tiruchy l tuesday l july 5, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION ‘Gujarat, karnataka are best states for startups in India’ The two states provide the best system for new entrepreneurs, according to States’ Startup Ranking 2021 released on Monday Meghalaya best performing small state Four states, 1 ut skip ranking exercise Meghalaya has been adjudged the best performer among smaller states, according to the ranking by the Dept for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade. The rankings are based on the initiatives taken to develop the startup ecosystem. Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and Jammu & Kashmir have been included in the top performers category ■ Andhra, Bihar, Mizoram and Ladakh are ‘emerging startup ecosystems’. Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh and Goa are in the ‘Leaders’ category. West Bengal, Sikkim, Haryana, Jharkhand, and Lakshadweep did not participate in the exercise 26 action points Across 7 broad reform areas were evaluated for the ranking of states 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 `2,20,219 cr The total investment TN attracted through 192 MoUs signed between July 20, 2021 and July 4, 2022 3,02,200 Jobs expected to be generated in Tamil Nadu through the MoUs signed since last year `82,674 cr Investment in Thoothukudi district for green hydrogen and green ammonia production Athawale push for census of all castes, not just the OBCs P REETHA NAIR @ New Delhi An MoU being exchanged by Guidance Tamil Nadu MD & CEO (left) Pooja Kulkarni and CubicPV CFO Peter van Mierlo at the ‘TN Investors First Port of Call, Investment Conclave July-2022’ held in Chennai on Monday. CM MK Stalin nearby | P Jawahar TN inks L 1.25 lakh cr deals, pearl city gets lion’s share District to get `82K cr green hydrogen, green ammonia investments C S h i va k u m a r @ Chennai Tamil Nadu on Monday signed 60 MoUs with multiple companies to bring in investments worth `1.25 lakh crore with an aim to generate nearly 75,000 jobs. The bulk of the deal went to Thoothukudi district which managed to attract `82,674crore worth of investments in green hydrogen and green ammonia production at the Tamil Nadu Investors’ First Port of Call - Investment Conclave July ‘22 held in Chennai on Monday . The huge investment gives the southern district the chance to emerge as a hub in the renewable-energy sector, Chief Minister MK Stalin said on Monday . Of the total investment, `52, 474 crore is from Gurugrambased ACME Green Hydrogen and Chemicals for manufactur- ing green ammonia and green hydrogen and setting up of solar plants. The huge investment in green hydrogen sector comes at a time when the State Industries Department is planning to frame a draft policy in line with the Union government’s national green hydrogen policy. The Centre’s policy targets five million tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030. ACME Group founder Manoj 75,000 jobs The MoUs signed between TN and multiple companies on Monday is expected to generate nearly 75,000 jobs. Speaking at the event, CM Stalin said the investments have nearly doubled compared to last year Kumar Upadhyay said the plant will be the largest in India for manufacturing green ammonia and green hydrogen. “The reason we chose the district is due to its closeness to the port. Also, the land parcel there is huge,” Upadhyay said. Pooja Kulkarni, Managing Director and CEO of TN’s investment promotion agency, Guidance, said the project is in its initial stage. “We have been holding talks with the ACME officials for the last five months to set up the plant. There have been multiple site visits. The land parcel requirement is around 30,000 acres and dry lands are likely to be leased to ensure that farmers who are in distress due to lack of rain will get compensation. To meet the water requirement, a desalination plant will also be set up along the coast,” she said. P4 Rural distress peaks in June as unemployment rate soars S a m i k s h a G o e l @ New Delhi Himachal bus falls into 200-ft gorge, kills 13 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chandigarh Thirteen people were killed and two others injured after a bus fell into a 200-ft gorge in Sainj valley of Kullu district of Himachal Pradesh on Monday . The bus was on its way to Kullu from Shainsher when the driver lost control at a hairpin bend near Jangla village. Rescue work started late because of the remote terrain. Deputy Commissioner of Kullu Ashutosh Garg said the accident happened around 8.30 am. Bus conductor Gopal was among the injured survivors. They been admitted to the Kull u re g i o n a l h o s p i t a l fo r treatment. Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur visited the accident site, assued all help and ordered a probe into the incident. He announced an ex-gratia of `5 lakh to the next of the kin of the victims. Parallelly the Cen, tre announced a relief of `2 lakh for the victims. After some improvement in May unemployment rate again , soared in June to 7.80%, according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE)’s latest data. Joblessness had cooled at 7.12% in May 2022 compared with 7.83% in April. Urban joblessness rate fell 0.91% to 7.30% in June but rural unemployment moved up 1.41% to 8.03%, data show. Haryana witnessed the highest joblessness rate in June at 30.6% followed by Rajasthan at 29.8%. On the flip side, Madhya Pradesh reported a low rate of unemployment at 0.5%, Chhat- Joblessness (Figures in %) Jan 2022 5.83 8.14 7.57 8.37 8.28 7.24 9.22 7.18 8.21 6.62 7.30 8.03 Feb 2022 Mar 2022 Apr 2022 May 2022 Jun 2022  Urban  Rural tisgarh and Odisha at 1.2% each and Tamil Nadu at 2.1%. “Recovery in the labour market has been slower in case of salaried jobs, youth employment, particularly in rural areas,” said Atul Pratap Singh, co-founder & CEO, Jobsgaar. Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale backs the idea of a nation-wide census of all castes and not just of Other Backward Classes. In an exclusive interview to this newspaper, Athawale said: “I have always supported caste census. My party’s position is that not only OBCs, all castes should be counted. This will provide clear data of the caste-based marginalisation and deprivation.” He is the president of the Republican Party of India, a constituent of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The assertion comes at a time when the BJP’s ally in Bihar, the JD(U), is ready to conduct a caste-based cenRamdas Athawale sus in the state. “Now that many parties are demanding it, the Central government should consider it,” he said. It also comes in the face of the Union government maintaining in an affidavit to the Supreme Court that a caste-based survey is not feasible. Athawale also allayed fears of a repeat of Mandal politics if a caste-based census is carried out. “Now that the NDA government provided 10% reservation for EWS category we won’t see any more , protests,” he said. Meanwhile, Athawale also said that the Centre will look into the demands of various tribal communities to recognise Sarna as a separate religion and include it in the religion column of the census. The Jharkhand government has sent a proposal to the Centre in this regard. He said that the Rohini Commission, constituted in 2017 to look into the subcategorisation of OBCs, is still working on the report. “The government will take a decision once the report is out.” e x p r e ss r e a d Plea against holding AIADMK GC meet: HC refuses to interfere Chennai: A division bench of the Madras High Court on Monday refused to interfere with the proposed July 11 general council meeting of the AIADMK. It also advised party leader O Panneerselvam and a general council memberpetitioner to approach a single judge regarding the issue with a separate plea | P4 NGT wants resurvey on Chennai lakes to find encroachments Chennai: Following a plea alleging that nearly 50% of 990 acres of the Korattur lake in Chennai was lost to encroachers, the southern bench of the NGT has directed the Water Resources Department to conduct a resurvey in coordination to identify and remove encroachments on the lakes | P2 Jab-o-meter July 3 1,78,383 doses Take July 4 10,09,757 doses your shot Total: 1,98,08,49,980 NATIONWIDE July 3 July 4 tamil nadu July 3 July 4 Fresh cases 16,103 16,135 Fresh cases Recoveries 13,929 13,958 Recoveries Deaths 31 24 Deaths 2,672 2,654 1,487 1,542 0 0 No Service Charge Regulator just shrunk your food bill! Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi The next time you walk into a favourite restaurant for a meal, you can expect the food bill to be lower than before, as the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) has just barred the default levy of ‘service charge’ on it. If it is not, you can file a complaint against the eatery . Also, service charge can’t be collected by adding it along with the food bill and levying GST on the total amount, the regulatory body said in its new guidelines. You can still tip the waiter if you feel the service is superb, but that is your personal choice. And no restaurant can refuse services over non-payment of service charges. The guidelines, released on Monday, seek to prevent unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights. However, Pradeep Shetty , joint honorary secretary of Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India, says industry is already following the guidelines. “Nobody was forced to pay the serv- soumyadip sinha ice charge,” he claims. The new guidelines come as a big relief to consumers as most restaurants and bars levy 5-12% service charge on food bill. The bill could burn a bigger hole in your pocket if service charges are levied on liquors because many states levy a hefty value-added tax on the same. So, watch your food bill the next time you eat out. If you are levied service charge, you can ask the restaurant to remove it. Alternatively , you can lodge a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH) by calling 1915 or through the NCH mobile app. You may also file a complaint with the Consumer Commission through the e-daakhil portal (www.e-daakhil.nic.in). The complaint may also be emailed to CCPA on com-ccpa@nic.in. Shinde wins trust vote; fresh sparring on chief whip in SC Past-midnight strategy session Giving a sense of how he slipped out of Mumbai to begin his rebellion, Shinde said there was police nakabandi (security blockade). “But I know know how to evade it,” he bragged. While camping in Guwahati, he used to slip out of the hotel at midnight for strategy sessions when all other MLAs were asleep and return early morning, adding “the true kalakar (artist) of this government is Devendra Fadnavis” Ajit Pawar is leader of Oppn The NCP appointed Ajit Pawar as the leader of the Opposition. NCP is the single largest party in the Opposition with 52 MLAs while Congress has 44 MLAs. The Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena has just 14 MLAs. Ajit Pawar was deputy chief minister in the outgoing ministry E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Mumbai/New Delhi Rebel Shiv Sena leader and Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday comfortably won the vote of confidence in the Assembly, but there was another round of legal sparring between rival Sena camps in the Supreme Court. While Shinde’s faction and the BJP together got 154 votes as against the simple majority mark of 145 in a 288-member House, the Opposition polled just 99. Three abstained (SP 2, MIM 1), while 10 Congress members, including ex-chief minister Ashok Chavan failed to show up. After the floor test, the Shinde faction requested Speaker Rahul Narvekar to disqualify 14 Sena MLAs, including Aditya Thackeray for , ‘violating the whip’ and voting for the Opposition. The Thackeray faction, too, made a similar complaint. Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray had issued a letter saying Shinde will be the Sena legislative party leader and Sunil Prabhu chief whip. But the ruling Sena faction appointed Bharat Gogawale the chief whip and the Speaker approved it on Sunday “This is . illegal, since only the party president has the right to make such appointments,” claimed Sena’s Lok Sabha member Arvind Sawant. The matter went to the Supreme Court with senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Thackeray , mentioning it before a bench of justices Indira Banerjee and J K Maheswari. The bench said it would be heard on July 11 along with other related matters. “The Speaker has no jurisdiction to recognise whips. This is changing the status quo of proceedings before this court. The Speaker yesterday at the stroke of midnight elected the whip,” said Singhvi.  P7