Ramanathi Dam in Tamil Nadu’s Tenkasi, which has a storage capacity of 84 feet, has completely dried up, exposing large areas of cracked land | V KARTHIKALAGU kollam l tuesday l april 14, 2026 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Southwest monsoon rainfall to be below normal this year: IMD This year’s southwest monsoon rainfall over the country is likely to be below normal, the India Meteorological Department said on Monday rainfall to be 92% of long-period average India is expected to receive 80 cm of rainfall during the season—the long period average (1971-2020) of the seasonal rainfall over India is 87 cm. “Quantitatively, the seasonal rainfall over the country as a whole is likely to be 92 per cent of LPA with a model error of +/- 5 per cent,” Dr M Mohapatra, Director General of Meteorology at the IMD, said | P4, P7 ■ Jun-Sep El Nino likely to emerge around June One of the reasons for below normal rainfall could be the emergence of the El Nino conditions, which cause less rainfall in the country Climate models indicate that El Nino conditions are likely to emerge around the month of June. Besides, positive Indian Ocean Dipole conditions can develop in the second half of the monsoon season ■ the period when the southwest monsoon covers the country 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 Shocking charges of conversion at TCS Nashik Tehran warns of attacks as US block of ports begins, oil goes past $100 Iran warns it will hit all ports in Gulf; France-UK set to hold meet to get Strait of Hormuz opened PA D M I N I D H R U V A R A J @ Bengaluru WITH the sexual harassment case at the Nashik office of Tata Consultancy Services taking a religious turn with allegation of forced conversion, the company said the matter would be probed by Chief Operating Officer Aarthi Subramanian. Calling the alle g ations “gravely concerning and anguishing”, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said the matter was being treated with the utmost seriousness. In a statement, Chandrasekaran said action had already been initiated against the accused staff and the company was extending full cooperation to the ongoing investigation. “Appropriate and stringent action will be taken against those found guilty. Any necessary process improvements or corrective measures will be promptly implemented and strictly enforced,” he added. Last week, police formed a special investigation team to probe the complaints lodged by eight employees, who said senior colleagues mentally and sexually harassed them, and the HR department ignored their complaints. Police have arrested seven persons, including the HR manager. The Nascent Information Technology Employees Senate (NITES), an employees’ body representing IT sector workers, approached the Ministry of Labour and Employment seeking a detailed audit of Prevention of Sexual Harassment compliance (POSH) at TCS. NITES has also called for an examination of all sexual harassment complaints received, pending, or disposed of within the organisation over the past several years, along with the action taken in each case. It further sought an assessment of the role and accountability of the HR and senior management in handling complaints and ensuring a safe workplace. It also demanded a probe into whether workers were discouraged from reporting complaints or subjected to retaliation. A g en c i e s @ Dubai, Washington THE US on Monday walked the talk on blocking all maritime traffic entering and exiting Iranian ports from 7.30 pm IST, the deadline it had set for the exercise. President Donald Trump warned that any Iranian attack boats that approach the naval blockade will be “eliminated”. The US Central Command said US forces would not impede vessels transiting the Strait to and from non-Iranian ports. Trump’s warnings set the stage for an extraordinary showdown that poses serious risks for the global economy and raises the spectre that the ceasefire could collapse and the war could resume. Talks aimed at ending the conflict, which began February 28 with US and Israeli strikes on Iran, failed to reach an agreement this past weekend in Pakistan. Top-ranking Iranian officials threatened retaliation. Ebrahim Rezaei, a spokesperson for the Iranian parliament’s National Security Commission, dismissed US warnings as bluster while warning that “Tehran was prepared to respond if the situation escalates militarily Iranian par. Bandar Abbas Iranian crude returns to India after 7 years Strait of Hormuz Khasab Oman Sharjah Dubai Abu Dhabi Sohar Al Ain Oman United Arab Emirates Oil tankers (red) and cargo ships (green) stuck around Hormuz at 7 pm IST. The US’ blockade of Iranian ports aims to force Iran to give up control of the strait | Marine traffic liament speaker, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, addressed Trump in a statement: “If you fight, we will fight... Tehran will not bow to any threats.” day Meanwhile, Russia said it stands ready to take in Iran’s highly enriched uranium as part of a future peace deal with the US, the Kremlin said on Monday . Globally, leaders urged re- 45 straint. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said a ceasefire between the United States and Iran was “holding”. Qatar’s foreign minister and Premier Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told his Iranian counterpart that Iran and US should engage positively . France and Britain will co-host a conference this week involving Amid complaints from the LDF and the UDF of ‘delay’ in updating the state’s overall voter turnout figures, the Election Commission on Monday revised the state’s provisional polling percentage to 79.63% from 78.27%. The revised turnout factors in 3.68 lakh postal votes in various categories. The updated figures were announced by Chief Electoral Officer (CEO)-Kerala Rathan U Kelkar, four days after the elections on April 9. Kelkar said the turnout fig- more than 40 nations to discuss a multinational mission to restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz. China, which is reliant on energ y supplies coming through the strait, called for “unimpeded” navigation through the waterway . Oil prices, meanwhile, are back above $100 per barrel. Pope Leo XIV said the Vatican’s appeals for peace are rooted in the Gospel, and that he doesn’t fear the Trump administration. express read Protests intensify over Nithin’s death Kannur: Protests demanding justice for Nithin Raj, a student of Kannur Dental College in Anjarakandy who ended his life last week owing to alleged harassment from his teachers, triggered tension on the college campus on Monday. P5 protest over wages rock noida Kerala poll PICTURE EVM votes 2,12,43,942 Postal votes 3,68,193* (*excluding 53,984 service voters) Category Polling % Poll duty officials 96.37 Home voting (Total) 96.72 Essential services 94.24 ures will be updated again on the counting day after accounting for the electronic ballots of 53,984 service voters. “The final turnout figures will be availa- ble only after the EC releases the index card after the counting of votes. Until then, the figures are provisional,” he said. The postal ballots that have been newly accounted for include votes cast from home by senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PwDs). In the senior citizen category the vot, er turnout was 96.3%, while 97.71% of the voters in the PwD category cast their ballots from home. The overall turnout in the home voting category stood at 96.72%. In the essential services category, which includes person- nel drawn from various government departments, 32,172 of the 34,140 electors cast their postal ballots, taking the overall voter turnout in the category to 94.24%. Kelkar said 1.34 lakh officials on polling duty opted for postal ballots while some cast their votes on EVMs in their respective constituencies where they were posted for duty The over. all voter turnout in this category was 96.37%. “A total of 3.68 lakh postal ballots have been received by Returning Officers in 140 constituencies across the ● More on P4 state,” he said. their exclusions from the @ New Delhi voter roll are pending before the appellate tribunals. The Supreme Court said on The petitioners sought an Monday that it cannot hear order from the court directp e o p l e wh o s e a p p e a l s ing the ECI to extend the date against exclusion from the of freezing of electoral rolls voter list are pendso that they can vote ing before the appelin the elections, in late tribunals to vote the event their apin the upcoming peals are allowed. West Bengal AssemThe electoral rolls bly elections. are frozen as on April The court noted 9. Justice Bagchi that about 34 lakh clarified that those appeals filed by peowhose appeals were ple challenging their allowed by April 9 non-inclusion in the would be included in We need to voter list are pendthe voter list. protect due Justice Ba gchi ing before the tribuprocess rights. nals. “We cannot cre- The voter should also raised concerns not be ate a situation where about the SIR procsandwiched we burden the appeless in West Bengal between two late tribunal judges,” and emphasised that constitutional a bench headed by there is a need to authorities Chief Justice of Inhave a “robust appeldia (CJI) Surya Kant late mechanism” to Justice Joymalya and Justice Joymconsider the appeals Bagchi alya Bagchi said. filed by persons “We need to protect due proc- whose names were deleted ess rights. The voter should from the electoral rolls. He not be sandwiched between specifically noted that when two constitutional authori- it came to West Bengal, the ties,” Justice Bagchi said. ECI deviated from the procThe bench was hearing a ess in other states and introbatch of petitions filed by duced a new category called those whose appeals against ‘Logical Discrepancy’. shifting trends PM Modi Gold loans surge 45% in state, driven by non-farm borrowing says India on brink of Historic quota India is on the brink of making a big decision as Parliament will meet to end “decades of waiting” by amending the Women’s Reservation Act for its implementation in 2029, the PM said on Monday | P7 R A J E S H A B R A H A M @ Kochi Kerala’s reliance on goldbacked loans has surged dramatically over the past year, with total outstanding gold loans rising by 44.5% to `1,42,740 crore as of December 2025, from `98,784 crore a year earlier, according to data with the State Level Bankers’ Committee (SLBC). The nearly `43,956 crore increase marks one of the steepest expansions in recent years, but the composition of this growth points to a structural shift in the state’s credit landscape. The surge has been overwhelmingly driven by non-agricultural borrowing. Outstanding non-agriculture gold loans ballooned nearly sixfold, from `8,350 crore in December 2024 to `50,090 crore in December 2025 — an increase of around 500%. In contrast, agriculture gold loans grew marginally, from total gold loan portfolio 2024 A98,784 cr 2025 A1,42,740 cr Growth: +44.5% `90,433 crore to `92,649 crore, registering a 2.4% rise. This stark divergence suggests that while gold loans are expanding rapidly, they are increasingly being used for purposes beyond farming — ranging from consumption needs to business liquidity and possibly distress financing. Officials point out that a key factor behind the surge is a sharp rise in price of gold, which has significantly enhanced the borrowing capacity against pledged jewellery The . price of gold jumped from `76,487 per 10 grams on December 31, 2024, to `1,35,927 per 10 grams on December 31, 2025 — Patna: Suspense over Bihar’s next chief minister is set to end on Tuesday even as deputy CM and senior BJP leader Samrat Choudhary has emerged as a frontrunner in race to the post. A woman leader’s name is also doing rounds for the same. P8 New Delhi: The impact of the Iran conflict on inflation remained muted in March, even as retail inflation rose to a 12-month high of 3.4%, compared to 3.34% in the year-ago period and 3.21% in February. The food inflation, based on the consumer price index, was estimated at 3.87% in March. P10 S U C H ITR A K A LYA N M O H A N T Y (Left) A police bike burns after it was set ablaze during a protest by factory workers demanding wage hikes in Noida, Uttar Pradesh on Monday; (right) Security personnel chase away protesters. The protests turned violent in parts of the city with incidents of arson, vandalism and stone-pelting reported from Phase-2 and Sector 60 areas. A large number of workers from various industrial units gathered to press for their long-pending demand for salary revision | Parveen Negi BJP to name its first CM in Bihar today Inflation hits 12-mnth high of 3.4% in March SC refuses relief for Bengal voters removed from roll Turnout rises to 79.63% after postal vote count E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @T’Puram Two supertankers carrying Iranian crude have arrived at Indian ports on both the east and west coasts, marking the first such deliveries in nearly seven years, according to shiptracking data. The shipments are the first Iranian crude cargoes to reach Indian shores in nearly seven years, following a sanctions waiver issued by the United States last month. The buyers of the cargoes reaching Indian coasts have not been formally disclosed. Iran an increase of around 77-78%. The rally appears to have encouraged borrowers to unlock higher loan amounts against the same quantity of gold, further fuelling the growth in goldloan portfolios. A similar trend is visible across banking segments. Public-sector banks (PSBs), which continue to dominate agricultural lending, saw their total gold loan portfolio rise by 28.3%, from `58,993 crore to ● More on P4 `75,694 crore.  Adi Godrej’s son Pirojsha to take over as group chairman in Aug B E N N K O C H U V E E D A N @ Mumbai TWO years after the Godrej group split between Adi Godrejled Godrej Industries Group and Jamshyd Godrej-led Godrej Enterprises Group, Godrej Industries Group on Monday announced a leadership transition. Adi Godrej’s younger brother Nadir Godrej will step down as chairman in August upon turning 75 and Adi’s son Pirojsha will take over. Nadir will assume the role of chairman emeritus, along with Adi. In a regulatory filing on Monday, Godrej Ind u s t r i e s, t h e holding company of Godrej InNadir Godrej dustries Group, along with God re j A g rove t and Astec Lifesciences, announced the leadership transitions. “Nadir will resign from Pirojsha Godrej boards of Godrej Industries, Godrej Agrovet, Godrej Consumer Products, and Godrej Properties by then... Nadir has also stepped down as chairperson and non-executive director of Astec,” it said. Pirojsha will take over as chairperson of Godrej Industries Group and Godrej Industries on August 14. He will continue to serve as chairperson of Godrej Properties, Godrej Capital, and Godrej Ventures. Nadir’s son Burjis Godrej will serve as chairperson of Godrej Agrovet and will join Godrej Industries board as a non-executive director from August 14. Godrej Industries Group, led by Adi and Nadir, consists of five listed firms—Godrej Industries, Godrej Consumer Products, Godrej Properties, Godrej Agrovet, and Astec Lifesciences. Godrej Enterprises Group, led by Jamshyd and Smita Godrej Crishna, includes the unlisted flagship Godrej & Boyce and its various subsidiaries.