thrissur l monday l march 01, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 30 l city EDITION maiden mission of ISRO’s Commercial arm a success 18 co-passenger satellites, too, in orbit An optical earth observation satellite, Amazonia-1 will provide remote sensing data for monitoring deforestation in the Amazon region and analysing diversified farming. Apart from Amazonia-1, the PSLV rocket carried 18 other satellites that separated in a predetermined sequence. Of the 18, 14 were NSIL’s, comprising one from India and 13 from the US | P5 NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) through PSLV-C51 injects Brazil’s Amazonia-1 into orbit 17 minutes after launch from Sriharikota Three sats developed by colleges ■ The other four sats belonged to IN-SPACe, of which three were developed jointly with Jeppiaar Institute of Technology, Tamil Nadu, GH Raisoni College of Engineering, Nagpur, and Sri Shakti Institute of Engineering and Technology, Coimbatore. The fourth was Satish Dhawan Sat (SDSAT) by Chennai-based Space Kidz 342 Satellites of 34 customer countries launched by pslv so far 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 LDF govt’s a KIIFB budget, state falling into debt trap: Sitharaman Says state govt steeped in graft, both Cong and Left parties appeasing fundamentalists In a scathing attack on CPM and the Pinarayi Vijayan government, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said the state budget presented by minister T M Thomas Isaac was a Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB) budget and questioned the board’s activities. Addressing BJP workers at the reception given to the Vijaya Yatra led by BJP state president K Surendran at Tripunithura, she said financial experts are wondering how the Kerala government could come up with such a weak budget. “It is not state budget, but a KIIFB budget. It mentioned that everything, every project will be managed under KIIFB. What is this organisation? Even the Comptroller and Auditor General of India has criticised KIIFB. If this is what they mean by budget making, then Kerala is going into a severe debt trap,” said Sitharaman. Besides, corruption and illegal activities have become rampant in the state. “The chief minister’s office is alleged to Poll awakening: Govt relents to job aspirants E x p r e s s N e w s s e r v i c e @T’Puram Aspirants in the PSC rank list for Last Grade Servant (LGS) posts on Sunday called off their 34-day-long protest as well as their hunger strike. This comes after the government side led by Law Minister A K Balan agreed to six demands of the protesters during the conciliatory talks held at the Secretariat. Though the minister agreed that the demands of those in the Civil Police Officer rank list are genuine, they have decided to intensify their protests till the government give its assurances on record. The government gave assurances on six demands to LGS aspirants and included these in the minutes of the hour- Two former High Court judges join BJP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi Aspirants in the PSC rank list for Last Grade Servant posts are all cheered up after their fruitful discussion with Law Minister A K Balan on Sunday | B P Deepu long meeting released later. The assurances are: the anticipated vacancies will be reported to the PSC so that those in the LGS rank list will get appointed; new vacancies will be reported to the PSC after the promotion of existing employees; temporary promotion will be provided in posts which are under litigation; official-level committee will examine the vacancies; duty hours of night watchmen will be rescheduled to eight hours, and discrepancies in reporting vacancies in Civil Police Officer post will be addressed. The LDF government has assured the protesters that it will seek the Election Commission’s per mission to take steps to fulfil the agree● More on P7 ment.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman greets BJP workers at a reception for party state president K Surendran’s ‘Vijaya Yatra’ at Tripunithura | A Sanesh Kerala has turned into the fundamentalist’s own country, but the state government is not worried. The Congress is not worried either — Nirmala Sitharaman, Union Finance Minister have links with gold smuggling. A top bureaucrat appointed by the CM was taken into custody . The state inked the deep-sea fishing deal with EMCC, while CPM card-holders and relatives of ministers were given backdoor PSC appointments. The Left government is known for its favouritism and the party’s only aim is to make money .” She also said under Pinarayi, Choose between ‘dynasty’, devpt: Shah ‘People could make Modi flee to Nagpur’ Tirunelveli: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday described PM Narendra Modi as a “formidable enemy” who ‘crushed’ his opponents and vowed to send him to political oblivion by following the path of love and non-violence. Speaking at the Educator’s Meet at St Xavier’s College in Palayamkottai, Rahul said he counted on people’s support to defeat the BJP. Recalling the country’s independence movement, he said the Britishers were much more powerful than Modi would ever be. “People of this country sent the British empire back and in the same way we will send Modi back to Nagpur (RSS headquarters in Maharashtra),” he said. Vaccination of people aged 60+ from today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Registration for the next phase of vaccinations against Covid-19 for people above 60 years and those above 45 with co-morbidities will begin on Monday The beneficiaries can . register online on CoWin portal or Aarogya Setu App to avail the vaccination. The health department will introduce offline registrations at a later stage. People can fix a time slot and opt for their preferred vaccination centre based on the availability list at the time of registration. As part of the process, beneficiaries have to enter their 10-digit mobile phone following which they will receive a one-time password. Details of their photo identity card should also be uploaded on the site. Though four appointments can be made using one number, each beneficiary should have separate ID ● More on P4 cards.  P T I @ Villupuram (Tamil Nadu) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a broadside against the Congress and DMK over dynasty politics in Tamil Nadu, saying the respective parties were only worried about their first families and pitched his BJP-led NDA as pro-development which would ensure growth. While Congress President Sonia Gandhi was ‘worried’ about making her son Rahul prime minister, DMK chief M K Stalin was worried about making his son Udhayanidhi the state chief minister, he said. Addressing a Vijay Sankalp election rally here ahead of the April 6 assembly polls in the state, Shah questioned Rahul Gandhi for his support for jallikattu in Tamil Nadu, which he witnessed in Madurai in January He said the Congress . party’s election manifesto for the 2016 assembly polls batted for a ban against the bull taming sport. The Modi government got it back after it was banned earlier, Shah recalled. He also asked people in Tamil Nadu to choose between the “sons and daughters of kings and emperors” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s development agenda. The DMK-Congress alliance “believes in dynasty politics,” he charged. “On one side, there is the NDA that protects India. Today , none can dare do anything in India’s borders,” he said. “On the other side, you have the DMK and Congress parties who are only worried about their families, (which are) steeped in corruption and do the politics of divide and rule.” The Congress party’s election manifesto for the 2016 TN assembly polls batted for a ban against the bull taming sport. The Modi government got it back after it was banned earlier Amit Shah, Home Minister e x p r e ss r e a d ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign a nat’l spirit’ Income tax sleuths unearth undisclosed income of L220 crore New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said the Atmanirbhar Bharat campaign was not just a government policy but a national spirit, a sentiment flowing in the hearts of the common folks. In his monthly radio address, Mann ki Baat, the PM lauded the huge contribution of science towards making India self-reliant an achievable dream. P9 Chennai: The Income Tax department has unearthed undisclosed income of D220 crore following a raid on a leading Chennai-based tiles and sanitary ware manufacturer. According to a spokesperson of Central Board of Direct Taxes, I-T sleuths conducted searches at 11 premises, and surveys on nine premises of the group in Tamil Nadu, Gujarat and Kolkata on Friday. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST YOUR LIFE COACH 30 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) Azad rapped for hailing PM, poking at the gandhis E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Srinagar/New Delhi A day after the G23 dissenters observed that the Congress was getting weaker, veteran party leader Ghulam Nabi Azad on Sunday praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for staying true to his roots while indirectly questioning the way the Gandhis function. On his first visit to Jammu and Kashmir after his Rajya Sabha term ended on February 15, Azad said: “I appreciate that he (Modi) does not hide his true self. Those who do so are living in a bubble. I like a lot of things about many leaders. I am from a village and I am very proud of it. Politically we are opposed , to him but at least he does not hide his true (self) reality. We all should be proud of our roots.” However, his comments did not go down well with some party leaders, who countered it was the Modi-led Centre that abrogated the Article 370, and made the state a Union Territory after carving out La● More on P9 dakh.  Kerala has lost its name ‘Gods Own Country’. “What is happening here? Violence is rampant in Kerala. Kerala has turned into the fundamentalist’s own country but the state , government is not worried. The Congress is not worried either. Both Congress and Left parties are trying to appease fundamentalists here,” she ● More on P4 alleged.  Former Kerala High Court judges P N Ravindran and V Chitambaresh and 18 others, including several Mahila Congress workers, joined BJP here on Sunday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman welcomed them into the party in the presence of BJP state president K Surendran at the function held to accord reception to ‘Vijaya Yatra’ at Tripunithura. Chitamabaresh could not attend the function as he is in Delhi. The names of both former HC judges were recently in news after allegedly signing a letter addressed to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, professing support to the ‘love jihad’ law. Chitamabaresh said he has been an active ABVP worker during his student days at Victoria Col● More on P4 lege, Palakkad.  ELSEWHERE With polls in sight, fronts are busy formulating strategies and finalising candidates 1 Cong in 95 seats, IUML 26 Kochi: The constituents of the UDF have reached a general consensus as to the number of seats each of them would contest. As per the agreement, Congress, the main constituent, will contest in 95 seats and IUML, the second largest constituent, in 26 seats. P4 2 LDF’s new tagline T’Puram: The LDF on Sunday released a new tagline for the assembly polls — ‘Urappanu LDF’ (‘Yes, for sure it’s LDF’). The front also kickstarted its campaign with CPM state acting chief A Vijayaraghavan handing over a poster with the tagline to CM Pinarayi Vijayan. P4 3 Call to field Suresh Gopi T’Puram: The BJP, which is expected to finalise candidates by the weekend, is keeping the cards on its A-class seats close to its chest. The party is of the view that Suresh Gopi, MP, has to be fielded in either Vattiyoorkavu or T’Puram — both classified as A-class constituencies. P4