THIRUVANANTHAPURAM l Sunday l march 16, 2025 l `12.00 l PAGES 24 l late city edition SpaceX Launches Crew to Rescue two Astronauts stuck in space SpaceX launches a crew to replace NASA’s stranded astronauts — Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams — paving way for their return after nine long months Crew to Overlap for smoother Handover 4 astronauts to spend six months in space The relief craft is expected to dock into the ISS by Saturday night (US time) NASA wants an overlap so they Suni and Butch can brief the newcomers on station operations. Their departure along with two others is planned for next week, with a splashdown off Florida, finally bringing an end to their unexpected nine-month mission in space ■ Four astronauts, including two military pilots, will spend six months aboard the ISS after freeing the stranded duo ■ SpaceX’s new capsule needed battery repairs, delaying the launch. To save time, it switched to a used capsule, moving Wilmore and Williams’ return to mid-March 9 spacewalks made Williams the women’s record-holder 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 High-level CEC Visa revoked for pro-Palestine protest, Indian student at Columbia Univ self-deports from US meet on linking Aadhaar, voter ID J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi It’s at variance with EC’s line in SC in 2023 P r ee t h a N a i r @ New Delhi Amid a row over voter lists, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar has called a high-level meeting on Tuesday to discuss the linking of the voter identity card with the Aadhaar card. According to sources, the CEC will discuss the matter with the Union Home Secretary Govind Mohan, Legislative Department Secretary Rajiv Mani and UIDAI CEO Bhuvnesh Kumar on March 18. This is at variance with the EC’s earlier position. In September 2023, the EC told the Supreme Court that the submission of Aadhaar number is not mandatory under Rule 26-B of the Registration of Electors (Amendment) Rules 2022. The EC further said that it is not mandatory to provide Aadhaar numbers for linking with the electoral roll, and it is considering issuing ‘appropriate clarificatory changes’ in enrolment forms to reflect this. In 2022, the then Union law minister Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha that linking Aadhaar with the Voter ID is voluntary adding electors without an , Aadhaar number could ‘provide other optional documents as provided in the Form 6B’. According to him, the Election Laws (Amendment) Act, 2021, allows Electoral Registration Officers to require the voter to provide their Aadhaar number for identification. However, this is voluntary he said. , The Tuesday meeting comes amid allegations of voter ID E C s ta n c e On March 2, EC said identical EPIC numbers or series were allotted to some electors from different states and UTs due to a “decentralised and manual mechanism” before shifting of the electoral roll database of all states to ERONET platform. In another statement, the EC said that since the allotment of the EPIC series in 2000, some Electoral Registration Officers did not use the correct series Allotment of duplicate numbers due to incorrect series could not have been detected as the states/ UTs were independently managing the electoral roll databases, EC said number duplication and fudging of electoral roll data levelled by the Opposition, including the Trinamool Congress (TMC) and the Congress. Several other opposition parties have also demanded a discussion on the EPIC number duplication. Trinamool MP Sagarika Ghose on Saturday said the statements by the poll panel earlier over the duplicate EPIC numbers and this meeting being called now, are “face-saving measures”. She added that the TMC will keep a strict vigil till the next state elections. “First, three statements. Now this meeting. This is just a facesaving measure. We will keep a hawk-eye vigil till the elections,” Ghose said. mumbai champs Mumbai Indians’ players celebrate a wicket against Delhi Capitals in WPL final. MI won the match by eight runs I Sportzpics An Indian student at Columbia University Ranjani Srinivasan, , has self-deported from the US after her student visa was revoked for taking part in proPalestine protests. The US Department of Homeland Security confirmed that Ranjani’s visa was revoked on March 5 due to her involvement in supporting Hamas, which is a “designated terrorist organisation” in the US. It went on to furnish video evidence of her using the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) app to selfdeport on March 11. Videograb of Indian student Ranjani Srinivasan leaving the US on her own after her visa was revoked | PTI and terrorism, that privilege should be revoked, and you should not be in this country I . am glad to see one of the Columbia University terrorist sympathizers use the CBP Home app to self-deport,” she said in a post on X. Columbia University has become a focal point for student protests in support of Palestine amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. Last week, Mahmoud Khalil, a former Columbia student of Palestinian descent who had been at the forefront of pro-Palestinian protests on campus last year, was arrested by US authorities. Police see Pak mischief in Amritsar temple attack H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh A bomb blast that took place outside Thakurdwara temple in Amritsar’s Khandwala area late Friday night rattled the local community, sparking fear and concern. The explosion, caused by a grenade thrown by two motorcycle-borne men, occurred around 12.35 am. While a section of the temple’s wall was damaged, no injuries were reported. Police said the temple priest and his family who were inside , at the time, had a narrow escape. The intensity of the blast was such that window panes of nearby buildings shattered. CCTV footage shows the suspects throwing the grenade at midnight. Senior police officials rushed to the scene, and an investigation is underway to track down the culprits. Punjab Police suspect the involvement of Pakistan’s InterServices Intelligence (ISI) in the attack. “This marks a shift Revolutionary songs at temple fest trigger row, TDB orders probe E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Kollam/T’Puram The rendering of revolutionary songs at a music event during the festival at Kadakkal Devi temple in Kollam has kicked up a controversy with criti, cism coming from various quarters. The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has sought an explanation from the temple advisory committee on the music programme. The board also directed its vigilance wing to investigate the events leading to the rendering of songs glorifying CPM and the alleged display of DYFI flags in the background screen. TDB president P S Prasanth said a probe has been ordered and action will be taken based on the report. “The High Court had banned the display of symbols or flags of political, religious and caste organisations at temples. The TDB is responsible for ensuring it. The board takes a strict stand against such incidents,” TDB said in a statement. The controversy stems from a music event by singer Aloshi Adam organised by the Vyapari Vyavasayi Samiti (Madathara unit) and Kadakkal CPM Area Committee as part of the Thiruvathira festival at the temple on March 10. Aloshi sang revolutionary songs like ‘Pushpane Ariyamo’ and ‘Nuru Pookkale’, while CPM and DYFI flags and symbols were reportedly displayed on an LED ● More on P5 screen on stage.  inside edge Will continue to play as long as I have fun and enjoy it, says Virat Kohli S w a r o o p S w a m i n at h a n @ Bengaluru DURING Virat Kohli’s fireside chat with Isa Guha, the former India captain raised his index and middle-fingers to form a ‘V’ sign — the universal peace symbol — before sporting a wide grin. “I’m pretty happy where I’m right now,” he said during an RCB event. More than that he spoke about retirement, the one topic everyone is interesting with right now. Twenty minutes either side of that moment, Kohli spoke on a wide variety of subjects ranging from retirement, leadership, family social media , and being in the present. On the subject of retirement and what motivates him these days, Kohli said: “I’m (very peaceful and calm),” Self-deporting allows individuals to leave voluntarily before facing formal deportation, thereby avoiding the possibility of being forcibly removed, as has been the case with other deportees recently sent back to India who had come to the US as illegal immigrants. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem shared a video of Ranjani at the airport, stating that anyone “advocating for violence and terrorism should not be in the country”. “It is a privilege to be granted a visa to live and study in the United States of America. When you advocate for violence Former India captain Virat Kohli speakingat an event in Bengaluru on Saturday he said. “Me playing is not for achievement. It’s for the joy, enjoyment and love for the game. As long as that is intact, I will continue to play I have . to be honest about that with myself... at this point of time in my life, I feel pretty happy. I still love playing the game.” He was also effusive in his praise for how women’s sport has developed in India, highlighting the growth of tennis, badminton, wrestling, and boxing, besides cricket. However, he shut the door on the prospect of making a T20I comeback to have a shot at playing the Olympics. “The IPL has definitely played a big role in that as well, it has gotten us to a stage where it’s part of the Olympics.” But Kohli had his tongue firmly in his cheek when he said ‘maybe if we are playing for the gold medal, I may just sneak in for one game (smile). To be Olympic champions would be a magnificent feeling.” in strategy by ISI handlers in Pakistan. So far, their targets have been police posts and politically connected individuals. Now, it seems they are trying to incite communal tensions,” said a senior officer. This is the 13th bomb attack in Punjab in the past four months but the first targeting a religious site. Earlier attacks focused on police establishments, with suspected involvement of foreign-based gangsters turned terrorists. Amritsar Police Commissioner Gurpreet Singh Bhullar assured swift action. “The nature of the explosive is yet to be verified...,” he said, adding “...Pakistan engages in such acts...” BJP general secretary Tarun Chugh accused the AAP government of failing to curb disruptive elements, calling the temple attack an attempt to stir communal unrest. SAD leader Dr Daljit Singh Cheema called for a judicial probe, saying attack reflected breakdown in law and order. W I T H T HIS ISSU E The New World Order PLUS 12 PAGES