BENGALURU  SATURDAY  MAY 14, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 32  LATE CITY EDITION ELON MUSK PUTS ON HOLD $44-BILLION TWITTER DEAL The billionaire said his plan is on hold till he gets to know the exact number of fake accounts on the social media platform SEEKS VERIFIABLE DATA ON SPAM BOTS “Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,’ Musk said, indicating he doesn’t believe the number. Musk has been vocal about his desire to rid Twitter of ‘spam bots’ that mimic real people and appeared to question whether the company was underreporting them | P20 ■ $1 billion BID TO BEAT DOWN PLATFORM’S COST? ■ Twitter shares fell 20% on Friday but regained some ground after Musk clarified that he is still committed to the deal Analysts believe Musk is trying to seek a lower price for Twitter, whose market value has eroded considerably of late. He had waived due diligence on April 25 when he offered to buy it THE BREAK-UP FEE MUSK HAS TO PAY TWITTER IF HE BACKS OFF FROM THE DEAL CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA ■ BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOGGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI 60 rescued PTI Some people, including women, jumped from the windows of first and second floors to escape the raging fire, sources said At least 27 killed in massive fire in Delhi’s Mundka EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi AT least 27 people were killed and 40 others sustained burns as a massive fire ripped through a three-storey commercial building near Mundka metro station in Delhi on Friday . `2 lakh Ex-gratia for families of deceased; B50,000 for injured Confirming the number of deaths, the Delhi Fire Services said the search was still on as more people were feared trapped inside the building. The bodies were not identified at the time of going to press. “It was a massive fire. So far, we have recovered 26 bodies. 50% posts to U-50 is distilled chintan Much of PK’s prescriptions for Cong revival would find place in its Udaipur Declaration The Congress used PK’s first slide of his presentation as one of its main Mahatma Gandhi quotes on banners and hoardings at the venue. The quote read: “the Indian National Congress… cannot be allowed to die, it can only die with the nation.” His proposals to create new party positions, build in-house election machinery and set up a parliamentary board will feature in Udaipur Declaration Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressing delegates at the Chintan Shivir in Udaipur on Friday. Mark the faux pas on the Dandi March picture in the backdrop. It is in reverse. Also check out the new party logo | PTI | P9 S H A H I D F A R I D I @ Udaipur THE shadow of election strategist Prashant Kishor loomed large over the Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir of the Congress that began here on Friday . For, the Udaipur Declaration the party will release at the conclusion of the brainstorming camp, will be dominated by ideas put forward by Kishor in his presentation at Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s residence last month. The party will announce setting up an in-house election machinery that would conduct surveys and handle all electionrelated work. This was one of Kishor’s suggestions. He was, in fact, keen on heading this election machinery/department as a general secretary. Sources said that was one reason why others pushed back against his induction, as they felt that post would make all other general secretaries redundant since they would have little role in candidate selection, campaign and funding. Kishor had also strongly criticised the Congress’ “jaded and aged leadership” and advocated induction of youth at all levels for better connect with the young population. The party has decided to reserve 50% of all party posts for leaders under the age of 50 years. This would be one of the landmark decisions that would bring in a large number of young Congressmen to the fore. Kishor’s criticism of the party for rewarding unelected sycophants and thereby turning itself into non-democratic organisation has also been paid heed to. The party has decided to hold elections at all levels and have fixed tenures for office bearers. Another of his key suggestions was on promoting inclusive representation with regard to gender and social groups. The Congress has reportedly accepted this proposal too. The party has announced that it would create more organisational units between the booth and the block. This would create a large number of new party functionaries and leaders. It is in line with Kishor’s idea of creating an additional “15,000 grassroots leaders… and foot soldiers”. The party has also reportedly decided to set up a parliamentary board to work on strategies to corner the government on people’s issues in Parliament. The board would also work on creating Opposition synergy in Parliament, which could result into electoral alliances. Setting it up was also one of Kishor’s ideas. All bodies were found charred,” said Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg earlier. He said the fire department received information about the blaze at 4:40 pm following which 25 fire tenders were rushed to the spot. Police also arrived following a PCR call around the same time. Police officials broke the windows of the burning building and rescued people. Sources said the fire started from the office of a CCTV camera manufacturing company on the first floor. The owner of the company has been taken into custody . ACID ATTACK ACCUSED NAGESH HELD IN TN EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ Bengaluru SIXTEEN days after the gruesome acid attack on a 21-year old woman in Kamakshipalya police limits, the Bengaluru city police on Friday arrested the accused, Nagesh alias Babu, from Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu, where he was staying disguised as a priest. Nagesh had moved to Tiruvannamalai immediately after committing the crime and was staying there for the last two weeks to evade arrest. City Police Commissioner Kamal Pant is holding a media briefing on Saturday to reveal more details about the operation that led to Nagesh’s arrest. Based on a tipoff, Nagesh (27) was nabbed around 3 pm on Friday and a team of policemen had posed as devotees to con- A video grab of Nagesh being arrested near a temple at Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu on Friday firm the identity Nagesh before taking him into custody a sen, ior police officer told TNIE. “Of the seven special teams formed, two had gone to Tamil Nadu and were checking all religious places for his presence,” P3 the officer said. Ride market volatility with Balanced Advantage Funds. Give your portfolio a dynamic mix of equity and debt. Funds in the Balanced Advantage category aim to offer optimum market linked returns while helping you manage market volatility. Diversify your investments with Balanced Advantage Funds Contact your MFD/RIA. Visit https://www.hdfcfund.com/information/key-know-how to know more about the process to complete a one-time Know Your Customer (KYC) requirement to invest in Mutual Funds. 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