DHARMAPURI l friday l march 01, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l CITY EDITION Cabinet approves three mega chip units @ `1.26 lakh cr outlay Construction of the units will begin within the next 100 days and govt will provide financial aid, Telecom minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said Tata group to set up 2 units; CG Power one Cabinet approves rooftop solar scheme Tata Electronics and Taiwan’s Powerchip Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp will set up a unit at Dholera, Gujarat, at a cost of `91,000 cr. The Tata Semiconductor Assembly and Test Pvt Ltd will set up a unit in Morigaon, Assam, at `27,000 cr. CG Power, Renesas Electronics Corp, Japan and Stars Microelectronics, Thailand, will set up a unit in Sanand at `7,600 cr ■ ■ The chips to be manufactured in these units can be used in electric vehicles, telecom, defence and consumer electronics. These units will create 20,000 advanced tech jobs, 60,000 indirect jobs, says govt Cabinet approved the rooftop solar scheme of 300 units free power for 1 cr houses with an outlay of `75,021 crore for panel installation `76K cr of financial assistance to be provided by centre for 3 chip units 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 Economy zooms to 8.4% in Q3 Growth in gross value addition, however, was just 6.5% in third quarter, down from 7.7% in Q2 M o n i k a Ya d av @ New Delhi Tunda, after he was acquitted by a TADA court in the 1993 serial bomb blasts case, in Ajmer on Thursday | PTI ‘Mastermind’ of serial blasts in ’93 acquitted R a j e s h A s n a n i @ Jaipur Abdul Karim Tunda, the prime accused in the 1993 serial blasts case, was on Thursday acquitted by a TADA court in Ajmer. He is 80. Two other individuals, Irfan (70) and Hamimuddin (44), were convicted in that case. Tunda’s lawyer, Shafiktullah Sultani, said, “The court acquitted him of all charges. The CBI has failed to present any strong evidence against Tunda.” However, defence lawyer Bhavani Singh Rohela said the CBI would file an appeal in the Supreme Court. “The court acquitted Tunda because there was no direct evidence to prove his involvement,” he said. Tunda expressing gratitude to the court for his acquittal. Tunda, Irfan, and Hamimuddin were accused in the serial bomb blasts that targeted trains in Lucknow, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Surat and Mumbai on December 6, 1993. Twenty years ago, on February 28, 2004, the TADA court had sentenced 16 accused to life imprisonment in the case. Tunda was nabbed in 2013 in Banbasa, Uttarakhand, near the India-Nepal border. He was known to have close ties with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and earned the moniker “Doctor Bomb” due to his expertise in bomb-making. THE Indian economy continues to spring surprises with the GDP growing at 8.4% in the third quarter of the current financial year (FY24). The numbers released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Thursday beat estimates by 140-170 basis points. Buoyed by the latest data, NSO has also revised its full-year GDP growth estimates for FY24 to 7.6%, up from the initial 7.3% projection made in January . “Robust 8.4% GDP growth in Q3 2023-24 shows the strength of Indian economy and its potential. Our efforts will continue to bring fast economic growth which shall help 140 crore Indians lead a better life and create a Viksit Bharat!” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted. During a media briefing, Chief Economic Adviser V Anantha Growth sectors 11.6% 9.5% 9.5% 8.7% 9% Q3FY23 Q3FY24 7.5% 5.2% 8.2% 1.4% Construction Electricity, gas, water supply Mining & quarrying IIP slips -4.8% Manufacturing sector output -0.8% Laggard Agriculture Key infra sectors grew at a 15-month low of 3.6% in Jan 2024, down from 4.9% in December and 9.7% in January 2023 Nageswaran said the robust GDP growth and India’s consistent outperformance are prompting a reevaluation by international organisations to raise their estimates of India’s growth rate to 7% or higher. He emphasised the economy’s ability to surpass projections, indicating a structural transformation in progress, par- R SIVAKU M AR @ Chennai The Madras High Court has cancelled the provisional selection list for appointment of 245 civil judges in the state after finding erroneous accommodation of top rank holders in the merit list under reserved category and accommodation of candidates who scored lower marks under general category . Directing the TNPSC to cancel the list published on February 16, 2024, a bench of Justices SM Subramanian and K Rajasekar said, “The TNPSC is directed to prepare a revised provisional list by accommodating top rank candidates in the merit list under general category and thereafter, accommodate candidates against the carried forward vacancies as per the quota notified for backlog vacancies, and thereafter place the remaining candidates against the current vacancies by adopting the Rule of Reservation.” “The revised list shall be prepared scrupulously by following the ratio laid down by the Supreme Court in K Shobana case and published within two weeks. Further proceedings shall be initiated after that,” the bench said. The bench said the TNPSC misconstrued the scope of Section 27 (F) of the Tamil Nadu Government Servant Conditions of Service Act 2016 and erroneously accommodated the top rank holders in the merit list under reserved category posts and gave general category posts to other candidates who scored lesser marks.  Continued on p5 Which union govt scheme did TN block: CM Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to spell out the names of central schemes that were blocked by the state government. Responding to Modi’s claim that there was lack of cooperation from the DMK government in implementing central schemes, the CM said Modi is slandering DMK and the state government due to his fear and anger over the prospect of losing the LS poll. In a letter addressed to DMK cadres on the eve of his birthday Stalin , said, “Modi should have specified the projects that were being obstructed by the DMK administration instead of making superficial and generalised allegations. Did we block the opening of AIIMS in Madurai? Did we stand in the way of metro rail projects? Let him tell us for which central projects did we not allocate land.” Stalin said the DMK was openly opposing only those schemes like the NEET, farm bills, Citizenship Amendment Act and National Education Policy since they were against the interests of the people. “Modi, who heads a heartless government that denies grants to states, prevents borrowing, doesn’t sanction even flood relief money, has no right to criticise DMK,” he said. Responding to Modi’s remarks that DMK had to be driven away from Tamil Nadu, Stalin termed the remarks as demeaning to the position of PM. He said he would not wish the same for the BJP as DMK believed in BJP’s right to function as a party in a democratic arena. The political history of Tamil Nadu would show what happened to those who wanted to destroy the DMK, Stalin said. “My wishes for the BJP , which was not able to be a good ruling party in the past, to function at least as a good opposition party in the future,” the CM quipped. “Today the DMK has the duty to defeat , fascism and communalism to uphold democracy and pluralism in the Lok Sabha polls and to ensure the victory of the INDIA bloc. DMK cadres should strive to win all 40 LS seats — 39 in TN and lone Puducherry seat segment, and a change of guard at the centre would be a sweet birthday gift for me,” Stalin said. Rumpus in Kagithapattarai Six Tasmac shops in 1km radius in Vellore RAJALAKSH M I SA M PATH @ Vellore For the 2,000 families living amid a multitude of Tasmac outlets at Kagithapattarai in Vellore, life has become one unending nightmare. The 28th ward spread across 20 streets has six liquor outlets within a radius of just one km. Of the six Tamil Nadu State Marketing Corporation Limited (Tasmac) outlets at Kagithapattarai, one shop is located near a movie theatre on Kagithapattarai Road, two within 500 metres, two more within 800 metres, and one shop is located among houses on a street in LIC Colony Muthu Nagar, . LIC Colony, and Sarathy Nagar are among the primary localities of the One of the six Tasmac outlets located at Kagithapattarai in Vellore | S Dinesh ward. “After 6pm, it is difficult to come out of the house as the streets are taken over by tipplers. We mostly keep our windows and doors closed Source: NSO ticularly in infrastructure and inclusion initiatives that enhance purchasing power. The sparkling GDP figures, however, don’t hide the sluggish sequential growth in gross value addition (GVA), which measures the total value of goods and services produced. GVA grew just 6.5% in the third quarter, lower Madras High Court trashes judge selection list over quota violation E X PRESS NE W S SERVI C E @ Chennai Average GDP growth of first 3 quarters of FY24 all the time to save ourselves from unwanted trouble from drunkards,” a resident said. There is a private factory near Kagigathpatrai where several residents work as labourers and housekeepers and their shifts typically end by 7pm. But the workers fear for their lives while they use the road due to trouble from tipplers. “I live in Muthu Nagar. I finish my work by 6.30pm. A few days back, while returning home from work, a drunkard tried to harass me but I managed to escape. This is a trouble we have to encounter every day said a woman resident. Most ,” of the drunkards fall asleep in front of houses. They sometimes urinate and vomit in front of homes.  p5 than 7.7% in the second quarter, and 8.2% in the first quarter of FY24. GVA growth in the third quarter of FY23 stood at 4.8%. The latest GDP growth numbers were also helped by a downward revision (from 4.7% to 4.3%) of the figures in the third quarter of the previous year. Net taxes less subsidies, which jumped by 32% annually, also boosted GDP growth in the quarter. The slowdown in GVA growth was led by manufacturing, construction and agriculture. Manufacturing sector GVA slowed down to 11.6% in Q3 from 14.4% in Q2. Agriculture sector growth declined by 0.8% during the quarter compared with 1.6% growth in the previous quarter. Construction sector saw the growth dropping from 13.5% in Q2 to 9.5% in Q3. Mining activities also slowed down to single digit growth of 7.5%. Cremated Punjab farmer Shubhkaran Singh, 21, who died during clashes with security personnel, was cremated on Thursday. There was no clarity on the farmers’ Dilli Chalo march that is now on hold e x p re s s re a d SC rejects plea to reopen Sterlite plant Four booked for threatening seer New Delhi: In a jolt to Vedanta Limited, the Supreme Court on Thursday dismissed its plea for re-opening of its copper smelting plant in Thoothukudi that had remained shut since May 2018 over pollution concerns. A three-judge bench headed by the CJI noted in its order that there are “repeated breaches” and “serious violations” on the part of Sterlite in the case | P7 Mayiladuthurai: At least four people, including BJP Mayiladuthurai district president K Agoram and a private school correspondent named N Kudiyarasu, were booked on the charge of threatening to publish alleged obscene videos of Dharmapuram Aadheenam Mutt seer on social media. The group had allegedly demanded a huge sum for keeping the purported video clips under wraps | P4