Investors lose L13.47 lakh crore in a single day as markets crash sTreet sees red as sectoral indices tank Nifty plummeted 1.51% to 21,997.7 and Sensex fell 900 points as the markets witnessed selling pressure amid a sharp fall in smallcaps, midcaps Utility, energy and metal stocks saw heavy losses. Though benchmark indices began on a positive note, post lunch all sectoral indices closed in red. Power Grid, NTPC, Tata Steel, Tata Motors, JSW Steel, Airtel, Titan, RIL, HUL were the losers in Sensex. The BSE Smallcap gauge fell by 5.11% and midcap index fell by 4.2%. 3,516 STOCKS FELL on Wednesday as the markets witnessed heavy selling kochi l thursday l march 14, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION 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 Nitish in, Rohini panel report on back burner OBC sub-categorisation was earlier seen as counter to caste census P r eetha N a i r @ New Delhi With the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government back in NDA, the Narendra Modi government seems to have put the much vaunted Rohini commission report on ‘revising the reservation percentage of OBCs’ on the back burner. It was believed the Centre would implement the Rohini panel report on sub-categorisation of OBCs to counter the Bihar government’s caste survey data published last October. The survey data, which pegged backward caste population at 63%, sparked a renewed demand from the Opposition for a nationwide caste census and review of reservation for the backward classes. While the Union government was noncommittal about a national census, it was looking to woo the most backward classes by implementing the Rohini panel report and conferring some benefits on them, a source said. However, the Rohini panel report, submitted to the government in July last year, is yet to be published. It is learnt that the report revealed that less Justice (Retd) G Rohini Terms of reference The terms of reference of the panel included examining the extent of inequitable distribution of benefits of reservation among OBCs in the Central List and to work out a scientific mechanism, norms and parameters for sub-categorisation within the OBC community than 1% of dominant backward castes have cornered 50% of the reservation benefits in admissions to central educational institutions and recruitment to central services. Of the 2,600 communities in the central OBC list, 938 sub-castes have no representation in the reserved seats. For equitable distribution of benefits, the commission has proposed to divide OBCs into subgroups with separate reservation percentages. However, sources said that with Nitish Kumar’s re-entry into the NDA, the BJP is confident of defusing the caste challenges from the Opposition. “The BJP’s main worry was the consolidation of the Extremely Backward Caste (EBC) vote bloc in Bihar. With Nitish, a Kurmi leader, back in the NDA, the party need not worry about the political ramifications of caste census. So, the government will keep the Rohini panel report in cold storage for the time being. The gover nment is aware that the Rohini panel report will lead to political realignments as it subcategorises all OBC groups,” said a leader. The Rohini commission was tasked with putting together a comprehensive pool of scientific data on sub-categories to as to ensure equitable redistribution of the 27% quota benefits for the OBCs among all subcommunities. Centre offers `5k cr with riders. No, says govt E x p r e ss N e ws Se r v i c e @T’Puram In a bold move, the state gover nment, in the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected , the Union government’s conditional offer of additional borrowing worth `5,000 crore in this financial year as a one-time measure, and reiterated the demand for its legal entitlement of at least `10,000 crore. The SC will hear the state government’s plea for interim relief on March 21. At the hearing, Additional Solicitor General N Venkata- press Intake KU youth fest judge found dead | P7 Drug supply to Kozhikode MCH stops | P4 Govt takes over KWA dues | P7 18 pages, including 4 pages of KOCHI Express Racial slurs hurled at Ivory Coast footballer E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Malappuram A footballer from Ivory Coast was attacked and allegedly called racial slurs by spectators during a sevens match in Malappuram last week, in an incident that threatened to dent Kerala’s image as a progressive state. Hasan Jr, a player from the west African nation, filed a complaint with the Malappuram district police chief on Wednesday in connection with the assault on him during the match organised at Chemrakkattur in Areekode on March 10. He alleged the spectators hurled racial slurs at him. Hasan has sub- mitted the footage of the mob attack, which went viral, at the SP office. Eyewitnesses alleged that Hasan beat up one of the spectators during the match, causing the crowd to retaliate. Hasan, however, refuted the claim. “The spectators tried to provoke me using racial slurs and even threw stones. When I responded, they attacked me,” Hasan told reporters after filing the complaint. He said this was the first time in his career that he had faced such an attack. “I feel scared to continue playing in Kerala. I will file a complaint at the Ivory Coast Embassy in New Delhi,” he said. The Malappuram district police chief told TNIE that “maximum punishment will be ensured to those who racially abused the Ivory Coast player and subjected him to brutal mob beating. A special cell will be formed at Areekode police station for the investigation.” An official with the Areekode police said an FIR has been registered. “We have recorded Hasan’s statement. A special probe team will be formed, and action will be taken against culprits after recording witness statements and examining the video circulating on social media,” ● More on P4 the official said. raman informed the SC that the Centre was ready to allow additional borrowing to the state under five stringent conditions, chief of which was that the amount will be a d j u s t e d f ro m t h e state’s net borrowing ceiling for the first nine months in the next fiscal. Also, no ad hoc borrowing will be allowed and that the government should implement Plan B for resource mobilisation before the last quarter of 2024-25. Plan B was a budget announcement of the state government. State govt to take addl legal steps against CAA T’Puram: Continuing its fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), 2019, the state government has decided to move the SC seeking to cancel provisions under the legislation. P4 Another condition was that the consent for borrowing in 2024-25 will be issued only if the Kerala government submits certain documents. Also, the consent for borrowing for the first nine months will be issued on a quarterly basis. Gadkari, Goyal, Anurag in BJP second list for 72 seats R A J E S H K U M A R T H A K U R @ New Delhi The BJP repeated three Union ministers and fielded one minister for the first time in the Lok Sabha elections, in its second list of candidates for 72 seats in 10 states. Union Minister Piyush Goyal will make his debut from the safest of Lok Sabha seats — North Mumbai. The party repeated Union ministers Nitin Gadkari from Nagpur, Anurag Thakur from Himachal Pradesh’s Hamirpur and Pralhad Joshi from HubaliDharwad. Rajya Sabha MP Anil Baluni will enter the fray from Garhwal in Uttarakhand. As expected, outgoing Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar got the Karnal LS ticket. Besides, former chief minister of Karnataka B S Bommai has been fielded from Haveri. Delhi and Karnataka saw the maximum changes in the second list. In Delhi, the party dropped six of its seven sitting MPs while in Karnataka the axe fell on leaders like Anant Hedge and Pratap Simha. In Delhi, two new candidates — Harsh Malhotra from East Delhi and Yogendra Chandolia from North West Delhi — have been fielded to deflect anti-incumbency Sources said the dropped MPs . would be made prominent players in the assembly elections against AAP candidates because of their deep and strong local influences. In Karnataka, former chief minister B S Yediyurappa’s son B Y Raghavendra will enter the fray from Shimoga while youth wing head Tejasvi Surya has been repeated from Bengaluru South. This would be for up to 25% of eligibility, arrived after deducting `5,000 crore. Opposing the offer, senior advocate Kapil Sibal, the state government’s counsel, said Kerala should get at least `10,000 crore, which was a legal entitlement. He said the Centre’s offer appeared to be a “concession” whereas additional sanction was the state’s entitlement. Through the conditional offer, the Centre was trying to control the state’s expenses, which amounted to violation of the principles of federal● More on P4 ism, Sibal said. HC junks Cong’s plea against `100-cr recovery E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ New Delhi IN a setback to Congress, the Delhi HC on Wednesday upheld the Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT)’s decision not to stay the tax demand notice to the party for recovery of over `100 crore dues for the 2018-19 assessment year. A division bench said there appears to be no fundamental infirmity in the ITAT order of March 8 and rapped the Congress for its lackadaisical approach to the tax demand. The tax department’s proceedings against the Congress had started in 2021 but the party did not do anything for two years, the court noted.
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