kozhikode l tuesday l October 15, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Trio wins economics Nobel for work on wealth inequality Economists Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson win Nobel for research into differences in prosperity between nations (From left) Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James A Robinson Research on why nations fail or succeed By examining the various political and economic systems introduced by European colonisers, the three researchers explained why some countries are rich and others poor, the Nobel committee said. Their research also helped explain why countries with poor rule of law and exploitative institutions often become trapped in a situation of “low economic growth” ■ 1968 Highlighting role of societal institutions ■ “The three economists have demonstrated the importance of societal institutions for achieving prosperity,” Jakob Svensson, Chair of the Committee for the Prize in Economic Sciences, said | P10 Acemoglu and Robinson wrote the best-selling book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty published in 2012 when the swedish central bank established nobel economics prize 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 India expels six top Canadian diplomats, withdraws envoy Indian high commissioner ‘person of interest’ in Nijjar case: Canada Food pricey UDF, CPI urge rethink Retail inflation of ‘no spot booking’ at nine-month call, CPM joins chorus high of 5.49% E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram/Kozhikode/P’thitta Ye s h i Se l i @ New Delhi Canada’s Deputy High Commissioner Stewart Wheeler leaves the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi on Monday. He is among the six expelled Canadian diplomats | PTI Curious Timing of the communique “It is no coincidence that it takes place as Prime Minister Trudeau is to depose before a commission on foreign interference,” the foreign office said in its statement Relations between India and Canada reached a nadir on Monday as the foreign office announced the expulsion of six Canadian diplomats and the withdrawal its high commissioner and other diplomats after Ottawa claimed they were ‘persons of interest’ in the murder of Khalistani radical Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia last year. Though Nijjar, a Canadian national, was not named, the insinuation was crystal clear. The six expelled diplomats are the acting High Commissioner Stewart Ross Wheeler, Deputy High Commissioner Patrick Herbert and first secretaries Marie Catherine Joly Ian , Ross David Trites, Adam James Chuipka and Paula Orjuela. All six were given a Saturday deadline to fly out of India. The announcement came after the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) summoned Wheeler and gave him a piece of its mind. “It was underlined that in an atmosphere of ex- Hardeep Singh Nijjar and Justin Trudeau The aspersions cast on him (High Commissioner Verma) are ludicrous and deserve to be treated with contempt tremism and violence, the Trudeau Government’s actions has endangered the safety of India diplomats. We have no faith in the current Canadian Government’s commitment to ensure their security the MEA said. ,’’ The MEA’s Secretary East summoned Wheeler and said India reserves the right to take further steps in response to the Trudeau government’s support for extremism, violence and separatism against the country . He was informed that the baseless targeting of the Indian high commissioner and other 1st Meitei, Kuki, Naga MLAs’ meeting since riots erupted HC orders probe into rampant use of booze, drugs on movie sets P r a s a n ta M a z u m d a r & Mukesh Ranjan E x p r e s s ne w s s e r v i c e @Kochi @ Guwahati/New Delhi Legislators from Manipur’s Meitei, Kuki and Naga communities will sit down on Tuesday in Delhi for their first joint meeting since the eruption of ethnic violence in the state last year. The meeting is organised by the Centre. A Meitei legislator said he welcomed the initiative and was looking forward to attending the meeting. “We were asked to sit together as par t of a peace initiative,” he told this newspaper. “There will be legislators from M e i t e i , Ku k i and Naga communities, and the state’s different regions will be well represented,” he said. Some Meitei and Naga ministers and MLAs flew to Delhi from Imphal on Monday . Letpao Haokip, a Kuki-Zo minister, said all 10 Kuki-Zo legislators of Manipur have been invited for the meeting. “Some will definitely attend, but we are not sure how many,” he added. Meanwhile, an MLA camping in Delhi said 18 will attend the meeting – eight Meitei MLAs and five each from Kuki and Naga communities. The Kerala High Court has directed the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the complaints of sexual harassment in the Malayalam film industry to investigate the widespread use of alcohol and drugs on movie sets and related workplaces. A bench comprising Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice C S Sudha emphasised the need to take necessary steps to prevent the rampant use of alcohol and drugs at shooting locations and connected work sites in the future. The directive was issued in response to a batch of petitions filed in connection with the Justice Hema Committee report. At the hearing, advocate T B Mini sought a directive to the excise department to prohibit the use of drugs and alcohol at the sets. The court highlighted that the Hema committee report revealed rampant use of alcohol and drugs at shooting locations of Malayalam films and other related workplaces. After reviewing the entire report, the court found that the statements of many witnesses recorded by the committee revealed the commission of cognisable offences. Consequently, the court directed the SIT to consider these statements as ‘information’ under Section 173 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 (BNSS) and take necessary action. Additionally, the court instructed the SIT to ensure the confidentiality of the survivor by masking their name in the First Information Statement/ Report (FIS/FIR). The FIS shall not be made public, and copies shall only be provided to the survivor and the accused upon filing of the final ● More on P4 report.  diplomats and officials in Canada was unacceptable. Earlier in the day, India trashed a communiqué that suggested that High Commissioner Sanjay Kumar Verma and other diplomats were ‘persons of interest’ in the matter. Ever since Trudeau first alleged an Indian role in Nijjar’s murder, his government has not shared a shred of evidence despite repeated requests, the foreign office asserted. “This leaves little doubt that on the pretext of an investigation, there is a deliberate strategy of smearing India for political gains,’’ the MEA charged. But Wheeler later claimed his country had provided ‘credible, irrefutable evidence’. “Prime Minister Trudeau’s naked interference in Indian internal politics in December 2020 showed how far he was willing to go in this regard. That his Government was dependent on a political party, whose leader openly espouses a separatist ideology vis-a-vis India, only aggravated matters,’’ the statement added. E X P R E SS R E A D HC: No SIT probe into illegal card access Kochi: The Kerala HC dismissed the plea filed by the 2017 actor assault case survivor for an SIT probe into unauthorised access of the memory card containing visuals of the assault. It said the order won’t preclude the applicant’s right to initiate proceedings as per the law | P5 Couple, children found dead in Chottanikkara Kochi: Four members of a family were found dead at their house in Chottanikkara on Monday. The deceased are Renjith, 42, his wife Reshmi, 38, (both school teachers), son Adhi, 12, and daughter Adhya, 9. Preliminary probe revealed they ended their life due to financial issues | P5 RG Kar deadlock deepens as talks fail Kolkata: With junior doctors continuing their hunger strike demanding justice for their RG Kar college hospital victim, the state chief secretary on Monday convened meetings with various doctors’ bodies to resolve the impasse. However, the meetings failed to break the stalemate | P8 Members of Travancore Devaswom Employees Front during a dharna in front of the Secretariat on Monday demanding reinstatement of spot booking for Sabarimala pilgrims | Vincent Pulickal ble erupts at Sabarimala again. “It seems the government and the Devaswom Board have no clue about the issue,” he mocked. In a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan sought reinstatement of spot booking. He said last year despite allowing 90,000 pilgrims via online and another 15,000 via spot booking, thousands could not get darshan. He warned of serious repercussions if darshan is restricted to just online booking, and said pilgrims from other states would find difficulties. Congress state president K Sudhakaran, MP Shashi Tharoor and K Muraleedharan too demanded that spot booking be brought back. Sudhakaran said unscientific reforms can have far-reaching consequences.  ● More on P4 RETAIL inflation, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), reached a nine-month high of 5.49% in September on account of rising food prices, data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on Monday showed. In August, CPI inflation was 3.65%, up from 3.6% in July The highest inflation rate . prior to this was recorded in December 2023, at 5.69%. As per the government, high base effect and weather conditions might have led to increase in inflation in September. The Consumer Food Price Index (CFPI), which measures food inflation, was reported at 9.24% for September. Inflation rates for rural and urban areas were 9.08% and 9.56%, respectively . The year-on-year housing inflation rate for September was 2.78%, up from 2.66% in August. The All India Electricity index for September was recorded at 162.5, with an inflation rate of 5.45%. Significant declines in inflation were noted for pulses and products, spices, meat and fish, as well as the sugar and confectionery subgroups during September. Manoranjan Sharma, chief economist, Infomerics Ratings, said: “The inflationary surge is attributable to the base effect, 9.24% food inflation in September up from 5.66% in August, and the spike in inflation rate for vegetables from 10.71% in July to 35.99% in August. In hindsight, it is clear RBI was right in holding the rates steady in its October 9, 2024 Policy .” Palliative care grid in works to enhance collaboration, access Unn i k r i s h n a n S @T’Puram The government has initiated measures to enhance access to palliative care by interconnecting services offered by public hospitals and NGOs through a palliative care grid. Terming the initiative a first for the country, Health Minister Veena George on Monday informed the assembly that the grid, offering a common platform for palliative care, will be ready by next year. It will link palliative care services of over 1,000 government hospitals and more than 250 NGOs, she said. The health department is de- veloping software to create a unified platform that outlines available services for patients across primary secondary and , , voluntary home care units. This interconnection ensures continuity of care for palliative patients who may need to transition between locations. For instance, a patient receiving treatment in a large urban hospital can seamlessly continue care at home in a rural area. It will also let patients in areas lacking palliative care facilities access services from other locations that do. Such linkag- es are considered beneficial for patients when access to trained doctors, nurses, palliative care medicine and bed facilities vary in institutions. “The grid network helps in sharing patient data and connect for various aspects of palliative care. It also helps improve access, transparency and control possible misuse of medicines. Moreover, the network will address the disconnect existing between government hospitals and NGOs,” said Dr MR Rajagopal, the Chairman Emeritus of Pallium India.  ● More on P4 focus on youth Kerala capable of spearheading Industrial Revolution 4.0: Sitharaman out in the number of startups in specialised areas like space, and also being supUnion Finance and Corporate Affairs portive of very many knowledge-based Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Mon- R&D activities. We bank on our youth to day said Kerala was capable of spear- achieve that and Kerala can become a heading Industrial Revolution brand ambassador for this,” 4.0, which is guided by AI, MaSitharaman said. IMF and chine Learning and Big Data & World Bank have recognised Analytics, in India. that even this year, India will “Industrial Revolution 4.0 is As of Monday, 39 of continue to be the fastest-growtop 500 Indian firms largely led by young minds have provided 1,800 ing economy she said. , spending a lot of time on re- internship avenues Sitharaman highlighted how search and innovation. That’s under PM Internship Kerala is 3rd in India in terms why Kerala can be a leader. I of number of colleges per 50 Scheme in Kerala. One-third of these would go a step further and say lakh people. On internships, she India can be a global leader in are by companies in said, “The PM Inter nship Ernakulam this revolution as our youth is Scheme is aimed at acting like a very talented and is using innobridge for students fresh out of Nirmala Sitharaman, vations to create out-of-the-box the college, and bridge the emUnion Minister solutions,” she said during the ployability gap. Companies are ‘Meet the Great Leaders’ programme at looking for something more in a prospecSt Teresa’s College in Kochi. tive employee than just a suitable degree “India is growing as a knowledge hub. or qualification so that they don’t have to Kerala is setting itself apart in standing spend months to train them on the job.” E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kochi Wayanad Resolution seeks immediate financial aid, loan waiver After three-hour long debate, Kerala assembly unanimously adopts resolution against Centre’s delayed assistance to landslide-hit district. MLAs say the delay in getting Central aid would adversely impact rehabilitation of landslide survivors | P4 The state government’s decision to do away with spot booking for Sabarimala darshan is fast moving towards a flashpoint with protests erupting from various quarters, bringing back memories of the 2018 agitation against the entry of women in the hill shrine. Sensing political backlash, the CPM has urged the government not to discontinue spot booking. “Both online booking and spot booking should be allowed at Sabarimala. No pilgrims should be denied darshan,” CPM state secretary M V Govindan told reporters in Varakala on Monday . Earlier, the Opposition Congress as well as ruling LDF ally CPI had come out in the open against abandoning spot booking, warning that the RSS might exploit the situation for political gains. Close on the heels of the government decision to discontinue spot booking, a slew of protests erupted. The Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajam held a protest meeting in front of the Pathanamthitta Collectorate on Monday. Criticising the decision, Akkeeraman Kalidasa Bhattathiri said, it seems devotees will now have to offer obeisances at Akshaya Centres for darshan. Warning the government to not trouble the deity, he said things would spiral out of control if trou- Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman arriving for the ‘Meet the Great Leaders’ programme organised at St Teresa’s College in Kochi on Monday | T P Sooraj ‘Centre has not neglected Wayanad’ On central assistance to landslide-hit Wayanad, Union Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the Centre has not neglected the district. “Kerala faced a major natural disaster. Whenever the state faced disaster of such a big scale, the Centre never showed neglect. Since the Puthumala disaster, the Prime Minister has ensured to personally visit every disaster-hit place and seen to it the state got its dues in aid,” she said. “All necessary central assistance will be ensured for Wayanad,” she said, while refuting the allegation that the PM used the Wayanad tragedy as an opportunity for photo shoot. “Such accusations are made by heartless people,” she said.