VILLUPURAM  TUESDAY  DECEMBER 03, 2019  `4.00  PAGES 14  CITY EDITION RAILWAYS PERFORMANCE IS WORST IN 10 YEARS, SAYS CAG Its operating ratio of 98.44% in 2017-18 is the worst in a decade, CAG said in a report tabled in Parliament on Monday IT SPENDS `98.44 TO EARN `100 NEED TO BOOST INTERNAL REVENUE Operating ratio is a measure of expenditure against revenue, which shows how efficiently the railway is operating and how healthy its finances are. A ratio of 98.44% means spending `98.44 to earn `100. CAG said Railways would have ended up with a negative balance of `5,676 crore instead of `1,666 crore surplus but for the advance received from NTPC and IRCON ■ ■ Exclusion of advance from NTPC and IRCON would have pushed up the Railways’ operating ratio to 102.66% and caused a `5,676.29 crore deficit, the CAG report said CAG recommends that Railways take steps to augment internal revenues to reduce dependence on extra budgetary resources 95% PROFIT FROM FREIGHT USED TO MAKE UP FOR LOSS ON PASSENGER OPERATIONS CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ WARANGAL ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI CHENNAI NAGAPATTINAM THANJAVUR VILLUPURAM For the second day, parts of several suburbs were submerged under four feet of water, forcing thousands to evacuate on Monday. Southern areas were the worst hit. Normal life was thrown out of gear at Velankanni on Monday. Passengers, pilgrims and traders were left stranded as Velankanni Bus Stand was flooded. Heavy rain led to breaching of the Kannanaru near Madukkur on Monday. Around 500 acres of paddy fields were inundated. Water entered several villages. Following heavy rain over the last couple of days, 1,000 cusecs of water was released from the Komugi dam as it reached full capacity on Monday. Polls for rural local bodies will be held on December 27, 30 T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai THE much-awaited schedule for local body elections was partially announced on Monday, as elections to rural local bodies alone were scheduled for December 27 and 30. State Election Commissioner (SEC) R. Palaniswamy said the schedule for polls to urban local bodies will be announced at a later date owing to ‘administrative reasons.’ He did not attribute any concrete reason for deviating from the practice of LS, RS seek tough action against rape Debris of the wall that collapsed on three tiled-roof houses following heavy rain | A RAJA CHIDAMBARAM 17 CRUSHED TO DEATH AS WALL COLLAPSES IN DALIT COLONY The 20-foot compound wall at Nadur in Mettupalayam was raised around a property belonging to a businessman without the local body’s permission 25 DEATH TOLL in various rainrelated incidents in Tamil Nadu from Nov 29 to Dec 2 EIGHT killed detween Nov 29 & Dec 1 RAIN DAMAGE As many as 58 head 1,700 thatched and of cattle perish, over tiled roof houses destroyed RELIEF CAMPS Nearly 1,000 people put up at camps in Thoothukudi, Cuddalore, Tirunelveli WARNING Flood alert issued to people living on the banks of the Bhavani in Erode district M S A R A V A N A N @ Coimbatore AS many as 17 persons, including three children and 11 women, were buried alive when a 20-foot compound wall of a house collapsed following incessant rains and fell on three tiled-roof houses, bringing them down at Nadur village in Mettupalayam in the early hours of Monday . A total of 300 Dalit families live in Kannappan Nagar in the village. The compound wall, constructed using basalt rock, was raised around the property belonging to Sivasubramaniam (60), who runs a textile shop near Mettupalayam bus stand. Fire and rescue services personnel, along with the police, retrieved the bodies and sent them to Mettupalayam Government Hospital for post-mortem. The deceased were identified as Gurusamy (45), P Sivakami (45), R Oviyammal (60), P Vaidegi (20), V Mangammal (60), Nivedha (18), Ramanathan (20), Rukmani (40), Anandh Kumar (40), his wife Nathiya (35), children Akshaya (7), Loguram (7), Harisudha (16), Thilagavathi (50), Arukani (55), Chinnammal (70) and Mahalakshmi (10). Rukmani, who was a relative of Sivakami, had come on Sunday to visit the family. Thilagavathi and Mangam- Boxer fails test for drug common in racehorses E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Chennai IN an embarrassment for the Indian boxing fraternity it emerged on Monday that a participant in the , recent women’s world championships has failed a dope test. A statement from the National Anti-Doping Agency revealed Neeraj Phogat has tested positive for ‘ligandrol & other anabolic steroids’. It’s a drug used illegally to enhance performance of racehorses. Ligandrol is an experimental drug still subject to clinical trials by its American manufacturer and has not yet been approved for human use. As of now, ligandrol — a Selective Androgen Receptor Modulators (SARM) used for muscle building — is only available on the black market. Though there have been cases of athletes testing positive for it from as far back as 2015, it came to prominence when Australian swimmer Shayna Jack tested positive for it earlier this year. P13 mal, who were from the same street, were staying in Sivakami and Chinnamal’s houses. Saraswathi (65), a woman living nearby said, “We heard , a loud thud and came out, only to see the three houses had collapsed. We did not hear anyone screaming for help.” R Sekar, who lives next to Sivasubramaniam’s house, said, “Eight years ago, Sivasubramaniam had purchased the land adjacent to his house and raised the compound wall to 20 feet from eight feet. All of us objected to this fearing such tragedy might happen sometime. However, he raised the wall without any hassle as he is influential among the rich and his community .” Abdulla, another resident of the village who visited to the spot, said, “If a resident wants to raise his compound wall to more than five feet, he should get permission from the local body. Despite opposition from the Dalits, the owner of the house raised the wall flouting the rule.” Palanisamy husband of , one of the victims, Sivakami, said, “Soon after the incident, we went to Sivasubramaniam’s house. But, he and his family were not in the house.” Coimbatore Collector K Rajamani visited the spot and held an inquiry . MORE ON: P4 EXPRESS READ Gag order against Arasakumar Chennai: The State unit of the BJP has issued gag order to BT Arasakumar and requested the party high command to initiate action against him as he violated party’s discipline and decorum | P5 Nod sought for 4 more med colleges Chennai: After the Union Health Ministry gave approval for nine government medical colleges recently, the State government has applied for approval for four more medical colleges. UNDER WATER Low-lying areas in Chennai suburbs (Mudichur) Chengalpattu & Kanchi districts inundated HIGHEST rainfall in Mettupalayam FORECAST Light to moderate rain at a few places in south TN, isolated places over northern parts and Puducherry on Tuesday 2ND HIGHEST each in Coonoor & Palaviduthi 13 cm (Karur) 18 cm Residents wading through stagnant water in West Tambaram on Monday | R SATISH BABU CM GRANTS `4 LAKH SOLATIUM Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami has announced a solatium of `4 lakh each to the bereaved families. He will be visiting Nadur on Tuesday afternoon, where he will hand over the solatium to the kin of the victims. Palaniswami also chaired a review meeting on the monsoon situation on Monday. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi PARLIAMENT on Monday expressed outrage over the recent rape and murder of a veterinary doctor in Hyderabad, demanding stringent punishment for the accused, with some even suggesting lynching, castration and death penalty . For his part, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said the government was willing to explore tough provisions in laws to check such brutality . In the Lok Sabha, Uttam Kumar Reddy (Congress) raised the matter during Zero Hour and criticised the Telangana home minister for his purported insensitive remarks. He also slammed the state police for its initial delay in lodging a case. Other members like DMK’s T R Baalu echoed him. He raised the issue of sexual assault of a school girl in Coimbatore. TMC’s Sougata Roy urged the Centre to introduce a law making capital punishment mandatory for rape. In the Rajya Sabha, a fuming Jaya Bachchan (SP) demanded that “rapists be brought to the public and lynched.” She also sought to make security officials accountable. “Convicted rapists should be surgically and chemically castrate before they are released from jails to check repeat offenders,” said DMK member P Wilson. CREAMY LAYER BAR VERDICT UP FOR SC’S REVIEW? The Centre urged the SC to refer the matter of exclusion of the creamy layer from SC/ STs for quota benefits to a seven-judge bench holding elections to rural and urban local bodies together. Leaders of Opposition parties, including DMK president MK Stalin, criticised the SEC for leaving out urban local bodies. The schedule has come at a time when the Supreme Court will be hearing a petition filed by the DMK on December 5, a day ahead of the formal notification for rural local body elections. The apex court will be hearing the DMK’s petition seeking a directive to SEC to notify the elections only after completing delimitation, reservation and rotation in the newly created districts. Sources said the SEC is geared up to face the petitions. “In 2016, the Madras High Court had quashed the notifications issued by the SEC due to some procedural lapses. But this time, the Commission has been diligently adhering to the rules,” sources said. Addressing re por ters, Palaniswamy said the elections will take place in two phases while counting will take place P3 on January 2, 2020. STATE OF ECONOMY I wonder whether you are Nirmala or Nirbala (weak) Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury Under this government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, women are Sabalas (strong) Nirmala Sitharaman, FM Nirmala sees green shoots, swats criticism of being the worst FM EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha on Monday witnessed dramatic scenes during the debate on the Taxation Laws (Amendment) Bill with Congress leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Choudhary targeting Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman with personal remarks and the FM responding in kind. To Choudhary’s calling her “Nirbala” (weak), Sitharaman said that she and other women MPs of her party are “Sabala” (strong), adding the government is working for the welfare of all, including the weaker sections. During the debate, Choudhary alleged the ongoing economic slowdown is due to the lack of long-term vision of the Narendra Modi government. He also took potshots at the FM calling her Nirbala saying she is so powerless that she can’t even freely express her views. The Cong ress MP also claimed the real reason industrialists are not making any i nve s t m e n t s i s b e c a u s e they don’t confidence in the credibility of the Modi government. In her sharp reply Sithara, man said her party has empowered all women members and that they all are “Sabala”. She tore into the Congress launching a scathing attack on the alleged crony capitalism of the UPA government. “There is no Jija (brother- in-law) in this government. The farmers have over `1.1 lakh crores in their bank accounts and that amount hasn’t been credited to them by the Jija. The UPA government didn’t give money to the BSNL to bid for the 4G spectrum,” she said. Defending the corporate tax cut, she said it was meant to woo fresh investment and generate jobs, adding that “green shoots” were already visible with many foreign as Crisil cuts FY20 GDP forecast to 5.1% The slowdown is deeper than anticipated and will be prolonged, ratings agency Crisil warned on Monday as it slashed its growth estimate for FY20 sharply to 5.1% from 6.3% forecast earlier. It expects the economy to pick up a bit in the second half well as domestic companies evincing interest to invest. Sitharaman said she is being called “the worst finance minister” by the Opposition without even waiting for her to finish her term. She added she is always open to ideas. “If there’s a government that listens, it is Prime Minister Narednra Modi’s gover nment,” she said adding there is no atmosphere of fear as alleged by industrialist Rahul Bajaj recently . Karvy thrown out of business as licence suspended Hurdles ahead for customers Customers of Karvy Stock Broking may face a long, slow grind before they can monetise their holdings or even migrate to another brokerage. With exchanges suspending Karvy’s trading terminals, investors cannot buy new equities or derivatives though they can square off positions. Karvy officials said customers are unable to migrate demat accounts to other brokerages due to the Sebi order. The upshot is that the National Securities Depository transferred securities worth over `2,000 crore belonging to approximately 83,000 clients. The remaining customers will get back securities after clearing dues, said NSDL. These were securities, which Karvy illegally transferred to its own demat account and pledged without any authorisation EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Hyderabad BELEAGUERED Karvy Stock Broking Ltd can’t catch a break these days. On Monday, the NSE, BSE, MCX and MSEI suspended Karvy’s trading terminals for non-compliance of regulatory provisions pushing the brokerage out of business. Given the catastrophic blow, Karvy filed a fresh appeal with SAT seeking immediate relief from the Sebi order and another one against bourses’ suspension of its license. Both appeals will be heard on Tuesday. It must be noted that Karvy’s similar plea was scorned and rejected by Sebi just last Friday . Suspension of trading terminal implies Karvy’s brokerage income will take a knock, which could affect the firm’s ability to honour debt obligations. As of November, its consolidated debt was in excess of `3,000 crore. While exchanges maintained Karvy’s customers were allowed to square off existing trades, and migrate demat accounts to other brokerages, Karvy reasoned customers were unable to liquidate securities. “Because of the Sebi order, customers cannot monetise securities,” an official told TNIE. Besides preventing it from adding new customers, Sebi had on November 22 barred Karvy from exercising the Power of Attorney given by clients. The order was based on NSE’s preliminary investigation that found alleged misuse of clients’ securities. While the NSE-appointed EY is conducting a forensic audit, initial probe hinted Karvy borrowed `600 crore pledging securities of 95,000 clients worth `2,300 crore. Of these, 82,599 clients got back their securities into the demat accounts. An initial probe pegged the alleged misuse of funds at `2,000 crore, which Karvy denied.