dharmapuri l Monday l march 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Rise of Sat-Chi continues: World No. 1 duo clinch Paris Open Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty make short work of unseeded Chinese Taipei’s Lee Jhe-Huei and Yang Po-Hsuan in straight games Rubber-stumping a dominating week Good start to the year road to title The Indian pair, one of the favourites to return from the French capital with a medal at the Olympics this Summer, didn’t lose a single game all week in the 750 Super Series tournament. Across the five matches, they never allowed their opponents to settle. Their next event is the one at the All England beginning this week R1: bt Ong Yew Sin/ Teo Ee Yi 21-13, 24-22 R2: bt Man Wei Chong/ Kai Wun Tee 21-13, 21-12 QF: Supak Jomkoh/ Kittinupong Kedren 21-19, 21-13 SF: Kang Min Hyuk/ Seo Seung Jae 21-13, 21-16 While this is their first title of the year, they have always looked in control. That this is their third final of the year (India Open and Malaysia Open in January) is a testament to that. 2 The Indian pair has won the Paris OPen for the second time 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 Did Modi stop Putin from nuking Ukraine? y e s hi s eli @ New Delhi The Biden administration feared that Russia may nuke Ukraine sometime in late 2022, when it was a step back in its war with Ukraine. The US administration enlisted India and China’s help to prevent Russia using a tactical or battlefield nuclear weapon, according to a new book, The Return of Great Powers written by CNN analyst and anchor Jim Sciutto, quoting unnamed US officials. A chapter of the book is shared on the CNN website and the book is to be published on March 12. US officials said outreach and public statements from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping helped avert a crisis. “I think the fact that we know China weighed in, India weighed in, others weighed in, may have had some effect on their thinking,” a senior US administration official said. “I can’t demonstrate this pos- itively, but I think that’s our assessment.” It may be recalled that Modi had said “Today’s era must not be of war’’ and urged both Russia and Ukraine to resolve the issues through dialogue and diplomacy. His statement “Today’s era must not be of war’’ was also used in the G20 Bali Leaders’ Declaration in November 2022. The Biden administration’s fear was not just hypothetical—it was also based on some infor mation that it picked up, the book revealed. It picked up a collection of developments, analysis and highly sensitive new intelligence. In 2022 Ukrainian forces had a lead on Russian-occupied Kherson and Ukrainian forces advanced, entire Russian units were in danger of being surrounded, the book revealed. The view inside the administration was that such a catastrophic loss could be a “potential trigger” for the use of nuclear weapons, it added. TMC goes solo, INDIA out of Bengal Mamata Banerjee announces candidates for all 42 LS seats: Cong says talks still possible the GREENHORNS PRANAB MONDAL & PREETHA N A I R @ Kolkata / New Delhi OFFICIALLY closing the door on the INDIA bloc in West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee-led Trinamool Congress on Sunday announced candidates for all 42 Lok Sabha seats in the state, roping in both veterans and greenhorns. Despite the snub, the Congress said there is still time to make the alliance work through negotiations. “Our doors are always open and an alliance can happen anytime before withdrawal,” said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. Among the newcomers in the TMC list are former cricketer Yusuf Pathan, who will contest from state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s Baharampur constituency in Mamata Banerjee Murshidabad district. Adhir, a vocal critic of TMC, was against the Congress having any truck with the Trinamool. Murshidabad has the highest Muslim population in Bengal at 67% and Chowdhury has been winning the Baharampur seat since 1999 though his victory margin has dropped over the years. Reacting to Pathan’s candidature, Chowdhury said: “If E x pre s s new s s ervice @ New Delhi INDIA on Sunday signed a trade pact with a four-nation European bloc that gives access to India’s goods and services to their markets and opens up possibilities of $100 billion investments as FDI in the country spread over the next 15 years, according to a statement from Firo z M ir z a @ Chennai Lack of coal infra delays new TN power plant operation S G U R U V A N M I K A N AT H A N @ Chennai The North Chennai Super Critical Thermal Power Station (NCTPS stage III), inaugurated last Thursday is un, likely to commence its commercial operation within the stipulated timeline due to a variety of constraints. Tangedco output reports indicate that, despite its 800 MW capacity, the stateowned plant has not generated more than 130 MW since the launch, which could not be contributed to the grid. In the absence of essential infrastructure to handle coal, including conveyer belts, the power corporation has fallen back on oil-based power generation methods. Revised environmental norms require coal-based thermal power plants to install flue gas duct (FGD) systems, which are used to transport heat and CO2 from a plant to the greenhouse, thereby reducing carbon emissions. However, sources said the FGD systems are yet to be executed in the North Chennai stage III. As of now, officials have planned to transport coal to the new plant from the stage II power plant. A senior official cited the gaps in basic infrastructure and told TNIE rectifying power generation would require additional time.  CONTINUED ON: P5 Mamata Banerjee wanted to show respect to the cricketer, she could have sent him to the Rajya Sabha. Bur she decided to field him in Baharampur to divide Muslim votes.” Notably, the TMC decided to field Mahua Moitra, who was suspended from Lok Sabha in connection with cash-for-question scandal, from Krishnagar. “The allegation levelled against her was during the tenure of India, Euro bloc deal targets $100bn FDI Error at trials for Oly medallists Bajrang, Ravi Tokyo bronze medallist Bajrang Punia had been in the forefront of a massive protest against former Wrestling Federation of India president Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh last year. Missing most of the season last year, he failed to medal at the Asian Games despite getting a direct entry in 65kg. To add to his woes, on Sunday, he failed to secure a place in the India squad for the Asian Championships and Asian Olympic Games qualifiers to be held next month. Joining him is another Tokyo silver medallist Ravi Dahiya, who had been nursing injuries for some time. (Read the full report on www.newindianexpress.com) The TMC list has six political newcomers, including former cricketer Yusuf Pathan. The other fresh faces are actor Rachana Banerjee, psychiatrist Sharmila Sarkar, PhD scholar Shahnawaz Ali Raihan, former IPS officer Prasun Banerjee, and Padma Shri recipient Kalipada Soren her previous term in Lok Sabha. If she gets elected fresh, the old allegations will not hold and there will be no bar for her to become an MP said a senior ,” TMC leader. Among the five sitting MPs axed from the list is Nusrat Jahan from Basirhat, where Sandeshkhali uproar surfaced. The talks between the two parties hit a roadblock last month after TMC supremo and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee refused to part with more than two seats for the Congress in the state. Though the Congress scaled down its demand from 10 seats to six, the TMC chose to contest solo in the state. The TMC’s main grouse was West Bengal Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s continuous attacks on Mamata and the party . Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin presents a copy of an article published in this newspaper on 1947 to commerce minister Piyush Goyal on Sunday in New Delhi. The article pitches for enhancing trade between India and Switzerland | PTI the Ministry of Commerce and Industries. The four nation bloc includes Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, and Switzerland. Dubbed European Free Trade Association (EFTA), the trade pact would not include foreign portfolio investments and it would take an year for it to come into force. ‘Don’t physically verify dairy and HR&CE stock’ B A N B US E LV A N @ Chennai Tamil Nadu Director General of Audit (DGA), who oversees audit department in the state, has refrained auditors of the milk cooperative, Hindu religious & charitable endowments, local fund audit department and others from conducting physical verification while assessing stocks at the end of the financial year. Instead, audit departments have been told to use stock details from the concerned departments for annual auditing. The revised methodology will come into effect from March 31 and a directive to this effect was recently issued to the respective audit directorates. D Jaisankar, Director General of Audit, told TNIE that physical verification of stocks is beyond the scope of audit functions. “The audit departments also lack the wherewithal to carry out such a humongous exercise. The maintenance of stock data is a responsibility of respective department administrations, not of auditors,” he said. He claimed the decision to eliminate physical verification of stocks aligns with practices followed by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).  CONTINUED ON: P5