KOLLAM l thursday l February 18, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 16 l city EDITION Petrol price crosses `100/ltr in Rajasthan At K100.13, a litre of petrol was at its costliest in Sriganganagar town of the western state. In Madhya Pradesh, the rate is K99.90 60% of the retail cost is govt taxes Modi blames predecessors for spike The all-time high price comes weeks after the state slashed 2% VAT on fuel. Still, at 36% after the rate cut, Rajasthan’s levy is the highest in India. Diesel in Sriganganagar is at C92.13. Central and state taxes make up for as much as 60% of the retail price of petrol and over 54% of diesel. The Centre levies C32.90 a litre as excise duty on petrol ■ Petrol rates have risen by C19.95 a litre since mid-March ’20, after Centre hiked levy to benefit from the fall in international prices ■ PM Modi said if previous regimes had focused on reducing India’s energy dependence, global fluctuations wouldn’t have hurt the middle-class. India imported 85% of fuel in the last financial year A91.45 petrol price in chennai. In Mumbai, it’s K96, Delhi K89.54, Kolakata K90.78 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 FIR says toolkit part of plot to damage India G ayat h r i M a n i a n d S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @New Delhi/Mumbai An accidentally-leaked toolkit Google doc was not just meant to amplify the ongoing farmers protest, it also contained a detailed plan and was part of a larger conspiracy to wage an economic, social, cultural and regional war against India, if one were to go by the first information report (FIR) the Delhi Police filed on February 4. The FIR does not name any of the accused, including activists Disha Ravi, Shantanu Muluk and Nikita Jacob, but Disha’s arrest and the subsequent actions are on its basis. Disha’s advocate got access to the FIR on Wednesday . The toolkit accidentally shared by Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg said: “On 26th January a major day , of globally coordinated actions. Show your support at local and physical locations wherever you are. Either find protests happening in your city state, country and partici, pate in large or small numbers or organise one. You are encouraged to organise solidarity protests either near Indian embassies, near your local government offices.” The FIR also states that the January 26 violence was part of a ‘pre-planned conspiracy’ executed by the Pro-Khalistani Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF). “A perusal of the said document reveals that it was promoting campaign material by Poetic Justice Foundation (PJF), a Canada-based organization that openly and deliberately shared posts on social As protests mount, cabinet okays 3k posts Majority of them in health dept | Number of permanent posts created by Pinarayi Vijayan govt crosses 30,000 @T’Puram REALISING that employment generation is likely to emerge as a major issue in the coming assembly elections, the state cabinet has approved the creation of more than 3,000 new posts, a majority of them in the health sector. With this, the number of permanent posts created by the LDF government has crossed 30,000. “If temporary posts are also taken into account, the number would cross 50,000,” said Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday . As many as 2,027 of the 3,051 new posts are in the health sector. While 1,200 posts will be created under the Directorate of Health Services, 527 will be under the Directorate of Medical Education and another 300 media to create disharmony and enmity hatred and ill-will , among different religious, cultural and regional groups,” the FIR states. Various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) like 123 A, 153, 153A and 120B pertaining to sedition, hatching criminal conspiracy and creating disharmony or enmity ill-will , between different groups religious, regional and social groups have been invoked. Meanwhile, Mumbai-based Khalistani outfit’s footprint visible The FIR mentions the name of the proscribed pro-Khalistani organisation Sikh for Justice (SFJ), which announced cash rewards of $2.5 lakh for anyone hoisting a seditious flag at India Gate on January 26. “The banned organisation also made provocative and seditious appeals to people,” the FIR says As expected, the ruling Congress swept the civic polls in Punjab held in the backdrop of a prolonged farmers’ protests being supported by it. The Shiromani Akali Dal came a distant second and the BJP last, with the main opposition AAP faring well below its expectations. The civic polls were held barely a year ahead of the Assembly polls. The Congress swept seven municipal corporations in the state as it bagged Hoshiarpur, Kapurthala, Abohar, Pathankot, Batala, Moga and Bathinda. It was after decades that the party wrested the Bathinda from the Akali Dal. The results of Mohali Corporation will be declared on Thursday . Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency is represented by former Union minister Harsimrat Badal of SAD, which broke off from the NDA last year over the new far m laws. will be under the Ayush Department. Other posts include 33 at the Malabar Cancer Centre, 17 at Punalur Taluk Hospital, and five at SAT Hospital. Up to 151 posts have been created in aided higher secondary schools, besides 24 higher sec- Stressing that women cannot be punished for raising their voice against sexual a ­ buse, a Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted journalist Priya Ramani in a defamation suit filed by former Union minister M J Akbar contesting her allegations of sexual harassment by him in the past. Four-year-old Adwaith, who had recurrent bouts of vomiting and died in hospital last Friday, was “accidentally” poisoned by his mother, the Hosdurg police said. The boy consumed ice cream, which was laced with rat poison by his mother Varsha, 28, to end her life, said Hosdurg station house officer inspector Mani P K. The tragic turn of events came to light when the young woman and her sister Drishya, 19, fell sick after the boy died, the officer said. Drishya and Varsha are battling for their lives. Varsha is admitted to Aster MIMS in Kozhikode and Drishya to Kannur Government Medical College Hospital at Pariyaram. The officer said Adwaith’s autopsy report was not conclusive as the boy had vomited a lot. “Doctors could not conclude if the poisoning was direct or through food,” he said. The viscera have been sent for forensic test● More on P5 ing.  screen space English short by Malayalam medium Class 4 students a hit A S at i s h @ Palakkad ‘Elves and the Shoemaker’, a famous fairy tale, has seen several theatrical productions over the years. But that did not stop 30 students of two divisions of Class 4 of ALP school at Mathur West village in Palakkad from attempting to recreate their own version. And that too in English. Students of this aided Malayalam medium school, who were involved in the making of the film, hail from a rustic background or from the lower strata of the society . “We involved all students of the class, including two who were slow learners, a part of the film. This was our second English film. The first one was ‘Seed of Truth’ which was the first chapter for our students,” P V Sashi Kumar, director of the film and class teacher. “The first was a 14-minute film and ‘Elves and the Shoemaker’, which is the second chapter, was 17 minutes long. Fairytale theatre The film is an adaptation of ‘Elves and the Shoemaker’, a famous fairytale which has seen several theatrical productions over the years Cast and crew of the English short film ‘Elves and the Shoemaker’ | Express We have adapted it in such a way that the students not only learn their lessons but also enjoy seeing them on screen performing various characters. “Therefore, we have also included a poem titled ‘Work while you work and play while you play’ and wove it into the storyline to create an independent script,” said Sashi ● More on P5 Kumar.  ondary school teacher posts. Viyyur and Kannur central jails will get a clinical psychologist each, and a post of counsellor will be created in jails with over 250 inmates. The proposed central jail in Thavanur will have 161 posts.  ● More on P5 K a n u S a r d a @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kanhangad Kozhikode: Raihanath, wife of Siddique Kappan, the journalist arrested by the UP police in October last year, met Shashi Tharoor, MP, and sought his intervention into the issue on Wednesday. Kappan was arrested while on his way to Hathras to report on the alleged gangrape of a Dalit woman. P6 H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh PSC civil police officer rank-holders lead a symbolic coffin march in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday | B P Deepu 4-yr-old boy dies after eating poison-laced ice cream accidentally Scribe’s wife seeks Tharoor’s intervention BJP gets zilch in Punjab civic body elections Tribal taluk, the first such in the state, to be formed at Attappadi in Palakkad Delhi court junks Akbar’s defamation suit against Ramani express read T’Puram: A 39-year-old social worker, who had set himself ablaze after KSEB disconnected the power supply to his house over failure to pay the monthly bill, died on Wednesday. Before dying, he had told his family that though he sought time till 5pm on Tuesday, the KSEB would have none of that. P7 Nod for amendment of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act to facilitate cattle races such as kaalapoottu, maramadi, kannupoottu and uzhavu MeToo advocate Nikita Jacob was given three-week transit anticipatory bail by the Bombay High Court on Wednesday . While passing the bail order, Justice P D Naik cited the Aurangabad bench order that gave advance bail to another accused Shantanu Muluk, while adding: “It would not be appropriate to make any observations on the merits of the case.” The Delhi Police claim that Disha Ravi and Nikita Jacob were editors of the toolkit created by Shantanu Muluk. Man ends life after KSEB cuts power supply Other decisions E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e We involved all students of the class, including two who were slow learners, a part of the film. This was our second English film. The first one was ‘Seed of Truth’ P V Sashi Kumar, class teacher Priya Ramani M J Akbar Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Ravindra Kumar Pandey said, “The right to reputation cannot be protected If temporary posts are taken into account, the number of posts created by the LDF govt in this tenure will cross 50,000 Pinarayi Vijayan, CM Regularisation of temp staff on hold E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram IN THE wake of the Opposition rallying firmly behind agitating job aspirants, the state cabinet on Wednesday has put on hold the ongoing large-scale regularisation of temporary employees who have completed at least 10 years of service. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told reporters that the government was putting on hold the regularisation of temporary staff to prevent the Opposition from misleading the people and tarnishing the image of the government. While continuing to justify the regularisation on humanitarian grounds, Pinarayi also promised that the remaining t e m p o r a r y s t a f f wo u l d a l s o b e regularised if the LDF is voted back to ● More on P5 power. at the cost of the right to life and dignity of woman, and right to equality and equal protection as guaranteed in Articles 21 and 14, respectively, in the Constitution.” The court accepted Ramani’s contention that Akbar wasn’t a man of stellar reputation. In its 91-page verdict, the court said, “It cannot be ignored that most of the time, the offence of sexual­ harassment and sexual abuse (was) committed in the close doors or privately Some. times the victims herself does not understand what is happening to them or what is happening to them is wrong. Despite how well respected some persons are in the society they , in their personal lives, could show extreme cruelty to females.”