twitter chennai l thursday l may 26, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION ‘Advanced economies to be back on track by 2024’ However, developing economies will be 5% below where they would have been otherwise, according to IMF’s Gita Gopinath There have been Divergent recoveries Speaking at a special session on ‘What next for global growth?’ during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2022 on Wednesday, Gopinath said there have been very divergent recoveries around the world. The First Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund also noted that the war in Ukraine has been a major setback to the global recovery ■ 2026-27 ‘We have a Cost of living crisis’ “We had a serious downgrade to the global growth rate and the world continues to face headwinds because we have a cost of living crisis. Prices of commodities including fuel and food are going up around the world,” she said, adding that central banks are trying to tackle such high inflation by raising interest rates By WHEN India WILL Become A $5-TrillioN ECONOMY, ACCORDING TO IMF’s REVISED DATA 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 It is among the gravest of offences, says NIA court, wants verdict to serve as deterrent to those drawn to violence lifer to Malik for funding terror in J&K A n k i ta U pa d h yay @ New Delhi Jailed Kashmiri separatist leader Yasin Malik being escorted by police officers to a special court in New Delhi for sentencing on Wednesday | Parveen Negi Woman tv artiste shot dead in kashmir In another targeted attack, terrorists on Wednesday killed a woman TV artist and injured her 10-year-old nephew in Chadoora in central Kashmir’s Budgam district. Around 7.55 pm, they shot dead TV artist and singer Amreen Bhat at her home, the police said | P9 Chinese visa ED registers third money laundering case against Karti E x p r e ss Ne ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) has registered a money laundering case against Congress MP Karti Chidambaram and others in connection with the alleged irregularities in the issuance of visas to 263 Chinese nationals in 2011 when his father P Chidambaram was the Union home minister. According to ED officials, the case has been filed under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) taking cognisance of the FIR registered by the CBI in the same case about a week ago. The CBI’s FIR pertains to`50 lakh being paid as kickback to Karti and his close associate S Bhaskararaman by a top executive of Vedanta group company Talwandi Sabo Power Ltd, which was setting up a power plant in Punjab. Officials said the ED will probe the possible ‘proceeds of crime’ that could have been generated due to the alleged illegal activity in the visa case. Last week, the CBI also raided the premises of the Chidambarams and arrested Bhaskararaman, even as Karti is expected to depose before it for questioning. This is the third money laundering case against Karti after the INX Media and Aircel-Maxis cases. Denying the allegations, Karti tweeted, “If this is not harassment, not a witch hunt, then what is.” Observing that funding is the backbone of any operation, including terror, and is among the gravest of offences, a special National Investigation Agency court on Wednesday awarded life imprisonment to separatist leader Yasin Malik in a 2017 case related to terror funding and secessionist activities in the Kashmir Valley . The sentence also aimed to “serve as deterrence for those who seek to follow a similar path,” special NIA judge Parveen Singh warned. In Srinagar, there was stray violence after the verdict. Malik’s family members and neighbours staged a protest in at Maisuma, which is where he hails from. The youth of the area, too, resorted to sloganeering and pelted stones on the security personnel, who fired tear gas shells to disperse them. All shops in Lal Chowk, Maisuma and downtown Srinagar remained shut with security forces stepping up vigil. Also, mobile internet was suspended in Kashmir as a precautionary measure. In his verdict, the judge said the prosecution had shown how funds were received from Pakistani establishments, Lashkare-Toiba founder Hafeez Saeed and through other hawala operations. “It is these funds that were used to create unrest where under the guise of public protests, paid terror activities of stone pelting and arson at mass scale were committed,” the verdict said. Malik had earlier pleaded guilty of all charges, including those under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, in the terror funding case. “In my considered opinion, it is high time that it is recognised that terror funding is one of the gravest offences and has to be punished more severely ,” the judge said. Malik was produced before the court amid high security, and awarded the life sentence, apart from a fine of `10 lakh. While the NIA sought capital punishment, the amicus curiae (friend of court) sought life imprisonment, the minimum punishment in the matter. On May 10, Yasin had said he would not contest charges lev- No reform, says judge “When he claimed to have given up the path of violence after the year 1994, the government...gave him an opportunity to reform, and in good faith, tried to engage in a meaningful dialogue with him, and as admitted by him, gave him every platform to express his opinion,” Special Judge Praveen Singh said. However, Malik did not desist from violence, he observed elled against him — Section 16 (terrorist act), 17 (raising funds for terrorist act), 18 (conspiracy to commit terrorist act) and 20 (member of terrorist gang or organisation) of the UAPA and sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and 124-A (sedition) of the Indian Penal Code. The court rubbished Malik’s contention that he was following Gandhian principles of non-violence, saying despite large-scale of violence in the Valley he never condemned it. , In the Mahatma’s principles, there was no place for violence, howsoever high the objective, the judge said, adding: “It only took one small incident of violence at Chauri Chaura for the Mahatma to call off the entire non-cooperation movement but the convict despite the large scale of violence engulfing the Valley neither condemned the violence nor withdrew his calendar of protest which had led to the said violence.” Criticising the verdict, the Gupkar Alliance called it unfortunate and a setback to peace efforts. It suggested that he avail of all legal opportunities to contest the verdict. Texas teen guns down 19 children in school E x p r e s s Ne w s Se r v i c e In one of the worst mass murders in a school in America, an 18-year-old in body armour gunned down 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Texas state on Wednesday The dead students . of the Robb Elementary School were aged between 7 years and 10 years, the police said. The massacre in the heavily Latino town of Uvalde in Texas, was the deadliest shooting at a US school since a gunman killed 20 children and six adults A woman cries as she leaves the Uvalde Civic Center on Wednesday | AP at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, almost a decade ago. The teen opened fire around 11.30 am local time before he was killed by law en- forcement officers. The assailant had turned 18 this month. Soon after, he bought his guns legally — one AR-style rifle from a licensed gun dealer in Uvalde on May 17; 375 rounds of ammunition the next day; and a second rifle on May 20, officials said. The needless blood-letting brought the easy access to firearms in the US market to the front burner, since the powerful gun lobby has blocked all attempts check its proliferation. “Where in God’s name is our backbone to have the courage to deal with and stand up to the lobbies?’ President Joe Biden wondered. “How many scores of little children who witnessed what happened seen their friends die as if they’re on a battlefield, for god’s sake,” he said. “To lose a child is like having a piece of your soul ripped away. There’s a hollowness in your chest.” Texas Governor Greg Abbott identified the killer as Salvador Ramos. His motive was unclear. He is suspected of shooting his grandmother at the start of the rampage, media reports said. Two top NIFT officials booked for caste bias Sa h aya N ov i n sto n Lo b o @ Chennai Chennai police have booked two top officials of the premier National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) on charges of practising caste-based discrimination against a senior administrative official from an SC community. Although the FIR was filed on May 8, the complainant, K Ilanchezhian, a senior assistant director of the institute under the Union Textiles Ministry said he was nev, er given a copy, and only managed to access it from the State police website on Tuesday . “The institute’s director, Anitha Mabel Manohar, humiliated the victim by shifting his office from the main building to a student hostel room. His office space was allotted to his junior, a research assistant who belongs to a higher caste,” said a police officer, quoting the FIR. As per the FIR, registered by the Taramani police, a notice was issued allotting the victim a separate car parking slot on the rear side of the campus, and he was targeted by the accused from September 2020 to March 2022. Besides Anitha, the FIR names the institute’s joint director B Narasimhan. Both have been booked under Section 3 (1) (r) of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, which deals with intentionally insulting a member of an SC/ ST community in public view. According to the FIR, Anitha had filed a complaint against Ilanchezhian with the Internal Complaints Committee (ICC) in 2020. In February 2022, the ICC said the complaint did not fall under its purview. Ilanchezhian told TNIE he had informed higher-ups in Delhi about the discrimination and they advised the director to shift him back to his original room. But Anitha allegedly refused to comply, and issued a counter order to ensure he stayed in the hostel building. Ilanchezhian also alleged he was not even allowed to take charge when he got promoted as senior assistant director. P3 No additional borrowing in FY23, indicates govt fiscal deficit in 2022-23. The source added that the THE Centre may not need ad- much-awaited GST rates raditional borrowing in the cur- tionalisation exercise will get rent financial year (FY23) even delayed owing to the inflationafter taking a huge financial ary pressures. The GST Counhit from the excise duty cut on cil’s 47th meeting will be held petrol and diesel and the new- in the second half of June. ly announced cooking gas subHowever, despite inflation sidy for the poor. continuously remainAccording to sourc- Coal-centric ing above the RBI’s es, the Centre will energy policy upper tolerance limit stick to the borrowof 6%, there are no Coal will ing calendar set for plans to revise the continue meet FY23. The reduction medium-term inflabulk of the in excise duties will power needs as it tion target (4% pluscause an annual loss minus 2). is difficult to of `1 lakh crore to the make a transition The source clarigovernment, while to clean energy fied that the rupeethe subsidy on cookrouble trade mechadue to supply ing gas will put an ad- constraints amid nism is very much on ditional burden of the table. “The Indian geopolitical `61,000 a year. government will contensions, “At the moment, it tinue to buy cheaper government doesn’t seem we need oil from Russia. Talks sources said extra capital. So, we on rupee-rouble trade will be sticking to the borrow- are still going on with Russia. ing calendar fixed for FY23. If The Centre has not yet finalthere will be a shortfall in the ised the discount.” capex, then we will withdraw Privatisation of two public the funds from the Consolidat- sector banks will be completed ed Funds of India,” a govern- in the current fiscal as part of ment source said. disinvestment plans. The GovThe government has budg- ernment will dilute its stake to eted for `16.6 lakh crore bor- 26% from 51% in these two rowing accounting for a 6.4% banks, the source added. M o n i k a Ya dav @ New Delhi express read Junior Vikatan directors’ names to be off FIR Sibal quits Cong, gets SP support for RS bid Chennai: The Chennai police on Wednesday said they are removing the names of Junior Vikatan’s directors from an FIR, which was registered based on a complaint from real estate company G Square Realtors. There is no evidence that the directors of the magazine collaborated with alleged blackmailer Kevin, the cops said. Further investigations are on | P7 Lucknow/New Delhi: Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Kapil Sibal said on Wednesday he has resigned from the party as he filed his nomination as a Samajwadi Party-backed Independent candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh. Sibal, who is part of the G23 grouping, said he had resigned from the Congress on May 16 | P9 Hockey India to be run by three-member CoA New Delhi: The Delhi High Court placed Hockey India under a Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the day-to-day affairs of the National Federation. It gave out this order after observing that the body had violated Sports Code. It came after a petition filed by former India player Aslam Sher Khan, who had challenged Indian Olympic Association (IOA) president Narinder Batra’s appointment as life member of Hockey India. It also held that HI’s appointment of Elena Norman as CEO was illegal under the Code | P15 Jab-o-meter Take your shot May 24 11,38,116 doses May 25 11,30,219 doses Total: 1,92,80,09,294 NATIONWIDE may 24 may 25 tamil nadu may 24 may 25 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 1,675 1,635 31 2,124 1,977 17 59 36 0 56 39 0 Woman’s murder sparks stir in ramnad; six held MS T h a n a r a j @ Rameswaram Residents of Vadakadu block the Madurai-Dhanushkodi NH in protest, seeking for the shrimp farm to be sealed, near Rameswaram on Wednesday | Express A 40-year-old woman, who went to collect seaweed from a beach on Tuesday, was found murdered, with her body partially burnt, in her village of Vadakadu near Rameswaram on Wednesday Police detained . six employees of a shrimp farm in connection with her death, following which locals, who alleged she was also sexually assaulted, barged into the farm, damaged property, and set the premises on fire. They also thrashed the six men. The incident came to light after the victim’s husband lodged a police complaint after spending hours searching for her in vain when she did not return home. Police first found her belongings scattered near a local shrimp farm before finding her partiallyburnt body in an isolated area nearby  . Continued on: P7 Schools to reopen on June 13 for Classes 1 to 10 E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Chennai Schools in Tamil Nadu will reopen on June 13 for Classes 1 to 10, June 27 for Class 11, and June 20 for Class 12. This was announced by School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh on Wednesday, when the School Education Department launched five digital initiatives. Under one of the new initia- tives, 25 types of certificates — such as Person Studied in Tamil Medium Certificate, Equivalence Certificate, and Migration Certificate — can be obtained from government offices, schools, or through Public Service Centres. “The training calendar for teachers will be made available online. Teachers can attend programmes they are interested in. The calendar will include exam timetables, holidays, and public exam schedules,” said Anbil Mahesh. “We have also introduced an application for teachers to apply for leave. They need not submit written letters to heads of schools or department officials to get casual or medical leave approved,” he added. The government has already ordered the computerisation of more than 100 records to reduce teachers’ administrative work. So far, 30 records have been digitised. Teachers are not required to maintain physical copies of these records from the 2022-23 academic year, the minister said, adding that all records will be digitised by June 2022.