COIMBATORE l thursday l january 18, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l LATE city EDITION Indian economy will grow 7% in 2024-25, says rbi governor Indian economy should record a growth rate of 7% in the next fiscal and inflation is likely to ease further, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said India stays stable amid global chaos: Das Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Das said that India presents a picture of growth and stability amidst a challenging global macroeconomic environment. He credited the government for the various structural reforms undertaken in recent years that have boosted the medium- and long-term growth prospects of the Indian economy ■ 250 bps next year’s CPI inflation pegged at 4.5% ■ “With strong domestic demand, India remains the fastest growing major economy... We have emerged stronger out of the recent spate of global shocks,” the top banker noted Das pegged next year’s average CPI inflation at 4.5%, saying RBI is committed to, and confident of, achieving the 4% target soon repo rate hikes carried out by RBI since may 2022 to control inflation 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 Pak expels Iran envoy after airstrikes Stop ONOP consultations, kovind panel Claims violation of sovereignty, global law after Tehran’s missile and drone strikes on terror bases in Balochistan Y e shi S e l i @ New Delhi express read DGCA slaps fines on AI, SpiceJet New Delhi: Aviation regulator DGCA on Wednesday slapped a fine of R30 lakh each on Air India and SpiceJet for lapses in rostering of pilots for operating flights in low visibility conditions. After analysing the flight-related data submitted by scheduled airlines for Dec 2023, DGCA found that Air India and SpiceJet failed to roster low visibility qualified pilots for some of the flights Moitra served eviction notice Pakistan on Wednesday downgraded diplomatic relations with Iran, a day after Tehran launched an unprecedented missile and drone strikes on terrorist bases of a Sunni militant group in the restive Balochistan province. Pakistan recalled its ambassador in Tehran and asked his Iranian counterpart who is currently in Iran not to return. Iran is the second neighbour after India with which Pakistan has downgraded diplomatic ties. Pakistan also said it reserves the right to retaliate. “Pakistan has decided to recall its Ambassador from Iran and suspend all high-level visits ongoing or planned between the two countries following the ans getting sanctuary in Pakistan. Prior to the attack, Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar had met Abdollahain in Davos. China urged both sides to exercise restraint. “We call on both sides to exercise restraint, avoid actions that would lead to an escalation of tension and work together to maintain peace and stability,’’ said China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning. In his calibrated reaction, foreign office spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “This is a matter between Iran and Pakistan. Insofar as India is concerned, we have an uncomprom i s i n g p o s i t i o n o f z e ro tolerance to terror. We understand actions that countries take in their self-defence.” Flier on Mumbai-B’luru sector stuck in SpiceJet loo for an hour as door jams e x p r e ss n e w s S e r v i c e @ Bengaluru New Delhi: TMC leader Mahua Moitra was served an eviction notice to immediately vacate the government bungalow, which had been allotted to her as an MP. “You have been allowed sufficient opportunity but failed to prove that you are not an unauthorised occupant in the public premises in question,” said a letter from ‘Directorate of Estates’ issued to Moitra | P7 unprovoked violation of its airspace by Tehran,’’ said Mumtaz Zahra Baloch, spokesperson of Pakistan’s foreign office. The ethnic Baloch population (see map) is spread across Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Pakistan claimed that two children died during these attacks. “The attack was unprovoked and a blatant breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty by Iran and a violation of international law and the purposes and principles of the Charter of UN,’’ Baloch added. Two bases of Balochi outfit Jaish al-Adl in Pakistan were targeted by missiles and drones on Tuesday Iranian state media , reported. But Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahain claimed in Davos that the attack was on rogue Irani- A flier on board a SpiceJet aircraft in the wee hours of Wednesday was stuck inside its washroom for about an hour as the door latch jammed. He was rescued by an engineer after the flight landed in Bengaluru. Flight No. SG 268 after a three-hour delay took off from Mumbai at 2 am. The male passenger went to the loo after take off, but was not able to come out as the door malfunctioned. Hearing his screams for help, the crew members tried to open the toilet door, but could not. A senior cabin crew member slid a note to the passenger asking him not to panic as the flight would be landing soon. She wrote, “Sir, we tried our best to open the door. However, we could not open. Do not panic, we are landing in few minutes, so please close the commode and sit on it and secure yourself. As soon as the main door is open, an engineer will come, do not panic.” This action by the crew member has received wide appreciation. The flight landed at 3.42 am and the passenger was able to come out of the washroom after an engineer opened the door latch and he received medical attention, SpiceJet said, confirming the incident. The low-cost budget airline would provide the flier a full fare refund. Chennaiites throng the Marina beach for Kaanum Pongal which was celebrated on Wednesday | Martin louis 2 spectators killed at illegal manju virattu in TN jallikattu ipl? E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Madurai/ Sivaganga TWO spectators, including a 12year-old boy, were gored to death at an illegal manju virattu event on Wednesday. The event was held near the venue at which the Sivaganga district administration was conducting a manju virattu at Siravayal village of Tirupattur taluk. According to police, the deceased child was identified as R Rahul of Valayapatti. The second victim has not yet been Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, who attended the Alanganallur jallikattu, told media that a special premier league, on the lines of the Indian Premier League, is under consideration for jallikattu identified. As the event organised by the district administration was being conducted on a piece of open land in Siravayal, bull owners started releasing the animals, that had been rejected, and conducting an im- promptu bull run. In the process, several spectators sustained injuries. Officials said as many as 110 persons sustained injuries in the main event as well as the illegal one. In comparison, 84 people were injured at the world-famous Alanganallur jallikattu, which was also held on Wednesday . The Alanganallur jallikattu, considered the most prestigious of the bull taming events, saw only 810 bulls released this year, compared to 817 at Avaniyapuram and 840 at Palamedu this year. The second prize winner at Alanganallur, Abichithar claimed he had tamed more bulls than the first prize winner but officials said their count was correct.  P4 Sunni group with Iran focus AFGhANISTAN Jaish al-Adl, or the “Army of Justice”, is a Sunni militant group founded in 2012 IRAN PA K I STA N Balochistan Sindh Its stated aim is to free Sunni-majority Sistan and Baluchistan province from Iran’s control INDIA Major Ethnic groups Balochi Sindhi Pashtun Punjabi Balochistan state in Pak Source: University of Texas at Austin 2019 Jaish al-Adl was behind the 2019 suicide bombing that killed 27 Iranian special forces It mostly operates out of Pakistan’s Balochistan province. Iran claims it has the backing of Pakistan and Saudi Arabia market crash D-Street bloodbath wipes `5 lakh crore off investor wealth shares following its poor third-quarter earnings and Indian stock markets the US Federal Reserve inditanked over 2% on Wednes- cating a delay in interest day — the biggest slump in rate cuts. Given its high one-and-a-half years — wip- weightage, an 8.5% fall in ing out investors’ wealth to HDFC Bank alone contribthe tune of `5 lakh crore. uted to a 944 points slip in The crash was on the back the Sensex. of a host of global and doChristopher Waller, one mestic developof the seven US ments, which trig- Biggest fall Fed gover nors, gered big selling in 19 months had said on Tuesacross Indian eqday that the cenuities, especially The benchmark BSE tral bank should in banking, metal Sensex fell 2.23% not rush to cut its while the broader and oil shares. benchmark interNifty slipped T h e 3 0 - s h a re est rate until inflaBSE Sensex closed 2.09%. The two key tion comes down stock indices on the Wednesday below 2%. The reWednesday session with a loss mark pushed the of 1,628 points, or suffered their worst 10-year treasury 2.23%, at 71,500.76 single-day losses in yields to above 4% percentage terms while the broader market and the Nifty50 settled 460 since June 13, 2022 dollar index to a points, or 2.09%, month high. This, lower at 21,571.95. Investors in turn, sent ripples across lost heavily as the market markets around the world. cap of all BSE-listed firms The selling pressure was came down to nearly `370 seen in the broader market lakh crore on Wednesday as well. In the Nifty50 pack, from `375 lakh crore in the shares of HDFC Bank fell previous session. the most (down 8.16%), folTwo biggest factors for lowed by Tata Steel (down Wednesday’s fall are inves- 3.97%), and Kotak Mahindra tors dumping HDFC Bank Bank (down 3.76%). AR S H AD K H AN @ New Delhi HIGH 21,851.50 21825 LOW 21,550.45 21700 OPEN 21,647.25 CLOSE 21,571.95 NSE Nifty50 21550 09.00 10.00 11.00 12.00 13.00 14.00 else face legal action: DMK EX P RE S S NEW S S ERV I CE @ Chennai THE ruling DMK on Wednesday termed as illegal the highlevel committee headed by former President Ram Nath Kovind to examine the possibility of conducting simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha, State Assemblies, municipalities, and panchayats. The committee should immediately stop seeking views on the One Nation One Election idea, failing which the party will be forced to take appropriate legal recourse, the DMK warned while responding to the panel’s letter dated January 1, 2024. Stating that the DMK had already registered its strong opposition to the BJP government’s proposal, the party, in its the letter, said, “After this, there was no communication from the Law Commission for a direct hearing... Besides, the follow-up action on this subject was also not conveyed.” Amending the Constitution to hold simultaneous elections to the various democratic setups would snatch away the rights given to the states. “This is a dangerous idea which will have a serious impact on centre-state relations. Besides, it would also have such an impact on the union government. The high-level committee should not intend to satisfy the BJP government which is powerhungry The committee should . not support the attempts of a party which has a majority in Parliament to destabilise or modify the Constitution which ensures equal opportunity to all,” the DMK added. The DMK said the Law Commission, in 2022, sought views on conducting simultaneous polls to Assemblies and the Lok Sabha. Now, the union government has extended the panel’s terms of reference to seek views on conducting simultaneous polls to municipalities and panchayats as well, it said.  2 police Commandos killed in Manipur’s Moreh Two Manipur Police commandos were killed and two others sustained bullet wounds after heavily-armed militants targeted them amid renewed violence in Moreh, a business town close to the Myanmar border, on Wednesday | P8 15.00 state of education 25% teens can’t even fluently read Class 2 text in mother tongue TN’s youth prefer STEM K a v i ta B a j e l i - D at t @ New Delhi About 25% of teenagers in India between 14 and 18 years of age cannot fluently read a Class-2 level text in their mother tongue, the latest Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) released on Wednesday said. When it comes to reading English, about 42% could not read simple sentences. “A little over half can read sentences in English (57.3%). Of those who can read sentences in English, almost three-quarters can tell their meanings (73.5%),” the report said. Mathematics was also not a bright spot. Of the 34,745 teens surveyed, only 43.3% could solve a mathematical problem that involved dividing a threedigit number by a single-digit number – a skill that is expected of third or fourth-standard students. However, it is an improvement over the findings of the 2017 survey, when only 39.5% could solve a similar problem. Overall, 86.8% of the respondents are enrolled in educational institutions. The older youths are more likely to be not enrolled — 32.6% of 18- year-olds not currently enrolled as against 3.9% of 14-year-olds who took part in the survey . The survey found that 89% have access to a smartphone at home while 94.7% males and 89.8% females said they know how to use one. However, only 19.8% of females and 43.7% of males own a smartphone. This survey also found Humanities to be the most preferred stream for students after 10th standard. Of the Class 11 and 12 students surveyed, 55% opted for Humanities, 31% opted for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and 9% for Commerce. The proportion of out-ofschool children and youth has been secularly declining amid the government’s push to uni- versalize secondary education, the report noted. “One major worry during COVID-19 was that with livelihoods being threatened, older children would drop out. That fear turned out to be unfounded,” said the survey report. About 84% have completed at least eight years of schooling, compared to 81% in 2017. ASER 2023 ‘Beyond Basics’ survey was conducted by Pratham Foundation, an education-focused non-profit in 28 districts across 26 states. At least one rural district was surveyed in each of the major states. over arts & humanities S u b a shi n i Vi j aya k u m a r @ Chennai THE Annual Status of Education Report ‘Beyond Basics’ 2023 survey released on Wednesday showed a notable variation in educational preference among Tamil Nadu’s youth in class 11 or higher as compared to the national average. The report showed 72.7% of TN students opted for STEM (Science, Technology Engineering, and Mathematics) courses in contrast to , the national scenario, in which most students in this age group (55.7%) lean towards the arts/humanities stream. While 24% of boys in TN said they wanted to become engineers, 21% of girls wanted to become doctors and 23.3% nurses. Only 11.5% of TN students preferred arts and humanities and 7.3% commerce. While only 5.6% of surveyed youth said they were enrolled in vocational training or other related courses across the country this number was only 1.8%. ,