chennai l friday l march 17, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 40 l late city EDITION Centre writes to six states over spike in Covid-19 cases Infection seems localised: Health ministry The Centre on Thursday asked Maharashtra, Gujarat, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka to contain the recent spurt in cases Focus on testing, genome sequencing “There are a few states which are reporting higher numbers of cases indicating possible localised spread of infection,” Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said in a letter to the six states. Bhushan advised them to examine the situation at the micro-level and implement necessary measures for prompt and effective management of the disease ■ Bhushan advised genomic sequencing for samples of international passengers and collection of samples from local clusters of cases ■ He said Karnataka reported a positivity rate of 2.77%, Kerala 2.64%, Tamil Nadu 1.99%, Maharashtra 1.92%, Gujarat 1.11% and Telangana 0.31% in the week ending March 15, against the national rate of 0.61% 3,264 Total No. of cases in the week ending March 15, up from 2,082 a week 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 2 dead as Army chopper crashes in Arunachal Test of democracy, says Rahul on right to respond in House express exclusive E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Guwahati TWO pilots on board Indian Army’s Cheetah helicopter were killed after their copter crashed in Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday . The helicopter was on an operational sortie from Missamari in Assam’s Sonitpur district to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh. However, it encountered inclement weather in West Kameng district and was returning to Missamari when the mishap occurred. The deceased have been identified as Lt Colonel V V B Reddy and co-pilot Major Jayanth A. Guwahati-based defence spokesman Lt Col Mahendra Rawat said that five search parties of Indian Army, SSB and ITBP were immediately pressed into service and the wreckage of the aircraft was found near Banglajaap village, east of Mandala in West Kameng district. A Court of Inquiry has also been ordered to ascertain the cause of the accident. West Kameng Superintendent of Police B Bharat Reddy said they got information about the crash at around 12.30 pm. Arunachal has a history of aircraft crashes. Thursday’s crash is the 16th such incident since 1995. Over 100 lives have been lost in the incidents. The wreckage of the helicopter | Express Several acres of the marshland are being reclaimed by realtors at the Pallikaranai Ramsar Site. Tonnes of rubble and debris are being dumped in the water-logged areas | ashwin prasath realtors dump debris to ‘reclaim’ Ramsar site SV K RIS H N A C H A I TA N YA @ Chennai Around 10 acres of the Pallikaranai marshland, that received the coveted title of a Ramsar Site in 2022, have become the dumping ground for tonnes of rubble and construction debris in the last couple of weeks. The laying of a 40-feet gravel road and construction of houses in patches is impinging upon the ecological balance of the wetland, which boasts of a multitude of bird and wildlife species. Of the total 1,247.54 hectares falling under the Ramsar Site, only 698 hectares are protected and maintained by the forest department. As per the Ramsar Convention, no part of the wetland is supposed to be used for other purposes. TNIE visited the area earlier this week and saw several lorries bringing in and dumping debris on the wetland, already inhabited by birds. K Geethanjali, Conservator of Forests (Chennai Circle), told TNIE, “Though the area belongs to private parties, the original status of the land is that of a water body and thus, no land filling is allowed. There is an order from the National Green Tribunal regarding the same.” Locals claim that the area in question is located in Pallikaranai village and spans 36 acres. As per documents from 1966, this area is known by the names Periyamutharamman Nagar and Beula Nagar. “There are over 200 patta holders. The perennial water in the marshland is the discharge from Perungudi sewage treatment plant. There is no place for the water to drain due to the Perungudi dumpyard,” said R Kumar, who has patta to a piece of land here and is president of Periyamutharamman and Beula Nagar Welfare Association. P7 After no-show, Kavitha gets fresh ED summons A M I T M U K H E R J E E @ New Delhi The Directorate of Enforcement issued fresh summons to K Kavitha, BRS lawmaker and daughter of the Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, to appear before it on Monday (March 20) for questioning in the Delhi excise policy scam, hours after she failed to turn up on Thursday, citing her petition pending before the Supreme Court on the matter. Kavitha, who had appeared in person on March 11, sent a letter and her legal team with documents to the ED office this time on her advocates’ advice. When she moved the SC on Wednesday, the court listed it for March 24 without giving her any interim relief. In the wake of her skipping the summons, a special PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) court extended the custodial remand of Arun Ramachandran Pillai, a key accused alleged to be closely associated with Kavitha in the scam. The ED was to confront her with Pillai among other accused and witnesses in custody . Besides, the ED custody of Delhi’s ex-deputy CM Manish Sisodia ends on Friday . In her letter, Kavitha said she was not physically confronted with any of the arrested accused when she appeared on March 11 despite the ED categorically assuring that was the purpose for her summoning. Pillai was the frontman of the South Group cartel that allegedly included Kavitha. The cartel was the direct beneficiary of the Delhi scam. Pillai is the 32.5% owner of an entity that benefitted from the excise scam. He claimed Kavitha was a major stakeholder in that entity . HC barred non-forest activity in ’21 In 2021, the Madras HC ordered authorities to identify and cancel pattas obtained illegally and prohibited any sort of nonforest activity in Pallikaranai marshland Birds that visit the marshland Blackwinged Stilts, Terns, Yellow Wagtail, Citrine Wagtail, Little Stints, and migratory subspecies of the Peregrine Falcon Krithivasan TCS’ next CEO, Gopinathan quits E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Bengaluru Rajesh Gopinathan, MD and CEO of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), has resigned four years ahead of the end of his tenure. He will be replaced by another company veteran K Krithivasan. Gopinathan, who has been working with TCS for 22 years now, is leaving “to pursue his other interests”. He will continue till September 15 to provide transition and support to his successor Krithivasan, who is currently the global head of TCS’ BFSI vertical. Krithivasan holds a bachelor’s Rajesh Gopinathan degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras and a master’s degree in industrial and management engineering from IIT Kanpur. Gopinathan had taken the reins of India’s largest IT services firm from N Chandrasekaran in February 2017, when the K Krithivasan latter took over as Tata Sons chairman. TCS shareholders had in April 2022 approved Gopinathan’s appointment for five years till February 20, 2027. This is the second major rejig in the IT sector after Infosys president Mohit Joshi quit the firm to join Tech Mahindra a few days ago. TN to revise minibus fares, expand service B A N B U S E LVA N @ Chennai A year after reviving the Namakku Naame Thittam (selfsufficiency) and Varumun Kappom (preventive healthcare) programmes, first introduced by former Chief Minister M Karunanidhi in 1997 and 2006 respectively, the state government has decided to give a boost to another signature DMK initiative: the minibus scheme for rural areas. The scheme, which was first such serious subjects,” Prasad said. The BJP, he added, will continue to campaign against Rahul till he ten. Under fire for his ‘democracy in dan- ders his apology The Congress, howger’ remarks in London, Congress ever, flatly rejected the demand. Though Rahul attended the leader Rahul Gandhi on afternoon session of the Lok Thursday said the real quesSabha for the first time since tion is whether he will be althe controversy broke out, lowed to respond to the allethe House was adjourned gations raised against him by within minutes after protests. four BJP MPs in Parliament. Parliament has been in tur“It’s my democratic right moil over Rahul’s remarks in to speak in Parliament. What the UK ever since the second you are seeing is a test of depart of the Budget session bemocracy If Indian democra. . cy is functioning, I would ‘Speaker just gan on Monday smiled’ “I went to Parliament this have been able to say my morning with the idea of piece in Parliament,” he said Rahul met Lok putting what I feel on the at a press meet here after reSabha Speaker floor of the House... Within turning from London. Om Birla with a “After four BJP leaders request to allow one minute of my coming to the House, they adjourned made an allegation against a him to speak in it,” he said. member of Parliament, will the House. “He The Wayanad MP alleged that member get the same only smiled, the that the government is runspace in the House or is he goSpeaker was ing to be told to shut up?” Ra- non-committal,” ning away from questions on the relationship between the hul wondered. Rahul said PM and industrialist Gautam The BJP was quick in its pushback with party leader Ravi Adani, who has been accused of stock Shankar Prasad describing Rahul as a manipulation and fraud by Hindennovice in foreign policy “Rahul should burg Research. Congress leader . brush up his information about In- Jairam Ramesh said all opposition dia’s foreign policy and strategic secu- parties barring a few are together and rity before passing any comment on believe that what Rahul said is right. P r eetha N a i r & R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi launched in 1997 and expanded in 1999 when Karunanidhi was CM, is touted as a key DMK significant contribution to rural advancement as it introduced minibuses to remote villages deprived of bus services for decades. There are 4,092 minibuses permitted to operate across the state at present. However, the fare for minibuses has not been revised since 1997, and bus operators have been arbitrarily hiking fares, charging `10 to `30 per ticket on most of the routes. Now, the MK Stalin government aims to provide mini-bus connectivity to more villages and regularise the existing services. The state transport department recently framed a new mini-bus service scheme, according to which bus fares for minibuses are to be revised, said official sources. “A bus fare revision mechanism will be rolled out soon.” P7 Reframed scheme and its incentives The scheme will see the revision of bus fares. “A bus fare revision mechanism will be rolled out soon,” said an official. Remote village-bound buses will also be incentivised 6 killed as fire breaks out at Hyd building E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Hyderabad SIX persons, including four young women, reportedly died in the fire that broke out in Swapnalok Complex in Secunderabad on Thursday The victims — identified . as Shiva, Prashant, Pramila, Shravani, Vennela and Triveni — are reportedly to have suffocated to death after they locked themselves in a washroom to escape the flames. Officials said the fire broke out around 7.45 pm on the fifth floor of the nine-storeyed building. Five fire tenders rushed to the spot to control the flames from spreading to other floors. Earlier in the evening, a person, who was rescued by officials, was seen pleadingwith authorities to help his colleagues stuck in the washroom by providing oxygen. Multiple rescue teams rushed to the spot and managed to evacuate 12 people. Telangana home minister Md Mahmood Ali said six of the 12 people that were rescued were hospitalised. W IT H T H IS ISSUE CHENNAI’S BEST WEEKEND GUIDE 40 PAGES, INCLUDING 24 OF INDULGE (TABLOID)