chennai l Wednesday l June 07, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION Moscow, Kyiv blame each other as Ukraine dam partially destroyed Emergency evacuations underway Ukraine accused Russian forces of blowing up the dam, while Russian officials blamed Ukrainian military strikes for its collapse. It was not immediately clear whether either side benefits from it since both Russian- and Ukrainian-held territories are at risk of flooding. Russia and Ukraine have both begun emergency evacuations. Neither side has reported any casualties so far | P11 The Nova Kakhovka dam in Russian-controlled Kherson region in southern Ukraine collapsed on Tuesday, endangering the lives of thousands Reservoir crucial for cooling n-plant million cubic metres of water. The dam also provides cooling water to the nuclear power station at Zaporizhzhia, which is under Russian control ■ Kyiv says the Dnieper River has been contaminated with 150 tonnes of industrial lubricants after the breach and more oil is likely to be leaked ■ The reservoir created by the Soviet-era dam on the Dnieper River holds 18 38,000 Estimated number of people evacuated from both Russian and Ukranian areas 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 BSF jawan killed in fresh Manipur violence E X P RESS NEWS SERVICE @ Guwahati DASHING hopes of an early end to violence in Manipur, militants fatally shot a BSF jawan and injured two Assam Rifles personnel in the wee hours of Tuesday at Serou in Kakching district. The slain soldier, Ranjit Yadav, was from the BSF’s 163rd battalion. He was injured in the gunfight with suspected Kuki insurgents and was evacuated to a local hospital where he was declared dead. The exchange of fire between the two sides took place in a school in Serou, officials said. Reports said suspected Kuki miscreants resorted to indiscriminate firing on BSF troops deployed at the Serou Practical High School around 4.15 am. According to a defence ministry statement, additional troops were rushed to Serou and adjoining Sugnu following multiple incidents of violence, arson and firing in the past 48 hours. “As a result of extensive area domination operations by Assam Rifles, BSF and police, intermittent exchange of fire took place between security forces and the insurgents during the night of 05/06 June. Security forces took adequate measures to prevent insurgents from breaking contact and running away to nearby areas,” it said. Officials believe the insurgents would have suffered some casualties. Internet ban extended till June 10 The Manipur government on Tuesday extended its ban on internet services till June 10. The suspension of mobile data services, including broadband, has been extended till 3 pm of June 10, an order issued by Commissioner (Home) H Gyan Prakash said. The ban was imposed on May 3 Two AK series rifles, one 51mm mortar, two carbines, ammunition and war-like stores were recovered during preliminary search. The forces will continue operations till the entire area is sanitised. Tuesday’s incident comes after combined teams of Manipur police and paramilitary forces destroyed two camps of the militants at Sugnu and Serou in the past two days. There have been several incidents in the two places since May 28 when the militants came down the hill and opened fire on villagers. Nearly 100 people lost their lives in the ethnic violence so far. In bid to mock our CM’s foreign trip, DVAC books IAS officer for governor has criticised PM: Thangam Receipt scam `1.32cr fraud Exp r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @Coimbatore The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC) has filed an FIR against IAS officer S Malarvizhi and two traders under Prevention of Corruption Act for alleged misappropriation of `1.32 crore in buying receipt books for local bodies during her stint as Dharmapuri Collector between February 2018 and October 2020. On Tuesday, DVAC teams conducted searches at nine places including Malarvizhi’s residence in TAISHA complex in Nerkundram built for IAS and IPS officers. Searches were carried out at five places in Chennai, two places in Pudukkottai, and at one place each in Villupuram and Dharmapuri. The officer is currently the vice-chairperson of Science City . The FIR was registered on Monday under Sections 120B of the IPC, and Sections 7(c) and 13(2) of the Prevention of Corruption Act against the officer and H Thageer Hussain of Crescent Traders and Veeraiah Palanivelu of Naga Traders. The FIR said Malarvizhi misappropriated `1.32 crore and kept that for her own use with the active connivance of the other accused.  Continued on: p5 India GDP GROWTH ESTIMATE TRIMMED TO 6.3% The World Bank has cut its FY24 growth forecast for India by 0.3 percentage points, against 6.6% it estimated in January. It, however, noted there is an unexpected resilience in private consumption Exp r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai Charging that the remarks made by Governor RN Ravi in the recent past have proved that he is turning into a complete politician, finance minister Thangam Thennarasu on Tuesday said the governor should refrain from using his position to make political statements. Referring to Ravi’s remark that investors would not come just because we ask them to or we go and talk to them, Thennarasu said the governor has made the comment to indirectly criticise the recent foreign visit of Chief Minister MK Stalin. “Attempting to criticise our CM, the governor has criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who, during his stint as Gujarat CM, had visited China, Switzerland, Japan, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, and Malaysia seeking investments,” Thangam Thennarasu said. Speaking to reporters at the secretariat to counter the remarks made by Ravi during his meeting with vice-chancellors of universities in Udhagamandalam on Monday the minister , said investments of over `3,000 crore had been committed to the state during the CM’s recent foreign visit. Thennarasu said visits to foreign countries by a CM are only aimed at improving the state’s economy. The CM, too, indirectly criticised t h e g ove r n o r. “Our state has made significant progress in education and healthcare. But these achievements may go unnoticed by someone who holds the highest position in the state,” the CM said while inaugurating 500 urban health centres built at a cost of `125 crore through a video-conference facility on Tuesday. Stalin also added, “TN ranks among the top three states in various health indices across the country He (the gov. ernor) should know this. You know who he is?” From January 2022 to April 2023, 108 firms have committed investments to the tune of `1.81 lakh crore to create 1.94 lakh jobs, Thennarasu told reporters. Continued on: p5 “Our state has made significant progress in education and healthcare. But these achievements may go unnoticed by someone who holds highest position in the state. You know who he is?” M K Stalin, Chief Minister CBI team begins questioning Rly officials at site CBI officials interact with RPF personnel near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district | PTI by negligence (Section 304A), acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention (Section 34), along with relevant sections of the Railways Act for endangering the lives of passengers through willful acts or omission (Section 153), rash or negligent acts (Section 154), and endangering the lives of government servants and the public (Section 175). Sources said the CBI team will examine all angles including negligence on the part of railway staff, mechanical error as well as conspiracy. It may meet DGP Sunil Kumar Bansal on Wednesday . This is not for the first time that CBI has been tasked to investigate a rail accident. In 2010, the Centre had ordered a CBI probe into derailment of Jnaneswari Express, which claimed 148 lives. The CBI had filed chargesheets against 23 persons for damaging tracks by removing pandrol clips. This had led to derailment. India begin their latest quest to win a global cricket title since 2013. Standing between them and the holy grail is Australia, familiar foes. Here’s a look at the World Test Championships final from The Oval... The last time India lined up with a 3, 4 and 5 of Pujara, Kohli and Rahane was in January 2022. Since then, Rahane was jettisoned off while the other two have struggled with inconsistency. Now, all three have scored some runs in different formats so there could be cause for some optimism India head coach Rahul Dravid (left) during a practice session at The Oval Cricket Stadium on Monday | AP | Full coverage: P13 Legacy question Lyon vs Jadeja For a country that prides itself on their red-ball nous, winning this final would bookend their bilateral domination against almost all nations in the last years. It will certainly be the crowning glory in the careers of several players who are in the autumn of their careers Nathan Lyon has enjoyed a lot of success against India on the surface with bite and turn. Against this team in Australia, he averages well over 30 at a strike rate of over 60. The surface itself may not help spin that much over the first few days but this is a battle that could decide several pivotal moments 3.00 PM, Star Sports Networks The Oval Parents of a government high school at Kunnanpuram in Thalavadi block in Erode district have been forced to hire a private tutor for `15,000 to prepare students for mathematics supplementary exam to be held on June 30 after 24 of 40 students failed in the subject in Class 10 public exam. The school is unable to provide proper coaching to students, parents said. Kunnapuram Government Middle School, which was upgraded into a high school in 2018, currently has 142 students in Classes 6 to 10 attending classes from three classrooms. Parents said the school should ideally have 10 classrooms as it has both English and Tamil medium students. Though lack of infrastructure is one of the pressing issues affecting qual- The Kunnanpuram Government High School in Erode, which has 142 students in Classes 6 to 10, has only three classrooms ity of education at the school, the parents’ immediate concern is lack of adequate teachers. Though the school’s sanctioned strength is one headmaster and five teachers, the school has only three permanent teachers. “The school has permanent teachers for English, social science, and mathematics. About five months ago, we staged a protest demanding appoint- soumyadip sinha ment of a headmaster and other teachers. Temporary teachers were appointed after that through the school management committee,” said Kanniyan Subramanian, an activist and resident of Thalavadi. The school, however, still fared poorly in the Class 10 exam this year. Twenty-four students failed in maths, four in Tamil, and eight students each failed in science & social science. p5 express read Didi keeps up her mango diplomacy with gift hamper to PM Political sparring matches notwithstanding, there is a certain civility some top rung netas continue to observe. Take West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. If she does not miss any opportunity to go for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jugular, she also does not forget sending him an annual gift hamper of the choicest of mangoes. A decorated 4 kg box, with the tagline, “Best wishes from West Bengal Chief Minister THE Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday said it has busted a major drug syndicate operating through the Dark Net and seized 14,961 LSD ‘blots’ worth about `10 crore in the international market. Six persons have been arrested in this connection. ‘Blot’ is a small piece of paper, half the size of a postal stamp, which makes it hard for authorities to track. It is used by peddlers and addicts for discreetly carrying and consuming the drug. “This operation marks the largest-ever seizure of LSD blots in a single operation within our country. Six individuals in their mid to late twenties have been arrested thus far, and we are actively pursuing another cartel,” said Gyaneshwar Singh, deputy director general (northern region), NCB. According to sources, the six arrested individuals consisted of students and young individuals seeking to earn “easy money” while maintaining anonymity . NCB sources said the seized LSD originated from Poland and the Netherlands and the syndicate trafficked it across various states, accepting payments in cryptocurrency and through UPI. The contraband was shipped using courier and postal networks. The NCB is currently working to freeze the associated crypto funds. S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u ma r @ Chennai India’s middle-order Mamata Banerjee”, comprising handpicked pieces of the king of fruits will be sent to the 7, Lok Kalyan Marg residence of Modi in a day or two. Sources said the box will contain popular varieties like Himsagar, Fazli and Lakshmanbhog. Similar gifts from Mamata will reach the doorstep of President Draupadi Murmu and Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud as well. Though the Didi, as she is popularly known, has been sending gift hampers to Modi every year, its timing this year E X P RESS NEWS SERVICE 24/40 govt students flunk in Class 10 math, parents get pvt tutor for retest WTC Final: India’s big Test annual gesture P r o n a b M o n d a l @ Kolkata NCB busts int’l drug syndicate, seizes 15,000 blots of LSD @ New Delhi A s i s h M e h ta a n d A m i t M u k h e r j e e @ Bhubaneswar/New Delhi The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday began its probe into the Bahanaga railway accident, one of the deadliest of train crashes in the country that claimed 288 lives and left more than 1,100 passengers injured on June 2. A team consisting of about eight CBI officers visited the accident site at Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district. It reportedly questioned a signalman and held discussions with Balasore GRP officers. The CBI officers collected information related to the mishap and shifting of dead bodies. The team spent more than an hour at the site. Sources pointed out that none of the railway staff on duty on the fateful evening are on the run and all will cooperate with the CBI. Earlier in the day the Special , Crime unit-I of the premier agency formally booked a case of criminal negligence based on the FIR registered by Government Railway Police (GRP). The GRP had not named any railway employee and said persons responsible for the accident will be identified during the course of investigation. The IPC charges filed by the CBI in the FIR include causing hurt by an act endangering life (Section 337 IPC), causing grievous hurt through rash or negligent acts endangering human life (Section 338), causing death DARK NET sale is curious. For, less than 24 hours before the mango diplomacy she had launched a with, ering attack on the Centre for tasking the CBI with the probe into the recent Odisha rail accident that killed 288 passengers, alleging “this is not the time to suppress truth.” Mamata alleged that the accident took place because of railway negligence, adding had the anti-collision device — introduced during her stint as Union railway minister — been in place, the tragedy could have been averted. “The CM has launched a fullscale attack against the Centre. Let us now see if the national fruit can inject any sweetness in the state-Centre relationship,” quipped a senior Trinamool Congress leader. Another leader known for her mango diplomacy is Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina. She had sent 2,600 kg of the fruit two years ago as gift to Modi, Mamata and others. At an average production of 26 lakh metric tonnes, Bengal stands sixth in mango yield across the country . Kalakshetra professor gets bail in sexual harassment case Nari Shakti Col Priyanka Singh assumed command of a frontline Divisional Army Service Corps Battalion in the Northern Command theatre on Tuesday, becoming the first Women Commanding Officer responsible for providing supplies and transport cover to soldiers Chennai: A suspended dance teacher of Kalakshetra Foundation’s Rukmini Devi College of Fine Arts, arrested on the charge of sexual harassment, has been granted bail by a Chennai court. Hari Padman was arrested on April 3 by police following harassment complaint from a former student | P2 Arikomban freed inside forest in upper Kodayar in Kanniyakumari Madurai: After an overnight journey in a specially designed truck, wild tusker Arikomban was freed in the forest of upper Kodayar in Kanniyakumari district bordering Kerala. The elephant’s health is fine, and his new habitat would ensure him plenty of water and good fodder, officials said | P4