TIRUNELVELI l sunday l june 29, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l city EDITION DNA test identifies last victim of plane crash; FINAL toll 260 Over two weeks after the Ahmedabad plane crash, the toll now stands at 260, down from 270 reported earlier, officials said on Saturday Remains of all 260 victims handed to kin ‘dna matching process too complicated’ The bodies of all 260 victims have been handed over to the relatives. Of the 241 passengers and crew members who died, the mortal remains of 240 had been identified earlier while one body was pending for match. The matching of the DNA samples confirmed the victim’s identity on Friday. Till June 23, officials had confirmed the identity of 259 victims ■ ■ An official release said DNA matching was complicated as several bodies had to be identified since they were beyond recognition The 260 victims of the plane crash included 200 Indians — 181 passengers plus crew and 19 ground victims. The others included seven Portuguese nationals, 52 British nationals and one Canadian 2 weeks was time taken to complete identification of dna samples 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 Award will open Agniveer Remittance tax cut induction door into forces to 1% in latest big, beautiful bill draft Gallantry medal or participation in global event will make the cut M AYA N K SI N G H @ New Delhi 4 police teams formed to nab MLA on run in abduction case Express News Service @ Chennai The CB-CID wing of the Tamil Nadu police has formed four special teams to trace KV Kuppam MLA ‘Poovai’ M Jagan Moorthy who is on the run for , his alleged involvement in the abduction of a teenage boy from Tiruvallur district last month. The Madras High Court on Friday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the Puratchi Bharatham Katchi president in the kidnapping case. The submission of CB-CID that the custodial interrogation of the MLA was necessary for the investigation was accepted by the court. The counsel for Moorthy had submitted that the MLA was being falsely implicated in the case due to political motive and there MLA ‘Poovai’ M was no need to Jagan Moorthy arrest him as he was ready to cooperate with the inquiry . Police sources said the four teams, each led by an assistant commissioner, will be fanning out to different parts of the state to arrest the MLA. Moorthy an ally of the oppo, sition party AIADMK, is technically an AIADMK MLA since he contested the 2021 elections under the AIADMK’s ‘two-leaves’ symbol. The Tiruvallur police began investigating the case, registered at the Thiruvalangadu station, earlier this month after the mother of the victim called the emergency control room. The boy was allegedly kidnapped to find the whereabouts of his elder brother.  P5 Agniveers who participate in any international event or get gallantry medals, including the Sena Medal, will be inducted permanently into the services, as per a new document seen by this newspaper. They would be part of the 25% who make the cut for permanent induction after four years of serving as Agniveers. Over all, Agniveers will undergo four sets of evaluations. For context, the first batch of Agniveers are in their third round of assessment. “Agniveer recipients of the Sena medal and above like Ashok Chakra, Kirti Chakra, and Shaurya Chakra, will surely be retained as permanent soldiers,” the document says. These awards are given for exceptional acts of bravery cour, age or self-sacrifice. Those who get ‘Mention in Dispatches’ will get 25 extra marks. Mention in Dispatches is awarded for distinguished and meritorious service in operational areas and acts of gallantry, which are not of a suf- press clusive Three, two ka one Tests at the regimental centre include drill, physical test and firing. The recruits get three chances in each test; only the best score is uploaded in the data. In the subsequent phases of tests, they are given two chances ficiently high order to warrant gallantry awards. Similarly ex, tra marks will be given to Agniveers getting Commendation cards from the Chief, Army Commanders and the Corps Commanders. Besides, Agniveers recruited as sportspersons and others $38 bn participating in any international event will get permanent recruitment. Also, those participating in national events will be given 10 extra marks. Participation in services level events will give them six more marks in their assessment tests. The total assessment will be of 1,000 marks, which will have to be completed and entered in the data sheet three months prior to the Agniveers completing their four-year service period and returning home. As for the first batch, the assessment data entry has to be wrapped up by October 2026. Of the four levels of assessment, the first one will be within 31 weeks of the Agniveer’s induction; the second at 18 months; the third in 30 months and the last in 42 months, just six months before exiting the unit as Agniveer. To make it transparent, the first assessment is done at the regimental centre; the second and third at the unit; and the final one by the higher formation like the division/brigade under which the unit functions. sent home from US India was the top remittance recipient in 2024. Its total remittance receipts stood at $137.70 billion during 2024 (on a calendar year basis). As per an RBI report, 28% of India’s inward remittances came from the US – making it $38 billion j ayan t h j a c o b @ New Delhi President Donald Trump’s tax on outward remittance could pinch NRIs much less than was anticipated. In its latest update to its draft, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act seeks to impose a 1% levy against the earlier proposal of 3.5% on money sent overseas by non-US citizens. The bill had originally suggested a 5% tax, which was reduced to 3.5%, and now 1%. Senate Republicans released their updated draft of the proposed One Big Beautiful Bill Act on June 27 and have set a self-imposed deadline of July 4 to try to pass the bill. The updated Senate version significantly changes the remittance transfer provisions that were passed by House Republicans. Apart from proposing a muchreduced tax rate, the proposal exempts transfers from accounts held at banks and other financial institutions and also excludes transfers made via debit and credit cards issued in the United States. The remittance transfer tax will apply only to any remittance transfer for which the sender provides cash, a money order, a cashier’s check, or other similar physical instrument to the remittance transfer provider. This tax will apply to transfers made after December 31, 2025. “This should come as a huge relief to the NRI community in the US,” said Lloyd Pinto, Partner — US Tax, Grant Thornton Bharat. INDIA has imposed immediate restrictions on import of jute and allied fibre products from Bangladesh, reflecting growing tensions in bilateral relations. These new measures apply to all land and seaports across the country, with the exception of Nhava Sheva seaport in Maharashtra, a notification from the Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said. However, these restrictions will not apply to goods exported by Bangladesh to Nepal and Bhutan. At the same time, the “re-export” of such Bangladeshi goods from Nepal or Bhutan into India “will not be allowed.” Under the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) agreement, Bangladesh’s jute exports currently enjoy duty-free access to the Indian market. Concerns, however, have persisted for years within the Indian jute industry about the adverse impact of dumped and subsidised imports, particularly jute yarn, fibre, woven fabrics, and bags originating from Bangladesh. “This has been putting Indian industry in disadvantageous position as there is credible evidence that Bangladeshi jute exports continue to benefit from subsidies by the government,” said a source. In response, the Directorate General of Anti-Dumping and Allied Duties had earlier imposed anti-dumping duties on jute and related goods from Bangladesh. But those duties didn’t work to India’s benefit as expected. `1.3K-crore TN plan to help women land high-end jobs press clusive @ Chennai Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacts with Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla, aboard ISS | PTI Sky is never the limit, Shux tells PM from space B o s k y k h anna @Bengaluru InDIA’s Group Captain Shubanshu Shukla, who is also the mission pilot of the Axiom-4 mission, during his interaction with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, from the International Space Station (ISS), said: “Sky is never the limit, not for me, not for you, and not for the 140 crore Indians” — a progressive departure from the famed Indian Air Force motto, “Sky is the limit.” During the 18.05-minute-long conversation with the PM on Saturday, Shukla (call sign ‘Shux’) said the mission was a step towards India’s own Gaganyaan space mission scheduled for 2027, setting up the Bhartiya Antriksh Station (BAS) by 2035 and ISRO’s indigenous lunar manned mission by 2040. Shux told the PM that all the astronauts aboard the ISS hailing from different nationalities had expressed their desire to visit the BAS when it is ready and up in space. “I am absorbing all that I’ve learnt during my year-long training and what I am now learning on the ISS like a sponge. This will help India in the upcoming missions,” Shukla told Modi. The Prime Minister said: “This mission of Shukla is not just limited to space, but will speed up and channelise India’s Viksit Bharat journey .” In a move aimed at improving women’s overall participation in the labour force, particularly in high-quality non-farm jobs in Tamil Nadu, the state government has proposed to create districtlevel and state-level plans under a `1,282-crore project funded by the World Bank. The District-level Women Quality Employment Plans (D-WQEP) and state-level WQEP (S-WQEP), to be rolled out as part of the Tamil Nadu Women Employment and Safety (TNWeSafe) project, will help women land jobs in emerging sectors. The plans will be rolled out in phases in 20 districts within 2029. The government recently Now, India imposes jute import bar from B’desh D i pa k M o nda l @ New Delhi In 20 districts in 4 years S u b a s h i n i V i j aya k u m a r anti-dumping floated tenders to hire a consultancy firm to prepare a framework for WQEP, apart from preparing reports on ground realities, existing gender gap in employment, and developing a monitoring system and framework. The initiative centres on three key areas — improving job opportunities for women (Employ), strengthening support services like safety and care (Enable), and empowering women by strengthening institutions, policies and support systems (Empower). While the S-WQEP will provide an overarching statelevel framework, the DWQEPs will address district-specific needs and priorities. Though the participation of women in the labour force is relatively high in Tamil Nadu compared to other states, TN still has a wide gap with the Female Labour Force Participation Rate standing at 43.9% (in 2022-23) compared to 81.2% for men. The gap is wider in urban areas (49.4%) and the state is expected to be 67% urbanised by 2030.  P5 WITH THIS ISSUE The Sword Of David PLUS 12 P AGES e x p r ess r ea d Rules for nominating PwDs to TN civic bodies NCW takes cognisance of harassment of IIT intern 237 foreigners deported in 2022-25, DGP tells HC Parag Jain appointed new chief of RAW Chennai: TN has framed rules for nominating disabled persons as members of civic bodies. To be eligible for nomination, the person must be a resident of the municipality or panchayat concerned and should possess a valid disability certificate | P4 Chennai: The National Commission for Women on Saturday took suo motu cognisance of the alleged sexual harassment of a 20-year-old intern at IIT-Madras by a man working at a food court outlet on the institute premises | P4 Madurai: The Director General of Police informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that 237 foreigners, including 110 Bangladeshis and 91 Sri Lankan Tamils, were deported to their respective countries from 2022 till May 25, 2025 | P4 New Delhi: Parag Jain, one of the brains behind the meticulous planning of ‘Operation Sindoor’, has been appointed as the new Chief of the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), according to an official order issued here on Saturday | P7 th r ee - y ea r c a m pai g n With 2,000 hectares of replanted mangroves, Muthupet turns over a new leaf coastal erosion, and rise in sea level. The three-year camIn one of the biggest cam- paign was spearheaded by the paigns aimed at fortifying Tiruvarur Forest Division. Tamil Nadu’s largest manThe Muthupet wetland grove region, the state complex comprising forest department has 12,020 hectares is situSunday ated at the confluence restored and planted mangroves across 2,057 Special of Koraiyar and Pahectares in the Muthumaniyar rivers. It suppet region of Tiruvarur ports the largest stretch and Thanjavur districts of Avicennia marina (grey between 2022 and 2025. Man- or white mangroves), the spegrove forests act as ecological cies that accounts for 95% of buffer against climate change the mangrove cover in the impacts such as storm surges, state. Other species like AeS V KRISH N A CH A ITA N YA @ Chennai 86,000 man-days of work generated Besides ecological benefits, the initiative has also boosted rural employment by generating over 86,000 man-days in plantation and canal formation work giceras corniculatum (black mangroves) and Rhizophora mucronata (red mangroves) have also been reintroduced to enhance biodiversity. According to official records accessed by TNIE, 1,350 hec- Newly-planted mangroves in the Muthupet wetland | express tares has been brought under new plantation and another 707 hectares has undergone restoration through desilting and canal repair. At 1,482 hectares, bulk of the intervention happened in Thanjavur, while Tiruvarur accounted for 575 hectares. Tiruvarur DFO L C S Srikanth said the plantations have used both the “Fishbone Design” and “Box Design” canal models to enhance tidal water circulation that’s critical for natural seed dispersal and mangrove growth. “Over 1.2 million propagules and saplings were planted, supported by a canal network exceeding 380km in length,” the DFO said. Supriya Sahu, Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Forests and Climate Change De par tment, told TNIE that restoration efforts have integrated local knowledge through Village Mangrove Councils (VMCs) in six villages, including Veerankoil and Thondiyakadu.  P5