nagapattinam l friday l april 18, 2025 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l city EDITION Astronomers find signs of life on exoplanet off solar system Molecules known to be produced by marine organisms were found on an exoplanet, in a strong evidence of life outside Solar System an enigma that’s 124 light-years away By analysing data from NASA and the European Space Agency’s Webb Space Telescope, researchers led by scientists at the University of Cambridge detected evidence of dimethyl sulphide and dimethyl disulphide in the atmosphere of the planet known as K2-18b. The planet is 124 light-years away; one light-year is equivalent to nearly 6 trillion miles ■ 8 further research needed, say scientists ■ “It is the strongest sign to date of any possibility of biological activity outside the solar system,” Cambridge astrophysicist Nikku Madhusudhan said during a livestream on Thursday Scientists stressed that further research is needed to rule out any errors or the possibility of other processes to produce compounds times more massive than the size of earth — the new exoplanet 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 Trump wants Fed Chair Jerome Powell sacked, hours after the latter issued a sharp warning on tariff war | P9 China in working-level communication with US on tariff, says person who ‘tied the bell’ should untie it | P9 0.25% Lending rate cut by the European Central Bank to 2.25%, down from 2.50%. This is its seventh cut so far one-week deadline HC asks cops to book Ponmudy for ‘hate speech’ r s i v a k u m a r @ Chennai Slamming Minister for Forests K Ponmudy for his “derogatory” speech against Hindu religious sects, the Madras High Court on Thursday instructed the Tamil Nadu police to register an FIR against him for the “hate speech” and inform the court by April 23. Justice N Anand Venkatesh, who issued the direction, said one FIR could be filed instead of registering multiple FIRs based on the complaints received in different places. K Ponmudy He warned that the court would initiate contempt proceedings suo motu if the police failed to file the case. “If you don’t register (FIR), (the court) will take a suo motu contempt case. Now the court has taken cognizance (of the matter),” he told Advocate General PS Raman. When the A-G responded, saying an inquiry is being held on the matter, the judge said the police need not wait for an inquiry since the minister himself has accepted that he made the remarks. The judge expressed his angst during the hearing of suo motu revision case against the acquittal of the minister from a disproportionate assets (DA) case by the principal sessions and district court in Vellore.  P5 Govt promises status quo on ‘Nuclear missile’: waqfs, buys time from bench V-P swipe on SC Supreme Court sets May 5 for next hearing, possible interim order on the Act S u c h i t r a K a lya n M o h a n t y @ New Delhi The Centre on Thursday managed to buy more time from the Supreme Court — which wanted to issue interim orders — to explain its position on the genesis of the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025. It agreed to file a preliminary response to the pleas challenging the validity of the Act within a week, adding no appointments would be made to the Central Waqf Council and the Waqf Boards till the next date of hearing, which is May 5. Also, no waqf, including waqf by user, shall be de-notified, nor will their character or status change till May 5, the government assured. “The government will not make any appointments to the Central Wakf Council as per the 2025 Wakf Amendment Act and that properties already declared wakf by user and registered under the original 1995 Act will not be disturbed,” Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted. A three-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khan- CM opens sify’s `1,882-cr data centre in Siruseri The facility will create 1,000 direct jobs and is part of the company’s cumulative investment plan to pump in `10,000-crore ($1.2 billion) over the next five years in Tamil Nadu | P2 India rubbishes K-claim by Pak Army chief J aya n t h J a c o b @ New Delhi India on Thursday firmly rejected Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir’s statement calling Kashmir the country’s “jugular vein”, dismissing it as baseless and asserting that Pakistan’s only connection to the region is its illegal occupation, which it must end. In a strong rebuttal to Munir’s remarks, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: “How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? This is a Union Territory of India. Its only relationship with Pakistan is the vacation of illegally occupied ter ritories by that country .” India maintains that the entire region of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of the country, with a portion currently under illegal occupation by its neighbour. The Pakistan army chief made his comments earlier this week while addressing a group of overseas Pakistanis. He referenced the two-nation theory — the ideological basis for Pakistan’s formation — saying the country’s founders believed Muslims and Hindus differed in every aspect: religion, customs, traditions and aspirations. He urged the diaspora to pass this belief on to their children, calling them “cultural ambassadors” and encouraging pride in a “superior ideology and culture”. “How can anything foreign be in a jugular vein? India’s only relationship with Pak is the vacation of illegally occupied territories Randhir Jaiswal, MEA na and justices Sanjay Kumar and K V Viswanthan, took the assurances on record and asked the petitioners to file their rejoinders five days after the government affidavit. “We clarify that the next hearing (May 5) will be for the preliminary objections and for an interim order,” it said. The CJI is set to retire on May 13. When the hearing began, Mehta urged the bench not to stay the provisions of Act, saying the law was enacted after taking into account many representations and suggestions. “The Union government is answerable to the people of India. The government received lakhs and lakhs of representations... Villages after villages Sacked WB teachers get an extension suchitra kalyan mohanty @NewDelhi IN a partial relief to the West Bengal government, the Supreme Court on Thursday extended till this year-end the services of terminated teachers found untainted by the CBI in the recruitment scam. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar took note of the state government’s submissions that teaching in various schools has been adversely impacted and fresh recruitment will take time. “We are inclined to accept the prayer in the present application in so far as it relates to the assistant teachers for classes 9-10 and 11-12 subject to certain conditions,” the CJI said keeping in view the larger issue that the future of students should not be affected. The court, however, did not extend the services of grade ‘C’ and ‘D’ employees of the state gover nment-run and aided schools. It directed the state government to start the recruitment process on or before May 31 and conclude it by December 31 this year. On April 3, the bench had upheld the Calcutta HC’s fiat to cancel 25,753 teacher appointments. are taken as waqf... It is a considered piece of legislation,” said Mehta. He urged the court not to take the “harsh step” of staying the Act and sought a week to file a preliminary reply along with some documents. The CJI said the court has already observed that there were some positives in the Act, but also does not want the situation prevailing now to change. Hence, a stay on certain provisions would be warranted, Justice Khanna said. “There is a thumb rule that courts won’t stay legislations ordinarily But there is another . thumb rule: when the petition is pending before the court, the situation which is prevailing should not change so that the rights of persons are not affected,” CJI Khanna added. As Mehta persisted, the CJI gave his consent provided that non-Muslim members would not be nominated to the Waqf Boards and Central Waqf Council and that registered waqfs wouldn’t be changed. The court said only five writ petitions would be considered as lead cases. The rest would be as intervening applications. Centre’s word on the new law Non-Muslims won’t be appointed to Central Waqf Councils and State Waqf Boards till the next date of hearing. The provision in the Act is contested Any such appointment made in any state in the interregnum will be treated as null and void All waqfs, including waqf by user, whether declared via notification or registration, will not be de-notified till May 5, the next date of hearing timeline for Prez RA J ESH KUMAR T HAKUR @New Delhi IN a stunning broadside on the judiciary, Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Thursday chided the Supreme Court for setting timelines for the President to decide on Bills referred by the Governor. Describing Article 142 (which grants plenary powers to the Supreme Court), Dhankhar said, “Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against democratic forces, available to judiciary 24 x 7.” Dhankhar’s strong words came during his speech to Rajya Sabha interns. “So, we have judges who will legislate, who will perform executive functions, who will act as super Parliament and absolutely have no accountability because the law of the land does not apply to them,” Dhankhar said. “There is a directive to the President by a recent judgment. Where are we heading? What is happening in the country? We have to be extremely sensitive. It is not a question of someone filing a review or not. We never bargained for democracy for this day President being called . Vice-President Jagdeep Dhankar speaking to interns on Thursday | PTI upon to decide in a time-bound manner, and if not, becomes law,” Dhankar said. Article 142 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to issue orders that ensure “complete justice” in any matter before it. “We cannot have a situation where you direct the President of India and on what basis? The only right you have under the Constitution is to interpret it under Article 145(3). There, it has to be five judges or more... Article 142 has become a nuclear missile against democratic forces, available to judiciary 24 x 7”, he said, stressing the need to accept the principle of separation of powers. GET READY TO BEAT THE HEAT Cloud Technology AVAILABLE ON Portable & Versatile Point Anywhere Remote Bladeless Front Grill Anti Bacterial Mesh Filter Powerful, Quiet Cooling & Select Outlets in Major Cities 1 8 4 - f t at M a r u d h a m a l a i World’s tallest Muruga statue in TN soon T M u r u g a n a n d h a m @ Chennai In a move that may evoke both support and dissent, the Minister for Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR & CE), PK Sekarbabu on Thursday announced the plan to install three statues for Lord Muruga, including an184-foot-tall one at Marudhamalai in Coimbatore, which will be the world’s tallest. While the total cost of the project will be `146.83 crore, the Marudhamalai idol alone will cost `110 crore. At 146 feet, Lord Muruga statue unveiled at a private temple at File picture of Marudhamalai temple Ethapur in Salem district in April 2022 is currently the world’s tallest, followed by the 140-ft idol at Batu Caves in Malaysia. Sekarbabu revealed that the statue for the ‘Tamil Kadavul’ at Marudhamalai will be part of a hexagon-shaped complex that will include a museum, parking facilities, and other essential amenities. Additionally, a second 180foot statue will be erected at the Velayuthaswami temple at Thindal in Erode district at a cost of `30 crore. The third statue, standing at 114 feet, will be constructed at a cost of `6.83 crore at the Subramania Swami Temple in Kumaragiri in Ranipet district. The announcements were made during the discussion on budgetary allocation for the HR & CE department.  P5 `110-cr statue While the total project cost of installing three statues will be `146.83 crore, Marudhamalai idol alone will cost `110 crore. This will be part of a hexagonshaped complex that will include a museum in Marudhamalai Contact us: E-Mail : customersupport@singerindia.com marketing@singerindia.com Toll Free : 1800 103 3474 www.singerindia.com April 18, 2025