kozhikode l wednesday l march 22, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION YELLEN PLAYS DOWN u.S. bank CRISIS, claims system is sound “The situation is stabilising and the US banking system remains sound,” US treasury secretary Janet Yellen reassured stakeholders on Tuesday ‘Deposit outflows stabilising’ Indian banking system robust, says S&P “The Fed facility and discount window lending are working as intended to provide liquidity to the banking system. Aggregate deposit outflows from regional banks have stabilised,” Yellen said in her speech to the American Bankers Association. According to reports, customers of First Republic Bank have pulled out $70 billion in deposits, nearly half of its total depositor base ■ Yellen said the US government will step in, if need be, to protect depositors’ interest. Her comments are part of the govt’s efforts to restore public confidence amid fears of a run on the banking system ■ Meanwhile, S&P Global Ratings said Indian banks are strong enough to endure any potential contagion effects emanating from the US turmoil $17 billion Value of Credit Suisse’s At1 bonds written off by Swiss regulator FINMA 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 CCS stamp on buying Rafale Marine today? S HAHI D F ARI D I @ N e w D e l h i The Cabinet Committee on Security (CCS) headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to clear the multi-billion dollar acquisition of 26 Rafale Marine fighters at its meeting on Wednesday . Sources said that the Indian Navy has expressed its preference for the French fighter aircraft Rafale Marine over US’ F-18 Super Hornet. A proposal for the purchase of Rafale Marine has been sent to the CCS. The Indian Air Force has already acquired 36 Rafale fighters. The commonality of fleet and the resultant savings on training, repairs and maintenance have reportedly tilted the scale in favour of Dassault’s Rafale Marine. The two versions of the aircraft have over 80% common features. These aircraft will be deployed on India’s indigenously developed aircraft carrier INS Vikrant. According to sources, the Ministry of Defence has worked out a comprehensive contract, including the Performancebased Logistics, which will en- file Photo Mighty impressed by its capabilities Sources said the Indian Navy brass was mighty impressed by the Rafale Marine’s capabilities during a joint exercise in India recently and asked the ministry of defence to close the deal with the French vendor sure that the Original Equipment Manufacturer will be responsible for the overall maintenance of the aircraft and the supply of spares. Dassault will also build a maintenance facility for the Rafales on INS Vikrant, besides one in Goa. The company will train the naval aviation ground crew, besides training the pilots. The fighters will be fully loaded with all maritime systems, including the maritime search radar that is capable of detecting submarines and warships in the sea. The price of the aircraft has not been revealed yet, but sources said it will be considerably lower than the IAF version. The government has decided to make the acquisition through an inter-governmental agreement rather than going in for an open tender. The Indian Navy has been exploring options to replace its aging MiG-29K as a short-term solution. India has been working on developing its own twinengine deck-based fighters as a long-term solution to its need for carrier-based fighters. But since there are still some years before the aircraft is indigenously developed, the Indian Navy has decided to go in for the acquisition to meet its requirement. A final decision will be taken by the CCS, which includes, the ministers for defence, home, finance, external affairs, and the NSA, besides the PM. SC bid to explore better ways for death penalty than hanging, seeks data S h r u t i K a kk a r @ New Delhi Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan escort playback singer Vaikom Vijayalakshmi from the dais after conferring her with the ‘Kerala Sree’ award at the Raj Bhavan in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday | Express ‘Kerala Awards’ lose sheen as many awardees skip event E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @T’Puram The presentation of the maiden ‘Kerala Puraskarangal 2022’, modelled on the Centre’s Padma Awards, turned out to be a lacklustre event as five awardees, including litterateur M T Vasudevan Nair who was conferred the topmost honour ‘Kerala Jyothi’, did not turn up for the ceremony . As MT could not attend the event, his daughter Ashwathy V Nair received the honour on his behalf. Danseuse Deepti Omchery Bhalla received the award on behalf of her father and playwright Omchery N N Pillai, who was conferred with e x p ress re a d Rubber politics puts Kerala Cong in spot Kochi: Though the statements by two influential bishops of the Catholic Church on rubber prices and the support to BJP, were made in north Kerala, its ripples are felt in central Kerala — among Mani and Joseph factions of Kerala Congress. Both KC(M) and KC(J) have adopted a cautious approach | P5 Strong tremors jolt Delhi, other parts New Delhi: Strong tremors jolted parts of north India, including Delhi-NCR, on Tuesday night as an earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck the Hindu Kush region in Afghanistan. Panic-stricken people rushed out of buildings as the earthquake struck around 10.20 pm and was also felt in Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. The quake struck 133 km southeast of Fayzabad in Afghan. There was no immediate report of any loss of life or property. Putin accepts Xi’s plan to end war Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday a Chinese peace plan could provide a basis for a settlement of the fighting in Ukraine when the West is ready for it. Speaking after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Putin said that Ukraine’s Western allies so far have shown no interest in that | P9 all is well... Women from Valappil Colony at Kakkodi in Kozhikode drawing water from a public well in their colony on Tuesday. March 22 is International Water Day | E Gokul Kavitha joins issue with ED, submits her mobile phones A M IT M U K HER J EE @ New Delhi THE Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday questioned BRS leader K Kavitha for over nine hours in connection with the Delhi excise policy scam. Kavitha, daughter of Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao, left the agency’s headquarters in Delhi around 9.40 pm after appearing for the third round of questioning. According to sources, the questioning revolved around her alleged involvement in the scam, her association with other accused, and her link to the liquor cartel known as the South Group, which is said to have benefited from the Delhi excise policy . Earlier in the day, the Telangana politician arrived at the ED headquarters around 11.30 am and handed over her phones to the agency She also submit. ted a letter addressed to the investigating officer, stating that the allegation in the prosecution complaint filed in November 2022 that she destroyed some of her phones used in the past, was an act of malice. Session cut short, UDF to take battle to streets E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ T’Puram Apparently walking right into the trap laid by the government, the Opposition forced the state assembly adjourn sine die on Tuesday. The UDF had a slew of genuine issues up its sleeve to put the government on the mat, but it messed up the opportunity, and adamantly stuck to its demand for the chief minister’s assurance on the notice for adjournment motion. Now both the fronts will be gearing up to take the battle to the streets. With seven MLAs charged with non-bailable offences, the Opposition will have to gather all its resources for the big fight. The UDF has announced that it will lay siege to the state secretariat in the second week of May when the LDF , government celebrates its second anniversary . However, it will be a mammoth task for the UDF to maintain the tempo, especially with the month of Ramadan, beginning this week. A large section of workers of both the Congress and the Muslim League will be practically ‘unavailable’ for protests due to the fast. Though the UDF tries to put up a brave face and claims that the government ran away from the Opposition attack by winding up the assembly session, the fact is that the Opposition failed to effectively raise many ● More on P4 issues.  Secretariat siege in May The UDF has announced that it will lay siege to the state secretariat in the second week of May, when the LDF government celebrates its second anniversary the ‘Kerala Prabha’ award. Actor Mammootty, who was also conferred the ‘Kerala Prabha’ award and sculptor Kanayi Kunhiramam and educationist M P Parameswaran, who were among the winners of the ‘Kerala Sree’ awards, also gave the award ceremony a miss. However, the absence of Mammootty known to , be a Left fellow traveller, from a prestigious award function of the LDF government, came as a surprise. Recently, the actor had criticised the waste management system in the state following the Brahmapuram fire and the government’s handling of the cri● More on P4 sis.  The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the Centre to submit data to help explore a more dignified, less painful and socially acceptable way of death other than hanging while executing capital punishment. A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice P S Narasimha said a relook would be possible only after considering better data. It asked the Centre to compile data specifying the impact of death by hanging in terms of pain, whether science and technology has suggested any other method of execution consistent with human dignity and whether they are available in India or abroad. When a death The CJI, during the hearing, said alpenalty is though the court cannot tell the legislature executed, it’s to adopt a particular method for executing executed in the death sentences, it could constitute a small presence of DM committee to take a relook. “We cannot tell and SP. Of course there may be the legislature that you adopt this method. But you can certainly argue that something some reports. Do they indicate the may be more humane. We can look into any extent of pain in scientific study which shows a method is prisoners? far less painful and more humane. Burden is on the Union to constantly make a survey D Y Chandrachud, Chief Justice of India and study the CJI said. ,” He added that the committee could consist of experts from national law universities, professors of law, doctors and scientific persons. During the hearing, Justice Narasimha said that according to literature, hanging was the closest to painless. The court’s order came in a plea challenging the constitutionality of section 354(5) of CrPC, which mandates hanging.