KOZHIKODE l TUESDAY l SEPTEMBER 08, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION INDIA TEST-FIRES HYPERSONIC TECH DEMONSTRATOR VEHICLE India on Monday joined a select group of countries that can develop the next-generation hypersonic cruise missiles WILL HELP IN FUTURISTIC SPACE ASSETS SCRAMJET ENGINE VS RAMJET ENGINE The indigenously developed HSTDV, developed by the Defence Research and Development Organisation, will help India develop futuristic space assets like long-range missile systems, officials said. The HSTDV is capable of powering missiles to attain a speed of around Mach 6 or six times the speed of sound. Only the US, Russia and China have such a capability ■ The HSTDV operates on a scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) engine, against the ramjet engine used on most missiles ■ A scramjet is a variant of a ramjet airbreathing jet engine in which combustion takes place in supersonic airflow. Scramjet powered vehicles can operate at speeds up to Mach 15 20 seconds TIME TAKEN BY THE HSTDV TO REACH AN ALTITUDE OF 32.5 KM 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 26 sectors picked for loan recast RBI accepts recommendations of Kamath panel that suggests formula for lenders EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi A month after it announced a loan restructuring plan to help relieve Covid stress on industry, Reserve Bank of India on Monday released the K V Kamath panel’s report suggesting financial parameters for 26 pandemic-hit sectors. RBI said it has broadly accepted the panel’s suggestions. According to the report, lenders must mandatorily consider total outstanding liabilities/ adjusted tangible net worth, total debt/Ebitda, current ratio, debt service coverage ratio, and average debt service coverage ratio while finalising loan resolution plans. Only those companies whose loans accounts are in default for not more than 30 days as on March 1, 2020 will be eligible for one-time restructuring. RBI said the panel will vet resolution plans for all accounts where the exposure is more than `1,500 crore. For sectors where ratios have not been specified, lenders can make their own assessment. THE CHOSEN ONES Power; construction; iron and steel manufacturing; roads; real estate; wholesale trading; textiles; chemicals; consumer durables/FMCG; non-ferrous metals; pharma manufacturing; logistics; gems and jewellery; cement; hotels, restaurants, tourism; mining; plastic products manufacturing; auto manufacturing; auto components; auto dealership; aviation; sugar; port and port services; shipping; building materials; and corporate retail outlets The central bank said the resolution framework needs to be invoked by December 31 this year. Plus, the plan must be implemented within 180 days from the date of invocation. RBI had on August 7 constituted the panel led by veteran banker Kamath to suggest financial parameters to be factored in while offering resolut i o n fo r C ov i d 1 9 - re l at e d economic stress. While banks are yet to ascertain the amount that will be restructured, India Ratings pegs the restructuring quantum from the corporate sector in FY21 at `3.3-6.3 lakh crore.  DETAILED COVERAGE: P10 ‘Optics of fiscal deficit can hurt Centre-state ties’ Scan the QR code or watch the full YouTube video on bit.ly/2ZfdTQy EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE MONEY often is at the root of all ugly family squabbles. The lack of it is now threatening to fracture the giant, but fragile, Indian GST family The Centre, . which missed payments, proposed two options, both involving state borrowals, causing cracks in the One Nation, One Tax reform. But there is across the board agreement that the Centre must provide for the shortfall, else it could endanger the spirit of Centre-state cooperation, as underscored in TNIE’s ex- T M Thomas Isaac T Harish Rao Basavaraj Bommai clusive group-chat with three state finance ministers. Dr T M Thomas Isaac, Minister of Finance, Kerala was emphatic that states cannot sacrifice GST compensation. According to him, the Centre must borrow, but if it’s too afraid of the ‘optics of fiscal deficit going up’, the least it should do is to empower the GST Council to borrow, while it stands guarantee. Concurring with Isaac, T Harish Rao, Minister of Finance, Telangana put forth the elementary logic of lower borrowing costs for the Centre and access to overseas capital. “We were told, if Centre bor- Incredible escape: 6 fishers swam 30 km, stayed afloat for 12 hours in raging sea M A N O J V I S W A N AT H A N @ Kochi THE sea was turbulent. All they had was a few wooden planks and life jackets. Death was staring at them. It was a sheer test of mettle for the six fishermen from Po n n a n i wh o we r e stranded at midsea when their boat sunk into the swirling depths of the ocean around 3.30 am on Monday . Clinging to the wooden planks, they swam for 12 hours covering nearly 30km before they were spotted by the fishermen from Ponnani who had launched a search operation in eight boats. It was an epic tale of survival against odds. The fishermen — Nazar, 40, Shefeer, 35, Munavir, 36, Kunjanbava 53, Subair, 40, and Swapnasaro Senapat, 52, a native of Odisha — were taken to Ponnani Gover nment Hospital, where they were given first aid after which they returned home. The six fishermen had set off from Ponnani ● More on P4 on Friday  . MID-SEA TROUBLE Five fishermen from 1 Kanyakumari who went missing in sea after their boat was destroyed in heavy rain and wind on September 4, returned to safety at Beypore on Monday morning. Three fishermen, who ventured into the sea from Tanur and Ponnani, go missing after their boats capsized on Sunday 2 Coastal police on Monday rescued two fishermen who were stranded in the sea after strong waves damaged their boat off Azhikkode coast. P4 3 For transcript on TNIE site, go to bit.ly/3i89w0Z rows economy will go down, but if states borrow it won’t. How can it be?” he wondered. On the other side of the spectrum, Basavaraj Bommai, Minister of Finance (Additional Charge), Karnataka, said such confrontationist attitudes won’t offer solutions and urged states to be prudent. EXPRESS READ Chanda Kochhar’s husband Deepak held The Enforcement Drectorate has arrested Deepak Kochhar, the husband of ICICI Bank ex-CEO Chanda Kochhar, in connection with a money laundering case.  P10 Kerala tops nation’s literacy chart T’Puram: Kerala retains its place as the most literate state in the country with 96.2% literacy, according to a report released by National Statistical Office.  P4 Health inspector held for rape of quarantined woman EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ T’Puram A day after a Covid-19 patient was raped by an ambulance driver while en route to hospital in Aranmula, another incident of sexual assault has come to light. In the latest one, a 46-year-old woman at Bharathannoor here was raped allegedly by a Junior Health Inspector on September 3. The accused Pradeep Kumar, posted at the primary health centre at Kulathupu- zha, has since been arrested by Pangode police. The woman, a native of Kulathupuzha, had been in home quarantine on her return from Malappuram where she was employed. According to the FIR, the accused had tied the woman to a cot — she was asked to visit his home for collecting the Covid negative certificate — before repeatedly raping her. The accused has been suspended from service on the orders of the health minister.  ● More on P5