Neuralink patient can control Mouse through thought: Musk no side effects on Patient chennai l wednesday l february 21, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION “Progress is good, and the patient seems to have made a full recovery, with no ill effects that we are aware of,” Musk said in a Space event on X. “Patient is able to move a mouse around the screen by just thinking,” he added. Neuralink’s implant given to the first human patient and initial results show neuron spike detection Neuralink uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move 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 Protest to resume today; Court says tractor trolleys can’t run on highways as per MV Act Farmer build-up begins; HC says ‘no’ to tractors Ha r p r e e t B a j wa @ Chandigarh Battle lines were drawn along the Punjab-Haryana border with farmers bringing in heavy machinery including hy, draulic cranes and earth movers, to break the police barricades as they resume their Dilli Chalo march on Wednesday, a day after they rejected a formula floated by the Centre. In a new twist later in the day, the Punjab and Haryana High Court said tractor trolleys cannot run on highways as per the Motor Vehicles Act. It advised farmers to use buses or public transport to go to Delhi instead. A bench of Acting Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Lapita Banerji also orally directed the Punjab government to ensure that farmers do not gather in large numbers. Briefing the media on the talks with the Centre, farmer leaders said they had suggested a special session of Parliament to pass a legislation on legal guarantees to the minimum support price (MSP) mechanism for crops. Sarwan Singh Pandher, general secretary of the Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee, said: “We have three major demands: legal guarantee on MSP for all crops; the implementation of the C2+50% formula as recommended by the Swaminathan Commission; and loan waiver.’’ He said as per government reports, farmers have a total debt of `18.5 lakh crore. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi could make a pre-poll announcement that all farm loans would be waived; a mechanism to do so could be worked out later,” he suggested. At the Shambhu inter-state border, sources said the number of agitators is swelling. There is heavy police deployment in and around Rajpura to manage traffic movement as hundreds of tractor trolleys are rolling towards Shambhu. agri budget 2024-25 New scheme to help farMers go chemical-free EX P RE S S N E W S S ERV I CE @ Chennai Farmers with an excavator modified to shield the agitators from police rubber bullets, at the Punjab-Haryana Shambhu border in Patiala district on Tuesday. Their Dilli Chalo agitation will resume on Wednesday | PTI 1 Food for thought Proposal: Farmers demand guaranteed MSP for all 23 crops; implementation of C2+50% formula as recommended by the Swaminathan panel; and loan waiver estimated at `18.5 lakh cr 3 2 Counter-proposal: Govt offers MSP guarantee on 5 crops - tur, urad, masoor, cotton and maize - for five years. Farmers reject it Cost of guaranteed MSP to all crops: Govt will get in only when mandi price is below MSP. So, real cost to govt will be MSP minus mandi price, which is about `21,000 crore for marketing year 2023, as per CRISIL Market Intelligence & Analytics 4 Expert take: Govt proposal is a diversionary tactic to buy time, says Devinder Sharma. If govt can waive off `15,000 lakh crore of corporate loans, why can’t it do so for farmers, he asks | P12 Both BJP & Akalis blame it on Mann Both the Punjab unit of the BJP and the Shiromani Akali Dal blamed Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann for breakdown of talks. Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar said, “since Mann acted as the lawyer for farmers during the talks, the negotiations were destined to fail.” Senior SAD leader Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra said Mann’s double-speak during negotiations failed the farming community and forced them on the path of agitation Minister for Agriculture MRK Panneerselvam on Tuesday presented the state’s exclusive agriculture budget for 2024-25 in the Assembly and announced initiatives to improve soil fertility and sustainable farming by adopting chemical-free cultivation through ‘Chief Minister’s Mannuyir Kaathu Mannuyir Kappom Scheme’. The scheme encompassing 22 components will be implemented at a cost of `206 crore. The scheme has an array of initiatives, including conservation of traditional paddy varieties under ‘Nel Jayaraman Mission’, reclaiming alkaline and acidic soil, creation of model organic farms in each administrative block, promotion of vermicompost, and establishing 100 uzhavar angadis on the lines of uzhavar sandhais (farmers’ markets) The budget also gives a big thrust to cultivation of oilseeds and pulses apart from mechanisation of farm operations. Establishment of new State Horticulture Farm and Parks, measures to promote organic farming, and development of low glycemic index rice varieties for diabetic patients are some of the other new initiatives. Underscoring the need for self-sufficiency in foodgrain production, the minister announced measures to improve production of pulses and oilseeds at an outlay of `108 crore. “Tamil Nadu needs 18.45 lakh MT of edible oil annually but our oilseed output is only 4.85 lakh MT,” Panneerselvam said. `42,281 crore agri budget While `10,500 crore has been allotted for food subsidy, `16,500 crore will be the crop loan target. Input subsidy of `208.20 crore will be given to 2.74 lakh farmers towards yield loss due to natural disasters Incentive for cane farmers Announcing a special incentive for sugarcane farmers, minister said farmers who have supplied cane to mills for 2023-24 crushing season, will be paid a special incentive of `215 per metric tonne over and above the FRP price More on p4 Maha approval to 10% Maratha quota S u d h i r S u r yawans h i @ Mumbai AAP’s Kuldeep Kumar after the SC declared him Mayor | PTI SC overturns C’garh Mayoral poll verdict, raps returning officer THE Maharashtra Assembly on Tuesday unanimously passed a bill providing 10% reservation to the Maratha community in education and government jobs under a separate category. This is the third attempt to provide reservation benefits to the community on grounds of social, economic, and educational backwardness. Marathas constitute 28%of the state’s population. Ahead of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in 2014, the then CM Prithviraj Chavan had promulgated an ordinance approving a 16% reservation for Marathas. But the Bombay High Court stayed it, and the decision was upheld by the Supreme Court. Later, in 2018, the Devendra Fadnavis-led gover nment @ New Delhi The bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra found presiding officer Anil Masih guilty of defacing eight ballots, which were cast in favour of Kuldeep. The court considered those ballots valid and transferred them to Kuldeep. The judges ordered Masih’s prosecution for making a false statement in court. The bench said setting aside the election process itself wouldn’t be proper as the issue arose only when Masih made the counting. The SC said Masih’s conduct has to be deprecated at two levels. One, he altered the course of mayoral poll. Two, he made a solemn statement before the court on February 19, which was a lie. At the outset, the bench got to physically examine the invalidated ballots. A video of the voting process was played in the open court. The judges noted the eight ballot papers ‘marked’ by Masih were in favour of Kuldeep. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi argued it was wrong to call his client Masih a thief, adding he was not a fugitive. nomically backward with 21.22% living below poverty line depending on free rations given by the government. “In total farmer suicides, 94% of the deceased farmers belong to Maratha community Marathas . engaged in agriculture are finding their traditional trade unprofitable... There is high illiteracy and Marathas are deprived of government jobs and better life,” the report said. press impact Reliefoffor Jyoti assured piece land for new house Hours after this daily reported hockey player Jyoti Chhetri’s ordeal, local government officials visited her home, which is likely to be demolished, in Rourkela & offered her a piece of land to get a new house constructed | P17 Sand, blue metal and brick prices zoom, house construction cost up 20% in TN s u c h it r a k a lyan m o h anty The Supreme Court on Tuesday declared AAP candidate Kuldeep Kumar the winner of the Chandigarh Mayoral polls, setting aside the January 30 poll verdict on the BJP victory . passed the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes bill to provide quota for Marathas. The Supreme Court struck it down. The latest move is based on the recommendation of the Maharasthra Backward Classes Commission headed by retired judge Sunil Shukre. According to the panel, the Maratha community is eco- M S a r a v anan & C S h i v a k u m a r @ Coimbatore/Chennai PM Narendra Modi during the foundation stone laying of development projects in Jammu. J&K L-G Manoj Sinha and Union minister Jitendra Singh are also seen | PTI Article 370 stymied J&K’s development, says Modi F AYA Z W A N I @ Srinagar The BJP-led government at the Centre removed Article 370 because it was the biggest hurdle to the development of Jammu and Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday as he launched multiple development projects worth over `32,000 crore related to health, education, rail, road, aviation, petroleum, and civic infrastructure sectors. The PM also opened the longest transportation tunnel of the country on the UdhampurSrinagar-Baramulla Rail Link and flagged off the first electric train in Kashmir. “J&K has suffered a lot due to dynastic politics for decades. They are only concerned about their families and their own in- terests and not about the interests of people. The youth are the bigger losers in dynastic politics,” PM Modi said while addressing a public rally at Maulana Azad Stadium in Jammu. Modi said after Article 370 was read down, there is widespread enthusiasm about the development of Jammu and Kashmir. People from all over the world want to visit the region to enjoy its scenic beauty , he added. “The Gulf countries are willing to invest in J&K. The entire world is enchanted by its natural beauty and everybody wants to come to Kashmir,” he said, adding that his government will convert the Valley into a tourist destination that could rival Switzerland. Construction activity across Tamil Nadu has been hit due to the spike in cost of materials such as m-sand, psand, river sand and blue metal by up to 30% over the last few weeks. Cost of construction of houses has gone up by nearly 15% to 20% (from `2,200 to `2,500 per sqft). While new projects are being postponed, the price escalation has led to cost overruns in existing projects. Several government contractors, too, are worried. They fear that the price hike may affect the implementation of state and central government projects. Stone crushers may go in for another round of price hike in April, contractors said. S Ramaprbhu, committee chairman, municipal and DTCP Build, ers Association of India, said, “The price of a cubic feet of m-sand has gone up from `40 to `70. There is scarcity of river sand after Enforcement Di- rectorate action. The quantum of river sand brought illegally from Nellore has gone up. Usually, builders shell out ` 80 for one cubic feet of river sand, but now it is being procured from Nellore at a cost of `120. The price of bricks has increased from `30,000 to `34,000 (per 3,000). This is having a cascading impact on the construction sector,” he said. “M-sand, psand, river sand and blue metal come under state control and do not fall under the Reserve Bank of India index,” K Venkatesan of BAI said. P9 express read Virus threat: Vaccine for feral dogs in TN forests Chennai: After two cases of canine distemper virus (CDV) were confirmed recently, the TN forest department has decided to vaccinate all feral dogs inside core, buffer zones, and fringe areas of all wildlife divisions | P2 Virat Kohli becomes father of a baby boy New Delhi: Virat Kohli on Tuesday announced that he and his actor wife Anushka Sharma were blessed with a baby boy on February 15. Kohli and Anushka are already proud parents of a three-year-old daughter Vamika. JICA loan to tamil nadu Japan gives `2,809 cr for Chennai Ring Road E x p r e ss N e ws S e r v i c e @ Chennai The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) has sanctioned a loan of approximately `2,809 crore (49,847 million Japanese Yen) for Phase-2 of the Chennai Peripheral Ring Road Project. The project is one of the priority ones under the ‘Comprehensive Integrated Master Plan for Chennai-Bengaluru Indus- trial Corridor (2015)’ based on agreement between the Government of Japan and the union government. The five-phase 133km road for which land is being ac- quired will help address the demand for connectivity due to increasing road traffic in the Chennai Metropolitan Area. The project is expected to improve connectivity in and Will reduce Chennai-Ennore travel time by 40 minutes The road project will reduce transportation time by about 40 minutes between Chennai and Ennore Port. It will also enhance connectivity to southern parts of Tamil Nadu through 26.3km Peripheral Ring Road and implementation of Intelligent Transportation Systems, sources said around Chennai by creating a radial-ring road network by linking Inner Ring Road, Chennai Bypass Road and Outer Ring Road to provide alternative route for vehicles. It will also provide direct access to Kamarajar Port and Kattupalli Port from industrial clusters located in suburban areas of Chennai Metropolitan Area to accelerate industrial and economic growth. P9
Express Network Private Limited publishes thirty three E-paper editions of The New Indian Express newspaper , thirty two E-paper editions of Dinamani, one E-paper edition of The Morning Standard, one E-paper edition of Malayalam Vaarika magazine and one E-paper edition of the Indulge - The Morning Standard, Kolkatta.