CHENNAI l wednesday l july 17, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l LATE City EDITION Byju’s faces insolvency process for failure to pay `158.9 cr to BCCI The Bengaluru bench of the National Company Law Tribunal on Tuesday admitted BCCI’s plea against the Byju Raveendran-led ed-tech firm Firm’s Board suspended, assets frozen Will settle matter amicably, says Byju’s The tribunal appointed Pankaj Srivastava as interim resolution professional, suspending the firm’s board of directors. Srivastava will be in charge of running the firm till the lenders form the Committee of Creditors. The firm’s assets will remain frozen while the proceedings continue. BCCI filed the plea last year against Byju’s parent Think & Learn Pvt Ltd for defaulting on dues ■ The case pertains to the dispute around the sponsorship rights of the Indian cricket team’s jerseys. Byju’s said it wishes to reach an amicable settlement with BCCI. “Despite this order, a settlement can be reached,” it stated ■ Sources said Byju’s lawyers are reviewing the NCLT order and they are likely to challenge it before the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal | P12 $22 billion Once India’s most valued start-up, Byju’s valuation has gone below $3 bn 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 tn scam HC bars ED from acting on sand miners Capt, 3 jawans killed in encounter Joint search operations by Army and J&K Police in Desa forest area of Doda dist attacked Capt followed the call of duty, says proud dad e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai The Madras High Court has ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) not to take any further action based on its Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) against contractors and other suppliers of machineries, including excavators, in connection with the alleged illegal sand mining case. A division bench of Justices M S Ramesh and Sunder Mohan passed the orders on Tuesday, on a batch of petitions filed by several persons, including the contractors — K Rethinam, P Karikalan and S Ramachandran — seeking to quash the ECIR registered by ED on September 11, 2023, for money laundering under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Importantly, the bench, besides ordering the ED to not take any further action, quashed the property attachment orders, holding that offences under the Mines and Minerals Act are not scheduled offences under the PMLA. “The respondents (ED) shall not continue further action pursuant to the ECIR in so far as the petitioners are concerned till such time the statutory and other requirements that we have pointed out above are complied with,” the bench said in the order. It further quashed ED’s orders provisionally attaching certain properties of the petitioners. The Enforcement Directorate had alleged that sand worth `4,730 crore was illegally mined. It issued summons to the district collectors of Ariyalur, Karur, Thanjavur, Tiruchy, and Vellore, and several contractors and suppliers of machineries.  Continued on p5 B a l a C h a u h an @ Bengaluru (Clockwise from top-left) Captain Brijesh Thapa, Sepoy Bijendra, NK (OFC) Dokkari Rajesh and Sepoy Ajay Kumar Singh, who were killed in the Doda district encounter; and jawans carry the mortal remains of Sepoy Bijendra | PTI Jammu terror July 16: 4 soldiers, including a Captain killed in gunfight in Desa forest of Doda July 8: Militants ambush Army convoy in Madeshi area of Kathua, killing five soldiers and injuring five others July 7: Soldier injured in militant attack on Army camp at Manjkote in Rajouri June 26: 3 Pakistani militants killed in encounter in Gandoh, Doda June 10-11: 2 Pak militants killed in two-day encounter in Hira Nagar area close to IB in Kathua. One CRPF man also killed June 12: Policeman injured in encounter at Kota Top area in Gandoh in Doda district June 11: Militants attack Army’s Temporary Operating Base in Chattargalla area of Doda, injuring five soldiers and policeman June 9: Militants attack pilgrim bus in Reasi, killing 9 persons and injuring 43 others Faya z Wan i @ Srinagar Eight days after five soldiers were gunned down in an ambush on their convoy in Kathua, four Army men, including a Captain, were killed in an overnight gunfight with militants in the mountainous Doda district of Jammu and Kashmir. Jammu-based defence spokesman Lt Colonel Suneel Bartwal said a joint operation was launched by Army and J&K Police at Dhari Gote Urarbagi in Desa forest area in Doda district on Monday evening after receiving inputs about the presence of a group of militants there. “The search party established contact with the hiding militants in the forest area around 8.40 pm. In the militant firing, a Captain and three soldiers were injured,” he said, adding there was a brief exchange of gunfire. All the injured were evacuated to military hospital, where they succumbed to injuries. The deceased were identified as Captain Brijesh Thapa, Naik D Rajesh, sepoy Bijendra and sepoy Ajay . The militants, taking advan- tage of low visibility and the thickly forested and mountainous area, managed to escape after the encounter. “Additional troops and equipment have been inducted to track down the terrorists. Drones and other technical resources are being used to pinpoint their movement,” Lt Col Bartwal said. Sources said the elite para commandos have also joined the search operations, assisting the troops on the ground. “It is suspected that a group of four-five militants are hiding in the forest area. There has been no fresh contact with the militants after the initial gunfight,” they said. Doda is one of the heavily forested hilly districts in the Jammu region. Militants are making concerted efforts to shift their operations to the Jammu region from Kashmir. About 50 foreign militants are said to be operating in the Jammu region. J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha condemned the attack, adding “We will avenge the death of our soldiers and thwart the evil designs of terrorists and their associates.” “Brijesh spoke to me last Sunday, July 14, at 9.30 am. He said he had just come down (from the higher reaches where militants are holed up) and that he has been asked to go back to the hills following an intelligence input. He said he would be leaving soon and I asked him to be careful,” Col Bhuwanesh Thapa, father of Captain Brijesh Thapa who died in a gunfight with terrorists in J&K’s Doda district on Monday night, told this newspaper over telephone. Col Thapa learnt about the loss of his son at 10.45 pm on Monday from the Army. “The CO called me and said that Brijesh fought The terrain is well but unfortunately difficult but when there is we lost him. As a former an intel Army officer and father I input, an always stressed upon BrArmy officer ijesh on how to operate in has to go. In insurgency-hit areas the Army, each time he spoke to things can go me,” the distraught but wrong proud father said. “I am proud of Brijesh. Col Bhuwanesh Thapa He fought from the front and gave up his life for the country He didn’t run away It’s a . . hard climb of six to seven hours, where they had to go up,” said Col Thapa. Brijesh is survived by his parents and an elder sister. “He was born in the military hospital in Jalandhar in January 1997. He had applied for short service commission (SSC) and joined the Army as an officer in September 2019 after completing BTech in computer science,” he added. Capt Brijesh’s mortal remains will be brought on Wednesday to his hometown Darjeeling. Three roommates killed in fire in Sulur; 4 injured e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Coimbatore Donald Trump appears with bandaged ear at Republican convention in Milwaukee | AP Indian connection of Trump’s running mate A g en c i e s Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s decision to pick his former critic Senator J D Vance as his running mate has come as a surprise, but the spotlight seems to be on the latter’s wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance (38), a devout Hindu with Indian roots. According to media reports, Usha’s father Radhakrishna and mother Lakshmi ( both professors ) migrated to the US from Chilkur village in Andhra Pradesh’s Godavari district. Some reports say they belong to the Kamma community . Usha and Vance met at Yale Law School and got married in 2014, with a separate ceremony that was blessed by a Hindu pundit. While Vance is a Roman Christian, Usha is a practising Hindu. Both continue to follow their respective faiths after marriage, in a show of pluralism. They have two sons — Ewan (6) and Vivek (4) —and a daughter Mirabel (2). Three roommates were charred to death and four others sustained severe burn injuries in a fire that broke out inside a house at Muthugoundenpudur near Sulur at 11.30 pm on Monday . According to police, the fire broke out when an inmate tried to pour petrol from a container into a can next to a gas stove which was in use. Seven men from Andipatti in Theni — P Alagar Raja (24), T Muthukumar (23), I Karuppasamy alias Chinnakaruppu express read IMF forecasts India growth rate at 7% Republican V-P candidate J D Vance and his wife Usha Chilukuri Vance | ap Usha was raised in a suburb of San Diego, California, with a strong emphasis on education and hard work. A law graduate from Yale, Usha’s last job was with Munger, Tolles & Olson LLP as civil litigation attorney which she resigned on , Monday after her husband was picked as Trump’s running mate. Her professional credentials include serving as managing editor of the Yale Journal of Law & Technology and executive development editor of The Yale Law Journal. According to US media, Usha would be the first Hindu spouse of a vice president.  P11 Washington: The IMF on Tuesday revised upward its 2024 growth projection for India to 7%, up from 6.8% pegged in April, citing “improved prospects for private consumption in rural areas” Dheeraj Kumar new home secretary of TN Chennai: Over 60 IAS officers, including 10 collectors and secretaries of key departments, were transferred on Tuesday. Dheeraj Kumar has been made the new home secretary | P7 Madras HC gets new Acting Chief Justice New Delhi: Senior most judge of the Madras High Court, Justice D Krishnakumar, has been made the new Acting Chief Justice. The incumbent, R Mahadevan, was elevated to the SC | P2 (26), M Dinesh Kumar (23), S Manoj (24) and R Pan deeshwaran (27), all from Kadamalaikundu, and P Veeramani (21) of Lakshmipuram — were residing in the singleroom house on a rental basis, police said. Alagar Raja, Muthukumar and Dinesh Kumar worked as lorry drivers for a petrol depot located in Irugur, while Veeramani was a lorry cleaner. The other three were dailywage labourers, police said. The three drivers transported fuel from the depot to petrol stations in Coimbatore and Tiruppur. P5 The single-room house near Sulur (top), P Alagar Raja (bottom left), M Dinesh Kumar Container placed near stove Police said, when Raja opened the 20-litre petrol container — placed near the gas stove — and poured some into a smaller can to fuel his two-wheeler, the gas stove flame caused the container to ignite. The fire quickly engulfed the house, trapping all seven men. Panel gets 37,000 suggestions for NTA revamp E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi CLEAR guidelines on grace marks, what rules will apply in case of any lapse during examinations, proper communication about change in schedules, and infrastructure checks at exam centres are among the 37,000-odd suggestions received by the high-level panel tasked to review the functioning of the National Testing Agency (NTA). The government-appointed panel, headed by former ISRO chief R Radhakrishnan, received suggestions from a cross-section of stakeholders including students, parents, CBI makes two coaching institutions, school more arrests teachers, academic institutions, The CBI has arrested and even career counsellors. The Centre had formed the pan- two persons including el after controversies erupted Pankaj Kumar alias over the conduct of the NEET-UG Aditya, a 2017-batch exam, including paper leak alle- civil engineer from the gations, and arbitrary award of National Institute of grace marks. The panel has been Technology tasked with recommending re- Jamshedpur, who forms in the examination proc- allegedly stole the ess, enhancing data security pro- NEET-UG paper from tocols and reviewing the structure the NTA trunk in and operations of the NTA. It has Hazaribagh, Jharkhand two months to file its report. Bulk of the suggestions came from students, who expressed concerns about several aspects of the examination process. Key issues highlighted include the need for clear guidelines regarding grace marks and examination centre infrastructure. Some suggestions called for eliminating the normalisation process altogether, while others requested greater transparency to prevent score inflation or reduction. Normalisation is the method by which the NTA calculates the percentile of for each candidate by comparing their raw marks with other candidates in the same session. Puja Khedkar IAS OFFICER’S TRAINING PUT ON HOLD The govt on Tuesday put on hold the training programme of controversial the IAS officer and called her back to Mussoorie academy | P10 Cauvery row: Parties slam K’taka, TN may move SC e x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @ Chennai The meeting of the legislative party leaders in the Tamil Nadu Assembly on Tuesday decided to approach the Supreme Court, if necessary to get Cau, very water for Tamil Nadu from Karnataka and Chief Minister M K Stalin vowed to take all necessary steps to protect the interests of farmers. The meeting strongly condemned the Karnataka government’s decision to not release water as per the direction of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC), the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal, and the verdict of the Supreme Court. The resolutions proposed by the CM were adopted unanimously . Addressing the meeting at the secretariat, Stalin assured that the state government would uphold the rights of farmers of PMK leader G K Mani requested the CM to take part in the meet and the request was accepted | Express Karnataka has decided not to release water despite the southwest monsoon being favourable. This is unacceptable. — M K Stalin, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister the Cauvery delta region. On Monday the state govern, ment had announced that the meeting would be chaired by Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan. PMK leader G K Mani, however, requested the CM to take part in it and the request was accepted. Speaking at the meeting, the CM said that Karnataka has refused to release even the nomi- nal quantum of water ordered by the CWRC. The CM said the Karnataka government has decided not to release water as per the directive of the CWRC despite the southwest monsoon being favourable in the state. This cannot be accepted, the CM said. He recalled that last year, when Karnataka refused to release water, TN farmers faced huge hardship and the state received its due only after approaching the SC. After the meeting concluded, former AIADMK ministers O S Manian and S P Velumani told reporters that as per the CWMA direction, for the period from February to May this year, Karnataka should have released 7.5 tmcft of water to TN for environmental protection alone. “But we received only 2.016 tmcft. The DMK government has adopted a soft approach towards Karnataka and it has not moved the Supreme Court or the CWMA. The surplus water released by Karnataka should not account for water that is due. The government should immediately exert pressure to get the water,” they added. Karu Nagarajan and Karuppu M Muruganandham of the BJP said legal steps to ensure the release of water from Karnataka should be taken expeditiously  . Continued on p5