chennai l Tuesday l november 29, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 20 l late city EDITION Bank credit growth picks up as economy rebounds: RBI Bank credit growth rose to 17.2% in September 2022 quarter from 7% in the year-ago period, the latest RBI data showed Deposits grow 9.8% in September quarter Savings deposits at 34.7% of total Aggregate deposits growth, which remained in the close range of 9.5-10.2% since June 2021, stood at 9.8% in September 2022. Since December 2020, bank branches in metropolitan centres have been recording higher annual growth than those in rural, semi-urban and urban areas. Private banks have been outpacing public sector banks in deposit mobilisation, the RBI said | P14 ■ As per the data, year-on-year growth in term deposits rose to 10.2% in September 2022 from 6.4% a year ago. Current and savings deposits growth moderated to 8.8% and 9.4% from 17.5% and 14.5%, respectively, a year ago. The share of savings deposit in total deposits stood at 34.7% in the latest quarter 74.8% All-India credit-deposit ratio in Sept 2022, up from 73.5% a quarter ago 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 Can’t sit on picks as you don’t like collegium: SC Raps law minister’s comments; opposes cherry-picking of names S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi gun-point Videograb of policemen trying to stop an armed mob that attempted to attack Aaftab Poonawala, accused in Mehrauli murder case, in New Delhi on Monday NH compensation scam: HC warns of CBI probe R S IVA K UMAR @ Chennai Authorities must recover money from people who fraudulently claimed compensation under the Chennai-Bengaluru Expressway project, or a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe will be ordered, the Madras High Court has warned. The accused persons had allegedly faked records and received several crore rupees for land acquisition in Kancheepuram district. In February 2020, the court ordered government authorities to identify the fake claims, but the order was disobeyed. A contempt of court petition was filed and the authorities were directed to comply. However, they failed, and were ordered to appear in court. On Monday, when the respondent officials appeared in court, Justice M Dhandapani said their investigation was not satisfactory “It is public mon. ey It should be recovered from . the fake claimants. Public money should be protected,” he said, and warned that if appropriate action is not taken, the court may have to order a CBI probe. IAS officer P Ponniah, who had served as the Kancheepuram district collector, contended that the collector is not connected to the disbursal of compensation for national highway projects. Representing him, senior counsel P Wilson said it is the special district revenue officer (DRO) designated for lan d acqu i s i ti on who is responsible. Representing the CB-CID, which is investigating the scam, Additional Advocate General (AAG) P Kumaresan said the probe is still on, and about `4 crore has been recovered so far. The judge posted the matter to December 2 for further hearing. The contempt of court petition was filed by R Rajendran. Expressing deep anguish over the Centre failure to abide by the timelines laid down last year on appointments to the higher judiciary, the Supreme Court on Monday urged the Attorney General and Solicitor General of India to advise the government and ensure the law of the land is followed. A bench of justices S K Kaul and A S Oka said, “Once the name is reiterated, that’s the end of the matter of the law as it stands. When recommendation is made, you cannot hold back the name without stating the reason. It is frustrating the whole system. No court can see violation of its order.” Noting that out of 68 pending collegium recommendations, 21 were on hold for over oneand-a-half years, the bench said the delay may be linked to the Centre’s unhappiness over the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) failing to pass muster in the SC. “It appears to be an unhappiness of the government on the fact that NJAC didn’t muster constitutional mandate. Sometimes they muster mandate and sometimes they don’t. That cannot be a reason not to comply with law of the land. See the consequences, some law of yours may be upheld by the SC, there may be society that’s unhappy by it, can that section of society say that they will not follow the law of the land,” Justice Kaul said. He added that the timelines had gone completely haywire. The court took umbrage to Union law minister Kiren Rijiju’s recent statement, “never say that the government is sitting on the files, then don’t send the files to the government, you appoint yourself, you run the show then.” Justice Kaul said, “Let us give them the power, we’ve no difficulty I ignore all press re. ports, when someone high enough says let them do it themselves, then we’ll do it ourselves. All I’m saying is it should not have come. It’s an interview and it’s difficult to deny what you say .” The bench said the Centre was crossing some rubicons by keeping names pending. It also criticised the cherry-picking of names from different lists, which affects seniority and hampers the quality of judicial appointment, which is in nobody’s interest. On April 20, 2021, a threejudge SC bench had laid down a broad timeline for appointments. It included IB submitting its report within 4-6 weeks from the date of recommendation of the HC collegium to the Centre; govt to forward file(s) to the SC within 8-12 weeks; and making appointment on SC collegium’s recommendation immediately . Don’t make us take a decision, says bench “For the last two months, the whole thing has come to a standstill... Please resolve it....Don’t make us take a decision on this in the judicial side,” the bench told the Attorney General and Solicitor General and posted the matter for further hearing on December 8 Cameroon comeback Assuming he was offside, Cameroon’s Vincent Aboubakar went for the jugular, chipping the Serbia’s goalkeeper Vanja Milinkovic-Savic for the team’s second goal on Monday. Ini the first match, Cameroon came from 1-3 down to draw and keep their hopes alive | AP Ruturaj became the first in the world to hit seven sixes in List-A cricket. In the 49th over of the innings, Ruturaj took Shiva Singh to the cleaners hitting seven sixes, including a no-ball to secure 43 runs, which is also joint-maximum runs in an over. Northern Districts’ Brett Hampton and Joe Carter scored 43 off Willem Ludick of Central Districts in a 2018 Ford Trophy game In a must-win knockout match, he hit 10 boundaries and as many as 16 sixes in his 220 - which accounted for 66.6 percentage of Maharashtra’s total (330/5) and set up a 58-run win interview No deadline to link Aadhaar, electricity minister clarifies S G URUVA N MI K A N ATHA N @ Chennai V Senthil Balaji Minister of Electricity, Tamil nadu ‘Must reduce power theft’ “It is important to sort out the technical losses and reduce power theft. Aadhaar linkage will make it easy to calculate each person’s power consumption,” Balaji said In the wake of the recent confusion over people having to link their Aadhaar to consumer service numbers, Electricity Minister V Senthil Balaji has said officials had not been directed to decline bill payments from those who haven’t completed the linking. “We did not give such instructions. In a few places, it (declining of payments) might have happened,” the minister said in an interview with TNIE on Monday . When asked about the server failure, due to which many people were unable to link their Aadhaar, the minister downplayed the matter, saying such technical glitches are common. He said special camps will be held till December 31 to help people with the linking process. To a question on what would happens if a customer chooses not to link their Aadhaar to their consumer number even after December 31, the minister said, “Nothing will happen and there is no time limit.” However, he underlined that those availing subsidies must link their Aadhaar and this would help the public power corporation reduce its losses.  Full interview: P4 First two matches, 11 goals and one comeback. The World Cup went goalcrazy on the tournament’s second Monday. A look at the matches | P15 Kudus to Ghana After heart-breaking loss vs Portugal, Mohd Kudus did the star turn for Ghana, scoring a brace as they edged South Korea in a 5-goal thriller Tuesday’s fixtures Group A: Netherlands vs Qatar, Ecuador vs Senegal 8.30pm, Group B: England vs Wales, Iran vs US 12.30pm A double hundred Delightful double goal rush Brazil beat Switzerland 1-0 when Casemiro found the net in the second half. Brazil go through to the knockouts from Group G Seven sixes in an over List-A sixes record monetary benefits as violative of fundamental rights. THE Centre on Monday told the The Supreme Court asked Supreme Court that the right to the Centre to get information freedom of religion enshrined from all states on the steps takunder Article 25 of the Consti- en by them in this regard. “This tution does not include a funda- is a very serious issue. There mental right to convert people cannot be any forced converto a particular relision & that’s what we gion, not in the least if Next hearing are concerned of,” a on Dec 5 it is done through bench of Justices fraud, deception, coer- While deferring M R Shah and C T Racion or allurement. vikumar said. hearing on the The Centre’s subThe Centre said in matter to mission came in re- December 5, the its affidavit that Odissponse to a plea by court asked the ha, Madhya Pradesh, lawyer and BJP leader Gujarat, Chhattisgarh, Centre to find Ashwini Upadhyay . out information Jharkhand, Uttara“The Union of India khand, Uttar Pradesh, on what the is cognizant of the states have done Karnataka and Haryagravity and the serina already have a legin the matter. ousness of the issue islation to curb this The bench said raised in the present instead of issuing practice. writ petition. It is subEarlier, the bench notice to each mitted that such enacthad said that everyone state, it was ments are necessary asking the Centre has the right to freefor protecting cherdom of religion but to collate info ished rights of vulnernot by forced converable sections of the society in- sion, which it termed “a very c l u d i n g w o m e n a n d dangerous thing”. It added that economically and socially back- such practices might affect the ward classes,” the Centre’s af- security of the nation. fidavit stated. Upadhyay’s plea was filed Upadhyay’s plea had sought against the backdrop of the suito declare religious conversions cide of 17-year-old Lavanya in by means of fraud, threat, or Tamil Nadu. S HRUTI K A K K AR @ New Delhi brazil advance Ruturaj’s world record Maharashtra batter Ruturaj Gaikwad smashed quite a few records against Uttar Pradesh in the Vijay Hazare Trophy Quaterfinals on Monday Religious freedom doesn’t include fundamental right to convert, Centre tells SC K’taka prof suspended for calling student ‘Kasab’ E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Udupi THE Manipal Institute of Technology in Udupi has suspended a professor after he allegedly called a student ‘ jmal Kasab’, A a Pakistani terrorist who was hanged in 2012 after being convicted in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack case. A video of the professor making the remark during a class last week has gone viral on social media. In the video, the first year engineering student whom the professor called ‘Kasab’ can be heard raising serious objection and telling him that it is not at all acceptable. “Will you talk to your son like this? Will you call him by the name of a terrorist? How can you call me like that in front of so many people in the class?” the student tells the professor. The professor is heard telling “sorI had a conversation with the lecturer and realised that he genuinely meant apology. I understand what was going on in his head and would like to believe he didn’t mean it... it can be ignored this time - The student ry dude” to which the student replies, “Sorry doesn’t change how you think, how you portray yourself ”. In a social media post, the student said although the racist comment was not acceptable, he would let it go as the professor may not have meant it. However, Manipal Academy of Higher Education placed the professor under suspension and ordered an inquiry into the matter. In a statement, it said that it does not condone such kind of behaviour and this isolated incident will be dealt with in accordance with the laid down policy of the institute. There are no conclusive inputs throwing light on the background of this incident, which reportedly happened on the day of the anniversary of the Mumbai terror attack, or what prompted the professor to make such a remark. Meanwhile, the Students Islamic Organisation of India condemned the incident. “The mindset of the professor to spread hatred against a religion is worrying and causes damage to the foundation of the Constitution,” said its leader Afwan Hoode. Giant croc found dead with plastic trash in stomach As h i s h S e n a pat i @ Kendrapara THE carcass of a 17-feet-long saltwater crocodile has been recovered with plastic trash inside its stomach from Odisha’s Bhitarkanika National Park, pointing at the alarming level of pollution in one of India’s finest mangrove eco-systems. The male crocodile was found in Hansua river near Bijulia village on Sunday. Forest personnel rushed retrieved the carcass floating in the river. The autopsy found plastic and polythene inside the reptile’s stomach. “We can ascertain the exact reason for its death after getting the autopsy report,” said Manas Das, range officer, Bhitarkanika. Saltwater crocodiles are covered under Schedule I of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Presence polythene trash inside the crocodile’s stomach calls for reducing the use of plastic in villages around the park, said Hemant Rout, secretary, Gahirmatha Marine Turtles and Mangrove Conservation Society. “Crocodiles are unable to distinguish between food and plastic. They consume plastic waste, which they are unable to digest or excrete. The waste accumulating in their stomach clogs their digestive tracts, leading to death.” In balancing act, Rahul says both Gehlot, Pilot are assets A N URAA G S I N G H @ Bhopal Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday took the middle ground in the raging controversy over Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot calling his former deputy Sachin Pilot a traitor, saying both are assets for the party . “I don’t want to go into who is saying what, all I can say is both leaders (Gehlot and Pilot) are assets for the party. I can guarantee that whatever is going on in Rajasthan isn’t going to affect the Bharat Jodo Yatra there,” Rahul said in Indore. Gehlot’s barb was in retalia- tion to Pilot attacking him for the ‘interesting’ praise he drew from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during their recent meeting. To restore peace among the warring factions and insulate Rahul’s yatra in Rajasthan from the fallout of the rift, Congress president Mallikarjun K h a r g e ’s e m i s s a r y K C Venugopal will reach Jaipur on Tuesday The Bharat Jodo Yatra . is scheduled to enter Rajasthan next week. A day earlier, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had said the experience of Gehlot and the energy and youth of Pilot were equally im- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi with supporters during the party’s ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra in Indore district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday | PTI portant, adding he was surprised by the chief minister’s choice of words for Pilot. “The one who can strengthen the party organisation will be chosen in Rajasthan by the party’s top leadership. If a harsh decision has to be taken, it will be taken, but if compromise has to be struck, it too will be done,” Ramesh had said. Back to the yatra, Rahul described it as penance to stand up for the idea of real India, adding it had taught him the virtues of patience. “Earlier I used to get irritated in one-two hours; now I remain patient for up to eight hours,” he said.