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 ■ ■ tirunelveli l Thursday l march 20, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Joy all around as Sunita’s back home D i l i p S i n g h K s h at r i ya @ Ahmedabad NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore, stranded on the International Space Station for nine months after their spacecraft developed serious technical glitches, finally returned to Earth in the wee hours on Wednesday . The SpaceX Crew Dragon spaceship carrying the two made a successful splashdown off the Florida coast on Tuesday at 5:57 pm (local time). Williams (59), an IndianAmerican with roots in Gujarat, and Wilmore (62) had set off for the ISS onboard a Boeing Starliner on June 5, 2024 for an eight-day mission. However, the spacecraft encountered technical problems, compromising its ability to bring the astronauts back safely . As the news of their safe retur n spread, celebrations erupted in Williams’ ancestral village Jhulasan in Gujarat’s Mehsana district. Residents gathered at the village temple on Wednesday morning to watch the live broadcast. The moment the SpaceX capsule splashed down off the Florida coast, the villagers burst crackers, danced, and chanted Har Har Mahadeva in sheer joy An . Punjab Police evict protesting farmers Leaders Dallewal and Pandher detained in Mohali; cops clear Khanauri & Shambhu, raze stages, pull down tents Protest began on Feb 13, ’24 The protesting farmers had been camping at the Shambhu and Khanauri border points between Punjab and Haryana since February 13 last year when their march to Delhi was thwarted by security forces Important for growth: AAP govt Punjab finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema said the step was necessitated for the economic growth of the state. ``It is important that we fight against unemployment too,’’ he added Oppn raps police action Union minister of state for railways Ravneet Bittu condemned the crackdown. Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi said the AAP govt succumbed to pressure from the Centre and took action against the farmers H a r p r ee t B a j w a @ Chandigarh In a dramatic operation, the Punjab Police on Wednesday evicted all protesting farmers from the Shambhu and Khanauri border with Haryana shortly after detaining their leadership in Mohali. The drama began in the evening when Kisan Mazdoor Morcha and Samyukta Kisan Morcha (Non Political) leaders Sarwan Singh Pandher and Jagjit Singh Dallewal entered Mohali enroute to Khanauri following another inconclusive round of talks with the Centre at Chandigarh. The Punjab Police detained them when they reached the Jagatpura area of Mohali. Dallewal has been on a hunger strike since November last year. Dallewal was taken into custody while inside his ambulance, while others were detained along with their vehicles after some resistance. Pandher was detained at the Zirakpur barrier as he attempted to flee. Fourteen farmer leaders and others accompanying the two were also detained. Pandher has been taken to the Bahadurgarh Fort Commando Police Training Centre in Patiala. It has been transformed into a makeshift detention centre, as a majority of farmer leaders and protesting farm women, except Dallewal, are being lodged there. After detaining the leaders, the police force led by senior officers reached both border points and evicted the farmers there. They were first request- ed to clear the area and sit in vehicles arranged by the police. At Khanauri, a little force was used for eviction. Then, JCBs were deployed to pull down the makeshift stage and other structures, including tents. The tractor-trolleys parked by farmers were taken away The clear. ing operation is expected to last through the night. Around 300 farmers were detained at Khanauri and Shambhu during the operations. Internet service was suspended in many areas around the Shambhu border amid heavy police deployment in the nearby villages. The decision to take action was reportedly made on Tuesday night, following a meeting between top AAP functionaries and industrialists. The industrialists said that they were incurring significant cost mark-ups because of the protests. Deputy Inspector of Police (Patiala Range) Mandeep Singh Sidhu, who was at the Khanauri border and Senior Superintendent of Police of Patiala, Nanak Singh, who was at Shambhu, said that the farmers were requested to cooperate in clearing the roads. “Those who were willing to leave for their native places were sent away The police are . clearing the roads and dismantling the makeshift structures,’’ said Singh. The officers said thet are in touch with their Haryana counterparts to clear the blockades on their side so as to open the roads for unhindered traffic movement. The Punjab Police using a bulldozer to remove a temporary structure put up by farmers at the PunjabHaryana Shambhu border where they were sitting in a protest over various demands, on Wednesday | ANI akhand jyot (eternal flame) had been burning at the village temple since she left for space over nine months ago. Sunita Williams’ cousin Navin Pandya shared that a grand procession is planned in her honour. “We are eagerly waiting for Sunita to visit Jhulasan,” Pandya said, adding that the villagers will extend a war m invitation for her homecoming. J E YALA K S H MI RAMANUJAM @ Madurai A recent policy change introduced by the Reserve Bank of India regarding repayment of jewel loans has cast a new financial burden on the loanees and created windfall gain for loan sharks who charge even up to `2,000 interest per lakh for two days (about 365% per year). Hitherto, banks allowed customers to renew their jewel loans after 12 months by just paying their interest alone. It was not mandatory to repay the loan principal to renew their loans. However, since last October, banks have made it mandatory for customers to pay the entire loan amount with interest after 12 months to re-pledge the loan for next 12 months. Moreover, the jewel loan once closed can be reopened only on the next working day. If customers fail to renew their loan as per this revised mandate, the banks can auction the jewels to The two Nasa astronauts spent nine months in space, unprepared Physical challenges NASA astronaut Sunita Williams being helped out of SpaceX Dragon spacecraft after splashing down off the coast of Florida on Wednesday | Keegan Barber/NASA via AP/PTI Sunita Williams and Butch Wilmore will face some physical challenges due to their prolonged spaceflight, including muscle and bone loss. They will need to adjust to the Earth’s gravitational force before walking again History-sheeter hacked to death on NH, three accused shot in leg E x p r e s s n e w s s e r v i c e @ Erode A 30-year-old history-sheeter, travelling in a car along with his wife, was hacked to death by a six-member gang along the Salem-Kochi National Highway near Nasiyanur in Erode district on Wednesday afternoon. Chithode police, which pursued the gang, shot three of the alleged suspects in the leg when they tried to attack the police team with deadly weapons. While four suspects have been arrested, a search is on to nab the other two, police said. An inspector and a constable were injured in the attack. Those arrested have been identified as Sathish (30), Saravanan (33), Bhoopalan (30), and Kartikeyan (32), all from Kitchipalayam in Salem district. According to police, the deceased, John (34), also from Kitchipalayam, lived with his wife Saranya (32) at S Periyapalayam in Tiruppur district, where he was operating an auto finance company . John has several criminal cases pending against him at various police stations in Salem. Fearing for his life due to enmity with certain individuals in Salem, John had moved to Tiruppur to his father-in-law’s house, police said. CM, RSS try to tamp down Maha tension S u d h i r S u r ya w a n s h i @ New Delhi Two days after communal riots in Nagpur, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis asked his party’s ministers to restrain from making unwanted comments that would disturb harmony. Controversial minister Nitesh Rane, too, was asked to tone down his rhetoric, sources said. In Bengaluru, RSS spokesperson Sunil Ambedkar said the Aurangzeb tomb controversy is not relevant today adding , the RSS does not support any kind of violence as it was not good for the society . On Monday 35 police person, nel, including three deputy commissioners of police, and five civilians were injured in communal riots in Nagpur. Opposition leaders have welcomed the stand taken by Fadnavis. “Nitesh Rane has had tacit support from the upper leadership, so he has been making provocative statements. No action was taken against him. It is high time action is taken against such ministers and set an example,” said Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar. BJP MLA Sudhir Mungatiwar said violence was not good for a healthy society adding the , Nagpur violence had been an unfortunate reaction to Samajwadi Party MLA Abu Azmi praising Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. Jewel loan rule spells debt trouble for customers MP sends letter to FM Congress MP Manickam Tagore, in a letter to Finance Minister Sitharaman, urged her to request RBI to amend rule. “The policy may impact farmers, low-income individuals and small businesses,” MP told the FM 286 days recover their loan dues of principal and interest. This has landed the customers in a new debt trap as loan sharks, across Tamil Nadu, have started lending money at exorbitant interest rates for a few days to help people renew their loan accounts by paying the principal and the interest accrued. S Syed, a customer from Madurai, told TNIE he took a gold loan for `15 lakh from a nationalised bank by pledging 320g of gold at 9% interest.  P5 Once John pulled over, four assailants got down from the other vehicle and attacked him | Express On Wednesday afternoon, John and his wife were returning in their car to Tiruppur after appearing at the Annathanapatti police station in Salem regarding a criminal case. When the car was nearing Nasiyanur, the assailants, who were tailing the car, rammed their vehicle into John’s car from behind, forcing John to pull over. Four gang members immediately got out of the car with sickles and hacked John to death in broad daylight. Saranya, who tried to save her husband, also sustained injuries, police said.  P5 CM stalin promises ‘thorough’ probe into murder of ex-SI Zakir Hussain | P4 express read TN, Tasmac move HC, seek stay on ED probe Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government and Tasmac have filed petitions in the Madras HC seeking a stay on the ED’s action initiated under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act and direction to not harass any officials and employees of Tasmac. Incidentally, speaking on the matter in the Assembly on Wednesday, Minister Senthil Balaji questioned the basis on which the ED carried out raids at Tasmac offices and related entities. “The `1,000-cr irregularities unearthed by the agency is just an assumption without any basis,” Balaji said | P2, P4