MADURAI l Thursday l may 21, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE CITY EDITION april core sector growth at 1.7% on back of cement, steel Production growth in eight core infrastructure sectors rose to a two-month high of 1.7% in April, driven by higher output of steel, cement next, all eyes on better iip growth ‘Gulf crisis impacted core sector growth’ Steel, cement and electricity production rose by 6.2 per cent, 9.4 per cent and 4.1 per cent, respectively in April. Coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, and fertiliser output recorded negative growth during the month under review. Experts said April’s improved core sector growth is expected to increase the upcoming industrial production growth ■ ■ The cumulative growth rate of the 8 core sectors during AprilMarch, 2025-26 is 2.7 per cent versus same period of last year Rahul Agrawal, senior economist, ICRA, said as many as five of the eight sectors registered a contraction in output, suggesting that economic activity in some sectors was impacted by the Gulf crisis 40.2% is core sector’s share in index of industrial production 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 The India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 202529 provides a practical and futuristic framework for our partnership. Bilateral trade is rapidly moving towards the target of 20 billion euros Prime Minister Narendra Modi This visit of yours is an honour for us... It is not going to be the last one in this long book that you are writing together with resolution, doing our work in the best possible way Italian PM Giorgia Meloni Coalition era begins: Congress to join TVK govt today, others later E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Tamil Nadu will witness its first multiparty ministry with at least 21 ministers likely to be inducted into Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay’s cabinet at a swearing-in ceremony to be held at 10 am in Lok Bhavan on Thursday. While 19 MLAs from Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam and two from Congress are likely to be sworn in, one each from Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) may be inducted later, sources said. The cabinet expansion comes two weeks after Vijay and nine TVK ministers assumed office on May 10. The event may also mark the end of the DMK-led Secular Progressive Alliance in Tamil Nadu as most of the constituents (barring the Left and DMDK) will now be part of the new TVK government. The TVK MLAs likely to be inducted into the cabinet include J Mohamed Parvez (Aranthangi), D Sarathkumar (Tambaram), R Kumar (Velachery), C Vijayalak- shmi (Kumarapalayam) and B Rajkumar (Cuddalore), among others. Tamil Nadu can have a maximum of 35 ministers, including the CM. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal, in a post on X platform on Wednesday evening, said, “INC president Mallikarjun Kharge has approved the induction of Rajesh Kumar and Viswanathan into the TN cabinet. This is a historic occasion as the Congress joins the state cabinet after a gap of 59 years.”  P5 Banks can block financed phones for default: RBI Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a meeting with his Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni, in Rome, Italy on Wednesday | PTI India, Italy form special strategic partnership To enhance cooperation in defence, tech; trade target set at 20 billion euros by 2029 J AYA N T H J A C O B @ New Delhi india and Italy elevated their bilateral relationship to a ‘special strategic partnership’, deepening cooperation across trade, defence, technology con, nectivity and maritime security as Prime Minister Narendra Modi held extensive talks with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni in Rome. The announcement came during Modi’s visit to Italy on the final leg of his fivenation tour and reflects growing convergence between New Delhi and Rome amid shifting geopolitical alignments, supply-chain disruptions and intensifying competition over technology and critical resources. The two countries also unveiled an ambitious target of raising bilateral trade from 14.25 billion euros in 2025 to 20 billion euros by 2029. “We deliberated extensively on enhancing India-Italy ties,” Modi said in a joint press statement after the talks, and added that the India-Italy Joint Strategic Action Plan 2025-2029 would provide a “practical and futuristic roadmap” for cooperation across sectors. Modi was accorded a ceremonial military welcome on arrival, while Meloni hosted him for dinner and accompanied him on a visit to the Colosseum ahead of the formal talks. The two leaders have steadily built close political engagement in recent years, with Meloni saying she had met Modi seven times over the last few years and developed “a genuine friendship”. Several MoUs were signed covering agriculture, critical minerals, Ayurveda, science and technology maritime , transport and ports. A key agreement on facilitating the mobility of Indian nurses to Italy is expected to create new opportunities for skilled healthcare workers. Both sides welcomed the India-Italy Defence Industrial Roadmap aimed at promoting co-development and co-production in areas including helicopters, naval platforms, marine ar maments and electronic warfare. B E N N K O C H UV E E D A N @ Mumbai BANKS may be allowed to block phones and disable other electronic devices bought on loan, in case the borrower defaults, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in its second draft guidelines on loan recovery released , on Wednesday . However, RBI clarified that banks cannot restrict the mobile phones of defaulting borrowers to recover personal, car, or home loans. According to the proposed norms, banks can restrict de- vices bought on loan if the dues are pending for more than 90 days and recovery notices have been served on time. Also, such an action may be taken only if the loan contract “expressly and unambiguously permits” it, the draft proposal noted. Restricting the targeted Action must reflect in Loan agreement The draft guidelines categorically state that banks may resort to disabling electronic devices only if the loan agreement has such a clause. RBI will accept public feedback on the draft norms till May 31 and proposes to implement them from October 1, 2026 Min Pradhan reviews NEET re-exam infra E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi TO curb the spread of misinformation on competitive examinations through social media platforms, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Wednesday directed social media platforms to detect and block misinformation networks ahead of the NEET-UG re-exam. Investigations into the cancelled medical entrance exam on May 3 revealed that the question paper was sold by unscrupulous individuals who used such platforms to tempt candidates. For the second consecutive day Pradhan chaired a high-lev, el review meet in connection with the re-exam on June 21. On Wednesday, he interacted with central security and intelligence agencies as well as representatives of major social media platforms – Meta, Google & Telegram, a release said. “Serious concerns were raised over the growing spread of misinformation related to competitive examinations, through Telegram channels and anonymous online groups,” it said. Officials also noted “Many such links redirect users to automated bots and fake groups designed to amplify misinformation.” Social media platforms were asked to work with the Education Ministry NTA and law enforcement. , 10th pass % up but examinee count hits 3-yr low Pudukai emerges on top E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Tamil Nadu continued its steady rise in Class 10 board exam performance in 2026, recording a pass percentage of 94.31%, a marginal increase of 0.51 percentage points from 93.80% last year, according to the results released by the Directorate of Government Examinations on Wednesday . Of the 8,70,643 students from 12,467 schools who appeared for the exam this year, 8,21,105 cleared it. However, the number of students taking the examinations has steadily declined over the past three years, from 8.94 lakh in 2024 to 8.71 lakh in 2025 and 8.70 lakh in 2026. A total of 11,174 students were absent in 2026 compared to 15,652 in 2025. Continuing the long-standing trend, girls outperformed boys with a pass percentage of 96.47% against 92.15%, creating a gender gap of 4.32 percentage points. The gap, which stood at 5.95 points in 2024, narrowed to 4.14 in 2025, then widened Students of a Chennai school celebrating the Class 10 examination results on Wednesday. The state’s pass percentage marginally went up to 94.31% | P jawahar slightly this year. A total of 5,171 schools, including 1,931 gover nment schools, recorded a 100% pass rate, while 8,233 schools, including 3,463 gover nment schools, achieved pass percentages of 95% or above. Among districts, Pudukkottai emerged as the state topper with a pass percentage of 97.57%, followed closely by S iv a g a n g a ( 9 7 . 5 4 % ) a n d Thanjavur (97.41%). Pudukkottai, which recorded 91.84% in 2024 and 93.53% in 2025, showed significant improvement to secure the top position. In contrast, Ariyalur, which topped the state in 2024 with 97.31%, slipped sharply to the 37th position with 87.55%.  P5 tribal schools top among govt schools I P2 stellar show of Single moms’ daughters I P2 phones or devices could be done by deploying any technologybased mechanism. However, the bank cannot restrict essential functionalities such as access to internet, incoming calls, emergency SOS features, and receipt of emergency government notifications. Among districts, Pudukkottai emerged as the state topper with a pass percentage of 97.57%, followed closely by Sivaganga (97.54%) and Thanjavur (97.41%). Pudukkottai, which recorded 91.84% in 2024 and 93.53% in 2025, showed significant improvement. Chennai stayed below state average, though its performance improved from 90.73% in 2025 to 92.34% in 2026 Also, the restrictions must be listed within one hour of the borrower curing the default. If not, the lender will have to compensate the borrower at the rate of `250 per hour till the wrongful action is remedied The draft proposal also specifies conduct rules for recovery personnel. The guidelines say recovery calls and visits will be allowed only between 8 am and 7 pm, and agents will be barred from using intimidation, abusive language, public humiliation, social media shaming, or excessive calling. Suvendu on infiltration West Bengal CM Suvendu Adhikari initiated the transfer of 27 km land to BSF for border fencing and announced a “detect, delete and deport” system targeting infiltrators | P8