coimbatore l saturday l march 01, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 16 l late city EDITION skype to be history on may 5 as microsoft plans to shut it down Microsoft said Skype will be retired on May 5, 2025, and existing users will be able to log in to the Teams app without creating another account Launch, acquisition and downfall when competitors stole the limelight Skype was first launched in 2003 and was acquired by Microsoft in 2011 for $8.5 billion. Microsoft tried to integrate Skype into Windows 10 in 2015, but the integration lasted only nine months. Microsoft launched Teams in 2017, a collaboration platform built on the backbone of Skype. Despite efforts to revive Skype, the platform’s popularity declined ■ ■ A hidden message in the latest Skype preview version reveals the impending shutdown and directs users to switch to Teams In the past 10 years, platforms like FaceTime, Messenger and WhatsApp have made it simpler to connect with friends through messaging, voice calls and video chats, leading to Skype’s downfall 36 million daily users of Skype Despite its continuing decline 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 SMART RECOVERY growth bounces back to 6.2% in Q3 D i pa k M o n d a l @ New Delhi Rescuers carry workers to safety on Friday. Search for the remaining 25 workers will continue on Saturday | PTI Avalanche buries camp in U’khand, 32 rescued 25 workers hired by contractor to widen highway remain trapped cued are in a critical condition, the Army PRO said. All 32 have been taken to the ITBP camp in THIRTY-TWO of the 57 Border Mana for treatment, the sourcRoads Organization (BRO) es said. workers trapped under an avaMana, three kilometres from lanche in the high-altitude vil- Badrinath, is the last village on lage of Mana in Uttarakhand’s the India-Tibet border at an alChamoli district have been titude of 3,200 metres. The rescued, with concern avalanche hit around over the safety of the 7.15 am, burying the chamoli other 25 mounting as workers inside eight inclement weather containers and one forced a pause in resshed, the Army said. uttarakhand cue operations. Swift response T h e av a l a n c h e, teams, comprising which buried a BRO more than 100 people camp between Mana and from the Ibex Brigade, Badrinath, rolled down earespecially trained in high ly on Friday. Multiple teams altitude rescue operations, comprising the Army disaster were immediately mobilised. response forces battled through The teams included doctors tough terrain and heavy snow and ambulances. through the day to reach the According to Disaster Manmen. They initially pulled out agement and Rehabilitation 10 workers and then the others, Secretary Vinod Kumar Suman, sources said. Four of those res- the situation is critical with the n a r e n d ra s e t h i & m aya n k s i n g h @ Dehradun/New Delhi All efforts are being taken to rescue the trapped personnel by utilising all available resources Rajnath Singh, Defence Minister Army, itbp join rescue efforts The Indian Army and IndoTibetan Border Police (ITBP) are involved in the rescue efforts; however, the highway beyond Hanuman Chatti remains closed due to weather conditions. express read Sexual assault Seeman appears before police Chennai: Naam Tamilar Katchi chief coordinator Seeman appeared before the Valasaravakkam police late on Friday regarding an inquiry into a sexual assault complaint filed by an actor amid a show of support by his party cadres. Nearly 300 police personnel were deployed near the station to avoid untoward incidents | P4 HC on encroachment Delay doesn’t give occupiers any right Madurai: Observing that officials’ failure to evict encroachers from government land would not give the encroachers the right to enjoy the property permanently, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court allowed an appeal filed by the state government to retrieve a five-acre government land that had been in the possession of a family in Madurai for nearly 60 years since 1961 | P2 relief for Isha SC okays HC order on green norms New Delhi: In a relief to Isha Foundation, the Supreme Court refused to interfere with a Madras HC order quashing notices of the TNPCB against Isha Foundation over the construction on the foothills of Velliangiri mountains in Coimbatore without prior environmental clearance and asked Isha to comply with all environmental norms | P7 Collector blames 3-yr-old survivor in sexual assault case, booted out of office tel in Mayiladuthurai on Friday, Mahabharathi referred to the case and said, “According to Hours after making a contro- the reports I received, the child versial remark blaming a 3-year- herself acted wrongly She spat . old survivor in a sexual assault on the face of the boy that case, Mayiladuthurai morning. That may be Collector AP Mahabharthe reason (behind the athi was shunted out of assault). Hence we are his post on Friday. The forced to consider (the child, allegedly raped actions by) both sides. and attacked brutally Prevention is better with a stone by a juvethan cure,” Mahabharnile on Monday, is curathi said at the training rently under treatment programme, a video of at a government hospiwhich soon went viral tal for critical injuries. online. He went on to Erode City Corpora- She spat on the add that parents need tion Commissioner HS face of the boy to be sensitised to the that morning. Srikanth has been ap- That may be the issue as officials canpointed as the new colnot directly teach chilreason behind lector of Mayidren aged two to three the assault laduthurai district. years. The parents Mahabharathi has not AP Mahabharathi, could, in turn, teach Collector been given any new their children, he said. posting. According to police, Speaking at the ‘capacity in the gruesome attack on Monbuilding training programme’ day, the boy allegedly lured the for police officers on Pocso Act girl from the village anganwadi and child protection and care to an isolated spot behind the organised by the district child childcare centre and sexually protection unit (DCPU) at a ho- assaulted her.  P7 E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Thanjavur containers buried under six to seven feet of snow. The bad weather continues. Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and SDRF left for the spot, about 300 km from Dehradun, amid continuing snowfall and rain. Home Minister Amit Shah said rescuing the trapped people is the government’s top priority . In a post on X, he said he spoke to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and the chiefs of the ITBP and the NDRF. The trapped workers were employed by a company involved in highway widening along a 50 km stretch from Mana to Mana Pass. The BRO is overseeing this project through a contractor. District Magistrate Dr Sandeep Tiwarisaid officials have been directed to restore traffic on blocked roads and repair damaged power lines.  (With agency inputs) `9L cr loss for investors as markets crash Sensex and Nifty fell 2% on Friday, mirroring deep losses in global markets over trade war fears. The aggressive sell-off eroded investors’ wealth by `9 lakh crore | P10 The Indian economy showed resilience and made smart recovery in the third (October-December) quarter after posting an underwhelming growth rate in the second quarter. According to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, the real GDP grew at 6.2% in Q3 compared to 5.6% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the government’s second advanced estimate shows the economy might be growing at a slightly higher pace—at 6.5%— in FY25 against the previous estimate of 6.4%. In FY24, GDP grew at 9.2%, revised upwards from 8.6% as per earlier projections. The recovery in the third quarter was driven by better private and government consumption growth as well as by a heavy lifting in exports. Private consumption in real terms grew at 6.9% in the third quarter compared to 5.9% in the second. For the full year, private consumption is expected to grow at 7.6% compared to 5.6% a year ago. Government consumption grew at 8.3% during October-December compared to 3.8% in the previous quarter. Investments in asset creation, indicated by the gross fixed capital formation, however, remained a drag for the economy growing at 5.7% in Q3 compared to 5.8% in the previous quarter. For FY25, gross fixed capital formation showed a growth of 6.1% in real terms compared to 8.8% in the previous year. “The gross fixed capital formation at the economy level is around 30%, so there is room for the private sector to invest. Of course, there is uncertainty globally, but uncertainty isn’t there with respect to Indian demand; urban demand is recovering,” said Chief Economic Advisor V Ananth Nageswaran. He added that since outbound FDI by Indian firms has picked up, it makes sense for the Indian private sector to invest in a country whose current growth record exceeds the growth performance of other economies. Delimitation must be as per 1971 data: CM asks PM’s word E x p r e ss N e w s S e r v i c e @ Chennai M K Stalin, TN CM TN language policy affects south: Guv Chennai: Wading into the language row, Governor RN Ravi on Friday said the state government’s “rigid” two-language policy has deprived youth in southern parts of TN of opportunities, making it a “neglected backyard”. “It’s unfair,” he said | P4 FM flays move to reduce tax share Chennai: Quoting reports about the Finance Commission’s proposal to recommend cutting states’ share in central taxes from 41% to 40% as suggested by the centre, TN Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu condemned the proposed move | P4 Chief Minister MK Stalin on Friday demanded Prime Minister Narendra Modi to give assurance in writing that delimitation will not be carried out based on the current population. Speaking at a public meeting organised in Chennai on Friday to celebrate his birthday, Stalin said, “Modi must give it in writing that Tamil Nadu will get its due representation (in Parliament) on the basis of 1971 population and the state’s rights will not be affected.” He also referred to the assurances given by former Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and AB Vajpayee in this regard. Thanking Telangana and Karnataka for echoing Tamil Nadu’s voice on the issue, Stalin appealed to other states, too, to raise their voice for justice. “If we are not vigilant in saving our rights, Tamil people will be rendered without power in the future and there won’t be any value for our voice,” he added. The DMK chief also welcomed the AIADMK’s decision to take part in the all-party meeting called to discuss the delimitation issue on March 5. P4 Congress issues gag order on Kerala leaders P r e e t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Amid the row over Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s TNIE column hailing the achievements of the CPM-led government in Kerala, the Congress leadership on Friday said those who don’t toe the party line would face action. Speaking at the meeting of the Congress brass with Kerala leaders, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Rahul Gandhi cautioned the leaders “not to go against party line and disrespect the people of Kerala”. With Tharoor by her side, Congress’ Kerala in-charge Deepa Dasmunshi said all lead- From left: Congress leaders Ramesh Chennithala, Shashi Tharoor and K Suresh | pti ers have to work in coordination, discipline, and unity to win the upcoming local body and Assembly elections in the state. “We have got clear indication from the high command that people are looking for a change, so we should not do anything that disrespects the people. If anyone says anything personally we will take strong ... action,” she said. According to sources, Rahul said he is emotionally connected to the state and the people. “People are yearning for a change and we should be careful about our strategies. We should not do anything wrong against the party line,” sources quoted him as saying. AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that no leaders have the right to make out-ofline statements in the media. At least three leaders, including M M Hassan, targeted Tharoor, saying his public comments damaged the party . When asked if the censure is directed at Tharoor, Dasmunshi said: “Why are you only pinpointing Tharoor? So many others made personal views. It has been told generally to everyone.” She also ruled out a leadership change in the state unit. It means K Sudhakaran will continue as the president. win-win deal Kangana Ranaut, Javed Akhtar bury defamation hatchet after five years S h r e ya s Pa n d e @ Mumbai Kangana Ranaut and Javed Akhtar have officially called a truce. The actor-turned-BJP MP and the veteran lyricistscreenwriter, have put an end to their compounding legal feud through mediation. After completing the formalities of the settlement, Kangana shared a photo on her social media where she was beaming in a grin standing alongside a smiling Akhtar. The actor, who earlier had some fiery exchanges with Akhtar, called him “kind” and “gracious” to have settled the matter. Their legal tussle began in 2020 when Kangana gave a TV interview after actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s death. In her shaky soft voice she made a big , claim about a meeting she had with Akhtar at his house. She said Akhtar pressured her to apologise to Hrithik Roshan over their much-publicised feud in 2016. Kangana even alleged that Akhtar warned her of dire consequences if she doesn’t act accordingly . Akhtar strongly rejected the claims. “Whatever Kangana said in the interview is a lie and nothing but a lie. I had told her about the agenda of the meeting on call. Didn’t call her to discuss t h e weather, political situation or America’s election in 2016,” Akhtar told the court. The man, known for writing some pow- er-packed Amitabh Bachchan dialogues wasn’t going to stay silent, was he? Neither was Kangana going to back down. She filed a counter-defamation case against Akhtar in 2021. Now, Kangana has clarified that what she said in the TV interview was due to a misunderstanding. Exiting the court after the hearing on Friday, Akhtar told the media, “The matters are finally settled. She has apologised for all the inconvenience caused to me. I will take back my case and she will take back her case.” Kangana added in her social media post that the veteran lyricist has agreed to write a song for her upcoming directorial. With the legalities settled, will we get to see a moment of “poetic justice” with their collaboration? Only time will tell.