VILLUPURAM  SATURDAY  OCTOBER 24, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION TRUMP RAISES A STINK ABOUT INDIA’S ‘FILTHY’ AIR QUALITY “Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India. The air is filthy,” US Prez Donald Trump said referring to air pollution ‘US WAS TREATED UNFAIRLY IN CLIMATE DEAL’ Trump said the US pulled out of the 2015 Paris climate deal because it was treated unfairly despite its commitment to spend trillions of dollars, while countries like India got way with poor performance in tackling global warming. According to the Global Carbon Projection, India is the fourth highest emitter of carbon dioxide, while the US is the second largest | P7, 9 729 CIVILITY RETURNS TO PRESIDENTIAL DEBATE ■ The top four carbon dioxide emitters in the world are China (27%), the US (15)), the European Union (10%) and India (7%) ■ Unlike the first one, the second and final debate between Trump and Joe Biden on Thursday night was more civilised as the two leaders spoke about substantive issues without interruption AIR QUALITY INDEX IN DELHI’S ANAND VIHAR SLIPPED TO ‘HAZARDOUS’ CATEGORY FRIDAY 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 Northeast monsoon to set in over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry on Oct 28 Deputy Director General of Meteorology, told reporters that northeasterly winds that help the onset of northeast monsoon are expected around October 26-27. Meanwhile, the depression in the Bay of Bengal crossed West Bengal and Bangladesh EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai THE much-awaited northeast monsoon is likely to arrive in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry around October 28, the Regional Meteorological Centre said on Friday. S Balachandran, coasts over Sundarbans on Friday, he said. The southwest monsoon, he said, has been active over Karnataka. However, it is expected to withdraw from all parts of the country by October 27, clearing the path for retreating northeast monsoon to set in over the south. Balachandran said the northeast monsoon is expected to bring near normal rains over north Tamil Nadu and below normal rains in the southern parts. For the past couple of days, North Tamil Nadu, including Chennai, has been receiving intense pre-monsoon showers. During the past 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Friday , Pallipattu in Tiruvallur district received the highest rainfall of 17 cm. Weather stations in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram recorded heavy rain. Chennai had received 70 mm of rain. The department said light EPS inaugurates `10k-crore worth industrial projects EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Chennai CHIEF Minister Edapaddi K Palaniswami on Friday laid the foundation for nine new industrial projects coming up on an investment of `10,062 crore, generating 8,666 jobs. He commissioned commercial production in seven industrial units established on an investment of `1,298.20 crore, which will provide jobs for 7,879 persons. The new industries are coming up in Kancheepuram, T i r u v a l l u r, D i n d i g u l , Thoothukudi, Villupuram, Tirupur, Cuddalore, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, and Coimbatore districts. Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for one of the nine projects was signed during the Chief Minister’s visit to UAE last year. Pacts for two others projects were signed during the Global Investors Meet (GIM) held last year. Besides, of the seven industrial units which com- menced commercial production on Friday, MoUs for six were signed during the GIM 2019. According to an official release, during the GIM 2019, a total of 304 MoUs were signed for an investment of `3,00,501 crore, which would provide jobs to 10.50 lakh persons. As on Friday 27.96 per cent of the , projects (85) for which MoUs were signed in GIM 2019 has started production and 187 projects are under various stages of implementation. Out of the 304 projects, 272 are in various stages of implementation. The Chief Minister also released a short film to mark the completion of 28 years of establishment of Guidance Tamil Nadu. Industries Minister MC Sampath and Tamil Nadu Newsprint and Papers Limited (TNPL) Managing Director Shiva Shanmugam Raja handed over a cheque for `14.66 crore as dividend to the State P4 government. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurating a `5,512-crore solar module/ cell project at Oragadam, through video conference from the Secretariat on Friday COVID IMPACT India’s GDP recovery years away, says RBI dy guv Patra EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Bihar CM Nitish Kumar at Sasaram, Bihar; (Right) Cong leader Rahul Gandhi with RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav at Nawada on Friday | PTI Bihar battleground heats up with back-to-back rallies by Modi and Rahul; prime minister criticises RJD, seeks repeat mandate for Nitish for restoring the rule of law in the state Reject those who nurtured goons, says Modi, raps obstructionist Oppn R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ Patna PRIME Minister Narendra Modi on Friday tore into the Opposition Grand Alliance spearheaded by the RJD in a series of election rallies, urging voters to reject those “who fed the goons and developed their own family”. He also took a swipe at the Congress for its belligerence on the new farm reform laws. “For them, the interest of middlemen is above the farmers’ welfare. They side with those who conspire against the country the PM said, adding ,” the NDA government will never go back on its decision to withdraw special powers to J&K under Article 370. “Bihar deserves development but who will ensure it — he who developed his own family or he who forgot his own family in the service of the people? Bihar deserves better law and order, but who will ensure it — he who fed the goons or he who made the law to chase down the goons and criminals?” Modi asked in his trademark style, targeting the 15-year RJD rule while defending ally Nitish Kumar of the JD(U). He also paid rich tributes to LJP leader Ram Vilas Paswan who passed away recently, but avoided criticising his party, which recently broke away from the NDA in the state. Turning to the Opposition, the PM said it was “opposed to development and national interest”. Alluding to the Congress for its strident stand against the new farm laws, Modi said whenever middlemen are targeted for providing direct benefits to farmers, some people in the opposition start fanning propaganda on the MSP (Minimum Support Price) and other national issues. “When Rafale fighter jets were purchased, they spoke the language of middlemen and brokers. Whenever intermediaries and brokers get hit, these people get furious.” Accusing the former UPA government of being vindictive against Nitish Kumar, he said that despite persistent demands for assistance by the CM, the then government had ignored the state. “When the NDA government was formed, Bihar under Nitish Kumar started getting its due,” he said, praising Nitish for various development works. He also saluted the Galwan martyrs of the Bihar Regiment. Madurai cracker unit explosion kills 6 E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Madurai AN explosion at a cracker unit in Sengulam village bordering Virudhunagar district killed six persons and injured two more on Friday according to sources. The , deceased have been identified as M Veluthai (45) of S Paraipatti, P Lakshmi (40) of Kilaarpatti, K Ayyammal (65) of Kadaneeri, P Suriliammal (50) of Govindhanallur, S Kaleeshwari (35) of Athipatti in Peraiyur, and P Annalakshmi (45) of Kadaneri. The bodies were shifted to the Government Rajaji Hospital (GRH) for postmortem examination. The injured persons are: R Sundaramoorthy (39) of Amathur, and P Akkini (45) of Kadaneri. They were taken to the GRH from the government Virudhunagar hospital. According to sources, the cracker unit is owned by A Shan- mugaraj (43) of Erichanatham, but has been leased to one Alagarswamy of Amathur. WHILE several Irula youth have been complaining about alleged denial of community certificates, C Jayaraj (21) has shown that with grit and patience, nothing is impossible. After struggling for almost two years, Jayaraj has managed to secure an ST certificate, to pursue a Masters degree. Jayaraj is the son of a dailywage labourer, hailing from a re- E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ Patna KICKING off his party’s poll campaign in Bihar on Friday, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi tried to pin down Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the emotive issues of migrants and the Chinese ingress into Ladakh, since many soldiers hailing from the state had laid down their lives in the Galwan valley violence in June. “You (migrants) covered hundreds of kilometers on foot hungry and thirsty, but Modi did not arrange transport. He left you to your fate,” Rahul said in back-to-back rallies with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav in Nawada and Bhagalpur districts. “A government for such migrants and labourers must be installed.” Rahul also accused Modi of insulting the Army by denying that the PLA had infiltrated into eastern Ladakh. “Our 20 soldiers were martyred and they took our 1,200 sq km area. When China intruded, why did our PM insult Indian Army’s heroes by lying that no one had come inside India?” Rahul questioned. “Merely bowing one’s head before martyred jawans of the Bihar Regiment would not do. When you will get the land occupied by the PLA vacated,” he asked. In his address, an optimestic Tejashwi said: “On November 9, Lalu ji will be released from jail. On November 10, Nitish Kumar’s farewell is fixed.” CM grants solatium E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi Expressing deep grief over the death of the workers, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced a solatium of ` two lakh each to the bereaved families. Those who have suffered serious injuries would be given P4 ` one lakh each. SOCIAL media giant Facebook’s representatives were on Friday questioned for two hours, while e-commerce major Amazon chose not to appear before a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) that is looking into the Personal Data Protection Bill, 2019 saying its ‘subject matter experts’ were all abroad. Facebook’s representatives were asked about portability of data, advertisement revenue generated from India and the corporate tax the company pays in India, while Amazon received a stern warning from the joint parliamentary committee for skipping the meeting. Amazon said it has utmost respect for the JPC and expressed regret that its executives were unable to travel to India due to the coronavirus pandemic. Sources privy to the meeting said the JPC members were unanimous in considering action against Amazon. Some parliamentarians said the Union government should intervene in the matter while others suggested to move a privilege motion against Amazon. The panel’s chairperson Meenakshi Lekhi said JPC members have demanded strict action against the US firm because if one company had refused before the parliamentary committee and it was possible that in future more companies and individuals too could just skip meetings or refuse to appear before a parliamentary committee. Sources said members of the JPC were also dissatisfied with Facebook’s “vague” replies about the advertisement revenue, its alleged electoral bias and the corporate tax being paid in the country. The social media platform was asked to give a more specific detailed written reply within two weeks. Fire personnel putting down the blaze at the cracker unit in Sengulam on Friday Irula youth wins 2-year battle for higher education mote Irula village called Samy Nagar in the outskirts of Cuddalore. He is the only person in his village to have completed graduation, and aspires to study further. However, a hurdle came in the way of his dreams — he held both an SC and an ST certificate. Jayaraj obtained the SC certificate while applying to Periyar Arts College in 2016. In December 2018, the Cuddalore sub-collec- Rahul bid to pin PM down on migrants, China ingress CORONAVIRUS’ impact on the economy is unlike any other and it could take years to regain the lost output, RBI Deputy Governor Michael Patra has warned. “If the projections hold, the level of GDP would have fallen approximately 6% below its pre-Covid level by the end of 2020-21 and it may take years to regain this lost output,” Batra said at the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting earlier this month, whose minutes were released on Friday . “There is also an anecdotal sense that the economy’s potential output has fallen, and the post-Covid growth trajectory will look very different from what has been recorded so far,” Patra added. Advocating structural reforms, the deputy governor pointed out that both monetary and fiscal policy in India face tightening constraints. “For fiscal policy, it is the collapse of tax revenue — by 32% in the first quarter; consequently, the Centre’s revenue deficit during April-August is 121.9% of budget estimates. For monetary policy, it is the persistence of headline inflation above 6% for the third month in succession. Structural reforms to unlock growth impulses are needed, but may lack social traction in an atmosphere of depressed growth and employment, and high uncertainty he noted. ,” India’s economy is estimated to have contracted 23.9% in the April- June quarter while RBI projections peg the full-year contraction at 9.5%. AMAZON SKIPS JPC MEETING, DRAWS MEMBERS’ WRATH HE FINALLY SEES LIGHT N I R U PA S A M PAT H @ Cuddalore thunderstorms will continue in a few places over north Tamil Nadu for the next two days. The sky will be cloudy in Chennai and light showers are likely. The maximum and minimum temperatures will be around 32 degrees Celsius and 26 degrees respectively . tor conducted investigations, after which it was decided that Jayaraj was eligible for an ST certificate. While the ST certificate was granted by the officials, they did not bother to cancel his SC certificate. His ordeal began then. He visited multiple government offices — the RDO, VAO, and Tahsildar — and met several officials, but in vain. “They kept sending me back, ask- ing me to return on another day. Some officials said they had no idea how to sort out my issue,” says Jayaraj. In February 2019, he approached his college authorities to get his community details changed in the transfer certificate. But, it was not granted. Finally on , October 12, the RDO’s office got his SC certificate cancelled. Soon after, he applied and got his TC from his UG college, denoting his community as ST. FACEBOOK FACES TOUGH QUESTIONS JPC members grilled Facebook representatives, including Facebook’s policy head Ankhi Das, about data protection and data portability. Parliamentarians said while there were millions of users of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp in India, the personal data of users was being stored outside the country