kottayam l tuesday l april 07, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 32 l city EDITION three academics caught in ncert row approach supreme court trio has lots of credibility: defence A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi was told the three experts, Professor Michel Danion, Suparna Diwakar and Alok Prasanna Kumar, were not fly-by-night persons and had credibility. On February 26, the court banned NCERT’s Class 8 social science book which contained ‘offending’ contents on corruption in the judiciary The three academics in the NCERT book row moved the Supreme Court on Monday and said drafting of the content was a collective process special committee to vet revised chapter ■ ■ On March 11, acting tough against the three experts involved in the drafting of the controversial chapter, the top court had directed the Centre and all state governments to disassociate from them The court was informed Monday that a committee comprising former SC judge Justice Indu Malhotra will review the revised chapter 14 days is when the supreme court bench meets again to hear the case 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 Both sides reject Pak proposal on truce, Israel hits South Pars again Trump calls ceasefire plan ‘very significant’ but not enough to end the ongoing conflict day 38 A gen c i e s @ Dubai IRAN and the United States received a draft proposal late Sunday calling for a 45-day ceasefire and the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. The proposal, tentatively dubbed the ‘Islamabad Accord’, came from Egyptian, Pakistani and Turkish mediators, hoping the 45-day window would provide enough time for talks to reach a permanent ceasefire. It was sent to Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff. Iran on Monday rejected the proposal. News agency IRNA said, “Iran... has rejected a ceasefire and insists on the need for a definitive end to the conflict.” Iran’s refusal for truce came after the head of intelligence for Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, Maj Gen Majid Khademi, was killed in an attack targeting him in Tehran. File photo of the South Pars gas field in the southern Iranian port town of Assaluyeh, which was hit by an Israeli missile strike on Monday | AFP Oil refiners to postpone maintenance shutdown Two more LPG tankers sail through Hormuz Indian oil refiners are planning to postpone maintenance shutdowns of their units to meet domestic production of LPG, petrol, and diesel. According to a top official, some refineries of Indian Oil Corporation and BPCL have already planned shutdowns. Two more Indian-flagged LPG tankers have crossed the Strait of Hormuz and are headed for Indian ports even as 16 other vessels remain stranded. Green Sanvi carrying 46,650 tonnes of LPG will reach India on April 7 while Green Asha with 15,500 tonnes will reach on April 9. For his part, US President Donald Trump said the truce proposal was a “very significant step,” but not enough yet to end the conflict. The Revolutionary Guards s a i d t h e y w i l l av e n g e Khademi’s killing, adding preparations were on to enforce new operating conditions 55% of voters remain excluded even after review: West Bengal 9 cops sentenced to death in TN for custodial killing of father-son duo S U C H I T R A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y @ New Delhi THE West Bengal government on Monday told the Supreme Court that as many as 55% of voters whose names were removed from the electoral rolls stand excluded even after the adjudication of claims and objections. “Out of these 60 lakh cases, available data of 40 lakh cases indicates the exclusion rate is 55%,” said senior lawyer Shyam Divan, appearing for West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant and comprising justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipin Pancholi, noted that 59.15 lakh out of 60.06 lakh cases were decided by April 6 noon. Divan argued that the rejection rate is very high despite the judicial safeguards. “These were mapped individuals. Seven lakh objections have already been filed and several lakh appeals are in the process of being filed,” he said. Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State of West Bengal, said the appellate tribunals should pass interim orders for those prima facie found wrongly excluded. The bench, however, declined the submissions and refused to set any deadline for the tribunals to decide on the appeals. The court noted the electoral list needs to be frozen at some point in view of the upcoming in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran’s central military command warned of “much more devastating” retaliation if enemies hit civilian targets. Word of Iran’s rejection came while Trump addressed an Easter event on the White House lawn. Asked if Tuesday at 8 pm Washington time was his final deadline for Iran, Trump replied, “Yeah.” Israel’s defence minister Israel Katz said they struck a petrochemical facility in Iran. “The IDF has now strongly attacked the largest petrochemical facility in Iran located in [Asaluyeh],” he said, adding the facility in the Pars region services Iran’s South Pars natural gas field, and produced around half of the country’s petrochemicals. Strikes on cities across Iran killed more people on Monday , while in Israel’s Haifa, victims were found dead in rubble following an attack. Israel said four people were killed in Haifa. Oil prices fluctuated, with North Sea Brent at $109 a barrel and US West Texas at $112. J E G A D E E SW A RI PA N D I A N @ Madurai In a groundbreaking verdict, a court in Madurai on Monday handed death penalty to all the nine policemen convicted in connection with the custodial torture and death of two traders — P Jeyaraj and his son Beniks — at Sathankulam in Thoothukudi in 2020. Referring to similar incidents, including George Floyd’s murder in the United States, First Additional District and Sessions Judge G Muthukumaran observed that custodial killings are a social evil and an assault on human rights. The court said the judgment should serve as a warning so that such incidents do not recur. According to the prosecution, on June 19, 2020, the convicted cops picked up Jeyaraj for allegedly keeping their mobile phone shop open beyond the Covid-19 curfew hours. When Beniks went to the station and requested his father’s release, they verbally abused Jeyaraj in front of him, leading to a quarrel. Following this, the father-son duo was subjected to extreme physical assault, leading to their deaths at a hospital days later. West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee addresses a public meeting in Nadia on Monday | pti ‘Stalin, Congress in cahoots with BJP’ Kolkata: Mamata Banerjee on Monday alleged that BJP had entered into a “tacit understanding” with Congress and Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, saying many officers from Bengal had been sent to the southern state as poll observers. Also, the EC transferred around 500 officers in Bengal compared with a handful in other poll-bound states, she alleged. assembly elections, but it was leaving the decision to the appellate tribunals. The CJI asked the Calcutta High Court chief justice to constitute a three-member panel of former senior judges to frame uniform procedures for these tribunals. The fixed the matter for further hearing to April 23. designated feeding spot Military station opens gates for stray dogs Sha i nu M ohan @ T’Puram At a time when the stray dog issue has turned into a major crisis, the Pangode Military Station in Thiruvananthapuram has opened one of its guard posts to feed the animals. Amid mounting protests and complaints against public feeding, the station, instead of banning the practice, has designated a specific space for dog feeding — sending a strong message of compassion and coexistence. For the past eight years, volunteers of the People for Animals (PFA) have been feeding around 22 stray dogs near the army quarters at PTP Nagar. However, concerns were raised recently after many new families, including children, moved into The designated dog feeding spot set up by the Pangode Military Station | B P Deepu the military quarters. An official spokesperson of the station told TNIE that the area was designated to resolve the issue. Recently an official board was in, stalled marking the space as a designated dog feeding spot. “They used to feed dogs near the bus stop, which created issues for residents and the public. Hence, we decided to designate a space. We constructed a covered area and have assigned staff to clean the area daily ,” ● More on P6 said the official. Big guns, bigger charges: Parties go all out in final lap E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @Kochi With just hours left for the curtain to fall on open campaigning, political parties left no stone unturned to woo voters on Monday, with national heavyweights from all three fronts crisscrossing the state, trading sharp accusations and making ambitious promises. Kerala turned into a battleground of narratives, with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, BJP stalwarts Amit Shah and Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and Karnataka Congress leaders — Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy CM DK Shivakumar — hitting the campaign trail. CPM veteran Prakash Karat held fort for the LDF, asserting confidence in LDF government’s “sterling performance”. At a blistering rally in Palakkad, Rahul sharpened the Congress attack, alleging a “deliberate and strategic understanding” between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. “When the BJP continuously targets me… why is there no action against the Kerala CM? This is clear evidence of a political understanding,” he said. Rahul claimed Modi was “operating Union Home Minister Amit Shah takes out a roadshow as part of the NDA campaign in Haripad | express Rahul Gandhi addressing a UDF election rally at Fort Maidan in Palakkad on Monday | express under pressure” from Donald Trump, alleging geopolitical and corporate leverage shaping India’s policy choices. Echoing the charge, Priyanka, addressing meetings across north Kerala, said people were “victims of a corrupt government that has worked more for corporates than for the people”. Priyanka flagged unemployment, youth migration, and what she termed a crumbling healthcare system, adding that “even as Wayanad MP, it has been very difficult to get assistance from the government”. The BJP, however, flipped the script. Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, campaigning in Palakkad, placed farmers at the centre of NDA’s pitch, calling Kerala’s current procurement system “a structural injustice”. Promising universal MSP procurement and direct transfers, he accused both LDF and UDF of having “failed farmers” and perpetuating policy paralysis.  ● More on P6