KOttayam l thursday l april 04, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l city EDITION New textbooks for classes 3 & 6 to be out in April, May: NCERT For other classes, textbooks will only be updated and revised this year, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) said Steps taken to ensure no gap in learning about 33 lakh textbooks printed Director of NCERT Dinesh Prasad Saklani said a 15-day foundation course for students of class 3 and a month-long bridge programme for those from class 6 have been prepared to ensure there is no gap in learning. The NECRT’s announcement comes days after the CBSE told affiliated schools to adopt new syllabi for classes 3 and 6 from the upcoming academic year ■ ■ Saklani said new texts are being adopted in classes 3, 6 as they mark the start of preparatory and middle stages of schooling, respectively About 33 lakh updated textbooks for classes 1, 2, 7, 8, 10 and 12 have been delivered to bookshops, Saklani said. New books for class 3 and updated books for classes 4, 5, 9 and 11 will be out this month 26 crore students enrolled in 14.86 lakh schools in India 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 Taiwan shakes @ 7.4 No flags seen in Rahul’s nomination roadshow Use of IUML’s green flags in 2019 roadshow was played up by BJP E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kalpetta 9 people killed 70 coal miners trapped in Two quarries in Taiwan Strongest in 25 yrs A 7.4 magnitude earthquake, the strongest to hit Taiwan in a quarter-century, damaged dozens of buildings and caused 24 landslides that blocked key roads leaving thousands isolated vote check SC to list pleas on VVPAT before LS polls begin E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ New Delhi The Supreme Cour t on Wednesday said it will take up a batch of pleas related to EVM data cross-checking against voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) records the week after next. The petitions were supposed to come up on Wednesday but could not be listed because Justice Khanna was heading a special bench. The pleas seek a direction to the Election Commission to count all VVPAT slips as against the current practice of verifying only five randomly selected EVMs in each assembly segment of a parliamentary constituency . On Wednesday senior advo, cate Kapil Sibal mentioned the matter before the special bench of Justices Khanna, M M Sundresh and Bela M Trivedi, requesting that the pleas may be heard next Tuesday . Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, also appearing in the matter, submitted before the bench that the elections are about to start and the pleas would become infructuous if the case is not heard urgently . Justice Khanna said the court is aware of the situation and wants to speed up the hearing. However, the matter can’t be listed next week due to roster issues. It will be listed the week after, he added. One of the buildings damaged by a powerful earthquake that shook Taiwan’s Hualien County on Wednesday morning | AP | P11 Black stones, blades point to occultism link S h a n A S @T’Puram Amid the mystery surrounding the death of three Keralites in Arunachal Pradesh on Tuesday, police have come across materials and statements strengthening doubts that the trio was into occultism. The bodies of couple Naveen Thomas, 39, and Devi Madhavan, 39, and their friend Arya Nair from Thiruvananthapuram were found with cut marks on their wrists at a hotel in Arunachal’s Hapoli. Arunachal police officials, who were alerted by their Kerala counterparts about the trio’s possible link to a cult, have recovered the women’s bracelets adorned with black stones, believed to be part of the paraphernalia used for occult activities, from the room. Three stainless steel blades used to make cuts on the bodies have also been recovered. Use of separate blades has lent credence to the theory that the cuts were made as part of some occult ceremony Kerala police . have announced formation of special teams to probe the incident. At the same time, the Arunachal police have started scrutinising CCTV visuals from the hotel, where the three were staying, as well as from Ziro, a town two-and-a-half hours drive from Arunachal’s capital ● More on P2 Itanagar. Cut marks on wrists, say police Ziro SP Keni Bagra said Devi had cut marks on the left side of her neck and right wrist. Arya’s body had a cut mark on the right wrist, while Naveen’s body had a cut mark on his left wrist, Keni said. TTE’s death ends dreams of acting, caring for aged mother An i l k u m a r T @Manjummel (Kochi) Having portrayed small roles on the silver screen, K Vinod dreamt of becoming a busy actor. He also moved into his new house at Manjummel less than two months ago. When a migrant worker from Odisha pushed the 48-year-old TTE to his death off a moving train on Tuesday, it also shattered Vinod’s modest dreams, to become a reliable actor and live the rest of his life in his new house. Now, his widowed mother is destined to mourn the death of her only son. “It was following his father’s demise that Vinod secured the job in the railway. Though a workaholic, he always found time to pursue his passion for acting,” said Bindu, a relative as tears rolled down her cheeks. A Thiruvananthapuram native, Vinod acted in several movies, including in Mohanlal’s ‘Pulimurugan’ and Joju George’s ‘Joseph’. “They were small roles, but Vinod was always content. He hoped of bagging bigger roles. Everything has come to a sudden end,” she said. In February , Vinod, a divorcee with no children, moved to the new home with his mother Lalitha. “He was living his life for his aged mother. It was his long dream to construct a good home for his mother and live with her. Though he was married nearly 10 years ago, the relationship ended within a year. Our efforts to find another girl ended in vain, as he wanted to give more care to his mother,” said Aswathy his niece. ● More on P2 , Stingy salut! Malayalis prefer toasting to cheap liquor BOOZING ON A BUDGET Total liquor sales, in % share State Premium Cheap* Kerala 4 96 Karnataka 6 94 Tamil Nadu 10 90 Uttar Pradesh 12 88 Rajasthan 12 88 West Bengal 20.5 79.5 Maharashtra 21 79 Odisha 22 78 Telangana 52 48 * including country liquor Source: International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) R a j e s h R a v i @ Kochi Inebriation on a budget, that too with entry-level brown spirits, seems to be the mantra of Malayalis, as they defy the national trend of increasing demand for premium liquor. A report by the International Spirits and Wines Association of India (ISWAI) says the share of premium liquor (priced over `1,000 per 750 ml) consumed in Kerala is a measly 4%, with inexpensive liquor dominating the scene with a staggering 96% share. In the neighbouring states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, premiumisation (trend of consuming premium liquor) shares are notably higher at 6% and 10% respectively . States like Uttar Pradesh and Rajas- than boast a 12% share, with the proportion in poorer states such as West Bengal and Odisha even touching 20.5% and 22% respectively . Telangana leads with an impressive 52% share of premium liquor to total liquor sales among Indian states. Despite being prosperous, the alcohol beverages (alcobev) industry in Kerala faces challenges due to low levels of premiumisation, says Nita Kapoor, chief executive officer of ISWAI. ISWAI guess-estimates IMFL volumes in Kerala at approximately 28 lakh cases per year, with beer accounting for 33%, brandy 35%, and rum 27%. Imported products make up a small fraction of the market, roughly around 4,000-5,000 cases per month. ● More on P6 press Intake Man slits his throat in court hall | P6 3 assassins in Rajiv Gandhi murder deported | P6 Treading cautiously, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi abandoned party flags of all UDF constituents as he took out a massive roadshow to the Wayanad district collectorate on Wednesday to submit his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha election. The extensive use of key ally Muslim League’s green flags during Rahul’s 2019 roadshow was played up by the BJP at the national level, with senior leaders like Amit Shah wondering whether he was seeking votes in Pakistan, crushing the hopes of the Congress in north India. Instead of flags, tricoloured balloons and hats along with placards were part of Wednesday’s roadshow. Rahul’s sister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, AICC general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal, UDF parliamentary constituency election committee chairman Panakkad Sayyid Abbas Ali Shihab Thangal and several other local UDF leaders and thousands of Rahul Gandhi waving at the public during his roadshow in Wayanad | E Gokul supporters accompanied him. Congress campaign committee chairman Ramesh Chennithala, Leader of Opposition V D Satheesan, Congress interim state president M M Hassan, and IUML national general secretary P K Kunhalikutty also joined Rahul in the open vehicle. The absence of flags has left many tongues wagging. Even Rahul’s 2019 loss in Amethi was attributed to the presence of Muslim League flags in his roadshow then. The Congress was in no mood to take any chances this time. Since it would have been counterproductive to avoid only the League flag, it was decided to abandon the use of flags altogether, including that of the Congress. “Flags are not important in elections. Rahul Gandhi and the hand symbol are our icons,” Kalpetta MLA T Siddique said. But Congress and the Muslim League will have to sweat it out to explain the action. There will be questions as to how the party will raise the issues of Muslims, when it finds even the presence of the League flag embarrassing. Speaking at the conclusion of the roadshow, Rahul said he will be with the people of Wayanad in their fight to resolve three major issues – humanwildlife conflict, night travel ban and establishment of med● More on P6 ical college.
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