tirunelveli l friday l september 20, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION SC throws out curative petition of voda, airtel over mega dues The court dismissed pleas by Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and others, seeking correction of alleged errors in the Adjusted Gross Revenue court’s blow could land telcos in the red No more disputes over AGR, companies told The court order will be a big blow to the telcos, especially Vodafone Idea, which analysts warned could face a financial crisis in the absence of AGR relief. The telecom companies had moved the Supreme Court claiming there were several errors in the government’s calculation of Adjusted Gross Revenue (AGR) dues. The court dismissed the plea in 2021 after which the curative pleas were filed ■ ■ Vodafone-Idea’s liability is `58,254 cr and that of Airtel’s is `43,980 cr. The dues are currently on moratorium till September 2025 as part of a government relief package for the telcos approved in 2021 | P10 Dismissing the curative pleas, the top court said telecom companies shall not raise any dispute and there shall not be any re-assessment 25 years how long it would take VI to organically pay its dues as per analysis by Macquarie 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 Protesting docs relent, agree to join emergency duty from Sat E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Kolkata JUNIOR doctors in West Bengal, who were protesting for the past few weeks over the brutal rape-murder of a resident doctor at R G Kar Medical College and Hospital in Kolkata, have decided to resume emergency services from Saturday . However, the trainee doctors stressed that they have not called off their protest seeking justice for their colleague and will not join duty in the out-patient departments (OPDs) across gover nment hospitals. Before partially lifting their sit-in protest, the doctors plan to hold a march from Swasthya Bhawan, the state health department headquarters, to CBI office at Salt Lake area. Earlier in the day the doctors , submitted a draft of the key points discussed in the meeting they had with government officials on Wednesday, to Chief Secretary Manoj Pant. The draft, detailing the points which were taken up agreed upon by the two sides and also those which weren’t, was sent so that the government may issue directives. tiff over money Engg grad kills woman, stuffs body in suitcase G a u t h a m S e lv a r a j a n @ Chennai A 23-year-old man allegedly beat to death a 35-year-old suspected sex worker with a hammer in a tiff over money and stuffed her body inside a trolley suitcase in Thoraipakkam on Wednesday The suspect, an engineering graduate, . was arrested on Thursday morning by the Thoraipakkam police based on CCTV footage from the locality . The police identified the accused as M Manikandan of Sivaganga who was employed in a private company in Perungudi. He was living at his elder sister’s house along with his mother for the last one month. A couple of days ago, his family went out of town and Manikandan was staying alone. The police said the victim, M Deepa alias Vellaiammal, a native of Pudukkottai, was living with her family in Madhavaram. “Manikandan had arranged for Deepa to come to his house through an agent on Tuesday night. Later that night, an argument broke out between the two over money and Manikandan beat her with a hammer. Deepa suffered fatal injuries and died,” said a police officer. Manikandan’s family who were expected to return on Fri, day informed him that they would be arriving on Thursday , morning. To dispose of the body he ordered a suitcase on, line which was delivered on Wednesday He then allegedly . stuffed the body into it and in the wee hours of Thursday placed it near a construction site about 200-300 metres away from his residence and came back home. “Passers-by after , noticing blood stains on the suitcase, alerted the police. The body was recovered and sent for postmortem. The police started checking with the residents about the man spotted in the CCTV footage. A resident from the ground floor of the suspect’s building identified him as a resident of a house on the first floor,” said the police. P5 India rubbishes Pannun lawsuit as unwarranted PM’s meeting with Trump not firmed up yet, says foreign secretary Heinous crime 3 men gangrape TN woman after attacking friend E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Sivaganga As for the buzz on Modi meeting former US President Donald Trump, Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri Misri said it has been firmed up yet. on Thursday dismissed imputations A couple of days ago, Trump had said in a civil lawsuit filed by Khalistani he was looking forward to meeting separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pan- Modi during the upcoming visit. “PM nun against the Indian government Modi is a fantastic man and is comand National Security Advisor Ajit ing to meet me next week,’’ he said. Doval in an American court ahead of “We are currently trying to schedPrime Minister Narendra Modi’s US ule several meetings of the prime visit. The case pertains to the alleged minister, based on the time available. attempt to bump him off by a At this moment I cannot spehired gunman. The court iscifically tell you whether sued summons and sought a meetings have been fixed or response within 21 days. not. We are looking from all The foreign secretary deviewpoints, considering how scribed Panun’s allegations as much time we have with “unwarranted and unsubstanwhom the meetings can be artiated, adding “it doesn’t ranged. We will update once change our views about the Gurpatwant they are fixed,’’ Misri said. underlying situation.” Misri Singh Pannun Regarding the Quad sumsaid Pannun’s antecedants mit, he said, all regional, inare well known. ternational, geopolitical situations “I would also like to underline the will be on the agenda and the essence fact that this person represents an from the discussions will be reflected organisation which is unlawful and in the joint statement. “All key chalhas been declared as such under the lenges confronting the international Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act community on development, peace, of 1967 and it has been done so on ac- security will be discussed.’’ count of its involvement in anti-naThe PM will depart on September tional and subversive activities 21 and his first engagement is the aimed at disrupting the sovereignty Quad Summit at Deleware. The and territorial integrity of India,’’ White House said China will be high Misri added. on the agenda of the summit. Y e s h i S e l i @ New Delhi No bilateral with Yunus Modi will have a number of bilateral meetings with world leaders, but not with the head of the interim govt in Bangladesh, Muhammad Yunus. Besides, Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelenskyy has not requested a meeting with the prime minister, says MEA Diaspora dialogue On Sept 22, Modi will attend a diaspora event at Nassau Coliseum in New York. Arrangements for this event has been made privately, so there is no clarity on who all will be invited. Next day, Modi will address the Summit of the Future at New York Three men, who were part of a five-member gang, raped a woman who was talking to her male friend at a secluded place after thrashing and chasing away the friend near Manamadurai in Sivaganga district on Tuesday . The Manamadurai All-Women Police registered a case under Section 70 of BNS and arrested all the five suspects on Thursday. One of the accused broke his leg while trying to escape, sources said. Police said the accused were aged between 18 and 28. Both the survivor and her friend suffered minor injuries in the attack. The incident came to light when the youth got admitted to Government Sivaganga Medical College Hospital on Tuesday evening with injuries. He initially claimed that he was assaulted by unknown individuals and did not disclose the sexual assault. During an inquiry the police , found that a woman was with him and she had been gangraped by three men. P5