kochi l monday l December 16, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l late city EDITION Subsidiaries of Indian pharma giants recall products in U.S. Aurobindo Pharma, Glenmark and Zydus are recalling products due to manufacturing issues, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said U.S. Regulator flags purity concerns Class ii nationwide recall initiated Aurobindo Pharma USA Inc is recalling over 1 lakh bottles of Cinacalcet tablets over “presence of N-nitroso Cinacalcet impurity” above prescribed limit, FDA said. Similarly, the US subsidiary of Glenmark Pharmaceuticals is recalling 90,000 bottles of Diltiazem Hydrochloride capsules over “presence of N-nitroso-Desmethyl-Diltiazem impurity” above the US regulator’s limit ■ ■ Zydus (USA) Inc is recalling 4,404 packs of Esomeprazole Magnesium for Delayed-Release Oral Suspension due to errors in labelling The companies have initiated Class II nationwide recall. According to the US regulator, such an action is taken when products can cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences 20% India’s share in the global supply of generic medicines 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 Fadnavis expands Maharashtra cabinet with 39 new ministers Focus on young, new faces; 19 berths go to BJP, Shiv Sena gets 11, and NCP 9 ministers S U D H I R S U R YA W A N S H I @ Chennai Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday effected the first expansion of his ministry with 33 Cabinet ministers and six ministers of state. Gover nor C P Radhakrishnan administered the oath to all 39 ministers, many of them fresh faces, at the Raj Bhavan in Nagpur on the eve of Maharashtra state assembly’s winter session. Among the newly sworn-in ministers, 19 are from the BJP (16 cabinet berths and 3 MoS); 11 from the Shiv Sena (9 cabinet and 2 MoS); and 9 from NCP (8 cabinet ministers and 1 MoS). With this, the BJP has 20 ministers including CM Devendra Fadnavis, Shiv Sena has 12 including deputy CM Eknath Shinde, and NCP 11 including deputy CM Ajit Pawar. The Cabinet is now in full strength with 43 ministers. Notably, 12 ministers from the Shinde-led government were dropped to give representation to young leaders. Those dropped include BJP leaders Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vijay Kumar Gavit, and Ravindra Cha- Ceremony held at Nagpur’s Raj Bhavan The ceremony at the Raj Bhavan in Nagpur was the first to be held in the state’s second capital in 33 years. The last such event was Sudhakarrao Naik cabinet’s expansion in 1991 Maharashtra Governor C P Radhakrishnan, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Deputy CMs Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde during the swearing-in of cabinet ministers | PTI van; NCP leaders Chhagan Bhujbal, Dilip Walse Patil, Anil Patil, and Dharmaraobaba Atram; and Shiv Sena leaders Tanaji Sawant and Deepak Kesarkar. While focusing on fresh faces, Fadnavis also included some experienced hands in his team. Among the young BJP ministers are Jaykumar Rawal, Pankaja Munde, Ashok Uike, Ashish Shelar, Shivendrasinh Bhosale, Jaykumar Gore, Sanjay Savkare, Nitesh Rane, Akash Fundkar, Madhuri Misal, Pankaj Bhoyar, and Meghna Bordikar Sakore. Meanwhile, Ajit Pawar denied berths to veterans Chhagan Bhujbal and Dilip Walse Patil to accommodate Dhananjay Munde, Datta Bharane, Aditi Tatkare, Manikrao Kokate, Narahari Jirwal, Makarand Patil, Babasaheb Patil, and Indranil Naik. As for Eknath Shinde, he had a tough task to keep each one happy with a limited number of berths. Shiv Sena MLA Ramesh Bondekar resigned as Shiv Sena deputy leader after he was denied a berth in the new cabinet. Shiv Sena ministers include Sanjay Rathod, Uday Samant, Sanjay Shirsat, Pratap Sarnaik, Bharat Gogavale, Prakash Abitkar, Ashish Jaiswal, and Yogesh Kadam A senior BJP leader said the party has tried to keep the delicate balance of caste and regional representation in the new cabinet. “Each section of the society voted for us. Therefore, we wanted to give representatives to each section even if the faces from these societies were new. This is a new team under new leadership and we are hopeful that they will perform better,” he said. govt plans Bill to give legal sanctity to tenant farming R A J E S H A B R A H A M @Kochi In a move to bring large tracts of unused land under farming, the state government is set to introduce a bill to give legal sanctity to tenant farming. The move will also help cultivators access bank credit, crop insurance and other benefits. Currently, the state has a total of 1,03,334 hectares of fallow land, of which 49,420 ha is permanently fallow. The remaining 53,914 ha has been classified under ‘current fallow’, or lying unused in recent times. In Kerala, 35% of horticulture and vegetable production is through tenant farming, though such practices violate the provisions of Kerala Land Reforms Act (KLRA). “Such farming is done through simple 11-month contracts,” said Dr B Ashok, principal secretary, Department of Agriculture. “By legalising these 11-month contracts, tenant farmers will be able to access bank loans,” he told TNIE, adding that the government move follows a request from the banking industry The bill is likely to be . introduced in the next ses- 35% of Kerala’s horticulture and vegetable produce via tenant farming 1,03,334 ha Total fallow land in Kerala 49.420 ha Permanently fallow 53,914 ha Current fallow sion of the assembly. Ashok said Andhra Pradesh had passed a ‘tenant far mers bill’ a few years back, and Kerala is following a similar model. Under the Andhra Pradesh Crop Cultivator Rights Bill passed in July 2019, tenant farmers were given all benefits, including bank loans, crop insurance, and ‘Rythu Bharo- Techie suicide: Wife, her Solar shines bright, installations family members arrested poised to surpass hydel capacity Haryana. Her mother Nisha and brother Anurag were A week after 34-year-old soft- nabbed from a hotel in Prayaware engineer Atul Subhash graj in Uttar Pradesh. All three ended his life at his resarrests were made on idence in Bengaluru’s Saturday morning, and Marathahalli, his esthe trio has been tranged wife Nikita brought to Bengaluru. Singhania, mother-inShivakumar also said law Nisha Singhania, that Atul’s son is curand brother-in-law Anrently staying with Niurag Singhania have kita’s relative and addNikita been arrested on charged that more es of abetment of information cannot be suicide. shared as he is a minor The trio, during ques(aged 4). tioning, is said to have Stating that Sushil is claimed innocence and absconding, the DCP have been remanded in said efforts are on to judicial custody . trace him. “The investiNisha Nikita’s uncle, Sushil gating teams are also Singhania, who has collecting other evialso been named as an dence,” he added. accused by the MarA senior police officathahalli police, is yet er told this newspaper to be arrested. that the trio, during inSpeaking to the mequiry, defended themdia on Sunday, Deputy selves and claimed that Anurag Commissioner of Police the allegations made by (Whitefield division) Atul in the death note Shivakumar Gunare said that and the video are false. based on a tip-off and other The accused were produced technical clues, Nikita was ar- before a magistrate on Saturday rested from a paying-guest ac- and were shifted to Bengaluru commodation in Gurugram in Central Prison. R a k shi t h Gowda @ Bengaluru Zakir Hussain in ICU; condition critical Tabla maestro Ustad Zakir Hussain, who has been undergoing treatment at a US hospital for heart-related problems for the past two weeks, is critical, reports said Rajya Sabha to hold debate on Constitution from today rajesh k umar t ha k ur @ New Delhi Rajya Sabha is expected to witness fiery debates between the government and the opposition on Monday as it begins a two-day debate on the Constitution to mark the 75th anniversary of the founding document’s adoption. It comes as the Lok Sabha, after two days of spirited discussions, wrapped up its debate on the Constitution on Saturday . Rajya Sabha is also likely to see highoctane sessions, especially in the backdrop of a noconfi- dence motion moved against Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar by the opposition alleging bias. Sources told this newspaper that BJP president JP Nadda will critique the Congress’s historical record in adhering to the Constitution during its tenure in power. Key BJP members scheduled to participate include: Nirmala Sitharaman, Hardeep Puri and Kiren Rijiju. On the opposition side, the Trinamool Congress has tasked 10–11 MPs to speak on the Constitution. MPs from the Congress, RJD and SP will also participate. harnessing sun power B I J U E PA U L @ Alappuzha In a remarkable feat, Kerala is rapidly expanding its solar e n e r g y c a p a c i t y, a d d i n g around 30-35 MW on-grid installations every month. This impressive growth is set to catapult the state’s solar energy capabilities beyond its total hydroelectric capacity in the near future. Kerala’s solar electricity generation reached an all-time high in November, with an installed capacity of 1,350 MW, including industrial production, according to a senior official of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB). The solar power installations in the state generate an average 50 lakh to 54 lakh units per day. According to KSEB Chief Engineer (Projects) Prasad V N, over 1.70 lakh consumers in the state have turned electricity producers by harnessing the power from rooftop solar installations. This growth can be attributed to the subsidy schemes introduced by the state and Union governments. “Kerala’s solar energy capac- 1,350 MW Major industrial solar electricity producers in Kerala Total installed capacity of solar panels 92 MW 1,36,48,851 (Dec 2023) National Thermal Power Corporation, Kayamkulam Power consumers in the state 1.70 lakh (Nov 2024) Number of solar energy producers and consumers 50MW 2,090.30 MW Total installed capacity of hydel projects ity is poised to surpass the combined installed capacity of the state’s four major hydroelectric power stations by mid-2025,” Prasad said. The four major hydroelectric projects in Kerala — Idukki (780 MW), Sabarigiri (340 MW), Kuttiyadi (225 MW), and Lower Periyar (180 MW) — have a total installed capacity of 1,525 MW, he said. “In one to two years, solar energy capacity is expected to surpass the total installed cap a c i t y o f hy d r o e l e c t r i c projects, which stands at Cochin International Airport Limited sa’, a scheme that provides financial assistance of `13,500 per farmer family a year. According to of ficials, apart from individuals, tenant farming is being taken up by joint liability groups and Kudumbashree. “Here, a person gives his/her land for farming as it’s unused. However, there’s no official sanctity to it. The new bill gives legal cover and will free up large tracts of land for farming,” said the official. Large tracts of land ideal for farming are lying fallow or under-utilised due to resource scarcity, labour shortage, lack of interest in cultivation due to low returns or inability of owners to manage daily farm activities, particularly if they are aged, NRIs or employed elsewhere. Cultivable land is also available with various government departments and public sector undertakings. On the other hand, there are farmer producer organisations, krishikoottams, Kudumbashree units, selfhelp groups and startups who seek land for agriculture activities, especially for hi-tech and scientific culti● More on P4 vation.  EXPRESS READ US in contact with Syrian rebels: Blinken Aqaba: American officials have been in direct contact with the terrorist-designated rebel group that led the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar Assad, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Saturday. Blinken is the first US official to publicly confirm contacts between the Biden administration and Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, or HTS, which led a coalition of armed opposition groups that drove Assad from power and into asylum in Russia last weekend. P9 NMC faces backlog in doctors’ registration 2,090.30 MW,” he added. As Kerala’s green energy production soars, the KSEB is scrambling to find innovative solutions to store the excess power generated. According to Prasad, the challenge lies in the fact that solar energy is produced during the day, whereas peak consumption occurs at night. “Currently, we have around 1.70 lakh ‘prosumers’ (producers and consumers) in the state, who generate energy during the day and feed it into the KSEB ● More on P4 grid,” he said.  T’Puram: The National Medical Commission (NMC) is facing a significant backlog in the registration of doctors on its National Medical Register (NMR) portal, owing to cumbersome procedures. An RTI query revealed that in the 100 days since the portal’s launch in August 2023, only 284 doctors have been registered out of 6,198 who applied in the state. The backlog is especially concerning given the mandate that registration must be completed within three months of notification. P5 Newlyweds among four killed Dharavi to crorepati, Simran’s dream rise in car-bus collision in P’thitta wpl mini auction k alyani man g ale @ Bengaluru Simran Shaikh was bought for her base price of `10 lakh by UP Warriorz at the inaugural Women’s Premier League auction. A resident of Mumbai’s Dharavi, Asia’s biggest slums, Simran’s poor returns in the 2023 season meant she was released by the franchise. The right-hand batter didn’t find a team for the second edition held early this year. Her father, Jahid Ali, an electrician, was in disbelief when Simran was bought by UP in February last year. Almost a year and 10 months later, Jahid is over the moon as his daughter has become the costliest buy at the WPL mini auction held in Bengaluru on Sunday. She was bought by Gujarat Giants for `1.90 crore. “She comes from Dharavi. If you look at it from the financial point of view, it is great for her that she is getting the opportunity once again. She has worked extremely hard for this and the results are there for everyone to see. It is important in terms of financial stability Shaikh’s coach ,” and former India international Sunetra Paranjape told this daily . Along with Paranjape, the Giants’ head coach, Michael Klinger praised the journey of his player. “If we can change her life, not just for her, but for her family, it’s fantastic. Mind you, this is not a charity given to her, she has earned this. She has put on some great performances in recent times. It is great to hear that this can change her life,” he told this daily in an exclusive interview. West Indies superstar Deandra Dottin was among the highest-paid overseas players at `1.70 cr and joined Mumbai girl Shaikh at Giants. Defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru persisted with a bid for Uttarakhand’s Prema Rawat as she eventually joined them for `1.20 crore. J A I S O N W I L S O N @ Pathanamthitta TN girl bags K1.6cr Tamil Nadu’s G Kamilini had one of the best days a player could ask for. Earlier in the day, playing for India for the first time in the U19 Asia Cup, the 16-year-old hit 29-ball 44 to bag player of the match trophy. A few hours later she was bought by Mumbai Indians for H1.6 crore. Theirs was a fairytale love story An . eight-year-long courtship that culminated in marriage on November 30, and a honeymoon in Malaysia. Their plans to shift to Canada in January were also set. But the dreams of Nikhil Eapen Mathai and his wife Anu Biju shattered on early Sunday morning when the car in which the couple, along with their fathers, were travelling collided with a bus carrying Sabarimala pilgrims at M u r i n j a k a l i n Ko o d a l , Pathanamthitta. The couple and Anu’s father Biju P George, who was at the wheel, and Nikhil’s father Mathai Eapen, were killed in the accident that took place around 4am. Biju and Mathai Eapen had picked the couple up from the Thiruvananthapuram airport upon the latter’s return after spending honeymoon in Malaysia. They were heading back home when their car met with the accident on the Punalur-Muvattupuzha state highway , just 7km from their house. The couple’s residences are within a 2km distance. The police FIR said the accident took place as Biju fell asleep at the wheel. The Telangana bus carrying Sabarimala pilgrims was partially damaged, while the front portion of the car was completely damaged in the impact. The bus driver and a few passengers suffered minor injuries. The bus driver said he applied the brakes suddenly on seeing the car approaching the vehicle at high ● More on P4 speed.