KOZHIKODE l wednesday l june 22, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Assam flood situation grim, nearly 50 lakh people hit NDRF rushed to worst-affected areas Incessant rains since last week have inundated 32 out of 36 districts in the north-eastern state, throwing lives in disarray Over 2 lakh people in relief camps Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on Tuesday that four units of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were rushed from Bhubaneswar to Silchar to carry out rescue operations as the flood situation in Karimganj and Cachar districts worsened due to the rising waters of Barak and Kushiyara rivers following heavy rains ■ ■ The calamity, which has become an annual feature in Assam, has hit 5,424 villages forcing 2,31,819 to take shelter in 810 camps According to the Assam State Disaster Management Authority, a total crop area of 1,13,485 hectares and 33,84,326 animals have been affected while 5,232 animals have been swept away 44 people lost their lives in floods and landslides in Assam since June 14 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 Uddhav faces rebellion from within Sena minister Eknath Shinde leads revolt; wants party to go back as junior ally of the BJP 55 Simple majority 5 31 288 Total seats BJP has support of  BJP  Shiv Sena  NCP  Cong  Others + Independents Uddhav Thackeray Eknath Shinde six Ind Eknath Shinde claims the support of 30-35 MLAs. Needs 37 to escape anti-defection law at a meeting he called in Mumbai, only 18 are learnt to have turned up, though Sena’s Sanjay Raut put the figure at 30. Earlier in the day Shinde and , his supporters checked into the Le Meridian hotel in Surat. BJP is the single largest party with 105 MLAs and support of six Independents. It needs 40 more to reach the half-way mark to return to power (see box). In the Rajya Sabha elections, the BJP got support from 123 and in the subsequent MLC polls, its State govt disowns its social security pension firm, withdraws support cal support to the company which would act as a special In what could turn out to be purpose vehicle for prompt disa big blow to the welfare fund tribution of welfare pensions. distribution system in the state, In 2019-20, KSSP had borrowed the state government has dis- `6,843 crore. The CAG report tanced itself from the Kerala on state finances tabled in the State Social Security Pension assembly in November, 2021 (KSSP) Limited. The govern- had pulled up KSSP along with , ment has withdrawn KIIFB, for borrowall monetary supings outside the purGovt promise port promised to the view of the state The KSSP was company at the time budget. of its formation four formed in June 2018 Senior officials of as a company wholly the finance departyears ago. owned by the state ment were tightThe KSSP raises government. The fund through borlipped when asked GO on the firm’s rowings for funding about the sudden formation had t h e p ay m e n t o f provocation for the promised fiscal `1,600 per month in revised GO. However, support to it. social security pensources hinted that sion each to 52.27 the decision to withlakh beneficiaries in the state. draw government support was The KSSP was formed in taken in the wake of criticism June 2018 as a company wholly by CAG and the Central govowned by the state government. ernment on using the KIIFB The government order (GO) on and KSSP as off-budget borrow● More on P4 its formation had promised fis- ing tools.  M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram 145 53 44 Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray’s government faced it biggest existential crisis on Tuesday with Shiv Sena minister Eknath Shinde revolting along with 3035 party MLAs and Independents and asking the former to form an new government with BJP in the state. To escape disqualification under the antidefection law, Shinde needs the support of 37 party MLAs. Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are part of the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi. Shinde wants the Sena to go back to its former ally and be part of a new government led by former chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. The erosion in the party’s ranks put a question mark over Uddhav’s leadership, more so because Shinde was known to be close to him. As things stand, Uddhav loyalists have been reduced to a minority within his party For, . Party positions 10 S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai votes ballooned to 134, apparently through cross-voting. Sources said after Sena’s poor performance in the MLC polls, Uddhav called a meeting of his party’s top leaders, including Shinde. He was said to be upset with Shinde for not managing the show despite being giving weighty portfolios of urban development and PWD, and a free hand in the government and the party Shinde has . since been stripped of his position as the Sena’s group leader in the Assembly . BJP sources said Shinde was in touch with its leadership since the last six months. “He supported us in the Rajya Sabha elections and the legislative council polls...We provided logistical support to Shinde upon his revolt. The rooms at Le Meridian were booked by us,” the leader said seeking anonymity . Uddhav tried to reach out to Shinde by sending sent his personal assistant Milind Narvekar to Surat. During the 30-minute meeting Narvekar had with Shinde, the latter spoke to Uddhav and his spouse Rashmi Thackeray over the phone but he did not promise to return back to Sena. Most of the MLAs with Shinde are from rural areas. “They were never entertained by Uddhav and his coterie. Shinde tapped this space to his advantage. He was also apprehensive about the rise of Aditya Thackeray in the party said ,” a person close to Shinde. 83.87% success rate in Higher Secondary exams The pass percentage this year was 4.07 lower than the success rate of the previous year Stream-wise success rate 3,61,091 students appeared for exams 3,02,865 students passed Science: 86.14% Humanities: 75.61% Commerce: 85.69% VHSE 78.26% success rate Girls 1,69,095 (89.29%) Boys 1,34,871 (77.82%) 28,450 bagged A+ in all subjects (48,383 in 2021) Students appeared: 29,711 Students passed: 23,521 No of A+ holders in all subjects - 178 (239 in 2021) kerala university First in state to bag A++ grade The University of Kerala has been re-accredited with A++ grade by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), making it the only university in the state to clinch the highest grade. The university secured the topmost grade with a Cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.67. With this score, KU is placed on top among the very few state universities in the country that full report: p2 have secured A++ grade. Casteist slur at AG’s office: Panel steps in E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi The Kerala State Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes on Tuesday registered a suo motu case in the incident in which two senior staff members of the Advocate General’s office in Kochi allegedly assaulted and hurled casteist slurs at an ST youth working in the same office. Commission chairman B S Mavoli took the action based on press a report Impact that appeared in TNIE on Tuesday . The panel asked the AG’s office and Kochi city police commissioner to file a report within a week, said a release. Nandu K, an office attendant, was verbally abused and assaulted by two officers on May 21. Though a case was registered based on his complaint, Nandu was forced to retract his statement reportedly at the insistence of the accused. press Intake Samastha snaps ties with CIC; courses of 90 colleges to hit | P4 Cong summons all MLAs to Delhi | P5 P r e sid e n t ial p o ll Murmu is nda pick R a je s h K u m a r T h a k u r @ New Delhi FORMER Jharkhand governor Draupadi Murmu is all set to become the first tribal woman to hold the highest office of the Republic, as the 64-year-old emerged the consensus Presidential candidate of the BJP-led NDA late on Tuesday evening. This paper was the first to report on June 10 that she was leading the Presidential race in the NDA. Sharing the news after deliberations at the BJP parliamentary board, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union ministers Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh and NiWho is tin Gadkari and other leadDraupadi ers, BJP national president J Murmu? P Nadda said, “We wanted to An arts graduate take a woman candidate from Ramadevi from east India, especially Women’s College in from the tribal community. Bhubaneswar, she After consultation with alworked as an asst lies and others, we have deprofessor in Sri cided to field Murmu.” Aurobindo Integral Nadda said Murmu’s life Education and has been dedicated to the Research Centre, service of the nation and upRairangpur. She liftment of the downtrodden, joined BJP in 1997 adding that preference has been given to a woman tribal candidate for the first time. “She has rich administrative experience and had an outstanding gubernatorial tenure. I am confident she will be a great President of our nation,” he said. Soon after Murmu was named as NDA's presidential candidate, Modi expressed confidence that she will be a "great President". Yashwant Sinha is Opposition choice E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ New Delhi OPPOSITION leaders on Tuesday decided to field for mer Union minister Yashwant Sinha as their joint candidate for Presidential polls. Sinha’s name came up after NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, former Jammu & Kashmir chief min5 regional ister Farooq Abdullah and parties skip ex-West Bengal governor meeting Gopalkrishna Gandhi deCongress, NCP, TMC, clined the Opposition’s invite to run for President. CPI, CPI-M, SP, NC, “We are happy to anAIMIM, RJD and AIUDF attended the nounce that we have unanimously chosen Yashwant meet on Tuesday. Five regional parties Sinha as the common candidate of the opposition — TRS, BJD. AAP, parties for the presidential SAD and YSRCP — election, which will take stayed away from place on July 18, 2022,” the meeting Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said while reading out a joint statement after the meeting. “We regret Modi government made no serious effort to have consensus on a presidential candidate,” said Ramesh. Indicating that his name was finalised with his consent, Sinha tweeted, “Now time has come when for a larger national cause I must step aside from the party to work for greater opposition unity .”