4 7 The New Indian Express wishes its readers a She is the 4th oldest first-time champ (29) dharmapuri l sunday l january 26, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 32 l city EDITION Madison unlocks Sabalenka puzzle, wins maiden Major US’ Madison Keys, who began the Australian Open final as the underdog, triumphed over the World No. 1 in a show filled with courage winner many years in making When the 29-year-old won her maiden WTA tour level match as a 14-year-old, she was earmarked as a potential Major winner. But it didn’t transpire that way as she had a couple of near misses, including the final of the US Open in 2017 | More on P15 Winning big moments enroute title When Keys, the fourth oldest first time winner of a Major, will look back on the Major, she will reflect on how she saved a match point against Iga Swiatek in the semifinals. In the final, when Sabalenka, usually a reliable server, had the opportunity to force a final set breaker, Keys fought to win the Championship I have wanted this for so long and I have been in one other Grand Slam final and it did not go my way. I’m mostly just really proud of myself to get back to this position, to be able to play the way that I played and finish on such a strong note Keys’ new world ranking Madison Keys 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 Unified Pension Padma Vibhushan for MT, Suzuki czar Scheme to kick in from April 1 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ New Delhi D i pa k M o nd a l @ New Delhi The Unified Pension Scheme (UPS) for Central government employees — an improvement over the existing National Pension System (NPS) — will come into force from April 1. A government notification issued on Saturday said those who opt for UPS can’t go back to the NPS. State governments, too, can implement the UPS. As on March 31, 2024, 26 lakh Central government and 66 lakh state government employees were making contributions to NPS. Of the `11.7 lakh crore corpus under NPS, state and Central government employees accounted for `9 lakh crore. The UPS guarantees a monthly payout of 50% of the 12 monthly average basic pay im, mediately prior to the retirement of an employee who completed at least 25 years of service. It also guarantees a minimum monthly pension of `10,000 for those who have less India to step up ties with Indonesia J aya nt h J a c o b @ New Delhi India and Indonesia agreed to instill a new momentum into their ties, with particular focus on collaborating in defence manufacturing, maritime security and supply chains as PM Narendra Modi held extensive talks with President Prabowo Subianto on Saturday . The Indonesian President, who is on a three-day visit to India, will be the chief guest at the Republic Day celebrations. “To strengthen our cooperation in the defence sector, we have decided to work together in the areas of defence manufacturing and supply chain,” Modi said. Describing the visit of the President as the chief guest for the Republic Day as a “matter of immense pride”, Modi said: “We have also highlighted the importance of cooperation in maritime security cyber security coun, , ter-terrorism, and de-radicalisation. The agreement signed today on maritime safety and security will enhance our collaboration in areas such as crime prevention, search and rescue, and capacity building.” Indonesia, an ASEAN partner and an archipelagic nation comprising over 17,000 islands located between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific Ocean holds immense strategic significance to India. r-day SPEECH by GUV censures tn govt In an unusual R-Day message, Governor R N Ravi lambasted the state on several counts. Meanwhile, the DMK has decided to boycott the governor’s At Home reception on Sunday | P4 WITH THIS ISSUE 4 pages of republic day special supplement than 25 years of service but served 10 years or more. In the case of voluntary retirement after at least 25 years in service, the assured payout will start from the date on which the employee would have retired, had he continued in service. In the event of the pensioner’s death, his family will receive 60% of the pension amount that was being disbursed at the time of demise. The pension will be adjusted for inflation. This means that the payments will include dearness relief. The UPS will have two funds — an individual corpus with employe e c o n t r i bu t i o n a n d matching Central government contribution; and a pool corpus with additional Central government contribution. The contribution of employees will be 10% of basic pay plus DA. The government will match it and provide an additional sumat an estimated 8.5% of basic pay plus DA to all those who chose the individual corpus. WITH THIS ISSUE The Shape of Now PLUS 12 PAGES Osamu Suzuki, the former CEO of Suzuki Motors, who gave India its people’s car, and veteran Malayalam writer M T Vasudevan Nair were on Saturday among the eminent personalities who have been conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the nation’s second highest civilian award. Others who have been awarded the Padma Vibhushan include Duvvur Nageshwar Reddy for medicine from Telangana, Justice (Retd) Jag- dish Singh Khehar for public affairs from Chandigarh, Kaumudini Rajnikant Lakhia for Art from Gujarat, Lakshminarayana Subramaniam for Art from Kar nataka and folk singer Sharda Sinha. The Padma Bhushan was awarded to 19 people, prominent among them being late BJP leader and former deputy chief minister of Bihar Sushil Kumar Modi and Shiv Sena leader from Maharashtra Manohar Joshi. Celebrated filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, ace hockey goalkeeper P R Sreejesh, noted economist and former chairman of PM’s economic advisory council Bibek Debroy, late Ghazal maestro Pankaj Udhas and former chairman of Prasar Bharti A Surya Prakash are the other recipients of the Padma Bhushan. Sadhvi Ritambhara, who was associated with the Ram Janam Bhumi movement in the 1990s, has also been awarded Padma Bhushan. In all, 139 eminent personalities were awarded. On the list of 113 Padma Shri awardees were several unsung heroes. Prominent among them are Libia Lobo Sardesai, a 100-yearold freedom fighter from Goa, who played an important role in the state’s freedom movement, Gokul Chandra Dey a 57, year-old Dhak player from West Bengal and Dr Neerja Bhatla, a gynaecologist from Delhi, who specialises in cervical cancer detection, prevention, and management. For the 5 ‘Army Villages’ of TN, Rana loses last appeal against devotion to nation is way of life M um b ai te r r o r extradition M U KE S H R A N J A N @ New Delhi DECKS have been cleared for the extradition of Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a Canadian national of Pakistani origin and a convict in the Mumbai terror attack case, to India after the US Supreme Court recently dismissed his review petition. India has been seeking Rana’s extradition since 2019. Rana’s petition in the US Supreme Court was his last legal option to avoid his extradition to India. Incidentally, the US Supreme Court’s order came on January 21, a day after Donald Trump took charge as the 47th President of the US. Rana, 64, is currently lodged at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Los Angeles. According to Indian agencies, Rana is an associate of Pakistani-American terrorist David Coleman Headley a key conspirator of , the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. At least 166 people were killed in the attacks orchestrated by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Toiba. Ajmal Kasab was the only convict executed in the case. Another accused, Sayed Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, an Indian operative working for LeT, was arrested in 2012. H a r i n i M @ Virudhunagar r-day special Netaji link Some of the residents, including Thiyagi Govindhan, and Thiyagi Sreenivasan, were a part of Netaji Subash Chandra Bose’s INA Serving the nation is a way of life for the residents of the ‘ rmy Villages’ of VirudhunaA gar district. The 1,000-odd families in the five villages of Chokkalingapuram, Meenakshipuram, Thulakkankulam, Kalangaperi and Perumalthevanpatti have sent more than 1,000 personnel to serve the country in the Indian Army, Navy, and Air Force divisions since Independence. The five villages located within 15-km radius of Ra- japalayam town have left a lasting legacy in the country’s defence history that could be traced back to World War II. “Even doctors and engineers here choose defence career,” says a resident of Kalangaperi, underscoring how patriotism has been a higher calling for the youth of these villages. Speaking to TNIE, M Gopalakrishnan, a 63-year-old resident from Meenakshipuram, said the contribution of the villagers to the Indian Ar my spans multiple branches. P5 1 DAY TO GO PRESENTS THINKEDU CONCLAVE