Chennai l thursday l june 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 22 l late city EDITION State of the economy: factory output down, inflation eases Manufacturing slump blamed for IIP fall The fall in IIP was mainly on account of poor show by the manufacturing sector, whose growth decelerated to 3.9% in April compared to 5.5% a year ago. In contrast, mining and power segments performed well, according to official data released on Wednesday. Mining output growth accelerated to 6.7% in April while power generation increased by 10.2% The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) slipped to a three-month low of 5% in April whereas retail inflation fell to 4.75% in May, shows govt data Retail inflation pares to 4.75% in May ■ Retail inflation eased to a 12-month low of 4.75% in May, down from April’s figure of 4.83%, but higher than 4.31% recorded in May last year ■ Inflation in the food basket was 8.69% in May, down from 8.70% in April, according to National Statistical Office data. The government has tasked the Reserve Bank of India to ensure inflation remains at 4% 4.5% The reserve bank of India’s retail inflation projection for 2024-25 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 Close to 50 Indians dead in Kuwait building blaze Most died due to suffocation; minister sent to oversee assistance Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi Video grab of smoke billowing after a fire broke out in a building in Mangaf, Kuwait on Wednesday | PTI Indians admitted in multiple hospitals reported stable Over 30 Indians have been admitted at the Al-Adan hospital, six others at Farwaniya Hospital, 11 in Mubarak Al-Kabeer Hospital and six in Jahra Hospital. They are said to be stable. “Another 6 are expected to be shifted to Jahra hospital today from the Mangaf site,” the Indian mission wrote on X. The Emir of Kuwait assured full probe and accountablity two families 2 babies among 5 killed as bus hits bikes in Salem E X PRE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ Coimbatore Five people, including two children, were killed when a private bus hit two bikes on which they were travelling at Sukkampatti village in Salem on Wednesday morning. Veeranam police said R Murugan (30), a land surveyor in Krishnagiri district, his wife Nandhini (25), their one-yearold son Kavin were travelling on one of the two-wheelers. Lakshman (35) a resident of Poovanur, was travelling on the other two-wheeler to attend the marriage function of a relative, with wife Vedhavalli (28) and children Chinna Durai (6) and Dileep (4). Vedhavalli was also holding her sister’s 11-monthold daughter Rituvika. The two families were travelling behind a slow-moving truck near the government higher secondary school at Sukkampatti village when a private bus heading to Salem from Achankuttapatty hit both bikes from behind. Murugan, Nandhini and Vedhavalli were killed on the spot and Kavin died on the way to the hospital. Rituvika died without responding to treatment. P7 The private bus that struck two twowheelers from behind | Express Close to 50 Indian are feared dead in a massive fire that broke out around dawn in Kuwait in a building housing nearly 200 foreign workers. Most of the victims were asleep and died due to suffocation, sources said. The fire started in a kitchen of a six-storey building in the Mangaf area, south of Kuwait City which is densely populated with mi, grant labourers. Most of the deceased were Indian nationals from Kerala, Tamil Nadu and elsewhere. Their ages ranged between 20 and 50 years, Major General Eid Al-Owaihan, head of the interior ministry’s General Department of Criminal Evidence, was quoted as saying by Arab Times. “We received a report of a fire at 6 am,” he added. Given the scale of the tragedy, Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent the new Minister of State for External Affairs, K V Singh, to Kuwait to oversee assistance to all the affected people. “Minister Singh will also oversee the repatriation of mortal remains of those who have passed away in this tragic incident,” according to the Ministry of External Affairs. Besides, Modi announces ex-gratia relief of `2 lakh to the families of deceased Indian nationals from Prime Minister Relief Fund. The Non-Resident Tamils Welfare Department, too, opened two helplines. For calls within India: +91 1800 309 3793 and for calls from foreign countries: +91 80 6900 9900, +91 80 6900 9901. India’s Ambassador to Kuwait, Adarsh Sawaika, has been visiting those injured in various hospitals and extending all possible assistance. The embassy also set up a helpline. “In connection with the tragic fire accident involving Indian workers today the Embassy has put , in place an emergency helpline number: +96565505246. All concerned are requested to connect over this helpline for updates,” the Indian Embassy in Kuwait said in a post on X. Indians constitute 21% of Kuwait’s population and 30% of its workforce. Interior minister Sheikh Fahd Al-Yousef said the building’s owner had been detained, adding any properties violating safety regulations would be closed immediately “We will . work to address the issue of labour overcrowding and neglect,” he said. PM Narendra Modi embraces Andhra CM N Chandrababu Naidu (right) during the oath-taking ceremony in Vijayawada on Wednesday | Prasant Madugula Former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik greets his successor Mohan Charan Majhi (left) during the swearing-in ceremony in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday | PTI Naidu logs in as Team Mohan takes chief minister of ap charge of Odisha Besides 21 TDP MLAs, one BJP and three JSP legislators Telugu Desam Party boss N have been inducted into the Chandrababu Naidu was on new ministry . Wednesday sworn-in as the Interestingly, even before chief minister of Andhra the por tfolios were anPradesh for the fourth time nounced, Amit Shah and Pain his four-decade-long politi- wan Kalyan’s brother Chirancal career in the presjeevi took to X and ence of Prime Miniscongratulated the ter Narendra Modi JSP chief for being and Union ministers appointed as the depAmit Shah, Nitin Our government is uty chief minister. committed to Gadkari, J P Nadda, Throughout the upholding the and Bandi Sanjay beevent, the camaraderights of the sides a host of other rie between Modi, marginalised NDA leaders. It was a Naidu, and Pawan star-studded event Chandrababu Naidu, was on full display, attended by film Andhra Pradesh CM sending clear signals stars Rajinikanth that the NDA partand Chiranjeevi. ners stand united. PM Modi Governor S Abdul Nazeer hugged Naidu soon after the administered the oath of of- latter took oath as Andhra fice and secrecy to Naidu and chief minister. Flanked by his 24 Cabinet colleagues, in- Chiranjeevi and Pawan Kalycluding Jana Sena Party an on either side, Modi greetchief Pawan Kalyan, at a ed the crowd. grand event held in KesaraLater, Modi also posed for palli on the outskirts of photos with Naidu’s family Vijayawada. members. S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada cil of ministers headed by Majhi includes two deputy chief ministers – K V Singh ODISHA politics turned a Deo and Pravati Parida. new page on Wednesday with Eight ministers have been the BJP forming its first gov- given cabinet rank. They are ernment in the state under Suresh Pujari from Brajrathe leadership of senior trib- jnagar, Rabinarayan Nayak al leader Mohan Chafrom Kuchinda, Nityran Majhi, who endanada Gond from ed the 25-year rule of Umerkote, Krushna the Naveen PatnaikChandra Patra from The hopes and led BJD. Dhenkanal, PrithiviOdisha Governor aspirations of 4.5 r a j H a r i ch a n d a n crore Odia people Raghubar Das adfrom Chilika, Mukewill be fulfilled. ministered the oath BJP is committed sh Mahaling from of office to Majhi, a Loisinga, Bibhuti to Odia asmita four-time MLA from and Odia culture Bhusan Jena from Keonjhar, in the presGopalpur, and Krishence of Prime Minis- Mohan Charan Majhi, na Chandra Mahapter Narendra Modi, Odisha chief minister atra from Morada. seven Union minisThe five ministers ters, and nine chief ministers of state are Ganesh Ram of BJP-ruled states. Patnaik Singkhuntia from Jashipur, was also in attendance. Suryabanshi Suraj from Majhi became the 16th CM Dhamnagar, Pradeep Bal Saand third from the tribal com- manta from Sukinda, Gokum u n i t y a f t e r G i r i d h a r lanada Mallik from Polsara, Gamang and Hemananda and Sampad Chandra Swain Biswal. The 16-member coun- from Paradip. E X PRE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ Bhubaneswar Modi to fly to Italy for G7 summit in first overseas visit of his third term Y e s h i s e l i @ New Delhi PM’s fifth g7 summit In his first foreign visit after taking oath as prime minister for the third term, Narendra Modi will head to Italy on Thursday to take part in the 50th summit of the Group of Seven (G7) countries. “India has been invited as an Outreach Country for the G7 Summit which begins on June 14th,” foreign secretary Vinay Mohan Kw a t r a s a i d o n Wednesday . Modi will participate in the Outreach Session along with the other countries invited for this year’s G7 Outreach Summit. The focus points for the Outreach Summit are artificial intelligence, energy, Africa and This will be the 11 time India is participating in a G7 summit. For Prime Minister Narendra Modi, it will be his fifth consecutive participation. During last year’s summit in Hiroshima, he held talks with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy th the Mediterranean. It will be a block agenda item where the G7 and the outreach countries will share their views. This newspaper had reported on May 4 that if reelected, Modi’s first overseas visit as PM would be to Italy . Kwatra said Modi’s participation in the summit would provide an opportunity to follow up on the outcomes of the G20 Summit held under India’s presidency last year. Regarding India’s position on Russia’s war in Ukraine, expected to dominate discussions during the G7 summit, Kwatra said, “We have always maintained that dialogue and diplomacy is the best option”. During the visit, Modi is likely to hold a bilateral meeting with Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.“In the meeting, the two prime ministers are expected to review the entire gamut of bilateral ties and give directions for next steps,” Kwatra said. Modi is also likely to have bilateral meetings with other leaders, he said. This year’s G7 Summit will be held in the luxury resort of Borgo Egnazia in Italy’s Apulia region from June 13 to 15. express read ‘Ryots can use soil from water bodies for free’ Chennai: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Wednesday said farmers and pottery workers would be allowed to take alluvial soil and clay from water resources like irrigation tanks, ponds, canals, lakes, etc free of cost. The farmers can use this soil to enrich their cultivation land with nutrients while the pottery workers can use the clay to make pots | P4 First session of the 18th Lok Sabha from June 24 wayanad show Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at a thanksgiving roadshow at Edavanna in Malappuram on Wednesday. He is yet to decide on the seat he will give up, Wayanad or Rae Bareli, as he won both in the general elections | Express New Delhi: The first session of the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on June 24, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Wednesday. President Droupadi Murmu will address a joint Parliamentary sitting on June 27 and is likely to outline the new government’s roadmap for the next five years. The session will end on July 3. Assembly to clear demands Staff, fund cuts hamstring 1098 services in TN from 55 depts in eight days takeover troubles S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r @ Chennai THE quality of intervention provided through the Child Helpline 1098 has noticeably declined since the state government took over its functioning in August 2023, child rights activists and staff at the helpline have said. The TN government’s takeover was mandated by the new Standard Operating Procedures released by the union government. The staff and activists attributed the decline in quality of services to the reduction of staff and funds. Post takeover, there are only 425 staffers, a fall of 34%. Before the takeo- 24,000 In the last 9 months, TN has handled an average of 24K calls a month GoI mandated takeover As mandated by the union government’s new SOP, TN took over functioning of the helpline aimed at children in distress in August 2023. Since then the number of staff has declined by 34% ver, there were 642 staff working in helpline units in districts, sub centres, and help desks at select bus stands and railway stations across Tamil Nadu. Significantly, within each unit, the number of personnel available for field visits has been halved, according to staff working in the units. For instance, each unit at the district level now has a project coordinator, a counsellor, three to four child helpline supervisors and three to four case workers. The case workers are now the only ones who make field visits. Earlier, each unit had an additional four volunteers who were also available to work in the field. A child helpline worker said the reduction of staff has become a major impediment to the service’s ability to attend to cases immediately especial, ly in larger districts. A child rights activist, who recently called the helpline from a railway station in Chennai to support an abandoned child, said he had to wait with the child for close to five hours before the helpline staff were able to intervene. In the last nine months, the state, on an average, has handled close to 24,000 calls each month. P7 E X PRE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ Chennai THE Tamil Nadu Assembly is set to discuss and clear the demands for grants for 55 government departments in just eight days in the upcoming session. Dismissing criticism from opposition parties about the brevity of the session, speaker M Appavu on Wednesday said there is precedent as in 2004 (during the AIADMK regime) the House sat for just six days after the Lok Sabha elections. Contrary to this, he said, the House will meet each morni n g a n d eve n i n g o f t h e eight days to ensure all members get an opportunity to dis- cuss their concerns. During the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee held earlier in the day, the AIADMK strongly objected to the short session. AIADMK whip SP Velumani told reporters, “Deputy leader of the opposition, RB Udhayakumar, and I put forth a strong plea for a longer session but it was not accepted. When the speaker cited the Vikravandi by-election, we said the session could be held after the polls. Other opposition parties also stressed this. But it was not heeded to. The DMK has not fulfilled its electoral promise to hold the Assembly session for 100 days a year.” P7
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