chennai l wednesday l july 6, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Boris Johnson boris admits to lying. Sunak, Javid quit. Govt on edge B ritish Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government was on the brink on Tuesday after a major rebellion from within as his finance and health ministers resigned following his admission that he had feigned ignorance about a colleague’s shady past. There was speculation of more resignations later in the day . Rishi Sunak, often seen as a future PM, quit as chancellor of the exchequer and Sajid Javid resigned as health secretary Their . resignations were announced minutes after the PM apologised for appointing Chris Pincher as deputy chief whip. Pincher had quit last week after charges of drunkenly groping two men. Downing Street initially deny- ing Johnson knew of prior allegations against Pincher when appointing him in February But on . Tuesday an ex-official outed that Johnson, as foreign minister, was told in 2019 about another incident involving Pincher.  P11 Rishi Sunak ‘I think it was a mistake and I apologise for it. In hindsight it was the wrong thing to do. I apologise to everybody who has been badly affected by it. I want to make absolutely clear that there’s no place in this government for anybody who is predatory or who abuses their position of power Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister Sajid Javid The public rightly expect government to be conducted properly, competently and seriously.I recognise this may be my last ministerial job, but I believe these standards are worth fighting for and that is why I am resigning Rishi Sunak, UK Chancellor of Treasury I am instinctively a team player but the British people also rightly expect integrity from their government.... I regret to say, however, that it is clear to me that this situation will not change under your leadership -- and you have therefore lost my confidence too Sajid Javid, UK health secretary 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 Twitter drags govt to HC over take-down fiat ers’ protest, blocked. On June 26, acting on the government’s request, Twitter blocked over Social media platform Twit- 80 accounts. ter on Tuesday moved the KarTwitter has been subjected to nataka High Court against the police investigation. Last year, Centre’s order last week to take some Central government mindown content under Section isters moved to Koo, a social 69A of the Information Tech- media platform, holding Twitnology Act, alleging abuse of ter responsible for not complypower by the officials. ing with domestic Indian laws. Twitter’s response comes in While news agency Reuters the wake of a government reported that MeitY did not warning that it had failed comment on Twitter’s deto comply with two take cision to move court, ofdown orders from the ficials told PTI that the Ministry of Electronsocial media platform ics and Information has complied with the Technology (MeitY), isJune 27 notice as it did sued on June 6 and 9. not want to lose liabilIn its warning of ‘No advance ity exemptions availalast week, the governble as a content host. notice’ ment pointed out that In its plea, Twitter In its plea before Twitter could lose its argued that some rethe court, Twitter protection as an intermoval orders were not argued that mediary under the in accordance with the some of the new IT regulations if procedural requiregovernment it continued to be in ments of the IT Act. orders did not violation of the rules. The ministry has give advance It had set a deadline of been considering some notice to authors July 4 for Twitter to amendments to the IT of the content comply with its order. law, including setting said to be The IT Act empowers up a government-run objectionable. the gover nment to appeals panel that Twitter has an block public access to would have the power estimated 24 mn content in the interest to reverse the content users in India of national security, moderation decisions. besides other reasons. These measures, it arThe confrontation came to a gued, were needed because the head last year when the govern- firms violated the rights of ment wanted several Twitter many Indians. handles, including internationFor the record, industry al advocacy group Freedom transparency reports have House, politicians, journalists pointed out that Indian governand many individuals who ment requests for content take were supportive of the farm- downs are among the highest. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi two Tamils shot dead in Myanmar Prasanta Mazumdar @ Guwahati Two Tamils, residents of Moreh, were allegedly shot dead in Myanmar on Tuesday triggering unrest in the , border town in Manipur. The Mohan Iyarnar incident occurred at Tamu in Myanmar, four km from Moreh, around 12:30 pm. The deceased were P Mohan (28) and M Iyanar (35). Mohan was an autorickshaw driver and Iyanar ran a shop. “Terror groups backed by the Myanmar military junta may have shot them dead,” Manipur CM Nongthombam Biren Singh told TNIE. The Manipur police said they were trying to find why the duo entered Myanmar. The bodies are kept at a hospital in Myanmar, sources said. “The Myanmar Army may have suspected them to be spies,” said the Tamil Sangam of Moreh. “The international border is closed as per MHA guidelines as the situation in Myanmar is tense after the military coup. But people from both the countries cross the border frequently for trade, livelihood, and other reasons,” the sangam said.  P5 GC meeting to elect EPS as interim gen secy of AIADMK T M u r u ganandham @ Chennai The general council (GC) meeting of the AIADMK convened by the supporters of Edappadi K Palaniswami on July 11 will elect him as the interim general secretary of the party The agen. da for the meeting sent by the headquarters office-bearers to GC members said the meeting would discuss creating the post of interim general secretary and electing a party functionary for the post. The agenda also said the GC meeting would make an announcement about the election to be held for the post of general secretary Multiple sources . in the party told TNIE that Palaniswami prefers to get elected to the top post via a proper election in which around 1.5 crore cadre may vote. GC meeting may also discuss the election of the party’s treasurer by its primary members. Usually, invitations for GC meeting will just mention the Flying Officer Ananya Sharma (L) and Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma | IAF part of the same fighter formation for a mission.” Since a very early age, Ananya wanted to be a fighter pilot. ops moves hc, seeks stay on GC meeting Chennai: O Panneerselvam on Tuesday moved the Madras High Court seeking a stay on AIADMK’s July 11 general council meeting. He claimed that the decision to hold the meeting without the joint authorisation of the party’s coordinator and joint coordinator is illegal | P4 E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai Mumbai mess A school girl with her guardian wades through a flooded street following heavy monsoon rains, in Mumbai on Tuesday | PTI The State government has created a Government Lands Retrieval and Protection Fund of `50 crore to be used for removing encroachments from government land and protecting it with fences. According to a recent G.O. issued by the revenue department, tahsildars, RDOs, and district collectors are empowered to use the fund. The move is aimed at easing the burden on revenue officials who are forced to use their own money for removing such encroachments. The State government had drawn flak from the Comptrol- Khaki vs khaki drama outside TV journo’s home E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Lucknow/Raipur IN what could be called a case of one-upmanship in khaki, a Chhattisgarh police team that had arrived with an arrest warrant at the doorstep of a TV journalist at Indirapuram in Ghaziabad on Tuesday, had to hang around empty-handed as its UP counterparts took the journalist away The attempt to . arrest was based on an FIR against him for airing a doc- tored video clip of Congress the Chhattisgarh police team leader Rahul Gandhi’s com- outside his residence. He rements. Rahul’s statement on portedly went to the bathroom the attack on his Wayaand tweeted, “Chhattisnad office was intengarh police are standtionally or otherwise ing outside my house to mixed up with the arrest me without inUdaipur killing in the forming the local potelecast. The TV chanlice, is it legal?” He also nel has since apologized tagged Uttar Pradesh and attributed it to “huchief minister Yogi Rohit Ranjan man error”. Adityanath, Ghaziabad The day’s drama be gan SSP and ADG zone Luckow. around 5.30 am when Zee TV In response to Ranjan’s tweet, anchor Rohit Ranjan spotted Chhattisgarh police said: express read Eight Lankan Tamils reach Dhanushkodi Over 500 tribals denied community certificates Rameswaram: A day after the Sri Lankan government declared a ‘holiday week’ for schools owing to an unending fuel crisis, eight Lankan Tamils, including three children, arrived at Dhanushkodi seeking refuge on Tuesday, taking the total number of refugees reaching TN shores over the past three months to 103. They will be questioned in Rameswaram as they arrived in India without migration documents | P4 Tiruchy: Over 500 tribals at Nagamangalam in Srirangam taluk are struggling for years to get community certificates and their children are unable to get access to education and quota meant for tribals as they don’t have the certificate. According to sources, the villagers belonged to Hindu Adhiyan community whose forefathers were fortune-tellers who went from house to house with an ox | P2 Dad, daughter fly fighter planes in formation The Indian Air Force has just broken new ground with a father and his daughter flying in formation on a combat proficiency mission. Air Commodore Sanjay Sharma and Flying Officer Ananya Sharma created the record on May 30, when they flew in the same formation of Hawk-132s at the Air Force Station in Bidar, where Ananya is undergoing training. IAF spokesperson Wing Commander Ashish Moghe said, “There has not been any previous instance in the IAF where a father and his daughter were June 23 general council meeting, the posts of coordinator and joint coordinator ceased to exist. The office-bearers appointed by the coordinator and the joint coordinator have been carrying out the functions of the party the invitation said. ,” Of the 16 subjects mentioned in the invite, five are related to the leadership of the AIADMK. The meeting will discuss abolishing the dual leadership posts and the need for reviving the post of general secretary who will be elected by the primary members. The meeting will also discuss the present situation in the party and take decisions required, the invite said. The AIADMK, which decided to abolish the general secretary post at a GC meeting in February 2017, has now decided to revive the post. However, O Panneerselvam and his supporters are against the move.  P4 `50-cr TN fund to retrieve, fence encroached govt land IAF record M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi date and venue. But considering the legal cloud over the meeting, the invitation for the July 11 event has been carefully worded. “Since the amendments made to the bylaws of the AIADMK on December 1, 2021, for electing coordinator and joint coordinator by a single vote were not ratified by the But, at that time the stream was not open for women. Whenever she would bug her dad about it, he would reassure, “Don’t worry you will be one.” “Ananya after getting commissioned as fighter pilot came and saluted me. It made me really proud,” beamed Air Commodore Sharma. “It was the biggest day of my life when I flew with Ananya,” he added in a video put out by the IAF. Air Commodore Sharma was commissioned in the fighter stream in 1989. He has had an extensive experience of fighter operations, having commanded a MiG-21 squadron as well as a frontline fighter station. When the first women fighter pilots of the IAF entered service in 2016, Ananya saw her lifelong dream was now achievable. Having completed her B Tech in Electronics and Communication, she was selected for training. She was commissioned as a fighter pilot in December 2021. Her mother Sonal Sharma said, “I am extremely happy and proud. The feelings I experienced when both Sanjay and Ananya had got airborne in the same formation cannot be expressed in words. It was a feeling way beyond any happiness or satisfaction that I have experienced till now.” “There is no such rule to inform. Police team has shown you the court’s warrant of arrest. You should cooperate, join in the investigation and put your defence in court.” Shortly thereafter, a Ghaziabad police team arrived at the spot and did not let the visiting police to arrest Ranjan. Later, the Noida police came in and took him away saying he is wanted in a case in Noida. The Chhattisgarh Police is now exploring legal avenues. Safety scare as SpiceJet plane lands in Karachi A RS H A D K H A N & Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Budget carrier SpiceJet flew into rough weather on Tuesday as its Delhi-Dubai flight had to be diverted to Karachi due to mulfunctioning of the fuel indicator and another domestic flight had to request priority landing in Mumbai after cracks developed on its windshield. Following the two back-toback incidents on Tuesday the , total number of technical snags reported on SpiceJet aircraft in the past 17 days rose to seven. In both the incidents, the aircraft landed safely and passengers were safely disembarked. Sources say that the Boeing 737 MAX plane flying from Delhi to Dubai showed unusual loss in fuel quantity when it was mid-air. However, no visual leak was noticed during an inspection in Karachi. In the second incident, the windshield of a Q400 plane flying from Kandla to Mumbai cracked at 23,000 feet altitude. “During cruise, the windshield of the outer windshield pane cracked,” a spokesperson said. Officials at DGCA said it is probing the two incidents on Tuesday, along with five incidents in the recent past. SpiceJet Boeing 737 Max aircraft at Karachi Airport on Tuesday | PTI On July 2, a SpiceJet flight heading to Jabalpur returned to Delhi after crew members observed smoke in the cabin at around 5,000-feet altitude. On June 19, it experienced two incidents — of engine malfunction and cabin pressurisation. Earlier, the DGCA had slapped `10 lakh fine on the airline for the faulty stimulator and barred 90 SpiceJet pilots from flying B737 Max aircraft. However, SpiceJet claims the airline’s flights are absolutely safe. “Safety of our passengers, crew and aircraft is paramount to SpiceJet. We have been regularly audited by DGCA,” the spokersperson said. SpiceJet has been making losses for the past three years. The carrier’s auditors have repeatedly raised doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern. ler and Auditor General (CAG) of India and the Madras High Court over its inability to prevent and remove encroachments on waterbodies and government land. The 2019 CAG report stated that about 2 lakh hectares of the 29.03 lakh hectares of government land in TN was under encroachment. Notably, over 25% of government land in Chennai (excluding areas annexed by the city corporation in 2011) was in the hands of encroachers, and around 2% of government land in the undivided Tirunelveli district (Tenkasi+Tirunelveli districts) had been encroached upon.  P5 From today Wear masks or cough up `500, says civic body E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Chennai The Chennai Corporation has decided to reimpose a fine of `500 on people found without face masks in public places from Wednesday in the city . Wearing of masks will be mandatory in theatres, malls, markets, offices, hospitals, and other crowded places, the civic body said in a statement here on Tuesday In each ward, teams . headed by sanitary inspectors will inspect public places for compliance of Covid-19 safety protocol. On Tuesday Chennai report, ed one death due to Covid-19 and 1,060 fresh infections. The media bulletin issued by the Directorate of Public Health on Monday said the test positivity rate (TPR) in Chennai stood at 12.4 % (8,592 samples tested). “Over the past two weeks, Covid-19 numbers have been increasing continuously in the city. As on July 4, it had 5,936 active cases,” the statement said. Of the 5,936 cases, 5,264 are under home quarantine and 57 people are being treated at care centres run by the city corporation for mild to moderate symptoms. Another 263 people are undergoing treatment in government and private hospitals. The health status of 5,264 patients under home isolation is being monitored. Meanwhile, Corporation Commissioner Gagandeep Singh Bedi has written to the Managing Director (MD) of MTC and owners of theatres, commercial complexes, and marriage halls on following Covid-19 safety protocol.  P2 Jab-o-meter July 4 10,09,757 doses Take July 5 8,80,841 doses your shot Total: 1,98,19,70,798 NATIONWIDE July 4 July 5 tamil nadu July 4 July 5 Fresh cases 16,135 13,086 Fresh cases 2,654 2,662 Recoveries 13,958 12,456 Recoveries 1,542 1,512 Deaths 24 19 Deaths 0 1