villupuram l thursday l april 25, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Automatic cash refund if flight delayed by 3 hours or more in U.S. The White House issued new rules on Wednesday requiring airlines to provide automatic refunds in case of flight cancellations or significant delays New rules specify length of delay Consumers can insist on cash refunds President Joe Biden’s administration defined ‘a significant delay’ as one lasting at least three hours for domestic and six hours for international flights. Under current regulations, airlines decide how long a delay must last for them to issue refunds. Also, airlines must automatically issue refunds without passengers having to explicitly request them ■ ■ Airlines can still offer a seat on another flight or travel credit, but consumers can reject such offers and insist on a cash refund New rules also cover checked-in bags. Airlines must automatically refund checked-in bag fees if the bag isn’t delivered within 12 hours of the flight landing for domestic and 15-30 hours for international $43 bn The size of refunds issued by top U.S. airlines between 2020 and 2023 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 WEAK I.T. INFRA RBI curbs on Kotak against adding online customers BENN KO C H U V EED A N @ Mumbai IN a major blow to prominent private sector lender Kotak Mahindra Bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Wednesday barred it from onboarding new customers through its online portal and mobile app. The RBI also ordered the bank to stop issuing fresh credit cards, citing “serious deficiencies” in the Mumbai-based lender’s IT risk management. RBI had earlier taken similar actions on others in the lending/payments space. However, this is by far the biggest punitive action on a large commercial bank. “These actions are necessitated based on significant concerns arising out of Reserve Bank’s IT examination of the bank for the years 2022 and 2023 and the continued failure on its part to address these concerns in a comprehensive and timely manner. Serious deficiencies and non-compliances were observed in the areas of IT inventory management, patch and change management, user access management, vendor risk management, data security and data leak prevention strategy, business continuity and disaster recovery rigour and drill etc” the regulator said. The curbs are only on onboarding new customers via online and mobile modes. The bank can continue to serve its existing customers, RBI clarified. “Our branches continue to welcome new customers, providing them with all services, apart from issuance of new credit cards,” Kotak Mahindra Bank said. It added that it has taken steps to adopt new technologies to strengthen its IT systems and is working with RBI to resolve the pending issues. In December 2020, RBI had barred HDFC Bank from issuing new cards and launching digital initiatives after red flags were raised about repeated technological outages at the lender. The restrictions were later lifted. Ecological disaster: Corals in Gulf of Mannar show signs of mass bleaching S V K R I S H N A C H A I TA NYA @ Chennai Alarm bells are ringing in the biodiversity-rich Gulf of Mannar Marine Biosphere Reserve as the coral reefs there have started to show early signs of mass bleaching (death of corals). The state forest department has ordered rapid underwater press surveys to assess clusive the situation. In March, TNIE had reported about NOAA (Na- A completely bleached Porites colony in Gulf of Mannar| Express tional Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) of the US NOAA had forecasted that Speaking exclusively to issuing a red alert for Gulf of bleaching would occur between TNIE, Jagdish S Bakan, direcMannar as “above normal” sea the last week of May and the tor, Gulf of Mannar Biosphere surface temperature (SST) is first week of June. However, Reserve, said coral bleaching likely to trigger mass bleaching bleaching has started as early was spotted in some pockets of leading to coral mortality. as third week of April. the reserve last week. “Because Attacks party over Pitroda’s remarks on inheritance tax Cong’s loot won’t stop even after you die: Modi E x pr e s s n e w s S e rvic e @ Raipur/Bhopal/Bengaluru Congress leader Sam Pitroda’s faux pas on inheritance tax in the US gave Prime Minister Narendra Modi fresh ammunition on Wednesday to attack the party over its proposed wealth redistribution. Indian Overseas Congress chairman Pitroda, in an interview, said that in the US, 55% of a person’s wealth is “grabbed” by the government when he or she dies and only 45% goes to children. He called in “an interesting law”. Addressing a campaign rally in Chhattisgarh, Modi cited Pitroda’s comment and said the Congress will loot people during their lifetime and even after death. “Congress ka mantra hei Congress ki loot ‘zindagi ke saath bhi, zindagi ke baad bhi,” Modi said borrowing the Life Insurance Corporation’s famous tagline. To control the damage, the Congress distanced itself from Pitroda’s comments. Party leader Jairam Ramesh said Pitro- da’s comment on inheritance tax does not reflect the party’s views on the subject. “I would like to categorically state that Congress has no plan on the inheritance tax,” Ramesh said. In Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar and Betul, both reserved constituencies for tribals, Modi recalled a three decade old Congress decision in Karnataka to add all Muslim castes to the backward caste basket. “Congress has always been working at snatching the rights of SCs, STs and OBCs to bolster its vote bank,” he charged. In his sharp reposte, Kar nataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah described it as an irresponsible statement. Siddaramaiah said based on the Chinnappa Reddy Commission report, and taking consideration of the social and economic status, Muslims were brought under ‘2B’ of the OBC category in the state. “But this has been there for the last three decades. During this period, BJP in the state or Centre never questioned it,” he pointed out. P7 ‘My own views’ Congress leader Sam Pitroda said his views on inheritance has nothing to do with the Congress party. “I mentioned US inheritance tax in the US only as an example in my normal conversation on TV. Can I not mention facts?” he asked Till you are alive, the Congress will impose more tax and after your life ends, it will impose the burden of inheritance tax on you Narendra Modi Left, BJP hope to prick Rahul’s ‘balloon’ C I T H A R A PA U L @ Kochi Wayanad offers an interesting paradox. It is probably the only constituency in India where one cannot see Congress flags flutter at any party convention even though its candidate is none other than Rahul Gandhi. It is also one constituency in Kerala where nobody is unsure of who the winner would be. And in this paradox lies the story of this picturesque constituency considered the “safest Con, gress seat” in the country . Clearly, bitter lessons the party learnt in 2019, when Rahul contested from Wayanad for the first time, prompted the Congress to avoid its own, as well as ally IUML’s, flags this time. That Rahul took refuge in Wayanad, where the Muslim League calls the shots, was something the BJP had gone to town with in 2019. Visuals of Rahul campaigning amid a sea of League flags went viral. And that had seriously impacted the Congress’ fortunes in north India. The Congress, hence, has been extremely careful this time. Instead of flags, it has been using balloons – in shades of saffron, green and white. It is the demography of Wayanad constituency – Muslims form 35% of population and Christians 13% – that makes it a safe bet for the Congress. Rahul had won with a margin of 4,31,770 votes in 2019, a record in Kerala. Despite the desperate efforts of the Congress to underplay the ‘Muslim connection’, the BJP has not allowed it to go unnoticed. Every top BJP leader who came to Wayanad made it a point to take a dig at Rahul for contesting from a place “where the majority is in minority”. Though there is no hype around Rahul’s candidature this time compared with 2019, ironically, it is this same factor, which the BJP has been harping on, that will help him this time as well. If there was someone who had ardently hoped that Rahul would not be contesting from Wayanad this time, it would be Annie Raja. A feisty face of the CPI – and also a close friend of Rahul – Annie was the first to hit the campaign trail. Her name was announced at a time when there was speculation that Rahul would not be contesting from Wayanad, as there was stiff opposition from the CPM and the CPI against him running against an INDIA bloc ally . However, the state Congress unit relentlessly pleaded with Rahul to contest a g ain from the same constituency Moreover, the . lack of such a sure-shot ‘safe seat’ elsewhere in the country also may have prompted Rahul to choose Wayanad yet again. Continued on p5 Illustration: Mandar Pardikar of the NOAA alert, we have been constantly monitoring the situation. Thoothukudi-based Suganthi Devadason Marine Research Institute (SDMRI) and Chennai-based National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management (NCSCM) were roped in to carry out field and modelling studies,” Bakan said. NCSCM has expertise in undertaking ocean circulation modelling to understand the distribution of ocean temperature around the coral areas of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay . “MODIS satellite data would be used to monitor the SST from April to June 2024,” Bakan said, and added that necessary work orders to SDMRI and NCSCM were already issued. P5 cm on obcs DMK’s principles echo in Cong manifesto: stalin Chief Minister M K Stalin on Wednesday expressed confidence of the INDIA bloc winning the Lok Sabha polls and said the new dispensation will fulfill the pledge to uplift OBCs and SC/STs. “I earnestly hope that the new government at the centre will fulfill its pledges to uplift OBCs and SC/STs,” he said | P4 Longstanding feud led to TN woman’s murder, not politics Ba g alava n P e ri e r B @ Cuddalore Days after contradictory claims were made regarding the death of 43-year-old J Gomathi of Pakkirimaniyam village in Cuddalore district on the polling day on Friday, TNIE, after exhaustive interviews with a number of people including the woman’s brother-in-law K Jaishankar and few other relatives, found that the murder was because of longstanding personal enmity between two g roups and was not politically motivated. Over the last two days, the state police had filed cases against at least four people, including state BJP chief K Annamalai, for sharing social media posts that claimed that the woman was murdered for voting for the saffron party in the Lok Sabha poll. The Cuddalore district police, in a statement on Tuesday, had rejected the allegation and said the murder was due to existing enmity between two groups. When TNIE visited Pakkirimaniyam on Wednesday, tension has not eased in the village located close to Srimushnam town in Cuddalore district. Police have been deployed in considerable numbers in the village of 150 households that comes under Ramapuram panchayat. Most of the families in the village, including the victim and the accused, belong to the Vanniyar community TNIE . had to overcome various police restrictions to meet the families. Continued on p5 Ground Zero Ten people were booked for the murder of J Gomathi Fight over land dispute, says kin Jaishankar, a PMK functionary who is the brother-in-law of the murder victim and husband of the vice-president of the Ramapuram panchayat, said the key issue was a dispute over 33 cents of poramboke land, a part of which was allegedly registered in the name of J Kalaimani, the main accused in the murder case, through illegal means
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