TIRUCHY l sunday l february 25, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l LATE city EDITION Byju Raveendran claims he continues to remain the CEO The EGM which removed him violates Articles of Association and shareholder agreement rules, so they are not binding, Raveendran said egm did not have the required quorum ‘shareholders can’t fire management’ Raveendran said the EGM was convened without following proper procedure. “To pass any resolution the meeting needs to have a proper quorum, a set of people who are mandatory. Our articles are clear on the quorum requiring the presence of at least one founder director. Consequently, any resolutions taken at the meeting are not enforceable as per law,” he said ■ ■ “To reemphasise, the rumours of my firing have been greatly exaggerated and highly inaccurate,” he wrote in a letter to staff The authority to modify the board’s composition and management team lies with the board, not with a group of shareholders, he added. The EGM held on Friday was called by six shareholders 32% shareholding is held by the six investors in byju’s 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 Wayanad to WPL hero, Sajana’s incredible journey into an overnight star. Not long ago, she was strugEVERY now and then, sport gling to even travel between throws up incredible stories. places to play. First year of Before the final ball of the WPL she was ignored. This match between Mumbai Inyear Mumbai Indian drafted dians and Delhi Capitals her for `15 lakh. The jouron Friday, Sajeevan ney started in school, on Sunday nondescript grounds Sajana was just another player trying her craft Special around her home at a in a relatively new envillage (Mananthavady) terprise: Women’s Prein Wayanad while playing mier League. with boys. Her romance She needed to score five off with cricket took off in humble the last ball to steal the win for environs with her parents — Mumbai. She promptly depos- her father Sajeevan is an auto ited the ball into the stand be- driver and mother a panchayat hind long on. It has turned her councilor — struggling to meet K a lya n i m a n g a l e @ Chennai Vilavancode Cong MLA joins BJP, may be disqualified Latest Household Consumption Expenditure Survey shows wide gap between rich & poor Average spends The survey shows that the rural population spends an average of 46% on food items while the same is 39% for urban population The bottom 5% of India’s rural population, ranked by MPCE, has an average PCE of `1,373 while it is `2,001 for the same category of population in the urban areas Among UTs, MPCE is highest in Chandigarh (rural `7,467 and urban `12,575), whereas it is the lowest in Ladakh (`4,035) and Lakshadweep (`5,475) for rural and urban areas M o n i k a Ya d a v @ New Delhi The poorest 5% of the country survives on a daily consumption of just `46 per person in rural areas and `67 in urban areas, the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23 shows. The survey which took place after over a decade, , also shows the large gap in consumption between the bottom 5% and the top 5%. The per capita daily consumption for the richest 5% of the population is `350 in rural areas and `700 in urban areas. According to the survey, the average monthly per capita consumption (in current prices) in rural and urban areas was `3,773 and `6,459 respectively - 2.5 times the monthly consumption recorded in 2011-12. However, much of the growth in monthly consumption over the previous decade is because of inflation. In real term, monthly per capita consumption has grown by only 1.3 times in urban areas and 1.4 times in rural areas. At 2011-12 prices, the same expenditure stood at `2,008 in rural India and `3,510 in urban India in 2022-23. This analysis, excludes the imputed values of items received free of cost through social welfare programmes. The bottom 5% of India’s rural population has an average monthly per capita consumption expenditure (MPCE) of `1,373 while it is `2,001 for the same category of population in the urban areas. The top 5% of India’s rural and urban population has an average MPCE of `10,501 and `20,824, respectively . Among the states, MPCE is the highest in Sikkim for both rural and urban areas (`7,731 for rural and `12,105 for urban). It is the lowest in Chhattisgarh (`2,466 for rural and `4,483 for urban). The rural-urban difference in average MPCE among the states is the highest in Meghalaya (83%) followed by Chhattisgarh (82%). The last time such a survey was conducted by the National Sample Survey Office was in 2017-18, but the report was junked by the government after the findings indicated a fall in consumer spendings. WITH THIS ISSUE As You Life It PLUS 12 PAGES Cong, AAP formalise deal for five states Pr e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Close on the heels of the SPCongress pact in UP the Oppo, sition’s INDIA bloc received another shot in the arm on Saturday with the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) announcing their seat-sharing deal in five states, including Delhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Apart from Delhi, they reached agreements for Haryana, Chandigarh, Gujarat and Goa. However, there will be no alliance in Punjab. According to the seat-sharing deal, the AAP will contest four out of the seven seats — West Delhi, South Delhi, East Delhi and New Delhi. The Con- her sporting ambitions. Sajana described her early struggles after the match where havoc. “I think Sajana and I were going through the same emotions (laughs),” Suman told this daily “The 2018 floods . were particularly hard for her family,” said Suman, who had coached her for more than a decade. “The water covered the first floor where she was staying. I cannot even imagine how she and her family survived those difficult times.” Suman also said that the family supported her throughout. “To travel for cricket every day from the area she comes from was a challenge in itself,” Suman said. L46 per person consumption a day by poorest S K UMA R ESAN @ Chennai Vilavancode Cong ress MLA S Vijayadharani on Saturday officially joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the party’s national headquarters in New Delhi bringing to end nearly two weeks of speculation. The event took place in the presence of union minister L Murugan, BJP national secretary Arvind Menon, and state incharge Sudhakar Reddy . T he BJP for mally an nounced her joining, accompanied by a photo, and Vijayadharani later shared her resignation letter sent to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. In her letter, Vijayadharani said she is quitting the party and relinquishing all her posts due to personal reasons. Vijayadharani is the first sitting Congress MLA from TN to switch allegiance to the BJP. Later in the day, TNCC president K Selvaperunthagai, in a press statement, said since Vijayadharani has switched her loyalty to another party, a letter has been sent to the Assembly speaker to disqualify her from the post of MLA based on anti-defection law. Speaking about the possible impact of her exit, TNCC general secretary KG Rameshkumar said, “Congress cadres are distributing sweets to people and the general public is also congratulating us. Because of her defection, the party will get strengthened at the grassroots level.” P5 Sajana S in MI colours | MI she recollected how she did not have funds to travel. “I didn’t have money to travel. When I got selected for the district, I started earning money, `150 per day and it was a big amount , for me,” Sajana said in a video posted by MI after the match. Away from the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Suman Sharma, the head coach of the Kerela women’s cricket team, was nervously watching the game. She also recollected the struggles Sajana had to go through. Apart from the humble background she has come from, the 2018 Kerala floods too wrecked Bharuch rumble With Bharuch and Bhavnagar going to AAP, late Congress leader Ahmed Patel’s son Faisal Patel and daughter Mumtaz Patel were upset as Bharuch was Patel’s seat gress will contest from three seats - North East Delhi, North West Delhi and Chandni Chowk. Both parties reached an agreement after monthslong deliberations. Addressing a joint press conference here, senior Congress leader Mukul Wasnik said the AAP will contest two of the 26 seats in Gujarat, and one of the 10 seats in Haryana, while Congress will contest the rest of the seats in these states. The two seats allotted to the AAP in Gujarat are Bharuch and Bhavnagar. In Haryana, the AAP will contest from Kurukshetra. The AAP was represented in the meet by Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj. In Goa, the Congress will contest both the seats and the sole seat in Chandigarh in alliance with the AAP. “Long rounds of talks were held on the Chandigarh seat. It was finally decided that the Congress candidate would contest this seat. We also had detailed deliberations on Goa, and it was decided that Congress will contest both seats,” said Wasnik. Speed kills Rescue operations on at a pond in UP’s Kasganj district on Saturday after an overloaded tractor trolley driven at high speed overturned and fell into it. As many as 22 people, including eight children, were killed | PTI head-start for ls poll DMK begins seat sharing; IUML, KMDK get one each Express News Service @ Chennai First off the blocks for the the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the ruling DMK, a key constituent of the opposition INDIA bloc, on Saturday allotted one Lok Sabha seat each to two of its allies, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi (KMDK). While DMK’s longtime ally IUML has been allotted the Ramanathapuram seat, Namakkal constituency has been given to west-Tamil Nadu partner KMDK. Both the parties have been allotted the same seats they got in the 2019 general elections by the Dravidian major. K M Kader Mohideen, national president of IUML, said his party’s incumbent MP from Ramanathapuram, Navas Kani, will be renominated for the poll from the seat. While KMDK candidate DMK may finalise talks with allies in a few days Leaders of VCK, CPI, and MDMK said they will meet the DMK leadership on Monday to finalise the seats. While CPM has been invited for seat-sharing talks on Sunday, Tamil Nadu Congress chief K Selvaperunthagai said the party may finalise the seats with the DMK on Tuesday will contest on DMK’s ‘rising sun’ symbol, IUML candidate will fight the election on ‘ladder’ symbol, party sources said. The announcement comes weeks after seat-sharing talks were initiated with allies by the DMK for the April-May Lok Sabha polls. DMK president M K Stalin and leaders of the two alliance parties signed the agreement at the DMK headquarters ‘Anna Arivalayam’ in Chennai. The main opposition AIADMK and the BJP have not announced their alliance partners yet. DMK sources said the number of seats allotted to alliance parties may be the same as it was in 2019 LS election. Only the constituencies may change based on the request of alliance partners, sources said. Leaders of VCK, CPI, and MDMK said they are scheduled to meet the DMK leadership on Monday to finalise the seats. While CPM has been invited for seat-sharing talks on Sunday Tamil Nadu , Congress chief K Selvaperunthagai told TNIE that the party may finalise the seats with the DMK on Tuesday . In 2019 election, DMK alliance partners CPM, CPI, and VCK contested two LS seats each, while MDMK, KMDK, IUML and IJK contested from one seat each. Congress got nine seats in Tamil Nadu and the lone Puducherry seat. Of the 40 Lok Sabha seats, including Puducherry , the DMK-led alliance had won 39 seats. AIADMK had won in Theni constituency . Revamp Rollout of new criminal justice laws from July 1 MU K ESH R ANJAN @ New Delhi ThREE new laws — Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Bharatiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) and the Bharatiya Sakshya Adhiniyam (BSA) — would come into force from July 1, the Centre announced on Saturday . However, the provision related to cases of hit-and-run accidents — sub-section (2) of Section 106 — will be on hold. “In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 1 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (45 of 2023), the central government hereby appoints the 1st day of July 2024 as the date on which , the provisions of the said Sanhita, except the provision of sub-section (2) of section 106, shall come into force.” The three codes were enacted to overhaul the criminal justice system by replacing the British era Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure and the Indian Evidence Act of 1872. Passed by Parliament on December 21, the codes got President Draupadi Murmu’s assent on December 25 last year. The government decided not to roll out the hit-and-run provisions in view of the promise it made to protesting truckers. Truckers had staged a nationwide strike against the stringent punishment for the accident. According to the Section 106 (2), death of any person by rash and negligent driving not amounting to culpable homicide without reporting it to the police soon after the incident, shall be punished with imprisonment which may extend to 10 years and fine. express read Voters can question poll sops funding: CEC Chennai: Political parties have a right to make promises in poll manifestos but the electorate has the right to know how these promises would be funded, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar said on Saturday. But the matter is sub judice, he said | P4 Worker killed in blast in Sattur firecracker unit Chennai: One worker was killed and another grievously injured in a blast at a firecracker factory at Sattur in Virudhunagar district on Saturday. The incident took place when the workers were handling chemicals used for making crackers, police said 1 5 0 m l d u n it i n n e mm e l i CM opens desal plant, 9L to get drinking water Express News Service @ Chennai Chief Minister M K Stalin on Saturday inaugurated the 150 million litres per day (MLD) desalination plant at Nemmeli in Chengalpattu district to address the drinking water needs of more than nine lakh people in southern parts of Chennai. The `1,516.82-crore plant is the biggest in the state so far. Two 100 MLD plants are already functioning in Minjur in Tiruvallur district and Nemmeli. In August 2023, Stalin laid the foundation for 400 MLD capacity desalination plant at Perur in Chengalpattu Chief Minister M K Stalin inaugurates the desalination plant at Nemmeli | Express district. When the Perur plant becomes operational, it will be the biggest desalination plant in Southeast Asia, the state government had said. Speaking after the inauguration of the plant on Saturday, Stalin recalled that it was him, as minister for local administration in the DMK government between 2006 and 2011, who laid the foundation for the 100 MLD desalination plants in Minjur and Nemmeli. Stating that the DMK government was initiating such infrastructure projects keeping in mind the growing demand for infrastructure projects in Chennai, the CM said Chennai will have 750 MLD-capacity desalination plants in the country when the Perur unit becomes operational. A release from the government said work to lay pipelines for 48 km and build a pumping station in Sholinganallur have been completed to distribute drinking water from the new plant in Nemmeli to residents in areas like Velachery, Alandur, St. Thomas Mount, Medavakkam, Sholinganallur, and Ullagaram. P5
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.