KOttayam l thursday l march 11, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION lic IPO LIKELY TO BE PRICED `400-600 PER SHARE: SOURCES The government is expecting to mop up K1 lakh crore from the Life Insurance Corporation IPO, first internal valuation shows Price band unlikely to change, says FinMin Authorised capital to be increased A finance ministry official told TNIE that the price band of LIC’s initial public offering was estimated keeping in mind the current market condition, including the downside risk factors. “Unless there is a big disruption, the IPO will be in the same price range, even with some downside risk. The final report is likely in July this year,” the official added ■ The Centre has already proposed raising LIC’s authorised capital to C25,000 crore. IPO is expected by the 3rd quarter of FY22 ■ Chief Economic Advisor K V Subramanian had earlier said 6-7% of LIC could be sold. The government plans to hold at least 75% in LIC’s equity for the first five years even after the IPO 10% oF THE i.p.o. ISSUE SIZE IS LIKELY TO BE RESERVED FOR L.I.C. POLICYHOLDERS 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 33 MLAs out, 38 freshers in. CPM sticks to plan Chacko quits and Murali skulks, Cong plunges into chaos Party’s list disregards voices of dissent, 8 ministers including Pinarayi to try luck list is out 83 of the 85 candidates announced by CPM. Candidates of Manjeshwar and Devikulam to be announced later CM Pinarayi Vijayan to contest from Dharmadom 12 woman candidates, including ministers K K Shailaja and J Mercykutty Amma 23 4 sitting candidates MLAs figure below the in the list age of 30 9 party-backed independents 24 above 60 E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ T’Puram Disregarding voices of dissent within the party, the CPM on Wednesday announced its candidates for the assembly elections. Eight ministers in the current cabinet, including Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, are among 23 sitting MLAs who have found a place in the list of candidates released for 83 of the 85 seats where CPM members or party-supported independents will be contesting. Interestingly, 33 sitting MLAs — including five ministers — are not in the fray In. stead, 38 fresh faces are set to contest. Eight state secretariat members too are in the list. Candidates for Manjeswar, where local party units raised opposition over the choice of K R Jayananda, and Devikulam will be announced later. Party state secretary-in-charge A Vijayaraghavan said various winning factors forced the party to stick to its stand and efforts will be taken to convince the workers who have concerns over certain candidates. Nine are party-backed independents including Higher Education Minister K T Jaleel, who will contest from Thavanoor. The prominent names missing are Finance Minister Thomas Isaac, Public Works Minister G Sudhakaran and Industries Minister E P Jayarajan, keeping in tune with the CPM state secretariat decision not to consider those who had contested and won for two consecutive terms. Despite stiff opposition from local cadre, CITU leader P Nandakumar will contest from Ponnani. Similar is the case with the Kuttiyadi seat, which the state leadership decided to give to the new ally, Kerala Con● More on P4 gress (M).  CPM activists and local leaders take out a protest march at Kuttiyadi in Kozhikode on Wednesday | T P Sooraj Protesters take out march, warn CPM: We are not responsible if party loses A M IYA M E E THA L @ Kozhikode Holding red flags and shouting slogans recalling the valiant history of the Communist party in the Vadakara region, close to thousand CPM workers took out a protest march at Kuttiyadi on Wednesday evening to vent their anger against the party decision to allocate the seat to its new ally , Kerala Congress (M). The second protest march in 48 hours, led by the local and hospitalised Expert panel gives Covaxin the thumbs up E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The subject expert committee of the Central Drugs Standard Control Org anisation on Wednesday recommended that Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin no longer needs to be administered under the ‘clinical trial’ mode. According to sources, the committee took the decision after taking into account the interim analysis of phase 3 clinical trails submitted by the firm. If the vaccine is taken off clinical trial mode, beneficiaries will not have to sign a consent form for taking the jab. “The recommendations of the SEC have been submitted to the Drug Controller General of India and the final decision is likely soon, “ said a source. The Hyderabad-based vaccine maker a few days ago had said its Covid19 vaccine had shown 81% efficacy in latestage trials. The DGCI had said it could be rolled out only in clinical trial mode. Mamata injures foot on campaign trail, sees plot E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kolkata West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday suffered a leg injury when she was boarding her car in Nandigram, as its door was allegedly intentionally slammed against her left foot by four-five persons amid lax security. She cancelled her plan to stay overnight in Nandigram and returned to Kolkata. The incident happened hours after she filed her nomination papers for the Assembly elections from Nandigram. The Election Commission of India has sought a full report. The ‘attack’ took place when Mamata came out of a local temple and was about the board her car. “She sat on the seat beside the driver. Suddenly, four to five men reached near the car overpowering her Z-plus security personnel and slammed the door before she could place her left foot inside the car,’’ said a party leader accompanying the CM. Mamata alleged there was no security arrangement by A videograb of CM Mamata Banerjee holding her injured foot in Nandigram on Wednesday | PTI the local police. ‘’Police were not there. The superintendent of police was not seen there. There were four to five men who slammed the door deliberately before I could sit properly I suspect the in. cident was a fallout of a conspiracy. My leg is swollen and I am having unbearable pain,” she said. Upon reaching Kolkata, she was taken directly to the state-run SSKM hospital and a five-member medical board was set up to oversee her health parameters. Governor Jagdeep Dhankar called on Mamata at the hospital amid ‘’go back’’ slogans. Day after lodging complaint about minor daughter’s rape, UP man dies in ‘accident’ N A M ITA B AJPAI @ Lucknow The father of a minor girl, who was allegedly gangraped by four men in UP’s Kanpur district, was killed after he was hit by an unidentified truck on Wednesday Express. ing doubts about the accident, which came a day after they lodged a complaint about the rape, the girl’s family said the accused could be behind it. They pointed out that the fa- ther of one of the accused is a police official. According to Kanpur police sources, the man met with the accident outside the hospital where his daughter was taken for a medical examination. “The accident took place when the medical examination of the victim was underway and the father stepped out for a cup of tea. After some time, we got to know that he was hit by a truck. He was im- the state unit and inefficient AICC leadership. If several party supporters Despite these setbacks, the thought the Congress would KPCC leadership expressed the have a smooth sailing hope that the talks, conChacko in the run-up to the astinuing since Monday blames sembly elections for a evening, with the AIgroupism change this time after CC’s candidate screenthe impressive Aishing committee could be Senior warya Kerala Yatra Congress leader completed by Thursday and strong intervenand pass on the recomP C Chacko tion by AICC, it plunged resigned from mended nominee list to i n t o c h a o s o n the party citing the central election Wednesday . committee headed by neglect, First, K MuraleedhaCongress president Sofactionalism ran, MP, skulked for nia Gandhi. and an inept the second day from a The AICC leadership central breakfast meeting of is learnt to have asked leadership in Congress MPs with top Ramesh Chennithala the party. state leaders in New and Oommen Chandy Delhi. Then by afterwhether they would noon, four-time Lok Sabtake up the challenge to ha member P C Chacko contest from difficult seats announced his resignalike Nemom, Vattition from the party, yoorkavu or Kazhakciting groupism in oottam.  ● More on P4 C y n t h i a C h a n d r a n @T’Puram mediately taken to a hospital, but was declared brought dead. We have filed an accident case and are probing,” said DIG Preetinder Singh. The truck driver and one of the rape accused have been arrested, he added. After the accident, locals blocked the Kanpur-Sagar highway for five hours demanding a swift action. UP CM Yogi Adityanath announced `5 lakh to the girl’s family . branch committee members, shook the rank and file of the party and gave the CPM leadership the jitters. The party will be keen to ensure the stir does not have its ripple effect on other constituencies in the district. “We are not responsible if the party loses in Vadakara and Nadapuram,” war ned the marching protesters, who included women and children. Unlike Monday’s march, the protesters neither demanded K P Kunjammadkutty as their candidate nor held placards carrying his image on Wednesday. Their  only demand is: Field a CPM candidate. “This protest is not against the CPM or the Left front. We need a CPM candidate from Kuttiyadi to contest. The constituency is a red bastion and many martyrs had laid down their lives for the cause of the party From 1987, CPM has held . this seat except last year,” said Kuttiyadi local committee member K K Gireesh. ● More on P4  KC(M) releases list, Jose to contest from Pala BJP keeping close watch on UDF list: Surendran Kottayam: After hectic rounds of discussions, Kerala Congress (M) declared its final list of candidates for the assembly elections, except Kuttiyadi, late on Wednesday. Party chief Jose K Mani will contest from Pala constituency. T’Puram: BJP state chief K Surendran, who was in Konni constituency in Pathanamthitta on Wednesday, said the party’s probables have been shortlisted but it was also keeping a close eye on the candidate list of the UDF. Another Rawat gets into the hot seat V i nee t U pa d h yay @ Dehradun With the BJP springing a surprise by asking Lok Sabha member Tirath Singh Rawat to take over the new Uttarakhand chief minister, he has the onerous task of cleaning up the mess created by his predecessor Trivendra Singh Rawat, despite having little legroom and the Assembly elections less that a year away . On the flip side, Tirath knows Uttarakhand’s politics insideout as he did a stint as the state unit chief of the party and is credited with its 2014 Lok Sabha performance. He also has a clean image and is considered express read Vinodini fails to turn up at customs office Kochi: CPM leader Kodiyeri Balakrishnan’s wife Vinodini, who was summoned by the customs probing the dollar smuggling case, did not turn up for interrogation on Wednesday. The central agency will issue a fresh notice to appear for quizzing. Khattar govt wins trust vote easily Chandigarh: The BJP-led government in Haryana survived the floor test on Wednesday, defeating the no-trust motion moved by the Congress. The motion was defeated following division of votes. DoT tweaks norms to check Chinese goods New Delhi: In a move to preclude sourcing of Chinese equipment by Indian telcos, the Centre on Wednesday amended the telecom licence norms by including a clause mandating the use of trusted products in networks in future. However, it will not affect the equipment already in use, DoT said | P10 close to the top leadership of the party, including Union home minister Amit Shah. However, since the last budget of the state government has already been passed, there is not much in terms of policy he can do to redeem the situation before Assemblypolls in 2022, political experts said. What’s doable though is to pacify the dissenters, reverse some of Trivendra’s unpopular decisions such as the Char Dham Shrine Board and the formation of the Gairsain commissionary, tighten the bureaucracy and run a fair and efficient government. Since Tirath alone was ad- Tirath Singh Rawat Anti-incumbency Electoral activity will start in November-December, which leaves Tirath little time to shake off anti-incumbency. No party in Uttarakhand has got a consecutive mandate to rule so far ‘Maoist Velmurugan died of 44 injuries, was fired at from all sides’ E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kalpetta A Velmurugan, CPI (Maoist) leader who was shot by Thunderbolt commandos and police in Wayanad forest, died due to the 44 injuries caused by bullets fired from long range, reveals the postmortem report. Theni native Velmurugan, 33, was killed on November 3 last year near Meenmutti in Padinjarathara forest. Firearm injuries in the chest and abdomen involving the heart, lungs, liver, kidneys and intestines have been cited in the report. The autopsy report says though all 44 injuries were fresh and caused before the death, the fractures in both thighs had occurred after the death and were not caused by firearms. There were rice particles in the stomach. The time of death was not mentioned in the report, which was presented on November 11, as the body was refrigerated. Meanwhile, human rights activists allege that the postmortem report shows that Velmurugan’s death was in a fake encounter. “The report reveals a unilateral attack from the police force. Bullets pierced the body from the front, back and on the sides which showed that Murugan was encircled and fired at. The fractured thighs indicate the deceased was tortured eve n a f t e r d e a t h which is brutal,” alleged C P Rasheed, secretary, Janakeeya Manushyavakasha Prasthanam. “The time of death was not mentioned. The presence of rice in the stomach indicates that Velmurugan was attacked while having food,” added Rasheed. The rights activists also alleged that the magisterial inquiry was carried out by a judicial magistrate which is against the Supreme Court guidelines. ministered the oath of office on Wednesday, the first challenge is to pick a balanced council of ministers. There was discontent within the party over giving major berths to Congress defectors in the outgoing ministry At least 10 new . faces are expected to be inducted into the new ministry . “He has to act on four fronts — cabinet composition, budget and finances, Covid vaccination drive, and deal with the unpopular decisions of his predecessor — in less than an year,” said Rahul Shekhawat, a Dehradun-based analyst. Ironically Tirath was denied , a ticket in the 2017 state polls. Spikes at Delhi border to check future violence: MHA SA N A SHA K I L @ New Delhi The Centre on Wednesday defended its decision to install spikes at the Delhi-UP border, saying it is to prevent a repeat of the Republic Day violence by agitating farmers. “The barricades at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border were strengthened to prevent any possible repeat of the conduct displayed on January 26,” Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said in the Rajya Sabha. The minister claimed no road was dug up at Delhi borders in view of far mers’ agitation. Thousands of protesters had clashed with police near Delhi’s ITO during the tractor parade on January 26, with a section storming the Red Fort and clashing with security. Over 300 police personnel were injured during the chaos. The minister said the Sanyukt Kisan Morcha, a forum representing 40 farmer unions, broke barricades on Republic Day .