kozhikode l saturday l may 14, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 | P12 ■ $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 Teacher sexually abuses primary school children for 25 yrs, in police net in a Facebook post. He wrote it as a response to a post by KuA retired teacher, who alleg- mar about the ‘grand farewell’ edly sexually abused primary accorded to him by the school school students for nearly 25 on March 31. In his post, Kuyears, landed in police net on mar had portrayed himself as Friday after an alum‘an ideal teacher’. The nus of the school called alumnus alleged he him out on social mehad abused students dia and a group of surfor about 25 years. vivors joined forces to Soon, many former file a complaint. students shared their Sasi Kumar K V, a ordeal too, triggering CPM leader and couna #MeToo campaign. cillor with the MalapThe complaint was puram municipality, lodged with the had gone absconding CPM suspends Malappuram police on Kumar after the police May 7. “Sasi Kumar joined charged a Pocso case The shocking case against him following came to light after the school in 1984, in the upper primary secthe complaint filed by a school alumnus 50 alumni members of called Sasi Kumar K V tion. What we gauge from the various comSt Gemma’s GHSS in out on Facebook plaints received Malappuram. Kumar 50 alumni members against him is that he had worked as a teachcame forward to file might have abused his er for 38 years at the a complaint students sexually for school before retiring about 25 years. He was on March 31 this year. General Education He was taken into cus- Minister V Sivankutty popular and was into orders probe co-curricular activities tody from a homestay as well. Five-six stuat Muthanga in Wayanad. He quit as councillor after dents in each class used to face his abuse,” alleged Beena Pillai, the case was registered. The shocking case came to who passed out of the school in the light when an alumnus 1988 but not taught by Kumar.  ● More on P4 from Manjeri called Kumar out  A m i ya Mee t h a l @ Kozhikode 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 positions, build in-house election machinery and set up a parliamentary board will feature in Udaipur Congress president Sonia Gandhi addressing delegates at the chintan shivir in Udaipur on Friday. Mark the faux pas on the Dandi march picture on the backdrop. It is in reverse. Also check out the new party logo | PTI | P7 S h a h i d Fa 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 rea- son 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. 3 yrs after boy killed, dad’s death too proves to be murder N e j m a S u l a i m an @Idukki Three years after a seven-yearold boy was beaten to death by his mother’s live-in partner at Kumaramangalam in Thodupuzha, the re-postmortem report of his father who died in 2018 revealed that he was strangled to death. According to initial reports, Thiruvananthapuram native Biju had died of a heart attack in 2018. Following this, his wife started living with Arun Anand, a resident of Nathencode, Kowdiar in Thiruvananthapuram and Biju’s cousin, with her two sons in Kumaramangalam. However, a year after Biju’s death, Arun Anand was arrested by the Thodupuzha police for al- legedly beating Biju’s elder son severely in March 2019. The boy, after battling for life at the Kolenchery MOSC Medical College Hospital for nine days, succumbed to injuries on April 6, 2019. Following this, Biju’s relatives expressed their suspicion in Biju’s death as well and as per their request, the Idukki crime branch launched a probe. Although Biju’s death in his wife’s house in Thiruvananthapuram was initially thought to be due to heart attack as per the postmortem report, the repostmortem examination which was conducted in 2019, after his relatives raised doubts in view of his elder son’s unnatural death, revealed that his death was also a murder.  ● More on P4 express read SC rejects petition to postpone NEET-PG UAE prez Sheikh Khalifa passes away at 73 At least 20 killed, several others injured in massive Delhi fire New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking postponement of NEET-PG 2022, scheduled to be held on May 21, saying delaying it would cause hardship to over 2 lakh doctors who have registered and prepared for the test. Dubai: UAE’s long-ailing President and ruler of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan passed away on Friday. He was 73. The ministry announced suspension of work in all ministries and the private sector for three days beginning on Friday. P9 New Delhi: At least 20 people were killed and many others injured as a massive fire ripped through a three-storey commercial building near Mundka metro station in Delhi on Friday evening. Around 70 people have reportedly been rescued from the building (see pic). “So far, we have recovered 20 bodies from the first and second floor,” said Delhi Fire Services chief Atul Garg. Ride market volatility with Balanced Advantage Funds. Union govt allows state to borrow `5,000 cr 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. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e Balanced Advantage Funds Diversify your investments with @ T’Puram The Centre on Friday allowed Kerala to avail a borrowing of `5,000 crore on an ad hoc basis. The decision will allow state to mobilise up to `4,000 crore through RBI-issued bonds this month itself, through two or three instalments. This will resolve the crisis the state has been facing for the last six weeks due to the delay in obtaining Union finance ministry’s permission for borrowings. Sources said the ad-hoc borrowing was sanctioned by the Centre with a condition that the amount will be adjusted when the issue of net borrowing ceiling is addressed. The Centre is of the view that off budget borrowings through Special Purpose Vehicles like KIIFB should also be included in the sanctioned borrowing limit of the state. Earlier this month, the state stoutly defended its off budget borrowings and told the Centre it too raised funds beyond the purview o f t h e U n i o n bu d g e t through NHAI and FCI bonds. The state made the contention while replying to the finance ministry’s query about the state crossing the net borrowing ceil● More on P4 ing.  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. Investors should only deal with registered Mutual Funds, details of which can be verified on the SEBI website (www.sebi.gov.in/intermediaries.html). For any queries, complaints & grievance redressal, investors may reach out to the AMCs and/or Investor Relations Officers. Additionally, investors may also lodge complaints on https://scores.gov.in if they are unsatisfied with the resolutions given by AMCs. SCORES portal facilitates investors to lodge complaint online with SEBI and subsequently view its status. An Investor Education Initiative by Mutual Fund investments are subject to market risks, read all scheme related documents carefully.