son — had recently returned to Kochi from Italy but evaded airport screening. Their callousness came to light only after health authori- tal nearby and took medicines. Their travel history came into light only after one of their relatives arrived at the taluk hospital,” said an officer of the shifted to Kottayam Government Medical College. “The health department is doing contact tracing of these cases. They arrived at the Kochi air- Rana Kapoor sent to ED custody till March 11 when Italy took the extraordinary step of putting a quarter of its population under lockdown — 16 mn people in 14 provinces P9 — to contain the virus. Georgia Croatia Saudi Arabia Philippines 1 13 12 11 10 Moldova Paraguay Serbia Togo 1 2 - 1 1 1 1 - Source: worldometers EXPRESS READ Saudi escalates oil war, prices set to fall again SHE MAKES MY DAY EVERY SINGLE DAY! WITH THIS ISSUE New Delhi: A couple linked to the Islamic State’s Khorasan module was arrested from Delhi’s Jamia Nagar on Sunday for allegedly instigating anti-CAA protests, police said. They have been identified as Jahanjeb Sami (36) and his wife Hina Bashir Beg (39), police said While International Women’s Day has just passed us by, we got the modern Indian woman to do a small experiment: We asked her to peer away from her Insta story for a second and look at the stories of the women without whom life as she knows it would come t t d till Thi THE ESSENTIAL CAMPUS DIGEST A N U R A D H A S H U K L A @ New Delhi IS couple arrested for instigating CAA stir YOUR LIFE COACH “The Arunachal Pradesh Government has decided to temporarily suspend the issuance of Protected Area Permits. The New Indian Express wishes its readers HAPPY HOLI The offices and press The The offices and press ofof The New Indian Express will New Indian Express will remain closed remain closed on March 28 March 09 and 29 on account HOLI. and 10 on account of HOLI. Therefore, there will be Therefore, there will no issues dated be no issues dated March 29 and 30,2020 10 11, 2021 30 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF edex (TABLOID) THE Enforcement Directorate on SunE X P R E S S N E W S S E R V I C E @ New Delhi day arrested former Yes Bank cobhubaneswar l sunday l march 28, 2021 lare already on al late CITY EDITION OIL prices, which `8.00 l PAGES 28 founder Rana Kapoor after quizzing free fall, are set to take a deep dive him for nearly 20 hours, while the CBI on Monday as producers led by Sauinitiated probe against him for finanjunta reiterates promise to hold election militia kills nine in retaliatory strike di Arabia are gearing up for an allcial irregularities worth `4,200 crore. ■ The Karen National Union, an ethnic armed group, said it had Touted as a flashpoint, the Armed Forces Day event saw junta leader Min out price war. Among the charges are receiving aloverrun an army post near the Thai border, killing 10 people, Aung Hlaing calling the protests as acts of ‘terrorism’. In his speech, Hlaing After OPEC failed to clinch a deal leged kickbacks from corporate entiincluding a lieutenant colonel, and losing one of its fighters reiterated a promise to hold elections, without giving any time-frame. Eight with Russia on production cuts, ties for facilitating loans to them. estimated number of Protesters killed The reprisal, coinciding with the 76th Armed Forces Day, came barely ■ Skirmishes took place in Sagaing, Yangon, Mandalay and Lashio. countries — Russia, China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Laos and which would have shored up oil On Sunday, Kapoor, 62, was proso far in the military crackdown 24 hours after media warned that agitators could be shot in the head Thailand — sent representatives to the event, while Russia sent a minister A one-year-old baby was shot in the eye with a rubber bullet | P11 prices, Saudi late on Saturday duced before a holiday court in Mumslashed its official SHIVAMOgGA MANGALURU bai, where heVIJAYAWADA BENGALURU KOCHI HYDERABAD VISAKHAPATNAM COIMBATORE KOZHIKODE THIRUVANANTHAPURAM BELAGAVI BHUBANESWAR selling price for TIRUPATI TIRUCHY TIRUNELVELI SAMBALPUR HUBBALLI DHARMAPURI KOTTAYAM KANNUR VILLUPURAM KOLLAM WARANGAL TADEPALLIGUDEM NAGAPATTINAM THRISSUR KALABURAGI CHENNAI MADURAI reportedly broke down, April for all its crude grades. Saudi denying any wrongdoing. The court also decided to raise in April its prosent him to ED custody till March 11 Yes Bank founder Rana Kapoor being taken to a duction to more than 10 million barfor further questioning. Mumbai court on Sunday | PTI Bengal phaseday. rels per 1 Meanwhile, the CBI has also booked According to traders, the slump Rana Kapoor and DHFL promoter KaAll banks safe: RBI 30 constituencies* will help Asian refinin crude costs pil Wadhawan for alleged criminal (5 districts — all seats in ers improve conspiracy cheating and corruption. , RBI on Sunday reached out to people, Purulia and Jhargram their margins, battered by a d e m a n d The agency has alleged that Kapoor, allaying concerns over the financial districts; parts of West slump from the 62, entered into a criminal conspiracy health of banks , especially after theMidnapore, Bankura, Yes Polling c o ro n av i r u s with Wadhawan for extending finanBank fiasco, with the assurance that Midnapore districts) percentage East outbreak. cial assistance to Dewan Housing Fitheir money is safe and that it is closely 2016 results# On Sunday, all nance Corporation Ltd (DHFL) monitoring banks. “RBI closely monitors the seven boursthrough Yes thanin return formost migrant and hereby assures all 3% less Bank 2016 as suball the banks ■ TMC: 27 | ■ Cong: 2 es in the Gulf stantial undue benefits to himself and such ■ Left Front: 1 workers don’t return to castdepositors that there is no in anyconcern vote were in the red his family members through compaof safety of their deposits bank,” E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e charges are levied on appar# due to panic sellnies held by them. in seats where the central bank said in a tweet @ Bhubaneswar E XPR Esources said Kapoor had set up ent power (kVA) and energy polling fears off over was held that energy prices ED SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Kolkata on Saturday charges are levied on apparcould collapse. The Saudi stock about 20 shell companies, controlled A his wife Bindu and daughters RadPeople of the State will ent energy (kVAh). market, byrobust 80% voter turnout was recorded in thekickbacks collected thus Total constituencies: 294 the largest in the region, The first phase * were Voters undergo thermal of Rakhi and Roshni. . have to pay more for power Power factor penalty infell 8.3%. It was the lowest closing scanning at a polling station in Jhargram, Bengal, on Saturday | Pti ha,Assembly polls in West Bengal on Saturday The pollinginvest in properties allegedly used to was expectedto CBI’s FIR,higher but itin the name of Rana Kapoor’s wife and turned out to be consumption from April 4. centive and reliability sursince November 2017. According to be much the scam around 3% less than that of invested daughters in India The Odisha Electricity Regu- charge have been abolished. This is not the first time OPEC is started in 2018 when Yes Bankthe previous Assembly polls. as well as in the UK. Rising Covid-19 cases and the failure latory Commission (OERC) However, two pc rebate over locking horns with Russia. They `3,700 crore in short-term debentures of migrant workers probing Rana KaThe ED is also — who had left the state after public transport was thrown on Saturday approved a pow- and above normal rebate has had waged a similar market-share of the scam-hit DHFL. poor’s realty investments estimated at open return, Wadhawan allegedly —`5,000 crore. exerer tariff hike by 30 paise per been allowed on the bill to war in between 2014 and 2016 in a In following a prolonged lockdown to return to cise their franchise are the major reasonsMeanwhile, in for the drop Kapoor’s daughter unit, overall an increase of the low tension (LT) domesbid to influence US shale produc“paid kickback of `600 crore” to Kaf this is turnout. A senior TMC in the said 5.6 per cent (pc), for all cate- tic and single phase general tion ideas, and long-drawn poll process — but for land, smiling at passing vehicles poor and family membersleader form absence of migrant at the Mumbai air- a war of by slashing prices and offering Roshni was stopped not a mere more supplies to the Asian region. electoral mud- all of West Bengal, even India to with a chutzpah that’s almost workers might Urban Ventures (In- port on Sunday while she was boardgories except BPL and irri- purpose category of consumof loan to DoIThurt their chances. , “It was alleges DHFL sanctioned ing a flight to will gation consumers. ers who pay through The the usuwhen OPEC and dia). CBI expected Bengalis working in other statesLondon. Sources wrestling match oftussle endedsome extent. Dada is Suvendu breathtaking, bordering on arrosaid the al sort, Nandigram a Adhikari, her Nandigram custo- gance in a qualitative way. SuvThe revised tariff, digital means. This `600 crore loan to support us because of the hardships they she is required to thenRussia struckis deal to cut producDoIT on the basis of ED stopped her as the epicentre. It’s a placeendu and the Adhikari family faced due to the lockdown,’’ he said. in a which has been aprebate will be applition, which collapsed last Friday mortgage of sub-standard properties join the probe For money laundering name that has already Moscow turned down OPEC’s seared ithave a close relation with these an example, in 2016, Jhargram constituproved taking into cable for the current when having meagre value and by consider- case against her father. self into the farmlands of Nandigram. He is ency had from agriaccount the commonth bill if paid in proposal to poing its future conversation recorded 86% polling, but this agencies had al- pages of Indian further tighten supply The investigative litical history. But1.5 million barrels a day to councredited with spearheading the time, the land. mercial viability full. Besides, two pc by that was a cultural land to residential figure dropped to 80.55%. a lookout notice against ready issued 2018 decade ago, when it the effects of the novel coronaviBhumi Uchhed Pratirodh ComThe BJP believes and operational efrebate will be alter was an outAccording to sources, DHFL is yet toit has an upper hand. the Kapoor family lier. In 2021, mittee—now, that one committee as it had won most Parliamentary ficiency of the genlowed to all pre-paid rus. Following pay back `3,700 crore to Yes Bank. of theThe ED has already questioned hisNandigram offers a this, global price different picture — a Brent dropped over 9% on West Bengal not only ensured the chemical seats have trails of the 2019 general eration, transmisconsumers on premarker small, ED sources said theyin the region inwife Bindu and recorded statements of sharp-focused Friday to $45.27 hub planned by the then Budsion, supply and paid amount. many such deals,elections. Voting was held inandAssem- as well as Radha’s microcosmic pic- a barrel, its biggest done on a quid-pro- Radha 30 Roshni, SANTWANA ture of West Bengal politics asin 11 years. BHATTACHARYA @ Nandigram dhadeb Bhattacharya governbly basis. distribution utiliThe OERC release single-day loss quo segments out of 294 with 191 candidates in Aditya Khanna. husband the fray. it’s being played right now. ment never materialised, it virtuOver 70 lakh electorates were on the rolls to exercise their ties of the State, will said charging of tariff hike The people of Nandigram are dian-turned-challenger. ally led to the ‘uchhed’ (uprooting) franchise. The 30 seats that went to polls on Saturday income into ef fect electric vehicles will 1-50 units Suvendu may not yet have at- of the 34-year-long Left Front govdivided. Along voting lines— cluded all the 18 constituencies that had voted in the first from April 4. be treated as generTEMPLE FUNDS can be a euphemism for tained the eminence of a ‘Dada’ ernment in Bengal. In that elec`2.70 to `3 which phase in 2016, too. The tarif f has al purpose (GP) cat‘along religious lines’. They are for the larger Bengal polity, but tion and in the years that folAssam, which also went to polls on Saturday, been hiked from egory This category . 51-200 units also pulled by contrasting loyal- there’s no doubting his stature lowed, Suvendu became the Dada, recorded 76.89% tur nout in the first phase for `2.70 to `3 per unit `4.50 to `4.80 relates to the supply ties: their allegiance to ‘Dada’ and here. Anything that has happened replacing the Left’s Laxman Seth. 47 seats. Analysts attributed the high turnout to competifor one to 50 units, of power to premis201-400 units ‘Didi’. The latter needs no expla- or not happened in Nandigram It’s as if he has now come to claim tive politics. “Last time, the aspirational votes resulted in from `4.50 to `4.80 es, which are used `5.50 to `5.80 nation. state Banerjee is Didi has his stamp on ownership of the very croplands high E S S N E W S ThisVtime, it is due to theagainst it leaving `545 crore in aMamatathe letter, the Deputy Administrator it. turnout. S E R I C E @ Bhubaneswar competitive poliper unit for 51 to 200 for office, business, EXPR That’s not counting his cutouts, he once struggled to save. for not just Nandigram —Yes Bank to credit the term tics,” political analyst Akhil Ranjan Dutta of Gauhati Uniunits, from `5.50 to general purpose or of uncertainty . had asked which P9  CONTINUED ON: P9 votes in Ex- deposits in SJTA’s popping out from versity said. `5.80 per unit for 201 Over 400 units other purposes not THE Tirumala Tirupati DevasthanDocuments available with ‘The the second phase of a UCO Bank account amidst crop`5.90 to `6.20 to 400 units and covered under any ams (TTD), which manages the af- press’ show that on January 13, Dep- with the interests accrued. The flexi `5.90 to `6.20 per other category fairs of Tirumala Temple, had with- uty Administrator (Finance) of SJTA account deposits amounting to `47 unit for more than 400 where the non-domestic load drawn about `1,300 crore from its Yes wrote to Yes Bank, Puri to close the crore were withdrawn but the fixed units. exceeds 20 pc of the total Bank accounts late last year but the term deposits in six accounts. The let- deposits remained stuck. Announcing the tariff connected load. Gridco will Sri Jagannath Temple Administra- ter was issued after an instruction Going by the draft proceedings of E x p r efrom w s Se r v i c e s s N e SJTA Chief Administrator the temple managing committee, the information that some persons est Prashant Kumar Panda then were immediately arrested,” said hike, an OERC release said purchase 28,791.96 million tion (SJTA) could not. Why? @ Bhubaneswa had come to the city and were formed up for there is no change in the units power during 2021-22 In fact, term deposits of TTD had Krishan Kumar. Finance Sub Committee took four teams, who in civil- Panda. The six have been identilooking for customers Chief Administrator’s ormonthly minimum fixed and sell 27,870 million units matured in October last after which Basing on the Chief Administra- discussionto sell the ian dress went to buy the venom fied as Hrushnakar Padhiary (30) State forest officials on Satur- venom. He der to withdraw of from the persons at Acharya Vi- of Sahadevkhunta, Biswa Pradcharge, demand charge and to distribution companies. the authorities withdrew the money tor’s direction, the Deputy Adminis- alerted the officials the deposits in its day trator sent in a letter to Bhubaneswar forest 16 meeting har it Saturday han (30) of Sohela, Suraj Dash (21) meter rent. Besides, the Besides, there will be emeronly to deposit it in nationalised nabbed six persons including Yes Bank Januaryrange office. where onwas de- morning. “They took kVAh based billing has been gency power supply of 60 banks. To the contrary SJTA had a woman for the term deposits to the tune cided that `389 crore and `156 crorethe officials to Sta- of Balangir, Sanjay Mohanty (43) , ac- where allegedly trying to They contacted the kingpin of the sell of `592 crore was parked. introduced for all high ten- million units. The average tually decided to withdraw its depos- over 1.5 litre snake venom in Ofracket by posing as customers tion Square and later to Forest of Jaleswar, Shyamalendu Nayak it, `545 should not be withdrawn before their . sion (HT) and extra-high ten- power purchase cost will be its from the private bank but the the Capital city The leadfixed deposits while maturity interest to Park area where they handed (30) of Hulurisingha and JayasFi- crore was kept in was pro- and expressed their dates on March 19 and 30 videdthe rest was put in flexi accounts. In the venom. . by Suvendu Mallick of purchase respectively them over P6 bottles (750 ml mita Nayak of Balasore district. two sion (EHT) consumers. In 278.06 paise per unit for nance Sub Committee decided Snake Helpline, who received an Assistant Conservator of For- each) of venom. The peddlers CONTINUED ON: P7 CONTINUED ON: P7 kVAh billing, fixed/ demand 2021-22. 269 over 90 killed in Myanmar in bloodiest day of protest ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Bengal witnesses 80% turnout ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ 79.9% Voters Torn between Dada and didi I SJTA said withdraw, finance panel spiked it Six held with over 1.5 ltr snake venom reform dynamics The second day of the ThinkEdu Conclave saw higher education secretary Amit Khare say the Centre may alter the criteria to qualify for Institute of Eminence tag. In another session, Principal Economic Advisor Sanjeev Sanyal spoke about ego not coming in the way of fixing the flaws in reform policies | P7 WITH THIS ISSUE Chasing the Truth PLUS 12 PAGES milestone State’s first allo-BMT conducted at SCBMCH Prof RK Jena (2nd from left) and his team with Abhiram after the transplant E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Cuttack “I want to live. Don’t give up on me. Do anything. I am ready for all risks.” These very words of Abhiram Jena of Bedhapal village in Dhenkanal district proved to be the driving force for the doctors of the Clinical Haematology department of SCB Medical College and Hospital to set yet another milestone by conducting Odisha’s first allogenic bone marrow transfusion (BMT). The team on Saturday successfully conducted the procedure using stem cells from a donor, Abhiram’s sister Laxmipriya (19), giving hope of a new life to the 21-yearold youth suffering from a relapsed acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, a type of blood cancer. While the premier State-run hospital has been conducting autologous BMT since 2014, the allogenic BMT procedure marks a significant advancement in healthcare system of Odisha. In autologous BMT, a patient’s own stem cells are used, while the allogenic BMT uses stem cells from a matching donor, who can be a relative or a volunteer. Completely funded by the State government, the allogenic BMT conducted at select hospitals in the country will now be available at low costs for the patients suffering from blood cancer or other serious blood disorders. CONTINUED ON: P7 ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ Power tariff hiked by 30 paise per unit in Odisha