CHENNAI  SATURDAY  MAY 14, 2022  `9.00  PAGES 22  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 | P18 ■ $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 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 who lost their lives; `50,000 for injured Do not push Hindi via NEP, says min; Guv denies charge subject. There are two languag@ Coimbatore es in the State, English, an inter national language, and SHARING the stage with Gov- Tamil, the mother tongue of ernor R N Ravi at the 37th Bhar- the State. It is enough. We are athiar University convocation ready to adopt good principles held on Friday, State Higher in the new education policy. Education Minister K Ponmudi That’s why the CM has formed asserted that Tamil a committee to formuNadu will continue late State’s own educawith its two-language tion policy the minis,” policy and Hindi ter said. Taking a dig should not be imposed at those who insist that through the new edujobs will be available cation policy Governor . for those who learn RN Ravi, who spoke afHindi, the minister ter him, said some peosaid, “Some people say RN Ravi ple are creating an imthat if you learn Hindi, pression that the Centre is you can get a job. See who is imposing a language on Tamil selling pani-puri in CoimbatNadu, which is not correct. ore.” Ponmudi said he used the “We are not against any lan- platform to highlight Tamil guage. Those who like to learn Nadu’s sentiments on the lanHindi can learn Hindi. But it guage issue as the Governor should be optional and Hindi would convey them to the CenCONTINUED ON: P7 should not be a compulsory tre. EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE At least 27 killed in massive fire in Delhi’s Mundka 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. 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 . 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 on the backdrop. It is in reverse. Also check out the new party logo | PTI | P11 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. 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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