COIMBATORE  SATURDAY  MARCH 20, 2021  `7.00  PAGES 14  LATE CITY EDITION FLYING MAY COST MORE AS GOVT LIFTS BASE FARE BAND ATF PRICE RISE IS THE REASON, SAYS PURI “There has been a continuous rise in price of ATF, so it has been decided to increase the lower fare band keeping the upper fare band unchanged,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted on Friday. DGCA had on May 21, 2020, announced seven bands of ticket pricing based on flight duration. The first band was for flights that don’t take more than 40 minutes The Centre has extended domestic fare bands brought in May 2020 till April-end, but decided to hike the lower fares by 5% SECOND HIKE IN OVER A MONTH ■ ■ ■ The lower limit for the first band was `2,000, which will now change to 2,100 while the ceiling will remain at `6,000 This is the second time the government has raised fare limits for domestic airlines. The first hike was in February this year No. of flights airlines can fly remains 80% of their pre-Covid levels 100% FLIGHT OPERATIONS WILL BE ALLOWED WHEN DAILY PASSENGER TRAFFIC CROSSES 3.5 LAKH 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 Lok Sabha passes Bill to group seven TN sub-sects MANUFACTURING SECTOR SPARED EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi THE Lok Sabha on Friday passed with a voice vote the “Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order (Amendment) Bill, 2021, that seeks to club seven communities of specified districts in Tamil Nadu. The legislative proposal provides for a common classification by the name of ‘Devendrakula Velalars’, which will include “Devendrakulathan, Kalladi, Kudumban, Pallan, Pannadi, Vathiriyam, and Kadaiyan in specified regions of Tamil Nadu”. With the Bill providing a common classification for the seven sub-sects, their separate entries will be removed subsequently, said Thawar Chand Gehlot, Union Minister for Social Justice. He admitted that the categorisation was done in 1950 on the basis of their respective socio-economic situations, leaving some out of the purview in a few districts. Interestingly, no MP from the State was present in the House during the proceedings. Other members briefly discussed it and raised demands to remove similar anomalies in their respective States. BJP MP Sunita Duggal shed historical perspective behind the need for such a classification, saying that they have been the victims of the British policy of “Divide and Rule”. The legislative proposal was supported by MPs cutting across party lines, with the common refrain that the Bill fulfils aspirations of people of the seven sub-castes who have suffered social discrimination for decades. Earlier, we were able to contain it, but now the virus is exploding. People should come forward and take the vaccine. We are also planning to increase vaccination centres in Maharashtra Mumbai: In government and semigovernment offices, the head of the office will make the decision on staff attendance. However, the manufacturing sector can function at full steam, but should increase work shifts so that social distance and Covid-19 protocols are maintained, the circular issued by the Maharashtra government read A worker collects a swab sample from a resident of Dharavi, in Mumbai on Friday | PTI Theatres and all private offices in Maharashtra to operate at 50% capacity; locking down option on table, says Uddhav; Punjab, too, announces curbs; lockdown in three MP cities Maha mess with highest ever daily spike, further clampdown imposed S U M I S U K A N YA D U T TA , S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I A N D H A R P R E E T B A J W A @ New Delhi /Mumbai/Chandigarh Amid a explosion of Covid-positive cases, Maharashtra and Punjab on Friday announced strict state-wide curbs and Madhya Pradesh imposed restrictions in three major cities even as the Centre expressed concerns over some states not sending samples for genetic sequencing of the virus, as directed. Covid-19 cases in the country grew by over 100% in five weeks. A total 39,726 fresh cases were registered on Friday, the highest since early December, while active cases have crossed 2.71 lakh, registering a growth of 103% since February 11. Eight states are showing an upward trajectory with Maharashtra, Punjab, , Karnataka, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh together accounting for more than 80% of the daily new cases. While a worried Centre has advised states to ramp up RT-PCR testing, a few states rushed to tighten Covid curbs. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray direct- ed that employee’s attendance in private offices be reduced to 50%. Theatres and auditoriums, too, have been asked to operate at 50% capacity till March 31. Establishments related to health and other essentials services and manufacturing sector will be, however, exempted from the curbs. The order came a day after Maharashtra reported a single-day surge of 25,833 cases, the highest ever in the state since the beginning of the pandemic. Till now, the highest count of new cases in the state was 24,896 in September last. Punjab also brought back similar restrictions. Beginning Saturday, educational institutions will remain closed till March 31, cinema halls will be allowed to function at 50% capacity and not more than 100 persons will be allowed in malls at a time. Chief Minister Amarinder Singh also appealed to the people to keep social activity to the bare minimum to break the transmission chain. Not more than 10 visitors should be entertained at home, he added. In Madhya Pradesh, lockdowns PANDEMIC ATE INTO HOUSEHOLD SAVINGS IN A BIG WAY IN Q2: RBI LIABILITIES SWELL, SAVINGS EBB 19 21  Flow of financial assets  Flow of financial liabilities  Financial savings 10.4 9.8 2.55 2.72 1.3 0.80 Q1 FY20 Q2 FY20 Q3 FY20 Q4 FY20 0.78 8.1 11.4 9.8 10.6 15.1 15.8 (% of GDP) 7.7 have been ordered in three big cities — Indore, Bhopal and Jabalpur — from Saturday 10 pm to Monday 6 am, though essential services and industries will be exempted. All schools and colleges in these cities will remain closed till March 31. MP on Friday reported 1,140 new cases, its highest this year. Uddhav said the fresh case count has gone past last year’s peak. A harsh lockdown, he added, is one of the options but as of now the government expected more discipline from the people. In Punjab, barring medical and nursing colleges, all educational institutions will remain closed. Dr K K Talwar, who heads the state government’s expert team on Covid, said the surge in cases appeared to be the result of opening of schools and colleges. The state currently has almost 40% cases in under-30 population, he added. The Centre has advised states to increase the overall share of RTPCR tests to more than 70%. The health ministry asked states to follow up on sending samples for genome testing to track virus variP9 ants of concern. Govt seeks HC bar on WhatsApp’s new privacy policy E X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi 4 THE financial distress caused by pay cuts and job losses during the pandemic may have forced Indian households to dip into their savings and borrow more to meet expenses. According to RBI data released on Friday, households’ financial savings rate dropped to 10.4% of the GDP in the JulySeptember 2020 quarter compared with 21% in the prec e d i n g q u a r t e r, t h e central bank’s preliminary estimates on household savings. While the drop appears drastic on a sequential basis, a savings rate at 10.4% is still higher than 9.8% recorded in the year-ago period. The report said Indian households appeared to be slowly going back to their pre-Covid spending habits as consumption switched from an ‘essentials only’ pattern to discretionary spending with the gradual reopening of the economy . While the report notes the change is driven by an increase in household borrowings from banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), experts say the drastic drop in income may have accentuated the process. It gives more credence to economists’ prediction that households are still maintaining consumption despite job losses and low income levels. Rising food prices in the midst of widespread economic pain could also force households to dip into their savings. According to RBI, household financial savings have moderated despite an increase in savings in the form of deposits as borrowings from banks and NBFCs have picked up. On the assets side, there was a notable fall in household savings in the form of currency — to 0.4% of GDP in Q2 from 5.3% in Q1. Similarly, household investment in mutual fund products declined to 0.3% from 1.7%, while savings in the form of insurance products moderated to 3% from 3.2% in Q1. Meanwhile, a Pew Research 1.81 S E S A S E N @ New Delhi Q1 FY21 Q2 FY21 Source: RBI report has said the Indian middle class has shrunk as the financial woes of the pandemic pushed 3.2 crore Indians into poverty. A year into the pandemic, the middle class population has shrunk to 6.6 crore from a pre-pandemic estimate of 9.9 crore, it said. THE Centre on Friday urged the Delhi High Court to restrain Facebook-owned WhatsApp from implementing its new privacy policy and terms of service that are to take effect from May 15. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology made the submission in its affidavit filed in response to a petition challenging WhatsApp’s new privacy policy . Under the new policy, users can either accept it or exit the app, but cannot opt not to share their data with other Facebook-owned or third party apps. A bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice Jasmeet Singh listed the matter for further hearing on April 20. The affidavit said India’s IT Rules impose a host of obligations on a company on the security of the data. “Notably, the Rules require a body corporate who collects, stores or otherwise deals with data to issue a privacy policy providing for certain safeguards, in addition to imposing various other obligations. The impugned privacy policy violates the 2011 Rules,” it said. EVEN IF VICTIM FALLS IN LOVE... ... POCSO offence cannot be compounded, rules HC H A R I S H M U R A L I @ Chennai SEXUAL relations with a minor is a punishable offence. But, what if the same minor grows up and says the relationship is now consensual? Does that change things? In a unique case, the Madras High Court on Friday ruled that a case filed under the Protection of Chil- Uddhav Thackeray, CM dren from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act becomes an offence against the State and is, hence, not compoundable -- even if the victim agrees for a compromise. The court was hearing the case of one Marudhupandi, who had challenged an order given by the Dharmapuri Mahila Court sentencing him to 10 years imprisonment for having sexual relations with a minor on the promise of marriage. When the appeal came up for hearing before Justice P Velmurugan, the victim, who is now a major, said she had settled the matter with the offender. She was living with him for the past four years, and wanted the order of the trial court set aside. The court, however, refused to accept her submission. It pointed out that the victim, in her statement and deposition before the trial court, had clearly stated that the accused had committed the ofCONTINUED ON: P7 fence. 1,087 FRESH CASES RECORDED IN TAMIL NADU Chennai: Tamil Nadu witnessed yet another surge in fresh Covid-19 cases on Friday as the count went past the 1,000-mark for the first time in about three months. The State reported 1,087 new cases and nine deaths on the day, taking the total caseload to 8,64,450 and the toll to 12,582. With this, the test positivity rate in the State has gone up from one per cent on March 5 to 1.4 per cent as on Friday. Chennai recorded 421 cases on the day MNM’s poll manifesto: Kamal’s ‘SEET’ to the State Assembly? EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Coimbatore ACTOR Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam has triggered a political row by promising to implement the three-language formula in the State. Both the ruling AIADMK and Opposition DMK have vehemently opposed the threelanguage formula, which is a part of Centre’s National Education Policy, saying it’s an attempt to impose Hindi in the State. In its manifesto released on Friday MNM , said Tamil would be compulsory, English would be the link-language, and another Indian language can be chosen as the third language by students in the State if the party comes to power. Interestingly in the very same , manifesto, under the title of ‘Tamil language development’, the party says it’s committed to the two-language formula. Education aside, MNM has promised to revive the economy through several measures. Addressing the media, Kamal said the manifesto was designed keeping in mind that Tamil Nadu’s outstanding debt is around `5 lakh crore. Some of the highlights in the 105-page manifesto were implementing late president APJ Abdul Kalam’s PURA (Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas) scheme in 234 constituencies, awarding a special bonus to retired government employees who were devoted at work and refused to take a bribe, rejecting Centre’s NEET and implementing Statelevel Eligibility Entrance Test (SEET) for medical admissions. The manifesto also mentioned implementing MSP for farmers as specified by MS Swaminathan report, skill development for women, assistance for single mothers, helping farmers who suffered due to Farm Bill 2020, converting the unorganised sector to organised, creating job opportunity for 50 lakh to one crore P4 youths, etc. TEACHERS WARNED OF ACTION IF THEY CHOOSE TO SHOW POLITICAL AFFINITY ON SOCIAL MEDIA Coimbatore: The School Education department on Friday instructed government school teachers and non-teaching staff, on election duty, not to criticise politicians and political parties on social media, as per the Model Code of Conduct (MCC). It also warned of departmental actions against violators. The department has further asked Chief Educational Officers (CEOs) to give instructions to teachers and other staff, and monitor their activities. Sources said the move comes after it came to the notice of the department that functionaries of a few teachers’ associations have been involved in campaigning in support of one party on WhatsApp groups. R Ramkumar, general secretary of the TN Teachers and School Protection Association, welcomed the move and said officials should take immediate action on violators. ENS