TIRUNELVELI l wednesday l september 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Bengaluru firm tests India’s first indigenous combat drone Flying Wedge Defence and Aerospace announced the successful maiden flight of indigenous unmanned bomber aircraft, the FWD 200B Armed with missile-like weapons Can fly non-stop for 7 hrs; up to 800 km Classified as a Medium Altitude (15,000 feet) Long Endurance Combat Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, FWD 200B is equipped with optical payloads for surveillance and missile-like weapons for air strikes and bombing, the firm’s founder-CEO Suhas Tejaskanda said. It has a wingspan of 5 metres, length of 3.5 metres, maximum take-off weight of 102 kg & payload capacity of 30 kg ■ The drone can fly at a cruise speed of 152 km per hour, with a maximum speed of 250 km per hour. Its runway requirement is just 300 metres allowing it to operate from shorter airstrips, the company said ■ With an endurance of 7 hours and a range of 800 km, FWD 200B doesn’t need frequent refuelling or landing, Tejaskanda said 12,000 sq ft Area of the firm’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Bengaluru 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 Household savings on rebound Lankan court slaps `1 crore penalty on 12 TN fishermen Robust domestic savings to drive economic growth, says RBI deputy governor Michael Patra B E N N K OCHUV E E DA N @ Mumbai AFTER sharply declining during the pandemic, India’s household savings are rebounding on the back of rising income levels, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Speaking at an event in Mumbai on Tuesday, RBI deputy governor Michael Debabrata Patra said the rebound process has already begun, and households’ financial assets have rose from 10.6% of GDP during 2011-17 to 11.5% during 2017-23. And there is room to grow further because the level was 15% of GDP during the early 2000s till the global financial crisis. Household savings are the portion of income that is not spent on consumption and set E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Thoothukudi A Sri Lankan court on Tuesday imposed a penalty of 3.5 crore LKR (`98.3 lakh) on 12 Tamil Nadu fishermen who were arrested by the Lankan Navy on August 5 on the charges of trespassing and illegal fishing in Sri Lankan waters. If the fishers fail to pay the fine, they will be made to undergo a six months jail term, the court ruled. According to sources, the Lankan Navy arrested 22 fishermen, who set sail for fishing on two vessels from Tharuvaikulam fishing harbour in Thoothukudi, near Kuthiraimalai in mid-sea on August 5. While 12 fishermen were onboard the vessel owned by Anthony Maharaja, 10 fishermen were travelling on a vessel owned by Anthony Thean Denila. The fishers have been in court custody since August 6. Judgment related to the other 10 arrested fishers will be pronounced later, the court said. Lankan sources said the penalty of 3.5 crore LKR includes 2 crore LKR for illegal trespass into Sri Lankan waters and 1.5 crore LKR for illegal fishing. The court has not issued any order regarding the two seized boats, sources said. In the case related to the 10 fishermen, sources said the lawyer who argued on behalf of the Sri Lankan state urged the court to include the owner of the boat, Denila, in the case. However, Indian embassy officials strongly opposed that saying she is innocent. The court had adjourned the case to September 10, sources said. Recently, a court in Mannar had fined two fishing vessels 40 lakh LKR each. Nine TN fishers were also arrested in the case. The court later ordered seizure of the vessel, sentenced two drivers of the boats to jail and released seven others. HOME TRUTHS Net financial savings of households halved from 2020-21 levels due to behavioural changes during the pandemic and shift towards physical assets such as housing. But with rising incomes, households are now rebuilding their financial assets Households will remain the top net lenders to the rest of the economy in the coming decades 11.5% Households’ financial assets have increased from 10.6% of GDP during 2011-17 to 11.5% during 2017-23 (excluding pandemic year) revival in capex cycle is likely to push up private sector’s borrowing needs, which could be partly met by households aside for future use; these are usually deposited in banks or invested in other financial in- struments. Because of sheer size, household funds are considered a major driver of long- ter m economic growth.Explaining the reasons for the fall in the domestic savings level of late, Patra noted that the net household savings have halved, hitting a five-year low of 5.2% of GDP in fiscal 2024, but he attributed this to ‘behavioural changes’ during pandemic. According to Patra, that phase is over and households are now rebuilding their financial assets.“Going forward, boosted by rising incomes, households will likely build back their financial assets,” Patra said. Concur rently, households’ physical savings have also risen in post-pandemic years to over 12% of GDP. These can rise further—these had reached 16% of GDP in 2010-11, he added. Govt doc held for assaulting minor students E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Tiruchy Brunei visit Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacting with Indian community members during his visit to the iconic Omar Ali Saifuddien Mosque in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei, on Tuesday. Approximately 14,000 Indians are residing in Brunei | PTI | P7 A government doctor was arrested under Pocso Act on Tuesday on the charge of sexually assaulting minor girls residing in the hostel of a government-aided school in Tiruchy . Police also arrested his moth- `10K cr thermal plant in TN working at just 11% capacity S GURUVA N MI K A N ATHA N @ Chennai Six months after its inauguration, the 800MW-capacity, `10,000-crore North Chennai Super Critical Thermal Power Station (NCTPS Stage III) has so far generated only 680 Million Units (MU) of electricity . An official from the Tamil Nadu Power Generation Corporation (TNPGC) said that if the plant was running at its full capacity, it could have generated around 6,000 MUs during this period. “However, due to technical issues, the plant has achieved only 11% of its potential output,” he said. While most thermal plants do not op- erate to their full capacity due to various factors, officials had planned to achieve at least 50% of the installed capacity at the thermal plant in the first few months. NCTPS Stage III, which is TN’s first coal-based super critical thermal power station, was commissioned on March 7, 2024. The official also said it has been difficult to use coal as fuel to operate the factory as the plant does not have a coal handling yard, conveyor belt and other associated infrastructure to handle coal. “Since we find it difficult to use coal, we use oil. The cost of production of power is `6 per unit when using coal, but it goes up to `13 per unit with oil,” the official said.  P5 9 more Maoists killed in Chhattisgarh E J A Z K AIS E R @ Raipur Nine Maoists, including six women cadre, were gunned down in an encounter with the security forces at the Purangel-Andri hilly terrain along the inter-district border of Dantewada and Bijapur in south Chhattisgarh on Tuesday . Acting on specific intelligence inputs about the presence of Maoists belonging to the West Bastar Division committee and Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army company number 2 in the area, a joint team comprising personnel from District Reserve Guards, Bastar Fighters and the Central Reserve Police Force launched a search operation. “Exchange of fire ensued around 10.30 am between the security forces and the Maoists. Nine bodies of armed Maoists in uniform, including six women, along with weapons have been recovered,” said Sunderraj P, Bastar inspector general of police. A large quantity of weapons, including self loading rifle, 303 rifle, 315 bore rifle, BGL launchers, huge explosives besides other items of the Maoists were recovered. “The forces engaged in the operation are safe. The recovered bodies are yet to be identified. Since there is a possibility of the presence of several other dead or injured Maoists in and around the encounter site, additional reinforcement has been sent to the area,” said Gaurav Rai, Dantewada district police chief. NEW s u m i t Enduring back pain, Sumit wins gold E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Chennai IT is as if winning gold has become a habit for Sumit Antil. The back pain that had been afflicting him for the last one-and -a-half year vanished. He was focussed on the job in hand — retaining gold at the Paris Paralympics. And he did it in style when he threw the javelin to 70.59 m — a new Paralympics record. It had not been easy During a virtual interac. tion, he revealed that he felt more pressure in Paris than in Tokyo. Perhaps, it’s the burden of expectations on Monday in his F46 event. There are quite a few things that separate Sumit from the rest. He is one of those para-athletes who previously competed against able-bodied athletes. One among the competitors was Neeraj Chopra, the Olympic silver-medallist. During the interaction he revealed that he keeps speaking with Neeraj and the champion javelin thrower had given him an advice or two before the Paralympics. He said that he has been in touch with Neeraj but before the Parlympics he did not speak to him directly but through his manager. “I got a message from Neeraj bhai through someone and he told me that the atmosphere (in Paris) is good,” said Sumit. He also asked him to not try anything new. “I just took his advice and it was a really good experience.” Sumit also spoke about how he created a para world record while competing against able-bodied athletes in Patiala during a Grand Prix event in 2021. “I threw some 66.43 m and that time it was a record. I wanted to find out how it feels to compete with ablebodied athletes.” With gold secured, he has set sights on a three-peat at the LA Paralympics as his next target. But crossing 80 m too would be one of his dreams. Sumit is the second para athlete after shooter Avani Lekhara to defend their title. Lekhara on Tuesday finished fifth in 50m 3P . To be under pressure is normal at such a big stage and we try not to get stressed due to pressure. I read very less book but I do meditation, watch movies — Sumit Antil er S Grace Sagayarani (54), who is the principal of the school, for covering up the crime. According to police, Dr S Samson Daniel (31) of Palakkarai in Tiruchy was working as a doctor at the Primary Health Centre (PHC) at Anbil near Lalgudi. He used to often visit the hostel attached to the government-aided primary school in the city on the pretext of checking the health of the students. “During the checkups, he allegedly misbehaved with the minor girls aged between five and 10 and touched them inappropriately The inci. dent came to light when one of the parents informed the childline helpline ‘1098’ about it,” police said. Based on a complaint by the DCPO and DSWO, Fort All Women Police arrested the doctor under Pocso Act on Tuesday Further probe is on. .