coimbatore l Wednesday l January 21, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 14 l Late city EDITION SC slams Maneka Gandhi’s critique of stray dogs order The Supreme Court on Tuesday lambasted former Union minister Maneka Gandhi for calling the order on stray dogs ‘impractical’ not initiating contempt proceedings: sc A bench of justices Vikram Nath, Sandeep Mehta and N V Anjaria said Maneka made “all kinds of comments” without thinking, but added it is not initiating contempt proceedings because of the court’s magnanimity. Senior advocate Raju Ramachandran, for Menaka, said his client’s words are not contempt as politicians do make statements sc flags disregard of its norms on strays ■ The Supreme Court was hearing several petitions seeking modification of its Nov 7, 2025 order directing the authorities to remove stray animals from the institutional areas and roads ■ The bench also flagged concerns over the non-implementation of norms on stray animals for the last five years Jan 28 is when the supreme court will hear the matter next 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 tale of two governors Ravi refuses to Arlekar altered deliver customary policy address, speech in House alleges Pinarayi T M u r u g a n a n d h am @ Chennai For the third consecutive year, Governor RN Ravi’s annual customary inaugural address to the Assembly became a flashpoint, with the governor once again refusing to read the speech prepared by the state. He left the House abruptly, declining to deliver the speech, alleging insult to national anthem and unsubstantiated claims in the state-prepared text. Minutes after the walkout, the governor’s office released a statement listing out 13 reasons as to why he had declined to read out the prepared speech. The statement from the Lok Bhavan, among other things, alleged that the governor’s microphone was switched off repeatedly and the national anthem was insulted by not being rendered at the beginning of the session (Thamizh Thaai Vaazhthu was rendered first as conventionally done in the TN Assembly). The other 11 reasons dealt with various alleged issues of concern in the state. The governor’s office alleged that the prepared speech was marked by unsubstantiated claims, particularly on investment inflows, with many MoUs remaining unrealised, declining FDI rankings, severe stress on MSMEs, and growing discontent among lowerlevel employees over their unaddressed demands.  P7 E X P R E SS N E W S S E R V I C E @ T’Puram Dramatic scenes unfolded in the Kerala Assembly on Tuesday as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought to correct Governor Rajendra Arlekar’s policy address after the latter had finished his speech and left the House. While Vijayan flagged “omissions” and “alterations” to the text approved by the Cabinet, sources close to the governor said Arlekar had read out an amended version of the address to which the government had earlier agreed but backtracked later. Immediately after seeing off the governor from the House following his twohour policy address, the CM drew attention to the “mismatch” between the Cabinetapproved text and what was actually delivered. He urged the Speaker to rule that the policy address approved by the Cabinet would prevail. Vijayan was provoked by the governor’s omission of a passage critical of the Centre: “Kerala continues to face severe fiscal stress arising from a series of adverse Union government actions that undermine the constitutional principles of fiscal federalism.” Another omission was about the ongoing tussle between the governor and the state government over delays in granting assent to bills passed by the Assembly . Lok Bhavan sources said the governor skipped some “factually incorrect” portions. Markets in red over Greenland Terrible Tuesday: Sensex dives to lowest in 3 months, wipes off `10L cr of investor wealth A r s h a d K h a n @ New Delhi THE fortune of Indian equity market, it appears, is firmly tied to the vagaries of US president Donald Trump. He seems to be the biggest ‘cue’ the domestic equity market is paying heed to as `10 lakh crore worth of investors’ wealth was wiped out on Tuesday amid US’ deepening standoff with Europe over Greenland. The stock market fell sharply on Tuesday, with benchmark NSE Nifty nosediving to its lowest level in three months and experiencing its biggest singleday fall since April 2025. The NSE Nifty settled 353 points or 1.38% lower at 25,232.50 while the BSE Sensex tumbled 1,066 points or 1.28% to close at 82,180. The sell-off was such that 48 stocks in the Nifty50 pack ended in the red and the market capitalisation of BSElisted fir ms came down to `455.76 lakh crore from `465.19 lakh crore. Investor sentiment across the globe has taken a hit over concerns related to US President Donald Trump proposing tariffs on countries opposing his bid to control Greenland and a subsequent pushback from Europe. This has revived fears of renewed global trade disruptions, prompting investors to exit equities. Vinod Nair, Head of Research, Geojit Investments said domestic markets remained cautious ahead of the US Supreme Court’s ruling on Trump- RECORD TUMBLE NSE Nifty 25,500 25,400 25,232.50 25,300 25,200 9.15 am 11 am BSE SenSEX 1 pm 3 pm 4 pm 82,180.47 83,000 82.500 82.000 9.15 am 11 am 1 pm 3 pm 4 pm era tariffs, with renewed uncertainty over US trade policy prolonging the recent consolidation. He added that continued FII outflows, rising US and Japanese bond yields, and a weakening rupee weighed on investor confidence. In the near term, market sentiment will hinge on the earn- ings season, while geopolitical developments and global trade conditions remain important influences, he said. The rupee ended at 90.98 per dollar, slightly weaker than Monday’s close of 90.91. In the broader market, the Nifty Midcap 100 and Nifty Smallcap 100 underperformed the frontline indices, falling by up to 3 per cent each. FIIs sold equities worth `2,192 crore on Tuesday mark, ing the 11th consecutive session of net outflows this month. In the Asian markets, South Korea’s Kospi, Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, Shanghai’s SSE Composite index and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index settled lower. Markets in Europe were trading over 1 per cent lower. express read `366cr graft ED asks TN to book Nehru in graft case Jana Nayagan case: HC reserves verdict on CBFC’s petition Ethnic violence in Assam after 2 die, mobile internet suspended New Delhi: ED has shared fresh information with Tamil Nadu related to an alleged Rs 366 crore money laundering and corruption racket involving the transfer and appointments of officials and engineers in the MAWS department. The agency has sent a letter to chief secretary and DVAC, seeking registration of a police FIR against minister KN Nehru | P6 Chennai: The Madras HC reserved orders on an appeal filed by the CBFC challenging a single judge’s order directing it to issue U/A (16+) certificate for Vijay’s ‘Jana Nayagan’ as decided by the examining committee. “The examining committee can give recommendations but only the board can take a final decision,” the CBFC told the court | P6 Guwahati: Protesters clashed with the police and carried out arson attacks on Tuesday as Assam’s Kokrajhar remained on the edge after an Adivasi (Tea Tribe) mob attacked Bodo youth, killing one of them on the spot. A road accident led to the incident which occurred in the Karigaon area, located about 30 km from Kokrajhar town | P10