CHENNAI  WEDNESDAY  NOVEMBER 18, 2020  `7.00  PAGES 20  LATE CITY EDITION AT BRICS MEET, MODI TARGETS PAK FOR SPONSORING TERROR The PM said terrorism is the biggest global challenge today and countries supporting it must be dealt with an iron fist ‘HOLD COUNTRIES FUNDING TERRORISM GUILTY’ Without naming Pakistan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, “We must tackle the problem in an organised way and have to ensure the countries that support and assist the terrorists are also held guilty.” The summit was hosted by Russian President Vladimir Putin and attended by Brazil’s Jair Bolsonaro, South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa and XI Jinping of China | P9 ■ Xi INDIA WILL EMERGE A FORCE MULTIPLIER: PM ■ In his address, Modi underlined the need for reforming the United Nations Security Council as well as multilateral bodies like World Trade Organization and the International Monetary Fund Pitching the Atmanirbhar programme, Modi said a self-reliant India would prove to be a force multiplier in a post-Covid world MODI SHARED STAGE WITH THE CHINESE PREZ FOR THE 2ND TIME IN A WEEK 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 SC pushes govt to frame norms on TV reportage SKY OVER CHENNAI The sky is likely to be remain cloudy in Chennai on Wednesday, with light rain in some areas. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 31 and 25 degree Celsius, respectively ON ALERT 2,889 mcft Water level at Chembarambakkam lake as on Tuesday Boys dive into the overflowing Thamirabarani river near the submerged Kurukkuthurai Murugan Temple in Tirunelveli | V KARTHIKALAGU Heavy downpour to continue in south TN END OF AN ERA Veteran Tamil lexicographer Ramakrishnan passes away T M U R U G A N A N D H A M @ Chennai IN an irreparable loss to the Tamil literary world, veteran lexicographer and publisher, S Ramakrishnan, passed away at a government hospital here, in the early hours of Tuesday He . was 75. Ramakrishnan was the founder of Cre-A Publications that brought out works of many an eminent Tamil writers and also translated works of famous authors from various countries for around 50 years. He had tested positive for Covid-19 earlier, but was treated out of the infection. A few days ago, even as he was undergoing treatment at the multi super specialty h o s p i t a l at Omandurar Gover nment Estate, he released the S Ramakrishnan third edition of a work he had been associated with for nearly 30 years – CreA Dictionary of Contemporary ’s Tamil (Tamil-Tamil-English). The release had evoked tremendous response on social media. The first edition of the work, also known as Cre-A’s Tharkala Thamizh Agarathi, was published in 1992. After sincere efforts, Ramakrishnan published its revised edition in 2008. A scholar, who closely worked with him for several years, said, “This is the first time a modern language dictionary has been revised at frequent intervals in Southeast Asia.” “When he released the third edition, he was very emotional. So, we thought this happy moment would give him a strong mental will to survive. But all our hopes have been belied,” recalled SV Rajadurai, noted Tamil writer. A WALK THROUGH THE PAST: P2 STIMULUS YET TO COME, SAYS RAJAN F ORMER RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan believes the larger portion of the Centre’s fiscal response to the Covid-19 pandemic was just relief and not stimulus. Speaking with TNIE Editorial Director Prabhu Chawla and author and political analyst Shankkar Aiyar at a session of Express Expressions, a series of webcasts with people who matter, Rajan said such relief measures are vital to protect the country’s economic engine but real demand stimulus would be needed down the line. “The time for stimulus will come, when the economy picks up more strongly Right . now, we are some distance away from that,” he said. Rajan noted India’s fiscal position when the pandemic started was bad, which limited the headroom for what the government can do. He said India must concentrate on preparing to stimulate the economy through infrastructure development. “I would say that we should be preparing now for that massive expansion in infrastructure spending that we will need to lift the economy as we get rid of the virus,” he Q&A ON: P14 said. employed by you. This affidavit has nothing on it.” The Centre’s affidavit deTHE Supreme Court on Tues- fended media reporting of the day gave the Centre a piece of Tablighi event, saying it was its mind for not filing a proper largely balanced and neutral, affidavit on the media report- adding “the media has made a age tying the Tablighi Jamaat clear distinction between the congregation in Delhi to organisers and attendees the Covid outbreak, of the Tablighi Jamaat and asked it to considevent and the larger er creating a regulaMuslim community tory mechanism for in general.” grievances against “First you did not fake news on TV . file a proper affidavit A bench headed by and then you filed an Chief Justice of India 743 orders affidavit which did to block S A Bobde faulted the not deal with the two i n f o r m a t i o n a n d fake news important questions. broadcasting minisThis way it cannot be The Centre’s try’s affidavit for not affidavit said it done Mr Mehta,” the dealing with the appli- had issued 743 bench said. cability of the Cable orders in April Emphasising that T V N e t wo rk A c t alone to block s e l f - r e g u l a t i o n (CTNA) in the case. fake news over through the NBSA When Solicitor Genwasn’t good enough, multiple eral Tushar Mehta, the bench wanted to platforms to appearing for the Cenknow if the Centre preserve tre, referred to the would create a legal communal News Broadcasters regulatory regime for harmony Standards Authority TV channels and slat(NBSA), a self-regulatory ed the next hearing after three mechanism set up by the sec- weeks. “We are not satisfied tor, the bench said: “Why with your reply We want to ... should we refer to NBSA when know what is the mechanism you have the authority to look to deal with these contents on into it? If it does not exist then television... Regulation canyou create an authority We not be left to organisations ... want to know the mechanism like NBSA,” the bench said. @ New Delhi 2,781 mcft AFTER an active monsoon spell, Chennai is all set to get a break from the rains, while southern Tamil Nadu will continue to receive heavy downpour in the coming days. In view of the rain alert, Revenue Minister RB Udhayakumar on Tuesday said the State has been constantly monitoring storage levels in lakes as well as dams across TN and would decide on releasing the water once they Former RBI governor EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE On Monday, the level was @ Chennai RAGHURAM RAJAN Chides Centre for skirting application of cable TV Act in affidavit on Tablighi case This is 79 per cent of the total storage capacity. In a day, the lake witnessed a 3 per cent increase as rains continued to lash the city EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE INTERVIEW reach the maximum level. The southern districts bore the brunt of the downpour with Thoothukudi receiving the highest rainfall of 17 cm on Tuesday . The intensity of the rains was such that the inflow into the dams increased from 3,000 cusec to 9,120 cusec in a day. While Madurai city recorded 66.2 mm of rainfall, Tirunelveli district touched 456 mm. The water at Papanasam dam reached 111.20 ft, 32 ft short of its maximum capacity . Meanwhile, a wall of a house collapsed at Ramanathapuram following heavy rains through the night, resulting in the death of a 65-year-old woman. Moving further south, Sivagiri town received 101 mm of rainfall in a day, along with Tenkasi, Shengottai, Ayikudi, Sankarankovil, Alangulam, Kadayanallur, Puliyangudi, and Kadayam also witnessing heavy downpour. All the three major waterfalls in Courtallam too witnessed flooding for the second consecutive day. In Kanniyakumari district, Mylaudy received the highest rainfall of 85.4 mm on the day. The Chennai MET office on Tuesday said, trough in easterlies from Comorin area to north coastal TN, which triggered heavy rains in Chennai and its neighbourhood, has moved westwards and merged with the trough in easterlies to southeast Arabian sea, thereby shifting the action to south and west Tamil Nadu regions. P3 WORRY OVER FOREIGN FUND DELUGE TO NGO-RUN HOMES S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA @ New Delhi A random analysis of foreign contributions to over 600 shelter homes in the South has revealed that they received funding up to `6 lakh per child per year, much of which may not have been spent on kids at all. The analysis and a report based drafted by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR), has been sent to the Union Women and Child Development Ministry for further action. Most of the scrutinised shelter homes were in Tamil Nadu (274), Andhra Pradesh (145) and Kerala (107). Data accessed by this newspaper shows that Andhra Pradesh’s 145 shelter homes run by NGOs house 6,202 children. They cumulatively received over `409.5 crore as contributions from abroad in 2018-19 as per their own declaration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act. MAKING SENSE OF THE CASH FLOW Foreign No of fund shelter State received homes analysed in 2018-19 Andhra Pradesh 145 `409.52 cr Telangana 67 `144.98 cr Kerala 107 `85.39 cr Karnataka 45 `66.62 cr Tamil Nadu 274 `248.09 cr “This works out to `6.6 lakh per child per year but obviously most of it is not being spent on children,” a senior NCPCR functionary said. “This is a serious issue that needs to be flagged and thoroughly investigated as social audit has revealed that inmates are struggling for even basic facilities in most shelter homes in Andhra and are even vulnerable to abuse.” In Telangana, annual foreign funding received per child was `3.88 lakh while it was in the `2 lakh-plus range in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala (see table). Fund per child `6.6 lakh `3.88 lakh `2.01 lakh `2.14 lakh `2.14 lakh The fund gulf between NGO- and state-run homes is stark as the latter spend just `60,000 per annum per child, including recurring expenses “Regarding funding related matters a random analysis/ exercise was carried out with some of the NGOs audited during social audit in southern India to understand the trend about foreign funding,” the report states. The per child annual spend in governmentrun shelters, including recurring expenses, is just `60,000, the report adds. The exercise came close on the heels of the commission flagging the unusually high number of children in shelter homes in eight states and directing that they be sent back to their “permanent homes”. RBI puts LVB under moratorium, proposes merger with DBS India S E S A S E N @ New Delhi THE Reserve Bank of India on Tuesday superseded the board of directors of Lakshmi Vilas Bank (LVB), in consultation with the Centre, in view of the serious deterioration in the Chennai-based private bank’s financial position. T N Manoharan, former non-executive chairman of Canara Bank, has been appointed as the administrator. During the 30-day moratorium, the ailing bank cannot make any payment above `25,000 to depositors. However, one can withdraw more for the purposes of medical treatment, education, and marriages with RBI’s permission. Meanwhile, RBI chose a white knight for the cashstarved lender, suggesting that LVB merge with DBS Bank India, which will infuse additional capital of `2,500 crore. The proposed merger is expected to restore normalcy at the beleaguered bank, which is in desperate need of capital. LVB’s gross non-performing assets stood at close to 25% at the end of the second quarter, while net NPA was at a high 7%. While depositors’ interest will be protected, the fate of equity investors hangs in the balance. According to the draft amalgamation scheme, the entire amount of the paidup share capital, reserves and surplus will be written off. “On and from the appointed date, the transferor bank shall cease to exist... and its shares or debentures listed in any stock exchange shall stand delisted,” it noted, seeking feedback from various shareholders. LVB was in talks with Clix Capital for a possible merger. A preliminary non-binding letter of intent was also signed in June, months after LVB’s proposed deal with IndiaBulls Housing Finance was blocked by the banking regulator. ` Regulator’s observation In absence of any viable strategic plan, declining advances and mounting NPAs, losses are expected to continue. The bank has not been able to raise adequate capital to address issues around its negative net-worth and continuing losses BILLION DOLLAR IDEA T’malai teen gives a solar boost to ‘Iron Man’ S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA N YA @ Chennai When we look at the number of ironing carts across the country, the quantity of coal being burnt up is not small - Vinisha Umashankar THE one superhero we cannot live without is “iron man”. Washed clothes often lie in heaps in corners of homes, waiting for this superhero to show up with his iron box and work his magic. But, how ecofriendly is it to iron our clothes? What happens to the charcoal that these ironing shops use? Where do they end up? Grownups may forget to ask these essential questions, but not children. A 14-year-old girl in Tiruvannamalai pondered over the complexity of this problem, and also came up with a cool solution. “When we look at the number of ironing carts across each and every street of our country the quan, tity of coal being burnt up is not small. All of this adds up to our climate problem,” says Vinisha Umashankar, who is now studying in Class 9 in a private school. After an in-depth research, Vinisha came up with a solution to this problem – solar ironing carts. All that is required to run these carts is 5 hours of bright sunshine! Vinisha’s novel idea has won her this year’s prestigious Children’s Climate Prize awarded by the Swedish organisation Children’s Climate Foundation, which carries a prize money of `8.64 lakh. A LOOK AT THE INVENTION: P2 WARM RECEPTION Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami and Deputy CM O Panneerselvam welcoming M Venkaiah Naidu, Vice President, at the Chennai airport on Tuesday EXPRESS READ State government gears up to welcome Amit Shah Chennai: Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to dedicate the Thervoykandigai reservoir, built at a cost of `380 crore, as a drinking water resource for Chennai city, on November 21, at a function to be held at Kalaivanar Arangam in the presence of Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami, stated an official release | P4