COIMBATORE  WEDNESDAY  MAY 31, 2023  `9.00  PAGES 12  LATE CITY EDITION AFTER JIO-BP, NAYARA ENERGY SELLS PETROL, DIESEL AT `1 LESS THAN PSUS While OMCs continue to hold prices despite a drop in international rates, private fuel retailers have started passing on the benefit to consumers DISCOUNT OFFER TO CONTINUE TILL END OF JUNE RUSSIA’S ROSNEFT IS A MAJOR SHAREHOLDER “To further stimulate domestic consumption and cater to local customers better, we have introduced a `1 discount in our retail outlets until the end of June 2023,” said a spokesperson for Nayara Energy, which owns 7% of India’s 86,925 petrol pumps. Earlier this month, Jio-bp started selling superior grade diesel at `1 cheaper than regular grade diesel sold by state-owned outlets both diesel and petrol at rates below state-owned firms ■ IOC, BPCL and HPCL had frozen retail prices when international oil prices climbed in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year ■ Russian firm Rosneft is Nayara’s single-largest shareholder with 49% stake ■ While Jio-bp has priced only diesel less than that of PSUs, Nayara is selling $75.30/barrel GLOBAL OIL BENCHMARK BRENT CRUDE PRICE DECLINED BY 2.3% ON TUESDAY 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 Fake `500 notes up 14% in FY23, says RBI report E X P R E SS N E WS S E R V I C E @ Mumbai THERE may be more fake `500 notes in circulation than 2,000 denomination notes, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s latest annual report released on Tuesday . The volume of counterfeit `500 notes swelled 14% in 2022-23 to 91,110 pieces compared 79,669 pieces detected in 2021-22, the RBI report said. In contrast, the number of fake `2,000 notes — which is in the process of being withdrawn from circulation — declined from 13,604 pieces to 9,806 during the same period. “Compared to the previous year, there was an increase of 8.4% and 14.4% in the counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of `20 and `500 (new design), respectively. The counterfeit notes detected in the denominations of `10, `100, and `2,000 declined by 11.6%,” it said. Taken together, the number of fake notes in all denominations witnessed a marginal decline of 2% in FY23. The total number of fake Indian currency notes detected in the banking sector fell to 2,25,769 pieces in 2022-23 from 2,30,971 pieces in 2021-22. In value terms, the share of `500 and `2,000 notes together accounted for 87.9% of the total value of currency in circulation as on March 31, 2023. In terms of volume, `500 denomination had the highest share of 37.9% in the total banknotes in circulation as on March 31, 2023. There were 5,16,338 lakh pieces of `500 notes worth `25,81,690 crore at end-March. For `2,000 notes, the volume was 4,55,468 lakh pieces worth `3,62,220 crore. Medal point to put police on the mat Wrestlers put off decision to drop medals in the Ganga NARENDRA SETHI AND UJWAL J A L A L I @ Haridwar/New Delhi INDIA’S top wrestlers on Tuesday raised the pitch of their ongoing protest up a notch — against the delay in arresting sidelined Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh — by threatening to let their hard-earned medals wash away in the Ganga but put it off by five days to give the police time to act. The five-day deadline for Singh’s arrest came after the intervention of farmer leader Naresh Tikait. Rough police action to evict them from the Jantar Mantar protest site on Sunday also weighed on their minds as they reached Haridwar with their medals on Tuesday evening. The United World Wrestling, the international wrestling body, on Tuesday condemned the treatment meted out to the protesting wrestlers and their detention following a scuffle with the police on Sunday . Earlier in the day, the grapplers had announced their intention to sit on an indefinite hunger strike at India Gate in Delhi after returning from Haridwar. However, sources in the Delhi Police told this newspaper they would not allow any demonstration at India Gate as it is a national monument. At Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar, top wrestlers like Vinesh Phogat, Bajrang Punia, Sangeeta Phogat and Sakshi Malik said, “When the government is not ready to take action against the Singh, who is also a BJP MP, what is the use of these medals Protesting wrestlers at Har ki Pauri in Haridwar | PTI we won for the country?” After taking a seat by the riverbank, clutching their medals, the grapplers broke down in tears as their numerous supporters formed a protective circle. Singh is facing grave charges of sexual harassment of grapplers, including that of a minor. Though he has also been booked under the POCSO Act, he is yet to be arrested. At Har Ki Pauri, Nitin Gautam, president of the Shri Ganga Sabha, advised them against dropping their medals in the Ganga. “Har ki Pauri is a sacred pilgrimage site. Wrestlers can take holy baths, do charity , but medals will not be allowed to be dropped there. Har Ki Pauri will not be allowed to become an arena of politics.” The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has given a call for a nationwide agitation on June 1 to secure the democratic right of P11 protest for the wrestlers. Khaps back grapplers Haryana’s khaps and farmer outfits were among the outfits that appealed to the protesting wrestlers not to immerse their medals in the Ganga These hardearned medals are our lives, our soul. We will have no reason to live after throwing them into the Ganga - Statement issued by wrestlers Cumbum man hurt by Arikomban dies J E YA L A KS H M I R A M A N UJA M @ Theni TRAGEDY STRIKES At least 10 Vaishno Devi pilgrims were killed and 66 injured, two of them critically, as their bus fell off a bridge in the Jhajjar Kotli area on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway on Tuesday morning. The bus was on its way to Katra from Amritsar | PTI A 65-year-old man who was undergoing treatment at Theni Medical College Hospital after being attacked on Saturday by rogue tusker Arikomban in Cumbum died on Tuesday. S Palraj, a Cumbum resident, suffered head injuries and internal bleeding after he was pushed down from his motorcycle by the pachyderm on a road in the locality on Saturday . Meanwhile, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday announced a solatium of `5 lakh to the victim’s family and said a special team led by Srivilliputhur-Megamalai Tiger Reserve field director has been formed to capture the tusker. The elephant, notorious for its love for rice and ration shop raids in neighbouring Kerala, had strayed into Cumbum on Saturday, after it was translocated to the Periyar Tiger Reserve last month by Kerala. GRAINS app to be rolled out to stop corruption in TN paddy procurement B A N B U S E LVA N @ Chennai INSPECTION of crops by revenue authorities to assess crop damage, cultivation techniques, or technology used will soon become a thing of the past as survey of crops will go digital through GRAINS mobile app. It will be rolled out in the next kuruvai season expected to start in two months. Using the app, VAOs or agriculture officers can perform real-time GIS-based survey of crops. The initiative is expected to put an end to malpractices in paddy procurement as its geo-location feature will ensure the integrity of the crop survey process. Allegations of a multicrore scam in paddy procurement in DPCs rocked the state in 2020-21. The app has been jointly developed by the state agriculture and revenue departments with the support of Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency (TNeGA). Through the “Electronic e-Crop Registration System” option on the app, field officers can take pictures of crops and upload them. The data on the app can be verified through the Growers Online Registration of Agriculture In- puts System (GRAINS), a unified farmer service interface portal (https://www.tnagrisnet.tn.gov.in/), which was launched recently . The GRAINS portal is being updated with information under three categories ---- linking farmers’ details (such as name, survey number, Aadhaar, bank details, and area of cultivation) with land records, geo-referencing of all land parcels in 16,721 villages, and collecting details on crop-wise landholdings. “Farmers have been asked to provide their details to VAOs for enrolment on the GRAINS portal,” an official said. “During paddy crop survey, field officers must be present at the location, as data entry will only be enabled if the survey number of land matches its geolocation. Middlemen will no longer be able to exploit paddy procurement process” Senior Tamil Nadu official On Day 2 in Manipur, Shah meets Meitei and Kuki groups P R A SA N TA M A Z U M DA R @ Guwahati HOME Minister Amit Shah, who is on a four-day visit to violence-hit Manipur, on Tuesday held a series of meetings with Meitei and Kuki groups to restore peace and normalcy in the state. Soon after landing on Monday night, Shah got down to business by chairing a high-level meeting of state ministers and officials. One of the first decisions was to grant `10 lakh ex gratia to the kin on those killed in the clashes and a government job to one of the family members. Shah began his second day in Manipur by meeting a group of Meitei women leaders, followed by subsequent meetings with civil society groups, intellectuals and student unions. Later, he visited the hill district of Churachandpur and held similar meetings with leaders from the Kuki community . Ginza Vualzong, leader of Indigenous Tribal Leaders’ Forum, said they demanded ‘total separation’ from Manipur and the imposition of President’s rule as the law and order in the state has collapsed. During the meeting, Shah sought 15 days’ time to set up committees that will work towards restoration of peace, he added. Meanwhile, the Meitei leaders demanded appropriate measures for the protection of Manipur’s territorial and administrative integrity and immediate abrogation of the Suspension of Operation agreement with Kuki insurgent groups allegedly involved in violence. Later in the evening, Shah, along with Chief Minister N Biren Singh, held a security review meeting with senior officials. He also held an allparty meeting in Imphal. On Wednesday Shah will visit Moreh and Kang, pokpi areas of Manipur. EXPRESS READ Omron plans TN unit at an outlay of `128cr Chennai: Guidance Tamil Nadu and Omron Healthcare signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in Tokyo in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday for setting up an unit with an investment of `128 crore at Mahindra Origins Park in Tiruvallur district | P4 50 PUDUKKOTTAI DENTALSEATS MORE BDS COLLEGE AT The seats to be added for the academic year 2023-24 will take the total number of BDS seats in Tamil Nadu government colleges to 250 | P2