KOZHIKODE l wednesday l may 31, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l 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 ■ While Jio-bp has priced only diesel less than that of PSUs, Nayara is selling 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 $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 Se 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 In contrast, the number of fake `2,000 notes — which is in the process of being withdrawn from circulation — declined from 13,604 pieces to 9,806 during the same period.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 N AR E N D RA S E T HI a nd U J WAL J ALALI @ 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 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 Demand for flu shots spikes ahead of school reopening U nn i k r i s h n a n S @T’Puram sweet beginning Children of Thejas Anganawadi at Thoppayil, Kozhikode, share a cake on the first day. ‘Praveshanolsavam’ of anganawadi children was celebrated across the state on Tuesday | E Gokul ALL IN THE FAMILY Venu likely to be next chief secy, wife Sarada to succeed him There are a few other officers senior to Venu in the Kerala cadre. For the first time in its histoBut Gyanesh Kumar (1988 ry, Kerala is likely to have a batch) and Rajesh Kumar husband-wife duo occupying Singh (1989 batch) are currentthe state’s top bureaucratic ly on central deputation, and Dr V Venu slot in a row. Dr V Venu is unlikely to return to succeed tipped to assume the office of Joy D K Singh and Alkesh Ku. chief secretary this July, and mar Sharma (both 1989 batch) his wife Sarada Muraleedhaare set to retire soon. ran is expected to succeed him Venu will continue in servin 2024. Both Venu and Sarada ice till August 2024. In all likeliare of the 1990 IAS batch. hood, he will be succeeded by Sarada It was in March 2021 that V Additional Chief Secretary P Joy took over as the 47th Muraleedharan (LSG) Sarada, who would have chief secretary of the state. a tenure till April 2025. With the 1987 batch officer set to reIn the past too, IAS couples - V tire by June-end, it’s almost certain Ramachandran-Padma Ramachanthat Additional Chief Secretary dran and Babu Jacob-Lizzie Jacob (Home) Venu would be picked by the have served as chief secretaries, but ● More on P4 state government to succeed him. not in a row.  E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ T’Puram June marks the reopening of schools as well as the onset of monsoon in the state. With rainy season approaching, parents are taki n g p r o a c t ive m e a s u r e s t o safeguard the health of their school-going children. A growing number of parents are now seeking influenza vaccines, commonly known as flu shots, to mitigate the severity of prevalent infections during the school reopening time. The vaccine offers protection against four major strains of influenza, including H1N1 and H3N2. However, it is important to note that while the vaccine is effective against influenza, it does not provide immunity against other viral strains that can cause fever. The influenza virus is highly contagious and it can spread faster in school settings. With more awareness, parents are inclined to provide flu shots for children to prevent school absenteeism and productivity loss. “Schools turn out to be hotspots for virus spread as children spend long hours in close contact. Though most school-going children will have minor symptoms and recover well, they act as the source of infection to vulnerable siblings and elders at home. Hence, vaccination of schoolchildren does play a role in containing the virus spread,” said Dr Nisha Nair N U, a consultant at the department of paediatrics in KIMSHEALTH, Thiru● More on P4 vananthapuram.  Bank cannot deny edu loan citing low CIBIL score: HC E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @ Kochi The Kerala High Court on Tuesday held that a bank should not reject the education loan application of a student simply because their CIBIL score is low. The court issued the order on a petition filed by Noel Paul Fredy of Aluva, who is a final-year student pursuing BTech Computer Science and Engineering with (Specialization in Cyber Security and Digital Forensics) programme on the Bhopal campus of Vellore Institute of Technology. The court A humanitarian also directed to disburse a loan of approach is `4,07,200 to the petitioner’s necessary from the part of college. “A humanitarian approach is banks while necessary on the part of banks considering an education loan while considering an education application loan application. Students are the nation-builders of tomorrow. Sim- Justice P V ply because the CIBIL score is low Kunhikrishnan for a student, who is an applicant for an education loan, the bank should not have rejected the application,” said Justice P V Kunhikrishnan. The petitioner had applied for an education loan at State Bank of India, Malikampeedika Branch, Aluva, in August 2022. The annual fee of `4,02,000 was paid by the parents. However, it became impossible for the petitioner to pay the fee for the 4th year. It was under this circumstance the petitioner approached the bank seeking a loan to pay the last semester’s fee. But, it was not sanctioned even after ● More on P4 repeated requests by the petitioner. e x p r e s s r ea d State to seek borrowing plan from Centre T’Puram: A high-level meeting chaired by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Tuesday decided to seek the state’s borrowing plan and calculation table fixed by the central government. The meeting was in the backdrop of the documents released by Union Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan on Monday | P4 Kochi corp bins contract with ZONTA Corp to recommend to government to blacklist the firm that was entrusted with biomining and setting up a waste-to-energy plant at Brahmapuram| P4