THRISSUR l wednesday l march 03, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION ‘indo-pak express’ to come together at acapulco Only one event to start with Despite tension between India and Pakistan, Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi and Rohan Bopanna join hands for first time since 2014 The pair, nicknamed ‘Indo-Pak Express’, will be teaming up at the ATP 500 meet in Mexico, slated to be held from March 15-21. “For the time being, we will only be playing in Acapulco,” Aisam said. “Let’s see how it goes.” With invaluable ranking points up for grabs, it’s a big meet for P11 Bopanna, who is yet to win a match this year (three losses).  ■ FIVE ‘stop war, start tennis’ ■ They were praised after they wore T-shirts that had the above slogan in order to promote peace between the two countries. They won the 'Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of The Year' award The pair decided to come together as a team after spending time together in Melbourne in February during the Australian Open The pair has previously won five titles on the atp tour 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 ED files case against KIIFB, may question Isaac Central agency says foreign exchange rules flouted; move comes day after CBI expose on LIFE Mission housing project ‘Isaac has to be grilled’ ED has intensified its investigation into the funds KIIFB has received in violation of norms 1 State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac will have to be questioned as part of the probe, say ED sources 2 Notices have been sent to KIIFB CEO K M Abraham & Axis Bank officials to appear for interrogation next week 3 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi TWO days after Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, during her visit to Kerala, criticised the state budget allocation to the Kerala Infrastructure Investment Fund Board (KIIFB), Enforcement Directorate (ED) that comes under the Centre on Tuesday registered a case against the board for allegedly violating the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) rules. At the reception meeting for BJP state president K Surendran’s Vijaya Yatra in Tripunithura on Sunday, Sitharaman called the state’s budget a KIIFB budget. The move also comes a day after another central agency, CBI, informed the Supreme Court that Unitac Builders was a proxy company formed with the knowledge of officials to receive foreign funds for the state government’s flagship LIFE Mission project at Wadakkanchery . According to ED sources, the agency has intensified its probe into the funds received by KIIFB in violation of norms. State Finance Minister T M Thomas Isaac will have to be questioned as part of the probe, they said. Notices have been sent to KIIFB CEO K M Abraham and officials of Axis Bank — the banking partner of the venture — to appear for interrogation next week. “We had conducted a preliminary probe since the Comptroller and Auditor-General (CAG) came out with a report against KIIFB last year. We found that foreign funds were received under KIIFB without prior sanction of the Central gover nment violating FEMA ● More on P5 norms.  MINCING NO WORDS What is this organisation (KIIFB)? Even the Comptroller and Auditor General has criticised it. Nirmala Sitharaman She disappointed all of us by making foolish statements. Please don’t get upset if I say shame on you Thomas Isaac CM to lead, Isaac in fray; Jayarajan new CPM secy? Notable names Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will contest from Dharmadom Industries Minister E P Jayarajan will not contest, likely to be next CPM state secretary Health Minister K K Shailaja will move to Jayarajan’s sitting seat in Mattannur Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan likely contest from Ponnani Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel will be fielded again in Thavanoor S Sarma may be replaced by K N Unnikrishnan in Vypeen Thomas Isaac, G Sudhakaran, M M Mani and Mercykutty Amma likely to be in fray again Controversial MLA P V Anwar set to get another term in Nilambur Former India international footballer U Sharaf Ali being considered for Eranad Debt crisis staring India in the face, warns former PM E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram AS the CPM’s candidate selection process nears an end, district secretariat meetings have come up with recommendations to be handed to the state leadership, and it seems some heavyweights may not make the cut. A couple of ministers, however, may get another term. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will fight from Dharmadom, while Industries Minister E P Jayarajan will stay away from the fray. Rumours are rife that Jayarajan, who would focus on organisational matters, could become the next party state secretary . Health Minister K K Shailaja will move to E P Jayarajan’s sitting seat in Mattannur while Koothuparamba will go to LJD leader and former minister K P Mohanan. Kannur leadership has avoided all leaders who completed two consecutive terms. C Krishnan, James Mathew and T V Rajesh do not figure in the list, while seniors P Jayarajan, M V Govindan and P K Sreemathi are being considered. Speaker P Sreeramakrishnan is likely to get another chance from Ponnani while Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel will be fielded again in Thavanoor. Former India football team captain U Sharaf Ali is being considered for Eranad. Filmmaker Ranjith is likely to replace sitting MLA A Pradeep Kumar in Kozhikode North. In Beypore, sitting MLA V K C Mammed Koya may not contest. There is still uncertainty regarding the candidature of Karat Razak in Koduvally. Minister T P Ramakrishnan is likely to contest from Perambra. In Ernakulam, three sitting MLAs including M Swaraj in Tripunithura are being considered for another term. Instead of former minister S Sarma, K N Unnikrishnan has been proposed for the ● More on P4 Vypeen seat.  Air India stir: Riyas, Rajesh remanded E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kozhikode @ Lucknow THREE CPM leaders including DYFI national president P A Muhammad Riyas were remanded in 14-day judicial custody by a local court on Tuesday. The Kozhikode Judicial First Class Magistrate Court IV also remanded CPM state committee member T V Rajesh, MLA, and district committee member K K Dineshan. The order was issued in a case registered against the trio in 2009, after a protest march led by the DYFI to the Air India office in Kozhikode turned violent. The activists had created a blockade at the office while staging a dharna against the airlines’ move to cancel a number of services and hike airfare. Rajesh, who was the then DYFI state secretary, inaugurated the march. Riyas and Dineshan were then DYFI state joint secretary and district secretary, respectively . The henchmen of an alleged molester who is out on bail since 2018 in UP’s lawless Hathras, shot dead the victim’s father in his potato farm as he refused to withdraw the case, triggering outrage across the nation. A day after the incident, the police on Tuesday arrested two of the four assailants even as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordered that the National Security Act (NSA) be slapped on them. A c c o rd i n g t o s o u rc e s, Amrish Sharma, a resident of Nauzarpur in Hathras, had registered a complaint against Gaurav Sharma in July 2018 for allegedly molesting his daughter. Gaurav had been pressing Sharma to withdraw the case after coming out on bail in 2018. poll brew Priyanka Gandhi Vadra tries her hand at plucking tea leaves at the Sadhuru tea garden in Biswanath, Assam, on Tuesday | twitter IN THE UDF CAMP Mullappally, Sudheeran, Kurien not to contest T’Puram: Three senior leaders including KPCC president Mullappally Ramachandran informed the party of their decision not to contest this time. The other two leaders are former KPCC president V M Sudheeran and 79-year-old P J Kurien. P4 Deadlock continues in UDF over Joseph’s share of seats Kottayam: With the Congress and P J Joseph faction of the Kerala Congress sticking firm to their stances, the seatsharing process in the United Democratic Front (UDF) failed to make a headway even after two rounds of discussions. P4 More Jammu-like G23 meets lined up, Cong wary R i c h a S h a r m a @ New Delhi The group of 23 (G23) dissenters in the Congress is planning to raise their pitch against the high command by organising a series of meetings in other states on the lines of the one they held in Jammu recently . With four states and a Union Territory set to face Assembly elections soon, the party leadership is treading cautiously even as the G23 seeks to fan out in Haryana, Punjab and Himachal Pradesh in the coming weeks. “These meetings will be held before the party’s presidential election, which is scheduled by Mayend. Anand Sharma has been asked to arrange one meeting in Himachal Pradesh, Bhupinder Jio pockets most airwaves; govt to get `20K cr this fiscal Molestation victim’s father shot dead in U.P. Hathras Superintendent of Police (SP) Vineet Jaiswal said on Monday the wife and the aunt of Gaurav picked up a heated argument with the daughters of Sharma at a temple in the village. “The accused and Sharma, too, arrived at the spot and joined the issue,” the SP said. Later, around 3.30 pm, Sharma was at his potato field when Gaurav and his three accomplices shot at him in front of his wife and daughter. Sharma sustained injuries to his head, chest and abdomen, and died on the spot. The SP said special teams were on the lookout for the other two suspects. Sharma is associated with the Samajwadi Party and was planning to organise a Kisan Mahapanchayat in Tappal, in which the party chief Akhilesh Yadav is slated to participate on Wednesday . Singh Hooda in Kurukshetra and Manish Tewari in Ropar or Anandpur Sahib,” said sources, adding that Hooda’s event may spell trouble for the party as he enjoys mass support in Haryana. The party leadership is wary of taking any precipitate action against the rebels ahead of the crucial election. “The build up by these leaders will fizzle out soon. Taking any disciplinary action at this moment (ahead of Assembly elections) will send a wrong signal to people and draw unnecessary attention. If the party does well in the Assembly election under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, it will automatically subdue the momentum these leaders are trying to build up before the presidential election,” said a party leader. India’s first spectrum auctions in five years ended on Tuesday with the government selling C77,815 crore worth of airwaves and Reliance Jio walking away with the lion’s share of winning bids worth C57,122 crore. The expensive 700 MHz and 2,500 MHz band did not attract any buyers 20 Per cent of spectrum put up for auction sold Assets on offer Quantum: 2,308.8 MHz Reserve Price L3.92 lakh crore Spectrum sold Quantum: 855.6 MHz Total bids L77,815 crore FORMER prime minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday warned of a looming debt crisis, saying temporary steps taken by the Centre and the Reserve Bank of India cannot paper over the credit problems staring the country in the face. Blaming the BJP government’s ‘ill-conceived’ demonetisation for the country’s high unemployment rate, Manmohan Singh warned that the crisis could adversely affect the small and medium sectors of the industry. He was speaking after inaugurating a development summit, organised virtually by the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Development Studies at Neyyar Dam in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday . “Due to the ill-conceived demonetisation in 2016, unemployment skyrocketed and the unorganised sector landed in a shambles. If India’s political and economic phi- Unemployment is losophy stood for a foundation as high and the envisaged in the country’s Consti- informal sector is in shambles, a crisis tution, having a federal set-up and precipitated by the communication between the states, ill-considered the incumbent Union government demonetisation is against this. The economy can be revived provided schemes for Manmohan Singh the poor and the downtrodden are implemented,” he opined. Regarding Kerala, he said even though its social standards are high, due diligence should be given to certain other sectors that require periodic review. he pointed out that the state is facing several hurdles that have to be overcome at a time when the global economic slowdown over the last two to three years has skyrocketed due to the pandemic. farmers Campaign Against bjp in polls Samyukt Kisan Morcha, which is leading the anti-farm law protests, will send its leaders to poll-bound states to appeal to farmers to defeat the BJP in elections Company-wise breakup Reliance Jio Bharti Airtel Vodafone Idea Quantum 488.35 MHz Total amount Quantum 355.45 MHz Total amount Quantum 11.8 MHz Total amount L57,122.65 cr L18,698.75 cr L1,993.4 cr L19,000-20,000 cr to be received by the government from spectrum auctions during the current fiscal year, with the rest to be paid later 38 degrees & soaring! State already feeling heat E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram THOUGH the Met Department has predicted a lesser rate of rise in temperature in Kerala and the rest of south India compared to other parts of the country, the state has already started feeling the heat. As per a recent forecast issued by the weatherman, the morning temperature in Kerala will be 0.51 degree Celsius below normal while the north- ern districts will see a rise of 0.8 degrees. However, the higher humidity level, especially in the coastal areas, has already made the day-time temperatures unbearable in the state. According to the Met Department, the highest day-time temperature since January has been recorded in Alappuzha, Kottayam and Kozhikode districts. On Tuesday, the maximum temperature was above normal in Alappuzha and Kozhikode districts and remained normal elsewhere in the state. However, the weatherman has predicted copious summer showers in the state from March to May . HIGHS & LOWS (in degree Celsius) 37 Vellanikkara (Thrissur) 20 (Punalur) 38 (Vellanikkara) MARCH 1 21 (Punalur) 36.2 (Kannur Airport & Ktm) Feb 28 20 (Punalur) 36.6 (Alappuzha) Feb 27 21 (Punalur) 36.5 (Punalur) Feb 26 21 (Punalur) 36.7 (Punalur) Feb 25 21 (Punalur) Highest max temp Lowest min temp MARCH 2