villupuram l thursday l april 08, 2021 l `7.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION 2 judokas test Covid +ve, team out of oly qualifier Entire 19-member judo contingent for Asia-Oceania meet in Bishkek has been quarantined. Other sports too not spared The Bhopal hospital has created a SAI ward to admit infected athletes uncertain days ahead for squad A day after one judoka contracted Covid-19, a second athlete also returned a positive test on Wednesday. As a result, all members are in isolation. The Judo Federation of India (JFI) have dialled Indian Embassy, seeking their help in flying those who tested negative back to India. Since they were not allowed to compete, India decided to pull out of the competition | P11 1 week SAI Bhopal inundated with cases ■ As many as 36 people, including 24 athletes at SAI’s Bhopal facility, test positive across two rounds of testing. Interestingly, few of the judokas in Bishkek were training in Bhopal ■ In the IPL, RCB’s Daniel Sams tested positive. ISL side Bengaluru FC also reported three positive Covid-19 tests new SAI SOP says national campers to be tested once every week 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 Sparring match on vax politicalisation Dovish RBI opts for pause on rates, flags inflation risk Maharashtra, Andhra send SOS for more stock; Centre says some states are trying to mislead and spread panic S a n a S h a k i l @ New Delhi The Centre and the Opposition -ruled states clashed over vaccine availability on Wednesday when India recorded a day’s high of 1,15,736 fresh cases, crossing the 1-lakh mark for the second time in three days. The Union health ministry came down hard on Oppositionruled states for playing “petty politics” over vaccination and stated that there is no dearth of vaccine stock, hours after Maharashtra, Delhi, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh said that they have sent SOS alerts to the Centre over Covid vaccine scarcity . “The lackadaisical attitude of the state government has singularly bogged down the entire country’s efforts to fight the virus,” Union health minister Harsh Vardhan said referring to the Thackerayled Maharashtra government. He also criticised the Congress-led government in Chhattisgarh for being ‘perhaps the only government in the world where its leaders were inciting vaccine hesitancy’ and blamed its leaders for spreading “misinformation” and “panic” re- garding vaccination. Vardhan blamed states for their alleged attempts to distract attention from their failure to manage the Covid-19 pandemic and described the allegations of vaccine shortage as “baseless”. Referring to Delhi, Maharashtra and Rajasthan governments’ demand to open vaccination for all adults, Vardhan said that the Centre has been transparently updating all the state governments about the demand-supply dynamics and the resultant jab strategy . In his letter, Harsh Vardhan also pointed to the lack of Covid-19 facilities in Rajasthan, Punjab as well as BJPruled Karnataka and Gujarat. “Many other states also need to bring their healthcare systems up to the mark. For example, the quality of testing needs to improve in Karnataka, Rajasthan and Gujarat. In Punjab, high case fatality rate needs to be improved by early identification of those needing hospitalization,” he said. Vardhan said irresponsible statements by some state functionaries were spreading panic among the people. GET the SHOT IN your OFFICE  New scheme to allow vax at govt and private workplaces  Should have about 100 eligible and willing employee beneficiaries  In districts, task force chaired by District Magistrate to identify workplace  In cities, task force headed by Municipal Commissioner to identify workplace  Beneficiary has to be 45+; Co-WIN registration must  Workplace management to designate senior staff as nodal officer to coordinate with authorities | P7 Express News Service @ New Delhi The bodies of eight Covid-19 victims placed on a single pyre due to shortage of space at a makeshift crematorium in Maharashtra’s Beed district on Tuesday | PTI Second wave heightens struggle of Tiruppur’s garment manufacturers B i n i ta J a i s w a l @ Chennai Already struggling to stay afloat due to the soaring prices of cotton yarn and a drop in export orders, Tiruppur’s garment manufacturers are worried as the second wave of the pandemic could further worsen production at their units. “Several top brands and showrooms have been shut in Europe due to the spread of Covid, so they can’t even accommodate our old orders that have been exported. This has caused a reduction in the number of new orders,” explained Tiruppur Exporters Association president Raja M Shanmugam. Besides, the high cost of yarn doesn’t let them sell their products at the prices fixed by European traders, he added. Continued on P3  3,986 new cases  1,459 are in Chennai  17 deaths  27,743 active cases  1,824 new recoveries  12,821 toll  9,11,110 tally  8,70,546 total recoveries Figure it out 1,15,736 new cases registered in 24 hours as of Wednesday morning; 96,982 cases reported on Tuesday 630 59,856 deaths reported in the last 24 hours; 446 deaths on Tuesday; cumulative toll 1,66,177 recovered on Wednesday; cumulative recoveries stand at 1,17,92,135 Alternative jab plan The Covishield that is being widely administered in India, does show rare instances of producing blood clots, so UK will offer under-30s in its country an alternative to the Oxford jab | P12 The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday kept interest rates unchanged to support g rowth but remained cautious amid risks to the economy arising from the second wave of Covid infections and high inflation. Announcing the decision to keep the policy rate at 4%, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das said the central bank will do “whatever it takes” to support economic recovery . RBI also retained its FY22 GDP growth forecast of 10.5% with the warning that re-imposition of lockdown in some states could hurt the economy . “The recent surge in infections has imparted greater uncertainty to the outlook,” Das said. “Localised and regional lockdowns could dampen the recent improvement in demand conditions and delay the return of normalcy he added. ,” Inflation remained a concern, as RBI raised its inflation forecast for Q2 and Q3 Rahul Gandhi in West Bengal? Maybe in Naxalbari T he game is going into the bloody slog overs in Bengal, but where is Rahul Gandhi? Call it a secondary mystery wrapped inside a nail-biting political thriller. It’s a missing piece of jigsaw no one seems to have much noticed—or considered—despite it having the potential to decide a cliffhanger. Now, it’s quite natural that when it comes to Bengal—the mother, or perhaps the big sister of all battles—attention has tended to be concentrated upon the primary antagonists. Like a convex lens focusing sunlight, the pitched battle of attrition between the Trinamool and the BJP has been setting off a lot of fires in the media. Who has time, then, to think about the Congress—a dwin- 72.78% Final voting rate in Tamil Nadu The final figure, which was released by the Election Commission on Wednesday, is 2.03 per cent less than it was in the 2016 Assembly polls. The polling percentage in the 2011 elections was 78.29 | P4 West Bengal SANTWANA BHATTACHARYA dling presence here, atrophying even in its old pockets of influence? If at all it gets talked about, it’s because of the curious alliance it has helped put together, the Sanjukta Morcha, which has it partnering with the Left and a party floated by an Islamic cleric. The Morcha is in play in 294 seats, but it may be tough going for them. The Congress is fighting some 92 of those, but even by its own internal estimations, the party stands a good chance of halving its tally in the state Assembly from 44 to 22. Others say even that’s optimistic, and reckon the Morcha’s overall pickings would be between 25 and 60 when play ends. But 92 seats are not piffling stakes, so the question remains: Where is Rahul? Or Priyanka Gandhi, for that matter? Even the other usual national faces of the Congress have all been conspicuous by their absence. What’s up? The standard reading is Bengal offers such a dismal picture that they are giving it a wide berth, and focused on Assam and Kerala, where they are truly in the game. But there’s also a sense that the Congress central command is uncomfortable campaigning against Mamata Banerjee. Many of the party’s UPA allies—the NCP RJD and DMK— , are outright supporting Mamata as the lone woman soldier holding out against a rampaging BJP. Even the Samajwadi Party, though not in the UPA, sent Jaya Bachchan to the battlefield—she held a press meet backing Mamata, and letting on that her party leader Akhilesh Yadav had clearly taken the West Bengal CM as a valuable anti-BJP force. So is there actually reluctance to fight the good fight? Not so, say key party insiders in New Delhi. Out in Kolkata, Rajya Sabha MP Pradip Bhattacharya, speaking while leading a padayatra for a candidate to file nomination papers, confirms that.  Continued on: P7 GST is not citizen-friendly, says SC E XPR ESS N E WS S E RVIC E @ New Delhi GOODS and Services Tax (GST) is not at all citizen-friendly ac, cording to the Supreme Court. The observation came when a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud was hearing a plea against the government’s powers of provisional attachment under the Himachal Pradesh GST Act. While reserving the order, the bench criticised the man- ner in which the indirect tax law was being enforced by authorities saying taxmen can’t assume that all businesses are fraudulent. “Parliament had aimed to give the GST a citizen-friendly tax structure. But, the purpose of the Act is lost by the manner of enforcement in our country it said on Tuesday ,” . Pulling up tax officers for raising huge demands without accountability, the bench said, “Just because you have the account numbers, you can’t start attaching and even block the receivables.” The plea was filed by Radha Krishna Industries, alleging attachment of property under Section 83 of the Act is ‘draconian’. The provision allows the tax department to attach any property (including bank accounts and accounts receivable) during the pendency of tax proceedings. ‘Cheque’Mate? Sarathkumar and Radhika sentenced to a year in prison E XPR E S S N E W S S E RVIC E @ Chennai Beating the heat As the temperature soars, these kids take a dip in the Puzhal lake in Chennai, and ensure their dog doesn’t miss out on the fun either | DEBADATTA MALLICK EXPRESS READ EC notice to Mamata for alleged violation of MCC Chennai girl Nethra set to qualify for Olympics New Delhi: The Election Commission on Wednesday issued a notice to West Bengal chief minister and TMC leader Mamata Banerjee for her alleged appeal to Muslim voters not to split their votes among different political parties. She has been asked to respond to the notice within the next 48 hours | P7 CHENNAI: Nethra Kumanan is set to become the first woman sailor to qualify for the Olympics. Nethra, taking part in the Musannah Open Championship in Oman, is placed well with just one day to go. As long as she has an incident-free final day, the Chennai girl in the Laser Radial Class will assure a place in Tokyo. E xpress E xcl u si v e Sriharikota island eroding, and Chennai’s multiple ports are at fault S V KRI S HNA CHAITANYA @ Sriharikota Sriharikota island, India’s spaceport and a critical facility , is eroding. This is partly because of the growing port infrastructure in Chennai, say coastal scientists conducting shoreline studies to understand the problem. When contacted by Express, M Srinivasulu Reddy, controller at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre (SDSC-Shar), said, “Yes, we are experiencing a little erosion, especially on the northern strip of the island. We requested scientists from the Chennai-based National Centre for Coastal Research (NCCR) to undertake studies and recommend solutions. We are yet to receive a report from them.” As for how much area of the island, which is home to ISRO’s rocket launch station, has been lost, Reddy said, “We don’t A damaged and partially-submerged bridge near Sriharikota | shiba Prasad sahu by 0.2% and 0.1% to 5.2% and 4.4%, respectively With . this, RBI is projecting inflation at 5% in FY22. RBI also committed to buy government bonds worth `1 lakh crore under ‘the secondary market government securities acquisition programme’ or G-Sap. While the RBI stance was on expected lines, experts say the focus was on supporting growth. “The RBI policy was more dovish than expected with the central bank recognising the risks associated with the rising infection cases in the county and continuing its support for growth. Fears of any premature tightening either through rates or liquidity management by some sections of the market have been put to rest by RBI’s dovish tone,” said Abheek Barua, chief economist, HDFC Bank. In another development, RBI has proposed to allow cash withdrawals from digital wallets such as Paytm and prepaid cards issued by non-bank entities.  P9 know. NCCR scientists are stud- traditional fishing villages ying it.” But as per rough esti- from the highly-guarded Srihamates, based on Google Earth rikota island. Fishermen in images and visual eviNavapetta, Monadence from the ground, palem, Kondurpalem, at least 200-300 m of Srinivasapuram, Vathe beach has been dapalem, Manjakuperoded in the past pam and Govindapaldecade. Part I of a II-part series ipalem villages say Express has visited that though there at least half a dozen villages isn’t a drastic change in the abutting Sriharikota island on coastline, “beaches are eroding the north. Only the Pulicat slowly and steadily”. Lake bar mouth separates these  Continued on P2 Actor couple Sarathkumar and Radhika have been convicted in a 2016 cheque bounce case and sentenced to a year of rigorous imprisonment. The sentence was pronounced on Wednesday by the special court for cases against MPs and MLAs. It also imposed a penalty of more than `3 crore on them, and issued a non-bailable warrant against Radhika. The issue pertains to Radiance Media Private Ltd moving a plea alleging that Magic Frames company — in which Sarathkumar, Radhika and Listin Stephen are partners — borrowed `1.50 crore. Subsequently, Sarathkumar obtained a hand loan of `50 lakh from Radiance Media, and issued five cheques of `10 lakh each in return. But when the cheques were presented for realisation, all of them bounced, said the petitioner’s counsel, Johnson. The actor couple had earlier moved the High Court challenging the criminal proceedings initiated against them at the Saidapet fast track court. But in May 2019, Justice GK Illanthiraiyan refused to quash the proceedings in two cheque-bounce cases pending against Sarathkumar, Radhika and two others. The judge also directed the fast track court in Saidapet to complete the trial within six months. Meanwhile, the case was transferred to the special court for MPs and MLAs at the Chennai Collectorate complex. When the case came up for hearing on Wednesday, the court recorded the submissions of the counsels, convicted the couple and pronounced the sentence. It also allowed a petition moved by Sarathkumar seeking a suspension of the sentence, under the condition that a surety of `50 lakh would be paid and a non-bailable warrant issued against Radhika.