TWITTER TIRUNELVELI  SATURDAY  JANUARY 28, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 12  CITY EDITION GO FIRST SLAPPED `10L PENALTY FOR LEAVING BEHIND 55 FLYERS Aviation regulator DGCA on Friday imposed heavy fine on the low-cost airline for the January 9 incident at Bengaluru airport FLIGHT LEFT WITH LUGGAGE MINUS PASSENGERS AIRLINE FAILED IN ITS DUTY, SAYS DGCA The flyers were waiting in an airport shuttle bus when the Delhi-bound flight took off with their luggage. “Perusal of reply of Go First reveals that there was improper communication, coordination between terminal coordinator, commercial staff and crew regarding boarding of passengers in the aircraft,” the Directorate General of Civil Aviation’s statement read ■ ■ “The airline failed to ensure adequate arrangement for ground handling, preparation of load and trim sheet, flight dispatch and passenger/cargo handling...” the DGCA statement added On January 10, Go First apologised for the inconvenience caused to the passengers due to what it termed “inadvertent oversight” `40 lakh PENALTY IMPOSED BY DGCA ON AIR INDIA FOR TWO INCIDENTS THIS MONTH 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 Notice to Pak to review & modify Indus water pact Islamabad has three months to open talks Y E S H I S E L I @ New Delhi Nuts & bolts of the dispute FOR the first time, India has put Pakistan on notice seeking a review and modification of the Indus Water Treaty negotiated by the World Bank and signed by both sides in 1960. The notice was sent on January 25 through the existing mechanism of the Indus Water commissioners. Pakistan has three months to get to the talks table to rectify a material breach flagged by India of the treaty . While the treaty provides India absolute control of the eastern rivers of the Indus, which are Ravi, Sutlej and Beas, it lets Pakistan make unrestricted use of the western rivers — the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab. India, though, is permitted to use the western rivers for domestic, non-consumptive, agricultural and generation of hydro-electric power, subject to conditions in the treaty on their design and operation. India on 2018 commissioned the Kishenganga hydroelectric power plant (330 MW) on its side of the Jhelum’s tributary . A bigger Ratle power plant (850 MW) is under construction across the Chenab’s tributary . Pakistan objected to their design and in 2015 sought a neutral expert to sort out the matter. India was okay with it. But a year later, Pakistan unilaterally retracted the request and sought a court of arbitration instead. India opposed it and the World Bank put the matter While Indus, Jhelum and Chenab are for Pak under the treaty, India can build hydroelectric power plants subject to design approval India has already built a hydroelectric power plant on Jhelum and is constructing another on Chenab In 2015, Pak objected to their design and wanted a neutral expert to sort it out. India agreed A year later, Pak sought a court of arbitration instead. It was India's turn to object, saying two parallel negotiations can't be allowed under the treaty on ice in December 2016. Since the dispute remained unresolved, the World Bank on March 31, 2022, resumes the process of appointing a neutral expert and a chairman for a court of arbitration. “Despite repeated efforts by India to find a mutually agreeable way forward, Pakistan refused to discuss the issue during the five meetings of the Permanent Indus Commission from 2017 to 2022,’’ sources said. However, parallel consideration of the same issue by two different mechanisms is not covered under the treaty “India . has always been a steadfast supporter and a responsible partner in the IWT. Pakistan’s actions have adversely impinged on the provisions of IWT and forced India to issue an appropriate notice for modification of IWT,’’ said sources. SLAM DONE Tennis star Sania Mirza bid a tearful adieu to her Grand Slam career with a runners-up finish alongside best friend Rohan Bopanna at the Australian Open mixed doubles Rod Laver Arena has been a happy hunting ground. She won women’s doubles and mixed doubles titles and runners-up four times | P11 Investors lose `11 lakh crore as markets fall A RS H A D K H A N @ New Delhi INDIA’s equity markets fell sharply on Friday with both the Sensex and Nifty hitting a three-month low. At close, the Sensex was down 874.16 points or 1.45% at 59,330.90, while Nifty was down 287.70 points or 1.61% at 17,604.30. The dip was largely due to the slump in Adani group stocks, which fell up to 23% during intraday trading, and its spillover impact on banking stocks that have an exposure to the group. The markets had closed with sharp cuts in the previous trading session on Wednesday too. , The meltdown left investors poorer by about `11 lakh crore since Wednesday . Adani group stocks have come under pressure after US activist investor Hindenburg Research alleged 85% downside in the scrips “purely on fundamental valuations”, announced a short position in the g roup’s stocks, and accused Adani of manipulating stock prices. FII stance ahead of the Budget and US Fed meeting also fuelled Friday’s fall. FULL REPORT: P10 In a first, TN govt makes equity investment in five startups E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Chennai TAMIL Nadu became the first state in the country to make equity investments in startups as Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday ordered investments of `7.5 crore in five startups founded and managed by entrepreneurs from Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe (SC/ ST) communities. T h e i nve s t m e n t s, d o n e through the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund under Tamil Nadu Startup and Innovation Mission (StartupTN), will make the state government a shareholder in these companies. The five startups are Unibose Technology Pvt. Ltd. (`2.5 crore), which helps develop and build robots for cleaning vessels to store hazardous materials in oil and gas industry and sewer lines; Pack N Back Solutions Pvt. Ltd (`2 crore), which optimises and digitises logistics in supply chain for automobile, agric u l t u re a n d e - c o m m e rc e industries; and Ywe Auto As- A.I. TO SORT COIN OFFERINGS AT SABARIMALA M S V I DYA N A N DA N @ T’Puram THE Travancore Devaswom Board is considering employing artificial intelligence (AI) to deal with the huge volume of coins received as offerings at the Sabarimala temple. The board has already received two project proposals on it. One, from an engineering college in Chennai and the other from an entrepreneur from Kerala. Board president K Ananthagopan told this newspaper that the team from the engineering college’s AI department had shown a prototype. “We have sought more clarifications. We will place an order only after examining all proposals, and with the help of technical experts,” he said. The Kerala entrepreneur, too, has been asked to make a presentation before the board, Ananthagopan added. Both proposals are for machines that will sort the coins by denomination. The counting has to be done separately, but the job will be less cumbersome than at present. At present, there are three coin-sorting machines at Sabarimala. They separate coins en masse — by removing other materials such as rice, flowers, and folded currencies that are deposited in the offering boxes. It does not offer segregation by coin denomination. This year, the board is yet to finish the counting of coins even a week into the process. The president said it would take another week for the counting to end. “We plan to instal the new machines before the next pilgrimage season. It can save a lot of manpower. The segregation and counting of coins is a stressful job. Getting machines to do the job will be very helpful,” he added. IIT JEE + CBSE + NEET LIVE Class 8 to 12 Online Classes for IIT JEE + CBSE + NEET Physics | Chemistry | Maths | Biology ADMISSIONS OPEN 2023-24 SAVE upto 20,000! Register Now! Learn from India’s Best Teachers 9600100090 9600100020 Scan the QR code to Register sist India Pvt. Ltd. (TowMan) (`1 Crore), a unique subscription-based roadside assistance for two-wheelers and fourwheelers; PEAS Automation Technologies Pvt. Ltd. (`1 crore), which builds portable multi-agro processing units in primary processing segment for small and medium farmers by integrating Industry 4.0 concepts; and Eco Soft Zolutions Private Limited (`1 crore) which digitises invoicing processes including lo- gistics and compliances by integrating suppliers and original equipment manufacturers for small and medium enterprises. `7.5 crore for firms of SC/ST entrepreneurs The `7.5 crore investment, done through the Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund, will make the state a shareholder in these companies promoted by entrepreneurs from SC/ST communities. The state had earmarked `30 crore in the 2022-23 budget for Tamil Nadu SC/ST Startup Fund, an equity and debt fund. The scheme has attracted 330 applications since May 2022. Equity investment by the government gives more credibility to these startups and it will help them acquire new clients and reach new markets. StartupTN will also provide mentoring and post-investment support that will help them achieve their goals and milestones more efficiently and effectively . Rahul drops off Yatra after alleged breach of security Techie, 23, killed in wall collapse in Anna Salai Congress fumes “Security arrangements in Jammu were good. But what happened now? There was a serious security lapse. There was virtually no security during the yatra in the Valley today,” alleged Congress leader K C Venugopal F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar SA H AYA N OV I N STO N LO B O @ Chennai CONGRESS leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday cancelled his padyatra after the Bharat Jodo Yatra entered the militancyhit South Kashmir, alleging complete collapse of security arrangements. The police, however, rejected the charge saying foolproof security would continue to be provided to the yatra. Rahul started the day’s walk from Banihal along with former J&K chief minister and National Conference vice president Omar Abdullah. But after the yatra entered Qazigund in south Kashmir, he opted out after accepting the recommendation of his security detail though the rest of the participants continued their foot march. Talking to the media in Anantnag, where he arrived in a car, Rahul said a large crowd had gathered in Qazigund and “we were looking forward to walking. Unfortunately police, men who were supposed to A 23-year-old woman techie walking on the footpath of Anna Salai was killed on Friday after a part of the wall of an old building crashed on her during demolition. No safety procedures were followed during the demolition of the 60-year-old building, police said. The victim, identified as M Padma Priya, 23, of Usilampatti in Madurai district, was working in a private consulting firm in Murugesan Naicker complex on Greams Road. She was staying with her relatives in Pammal. The Anna Salai traffic police have arrested earthmover owner Balaji and operator Gunasekaran under section 304 A (causing death due to negligence) for operating the equipment without following safety measures. Were not consulted “Police were not consulted by the organisers before deciding to discontinue the yatra after walking for about 1 km. The rest of the yatra went on peacefully,” the police said Rahul Gandhi with NC vice president Omar Abdullah during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, in Qazigund on Friday | PTI manage the crowd were nowhere to be seen.” However, the J&K Police said only authorised persons identified by the organisers and the frisked crowd was allowed inside on the route of yatra. “The organisers & managers of BJY did not intimate about large gathering from Banihal joining the yatra, which thronged near the starting point,” they added.