chennai l friday l june 24, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l vellore EDITION Citigroup raises global recession odds to 50% Supply shocks to add to economic woes Citigroup analysts’ warning comes in the wake of central banks around the world rushing to raise interest rates to arrest inflation Factory activity growth slows Recession is an “increasingly palpable risk” for the economy, the analysts said. “The global economy is flashing a number of yellow lights at present, which flow from the persistent supply shocks but also increasingly from central bank tightening and the effects of tighter financial conditions and higher inflation on the behaviour of consumers,” they added ■ ■ Citigroup’s bleak prognosis is shared by Deutsche Bank, which also feels the global economy may be headed for a recession Baring the cracks in the battered global economy, factory activity indices for June released on Thursday in Japan, Britain, the euro zone and US showed a sharp decline in growth 60 Central banks across the world have increased interest rates this year 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 EPS tightens the screws in GC meet after court delays single leadership T M u r u ga n a n d h a m @ Chennai The AIADMK general council meeting held in Chennai on Thursday, after days of sparring between K Palaniswami and O Pannerselvam and latenight legal drama, rejected all 23 resolutions placed before it and decided to meet again on July 11 to consider electing Edappadi K Palaniswami as the single leader of the party along with other proposals. The Executive and General Council meeting telecast live saw Palaniswami emerge as the popular leader with a crown, a sword and a scepter presented to him and his adversary and party coordinator O Panneerselvam being heckled with rude slogans. The GC meeting, held after a 04:30 am Madras HC order gave it a go-ahead with a caveat that the council must not adopt any resolution other than the 23 already approved by the party, ended in just 34 minutes. R Vaithilingam, a supporter of Panneerselvam, dubbed the meeting as an illegal half-anhour drama. Meanwhile, Panneerselvam left for New Delhi by a night flight. At the airport, Panneer- selvam said he was going to the national capital to be present when NDA’s presidential candidate Draupadi Murmu files her nomination. However, sources said Panneerselvam may consult legal experts and move the Election Commission over Thursday’s developments. Thamizhmagan Hussain, who was promoted as presidium chairman of the party during the GC meeting, announced the next date of meeting of the GC while party’s deputy coordinator KP Munusamy said the resolution of bringing in a single leadership for the party would be adopted in that meeting. Earlier, Panneerselvam, his supporters R Vaithilingam, and others left the meeting venue halfway just after the date for the next GC was announced by the presidium chairman. As he was leaving, plastic water bottle and papers were thrown at Panneerselvam. Later, Vaithilingam said only the coordinators have the powers to convene the GC meeting and not the presidium chairman. He also said that GC meeting developments on Thursday would not stand the test of law.  Continued on: P4 1 2 3 Anita Alvarez was saved coach saves by her coach at the World U.S. swimmer Aquatics Championships in nick of time in Budapest on Wednesday revive Anita. She has since recovered and is expected to compete on Friday despite her history of fainting at competitions | AFP Unprecedented flooding in techie town of Assam P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r @ Guwahati Four days ago, Amal Das called up his friend Prabal in Kolkata to inform he was standing in ankle-deep floodwaters. Amal was talking from his first floor home in Silchar town, now entirely submerged. Like him, thousands are stranded as the raging river Barak has submerged not just this entire town in southern Assam’s Cachar district but the whole river valley . Silchar is incommunicado and without transport as 5-12 feet waves lash the streets. Locals say this is unprecedented. Pregnant women and children are the worst sufferers. The town is without power and water supply. Hand pumps, wells, borewells, shops and commercial establishments are all inundated. Batteries of mobile phones have drained out and there is no Internet. Silichar takes pride in producing hundreds of techies — many of them settled abroad. As it is now in the throes of an acute shortage of essentials, the state government began air-dropping food packets, bottles of drinking water and other essentials. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who conducted an aerial survey of the district, of which Silchar is the headquarters, said the government would continue air-droppings for the marooned, apart regular relief. Assam’s Transport Minister Parimal Suklabaidya told this newspaper, “I am at chest-deep water now. Some 4,000 transformers in the district are under water. The flood has made life hell. The administration is providing relief.” schools had a pass percentage of 85.25. In Class 12, while the percentWith the schools run by the Adi age stood at 89 for government Dravidar and Tribal Welfare De- schools, it was only 82.21 and 86 for partment recording the lowest pass Adi Dravidar Welfare and Tribal percentages among different cate- Welfare schools respectively . gories of schools in the State in the Several educationists, working recently declared Class with tribal children, cit10 and 12 results, educa- 95,013 students ed unfilled vacancies as tionists opined that they in Adi Dravidar one of the main reasons would have fared better Welfare schools why the schools fared if all the teacher vacanpoorly. For instance, an While there are cies were filled, and had Adi Dravidar Welfare 95,013 students in there been a better mechschool at Irumbedu in TN’s Adi Dravidar anism in place to moniChengalpattu district, Welfare schools, tor their functioning which was upgraded as a there are 28,263 in The poor performance higher secondary school Tribal Residential has also given rise to the two years ago, has been d e m a n d t h a t t h e s e Schools, and 2,890 in functioning without a Ekalvya Model schools, around 1,466 in headmaster and with no Residential schools number in the State, new teacher being apshould be brought under pointed since. the School Education Department “Even though students were adto ensure they function more mitted to Class 11 and they have efficiently . written their exam, the headmaster In the Class 10 results, while the post is still vacant and higher secAdi Dravidar Welfare schools re- ondary teachers are yet to be apcorded a pass percentage of 78.11, pointed. This is the plight of several the Tribal Welfare schools got 78.37. schools which were upgraded,” said In comparison, the government a teacher of the school. P5 S u ba s h i n i V i jaya k u m a r @ Chennai BRICS harps on sovereignty and territorial integrity E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ New Delhi Respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all States, supporting talks between Russia and Ukraine and warning against using Afghan territory to shelter or train terrorists were some of the highlights of the 14th BRICS Summit Declaration issued on Thursday . The two-day Summit, being hosted by China, saw Russian President Vladimir Putin and China’s Xi Jinping criticising the West for imposing unilateral sanctions on Moscow, which in turn impacted the world economy at large. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said mutual cooperation can make a useful contribution to the global post-Covid recovery . Meanwhile, in the backdrop of several Wester n brands shutting their outlets in Russia, Putin said Russia is in talks with India to set up stores all over the country . BRICS comprises five of the world’s largest developing countries — Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. This year’s summit is being held amid border tensions between India and China continuing unresolved and Russia being isolated globally over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. express read Three killed in firecracker unit blast in Cuddalore Cuddalore: Three people, including two women, were killed and two others sustained injuries in a firecracker manufacturing unit blast in Cuddalore on Thursday afternoon. Sources said the manufacturing unit has been functioning for eight years and its license expired one year ago. Chief Minister MK Stalin ordered for a solatium of `3 lakh to be given to the victims | P3 5  The US synchronised swimmer sinks to the bottom during her routine in the solo free artistic final  Coach Andrea Fuentes, sensing what has happened, swims to check After grabbing hold of Anita, her coach pulls her to the surface  Another member of Team US dives into the pool to provide support  After lifting her out of water, attempts are made to Teacher vacancies fail SC/ST schools in State, results down AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and joint coordinator Edappadi K Palaniswami at the General Council meeting in Chennai on Thursday | pti 4 June 22 30,20,119 doses June 23 11,98,992 doses Total: 1,96,75,59,671 Jab-o-meter Take your shot NATIONWIDE June 22 June 23 Fresh cases 12,249 13,313 Recoveries Deaths 9,862 10,972 13 38 tamil nadu June 22 June 23 Fresh cases 771 1,063 Recoveries Deaths 459 0 567 0 Over 1K Covid cases in Tn after 4 months The State logged 1,063 cases on Thursday, with 35 districts reporting new cases. The TPR on the day stood at 4.6% | P2 Shinde has 37. Prove it on floor of House: Pawar Sena seeks disqualification of 12 MLAs to pressure them; rebel count keeps swelling S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ Mumbai With rebel Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde showcasing the support of 37 party MLAs in a group photo-op at a Guwahati hotel on Thursday he appeared , to have the numbers to escape the anti-defection law. Also seen in the group photo were nine Independent MLAs. But NCP chief Sharad Pawar rallied around beleaguered Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray saying numerical strength , can only be proved in a trust vote on the floor of the Assembly He blamed the BJP for engi. neering it, citing Shinde’s claim that it had assured all support. With the ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi coalition making hectic efforts to draw the rebels back home, Sena leader Sanjay Raut sought to dangle a carrot by claiming the party was prepared to concede their demand to step out the alliance if all of them return within 24 hours and meet Uddhav. Parallelly the Sena was said , to have asked the Deputy Speaker to take action against those MLAs who did not attend the legislature party meeting. For their part, the rebels said, “we do not want a change in party president; we want the unatural Aghadi alliance to go and a new a government with the BJP for various reasons. (a) We want harassment by central enforcement agencies to stop. (b) NCP is our real political opponent on the ground. Whenever fresh Assembly elections are held, NCP and Congress cannot be expected to transfer votes to Shiv Sena because they have been our traditional foes. However, when BJP was the ally, the transfer of votes was smooth. (c) BJP is a big party, so keeping it in good humour is smart politics.” Twists and turns  Sanjay Raut claims Sena open to considering quitting Aghadi if rebels return in 24 hours  NCP, Cong downplay Raut’s remark, vow to support Uddhav govt  Pawar blames BJP for the crisis  But Dy CM Ajit Pawar says he does not see any BJP role in the rebellion But Raut said those afraid of CBI, ED or income tax raids are not hardcore Shiv Sainiks. As for Shinde, his support group appears to be swelling. When he had initially shepharded them to Surat, his MLA count was 20. It went up to 22 by the time he flew out of Surat to Guwahati, where more joined in. On Thursday, four other Sena MLAs entered his camp, taking his score to 37.