kochi l monday l march 01, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 30 l late city EDITION maiden mission of ISRO’s Commercial arm a success NewSpace India Ltd (NSIL) through PSLV-C51 injects Brazil’s Amazonia-1 into orbit 17 minutes after launch from Sriharikota 18 co-passenger satellites, too, in orbit Three sats developed by colleges 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 ■ 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 Aspirants in the PSC Last Grade Servant rank list are euphoric after their successful talks with Law Minister A K Balan on Sunday | B P Deepu Poll awakening: Govt relents to job aspirants E x p r e ss 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- 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.  Two former High Court judges join BJP E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi 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 al- E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @Kochi Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman greets BJP workers at a reception held for party state president K Surendran’s ‘Vijaya Yatra’ at Tripunithura | A Sanesh ‘Shame on you,’ Isaac ridicules Sitharaman Reacting to Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’s remarks on KIIFB, Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said she was making a fool of herself by commenting without applying her mind or doing any homework. “We had expected some standard from a Union minister as the position demands some sense of commerce matters. But, unfortunately, she disappointed all of us by making foolish statements. Please don’t get upset if I say, shame on you,” he said in a Facefook post. leged to 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-hold- Choose dynasty or devpt: Shah to voters Will use non-violence, love to beat Modi: Rahul 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 through love and nonviolence. Speaking at the Educator’s Meet at St Xavier’s College in Palayamkottai in TN, Rahul said he counted on people’s support to defeat BJP. Recalling the Independence movement, he said: “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).” Azad’s praise for PM riles party leaders E x p r e ss N e w s S e 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 RS term ended, 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. 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 drew sharp criticism from several party ● More on P9 leaders. WITH THIS ISSUE THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST 30 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) YOUR LIFE COACH K r i t h i ka S r i n i vasa n @ Villupuram Union Home Minister Amit Shah made a scathing attack on dynasty politics of both Congres and DMK. Addressing a massive public meeting at Villupuram in Tamil Nadu on Sunday he also ridiculed Congress , leader Rahul Gandhi, saying “Rahul baba goes to watch jallikattu live to show solidarity with Tamil people, forgetting that it was the Congress that had banned jallikattu. The BJP and AIADMK had revoked the ban.” Alleging that the DMK and Congress indulge in dynasty politics, while the AIADMK and BJP are democratic, he said, “When Prime Minister Narendra Modi took oath, he prom- ised on his first day in Parliament that this government would work for the welfare of Dalits, Adivasis, the marginalised and poor. He has kept his promise till this day .” “Keeping in mind the great visionaries and saviours of the poor, such as MG Ramachandran and J Jayalalithaa, the Modi-led Centre made it a national scheme. Similarly India’s , national security is top notch under Modi’s rule, as shown by retaliation to Pakistan’s attack at Pulwama,” Shah asserted. Shah lashed out at DMK over the 2G spectrum case, saying Tamil Nadu has 2G, 3G and 4G—two generations of Murasoli Maran’s family three of M , Karunanidhi’s family and four , of Jawaharlal Nehru’s family— all vying for power. 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 ers and relatives of ministers were given back-door PSC appointments. The Left government is known for its favouritism and the party’s only aim is ● More on P4 to make money .” 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. Chitambaresh 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. Chitambaresh 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