villupuram l friday l september 13, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION two civilians complete world’s first-ever private spacewalk US entrepreneur Jared Isaacman and SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis on Thursday became the first non-astronauts to perform spacewalk another major milestone for spacex Crew test new spacewalking suits Isaacman opened the hatch of SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft and made his way through to open space. After about 15 minutes, he was replaced by Gillis. Two other crew members remained strapped to their seats to monitor from inside. The SpaceX Polaris Dawn mission, which lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral, is yet another major milestone for Elon Musk’s space firm | P11 ■ ■ All four crew members donned SpaceX’s new spacewalking suits to protect themselves from the harsh vacuum. Both Isaacman and Gillis flexed their arms and legs to see how the new spacesuit held up They remained connected to the spacecraft through their hands, feet and the tethers. The entire extravehicular activity lasted 1 hour, 46 minutes Two years How long it took the four to prepare for this historic mission 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 Live telecast sticking point Both sides refuse to yield Govt cites court case to block it No talks for 2nd straight day, Didi offers to resign E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kolkata Attempting to change the optics following widespread protests by people from all walks of life against the horrific rape-murder of a 31-yearold trainee doctor at the staterun RG Kar Medical College and Hospital here on August 9, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday dramatically offered to quit. “I do not care for my chair and am ready to resign for the sake of the people. I, too, want justice,” Mamata said at the state secretariat soon after the proposed talks between her government and the protesting junior doctors failed as the medics refused to enter the venue following rejection of their de- Sitaram Yechury 1 2 Au g u st 1 9 5 2 - 1 2 S e p t e m b e r 2 0 24 Exit, Stage Left: A Comrade To All santwana bhattacharya Editor A mop of frizzy hair that placed him in a permanent Seventies, a boyish face that seemed to be built for laughter, eyes that were always smiling (though of late touched by sadness), a manner that was the very definition of amiable, speech that was erudite but easy, persuasive rather than offensive, smooth but always guided by conviction. Of all the talk of revolution that swirled around, he must have been the gentlest apostle. Which is why everyone, even the fiercest antagonists, will recall Sitaram Yechury, the person, as much as what he stood for. With fondness and not a trace of rancour. That’s what places him in a rare category among politicians—he was one of those who could converse with anyone, everyone, as a friend. Ideology defined him, but did not exhaust his inventory An endangered tribe these days, it . has lost one of its best, and not at the best of times. One would have to say Comrade Yechury at 72, is gone too soon. , Most appraisals of his career will read Yechury in terms of his well-known trajectory as a Communist frontman, starting from his days as a student leader during a definitive era at Jawaharlal Nehru University and analyse whether that promise was filled out or not in terms of building the Left movement in India. Only few realise what a talent India has been deprived of—in universalist terms. A political life that was oath-bound to the Communist Party of India (Marxist) meant that its puritanical aloofness in New Delhi always applied to him—and always kept him out of government. In fact, strangely for a politician, the question never seemed to even arise. The loss was perhaps India’s as much as the Left’s. Judge by what he managed at the highest levels, even as a faceless, behind-the-scenes interlocutor. The Manmohan Singh government’s final nuclear deal with the US—with conditions favourable to India—was a document that bore the stamp of an exhaustive, point-by-point, clause-by-clause, process of critique and emendation conducted by Yechury’s team. Imagine a deal with capitalist America being rewritten by a Communist. Ironic that his party finally withdrew support to the UPA on that very deal. Around those same days, his mediation was accepted, and bore fruit, within Nepal’s polity and vis-a-vis its India relations, at a particularly dark time in its history .  Continued on: P9 Junior doctors at the dharna site in Kolkata on Thursday | PTI Guv turns the screws further Governor CV Ananda Bose on Thursday said he will not share any public platform with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in view of people’s outcry over RG Kar. Bose said he will also socially boycott her 7 lakh people hit by agitation: CM Mamata claimed that around 27 patients have died and approximately 7 lakh people have suffered because of the ongoing ceasework agitation of the junior doctors Chennai: Over 10 lakh houses in North and Central Chennai suffered total power shutdown around 9 pm on Thursday after a 400KV substation in Manali suffered breakdown due to a technical issue. Prisoner torture: Vellore DIG placed on waitlist Vellore: Booked in prisoner harassment case, Vellore Central Prison DIG R Rajalakshmi was placed on compulsory waiting list. Addl Superintendent AS Abdul Rahuman was transferred | P4 mand to telecast it live for transparancy . The junior doctors, too, expressed disappointment with the talks falling through and said they would continue their agitation. They added that they were open for talks. Earlier in the day senior doc, tors of state-run hospitals warned that they would join the protests if any action is taken against their junior colleagues protesting against the rape-murder. The junior doctors said that they were disappointed at the CM talking about her chair since they never wanted her resignation. Mamata said the meeting couldn’t be live-streamed since the matter is sub-judice. “What the Supreme Court can, we can’t,” she said, hinting at ex- We have tolerated a lot of canards for the last 33 days. I thought the doctors would engage in talks for the sake of the patients and on humanitarian grounds — Mamata Banerjee ternal political forces influencing a section of the doctors. “I did my best, but I apologise to the people for failing to bring them to the negotiating table. There are instructions from outside, asking some of the junior doctors not to sit for negotiations,” she said. Earlier in the day, chief secretary Manoj Pant sent an email inviting the junior doctors, holding sit-in outside the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake since Tuesday, for the meeting with the CM at 5 pm. Though the email had mentioned a 15-member delegation, the government later blinked and allowed 30 doctors as desired by the protesting medics. The doctors reached the secretariat around 5.25 pm, but stayed put outside the venue for over two hours. “We made recording arrangements. There should be mutual trust,” Pant said. Oppn seeks equitable tax share Retail inflation inches up E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ T’Puram It is important that states should get funds which do not come with conditions Pinarayi Vijayan, Kerala chief minister A conclave of the finance ministers from five Oppositionruled states here on Thursday flagged concerns over the rise in surcharges and cesses and the low share for states from the divisible pool of taxes. The conclave, hosted by the Kerala government, was attended by Telangana deputy CM and finance minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, Tamil Nadu finance minister Thangam Thennarasu, Karnataka revenue minister Krishna Byre Gowda, and Punjab finance minister Sardar Harpal Singh Cheema, besides Kerala finance minister K N Balagopal. Inaugurating the conclave, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said states need a higher share from the taxes collected by the Union government, adding that Kerala has been demanding that the states’ share be raised to 50% considering the “vertical fiscal imbalance between the taxing powers and expenditure obligations of the Union and the states”. The meet also discussed the approach towards the 16th Finance Commission and issues of fiscal federalism. TN: cut reliance on discretionary Grant Minister Thangam Thennarasu said states must get 50% share in central tax and asked the 16th Finance Commission to ensure that reliance on discretionary grants is reduced | P4 “We need a strategy to reward performing states while handholding the laggards,” Kerala FM Balagopal said. Telangana minister Bhatti said the Finance Commission should ensure fair and equitable distribution of resources among the Centre and states. TN minister Thennarasu said, “Effective devolution is less due to imposition of cess and surcharges.” Punjab minister Cheema said the GST rollout limited the fiscal autonomy of states. Karnataka Revenue Minister Gowda said the Finance Commission should recommend capping cesses / surcharges at 5%, adding that anything above that should be part of the divisible pool. Now, surcharge and cess are not part of this pool. as base effect diminishes DI PAK M ONDAL @ New Delhi rETAIL inflation stayed below RBI’s target of 4% for the second straight month in August at 3.65%, though it is a tad higher than July’s 3.60%. The uptick is due to a 5.3% annual rise in food prices, led by vegetables and fruits. According to experts, a favourable base effect helped retail inflation stay below 4% in the past two months but this effect could fade from September, leading to spike in Consumer Price Index (CPI). Vegetable prices shot up 10.71% year-on-year in August, though prices dropped 2.51% on a month-on-month basis. ‘TN should bring in `22k crore’ Of the total cost of `63,246 crore, state government is expected to bring in `22,228 crore while `7,425 crore is being sourced from the central government E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Coimbatore Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday said the Phase II of Chennai Metro Rail is a state project and that it should be funded by Tamil Nadu government, with the Centre chipping in with 10% of the total cost. The state gover nment had proposed it to be a state sector project, she said. Of the total cost of `63,246 crore, the state is expected to bring in `22,228 crore while `7,425 crore is being sourced from the Centre through the public investment board. She said an additional `33,593 crore was obtained through various multi and bilateral external development agencies. “However, only 27% of the loan, equalling to `5,880 crore, has been utilised by the state. As per the FRBM rules, up to 3% GSDP can be borrowed (by the state), and since this project is categorised as a state sector project, the loan should fall within the FRBM limit,” she said. P5 EX P RE S S NEW S S ERVICE @ Cuddalore champions meet pm Prime Minister Narendra Modi congratulating India’s Paralympians for their record haul of 29 medals at the recently concluded Paris Games, in New Delhi on Thursday | pti cloves are off Banned Chinese garlic floods market, TN farmers in a pickle S a r a v a n a n M P @ Dindigul It’s been a double whammy for Tamil Nadu garlic farmers who are facing a drop in harvest due to unseasonal rain in Ooty and Kodaikanal over the past few months. The limited produce is also not fetching them the right price as the markets in Madurai, Dindigul and Theni districts are being flooded with the illegal Chinese garlic variety which has been banned in India since 2014 for its high pesticide content. M P Meenakshi Sundaram, a farmer, said “We can harvest 400 kg of garlic in one acre, but we have to spend over `3 lakh for it. Today I sold my produce , for `340 per kg to a wholesaler. My friends are selling their crop for less than `300 a kg. The retail price of garlic is over `450-`600 per kg. If the influx of Chinese variety via Gujarat can be stopped, our crop will fetch over `400 a kg,” he said. Farmers allege that traders, capitalising on the low supply of indigenous garlic varieties, have been selling the Chinese variety that they had procured for `200-300 per kg from northern states at a price of `420-450 per kg. Local sources said over 120-150 tonnes of Chinese garlic, which reached Gujarat from China, have already been sold through auctions and h av e c u r rently piled up in sever- “The overall outlook for the agriculture sector has improved due to a good monsoon and improved kharif sowing. However, challenges remain, particularly with the uneven distribution of rainfall,” said Rajani Sinha, chief economist at Care Ratings. Core inflation (CPI excluding food and beverages, and fuel prices) also eased to 3.5% in August from 3.6% in July. Analysts feel this is a temporary dip, and the same may go up through the rest of the financial year. Meanwhile, industrial output in July grew at 4.8%, bettering the 4.7% growth witnessed in the previous month. 5 killed in road accident near Chidambaram Chennai Metro Phase II a state project, TN should fund it: FM express read Major power failure in Chennai on Thursday Didn’t ask her to quit, say docs al markets in the three districts in the last two weeks. Speaking to TNIE, Tamil Nadu Farmers Protection Association deputy general secretary C Nethaji said the traders, due to an inadequate supply from Kodaikanal and Ooty, have been p ro c u r i n g t h e vegetable for the last three months from Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Himachal Pradesh. He said, “These garlic are big and whitish; not the Indian varieties. Everyone in the garlic trade in Gujarat is aware of it. The Chinese variety is imported through containers and has already flooded the markets in Gujarat. As it is banned, they are being transported to the southern states.” As the Chinese variety is hard to distinguish even for some farmers, the traders are selling it for `420-`450 per kg in retail shops in the districts, he claimed.  P5 All five passengers of a car, including a four-year-old boy, were killed when their vehicle collided head-on with a lorry near Chidambaram during the wee hours of Thursday. The victims were on their way to Mayiladuthurai district, after visiting their relative hospitalised in Chennai. The deceased were identified as A Muhammad Anwar (56) of Nakkampadi near Kuthalam, his relatives B Shahida Begum (60) from Kuthalam, M Arafat Nisha (27), her son M Adnan (4) from Thirumangalam, and S Yasar Arafat (38) from Karuppur near Kumbakonam. The accident occurred on the Villupuram-Nagapattinam highway that is still under construction. While crossing the flyover in Anaiyankuppam near Chidambaram, the car driven by Yasar collided head-on with a soap-laden lorry The victims . died on the spot. The Parangipettai police registered a case and are on the lookout for the lorry driver and cleaner, who had fled. The bodies were sent to the Government Kamaraj Hospital in Chidambaram for autopsy . Fire at Madurai women’s hostel claims 2 lives | P3