dharmapuri l tuesday l june 11, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION The future of audio and video phone call is possibly here Nokia billed the immersive audio, video call as the biggest leap in live voice calling since the introduction of monophonic telephony Pekka Lundmark As though you are near the caller Nokia CEO Pekka Lundmark made the first call using the new 3GPP Immersive Voice and Audio Services (IVAS) codec that allows users to hear sound spatially in real time. Imagine getting a call from a relative abroad, and being able to hear everything in their environment as if you are near them. A smartphone and a 5G network were all it took to make the call ■ 3D audio Massively improved listening experience ■ “It takes you to the caller’s environment creating a spatial and massively improved listening experience for voice and video calls,” Lundmark said During his call with Stefan Lindström, Finland’s ambassador of digitalisation, Lundmark showed the distinctive acoustic dimensions that can be experienced with the new IVAS technology, Nokia said Uses multichannel microphones to capture sound from all directions 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 HDK to handle steel and heavy industries; Chirag food processing; Rammohan civil aviation Top ministers retain 2.0 charges, Shivraj gets agri, Vaishnaw I&B Prime Minister Narendra Modi chairs the first meeting of his new Cabinet, attended by the newly-inducted ministers, at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg in New Delhi on Monday | PTI RA J ESH K UMAR T HA K UR @ New Delhi There were no surprises in the portfolios allocated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday to his 72-member ministry as all key charges continued to be with his colleagues from the outgoing cabinet. As this newspaper said on Sunday , it indicated continuity while being alive to the needs of coalition dynamics. Heavyweights like Rajnath Singh, Amit Shah, Nitin Gadkari, Nirmala Sitharaman and S Jaishankar retained their portfolios of defence, home, road transport and highways, finance and external affairs respectively This newspaper had . earlier reported that the BJP was unlikely to part with any of its core ministries — home, defence, finance, external af- Safeguarding border top priority: Rajnath “Safeguarding India’s border will remain our topmost priority and we shall continue protecting India’s integrity & sovereignty,” Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said adding efforts will continue to take defence manufacturing and exports to greater heights fairs, railways, IT and law — to the NDA allies. Former chief ministers Shivraj Singh Chouhan and Manohar Lal Khattar got the important ministries of agriculture and housing and urban affairs, respectively Their experience . in governance is expected help them deal with the crucial portfolios. Khattar also has the charge of power. Ashwini Vaishnaw, who is credited with rollout of the Vande Bharat trains and many other mega railway projects, retained railways, electronics and information technology. The important portfolio of in- Sharif greets Modi in first exchange after polls Y e s h i s e l i @ New Delhi Former Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday congratulated Narendra Modi in the first communication between the estranged neighbours after the latter took oath as India’s Prime Minister for a recordequalling third term. “My warm felicitations to Modi Ji on assuming office for the third time. Your party’s success in recent elections reflects the confidence of the people in your leadership. Let us replace hate with hope and seize the opportunity to shape the destiny of the two billion people of South Asia,” Sharif wrote on X. Responding to Sharif ’s message, Modi reiterated that India has always stood for peace. “Appreciate your message, Nawaz Sharif. The people of India have always stood for peace, security and progressive ideas. Advancing the well- being and security of our people shall always remain our priority Modi said. ,” Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also extended his wishes to Modi. “Felicitations to @narendramodi on taking oath as the Prime Minister of India,” Shehbaz Sharif wrote on X. Pakistan downgraded ties with India after the Centre stripped Jammu and Kashmir of special status and bifurcated it into two Union Territories. However, of late, the Pakistani leadership has shown some indications that it is ready to explore better ties with India. Recently , Nawaz Sharif blamed Pakistan for violating the Lahore Peace Agreement signed with India. “On May 28th, 1998, Pakistan carried out five nuclear tests. After that Vajpayee Saheb came here and made an agreement with us. But we violated that agreement. It was our fault,” Nawaz had said. mystery animal during swearing-in event is a house cat A mysterious animal resembling a leopard was seen on a video of BJP MP Durga Das Uikey’s oath-taking ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Sunday. It went viral and led to speculation. Delhi Police say it’s a common house cat formation and broadcasting got added to his bouquet. Dharmendra Pradhan and Piyush Goyal retained their education and commerce and industry ministries respectively while Hardeep Singh Puri continues to be the petroleum and natural gas minister. J P Nadda has returned to the health ministry he held before he became BJP president. Kiren Rijiju has been moved from earth sciences to parliamentary affairs, while Arjun Ram Meghwal will continue as law minister and Sarbananda Sonowal has retained the shipping portfolio. Bhupender Ya- dav, too, retained the environment ministry Annpurna Devi . is the new women and child development minister. As for the allies, former Bihar chief minister and HAM founder Jitan Ram Manjhi got the ministry of micro, small and mediums enter prise (MSME). JD(S) leader H D Kumaraswamy got heavy industries and steel, and JD(U)’s Lalan Singh panchayati raj, fisheries, animal husbandry and dairying. TDP’s K Rammohan Naidu has be given civil aviation. LJP (Ram Vilas) leader Chirag Paswan was allocated food processing. RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary has been allocated the skill development and entrepreneurship ministry while Shiv Sena leader Jadhav Prataprao Ganpatrao will handle the Ayush ministry . Know your ministers CABINET MINISTERS Rajnath Singh: Defence Amit Shah: Home; Cooperation Nitin Gadkari: Road Transport and Highways J P Nadda: Health; Chemicals and Fertilizers Shivraj Singh Chouhan: Agriculture; Rural Devel. Nirmala Sitharaman: Finance; Corporate Affairs S Jaishankar: External Affairs Manohar Lal Khattar: Housing and Urban Affairs; Power H D Kumaraswamy: Heavy Industries; Steel Piyush Goyal: Commerce and Industry Dharmendra Pradhan: Education Jitan Ram Manjhi: Micro, Small & Medium Enterprises Lalan Singh: Panchayati Raj; Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Sarbananda Sonowal: Ports; Shipping and Waterways Dr Virendra Kumar: Social Justice and Empowerment Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu: Civil Aviation Pralhad Joshi: Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution; New and Renewable Energy Jual Oram: Tribal Affairs Giriraj Singh: Textiles Ashwini Vaishnaw: Railways; I&B; Electronics and Information Technology J yotiraditya Scindia: Communications; development of Northeast Bhupender Yadav: Environment, Forest and Climate Change G ajendra Singh Shekhawat: Culture; Tourism Annpurna Devi: Women and Child Development K iren Rijiju: Parliamentary Affairs; Minority Affairs Hardeep Singh Puri: Petroleum and Natural Gas Mansukh Mandaviya: Labour and Employment; Youth Affairs and Sports G Kishan Reddy: Coal, Mines Chirag Paswan: Food Processing C R Patil: Jal Shakti Now, Sena says it’s not happy with MoS post SUDHIR SURYA W ANSHI @ Mumbai A day after the Ajit Pawar-led NCP rejected a Minister of State (MoS) position in the Narendra Modi cabinet saying it wants a Cabinet post, the Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena said it was not happy with the MoS berth given to it. Prataprao Jadhav is the sole representative of Shindeled Sena in the new government. He has been allocated the AYUSH ministry as MoS with independent charge and health & family welfare as MoS. Expressing disappointment over the issue, Shiv Sena MP Shrirang Barne said his party is one of the oldest allies of the BJP and deserves a cabinet minister. “In this election, the strike ratio of Shiv Sena was higher than that of the We will face BJP in Maharashtra. The Shiv Sena conassembly tested 15 seats and won 7, while the BJP elections in the contested 28 seats but won only 9. Our next three performance is better,” said Barne. months... Sena “Injustice has been done to the Shiv should get fair Sena. Even smaller allies have got Cabitreatment net ministers, but we have been given Shrirang Barne only MoS,” he added. He pointed out that Chirag Paswan was made a Cabinet minister though his party won only five seats. Similarly the , JD(S) with just two Lok Sabha MPs got a Cabinet post, Barne contended. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ekanth Shinde held a meeting of Shiv Sena MLAs and MPs on Monday to discuss the party’s strategy and plan of action going forward. The meeting was held at Varsha Bungalow, the CM’s official residence. MINISTERS OF STATE INDEPENDENT CHARGE Rao Inderjit Singh: Statistics and Programme Implementation; Planning; Culture MoS J itendra Singh: Science and Technology; Earth Sciences; MoS in PMO; MoS in Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; MoS in the Dept of Atomic Energy; MoS on Dept of Space Arjun Ram Meghwal: Law and Justice, MoS in Parliamentary Affairs J adhav Prataprao Ganpatrao: Ayush; MoS in Health and Family Welfare J ayant Chaudhary: Skill Development and Entrepreneurship; MoS in Education MCC in V’puram express read Vikravandi Assembly seat bypoll on July 10 ‘Judge failed to consult co-judge in Shankar case’ Chennai: Justice G Jayachandran of the Madras HC has said Justice GR Swaminathan showed a ‘semblance of personal bias’ against Tamil Nadu police in quashing order to detain jailed YouTuber Savukku Shankar under Goondas Act without giving a fair opportunity to police to present their case and without consulting the co-judge in the bench. T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai RSS chief says Manipur peace should be priority Nagpur: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday expressed concern over peace eluding Manipur even after one year. “There was peace in Manipur 10 years ago. It felt like gun culture had finished there. The situation will have to be considered with priority,” he said happy to be back After an extended summer holiday, schools that follow state board syllabus reopened in Tamil Nadu on Monday. School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said 70.67 lakh students would get free textbooks this year | P Jawahar | P2 `30cr cocaine seized in Chennai airport; 4th this year S i d d h a r t h P r a b h a k a r @ Chennai In one of the big drug seizures in recent times, the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested a 40-year-old Indonesian man at the Chennai international airport early on Monday for allegedly smuggling in 3.3 kg of high-grade cocaine worth approximately `30 crore from Thailand, agency sources said. This is the fourth incident in the last six months in Chennai airport. A total of `100 crore worth of cocaine has been seized in these smuggling attempts. The drug was concealed in a special false bottom inside the trolley bag of an Indonesian passenger | Express Based on a specific intelligence, DRI officials tracked the passenger, Mohammed Antama Yasika, who arrived from Bangkok on the Thai Airways flight which landed at 12:15am on Monday. Sources said he had come on a tourist visa. As he gave evasive answers when questioned, his trolley bag was checked. Officials found that the cocaine packets were concealed in a false bottom specifically created for this purpose in the trolley bag. A sample test confirmed that it was high-grade cocaine, sources said. He was immediately arrested. Investigations showed that he had sourced the contrab a n d f ro m Vi e t n a m a n d brought it to Thailand and then India. The consignment was meant for distribution through local sources in TN and other parts of the country including , Delhi, sources added. The agency is investigating the connection to a larger network of smugglers in the ‘Golden Triangle’ region of Southeast Asian countries of Laos, Thailand and Vietnam who smuggle drugs into Chennai through the air mode. The incident comes just a month after DRI seized 3.5 kg of cocaine from an Indian passenger who arrived from Malaysia to Chennai on April 24. GOLD SMUGGLING THREAT: P4 The Election Commission of India on Monday announced bypolls to 13 assembly constituencies across seven states, including Vikravandi Assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu, on July 10. The announcement comes just days after LS poll results, and political parties have now been forced to prepare for the by-election to the seat that fell vacant on April 6 following the death of DMK MLA N Pugazhenthi. Both the DMK and AIADMK, which are vying for victory, may campaign vigorously to win the seat. The filing of nominations will begin from June 14, and the last date for filing of nomination is June 21. Scrutiny of nominations will take place on June 24 and the last date for withdrawal of nomination is June 26. The counting of votes and declaration of results will be on July 13. Speaking to reporters at the secretariat, Chief Electoral Officer Satyabrata Sahoo said the model code of conduct has come into effect in Villupuram district in which the Vikravandi Assembly constituency is located. Sahoo said the state government cannot announce any new schemes for the district till the process for the byelection is completed, but ongoing schemes can continue. CONTINUED ON P5
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