DHARMAPURI l friday l october 09, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Canadian poet Anne Carson awarded Literature Nobel Anne Carson won the Nobel Literature Prize on Thursday for her ‘bold and inventive’ works that fuse the classical and the modern Known for modern takes on Greek classics Her reaction: They are all crazy Carson brought a modern twist to ancient myths through her genreblending writings about love, desire and despair. In doing so, she has created new forms for contemporary literature, the Swedish Academy said. For example, her Autobiography of Red (1998) reimagines the myth of Hercules and the monster Geryon as a 20th-century coming-of-age story ■ ■ “Almost all her literary production has centred upon the intersection between the philologist’s obsession with words and the poet’s desire for new meaning,” the Academy said in a statement When asked about the Academy members’ decision to honour her, the 76-year-old told an Iceland broadcaster, “They’re all crazy” | P9 3rd canadian to win the honour after alice munro and saul bellow 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 INDIA bloc stages Taxman losing arrest power sit-in at Rajghat among GST Council reforms Threshold for prosecution now `10 crore; for issuing notice, it’s `10,000 UDAYA N K ISHORE & A N UP K UMAR VERMA @ New Delhi INDIA bloc leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, staged a peaceful protest on Thursday at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial at Rajghat against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged election malpractices. The leaders met briefly for lunch, hosted by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, at Connaught Place and then moved in buses towards the memorial, along with a group of supporters, where they paid floral tributes and sat in a peaceful protest. The INDIA bloc leaders said they were praying for “wisdom to the BJP government” as they alleged that the CEC in connivance with the Centre had “hijacked” the country through “a criminal conspiracy by indulging in vote theft”. The opposition leaders said they would continue their pro- P u s h p i ta D e y @ New Delhi Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi along with INDIA bloc leaders en route to Rajghat on Thursday | Parveen Negi test till CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns. They are likely to meet again on Friday in Parliament for a protest. Samajwadi Party Shiv Sena, UBT, and NCP-SCP also attended the lunch. Besides TMC’s Abhishek Banerjee and Menaka Guruswamy, CPI-M leader John Brittas and CPI leader P Sandosh were present. Later in the day, the INDIA bloc request an appointment of the President to make a representation on ‘vote theft’. Won’t stop till CEC quits, says Dipke at B’luru rally The GST Council on Thursday approved a series of process reforms aimed at easing compliance for businesses, including simplifying registration and refunds, scrapping arrest powers of GST officers and raising the monetary threshold for prosecution to `10 crore from `5 crore. The Council also approved a `10,000 threshold for issuing GST show-cause notices and allowed input tax credit (ITC) on several business expenses, including employee insurance. The decisions were taken at the 57th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and attended by finance ministers from several states. The meeting focused on process reforms to reduce compliance burdens and litigation risks for businesses. The Council also addressed a major pain point for businesses — denial of ITC because of noncompliance by vendors in the supply chain. It said genuine buyers should not lose credit because of supplier defaults. A standing committee of officers will examine the issue and submit its re- Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, Karnataka CM D K Shivakumar (R), Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and others at the GST Council meet in Delhi on Thursday | PTI Input tax credit issues “In the spirit of cooperative federalism, it was decided to have an officers’ committee to examine ITC issues. Why should an honest taxpayer face issues in claiming ITC, if the person/business pays the input tax?” Sitharaman said port within three months, after which the matter will be placed before the next Council meeting. The Council also widened the scope of ITC to several business expenses, including outdoor catering, health and life insurance, telecommunication towers and pipelines laid outside factory premises. ITC will also be allowed To safeguard the career prospects of hundreds of final-year engineering students of its four constituent colleges in Chennai, Anna University has decided to organise an unprecedented, one-time special exam in late October to give them the opportunity to clear their pending arrears and reclaim their placement eligibility . The special examination is aimed at ensuring that students who have otherwise met the eligibility criteria are not left out of campus placements solely because of arrears. The four campus colleges of Anna University — ACTECH (Alagappa College of Technology), CEG (College of Engineering, Guindy), MIT (Madras Institute of Technology) and SAP (School of Architecture and Planning) — recorded an average placement rate of around 72% for the 2025-26 season that extends from JuneSeptember 2026. ACTECH recorded the lowest placement Chennai: Though the TN chief secretary had issued a directive making submission of asset and liability details a mandatory condition for being considered for promotion, only 3.12% of TN govt staff have filed it as of Oct 8. The deadline is Oct 31 | P4 Give TN 3,000 cusecs of water: CWMA to K’taka Chennai: The Cauvery Water Management Authority has upheld the recommendation of CWRC and directed Karnataka govt to release 3,000 cusecs of water a day to TN at Biligundulu for 15 days from October 9 | P5 The Centre is set to cap trade margins on key cancer drugs at 30% over cost to distributors in 10 days after the SC questioned the gap between Price to Retailer & MRP of some cancer medicines | P7 E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Bengaluru down the hole A car fell into a massive sinkhole after a section of the road caved in near the median on Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR) close to the Tidel Park, Chennai, on Thursday. The two occupants of the car escaped unhurt | P Ravikumar rate of 59%. “This is just a one-time arrangement. We are not going to conduct such exams every year,” said registrar V Kumaresan. He further highlighted that they do not want to create an impression among students that they will be given this kind of opportunity every year to clear arrears. University officials said the initiative was conceptualised after reviewing the placement performance of the campus E x p r e ss R e a d Only 3% TN govt staff disclose asset details of 110 cancer drugs soon US suspends IT giants from green card process AU spl exam to help students with arrears land jobs B i n i ta J a i s w a l @ Chennai 70% drop in prices TCs, Infosys, Cognizant hit E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Bengaluru cjp founder Abhijeet Dipke on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Election Commission of India of “murdering democracy” and “vote theft”, at a massive protest in Bengaluru. Taking part in a ‘People’s Tribunal’ organised by civil society groups and CJP at Freedom Park against the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, Dipke said the groups would continue their agitation until CEC Gyanesh Kumar resigns. The agitators demanded that SIR exercise be scrapped and preSIR electoral rolls be restored. Thousands of protesters had gathered at the venue. Voters from Bengaluru and other parts of Karnataka shared their experiences of alleged exclusion from the electoral rolls. Video testimonials from people claiming to have been affected by the SIR process were also played. Dipke alleged voter deletions under SIR were aimed at disenfranchising those opposed to the BJP “We will hit the streets, re. claim democracy and continue the agitation till the CEC resigns,” he added. He alleged that the Election Commission of India had deleted votes at the behest of the Central government. YouTuber Dhruv Rathee, present at the site, alleged “zero transparency and zero accountability” in the SIR exercise, while actoractivist Prakash Raj demanded that SIR be scrapped, claiming it was a frontal attack on the rights and dignity of citizens. on free samples and goods destroyed or written off after expiry where such destruction is required by law. It also brought input services within the scope of refunds under the inverted duty structure, where businesses are left with accumulated credit because their inputs are taxed at a higher rate than their output. The benefit will be available for credit availed on or after November 1. The Council also scrapped the power of GST officers to arrest taxpayers. To curb litigation, it proposed that no show-cause notice be issued where the amount involved is up to `10,000. A common standard will govern the issuance and service of notices in cases involving alleged fraud. colleges and identifying arrears as a major impediment for students seeking employment through campus recruitment. According to sources, worried over ACTECH’s poor performance, the varsity undertook a survey through Google form to identify the root cause of the problem. “The survey revealed that almost 90% of the students wanted to participate in placements, but 40% of them have arrears in at least one subject that made them ineligible,” said a faculty member.  P5 AHEAD of Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s expected visit to India this month, the US government has suspended several Indian IT giants, including TCS and Infosys, from the Permanent Labour Certification (PERM) programme, a key step in the employmentbased green card process, amid allegations of abuse and fraud in US visa programmes. US Vice-President J D Vance announced the action on Thursday. Labour Secretary Keith Sonderling said Cognizant, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Wipro, HCL and Capgemini were among the companies affected. Microsoft and Adobe were also suspended, with the Labour Department citing multiple federal investigations. Vance accused the companies of using H-1B workers to replace American employees and said the programme had become “rife with fraud”. He alleged that Microsoft had laid off about 6,000 American workers while receiving thousands of H-1B approvals and filing PERM applications. The PERM programme is administered by the US Department of Labour. It generally requires an employer sponsoring a foreign worker for permanent residence to show that there are not enough qualified US workers available for the job and that employing the foreign worker will not adversely affect wages and working conditions. PERM is one of the main stages before an employer can proceed with an employment-based green card application. Indian technology firms are particularly affected because Indians account for a large share of H-1B workers. Industry responds Indian IT trade association NASSCOM downplayed the action, saying Indian firms had built a strong US workforce. But immigration and skilled talent mobility are distinct issues and must not be viewed via the same lens, it said The message to Microsoft is that you’ve got to hire American workers JD Vance, US Vice-President Faeces found in govt school water tank in TN, case filed E x p r e s s N e w s S e r v i c e @ Dindigul A case was booked against unidentified persons on Thursday for endangering lives after human faeces were found dumped inside a water tank used by students at a government school near Palani in Dindigul district. According to sources, staff and teachers noticed the excreta in the tank after the school was reopened on Monday following a two-week quarterly exam holiday The tank was cleaned im. mediately but the issue was not escalated to the school department officials. The incident, which occurred at Ullamanur Gover nment School in Keeranur, came to public attention on Wednesday after students’ parents, who got wind of the incident, confronted the school authorities. As many as 150 children study in the school, and the water from the tank is believed to be used for drinking and other purposes. According to sources, a few school staff attempted to open the water tap of the tank located on the ground floor of the facility on Monday morning. However, as no water was flowing from the tap, they opened the lid of the tank and were shocked to find the faeces. On Wednesday, parents confronted the teachers and the school headmaster for allegedly attempting to conceal the matter. Subsequently Keeranur , p o l i c e we re a l e r t e d a n d Dindigul superintendent of police S Jeyakumar arrived at the spot and pacified the parents on Wednesday night. Meanwhile, the school education department has launched an inquiry into the incident. Dindigul chief education officer K Selvakumar told TNIE that the district education officer has ordered a departmental inquiry , and appropriate action will be taken based on the inquiry report. “We are puzzled as to why the headmaster didn’t inform the department,” he said.  P5 Iconic dialogue delivery Nana Patekar 1 Jan 1951 — 8 Oct 2026 Man of contradictions and fiery, mesmerising monologues N a m r ata J o s h i N ana Patekar was a star sans glamour. If one phrase could capture him succinctly it’d be “son of , the soil”. It didn’t just reflect in his favourite attire of the kurta and the gamcha but also in his rootedness in his Marathi identity and culture, his simple one BHK (bedroom-hallkitchen) life in Mumbai, and his love for farming and all things rural, towards which he fo- cused most of his philanthropic efforts through the Naam Foundation that he jointly set up in 2015 along with actor Makarand Anaspure. His rough-around-the-edges, mercurial, far-from-glitzy personality found an answering reflection in the volatile, capricious, crusty characters he came to be identified with on screen; most of them, like him, driven by fierceness, fervour, outspokenness, and a righteous rage. He first caught the audience’s eye with the grounded way he captured the angst of Intensity, individuality Nana Patekar passed away at his Goa residence on Thursday after suffering a heart attack. He was 75. “Few actors possessed the intensity, individuality and unmistakable presence that Shri Nana Patekar Ji had,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on X an unemployed wastrel in N Chandra’s Ankush (1986). His popularity among the masses peaked in the zealous patriotism of films Tirangaa (1993) and Krantiveer (1994). His distinctive voice and unmistakable dialogue delivery added to the appeal. In that aspect, he was a true inheritor of the legacy of legendary Hindi film star Raaj Kumar, also known for his declamatory style. Nana’s iconic monologues were certainly not about mincing words; in fact, they whipped up the crowd and were repeated with the same gusto by his fans. Like the famous line on communal harmony in Krantiveer, which underscores that one can’t distinguish between the blood of a Hindu and a Muslim, and if the creator has treated them equally, humans have no right to drive wedges between the two: “Yeh Musalman ka khoon, yeh Hindu ka khoon. Bata ismein Musalman ka kaunsa hai, Hindu ka kaunsa? Banane wale ne ismein fark nahi kiya, tu kaun hota hai fark karne wala?” Or the sharp barb, in the same film, on how the politicians continue to enjoy power while common people perish: “Ek ek karke sab marenge! Aur yeh neta log kursi par baithkar maza lenge!” Continued on: P8