Buzz on Musk’s India visit for Tesla plant The Tesla CEO will likely visit India later this month and announce plans to set up a new EV factory in the country, according to Reuters. Elon Musk will meet Prime Minister Modi during his visit, says the report. He will be accompanied by other executives. Another report says Tesla has reached out to Reliance Industries for a possible JV to help build the manufacturing plant and allied ecosystem | P12 COIMBATORE l thursday l april 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l LATE city EDITION 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 CM: aiadmk rival, BJP our ideological foe T M u r u ga n a n d h am @ Chennai ‘Congress has been reduced to a fringe party’ D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi THE Congress has been reduced to a fringe party along with , people who shout separatist slogans, and they’re happy to be there, Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in an interaction with TNIE. She was responding to a question on the BJP’s limited presence in the southern states. An animated Sitharaman, who is known for her plain speaking, did not take kindly to the notion that BJP has not been able to make inroads into the South. She was quick to point out that the Congress, another national party, has been equally ineffective in southern states – especially in Tamil Nadu, where the Congress has been playing second fiddle to the DMK. Where is Congress in Tamil Nadu, where is it in Andhra (Pradesh) or Odisha, asked the Finance Minister, who is a Rajya Sabha A national party like Congress member from Karnataka. today is only On southern states like Kerala and Karsecond fiddling nataka moving the Supreme Court over the state parties. fund transfers from the Centre, she said the India needs a Centre has not meted out differential treatgood solid ment to but opposition-ruled states are ponational party liticising a non-issue. and Congress is Kerala has moved SC against the Cenfailing this tre’s cap on its borrowing capacity, while country on that Karnataka has accused the Centre of not Nirmala Sitharaman transferring drought relief fund. On Kerala, the FM said changes in the borrowing rules were brought in after the CAG raised concern over non-budgetary borrowings by certain states, and that the Supreme Court has taken note of this. On Karnataka, she said the funds would be released once the Election Commission gives a go-ahead. She also sought to demolish the argument that states contributing higher to the tax pool are getting only a fraction of that in return from the Centre. “These are separatist kinds of arguments,” said the FM. Despite the criticism of electoral bonds after the recent apex court judgment, she said electoral bonds were an improvement over the past system of electoral funding. P9 Chief Minister MK Stalin said the DMK’s main competitor in the electoral arena for the Lok Sabha polls is the AIADMK, but the BJP is the ideological foe of the DMK-led INDIA bloc. “BJP is not just DMK’s enemy , it’s the enemy of the people as a whole,” the CM said. In an exclusive interview to The New Indian Express, the DMK president said while the BJP, by using its power as the ruling party at the centre and through media propaganda, is trying to create an image that i t i s g a i n i n g g ro u n d i n Tamil Nadu, the people’s verdict will show its real standing Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha constituency is witnessing a high-voltage contest between the families of former prime minister H D Deve Gowda and deputy chief minister D K Shivakumar, both Vokkaligas. Karnataka’s Congress heavyweight Shivakumar’s brother Suresh is taking on JDS supremo Gowda’s sonin-law and noted cardiologist Dr CN Manjunath, who is contesting on a BJP ticket. While the BJP-JDS alliance is trying to wrest the only seat that Congress won in Karnataka in 2019, Shivakumar is leaving no stones unturned to retain hold over his home turf. The constituency has a large number of Vokkaligas and both sides are trying to woo them. T h e C o n g re s s i s banking on guarantee schemes while BJP will be hoping to ride the Modi wave and Dr Manjunath’s clean image. Bangalore Rural Lok Sabha Constituency is a mix of urban and rural voters, totalling 27.53 lakh, the second-highest in the state after Bangalore North. In 2009, in the first election after Bengaluru Rural constituency’s formation the previous year, former CM H D Kumaraswamy had won with a lead of 1.4 lakh votes. After Kumaraswamy resigned as MP, DK Suresh won the bypolls in 2013. The BJP has been winning all three LS seats in Illustration: Mandar Pardikar The Chief Minister also said there is a tacit understanding between the AIADMK and the BJP in facing the Lok Sabha elections as separate fronts as they are aware that if they contest together, they will not win the election. “Both parties will join hands after the elections,” he said. “The BJP’s attack against opposition on corruption is laughable,” Stalin said. “The BJP government in Karnataka was voted out mainly because of corruption. Also, electoral bonds and CAG reports have exposed the BJP’s corruption record,” the Dravidian advocator said. Refuting the charges on Katchatheevu, Stalin said the BJP is spreading falsehood on the issue and the Prime Minister is shedding crocodile tears without doing anything to retrieve the islet from Sri Lanka. The Chief Minister also defended the DMK over his party receiving money through electoral bonds. On the issue of former party functionary Jaffar Sadiq being arrested for alleged involvement in drug trafficking, the chief minister said, “While the DMK has swiftly expelled him from the party, BJP continues to remain a safe haven for several history-sheeters.” Pointing out to the recent developments in the Election Commission of India and the alleged political bias exhibited by the panel in announcing poll schedule and allocation of symbols to parties, Stalin expressed hope that the Election Commission would live up to the faith reposed on it by the people. Full interview on p4 SC junks Ramdev apology, Delhi AAP minister under ED radar quits, roasts Uttarakhand govt calls party corrupt Says message must go out about consequences of flouting court order SU C HITR A K A LYA N M OH A NT Y @ New Delhi T H E S u p re m e C o u r t o n Wednesday refused to accept the affidavits of apology filed by yoga guru Ramdev and Patanjali Ayurved’s managing director Balkrishna over issuing ‘misleading’ advertisements in violation of the apex court’s directions, saying a message must go out to society at large about the consequences of violating the apex court’s order. A bench of judges Hima Kohli and Ahsanuddin Amanullah also blasted the Uttarakhand government for its failure to take action against Patanjali Ayurved and its subsidiary Divya Pharmacy The bench said . it looked like the state’s licensing authorities were “hand in glove” with Patanjali. “What did the officers do apart from pushing files... we will not take it lightly We will . rip you apart on bona fide,” said the bench in an unusually stern rebuke. The bench was hearing a petition filed by the B’lore Rural all set for titanic clash between DKS, Deve Gowda families A s h w i n i M S r i pa d @ Bengaluru in the state. Terming the Lok Sabha polls as a second freedom struggle that is being fought to save democracy, Stalin said the election is about deciding who should not continue as the Prime Minister. Dismissing opposition claims about the anti-incumbency mood prevailing in the state against his government, the CM said the state government has fulfilled most of its electoral promises and even implemented schemes that were not promised by the party. He blamed the mismanagement of previous AIADMK government and denial of funds by the union government for the delay in fulfilling all the promises. Bengaluru — South, North, and Central for years, but it has never won Bangalore Rural since its formation in 2008. However, BJP candidates have always secured a decent number of votes. In 2019, former BJP MLC Ashwathnarayana Gowda got 6.7 lakh votes, while Suresh, then a Congress-JDS alliance candidate, won with 8.7 lakh votes. Now with the JDS as partner, the BJP is trying to make inroads here. Union Home Minister Amit Shah started his campaign in the state from Bangalore Rural and slammed Suresh for his remarks on the “demand for a separate state” for South India over alleged injustice. Dr Manjunath was the longest-serving director of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences & Re s e a r c h i n Bengaluru. Congress describes him as a “white-collar candidate” while projecting Suresh as a grassroots leader. a n u p v e r ma @ New Delhi Yoga guru Ramdev arrives at Supreme Court to attend hearing on Wednesday | pti Indian Medical Association that Patanjali was spreading misinformation through advertisements claiming its products cure certain diseases including blood pressure and diabetes. “The apologies that are on record are on paper. We think that having been caught on the wrong foot and noticing that their back is actually against the wall and having gone to town saying all kinds of things on the very next day of the order passed.... we don’t accept this affidavit” the bench said. It also pointed out that both of moneyball A first in Olympics World Athletics becomes the first International Federation to award prize money for medal at Olympics... them attempted to “wriggle out of their personal presence” by moving applications seeking exemption claiming they were travelling abroad on that date. The applications were filed on March 30 but the flight tickets produced were booked on March 31, it noted. When senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for Ramdev and Balkrishna, said “people make mistakes in life”, the bench retorted: “Even after our orders? Then they suffer.” The court fixed the matter for hearing on April 16. WA president Sebastian Coe announced on Wednesday that the federation will distribute prize-money to all gold medallists at the Paris Olympic Games. Going ahead with better revenue and funding the prize-money will be distributed among other medallists as well. This can happen by 2028 LA Games A day after the Delhi High Court rejected Arvind Kejriwal’s plea against his arrest by the ED in connection with the liquor policy case, the Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday suffered another setback when Cabinet Minister Raaj Kumar Anand stepped down from the city government as well as primary membership of AAP . Anand, who was holding over half-a-dozen portfolios, said the APP was formed on anti-corruption plank but has now mired in the “same quicksand of graft”. He also alleged that the party has no place for Dalits. “This party doesn’t respect Dalit legislators, councillors and ministers. Dalits feel that they are cheated in the party he said. ,” Taking a swipe at Kejriwal, he said: “He had once said that the country would change once politics changes. The politics hasn’t changed, but the politician in him has changed.” Anand, 57, is under scanner Magic numbers Photo: Parveen Negi SC agrees to list Kejriwal’s plea soon CJI D Y Chandrachud said he will look into Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s request for an early listing of his plea against a high court order upholding his arrest. He asked Kejriwal’s lawyer to send an email. Earlier in the day, Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court against the April 9 judgement of the high court of the Enforcement Directorate and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence in an alleged money laundering case. In November last year, the ED had conducted searches at 13 places, including Anand’s premises. The ED alleged that evidence relating to his investments and hawala payments sent to China in 2023 was found from some of his employees. According to AAP leaders, Anand was threatened by the ED. “It appears that he was under pressure. He was given a script and he had no choice but to read it,” AAP’s Sanjay Singh said. $50000 48 $2.4mn 41.68 lakh: Amount that will be given to gold medallist in each event The total number of events in athletics at the Games 20 crore: The total prize money to be distributed More on P13 I understand the nature of the transition we’ve been in. We are now operating in a completely different landscape and completely different planet from when I was competing —Sebastian Coe, WA president At `4,600cr, Tangedco’s power cost jumps 2-fold S G URU V A N M IK A N ATH A N @ Chennai As the summer heat soars, the power purchase cost of the loss-making state power utility , Tangedco, for four months (February to May) has hit a record high of `4,600 crore. This is almost twice as that of the `2,400 crore spent for buying power during the same period last year. In anticipation of the spike in demand, the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (Tangedco) has already signed power-purchase agreements with private play- ers to procure about 4,500 MWs over three months (MarchMay). In addition to this, the state discom may also purchase from power exchanges whenever needed. The average cost of power in exch a n g e s c u r re n t ly stands at `10 per unit. A senior Tangedco of ficial told TNIE, “Last year’s highest power consumption was 423 million units recorded on April 20, 2023. This year, it reached 441 MUs on April 5. We anticipate the consumption to increase in the coming days.” Another official added, “While the state’s daily need has been nearly 400 MUs since March this year, Tangedco has been able to generate only 90MUs per day, just about 20% of the demand. Rest of the power has been sourced from other entities and central government’s power units. Considering the election process and people’s welfare, it is impossible to avoid this expenditure.” According to Tangedco’s balance sheet accessed by TNIE, the power utility’s earnings went up from `62,799 crore in 2021-22 to `82,399 crore in 2022-23. However, the cost of purchasing power also climbed steeply from `39,365.23 crore to `50,990.78 crore for the period. Projections indicate that the cost could hit `65,000 crore in 2023-24. Besides, Tangedco is also burdened with `13,450 crore interest payments every year. As of March 31, 2023, its liability was `1,53,485 crore. E Natarajan, state general secretary of Bharathiya Electricity Engineers Association, said, “An increase in plant load factor (PLF is a measure of a power plant’s output compared to its maximum output) of thermal plants could have mitigated the financial strain.”
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