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 ■ ■ SAMBALPUR l friday l may 10, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l CITY EDITION BJD promises free power to consumers up to 100 units Manifesto promises 2 lakh jobs in 5 yrs, `15 lakh interest-free loans to women b i j ay c hak i @ Bhubaneswar In a move to woo voters ahead of the elections, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday promised free power for consumers using up to 100 units of electricity and 50 per cent subsidy for those consuming between 100 to 150 units. Announcing the ‘People’s Manifesto’ of the BJD here, the chief minister said that around 75 per cent of families of the state consume less than 100 units of electricity and another 10 to 15 per cent use 100 to 150 units. The decision will ensure energy security of 85 to 90 per cent of the families in the state, he said, adding this will ensure responsible use of electricity among the people. The manifesto has sops covering all sections of people including women, youth, SC, ST and OBC. Stating that Odisha will be converted to number one state of the country by 2034, two years before the centenary of its creation as a separate state, the chief minister said youths have a major role to play in writing the new growth story of Odisha. Naveen announced a separate budget of `1 lakh crore for the youth in next 10 years. He said `1,000 crore will be spent from this budget as per the advice of the youths. “Such an initiative will be a first-of-its-kind through which youths can create their own identity he said. ,” Annual scholarships for girls and poll sops Free power for consumers using 100 units 50 pc subsidy for consumers using 100-150 units 2 lakh new jobs in 5 years `15 lakh loan to women without interest `20,000 cr business to women SHGs in 5 years CM Naveen Patnaik and BJD leader VK Pandian releasing the BJD manifesto on Thursday boys under the Nua-O scholarship will also be increased to `14,000 and `12,000 respectively Keeping in view . the fact that the growing unemployment among the youths has emerged as one major source of worry, the chief minister announced creation of two lakh jobs during the next five years. Besides, loan for self-employment will also be increased from the existing `1 lakh to `2 lakh. The manifesto also announced several sops for women, who form a significant support base of the party. The manifesto promised interest-free loan of `15 lakh for women. The SHGs will have financial linkage of `1.5 lakh crore by which they will be returned interest of `2,500 crore. The SHGs will be provided government business of `20,000 crore in the next Poll jitters grip D-Street, Sensex sheds 1.5 per cent A R S H A D K H A N @ New Delhi the lower-than-expected voter turnout in the first three phases of Lok Sabha elections has a section of market players worried that the winning margin of the Narendra Modi-led NDA may not be as impressive as initially thought. The nervousness is weighing down heavily on the markets as is evident from the sharp rise in the volatility index and the collapse of equity benchmarks. India VIX, which reflects volatility and investors’ sentiments for the near term, hit a fresh 52-week high of 19.17 on Thursday before closing 6.56% higher at 18.20. It has gained for the 11th consecutive session and is now up 88% from April lows. Meanwhile, the Sensex and Nifty crashed on Thursday despite no major negative global cues. The BSE Sensex closed the Thursday session 1,062.22 points, or 1.46%, lower at 72,404.17 while the NSE Nifty 50 declined 345.00 points, or 1.55%, to settle at 21,957.50. In the past five sessions, Nifty and Sensex have corrected by around 3.5% each. On Thursday alone, investors lost a whopping `7.34 lakh crore as the market cap of all BSE-listed firms plunged to `3,93,34,896 crore from `4,00,69,409 crore on Wednesday . “We reckon that 400+ seats seem unlikely for the BJP-led alliance,” V o l at i l i t y i n d e x India Volatility Index (India VIX) measures the market expectations of near-term (30 days) volatility. The index portrays the rate and magnitude of changes in prices and is a widely recognised proxy of risk. It is computed by the NSE based on the order book of Nifty options. Best bid-ask quotes of near and next-month NIFTY options contracts traded on F&O segment are used for this Phillipcapital India analysts said in their note. They, however, added that the low turnout would not dent the widely expected outcome of BJP returning to power. The markets prefer a strong government at the Centre that can implement pro-business policies. So, a weak poll outcome can spook the markets. Talking to this newspaper, a market veteran said: “Several media articles are quoting lesser numbers for BJP/NDA since the voter turnout has been tepid. I think that is what is causing the ebb and flow.” Another senior analyst said a tight poll result with the BJP in the lead could trigger selling in the short term, a win for the INDIA bloc wo u l d m e a n a d o u b l e - d i g i t correction. Pension for Mission Shakti members `1,000 cr corpus for development, protection of heritage places `100 cr for development of Odia as classical language `1 lakh each for 10,000 SC, ST and OBC youths for entrepreneurship 10 years. Mission Shakti women will also be provided pension, he added. Besides, to placate the middle class people, the manifesto announced their coverage in BSKY scheme, interest-subvention on house loans up to `20 lakh and scholarships for students. He said that government employees and contract workers will also be covered under Continued on P5 the BSKY. Air India Express Crew ends strike after talks with management E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ New Delhi/Kochi The tussle between Air India Express’ management and its senior cabin crew, which saw hundreds of crew members going on mass sick leave, leading to the cancellation of over 170 flights, came to an end on Thursday after talks at the chief Labour Commissioner’s office in Delhi. The union representing a section of the Air India Express employees said the crew members who had reported sick will return to work. The airline’s management agreed to reinstate the 25 crew members whom it had sacked earlier in the day for taking part in protest. The management assured the crew members that all issues raised by them would be looked into and resolved, the Labour Commissioner’s office said. Around 300 senior cabin crew members had gone on a mass sick leave since Tuesday night, protesting “inequality, reduction in the contract period from five years to one, and pay cuts of up to 30%”. Discontent has been brewing ever since the Tata Group began the acquisition of Air India and Air India Express in 2022. “For over one-and-a-half years, the cabin crew had been raising their issues with the management, but no action was taken,” said K K Vijaykumar, a leader of the Air India Express Employees Union. Man shoots wife and daughter in car before killing self, loss in online betting suspected E x p ress N e w s S er v i c e @ Jharsuguda IN a shocking incident, a couple with their 12-year-old daughter were found dead in their car with gun-shot injuries on their bodies at Lakhanpur on Thursday . Police said growing loan burden caused by online betting may have prompted 37-year-old Sujit Roy to kill his wife Khusbu and their daughter Arpita. When the bodies were found in the car, bearing registration number OD15-Y-8228 with its ignition and airconditioner running at Lakhanpur in the morning, it sent shockwaves across the town. Sujit was found slumped at the wheel, with Khusbu on co-passenger seat and Arpita at the back. IGP Himanshu Lal, SP Smit P Parmar and other senior officers rushed to the spot and began investigation. The deceased family members | Express During preliminary investigation, police found Sujit’s mobile phone which gave away a lot of information. Parmar said preliminary investigation suggested Sujit suffered financial losses amounting to `4.2 lakh through online betting. His apparent struggle to repay the debts borrowed from multiple sources including money-lenders, may have forced him on this tragic path. Police said, Sujit was found to be betting heavily on cricket, casino and other such apps but had lost heavily in the last three months. He also had taken loans to pay back. Sujit worked with Vedanta Ltd in Jharsuguda. The family belonged to Kalinagar within Brajarajnagar Orient police limits. Contradicting assumptions, Sujit’s father, Sameer Roy, recounted what looked like a normal morning with family before Sujit left. Concerns arose when he failed to return home, prompting the family to report his disappearance to the police. He had left behind his three-year-old daughter at home. As the investigation unfolded, the community mourned the loss, with Sujit, his wife, and elder daughter cremated together. Lakhanpur police station continued investigation to find more details into the tragic incident. All eyes will be on India’s javelin ace Neeraj Chopra as he takes on some of the big names in Diamond League which is set to begin in Doha on Friday | P13
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