KOttayam l Thursday l november 26, 2020 l `7.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION SCOTLAND FIRST tO MAKE SANITARY PRODUCTS FREE Scotland on Tuesday became the first country in the world to make sanitary products free to all women as a step against period poverty COUNTRY TO SPEND £24 Mn ANNUALLY The country, which is a part of the United Kingdom, will spend £24 mn of its taxpayers’ money annually to make tampons and sanitary pads available at designated public places such as community centres, youth clubs and pharmacies. In 2018, Scotland had become the first country to provide free sanitary products in schools, colleges and universities 10% ‘IMPORTANT POLICY FOR WOMEN & GIRLS’ ■ The Period Products Scotland Bill was passed unanimously ■ First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon called it “an important policy for women and girls.” “Proud to vote for this groundbreaking legislation, making Scotland the first country in the world to provide free period products for all who need them,” she tweeted of girls in Britain have been unable to afford sanitary products 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 Devastation as Nivar checks in Over one lakh people across TN evacuated, housed in safe shelters Power supply in vulnerable areas disconnected as precautionary step Incessant rain leaves several parts inundated, rainfall expected in AP E N S & a g en c i e s @Chennai Holiday for 16 districts TN government has declared Thursday a public holiday for 16 districts Airport suspends ops Chennai airport officials have said aircraft operations will remain suspended from 7pm of November 25 till 7am of November 26 Trains cancelled Eight trains have been diverted to skip Chennai, while 10 have been cancelled People wade through water at the Pattalam Market in Chennai on Wednesday, after the area got inundated in heavy rain | R Satish Babu GUSTY wind and rain lashed parts of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday leaving several areas inundated, as cyclone Nivar hurtled towards the coast. The authorities have so far evacuated over one lakh people and housed them in safe shelters, besides disconnecting power supply in various vulnerable areas as a precautionary measure. While the India Meteorological Department (IMD) maintains that Nivar would intensify into a very severe cyclonic storm and make landfall near Puducherry popular , weather bloggers suggest the possibility of landfall south of Chennai, somewhere close to Kalpakkam, where the Madras Atomic Power Station is located. The power station has already activated its cyclone protection machinery. The cyclone is expected to bring rainfall to parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana as well. Chennai and its suburbs continued to witness intermittent showers coupled with strong winds. Rain is expected to continue in many of these regions on Thursday as well. Meanwhile, officials have assured that there are no chances of massive flooding in Chennai, despite water being released from Chembarambakkam lake, one of the biggest water reservoirs in the city . According to PWD officials, 1,000 cusecs of water was released from the lake, as the level stood at 22 feet of the total 24 feet. However, officials have asked denizens not to worry as the water was being released in a controlled and phased manner. Residents of areas along the Adyar river bank in Chennai have been shifted to relief camps. P7 Raveendran gets self BJP ups minority appeal, deploys 117 hospitalised after ED Muslim candidates, 9 of them women serves second notice M a n o j V i s w a n at h a n @ Kochi E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ T’Puram C M Raveendran It needs to be ascertained whether Raveendran getting admitted to the hospital is for genuine reasons. The ED should seek the help of experts and see whether he is using delaying tactics M M Hassan, UDF convener Customs reprimanded Kochi: The special court has lambasted the Customs for not mentioning in its plea how M Sivasankar abetted gold smuggling. Hours after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) served C M Raveendran — additional private secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan — with a notice for the second time, he was hospitalised to treat post-Covid symptoms. ED, which is probing the money laundering case related to the smuggling of gold through the diplomatic channel, on Wednesday asked Raveendran to appear for interrogation at its Kochi office on Friday . The first time the central agency served a notice asking him to appear before it, he tested positive for the virus the next day He . had also cited medical reasons for his inability to reach the ED office. And now, he has been admitted to the Government Medical College Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram to treat post-Covid health issues. “He didn’t turn up last time because of Covid. Now, we have come to know that Raveendran has fully recovered and completed the quarantine procedure too. Though the notice was issued directly to him, he hasn’t replied,” an ED source told TNIE. Raveendran’s name surfaced in the statement given by Swapna Suresh, a key accused in the gold smuggling case. During interrogation, ED officials had asked Swapna whether any state government minister or official maintained contacts with her. She told them that Raveendran contacted her occasionally for visa stamping and certificate ● More on P4 attestation matters. E X P RESS REA D 50% of teachers to be back on duty from Dec 17 Police Act amendment no more in force T’Puram: The government has asked 50% of teachers handling classes X and XII in schools to report for duty from December 17. Efforts will be made to complete digital classes for Class X and XII by January 15 and 30 respectively. T’Puram: The Kerala Police (Amendment) ordinance has been withdrawn just four days after it came into force, with Governor Arif Mohammed Khan signing the ordinance to repeal section 118A on Wednesday. THE local body elections this time are a three-cornered cliffhanger and the results will have a bearing on the assembly poll, which is just six months away . Realising the need to widen its vote bank beyond the traditional Hindu forward communities, the BJP has adopted an ambitious plan to woo the minorities. Party officials said the BJP has fielded 400 candidates from the minority communities, of whom 117 are Muslims. Nine of the Muslim candidates are women. In a move that surprised the BJP’s political opponents, a few Muslim women in Malappuram district too came forward to contest under the saffron party’s banner. Further, the party has allotted two divisions in all district panchayats except Thiruvananthapuram to minorities and a proportional representation has been ensured in the block and grama panchayats. “Around 400 minority candidates are contesting on behalf of the party of whom nine are Muslim women,” said Minority Morcha state president Jiji Joseph. According to the state BJP leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development plank and the progressive steps like Triple Talaq law and move to raise the marriage age have inspired a positive change among the Muslim women in Kerala.  ● More on P7  Congress’ man for all seasons & low-profile backroom strategist P T I @ New Delhi one whose assets of faithfulness, dedAHMED Patel was the Congress’ ication, commitment to duty willing, man for all seasons and every reason, ness to help and generosity distinthe quintessential backroom strate- guished him from others. “I have lost gist who maintained a studied low an irreplaceable comrade, a faithful profile but held a steel grip over the colleague and a friend,” she said in party’s affairs, as he helped steer it her condolence message, voicing her through the potholed roads anguish at Patel’s departure of changing political at a time of acute internal landscapes. friction in the Congress. Babubhai and AP to Just three months ago, in friends and Ahmed Bhai to August, Patel had stepped in colleagues, Patel died early to quell a rebellion within Wednesday in a Gurugram the party His firm rejection . hospital where he was adof the public stand taken by mitted with Covid-19. Till 23 party leaders against Sothe very end, Patel remained nia Gandhi helped the ConAHMED PATEL a staunch Congress loyalist, gress Working Committee 1949—2020 famed for his crisis managesnub the demand for rement skills and consensus placement of Gandhi as parbuilding abilities. The 71-year-old re- ty chief and repose faith in her presimained Sonia Gandhi’s most trusted dency after she offered to quit. lieutenant for most of her tenure as He was a Rajya Sabha MP from Guthe longest serving Congress presi- jarat and All India Congress Commitdent, standing by her side through tee treasurer. Mild mannered and afsun and shade. She described him as fable, he was actually so much a leader dedicated to the party and more. amazing bull run Lijo’s ‘Jallikattu’ is India’s official entry for Oscars E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi LIJO Jose Pellissery’s critically acclaimed Jallikattu, which satirises the savagery of life by depicting the chaos unleashed in a highrange village by a buffalo on the loose, has been selected as India’s official entry to the 93rd Academy Awards in the Best International Feature Film category . A 14-member panel of the Film Federation of India (FFI) announced the decision on Wednesday . Jallikattu, which features actors Chemban Vinod Jose and Antony Varghese in lead roles, will be the third Malayalam movie to be chosen as a submission for the Oscars, after Rajeev Anchal’s Guru (1997) and Salim Ahamed’s Adaminte Makan Abu (2011). Based on the short story ‘Maoist’ by S Hareesh, Jallikattu serves as a sociopolitical allegory on civilisa- tion, underscoring how humans are slaves to their base instincts. Pellissery, who has previously made other lauded features like Angamaly Diaries and Ea Ma Yau, said he was extremely happy that his movie made the cut as a submission for Oscars 2021. “This is a moment of happiness for all those who ‘raced’ for the film,” he ● More on P7 said.  Extremely happy to know that Jallikattu has gained entry to the Oscars. This is a moment of happiness for all those who ‘raced’ for the film — Lijo Jose Pellissery, filmmaker Finally, Kerala picks its GST option, will use spl window to borrow E N S E c o n o m i c B u r e a u @ New Delhi AFTER days of protest, Kerala and West Bengal have finally agreed to accept the government’s proposal to borrow from the special window to meet the GST implementation shortfall. “Governments of Kerala and West Bengal have communicated their acceptance of Option-1 to meet the revenue shortfall arising out of GST implementation, “ the finance ministry said in a statement issued on Wednesday . Kerala and West Bengal will get `10,197 crore through special borrowing window to meet the GST implementation shortfall,” the ministry said. Also they will be granted permission to raise additional `11,309 crore through borrowing. The Centre has granted additional borrowing permission of `4,522 crore to Kerala (0.5 per cent of Kerala’s GSDP) and `6,787 crore to West Bengal (0.5 per cent of West Bengal’s GSDP). So far 25 states and all Union Territories with legislative assembly have selected opted the first option. A10,197 cr Kerala and West Bengal will get through special borrowing window to meet the GST implementation shortfall The two states will be granted permission to raise an additional L11,309 cr through borrowing