Manchester City’s German midfielder Ilkay Gundogan (centre) celebrates with teammates after scoring his team’s third goal | afp chennai l monday l may 23, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION mAN CITY champions, no quadruple for liverpool INCREDIBLE COMEBACK TO SEAL TITLE Man City showed the heart of champions to post a fighting win on Sunday, denying their rivals the top prize by one point DOMINANT RUN: fOURTH IN FIVE YEARS Man City were in a precarious position at one stage, tailing by two goals until the 76th minute. However, they mounted an incredible comeback, netting three goals within the space of six minutes to take the lead and clinch the title. Substitute Ilkay Gundogan was the hero of the match with two goals. Liverpool beat Wolves 3-1 but that was not enough ■ ■ This is Manchester City’s fourth Premier League title in five years Sunday’s title for City means Liverpool are out of the running for the quadruple — four major titles in a season. Liverpool had already won two and were in the running for two more (Premier League & Champions League) until Sunday’s matches | P11 93 TOTAL POINTS CITY GARNERED IN THE SEASON. lIVERPOOL HIT 92 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 Unreasonable to ask States to reduce VAT on fuel: PTR Karthik, Umran set for SA test With the T20 World Cup in Australia coming up in October 2022, the next few months are crucial in understanding how India are going to approach the global event. As the squad for the T20Is against South Africa was named, a look at the key talking points… Newcomer TN Fin Min slams Centre for only partially cutting taxes levied from ’14 E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Chennai A day after Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced duty cut of `8 per litre on petrol and `6 per litre on diesel, and urged all States to follow suit, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Palanivel Thiaga Rajan on Sunday rul, ing out any cuts by the State government, said it is unreasonable to expect States to reduce VAT (Value-Added Tax) when the Centre has only partially reduced the taxes it has imposed since 2014. The central tax rate continues to be high compared to 2014, and it is not reasonable on the part of the Centre to increase taxes several times without consultation with States and expect them to reduce it now, Thiaga Rajan said. According to a senior Tamil Nadu finance department official, value-added taxes are calculated on ad valorem basis and any cut in fuel price by the Centre will automatically reduce the quantum of revenue generated under State tax. The Centre, this time, has reduced the tax component under road and infrastructure cess Current rate and not the basic excise duty higher than of which 41% is shared with that in 2014 States. The loss to TN because Citing the of the current tax cut is Centre’s taxes pegged at around `800 crore per litre of petrol per year, the officer said. (`9.48) and The minister, in a social diesel (`3.57) in media post, clarified that the 2014, the finance State VAT is a percentage of minister said the tax on the total fuel price (incurrent rates cluding central taxes). It is were still higher 13% for petrol and 11% for by `10.42 per diesel. Hence, if the Centre litre for petrol cuts the fuel price by `1, State and `12.23 per taxes will fall by 13 paise for litre for diesel each litre of petrol and 11 paise for diesel per litre, he said. “It is heartening to note that the Union government has finally heeded to the repeated requests of the Tamil Nadu government to reduce the taxes on petrol and diesel, which were egregiously increased from 2014 to 2021,” Thiaga Rajan had tweeted. In a statement on Sunday, the FM said MK Stalin-led DMK government had cut VAT in August 2021 to reduce price of petrol by `3 per litre despite inheriting a precarious fiscal position from the previous government and incurring additional expenses towards Covid relief, he said. continued on: P4 Cess cut, no revenue impact on states, says Sitharaman A day after the Union government slashed central excise duty on fuel, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Sunday said its entire burden will be borne by the Centre as the reduction has been made in the Road and Infrastructure Cess, which is not shared with the states. Excise duty on petrol and diesel has four components — Basic excise duty , Special Additional excise duty (SAED), Road and Infrastructure Cess (RIC) and Agriculture and Infrastructure Development Cess (AIDC). Basic excise duty is sharable with states but SAED, RIC & AIDC are non-sharable, so states will not suffer any revCentre to enue loss, Sitharaman said in take `2.2 L cr a series of tweets. hit in a year “The excise duty reduction Saturday’s excise of `8/litre on petrol and `6/ duty cut would litre on diesel (effective from cost the Centre today) has entirely been made `1 lakh crore per in Road & Infrastructure Cess annum. Revenue (RIC). Even in November ’21, implication of the reduction of `5/litre in the duty cut in petrol and `10/litre in diesel November 2021 was entirely made in RIC,” was `1.2 lakh she added. crore. So, total Sitharaman also juxtapose revenue loss is the development expenditure `2.2 lakh crore, incurred by the Modi governSitharaman said ment so far (2014-2022) as against the UPA (2004-2014), saying the figures were `90.9 lakh crore and `49.2 lakh crore, respectively The Modi govern. ment spent `24.85 lakh crore on food, fuel and fertiliser subsidies and `26.3 lakh crore on capital creation, while only `13.9 lakh crore was spent on subsidies during UPA rule, she said. Meanwhile, Maharashtra on Sunday joined the list of a few states that cut value added tax (VAT) on petrol (by `2.08) and diesel (`1.44). Kerala had on Saturday cut the state tax on petrol and diesel by `2.41 and `1.36, respectively Rajas. than will reduce VAT by `2.48 on petrol and `1.16 on diesel. Y e s h i Sel i @ New Delhi Narendra Modi Comeback men As expected, Dinesh Karthik and Hardik Pandya made their way back to the team after some impressive performances in the ongoing IPL. While Hardik led Gujarat Titans from the front as they finished at the top of the points table in the league stage, with 287 runs at a strike rate of 191.33, Karthik has literally smashed his way into the squad E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Modi leaves for Quad Summit in Japan, bilateral talks with Biden also lined up Prime Minister Narendra Modi and US President Joe Biden will have a bilateral meeting in Tokyo on the sidelines of the Quad Summit, both sides confirmed on Sunday . “In addition to the Quad, President Biden will have a distinct bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Modi. It won’t be part of the formal agenda of Quad, but significant security issues in the Indo-Pacific will come up and all of the Quad members also share an interest in peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” said US National Security Advisor Jake Having rattled enough batters across teams in the IPL, Jammu & Kashmir pacer Umran Malik and Punjab’s Arshdeep Singh have earned their maiden call-up to the Indian T20I side. While Umran made a name for himself with his express pace, sharp bouncers and yorkers at SRH (21 wickets till Sunday), Arshdeep, the 2018 U-19 World Cup winner, has been the standout performer (10 scalps at 7.7 RPO) for PBKS Joe Biden Sullivan on board Air Force One enroute to Tokyo. The fourth Quad Summit begins on May 24. “I will hold a bilateral meeting with President Biden, where we will discuss further consolidation of our multi-faceted bilateral relations with US. We will also continue our dialogue on regional developments and contemporary global issues,’’ said Modi. Biden wants to send a message of deterrence to China on Taiwan. “We do not want to see unilateral changes to the status quo and we certainly don’t want to see military aggression,” Sullivan added. An Indo-Pacific Economic Framework will be launched during the the summit. It is an arrangement for further integration of the Indo-Pacific economies, setting standards and rules, particularly in new areas like the digital economy and also trying to ensure that there are secure and resilient supply chains. P11 TN to give 6-month maternity leave for contract workers under NHM E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Chennai Six months maternity leave will be granted to women staff associated with National Health Mission (NHM) in Tamil Nadu, said Health Minister Ma Subramanian on Sunday . The decision, based on representation from workers, is a first in the country and will benefit more than 40,000 workers, the minister said. The leave, however, will be an unpaid one. One-year maternity leave extended for permanent government staff is a paid leave. Speaking to TNIE, Dr J Kumutha, expert advisor for child health, Tamil Nadu, said, “The primary objective of maternity leave is to increase breastfeeding. Mothers introduce their children to supplements early as they have to go back to work. Also, contract workers will be under stress over fear of losing salary if they don’t go to work. Now they will be relieved from all these worries.” The move will benefit baby, mother, and other family members too, Dr Kumutha said. R Geetha, advisor, Unorganised Workers Federation, said it is good that Tamil Nadu is setting a precedent. Contract workers are be- Paid leave only for permanent workers Permanent government staff in the State are eligible for a one-year maternity leave, which is a paid one. The contract workers, however, would go without pay during the six-month leave ing paid only minimum wages and losing jobs after delivery would be a sad thing. So, it is good that benefit available to other women workers is being extended to contract workers too. A for mer NHM staf f nurse, however, said this is not equality. “When there is one-year maternity leave for permanent workers, why should contract workers be given only six months? They also go through same issues as per manent workers. Government must consider this,” she said. Speaking to reporters at the Government Multi Super Specialty Hospital in Omandurar Estate, the minister said a 30% salary hike will be given to remaining 5,971 medical and medical-related field workers under NHM. P2 e x pr e ss r e a d Wickremesinghe thanks Stalin for sending humanitarian aid to Lanka Delhi: Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe, on Sunday, expressed the island nation’s sincere gratitude to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin for sending humanitarian aid from the State. Sri Lanka received welfare items worth `2 billion, including milk powder, rice, and medicines from India on the day. | P4 Salil Parekh reappointed as CEO, MD of IT major Infosys for 5 years New Delhi: The board of IT services major Infosys has approved the reappointment of Salil Parekh as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of the company for five more years, till March 31, 2027, according to a regulatory filing. This is based on the recommendations of the Nomination and Remuneration Committee (NRC) and subject to the approval of shareholders NATIONWIDE May 21 May 22 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 2,323 2,346 25 2,226 2,202 65 tamil nadu May 21 May 22 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 46 40 0 43 36 0 c l o w n f i s h r e ar i n g Soon, Irula women to find their fortune in ‘Nemo’ B I N I TA JA ISWA L @ Chennai About 250 Irula tribal women in Pichavaram will soon be able to earn a livelihood from rearing ornamental clownfish in their backyards, thanks to a project by the National Bureau of Fish Genetic Resources (NBFGR). Through this, illegal collection of the popular fish from coral reefs may also be checked. The Central Department of Science and Technology (DST) has allocated `1.65 crore for the project, Major misses Among those who were part of T20I series against Sri Lanka and were expected to retain their place, Sanju Samson has been left out. In the two innings he batted against Sri Lanka, Samson made 57 runs at a 154.05 SR. In IPL 2022, too, Rahul Tripathi (413 runs at 158.23 SR) is the only Indian to have scored more runs at a better SR than Samson (374 runs at 147.24 SR) Amphiprion ocellaris Amphiprion percula which aims to help women from the tribal coastal community become self-reliant. The project is likely to roll out in June. “NBFGR will provide expertise and facility to Irula women to rear high-value ornamental clownfish species. The project will not only ensure livelihood to them but will also help in conservation of the wild species,” said Kuldeep K Lal, director of NBFGR. He said the ornamental clownfishes, very much in demand in the aquarium industry, are often illegally collected from coral reefs to meet market demands. An individual clownfish fetches `150-`300 in the market. “The illegal collection of clownfish continues unabated despite forest department taking several measures to check it. The initiative will help in checking it to a great extent,” said Lal. P5 As expected, Dinesh Karthik and Among those who were part of T20I series against Sri Lanka and were expected to retain their place, Sanju Another blow for BJP as MP joins Trinamool E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Kolkata In a fresh jolt for the BJP in West Bengal, its Barrackpore MP Arjun Singh left the party and returned to Mamata Banerjee’s fold. Arjun, whose repeated attacks on the West Bengal chief minister since joining the BJP h a d d r aw n sharp responses from the Trinamool Congress, was handed the TMC flag by Abhishek Banerjee on Sunday . Arjun Singh “This is the return of a boy back to his own home. I was with the TMC since its emergence as a political force. Because of some misunderstanding, I left,” he said. When asked whether he would resign as MP Arjun said, , “The party (TMC) will take the final call.” Last year, the BJP’s Asansol MP Babul Supriyo resigned from the post after joining the TMC. In the subsequent byelection, the TMC defeated the BJP, reducing the saffron camp’s share in the state’s Lok Sabha seats to 17.