Solar storm hits earth The Sun emitted two strong solar flares on May 10-11 at 9.23 pm and 7.44 am, US EDT, according to NASA’s Solar Dynamic Observatory Northern Lights in British skies The greenish hues, also known as the Northern Lights were prominently on display in Britain on Friday night. The Northern Lights are expected to continue into the weekend and possibly next week. People posted pictures of the Northern Lights on social media captured on their cellphones. kozhikode l Sunday l may 12, 2024 l `12.00 l PAGES 26 l 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 PM plays 1 nation, 1 leader game: Kejri Modi to stay PM The Delhi CM claims Mamata, Uddhav, Stalin, Tejashwi could end up in jail as well A n u p V e r m a @ New Delhi Out on a 21-day interim bail ordered by the Supreme Court, AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Saturday was scathing in his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP, accusing them of orchestrating a perilous game of ‘one nation, one leader.’ Kejriwal also sought to stir the leadership pot within the BJP spec, ulating on Modi’s successor as the prime minister. The chief minister alleged that his incarceration was a “Modi move to quell opposition voices as AAP was a potential threat to the BJP”. “Mamata Banerjee, M K Stalin, Uddhav Thackeray and Tejashwi Yadav could face similar suppression if Modi secures victory in the Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal during a road show in New Delhi on Saturday | Shekhar Yadav Lok Sabha polls,” he said. In his first press conference after coming out of Tihar jail, the AAP chief cited instances of what he said was the diminishing stature of veteran BJP leaders like L K Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sumitra Ma- hajan, Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar. “Ours is a very small party it , has governments in just two states; it is a 10-year-old party . The prime minister left no stone unturned in crushing it,” he claimed. “Our top leaders have been jailed. If top leaders of big parties go to jail, the party is seen as finished,” said Kejriwal. “He (PM) thought that AAP would be finished, but this is not a party but a thought, the more they (BJP) try to finish it, the more would it grow.” He also alleged a ‘war of succession’ involving UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Modi. “It is Yogi’s turn. If Modi wins the election, he will change the UP CM within two months,” he said. “Many people ask me: ‘Who is the PM candidate of the INDIA bloc’? I ask the BJP: who will be your PM? Modi ji turns 75 in September next year. Modi ji made a rule that whoever is aged 75 years will retire. So, I want to ask the BJP, who is your PM candidate after next year?” said Kejriwal. Kerala govt owes `37,500 cr to staff, pensioners M S V i d ya n a n d a n @ T’Puram As Kerala reels under acute financial crisis, its ripples have been felt among the government employees and pensioners too. The state government owes its employees and pensioners a whopping `37,500 crore as outstanding Dear ness Allowance (DA) and pay revision arrears. While DA arrears come to `22,500 crore, pay revision arrears constitute the remaining `15,000 crore. Sources in the finance department said the government recently spent about `3,000 crore to give 2% DA to employees and 2% Dearness Relief (DR) to pensioners. “After the latest disbursal, the outstanding DA came down from 17% to 15%. The combined impact on the exchequer on account of 1% DA and 1% DR was about `1,500 crore. About `22,500 crore is required for the balance payment,” said an officer. Now, the DA and DR arrears are pending from July 2021. Merging the DA arrears with the Provident Fund of employees would have helped the gov- ernment defer the outgo. But the revised restrictions on open market borrowings make this option less attractive to it. “If the amount is merged with the PF accounts, it will result in a corresponding increase in the public account. As per the new norms, funds parked in the public account will be adjusted from the net borrowing ceiling,” the officer said. The pay revision arrears of staff and pensioners were to be disbursed in four instalments. While the employees did not receive a single instalment, pensioners received their third instalment last month. ● More on P5 Money matters B22,500 cr Dearness allowance and dearness relief arrears B15,000 cr Pay revision arrears DA and DR arrears are pending from July 2021 Hike in allowances The government had announced a hike in the DA and DR in March. It came into effect in April and is applicable to employees, teachers and All India Service officers. till 2029: Shah E x p r e s s N e w s S e r vi c e @ Hyderabad Interview Asserting that Narendra Modi will be the prime minister till 2029, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday clarified that there was no confusion in the party in this regard. He was responding to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal’s barb on the informal 75-year age cap in the BJP to hold electoral office. Speaking at a press conference here, Shah asserted, “I want to tell this to Arvind Kejriwal and company and the INDIA bloc that you have nothing to be happy about Modiji turning 75. There is no such provision in the BJP’s constitution. Modi will complete this tenure and continue to lead the country in the future. There is no confusion in the BJP .” He alleged that the INDIA bloc leaders knew the NDA would cross 400 seats and had resorted to spreading misconceptions. Shah rubbished allegations that the BJP would scrap reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs. Despite full majority in Parliament in the last two terms, the BJP never initiated any steps as alleged by the Congress, Shah said. He added that the BJP priorities were the construction of the Ram Mandir, abrogation of Article 370, reservations for women, and continuing SC, ST and OBC quotas. Responding to recent comments by Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar, Shah asserted that Pakistan-occupied Kashmir belongs to India. shah says no change in quota policy Union home minister and BJP’s chief strategist Amit Shah alleges that Congress wants to snatch away SC/ST and OBC quotas and give them to Muslims, as they did in K’taka | P9 An Infinity of Promise WITH THIS ISSUE PLUS 12 PAGES e x p r e ss r e a d Kharge writes to poll body Burial of Athanasius Yohan on May 21 New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it is surprising that EC chose to respond to a letter he wrote to INDIA bloc leaders but ignored complaints he raised directly to it. In a letter to CEC, he said poll panel is showing no urgency in dealing with “communal” statements made by leaders of ruling party. Pathanamthitta: The burial service of Believers Eastern Church Metropolitan Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan will be held at the church headquarters in Tiruvalla on May 21, the Church administration said. The mortal remains of Yohan, who died in an accident in the US, will be brought to India on May 20.
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