coimbatore l thursday l december 8, 2022 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l late city EDITION World Bank report warns of unsurvivable heat wave India could soon experience heat waves that break human survivability limit, the World Bank said in its latest report Extreme climate events rising in India The World Bank report titled ‘Climate Investment Opportunities in India’s Cooling Sector’ said severe heat waves, responsible for thousands of deaths across India over the past few decades, are increasing with alarming frequency. It said the country could become one of the first places in the world to experience such extreme climate events that can be fatal “Up to 75 per cent of India’s workforce, or 380 million people, depend on heat-exposed labour, at times working in potentially life-threatening temperatures,” the report said. India has the largest heat exposure impacts on heavy labour among South Asian countries, losing 101 billion hours a year, the report added 34 million 380 mn depend on heat-exposed labour Projected job loss in India by 2030 due to heat-linked productivity dip 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 Cyclone Mandous may cross coast on Dec 9; red alert for 3 TN districts, Pondy EX P RE S S NEW S S ER V I C E @ Chennai Cyclone Mandous brewing in Bay of Bengal is inching closer to the Tamil Nadu coast and a red alert has been issued for three districts -- Chengalpet, Kancheepuram and Villupuram -- in Tamil Nadu and for Puducherry on December 9 as some places may get extremely heavy rainfall. As per the Indian Meteoro- logical Department (IMD) evening bulletin on Wednesday , the deep depression over southeast Bay of Bengal was located 750 km off Chennai coast. It is likely to intensify gradually into a cyclonic storm by Wednesday night and reach southwest Bay of Bengal off north Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and adjoining south Andhra Pradesh. It will continue to move west-northwestwards towards the coasts during the subsequent 48 hours. S Balachandran, deputy director of meteorology, regional meteorological centre, IMD-Chennai, told reporters the rainfall would occur from December 8 to 10 in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal. “As per the cur- Municipal Corporation of Delhi in AAP pocket Wins 134 wards, BJP manages 104; Congress reduced to single digit Finally, what AAP thought happened, not in the exact measure, but in its historical proportion. The Arvind Kejriwal-led party ended the BJP’s 15-year rule over the MCD, bagging 134 of the 250 seats, forcing the BJP to settle at 104 and Congress at a distant 9 seats. For AAP it is a wish fulfilled: , it now rules Delhi and the civic body whose unification from three separate bodies a few months back was thought to be a pro-BJP move. On Wednesday the BJP could , draw solace from a fragile fact: it has fared better than what was projected by exit polls. The results humiliated the Congress as it won only nine seats and, worse, 188 of its 247 candidates lost their deposits. An element of history joined AAP’s win. It is for the first time that the AAP has managed to wrest power from the BJP in any of the battles of the ballot since the party’s birth a decade ago. AAP has won two other elections — the Delhi Assembly (2015 & 2019) and Punjab (2022). In all these polls, AAP swept the Congress off, while it faced defeat in BJPruled states like Uttarakhand, Goa and Uttar Pradesh. In Delhi, AAP singularly targeted the city’s ever-rising three landfill sites, promising to remove the muck and squal- e x p r e s s r e ad Restore scholarship of minority kids: CM to PM Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday wrote a letter to the PM urging him to restore the scholarships of five lakh poor, minority students belonging to Classes 1 to 8 | P4 6 killed, 5 injured in road accident in Chengalpattu Chennai: Six people died and five others were severely injured after a mini-goods carrier in which they were travelling got crushed by two trucks on Chennai-Trichy National Highway in Chengalpattu on Wednesday | P5 figures that matter gender break-up of councillors 69 49 02 05 AAP BJP Others Cong 250 Total wards AA P 1 3 4 7.18% 11.68% BJP 104 Co n g 9 Others Ot h e rs 3 42.05% 39.09% Men 65 55 01 04 AAP BJP Others Cong AAP Vote share Congress Mayor watch U j w a l J a l a l i @ New Delhi BJP Tenure of MCD mayor is 1 year Rules mandate that the first mayor is a woman while the third mayor has to be from the reserved category or from Delhi’s midst. The BJP got back at AAP by selectively leaking video clips on the socalled corruption cases, including the Delhi excise scam. In the previous elections, the BJP had trounced both the AAP and the Congress by winning 181 of 272 wards of the three municipal corporations. Kejriwal termed the “decisive victory” to be an affirmation for his party’s honest poli- rent condition, the cyclone is likely to cross between Puducherry and Sriharikota between December 9 night and December 10 morning. The system is likely to cross as a cyclone,” he said. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued orange alert for delta districts of Cuddalore, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Thanjavur and Pudukkottai on December 8. Deep depression 750 km off Chennai coast AAP may field SC woman councillor for mayor If she wins, she’ll have tenure of about four months as new mayor is sworn in every April tics. “People of Delhi have now entrusted their son to clean Delhi and rid MCD of corruption. I won’t let them down,” he said at the AAP headquarters. Delhi BJP chief Adesh Gupta said the people have given them almost 40% vote share along with 104 wards and responsibility as a strong opposition. As for the dispirited Congress, it claimed that the people have rejected the BJP . Orange alert issued for Chennai, Tiruvallur, Ranipet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Kallakurichi and Cuddalore on December 9, and Chennai, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram, Ranipet, Chengalpet, Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Tirupattur, Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri on December 10 In maiden speech, Dhankar raps SC S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi In his first speech as chairman of the Rajya Sabha, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar on Wednesday took on the Supreme Court, describing its 2015 verdict that struck down the National Judicial Appointment Commission (NJAC) bill as a glaring instance of severe compromise of parliamentary sovereignty and disregard of people’s mandate. Dhankar said there is no parallel in democratic history where a legitimate Constitutional prescription was judicially undone. He underscored Parliament’s position as the exclusive and the ultimate deter- minative of the architecture of the Constitution. “Hon’ble members, there is no parallel to such a development in democratic history where a duly legitimised Constitutional prescription has been judicially undone. It’s a glaring instance of severe compromise of Parliamentary sovereignty the V-P said. ,” He pointed out that the NJAC bill had received unprecedented bipartisan support but was quashed on the ground that it was not in sync with the basic structure of the Constitution. Calling Parliament the custodian of the “ordainment of the people”, Dhankar also said it was duty bound to address the heavy eights Women Orange alert for Chennai on December 9 and 10 Croatia 2018 finalists have been run-ragged a few times but are still fighting with an ageing but still world class team. You fear for them Netherlands Three-time finalists still searching for their first title. Have relied a lot on Cody Gakpo’s goals. Play a counterattacking brand of football They have based their performances around great defensive work and relied on a fast break. Can they keep doing it? The prospect of an Argentina-Brazil semifinal looms large as the quarterfinal line-ups have been identified. A look at all eight teams... Modric van Dijk Friday 8.30 PM Saturday 12.30AM Thiago Messi Brazil Struggled for goals early on but turned on the style against South Korea. They are two matches away from reaching an 8th final & first since 2002 Argentina Stumbled early on but have grown into the tournament. Almost let that Round of 16 match against Australia slip. Lionel Messi has been the difference maker Dropping Ronaldo gave their forward line a new lease of life. Will they stick to their new belief? Have the potential to go all the way Portugal Saiss Saturday 8.30PM Pepe England Looked a little shaky at the back but when you have Kylian Mbappe, why worry? The midfield is a bit lightweight and can be worrisome France Kane Sunday 12.30AM Lloris Cost of living to go up as RBI raises rate M ONI K A YA D A V @ New Delhi YOUR cost of living has just gone up. And, it will continue to stay that way for quite some time, going by the Reserve Bank of India’s monetary policy statement released on Wednesday According to RBI, . the common man will continue to bear the brunt of price rise and high interest rates as the central bank’s fight against inflation is not over yet. Seeking to cool inflation, RBI governor Shaktikanta Das on Wednesday announced a 35 basis points increase in the benchmark interest rate. This, however, which will trigger another round of hike in’ lending rates. Banks are expected to raise interest rates of home loans and other loans linked to the repo rate (at which RBI lends to banks). Home loan rates are already at 9% or more. The burden on existing home loan borrowers could go up by `950-1,200 per EMI for an outstanding loan of `50 lakh with a tenure of 10-25 years. Loans are only going to be costlier in the coming months as RBI has given clear indications that the rate hikes are far from over. Experts see another 25 bps rate hike. Realtors say another rate hike could derail the recovery in the property market by making the affordable housing segment unaffordable. WHAT THE REPO RATE HIKE MEANS If you have taken a loan, or are planning to take one, you may have to shell out more as banks are likely to raise interest rates Parallelly, interest rates on deposits in banks are also expected to rise Experts feel the real estate sector will be the most hit as higher home loan rates will put off potential buyers On the bright side, there’s hope for savers as banks are likely to raise deposit rates. Inflation will, however, continue to pinch the common man as RBI has retained its inflation target for FY23 at 6.7% — with Q3 inflation at 6.6% and Q4 inflation at 5.9% — which is still higher than its upper tolerance level of 6%. High inflation and interest rates are weighing down the economy with RBI revising the growth rate for FY23 to 6.8% from its earlier projection of 7%. With global slowdown looming large amid high inflation and high interest rate, the common man faces uncertainty in the immediate future. G aga n y aa n - 1 First manned space mission strategically timed for LS polls K ARTHI K K K @ Mysuru INDIA’s maiden manned space mission, Gaganyaan-1, is likely to be scheduled in 2024, just before the Lok Sabha elections, sources told this newspaper. “There have been instructions from the Union government that although the Covid disruption forced delays in the project timeline, we have to try and complete the tests in 2023 so that the project is launched in 2024 before the Lok Sabha polls,” a senior scientist said. The original launch schedule was December 2020, but ISRO had to change the dates following the pandemic. Now, with preparations in full swing, the two major tests — Test Vehicle Demonstrations (TV-D1 and TV-D2) — are expected to be carried out in February 2023 and December 2023, respectively. While TV-D1 will be a high altitude abort test (which will test the crew escape system in case of anything going wrong), the TV-D2 will be an unmanned mission to test whether all parameters of the flight without Chennai’s air quality ‘poor’, index touches 240 S V K RI S HNA C HAITAN YA @ Chennai There has been a significant spike in air pollution levels in Chennai. On Wednesday afternoon, the city’s air quality index (AQI) touched 240, which falls under ‘poor’ category as per National Ambient Air Quality Standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board, enough to cause breathing discomfort to most people on prolonged exposure. Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board (TNPCB) officials attributed the sudden jump in pollution levels to unfavourable meteorological conditions. Chennai has seven continuous ambient air quality monitoring stations that provide real-time data on different air pollutants. Of the seven stations, the one at Alandur bus depot recorded AQI of 320 on Wednesday The ‘very poor’ air . quality level can cause respiratory illness to even healthy population on prolonged exposure. While four other stations recorded ‘poor’ air quality, two stations recorded ‘moderate’ levels. The dominant and most harmful pollutant, PM 2.5, peaked to 335 in some of the monitoring stations.  P5 AQI IN VARIOUS dists District AQI Chennai Chengalpattu Puducherry Ramanathapuram Thoothukudi Kancheepuram Morocco Another side that turned on the style in R-16. Have a well-rounded attacking unit where multiple players can chip in with goals issue and expressed confidence that it would do so. Democracy blossoms and flourishes when its three facets — the legislature, the judiciary and the executive — scrupulously adhere to their respective domains, Dhankhar said, adding that the doctrine of separation of powers must be respected. “Any incursion by one institution in the domain of the other has the potential to upset the governance apple cart,” he said. Last week, speaking at an event in the presence of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud, Dhankar had said the power of the people reflected through the most certified mechanism on a legitimised platform, was undone. weather blues a crew would work fine during the final mission. Only after that will the main manned space mission take place. The date of the final mission has not been fixed. But, senior scientists at ISRO and Defence Food Research Laboratory under Defence Research and Development Organisation confirmed the Centre’s 2024 fiat. 240 285 265 248 120 115 Chennai stations Alandur Perungudi Royapuram Ennore Arumbakkam Manali Kodungaiyur 321 285 262 258 213 180 154 NIA arrests three in TN for supporting Mubeen in Kovai car explosion case E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Coimbatore National Investig ation Agency (NIA) officials on Wednesday arrested three people, two from Coimbatore and one from Nilgiris, for their alleged link to the October 23 Coimbatore car blast case. The arrested were identified as M Mohammed Thoufeek (25) of Podanur and B Ferose Khan (28) of South Ukkadam in Coimbatore city, and K Umar Faaruq alias K Srinivasan (39), an autorickshaw driver, of Ottupattarai near Coonoor in the Nilgiris district. “Investigations reve a l e d t h a t U m a r Faaruq and Ferose Khan were part of the conspiracy meetings attended by Mubeen in Umar’s residence at Coonoor in Nilgiris and provided support to Mubeen in the commission of terror acts,” said a press release issued by the NIA on Wednesday Mohammed Thou. feek was in possession of incriminating literature/books connected to radical Islam and also had handwritten notes on ‘They took part in conspiracy meetings’ Umar Faaruq and Ferose Khan were part of conspiracy meetings attended by Mubeen in Umar’s residence in Coonoor and supported Mubeen in the commission of terror acts. Thoufeek was in possession of incriminating literature/books, NIA said preparation of explosives. Further probe in on, the release said. Around 4.30 am on October 23, a day before Deepavali, a car loaded with explosives and driven by Jamesha Mubeen exploded in front of Sangameswarar Temple in Kottaimedu in Coimbatore city According to NIA, Jame. sha Mubeen (29) of HMPR Street in Kottaimedu, after taking bayyath/ pledge to ISIS, had planned a suicide attack to cause extensive damage to symbols and monuments of a particular religious faith with the intention to strike terror among people.  P5