chennai l friday l may 27, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 32 l late city EDITION number of road accidents declines since 2016: REport There were 4,80,652 accidents in 2016 as against 3,66,138 in 2020, according to a report by the Ministry of Road Transport only 12% fall in accident Deaths The number of accidents rose every year between 2005 and 2016. But between 2016 and 2020, the number has come down every year, except for a 0.46% rise in 2018, according to ‘Road Accidents in India - 2020’ report. The number of accidents dropped 23% between 2016 and 2020, but the number deaths fell only 12% to 1,31,714 from 1,50,785 ■ 69% more deaths per 100 mishaps ■ Despite fewer accidents being recorded, their severity has been on a rise. Twenty-one deaths were reported per 100 accidents in 2005, which jumped to 36 deaths per 100 accidents in 2020 Accident deaths blamed on red-signal jumping increased by a whopping 79% from 266 deaths in 2019 to 476 in 2020 Accident deaths were in the 18-45 age group in 2020 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 PM bats for Tamil, CM for Tamil Nadu Top projects Modi dedicates projects worth `31,530 crore; CM highlights Dravidian Model, asymmetry in financial relationship between Centre and TN T M u r u ganan d ham @ Chennai ED files fresh PMLA case against Maha minister Parab E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Mumbai THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday raided multiple locations of Maharashtra transport minister Anil Parab and others as part of a money laundering probe linked to alleged violation of coastal re gulation zone norms in the construction of a resort in the Dapoli beach area of Ratnagiri district. The ED conducted the raids for more than 12 hours at properties linked to the minister in Mumbai, Pune and Konkan. Parab is a close confidant of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray . The agency has filed a fresh case against Parab under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act. His role was already being probed by the ED in another money laundering case against Anil Parab ex-Maharashtra home minister Anil Deshmukh. Commenting on the raid, Anil Parab said the resort belongs to one Sadanand Kadam and he has nothing to do with it. The resort is alleged to be releasing untreated sewage water into the sea. In another development, the CBI arrested Avinash Bhosale, chairman of Punebased ABIL group, in a corruption case involving Yes Bank’s Rana Kapoor and DHFL’s Kapil Vadhawan. W ITH THIS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 32 PAGES, INCLUDING 16 OF INDULGE (TABLOID) Showering encomiums on Tamil language and culture as he has done many times before, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while dedicating `31,530 crore worth of projects at a function held in Chennai on Thursday, promised that the Centre is fully committed to popularising Tamil language and culture and helping Sri Lankan Tamils. Sharing the stage with Prime Minister Modi for the first time at the function held at Nehru Indoor Stadium a year after being elected as chief minister, DMK leader MK Stalin expatiated about an all-inclusive Dravidian Model, the asymmetry in financial relationship between the Centre and Tamil Nadu and sought the retrieval of Katchatheevu, assent for the antiNEET Bill, and official status to Tamil on a par with Hindi. The chief minister said, “Our State is a pioneer, not only in economic and other related factors but also in social justice, equality and women empowerment. Tamil Nadu is a State for inclusive growth. In this Dravidian Model of governance, while taking various welfare and developmental measures, we have also largely corrected the fiscal imbalance and also restructured the finances of e x p re s s read Karti gets interim protection from arrest New Delhi: A Delhi court on Thursday granted interim protection from arrest till May 30 to Congress MP Karti Chidambaram in a case registered by the Enforcement Directorate in the Chinese Visas case. Meanwhile, the CBI on Thursday questioned Karti Chidambaram for nine hours Most children happy going to govt schools New Delhi: More and more children across the country are joining government schools from class III to 10, as per the latest National Achievement Survey, released by the department of school education and literacy. The survey found most children – 94% of them —feel safe in government schools | P9 Imran gives Pak 6-day deadline to announce polls Islamabad: A defiant Imran Khan on Thursday warned that he would return to the Pakistani capital with the entire nation if the “imported government” failed to announce fresh general elections within six-day deadline. “My message for the imported government is to dissolve assemblies and announce elections. Otherwise, I will come back again to Islamabad after six days,” the 69-year-old former PM said | P12 Court bars BC panel from deciding on internal quota rection to stall the meeting. The petitioners said the THE Madurai Bench of the Ma- TNBCC chairman had sent a dras High Court on Thursday communication on May 20, inforbore the Tamil Nadu Back- viting the commission’s memward Classes Commission bers to a meeting to be held on (TNBCC) from deliberating or May 31 to discuss MBC internal taking any decision on reservation, based on providing internal res- Must consult a G.O. passed in July NCBC, say ervation within Most 2020. As per the G.O., petitioners making a recommenBackward Classes (MBCs) or on any oth- The Tamil Nadu dation on the demands er major policy mat- Backward Classes of communities seekters affecting the Soing internal reservaCommission c i a l l y a n d tion within the MBC can’t make Educationally Backquota is one of the recommendward Classes (SEBC), terms of reference of ations on the in the commission’s matter without the commission, they upcoming meeting on added. consulting the May 31. However, the comNational A division bench of mission doesn’t have Commission for Justices R Suresh Kuthe power to make recBackward mar and R Vijayakuommendations on the Classes, the mar passed the inter- petitioners said matter without conim order while hearing sulting the National two petitions — filed by presi- Commission for Backward dent of the De-notified Tribes Classes (NCBC), the petitioners Welfare Association in Ma- contended, and added that the d u r a i M Je b a m a n i , a n d panel appointed to collect casteThoothukudi district secretary wise data has not yet submitted of Tamil Meenavar Koottama- its report. ippu A Brasil — seeking a di Continued on: P5 E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Madurai the State.” Stating that TN’s contribution is critical to India’s development and Union government’s fiscal resources, Stalin said the tax share the State received from the Centre is only 1.2%. “The Union government must increase its contribution to schemes and funds allocated to the State to do justice to the contributions made by States like Tamil Nadu to the country’s development and economy Only then will the true spir. it of co-operative federalism be upheld,” he said. Starting his speech by greeting the audience with ‘vanakkam’ in Tamil, the PM did not respond directly to the CM’s demands. Inaugurating a few projects and laying foundation stones for railway highways, , petroleum and housing projects, the PM said, “It is always wonderful to be back in Tamil Nadu.” “This land is special. The people, culture and language of this State are outstanding,” the prime minister said and quoted Bharathiar’s poetry . Stating that in every field, someone or the other from TN is always excelling, Modi recalled how Tamil youngsters had played an important role in six of 16 medals won by the Indian contingent in Deaflympics tournament. P3,4 NATIONWIDE may 25 may 26 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 2,124 1,977 31 2,628 2,167 18 tamil nadu may 25 may 26 Fresh cases Recoveries Deaths 56 39 0 59 43 0 Jab-o-meter Take your shot may 25 11,30,219 doses may 26 12,62,771 doses Total doses 1,92,95,87,987 Inaugurated 1,152 houses under Light House Project-Chennai (`116 crore) Initiated 262-km Bengaluru-Chennai Expressway (`14,870 crore) 21-km 4-lane double-decker elevated road from Chennai Port to Maduravoyal (`5,850 crore) 94-km 4-lane NeraluruDharmapuri section of NH-844 (`3,870 crore) 31-km 2-lane MeensuruttiChidambaram section of NH-227 (`720 crore) PM Narendra Modi and CM MK Stalin at the Nehru Indoor Stadium in Chennai on Thursday | shiba Prasad sahu Multi Modal Logistic Park in Chennai (`1,430 crore) TN’s share in India’s GDP is 9.22%. In the Centre’s tax income, TN’s share is 6%. But the tax share we get from the Centre is only 1.2% - MK Stalin, Chief Minister Centre calls off BPCL privatisation process as most bidders back off E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi THE Centre on Thursday withdrew its offer to sell its 52.9% stake in Bharat Petroleum Corporation (BPCL) after most of the bidders expressed their inability to go ahead citing the volatile conditions in the global energy market. “The multiple Covid-19 waves and geo-political conditions affected multiple industries globally, particularly oil and gas industry. Owing to prevailing conditions in the global energy market, the majority of Qualified Institutional Investors (QIP) have expressed their inability to continue in the current process of disinvestment of BPCL,” said a notification by the Department of Investment and Public Asset Management. A decision on re-initiating the strategic disinvestment process will be taken in due course based on how the situation evolves, it added. The government had issued the expression of interest (EoI) for strategic disinvestment of BPCL in March 2020. However, due to global pandemic and other geopolitical tensions, it had to extend the EoI submission date multiple times. According to reports, only three bidders - Vedanta group, Apollo Global Management Bengal proposes to make CM chancellor of Univs E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Kolkata The West Bengal cabinet on Thursday approved a proposal to appoint Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as the chancellor of all state government universities “Today, the state cabinet gave its consent to the proposal to make the chief minister the chancellor of all state-run universities in place of the governor. This proposal will soon be introduced as a bill in the assembly State education minister ,” Bratya Basu, who tabled the proposal before the state cabinet, said. A member of the cabinet said a bill would be introduced in the Assembly to change the chancellor of state universities. “Once the bill is passed, it will be sent to the governor’s office for his approval to amend the change as an act. If there is no nod from the governor, an ordinance will be promulgated to amend the change replacing the governor from the key post.’’ West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar and Mamata have been at loggerheads over a range of issues. Last year, a row erupted over suggestions that the governor be replaced from the titular post of Chancellor of state-run universities in West Bengal. Dhankar alleged that the state government was making appointments to the vicechancellor post in various universities without consulting him, and he is being forced to take a strong view of such developments. Tamil Nadu government last month adopted two bills to curb the governor’s power to appoint vice-chancell o r s t o 1 3 S t at e universities. In Kerala, a row erupted last year when the state governor Arif Khan complained of political interference in the appointment of vice-chancellors to state-run universities. Later, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made it clear that the state government does not want to take over the position of the chancellor. PunchHi commission report 2010 The cabinet’s decision was based on a recommendation by the Punchhi Commission in 2010 that the practice of appointing governors as chancellors of universities be stopped KERALA MODEL Cong to take a leaf out of Left’s ‘bucket collection’ RIC H A S H A R M A @ New Delhi FACING massive funds crunch ahead of the big fight for 2024, the Congress is looking at the Left’s Kerala model of fundraising where bulk of the party funds are collected from the masses through door-to-door campaign with slips issued against donations. The idea, suggested by former KPCC chief Ramesh Chennithala, was discussed in detail at the recently held Udaipur Chintan Shivir. “It is being considered seriously. There are some issues, such as how it can be implemented, how to ensure funds management and transparency etc. It will be discussed at the Task Force 2024 meetings,” party sources said. According to an audit report submitted to the Election Commission, the Congress party’s income plunged 58% in FY21 to `285.7 crore, from `682.2 crore in the previous fiscal. In FY19, the party’s income was `918 crore. The Congress is facing acute pressure on the money front, especially after the demise of party treasurer Ahmed Patel, who used to handle party funds through his corporate and other contacts. Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Kamal Nath has been also handling funds generation but earnings have nosedived in the Modi regime. Most of the CPI(M)’s funds come from its Kerala unit and there is a joke in party circles that the central party survives on funds from the southern state. The general soumyadip sinha rule for the party is that 70% of funding must be from door-todoor mass-contact funding d r ive, k n ow n a s ‘ bu cke t collection’. However, critics have questioned the credibility of such fund-raising drive and even the party itself has called for proper maintenance of funds. In 2013, the Kerala unit of CPI(M) collected `8 crore in just two days for establishing the Harkishan Singh Surjeet Bhawan and the EMS Research Centre. Of the `8 crore, as much as `5 crore was raised through bucket collection with the rest coming from direct c o n t r i bu t i o n f ro m p a r t y members. Inc. and I Squared Capital Advisors - have shown interest in buying BPCL. Among these, only Anil Agarwal-led-Vedanta was in the race as the other bidders reportedly walked out over lack of clarity in fuel pricing. It may be recalled that Vedanta Group’s chairman, in one of his interviews had said that his company was willing to spend $12 billion for the deal. BPCL’s current market value is around $11.4 billion. It owns 19,000 petrol pumps, 6,166 LPG distributor agencies and 61 out of the 260 aviation fuel stations in the country It . has 26 assets in Russia, Brazil, Mozambique, the UAE, Indonesia, Australia, East Timor, Israel and India. The buyer will get 35.3 million tonnes of refining capacity -- 12 million tonne Mumbai unit, 15.5 million tonne Kochi refinery and 7.8 million tonne Bina unit. Murder bid TN youngster attacks partner with hammer, victim critical E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Cuddalore A youngster who allegedly assaulted his partner with a hammer in Cuddalore district on Wednesday evening was arrested near Vriddhachalam on Thursday Police said pre. liminary inquiry revealed he had attacked the woman as her family is arranging her marriage to someone else. The condition of the victim, who sustained injuries to the face and head, is critical, police added. The victim, Prithi* (21), and the accused, A Sridhar (27), had been in a relationship for five years, but Prithi’s parents had arranged her wedding with another man on June 9, a source from the Karuvepilankurichi police station in Cuddalore said. Prithi hails from Pethankuppam village, near Kurunjipadi, while Sridhar is from Karmangudi, near Vriddhachalam. “He called her to his village to talk, and when she arrived, he tried to kill her by attacking her with a hammer on a farm near the Vellaru River. Workers from a nearby farm raised an alarm and stared running towards him, but Sridhar pushed her and fled,” said a police official involved in the probe. Prithi was sent to the Government Hospital in Cuddalore, and later shifted to JIPMER Hospital in Puducherry . At the crime scene, cops from the Karuvepilankurichi police station found a bag and a bike belonging to Sridhar. They went to his house, but he had absconded.  *Name changed  Continued on: P3