KOZHIKODE l friday l June 17, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Your next air ticket may cost even more With jet fuel prices hiked by a record 16% on Thursday, a 10-15% increase in air fares is likely as airlines seek to ensure that operational costs are well sustained, SpiceJet MD Ajay Singh said Steepest-ever rise in cost of jet fuel oil prices shoot up to decade-high Industry demands slashing of ATF tax The price of aviation turbine fuel (ATF) was increased by C19,757 per kilolitre (C19.75 per litre) on Thursday. A kilolitre of ATF now costs C1.41 lakh in Delhi—16.2% more than the previous price of C1.23 lakh Such a sharp increase in the cost of jet fuel comes as Brent — the world’s most popular crude oil benchmark — was on Thursday trading at $119.16 per barrel — the highest in almost a decade “This massive increase is not sustainable and governments, central and state, need to take urgent action to reduce taxes on ATF that are amongst the highest in the world,” Ajay Singh said Spicejet, interglobe shares nosedive ■ ■ ■ Shares of SpiceJet and InterGlobe Aviation, the parent company of IndiGo, fell sharply on Thursday on the back of ATF price hike While the shares of SpiceJet tanked 7.05 per cent to settle at C40.90 apiece on the BSE, those of InterGlobe Aviation dropped by 5.22 per cent and closed at C1,644.65 apiece Airlines are also under stress from the continuing fall in the rupee’s value. “It impacts airlines as our substantial cost is either dollar denominated or pegged to the dollar,” Singh said 40-50% Aviation turbine fuel’s share in the operating cost of an airline. There has been a whopping 120% rise in jet fuel price since June last year alone 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 SC gives UP three days to justify its bulldozer justice against protesters E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Smoke billows out from a train after it was set on fire by protesters opposing ‘Agnipath’ in Chapra in Bihar on Thursday | PTI Youth go on the rampage in 9 states over Agniveer Govt empowers Rajnath to amend scheme without Cabinet’s nod E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi Violent protests broke out in nine states against the Centre’s Agnipath short-term recruitment scheme for the armed forces, putting the government on the backfoot. With the Opposition, too, stepping up the heat, the government responded by empowering Defence Minister Rajnath Singh to make changes to the scheme as required at his level without seeking the Cabinet’s concurrence. Protesters set trains on fire and disrupted rail and road traffic, smashed window panes of buses and pelted stones in Bihar, Haryana, UP Jharkhand, , Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Jammu. There were protests at Delhi’s Nangloi railway station as aspirants stopped trains and demanded a rollback of the new policy . Bihar was the worst affected with protesters resorting to arson at several places in as many as 11 districts, including Chhapra, Ara, Siwan, Gopalganj, Ara, Jehanabad, Saharsa and Nawada. National highways were blocked in Muzaffarpur, Bhagalpur, Buxar, Arwal and East Champaran districts. In Saran and Kaimur, train bogies Jairam is new communication, publicity head in Congress Security personnel try to disperse Youth Congress workers protesting in Delhi| PTI trains cancelled At least 34 trains were cancelled and eight others were partially cancelled due to the protests. Besides 72 trains were running late due to the agitation and an engine were torched. BJP MLA Aruna Devi had to face the protestors’ wrath in Nawada when she was on her way to the district headquarters in her vehicle. The driver was thrashed and windowpanes of her car smashed by the protesters. The PatnaRanchi-Jansatabdi Express, Kashi-Patna Jansatabdi Express, Lok Manya Tilak-Kamakhya Express were among the Metro celebrates 5th anniv today E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Congress on Thursday appointed its recently elected Rajya Sabha member Jairam Ramesh as the AICC general secretary incharge of communication, publicity and media with immediate effect, replacing Randeep Surjewala. A party statement said Surjewala will, however, continue as the general secretary incharge of Karnataka. Jairam, a former Union minister, will also oversee the party’s social and digital media platforms, according to a press release issued by general secret a r y ( o r g a n i s at i o n ) K C Venugopal, which said the appointment has been made by party chief Sonia Gandhi. Among the big basket of reforms decided at the party’s three-day brainstorming session in Udaipur last month was a complete revamp of its communication and media department. trains that remained stranded at different locations due to violent protests. In Haryana, hundreds of people blocked roads in Gurugram, Rewari, Palwal. Stone-pelting crowds damaged a police vehicle in Palwal and Agra Chowk on National Highway-19 was blocked for several hours. In Madhya Pradesh, youth hailing from Bhind, Morena, Gwalior and adjoining districts of Gwalior-Chambal region, which sends a large number of recruits into the Army went on , the rampage for around 4-5 hours in Gole ka Mandir area of Gwalior. The Birla Nagar railway station located on the Delhi-Gwalior-Bhopal rail section saw major violence as the mob damaged property all around, including the office of the station manager. As protests spread across at least 10 districts of UP, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath urged the youth not to be misguided and use the opportunity to serve “Mother India”. As violence spread through the course of the day the Oppo, sition kept up its criticism of the new job scheme. However, differences arose within both the BJP and the Congress over P7 Agniveer.  The public transport facility is slowly but steadily developing itself into the very lifeline of the bustling Kochi city | P2 The Supreme Court on Thursday gave the Uttar Pradesh government three days to respond to petitions challenging the selective demolition of properties of protesters, re-emphasising the need to follow the due process of law. There must be a sense among the citizens that the rule of law prevails in the country a vaca, tion bench of justices A S Bopanna and Vikram Nath said. It posted the matter for further hearing on Tuesday . “Everything should be fair. We expect the authorities to Pinarayi skips Loka Kerala Sabha function E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram As the third edition of the Loka Kerala Sabha began here on Thursday, the absence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was slated to preside over the public function, held ahead of the two-day conference, became the talking point. The venue of the function -Nishagandhi auditorium -- was jam-packed as the event was open to the public. Minutes before the event was about to start, it was announced that the chief minister would not be attending it as he was unwell and doctors had advised him a day’s rest. The absence of the chief minister from the opening event of the LDF government’s prestigious event came at a time when he was facing a series of protests across the state in the wake of the revelations by the accused in the gold smuggling case. Pinarayi had also faced an in-flight protest by Youth Congress workers earlier this week. Speaking at the media meet organised as part of the Loka Kerala Sabha on Wednesday, the CM had mentioned about throat-related issues that made it difficult for him to speak. In Pinarayi’s absence, Speaker M B Rajesh presided over the event. Pinarayi had also skipped the inauguration of a workshop related to school curriculum revision at the Mascot Hotel ear● More on P4 lier in the day  . fluency matters Students stutter on spoken English, schools turn to non-Keralite trainers A m i ya Mee t h a l @ Kozhikode What is the best way to learn a new language? Being in a non-native environment is one. That’s what is happening in the special spoken English training sessions in several schools in the state. To make students — especially those in rural areas — speak fluent English, various government-aided and unaided schools are now hiring non-Keralite special English trainers. Thirteen such trainers — a majority of them from northeastern states — are currently employed in various schools in Kozhikode and Malappuram districts. “The children have no other option but to speak to me in English as I don’t know even a single Malayalam word. Ini- Nagaland native Keduoselie Zumu interacts with students at Kalpathur AUP School in Perambra on Thursday | E Gokul tially, they speak broken English. But as time passes on, they shed the inhibitions and start to pick up the language. From then on, it is all about fine tuning,” said Keduoselie Zumu, 24, a trainer from Nagaland. He is one of the two persons hired at the government-aided Kalpathur AUP School in Anchaampeedika, Perambra, to train upper primary students. The fad for non-Keralite English trainers in schools -- despite the presence of regular English teachers -- had begun in 2018. “The English sessions at Kalpathur school is organised by the PTA and the parents liked the idea,” said headmistress Sushama K. “Apart from the classroom sessions, the trainers interact with children during the intervals and they converse in English. We test their communicative and oratory skills with events like ‘English Fest’,” said Sushama. Sumit Kujur, 27, another trainer from Assam, said their modules have helped the children shed their inhibi● More on P4 tions.  strictly follow the due procedure under the law,” it said. Following protests in UP last week over hate speech by two BJP functionaries, properties of activists and those who allegedly led the protests were razed by the district administrations. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the UP government, and senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Kanpur and Prayagraj civic authorities, said due process was followed and notice in one instance of demolition was given way back in August 2020. Mehta said none of the af- fected parties were before the court. Instead, a body of clerics and scholars, the Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, has approached the court seeking a generic order against demolitions. The Jamiat contended that the demolitions happened after sharp statements by the highest constitutional authorities, including the UP chief minister, without giving any opportunity to the accused to vacate their houses. In a statement on Monday the Jamiat said the SC had , ordered a stay on punitive demolitions in Northwest Delhi under similar circumstances. Cong fumes as Indigo report indicts YC men, leaves out EP’s name E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram Will take action soon: Scindia T’Puram: Union Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia has said his ministry would look into the incident on board the flight and would soon take action. He was replying to Congress MP Hibi Eden MP’s tweet in which he asked why the Indigo Airlines, DGCA and Jyotiraditya Scindia are not registering an FIR against E P Jayarajan when a video clipping clearly shows the LDF convener pushing two passengers In what could tighten the noose around the Youth Congress workers who protested against Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on board an aircraft, the preliminary report by Indigo Airlines clearly states that it was they who had charged towards the CM. The report, however, does not name LDF convener E P Jayarajan, who allegedly pushed them to the floor. Terming the omission a deliberate move, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan has approached Indigo Airlines South India Chief complaining about the factual inaccuracy in the report. Indigo’s Thiruvananthapuram Airport Manager Vijith T V filed a report before the Valiyathura Police on June 14, stating an altercation took place inside the Indigo flight, 6E -7407 after it landed at the Thiruvananthapuram airport. It says the CM along with two others were seated on 20A, 20B and 20C. The three passengers (Youth Congress workers) were seated on Seat number 8A, 8C and 7D. “After landing, as soon as the seat belt sign went off, the said passengers immediately stood up from their respective seats and rushed towards the chief minister shouting slogans in their vernacular language. Upon seeing this, one of the passengers travelling with the CM intervened,” said the report. The CM later deboarded the flight, it added. The report drew flak from Congress leaders as it didn’t mention Jayarajan’s role in the incident, but stated that theYC members had charged at the CM. Satheesan on Thursday approached Varun Dwivedi, associate vice-president, InterGlobe Aviation Ltd (Indigo Airlines) with a com● More on P4 plaint.  Markets roil after Fed rate hike US stocks had closed higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by 75 basis points. Asian markets, too, rose in early trading on Thursday. However, the rally was short-lived as initial optimism wore off after dangers to the economy became clearer. Here’s a look at indices on Thursday France’s CAC 40 fell 2.39% US The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.4%, 730 points, tumbling below 30,000 to the lowest level in more than a year The S&P 500 slipped 3.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite slid 4% Europe Asia or 1.99% to settle at 51,495.79 — its fifth day of decline NSE Nifty plunged 331.55 points or 2.11% to close at 15,360.60 FTSE 100 slipped 3.14% Stoxx Europe 600 fell 2.47% After a morning rally, BSE Sensex plummeted 1,045.60 points Germany’s DAX down 3.31% Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 2.17% China’s Shanghai Composite slipped 0.6% at closing Japan’s Nikkei 225 and Korea’s Kospi, however, edged up 0.4% and 0.16%, respectively express read Multiple landslides 2 more dead as heavy rains lash Assam for 3rd day Guwahati: Two children were crushed to death when their house collapsed after being hit by a landslide in Assam’s Goalpara district on Thursday as heavy rain continued to lash the state for the third consecutive day. The two deceased children were identified as 11-year-old Hussain Ali and eight-year-old Asma Khatoon. In Guwahati, three persons suffered injuries in Noonmati area as multiple landslides were reported across the city during the day on guard Police and Rapid Action Force patrol in Prayagraj on Thursday. Uttar Pradesh has stepped up security ahead of Friday prayers, anticipating more protests against hate speech Human trafficking Over 100 Malayali women trapped in Kuwait: Cops Kochi: Probing the trafficking of three Malayali women, who were rescued after being sold to Kuwaiti families, the state special branch (SSB) has found that over 100 women are still trapped in the houses of arab families in the Gulf nation. The investigators have learnt that the racket recruited the women between December 2021 and February 2022 after pasting posters across Kerala seeking applications for jobs as baby sitters and hospital staff in Kuwait | P5 Amid trawling ban TN fishers scour Kerala waters, boat owners to protest Kochi: Fishing boat owners have decided to stage protest alleging that hundreds of fibre boats from Tamil Nadu have started scouring the coastal waters after the start of the 52-day trawl ban period. The trawling ban has failed to serve the purpose as huge outboard engine boats operated by traditional fishermen and TN boats are involved in over fishing, said Kerala Fishing Boat Operators Association general secretary Joseph Xavier Kalapurakal