Airlines can now operate at 70% of pre-Covid capacity Union Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday that the Centre has raised the cap on the number of domestic flights Indian airlines can operate to 70 per cent of their pre-Covid levels. Currently, the limit is 60 per cent TIRUNELVELI l thursday l november 12, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION 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 Poll outcome shows development will be the only basis for politics in the 21st century, says PM; agrees women are BJP’s silent voters, adding they turned out in large numbers; puts West Bengal govt on notice over political killings Approval of Covid policy, says Modi MA N I SH A N A N D @ New Delhi Stating that Bihar will march on the development path under the leadership of Nitish Kumar, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said the NDA’s electoral victory across the country was an endorsement of the measures taken by the government to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic. While the world paused in the face of the pandemic, India continued to take “historic decisions” to reform agriculture, education, land titles and others, Modi said. A day after the Bihar verdict, the BJP headquarters turned saffron, with party workers celebrating the victory. BJP chief J P Nadda set the tone of the celebrations, saying the verdict is an endorsement of the Covid-19 management under the PM’s leadership. “The battle that India waged against the Covid-19 pandemic has no parallel, as the principal priority has been to save the lives of the people. It was also ensured that while free ration was made available to the people, the immediate requirement of employment was also addressed,” Modi said. He was referring to the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Package in which 5 kg ration and `50,000 crore worth of works of various ministries were exe- Festive Demand TN resumes bus services to Karnataka EXP R ESS N EWS SE R V I CE @ Chennai AFTER a hiatus of seven months, the State on Wednesday resumed bus services to Karnataka ahead of the festive weekend. Commuters can now travel between the two States by buses without e-registration, between November 11 and 16, said an order issued by the government. “Government buses of both S t at e s re c o m m e n c e d o n Wednesday evening. The services are being operated to facilitate transportation of people keeping in view the Deepavali demand,” said K Elangovan, Managing Director of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC). Private omni bus operators were also given the go ahead to resume their services. Since the resumption of intra-state bus services a few months ago, buses bound for Bengaluru were stopped at the State border. Commuters had to change buses there, to reach their destination. Recently Tamil Nadu had al, lowed bus services to Puducherry as well. However, officials said that operations to other neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala will remain suspended until further orders. Meanwhile, a senior government official said that e-registration is required for those who travel by flight and private vehicles. cuted in a few states that were at the receiving end of the migrant exodus, including Bihar. Reflecting on the poll outcome, Modi said the verdict is another indication of the “new mood” in the country, adding, “people reward those who work for development with honesty and in the interests of the nation.” He also lavished praise on Nadda for leading the BJP to victory in the polls. Referring to the BJP’s silent voter base, the prime minister said women trust the party because of their priorities for “safety and respect”. “Women are the biggest silent voters. They have shown their might in BIHAR 2020 Bihar, with a large turnout,” he added. Without naming the Congress, Modi came down heavily against dynasties, saying one large national party’s leadership has just one family. “The future is full of possibilities, and the women and the youth see hope in the BJP. The poor and the downtrodden see their representations in the BJP he said. ,” In a signal to West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, the prime minister flagged the BJP’s allegations of the political killings in the state, saying that “the game of deaths should never be part of democracy”. After Bihar, the BJP will go full steam in Bengal for the next year’s Assembly polls. Who are these silent voters? They are our mothers and sisters for whom the party is working relentlessly - Narendra Modi, Prime Minister Nitish thanks modi for bihar victory Patna: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday “saluted” people for giving majority to the NDA in Bihar and thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support. “I salute people for the majority they have given to the NDA. I thank Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his support,” Kumar tweeted in his first reaction after the ruling coalition won majority in Bihar TMC unease as owaisi to contest wb polls Prime Minister Narendra Modi flashes the victory sign at the BJP headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday. BJP National President JP Nadda is also seen | Parveen Negi Axe Chirag from central NDA: JD(U) R a j e s h K u m a r T h a k u r @ Patna A day after winning a fresh mandate to rule Bihar, NDA leaders on Wednesday started putting their heads together to form the new government led by Nitish Kumar, though his JD(U) will be the junior partner with 43 seats as against the BJP’s 74. While the BJP is understandably keen on government formation, the JD(U) doesn’t quite share the enthusiasm, amid indications the new ministry could be sworn in only after Diwali (Nov 14) or even after the Chhath festival (Nov 19-20). 3 of family shot dead in Chennai EXP R ESS N EWS SE R V I CE @ Chennai IN a shocking incident, three of a family were shot dead by an unknown assailant at Sowcarpet in Chennai on Wednesday. The deceased were identified as Dileep Thalil Chand (74), his wife Pushpa Bai (70), and their son, Sheetal (40). According to the police, the couple’s daughter tried reaching them on phone and grew suspicious as there was no answer. She sent her husband to check on them at their house, on the first floor of a threestorey apartment on Vinayaga Maestri Street. “Upon his arrival at 7.30 pm, he found the trio lying dead in a pool of blood,” said the police. “He immediately alerted his wife and the po- Kolkata: With Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ulMuslimeen announcing its decision to contest the 2021 Assembly polls in West Bengal, the ruling TMC in the state on Wednesday called it a “communal force which acts as the B team of BJP”. Buoyed by the Bihar results, Owaisi had on Tuesday said AIMIM would contest in Bengal and UP lice, who rushed to the spot.” Chand had a bullet wound on his chin, while Pushpa and Sheetal had injuries on their foreheads. Sheetal’s wife and children are in Pune. Inquiries have revealed that the couple, separated for a while, has a divorce case pending in the court. The police suspect her brother to be behind the murder. Relatives of the deceased allegedly told police that his wife’s family demanded a huge sum as alimony and there were frequent quarrels between them. However, since other residents did not hear any sound of gunshots, the police are also probing other motives behind the murder. According to the police, Chand runs a finance company, lending money for people. For, the JD(U) first wants the BJP to send a clear no-nonsense message by ejecting the Chirag Paswan-led Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) from the central NDA before government formation, it is reliably learnt. It was the LJP that deliberately damaged the JD(U)’s chances across the state and hurt the BJP to a lesser extent in some seats, indirectly benefiting the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD). The LJP had dropped out of the state NDA barely weeks before polling. For the record though, JD(U)’s senior spokesperson Dr Ajay Alok denied setting terms on purging the central NDA of the LJP. He, however, said the new government is likely to be formed after Diwali. As for who will lead the new government, there was no ambiguity. Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad and Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi said the NDA will stick to its pre-poll announcement of Nitish Kumar staying as chief minister. The BJP expects a bigger share of power with proportional representation in the new ministry “A formal discus. sion over this between JD(U) and BJP leaders has already been held,” a BJP leader said. `1.46 lakh cr production linked incentive scheme for 10 crucial sectors Express News Service @ New Delhi th e U n i o n C ab i n e t o n Wednesday approved a Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme worth `1.46 lakh crore for 10 sectors to boost domestic manufacturing, create jobs and reduce dependence on imports. The scheme will be offered to white goods manufacturing, pharma, auto, telecom, textile, food products, solar photovoltic and cell battery among others, with a , total outlay of `1,45,980 crore spread over five years. Of the total outlay the larg, est pie — `57,042 crore — goes to auto and auto components, followed by advance chemistry cell (ACC) battery (`18,100 crore), drug makers (15,000 crore), telecom products (`12,195 crore), food products `(10,900 crore) and textile manufacturers (10,683 crore). Announcing the scheme, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it will help attract more investments into these sectors, promote job creation and will help in building a self-reliant India. Wednesday’s announcement is in continuation of the gover nment’s earlier PLI scheme for electronics and for active pharma ingredients with an outlay of `50,000 crore spread over five years, which takes the total outlay for such incentives to nearly `2 lakh China Suggests systematic de-escalation on lac India is perusing China’s proposal given during the 8th Corps Commanders’ meeting, sources said | P10 ‘Stalin has denigrated farmers, and knows nothing about agriculture’ Express News Service @ Thoothukudi Taking a dig at MK Stalin, Chief Minister Edapadi K Palaniswami questioned the DMK president’s knowledge in agriculture. He also accused the opposition leader of surviving without an occupation. In reply to Stalin’s barb ‘fake farmer’ on him, Palaniswami said that unlike Stalin, he has been a farmer since childhood. “I feel, Stalin had insulted the farmers. The State received awards in water management only by facilitating agriculture,” he said, adding that the chief minister should be a farmer to manage the waterbodies effectively . “What does he (Stalin) know about farmers? How do you differentiate a fake from a genuine farmer?” he asked and added that he did not need Stalin’s certificate to prove to Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami handing over job order to Mareeshwari, a woman with disability, in Thoothukudi on Wednesday. that he is a farmer. After chairing a Covid review meeting here, Palaniswami said that compared to other states, the State government has effectively controlled the spread of the virus. “Over 11,343 medical camps were conducted in Thoothukudi district, and as many as 6,10,036 persons were tested for Coronavirus infection. Tremendous efforts put in by the medical department has helped bring down the positive cases,” P2 he said.  Regulation Centre brings online news portals under I&B ministry’s ambit R it w ik a Mitr a @ New Delhi The Central government has brought online news portals and over-the-top (OTT) platforms such as Netflix under the ambit of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB). According to a notification issued by the Cabinet Secretariat late on Tuesday night and signed by President Ram Nath Kovind, films and audio-visual programmes made available by online content providers, as well as news and current af- fairs on online platforms would come under the MIB’s purview. The order also covers news on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook. The decision has evoked sharp reactions from the digital media industry “This move . is a step towards censorship of online news platforms. The government is doing this because some online news portals criticise government policies,” said Poonam Agarwal, editor, investigations, The Quint. Siddhar th Varadarajan, founding editor of The Wire, said, “The underlying impulse of involving the I&B ministry is to introduce special rules to hinder digital media, which has so far bucked the trend in print and TV spaces of giving the government a free ride.” Press Council of India chairperson Justice C K Prasad said, “We are of the view the content should be looked after by a stat- Why online content needs to be regulated The print media is regulated by the Press Council of India and the News Broadcasters Association represents television channels. But till now, there were no rules to regulate content on OTT platforms utory independent body .” Dushyantt Kohli, chief operating officer of Khabri, a digital audio platform, said he was hopeful the growth of the industry would be supported and not impeded. Cyber law expert Pavan Duggal said, “The government must lean in the direction of enabling regulation and ensure such regulations do not tantamount to arbitrary misuse of powers. The golden balance is what the government needs to search for and attain, while moving ahead in this regard.” crore over a five-year period. India Inc has welcomed the move and said its timely espe, cially when the economy is limping back to normal from the aftershocks of Covid. “The new PLI policy is transformational and will facilitate India becoming a global manufacturing hub. It identifies the right sectors and products across core in- Boost for social infra The Cabinet also decided to extend the viability gap funding scheme to social infrastructure sectors. The scheme is currently available only for projects concerning economic infrastructure dustries, labour-intensive manufacturing, export-oriented sectors and advanced technology products,” said Uday Kotak, president, Confederation of Indian Industry . With economy headed towards a sharp contraction this fiscal, the governmental indicated the manufacturing and infrastructure sector will remain the focus area to kickstart economy . SC criticises high court, gives Arnab interim bail Express News Service @ New Delhi Observing that personal liberty is increasingly becoming a casualty in the country , the Supreme Court on Wednesday granted bail to Republic TV Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami in a 2018 case of abetting suicide. A vacation bench of justices D Y Chandrachud and Indira Banerjee issued the order on Goswami’s petition challenging the Bombay High Court’s decision on November 9 to deny interim bail. Hours later he walked out of the Taloja jail in Raigad district. The top court also granted bail to two other co-accused, Feroze Shaikh and Neetish Sarda. Expressing deep concern at the growing trend of states targeting those who follow a different ideology than that of the government, Justice Chandrachud cited a case from West Beng al where a girl, who tweeted that the coronavirus was not being properly dealt with, was issued a police notice. “They did this, saying we will show you reality he remarked. ,” “Forget the way he (Arnab) screams and yells. I do not watch this news channel, but what concerns me is the value ascribed to human liberty We . are deeply concerned about it... If constitutional courts do not interfere today, then we are travelling the path of destruction, undeniably. We must send a message to the high courts today that please exercise your jurisdiction to uphold personal liberty Jus,” tice Chandrachud said. The court directed the accused not to tamper with evidence or influence witnesses and asked them to execute a personal bond of `50,000 each for release.