Open to suggestions on IT rules, SAYS Govt Ministry of Electronics and IT (Meity) on Tuesday met intermediaries and civil society groups to hear their concerns over the proposed amendments. IT Secretary S Krishnan said that the ministry is very “open-minded” and will examine all suggestions. He indicated that the government may extend the April 14 deadline for receiving feedback on the proposed IT rules amendments tirupati l wednesday l april 08, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 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 Civilisational wipeout threat Trump warns he will bomb Iran back to the Stone Age if it does not make a deal; Tehran defiant; Hormuz resolution in UNSC shot down a g e n c i es @ Washington/ Tehran IN an unprecedented escalation of his war of words, US President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Iran that a “whole civilisation will die tonight” if Tehran doesn’t make a deal with the US by the latest deadline set by him – Tuesday 8 pm EDT (Wednesday 3.30 am Tehran time). Iran rejected the threat, with President Masoud Pezeshkian saying millions of Iranians, including himself, are ready to sacrifice their lives in the war. The Islamic Republic urged young people to form human chains around power plants and other targets. Trump’s major demands are reopening the Strait of Hormuz and handing over the uranium stockpile. “A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will. However, now that we have Complete and Total Regime Change, where different, smarter, and less radicalized minds prevail, maybe something revolutionarily wonderful can happen... We will find out tonight!” Trump wrote on Truth Social. J aya n t h J a cob @ New Delhi A whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again. I don’t want that to happen, but it probably will Donald Trump, US president day 39 In an equally threatening tone, US Vice President J D Vance said: “We’ve got tools in our toolkit that we so far haven’t decided to use. The President of the United States can decide to use them, and he will decide to use them if the Iranians don’t change their course of conduct.” Vance’s comment, made during a press meet in Budapest, led to speculation about use of nuclear weapons. However, the White House later clarified that Vance did not mean a nuclear strike against Tehran. E x p r e s s Re a d HC grants bail to Lemon prices peak Raj Kesireddy at H135 in Gudur Vijayawada: The High Court has granted bail to Kesireddy Rajasekhar Reddy alias Raj Kesireddy, the prime accused (A1) in the liquor scam case, along with A51 Ronak Kumar Jasraj Palgota, imposing stringent conditions. Issuing the order on Tuesday, Justice Venkata Jyothirmayi Pratapa directed him to furnish two sureties of 1 lakh each. The court directed him to surrender his passport | P3 Strong Indian advisory in Iran Nellore: Lemon prices in the Gudur market have soared to a record high of `135 per kg, bringing much-needed relief to farmers amid a challenging agricultural season. Over the past three days, prices have fluctuated between `100 and `135 per kg, depending on the quality of the fruit. Traders attribute the sharp rise to increased demand from northern markets such as Delhi, Lucknow, Varanasi and Pana | P4 The developments come a day when a UN Security Council resolution aimed at reopening the Strait of Hormuz was shot down after Russia and China vetoed it. Even before the deadline, USIsrael airstrikes hit two bridges and a train station, as well as the infrastructure on Kharg Island, a key hub for Iranian oil production. On Monday, Trump had threatened to blow up “every bridge and power plant” in Iran, an action the UN considers a war crime. “Under international law, deliberately attacking civilians and civilian infrastructure is a war crime,” UN high commissioner for human rights Volker Turk said. The Indian Embassy in Iran on Tuesday issued a safety advisory for its nationals, urging them to stay indoors and avoid military installations or upper floors of multi-storey buildings for the next 48 hours amid escalating US-Israel attacks. “In continuation of previous advisories, Indian nationals who are still in Iran must stay where they are for the next 48 hours, avoiding all electric, military installations and upper floors of multi-storey buildings, remaining indoors, and coordinating any highway movement strictly with the Embassy the advisory said. It ,” also urged hotel residents to be contact with embassy teams. “In view of the rapidly evolving situation in Iran, Indian nationals who are currently in Iran are advised to stay put where they are, shelter in place and avoid further movements,” MEA said. Any movement toward border crossings must be coordinated with the embassy . Emergency helplines have been provided: +98 912 810 9115, +98 912 810 9102, +98 912 810 9109, P9 +98 993 217 9359.  91L names out, TMC’s minority base may take hit Earlier, on February 28, the ECI had published a list A whopping 91 lakh names of 63.66 lakh deleted voters, have been deleted from the including 58.25 lakh classiWest Bengal electoral rolls fied as absent, shifted, dead, following the special inten- or duplicate (ASDD). sive revision, which could Following the latest reviimpact the minority sion, the number of vote base of the ruling valid voters stands at Trinamool Congress 6,77,20,728, includin the state. ing the 32.68 lakh Late on Monday newly confirmed elnight, the Election igible voters. Commission of InWe s t B e n g a l 68% cut in dia (ECI) released a Chief Minister list categorising eli- Murshidabad and TMC supremo gible and ineligible Mamata Banerjee Murshidabad, voters from the 60.06 said her party will a district with lakh electors previfight for the 27 lakh over 70% Muslim ously marked ‘unvoters whose population, is the der adjudication.’ names have been worst hit. Out of Of this, 27,16,393 11,01,145 adjudicated d e l e t e d a f t e r voters have been de- voters, 4,55,137 are adjudication. clared ineligible to ineligible. In total, She alleged that vote in the upcom- 7,48,959 names have Muslims, Matuas, been deleted from and Rajbongshis ing Assembly polls, taking the total the district’s rolls – have been targeted 68% of the total number of deletions for deletion. to 91 lakh. On Monday, the Over 32.68 lakh voters Supreme Court had rejected have been marked as eligible the state’s demand for interin the final rolls. With this, im relief for certain excludthe number of valid voters ed voters, stating the matter stands at 6,77,20,728. should not be rushed. S U B H E N D U M AITI @ Kolkata 2 kids among 4 killed in sudden Manipur flare-up P r a s a n ta M a z umd a r @ Guwahati Tensions flared in ethnic violence-hit Manipur on Tuesday after four persons, including two children, were killed in a bomb attack and a firing incident. The incidents sparked widespread protests, prompting the state’s BJP-led government to suspend internet services for three days in five Imphal Valley districts. A five-year-old boy and a sixmonth-old infant girl were People block a road after two kids were killed in Bishnupur district of Manipur | PTI killed and their mother was injured in a bomb attack at around 1 am in the Moirang Tronglaobi area of Meitei-ma- jority Bishnupur district, which shares a border with Kuki-majority Churachandpur district. When news about the SIPB meeting clears 31 projects worth `39,436 crore S V i s w a n at h @ Vijayawada The 16th State Investment Promotion Board (SIPB) meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu at the Secretariat on Tuesday cleared , 31 projects worth `39,436 crore. The proposed investments in industry, energy, IT, tourism and food processing sectors are expected to generate employment for 1,11,278 people. Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Minister directed officials to fully utilise the State’s vast potential in solar power generation with a special focus on developing Rayalaseema region as a major renewable energy hub. He emphasised the need for attracting large-scale investments in the solar energy sector. The officials should plan and develop robust transmission infrastructure to supply power to other States in the future, he said. Naidu stressed the need for developing solar parks in Rayalaseema region and attracting investments accordingly . Transmission lines should be strengthened to connect with both State and national grids for interstate power supply . The State aims to become a key hub for consumer electronics manufacturing with emphasis on setting up units in Sri City, Kopparthy and Anantapur. Greater emphasis should be laid on establishing Global Capability Centers (GCCs) and strengthening the IT ecosystem, Naidu said. The SIPB granted approval for three companies in Amaravati Quantum Valley, besides encouraging projects utilising agricul- ture, horticulture and aquaculture waste to produce value-added byproducts such as ethanol. The Chief Minister called for modern safety protocols across sectors like pharma, steel, green energy and battery energy storage systems. A standard operating procedure (SOP) aligned with disaster management nor ms should be developed. The approved projects should be grounded quickly within stipulated timelines and MoUs signed during investor summits should also be implemented speedily, he P4 said.  Sabarimala entry part of autonomy: Govt S U C HIT R A K A LYAN M O HANT Y @ New Delhi With hearing commencing on a batch of review petitions challenging the 2018 Sabarimala verdict, the Centre on Tuesday supported traditional restriction on the entry of women of menstruating age into the temple, telling the Supreme Court that the issue falls squarely within the domain of religious faith and denominational autonomy adding it is beyond the , scope of judicial review. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a nine-judge bench that if there is something unscientific, the remedy is with the legislature. Wondering why advocates for women’s entry into the Sabarimala temple invoke “patriarchy”, Mehta argued that the concept is not rooted in India’s societal framework. India has always placed women on a higher pedestal, he argued. “In Indian society we wor, ship ladies… we bow down before our women deities.... So let us not introduce those concepts of patri- archy and gender stereotypes,” he said. Mehta said he had strong objection to an observation in the 2018 judgment that the exclusion of women from the temple was a form of ‘untouchability’, violating Article 17 of the Constitution. Justice Nagarathna interjected, saying a woman cannot be treated as ‘untouchable’ for three days in a month and then cease to be considered untouchable on the fourth day But Mehta said he was not on . the issue of menstruation. incident spread, locals vented their ire by setting fire to two oil tankers and a truck. Soon after, a mob stormed the camp of a central force, setting several vehicles parked inside on fire. The personnel opened fire to control the situation and five protesters sustained bullet wounds. Chief Minister Yumnam Khemchand Singh said the state government decided to hand over the case of the bomb attack to National Investigation Agency . Rushikonda Palace likely to be convention centre soon Y B r a h m a j i @ Vijayawada After years of dilemma, the Andhra Pradesh government has ‘proposed’ to transform the luxurious Rushikonda Palace in Visakhapatnam into a public convention centre with regulated entry charges with an aim to make the idle asset a sustainable source of revenue. The proposal comes after the fifth and final meeting of the Cabinet Sub-Committee on utilisation of the Rushikonda Palace. Tourism Minister Kandula Durgesh, Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav, and Social Welfare Minister Dola Sree Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy attended the meeting held at the State Secretariat in Velagapudi on Tuesday . Constructed during the previous regime as a tourism project at an exorbitant cost of `680 crore, the Rushikonda Palace has become a centre of controversy Soon after coming to . power in June 2024, the NDA government constituted the Cabinet Sub-Committee, headed by Durgesh to study the effective utilisation of the Rushikonda Palace. During its second meeting, the committee invited public suggestions. A majority of respondents have proposed the idea of making it accessible to general public. The committee also reviewed earlier proposals, including those of the previous regime, which had considered leasing the luxurious palace to hospitality players. The current proposal goes beyond a conventional hotel P4 model.