2017. These bonds
were written down as part of
reviving the bank in 2020.
In 2020, YES Bank cited RBI’s
Basel III capital regulations,
which says if authorities decide
to reconstitute a bank or amal-
gamate it with any other lender
under Section 45 of the Bank-
ing Regulation Act, 1949, the
bank will be deemed as non-vi-
able or approaching non-viabil-
ity. In such a case, the trigger
for AT-1 write-down instru-
ments will be activated, it said.
relationship.
“Celebrities/influencers
are always advised to review
and satisfy themselves that the
advertiser is in a position to
substantiate the claims made
in the advertisement. It is
also recommended that
the product and service must
have been actually used or ex-
perienced by the endorser,”
said the ministry said in the
statement.
Also laying down a note of
caution for influencers or ce-
lebrities, the ministry noted
should they fail to disclose any
material connection or non-
compliance with the Consumer
Protection Act 2019 and the
Rules made thereunder would
make such violators liable for
strict action under the law.
SC decision limited to
interim relief, says Google
earned and interest paid, rose
20 % to `8,628 crore in Q3FY23
as against `7,174 crore in the
same quarter last year. The
non-interest income rose to
`3,271 crore during the quarter,
recording a rise of 29.6 %. Total
income increased to `24,154
crore in Q3FY23 from `19,454
crore in the year-ago period.
Asset quality of the bank im-
proved as the bank’s gross non-
BoM net profit doubles to `775 cr
NEW DELHI: State-owned Bank of Maharash-
tra (BoM) on Monday reported more than two-
fold jump in its profit at `775 crore in the quar-
ter ending December 2022 due to increase in net
interest income and improved asset quality.
The Pune-headquartered public sector bank,
which is eyeing a QIP of `500-1,000 crore in the
fourth quarter, reported a net profit of `325
crore in the year-ago period. ENS
(APRU) improved quarter-on-
quarter to `178.2 from `177.2.
Retail arm Reliance Retail saw
a 6% rise in net profit to `2,400
crore, while gross revenue grew
175 to `67,623 crore.
RIL plans to raise `20,000
crore issuing non-convertible
debentures (NCDs) via private
placement basis to fuel its ex-
pansion plans across business-
es. Outstanding debt of RIL was
`303,530 crore, whereas cash and
cash equivalents as of Decem-
ber 31 were at `193,282 crore.
Mukesh Ambani, Chairman
and MD of RIL, said, “We are
making rapid progress towards
implementation of new energy
Giga factories at Jamnagar as
part of our commitment to rev-
olutionising green energy sec-
tor. Our strong balancesheet
and robust cash flows remains
the cornerstone of our commit-
ment in growing existing busi-
nesses as well as investing in
new opportunities.”
EXPRESS READ
Bandhan Bank Q3 profit
down 64% to `291 cr
NEW DELHI: Private sector
Bandhan Bank on Friday reported
a 64% fall in its December
quarter net profit at `290.56
crore owing to decline in net
interest income and rise in
provisions for bad loans. The
Kolkata-based new generation
bank had posted a net profit of
`858.97 crore in the year-ago
period. However, the bank’s total
income increased to `4,840.94
crore in the latest December
quarter from Rs 4,117.76 crore a
year ago, it said in a regulatory
filing. PTI
Insurance industry needs `50K cr
investment per year, says IRDA
S A C H I N K U M A R @ Mumbai
INSURANCE industry needs
`50,000 crore investment every
year to double insurance pene-
tration in next five years, ac-
cording to Debasish Panda,
Chairperson, the Insurance
Regulatory and Development
Authority (IRDAI).
Indian insurance market,
which is currently the tenth
biggest in the world, will be the
sixth biggest by 2032.
“If we have to double the pen-
etration, every year there is a
need to infuse an additional
`50,000 crore. Some of it will
come from the existing players
itself by way of ploughing back
their profits, some of it will
come as an additional capital,”
said Panda while addressing
the Insurance and Pensions
Summit organised by the Con-
federation of Indian Industry
(CII) in Mumbai. “After March,
I intend to meet the chairper-
sons of all the insurance com-
panies to drive home the point
that they have to factor this and
start planning to infuse more
capital. I’m glad some players
have already started to think
(around to infuse more capital)
that,” he said.
He appealed to the stakehold-
ers to increase investment as
the sector offers attractive re-
turns. “I would like to reach out
performing assets (NPAs) de-
clined to 7.93 % as compared to
11.62 % at the end of third quar-
ter of previous fiscal year. The
net NPAs eased to 2.14 %, as
against 4.09 % in the same pe-
riod a year ago. Total business
of the bank increased by 16.31%
year-on-year, wherein gross ad-
vances increased by 20.09 %
while total de posit g rew
by 13.61%.
Market 236.66 MARKET
Sensex 60,621.77
FOREX
Dollar 81.12
Watch 80.20 Nifty 18,027.65 Euro 87.82
newindianexpress com
A S I A N O M I C S
CHINA
EXPORTS TO NORTH KOREA MORE THAN TRIPLED IN 2022
China’s overall exports to North Korea more than tripled in 2022 from a
year earlier as freight train operations between the two countries resumed
following a suspension to limit the spread of COVID-19. Chinese outbound
shipments to North Korea surged 247.5% year-on-year to $894 million, trade
data released by China’s General Administration of Customs showed on
Friday. Pyongyang had stockpiled large amounts of Chinese medical goods
including masks and ventilators in early 2022. North Korea declared victory
over COVID-19 in August, but in December it still bought 2.27 million masks,
12,000 thermometers and 40,000 pairs of medical rubber gloves from China,
trade data released by Beijing showed. North Korea’s parliament outlined
plans to normalise industrial production and meet its economic goals this
year, state media reported on Thursday. The reclusive country shut its
borders to nearly all trade for most of the pandemic, only resuming supplies
and products from China in 2022. That sent bilateral trade to $1.03 billion in
2022, surging 226% from a year earlier.
J A PA N
CONSUMER INFLATION HITS 41-YEAR HIGH
Japan’s core consumer prices in December rose 4% from a year earlier,
double the central bank’s 2% target, hitting a fresh 41-year high and
keeping alive market expectations that the Bank of Japan (BOJ) will soon
end its yield control policy and allow interest rates to rise more, analysts
say. The increase in the core consumer price index (CPI), which excludes
volatile fresh food but includes oil costs, matched a median market forecast
and followed a 3.7% annual gain seen in November. The annual rise in core
CPI thus exceeded the BOJ’s 2% target for a ninth straight month. Core-core
CPI, which strips away both fresh food and energy costs, was 3.0% higher
in December than a year earlier, accelerating from a 2.8% gain seen in
November. The BOJ kept monetary policy ultra-loose on Wednesday but
raised its inflation forecasts. Market players expect the central bank to
phase out the yield curve control, when dovish governor Haruhiko Kuroda’s
second, five-year term ends in April.
S O U T H KO R E A
Q4 GDP SHRINK LIKELY HINTS AT POSSIBLE RECESSION
South Korea’s export-dependent economy is forecast to have contracted in
the fourth quarter, putting in its worst performance in 2-1/2 years as falling
foreign demand and rising interest rates hurt private consumption, a Reuters
poll found. Asia’s fourth-largest economy is expected to have shrunk
by a seasonally-adjusted 0.3% in the October-December quarter after
growing 0.3% in the preceding period. If realized, it would be the sharpest
contraction since mid-2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic was cementing its
grip on the world. On a year-on-year basis, gross domestic product (GDP)
likely grew 1.5% in the fourth quarter, the median forecast of 21 economists
showed, half the 3.1% growth in the third quarter. Forecasts ranged from
0.7% to 1.9%. The data will be released on January, 26. Exports fell 9.5%
in December from the year before and may weaken further amid growing
fears of global recession and an economic slowdown in China, the country’s
largest trading partner. That, along with the Bank of Korea’s (BOK)
aggressive interest rate hikes to curb decade-high inflationary pressures will
weigh on the economy.
Insurance
distribution
Debasish Panda,
Chairperson, IRDA,
said insurers have to
go beyond present
distribution
arrangements with
commercial banks
and have
bancassurance
arrangements with
non-bank lenders
to the conglomerates who are of vehicles are uninsured. In
present in this country, individ- health portfolio, there is the
ual investors who are interested missing middle in the health in-
to invest. If you look at return surance, which will be 40-50
on equity of top five insurance crore people. The industry has
companies, it is 20%, the aver- to come forward and tap these
age is nearly 16% and 14% for opportunities. They have to
non-life and life insurance,” come to us with ideas, they can
Panda said. “This is the time approach regulators, civil serv-
when the funds, which are avail- ants and political establishment
able should get channelised to impress upon them the new
into insurance sector,” he said. areas to increase insurance
He said insurers have to go penetration,” Panda said.
beyond the present distribution Manoj Anand, whole-time
arrangements with scheduled member of Pension Fund Regu-
commercial banks and have latory and Development Au-
bancassurance arrangements thority, said there is a need for
with non-bank lenders, co-oper- insurers to develop annuity
ative banks and also payment plans, which protect an individ-
aggregators. He urged insur- ual from inflation risks. He said
ance firms to explore new op- PFRDA expects `11,000 crore to
portunities and coverages to flow into annuity plans floated
expand the reach of products. by insurers in the next five
“Property insurance penetra- years after a holder reaches re-
tion is less than 4-5%. Over 50% tirement age.
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU on the way forward, in parallel
@ New Delhi with our appea” said a Google
spokesperson.
A day after the Supreme Court The court on Thursday re-
refused to hear the plea of fused to entertain the plea of
Google against the National Google against NCLAT order
Company Law Appellate Tribu- that refused to give an interim
nal (NCLAT) order, Google stay on `1,337 crore penalty
said it is reviewing the on it. The court has di-
court decision. rected NCLAT to decide
The US tech-giant on the appeal and dis-
said the court decision pose of it by March 31,
is limited to interim re- 2023. However, the
lief and didn’t decide court gave seven days
the merits of its appeal. time to Google to deposit
“Android has greatly bene- 10% of its total penalty.
fited Indian users, developers, The bench headed by Chief
and original equipment manu- Justice of India DY Chandra-
facturer (OEMs) and played a chud said since the appeal is
key role in India’s digital trans- pending before NCLAT, it is de-
formation. We remain commit- sisting from expressing any
ted to our users and partners opinion (on the merit of the
and will cooperate with the CCI CCI order).
 Brazilian soccer player Dani Alves was arrested Friday after being
Alves arrested for accused of sexually assaulting a woman in Spain. The alleged act took
place on Dec. 31 at a night club in Barcelona, police told The Associated
alleged sexual assault Press. Alves will now go before a judge, who will decide on the charges.
Police said they could give no detail on the case.

17 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023

� � newindianexpress com

World body swings into action; question mark on Asian C’ships in Delhi
UWW sends mail to
Indian federation,
participation in
future int’l events
depends on outcome
of enquiry report
F I R O Z M I R Z A @ Chennai
AS the stalemate between the
protesting wrestlers and the
Wrestling Federation of India
(WFI) refuses to die down, Unit-
ed World Wrestling (UWW), the
world governing body of the
sport, has taken cognizance of
the issue and sought a reply
from the national federation. It
has also attempted to contact
the wrestlers, who are at log-
gerheads with the WFI accus-
ing its chief Brij Bhushan Sha-
ran Singh of sexual harassment
of the female grapplers.
The ongoing tussle has also
put question mark on Indian
wrestlers’ participation in the
upcoming international events
and the country’s hosting
Asian Championships. The
world body is expected to take
a call in this regard once the is-
sue is resolved and a report of
the same is submitted to it.
In a reply to a questionnaire
mailed to the UWW enquiring
about the ongoing controversy
in the country, the world body
admitted the allegations lev-
elled against the WFI chief are
serious. “UWW has learned
with great concern via the
media about these seri-
ous allegations. We will
closely follow the cases
and will take any nec-
essary measures that
are warranted by the
outcome of the investi-
gations,” the world body
said via an email to this daily.
Adding further, it said, “We
have contacted the federation,
as well as made efforts to con-
tact athletes directly to better
understand the situation.”
However, the UWW has not
clarified whether it managed to
speak to the agitating wres-
tlers. Replying to a specific
question on Indian wrestlers’
participation in the interna-
tional tournaments and host-
ing of the Asian Champion-
ships, the UWW said it will be
deter mined based on the
outcomes.
As far as the investigations
are concerned, it was learnt
that the UWW is waiting for a
report in this regard from the
WFI, which in turn accepted
that it has received an email
from the world body seeking
clarification on the ongoing
tussle.
“Yes, we received an
email from the UWW.
We clarified that the
ongoing protest is a
conspiracy against the
ruling dispensation. We
have been given 72 hours by
the sports ministry to submit
our report. The same report
will be mailed to the UWW as
well,” said a highly-placed WFI
source.
It should be noted that the
first international assignment
for the wrestlers is Ranking Se-
ries scheduled in Zagreb,
Croatia from February 1 to 5. It
will be followed by Dan Kolov
Petrov international tourna-
ment in Sofia, Bulgaria from
March 2 to 5 and Yasar Dogu,
Vehbi Emre & Hamit Kaplan
tournament in Istanbul, Tur-
key from March 8 to 12. Inter-
estingly, India is also scheduled
to host the continental tourna-
ment, Asian Championships,
in New Delhi from March 28 to
April 2. However, everything —
participation of Indian wres-
tlers and hosting of the Asian
Championships — now hangs
in a balance.
Ranking event begins today
Meanwhile, the WFI is set to or-
ganise the Senior Open Nation-
al Ranking Tournament in
Gonda, Uttar Pradesh from Sat-
urday. The second day of the
three-day tournament will also
witness the emergency execu-
tive committee and emergency
general body meeting to discuss
the allegations levelled against
Singh. “Almost all the partici-
pating wrestlers have reached
the venue. The tournament will
go ahead. The meeting will also
be held on Day 2. The president
will speak on the accusations
against him after the meeting,”
said the WFI source.
Partial victory but only time will tell
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
@ New Delhi/Lucknow
THE meeting between the sports
minister Anurag Thakur and
agitating wrestlers continued
for almost seven hours. It bore
fruits as far as the government
is concerned as the wrestlers
decided to call off their protest.
But how fruitful it turned out
for the grapplers could be
gauged only after four weeks.
It has been decided that an
oversight committee will be
formed, which will probe all
charges levelled against the
Wrestling President of India
(WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sha-
ran Singh and submit a report
within the stipulated time pe-
riod. Given the wrestlers’ pri-
mary demand, which was re-
moval of Singh and disbanding
of the federation and its affili-
ated state units, it hardly serves
their purpose as the sports min-
ister said the WFI chief will
only step aside and help with
the probe. Interestingly, Singh’s
tenure gets over next month.“We
are calling off the protest as the
government has assured us that
justice will be done,” Bajrang
Punia said after the
announcement.
Adding further, the Olympic
and World Championships med-
allist said, “A decision has been
taken to form a committee to
handle day-to-day function and
look into our concerns. The
sports minister has said that
player safety is his prerogative
as players have received threats
from the federation before. The
minister has conveyed his sup-
port to us at every step of the
way. Our sport has come very
far and we didn’t want this pro-
test either but things got so out
of hand that we had to take a
step like this.” he added.
IOA appoints committee
The Indian Olympic Associa-
tion too formed a committee
and said a thorough investiga-
tion will be carried by the IOA.
The protesting wrestlers sent a
letter signed by five wrestlers
– Tokyo Olympic medallists
Ravi Dahiya, Bajrang, Sakshi,
Vinesh and Deepak Punia — to
IOA chief PT Usha. Among oth-
er demands, the wrestlers
wanted Singh to be removed
and the WFI be disbanded. It
also asked “the IOA to immedi-
ately appoint a committee to
enquire into the complaints of
sexual harassment. A new com-
mittee should be formed to run
the affairs of WFI in consulta-
tion with the wrestlers.”
The committee comprises
athletes’ commission chairper-
son Mary Kom, sportspersons
of outstanding merit members
Dola Banerjee and Yogeshwar
Dutt, joint secretary Alaknan-
da Ashok and treasurer Sahdev
Yadav and two advocates. The
emergency meeting was at-
tended by the executive council
members.
Full story: newindianexpress.com

The curious decline of PC conversion CAN HOSTS SEAL SERIES?

With the second ODI against New Zealand set to happen in Raipur on Saturday, a look at key talking points...
S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N
@ Bhubaneswar India look for CHANCE FOR SKY TO STEAL SHOW BLACKCAPS TOP-ORDER FOCUS ON WASHINGTON

EVEN as the future of penalty

Numbers to keep in mind
2018 WC 2022 WC
improvements Suryakumar Yadav had the perfect
opportunity to stamp his authority in
While Michael Bracewell
saved face for New Zealand
Against a line-up that
has four southpaws,

before NZ game
corners continues to be debated

in the corridors of the Interna-
tional Hockey Federation (FIH),
there has been an undeniable
shift in the art itself. Till re-
cently, the main protagonists
were considered to be the drag-
flickers, ones standing on the
top of the ‘D’, clutching their
sticks as if it was a toothpick.
They had a swagger, their bulg-
50%
the first game, but fell to a soft in Hyderabad, they would Washington Sundar had
Goals from penalty corners 57 32 dismissal. However, he would be want their top three to go a day to forget in the
Total penalty corners 244 195 itching to get back on the field and out and score big. Finn Allen first ODI. In what is likely
Conversion rate 22.4% 16.41% S W A R O O P S W A M I N AT H A N make a mark in this series for got a start, but could not to be another high-
of PC shots @ Bhubaneswar
blocked by Shreyas Iyer is likely to slot right back capitalise and could be the scoring encounter in
1/3 BELIEVED TO BE THE TRADITIONAL
first runner in when he comes back from injury. key in setting the tone for Raipur, the off-spinner
CONVERSION RATE FROM CORNERS IN all of the three post-match
according to the tourists on Saturday would want to comeback
*Stats accurate as of Thursday night press conferences, Graham Reid LIVE ON STAR SPORTS
Dutch coach before Devon Conway and stronger and make an
has spoken about the team’s NETWORK 1:30 PM
Friday’s results: France 5-5 Argentina, Australia Jeroen Henry Nicholls take charge. impact with the ball.
9-2 S Africa, Belgium 7-1 Japan, Korea 2-7 Germany chance creation. Hence, it’s not
Delmee a surprise to note that they are
SATURDAY IS A REST DAY

Father & coach behind

ing biceps adding to the theatre second only behind Netherlands
of the setting. Because the pen-
alty corner has traditionally
in terms of circle entries (76).
However, that hasn’t necessari- Medvedev out
of Oz Open
resulted in lop-sided contests ly translated to goals. One rea-

Amanjot’s rise to top

between the drag-flicker and
the moving four-person wall
protecting the goal (apart from
the goalkeeper), they invaria-
bly finished tournaments as
the leading goal-scorers.
That, though, has been slight-
ly changing. Even if the best
flickers keep sounding the
board on a periodical basis, the
contest is now more even. The
ongoing World Cup in Rourke-
la-Bhubaneswar has been wit-
ness to it. Out of the 195 penalty
corners that have been won by
teams till Thursday night, only
32 have been credited as goals
from penalty corners (do bear
in mind that several of these 32
were rebound efforts so direct
Tom Boon of Belgium celebrates a goal against Japan in Rourkela | EXPRESS
only have to be fast and fit but
also very durable and be up for
son for that is their below-par
shots on goals-to-goals scored
conversion rate. It currently
stands at 16 % (6 out of 37). The
Australian spoke about this fac-
tor after watching his team cre-
ate and squander multiple
chances against Wales.
The players crowded the
striking semi-circle so they
didn’t have the room to get their
shots away properly. “I don’t
know to be honest. There can
always be a couple of reasons,”
the Australian said. Tonight
(Thursday), we got into each
other’s way. Against a very de-
fensive team, you bring a de-
fender with you, so we ended up
with too many in the circle. It’s
G O M E S H S @ Chennai
IN the hours leading up to the
T20I match between India and
South Africa at East London
late on Thursday night, not
many expected Amanjot Kaur
to make her debut. Not even
her father Bhupinder Singh or
coach Nagesh Gupta. But there
was one person who was confi-
dently looking forward to see-
ing her on television.
In her home at Phase V, Mo-
hali, Smt Bhagwanti, Aman-
jot’s Dadi ji (paternal grand-
Coming in at 69/5, Amanjot
smashed an unbeaten 30-ball
41, putting up a 76-run stand for
the sixth wicket alongside
Deepti Sharma. Thanks to her
innings, India finished with
147/6 and registered a 27-run
win in the first match of the
tri-series.
While everyone watching the
match were blown away by her
innings, Bhupinder and Nagesh
aren’t surprised one bit. The
chance to play might have come
with some luck, but they both
have been with her in every
A G E N C I E S @ Melbourne
SEBASTIAN Korda beat two-
time r unner-up Daniil
Medvedev 7-6 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (4) in
the Australian Open’s third
round Friday night at Mel-
bourne Park. Korda is a 22-year-
old from Florida who is seeded
29th, is the son of 1998 Austral-
ian Open champion Petr and
counts eight-time major champ
Andre Agassi as a mentor. Ko-
rda equaled his best showing at
any Grand Slam tournament
by reaching the round of 16.
The No. 7-seeded Medvedev

goals from shot corners is few-
er). In other words, at this
World Cup, the conversion rate
is roughly 16.5 %. Historically,
that figure is around one in
three. It’s down even from the
last World Cup where the con-
version rate stood at 22.4 % (57
out of 244).
While the working theory
was that some of it was per-
haps linked to the usage of wa-
ter — FIH have done away with
the practice of watering the
turf at half-time in a bid to
make the sport more sustaina-
ble — coaches at the World Cup
have discarded that. They have
instead focused on analytics
and better defending. Paul Rev-
ington, England coach, said: “I
just think it’s a matter of teams
evolving with the game and re-
alising if they don’t pay more
attention to the runners, line-
130
TOP SCORER
France’s Charlet
Victor- 6
GOALS * after 24 games
men and everything, you just
end up with Sohail Abbas and
Taeke Taekema (two of the best
exponents of the art in the last
three decades or so) situations
where they end up ripping
balls... it’s still happening but
we got to do the homework.”
Some of that homework re-
fers to the importance of the
first rusher, the defender who
hares towards the drag-flick
taker as soon as the injector
pushes the ball towards one of
the two batteries. With elite
sport all about finding that ex-
tra 1 % in search of perfection,
there is now a method in the
madness behind the selection
of the first rusher. They not
a fight. From an Indian per-
spective, Manpreet Singh and
Amit Rohidas are the primary
first rushers.
India’s analytical coach,
Gregg Clark, one of whose jobs
is to study penalty corners and
try to deduce weaknesses and
strengths, if any, before relying
the same to chief coach Gra-
ham Reid and the players, na-
mechecked Wegnez and Man-
preet. “Really think the defences
are getting better,” he said. “If
you look at our game against
England, Manpreet was incred-
ible with his rushing when he
was on the pitch. Wegnez also
ran down a whole bunch against
Korea. First rushers have gotten
better and I think teams are re-
ally analysing it and maybe pro-
tective equipment is getting a
bit better.”
Full story: newindianexpress.com
very hard to explain,” said
Reid
This could be worrying, espe-
cially for the next game against
New Zealand on Sunday. The
Black Sticks set-up defensively
as they will allow India all the
time on the ball but will defend
the striking circle. In conse-
quence, there could be a scenar-
io where a similar situation
presents itself. “That is (the
game against New Zealand) go-
ing to be tough. We have played
them here in the Pro League.
Our first game against them
was tough, (but) the second was
a bit easier. They will come out
like (how) Wales did today —
energized.” he added.
India might have a lot in the
tank, but to progress beyond
the quarterfinals, their strikers
and midfielders will have to fin-
ish the chances.
mother), promptly asked to
switch on the TV around
9 PM, asking, ‘Arey,
where is Aman?’. “I
was afraid that she
might not get a game
and it was late at night.
So, I told her that the
match would come on TV to-
morrow and asked her to sleep.
But around 11, she saw that the
lights were on and asked us
what was going on as we were
watching the match. Aman was
playing as well, so she sat down
and enjoyed the entire match
with us,” a delighted Bhupinder
told this daily.
Call it destiny or a Dadi’s
goodwill, the Punjab all-round-
er got her India cap on Thurs-
day — with several players in
the Indian camp falling sick
due to allergies — and immedi-
ately made an impression.
step of the way till she
reached the top. All
Bhupinder, who runs
his own business as a
carpenter, has ever told
Amanjot since the day
she fell in love with
sport, playing gully crick-
et with the boys in their
neighbourhood, is to play the
sport and do it well. And he has
done everything in his power to
make sure she was able to do
that. It comes as no surprise
that Amanjot credits her suc-
cess to her father. “My dad
played a big role in my career.
His struggle is much bigger
than mine, he left half of his
work for me so that I don’t miss
out on my academy. If he didn’t
do that, I would not have been
here today,” she said after the
match on Thursday.
Full story: newindianexpress.com
won the U.S. Open two years
ago and made it to the final in
Australia in 2021, when he lost
to Novak Djokovic, and 2022,
when he lost to Rafael Nadal af-
ter holding a two-set lead. The
Russian also was briefly ranked
No. 1 last season.
Select Results: (ALL RD 3): Men’s
Singles: Felix bt Cerundolo 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4;
Korda bt Medvedev 7-6 (9/7), 6-3, 7-6 (7/4);
Lehecka bt Norrie 6-7 (8/10), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1,
6-4; Hurkacz bt Shapovalov 7-6 (7/3), 6-4,
1-6, 4-6, 6-3; Women’s Singles: I Swiatek bt
C Bucsa 6-0, 6-1; J Pegula bt M Kostyuk 6-0,
6-2; C Gauff bt B Pera 6-3, 6-2; V Azarenka bt
M Keys 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Saturday’s Select Matches (ALL RD 3)
Men’s Singles: Rublev vs Evans (6:45am);
Rune vs Humbert (7:30am); Murray vs
Bautista Agut (1:30pm); Djokovic vs Dimitrov
(1:30pm); Women’s Singles: B Bencic vs C
Giorgi (6:45am); A Sabalenka vs E Mertens
(8:45am); C Garcia vs L Siegemund (1:30pm)
Live on Sony Sports Networks 5:30am onwards

Yamaguchi, woman of hour EXPRESS READ

A N M O L G U R U N G @ New Delhi
AKANE Yamaguchi is the gold
standard of badminton today.
Known for her nimbleness,
speed and patient approach,
the shuttler from Japan seems
to be operating with a different
level of energy in recent times.
The diminutive shuttler just
seems to have found a different
gear. Just last week, she beat
her closest rivals, Tai Tzu-ying
and An Se-young (in terms of
world rankings) en route to
open the season with a title in
Malaysia. And she’s carrying
on that momentum into the In-
dia Open Super 750.
Facing another close chal-
lenger in Carolina Marin on
Friday, Yamaguchi asserted her
style to overcome the Rio Olym-
pic champion and book a spot in
Akane Yamaguchi | PARVEEN NEGI
the semis of the $850,000 event.
Granted that Marin is still in re-
covery mode after her serious
injury, but Yamaguchi did what
was necessary and has given a
clear message that she is not
ready to relinquish her World
No 1 status any time soon.
Marin, who knows a thing or
two about dominance, acknowl-
edged Yamaguchi’s superiority
in play at the moment.
“I wanted to show a bit more.
She (Yamaguchi) is playing re-
ally well, she’s controlling the
shuttle very well,” she said.
Given that the Olympic qual-
ification phase is around the
corner, Yamaguchi will be in-
tent on keeping up the good
work, especially after her
heartbreak in the 2020 Olym-
pics at home, where she was
knocked out in the quarterfi-
nals by India’s PV Sindhu.
Incidentally, she will meet
Thailand’s Supanida Katethong,
the woman who beat Sindhu,
next. An Se-yong and China’s
He Bingjiao also advanced and
will meet each other in the sem-
ifinals. Viktor Axelsen (Den-
mark) also entered the semifi-
nals after his countrymate,
Rasmus Gemke, was forced to
quit in the opening game.
WTT Contender: Manika
moves into semis
DOHA: Indian paddler Manika
Batra advanced to the WTT
Contender semifinals after eking
out a 3-2 win over Korea’s Choi
Hyojoo on Friday. The world
number 36 Manika toiled hard for
41 minutes before getting the
better of Hyojoo 11-6, 11-9, 4-11,
5-11, 11-7 in the women’s singles
quarterfinal.
Manchester City beat
Tottenham 4-2
MANCHESTER: After four PL titles
in five years, Pep Guardiola
publicly questioned Manchester
City’s credentials to win another
this season, even after cutting
Arsenal’s lead at the top to five
points. A rousing second-half
fightback on Thursday saw them
beat Tottenham 4-2.
Ajith guides TN to innings victory
A S H O K V E N U G O PA L @ Chennai
LEFT-ARM spinner S Ajith
Ram’s maiden five wicket haul
(5-70) and match figures of 9 for
138 came in handy for Tamil
Nadu to thrash Assam by in-
nings and 70 runs on the final
day Ranji trophy Elite Group B
match played at the MA
Chidambaram stadium here on
Friday. Ajith was adjudged as
the player of the match for his
splendid show. National selec-
tor S Sharath, who watched the
match, patted Ajith Ram for his
good show and encouraged the
youngster after the match was
over just before tea. For Assam,
it was a disappointing finish as
they were outplayed by Tamil
Nadu in all departments.
Rishav Das 58 (121b, 5x4, 2x6)
was the only Assam batter to
Ajith Ram (R) in action | ASHWIN PRASATH
show some resistance and delay
the inevitable. He was finally re-
moved by Sandeep Warrier with
Sai Sudarshan taking a regula-
tion catch in the slips. “Definite-
ly, it’s a great feeling to get the
SELECT SCORES
Group A: At Meerut: Odisha 226 & 335/4
in 96 ovs drew Uttar Pradesh 362; Group
B: At Delhi: Mumbai 293 & 170 in 60.5 ovs
(Rahane 51, Kotian 50 n.o; Mehra 5/30)
vs Delhi 369 & 97/2; At Rajkot: Andhra
415 & 164/7 decl in 45 ovs (Karan 50 n.o;
Unadkat 2/17) vs Saurashtra 237 & 192 in
56.2 ovs (Cheteshwar 91; Lalith 6/58); At
Chennai: Tamil Nadu 540 vs Assam 266
& 204 in 88.1 ovs; Group C: At
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala 342 & 96/4
in 51 ovs drew Karnataka 485/9 in 163.1
ovs; At Puducherry: Pondicherry 231 &
250 all out in 84.5 ovs (Arun Karthick 82)
lost to Jharkhand 412 & 73/0 in 26.2 ovs.
player of the match at my home
ground. I’m proud of myself for
being selected for Tamil Nadu
and performing well at home
gives me good confidence,’’ said
Ajith after the match.
 US’s largest public utility has appointed an independent Netflix said global subscribers to its streaming service
panel to look into power failures that spurred the jumped to more than 230 million people in the last three
decision to implement rolling blackouts during months of last year as hits such as “Wednesday” and
dangerously cold conditions late last year “Harry & Meghan” drew in new viewers

18 CHENNAI SATURDAY 21 01 2023

� � newindianexpress com

FILE

TWINKLE, TWINKLE
ENVIRONMENT
Human role in gunshot detection
ShotSpotter’s employees have broad discretion to determine the origin of the sound
FADING STARS: HIDING TECH judgment calls, including

IN OUR BRIGHTER SKIES whether the sound has the ca-

10%
CHICAGO: In more than 140 dence of gunfire, whether the
cities across the United States, audio pattern looks like “a
Every year, the night sky grows brighter, and the stars look dimmer ShotSpotter’s artificial intel- sideways Christmas tree” and
ligence algorithm and intri- if there is “100% certainty of
ANNUAL cate network of microphones gunfire in reviewer’s mind.”
ARTIFICIAL LIGHTING: ROOT FASTER RATE OF CHANGE CHANGE IN evaluate hundreds of thou- ShotSpotter said that the
CAUSE OF ALL PROBLEM VISIBILITY sands of sounds a year to de- human role is a positive check
That’s a much faster rate of change OF STARS
A new study that analyses data than scientists had previously termine if they are gunfire, on the algorithm and the
from more than 50,000 amateur estimated looking at satellite data. The 10% annual generating data now being “plain-language” document
stargazers finds that artificial The research, which includes data change “is a lot used in criminal cases reflects the high standards of
lighting is making the night sky from 2011 to 2022, is published bigger than I nationwide. accuracy its reviewers must
about 10% brighter each year Thursday in the journal Science expected But a confidential ShotSpot- meet. “Our data, based on the
—something you’ll ter document obtained by The review of millions of inci-
notice clearly within Associated Press outlines dents, proves that human re-
V I S I B I L I T Y O F S TA R S R E D U C I N G a lifetime,” said something the company view adds value, accuracy and
Christopher Kyba, a doesn’t always tout about its consistency to a review proc-
“We are losing, year by year, the possibility to see the stars,” said “precision policing system”— ess that our customers—and
study co-author and
Fabio Falchi, a physicist at the University of Santiago de that human employees can Law enforcement personnel uses an interactive electronic map | AP many gunshot victims—de-
physicist at the
Compostela, who was not involved in the study quickly overrule and reverse pend on,” said Tom Chittum,
German Research
Centre for the algorithm’s determina- in law-enforcement tools in is just a ping, ping, ping. ... and the company’s vice president
If you can still see the dimmest stars, you Geosciences in tions, and are given broad dis- the first place—to lessen the you can convince yourself it is of analytics and forensic
Potsdam cretion to decide if a sound is role of all-too-fallible humans. a gunshot.” services.
are in a very dark place. But if you see a gunshot, fireworks, thunder “I’ve listened to a lot of gun- Marked “WARNING: CON- Another part of the docu-
only the brightest ones, you are in a very or something else. shot recordings — and it is not FIDENTIAL,” the 19-page op- ment underscores ShotSpot-
light-polluted place Such reversals happened easy to do,” said Robert Ma- erations document spells out ter’s longstanding emphasis
10% of the time by a 2021 com- her, a leading national author- how employees in ShotSpot- on speed and decisiveness, and
Fabio Falchi, a physicist at the University of Santiago de Compostela
pany account, which experts ity on gunshot detection at ter’s review centres should lis- its commitment to classify
say could bring subjectivity Montana State University who ten to recordings and assess sounds in less than a minute
COLLECTING DATA FOR THE STUDY into increasingly consequen- reviewed the ShotSpotter doc- the algorithm’s finding of like- and alert local police and 911
tial decisions and conflict with ument. “Sometimes it is obvi- ly gunfire based upon a series dispatchers so they can send
The study data from amateur stargazers in the one of the reasons AI is used ously a gunshot. Sometimes it of factors that may require officers to the scene.
nonprofit Globe at Night project was collected in a
similar fashion. Volunteers look for the SKYGLOW
constellation Orion – remember the three stars of
his belt – and match what they see in the night
sky to a series of charts showing an increasing
INTENSIFYING
As cities expand and put
UK rejects Uyghur bid to halt
number of surrounding stars

ANNUAL INCREASE IN SKY

BRIGHTNESS
Prior studies of artificial lighting, which
used satellite images of the Earth at
night, had estimated the annual
increase in sky brightness to be
about 2% a year
EXPLAINING THE
GRAVITY OF THE ISSUE
Kyba and his colleagues gave this
example: A child is born where
250 stars are visible on a clear
night. By the time that child turns
18, only 100 stars are still visible
up more lights, “skyglow”
or “artificial twilight,” as
the study authors call
Xinjiang cotton imports
it, becomes more
LAW
intense
LONDON: A British judge on
Dave Cooke observes the Milky Way over a frozen fish Friday rejected a lawsuit that ac-
sanctuary in central Ontario, north of Highway 36 in cused the UK government of al-
Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada, early Sunday | AP lowing the import of cotton prod-
ucts associated with forced
labour in China’s Xinjiang re-
SKYGLOW CAUSING HAVOC gion—though he acknowledged
Skyglow disrupts human circadian rhythms, as well as other there were “widespread abuses”
forms of life, said Georgetown biologist Emily Williams, who in the region’s cotton industry.
was not part of the study “Migratory songbirds normally use High Court justice Ian Dove ruled
starlight to orient where they are in the sky at night,” she said. against a Uyghur organisation
“And when sea turtle babies hatch, they use light to orient and a human rights group who
toward the ocean – light pollution is a huge deal for them” claimed the government unlaw-
fully failed to investigate condi-
tions in which cotton was
produced.
The far-western Xinjiang re-
gion is a major global supplier of
cotton, but rights groups have
long alleged that the crop is
picked and processed by China’s
Uyghurs and other Turkic Mus-
lim minorities in a widespread,
state-sanctioned system of forced
labour.
The judge agreed with the Brit-
ish government that there are
problems meeting the standard
of evidence needed for criminal
investigation and prosecution.

Satellite mapping
FACT OF THE MATTER

Japan to lower
Polar bear kills
finds penguins Covid to flu status mom, son amid
snowstorm
WILDLIFE

ANCHORAGE: Summer Myomick bundled her

baby against the freezing winds whipping off
the Bering Sea and stepped outside into a blur
of blowing snow. It was a short walk from the
MARINE LIFE HEALTH school where she had visited relatives to the
health clinic about 137 metres away, but the

S atellite mapping
technology
discovered another new
has
colony of t h e h i g h ly
threatened Emperor
penguins in Antarctica,
researchers revealed on
Friday. The find, announced
by the British Antarctic
Survey (BAS) to mark
Penguin Awareness Day,
brings the total number of
known emperor penguin
breeding sites around
Antarctica’s coastline to 66.
It is the latest in a series of
Emperor penguin breeding
sites detected using the
satellite technology. The
birds, which are endemic to
Antarctica and the biggest
of the 18 penguin species at
around 1.2 metres tall,
face almost complete
annihilation due to climate
change and loss of sea ice.
UK’s NHS faces biggest day of strikes
PROTEST
J apanese Prime Minister
Fumio Kishida on Friday
announced plans to
downgrade the legal status
of Covid-19 to the equivalent
of seasonal influenza in the
spring, a move that would
further relax mask wearing
a n d o t h e r p reve n t ive
measures as the country
seeks to return to normalcy.
Kishida said he has
instructed experts and
government officials to
discuss the details on
lowering Covid-19’s status.
A change would also remove
self-isolation rules and
other requirements and
allow Covid-19 patients to
seek treatment at any
hospital instead of only
specialised facilities. In
Japan, Covid-19 is currently
categorized as a Class 2
disease.
young mother could hardly have seen where she
w a s g o i n g — o r t h e t e r ro r t h at w a s
approaching.
Myomick, 24, and her son, 1-year-old Clyde
Ongtowasruk, made it just beyond the front of
the Kingikmiut School in Wales, Alaska, just
below the Arc-
tic Circle,
when a polar
bear emerged
from the im-
penetrable
snow squall
and mauled
them on Tues-
day. It was the
first fatal po-
lar bear at-
tack in 30
years in Alas-
A walkway leading into a school, where ka, the only
a woman and her son were killed| AP US state that
is home to the
animals. As the attack unfolded, the principal
ordered a lockdown and closed the blinds so the
children couldn’t see what was happening out-
side the entrance. Several employees and com-
munity members left the safety of the building
and tried to scare away the bear with shovels.
The mauling stopped temporarily, but only
when the animal turned on them, and they
rushed back inside. Principal Dawn Hendrick-
son slammed the door in the face of the charg-

T he UK’s crisis-hit National

Health Service (NHS) is set
for its biggest ever day of in-
ing bear, possibly saving lives, according to Su-
san Nedza, chief administrator of the Bering
Strait School District.
dustrial action next month af- “The polar bear was chasing them and tried
ter thousands of ambulance to get in as well,” said Nedza, who received fran-
workers announced on Friday tic calls about the attack in Unalakleet, about
a series of new strikes. The 400 kilometres away. “Just horrific. ... Some-
state-funded healthcare sys- thing you never think you would ever
tem will see nurses and ambu- experience.”
lance workers from three dif- There is no law enforcement in Wales, so with
ferent unions walk out on February 6 in an ongoing pay the bear still outside, a call went out to commu-
dispute with the government. Collectively, they amount to nity members for help. A person who has not
what British media describe as the biggest day of strike ac- been identified showed up with a gun and killed
tion that the NHS, founded in 1948, has ever experienced. The the bear as it continued to maul Myomick and
country has been hit by months of stoppages across the pub- her son. It appears the mother and toddler had
lic and private sectors. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has been no idea what was coming because of low visibil-
resisting demands from a host of state workers for hefty sal- ity, Alaska State Troopers spokesperson Austin
ary hikes to counter rising prices. The firm stance has set up McDaniel told AP on Thursday. The immediate
a stand-off with various NHS staff, who argue they helped family was living at the school temporarily
the country through the pandemic but have faced real-terms while they were fixing electrical issues in their
pay cuts over the last decade. home, according to a post on a GoFundMe fun-
draising site established to help the family.
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